#which made her very confused about my social media choices

[elizabethrobertajones]

I just realised after writing all that about Erenville that I am wearing my David Attenborough Surrounded By Creatures t-shirt today. I am a parody of myself. Goodnight :D

[neferaskingdom]

♡ Closetgate: The Max-tastrophe | MV1

Pairing: Max Verstappen x Leclerc!Reader [Face Claim: None]

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Summary: Max finds himself in a very tight situation—literally. Lando is summoned for an emergency extraction, Charles serenades about honor, Y/N fights for her life trying to prove that nothing happened and the boys plan Max's funeral, but hey at least they finally kissed?

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Part 4 of my wheel-to-wheel but still in denial series: Masterlist

Y/N never expected this to happen. One moment, she was causing chaos on Instagram with that elevator pic—harmless fun, right? But Max’s confession came out of nowhere, and now she was standing in her apartment, heart pounding.

She barely had time to process the fact that she’d just invited Max over, let alone get ready. Y/N looked down at her oversized, mismatched pajama set, which sported a giant, ridiculous “I Paused My Game to Be Here” T-shirt. Definitely not the “I’ve just confessed to liking my childhood rival” look she was going for.

She barely had time to question her life choices before there was a knock at the door. When she opened it, Max stood there, leaning against the doorframe like he wasn’t about to change everything. He gave her that classic smirk, but something felt different tonight—softer, more uncertain.

“Did you run here or teleport?” she asked, unable to hide her surprise.

“I might have broken a few traffic laws,” he joked, walking in like he hadn’t just sprinted across town. He glanced around her apartment, then at her, still wearing her gaming shirt. "Nice shirt, by the way," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Verstappen. I didn’t expect you to break the sound barrier to get here.” Max chuckled, plopping down on her couch like he belonged there. "You texted, I ran. It's the natural order of things."

"You actually came," she blurted, mostly because she didn’t know what else to say. The second the words left her mouth, she realized how ridiculous they sounded. "You told me to," Max shot back, stepping inside without missing a beat. "What, did you think I’d say no?"

"I don’t know! Maybe?" she stammered, closing the door behind him. "This whole thing is weird!" 

"Weird how?" Max turned to face her, looking genuinely confused. "Because I confessed or because you didn’t see it coming?"

Y/N groaned, throwing her hands up. "Both! Max, we’ve spent most of our lives arguing over who’s funnier and which one of us sucks more. And now you’re telling me you like me? You don’t just drop that bomb and act like everything’s normal!"

Max shrugged, trying to act casual, but there was something in his eyes that made Y/N’s stomach flip. "I’m not saying it’s normal. I’m saying it’s real. We joke around because that’s us. But I like you, Y/N. I’ve liked you for years. I just didn’t want to mess up what we had."

Y/N’s mind was racing. She couldn’t reconcile the Max in front of her with the one who used to relentlessly call her out on social media. “So, what? You’ve been secretly into me while roasting me all these years? And I’m just supposed to be like, ‘Yeah, cool, let’s date now?’”

Max smiled, but it wasn’t his usual cocky grin. It was softer, more vulnerable. "I get it. It sounds insane. But I’m serious. When I saw that post, Y/N… I thought you had someone else. And it hit me harder than I expected. I realized I didn’t want to just be the guy you bicker with online. I wanted more than that."

She stared at him, still processing. "So, you’re telling me this now because of one random photo?"

"It wasn’t just the photo," Max said, stepping closer. "It was the idea that I’d waited too long. That I might have missed my shot."

Her heart skipped a beat. This was getting real, fast. Y/N crossed her arms, more to protect herself from the flood of emotions than anything else. "Max… I don’t know what to say."

Max chuckled lightly, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck—a nervous habit she’d noticed over the years. "You don’t have to say anything. I just couldn’t keep pretending anymore."

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. There was something so raw and honest about him right now, and it was messing with her. This was Max—her partner in social media wars, her favorite person to annoy. And now, he was standing in her living room, confessing feelings that she didn’t know how to handle.

Finally, she let out a breathy laugh. "You’re really bad at timing, you know that? I was just getting used to us hating each other."

Max’s smile widened. "We never hated each other, Y/N."

"Sure felt like it sometimes," she muttered, though there was no bite behind her words. She was too busy trying to sort through the tangled mess of emotions in her head.

"Come on," he teased softly. "You know we’ve always had a thing."

"A thing?" Y/N raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so insulting each other in public and trolling each other on Instagram was just our way of flirting?"

Max stepped closer, and this time, there was no teasing in his voice. "For me, yeah. That’s always been part of it. But it’s more than that."

Max says with a shrug. “I like you because you're chaotic and you keep me on my toes. Plus, I figured all the teasing was basically foreplay.”

Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me?!” She grabbed a throw pillow and launched it at him. “That is not how that works!”

Max laughed, catching the pillow and tossing it aside. “Hey, if it’s not, it should be! We’ve been bantering for years—it’s basically flirting with extra steps.”

She facepalmed, letting out a frustrated groan. “This is so not how I expected this conversation to go. You’re taking all of this way too casually!”

Y/N’s heart was beating so loud she was sure he could hear it. "Max, this is a lot. I didn’t… I didn’t expect this."

"I know." His voice was soft now, almost unsure. "But I had to tell you. I’ve been holding it in for so long, and I thought—"

"That you’d shoot your shot now?" she cut in, trying to lighten the mood even though her head was spinning.

He grinned, finally relaxing a bit. "Exactly. You can’t blame me for that, right?"

She bit her lip, trying to hide a smile. "I guess not. But… Max, I—"

He raised a hand, stopping her. "You don’t have to say anything right now. I just wanted to be honest. For once."

Y/N sighed, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on her. "But here’s the thing… I kinda, sorta like you too." The words slipped out before she could stop them, and she immediately wanted to crawl into a hole.

Max blinked, then his smile widened into something she’d never seen before—completely genuine and warm. "Kinda, sorta, huh?"

She rolled her eyes, though her heart was flipping. "Don’t make this weird."

"Too late," Max said, stepping even closer, his voice playful but soft. "You’ve already made it weird."

Y/N groaned. "You’re impossible."

"And you like me anyway," Max shot back with a grin, his face just inches from hers now.

Y/N sighed, her defenses finally crumbling as she looked up at him. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Y/N sat down beside him, feeling the weight of the situation settle in. She looked at him—his stupid grin, his messy hair, his absolute lack of any chill—and suddenly it all clicked. This wasn’t some weird joke or prank. Max actually meant every word.

"Okay," she said slowly, still processing. "But I reserve the right to make fun of you for the rest of our lives."

Max grinned, scooting closer. “Deal. But you should know, I’m not backing down. Now that I’ve made my move, I’m all in.”

“God, you’re so dramatic,” Y/N muttered, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Well, you kinda like me that way,” he teased.

“Yeah, yeah,” she rolled her eyes. But deep down, she knew he was right.

Before she could say anything else, Max leaned down, his lips brushing hers in the softest, most unexpected kiss. It wasn’t the kind of kiss that swept her off her feet or made fireworks explode, but it was perfect. It was exactly what she didn’t know she needed.

When he pulled back, he was still smiling, his hand lingering on her cheek. "Told you we’ve always had a thing."

Y/N was too flustered to argue, her mind still reeling from everything that had just happened. "Okay," she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper. "But don’t think this changes anything. I’m still gonna kick your ass at karting ."

Max chuckled, pulling her into his arms. "I wouldn’t expect anything less."

They kissed again, and this time it was longer, more intense. Y/N felt herself melting into Max’s arms, his hands gently resting on her waist as he pulled her closer. She could feel the warmth of him, the steady beat of his heart under her fingertips as her hands slid up to his chest. His lips were soft but insistent, and there was a tenderness in the way he kissed her, as if he’d been waiting for this moment far longer than she had imagined.

Her hands slipped up to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, and Max responded instantly, deepening the kiss in a way that made her head spin. For a few blissful seconds, all the banter, the teasing, and the chaos of their lives disappeared, leaving only the two of them and the unspoken tension that had always been there, simmering beneath the surface.

When they finally pulled apart, slightly breathless, Y/N looked up at him, trying to steady her pounding heart. Max's lips were still curved into a small, satisfied smile, and his thumb absentmindedly traced the side of her hip.

“You know,” she started, trying to regain her composure, “if you’re going to stay, I could, uh, make some space on the couch.”

Max raised an eyebrow, his smirk returning in full force. “You want me to spend the night?”

Her face heated instantly, but she refused to let him see her squirm. “Don’t get too excited, Verstappen.” She poked him in the chest, narrowing her eyes playfully. “No funny business. It’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than a last-minute confession for me to invite you to my bed.”

Max chuckled, his laugh low and sending a ripple of warmth down her spine. He leaned in, his voice dropping to that maddening, teasing tone she was starting to realize she might actually like. “Oh, I wasn’t planning on funny business, Y/N.” His lips brushed her ear, making her shiver slightly. “I’m gonna wine and dine you, take my time. By the time I’m done, you’ll be begging me to come to bed.”

Y/N’s eyes widened at his words, and she smacked his arm, trying to play it cool, though her heart was practically doing somersaults. “Begging?” she repeated, a disbelieving laugh escaping her. “You’ve officially lost your mind.”

Max, completely unbothered, grinned like the cat who caught the canary. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“God, I’m going to regret this,” Y/N muttered, though a smile tugged at her lips.

“Only if I don’t get the chance to prove you wrong,” Max shot back smoothly, his arm casually wrapping around her waist as if they’d done this a hundred times before.

Y/N rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny the warmth spreading through her. “Fine. You get the couch. And maybe—maybe—we’ll see about that whole wining and dining thing later.”

Max leaned back, stretching out on the couch with that same cocky grin. “Challenge accepted.”

Text Message between Y/N and Lando:

y/n: LANDO I’M GONNA DIE. y/n: LIKE ACTUAL DEATH. COME TO MY APARTMENT NOW.

lando: huh??? lando: it’s 8am, woman chill lando: also why is this my problem

y/n: CHARLES IS HERE y/n: HE SHOWED UP AT 7AM AND HASN’T SHUT UP FOR AN HOUR y/n: He’s on a WHOLE monologue about "family honor" y/n: I AM GOING TO JUMP OUT THE WINDOW IF YOU DON’T HELP ME

lando: and again lando: why… is this my problem? 💀

y/n: BECAUSE MAX IS HIDING IN MY CLOSET, LANDO y/n: IF CHARLES FINDS HIM HERE, I’M GONNA NEED TO WRITE A EULOGY y/n: HELP

lando: … lando: hold up HOLD UP MAX IS WHERE NOW???

y/n: CLOSET. MAX IS IN THE CLOSET. y/n: LIKE. LITERALLY HIDING IN MY CLOSET RIGHT NOW BECAUSE CHARLES IS RANTING ABOUT THE ELEVATOR PICTURE

y/n: AND IF CHARLES FINDS HIM HERE HE’LL LITERALLY COMMIT MURDER!!!

y/n: HURRY UP AND GET HERE I NEED A DISTRACTION y/n: HE’S GOING TO KILL US BOTH AND THEN DRAG OUR BODIES THROUGH THE STREETS OF MONACO

lando: LMFAOOO NOT MAX HIDING IN THE CLOSET LIKE HE’S IN A TEEN ROMCOM 💀 lando:  YOU AND MAX?? 

lando: Wait so like. Did you two… y’know? 👀

y/n: NO NO NO IT’S NOT LIKE THAT, I SWEAR. y/n: WE DID NOT HOOK UP. NOTHING HAPPENED. y/n: but if charles finds him he’s not gonna believe that, you KNOW how dramatic he is

lando: Then why’s he in your closet, huh?

lando: You’re telling me you two were just doing nothing at 7am, and now he’s hiding from your overprotective brother??

lando: This is sus af 💀

y/n: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NOTHING HAPPENED. y/n: He came over to… uh… talk? y/n: BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT!! HURRY THE HELL UP BEFORE CHARLES GOES FULL "BIG BROTHER PROTECTOR MODE" AND THINKS THE WORST

lando: Soooo Max just "talks" now? Sure, sure. Just casually talking at 7am at your apartment. lando: I bet he was gonna give you a "lecture" of his own, wasn’t he? 😉

y/n: I’M GOING TO BLOCK YOU IF YOU DON’T STOP.

y/n: HURRY UP, LANDO.

lando: yeah your brother’s gonna yeet Max into the Mediterranean Sea 💀 lando: this is absolutely gold lando: I’m grabbing popcorn, one sec

y/n: STOP JOKING I’M SERIOUS LANDO y/n: CHARLES IS GOING ON ABOUT “RESPECT” AND “TRADITION” LIKE WE’RE IN A DAMN PERIOD DRAMA y/n: HURRY UP AND GET HIM OUT OF HERE. CHA IS LITERALLY OUT HERE RAMBLING ABOUT "RESPECTING FAMILY HONOR."

lando: Fiiiine, I’m getting out of bed. lando: But seriously, Max? Who would have guessed? That’s hilarious. You could’ve picked a better hiding spot tho 💀

y/n: YOU THINK I HAD TIME TO COORDINATE A BETTER PLAN WHEN CHARLES SHOWED UP OUT OF NOWHERE???

lando: You could’ve gone with like… under the bed? Maybe pretend he’s a delivery guy? 😂 lando: Closet’s too obvious, mate. Rookie mistake.

y/n: OKAY, SPYMASTER LANDO, HOW ABOUT YOU FOCUS ON GETTING HERE AND NOT ON MY HIDING STRATEGIES?

lando: wait sooooo lando: MAX REALLY STAYED OVER?? 👀 lando: I’M TELLING YOU, I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING BETWEEN YOU TWO. YOU DON’T HIDE IN CLOSETS FOR JUST ANYONE, SIS

y/n: WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING LANDO. I SWEAR TO GOD. y/n: BUT IF YOU DON’T GET HERE, CHARLES IS GONNA ASSUME THE WORST AND START DIGGING A GRAVE

lando: fine fine I’m coming 💀 lando: this is too good tho, I’m never letting you live this down lando: if Charles finds Max it’s gonna be like “sooo, Max, wanna explain why you’re hiding in my sister’s closet like a serial killer?”

y/n: LANDO. I WILL BLOCK YOU. y/n: JUST GET HERE NOW, BEFORE I HAVE TO FAKE MY OWN DEATH TO ESCAPE THIS SITUATION

lando: can’t wait to see you try to explain why Max is suddenly living in your closet 😭😭 lando: tell Charles Max is helping you with a home renovation or some shit 💀 lando: I’ll be there soon to save your ass

y/n: IF YOU DON’T HURRY, IT’LL BE MY FUNERAL YOU’RE COMING TO. y/n: I’M NOT KIDDING, LANDO. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

lando: Yeah yeah I’m on it.

lando: But if Max survives this, I wanna be best man at the wedding 🥂

lando created a group

lando added Y/N, max, daniel, george and alex to the group

lando has changed the name of the group to “Drive to Survive: Closet Edition”

lando: EMERGENCY GROUP CHAT. STOP EVERYTHING. 🚨

george: Bro, it’s like 9AM. What now??

alex: Bro, what is it this time?? Did you lose your keys again? 💀

daniel:  Lando, I swear to God, if this is about you locking yourself out of your car again, I’m leaving the group chat.

lando: NO. BIGGER. MUCH BIGGER. lando: I had to save Max’s life this morning. 😳

max: lando, if you even—

lando: MAX WAS HIDING IN Y/N’S CLOSET THIS MORNING.

y/n: LANDO, I SWEAR TO GOD—

george: HOLD ON. Max was hiding in what now?? george: MAX. HIDING. IN Y/N’S CLOSET?! 💀

alex: WAIT WAIT WAIT. MAX?! IN HER CLOSET?? alex: Sounds like an F1 driver version of "Narnia." 🦁 alex: But instead of a lion, you found… Max?

daniel: Wait, hold on. HOLD UP.

daniel: Max was hiding? In Y/N’s closet?

daniel: Were you two… busy? 👀

daniel: This is starting to sound like the setup to a very different kind of movie, if you know what I mean… 

lando: RIGHT?! Closet boy Max out here sneaking around at 7AM.

y/n: NOTHING HAPPENED. y/n: CHARLES SHOWED UP OUT OF NOWHERE AND MAX HAD TO HIDE OR HE’D BE DEAD.

lando: She’s underselling it. Charles was out here talking about "honor" like we were back in medieval times.

max: she’s not wrong, charles had murder in his eyes talking about Y/N’s hypothetical boyfriend

george: So, you’re telling me Max was hiding in Y/N’s closet because big bro Charles was about to lose his mind? george: LMAO Max, mate, you were this close to becoming roadkill at the next race.

george: This is gold. Max, you hiding like a teenage boy sneaking out of a girl’s room?! How much were you sweating?

max: look, it was either the closet or death by leclerc

alex: Soooo... you were hiding because…? 👀

alex: If Charles finds out, he’s definitely running Max off the track next race. alex: Or worse, he’ll crash right into him. 💀

daniel: Run him off the track? Charles would straight-up crash into Max next race, no questions asked. 💀

george: Mate, can you imagine? Lap 20: "Verstappen crashes after mysterious contact with Leclerc." 🤔

george: "Sources say Charles Leclerc was last seen revving his engine and screaming about his sister’s honor."

daniel: Bro, I can already see the headlines: "Verstappen DNF—Cause: Leclerc Rage." daniel: Max would be like, "I’m innocent!" while Charles just revs the engine like, "Try me bitch."

lando: Charles would be all smiles in the press conference like, "It was an unfortunate incident…" lando: Meanwhile, Max’s car would still be smoldering in the background.

max: ngl, he’d probably reverse just to make sure it’s done right 😬

alex: "Accident," sure, Charles. I’m sure brake checking Max into the wall was totally accidental.

daniel: Sooo… why were you hiding, Max? 👀 daniel: Closet redecoration? Or were you two getting cozy? 😏

lando: Oh, come on, there’s no hiding in closets unless something was happening. Let’s be real here. 👀

max: look, i was just… you know… max: avoiding death by overprotective brothers. that’s all.

george: Sure, Max. Just avoiding "death"… by hiding in her closet. Sounds innocent. Totally.

alex: Did you fold her clothes while you were in there, or just admire the view? 😂

daniel: Oh, we’re calling it "admiring the view" now, huh?

max: you guys have dirty minds, jesus

lando: Bro, you were literally in her closet. This is peak suspicious behavior.

y/n: NOTHING HAPPENED. y/n: STOP MAKING THIS WEIRD. 🙃

lando: Y/N, babe, you don’t just shove someone in your closet for no reason. There’s something here.

daniel: Yeah, like… what were you two really doing before Charles showed up? 👀 daniel: C’mon, no one hides someone unless they’re in the middle of… something.

y/n: I swear to god, if one more person suggests anything—

max: maybe i was just there to give her fashion advice 🤷‍♂️

george: OH, so that’s what they’re calling it now? "Fashion advice." Sounds steamy.

daniel: So what’d you suggest, Max? "Less clothes"? 😏

y/n: I’M LITERALLY GOING TO MUTE THIS CHAT. NOTHING HAPPENED.

lando: Uh-huh. Sure. lando: You don’t just casually invite Max over to give you "advice" in the early hours of the morning unless something’s going on. Just saying. 😉

daniel: I mean, I’d hide Max too if he showed up like that… 👀

alex: "Like that"? Sounds like Max was already halfway to being undressed. 💀

y/n: YOU GUYS ARE THE WORST.

max: you get used to it after a while

lando: Okay, okay, jokes aside… are you two, like, officially a thing now?

max: yeah, y/n and i… we’re seeing where this goes. officially.

george: OMG, IT'S HAPPENING. MAX AND Y/N ARE OFFICIALLY A THING. 🎉

lando: SOUND THE ALARMS, EVERYONE. lando: We’ve got ourselves a new grid couple. 👀

daniel: Ahhh, the "closet inchident" seals the deal. Love it. You Leclerc’s sure do love your Inchidents

alex: Soooo… have you told Charles yet? Or do we get to keep this secret and watch the chaos unfold?

y/n: ABSOLUTELY NOT. NONE OF YOU SAY A WORD. y/n: Do you WANT Max to end up in a wall at Monza?!

george: Max already looks like he’s preparing his will. 😂

max: pretty sure charles will crash into me on lap 1 if he finds out too early

daniel: I mean, Charles is gonna "accidentally" forget how to brake if he finds out Max’s been sneaking around his sister. 💀

lando: Yeah, next race? You’re gonna see Charles giving Max the death stare before they even get to Turn 1.

max: I’ll be lucky if I don’t get run off the track before lap 10

alex: Charles be like, "Oh sorry, did I cut across your line? Total accident, mate."

george: Imagine Arthur joining in, double-teaming Max on the straights. 💀

alex: "Sorry mate, but family’s family."

daniel: Max, if Charles finds out you were in her closet, he’s coming for you both on and off the track. No question.

lando: I can see it now—Max and Y/N in the paddock: "Charles, listen, it’s not what it looks like!" Meanwhile, Charles is just revving the engine, ready to take you out. 😂

max: and here i thought the danger was over when i left her apartment

alex: Bro, the danger just began. Charles is about to add "track rage" to his skillset.

daniel: "Oh, Max? Never heard of him. My car just had a mind of its own today." daniel: RIP Verstappen 1997-2024 💀

lando: You’ll go down as a legend, Max. "The man who was brave enough to date a Leclerc and live to tell the tale."

max: that’s if i make it past monza

y/n: YOU’RE ALL DRAMATIC.

george: Dramatic? Us? No way. george: I’m just saying, you better have a solid excuse ready when Charles finds out.

y/n: We’ll tell him eventually. Just… not now. y/n: And until then, if any of you open your big mouths, Max’s blood is on your hands.

daniel: So, what’s the plan? Keep hiding Max in your closet until you tell Charles? 💀

y/n: technically, yes.

y/n: But until then, NONE OF YOU SAY A WORD. LET ME HANDLE THIS.

lando: I mean… if I accidentally let it slip, is that on me or on the fact that Max was literally hiding in a CLOSET? 🤔

max: thanks lando, really appreciate it

daniel: Don’t worry, Max, we’ll make sure your funeral’s nice. Real classy. 💐

alex: I’ll bring flowers. Something dramatic, like roses. 🌹

george has changed the name of the group to “Max's Funeral Planning Committee"

george: Should we do slow-mo highlights of Max’s best overtakes at his funeral? Maybe some sad violin music?

lando: I’m picturing Max’s ghost standing next to Charles, watching the replays like, "Really? This is how I go out?" 💀

y/n: YOU’RE ALL INSANE. STOP JOKING ABOUT THIS.

george: We’ll make sure it’s an open casket. But, you know, open… after Charles crashes into it.

y/n: I’M BLOCKING ALL OF YOU.

lando: Can’t imagine how you'd even explain Max’s sudden appearance in your wardrobe to Charles. "He’s just helping with interior design, bro!" 😂

max: okay okay, enough. max: but for real, don’t tell charles anything yet.

daniel: Sure, we’ll keep the secret. For now. But we want front-row seats when you break the news.

y/n: Let me handle it before anyone here decides to run their big mouth.

lando: Big mouth? Me? Never. 😉

george: You know, this whole "keeping it secret" thing feels very Romeo and Juliet.

lando: Yeah but without the poison, please.

daniel: More like, Romeo hiding in Juliet’s closet while her brother lectures her for an hour. 😂

alex: "Romeo, why are you still in that closet?" alex: "Shhh, Charles will kill me."

max: i hate you all

alex: Don’t worry, Max. We’ll be at the next race, just in case Charles accidentally loses his brakes. 😂

y/n: You’re all the worst. 🙄

lando: Max, you better not be hiding in anyone else’s closet anytime soon. lando: Or else this group chat’s gonna have to upgrade to "Max’s Closet Chronicles: The Sequel."

y/n: Don’t give him ideas.

george: Max: Professional F1 Driver by day, Closet Houdini by night. 😭

max: i hate you all

y/n: Welcome to the club.

daniel: This is gonna be legendary.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

[ingravinoveritas]

So what ur thoughts on the bafias nominations David been nomination for best comedy actor while Michael hasn't been nominated for anything and the fan on twitter can't understand why now I personally think after Al aggressive behaviour on a post when they got his name wrong on his favourite radio station and how her stories on ig recently just werid behaviour do u think Al may had sabotaged his chances of getting a nomination for anything

What ur thoughts

Hi there! So I am once again on the road and attending a conference in Las Vegas that just wrapped up, and now I finally have a chance to comment on today's exciting news.

I'm sure everyone has seen by now, but congrats to our lovely David on his first (main) BAFTA nom for Male Performance in a Comedy!

It seems almost surreal that David has never been nominated for a (main) BAFTA before now, and given the breadth of his other recent TV performances (Des, Litvinenko) nominating him for Good Omens season 2 is certainly a choice...especially in the absence of a nomination for Michael. Looking at the list of nominations, it appears that Best Interests was nominated for Limited Drama, as was Sharon Horgan for Leading Actress...but no nomination for Michael for Leading Actor, either. So very quickly, this starts to look like a visible and intentional snub.

In terms of why Michael would be snubbed, I think there are a few possible reasons, but none of them have anything to do with AL. Readers of my blog know that I am never hesitant to call Anna out when it is merited, but in all likelihood the BAFTA nominations were decided long before now, and in my opinion she would not have any influence on whether Michael is nominated regardless of when her social media posts were made. So it does not make sense to place blame on her in this instance.

My feeling is that the reasons for Michael's lack of a nomination (and really, David's nomination specifically for GO) are likely twofold. One is that I'm guessing Amazon/whoever submitted David for consideration didn't want to pit Michael and David against each other. If they were both competing in the same category, it could split the votes, so only nominating one of them seems the best way of avoiding that. The second reason (again, in my opinion) seems to be political.

I was surprised to recently learn that Prince William is the president of BAFTA--British followers, help me out here, because this is very, very weird to a confused American--and as we know, Michael has spoken out on a number of hot button issues over the last few months: Opening a conversation about Welsh independence. The question of the devolution of the crown estate to Wales. And of course, abolishing the title of Prince of Wales. Not to mention all of the backlash incurred by the release of The Way, which was roundly savaged in the press and accused of promoting anti-English sentiments.

Granted, there have been politically active nominees and winners at the BAFTAs in the past, but it really feels like the combination of all these things is somehow working against Michael. Let's also not forget this epic picture from the BAFTA film awards last month, with Michael giving Wills the side-eyest of Welsh side-eyes:

All this said, it is difficult (if not impossible) to think of Michael and David's performances in GO as separate things, because they are so inextricably intertwined. The reason that we got David's incredible performance as Crowley is because Michael was there as Aziraphale, and vice-versa. I think David and Michael themselves would be the first ones to say it, as well as to be in awe and so supportive of each other's acting. The response of fans to this nomination news--saying Michael is a better actor, Michael deserved to be nominated instead, etc.--is so perplexing to me, because I think he was probably the first one in line to congratulate David, and would chew out anybody who put down David's acting for any reason.

I also think that if the lack of a nomination is due to the above-mentioned political reasons, then Michael is probably wearing it like a fucking badge of honor. I think he is also happier for David than anyone else on the planet right now (because that's his boyfriend, damn it), and I truly hope the stars align and give us Michael presenting David with an award again like at the NTAs in 2021. (Michael subsequently carrying David off the stage bridal style would be the cherry on top of the already extremely homoerotic cake.)

I also feel that there is no question David is as taken aback by his nomination/Michael's lack of a nomination for GO as much as the rest of us are. While I have no idea what David's chances of winning truly are, I think he would wholeheartedly and enthusiastically share that award with Michael. And I think he will share that night with Michael no matter what, regardless of what happens on the broadcast.

So many possibilities come to mind, really. I can imagine David and Michael re-enacting Every (without the heartbreaking bits, of course) on stage. I've seen people making references to the infamous Slow Show fic/how it parallels to real life, and while I've only read part of it (haven't gotten to finish), the thought of any kiss between Michael and David is beyond gorgeous to contemplate. Not for the sake of "content" or as a joke, of course (because I don't think they would be willing to kiss as a joke, because if they were, they would've done it by now), but because we would see a facet to Michael and David's relationship that's always been there in private become public. And it would be their choice to share it with us.

Those are my reactions to the BAFTAs announcement today. I'd love to hear from my followers as well with your thoughts and comments. Thanks for writing in! x

[frogwiththephatahh]

I don't like Murder Drones...but I can't stop watching it

Okay, OBJECTIVELY...Murder Drones is bad. Like on a fundamental level. It's lore is too complicated and doesn't get explained well in the show itself, the characters are bland and most of them are unlikable, the voice direction can be a hit or miss, and overall it's written very poorly.

If you're just watching the show for the first time, going in completely blind, it is impossible to understand. Because the show wants to "show, don't tell" and honestly THAT'S GOOD! The issue is...this lore is too complicated to NOT tell. Hiding extremely important details in dimly lit backgrounds was a poor choice. I would be forgiving if lighting or camera direction brought attention to certain details, but the entire show is usually pretty dark and there's nothing eye catching about them that makes it clear "this element is important and I should look at it." The first time I watched Murder Drones all the way through, I then had to go watch like two hours of theory and explanation videos made by people who either 1. stay caught up on outside sources (interviews, forums, team social media, etc.) or 2. went through the entire series and meticulously analyzed every background to get the full story.

Don't get me wrong, it is perfectly acceptable to hide secrets and details in your backgrounds and environments. But not key information necessary for understanding the core elements of the show.

Also, a lot of important context is left out of episodes. I was so confused when I finished episode two, came back to episode three, and Uzi had superpowers. Important decisions and conversations characters have are done off screen. I understand this is probably because of budget and time constraints, but I also understand that Glitch gives their creators a LOT of creative freedoms to tell the story they need to tell in the amount of time they need to tell it. And Murder Drones is a series that definitely needed the wiggle room to explore its own ideas.

Now, the thing that REALLY made me almost turn this show off entirely...the characters. The writing of the characters is bad. Like...infuriatingly bad. This is because the show wants to "tell, don't show" with their characters. Which you should never do. ESPECIALLY with your main characters.

I do not need to be told three times an episode that Uzi is an "angsty teen." I got that when in her very first scene she brings a gun to her school. I do not need to be told how cute and nice N is. I got that when he mistakes Uzi for another disassembly drone and immediately starts acting chipper around her. I probably would have enjoyed Uzi's character a lot more if the show wasn't insistent on making her only notable trait "troubled kid."

And yes, I understand that Uzi refers to herself as an angsty teen because it's how she wants to be perceived. It is still very annoying. And she is not the only character that essentially walks up to the camera, says "hello, this is my name, and this is my character trait," and then walks away.

And all the characters who aren't Uzi or N fall into three catagories: Mean, Stupid, or Forgettable. And a lot of them are in more than one! You could not pay me to care about J, Uzi's dad, or really any of the other robots in the colony. And the show doesn't care about them!

Episode 4: Cabin Fever is the worst instance of this. (Vague Spoilers ahead) A vast majority of Uzi's classmates are killed off in this episode. In pretty gruesome ways. BY UZI. And the show passes it off as a lighthearted compilation of Monster!Uzi showing off her powers. Now, I know these are nothing characters. Most of them don't even have names. But they are still Uzi's CLASSMATES. People she grew up with. And yeah, she didn't get along with them, but we saw before this episode that, despite how much she claims not to, Uzi cares for others. She has a sense of morality. It's out of character and honestly pretty jarring to see her...not give a shit about murdering her own classmates.

It's a strange trait to give a character whose main goal is stopping the end of the world, is what I'm trying to say.

Clearly, I have a lot of problems with this show. Problems I don't have time to name here, or problems I just forgot about because there are so many of them.

So why do I love this show??

It has a saving grace. I can forgive the bad writing, the shitty characters, the nonsensical lore...because the art direction is just that good.

This show is gorgeous. It has amazing backgrounds and sets, appealing character designs, camera direction that's so good it should be in a cinema...it's a nice show to look at.

Despite having mostly the same base builds, every character (except V and J but that just might be me idk I can never tell them apart) looks entirely different and can be picked easily out of a crowd. The monster designs ESPECIALLY are what kept me coming back over and over again.

Despite everything I've just said, I do think Liam Vickers is extremely talented when it comes to animation and art. He was a storyboard artist before becoming a show runner for Glitch and Murder Drones SHOWS THAT. There were shots in MD that literally took my breath away. His character designs are also amazing. I especially loved the elements he brought over from Cliffside and gave to Cyn/Absolute Solver.

Having robot characters with LED screens for eyes that they can use to emote or even write messages for one another is genius. Having the main antagonist kill her human master and WEAR HER SKIN is crazy and I love it. Giving the robots a virus that can pass on genetically is also a really cool concept for humanized androids.

Although scenes are often darkly lit, because the characters have parts on them that literally glow, it's easier to pick them out.

The action scenes are phenominal as well, and have so much thought put into them. Characters like Uzi, Cyn, and uhhh the russian one I don't remember her name oh god being able to pick up and throw objects in their environment makes for really interesting and creative fight scenes. The anatomy of the disassembly drones also seem purposefully tailored for fight scenes. With hands that can shift into weapons, tails with poisoned barbs on the end, and huge, sharp wings, the murder drones have a LOT of different tactics they can use in a fight.

In conclusions: Murder Drones can best be enjoyed by turning your brain off and watching the pretty colors. And somehow it works.

[polyhexian]

Sooooooo now that we've all been introduced to and cried over Tell-no-lies and Caitlyn, they're fair game for AUs, right?

Okay, tbh I don't have many ideas for them at the moment, cuz their story was short and happened so far back in the timeline that there isn't much information to work with and it's hard to gauge what the ripple effects would be by the time we get to the canon era.

HOWEVER. It's really easy to imagine them in the Pregnant Belos AU. The inherent crackiness excuses their impossible survival and lack of ripple effects caused by it, so canon can remain unchanged until they just…pop up.

Like, imagine they escaped and disappeared and now they're, like, an old couple living incognito on the farthest toe. They never joined up with any other rebel movements, partially because of the baby, partially because Tell was right and resistence is futile, partially because there just AREN'T any movements to join. But there's other ways to rebel, like teaching wild magic to the next generation and making sure your community is so inconvenient to reach that the coven system never takes hold, so Caitlyn contents herself with that.

So like, they're old. They have at least one adult kid. They have multiple grandkids. They've lived decent lives and have regrets and don't like the current political situation but they're making do with what they've got.

And then all of a sudden the news cycle and social media are all buzzing about THE GOLDEN GUARD CHEATED ON THE EMPEROR AND RAN AWAY WITH THEIR BABY.

Caitlyn side-eyes Tell while he's staring at a news article, because she knows he's been low-key keeping an eye on every new Golden Guard who's cropped up. "Well," he says, chewing on this VERY UNFORESEEN turn of events, "that's…new." Though he's probably also like, okay, well, if they're a COUPLE that explains how this one lasted 12 freaking years when some of the others between him and Tell only lasted one or two. OKAY THEN. DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS A POSSIBILITY.

He is also highly entertained by how uncomfortable Belos obviously is with this entire media circus. He is definitely enjoying this schadenfreude.

But then a few years later some gossip rag publishes a photo with the headline FINALLY, OUR FIRST LOOK AT PRINCE HUNTER (an attempt was made to crop the photo so viewers wouldn't be subjected to the image of Hooty, barrelling straight towards the photographer with an open maw of teeth lining far down his throat, but it wasn't very successful).

Tell stares at the picture of this adorably confused little 4-year-old and says, "Caitlyn, the lost prince is another Grimwalker."

Caitlyn looks at the owl monstrosity coiled around the child and says, "That's Hooty."

A week later, Eda hears Hooty shrieking with uncontainable joy, and she opens her door to find a pair of very familiar-looking strangers on the other side.

"Hi," says Caitlyn, "I'm your long-lost aunt, and this is my husband, who we think might be related to some of your housemates…?"

At which point Jasper comes onto the scene like "Yeah no I don't have any family, so you can take your livestreamer asses and--oh my FUCKING TITAN."

And then they're just like. Eda and Jasper/Hunter's extended family who pop up for a visit whenever it's hilarious. Dell is both extremely happy to have his sister back and extremely uncomfortable with her choice of partner. At some point the paparazzi get a photo of the Grimwalkers and Caitlyn eating ice cream and the gossip rags are like OMG ARE THOSE THE GOLDEN GUARD'S PARENTS?? Prince Hunter certainly takes after that side of the family! Now it makes sense why the Golden Guard moved in with the Owl Lady, he's clearly of Clawthorne descent!

Somewhere in the castle Belos is screaming, crying, and throwing up. Lilith is also possibly having a crisis when she puts it together that the mystery Clawthorne woman is her aunt and therefore Jasper might be her COUSIN. WHAT? WHAT??

The gang probably does nothing to dispel these assumptions, cuz like. It's another layer of protection against anyone figuring out the Grimwalker thing. But idk if Hunter would grow up calling Caitlyn and Tell his grandparents, like Dell and Gwen, or if they'd be his great-aunt and -uncle instead. Omg but he TOTALLY calls Tell and Dell the same name for like, a solid year, until he gets the difference between T and D down.

Eda would get along GREAT with Caitlyn, obviously. Darius and Caitlyn could be good friends too, I feel like they'd bond over the whole "loving an escaped Golden Guard and raising a child together" thing. Idk about Jasper and Tell? On the one hand it's like, Tell escaped but didn't help any other Grimwalkers out. In the eventually au Jasper is pissed at Lilith for ignoring the obvious child soldier, but in Runaway he very much ran off and didn't care about Will. I guess Jasper and Tell would've been in nearly the same situation here, running off to protect their family, so maybe they'd bond over the commonality.

Except for, y'know, the very obvious differences.

"Y'know," Tell says, perusing the VERY long list of blocked keywords and websites in Jasper's scroll settings, "when Caitlyn and I were on the run looking for a safe place to raise a family, it never once occurred to me to be grateful that no one was making podcasts and fanfiction about us. Never even crossed my mind. I'm going to be actively grateful for that from here on out."

"Yeah," Jasper nods, "if ONE MORE PERSON mistags their stupid AMV 'for reach', I'm going to vaporize their house."

GOD THATS SO FUNNY THOUGH. Dell like YOURE ALIVE??? YOU MARRIED A GRIMWALKER???????? jasper like sick, my survivors guilt just got a little less bad. Hunter getting a new cousin/sibling/whatever even like WOO MY COLLECTION

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Here's a fun article. DO'D shares ten links to things on the internet that he finds funny. I watched all the clips tonight, which made for an enjoyable evening of both watching things that ranged from baffling to mildly amusing to very funny, and of enjoying the fact that David O'Doherty picked them.

There was only one thing on the list that I'd seen before, and what an excellent pick. I've gone off panel shows a lot compared to the way I was a few years ago, I now remember spending mid-2020 watching every single episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats and Catsdown within about six weeks and wonder why that seemed like a good idea. But I stand by some of it. I still have a great fondness for early Jon Richardson (how generous I am with when I'd consider his strong "early" period to end depends on mood on a given day). I still think Sean Lock was breath-takingly funny. Catsdown was a funny show for the first bunch of seasons. 8 Out of 10 Cats was not, it was almost never good, but they did strike some excellent chemistry once they threw Sean and John together and I will never get tired of re-watching the best moment to ever appear on that show:

I enjoyed David O'Doherty deciding Carrot In a Box was special enough to include on this list, even though the list is clearly meant to be for offbeat indie humour and not large Channel 4 panel show. Carrot in a Box transcends boundaries.

My two favourite things on the list that I hadn't seen before were Simon Bird and Claudia O'Doherty:

Simon Bird surprised me because I saw student comedy and I figured it would be a sort of novelty thing where part of the humour comes from laughing at him for being so young and different to how he is now. But nope, it was just legitimately very funny. I was sorry I hadn't seen it before and glad DO'D directed me to it. Also, this was a year before The Inbetweeners started airing, I hadn't realized he was still in university so soon before it. Seems surprisingly young, though when I think about it, I guess being a year out of university is still a bit old to play a high school kid.

That Claudia O'Doherty + Natasia Demetriou sketch was really funny too, I've done some CO'D trips through YouTube but hadn't seen that one before. Obviously this rec reminds me that DO'D/CO'D being locked in a radio studio all night with Daniel Kitson back in 2006/07/08 would be somewhere on my list of offbeat, out-of-the-box choices for funniest things I've ever heard (after the fairly judgmental post I made last night about finding it annoying when comedians talk about their relationship, DO'D/CO'D is my proof that I don't always object to that, it helps if they're annoying about it in a way that's intentional and self-aware), and it's lovely that 17 years later he's still called her the funniest person he knows. The sketch made me laugh, Claudia and Natasia were both very funny in it. She's right, magic is stupid (I may be willfully misinterpreting the sketch through the filter of my own views).

Besides that, on the list there is a sketch that's probably funny if you ever watch cricket. A couple of videos where I feel like I'm missing some important context, probably related to Irish TV, that would explain why they're so funny. And Instagram account, and I think it's probably one of my unreasonable old person opinions that I have trouble with people referring to a social media account as a piece of comedy on par with a stand-up routine or sketch or something like that, but mascots during moments of silence definitely are funny. There's a video of Irish donkeys where I do not understand the point but I'm glad David O'Doherty's had a good time watching it.

There's this, which confuses me, and I definitely don't think it's the masterpiece that DO'D seems to think it is, but I did enjoy watching it:

I'm not sure how much I enjoyed that one personally, I felt like I could really see why DO'D found it so funny. It seems like very DO'D-style humour, even though DO'D whole thing is being lowkey and this video is not particularly lowkey. If you took those lyrics - and that style of delivering them - out of the giant band and transposed them to a lowkey plastic keyboard, I could see this being the foundation of a DO'D song.

On an only very tangentially related note, I was listening to an episode of the John/Elis radio show today, and they were talking about when you accidentally send a text message to the wrong person, and Elis said David O'Doherty has a song like that. Which he does, but what surprised me is that the producer Vin was the one who immediately jumped in and supplied the title and summary of the song.

I'd been thinking for some time that Vin can hold his own with comedians surprisingly well for a guy who's not involved in comedy (to be honest he'll sometimes get to the joke or punchline in a situation faster than Elis does). A while ago I heard him express interest in Andy Zaltzman, and I assumed this must be because he's a cricket fan (I have, since making that post, heard him mention cricket several times, so I've confirmed that that's not just an assumption I invented based on his race), because he's come to this comedy radio show via radio and music, not via comedy. But now he's out there referencing David O'Doherty songs, and I'd like to apologize to Producer Vin for not expecting him to know about comedy. The song about sending a text to the wrong person isn't a particularly deep O'Doherty cut, he plays it a lot, but still. Impressive reference, if you happen to be the sort of person who's impressed by Chocolate Milk Gang references, which I am. Made me like Vin even more, I'm going to miss him when they move to the BBC. Which is too soon. I only have about 40 Radio X episodes left. It seems infinite when I started and now I'm running out. For some reason I feel like the BBC ones won't be as good. I don't want to run out of Radio X. It's okay, the audiobook will add 12 extra hours.

...I've veered pretty far off topic here, the main takeaway from this post is that you should watch the lethally meta Simon Bird student routine, and the Claudia O'Doherty/Natasia Demetriou sketch. You can watch the other things from the article if you want to, as I did, but I mainly recommend those. And obviously everyone should be re-watching Carrot in a Box at regular intervals anyway, for your health.

[safifonhasstrel]

what's your thoughts on sd's newsletter on witchshadow and ppl's reaction to it? art's meant to be analyzed and adored AND criticized and imo it's reasonable to express frustration when the book we paid for with our hard earned money doesn't live up to what's promised

Yeah honestly I am with you on this, anon. I think she's taking the criticism a bit too personally, which she really shouldn't. It's hard, I know that all too well. I am on my way to unlearn that too, so i know its easier said than done.

Every piece of media can, should, and will be criticised. That's just how it works. It's also very valid for the people who payed for said piece of media, not just with their money but also with their time, to be upset about things. I feel very bad for her and I know she went through a lot. I am glad everything worked out fine for her. But if I want to truthfully review something, I cannot think about what the creator might have went through. Then I wouldn't be able to give my honest opinion and we would have a whole bunch of 5 star rated books and reviews would no longer be valuable.

I myself have tried my best to be respectful in my review and give valid examples. I cannot speak for everyone though, and that people have contacted her personally is nuts. But people should be able to post freely on their own social media. I think, or I hope, that she knows that.

I am a bit annoyed about the bit saying it's fine if the book is confusing at first and readers will be able to catch up. It wasn't just confusing at first. Witchshadow genuinely made me feel stupid. Because some plot points were never mentioned before! Like the paladin who has taken over Aeduan, whose name I have already forgotten because that felt so random, and the hellbard loom. I did an entire reread of the series before starting Witchshadow, and non of these things were mentioned before. I even went back and checked again. That was one of my main complaint. Things that have never been mentioned before suddenly being more important than what we already know, and we as reader are just supposed to roll with it. Same with retconning relationships, and focusing on the wrong things/characters. Why was Iseult's book, a book she's been most excited for, centred around the Hellbards??? I genuinely couldn't care less about them, but I know a portion of the fandom loves them, but really? I was expecting to learn so must about nomatsi culture but we got so little. It didn't really feel like Iseult's book at all. I think that's incredibly valid criticism. I am not sure if she would agree with this, but it is what it is. Again, not to be taken personally please. We are all adults.

Also, taking advice from someone about a series you are writing, who hasn't read said series, even if they are your friend, is a CHOICE. While I loath time jumps in general, they CAN work for some stories. But the Witchlands is simply too complex for that.

And oh boy, that got way too long. But valid criticism is supposed to help you grow. And as my boss told me when I was facing a lot of difficulties and hard choices, that, too, is incredibly valuable for you to grow as a person. It sounds harsh at first, but it's true.

Anyway, I hope no one is going to come after me or any person who has criticised the book. I really don't want Susan to feel bad, but readers negative feelings are valid too.

Now I am gonna shut up.

[rmbunnie]

Some thoughts while reading through Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin 2009 (doing my best to be unbiased and also to not sound like the CinemaSins guy:)

Just finished issue 2. I don't know if the art is quite my thing but it is unique and interesting, I just find some of the textures unsettling. There's a weird kinda Meet the Robinson's retrofuturism thing going on? I don't get the toad, in general I find the original villains perplexing, there's a sense of humor going on there that i don't think resonates with me. Professor Pyg grosses me out as a character but he's effectively creepy and the bright coloring does a lot to support the very visceral grossness there is to his scenes. Dick approaching Batman as a performance is interesting and a good character move incorporating his past, although I'd argue Batman is already a performance to some extent considering the way Bruce intentionally creates a mythos/widespread perception of Batman as a symbol to build fear among criminals, so i'm not sure how unique this is to Dick beyond the link to his backstory.

Issue 3, they seem to really like stretching one sentence out over the whole page, which is a really memorable working well for the action scenes. The onomatopoeia made out of various materials like explosions and blood is interesting. The Professor Pyg disco sequence was... weird... which I guess it was meant to be? I don't think it was much of anything in particular for me, not scary, or funny, I get that it was meant to convey Pyg's insanity but I got that with the faces, a lot of the dialogue was more confusing than enhancing the issue for me. Sasha though, is in a scary spot. The pages with her getting left behind in the lab setup are HORRIBLE. Overall I feel like the tone is a nauseating type of unsettling, a very Killer Klowns From Outer Space kind of aesthetic going on. Jason just showed up and I am. not particularly enthused by that.

Up to issue 5. The "hood becoming a blindfold" line Dick says to Damian is pretty clever with the angle they're taking of Red Hood being... the way that he is. The aforementioned angle they're taking with him is odd, to me. This isn't news to anyone. The social media, the branding, the way he talks with/about Sasha ("The mask made her crazy??????") is bewildering. Regardless of whether it's good or bad characterization (which don't get me wrong I sure don't think it's good) I don't understand the choice to make Red Hood the character linked to this theming, there's really not any cohesion there with his earlier character expressly abandoning the (debatably) empty imagery Batman used in exchange for logoless pragmatism. All theatrics in previous appearances past a dramatic personality were for either the purpose of communicating with Bruce, who is dead here, or just sending a message to black mask or his colleagues, not the general public of Gotham. Regardless of whether or not it reads as lame it doesn't read as HIM, which is more of a sticking point to me. Also minor line but WHY did Dick call Sasha his girlfriend. Like it's not even that i'm offended or shocked genuinely why is that line that. If it's to characterize him as a more lighthearted Batman it wasn't particularly funny, but I get the feeling there's a good amount of humor that just isn't landing for me.

Issue 6. Casual Homophobia Damian is the first joke in this series that's been funny to me but MAN is it funny to me. Perhaps not in the intended way but it is kinda hitting!

Also still on issue 6 was Jason's response to Dick offering help meant to be genuinely emotional? The panelling and lack of action gives me the sense it might have been but if so it did not hit. If it was meant to be comedic/a dig it was slightly more effective but still overall confusing. I REALLY don't get who the "archenemy" is supposed to be. Sasha's ending was DEFINITELY meant to be emotional and maybe if i had less of a cynical mindset from the issue before it it may have been, but it just seemed weaker than the entirety of like, everything before that's happened with Sasha. Idk what's going on with this issue. It's funny that Judd Winick comes in a dozen issues later and completely retcons the Sasha thing. Also why is Talia's medical team here now. Talia isn't in this one???

Issue 8. I understand there is some kind of tie-in going on but what the FUCK is happening. army of batman replicas????? Why is everyone here british. (side note, Kate Kane says "hate to say i told you so" here and it's criminal that that hasn't been repurposed for a Good Luck, Babe! edit.) I was going to ask why Dick's so unconflicted-ly down to use a Lazarus Pit for Bruce but they address this by saying Jason's trickery has influenced him? Which 1. this take on Jason does not seem competent enough to do trickery and 2. when has Dick ever succumbed to Jason's trickery on Jason's best day? "I have to die, no, i'm serious, I have a plan" is unfortunately REALLY funny dialogue. Point 2 on the jokes, Grant Morrison.

Issue 9. "this is horrible... her radio's still sending out an SOS which nobody can hear way down in a coalmine...." Point 3 Grant Morrison. "Y do oll my thots turn 2 smashed glass wen i try 2 think?" this moment with pretty strong potential for horror is also featuring lolcat speak? I feel like this could have been avoided if we kept the oddly split up phonetic speech and didn't incorporate numbers but the "2"s really are giving this a uniquely Myspace tinge. Like the dialogue is really interesting here, but also How are you doing that with his mouth. "STEPPING IN GASOLINE WAS YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE????" good lord Damian was born to be in the comments section. "your pickup lines need work" ???? i guess a kinda snappy one liner but that is Bruce's lesbian cousin WHY does Dick keep accusing his family of being in weird and concerning hetero relationships like this is a pattern now. "I have this thing for crimefighting readheads..." !!!! WHY'S DICK FLIRTING WITH KATE NOW LEAVE THAT LESBIAN ALONE????? she was a lesbian in 2006 too i really don't understand why we're doing this.

Issues 11 and 12. "permission to terminate." ok namedrop. They're doing talia really weird in this one. The way she speaks like an over-controlling soccer mom, the way she's drawn, it all just feels very odd. Again, not news. Dick confronting Slade about Bludhaven is a neat concept. WHY are they doing an "everybody on the count of three" hands thing. OH FUCK OFFFFFFFFFFFF THIS STUPIDASS JOKER REVEAL IS THE WORST THING SO FAR BY FAR

I like the Damian fight paneling in Issue 16. There's definitely a unique style to the writing. It has a pretty quirky tone.

WELL! That's that, I've now read the 2009 Batman and Robin run! I also read the Tomasi, Cornell, and Winick 3-parters, as well as the final issue, but I feel like those aren't really so much part of Morrison's continuous run. That was a comic, and now I know what happens in it! I will get around to reading Morrison's Animal Man run because I really do want to see what others seem to see in their writing and I love a good metafictional narrative so hopefully I'll get more out of that than i got out of this. I see the stylistic appeal, the brand of horror Morrison uses here is really unique, there's a very off-kilter and weird vibe to the whole thing, and many of their contributions to Batman lore such as Professor Pyg and Damian (I need to read Son of Batman sometime too, just because it's such an iconic Damian book) are very interesting! Having said that, I honestly don't know if I can say I enjoyed reading this series. I found large chunks of it deeply confusing, and not in the way that I didn't understand what was happening, and many of the elements that caught my attention such as the horror in Issues 2 and 3 didn't persist throughout the book. I'm glad I did tho! Also I maintain that that Joker reveal was HIGHLY bullshit (in the sense that i didn't like it.) I have to admit I clocked out a little emotionally after that.

[docholligay]

Fareeha Amari is now a canon lesbian I think this will please you

Love that everyone mentioned me in this

Okay, so a lot of this is for @seolh who asked for the tealdeer for the short story because she knows I hate myself and have no sense of fucking self-preservation even a little bit, even at all. Overwatch is EXTREMELY difficult for me to drag myself away from, even if at this point (in some ways because of something I am about to complain about) my Lena, Fareeha, Angela, etc, are all BASICALLY original characters with their own gifts and weaknesses and internal lives that the game and its surrounding media is not interested in. I still have feelings for it in a weird fucked up way. It's my toxic not-quite-ex

ANYWAY THAT BEING SAID.

Things I loved:

Pharah being gay, obviously. But I'm going to be honest here--at this point what BlizzOfficial does has no bearing on my characters as I see them.

The slight nod to Pharah being a by the book weirdo with her seatbelt still fucking fastened when the flight is in any motion at all. Loved that. Actually that was my favorite part of the story. Thought it was great.

Love anytime we use callsign vs first name as an intimacy identifier, though, it DOES bug me that we become intimate with Baptiste in *checks watch* 3 pages.

Did not like:

So a lot of the problem I have with the surrounding media is partly Blizz' fault and partly the way we have now constructed our interaction with media on the internet. The percentages of which I'm not sure. But the writing, the characterization is BLAND. There is not a single bold choice made with any character in this story. Before you say "But Pharah is a lesbian!!!" This is an American game made by Americans, mostly, for Americans, mostly. That is the cultural context of the game. Like it or don't, it is true. Pharah being a lesbian given the game demographics is not all that bold. I'm not complaining about that specifically. What I'm saying is: These characters are milquetoast as FUCK. You can't be opposed to how either Pharah or Baptiste are portrayed because they are portrayed in such a textbook inoffensive way that they can neither fail nor rise. This is by design. I am not actually blaming the author. I am sure she had a brief that said "Every character has to speak and behave like like a textbook White American lest we be branded bigots on the internet." But it's annoying, and I know OW has, historically, had a very very annoying fandom that has cried wolf so many times and had so much infighting and had some of the WORST FAITH ENGAGEMENT with social justice I have EVER fucking seen, to the point of me finding it EMBARRASSING, but. It still leads to me looking at Pharah and Baptiste and being like "I have no clue who these bitches are and becaus eI cannot hate them I cannot love them"

"I would have thought it was obvious. I'm not passing, am I?" this is a very very weird line. If you're gonna have Pharah talk like a fucking White Midwestern American 24/7* she's going to say something like, "Do I look straight?" or something. I'm not offended just confused.

It seems they've decided that Pharah did in fact grow up with Overwatch around her all the time despite Ana sometimes being an absentee parent, I guess? I know it's been ping-ponged for awhile, and I admit to disappointment that they came down on this side, not for the least of which reasons that it makes it disappointing that ...everyone else also abandoned her? She said she's hadn't seen Cole in years. Angela? Jesus Christ, how does this woman not have significant issues. (Oh right. Milqued Toast.) It also makes Fareeha/Angela a weirder thing for me, so I will put it out of my mind immediately.

*Obviously I do not love this choice, but I do think it's a fair one and I understand why it's made. Please keep that in mind when I rag on it, I'm not actually IN REAL LIFE mad about it.

[redotter]

Thought on ASOIAF and GOT

Some background: I own the books since 2014 but I didn't care much for them when I first gave them a try so I stopped after a couple chapters. Then the show was a massive hit, yet I remained uninterested and rather annoyed at how popular it was. But then I watched some tiktoks with best scenes and it really sparked my curiosity so I picked up the books again last year and it was a much more enjoyable read - for once I already knew the characters and the main plot beats from social osmosis so it felt like a reread (I mean this in the best way possible; I could actually focus on the details and make little head-cannons and theories instead of trying to keep up with all the names).

Long story short, sometimes things that are popular... are good. I love the books! GRRM is a good writer and all the negative reviews I've heard about them are not founded imo. For example, while the world is sexist, the narrative is not sexist at all. It has some really well written, strong and complex female characters, and that was in the 90s (I know, the bar is low but I'm giving credit where credit is due)! Now that I'm currently reading the forth book, I decided to also watch the show instead of piecing it together from gifs and... I'm mildly disappointed? Don't get me wrong, it's still a very good show so far, and it must have been mindblowing back when it was still running, I'm just less invested in it that in the books. And I wanna rant about it :^)

Aging up the characters

I entirely understand why this choice had to be made from a myriad of practical and ethical reasons. But it seems like they aged the characters, then kept a couple details from the books that work the way they work because of the age. For example, a lot of Sansa's lines and behavior are written for a preteen girl (her getting her period for the first time, her not understanding Margaery... just generally being naive and child-like). Then there's Jon being a virgin while looking like an attractive dude in his 20s (how could that even happen?). Or the tragedy of Robb fighting a war while so young (at least they changed the wife story, because an adult Stark would never fuck a woman while his odds of winning the war depend on him specifically not doing that). Or the horrible situation Dani is in at such a heartbreakingly young age, stuck between her brother and Drogo. Or Arya being confused for a boy while looking like a woman. All of these characters are also very idealistic and ambitious and have that teenage-y The Power of Believing in Yourself. They all make some extreme choices that a more seasoned adult would be way more cautious with.

2. The sex

Again, I get why it's there (it sells), but the show somehow has more sex scenes that the books? Or is it just me? There's also this weird focus on Renly being gay, which in the books is very subtle. The show also has some sexual violence scenes not present in the books, whose purpose I didn't fully get. Meanwhile, Daenerys goes "all men must die but we are not men *smirk*" as if the creators gave themselves a feminist pat on the back in-between nude scene #30 and a rape scenes #12. I've heard that it gets worse too.

3. The actors

I love all of them, but I feel like some characters are so beloved because of the charisma of the person portraying them. I hated Drogo's guts until he died, same with the Hound. Can't believe they have such a fanbase. Even Daenerys, I like her as a character but her POVs are some of my least favorite. On the other hand, Sansa comes of as more sympathetic in the book, mostly due to the age thing I mentioned. I love Jaime and Brienne just as much in both and I care for Bran just as little in both.

4. The pacing

I have brain rot from fast media consumption, FINE, but some of the scenes move so sloooow. If you put together all of John's POVs, I bet half of it is snow scenery.

5. The setting

Why is everything beyond the wall a dessert? The book has woods, fauna and flora well into the north. Every time I see them march through Antarctica I can't help but wonder what do all of those people EAT. I know that humans can live in harsh conditions, but there's also no fishing options so???

There's some other smaller things (like Stannis being into the Red Woman for some reason) but there's no main category for it. Overall I'll continue watching it cause I'm curious how it will get worse (I already know that it does). And hey, if you've only watched (some of) the show and didn't like it, you might enjoy the books.

[invisibleraven]

15 for Writer's Choice!

The alarm blares, and Luke groans, slapping at his phone until the horrible noise stops. Opens a bleary eye to see the date staring at him. "Happy fucking birthday," he grumbles, finally getting up, even though he'd rather stay in bed the rest of this miserable day.

Most people who didn't like their birthday didn't want to grow any older, but for Luke it was the opposite. He longed to be any age other than eighteen.

But here he was, celebrating 18 for the twenty fifth time, all because he still hadn't met his soulmate.

At first he had stayed put, wanting to be here so it would make his soulmate easier to find him. But after a few years he got restless and decided that he would travel. Who was to say that his soulmate was in La, hell in the USA even? Plus if he was gonna be stuck as a teenager,might as well get his wanderlust out now.

He travelled all over the world, learning new cultures, languages, and most of all, music. He loved music, and getting to study it with so many masters and teachers was amazing.

Eventually he came home, but he found he still felt restless.

He tried the whole college thing, but he found it wasn't for him. So now he took the odd class at the adult learning centre, gave guitar and voice lessons whenever he felt like it, and generally wondered if he was ever going to meet his soulmate. Not everyone did, and sometimes it took centuries.

Luke had kind of hoped to find them before the next millennium set in.

He didn't have many plans for the day; supper with his folks complete with his favourite chocolate cake. But that just made it all the harder as he sat there watching them get older and older while he stayed ageless. He really hoped he would find his mate before they got too old to meet them, maybe give them a grandbaby or two while they could enjoy it.

Other than that, maybe he could busk on the boardwalk a little? That was always a good time, and he knew some execs hung out there. Yeah he knew he'd probably never get signed all by himself, but he picked up a few session musician gigs that way, and a few of those studios kept his number on file enough that he could make rent.

Resolved, Luke got himself ready; cut off shirt, his favourite beanie, oversized jeans complete with wallet chain. Slipping his feet into his Vans, he grabbed his acoustic and set off.

It was a nice day, so the crowds were going out in droves. Luke set up in a corner away from the other performers, case open in hopes for a few dollars. He did a few covers to start out, it always drew people in. Then he'd launch into a few originals, which usually kept the people around for a spell.

Today he was just finished a set when he saw a very cute couple standing there, smiling at him. The girl tossed a twenty into his case and Luke beamed. "For that you can make a request."

"I like The Beatles," she supplied.

Luke nodded, couldn't go wrong with the classics. He did a lilting version of Blackbird, mournful and full of longing. If she were along he might have done Here There and Everywhere, but he figured that would be pushing his luck.

When he finished, the girl applauded, still smiling wide, showing off the gap in her smile. "You should advertise your YouTube or Insta... something so you get your voice out there," she said. "More than just your name and a pager number."

Luke rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I never took to the internet. I know I need social media, but it's after my time and I just never learned."

"Try adjusting to electricity," the guy quipped. "The riots when Tesla and Edison were at their height? Whoa nelly."

The girl giggled. "Reggie you are a tech whiz, stop being so old fashioned."

"Aww Julie, it's fun though!"

Luke at Reggie confused. "Wait... you're still a teenager though."

Reggie cocked his head to the side for a moment then laughed. "Oh yeah, Julie and I are missing our third soulmate. So I still don't age."

"What about you?" Luke asked Julie. "How long have you been waiting?"

Julie blushed, hiding behind her curls for a moment. "Oh, I am actually eighteen, just this year."

"Wow," Luke replied. "Never met anyone who met their mate, or at least one of them so young."

"What about you?" Reggie asks.

"90's," Luke said.

"Not too bad then," Reggie said, and Luke supposed that to him, a quarter century was nothing compared to the decades he had been waiting and the untold stretch of time before him.

Luke saw the crowds were thinning, and he started packing up. It was almost time to head to his parent's place soon anyways. He turned to Reggie and Julie, and a part of him didn't want to say goodbye. There was something about them that allured him so. "It was nice to meet you," was what he said though, knowing they probably had places to be.

"Are you busy tonight?' Julie asked, impulsively.

"We want to get to know you is what Julie mans," Reggie supplies.

"Why?" Luke asks.

"You interest me," Julie says. "Plus I felt this... draw to you when we got here. I'm usually not wrong about this stuff, and it lead me to Reggie."

"How did you know-that you were soulmates?" Luke asks.

"My calendar shows my next birthday will be my 19'th," Julie said. "I checked after Reggie and I met. His is the same."

"Well today is my birthday..." Luke says, but he realizes he left his phone at home, as usual. "But I don't have my phone."

"So do you wanna celebrate and see what happens?" Reggie asks.

"I have dinner with my parents," Luke said. "But you should come. I want to get to know you too."

"As long as they won't mind," Julie cautions.

"Ma is always on my case to bring friends and cooks way too much," Luke assures her.

So they head to Reggie's truck and drive to the Patterson abode. Emily is a little surprised to see two extra people with her son but she's a gracious host and ushers them in.

Reggie and Julie get on like a house on fire with his parents, and Luke already knows that even if Julie's gut is wrong, he wants to keep them in his life for forever. Especially after he finds out that they sing and play. Reggie even confides his best friend Alex plays drums, though he's a little older, meeting his soulmate a few years back.

"Willie ran him over on his skateboard," Julie chortles. "Weirdest meet cute ever."

"Can't be as bad as me almost falling on you from the loft," Reggie says, and that is a story Luke will have to hear later.

Finally it's time for cake and Luke cringes, hating the same eighteen candles every year. Wishing every time for an extra one to appear.

But when his mom enters, he sees something different. There, burning on top of the cake, are nineteen candles.

"Ma?" he whispers.

"The extra one was there when I checked the drawer," she whispers back, squeezing his shoulder.

Luke looks over at Reggie and Julie who are beaming back at him. His soulmates.

"Make a wish," Julie urges.

"Make it a good one," Reggie jokes.

"I... I don't know what to wish for," Luke admits. "Because my wish came true today."

Everyone gets teary at that, and Luke simply wishes for a long life where he gets to grow old with Julie and Reggie.

And this year? He thinks his wish might just come true.

[ncisfranchise-source]

Vanessa Lachey is bringing in the numbers.

Ahead of NCIS: Hawai’i’s May 6 series finale, Lachey, 43, took to her Instagram Stories to tout the show’s impressive viewership figures. She congratulated CBS with a graphic revealing that the network had the “top 4 most-watched series and 13 of the top 20,” reigning in multiplatform viewing for the 16th year in a row. The actress then posted 35-day viewing numbers, with NCIS: Hawai’i racking up 10.1 million over four new episodes.

“Throwback to Season 1!” Lachey wrote over a screenshot labeling the program “the #1 new series” at the time of its debut. “What a feat!!! And kept growing! So damn proud of this TEAM!!!”

Lachey, the first woman to lead an NCIS franchise, closed her series of Stories with a behind-the-scenes snap of her and costar Noah Mills. 

“We ALWAYS had so much fun!” she captioned the photo. “Check out the FINALE Monday night on @cbstv.”

On April 26, CBS announced that the police procedural would end after three seasons. The sudden cancellation left Lachey “gutted, confused, blindsided.” 

"Processing this news and still being present with my family. I Love You all!" she wrote on her Instagram Stories when news of the axing broke. 

“Mahalo Nui Loa,” Lachey added, which translates to “thank you very much.”

Five days later, the former Entertainment Tonight correspondent expanded her thoughts on the cancellation with an Instagram post paying tribute to her character and time on the show.

"I wish we had more time, I’m sorry we don’t. I wish we had a proper good-bye, I’m sorry we didn’t. I know we ALL are connected deeper than any TV show," she captioned the video of her sitting by the ocean, taken by her husband Nick Lachey.

"In Hawai’i we don’t say “Good-Bye”, we say 'A Hui Hou' it means 'until we meet again'. To you all & especially the beloved fans… A Hui Hou," she concluded.

Similarly, fans of the show expressed their disappointment on social media.

“My heart is broken for this cast,” one user posted on X (formerly Twitter). “so sad we didn’t get a final 4th season to wrap it up😞 i’ll treasure these 3 seasons for ever💙 thank u to the best cast ever for this amazing show & for everything they have done for us, i love you all so much🫶 ‘ohana forever❤️.”

Vanessa Lachey Teases Personal Connection to NCIS: Hawai'i Episode: It's 'Allowing Me a Lot of Healing' (Exclusive)

The fandom even began a petition on Change.org in hopes of bringing back the series, which as of May 3, has garnered over 23,000 signatures.

“NCIS: Hawaii has been more than just a television show for many of us. Over the past three years, it has become a beacon of representation and inspiration, changing lives in ways unimaginable. It's not just about the thrilling plotlines or the engaging characters; it's about what they stand for and how they've touched our hearts,” the petition reads.

It requested that CBS renew the show for “multiple more seasons” or provide viewers with “a full Season 4 to bid farewell properly to these beloved characters.”

According to Variety, CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach explained that the cancellation was a “tough decision” made after evaluating “the financials and the performance overall.” When asked if there was a chance of reversing the choice, she answered “no.”

[my-mt-heart]

Wanted to add on to the JDM discussion, but need to do so anonymously, for a few reasons. First off, much thanks to anon and yourself for being open to healthy debate on this. Maybe I won’t be accused of forcing opinions on people this time, lol.

It took me months to properly unpack the ramifications of his choice. When this all started, I first found those tweets kind of relieving of the emotional turmoil and confusion we were all being bombarded with. And AMC’s statement felt condescending. So in the moment I appreciated that a key voice was just talking to us like people, and was willing to address the elephant in the room. I made a post about it sharing my personal feelings, and was heckled a lot for it. I think there are people in the fandom who still dislike me on that basis, which is funny because after 11 months my opinion has evolved from there.

Evidently, he was not aware of what really happened. I don’t think his intent was to spread falsehoods or cause harm, but unfortunately those tweets did a tremendous amount of irreparable damage. People are too willing to look at a woman in her 50s in this industry and believe that she really fought her way out of a contract and jeopardized all her future work opportunities, because she was tired. (Sidenote: I don’t think the selfish ‘fans’ who want Melissa far away from RTD for their own personal reasons, realize how difficult it will be for her to find other work at her age. Or that potential employers will take into account what kind of SM PR an actor will bring to their project). Anyway there are countless people who believe she really needed a break and there is no changing that in their minds because of where it came from. We’ll never know what Norman would have said on Fallon if the script hadn’t been changed.

Jeffrey sadly created a huge PR mess, which I can undoubtedly say was met with consequences. An old set photo of Melissa and Jeffrey doesn’t depict what their relationship might be like currently. AMC neglected to send him (and by proxy LC) to SDCC (filming was just a convenient excuse)—possibly a punishment for going off script, but more likely, to entice Melissa to be there.

I was at the finale event, and the interactions I personally witnessed when the cameras weren’t rolling were very telling, to say the least. They painted a clearer picture of how Mel really feels about Jeffrey, about Norman, and about Gimple. And I’m really content to leave it at that. It’s really everything that’s already been said multiple times on this account.

Thank you for sharing your perspective and you're right that your opinion should be allowed to evolve. I don't think anyone was sure what to make of the situation a year ago, and I include myself in that as well. Whether through a fans' POV or someone with industry experience, it was all so weird. It's sad that we're still seeing the collateral damage and maybe some of that can never be fixed, though I would hope AMC are well on their way to fixing what's in their power for Melissa's sake and for her fans. I was going to get into the challenges of Melissa finding other work a little later, but since you brought it up, I should probably just do it now. I can already visualize people foaming at the mouth lol

We know Melissa has plenty of talent and a stellar reputation. That's beside the point. In an industry where sexism and ageism are still running rampant, there's going to be less leading roles available for women over 35, let alone 50. Even less for women who don't dye their hair and therefore won't appeal to men 18-49. Other considerations include an actress' social media footprint and where they're based. Melissa isn't active on SM and she's not on either coast. None of these are "faults" of hers. This is all just to say, I can understand if she chose not to go down that path and judging by all the buzz about her joining the Caryl spinoff, it seems like maybe she did not. That doesn't mean she's settling for anything less than she deserves. She'll get to be the leading lady, playing a character we know she loves, and she'll likely have the leverage to create a better work environment for herself, where she'll be respected and valued.

[ihavesomerantsrtoshare]

I need to rant about Heartstopper Season 2

My issues:

This felt more like a transition season. They introduced lots of problems like an ED, self-harm, Darcy’s relationship with her parents, but nothing was resolved. I know they needed time for 2 more seasons, but it felt very incomplete.

Tara and Darcy’s relationship felt wrong. In media, no LGBTQ+ relationship is healthy; there always has to be a problem. In S1 Tara and Darcy (T&D) are the happy couple with very few problems. I know that’s unrealistic, but it was a nice breather from the troubles that Nick and Charlie (N&C) had. And every problem that T&D had were resolved. (Tara not being comfortable as a Lesbian.) But in S2 we have no unproblematic relationships. I guess Darcy’s problem is with her mom, but she didn’t go to Tara which is what S1 Darcy would have done.

Ben pissed me the fuck off in this season. Cause like of the “I like Charlie” bullshit we are supposed to believe that he was just confused about his “bisexuality.” NO! Ben is a manipulator who admitted that he only was with Charlie because he pitied him. And then he had a relationship with Imogen who ACTUALLY LIKED HIM and he tried to do the same with her when she was happy with him and their relationship could have worked out BUT NO they had to paint him as dumb when he actually is really smart when it comes to getting his way

The fact that Nick is so pressured to come out is infuriating to me. Like I know that’s a real problem that many queer people struggle with, but it makes him look…I don’t know…weird. I don’t know how to phrase it but it makes him look like he’s desperate for attention. I know that phrase has some bad connotations but I don’t know how else to say it.

There was a lot of making out in this season. In S1 they focused on the more emotional/mental part of love and young relationships, but now every couple was making out at every possibility (except T&D which I appreciated)

A small nitpick, but they made tori very aggressive. In S1 she was very protective but in a therapeutic way. Now she is threatening Nick about promises and actually kicked his brother (although he totally deserved it)

Also i was pissed about Isaac, they just ruined his character. He went from very insightful to just very angry and confused and more anti social. Like he was holding his book in every scene. In S1 he had the bowling scene and the field day scene without a book, but in S2, even at prom he was reading. There is a HUGE stigma that all aro/ace people are lonely and sad when that is obviously not true. But making Isaac out the way they did is just perpetuating that stereotype.

And another thing, when what’s his face told him that he had a crush on him, they did it the same was as N&C’s first kiss. It was probably a creative choice, but it looked like they are running out of ways to initiate kisses.

ok that’s all I have

[tvchi]

The Challenge: About Loss

Disclaimers: DO NOT COPY OR REPOST MY WORK. DO NOT TRAIN AI WITH MY WORK.

Warnings: Mature Audiences ONLY: 18+, SMUT, Minors DNI- Nudity, Sexual Intercourse, Spitting, Gagging, Profanity.

Pairing: Jalen Hurts x black female Word Count: 2010

A/N: I wrote this because my book club is LIT (waaay better than yours) and we write our own short stories and present it to the group to read and rate. I thought I would just upload it on here for everyone to read. It's more romance than smut but I hope that yall like it! Your feedback is greatly appreciated because I'm really trying to get better. So Like, Comment, and Reblog as the spirit moves you. ❤️❤️🥰!

Summary: You're in class and are forced to do a group assignment. The absolute worse thing happens, you are paired with the most popular jock in the university. You can't risk failing this assignment. Will things heat up in the classroom? Stay tuned.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Good Afternoon, class! Today we are going to talk about loss!” she exclaimed as she slapped two large textbooks onto her desk. 

       Only Professor Martinez could be chipper about an otherwise dismal topic. This meant that a possible term paper was coming in the very near future. As her words still lingered in the air and the rest of the class began settling down, I went back to doodling on my page. I peered periodically through my curtain bangs at the board to see if she had written anything down, but the board remained blank. Some kids were texting and scrolling on social media, while others took this time to find the comfiest position for the best fifty-minute nap they were about to take today. The thing about Introduction to Medical Anthropology is it is kind of a bore. I mean, we are all required to take a “General Education” course at the College of Liberal Arts. My first choice was the class where they listened to vinyls all day and debated which was the greatest musical genre of all time, but I overslept on registration day, and it filled up. So, for the past couple of months, I’ve been here prying my eyes open through the medical corporate structure and its inner workings. I thought anthropology courses were supposed to be about the people, how they work, and all the stuff that tugged at heartstrings. You know, mushy shit. Instead, I’ve learned the quickest way to make a lot of money. It was giving “Who wants to be a Millionaire,” not Cumbaya. 

       I peered up once more at the board, and the word “loss” was written up in large capital letters. The room was now completely silent as if it held its finger up to its lips. I turned to get another pen and, as if right on cue, there he was. Eyes closed and head slowly falling forward, James Evans was never awake long enough for him to use any of those pens he was always borrowing from any one of the four girls he was always sitting next to. The college’s star athlete made sure he got his fifty-minute nap in, not wasting a minute. It must be nice not having people expect much of you academically. It must be nice having people offer you grades in exchange for physical labor. Or maybe not. I quickly grabbed my other pen, pushing thoughts of student-athletes aside, and started to take a couple of notes. Sometimes, I wrote notes not to remember key facts but because writing things down helped me stay awake. 

      “What’s the most gut-wrenching thing about suffering a loss?” Professor Martinez asked a now-settled down class.

      “I was wondering when we were gonna talk about Palliative care! Ok, when my aunt chose to be placed in hospice after getting chemo for 2 years, it was really hard for us. It was like she was giving up on herself. I was so confused, “ Kelly Gardner, the resident overachiever, replied. 

       I rolled my eyes. I mean, no offense to her aunt, but her niece is really annoying. Once she starts on one of her personal anecdotes, she never lets up. The class turns into this historical account of the Gardner family and all the shit Kelly doesn’t like. I mean with what I know about her family tree and her dog, she should invite me over for Christmas dinner. 

       “Thank you for sharing, Kelly. That must have been really hard. However, my line of questioning was more of a general question about loss, not hospice care. What about loss hurts the most?” said Professor Martinez. This time, her eyes scanned the room as if looking for someone whose face would betray them into sharing their familiarity with the subject. The room was quiet for what felt like ages. 

       “I think it’s the part where you remember something. Something really funny and you go to call them up. Then you remember that they aren't here anymore,” volunteered a small voice.

      I turned to face where the sound was coming from. A tiny girl that I never noticed before emerged from the sea of faces. She had a baby face that was smooth and had flush skin. Her hair was straight and jet black, arranged in two low,​​ neat buns. Her clothes were dark colored but neatly pressed. She wore a broach and other pendants around the breast pockets of her sweater. On her feet were leather combat boots with silver buckles, which I noticed because they almost swallowed her tiny legs that dangled in her chair, hovering over the floor. 

     “Nah, I think it's when you see pictures of them up, and everyone starts talking about them like they ain't here,” said another voice.

      “It’s the crying. Sometimes, you see or hear something, and you just start crying out of nowhere,” yet another voice said.

      “Holidays and birthdays”

      “Seeing the date of the last thing they posted on IG. Every time you go back to it, you start seeing how much time has passed. Like their last digital footprint”

      “How tight you get when you see the world going about its business like nothing ever happened. You start to do the same, and you find that you can’t move—not like everyone else,” said a deep, rich voice vibrating across the room. 

      I recognized that voice, but I couldn’t be sure. I turned my head to see who Loss had wrung a confession out of this time, and the voice came from James. He was looking intently at his hands, visibly frustrated. A silence spread across the room after that, each person presumably contemplating their own brush with Loss. 

    “Good!” Professor Martinez said, “Very Good! This week’s assignment will be to write about a time when you suffered a great loss. You will write about how you reacted, how everyone around you reacted, and whether or not any of those reactions coincided with any of the stages of grief listed in Kaufman & Morgan’s ‘The Anthropology of the Beginnings and Ends of Life’. You know, the required reading for this class.

      Groans were heard throughout the classroom. My attention turned from James to the front of the class, confused.

     “Yes, yes, yes, but what would life be without a graded assignment?” Professor Martinez sarcastically retorted. “What’s even better is that you don’t have to go through this alone. I will be assigning you all a partner! Please listen for your name and who you will be working with,” she finished as more groans were heard throughout the classroom. 

      And there it was. The dreaded group project. Something I’ve been avoiding all semester. Apart from the fact that I don’t like democracy, where my grades are involved, I’m not particularly fond of the talent in this classroom. 

     “Sarah and Sam,” Professor Martinez called.

     God, what do I have to do? I already call my grandmother four times a year and pretend to care about her prayer meeting gossip.

     “Celeste and Patrick”

      Fine, God! I’ll raise you another hour on the phone and pretend to care about the hymns for the Christmas choir selections.

     “Hunter and Malachi”

      Please, God, just don’t let her place me with someone dumb or worse…. Can’t read!

     “Adaobi and Jasper!”

      I stopped praying long enough to catch Jasper’s eye. We nodded at each other. Jasper wasn’t bad. I peer-reviewed a prose piece he wrote in another class, and it wasn’t that bad, actually. I can work with this. Thank you, God! 

    “Oh, I’m sorry. It was my mistake. I misread the names on the page for a minute. It’s been a long day. I meant to say Adaobi and James,” said Professor Martinez.

     My heart slowed to a halt. I peered over at James and then back down to my sheet of paper. This is when I started to question whether or not God actually loved me. I steadied my breathing and tried not to think about the cards I had been dealt. Instead, I would focus on how to make lemonade. I needed to get him comfortable with the idea that he had no input on this assignment and it would be a good idea for him to let me handle everything. Then, I would catch him up to speed when it’s done. I took a minute to draft and rehearse a speech, keeping in mind what I was going to say and when I would start working on the project. I pulled out my planner to look at upcoming deadlines.

    “Hi. I’m James. I guess we’re paired up,” he said, offering his hand and a quick smile.

     I quickly understood. What is it I understood? I understood how all people drooled and hung onto his every word. His waist, directly in my seated line of sight, was slim and fitted under his gray sweatpants. He stood tall, easily over 6 feet. He had a solid build, the kind all of the guys wanted and avid sports players had. Broad shoulders that looked like they could a pair of legs up and down stairs with ease. His Nike tracksuit remained open, revealing a white beater that hung onto his sculpted pecs and chiseled abs. His skin was a rich, dark chocolate hue and burnished. I’d never been this close to him before, and a part of me didn’t think it was safe to.

      “Hi,” I said. 

      “So, how did you want to do this?” he asked.

      “I don’t, but we have to. So this is how it’s going to go: I’ll write the paper and turn it in with both of our names on it. I’ll send it to you before I turn it in so you can read it and at least know what it’s about. Just try reading a page or two out of the required reading if she asks any questions. Outside of that, you can do whatever it is you do, “ I said matter of factly as I gathered my things to leave the classroom. 

     “Nah. I kinda fuck with this assignment. I wanna write on it too,” he said. I glared at him. 

     “Interesting, especially since I haven’t heard you offer up an original thought about any assignment in this class all semester. But how could you? You’re never awake. Look, some of us have to think about our GPAs for our future.” I retorted.

     “So you’ve been watching me?” he asked, looking intently at me with the corners of his mouth threatening to curl upwards. 

     “No one has to watch you. You do this thing called snoring, and it interrupts the conversations happening in the class. The class we paid to have.” I spat, avoiding eye contact, hoping he couldn’t tell that I may have over-exaggerated some details to prove a point. There was a pause for a moment.

     “Look, yeah, I sleep in class, but Professor Martinez could put a TV to sleep, and you know it!” he said.

      “I know that everyone around you hypes you and lets you do whatever you want because you’re supposed to save University sports and finally lead the football team to their first Sugarbowl ever,” I started. “But you can’t fall asleep in every class, not read anything, and expect to write a world-class paper just because you have a ‘dead homie.’”

      He glared at me. His eyes were fiery with rage enough to singe my face. His eyebrows furrowed, creating canyons of skin on his forehead. He gritted his teeth, tightening his jawline. I stared back, trying not to betray my pounding heart or sweaty palms. After an eternity, he dropped his gaze and headed for the door. I exhaled a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. Turned back to my desk to gather the rest of my things.

       “I’ll be at the tech center at 6 pm for the next two weeks if you wanna work on this together. If not, I guess Professor Martinez will be getting two separate papers”, I heard. Then the door closed shut. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for Part 2 Click here for Part 3

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[la-mousme]

HIS 5925 Week 5: Arguing with Digital History / Current Research in Digital History

For this week’s topic we are analyzing the arguments around digital history and what research projects are being highlighted in the digital history realm. To get my opinions of the sources out of the way, in all honesty, following the correlation between each source. I think just the sheer vastness of the field is what might of confused me as one source will consist of futuristic technology or concepts and then another will discuss the past, similarly to the high school textbooks that still invokes fear to this day. The lesson learned from this week, is that anything can and eventually will become apart of digital history (considering if our use of internet is similar in future tense).

The 2017 white paper source was the answer for my confusion as I didn’t read this source prior to the other, which I should have. A collective piece amongst multiple historians across the nation, the white paper lists out the arguments made around the vast subjects within digital history; however they do it in a very meticulous way in having a section dedicated to how his methodology is reflective of the process of historians. This could be due to the amount of people involved in the article, but still prove to be an effective choice as it was easy to follow along the various topics analyzed. The authors make note in their thesis of in wanting the merge the gap of digital history and the ‘broader historical profession’, essentially meaning mainstream traditional history. [1] However they also make an interesting point in action, which I have not noticed in many historical papers. They write:

The responsibility for integrating digital history with argumentation thus rests both with the digital historians who make implicit or explicit historical arguments and with the rest of the profession who must learn to recognize them.[2]

A call to action, an interesting addition to the white paper that I needed to highlight, as we don’t often put responsibility to a party in the historic academic world.

As for the other sources, there is a dynamic theme in having subjects based on various fields. Choosing Julia Laite, “The Emmet’s Inch: Small History in a Digital Age”, I learned the concept of little and big histories. In my personal conceptualization, I viewed her argument similarly to ads and how media focuses on pushing other brands more than others. The small histories are overcrowded by the push and demand, to then be forgotten (although, thus being extremely simplified). However, what interests me about this article is Laite’s methodology and use of unconventional sources such as Buzzfeed and other unscholarly or peer reviewed sources. [3] A collaboration of all types of media in discussing media itself, thus following her thesis of including small histories.

[1] Arguing with Digital History working group, “Digital History and Argument,” white paper, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (November 13, 2017): https://rrchnm.org/argument-white-paper/. 1.

[2]  Ibid.

[3] Julia Laite, “The Emmet’s Inch: Small History in a Digital Age,” Journal of Social History 53, no. 4 (June 1, 2020). 25.