#this was a tough one for sean

[pixpalette]

the demons are telling me to get lone wolf, bc ive only ever watched in on youtube never played it through. oh no. should i listen

everytime i replay life is strange 2 I just get the blood brothers ending again (best ending)

[starkwlkr]

mum said no | lewis hamilton

an: i love hot ones <3 that’s all

After canceling many times, Lewis finally made his appearance on Hot Ones with Sean Evans. He was a big fan of the show so he was happy to finally get to be a guest. Not only was he a big fan, but so was his eleven year old daughter, Maeve, so naturally she accompanied him to the set.

Maeve Hamilton watched as her dad ate spicy wings and answered questions. When talking about Roscoe, Maeve payed close attention. She loved talking about Roscoe so much.

On the monitor, a picture of Roscoe and Maeve appeared. Maeve was wearing a black Lewis shirt that her mum had bought from an Etsy store while Roscoe licked her face. It was the British Grand Prix and Maeve, along with her sisters, was beyond excited.

“Look, Mavy, that’s you and Roscoe!” Lewis pointed to the screen. “That was taken last year. Do you remember?” Lewis asked his daughter.

Maeve looked at the picture and nodded. “Angela took it!”

“Is your family always at the races?” Sean asked.

“Most of the time during the summer, yeah. It’s always a great time when they’re in the garage, but when it’s school time, they stay home with their mum.” Lewis explained. “They don’t like that at all. But I always tell them education comes first.”

“But I get lots of good grades.” Maeve cut in.

“What’s your favorite subject?” Sean asked the girl.

“I like science.” Replied Maeve.

As the show went on, Maeve was seated next to the camera crew, laughing at her father. He was now taking bigger bites.

“You can do it!” Maeve cheered on.

“Thank you, baby. Love you.” Lewis chuckled and blew a kiss to the girl. “I can always count on my girls to cheer me on.”

“On the topic of family, is it possible that Formula One could get another Hamilton on the track? Or do they want to go into other careers?” Sean asked.

“At one point, they did say they wanted to, but now they’re discovering more careers that they’re interested in. I will support them in whatever choice they make.”

You and Lewis both knew that your daughters would never be Formula one drivers. You both talked about how hard it would be on them. He saw how fans were tough on Mick. He didn’t want his girls to go through that.

The wings got spicier and all Maeve could do was laugh at the faces Lewis was making. He drank milk but that barely helped. Tears were starting to come out his eyes. Maeve noticed and quickly went to her father’s side and used a clean napkin to clean the tears since she didn’t want him using his own hands that were covered in sauce.

“Thank you, baby.” Lewis said as Maeve cleaned up the tears.

“What kind of reaction do you get when somone pulls up alongside of you and then sees that it’s, you know, Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel next to them?” Sean questioned.

“Most people are just like ‘Holy Shit!’ um. . .” Lewis chuckled.

“They’re not revving their engine at you or anything?”

“I’ve had people, yeah traffic light that wanna race yeah.” He nodded. “Definitely when I was young, I felt like yeah. . . smoke this fool.” He laughed.

“This man wanted to race you yesterday!” Maeve spoke up. “Mum said no.”

“I got kids now!” Lewis laughed once again. “I got precious cargo, I can’t be fooling around.”

“And mum said no.” Maeve whispered to him.

“Yup, and mum said no.”

[heavenlymorals]

Details I've noticed about Arthur Morgan Part 2 cuz you guys seem to be devouring the first one 👍🏼 :

- Him and Dutch share the same sense of humor- dry, sarcastic, and usually at another's expense.

- However, both Arthur and Dutch get really annoyed whenever they direct that same humor to eachother.

-When Dutch and Arthur quick draw, they both turn their bodies to make them a smaller target. They are the only ones in the gang that do this in idle animation.

- Arthur's journal is filled with many half done, not fully rendered drawings. Some pages have one small drawing on them and are then skipped over. Other drawings are just shapes and strokes that represent the schema of an animal or person. It's very realistic to an actual sketchbook and not the Pinterest dream sketchbook.

- Arthur, prior to Hosea's death and Micah overturning his position as Dutch's right hand man, is always there whenever a big decision is being there and is asked for feedback too. Arthur isn't just a member of the VDL gang, he's a leader of it too and people seem to forget that.

- Arthur is very emotionally tough and when I mean very, I mean VERY. He doesn't cry when Sean dies, someone he considered like a little brother. He doesn't cry when Lenny dies, someone he probably saw as a son. He doesn't cry when Hosea dies, someone he saw as a father figure. Of course, they were all in high stress situations that could've stopped an emotional reaction, but even later when he can process things, he doesn't cry.

- There is one time in the game where we see Arthur tear up from emotional pain and that is when he speaks to the nun about his life and what he could've had. Still though, he doesn't cry. It says a lot about him.

- In the final journal entry, though, we see a splotch next to the entry on the empty left page that looks like a tear drop. Take that as you will.

- Arthur's hand writing becomes much more spaced out, messy, and words will be scribbled out more often the sicker he gets. Shakey hands.

- He's very witty and quick with insults, like fascinatingly quick.

- He is pretty intelligent but does allow others to dumb him down like Hosea- as the gang's strongman, this could be so the people they work with would put more emphasis on Arthur's strength so he can be more intimidating.

- The picture that Jack gives Arthur has the male figure wearing a black gambler hat like Arthur and John didn't wear a hat in chapter two. Jack probably saw Arthur as his father figure during that point, not John.

- Does want Jack to learn responsibility ("About time you started to earn your keep" "You got to stick at things, Jack") , but he's very kind, patient, and reasonable considering how young the kid was.

- He doesn't let women carry their luggage if he can do it for them (Mary, the nun)

- He's casually mean or teasing to the younger men and generally polite to the women but he will go off on them in the same way if they anger him enough.

- I wish he was a real person

- I'd like to drink a beer with him

- For I love him ❤️

[aesopsharpmybeloved]

I got this little idea last night, and been thinking about it ever since. Even tough outlaws need to have some innocent fun sometimes!

---

Hide & Seek with the Van Der Linde Gang

Arthur: Okay hider, much better seeker. His tracking skills are formidable, and he'd have no problem finding most players. Only problem is that his steps are quite loud and very recognisable, announcing his presence and giving the players a chance to get away. Is always somehow able to get out of Charles’ grip and flee, screaming “I am free!”

Charles: Being an incredible hunter, he's an excellent hider and seeker. He's, unlike Arthur, completely quiet, and is perfectly able to sneak up on people. However, he takes it way too seriously - when he's the one hiding, he even covers all the tracks after himself. When he's seeking, he hogties the players upon finding them, and brings them into a pile.

John and Javier: They originally made a deal to hide together, and serve as double lookouts. At first they're confident, but then Arthur gets too close and looks in their general direction, and John panics, and with a “Every man for himself!” pushes Javier out of their hiding spot towards Arthur, and LEGS IT.

Sean: His hiding spots are questionable at best, but he makes them work… For a short while, anyway. He's super strung up as soon as he sees the seeker, even if they're nowhere near him, and decides to try and bolt, giving himself away in a shock of red hair. 

Bill: Poor guy gets always found first. He's just too big to fit properly in most hiding spots, and he has a habit of grumbling about his discomfort at being stuck somewhere tight, so he gives himself away a few minutes into the game.

Kieran: Is also super easy to find, because he fidgets, making small noises, and gasps when a seeker gets too close. Honestly though, he's not too sad about having been found, he's just happy to be included.

Tilly and Trelawny: They are masters at hiding, and incredibly hard to spot. Tilly is able to fit and hide into places the seeker wouldn't even think to look, while Trelawny is the master of disappearing. The seeker always feels that they saw him out of the corner of their eye, but when they turn around, poof, he's just gone.

Mary-Beth: She gives herself away by giggling uncontrollably when someone gets too close, which is a shame, because she genuinely has good hiding spots.

Karen: The girl is an absolute menace, using her environment to her aid, tossing small objects around to create a sound distraction, and only lets herself be found when she decides she's thirsty and wants a drink.

Lenny: Constantly changes his hiding spots, and is quite formidable with it too. He never stays more than a few minutes in one spot, in case the seeker decided to check out wherever he is currently.

Reverend Swanson: He's not found until noon of the second day. He stumbled into some bushes, and passed out cold. The next day, Bill almost shot him, because he thought the shaking bush concealed a rabbit or something.

Sadie: Is not much of a hider. That is, she can hide really well, but finds it boring. However she is a terrifying seeker, even more so than Charles. She's fast, and she's quiet, and her “Found ya!” while revealing the hider, is just a total jump scare.

Abigail: Plays for a little bit, then lets herself be found, just so she can go relax. She's been working the whole day, let her live for heaven's sake.

Jack: Everyone 'ignores' him. Like, yes, they can hear the little kid laughing as he's only partially concealed by the door, but they pretend they don't, so that he can have fun. He ends up revealing himself when he gets bored, usually getting a “Woah! I didn't even see you!” reaction in return.

Uncle and Pearson: Decided to leave this activity to the younger folk, Uncle's lumbago is acting up, and there's no way Pearson's large muscular frame (his own words) would fit anywhere. They're playing cards outside, Uncle probably spinning some wild tale about how he once managed to hide in a rich Lady's closet all evening long, before being discovered by a maid, who however didn't give him away because he seduced her.

Molly: She doesn't really think the game is below her or anything, but she's got this new pretty dress, and she just had a bath and brushed her hair and trimmed her nails, and really, that's no way to be crawling and climbing around, trying to hide. 

Susan: Shaking her head, and hoping nobody maims themselves when they're running around. "Goddamn children, the lot of you..." She reads a good book instead. But don't go to her for hints, as she will give you a mean look and call you out for trying to cheat.

Strauss: He also doesn't join in, he's got numbers to count and books to keep, and, really, this is just silly. However, he's something of a tattler, and when the seeker walks by, he casually mentions having heard a sound from somewhere some time ago.

Micah: Bitterly sitting by himself by the campfire, mocking everyone for playing a children's game under his breath. Honestly though, he wasn't invited to join in the first place, anyway.

Hosea and Dutch: Sitting together, passing a bottle of whisky between them, just sort of watching and chucklin at the antics of their kids.

[lesbian-for-arthur-morgan]

Request : first time holding hands

I’d love to see their reactions 😭

First Time Holding Hands

Short Headcanons || Gender Neutral Language!

Genre: Fluff Featuring: Arthur Morgan, John Marston, Dutch Van Der Linde, Javier Escuella, Charles Smith, Sean MacGuire, and Sadie Adler Warnings: None

AN: A shorter post today! Thank you so much for requesting these were so fun to write I literally love doing cute little moments with these characters ~ I hope I answered the way you meant !! lol I feel like I got a little off track in some ---> Requests are open! Check out guidelines if you have any questions :)

<><><><>

Arthur Morgan:

This man is a nervous wreck around you. Especially when you first start showing feelings for each other.

It took a million years for him to even admit that he was a little sweet on you, he is definitely not initiating anything past that point.

He can barely believe that you like him back.

The first time you grab his hand is not during anything special.

You’re sitting in the front of a wagon with him while on the way into town. The sun is casting a golden sheen across the earth, the air is warm but not hot, and the birds are swooping and playing in the sky overhead.

Without much thought you reach down to where he’s resting his arm on his thigh and envelope his hand with your own.

He tenses up at the contact, scared to make any sudden moves in case he might scare you away.

He doesn’t look at you directly, instead just glancing at you from the side of his eye. He wonders if you meant to do that or if you just did it by accident.

How your hand would end up on his on his thigh he doesn’t know.

When your thumb starts stroking the skin around his knuckle, tough and calloused from a few too many brawls, he starts to melt and relax a little bit.

He flips his hand around, which makes you pull away slightly, and fits his fingers in between yours. That way he’s holding your hand back and it’s a mutual.

There’s a blush on his cheeks and a grin on his lips. Not a word is spoken, but Arthur relishes the comfortable silence as he tries to think of what on earth he could have done to deserve something so perfect - to deserve you.

John Marston:

John is not a touchy-feely kind of guy. Not at first anyways. He doesn’t get what you see in him. He doesn’t understand why of all the men in the world - Hell, all the men in camp - you chose to waste your time with him.

He’s angsty like that.

He knows of your feelings for him and he gave a strong inclination that he might like you back but never confessed anything really. He figured you understood him enough to know.

You did, but he’s hard to read sometimes.

The first time you hold hands, he actually initiates it. You try not to overstep any boundaries with him, so he always has to make the first moves.

While playing a few practice rounds of poker (John is trying to teach you to play/play better), jokes are being thrown back and forth and rocks are being used as chips for show.

When John’s focus is pulled to the cards in his hands, you take the opportunity to try and grab a few rocks from his pile to add to your own as a little joke.

John catches you and places his large hand on top of your own making you freeze. A smug grin is plastered on his face and he doesn’t even look at you before placing his cards down, showing off a winning hand.

“Read ‘em and weep, Darlin’,” He laughs but never removes his hand from yours.

A small blush rises to your cheeks and his gaze falls to your combined hands. He curls his fingers under your own so that he’s fully holding your hand in his.

You try to catch his eye, but he’s so focused on his large, scarred hand covering your softer skin. It eats at him a little; a guilty feeling settles into his chest.

You place your other hand on his cheek and press on it lightly to direct his head to look at you. You smile one of your so-sweet smiles that makes his stomach ache a little with admiration, and he grins.

The two of you sit there for a while and continue trying to play poker each with one hand.

Dutch Van Der Linde:

Dutch has always been really hands-on with you. (Wink Wink)

He’s flamboyant, a show-off, cocky, and passionate. He loves to show you off and show off to everyone that you are his.

The first time he holds your hand, it’s to explicitly show that you are his and he is yours.

Most times after that, when Dutch holds your hand it means that the two of you are connected, not two people but one. Not just a couple but a unit.

He’s dramatic that way.

The very first time he holds your hand is during an argument with Hosea. A few things about camp affairs come up, plans are being thrown around, and Hosea makes a comment suggesting that you don’t need to be there for their conversation.

Dutch glares at the older man and reaches down to grasp your hand in his.

“But Daddy I love him!” Vibes I’m not going to lie.

He stands a little taller now that he’s touching you, it makes him feel stronger and more sure of what he’s saying. He puffs out his chest and looks down his nose at Hosea.

Hosea rolls his eyes a little and puts his hands up in surrender, telling Dutch that he can do what he wants.

When Hosea leaves, Dutch uses your entwined hands to pull you towards his side a little bit and hold you in an embrace.

He calls you his partner in crime, his other half, and a million other sultry things he can think of that causes a heat to rise in your chest.

He doesn’t let you go for the rest of the night after that, choosing to show off to the rest of the gang members that you two belong together and will always be.

Javier Escuella:

Javier values romance in a relationship.

Maybe nothing incredibly grand - but sweet notes, acts of service, small gifts here and there - he likes to show you how much he loves you through actions more than anything else.

All that and more is shown later on in your relationship. At first, though, Javier is more protective than romantic when it comes to you. It keeps him from showing his emotions at times, and makes him oblivious to your feelings other times.

He just doesn’t know what’s too much because he feels a lot of things, but he wonders if showing all that too soon will scare you away. His feelings are so intense that he gets scared away from you sometimes.

The first time he holds your hand is when you knick yourself while trying to do tricks with one of his knives.

You envy the way he’s able to just do the flips and graceful switches with the blades, and even how he can effortlessly play that five-finger-fillet game.

So, naturally, you try to replicate a trick you’ve seen him do a million times and it ends with a little gash on the heel of your palm.

It’s barely bleeding and looks more like a scrape, but as you hiss in pain Javier has forgotten his chore as he rushes to see what you’ve done to yourself.

He tsks at you and gently wraps his fingers around your wrist to get a better look at the wound.

You’ve forgotten the scrape at this point as his touch is sending jolts of adrenaline through your arm and his face is so close to yours you could count his eyelashes if you wanted to.

He doesn’t notice, too busy looking to see if you’ve mortally wounded yourself. When he’s satisfied that you won’t die, he looks up at your face (Which is dark with a blush and you’re trying to avert your gaze from him, but you just can’t).

He doesn’t understand what’s gotten into you until he sees your joined hands and a knowing grin cracks into his face.

“I’ll kiss it, make it better,” He murmurs and presses a slow, tender kiss to the palm of your hand while gazing up into your eyes the entire time.

He knows what he’s doing.

Charles Smith:

I genuinely feel like Charles is the most well rounded of the group when it comes to his emotions and how he conveys what he’s feeling to you.

Communication king for sure.

The first time Charles holds your hand it’s like he’s always done it.

It’s so natural to him that there really is no concrete first time that changed the meaning of your relationship or created some big deal.

Charles isn’t really someone who likes to show off and isn’t into public displays of affection. Brief hugs and hand holding are the only things he can bring himself to do with you if there are other people present.

He likes to hold your hand a lot despite that. Kissing, groping, or anything even a little heated is a big no for him (in private it is another story), so he likes to have your hands intertwined more often than not.

At first he would come up to you and hold his hand out, palm up, with a quirked brow as if asking you to place your hand in his. You oblige, of course, and he would follow you around camp or vice versa.

Now, Charles doesn’t even bother asking before he comes up to you and just grabs your hand whenever he sees you.

There’s no question about it, the two of you are always connected.

If he can see you he is by your side holding on to you.

It’s not possessive (unlike Dutch cough cough), but it’s more for his own comfort. He likes being near you and he likes that you seem to enjoy being near him.

Charles finds his twin flame in you, his other half. Much more than a soulmate, but his person.

Sean MacGuire:

Sean never really knows where the two of you stand in terms of a relationship.

He flirts with you over and over and over again. You laugh and blush occasionally, but end up telling him to shut up and wandering off.

He knows that he can come off as a sarcastic ass, but he didn’t realize that it’s so intense that you can’t even tell that he’s genuinely trying to get you to notice him as more than a friend/fellow gang member.

The thing is, it is hard for you to tell. Sean isn’t known for being the most serious guy in the world and you’ll be damned if you let him make fun of you by flirting with you and making you swoon or something.

The first time you hold hands with Sean is also consequently the first time you see Sean’s feelings for you are genuine, not some trick.

You turn away from Sean after he’s thrown yet another flirty remark at you, but before you even have the chance to mutter “Shut up, MacGuire” He’s shot out and wrapped his fingers around your own in a strong grip. It doesn’t hurt, but you can’t just pull away and tell him to stop messing around.

You turn back and look down at your conjoined hands.

“Please,” He begs and pulls you an inch closer. “Listen to me.”

You can hardly focus on anything but the warmth of his hand in yours and the way it makes your heart swell and tingle.

He explains his feelings for you, every last one of them. Some were a little more explicit and detailed than you expected, but you appreciated the straight forward honesty.

Let’s just say after that conversation the two of you hold hands and more pretty often in the future.

Sadie Adler:

Sadie and you hold hands all the time. She literally cannot tell how you feel about her.

Is this a friendship? Is it more? She has no idea because you’re so comfortable with her that the line between friends and partners is so blurred Sadie isn’t even sure if there was a line to begin with.

One night, you and Sadie are lying outside the tent that you share stargazing. Sadie is telling you what she knows about the stars and you chime in every now and then with your own little details. She loves the excitement in your voice when you remember the story to a constellation or find one that you hadn’t notice last time.

Your bodies are close, but your hands are closer. Lying in the grass, Sadie can feel the heat from your fingers and hers twitch and beg to touch yours.

She’s nervous, though, to take the relationship further. She doesn’t know if she’s ready to admit what she wants.

While she’s debating if it’s worth it, your pinky finger stretches and curls around her own. She audibly gasps at the action and her head whips over to see if you realize what you’re doing.

You’re already gazing at her with soft eyes and a small smile. It makes her bones turn to jelly at the sight and she tries to speak, but the only thing that escapes her mouth are sharp exhales as her words get tangled in her throat.

She tightens her pinky finger around yours, and you understand the meaning behind it.

It was all still confusing, but Sadie knew one thing: Friends don’t look at each other like that.

<><><><>

I love Sadie so much y'all don't even know

Hope you enjoyed!!

[charliegyrth]

The Hottest Guy in Town - 2 of 2

Mac Grows into Himself

This is a prequel to Two Fat Guys on a Blind Date. Read Part 1 here.

21 Years Old – 315 Pounds

I couldn’t focus. The words in front of me seemed to jump off the page and dance around. I needed to understand these last three chapters before my exam tomorrow, but it was tough. My brain had run out of space.

If I told Sean that, he’d just smirk at me and say, “Told ya so.”

At the beginning of the school year, I’d signed up for a way-too-ambitious class schedule. I planned to graduate in three years instead of four. Sean had told me that I couldn’t manage it, but I didn’t listen.

And now, I was drowning in coursework, behind on essays, and barely getting any sleep. The only good thing about this semester (besides living with Sean) was the amount of food I was cramming into myself. I snacked when I studied, and because I constantly studied, that meant I constantly snacked.

It wasn’t even a conscious decision, either. I’d expanded my capacity so much that half the time, I didn’t even realize I was eating. Right now, as I stared at my textbook, I had three empty boxes of brownies next to me on the couch. I had no memory of eating any of them, but I know I had. The crumbs were all over my shirt and I had a definite brownie taste in my mouth.

Sean didn’t spend as much time feeding me, sadly. Just three or four times a week. We hadn’t pulled out the funnel in at least a month. We were both too busy. I was still overloading myself with calories, of course, but they came from constant grazing instead of erotic binge sessions.

I slammed the textbook closed. Time for a break.

I hoisted myself off the couch and lumbered toward the balcony. It was a surprisingly chilly night, even for me and my extra insulation. I sat on the balcony chair (too dangerous to lean against the railing, obviously) and looked out at the stars.

My anxiety slowly drifted away as I watched the stars and squeezed my hanging belly droop.

I had so much to be thankful for. I was on track to graduate. I already had a job lined up at a marketing firm with an office in my hometown. I had a boyfriend who loved me and helped me grow. And with each passing day, I felt more comfortable in my own body.

I loved how my stomach spilled out of me, how it had sagged into such a wonderful apron of fat. I loved how my hips were starting to dimple, how my arm fat was hanging shapelessly, how my stretchmarks decorated not only my belly, but the sides of my chest and the edges of my armpits. I loved how every single part of me had softened, and yet, old friends could still recognize me because my face wasn’t changing.

Most guys my size have wide, soft faces that made them unrecognizable compared to their skinny pasts. I felt so lucky that people could look at my face and automatically think, “Poor guy. He must’ve been so handsome before he let himself go.”

So yeah, I had a ton to be grateful for.

“Deep thoughts?” Sean asked as he joined me on the balcony. He leaned against my soft side and nuzzled his head against my shoulder.

“Taking a break from studying,” I said.

“Oh yeah?” he asked flirtatiously. He took my hand and led me back inside.

Whatever he wanted to do to me, I was up for it, though I wasn’t quite done relaxing under the stars.

He brought me into our bedroom, pushed me onto the mattress, and brought out a bag of cookies that he’d hidden in the nightstand. He popped one into his own mouth and then got ready to feed me the rest.

“How’s the studying?” he asked as he pressed a cookie against my lips.

“Slow but steady. Still on track,” I said, choosing not to mention how much my brain was struggling to keep up.

“Good,” he said, though his voice sounded a little disappointed in my answer. He anxiously ate another cookie himself.

“Is something wrong, Sean?” A minute ago, he seemed like he was really in the mood. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

He shoved another cookie into my mouth. More aggressive than usual. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

Honestly, I didn’t. He had a really easy courseload. What did he have to be upset about?

“Seriously, Peter. Don’t you ever think about us? You’ll be graduating a year early and leaving me behind. And then who am I gonna be with? I don’t get turned on by normal guys anymore. You fucked up my whole… everything. I don’t want to hold you back, but I don’t want to leave Phoenix. And you’ve never asked what I want.” The words fell out of him. He clearly wasn’t planning to unload all that on me, but once he started talking, he couldn’t stop.

I wasn’t planning on leaving him. But… He was right. I hadn’t really thought about how my early graduation would affect him. No wonder he’d tried so hard to convince me to slow down for another year.

“I’m sorry.” And I meant it.

He had another cookie in his hand, ready to feed me, but he pulled it back and anxiously gobbled it down himself. “Who am I gonna help grow when you’re gone?”

I really wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t know what to say. I sat up straight and pulled him closer to me. Then I pinched at the slight roll of flab that poked out of the bottom of his shirt. My snacking habits were finally rubbing off on him. Not by a lot, but enough to be visible. Neither of us had mentioned it yet, but I figured this was the best time to finally talk about it. “You could grow yourself, honey.”

He looked down at his stomach, at the pudge between my fingers, and he jumped out of bed like he’d just seen a ghost. “I… I…”

Oh God. He didn’t know. And now I’d made things so much worse.

“You look great, Sean. Seriously. And I’m sorry we haven’t talked enough about our future plans. But…”

“I gotta go,” he mumbled. Then he rushed out of the apartment.

I knew he’d come back. I knew I’d see him again. But I also knew that our relationship had run its course. I ate the rest of the cookies alone in bed.

***

22 Years Old – 355 Pounds

I extended my hand. “Peter McDowell.”

Johnny, my new coworker, looked me up and down before he shook my hand. “Peter McDowell? No offense, but you really don’t look like a Peter.”

I didn’t know how to interpret that.

“Let me guess. People call you Mac instead. Am I right?”

He wasn’t. All my life, I’d been Peter. No one called me Mac. Or Pete. Or anything else, really. My ex-boyfriend Sean called me Tubbs sometimes, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable having a coworker call me that.

“Yup,” I said. “I’m Mac.” It was a weird thing for me to say, but whatever. Why not? I was finally out of school, starting a new job, starting a whole new phase in my life. And in a way, Peter felt like more of a skinny-guy name, anyway. Mac seemed much more substantial, like me.

Johnny showed me around the office, introducing me to all my new colleagues. He took me into the breakroom, apologizing for how narrow it was. I literally had to walk sideways between the cabinets because my hips were too wide. A lot of people in Johnny’s position would look at me with pity. They’d give me the same look that my lit professor gave me a few months back when I got stuck in my chair.

I was used to it. And if I was being honest with myself, I really, really liked it. That whole “Oh, you poor thing” expression was so much better than all the ogling that I used to get. (God, that part of my life felt so long ago.)

Anyway, Johnny did not look at me with pity. He was sympathetic, but there was no judgment in his eyes.

He wasn’t really my type. (Stick-thin and kind of nerdy. Also pretty straight, from what I could tell.) But I did like him. He seemed like he’d be a good coworker.

After squeezing out of the breakroom, I followed Johnny to my own office, which was small but not too small. The desk chair needed to be replaced, though. Johnny realized that, too. He wheeled it out of the office and brought in a storage crate that I’d have to use until the company could find a replacement.

The crate wasn’t comfortable, but it worked fine for the rest of the day.

Once 5:00 rolled around, Johnny took me to Risky’s Barbecue Pit for a little getting-to-know-you dinner. That was one of my favorite restaurants. I hadn’t been back there since I was a teen!

The place hadn’t changed at all, though the booths definitely felt smaller. Johnny had to slide the table a few inches before I could sit.

He sat across from me, a big smile on his face, like he knew something I didn’t.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said. “This is on the company’s dime, so go crazy. Let’s see what you can do.”

That definitely sounded like the words of an encourager. I’d only had one (Sean), but he’d definitely said those exact words to me before. “Let’s see what you can do.”

I looked at him a little funny.

“Look,” he said, “I think I know your whole thing. I grew up in Bullhead, so I used to see you around in the summer. I know what you looked like, and no one changes this much without, you know, wanting to. I’m straight. Happily married. So don’t read too much into this. I just, I have a gainer friend. Great guy. So… To welcome you to the company, I figured I could show my support.” He slid the menu toward me. “Go crazy.”

Since breaking up with Sean, I’d been a bit lonely. Without a cheerleader to keep me going, I struggled to stay motivated. I’d spent the last few months trapped in the 350 range. The fact that Johnny was so direct really meant a lot to me. Perhaps he could help me get over my plateau.

“Challenge accepted,” I said.

***

23 Years Old – 420 Pounds

I waddled into the office, gasping for breath. My usual parking spot had been taken, so I had to cross the entire parking lot in 100+ degree weather. Not fun for someone my size.

My work shirt was soaking wet, with horizontal sweat stains between my rolls and one continuous stain covering my back. The air conditioning hit me like a blast of heaven.

“Hey, Mac!” Maggie the receptionist said. She handed me my morning muffin. I ate it on my long walk to my office. I finished half of it before I reached Sammy’s cubicle.

“Mac! Welcome back!” He handed me a frappuccino.

Now that I was working from home three days a week, my days back in the office felt extra special. Lots of sweets from my supportive coworkers. I’d learned in the last year that gaining weight was so much easier with help. I didn’t have a boyfriend to feed me, but I had Johnny, and Maggie, and Sammy, and pretty much everyone else at work. They weren’t technically feeders or encouragers, but they all liked me a lot and accepted me as the loveable fat guy in the office. I felt really, really lucky.

Johnny was waiting for me in my office, his lanky body leaning against my desk. “Right on time,” he said.

I wasn’t. I was thirty minutes late. (The McDonalds drive-thru took longer than expected.)

He filled me in on the marketing projects I needed to finalize. It was a lot of work, but he knew that I could handle it. I finished my muffin and frappuccino while he talked. Then, once all the business stuff was out of the way, he leaned closer and whispered, “What’s the damage now?”

“Four twenty,” I whispered back.

I could've gone into more detail. I could've told him about the irregular new thigh rolls that made my legs rub together in a slightly different pattern. I could've mentioned how my skin color was darkening inside some of my deeper creases. Hell, I could've pulled up my shirt and shown him the new, lumpier texture of my lower belly.

But no. Those were things to share with a boyfriend, not a coworker, no matter how supportive he was. It was best to just stick to the number.

He gave me a congratulatory pat on the stomach. “And your personal life? Anything new?”

I shrugged. “Still with Trevor,” I mumbled. Trevor was a guy I met on Grommr almost a year ago. We didn’t have anything in common besides our hunger for gaining, but he was a good guy. I guess we were happy.

“Good for you,” Johnny said flatly. I knew that he didn’t really like Trevor. Plus, he was always hinting about setting me up with his gainer friend in Bullhead. I wasn’t interested in anything long-distance, though. Bullhead City wasn’t too far away, but I hated the drive. Now that my grandparents were both gone, I really didn’t have a reason to go down there.

Johnny left me alone to get back to work. He came back in a few more times throughout the day to drop off snacks, but otherwise, I was in work mode.

When I got home (once again sweat-soaked and wheezing), Trevor was waiting for me. He looked particularly bloated today, and while his gut was much smaller than mine, it was a lot rounder. (Hairier, too, but that wasn’t obvious through his shirt.) “Good day at work?”

“Productive,” I said. I wanted to tell him about all the marketing projects that I was working on, but I knew he wasn’t interested. “How about you?”

“Also productive.” He was an accountant. I wasn’t really interested in hearing about his job, either.

We stood there in awkward silence, not sure what to talk about. Like I said, we didn’t have anything in common.

“So,” he finally said. “Should I get the funnel?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

***

24 Years Old – 518 Pounds

I was sprawled on the couch, sucking on a milkshake and waiting for my Uber Eats to arrive.

When the doorbell rang, I immediately stood up. (“Immediately” might be an exaggeration, but I pushed myself off the couch as fast as I could.) I lumbered toward the front door, moving fast enough for my hanging gut to make quiet, little thwaps against my thighs.

I opened the door, but the delivery guy wasn’t there. It was Johnny.

“Hey, Mac! How’re you holding up?” He glanced over at the piles of empty take-out containers littering my living room. I normally cleaned after myself pretty well, but now that I was in the midst of my post-breakup wallow, I’d let the trash pile up.

“Okay,” I said. “I, um… Come in.”

He walked inside, stepped over all the wrappers, and sat on my recliner. It was the one piece of furniture that didn’t have food trash on it.

I sat on the couch.

“We miss you at the office,” he said.

A few months back, my bosses pulled me into a private meeting to suggest that I work entirely from home. I’d outgrown my office chair. And I’d accidentally fallen in the break room, cracking the cabinet and messing up my ankle. Plus the bathroom situation had gotten a bit difficult.

(Sorry for oversharing, but… once I crossed 500, I sort of lost the ability to wipe myself. Had to stick to bidets now. I know some guys my size don't have that particular problem, but I'd really started struggling with, you know, maneuvering. Reaching places.)

Anyway, the company thought it was best that I stopped coming in, which was the right decision, even though I missed seeing all my coworkers. A lot. We still met up at restaurants, and they came over sometimes, but I’d pretty much drifted away from all of them except Johnny.

And then Trevor broke up with me. His weight gain had plateaued while mine just kept going, which made him ultra-jealous. He started getting really snippy, and the one thing that we had in common had become a point of contention between us. Two weeks ago, he ended things.

I didn’t miss him. I never loved him the way I’d loved Sean. (And looking back, I didn’t really love Sean either.) But without a boyfriend, I felt… hopeless. Like I’d never be able to find anyone else.

“So I have an offer for you,” Johnny said. “Well, the company does. I’m just the messenger.”

“Go on.”

Johnny smiled from ear to ear as he told me about our company’s new office in Bullhead City. He wanted me to transfer there to help run things. I’d still mainly work from home, but I was expected to work out of the office more often. He assured me that the new building had plenty of ways to accommodate my special needs. (Wider halls, for one. Bidets in the restrooms.)

I was already sold.

“Plus,” he added, “you can finally meet my other gainer friend. I really think you guys’ll hit it off.” It had been so long since he’d brought up his friend, I’d sorta forgotten. But yeah, why not? If Johnny liked him, then I’m sure he was a great guy.

“Absolutely,” I said. “About the job. About everything.”

I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I felt like I was finally going to get out of my funk.

“Cool. I’ll get the paperwork in order. The company will help you find a place down there. And once you’re all settled in, I’ll ask Jason if he’d be up for a blind date.”

My heart sped up before my brain could register why. Then it hit me. “Your friend is named Jason?”

“Jason Robbins. Why?”

Holy crap. Jason Robbins was the guy I’d met when I was 17, the handsome face that was always in the back of my mind, the stranger who’d convinced me to start gaining. All this time, Johnny’s friend was the Jason Robbins! How could I not have connected the dots earlier?

“Mac? You okay?”

I guess I was spacing.

“Um, yeah. Let’s do that blind date. See what happens.”

We talked a bit more about the job specifics, then he announced that it was time to go. He had to get back to his family. As he was leaving, the Uber Eats guy arrived at my door with three bulging bags of Mexican food. Johnny brought them inside for me.

Then, instead of leaving, he sat down again.

“I thought you were going.”

He shrugged. “In a bit. For old time’s sake, why don’t you… ya know, show me what you can do.”

I opened the first bag.

***

25 Years Old – 538 Pounds

Jason sat next to me, his fat squishing into mine. We were scrolling through old photos on my laptop.

“That’s me at 16,” I said, “a year before I first met you.”

The photo showed me shirtless on a boat in Lake Havasu, my blond hair looking particularly sun-bleached and my lean torso a bit pink from a sunburn.

“Whose boat is that?” my boyfriend asked. He was rolling my belly fat around in his fingers, just a minor bit of contact that calmed us both down.

“Some lady. I didn’t know her, but she invited me to join her and her family. I told you what it was like back then. Hottest guy in town, always getting special treatment from everybody.”

He let go of my roll and positioned his 400-pound body to the side. He looked me dead in the eyes. “Mac, you do realize that you’re still the hottest guy in town. And you get special treatment all the time. Your office literally installed bidets just for you. People stare at you all the time. You’re constantly getting free snacks from people. How is that not special treatment?”

Jason and I moved in together a couple weeks after our blind date. We both knew that we were destined for each other. Unlike Sean (who never really embraced the gaining lifestyle for himself) and Trevor (who didn’t have anything else going for him besides gaining), Jason was the full package. Beautiful, fat, smart, funny, perfect.

And insightful too, apparently. “I guess you’re right.”

He grabbed my laptop and placed it on the coffee table, out of our way. “No more looking at the past,” he said. “Let’s just enjoy the present.”

He kissed me, his hands squeezing into my softness, my hands squeezing into his. I tasted ice cream on his lips.

I might be the hottest guy in town, but Jason was very quickly catching up to me.

The End.

[ihopeicanchangethislater05]

how ever a good actor you are, doing crazy emotional scenes like in 'wilson's heart' takes a toll on even robert sean leonard

----

executive producer katie jacobs told 'backstage':  "Robert actually showed up to work with an arrhythmia the first week we were doing the finale. He's had one before, but this one had lasted 48 hours. We had a doctor on the set and kept an eye on him." "I think it was scary for him to go into that emotional territory. He really wants to get it right. The different colors written for him to play in the course of that episode, it's anything but one-note. It's tough stuff. Revealing that much and giving as much as he gave for that episode would certainly be enough to cause me an irregular heartbeat."

----

honestly this is scary as fuck to me.

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

I was rewatching s1 of CM, and Hotch was abuse in the past ?? And they just drop the idea ?

So here's the request : Hotch telling to his partner that he was abuse, after he come back of a case (that end up badly).

-Crow Anon

Hiya! I hope you enjoy!! I found this one kind of just flew when I was writing it (if that makes sense), I really enjoyed writing this one :)

((I enjoy writing all requests I've just been feeling a bit unmotivated but yeah))

Warnings: mentions of abuse and drinking/alcoholism. no 'on screen' violence. mentions of murder.

“Hey babe,” You smile as Aaron closed the door behind him. 

“Hey.” You frown, watching your boyfriend closely. The way he put his brief case on the floor silently, slipped out of his shoes and immediately headed into the kitchen. Something was definitely wrong. 

“What’s going on?” You ask gently. You don’t get too close to him, not wanting to swamp him - no matter how much you wanted to approach him, to wrap your arms around him.

“Tough case,” He mumbled, starting to boil some water. “Do you want a tea?”

“I could go for a tea,” You reply, not mentioning the fact that you have one on the coffee table already. You knew he just wanted to be able to do something while he talked. Besides, hot drinks made by Aaron somehow always tasted better. You waited for a few seconds. “So, what’s going through that mind of yours?” Your voice is gentle.

He doesn’t answer for a few seconds, busying himself with choosing mugs for the pair of you. He places them on the counter, adding the tea bags. 

“One of the victims, his friend is this boy.” His voice is quiet. “He’s seven but… he reminds me a lot myself at his age.”

You don’t say anything, other than giving a small hum of acknowledgement. 

“And his dad- his dad reminds me a lot of mine.” He says, pouring the boiling water into each mug. 

“What was your dad like?” You prompted.

“He was a mean drunk.” Aaron’s reply is short as he added sugar to your tea, leaving his as is. “He was cruel.”

You don’t say anything, just watching him.

“He’d hit me, Sean, and my mum.” Aaron said, adding a splash of milk to both teas. “Even when he wasn’t drunk. But it was always worse when he was.”

With that, Aaron grabbed both mugs from the counter, placing them on the kitchen table you were currently sat at. He sat opposite you.

“I’m sorry.” You said, reaching over, taking his hands in yours.

“It’s not your fault. And it was a long time ago.”

“That doesn’t mean it hurts any less.” You remind him, “And you didn’t deserve that, not at all. No one does.” 

“I’m sorry I never mentioned it before.”

“That doesn’t matter,” You give a soft smile, “You’re telling me now, when you’re ready. And that’s more than okay. And I’m happy you trusted me enough to share this.”

“You’re very easy to talk to.” 

“Thank you,” You reply, “Did you want to talk about it anymore or just watch a movie?”

“Watch a movie.”

“Alright then, which movie?”

“The Princess Bride?” Aaron said, “Inigo Montoya reminds me of Gideon.”

“You know, I always thought they looked alike,” You give him a quick peck on the cheek as you grab your tea, and Aaron’s hand. He follows you out into the living, giving a shy smile when he sees the tea on the coffee table.

“You already had a tea,” He points out gently.

“You make them better,” You grin, reaching for the remote. 

[undying-love]

Hi!! Could you make a compilation of all the times their relationship is compared to a marriage (or something similar), either by them or by people close to them?

"Marriage", "love affair", "girlfriend", "wife", etc: A Compilation

“I think it was like he was married to Paul. And now he was married to me so it was like a situation that he didn’t feel like he wanted to go back." (Yoko Ono)

"Why this odd little Japanese lady? The reason, many people believed, was that more than a trophy wife, a model or an actress, John needed a chum. His love affair with Paul McCartney was ending." (Peter Brown)

“That’s very hard to delve into. They were great friends, and had great mutual respect, but they were also quite different from one another. I don’t know. Human relationships are tough to analyze. It’s like trying to talk about someone else’s marriage.” (Peter Asher)

“I still think at the back of John’s mind was this fascination of wanting to get back with the first girlfriend... and that was to get back with Paul, who he had so much history with.” (Tony Barrow)

"It's like a marriage. These two broke up. And it took Paul a long time to get over it. John too, but he was just too macho to show it. But they had a marriage before Yoko arrived, although they both had girlfriends before." (Ray Connolly)

"It [Mick and Keith's relationship] had all the irrationally and passion of a love affair. Lennon and McCartney had a similar bond between them." (Marianne Faithfull)

"Paul and John kind of knew that they were growing apart, and Let It Be was almost like a marriage that’s failing, and they wanna go on their date nights again" (Giles Martin)

"There’s no hard feelings or anything, but you just don’t hang around with your ex-wife. We’ve completely finished." (Paul)

"Then also we were like married, so you got the bitterness. It’s not a woman scorned this time, it’s two men scorned — probably even worse. And I had to make way for Yoko. My relationship with John could not have remained as it was and Yoko feel secure.” (Paul)

"It was as if I was another girlfriend, almost. Our relationship was a strong relationship. And if he was to start a new relationship [with Yoko], he had to put this other one away." (Paul)

"I've compared to a marriage a million times and I hope it's… understandable. For people that aren't married. Or any relationship. It was a LONG relationship." (John)

"With Yoko present, Paul's reign as Lennon's princess was doomed."(Peter McCabe)

"In a marriage, or a love affair...there comes a point where the marriage collapses because they can’t face that reality, and they go seeking what they thought they should be having, still, somewhere else. I get a new girl, it’ll all be like that again; I get a new boy… But for all marriages, all couples, it’ll all be the same again. But what you lose is what you put into that… relationship." (John)

"..an old, estranged fiancée of mine called Paul." (John)

"Paul and John were emotional partners in a powerful, creative and loving way." (Paul Saltzman)

"Julian and Sean had lost a father; Cynthia, her knight in shining armour; Yoko, a fellow artist, contemporary and house husband … and Paul? Well, call me crazy, but he lost the wife. I’m certainly not implying anything of a carnal nature here, but to almost all intents and purposes (as John would have put it), what they had was a marriage.” (Ruth Mccartney)

"When John and Paul split up (think of them as a couple for a moment) their second mates had to stand by them." (Francie Schwartz)

"For a reason to hold a grudge [against Yoko], think about the possibility of this: She took John from him. And she didn't particularly want to share John with his "ex significant other" on certain levels." (Francie Schwartz)

[bansheesnmbr1girl]

xmen fc modern au headcanons

sean has punched a hole in his wall before

sean also cracks his knuckles SO loudly omfg

alex has a pet snake that he named some bullshit ass name. "Princess sparkle butt." like ok pal that's a king cobra...

sean Lowkey roasts the FUCK out of Scott by calling him "laser pants McGee"

ALEX CLOCKS TEA SO HARD says shit like

"ok tommy tough knuckles..."

Sean blasts dubstep at 8 a.m. to “wake the house up with good vibes.”

raven will literally fight someone if they make fun of Hank. Already has a list of people Alex has to "accidentally" blast.

Hank schedules cleaning days. No one shows up until Raven threatens to shapeshift into their mom and yell. Alex pretends to mop while skateboarding through the kitchen

Raven has nightmares about not belonging anywhere. Hank started leaving sticky notes on the fridge that say things like “You’re exactly who you need to be.” She never mentions them. She keeps them in a box

Before Cherik got together, Raven would pray to the Greek God of homosexual love, Ganymede, and literally request that he get them together 😭😭 (Raven is a hellenic polytheist)

Hank is so millennial 💔 like no sir that is not ur fur baby that's the emotional support dog

oh yeah they def got an emotional support dog btw

DAMN NEAR CONSTANT BEATBOXING BATTLES BETWEEN ALEX AND SEAN

Raven has casted spells on politicians

Alex def vapes sorry guys I don't make the rules

lung cancer warrior 💔

when Sean (catholic) walks in on Raven praying he screams "WITCH!" as a joke

Hank def says shit like "Ok, so that shouldn't be glowing-" at least 10 times a day when he's working in the lab

Sean believed in the Easter bunny for wayyyyy too long (until he was 12-13~)

bonus : their fashion style

Raven :

Hank :

Alex :

Sean :

[flo-zoinks]

can u do red dead headcanons for if you like…hit them with a horse super duper hard…

LMFAOOO BAHAHAHAHA💀💀

Sure!! I've never done a hc like this so for the "you", because the reactions will differ GREATLY on who it is, I'll assume the person is a man similar to John in terms of likeness around camp and age

WHAT I IMAGINE WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU HIT EACH RDR2 GANG MEMBER WITH UR HORSE REAL HARD (MY OPINION)

Javier - would curse for a solid minute shouting in Spanish, immediately after go check all his vanity is still intact then around 10pm threaten you with a knife if you ever made a 'mistake' like that again, then smile it off after saying all is forgiven brother

Arthur - would angrily shout at you for being a blind fool, and bring it up jokingly for the next 15 years to make fun of you and talk shit about you. Never let you drive again too

Strauss - he is NOT surviving that

Micah - would take it really well on the moment, then afterwards try to act tough and threaten you in public. Would bring it up again in chapter 6 though and say you purposely tried to kill him because you're a rat apparently

Jack - "aaaaaaaaaa" ( he weighs like 20kg he'll fly across camp). And you probably become the camp enemy for the next 2 weeks and Abigail's opp forever because he prolly got some brain damage from that too lol

John - yell SHIT really loudly then make some catty remark like "thought I was the half blind one" then get over it quickly

Molly - curse you out, tell Dutch, then cry in private later thinking it was on purpose because you / everyone else hates her

Sean - laugh it off but still be a little pissed at you for a while. Probably rant at you drunk later that night. One day would buy you glasses to mock you for that

Lenny - call you out for being a dick, but forgive it as a mistake if you apologised

Sadie - curse at you so mad, hate you for a GOOD WHILE, and in private stab a knife into the table whilst looking at you threateningly

Charles - shout, tell you off angrily but go out for a while until hes not angry anymore. Would probably still hold a little resentment towards you but would understand if you apologised

Hosea - if he lives thru that would shout at you angrily, then give you lessons again on horse-riding. Would bring it up years later as a funny story time after time embarrassing you

Dutch - this REALLY depends on the person. If this again was someone like John he'd prolly tell them off, then laugh at it as a funny mess up. Would take him a while as you probably ruined his clothes to 'forget' it happily

Mary-Beth - would be mad, but forgiving. Arthur and Miss Grimshaw would be outright angry at you instead

Tilly - similar to Mary-Beth w Arthur and Miss (prolly Javier too) but she'd avoid you for a while and mark snarky comments every once in a while

Karen - curse you out baddd, then tell you that you owe her a beer and insist you take her to a saloon for one (she doesn't let you drive though)

Grimshaw - huff and puff and shout at you, tell you off to Dutch except unlike Molly he'd suspend you from camp for a while or smth, then make snideful looks at you for the next 2 weeks after. Probably similar to Hosea past that though.

Kieran - assume it's an attack on him, then complain to you he's not an O'Driscoll anymore why are you hitting him with ur horse

Pearson - shout that he it's your 'last chance' before he let's his true anger out at you, says you're lucky he's feeling pacifist rn but tell everyone else you were too scared to argue back and ran away after your silly mistake

Bill - curse you out, then try and fight you in public, then demand an apology, then beg for an apology, then say some corny shi like yeah I knew you revered me too...heh...

Uncle - shout out you're a lazy bum who can't even ride a horse right for the next month STRAIGHT like proper dick riding that high horse hes on rn

Swanson - insist he is a man of the cloth and does not deserve your wrath, try and make you feel bad about it by using bible teachings then when drunk cry out to God that he sent that big ass horse as a punishment he doesn't understand

Lol this was fun thanks for the ask ❤❤!!! This one I dont think is as accurate 😭🤔 buuut tell me who I forgot yall love uu😚

[clonerightsagenda]

Was thinking about SFF books that remind me of podcasts I like so I started making a list:

Alice isn't Dead: Ghostroads series. Has a similar haunted Americana vibe with the main character frequenting roadways and diners, and the immortal Bobby Cross pursuing her could easily come out of an Alice episode.

Arden: Penance is a fake true crime book that also critiques true crime, explores toxic wlw relationships, and is distressingly online. (This is the book that oneshotted me with the phrase 'vriska did nothing wrong' immortalized in print.)

Wolf 359: The Immortality Thief features a hapless dumbass who keeps almost dying in space and a tough as nails female officer keeping herself alive on a floating deathtrap, and everyone gets dragged into dilemmas of morality and redemption. Sean would be on team what's wrong with handcuffs.

The Pasithea Powder: Really anything from the microgenre referred to as lesbian space atrocities is at home here, although Harrow the Ninth has the requisite memory fuckery. While they're not *that* similar, the toxic WLW relationship of The Luminous Dead (caver at the mercy of her obsessed handler) made me similarly invested.

Greater Boston: I already made my case for Discworld, particularly the Ankh-Morpork books. I never finished the duology but iirc The City We Became has a similar weird fiction, anti-corporate vibe very grounded in a specific place's nature.

The Silt Verses: Struggling with this one a bit, but Machineries of Empire is another grisly exploration of the mass sacrifice we accept to maintain our way of life. Lighter fare, but The Raven Tower asks, 'what if you were a god's blorbo, and also trans?'

Ars Paradoxica: The Lady Astronaut series is also an alt history starting in the mid 1900s that emphasizes the experiences of marginalized people working in the sciences during that time. No time travel, but space travel.

Hi Nay: Trail of Lightning's author wrote it in response to so many urban fantasy books having a 'magic Native American' side character, which reminds me of Hi Nay's origins. Also, C.L. Polk's Kingston Cycle hits the 'circle of horrible upper class magicians' note, along with multiple queer romances.

Woe.Begone: A Fractured Infinity features a man who gets access to a spacetime-altering device created by his alternate self and starts hopping realities and destroying worlds to keep his boyfriend safe. Reminded me of Mike and Edgar, although I stopped keeping up with w.bg.

[mrs-stans]

The 11 Best-Dressed Men at the 2025 Oscars, Ranked

Even on Hollywood’s most traditional night, guys just want to have fun.

By Yang-Yi Goh and Eileen Cartter

If the menswear at last year’s Oscars was truly just Ken, we’re grateful the fellas this year showed up with a little more…Substance.

On Sunday night, the biggest red-carpet stars at the 97th Academy Awards were also some of the biggest stars of the whole shebang. Three actors in competition—Colman Domingo, Timothée Chalamet, and Jeremy Strong—happened to be dogged fashion plates, and thus were all but guaranteed to pull up in envelope-pushing ensembles. But even their fellow nominees, Sebastian Stan and Ralph Fiennes, cranked up the volume on their standard black tuxedos.

Heavy on the straight-off-the-runway designer garms, timeless British tailoring, and more than a few swing-for-the-fences swerves, it all added up to one of the more exciting menswear spectacles in recent Oscar memory. Here are the 11 best-dressed men from the 2025 Academy Awards, definitively ranked.

11. Jeremy Strong

Still the number-one boy in our hearts, best supporting actor nominee Jeremy Strong hit the Oscars carpet in his signature hue—brown—by way of a taut, cortado-toned tuxedo with sharp lapels and a matching criss-crossed bow tie. The tux hailed from Loro Piana, the Italian luxury brand with whom Strong has maintained a close relationship since his Succession days. (Loro Piana also made Kendall Roy’s most notorious accessory: a $625 logoless cashmere baseball cap.) Anyways, props to Strong for continuing to incorporate his signature quirks into just about any genre of formalwear.

Tuxedo by Loro Piana.

10. Samuel L. Jackson

As per usual, a handful of fellas attempted the all-black-everything look—a move with a higher degree of difficulty than you might think, because it’s tough to pull off without looking like a Vegas nightclub bouncer. Our guy Samuel L. managed to sidestep that issue by way of an elegant Giorgio Armani notch-lapel tuxedo—understated save for a touch of festive sequins along the interior edges of the jacket and down the seams of the trousers—paired with a crisp Mandarin-collar shirt and some textbook, right-on-trend accountant glasses. The only thing missing? One of his signature backwards Kangols, which would’ve rocketed him up this list by at least a couple of spots.

Suit by Giorgio Armani.

9. Jeremy Pope

Speaking of all-black-everything and Mandarin collars: Pope, a Broadway fixture and recent Calvin Klein model, opted for a silky smooth Balmain ensemble that, between its graceful Tang suit silhouette and louche flared bottoms, looked very much like something Bruce Lee would’ve worn in his swaggering ’70s heyday. And while the whole bow motif thing might seem a touch tired in womenswear these days, swapping ’em in here on the jacket in place of the typical Chinese frog fasteners felt fresh and inspired.

Suit by Balmain.

8. Mick Jagger

Dig through the GQ.com archives for any length of time, and you’ll find no shortage of photos of a young Mick Jagger looking stylish as all hell: prepped up in a classic striped rugby in 1964; splayed out on stage in a trim cricket jumper and Repettos a year later; getting married in St. Tropez in a rip-roaring three-piece and beat-to-shit canvas kicks in the early ’70s. So it was nice to see that at 81, Jagger still possesses the righteous verve that everyone from Harry Styles to Hedi Slimane continues to emulate today—even if the Stones frontman did have to trade his iconic heeled Cuban boots for a more sensible pair of Nike runners with his glittery pinstripe suit.

7. Mark Eydelshteyn

We mean it as a total compliment when we say: What a perfectly weird suit for a perfectly weird guy. Hollywood’s newest sweetheart, Mark Eydelshteyn—one of the many breakout stars from the big winner of the night, Sean Baker’s Anora—looked great in his wonky double-breasted tuxedo by Balenciaga. The tux had great movement, which suited Eydelshteyn as he goofed around on the red carpet. A good sartorial precursor to the Anora team spending the rest of their evening dancing their faces off to t.A.T.u.’s 2002 hit “All The Things She Said.”

Tuxedo by Balenciaga Couture.

6. Paul Tazewell

Wicked costumer Paul Tazewell made history at last night’s ceremony, becoming the first Black man to win the Oscar for best costume design. (We like to think that his victory was at least partly thanks to his dripped-out vision for the film’s CGI goat professor, Dr. Dillamond.) He took to the stage in a fantastical custom tuxedo and an Oz-green watch, which lent a nice blend of old-school formality and whimsy—which were also two of the most winning qualities of his Wicked costume design—to the night’s menswear milieu. And what a cool move that, at the afterparty, Tazewell unfurled his ribbon collar while he held his Oscar statuette high. As he should!

Tuxedo by Dolce & Gabbana. Shoes by Bottega Veneta. Watch by IWC. Jewelry by Fred Leighton.

5. Ralph Fiennes

Savile Row heads, this one’s for you. Fiennes, ever the consummate Briton, turned to one of London’s most exciting young bespoke houses for his Oscars night look. Taillour, the brainchild of Timothy Everest vets Lee Rekert and Fred Nieddu, fashioned a tuxedo for the Conclave star in their signature uber-wide-lapelled cut. The garment draped across his figure immaculately, as you might imagine, a point that Fiennes drove home by displaying his spry physicality on the red carpet. A white-edged bow tie added the faintest touch of rebellious flourish to an otherwise classic rig executed to perfection.

Suit by Taillour. Shoes by Manolo Blahnik.

4. Colman Domingo

Colman Domingo’s red-carpet fashion has become its own awards-season spectator sport, and he is always his own best competition. At Sunday’s Oscars, the best actor nominee wore a lipstick-red Valentino tuxedo jacket with contrasting black lapels and a fringed sash tied at the waist, which he accessorized with a pair of rose-tinted glasses. No matter how the awards went, Domingo’s was an outfit fit for celebrating—and it’s no wonder that he started a party in the room during the commercial break.

Tuxedo by Valentino. Watch by Omega. Jewelry by Boucheron.

3. Timothée Chalamet

We’ll miss the freaky fever dream that was Timothée Chalamet’s A Complete Unknown press tour, but something tells me the now twice-thwarted best actor nominee will have something new up his sleeve in no time. It seems Chalamet and his stylist, Taylor McNeill, reached some sort of sartorial mind-meld over the past several months, as proven by this heater of a margarine-yellow leather suit designed by Givenchy’s incoming creative director Sarah Burton, which featured the inspired pairing of a cropped tuxedo jacket and snug trousers that fit like jeans. It was the most-discussed look of the night for good reason, even if it probably stung a little extra to have to gamely lose your category while dressed like a stick of butter.

Suit by Givenchy. Watch and jewelry by Cartier.

2. Omar Apollo

Pop star Omar Apollo, who appeared in the Oscar-snubbed Luca Guadagnino film Queer, was the menswear maximalist of the evening. But there’s a reason why you sometimes just want it with the works: The fishnet veil with the goatee and braids; the flared pants with the bow-dotted ballet flats; the polka-dot shirt with the fringed scarf where a tie should be. We’ve had it with these Hollywood guys throwing on a single brooch and calling it a day (though, of course, Apollo had one of those on, too). When the vibe is right, more certainly is more.

Suit by Valentino. Veil by Binata Millinery. Jewelry by Chopard.

1. Sebastian Stan

This is it, folks: the nexus of traditional, Old Hollywood black-tie and radical, New Hollywood high-fashion. Designed expressly for the best-actor nominee by taste gods Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, Stan’s Prada tuxedo truly—as Stefon might put it—had everything: swooping, elongated shawl lapels; a flatteringly broad cummerbund; razor-sharp, full-legged trousers; and a right-on-time pair of gleaming square-toe shoes. But the pièce de résistance, the reason this look landed in the number-one spot, is the shirt. The wide, crepey pleats and soft winged collar are on their own winsome spins on tuxedo-shirt hallmarks; paired with that creamy ecru tone, however, it elevates the whole endeavor to a hall-of-fame-worthy Oscar-night kit.

Tuxedo by Prada. Watch and jewelry by Cartier

[fabuloustrash05]

Why I Love 2012 Raphael

A TMNT 2012 Character Appreciation/Character Analysis Post

If you know me or follow me here or on Instagram then you know that my favorite Ninja Turtle is Raphael. More specifically, Raphael from the TMNT 2012 series. Nowadays, this version of Raph gets a lot of unfair hate from fans (new and old), which I find to be ridiculous. So I decided to show this turtle in red some love and express my reasons as to why I love 2012 Raphael. 

To start, I wanna give some love and appreciation to Raphael’s voice actor, Sean Astin. His voice was perfect for the role. I feel so many other Raphael voices try too hard to make him sound manly and more of a giant muscular brute, often forgetting that he is just a teenage boy. Sean does a good job making Raph sound tough when needed, but still making him sound like he is a teenager. He does a great job balancing Raph’s rude attitude but also his gentle and sweet side as well. Also he nailed those girlish screams! XD I feel voice actors nowadays don’t get a lot of recognition, so I wanted to show my appreciation here.

The biggest thing I love about Raphael is his development in the show. I’d argue he had the most/best character development among the four Turtles. We all know how he is in the beginning of the series, being rude, hotheaded, constantly picking fights with Leo and other characters. The show makes it obvious that Raph in S1-2 is scared of his own emotions and feelings, the only time he truly opens up and expresses himself is when he talks to his pet turtle, Spike. The best way I can describe Raph’s character is that he is the “tough guy with a heart of gold” trope. I believe one of the show’s producers, Ciro Neili, even confirmed that was their intention when creating Raph’s character for the show. Raph is a brute, a hothead, but deep down he's a big softie. A lot of Raphael haters seem to forget or ignore that fact about his character. Yes, he is mostly known throughout the fandom to be the hothead, he is the muscle of the group, but he is also the protector. Raph knows that, so if he comes off as weak, then he loses that title. Deep down Raph, and the people around him, know that he is a big softy who loves and cares for others, but he keeps up this tough guy persona in order to protect and seem strong for the ones he loves most. 

As the series goes on Raph learns to open up to others, he grows to respect Leo as a leader and seems to control his temper way more by Season 5. On rewatch I notice in S4-5, Raph only ever gets mad for valid/understandable reasons, mainly when someone is hurting/threatening his loved ones. How did this happen? I believe Raph’s development started when he lost Spike in season 2.

Slash and Destroy is one of my favorite Raphael focused episodes and I will stand by and say that this episode was the beginning of Raph’s character development. In the episode, Raph’s pet Spike gets mutated and becomes Slash, targeting and attacking Raph’s brothers. As a reminder, up to this episode, the only person Raph could express his true feelings to was Spike. Everytime Raph ranted negatively about his brothers, Spike was there to hear it, causing him to have a negative view on Leo, Donnie and Mikey. Slash shows pure hatred for the brothers, especially Leo. After brutally attacking Leo, Slash smiles and says “Been looking forward to that for a long time.” The mutagen warped Slash’s brain, making him go crazy and viciously attack Raph’s brothers because like Raph said earlier in the episode, he doesn’t need them. Raph gets a visual representation of his words and negative thoughts towards his brothers in action through Slash. Slash’s purpose in this episode is to represent all of Raph’s anger and frustration he’s had for his brothers over the years based on what he told Spike. By the end of the episode, Splinter comforts Raph and suggests that he should “focus on the friends he has in the present''. For all of Raph’s life, he trusted and relied only on Spike, but Spike is now gone, so Splinter indirectly advises his son that it is time to trust and rely on others, to not bottle up his emotions, advice that Raph takes.

As the show goes on, Raph slowly progresses, opening up more to others, which will eventually lead to him having two great things in his life come season 4 (but we’ll talk about them later).

Casey was another part of Raph’s development that some fans don’t notice. Donnie makes a comment that Casey being around is like having two Raphaels. While Raph and Casey become best friends because of their similar personalities, Casey is also a reflection of Raph. When around Casey, Raph has to be the level headed one, the responsible one. He criticizes Casey for not being stealthy like a ninja in the S2 episode Newtralized and not planning ahead in the fight (remind you of anyone? *cough* Leo *cough*). When they first meet, Raph gives Casey the same exact advice his father gave him earlier in the episode that “anger is a dangerous alley”. Casey is a more reckless version of Raph, something Raph unknowingly sees and tries to help and protect, he has to be the mature one in their dynamic, opposite to when he’s teamed up with Leo and gets to be the rebel again. It’s like he’s getting a taste of his own medicine.

Not to mention, Raph met Casey after he lost Spike, having a new friend he can rely on. Later on in the episode Newtralized, after meeting Slash, Casey says, “Is that your old pet turtle? The one who got mutated?”. This little piece of dialogue is so important to Raph’s character but it sadly goes over a lot of people’s heads. It indirectly tells us that off screen, Raph has opened up to Casey and told him about a traumatic and hard time in his life. Progress that we will continue to see as the show goes on.

Season 3 Raph at the Farmhouse was the peak of his character development! Raphael took charge in that arc. He became the temporary leader of the group when Leo was out of commission due to his injury. After losing their father (reminder they thought Splinter was dead by this point), being chased out of their home and the city, and losing to one of their greatest enemies, Raph stepped up. He took care of everyone. He made sure that Donnie, Mikey and even April kept up with their ninja training, he was the one who is always prepared during an attack or new threat (ex: when he and the others were trapped in the geyser in the episode Eyes of The Chimera and he was the only one with a grappling hook to help them get out, criticizing his brothers for not being true ninjas and how they should be prepared for anything). April even states that for months, Raph stayed by Leo’s side when he was in his coma, refusing to eat or sleep, and when Leo did wake up, Raph was the first to help him get back on his feet, taking him out on walks to help get his strength back. 

Raph not only was there for Leo, but he was there for Donnie. After Donnie gets heartbroken when April rejects his music box gift in the episode A Foot Too Big, Mikey is sympathetic, but Raph hits Donnie with a much needed reality check. He tells him bluntly “It's never gonna happen, Donnie. We're mutants. She's a girl. You're a giant talking turtle. The sooner you get used to it, the better.” Even with that though, Raph acknowledges his brother’s broken heart and quickly tries to cheer Donnie up and get his mind off April with some training. Then later in the episode, when Donnie expresses how uncomfortable he is with Big Foot’s romantic gestures, Raph once again nails it perfectly by telling him, “Now you know how April feels.” Some may say what Raph said was mean and how he should’ve put him down more gently, but in truth this was something Donnie needed to hear and no one else was gonna do it any time soon! Someone had to open his eyes to the situation, and Raph was the perfect candidate. 

The final brother dynamic in the farmhouse arc with Mikey and Raph was little when it came to screen time, but Raph still shows how much he loves his little brother after Mikey gets captured by the Punk Frogs in the episode The Croaking. As soon as he sees Mikey, Raph drops everything mid fight to hug his brother, relieved for his safety, though the hug abruptly ends after Raph and Mikey find the situation to be “weird”, a very brotherly response if you ask me XD 

With this, we know full well how much Raph loves his brothers. Despite his “lone wolf” attitude in season 1, Raph makes it clear from the very beginning that he does care about his brothers more than anything else in the world. He's loyal, he stays by his brothers' side and has admitted countless times that he would rather die than see them get hurt. "I have no problem risking my own life, but risking my brothers?" (S1 ep14) and he states this again in the next season, “Sorry, Slash. My brothers come first, no matter what.” (S2 ep7). Raph makes it clear (to the audience) that his brothers and his family always come first (so I don’t know why fans keep saying he hates them).

Also, anyone that says that he abuses and is a bully to Mikey needs to go touch some grass because that is a big fat lie and you obviously didn't watch the show (or you're an only child). Brothers are going to fight and pick on each other. That is normal! As someone with an older brother (who is much like Raph btw), I can confirm that siblings to this and in the end we still love each other and have each other’s backs. Out of all the brothers Raph is the most protective of Mikey. The second he learns that Mikey is hurt or someone wants to harm him he is the first going in for the attack or the first one to take action to protect Mikey and bring him to safety.

I mentioned this earlier, but I love how Raph grows/learns to respect Leo as a leader, though he still questions his brother’s judgment from time to time. By season 5, in the episode The Forgotten Swordsman, Raph and Mikey are out on patrol and start talking about Leo. Mikey expresses concern for Leo to which Raph says “He just misses Master Splinter. Being sensei's hard on him. I just wish we knew-”. Raph gets cut off, so we never know what he was going to say, but I headcanon he was going to say “I just wish we knew how to help him.” Raph acknowledges Leo’s growing stress and pressure of being the new sensei after Splinter’s death and he wants to help out anyway he can, but he (and everyone else) just don’t know how. He looks up to and respects Leo and cares about him a lot more than fans and even he himself believe.

Though we see very little moments of them, my overall favorite brother dynamic is Raph with Donnie. I like how Raph is the only brother who is direct and tries to help Donnie move on from his crush on April because he worries and cares for Donnie and knows he’s sensitive when it comes to his feelings. Even when Raph shows disapproval of Donnie’s crush on April, Raph will still be a wingman for Donnie. In the episode Operation: Break Out, after rescuing April’s dad from the Kraang prison, Raph starts hyping Donnie up in front of April to make him look good. Also Donnie refers to him and Raph as “The New A Team” in the episode Arena of Carnage (Mikey does too at one point in another episode, but later he calls him and Raph “Team Awesome”). I just think Donnie and Raph are a fun team and a very underrated sibling duo of “brains and brawn” in the series. It deserves more love and attention from fans.

I’ve talked about how much Raph cares for and is loyal to his brothers, but he is the same towards his friends too. He's protective of April, being the one to go rescue her from the Kraang in the episode The Kraang Conspiracy. He’s even the one who’s words get to April when she was possessed by the alien Za-Naron in the episode The Power Inside Her, reminding April about how much she cares for Donnie which gives her the strength she needed to free herself from Za-Naron’s control. Raph shows he cares for Casey's safety when they do dangerous missions that are out of Casey’s element and was the one who made sure Casey was safe when he was cursed by Alopex’s blade in season 4, and despite their past, Raph is always worried and shows concern for Slash.

Raph shows throughout season 2 that he has faith in Slash to turn to the side of good (something Raph gets proven right about later on). Raph is even one of the first people to trust Slash when he returns with his new team The Mighty Mutanimals in season 3, despite Leo's harsh judgements and suspicion.

The strange thing is, it is usually the other way around, with Leo wanting to make allies and Raph being the distrusting one, a dynamic switch we will see again in season 4…

I can’t make a 2012 Raphael appreciation post/character analysis without talking about the queen herself, Mona Lisa! As mentioned previously, Raph is a softie, and one of the biggest examples of that is when it comes to his relationship with his love interest, later girlfriend, Y’gythgba aka Mona Lisa. When trying to survive on the ice planet, Raph is the only one to suggest that he and the others should team up with the Salamandrians to find the metal they need to fix their ships and get off the planet. Though Raph’s plan is highly motivated by his newfound feelings for Mona, he knows that it is the best option that can help save his family and friends, and despite Leo dismissing the idea, Raph sneaks off alone to convince the Salamandrians himself. 

Raph’s feelings for Mona Lisa have always interested me, specifically how he fell for her. Unlike his brothers with their love interests being the cliche “love at first sight”, Raph’s was “love at first fight”. We all know how Raph fell for Mona, they fought each other after a misunderstanding and after one good punch to the face Raph was smitten. He quickly began admiring her strength, acknowledging what a power punch she gave him, and amazed by her skills and spirit as a warrior. Raph admits right from the start that he loves Mona because she's “bigger, stronger and a better fighter than” him. He never once feels that his masculinity is being threatened when around her, and throughout their relationship never told her to not be herself. He loves that she's better than him as a warrior and can beat his shell! He shows excitement at the suggestion of him and her sparring together someday in the episode The War for Dimension X. He adores her, and never cares about others' judgment regarding his relationship with her. When Casey laughs at him after discovering his crush on her, instead of denying his feelings or getting angry at Casey and later the others for mocking him (something we would expect Raph to do), Raph instead continues expressing his romantic interest in her to everyone. He opened up about his feelings to others! If S1 Raph met and fell in love with Mona, I’m convinced he would’ve been a tsundere and just be in denial about it the entire time, not wanting to look soft because he has a crush. Raph met Mona at the perfect time in his life. He has emotionally mature. In truth, I think Mona made Raph a better man and was the key to help him continue his character growth throughout the rest of the series.

A good example of how much Raph has changed and matured is when Mona betrayed him in the episode The Evil of Dregg. Discovering that his first love, the one person he trusted “more than anyone in the galaxy” betrayed him, broke Raph’s heart and his fighting spirit. When Mona pleads for forgiveness, you can understand Raph’s anger and now he’s not quick to forgive her, but even when he’s mad at her he still loves her. Look at Raph right before Mona goes off into battle:

If he was truly mad at her, he wouldn’t be looking back, his back would be fully turned, refusing to have his eyes meet with her’s. He looks back at her but he’s not looking at her with anger or hatred, it’s sorrow. Raph still cares, he’s just hurt at the moment. Because of the betrayal, Raph believes that everything he and Mona have been through meant nothing to her, but then Mona assures him that his doubts are wrong when she tells him that she loves him for the first time, and that’s all Raph needed to hear to bring back his fighting spirit and run into battle to join her. Raph even snaps and tries to kill Lord Dregg after he harmed Mona and shows just how far he’ll go for her if someone ever tries to harm her (he does it again in S5 when Bishop insults Mona, he quickly jumps in to defend “his woman”). By the end of the episode, Raph and Mona reconcile. Him forgiving her shows how much Raph has grown as a character. S1 Raph would never have forgiven her, he would’ve held the grudge and not let go of it, but this Raph knows what Mona did was out of her control, she was blackmailed, so Raph did the mature thing, understood her situation, and forgave her. Him forgiving her shows how strong their love for each other is, and they keep on showing how much they love one another throughout the rest of the series. 

Some other little details about Raph’s character that I like is that he's an animal guy. With his first pet Spike and the rooftop pigeons, we see a side of him that everyone else rarely gets to see. This minor trait about his character speaks a thousand words. It shows that he is gentle and caring at heart despite his tough persona he gives out to everyone else. We see this not only with Spike in seasons 1-2, but also later in seasons 4-5 with his new pet, Chompy Picasso.

By the time Chompy enters Raph’s life, he has matured. The purpose for Spike was for Raph to have someone to talk to about his feelings and express himself without judgment. Spike was like a therapy dog. Chompy however is not that. Raph has learned to open up by this point in the story, so he doesn’t need Chompy to talk about his personal problems and frustration as much as he had with Spike. Yes, Chompy is there to listen to Raph but at this point in the story Raph is open and expressive and not afraid to show his feelings to others. Raph has probably mention things to Chompy he still wouldn’t say to others (like in The Tale of Tiger Claw, he talks about Mona Lisa to Chompy, seeming that this isn’t the first time he’s done this), but Chompy isn’t a pet for Raph to vent to, instead he was a way for Raph to learn a new responsibility. Chompy is just a baby who just needs someone to love him, to look after and care for him, and Raph is that someone. He took a big responsibility to take care of Chompy after it was believed that his mother, Tokka, was killed. Raph doesn’t need another therapy dog, no, Chompy needs a caregiver, and when Tokka returns to take back her baby, she sees how much Chompy loves Raph and decides that it is better for him to stay on Earth with Raph where she knows he will be safe. I will always stand by this: Raph needed Spike, Chompy needed Raph.

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Raphael is more similar and a parallel to Splinter than Leonardo is. Leo may be Splinter’s “best pupil” and next in line to be sensei for the Hamato Clan, but Splinter and Raph have a lot more in common than the show’s canon or even the fandom acknowledge and it hurts to think of the wasted potential. Raph obviously inherited Splinter's temper. We see in flashbacks that when Splinter was a young man he had an uncontrollable temper that Shredder could easily manipulate, and we still sometimes see that temper blow up in the show when Splinter is upset and disciplining his sons. There’s more similarities though than just them both being hotheaded. They both have a love and appreciation for art. Splinter mentions in Lone Rat and Cubs that he always wanted to be an artist, and it’s well known he loves the renaissance artists. Raph being an artist is a cute and fun little detail about his character that I really like and you see many times in the show, but fans barely acknowledge. He’s the one who painted the Venus pin up girl on the Party Wagon, he gives his girlfriend the nickname “Mona Lisa” (which he indirectly tells her that every time he calls her Mona Lisa he is reminding her that she is a beautiful work of art), and names his pet "Chompy Picasso" after the artist Pablo Picasso. Not to mention that both men know the pain and fear of the woman you love dying in your arms. I love Raph’s relationship with Splinter in the show, and it’s honestly way more interesting than Leo and Splinter’s.

I love their little “Spike, chew on your leaf…” bit in season 1 and how they bond over the Japanese mantra to help Raph overcome his fear of insects in season 4 (btw Raph being scared of bugs was so fun, I like the trope of the big strong dude being scared of something so small and harmless). The episode ends on a fun note, Splinter tells Raph to not tell the others of the mantra cause he “might use that trick on them one day”, showing that Splinter has a devious fun side to him similar to Raph’s.

Is 2012 Raphael perfect? Not at all. No character is. He still has flaws, but I feel that’s what makes him such a fun character still. I feel he had the best and most character development in the series. I love his voice actor, I love his character development, I love his relationship with his brothers, friends and girlfriend, I love all the little character details about him from his love of animals to his passion in art. It’s just my personal opinion, but I think 2012 Raph is the best version of Raphael. He has faced injustice in this day and age with fans misrepresenting his character and hating him for the wrong reasons. You don’t have to like him, everyone has their own opinions on certain characters and I respect that, but there’s a time when not liking him goes too far with saying he’s a bully and abuses his family. The haters can go argue with a wall, 2012 Raphael is the best and I love him, and I hope this post made you appreciate him a little bit more too <3

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 3.2

The thing is Paul just physically can't say what he feels. It's just an impossibility for him. So if he says reading a negative article about himself “doesn't help” or “it's not good” but it “doesn't get home” I just assume he means ‘It hurts, but I can't think about that too hard or I'll go into a self-hate suicidal spiral again’. 

I always love how Paul says Linda. “Linder is er, nature mad.” 

She!!

Hearing Paul talk about watching Mary be born makes me wonder if John was there with Sean? Also I wonder if Linda would talk about the experience so glowingly. Probably. She's tough as nails. I had a lovely experience, personally, after the epidural lol

“Dear friend . . . I'm in love with a friend of mine.” This is such a strange and beautiful song. It's a man who has to apologize to his friend for falling in love with someone else. At least, that's my interpretation. What's everyone else's?

I understand why he's so closed off. I do. But when John is going off every five seconds, we're missing half the picture here and it's turning out warped. They really are such a good study of attachment honestly.

“Nothing will ever break the love we have for each other.” White-knuckling my way through this section with this quote clenched in my fist.

Yoko, talking about John fighting with Paul: any couple will go from swearing to kissing and it's like that. What favors are you doing yourself here, babe? Maybe John's the PR mastermind between the two of them.

I find John's comparison of working with his romantic partner to being ambidextrous very confusing. Does he mean just doing two things at once?

“If I can't have a fight with my best friend, I don't know who I can have a fight with.” -- Intro slutty gender-fluid Wings Paul my beloved -- “Tell me why, why, why do you treat me so bad? So bad? When you're the best friend a man ever had?” I heard on some podcast somewhere. Someone was going on about how forward-thinking the Beatles were to refer to the women in their songs as “friends”. And I was like, nununununu do not give them that credit.

This is just soooo. In this era? 90 minutes in the middle of a recording session?

John: Sorry, my estranged fiance is calling, gotta take a break. Guitarist: again? Drummer: how estranged can they be if they call every three minutes? Yoko: should we just record the other parts or . . . John: (receiver cradled to his cheek, lovesick grin on his face) Hey, how was Heather's school program? Haha, yeah, I bet she was.

Okay, so you've made up with Paul and now you're done being homophobic? *Cardi b voice* well that's suspicious. 

The fact that John's asking Paul to play on stage with him in 1972?? Ugh! If it was just about legalities and money and shit I would be genuinely so pissed at Paul for not going. If only because Come Together sounds incredibly lame without his bass and piano. But also for the obvious fix-it reasons. I have to remind myself of how truly awful Klein was. By being the only one to stand firm against him, Paul actually ended up saving them all from a lot of trouble. But gosh would this have been good!

Things normal people say, for sure, for sure.

Okay in my head it went like this. John calls George and bitches about what an egomaniac Paul is because he won't do anything with him as long as Klein is involved. George gets off the phone and calls Ringo and they make a bet as to how long it is until John decides they should get rid of Klein. 

“Where's your audience, Paul?” “In the theater, Dave.” As he should. The cuntiness is unparalleled. Yeah, maybe people like to see a family friendly eclectic magic pixie sexy hard rock floor show? Ever thought about that, Dave?

Anyway, he seems genuinely pissed when the interviewer even mentions the other Beatles and he refuses to even admit he still talks to any of them. Why? 

John's just so benevolent and selfless. He's completely straight, of course, but he's always offering to do gay shit. You know. To be nice. 

I forget that not only was May their literal employee, but she was ten years younger on top of that. And yet, she managed to do so much good in that relationship. I have so much respect for her. 

There's obviously a lot going on behind the scenes that they don't say in interviews. Duh. But I wonder what it is that caused Paul to be so open and happy in this interview where he's asked about the other Beatles compared to before. I wonder if he and John had a really lovely talk, or if he's heard a demo of “I know, I know.” Or maybe it's just he's so reassured that they've got rid of Klein that he feels safe acting open to a reunion on record. Who knows, Yoko. 

So so smart to pair “In My Life” handwritten lyrics with the matching lyrics of “I know I know” playing at the same time. I forget about that connection (“I love you more”) because it's so overshadowed by the “than yesterday” right after. I seriously wonder if John thought he was being so obvious with this one the way he was with HDYS and half hoped people would ask him if it was about Paul and he could make up for the whole thing. Because it's just so heavy-handed. It's beautiful. I love it. I'm sure Paul loved it. But yeah. John's just beating us over the head with the references here. 

I also wonder (very tentatively!!!) if Paul was maybe a bit more emotionally vulnerable with John than we usually think. I would never think this except for the “you know I nearly broke down and cried” “I'm sorry that I made you cry” and “no more crying!” I don't know. What do we think? 

His little baby smirk. It's so silly and cute. He's being very positive about getting back together, and the interviewer asks if John would initiate that. Just a very coy, “a, well, I couldn't say.” I wonder if at that point if he'd said on live tv that he wanted to get together again if it would've happened. Seems like it might have, but I understand him being scared. 

Elton John taking pictures like a fan and John: I wanna impound all those photos till I get me green card. What a random idea for a commercial. I love it, obviously, it's hilarious. I wonder who thought of it. 

This doc is so good at implication. The smirk as “loving in the palm of my hand” plays. That's not a reference to hand jobs, is it? Certainly not talking to someone with beautiful hands?

Everyone go look up Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five on YouTube. The singing sex is something else, yeah, but I'm always so blown away by the piano part. The fact that he's self taught and doesn't read music and this man will go on to compose symphonies. 

[tongue-like-a-razor]

A freebie for a BBF flashback, any scene/situation you really want to write but haven’t gotten to yet!! (Only if you want!)

Hey there! Here's part 2 of Prom since a few of you asked so nicely. I hope you like it!

5k Weekend Bash Drabbles

Brother's Best Friend - Prom Part 2

Jake Seresin x Reader

“What do you need a suit for?” you overhear your brother ask.

You hold your breath, trying to make out Jake’s response. “I’m taking your sister to prom.”

You gulp, waiting for Bradley to react. It takes him a full half a minute to speak and, by this point, you’re nearly passing out from lack of oxygen. “You’re what?” he says finally.

Slowly, you exhale, glancing once more at yourself in the mirror. You’ve managed to pull off some spectacular winged eyeliner for the occasion and you’re sort of hoping that you look mature enough for Jake to perhaps start seeing you a little differently. You’ve never actually spent an entire evening alone with him, not without Bradley present. And this, well, this would normally be considered, by definition, a date.

You hear Bradley and Jake shuffling about as Bradley, no doubt, tears his closet apart looking for formal attire. You, meanwhile, take some time to perfect your hairdo. Once you hear your brother and Jake head down to the main floor, you start for the stairs, holding a pair of heels by their straps in one hand and the banister in the other.

The conversation in the kitchen ceases when the floor creaks, and the two of them look up to see you coming down the steps.

Bradley smiles warmly, approaching the foot of the stairs to take your hand and give you a hug. Jake takes a few steps toward you warily, his hands tucked away in the pockets of his – Bradley’s – pants.

“You look really nice,” Jake says once Bradley releases you.

You smile at him sheepishly. “It’s the dress,” you say, absently fluffing the skirt of your gown.

Jake’s mouth curls into a slight grin but he doesn’t respond.

“Alright, you kids have fun, now,” Bradley instructs, clapping Jake on the back as the three of you make your way into the front hall. "And stay out of trouble."

Jake lets you hold his arm as you slide on your heels. “Don’t worry, Bradley,” you say, “I’ll have him home by midnight.”

…

“Any requests?” Jake asks, popping open the glove compartment for you as he pulls out of the driveway.

You rifle through his pile of CDs and pull one out at random to look at the cover. “Cowboys from Hell?” you read the front skeptically.

“Yes,” Jake declares, nodding approvingly.

You make a face and return the CD to the pile in the glove compartment. “Do you have anything in here recorded in the last decade?”

Jake eyes you with a smirk. “Trust me, you’ll like it.”

“Let’s just listen to the radio,” you suggest.

…

“You okay?” Jake asks when you stop ten feet away from the door.

You shake your head anxiously.

Jake doubles back, coming to a halt before you, and takes your hands in his. “What’s up, buttercup?”

You meet his gaze with a troubled look. “Sean’s gonna know that this is a pity date.”

Jake narrows his eyes. “First of all,” he says, “fuck Sean.”

You chuckle lightly. “I almost did.”

Jake cringes, dropping your hands immediately. “Eww, I don’t wanna know.”

You raise your eyebrows, amused by his reaction. You imagine your brother would likely respond in the same way, however, so you don't read into it too much. “And second of all?” you ask.

Jake sighs sharply. “Second of all, this is not a pity date. I’m not that compassionate.”

You laugh. Jake likes to act all tough but you know him better than to buy that. “Yeah, you’re such a dick,” you agree with a shake of the head.

“And don’t you forget it,” he says, falling in step with you. He puts a hand on your lower back as he leads you inside. “By the way,” he says, lowering his head so that you could hear him over the music. “It’s not the dress.”

You gulp, nearly fainting as his breath washes over your cheek, and glance up to look at him. “What?” you utter, not even noticing all the stares you get because you've arrived to prom with a college boy.

He stops walking once the two of you are on the dance floor and he holds his hand out for you to take it as a slow song comes on. “You said it’s the dress, when I told you you looked nice,” he reminds you, closing his fingers around your hand while he rests his other hand on your waist. “It’s not.”

You gaze at him, speechless for a moment as he starts to sway you to the – now distant sounding – melody.

“It’s you.”

5k Celly