#this funko was made for me especially

[beeangxt]

i need Mike with Will’s painting

[weedle-testaburger]

idk if anyone remembers funko did like nft pop vinyls (this goes without saying but fucking eww), but they actually made some new su pops because of it (as in irl, they exist) and i hate that i kind of want those

[giuseppe-yuki]

lost child

lewis hamilton x samoyed shapeshifter!reader

w.c: 1.9k

warnings: none :)

part of my shapeshifting!reader series

summary: your natural motherly instinct is put to good use

picture credits from pinterest :)

as one of the older wags in the paddock, you not only knew every nook and cranny by heart, you also became familiar with the criticism and attention associated with being a wag. feeling sympathy for the girlfriends of the younger drivers who were still navigating a life in the spotlight, you developed a type of motherly instinct for them. you often gave them pro tips on subjects like being camera ready to dealing with fans. of course, you would also not hesitate to step in whenever necessary. only a week ago you had saved george’s sweet girlfriend from being absolutely bombarded with reporters. you sometimes even watched out for the younger fans in the paddock too, as part of your motherly instinct. 

now, as you walked down the familiar baku paddock, trailing behind your boyfriend who was signing fan merch, you kept an eye on esteban’s girlfriend as she shyly hid behind her boyfriend’s lanky frame. it was one of her rare times in the paddock, and she wasn’t very used to the frenzy of the fans and media. you probably had to talk to her later and give her a few pointers. 

lewis, who was in the middle of signing a teenage girl’s mercedes funko pop, suddenly turned around and beckoned you over. you turn away from the alpine driver and his girlfriend, and walk over to where lewis is standing.

when you reach your boyfriend and the absolutely beaming fan, he shoots you a little grin. 

“hey baby, this lovely fan over here wants to give a you a friendship bracelet that she made!” lewis says, gesturing to the fan. the girl looks like she is about to pass out from excitement, but she frantically nods along to lewis’ words. 

you take the bracelet out of lewis’ outstretched hand and slide it onto your wrist, along with multiple other fan-made bracelets that you’ve received from that weekend. 

“why thank you!” you say, giving the fan a nod of appreciation. adjusting the silver and blue plastic pearls of the bracelet and the letter beads spelling out “mother”, you let out a chuckle. it was a nice feeling being appreciated by the fans, especially for your well-known kind acts to everyone.

lewis slowly moves down the busy paddock, signing fan’s items if they came up to him. it was one of the many things that you loved about him- his overwhelming kindness to his fans. 

it isn’t until twenty minutes later you reach the mercedes motorhome due to the frequent stopping. like the gentleman he is, lewis opens the door for you and extends his arm in a sweeping motion, gesturing you to lead the way into the building. “welcome in, madam!” he says in a fake butler voice. 

“why thank you good sir!” you exclaim, giggling. you skirt past him in your denim miniskirt and corset top, and press a chaste kiss to his cheek. “a little tip for holding the door open for me.” 

you turn around to see toto wolff sitting on the couches by the door, watching amusedly at you and lewis’ interaction. your cheeks heat up from embarrassment at the team principal witnessing such a silly yet special moment between you two. 

toto nods in greeting to you with a teasing smile on his face. you stand there awkwardly as lewis pulls the door to the motorhome close. when lewis spots toto, he greets him kindly like nothing happened, and soon enough strikes up a quick conversation on the weather in baku. you didn’t mind, as it was nice listening to his voice anyways. you gaze at his pretty face, zoning out a little bit, when some motion outside catches your eye. from the tinted windows, you see a little boy barrel out of the fan paddock entrance clutching a lh44 cap that was probably two sizes too big for his tiny little head. he looks back and forth, as if searching for someone, but quickly becomes forlorn and starts walking away from the building. someone that appears to be his mother comes up, and pats his shoulder comfortingly and taking the cap from his hands. you realize that he is probably looking for lewis, judging from the cap that he was holding seconds before. you excuse yourself from the conversation and walk out the motorhome straight to the child. both him and his mother look at you, first in confusion and second in awe once realizing that you were lewis’ coveted girlfriend. you bend down to eye level with the little boy, making sure to smooth down your miniskirt. “hey buddy,” you say in your kindest voice. “i see you have a hamilton cap! you must be a big fan.” 

the little boy immediately looks his mother, and once she gives him a nod of encouragement, he turns back to you. “um, yes! i love lewis very, very much,” he says timidly.

“well,” you remark, “since you’re such a big fan, i think that it’s only fair you get a special signature from him! if you hand me your hat, i think i can get him to sign it for you.” 

the little kid’s eyes grow wide with excitement. he yanks the hat out of his mother's hands and shoves it into your lap, jumping up and down excitedly. the shyness has erased completely from his body. “yes! yes! yes! thank you so much!” he exclaims, giving you a small hug. 

clutching the cap in your hands, you walk back into the motorhome where lewis and toto’s conversation has now somehow shifted into how to make pumpernickel. as politely as you can, you interrupt toto’s spiel on the specific measurements on rye flour in the bread. 

“i’m really sorry to interrupt, but there’s a little boy outside that would really like to have his cap signed,” you say, gesturing the cap in your hands. 

toto breaks out into a grin. “always looking out for the young fans. i can see why lewis and so many other people love you.” he takes out a sharpie from his pocket and hands it to lewis, who has a proud look on his face. “yes, i love my girlfriend," he states.

after scrawling his signature on the cap, your boyfriend hands the sharpie back to toto, who also signs the brim of the cap. you shoot a quick thank-you to the both of them, and rush out the door. that little boy will probably be so excited that not only lewis hamilton, the seven-time wdc, had signed the cap, but the mercedes tp toto wolff as well.

in the time between fp3 and quali, you and lewis find yourselves at the mercedes motorhome again, but this time in the outside seating area.

“do you want a drink, baby?” asks lewis, watching you sit down on the plush motorhome chairs. 

“sure,” you say nodding. “thanks, lew!” before he goes, you blow him an air kiss, which he reciprocates. 

he comes back with two glasses, filled to the brim with a clearish-yellow liquid with a few ice cubes. taking a sip, you immediately clock it as almave, lewis’ signature non-alcoholic spirit. he takes a seat on the stool next to you, taking a sip from his glass as well. drink in hand, you lean your head back and relax in the azerbaijan sun, the rays warming your face. all feels well, with your boyfriend next to you, the sun is shining, and a nice cold drink is in your hand.

suddenly, you hear someone yell your name from the gate separating the mercedes outside area from the inside of the paddock. lewis turns his head towards the sound, alert. he sets his drink on the table and slowly towards the sound, but relaxes once he realizes it’s a little girl. 

“hey there,” you hear him say. “do you want my signature?” 

the little girl furiously shakes her head no. “no thank you, mr. hamilton. i want your girlfriend’s signature. last time i was here, she gave me a pretty bracelet, so i like her better than you.” 

you stand up from your seat, laughing from the girl's blunt words, and walk over to her. “hey there, nice to see you again!” you say, holding out your hand for a high five. you honestly don’t remember giving her a bracelet, but you play along just to see the stunned look on lewis’ face from the little girl’s words. 

the little girl high fives your hand, a grin splitting her face so wide that you can see her missing a tooth on the bottom row of her teeth. “i love you!” she exclaims, handing you a glittery notebook and pom-pom pen for you to sign. 

lewis’ shocked face morphs into one of amusement. he pulls you close to him, and presses a kiss to your temple. “i second that. i love my girlfriend too!”

with half an hour left until quali, you hurried towards the mercedes garage. lewis was already in there, having got there earlier to get everything ready. you were already a little late, because you had to help esteban’s girlfriend find the alpine garage after finding her lost near the vcarb motorhomes. it was not until you reached the door to the motorhome when your realized you left your black ysl tote at the merc motorhome from when you were drinking with lewis. you had to get there fast- you were late enough already.

fuck it, you thought, as you shifted into your samoyed form. it wasn’t often you shifted- you usually only did so in order to protect someone or if you didn’t want to be recognized. to be fair, it did allow you to travel fast too though.

you take off running towards the merc motorhome, weaving through surprised fans that are filing towards the grandstands for the incoming quali. around 3 meters away from the merc motorhome, your ears perk up. you hear the sound of a child crying through the noise of the paddock. you pad carefully towards the child, when you spot a familiar mercedes cap on his head. it’s way too big for his head, the brim probably obstructing half of his view, and two prominent signatures stand out on the rim of the cap. circling the child, you glance around for his mother. 

the boy stops crying as soon as he sees you circling him. he sniffles as he reaches his hand out, petting your soft white fur. you gingerly bite down on the corner of his mercedes kids team kit, encouraging him to follow you as you lead him towards the mercedes garage, completely disregarding your task to get your tote. he follows with little to none resistance, only stopping once or twice, but quickly moves on once you nudge him with your nose. 

at the mercedes garage, lewis is the first one that spots you and the kid standing in the doorway. he throws the balaclava that was in his hand onto the counter, and rushes over to you. gesturing to the boy with your nose, you try to send a mental message with your mind to lewis, telling him to get someone to find the boy’s mother immediately. as if understanding right away, lewis fetches an engineer to announce the lost boy to security services. 

after making sure they are looking for the boy’s mother, you pad away back towards the mercedes motorhome and fetch your tote bag, biting down hard on the straps to keep it from slipping out of your mouth. once in the doorway back at the garage, you quickly shift back, and stroll inside with your tote in your hand. you walk in to find the boy, who is being absolutely smothered by his hysterical mother, look at you with big eyes, that is filled with amazement more than fear. the engineers gather around in a semicircle around the woman, who is profusely thanking everyone for ‘saving her son.’ 

the little boy, now being held by his mother, who has her back to you, points at you, then whispers, “doggy?”

you put a finger to your mouth in a shushing gesture and wink.

taglist: @ilivbullyingjeongin @ale-522 @formula1-motogpfan @aceyalonso @my0hmary @mbappebby @rakshatos @heartsforleclerc @papaya-twinks @madkohi

[v3nusstardust]

💋~New years gift~ - Lana del rey (Niki x reader) 💋

Pairing : BF!Niki Nishimura x reader fluff

Sypnosis : your boyfriend didn’t know what to get you for new years. He got you plenty of wonderful gifts for Christmas, but he also felt it was necessary to get you something for new years too. It was the day after Christmas. You and Niki had gone to your parents house for Christmas. Your family loved and adored him

Warning : fluffy af

You were cuddling in your room with him. You were afraid your “habitat” spooked him a little. Sure yeah, you visited your home many times but you hadn’t been home long enough to reorganize anything. Your room looked the same since your senior year in high school. The posters.. the funko pops.. the manga.. the random anime shit in your room. Niki didn’t seem to mind it. He found himself comfortable in your room actually, especially your fluffy bed. He loved how your room showed all the things you’ve ever liked.

You both cuddled on your bed. Niki was little spoon and you had your leg thrown over his waist. You tried to match your breaths with his and he thought it was the cutest thing ever. The room was quiet and your purple LED lights set a chill mood.

“Y/n. What should I get you for New years?” Niki asked. His voice was raspy and low. “huh? Why are you getting me something for new years?” you asked. Niki turned over to face you. His gorgeous eyes looked into yours. His nose scrunched and he gave you a warm smile. “Because I love you.” He giggled. His response made you laugh. He grabbed your hand from under the blankets and brought it to his lips. “You’re so wonderful. I’m such a lucky girl, but why are you getting me something for new years? Is this something you’re used to doing with your family?” You questioned. “No. I just.. I want to get you something.” He whispered. “But love, you got me a LOT for Christmas. I think your love is enough for me. Don’t waste your money on me.” You replied. “Princess I’m not wasting my money. I love getting you gifts. I love seeing your face light up and I adore you.”

His response made your face heat up. He was so perfect. “What are you going to get me?” You asked. Nicki gave you a confused look. “Y/n I’m not gonna tell you.” He laughed. His laugh was so cute. You loved his laugh, it was like a melody to your ears.

•FAST FORWARDDD TO NEW YEARS EVE•

You and Niki were in your living room with your family. Your Tias had been giving Niki all the family lore and tea. He actually seemed.. interested surprisingly. Your family introduced Niki to your new years traditions. You thought it was so amazing how they accepted him into your family so quickly. You loved it.

Finally, As the clock neared 12, you all stepped onto the backyard deck, where a spectacular burst of fireworks painted the night sky, marking the beginning of a new year filled with love and joy. You were mesmerized by the beautiful fireworks, but you looked up at Niki who had already been looking at you. “You’re so gorgeous. I love you beautiful. Happy new year.” He smiled. “Happy new year my love. I’m so excited to go into the new year with you.” You muttered. Niki gently cupped your face with his cold fingers and brought your lips to his. The kiss was cold and warm at the same time. As you pulled away, niki looked at you with eyes full of stars. You lowkey knew your whole family was watching y’all but it was fine.

After everyone left, Niki helped you and your parents clean up the house.

January 1st, 2024. 2:34 am.

You and Niki were cuddled up alone in the living room. The living room was dimly lit from the tv. “oh damn. I forgot to give you your new years gift.” Niki said as he got up from the couch. “Gift? You actually got it for me?” you asked confused. “Of course I did! Stay here it’s in the car I’ll be back.” Niki asserted.

When Niki got back, you were excited. You loved gifts and Niki always got you expensive ones. He came back with three gifts. A small one wrapped in green and red wrapping paper and the other two in pink and white. “You got me THREE?!” You murmured with excitement. “Yeah I did. Open them love.” He winked at you.

You grabbed the two pink and white ones first. With eager anticipation, you unwrapped the carefully adorned package, revealing the treasure within – two Lana Del Rey vinyls. One Born to Die and the other Ultraviolence Deluxe. A wide grin graced your face. Niki smiled at you. “Do you like it?” He asked. You hugged both vinyls tightly. “LIKE? I FUCKING love Lana del rey! How did you know? I never told you!” You exclaimed with excitement. “I saw the posters in your room.” He laughed. “ I didn’t see any vinyls so.. I bought you some. I hope you like both those albums” Overwhelmed with gratitude, you replied, "You're incredible! These vinyls are perfect. They are both my favorites from her! Thank you so much!" You carefully placed down the vinyls and kissed your boyfriend on the cheek. “Love open the next one.” He insisted.

You grabbed the green and red one next. It was kind of small, but you knew whatever it was you’d love it. Carefully unwrapping it, your eyes lit up - a new Red maybelline super stay Lipstick. “It’s beautiful! You remembered when I said I wanted to start wearing red lipstick?” You questioned. “Yes. I asked my sister which one you would like most and she said that one.” He responded.

“I also kind of.. wanted to make a tiktok with your new lipstick.” He smiled at you. “You wanna.. wear it?” You laughed. “No no. Kind of? Uhh.. you know the lipstick kisses trend?” He inquired. Though the lighting was dim, you could see him blushing . “Yes we can do that! Of course my love! You’re so adorable.” You said, placing a kiss to the tip of his nose. Your heart melted. The warmth of the moment lingered, and the thoughtful gift became a symbol of the attention and care he put into making your New Year’s Day special.

(I wrote this on my phone srry for the wildin ass mistakes if there are any bad ones. Niki got me so in love bruh😿 lmk if this was good or it was ass 🫦)

[bymarara]

It's been 48 hours and this is all I'm talking about. Our beloved Funko are releasing new figures on Very Strange Cases and we see here Mike Wheeler with a painting of Will that symbolizes Will's love, symbolizes what Will and Mike have in common by their mutual feelings. Before Will gave Mike the painting there was some sort of confession from Mike, about how he missed Will and that Hawkins isn't the same without Will, these words influenced Will to take what he painted with him because of his love for Mike. They both made a veiled confession of love.

Also, this painting unites them by the fact that D&D is like their sign of love, it's what they've had in common since childhood and it was this painting of D&D that Will gave to Mike as a gift, especially...Before that, he offered Mike to play as much as he wanted afterwards, to which Mike responded with a smile and agreed.

The painting is of great importance and he wouldn't have released this figure with this particular painting, they wouldn't have emphasized it again so much, because let's look at all the figures again. They mean something important.

Chrissy is shown to us as her moment of death, she is Vecna's first victim. Henry becomes Vecna. Lucas and Max rekindle their relationship with the help of the figures and ask each other out. These are all important moments and we see Mike proudly holding Will's painting, which symbolizes Will's love and his and Will's connection (I think the painting plays a part, it will more than once and play a role in season 5).

But I want to think, why is Mike holding the painting with pride? It seems to me that here, he may already know that Will painted the picture, he knows about his feelings and everything is mutual. Or maybe it shows that Mike knows about Will lying about Al and he knows about what Will said about himself.

[love-takes-work]

Look closely! NOT an NFT figure!

My very sweet friend gave me this repainted Garnet for my birthday. I had told her the sad news that Funko was offering some very cool-looking NFT-associated figures (including Wedding Garnet, her wedding-clothing components, Blue Diamond, and a strange choice of Funko's mascot dressed as Steven). When I told her I was bummed that I would never own those since I don't do NFTs whatsoever, she made me this.

It's not the same but it's a different wonderful thing, of course. :)

As a pretty intense collector of SU merch (who incidentally most likely has the largest personal collection of SU merch in the world), sitting out the new Funkos was really frustrating for me, especially since Garnet's wedding was such a personally satisfying aspect of Steven Universe for me. As silly as it sounds for me to be moaning about not having some pieces of plastic, I really care about collecting and have taken it seriously for many years. I'm not going to be dramatic about it. I'm just disappointed in the merchandising choices that led to this situation, and I don't feel like I can participate.

I'm well aware I can buy directly on eBay but I am holding out against that temptation because I truly, truly detest NFTs and I don't want to send money to people who participated in this stuff either. If I thought there was still some way I could get these that didn't violate my principles, I'd love to do it, but I don't really see how. Too bad, so sad.

But I love my friend's rendition and I'd love you all to see her. :)

[tremordusk]

Quick Thoughts on Agatha All Along episode 4 (before 5)

Okayyyy this was a bit later than I expected (got my phone stolen in Italy so I have been dealing with that) so this post will be relatively short (as short as my obsession for Agathario goes…).

I’ll start with what I wanted to point out:

Agatha trying to get everyone to move on from burying Sharon — with good reason (if you read theories or the funko spoilers) you probably have a good idea as to what Agatha was trying to avoid.

*Enter Rio* -> Istg Aubrey Plaza is killing me with her line delivery omlll

It’s the little flower wiggle that sends me— I really wish I knew how to make gifs cuz I really need that bit as a gif T^T

But also Agatha just fucking ready to kill her and the other people were like “no we just summoned her, we need her.” XDDD

I digress— I need to keep this moving cuz I need sleep. So to finish that whole thought:

“May she be smart and not annoying. And also not super political.”

“Can she bring some Advil?”

^ poor Alice was she in pain or something? And Agatha I see youuuu

But I also will not stop laughing at Jen saying “Agatha what did you do?” As Rio came out of the ground and Agatha was like “it was a group effort”

“I don’t know if I hate her or if I want her phone number?” OK THIS WHOLE COVEN IS QUEER AND I AM HERE FOR IT. Also love that’s Lupone improvised “what a scary bitch”

Just icing on the cake at this point.

The revealing necklines….yes I recognize they have both been showing up in less clothing each episode— I see what the designers are doing here and I’m living for it sndjkdlflggl

“She’s a tourist.”

“She’s a psycho.”

*Rio nods happily*

*Jen is concerned*

^ yeah Rio was having too much fun over there while everyone else was fighting for their lives and dealing with trauma (especially Alice and Teen).

I really liked the Witch’s Ballad cover and the fact that the ballad was made into a protection spell by Alice’s mother to protect her daughter. Alice’s voice towards the end of the song hits really hard for me in the feels. And yes I have listened over 12 times to this cover auuuuuh it’s so good.

But to just sum up some more thoughts- I read an interesting theory that the trials are in order of a woman’s life cycle— it’s even mentioned in the ballad -> “Maiden Mother Crone”. So by that logic I’m assuming Agatha’s trial is literally episode 5 and yes I will hopefully organize myself better for this episode.

[carmsgarms]

just wanna hug you for the jkr post bc my former friends made me feel insane for not validating their continued engagement 💜

Bestie listen youve unzipped me and im about to go off. Harry Potter was my entire life until she literally couldn't shut the fuck up about trans women being perverts and infiltrators. I was a lonely neurodivergent weirdo and Harry Potter brought me solace as a kid. I read each of the books at least 7 or 8 times, that shit is INGRAINED in my brain. One of my best friends of 10+ years is my friend today because the first thing we bonded over was seeing the last HP movie. I used to be deadset on my 2nd tattoo being my pottermore wand with my hogwarts house. I wanted a fucking HP-themed wedding. The first funko pops I bought were Harry Potter ones. My first serious boyfriend told me he wanted to propose to me in front of Hogwarts castle (this was something he said to guilt trip me when i dumped his ass) ((also thank the gods that never happened he was a shithead and so is jkr)). My mom for some godforsaken reason let me help her name my youngest brother when he was born because she couldn't think of a name and my 10yo ass fuckikg picked DANIEL because of Daniel Radcliffe. I was in DEEP.

And you know what? Aside from the books I camped out to buy on release day and the DVDs that are crammed in a box somewhere in a storage unit, I have gotten rid of every single Harry potter thing I owned because I grew the fuck up and found better things to like. Sure I'll watch the DVDs again every few years to feel the nostalgia again because a good chunk of the cast are great people (we fucking stan Dan Radcliffe and David Tennant in this house ) but I'm not giving jkr another cent of my money or an inkling of my time beyond that.

You are so valid and you are allowed to be upset if your friends continue to engage with Harry potter content.

Anyone who days "uwu my nostalgia" ask them if they still sleep with their fucking baby blanket too.

My former boss wouldn't shut the fuck up about the new video game when it came out. At least once a week he'd ask me if I'd played it yet and every single time I would tell him "I'm not engaging with that franchise anymore. JKR uses money to fund anti-trans legislation." And he'd always spout some bullshit about nostalgia or "but it's SO good" or "yeah I just try to separate the art from the artist / oh but the devs who worked hard on the game! / but playing the game doesn't actually support her! (yes the fuck it does if the game does well it boosts her platform)"

And especially now that my wife has come out, I'm extra ready to fight the next grown person who tells me they ~separate the art from the artist~ like fuck off. There are better things to spend your time and energy on. I hope everything JKR makes flops hard. Everything shes done since the last movie has been a disgusting cash-grab and none of it is even good. I'm beyond thrilled that BG3 has had a wild runaway success and a longer-lasting player base than the fucking game she put out. Nothing has ever disappointed me more than JKR being the way that she is.

Oh but the lore and world building? The ability to make your own character in such a fun and magical immersion world?bDnd has better lore than Harry potter ever did and the lore adds up and makes sense. If you look at her shit beyond the surface level she is actually fucking TERRIBLE at world building especially when she tries to do it without being a fucking racist ((does anyone remember when early drafts for the American magic schools that were using Native American imagery and it was all REALLY FUCKING OFFENSIVe and let's also not forget "no-maj" being the least fucking creative thing she ever came up with)

"But my hogwarts house" PLEASE choose a better Personality.

I have more nostalgia for Avatar the Last Airbender these days since i got into that when it first started airing when i was 12 (and look if you're really into the fuckin houses as your Personality you can get that with ATLA! Water tribe forever bitches)

"But the characters!!!" Please. There are better characters ALL AROUND YOU. pick up a fucking comic book. Yknow Superman actually has a similar structure, he's got the nerdy Normal friend and the love interest and it's a goddamn shame none of the movies include his bestie Jimmy because he's just as important as Lois Lane is.

"But all the strong female characters!" It is 2024 please I beg you to find other female role models (I will again point to Avatar the Last Airbender and Literally Any Comic Book Featuring A Woman. Captain Marvel is actually really good. Battlestar Galactica is also chock full of strong female characters and that came out in the early 2000s!)

Bestie i genuinely feel bad for all the fucking white people who can ignore all the bullshit JKR has done and said and all those sad saltine cracker flavor type people whose entire personalities are Watching The Office and Enjoying Harry Potter And Star Wars. Grow up. Move On.

If it's that important to you (and i mean the general you here not you specifically), please do what I did and Marie Kondo that part of your life. You don't need to hold onto the safety blankie you had as a child. You don't have to hold onto the pair of shoes that got you through high school and are out of fashion and falling apart. You give it a sendoff. Say "thanks for getting me through that part of my life but I'm moving on" and you move the fuck on.

I did something really sappy for my 30th birthday - I said goodbye to the franchise. I mourned what could have been. I went to Universal studios ((also bc Simpsons land and fast and furious ride and ET and a bunch of other stuff are there)) but I stopped into Harry potter world to do everything once and say goodbye to that part of my life since it was something I had wanted to do for most of my youth, and my friend who i became friends with because of harry potter was there with me. We drank the fucking pumpkin juice, had breakfast at the three broomsticks, appreciated all the little easter eggs around hp world, rode the hagrid ride, and ate a chocolate frog I wore my trans rights shirt and dressed gay as hell, my friend is trans so he just ~existed blissfully~ . I think every Harry potter fan needs to acknowledge that the franchise was good for them in the 90s, mourn that part of their life, and move on.

Bonus: me being Gay as Fuck in front of the castle. I hope JKR fucking rots and fades into obscurity and people come to realize she's worse than HP Lovecraft.

[aliceisathome]

Lordy, Pavel is so good in Pitbabe ep 10's hospital scene that he made me cry, even though I know (if you know what I mean). And again at the graveside with the gloves. He's great in this role - swinging effortlessly between hyper masculine and a vulnerable softy with some babygirl thrown in,

I'm torn between feeling sorry for Kenta and being completely disgusted by him. And Tony roars into my unofficial list of Worse Parents in BL - possibly taking the top spot (although there's no sexual abuse as far as we know so he's hovering at number 2 for now).

In other news, I don't know what magic powers Charlie's dick has but it must have something pretty damn impressive because Babe forgave him really quickly for keeping his identity secret and perceived betrayal.

They were back to Mama and Papa almost immediately.

Don't come for me but I think Charlie was miscast - no disrespect to Pooh but he's just not quite there yet as a lead. Plus he looks mismatched with Pavel. When he's got his big helmet on for racing his shoulders are quite narrow so he looks like a funko pop. A cute funko pop but a funko pop all the same. Especially when he's wearing his glasses.

For anyone keeping score it means that I've powered through eps 7, 8, 9 and 10 so far today and intend to finish tonight. And then, possibly, rewatch some scenes. For science.

[bylrlve]

403-404 thoughts

(Prev post here)

Murray’s prophecy of the kids playing too much Nintendo, eating too much junk food, smoking some ganja, pounding some beers, and experimenting sexually is actually eerily accurate. Nintendo, as @gayofthefae brilliantly observed, has been equated to the Nina project. Eating junk food? The boys presumably survived on the (quickly cold) pizzas and the sodas Argyle delivered to their house - and if they stopped at gas stations… these boys would have little to no money on their persons, so junk is all they could really afford, one assumes. Smoking ganja? Jon and Argyle. Pounding beers? Not the Cali gang, but Lucas did.

Experimenting sexually? No one has sex during s4 - Jopper makeout but that’s hardly experimenting, and certainly not for adults, and he was specifically talking about the kids. None of them are in the mood for it, naturally, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is foreshadowing… something between a certain pair of boys. It couod be a cheeky reference to Will growing into his sexuality but, and forgive my crudeness here, right-hand solo sex doesn’t really fit, especially since he was talking about Jonathan, El, Mike, and Will as a group, implying a plural. In fact, this scene takes place directly after El and Mike fight, and after she is arrested. Experimenting is a very loaded word…

Never fails to get me how Mike just threw her last letter into the trash - it had already been explained that he may not see her for months, and here he is, treating her last missive to him with such disrespect. This attitude isn’t even new - he crumpled up and tossed aside the letter she’d painstakingly written and drawn rainbow designs on in the opening minutes. Meanwhile… there are Funko Pops of him proudly showing off the new painting Will made for him.

“You’re packed already?” “Yeah, I mean, I never really unpacked.” is the most blatantly subtext-ridden thing to come out of Mike’s mouth all season, and it’s the biggest piece of in-verse proof that he was fronting hard during 402 - and that was the lovey-doviest he was with El.

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate Mike saying that home isn’t home without Will? Fuck the monologue, that is the most romantic thing Mike says all season.

@bylertruth3r made the above video, showing the eerily similarity between the Byler 404 reunion and a scene in 13 Reasons Why - and this scene was originally scripted as Mike coming up to Will kneeling oj the ground, meaning it was conceived as them being much closer together.

I don’t think we appreciate, enough, that Mike monologued to Will in this scene. Not only are Jasons’s ily to Chrissy at the pep rally, Jancy’s ilys, Argyle and Eden’s LAFS, Max’s saving herself from Vecna with flashbacks, and Dustin’s ILY to Eddie all contrasts to the Mike monologue sequence in 409… but this is, too. Here are Mike’s three big monologues lain out:

"El? I don't know if you can hear this, but... but if you can, I want you to know I'm here, okay? I'm right here. And... I love you. El, do you hear me? I love you. I'm sorry I don't say it more. I... It's not because I'm scared of you. I'm not. I've never felt that way. Never. But I am scared that one day you'll realize you don't need me anymore. And I thought if I said how I felt, it would somehow make that day hurt more. But the truth is, El, I don't know how to live without you. I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods. You were wearing that yellow Benny's Burgers T-shirt. And it was so big it almost swallowed you whole. And I knew right then and there, in that moment, that I loved you. And I've loved you every day since. I love you on your good days. I love you on your bad days. I love you with your powers, I love you without your powers. I love you for exactly who you are. You're my superhero. And... I can't lose you. Okay? Do you hear me? I can't lose you. You can do anything. You can fly. You can move mountains. I believe that. I really do. But right now, you just have to fight. Okay? El. Do you hear me? You need to fight! You have to fight. Fight!” Tearing up, not crying.

“Do you remember the first day that we met? It was… it was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends. And I just felt so alone, and so scared, but… I saw you on the swings, and you were alone too,. You were just swinging by yourself. And I just walked up to you, and I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

“Hey also, about the last few days… No, no, no. You didn’t deserve anything. Listen, the truth is… the last year has been weird, you know. And I mean, Max and Lucas and Dustin… they’re great, they’re great, itd just… it’s Hawkins. It’s not the same without you. And I feel like I was worrying too much about El, and I don’t know. I feel like I… lost you, or something. I have no idea what’s going to happen next. But whatever it is, I think we should work together. I think it’ll be easier if we’re a team. Best friends. Cool.”

Some quick observations:

1 and 2 occur under near-identical circumstances - El and Will are under Vecna’s control and he’s trying to give them strength. 3 is entirely unprompted. The first occurs under a level of duress similar to that of a gun being held to El’s head, as gayofthefae observes here

The rain fight is all over the s4 bedroom scene, and it’s very clearly on both of their minds. Mike has spent the past nine months addressing every criticism of Will’s - he’s friends with Dusfin, he’s playing D&as, he only kissed El when she initiated, and broke it quickly, and he even got angry at Lucas for prioritising others over the Party - although his complaint, unlike Will’s, was irrational and unfair. He relapsed at the airport and roller rink by trying to be normal, but this scene is him course-correcting for that. Mike’s calling himself a self-pitying idiot and thanking Will for being sensible is likelt not only referring to the earlier scene in Will’s room, but to the S3 and 402 fights. If that is the intention, it makes one wonder what Mike was self-pitying about in the latter. @howtobecomeadragon discusses it in-depth here

Right from my very first watch, the proposal imagery in the s2 speech - ‘I walked up to you, and I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my _, and you said yes… you said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done.’ - jumped out at me. M*levens regularly theorise that the series will end with Mike and El either getting married, or engaged, citing that Lucas line from s1 as foreshadowing - but we see in s3 that Mike relies on Lucas to push him through every stage of the apology, while he doesn’t with Will, and we see bouquet imagery subverted with that gift of flowers at the airport (see below).

TOO MUCH? Mike spent the s3-4 break backsliding in the whole ‘say ILY to El’ plot… but did address the problems Will had with him. Not only that… he came to the conclusion that he worried too much about El? Specifically because he lost Will as a result? I said in the previous post that Bylers don’t talk enough about “Who… who said that I didn’t?” We definitely don’t talk enough about the anti-m*leven implications of this line, because they’re bonkers. Mike worries a lot about El when she’s away at Nina, but at home he’s distinctly distant from her -

while only drawing closer to Will

This is how he looked at Will during the 404 monologue btw: (gif credit to @palettehao and gayofthefae)

Lastly, I’ll finish this analysis post by swinging back to 402, and to the fact that Mike picking that bouquet? It doesn’t make much sense, timeline-wise. In fact, I honestly can’t figure out when he picked them.

Mike only says, on March 22, that he picked them ‘in Hawkins’ before launching into a nervous, distracting spiel about picking 70:30 purple to yellow, only maybe he picked too much yellow*, etc.

On the morning of March 21 he was still in his underwear reading over a letter to El, and was delayed going to with. He had classes at school, and was preoccupied during lunch bargaining with Eddie, bargaining wi5 various students, and finally bargaining with Erica. Between school and Hellfire he could plausibly have picked them, but that would have required cycling across town and back, when Nancy drove him to school - he didn’t have his bike at school. He also had nowhere to put them, except the backpack that presumably had school supplies in it - those flowers would not have looked so fresh had he shoved them in a backpack. Dustin also doesn’t mention him being gone prior to Hellfire. After hellfire, he went home to be there by 9 - he had to have done, otherwise he wouldn’t have been allowed on the flight.

His flight was at 6:30 and Indiana -> Cali takes 4 hrs 10 minutes. He would have been awake from very early in the morning with Karen, gathering his stuff, and then driving to the airport with adequate time to check-in and board the plane. There isn’t a hope in hell of Karen letting him randomly cycle across town in the dark for an undetermined length of time just to pick some fucking flowers, lmao. There is a strong chance, however, that Karen, the romantic, let him buy flowers and a pen in the Indianapolis airport before boarding the flight. Maybe she even purchased them.

The kicker? The bouquet of flowers had a fancy, polished-looking greeting card attached, one professionally made.

There is something deliciously meta about those flowers. M*levens have adopted yellow and purple as a symbol of the relationship - even though Mike only wore those colours to please her when he was being ‘hokey’ and a ‘knock-off’, to quote Argyle and the costume designer. I’m not even sure El truly favours those colours, as she doesn’t wear them much and doesn’t have any notable items in those colours. For all we know, she was asked if she had any favourite colours and simply picked two that came to mind.

What’s more, it seems very likely that Mike simply lied to her about putting in the effort of getting them himself, and instead relied on something pre-made and commercial. It isn’t impossible that he picked them, however (though the timing is a mystery) - we are shown at the end of the season that the field outside Hopper’s cabin has very similar flowers. But those… well… those have their own implications

*talk about subtext lmao…

To finish, I want to share a delicious finding from @sapphicjopper on twitter from last may - the working name for st4 was Tareco. There’s a song called Tareco & Mariola, all about a girl who knows her lover isn’t right for her, who knows that she doesn’t need him, and who is leaving him - ‘it’s not you who will give me the spring, the beautiful flowers I dreamed of in summer’. It’s reminiscent of the opera Nina - about a woman waiting for her lover, not accepting that he won’t return and be how she desperately wants him to be.

[hoodedjelly]

If it's something to hold onto, according to *John Davis back in 2020, Jimmy came very, VERY close to coming back. With all the old crew. Unfortunately, one exec shot the whole thing down, even when Nick itself seemed on board too. (*Confirmed in a 2022 interview. Can be found on Youtube.)

Funnily enough around that time, that's when Jimmy himself started appearing in Nick-related stuff again after disappearing for years after Planet Sheen. (Heck, I recall him having a Funko released earlier this year, with a Youtooz coming some time later with some extra stuff?) So, who knows? We could be surprised by the 25th anniversary.

I think fans have made it very clear that if a Nick show were to be brought back, JN is one of the few people would be fine with. Especially if it meant it being finished. (And with how much CG has evolved, seeing the characters with updated models and animation would be huge by itself. That 2007 Chrysler commercial still blows some away.)

oh wow i didn't know that full story! i heard talk about the team wanting it but not that it got that close to being rebooted. That deffo gives me a lot of hope for the future of JN. (IM STARVING)

seeing updated models of all of the characters is something i want so bad too. jimmy always looks absolutely amazing in nickelodeon all star brawl 2

precious thing!

I have seen the timmy and jenny youtooz and ordered those, been hoping for danny and jimmy. youtooz stop giving me hope for classic main 4 nicktoons unite again i know thats basically impossible but im just a little man with a big dream...

[andthisisdia]

🫧Hi🫧

Name: call me Dia💎

Age: I was born in 2002 and I'm too lazy to update my age every year💅

Nationality: Italian (English is not my first language so I might make some grammatical errors)

🏳️‍🌈: I'm a bisexual and demisexual/demiromantic girl (I use she/her pronouns)

MBTI: ENTJ (Don't stereotype me. I'm just really into doing things right and I like to have a plan for everything. I always try to find a solution to people's problems)

Something about me: I'm autistic and borderline 🪐 and I'm very extroverted, I like to socialize and meet new people. So if we have any interests in common, feel free to write to me🌌 (Read the continuation to find out more about me and what I post, it's important. Thank you)

(I made this edit using picsart stickers that represent my interests and something about me)

🎮Favorite video games:

•League of Legends (I play on the European server)

•Wildrift

•Valorant (I don't play it that much because I'm not very good)

•Overwatch

•Team Fortress 2 (my hyper fixation, I need to talk to other tf2 fans. I'm going crazy, I don't know who to talk to about it, I'm afraid of appearing boring to my friends who aren't fans😭😭😭)

•Life is strange (this game made me realize I'm not straight)

•Detroit Become Human

•Danganronpa (I discovered this thanks to tik tok during the pandemic. It was very trendy at the time)

•The last of us

•The Sims 3/4 (I never had the chance to play the previous ones)

🍿My favorite TV series are:

•Shameless

•Love, Death & Robots

•Bojack Horseman

•Arcane

•She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

•Ever After High

🎼Singers I like:

•Madison Beer

•Mitski

•Ariana Grande

•Ashnikko

•Kali Uchis

•Girl in Red

•Marina and the diamonds

•KDA ("Akali that girl, 'kali go grr 'Kali don't stop, 'kali don't skrt 'Kali got a job, 'kali go to work 뜨거워 언제나 don't get burnt" 🗣🗣🗣)

•Gorillaz

•Queen

•Molchat Doma

•Arctic Monkeys

•Mother Mother

•Jack Stauber

•Cavetown

•TV girl

•Bo Burnham

I actually listen to a lot of artists but I don't remember them all c:

🫧Things I like:

•Lost media

•Liminal space

•Dreamcore

•Nostalgiacore

•History of cinema (especially animated films)

•Psychology (and all other branches of this science. I also love anthropology and sociology)

•Travel and discover new places

•Everything that has to do with creativity (Drawing, writing stories and fanfiction, creating things like accessories for your clothes and such very cute things. I really admire people who can repaint dolls)

•Having fun (going out with my friends, watching films - if they're trashy films it's even better -, sending each other memes and tik tok videos and things like that)

🪷Hobby:

•Cosplay (Especially cosplaying my comfort characters)

•Drawing (I haven't drawn seriously since 2020. I'm waiting for inspiration)

•Collecting dolls (I love Monster High, Ever After High, Rainbow High and L.O.L O.M.G. I also collect Funko pops and figures from other brands. I also have many books and comics -which I have to finish reading because there are too many-)🧸

•Roleplay (Doing roleplay with me means that I have already organized the whole plot. But I also listen to the other person's ideas)

•Find out about the topics that interest me (Most of the time they have to do with culture. I'm a very curious person and I love to inform myself)

💿What I post on Tumblr:

•Things about my fandom

•Positivity (Especially mental health or pride posts about being a member of the LGBT community. Be yourself🌈Be unique)

•Aesthetics

•Vent

•My posts are tagged "Dia's post"

🦦Other random things:

•My favorite musicals are Heathers and Ride The Cyclone (the name of my blog is a mix between two of these songs)

•I'm terrible with numbers and sometimes I read the wrong words (I have a learning disability -be patient-)

•In my blog there are posts about Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss BUT IT'S NOT A SPECIAL INTEREST OF MINE. I recognize that they are two series with a lot of plot holes and nonsense. But it still reminds me of time spent with my friends. I actually like hearing people analyze and criticize it. I'm fond of the character of Vaggie and I like the ship between Sir Pentious and Cherri Bomb but as I wrote before: it's no longer a special interest of mine. I am neutral towards them

•I'm an atheist

•I am very interested in the meaning (and world) of dreams

‼️ Sometimes I also reposted something related to when I feel down. Unfortunately I have a lot of trauma but I'm trying to move forward and get better‼️

🔞I'm a girl from 2002 so I have young adult maturity‼️ For adults (because I know we are not all the same and not everyone likes some things) I would like to point out some things that I could reblog: I might reblog paintings or sculptures with naked people BUT also drawings with people semi-naked or shown in a sexy way. The artists I refer to are: Fumetti Brutti by Josephine Yole Signorelli and EvviArt. They are the only ones I follow but it is to make you understand what type of art I like. I could reblog posts where sexual topics are written: from the classic "use protection when having s3x" or raise awareness about some topics related to this theme. I want people to be informed about some aspects of this topic (I'm not talking about p0rnographic things ) such as the importance of using protection and above all how important consent is. I don't reblog kink-related stuff or explicit porn because it's not a topic of interest to me. And I don't even have kink because s3x isn't a topic that interests me. It doesn't shock me to hear about NSFW things (it disgusts me if disturbing topics are included in this topic). Many of my interests (TV series or video games and things like that) involve adult themes. I prefer to specify that I could publish things like this because I know that many people don't want to see these things. And in any case I want to talk to people my own age. If you like some wallpaper made by me, there are no problems because a wallpaper is a normal thing and everyone can use them. But if you don't like adult things then don't interact (especially if you're a minor) In summary: you can like icons or wallpapers or memes (these are innocent things and everyone likes them. Everyone uses icons and wallpapers) but interact with me if you are adults🔞

🧜‍♀️Comfort characters:

•Jinx (League of legends/Arcane. She is my main and for certain things I see myself in her)

•Seraphine (League of Legends. didn't like her at first but I love her gameplay. And I think she has the best skins -along with Jinx, of course-)

•Evelynn (League of Legends. She's a Goddess)

•Chloe Price (Life is strange. She made me understand that I like women too. I love this punk)

•Sunset Shimmer (Equestria Girls. She is one of the few ENTJs to be a positive character. I really like how her character has evolved)

•Reagan Ridley (Inside Job. We are very similar in certain things)

•Entrapta (She ra. I love this chaotic neutral autistic scientist princess. Again, I see myself in her)

•Kotori Minami (Love Live! When I was in middle school this was my favorite anime)

•Dia Kurosawa (Love Live! Sunshine. Love Live is an anime that accompanied me as I grew up. I'm very fond of it)

❕️I'm looking for young adult people like me (young adult means being over 18 and under 30). I have no problem with NSFW (I prefer artistic nudity) and I have no problem with swearing. I have a certain maturity so I want to interact with people like that.❕️

‼️ This is my safe space🗣 SO DO NOT INTERACT WITH ME IF YOU ARE: racist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic and against the LGBT community, do not interact if you are a pedophile and if you harm animals.Don't fetishize queer people. We are people, not nsfw categories. And don't romanticize the Mafia. Be kind and open-minded. Don't interact if you are against feminism (which I remind you, means gender equality), don't interact if you are people with ideas of hatred and discrimination. No ignorant people about mental health or what is happening in the world, because we are in 2024 and we need to have a minimum of culture. If you think abortion is murder, I would say you can also go elsewhere because I support women's rights and human rights in general. In general, don't interact if you are a person with bad ideas (that kind of bad ideas. Go away)‼️

🌟Talk to me if you are a normal person (and if you're nice and send funny memes. Or if you want to talk about some fandom in common or something. We can also play some video games together or talk about philosophical things like "what's the point of life?" or things like "do aliens exist?")🌟

[herecirmsims]

Simblr Gratitude Day

Info here! This is such a wonderful idea, and although I worry constantly about leaving people out, I also think it's important to let people know when you like something they've done. I really only use Tumblr to find CC because I'm too stupid to follow stories on any format other than IG, so I'm going to mention just 5 of the CC makers who I absolutely could not tell my story without . ❤️

Simdertalia

If I ever find myself thinking, "Huh, I really need This Thing in my game" then chances are @simdertalia will have made it. Then what happens is I find something I didn't know I needed, and I download that too. 🤣 Featured above are Simdertalia's roots and vines which I used for a plant magic scene, crisps and drinks for one of the few occasions when my Sims got to leave the house, and the Funko Pop cereal boxes which I think were how I discovered her CC in the first place!

Simmireen

It's a treat when I whip out the @simmireen poses for my main couple, because it means they're actually going to have a nice 5 minutes. 🤣 I like to imagine that they get excited when they see me scrolling down to the Simmireen section. I can't remember where the first set came from, but featured above are the Goodnight Love and Sunshine posepacks.

SamsSims

I think I use at least one of @samssims / @samsstudio 's poses in every post I make. 🤣❤️ What I like most is that I don't have to waste time going through multiple posepacks to find the right emotion - they're so well-organised AND the look down/sitting versions are SO useful too. Sam's poses really are an absolute necessity for any storyteller. Used above are from Child Emotions: Fear, Reactions Poses: Pointing, and Emotions Poses: Fear.

Simmerianne93

@simmerianne93 is like the anti-Simmireen for me, in that I keep using her poses to do HORRIBLE THINGS to my MC. 🤣 I can't help that she's soooo good at action and danger sequences! The featured poses are from Couple Poses 18 (look!! I actually used Anne's poses for GOOD!), Solo Poses 03 and Solo Poses 06 pack.

NotSoOldMadCatLady

A fairly recent discovery for me, and I simply could not live without @notsooldmadcatlady 's medieval/Renaissance CC. ESPECIALLY the carriage which I have been obsessed with lately. Featured above are her carriage AND 1400s dress, Citizen outfit (right), and medieval deco Sims.

[purplepixel]

1, 2 (Rise specifically) 6, 22, 26, and 33

Sorry, I'm just so curious :}

OHOHOHO GIVING ME SOME GOOD ONES

1) What was your first exposure to TMNT?

Ok so I must've encountered the ninja turtles SOMETIME during my childhood. It's one of those things I kinda knew about but didnt care to look into. And I learned recently that my mom didn't like TMNT so I'm guessing she sabotaged my exposure to them growing up /lh. The clearest memory of TMNT that I have was when my honors humanities high school teacher was trying to get us to remember the Renaissance artists.

"Just think of the ninja turtles"

Me: the who now? Oh that's their names? Ya sry I'll have a better time just remembering the artists

2) What was your first exposure to Rise?

Hmm. Would you laugh if I told you I sat in the break room of my old retail job, was scrolling on jobsites to try and get me out of that place, came across a job opening at Nickelodeon for character designer for their new show "rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles", thought about how I would redesign the ninja turtles despite having no knowledge of the franchiae, and ultimately decided not to apply bc I lacked faith in myself? (I also lacked the skill but KSJFSJAK)

If only my past self could look at me now.

Ok but for actual exposure to the show, I was sooo late. I think the first I saw of rise was a clip of the S2 finale fight on twitter. I barely remember tho bc that didn't get me to watch the show (surprisingly)

6) Do you own any TMNT merchandise?

Yes! I have some signed posters from Andy Suriano and a splinter and April doodle.

The mutant mayhem raph, Mikey, donnie Funko pops (no Leo oops. They didn't have him when I bought these). Mutant mayhem Mini pops, a 1987 Mikey plushie, all the turtle mutant mayhem plushies.

Hardback volumes 1-7 of TMNT IDW. Steel dvd cover of mutant mayhem. These guys

RAPHS SAIS AS A PIZZA CUTTER (I don't have a pic rn unfortunately ;-;) Have an '87 Mikey keychain thats his shell and nunchaku)

And some fan made keychains

Craving more. Really wish we had better rise merch. Gotta rely on the fans for that one

22) What is your favorite kind of pizza?

HAWAIIAN AND YOU CAN FIGHT ME. Donnie's wrong

26) What is one of your favorite pieces of TMNT fanart?

Oh wow. There's so many. Uhhhh....scrolls through my archive. This is one of my recent favorites I really love the colors and style of the characters. Bright and fun.

But if animations count, then this

33) What is your favorite thing you've made for TMNT?

Um oh wow. What to choose. This 100% will change over time especially since I've been cooking lately. I've got a handful of animatics in the work that im REALLY proud of. And my rise/Pokemon au is my personal baby despite me just sharing the tip of the iceberg.

But my silly answer is this. I find this WAAAAY too funny for what it is. I watch on loop anytime I need to get something done.

[im-not-a-l0ser]

Beanies, Chapter 17

Hey.... so it's been a while.

Richie might’ve cleaned more in the last 7 hours than he had the entire time he lived there. 

Many reasons for that. The anxiety from having Max in their fucking house, not wanting anyone to get sick, wanting to make sure everything Max might even sort of need for baking was clean, the anxiety from having Max in their fucking house.

Lots of reasons. 

Max was planning to arrive around 9 am, which Richie thought it might’ve been too early, but Max made the case that the cake would need time to cool before being frosted. Which was fair. Richie didn’t want to risk anything. Anyway, Trevor wouldn’t stop teasing him about it.

“So, instead of just baking it yourself— which, you’ve done before— you invited Max over so you can watch him bake a cake,” Trevor said. “Do you realise how weird that is?”

“Max offered, Trevor. It wasn’t my idea.”

“Oh, of course he did,” Trevor said, in a tone that Richie didn't really understand. He still sighed.

“Can’t you just leave this alone?”

“Richie, every single day since I met Rudy, you teased me for liking him— and this was before I told you I liked him!  So, yeah, I’m gonna tease you about it, whether you like him or not. Just like you did.” 

“That’s different,” Richie said, “You hadn’t told me that you liked Rudolph, but you didn’t have to! I’m not an idiot, Trevor! First of all, he’s totally your type. Strong, but not that bulky, overcompensating at first but that mellows out after a while, and I know there are exceptions, but you like blue eyes a lot. Not to mention your habit of dressing more provocatively when you know you’re going to be around someone you like.”

“I don’t have a type.”

“Dude,” Richie deadpanned. “I can’t even deal with this right now,” He said instead of elaborating, shaking his head. 

Trevor sighed.

“I’ll tone it down,” He relinquished. “For today, at least. It’s just really difficult. You’re not the kind of person to invite someone over, especially on such short notice.”

“Well, I’m kind of desperate, Trevor.”

“Oh, I hadn’t noticed,” Trevor teased. “Sorry, it was right there.” Richie sighed. “I’m gonna get us some doughnuts. Want one?”

“Two please,” Richie said. “Shoot, what about Max?”

“I’ll get him some too, don’t worry,” Trevor dismissed, waving his hand absently. 

“I wasn’t worried,” Richie said, “I think that anxious is probably a better word for it. I know we’re not in our school here, but it’s not as if our house looks normal.” Richie motioned to the dozens of action figures, amiibos, funko pops and bobble heads framing their tv stand.

“Yeah, but Max knows you're a mega-nerd; it’s not like he’ll be surprised.”

“Yeah, Max knows I’m a nerd, but he prboably wouldn’t expect our parents to be bigger nerds than we are,” Richie argued, “Especially since we’re all nerds in different ways. I’m a weeb, you’re a thespian, dad’s a Trekkie and Whovian, mom’s a fantasy nerd.” 

“I don’t think Max can tell the difference between Assasin’s Creed characters and Hamilton characters.”

“That’s a poor example if you’re trying to say Max wouldn’t be able to tell how nerdy we are.” 

“Okay, fair,” Trevor said, “He couldn’t tell a Project Diva character from a Star Trek character,” He ammended. Richie snorted.

“I hate… that you’re probably right.” Richie shook his head solemnly. “He’ll learn in time.” Trevor giggled alongside him. 

“Is that a threat?”

“Only if you make it one.”

The twins shared more laughter until there was a knock at the door. 

“That’s Max,” Richie said, his joy immeaditely crashing into fear and panic. 

“Well, if you’re about to ask me how you look, the answer is: like a mess.” Richie rolled his eyes before freezing.

“Shit,” he said, “I have to get changed,” He said urgently. 

“Dude, I was kidding, why…” Trevor shut up once Richie pulled his shirt closer to his torso. “Ah. Gotcha. Yeah, go get changed; I’ll get the door.” 

“Thank you,” Richie called, rushing to the stairs.

“You got it,” Trevor said, basically to an empty room, as he walked to get the door. 

As Richie had said, Max was standing there, looking just as awkward as Richie just had. 

“Hey, Max. Welcome to our humble abode,” He said flatly.

“Where’s Richie?” Trevor bit back his snort.

“Oh, y’know, he was still in his pyjamas when you got here, so he ran to get changed,” Trevor excuse, leading Max into the house. “Because what he sleeps in is just so different than what he wears outside.” He shut the door. “Y’know, actually. What the fuck am I talking about, he doesn’t really sleep in clothes. Y’know that whole ‘overactive sweat-gland thing.’ Makes it really inconvenient to wear more than underwear.”

Trevor didn’t distinctly notice that Max flushed, but he’d definitely laugh at it in retrospect later.

“I’m gonna head out to get breakfast.” Trevor plucked his keys from the hooks hanging by the door. “You crazy kids have fun. I don’t want to come back to you giving him a swirly and him begging for his life.”

“I wouldn’t—”

“I’m joking, Max,” Trevor sighed, “Although, I don’t want to come back to see that, I don’t think you will, so it’s nothing to worry about, is it?”

“No sir.” Trevor actually laughed this time.

“Jeez,” Trevor said, “When’s the last time you’ve been in someone’s house?”

“I go to Jason’s a lot,” Max said, “But he’s got like a million siblings and I only go over when I don’t have the energy to feed myself. So like, once a week.”

“Do you call his dad sir? We’re gonna ignore the fact that I’m not Richie’s dad, I’m his twin brother, but y’know, same principle.”

“Uhh,” Max hesitated, “Jason’s dad isn’t really…” he motioned abstractly, “Around. He’s alive and shit, but his mom’s in charge, and she gets child support and alimony. But I’m pretty sure even Jason calls him ‘Jonathan.’ So no, I don’t call him sir.”

“Why are you calling me sir?” Trevor asked, “A guy might think you’re coming onto him.”

“Oh, god no,” Max said, a bit too fast. “I think it was just a reflex.”

Many implications sat beneath that simple statement, and Trevor didn’t feel like getting into it right now. His hunger was growing, and quite frankly, he didn’t feel like dealing with Max and Richie’s “not-flirting” when he finally came downstairs.

“Right,” was all he said. “I’m getting you doughnuts. Any aversions?”

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“Any. Aversions?” Trevor repeated slower.

“I really don’t like the ones with white frosting.” Trevor nodded, opening the door.

“Got it. Be back in a bit,” He called before shutting the door. 

Max, not knowing what was okay or not, just stood there, waiting for Richie to come back downstairs.

“Sorry about that,” Richie said, out of breath, not-quite-running down the stairs. 

“You okay?” Max asked. “I didn’t think you were that out of shape, dude.”

“Shut up,” Richie said with no real hat behind it, “Changing is a process feel me.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be if you just wore a t-shirt like most people,” Max joked before realising that Richie pretty much was just wearing a t-shirt, or rather wasn’t wearing the normal 4-ish layers.

A black and orange jersey-looking thing— which for some reason had a collar on it— matching shorts, and a plain black jacket. He was wearing socks, which Max didn’t quite understand, since they had a carpet and it was his own house.

“Are you sure those aren’t pyjamas?” Max ammended.

“It’s a uniform,” Richie said, “I thought you’d notice a sport uniform thing,” He joked, looking down at the jersey.

“It has a collar on it.”

“It’s a volleyball uniform.” He quickly corrected himself. “Okay, I guess not all volleyball uniforms have collars. But all the Haikyuu ones do. I think. Actually, I don’t think Shiratorizawa does. There’s probably another but I don’t remember. Kamomedai probably.”

“I’m sure that made sense to you,” Max muttered, turning toward what looked like the doorway to a kitchen. “This way?” 

“Yep,” Richie said. He began pointing to cabinets and drawers. “There’s baking essentials, bowls and trays, mixing and serving utensils, and I put out the eggs and butter, because it said they needed to be room temperature, but the raspberries are still in the fridge. I printed out the recipe, but I can set up my laptop if you want—”

“You need to slow down.” Max held up his hand. “I woke up like twenty minutes ago. Why don’t you just stay in here and help me get everything set up?” 

“Sure.”

Richie got the bowls and trays required for the recipe, while Max followed his direction of where the base ingredients were. 

“Okay, uh…” Richie ran his hand down the ingredient list, glancing around to check that it was on the counter. “Okay, yeah, that’s everything I think. Do you think you can take it from here, or do I still need to babysit you?” Richie teased.

“I can take care of it,” Max said, “You haven’t eaten yet.”

“Have you?”

“That’s not the point.” Richie rolled his eyes.

“Trevor will be here soon, we can just leave this stuff out, eat and then return.”

“Fine,” Max sighed, as if he were annoyed by it, but he had a smile on his face.

Richie lead him to their couch where they sat somewhat awkwardly. Richie was staring down at his legs, trying to subtly adjust his shirt to make his waist look less slim. Max, on the other hand, was running his eyes over the decor of the room. 

“Wow,” He said.

“Good wow or bad wow this time?” Richie asked, somehow both joking and very much anxious and serious. 

“Medium,” Max said. “I don’t understand what half this shit is,” He said, motioning to the entire room. Richie laughed nervously.

“Well, that is sort of the point,” He said. “We all like having our own thing, and we think it’s funny that the rest don’t understand what we’re talking about.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Well, my dad really likes Doctor Who, and even though we’ve seen it all, we don’t understand it as well as he does,” Richie tried. “I-It’s like how I talked about the volleyball teams earlier, except I don’t feel bad when it’s my family.”

“You feel bad when it’s me?” 

“Eh,” Richie said, and their laughter melted the tension quickly as it usually did. Richie yawned, covering his mouth as it opened so wide one might fear it’d get stuck. 

“How much sleep did you get last night?” 

“I didn’t…” Richie said with a bit of delirious laughter. 

“I said how much sleep did you get last night?” Max repeated. Richie snorted into giggles.

“No, not ‘I did not hear you,’ I was answering your question. I didn’t sleep last night.” 

“Dude,” Max decanted. “The fuck.”

“I stayed up really late filming and editing, and then I realised I should probably clean so you have a good workspace, and then once I was done cleaning it was morning and my brain won’t let me sleep when the sun is rising.”

“So you could sleep now?”

“Hypothetically, but I’m not going to.”

Before Max could argue, the door opened up. 

“Okay, Richie, I got your usual, but Max, pick the ones you want and I’ll take the other two, I can’t decide anyway,” He said, walking over to them. He sighed, glaring at Richie. “Did you put our folding table away?”

“Yeah, it’s…” Richie pointed to the folded tray table, which was usually filled with stuff in the middle of the living room. 

“Hold this,” Trevor sighed, shoving the box into Richie’s arms. 

Trevor set up the table, and they put the box of doughnuts down. 

“I can actually eat mine later,” Max said, standing up. Richie yanked him back down from the bottom of his shirt.

“No, you’re eating.”

“I can—”

“If you don’t eat, I won’t eat,” Richie said, glaring decisively. 

“Fine,” He grumbled, crossing his arms like a child. 

After eating, Max got to work on baking. Richie could see the kitchen from where he was sitting, so he didn’t worry too much about joining him in the kitchen. That’d prove to be a mistake. 

In Richie’s opinion, at least.

“Okay, cake’s in the…” Max shut his mouth as soon as he saw Richie curled up on the chair. “Fucking good,” He muttered, walking over to the couch and flopping down on it. 

He could hear Trevor coming down the stairs, and soon he could see him too. Holding what looked like a big long pillow. 

“Oh, is that one of those Japanese body pillows?” Max asked, his voice soft, not wanting to wake Richie. “He mentioned them. Does he… sleep better with them?” Trevor snorted. 

“Well, I’m sure he does, but that’s not what I’m using this for,” He said, walking over to Richie. 

Max watched, curious. Trevor stood next to the chair for a moment before lifting the pillow with both hands.

“You. Need to. Get. Changed. Be. Fore. You. Sleep!” He said, spitting each syllable as the pillow collided with Richie’s body. 

“Mgh,” Richie grumbled. “Hey,” He said, “Don’t use Rei and Asuka as a weapon,” He said, taking the pillow and holding it close to him. 

“Richie, if you’re gonna go to sleep, you need to get changed. You know that, you asked me to do this shit.”

“This is different,” Richie said, “I fell asleep by accident.” 

“That’s not different, that’s exactly when you asked me to wake you up,” Trevor said. “Go to your room and go to bed.”

“I don’t want to sleep right now,” Richie said. He glanced at Max. 

“You can sleep,” Max said, “It’s fine.”

“See, your b- friend is okay with it,” Trevor said, remembering his words from that morning. “Go to bed.” Richie shook his head.

“No, there’s a few hours between when Max leaves and when I have to get to Ruth’s; I can sleep then.” 

“You sure?” Trevor asked. Richie nodded decidedly. “Okay, well, if you don’t wanna conk out on the couch, maybe you should put on Haikyuu or something.” He waved his hand ambiguously. “One of those shows that gives you more energy than they rationally should.”

“Wha— It’s perfectly rational! You listen to Guns and Ships before dance rehearsal; how is that less weird than me getting excited about volleyball?”

“Guns and Ships is high-speed. There’s a whole Haikyuu episode where shorty and creepy have to study english so they can go to an away game.” 

“Guns and Ships is about asking France for help with the revolution!” 

“At 138 bpm!”

“Why do you know that!”

“Are you guys always like this?” Max asked. “I couldn’t imagine having siblings; I think we’d kill each other.”

“I believe that,” Trevor said. 

“We’re not always like this, we’re just often like this.” Trevor knocked Richie in the back of the head. “It’s a little worse these days,” He admitted.

“Why?”

“Trevor’s nervous about Rudy,” Richie said, craning his neck to look at his brother. 

“Why? Gonna ask him out or something?” 

“No,” Trevor said, a bit defensively. “We have to pick him up from the airport in two weeks.”

“And by we, he means he’s forcing me to drive him.”

“Why can’t his family pick him up?” Trevor sighed, presumably having answered this questions, potentially many times, before.

“I’ve talked to his foster family already, they’re busy the day of the flight. Leslie has a meeting, Sarah won’t even be in the state, and Daliah is four. Rudy could just wait at the airport for two hours for Leslie to get off work, but since I can drive, I offered."

“And then promptly panicked at the prospect of being alone in a car with him for two hours. So instead he decided, ‘yeah. Let’s bring my twin brother.' That’ll decrease the sexual tension,” Richie said. He turned to his brother. “Speaking of such. If you two so much as kiss in my car, you will be walking home.” 

“Rudy and I don’t kiss,” Trevor said. Richie raised a brow. “Often.”

“There ya go.” 

“You kiss even though you’re not dating?” Max asked.

“We’ve kissed like twice ever. And don’t athlete’s slap each others asses?” Trevor deflected. 

“Touchy,” Max said. Trevor and Richie exchanged looks.

“Do you mean touche?” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Trevor didn’t laugh, but Richie’s smile grew. 

“Did you make sure to put the filling in the fridge?”

“Yeah, of course, I’m not an idiot,” Max said, sitting back. 

“I am paying you, by the way,” Richie said, “Before you argue, I was given money to pay for the birthday cake. I used some of it for the ingredients, and the rest of it is going to be used to pay for your labour, okay?” 

“Okay,” Max said. “Fine.” He shrugged. 

“So, how much time you gots to kill?” Trevor asked. “I’m basically asking what show I should put on right now.”

“Oh, well, it takes about a half hour to bake, but then it has to cool. It takes like… ten minutes to make frosting, but cake takes like an hour minimum to cool.”

“Does it really?” Trevor asked, eyes widening. 

“Yeah, I was surprised too,” Richie said, nodding. “Why do you think he came so early? Do not. I swear, it’s like living with Ruth sometimes.” 

“Oh, c’mon. Peter has Ted, Ruth has herself, you have me!”

“I shouldn’t need to live with someone with a dumb, inappropriate sense of humour!” 

“C’mon, Richie, you walked right into that,” Max said, snickering. Richie groaned, throwing his head into his hands.

“I have to deal with this all day!” He groaned. He looked up, resting his chin on his hands. “Ted’s coming to Ruth’s party too.” Trevor chuckled and pat Richie’s back.

“Good luck with that dude.” He joined Max on the couch and Richie curled back into his pillow. “How’s Milo sound?” He asked, flicking the TV on. 

“Oh, yeah, that sounds good.” 

So they put on Milo Murphy’s Law.

Throughout the first episodes, a few things happen. Trevor steps away to take a phone call, Richie gets a blanket he’d put away earlier under the assumption that Max would think it was weird they kept blankets in the living room, Trevor deliberately sits down where Richie was sitting so that Richie has to sit on the couch, Max made a comment on Richie’s body pillow (“I thought you were gay” “Max, I promise you, this is literally the most safe for work version of them that I could find.”), Richie dozed off against Max and Trevor let him for an episode before waking him up. That was the main one. 

“I’m gonna have that song stuck my head all day now, thanks for that,” Max said, grunting as he got up. “But I have cake to work on, so.”

Max hummed 'Chop, Chop, Chop,' as he walked into the kitchen, the twins’ eyes following him. 

“Do you think he says that when he goes to work out?” Trevor asked, definitely loud enough for Max to hear. And if Richie hadn’t been sure of that already, the loud ass laugh Max let out confirmed it. 

“No, but I’m gonna start!” He called. 

“I’d be more annoyed if that weren’t so funny,” Richie sighed. Trevor smiled deviously. 

“And it’s funny because it’s true.”

“I’m gonna go see if Max needs any help!” Richie said, stomping into the kitchen. 

“I don’t really,” Max said, adding some sort of powder to their stand mixer.

“Then I’ll wash dishes.”

“Already did it,” Max said over his shoulder. 

“Right, well, damn me for trying to feel useful,” Richie said. Max sighed.

“Could you keep an eye on this while it mixes?” Max asked, switching the mixer on. “Stop it when it’s all combined. You know how to stop it, right?”

“Yes,” Richie said, joining Max’s side. 

Max left once he got his eye on the mixture and began preparing the cake for frosting. 

“So did you want me to write anything on here?” Max asked, “Because I’ll need to mix some vanilla frosting too, if you do.”

“Yeah,” Richie said, “But I could do it.” 

“No, I got it,” Max said, returning to Richie’s side, where the ingredients for the frosting was still sitting on the stove. 

“I’m using the stand mixer already,” Richie said.

“I know, but I can mix it by hand.”

“Nope, no,” Richie said, pushing the container of confectioners sugar away from Max. “You’re gonna get yourself hurt. Writing goes on after, you can mix it later and use the actual mixer for it.”

“Fine,” Max groaned. He stopped the mixer, which Max had distracted Richie from. 

Speaking of, Max must’ve noticed too, with how he froze. Richie was pseudo-boxed in against the counter with Max’s arm there. They both stood there for a moment. 

It was different from how Richie was usually kabedonned by Max— usually it had a very negative connotation. This was more neutral, being an accident and all, but… it felt different. 

“Uh,” Max said, sounding shaky. “I need to get the bowl.”

“Oh, sorry,” Richie squeaked, stepping aside. 

Max continued as if nothing happened. At least, that’s what Richie saw. In reality, his eyes were wide, mouth pressed into a thin line, almost not breathing at all. It took every ounce of his being not to do something just then.

Maybe Trevor was right, maybe he did like Richie like that. And Max already knew that. But his mind still rattled: no, he didn’t like Richie that way, it was just the circumstance. He’d had that feeling with Richie pressed in his box before, back before they were even friends. When the words stopped, the tension thickened and Max felt that instinct to lean in. 

It was just worse now that Richie probably wouldn’t vomit because of it. At least, Max hoped he wouldn’t. 

Richie returned to the living room. 

“Didn’t need help?” Trevor teased.

“I need to go lay down, I think I’m imagining things.”

“Make sure to change first,” Trevor said as Richie walked up the stairs. Richie waved his hand dismissively. 

A half-hour or so later, Max returned from the kitchen. 

“Where’s Richie?”

“Bed.”

“Oh,” Max said. 

“But you should stay!” Trevor rushed to add. “Richie has to pay you still! And, uh… y’know, you’re already here. And why would you leave when you could stay? And he’ll probably be down in a bit—”

“I want-” Max stopped himself. “I, yeah. I want to wait until he comes back down.”

“Did something happen in there?” 

“I think I might’ve almost kissed him a little bit?” 

“How almost?”

“Tension,” Max said. “But that could’ve just been on my side, obviously. I was probably just imagining it. And if I wasn’t, it was just a heat of the moment thing, I’m not… I don’t.” Trevor groaned.

“Why is it such a difficult task for you to admit you like my brother?” Trevor asked. 

“Because I don’t want to,” Max said, “I don’t want him to feel obligated to do anything for or with me. I don’t want him to think he has to do anything just because, because of how we are at school.”

“How you are at school,” Trevor corrected.

“How I act at school,” Max amended begrudgingly. “I don’t him to feel forced. I care about that stupid fucking nerd. And I hurt him enough already.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna stop pushing him around at school?” Trevor demanded. Max sighed.

“No,” He said. “It doesn’t. But he knows I don’t mean that shit. He has to know how much he means to me.”

“He might know better if you tell him how you feel.”

“Richie will never know how I feel, got that?” Max’s tone shifted. A monster again. Trevor’s heart sank and throat squeezed with fear. “Even if you tell him, he won’t fuckin believe you, so you can’t even try.” He took a breath. “Richie’s fucking perfect, if he finds out he likes me, he’d go out with me to make me feel better. I’m not gonna force him to do that. I don’t want to force him to do anything.”

That’s when it hit him. 

“Oh…”

Max was the one with April. The girl who Mimi reminded him of. The girl who pushed him.

“Okay,” He conceded. 

“Okay?” Max asked.

“Okay,” Trevor nodded. 

“Okay,” Max breathed. 

“I’ll go get Richie and tell him you’re about done.” 

Max sat antsy as Trevor did so, and centred on Richie as he walked down the stairs. He was totally screwed, wasn’t he? 

“Hey!” Max said, standing up as Richie neared the end of the stairs. “I was wondering if you wanted to make the white frosting. For, uh, for the text.” Richie smiled, and honestly, he looked so sleepy.

“Sure,” He said.

Max tried his best to keep his distance while Richie was making the frosting, afraid of getting too close. 

“Okay, done!” Richie exclaimed, turning the mixer off. 

“Cool,” Max said, stepping back when Richie walked closer. “I, uh, already set up the bag and stuff, if you wanna scoop it in. I think this is kind of a two-person job anyway, since it’s a pain in the ass to do alone.” 

“Okay,” Richie said happily, dislodging the bowl from the mixer. 

The situation required them being close together, and Max couldn’t help but savour the warm emanating from Richie. He must’ve been tucked under his blankets back in his room. 

“Okay, that’s all of it.” 

“Hm? Right!” Max said, laughing nervously.

Max finished the cake at Richie’s instructions, and it was placed carefully into a box for transportation. 

“Thanks for making the cake for me, Max,” Richie said, buzzing with excitement as they moved into the living room. 

“Of course, dude,” Max said. “It’s the least I could do for being a complete assface to you for literal years,” He said, honestly cringing at his own words. 

“Well, I’m still paying you,” Richie said, “This was labour, and you’re getting paid for it.” 

“Fine,” Max groaned.

“This is delicious,” Ruth commented after moaning obscenely for a distressingly long period of time. 

“We’re going to ignore that sound she just made,” Pete said, for what should’ve been the first time ever, and most definitely wouldn’t be the last. “But she’s right, this is amazing. Where’d it come from?”

“Oh, I got a friend to make it,” Richie said, avoiding eye contact. He knew it was gonna be a lot of shock and confusion, he didn’t feel like facing that. 

“You have other friends?” Pete asked, definitely not believing him.

“Only one,” Richie said. “He came over this morning and baked the cake for you, and if you make any more comments about my friend, I’m taking the leftovers and never bringing you baked goods ever again.” 

Ruth and Pete exchanged looks, almost like they were debating on risk. 

“Looking forward to theatre camp this year?” Pete asked.

“Yeah, I’m excited, all packed and everything.”

[grizouille]

Summary of my photo and autograph sessions with Taz Skyler and Jeff Ward

(@pure-jeff-ward that's for you my girl)

Jeff is so nice and cute as expected. He loved my pirate notepad as a gift. He was a little surprised when I told him I had watched Manson's Lost Girls, and I added it was a great performance. He seemed genuinely touched. He was always smiling, he was really happy to be there, though tired. He was jetlagged, thus he had bags under his eyes but he was still handsome to me. I've heard him laughing sometimes, he has a cute and loud laugh, but not as loud as Taz's laugh. Also, Jeff is pretty calm and has a soft voice. But it was hard for me to make eye contact especially because of his gaze. OMG guyssss his eyes! They made me weak in the knees, literally, because I was trembling while walking down the stairs. 🫠

I forgot to say it, but just after my picture was taken, I told him he was a sweetheart, and he said thank you.

Taz is genuine and kind, for real. He's really chill. He was always smiling and laughed very often. Such a sweet guy too. He's really extroverted and SO talkative. His eyes were shining, he was very happy to meet his fans. We waited a lot, especially because of a guy who asked to sign a loooot of funko pop figurines boxes... Anyways  it was totally worth it. Also, he noticed I was French, so he said "merci beaucoup et au revoir" lol. I offered him a notebook that looked like a chocolate tablet, he asked me to sign it lmao. Then we did a high five because I told him I drove 3 hours to see him and he apologized for the queue. Finally he shook my hand as a goodbye.  ❤️