#thinking back to the first trailer in june. i didn't even like him at first. i could have been saved...................

[rubberbandgirlme]

i can't stop thinking about lucanis and i can't stop literally crying over him i even saw him in a dream today goD i got it so bad so so so bad soooo baaaaad im literally just

[henrysfox]

ooo i'd love to hear more about the casting day announcement from your pov if that's ok! like how did people react? did you think they looked the part but wasn't keen on their past acting work? did everyone freak out lmao

HELLO!!! i love talking about it!! let's gooo

so the day of the casting announcement for me was also the day i found out they were making rwrb into a movie, idk how it was for other people, but before that day i hadn't realized we would get a movie

so i was just SO HYPED about getting a film at all, you know?

then we got this announcement:

and i looked at them and IMMEDIATELY went to taylor's instagram and i was like "is that the dude from the kissing booth?" (i have never seen the kissing booth before that, but i have seen people on youtube doing some of those commentaries where they make fun of every single movie under the sun for views - the person i was friends with at the time loved watching those, so i have seen a few)

and i IMMEDIATELY became obsessed with him because i thought he was the most beautiful man i've ever seen. height aside, he was pretty much what i imagined alex to look like. back then, i'm pretty sure he hasn't been in many things so i watched tkb2 & 3 for him (or mostly his and joey's scenes because i didn't like jac*b el*rdi) and i watched minx, where he was AMAZING.

meanwhile nick creeped up on me much slower - but he did have many more movies out so i also watched all of those. at the begining he hadn't been dyed blonde yet so it was a bit harder to imagine him as henry, but the second they made him blonde i thought he was spot on as well. the filming was in progress around the same time purple hearts came out so i waited for the premiere with him and the rest of the cast, because they were all SO excited for nick - they even had a watch party and they all watched it together when it came out, and on the day of the premiere they decorated nick's trailer with tiny handmade purple hearts which was super sweet and he was adorably blushy about it.

okay back to the casting announcement day.

we got the announcement and immediately EVERYONE was negative. and i'm not exaggerating. everyone said they looked nothing like the characters, they said taylor is too pretty to play alex, that neither of the boys deserves to play these characters bc they're both straight and "sTrAiGhT acToRs sHoULdn'T pLAy quEEr cHaRaCteRs." it was just CONSTANT negativity. if someone was excited they were made fun of. people would go into nick and taylor's comments on insta and say pretty bad things.

the fandom for the movie on tumblr was nonexistant tbh. there were a few people who were fans of the book and were very vocal about how awful the movie will be with those awful actors. see, people had fancasts for alex and henry and they weren't willing to let those go. even if the guy they had in mind for alex wasn't even mexican and the guy they had in mind for henry wasn't even an actor.

i was still patiently waiting for any news to come out and for tumblr to get on with the program. at the same time first updates accounts on the movie, firstprince and nick & tay started appearing on instagram so i was mostly there, having thought that tumblr will just hate this film forever. i reread the book then and having many feelings about it i went into the tumblr tag again - there wasn't much change, but there were a few people who seemed to be just as excited as i was and i would have blocked all the negative people back then.

one of the people i saw being excited about the movie and the boys was @sincenewyorks so after some time and after gathering some courage i messaged them and we talked. there were also a few other people who were being positive by then, but all in all the fandom was pretty small and people still negative especially when they found out that june and rafael luna won't be in the movie - that brought a whole new wave of hate. some hardcore book fans have already decided the film would be awful.

i was just happy to follow the boys and the rest of the cast through the filming process, a little bit here, but mostly on instagram and in private messages with like-minded people here.

fun fact: the nick and taylor tags on tumblr were practically empty by then - taylor's had a few gifs of his naked scenes from minx and a few gifs from the kissing booth. nick's tag was almost completely empty.

flash forward to the day we got the trailer. this is the day EVERYTHING changed, because the trailer came out and suddenly? all the haters went silent. (take into account the fact that i had blocked some of them already so that might also be why lol) and the movie started reaching more and more people. overnight there were a lot of gifs from the trailer and people started posting about the movie more.

in the following weeks, more and more people were talking about the movie and nick and taylor and the bad comments were mostly kept to minimum. we could all see how excited taylor and nick, but especially taylor were about the film.

the the strikes started and we were all heartbroken that the movie wouldn't get the premiere it deserved and secretly hoping the strikes would be done by the time the movie was supposed to come out, but that didn't happen, unfortunately.

then the movie came out and some people really loved it, some others said it was disappointing, there were a few really weird takes, but mostly people REALLY loved it. the fandom has already grown bigger at that point and there were many more people willing to freak out and talk about it. then people started watching nick's and taylor's previous movies as well and their tags filled out and the rest is history, i guess.

sorry that it got SO LONG omg. some people were annoying about the casting announcement, and there was a lot of negativity at first but to be honest? i still had so much fun and the whole experience will always remain in my heart as a positive one <3

if you have any other questions, please do ask me, i can always talk about it more, i love trips down the memory lane lol

[matthias-the-tulip]

my updated list of parts i hope they keep in the red, white & royal blue movie

(updated after i reread it in a day) (a lot of these are just funny lines that add absolutely nothing to the plot but they make me laugh)

• the MAGAZINE 😭

• “he has the personality of a cabbage.”

• “i want to hear you gush like he's your fucking prom date.”

• alex makes a long loud fart noise


• “i'm going to throw up on you” at the stables (doesn't look like they're at a stables in the trailer 😒)

• “i'd rather be waterboarded” also at the stables (again, doesn't look like they're at a stables)

• “i bet he has a secret lovechild,” nora says. “or he's gay. or he has a secret gay lovechild.”

“it's probably in case i see his equerry putting his batteries back in,” alex says.

• midnight ice cream on instagram

• “i didn't know you wore glasses.” (henry's wearing a suit not pyjamas and alex is not wearing glasses what's that all about!)

• awkward fist bump on “this morning” (does not look like it’s a chat show in the trailer but also would a royal even go on this morning)

• star wars stan henry 🥹

• “not impressed, just surprised.”

“at what?”

“that you actually have, you know, feelings.”

• henry is beginning to smile…

• “do you MIND?” in the cupboard at the hospital

• “you're not the prince of me” 😭

• “i'd rather not be the little spoon.”

• henry's feet in a mop bucket

• “locked in a cupboard with your elbow inside my rib cage.”

• “i cannot believe even mortal peril will not prevent you from being the way you are.”

• “are you psychoanalysing me? i don't think royal guests are allowed to do that.”

• “is that the time you threatened to push me into the thames?”

• “no booty calls.”

• “it was like you were trying to set him on fire with your mind.”

• june's (nora now i guess 😟) plot to murder woody allen

• “don't let the papers print lies about me after i've garroted myself with my tie.”

• “you are the thistle in the tender and sensitive arse crack of my life.”

• “yes, famously the most sinister of all animal sounds, the gobble.”

• “cornbread knows my sins.”

• the whole turkey situation really

• “buy a summer home in majorca with the turkey”

• MR WOBBLES

• “jabba” cakes.

• henry watching bake off

• “you're jeff goldblum”

• “yo there's a bond marathon on and did you know your dad was a total babe”.

“I BEG YOU TO NOT”

• “it sounds like you did your best.” 🥹

• the new year’s party being referred to as “the legendary balls-out bananas white house trio new year's eve party” (white house duo now 😭)

• “please do not attempt to steal my shine. you will fail and i will be embarrassed for you.”

• “says prince fucking charming.”

• get low playing at the new year’s eve party

• alex’s reaction to get low playing at the new year’s eve party

• “christ, you are as thick as it gets.”

• alex falling while running with june (nora now i guess 😟) cause he was thinking about henry

• “he's gay and you're hot, so.”

• “still waters, deep dicking.”

• “prince henry is a biscuit,” nora says,
“let him sop you up.”

• they know each other's sleep schedule and alex gets in a bad mood when he doesn't talk to him 🥹

• “you're not going to kill him, are you?” she says.
“probably not,” alex tells her

• “shut up, shut all the way up, oh my
god”

• alex pushing henry up against a wall!

• “i mean, er, should we, i dunno, slow down?”henry says, cringing so hard at himself that one eye closes. “go for dinner first, or-“

• hooking one knee around the back of alex's thigh 😉

• ”i'm going to die,” henry says helplessly.

“i'm going to kill you,” alex tells him.

“yes, you are,” henry agrees.

• alex fixing his hair for him 😢😢😢

• henry singing god save the queen (king i guess) to make his 🍆 go away

• “i am going to do very bad things to you, and if you fucking ghost me again, i’m going to get you put on a fucking no-fly list. got it?”

• “you were jealous,” alex says. “you want me.”

• henry calling alex bossy 😂

• alex literally just insulting henry while he’s going to town on him

• “do you ever stop talking?” henry says. “such a mouth on you.”

• “hi,” he says, when he reaches henry’s eye level.

“hello,” henry says back.

“i’m gonna take your pants off now,” alex tells him.

“yes, good, carry on.”

• fucking eyelashes

• when he's done, he presses a sticky kiss in the crease of alex's leg where he'd slung it over his shoulder

• the mattress shifts, and henry moves up to the pillows, nuzzling his face into the hollow of alex's throat. alex makes a vague noise of approval, and his arms fumble around henry's waist, but he's helpless to do much else.

• the tip of henry’s nose catching on alex’s

• “for fuck’s sake, man, you just had my dick in your mouth, you can kiss me goodnight.”

• monocles for babies 😂

• “i don’t like that look,” amy says. “you look…sweaty.”

• “what in the rich-white-people-sex-dungeon hell?”

• the whole polo kit situation. henry slowly putting his boot back on the floor

• “i’ve thrown men in the dungeons for less.”

“hey, don’t threaten me with a good time.”

• paris!!! leaving directions to the cheese

• “you're a mad, spiteful, unmitigated demon, and I'm going to kiss you until you forget how to talk.”

• birthday floggings et al and the buttercream!

• alex’s heart going weird at henry on the boat and having to put his head in his hands

• “i don't give a damn what joanne has to say, remus john lupin is gay as the day is long, and i won't hear a word against it.”

• “i will staple your dick to the inside of your leg”

• “i did get both of the gay kings.”

• “deflowering the darling of the republic.”

• “i'm not ... historically great at talking about things,” henry says.

“well, i wasn't historically great at blowjobs, but we all gotta learn and grow, sweetheart.”

“wasn't?"

“hey,” alex huffs. “are you trying to say i'm still not good at them?”

“no, no, i wouldn't dream of it,” henry says, and alex can hear the small smile in his voice. “it was just the first one that was.. well. it was enthusiastic, at least.”

“i don't remember you complaining…”

“yes, well, i'd only been fantasizing about it for ages.”

• baby. (!!!)

• “i miss you,” alex says before he can stop himself. he instantly regrets it, but henry says, “i miss you too.”

• “i want to ... put my fingers in his mouth...” she moans, sounding horrified.

• just the whole karaoke bar situation. plz. toilet stall hookup!

• “bisexuality is truly a rich and complex tapestry.”

• o captain, my captain

• “if only you had known the mighty work of thine loins would be undone by a gay heir who likes it when american boys with chin dimples are mean to him.”

• the fruity truth: my favourite english author is jane austen.

• “when at wimbledon”

• “i want to see a cage match between your grandmother (grandfather i guess) and this fucking ghoul running against my mom”

• “and you are good. most things are awful most of the time, but you're good.”

• “he is truly a picture, wearing an expression of bewildered panic and absolutely nothing else.”

• “jesus tits”

• henry falling out of the wardrobe and just. sitting on the floor. (zahra finds him in the wardrobe instead :()

• “i thought you were getting into international relations or something.”

“i mean, technically-“

• “you're literally putting your dick in the leader of a foreign state, who is a man, at the biggest political event before the election, in a hotel full of reporters, in a city full of cameras, in a race close enough to fucking hinge on some bullshit like this, like a manifestation of my fucking stress dreams, and you're asking me not to tell the president about it?”

• all of zahra's quips tbh - “every time i see you, it takes another year off my life.” - “ask me if i'm afraid of the crown.”

• SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATION WITH
FOREIGN MONARCHS: A GRAY AREA.

• EXPLORING YOUR SEXUALITY: HEALTHY, BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE WITH THE PRINCE OF ENGLAND?

• FEDERAL FUNDING, TRAVEL EXPENSES, BOOTY CALLS, AND YOU

• history, huh? bet we could make some. (the emails plz like i need at least some of them read aloud over a montage or something)

• “some saucy tart once tried to impugn my virtue against an oil painting of him, and in the halls of memory, some things demand context.”

• I GUESS THAT MAKES YOU. THE MF. NORTH STAR.

• “i thought you might need to, like, have a catholic moment about this or something?” 😭

• “santa maria is watching!”

• skinny dipping!!!

• “philip is the heir and i'm the spare, and if that nervy bastard has a heart attack at thirty-five and i've got malaria, whither the spare?”

• alex's meltdown outside kensington. very important. - “how 'bout i just keep yelling and we see which of the papers show up first!” he turns back to the window and starts flailing his arms too. “henry! your royal fucking highness!”

• “jesus, could you stop being an obtuse fucking asshole for, like, twenty seconds?”

• “i fucking love you, okay?” alex half yells, finally, irreversibly.

• “what do you want?”

“i want you-”

“then fucking have me.”

“-but i don’t want this.”

• “a whole lifetime of fine. that’s not good enough for me.”

• henry nuzzling his nose behind alex's ear.

• alex laughs and grabs his head and aggressively kisses his cheek, smashing his face into the pillow.

• “next time we shall visit some of the george Ill pieces and see if they burst into flame.”

• DANCING TO YOUR SONG IN THE MUSEUM

• “i completely fucking love you” and the ring and the chain

• “once shaan managed to dislodge him from the chandelier”

• henry’s email about memories and grief and the first time he saw alex

• “jesus, be a gay beard”

• henry and alex in the car after the fake date

• “i will physically fight your grandmother (grandfather i guess) myself if i have to, okay? and, like, she's (he’s) old. i know i can take her (him).”

“i wouldn't be so cocky,” henry says with a small laugh. “she's (he’s)full of dark surprises.”

• “your spine's a ridge i'd die climbing”

• “check the fucking news, you horny little miscreant”

• “it’s about to be gay DEFCON five in this administration.”

• “then fuck it.”

• the big group hug

• oscar saying “give ‘em hell.”

• “you're my mean friend.”

• “jumping off cliffs is kinda my thing”

• I 😭 LOVE 😭 HIM 😭 ON 😭PURPOSE 😭 they can't leave that out if they do i'll kill someone

• “what are we even defending here, philip? what kind of legacy? what kind of family, that says, we'll take the murder, we'll take the raping and pillaging and the colonizing, we'll scrub it up nice and neat in a museum, but oh no, you're a bloody poof? that's beyond our sense of decorum! i've bloody well had it. i've sat about long enough letting you and gran and the weight of the damned world keep me pinned, and i'm finished. i don't care. you can take your legacy and your decorum and you can shove it up your fucking arse, philip. i'm done.”

• “for what it's worth,” he says to philip, “that is the bravest son of a bitch i’ve ever met.”

• “we banged it out last night” + high five

• “i've been gay as a maypole since the day i came out of mum, philip.”

• all the support for them 🥹

• bea pouring the tea on philip's lap

• “you know, i think all that cocaine i did must’ve really done a job on my reflexes!”

• henry pulls alex close and kisses him, whispers, "i love you i love you i love you."

• never 😭 tell 😭 me 😭 the 😭 odds 😭

• “my life is a cosmic joke and you're not a real person”

• “you are the absolute worst idea i’ve ever had”

• “listen, you've had your first big sex scandal. no more sitting at the kids' table.”

• how to love each other in plain sight

• “holding henry’s hand atop his own knee” in the portrait

• “all this fundraising for sobriety is going to drive me to drink”

• “i'm the prince of...here” 😭

• “you spent a month of your gap year talking to yaks in mongolia, h.”

• “i know it's a lot, but you give people hope. so, get back out there and be alex.”

• the super six 😭 (fantastic five now i guess)

• the picture of them on the cover of the magazine

• henry fixing june's hair 🥹 (NORA NOW I GUESS 😟)

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I doubt Harry and Meghan will even release a Christmas card let alone one with a pic of the kids. They haven't bothered with a proper card like the royals do in the last couple of years, the last one I recall was a digital card with an image from one of their events, invictus I think.

I do agree something even if trivial will be announced on Catherine's birthday. They just can't help themselves. It's funny because it makes no difference to Catherine as other than her 40th she's never personally publicly marked her birthday and I doubt she cares if others use it as a day to get publicity for themselves.

BP putting it out that they're not invited for Christmas must hurt as they can't do their regular will they/won't they PR. They were using Charles Spencer for PR a couple of months ago but that stopped so maybe he told them to shut up.

I do wonder if Harry is missing Christmas with the family even if he claims he didn't enjoy it. This year has shown he is on the outside and I think Harry and Meghan do spend too much time scouring the internet so they will see all the BRF events and see all the family together.

Harry and Meghan would probably find plenty of things to complain about even if they were invited but it is sad for the kids. All the cousins will see each other during the early Dec Christmas lunch and then at Sandringham all or most of the late Queen's great-grandchildren will spend the day together.

Maybe the new PR will be to complain about not getting an invite and being excluded from family events. Who would have sympathy for that I don't know but I can't think of anything else they can do in the run up to Christmas.

Thanks for sharing!

We now have an idea of the Sussexes' Christmas PR:

Meghan is back on her "together we cook" strategy exploiting supporting immigrant women. She had an exclusive interview last week. I think we'll see something else pop up this week as we go into Thanksgiving and a Round Three sometime during the Christmas season.

the polo documentary, the trailer for which is getting panned and panned badly enough that gossip is leaking out from the polo world about what they think of all this (Nacho is losing deals, Harry has been PNG'd from some places, and many actual polo people declined being involved).

Harry is hosting a virtual Christmas party with Scotty's Little Soldiers. That'll get him a few media cycles of attention, especially if he drip-drips information.

the Tyler Perry award and gala. It sounds like the Sussexes are on the planning committee but I'd be surprised if they actually have a role other than to walk the red carpet since they haven't done anything to/for/with Tyler than to live in his house and allegedly terrorize his staff.

All of that is just through the first third of December, to December 10th.

In the second third of December (Dec 11ish to Dec 20ish), I think we'll see some "Harry and the Royals" PR mid-December, perhaps coinciding with the annual Windsor pre-Christmas luncheon. I also expect the Sussexes' Christmas card to come by then too - but whether it's from Archewell or Sussex Royal or them personally or separately, I have no idea.

In the last third of December (Dec 20ish to Dec 31ish), I think we'll get some more Vancouver Invictus content to start the ramp up towards the actual event. Maybe a cheesy New Year's Eve message or video copying the Waleses' end-of-summer video (since Lady C's gossip - which I don't trust or find accurate but I do think is entertaining - is that the video angered Meghan and she began scheming a 'family togetherness' strategy).

Also switching to the Waleses for a second, since Kate has been providing quarterly updates on her health (March, June, September), it's likely she could provide another update in the December/January timeframe. My sense is that it will probably be part of 'Together at Christmas' but I can see her doing something in January to mark her birthday. We'll see.

[shadowfreak98]

❤ TF ONE STORY TIME! #2 ❤

So for this story time, I am going to share my thoughts and opinions BEFORE I ended up seeing the movie. These were my raw, unfiltered opinions before seeing the movie! First impressions and then expectations, all that jazz. Let's get into it!~

So I had prior knowledge of Transformers One around June, 2023... Just after the release of Rise of the Beasts, my brother had told me that our local theater was going to be showing TF One the following year, late 2024. I was... skeptical to say the least. I didn't really know how to feel about it, and I didn't really look into much on it.

December rolled around and he spilled more news about TF One being an animated feature, as well as having a cast of big name actors. This had my hopes lowered even further. Rumor had it that Optimus Prime was going to be played by Chris Hemsworth and NOT Peter Cullen, etc. etc. I have a track record of having a rather severe distaste of actors playing voice roles [COUGH COUGH... Chris Pratt... COUGH COUGH]... However, I am also willing to give it a chance despite my complaints. So, ultimately, this wound up getting shrugged off.

April 18th, 2024 - First trailer drops. I watched it... and I have to admit... I hated it. [Who thought "Start Me Up" by Rolling Stones was a good trailer song for this movie? Fire them. Every AD, and trailer tries this 80s Nostalgia Bait, and think it's clever. It's not. PLEASE STOP.] Immediately, I wrote it off as another generic kids' film that was going to leave me feeling empty as both a movie-goer and a Transformers fan. I didn't like the art style (at first!!), the music was a god-awful choice to try and hook me, and overall it didn't grab me one bit. I felt so let down after it... but not hopeless.

Despite all of this negativity and disappointment I had in it... I had this shred of hope deep inside me. I had this feeling like... something just wasn't adding up. That... maaaybe, by some miracle this movie was going to be decent at best. Call it blind optimism.

My brother, on the other hand, had zero faith in this film. He was certain that it was going to be a trash movie for children, and was adamant when I tried to show hope in it. So, we agreed to disagree until the movie came out...

TIME SKIP aaaall the way to September... I had skipped out on all the trailers to come after that awful first one. I had forgotten the movie even existed, until my brother came up to me the night of the test screening. He told me that he was gonna cave and go see it, then report back to me...

3 AM - My brother comes home from work... and he was BEGGING me to go an see it. A small part had me felt triumphant, as I had held out hope for the movie... and here my brother was imploring that I go an see it with him; insisting that I was going to LOVE IT.

The next Monday, we go and see it... and I fell in love with Transformers all over again. I blew it up my group chats, to my oldest internet buddies, EVERYONE I KNEW was going to know how much I love and adored this film! I watched it as many times as I could, despite my limitations. I have not been that passionate about a movie since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [a movie I went to see 7 times in the theater].

Though I couldn't go and see it as many times as Sonic 2, Transformers One beat it as one of [if not] my favorite movies of all time. [Sonic 3 has a hard contender now... We'll see what my verdict is when December rolls around.]

HAA... I am content now that I have finally shared my tidbits on this movie. I perhaps have one more story I could tell about it...? Not sure there is really enough talking points tho. It would mostly be me ranting and raving to my family about the movie, and driving them insane. Nothing too noteworthy.

BUT ANYWAY, I got some stuff to do. So I should be off to do that before my hands fall off from typing so much Ha.

Love y'all!~

[video-gh0st]

So back in June I watched all the Ghostbusters films cause it was the anniversary of the original movie and I thought I'd do a quick bullet point review since it's been a bit since I watched them all together.

Ghostbusters (1984)

It's still a classic. Has memorable moments that will live on.

Fun scenes. Going after Slimer is always silly and chaotic.

Peter Venkman is a rough. I actually had a person tell me that Venkman is the reason why they never watched the first movie, and I don't blame them.

Wish there was a bit more build up to the confrontation with Gozer. Would be neat if they kept uncovering clues rather than just the moment they figured it out in the jail cell.

Ghostbusters II (1989)

I don't know why people dunk on this movie, it's great!

You can tell the cast and crew are having more fun and things are a bit more fleshed out.

Venkman actually has some good character growth and is not a total creep!

I actually like the build up to the climax on this one. Throughout the movie, there's a focus on the slime buildup in the city and the flow of the story feels good.

Some fun light scares.

I kinda don't like the whole "the ghosts just stop showing up" thing. It's a trope specifically for this franchise that's not really explained. Just "yeah nothing happened between the movies and people think, we're frauds again! Gotta do it all over again!"

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)

This movie gets a lot of undeserved hate thrown towards it for being the female lead reboot. A bunch of misogynist trolls threw a fit and never gave it a shot the moment it was announced.

The cast was great tbh. Everyone seemed to gel with one another.

Chris Hemsworth plays a himbo and we see him with his shirt off.

I really like the main antagonist in this movie. I think his character could have been fleshed out a bit more, but still fun idea.

The gear looks really cool in this movie.

Some scenes do keep going a bit too long and has like not good Saturday Night Live skit energy. I think they relied a bit too much on improv.

How the fuck is Chris Hemsworth the funniest motherfucker alive and why is he so cute?

There's a teeny tiny bit a queerness in this story, but I also feel like there's themes of found family going on here too and I like that.

Chris Hemsworth plays a himbo and we see him with his shirt off.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Trailers do this movie a disservice by making it feel like it's going for a Stranger Things feel, kinda relying a bit too much on nostalgia or even doing the "wow kids these days." It just felt like they didn't have any confidence on the movie itself when marketing this tbh.

The tone is a bit more serious, but honestly I'm fine with it. Still has some funny moments, but it's leaning more into the horror part a bit more.

Watching Phoebe learn more about her grandfather is honestly fun. And this movie does a great job with handing things off to a new generation in a way that doesn't feel like it's disingenuous.

Literally cried at the end. Honestly that ending felt wonderful and it felt like a good tribute to Harold Ramis.

I don't know why, but my first watch of this last year wasn't as good as the second watch this year. I don't know what happened. But I remember the first time I watched this and felt like it was just ok but not my favorite. Maybe it was just a bit of frustration that the sequel to Answer the Call got cancelled before it could even get into full production.

I appreciate the movie using some practical effects. There are just certain elements that you can't mess with in Ghostbusters movie and they nailed it.

Muncher is my least favorite ghost tbh. Idk, there are people who love Muncher and I do like the tardigrade inspired design, but idk, they didn't appeal to me like the other ghosts did.

[sleepdeprivedblond]

What my theories on season 2 were, and how everything actually turned out

so. I made these theories on Good Omens season 2 right after I watched the trailer in June, so I'm going to answer with what actually happened (I dont know why I'm doing this, please bare with me)

Crowley is going on a mission in Heaven and gets discovered (maybe in the elevator)

not wrong!! but Crowley did not seem to care about getting discovered, especially after he found out the truth about Gabriel

Aziraphale is angry at Crowley for a while (maybe because he went to Heaven and considered it too dangerous??)

again, not wrong! but it's way more complicated than that. Azi is angry at Crowley because his first intention was to leave him on his own with the Gabriel/Jim situation.

love triangle?

Fuck yeah, I was wrong about that one. even while thinking of it back then, I did NOT want that to happen.

Crowley gets jealous of how much time Aziraphale spends with Gabriel/Jim

yeah, not really. Crowley is mostly scared about Gabriel/Jim and what he might do to Aziraphale, but he's not really jealous... at least I did not read it like that.

Heaven sets up a trap

maybe it would have been cool, but it didn't happen!!

a lot of pining

YEP. NOTHING MORE TO SAY. I mean, let's be honest, this reason was hella romantic.

Michael / the angels are looking for a way to make Aziraphale fall (are they responsible for Gabriel/Jim's condition??)

the first part is not true at all, althought it could have been interesting. but I was right about the second part! Heaven is entierely responsible for Gabriel/Jim's condition

Gabriel/Jim basically has a redemption arc

Yep, I foretold the future here.

Sorry for how long this post was, I just really wanted to do one like this! Hope you enjoyed, and don't hesitate to share you pre-season 2 theories below!!

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Well This Looks Pretty Damn Cool!

At long last... NIMONA, visually in motion! And a concrete release date, too. June 30th. Same day as DreamWorks' RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN, which will be rolling in theaters. I wish we could this very gorgeous and dynamic-looking picture on the big screen too, but... Oh well...

Anyways, not much for me to say other than it looks every bit as cool as I imagined. Another CG-but-painted-looking movie, with some very smooth work and such a cool look. It looks way more like a classic 2D animated picture, or a really painterly indie game.

Arriving now, this picture was about 3/4 done in animation before the studio it originated from, Blue Sky Studios, was shut down by The Walt Disney Company's former CEO. I'd like to think a lot of what we're seeing here was laid down in 2020/early 2021, so in a way, it was doing some neat stuff before other neat stuff came out. Namely THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, ARCANE: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, and PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. The picture was in the works for a while, too, under FEAST director Patrick Osborne at first (later taken over by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, of SPIES IN DISGUISE), and I'd assume it was always aiming for this kind of look, pre-SPIDER-VERSE even.

It's also refreshing to see a big-time animated movie with more of a, shall I say... Mischievous bent to it? Not quite moral protagonist, for starters, and that's on full display here in the trailer... if the first-look images released in the lead-up to this trailer's release didn't already spell it out for you. That smile of hers just got more and more (delightfully) devilish with each new image. That's good, we need more variety in PG-level stories. Nothing wrong with protagonists who are a little bit on the bad side. Worked okay enough for DESPICABLE ME and MEGAMIND. From the graphic novel synopsis, it seems like it's going to be a very subversive take on good and evil, if the law is actually right or not (very timely, I'd say), etc. Maybe our leads aren't so bad after all, I've got some reading to do!

I still consider this to be a Blue Sky movie, their final film - partially... A bittersweet coda to their long existence. The movie was 75% done before the plug was pulled, and reports have said that the crew did NOT start from scratch after production resumed... and I'd imagine a lot of what was finished was kept in the movie despite some things I've heard it about being significantly retooled after Annapurna and Netflix picked it up. I'd imagine there were some things the directors and writing team could get away with there that they couldn't under Disney. There were reports from former Blue Sky crew members that Disney higher ups did push back on things in the movie. Keep in mind, Disney was going to release Pixar's LIGHTYEAR without the lesbian kiss - a barely second-long scene, until they faced pressure due to the former CEO's initial support of that wet-sandwich Florida governor's draconian anti-LGBTQIA+ nonsense. STRANGE WORLD, as we all know, was straight up dumped with very muted fanfare. NIMONA's poster curiously lists Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor as the writers. Years prior, the movie was being written by Marc Haimes, a writer on Shannon Tindle's meditative Laika wonder KUBO & THE TWO STRINGS. (Just so you know, that picture was largely taken away from him.) Haimes is credited as "Story by", including a curiously large amount of people including the two screenwriters and the two directors, in addition to two other people: Pamela Ribon and Keith Bunin... That's... Quite a lot of writers on this one.

Either way, I'm excited nonetheless. Forward-thinking visuals, LGBTQIA+ representation, a seemingly new kind of story for this animated feature format, something a little edgier... Might just be "the one that got away" from Disney, may even cost them their usual Oscar win come this winter. I will consider this film to be Blue Sky's swan song, I hope they get some kind of mention in the credits...

Speaking of Disney... Not cool that they're flat-out removing movies and shows from Disney+, amidst a writer's strike, and some with LGBTQIA+ themes and content... Right before Pride Month. I don't understand why removing something they made and/or own from a service, and having it not be available anywhere else, helps anybody. Them, or the market... At the very least, they can put some of these movies, such as the Howard Ashman documentary HOWARD, on physical media. Nasty side effects of what David Zaslav did to Warner Bros.' library and all the content purges happening under his leadership there. Capitalism, how you don't make any sense...

Somewhere buried in all the Cannes Film Festival news is the selling of an animated feature called THE GROWCODILE, a little romp about a young girl hiding her ever-growing pet croc from her shoe store-owning father, and the adventure she goes on with her grandfather to give the animal a new home. It's based on a book, and will be directed by Cartoon Saloon veterans Joost Van Den Bosch and Erik Verkerk.

What else? Awkwafina has been cast in KUNG FU PANDA 4... Apparently. I'm not sure how reputable "The Hollywood Handle" is, a site I've barely ever heard of... but if she's onboard, I wonder who she will be voicing. She was, after all, in DreamWorks' own THE BAD GUYS as Ms. Tarantula. The villainous Chameleon is said to be a female character, so I wouldn't be surprised if she plays the main antagonist in this. From bad guy to really bad guy.

That's pretty much all the big animation news I can think of, but... Yeah... NIMONA, finally around the corner, and we finally get to see how it actually moves and plays out...

[ericaportfolio]

I was wondering if you could tell me more abour your Hello Puppets universe

Pardon me, this post is going to be a long one. Surprise, I was inspired by reading fanfics online from the completed and the incomplete. I made the characters for everyone to use for their fanfics, and it blossomed from there. I like the idea of a bunch of college students who are the last people we think would save the world from a bunch of murderous puppets about to start a puppet zombie apocalypse and the need for a happy Scout for once. I even have some drawing ideas for possible scenarios of what can go down in the story if Host (or I call him Adam from the fanfic by Vast_Horizon, Stitches) and Scout both survived the original game. However, like in Dracula, after escaping the nightmare, in this case, Handeemen HQ, the horrors follows the characters home endangering everyone they know, love, and meet. Hey, Actions have Consequences!!! Despite not fully Adam and Scout's faults. So yeah, these character designs are free for everyone to use and to rename for their AUs as long I'm credited in the design part. This is each of the characters so far from the ones I made, characters from the games, and game trailers…

Adam: Our Average Joe, Adam, lived a decently normal life but wants to have some adventures, but didn't ask to become a 'volunteer host' for a puppet takeover. The reason Adam is in this mess, he included Mortimer's Handeemen at the number one spot in a top ten ideas for a drinking game in an article he wrote. It bit his hand eventually when Adam got sent for a last-minute Halloween article for the college paper. For us who played or watched both games, this didn't end well for Adam. I ironically made Host Adam similar to Owen with some differences. Like it was destiny for someone like Adam to come to the Handeemen HQ. Be free to create theories on how Owen and Adam (or your chosen name) are connected. Crazy coincidence that Mortimer took advantage of to get back to the old days messing with Owen, an unknown child/grandchild, lost relatives, etc. Go wild!!!

Cassandra: Cassandra, the editor who sent Adam in the first place. The opposite of Riley Ruckus where she happily says "More Data!", you hear Cassandra stress scream "More Deadlines!".

Scout Harper (Insert Last Name): Survivor of the Handeemen Fire turned college professor and loving mother of another college student, Eve, Adam meets in the sketch comic I made. However, her world shatters again when Adam introduces the puppet, Scout.

Eve: Scout Harper's daughter who once loved the Mortimer's Handeemen TV show, until Adam got kidnapped by them. Yes, I named Eve after the story of Adam and Eve and Paradise Lost.

Jeff: The unknown guy with anger issues from the TV interview in the Midnight Show’s Announcement Trailer claiming the puppets caused the fire that I just named him Jeff. I made Jeff a gas station owner who warns anyone not to be out alone at night or never be near the former HQ to anyone who listens. Adam should of listen to him.

I also made three other students who are friends with Adam. If in the Stitches fanfic as an example, they could be Tyler, Stacy (who was also inspired by the fanfic Outside by CreativeSkull), and June. However, be free to rename them in your stories if you wish. If anyone has something in mind for a quick request of these characters in your AUs, be free to ask me anytime as long it follows my ask rules.

Special thanks to Zen at @a-vast-horizon for letting me use the names from his fanfic (Adam and Cassandra).

And reference credit to CreativeSkull: https://creativeskull95.tumblr.com/

[nolanhollogay]

❛ i’m not afraid of you. ❜

vincetate ! [everyone but me boos]

+

As abnormal as it may seem, Tate was comfortable with the weight of a gun in his hand. He'd been doing shooting practice in the backyard for years at this point, since his 13th birthday. (All he'd wanted that year was a new bike. Instead he got a pistol.)

Since then, every first Saturday of the month, he'd shoot at targets. Well, except for those two godawful months in New York – which was incredibly ironic given that it could be argued he'd need a gun more there than in Woodsboro.

Seeing as it was the first Saturday of June, Tate was behind the trailer, gun in hand. His dad named her Monica, after some sitcom character who apparently looked just like his mom. Tate didn't use the name, or see the resemblance.

His dad watched as he shot at the paper targets he'd hung that morning, face crinkled in concentration.

"Aim for the head, Tater Tot," he said, lazily. He was daydrinking again, a can of beer in the cupholder of the chair he was sitting in.

Tate groaned. His aim was shit, no matter what he did. "You know I'm not good at this."

"That's why we practice," his dad said, sweetly, voice gentle. He rarely yelled, even when Tate did stupid shit, even when he was so pissed off he couldn't find the words. Tate loved him for it. "I'm gonna go order pizza. You keep trying, alright?"

"Yeah, dad." He waited until his dad was inside to pull out his phone, the arm holding the gun dropping to his side.

He was met with his usual notifications. Tara and Mindy having a heated debate about a horror movie – in this case, Hereditary – in the group chat, with Wes trying to get them to relax. An Instagram notification from Nancy, who posted yet another picture of her dog. A text from Chad.

Heart sinking then rising like he was on a rollercoaster, he clicked on the text.

From: chad !!

are you going to be MIA all summer? we miss you :( and you know the gc can't handle tara and mindy and their snobby horror shit without you to play moderator

He was about to type out a response, an explanation that he needed to watch over his dad, but his attention was pulled away by the sharp sound of a whistle.

Eyes flying up, he was met with Vince Schneider, one of Woodsboro's finest.

"Hi, Sheriff Jr. It's good to see you," he said, smiling like he knew something Tate didn't. He was hot in that disgusting, greasy mechanic, line cook who didn't bathe kind of way. Tate wasn't above admitting that he was kind of attracted to him, especially when he smiled at him like that.

Still, he was a sleazeball and not worth Tate's time. "Why are you in my yard?"

Vince smiled even wider, tilting his head. "A man can't take a walk?"

"That doesn't explain why you're in my yard."

Tate's phone lit up in his hand again. Another text from Chad.

From: chad !!

tateeeee :( reply to meeeee

Vince's eyes danced with amusement. Sadly, Tate's stomach swooshed a little at the sight. "A man can't stop his walk to appreciate a pretty boy?"

Tate rolled his eyes, fluttery feelings gone as soon as they came. "Get off my property."

Vince stepped into his personal space, so close their feet were touching. He smelt like used matches and cigarettes and musky cologne. Tate didn't hate it. "You wanna say that again? Put some more bass in your voice?"

Tate scoffed. "I'm not afraid of you."

Vince raised an eyebrow before he smiled again. "And why not?"

Tate raised his right hand. "Because I'm literally holding a gun."

They were standing close enough for Tate to watch him swallow harshly. Though he tried not to show it, fear was evident on his face, for just a moment.

"You're bolder than you look, Sheriff Jr. I like it," he said.

Tate scoffed. "I don't care what you like. Get out of my yard."

Vince laughed, smiling again. "You know, for some reason I don't think that's true.."

From inside the trailer, Tate's dad shouted, "Tate, do you want sausage or pepperoni?"

Vince's smile stayed plastered on his face as he stepped back, brushing his hand on Tate's arm. "I'll see you around, Sheriff Jr."

Tate was a bit ashamed by the blush in his cheeks as he watched him go.

"Tate?" his dad called, and he jumped.

"Sorry, I was zoning out! Sausage!" he said, as he looked back to his phone.

He paused, trying to figure out what to say to Chad. It didn't feel right to mention his interaction with Vince. It felt like.. a betrayal even though nothing had happened, and nothing would happen.

Maybe he could just keep this to himself.

To: chad !!

sorry! shooting practice today, u know how my dad is

[benis-chillin]

Backlog Reviews 2024: Fallout New Vegas

Platform: PC

April 27th, 2024-June 23rd, 2024(didn't finish)

Been a minute, hasn't it?

As I noted at the end of my Metroid Dread review, I took a break from my backlog to let my carpal tunnel settle for a bit, and it did, even as I played Resident Evil: Deadly Silence on an old DS Lite whenever I had to wait 15 or so minutes while my mom tanned on the way to my plasma donations. After that, I decided to try out Fallout: New Vegas since it was a small game in terms of space, and it was a Christmas gift from a friend.

My first impressions were a little rough, as I got used to the sometimes awkward controls, and I got vilified within my first little bit of being in Goodsprings because I decided to shoot what I THOUGHT was a wild animal…That ended up being owned livestock, so I had to kill the owner in self-defense.

Then I had to kill a guy who saw me kill THAT guy, again in self defense.

Maybe it was my face? Idk.

Anyway, I finally got my vibe going when I discovered the console commands, and activated God Mode, thus allowing me to settle into a dream of being an invulnerable cyborg cowboy who's sort of a lawful neutral, with no restraint about killing bad people, and helping out where he can. This path led me to doing things like slaughtering the Powder Gangers after they killed an entire town, save the Ghouls from the Nightkin and achieve their goal of rocketing towards a new land, and I ultimately helped Boone kill the person who killed his wife, leading to him joining me and becoming my heterosexual life partner.

Wandering around was also a big part of the fun, finding new shit to do while classic songs on the radio fuel the atmosphere. I got Johnny Guitar stuck in my head a few times, but the immersion was worth it.

All of this is well and good, and I was enjoying this feeling of forging my own path…Until I avenged myself and got the people who had mugged me. Then the game just kinda lost all momentum. So I figured, "Okay, time to wrap it up." and looked up the quickest ending, which was the House ending.

And I couldn't bring myself to finish it because it was not only kinda long in its own right, but also went entirely against what I'd been doing this whole time. It felt wrong and gross for the character I had created, and I was only doing it so I could finally be DONE with all of this nonsense.

It reminded me of my first time playing Shadow the Hedgehog, and just doing a regular story playthrough. I wanted to do a more heroic playthrough, but often got stuck due to various factors. I wanted to destroy all of the Black Arms in Westopolis, but I had to just get the goal ring because I can't find them to this day. I wanted to save Cream in Cryptic Castle, but I couldn't find her. I got tricked into thinking the switches in Glyphic Canyon were a necessity, but that was just for the dark path. I got an evil ending, but I didn't WANT that. The game advertised itself as letting me choose the ending, but rarely have I ever gotten one that was satisfying in that scenario…Or even the ending I was TRYING to work for.

And that's how I felt about New Vegas. I lost the immersion once my character's goal was completed. And maybe someday, I'll come back, load up an older save, and do what I want to do. But for now, I'm gonna leave it alone.

6/10

Next time, my air conditioner is out, so I need to do some games I can sit in front of my window unit to play until the weather cools down a bit or we get it fixed. Thus, inspired by the recent trailer trailer for Metroid Prime 4, I'm doing Metroid Prime Hunters! See ya then!

[hargrove-mayfields]

It’s finally day one of @harringroveweek! Yay!

The prompt I went with for the 24th was: [Holiday] In the Summer! Here goes!

It’s late June again. School’s out, Max is turning 15. Three days away from the one year anniversary of when shit started going wrong.

Ideally, Billy wants to spend it moping; Honestly that’s how he spends most of his time anymore.

Since getting out of the hospital, since moving into a trailer with the Mayfields, since- well, everything- he just doesn’t have the motivation for much. Or the ability. Though that’s harder to admit.

So even though it’s the little shits birthday, and he spent the morning helping Susan tape balloons to the TV set and shit since he couldn’t sleep anyways, he didn’t expect the day to go much different than any other.

He’d tell the little brat happy birthday and be on his way with lying around and hating himself. Fun.

And then he found a spare party invitation on the calendar, that he’d either not noticed all month, or had just been out there this morning.

Tearing it off of the tack, he drops it on the dining table in front of Max, making the rickety old thing wobble slightly, “All of your nerds are coming here? Today?”

Matching his annoyed tone, Max looks up at him like he’s an idiot, that judgemental glare he’s so used to by now settled in her expression, “Uh, yes. It’s my birthday, asshole.”

Okay, he probably deserved that.

Still, he scoffs at her attitude and pulls the chair out next to her, “Aren’t most of those losers like, loaded? Can’t they host you or some shit?”

“No! Billy, it’s the first holiday of our summer break and I want to spend it at our new place.” Max says it like it’s a matter of fact that can’t be argued with, but Billy has to interrupt, “But your birthday ain’t a real holiday, Maxine.”

He can practically hear her eyes roll, having obviously struck a nerve as she crosses her arms and over explains in retaliation, “Shut up. I know that. But after what happened, it’ll be nice to celebrate something that doesn’t involve fireworks and crazy family members and nasty picnic food for a change.”

“Whatever.” He lets her have that. In the grand scheme of things, he doesn’t give a shit about any of this either way.

But then she makes this weirdly smug face instead, acting like she’s about to get him back or something with a simple comment, “Steve Harrington will be here.”

Best he can give is a half-hearted shrug, “So?”

She shifts to face him in her chair, obviously frustrated with his lack of cooperation with whatever idiotic plan she cooked up in her mind, “C’mon, I thought you liked Steve.”

Billy pretends he doesn’t feel his face heat up at that remark, or at least the personal context behind it, maybe being a little too defensive in his comeback, “Can I tolerate him more than the rest of the dipshits you hang out with? Sure. Do I particularly like him? Absolutely not.”

“You’re so picky. At least he talks to you. When was the last time you heard from any of your own friends?” It’s in her tone that he knows she doesn’t really get what she’s talking about, or understand why he’s been so distant. That his best friend didn't make it out like he did and now he’s all alone. So again, he just lets it go.

Saves this particular argument for later and tries changing the subject in a way, “Look. I just still don’t forgive him for lying. Or totaling my car.”

She doesn’t appreciate having her sarcasm dished back in her bratty face though, and she makes it known by shaking her head, a frizzy mess of slept-on hair he’s probably going to begrudgingly help Susan detangle later shaking at him too, and declares, “I’m not even going to acknowledge what you just said.”

“It’s true.”

“Yeah, whatever.” There’s this break in the conversation, and Billy thinks he’s done being annoyed, out of the woods for a few moments of peace, until Max starts up again. At least this time, there’s a bit of honesty in her voice, “You know, maybe you’re just comfortable like this, pushing everyone away. But I had to learn how to accept that sometimes, not everyone is out to get you, and I think you should too.”

But it’s uninvited honesty all the same, and it makes Billy feel strange, some barely fifteen year old girl preaching at him like that. There’s some sort of equally genuine answer dancing at the back of his thoughts, but he shuts it- and Max -down, “Since when were you my therapist?”

“Doesn’t matter, because I mean it.” Her posture straightens, knowing she’s won for now, “If you don’t come outside during my party, I will personally see to it that you are dragged along to every single gathering we have from now on. Every. Single. One.”

“Fine. I’ll participate. But only because I don’t want to be subjected to your dorky bullshit for the rest of my miserable life. I didn’t survive what I did just for that.”

“Aw, but now you’re going to miss Mews 2’s gotcha day party at Dustin’s next week.”

“Thank god for that. I might’ve just-“ Nowadays there's a tube that’s doing most of his breathing for him, since the massive hole in his chest still hasn’t quite fixed itself. He takes the opportunity to pinch it between two fingers, pretend to twist it, make a statement here that doesn’t need more explaining.

Because quite frankly, he would rather suffocate than go to a birthday for a cat with a handful of freshmen as his company. He misses being invited to parties that mattered.

Max doesn’t budge, if anything getting more stern, “No jokes like that on my birthday.”

“When did you become such a bitch?”

“Since I started spending more time with you.” As much as that stings in some backwards way, Billy cracks a smile. She probably had learned that from him, and they both know it. He almost feels proud even if she still won’t shut up, “But, because I’m actually trying to enjoy my hurtling advancement towards death, when my friends get here, do me a favor and don’t bother us with your dumb ‘jokes’.”

“What is it? I have to be outside, or I’m not even allowed to talk to you?”

“Both. Because I want you to sit with Steve.”

All this talk about someone he definitely used to have a flaming crush on isn’t good for Billy’s heart this early in the morning. Well, maybe it’s not that bad and it’s just his ego that’s in danger, but he complains about it all the same, “Why are we talking about Harrington again?”

“Well you know Dustin is going to bring him along, and then Steve’s going to be weird and he’s not going to want to do any birthday stuff with us because he’s older but he’s not going to want to be awkward so he’s gonna do it anyways, but he’ll just end up confused and annoyed and he’ll start whining about it and picking on us and-“ Max rambles on and on, so Billy decides to cut her off before she’s the one running out of air, “Alright. I’ll babysit the babysitter. Jesus.”

“Thank you, Billy.” Max wears the brightest shit eating grin, displaying all that righteousness right back in his face, “Just for that, I’ll re-invite you to Mews’ Party.”

Totally out of comebacks that aren’t way too harsh for her sensibilities, he can’t help but take her spot as the eye-rolling bitch then, “Gee, thanks.”

And then she’s off like a bat out of hell into the rest of her day, leaving him in this confused whirlwind of way too much happening all around him. In his state, it’s a lot of work just watching her skit around the tiny trailer like it isn’t a prison, and maybe it isn’t for her, not with how excited she is anyway.

So Susan and Max pretty much have the party handled from there. The most Billy ends up really doing is zip-tying a banner to the dogs kennel and stacking up some drink cups. It felt pretty shitty knowing that he’s not even strong enough to carry a card table from a few feet from the shed to the yard. Lucky for him, it’s easy enough, with all the other dramatics he tends to pull in a day, to play it off as pure disinterest.

Around when it starts getting hot out the rest of the shitbirds start showing up by the car-full, so it’s time for Billy to double down on his aura of definitely not wanting to be fucked with. He sits by the corner of the porch, the furthest spot from the hotspot of attention that is that new rat-dog and the only place in their new yard with any damn shade, and hides his face in a solo cup full of lemonade that definitely hasn’t been spiked with a little bit of Susan’s sherry, no sir.

The brooding older brother that nobody likes is not a hard part for him to play. They keep their distance and he keeps his easy peace. He might actually be enjoying this little summer party they’ve put together, if not just because it gets him out of that tiny fucking trailer for a few hours and out in the open air.

Until his little bubble of solitude bursts, Max’s wish for him has come true.

Barely an hour into the thing, Steve Harrington saunters over, just as awkwardly as the birthday brat described. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and his posture is way over-practiced. Looks like they may have both been forced to socialize. Billy wonders vaguely if he’d been blackmailed too before Steve breaks the silence with a stiff, “Hey.”

A non-committal gruff is Billy's only initial response. He’d like to maybe say more, but he doesn’t trust himself yet. He likes keeping to himself more anyways.

“You look pretty unenthused with all this.” Steve prompts, stupidly observant and painfully tense. Almost charming, somehow. Chalk it up to old feelings.

“Yeah, well, excuse me if I’m not thrilled about being stuck out in this humidity, playing babysitter for a group of kids that don’t even like me, with nobody else to talk to but my stepmom and some- random high school wash up.” Billy doesn’t know why he let all that come pouring out. Was it not a few seconds ago he decided he wasn’t going to do this?

He’ll blame it on a head injury or something.

“That’s how all the holiday parties go with these kids. You get used to it.” Steve shrugs, carrying on the same dry conversation until realization of Billy’s harshness and the implications of it hits him, “Wait, what-“

He doesn’t acknowledge it, maybe out of guilt for snapping and not totally just to save his ass, though that’s only for himself to know and think about, “Since when do unpopular dorks’ fifteenth birthday parties qualify as an official summer holiday? That’s the second time I heard that today.”

“I guess it’s just a matter of wanting to celebrate for once. You have to admit last summer sucked pretty bad for these kids. What’s the big deal if they want to act like birthday parties are the biggest event of the year?”

That description is so sweet, it almost doesn’t fill Billy with bitterness. Almost.

He mentions, either fishing for sympathy or for something to fight about, fine with whichever Harrington is willing to give him, “I didn’t even get a card.”

“When was your birthday?”

“Does it matter?”

“Uh, obviously it does. I asked for a reason.” Wisdom to curiosity to offense. This boy is truly giving Billy a run for his money in the confusing motives and twisting others’ words competition. A man after his own heart.

“Since when did you care what happened to me?” Billy demands a little harsher than he means to, and Steve must get that because, “I think we’re getting a little deeper than birthday cards here..”

Which, yeah, he’s absolutely right about that, but he doesn’t need the context. For Billy’s sake mostly, because it’s trauma Harrington wouldn’t understand combined with that dreamy crush on him that apparently just keeps coming back that’s making him so defensive over every word that the other could come up with.

And even if he’s more clever than he seems, and genuinely interested in what Billy’s talking about, and definitely still just as pretty as he was in high school, Billy figures, it’s better to scare him off now. Save himself the torment.

He can’t have what he wants, so he’ll just be a bitch about it or something. Maybe that is where Max learned her tricks.

So, even though Steve is right, Billy refutes it, in the most bitchy, inconsiderate way possible, which is to say he’s overcompensating for his dumb school boy crush, “We’re not, actually. You’re just being nosy. Because of course King Steve’s got to keep stroking his ego. As if showing up here wasn’t enough.”

Looking genuinely exasperated, a good sign for the sanctity of Billy’s secret, Steve asks, “What are you even on about anymore, Hargrove?”

“I know you’re somewhat of a dunce, but isn’t it obvious? I mean, if you wanted dirt on me, you could’ve just asked Max. She doesn’t exactly give a damn about me, so you didn’t even have to show up here, but you did anyway.” Yeah, that’s definitely a projection issue there. Better to let him think he’s become neurotic than to give off that he’s a queer.

At least Steve has the backbone to argue with him, “Uh, newsflash Hargrove. Not everything’s about you. I’m literally just here because Dustin needed a ride.”

“Oh, then pardon me for thinking I might be permitted to intrude upon your presence then, King Steve. It’s only my fuckin’ trailer.”

A beat. A look of revelation passing over the frustration in Steve’s features and leaving behind something softer. A tone that is way too gentle for the asshole Billy is intentionally being follows too, “Is this about that bullshit rivalry between us?”

“What else? You think I’m jealous of that never ending trail of mascara tears you bring everywhere with you? Ain’t got much to brag about there, King.” Billy’s spiraled too far into this to back out. Self-loathing over his own feelings pushed outward into insults. It makes him feel like shit. But he tells himself it’s fine just as long as he plays the part well.

He’s relieved when Steve braces through the compassion he let into his tone before and retaliates with some actual fire behind his words instead, “Except status. Is everything a competition with you?”

“Hell yeah, one that even with this damn tank weighing me down I could beat you at.” Not true. But he’d be willing to try. As long as it gets a rise out of Harrington.

Unfortunately for him, he’s once again overestimated the mean-spiritedness of everyone but himself.

Steve tilts his head just so, looking even more stupidly cute than usual, as if he’s more confused now than offended. Not what he was hoping for, “I don’t get it. I never cared about the comparisons people made about us. I thought they were crazy for wanting me to fight you for the crown and all that. I was over it before you even showed up.”

It’s getting harder to act like he’s unbothered by it all, and Steve isn’t helping. As easy as it is to pretend he’s raging and cold all the time, he lets just the slightest bit of vulnerability into his next response. An accusatory call for help of sorts, “So now you think you’re above me?”

“What? No? I’m just sayin’, Hargrove. Maybe this isn’t just about the past anymore. Because honestly, I used to like you Billy.”

What can Billy even begin to say in response to that? Something stupid, probably. But hearing those words from the one person he always wanted a second chance with, that sucks. There’s about a thousand ways he could spin this to mean something different. Something he wants to hear.

Instead, he stares at the ground in silence, though Harrington is unfortunately undeterred, and keeps talking, making everything worse.

“I mean, yeah you were kind of a dick, but you just had this way about you. Charming I guess.” He trails off with this admirable, nostalgic sort of tone that Billy can feel in his core. Every day is a memory for him, a series of fuck ups that all lead to this conversation with Steve Harrington at a backyard birthday party. Is he willing to delude himself for even this one little moment, to think that Steve might be the same? “Honestly if it wasn’t for the concussions you dealt me like, a week after we met, I think we could’ve been friends.”

“You deserved it.” The quiver in his voice must not be very convincing, because Steve just shrugs it off, and repeats, “Like I said, I’m over it, anyway. I just think that maybe we should stop living in the past all the time.”

It’s true, he shouldn’t. And he shouldn’t keep arguing either. But as long as he has a bond with Harrington, even if it’s through bitterness and hatred and other things he doesn’t want to think about, that’s a hell of a lot better than being honest and scaring him off, leaving himself with nothing to connect him to Steve at all.

“I’m almost touched, Harrington. But you wanna know something? This? It isn’t me.” It’s become a thing for Billy to just spew whatever crosses his mind apparently, because he rambles, on and on about things he’s never said to anyone before, “Being hooked up to tubes and shit, living in some run down trailer park with my step-family that don’t even like me because everyone else I’ve ever known skipped out on me. All my friends are dead or terrified of the rumors around my name and won’t come near me. The past is where I am. The real me. And that’s where I want to be.”

“For what it’s worth, Billy, nobody actually thinks of you like that.” Somehow it feels even shittier to hear Steve stand up for him. Again he’s at a loss for words, fighting a thousand battles of deceit and egotism and betrayal in his mind. And again, Steve continues.

“I mean, you might look at yourself as broken or something, but to us, that’s all bullshit. You’re a goddamn hero. And I’m serious about that.” The more Steve speaks, the more Billy feels guilty and just generally bad. This whole situation is stupid. He should’ve just ignored Harrington, or at least tried regular small talk instead of- whatever you could even call this.

Monologuing back and forth and making each other feel like shit. Maybe that’s just the way they were meant to interact. Speaking of, Steve still doesn’t stop, though Billy doesn’t know if his heart can take it. Literally.

“So even though you’re hurting and you have every right to be, holding onto something that isn’t there anymore, only holds you back from achieving something better.”

Billy glares at Steve for that, if not just to hide the fact his eyes feel a little misty, and accuses, sounding totally pathetic and mean, “Where’d you read that? Actually, I don’t even think that’s something you could comprehend..”

“A friend of mine said it to me when I was pussyfooting over whether or not I should visit you in the hospital, actually.”

“You never visited me.” Did Billy mean to sound that disappointed out loud?

“Not when you were awake.” Steve sighs as he retells it, his turn to be uneasy with oversharing in an attempt to compensate for some personal failure, “But at first, before you woke up and when your dad was... Well Max needed a lot of support and I thought I’d try my hand at it, but I couldn’t get over everything you did, at least not at first.”

Billy narrows his eyes in disbelief, mostly wondering why nobody never told him about this. Steve takes the doubtful expression as an invitation to explain himself. Again.

“I just thought, ‘why would I go visit someone who seemed to only ever want to hurt me?’ But my friend said I should think about letting go of that stuff and I did, and I might not be good at showing it but, something I learned is that, I still kind of like you, Billy Hargrove.”

Billy waits until he’s sure Steve is done to ask, “You know something, Harrington?”

“Huh?” There's a light in his eyes, a sort of hope with Billy’s engagement that wasn’t there before. Like he’s expecting to have made things right with his speeches that totally aren’t making Billy subtly tear up.

It would be a shame to crush that hope, but-

“I hate everything you just said. I’m tired of being talked down to. I’m tired of hearing other people tell me they know what happened to me, and frankly I’m more than fucking tired of acting like everything’s okay and normal just because these kids want their summer break to be full of celebrations. Fuck that, and fuck you.”

A deep breath is in order. It’s shaky and makes Billy sound unsure of everything he just said. And to be fair, he is. Venting his problems to Steve Harrington is a questionable choice at best. Why can’t he just fucking shut up?

At least he can do damage control. He looks at Steve instead of the vague space of the ground in front of him that he was ranting at before, telling him firmly, “But, you’re still right.”

“I am?” A tiny smile grows on his face.

Billy, as he has proven to himself today, has to accommodate for the butterflies in his chest that goofy little smile on that pretty face gives him, so he deflects. Tries to remind Steve of the asshole he’s talking to who doesn’t deserve happiness and fluttery feelings.

“More right than I’ve ever heard you be. Except maybe when you decided to mow me down in that car. Don’t think these brats ever would’ve forgiven me if I smashed a car full of ‘em.”

Steve, to his credit, only scrunches up his face in distaste at the comment, “You’re not gonna change my mind like that, you know. You want to scare me off by being cold and mean, but it’s not going to work.”

“Why?”

“Are you really gonna make me say it again?”

In the place of another obnoxious speech, Billy just shakes his head no. That’s enough, now that the tension between them seems to be mostly gone. He didn’t think he would, but he prefers it that way anyways. Not like they were getting anywhere, with all the arguing about everything before.

It’s a peaceful silence then, that settles in their tiny corner of the yard. They have the best seats to watch the brats doing their stupid and mildly amusing party shit. Not that Billy’s paying them any attention.

There’s something Steve said that he can’t get out of his head. That whole thing about liking him. It’s definitely just a meaningless coincidence that Billy happens to really like Steve back, in the kind of way that would forever ruin all future festivities at their place if word were to get out.

Becoming Max’s freaky fag of an older brother instead of the mildly-weird recluse brother would definitely ruin some recently established community connections.

Still, he’s got to shoot his shot while he’s got the chance. They’re basically alone and they’re on decent terms now, so, considering their history, now’s as good a time as any.

“Hey, Harrington?” Billy bites at the corner of his nail, waiting for Steve’s acknowledgment. It’s only when those gentle eyes lock on his, shining with curiosity, that he wills himself to continue, to make a sort of confession, that could definitely also be explained as platonic if shit hit the fan, that he blurts out-

“I like you too.”

And that’s it.

They don’t talk about it again, after all the bitching Billy did they’re honestly out of things to say, but a little while later, when he’s sure nobody’s looking, Steve one-ups Billy in this cautious game. He puts his hand on his, under the rickety plastic garden table Sue had brought over for him to put a piece of cake on, so nobody could see even if they wanted to. An awkward gesture accompanied with a pearly smile on a blushing face.

A silent way to say that he got the real meaning behind Billy’s declaration of like.

That’s not something they talk about either, but it’s nice, holding hands like that for the rest of the time they’re expected to be chaperones, as if this tiny party of tinier nerds is going to get out of hand. It’s a start anyways.

On its own, the shitbirds birthday party doesn’t make June 21st a real holiday, but being the anniversary of the day Billy told the truth for the first time in his goddamn life, and got a new boyfriend out of it, it might make the date celebration worthy in Billy’s book.

[serenityseventeen]

S.Coups (최승철):

-----------------

“Hours”

synopsis: It's your birthday but neither you nor your boyfriend remembers it due to your busy schedules. When evening finally fell, you got a visit from your boyfriend who had realized that it was your birthday.

genre: fluff

pairing: boyfriend!seungcheol x office-worker!reader

a/n: The weather is so nice outside now~ Perfect with the exciting news! I can't wait for the June comeback, the concept trailer made me bawl, I really can't wait!! These guys will own summer 2021. + The Mingyu flirting with the make-up artist is actually a request I received but didn't do yet lol

-----------------

There was talking all over the office on phones, in person, overlapping one another.

You didn't even check your phone once because of how busy you were.

You spent the day working your butt off. When you woke up that day, you quickly got dressed and ready, then headed to work, even forgetting to text ‘Good Morning’ to your boyfriend.

Aside from that, you felt like you were forgetting something, but it never occurred to you what it was. Your workday immediately became piled with sheets upon sheets of paper, tabs upon tabs of websites.

Seungcheol, you expected, was no different. He was probably off on a shooting set, preparing for a new album, learning new choreography, writing some new lyrics, preparing a special stage. He already works non-stop, but you knew that sometimes, he can't even control his schedule.

Besides, he didn't even remember to send his daily ‘Good Morning’ text either.

“What are you doing, Y/N? Get back to work!” Your boss yelled.

“Yes, sir!” You didn't even realize that you had dozed off for a moment.

The day had been so hectic, draining all of your energy. Your fingers were becoming tired and your whole body was becoming weak. You tapped your feet on the floor, determined, and cracked your knuckles.

Even so, you had to continue working.

You let out one last yawn, massaged your eyes, then returned to work, acting recharged, disregarding the world.

-

Seungcheol was with his members backstage, preparing to perform a series of songs. They were going to transition from one song to another and perform a total of four in one stage.

He spent the past few months preparing for it with his members that the performance was almost all he could think about.

After the stage, they were going to do some pre-recording at a different set and then head to get interviewed. The schedule was packed and the next few days were just the same, full and crazy.

Seungcheol continued to warm up his body, stretching it from side to side. Just then, he saw Mingyu flirting with the make-up artist and was reminded of you.

For the first time, he got his head away from work, with only two minutes left until SEVENTEEN went on stage. He was tempted to go take his phone and give you a text before the performance began, but decided against it. The thought of you made him smile, recharging his energy.

-

It was around 7 pm when Seungcheol finished work. He had started work at 2 am that day.

Seungcheol took a deep breath, breathing in and out calmly as the car drove down the busy highways.

He took out his phone and then remembered that he hadn't texted or called you all day, neither had you called or texted him.

Seungcheol attempted to get to the messaging app but accidentally pressed CALENDAR. He didn't realize he had pressed the wrong app until it showed up on the calendar.

D-DAY: Y/N'S BIRTHDAY ❤️❤️

Seungcheol smiled but felt a bit disappointed that he forgot.

That must've been the reason why you weren't calling or texting him. Seungcheol believed that you were upset because he didn't wish you a happy birthday or get you a gift; he didn't even remember your birthday.

Seungcheol stopped the car and got out.

“Hyung, where are you going?” Vernon asked.

“I forgot Y/N's birthday!” Seungcheol shouted, running down the streets. Your house wasn't far from where they just passed.

The Hip-hop Unit members laughed and then continued back to the dorm.

-

You finished showering, washing all your stressful thoughts down the drain. You were hoping that a shower will make you feel more energized but even walking was tiring. With a towel around your neck, you walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water, when you heard the doorbell ring.

You quickly went over to check who it was.

It was your boyfriend. You smiled upon seeing his face, the dread of walking disappeared.

You opened the door.

“Are you angry I didn't say good morning? I was very busy that I forgot to do it,” you said, assuming that that was the reason he was here.

Seungcheol was panting, his hands on his knees.

“Did you dash here??” You asked, helping him stand.

However, Seungcheol hugged you instead.

“You should be the one mad at me! It's your birthday but I forgot that because I was so busy with promotions,” Seungcheol said. You patted his back, processing what he just said.

“No, it's fine, you were busy.”

“But it was your birthday... I should have prepared something romantic.”

You laughed, finally remembering that it was your birthday.

“Why are you laughing?” Seungcheol asked, removing himself from your arms to see your face. Your contagious laugh made him want to laugh too.

“It's just- I didn't even realize that today was my birthday. I was so tired and caught up with work that my mind only filled with stress.”

Seungcheol chuckled. “Wait, so that was the reason you weren't calling or texting me? I thought you were angry!”

You laughed.

Seungcheol stared at you smile before stamping a soft kiss onto your lips, closing the door.

“How many hours late was I to realize it was your birthday?” He asked.

“It's fine, I didn't even remember my birthday,” you took his hand.

Seungcheol shook his head. “Even if you didn't remember, I should have. Let's see, it's around 7 pm... I forgot for 19 hours. I'll give you 19 kisses as compensation. One done, 18 to go.”

You two laughed, your foreheads kissed as Seungcheol wrapped his strong, bulky arms around your body.

You threw your hands around his shoulders.

He pecked you once and then immediately leaned in again, his expression growing serious.

17.

-----------------

request:

© serenityseventeen

5/17/21 - 2:53 pm

[make-me-imagine]

Family drama that I need to rant about somewhere under cut. Feel free to read or ignore.

Warning: There is a lot of rambling. And a lot of information.

Feel free to ask questions or whatever, I have no one else to talk to this about besides my parents, so I don't necessarily mind.

SO. My brother moved back home last June. Way before anyone was ready for him to, or had any means to help him out. But he came anyways, because he is well, him.

He is determined to think the house is "his", though my father never said that. Originally my dad had said he could come live there in a few years, with his wife and step-son. They got divorced, and my brother came back alone - in a different situation. But the house was not going to be his, until after my parents died, and they would leave him the property.

When he got here, he said he had somewhere to stay. Of course that was a lie. So he ended up staying with me. Much to my chagrin. (I liked living alone, and we didn't necessarily get along great) I did not find out that we would be sharing a house until the day he came back.

It was...fine, at first, but got worse over a short period of time. He talks NONSTOP, about everything and anything. Never leaving you in silence until you leave the room. So I spent half my time locked up in my own room.

He would go through everything he could find. Boxes of stuff, that were not his, but my parents'. (I was living in my childhood home at the time, my parents were now living in their current house, but they kept a lot of their stuff in the old house.) He had this annoying habit of showing me all this stuff, that I obviously knew about because I lived in the house for 20+ years.

He is a guilt tripping hypocrite as well. Who will never let you live down anything. He is a firm believer that his past does not define him, so god forbid if you use it against him. But, if he needs to guilt and/or gaslight you, he will bring up his own past and your own. And people who have nothing to do with it, for some reason. I don't even know at this point.

Anyways!

After a while, it got a bit more frustrating to live with him. He KNOWS that I have really bad anxiety - specifically social anxiety. But that did not stop him from inviting people over without asking.

One such person, was his current girlfriend. She is a nonstop talker as well, and I'm pretty sure she does hard dr*gs. She was suddenly basically living with us. Now, I liked to be alone, especially after days of being with my mother and father (helping them out, and taking care of my mom). So I liked to come back home to be alone. BUT the house had been taken over by this stranger. Who he never asked if I was okay with having there. Because as much as he says he cares about my feelings, that is only true if it has nothing to do with him and the pain he is causing.

In July, a renter moved out of a small trailer house on my parents property. Perfect timing right?! I could move out, and leave my brother and his psycho girlfriend there, and I could go elsewhere.

This was a stressful time for me. My anxiety was bad, my depression worse. From the time that my brother had come back home, to the time I moved out (which was a month), I had lost nearly 10lbs, which is a lot for someone who is naturally small.

I moved out a majority of my stuff, leaving some stuff behind in MY room. After I was finally moved out, I found it VERY hard to go back to get more stuff. Either I would get trapped into a frustratingly long conversation with my brother and her, or he would start a fight. I just wanted to stay away at this point.

So, I ended up leaving some of my stuff in my room. Which originally was fine, because it was MINE. Even my brother said that was fine, because he would never try to force me out of my own home (too late).

So, months pass, it's a new year. I went and got some of my stuff, but a majority of it was left behind that I assumed I would get to eventually.

I found out about a week ago, that my brother and his girlfriend, went behind my back, and without telling or so much as asking, took ALL of my stuff out of my room, literally everything, he even took the shelves off the walls (which I did not find out until today, but we will get to that.)

He stored all of my stuff somewhere, and then told my mom about it, so she could tell me. Because he was too much of a coward to tell me himself.

There has been other issues with my brother before and after he moved back here. It involves, money, cars, and fighting. Also, promises to help me and my parents that he never kept. Saying he will do something is as far as he ever goes.

Let me preface this next part with this. When me and my brother were living at that house together. Like I said, I had bad anxiety, and I had been going through a bad depressive spell since c*vid started. The house was fairly dirty. I could not bring myself to find the energy to sweep or mop the floor. Most of my stuff from when I moved back home after University, was still in boxes. The house was perfectly fine for me to live in at the time. But not to him. He would chastise me and talk shit about the house a lot, complaining that the house was "falling apart" (it was and has always been far from being that bad.)

He talked a lot about all of the things he was going to change about the house and how amazing it would look when he was done. The house is and was not his to do whatever he wanted with, but that's another discussion entirely.

ANYWAYS

Today, he borrows our car to go rescue his girlfriend who somehow got stranded a few cities away. That was the drama of the morning (my dad hates when he uses the car, because he always takes it for a lot longer than needed, and never puts gas in.)

After he had left, me and my dad decided to go down to the house. Maybe to get some of my stuff, and also just to see what my brother had done to the house (we had a bad feeling about it).

But NOTHING, could prepare us for what the house looked like.

It had only been about two or three months since my dad had been at the house. Longer for me. But it had looked relatively the same.

But today, what we saw was this:

The yard is completely covered in trash. He had extension cords running all over the yard, through the window and into the house. Plugged in. We live in the desert, and it's fire season. This is a HUGE fire risk. He also left all the lights on, he always leaves them on - he is not not paying the bills, my mom is. (He only just got a job in the last week.)

He changed the lock on the front door, which we did not give him permission to do (its not his house). So my key no longer worked. But the genius that my brother is, left the window right next to the door open. So, my dad literally had to climb through the window, effectively breaking into his own house.

Now, here is where we get inside.

Remember how I said my brother would make me feel horrible about the house having dirt and boxes everywhere when I lived there?

The house looks nothing like my childhood home anymore. There are piles of clothes everywhere. There is trash, everywhere. Various objects and random shit, EVERYWHERE. You can barely walk through the house. Plus, there are piles and piles of dog sh*t all over the floor.

It looks like a hoarder house mixed with a drug house. It looks like it should have taken 5 or so years to make it look this bad. But again, it's only been a few months.

It was terrible. I nearly had a panic attack walking through what used to be my home, that now looked like the home of the trash lady in Labyrinth.

I saw that my room was completely empty, the floor covered in tarp, with dog poop everywhere. I could not see where my stuff was. He said he would bring it up to me, so he better, or I am going to freak out. Though I have a bad feeling some of my stuff is going to be gone, because...

Some of my dad's expense bongo drums were no where to be found.

Now my dad is determined to kick him out. He was debating doing it before, after all the other shit my brother had done, but now, after seeing what he had done to our house, he has to go. It was horrible, and it smelt almost as bad.

That's about it. There is a lot that has happened in between, but this is the bones of it all. And a huge cause of my anxiety for the last year.

EDIT: I also just want to mention, that said house was built from the ground up by my father. So, to see it completely torn apart was very hard on him (well, it at least made him very angry)

xx

[ghostbustermelanieking]

oddly specific memories i have of listening to tma

in honor of the finale, and because i am a sentimental asshole, i bring you this potentially uninteresting and completely pointless list. i'm gonna miss this show a lot

half my original reasoning for listening to the podcast was to motivate me to walk on the treadmill. this did not work. but i did it the first time, when i was going through the trailers and anglerfish, and i remember the room where my dad keeps the treadmill is really dark and the spooky chanting sort of freaked me out

after the treadmill, i ended up listening to the bulk of the first four episodes on the couch, and halfway through i let my oldest cat, winnie, who always lived outside (i know, i was very against actually keeping her outside) in the house. and she jumped up on the couch with me, which she literally never did. (she was very grumpy and not super affectionate.) i had that cat since i was five, and she passed last june, and i really miss her. quarantine kind of gave us the opportunity to hang out with her a lot, because we were home so much. so i'm glad these memories are kind of intersected in my mind. (below: a pic i have from that day.)

my friend sarah relistened along with me the first time around, which was extraordinarily sweet of her, and also led to some interesting interactions. for example: she forgot when it was revealed that sasha was dead, so she accidentally spoiled that for me when i asked when the others would find sasha (and i spent all of season 2 just like. anxiously vibrating over this fact). she also made this post, when i was still in like early first half of season 1, and my immediate thought was "oh no martin is dead." i hadnt even MET martin at this point

back in early quarantine, my mom had this rule that we had to do something new every day (to keep away the depression... ha ha). anyways, all i wanted to do in my free time was sit around and listen to tma (and also watch this show i was into on netflix), so i came up with some lame excuses, one of which was "i'll give myself a pedicure." this led to the memory i ultimately associate with mag 56 (trevor herbert 2) being me sitting out on our roof balcony thing, giving myself a horrendous pedicure

another time, my family wanted to go play tennis, and they brought me along and brought a hammock for me to lay in. there was this excess material from the hammock, and the sun was in my eyes, so i ended up pulling it up and over me to block the sun and creating this ridiculous hammock cocoon thing. one of the episodes i listened to that day? "tucked in."

before i ever started the show, my friend sarah stayed with me while i was pet sitting. i remember when she got there, she'd just listened to 150 and was telling me how freaky it was (she was still trying to get me into the show), and she was like "of course we're staying on a CUL DE SAC." (that was also the weekend she watched us for the first time and was very upset because i slept through the whole thing, which is scary when you're staying somewhere by yourselves.) anyways, i spent the whole show waiting for the scary cul de sac episode

while i was listening to the show for the first time, my step-dad (an artist) started painting an EYE on the door downstairs near my bathroom. a fucking EYE. he didn't finish it til i had finished the show. but still weird!!

i binged like 12 episodes in one day to finish season 4, which is not impressive at all, but it's still my personal record. i just remember staying up late in my dark bedroom (til like.... 11 i'm lame and i go to bed early), listening to like 158 & 159 & 160 and just being knocked on my ass by how good it all was... i was SUPER spoiled by this point, through my own fault, and i knew exactly what was coming, but actually experiencing it was nuts

the second week i listened live was 167, where the public release was delayed by a couple hours by accident. i spent like 20 minutes refreshing spotify, thinking it was broken, before going on tumblr and seeing what the deal was. (and 167 remains one of my favorites of s5 because i remember just going "thank god it was worth the wait.")

this one car ride where sarah and i made some of our friends listen to the first three episodes of the show. it was the middle of the night and we were just like blasting down i40 listening to anglerfish and do not open etc

the night the what the ghost episode publicly dropped was the night after my graduation, and i was sleeping out on the couch in the living room so my grandfather could sleep in a bed. it was super dark, and i am a jumpy person, and i Remember being mildly disgusted with myself because the corny sound effects were actually freaking me out. (i think i mightve actually seen something weird that night, maybe, but that's another story.)

the weekend my parents moved me into college, we couldn't get the cable in the house we were staying in, and we were all sitting around doing nothing, so i jokingly suggested starting tma with them, and they were like ok grace. my step-dad promptly fell asleep and my mom zoned out -- which is probably good, she doesn't like horror and she's super claustrophobic, so it's probably better we never got to do not open

my brief roommate in college talked about how she was into those youtube channels where people just read scary stories, so of course i was like try tma out. so she listened to the first episode on her own, and we were out one night, and she started mag 02 while i went into an ice cream place. she was into it (she kept being like open it, ya pussy) and wanted to keep listening while we went home, and even back in our room. i had only been in town for a couple weeks, and barely knew my way around, but i also didn't want to turn the gps on and be interrupted every five seconds. so i tried to find our way back on my own. it took the entirety of mag 03, and into mag 04, before i did it. so now i will forever associate across the street with all those wrong turns i took in a dark, semi unfamiliar city, trying to get back to our college without a gps

the day of the early drop for 179 was the day i moved back home from college -- a five hour drive by myself. i ended up listening to it on the final stretch of the trip, when i was super tired and it was dark and i knew it'd probably be a crazy episode. just me full blasting down i40, drinking an energy drink (which i never do) through a hole punched in the top, listening to daisy's death

186 early dropped the day after initial u.s. election day (when we still didn't know anything). my mom had set up a "watch party" in the living room with these giant air mattresses, and we all sort of spent the day crowded around the TV watching the numbers. not much of a memory, but i remember sitting on that air mattress and listening to martin's monologue in the midst of that messy week

i had a virtual therapy appointment on the day of 187's early drop, and my dad was home, so i drove to an empty parking lot to do the session in some privacy. i was trying to listen to the episode before the session started, so i ended up listening to the last half sitting in my car, in the pouring rain, just staring at my radio in shock (187 remains one of my favorite s5 episodes)

my friend sarah had just come home for winter break the day 189 dropped, and we decided to listen together, just like driving around in circles drinking coffee and listening and speculating on whether or not that was really martin

i started my relisten right after thanksgiving and was just kind of blowing through fast as i could through the whole of december. i had to go back to college to empty out my dorm, and i went to the beach after, and i ended up listening to mag 11 while just like walking around in circles in the tide pools. the closer it got to christmas, the more christmassy i wanted to keep things, so i would like. listen in the mornings and turn on one of those Netflix fireplaces and get all cozy

my other friend went with me on a mini bagel road trip in december, and he was still trying to get caught up, so we listened to mag 169, 170, and 171 on the drive home. (by this point, i was accustomed enough to s5 and smiting scenes to automatically reach for the volume controls when jude perry and jared hopworth died.)

when i relistened to mag 47, i was sitting with my cat beezus. i paused the episode to write this big long meta, so i was in a different headspace when i pressed play again. jon immediately yelled for sasha and i immediately jumped, and beezus gave me a searing glare and just got up and left

i relistened to piecemeal while i was cooking, which i thought was kind of funny and also disgusting

after christmas, i got into the habit of bringing my cat georgia into my room in the mornings, and she'd crawl under the covers with me while i listened to tma

one story i've always liked to tell from my first listen is how when i first listened to the meat arm grinder episode, my dad asked me to help him cook hamburgers later that day and explained how hamburgers are ground up (to my disgust). i hit meat grinder in my relisten and um. you'll never fucking guess what i made for lunch that day

so i had all these arbitrary rules for myself when i started tma last april, and i've broken like all of them. i started listening to tma while virtually working -- you just pull it up on your computer and it works. (i got the life scared out of me when one of my coworkers started talking over the podcast, wondering who it was that had walked into jon's office and why he wasn't reacting and why i didn't remember it.) i also started listening a lot while driving, which led to several long meta posts i wrote being typed up in a parking lot somewhere

i spent the entirety of 194 anxious-cuddling georgia. (i tried to do this for 198 and then didn't have any anxiety to cuddle her over.) i fully plan on doing this for 200, where i am sure i will need it again

my favorite place to listen to tma probably ended up being the roof room at my mom's, and unless something goes awry, this is where i will listen to the finale. (with georgia, of course.)

this list is super uninteresting, like i said, but here it is. i'm gonna miss this show a lot. i can't wait to return to it, later in life, and make all new listening memories in the process

[purplerose244]

The Last Kids on Earth season 3 is out and OMG AAAAAAAAAA 😍😍😍

SPOILER ALERT!!! YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WATCH THIS SHOW IS SUPER GOOD!!!

Back when it came out I made a post about season 2 as well if you're interested 😉

I should start by saying that I legit didn't know this season was going to happen until, like, three days ago 😅

I just got on Netflix and started watching trailers mindlessly "horror, horror, animation movie cool, new season The Last Kids on Earth, another horror, tv sho- WAIT". That was one great surprise, but at the same time I was sincerely scared. Because season 2 was so GOOD and I was scared we weren't going to see the same level again.

But boy was I, mm no I can do it better, but boy was I...! Nah nah, not enough... okay...

BUT BOY WAS I WRONG!

Like, this is officially my favorite season ASAP, and season 2 was in pole position until today 🤩 Really, the building, the drama, the mystery, all the development from ALL the characters! Really amazing 👌👌

Also side note, did the animation improve? Like, this scenery right here??

IT LOOKS GREAT?!?!? Maybe it's just me 🤷‍♀️ Alright, back to the show 👍

First of all, I'm so happy Dirk got some space. He was already super lovable but seeing him actually struggling because he genuinely wanted these monsters to like him, man 💕 Interesting how this ex bully was struggling so hard to fit in in a group, and also kinda of legit. I'm guessing, after so much time spent reacting with violence, he didn't develop a lot of social skills. Another reason why I think he loves his friends so much, which was shown into this season BEAUTIFULLY 👌👌

Then Quint. Maybe I'm biased because I absolutely love Quint and Jack's friendship, but them talking and having a confrontation about being each other first best friend was really touching 😔 It really hit also when Quint admitted that he always got angry at Jack but never shown. Just like Jack he hid some stuff, because he didn't want to mess up his first significant friend. They are both messes, I guess this is why they work so well together 😉 And about messes, Quint overworking himself because he wants to be super useful to his friends, after last season when he struggled so much to find a way to be Quint-essential? HECK YEAH CONSISTENCY 😎😎

Also we had June. I'm liking her more and more as the seasons progress, especially because even if she is indeed the coolest and probably the strongest of the team, she has her flaws and worries. She is not an untouchable female character of pure perfection, she is a kid, just like the others... who happens to be bad*ss 😚 Her getting so obsessed on the radio was both funny and significant, she really must miss her parents a lot...

Now, I talked about Jack A LOT for season 2. About how much he wants to protect his friends, about his abandonment and trust issues and how this apocalypse is the only reason he was a family. I wondered how it was going to be brought forward further.

And it was INCREDIBLE. And angsty. Man Jack is so filled with angst 😰

From Jack's almost instant, and quite hilarious sometimes, fear and rivalry for the radio, to him trying his hardest to have fun with his friends because that's when he feels the happiest, to him freaking out because he is sure, ABSOLUTELY sure, that the moment his friends will find their families they will leave him behind. I was sweating when he raised the radio to break it, intense moment.

He didn't exactly learn his lesson from last season 😅 Which is fine and believable honestly, he is an orphan who grew up with families very not memorable, that didn't give him the stability he needed. No surprise he came out as the most fragile character of them all, almost getting overwhelmed by his fears.

My world, when he imagined his friends finding their families and he ran towards a couple that disappeared, leaving him crying?? I'm sorry?? I HAVE A HEARTACHE HERE 😭😭😭

And dang, I got chills at the whole Rezzoch affair, I didn't know what was going to happen and the nightmare world was so OUCH MY HEART AGAIN. I might be biased again because I have a little sick passion about seeing my favorite characters suffer 😅 Also the possession is a common theme that I adore so 🤷‍♀️ Gosh, all the supports from his friends, all the strength to banish Rezzoch away from his body, that was so satisfying to watch!

At the end, the final radio scene was really nice. Not as game changing as I though honestly, but still cool and cozy... WHO WAS THE GIRL AT THE END ON THE GIANT CREATURE?!? I NEED A SEASON 4 ALREADY HELP!! 😱

I feel very satisfied, it's more than I expected and I'm so happy they're keeping the same hype! 🤩🤩🤩 It's also interesting to see how all four of them are kinda stereotypical characters, and that's pulled forward in a coherent development: Dirk the bully who turned good, Quint the nerd, Jack the hero/goofball, June the cool girl. And the show doesn't hide it, but instead brings them forward and show how their traits evolve. From a bully to a "monster", from a nerd to a scientist, from a bad*ss to a leader, from a no one to a part of a family ❤

Also the other interactions were great, Dirk and the monster chef, Skaelka and June still the best duo, Quint and June getting so much closer (also basically sharing leadership, nice), Jack and Rover because Rover is a good boy 💙💙 Also special thanks to Bardle for being an absolute delight in everything, from being the wizard to being hilarious 😂😂 Love tsundere monster sorcerer 💕

Well, that was it! I really needed to get it out of my system 😚 Thanks for reading!