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absolutebl · 4 months

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Best 23 of BL 2023 - Quirky Awards

SHOCK & AWE AWARDS

1. Biggest BL surprise of 2023:

The last 3 months of 2023 in general got my biggest WTF award.

GMMTV fielding OffGun AND TayNew in the same quarter while also airing Last Twilight (arguably one of their best BLs ever)

That they ALSO optioned 3 JBLs

That there's a high heat omegaverse BL staring Pavel

That there were 20 BLs airing and none of them Korean.

With 5 VAMPIRE BLs announced for next year

But my prize in this category goes to My Dear Gangster Oppa.

It's just crazy:

Thai talent, Korean money + IP (this is adapted from a manwha) airing on a Chinese channel (iQIYI). Plus it was GOOD and made smart reuse of a pair who richly deserved it. I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production. And wonder if any other film genre could even do anything like this.

2. The “that country did WHAT?” award:

The 8th Sense from Korea?!

I mean, seriously?! Dealing with metal health, suicide, darkness, therapy, age gap, & first time love BUT FROM KOREA? And then openness and casual boyfriend physical affection? What's next? An actual hard fought coming out narrative with an HEA? Gay domesticity and families?

Careful Korea, you'll strain something. Possibly your own culture and film industry.

I should stop having expectations of Korea, they keep surprising me.

Runners up: Korea letting OnlyOneOf do Bump Up Business not to mention that OmegaX thing. AND Korea adapting Why R U? What are you up to, Korea? Qua? Is this a coded message? Should we send help? Do you need snacks?

3. Biggest casting whoa! where did you come from? award:

GeminiFourth in My School President.

Seriously? Babies what? How did GMMTV find you? How do you exist? How is BL this lucky?

4. That studio did WHAT now? award:

GMMTV putting EarthMix into Moonlight Chicken.

And then doubling down with G4 as the damn sides.

Fucking genius.

5. I’m sad you were ignored award:

Destiny Seeker.

It's just a really fun little Thai pulp, the pairs were good, silly dialogue, plus consent and other good rep. I enjoyed it. No one talked about it AT ALL.

6. 2023 BL That Actually Made Me Lose My Mind Award?

Laws of Attraction. -The casting, the crazy story, the soapy drama! But specifically: Film playing Charn - the range of his smiles alone. GLORIOUS

I mean I Feel You Linger in the Air also sparked something in me, but LoA drove me actually nuts.

NARRATIVE AWARDS

7. Best story 2023:

La Pluie

I know, you're surprised, right? At the time I didn't chat much about it but I really enjoyed the discourse others were having. I love anything that really examines the fated mates (soulmates) trope and the idea of "the one". What a clever way to do that. (This is one reason UWMA is my favorite Thai BL.)

This one reminded me of the way Color Rush approached allegory and that's no bad thing. Such an impressive little piece.

8. Best narrative structure 2023 award:

Unintentional Love Story.

I know this may seem a simplistic pick. But I love the tidiness of this no frills contemporary romance, how the culture of work and personal ethics and corruption fight against the main character's affection and integrity. Poor baby boy is driven into a corner and then punished for it. But it is punishment he feels he deserves, and so it is up to his (now) ex to figure out what went wrong and why.

It's just great. I love it when no one is stupid or wrong, it's just impossible circumstances and unintentional love deeply felt.

9. Best 2023 dialogue (script) award:

Jun & Jun

Never before has Korea laced a BL with that much perfectly executed innuendo. It was a master class. I didn't know you could be that lascivious in Korean, quite frankly. Plus the way the 2 Juns constantly seamlessly transition between formal register (work, public - where they are boss/employee) to informal register (when they are alone and age mates + childhood sweethearts).

Beautiful to hear and watch.

10. Favorite scene 2023:

The dub con scene in I Cannot Reach You because I AM TRASH for an out of control seme. I'm sorry I just AM.

I have said it before, I will say it again, NO ONE DOES THIRST like Japan. And when that thirst bubbles over, it is heart-clenching and very hot.

11. The most rewatchable BL of 2023 award:

Our Dating Sim

That scene where they lie on the floor + the stolen kiss + giggle? Come on, it should be on comfort repeat in war rooms. It could bring world peace.

ACTORS & CHARACTERS AWARDS

12. Best performance of a queer actor in a leading role, 2023:

Fluke in Make a Wish.

It was fun to see him as an irreverent immortal and while I love OhmFluke I also really enjoyed this new pairing. It was a genuine pleasure to watch.

13. Best pining 2023:

The moot pining in Tokyo in April is...

Boys, seriously? Japan must you destroy us like this? Hurts so good.

14. Best wingman 2023 (The Namgoong Award)

Tiw from My School President

I mean, come on, of course it's him!

(Also can you believe Mark went on from this to do fricking Only Friends!? To Last Twilight! Come on GMMTV GIVE HIM A LEAD!)

15. Biggest OMG I LOVE you boys together, YAY!

Dimpled McMafia & Feral Bunny Foo Foo from Kiseki Dear to Me.

They were feral for each other.

We were feral for them

It was a whole delightful THING.

16. Most unexpected return of a BL pair? award:

The Private Lessons pair showing up in Love Class 2.

I know it was only a cameo, but SERIOUSLY? Thank you SO MUCH Korea! A big studio picking up a Strongberry pairing? I love you.

Seriously tho between them, Taiwan & Korea tried for ALL THE CAMEOS this year.

17. Well aren't you two just the prettiest? award:

NetJames in Bed Friend.

Need I say more?

18. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Bah Vinh in Vian & Mr Cinderella 2. I did like either show but I loved him in them. Especially the make outs.

Yes you have chemistry with all the boys in Vietnam and you kiss beautifully. But it's okay now honey, you have the crown. Relax, you're stressing us out.

RANDOM PICKS

19. Favorite Linguistic Moment of 2023:

Our Dating Sim

Caught in the act by the elevator scene. OMG it's so funny. They're being such boyfriend shits to each other, and to be caught in the act by THAT character, and try to manifest formal language whole cloth? Hilarious.

Honorable mention to War Peanuts in Destiny Seeker.

20. Biggest disappointment of 2023:

You Are Mine

Seriously Taiwan, AGAIN you disappoint me with an Office BL? You're Taiwan, land of offices and suits. This should be YOUR SETTING TO WIN. And yet... argh. I mean it wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. Stop it Taiwan, do better.

Runners up? Between Us, Chains of Heart, Dangerous Romance - this was a HOTLY contested category.

+ 2 Winners in the sub-category of FUCK YOU FOR THAT ENDING award:

The Director who Buys Me Dinner - I mean this nicely but: you have your lane now Korea, stop hurting us, that's Japan's responsibility and they do it better.

I Feel You Linger In the Air - I'm just hugely disappointed. Thailand ALMOST got its second 10/10 from me, but that damn ending.

Argh.

21. Best Wardrobe/Prop Use 2023

The shower of packaged bedsheets in My Personal Weatherman

Amazing. Brilliant. No notes.

22. Best Queer Rep 2023

Chot in Step By Step

In fact, all the queer characters in this show were treated with great integrity.

AND props to this cast for refusing to do fan service. GOOD FOR YOU! Fuck those sasang wankers.

Runners up? The found family cast of Love in Translation and the Rainbow Rice Cakes in The New Employee.

23. Best Meta Trope call out

Tin Tem Jai

Come on, what a zinger, but at themselves (and Taiwan)

Final question: which of the 23 was the hardest for me to pick?

Honestly? Question #1 this year. But also question #20.

(Last year: 2022's Version)

Remember I only pull from shows that were completely finished by the end of 2023. Or The Sign probably would have taken multiple categories. But it will fall into 2024 offerings.

(source)

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captaincapsicle83 · 2 months

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One Night Stand

Bucky Barnes x Reader

A/N: I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Clint Barton is my muse and he runs the cult...that I'm...in (I hope we get the reference or I sound insane). I just like writing silly Clint into my silly stories, I just noticed that theme.

TW: cursing, mentions of glass, mentions of injury,

Summary: You wake up the night after one of Tony Starks' biggest parties. And you're not in YOUR bedroom.

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Tony Stark x reader (platonic), Bruce Banner x reader (platonic)

You wake up, light streaming through the blinds onto your face. You groan. This is why you got rid of the blinds, light always came through them.

...wait a minute.

You already got rid of the blinds.

You shot up in your bed. The bed. It wasn't yours. This pillow wasn't yours, this black comforter wasn't yours, and these clothes...

Holy mother fucker of Odinson.

You weren't wearing any clothes.

"What the fuck?" You say, out loud and clear. Something stirs in the bed.

You look over in horror, and an unidentified lump is hidden beneath the covers.

Okay, you think. Nows your chance. Nows your chance to be a reasonable adult, and talk this out with this person.

(Within seconds you have gathered your lost articles of clothing and dashed out of the strangers room).

You were lucky in a sense, the sense being that this person lived in the tower that your best friend owned. Him and all his avenger friends lived here, and he gave you a room on his floor that you used sometimes.

Oh shit.

You slept with an avenger.

And it wasn't even Thor. He wasn't ok earth right now. That sucked. He was on your bucket list.

You sat on your bed, pouting mostly, wanting desperately to nurse your throbbing hangover.

You didn't quite have the guts to leave the room just yet. You remembered the in-building AI right at that moment.

"Friday," you croacked out. Your mouth was horribly dry, and you were also in desperate need of some chapstick. "Where's Tony?"

You weren't sure exactly the extent of what the AI could do, but she seemed happy to answer you.

"Mr. Stark is in his lab, accompanied by Dr. Banner. Would you like me to page him for you?"

"Can I just...go there?" You asked. Your room was much darker, having black out curtains instead of blinds.

Curse the blinds. And their creator. Edward Bevan. Curse him.

"Of course, Miss L/n."

Luckily for you, you knew where Tony's lab was, and what floor number to press in the elevator.

You kept your eyes closed on the blinding ride down, the bright fluorescent lights giving you an aneurysm.

The lights in the lab were even worse.

You walked into the room, eyes squinted and using your hands to shield yourself. Tony clearly found this hilarious, chuckling like an idiot.

Not even chuckling. The bastard was giggling.

"Lights not made for a hangover sweetheart," He shook his head, and you shit him a snarl and a death glare. Bruce gave you a sympathetic look and was holding out a bottle of water.

"You know any trusted detectives?" You asked, smiling at Bruce, and taking the drink from him gratefully.

"Ooh, for what?" Tony asked, looking intrigued. "Spill the tea sis."

You did, two mouths were agape when you finished.

After a minute of silence, Tony whips his head towards Bruce, "Was it-?"

"No!" Bruce scowls, then cringes and looks at you. "Not that-...I'm not saying...I wasn't even drinking last night, I would remember."

"Oh-kay," Tony says, exasperated. "We'll it wasn't me-"

"Thank god."

"It wasn't...Thor."

"Unfortunately."

"And it wasn't Peter...he doesn't have a room here."

"And he's a child!" You mention, giving Tony a disgusted look.

He waves you off, tapping a little metal tool to his forehead, presumably to help him think.

"Anything you remember? Did you get a look at them?"

You think about what you could possibly remember. Last thing last night was downing shots with Tony and a bunch of his friends, and getting told names you didn't commit to memory.

"They still have blinds in their room," you throw out there, shrugging. Nothing else came to mind.

"Friday," Tony calls out. "How many avengers on the 93rd floor have blinds in their room still?"

"About 7 sir," she answers. The only woman who would ever call Tony Stark, and the likes of him, sir.

"Which ones?"

"Mr. Rogers, Mr. Wilson, Vision, Miss Romanoff, Mr. Barton, Mr. Barnes, and Dr. Banner."

"Yay!" Tony says, and you can't pin if it was sarcastic. "That leaves six."

"Yay," you and Bruce both answer monotonously.

"Hmm," Tony taps his chin. "Do you think putting out a message, asking who got laid recently, would be too bold."

"A little," you responded, arms crossed.

Tony sat down at his table, you following, and poor Bruce too, who clearly was sucked into this against his better judgement.

"You don't happen to remember what room?"

You did not. You had dashed so quickly, and it all kinda looked the same.

"Who do you want it to be?" Tony whispered. "We can just...let you pick and say you did 'em."

"Bartons kinda hot," you shrugged.

"Bartons kinda married," Tony mimicked your expression.

"He was...big...er..."

"Are you fat shaming your fuck buddy y/n?"

"No! I'm just saying...They werent...I dont think it was Natasha."

"Yeah, neither do I. So, assuming Bartons faithful, that leaves three men and a robot."

"Does vision have a-..."

"No."

"So then, that's three men," you say.

○○○

Tony invited you to lunch with the team. Subtle.

You, him, and poor Bruce (still looped into the mess) stood at the back of the room.

"Okay, so...I was thinking," Bruce starts. Tony looks surprised at the input and begs him to go on. "Well, if everyone's here, you can go look at those threes rooms, and see if they look...familiar?"

Bruce's suggestion let's a hush fall over the three of you.

○○○

The first room you entered, Sam Wilson's. You knew immediately it wasn't the right one, it being surprisingly bright in nature.

But, you were a nosy little fucker, and therefore when you saw the pictures that, from afar, looked a lot like Captain America fanart, you had to take a gander.

A few cellphone photos later, and you stuffed the drawings back into the drawer they were sticking out of. You thought about the luxury snooping would be, but figured your luck was being pressed already.

The next room was right next to it, belonging to Bucky Barnes.

You turned the handle of the door, carefully making your way in while watching the hallway. You had to be sure no one saw you enter.

Your back still to the room, you carefully and quietly shut the bedroom door. You had your phone still out, in your right hand.

You turned around, and dropped the Stark branded cellphone to the ground. It was new, without a case, therefore you were probably shit out of luck.

You didn't have time to check on it though, because your bright ass didn't check the room for occupants.

Well, occupant. The occupant.

Bucky Barnes.

The blinds were open, shining midday light into the room. The dark bedding was in a disarray ok the mattress, a clear indicator of a rush out of it.

The man looked at you, mouth slightly agape. Your mind was racing, a thousand miles a minute, trying to find a good way to break the silence.

"Did I have have sex with you?" You wanted to slap yourself silly.

He seems to have to take the time to pick his jaw up off the floor. He clears his throat (ew, fuck, was that attractive? Were you attracted to that?), and says, "Well...maybe I need to explain a few things."

"Do you?" You question, your voice about ten octaves above where it normally sat. How many times could you ask yourself, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

He seemed to swallow (and you only noticed because you were absolutely OGLING his features), and trys to talk, coming up with nothing.

He motions for you to sit down on the little couch he had, matching his dark aesthetic.

"Let me just tell you what happened last night."

○○○

"Do you still have a dartboard?!" You screamed into Tony's ear. No reason to. It was the after party of the real party, the only people left were the residents of the tower.

"Ooh! Yes! Darts!" Tony hopped up, like a joyful child.

"No!" Steve grabbed the back of Tony's shirt, pulling him back. Tony's dramatic ass flopped himself onto the floor, whining like a toddler.

"I never get to do anything fun!"

You had abandoned the idea of darts, and were now playing a game of dodgeball with Clint. Except that there were no balls, only drinking glasses.

It was around that time the sober members elected to take the drunkest of the drunk to bed.

Steve took Tony, Bucky chose you over Clint (leaving Nat stuck with him).

Clint collapsed himself to the floor, smashing his knee on a pile of drinking glass shards (you had missed).

"Point by omission!" You yelled like a battle cry.

Bucky touched your shoulder, "Cmon doll, let's head to bed."

"For you? Anything!" You threw the glass you were holding in Clints direction, and he screamed at you in Arabic (no one knew Clint spoke Arabic. Upon questioning, neither did he).

Bucky got you to the hallway, and that was about as much as he could do without picking you up and carrying you to bed, which he admitted he would have if you didn't scream in protest when he tried.

He led you to your room, and left.

He got in his bed, closed his eyes, and let out a breath. Before he could process the sound of his door open, you catapulted yourself onto the bed.

Apparently, he tried to send you back a couple times, but after that you would start removing articles of clothing everytime you came in.

Well, that explained that situation.

"So I eventually just let you stay," Bucky shrugged. "I was tired."

You couldn't decided whether to laugh or cry, finally saying, "Holy fuck, I'm so sorry."

Bucky let out a loud laugh, his smile cresting dimples under his eyes, "Trust me, don't worry about it. Steve is a much worse drunk."

"I'm gonna need that story."

"I could tell it to you over dinner," You almost don't take it in before saying yes. You only hesitate slightly, before smiling and agreeing.

That smooth fucker.

#bucky barnes #marvel #bucky barnes x reader #avengers x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #tony stark #bruce banner #clint barton #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #marvel mcu #one night stand

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hoosbandewan · 4 months

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THE Billy Taylor Post

I have a love/hate relationship with The Halcyon as a show overall. I don't feel like all of it is written well, but the area in which it definitely excels is Billy Taylor's story. You know, the cutie pie bellboy that Ewan plays and who is always bugging out in all of the gifs we make of him. He's young, he's sweet, and he's insanely adorable.

And his story is also the best in the entire show. In my opinion!!

I also cry whenever I think about Billy for too long but we'll get into that later, hehe.

Spoilers for The Halcyon, btw!

If you haven't seen it, The Halcyon is set at a fancy hotel in London just as WWII has come to Britain. Also, fair warning that this post is a little bit all over the place because I have SO MANY BILLY TAYLOR FEELS

At the start of the show, Billy is seventeen and working at The Halcyon as a bellboy. He's portrayed by Ewan as someone who's maybe a little bit... no thoughts, head empty. I jokingly refer to Billy as having big NPC energy when he's in the background of scenes because it looks like he has radio static going through his head whenever he's not being interacted with. And like to think that it's not because it was Ewan's first gig as an actor. I think Billy genuinely is a little bit daft. He's the baby himbo. He's the golden retriever puppy who isn't the smartest in the room but he makes up for it with hard work and dedication and pure sweetness.

I mean, he's only seventeen and he appears to be one of the higher ranking bellboys at the hotel. He's given important tasks like welcoming ~secret guests to the hotel, showing new hires where to go, and personally taking care of high ranking guests' belongings. He's clearly trusted by the management and is, more importantly, very good at his job.

But, bless his heart... Billy can be kind of a mess. He's forgetful and sometimes just plain thick. He loses the family dog of the lord and lady who own the hotel while taking it out for a walk. (Literally how does that happen. Billy.) He bungles the staff poker game by revealing his hand without realizing. He's also a silly little dumbass when he and a couple of the other hotel staff are at the movie theater and see the lady who owns the hotel (who's there on a !secret date) and he straight up points at her from several aisles back with his eyes all bugging out. Be more obvious, Billy!

Billy is young and naive and maybe not the smartest guy around, but you know what? He's good at what he does (most of the time, lol) and he's a damn hard worker.

He's also someone who knows that people are reluctant to believe in him and he clearly doesn't like that. Billy signs up to join the army the moment he turns eighteen and, although we don't see it, his mum Peggy (who works at the hotel as the telephonist aka switchboard operator) mentions to the hotel general manager that there was a bit of an argument between them over it.

“Do you know why he was so upset that I didn’t want him signing up? He thought I was saying he wasn’t good enough.”

He also gets angry with his mum when his call-up papers do arrive. I know I called him daft before, so I'm giving him credit where credit is due - he actually very cleverly notices that the letter should have gone to his family's house, but it showed up at the hotel instead. And, upon learning that he's been assigned to the Royal Artillery instead of what he wanted - the engineers - he knows it was his mum (with the help of the hotel general manager, but he doesn't know that part) who moved things around so that Billy could stay close to home.

He angrily tells her, "I ain't a child no more," and storms out of the room. Billy wants to prove himself. He wants to be a grown up with responsibilities and he wants to be believed in.

You feel for him, but you also feel for his mum, who is watching her only son grow up and enlist in the war effort. At one point, Peggy mentions that she was only 19 or 20 by the time she'd had Billy, so she was a young mother (and still is!). Her worrying and fretting over him clearly annoys him because he's a teenager, but, god you feel for her. We also learn that Billy's dad, Jim, was drafted to fight in the war so she must be out of her mind with worry. I'll get more into my Billy feels as related to his mum in a bit. But I mean... just look at this line of Peggy's after Billy's joined the army:

“I pray. I fuss. I hold him a little tighter each time I see him."

Before I move on, GOSH, Billy is such a teenager when it comes to his interactions with his mum, lol. He doesn't want her fussing over him or being affectionate. He shrugs her off when she tries to fix his collar. He's reluctant to let her kiss his cheek... but he lets her do it anyway, of course.

Speaking of his family, Billy's relationship with his little sister, Dora, is also so cute and I love them. She tells another character that she doesn't miss him once he's moved out to join the army because she thinks he's "annoying" but she really does love him, lbr. And he's clearly very close with her, too.

At one point, their family home is destroyed in the Blitz so Peggy and Dora move into The Halcyon for a while. Billy watches his sister on mornings that he can get away from his army duties. He carries her around piggyback style. He lets her wear his army hat. He calls her "squirt." They're freaking adorable.

There's also a cute little moment during one of the Blitz raids where Billy's mum and sister are in the hotel shelter and Dora is frightened. Her mum tells her to listen for the sounds of the artillery and says, “That’s our Billy. He’s protecting us.”

And he is. Billy is a protector. He's always looking out for the people he cares about. When Kate, the maid he has a crush on, is SA'd by the Count, Billy angrily confronts him and even points the Count's own fucking gun at him. AND HE PULLS THE TRIGGER. He was about to fucking murder this man for doing what he did to Kate!

Billy is a fucking real one. God, he's the best character.

I don't have anywhere specific to put this, but I wanted to mention how much I love the little detail the writers added in about Billy's handiness and interest in machinery:

He is seen chatting with one of the waiters about the guns they use in the war and is later able to correctly identify the type of German plane flying over the hotel.

Later on in the season, The Halcyon's general manager and head concierge are trying to fix the hotel generator and lamenting that Billy was the one who always maintained it before he left to join the army. (I will come back to this later because omg)

Billy himself mentions to his mum at one point that he's planning on helping a neighbor with some things she needs done in her shelter and that he expects it to be a quick job.

When he joins the army, he's put in charge of operating one of the anti-aircraft guns - directing his fellow soldiers and being the one to manually operate the machine itself.

Now that I think I've covered every other Billy feel, I have to talk about... the worst one. The saddest one. His death. /:

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a complete [Michael Gavey voice] loooser, but I can't really think about Billy and his story in this show for too long without... crying? Oof.

I think that's a testament to just how well written his storyline was in this show. They make you care so fucking much about this sweet, innocent, pure-hearted, good to a fault, daft, brave young man so much that, when he dies in the Blitz, it really fucking hurts.

I swear, thinking about Billy Taylor deals psychic damage to me every time.

And I think that, part of the reason that Billy's death hurts so much is because of how it's shown to us. We all know the famous orange scene between Billy and Kate so I'm sorry for ruining it by making it sad, lol. But that scene ends with Kate telling Billy that she'll meet him the next morning to share the orange with him. So when morning comes and the hotel staff are arriving and see Kate waiting impatiently for "someone" who hasn't arrived, your heart fucking sinks immediately.

They don't even tell us about Billy's death by showing Peggy learning of the news. We're told through Kate's POV. He doesn't show up to their meeting in the morning and, when she arrives for her shift, the staff has been gathered around by the general manager. Only then do we learn that Billy was killed by a parachute mine the night before. And we follow Kate to the same closet where Billy gave her the orange, where she's sobbing and cradling the fruit in her hands.

But what's even sadder is that Billy remains a presence throughout the rest of the show. You, as the viewer, grieve him alongside not only his family, but also the people who knew him and worked with him.

When the hotel loses power during a bombing one night and the general manager and head concierge are trying to fix the generator, they're lost for what to do and even lost for words because Billy was the one who always handled the generator. They end up fixing the thing by taking a wrench and banging the side of it because "That's what Billy used to do." And it works. The generator turns back on thanks to Billy. Thanks to the memory of him. And the concierge look up and says, "Clever lad," as though Billy can hear him.

Of course, Peggy spends the rest of the season grappling with the loss of Billy, too. The other characters mention more than once that she's "talking about Billy as though he's still here" and that it's worrying them. Eventually, the general manager sits down with her and she says that she does know he's gone but that it's so hard to believe because she wants to think that he could just walk through the door at any moment.

But, oh my god, the saddest moment of the show for me... is the moment when Peggy is walking through the hallway in the staff area of the hotel and she sees one of the bellboys walking towards her. He has his head down so his face is in shadow but he's about the same height as Billy... and you can see in Peggy's face that she's allowing herself - just for that one moment - to imagine that it's Billy. To let herself think that he's still alive. You're watching her process the scene before her and seeing her think, "Could it be him?" for those few seconds... until she sees the bellboy's face. And, oh my god, it absolutely wrecks me every single time.

Billy's death is the reason that Peggy gives up the one thing she has left - Dora - and sends her away to the countryside along with the other children who are being evacuated from London. Because she can't bear the thought of losing her last living child.

Billy is the character who shows the audience how cruel and unforgiving the war is. That it can take anyone, no matter how sweet and kind and young and good the person is.

And it illustrates the enormity of the chasm they leave behind.

Billy's loss is felt in everyone, from his family to the people he worked with to the girl he had a crush on. AND IT'S FELT IN ME, TOO, GODDAMN

This was so long and I may not have even touched upon all of my feels but thanks for coming to my Billy Taylor TED Talk. I fucking love him. The writers did an amazing job writing him. 10/10, no notes whatsoever. I cry every single time.

He's such an underrated Ewan character and, I know I haven't mentioned it much, but Ewan's portrayal of him is flawless. He's perfect at capturing all the silliness, daftness, and earnestness that makes up our sweet little Billy!

Tl;dr - Everyone should love Billy Taylor!

Aaaand here's another gif of our sweet boy to end this massive post:

#welcome to my billy taylor ted talk #this is a mixture of billy taylor observations #and billy taylor feels #this character deserves so so so much love #billy taylor #ewan mitchell #the halcyon

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obx-pogue4life · 1 year

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Donut Dick

Summary: JJ thinks he's funny when he puts a donut on his dick and tells you he's got a snack for you but you turn the tables on him and go from silly to sexy, making him absolutely insane and dying for his release

Warning: Cum play, daddy kink, oral sex, dirty talk, squirting, ball play, kissing, fingering, hand job, food (mentions of eating a donut), begging, taunting, teasing, orgasm denial, boob and nipple play, intense orgasms. I hope I didn’t miss any and if I did, let me know

Author's Note: Hi everyone! So it’s been quite a while since I’ve written and posted anything- I can’t believe it’s been over 6 months! I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for sticking with me after all this time! Whether you are someone who follows me or just someone who happened to stumble across this post, I appreciate your support and taking the time to read my work very much! I hope you enjoy this weird and sexy story I’ve come up with, it’s basically 5000 words of ridiculously silly filth haha I figured I might as well come back with a bang! GO BIG OR GO HOME, RIGHT??!? 😂❤️

"Hey babe, come here," I hear my boyfriend JJ yell from the kitchen.

Groaning to myself, I put my phone down and yell back, "What is it? I don't wanna get up!" and go back to scrolling on my phone.

About a minute goes by and I hear JJ say again in a weirdly peppy sing song voice, "y/n... I've got something for youuuuu" he drawls out. "Come on babe, I made you a snack" he says again trying to coax me.

I groan again but start to get up because I'm sorta hungry and a snack sounds pretty good right about now. I make my way towards the kitchen and nearly drop my phone when I see the sight that's presented before me. Standing smack dab in the middle of the kitchen is a completely naked JJ, standing there in only his black socks! He's got one leg up on a kitchen chair and his arms proudly on his hips, grinning at me like a lunatic. This man also has a full on erection and has decided to hang a fucking donut from his cock. I'm desperately trying to hold in my giggles but then he starts swiveling his hips in a circle and puts his hands behind his head and gives little thrusts and I just lose my cool completely and can't stop laughing at him.

"Like what you see babe," JJ says in a fake sexy accent, adding to my laughter.

"Oh yeah baby, dance for me you sexy hunk of man," I manage to get out while he try's to spin the donut on his cock like a circus trick.

I'm laughing so hard at this point, I have tears streaming down my face and I can't breathe. He is so silly sometimes, I just don't know what to do with him.

"Come on take a bite of the snack I made you," he coaxed cheekily. "I want you to pull it off my cock with your teeth."

I roll my eyes and flip him off but he just laughs at me and grins that goofy grin again, still playing with his dick and twirling that damn donut.

I decide to have a little bit of fun of my own and slowly walk over to him, stripping my pants, top and bra off on the way, before immediately dropping to my knees in front of him.

"Oh my god, are you actually going for this? Holy shit! I was just kidding y/n but fuck, yes! Will you really eat a donut off my dick?" He asks, genuinely unsure if I'm really gonna do it.

"Anything for you J," I say in a mock of his sing song voice from earlier. I can hear his breathing hitch and I lean forward ever so slightly and stick my tongue out and gently lick the tip of his still hard cock, making him softly groan out.

"Oh shit" I can hear him mutter a few times as I open my mouth a little more and swirl my tongue around his head and start gently sucking. I decide to keep my hands to myself and while I'm sucking his tip I start to play with my breasts and squeeze my nipples. It feels so good I moan out in my own pleasure, causing his cock to twitch in my mouth. I look up at him through my eyelashes and continue what I'm doing, looking right into his eyes. A few more moans from me and he's nearly there and I've barely touched him yet. I stop abruptly and sit on my heels and wipe the corner of my mouth with my thumb, sticking it in my mouth after and licking off and precum that got on my face.

"Hmmm," I say to him sort of as a question. I really am hungry and lean in to take a bite of that donut that's been staring me in the face. I hold it with my hand so it doesn't crumble and lick some of the frosting off before swallowing and taking another nibble. JJ is looking at me with wide eyes and I can tell that this weird show I'm putting on for him is really turning him on. I take one more nibble and let the donut break apart in my hand and sexily lick the frosting off my wrist purposely leaving the remaining frosting on my fingers. "You want some," I ask him innocently and put my fingers up to his mouth, teasing him. He leans down and licks the chocolate off my fingers and swallows hard, still looking down at me while I'm kneeling before him and wondering what I'm gonna do next. I don't waste any time and put the rest of the donut on the tabletop. "Looks like someone's been playing with their food... such a naughty boy. Guess I'll just have to clean you up..." and I hear him suck in another deep breath in anticipation.

I lean forward again and begin to kitten lick his cock, making sure to tease his tip and the underside of his shaft while I lick up all the remaining frosting and donut bits that are left behind. He lets out a content sigh and I smile into him, temporarily releasing him from my mouth. "Do you like that baby?" I coo to him. "Does my tongue against your cock feel good?" I ask. He nods his head quickly while I look up at him, putting his dick back in my mouth, taking him in completely. "Fuck yes y/n, that feels so good," he moans out and gives me an animalistic growl. "Fucckkkk."

I start bobbing my head and swirling my tongue, letting him go further and further down my throat. I love the way he's grunting and moaning. I love being able to make him lose himself in such a short amount of time. He reaches down and brushes some of the hair out of my eyes that has fallen forward and I pull back to get a breath. "You look so gorgeous with my cock in your mouth," he breathily says to me, instantly making me blush. I look away for a minute and notice he's got some frosting on his balls and an idea plants itself in my head. I quickly lean forward again and gently cradle his balls in my hand. "Y/n what are you-," he begins to say but I quickly cut him off.

"I promise I'll be extra gentile J, can I?" I ask him, half thinking he's gonna tell me no and to stop. He doesn't usually like his balls messed with but the few times he has let me play with them, I know he enjoyed it.

"Sure babe, I trust you. Just be extra careful, ok?" He says a tad hesitantly. A huge smile spreads across my face and I gently move my fingers up under them and feel around a little.

"Such cute little donut holes you have J," I say sitting back on my heels. He grins at me and and laughs.

"Oh I know you did not just call my balls donut holes, you weirdo," he says throwing his head back still giggling.

"I am not the weirdo here, sir, you are!" I say, clutching my chest and faking great shock. "You started this whole thing baby and I'm just finishing it," I smile coyly. "You made quite the mess earlier, J. I think I'm just gonna have to lick that silly left over frosting right off of you if we're ever gonna get you cleaned up," I say and bat my eyes as I look up at him. His leg is still propped up on the chair and he nods his head and opens his leg up a little wider so I can get in there better. He gives me another nod and an excited smile and I lean in forward once again, putting myself face to face with his cock and balls.

I grab his cock with one hand push it up towards his stomach. With my other hand I trace the veins on the underside of his shaft with my fingertips and then my tongue. I can hear him take another deep breath in and out and I can feel his body relaxing. I continue to run my tongue along his veiny underside for a minute and then move down to where his cock actually meets his balls. It's fleshy and sorta squishy and as soon as I press my tongue to it I can feel him stiffen up a little. I put my hands on his thighs, rubbing them reassuringly. "I promise I'll be gentle baby, don't worry," I breathily say. He lets out a deep breath and his body relaxes again. Just using the tip of my tongue, I tease that delicate space between his cock and balls, gently licking up and down and back and forth. His breathing quickens a little and I can tell he's starting to enjoying this. I move down a little lower every time I lick and pretty soon I'm right on top of his balls. I decide to place a gentle kiss on them and to kiss all around his pelvis and at the base of his shaft. Anything I can do to ease his mind and let him relax so he can enjoy this. I notice his tip leaking again and brush the precum off with my fingertip. "Looks like you're starting to enjoy this baby," I tell him. He smiles and nods again and just watches me silently, waiting for my next move.

I use his cum like lipgloss, spreading it evenly on my lips and puckering them. "Jesus Christ" I hear him say under his breath. I look directly at him and suck the remaining cum off my finger as seductively as I can. I hear a loud gulp come from him and I smile to myself knowing that all this is working. His dick twitches in my hand again and I immediately lick my lips a little and start softly kissing and licking his inner thighs, head and shaft. He moans out in appreciation and slightly bucks his hips into my face. I quickly make my way back to his balls and feel his breathing quicken a little but he's still very relaxed. With just the tip of my tongue I circle each orb with feather light touches and can feel the weightlessness they each seem to possess. Running my tongue all around them and over the seam in between cause my boyfriend to let out a manly shriek and groan and his sounds make me instantly stop, not knowing if it was a good sound or a bad one.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok baby? I'm so sorry, I was being so careful, I -" Fuck, no. Feels so... good... babe please... keep... going..." he barely gets out, his breathing is so erratic. "Aww baby I love how good I'm making you feel, you sound so sexy coming undone for me. Don't hold back J, you're making me so wet every time I hear you moan. My panties are soaked for you. Your voice alone in driving me crazy but it's still your turn baby," I say as he reaches for me. I gently push his hand back towards his chest and put my hands on my tits and massage them a little and tweak my nipples. "Mmmm," I let out slowly as I rock my body a little. "This feels good but it's better when you touch me, baby," I tease. His eyes go wide and he licks his lips but I ignore it. I squeeze my breasts together and bounce them with my hands a little and just stare at him and then stop and just smile. "Later," I say and wink at him. "Shit" was all my boyfriend could say.

Satisfied that I had teased him long enough, I dove right back in and started to sensually and slowly lick all around his balls and his ballsack. I could tell he was as relaxed as ever because when I gently started sucking on one of them and ever so delicately pulled it into my mouth, he didn't even flinch. I made a humming noise as I swirled my tongue around and gently pushed my mouth all around it, cupping it around my lips. He grunted and squirmed in satisfaction as I released that ball from my mouth and quickly but softly licked up and down his seam. A long, breathy string of shits and fucks left his mouth and I used my hand to tease the tip of his cock again, the feeling of the two together giving him an extremely pleasurable sensation. I quickly repeated the process on his other ball and as I started to make my way back to his seam and started licking again, he gently tugged on my hair so I stopped. "Too much baby?," I half tease.

"Girl I need to sit... down," he part moans, part chuckles. "So fucking good," he said plopping down on the kitchen chair. Regaining his composure, he tells me he is so full and he needs to cum. "I swear if I don't cum right now, I'm gonna fucking explode," he pleads with me. "Please y/n let me fuck you. I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel. Wanna hear you moan and scream my name over and over again. Plant my seed deep within your pussy and watch you get all swollen with my babies. Fuck, please babe, I want you. I need you," he pleads again.

"That sounds like a lot of fun baby, but it's gonna have to wait," I say getting comfortable on my knees. "I'm not done with you yet," I simply say and smile. A confused look spreads across his face and just as he's about to protest I bring my hands to my chest and start pulling and pinching my nipples. Rolling them between my fingertips, I let out a filthy cry of pleasure and he instantly goes silent and leans back in his chair to watch the show I'm putting on at his feet. I smile at him again and begin to kneed my breasts as I rock back and forth on my heels. I lean in slightly and grab his cock, licking it from base to tip and then stick it as far as I can down my throat while trying to swirl my tongue around him and not choke. I swallow around him and can hear those familiar grunts I love so much coming out of his mouth. Needing air, I pull him out of my mouth and take a much needed breath. "God I love you," JJ says to me, drunk off my mouth.

"You think you love me now J, just you wait baby," I say with a wink. I gently grab his hand and put it on his cock and place mine over his and start to pump his dick. Using my other hand I start teasing my nipples again, pleasuring ourselves in unison. As he starts to get the picture, I let his hand go and massage both my tits with both my hands. He continues to stroke himself while he watches me tease and grope my breasts and his dopey grin is all I need to see in order to know he's loving this just as much as I am. I start to moan his name and tell him I can't wait to feel him inside me when he quickly says that he's gonna cum. I immediately sit up and stop his hand movements and he groans out in frustration. "Why are you stopping me, do you need me to beg? Fuckkkk. Please let me cum babe, I'm so close. I was right there," he says slightly annoyed.

"I get to make you cum," I say sternly. "I get to make you feel good this time baby," I say a little softer.

"You're a terrible tease," he says sighing.

"I know!," you reply happily and then lean back on your heels again. You look at him with innocent eyes and squeeze and push your tits together and shake them a little.

"SEE!," he exclaims! "TEASE!," he fake yells.

"Look JJ, I just thought you might like to titty fuck your way home today, ok?," you say as nonchalantly as you can muster and shrug your shoulders. He leans down and roughly grabs your face with his hand and pulls you up a little so he can kiss you. His kiss is so needy and so rough. It's sloppy and wet but I love it. I smile into his desperation and let myself moan a little. He's so horny he is literally grinding into the kitchen chair and bucking his hips into my stomach. I pull away and grab my tits again and just stare at him for a minute while he eye fucks me. "So...?" I proposition him again. "You wanna cum all over these titties baby?," I say confidently, shaking my breasts and making them jiggle.

JJ licks his lips and mutters something incoherent while I lean back a little, offering my chest to him. He pumps his cock a bit to get himself started up again and then slaps his dick against each of my breasts a couple times. He takes his tip and circles my hardening nipples, getting them a bit sticky with his ever leaking dribbles of cum. I continue to hold my tits up for him while he plays with me and that dopey smile is back, plastered across his face. This man loves boobs. He'd play with them all day if I let him. I hardly ever let him cum on them though because it's messy and I just prefer him to cum inside of me so he knows that I'm doing all of this for his benefit. After a minute more of him rubbing his cock all over my tits and body he's made me sufficiently horny, way more than I thought I'd be with him just slapping my tits with his damn cock. Somehow it works for me though and I am slowly becoming an insane mess. Seeing him get so turned on was making me turned on and hearing him was even worse. He was overly ready, his tip was so red it looked like it might hurt, and that was fucking with me too. All I wanted to do was put it in my mouth and suck him dry but this wasn't about what I wanted. I was doing this for him.

I leaned forward and sat up a little again and kissed him. He stopped his movements and kissed me back. I pulled away slightly and kissed his cheek, down his jawline, down his neck and stopped right over his Adam's apple causing his head to roll back in pleasure. He loved when I sucked his skin right there and loved it even more when I left love bites for him to see later on. It was a sexy kink of his that I loved too. "I love you JJ," I quietly say into his neck.

"And I fucking love you y/n," he murmurs back immediately running his hands through my hair. I decided to take this opportunity while he was still blissed out from my neck kisses to put his eager cock between my breasts and start rubbing them up and down his shaft. With my hands, I pushed my tits together as tightly as I could while encompassing his rock hard dick. Up and down I went, letting my whole body bounce and trying to give him the most pleasure I possibly could. "Uhhhh... yes babe.... Fuck! I'm not gonna last much longer y/n.

"Let go baby, cum for me then," I sweetly coo. He groans and starts to buck himself up in between my breasts. Faster and faster he went, both of our breathing increasing as we meet each other's movements. His pumps getting rougher and faster yet. He was so close. I can't believe he's lasted this long, his stamina is always so sexy to me. I love the control he has over his body and just thinking about it makes me sweat. I am dripping wet and very thankful I've kept on my panties this entire time. After a few more quick thrusts he finally lets out that manly wail I've been longing to hear and I can feel his hot, thick ropes of cum go all over my upper body and onto my neck and face. We both slow our movements and just breathe together for a few seconds. I let go of my chest and his cock, pushing a little of the cum off my face and lick it off my finger. "Mmmm you taste so good, J," I sexily say and lean forward, kissing him on his wide open mouth. He's gawking at me again so I decide to finish my little show for him the only logical way I can think of. I pull away from the kiss and start massaging his cum into my breasts. "This feels so good, baby," I say, trying to keep eye contact. "I hope it was good for you."

"Best afternoon of my life, y/n," he says earnestly. He pulls me up onto my feet and pulls me onto his lap and kisses me again. I can feel his truth through his kiss and it makes my heart flutter.

Instantly his hands start roaming the sides of my body. His one hand brushes back and forth over my nipple while his other hand travels down to where I've been aching for him the most. He gently brushes a finger tip over my opening and immediately I can feel him smile into the crook of my neck. "You're actually dripping, y/n. Like legit dripping wet," he says completely in awe. Still stroking just my opening, he begins to kiss my neck and I can feel him start to suck on the spot that I know, he knows drives me crazy. "Mmmm that feels so good baby, don't stop," I moan out, arching my back slightly and letting my head fall back against him.

"You really have been torturing yourself as much as you have been torturing me, haven't you?" he lustily murmurs into my neck.

"Mmmhmmm," is all I can get out, followed by a sharp and deep breath in. He chuckles at me and says "does my pretty little tease of a girlfriend want to cum?" He questions. I shake my head yes and instinctively start to grind my ass against his leg. "Jesus, you're desperate for a release aren't you babe'" he whispers.

"Please," I whisper back, sounding way more needy than I intended.

"You want my fingers in that pretty little pussy? Like this?" He questions, slowly moving my panties to the side and dipping one finger into my waiting folds. In and out, he shallowly teases my entrance. It feels good but I need more. "Please," I say again. "More please, baby," I plead.

"Whatever you want babe," he complies. Quickly he stops his teasing and puts three fingers deep into me, plunging in and out at a rapid pace. I involuntarily arch my back and hook my one arm around his neck and use the other to hold onto the seat of the chair so I don't fall. "Oh! OOOHH!" Is all I can groin out, the feeling overwhelming all of my senses as I melt into his body. He uses his free arm and hand to hold onto my hips to help keep my now shaking body steady. His arms are so long that he can reach all the way around me to my pussy and uses his fingers to dip into the top of my panties and rub circles onto my pulsating clit. The material of my underwear is so tight against my skin I can feel it start to rip but I couldn't care less. I just need more. I frantically start moving my hips and fucking myself onto his his fingers in rhythm with his hand thrusts. I'm getting so close, I can feel it beginning to boil over within me. He notices my worsening desperation and fucks me faster yet with his fingers, adding an insanely pleasurable fourth finger to the mix. At this point I feel like I'm about to lose my mind any second when he decides to stop rubbing my clit and to pinch it instead. Gentle at first but then a little harder, him being careful to make sure it was making me feel good and not hurt me, before giving me more. Quick and rough pinches followed by firm, repetitive tapping on my most sensitive and over stimulated area was enough to make me yell out his name in pure unashamed pleasure. "j...J...JJ!" I practically scream but I just can't help it. I'm so worked up that I barely recognize my own voice. My body is trembling and I'm randomly convulsing and I seem to have lost all control of my movements. If he wasn't strongly holding me in place, I'd have been on the floor a long time ago. He repeats the pinching and tapping over and over again while his thick fingers stretch me out more and more. All of the sudden I feel an indescribable high wash over me and my vision starts to go fuzzy. He does not let up though and the euphoria I feel is more than incredible. It has me screaming out like a wild animal and I feel like my entire body is on fire. Before I can even realize what's happening, I feel another intense pressure building up within me and there is no turning back now because I am on the brink of explosion. JJ can tell how close I am because all it takes is a few dirty words from him to send me over the edge.

"You're so fucking sexy like this y/n. Completely at my mercy. Show me what that body can do. Show me how you squirt for me y/n. I want your pussy to squirt all over my hand. Do you understand me? If you can do that like a good girl, I promise I'll make you squirt all over my cock when I give you the fucking you deserve, later. Come on gorgeous," he says leaning in to my ear, licking and sucking on my ear lobe. "Squirt for daddy," he whispers.

That whisper was all it took for me to come completely unraveled on his lap. The waves of pleasure circulating through my body were some of the most intense sets of orgasms I've ever experienced. I could feel myself leaking all over him and the pleasure I was receiving from it was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I was sweating, crying and panting over my ragged breathing and loss of breath. The only thing I could do was scream out in pure ecstasy and I was so intoxicated by this wonderfully strong feeling and waves of feel good emotions that I didn't care one bit how loud I was or how I sounded.

As he helped me ride out my incredible high, I got lost in a state of bliss for a few minutes. He stopped all his motions and just held me while I continued to have my tiny tremors of pure lingering pleasure every so often while I was slowly coming back down to normal. Once I finally opened my eyes and looked at him he was just staring at me again with a cocky but semi concerned look on his face. He sighed out in relief and brushed a few lingering tears off my cheek. "What," I said breathily, wondering why he was once again, staring at me with his mouth hanging open.

"Y/n," he grins at me lustily. "It's been like 5 minutes since you came babe," he says incredibly cocky and proud. "I fucking thought you were possessed for a minute," he laughs. "You just kept going and going and moaning and shit. And babe- look at us! Look at the floor! You squirted like a fucking fountain y/n. It was so hot, I'm fucking hard again. You did so good for me, gorgeous. Such a good girl." He praises me, spinning me around so I'm straddling his lap. He leans down and kisses me, making sure to take his time. I feel my cheeks heat up at his words and pull away from his kiss to take a breath. He strokes my cheek lovingly and leans in and kisses my neck reassuringly. "Daddy is so proud of you," he quietly says into my ear between kisses. The feeling of his breath on my neck and his dirty words makes me shiver a little and he pulls back and smiles at me, leaning in to kiss my lips once more. He breathes into me and I can feel all the life coming back into my body. I instantly relax and smile into his kiss. The way he contently sighs back and the way his tongue gently and passionately explores my mouth while his hands tenderly cup my face make me feel so loved in this moment. His kiss always gives it away. If he never told me again how he feels, I'd still know it because I can feel it in his touch.

He eventually and reluctantly pulls away and presses me into his chest, hugging my body tightly and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Who knew my dumb joke would turn into all this," he chuckles. I smile into his chest and chuckle back. "Yeah who knew your donut dick would turn me on so much," I say, shaking my head. He laughs again and kisses the top of my head lovingly.

"I love you, my little freak," he says affectionately.

"Love you too, my little weirdo," I say back.

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galedekarios · 5 months

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that interview is driving me insane i've been thinking about it for the past hour and i still can't wrap my head around it. i think what really gets under my skin is it just... contradicts with the text of the game. the most positive possible reading of the ending where gale blows himself up is that it was an unavoidable tragedy dictated by fate but even that's a stretch. to say it's a good ending?? or a satisfying conclusion to his arc?? i call bull. it's more infuriating because there is such a clear good ending for gale's character arc and it's the professor ending! his arc was about learning to accept himself as he was, to value who he is as he is flaws and all, and he's done that in the professor ending! and the god of ambition ending is a bad end for him but still ties into his overall arc in a satisfying if sad way (imo). the ending where he dies just... doesn't. which is fine as a tragedy but to imply it isn't exactly that, a tragedy, is wild to me. and it being so blatantly contradictory to the actual events of the game makes me think that whole thing was just catering to people who hate gale which like... why? people who don't like him don't care about his story so why pander to them like this?

uhg. i am sorry for blowing up your inbox like this i just feel like i'm gonna rip my hair out and need to express that to a fellow gale appreciator. i love gale's epilogue SO MUCH it made me feel for a bit like maybe the writers had actually changed how they felt about him but. nope! silly of me to hope for that. wish i could memory wipe that whole interview from my brain dark urge style.

don't be sorry at all! 🖤 i feel the same way in a lot of ways. altho i feel the need to mention that gale's writer, jan van dosselaer, was not involved in this interview.

i started to make a meta post about this yesterday, but reading things like this from gale:

act ii [after elminster] Player: An old man with a craving for cheese. Hardly the great wizard of legend. Gale: A wizard doesn't reach Elminster's age without enjoying their home comforts. Those who seek danger over cheese don't tend to live as long. Gale: For Mystra to have sent him... The severity of her bidding could not be clearer. Or weigh more heavily on me. devnote: reflecting on mystra sending elminster, of all people - a powerful individual, becoming reflective. Gale: Time seems so infinite when you are young... a month is an age, a year is a lifetime... it is a strange feeling, to realise how little of it one might have left. Player: You're seriously considering doing what Elminster said? Gale: Of course - he offered the clearest solution to our problem. All I have to do is find the right place and time, close my eyes, and let go... devnote: Trying to sound upbeat, not fully engaging with what he's saying (that he's going to kill himself). Gale: Then the slate will be clean, wrongs will be righted, the Absolute will be gone... devnote: Trying to sound upbeat, not fully engaging with what he's saying (that he's going to kill himself). Gale: ...and I along with it. devnote: Still trying to sound upbeat, though this time the reality that this means he will die weighs a bit heavier

and:

act ii [act ii romance scene] Gale: I am terrified - I will not claim otherwise. My face could scarcely conceal it even if my words sought to deny it. nodecontext: Hushed, vulnerable Gale: There is no point in running from the inevitable. Better to meet it, on my own terms. nodecontext: Resigned

as well as this:

act ii [act ii friendship version] Gale: Yes... but there is so much to live for, and so few moments in which to house it all. Gale: Damn you. Damn you for giving me so much to care about. Our friends, our adventures... this would have been so much easier if it was just me. But it isn't. Gale: If there is a way - any way - to save all that's grown dear to me, I want to seize it. I just cannot fathom what that might be, other than to fail Mystra and condemn the world. Gale: Stay with me, will you? I don't want to think of it any more, but I don't want to be alone either.

act iii [before the netherbrain] Player: Gale... I think we should consider using the orb as Mystra intended. To blow up the Netherbrain. Gale: I'm getting rather tired of how often those I care about seem to reach the same conclusion.

when you have this:

and i just... couldn't finish the meta.

it's absolutely beyond comprehension for me how anyone could try to frame this as an ending that is the right one in "many ways", as the "guy who starts off annoying everyone", eating your "most priced possessions", having to "give back to the world".

for the founder of the company to say he wasn't "ready" the "first time", but he's finally "ready" now.

gale's death isn't only unnecessary, an instruction given to him by his former mentor on the behalf of a goddess, who would've sacrificed not only him but thousands of others to achieve her own goals, he doesn't want to die. he's terrified. he wants to live. he is offering this because he believes that his time has run out. because he wants his death to have purpose if it must happen. because he feels he made a mistake far bigger than he can ever make up for. because he doesn't want others to waste their chance at life like he feels he has. the will he leaves behind in the epilogue if he sacrifices himself isn't finished because he thought there would be more time. i could go on and on.

and again, the question is too... for what exactly does he need to "give back to the world"?

being perceived as annoying after coming out of what is presented as isolation and depression? asking for help with a now chronic impairment that feeds on his very soul and wreaks havoc on his body? for making a mistake? by that logic every companion deserves the same fate.

which brings me to the contrast to how most of the other companions are framed in this interview: k*rlach, "the labrador of the party". l*e'zel, "she's so young". ast*rion, "much of what he does it out of fear". sh*dowheart, "the jason bourne" and "victim of religous trauma". w*ll, "the true baldur's gate hero".

the difference is staggering. there's empathy here. there's at least a surface level understanding and/or appreciation of the characters there.

...and then you have gale.

it's alienating and disappointing to see devs have so little respect and care for their own character, as well as for the parts of their fandom who have grown attached to the character exactly for the strengths and flaws he has, for the struggles he faces and for the healing journey he can have if he is helped and lives.

#my opinion on larian has already changed to the negative for the way they've lied prior release re: what is actually in the game #as well as the amount of bugs and issues that other companies would be dragged through the mud for #as well as the extreme bias showing itself in the scene disparity of their characters #but this was really the final nail in the coffin for me #i also think that it would have been so easy to find a more diplomatic answer instead of choosing reddit talking points but that's just me #ch: gale dekarios #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #text: personal #text: asks #bg3 critical #larian critical #suicidal ideation cw #depression cw

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b0njourbeach · 1 month

Text

Last but not least:

My Rook Hunt rant!

(Long have I been trying to avoid it because, oh boy. This man gives me so little to accept as Canon and so much to speculate.)

Book 5/6 mentions

Rook is such fascinating character. Both in his actions, his design, habits, his mind - Everything. No doubt he's rather odd the way he is, this peculiar little guy with a mind as unique as the spring flower and as mysterious as the universe. Yet, there have been certainly some aspects in game where you can see his distinctive personality and that he's far beyond Savanaclaws natural enemy and #2 Neige Fanboy (reference intended).

For one, I really like to speak a particular moment in-game that has many Neige-"disliker", Rook Fans and Vil Enjoyer on edge:

And everyone be like "Don't let Vil hear", "Vil's not gonna be happy about that one", "Vil about to overblot for a second time" and so on. But there's just so much wrong with it. Because the literal four sentences after that one were:

"But it wasn't Neige himself who moved me. It was all the elements of the show combined that made him shine. There was the music, costumes, and overall design, of course. And the wizard and other cast, members were spectacular-- especially the villains."

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Vil the Villain in the show? It would've been perfect crumbs for the RookVil shippers but all they see is "omg, Rook fanboys about Neige." And there's another thing that people deeply seem to hate about Rook:

"He made Vil overblot because he betrayed him!"

He did not. It's not even because I like Rook and justify his actions, it's plain and simply wrong. Rook "betrayed" Vil and NRC sure (although I already gave my opinion about that topic here) but Rook has *not* caused Vils overblot. The story is quite simple: Vil tries to poison Neige -> He gets stopped -> Overblots -> They all perform -> Rook votes for RSA. The End. End of story. No discussion needed. I'm sorry if you can't comprehend the story line but I am not going to discuss over such simple period of time that happened in the matter of a few chapters.

But I'll get to Rooks special love for Neige and Vil later. First I'd like to talk about the eccentric Hunter himself but oh boy, where do I even start? There's so much to unpack, yet there is barely anything to work with.

(I'd like to mention at this point that I find it extremely hilarious that we get the most Rook/Pomefiore lore not in the Book of Pomefiore but literally a Book later during their break in into the Island of Woe and during the Escape out of Tartarus. Like alright, you had your Book but casually Loredrop on us because why the fuck not. We're all about to get royally fucked every turn but you go girl.)

The first time we get to meet Rook is during Book 2 where MC and the Heartslabyul gang tries to protect potential victims of the mysterious destruction. When do we get to see him again? I don't even remember, he just shows up, fucks around and disappears like hepatitis. I think outside of Book 5 and Book 6, the only *real* sight of Rook is in events or Vignettes which mainly imply him bothering the hell out of whoever has his current attention.

We've got Leona being watched by a blushing Rook in Rooks Labcoat Vignette, Malleus who throws an object with insane speed almost directly into his face because Rook was a little too interested in Lilia in his Sports Uniform Vignette, his Ceremonial Robes Vignette was basically him wanting to take a shower in Octavinelle and forcing Floyd to come with him (one of the funniest interactions if you ask me). These are the only cards I own and I'm rather slacking off when it comes to keeping up with all Vignettes and Events, so the only one I can talk about is his Culinary Crucible Vignette where he was pretty much his blushing self while watching Cater doing his thing (Poor Chef who thought Rook was just extremely excited to cook).

All these interactions seemed rather silly to me - Until I watched/read Rooks Halloween Vignette where he talks a little about his childhood: He was a child who struggled greatly to express himself. That was, until his parents took him to watch the fateful Play that was previously mentioned in the screenshot I've shown. That day, he became the person we see now: The dramatic and overly expressive Rook, that could be the prime example of a theater kid.

If we keep this in mind, his actions suddenly make sense: Theater is build on dramatics, exaggeration and poetry. If you struggle to express yourself but learn from something as expressive as acting, it's only natural that you're becoming this overwhelming expressive being we see in Rook. So I personally believe that he has no ill intention when being himself. In fact I believe it's the only way he can express himself and he's mildly smart it about it as well:

He knows that his extroverted nature is overwhelming to introverts such as Leona (for example), so he keeps his distance. Yet, he can't help but admire the beastman for the person he is - So in order to not overwhelm him, he watches from afar. This, on another note, leads to him having this "stalker" being. Though he keeps pushing his luck by ignoring any kind of boundary being put up by anyone (no matter if it's Leona, Ruggie or even Floyd who, in the end, just accepted his fate).

I also believe that him being naturally rather incapable of expressing himself is one part of why we know so little about him. Another part is - in my opinion - that he's purposely hiding. Not in the literal sense but in the way Cater hides himself. Rook is a prime example of "pretending to be overly opened up but in reality it's a facade to hide your real being" (I can promise you, it's an actual psychological thing. I just can't remember the name rn and I'm too lazy to Google it). You'd look at Rook and believe you know everything about him but you barely know how many siblings he has or if his parents are still alive. In fact, the only thing we know is that he has a large (and extremely wealthy) family that is big enough that they barely manage to see each other.

This is where I come to another point: It's a common belief that the Tweels are a Mafia family but I don't think I've ever seen anyone say the same thing about Rook, yet it would make sense. He's a hunter, he knows how to kill (and I don't doubt he did it too), he survived in the most absurd situations in the wild, his observation skills are almost inhumane and his family is much a secret as the pictures behind his wallpaper. I know we, as a fandom, joke about it but has anyone genuinely considered that Rook may or may not have a criminal family? It would certainly explain why he has the vibe of a rough guy yet the behavior of Royalty - Sure, it may also be because he's part of Pomefiore but realistically speaking: You can't tell me that he "fixed" habits he gained during his whole life growing up, then one Model (which is obvious Vil) comes across and suddenly he's the little petite guy. There had to be at least a base growing up that Vil just intensified.

I currently feel like I'm missing half of fhe things I want to say about him, fuck my life.

Ah, there is one thing I'd also like to talk about that people either misinterpret, mischaracterize or ignore: His relationship with Epel. Many view Rook as nothing but Vils little Lap dog, the Chihuahua in his purse if you will - While I can understand that, there's more to him and it's especially showing when Rook is talking with Epel. If Rook would be truly as loyal as Vil would hope him to be, he wouldn't be as nice to Epel as he is. Not only in Book 6 (which is undoubtedly one of the biggest "supportive step dad" moments), we can find Rook multiple times trying to help out dear Farmerboy to adapt to the fancy life in Pomefiore by giving him educated tips and hints without judging him (One specific moment I have in mind is Epels Ceremonial Robes Vignette where Epel struggled to handle the fancy way of eating that was wanted in Pomefiore - Instead of judging Epel like the other pretty boys do, Rook actually tries to help him out). Just had to add this because it's such subtle hint on his nature yet it's such a sweet way.

I feel like I've been missing a few things right now but they won't come to mind, so it is what it is. Since I killed the limit, the HCs are here.

#twisted wonderland #twst #rook hunt #🥀 twst

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kingwuko · 3 months

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I saw a Wu post you reblogged and it mentioned that on supplemental content it's revealed that Wu was in republic city for a degree and me being me couldn't shake the idea of that degree being in musical theater. Am I projecting my own wants amd desires on my favorite blorbo? Yes a little bit, but also look at him. Come on. So this idea is in the back of my mind for the past few days and then just now I'm listening to a song from that fan project of atla as a musical (I'm honestly not sure how many more songs they've made) and I'm like. Heh, what if Wu wrote that musical. Then i go no. No this is just as a silly thing, I'm not serious about it... but then I imagine him actually singing this, and singing it well, while playing it at a piano and.

Gods DAMN I want it so bad. I mean can you imagine him asking former fire lord zuko himself about what his sister was like so he can WRITE about it?

Insane.

Idk, I feel like it has the potential of being the anti Ember Island play, something genuinely good with all its sources thoroughly checked and vetted and every living person featured in the story consulted and given explicit permission to use their likeness.

I also just generally like the idea of Wu being a composer? I recall the joke about his singing being that its awful and I wish that weren't true but if it is then I think he should be a good composer at least. Just has a terrible singing voice lol.

Anyway that's all, let me know if I'm sending too many of these btw I just enjoy your responses a lot!

AAAAAH Wu being in a music theater program in RCU is actually a great idea. Being a composer or writer totally tracks for me. His lil rhymes he came up with while singing on the spot were actually delightful and clever!!! I love his silly badgermole songs and I don't think his singing voice is too shabby either!

Oh my god to that song though what a fun fan project. Wu is well versed in history (citation ruins of the empire) so yeah! He could make the anti-ember island musical retelling of Aangs adventures why not!

You are not sending me too many asks. I feel like I'm annoying begging people to interact with me lol but seriously please send me all your Wuko thoughts I love talking about these guys!!!

(for anyone wondering the supplemental content referenced is from the Avatar Legends TTRPG Republic City book idk if you guys have noticed but I'm kind of obsessed with Avatar Legends lol)

#prince wu #king wu #answered ask #lok

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arashi-no-saxlphone · 25 days

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Hi, not gonna anon for this but self-reporting, I am the "outrageously normal about Asuka" anon that got the confession released a few days ago. I am, as I said, outrageously normal about him and seeing your posts about him have been such fun treats. Like another person who gets it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who gets how silly the little warcrime committer is!!! And how sad he is too because he's this complex mess of emotions :( But that's okay!!! Because his character is such a fun one to study and to just enjoy!! So seeing your takes on him and his story, again, are such treats. It's very nice and it's always refreshing to see that I haven't gone insane looking at him self-exiling to Tir na nOg and going "Hrm, he made a clone that """"improved"""" on his current traits and swapped clothes with this guy like Asuka was going to disappear into sparkly catboy dust" and that someone else has caught on to just how Asuka didn't seem quite ready to keep going with the world now that everything's settling. I hope when Frederick and Jack-O' visit Asuka (and R# probably [if he's not romping around on Earth and visiting the Chicago Rat Hole for the experience]) that they get to have some good talks and start being on at least okay terms. Because they are probably pouring a lot of time and effort into seeing him up on the moon and they all deserve some NORMALCY!!!!!!!!!!!! Some good ol' fashioned road to recovery that Frederick doesn't have to forgive Asuka for but they could at least just... try to mend things and start to heal and move on from the past without forgetting it and and and- Anyhoo, word dump over!!! Have a good day!! :D

YEAAAH it is SUPER vindicating to encounter so many other Asuka fans who read his character and draw similar conclusions that I do about him - he's super complex and VERY sad and I think unfortunately that all gets missed or written off cause "everything is his fault" which isn't even explicitly true (I'm not saying he didn't fuck up at all, but the whole fucking point of Gear's narrative is that humanity keeps doing this to themselves - that whole "blamed the beasts" bit isn't just bullshit as fun as it is to meme it haha).

I hope for the same in regards to what you said about Frederick and Jack-O; I'm pretty confident that with the crazy commercial success of Strive as well as the amount of hanging threads we have with other characters that leave more to be explored that we will probably get another game, and also that means we'll have more Asuka development and healing (after all, we've seen that much in great detail with characters like Testament and Aba, who weren't even present in the story for Strive). I think it's also clearly hinted at in his arcade story that Asuka IS starting to "get it" and is clearly capable of learning and changing - he's always had Frederick to look up to in that regard, and R# even mentions it as he's engaging with the battle data of other characters.

Thank you for this ask! Asuka is a really fucking good character and I got pretty obsessed with trying to understand him - I'm always happy to see other people share that passion for him and have ideas of their own to contribute that further help my understanding of him as well! Definitely one of the best things about being in the Gear fandom on here has been having my own thoughts expanded by everyone else's takes and comments on my posts.

#sairambles #guilty gear #ggst #asuka r kreutz #yet another sweet ask thank you very much!#also thanks for that asuka confession I love seeing those and being like “Ah see! I'm not crazy! They get it!!”#ask

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jjba-smash-or-pass · 3 months

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Who are your top 5 favorite JoJo characters and why? Who are your least favorite characters?

Alright I'm gonna go into more detail because I love talking about characters <3

1: Foo Fighters. Like I've said before, Kakyoin and them have some similar motifs, namely the motifs of feeling othered from the world and not really having friends until they become a part of the main Jojo group of their respective parts. As a (probably) autistic person and a (definitely) ADHD person, I heavily relate to this message, as I never really feel like I belong unless I'm with my tight-knit friend group. What I like better about FF, though, is that this "otherness" is a key aspect of their personality and characterization, instead of being shoehorned in right before their screen time ends. That, and their overall personality is just more fun. Also nonbinary representation is always cool in my book.

2: Josuke Higashikata. He's the manifestation of my favorite things about Jojo all put into one character. He's got a snazzy outfit. He can switch from silly to serious at a moment's notice. But most importantly, he has a heart of gold and won't stop fighting for peace. The fact that he's a former fictional crush of mine definitely kicks him up a few places as well.

3: Yoshikage Kira. I know I said Josuke includes all of my favorite things about Jojo, but Kira is a manifestation of all the minor things I love about Jojo. He "looks normal" in canon but wears a Bright Purple Outfit. He has really unique dialogue. He's insanely smart. And, of course, he's a needlessly cruel villain. Araki seems to love creating villains that like to kick puppies for fun, and I love seeing them in his work. The funniest part is that Kira would actually just be a normal guy, if not for his urge to kill women. There's a lot of other things about his character I like, but none major enough to mention here.

4: Jolyne Cujoh. I really appreciated seeing her character growth throughout the story of Stone Ocean! Jolyne, like Josuke, has a lot of that fighting spirit and willpower, but instead of fighting for the sake of others (although she definitely does that don't get me wrong), her story is about fighting for the sake of herself. She's been through a lot. She grew up without a father figure. And now, she's stuck in prison for a crime she didn't commit. Her story is about fighting for her own future, fighting to make amends with her father, fighting to free herself and her soul. And in the end, it was her decisions that ended up defeating Pucci.

5: Danny. The bestest boy. Little ouppy. He deserved better.

okay but really my number 5 pick is Iggy. He's a dog who gives absolutely zero shits about humans unless they're giving him coffee gum. But underneath that shittiness is a tenacity that's almost human-like. He reminds me of my own dog, in a way. She's a grumpy old lady who doesn't listen to a word you say unless there's food involved, and she refuses to die. Seriously, she's gotten her little paws on SO much chocolate during her lifespan, and she's had to take a medicine that was supposed to give her leukemia years ago.

And for the sake of not making this any longer than it needs to be, I'll just list my least favorite character from the main cast and then overall.

My least favorite Jojo character from the main cast is Giorno. I feel like there's a lot of missed potential with his character. This is a 15-year-old boy who has both Joestar and Brando blood. There was so much Araki could have done with Giorno that he didn't, and instead created a character with very little personality who was supposed to be the driving force of his part. I think he's part of the reason Golden Wind is one of the most forgettable parts to me.

My least favorite Jojo character overall is Forever the orangutan. His Stand fight could have been really interesting but instead we got a child's bare ass on screen because Forever was a creep. I actually watched the Jojo OVA from the 2000's, and they cut Anne's character out entirely but keep the Strength fight. Because Anne wasn't there they altered how some of the events went down and honestly? It was super cool. I liked it a lot more. And do keep in mind that I don't think Araki was trying to write this as a sexy thing. I do think he was trying to incorporate shock factor though so it's still not very redeemable.

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lesbicona · 5 months

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why is season 6 of community your favourite /genq im just curious !! :]

the short answer is frankie

the long answer is: im very particular about endings, not in that i need them to have specific qualities (like sad or happy or epilogue-esque or what have you) but in that i need them to have narrative intent. we came close to living in a universe where basic story and basic sandwich closed community's story, and as much as i do genuinely like those episodes (mostly for comedy reasons), i only like them in the context of the full show we have now. i was not old enough to appreciate the show as it aired, but looking back i can see opinions at the time of the ending were divided. season 5 in general, honestly, seems close to season 4 in people's minds- in the post you're referencing where i expressed this opinion, season 5 received literally 0 votes. season 4 is controversial, but season 5 commits a worse sin- it's forgettable. (and i do like it, i really liked prof hickey which is truly a take on this webbed site, but this is my impression of the public opinion of it).

so in just existing, season 6 elevates my personal opinion of the show, but i mentioned public opinion in the paragraph prior because season 6 often gets lumped in with 4 and 5 as 'bad'. now while i have my own set of takes about even just season 4 (really guys, it's fine, it's just an ok season of tv in an excellent show, but it's not BAD) i will try very hard not to get into here, it is an objective divide between the widely acclaimed seasons 1 through 3 and the more controversial rest. my opinions of season 6 are very influenced by this, because it's like my little meow meow i must protect from the haters.

i feel season 6 closes up the themes of community, as evolved and changed as they are, in a satisfying way, and gives the characters themselves a logical narrative end. i especially enjoyed the themes of growing up continued from season 5, which are very pressing in a show about college. of course i realize this is a silly sitcom we're talking about, so i'm not saying that it put forward anything groundbreakingly subtle or even new, but any long-running show (especially one which could not keep the entirety of its main cast) that can wrap up so satisfyingly deserves praise.

and yet, because of the season 4 hurdle, which leaves many people with a bad taste in their mouth for the rest of the entire show, it is not as acclaimed as i think it deserves to be. i don't think people realize how much the show was probably going to change in season 4 even without dan harmon's departure. the idealized season 4 in people's minds seems to be season 3 part 2, which could not have happened for a successful season of television. seasons 1 through 3 are all already very different from each other despite being clumped together. yet people despise every single change to the show from season 4 onward indiscriminately. so of course season 6, with its many, many changes, is so far from season 3 that people blinded by the latter's glory cannot even see the former.

but most if not all of the changes season 6 brings are purely beneficial in my perspective. frankie and elroy are excellent additions to the cast; they are great comedic forces, with a strong role in relation to the others. they both play the almost-straight man jeff used to be, normal in reaction to most of the shenanigans of the original cast while bringing in their own insanity. they also represent the aging of the show. by bringing them in instead of, for example, freshmen students, the new, more grown perspective of the show is reinstated. the bits of their lives outside the committee that we get to see are interesting, funny, and bring them depth.

of course in particular im fond of frankie, who's normal to the point of pathology, whose line deliveries have a 90% chance of obliterating me on the spot, and who is just like me fr fr (a lesbian). she does not budge in her responsibilities, leading to her fluctuating role in the eyes of the cast, antagonist in some episodes and co-lead in others. her presence adds something new for each character to compare themselves to, for the better. in particular, annie, jeff and the dean are all improved because of her.

britta also receives some focus she hadn't since a few seasons past, and while i do not agree with the narrative framing of all of it (as clearly the show itself does not side with her in disliking her parents, as much as she, as a character, has proper reason to), the contents are extremely enjoyable to me. getting a chance to analyze the wannabe-therapist's relationship with her parents is perfectly ironic just as a concept.

season 6 offers some of my favorite comedy of the whole show. while my favorite line forever remains "i need help reacting to this" (which i saw you also enjoy <3), i was in tears of laughter at the end of a majority of season 6 episodes on my first watch. elroy's addiction to encouraging white people is absolutely unforgettable.

sorry for the Whole Fucking Essay! the medium answer, which you unlocked by reading the long answer, is: though perhaps not the objective best community has to offer, i love season 6 twice as fiercely to protect it from its undeserving haters. stan frankie, bring me 6 cans of olives, goodbye.

#thank you for the ask <3 #i think this is the most original words ive written on this blog ever #fun fact: wikipedia doesnt count s4 finale as a paintball ep LMAO

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teekays · 11 months

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bless us with your ekky thoughts please and thank you 😌

EKKYYYY my terrible son. my horrible son who hates and bites me

First impression

my first impression of ekky was literally like the comic that's like "awww how cute! OH! he's a little bit fucked up actually!" i saw like. pictures of him and then i actually saw him committing atrocities and i was like wow... a princess who bites. i can get into this

Impression now

more than probably anyone else ekky's whole deal is SO FUNNY to me. because like. he has a terrible personality actually in many ways. he's SO competitive like WILDLY competitive which is saying something because he literally works at the competitive guy factory. not letting your two year old brother win at things to "teach him to appreciate winning more later" is CRAZYYY. he is pouty and insane and a little bit evil but in a fun and silly way. he has bitten before and he will bite again, gladly. and he does all this while looking like a disney prince with those bright pink kissable lips. the way that he made himself a hockey player out of sheer force of will is so fascinating to me like the fact that he will readily admit that he was not good at hockey at all until he was like, 16 but he just worked and worked at it and now he's the guy you want on the ice when you need someone to go unbridled beast mode... in many ways so much more interesting than someone who has heaps of natural talent. descended from a Vibes Guy and becoming his own special brand of Vibes Guy but the Vibes in question are kind of scary? he's my favorite teen mom <3

Favorite moment

this video where he's like. genuinely pissy and mad about his brother "letting their dad win" like bro you are beefing with a teenager 😭😭😭 i don't even speak swedish and i can tell he's mad. something so wrong with him

Idea for a story

the funniest thing about the san jose barracuda is that fundamentally they are just a bunch of coworkers which is true about all hockey teams but the cuda have a vibe that would translate really well to like, an actual job which a lot of teams don't. but i simply think they should all work at a restaurant together complete with the insane interpersonal sexual politics of working at a restaurant. vanderpump cuda ekky is stassi. this has just devolved into saying words but the restaurant idea is so real and true to me. ekky would love unfettered access to a bar soda gun

Unpopular opinion

maybe only unpopular to the sharks front office but give my man a contract. a big one. full time. run him his check. let him bite at the pro level. come on.

Favorite relationship

him and bordy for sure because narratively there is some crazyyy stuff happening there like the previously mentioned "they're destined to play together" and the way that they are both nepo babies but in different ways... fascinating. the alex holtz relationship is also up there tho because like... it could be very "you're the star and i'm just your weird friend" but ekky is like yes i am the weird friend. what about it. the weird friend can control their own narrative.

Favorite headcanon

i think he is, like many of us, a little treat girlie. like he needs a little beverage and a snack to get him through the horrors. you know how it is

#have been dying for a venue to discuss cudas. thank you.#asks

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the-sleepy-conductor · 7 months

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Yooo! New person! It’s always so nice to see new Submas fans around!

Nice to meetcha! Welcome to our silly little community where we’re all a teeny bit crazy over silly train men. 🤏 Just a little.

Can’t wait to see all the cool content you’ll be posting soon! I have a few questions for you!

First, how’d you get into the Submas fandom? How long have you been in it for? And who’s your favorite twin? Unless… it’s BOTH!

I hope you’ll have lots of fun here. We’ve got a ton of cool peeps making cool Submas stuff! It’s incredible, honestly. Our community is so talented, and it’s fun to see everyone contribute something different! Arts, fanfics, EVEN FANMADE MERCHANDISE (the insane amount of Submas pins and charms that I have…)!

I’m excited to learn more about you as you grow! Keep it up!

Hiiii! Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I'm definitely excited to start posting art (and possibly fics) here real soon and get to know other Submas fans better!

As for how I discovered Submas- it's quite an odd story. Roughly 7 years ago my friend showed me a screenshot of N and Emmet, with Emmet running away with N's toy trains. I'll post the picture here in a bit. But I thought it was hilarious and saved it to my own phone. I was a little curious about who Emmet was (especially since it was clear he was associated with trains, which I've loved all my life) but I never really gave it much thought after that. Fast forward to about a day after Legends Arceus released, I meet Ingo. But I didn't know he was Ingo- I thought he was Emmet. I kinda forgot about Emmet over the years so when I saw Ingo I was like "Oh, silly train guy is here. What's his name again? Emmet?" But as the minutes passed I started remembering what Emmet looked like, with the white uniform and smile. And this man looked nothing like him but also exactly like him. I thought maybe I was imagining things, until Ingo introduced himself, and I started to connect the dots: Emmet has a twin.

So I do more research and find out they're known as the Subway Bosses, from Pokemon Black and White (my favorite Pokemon games) and that they're Battle Facility leaders. I start looking into them more, finding Battle Subway fanart and reading fics, and as I played Legends Arceus more I became super attached to Ingo. And it wasn't long before I got attached to Emmet too! I started to really fall down the Submas rabbit hole in late February 2022- February 22nd to be exact, as that was my first Multi Battle with Ingo and Emmet. (I got destroyed lol)

Oh yeah here's the photo I mentioned earlier:

I kinda laugh at the thought that this photo introduced a future favorite character, and that it had such a big effect 7 years later.

As for which twin I like more... It's both! There's something to love in both Ingo and Emmet, and I'll probably make a ramble post in the future about everything I love about them!

(Also I completely relate to the collection of Submas merch, my Battle Subway sticker book arrived today lol)

I'm definitely looking forward to posting some art and rambles, and getting to meet others who are in the Submas community!

#submas #subway boss ingo #subway boss emmet

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goosemagician · 10 months

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so I was in a silly goofy mood and got the spontaneous inspiration to make yet another anti-hero playlist

I'm kinda hyperfixated on this au and idk why lmao

it might just be the fact that it takes all the sad about tpoh and wraps it up in a nice little ball

and then proceeds to punt it at your face and break your nose

I love emotional agony

anyway this one's sad now and sadly not as tailored to the content it's meant for 'cause all the depressing songs are either about heartbreak or self-hatred but at least self-hatred fits

anyway https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ytFKB5AUv4C53amQ7LOgZ

pls mention if I actually hit the nail on its head with any of these songs I would love to know

oh my GOODNESS AAAAALSDKFJLKSDJF

YES YES A MILLION TIMES YES

okay spewing thoughts below the cut here we go buckle in

"Marceline, is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world? That must me so confusing for a little girl," LITERALLY ONE OF THE FIRST SONGS I LISTENED TO WHEN THINKING OF THIS AU YOU KEEP READING MY MIND AAAAAAAA

"I need to save you, but who's going to save me?" RGB raised this child at the END OF A WORLD that he LOVED and now it's GONE AND DEAD and it MIGHT BE ALL HIS FAULT (at least he's convinced that's true) and he doesn't feel like he deserves Hero at ALL and he wants so badly to be there for her but this man NEEDS A SUPPORT SYSTEM SO BAD AAAA

"A sadness runs through him" is also a SUPERB sad RGB song. It's beautiful and elegant just like him but also so deeply heart-wrenchingly aching AAUUUGH

"Bird Song" SUCH a good Hero song. "Well I didn't tell anyone, but a bird flew by. Saw what I'd done he set up a nest outside." She holds so much guilt for the end of the world. She's constantly trying to stomp down all of her feelings because she believes, at least subconsciously, that having feelings that are anything but "good" and "pleasant" automatically make her a bad person, which she tries so hard not to be but, at the same time, tells herself that she is BECAUSE of this. She's ANGRY and SAD and DESPERATE but if she ignores it long enough, then maybe it'll go away--maybe she can learn to live with it and the way it drags her stomach to her toes or eats away at the light that once resided inside her.

We all know how that turns out ;)

"The Dark" by Ethan Jewell. oh BOY.

"She whispers in my ear why have you done this, and what have you done? Why couldn't you have made the right choice for once?" RGB and Hero are SUCH guilt ridden characters its INSANE. There's a particular argument in this story that's pretty much this line verbatim. RGB knows Hero isn't wrong for being upset that she was the one chosen to be "The Hero," and that's what hurts. He shouldn't have chosen her, but if he hadn't it would have just been someone else. He didn't know her when he chose her, but now he does, and he'll regret that decision the rest of his life, even if it allowed him the happiness of raising her and taking care of her and being by her side. She's been through so much because of that one choice he made, and RGB will have one hell of a time forgiving himself for that.

"It's hard to get out of a hole when they take away your rope." Hero WAS his rope, until she sacrificed her heart for him and was consumed by, well, Hate. "This can't be happening. No, this can't be real." The very person he's sworn to protect, the person who broke down his walls and taught him what it means to push forward when everything pulls you back, the person who made him take back every rule he'd ever made for himself, like "not getting attached," has been ripped from him and turned on him, spewing his own self-hatred right back at him from the mouth of his DAUGHTER. The daughter he doesn't deserve to have or to love as much as he does and yet. She has been his PURPOSE these past twelve years. The world he dedicated his life to at least try to save has ended. So now he dedicates his life to this little girl who shouldn't be here, yet is anyway. He lives his life in apologies, trying to make up for the fact that she's still in this broken world with such a broken man for a father figure. Owie wowie.

"Monster" by Dodie. Hero has deliberately done a moral u-turn. If she can't be a Hero, she'll be a Monster. THAT'S KNIGHT HERO THAT'S WHY SHE EXISTS AAAAAAAAA

I have a PLAN for the song "Trust Me Not." It's LITERALLY a conversation between Knight Hero and RGB it's PERFECT

"Heart for Brains" by Roar. "Life's hard when you're soft." Even though Hero wears a VERY similar mask to RGB, thinking she's a monster and trying so hard to act tough and hard and be everything this new dead world demands her to be, underneath it all, she's still just Hero. She's that kind, caring, empathetic girl we all saw and loved. Tweens in general are incredibly angsty but Tween Hero gets it BAD because of this exact reason. She cares, and she doesn't want to because it hurts. The end of the world hurt so many people and took so many lives and she blames herself for that every single day. The SAME EXACT PROBLEM RGB HAD UNTIL THIS POINT. he cared. He didn't want to. So he WOULDN'T. (But he did. Or else he wouldn't have raised an entire child). Hero and RGB are little microcosms of each other and I find it so DELICIOUS story wise.

"A Soreness so Familiar it Soon Becomes Unquestionable" by Crywank. THE WAY THESE SONGS HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD IS REMARKABLE??!! "The choice between attack or to apologize. I find contrived white lies so no more anger will arise. The harmony isn't mutual but maybe I am condescending," The TUG OF WAR going on inside of Hero is REDONK and this is PERFECT.

Long story short, I think you're a mind reader and thank you so so so so much for sharing this!!!

#tpoh #the property of hate #tpoh au #Anti-Hero AU #long post #AAAAUUUUUGHHHHHH I LOOOOVVVEEEEE #thank you so much again for the brain food I am eating so good #goosehonks #theroboticxyz

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gaywatch · 17 days

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Hi Brittany! I hope you're doing well ❤️

I've been watching your reading livestreams for so long that I've kinda been taking for granted how good a reader you are? You read very clearly and smoothly. I was wondering how you got this good? Cause I am trying to improve my own reading skills.

Also have you ever recorded any podfics? You'd be so good at that.

This means a lot anon, thank you! I had a hunch I was improving over time, but it can still feel like all I do is constantly stumble/mispronounce things. (Stumbles are expected to a certain degree when you're reading something out loud for the first time.)

And I have good news! Getting good is just a matter of practice. At this point I've read at least 15 books on stream (around 1.5 million words), and I'm sure if you went back and found the first time I started reading MDZS out loud that it's...an experience. I may have had a little leg up since I'm a writer and reader of several genres, though I'm guessing anyone interested in doing it themselves is already a book lover.

Aside from sheer experience, here are some notes/tips:

-If you're aiming to read aloud for an audience, practice by yourself for a couple of books first. Just diving in and making the first thing you've ever read aloud also the first time you read aloud for people is a bit much. I mean, it's exactly what I did but I'm silly and also insane.

-I don't recommend starting with books translated from Chinese, of all things, because that definitely felt like diving into Hard Mode head first. It wasn't just the Chinese names and locations, MXTX also tells stories in a way my Westernized brain wasn't used to and had to learn. Please be kinder to yourself than I was.

-Don't worry about the stumbles I mentioned. Breeze right by them as best you can. I like to crack a joke if I hit several snags in a short period, but you don't have to acknowledge it all. Correct yourself and keep moving, it's not a big deal.

-I have some experience with improv and performance (I wanted to be an actor back in the day and went to school for it), which came in handy imo. Staying open, alert, present, and ready to respond to anything that could happen without getting tense is a good mindset to develop if you find that kind of go-with-the-flow energy difficult.

-Over time you'll develop better on-the-fly instincts and your mouth will get used to the general rhythm of paragraphs, dialogue, scenes, etc. You should notice the readings getting smoother, but everybody learns at a different pace so don't heap expectations onto your progress.

-It's a bit like riding a bike, in that you won't know what feels Right until you experience it. I definitely clocked the first time I read a paragraph clearly, effectively, and in a way I felt appropriately conveyed the drama of the moment. Once I did, I had something to aim for. You're never gonna read every single paragraph to perfection (that takes rehearsal) but the goal is to keep improving your hit ratio.

-Warm up your mouth/vocal chords before hand. I'm saying this one in the mirror.

-If you wanna be really dedicated, research what goes into being a good voice actor. They'll talk about things like rhythm, pitch, accents, and all the different ways you can play around with your voice, even on a basic level. (You don't have to mess with accents if it's not your thing. There are tons of ways to put on a distinct voice without an accent.)

Hope this helps <3

#GW Asks #Reading #re: pod fic #I'd have to find one that wasn't too long that I *REALLY* cared about but I'm def open to it #or hell I might make a podfic out of my own work #I just realized that's an option lol

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hannahwashington · 5 months

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hiii kiddo 1 free pass 2 go insane about Anything U Want

hi i love you <3 so i fucking love crash bandicoot right. he's my silly little guy. he's so full of love. i'm going to ramble about crash for a bit methinks. in crash 4, a major plot beat is the main villain of the series (who up to that point in the timeline had spent the whole time trying to kill crash and take over the world) is forced to team up with him. crash's first instinct is to pull him into a big ass hug. no hard feelings there. and i guarantee there were no hard feelings when he inevitably betrays crash, because they team up AGAIN in a later game in the timeline (though the circumstances of their teaming up are way, way more silly that time).

here's the thing. the villain - cortex - made crash. ignoring the end of crash 4 (which makes use of time travel shenanigans and changes the perspective on something quite important, and also crash 4 actively says 'who cares if any of this is canon, just have fun'), all crash was up to that point was cortex's most atrocious failure. crash was supposed to be the general of cortex's army and be used to take over the world. but something went wrong - and crash became this goofy, loving, chaotic guy. powerful, yes, but not quite the type for villainy. it feels poetic that his biggest failure - and cortex has had resounding successes, like creating an actual bandicoot super soldier in wrath of cortex, or utilising time travel in warped, and even the competency of his evil daughter/niece (it's not a long story at all but not relevant to explain here) - would come back to bite him so much.

heck, even those 'successes' i mentioned get taken from him because of crash. super soldier? by the end of that game, he becomes a part of crash's found family. time travel? crash and co. also figure out time travel, and in the true ending of the game send cortex on a one-way trip far, far back into the past. Also as a baby to be extra insulting. Nina - his daughter/niece - is WAY more competent than he ever was, almost succeeding in her own plans in crash of the titans, only to be thwarted (shocker). in the sequel to that, mind over mutant, nina actually helps crash out a bit (not before pranking him, though, which is really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things). it's also a super popular headcanon that nina isn't all that into following cortex's footsteps and is on good terms with the bandicoots outside of game plots. so, yeah. crash is cortex's biggest failure and biggest pain in his ass (deserved imo).

and this isn't even to mention crash's little sister, coco. so smart that she's voiced by jimmy neutron for majority of her appearances (i am not joking). also a creation of cortex, and also made to be a general. guess what! despite seemingly being a success due to her incredible smarts, she was too smart for cortex. smart enough to gain her own sense of morality and book it. at least, that's what i think happened. she isn't present in crash 1, then appears in crash 2, and her origin isn't fully explained until crash 4 (of which i have not finished playing her origin... oopsies!! also, crash 2 came out in 1998, and crash 4 came out in 2020, which is why i say it took so long - there were a lot of games between them but crash 4 took up the numbering system again and placed itself before all the games following the original trilogy timeline-wise). what's great about modern coco is that she's silly goofy like her brother. the older games made her a bit more prissy and stuck-up, so i appreciate the change. she also loves fiercely, i'd say, but she doesn't trust quite as easily as crash does (bless 'im). hey while i'm on the topic of the bandicoots lemme bring up the super soldier, crunch.

he is a brute. big, powerful, and catering to cortex's every whim. he is able to handle the elemental masks, super powerful beings that were purposefully locked away for how dangerous they were. in wrath of cortex, his goal is to destroy crash and take his rightful place as cortex's right hand man. and then crash beats him. and - guess what! he was under the influence of mind control. even the creation that had the biggest and best chance of defeating crash would have immediately been a resounding failure without it. also, after joining the found family, crunch acts like the older brother to crash and coco, which is hilarious considering he is younger than both of them (if you consider how long he has been lucid for, which is the 5th game onwards chronologically. we don't know exactly when his body was made but he only awoke in wrath of cortex).

also remember how i said crash is powerful. strength wise yeah but do NOT let a turtle touch him. he disintegrates instantly. also he has a girlfriend that is modelled after pamela anderson. we did not see her for like 20 years until the remakes of the original games. shes got blue hair and pronouns and #trauma in crash 4. also crash has a penchant for eating super powerful artifacts because why not. god forbid he have hobbies. a hug from him would heal me. when i hear marimbas i think of him. i just scrolled back up and holy shit this is a long answer. well. you gave me permission to go mad so there. crashe bamdicoote <3

#HEY SINCE WHEN DID THEY ADD READMORES ON MOBILE #did i even say anything substantial about this series. who knows. bandicoot girls of tha world #ask #answered #raedas #mutuals :)

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