#top ten reasons i can't date anyone

[johnnycakesb14de]

"Mental health matters !!!" Until it's hypersexuality caused by being sexually abused as a kid by people older than you and your friends

[hitlikehammers]

on the radio

rating: t ♥️ cw: criminal-levels of softness, love beyond the boundaries of what it even meant to love before the spring of ‘86 ♥️ tags: established relationship, rockstar!eddie, teacher!steve, rockstar husbands, tour dates coincide with summer vacation because Eddie can't sleep without his Stevie thank you for your cooperation with this policy, soul-deep love, slice of life, softness

for @steddielovemonth day fourteen: Love is being late to work because you can’t ever say goodbye in a reasonable amount of time (@sharpbutsoft)

more codependent rockstar!husbands of the je ne regrette rien variety, you say? oh, well, I mean: I guess ♥️

Steve can fucking taste freedom, he swears.

He looks at the list of student records he needs to close out to transfer to the high school before he can pack away the last of his office and sign the hell off for the school year—and start the summer tour cycle with his husband through the Midwest, up and down the East Coast, and then they’re fucking breaking Europe, got signed on to a couple festivals, and Steve is goddamn vibrating with excitement and shit, just: are there parts of your heart that like, fit together? Like bones where they connect and shit, or is it all just one piece?

Steve thinks is more like one piece, but he is gonna go with that it’s more like stitched together or something, just so he can fucking say exactly what he feels, which is that his whole goddamn chest—heart and ribs and lungs and all the other fucking bones and shit there—all of it’s seriously bursting at the seams just with so much fucking pride, okay, because his Eddie’s goddamn made it. This dream of his isn’t just gold records; it’s a plane across an ocean to play for tens of thousands of people who don’t even all speak their language and that’s…that’s just like…

Steve’s so goddamn proud he’s split between wanting to scream about it from the top of the school and maybe sob about it with all kinds of sappy declarations peppered in as he messy-cries, so: bursting at the seams. Heart in his chest so full it’s primed to just explode like a goddamn confetti cannon.

Though time has kind of served as testament to the fact that that sensation’s less exclusively about Eddie’s music, or his success, and more just about Eddie.

Eddie, and loving him beyond the boundaries of any understanding Steve ever had about what it meant to love before the spring of ‘86.

He’s almost through the ‘V’s at the end of his alphabet of names when he notes the time—shit, he almost missed it.

He reaches for tiny radio in the corner of his desk that literally just lives there for the purpose of Eddie and the boys doing interviews on local stations every so often, and tunes it in 93.9.

…elcome to most of the infamous lords of midwestern metal, Corroded Coffin, the DJ’s introducing and good, Steve sighs and flips through his…fifth-to-last folder—just in time, he can listen to the interview the guys are squeezing in before hitting the road, then he can get home while the band’s getting their flight to the first venue in Chicago, they’ve got a couple of days there and he and Eddie are planning to look at some houses; Erica’s out of high school they’re ready to make the leap, and Steve will take the 6:10 flight and head straight to the show like the often do, it should work perfect; it’s great to have you guys back but Jeff, I gotta ask, the maybe most…colorful?

You can say obnoxious, Lenny, if anyone knows, we do, Jeff’s shooting playfully, and Steve snickers, distracted by closer folder-number-five and flipping open number-four.

I would never, the DJ gasps theatrically to laughter, and Gareth’s muted holler almost like he’s here! and then he continues on; that does open the line of inquiry, though: where’s your notorious frontman, Mr. Munson?

Steve’s hand slips on the folder; he barely catches it before it falls to the floor.

Eddie…Eddie’s not, not there?

Steve tries to talk down the adrenaline response that’s never wholly died at the idea of the love of his fucking life gone missing, and worse, the idea of something happening to him while unaccounted for: Jeff was playful. Gareth was teasing. They have to at least have known somethingabout Eddie’s absence, Steve talks down his racing heart to something just a little anxious as he listens for clues, and doesn’t have to mine little hints or anything even, it’s clear and plain:

Eddie’s got a sore throat, so like the diva he is, he’s resting it before showtime, Dougie chiming in and yeah, two points to that: one, the only reason Eddie’d have a sore throat would have been fine by sun-up, yeah, and it was, because Eddie was all sunshine and manic energy when they parted ways that morning, and then two: Steve actually knows these guys well enough to be able to tell when they’re talking out their asses.

And Doug is maybe the worst liar of the three on-air.

Steve’s chewing hard on his Bic, trying hard to keep a level head about this: if anything drastic had happened, he’d have heard, they all have his office number, they all know where he is, it would—

Steve startles when he hears rubber squeaking down the hall outside the office; as far as he knows, though, he’s the only person here—everyone else takes at least a week free from this place after classes end, but Steve has a timeline, and a flight to catch, so y’know: sacrifices must be made and whatnot.

He barely gets to turn in his chair to consider getting up to check when the culprit and his perpetually-trashed Reeboks skids to a halt in the doorway.

“Sweetheart,” Eddie beams at him, a little breathless, hair a fucking mess but smiling so big, those dimples popped so deep: shit, if Steve’s heart hadn’t been quick already, that’d fucking do the trick.

“Eddie,” Steve stands, and meets him in the middle where Eddie’s already crossing to him, kissing him immediately and hungrier than the maybe-five-hours since the saw each other really fucking merits. “What, you, why aren’t you at the station?”

Eddie’s eyes flick to the radio as he clocks the question and of all the reactions Steve could predict from him, the fake-sheepish grin with the glimmering fucking eyes?

Probably could have guessed that one.

“I forgot something.”

“You forgot something?”

“Yeah, something important,” he nods fervently and Steve frowns.

‘Babe, you could have called, I’m meeting you at the arena, I could drop it with security if needed to,” he offers, argues: but not really, and not like it fucking matters, because here Eddie is, and the boys were planning to run straight to the airport from the interview, both of which are in the city but Steve’s not, and Eddie’s gonna have to be fucking quick, here, if he doesn’t want to be late for his goddamn flight; did he already swing by the house for whatever it is he needs, it—

“Nope,” Eddie pops the denial like a bubble; “can’t leave it with security.”

Steve squints at him, because now it’s a puzzle. Now it’s Eddie being…kind of a little shit.

And Steve doesn’t even begrudge him the momentary panic before; he’s too adorable. Steve’s too fucking in love.

And now he’s curious.

“You kissed me goodbye.”

“Oh, always,” Eddies almost offended by the suggestion he could have forgotten that. As in: ever.

“Said you loved me.”

“Bigger than the universe,” Eddie says exactly what he came up with that morning, like he does every morning, some new outlandish way to describe the scope of his affections and Steve rolls his eyes but eats it up every fucking time; “and the universe is always expanding so I love you bigger than what it’s expanded to since this morning, too.”

Steve can’t help but kiss him for that, because; well.

Because.

“What the hell else then?” Steve asks, because Eddie has a fucking timeline here and then his husband’s grin stretches slow, and sly, and then he’s drawing Steve in, and kissing him deep, licking as far as he can reach and wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist tight, knocking him a little off balance by design and Steve goes with it, because he fucking loves it, and then—

“Goddamnit, Edward,” Steve growls between them into Eddie’s shit-eating fucking grin as he smacks Steve’s ass, again, and keeps his hand there to squeeze while he pecks at Steve’s lips with feeling.

“It’s good luck, baby, for the journey!” Eddie protests between kisses. “It would curse the whole shebang if I left without showing the appreciation duly accorded to a goddamn masterpiece,” and then he leans in and goes deep one more time, draws a moan out and drags it slow from Steve’s lips before breaking away to declare emphatically:

“Unthinkable.”

And Steve…Steve fucking loves this man bigger than the whole expanding fucking universe or whatever, so he kisses him back until Eddie’s the one moaning, then pushes him away, kinda hard.

“Get out of here, you fucking lunatic,” but then he’s quick to drag Eddie back for one last kiss to mouth against him: “have a safe flight, I’ll see you tonight.”

And Eddie smiles against him, and makes to actually listen, but.

Not before Steve slaps that ass as it makes its way out the door.

Turnabout’s fair play.

Or whatever.

tag list (comment to be added): @pearynice @hbyrde36 @slashify @finntheehumaneater @wxrmland @dreamwatch @perseus-notjackson

♥️

divider credit here

[6rookie-writer0110]

Into the cold

MCU cast X Male Reader

Request - Hi hope your doing good, I wanted to ask for a MCU cast X Male Reader platonic please R and Tom Holland are in an interview and they watch a blooper with them having a staredown but forget their lines so they lean in a kiss (this was before Tom and Zendaya was dating) and R says that's his first kiss with a guy and within the top 10 gayest things his done and a few weeks later the NWH cast react to fanart and some fanfiction of R and Tom's characters dating and during the interview R is like "I kissed Tom before you Zendaya"

You and the cast of No Way home are on The Tonight Show, and you and Tom have to talk about the movie. You took a selfie with Zendaya and Tom, everyone posted it online.

“Y/n, how does it feel to be in Spider-Man: No Way Home movie?” Jimmy asked.

“I feel excited and I can't wait for everyone to see the character I will play” You smiled.

“Is it true, you and Tom met before making the movie?” Jimmy asked.

“Yes, it's true. We both went for an audition for the same role in the movie Spies in Disguise. We are getting along, waiting for us to be called and we tried to copy each other’s accents. And I sent him a message teasing him that I got the role” Tom said.

“He is very rude and mean,” You said.

Everyone starts to laugh and you are smiling.

“They are always like this. Sometimes they can act like kids” Andrew said.

“Then Benedict would act like the dad and tell them to stop,” Zendaya said.

“Ever since that day, he makes fun of me for not getting the role I would try out for,” You said.

“Sometimes, Y/n would try on my spiderman mask and send me selfies,” Tom said.

Jimmy starts to laugh.

“I think we have pictures of that” Jimmy smiled.

You have the mask on and you try to eat a hot dog, in the next picture you pretend to brush your hair, and in the last picture you have the Dr strange cape on and Benedict is behind you glaring at you.

“He likes to get into it stuff after I tell him not to do it,” Benedict said.

“He does have cool stuff,” You said.

“Such a dork” Andrew laughed.

Now Jimmy is showing bloopers of the whole cast. Jimmy and the audience are laughing at the video.

“Apparently, this part everyone is talking about but we will show it,” Jimmy said.

In the video... Tom made you laugh and you forgot your lines and he forgot too. You and Tom have a stare-down, then you and Tom leaned and kissed each other on the lips.

“What just happened at that moment,” Jimny said.

“We had to do a scene. Y/n made me laugh, then for some reason, we just stared at each other, and we kissed” Tom said.

“That was one of the top ten gayest things, I've ever done,” You said.

The whole cast is staring at you right now.

“What other stuff have you done, Y/n?” Tobey asked.

“We all want to know,” Andrew said.

“Time for a commercial break, Jimmy!” You said.

Jimmy starts to laugh so hard, that his face is turning red.

The next day, many fans reacted to the video of you and Tom. You got more followers on Instagram then days later, you and Tom did a Q&A on Instagram.

✬ ✯ ✯ ✫

You and the cast are at comic con. You are on stage with them answering questions from fans. Some of the fans showed you and Tom fan art and fanfic of Peter Parker and your character.

“My character won't be dating anyone in the movie. I will appear in some scenes” You said.

“How does it feel that you kissed Y/n,” A fan asked Tom.

Before Tom answered and you answered.

“I kissed Tom before you Zendaya," You said.

Everyone starts to laugh and Zendaya playfully smacked your arm. Everyone did laugh

“That hurts,” You said and start to rub your arm.

You and Zendaya started to laugh.

“You play too much” Zendaya laughed.

You and the cast continued to answer more questions. Later, you take pictures with fans along with Tom. Many will tell you and Tom, how they like the characters together.

-----

You are with the cast in London for the movie premiere. You pose with the cast and the paparazzi start to take the pictures. Now you start to answer questions

“Y/n, can you tell us anything about your character?” The host asked.

“I can't say anything, I don't want to get in trouble like how Tom spoiled the movie years ago,” You said.

“Wow, Y/n why do you have to bring that up” Tom laughed.

“Tom do you want to work with Y/n again? You two seem close” The host asked.

“Oh, I hope I can work with Y/n in a comedy movie now that will be interesting,” Tom said.

Later, Tom posted a picture of you sleeping in your chair on set. Tom wrote a caption and everyone started to like it...

Tomholland2013 - Y/n drools when he is sleeping 😴

Zendaya told you about it by text and you started to laugh.

[drtanner]

God. I'm pissed off again and you're all going to hear about it.

Some of you may know that I'm finally in a position to get my top surgery done on the NHS. I've been on their waitlist for a full year and it's finally my turn! But god, they're being asses about my BMI.

Some context: If you're trans, you can get top and bottom surgery on the NHS, but they have some really strict rules about BMI. Most top surgeons and all surgeons who perform bottom surgery require your BMI to be below 30. A few top surgeons will take you if your BMI is below 40, but you'll have to travel to see them and appointments are limited and hard to get. Over 40 BMI and you've got no options. The stated reason for this is that it's supposedly harder to get good results if they have to excise too much fat during the surgery. I'll let you decide how plausible that really is.

My BMI is a little over 40, by about 3.5kg, so not a huge amount. My fat percentage is a bit under 34, so it's not that I'm terribly fat, I just have a lot of muscle and very heavy bones! The surgeon himself - as well as every other medical professional who sees me - was surprised at how heavy I am given my size when he examined me last year and took Before pictures. My upper body is actually very lean and they know this because they've seen me! However, they're still being shits about my BMI, because BMI doesn't discriminate between muscle and fat, or how broad someone is, or how heavy their bones are or anything else, and apparently that's the only metric they go by. I've always had difficulty losing weight, probably because there really isn't that much to lose, so being told that I've now got to find a way to lose at least 3.5kg by October or have my surgery date pushed back isn't ideal and I'm getting really strung out about it. I've spent most of the last 15 years trying to get my BMI down without losing the muscle I worked so hard to build up or cut my leg off with fuck all success. I've been stable at my current weight for most of the last decade but now I have to figure out how to drop down to 121.5kg within three months.

The amount of hoops one has to jump through to get access to any kind of trans healthcare is absolutely ridiculous, a direct result of all the stupid handwringing about "permanent, irreversible surgeries!!!" and so on, as if I can't make choices about my own body.

Only, all of this bullshit about my weight and my BMI reminded me of something else: About ten years ago, when I was also getting shit about my weight (again, despite not being terribly fat, just heavy!), I got referred to a weight clinic. After seeing dieticians and being put on a drastically restricted calorie intake to no avail, I got shuffled off to the weight clinic, where they did the same blood tests that my GP had done before she referred me, saw that they came back normal again, unsurprisingly, and then promptly offered me bariatric surgery.

This was presented as the only treatment they were able to give to help me with my weight loss, to cut out part of my stomach and staple it back together to make it much, much smaller, because they didn't believe me when I told them I was controlling my diet. Like, oh yes, you say you aren't overeating all the time, but just to make sure you can't eat too much, we're going to make your stomach tiny so that you physically cannot fit food into it anymore. I've never heard anything good about bariatric surgery from anyone who had it. Every story is a horror story, from people who can't eat without stomach pain anymore, or keep down anything heavier than soup anymore, or who suffered through all of this only for what little weight they lost to come back in a few years' time. That was the only help they were willing to offer me.

I got up and left, and didn't go back again after that.

So, contrast these two situations. On one hand, I'm grappling with the NHS over my top surgery for entirely stupid reasons because it's ludicrously difficult to access any kind of trans healthcare, but especially surgeries, because they're "permanent and irreversible!!!" and "you might regret it!!!!" or whatever. Meanwhile, they couldn't throw bariatric surgery at me hard enough, just because my BMI was high. Is cutting out a huge piece of my stomach to make it smaller not "permanent or irreversible"? Might I not regret that? Especially when there's no guarantee that it would achieve the desired result at all? I know what I'm likely to get from the top surgery, but somehow that's the one nobody wants me to have.

Anyway, sorry about the long post. It's a fucking dogshit situation and I'm fucking sick of it.

[lavenderbexlatte]

day 10: virginity

nct/wayv 1.4k words female reader insert Reader x Liu Yangyang NSFW

🖤 warnings: outing your bro as a total virg, secret crushes, situation-typical coercion, overuse of brospeak/yangspeak🖤

kinktober masterlist

connect with me! / masterlist

"I'm not a fucking virgin. Get out of my room."

Yangyang's voice holds more vitriol than you've probably ever heard from him, and that's how you know that you and Renjun - mostly Renjun - have officially crossed a line.

"It was just a joke," says Renjun.

You smile, but it feels more like a grimace on your face. "Obviously it was a little-"

"I mean, sorry if you're sensitive about it," he continues, absolutely unapologetic. "Like, okay, Xiao Dejun, way to be mad about nothing."

Yangyang fixes him with a look that would send a lesser zodiac sign running. "I told you to get out of my room."

Renjun, Aries sun, just shrugs. "If it wasn't true, you wouldn't be so mad."

But Renjun does leave, and you follow him out, giving Yangyang another pleading smile that he misses entirely as he turns around to clamp his headphones over his ears and glare at his computer screen.

What was supposed to be a chill night in Yangyang's apartment is ruined. His roommate is out of town and everything (Ten is cool but he's overbearing, and he wins every single board game that the lot of you try to drunkenly play, so you don't miss him this time).

But Renjun had been bragging about his latest hookup-turned-Something, with an insufferable guy from the music department, when the cursed line had been uttered.

Yangyang had showed about three seconds of disinterest, and Renjun had snapped, "At least I'm getting some. Not like some adult virgins we know."

It was vague but pointed, undeniably mean. Renjun can be mean, everyone knows that, but it's not usually used against any of the friend group. That's why, at this sudden slight from one of his closest friends, Yangyang immediately blushed an angry pink and lost his shit.

The two of you were banished from Yangyang's bedroom, where the PS5 is, but not from the apartment yet, so Renjun makes himself at home on the couch while you head to the kitchen for a beverage of some kind. And to clear your head.

You'd never even thought about Yangyang's virginity status before. Why would you? He's your friend, a dorm neighbor from freshman year who turned into a friend after one too many floor parties spent together.

Renjun really called him out, and from the over-the-top anger he'd received in return, you can't help but think that Renjun was one hundred percent right. You go on the occasional date that the boys know about, and Renjun is mostly out of his thot phase now but there was a while back there when he was getting around impressively. Ten, Kun, Chenle...even Dejun has incredible cringefail dick game.

But Yangyang...

"Did you really have to say that?" you ask, joining Renjun on the couch with a bottled coffee thing that you're pretty sure is Ten's.

He glances at the drink. "Ten-ge is gonna be pissed."

"Because you were kind of out of pocket."

"I didn't think he'd be so..." Renjun sighs. "I'll apologize when he chills out."

That's a good plan, in theory.

Only in theory, though, because Yangyang doesn't chill out. Not for the rest of the evening.

After another hour or so on the couch with you, Renjun knocks on his bedroom door, to no answer. He calls it a night and heads home soon after that.

You stick around.

The dude very obviously had his feelings hurt, and eventually he's going to need to talk about it. Ten is usually the one who gets Yangyang to open up, but he's not here, so you think you're probably the next best thing. A very far second.

It's a dumb thing for anyone to be upset about. Especially someone as interesting and funny as Yangyang, someone so cute, so attracti-

Well. No reason to go overboard.

You knock on Yangyang's door, this time. It's late now, creeping closer to midnight, but you know that Yangyang doesn't sleep until the sun comes up again.

He doesn't answer. You knock harder.

The door flies open, Yangyang's snarling face on the other side. "Jesus fuck, Renjun, go shove a-"

"He went home," you interrupt.

"Then you should-"

"Can we talk?" you ask. "Pretty please?"

"About what? All the ass I'm not getting?"

You shrug. "If that's how you wanna phrase it, I guess."

It wouldn't surprise you if Yangyang stuck to his guns on this, but he sighs. He lets the door fall open more, as he turns on his heel to head back to his gaming chair.

"Can't wait until Hyuck and the whole hip-hop team know that I'm perpetually bitchless," Yangyang says.

There's a second of pause while you try desperately to figure out who Hyuck is - Renjun's fuckbuddy, that's it. The mop-headed one that Ten hates. And then you move to sit on Yangyang's bed.

"Renjun wouldn't do that," you say. "He felt really bad."

"He never feels bad."

That's kind of true, but still. "You guys are friends. He wouldn't wanna, like, fuck up your life on that scale."

"People are gonna know that I'm bitchless, and then no one will ever talk to me again."

"Stop saying bitchless, it's weird," you say. "And I really don't think anyone cares."

Yangyang spins his chair around to face you, your knees nearly touching as he looks at you with imploring puppy eyes. "It's not like I'm not trying, dude."

"Third-wheeling Ten to Johnny Suh's frat parties does not count as trying."

He ignores you. "I wanna get laid. It's just a lot of work, and people are so fake, and-"

"Just fuck someone you know," you interrupt. "It's either a total stranger, or someone you know well. Those are the best choices.

"Really?"

"In my experience, yes."

There's a beat of silence, and then, slowly, Yangyang's face breaks into a devious, awful grin.

It takes you another few seconds to figure it out.

"No!"

"Oh, come on!" he whines.

"Not if we were the last two people on earth!"

"You're already here!"

You scoff. "Oh, yeah, because that helps your case so much. Just what everyone wants to hear. 'You're convenient!'"

"It's not like that," Yangyang says. "You know I think you're amazing."

You're unreasonably touched, for an instant, by his choice of flattery. Not hot, not cool. Amazing.

"I know you're desperate, but it's a bad idea," you say.

But even as you protest, you know how you feel.

Yangyang is a good friend, a buddy. He's also irresistibly charming and quick, increasingly handsome as he's grown into his features over the few years you've known him. You've kind of got a soft spot for him, more than for any of your other friends, and you're suspecting that he kind of knows it.

"Fine," he says. "I'm just going to deal with my virg sadness by rubbing one out."

"Ew."

As if daring you, Yangyang slips his stupid cutoff tee over his head, standing there in just his low-slung shorts. He dramatically walks the semicircle around you and flops down on his back on the other side of the bed. You eye the pale jut of his ribs against his skinny torso, the wispiest excuse for a happy trail-

"You can leave. Or you can stick around," he says. "Y'know. If you want."

"You wouldn't dare-"

But he dares, hands going to the buckle of his thick cloth belt.

Well.

Ten's not home, and won't be home all week. Renjun is gone.

You stand up from the bed, as Yangyang is still undoing his belt with agonizing slowness, and slam and lock his bedroom door. Can't be too careful. Lots of people know the passcode to get in here. And the last thing you want is Guanheng or Chenle or someone coming in here and seeing this.

Seeing you, as you throw the last of your caution right out the slightly-popped window and climb right onto the bed again.

Right onto Yangyang.

He yelps, like he thinks you're attacking him, as you move to sit on top of his thighs, effectively pinning him to the mattress. The open belt and button of his shorts is tempting, though the thick band of his boxers has been visible the whole time anyway.

Yangyang's face, however, is just intrigued. Flustered, a bit, but not scared. His hands twitch against his covers like he wants to touch you, but isn't sure if he can.

"Do you actually wanna be un-virginized?" you ask, annoyed despite all of your interest (how did you get here?!).

He nods as well as he can, hair fanning against his pillow. "So badly."

Your heart is fluttering. You hate to admit it.

"Then it's your lucky day."

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

Tag Game: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Thank you for the tag, @chicgeekgirl89 @ladytessa74 💝

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

It was right about two years ago around this time of year, and the who would be Owen Strand himself, Mr. Rob Lowe. I was on Hulu and bored and saw this go by and thought well I've never met a Rob Lowe something that I didn't like, so what the hey.

I was not expecting to get this into it at ALL- like by the time the title card appeared for the first time I was like what is this show! (literally, I hadn't written anything in about 13 years, and I had no computer at the time, and there I was, scribbling down fic in my notebook like a child of the 80's lol).

Which season is your favorite?

For me it's a horserace between seasons one and four. Season one did so much with those ten episodes (why I have hopes season five can still be amazing with only twelve episodes) and season four for a couple reasons; one, season four fixed sooooooooo many of the mistakes they made in season three, and season four compared to season one is like them living their lives out loud.

Like that sad boy from New York who just wanted a way to bury his pain? He's getting married now!

That cop with zero work-life balance? Also getting married and has friends who adore him!

The trans firefighter worried he'll never date anyone he can be himself with- look at his relationship blooming now!!

It's just the best, season four.

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?

Well, first pick would be my Tarlos boys, but I also do love me some Owen Strand. Yes he's flawed but there is so much good in him, and he's an amazing dad and captain when his character doesn't suffer from the show needing him to be the center of everything and the fact they can't land a decent romantic storyline for him (though I do know why that is lol).

Top Five Episodes - Go!

4x08 1x01 1x10 2x05 4x12

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Carlos, cause I'd like to go just like a year before the show started - like it's been confirmed TK was his first real relationship but did he try to date? Did he ever hook up? Also I feel that because he is a good son that he wouldn't cut off his parents completely, but wouldn't see them until they asked, what was that like? Did he want to tell his mom about his life and feel like he couldn't? (note; this might be the most depressing begins episode ever - TK really burst in like the Kool-Aid man and color this boy's whole world).

Also Nancy, just because we don't get anything about her hardly - did she go to college? How long has she been with EMS? Did she have another captain before Michelle? All could use answers.

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season five?

TARLOS DOMESTIC MORNING SCENE PLEASE AND THANK YOU -

I want Carlos to be up early and trying to wake TK up gently. After TK says just a few more minutes four times, Carlos uses stern voice and tells him it's time to get up. TK still is hiding under the covers so Carlos puts those long fingers to use and tickles his husband right out of the bed.

Beyond that - for TK and Owen to have scenes together like they did in season four; for Owen's rich girlfriend to not be a thing anymore, for Robert's death not to cause any bad feelings between Strands, and for TK and Carlos to be on a team against their problem, not on opposite sides against each other.

Also Carlos picks TK up; in any context. I would love a Carlos puts his husband on his shoulder and carries him out of somewhere while he's protesting but would also accept in a romantic setting he picks TK up, or he picks a very sleepy TK up who wraps his legs around his husband and lays his head on his shoulder.

The still of a concerned Carlos on the phone and a despondent-looking TK behind him- what do you think is going on there?

I think a mean person told TK that Catan is stupid and TK got very upset about it and Carlos's phone call consists of "you made my baby sad? You picked a good day to die, son".

Juuuuuust kidding lol - no I think that Carlos has to do something dangerous (perhaps related to his father's murder, perhaps not) but it's known to be dangerous and TK is scared for him and begging isn't there anyone else? And Carlos gets the call confirming there's no one else; it needs to be Carlos.

We all know about the elusive spicy 5x05 scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

That is tough because they're still on network TV - I would say one or both of them are wet - possibly it is raining and they're at the famous Reyes ranch and Carlos takes TK in the barn.

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

(I may be stealing this) but I could see them going somewhere in Mexico - pretty but also not terribly far away, because of what happened but also because TK is very nervous about leaving their lizard child and is constantly texting his dad like what is Lou doing why haven't you sent me videos of him!!"

Shoutout to one of your favorite fan creations

The Little Monkey by @anewkindofme - my most reread fic and chock full of sweet TK and Owen feels. It is the ultimate comfort fic.

Where All This Love Comes From by @carlos-in-glasses - so much angst, so much heart, so much love, so much writing talent possessed by one person!

No pressure tagging - I tag @anewkindofme @nancys-braids @carlos-in-glasses @actualalligator @lemonlyman-dotcom @carlos-tk -tk @heartstringsduet and anyone else who wants to do it - open tag 🫶

[theerurishipper]

Felix and Kagami dating is way too out of the blue that Adrinette dating can't even compare. Kagami went from "You kidnapper!!" To "He's the same as me just socially inept kid!" In less than ten minutes top and I always wonder what the heck is happening. But the last scene where Felix give back Kagami's ring make me wonder if he slipped a command to make her change her mind about him. He's an oportunist thorough and thorough and also despite his claim that creating and destroying a sentimonster is cruel act, he didn't seems to have big moral flop after the red moon incident. So what's the chance he didn't do it, especially if he think it will works in some way?

Yeah like, they speed-ran enemies to lovers so quickly and both their characters suffer for it. It makes Kagami look pretty awful for siding with the guy who betrayed her friend and hurt her so badly, who is the reason their city is in danger, and Kagami goes ahead and lets Felix know her identity? What the fuck Kagami?

And I don't like how Felix is considered to be redeemed just because he's dating Kagami. He hasn't changed, he still justifies himself and doesn't apologize for the hurt he's caused Adrien and Marinette.

And literally, Kagami apparently falls in love with him a few days after he kills her mother in front of her. Sure, he brought everyone back, but he had to be talked into it, and yet she's so chill about trusting and defending him. This all also after he's just kidnapped her violently and admitted to having spent the past few days stalking her. It's played off as endearing because Marinette also does the same thing, and she just goes "you're so bad at social interactions" instead of calling Felix deranged and trying to get away from him. And apparently it just takes Felix giving one hint at a sob story and one speech about Senti-rights to convince her that everyone was wrong about him and that he never did anything wrong and that he was just misunderstood and couldn't express himself. That's some BS if I ever heard any. Kagami with the strong sense of justice who held a grudge against Adrien for not being a good boyfriend (she had the right to hold a grudge, I'm not blaming her for that, just pointing it out) just... instantly forgives Felix and defends him, and agrees with his justifications for betraying Ladybug and the people of Paris for selfish reasons? Kagami, who hates liars and manipulators, goes behind Marinette's back to reveal her identity without her consent to the last person she'd ever want knowing that information. Feligami as a ship thoroughly assassinated Kagami's character in every single aspect, and I hate what they did to my girl so much. The moment she started a relationship with Felix, her character just became so insufferable.

And Felix goes from being a wild card villain to just "sad boy uwu" the moment he meets her, and the writing just starts pretending his negative qualities, like his manipulative ways and his tendency to lie and take advantage of other people don't exist anymore. Because if they acknowledged those, then they'd have to acknowledge that Kagami "I hate liars" Tsurugi would despise him. Their personalities do not click at all, and for them to have any kind of dynamic and to speedrun their relationship, the writers wrote out their qualities that oppose and clash with the other person and just made them so OOC that it would enable them to get together in a few days. Kagami is saying shit about how Gabe and Tomoe won't allow them to "love each other freely" with her whole chest after she's known this guy for less than a week. And like, the way Kagami now just cares about her love with Felix instead of about anyone else around her, especially in the season dedicated to her friendships with others is so... bleh.

And I don't think Felix can be considered redeemed just because he's now just focusing on his obsession with this girl instead of trying to ruin his cousin's life again. All that talk about how he's doing this for Adrien and how he wants to fight for Senti-rights, and it all goes down the drain the moment he meets Kagami. Apparently, those things don't matter to him anymore, because he never mentions or speaks to Adrien ever again, outside of bringing him up as "the boy who Marinette loves." And he's perfectly okay with killing the Senti-projector, so I guess the drive to find freedom and justice for his fellow Sentimonsters was just a silly phase that he gave up on once he found a girlfriend? Okay.

And the implications! Felix just loves her because she's a Sentimonster like him, Kagami just confessed to still being in love with Adrien and he has Adrien's exact face and is similar to Adrien and Marinette (because they are both stalkers apparently). It just seems like their projecting their feelings onto the first person who seems like they meet their expectations instead of liking them for who they really are. Felix doesn't know jack shit about Kagami, and Kagami doesn't know anything about Felix other than that he's a massive jackass, and they are apparently in love less than week later? Sure Jan.

I don't think Felix used her Amok, honestly, but I also can't help but think it makes so much sense as to why Kagami does a complete 180 about him, like, she went from hating his guts to defending him against Ladybug and Chat Noir in less than a few hours. That ain't the Kagami I know, and it would make sense if she had been commanded to do so with her Amok. I used to think that Felix wouldn't do that, at least, but given how willing he was to give Adrien's free will back to Gabriel and how willing he was to kill his Senti-projector, I don't put it past him honestly. He's a massive hypocrite.

I have plenty more thoughts on these two and not enough time to write it all down, but I have written a long critique of Felix and Feligami here, if you're interested. But yeah, they suck lmao.

Thank you for your ask!

[gerogerigaogaigar]

At this point I hope that anyone still here is at least enjoying some of my recs. Obviously over the course of these 50 songs I've had a few songs in the back of my head that I really liked, but didn't have anywhere to put them or there was just a better choice for the category. So naturally here's one last playlist of things I just really like and want to share. There's no rhyme or reason here just enjoy!

Break Da Law '95' I could do a thesis on how influential Three 6 Mafia has been on modern hip-hop despite the fact that I never hear anyone mention them. BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW BREAK DA LAW

King Kunta This is Kendrick's biggest hit. It goes really hard.

Really Doe Danny Brown featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt. I fucking love everything on Atrocity Exhibition. Top ten album for me.

My Philosophy The death of DJ Scott La Rock was a turning point for the hip-hop scene. My Philosophy perfectly underscores the transition from teen bravado to politically charged anger that can be seen in KRS-One's performance.

Humpty Dance This song is hilarious. You can't stop me from singing along.

911 Is A Joke Remember when Flavor Flav had a reality dating show on MTV? That was weird.

Shadowboxin' Liquid Swords is another top ten album and this is prolly the best track off it. GZA and Method man square off and RZA crafts a beat meant to give Method Man's style a bit more spotlight.

Spiritual Healing The leading act in industrial hip-hop. Dälek are confrontational, abrasive and really good. fans of industrial music might enjoy these guys.

Earth People Dr. Octagon is one of Kool Keith's personas. He is a space alien from Jupiter with green and silver skin a pink afro and exposed glowing brain. Dr. Octagon mostly does medical malpractice for fun. Sometimes my taste in things is the stupider the better.

guns.up I've decided to end on something completely abrasive and unlistenable to the general public. clipping is a harsh noise hip-hop project from the mind of Daveed Diggs. If that name sounds familiar to you then you probably remember him for his hatsune miku binder. Daveed Diggs originated the role of Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton. So my challenge to all the Hamilton fans is this: Try to listen through midcity by clipping. Do it wimps!

That's All Folks! Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

[quodekash]

I rewatched episode 7 like 6 or 7 times this week im so ready for episode 8 and for all the fluff and then for the angst to come crashing in and for my dreams to be crushed

lets do this

SAILOM'S EXPRESSION I CANT WITH HIM

and it's a perfectly reasonable expression, saifah's very very sus

GOOD JOB KANGGGGGG

IM SO PROUD OF YOU MY BOY THATS AMAZING

HES SO HAPPY LOOK AT HOW HAPPY MY BOY IS

THE WORDS OF AFFIRMATION LOVE LANGUAGE BOY

AAAAAA

the SAME bed, mayhaps?????

yess yess yesssss

NOT ANYMORE BITCH

YOU'VE GOT A CLINGY-ASS BOYFRIEND NOW, AINT NO WAY HE'S SLEEPING IN HIS OWN BED

his expression says it all

seriously I love him so much

perth is such an amazing actor

B O Y F I E ???

HIS LITTLE POUTY FACE-

sailom, sorry mate, but he's too powerful. you can't say no to that face

kang I know you're obsessed with him but you need to go to sleep my guy

trust me, you wont do well on your exam if you dont sleep enough

you can't just stare at your boyfriend the whole night

yES???

OOOOO YES THIS IS AN INTERESTING QUESTION

bc there was no affection behind that kiss, it was anger and fury and revenge, anyone could see that, but when I was watching the first three episodes (I didn't start the series until the day after episode 3 came out) id kinda had the sense that there was a part of sailom that felt self-satisfaction at finally having kissed him? but idk im interested to see what he actually says

yes!! thats what I thought!!!!

I LIVE AND BREATHE FOR KANG'S CHEESY-ASS PICKUP LINES

I ALSO LIVE AND BREATHE FOR THE WAY SAILOM CANT CONTROL HIS LAUGHTER AT HOW B A D THOSE CHEESY-ASS PICKUP LINES ARE

ASHDFAHSDFHASDHFADSHFHASDFH

look I knew the spooning was inevitable but that doesnt mean it doesnt have the power to murder me senseless

HE LITERALLY HAS HIS HEAD ON SAILOM'S PILLOW HE'S LIKE CLING WRAP ON A SANDWICH

are kang's legs on top of sailom

BEHIND THE CURTAIN???? THERE'S NO WAY THAT'LL WORK

JUST GO TO THE BATHROOM YOU DOOFUS

no but that would be ADORABLE and I wish that was part of the plot alongside the kangsailom stuff

w h a t

is kang secretly a magician??? is that what the whole plot is ACTUALLY about, kang's secret ambitions to become a magician?

(it definitely isn't but I would absolutely read a fic about that so if anyone wants to volunteer please send it to me somehow)

OMG

THEYRE ALL EATING LUNCH TOGETHER????????????

AND GUYNAWA ARE RIGHT ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER???????????

BOV4IERLHFBNDSVOERI I LOVE GROUP DYNAMICS SO THIS MIGHT KILL ME

YEEEEEE

AND IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY

suuuuuuure buddy

you just dont want to admit that you like hanging around them

a DATE??? a DATE you say??????

are they aware of how flirtatious they're being? I would hope that they're aware of how flirtatious they're being

close, auto, very close. they're actually deeply in love with each other but they're both too afraid to admit it so they express it through pretend hatred

but they did get drunk together so I dunnoooo

AAAAAAAA

THEYRE SOUNDWINING AGAIN

I REPEAT, THEY ARE SOUNDWINING AGAIN

.........im ten minutes in and already ran out of images for one Tumblr post.

[biterbones]

blood and decay

a vampire searches for her prey at a local bar, only for the night to not go as planned

cw: 18+, mild gore, blood, lesbians, mentions of sex

she stepped into the club, occasionally feeling the hips of a beautiful woman brush up against her. the whole building was alive, it exhaled and she could feel the heartbeat in her toes. out of the entire crowd of flesh, one specific girl caught her interest. a lonely girl, standing at the bar all by herself.

the first thing she noticed was how tall, she was. her curly, messy black hair that covered half of her face nearly reached the top of the ceiling. scraping the lesbian flag painted on the roof. another obvious thing was how raggedy she was, she looked like an anemic corpse and for some reason, vanessa liked that. it made her chest hot thinking of all the ways she could suck up everything that rotting hottie has to offer.

"heeey there cutie, i'm vanessa. who are your?" she casually questioned while running a contrasting dark brown finger over the mystery woman's pale skin.

"oh shit, are you talking to me? i'm zaniyah." She awkwardly tucked some hair behind her ear, revealing differently covered eyes. brown and blue swirled together like koi fish in the pond of vanessa's mind. "i've never seen you around here before, are you new in town?"

"yeah i am, i move a ton. i might stay here for a while though, this place is nice. plus, the people here are beautiful..." vanessa reached a hand up to stroke her face softly, but found zaniyah too tall. "shit, i can't reach. you're really fuckin' tall. how about you lean down so i can properly flirt, m'kay babe?" an odd dull blush spread over zaniyah's cracked skin as she was hit on.

"yeah, i get that alot. it's probably because i'm 6'8" she chuckled awkwardly, flaunting her height the same way insecure men do.

"you being for real?! why are you here and not in the nba?!"

"maybe i'm here so i can be with you?" zaniyah shrugged her shoulders cautiously. now it was vanessa's turn to blush, the maroon spreading all the way to the bleach blonde coils that framed her perfect face. oh this girl was just perfect, her mind filling with thoughts of what she'd taste like.

"how about i buy you a drink?"

"sorry, i don't drink."

"really? are you one of those puritans that always go sober?" vanessa's soft, adorable laughter didn't hide the mocking in her tone well. luckily the peer pressure went right over her new date's head, probably.

"no, it's cause of health stuff. my liver is terrible, that's why you never get hand me downs from alcoholics!" vanessa chuckled, trying her best not to spit out her own drink. "buuut if you're gonna be a sweetheart, i guess i'll ask the bartender for a steak kabob, extra rare."

"skirting past your odd food tastes-" zaniyah rolled her special eyes playfully. "- i'm glad i found someone with the same dark humor as me, that 'hand me down liver' joke was hilarious!"

"i'm glad you like it, sometimes i freak people out."

"don't worry baby, i like that you seem a little freaky~"

"oh my gosh!" zaniyah lightly pushed her away with one hand while grabbing her appetizer with the other hand. it kind of put vanessa off how she devoured the bloody meat like a starving dog, but she hadn't brought anyone home in weeks and she was getting desperate. this was no time to be picky.

anxiety slithered onto her skin and creeped into her veins, paralyzing her with dread. she needed to get this girl home before one of the tens of other women around them got to her prey first. she needed to pounce.

"hey, zaniyah?" the tall girl's lips formed into a curious smile as vanessa ran a soft hand over her waist. "what do you say we go back to my apartment, and i'll give you something else to eat? it's super close by."

"huh?" the confused and mildly horrified look on her face was replaced with a shy understanding once she finally got it. "oh yeah... maybe we could just walk there though? my car is almost out of gas and i wanna save it for the ride home."

"sure!" that was fine with vanessa, it just meant less evidence to deal with at the end of the night.

the fear slowly slipped away as vanessa brought zaniyah up to her apartment, falling into the comfortable routine of kissing and leading her to the nice couch wrapped in plastic. ignoring the odd feeling of her teeth, she began to strip for her guest. what she never expected though, was for zaniyah to pounce first.

"what the fuck?!" the second she slipped the red dress of her shoulders, zaniyah ripped out a set of fake teeth and charged at her. biting into her shoulder and ripping into it, licking her lips at the tart, exotic taste. suddenly the juicy morsel was gone, the room was spinning, and there was a throbbing pain in her nose. she found herself across the room with blood pouring out of her nose.

"did you punch me?! what the hell!" zaniyah wiped the blood off her face and stood, taking a defensive stance. angry hisses and globs of spit flew out of vanessa's mouth. "oh my god, you're a vampire aren't you?! that's why you busted my favorite nose!"

"That was reasonable, you were trying to eat me!"

"I bet you were gonna try to eat me too!"

"oh here you go with the fucking stereotypes, you dumb zombies are all the same!"

"oh i'm dumb?! you brought a stranger in your home, i should kick your ass for ruining my night and my nose!"

"oh are you now?" the two women leaned in close, their noses only a little bit apart. eyes locked onto eachother's.

the room was a disaster. pillows stuck to the walls, sheets soaked with mystery liquids, and two sets of limbs tangled together. vanessa let herself relax into the warm hold of zaniyah as the zombie ran fingers over her pudgy stomach, letting her icy fingers rest on the flesh.

"holy shit... that was amazing..." zaniyah mumbled.

"i know right? humans just can't keep up with us monsters." she nibbled at her, lapping up the small pearls of blood that came out of the wound. "i guess it took someone dead to give me the best sex of my unlife. i was right, you are a little freak."

"how did we not even know the other was a monster anyway?"

"i know it's not my fault, i've never seen you at the conventions."

"wait, there were conventions?!" the zombie shot out of bed.

"you didn't know?! nobody invited you?! the whole underworld is there."

"this is bullshit." zaniyah went to walk away but was stopped by the blonde.

"i have a proposition and not the kind we did 10 minutes ago." she raised an eyebrow curiously. "i think if we work together, we could have enough food to feed a whole villiage. i get the blood, and you get the flesh." a soft smile spread on those creepy features that drew vanessa closer in the first place.

"i'd be happy to vanessa, i think... i think i found the love of my afterlife."

[respectthepetty]

Question. I have never heard of you’re my sky. And now I have added to my list because of your post. I have found that the Most popular BLs are not normally the Beat BLs according to regular fan base so……. Because I have not heard of this one I am in hopes it’s going to be a good one?? 👀

Anon, please do not trust my recommendations because I have trash taste, but as an American, I tend to like sports-themed stories. Give me a plot about an underdog in the sports world coming up against the big bad rich multiple-time winning team, and I will love the shit out of it! I will eat up media like The Mighty Ducks, Friday Night Lights ("clear eyes, full heart, can't lose"), and One Tree Hill ("I DON'T WANNA BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYNA BE LATELY") because I want to root for the little guy. I didn't watch Creed and Bring It On just for the color coding.

So understand this is a BIG reason I love You're My Sky. At the center of it is a story about a dark horse (or more like a Red Rascal) who not only brings life back into his school's basketball program but also into every single person who gets involved with it. The coach, the players (FLUKE!), and his love interest all get a second shot (pun intended) at fulfilling their dreams.

Oh, and the antagonist? Perfect! People HATED the 11th episode because it had a time jump and flipped the script on our little long shot, but it brought a new layer to our despised coach who had been the enemy for the last ten episodes, AND it made sense why the lead would act the way he did, mostly to people who have played a competitive sport on a level of this nature. It's a different beast, mentally and physically, and changes people.

In addition, people lost. One of the reasons people liked My School President was because of the seriousness of the competition which was the underlying thread throughout the series, but also that the possibility of losing was very real. In You're My Sky, competition is treated the same. The team won't win simply because they want to or the narrative proclaims it. No. The actors look like they can actually play basketball, the strategies make sense, and the fear that loss can and will happen is always present. Not just in basketball, but in track, in soccer, and most importantly, in love.

I haven't even mentioned the love parts! But know that those are good too. We have childhood friends-to-lovers, a younger boy chasing an older one, and pseudo-enemies-to-lovers but one is dating the other's sister. I don't care what anyone says about the leads or the sister's boyfriend plot. They did their jobs and EPISODE SIX SUPREMACY!

The show demonstrates that no man is an island regardless of the endeavor. In order to achieve greatness, we must work with others. People will let us down, but we have to support others in order to receive support, and we need to help the people we love even in their darkest times, especially when they feel unworthy of it.

This series is a top for me, so even though some people disliked it, I hope it makes you "CHEER! CHEER!"

Let me know how you feel once and if you finish.

[echidnacht]

Thoughts on the Ecosystem of the Western Wastes

Does anyone else think too much abt the inaccurate science in the travellers guide (specifically the bestiary). Cuz. They were wrong. This might just be me being obsessed with ecology but there is so much potential with the whole idea of the Everdeads in the Western Wastes but then they hit us with this:

Which is just? not true??

(This is from a free reward on patreon titled "How to Slay Monsters, by Sir Caroline (and the herbalist, I suppose)", you can look it up on patreon to read it in full)

While they do get the spirit of death being the foundation of all ecosystems, they don't seem to understand that this is the case for every ecosystem. Being at the bottom of the food chain is a completely normal and natural thing. That's just the producer level organism in an ecosystem. Grass does not go extinct because it is eaten- it's very existence as a species relies on the curbing of overpopulation, giving of nutrients and spreading of progeny that herbivores provide.

I love the world of Second Citadel, and I love this idea- of death being the sacred thing that supports all life, taken literally. So I want to go through and indulge my "erm, actually" instinct to correct some stuff in here.

The Everdeads are described as dead, but still regenerating. Any cut-off branches or leaves will regenerate, but they apparently don't photosynthesise or take up nutrients, though they provide constant resources to the ecosystem. If the largest flora species doesn't photosynthesize the smaller plants would likely have a higher rate of photorespiration or else the carbon cycle in the Wastes would be pretty weird. (Also, I imagine, since the Everdeads were presumably once alive (?), the trees themselves provide a pretty hefty solid carbon store).

(Putting the rest under the cut, this got long)

Regarding nutrients: the soil in the wastes is described as completely barren, lacking any nutrients. However, there is also described to be a layer of leaf litter and detritus from the Everdeads. This is also soil! Just the top layer. Depending on how long the Everdeads have been around, say a few thousand years, this nutrient rich soil would be maybe ten centimeters deep. Not that much, but still!

As for why there isn't any nutrients, I think this could be for a couple reasons- one is that its just bad land, but the fact that the soil is "resistant to adding any" nutrients implies there's something else. Maybe it was a devestating magical event many centuries ago, or (spoilers) maybe it was another early attack by the humans using anti magical metal which now discourages all life.

It's my headcanon that the Everdeads have roots that can reach deep enough into the inhospitable soil that it can reach some kind of source of magic that it feeds on and uses to provide for the rest of the wastes.

Another interesting note is that "the Everdead population crept east one thousand years ago"- possibly the universe's reaction to the mirrored plains? (I could be wrong about the dates here). Either the universe reacting to the spread of death by spreading "death", or wanting the Everdeads to help heal that area. No idea.

Other fun things: The fact that the primary contribution is detritus means the blooming of saprophytes like microbes and fungi. There's probably lots of mushrooms growing out of Everdeads and in shady places under them, which I think adds to the "fall aesthetic". Insects would likely also thrive in the leaf litter. I imagine Everdeads to be like giant redwood trees. I imagine a similar ecosystem to that as well- smaller shrubs and a few grasses and mosses in more sunny patches, as well as epiphytic ferns and plants growing on the Everdeads themselves.

One other thing is that since prety much all of the Wastes (a pretty big area) has the exact same producer and therefore the same niche, there can't be that much biodiversity. That would only come from things like mountains, water, and climate changes. I assume the Wastes are pretty temperate if not tropical, seeing as there's dinosaurs there, though its unclear how much rainfall there is. I imagine it takes after more barren ecosystem like deserts and tundra, with few species and maybe one or two top predators (the predator here being the T-rex, i imagine). There's also mentioned swinging mice, which are presumably monkeys- probably herbivores feeding on the plants and fruits the Everdeads allow to grow. Maybe the wastes are known to be barren due to the lack of diverse species and not just the fact that cultivated plants can't grow, who knows.

Another headcanon is that Everdeads do not have a latin name because it is impossible to track their lineage as they do not die. We know latin names are a thing in Second Citadel because Sunny Budkin says this:

Though they don't seem to be in common use in the Citadel as we never hear Rilla use any. Possibly a monster thing, possibly something from a lost previous civilisation (Sunny is like 50 thousand years old after all). Everdead seems to be more a state of tree than a species anyway.

Thank you for reading this tangent, I have so many thoughts about the second citadel world. I could also go on about the implications of Arum creating creatures in his swamp and their theories of evolution, though that is explored a bit more in canon (the sweetfrog story is accurate enough, though I could still nitpick one or two things) and I've half drafted an in-universe research paper on the Numb-Cap written by Rilla and Arum. I do love that ecology has something of an important role in SC, seeing my subject represented is nice to see.

If anyone has any additions or corrections I would love to hear them!

[hjellacott]

What trans women, feminists and Jews all have in common.

A/N: I originally wrote this as a response to a reblog, but then I realised it's perhaps the most important post I've ever written, and I know it's very long, but I hope that you, whoever you are, will read it. That's why I wanted to give it a voice of its own, shortening it a tad. This post discusses, in a kind, friendly and polite manner the whole fight between trans and feminists, the debate about Hogwarts Legacy and the problems of anti-semitism and transphobia. And it does so lovingly, and without an aim to brainwash, hurt or offend. So please, if you have ten minutes, please do read. Whoever you are. Thank you.

----

1. FIRST LET ME TELL YOU WHO I AM, SO THAT YOU KNOW THE KIND OF PERSON YOU'RE READING FROM.

I am very much sick of the fights between people who at the bottom, all just want to feel safe, and I am very much sick of the lack of actual polite conversation between us. I come from a Jewish background, from Sephardic Jews (meaning ethnically Jews, which makes me ethnically a Jew both in my maternal and paternal lines), but I also come from a city that has historically been Roman, Iberian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Arabs, Visigoth, Phoenician, Tarshish and many more, which means I am aware that I am only alive because my ancestors mixed with people very different from them, and repeatedly survived persecution because their religion and/or civilization wasn't the "right one" to stay alive in depending on the historical time. My Jewish ancestors were likely prosecuted to such an extent, and not even that long ago, but during World War II, that they hid and pretended to be Catholics and kept quiet to save their lives. And then there's the fact that I'm bisexual, and whenever I've been in a same sex relationship (one of which lasted me several years) I had to hide, keep it quiet, and keep it a tight-lipped secret because I knew even on this day and age a lot of my loved-ones wouldn't understand, not because they're right-wingers (which they're not), but for other reasons. And I'm saying all of this because I want it to be understood that I know what it is like to be persecuted because of who you are and to never feel entirely safe. I never even felt I could hold my girlfriend's hand in public without receiving some kind of backlash. I never even dared to go into a LGBT march without wearing something to conceal my identity. And on top of things, I'm a woman, and I've never, ever in the decades I've been in this world, in no city I've ever visited, felt safe to be alone out in the street at night. I know I'm talking a lot, and I'm sorry, and I know you'all just want to shout terf, antisemitic and transphobe at me and stop reading, but I beg you to keep reading, even if it's long, because I'm hopeful that we can finally reach some kind of understanding.

Let's forget what divides us. What unites us is that we all feel unsafe. We all, women, gays, trans people, POC people, Jews, we all feel like just because there's something about us that we can't change, we're more likely to die than anyone else. To be raped, beaten-up, abducted and taken from the face of the Earth, just because of who we are.

So what I'm saying is, you're afraid? I understand. So am I. Too afraid to walk alone at night, too afraid to date anyone who isn't a friend of a friend (therefore pre-approved), too afraid to go around in my real life outside the internet telling people how multi-ethnicity I am, simply afraid. All of the time.

I am a fairly cultured person. I'm not the kind of person who simply goes online, believes whatever without evidence, and on and on. I am the kind of person with several higher education certificates, with studies both locally and abroad, the world-traveller, the ferocious reader, the one who reads all the news every day (Spanish, English and French) in several newspapers both right wing and left wing so that in the end I have all sides of the story, I come from a well-educated and very humble family, and I am not someone who blindly decided to support J. K. Rowling. I was horrified when I read the first people saying she was transphobic. But hey, I'm the kind of person who, if I disagree with someone, I read them to bits, because I want to know exactly what they think and why, and why I think differently, and I know that's not something a lot of the people you read do. And I'm in the arts, so half my friends are gay, another are trans, and a very small minority are straight and cisgender, so I promise you, that if I had any sincere belief that Rowling went against any minority, I would've been ferociously against her. I would've. And with that aim I set out to read her every tweet, and you know what I found?

She never actually says anything wrong about transgender people. Never. In fact she doesn't speak against them, she speaks in favour and defense of women and against sexist, violent men. Not against trans people. And I had this conversation with my transgender friends, asking them why they'd gotten offended exactly, and when they looked at Rowling's tweets, you know what they told me? That that wasn't what they'd been told she'd said. Because like many of you, they'd read some rumour in social media, some article in the press, and got so angry they never bothered to actually read what she'd really said, in their context (meaning, following the Twitter conversations and everything, not isolated tweets either). But when I showed them? They were baffled. And they understood she wasn't transphobic. It's been years, and I still don't have a friend who does not stand with J. K. Rowling. And that, listen, that includes Jews, trans, gays, lesbians, and so on, because like I said, I work in the Arts, which as you know is one of the most diverse collectives. And another thing that I noticed was how much had been lost in translation. English is not my first language, but as you can see I mostly manage all right. But when I read translations into Spanish and French, they missed so much about what Rowling had really said, and twisted so much. So let me give you a brief summary of what she actually believes:

2. LET'S DELVE DEEP INTO ROWLING'S ACTUAL WORDS.

Sex is real. If you're born with female or male sex that cannot change. We know this to be scientifically and medically true, which is why when you have surgery to transition, for which a friend of mine is preparing right now, you need to have lots of hormonal medications to try and keep your body behaving as the gender you identify with and against your sex, and the minute you stop, your body will naturally begin behaving like your sex again. And this doesn't change even if you have surgeries, this is for life. If you don't believe me, simply check medical websites, I promise you this is true.

It is dangerous to have transgender women who have not undergone a physical transition in the same private spaces as women. I know this point is very contentious, but before you get angry, hear me out. This is not because anyone thinks transgender people are dangerous. This is because men have proven to be dangerous. What's more common, for a man to rape a woman, or for a woman to rape a man? how often do you hear of women who were murdered by their male exes or even partners, or relatives? I mean, I've gone to several of those funerals and vigils for women and girls killed like that. So the idea behind not wanting trans women and women to share spaces where trans women might have it easier to rape women is that perhaps those trans women, if they haven't physically transitioned, still have the physical advantages of the male sex: more strength, bigger body, and a penis. Imagine my shock if I was getting naked in my prison cell and then I found a person physically stronger and bigger than me, with a dick, naked next to me, in a perfect opportunity to rape me. Would I call them a trans woman? No. But they would call themselves that, and use it to get into that space. That's why Scotland had to backpedal in their laws allowing people to identify themselves as trans women and go into female prisons, because they had several cases in which this resulted in women being raped by trans women, or by people who claimed to be. Because as we all know. plenty of men who are sexual predators will identify as women not just to have access to women, but to have access to transgender women as well, and rape them, and kill them. So it appears that in order to keep trans women and women safe from male predators, we need to make sure that no one with biological advantages of men can share private spaces with them. And if this means having a separate prison for people with the physical built, strength and sexual organs of men, so that they cannot predate on anyone, I vote we do it.

Women won't wheesht. This refers to the fact that achieving rights for someone shouldn't mean removing them for someone else. So in order to give transgender people rights, we cannot take them from another collective, in this case, women. If women are shouting they're terrified of being raped and killed, we need to listen. It is a disrespect, a sexist, female-erasing, cruel thing to do, to ignore them and force them to accept sharing spaces they don't want to share with anyone else. And the only thing that imposing transgender women in their spaces is going to cause is what's happening now: violence, harassment, and an imposibility to have peaceful conversations, not to mention an immediate dislike and fear of transgender women. So instead of achieving transgender rights by harassing someone else, we need to give them their own things. For example, say you have a sibling and you want their room, right? well, harassing them into letting them share it is not going to work. You'll never again get along with your sibling. But asking your parents to build you your own bedroom will keep both sides happy. That's what Rowling and people like me believe in. That fine, if you don't feel safe sharing spaces with people with a dick because you don't want to be raped and murdered, hey, neither do we. So why don't we respect each other's fears and safety wishes and each have our own spaces? And then we can all feel safe around people exactly like us.

Transgender CHILDREN shouldn't be able to go through life changing, irreversible surgeries to remove their sexual organs without plenty of check-ups with doctors and psychiatrists or psychologists who can make sure the child fully understands the risks. This is due to the avalanche of feedback we have from detransitioners who spoke up about having been brainwashed, having given "informed" consent that wasn't actually very well informed, and having deeply regretted surgeries they did without really knowing what was going to happen, and that have now caused them chronic pain that cannot be cured and irreversible physical, mental and emotional damage.

That's all Rowling has said. Nothing against transgender people. She's only worried about the safety of children and women. Period. And I can tell you that with my hand on my heart because I have read her every tweet, and I have also read her open letter against cancel culture, and plenty of articles on the matter.

3. LET'S TALK ABOUT JEWS.

Now about the Jewish thing. Rowling is NOT an anti-Semitic. The first person who called her anti-Semitic was a Jewish man called Jon Stewart, who did so jokingly, and who was immediatelly appalled by the harassment Rowling received from people that took him seriously, forcing not just him, but also multiple Jewish celebrities, Jewish organisations and Jewish charities, to speak up in support of J. K. Rowling and publicly state that they don't believe she's anti-Semitic.

I bet you've only been reading from people who think like you. Many of you, the second you've heard something you didn't like, shut the other person out, called them insults and names, labelled them as Terfs, transphones and anti-Semites, and refused to listen. And if you never hear the people you disagree with, you're never going to hear anything but validity, even if your ideas are insane. Like the flat-Earthers. And all you've been reading from Rowling have been things taken out of context, or told to you by someone else. Do your people ever encourage you to read extract from the source? no. Do they ever show you receipts? only if they've been carefully trimmed.

But people have agendas, you know? That's what happened with Nazism. So you get a collective of Trans Radical Activists, radicals who might not even be actually trans, but know that if they fight women, people like Rowling, and put enough pressure in the governments, they can make laws change so that men, not trans women, but men pretending to be trans women, have easy access to rape women and trans women. Think about it. Wouldn't it be incredibly smart for alt-right men to infiltrate the Transgender activism to start violent fights against women, calling them cunts, telling them to kill themselves, and telling them to suck dick, making women the bad guys, convincing trans people that women are out to get them and to kill them, and getting lawmakers to make laws that allow anyone to simply say they're women and go into female prisons or lockers? Hold on. That's exactly what's happened. I don't believe for a second that the TRAs are all transgender. I believe many of them are alt-right men. And you'll identify them easily by their sexist, violent behaviour and speech, and their whole discourse against women and claims that women like Rowling actively threaten trans people's rights, when none of it is true.

So now say the TRAs, who want women to have less rights and men to have more, and who want to easily be able, as men, to infiltrate spaces that were previously private to women, so that they can no longer have their own spaces, find something else that gets people furious towards their enemy. Rowling has stood against alt-right men her whole life. Naturally, when they saw someone call her anti-Semite, they jumped into that waggon. Another opportunity to get someone cancelled. To demonise a defender of women, until there's none left. So that's what they did. They called her anti-Semite, came up with the whole BS about the goblins, made lots of things up, took more stuff out of context. And because they were in the trans collective, aka, "the good guys", the perceived victims, people have been far more inclined to believe them, to listen to them, and to be compassionate to them. But let me tell you, if these men are allowed into female spaces, and actual trans women find themselves in those spaces with them, they'll be in as much danger as any other woman, if not more.

Now you probably think we're crazy and paranoid. Question. Is the transgender collective telling you that? and if so, isn't it a little suspicious that someone wants to convince you that someone else is being paranoid? that they're out to get you? Because that's what they're doing. Me? Rowling didn't convince me. Nobody had to. I just had to read the news, like I told you I do all the time, and see all of this coming true. See women being repeatedly harassed, sexually and physically, threatened, often by men, far-right men who are strangely, suddenly, very interested in trans rights (isn't that also suspicious?), and seeing all the news and personal stories around me of women being raped because a man was allowed to identify as a trans woman and put into their space, where they had freedom to rape and murder. This is out in the news. The real news. And it's happening all over the place, which tells you I'm not being paranoid or dellusional, I'm telling you what's going on.

This is how Nazism worked as well. It started with Nazis who wanted a kind of economical power that at the time was in the hands of Jews. Do you remember when people tell you immigrants take jobs! women are transphobic! black people are criminals! All that is classic far-right speech. And it's all studied in the Nazi propaganda techniques, which had been long studied and employed by all politicians across the globe. What you do is identify one minority you can blame for current problems, and turn the world against them, in such way that the public doesn't realise all you're doing, supposedly to erase the problem, that is actually just to make you more powerful. The Nazis decided Jews shouldn't be having so many businesses and thriving economy, so they demonised them, said they were greedy, thieves, the inferior race, less good than aryan people, criminals, that they didn't deserve to live. The Nazi was a legal party that was elected to remove the problem, much like Trump was elected to end the problem of the immigrants and the POC. And legally, Hitler got his people to vote for him to have more and more power, until he could rule the world, on the basis that he'd do it to rid them of the Jews. Only that then he didn't stop with the Jews. He went after "traitors", after gypsies, after LGBT, after POC, and so on. And they took or burned art and books along the way.

So now think again of who's supporting Hitler-like conducts. I'm not supporting anyone who's telling me not to listen to opposing opinions, who's telling me to spread a message of threats, harassment and sexual insults, nor who's telling me to burn books, culture, and cancel, silence, erase, eliminate anyone who has an opinion other than mine. You are. And that's what's Hitler-like. That's what's fucking dangerous, and a threat to freedom of speech, to democracy.

Going back to the bloody videogame. You know why they call it anti-Semitic or blood libel? first was with the goblins. Now that speech seems to have died down because we're pointing out that seeing goblins as Jews is more Nazi-like, than non-Nazi. That they're simply folklore. So now they shut up about that. Now they tell you that the Avalanche developers (that's the company behind Hogwarts Legacy) are anti-Semites. That's based on the fact that an alt-right, Troy Leavitt, was the lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy. Well, you've been pleased to know he's lost his job now, and also, that Avalanche is full of normal people just like us, and that the alt-right was a minority. This guy, perhaps one or two more we're yet to know about, which, given the amount of alt-right worldwide, it's safe to say that every big company has at least a small amount of alt-right employees or even bosses.

But it takes thousands of people to make a videogame as big as Hogwarts Legacy, and just because two or three are alt-right, it doesn't make the game anti-Semitic. We're taking the game from them. We're making it ours. And personally, I've been playing for a few days now, and there's nothing even remotely far-right or anti-Semitic. Any war game I've ever played is far more anti-Semitic and racist and sexist than this one will ever be.

And in any case, before you go like dumb sheep simply believing what people say, I encourage you to make your own informed opinions. Don't be lazy. Empty your brain from judgement and make your own research. Be like scientists. But believing whatever BS you hear from people who've never played the game about said game, from people who've never read Potter about Potter, and so on... That is such a stupid thing to do. Such a brainwashing. You don't believe someone can cure you if they don't show you a CV and reputation as great doctors, so why do you believe a word from people who haven't even researched the thing they criticise, on their own, not through other's comments and ideas?

But hold on! Don't just take my word for it. Don't just believe me. Please, do research. It's time-consuming, but you're going to want to read the news, who are TRAs, their links to the alt-right, Rowling's actual tweets, who Troy Leavitt is, what Avalanche Software is, and you're going to want to read the news about female violence, legal changes, and detransitioners, and a horrible thing called transmaxxing, which will really open your eyes. I won't tell you to burn books. I'll tell you to open books, newspapers, everything... And get really informed. Knowledge is power.

[there-are-many-ways-to-smile]

Since I've decided not to watch anymore seasons of Grey's. I want to take this time to talk about stuff I probably have no business talking about because I didn't watch the actual episodes. 😅

This is gonna be very out of order.

☆: As much as I like Bailey, Alex should have the board chair. Cristina left it for him and Richard shouldn't even be allowed to Nominate anyone. He's not even on the board.

☆: Maggie and Jackson dating each other is gross. People keep saying it fine cause they didn't grow up together. I don't care. Them being attracted to each other while their parents are dating/married is disgusting. Like that's literally your legal sibling.

☆: if I watched season 14, Casey Parker would have been a favorite character. I’ve only seen clips on him and top tier, him and Cristina and maybe Alex would have been so powerfully unhinged. Lol

☆: Idk the relationship with Maggie and Meredith but I think Maggie expecting Meredith to tell her everything about her life is a bit much, like it’s so much and she just met you. So obviously she’s not gonna be like here’s my life story. Idk what’s going on with Alex but you can’t fault Meredith for trusting him over Maggie she’s known the dude for like ten years…

☆: Maggie 100 percent should waited to be on better terms with Meredith before dropping the “we share a mom” bomb.

☆: I'm so confused on the Maggie and Jackson getting married thing. Because how would that have worked. Husband and wife while also being step-siblings. 🤮

☆: People keep bringing up Lexie whenever they see Maggie and calling her a lexie replacement. Listen one, Chyler Leigh wanted to be killed off the show, she and Maggie could have been friends or whatever. Stop trying to compare the them. Two, greys anatomy had Maggie planned since day one, albeit more so as a brother.

☆: I would have lowkey loved if Maggie was a brother instead of a sister. I just think would have been interesting. Probably something like

Meredith:"I've never had a brother before"

Derek or someone "what are you talking about? Isn't Alex kind of like having a brother?"

Then a cute scene of Alex and Meredith being like siblings. Idk

☆: the Nathan drama of season 13 is wild, after all that drama that happened when Meredith first met Derek. I can't even imagine her seeing someone know her sister Maggie liked and was actively going on dates with. [Tbh i have no idea if there were dates but the clip made it sound like that.] Nathan is trash for not telling Maggie he liked Meredith.

☆: I just saw Meredith and Jackson goodbye, and I actually like them. I remember when izzie came back to work after the merge and Alex, Cristina, Meredith and Jackson were all eating lunch together, and he said something and one of them was like "who invited you here?" And Meredith was all like "I did." That shit was cute. I wish season 10 and lower had more scenes of them being friends.

☆: I don't like Maggie and Jackson, but emotional cheating is still cheating.. it's exactly like what april was doing to Matthew..

☆: not Stephanie trying to blame the harassment complaints on Leah, like she wasn't one of the reasons Leah did it in the first place. Don't crap where you eat? (This is from the episode where Leah returns, I saw a clip on youtube.)

□: While writing this I'm low-key thinking about going back to binge the show for Alex, but he's goodbye is so bad, and I hate him and Izzie so much. I refuse 😤 also I heard Callie character development suffers a lot 😭

☆: Why would they have Callie keep dating the woman who killed her friend? Hate that (I watched the dinner scene on YouTube)

If I see anymore scenes that I'm like oof to, I'll make a part two

Even though I have zero business complaining 😆

[acaiasahi]

ty for the tag, sky! @bruh-changbin <3

rules: list your ten (10) top biases and answer the following questions.

[ 001. ] — hamada asahi.

[ 002. ] — oh junseok.

[ 003. ] — ahn seongmin.

[ 004. ] — hwang intak.

[ 005. ] — kim yonghee.

[ 006. ] — kwak jiseok.

[ 007. ] — yoon keeho.

[ 008. ] — yang jungwon.

[ 009. ] — hanni pham / phạm ngọc hân.

[ 010. ] — huh yunjin.

between 1 and 4, who would you rather kiss?

— bro ur literally gonna make me choose between asahi AND intak??? ur literally crazy bc i'm abt to choose both n no one can stop me!!!

between 2 and 7, who would be your best friend?

— keeho... 110%. i'm so sure bc this man has a lot of my mannerisms n he's also js so naturally funny (like me... duh?) also, i feel like if i were to meet this man... we'd be like this 🤞🏽 there's naur way we aren't bffs in another universe!!! /j

between 5 and 10, who has the better voice?

— yonghee i love u... but yunjin takes the mf cake!!! my gf was fr an opera singer, i alr know this girly has the best breath control AND her range is absolutely unbelievable... like she's so effortless with her notes, it's insane.

between 1 and 8, who's the funniest?

— saurry wonie... asahi is just natural funny and he's such a weird lil guy that i can't help but giggle whenever he does smth silly!!!

between 6 and 9, who would you date?

— kwak. mf. jiseok. that man is like... beyond me, he's so perfect in every way... like atp, we're alr living tgt AND have a dog tgt... like i'm alr on one knee n ready to propose to him /j

between 9 and 10, who would you do a collab with?

— ERRR no, i'm not choosing!!! GIVE THEM BOTH TO MEEEE WE'LL MAKE THE BEST MUSICCCC!!!!

between 4 and 8, who is the better dancer?

— intak. i'm sorry won, he's so technical w his moves and js looks really comfortable in his body AND he grew up dancing under his dad so this man alr knows all the technical stuff for dance. won's an amazing dancer too but my dancer eyes are easily drawn to intak.

between 3 and 5, who would you most likely marry?

— that... is such... a... hard... question... erm... i'm gonna have to go with seongmin. there's literally no specific reason, just... seongmin.

between 1 and 7, who would you nurse back to health?

— don't make me choose pls... bc it's gonna have to be keeho.

between 2 and 3, who has the better smile?

— literally both of them being the smiliest boys in their group... i'm gonna thrOW UP?!?!??? they both have great smiles... i'm not gonna choose 😭

between 6 and 8, who would you vacation with?

— jiseok again... saurry. he's js so funny n silly, i would have a rly good time w him if we were to travel :<

tagging: @i-luvsang @tranquilpetrichor @beepjeongie @tyungun @astrozuya @wyynn @luvyoonbot @kyufilms @seung-scrittore + anyone who'd like to join! <3

[videogame1up]

Some of my favorite games of all time

If you were to ask me what my favorite game of all time is, i would probably say something like "Of all time? I don't know, depending on the day and my mood it could be ten different games" Or something to that effect. The games listed here are a healthy mix of some genuinely amazing, ten outta ten games and some "I played it a lot when i was a kid" With that said this list is in absolute no order, the #1 on this list is not my all time favorite game, just one of them.

10. Sims Bustin out

Alright starting off with a bit of a left curve, but Sims Bustin out is one of my favorite games of all time. Which is a statement i trust not too many people have said. Is Sims bustin out the best Sims game? No, that's probably Sims 2. Bustin out beats out 2 mostly for that sweet sweet nostalgia. Anyone who has played, and gotten into the Sims knows how addicting the game play is, balancing work, personal life, relationships is so much more enjoyable when done virtually than in real life. I have so many memories of booting this game up late at night when everyone had fallen asleep, excited to get a new promotion in my criminal career path. The gameplay of Sims Bustin out is purely addicting, and it's an addiction i haven't really shaken from childhood. Now I'm off to never say or type "Bustin out" ever again

Release Date- December 16, 2003

Consoles-PS2, Xbox, Gamecube

9. Donkey Kong Country

I remember the first time playing this game, my friend invited me over and about half way through i asked "So, whats the plot exactly? Like, are we trying to rescue your girlfriend or something?" I was beside my self when my friend went "Nah, we're getting your bananas back" It's such a funny premise and shows the game doesn't take its self too seriously, beneath the surface of this over the top goofy game is genuinely one of the greatest 2D platformers of all time . One of those games that has infinite replay ability because its so much fun going through these stages. The difficulty curb isn't too crazy, and eases you into some of the most challenging but fair levels from any game. Not to mention this one of the best looking games to come from the Snes, with one of gamings best soundtracks. I genuinely love this game, and believe its worth playing, even if for only a few levels.

Release date- November 18, 1994

Consoles- Snes, Switch (online snes library)

8. Kingdom Hearts

*silence* WHEN YOU WALK AWAY

The Kingdom hearts series has had its up and its downs, it has had it's Organization XIII and it's time travel (for some reason) the original Kingdom Hearts is still a pretty simple and straightforward game which i definitely think helps with it's longevity, i don't know what is going on in Kh3 and i played all the other games leading up to it. KH is a beautiful marriage between Square Enix and Disney, it should not work out nearly as well as it does. The developers really got things right off the bat, the worlds (for the most part, fun fact you can actually skip under the sea) are fun to explore or at the very least, thanks to the enjoyable combat system, they are fun to fight your way through. Each world of course has its own vibes, they have their own unique heartless and boss fights. If you want extra content KH has you covered. Two (pretty difficult) secret bosses to find in the Peter Pan world and Aladdin world. You also have the coliseum to go back to, eventually making your way up to the Hades cup filled with enemies you have fought along the way as well as a few boss fights including of course Hades him self. You can't talk about side content without talking about Sephiroth. You can beat the game, credits will roll, Sephiroth will still kill you. Or for giggles you can attempt a speed run (for me my best time is around 5 hours) Kingdom hearts was also the first game that was purely just mine, after having to share with my siblings no one but me in the house was all that interested in saving my friends and returning back home to Destiny islands. This is game that scratches that nostalgia itch, and is just a genuinely fun game

"Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too, I'll come back to you. I promise"

"I know you will"

Release Date-March 28, 2002

Consoles-PS2,PS3,PS4, Xbox One

7. Wind Waker

Link to the past was my first Zelda game, but Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda game. Wind Waker, how do i love thee, let me count the ways

The open world was vast with so much to see and explore, this is a point of contention as there are those out there who don't like the great sea. And those people are wrong. The great sea offers such a great sense of exploration. Feed the fish to learn about each island (49 of em) take on each enemy outpost you encounter, hunt for treasure, fight sea monsters, explore ghost ships, or simply watch a storm roll in. While Zelda stories are never very deep, i quite like this one. (slight spoilers for a 20 year old game) you discover what happens to Hyrule when it's hero fails to rise, for a cartoony game its story is fairly dark. And of course the game looks fantastic, even going back to play the original gamecube release it still looks very good. Some complain that this is one of the easier Zelda games, but that criticism goes out when you consider Breath of the wild is the easiest Zelda game and that's the one everyone says is perfect. Zelda games aren't meant to be dark souls, and i really do love just sailing around.

"This is the only world that your ancestors were able to leave you. Please....forgive us"

Release date- March 24, 2003

Consoles- Gamecube, Wii U

6. Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Genesis)

A.K.A the official Nostalgia representative. The Sega Genesis was the first console i ever played, games like Eternal Champions, Phantom 2040, X-Men, Alex Kid in the enchanted castle, while i do have a soft for these games and many others that kicked off my interest in gaming, not many hold up exceptionally well today, that is of course expect for Sonic on Genesis (I'm cheating here a bit and including the three main line sonic games on the genesis ) These games represented the best that the Genesis had of offer and are still a blast to play to this day. Who wants to play as a slow Italian plumber when you can play as a cool blue hedgehog with attitude. Just try and put your controller down, he will tap his foot impatiently. It was the 90s, and being cool was so cool. Speed? Oh speed was the coolest. Race through the levels with master reaction time jumping over enemies and obstacles to race to the finish. 30 years later, and these games still hold up exceptionally well

Release date- June 21, 1991

Consoles- Genesis, and countless re-releases on nearly every console since the ps2.

5. Red Dead Redemption 2

I wanna be a cowboy baaaaby

There is no such thing as a perfect game, but RDR2 is pretty close. The Story is this game is one of my favorites. Following a gang in the dying days of the wild west, it has some twists. It has some turns. And in the end, it had an emotional and satisfying conclusion. RDR 2 excels at what any sandbox strives for, an amazing world to explore. As fantastic as the story is, the world has so much to see and do and explore. Stranger missions (side missions) scatter the world from becoming hunting friends with a war vet to gathering dangerous and exotic animals that have escaped from the traveling circus. Like searching for creepy Easter eggs? Because great, you can explore a haunted swamp, find a woman imprisoned by her own family, and follow the clues leading to the lair of a serial killer. With over 200 animals living in the world of RDR 2, it really does feel alive. The world is diverse and never a bore to travel through, in part thanks to the fact RDR2 is one of the most graphically impressive games I've ever played.

"When the time comes, you gotta run and don't look back. This is over."

Release date- October 26, 2018

Console-PS4,Xbox one, PC

4. Animal Crossing New Leaf

I bought a 3ds just for this game, i went to Gamestop the morning the game released and bought a Red 3Ds XL along a copy of Animal Crossing New Leaf. I won't get into New Horizons here, but New Leaf is still by far the series has offered. New Leaf was peak Animal crossing, it took the game several steps forward while still staying true to the Animal Crossing formula. You move to a village and become the new mayor, which allows you freedom over your town like never before. With public work projects you could decorate your town, as mayor you could set ordinances so villagers either stay up late with your, or maybe they wake up early with you. The music is arguably the best Animal Crossing has given us. Fortune cookies allowed you to decorate your home with items from Zelda, Mario, Pikmin, Starfox, etc. Forge friendships with your neighbors, try to force the ugly ones out, actually upgrade your shop all the way. Maybe the best part, no incredibly long tutorial. The game just, starts. It's easy for anyone from any age to get into New Leaf.

Release date- June 9th, 2013

Console- 3DS

3. Hit and Run

You ever wanna play gta but your mom wont let you? Just play The Simpsons Hit and Run, its sorta the same game. Hit and Run has a fair amount of flaws, like the fact you essentially repeat the same 4 or 5 missions over and over again. Race that car, follow that car, destroy that car, collect stuff the car drops (worst of these missions) However, i am a Simpsons fan and also it's a game from my youth, it was always going to make it on this list. (I see you Road Rage, get outta here) Even though the missions aren't the most thrilling, the game it self is still a lot of fun to mess around in it. Springfield is honestly pretty faithfully re-created, outside the standard missions there are plenty of extra goodies (level gags, collector cards, bonus cars to unlock, costumes such as cool Lisa, Bartman, Donut head homer and officer Marge) driving around feels good and doesn't take long before you start discovering shortcuts in each level, allowing you to absolutely smoke the computer players. For all these reasons Hit and Run is a game I'll consistently go back to and play

Release date- September 16, 2003.

Consoles-PS2,XBOX,GAMECUBE, PC

2. Pokemon Red and Blue

Is Red and Blue the best Pokemon games? Nah. Are the the only ones I'm nostalgic for? Nah. As much as i love Gen 2 Pokemon games Gold and Silver, i just can't justify having them over Red and Blue. These are the games that got me into Pokemon, i was the Pokemon generation and these games are so important to my childhood i just couldn't leave them off. I was on the playground when kids went "Hey you know you can catch a mew by moving that truck" It pained me that it was never true and Justin's dad did not in fact work at Nintendo. Red and Blue have not held up as well as many other games on this list, and even when the complaint for newer games are "Well this is nothing new" They still add onto and improve upon the original formula, however Nostalgia is an incredibly powerful force and this game like few others has the ability to make me feel 5 again.

"Do you believe in ghost? Hahahaha, i guess not. That white hand on your shoulder, it's not real"

Release date- September 28, 1998

Console- Gameboy

Super Smash bros ultimate

Each new Smash bros game instantly becomes the new best Smash game (sorry, Melee fans) at least that's the case for the general public. Each new game updates and adds onto the previous game, Smash ultimate is a rare beast in that whatever comes after it, can't possibly top it. The next smash game will more than likely be a great game, much like all old smash bro games are, but the next smash won't be able to say "Everyone is here!" The amount of characters and stages really does feel like a once in a lifetime thing. You'll never be able to say "Let's play a round of smash, you'll be Pichu, you can be Snake, you can be Ken, and I'll be Sora" Ever again. Smash ultimate is a game i have fairly regularly gone back to play since it's release in December 2018. As of writing this now i have played Smash Ultimate for 535 hours, that's 22 days of my life spent playing this game, and i have no regrets. I'll boot it up only expecting to play a few minutes but then I'll start playing as one of 80 some characters i haven't give much attention to. Figuring their move set out, figuring out whether or not i want to make them a main or not. Each character feels unique, but the controls are simple enough you never feel overwhelmed stepping out of your comfort zone and maybe trying out a little mac if you're used to playing as a Mega Man. Sakuria and his team created one of the greatest fighting games of all time, a game that will be re-visited years after it's own release.

Release date- December 7th, 2018

Console- Switch