#wanted it to look like a photoshoot for an assassin lol

[onebadnoodle]

[IF LOOKS COULD KILL] ★

[sunburnacoustic]

1, 16, 19, 21, 34, 35, and 48 😊

Hi @domwhoreward!! Thanks for this, it was fun, it was hard! It gave me an excuse to think about Muse a lot :P

1. What's your favourite live performance?

It’s so hard to pick… I will try answering this as favourite live shows in general, and specific songs I thought were freakishly good at a particular gig. I can't say any one is my one-and-only favourite because as soon as I hit publish, something else will land into my head and I won't be able to pick 😅

I think New Born live at the Mayan in 2015 is contender for one of the best recent live performances of the song, and the Mayan for one of their best live gigs overall! Pitch perfect. That show took my breath away. It’s also got the coolest outro on Assassin that is so heavy and just bonkers good, and Chris' backing vocals on Apocalypse Please (!!). Good gig. Everything about this gig was great. Madness live in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, 2012! Popcorn on Taratata, just because they’re having so much fun it makes the performance 25x more fun to watch! Space Dementia live at Pinkpop 2002! One day I will go digging and find that clip again, but Matt had the smuggest grin on his face having nailed that piano chorus outro. Showoff lol. They were excellent at that show! And of course, Glastonbury 2004. Wembley 2007. Unmatched quality. They're an excellent live band; like 97% of their gigs are of the quality that most bands would clamour to call the pinnacle of their own careers. It's a normal night for Muse. No one comes close.

(This Warchild UK performance is a strong contender too)

[This isn't technically a live gig but an in-store signing session, but I can see the raised eyebrows coming if I don't mention it because it is literally in my url for a reason - 1999 HMV Bristol in-store acoustic set. Sunburn, Cave, Muscle Museum. So good.]

16. Favourite Chris pic?

Ooh, this q is just asking for a Chris photo dump!

Some silly and cute baby era pics I really like!

Chris goth girl era from when Muse were in school (from the Origin of Muse booklet!)

Look at Chris swinging about!

Babysitting Matt with an NME award, what a sweetheart. Just want to mention what the article reviewing one of these gigs said: "While many gigs have ended with the guitars being thrown into the drums, this is the first time I've seen the bassist throw the guitarist at the drums." He big.

And just generally, smiley Chris pics are the best! Some other assorted pics from gigs and such that I like:

The drama in the first two! And Chris looking out for Dom, and just chilling with the band ♥️♥️

One of my absolute favourites though, and I’m biased towards this because Time Is Running Out at Wembley was one of the earliest Muse performances I saw when I first got into the band— this cemented my love for them! It’s got to be the moment at the end of the extended improvised Jimmy Jam riff intro to TIRO where Chris lifts his bass and points it to the crowd. Instantly changed my life. Infinitely cool. You want to be him. So that (series of image frames put into a gif) is my favourite picture of Chris!

Honorary mention: your pictures of Chris from this tour, which are excellent!!

19. Favourite photoshoot of the band?

I am a little crazy about most of their Black Holes era promotional work! That coordinated black-and-white shirts and coat jackets with braces look was such a vibe:

One of my favourites out of those is this surreal artsy photoshoot they did where they all pretended to have died (Dom probably did the most realistic job of it… Matt and Chris just looked like peacefully sleeping angels lol)

This Q photoshoot, of course:

Pink shirt photoshoot:

This one photoshoot, I don’t know when it’s from exactly but I loved the composition of it. Blue skies overhead, band unbothered, Matt in aviators. Lovely vibe, I had it in a folder of pictures I meant to print as posters for the longest time when I was younger!

And this one Resistance era photoshoot (that ended up on the album sleeve). I so badly wanted this as the full-length poster, but I was one era too late to the band. This one's my favourite!

21. Favourite wtf moment in an interview?

A few lol. The whole entire 2011 NME awards drunk interview (he's heading for gweatness, he's getting there but it's an uphill stwuggle), "pair of pink fluffy handcuffs" interview, "come to our gigs, anything could happen, I could kill Dom, I could get naked and fuck Chris" interview, "Dom's still doing lines of coke off models' tits" interview, deflated balls interview, fan interview where Matt insisted on having the socks the fans gifted them, and on the topic of socks:

(I have hit the 30 image limit, incredibly; I answered this last)

All the shit he said in Black Holes-era interviews... ([On being asked if the Queen was hot] "You know, when she was younger, in her prime. She might not look great on the £50 note, but she had her glory days.")

There are so many with this band!

34. Have you met any of the band (/if not, any favourite fan interaction/gig stories)?

Haven't met the band unfortunately, I'd be a changed person if I did I think. Meeting Muse will fix me (<- lies; it will break up and shake up my entire core I think).

But the gifts fans give them are always a favourite moment of mine! The fan giving Dom the Slipknot mask that gave us "sit the fuck down!" (well, she actually gave it to Matt, but he passed it on to Dom). The various shirts with edits of Dom fans have gifted Matt that he's worn on the road.

My favourite live interactions: when Muse interact with the crowd, play to them, smile at them (especially when Matt sings Starlight straight to fans in the front!), when they come down to the barricade. Chris going crowdsurfing at Glastonbury 2004.

These moments:

This last one isn't an interaction per se, but while we're on the subject of fans I must add this because it melts my heart into a puddle on the floor:

35. Favourite Muse moment that's overused in the fandom to literal meme status (e.g. fuck off you cunt, Soldier's Poem was on Absolution, anything at all from Panic Station, Hey You Crazy Kids!, etc.)

I am not immune to a bit of

To this day I still use Matt/Chris/Dom from Muse as my tag for all their silly moments and shenanigans because it still cracks me up, every single time. I've never been able to watch this video with a straight face, it'll never be overused to me 😅

48. Have you made friends through Muse fan communities?

😊😊😊😊😊♥️♥️♥️ yes, I have! I met all of you, had the best gig of my life, and made some amazing friends that have stuck by me outside of just Muse fan-ning together!

[castle-dominion]

Season premieres & finales, trying to remember what happened when

season 1: he met beckett

he said "I looked at your mom's murder"" & she kicked him out

Season 2: he came back for a photoshoot & the reporter said "ooh I want to see the two of you in action" but I think this one is the one where the body got stolen.

he left for the summer with Gina

Season 3: his artist was murdered when he got home from his book tour. he started investigating on his own so they arrested him for murder lol.

Monty got shot, beckett did too & was on disability for three months. Castle says he loves her.

season 4: Gates shows up. First homicide back is some gal who got shot in the chest ("good thing beckett sat this one out") & hastings had a line with a front shot on her. they are simultaneously investigating becketts shooting. also the guy's name is rod haelstead which is very similar to a famous Métis fiddler rod olstad.

Monty's place had a breakin & evelyn shot someone with his old gun. Files were stolen. the dead guy who stole files was in contact with an old friend from the military who got him into this crap. Smith calls again, as he does. Castle needs to stop becks from looking into this case. He fails, she's hanging off a roof, all she can think of is castle. Ryan saves them by telling gates their secret & especkett get suspended & they are mad at ryan. Beckett resigns & goes to sleep with castle. No time passes but she does get a suspension in 5x1 which was the hiatus.

Season 5: Smith got beat up by maddoox. Ryan shows up at beckett's apartment bc he is working without a team. Esposito gets his army friend to find maddox. Caskett find smith all beat up & go to his property where esposito also happens to show up. The file goes kablooey & the cops are like "caspeckett why r u here?" Ryan shows up at beckett;s apartment again & gets two guns pulled on him lmao. they do a puzzle & somehow the file got blown up into pieces but not blown up into ash... anyway they find out it's bracken. Smith "dies". Beckett is not an assassin. Beckett wants her job back & gates is like "smh" but she lets beckett back. Well. After her suspension which is why I consider 5x1 to be more like 4x23b.

She gets a job at the AG's office bc of some anti surveillance tech guy who I really appreciated. Castle is like "what about me" but then proposes.

Season 6: she is working at the AG's & engaged to castle. Castle is no longer working with the nypd. Alexis introduces Pi too.

He has resurrected Derek Storm. Beckett turns out to be married. Castle got into a car crash & disappeared. Beckett is back at the nypd btw. She is the new roy montgomery, always quitting her job & coming back.

Season 7: they pick up at the end of the last season but Castle is missing for 2 months after that. Then they find him. Yay. He has no memories. (He should keep it that way.)

castle also becomes a pi in this season.

Castle's childhood trauma comes back to haunt him. Beckett is trying to be Captain or Senator. Castle gets an award & all the people are there which is nice.

Season 8: Beckett has become captain but then gets a call from the AG's office from some poor nerdy kid. Bracken, who is in jail now, still has a plot going on. Sullivan does not return (he was beckett's replacement when she was in the AG's). Hayley Shipton is introduced. She takes a break from her relationship with Castle & he is no longer working at the precinct but he keeps coming back anyway.

Idk how it ends. Don't tell me.

[crystalstar8]

Eye of the Sky

Ch. 2

Pairing: Namjoon x oc

Genre: heist au, action

word count: 1,791

warnings: action, violence, gun violence, car chases, car crashes, swearing, blood probably

notes: heist au, action, adventure, crime, enemies to lovers, ooc namjoon, because he has his license lol

Summary: Ten years ago, Namjoon's father was killed by his best friend and partner in crime, A man who now goes by the name Hawthorne. Now, Namjoon wants to get into the family business in order to avenge his father's death. After finding the man who killed his father, Namjoon builds a team and creates an elaborate plan to finally take the man down.

But will they be able to get through Hawthorne's state-of-the-art security system? And will they succeed with a mysterious assassin chasing them? Let's just say, it's a good thing Namjoon's team members keep surprising him with useful skills.

@mozy-j  @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @daechwitad-2

In the top floor penthouse in downtown Seoul, Taehyung stood in his walk-in closet, tying his tie in front of the floor length mirror. He checked the time. Five minutes before he had to leave. A text from his driver let him know that his ride was downstairs. After pulling his jacket on and checking himself one last time, he left his penthouse and made his way downstairs.

               The drive was quiet. Taehyung appreciated his early morning drives to the museum; it was a moment of peace before getting to work.

               His museum was his pride and joy. The building was all white marble, Grecian in design with a massive atrium dome in the center of the roof. He built it himself, without his father’s help. Not that his father would have helped him even if he were alive. His father was killed when Taehyung was a teenager, but the man was never very present in Taehyung’s life. He was almost always overseas on business, a business Taehyung was now in charge of.

               Taehyung never minded. He loved what he did. The thrill of it was almost as great as the wealth that came with it. The only thing he wished was different was the fame. He was the owner of the biggest private museum in Korea, not to mention the youngest, and with that title came press. He passed a billboard on the way to his museum, his own face looking down at the expressway.

               Stealing famous art and priceless artifacts would definitely be easier if his face wasn’t on every Louis Vuitton cologne and Rolex advertisement.

               His museum came into view and he was pleased to see he already had a line outside, waiting for the doors to open. There was a new exhibit opening today, and he was just as excited about it as the people waiting along the sidewalk.

               Once he was in his office, his assistant came in with a frazzled look on her face.

               “Sir, there’s a big problem,” she said.

               Taehyung took a deep breath before saying, “What’s wrong?”

               “One of our tour guides called in, he said he came down with something,” she said, frantically riffling through the disorganized mess of papers in her arms. “Which leaves us with only five guides. We’re going to be overloaded. There’s going to be children running around like monkeys, putting their filthy hands on the new exhibit-“

               Taehyung grabbed his assistant’s shoulders and fought against the smile threatening to come out. This was just like her, panicking every time something small didn’t go according to plan.

               “I will take his place,” Taehyung said.

               “But, sir…”

               “It’s my exhibit after all,” said Taehyung. “Who better than me to give the tour?”

               “Are you sure? People will recognize you,” she said. “Your most recent photoshoot for Hyundai is currently trending on Twitter. You’ll distract from the exhibit.”

               “I am sure,” said Taehyung. “I don’t think I’ll be a distraction.”

               His assistant gave him a skeptical and not at all placated look as she left his office.

               The museum doors were finally open and visitors were pouring in. The crowd was split up into six different tour groups, and Taehyung began his speech throughout the new exhibit. Quite a few eyes were glued to him rather than the exhibit, but he paid them no mind.

               A few tours later and something caught Taehyung’s eye through the crowd. He stuttered in the middle of his speech and stared wide eyed at the visitors waiting for him at the entrance.

               “Everyone, if you would please pardon me for a moment,” he said. “Please be responsible and follow the signs through the exhibit. Another guide will find you in a moment.”

               Taehyung pulled his earpiece and microphone off and pushed through the crowd of visitors. He made it to the front doors of the museum and stopped in front of two men, his smile dropping.

               “What are you doing here?” Taehyung whispered.

               Jin smiled and said, “What, we’re not allowed to visit an old friend?”

               “I’m working,” said Taehyung. “You can’t bring this here-“

               “Meet with us tonight,” said Namjoon. He handed Taehyung a slip of paper. Taehyung took it and slipped it into his inside coat pocket without tearing his eyes from them.

               “I will speak with you later,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was in the middle of a tour.”

               Taehyung backed away from them and then made his way back to his tour group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

               “How do you know he’ll actually show up?” Jin asked as they drove back to Namjoon’s apartment.

               “He will,” said Namjoon. “He lives for this kind of thing. Literally. He does jobs like this for a living.”

               “I thought his museum was honest now,” said Jin. “Doesn’t he do modelling now too?”

               “Oh, sure. His museum is honest alright,” said Namjoon. He took the turn into his parking garage. “If by honest you mean every single piece on display there was stolen one way or another.”

               “Doesn’t he buy or…” Jin began.

               “Sometimes. But most of the time, he acquires them himself,” Namjoon said as he parked the car. Jin’s Mercedes was parked beside them.

               “I’m glad we have him on our side then,” said Jin. They sat in silence for a while before Jin said, “Well, I will see you later tonight. Tell your mother I say hello.”

               “I will,” said Namjoon. Jin opened the passenger door and stepped out, getting right into his own car beside them. Namjoon waited a few minutes after Jin drove off before leaving the parking garage himself.

               The prison loomed over Namjoon as he stood in front of it, leaning against his car. He didn’t have to wait long before he saw his mother step out of the double doors. He smiled as they met in the middle. His mom wrapped her arms around him and held him in a crushing hug.

               “My son,” she said, her voice wobbly. “My beautiful son. Look at you.”

               She pulled back and held his shoulders.

               “You’re so handsome,” she said. “I mean, you’ve always been handsome, but there was that weird awkward phase you had-“

               Namjoon scoffed and rolled his eyes as she burst out laughing.

               “I missed you, mom,” he said.

               “I missed you too.”

               They got into the car and Namjoon began the drive back home.

               “How’s your sister?” his mom asked.

               “She graduated yesterday,” said Namjoon. “She wants to be a school teacher.”

               “Good. I knew she’d be successful,” his mom said. “She’s a smart girl. You both are. How are you? What have you been doing with your life?”

               “I work for a tech company in Seoul but I’m planning on leaving them soon,” said Namjoon. “I have a lot of work to do for my new job. Jin says hi, by the way.”

               His mother narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized him. “You’re planning something, aren’t you?”

               “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Namjoon, keeping his eyes on the road.

               “Well, I suppose it’s none of my business, as long you keep me out of it,” she said. “Whatever you’re up to, you know I won’t stop you. I just want you to be careful.”

               “I will,” said Namjoon. They drove in silence for a while before he said, “I’m taking us out for dinner tomorrow to celebrate Geongmin’s graduation.”

               “I can’t wait to see her. Why didn’t she come with you today?”

               “She’s busy with interviews today,” said Namjoon. He chuckled at his mother’s shocked face. “I know, she doesn’t waste any time, right?”

               “Good for her,” his mom said.

               After getting home and helping his mother settle into her new apartment he had bought for her next door, Namjoon spent some time getting ready for his own meeting. Jin arrived early, then Taehyung shortly after. Namjoon served them drinks and then sat with them around his dining table.

               “So, tell us the plan,” said Jin.

“Hawthorne’s collection is underground,” said Namjoon. “Behind a safe door that only opens with a password and thumbprint.”

               “How are we going to get Hawthorne’s thumbprint?” asked Jin.

               “We won’t,” said Namjoon. “Because that’s not the print we need. The only thumbprint that will open the door belongs to his son, Laurel Hawthorne. Laurel is the heir to the entire collection.”

               “Ah! Laurel Hawthorne!” Taehyung exclaimed. “I’ve worked with him in the past. Not a fan.”

               “You’re going to have to meet with him one last time to get the prints,” said Namjoon. “We’ll set up a meeting with him, where you’ll fake a sale. We’ll have someone hiding nearby with a tranquilizer gun. Once we take him out, you’ll nab his prints and we’ll be out of there.”

               “This sounds dangerous,” said Jin.

               “Inside the collection room is where the real trouble begins,” Namjoon continued. “Hawthorne uses a state-of-the-art technology to protect his collection. The security system inside uses gaseous detection. Once the door is opened, the room fills with a harmless gas. If there’s any kind of movement behind the barricades of the artifacts, another gas is released into the air, turning it toxic. From there, the person inside the chamber will only have a few minutes before dying. Once the security system is neutralized, and the cameras are placed in a loop, we’ll be able to just go in and take what we want. We’ll obviously replace everything with fakes, especially the Sky’s Eye, the item we need to leave with.”

               “Ah, the Sky’s Eye,” said Taehyung. “I had a feeling the necklace was what this was about. But I thought only one man has been in possession of the Sky’s Eye for ten years.”

               “You are correct,” said Jin. “Hawthorne is the very same man.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened as he made the connection.

“Hawthorne is Montgomery,” he whispered. “So, this job isn’t just for the necklace.”

“We’ll do all of this on the day of Hawthorne’s party, while he’s distracted,” said Namjoon. “We just need to find a way to get an invitation.”

               “Yes, that will be difficult,” said Jin.

               “Do you know anyone who’s going?” Namjoon asked Jin.

               “I might,” he said.

               “Do you think it’s someone you might be able to go with as their date?” asked Namjoon.

               “Oh, trust me. I would die to be this man’s date. He is the most handsome man in the world, after all,” said Jin. Namjoon narrowed his eyes. Jin burst into laughter, slapping his knee and pulling an envelope from the pocket inside his jacket.

               “You had an invitation all this time?” asked Taehyung.

               “Of course!” said Jin, laughing and slapping his knee. Namjoon shook his head but couldn’t help a fond smile from pulling at his lips.

[ikeservant]

Hello!!! Hope you are well! Uwu can I get some hc for Kenshin, Ieyasu, Hideyoshi, and Masamune with an Mc who is a photographer? (Lol idk how the battery and stuff will survive but oh well😂😂) thank you have a great day!

Intro: Mc is a photographer who just got done doing a photoshoot with her friends for practice, bringing both her regular good camera and her cute polaroid with some extra packets of its lil photo cards. She sees Sasuke at the shrine, wormhole, and BOOM! Sengoku time! Sasuke meets up with her and gives her a makeshift charger with some oranges, salt, and sanded copper (idk how science works but each of these things could probably be mixed with other stuff to make currents to conduct and charge stuff. It just WORKS.)

Kenshin: “What weaponry is this?” “A camera. It shoots stuff, but not in the way you think.” Mc explained how the camera worked, showing him the pictures she’s taken in the past. Is impressed with how it can capture a moment forever in a world where life is fleeting. When he expressed this, mc got an idea. “Just sit still and smile.” Seeing mc excited to take a picture made him feel warm and fuzzy so of course a nice smile would be in order. After a click of the polaroid camera, a small square came out. It took a little bit for him to notice that the image of him smiling was developing. “Now I can carry this with me wherever I go and see your smile even when you’re off in war.” He IMMEDIATELY snatched the polaroid camera and demanded/asked mc to smile so he could do the same and always have that image of her smiling captured in time, giving him reassurance that the memory of her smiling was consistent in the ever-changing world of war. If mc didn’t keep a close watch over him, he’d probably use the rest of her stack of film on taking pics of her so he could admire all the moments of her.

Ieyasu: When Ieyasu first introduced mc to Wasabi, mc was determined to capture a beautiful image of the cute deer in the courtyard setting. Ieyasu was nervous at first when mc brought it, afraid she was going to do something weird/harmful to his baby deer, but mc realized how odd a camera must look to someone in the 1500s (duh), and showed/explained how photography works and uses her good camera to shoot a pic of Wasabi sniffing flowers in front of the beautiful sunset. He was in shock that beautiful image was captured in an instant. “Does that image just stay in the camera?” “It can unless I go somewhere to develop the pictures, but I can’t do that here. I DO have this though! Say cheese!” Mc whipped around with her polaroid, clicking it as Ieyasu looked both surprised and flustered. As the film came out and began developing, showing his candid stunned face, mc had to run and hide it before Ieyasu could snatch it out of her hand out of embarrassment. He’s super camera shy so the only other pic she was able to get was him feeding Wasabi. “This isn’t fair.” “What? You want to take a picture of me with Wasabi?””…” Reading his mind that he wanted a pic of his love too, she let him take/keep a few pics of her and Wasabi and also some of just her, including a goofy photo that makes him smile and go “Look at this photograph. Every time I see it makes me laugh.”(Nickelback reference). Keeps them in a hidden drawer but when going to battle/going away for a while he secretly brings a photo of mc and tucks it in his clothes so it feels like she’s actually with him and gives him hope and light.

Hideyoshi: When he finally realized mc was NOT going to kill Nobunaga, he decided to go to her to apologize. When he entered however, he saw mc fiddling with a mysterious box with a weird circle on it, making him worried it was a sniper weapon for assassination. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, MISSY!” Mc about dropped her precious camera and became furious at HIM, causing him to go into shock. She sat him down and told him about cameras and how they work. He was still confused, but he thought it was very neat how it could capture and preserve a scene in time. He then remembered why he came there to apologize. As forgiveness, mc bestowed on him the beauty that was a polaroid picture of Nobunaga (Hidemama was #blessed). Likes seeing the sights that mc takes pictures of but is embarrassed when she takes pics of him. He decides to try his hand at photography, which at first he looked like a clueless dad with his thumb on the lens taking blurry photos. But, like his tea ceremony skills, he became quite steadyhanded and skilled, making mc lowkey jealous but also intrigued and excited what he finds photo-worthy and his vision. Would love a polaroid photo of mc and would put it on a stand next to his bed so when he’s not with her he can still be blessed by an image of her face.

Masamune: Mc was going through her camera memory when Masamune barged into her room, sword at her neck asking if she was from the future. Instead of being scared, mc was MAD that she almost deleted an important photo of her friends and lectured him on why this camera is important and why he shouldn’t be horsing around while she’s using it. He put his swords away and decided by the camera alone that she is definitely from the future. He would be intrigued by all the photos from the future and what certain objects, clothing, animals, and buildings he didn’t recognize, making him think the future was cool, especially the pics of food he doesn’t recognize that he wants to recreate RIGHT NOW. He wouldn’t understand the purpose of photography at first because he has more of a live in the moment philosophy versus trying to capture the moment/reminisce the past. However, he learns to appreciate the moments captured on camera as time goes on. Always carries a wholesome sweet pic of mc or a hawt pic of mc when away from her on dangerous trips or battle and has to fight the urge to show the pics off to everyone he sees to HYPE UP HIS LASS cuz looking at the pics helps him visualize how much mc means to him and he finally understood the beauty of photography. Loves the pics Mc takes every two weeks of Shogetsu so she can create a slideshow of how big the tiger cub has been growing like life in fast motion. Would hang polaroid pics up on the wall for the futuristic art aesthetic and its like a wall of his own lil family that he’s finally been blessed with. With his literary gift in poetry and mc’s visual gift of photography, they’re the ultimate art duo that’s both wild and has drunken their philosophical juice.

[sundaysundaes]

LOOK AT THIS. if you decide to write something like that, then ... well... WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE.

frankly, I'm sick, thinking how haechan may be hot in this manner. that's so much. I look at him and I feel bad, he's so damn strong🤤🥵

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH THE AMOUNT OF FEELS I GOT FROM THIS PHOTOSHOOT YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW

I’ve written those things I said in my tags but it’s just porn with no plot, i’m not sure people would want to read it???? I just had too much assassin!hyuck feels that I needed to get them out of my system and the only way to do that for me is by writing it down lol

I think I can probably work it out as a whole story with an actual plot but I’m still testing the waters for now and see how my readers will react with my version of sexy, mature, dangerous hyuck. if they (you, specifically) like it then maybe i’ll continue it :D

[theliterarywolf]

So... Let's talk about Hetalia. Controversies, Specifically.

Tagging @apply-force-too-begin since they’re the one who was interested.

Hetalia was one of my first big fandoms outside of 'The Big Three' anime (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece) and outside of video games (mostly whatever wee babby weeaboo me could get on the Gamecube).

And, you know what? It's a dumb, silly anime about stereotypes, poking fun at the absurdities of History, and one's relationships with clashing cultures. It's dumb... But, remember, we all need our daily thirty minutes of dumb. And some of the characters are cute.

And, you know what? Most of the most engaging aspects of the fandom were those who used the initial shallow splash of history that the anime gave them to actually research and make engaging, well-written, culturally-sensitive content.

Of course, I'm not going to ignore how... Over-the-top some members of the fandom have been. We've seen how, whenever recent political conflict or natural disaster have occurred, we have to remind younger members of the Hetalia fandom to not cutsiefy it with the Hetalia characters. Examples that come to mind are: when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was surging up, kids kept trying to draw art of 'Russia just wants his big sister back~!', and the last major earthquake that hit Japan that had people making fanart of the Japan character which, while some was tasteful and was meant to bring awareness and donations for Disaster Relief, not... all of it was...

Hell, that’s not even bringing into account the last time I went to Anime Expo (way back during Hetalia’s hayday), I was walking around and saw a bunch of Russia and Baltic State cosplayers being interviewed by the news and the one dressed up in a USSR uniform was holding up a Communist flag and shouting ‘Whoo! SOVIET TAKEOVER!!’

However, one thing that I have noticed, while researching for this write-up, was this:

Most of the controversies and pieces of fandom-wank that have surrounded Hetalia and its fandom... Aside from one instance... Are the results of the Western-fandom and Western-localization of the anime  via Funimation.

Aside from one... Most of the issues surrounding Hetalia are due to the West and not even the source media in of itself.

So, with that in mind, let's talk about the main controversies of both Hetalia and its fanbase.

Controversy 1 – The South Korea Controversy/Protests

As I recently answered a question about this, so I'll just pull that answer for this segment:

'To summarize it: there’s a Hetalia character meant to represent South Korea. As every Hetalia character has a gag related to them (America gorges himself on fast food and constantly proclaims himself to be the Hero, Italy is cowardly, Germany is constantly angry, China constantly builds Chinatowns wherever he goes and sells bootleg merchandise, etc), so did S. Korea.

His gag was calling all the other Asian countries ‘big brother’ as well as groping the chests of male characters (China and Japan mostly), proclaiming ‘these mountains belong to South Korea, da ze!’

Of course, people would draw pictures of S. Korea doing his thing but one day during a meeting between a bunch of South Korean politicians and representatives, someone brought out a piece of fanart that depicted S. Korea groping Japan’s chest with the latter looking embarrassed and what not.

They interpreted the character as being an offensive, lecherous stereotype that was somehow belittling S. Korea’s worth as a country.

There were a bunch of small protests until, finally, Himaruya Hidekazu (the creator of Hetalia) just decided to say “you know what? Fine! I’m not getting rid of the character but he’ll never appear in the anime adaptation, okay?!’

So… Yeah! Fun times…'

Magnitude of Controversy – MAJOR

Like... In what universe is 'this meme hurt my feewings, we need to take VALUABLE TIME DURING GOVERNMENT FORUMS to talk about it RATHER THAN OTHER PRESSING ISSUES' a good response? And the fact that people took to the streets to protest? Come on, guys! There's so much more to worry about in this world...

Controversy 2 – Emperor Heliogabalus and Himaruya's 'Transgender Erasure'

There was a section of time where Himaruya Hidekazu, rather than focusing on the nation characters of the series, made chapters and updates about certain historical figures. They were all done for laughs while interspersing various bits of trivia and facts about them.

One of these updates centered around the Roman emperor Heliogabalus (or 'Elagabalus'). And this is where certain portions of this hellsite got soooooo upset...

You see, Himaruya titled the update centered on Heliogabalus as 'The Emperor Who Tried to Live as a Woman... Even Though He Was Really a Guy'.

Almost immediately people were typing up callout posts about how 'transphobic' Himaruya was for the title and 'how dare he misgender my precious trans baby~!' or 'this just goes to show how ignorant Japanese people are to Western history' and so many more, all because Himaruya didn't use out-and-out female pronouns for Heliogabalus.

Now. Mm, two things!

One! This was during the time when Himaruya had an open blog where, not only did he post pictures and updates about where in the world he was traveling and what he was researching, but it also had an inbox that was open for people to send insight to him.

So, if people were really incensed by this, you would think that they would use such a means to let a creator know 'hey, this is kind of problematic; can you edit it to show this information', right?

Right?

NO ONE tried to inform Himaruya of their upset; they literally didn't want an answer, they just wanted to be upset!

But, here's the kicker: the guy that all of these people were stanning for? Emperor Heliogabalus?

WASN'T FUCKING TRANS!!

The real Heliogabalus was a sadistic little shit who was connivingly put on the throne by his mother via a bunch of espionage and assassinations... Who, as thanks, had his own mother murdered once he was emperor. Other wonderful exploits of this 'icon' that tumblr kids decided to stan was:

Getting politicians and countrymen drunk and then, while they were passed out, brought in lions to kill and eat them

Deciding 'fuck Jupiter, Helios is my husbando – We're all going to worship him now!'

Completely wrecking Rome's monetary system

Promising favors to his lovers (whom he called his 'husbands' despite not making anything official) that strictly contradicted favors to his other lovers

And just generally being a hot mess

So... why were tumblr children so insistent on him being a transgender woman?

You ready for this?

Okay.

Because he occaisionally dressed in women's clothing and called his male lovers his 'husbands'.

Yeah.

One of the earliest case of tumblr children trying to ruin someone's life because they didn't follow their headcanons.

Magnitude of Controversy – Honestly, this was just fandom-wank. But it was one of the earlier instances of fandom brats using serious terms (transphobia) to justify being upset at a creator not following their headcanons.

Controversy 3 – The Passover Photoshoot

…

…

I'm sorry, just...

Everytime I remember or have to go over this one, I have to stop and reflect; maybe grab a drink.

…

Okay.

So, pretty early into the Western reaches of the Hetalia fandom, a group of friends and Hetalia fans decided to meet up together at a mall for a cosplay photoshoot.

Okay. Cool. Fine.

They were all dressed up as their favorite characters from the series! Germany, Austria, Hungary, P-Prussia, Holy... Roman Empire...

Ahem. Okay. Cool. Fine.

So, they get to the mall and start taking pictures. But then someone in the group gets the amazing idea for everyone to do certain poses.

I... You know, why did I start this, I could have just not done thi--

Nazi salutes. You had a bunch of dumb kids dressed up as Germanic nations. Performing Nazi salutes and shouting 'Heil Hitler'.

Now, as bad as this was... you could have just drawn it out as shitty edgelord humor; we still have plenty of that going on today.

H-however. There were two factors that made this photoshoot 50 Shades of Tasteless.

Number one. This photoshoot took place during Passover.

And number two. The mall that this photoshoot took place at...

WAS JUST A HOP, SKIP, AND A JUMP FROM THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MUSEUM!!!

This is the one, THE ONE, instance where, anytime someone talks about 'lol, young Hetalia fans are so cringey', this is what pops into my head.

Those of us older members of the fandom can never fucking forget this. Yeah, the perpetrators were called out; yeah, they learned their lessons, yeah it opened up a conversation about appropriate behavior in fandom. But this one event will always remain as the big 'Ooh, baby, nooooo! What are you doing?!' moment in the fandom.

Even moreso than what the current batch of hatedum is about.

Magnitude of Controversy – Huge. The South Korea controversy was discussed on a governmental scale, but the Passover Photoshoot is what remains as the biggest mark on the fandom.

Controversy 4 - FUCKING FUNIMATION!!

Okay, I... 

This one is so infuriating because it’s the result of Funimation just not giving a DAMN.

So, Hetalia got popular enough to be localized! Yay... And it was going to be handled by Funimation. Yay... They do quality work... Sometimes.

*kicks the Black Butler dub into the sun*

So, they dubbed Hetalia. And, you know what? So many questionable decisions went into this fucking dub. 

You have Vic Mignogna! You! *clap* Have! *clap* Vic! *clap* Mignogna! You could have easily put him as one of the Axis characters or the Allied characters and you...

Don’t use him...

Until three seasons down the line...

And then you have him as Greece. 

A character who barely says anything.

... And this was WAY before the clusterfuck of KickVic, so they really had no excuse. 

Oh, also! For China, who is a main character, maybe we should have an actual voice-actor?

Pssh! Fuck that shit, let’s just have some random chick from accounting voice him. 

... They literally had some random-chick from accounting do an overly stereotypical Chinese accent and said ‘yeah, that’s fine; print!’

And she gave us such... wonderful line-reads as: during the Hetalia movie Paint It, White! --

“SUCK BALLS! I knew za fortune cookie today was bad ruck~!”

But as bad as the dub got sometimes (Oh God, I’m having war flashbacks of Russia...), the exchange from the dub that people constantly point to as ‘see! This show was antisemitic all along!’ were these: 

Exchange 1 - 

S. Italy/Romano - ‘Hey asshole, I have a surprise for you~!’

Germany - ‘What is it? Another Jew?’

And, you know what? As asinine and idiotic as that brief exchange was... 

IT WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL!

Funimation, in their infinite wisdom, wrote that in and thought ‘yeah, that’s fine; print!’

So, there goes another issue of ‘problem that only existed because of the idiocy of a Western presence’.

Magnitude of Controversy - Well, people are still talking about it, despite it literally being because of Funimation’s laziness, so...

'Controversy' 5 – The Civil War fanart

So, this segment will be short because it doesn't even need to exist. But, you may have noticed an upsurge in people hating on the series again; even going so far as to raid Discord servers for fans of the series with gore.

Hell, I even scrolled past one person doing a 'call to arms' for people to spam any server that has to do with Hetalia as a big 'gotcha'.

And you wanna know where this fandom-wank started?

Someone on tumblr re-posted an old piece of... questionable chibi fanart of Confederate!America and Union!America. Union!America is hiding a slave woman behind him while shouting at Confederate!America to 'Pick your own damn cotton!'

(deep breath... okay)

And, while the art in of itself is... not great, the fact that it is an old piece of fanart and that someone posted it onto tumblr for the 'lol, look at this cringe' lolz, is what rallied some people to start shitting on fans of the show and raiding servers.

There also may have been some drama over on picrew by some teenage LGBT user lashing out at the whole 'stop spamming Picrew with gay shit' sentiment and then some edgelord over on this hellsite screencapping their game and talking about 'lol, of course it would be a cringey Hetalian to post some dumb shit like this; get off the site, queer' but, honestly, this last one, while being the reason why people are acting dumber than usual, is the most inconsequential.

Magnitude of the Controversy – It would be minimal at best, especially compared to the other ones in this write-up, but like I said, it does have some trickling into the current hatedumb.

So, yeah, here was my little write-up/mini-dive into the madness. You guys can let me know if you want more insight or if you have any questions, and I love you and buh-bye!

[saucylittlesmile]

Anonymous said: Tessa seems like a reserved introvert in her public persona off the ice. And yet she’s (as well as Scott) able to bring a raw sexuality and sensuality to the ice especially when she plays seductress roles. How do you think she pulls that off? Do ice dancers really think of it as ‘getting into character; on the ice? Scott clearly knew she had it in her when he said she would make the best Carmen. How did they switch on this adult sensuality on the ice from the awkward teenage years?

Oh boy, you may regret asking me this, lol.

So first, let’s look at what the term introvert really means. Introvert does not equal shy. Introvert, boiled down, means that a person requires time alone to mentally and emotionally recharge. If an introvert is with people for too long, she finds it draining.

(An extrovert, on the other hand, finds being alone draining. She likes to be with people, and finds it energizing.)

Being shy is not being introverted - it is related to anxiety, and you can be a shy introvert, but you can also be a shy extrovert.

Most people have aspects of both introvert and extrovert - they are on a spectrum, not at an extreme end. Lots of introverts enjoy people for a while - the length if time might just depend on the kind of day they're having. Lots if introverts also have family or close friends with whom they find less draining, than say, being with a large crowd at a party - they can go longer in their company, than in others, without needing a recharge of alone-time. 

Introverts tend to let the extroverts have the center of attention, and if they need to speak, they prefer to have time to think about what they're going to say, first. 

As well, many introverts learn how to be a more extroverted to be accepted in society and/or to be successful in their chosen career.  Tessa needs to be more extroverted in a lot of situations - interviews, photoshoots, meet and greets... the professional list goes on and on.  And then there are things like group practices, tours, GMP - things where you may notice her being just a little bit apart from the group sometimes, or MIA from a group activity, because the social aspect is longer-term and not necessarily something where she has to be "on" for the entire time, but is still required to be involved and part of the bigger team.  So yeah, then she needs some time to herself - an hour, a day, longer?  Depends on the person, the situation. 

Anyway.  If you want to read more about introversion - (x)

***

But my point - Tessa is an introvert.  But she isn't (necessarily) shy.  She has chosen a career in which she is a performer, and she has said that she enjoys it (and there are plenty of introverted actors/actresses/singers, etc).  So playing a sexy role on the ice, to me, was more about getting older, having more confidence in herself, having the maturity to pull it off.  Scott knew she would be the best because he always believes that. :)  But also, because after Vancouver, Mahler had painted Tessa into this ethereal innocent, and she was always more layered than that. 

When you look back at their programs, it wasn't like a single moment that transformed them.  It was a process.  They'd done tangos and Latin and so on, and done them very well - for their ages.  But like most skaters, they matured and so did their skating interpretation.  Watch Valse Triste at the beginning of the year vs the end of the season - the progression of learning how to do a romantic, sweet program together.  Think about the program choices - Beautiful Maria, Assassination Tango, Farrucas, Latin - all leading them towards being able to do Carmen with conviction. 

But it is playing a character.  She can be Carmen on the ice, and still be reserved as herself (especially with that crowd of strangers, vs her inner circle of people, with whom she can be more relaxed). 

Early Valse Triste (before the season began, so also not used to the program yet): (x)  Valse Triste at Worlds 2007 (x)

2005/2006 OD - at 16 and 18, but going for it with those hands... (x)

***

On a related but unasked thought, LOL - Scott, of course, is an extrovert.  But he is also a hyperactive guy.  The two are not the same thing either.  As an extrovert, Scott needs to be around people more often than Tessa.  She might go to her hotel room after a busy day, while he might be more inclined to go out - with friends or yes, to a bar - someplace he can be social and gather some of that energy. He's the guy who can go to the farmer's market to give away event tickets all morning and still be good to go to a charity golf tournament and dinner afterwards probably enjoy the whole thing, LOL.   But the hyperactivity - can't sit/stand still - that's a different part of his personality. 

[vvlin91]

The Making of Sanaich

How 19-year-old Sana Hiroki transformed himself into an 80s yaoi icon

Maraich is special to the Patalliro! series even before author Maya Mineo realized it. He confessed to planning to kill him off after a few chapters but saw the character had a life of its own and therefore he felt compelled to let him live. I wonder if this happened before or after Maraich was assigned to be 18 years of age, because Maya Mineo fell in love with his wife at first sight when he was 27, which is Bancoran’s age, and his wife 18. In the manga Maya-sensei also jokingly stated that Bancoran’s cheating was in no way a reflection of his own behaviors. And the fact that Maya-sensei’s now-mangaka daughter saw Patalliro as a sibling growing up kind of indirectly shows how Bancoran and Maraich’s relationship is in certain ways a representation of Maya-sensei’s own marriage. 

Maya-sensei is delightfully weird, as you would expect from the man who created Patalliro! in the first place. So a lot of the decisions he has made about his story and characters don’t fit into boxes. He said he wasn’t good at drawing women so he made all his characters gay even though the pretty boys he draws are all indistinguishable from women. 

And even though Maraich was one of the most important characters of the story, he never bound himself or anyone else to any set ways of portraying the character. Maraich was famously voiced by female voice actor Fujita Toshiko, and Maya-sensei had characterized Maraich as “a girl with a boy’s body”, despite the fact that Maraich throughout the series has used “boku”, which is the male first-person pronoun and on several occasions made it clear that he is a male and has no problem staying that way. So the whole thing is a very fluid situation and Maya-sensei is almost always just free-ranging.

When Stage Patalliro! became a thing but the cast has not been determined, Maya-sensei called his daughter Marie to ask about whether Maraich should be played by a man or a woman. Little did he realize that because Marie was raised on all the BL manga he had gathered over the years in his household, there was only one possible answer from a hardcore fujoshi.

The conversation was first revealed in Marie’s own comic series:

“100% MALE!” was Marie’s instant reply. So we might have her to thank for Sanaich.

“For real?” was Sana’s initial response after being cast as Maraich. He didn’t know Patalliro! prior to the play and there was little in common between he and his character. Maraich looks like a woman, and was voiced by a woman, moreover Maya-sensei sees Maraich as a girl at heart and even wants a female to play the role, everything was mounting on Sana who has so far made his name by playing a serious character.

A known hard-worker, Sana did not dwell on the pressure and dived into the series. He read the entire manga(which was 90+ volumes and counting) and watch the anime on DVD(49 episodes not counting the movie). It was then when he saw that Maraich always uses “boku” when referring to himself. 

“So there is still a part of him that is a boy.”

He expressed his thoughts to Maya-sensei when they sat down for an interview for the first time. And Maya-sensei, being his free-ranging self and all, essentially advised him to approach the character his own way. That is to say, he doesn’t have to feel confined by the anime’s female voice(which would be impossible for him to mimic anyway) or even Maya-sensei’s own characterizations. They have cast a boy, so Maraich now is a boy and there is nothing wrong with playing him as one.

“I often see (Maraich) being called ‘the one in a million pretty boy’ so I thought, ‘Ah, he’s a boy after all.’”

“My voice is so deep.”

“My shoulders are a little too wide.”

The photoshoot was just one of the places for such concerns, where Sana had to come up with very feminine and even erotic poses. Luckily he got advice from the staff and he also observed the women around him. He ultimately settled for a “worried” face, expressing the inner thought of “What do I even do...”

(Aoki Tsunenori, who plays Bancoran, said, “I didn’t receive any special instructions for the photoshoot.”)

The result was stunning.  

Tsune: I don’t dislike girls with wide shoulders at all. It’d definitely score a pass for me.

Sana: I’m so glad ♪ (A/N: the music note was printed in the actual interview)

(Despite that, Sana carried the same concerns with him even long after the show was over. In these two clips(1/2) where he watched himself as Maraich on stage, you can still see him feeling uneasy about his voice and any sign of masculinity, despite his fellow actors' repeated reassurance that he was adorable and his style was really good. )

To look like the character is one thing, to give him life on stage is another.

Even though they have established the fact that Maraich is a boy, he is still a feminine one. A lot of ideas flew around from the director and others on how Maraich would behave under different circumstances(80s female idols were an important point of reference). Once the directives were in his head, Sana realized he had indeed started acting more “girlish” even without realizing. He started to obsess over make-up, buying fashion magazines targeted at women, and unconsciously dancing in a very feminine manner... At one point he wondered if he had gone a little too far and really became a girl, but he was also having so much fun so he just laughed it off. 

However, there was another elephant in the room: Maraich and Bancoran’s same-sex relationship, which was something new to both actors.

Sana: (while staring at Tsune) I want to convey the ultimate love story that even the audience would envy. Tsune: I never injected love to a boy this way though~ Sana: I have never fallen in love with a man before so...please take care of me! Tsune: Well, me neither. (LOL)  (A/N: the bracket notes are also printed in the actual interview)

Since both actors considered themselves to be straight(haha), Maya-sensei advised Sana to think of himself as a boy with a girl's heart to help him approach same-sex romance for the first time. Tsune then declared, “Sana I’m going to treat you like a girl now” which Sana happily agreed to. They indeed grew to enjoy each other’s company, sometimes caught by fellow actors sharing a private moment together and both spoke very fondly of the experience even long after the show was over.

And there’s the fanfiction-like story of how they managed to kiss without feeling embarrassed.

Here’s a video you have probably watched 200 times because I reblogged it 2000 times.

They were determined to get this right. Tsune said in a later interview that he didn’t want people to think they were faking the kiss so a simple brush on the lips was out of the question. Kato Ryo(Patalliro), who somehow always gets asked about the kiss even though he personally was not involved, also said they both really went for it with all they had.

And there is also the love-making. Neither spoke much about it unfortunately but we know this position was coined by Kato Ryo and there was a lot of trial and error happening under everyone’s watchful eyes. So we at least know they had to rehearse in the middle of the room with everyone watching.

Alas, Maraich is more than just a pretty face.

Maraich is a trained assassin and literal killing machine. Check out Sana’s epic high kicks in this action sequence with Tsune.

Maraich is also a sentimental lover. His solo "That Man" is an expression of his rawest emotions, and a very subtle tribute to the fact that Maraich was one of the earliest manga characters to be shown engaging in masturbation.

Remember how Sana was concerned about his deep, manly voice? In Maraich and Bancoran’s duet "Snipers of Love", you can clearly hear that Tsune's voice is a lot higher than his but that did not keep this song from being one of the most brainwashing tracks coming from any stageplay. 

And there’s also this moment of truly seamless acting:

Maya-sensei's daughter and mangaka Yamada Marie grew up with BanMara. Yet even she, after watching the stageplay, found herself shipping BanMara even harder and started to actively use the term "Sanaich", combining the actor and character's names.

Kato Ryo, who was the determining factor that made the play even remotely plausible, mentioned how having Sana as Maraich and Tsune as Bancoran helped him relieve a lot of the pressure. Patalliro, Bancoran and Mariach are the pillars of the original story, and it is not surprising that the stageplay could only work out when there are three competent and talented actors to fill those roles. In fact, in many group and solo interviews the three of them did before and after the play, they brought up how watching each other get into character gave them confidence and even more faith that this play - long considered an impossible project - will work out just fine.

In the end, Sana probably found that he and Maraich had more in common than he first thought. Sana is a very talented and hardworking actor. His subsequent performances as Sesshomaru in Stage Inuyasha and Bedivere in Stage FGO were also highly praised, but I still feel Maraich is his most outstanding performance to date. There's just something about Sanaich that feels so natural, something close to perfection came out of that flawless addition of unabashed boyishness and Maraich's sentimentalism.

After the final performance, Sana wrote on his blog,

"I am so happy to be able to play Maraich. So happy that I might have got pregnant...LOL"

And here’s a gif of him having fun.

Well, he's just not pregnant...yet.

[kaleidopewrites]

The Nightclub Experience

Summary: You find out that Steve and your crush Bucky have never been to a nightclub. You decide to fix this fact

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 4191

Warnings: reader gets roofied, bits of fluff, extroverted reader

A/N: Whoa, this one shot just kept going! It’s my longest one yet, lol. 

Please send requests, I’m sure people have better ideas than me :3

You slam your palms into the table, surprising the Avengers you were talking to, a feat rarely achieved. “You guys have never been to a nightclub?” You ask, voice rising with disbelief along with your eyebrows.

“(Y/N), they’re ninety,” Nat pointed out from the couch, lazily spread across the furniture but attentively listening. “That does not excuse them,” You huff, rising from the table to cross your arms over your chest. Steve and Bucky glanced at each other worriedly.

As the extravert you were, it was hard to understand why Steve and Bucky weren’t taking advantage of the new era, trying all the fascinating new things that separated the 40s from the 2000s. You’d been to plenty of nightclubs and knew it was your solemn duty to have the boys experience it.

You weren’t related to the Avengers at all. You weren’t some mutant, or a night vigilante that lost their parents or gained special powers. You were the local café’s finest coffee brewer. Being a waitress and barista, you didn’t expect to become friends with the Avengers. And yet, here you were.

It started with just Tony Stark. The café you worked at, loved to bits, was literally just outside Stark Tower, taking up the corner street with its delicious aroma and amazing view of the billionaire’s superhero ways.

Tony, when he didn’t want to make his own coffee, usually sent people down to the nearest café – your café – to get a coffee. It didn’t take him long to figure out he had found his ambrosia, his heaven in a to-go cup.

For a while, you both played tag. He’d show up, incognito, to your café and ask around, trying to find the angel responsible for the liquid gold he bought on a daily basis. But, whenever he did show up, you’d either be on break or not working that day entirely.

With a touch of expert hacking and constant surveillance, he finally found you and sent for you like a King asking for a servant. You remember being asked to deliver Tony’s coffee to him in the Tower, feeling intimidated by the building alone.

You had been walked inside and was chaperoned all the way up to the penthouse floors of the Tower and finally introduced to Stark. He was quirky and very flirtatious, but you dealt with that a lot working as a waitress. Tony was adorable, but certainly not your type.

Slowly but surely, he began introducing you to members of the Avengers, showing you off like a show pony or a war hero. Most of them were unsure of how you and Tony came to know each other but as soon as they tasted your potion, they were hooked.

Now, you’d rock up whenever you felt like it. During breaks you’d just walk over to the Tower, already known by first name from the workers and brought coffee to whomever was in the building at the time.

Tony invited you to constant parties, coming up with new and spectacular ways of how you both met. Your favourite tale, was how you were some sort of witchy vixen, casting a spell on the Avengers to make them like you.

You were yet to be arrested for witchcraft and attempting to assault the Avengers.

You’d eventually met Steve and, in turn, you met Bucky. Now, James Buchanan Barnes was certainly a man you’d swoon over, have been for some time. He was shy and slightly moody at first, always in sweatpants whenever you’d see him and with a small scold on his face, never giving you more than three words.

But the more you hung around him, the more he opened up. Plus, your amazing skills at brewing coffee helped things along. You’d talk about anything. Anything other than his past, other than bits of the forties, but you were happy just to hold a conversation with him.

Whenever he’d open his mouth, he was always talking about something smart, leading you to understand why he was such a science and art nerd. But you loved it to bits. You didn’t mind the random facts he’d ramble about, all this stuff he was fascinated in.

He would light up whenever he was comfortable. Normally, his shoulders were stiff as he attempted to fall between his bones and submerge into himself, desperately trying to disappear. But when it was just the two of you, you saw this bright, happy young man.

You’d watch as this new Bucky, this forties Bucky evolved before you. He’d raise his head, eyes not having to skim the room for threats. The shadows on his face would dissipate, bringing light to his skin and making his ruggedness look handsome and not fearful.

The bags under his eyes from countless sleepless nights would disappear for a while, as his cerulean eyes would twinkle like the ocean, making you swim and become lost amongst his iris’. His teeth were pearly and beautiful and one of those few features you rarely saw.

It was because of his smiles. At first, he would be a little hesitant. You’d struggle to get even a twitch of a smirk from him but it soon became easier. That twitch became a strong tug at the corners of his mouth, a ghost of a smirk playing on his slightly chapped pink lips.

And then that smirk pulled at his full lips, sometimes accompanied by a small chuckle that make your heart swell with success. Before long, the smirk became a full smile, brightening his features further like a sun rising from the horizon.

You always seemed to forget that he was once a big, scary assassin guy.

But all of that progress would disappear as soon as you were joined by someone else. It happened even with Steve. As soon as the two of you were joined by another presence, the brightness would darken and he’d sink back into himself.

Whatever he was talking about, whether it was some new internet discovery he made or a childhood memory, the conversation would fall as soon as someone walked into your area. He’d mumble the end of the sentence before falling into himself again.

And you had to start from scratch again.

It got easier every time, but you wished you never had to keep restarting. Steve was going through something similar, but not as effective as you were. Bucky and him would hang out just the two of them, and he’d be fine, until someone he wasn’t comfortable with entered the area.

You knew you had to give him time. He was a broken man trying to pick up the pieces of his soul, trying to figure out how to live with the memories he has, the scars he’s been forced to carry. But you hoped, one day, he could see you were trying to help.

“We’re going,” You nodded defiantly, making up your mind and sticking with it, determined to not let either 40s fossils disagree with you.

“To a nightclub?”

“Yep,”

“We’re too old for that,”

“Don’t you dare pull that card!”

“Look,” You sighed, sitting back in the chair opposite Bucky. “Just give it a shot. If you don’t like it, I won’t force you to stay more than, let’s say, ten minutes.”

The two super soldiers glanced at each other again, trying to see if they could challenge you on this. You appeared very determined and clearly weren’t going to go down without a fight. Steve sighed as he leaned back in his chair, lounging his arm across the table to drum his fingertips.

“No more than ten minutes?” He asked. “To the last millisecond. I swear on my mother,” You grin, trying to convey how serious you were. He looked to Bucky, silently asking him if he was okay with this. Bucky didn’t seem to make a noise of distaste, and instead turned to you. You could tell he was up for the experience. Steve shrugged, coming to his own decision with a hesitant smile.

“I guess we’re going to a nightclub,”

You were practically jumping with excitement as you stood in the common room of Stark Tower, dressed in ripped jeans, your neat boots and a flowy blouse. Your hair was curled back in ocean waves and you’d applied a little bit of makeup to make yourself feel extra pretty today.

Bucky was the first to walk out of the halls, adjusting the leather jacket on his shoulders before palming his hair back over his ears. He looked like he just walked out of a photoshoot and the sight took your breath away. He had shaven slightly, giving him that 5 o’clock shadow along his jawline that made your knees wobbly.

He looked up and spotted you, eyes widening slightly as his lips parted slightly. You hold out your arms swinging in a quick circle to show off your clothes. “You like?” You ask, posing dramatically to try and make him laugh but all he could do was stare at you.

“It’s not a formal event, but sometimes you gotta look gorgeous,” You giggle, regaining your posture as you mess with your hair. “Buck, are you okay?” You ask, worried when he hadn’t moved an inch. “Okay you’re kinda scaring me,”

“Right-o, are we ready?” Steve called, walking into the common room, making both you and Bucky jump at the sudden voice. The Captain looked between the pair of you two, watching as the brunette shied away for a moment, diverting his eyes from you.

“I guess we’re ready,” You mumble, giving Bucky a weird look before clearing it, beaming again.

“Onwards!”

You lead the boys from the Tower, opting to walk the lit up streets of New York, showing them the night life of the city. You talked more to Steve on your walk towards the club, Bucky opting to lag a few paces behind.

You smile at the bouncer at the door, flashing ID to let you inside, just like the boys. As soon as you stepped inside, you realised how much you missed being in nightclubs with friends. And now that you had returned to your nightlife, you wished you had invited more people along.

The boys were blown away by the loud music that vibrated their ears and the flashing lights that assaulted their eyes. With a beckon, you show them through the nightclub towards the bar, eager to get some alcohol in your system.

You watched as the boys stood next to you, Steve separating you from Bucky as they drank in the sight of the nightclub. Hundreds of people swarmed the dancefloor, dancing close to one another in hyper activity and all stages of drunk.

You couldn’t wait until you were in the centre of it, surrounded by Bucky and Steve and just letting the pounding music take control. You ordered a drink before wiggling between the two boys, linking your arms with theirs.

“What do you think?” You call, unable to wipe the smile from your face.

“I think my moves are a bit outdated,” Steve joked and you shake your head, hoping he wasn’t getting cold feet already.

“Ten minutes, remember?” You joke but Steve leaned down towards you, whispering in your ear, “I’m a little worried about Buck,”

You look up to the soldier beside you, seeing how stiff his muscles were as the various coloured lights bounced off his skin. He was eyeing the crowd carefully, unconsciously holding onto your linked arm a little tighter than before.

“Alright I’ll—Amanda?” You call, spotting someone familiar walking over to the bar. As soon as she saw you, her face lit up, rings on her fingers glittering in the light. “(Y/N)!” She shouted, running forwards to wrap her arms around you, effectively separating you from Bucky.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You both asked at the same time, followed quickly by a laugh. Amanda was a great girl, but she was far more extraverted than you were. She was one of those people who had hundreds of friends, but opted to hang out with the people who threw the bigger parties.

“I’m here for the club, what about you?”

“Educating these fellas,” You pointed to the two super soldiers flanking your sides. In the flashing lights, they could probably look menacing, that is, if Steve didn’t look like a lost puppy and Bucky didn’t look like a handsome recluse.

“Ooh, damn, since when do you hang out with hunks like these?” She joked, admiring Steve openly. Looks like she’s been here for a while, she seems a little tipsy.

“A lots changed since we hung out,” You say, trying to make it light-hearted but you couldn’t help the touch of repressed anger and frustration to filter through. She’d ditch you one too many times. Like you said, she’s a nice girl, she just doesn’t know how to properly keep friends.

“Oh, I, well you wouldn’t mind if I steal tall and blonde here, would you?” She asked, practically leaning against him. “That would be up to him,”

“I guess,” He mumbled, making Amanda wrap her arms around his arm, beaming as she attempted to drag him to the dancefloor.

“If she gets too much for you, tell her, her bra strap is showing. No matter what, it scares her off,” You quickly whispered to him before he was pulled away from you.

The bartender gave you your drink and you thanked him, having already paid for it before taking a long sip, smiling at the alcohol already warming your insides. You looked up to Bucky, watching as he moved closer to you to avoid a new group of people sitting at the bar.

“Buck,” You called to him but he looked down at you, a question already on his lips.

“Is it usually this loud in here?” He shouted over the music. You smile.

“Yeah, always. Listen, Buck, if you’re uncomfortable and you can’t handle it in here, it’s fine. Just let me know and we can leave,” Bucky looked down at you, looking like he was trying to dispel the nerves from his features.

“I’m fine,” He said before nodding to the crowd. “Come on, let’s go dance,” He offered. You quickly finish the drink in your hand before walking with him to the dancefloor. You worried for him. This was far different to any swing club or iHop he’s ever been to.

You start to dance with his hands in yours, hoping to coax him into a somewhat comfortable state. He kept his eyes trained on you, watching how you didn’t dance like the rest of the girls.

The other girls would smack their ass and hips against guys and sometimes other girls. The men who encouraged this action would thrust into them, making Bucky wonder if they were dancing or having sex.

But you didn’t dance like that. You didn’t act sexually or flirtatious and even if you did, you didn’t mean it. You bopped along with the crowd and the music, raising your hands to the sky or letting them rest against Bucky’s shoulders.

You wanted to show him that not all girls danced like sex-driven whores. You hoped your funny and happy dance moves invited him to dance just as comfortable, letting the music vibrate against his eardrums and push him into the same state of euphoria you usually felt dancing in nightclubs.

He didn’t usually have to worry about people making a move on you. Whenever an uninvited guest attempted to grind up against you, you’d kick them back, using a skill you’ve mastered from countless nights in the nightclub.

You pushed him back, shouting a string of profanities at him in an attempt to banish the party crasher. Bucky didn’t need to do anything but stand behind you, letting the shadows fill his face so he looked menacing. Not like he needed to, the guest was already fearful of you.

Just when he was beginning to loosen up, just when he was smiling and laughing and actually enjoying himself, you felt your knees weaken and you lost your balance for a second. You thought maybe you had just thrown yourself too hard with the music, but you were wrong.

The lights began to blur and the music soon blended together in an undistinguishable beat, your ears ringing uncomfortably. Your throat closed, your mouth drying suddenly as you held to Bucky’s shoulders, suddenly realising it was getting tough to breath. You’d heard stories about this happening to people.

You’d been roofied.

Bucky instantly noticed your change in state as you struggled to continue dancing, having to lean against him as your balance was seriously out of whack. He called your name but you couldn’t respond, you’d somehow managed to swallow your voice box.

You tried motioning to him that you needed air, that you needed to get out of the nightclub and probably to a hospital. You regretted not keeping a closer eye on your drink, having been a little too preoccupied with making sure Steve and Bucky were okay.

After several attempts, Bucky seemed to finally understand as you struggled to move any muscles, your last action was to fist his jacket in your hands. Over the continuous ringing in your ears, you could barely hear Bucky call for his best friend.

Your vision was cleared so you could see Steve, but you felt like you were trapped in your own body. You couldn’t speak, you couldn’t move, all you could do was hold onto Bucky tightly.

Bucky scooped you up in his arms, carrying you through the crowd of people out the door. The cold night air wasn’t enough to free you from the entrapment, but you were relieved nonetheless to have left the club.

Steve hailed a cab and you managed to hear them pick up the word hospital amongst their numerous discussions. Bucky slid the two of you into the back seat as Steve jumped into the passenger’s.

Your eyelids began to grow heavy as blinking became harder to resist. Bucky held you tightly against him, as if, should he let you go, you would shatter beneath his fingers. You wanted to comfort him, you wanted to hug him or speak. Heck, even a smile would do.

But you were barely keeping it awake. Bucky looked down at you after shouting at Steve, his eyes filled with concern, fear and worry. Your lips were parted, but you were attempting to smile at him, letting him know you were alright and everything would be fine.

You hoped your eyes were conveying your emotions, they were the last things you could control.

Your eyes lidded and the fear heightened in Bucky’s eyes as he watched you, lips twisting to accommodate shouting and swearing in the same sentences. He held your hand, holding it against his chest as he leaned over you.

You weren’t dying, you’d just been drugged. Why was he being so melodramatic?

Your eyes slipped shut again for a second and you knew you wouldn’t be awake by the time you reached the hospital. Putting all energy into your fingers, you felt them twitch against his shirt, nails dragging slightly against his chest in one last attempt of comfort before blacking out entirely.

The first thing that entered your awareness was the consistent beeping of a machine. Even in a hazy state you knew that was a machine from a hospital, tracking your heart-rate. You’d seen too many cheesy hospital shows not to know what the sound was.

You blinked as you managed to crack open an eye, the brightness blinding you for a moment as you started opening both eyes, blinking quickly to get them adjusted. Your whole body felt like lead and it was a struggle just to move your head to the side.

Bucky was lounging in a chair right next to your bed, eyes closed and face slightly relaxed as he silently slept. “He passed out a couple of hours ago,” Steve whispered on your other side and you slowly turned to him.

“H-How long have I… been out?” You ask, your throat tight and sore. Steve was watching you with fondness, looking relaxed but his eyes held all of his relief. “Almost two days. The roofie you had was strong,” He whispered, careful to not wake Bucky, who stirred for a second.

“How do you feel?” he asked. “Better than two days ago,” You joke with a croak, voice hoarse from a mixture of the drugs and a lack of use. Steve’s soft smile widened for a second before he rose. “I’ll let you and Bucky talk. He was a bit distraught,”

You move your head to look at him again, watching as his face began tensing. Steve had told you once how Bucky’s nightmares can sometimes leave him a little violent as soon as he woke up, so that must’ve been why he was there.

A hand closed around yours and Steve kissed the top of your head before walking off, closing the door defiantly to wake Bucky up from his sleep. He jumped for a second, eyes searching the room for any threats before he managed to settle back in his chair.

He ran a hand down his face tiredly, a yawn slightly echoing around the room. He finally turned to look at you, check up on you and was surprised to find your head tilted his way, eyes closed tiredly.

You had managed to doze off again, the drugs still partially in your system. But you woke again to the legs of a chair being moved across the floor and then Bucky’s scent filled your nose. You hummed happily, adjusting yourself to get comfortable again.

The air froze as Bucky realised that you moved. And hummed. You did something other than lay there still and sickly. “Bucky?” You called, arm twitching in a weak attempt to reach him.

Bucky was at your side instantly, sitting on the edge of the armchair with your hand protected with his own. You opened your eyes, not being suddenly blinded like before. You looked up at Bucky, who had bags under his eyes and looked a little grey.

You smile, trying to word a greeting but the word not reaching your lips. But the smile was enough as Bucky sighed with relief, hanging his head as his grip on your hand tightened. “You’re okay,”

“Of course, I’m okay,” You mumble, voice cracking. Bucky got up and grabbed a cup of water for you, helping you take a sip. You smile up at him gratefully, watching as he replaced the cup before adjusting the bed, allowing me to sit up.

“I’m sorry,” You mumble as Bucky takes up his seat, holding your hand. “No, doll, don’t be sorry,” He said.

“Buck,” He shook his head, raising your hand to press a soft kiss against the back of your knuckles. You smile up at him as you move your hand, using it to cup his cheek. He stood and sat on the bed next to you, his small smile falling slightly as his eyes darkened.

“I thought I lost you,” He whispered. “Buck,”

“No, really (Y/N), I seriously thought we wouldn’t be able to save you. Gone, and without me telling you how I felt,” He sighed, a blush darkening his cheeks as he attempted to look away.

“I really like you too, dingus,” You smile. Bucky smiled as well, before it broke out into a grin. Placing a hand next to your head for support, he leaned down slowly, your arm wrapping around his neck to pull him toward you.

He finally pressed his lips up against yours, his lips tasting of mint and coffee as his hand held your waist. You parted for a moment for air, your breaths mixing together in the close proximity before Bucky trailed his tongue along your lips, desperate for a deeper kiss.

You invite him in, moaning at his tongue wrapping around yours. His tongue retracted but you followed it, feeling the inside of his mouth before you too moved back, capturing his bottom lip between his teeth.

He grinned, a rumbled groan vibrating in his chest as he looked down at you.

“Oh shit!” Someone familiar called and you and Bucky jumped away quickly, rubbing at each other’s lips as blushes pooled onto your cheeks. Steve, Sam, Nat and a few other Avengers were just walking into the room when they caught the two of you.

You looked up at Bucky sheepishly, as he played with his lips, unable to stop them from tingling. “Since when did kissing become the cure for roofies?” Sam teased. “It’s called experimenting,” You say but can’t help but bite your lip tentatively.

You look up at Bucky, who’s looking down at you already, a soft look in his eyes, as if he doesn’t really mind that you were spotted. Your swoon had turned into a colossal fall and it seemed Bucky had fallen with you.

You didn’t miss Sam handing a fifty dollar note to Nat behind Steve’s back, though.

[skyshipper]

blog tag

I was tagged by the very sweet @the-blind-assassin-12 (who has the cutest dog in the world in case anyone is wondering). 💛

1. Why did you choose your url?

Oh man, I fucking HATE coming up with blog names because everything I come up with is usually taken.  I started this blog several years ago to celebrate my love of Nick & June from the Handmaid’s Tale. I hadn’t been on tumblr in quite a few years and that ship brought me back to fandom land. I chose “sky” because when I’m on tumblr I feel like my head is in the clouds and “shipper” because I was here to post about a specific ship. Idk, I don’t love it and it’s not even a good concept but it’s staying forever because I loathe coming up with new blog names. I also get really confused on my own dash when people change their urls?? Lol, I’m a visual person. So anyway, that’s it. That’s the name. It kinda sucks but here we are.

2. Any side blogs?

Yep, but I pretty much abandoned it. I’ve found that one blog is more than enough to manage for me. I originally created it when I wanted to post stuff for shows outside of The Handmaid’s Tale. Then I decided that was silly and I should post whatever the hell I feel like. It’s very easy on social media to get caught up in likes, followers, reblogs, etc.....but ultimately I’m here for me.  I know 95% of the people who follow this blog came here for content for another show, but they don’t have to stay and that’s fine. I’m just out here doing my own thing, curating a list of shit I’m into at the moment.  If you’re into it too, then cool!  If not, that is also cool. 

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

I’ve come and gone many times. I think I had a blog around 2014 for a show/fandom that shall not be named, which I rage deleted in a fit one day.  Then I had a lurker blog for a few years.  I think I’ve had this one for maybe 2-3 years??? I don’t think I logged in for the majority of 2020, because the pandemic rollercoaster took an emotional toll on me just like everyone else. I’ve made a conscious decision this year to only spend my free time & social media time on things that are making me feel happy, not anxious, frustrated or sad. Din Djarin brought me back here but I’ve stayed for Pedro Pascal. Pedro makes everyone happy, bless his beautiful soul. ❤️

4. Do you have a queue tag?

Nope. I tried queuing posts for a while but I just found it to be too much work. Now I just reblog/like stuff on the spot. 

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

To celebrate my love of Nick & June from The Handmaid’s Tale. I’m not really into the show anymore because the writing is total shit, but season one (when they were working off of Margaret Atwood’s novel) is still a masterpiece. 

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Because Javier Peña is hot as fuck, that’s why. Listen, I have a hard time picking an icon and get irrationally attached to it when I do. There are so many great Pedro pictures and characters to choose from.  I still think of going back to my original Pedro icon from that Vanity Fair photoshoot because it’s one of my absolute favorite pictures of him and I still love it so much. I’ve been messing around in Photoshop trying to make a cool background for it and have failed miserably to create anything I like thus far.  So for now, Javi is staying.

7. Why did you choose your header?

Once again, because Javier Peña is hot as fuck, that’s why.  I never held a handgun in my life, but ohhhhh, so sexy when fictional characters I love do it. Same with the cigarette smoking. Good lord just thinking about this is making me feel things. 😅

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

This weapons set I made for Din. I’m still shocked that happened because that is BY FAR the most notes I’ve ever received on a post and it will probably never happen again. I peaked too soon, haha!  I just got Photoshop in February or March of this year after making mediocre gifs with a series of phone apps for years.  That was maybe the second or third set I ever made in Photoshop, so I was kind of stunned it took off like that. What can I say, everyone finds Din’s weapons as sexy as I do, I guess.  I do sometimes look at it and wish I would have made better quality gifs but I was, and still am, learning. Now when I look at I try and use it as a reminder that my gifs are slowly improving (at least I hope so anyway) and that makes me happy. I still get notes on that post daily which both surprises me and makes my heart all warm and fuzzy. 

9. How many mutuals do you have?

I’m not really sure because I never went through and counted??? Maybe 30ish?

10. How many followers do you have?

1363, at least 1200 of which came here for Nick & June. I hope all of you like Pedro Pascal & Star Wars because I’m going to be stuck in this mode for a long time!! 🤡

11. How many people do you follow?

157

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

No, not that I can remember anyway. Tumblr & fandom in general are way more fun for me when I spend time focusing on good things.  Life (this past year especially) is hard enough. I just want to bask in the glow of Pedro’s beautiful heart and face, live in the fantasy worlds of Star Wars, read smutty things from amazing writers, and enjoy beautiful gifs & edits from content creators. All of these things bring me joy and that’s why I’m here. This is a positive vibes only space for me.

13. How often do you use Tumblr each day?

Too much??? I like to keep my work tabs open on my computer and then peak at pretty things throughout the day as a little reward when I get stuff done.  Sometimes that leads to unexpected breaks (like reading fanfiction at 11am on a Tuesday) but I’m not sad.  I work for myself so there is no one to get mad at me, just a pile of work that keeps growing because I’m screwing around.

14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Nah. I’m here for pretty things, wonderful writing and nice people. If someone is an asshole I just block them, problem solved. Which has only happened to me once that I can recall and it was years ago. I try to only follow people that cultivate a space for kindness and positivity as well, that way there is nothing to argue about......just mutual pining over lovely things.

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

Ugh, love/hate relationship. I definitely understand why people who create things want as many people to see it as possible. It takes a long time to create gifs/edits/write stories so I see the value in reblogs and user tags as a way to boost posts to get your stuff out there in front of as many eyes as possible.  Personally, I feel like people should reblog things only when and if they want to do it.  I never want anyone to reblog my creations because they feel like they have to do that.  I want them to reblog it because it made them happy and/or they liked something I created. Believe it or not, I notice when a follower of mine is a person that usually only “likes” my posts and then suddenly reblogs something with the nicest tags about a post saying it’s pretty, they love it, etc.  For me, that’s extremely rewarding because something I made resonated with that person.  I also believe that if you’re creating things only for reblogs or likes then you’re focused on the endgame and competition (getting the most notes, etc.) which is never a good headspace to be in for creating things. I know that can be hard because social media creates anxiety, depression and imposter syndrome, but the amount of notes on a post really and truly does not always equate to the best content.  So much of it is timing, or a post getting boosted by bigger blogs so more people see it.  I try to create things for myself first and foremost and if I am doing that and enjoying myself in the process, who cares how many people see it/like it/reblog it? At the end of the day I want to like what I create and feel like I’m improving my Photoshop knowledge & skills. That’s why I’m here and that’s what I try to stay focused on all the time.

16. Do you like tag games?

Yeah, I do. Except the music questions.  Why are there so many music/song questions?  I’m the kind of person that lets someone else pick the music most of the time. I also listen to a genre to fit the mood I’m in rather than a specific artist 95% of the time, so I find those song questions really difficult. I also like tag games because I really love to learn more about other people here. I’m really flattered when someone tags me in something because it means they want to get to know me better and since I’m both introverted and shy I always find that really nice. 🥺

17. Do you like ask games?

Yes!! I always want to do those but if I’m being honest, I’m shy and anxious so I always feel like no one will send me any asks if I do it.  Lol, that is peak anxiety my friends. Let’s just say I’m working up to doing one someday. I absolutely love reading them when others do them.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous?

Certainly @javier-pena ......I mean, those Din Djarin’s hottest moments and Javier Peña’s hottest moments are straight up iconic. Also @sirtadcooper whose icons/headers are absolutely amazing, instantly recognizable and rightfully used by so many people because they are fucking awesome!

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Oh yeah, so many.  I have creator crushes on tons of people that are not mutuals too.  Jfc, there are so many lovely people here creating amazing things.  I will say that @sirtadcooper is honestly one of the sweetest, kindest people I have met in this fandom and one of the most amazing content creators here. A true beacon of original content that I admire greatly. I love that I can pick out her work so easily and that she has a clear style. I aspire to get to that point with my creations some day. @javier-pena makes the mostly insanely crispy gifs and has been very kind about helping me with gif questions in my obsession quest to constantly learn how to become better.  I think her gifs are magic at this point because I just don’t understand how they look that consistently amazing all of the fucking time?? Idk, I’m just glad she shares them with us. @trashcora makes some really amazing gifs that I just don’t even know where to begin. Sometimes I look at stuff like this of hers and wonder if people really appreciate the amount of time it takes to create things like that??  Same goes for @millenniumsfalcon where I just can’t even begin to think about how to create gifs that complex and beautiful. I don’t even know what to say, I’m just going to continue to admire these creations from my little corner of the web. As for writers, I absolutely adore anything @frannyzooey writes. I mean, I’m suddenly living for Dave York porn and I’ve never even watched that film??? I’m convinced anything she writes is pure gold. TMTC is one of the best pieces of fanfiction I’ve ever read. I must confess I’ve only read about 3% of the amazing fanfiction in the Pedro/Mandalorian fandom because I get stuck on Masterlists like hers that are so consistently fucking amazing. That and most of my free hours are spent clowning around in Photoshop. I can’t wait to read more stuff from so many other people here. I promise I have a list much longer than I have time for, but I’m getting there!

Tagging: @keeper0fthestars , @teamnick , & @filthybookworm if you would like to. 😊💛