#this is why i rewatch these obsessively i always miss stuff the first time around

[forcebookish]

oh is the mewray "kiss" not from that night???? mew's wearing a different shirt.......

[doerot]

Many such cases of adding a third fucked up guy into the mix to make me actually interested in a ship

[linktube]

i was binging the shayne guesses series and it pushed me to compile some of my all time favorite shows. i tried for a top 3 but i still rambled my way tru rest of those in different levels of "favorites"

top 3 favorite shows

i was focusing on the shows that i thought about and rewatched the most (not by a metric of a ''perfect'' show, also newer stuff i watched that i really liked doesnt really have a chanse at beating these at this point guess lol. im fully giving into personal involvement) unf. one of the creators of black books turned out to be a raging transphopic but random moments from this show occupies my brain so much that i cant pass it off easily. also tamsin dylan and bill is an exceptional trio! (<3 bran and fernard <3) so much on screen charisma, this is my original awful disfunctional (un)loveble but charming friend group that i felt deep connection with, akin to its always sunny in phildelphia, which i loved the first couple seasons of but never come around to watching rest of it for some reason.

some very honorable mentions under.. (and one or two not that honorable lol) and a lot of ramblings/thoughts that go barely anywhere, only for my sake!

both of these shows are dealing with gender and sexuality in a certain way lol. (for berserk i only watched season 1 (1997), newer one looks ugly. never watched it doesnt count. .p i wish i could read mangas without getting distracted but honestly whatever was given to us for that season i thought was just enough. i like shows that doesnt try to cover everything and tie all the loose ends. i have nothing smart to say, the show just hits you like truck. thats all) coffee prince is a somewhat messy gem that belongs to a certain time period where gender bender(?) themes on japanese/korean shows were popping and boy was i all over them as a teenager.(i wonder why) most of them were garbage (you are beautiful... and many others) this one still has really charming moments that holds up for me mostly due to actors performances

i finished the sopranos not long ago and it pained me to not put it as a top favorite. i could have safely put that instead of OZ.. but OZ hit me in such a weird time and at this point i watched that shit aproximetely 3 times over so... just by personal impact it had to beat others. i do think sopranos is a perfect show!! i would love a rewatch when i could, honestly should have just caved and made it a top 4, but then i would have 2 hbo shows there?? give it up buddy. relax my guy

these are just really well crafted shows i enjoyed much more recently. just solid watches (nacho from better caul saul my beloved <3) also we can add the terror here but just the season 1

some turkish sketch/improv comedy shows that colored my youth lol i honestly dont know how they hold up? probably hit or miss. avrupa yakası mesela tekrar izleyemedim açıkçası. bir demet tiyatro'nun hayal meyal hatırlıyorum beni çok sardığını, tiyatro şeklinde olması çok eğlenceli ve farklı geliyodu bana. ıhlamurlar altında falan ağzım açık izlerdim geçen merak ettim de youtubedan açtım nasıldı diye 2 bölümü atlaya atlaya bitiremedim. yedi numara da öyle. sanırım televizyonda ne çıksa izliyodum o yaş/dönemde de pek bir tutarlılığı kalmıyo şimdi için.

keşke biraz da yeni türkçe dizi izlemiş olsam ama yok.. bi ara şahsiyet izledim biraz ama kafam dağıldı arada yarım kaldı. "gibi" komedi olarak çok övülüyo ama bi türlü elim gitmedi başlamaya. ben popüler bir şeye aşırı geç kalmazsam ben olmazdım zaten maalesef. neyse biraz şansa bakıyo bazen, bir başkadır da yarım kaldı saçma sebeplerden mesela. masum'u da izleyip beğenmiştim sanki ama çok bişey hatırlamıyorum hakkında açıkçası.

there are a lot of shows that i loved while growing up but i wouldn't/couldn't rewatch them now and have a genuinely good time lol. like doctor who, merlin, chuck, glee etc. and i was actually fully obsessed with glee as a teen for some time! (i remember painstakingly torrenting the reality singing compition that was supposedly made to discover a new glee star?? there was a turkish ''muslum'' girl there and all and they made her do some weird shit lol. no suprises there) but just as a full on episode its mostly unwatchable to me now. even then i dont think i finished the show? maybe i just dont remember the last seasons. some clips still cracks me up tho. i tried to watch a doctor who episode recently that was supposedly one of my favorites as a teen but couldnt get thru it, bored me to tears lol. merlin i remember loving a lot but again im uninterested in watching a full episode now. merlin/arthur did occupy my middle school brain a lot tho, i think it might be the first media i can remember where i searched for fanedits on youtube and watch those a lot as well. ding ding ding shipping gene activated!!1!!! might be one of my first shows where fanlore colored my watching experience much more than just the material. thats why the episodes of the show doesnt really hit as well as they used to probably. also some of these you just simply age out of. to think that i also watched OZ around these times and how wildy different my relationship is with it is so funny. like when i rewatched OZ recently i was just hit with a deeper, somewhat different while still painfully familiar wave of emotions but with glee im like.. okay! i see what was happening there at the time but its not really happening right know lol

[imgoingtocrash]

weird vibes for the dash tonight but I'm rewatching the Hunger Games movies because I read a really good Hunger Games AU (yes it's from my continued post-Andor trek back down the rebelcaptain tag on ao3)/because they put them all on Netflix and I just had this moment of intensely missing my grandmother and I need to write it out i guess???

I have this vivid memory of getting into my grandmother's car after high school bc she drove me until I started driving, and I had The Hunger Games in hand and she asked what it was about and I said something to the gist of "it's about a bunch of kids killing each other"

now I THINK i was just trying being funny, but i was also anxious/depressed and a smartass, so i also definitely could have purposefully put it plainly like that because I knew it would make her React and all teenagers live for that crap.

but she was SO upset by the idea, like, it stuck with me because I remember how genuinely disgusted she was! "that's HORRIBLE why are you reading something like that why would someone write something like that" etc. and she wasn't a super conservative person either? Just like a Pure Soul who wasn't the type to read those kind of stories.

(Now smutty romance novels? I found the box of those when we sold her house and was absolutely DELIGHTED to find out that the women in my family were reading romance trash alllll the way back. We have taste!)

Now this was 2012-2013, the height of the movie's popularity and as a result the time adults started shoving it into school curriculums. Or maybe just my school?? Being an honors english kid, I actually was assigned to read it TWICE--once for summer homework and once for regular classwork--and this was on my second readthrough, hence why I'd brought it to school. And then after reading the first one I obviously devoured the rest.

ANYWAY, the point of the story is a Classic Grief Moment...I really, really wish I could talk to her about it now, as an adult.

Because the movies hold up! The books were a good read! They had so much to say behind the YA genre labelling and the media press that got obsessed with the love triangle of it all! (Feels like SUCH a 2016 Tumblr-era post to say that, but like...yeah! That did happen!)

Like she would NEVER have watched them with me, ever, but it's a conversation we can never have, and it sucks. I miss talking to her a lot in general, but one of my biggest regrets is how much time I spent with her after school, in the car on the way home or doing errands or whatever and I was a teenager, so of course I didn't value it at all! I thought she'd always be there. Now I'd give anything to tell her all about my day and what's upsetting me and have her fuss at me for cursing so much, you know?

She's been gone for like 3 years now but since she got Alzheimers/Dementia it's FELT more like 6 and I just miss having her around for even the small stuff as much as the big stuff.

Vent over, back to screaming about TLOU all the time because apparently I'm just REALLY in an angst-heavy genre mood or something...sorry not sorry lol.

[strapinandstraponyourstrapons]

season four is one that always feels like kind of a mess to me? i love liam and mason to death and there were some great parts in that season but the whole de-aging derek plot and kate somehow being alive and a werejaguar and just all that stuff... it feels a little further off-the-rails than this (admittedly ridiculous at times) show usually goes and the whole thing with kate and the beserkers in general was not the most compelling to me. the deadpool was a more interesting threat though and i loved watching that play out - the reveal that meredith did it bc of peter's coma ramblings was kinda anticlimactic but still more interesting to me than whatever the fuck kate was doing in mexico. all that being said, it's my least favourite season but i don't hatttte it or anything. i'll still include it in my rewatches.

seasons five and six were both pretty solid to me on the first watch and continue to be on rewatches. i'm going to graciously choose to ignore the episode with allison's french ancestors' backstory with the beast (what in the actual fuck was that accent supposed to be bc it did NOT sound french i'm sorry girl). in general i really like both of those seasons, especially because i looooooove the puppy pack. i'm very biased bc i'm obsessed with thiam but even besides their dynamic and scenes together they're both characters with their own fascinating arcs who i loved to watch, and they're not the only ones, there's also morey and we get a hellhound and lydia starts using her banshee powers for real and there's chimeras running around (until theo kills most of em... whoops). i remember missing derek and stiles when they weren't there in the last seasons on the first watch but i got invested in the other characters and loved it anyway.

personally i love all the seasons other than all my little nitpicks, but i do think i understand why many people don't like 4-6 as much. while 1&2 are classics that are well-loved for a reason, there's a huge tone shift from seasons 1&2 to season 3 that people (including me) really loved because the show elevates itself really well and then i think season 4 feels underwhelming after that. in my opinion it gets back on track in the last two seasons but the cast changes at the same time make it feel like a very different show. i'm okay with that bc i love it anyway, but i can see that if someone got hooked on the earlier seasons they might lose interest when it changes so much, bc maybe it lost a lot of what they loved about it. for me that's not really the case... or it is a bit, but those things were replaced with other things i also love.

Here's me genuinely asking

Do you guys like season 4-6 of Teen Wolf? Do you like the puppy pack and stuff? Because I do but I heard a lot of people don't.

Please reblog or comment and talk about it because I'm really curious! What did you like? What didn't you like? What did you wish happened or what would you like to forget? Please try and get this to as many Teen Wolf fans as possible!!

[rainbowcolored7]

TAG NINE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

Tagged by @evil-moonlight Thanks doll!

I think I've been tagged by a few others for this and I'm sorry I never got around to it! I'm going to be going through and trying to respond to the ones I've missed, but if anyone wants to tag me again feel free!

Favorite Color: Cerulean blue, baby/hot pink and bright yellow has been growing on my for a while now.

Currently reading: Uh, well, I think the last actual book I picked up was the first in the Shadow & Bone series, but as I usually do with books I got distracted by fic and fandom things. I have been meaning to go back and reread (and finish reading) all of Cherie Priest's novels, but they're all packed away in boxes in my storage unit unfortunately. If you're into zombies, supernatural themes, and steampunk I HIGHLY recommend reading her stuff because it's fucking amazing.

Fanfiction wise I'm making my way through @godotismissingx -Bedroom Hymns series for like the fourth time - https://archiveofourown.org/series/2475169

@kinnsporsche True North https://archiveofourown.org/works/39011805/chapters/97582617

And of course anxiously waiting every day for updates on @yeetlegay Fake Love and Hennessy https://archiveofourown.org/works/39083298/chapters/97769772 and @luckydragon10 A King's Tree https://archiveofourown.org/works/39298218/chapters/98339034

(I just spent an hour fighting tumblr to get the coding to work to do click through links and it still isn't working idk so sorry about that...)

Last song: Well, this is difficult to answer because I'm currently listening to music so I'll just name the few songs I've been listening to obsessively for the past week etc. Hindi Sad Diamonds - John Leguizamo, Nicole Kidman & Alka Yagnik from Moulin Rouge (yes this is entirely Tong's fault from the world tour, thank you sir), Always Remember Us This Way - Lady Gaga (it's kimchay and it hurts and I love the pain), Small Doses - Bebe Rexha (ofc a kp video turned me onto this one), Smother Me - Kelaska and OF COURSE Why Don't You Stay by Jeff Satur because, I mean, come on.

Last Series: Working my way through a 3rd/2nd and a half rewatch of The Devil Judge (I never finished my second rewatch), um, KinnPorsche of course, that one is just a constant. Also watching My Liberation Notes, but I had to to take a break because every single character in that show is so damn depressed and human that it really brings me down to the dirt and I was getting a bit too sad. When I can finally tear myself away from all my wips I'm really looking forward to watching the newest season of Virgin River (yeah, I know, don't look at me like that. It's sweet and wholesome and corny and hetero but it's yummy okay).

Last movie: Went and saw Thor Love and Thunder with the fam sunday evening. It was predictable, very marvel (derogatory), but I laughed a lot and it was a fun watch. Oh, and I watched Moana again last night as well because I heard Jeff Satur's cover of How Far I'll Go and promptly cried and lost my entire mind. Go ruin your life and listen to it right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex_NRs9VyNw

Currently working on: Oh gawd please don't make me say it... several vid edits on the backburner, peteporsche fic, lawyer!kinn assistant!porsche fic request by @moerusai , kp fantasy royal au, the haunting of Theerapanyakul house (a haunting of hill house vegaspete au) for the lovely @liyazaki , another armpol fic, the kp greaser!era fic and Vegas character study I may or may not be giving up on 'cause the sparks just aren't hitting right, AND several pieces of artwork. *cries in not enough time*

No pressure tags - Everyone I mentioned above! As well as @acacia-luna-royal @ahdriking @omarandjohnny @mematryoshkame @minisculecosmos @suga4mycoffee

Pretty sure that's more than nine but I cannot count. ❤️

[graysongraysoff]

🤡 🛒 🛠 💖 and 🧐 for the ask meme! <3

fanfic writer emoji asks

🤡 what’s a line, scene or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

dialogue is my favorite thing on earth to write, especially little interactions like this:

“Damn, you got hot,” Satoru greeted him at the entrance to Jujutsu High’s administrative building, earning the long-suffering glare he’d missed so much.

“You look the same,” Nanami replied dryly. Satoru barked a laugh.

“I’ll send you the skincare routine,” he quipped breezily.

writing banter like this between good friends always makes me smile :)

🛒 what are some common things you incorporate in your fics? themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

it was a joke with my les mis friends for a long time that i had to reference courfeyrac’s “buoyant curls” at least once in every fic i wrote, lol. i will not apologize i love that phrase and the imagery it invokes so fucking much.

but in terms of broader things… well, the biggest commonality in everything i write, fic and not-fic, is the focus on platonic relationships, usually between brothers, male friends or fathers/father figures and sons/son figures. i can’t help it, i love the way men love. maybe someday we’ll unpack why that is, but it is not this day.

i also write primarily angst and hurt/comfort, bc a bitch loves tragedy and catharsis, especially when that tragedy and catharsis involves men being vulnerable with each other in a way that masculinity usually doesn’t let them be.

men crying is what i’m trying to say. i write a lot of men hugging and leaning on each other and crying.

🛠 what tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

google docs baybee, and occasionally a timer if i’m trying to break a block with ten-minute fics. i also write from prompts a lot? especially since i write mostly short fic; i find it helpful a lot of times to have a jumping-off place.

also thesaurus.com, my beloved.

💖 what made you start writing?

god, i don’t even know. i have been writing stories ever since i learned how to write; when i was like six or seven i had a whole notebook dedicated to tales of three best friends and their horses, complete with illustrations. i won first place in the young author’s fair at my school around that same age for a story about two cats encountering a scary bulldog. i don’t think anything made me start writing, i think that’s just how i’m wired, lol.

now, i started writing fic when i was 13 or 14 years old, basically because i learned, from the internet, that it was allowed, lol. before then i thought surely it must be illegal for nebulous copyright reasons, so i would just write things that were Heavily Inspired by the stuff i liked, but then once i discovered that fanfic was a Thing on the internet i started writing more and more of that and less and less original stuff, until now when it’s basically all i write! 😬

🧐 do you spend much time researching your stories?

god, you have no idea.

i generally like to stay as canon compliant as possible; i generally write fic out of appreciation for (and obsession with) the canon as opposed to writing fic to “fix” the canon (though i am not immune to the occasional fix-it), and i have also always really enjoyed the exercise of writing “within constraints.” it feels like a game to me — a set of rules or requirements that i have to work around in order to create something moving. to do that i spend insane amounts of time on wikis and reddits looking up shit like “how many windows does the bebop have,” and sometimes i will find and rewatch/reread a scene in the original work if the internet isn’t giving me what i want.

in terms of research outside of the canon, recently since i’ve started writing a lot of anime fic i’ve been doing a fair amount of research into japanese culture, but i’m a biiiitttt more loosey-goosey with that, because 1.) i am aware of the limits of typing keywords into google and reading three or four blog posts on whatever it is i’m looking up, and i would rather be ambiguous than wrong, and 2.) i think as an american writing in english it’s really easy for that kind of research to, like, take over a fic, if that makes sense?? like, i’ve definitely read fics (especially anime fics) where all the cultural details and references start to feel kind of performative, which not only makes the writer seem pretentious but it also takes away from the story itself. so generally if it’s something that seems easy enough to look up, like popular fast food restaurants or what kind of animals they have at the tokyo zoo, i’ll look that up, but i give myself a bit more wiggle room with things that might be more nuanced than that.

wow anyway sorry for that insane digression, lmao. the short answer is yes. yes i do a lot of research when i write fic. 😂

[flufffysocks]

let's talk about andi mack's worldbuilding

sorry this took forever to make! i've been pretty busy with school stuff and i kind of lost my inspiration for a bit, but i ultimately really enjoyed writing it! i wish i could've included more pics (tumblr has a max of 10 per post), and it kinda turned from less of a mini analysis to more of an extremely long rant... but i hope it's still a fun read!

i've been rewatching the show over the past few weeks (thanks again to @disneymack for the link!), and i’ve been noticing a lot that i never did the first time around. this is really the first time i’ve watched the show from start to finish since it aired, and it honestly feels so different this time - probably a combination of the fact that i’m not as focused on plot and can appreciate the show as a whole, and also that the fandom is much, much smaller now, so there’s a lot less noise. so the way i’m consuming this show feels super different than it did the first time, but the show itself doesn’t - it’s just as warm and comforting to me as it was the first time around, if not more so.

i think a lot of that can be attributed to andi mack’s “worldbuilding”. i’m not quite sure that this is the right word in this context, to be honest, because i mostly see it used in reference to fantasy and sci-fi universes, but it just sort of feels right to me for andi mack, because you can really tell how much love and care went into constructing this universe. for clarity, worldbuilding is “the process of creating an imaginary world” in its simplest sense. there’s two main types: hard worldbuilding, which involves inventing entire universes, languages, people, cultures, places, foods, etc. from scratch (think “lord of the rings” or “dune”), and soft worldbuilding, in which the creators don’t explicitly state or explain much about the fictional universe, but rather let it’s nature reveal itself as the story progresses (think studio ghibli films). andi mack to me falls in the soft worldbuilding category. even though it takes place in a realistic fiction universe, there’s a lot of aspects to it that are inexplicably novel in really subtle ways.

so watching the show now, i’ve noticed that the worldbuilding comes primarily from two things - setting and props, and oftentimes the both of them in tandem (because a big part of setting in filmmaking does depend on the props placed in it!).

one of the most obvious examples is the spoon. it really is a sort of quintessential, tropic setting in that it's the main gang's "spot", which automatically gives it a warm and homey feel to it. and its set design only amplifies this:

the choice to make it a very traditional 50s-style diner creates a very nostalgic, retro feel to it, which is something that's really consistent throughout the show, as you'll see. from the round stools at the bar, to the booths, to the staff uniforms, this is very obvious. the thing that i found especially interesting about it though is the choice of color. the typical 50s diner is outfitted with metallic surfaces and red accented furnishings, but the spoon is very distinctly not this.

instead, it's dressed in vibrant teal and orange, giving it a very fresh and modern take on a classic look. so it still maintains that feeling of being funky and retro, but that doesn't retract from the fact that the show is set distinctly in modern times.

of course, this could just be a one-off quirky set piece, but this idea of modernizing and novelizing "retro" things is a really common motif throughout the show. take red rooster records. i mean, it's a record shop - need i say more? it's obviously a very prominent store in shadyside, at least for the main characters, but there's no apparent reason why it is (until season 2 when bowie starts working there, and jonah starts performing there). a lot of the time, though, it functions solely as a record shop. vinyl obviously isn't the most practical or convenient way of listening to music, but it's had its resurgence in pop culture even in the real world, mostly due to its aesthetic value, so it's safe to say that it serves the same purpose in the andi mack universe.

the fringe seems to be nostalgic of a different era, specifically the Y2K/early 2000s period (because it's meant to be bex's territory and symbolic of who she used to be, and its later transformation into cloud 10 is representative of her character arc, but that's beside the point). to be honest, exactly what this store was supposed to be always confused me. it was kind of a combination party store/clothing store/makeup store/beauty parlor? i think that's sort of the point of it though, it's supposed to feel very grunge-y and chaotic (within the confines of a relatively mellow-toned show, of course), and it's supposed to act as a sort of treasure chest of little curios that both make the place interesting and allow the characters to interact with it.

and, of course, there's andi shack. this is really the cherry on top of all of andi mack's sets, just because it's so distinctly andi. it serves such amazing narrative purpose for her (ex. the storyline where cece and ham were going to move - i really loved this because it highlights its place in the andi mack universe so well, and i'm a sucker for the paper cranes shot + i'm still salty that sadie's cranes didn't make it into the finale) and it's the perfect reflection of andi's character development because of how dynamic it is (the crafts and art supplies can get moved around or switched out, and there's always new creations visible).

going back to the nostalgia motif though, the "shack" aspect of it always struck me as very treehouse-like. personally, whenever i think of treehouses, there's this very golden sheen of childhood about it, if that makes sense. i've always seen treehouses in media as a sort of shelter for characters' youthful innocence and idealistic memories. for example, the episode "up a tree" from good luck charlie, the episode "treehouse" from modern family, and "to all the boys 2" all use a treehouse setting as a device to explore the character's desire to hold onto their perfect image of their childhood (side note: this exact theme is actually explored in andi mack in the episode "perfect day 2.0"!). andi shack is no exception to this, but it harnesses this childhood idealism in the same way that it captures the nostalgia of the 50s in the spoon, or the early 2000s in the fringe. it's not some image of a distant past being reflected through that setting; it's very present, and very alive, because it reflects andi as she is in the given moment.

some honorable mentions of more one-off settings include the ferris wheel (from "the snorpion"), the alley art gallery (from "a walker to remember"), SAVA, the color factory (from "it's a dilemna"), and my personal favorite, the cake shop (from "that syncing feeling").

[every time i watch this episode i want to eat those cakes so bad]

these settings have less of a distinctly nostalgic feel (especially the color factory, which is a very late 2010s, instagram era setting), but they all definitely have an aura of perfection about them. andi mack is all about bright, colorful visuals, and these settings really play to that, making the andi mack universe seem really fun and inviting, and frankly very instagrammable (literally so, when it comes to the color factory!).

props, on the other hand, are probably a much less obvious tool of worldbuilding. they definitely take up less space in the frame and are generally not as noticeable (i'm sure i'll have missed a bunch that will be great examples, but i'm kind of coming up with all of this off the top of my head), but they really tie everything together.

for example, bex's box, bex's polaroid, and the old tv at the mack apartment (the tv is usually only visible in the periphery of some shots, so you might not catch it at first glance) all complement that very retro aesthetic established through the settings (especially the polaroid and the tv, because there's really no good reason that the characters would otherwise be using these).

besides this, andi's artistic nature provides the perfect excuse for plenty of colorful, crafty props to amplify the visuals and the tone. obviously, as i discussed before, andi shack is the best example of this because it's filled with interesting props. but you also see bits of andi's (and other people's) crafts popping up throughout the show (ex. the tape on the fridge in the mack apartment, andi's and libby's headbands in "the new girls", walker's shoes, andi's phone case, and of course, the bracelet). not only does doing this really solidify this talent as an essential tenet of andi's character, but it also just makes the entirety of shadyside feel like an extension of andi shack. the whole town is a canvas for her crafts (or art, depending on how you want to look at it. i say it's both), and it immensely adds to shadyside's idealism. because who wouldn't want to live in a world made of andi mack's creations?

and, while it's not exactly a prop, the characters' wardrobe is undoubtedly a major influence on the show's worldbuilding. true to it's nature as a disney channel show, all of the characters are always dressed in exceptionally curated outfits of whatever the current trends are, making the show that much more visually appealing. i won't elaborate too much on this, because i could honestly write a whole other analysis on andi mack's fashion (my favorites are andi's and bex's outfits! and kudos to the costume designer(s) for creating such wonderful and in-character wardrobes!). but, i think it's a really really important aspect of how the show's universe is perceived, so it had to be touched upon.

[^ some of my favorite outfits from the show! i am so obsessed with andi's jacket in the finale, and i aspire to be at bex's level of being a leather jacket bisexual]

and lastly, phones. this is a bit of an interesting case (pun intended), because the way they're used fluctuates a bit throughout the show, but i definitely noticed that at least in the first season terri minsky tried to avoid using them altogether. these efforts at distancing from modern tech really grounds the show in it's idealist, nostalgia-heavy roots, so even when the characters start using their phones more later in the show, they don't alter the viewer's impression of the andi mack universe very much.

so, what does all of this have to do with worldbuilding? in andi mack's case, because it's set in a realistic universe and not a fantasy one, a lot of what sets it apart from the real world comes down to tone. because, as much as this world is based on our own, it really does feel separate from it, like an alternate reality that's just slightly more perfect than ours, which makes all the difference. it's the idealism in color and composition in andi mack's settings that makes it so unmistakably andi mack. even the weather is always sunny and perfect (which is incredibly ironic because the town is called shadyside - yes, i am very proud of that observation).

the andi mack universe resides somewhere in this perfect medium that makes it feel like a small town in the middle of nowhere (almost like hill valley in 1955 from "back to the future"), but at the same time like an enclave within a big city (because of its proximity to so many modern, unique, and honestly very classy looking establishments). it is, essentially, an unattainable dream land that tricks you into believing it is attainable because it's just real enough.

all this to say, andi mack does an amazing job of creating of polished, perfect world for its characters. this is pretty common among disney channel and nickelodeon shows, but because most other shows tend to be filmed in a studio with three-wall sets, andi mack is really set apart from them in that it automatically feels more real and tangible. it has its quintessential recurring locations, but it has far more of them (most disney/nick shows usually only have 3-4 recurring settings), and it has a lot more one-off locations. it's also a lot more considerate when it comes to its props, so rather than the show just looking garish and aggressively trendy, it has a distinctive style that's actually appropriate to the characters and the story. overall this creates the effect of expanding the universe, making shadyside feel like it really is a part of a wider world, rather than an artificial bubble. it's idealism is, first and foremost, grounded in reality, and that provides a basis for its brilliant, creative, and relatable storytelling.

tl;dr: andi mack's sets and props give it a very retro and nostalgic tone which makes its whole universe seem super perfect and i want to live there so bad!!

[handonhaven]

So I just saw this post that made me mad but also made me laugh all at once. The post pretty much said that Handon is the most hated ship in the fandom and that even actress Danielle Rose Russel hates Handon and called them dragged out. That Handon only purpose was the bring Hope out of shell. And that Handon is a mother son relationship. It just goes on like that(and you can tell a H*ise made that post). It just made me laugh because 1 Danielle never said she hates Handon, I think she's one of the biggest handon shippers I've seen. I've seen so many people say at the beginning she was, but she still is now. 2 she never called Handon dragged. People are really still twisting around that interview she did back in March. When she talked about Handon she said she was really excited about where Handon is going. And that part where she said "dragged out to get to this point" she wasn't talking about handon(it was a while after she stopped talking about handon when she said that) and even though she didn't state what she meant by that she could have been talking about anything, the malilandon plot, Hope finally putting herself first. But I guess antis decided to forget about the part where she said she was really excited about where Handon is going. And when they heard dragged out just decided that Danielle was talking about Handon even though she wasn't.

Also that part about the only purpose for Handon was to bring Hope out of shell is just not a very good argument or even true. Because if that was the case handon would have been over after s1, they wouldn't have kept them together. Even Brett said in an interview back in June that Landon is one of the, if not the most important person in Hopes life. Whenever I see people say stuff like that I'm truly convinced that they're watching a completely different show.

And let's be honest the only mother/child relationship on the show is between Hope and that school. They go to her with every little problem they have. They expect her to put the school and them over herself all the time(just like a mother would for their child). And then when she does put herself first for once they act like she's betrayed them.

P.s sorry to vent/rant like this. It's just whenever I see stuff like that I get a little upset. And not because they took the time to twist around and make up stuff. It's that they tag Handon in it, so we can see it, probably thinking it's some type of win for them(kind of like how they think the new staff writer is gonna give them a win, but that's a whole other thing that I don't want to get into right now). I can get not liking a ship and wanting your ship to happen and I know ship wars are a thing no matter fandom your on. But can they just stay off our tags. Because it honestly feels like they're more obsessed with Handon than we are.

I’m not even surprised, sounds like the same old stuff. Yeah, Danielle has never expressed that she hates Handon, quite the opposite. Ikr, she still likes Handon, why else would she have suggested Hope sing a love song to Landon if she only liked Handon in the beginning? If she hates Handon so much now, why did she say in that March interview how excited she was about Handon this last season and how big a part Landon has played in Hope’s character arc and how much she’s enjoyed playing how that has impacted Hope? In a season where Hope’s love for Landon was solidified more than ever, and she fought for him all season long? Do they honestly think that if she hated Handon that she would’ve been acting that happy and excited in that interview, and voluntarily bringing up Handon throughout the interview without being asked?

And yes, she never said Handon’s relationship in general was dragged out. They really do twist everything and completely ignore the last part of her sentence where she said she thought “it was a bit dragged out to get to this point.” And now that we know there was no Handon breakup, we know she didn’t mean she thought it was dragged out to get to the point of them breaking up, so why are people still holding onto that? And she actually was talking about Handon when she said that, I went back to rewatch that bit to make sure and she was responding to a question about Handon. But I don’t see that as anything negative about Handon at all, because if Danielle thought things were dragged out to get to this point for Handon’s relationship, what point did Handon get to? Yes, they’ve been in a horrible situation all this time and have been apart when they haven’t wanted to be, and they have a lot more crap to deal with, but Hope’s love for Landon is as strong as ever and she’s determined to fight fate to be with him. So how does this help the antis? But like you said, Danielle didn’t say what exactly she meant. She said it was a “long time coming between the characters,” so she could’ve been referring to Malilandon, or Hope and Landon coming to terms with their fate and fighting that, or yeah, she could’ve meant Hope putting herself first and fighting for her happiness with Landon when she struggled with that in the first two seasons. Which was dragged out imo, it took a while for Hope to get this point where she believes that she and Landon can be together and be happy, and that they don’t have to be doomed. And it’s taken a while to get the point where they’re really facing Malivore as well, so Danielle could’ve been referring to any of these things. But however I look at it, I don’t see how it means anything bad about Handon when you consider the context of how she said “dragged out” as well as what happened with Handon this last season. But yep, people will pick and choose what they want to hear and what they want it to mean, while ignoring all the positive things Danielle said about Handon.

And yeah, if people think the purpose of Handon was only to get Hope “out of her shell”, they’re really just not watching the show. Hope and Landon’s relationship has done so much more than that, it’s helped both Hope and Landon grow and develop as characters in so many ways. And if I went into all of those ways, this post would become even longer, I could write a whole other post about it. But it’s crazy how people totally miss so much of what goes on in the show. And true, Handon wouldn’t have lasted if that was their only purpose, and Brett certainly wouldn’t have said that about them either.

My gosh, not the “mother/son” thing... yeah, when it comes to Hope protecting others like a mother would, yes to all you said, you’re right. Once again, people pay no attention to the fact that Hope protects and saves everyone at the school all the time and how dependent they are on her, how they expect her to do everything for them. Meanwhile, Landon actually tries, he doesn’t expect Hope to do everything on her own and doesn’t want her to either. He has continuously done whatever he can to help Hope and is always trying to be better. Hope and Landon are a team, and that has been stated on the show, Hope literally called them a power couple. Yet those people really keep comparing their relationship, a romantic relationship, to a mother/son relationship? I can’t...

And I get that, it’s definitely so annoying how they’ll tag Handon in their stuff, it can make it almost impossible to avoid hate sometimes. Yeah, it seems they do just wanna take what they think is a win and rub it in Handon fans’ faces. Exactly, the least they could do is stay out of the tags. It makes it so obvious what they’re trying to do when they don’t. Haha yeah, it really does seem like they’re more obsessed with Handon than Handon fans sometimes with the amount of time they spend hating on them. It’s pretty sad.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Sophia Jirafe

Seven of Sophia Jirafe’s fics are at Gossamer, but more of her X-Files stories are at AO3 (as sophiahelix). I’ve recced some of my favorites of her stories here before, including Stones and Bones. She was active in the fandom during the show’s run and has never strayed far from fandom in general. She co-founded Glass Onion, a great multi-fandom mailing list that now has nearly 1,000 fics from 100 fandoms at AO3. Big thanks to Sophia Jirafe for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

It did initially, but so many old shows are on streaming now and getting discovered by new people, it makes sense.

I did get a comment from someone who said my first story under this name, posted in early 2000 when I was a college freshman, was older than her by a couple of months, and THAT took me aback.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

It was my first fandom, discovered when I was 17 and searching for info about the show on the school library computer, and it really shaped my whole life! I met a lot of people I still know today (mostly in non-fannish venues like FB, though I do still have some connections in fandom), and learned a lot about writing and just life generally, since I was younger than most of fandom at the time.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I started off on a tiny forum at a website called Squirrel’s Nest, but I kept seeing people thanking Scullyfic in fic headers and eventually I was able to join the mailing list (which was capped to 500 members). Scullyfic was everything to me — I made friends, betas, discussed the show, learned about all kinds of things on Off-Topic Fridays, etc. A lot of those friends, I would email with or more often chat on AIM (individual or these sprawling group chats that would go on all day), and then at the end of 2001 we started migrating to Livejournal. I was getting into Buffy more by then, but it was still mostly the same crowd of people I knew from Scullyfic.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

I feel like it started me on a whole life path really — finding that my deep obsession with fiction could be channeled like that and shared with other people, as well as deepening my writing. Online fandom has been a major part of my social life for over 20 years now, and I love the mix of getting excited about things with friends and also the creative outlet.

My corner of X-Files fandom in particular was just very calm and enjoyable for the most part, full of older professional women who were happy to be friends and give me advice about all kinds of things, and it really set the bar for me with my online interactions. Now I’m almost 40 and trying to be that person for my younger friends, as well as having no patience for toxicity and in-fighting in my fandom spaces.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

A combination of the creepy conspiracy angle and just adoring Scully. I remember how mysterious and fascinating the show seemed when I discovered it right before S5, and there was no way to find out more except to keep watching and hoping they explained. Scully was so smart and tough and beautiful and interesting, and as a teen I was just captivated by her (and the UST, though I didn’t care about Mulder as much).

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I ran across it a couple times early on but felt embarrassed by the concept, but then I read the first in Karen Rasch’s Words series and suddenly it clicked for me. After a while I started daydreaming my own conversations between them, very similar to what happens to me now when I’m getting into a new pairing, so after reading tons of recommended fic by big authors, I started writing my own (the 3-4 stories I posted in high school are all wiped from the internet now, though).

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Good memories, though because it was my senior year of high school and college, I know a lot of it is just tied to that time in my life, and also being in my very first fandom. I will rewatch episodes from time to time, but I basically never revisit former fandoms because they’re kind of like exes, even if I finished on a good note. I also think my taste in fic has changed (and there isn’t the same novelty of “characters I like getting together omg!”)

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

So many! None of them had quite the same combination of excellent central architecture (especially pre-AO3) and a really high level of discussion and friendliness without being enormous, but I’ve loved them all in their own ways. I’ve done fandom on LJ/DW, Tumblr, Discord, and now on Twitter, and I think I miss the mailing list days the most. You didn’t have to repeat yourself so much in multiple conversations, you weren’t character limited, and the discussion was all in one place, with personal stuff more confined to your side conversations. Discord is a little like that, but it moves too fast and there’s too much noise for my taste.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Heh, after X-Files I went through a whole phase of faves in the Scully vein — Buffy, Aeryn Sun, Kara Thrace, etc. Like many people I’ve shifted primarily into m/m in the last decade (Sherlock, YOI, and recently The Untamed have been my major fictional fandoms, along with a lot of sports RPF), but for non-fannish shows I’m always looking for awesome new female characters, like Elizabeth on the Americans, Peggy on Mad Men, Nadja on What We Do in the Shadows, etc. And I do LOVE Killing Eve and have written a little f/f over there.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I’ll rewatch favorite episodes occasionally, and I keep thinking about a full rewatch but it takes so much time! I never saw the second movie, and I didn’t finish the first of the new seasons because I was hating it, so it’s a little hard for me to think fannishly about them when I disliked basically everything after “Je Souhaite” so much (as far as I’m concerned the show ends there).

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

X-Files no, but yeah I’m still very active in fandoms.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I lost all my saved fic several computers ago, but I recall loving “Blue Christmas” by Plausible Deniability and “Diamonds and Rust” by MustangSally (obviously everything she wrote was great).

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Looking at my X-Files fic, I can’t believe how short it is and how comparatively little of it there is (I have lost track of a few ficlets). It felt like such a big deal to finish anything back then! I think my favorite remains Alphabetum, which involved a tricky structure and 5 elements given by people as part of the Scullyfic Improv challenge, where you had a week to write a story around those elements.

My favorite of my recent fic in fictional fandoms is probably the GoT/YOI crossover novel I wrote a couple years ago, for a completely opposite experience to this (and proof you can grow as a writer with a lot of effort!)

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

It’s honestly hard to imagine going back (like I said, I usually don’t), but I guess I could get inspired by something.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I certainly still write, and I do have to give credit to XF fandom and Scullyfic in particular for giving me the start I got, where I really wanted to be writing good fiction. The few things I wrote in high school were just me jamming out romantic cliches, but the people I was lucky to know in XF fandom showed me that “just” fanfic can still aspire to be high quality. I am a much, much better and more disciplined writer than I was back then, but I might never have started on this path without fandom friends encouraging me.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Usually just daydreaming about emotional dynamics between characters/people, but sometimes something specific in canon or real life (I write a lot of RPF) gets me going, or maybe something I read.

What's the story behind your pen name?

When I wrote for X-Files, I picked “Sophia Jirafe” combining my favorite first name with a fancy spelling for my favorite animal (I was 18! Don’t judge!) Over on Livejournal, my friend Jintian and I initially shared an account with the same name as our website, double_helix, and when she got her own account I changed to sophia_helix, which is now sophiahelix just about everywhere. A little clunky, but I like the continuity (and I do run across old friends who remember the name).

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

The friends I’ve known for a very long time know about it, but we have never talked about it in depth. My husband, who I met not long after getting into fandom, also knows about it, and he’s encouraging and also a writer so we talk all the time. I told my mom in college and she was pretty dismissive, so we haven’t talked about it since (but my younger sister knows and is cool about it).

When I was younger, it was something I shared readily (I bonded with a new friend in law school I saw looking at LJ), but now I don’t really bring it up with new acquaintances.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I just made a Carrd the other day with all my various fannish addresses (Twitter, locked fannish Twitter, AO3, Tumblr)

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Just that it really was a high quality fandom — so much excellent long casefic, so many cool down to earth people, just generally a great launching place for a young fan. The friendships I made with older people were really important to me, and it makes me sad to see a lot of younger people now getting upset about the idea of anyone over a certain age being in their fandom spaces. I hope someday fandom can get back to appreciating that people of all ages can be the fandom type, and that everyone brings something different to the community.

(Posted by Lilydale on December 1, 2020)

[momowoah]

Rewatching GG 2.0!

So, my new thoughts on episode 1 (long post so adding a cut):

The starting sequence was a good way to introduce the characters. We got a glimpse of their morning routine + family for some. I had forgotten how much the adults in GG wanted Zoya and Julien to stay apart. Like, what's the problem of them going to the same school and meeting each other?

I don't really like how Gossip Girl was introduced. In the og, GG was never the reason why the students respected authority. It was the Headmistress. In the pool incident and in the Blair × Ms. Carr fight, she was the one that punished them. Besides, the grades and such were manipulated even with Gossip Girl around. I think it would be better to introduce it later in the episode, and for another reason.

Lunet is in full business mode while Max is just entertained lol

Obie and Julien actually seem into each other?

The way Audrey and Aki automatically go to Max + Aki's comment about Max's face without a Max makes me think at least the three hung out together the previous year and were closer to each other than to the rest of the group even before all the throuple stuff.

Julien is really bad at lying lol. She can't even keep a straight face.

Just realized I spent the entire scene thinking someone was missing from the group but it really was just them. Zoya does make a difference huh.

Idk why but the seven seem to be closer in this scene than on the rest of the series.

They really thought a tweet would do something lol

They're cute sisters. Why do they have to be the enemies of the series?

Julien really wanted her friends to like Zoya while they all think they have to protect JC from her because they think Zoya is a stalker

They seem so comfortable sitting around each other and just doing each their thing

Was Monet more annoyed about Zoya when she started agreeing with Obie? Lol

Keller really is obsessed with Julien huh. Watching her stories on the subway, the hallway scene, suggesting her as GG's target...

One day and the teachers think they're Gossip Girl experts... What a joke

The first Gossip Girl speech was not good. Like, the intro was og style so it was okay, but "feature your finstas, surface those subtweets"? Really?

Is it just me or are Julien and Max kind of the leaders of the group? We all know Julien is the ruling queen of Constance but Max was the one who reminded everyone of the Dumbo Hall meeting and his interactions with Julien and Lunet always give that impression.

Obie badmouthing his girlfriend to her half sister they barely knew? Trash

I just realized that the Audrey said the "hand-me-down" thing because Aki tapped a chair to call Audrey to sit and Zoya thought he was asking her

Also Aki might not say anything but he seems equally annoyed with Zoya as the rest

That scene was so uncomfortable with everyone looking at Zoya while Julien listed the rules. Maybe this reboot is better than I first thought.

I just realized Julien always ignores comments and questions she doesn't want to deal with

Interesting how Obie seemed to care about Julien and be cautious of Zoya at first but every time she mentions anything activism-related he suddenly shows interest. Did he even actually like her or did their whole relationship happen just so he could show off that he cared about it?

"Public schools pay better" "So we should get Keller fired and let her work somewhere else?"

Obie actually seems annoyed at Julien?

Audrey seemed worried when Max mentioned something was different between her and Aki and we saw at the beginning of the episode they weren't doing so well. Did she become interested in Max because she was afraid her relationship wasn't working anymore and wanted to try something else? It matches what happened so far (how Audrey seemed to regain complete interest in Aki after she slept with Max) and my theories for 1b. Also explains why it took so long for Audrey's attraction to Max stop looking like sexual attraction only. Either that or it took her that long to realize she was into Max.

"Why would you think someone deserves something more than you?"

Some Julien quotes really just show perfectly how she thinks, the writers did well

I never realized why Julien was the queen, but now I see that she does resemble Blair somehow. She thinks she deserves to be the center of attention, studies everything and everyone before allowing them to enter their life (lying about Zoya because she was afraid she wouldn't like her) and is insecure about losing what she has. She really was the right choice, and it makes her development in the next episodes far better. Meeting Zoya made her start caring more about the people around her. Such a shame it'll all go up in flames in 1b. Or not. I am watching this for the drama so

Lying really seems to be a big deal between the seven, while in the og everything they did was lie to each other.

Really love the strategically placed window lol

Badmouthing his girlfriend again? Bad, Obie!

It's kinda sad to hear O talk about how much JC has changed, idk why

I really want Julien's cover to fall and her real personality to show. I think even with her going off social media we still only got a glimpse of who she was

Whitney Peak is so pretty omg

"I should be arrested" Yes.

The Lott's house is the only that feels like a home rather than just an empty box, from their relationship to the music playing in the background and just how casual they act.

Rewatching really has helped me like Zoya and Julien more

These people don't even know what Gossip Girl is and already trust it with their lives lol

Audrey and Max act like they just began liking each other while Aki and Max act like it has been going for a while. Huh.

I just love this trio.

You can see the exact moment Audrey decides the threesome will happen lol

You know that conscience thing with an angel giving good advice while a demon gives bad advice? Monet and Luna are Julien's demon. They play into her insecurities to be able to scheme and destroy as they wish. Love them for it. Blair Waldorf would be proud.

More to Max being the second leader of the group: he seems to be close to everyone. He hangs out with Aki and Audrey, gives advice and helps Julien (as seen in ep 3) and seems to enjoy scheming with Luna and Monet (immediately up to their plan and finding it entertaining, they knew he would agree)

Max, Audrey and Aki smiling as Zoya was escorted outside...

"Why didn't you stop it when it happened?" She was literally in the middle of the show????

Random thought but is the reason why Julien brought Zoya to NY related to the phone call somehow? She said it was because their mother wanted them to know each other but why only now then?

Starting to really think Julien knows exactly what that phone call was about and it wasn't something that just happened to her

Yeah I really like Julien more now that I kinda understand how she thinks. Plus Zoya's determination to put her in her place will probably be a good part of her character development not only in 1a, but also maybe in the rest of the series. Starting to think Zoya will be the new GG.

Don't like Obie but he was right to breakup with her then.

Also I think I missed what is it that Zoya does??? I know it's some kind of art but I don't know if it's acting (since she mentioned Yale Drama) or something else. They don't really talk about it. Maybe scriptwriting considering Kate mentors her?

I think it's because they don't use the theme song anymore but I barely notice GG's lines in the reboot.

"You know you can think about him, right?" <3

Love the soundtrack

Really love how Zoya goes from dressing like Little J in the first day to impress JC and friends to dressing like herself at the end of the episode

Luna was brushing the air in the balcony scene lmaooo

Julien apologizing to Kate to prove Gossip Girl was working was kinda forced ngl

Are the profile pics of the people dming GG stock photos? Lol

They do spend a record time at school in this episode

[dirtykpopsnaps]

Watching Dramas- Cha Eunwoo

Warnings: Slight spoilers for True Beauty

Contains: JinJin’s sister, Y/N, and why she doesn’t watch Astro’s kdramas

Requested: no

Words: 2, 055

A/N: Okay, this fic doesn’t really relate to Eunwoo much, but it also kind of does, so??🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

———————————————————————

Outside the shop window, the street is filled with people underneath umbrellas. Large drops of rain splatter the window and blur the street outside. Inside the shop, everything is nice and warm. Customers chatter happily with their friends, talking about millions of different things. “Are you serious?! You haven’t seen it? I thought everyone had at this point!” Across the table, my best friend, Hayoon, is talking animatedly. I laugh lightly, shaking my head.

“I don’t watch any of their dramas,” I tell her honestly. Immediately, Hayoon’s jaw drops open.

“None of them?! You know these people and you don’t watch their dramas?!” She asks in shock. I smile softly and laugh again.

“I see enough of them on a day-to-day basis. I don’t need to see them in my dramas, too,” I giggle.

Right now, Hayoon is talking to me about this new drama, True Beauty. She’s absolutely obsessed with it and has been following it since it aired. I listen to her talk about it, but I know that I won’t be watching it myself. Although it sounds like a nice story, the drama has one cast member that I refuse to watch...Cha Eunwoo. Also known as my brother, JinJin’s, group mate. Ever since JinJin joined Astro, I haven’t watched any of the dramas that the members star in. As you just saw, Hayoon is definitely surprised that I don’t want their dramas.

Across the table, Hayoon rolls her eyes. “Why not?,” she whines, “It’s so good!”

“I’m sure it’s a good drama, but I don’t watch them,” I say plainly, shrugging my shoulders.

“But why?! Just because you know them?” She pouts.

“Well, I kind of have a bad habit of ‘falling in love’ with characters from my dramas and stuff. I don’t wanna put myself in the situation where that character could be played by someone I know,” I shrug lightly. Hayoon sighs at me, shaking her head. “Besides, it’s weird to see them like that,”

I say, scrunching up my nose.

“But...the shows are so good!” She pouts. I nod my head lightly.

“I know they are. I just have trouble watching these guys that I know, act. I mean, I used to love watching Boys Over Flowers. It was one of my favorite dramas. I thought the little F4 were so cute. And then JinJin joined Astro, I rewatched Boys over Flowers, recognized little Moonbin and it all just went downhill from there,” I giggle. Hayoon’s jaw falls open and she stares at me.

“Do you have a crush on Moonbin?!” She asks in shock.

“Oh, God, no. I meant that all I could see was my friend as a little kid and it kinda ruined the separation between the character and actor,” I explain.

Hayoon and I talk between ourselves, picking lightly at the food we had ordered. Even as we’re finishing, Hayoon still hasn’t dropped the subject of True Beauty. “Well, I don’t care. I want you to watch it with me at the sleepover tonight,” she says.

“Hayoon, no, no. I really don’t want to,” I protest, trying to reason with her.

“No, we’re watching it. It’ll be your introduction to Eunwoo’s acting,” she smiles. I sigh defeatedly, resting my head in my hand.

“Fine, I’ll watch it. But, it’s gonna be weird,” I mumble in annoyance. Hayoon squeals loudly, doing a little dance across the table.

“You’ll love it!” She smiles, getting up and starting to throw our trash out. I help her clean up and we grab our umbrellas before leaving the shop.

Quickly, Hayoon and I make our way through the streets back to her apartment. The rain splatters loudly on our umbrellas, falling down in pools around us. By the time we get back to her apartment, my shoes are absolutely soaked. I groan in annoyance and take them off, trying to find a dry spot by the door. Hayoon opens up the door and we both head inside. For most of the night, we just goof around and talk. We watch some videos on YouTube and even some kpop game videos, like ‘Save One Drop One’ and ‘Kpop Dating Game’. It’s just a fun little sleepover.

About an hour or two before we decide to go to sleep, Hayoon shoots me a look. “Time for True Beauty,” she giggles, grabbing her laptop. Instead of watching it on TV, Hayoon decided that we should start from the first episode and watch on Viki. She opens up the site and signs in, humming happily. Once she’s on the site, she finds True Beauty very quickly and clicks on the first episode.

For the most part, the show is actually very good. It’s an interesting story and Hayoon and I keep stopping the episode to talk to one another. About halfway through the episode, Jugyeong is standing at the edge of a building. I stare at the laptop with wide eyes, not able to tear my eyes away in case I miss anything. Suddenly, someone comes onto the roof of the building and pulls her off the edge. All you can see is the outline of a guy, but I make a guess and laugh, covering my eyes. Hayoon sighs in annoyance and stops the episode. “Really, Y/N? You’re gonna miss it!” She whines.

“It’s Eunwoo! I don’t wanna watch it,” I laugh. Hayoon pulls at my hands, trying to force them away from my eyes. Finally, she just sighs and lets the episode play again. I listen instead of watching the parts with Eunwoo.

When the scene seems to have passed, I look through my fingers. “Is he gone?” I ask, watching the laptop again. Hayoon sighs, nodding her head.

“Yeah, Suho is gone,” she sighs, resting her face in her hand. I giggle at her and continue watching the show. As we watch, I realize that I like the show a lot. Just as the show is ending, I’m actually able to watch a scene with Eunwoo without feeling like cringing internally. As the credits roll, Hayoon smiles happily and pats me on the back. “See?! Eunwoo is a good actor!” She squeals. I nod my head lightly.

“That was a pretty good show. I’ll need to keep up with it,” I smile. Hayoon squeals again, throwing her first in the air.

“Yes, success!” She says.

Looking back at her laptop, Hayoon sighs. “We should go to sleep, it’s late,” she says. I yawn loudly, agreeing with her.

“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll need to go to the studio tomorrow and work,” I say, grabbing some blankets and pillows. Hayoon flashes me a throwing smile.

“The studio? As in...,” she starts. I roll my eyes at me, hitting her with the pillow.

“Yes, as in with Astro. I always sit in on their practices,” I remind her. Hayoon giggles loudly.

“Tell Eunwoo that he’s hot,” she laugh. I roll my eyes, hitting her harder with the pillow.

“Oh, shut up. I will tell him no such thing,” I groan, laying down and covering myself with the pillow. A short silence follows.

“Then...maybe tell Moonbin,” Hayoon says, bursting into a fit of giggles again. I groan, covering my ears.

“Stop talking about my brother’s group mates like that,” I whine, holding back my laughter.

—————————

In the morning, I’m woken up by a loud ringing nearby. I groan, rubbing my eyes and grope around for the source of the noise. Finally, I pick my phone off the floor and answer it without checking who it is. “Hmm?” I mumble sleepily.

“Did you just wake up, Y/N?” JinJin’s voice asks. I sigh lightly, pressing the phone closer to my ear.

“Yeah, Jin, you woke me up,” I say. He sighs at me and I hear a rustling as he adjusts the phone.

“We’ll be at the practice studio, okay?” He questions.

“Alright. I’ll get there soon,” I say. JinJin ends the call and I sigh, throwing the blankets off my body. Next to me, Hayoon rubs her eyes sleepily.

“Was that JinJin?” She asks. I nod my head lightly, grabbing the bag of clothes that I brought here before we went out to eat yesterday.

“Yeah, it was. He was just telling me that they’re heading to the studio,” I say, pulling out some random clothes and gathering them in my arms.

When I have all of my clothes, I press the bag against the wall again. I walk into the bathroom and quickly change, checking my hair in the mirror. When I come out, Hayoon is in the kitchen, looking around for some breakfast. “Do you want something before you go?” She asks, looking over her shoulder at me. I shake my head lightly.

“No. I’ll probably get food for them on the way to the studio. They almost never eat before practice,” I tell her. Hayoon smiles and pulls me into a tight hug. I hug her back and grab my bag, waving goodbye before I head out the door.

On the way to the studio, I stop by a street vendor and order some street toast. The vendor gives me a very strange look when I order 7 of the same item, but he finally just hands me the toast. I give him some money and thank him before making my way to the studio. Every once in a while, someone will stare at me as I carry all the food, but no one really talks to me. I’m able to make my way to the studio without much problem.

When I finally get to the building, I head inside and the receptionist points me to the right practice room. Everyone in the building basically knows me, so they always help me whenever I come in. I walk down the hall of practice rooms and step into the room where Astro is practicing. Thankfully, everyone is already on break, so I just walk in and set my things down. Calmly, I walk around the room and hand out the street toast. JinJin raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s this for?” He asks curiously.

“For you to eat, doofus. I figured you guys didn’t grab breakfast because you almost never do,” I sigh, rolling my eyes at him. JinJin chuckles lightly and takes the sandwich, hugging me softly.

“Thanks, Y/N, you’re the best,” he chuckles. I pull out of the hug and give the last sandwich to Eunwoo, smiling.

“And, the last sandwich is for Lee Suho,” I giggle.

At the mention of his character, Eunwoo laugh lightly. “I thought you said you don’t watch our dramas,” he asks, eyeing me and smirking. I shrug my shoulders.

“Hayoon insisted, so we watched the first episode last night,” I explain. He takes a bite out of the toast, then swallows and smiles.

“What did you think?” He says, smiling widely.

“It was...interesting. Hayoon got annoyed with me because I kept hiding my face whenever you came on. But, by the end, I was almost able to get through your scenes without cringing,” I giggle. The members all laugh loudly and Eunwoo pinches his nose, scrunching up his face.

“That’s really not comforting,” he laughs. I shoot him a bright smile.

“It was good,” I say, patting his head lightly.

Across the room, Moonbin speaks up. “So, does that mean you’ll watch some of my dramas soon?” He asks excitedly. I shoot him a skeptical look.

“We’ll have to see about that. I literally couldn’t even rewatch Boys Over Flowers because you were in it,” I remind him. Moonbin pouts, crossing his arms.

“Hey, that’s mean!” He pouts at me. I laugh loudly, walking over and pinching his cheek.

“We’ll see, Bin. Maybe we can watch together and I can hide my face in your chest whenever you’re on screen,” I laugh. He rolls his eyes, pushing out his bottom lip.

“Maybe,” he says.

Calmly, all of the members eat their street toast. After about 15 minutes, JinJin calls everyone’s attention and practice starts. I sit on the wall, watching all of them practice dance moves and singing the songs. Eh...maybe I will watch some of their dramas. ‘I’ll just have to sit down and watch with them so we can all cringe’ I think to myself. Now, *that* sounds like a plan.

[theabysswatchers333]

The Walten Files Theories:

I rewatched the series and I have some new theories and my guess on the timeline. If anyone saw my previous theories about Jack being in Boozoo. I take that back. I struggle to see faces and I got Charles and Jack confused. Anyway with theories from my brother I think I understand the Walten files a lot better now. But of course these are just theories or guesses to the story. I went all out and spoke on all my theories because I think that's what your supposed to do. Since the story of bons burgers isn't told in a traditional sense. My brother also helped me generate ideas so I want to give him some credit too, enjoy!

Firstly I want to cover two big mysterious. Jack and Charles. Their fates are really left to mystery. But I think we get enough clues that the peices can be put together.

Charles is the most unknown important figure in the entire series. We know what he looks like and who he was stuffed into but otherwise we don't get much else. I have a few theories on him. With the casting of Boozoos ghost and the fact that everyone Felix killed was an employee, I think Charles was an important or high ranking employee under the founders. My guess would be that either he made the animatronics, he was the person who handled the buisness side of things, or he was the highest ranking and most loyal Tech support. I think he may have been close to the founders. So close they set up opening day to be on Lily's birthday (I assume Lily was close to Charles, a daughter or a neice) I picked up on this when Linda called Lily by name in her letter. If it was someone she didn't know she would've said "opening day" or just "a birthday party" she had probably met Charles and Lily at least once to know this info. And at this time the company wasn't off the ground yet. So with that established I think Charles was killed for one of two reasons (or a mix of both) A. Jack set it up so that if something happened to him Charles got his part of the company and become a founder or B. Charles was the one who told the authorities about what happened at Bons burgers. If you remember in Rosemary's section there is a shadow that follows behind then slowly and walks in as shes stuffed. That couldve been charles. He may have picked up that Felix acted strange around his female employees (I always thought it was odd aside from Jack and Brian the majority of the deaths were woman) plus the "nows shes beautiful bit" which may have gotten Charles to keep on eye on the other employees and watch over them. But that eventually got him killed. Both theories are things Felix wouldn't have wanted to happen. When Jack is dead he acts as if he barely existed and even capitalizes off his disappearance. I think Felix while caring for the Waltens also had a big ego. Thinking he was above everyone and obsessive about his image. Which probably lead to all the deaths but especially Charles.

That leads me into my next theory. No one is in Bon. Bon is the face of the company. I think Felix's ego is to big for him to ruin the animatromic that is the company's brand. I think all the murders that happened when Bons burgers was open were entirely Felix. Even though we're seeing the bon animatronic. If you notice in Rosemary's part, bon had human hands. Separate from the suit

See? The suit is covering someone human. At this point Felix couldve been wearing the suit. But later it was probably impossible for Ashley and Brian to be killed by Felix. Which Leads me to my next part.

We can tell by Ed and Molly possessing their rabbit that the bodies don't have to be inside the animatronic for them to be possesed. While Felix obviously didn't die he still could've possesed Bon in some way. Like a poltergeist situation, where his guilt was so extreme. Plus his heightened emotions when he killed wearing the bon suit. It left Bon possesed by his energy. I think this makes sense as Bon is clearly hunting for Sophie. However he doesn't know what she looks like and is just randomly attacking employees that have the same uniform. So it doesn't make sense that Jack or Felix are actually in the suit.

I actually think that after Bons shut down the bodies were removed from the animatronics. All the animatronics have the same large holes in their chests. Which don't look like regular wear and tear. This is probably also why they could be reopened and reused as the biohazard was removed before they were stored.

Billy is dirty but doesn't have any holes, as he wasn't stuffed with a body until after he was put into the storage facility. Bon probably had blood on him from Felix and had to be cracked open, Sha was also opened. If your curious as to why Police didn't just take off the top layer and expose the exoskeleton. The inside of the animatronics probably had evidence that they took in. Like hair, blood, nails, or if you think some were stuffed alive (like Susan), scratch marks.

Now after those linked thearies let's go back to Jack. A lot of people wonder why Show bear wasn't apart of the show stoppers. But with the estimated timeline were shown. Jack was probably murdered first after Ed and Molly died. I theorize that A. Jack is in showbear and B. Showbear was in the showstoppers but Felix became paranoid or because it was his first kill while drunk he wasn't able to hide the body properly so he dumped the whole animatronic in a well. Probably just off the Bons burgers property.

With all those theories laid out im gonna give my estimated and theorized timeline

Jack and Felix co-founder a restaurant and name it Bons Burgers. They start to hire employees before it opens and set up the opening date to be on Lily's birthday. Which is Charles Neice or Daughter. Charles was close to the Waltens and Krankens and probably did behind the scenes work on the buisness or was a loyal friend they hired as an employee. Before opening day Felix is asked to take Ed and Molly to a school dance and drop them off at home. He takes them to the dance and drinks while he's there. He then starts to drive them home. Combined with his drunk driving and the loose laws on seatbelts in the 70s; Ed and Molly are killed in a car crash. Where Felix survives. Felix buries Ed and Molly, who go on to posses their stuffed rabbit even though their still buried. Jack kept calling Felix more and more panicked. Felix probably lied and said he took them to bons burgers and lost track of time. That he felt dizzy and needed Jack to come pick them all up. When Jack got there Felix probably attacked him and thought he killed him and roughly stuffed him in showbear. But because of his drunken state he couldn't quite do it right. So instead he dragged showbear to a nearby well and threw the animatronic inside. Jack was probably alive still. In his later messages he begs for help, stating that he can't breath. Rosemary or Felix reports all three of them missing. Opening day comes around, it seems it went smoothly but for some reason Susan is killed and stuffed inside Banny. Probably alive, per the "the rabbit is starving" section. Bons burgers continues operating until Felix tricks Rosemary into the back rooms. Wearing the Bon suit. He dismembers her alive and stuffs her in Sha. Charles walks in or he's already gone to the police so he's also killed and stuffed in Boozoo. Along with presumably Susan screaming at night still alive and begging for help. Bons burgers is closed for good. Felix still wants to kill Sophie to ensure that he is never caught but he never manages to do so. The animatronics are inspected and all bodies are removed. Everything is moved to the storage facility as the case is investigated. The case probably went cold, or at least the bodies weren't buried yet as Felix was never found out. With all of them having unfinished buinsess they still continue to haunt Bons burgers. Most of the showstoppers don't seem to reanimate. Instead finding their way into employee tapes, cartons, and the arcade games like bunny farm. Bon possesed by Felix's negative energy from his murders, attempts to hunt down Sophie. Eventually after the case is either dropped or goes cold. Attempts are made to reopen Bons burgers as the characters are still successful. The relocate project start up and the three employees are sent to try and fix the animatronics. Ashley goes into the backroom and is killed by Bon and stuffed in Billy. This shuts down the relocate project for a while. Brian is hired to try and fix the animatronics again. But is stopped by Bon and is hunted down and mauled left to die. Until eventually it appears the project is successful as Sophie and Jenny seem to be new employees handling the machines in a different setting. While playing Bunnyfarm Sophie starts to, and eventually remembers her family.

Stepping back from the lore and story in their universe. I feel like there is another angle you could see the story in. I also think the Walten Files could be being told from Sophie's perspective, possibly in thearpy. These seemingly meaningless tapes suddenly Jolt memories and flashbacks. Which would also explain the random music, dates, distorted pictures, and disjointed conversations. Honestly some parts in the Walten Files remind me of my own memories and flashbacks as a person with memory problems like Sophie. However there isn't much evidence for that. But it is still possible. From that Angle the sequence of events still play out the same but instead of the tapes being haunted its Sophie's having flashbacks as she remembers bits and peices.

That's all I have! Sorry it ended up being such a long post, I hope it makes sense. Have a good day, thank you for reading!

[intrepidmare]

MARE'S RECAPS ~ THE MANDALORIAN: CHAPTER 9 "THE MARSHALL"

Oh wow! It's been a while since I've done something like this. Last year, I caught up with season 1 about 2 days before the finale, so I didn't have the opportunity to write reviews/recaps. This season, though, I'm going to 😀 so here it is the first one! 

For the folks that haven't seen the premiere and don't want spoilers, scroll past this, fast and furious, because it's full of them. If you want to blacklist tags to avoid spoilers from me, I suggest that you add #mando spoilers, #the mandalorian season 2 spoilers, and #mare's mando recaps to the list.

I've seen the episode a few times (yeah, I'm that obsessed with the show) so some of my reactions are more visceral than others since I was too excited the few first times I watched it and I missed a lot of details (another reason to rewatch the episode more than once). This recap is loooooong, which is an indication of how amazing it was.

So this my final warning to those avoiding spoilers. Stop reading, right now. The rest of you… enjoy and let me know if you share some of my opinions. I'm always open to chat 😊

Chapter 9 ~ The Marshall

So it begins! It's so exciting!

I knew that Mando and baby Yoda walking in the street at night was going to be the opening scene. I started to think about it after watching the second trailer, and I'm glad that I was right.

It turns out that the red-eyed creatures were not jawas as I saw some people saying.

Baby Yoda was not happy with the little excursion to the fighting arena. Not walking on the streets nor inside watching the fight. I still laughed when he locked himself up in the pram, even if I've watched the trailer like a gazillion times by now and I knew he was going to do it.

And talking about the baby, he's getting more vocal I think. He's making a few new noises, whimpering more, which I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing. That he complains more means that he feels safe with his buir and isn't afraid of retaliation for it as he probably was with others in the past and the reason he didn't cry much in season 1. But it breaks my heart that he is stressed. And that child is anxious, I can tell you that much.

The fight with Gor Koresh's thugs was awesome! The gamorrean flying to squash Mando and failing had me cracking up. And omg! Din'd moves! Using his helmet as a weapon and throwing his vibroblade. And leaving Gor Koresh to be eaten! Man of his word, he didn't kill the guy.

On a side note, I would've never guessed it was John Leguizamo who gave voice to Koresh until I saw the credits. Of all the actors who could play the part, I never thought of him.

Umm, I'm curious about the time Mando has spent in Tatooine, which according to him it's been a lot and it makes sense since he knows so much about the Tuskens, their language and culture. I'm guessing he spent a while among them. He had to learn all that somehow. 

When I speculated that Mando was going back to Tatooine after watching the trailers, I said that I was going to riot if he didn't visit his favorite mechanic. Thankfully, I didn't need to worry. I loved Peli in episode 5 of season 1 and I loved her even more now remarking on Din's dislike of droids and trying to keep the baby for herself. Not to mention she complaining about not getting good help these days 🤣

And I ADORE the (improvised?) Birikad Din got for the baby. Of course, the baby is safer in the pram, right (guessing that's why he used it when he met Gor Koresh), but there's something sweet watching him carrying his son so close to him.

And I tell you, Mando has been spending credits lately in baby stuff. I mean, he got a new pram (which I initially thought it was the original that he had somehow retrieved from the garbage in Nevarro, but no, it's not the same, and neither it's the one that Kuiil made) and he also got the bag/birikad thing, which looks brand-new. I wonder what else he bought.

Watching the droids doing maintenance of the Razor Crest makes me think it's all for nothing, knowing that in a few episodes (it might be even in the next one) Mando is going to crash the ship. More than once perhaps.

😆 The baby still loves speed! I think riding on the speeder bike was the only moment that he truly enjoyed in this episode. Look at that happy face 

When they arrived at Mos Pelgo and Din went into the cantina, leaving the baby outside, I was like: Din! That's not responsible. How can you leave your son out in the inclement sun, alone! Then baby Yoda peeked in and I went: never mind. I take back what I said.

Oooh. Cobb Vanth! I love him! For a moment, I thought it could actually be Boba but it seemed illogical and that's what Mr. Feloni and Mr. Favreau wanted us to think. I was correct.

My gawd! Din's shock when Vanth took the helmet off. I just knew he would freak out the moment Cobb asked for drinks and I said to drink they need to remove their helmets and Mando is going to lose it when this guy does. And the standoff! Was so good! "Take it off or I will" is going to become a quite popular phrase in fics from now on, not in the same context, but yeah…

The krayt dragon… oh shit! Or rather Dank farrik! We can't see Mando's face or expression but I can imagine which one was when he saw the dragon eating the bantha the first time.

Oh my goodness. The baby hiding in the pot! Too adorable! 

I know every hardcore SW fan lost it watching Vanth modified speeder because is a callback to the Phantom Menace and Anakin but my first thought was: is he compensating for something? Sorry, I couldn't help it 

The dog-lizard creatures were kinda scary at first but then became adorable. Almost as much as baby Yoda getting out of hiding

Baby Yoda doesn't like dog-lizards things. He looked afraid to be eaten I think. Poor little guy.

And look at that! Din showing such growth! To think he was the one incensing others in negotiation 😆 this is a total callback to the jawas in Arvala-7. And I gotta tell you, Din freaking loves his flamethrower. He doesn't waste the opportunity to use it.

The krayt dragon eating the Tusken raider instead of the bantha was quite of a plot twist 😆

When they were planning the attack on the dragon, Cobb Vanth's face when Din told him that the bones and pebbles were to scale, and then when he had volunteered the villagers to help… priceless! 

I like the fact of banding together with others for a greater good, relying on others to accomplish something is going to continue being the theme of this season. It started last season but I think it's going to be stronger this time around along all of the episodes.

😳😲😳😲 this thing vomits acid?! What. The. FUCK?!!!

Cobb: I don't think it's dead

Mando: me neither

Me, at the same time as Din: yeah, nope it's not dead

Oh yeah! Teaming up with jetpacks!

When they showed the bantha with the remaining explosives my first thought was why didn't they use all those before?! That's why they didn't kill it!! Of course, it was just an excuse to grant Din a more grand win in the end, but you know, it's stupid not to use everything you have to kill the monster on the first try. Just saying

Wait, what? Din! What are you going to do? No! Taking care of the child is your responsibility, not Cobb Vanth's! I hate this plan of yours, Din Djarin!! Whichever it is!

Oh! Nice callback to the flaw on that jetpack. But makes me wonder, do all the rising Phoenixes have the same flaw? Cuz unless Din knows Boba in person and that it's his armor with that particular flaw, it means it's a common problem for all and I don't like it.

Get away, Din! Get away, Din!! FLY AWAY!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH! NOOOOOO! 

There he is! Damn, Mando! Don't scare me like that! Altho, it was a nice move.

Okay, but now I want someone to explain something to me. If the dragon's acid melted people at contact before, how the hell is Din so whole? I mean, sure for argument' sake let's say his beskar armor provides some protection, but he's not entirely covered in it. His cape and undersuit seem just fine, albeit sticky. Where's the logic in that?

The tuskens getting the pearl reminded me of the jawas and the mudhorn's egg, chanting zukka, zukka (or however egg is spelled in Jawa).

That's quite a piece of meat. The baby is going to be happy eating off it for days🤣

😮😮😳😳 BOBA FETT!!!!! Yesssssss!!

Okay, I've seen other people's thoughts and some think that Boba was after Cobb Vanth because he had the armor, but I don't know. If that was true then why he hadn't gone to Mos Pelgo and got it? It seems to me that it's more likely that Boba is following Din somehow because it's the second time in as many Mando's visits to the planet that they sort of cross paths. Could they know each other? Have some score to settle? It's possible. Din has spent much time on Tatooine -his words, not mine- so it wouldn't be so out of consideration that they actually know each other. That if Mando knows Boba is (fake?) Mando, I don't know. Probably not, but who knows?

Extra thoughts

I gotta say that Ludwig Göransson is killing it with the score music! Oh. My. God! So so so so good! I could tell from the trailers that it was going to be awesome this season but it astounded me in chapter 9. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! My favorite piece is when they're going to the dragon's cave to kill it. The orchestral sound of the already familiar music blew my mind!

[illmaticreid]

We Fell in Love in October

DESCRIPTION: Noah is in college studying film and has been a very boring freshman thus far. Her roommate demands that she goes to a party with her and this is where she meets an extremely bold Matthew. 

A/N: I just started rewatching Criminal Minds & have slowly become obsessed with mgg again so I needed to make a fanfic. please be kind I am extremely rusty lol!! if you have any requests or ideas for me please don’t be afraid to message me. thank you for reading <3

Warnings: smut, alcohol, drugs, very light degradation 

Word Count: 3,065

PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR |

"Are you going out with us tonight?" My roommate, Ellie, asked me. It had been 3 weeks since school had started and I have realized that Ellie is one of those girls who went to college just to party. She asked me every weekend if I wanted to go out with her and her friends, I always said no.

Ellie was a really sweet girl and I felt bad when I had to tell her, "No, I have some studying to do. Sorry." She laughed in my face, knowing I was lying to her because I used the same excuse every weekend.

"You go to class and immediately come back to our dorm or you go to the library. I am sure you studied enough this week. It's okay to have fun for one night!" Ellie told me as she was putting on her makeup for the night. She always wore winged eyeliner and long fake eyelashes without ever looking ridiculous or overdone somehow. I stared at her for a couple of seconds before telling her that I would go with her.

She got up from her seat insisting that she could do my makeup and hair. I agreed and let her have fun because I knew she would do a good job and it would be fun to actually look good for once. She offered to let me borrow one of her outfits but I declined because I already had an idea of what I wanted to wear. I put on black ripped jeans with a lace bodysuit for a shirt and some heels that I was probably going to regret wearing within the hour.

I grabbed a leather jacket because it can get pretty chilly in New York at night. I looked in the mirror one more time and I felt confident. I felt excited for the first time in a long time. I felt like myself.

 Ellie squealed when she saw my outfit, which I'm assuming means she approved. "You look so amazing! This is a nice change of scenery from your cardigans that you're always wearing."

"Hey! I love my cardigans," I said to her jokingly. We both laughed before she told me the uber would be here in a minute. We walked out of our dorm room and outside the building right as our ride arrived.

The drive was only about 10 minutes, as we were only going to one of a friends house that lived a couple of blocks away. I was praying that it wasn't a frat party, and I was relieved when we pulled up to some apartments made for upperclassmen that didn't live in dorms.

As soon as we walked in Ellie made me greet a bunch of her friends that I had never seen before. NYU was a big campus, I would never know any of these people even if they were in my classes.

This is what I get for waiting three weeks to go to a college party. Everyone here has already started to bond and make relationships with others. I was a little angry at myself for trying to be this innocent good girl and stay in and just study.

That is not me what so ever, and I am surprised I even lasted that long. In high school, I went to as many parties as possible and I always had a boy wrapped around my finger.

I tried to just focus on my studies and my number one goal was supposed to be school. It was honestly getting exhausting because I needed to let loose.

Ellie pulled me out of my thoughts as she introduced me to someone named Elio that somehow recognized me from our Foreign Film class.

"You look very familiar but I don't remember seeing you in class every. I'm sorry!" I told him, feeling bad because I genuinely don't know if I have ever seen him.

Ellie told me she was going to grab herself a drink while I 'mingled' with Elio. Her words, not mine. She walked away and I almost panicked at the thought of being alone at a party where I know nobody.

"That's okay, I'll just have to sit next to you on Tuesday." He said while smiling at me which made me blush. If I had seen him before, I don't know why I never tried to talk to him sooner because he was very attractive. I was suddenly not worried about Ellie at all and figured I could be perfectly alone with him. I was just about to tell him that I would love it if he sat next to me when one of his friends interrupted our conversation.

"Hey, Matthew! This is Noah, she is Ellie's friend. She is in our Foreign Film class." Elio said as I put out my hand to shake Matthew's hand. My stomach felt like it just dropped to my feet. How have I never seen this person in my class?

He was beautiful.. his dark brown eyes stared at me and neither of us said anything. I know the class that we are all supposedly in is huge, but how could I miss both of these extremely good looking men. I guess this is what happens when all you do is keep your head down and sit in the front row every single class.

"Hi, Noah, nice to meet you." He said, not taking his eyes off of me. All of me. He looked me up down very slowly and if it was anyone else, I probably would have been offended. Embarrassingly enough, I let it slide because I was doing the same thing to him.

"Um... N-Nice to meet you, too" I stuttered out embarrassingly. God, I  could barely form a coherent sentence around him. We all just kind of stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Good Job Noah! You made everyone uncomfortable with your stupid plain reply.

He broke the silence again by saying, "I was just about to ask Elio if he wanted to go smoke. Would you like to join us?" He pulled a little bag of green out his pocket and a smile formed on my face. I told him yes very easily because I was not much of a drinker and I definitely preferred to smoke. I don't know if I would be able to make it through the night without being at least a little high.

The three of us walked outside and passed a joint around for a little bit. At first, we all just talked about remedial stuff that no one actually cared about. I stayed quiet for the most part, only speaking when I was spoken to.

After about fifteen minutes, Elio walked back inside because it was getting cold. I didn't know whether to be happy or nervous being alone with Matthew. I was a confident person, and almost no one made me nervous. Matthew made me extremely nervous though, in more ways than one. When I looked him in the eyes, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Are you studying film, as well?" I asked him, trying to make things a little less awkward. "I don't think that's what you wanna talk about, Noah" He replied. He moved his chair closer to mine and put his hand on my knee giving it a soft squeeze. My mouth fell open and I felt a heartbeat between my legs.

"What do you want me to talk about then?" I asked him, trying to play his game. He turned towards me and smiled, "I am very attracted to you." The butterflies in my stomach were very strong and were almost making me sick.

Oh, God. I have never met someone so bold before. No one ever talks to me like this, and if they do it takes them months to finally say something worth my while. I've known Matthew for maybe 20 minutes, and somehow he is already the most honest person I've ever met.

"What?" I replied, trying to understand what just came out of his mouth.

"I can tell you feel the same way. Why don't we just cut to the chase? Do you want to go to my apartment?" He asked, and I had to squeeze my legs shut because of how turned on I was.

How do I respond to that? I usually am not the type of girl to let someone fuck on the first date but we weren't even on a date and I was seriously considering it.

He was right, I was very attracted to him.  How did he know that though? I was barely speaking to him. My eyes had been all over him from the second I met him, and usually that is a telltale sign that someone is into you. I guess I was not as slick as I thought.

My thoughts came to an end as I realized I had just been staring at him again, not answering his question.

I took the last hit of the joint before putting it out in the ashtray. "Yes," I told him. I wanted nothing more than to go back to his apartment. Sober me would probably not have done this, but high me definitely would.

He got up and took my hand as I followed behind him. Ellie looked at me confused as she saw me leaving. I just waved bye to her and gave her a wink. She gave me a thumbs up and smiled as we walked out of the door.

He told me he lived in this building, we just had to take an elevator up to another floor. The elevator ride made me slightly anxious, wondering if I made the wrong decision. He could take me back to his apartment and murder me for all I know. For some reason, I trusted him. I wasn't afraid of him at all. It felt like I had known him for years and things just came naturally around him.

As soon as we got into his apartment he pushed me against the wall roughly and I barely got a gasp out before his mouth was on mine. He grabbed my hips and pulled them towards him as we continued to kiss. I put my hands on his chest and threw his jacket off.

I tried to start unbuttoning his shirt but he bent down to grab the back of my legs and lift me up. He started walking back to his room and threw me on his bed. He took my jacket off of me and threw it on the floor while his tongue attacked my neck. We were both undressing each other much slower than I would have liked. I was left in just my bodysuit that was practically lingerie.

"Fuck," he said as he stared me down. He was taking too long to do anything with me so I took off the rest of my clothing by myself and I took off his boxers as well.

"Let me know if I am being too rough," he told me sweetly as he started kissing my boobs. I laughed before telling him, "the rougher the better." He looked up at me and I swear his dick got 10x harder. His hand traveled down my body and started massing my clit as another finger slipped into me.

I moaned loudly and I knew I wasn't going to last long. "Just fuck me already please," I begged him.

"Someone's eager," he said as he kept pumping his fingers into me and I let out another loud moan. He took his fingers out of me and I let out a small cry, wanting more. Seconds later, I felt his tongue on me and I could have died right there. I looked down at him and made eye contact with him and I felt things I've never felt before. He was intoxicating.

"Fuck, Matthew. You're gonna make me come," I told him and that just fueled him even more. He licked up my slit and started sucking on my clit. I felt my stomach being wound up, completely embarrassed that someone I just met could make me come in less than ten minutes.

"Come for me, baby," He said and put a finger back in me, stroking my g-spot all while his tongue was still flicking against me. His words sent me over the edge and I came. Hard. I moaned so loudly, his name falling from my lips.

He kept going and I had to push his head away from me because I was so overstimulated. He lifted his head up, his chin soaking wet and I felt my cheeks get even more red than they already were.

He came up to me and stuck his fingers in my mouth, letting me taste myself. My eyes opened wide, shocked at how dirty this man was. He reached into his nightstand and grabbed a condom and quickly rolled it down himself.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked me. I was a little doubtful that he actually cared about my feelings on whether we should be having sex or not, but he seemed genuine. The look in his eyes told me he was being serious and wanted to make sure that I was okay with everything.

"Yes, I am sure," I told him but I don't think he believed me, he stared at me for a minute. I reached my head up to his so I could kiss him and reassure him that I wanted nothing more than for him to just completely wreck me. He gave me a toothy grin before slamming into me.

He stretched me out completely and I was not ready at all, but I can only blame myself considering I was the one that told him the rougher the better. He was slow at first, aggravatingly slow. He picked up his pace very quickly. Sweat dripping down his forehead and landing right between my boobs. He lifted his hand up to my neck and took hold of it. I smiled as he choked me and let out a little moan.

He gave me this possessive look that just turned me on even more. My back arched off of the back, trying to get as close to him as I possibly could. His headboard was slamming against the wall with every thrust. That combined with the loud moans surely pissed his neighbors off. He pulled out of me completely, and I almost complained but I didn't get the chance to because his next words completely threw me for a loop.

"Get on your hands and knees," He told me very aggressively. I complied quickly with a smile on my face. I put my ass in the air and my face was basically buried in his bed. He grabbed onto my hips so tightly that there would be marks in the morning and started thrusting back into me.

"Spank me," I said, full of confidence. I knew he wasn't going to without me telling him to, so I made a move that benefited both of us. I felt a hand come down harshly onto my ass and it stung in the best way possible. We both moaned at the same time.

"Harder," I said to him, surprising myself. Where was this coming from? I never talk like this during sex. Matthew just brought something out of me.

"Is that a challenge, Noah?" He said and I could hear the smirk in his tone.

"Of course it is, Matthew," I responded. Another loud smack came down onto my ass that was so much harder than the first and took my breath away. He grabbed onto my hair and twirled it around his fist before lifting me up to him.

"Are you being a brat?" he whispered into my ear. Fuck, he was so hot. Of course, I was being a brat, I wanted him to ruin me.

"Always," I said to him, sweetly with a tinge of sarcasm in my voice. He let my hair go and continued to fuck me very hard while spanking me even harder.

The light banter made the sex that much better. I would definitely not be able to sit down tomorrow. My stomach was being wound up again and I was on the brink of another orgasm. His heavy breathing and quiet moans were music to my ears.

I've had sex plenty of times but no one had ever made me come. Let alone twice in one night. It's like he could read my mind because right then, he reached around to rub my clit and I felt my self come undone again.

I let out loud moans, chanting his name. He came quickly after me and emptied himself into the condom. Matthew sat there for a second and I felt him softly twitching inside of me. He pulled the condom off of him and threw it in his trash bin before collapsing next to me.

"Who would have known you were such a dirty girl." Matthew teased before giving me another kiss. I laid down onto my back and he walked over to his bathroom and grabbed a warm rag. He gently wiped me down and I winced a little from the heat.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you or anything, right?" He asked with a look of concern on his face. How cute. He thinks he could hurt me.

"No, I am okay," I told him honestly. He gave me a pair of underwear and a big t-shirt. I gave him a confused look because I planned on going home.

"I want you to stay, Noah. It's almost 2 am, there's no sense in leaving this late. Please." Matthew said, unknowingly giving me puppy dog eyes. I could never say no to those beautiful chocolate eyes. I took the clothes he gave me and went to the bathroom to change. When I walked out, he was laying in his bed in just his underwear. I laid down next to him and cuddled his chest.

He kissed the top of my head and whispered, "Goodnight." I fell asleep in his arms and I swear it was the best sleep I've had in years.

[ziracona]

Can we get more detail about the Christmas party at the end of ILM, since tis the season? Any info about future Christmases?

Sure! What would you like to know? Just skimming through the time, I know I have mentioned some of these before, but:

Anna arrived and tackled Michael /through/ a wall because she thought he was hurting her son. This is how they met. Wildly, they vibed well after.

Anna recognized Philip immediately and was all “:DDD!!!!” And he was all “ (’•n•`;)” and got hug jumped with no gd clue why or that he knew her. Anna was ecstatic to see him again. Philip, after hearing how she met him, regained a few orphaned memories of the event lile he did being captured in the lab, and while not anything like a full recolection, was very happy to get a little back.

They put on Dirty Dancing the second to last day of the trip, and it was amazing. Made some super basic quick sets out of stuff in the house, and did costumes, and it was goofy but amazing and they worked hard and it’s a treasured memory for everyone. (Also it was a ton of intensive training. Joey was excited he made it into group dance cutoff and was super happy. Also the ‘rents and various family greatly enjoyed. It was recorded from multiple angles, too, and Jane edited a cut with various imput (mostly from Ace and Meg), and they all have dvd copies. It’s a fun goofy holiday rewatch now.

Massive dinner. With like, a wildly varied buffet with a ton of different cultural backgrounds. Everything was amazing but Adam did a hot pot that went empty almost immediately and then was requested every year after and he doesn’t talk about it but it made him really happy because he worked hard learning to do that in prep and even Min and Jane who have the most refined pallets liked it a bunch. Incredible mess from making desserts and decorating them. Jeff is baked goods king.

Stuff was easier with Legion, but still kind of awkward. It was okay though, and sometimes really good, and it was sucessful enough to be an important and valuable memory to the lot of them.

Philip’s family had a bunch of fun and got to meet everyone else for the first time (had met quite a few before but it was the first time with everyone). Isa absolutely roasted his brother and Philip died but he’s okay now. Sometimes siblings just be like that and what can you do. Mostly, he was just incredibly thrilled to see them and have good stories to tell and to have enough money himself to help the people he loves financially and buy nice gifts a little too. Philip made a bunch of his gifts by hand because he is very good at sewing, and his gifts are always increidbly popular.

Most of the gang in attendance played live mafia in the Indiana House and it was the wildest fucking thing it went way too hard people were losing it like they were in a world championship or shooting an impromptu horror film. They all had a ball and almost everyone was like “Yo lets do it again 👀.” (When I say they went hard I mean one time Jake was a killer, from upstairs saw Kate making a run for the safe room on the ground floor, and he fucking jumped off the second story onto her to get her and could easily have injured either of them but I mean it’s Jake and Kate so they were fine but like. It was that level of unhinged almost from the start. Ace had a terrifying like Wicked Witch of the West classic scream laugh he did both as killer and when found to startle the killer and it was both horrifying and incredibly effective. Meg saw him do that to Tapp once and she laughed so hard she cried bc of his reaction).

Big old OG campfire style blankets and pillows on the floor slumber party Christmas Eve. :’-] The OG crew always kind of misses the community vibe they so crucially depended on, and they feel really safe and happy when they get to relive it. They need it sometimes.

Uhhhh as far as future Christmases go, most of the time they meet in the Indiana house for tradition, but sometimes they gravitate around to other places. They got a nice heavy snow a few years in and the young adults made huge snow forts and tried to kill each other in snow battle, and Joey prooved to be an especiallly acomplished snow engineer.

It’s always a big occassion, as are any holidays or events the fam can possibly claim as an excuse to meet up. A lot of them start to develop little traditions, like Meg, Jake, Nea, and Fenf putting up lights on the roof and trees in the most wildly reckless ways possible just climbing on shit chucking lights. The old feral friends crew needed to live their best lives, so they sure do.

The animals get more used to each other the longer the meetups happen. Alex and Michael Cat have a wild almost rivalry friendship going. Also, Alex likes to give Jake gifts and often steals them from other people. Sometimes it’ll be super weird stuff nobody has any idea where it comes from, like one time she gave him a knife (like a little snapped pocket knife blade) and Jake almost lost his shit when his crow came swooping at him cawing excitedly and wielding a blade directly at his arm 🔪. Michael Cat is obsessed with Claudette because she saved him once and always does like an excited announcement myrrp when he sees her and scampers over and just climbs up whatever she is wearing and latches to her top and purrs like the world’s best living brooch for a minute or two. She is used to it now and it makes her very happy.

Overall, they’re just very happy. Sometimes stuff messes up, or people can’t be there, but usually, Christmas is one of several times everybody like including extended fam gets to see everybody else, and so it’s a big favorite time of year. It’s home. :’-) 💙🎄