#yes i answered a different fandom for each question

[terastalungrad]

I don't think I've ever known a time in Doctor Who fandom where so many assumptions were made so strongly and believed by so many. So here's a quick FAQ about the current state of the show:

Will Disney renew their deal to co-produce Doctor Who?

We don't know.

Disney usually wait until 1-3 months after a show has finished airing before confirming a renewal. They have renewed a few shows earlier - when they've been a massive hit, or in order to start production early to get a special ready for Christmas - but 1-3 months is the norm.

Were Disney happy with the Gatwa episodes?

We don't know.

We don't even know their metric for success. Number of viewers? Number of new subscribers? Critical acclaim?

Disney didn't renew Andor beyond its second season, even though the show's been hugely acclaimed. Indeed, Disney have pulled the plug on several shows - the streaming landscape has changed a lot since the original Doctor Who deal, with most streamers tightening their belts.

Did Ncuti Gatwa quit because of uncertainty about the show's future?

We don't know.

People quit their jobs for all sorts of reasons. Usually, there's more than one reason.

Would Ncuti Gatwa have stayed if Disney had renewed early?

We don't know.

It is possible. Gatwa's contract was with Bad Wolf, not Disney. The contract might have been for three years, as with other modern Doctors - in which case he'd have still been under contract if they'd started filming a third series in time.

But this is speculation, since we don't know what was in the contract.

Did Ncuti Gatwa fall out with Russell T Davies?

We don't know.

It's interesting to me that Davies was present on set for Gatwa's final shoot. He wasn't present for Eccleston's. But this may mean nothing. It's also - of course - none of our fucking business.

Did the final episode originally have a drastically different ending?

We don't know.

We do know a week of additional shooting was added in February.

This isn't unusual. Extra shooting also occurred for The Church on Ruby Road (the scene where the Doctor saves a baby from an inflatable snowman) and The Robot Revolution (the scene where we meet Belinda's housemates).

One possibility is that, counter-intuitively, filming more material might actually save money. There are tax breaks in the UK for episodes of television that cost a certain amount - so spending a little extra to meet the threshold might save a larger sum in tax.

We don't know what was in the final episode. Behind-the-scenes show Doctor Who Unleashed featured a scene that wasn't in the final episode - a party at UNIT HQ - but it's limited data.

Has the BBC cancelled Doctor Who?

No.

British TV has never worked like American network TV, so "cancellation" isn't the right word. The BBC haven't yet commissioned new Doctor Who - and can't do until Disney decide whether to co-produce. Whether it's a yes or no from Disney, nothing further can be commissioned until the answer comes.

Will a different streaming service co-fund Doctor Who?

We don't know.

If Disney turn it down, though, it seems like a safe bet. Disney Plus is a massive platform - Doctor Who is a drop in the ocean of their shows. A smaller streamer might see more value in Doctor Who.

If X people will subscribe to a service just for Doctor Who, it's a question of how much each service cares about the number X. Disney's one of the services that needs X subscribers the least.

Doctor Who has two advantages in 2025 that it didn't have in 2022, when the last deal was made:

Firstly, the rights to stream the Eccleston to Whittaker eras in the US are about to revert to the BBC from HBO Max. Streamers love catalogue shows (i.e. shows with loads of episodes, like Friends and Star Trek), so that's a great package to sweeten the deal of a co-production. Pay for 26 episodes, get 175 free.

Secondly, the BBC are developing a children's cartoon version of Doctor Who aimed at -year-olds - with exactly the same format as Bluey, one of the biggest ever successes on streaming. Bearing in mind the BBC co-produced Bluey, this seems like a very attractive show to offer any streaming service willing to fund the main show.

Indeed, this seems so good to me that even if Disney weren't originally going to renew, this might tempt them to change their minds.

Is Billie Piper playing the new Doctor?

We don't know.

It looks like she is! That's usually what it means when one Doctor regenerates into a different actor. But unlike with Tennant in 2022, Piper isn't credited as the Doctor, and neither has there been a press release confirming her as the Sixteenth Doctor.

Why hasn't the BBC confirmed Billie Piper's role?

We don't know.

Maybe they don't want the news to be overshadowed by negative press attention to the future of the show. Maybe production company Bad Wolf wants an air of mystery and intrigue around Piper's role. Maybe she isn't playing the Doctor in some way. Maybe there's a reason we haven't considered.

Will Russell T Davies be showrunner for the next series of Doctor Who?

We don't know.

We don't know anything - and it's possible nobody does. Davies has said that Bad Wolf has plans ("it's our job to have plans").

I do think it's likely the BBC will keep Bad Wolf and Davies if possible. If nothing else, there isn't a long list of companies who can make this show, or showrunners of Davies's experience and acclaim who want to make this show.

Why are people behaving as though they know all the answers to all these questions if we don't actually know them?

I don't know.

[kyri45]

✨Spicynoodles Bio Parents AU Q&A! 07/07✨

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the Shadowpeach/Spicynoodles Bio Parents AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

@shadowlilly101 ha chiesto: I wonder what heaven's reaction to Kai being born was like Oh no they're multiplying because redson was the one who made the samadi fire when he was born and mk being the harbinger of chaos and son of Sun Wukong and Macaque that inherited both his parents' powers how strong would kai be truly? @lulushadowpeach ha chiesto: Question wouldn't the celestial realm see Kai as a threat to them?

haha heaven was worried af. Though this time is actually quite justified.

@virtualjellyfishcolor ha chiesto: ..wait how did freenoodls kiss go? (also sorry if I’m wasteing your time)

you mean this one?

@blue1lotus ha chiesto: Just out of interest, does the skull that Yuèbèi has give people a ginormous headache and kills them after three days?

only if they pisses her off/hj

@internet-grab-my-tumblr ha chiesto: So Wukong and macaque still have occasional episodes where their trauma gets to them…how did Yuebei react the first time she saw Wukong have a panic attack or Macaque go intangible and mute? I’m sure they try not to let her see but she’ll witness it eventually…

Yes they do, and they will teach their daughter also that this is somewhat normal, and she doesn't have to worry too much about it, and what little she can do to help her distress parent alongside the other parental figure.

@shilo1998 ha chiesto: I remember you said Yuebei looked different during an eclipse like MK can you show us please?

she's ginger like wukong when the shadow part of herself is removed by the moonlight

@optimistic-mythani ha chiesto: Will Goldren Vision secretly aid Kai? Like, imagine if Kai thrust things that Goldren Kision is something a Fire wire Weilter has in addition to the tire element, like Cole’s superstrength. Kai, honey, it really isn't apart of your fire element. Does Kai even remember his real parents, or are they just a blur? How young were Kai and Nya when he got Isakai’d?

Haha yeah sorry Kai that power aint related to the golden ninja or yor fire powers.

They were older than when canonically in the show Maya and Ray got kidnapped

ABOUT MY THOUGHTS ON SHIPS:

@cybernetsworld ha chiesto: Hi Kiri, I wanted to ask you now that you're doing a ninjago and monkie kid crossover what your favorite ship in Ninjago is or if you ship with whom (my fav ship in Ninjago is Lava (cole x kai)) (btw. I love the idea that kai MK's and red son's child is) @ka1-11 ha chiesto: Can we get an opinion on Lava?As in Cole×Kai I mean @l4yl6 ha chiesto: Okay I kind of really am curious since you just entered into the ninjago fandom and you're doing a comic of Kai being the child of Spicynoodles🤭 I really need to ask, who do you ship Kai with ??? 😍 (Personally I ship him with Cole, yeah I'm a lavashipper😋😌) @chocolatekoaladaze ha chiesto: What do you think Lava (Cole and Kai)? @mischiefmelody ha chiesto: Hello! I know you're not planning on having any centric ships in the Ninjago Dr x LMK comic (aside from a little Jaya), but can I ask your thoughts about Geode (Geo x Cole)?

I really liked their interactions in Dragon Rising!!(about Geode) The found family with like adoptive kids is so real. For other ships, I'm really open to most ships in the Ninjago, however, I don't feel like there's hasn't been a ship I've been really connecting to. I do see the appeal and the interactions in each of them, but I mostly see the ninjas too much as family to actively ship just 2 of them. (it's either that or they are all in a queerplatonic relationship, lol).

Outside of my personal preference, I wont dive too much into shipping in the Spicynoodles Bio Parents AU, moslty to not start ship wars (there are a TONS of shipping alternatives in this fandom) and also cause I've been trying to find space in the plot but there's already way too much stuff (also canon to the current Dragon Rising S3) in the way to also add a side-romance story aside spicynoodles and a little of past Jaya. (compared to the Shadowpeach Bio parents au, where Spicynoodles had much more time and space in-story to develop off screen.)

@autism-autobot ha chiesto: Okay but the fact that Kai keeps trying to hook up with Skylor, who's father owns a noodle business (albeit it's a front) that she later inherited is really hilarious bc Kai is a fire user Two generations of Fire user × Noodle Business Nepobaby (kinda) The Perfect Ship

It is a genetic trait it seems indeed

@sakurablossoms-world ha chiesto: So when in the Ninjago timeline does your comic take place? Also funny idea (I know you mentioned earlier that you’re not really big on Ninjago ships including canon ones, but this idea has been swirling in my brain since you mentioned Kai being MK and Redson’s kid), imagine the reason Kai was attracted to Skylor (the elemental master of amber) is because she reminds him of both his parents in various ways On the note of romance would I be wrong in assuming that Mei would be simultaneously chill and extremely judgmental regarding Jay

After season 3 of dragon rising. I did saw Part 2 leaked, but we are missing the final episodes so I don't want to start from Episode 18. and just proceed on an hypotetical point where Thunderfand was resolved". Yes Mei would be extremely protective when she learns her daughter is dating someone.

@soul2008 ha chiesto: First things first, love your art and au's I have a question, was your Spicynoodle Kid Kai born in a similar manner as Yuebi (aka stone egg). If not how? (If your comfortable answering)

he was born the normal, mortal way

@poisonblob ha chiesto: Hello! I just had a quick question. I was wondering if I could redraw a small scene of your ShadowPeach Bio parents comic? It's mainly for my own digital practice but I will credit you if I do end up posting it. If I'm not allowed to then that's fine. Love your art btw! I got the stylized character illustration thing and it's helped me immensely so I just wanted to thank you for getting me into art again. -Blob

Oh yeah sure, as long as you don't trace it. You can even post it as long as you tag me.

@laokezredo ha chiesto: okay I know this isn’t a question but OMG I just needed to tell you how amazing your art style is. There’s something about it that just seems so flowy and beautiful to me, and the latest art with Kai’s hair on fire is soooo good!! I can’t wait to see the rest of the story unfold and keep up the awesome work! :D

Thank you!

@theblackrosewriter ha chiesto: Hello! I was wondering what your designs for the Ninjago crew will look like? Also, I love your Monkie Kid AU comics! They're an absolute delight, and I've been reading them ever since they started. You're an amazing artist! Thank you for giving us this wonderful story to follow and love!

their "human looking" designs are these ones.

@unknownmonkeydemon ha chiesto: Hi, just wanted to say I love your au's, but I wanted to ask, in shadow peach bio parent au, Mac is mama and wukong is baba, what will mk and reason be in the new spinoff, will it be like reason is the dad and mk is the mom, or will it be pretty much reversed, love your art and comics!

MK is Baba and RedSon is "father"

@ghostedmercury ha chiesto: it seems Kai is destined to have a goatee in the future, what do you have to say about that?

it fits his character

ycelestin811 ha chiesto: I have a question: Will Kai find out he is adopted by the Smith family Ray and Maya in Ninjago? And does Kai have romantic feelings for Skylor after the crystallized.

Canonically not anymore, since she's has been missing since the Merge

@gremlinpen ha chiesto: someone needs to warn Kai of the dangers of being a main character in one of you comics. I assume many bricks are on the way? (Good luck with the comic! You have once again made my day!) :D

of course

@yelling-into-aboid ha chiesto: Speed ran both your Shadowpeach Bio AU and the sequel, second star. Loved it so much T^T!!!! Followed!! Can't wait to see what you do next!! (Looking at that Spicy noodles Kai au 0^0)

Aw thank you!

@authorofcelesti ha chiesto: What seasons of Ninjago do we have to watch to have the full context for the Spicynoodles bioparents comic?

at least what happens in Dragon Rising, up to the entire S3 P1 (if u can watch also P2 it would be lovely). Then it's up to you to at least read a summary of everything that has happened before in NInjago because basically everything, outside the year in which ray and Maya were kidnapped, is canon, and small parts of what happened in the past seasons will be mentioned.

@ablujay ha chiesto: For the spicynoodles bio parents au, are you strictly going off of ninjago dragons rising or the whole show? (Also I hope you are having a great day!!)

both. I'm not really a fan of the "Ninjago was so full of plot-holes you can decide what is canon and what is not". I don't care if everything was incredibly incosistent, I fell like it's my job as a writer to be able to work with what we canonically have. The only fandom that is the exeption to this rule for me is Voltron LD lol

@blognamebelieveit ha chiesto: Hi hi hi Kyriii!! <33 I have a widdle Question abt MK, if you don’t mind answerin’ :3 and sorry for bothering you again if I did… SOOO, Ik dat MK’s immortal… But like HOW Immortal??? I mean like… Is he Wukong type immortal? As in won’t die to any attack (as in being jumped in the most brutal way and is still alive) or like if his head’s exploded in some way or he’s stabbed in his heart of whatever and still be alive…. Or is he Macaque type immortal? Like he’s immortal by age, but can die? Because I came up with a scenario for MK where he did something so bad that he SHOULDVE died but didn’t and I just want some confirmation cuz yah.. (btw I’m okay <3) THANK YOU, AND HAVE FUN AND SUCCESS WORKING ON YOUR OTHER COMICS!!1!1!2!!!!!

he is not invincible. he is like super strong but there are things that can kill him. yes if you cut his head he will die

@fadingpoetrycoffee ha chiesto: ☆hi Kyri!☆ I have a question about the “new” spicy noodles fic/comic（╹◡╹) 🤍🌟Is mk little sister older in the fic? (Even if she’s not in it)🤍🌟 🌸⭐️Also! Is macaque and wukong grand parents?☆🌸⭐️

she is older yes. Shadowpeach are now grandparents of Kai, yes.

@talereader ha chiesto: Hi i am a huge fan of your art and your comics. I have a question about the Spicynoodles Bio Parents comic if you are game. Alot of people in the ninjago fandom have noticed that Kai and Nya kinda claimed Lloyd as theirs. I mean the team all obviously think of each other as family but the Smith siblings have extra big siblings vibes with him ya know. So my question is will that kind of dynamic be used here are do you see their relationship differently? P.s are Kai x Skylor a ship of interest?

Loyd and Kai have a brotherly relationship. I'm ok with KaixSkylor but canonically the relationship has ended

@fjtrickster-blog ha chiesto: In that flashback with Kai and MK where he's put paint all over his face I can't help but notice the trailing ribbon behind him in that panel and the next one. I'm curious if that indicates he was trying to give himself a tail too. If so that's adorable. Love your art have a great day!

technically that was his tail haha

@dark-12234 ha chiesto: Hello kyri! I was wondering if you'll ever make a comic of the days we're apricot grows from a baby to an adult🥺 Also you should really take a break from all the comic making, you're art has improved so much that I honestly wonder if you ever take like 5 minutes break Please take some rest😔 And I'm also wondering on what brush do you use, im not sure if I have seen what brush you use or I might have forgotten a post.... I'm also sorry if I'm bad at English heheh....I'm Filipino

No I wont do a story about all of her growth, but you might see her again

@authorofcelesti ha chiesto: I love the new spicynoodle bioparents AU! Can't wait to see where you go with it! Out of curiosity, do you have a set update schedule like with the shadowpeach AU? Or will it be more sporadic (like the ISAT/SKY AU until a few months ago)? Again, I absolutely love your writing and art!

I will try posting 2/3 times a week depending on how much my 2 jobs are killing me

@nica0509 ha chiesto: Hello. A question, in your AU where Kai is the son of Redson and Xiaotian, Nya whose daughter is she? and Ray and Maya then found them by chance when they came to ninjago and decided to adopt them?

she's Mei daughter. Also Ray and Maya were quite close by when they were Isekai-ed so they didn't wander around too much

@mkthemonken ha chiesto: this isn't a question it's just something I want to say. Thank you so much for the new comic that you're gonna make. I'm so excited for it all the work you're putting into this I just love it. Thank you so much. Every time I read your comics it makes my day and I'm just so happy. Right now I'm not really good at making comics but I really want to try. Do you have any tips to try to make comics because I really don't know how to but I'm going to try. I just love your comics so much. Again, thank you and we love you so much and this fandom needs you to keep it alive...... have a nice day. I know this is a lot, but I just don't know how to put it in words, so thank you

Aww you're welcome!

@kingofendlessdc ha chiesto: Can I just say I love your Kai art so much! And I love the idea that Kai is a byproduct of Red son and MK. Specifically since I’ve always thought LMK and Ninjago took place in the same multiverse. Also, after LMK Season 5 I had a sort of crack theory that Lord raz’s master and the person Xianglu said was winning are the same person since it seems like both of the cartoons are heading to a multiversal aspect. Furthermore, the place Lord Raz goes when his master contacts him is eerily similar to the primordial chaos xianglu goes to at the end of LMK season 5.

It truly does! doesn't it?

@paloriee ha chiesto: Hihi!! So idk anything about ninjago but I am very excited for the new comic!! I'd like to dive into the universe so what TV shows/movies/whatever do you recommend? Thanks :D

Ninjago is long. technically I will reference stuff happened in almost every season. If u wanna watch everything go for it. Main thing is that you know the basic of what happened in each and what happens in Dragon rising to each character and the universe

[prettygirl-gabi]

Title: Slicked Back & Smitten

Rating: Mature Audiences

Warning: MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!!, spicy, wlw smut, mirror sex, Paige's biceps, paige fucking you while having you in a headlock, !top paige, !bottom reader, light oral (fem reseving), !purple strap Paige, !slick back ponytail P (yes this deserves a warning), fluff

Paring: Paige Bueckers x fem reader

Fandom: Uconn's Women's basketbal

Summary: Slicked Back ponytail P... and she's swollen in the right places too... oh you're down bad baby

Tag: @elliesglock , @elalfywhore , @paxaz535

The morning of the UConn vs. Butler game was absolute chaos. With a 1 p.m. tip-off, I had been up at the ass crack of dawn, running errands before heading to the arena. Meanwhile, Paige was at home, usually getting her game day braids done by Kayla—her routine, her thing.

Except today, Kayla couldn’t do them she was getting over being sick, didn't wanna risk Paige getting sick.

And I? I was too busy being the responsible, errand-running girlfriend to even offer to do them myself.

So, Paige had to figure something out.

By the time I arrived at the arena, the team was already warming up. I greeted a few of the staff members before spotting Kayla on the sidelines, watching the girls get their final shots up before tip-off.

"Did you see what she did?" Kayla asked as I approached.

I was confused. "Who?"

Kayla gave me a look. "Your girlfriend."

I turned my head, scanning the court until my eyes landed on Paige in her love, Abby warm up. And, oh, did my jaw practically drop.

Instead of her signature game day braids, she had done a sleek middle-part ponytail. The gel, the clean parting, the way the ponytail laid so perfectly down her back—it was… different. It was… distracting.

I bit the inside of my cheek, shifting on my feet. "Yeah… I see her."

Kayla snickered, nudging me. "She look good, huh?"

I exhaled sharply, eyes still glued to Paige as she moved across the court, completely unaware of the effect she was having on me. The slick back? The way it emphasized her face, her jawline, her everything? Yeah, it was bad for me.

"Kayla," I started, voice low. "I don’t think you should do her braids next game either."

Kayla howled. "Oh, nah, you down bad!"

I rolled my eyes, pretending like I wasn’t already making plans to personally ensure Paige never wore braids again.

———

The first half of the game was a problem.

Paige was playing out of her mind. She was dropping dimes, hitting threes, getting to the basket with ease—and she looked damn good doing it.

I was trying to focus on the actual game, trying not to be the most obvious girlfriend ever, but every time she drove to the rim, her ponytail swung just right, her edges still perfectly laid despite how much she was sweating.

It was a crisis.

By halftime, I had reached my breaking point.

Sitting in the stands, I pulled my phone out, thumbs flying across the screen as I sent a text Paige wouldn’t see until later.

Me: You need to put me in a headlock when we get back home.

Me: And I need you to consider this slick back ponytail as your new game day hair. Like… permanently.

I hit send, exhaling as I locked my phone. Out of sight, out of mind. I just needed to get through the rest of the game without combusting.

———

Paige didn’t see the message until hours later.

After the game, she had her usual post-game press conference, with Kk and Azzii answering questions about UConn’s dominant win, her own performance, and how it felt playing without her signature braids.

Then came the locker room celebrations, the team hyping each other up, the post-game shower, and finally—finally—Paige was back at our shared off-campus apartment.

Freshly showered, she walked into the bedroom with a towel around her neck, only in her black Nike sports bra and grey boxers sitting perfectly on her waist line, scrolling through her phone finally checking all her notifications.

I was sitting on the bed, scrolling mindlessly myself, until I saw her pause.

Her head tilted. "What the hell?"

I tried to act innocent. "What?"

Paige turned her phone towards me, revealing my very suggestive text from earlier. "This," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Headlock? Really?"

I shrugged, unbothered. "You read it. You know what I said."

She huffed out a laugh, tossing her phone onto the nightstand before crawling onto the bed. She hovered over me, arms on either side of my head, that damn ponytail still sleek even after her shower.

"So," Paige mused, voice dropping slightly. "You liked the ponytail, huh?"

I reached up, running my fingers over the base of it where she had secured it with a black hair tie. "Liked? Understatement."

Paige smirked, dipping down to press a lingering kiss to my jaw. "Liked it enough to text me during halftime about puttin yo ass in a headlock?"

I exhaled sharply. "I was having a moment."

She kissed the corner of my mouth, teasing me. "Mhm. And what kind of headlock we talking about?"

I rolled my eyes, pushing her lightly. "Don’t play with me, Bueckers."

Paige chuckled, finally kissing me for real, slow and deep, before pulling back just enough to rest her forehead against mine. "So… ponytail again next game?"

I nodded immediately. "Absolutely, baby it’s your secret weapon."

She smirked, leaned closer, her lips brushing against my ear as she whispered, "Anything for you, baby. Especially when I get to have my way with you afterward."

I shivered at her words, my heart racing with anticipation. There was something intoxicating about the way she claimed me, the way she took charge. I loved every moment of it, even if it made me feel vulnerable.

Paige stood up suddenly, her playful demeanor shifting into something more commanding. “Come here,” she instructed, her voice firm yet sultry. I followed her, curiosity piqued, as she led me to the full-length mirror on the wall, right next to the bed.

“Look at yourself,” she murmured, her fingers brushing against my neck as she turned me to face the glass. I could see the reflection of us, a flush creeping across my cheeks. “You’re beautiful,” she said, her voice dropping to a low whisper. “But I want you to see what I see.”

Before I could respond, she slowly pulling my satan mini sleep dress, off revealing my body to herself as if she was claming a prize. My heart raced as I realized her intentions. “Paige…” I started, but her smirk silenced me.

“Shh,” she said, a playful glint in her eye. “Trust me, watch me the whole time, ma. ” She walked to the other bed side table to pull out the purple stap, taking the boxers off and expertly securing it around her waist.

I watched her through the Mirror not taking my eyes of her once.

“Now,” she said, walking back to me and now her breath warm against my neck, “I want you to look at yourself in the mirror and think about how good you can be for me.”

She wrapped her strong arms around me, pulling me back against her chest, and I found my breath catching in my throat as I felt her biceps flex around my head.

“Paige, I—”

“Good girls do what they’re told,” she interrupted playfully, flexing her biceps around my chin so I could look up see my own reflection. “Look at you. So pretty, so willing. You’re perfect just like this.”

I gazed into the mirror, my heart pounding as I saw the way she held me—her strength juxtaposed against my vulnerability. I felt a rush of heat surge through me.

“Tell me what you see,” Paige urged, her voice steady yet sultry. “I want to hear you say it.”

“I see…” I hesitated, caught between the thrill of her hold and the desire to please her. “I see… me. I see us.”

“Good girl,” she praised, her voice dripping with satisfaction. I could feel the tension in her body, the way she leaned into me, the heat radiating off her. “Now, tell me how much you want me.”

“I want you, Paige,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. The honesty of my desire sent a thrill through me, igniting a fire that burned deep within. “I want you to fuck me.”

“See? Was that so hard?” she teased, her lips brushing against my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “You’re learning.”

Paige turned me slightly, enough that I could see her in the mirror too. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she gazed down at me, and I felt a rush of exhilaration at being at her mercy. “Now, I want you to remember this moment. How it feels to be my good girl.”

With that, she pressed her lips against mine, capturing me in a kiss that was both sweet and demanding. I melted against her, surrendering fully to the sensation of her body against mine. Each kiss deepened my desire, igniting a passion that coursed through my veins.

“Look at us,” she murmured between kisses, her voice low and seductive. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. Together, we create magic.”

Once back on the bed she had me face down ass up, still facibg the mirror.

I gasped as she took her tongue and gave my much needy pussy attention, “You’re so beautiful like this,” she whispered, her breath warm against my thigh just before kissing and biting at it. “I want to make you feel everything.”

After a few mins of practically making out with my pussy, Paige, pulling me up by my hair before locking my head in her biceps again, her lips brushing against my ear as she trailed kisses along my jawline and neck. I could feel her warmth, her desire, and it sent waves of pleasure coursing through me. “Tell me how it feels, and don't be quiet about it either, baby” she instructed, her voice a tantalizing whisper.

“Good,” I breathed, my heart racing. “It feels so good.”

“Good girls deserve to be rewarded,” she replied, her lips curling into a smirk. “And you’ve been so very good, so keep watching in the mirror for me, yeah mamas”

She guided my gaze back to the mirror, forcing me to watch as she explored my body, her hands roaming, her kisses igniting every nerve. “Look at how much you crave this,” she teased, her voice a sultry melody. “You want to be my good girl, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I gasped, the thrill of her words sending me spiraling deeper into desire.

“Then let’s make this a night to remember,” she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief and passion.

Before I could fully process her movements, she had me pinned, face down ass up into the satan sheets, every inch of my body electrified by her touch. The strap slid deeper, an intoxicating sensation that made my heart race and my mind spin.

I could feel every pulse, every inch of her as she filled me, her confidence radiating through the air. Letting out a groan as if she could actually feel me clenching around her. “Fuck, baby you takin my dick so good. Pussy just swallowin me whole, shit.”

“Paige…” I managed to whisper, but the words were swallowed by the thick tension that hung between us. My body was responding, every nerve ending alive with the thrill of the moment. She held me captive, and I was more than willing to surrender.

Her fingers tangled in my hair, guiding me as she thrust deeper, the rhythm slow at first but building in intensity. I could hear her breathing, a mix of pleasure and desire, and it sent a shiver down my spine. “You’re so perfect for me,” she murmured, a sultry smile playing on her lips. “I could do this forever.”

With every thrust, she drew me closer to a precipice I had only ever dreamed of. The world outside faded away; there was nothing but the two of us, lost in our own universe. I could feel the heat pooling within me, a delicious tension building that threatened to consume us both.

“God, you feel so good,” she breathed, her voice thick with desire. “I want you to look in the mirror when you cum f'me. Watch yourself fall apart on my shit, ma.”

I surrendered completely, allowing myself to be swept up in the waves of pleasure she was creating. The way she moved, the way she filled me—it was intoxicating. I could feel every inch of her, the connection between us palpable, electric. It was as if we were two bodies entwined in a dance as old as time, a rhythm that only we could hear.

“Paige, I…” My words faltered as she hit a spot that made my entire body quiver. I could feel the tension building, spiraling higher and higher until it felt like I might burst.

“Shh, just look in the mirror and feel,” she whispered, her breath hot against my ear. “I’ve got you.”

Her words were like a spell, wrapping around me and pulling me deeper into the moment. I lost myself completely, every thought dissolving into a haze of pure ecstasy. Looking into the mirror watching with way she had my arms pinned behind my back, the determination on her face to make me feel so full. Watching the way my juices leaked on the bed, the way the base of the strap milky white from the way she was pounding me into the bed. The world outside ceased to exist; all that mattered was the connection between us, the way she moved, the way she touched me.

As she pushed deeper, I could feel the heat rising more and more, the pressure building within me. I was teetering on the edge, and I could sense that she was too. And as a last minute act she put me in a headlock again, hips still hitting all the right spot. “Yes, just like that, watch yourself f'me” she urged, her voice a low, sultry whisper. “Let go for me. Yeah ma, cum on my dick.”

With a final thrust, everything exploded, watching myself fall apart on the purple strap. I felt the world around me shatter into a million pieces, the sensation overwhelming and all-consuming. Waves of pleasure crashed over me, leaving me breathless and trembling.

“Just like that, baby. That’s it,” Paige encouraged, her voice a sultry murmur that was so encouraging that I could cum again. “You’re so beautiful when you cum, f'me baby.”

I could hardly respond, lost in the aftershocks of pleasure that coursed through me. I felt her slow down, her movements becoming gentle as she brought me back down from the high. My head resting back on her shoulder for a few seconds before I look at our sweat, cum dripping bodies, in awe

“Are you okay?” she asked, concern flickering in her eyes as they met mine through the mirror.

I nodded, still catching my breath. “More than okay,” I whispered, a smile breaking across my face. “That was incredible.”

Her lips curled into a playful grin, and I could see the satisfaction shining in her eyes. “I’m glad to hear that. But I’m not done with you yet.”

Before I could fully comprehend her words, she shifted her body, and mine her movements fluid and graceful. The strap was still there, a reminder of the connection we shared, and as she positioned herself above me, as I am now on my back, I felt the excitement build once more.

“Just relax and enjoy the ride,” she said, her voice low and enticing.

With that, she began to move again, her body rocking against mine in a way that sent shivers coursing through me. Every thrust was deliberate, every movement intentional, and I could feel myself responding, eager to meet her rhythm.

“God, you’re amazing,” she breathed, her eyes locked onto mine. The intensity of her gaze sent another wave of heat through me, igniting the fire that had only just begun to simmer.

“Paige, you have no idea…” I gasped, my hands finding their way to her hips, guiding her as I tried to keep up with her pace.

We were lost in each other, the world outside fading away once more. The tension built again, a delicious spiral that threatened to consume us both. I could feel the heat rising, the pressure coiling within me, and I knew we were nearing the edge once more.

“Just a little more,” she urged, her breath coming in quick gasps as she pushed herself closer, her voice laced with urgency. “I want to feel you again.”

With her words, I was gone, the tension breaking like a dam as the pleasure rushed over me once more. I could feel her reach her peak too, our bodies connected in a way that felt transcendent.

As we collapsed together, breathless and spent, I couldn’t help but smile. In that moment, everything felt right. We were two souls intertwined, lost in the heat of desire and the sweetness of connection.

“Wow,” I managed to say, a laugh escaping my lips. “What just happened?”

Paige chuckled, the sound warm and inviting. “Just a little magic,” she replied, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “And I think we should do it again.”

I grinned, my heart racing at the thought. “I’m all in.”

---

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-Thank You For Reading!🩵🩶

-prettygirl-gabi🎀✨️

[fluentmoviequoter]

Playing Favorites

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!rookie!reader

Summary: Tim trains you differently, uncaring that he's accused of playing favorites. When he realizes that the scars your trauma left go deeper than your approach to police work, he accidentally falls in love with you, and you're beside him for it all.

Warnings: touch starved reader, brief angst, depiction/discussion of past traumas, allusion to past domestic violence, canon-typical injuries and violence, fluff, comfort, obligatory makeout sesh

Word Count: 3.2k+ words

A/N: I used this fantastic idea by @nevereclipse!! As someone who is touch starved, I loved every single aspect of this dynamic and hope I did it some justice🤍🫶🏼

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

Less than a minute after your TO slams on the brakes, declares he’s been shot, and demands you tell him exactly where you are, the radio crackles. Officer Bradford has been quiet since you answered him with the nearest cross streets and the direction the shop was facing, and his silence is something you assume you’ll have to grow used to. It’s better than the yelling, you think.

“7-Adam-19,” the dispatcher radios. “Domestic disturbance in your area.”

“Responding,” Tim replies. “What’s standard procedure for domestic calls, boot?”

You stiffen, straightening your back against the seat as you answer robotically, reciting your list of dos and don’ts for this type of call. Tim listens, glancing at you every few seconds. He has a reputation for judging his rookies quickly – and usually, he’s right in his judgements. Yet, he held off on deciding whether or not you would succeed. Though it’s your first day, Tim has, until now, been unsure what to think of you. You know your stuff; there’s no question of that.

“Good,” he murmurs when you finish. “Follow my lead.”

“Yes, sir,” you answer.

Tim slams the door to the shop, but when he walks past you to approach the front door of the dilapidated house, he realizes something. You’ve endured hard things, experiences you’ve probably kept to yourself and dealt with all alone. Despite that hurt and the devastation Tim knows comes with it, you decided to become a police officer. Whether to be the person you needed during the bad days and dark nights or to stop someone from going down the wrong path is irrelevant to Tim. All he knows now is that your potential outweighs your response to your memories, your dedication is stronger than your past. Tim will have to change his ways because you have what it takes to be a success story.

For the first time in his TO career, Tim adapts his training method to fit his rookie rather than molding his rookie to fit his style. For you, he can be different: gentler, kinder, quieter. You need to learn and grow, and Tim will do everything he can to help you...

Right after he kicks the front door in and starts yelling at the couple fighting on the kitchen floor.

“337.6,” Tim says.

Pinching your brows, you answer, “Unlawful use of a California Horse Racing license? Do you really think that will come up?”

“It’s not about whether or not you’ll need it,” Tim explains, “but whether or not you know it.”

“Okay.”

“Why do you know that one?”

“Why do you?” you challenge, smiling.

Tim shakes his head as he turns on to Pico. “628.5.”

You think for a moment, then remember, “Information attained during prosecution for criminal activity in relation to massage therapy is made available to the California Massage Therapy Council.”

Tim scoffs, though he's impressed by your knowledge of Penal Codes.

“I don’t remember the Business and Professions Code section, though,” you add softly.

“That’s fine,” Tim replies.

You stare out of the windshield, pulling your shoulders toward each other as you curl in on yourself.

“Boot,” Tim says. “You don’t have to know the whole code, just the premise.”

“What if it comes up?” you question.

“You’ve got a phone with internet and the entire LAPD dispatch at your disposal. Asking for help to fill in the blanks isn’t frowned upon, it’s good policing. You may ride alone someday but you are not expected to do this job by yourself.”

“10-50 multiple vehicles, at northeast intersection of Pico and Hauser,” dispatch alerts. “Service technician ETA seven minutes.”

Tim pulls the radio from the dashboard and attaches himself and you to the call. You flex your hands as he turns around and drives toward the accident scene.

“What would you like me to do, Officer Bradford?” you ask as Tim parks behind the wrecked cars.

“Get these people out of this lane,” he answers, opening his door. “We’ve got a few cones in the war bags, make them work.”

“Yes, sir.”

You open the trunk as Tim joins the other officers on the scene. While he checks for injuries and ensures statements will be taken, you direct a driver to go into the other lane.

“But I need to turn right!” he calls through his rolled-down window. “I’m late to a meeting!”

You walk to his car to assist him after checking that no one is trying to get through. “Go straight through when it’s clear, turn right on Carmona, and it’ll take you up to San Vincente,” you direct.

“But I’m going to Olympic,” he rambles quickly, gesturing to his GPS.

“You’re from out of town?”

“That obvious?”

You smile and point straight. “Go through this light. Right on Carmona, which merges into Masselin after you cross San Vincente. That’ll get you straight to Olympic.”

“Okay. Right, right.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thanks, officer.”

He pulls up to the white line at the intersection just as the light changes to red. Tim says your name, then gestures to the traffic backed up in the Northbound lane.

“Sorry,” you say.

As you turn to jog across the street and direct traffic, Tim calls your name again.

“One thing at a time,” he reminds you. “Good work.”

You nod, then look both ways. You’re out of earshot and are directing drivers to merge before crossing the intersection when Officers Lucy Chen and John Nolan look at your TO with wide eyes.

“What?” Tim questions.

“You just said good work,” Lucy says. “To a rookie.”

“You’re being… nice,” Nolan adds.

“I had to remind myself not to cry on numerous occasions as your rookie, but you tell her good job? I didn’t know you played favorites, Tim.”

“I’m not playing favorites,” Tim defends. He looks over his shoulder to check on you, then sighs. “Are we going to move these cars out of the way or talk about my teaching style?”

“EMTs are here to check the drivers, so we could do both,” Nolan suggests.

“Go put the sedan in neutral, Chen,” Tim instructs. “Nolan, you’re pushing.”

The service technicians arrive as Tim, Lucy, and Nolan get the first car out of the lane. As they take over, and another thanks you for your help and begins directing traffic, Tim leans against the shop and watches you return.

“Are you okay, Officer Bradford?” you inquire.

“How many times did you get flipped off?” he asks rather than answering.

“Four,” you answer. “Sir.”

“Should’ve written them tickets.”

Your brows raise, and you press your hands against your legs to stop yourself from wringing your fingers together. “Really?”

Tim shrugs as he says, “Up to the officer. In a backup like that, no, but if any of them had gotten hostile, absolutely.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“I know you will,” Tim replies, pushing off the shop. “Let’s go.”

As you buckle your seatbelt, a robbery in progress call comes through, and you gladly accept Tim’s offer to take the lead when you arrive at the nearby drugstore, smiling at his faith in you.

 “Did you know Tim has a favorite officer?” Lucy asks.

“Yeah,” Angela replies. “It’s me.”

Nyla barks a sarcastic laugh, then smiles when Angela glares at her.

“Who is it this week?” Nyla inquires.

Lucy looks around, then leans forward to whisper, “His boot.”

“Tim?” Nyla asks, still sarcastic. “Falling for a boot? Who would’a thought it.”

“What we had was not this,” Lucy argues. “We were a fling, and now we’re friends. He’s- he’s nice to her, talks to her without yelling, corrects her without getting mad. It’s weird.”

“Lucy,” Angela begins. “As a TO, you have to do what is best for the rookie, not for you. Maybe that’s what she needs. For some people, the yelling and obnoxious reprimands are too much.”

“Tim Bradford does not care about being too much,” Lucy points out.

“Got a point there,” Nyla agrees, leaning back in her chair. “He breaks boots’ spirits, regardless of what they need. There must be something else going on.”

Angela juts her chin toward the door, and Lucy and Nyla turn in time to see Tim leading you into the station. You’re walking side-by-side, and he’s nodding along as you speak. Tim watches your face, then glances at your small hand motions. When one side of his lips quirks up, and he shakes his head, Angela and Nyla look at each other.

“See?!” Lucy exclaims when you turn out of sight.

“Oh, we see,” Nyla replies.

“So, what does it mean?”

“Ever heard of kindred souls?” Angela asks.

Lucy hesitates as Angela and Nyla stand to leave, then decides, “Tim is not kindred anything.”

“Maybe not to you,” Nyla says over her shoulder.

“Is she okay?” you ask.

Tim scrubs an antiseptic wipe across his knuckles as he returns from the ambulance. You were expecting the worst when you got a call for a possible 187, but walking into a home with two screaming teenagers and a bleeding child was far worse.

“Paramedics aren’t sure,” Tim answers. “They’re rushing her to UCLA Children's.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” you murmur.

“No,” Tim agrees. “The detectives will figure out what happened, but unfortunately, we rarely get to play a part in deciphering the puzzle.”

You nod, tapping the toe of your right boot against the asphalt. If you’d gotten here faster, if you’d urged Tim to go inside the back door, or radioed for an ambulance as soon as the call came in, maybe the young girl fighting for her life would have a better chance.

“Hey,” Tim says. You don’t look up, so he lays his hand on your upper back and says, “It’s not our fault.”

You stiffen beneath his hand. Unable to remember the last time you were touched like this, you fight the urge to push him away as pain like pins and needles erupts under the warmth he gives. Then, suddenly, it passes, and the only thing you can feel is the comfort he provides.

Your muscles relax, and your shoulders drop as you unconsciously lean against his hand. Tim spreads his fingers when you seem to melt beneath him. At first, he thinks you’re going to fall. But, as quickly as you went from tense to wholly relaxed, a voice in his mind says, Oh.

There was no question that you’ve had hard times and seen and experienced difficult things that shaped who you are today, but Tim missed your touch starvation before now. With his hand on your back, Tim watches you take a deep breath before you look at him.

“There’s,” he begins, trailing off.

“I know it’s not our fault,” you say softly. “Thank you.”

Tim swallows as he nods, wondering why his hand fits so well. A car pulls over on the other side of the street, and Tim withdraws his hand when Nyla and Angela exit the front seats.

He nods to you before you begin speaking with the detectives, and the admiration you had for your TO and his knowledge begins shifting into something more.

“You alright?” Tim asks.

You raise your hand to your shoulder, press it lightly, and nod. Your frown tells Tim differently, and he gently hooks his finger beneath the collar of your uniform. He doesn’t have to pull the fabric far to see the redness of your skin.

“Get in the shop,” he says. “We have to get that checked.”

“It’ll be fine,” you reply. “Just sore.”

“Wasn’t a question.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” you answer with a salute.

Tim shakes his head and shifts the car into drive. It’s been nearly two weeks since Tim laid his hand on your back, and he’s lost count of how many easy touches he’s given you since then. But it works for both of you. You’re an even better cop than Tim expected. If he’d ask, you’d tell him it’s because of him.

The shop is filled with a tense silence as you drive back to the station. Tim is sitting like a statue in the passenger seat, and the man behind you stares at the back of your head as if he’s trying to make it explode.

You’ve known since the very first call of your training – a domestic disturbance – that Tim’s past affects him. Maybe you can see his trauma because you have your own, or it's evident because you cared enough to look. Either way, you know that calls like this affect him.

Finding a little boy hiding in the closet with a bruise on his cheek and drywall dust in his matted hair broke your heart, but it made Tim angry. You had to pull him off the man sitting behind you, and it’s only because of your demands and warnings that they’re both sitting in silence.

When you pull up to the station, an officer is waiting to take your arrest into custody, and you thank him before you return to the streets of Los Angeles.

“Do you want to talk about it?” you ask after several minutes alone.

“No,” Tim replies.

“Yeah, me neither,” you agree. “Wanna talk about the Braves?”

Tim jerks toward the door, his eyes wide in shock.

“Welcome back,” you mutter.

“It...” Tim begins.

“It’s hard,” you finish for him. “Especially when it reminds you of something or someone you recognize. I get it.”

“I know you do,” Tim murmurs.

“That’s why you’re so nice to me.”

“I’m just teaching you.”

You smile as you slow, parking outside a small strip mall. Turning toward Tim, you explain, “I’ve heard the stories, Officer Bradford. I know you don’t treat all of your rookies like this. But I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Tim nods. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not today.”

“Wanna talk about the Dodgers?”

“You’d like that.”

“You wouldn’t?”

Your smile matches Tim’s, and everything feels lighter when Angela interrupts to ask for assistance with a new case.

“Big day tomorrow,” Tim reminds you as you walk out of the station together. “Get some sleep, don’t overstudy, and know you’re going to do great.”

“That’s it?” you ask. “No warning? Now if you make less than a 93, it’s a failure?”

“Lucy?” Tim questions.

You shrug, but Tim raises his hand, wrapping his fingers around the crook of your elbow to stop you.

“You are not Officer Chen. You are not a copied version of me. You are your own officer, your own person, and you do what you are capable of doing.”

“What if I’m not capable of doing this?”

“You are.”

“Only because of you,” you whisper.

“You did the work. I just offered an assist.”

You glance at Tim’s hand on your arm and don’t hesitate to wrap your arms around his neck. Hugging him tightly, you smile against his shoulder as he returns the hug. His light touches changed your life, but initiating physical affection and taking what you want is different.

“Thank you,” you say. “For everything.”

“You did the heavy lifting,” Tim replies.

As you step back, Tim’s hands pause on your waist. He looks at you, almost like he wants to say or do more. But then he steps back and wishes you a good night.

Alone in your apartment after graduating to short sleeves, you raise a glass and congratulate yourself. Your favorite movie is queued, you picked up dinner from the best restaurant in Los Angeles, and a congratulations card from Detective Lopez is now displayed on your bookcase. Yet, it feels like something is missing. While the movie plays, your thoughts wander to Tim.

A loud knock on your door distracts you from your daydreaming and the quiet night in. Pausing your movie, you walk to the door and look through the peephole. You smile as you open the door and invite your surprise visitor inside.

“Tim- Officer Bradford,” you greet. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re off the clock,” he reminds you. He sees your table and asks, “Celebrating?”

“Yeah.” Shrugging, you explain, “I figured, I made it this far.”

“It’s a big accomplishment. Have room for an extra guest?”

“Depends on the guest.”

Tim smiles and offers you a card. You thank him and set it on the counter as you offer to get him a drink or something to eat.

“I’m good, thank you.”

You nod, leaning against the counter as you look at him. He meets your eyes, and the silence around you is anything but awkward as you stare at one another.

“I came to congratulate you,” he says after a moment.

“Thank you.”

“You were right. I trained you differently.”

“Why?”

“Because I could tell that you were different. Whatever it was in your past that led you here, it made you special. It affected you, so I wanted to use that, let it help you rather than hurt you.”

“You never asked,” you muse.

“People who want to talk about it tend to start that conversation themselves.”

“Which you never do.”

“Not often, no.”

“Whatever happened to you, Tim, whether it made you the man you are or if you are here today in spite of it, you’re a good man.”

“Same to you.”

“You think I’m a good man?” you joke, smiling after the serious moment.

“It’s not obvious?” he replies.

You raise your hands to playfully push Tim away from you, but he catches your wrists and holds your palms against his chest. Standing together, you continue looking into his eyes. You’ve seen more in each other during your training than anyone else has ever cared enough to look for.

Falling in love with Tim was not intentional, and it wasn’t like free falling. After he touched you, he brought you back to life, and every day after, you fell a little more for him.

“Why’d you let me hug you?” you whisper.

“Because I wanted it, too,” he replies.

Tim brushes his thumb over the pulse point on your wrist. He releases your hand and cups your neck, tracing your jawline. You lean toward him while he pulls you closer.

Tim’s kiss feels like entering a new world, like coming home and finding paradise simultaneously. Sliding your hands up his chest, you shiver against Tim when his arm wraps around your waist. Tim bends slightly, lowering his hand to your hips before he lifts you. You don’t break the kiss as he sets you on the counter, and as his fingers tangle in your hair, you hold his jaw and lose yourself.

Through each breath, each movement, you give a piece of yourself to Tim and accept the pieces he offers you. Remembering that you stiffened and considered pushing him away the first time he touched you, you chuckle against Tim’s lips.

“What’s so funny?” he questions, pulling away and straightening your hair.

“I was touch starved a few months ago,” you reply. “And now you let me take whatever affection I want.”

“You’re welcome.”

You push your hand against Tim’s abs, and he wraps his arm around your shoulder.

“Some people think you were playing favorites with me,” you muse, looking up at him.

“I was,” he answers. “Still am.”

“Lucky me,” you murmur before kissing his jaw and tugging his shirt to bring him close again.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Angel Calling

Fandom: Marvel (Mob Boss AU)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Summary: You've formed a friendship with Brooklyn's most fearsome mob boss. But he isn't James Barnes, White Wolf, head of the Barnes Family Crime Syndicate. No. To you, he's just Bucky and he'll be there whenever you call.

Bucky Barnes Masterlist

Bucky usually doesn't step in when it comes to interrogations but this one was different. Sam and Joaquin managed to find the mole in his organization. Said mole would relay any information about the workings within the Barnes Family to Hydra, sabotaging any efforts for Bucky and his family to continue to reign over Brooklyn.

So things were tense and the mole, his former lawyer, Sitwell, was slumped in a chair, bloodied and bruised.

Bucky had forgone his blazer jacket, the sleeves of his black turtleneck rolled up to his elbows. His pinky ring with his family's sigil on not was caked in blood, a mix of Sitwells and Bucky's, but mainly Sitwells.

The older man sobs, "Please, just kill me," after Bucky lands another blow to his body.

Bucky straightens up, a devilish smirk on his face, "You think I'd make it easy for you after all the shit you pulled? After how well my family and I paid you to help cover up for us? Nah, buddy. This is your own fault. You thought Hydra could save you, but you're just scum to them," Bucky punches the man again, "My family and I were generous to you and this is how you return the favor?!" Another punch to the cheek, blood dripping onto the pavement.

A shrill ringing suddenly echoes within the warehouse and Bucky glares to his men behind him. Joaquin immediately searches the pockets of Bucky's jacket. When he pulls out the phone, he turns it to his boss, "It's her, sir."

Bucky's eyes immediately softens when he sees your name on his screen. He then turns to Sitwell's unconscious body, "Saved by the bell," he murmurs.

Sam tosses Bucky a towel and gives Joaquin a nod. Joaquin accepts the call and puts you on speaker.

"Hey, angel, you okay?"

"...don't say you told me so but-"

"Your car finally die?" Bucky answers with a smirk as he wipes as much blood from his hands as possible.

"...yes."

Bucky snorts, "Where are you?"

"Literally a few blocks away from my apartment, which is the most annoying thing. It couldn't have waited to die after I got home?! Anyway, if you and your guys can help me push the car-"

"Angel, we're not pushing your car down a few blocks. I'll pick you up and have one of my tow guys get your car."

"Bucky," you give him a warning tone.

"Angel," he gives the same energy back.

"It's fine, Bucky," you try to reason with the mob boss even though you know you probably won't win. Bucky is incredibly persuasive.

"I got it handled, angel. Let me do this. I like to take care of my friends." When he says this, Joaquin and Sam give each other a look and Bucky give them a finger. The other two men snicker.

"I'll let you pay half for the repair costs," you compromise.

Bucky scoffs, "Repairs? Nah, angel, we're getting you a new car."

You sigh, and Bucky imagines you shaking your head, "We'll discuss it when you pick me up. I'll send you my location."

"Alright. I'll see you in a bit. Just wait inside your car. Lock the doors and keep that pocket knife I gave you in hand."

"Yes, sir! See you soon. Bye!"

"Bye," Bucky replies and ends the call.

Sam makes kissing noises and Joaquin laughs. Bucky rolls his eyes at the two, "Shut the fuck up." He looks over his shoulder to the still slumped, unconscious Sitwell, "Keep an eye on him. Ask him more questions if or when he wakes. I'm gonna clean up a bit more and head out."

"Sounds good. Say hi to your angel for us!" Joaquin says as Bucky heads to the bathroom to scrub off the remaining blood from his hands.

_________________________

You jolt away when you hear a knock on your window. You see Bucky standing there with a teasing smirk. You roll your eyes and open the door, "You scared me."

"You shouldn't have fallen asleep. Something could've happened to you."

"I was tired from work and you took too long!"

"It took me twenty minutes to get here, angel."

"Well that twenty minutes was the longest twenty minutes of my life!

Bucky playfully rolls his eyes and rests his hands on his hips, "Okay, we going or not? Grab your stuff. I don't want you freezing out here any longer."

You grab your work bag and purse, and hand them to Bucky. He guides you to the passenger seat of his matte black Rolls Royce. He opens the door for you and lets you slip into the car. He hands you your stuff and then shuts the door.

He swiftly goes to the driver's side, getting into the car and starting it. He cranks the heat up all the way. He saw you shivering in your car. As the heat spreads throughout the vehicle, your shivering decreases.

You look to Bucky in appreciation, "Thanks for getting me. No one else was answering since it's late."

He quickly glances at you with a soft grin, "I'll always answer when you call, angel."

A warmth spreads through your chest and you know it's not from the car's heater.

The car ride is short since you only live down the next few blocks. Bucky parks on the street and immediately rushes to your side to help you out of the car. He grabs your bags and follows you to the front door where you punch in your code and the door swings open.

"Come up with me so I can bandage your hands," you point to his right knuckles that are covered in cuts.

"I'll be fine."

"Then at least have a drink with me and we can talk about a new car."

A grin appears on Bucky's face, "I'll humor you into thinking I'm going to let you pay for any portion of your new car."

"I'm not easily swayed, Barnes."

"Don't I know it," Bucky replies as he follows you into the building and towards the elevator. You stand beside each other as the lift reaches to the fifth floor.

In a comfortable silence, Bucky follows you to your apartment. As soon as the door opens, your cat, Willow, gives you scolding meows since it's passed her feeding time.

"I know, honey. I know, I'm sorry!" you rush to grab her food and scoop it into her feeding bowl. She happily scarfs down her food as Bucky bends down, giving soft pets to your cat.

"She's so cute."

"She's a menace, but I love her," you say as you head to the kitchen, "Beer or whiskey?"

"Beer, please!"

You grab a bottle from the fridge and fill a glass of water for yourself. You hand Bucky the bottle as he plops onto your couch.

"So, for the car, I don't need anything fancy or super expensive. Literally just a normal car that runs, has good mileage, and doesn't require a shit ton of gas."

Bucky chuckles as he opens the beer bottle with his metal prosthetic, "I'll take you to a few dealerships tomorrow. You don't work on Thursdays, right?"

You look at him in surprise, "Yeah...you remember my schedule?"

He shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant, "Just in case," he mumbles, sipping from his beer.

"Anyway, yeah, I think it's best you come with me to the dealership anyway. Because sales people will try to get one over me because I'm a woman," you roll your eyes in annoyance.

"Well, all the local places know me so they'll know not to give you a shit deal."

"Sweet," you say in excitement.

Willow, done with her meal, hops onto the couch and onto Bucky's lap. She sniffs him and looks up at him expectantly, giving him a meow.

"She wants you to pet her," you translate for him.

He chuckles, "Well how can I say no to an adorable face like that?" he says, scratching Willow behind the ear, which she loves. She leans into his touch and it melts Bucky's heart.

You snicker, "If only your friends could see you now."

"If you tell any of them this, I will deny everything."

You laugh, "Don't want everyone to know what an absolute softie you are. Bucky?"

"I'm only like this when it comes to you, angel," he says.

"Hmm," is all you respond with. You turn away from Bucky and the air shifts.

Bucky gently picks up Willow up and places her on the floor. He turns his body towards you, "I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"You're so confusing, Bucky."

"Huh?"

"Or maybe I'm just stupid. Or both. I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

You let out a deep breath and turn your body to face him, "One moment, I think you're flirting with me and it seems like you like me. But then the next, you keep mentioning how we're friends and you like to treat your friends a certain a way. I just-I dunno. It's hard to process how I'm feeling with how your actions and your words don't match up."

It's true. Bucky has been holding himself back. He does like you. He really does, but he's also scared. You're a civilian, a completely normal person. Whereas he was born and raised in a prominent crime family. He leads a dangerous life and he's scared to get you involved in his shit. But he also loves spending time with you and talking to you, it makes him feel normal.

Bucky runs his fingers through his shoulder length dark brown hair, "You're right. I haven't been very clear on where I stand in this...thing between us. The truth is...I like you. A whole lot, angel. I didn't expect for things to go this way. I didn't expect you to stick around after finding out who I really was, but it's nice being with you. In my crazy hectic world, everything is so loud and busy. But when you, I feel peace and there's silence.

"Truth is, angel, I've fallen for you. I just don't want you to get caught up in my shit. But I also can't seem to stay away from you."

You scoot closer to him, placing your hand on top of his metal one, "I really like you too, Bucky. And I understand where you're coming from. I'll admit that what you do is scary to me, but I also trust you enough to keep me safe."

"So...do you wanna try this out?"

You nod, "Yeah. I do."

"Great," he says breathlessly, eyes darting to your lips, "Can I-"

"Please," you mumble before pressing your lips to his.

_________________________

Bucky holds a gun to the man's head, a deadpan expression on his face as the man begs for his life.

"I swear, it was only the one time! I-" his words get cut off as Bucky's phone rings. Bucky looks over his shoulder to see Sam holding up his phone. A picture of you and "My Angel" on the screen. A grin breaks out onto Bucky's face.

He turns to the man, "Enough of this," he pulls the trigger, the man falling back onto the pavement with a bullet in his head.

Bucky walks over to Sam, trading the gun for his phone, "Hello, my beautiful angel."

You giggle, "Hey, Big Man. Just making sure you're coming over for dinner right?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be coming over in an hour and I can help you cook."

"You don't have to help, Bucky."

"I want to."

"Softie."

"Only for you," he replies with a soft grin.

"Alright. I'm gonna start prepping. Say hi to the guys for me. Bye!"

"Will do. See you soon. Bye!"

When Bucky ends the call, he points a finger at Sam and Joaquin, "Not a word!"

The two men laugh as Bucky walks away. He's ready to spend the rest of his night with you, his angel.

[threeacttragedy]

Entry 16: The One About That Time I Shot an Arrow into the Air

“…It fell to earth, I knew not where; for so swiftly it flew, the sight; could not follow it in its flight.”

Archery has always been one of my fortes in life. I have absolutely no idea why, but I’m strangely quite good at it. My father, of course, attributes it to my ancestors; something passed down to me in my genes. So, I’m not sure that any arrow I shot into the air wouldn’t naturally find itself in the direction of its intended target. Today, that target would almost certainly be in the jugular of a Cerberus-like creature. Ah, yes, that mythical hellhound with three heads that guards the entrance to the Underworld. Not only does it dictate who can enter the realm of Hades, but also who can leave. And I’m not fond of creatures that would rather devour you alive than let you leave of your own freewill. Plus, could you imagine having three heads with three different personalities? Ugh, that would get confusing quickly. And, even worse, could you imagine all the in-fighting? I mean, an arrow to the throat – if it didn’t dismantle the beast – would almost certainly silence it. Luckily, we don’t have any three-headed dogs in this fandom…

Where am I going with this? Well – besides down a long and winding path that draws attention to the fact I enjoy poetry and archery – actually, I chose today’s poem for a specific purpose. If you haven’t figured it out from my previous cracks about the Kraken, I also like Greek mythology. In fact, learning about Greek mythology at around the age of 11 – yes, that defiant age where we’re no longer interested in Barbie (not that I was ever interested in Barbie) but we’re also not cool enough to be considered teenagers – was the first time I remember finding myself “thinking outside of the box.” And by that, I mean asking the question that I probably should not have said out loud: “If Zeus is a myth, does that mean God is fake, too?” That went down like a lead balloon (and, I hope, no one takes offense to reading that now; it is not meant with any disrespect). My mother was, of course, telephoned by the school and, when I returned home, she greeted me with (something along the lines of) a simple: “Did they answer your question? No? Then I suggest you find it for yourself.”

We all have our own truth, don’t we? Even in this fandom, we are each tasked with choosing our own path. Weeding out facts from speculation and speculation from rumor. Choosing what we want to believe over what is being pushed on us. Overcoming our willingness to follow blindly versus our refusal to be backed into corner. I suppose that’s why I’ve always liked Greek mythology (and, perhaps, storytelling in general) – because it helps us navigate life’s challenges by better understanding human nature. It’s also one of the reasons why my favorite story has always been the trials and tribulations of Eros and Psyche.

Ah-ha! See, I told you I had a purpose for bringing up those damn arrows!

Yes, Eros was the Greek equivalent of the Roman Cupid; that weird little dude who fired love arrows like a bouquet of flowers at a wedding. But Eros wasn’t some creepy little cherub in a cloth diaper; he was the devastatingly handsome God of Love. And he fell in love with the equally beautiful human Psyche. That part about her being human, however,managed to get Psyche some major side-eye from Eros’s mother, Aphrodite. In retaliation for humans worshiping Psyche’s beauty over her own, Aphrodite sent Eros down to earth to pierce Psyche with one of his love arrows so she would fall madly in love with a hideous monster (unfortunately for the Cerberus, it wasn’t them). But Eros defied his mother and, unbeknownst to Aphrodite, kept Psyche for himself hidden away in a castle. There, Psyche lived – mostly happily – with Eros visiting her every night. Eros promised Psyche she could live there indefinitely so long as she never looked upon his face (hence why he only visited her in darkness). But humans have this uncanny knack for being curious and, of course, Psyche peeked. Well, fuck! Haha, I won’t ruin the rest of the story for you except to say, yes, Eros was royally peeved at Psyche’s betrayal, fled their home, and sought refuge with his bitchy mother (because, of course, he did). Devastated, Psyche went clambering up to her pseudo-mother-in-law’s shrine to beg for forgiveness and Aphrodite, being a bit of a bitchy goddess, gave Psyche a series of impossible tasks to complete to prove her worthiness. Amazingly Psyche did in fact complete each of these four tasks but only because she managed to get a little help from some fantastical friends. Well, except for that final task for which Psyche was warned – don’t look in the fucking box. Damn humans.

Like all stories passed down from generation to generation, there are multiple versions of this myth, particularly when it comes to who helped Psyche complete her four tasks. Sometimes it’s one god(dess), other times it’s multiple; sometimes it’s earth’s creatures (the ants, the plants, and the flying things). But my favorite version is the one where Eros was the one pulling those invisible strings – or, at the very least, keeping an eye on Psyche from the shadows – because no matter how angry he was with her, Eros still loved Psyche and wanted to protect her.

Why do I bring this story up? Well, for starters, if you didn’t notice (because you were too focused on carriages and mirrors), Bridgerton Season 3 made quite a few parallels between Colin and Penelope and Eros and Psyche, even referring to the latter by name at the end of the fourth episode. The show also brushed on the importance of trust, the consequences of betrayal, and the idea that love can conquer all. Funny thing is I never thought Colin to be much of an Eros; he made a better Psyche, in my opinion. I mean, he was the one to peek into Penelope’s secret life!

But Colin’s real-life counterpart, Luke, makes a rather entertaining Eros.

On December 16, when Luke reposted to his Instagram stories a link to Nicola’s “Part 1” of her 2024 Year, the fandom went wild. And I’m not talking about just the Lukolas going insane with excitement; the Jakolas were having a field day, too – but not in a good way. The unease they’d almost certainly felt with those coordinated airplane and “Polin” posts from October returned with a vengeance when Luke resurfaced in support of Nicola – the woman for whom he consistently comes out hiding. I realized then that the one person who could simultaneously make the Lukolas’ hearts flutter and the Adjacents’ blood boil was Luke (i.e., our Eros could make Psyche rejoice while making Aphrodite lash out in anger).

If you really think about it, Luke has pulled us out of the black waters of the River Styx multiple times, making him the perfect Eros to our Psyche. Yes, our Psyche. The fandom is absolutely the Psyche of this story. After all, the fandom was the one who betrayed Luke with our collective reaction to Papsmear (but, in the fandom’s defense, that was a shitty fucking day). And, of course, that wench Aphrodite is collectively all the side story bullshit, from the Adjacent narratives to rag-mags sticking their ever-growing noses into places they don't belong.

As we finish out the year, I thought it would be fun to give Luke some credit where credit is due. In other words, I thought I’d highlight four times Luke “Eros-ed” (i.e., “rescued”) us from some mucky ass shit. This is not every moment Luke came out of hiding to do something wonderful; these are simply my top four moments where I believe Luke single-handedly resuscitated the fandom. You’re welcome to share your best Luke moments in the comments.

No. 1 - That Post-Papsmear Thing That Everyone Ignored:

Fuck, yes.

I am starting with the most overlooked event in the Lukola-verse – Luke’s post-Papsmear Cressida story. This is the taproot that keeps my faith in Lukola from falling over during a storm – Luke taking one for Team Lukola by promoting Season 3 using the scene from Ep. 6 where Cressida entered the Mondrich Ball and Colin pulled Penelope aside and told her he wouldn’t let Cressida ruin their evening. Yeah, yeah, Luke totally missed the target with that post but – again, in the fandom’s defense – everyone was still reeling from the sudden-but-not-so-sudden materialization of Antonia at the London premiere. In hindsight, though, you know you want to give him an “atta boy” for basically throwing shade at the Lutonia narrative while using a massive social media platform to do so. It was jaw-dropping, brilliant, and ballsy as fuck.

If you’re totally lost about how entertaining this Cressida story was, go read Entry 1 to be my blog. But, seriously, how have you not read it already?

No. 2 – Delivering the Cake:

Alright, fast forward three months (yes, three goddamn months!) to September 7 when Luke posted pictures from his stay at the Puente Romano resort.

No big deal, right?

Wrong!

It was a big fucking deal because, for starters, Antonia creeped in and posted random pictures of herself at roughly the same time Luke posted his resort pictures. And, of course, Luke had to like Antonia’s Instagram post. To make matters worse (gasp!) Luke’s had palm trees in his pictures which were oh, so reminiscent (but, not really) of palm trees posted by Antonia the previous day to her Instagram stories. Oh my God! And, then the real kicker? Luke’s slide deck included him eating a picture of himself from the London premiere sans Nicola! The horror! I mean, what probably started out as a cute post by Luke turned into a full-on Lukola heart attack within 30 minutes or less!

But then Luke pulled out a defibrillator and revived the fandom. Almost immediately.

After presumably hearing the cries from the Lukola fandom that he’d cut Nicola from the London premiere image, Luke demonstrated through his Instagram stories that (a) he was eating part of a cake (he was even darling enough to put the cake emoji with a smiley face), and (b) that the cake never had Nicola’s image on it to begin with (meaning, he didn’t remove her from it). Thank you for that clarification, Luke. Seriously, the fandom appreciated it.

After they recovered from their near-death experience, the Lukolas finally took the time to look at the images Luke posted. A not-so-random chaise lounge; a random white shirt; a restaurant called El Pimpi (which is a word used for the people who delivered messages to a ship’s crew and passengers); Luke throwing up the peace sign with his now infamous digits in – what appeared to be – the reflection of a glass table; and a reference to cake. It was Lukola- and/or Polin-coded shit. And, to make it just a smidge better, there was no visible reference to Antonia anywhere.

And, yes, I will cut in here to acknowledge that Antonia would, on October 25, include a lone picture of a balcony which was identical to the one Luke posted in his – what I like to call – “clarification stories” from September 7. Do I care about Antonia’s balcony? Not in the least. Could she have been at the resort? Sure. In fact, I’ve always found the idea of Antonia being present quite comical since Luke made it fairly obvious he omitted something (ahem, someone) from his Instagram post and instead filled it with random shit that seemed Lukola- and/or Polin-coded. Plus, if you want me to be perfectly honest, “insinuation” posts from Antonia stopped doing it for me months ago.

Back to what I saying… We must give Luke a round of applause for placating an entire fandom with something as simple as a cake emoji. Bravo, bravo!

No. 3 – Shutting Down the Mean Girls:

We closed out September with Antonia riling up the fandom by posting Instagram story after Instagram story, none of which were worth a second glance from a Lukola except for the “phone screen” one (see “Entry 7: The One Where the Queen Asked, ‘Did That Go the Way You Thought It Was Gonna Go?’” for reference). Oh, wait, there is another story – just for my own amusement – on October 1, Antonia reshared a story where she was labeled “Aphroditi.” Rather convenient for my story today, isn't it? Any ways, the Lukolas were a bit high-strung by October 2 when Nicola announced via Instagram that she had been named as part of the Time 100. Luke liked the post – but apparently to the haters on X he didn’t do it motherfucking fast enough. These weird-ass people do actually exist – the ones that genuinely believe Instagram likes (and the speed thereof) equate to true love.

Any ways, Luke apparently decided he was having none of that bullshit and stepped in on October 3 with his Polin-themed “Mean Girls” story. It was a throwback to a conversation he and Nicola had had in, I believe, 2022 on, haha, X.

“On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was.”

“It’s October 3rd.”

Luke captioned the story, “Xx.”

Not only did the fandom rejoice that Luke had returned to post something after nearly a month away, but the post included a throwback to Nicola, and it came on the heels of Halley Brisker’s now legendary “Nicola lately” post. Yeah, the one with Luke in the background (seriously, convince me it was someone else). Luke’s story also seemed to be one hell of a clapback to a rabid pack animal on X who faulted Luke for not leaving a comment on Nicola’s Time 100 post.

“Xx.”

No. 4 – The Littlest Things:

I debated over choosing Luke’s People magazine interview for the fourth moment, but that interview – although it made the fandom incredibly happy – didn’t pull our heads out of our own asses. So, I decided instead to go with the little things Luke has done over the past few months, namely, joining in on the Like Wars but in his own oh, so subtle way.

Let’s start with Antonia’s September 21 post of – honestly, who the hell cares? She posted and we knew Luke’s obligatory like was coming. It just took 10 ½ hours for Luke to get to it and it was only given after Nicola posted to her Instagram stories pictures from a concert she had attended. Was the fandom a bit deflated Luke liked Antonia’s post? Of course! But it was also fun to see the like come hours after Luke had already been online and on the heels of Nicola popping up online.

On October 11, we had a similar event happen. Antonia posted to her grid and Luke seemingly ignored it for roughly five hours. But, while Luke was ignoring her post, Antonia was going hard at it with Instagram stories and TikTok videos (Nicola, for her part, seemed to be playing her own game on social media during this time). Luke finally liked Antonia’s post and Antonia went silent thereafter. Then, on October 12, Luke officially made it back from his October 4 “Brb” moment and posted “Somewhere in Mayfair” to his Instagram stories. Let the fandom rejoice!

But I’m not stopping there. Let’s not forget about Luke and Nicola’s coordinated “Polin” pictures on October 21 or that, while Antonia was “rolling pasta” on November 17, Luke made it a point to go back and like Nicola’s Dr. Who post from November 15. On December 6, when Luke coughed up a like to Antonia’s grid post, he also handed a like out to Nicola at the same time (and a few others). Do you see a pattern starting to form?

Honestly, I believe Luke is owed a standing ovation for the way he has taken control of his own narrative and managed to deflect from the so-called “importance” of these bullshit Instagram likes. Although Nicola has historically attempted to distract the fandom from Antonia, in my opinion, it was always Luke’s responsibility to diminish the importance of Antonia’s role in his story. And, for the past several months, he has been doing just that – in the quietest way possible.

I’ve decided Luke is a bit like a shadow. Inconspicuous – sometimes even completely invisible – but when the light hits just right, it’s impossible to ignore his immense presence.

When Luke posts, or when he coyly plays around with the Instagram likes – even when he likes Nicola’s posts – it somehow resonates differently with the fandom. Nicola could post her year-end stuff and the fandom would be, like, “Oh, that’s cool.” But, when Luke reshares her post to his stories? “Holy fuck, that’s awesome!” It's a "different energy on set." Somewhere in the middle of all the bullshit that goes on within the fandom, Luke found his own truth. The “Bad Guy” who was “on a break” during Hot Boy Summer somehow became our hero; the shadowy figure that pulls us out of the water and sets our heads back on straight. Over and over again. It's been so subtle, we've barely even noticed.

I’m going to end this entry with the Longfellow poem I quoted at the beginning, mainly because I like it, but also because it’s about something that cannot be easily seen once released into the world but, if found, can have an everlasting effect on us.

“I shot an arrow into the air; it fell to earth, I knew not where; for so swiftly it flew, the sight; could not follow it in its flight;

“I breathed a song into the air; it fell to earth, I knew not where; for who has sight so keen and strong; that it can follow the flight of song?

“Long, long afterward, in an oak; I found the arrow, still unbroke; and the song, from beginning to end; I found again in the heart of a friend.”

P.S. In the story, Psyche is rescued by Eros (hurray!) and is made the Goddess of the Soul.

[ladykyriaa]

I think one thing I'm gonna say to the people who are, in a way conflicted and/or waiting to watch the series is that you're honestly gonna have to be okay with grey areas. That's literally it.

KnH isn't going to explicitly show nor tell you how good/bad things are. it's an incredibly realistic story set in ancient China tackling its many issues; starting from societal problems, political, norms, gender roles, and so on. What might be problematic now isn't necessarily something the characters are going to think about more than twice.

I think a slightly controversial example would have to be abt the pedo emperor. YES, an incredibly horrible person and deserves to die in the most painful way possible. But KnH also tackled the issue that he had been human, all too pathetic and pitiful to rightfully rule the empire-never had the spine to talk to proper women thus resulting in him only talking and being attracted to (gag) little girls. You're not gonna see the characters talk ill of him more than necessary, they know its fucked up and frankly weird, but there's nothing to be done but to live with the consequences of his actions.

(Why I set this as a grey example is because I've seen people expecting the pedo to be this horrid-abusive person-and he is of course- but they certainly weren't expecting him to be depicted so pitifully and hurt, like he himself was a literal child still in need of protecting.)

don't also expect the characters to do one good thing after another just because you expect them to. Under different situations, different feelings, different place, their choices vary from one another depending on what's necessary. Don't even expect their relationship to be one linear from start to finish, thinking you can guess which way its gonna go.

in fact this is what maomao says when Jinshi questions her explicitly about their relationship

and i just think this genuinely applies to the series as a whole. Natsu Hyuuga isn't going to outrightly spell it out for y'all what Maomao nor Jinshi feels for each other, what the empress dowager feels for the pedo, what Ah-duo feels for the emperor and vice versa. She expects people to understand and come to their own conclusion.

She pieces together puzzles and expects you to fit them together, if you somehow got a different result from the way she intended then, well, that's on you I guess.

don't expect a "yes" or "no" answer to whatever questions you're about to ask. There's always gonna be a "but" and "however" to it, I think. At least from my experience of reading the novel and questioning the choices they've made.

People in this fandom throw away the word SA so easily, TOO easily I'd say. from here on out you're gonna read a lot more "problematic" things that other characters have done that they think are more or less for the good-whether that be their own good or other characters' sake.

The anime honestly does paint the series in a lighthearted way, and compared to other series it's certainly not as "dark". However I do think the strength of this series lay in its realistic choices and stories, how the characters feel so utterly human, not just driven by plot.

[aromanceforthedragonages]

A Romance for the Ages: A Dragon Age Gift Exchange Signup Walkthrough

Signups are open! Here is a guide on how to sign up for the A Romance for the Ages: A Dragon Age Gift Exchange.

You MUST have an AO3 account to participate. If you need one, please reach out. I have several invitations I can give out.

To start your Signup, go to the Collection Page during the signup period and click on "Signup Form".

Requests

We start the signups with what you'd like to receive as a gift. After a general explanation about how the signups work (please read this first), you will get to the form itself. You must fill out at least TWO requests (each request must have 1 pairing listed- this allows for better matching). Each "request form" allows up to 5 separate relationships. List as many pairings you'd like.

Pairings can be platonic, romantic, multipairing, etc.

The form above is what it looks like when you scroll to the first request. (I filled one out as a sample for you to look at). You MUST choose a fandom (at least one, all fours games are listed separate for easier pairing) and then go down to relationships. You must choose what pairings you might want a gift of. I am not allowing an "Any Relationship" option since there are too many in the game to choose from. That will make things complicated for the gifter.

Please be as descriptive as possible about your DNWs and triggers. They cannot be enforced if they are not explicitly stated.

You can choose to receive fanart, fanfiction, or both. But you must click at least one.

Links: Links are for letters, prompt ideas, more detailed DNWs, information or tags for your custom characters and ship dynamics. Feel free to link your Tumblr, a Google Docs folder, or anything else you think is necessary.

Offers

For your offers, this is where you will choose what YOU will be GIVING. This helps the mods and AO3 match you to someone that you will be happy creating for. You must list at least two different pairings to be matched well. If you click "Any Relationship" in your offers, you are saying that you will make something for ANYTHING. Platonic, romantic or anything in between. Please be careful with using that option. If you truly do not like a pairing, please list the ones you do want to create for instead of using "Any Relationship."

You have to make TWO separate offers (with at least 1 relationship listed for each) but can list up to 5 pairings per offer. Please be descriptive with your DNWs again, this is where I will determine if you are matched with someone that won't upset your triggers. The additional tags are the most important part of your offers because it will determine what YOU ARE MAKING. Please, if you are writer, only choose fanfic. If you are an artist, only click fanart. If you do both, you can choose to offer one or both.

After you submit your signup, you can edit it up to the day that signups close, May 4th 2025. After the 4th, you will be unable to edit it as matching will begin.

To edit the signup, go back to the Collection Page, click on "My Signup" and then edit. You can also edit your signup through your personal dashboard by scrolling down the list on the left side of the page and clicking on "Sign-ups".

Any questions regarding signups, please message a mod or the main exchange blog. Someone will get back as quickly as possible.

Note: if you are fine with receiving “treats” aka extra gifts from your gifter or someone else involved in the exchange, please use this somewhere in your signup and specify your answers:

-Open to Treats: Yes/No

-Open to Treat types: Fanart/Fanfiction

-Open to Multi-recip treats: Yes/No

[megismyname]

A few general statements for the fandom:

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

And yes this applies to personal or private information you may obtain or theorize about any of the players involved. Just because you obtained it “publicly” doesn’t mean it should be shared for the whole of the fandom. Ask yourself if this was being shared about you, would you want everyone that knows you discussing it? If not, keep it to a 4-5 person group chat.

Stop villainizing Nic and Luke for not performing on your perceived timeline.

Nicola is only 38 - she’s not in a “mid life crisis” and if I hear that one more time I’m gonna pull my hair out. Luke is not a “fuckboy” because he had one HBS and dated a younger woman for a short period of his life. Just because “guys like Luke” wouldn’t date you doesn’t mean he couldn’t love Nicola. And for real, WTF does “guys like Luke” mean? Just say that you’re projection fat phobia on Nicola when she’s not even “fat.”

Follow up - Nic and Luke are not distancing themselves from Bridgerton or from each other.

Most of y’all became fans during the WT so you were so used to constant content 24/7 and unfortunately that’s over. Luke and especially Nicola are also more high profile now compared to previous seasons. BTS posting on social media is gonna be different. It has nothing to do with their thoughts toward the show or each other. They’ve both commented multiple times how much they love Bridgerton. And they’ve both commented how much they love each other. Stop creating drama just because you need a dopamine fix.

Another follow up - social media is not real life.

Y’all I don’t know them personally but I PROMISE you that Luke reached out to Nic personally and wished her happy birthday. (Hell depending on where you fall on the theory spectrum, he was the one with her at her birthday dinner and took the picture.) I will tell you that my birthday is January 8th, the day before Nic, and I had to two Instagram story posts wishing me happy birthday. TWO. And I promise you I have a lot of friends. But you know what? All of my close friends texted or called me that day and gave me personalized greetings that weren’t for the whole world to see. And - GASP - this includes friends who have posted for me multiple past years in a row. So yes, even pattern breaking doesn’t mean anything. It’s been a week so please stop dwelling on this. And if you are still upset then I have a question for you - does it equally bother you that none of the Bridgertons publicly wished Will Tilston a Happy 18th Birthday? If not, please reevaluate the reasons behind your expectations.

Stop the public bullying and ostracizing.

The public hate needs to stop. Everyone is always accusing “shippers” of being the reason why N&L seem closed off but my opinion is that if anyone in the fandom is influencing their behavior, it’s the people continuously spewing hate. I will admit I’ve been guilty of throwing down against some of the more toxic creators in this space but I’ve always felt like I was “giving a voice to the voiceless.” What we need to do is stop attacking other creators because their opinions are different than us. And yes, I’m bringing this back to “opinion” because as I said the other day - nobody knows “fact” no matter how “obvious” you think it may be. You think Antonia and Jake are their significant others? Great. You think Nic and Luke are together? Great. Until the day that there is ever a definitive answer directly from the teams of Nic or Luke, everyone is on equal playing ground. I’m sorry if that bothers you but it’s true.

Side note to all of this: if a creator is saying stuff that makes you uncomfortable just know that when you make a post complaining about it, you were in fact perpetuating that information that makes you uncomfortable and only making the visibility larger. Just keep this in mind.

And with that, I’ll take my leave for now. Let’s all take a collective deep breath and remember that these are two real people with real lives and we’re only seeing what they choose to show us. Maybe it’s time we all pick up some extra hobbies. Start playing online games with your group chat. Fun some other methods of injecting fun in your day. It’ll make the time go by and you won’t be driving yourself crazy over this fandom. Keep your heads up y’all and just keep moving forward - it’s not that serious y’all. 💛

[fortisseto]

Hello, I have a list of Sinners takes (more so critiques and issues about the current state of the Sinners fandom). It's going to be a long one, so sit tight! For a full disclaimer, I am a black person—listen to my voice and other black voices. This list has three items.

(Before anyone says anything, yes fandom is fandom. People are going to do what they want and that's within their will. I'm not coming here to forcibly say that you can't do anything, but I'm here to preach my word and perhaps it'll make you ponder in your own time.)

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Short answer? I hate it. But you aren't here for the short answer and neither am I. There are a couple of different reasons why shipping Preacher Boy Sammie and Remmick together, in my opinion, is wrong, and that's what I'm here to discuss. I first heard this take when I had just gotten out of the movie theatre and went to favourite Tumblr tags. I see someone saying something along the lines of, "Oh, Sammie and Remmick were so down bad for each other/Remmick wanted Sammie so bad." On TikTok, there's a video of a person saying this quote:

1. Sammick.

"Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen this take on Sinners yet— but Remmick was down bad for Sammie. Another thing that movie lacked was queerness, and I'm gonna put my queer little lens on and I'm gonna say that dude wanted Sammie. Yes, he wanted his musical talent, but I do think you could interpret it willingly that he was also just down fucking bad for him. Because that look in his eye, oh, 'Is that my soulmate? That's my soulmate.'"

Not only am I black, but I am also queer, and the following statement could not possibly be queerphobic under any circumstances: it is dangerous to romanticise the point of Remmick and Sammie's relationship and what Remmick was supposed to symbolise. If you know things about history and have ever wondered, "when did the Irish become white?" Your "when" should be directed to a "how." There's a book titled How the Irish Became White. Irish people were victims of colonialism and oppression, as they were othered by the rest of Europe due to their appearance, culture, language and religious practices. When they came to America, they would often be excluded in a lot of white spaces, and be painted with racist imagery in the media. The suffering they endured is incomparable to black people, as all oppression is, but it was still bad.

Now, back to the question of how did the Irish become white? It's simple. They became their oppressors to other black people. In the time of slavery, many Irish slowly integrated themselves into whiteness by showing their distaste for black people and actively participating in anti-black racism. They became overseers of plantations, practically carrying out the master's orders onto slaves.

This is something the movie was trying to tell us. Remmick is jealous and hurt because he is an Irish man who has been forced to cut himself off from his culture, and is being forced to forget himself. He wanted to see his ancestors again, and so he promised many a place of sanctuary and freedom, love and acceptance, when all he was doing was playing the role of his colonisers. Colonising Sammie's sound for his own benefit. He is a branch of white supremacy that's talked about much too little, and that is the white supremacy that's infatuated with black culture. So infatuated that if you called them racist, they would gasp, and like Remmick, say, "We believe in equality." Remmick isn't in love with Sammie, he is acting out of hurt and executing it like his oppressors did. It is supposed to show the hypocrisy of this rhetoric. You aren't changing your life and you aren't changing others, you are forcefully making them a part of your image because you've forgotten the sight of a mirror. You've forgotten the height of your father and the song of your mother. And from @/snarlmalden

"The portrayal of white people who have been violently separated from their own culture stealing the power of black culture and music to try to get reconnected was SO literal and somehow not at ALL heavy-handed or trite. Fkn remarkable."

Another problem with Sammick is how uncomfortable I find that people are with black love and queerness that doesn't centre white people. This also has to do with how people treat Stack and Mary versus Smoke and Annie (mind you, the main couple of Sinners). People will hate Annie, ignore her, and rather pay attention to how sexy the relationship between Stack and Mary is. It doesn't come out of nowhere. It isn't an original thought. People are uncomfortable with black love that doesn't involve a white, white passing or light-skinned person. People are uncomfortable with black film that doesn't involve or centre a white, white passing or light-skinned person. More on that later.

I think queerness in the media is extremely important, I say that as a queer man. It should be absolutely become more of a commonplace thing that it isn't phenomenal if we have a queer movie or queer main character. However, black queerness is an entirely separate conversation than the one that Sinners is. Like I prefer to keep saying, Sinners is a conversation. It's a discussion. It's also a mirror for you to reflect on how you respond to all of the things that are presented before you. As a black person, a white person, an Asian person, an indigenous person, a mixed person whose black passing or someone who exists in the one drop rule. Black queerness is something entirely separate from the message of this movie that I agree, should be tackled and talked about. However, what you need to understand that for this movie specifically, it would be too much for the runtime.

Black queerness isn't something that should be belittled, and all queer conversations should be good. They should be quality. The only way they would be able to discuss black queerness in a slightly above mediocre fashion would mean they would have to pull much less attention from the other messages in the movie. This movie already says so much about our struggles, and a problem I keep seeing with white queers is that they always want to insert themselves into our conversations. Into our struggles. Into our oppression. It is not The Oppression Olympics, and you don't have to be included in every single conversation of another oppressed person. It is okay to know where you stand, and to butt out when necessary.

I can't talk about Jewish struggles because I'm not Jewish. I can't talk about physically disabled struggles because I'm not physically disabled. I do not need to insert myself in other forms of oppression to prove that I am oppressed, and someone else's oppression doesn't take away from mine. These kinds of people are what Remmick's character is for. The hypocrisy of it all. The misplaced anger of it all.

Everyone deserves representation, And like my boyfriend said, things don't have to be queer to be enjoyable, and if you can't enjoy good, meaningful non-canon queer media, then stop inserting yourself in that media. Stop interacting with that media. You do not need to protest a film that did nothing wrong if the worst it did was not include you in its conversation. It's okay not to have a seat at the table.

2. Christians seeing Sinners and missing it.

I don't shame religion or religious people. I am not anti-religion. However, I'm seeing a lot of specifically black Christian people missing the meaning of a movie that's talking about them. So let me put it in a few phrases that I'm posing as questions.

Back in that day, they wouldn't let us read nor write. They didn't want us to. However, they gave us bibles and let us (and even encouraged us) to have our churches and experience the gospel for ourselves. Why do you think that is?

Back in that day, they would take our practice of Christianity or relationship to God and deem it wrong or immoral, and they put the fear of the devil in us if we had practiced it. You know, something similar to the phrase, "If you keep dancing with the devil, one day he might follow you home." Why do you think that is?

Back in that day, they would call our practices, our music and our culture devil worship. A sickness. Something deeply wrong with us or the world we grew up in. So they sought to change our ways and make us fear it. Forget it. Hate it, even. So much so that we end up seeing movies trying to tell us things they've hidden from us so discreetly that we're calling what we saw in there the devil, rather than the truth. Why do you think that is?

Where do you think the hate came from?

And where else does it go?

Preacher Boy didn't choose the devil. He chose himself. He didn't deny himself a God to worship, but he knew that some words can't save you from an evil that was placed in you. An evil that was taught to you. A hatred that was taught to you. That's why, when Preacher Boy began to pray, Remmick recited the prayer with him. He knows your words. He's the one that spoke them to you in the first place.

That's all I have to say about that.

3. The centring of whiteness and why I think Sinners hates you.

I don't hate Remmick. I think he's a very important part of the conversation of Sinners, so I don't hate his function in the story. I love it. But I'm coming to realise that a lot of you don't understand the point of why he's here.

I see so many posts on the Sinners tag that only talks about Remmick, why to empathise with him and how he's just [insert defence], or how hot he is. However, what I don't see is these same people showing that they understand the point of the movie or why he's there to begin with. What he's there to symbolise. What it says about you.

You can say white supremacist phrases, have white supremacist takes, and fall victim to micro aggressions without considering yourself racist. You can do all that and still post "black lives matter" when asked of. I never see as much praise for Annie, the leading lady, as much as I do Mary. So much of it comes down to sex appeal, and I've seen actual people say Annie sucks and how nothing she did worked because she was the one who died. She was the one who didn't conform to Remmick. These are the same people saying Sammie chose the wrong path by not giving up his guitar, but there will be plenty more on that later.

I feel like there's an underlying bias towards Remmick with many particularly white and queer Sinners fans that they themselves are unaware of. Do I blame them? Yes. Do I understand why? Also yes. You, a white person, cannot empathise with a situation that I, as a black American experience in day to day life. To be born black is a taboo, a curse, or at least that's what's been taught to us for centuries. Not just us, but you too.

This morning, I go on TikTok. The first video I see is from a woman (@hereciasmansion) who went to see Sinners for a second or third time in a 70-milimetre IMAX screen, one of the only eight (?) in the United States. This one was in Indiana. After crossing a state border over the course of two hours, she reaches the theatre and watches a very magical experience. The visuals were phenomenal and the staff were kind.

However, at the very end of the movie, at one of the final scenes when the Klan members came to Stack and Smoke's land that they bought from them to shoot it down, Smoke carries out his word of if they trespass, they will be shot on sight. The Klan member was shot and lying on the floor, bleeding. Smoke looks at him and asks if he has a cigarette. The Klan member yells to him, "Go to hell!"

And what does this woman, sitting in the theatre see and hear? After sitting through a good two hours and fifteen minutes of a spectacular movie, after seeing all that it's about, a white man looks at the black couple next to him and repeats the same words: go to hell. Suddenly, above her and who she was travelling with, all hell breaks loose. She says,

"In that moment, looking around at everybody's faces, and hearing the conversations happening around me, I watched the crowd segregate itself. The 'I just came here to watch a movie' crowd separated itself from the 'they doing too much' crowd, which separated themselves from the 'I just wanna know what's going on right now' crowd."

I would recommend watching her entire video, which I will link here. But, to summarise, if you've seen the movie, you know that Klan member dies. Smoke finishes him off. When that moment happened, the entire theatre sans the people involved in the conflict, began applauding. In that moment, she knew that everyone was applauding for different reasons. In her words,

"There was a group that was clapping because, in their head, a character in a movie died. But then there was another crowd that was clapping because it felt like the character on that screen was in the movie theatre sitting next to us. And what felt like a victory on that screen, most of us are never gonna see."

These spaces that we create for ourselves might be the closest thing black Americans get to freedom, and yet you come into our spaces expecting a movie with black people in it rather than a black movie. You expect objects instead of life. You expect a shallow pool rather than the ocean. You expect a white lie instead of the black truth.

How much did you understand what you walked out of? How much did you catch the point? How much did you have to look at yourself to understand what was happening, if you even reflected at all?

I'm leaving this quite open ended because I'd like to spark a discussion about this. I'd also like to spark a discussion with yourself, especially if you're a white Sinners fan. I think I've said what I wanted to say in bulk, but there will always be more to say and more that I will say. So I will leave it at this statement:

Sinners is a mirror, though to some, it's just glass.

[justtheclippy]

Tips and FAQ for Asks

Hello beautiful humans, I want to do my best to get to everyone's asks so here are a few things you can do to help make that happen! (if you're looking for the cast stream master list, skip to the bottom)

Please don't spam the same question repeatedly. I will get to you eventually, I promise! But when you submit the exact same thing multiple times, it just slows me down. I've got one single brain cell, please have mercy.

No spoiler requests. I cannot tell you anything about future episodes, when they will come out, what will happen to certain characters, how the story ends etc. We're limited on what we can say in general until more episodes release. The entire cast has signed NDAs (non disclosure agreement) preventing us from revealing anything, but more than that, we wouldn't want to ruin your experience of watching and engaging with the show organically! Trust me, just enjoy the ride, it's better that way.

Don't take anything too seriously. Please keep in mind most of these answers will just be for fun. My thoughts and opinions on the character, both for silly things like favorite dessert and more serious things like character analysis, are not hard and fast canon. Same goes for any of the actors. We can speculate about our characters, we know and understand them well, but when in doubt, assume its allllllllllllll non-canonical haha

Read through previous asks. This will help prevent asking things I've already answered. I'm going to be tagging (i swear I'll do it fr) my answers with #amanda asks and #tadc asks so you can find them more easily. If you do ask a question I've already answered IT'S OK DON'T PANIC I won't be upset haha

Even though I'll be tagging my answers so you can easily find them, here are a few frequently asked questions just to get them out of the way. If you decide to ask me something I've already answered, or something that goes against the guidelines above, I'll probably skip it, you silly geese.

Q: I've seen people use several different pronouns for you, what are your preferred pronouns? A: They/them and I prefer masc leaning terms generally! I'm queer, NB and very open about my identity. But people will sometimes use she/her because they don't know. I will never get upset with someone for not knowing- it's ok. But now that you've read this, you know! So you can go forth educated. You're welcome to correct anyone who doesn't know, but please be kind to each other. We've all been the person who didn't know before.

Q: What do you think of X ship? A: I love and support all the ships! Ships are part of a healthy fandom, keep creating content that makes you feel seen and that YOU want to see, that's the foundation of creativity. And if anyone disagrees with you, remind them that a lot of classics are just fanfiction about the gods at the time. It's always been here.

Q: What is your favorite ship? A: Bunnydoll and Buttonblossom, because the dynamics are so much fun.

Q: Do you like X AU? A: Yes. It doesn't matter what it is, yes. I love the AUs and if it's a new one, you better include a link so I can find it. I want all of them, thank you so muuuuuuuuch~

Q: Have you seen or played X game/show/movie/meme etc.? A: Always happy to chat about other media! But if you wanna ask about something specific, please include a link or explanation because lets be just so very honest, half the time my brain is off in adhd land so there's a good chance I'll have no idea what you're talking about at first.

Q: Have you watched Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure? A: Not yet! But due to VERY POPULAR REQUEST I will be putting together a watch stream to watch it live with yall. Once that's happened, I'll put the link here.

Q: Have you seen Queen's second game and will you be playing it? A: Yes, we've all seen the trailer and we're very excited! We will be playing it as a full cast, just like last time, as soon as the game is finished. For now, please go enjoy the demo and support the team! Once it's out and we're ready to stream it, I'll post the link here.

Q: Can you come to X convention? A: I will come to any convention that yall want to see me at!

BUT

In order for that to happen, you have to request me directly with the convention. Most will have either a request form on their site or a specific email for requests. Just write in that you would like to see me at their event, and then they will get in touch with my agent to book me!

Q: Can I request a song for you to sing? A: Of course! I promise yall I'll do my best to put out more songs this year. If there's a cover you want me to consider doing, or an artist/composer you'd like to hear me work with, let me know!

Outside of that, if you just want a little clip, you can drop requests in the asks and if I know the song I might record a bit. This is COMPLETELY dependent on time, especially if I'm busy. Please understand ❤️

You can also make requests during stream signings, which is easier to accommodate in the moment. Just put the request in the order notes, and I'll sing a little bit for you while I sign IF I know the song. So choose wisely.

Q: I want to be a voice actor! How do I get started? A: The best advice I can give on this subject is to

Join the Voice Acting Club Discord

It is one of the best resources available for anyone interested in getting started. Tons of articles and information on equipment, treating your space, what demos are and how to know when you're ready for one, tips on auditioning, workshops and classes, Q&As with industry professionals, plus casting calls.

Q: Can I write an ask just to show you cool stuff or tell you you're awesome? A: Of course you can! You can also tag me in stuff, that's ok too. I appreciate all the love and support yall have shown for me, Ragatha and the show in general. Yall are truly incredible. ❤️

Q: Do you have a PO Box so we can send you stuff? A: I'm setting it up THIS WEEK. I will post it here when it's ready.

Q: Where can I find X stream that the cast did? A: Moving forward, I will keep a master list of our group streams in order of date aired, to the best of my ability. If I miss one, let me know and I'll get it on here!

Saberspark TADC Cast Interview

Streamily Signing #1 (Amanda, Michael, Alex, Marissa)

Streamily Signing #2 (Amanda and Michael)

Streamily Signing #3 (Amanda and Sean)

Streamily Signing #4 (Amanda, Sean, Alex, Michael, Marissa, Vera, Hamish)

TADC Fan Game Stream: Game 1

Streamily Signing #5 (Amanda, Alex, Ashley, Sean, Michael, Marissa, Vera, Hamish, Wiz)

Fast Food Simulator Charity Stream (Amanda, Lizzie, Marissa, Michael, Ashley)

Marissa's Streamily Signing CRASHED by Amanda, Alex, Michael, Max (RU Caine/Jax), Julian (DE Jax), Adam (NL Jax), and Philip (NL Chad/Max)

[saurongorthaur9]

Potentially unpopular opinion for the ROP fandom:

I really wish people/interviewers would stop pushing the Hot Sauron and Haladriel stuff directly into Charlie's face.

I woke up this morning to drama in the fandom about Charlie (yet again) very politely deflecting Haladriel questions, as if this is some sort of insult to the fandom and shippers. And I know it's not going to stop, but I wish it would.

To make it very explicitly clear, make all the stupid sexy Sauron and Hot Sauron memes and jokes you want within the fandom. Ship Haladriel to your heart's content and create glorious fanfiction and fanart of them making out as they ride into the sunset (or as they simultaneously attempt to kill each other, if that's your vibe). All great. All fantastic. Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of sexy Sauron both inside and outside the ROP fandom, and I am a thorough Haladriel enjoyer at this point.

But I really, really, really wish people would stop pushing it on Charlie himself.

It just makes me so sad and uncomfortable for him. I saw the interview yesterday that I'm pretty sure was what caused everyone to be up in arms where he was being shown Sauron memes and fan posts and a lot of them were very Haladriel/shippy. He is obviously SO uncomfortable with those and the "Hot Sauron" comments. You can see it in the difference between how he answers questions about Sauron's motives or psyche or his research into Tolkien and how his eyes light up and he gets so animated and he just starts gushing vs when he's asked for the millionth time if Sauron has feelings for Galadriel and he gets quiet and reserved and gives a short, diplomatic answer.

And he's been so gracious and polite to the shippers and about all the shipping questions that he keeps getting asked. Each time, he gives basically the same answer: that he doesn't personally see it as romantic but that he's happy people care enough about the characters and story to be passionate about what they see in it. He's not going to suddenly flip a switch and start passionately shipping Haladriel.

I personally like to view it as Sauron (particularly as Halbrand) having some genuine feelings for Galadriel: genuine sense of connection, genuine sense of shared purpose, genuine attraction on both a spiritual and physical level, and yes, even some genuine admiration and love, mixed in with the complex mess of other things Sauron feels, which is why he's a great, complicated villain. The fact that this doesn't 100% line up with everything Charlie has said that he feels about the character is fine with me. I respect Charlie's opinions and the clear thought he's put into portraying that character. But I can also have my own thoughts and perceptions of the character and story apart from that, without needing him to validate them.

I know this isn't the first time an attractive man playing a charming, sexy villain has been inundated by thirsty fans (I remember Loki's Army very clearly) and that some level of it is to be expected. But he's clearly put such thought into portraying Sauron and I'm so grateful to him for that, so I'm sad to see him having uncomfortable questions shoved at him that reduce everything he's done to "what do you think of being Hot Sauron?" and "Do you think Sauron and Galadriel should kiss?" And I'm even sadder to see fans reacting negatively to him simply because he won't validate a particular ship or perspective.

From everything I've heard of fans who have gotten the opportunity to meet him, he's an absolute sweetheart and very kind and appreciative towards his fans. I hope dearly that I can meet him some day and tell him how important it was to me to see Sauron portrayed on screen as such a wonderfully complicated character. But I truly hope that the constant barrage of nagging for him to openly endorse Haladriel and the backlash whenever he gives one of his reserved, diplomatic answers about shipping doesn't sour him to his fanbase. He's given us a gift that I wouldn't have even dared dream of only a few years ago; why can't we focus on that instead of whether or not he's enthusiastically pro-Haladriel or not?

[lukolabrainrot]

Welcome to My TedTalk

Hellooooo, I know I have been a little MIA lately... needed a little break after the energy shift from the rollercoaster last week. But I am still here lol and I have been marinating on quite a few things the last couple of weeks. So below are my thoughts. As always, everything here are just my thoughts and speculation from the information I have seen. Others might interpret information differently, and that is fine. Note: This will be another one of my long posts lol

Let's start with the obvious. October was a ROLLERCOASTER. It started off soooo strong, and the closest I think we have ever come to L/N publicly announcing they are in a relationship. And THEN... It was just total whiplash the rest of the month. Not a fun feeling right?? And I think a lot of people have started to feel like they can't trust L/N and have sooooo many questions on why October went the way it did. I think a lot of people are also feeling very frustrated because we have gotten so many clues/crumbs/Easter Eggs that haven't really led anywhere. All your various feelings around everything lately are valid. But L/N are allowed to do what they want (obviously) and if crumbs/Easter Eggs are all they want/can show us rn, we have to accept that. October was a rough month for me as well on this ship, which is why I took a couple breaks. We have to remember that we choose to be on this ship, we don't HAVE to be. It's totally valid if you're feeling overwhelmed/not having fun on the ship anymore, you can always take a break and come back if/when you want to. WE DO NOT KNOW L/N. NONE OF US. These are celebrities whose lives are very different than ours (which I know is obvious, but I thought it was important to note). They are human though and allowed to be imperfect, and we get to choose how much energy we give to them. And I have said this multiple times, but they do not owe us anything, and DESERVE to have a private life. We have so many questions related to them, and the fact is, we are never going to have all the answers. And you know what, that is how it should be imo. We are not owed every little detail of their life, and honestly, we got lucky we even got crumbs. THEY DID NOT HAVE TO DO THAT. They will go public WHEN they want/can.

People have talked about this before, but we got an AMAZING tour from them and sooooo much content. SOOOO MUCH. And we got addicted, and then were were cut off cold turkey, and papgate was a total grenade that threw everything into chaos. However, L/N were OBVIOUSLY hiding behind their characters during the WT (no one can convince me otherwise). And we talk about blurred lines between them and their characters, but L/N ARE NOT Polin (although there are a lot of similarities with their stories). There were definitely blurred lines between them and their characters yes, but neither of them are their characters and are a lot more complex and complicated. Lastly, I think because we got soooo much content from them, and they were obviously using their own personal relationship/feelings for each other to promote their characters and the season, L/N kind of lost control of their public narrative related to their private lives. I think that, and leaving everything open to speculation (STILL), was their biggest mistake. But like I said, everything has to be on their own time, and they do have good teams to handle this stuff.

I think we all know this already, but in case it's not obvious... DM has a personal vendetta against N, they do not like her getting positive attention, and I can't stress this enough, THEY WANT HER TO FAIL. 1000%. I think there are a lot of complexities on why this is the case, but you can make your own conclusions on why this is happening. But it IS happening. And you should never get your information directly from DM. They are a sensationalist, tabloid blog. THEY ARE NOT A RELIABLE NEWS SOURCE. THAT IS A FACT.

This fandom has turned INCREDIBLY toxic, and most of the drama is coming from WITHIN the fandom and in-fighting. We don't have concrete answers about ANYTHING related to L/N's romantic lives. Shipping should be fun and low stakes, because ultimately, who they are dating doesn't REALLY matter. That is their personal life, and they are not defined by who they are dating. But like I just mentioned, I think L/N leaving the wolves to mass speculation was one of their biggest mistakes, and has now led the fandom to where it is and this mass speculation and interest in their dating lives, which is feeding the tabloid frenzy and rumors.

Alright, now that I got that out of the way, on to my thoughts on everything the last couple of months:

Firstly, I HIGHLY recommend, if you haven't already, reading through this entire post by @fiamat12. It is incredibly enlightening and well laid out! Couple things I want to add/note:

The paparazzi are a money hungry machine, constantly looking for opportunities that will get them the most money. Ethics... out the window. Ethics/respect doesn't get them money. As long as there is a demand for "candid" photos/videos of celebrities' private/personal lives, and unless laws/regulations significantly change around them, this industry will continue being this way. This means though that the material they circulate is not always what meets the eye. It is just a moment in time with very little context, and in general, a total violation of privacy. However, unfortunately, it is a beast celebrities have to navigate, and sometimes they play games with them to protect their privacy.

L has not been seen in real time (via paps or people in public) since Sorrento. THREE MONTHS. And although we joke that L has just been holed up in their house (yeah I said it), L has definitely been out in public living his life. And y'all, people WANT to see him. I know he doesn't stand out as much as N and can blend into the crowd more, but there is NO WAY no one has seen him in three months. There is some strategy in place here where he has been able to keep a VERY low profile, and I think some of these side characters are part of that strategy. And no one can convince me that his low profile has NOTHING to do with the fact that him and N are together.

2. Alright, side characters... let's first get to the A of it because it's pretty obvious to me. I'm going to keep this short. She plays games. This isn't new. There are VERY likely NDAs in place. This isn't new information either. And she LOVES attention by stirring the pot. Therefore, any time we give her any engagement, we are feeding the beast.

3. Onto JD... this post basically summarizes my thoughts. NOTHING about JD has been private. There isn't anything to protect there from the masses. IF JD (and I'm not saying he is) was her serious partner, there wouldn't be so many public games with the two of them. There are a lot of games, and if this was a serious relationship she wanted to protect, she wouldn't be throwing him and her to the wolves. She just wouldn't. But L... she doesn't mess around about him. Although L/N have given us crumbs, they have obviously not been totally honest about their private relationship with each other (which is totally valid), because there is a lot there they want to protect from the wolves.

4. So if you have made it this far, you can see there is a LOT going on, and it's complex. And although L/N have maybe not been totally honest about everything, they don't have to be and there are reasons. And that doesn't therefore mean they have been totally disingenuous about each other and aren't to be trusted. I personally don't think they have. However, they want to protect their privacy. Even though October was a rollercoaster, in no way do I believe L and N are hot and heavy with A or JD. There is just too much evidence to the contrary that L/N are in a serious relationship BTS, and likely have been for a while. Here are some of the reasons I have come to this conclusion:

THE RINGS (everything about them)

The photo of L in her house while she was getting ready with a ring on his ring finger (we can argue all we want, those are his hands and that pic was VERY intentional)

N's TIME article

The October 3rd and BRB story from L (HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS ON HIS PUBLIC ACCOUNT IN A LONGG TIME)

The coordinated travel posts from L/N when they were going to NY

Chaos week from N in early August (that was about L, no one can convince me otherwise)

BLESS THE TELEPHONE (That was how I knew they were together and had been for a while likely... can't exactly explain it)

TalkTalk, Juna

The recent Polin pic they BOTH shared to their stories (they were both really emotional looking (N was absolutely beaming and looked like she had tears in her eyes) and the pic was VERY interestingly cropped 🤔)

All the "boyfriend" pics of L on N's IG page (I did a whole post about this that you can find if you scroll through my page)

The Polaroid(s)

THE WHOLE WT (which is why a lot of us are still here despite all the noise and emotional whiplash)

And trust me, both L and N know what people are saying and how people are interpreting the information they are putting out to the public. THEY KNOW. So if there was NOTHING going on between them, that would have been corrected atp and they wouldn't have fed the flames. But it hasn't and they have... They'll go public when they are ready/can. Until then, we just have to sit back, relax, and wait and see how everything unfolds.

And THAT is where I am with everything atp. Of course, we're all going to interpret the same information we are seeing a little differently, which is fine. This is just my interpretation of the information.

And if you made it to the end... thank you for coming to my TedTalk 😅

[sataneyu]

You know what? I'm crying.

I'm going to have a long post translated into English because I'm bad at English and because I have too many emotions. The fourth episode was definitely a bombshell. In many ways. They gave us a lot of interesting questions and NOT a SINGLE DAMN ANSWER, and it's not like it's a problem. It's cool that Ling Lin has finally begun to realize himself and his desires in isolation from the forced image. It's cool that he ran to save Moon and realized how important it was to him. It's cool that so many people supported him, he's a bunny/sunshine/bun/big guy (as you like it better) and all that. But...

They replaced Nice so quickly...

Okay, let's say again: it was literally publicly announced to the fans that their hero, the man they believed in all this time, was not only replaced by someone completely different, but also because he died. He is not tired, he has not resigned, he has not given up his heroic work, no. Died. And okay, thanks to Ling Lin for not talking about "suicide." He's talking about "death." You can take his words in any way you want (although that's not the point, but still). It just kills me to think that no one, except for the person who was really close to Nice (Wrek), began to grieve for him. Okay, it hasn't been a day since Lin Lin's revelation, I get it. But at the end of the fourth episode, we are shown how the advertisement with Nice's face changes to Linlin's face and no one seems to notice, as if it were....normal? Of course, when the heroes in the world are constantly changing each other and appear and disappear as if at the click of your fingers (yeah, yes, understood, understood at the click of your fingers ha ha) changing a hero at the tenth rank shouldn't be unusual, but... Do the previous heroes get forgotten so quickly?

The first three episodes were filled with the fans' love for Nice. Peculiar, but warm in its own way. They cheered for him, they came to fan meetings, they supported him as much as they could.....And they forgot about him so quickly? Just because.......and why, exactly?

I'm pretty sure they'll show us the backstory of what happened. There is no way such a complex and at the same time terribly interesting character could be so easily forgotten by its creators. Especially considering the shot that recently appeared on Twitter...

In general, the phenomenon of Nice's character and his popularity among the fandom is a topic for a separate conversation, we are not ready for this conversation yet.

But I know for sure that no matter how the creators made him, no matter how crazy, broken, abusive and generally unstable he actually is, I will be delighted.

(what's the point, I'll support him even if he decides to rise from the dead and kill all the other heroes)

((Go ahead, dear! You're walking the road of rage and revenge, and who are we to stop you?)) So! I'm leaving a small message here (rather for myself) because I know that we still have a lot of interesting things to learn about other characters and many of my thoughts will get lost in the flood of new information.

DON'T FORGET HIM.

Never forget that he existed. He was there. It all started with him. And probably it all will end with him.

[best-thing]

Out of all the things in everything, which one... is best?

It's a question we sometimes ask and never need to know the answer to. And finding answers no one needs is precisely the role of the tumblr tournament poll!

Thing submissions currently closed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does this work? Tumblr users can submit a thing via ask, and the thing will be tried against the other things one by one in random order. 1v1 polls will determine which of each pair is better.

Won't that make way too many polls? Oh yes. If we do ALL the polls of the round robin, there will be a number of total polls equal to the square of the number of things that tumblr users can think of, minus that number, all divided by two. That's pretty many. Or perhaps zero. It depends on if this blog gets traction or not. This blog got some traction.

Sooo do you have a solution to that problem? We'll probably discard things that lose all their polls, or enough of their polls, or something like that. They can go on a "not that good" list that will grow over time.

It sounds like you haven't really got a plan. That's not a question!

Why not do a regular single-elimination bracket? We like round robin tournaments better! They're a more reliable way to find out the true relative quality of things. Plus we can have rolling submissions this way.

What kinds of things can be submitted? Submissions should:

1) be a thing. It can be abstract or concrete, alive or not, all are accepted. Examples include "doughnuts", "the letter M", "orgasms", "the Engraved Hourglass Nebula", "being a wizard", "fresh wizard meat cooked over an open fire with a rosemary dry rub", and more!

2) be something that a typical tumblr user could plausibly be familiar with. So "cats" is fine but "the cat that is on the lap of tumblr user fake-example-person" is not. It also can't be "your mom" or similar because that referent changes depending on the answerer. If you're getting specific, make sure it's something the voter could look up. If it's fictional, please include a brief indication of its origin.

3) be good. Or at least not bad. We are trying to find the best thing, so submitting "transmisogyny" or "smallpox" or whatever isn't going to be accepted. We also won't accept anything that it would be fucked up to apply a value judgment to, like a demographic of people or something like that.

4) not be a fandom thing. There are so many other tournament blogs for those, and they bore me. No fictional characters, works of fiction, films, shows, franchises, songs, video games, musicians, writers, actors, etc. Less specific options like genre or medium are allowed. For example, "Sherlock Holmes" or "A Study In Scarlet" or "Arthur Conan Doyle" would be disallowed, but "detective fiction" is allowed. Something that's fictional but not from a specific source, like "wizards", is allowed. (Some of these are going to be difficult edge cases and they will just be judged by my gut.)

What do I need to send in my ask? You can just include the thing itself, but if you wish you may add explanation about what the thing is and/or propaganda in favor of it being the best. These will be included with the poll. Unless I forget, which I usually do. These will not be included in the poll because it creates a significant amount of fuss when adding polls to the queue.

What if the options are two very different levels of specificity on similar subjects? Vote with your heart. Is more specificity better or worse?

Why are you pitting two bad bitches against each other? It is our calling.

What determines whether you include a Wikipedia link on a poll? Our finely tuned reference-inclusion criteria consider such factors as an average person's familiarity with the thing, whether we feel like it (it makes the post take longer to write) and whether we remember to (remembering things is hard). We do try to post a link for both options if one is included for either, though this is not always possible.

You sound familiar. Are you some other gimmick blog? We have the distinguished honor of being the same person-posting-as-if-she's-an-organization as the prestigious @meme-conservation and the elegant and insightful @bad-time-analogies!

I'm mad (and not in a fun pretend way) about one of the options getting votes when I hate it and/or strongly prefer the other. In fact, I think that people liking this thing may be What's Wrong With Society. May I annoy you and/or others by ranting in the notes about it? No. This may get you blocked.

Can I submit my orientation, gender, or other essential element of my identity? No. That would be fucked up (see above). Do you want to find out that most people prefer frozen yogurt over your identity?

I'm upset with how you handled my submission in some way. That's not a question! Perhaps "running a gimmick blog and handling people's submissions in a way they don't like" is the real Best Thing.

I have a different question. Perhaps you should ask it instead of waiting for us to anticipate it!

[ofstarsandvibranium]

And Action!

Fandom: Marvel (Actor AU)

Pairing: Movie Star!Bucky x Journalist!Reader fic.

Summary: The chemistry between you, a journalist, and Bucky, a movie star, is undeniable. After dancing around each other for the past year, Bucky’s ready for the game to end.

“Y/N!” your break out into a wide grin as Bucky exclaims your name. He approaches you with a big smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

You’ve been waiting with the other journalists along the red carpet, chatting with the cast and crew of the new movie The Queen’s Shadow.

The main stars are Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes. You’d just finished interviewing Yelena and now Bucky is headed your way.

“Hi, Bucky. It’s good to see you again!”

He chuckles, “You as well and,” he turns to his assistant and accepts the thermos, “Hot chocolate like I promised.”

You can’t help but cackle, “I was hoping you’d remember.”

He shrugs, a grin on his lips, “Of course. I promised you, didn’t I?”

You take a moment to open the thermos and take a little sip of the beverage. Your body instantly warms from the hot drink but as well as the sweet comforting taste of the chocolate, “You were right. You make a mean hot chocolate.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Bucky responds with a chuckle.

You then set the thermos to the side, “Okay. So congrats on the movie. Everyone’s prayers have been answered because you’ve finally gone back to your roots being in rom-coms. How does it feel?”

“So fun. Don’t get me wrong. The action movies I’ve done recently are fun too, but rom-coms are a different kind of fun. I can be a little goofy, be a complete dork while also be charming-“

“Basically be more of yourself?” You ask with a smirk.

He snorts, “Yes! Basically! And to work alongside Yelena, who’s, ya know, one of my best friend’s sister, was really a treat because this is her big debut. I was able to watch and guide her. Even though sometimes we’d get into arguments here and there because we’re like siblings. But yeah, it was fun.”

“Was it a little weird to play love interests since you two are like siblings?”

“At first, yeah. But we discussed it and, ya know, this is our job as actors. Whatever our personal relationship is, it doesn’t matter when we’re on set. We’ve got a job to do so we went and did it.”

“Did Nat threaten you at all when she heard you and Yelena would be working with each other?”

Bucky scoffs, “Of course, Nat did. But I get it. She’s just protective of her sister. I’m like that with my sister so I can’t fault her for that.”

You nod in understanding. You always enjoyed talking with Bucky because conversations with him were so easy and he was always so passionate about the projects he’s worked on.

“Alright, now for the hard hitting question.”

Bucky nods and rubs his hands together, “Okay, watcha got for me?”

You take a deep breath and lean closer, “Who would win in a fight: Mason Rhodes or Jayce Ryder?” Mason Rhodes is his character in The Queen’s Shadow and Jayce Ryder is his character in his previous action movie franchise.

Bucky chuckles, “Oh that’s a hard one…probably Mason.”

“Really?” You ask him in surprise.

He shrugs, “Well not to spoil too much, Mason was trained to fight and know how to protect the Queen. Jayce, while he does know how to fight, he’s self-trained and a little sloppy. Kinda fights more with his heart while Mason fights with his brain, you know?”

You nod, “Makes sense!” You see Bucky’s assistant pull on his sleeve to let him know he needs to move on, “Well, I’ll let you continue down the line. It was great speaking with you! And thanks again for the hot chocolate!”

“Of course! It was great seeing you. See you next time!” He gives you a wink and a wave and follows where his publicist guides him next.

—————-

Not many journalists are invited to after parties. However, your friend, Joaquin, a PA who worked on the film, invited you as his plus one.

You’re chatting with him by the hors d’oeuvres table when Bucky approaches, “Hi,” he’s a little more shy this time. He turns to Joaquin, giving him a nod, “Torres.”

“Bucky,” Joaquin says with a big smile, “Movie was great, man!”

“Oh, thanks! Yeah, it-it was fun.” Bucky looks back at you, “Did you enjoy it?”

You nod, “Your performance was great, but I enjoyed Yelena’s a little bit more.”

He chuckles, “I understand. She was amazing.”

“Oh! I see Sam. I’ll be right back!” Joaquin excused himself to talk to the other actor.

Bucky clears his throat, “So, uh, you drink all the hot chocolate?”

You shake your head, “It’s in my car. Saving the rest for later. But did you really come here to talk to me about hot chocolate, Bucky?” You ask with a smirk.

You and Bucky have been dancing around each other for the past year. You’ve worked with him a lot over the last few years but it wasn’t until recently that your interviews with him started getting a little more playful and flirty.

Sometimes it was you that really upped the playful, flirty vibes. Other times, it was Bucky. Neither of you were put off by it. It was all in good fun and definitely gave Bucky a lot of publicity.

“Not really. I actually wanted to ask if you were tired.”

Your brows furrow and your head tilts to side in confusion, “Tired?”

“Of this game we’ve been doing lately?” That shy demeanor is replaced with that teasing, playfulness you’ve encountered before.

“I don’t know, Barnes. Are you?”

“I am.”

“So,” you step closer to him, “What are you gonna do about it?”

Bucky glances at your lips and then licks his own, “Well, I was thinking we can finally exchange numbers and I take you on a date.”

“That right? Where do you plan to take me?”

“I have a place in mind.”

You pout, “You’re not gonna tell me?”

“You’ll find out if you say yes.”

You sigh, “You really wanna date me? I’m a journalist. I could spill all your dirty secrets.”

He cocks a brow at you, “That what you plan to do?”

You scoff, “Fuck no. I’d never.”

“And that’s why I wanna date you, among other things.”

“Tell me,” you step even closer to him.

He smirks, “I will,” he leans in, lips hovering over yours, “on our date.”

He steps back and you realize your phone is now in his hands, “Hey!” You exclaim with a laugh, and he laughs with you.

“I may have learned a thing or two from my action movies,” he hands you your phone so you can unlock it. You hand it back to him when you do and he inputs his number.

He hands you his own phone and you enter in your number.

“I’ll be busy this week for premiere stuff but afterwards, I have some down time before I start my next project. I’ll call you when I’m free to hash out the details?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Perfect. I gotta continue making my rounds, but enjoy the rest of your night,” he leaves you again with another wink and a fluttering in your chest.