#this is my very serious and very good new promo

[crazymuffin1]

this post is for people who wonder what the hell is going on with the venom movies/fandom because they havent watched it

if youre seeing it on your dash and dont want to scroll very long press J. if youre on mobile. cope.

venom the last dance is the third movie in the venom series and people who haven't watched the movies are probably wondering whats going on. whoever you're following has probably posted or reblogged some sort of eddie brock x venom thing. yes of course. mlm ships are popular and theyre the main characters. of course theyre gonna get shipped. just like stucky or other hot main male characters. nothing really special about these guys. right?

wrong! because as opposed to the other ones being non-canon ships where we just look at everything and say "thats gay" or look at it through shipping tinted glasses, symbrock is a bit special.

to start off with! the source material! the comics! im not gonna make this part long, just a bunch of images with short descriptions and you can interpret it however you want (click for full image)

panels ofter referred to as "the ones where they have sex"

no comment

even spider-man knows

aaaaaand the comic writers/artists also know

theres more (like how they have a kid and eddie experienced morning sickness...) but this is about the movie! not the comics!

first movie moments. im skipping smaller moments and i'll try to not write out the whole plot.

eddie and venom go through a whole car chase scene on a motorbike, and the moment eddie calls him cool, they get his by a car. often interpreted as venom losing focus from the praise

-omg why would that lead to venom losing focus?? because venom, on its planet, is a loser. bottom of the barrel. an outcast. and someone called it cool. venom sees that eddie is also a bit of a loser on his planet. theyre two losers together. Eddie asks why he doesnt just kill him and hop to another host, but venom says that hes a good match (other bodies reject the symbiote, and die from organ failure/eaten from the inside) and venom is "starting to like him" venom also gets a bit stuck on the moment that eddie says we instead of i. its both of them. together.

later eddie finds out his organs were failing (venom was starving and was working on fixing it) and when they get seperated the way he acts is kind of framed like a bad breakup. its not "im free from this parasite! yippie!" its "i trusted you and you hurt me. we're done" sort of breakup. venom tries to say he was trying to fix it but eddie ignores it (not the exact words but if you look at it you'll get it)

eddie gets taken away by the bad guys and venom hops on eddies ex and they reunite. and its not just reunite.

its this

thumbnail shows human face but it does not start off with that.

fun fact! theres a sort of deleted scene where eddie asks "who was i kissing just then?" and she says "mostly me" and then we hear venoms voice saying "well actually it was mostly me!" ALSO at the end of the movie, she says it was venoms idea. this was venom and eddie making out. not eddie and his ex. they do not get back together. she has a new boyfriend and they've moved in together so its serious.

venoms original purpose as to why the symbiotes are on earth was as a scouting party for an invasion force. venom changes his mind on being on the invasion part. eddie asks what REALLY made him change his mind "you did eddie."

also after the movie was in theaters they made an additional romcom trailer to promo the dvd/blueray release. the movie. framed as a romcom. im not kidding. on sonys official youtube. for both movies.

speaking of both movies, the second one has them breaking up! full on divorce after fighting and arguing!! very sad. and then venom goes to a rave (october, there are costumes, hes fully transformed) and says "i am out! of the eddie closet!" HES COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET. one person at the rave has a mask on that says "kiss me" and venom says "sorry no, not my type" THEN WHAT IS YOUR TYPE HUH??? MEN?? SWEATY LOSER GUYS??? his hosts keep failing because theyre not as compatible as eddie. and after having fun venom is sad and wishes eddie could've seen him. they of course, get back together* after some apologizes and because they need to fight a serial killer who also has a symbiote (carnage) because previously, they went to interview him, he insulted eddie, venom got mad on eddies behalf and grabbed him, resulting in getting bit, and that spawned a new symbiote from the blood. also the serial killer, (cletus kassidy) went to bust out his girlfriend who upon seeing his tentacles breaking her glass cage, called it hot.

*when they get reunited (anne helps out again) theres no kiss this time, and annes fiancee, after seeing them fight, says "those two need some serious couples counseling"

after a big climactic fight and mutual reassuring that theyre a perfect match for one another, they flee to some random place in mexico where they sort of have a love confession. theres an extended deleted version of it but i think many of us think they cut it down to save it for the third movie. also they get transported to the mcu in the post-credit and then re-appear in the post-credit of spider-man where theyre just sitting at a bar asking the bartender about the blip and thanos. venom decides to go skinny dip but they get transported back to their universe. net zero gain.

THE THIRD MOVIE

hasnt come out yet. but the promotional things. the trailer. my god the tiktoks and twitter clips?? WHY IS THE TIKTOK VIDEO CAPTION VENOM X EDDIE 4EVER??? HUH???? WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!?!?! IF I GET QUEERBAITED IM GONNA EXPLODE WHY IS ONE OF THEM FRAMED LIKE A COUPLES COUNSELING HELP GUIDE.

i cant post this one on tumblr but this tiktok is a slideshow, one image of venom and eddie from each movie, and the background song is "I've loved you three summer Lover - Taylor swift" with the caption "it's a love love relationship"

WE JUST WANT THEM TO KISS AGAIN AND HAVE A MUTUAL, EXPLICIT, LOVE CONFESSION. AND HAVE 4 HOURS TENTACLESEX SCENE. (not necessarily in that order)

and the first trailer that came out for venom3 has the line"eddie, my home [long pause] has found us" like girrrrrllll for a full 3 seconds i thought he was saying that eddie is his home.

[diazsdimples]

hmm... hmm... teacher AU + bucktommy

Ohhhh @theotherbuckley is writing one of them right now, just as a little friendly promo between mutuals. Anyways, this is my version.

Tommy is a drama teacher and Buck teaches history. Buck meets Tommy on his first day. The first thing he sees is Tommy in the middle of a group of teachers, telling a very animated story about the time he went on a school camp and had to put out a fire one of the kids started in the kitchen, and all Buck can think is "ohh that guy's cool. I like that guy."

Also the rest of the 118 is in this too with Bobby as the principal, Hen teaches Health, Chimney teaches Band, and Eddie takes Gym. Buck becomes very good friends with Eddie but he's got a serious crush on Tommy, and finds himself bumbling with his words whenever Tommy is within 5 feet of him.

The school puts on a play for the 4th of July and Buck is roped in to helping Tommy write the script, because of his history knowledge. Buck goes around to Tommy's house one evening and they settle down with a blank piece of paper and a whole load of history books. Buck might have drunk a bit much wine and that's the excuse he's going to use when he gets all giggly

They end up having another couple of evenings together, because scripts aren't written in a day, and one evening, just before Buck leaves, Tommy catches his wrist and pulls him in, kissing him hard on the lips. Buck instantly melts into him and they make out for a bit. Tommy lets him go and looks far too pleased for himself when he tells Buck he'll see him at work, but he also asks him if he's free that weekend.

They finish the script within the week (between a number of heated makeout sessions) and Buck keeps finding reasons to partake in the planning of the play (the costumes have to be correct, the backdrop has to be correct, the kids need period-typical accents etc), mostly just because it's a convenient excuse to be around his hot new boyfriend. He and Tommy agree to give the relationship a go, and they tell Bobby, who is okay with it as long as the kids don't find out. The other teachers, however, do find out and Buck gets razzed to hell about it but he secretly loves it. They enjoy small, fleeting touches in the staff room, and often go around to each other's houses to mark homework, and generally just enjoy being in each other's presence

Send me an AU and I'll tell you what happens!

[cable-salamdr]

Alright, y’all already know. It’s time for a teaser breakdown.

Before I start, I will say that I will at times deviate from the chronological timeline of the actual teaser in order to accentuate or explain my point, or just because the images correlate to each other. Spoilers ahead, obviously. And just be aware that this is probably going to be a massive read (future cable who just finished writing: it is.).

(Also, here’s the link to my previous analysis post on the IMBD pictures because I cite it a lot, in case someone hasn’t seen that one yet)

So, let’s crack in, shall we?

Right off the bat, what I noticed immediately: This is a different punch than we’ve seen in the other Lloyd vision where Beatrix punches him (right). The lighting and background are different. Maybe this could be an indication that Beatrix is close to coming back? Either way, that sure is a way to start a teaser (I will be addressing the other part of that vision later)

Yay! Roby! By that selfie stick bit I am PRAYING that he *actually* has the personality that he does in that set promo video, because it now seems ever more like that. Also, hey! That’s one of the Explorer’s Club members! I’m assuming that he managed to find work in this Temple City after the Merge (good for him honestly tho he doesn’t look too thrilled)

Okay, this. We’ve already had this image as per the IMDB thing and we already assumed that it was Roby welcoming the ninja into the temple city, and through that I am going to assume that that image comes right after this one:

Which implies what I had already kind of guessed, and it’s that the ninja will have difficulty getting into the Temple City/ there will be some force trying to stop them. I actually first assumed this was the Imperium Hunters, but it seems like those are actually the Temple Guards.

Now, as per what I thought before and what I see here, I’m going to assume that this is a challenge already. In a sec I’ll talk about all the different kinds of challenges we see, because I think they’re quite interesting in of themselves, but because of that giant screen we see projecting the ninja (Lloyd and Nya) on Jiro behind Roby, this basically confirms to me that these Temple Guards aren’t there because they want to particularity stop the ninja from entering, but that they are just a sort of obstacle that any potential participant has to overcome in order to get into the city.

So, yay, the lizards aren’t being hurt just for the sake of it! How nice.

Then we’ve got this and. Uhm. Well first off what the fuck

But now to actually be serious, other people have already been saying this, and it’s the idea that the person sitting down (in what looks like almost a throne? Idk) is Nokt, and he’s sort of… half and half between the two worlds, which could bring about all sorts of things.

Edit: I have been made aware that this, in fact, probably isn’t Nokt (neither his body nor soul)

So what do I think this is? I have no fucking clue. I could say that this was my idea about Jordana getting mildly possessed by another FF that may have gotten out (because the way she acted at the end of p1), and honestly that seems to be the most plausible answer right now. Either way, to me, it looks like the other FF are either praying/ casting, or perhaps having some sort of meeting together? No matter what, it looks ominous as fuck, and something Kai and Bonzle (who we see walk up behind Kai) should probably not be walking into for their own safety.

*THIS* I find a very curious screenshot. Because yay Lloyd in his master robe HEWLL YEARH but also. He didn’t wear that before. In that IMBD picture we see him on the screen, and he is in fact wearing the green tournament suit.

I think what this implies is that THIS is actually for the The Feast episode, wherein I think they gave this sort of formal robe to Lloyd as a way to… I guess make him stand out as the leader of the group? Not to mention that they seem to be coming from a building and going into a new building and looking at something rather grand, which I can thus only assume is a big dining hall. I know people are saying that Arin looks too happy for it to be an episode farther in, but I honestly think it could be a facade. The fact that he’s holding open the door could imply that he feels the need to do something useful, at least.

However, the fact that Lloyd is wearing his robe also makes me think of another clip that we see:

I am going to say that I’m directly assuming these two things happen within the same episode. I haven’t seen anyone talk about how Lloyd is wearing the same outfit, and I think that’s with the assumption that he’s wearing this for the entire tournament which, as said, I don’t think is true.

What everyone IS talking about tho is the cloaked figure. Which, yk, is a cloaked figure. Of course I want to know who it is, but I have attempted my best at cross referencing any of the villain’s suits, and none of them match (A further post about that here). Which brings me to…

Something that I find very curious is that we don’t see any of Ras’ crew, except for Cinder. He’s the only elemental master they’ve got, and we don’t know whether Jay is *actually* gonna be there at all now, considering we didn’t see him whatsoever. Could this cloaked figure be Jay? Sure. But the suit doesn’t match up, either. Which made me realize that we don’t see any of the other fighters at all, really, which is… interesting, to say the least. Perhaps they’re just waiting to reveal what kinds of others powers there will be present at the tournament.

And since I was already talking about Cinder, let’s look at these screenshots, shall we?

What I get from the first one is that HORRAH Wyld vs Cinder rematch!! (Which means we can’t fully trust those fighting promo cards from a while ago because the fights don’t seem to completely match up). What else I get from it is that Shatterspin is allowed in the tournament, and by extension Rising Dragon! Which means that this is likely a tournament with rules similar to the Tournament of Elements, where the rules were basically that you could do whatever you wanted.

And for the second one. Good lord, I don’t even know. It just scares me, that’s all.

No, but, fr, what is happening. Why does he suddenly have Wyld’s power. Someone said this could be also like in the TOE, but instead of the loser’s element going to one person they go to the winner, which, yk, isn’t terrifying at all. You know what else isn’t terrifying at all? This bit:

I have much thoughts about this image, but I’m just gonna say what my first thought was, and it’s that this is Wyld accidentally setting something on fire, and then not being able to control it. Maybe even IN the Cinder fight. Maybe this is someone else causing it and Wyld gets blamed.

Either way, what I think is going to happen here is exactly that: WF gets blamed, and she will have to show that she’s grown as a person and wouldn’t just set things on fire anymore without reason, that she can help. Whether that works, or whether other people even believe her, is yet to be seen, I suppose.

(On a lighter note, I fucking love the little face of the flame on her back. The second letter seems to be a F, and the first one perhaps an R? I’m not quite sure. Anyways, it’s adorable.)

And speaking of adorable things:

GEO. HE’S HERE!!! He’s here and he’s cheering and I am going to selfishly believe that he’s cheering on Cole because GAH I need Geode to become real by the end of this season. God I hope no one at that Tournament is racist to Geo I would punch my screen

Ahem. Anyways. I guess what we can get from this is that those outfits seem to be spectator outfits rather than what the participants wear! And what we can get from that is that Geo will sadly probably not participate in the tournament. To be fair, it seems like only trained fighters will be attending, and despite Geo being able to kick ass, I don’t think he would be particularity good at it against people who have been training for who knows how long.

This also might imply he left the finder kids at the monastery in Mr. Frohicky’s care— which, yk, still leaves the question of how he gets to this tournament in the first place, as we do not see him in any of the screenshots where the ninja are still outside Temply City.

What I also realised from this is that we don’t see Euphrasia anywhere in this trailer. I’m still holding onto hope, so we’ll wait and see.

Then we’ve got all the Sora centric bits (which there seem to a lot of, which kinda tells me that she’s gonna be a focus and YES this will cause issues for Arin no one can convince me otherwise)

Anyways, as I said before, these images demonstrate to me what kind of challenges there will actually be within this tournament: Not just fights, but also what looks like a parkour and a race! Oh what joys. The first one actually kind makes me think that this is a challenge about ingenuity (due to that pole Sora is holding), but I might be reaching with that.

I didn’t get a screenshot of that lil Cole we see in that third clip as well, but I think that means we can safely assume that they're driving that combo vehicle we already have a set of, for which Cole gets the white and orange wedding suit! (Why? I don’t know. In my heart I'm choosing to believe everyone gets a similar outfit to that one.)

And that fuckass little dragon? I've got no idea. It kinda reminds me of Vania's dragon, Chompy, but also of those little Source Dragons Lloyd saw floating around his head right before he had the Master Dragon vision. Idk, it confuses me, so I'm choosing to ignore it lmao

And now the screenshots that I’ve been wanting to hold off on the longest… ho boy. Okay, there’s a lot here.

First off: This is before the tournament, and the next two images that I will be looking at are also before the tournament (the one with Lloyd falling), due to the fact that they are wearing their normal suits.

Second: The Matriarch. In the Kingdom of Madness area. As many people have already been guessing, this is likely where she thought to settle next after getting forced out of their previous home. But also, she looks… bigger? Idk maybe that’s just me. I also keep thinking that it’s the Energy, the Source Dragon that was imprisoned, or that it kinda looks like a bigger Zanth, but I’m probably wrong with that, as that doesn’t make much sense.

Either way, the kids seem to have to help her with something. And, to me, she almost seems… hurt? Like she didn’t call them there to chat or catch up with Riyu, but that she desperately needs help, perhaps something about her horde. Anyways, it concerns me deeply, especially with the next image in mind, which I cannot imagine being before that first one.

Other’s have been saying it and we all know it: that in the background looks like an Administration computer. The problem is that… it’s not the usual color (which was I think green? Berate me if I’m wrong)

So, what do I think happened here? I think the pictures directly correlate. I think what’s gonna be happening here is that the Matriarch wanted to move to this place within the Kingdom of Madness, the Administration was notified of the wrong kind of dragon activity, and is then trying to get them back out, most likely by capturing and deporting them, but maybe also something worse— who knows at this point. Somehow, the Matriarch got hurt, that’s for sure. Maybe she fought them, who knows. What I think will then happen is that either the kids attempt to find where they took the dragons, or they, too, will be captured and brought back.

What happens after this is entirely illusive to me. Of course they could be seeing Jay in that second screenshot, but somehow I doubt it (if this prediction comes true I’m gonna lose my fucking marbles). Either way they are seeing something that’s not normal, which has got to be something extreme, considering Arin has been in that place and has most likely told Sora about it. Maybe they just set off an alarm and that’s why it’s blaring red? Who knows. I sure don’t.

And these screencaps are just as a mystery (as said, these are very likely pre-Tournament, as Lloyd is still in his climber suit)

But what I haven’t seen a lot of people say yet is that we do know who that dragon is, as it appears to be Heatwave (you can see his face in that split second, in the first screenshot). It looks to me as if Lloyd was either deliberately jumping to one place and Heatwave caught him as to prevent that (for whatever reason?), or Lloyd somehow ended up in this falling situation, and HW is saving him (for whatever reason???). Either explanation scares me.

And last, but oh my god definitely not least, we have this clip of Motion. She is so gorgeous I don’t know what to say.

So I’ll just repeat what others have been saying, which is that this is likely in the first episode and the way that the ninja actually get their invitation.

Also I lied I do have smth to say: I feel like this could correlate to that one part at the beginning with Lloyd’s nightmare, where he also sees Motion. Perhaps Lloyd will be convinced that following this invitation will be a bad thing, since he saw it in relation to the other bad things (such as Beatrix punching him for a second time), but the others will convince him, for better or for worse.

Either way, this means that the invitation is personal. We can assume that this will not be some sort of trick by others, but that this is really Motion, inviting them to the tournament, as she was also one of the SDs that was up for helping Lloyd. This makes me ever more so believe that whatever the prize of the Tournament is could potentially result in Kai’s return.

Anyways, that’s all from me. I hope this ramble wasn’t too unorganised, I’ve been writing this for………..an hour. I am normal about this show I swear.

[sgiandubh]

Why would Ashley go to follow and stop following Caitriona? After all aren't sam and caitriona supposed to be just friends and colleagues so why do that? They're the ones creating all the fuss for nothing. If they acted like colleagues no one would go looking 🙄🙄🙄 . I don't understand this need to always dismiss Caitriona as if it's oh my god never associate Caitriona with sam. What a crime to see two friends together ! Following Caitriona means nothing, it doesn't define an affair nor a relationship between them so I don't see the point in avoiding following this woman 🙄🙄 !

Dear Following Anon,

You can try to dilute things as much as you want, but you seem to ignore one of the weird Laws of Thermodynamics in this fandom:

Follows and unfollows are important and relevant. Until they aren't.

I do not share many people's mystique in this regard, simply because I happen to believe social media is nothing more than a tool. Whether it is used for promo and/or manipulation is anyone's guess. What is clear is that there are more things than the bits we are privy to via Instagram, very often with an agenda.

In that particular case, the follow clicked with some info I was shared regarding that get together at the Milady's bar. I was also told Ashley did (help) organize the event, which is consistent with her posting an IG story featuring some Sassenach bottles she was delivering 'somewhere' just before it took place.

And then, there's also this detail:

Clearly she knew the owners/bartending team and arranged things.

But perhaps she thought/was told that would be exposing her too much and then changed her mind about following C? I suppose all we can do is speculate, Anon. Fact is Ashley followed her and she doesn't anymore. Anyone's guess, really.

I will respectfully disagree with you about them deliberately 'creating this fuss for nothing'. You probably are a Fencer and, as all Fencers do, you seem to be unable to connect the dots and never question anything you are told. A most regrettable, unpleasant thing that takes away all the fun and permanently closes all the interesting doors and avenues you could explore in this fandom. Your explanation does not hold: if there is nothing, why condone this ambiguity? For clicks? That is ridiculous. C doesn't give a flying duck about clicks and he just has to take off his shirt: mommies worldwide will instantly unite and drool. How Pavlovian!

There is also another thing: C's Stans really seem to have strong, repressed feelings for her, that might go beyond what is socially acceptable from a fan. They seem to display such a deep sense of possession, it often made me raise an eyebrow in disbelief. If we follow this reasoning, then McGill is the perfect, harmless companion: they see him as no serious threat to their fantasies. S is something else and their minds dissociate - otherwise, as Yeats once famously wrote, 'Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold'.

'Following Caitriona means nothing, it doesn't define an affair nor a relationship between them'. Oh, Anon, I hope you didn't imply Ashley and C... come on, get a grip! By now, all the side players must have been gently, but firmly briefed about people's behavior in this fandom: lack of filter, and all. What would you do, if you were Ashley Hearn?

Finally, let me correct something about the timeline of events - thank you for the opportunity to do so:

I did write in a previous post (https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/765519132954329088/seems-sams-mom-has-been-in-new-york-as-well) that the Milady's get together was on October 17th. I was wrong and superficial, albeit in all good faith. It was on October 16th, after C was spotted at the Burberry's 57th Street Flagship Store Reopening VIP Dinner, in New York:

I do apologize for this mistake and would like to thank @mojo106 for rigorously setting the record straight: what would I do without your collective scrutiny? Probably make a fool of myself.

However, the whole rest of it is legit and I am sticking to whatever I could write about it. Never a problem acknowledging mistakes and owning them, here. Warts and all, Anon. Warts and all.

[mrsarcherofinfamy]

Summary: Losing a bet against Austin and Grayson and having to be their assistant/valet for a month. Turns into feelings for both of them.

•Austin Theory x Grayson Waller x Reader•

I walk into catering before Smackdown Live goes on the air. Adam Pearce is at a table talking with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller along with Damage CTRL. I look over at them and Adam is waving for me to come over to him. I walk over and put my hands on the table leaning in-between Austin and Adam.

"What's up Adam? Whatcha need me for?"

He looks at me smiling.

"Well Y/N, I had an idea earlier today and I was talking it over with Damage CTRL, Austin and Grayson. We were thinking you and them would be sitting at this table and be playing Truth or Dare with each other for a backstage promo."

I look at him with a curious look on my face. I fold my arms looking down at him.

"I like it but what's the catch?"

He laughs and shakes his head.

"You know me to well. The catch is that someone is gonna dare you to arm wrestle Bayley. And when you lose, you have to be Austin and Grayson's assistant/manager for a month. Means you gotta do as they ask and accompany them to the ring during their matches."

I start laughing really hard looking down at the floor.

"You have got to be kidding Adam?"

He looks at me with a serious face. I stop laughing and look at him.

"I'm very serious Y/N. We all think you would look really good as their manager."

I look over at Grayson and Austin staring at me.

"Is that true boys?"

"Yes ma'am"

They both say it at the same time and I crack a slight smile. I look over at Bayley than back at Adam. Adam looks like he is begging me to do it. I roll my eyes and huff.

"Fine. I'll do it. But there has to be a few dares and truths before we do that dare."

"Sounds good to me! It is official."

Adam stands up, shakes my hand and everyone else's at the table than exits out of catering. I sit down next to Bayley and look over at her putting my hands on the table.

"I know I'm new here, but why did you pick me?"

She puts a hand ontop of my hand and grabs it slightly.

"Because you are new here. Because you haven't been able to make a name for yourself yet. I think this might be your breakout moment. Like Maxine."

Ever since I got called up during the WWE draft, they haven't really used me on Smackdown. I look at her really thinking about what she is saying. I shake my head agreeing with what she is saying.

"Ya know. You're right. I could learn a thing or two from you if I really just stop and think about things."

She smiles really big and lets go of my hand pointing over at Austin and Grayson. I look over at them and their eyes are basically glued onto me. I look at them with a confused look.

"Do I have something on my face?"

They don't say anything and just keep staring.

"BOYS!"

I snap my fingers in their faces and they shake their heads looking away from me.

I shake my head cracking a smile. I look over at Bayley.

"I have an idea. I need a glass bottle."

She looks at me and points to the glass bottles of water in catering. I get up, grab one than dump it out in the sink. I come back to the table and Bayley is giving me a confused look. I set the bottle on its side and spin it.

"We could spin the bottle and whoever it lands on is the one who gets asked Truth or Dare."

"That is a smart idea!"

Grayson shouts from across the table at me.

"Thanks G. Anyways, how many truths and dares should we do?"

"I think one dare than two truths than your dare."

I look over at Bayley and shake my head yes. Grayson and Austin agree along with Iyo and Dakota. I stand up and push in my chair.

"I am going to go change into my gear. I will be back in a little bit."

"Bye Y/N!"

They all say at the same time. I wave goodbye and walk to my dressing room to change into my gear. I put on my black and blue shorts (kinda look like Theorys) and my black and blue bralette to match. I put on my cropped cut up (kinda like Rhea's) blue Macho Man shirt. I put my black knee high boots on and look in the mirror fixing my hair.

"Yup. This is good."

_________________________________________

*almost time to do the promo*

I sit down at the table after grabbing a quick bite to eat. Grayson sits on my left side and Dakota sits on my right. We get prepare to do the promo. Bayley comes running into catering.

"Sorry I'm late! I was on the phone!"

She sits down next to Dakota and gets herself prepared. I feel a hand slowly slide onto my leg and grab my thigh. I look over at Grayson who has a small smirk on his face. I grab his hand and throw it off of me shaking my head. The camera man comes over looking at all of us.

"Are you all ready?"

"Yes!"

Bayley grabs the bottle and spins it. It lands on Grayson and Bayley smiles looking at him.

"Alright Grayson, Truth or Dare?"

"Hmmmm dare!"

"Oooooo alright. I dare you to..... give Y/N the sloppiest kiss on the cheek! If you chicken out, you have to drink some hot sauce!"

My eyes go wide looking at Bayley. She starts laughing at me. Grayson grabs my chin pulling me closer to him and smashes his lips into my cheek. I can feel the drool on my cheek. I make a disgust face as he lets go of my face smiling at the drool he left. I grab a napkin wiping my face while everyone else is laughing about it. The game continues on for a little while.

_________________________________________

Austin spins the bottle and it lands on me.

"Ooooo Y/N. Truth or Dare?"

"Let's go with a dare!"

Austin smirks and looks at me.

"Oh I have a good one for you."

"Let's hear it than Theory."

"I dare you to arm wrestle Bayley. If you win, you are off the hook."

"But if I lose?"

"Oh but if you lose, you have to be Grayson and my assistant/manager for a month."

"Oh you are so on Theory."

Me and Bayley get into position to arm wrestle. We grab each other hand and look at each other.

"Y/N are you ready?"

"Yes girl. Let's do this."

Me and Bayley start pushing against each other with everything we have. I start slowly pushing her hand down a little but she pushes it right back up. I can start to feel my arm slightly giving up but I fight through it. Bayley can tell my arm is starting to hurt and starts pushing harder. My arm gives and she slams my hand into the table. Everyone around me gasps and starts cheering for Bayley winning. I put my hand on my face shaking my head embarrassed at what just happened.

"Well Y/N, guess you are now Theory and Waller's personal assistant for a month! Good luck!"

Bayley and the rest of Damage CTRL laugh walking out of catering. The cameras cut off ending our game. I stand up and take a deep breath. Grayson stands up next to me and puts an arm around my shoulders.

"Hey Y/N. It will be okay. I promise."

I look at him with a disgust face and take his arm off my shoulders.

"Maybe for you, it might be."

I walk out of catering to my dressing room.

_________________________________________

*2 weeks later on Smackdown Live*

Sitting in my locker room cutting up a light blue Grayson Waller effect shirt, I turn on the TV to watch the beginning of Smackdown. Austin and Grayson have a match against The Brawling Brutes.

"Great."

I roll my eyes and put on the shirt making sure it fits how I like it. I hear a knock on my door and get up. I walk over, open the door and it's Adam.

"You are on in 15 mins Y/N. Go find the boys please."

"Oh okayyyy."

I roll my eyes. Adam looks down at my shirt.

"Nice shirt by the way."

He laughs and walks off. I huff, walk down to the boys dressing room and knock on the door.

"Who is it?!"

"It's Y/N!"

The door opens a little bit. I push it open and lean against the door frame.

"We are on in 15. Are you boys ready?"

Grayson looks up at me while trying to fix his boots and his jaw drops almost to the floor. He starts smacking Austin's arm who is trying to fix his shorts. Austin turns around and rolls his eyes.

"Y/N you are wearing the wrong shirt. You have to be wearing Austin Theory."

Austin laughs and I roll my eyes.

"No no no! She is definitely wearing the right shirt."

Grayson smirks and winks at me. I roll my eyes again.

"Are you guys ready or not?"

"Yes ma'am!"

They both come running over to me and we all go walking to gorilla.

_________________________________________

Grayson makes his entrance first. Austin puts his hand on my shoulder and I look up at him.

"I want you to come out with me and stand in the spotlight like the queen that you are."

My jaw drops and I freeze just staring at him. I never really heard him say anything like that before and didnt really have a clue that is how he felt. His music hits and it snaps me back to reality. We walk out together and get ready for the spotlight to come on. I am standing on his right side kinda leaning on him looking up at him and Grayson is over his left shoulder. The spotlight turns on, the camera comes around us and Austin puts his hands up to do his entrance. I look at the camera and smirk while Grayson says some stuff to Austin. Austin finishes his entrance, we all turn towards the ring and walk down. Austin proceeds to put an arm around my neck and pull me closer to him. I take his arm off and climb into the ring. We all walk over to the corner and pose for the camera. I do the A town down with my fingers while sticking my tongue out.

"Yes Y/N! That is perfect!"

Austin pats my shoulder than climbs down off the ropes. I climb down onto the floor. The bell rings and the match begins.

_________________________________________

*nearing the end of the match*

Ridge Holland has Austin tied up in the ropes and is going to do the 10 beats to the chest. I climb up next to Austin and try flirting with Ridge. I lick my lips than bite my bottom lip.

"Hey big boy."

Ridge lets go of Austin and walks over towards me. I put my hand on his face while Austin crawls into the ring. Austin quickly rolls him up for the winning pinfall.

"Here are your winners! Grayson Waller and Austin Theory!"

I jump down helping Grayson off the floor and walking over to Austin who rolled out of the ring. Austin also slings his arm around my neck. I try holding them both up walking up the ramp to the top. We stop, turn around and I hold up both of their arms in victory. We make our way to the back to their locker room.

_________________________________________

Sitting on the couch in the boys locker room playing on my phone, I hear the shower turn off. Grayson went to get us some food for the rest of the show.

"Hey Y/N? Did G come back yet?"

"No yet. Why?"

I hear the bathroom door open and I look up to see Austin in just a towel wrapped around his waist. I gulp at the sight infront of me. He walks over and grabs my hand making me stand up infront of him. I take a deep breath looking at him.

"Soooo you have been my manager for about 2 weeks now....."

He stops talking when Grayson walks in hands full of plates of food.

"Ummmm what is going on here?"

"Austin was talking about me being his manager for 2 weeks now."

"His manager?"

"I meant both of our manager G."

"Anyways Austin. What were you gonna say to me?"

I look at him straight in his eyes. He grabs my hand again and smiles.

"I was just wondering if you would be my manager..... forever?"

"Are you trying to ask me to be your girlfriend?"

"That's what I was gonna ask her!"

I look over at Grayson and he looks upset. I look back over at Austin.

"Well..... it is a yes to you Austin."

I grab his face and kiss him hard. He grabs my face and kisses back hard as well. Grayson gasps behind us. I pull back and look over at Grayson who is upset.

"Well.... it's also a yes for you Grayson."

I walk over, grab his face and kiss him hard. Grayson grabs my waist pulling me closer kissing me hard as well. I pull back and look at Austin than back at Grayson.

"As long as you two are okay with sharing me."

They both come over and kiss my cheeks at the same time. I giggle and push them back.

"I will take that as a yes!"

We all sit down on the couch and watch the rest of Smackdown while eating the food on the coffee table infront of us......

[rosielav]

Really struggling everyone. I don't have the mental energy to make another fun and exciting promo post.

I lost my bed in the hurricane last week. It soaked up all the water that came up through the floor. I can't afford a new bed, not even a super cheapo one, unless I skip out on bills this month.

I have drawing comms open always, pwyw, anything over $5 will get BOGO drawings, I usually do 3+ per $5 dono. (please check my art blog @rosie-lav-art for my art style, or DM me for more examples!)

It's been unbearably slow at my job for months, and last month was our worst month in 10 years. They can't afford to give me the hours I need. It's just not busy enough.

I also can do bigger stuff, and also digitize it, I just ask that your dono is a bit higher since a few hours of work will go into it.

I also have 2 ttrpg hacks of L+F (a d6 game with no math, very role play heavy, can be as silly or serious as you want), and I'm really proud of them. One is a Sci-fi mech adventure, where you and your mouse friends all pilot a mech and try to accomplish your customizable mission. The other (my favorite) is a collaborative cooking competition where you and your fellow Mouse Chefs work together to win! If you like Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Iron Chef, but wish everyone was a little nicer, I think you'll love this game.

I also have a third ttrpg coming out soon (I really just need a couple good nights of sleep so I can finish it), it's a triple module mystery game, with lots of opportunities for dark and twisted macabre tales (or silly fun lighthearted ones!). Please stay tuned for that one, I already have a temporary cover that an artist friend very generously made for me, so it's literally just the formatting and flavor text I need to get done, and that'll be as soon as im physically and mentally able to do it.

Thanks for reading, I hope you ha e a wonderful day, and don't forget to drink water. It really does help a lot.

[absolutebl]

Hi there! I've just returned from a two-week holiday (as I'm writing this I'm actually still driving back home, but I want to get on top of it lmao), so I would like to defer to your knowledge:

could you pretty please provide me with an update on what series ended/started while I was away? I have a vague idea, but I don't want to miss out on the things that didn't get as much promo and are therefore not on my mdl.

if you can, my watchlist will be forever thankful!!

July Report: BL that Stopped & Started & Is worth Your time

Ended July 2023

Step By Step

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.

This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

La Pluie

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.

However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Started July 2023 & Looking GOOD

Jun & Jun

Korea Thurs Viki 8 eps

THANK YOU BL GODS. It is so good. Like everything I want in the world. I’m incandescently happy with this show.

It’s office set,

it’s an ex idol,

everyone is pretty as peaches,

and it’s all about remembering somebody’s smell!

I could not be more delighted.

Laws of Attraction

Thai Sat iQIYI 8 eps

(Icky picked it up but they are serving it in a complicated way that may require a VPN.)

Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister).

Corrupt police.

Spoiled rich kid evil.

Ambitious politician.

Tragic death.

Terrible subs.*

This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story (there's a Devil Judge aura happening). It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you should watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT.

On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY.

Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back. 

(* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)

ALSO:

Stay By My Side - Taiwan Fri Gaga 10 eps

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden - Thailand Sun GMMTV YouTube 12 eps

Low Frequency - Thailand Sat iQIYI 8 eps

Started But You Can Probably Wait IMHO

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI)

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki)

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) it's mame so A trash watch is happening! 

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga)

Hope this is what you wanted.

[violetganache42]

Be sure to watch the season 2 premiere of Moon girl and Devil Dinosaur because the show is in danger of being cancelled

Yeah, everyone at the Disney Beat server and I saw a couple of nights ago, and we've all been so fucking ANGRY at Disney. 14 episodes getting dropped all at once on Disney+?! What the fuck were they thinking?!

(Rant under the cut.)

It's bad enough they release batches of episodes at once like what Netflix did with Sonic Prime, but they plan to drop around half a season there to where they're making the main channel do two episodes per week?! You seriously couldn't do weekly premieres on TV and have the new episodes get released the next day on streaming, like what HBO Max did with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures with Superman?! The fact they reveal this on the MGDD Crew TikTok and paint it as a good thing does not help either. "How could you not celebrate" HOW COULD YOU NOT REALIZE YOU'RE BEING SO FUCKING DENSE RIGHT NOW?! LOOK AT THIS SHIT!

You cannot make this up! Streaming as a whole has seriously fucked over entertainment. Netflix made the binge format the new norm, and it's not working anymore. If you thought shows getting shorter-lived hype through binging compared to a weekly release was an issue, the quantity is a-whole-nother problem. If it was 5 or 6 episodes getting added at a time, that would be less infuriating, but this is 14 half-hour episodes we're talking about! That's 308 minutes of straight-up binging Disney expects us to do! No one is gonna binge this many episodes in a timeframe like that! And keep in mind, this isn't an earlier season from a finished or ongoing show; this is a whole new season we're talking about. People who haven't watched MGADD yet or don't have Disney+ and/or cable are gonna get exposed to a fuck ton of spoilers. Not to mention Disney Channel is gonna have to spend 7 weeks catching up to Disney+ with the episodes they air on TV. That will do a serious number on the TV views! And don't get me started on the international releases because I was told MGADD has been delayed so much to where S2 of dubbing is done (hence the promos in Japan), but considering the company's crapass handling of international releases, people won't be able to watch it until a much later date. Oh, and there are also countries that don't have the show despite it being dubbed in their language. Right off the bat, that's international views down the drain and the strong possibility of people in the other countries being exposed to spoilers depending on what they come across and who they're following.

You know what the absolute kicker is? They had the fucking audacity to reveal this shortly after they treated The Ghost and Molly McGee like garbage. No joke! The very minimal reruns they gave it throughout its run, its cancellation as season 3 was being drafted, the shitty promotions, them releasing "Jinx vs. the Human World" on iTunes and "The End" on YouTube ahead of their TV and Disney+ releases. I am not kidding about the last part; because Disney didn't temporarily remove them, SpoilerTV reported both episodes received only 63K and 56K TV views! Now compare that to the 375K views "Watching and Dreaming" got; all three TOH specials weren't released on YouTube or Disney+ until after the DC/XD simulcast premiere! And this is the same show that got shortened by the now retired Gary Marsh! The upsetting part is Bill Motz is blaming himself for putting too much pressure on the fans for watching TGAMM and appointing ambassadors to help promote it. No, it's not your fault, Bill. It's the Disney executives and their shitty marketing strategy's fault your show got cancelled. You care about the show you and Bob Roth created, and you wanted it to do well. The higher ups didn't bother to continue promoting the show after it premiered, and that alone just forced you, the ambassadors, and the audience to do their job for them. They're the reason why it underperformed on D+ and DC. Now, it may potentially happen again with MGADD thanks to them!

Why did they pulling any of this shit was a good idea?! The show got ample marketing, from an advertisement outside the Days of Christmas store in Disney Springs and Moon Girl herself appearing in Disney California Adventure to merchandise such as a Moon Girl Funko, a couple of books, and even a graphic novel! It has received nominations and won awards, and the current lead executive Ayo Davis said season 1 performed well in ratings! Yet they turn around and pull all of this bullshit as season 2 approaches! Seriously, what is preventing you from doing next-day weekly releases and continuing your marketing, Disney?! All your other Marvel shows have gotten weekly releases and so much promoting, and regardless of the reception of each show, they all get high ratings! That even includes What If…?, the MCU's first animated show! Just because MGADD is adjacent/not entirely connected to the MCU and is a Disney TVA show doesn't give you the excuse to treat it like crap post-season 1!

I'm sorry for the ranting, but this multi-whammy has been so fucking frustrating. I have been a big fan of MGADD since the beginning, and like I previously said, it helped fill the DuckTales-shaped hole in my heart. I'm glad that it has such a strong start, and I want it to continue doing well, but the upcoming 14-episode release was such a fucking gut punch. The more the active Disney Beat server memebrs and I ranted and vented about it, the more furious we grew to where a few of us—myself included—were in tears; it is such a horrendous decision the Disney executives made! I'm at least glad the past week has gotten people to talk about how shows are getting treated nowadays thanks to streaming, and Disney Beat tweeting about the 14-episode bomb release announcement got deleted. Unfortunately, the higher ups most likely deleted it just to save face and won't reverse the decision in the end. Regardless, more people are catching onto the pitfalls with streaming and are noticing how shows no longer have the opportunities to build audiences over time. They are treated as nothing more as a means of gaining views and instant gratification rather than a medium made for one's enjoyment. With the Animation Guild's contract having been expired for around a few months, I hope one of their demands is to stop the shows' mistreatments and lack of sufficient marketing because streaming left a devastating and worsening impact on the entertainment and animation industries.

[konohamaru-sensei]

hello!! im so deprived of iketeru content right now, but i saw your post about the uramichi artbook and it revived me ! were there any other iketeru pages though? (your own favorites and/or in general?)

Hello wonderful anon, I hope you find this message again (i will certainly tag it in hopes you will!) Yes, there were obviously many of them, he is one of the main characters after all! And they were mostly very sweet!! I will put them under a read more because I literally could not chose only a few so I took a picture of almost all of them :D

Also I want to point out that in the promo video for this exact art book (and the new volume + drama cd) Miyano Mamoru even voiced some of them. From here. A lot of Iketeru-Oniisan under the cut:

disclaimer, my japanese is very so so and I use a lot of translator functions to read these so no guarantee these are all correct!!

topic: valentines day / white day

"Please don't make fun of me. ... I am serious."

"Thank you very much.　Thank you for loving me." topic: staying the night

" Don't you want to stay a little longer and talk?"

"... have you woken up?"

"let's keep yesterday a secret"

april fools:

"Of course I believed it. I would never doubt you."

confession scenario:

"I love you" (he somehow puts it in quotes.. maybe you said it first to him?)

summer:

"Do you like it? Summer?"

"Have I said something weird? It is because it's so hot... Sorry, forget it please"

sensei titled this section "good oni-san", so make of that as you will :D

(This is really hard to translate and I cant read it and my translator is all like?? so someone please correct me but something like) "I may not look like it, but I'm good at acting. Even so, do you still believe me" ??

"You want me to call you a "good child" don't you?" or "You want to be called a "good kid" by me, don't you?" (i love this one)

daily:

"Wow, that was kind of squishy... uh... I'm sorry" (what are you doing -//-)

halloween:

"Please look in my eyes. Stay here forever. Always look into my eyes."

from the bonus section:

"why? the light that was so dazzling is nowhere to be seen."

[ducktracy]

Have you had a chance to see "Daffy in Wackyland"?

CONGRATULATIONS! you are psychic in that this is a startlingly well timed ask i received a few days ago.

i have NOT, because there is currently no way to watch it. but. BUT! just yesterday this was tweeted out, alongside new promo images and a great interview about the making of the short. the short is evidently slated to hit the Ottawa International Animation Festival soon. here are the new promo pics that dropped:

also using this opportunity to address these asks that have been festering in my inbox (i am truly, genuinely sorry for the delay, @starkittydrops @awinger24!)

i’m REALLY hoping they do release it. i’ve kind of convinced myself they will, and that very well may be me being delusional? but i really find it hard to believe they’d hype it up so much without releasing it to the generic public. my hope is that it’ll get out to us once its completed the festival circuit, whether as an extra on HBO Max or maybe even a DVD of these shorts?? if that’s even possible?? i have no idea. i sadly know as much as everyone else, and that is: nothing

likewise, heading back to @awinger24’s ask—i’m again in the same boat with all of you in that i’m just a fan too and don’t really have any authority or knowabouts of like “OKAY GUYS! we just gotta do A B and C to get our precious cartoon! YEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”. i do know that crew members were tweeting out about how vocalizing support and demand for these cartoons would be helpful. i’m of course a few months late to this, but i think the point still stands

regardless, i’m choosing to stay optimistic in that at the very least Daffy in Wackyland will come out. i think i partially have convinced myself that it’ll come out just because i have such a carnal raging desire to see this short and live it and love it that i can’t imagine a reality where it doesn’t come to fruition. that sounds incredibly selfish and it probably is! but in a more serious sense, i do think it’d be a catastrophically mean trick of them to dangle this carrot in front of our noses through interviews and publicity stills and us just. never getting to see it at all. i feel like something has to come out of this. but my speculation is as good as anyone’s, and it’s purely that: speculation.

[leonsliga]

I know I'm spamming with this. But I just can't be anything but heartbroken.

https://twitter.com/iMiaSanMia/status/1767184731739697196?t=CO3GdBoIlDoNywEz-kPLVw&s=19

He said this just a day before being kicked out.

He had done the ads for their kits. And all the promo stuff.

Completely blindsided. How strong can a person be honestly? He had to get over being the scapegoat for tuchel, for twitter hate, for bayern bad run, for flick and now nagelsmann? He was prepared and probably had his bag packed for the break. How could they do this to him?

I mean what more can he do. If playing so well (I think we disagree here, I feel he has had a very stable solid season with not a lot of bad matches) can't get him in over a boy (whom I'm happy for I guess or I will be once this wave of sadness tides over) who has had like 2 months of experience, then what in the gd world will?

What's he gonna play for. If nagelsmann is saying leon was furious hearing this... I hope he didn't tell him he couldn't play. Why is the football world so unfair to him really ?

Do you think he'll make it to the Euros Bri? Honestly?

I hope he does.

Feeling so resentful towards the NT team.

It’s ok to spam me! I don’t mind 💜 I’ve been absolutely heartbroken too, so it’s comforting to know I’m not alone in that hurt.

I saw his interview response too, and knowing he said it just before the news broke is devastating.

He’s only ever wanted one thing: to help the team, and I think that’s what hurts so much. How could he not feel inadequate after hearing that Nagelsmann didn’t want him—after learning that his hard work to get back to his best wasn’t enough?

He’s been through so much this season (and last season too). Like you said, he spent most of it as Tuchel’s scapegoat. And as if he hadn’t been punished enough, he’s also had to face the wrath of disgruntled fans and his fellow countrymen:

You’re right; he probably had his bag all packed and ready to go, only to get a serious case of whiplash not long afterward, when he learned he wouldn’t be leaving.

We can agree to disagree here :) I think my critique is that while he’s put up decent performances in most matches, Bayern expects the exceptional. So when I say he’s had some rough patches, it’s because I know he can be even better. He’s shown us that before (Bayern’s treble-winning season being the chief example), and he’s shown us that again against Mainz. And like you’ve pointed out in the past, Leon’s far from Bayern’s biggest problem anyhow 🤷‍♀️

This round of call-ups was bittersweet for me too. I’m super proud of Aleks, but I’m also devastated for Leon, even if it is just a few matches. It’s a lot to process.

I know Nagelsmann mentioned it “wasn’t a pleasant conversation” with Leon, but he can’t really blame him for that. How would he feel if he was in Leon’s place—if he was denied the opportunity to represent his country?

My opinion on whether or not he’ll play for the Euros? I think it depends on his performances in Bayern’s upcoming matches. His fate is in his hands. If he keeps up his string of good performances, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be called up. Maybe it’s the delusion talking, but that’s my opinion. I still believe Nagelsmann left Leon off the NT as a test of sorts—as a means to see how he can deliver under pressure.

At the very least, much like you, I hope he’ll be there for the Euros too. We’ll have to see what to develops, as much as I hate to say it 😵

[sgiandubh]

Anon rebelde

La última promoción de Sam para Audi ha dado un paso más en su colaboración, ya no se limita a una foto con el nuevo coche del año sino que ejerce de embajador más que nunca. Esos eventos más elitistas, como su estancia en Austria y ahora en Alemania, indica un paso más en su compromiso como imagen de la marca lo que es bueno para su exposición pública más centrada en el actor y empresario serio, lejos de polémicas y rubias. Podríamos hablar de una nueva imagen ?

Dear (and always faithfully returning) Anon Rebelde,

Extrañaba tus ingeniosas réplicas y casi me maldecía por no publicar tu último envío. Entonces puedes imaginar mi alegría. De todos modos, primero la traducción:

'Sam's last promo on behalf of Audi is a step forward in their collaboration, since it's not just a pic with the new car of the year, but acting, more than ever, like a real brand ambassador. These elite events, along with his presence in Austria and Germany are indicative of a progress in his commitment as the image of the brand. This is good for a public exposure more focused on the actor and serious businessman, far from controversies and blondes. Could we see it as a new image?'

You know, OL will soon-ish be over, so I think he needs all the opportunities and projects he can get, in order to negotiate the Next Step. By no means an easy one, as the last ten years were rich, dense, dramatic and oh, life changing in so many ways. He said it himself, more than once, it will be difficult and well... new, for the former struggling actor he is. And I have to say I am so damn glad to see him working and patiently building both a financial safety net and a more elevated public profile. I am also glad to see booze promo only on his socials, for the moment: this is a good choice.

Now, if he only understood he needs to keep those ring-a-dings out of sight, as they seem to have (briefly) served their conversation fuel purpose in this very blasé fandom, I (along with many) would probably be over the moon. They simply don't fit with the effort to be seen as a more mature and serious actor -cum - entrepreneur. I will write it in deserto until it happens, just because this is my page and I can do whatever I want with it.

My surest barometer something is slowly changing on this front is always positioned across the street. Judging by the ever mounting level of bile and spit being fruitlessly spent there every time something like this happens, I believe we can be prudently happy for S, indeed.

So a big kudos to Savvy S, but without those rings and perhaps with a bit more outfit variety. That Gattaca look is so aseptic, I had trouble seeing the man we all know and are fond of.

Thank you for being back and thank you for being you, Anon Rebelde! And yes, McFitness is certainly trolling us big time: Vienna, my arse.

[asoulwithadream]

ANALysis and THEORIES- OFMD EDITION #1

Objective: PROMO GIFS

Time to analyse these bad boys, because I think I may have figured out what they are. They're lines from the show. Each individual little subtext to the official gifs are something which someone will say in the new season, and I'm determined to find out what, when, where and who (I determine that 3/4 would equal success).

I) "I've never seen Blackbeard like this."

This is the same shot from the trailer, possibly either before or after the infamous "Fuck you, Stede Bonnet." However, there may be a Clue in the second shot which may be able to somehow place this on a timeline (not by myself—this has drained my powers). I can't really tell, because of the low quality and high contrasting shadows, whether or not the side of the Stede topper has been smudged with Ed's make-up yet.

It was clear in the teaser when Ed played with the toppers that he'd caressed fake-Stede against his cheek as if he were some rather exquisite cashmere because of the smudges, but we couldn't tell during the teaser if this has already happened by this point because of the angle of the toy. But if anyone manages to get a better picture or spots something I missed that may contradict or strengthen this little thought, do let me know.

I'm pretty sure though that the person who says "I've never seen Blackbeard like this," is someone who has seen Blackbeard enough to know how he was. Someone that perhaps served by his side? So I think that the speaker in this context may be Izzy. There are two options of who he's saying this too: either Stede, once they team up, or to the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge, this being the old Revenge crew (Frenchie, Jim, and we count Fang). Maybe even Lucius in the walls.

II) "I should have just told him how I feel."

I just want to take a moment just to appreciate the fact how much this gif resonated with me personally. This was the entire basis of all stages of grief I went through after the season finale, the bottomline of all my thoughts: "why couldn't he have just told him how he felt?". Brilliant delivery and shot planning from the designers of OFMD.

Anyways, let's get on with it. This gif is similar to the first one, in it having the potential of being also shot before or after the Vanity Fair picture with the crew (minus Swede) standing under the bridge(?) in the rain. I do think it's before the scene where Stede takes Blackbeard's poster and very confidently elaborates on Ed's goodness. He has his red cravat on, and is looking so pathetic in the rain looking at a wanted poster of his ex-boyfriend, that the scene is loveably laughable in it's entirety.

It's a bit obvious as to who is the speaker for this line: our very own Stede Bonnet. He's regretting on his actions back at the sailor academy, where he chose to keep quiet about his own opinions on Ed's willingness to leave to China, fast, because of his own deep-rooted issues with speaking up about what he thinks about serious, possibly life-chaning topics. Or maybe he's thinking of why he didn't tell anyone, especially not Ed, about the happiness he felt around him, how great he felt in his company, and how much love he felt for the man.

I can imagine this pretty early on in the season (as we know they reconcile or at least get a long decently early, from the leaked promo), and for some reason I have a picture of Stede laying slumped down on some form of furniture, ragdoll-style, whining about this to someone he knows: either Oluwande (probably the most probably option) or, hear me out, Spanish Jackie. I think she's going to become better friends with the Genital Pirate this season, and be a prevelant character to the narrative.

III) "Feel's like a storm's coming."

This happens during the rapid, quick scenes which we were just able to catch from the teaser. Where Jim is half submerged in water trying their best to reach for someone which I may think might be Ed, and Frenchie working the capstan for whatever purposes needed to hoist something heavy in a storm (don't look at me, I don't sail 18th-century ships). But look, Edward has his cravat on, the cravat given to him by Stede. Why he's kept this eludes me, since this should in theory be before their reconciliation, but we all know that Ed still loves Stede, and perhaps this is his way to hang onto him close to his heart while still matching his new aesthetic.

I would like to think that Ed is the one saying this. After all, he is an expert navigator and weatherman, proving his skills during his first appearances in the previous season. (However, I don't particularly trust his date-keeping skills. He messed up the first one, and then let his other date be held at gunpoint and scared into leaving. Tut tut tut) Another reason as to why I think this is because there is no pronoun indicating that he actively feels the storm, but more passed as a backhanded quip just thrown onto the crew and/or Izzy to alert them.

This could also be interpreted as a metaphor: symbolism for something, foreshadowing to the main plot or villain of the series, which will most likely result in some form of cliffhanger at the end, I tell you that.

I wonder if they're going to have another cloud scene though, talking about how they might show signs of storm. However, instead of shape I'd assume that they'd be commenting on a rather large-scale, dark rain-cloud, and connecting it to perhaps winds stronger than usual.

I also saw someone saying that it was possible that Edward, when he falls off the ship, looses the cravat amongst the waves, and that is why he doesn't have it to what I'd assume is after this scene.

IV) I love a good pirate's tale We can see from this scene that Stede is currently fighting on the beach in the same outfit which he had during the teaser, and if one looks closely you can see that he's excellently accessorised with a beautiful looped earring. However, what we've also learn is that the shot where Ed washes up on the beach is probably in the same scene as this, and by the look on Stede's face (probably augmented by the surrounding chaos) this may be the first time that he's seen Ed in a long time.

I think, as I've said before in previous posts, that Ed has been thrown off the ship in the storm mentioned above. He's been thrown off, and has happened to wash up on this same beach where Stede is fighting, which we know to be possible because of the automatic gaydar in OFMD. (What would be funny though is that he spotted Stede off the shore and decided to make his entrance super dramatic and kraken-like, but ends up just swallowing a shit ton of sea-water and gets his leather ruined, which is why he gets new clothes.)

Why he's fighting? I don't know. But I'm still sure that it's Ocracoke that they're on, because I'm convinced that it'll make an appearance this season—it has too, or else I will send in a formal complaint with our dearest Mr Jenkins.

Now, back to the main bit. The text. Who is it that says "I love a good pirate's tale?" I think that it's either said genuinely, but by someone like Stede, eager to hear about the adventures of experienced and famous seafaring pirates, OR flirtatiously, to insinuate something directed as a romantic quip to get Stede or someone else (a pirate) to talk more about himself. By who, I can't be sure, but I have a list of possible speakers:

Edward Teach

Spanish Jackie

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny's campy friend

Lucius Spriggs

Stede Bonnet

If there's anything I've missed that you want me to add/change, which I find suitable, do tell.

I'm not sick at all. I'm a normal functioning member of society. I have a life.

[celleryeller]

Game design thoughts- Superliminal

I’ve decided, for shits and giggles and bettering my analysis skills, that I’ll write and post some thought about the game design of games I’m playing for the first time. Not a rating or anything, just a sort of what I learned from it

I just finished Superliminal on the Xbox. Only took around 2 hours for a solid first playthrough. Made in Unity, released 2019.

The main mechanics were around perspective. Unfortunately, this playthrough wasn’t completely blind, because there was a gif set or promo trailer floating around Tumblr a couple years ago, and it showed the mechanics before I got a chance to figure them out myself. But, the premise is picking up objects, and their size depends on the actual perspective when you drop it.

I think those mechanics are pretty fucking cool. I would love to see how the idea was originally prototyped. Or how they came up with the idea. Honestly tomorrow morning I might look into if the creators have done any interviews or anything.

The tutorial was pretty sick though. Instead of ui elements floating and telling you what to do, everything was written on objects in the game. My favorite was “press a to jump” being on a wet floor sign.

Narratively, it did make me ponder about brute forcing puzzles, and trying the same thing over and over. There was one puzzle I was stuck on near the end that I only decided to change perspectives on after I noticed the classic game trick of teleporting the player to create a feeling of infinite looping. While I didn’t walk away fundamentally changed, I did gain a new perspective on how I do puzzles.

The juice was pretty good, too. It got me giddy to pull every fire alarm and use up every fire extinguisher just because the option was there. There might also be achievements for doing that each level? Idk. Superliminal also had some good (although a little too loud) controller shake when an object was made huge and dropped on the ground. There was text I couldn’t read on papers that I wanted to read. The loading screens were great too, and while the bar animations weren’t accurate, the variation and weirdness for each one made up for it.

The limitations, unfortunately, were a touch obvious. The edges of light could shine through objects in a way that initiated something was up. Too many objects bumping around (which didn’t happen often) made a god awful sound. Screen hiccups happened a lot. Honestly, all of it was bearable, but the first one in particular just made me think about how light does that and it pisses me off as a developer that I can’t control it.

Other thoughts:

The walking around and setting felt very reminiscent of The Stanley Parable, especially in the repeated opening segments.

Music cutoffs were well placed and heavily affected the tone.

Late game played heavily with dream with dream sensation, and so perfectly emulated the dream feeling of looking at everything right side up while it feels like you’re laying down.

Played with the medium. I mentioned earlier that it used teleportation for infinite hallway tricks, but at some point it just started teleporting you for the purpose of being jarring.

On a similar note, it loved to play with the first person camera. It knew that you couldn’t look behind you, so it had complete free range to silently change whatever you weren’t looking at. Then when everything was breaking down, it started fucking with you and changing things as you looked at them, so you only saw the change once you moved

There was one level intended to be eerie, and it did that so well it made me google “is Superliminal scary.” The answer is no. I’m just a bit of a paranoid fraidy cat. It ended with a joke so good I instantly forgave it for making me scared.

The humor was also pretty good. It’s a good reminder that games can bet serious AND a little bit silly with it.

The piano music was superb

The options menu was simple and bland. It didn’t need to be anything else. Everything it had could simple fall under “gameplay” or “audio” settings.

Conformed to the wonderful idea that text to speech voices are evil. Fuck tik tok.

Overall, it was a sick game! I might do a couple more replays tomorrow. Or I’ll move to something else.

[lovelandfrogman]

just saw that you saw the neptune theater production of ragad???? how was it!?!

YESSSSS it was so good!!!! sorry for the late reply, i just wanted to write out something detailed for this but didn't have the time!

id been planning to go for a while and i'm so glad it worked out! it definitely lived up to my hype, it was amazing!! ill give some very un-expert and very rambly impressions i had, but PLS let me know if you have specific questions about any details or scenes or choices :D

also i apologize im not a True fan of these 2 actors and i dont remember their names so ill just call them by their characters DHSJD

first off heres the set and playbill!!

i was kinda surprised because all the promo pictures seemed to show them wearing modern suits so i thought it was gonna be a modern setting, but it was just colorful old timey clothes! (sorry im not very knowledgeable on costumes, my main impression was just "oooo fun clothes")

oh one costume note is that one of them was wearing a green suit with a blue waistcoat, and the other was wearing a blue suit with a green waistcoat!

another unique thing about the production is it was split into 3 acts, like the script does, but most productions just do 2 acts!

i really enjoyed watching this, both ros+guil were super funny and the audience was laughing the whole time, even near the end like when guildenstern's breaking down, which i honestly enjoyed-- even when it's horribly tragic, it's STILL kiiinda funny. also i liked guildenstern's accent

in my opinion the acting was great all around, i kinda enjoyed the hamlet scenes and how they were acted seriously, since i'm always conflicted on if r&gad should make the hamlet parts serious or not! also guildenstern and rosencrantz's serious and emotional bits hit me so harddd (as in both of their monologues about death i guess)

there was a lot more use of obvious lighting and sound design than i feel like is typical for r&gad? but i enjoyed it!! i'll talk a bit more about that laterrrr

they also had some singing from the tragedians, once in their first entrance, and once replacing the ship noises at the beginning of act 3, which was very fun

one big difference was after the final scene w horatio, they blackout and go back to the initial positions and do a single "heads!" which was GREAT, i don't think i've seen anything else make the time loop that explicit??

ok and now just some rambling about interpretations

so part of me before the play started was like "i've watched/read/listened to this play SO many times, i hope it's not just boring and same-y and i don't realize anything new."

AND THEN. near the end of the first scene where ros+guil come across the tragedians. i was like HOLY SHIT and realized an interpretation that i've never thought of before.

(this might be a Super obvious interpretation and i'm just slow but whatever.) it occured to me that the moment that the tragedians are about to put on a play for ros+guil and the scene suddenly shifts to hamlet, it could be interpreted that the rest of the play is just the tragedians putting on one of the classics for ros+guil, and them getting "caught up in the action".

of course this doesn't make sense with Everything in the play, but it's SO fascinating to me and it recontextualizes a lot of stuff, like making it so that ros+guil are just fucking around backstage and onstage trying to figure out their roles the whole time in this play that's suddenly started around them.

also there's a couple choices that i think support this interpretation, like tending to switch to a warm stage-y lighting whenever scenes from hamlet are going on, and switching back to a cool neutral whenever ros+guil are "offstage".

plus, i think this happened a couple times but notably when hamlet is doing his "to be or not to be" speech and rosencrantz is trying to figure out how to interrupt him, there's this super interesting lighting effect where they have a spotlight on the BACK of the stage where hamlet is, and these lights near the bottom of the stage that give the impression of stage lights, making it look like the stage is reversed and hamlet's on the side facing the audience while ros+guil are upstage. IDK if that makes sense but i was like HOLY SHIT when i realized.

PLUS, im fairly sure all the actors playing roles in hamlet are all also tragedians, AND between each act, they had the tragedians doing stuff like moving the set, sweeping, etc, on stage, which was very fun..

ANYYYWAYY those are my thoughts :D not gonna tag this bc im embarrassedddd but feel free to rb and feel free to ask questions

[hannahwatcheshorror]

READY OR NOT (2019)

💁‍♀️Strong Female Lead

A+ acting to all involved and our leading lady is a knockout. Aesthetically pleasing to look at, if not confusing at times but fun. (This film gives strong YOU’RE NEXT vibes.) Worth a watch and, dare I say, a rewatch down the line. Is the twist a little questionable? Yes, but so are rich people in general so I’m going to let it slide because, again, this movie was fun and continued to have something to say right up until the very end. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The two main things I wasn’t prepared for in this film were the Satan worship and the fact that the bandolier of bullets was fake and didn’t actually help our lead at any point during the film (which is wild to me because it made such good promo photos), but I digress. We start out with the wedding, it is picturesque and something most people would die for (ha). Our happy bride, Grace, is missing some details that her new hubby, Alex, left out about his mega-rich family, like how they made a deal with the devil and now have to play killing games (sometimes? Sometimes it is just a card game, I guess). Grace obviously doesn’t take this well (hysterical women, am I right, fellas?) and is very mad at Alex! But there is no time for that because the game is afoot!

Grace realizes this is very real and very serious when one of the family members accidentally kills a maid (the cleaning staff are expendable, obviously) and Alex admits the crazy truth. There is a sort of tender moment when he says that he would have lost her if he didn’t agree to marry her and play the game and he is right which is crazy but also THIS IS CRAZY. I don’t fully understand why there is no way for the bride to win though, with the other games the new spouse can win or lose but Hide and Seek = Death no matter what? Who made that hard and fast rule (the devil, I guess, but work with me). Alex and Grace have to separate (because that will save her?) and Grace gets a gun and the bullet bandolier (sigh).

The bullets in the bandolier are fake and Grace is in trouble again almost immediately but luckily no one knows how to use the weapons they have (they were given out largely at random) so Grace is able to gracelessly slip by and Alex’s brother, Daniel, helps Grace out but only a little (he is only a little bit of a nice guy) and at this point all the maids have been killed by the family or the house. Outside now, Grace has a new chance to escape, and one of the kids fucking SHOOTS HER in the hand. WACK. She pops him good in the face and he’s down for the count, speaking of, Grace falls down into the body pit and just barely makes it out. (This scene has Resident Evil 7 all over it).

The butler tracks her down and she fights him for the car but drives away without killing him and all I could think was, “run him over.” “Hobble him.” Says Annie Wilkes from MISERY, but there is no way in hell I would have let that man follow me, I would have ran over his legs with that damn car. But that wasn’t in the script, so she had to get got by him again, get saved by brother Daniel, he then sacrifices himself, Grace bludgeons the mom to death, and then the OTHER twist! Alex turns on GRACE. Alex realizes that Grace doesn’t or won’t love him anymore so he grabs her and offers her up to his satanic family which is CRAZY. Grace has started to let out this ululating scream at this point from her voice being strained but also the sheer horror of the last person on earth she trusted betraying her and I FELT IT in my gut. 

This primal screaming is kept up until nearly the end of the film, it comes from her chest and resonates in her throat. It has to hurt and it reminds me of the raw emotion from MIDSOMMAR. Finally the sun rises and all the evil family implode since they failed to give the sacrifice to big daddy Satan and Grace can’t help but smile.

She walks out of the burning building and smokes a cigarette.

Cut to black, end of movie.