#it might be nerves as we get into blatant

[oceandiagonale]

AT LAST, ONE GUY HAS REALIZED AT LEAST SOMETHING.

✨💡✨

#oceandi arts #generic protagonist #the aRRRc #guzma #plumeria #champion protagonist #noodle the typhlosion #celebi #it's . it's friday or tuesday somewhere fjksdhfkjsd #something about this arc is making me even slower than usual #it might be nerves as we get into blatant #skulljeans shipping #territory skdjhfjksdh #swearing cw

[norrizzandpia]

Showing You My Love (LN4)

Summary: McLaren’s forced Lando into a PR stunt of a relationship and his girlfriend, Y/n, back into hiding just when she was ready to go public.

Warnings: language, a condom, angst, a sort of break up, but happy ending

Note: not a request IM SORRY this one isn’t as slay as i can do but i just rlly wanted to get something out bc I haven’t posted in a while and miss yall 🫶🏻 this one’s storyline is quite complicated because Lando is in a PR relationship whilst also having an actual gf sooo have fun? ALSO SMUT FLUFF AND ANGST FOR BOTH LANDO AND OSCAR WILL BE COMING SOON I HAVE LESS THAN A WEEK OF SCHOOL LEFT SO JUST BEAR WITH ME 🙏🏻

“Lan?” Y/n shouts as she walks through the door of his apartment, a large smile on her face as she prepares to ask him a question that could set anew relationship.

She hears a soft sigh before he responds, “In here.”

She travels to the living room to find her boyfriend sitting on the couch, his head buried in his phone.

She sits hesitantly next to him, newfound nerves erupting in her stomach.

“Can I talk to you?” She whispers, his blatant disregard for her presence told her this might not be a good time to breach this particular subject.

He nods nonetheless, waving his hand slightly to signal her continuation, “Sure, what’s up?”

She takes a deep breath, the fact that his eyes aren’t on hers makes her want to back out. She perseveres, although, hands clasped in her lap as she asks, “Do you think we could go public? With our relationship, I mean.”

At this, he freezes. Lando’s fingers stop flying over his phone’s keyboard and he slowly turns to stare at her.

The words try to fall from his lips, but they stop right at the cusp. Lando watches as she retreats into herself, a reality check that cuts deep in her heart as he looks to be rejecting her proposition.

“I…” He hesitates, “I can’t.”

Her eyebrows contort, “Why?”

His phone raises to her face, his hand shoving it in her eyeline to see the text conversation he had been having with Zak before she had sat down. Her gaze floats over the blue bubbles for a moment before she understands and her heart sinks.

“I don’t understand.” She does, though. She just can’t bring herself to accept it.

Lando forces her to, “They want me in a relationship, but a PR stunt. A girl named Olivia, they said.”

Her nails rips at the skin of her thumb, “Why not me?”

“It’s good for the team, baby. She’s a big name, her dad is a big investor. I have to do this.”

It hurts too much to ask, “What does that mean for us?”

He nods, “I knew you were going to ask me this. This doesn’t mean anything for us. It just means that we have to stay quiet for a little while longer. I’m still your boyfriend, Y/n.”

She huffs, “Just in private.”

His arms slithers around her shoulders, a touch so cold she wants to shove it away, “I’ll always be yours. Anywhere. Anytime.”

Sure, let’s see if that proves true, she thought.

—

Olivia is a woman of many things. Kindness is not one of them.

From the moment she steps foot into Lando’s life, Y/n is her main target. From backhanded compliments to obvious jests at her, Y/n watches as Lando lets it all go unsaid.

“Y/n?” Olivia’s voice rings in Y/n’s ear as she stops her staring at Lando.

Turning her head, Y/n smile is strained, “Yes?”

Olivia cocks her head and the sinister look looms beneath her blue eyes, “You’re sitting too close to Lando. Remember, he’s my boyfriend outside. Anybody could see you eyefucking him right now.”

Y/n analyzes the situation. At a lunch table in the paddock, Lando sitting to her left, Olivia to her right, fans and employees scattered amongst the ground below them, Y/n feels her tolerance break a bit more.

She slides her chair across the ground, a dry screeching ringing her ears and drowning out the anger toward the two people sitting closest to her.

Olivia, the woman she loathes, and Lando, the man she hates that she loves. Since the beginning of their act, Y/n has understood where her place is, or at least she has understood from the constant reminder from all people involved. Lando, Olivia, Zak, and Jon have made it their duty to remind her of her image as Lando’s best friend, nothing more.

In the beginning, she felt as though she meant a bit more than just nothing, but, as she sits between the couple as they share small talk, she feels to be falling behind.

A sort of feeling that plasters her heart on the wall and spreads it around until its pieces and bits are left on the ground.

A sort of feeling that forces her to grab her purse and leave the table, mumbling an excuse of wanting to find Oscar, the only other man she knows throughout the paddock.

The feeling worsens when Lando smiles at her, nodding his head along as if there’s no problem.

There’s a wetness pooling in her eyes that begs to differ, that counters Lando’s implications.

🏎️

Y/n finds Oscar in his driver’s room, his body hunched over the bench as he texts Lily on his phone. When he hears the creaking of the door, his eyes lift and begin to soften when they take in Y/n.

“Hey! What’s up?” He cheerfully says, the tone making Y/n draw in a breath as she plasters a smile on her face.

She plops down on his massage bed, “Nothing! Just bored.”

At that, he seems confused, “Where’s Lando? He isn’t free? I feel like it can’t get boring with him.” He chuckles.

She smiles softly, head falling down to stare at her hands in her lap, “He’s with Olivia. Thought I’d give them their space.”

She raises her eyes when she hears Oscar let out a scoff. He stares at her blankly before groaning, “I’m so sorry, I know she’s Lando’s girlfriend and all, but, oh my god, Y/n, I can’t stand her.”

Her teeth shine from her giggles, “Ah, she’s okay. She’s not that bad.”

Oscar deadpans, “Y/n, she asked you how much your Chanel purse was and then told you hers was more expensive.”

Y/n shakes her head, eyes falling back down to her lap, “Yeah, that wasn’t her finest moment.”

“It would make more sense for Lando to date you.” He whispers. Whether he meant for her to hear it or not, Y/n doesn’t know. Regardless, she acts as if she doesn’t, not wanting to have to create a situation where she has to genuinely lie to one of her friends.

As if she hasn’t been doing that for the past year she’s been with Lando.

Lying to every person she cherished most was the worst thing to ask of her. There was a resentment that brewed below the love she had for Lando because of the things he made her give up for him.

“Are you staying for the race? I know it goes pretty late into the night.” Oscar pipes up when a silence encompasses them.

She shakes her head, “No, I’m going to go back to the hotel after this.”

“Oh, too bad.” Oscar sighs as he gets up from his seat, walking over to her and peeking in her bag.

Y/n’s eyebrow inches up, “What are you doing?”

Oscar plants a sly smile on his face as his hand lightly pushes the bag open further, “Got any gum in here?”

She laughs loudly as he continues to search through her bag, less ashamed now. She’s keeled over when she hears him cackle. Y/n looks to see Oscar clasping a small package in his hand, a large smile on his face as he stares in disbelief.

“A condom?! Why do you have a condom?!” He screams, which warrants Y/n to slap her hands over his mouth.

She whispers, “Shut up!”

Oscar's mouth slobbers over her palms as he continues to laugh, “Who are you planning on sleeping with here, Y/n?”

She draws a blank, saying the one thing that comes to her mind, “He isn’t involved with F1.”

Another lie added to the pile she agitatedly sits on.

Oscar draws back, “Oh? There’s an actual man in the picture?”

She grins slightly, grabbing her bag and moving toward the door, “And you wonder why I’m leaving early.”

Oscar stays there, still chuckling at the leftover condom in his hand.

🏎️

Hours later, Lando is running around the paddock like a mad man, stopping random strangers to ask if they had seen Y/n.

Oscar stands off to the side when he hears Lando’s frantic voice behind him, petrifying an innocent fan asking for a simple photo. He waltzes over, hand coming to clasp Lando’s shoulder before saying, “Why don’t you just take the picture, mate?”

Lando turns his head, eyeing Oscar before fully moving his body the other way, “Do you know where Y/n is? I haven’t heard from her at all.”

Oscar looks at Lando blankly, “She left. You didn’t know?”

Lando steps back, “Left? No? What?”

Sensing that there is more to this discussion, he leans around Lando and grabs the fan’s phone. He shuffles Lando and the fan into the frame before snapping the picture, ushering the fan away gently.

When they’re left alone, Oscar questions, “How come you didn’t know? It seemed like a set plan when she told me. She’s going to meet some guy, she said.”

Lando’s eyes bulge, “What?”

The tone is low, intimidating and it makes Oscar doubt the platonic dynamic of the two.

“She hasn’t answered your calls? Have you tried to call her?” Oscar changes the subject, not wanting to realize something when Lando actively has a girlfriend.

Lando shakes his head, “No. Who’s this guy?”

“I don’t know, Lando. She didn’t say anything about him. Ask her about it later. After the race.” Oscar tries, knowing Lando’s presence is direly needed in a few minutes when the lights go out on the track.

Lando huffs, “Fine.”

He walks off, clearly irritated at Y/n’s disappearance.

Oscar watches the scene play out in front of him.

Lando’s figure vanishes from sight.

Then, out of the corner of Oscar’s eye, Olivia’s eyes stay on Lando’s distress before he goes out of sight. She leans against a wall, a smirk on her face that reads something dark.

She shakes her head, tapping away at her phone, as she snickers to herself, seemingly satisfied with her boyfriend’s response.

In the sea of people, Oscar is the only person to witness her behavior.

In the sea of people, Oscar is the only person to see Lando’s and Olivia’s relationship in a different light.

In the sea of people, Oscar is the only person to question what really goes on behind closed doors.

—

“Shit fucking race. Shit fucking day. Shit fucking year. Jesus fucking Christ.” Lando whispers to himself as he unlocks the door to his hotel room.

When he enters through the threshold, the lights are completely out, the only light being the soft sunlight bleeding through the curtains. Y/n’s body lays cuddled under the blankets of the bed and the sight melts Lando’s heart, no matter how disappointed he is in her lack of support today.

He checks the clock, noticing the blaring 7 that makes him feel more comfortable waking Y/n up.

“Baby,” He says lightly, hands shaking her body softly, “Love, wake up.”

She groans under his touch, body crouching further under the bed sheets before her eyelids flutter open.

She looks at him in a raw way that makes him feel exposed, her piercing gaze striking his soul permanently.

“Where’d you go?” He asks as she sits up, blankets still wrapped tightly around her cool body.

She sighs, “I left, Lando.”

“So I heard. To go meet a man, might I add.” He says. Although, this time, it continues to be soft, but there’s a passive undertone that communicates the feeling of abandonment.

She shakes her head, “No, that’s a lie. Just like we are.”

He rears back, “Excuse me?”

His hands are wound tightly across each of her arms and they flex under her skin as the truth lingers in Lando’s ears.

Y/n groans as she pulls herself away from him, “I can’t do this anymore.”

“What? Me? Us?” He adds, his body standing up and towering over her.

She mimics his movement, the sheets falling from her shoulders as she extends her limbs, “Everything, Lando. This whole situation! I was so fucking stupid to think that you being in a PR relationship while we were together was something that could work.”

Lando shrugs, “What are you talking about?! You’ve never told me it wasn’t working!”

Her jaw drops open, “You thought this was working?! You thought I was fine with you parading around outside with another girl? Something I’ve wanted for way too long!”

“Y/n, this is bullshit! It’s on you for not telling me how you were feeling!” He remarks, hands being shoved inside his pockets as they bicker back and forth.

She rubs a hand over her forehead, “No, it’s not bullshit, Lando! You’re bullshit! This whole fucking relationship is bullshit! It’s been a fucking lie from the moment it started! I don’t want to be a part of that.”

He sits back down, head in his hands as they pull at the strands, “I don’t know what to tell you, Y/n.”

She stands, vulnerable and helpless, before him as she whispers, “Do you know what it feels like to feel like the other woman when you’re supposed to be the main one? Do you know what it feels like to feel like a dirty secret, something to be ashamed of and hide from prying eyes? Do you know what it fucking feels like to feel so incredibly alone next to a man who is supposed to give you the world? It feels like shit, Lando. You make me feel like shit. You and Zak and Jon and Olivia and everyone else tied to your name. You all make me feel like shit.”

There’s a tear that falls from Lando’s eye as he wills himself to look her in the eye, “I still want to give you the entire world.”

“You can’t.”

The weight of her statement and the hard way she says it breaks him. She stopped living in delusions long ago and he stayed in a land where having her was possible.

“I’m sorry,” He says, watching her put clothes on and grab her suitcase.

“I know you are.” She responds, a beat passing before she whispers back, “I’m sorry too.”

Her definitive statement achingly stays with him as he watches her gather her things and call an Uber.

“Where are you going to go?” He says softly, almost as if breaking the silence will break them further.

“My sister’s house. You know, you remember cause I told you, she lives a few hours from here.”

He nods, “Text me when you get there?”

She stands at the door, he stands with her, and she shakes her head, “No, Lando.”

She walks out the door, Lando grabs her arm, “Is this it? I don’t understand. Are we…” He can’t bring himself to say it.

She breathes, “I’m not sure either, to be honest. I know I said I couldn’t do this anymore with you, but it’s not that easy and I know what we have. I’ve never felt this before. I just need some time and space from you, from this world. I need to decide if staying is really worth the situation I’ve been put in.”

She walks further down the hall and Lando watches her, a few more sentences lingering in his brain that has him wishing he had said them to her.

He doesn’t get a chance to say them, however.

The elevator doors close before he can get them out.

—

There’s loud cheering and sounds of yells as Lando throws off his helmet, a large smile on his face as his first race win seeps under his skin.

He throws his body into the group of his mechanics, hugging his favorite people, and when he turns, expecting to see his favorite girl, he sees Olivia instead.

He tries to hide his disappointment as he hugs her, her body not fitting the way Y/n’s had.

There’s a silence that falls upon him as he gazes upon the thousands of people yelling his name and he’s hit with a deep wave of grief.

Grieving over the loss of his best friend, the loss of his girlfriend, the loss of the love of his life, the loss of his Y/n.

Images of her dance in his head as Mark Webber ushers him over, a microphone in each hand as he smiles at him.

A memory of the time she told him all the things she loved about him because he was feeling inadequate plagues his brain as Mark congratulates him.

“Lando! Stellar job here today in Silverstone! How does it feel to have your first race win?” Mark inquires, shaking Lando’s shoulder lovingly.

Lando hesitates to answer because, frankly, it fucking sucks. He meets Jon’s eyes and the man looks as if he’s lost himself. Jon stares at him with a deep gaze, a look Lando recognizes as the way Jon looks when he’s utterly ashamed of himself. Lando can already tell what he’s about to mouth before Jon’s lips begin to move, “I’m so sorry.” He says inaudibly.

The Brit takes the three words as a green light. The confirmation he can get his girl back.

“Not great.” Lando says into the microphone, the crowds falling silent at his surprising words.

Mark frowns, “Oh? Why’s that? This is a happy day!”

Lando shakes his head as he looks down and sighs, “You know, I always thought I would be so over the moon to win my first race, but, as I stand here, a trophy awaiting me, I genuinely feel so disappointed. I feel disappointed because I’ve lost sight of the one win in my life that I lost so stupidly. My best friend, Y/n, as everyone knows her, was never my best friend. I mean, she was my best friend, but she was also my girlfriend, somebody I was incredibly in love with. Somebody I am in love with. Shit, this is so messy and so hard to condense into this short interview, but I have to say it. Olivia and I were a PR stunt. There were individuals that wanted me to be dating someone of a higher status, something Y/n doesn’t have. She was forced to sit through four months of excruciating pain because Olivia and I were being shoved in her face. Y/n is one of the strongest people I know, the fact she was able to go through that with a straight face proves that. But, I can’t let what she told me the night she left me go unsaid.” Lando looks into the camera, as cheesy as he knows it is and says what he had wanted to tell her that night as the elevator doors cut him off, “Y/n, you are not the other woman. You are not a dirty secret and you are not alone. You are the complete opposite of all those things. You are the one person I’ve ever truly loved; the one person I want to spend the rest of my life with; the one person I cannot live without; the one person that I cannot bear hurting. I’ve hurt you, I know that, a lot of people involved in this have and I hate that. I hate that I didn’t stop what was going on, fight back against what they were asking me to do. I’m so sorry. If I could redo it, I would. I would say no to it all and go public with you. I would tell you a thousand times yes that night on the sofa when you asked me if we could go public. I would do it all so differently because, maybe I didn’t before, but I know what I’ve lost now and I will fight so much harder for us, harder than I did that night you walked out because I have been in love with you for so long. I’ve waited for you my entire life, even before I knew who you were. I’ve waited for the person I ended up settling down with, waited for the person who stole my breath. I’ve waited for you and I’m not going to let that go to waste. I was dick and I took you for granted. Please let me show you that that was never the way I wanted to treat you, that I can love you better than that. Please let me back in. It’s public now, baby. Public and I don’t want that to ever change.”

Mark smiles brightly at him as the crowd behind them cheers deafeningly, “Young love, yeah?”

Lando nods, “Yeah.”

🏎️

Caroline sits on the arm of the couch next to Y/n, mouth agape. Y/n mirrors her expression, blanket wrapped around her legs as Lando retreats from the frame.

“What just happened?” Caroline, her sister, asks. There’s a small smile on her face as the shock wears off.

Y/n shakes her head, her hands already trying to find her phone, “I don’t know.”

The two watch as Lando is presented with his trophy, the camera zooming in on him as he mouths, “This one’s for you, love.”

Y/n is smiling so hard it’s painful and her sister watches her with delight. When the champagne spraying is done and the feed ends, Y/n leaps from the couch.

“Did you see that?!” She exclaims, giddy laughter over the one thing she had yearned for and finally got.

Caroline joins her incessant jumping, “Yes! It’s public!”

The two squeal together, but the noises are cut off when Y/n’s phone rings from between the couch cushions.

Caroline smiles before exiting the room, Lando’s contact photo lighting up her sister’s screen and cueing her leave.

However, she stays in the other room, eavesdropping without a care in the world.

Y/n picks up the phone, shaky hand bringing the device to her ear as Lando’s panting floods through the speaker.

“Y/n? Were you watching the race?” He asks.

She nods, tears in her eyes as she whispers, “Yes,”

He breathes out a sigh of relief, “So, you saw what I said?”

“Yes,”

He’s quiet for a moment, “And… what did you think?”

He hears quiet giggling on the other end of the phone and his heart soars to the sky, “You have a way with words, Lan.”

“Only with you,” He adds, smiling to himself over the girl miles away.

There’s a loud grunt and crash on his side of the phone, one that sends Y/n laughing.

“Let me guess, Olivia?” She tries to which Lando laughs.

“Right on the nail, baby.” He whispers as her yells continue.

“What do Zak and Jon think about this?” She asks after a time.

Lando tuts, “They’re glad to get rid of Olivia. Jon apologized to me the second I got off the podium. He said he wants to apologize to you too. So does Zak. They both do. They know how they went about it all was wrong and Jon went on this whole rant about seeing me as a son and how he would never want to treat his son the way he had treated me. Trust me, love, they’re as on board with this as we are.”

Y/n nods before asking quietly, “You’re on summer break now, right?”

“Yes,”

“What are your plans?”

He smiles, “Taking the first flight to you. Why?”

Y/n laughs, “I was going to ask you if I could come to Monaco, to see you, but it turns out seeing each other is a problem already solved.”

He chuckles along with her, “No, baby, you stay right where you are. It’s time I start coming to you now. Time I start showing you the lengths I’d go to to keep you in my life, to keep loving you.”

She blushes, “That speech sure accomplished that.”

His cheeks redden just like hers, “Oh, love, that’s just the beginning.”

#mclaren #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #f1 fic #lando norris x reader #lando norris imagine #lando norris fanfic #lando norris fluff #lando norris imagines #mclaren formula 1 #lando norris fic #lando smut #lando norris smut #lando x reader #lando imagine #lando norris #lando norris x you #lando norris edit #lando norris fanfiction

[mental-about-you-too]

Crowley + bluffing (+ memory)

Source

A lot of people have written about the indications in S2 that Crowley was once a Very Powerful Angel (specifically, an Archangel). And yeah, some hints are pretty blatant (eg "Thrones, Dominions, or higher"), and there are some sound analyses out there--so it's very possible that he was.

But I don't think that's necessarily the case.

I think that, when it comes to his power (or his bargaining position more generally), there's always a decent chance that Crowley is--at least partially--bluffing.

Source

25 Lazarii

As @halemerry pointed out in this meta about colors, purple is not only the color of massive angelic power--it's also Crowley red + Aziraphale blue (this was a revelation to me).

Source

I think it's made pretty clear that the remarkable power of the 25-Lazarii miracle isn't (in itself) evidence that Crowley was once among "the mightiest of Archangels"--it means that together, Aziraphale and Crowley are as powerful as the mightiest of Archangels.

Source

So when Crowley claims he might have done the "miracle of enormous power":

Source

and Shax doesn't question him, I don't think it necessarily means he's Very Powerful. Maybe he is. Maybe she knows it. But I don't think she does, and I don't think we do either.

Who knows? He could be bluffing.

"I meet a lot of people."

I think something similar could be going on when it comes to Crowley's memory. Yes, memory is a theme in S2, and mention of Crowley's memory (or rather, lack thereof) is a recurring point, so it probably means something. (And the line "looking at where the furniture isn't" does sound like he might be familiar with Jim's experience of amnesia.)

But in the cases of Furfur and Saraqael: sure, maybe he doesn't remember them--or maybe he's just calling them forgettable to be annoying and obstructive.

Source

He doesn't feel like playing along with either of them. He doesn't want to encourage some sort of connection. He's not their friend. Sure--maybe he dismisses Saraqael with "I meet a lot of people" to cover up an actual lapse.

Source

Or maybe he's just being a bit of a bastard (affectionate) and trying to get on their nerves.

In other words: maybe he's bluffing.

And so maybe Crowley was an Archangel. Maybe his memory was erased, and he had to work at recovering it piecemeal. Or maybe he was somebody of respectable power but middling influence (eg a Throne or Seraph, as per this informative meta on angelic rank). Maybe he lost some memory due to trauma, and he puts on a flippant front to hide pain from those who might take it as weakness. Or maybe he remembers everything, and he just enjoys sticking it to power at every opportunity by being infuriating.

Personally, I like to think of Crowley and Aziraphale as institutionally insignificant beings who happen to have enough audacity and imagination (and capacity for Caring About Things) to make themselves everyone's problem.

I don't know, maybe I just like the way book!Crowley and Aziraphale seem to be in similarly-middling positions in their respective organizations, yet still decide to team up and try to avert the apocalypse. Maybe I'm hung up on the underdog narrative, and ignoring evidence. (And/)or, maybe the whole bluffing thing is all very obvious--after all: he's a demon. He lies.

Edit: After writing this, I found this meta by @avelera about the Doylist argument for Crowley being a high-ranking angel, and it's...honestly pretty convincing (I have Pratchettist preferences about Our Heroes' status, it seems). But who knows? Maybe Gaiman will subvert the pattern. Maybe he's bluffing too.

#good omens meta #maybe I'm just being contrary and the signs are all there to be taken seriously #maybe I just like uncertainty #crowley #whoever he might have been #i do feel strongly that he's Crowley now #and that's what matters #good omens season 2 #gos2 spoilers #please tell me if I'm doing tumblr image attributions wrong

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Ok, it's no surprise that I deeply enjoy Much Ado About Nothing as a play (and there are some truly delightful film and filmed staged productions), and there's a lot of talk about the scene between Beatrice and Benedick after Hero and Claudio's aborted wedding (Act IV, scene i).

What I don't see a lot of though, is how Benedick literally accidentally talks Beatrice into asking him to kill Claudio.

Yeah, Beatrice didn't walk into that scene ready to ask BENEDICK to make this right. Let's walk through the lesser-quoted lines from this scene.

We all know the iconic, "Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while," but then we get this little exchange:

Benedick. Surely I do believe your fair cousin is wronged. Beatrice. Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her! Benedick. Is there any way to show such friendship? Beatrice. A very even way, but no such friend. Benedick. May a man do it? Beatrice. It is a man's office, but not yours.

Benedick asking if a man may do "it" is a blatant offer to try to fix things, but it's pretty damn clear at this point in the text that he has big-ass heart eyes and hasn't thought this offer through, because the way to right Hero is to either get Claudio to recant--which he's not going to do because that is going to make him look like an absolute dingus and it will embarrass Don Pedro--or else to kill him in a duel. To ask a man to kill his best friend--even if that best friend is a complete and utter chungus--is cruel. It is one thing to call a friend out for being a dick to Hero, but to ask for Benedick's to be the hand that kills Claudio is a whole other level that Beatrice is going out of her way to excuse him from.

She is explicitly--and correctly, frankly, given the chains of command and power dynamics involved--excusing Benedick from being responsible for Claudio's behavior and correction. And while yes, part of dismantling the patriarchy is men holding each other accountable, murder is not accountability, it's the beginning of a goddamn blood feud. So Beatrice is over here very subtly going "You have clearly not thought this offer through, and I'm not going to ask you to kill your best friend." It is not his office.

And rather than hearing what Beatrice is saying, Benedick goes and MAKES IT HIS OFFICE by declaring his love for Beatrice. Which like...aside from this being not the moment, it just makes it even clearer that Benedick is not actually listening to Beatrice here. His focus is on her, but Beatrice is razor-focused on Hero and the fact that Claudio just more or less ended Hero's life. But here's the other thing.

I subscribe to the "Beatrice and Benedick had a prior relationship before the play and it ended badly" theory, because I think it explains a lot about their dynamics. But that also makes this scene a little bit risky and pointed. Because yeah, while Beatrice warns him not to swear he loves her and then eat his words, if they have a history, then her "Kill Claudio" is not just a request. It's a test.

He already didn't choose her once, presumably for way lower-stakes reasons. So to ask him to choose her, to be on her side, with all of what that means, is a test of a possible new relationship. And it's one Benedict comes perilously close to failing, because of course he's not going to kill his best friend and brother-in-arms.

And just like that, Beatrice is out, because Benedick "dare easier be friends with [her] than fight with [her] enemy." His choice is not her, and she will not be anyone's second choice. Especially given that choosing Claudio means that Benedick is engaging in the infuriating mental gymnastics where Hero can have been done badly wrong, but Claudio somehow isn't Hero and Beatrice's enemy.

This is not a complicated situation; Claudio was absolutely in the wrong, caused harm, and needs to be called on the goddamn carpet for it, and Benedick is over here trying to "both sides" it. I'd have been out too, and then he has the nerve to insist that he and Beatrice be friends before she's allowed to leave the stage! I adore that she then full-on goes off on him, and every single time Benedick tries to get a word in edgewise, Beatrice comes up with another argument and just cuts his ass off. There is no "letting him explain," there is no "I'm just playing devil's advocate," there is no "trust me, I know Claudio." There is only the facts of what happened, and Beatrice hammering them directly into Benedick's head. Lots of productions cut out the attempted interruptions by Benedick in favor of letting Beatrice run with a monologue, but if you look at the text, he tries FOUR SEPARATE TIMES to interrupt her.

But Beatrice just steamrolls on, and the thing is, it works.

Beatrice hits and refutes key arguments that we can just imagine Benedick bringing up. The bullshit logic of him being in a romantic relationship with Beatrice while supporting Claudio's actions. The undeniable public slander of Hero. The bullshit that is slut-shaming and measuring a woman's worth by her virginity. The divide between an "ideal" manhood and the reality of men's behavior. The nonsense that is how easily men are valorized for slandering women. Every point brought up and thrown in Benedick's face until he is left with only one final question; the only possible question that could matter at the end of this scene:

Benedick. Think you in your soul the Count Claudio hath wronged Hero?

And Beatrice is very, very sure. Which ultimately is enough for Benedick to choose her, and agree that yeah, Claudio needs to be called out and corrected, and he is now on board with taking that responsibility.

It is kind of wild to me that this scene begins with Beatrice trying to protect Benedick from the reality of the situation, and insisting that if he wants to be in love with her, if he wants to be in her life again, then this time he has to choose her for all that that means. And as Beatrice makes clear, what that means is a disruption--if brief--of the patriarchy and the status quo. Being with Beatrice means that Benedick has to stop being the prince's jester and stand against toxic masculinity and harmful patriarchy in a real, concrete way.

It's Shakespeare, so that doesn't stick beyond the happy ending, but it is here, and Beatrice really said "if you want to be with me, you have to stand with and for me and the women around me" when it was clear Benedick wasn't taking no for an answer.

#much ado about nothing #william shakespeare #beatrice and benedick

[roseangel19]

More wild Helluva Boss Hot Takes!!!!!!!! (I still have my protective gear on 👍🏻)

[Before I get into this, I just want to say thank you all for your notes, reblogs etc. I was hesitant about making the first hot take post because of this reputation of the fan base being so up in arms when it comes to criticism; but we should normalize having civil discussions on the Internet without the fear of backlash from die hard fans. It’s ok to love something and still acknowledge that it isn’t perfect, that doesn’t automatically make you a hater as well as the opposite side of the spectrum. If you are blindly ignoring the blatant flaws and swearing up and down that the show is perfect, imo you’re deceiving yourself. But hey, if you believe the show is a 10/10 good on you 👍🏻👍🏻😊].

Now on to the hot takes! Woo!

{This might be the last hot take post I make because I honestly can’t think of any more. If anyone has any hot takes they would love to share, please feel free to reply, reblog or message me, thanks in advance ☺️}.

The Goetia Family drama side plot+ divorce side plots are pointless time wasters. The amount of time that’s spent in these storylines is time that SHOULD be put into developing our main cast.

While on the subject of the Goetia, I feel like they’re not being used as a means of getting to know Stolas and his family on a deeper level. Instead, they’re being portrayed as stereotypical jerk rich people. Side rant, how is it that we are two seasons into this show and still don’t know what role the Goetia plays in the overall story? Same with Stolas’ royal duties, we’ve never seen him do his job other than what he did in “Harvest Moon Festival”.

Blitz should’ve slept with Asmodeus instead of Stolas.

The pilot should’ve been the real episode one of season one instead of “Murder Family”.

Nothing in the show would change if Stella didn’t exist. Her character adds/ removes absolutely nothing to the show outside of this family drama storyline; all she does is scream, screech and squawk about how she hates Stolas and wants him killed. Then has the nerve to call him an embarrassment, SHE’S the embarrassment.

The overall cast of characters should be of a more manageable size.

The songs are hit/miss sometimes.

Bee’s design is alright.

“Western Energy” should’ve been the real premiere episode for season two and it should’ve been a 3-4 part special.

Personality wise, Loona has got to be the most inconsistent character on the show (Blitz and Stolas are tied).

Speaking of which, having the show revolve around Stolitz is so detrimental it’s not even funny. HB isn’t a romance series about star crossed lovers from two sides of a societal hierarchy, it’s about an assassination business run by a group of demons in Hell that go to Earth to kill humans on the request of their clients!

“The Circus” should’ve been more focused on Blitz, Fizz and Barbie Wire as well as fleshing out the relationship between Blitz, his mom and Barbie.

This one is more of a concern. I’m concerned about Octavia’s character being solely defined by her being a victim of her parents failing marriage and subsequent divorce. I like her and I would love to see her have stand alone moments outside of her dealing with her parents.

Stella is a horrible antagonist.

“Unhappy Campers” shouldn’t have happened.

All of the sexual jokes and cussing characters do should be used sparingly.

It would be great if the songs were pulled from different genres of music.

#helluva boss #helluva boss critical #hot take #helluva boss critique

[kylejsugarman]

I hate to be the one to do this (blatant lie) but what do you think about Jesse’s physical health in El Camino and what sort of treatment do you believe he may need to recover physically? I think about how likely it is that he is experiencing chronic pain and illness, repercussions of what he’s been through, for the rest of his life and it hits me right in the heart.

(all the furniture flies into the walls) LIKE. ok i acknowledge that my fixation on this part of the narrative is motivated by me being in med school and having been obsessed with pathology and treatment since forever, but its also like this little part of me who wants to fill in every detail and realistically approach EVERY aspect of the story, even the ones that aren't necessarily important to the narrative. like it was way more important to show how jesse gets the money together to escape than what kind of electrolyte solution he needs DFGHDFGH

but yeah :( its hard because i know there's not really a place in the story for this physical recovery to take place, but he would absolutely need intravenous intervention for dehydration and severe malnutrition, especially in the context of electrolyte loss (i am making the horrifically realistic assumption here that he was subsisting on scraps at the compound). he specifically needs sodium and potassium, so he would need ringer's lactate IV fluid or 0.9% saline for initial hydration and so he could actually absorb the nutrients of anything he eats. then we have the matter of all those scars we see at the beginning of el camino and although most of the ones we see are keloided, there could definitely still be open or half-healed wounds and the ones that are "closed" are more likely than not infected due to him Living In A Hole and not having sufficient nutrition or time to rest given jesse was probably still cooking for them up until the very end. even if he wasn't in sepsis from untreated infection, he would at least probably need to go on antibiotics and have his wounds irrigated, disinfected, and properly closed/sutured. if u look at the physical state jesse would realistically be in at the very beginning of el camino, it's insane that he was able to drive away (adrenaline probably) and survive the night at skinny's.

as for the fucking. longer-term :( we know that jesse was physically tortured, not just at the compound but throughout the entirety of the show. based on what we see in the finale and el camino, he didn't have adequate safety gear at all when he was cooking for jack's gang, not even fucking gloves. again (digging my fingernails into tabletop) he was living in a Fucking Pit with exposure to the elements, disturbed sleep, and limited self-maintenance, which is a recipe for general illness and infection. we know that he at least survives long enough to make it to alaska, but it's going to basically be impossible for him to live there for longer than a couple of weeks without medical care. he's probably breathed in a LOT of hazardous vapors that might trigger adult asthma. his immune system is going to be absolutely destroyed. the neurological ramifications of the (many) head injuries he sustained are going to require some kind of intervention and might lead to problems with coordination and walking and memory, as well as migraines. even if his wounds heal correctly and any broken bones/muscle strains are resolved, he's going to experience chronic pain from the injury to his nerves, especially in his back and limbs from the mechanical and nerve stress of cooking while in shackles. he'll probably have more cardiovascular problems earlier in life too.

LIKE. this is so fucking long already oh my god, but its not even like a. idk, its not a torture porn thing for me, its just where my mind goes and how i think about this stuff. jesse is such an important character to me and i know its like a meme that he suffered more than christ and it would be ridiculous and cruel to want to see him suffer any more, but the idea of him actually receiving adequate medical care and having the physical ramifications of everything he's been through properly treated is just as important to me as like him getting the therapy and psychological help he would also desperately need after surviving this. its important to me.

#bookofmajora #ask #syd squeaks #u have opened. this isn't even Pandora's box this is fucking pandora's trunk #jesse pinkman #el camino #ask to tag #long post

[strelitzia-mystery1097]

The Amazing Digital Circus: Human Games

So I want to throw my hat into the ring of TADC AUs so... here's the start of an idea. Please tell me know if you like this! ^-^

Pomni pulled at her jester hat as she spiralled. This place was breaking her. Day after day after day after day. She's already lost so much to this damned digital circus and yet it still takes more and more from her until she abstracts.

The only remotely good thing that came out of this was her friends(?) that try to help in their own ways. Ragatha somehow didn't hate her after she left her for dead at the abstracted Kaufmo's hands (well he didn't really have hands but that's not the point). Instead she's the first to ask Pomni how's she's feeling. Gangle has been showing Pomni her art and excitingly explain about her favourite animes. Zooble lets Pomni chill out in their room when Pomni needs space to keep an eye on her. Kinger has invited Pomni on bug collecting adventures and occasionally a game of chess. Even f#&%ing Caine and Bubble have tried to be accommodating in their terrible but earnest way.

There is just one person who gets on everyone's nerves, including hers.

"Hey Jester, you mind jesting me?"

Pomni looked up to see the lanky rabbit learing over her. Jax was smirking and looking down on her as she's hunched into a ball near the stage. Everyone else is off doing their own thing so it's just them here.

"Can you just leave me alone for once?" Pomni asked as she lookedat her knees.

"And miss one of your entertaining spirals? I don't think so Pom-pom."

...

"Ha... ha ha... hahahahahahaha. HAHAHA... HA... I get it now." Pomni giggled as her mind unravelled slightly.

"Oh?"

Pomni stood up and looked at Jax with hateful pity.

"I'm fine with doing whatever. As long as I get to see funny things happen to people, that's what you said the day we met."

"Yeah? Congrats on remembering but I'm not following your blatant insanity." Jax said as he leaned back and tilted his head, curious.

"You need us. You would break without us."

Jax looked confused before he started laughing.

"Pfft! You really have lost your marbles! I don't need you nutcases for anything."

"You don't like Caine's games. Be being awful and seeing our reactions you stay sane. By causing real reactions from real people you become real."

"Isn't that a bit dramatic? If you're abstracting then can you buzz off because I don't want to deal with that."

"..." Pomni ignored him and just smiled with scribbled out eyes.

"Welp, enjoy your raging insanity. I'll go find someone more funny than you clown." Jax said as he walked away.

When Jax left Pomni had an idea.

"Would it be a bad thing to get Jax off of his f#&%ing high horse?... Nah."

Once Pomni had a clever idea she went to find Caine.

After calling out his name three times Pomni found Caine behind the curtains of the stage with Bubble.

"Ah! Hello Pomni! How is your permanent stay going?" Caine asked.

"It's... fine. Caine, can we talk? I have an idea for an adventure. "

"Of course Pomni! I'm all ears!"

"Not really. You're all eyes-" Bubble said before Caine popped Bubble.

"Yeah... so you are aware that Jax doesn't find your adventures very fun, right?"

"I... am aware of it. He gets quite bored or even destructive when he participates at times. You humans are quite confusing with how differently you all respond to my adventures."

"Well... I got something I want to try out that Jax might like."

"Gazooks! Pomni I haven't seen you be so invested in any of my adventures like this before! Now I'm dying to know what your amazing idea is!"

"Well, I think Jax is probably missing being human, so why don't we play some... human games. Let me explain..."

And that is it for now. Thank you for reading!

#tadc #tadc pomni #tadc jax #tadc caine #the amazing digital circus #the amazing digital circus pomni #the amazing digital circus jax #the amazing digital circus caine #human games AU #tadc bubble #tadc au

[abyislan08]

Traversing Teyvat

Chapter 3: Part 2: An Ice Peacock’s Tears

Synopsis: The Cryo vision holder has a chat with you. The events that unfold are not as expected

Authors note: Ayo, I just had to finish the last part today. The rest were ready along with the part 1. Enjoy my lovelies.

Warning: Not proofread.

<1/2/3.1/3.2>

Masterlist

The Knights were pretty well funded inspite of it being an organisation that doesn’t tax people for its services. The hall’s were grand and the rooms were luxurious. The cavalry captain’s office was no exception. The light streamed in through the huge windows. The curtains were partially closed and the walls were decked with maps scribbles and documents. All in a chaotic manner. Kaeya motioned you to take a seat, smiling in a way that you recognised to be his mask. A few moments ago you he was smiling with amusement, but now it was the same smile, the aura was different. A buzzing sound plagued your ears as you sat down. Was it your emotions or was it the fact that your heart was beating in your throat? Whatever it was, the sound wasn’t helping with the situation at all.

You shuffled towards a familiar chair, the one that you repeatedly created in your serenitea pot, all because you wanted to recreate his office.

Confusion and a numbing sense of shock flowed through Kaeya’s mind. Years had he practiced putting on his mask and yet this sense of foreboding shook him and he could barely conceal his emotions. This familiar face he had seen along with a blond headed traveller, The eyes that had kept on watching over him, the voice that seemed to follow him every time. The entity that he thought was imaginary was now in front of him and all he could do was pretend it wasn’t real. It worked once and it work once again. Right? He rested his arm on his chair while he stood looking at the person sitting awkwardly and refusing to look at him, only archons know why.

“ So, About the horse. Since you were very headstrong on getting him to join my cavalry. I might as well get to know him better. Give me a few more details about this future horse of favonious.” Kaeya gestured, “A cavalry captain has the right to know at least that much doesn’t he?”

“His name is Rugby, Brown and has an affinity for….Philanemo Mushrooms.” Of course you couldn’t tell that Rugby who was actually your dog loved dog biscuits. That wouldn’t be realistic. You hadn’t planned anything after meeting Kaeya. So you had to wing it.

“Philanemo Mushrooms?”

“ Yes, cooked in patties, like how Timmie’s mom prepares it. You should try it once. No wonder why Rugby loves it.” You blinked like as-a-matter-of-factly.

Kaeya didn’t budge, his face was hard to read.

He hummed, “ How long have you been in Mondstadt? You seem to know everyone here. Well, better than me I suppose.”

“ It’s been over an year or so, sir. I don’t think this has got anything to do with Rugby I guess.” You said, trying to wheel him away from finding out that you were here for only three days.

“ Yes indeed, but the knights have to verify your background. You could always be a fraud if we aren’t too careful. Lately suspicious people have been popping up in Mondstadt.” Kaeya stared. Scanning you with his starry eye. “You are a part of the adventurer’s guild aren’t you?”

“ What gave it away? I have been a member for an year and half.” You smiled. Of course that didn’t mean your palms weren’t sweaty and you just wanted this nerve wracking interrogation to end.

Kaeya shrugged, “The boldness. How Bold can a commoner be to actually waltz up to the illustrious cavalry captain with a blatant lie and still believe that the captain actually bought it. Only someone who has ventured into the crevices of adventure can have the audacity. Am I wrong?”

Shit. But yet once again you weren’t surprised, You didn’t main him for over 2 years for nothing. This was expected. You had to play it off cool.

You raised your arms in retreat, “ Welp, you got me. As expected of our beloved Captain.” You smiled, “Now then, Please ask away whatever questions you have, Of course a maiden would want to meet the captain to bask in his glory, and the very maiden will have her own ways.”

Kaeya chuckled, It felt slightly off. It wasn’t his usual suave laugh, It sounded forced.

“Guess you have adventured a lot in the past, would you mind enlightening me with your past.”, Kaeya gestured, “I am quite intrigued for I haven’t heard of a ridiculous name such as Rugby. As far as I know, No nation has such ridiculous names.”

“Uhmm. I’d rather not. It’s a long story and will take up your time.”

“Oh~ But you wanted to spend time with me, did you not? Please go ahead.”

“I do not remember where I come from, But I have visited a few places so far.” You had to give him something or else he might sniff you out. You could narrate your commissions in Inazuma. It might make it sound like you came from Inazuma. That sounded right.

“Oh a child from the land of Electro? Pretty rare in these parts of Mondstadt if you ask me.” Kaeya said in a robotic voice. He didn’t seem to be buying it.

“ That is quite the reason why I chose to come to the city of freedom. The shogunate wasn’t my cup of tea.”

He raised his eyebrow. And smiled, he seemed to agree now. “Yes indeed, The Raiden Shogun seemed to put up quite a fight, getting struck by lightning repeatedly isn’t fun in the long run.”

“ Urghh You tell me.”

“ How’s the traveller?”

“ Going to Sumeru. Going to save another nation now.”

He paused. The room grew colder. Strike.

Realisation dawned. You gave away the fact that you fought the shogun. Wait. How did he know that?

Hold up. Are all the vision bearers self aware?

How come Sara didn’t know you? Is it because she was NPC. What about Katheryne? Why isn’t anything making sense? How far does the self awareness extend to?

Your skin had gone cold. Your heart was hammering and you could barely feel your fingers. A ringing pain in your ears, you couldn’t even hear anything clearly. The world started spinning. What is happening?

“Y/N”,

You stared at your feet. No response.

“ The one who controls us. How did you end up here?” His voice was grave. It was almost close to a hiss.

You remained a statue. The shock seemed to numb you entirely. All you could do was zone out.

“ All my life, I thought that you were a hallucination. A voice that seemed to laugh at me and jeer at the choices I made. At first it felt comforting.” He spoke.

“But, whenever the voice popped up I felt my arms move at my own accord. It was as if I was a puppet.”

Puppet. You heard that loud and clear.

“ Mona Megistus once did tell that we were the pawns of fate and we are played by destiny.I laughed it off. But we both knew that what she said was true. She managed to maintain a straight face, Kudos to the all knowing I presume.”

You looked at him. You never knew the reality. His eye seemed to darken. He looked like a kid, who was told Santa wasn’t real. But here It was his reaction to you being real.

Sorry. I am sorry. That word seemed to be written all over your face.

“ Your presence was comforting indeed. In the darkest of times when no soul seemed to even care glance my-our way, I heard your voice. Crying. Sobbing at my fate.” He continued, “ Maybe you were crying at my fate or you were crying for me. Either ways it confirmed that our fate wasn’t exactly in your hands. But we were.”

That one rainy night, Bloody cold and helpless. As he limped towards a home which didn’t seem to exist at that time, when his whole world was spinning as he clutched the ice orb, he heard the voice for the first time. A weak choked voice whispering No. As if it was his mind screaming. Once he got himself somewhere safe he could hear the same voice comforting him or itself. But for some reason, he felt comfortable under its watch.

Guardian Angel I guess.

He looks at you, pale with shock. Guess you didn’t expect this side of story at all. He still wonders what your existence means. Who were you really?

Here you were losing your mind. You read the webtoon and plenty of fanfiction narrating the scene Ragbros angst, but never did you play an event that had the cutscene of that event. But then how did he hear you cry ridiculously when you were drunk and you had reached friendship level 10 with Kaeya and was reading his lore. Did that mean that you going through character stories meant you were at the moment in the story.

It didn’t make sense.

They were under your control. But you cant change their lives either. Other than stuffing them in a ridiculous teapot.

What now?

“Y/N, why are you here?” his voice was distant. He did not look at you.

“I..don’t”

“ My life was anything but free. Of course you know it. From my very birth till today, all I have ever lived is a life that someone else set up for me.” His voice grew louder, but more like a hiss, he seemed to be trembling.

“Just, when I thought it wasn’t half bad and I could actually live life like a dream things went out of control, only for me to get to know that it never was in my control.” Control.

He pushed his chair back. Slammed his fist on the table. Shivering with pure confusion and anger. His eyes watery, his breath heavy. His vision seemed to glow brighter by the moment and the air grew heavier.

“ Do you know how it feels…,” His eyes finally met yours.

The dark blue star dancing frantically, The scar beneath his eye patch pulsing rapidly, “ TO KNOW YOUR LIFE WAS PLAYED OUT FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF ONE INDIVIDUAL?”.

The air started frosting, snowflakes fell. Kaeya stared at you. Time froze.

Entertainment.

That was the sake of the development of a game. That was the sake of the creation of characters. But once you took the characters into your life, cherishing them they were given a life.

Now that you know this, what now? All you wanted to do was unlock teleport waypoints to travel around more smoothly.

It’s been more than a minute now. What’s up with Kaeya? The snowflakes didn’t move either.

Crackle.

The glowing vision, sparkled. It started glitching? The table started shifting, the hues started changing. The light pouring through the velvet curtains started changing. The clock started turning back to an hour. Kaeya started walking back to his chair, on his own accord. Glitching.

His eyes seemed to look at you in fright.

What’s happening to me? It screamed.

His mouth seemed to glitch. The room spun. Red and green pixels radiated from you, engulfing the entire room.

Silence. The room was set right. You swore you could here the same ding that you here whenever the game reconnects to the server.

Kaeya was in his place, smiling forcibly, birds chirped near the window. The sun poured in as usual. There was no frost, no snowflakes. The air seemed light.

You knew where to go now.

“ I’ll take care of it captain.” You whispered and walked up to him. Gave him a pat on his cheek and walked out of the door which was just opened by a confused Harry, who was just about to ask the captain why he wanted no one to enter his room. Only to see at a captain looking through his documents and no one else.

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin fanfic #sagau #genshin fanfiction #readerxgenshin #genshinfanfic #Traversing Teyvat #Ragbros #angst

[soobberries]

In ur opinion who in tubatu do you think would be into car sex or just exhibitionism in general?

Everyone quick! Act surprised when I say...

Yeonjun!

Okay, not only him, but he's for sure the first that comes to mind... Not to mention he is the one with a license so it automatically makes more sense hehe.

Aside from him though, I'd say the rest are all a toss up!

Let's split up car sex and exhibitionism, as well as determine how 'into it' they all are using a rating system with two aspects two which are,

- likely to fantasize and get turned on

- likely to actually execute it

The reason I say this is because txt strike me as the type to have all sorts of fantasies but not all of them would be as eager to test the fantasies out!

For example, I see hueningkai not being much into car sex or exhibitionism and yet, he's probably the most likely to do it after Yeonjun if we assume Yeonjun is the most likely to fantasize and do it (which in my opinion he is.)

So let me go member by member since I feel like all of them have links to car sex/exhibitionism to an extent.

Yeonjun is down for sex most times... He just strikes me as someone who has a high libido and he seems to be a risk taker, but in a weird way, a responsible one. Unless he's at least 75% sure there's no chance of getting caught then it's unlikely he'd do anything even if he wanted to. Go off self restrained king ig. Anyway! He loves the idea or car sex, and would indulge in it often when he deems the opportunity right! Sometimes he might make the opportunity himself, purposefully driving out to some quite parking lot just for the sake of some car sex. He'd indulge in it a lot but there would be limits. After everytime he has car sex I can just tell he gets some stiff thighs or a sort of pinched nerve (c'mon, he's reaching his late twenties after all :p) so he goes through phases of trying to do other sex escapades first before he goes back to the car. The steamy window part of car sex really puts him in the mood and he just likes the taboo of it all so it's something he favors for sure! Same goes for most exhibitionism. He likes the taboo and risk factors. He's a fan of it but I'd say he's rather cautious. Not too keen on just doing it anywhere anytime. Playing with you in public is one of his favourite things though so he will make space to do it. It's a turn on for him for sure but I suppose he wouldn't partake in it 100% of the time even if you encourage him.

fantasization rating: 10/10

execution rating: 8/10

Now let's do taehyun!

Taehyun strikes me as the type to be turned on by whatever turns on his partner... Put in another way, his partner being aroused, is the turn on, therefore, anything you like, he's willing to look at and if he's intrigued enough, hell find a way to get turned on by it himself.

So if you're into exhibitionism and car sex, he's into it too. And depending on the degree that you're into it and what dynamic you have in your relationship, whatever it may be, also determines how much he's into it.

Taehyun is super into car sex but doesn't actively seek it out and does really cease opportunities. I think he'd simply have car sex under the conditions where both of you are horny and there's no harm in just fixing the problem asap. He's also not the type to maneuver the car or go to the back seat or put much effort. He'll enjoy it more if it's a spontaneous thing. The type of thing where you climb over onto his lap in the seat and ride him while you're both horny rather than foreplay, or having to get out of the front seats and go to the back seats, maneuvering the seats so that he can flip you around... All that isn't really his thing unless you'd request it. Car sex with taehyun just happens here and there. But as said, if it turns you on, he may go out of his way to partake in it.

Exhibitionism? Huge fan. I think this is something that gets him turned on. Not blatant sex per say but the more subtle things like teasing. Using toys in public is one of his preferred methods of teasing, but really he likes any sort of teasing in public. Playing with you under the table when out eating, just enough to get you worked up before stopping and pretending nothing happened, pushing his crotch up against your ass while reaching above you at any store to grab some item that conveniently caught his eye, pushing you up against a wall at the back of store, nipping at your lips, neck or ear, before placing a chaste kiss to the cheek and walking away, just to make you flustered, groping your chest on a relatively empty street, playing it all off as a normal back hug... Idk he's into that type of thing. But as for actually fucking in public... I wouldn't say he isn't into it, but he's very particular about where he does it and evaluates whether it would be better at home where he can take his time with you.

fantasization rating: 6/10

execution rating: 9/10

Soobin... It makes me sad that Soobin... Is not a man of execution 😔. The amount of fantasizing he does is insane and immaculate, but it'll take a particular boost of confidence and idiocy to make him do something in public or take risks of fucking you in spaces where you may get caught.

He dreams of fucking anytime, anywhere, against anything, with anyone watching... But he won't <\3

Car fucking is a turn on for him, but he'd partake in it like one or twice.

Exhibitionism... He wants to partake in it sooo bad... I think the only time he'd be executing some form of exhibitionism is if the dynamics of the sexual relationship is where he's a sub and your a dom. And even then there would be limits. He wouldn't mind being played with in quite areas, and gets super turned on if you find a safe yet public environment to take his dick out and give him a hand job, or maybe where you're even able to fuck him inconspicuously... And there are times when he may express discomfort, rather not taking the risk... But if those aren't the dynamics, if he's more of a switch or dom, then... I'm afraid the exhibitionism merely stays a fragment of his hot dreams. Perhaps on the rarest of occasions, he may suddenly not think straight and bite the bullet, fucking you in a bathroom stall or whatever the situation may be... But it's very unlikely.

I'm sure he'd happily share his fantasies too, but yeah, the execution of them wouldn't really happen.

fantasization rating: 12/10

Execution rating: -1/10

Let's do Kai next just because I find him similar to Soobin! BUT HOHO! He'll execute a lot more than soob. Kai is just built different like that.

Okay I said he's similar to soob but I think he wouldn't have as much of a boner from pondering the ideas of car sex and exhibitionism. Bh that I just mean that other ideas turn him on more or interest him more. He likes exhibitionism and car sex.

I see hueningie taking part in car sex the most out of them aside from Yeonjun if I'm honest. It seems convenient to him, regardless of whether it actually is or isn't. Hueningkai sees the opportunity there and simply will take it.

Same thing with exhibitionism. I don't exactly think he'll go out of his way to seek opportunities or engage in exhibitionism, however if the opportunity does arise, he won't turn it down since it turns him on and, well, why not?

He's rarely worried about getting caught... Unless the odds are genuinely not in your favour (such as some fancy hybe dinner party and you two found an empty room that definitely doesn't seem like it's off limits so people would surely come in but no one is there at the moment and no one has come in for the past ten minutes but people were in there not long ago so chances of being caught are a little high). Funnily enough I'm not sure this would be enough to stop him from a good fuck. He'd be real anxious during the whole thing but would probably still risk it.

Fantasization rating: 7/10 (not very often though despite being into it)

Execution rating: 9.5/10

Last Beomgyu,

This man confuses me. And most times I'll just firmly believe that everything depends on the mood he's in.

He's not so much into car sex as he is exhibitionism... Tbh I think his drive for power dynamics would motivate him more than car sex and exhibitionism itself. What I mean by this is that if he's dominant or feeling dominant then he'd partake in exhibitionism and or car sex more to affirm the power dynamic rather than because the exhibitionism or car sex is what's turning him on... So he'd fuck you in public to remind you who's in charge, and if he is leaning to his dom or even bratty side, he's always eager to see you flustered or frustrated and any teasing done in public is an easy way to get what he wants.

He'd fuck you in the car if he suddenly had this horny urge, wanted to put you in your place for being a brat, maybe if you begged for him sweetly, or maybe just because it was convenient, if you commanded him (if he's a sub in the dynamic), or he had lots of tension/frustration to release at the time. But it's not the car sex that he seeks out if that makes sense. Similarly, exhibitionism, he'd partake in not for the exhibitionism itself but it would be everything else first.

With this in mind... His rating is kinda hard hehe but let's say,

Fantasization rating: 5/10

Execution rating: 5/10 (since it's fairly relative to the fantasization)

I hope that answered the question hehe!

#tomorrow x together hard hours #tomorrow x together smut #txt hard hours #txt hard thoughts #txt smut #tomorrow x together #〘taro tea; ask box 〙

[solalunar-eclipse]

Replay/Rewind/Restart

Chapter title: the pulse through the night/that sets my heart alight

AO3 Link

Getty | Cache

Rating: T

Summary: A series of one-shots focusing on different characters from the truly amazing fic Buy One [S]et One Free. (Please read it before reading this, it’ll be worth it, I promise!!) Some will be set before the story, while others will take place throughout it! Everything here belongs to EeveeningNews, I’m just messing around in an attempt to express my love for this fic in the only way I know how.

The room was quiet, as it tended to be on a Thursday afternoon. The only noise at all came from the light clicks and taps on Getty’s keyboard, as he answered email after email in an effort to get his inbox cleared out before he clocked out for the day. 

Tonight was special, after all, and he could not afford to work overtime.

At the exact second the clock changed to five-thirty, Getty sent his last email, and shut his computer down with shaking hands. His still form suddenly overflowed with energy as he practically leapt from his seat. 

The rose-colored Addison darted over to his closet, replaying his memory of the conversation with Cache that had started all of this in the first place…

“Listen, cuz.” they’d said, before mentioning you by name. “I know how you are about asking her out…and let’s be real, I know you, period. So guess what? I’m feeling generous for once, I’ll ask her for you.”

Getty felt his heart begin to beat twice as fast. “Oh—oh goodness, Cache, y-you don’t need to do something like that for me! I’m perfectly content, I promise!”

“Uh-huh.” they hummed, clearly unconvinced. “So that’s why you didn’t spend the better part of our hangout gushing about her just the other day, right?”

“I—surely it wasn’t that long!” he protested, but he couldn’t quite meet Cache’s eyes. 

“And that’s not even mentioning all the other times you’ve gone on about her, either.” they continued mercilessly. “What about that one lunch where we were supposed to catch up on everything and it turned into an hour-fucking-long presentation on the specific color of her eyes?”

“Now that is just blatant exaggeration.” Getty sniffed, folding his arms. “That degree of ill-mannered behavior suits you better than me, I would think.”

“So what I’m hearing is that you don’t want to go out with her, then?” Cache shot back, the corner of their mouth twitching as they restrained a smirk. 

“N-no!” he cried. “I do, I just don’t want to put her in an uncomfortable situation where—you know, she might have to refuse, or she might not refuse but solely out of a sense of obligation…” He winced at the mere thought.

“And that’s exactly why I’ll be the one to ask her! She knows I ain’t the type to hide behind pretty words or some shit like that. I’ll know if she’s not being honest, too, so I can get you a straight answer. Alright?” they said, in a tone which very much suggested that they would do so even if it wasn’t alright.

“I couldn’t stop you if I tried, could I?” Getty asked, struggling to ignore the way he suddenly felt ill with nerves.

“Nope.” Cache said simply, finally allowing themselves that smirk from earlier. 

Two days later, Getty had received a single text from his cousin.

She’s in.

…Getty beamed, scanning the contents of his closet for something appropriate to wear. The elation, the sheer delight he had felt upon reading those two words simply could not be described. He was finally going to properly spend time with you! Tonight!

A thread of fear blended into his joy at that particular thought. He had to make sure that everything was as perfect as it could possibly be. And that started with his outfit. 

He selected some of his bolder items of clothing, hoping that his appearance would bolster his mood as it had many times before. A pastel yellow blazer completed the look, and he stepped in front of the mirror to double-check his choices, before taking out his phone and opening up a fun new gacha game to soothe his nerves until it was time to leave.

Ten minutes later, he was back in front of the closet, panicking. What if you expected something a little more formal? The reservation was for La Barre D’espace, after all. Rifling through the hangers, he pulled out a much more formal black-and-white ensemble, trying that on instead. 

He eyed himself in the mirror, cringing at how stiff and washed-out it made him look. Perhaps…something a little more relaxed? But not too relaxed, that was why he’d picked out this second outfit in the first place!

Getty sighed, sitting down on his bed. After a moment, he eased himself into lying on his back, and then closed his eyes. “I’m being terribly silly, aren’t I?” he said out loud to the empty room.

Nobody replied (for which he was rather thankful, he would have been quite frightened if anyone had), but he suspected if Cache had been there, their response would be something rather like No duh, dingus. I wouldn’t set you up on a date with some jerk, so why’re you acting like she’s gonna tear you apart the second she lays eyes on you?

…they would probably swear more than that, but he wasn’t quite willing to simulate that particular trait of theirs at the moment.

Getty ran a hand through his hair, getting up from the bed once more to return to his closet and properly pick out an outfit. To be fair, the one he wore wasn’t terrible, it was just so…bland. He needed at least a pop of color, or else it wouldn’t be true to him, now would it?

Hmm.

Well, if he was trying to build an outfit that was true to him, he might as well use his own color, mightn’t he? 

Slowly, he pulled off the black jacket he’d been wearing and replaced it with his favorite magenta vest. And this time, when he turned around to face the mirror, he finally felt ready to leave his room and head over to the restaurant.

When he picked up his phone, he saw that it was over an hour too early for him to leave on a normal night, although to be fair, this was not by any means a normal night. After all, what if traffic was bad (a surprisingly common occurrence in Cyber City)? Or what if you arrived early and were left there, all alone, waiting for him to show up? What a terrible first impression that would be!

Resolved, Getty set out immediately, walking his oft-traveled path through the halls of Queen’s mansion and giving any vases he saw an extra wide berth. He definitely wasn’t about to let something like that ruin this night. 

As a matter of fact, if his hopes came true, nothing would.

When he stepped out into the lobby, luckily enough, there was already a blue-tinted Swatchling by the name of Cobalt lingering by the door of the Color Café, seemingly without a job to do. Getty approached him somewhat hesitantly, smiling. “Pardon me…I don’t mean to interrupt, but are you busy at the moment?”

Cobalt turned to him, his expression registering surprise for only the briefest of seconds before he relaxed back into a more work-appropriate, unruffled demeanor. “Ah, Master Target. I am unoccupied at the moment—is there anything with which I may assist you?”

“Well, yes, actually!” Getty beamed. “I have a, erm—” his voice dropped momentarily as a light blush spread across his face— “A date, tonight. At La Barre D’espace. And since it’s rather far away, I was wondering if you might be available to chauffeur me there? Only if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, of course!” he added hastily.

Cobalt offered up the smallest of smiles at that. “Sir, it is my primary duty to assist the residents of Queen’s mansion with whatever they may possibly need. I am perfectly capable of driving you to La Barre D’espace. When would you like to depart?”

“Now would be lovely, if that’s alright.” 

“Of course.” The Swatchling bowed briefly. “Merely permit me to inform Head Butler Swatch of my intended whereabouts, and then we may leave at once.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Getty replied, waiting politely just outside the café until Cobalt was ready.

Soon enough, the two entered a limousine, and they were on their way to the restaurant. Despite the fact that he was facing the window, Getty was so lost in his own thoughts that he hardly even noticed the city go by. Would you like the food? Had you ever been to a restaurant like this before? Would you like him now that he was more than just another paying customer? He’d never really spoken to you beyond requesting a meal back when you worked at that diner. What if—

He shook his head abruptly. There was no use working himself up so long before you would arrive. He wanted to be a good host and date, not a flustered mess!

Yet still, he struggled to keep his mind on lighter subjects, continuously circling back to the same few topics over and over again.

Halfway through the ride, however, Cobalt interrupted him in his pondering. “If you’ll pardon my curiosity, sir, who happens to be the lucky person invited on this date?”

Getty blushed once again at the implication that you were lucky to be invited to spend time with him—if anything, he felt that the reverse was true. After a moment, he found his voice once again. “She’s a Lightner, actually. Her name is—” He smiled as he said your name, remembering the very first time you had introduced yourself to him. Even back then, when he had only just been hit with the true extent of his own feelings, he had found himself particularly struck by your friendliness and warmth in spite of the difficult job you worked. It was truly stunning. “She is one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet, and funnily enough, she’s actually quite close friends with my cousin!”

“Your cousin? I would say I find myself surprised, Master Target, but since they seem to enjoy your company so much, I suppose it only makes sense that they would choose to spend time with others who are equally suited to you.” the Swatchling mused.

Getty chuckled softly. “You make a very good point, Cobalt.” he replied. 

“Well, if she is half the person that I know you are, then I am certain you two will have nothing to worry about.” Cobalt added, making Getty smile bashfully.

“Oh, thank you! You’re far too kind.” the rose-colored Addison insisted gently. 

“I would protest that statement, but I am afraid that shall have to wait until later. We have arrived at La Barre D’espace now, sir.”

Getty jolted slightly, surprised. “Already? Oh my! Thank you very much, Cobalt. Will you be available after we have finished as well?”

“Certainly. I shall be right here until you are ready to leave.” 

“Thank you again!” Getty said, stepping out of the car once Cobalt opened the door for him. 

“I sincerely hope that you enjoy your date, sir.” Cobalt said, offering him another hint of a smile before stepping back into the car.

“I hope so as well.” Getty murmured to himself, taking a deep breath as he approached the building.

He made his way inside and over to the elevator, stepping inside and pressing the button for the top floor. The car stopped a few times during its ascent, and each time Getty held the door for those who were entering and exiting, earning him several smiles and as many “Thank you”s in the process. However, not a single person seemed to recognize him, for which he found himself grateful. He wasn’t entirely sure that he would have been able to manage the nerves stemming from his relatively new wealth and his date-nervousness all at once, at least not without failing to maintain his usual calm demeanor.

Mustering up what remained of his courage, Getty walked up to Cardinal, the Swatchling working at the host stand for this evening. “Hello there, Cardinal!” he said warmly. “I believe my reservation is under a different name than usual for tonight. My cousin, Cache, is the one who organized this particular dinner.”

“Ah, I see. Yes, Mx. Cache is indeed the one listed here. Thank you very much for informing me, Mr. Target.” Getty cringed internally upon realizing that he would probably be referred to as such in front of you. He had never had the chance to explain his nickname properly when you worked at the diner, so now he just had to hope that he could correct any misconceptions you had about his preferred name before one of the Swatchlings irrevocably gave you the wrong idea.

Cardinal informed him which table he and you would be sitting at, and he made his way back through the restaurant, having been here more than enough times to find his own way to any table at all. He smiled, taking a seat at this particular one, which was one of the nicest in the entire restaurant. It featured a lovely view of Cyber City, one that he sincerely hoped you would enjoy.

Before he could begin to even consider worrying once more, Saffron approached him with a couple of menus tucked under one wing. “Good evening, Mr. Target. I hear you are waiting on someone in particular?”

“Yes, Saffron! I’m afraid I’ve arrived dreadfully early, so she won’t be here for quite some time. Could I just have my usual drink for now, while I wait for her?” Getty asked politely.

“Of course, sir. I shall have it brought out to you shortly.” Saffron bowed lightly, before leaving the Addison alone again.

Getty spent a few minutes people-watching in an effort to amuse himself, trying to see how many repeat customers he could spot in the restaurant tonight. He definitely recognized many of the Addisons there, as well as a few Plugboys and one or two Werewires. It took him several more minutes to recall all of their names (as well as their most recent purchases), by which point his drink had arrived.

After thanking the Swatchling who had brought his glass, Getty took a small sip, feeling his shoulders relax slightly at the familiar flavor. Soon enough, however, he found himself lost in another memory—this time of the first moment he’d ever seen you.

The Color Café was even busier than usual that day, and his second choice of restaurant was closed as well because the chef had come down with a virus. Honestly, at this point, he’d be content with just about anything, so long as it was food and he could get it in something approximating a timely manner.

Suddenly, Getty spotted one diner that was normally too busy for him to even consider, but seemed to be having a slow day today. Feeling slightly apprehensive (but mostly just desperate) he pushed open the door and stepped inside, putting on his usual salesman’s smile.

At first, he didn’t notice any workers, only a few sparse patrons at various tables. Just as he was about to feel truly concerned, though, a voice spoke up from the back of the diner.

“Good morning! How are you today?”

And Getty nearly bluescreened at the sight. 

He knew that he was a bit of a hopeless romantic (or perhaps more than a bit, really), but somehow, he’d never had all that many romantic moments happen to him…until now. The Lightner working at the diner—and how was a Lightner working at a diner??—was by far the most gorgeous person he had ever seen.

Time stopped. His heart pounded. Your sweet, warm smile lit up the room, and he nearly melted at the sight. 

Suddenly, he remembered that you’d asked him a question. “O-oh! Perfect, thank you, absolutely wonderful!” he managed to stammer, feeling as though his legs might give out at any moment.

“I’m Getty, by the way.” he added shyly. “He/him, if you please.” 

“Oh! It’s so nice to meet you!” you said brightly. “I’m—well, it says it right here on my name tag, doesn’t it?” You laughed briefly at that, before continuing onwards. “Um, she/her works just fine for me.”

You opened your mouth, about to say something else, when a voice rang out from the back of the diner. “Oi! Lightner! You’d better not be slacking off out there!”

You jumped, the brightness disappearing from your face instantly. Getty silently mourned the sight. “S-sorry!” you called, before turning back to him and flashing him a shadow of the smile you’d worn before. “Feel free to pick whatever seat you’d like, I’ll be over as soon as I can to take your order!” You snatched up a menu and handed it to him, before dashing off to speak with whoever had just yelled at you.

Getty sat down at a booth by the window, frowning in concern. At any other point in time, he would have noticed that the diner wasn’t quite as tidy nor as beautiful as the places he normally preferred to frequent, but right now, he was consumed with worry for the lovely person he’d just met. 

Were you being mistreated here? Or was this just a bad day? And were you really the only server in the entire place? If so, then he couldn’t imagine the kind of stress you must be under, and he settled in to wait for you to be finished with the other patrons.

You took rather longer to return than Getty would have liked, but your profuse apologies more than banished any hints of frustration he might have felt. Admittedly, the food was…also less than stellar, but the way you smiled every time he showed you even the smallest scrap of kindness made his heart flutter and ache simultaneously.

Before he had even paid the bill, he knew he’d be returning here tomorrow.

Getty blinked, rousing himself from his reminiscing and looking briefly around the room. The same people were mostly there, but Cardinal was currently showing someone new to their seat. He glanced back out the window, not wanting to stare as they walked through the restaurant—

Wait.

It was you.

Getty nearly gave himself whiplash with how quickly he looked back over in your direction. You looked utterly stunning, clearly having both dressed up very nicely and done your hair specially for the occasion. It felt like that first day at the diner all over again, except so much better, because now there was no rude manager, no difficult work, and no poor quality food.

Just you…and him.

Getty jumped up out of his seat, his eyes meeting yours as he prepared to speak, and he felt his heart pound. 

Goodness, he hoped he was ready for this.

#deltarune #deltarune addisons #pink addison #spamton g spamton #spamton x reader #(those last two are for the main fic) #(trying to get it some more readers because it's literally one of my favorite fics ever!!) #i didn't like x readers for the longest time but this one is just SO WELL WRITTEN #anyhow hope this was fun to read :) #it certainly won't be the last time i mess around in this universe!

[eldritch-spouse]

Following the Santi marriage ask, who is top tier husband material and who shouldn't be allowed near an altar? Weddings are expensive, we gotta know who is worth the hustle

[*cracks knuckles* Assuming any of them should be allowed near an altar...]

Passable choices

Patches is probably the one that's more normal about it. He knows human marriage practices and, even if the religions surrounding them means nothing to him, he'll enjoy himself- Still extremely anxious about it, explodes with nerves.

Nebul will probably come off as a weirdo, he treats marriage ceremonies more like an expedition to learn more about humans, he's going to be in awe of all the stuff happening around him and asks a lot of questions that are usually explained by "common sense". He's very calm about it, a bit aloof even. This will put people off, but he won't hurt anyone.

Grimbly. Goes above and beyond. He's been waiting, daydreaming, about his big day. It can't really happen in a church because, well, he doesn't react very well to them- But still! He wants a huge party and he wants the best dress for you- He'll probably cave and get a dress for himself as well. Everything has to be perfect or he's setting fire to the entire Clergy. Very stressed, like a rabid chihuahua. Control him.

Ludwig. Another one that really doesn't want it to happen in a church given his demonic monster nature. He never really envisioned it happening, and he's actually spooked at the idea of such a commitment. Not because Lud wants to uh "have a piece of every cake", but rather because he's scared of disappointing you. He's mostly normal about it, but still has a very jokey attitude, as a bit of a cope. He'll probably put people off.

Gallon. Ehhh, not the best not the worst. He'll probably stare at people too long, like the nosy bastard he is. Plus, he can't really wear a suit without oozing through it constantly. Gallon wants to mix the drinks at his own wedding because no one does it right.

Breg. With a lot of training, might I add. The most hellish part is trying to find a suit that doesn't make him itch like a mutt. He's going to be very loud and hyper and affectionate- He takes kiss the bride as "you may tongue-fuck the bride" and he's not shutting the fuck up about the honeymoon any time soon.

Why would you pick them??

Vinnel. Just why? Clown themed marriage? Clown themed marriage. Everyone is dressed like the Joker. Vinnel kills someone. Absolute dumpster fire. On the plus side, you're TV famous after giving an interview in which you cry through your clown makeup and your husband laughs in the background.

Santi. No. He'll sooner swallow a holy cross.

Morell. Do not put this monster in a remotely closed space with many humans around. Morell is going to be looking at the crowd the same way he'd look at porkchops. He doesn't need the cleaver to make some damage. If most of the audience is monster kind, then he'll probably be perfectly standard about it. But too many piggies and the mushroom and he's going to start plucking them out one by one.

Krulu. Human marriage ceremonies are a mockery of interlevel bonding rituals and he will be dammed if he ever participates in such an inferior, scandalous insult of an event. Krulu may mimic a blatant mockery of marriage just for laughs, his lamb does look adorable in their little white dress.

Fasma. You better drag him to the altar or he's gonna skip to next town. He just doesn't think he's worth the hassle, he's washed up. Also, he will cry like a baby and he doesn't want you to see that. Definitely still gets shitfaced even if it's the happiest day of his life. You uhm... You're gonna have to pick him up for that kiss. 💀

#Bregory #Fasma oc #Vinnel oc #Nebul oc #Santi oc #Grimbly oc #Morell oc #Gallon oc #Krulu oc #Ludwig oc #Patches oc #theincognitocat

[aramapostsandwrites]

ANOTHER BYLER FIC IDEA!!

(I’m really not stopping with these anytime soon-)

Will has been hanging out with the girls more often. They normally do manicures/spa days, makeup, sleepovers and talk about cute boys whenever they hang out without the party (only them two know he’s gay as well). Mike notices this, and gets jealous of Will spending more time with the girls than with him and the boys (though Mike just really wants Will to pay attention to him).

Mike having enough of this, decides to do something about it. He asks if Will could come over for a sleepover with ‘him and the boys’ since they haven’t hung out in a while, to which Will accepts (because why not? It’s just Mike and the og party after all). He assumes the rest of the initial party know, sending them off with a ‘see you later’ before going back home and getting ready.

When Will arrives, greeting both of Mike’s parents and Holly on the way in, he notices that he’s the first to arrive. Mike welcomes him in, bringing him downstairs, with a big grin plastered on his face. He sits Will on the couch and asks which movie they should watch first. Will, confused, asks “shouldn’t we wait for the others first?”

Mike purses his lips at this, saying the others cancelled last minute (which is a blatant lie, he did even ask the others to come). Mike then clear his throat continues by saying, it’s been ages since they hung out together, just the two of them and says it might be a nice once in a while (the last part he sys with a softened and shy-like voice), and Will just studies, like actually full on studies him.

Mike, not used to this attention, (since Will hasn’t hung out and has been distracting himself by talking to others), just crumbles. He doesn’t know what to do or what to say, and he’s just getting more flustered by the second, his throat become dry and clogged. Then at last, Will breaks the silence, but sadly that does not quell Mike’s nerves, as he says, “you never ask Dustin and Lucas to hang out, did you?”, and boy, if Mike wasn’t already anxious before, he’s now having a full blown war in his head.

He tries to deny it, but the only words that come out of his mouth are; “no, uh, I swear-,” and a series of jumbled nonsense. Then Will laughs, and by God does Mike’s heart nearly stop, because he swears he hears the most absurd thing fall from his best friend’s lips, “how cute.” This sends Mike into a crisis, because one, he’s not gay, (at least he doesn’t know that yet), and two, he strangely likes being called cute.

Then cue Mike’s self discovery of being gay and being Will’s babygirl. (Babygirlgate is best gate, change my mind.)

This Byler prompt is anyone’s for the taking. I may just make a Byler prompt account, just so I don’t mix my original content with the beautiful creation that is Byler.

#babygirl mike wheeler #byler #byler endgame #mike is will’s babygirl #i just wrote something lgbtq+ #Byler prompt #Byler fic idea #Will Byers #William Byers #Mike Wheeler #Michael Wheeler #babygirlgate #gay mike truther #gay mike wheeler #this bitches gay #good for them #we know what you are #lgbtq+ #okay fruit loops #mike’s gayer than any gays that ever gayed #girls night with Will #El Max and Will bonding over cute guys #Mikol is babygirl #jealous mike wheeler #babygirl queerler #yosh yosh #the babygirlification of mike wheeler

[sashred]

3 Minutes in Heaven

Baby bit inspired by that "maybe another kiss," quote that came out of Comic Con, and Eric's latest cameo talking about how the humor was coming back. Dim and Juicy shenanigans ahead, along with a dash of horrified Chenford :)

“Yo. How many times do I have to say it?  I’m not cooperating anymore until I get to see my girl.” 

Dim – ehm – Jake, crossed his arms over his stomach, and Tim inwardly shuddered.  He swore he’d never miss another day at the gym again, or skip a damn shower.  The fake tattoos running up the side of his neck itched, his beard was a good two days old and about to drive him up a wall, and he’d never listened to the band on his tshirt a day in his life.  He felt grungy, out of sorts, and the real Jake was seriously starting to piss him off.

“That’s not the deal,” he bit out, towering over his doppelganger as he sat petulantly on the nineties-something couch in their safe house.  They’d squirreled him and Juicy away for the duration of the undercover operation, keeping them separate for security reasons.  They were both criminals, and while Dim seemed less gifted when it came to actual brainpower, his “girl” was just the opposite.  Even Lucy had struggled with trying to get information out of her, trying to learn some of her mannerisms, her personality, backstory.  Where Dim was an open freaking children’s book, Juicy was constantly keeping them on their toes.  Whatever the hell she saw in Jake was far beyond Tim’s comprehension.  The only thing the pair seemed to have in common was their blatant lust for each other, and a shared affinity for running drugs.  Tim supposed they might have been in love, maybe, but everything about them just seemed wrong – uncomfortable.

It wasn’t natural.  The whole situation was absurd, and the sooner Jake gave Tim the information he wanted, the sooner they could all be done with the insanity.

“You want to know Hajek’s swap spot or nah?” Jake shrugged, the stubbornness in his bloodshot eyes all too familiar, and honestly just too freaking creepy.

“Two minutes,” Angela said from beside Tim.  “We give you two supervised minutes, and you tell us what we need to know.  Deal?”

Tim rolled his eyes, hating that they were essentially giving in to him, but he was already so beyond done at that point.  He just wanted the hell out of that room.

“I can do a lot more with three,” Jake smiled, the sheer sleaze oozing from enough to make Tim sick to his stomach.

“I can’t take this.”  Tim turned away, frowning as he caught Lopez’s smirk.  “You wait with Dim.  I’m going to get Juicy.”

“Careful she doesn’t jump you instead,” she snorted, and Jake shot up off the couch.

“Don’t you be messing with my girl, bro,” he wheezed, the effort clearly not agreeing with him.  “I mean it.  Not that she’d take up with a scrub like you, but don’t go confusing her.”

Tim looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes as he seriously contemplated turning his badge in right then and there. 

“Don’t worry.  Officer Chen would never let that happen,” Lopez tried to placate him, the effect almost entirely lost as she shot Tim a wicked grin.  He glared at her, nodding his head as he contemplated all the ways he was going to repay her in kind.

“You just wait for the day your strung-out doppelganger pops up.  There will be no mercy Lopez.  None.”

“I’m quaking.  Now go get your girl, Bradford.  We do actually have work to do.”

He bit back his retort, huffing as he walked away, Lopez’s chuckle all too audible behind him.  Juicy was just upstairs with Chen, and he took the steps two at a time, trying to burn off the restless energy pent up inside him.  He was at the door far too quickly, so he took a breath, mentally preparing himself.  There were two of them in there, and it had been awkward enough lately dealing with just the one he knew.  He eventually worked up the nerve to knock, but before his fist even rapped the door, Lucy – Juicy – one of them flung it open.

“I…” he started, but immediately snapped his mouth shut.  Damnit.  He couldn’t tell which one she was.  There was only the one in his line of sight, hair done up in a crazy braid over the top of her head, that checkered shirt buttoned all the way up to her neck.  Her brows raised, gum smacking loudly as she leaned against the door frame and watched him.

“You need something?” she asked, and it sounded like Lucy, but so did Juicy…and fucking hell he was so ready to walk away –

“Uh…Lopez and Jake need to see you two,” he finally said, shifting his weight as he tried to look past her and further into the room.  It was diplomatic enough…probably.

“Why?” she asked, the braid sliding forwards as she tilted her head.

He was going to kill her.  Lucy, that was.  Regardless of who he was actually talking to, he was going to kill Lucy.

“Because it’s for the case,” he shrugged, hating how stupid he sounded.  “Just…both of you come out and downstairs.  They’re waiting and we’re short on time.”

She crossed her arms, eyes pointedly roving from his feet to the top of his head as she considered him, and he felt the inexplicable urge to back away very slowly.

“You could be nicer.  Like… I don’t know, actually address me by name,” she said, her gaze hard.  Acrylic fingernails tapped along her arms, and a particularly loud snap of her gum made him jump.

Christ this was getting beyond ridiculous.

“Look, enough with the – ”

“Babe is that you?”  A voice came from deeper in the room, higher and little more accented, and another Lucy emerged, toweling dry her long, dark locks.  She looked…hopeful, her dark eyes lighting up as she saw him, but it was only for a moment.  “Ugh.  Nevermind.  You’re the cop.”

Tim opened his mouth and closed it, partially offended, and entirely off-kilter.  He glanced down to see Lucy’s eyes narrowing at him as her nostrils flared.

“You seriously couldn’t tell it was me, could you?” she asked, and Tim decided it was actually a hell of a lot easier dealing with the upside-down version of himself than two of them.  

“Come on Chen,” he tried to brush it off.  “Of course I could…” 

Lucy pursed her lips, jaw ticking, and he decided it was time for a tactful retreat. 

“Okay…fine.  Maybe I couldn’t tell right away.  But give me a break.  The whole point is that you’re supposed to look like her,” he tried to defend, but she just shoved herself off the wall and walked back into the room.

“And you’re supposed to look like Jake, but there’s no comparison,” Juicy quipped, smirking.  “Kinda dense, aren’t you?”

“Let’s go,” Lucy sighed.  He saw the look that passed between them though, something too similar to comradery, and Tim decided then and there that he hated absolutely everything about that day.  Lucy shot him another glare as she walked by, Juicy following and appraising him with a raised brow, before ultimately twisting her face up in disgust.

How in the actual hell was this his life?

He honestly didn’t think things could get any more…unsettling.  Working off the assumption that Dim and Juicy just needed a brief reunion, to reassure each other that they were okay before moving the hell on, he chose to follow them back into that room…

And regretted that decision for the rest of his life.

“Babe!” Juicy squeaked, launching herself towards Jake and into his arms.  “I’ve been so worried.  They treating you right?  You okay?” she fussed, and the dam just fucking broke open.

“I’ve missed you so much, baby,” Jake said, before gripping her face and hauling her against him.  It really didn’t help matters that with her hair down, Juicy looked a lot more like Lucy than she currently did, and staring at his own goddamned face as it devoured hers just about catapulted him over the edge of sanity.  He couldn’t look away, the two now filling the room with obscene, wet noises, practically dry humping in the middle of the freaking room.

Lucy didn’t seem to be doing any better at least, utterly slack-jawed as Dim lifted Juicy off the damn floor, her legs wrapping around his waist.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tim knew he should have stopped them, that enough was enough, their end of the bargain more than met, but he couldn’t move a freaking muscle.  It was like watching some kind of awful, horrible, messy nightmare unfold right in front of him, and he absolutely hated the warmth slowly creeping up his neck.

“Stop,” Lucy’s voice rang out, snapping Tim out of his daze.  Her eyes were closed, her hands waving in front of her like she could wipe away the scene happening in front of them.  “Both of you, now.  We…this – ”

“I think your three minutes are up,” Angela said, too casually, like she hadn’t just witnessed the most disgusting, disturbing thing that had ever occurred.  The noises stopped, the two finally detaching their mouths from each other as Jake slowly lowered Juicy to the ground.

“I had to see you,” he whispered, his voice syrupy and expression soft.  Tim did turn away then, Lucy quickly following suit as they both beelined for the door.  Lopez clearly had it handled.  She didn’t need them, not really, and he didn’t think he could meet her too-knowing eyes one more time without completely losing it.  

Once Tim made it to the hallway, he cut loose the breath he’d been holding and swiped his hand across his chin.  It felt like he’d run a fucking marathon.  His heart was beating way too fast, his breath coming quicker than it should have, and he felt the sweat beading along his hairline.  He glanced down at Lucy, her eyes still too wide, face flushed and fingers fidgeting with the rings on her fingers.

“Don’t,” she said, abruptly pointing towards him as she kept her gaze down.

“Don’t what?” He braced his hands on his hips.

“Don’t…don’t look at me.  Like, ever again,” she said, scratching her head at the base of her braid, absolutely refusing to bring her eyes up from the floor. 

“Yeah, that’s feasible.  Sure,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.  He stared down at her, watching as her face grew steadily redder.  She was flustered too, and it gave him some sense of satisfaction to know he wasn’t the only one seriously affected by what they just saw.

“I – that…um…” her voice trailed off, and as he watched her squirm, shifting back and forth on her feet, her eye so uncertain – conflicted, he decided to take some measure of mercy on her.

And himself.

“Look,” he sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling, “it’s about time to meet up with the crew at the drop off spot.  Angela can text the location to us once she gets it from Dim.  We uh, should probably get moving.”

“Right.  Yeah,” she nodded, biting her lip.  Tim brought his eyes back to the ceiling. 

“I guess you’re driving,” he said, fishing the keys to Jake’s Mini Cooper out of his pocket.  He held them out to her, and Lucy’s eyes finally flitted over to him.  She reached out a tentative hand, her fingers brushing against his in an almost too deliberate way, and Tim nearly choked on his own spit.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, blushing a deeper crimson still.

“It’s fine,” he shrugged. 

It wasn’t.  None of this was fine, and if he was going to have to act around Lucy the way Dim acted around Juicy…he didn’t see how he could possibly survive the rest of the day.

It was already a forgone conclusion, really, that he wouldn’t make it through.  Not with his sanity or dignity intact, so at that point…Tim didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t at least enjoy things before they all came crashing down around them.

“You might want to stop blushing so much, though,” he said, meeting her eyes as they widened in shock.

“Excuse me?”

“Your face.”  He reached out his hand, lightly brushing the back of her cheek with his knuckles.  “It’s basically the color of a tomato.”

“You…my face?” she scoffed, her eyes dancing in outrage.  “Try looking in a mirror.  Your neck is redder than my lipstick.”

He shrugged, smirking once before walking towards the door.  “Interesting comparison.” 

He was going to suffer for this, immensely, but there was no way he could let her get the last word.  The stakes were too high now, and when Tim Bradford went all in on something…nothing was off the table.

“Guess we’ll just have to see how true that really is.”

#chenford #chenford fanfic #the rookie fanfic #tim x lucy #calling it now #that 'maybe' kiss is totally going to be between Dim and Juicy #and I'm still here for it

[youngerfrankenstein]

I was enabled. And somehow this wound up 1700 words long. And it’s still not everything I want to say.

So I have personally been making my way through several Transformers shows over the last few months and sort of doing writeups. Long story short it's a love/hate relationship. But my most recent one was EarthSpark, a show which was a lot weaker than I'd hoped. But in the middle of watching that show I figured "well Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is also on Paramount+. It might be fun to try out the other recent take on an 80's cartoon." And then the show was so much better I almost got angry.

Now, admittedly the shows are not THAT similar, but they are both about groups of non-human characters trying to get by on Earth with the help of human friends, they are both somewhat fresh takes on an 80's classic and they both have family as a central theme. And Rise just works so much better as a show.

Now there are a couple of reasons. For one I think the split-episode structure keeps the Turtles episodes flowing at a really brisk pace, and the far more episodic structure allows for more freedom, while EarthSpark feels more like it's trying to tell one story that keeps getting broken up. Rise also just has stronger writing. But I think the main issue for the difference in quality is just that Rise, unlike EarthSpark, knows what it wants to be.

And what exactly I mean by that is hard to pin down. A lot of it just comes down to how something ~feels~ and that's not very helpful. But I think it mostly comes down to two things. Clarity of Theme and Consistency of Tone.

-

Clarity of Theme

Stories have themes. They just do. Themes are what a story is about.

So what is EarthSpark about. Well. The two main themes I've seen people mentioning are Family and Identity. Which are definitely major themes! Don't get me wrong, the show is pretty blatant with them. But those are far from the only themes. We also have things like second chances, racism/xenophobia (handled really poorly in my opinion), growing up (which I would argue overlaps with identity but is still it's own thing) and the fallout of a war. None of these are bad themes inherently! But trying to tackle all of them in one 26 episode season means you can't go into much depth with any of them, so all the lessons come off as pretty shallow with kids just kind of being told what to think about the situation. There are also a few laboured political points (and before you jump me NO. I am not talking about Nightshade. A nonbinary character existing is not political. I'm talking about shit like the "undocumented cybertronians" line that make me want to drown the writers in a kiddie pool.)

Overall it feels like the MAIN concept behind the show is using Transformers as a second-generation immigrant story allegory. Which I actually think is a neat idea! But so much else is going on the concept has no real space to breathe.

And what is Rise's main theme? Family …and that's about it! Yeah there's the episodic morals and such but the over-arcing theme really is just family. Largely brought about just by how the brothers and Splinter interact. You just buy them as a family because of how they interact. They love each other, they get on each other's nerves, they support each other, they argue. You can see Splinter becoming more involved as an actual father as the show goes on. Everyone gets through the trials because they go through them together.

And of course, how the villains tie into this. Now most of the villains in Rise are just there to be silly obstacles, but one does stand out, and that's Shredder. In this version, Shredder is a demonic set of armour and the corrupted soul of Karai's father. His defeat means the two can finally reunite. And his long reach and the feud between the Hamato and Foot clans all tie into the theme of family well. His defeat ties every character together and emphasizes the theme.

Krang is the movie villain, and they made him terrifying by the way, and he ties more into the movie's theme. It's a more character-centric arc of Leo being humbled. Learning he needs to give his ego a break and help and be helped by his brothers. Since Krang is all about personal strength it sets him as a fitting foil, ready to be brought down by self-sacrifice and further humiliated by people working together.

Heck even Draxum ties into the theme. He is technically one of the Turtle's parents and is the reason they and Splinter ever became a family. It all ties into the theme.

So what about the villains of EarthSpark?

Well you have Croft, who is meant to represent the institutional xenophobia aspect. She does not like the robots even as she works with them and wants to get rid of them. Fine. Though it is frustrating that there's things she's not really wrong about, but she's clearly meant to be entirely evil. But sometimes that just happens. The bigger problem is she has no real impact on anything. There's no showdown with her, she just dies (maybe???) to try and up stakes. Also they called her Karen. You can't tell me it wasn't intentional and I HATE it.

And Mandroid! Who… well he doesn't like the robots because he lost an arm in one of their battles? I think? But he also sort of wants to become one? And that ends up driving him insane as he gets really sick? And he's just kind of a dick. …Look Mandroid is just a garbage villain who doesn't really tie into ANY of the themes and that sucks. You could argue he represents hate. On a deeper level you could argue he represents a perversion of the Transformer/Human cooperation dynamic. Or that his portrayal is just kind of ableist. But he just kind of wants to kill robots because he's angry at them, and is very boring.

-

Consistency of Tone

And here's where it doubles down on how it feels, since tone can be harder to pin down. But I'll try.

Rise is fully committed to being utterly absurd. It embraces the stupidity of its own concept and sets about building a setting nominally our own world but honestly nothing like it. Its action is completely over the top. Its villains are rarely taken seriously and their general mayhem blends with the mayhem of the world. No concept too ridiculous, we are in a world with teenage mutant ninja turtles after all! The final episode of season 1 has a sixteen year old girl whack a baseball at a toy left in the head of an ancient evil that a rat had been using as a teapot. And the rest of the series set up the world so that I was 100% willing to buy that.

It also helps with the more ridiculous plot points. Baron Draxum getting forcibly adopted into the family after his defeat is stupid. But the tone of the show makes it work, he's just another silly character silly things happen to. And again, it ties into the themes of family. The tone helps it flow better than say, Starscream or Shockwave's random changes of heart in EarthSpark which are played more seriously and with characters who have little to no build up.

Really the only times Rise stops being silly are the season 2 finale and the movie. Which are still kind of absurd but much darker in tone. And honestly by that point? The show had earned it. I care about these goofs and their world. Seeing all that in genuine peril felt awful.

EarthSpark's tone is a little harder to pin down. What it seems to be going for is a deeply idyllic feel that gets shattered by the darker things in the world when they show up. Which is fine, it could work really well! But, likely in part because of the way it released in batches, the darker points largely seem to come out of nowhere and then things go back to idyllic until the next batch opener or finale. Now on a more personal note, idyllic crosses over fast into cloying for me and a LOT of the show crossed over and never looked back. The attempt at a somewhat more serious tone also makes the goofier moments feel out of place.

I do think in large part it's the execution. If you want to have a tone that keeps swapping you want to balance it better. If you want a tone to shift once you have to earn it. And I think the balance was off.

-

Nostalgia Factor

One other note is harder for me to write about because Rise is the only TMNT show I have watched. So any appeal to the nostalgia factor here would be lost on me. Aside from maybe noticing that the two main Foot Clan members were voiced by Pinky and The Brain. (Side note: The more I look at the cast the more I hope the casting director got paid well) Which means I am kind of biased here. But I will say I know most of the villains were new characters the creators made to mess around with. And they are very fun.

Because ES really needed to ease up on the nostalgia. I think part of its problem is being unwilling to let go of the past, to focus entirely on the new cast rather than hyping up legacy characters. If you wanted to write a story about them, then do that! Again, I have no doubt this show was written by fans. What I doubt is whether that's a good thing in this case.

-

P.S. Rise also has significantly better animation. One of the things I did quite like about ES is the action sequences, but Rise completely blew it out of the water with theirs. And stylisation helped make even the simple scenes feel more energetic. Am I saying that Transformers should go back to 2D animation? YES.

#TFES #ROTTMNT #Frare watches the silly robot show #More or less #I barely proofread this I’m sorry #Earthspark #I am mean #Frare’s Transformers writeups

[youvereachedthebadend]

It's very to nice to see you regain hope, Chase. It's a world of difference from how you seemed to be like before/during your time as Sleepless.

But also, regarding Iris and possible presence once the whole corruption thing is over- I feel like she'd be reasonably easy to deal with compared to Him. I mean, overpowered magic or not she's still human... all it takes is a well aimed bullet to be done. -:)

Chase's eyebrows shoot into the air. "That's a bit morbid. I guess you're not wrong, but takes some nerves to just say that." He clears his throat. "But, uh... thank you. I-I do feel better now. Probably not perfect, but it's better. Hope is a good way of saying it."

"Do you think Iris would go down with just a bullet?" Marvin wonders quietly.

"I mean, like they pointed out, she's still human," Chase says.

Marvin jumps. "Oh, I didn't realize you guys could hear that."

"Of course we could, you're sitting right next to us," Jackie points out.

"I thought I was being quiet." Marvin shakes his head. "Anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if Iris knew a shield spell. It might be tougher to get her than just shooting her."

"The point they were making is that Iris can be killed," Jackie says. "While A—he will be hard to even touch. And we probably don't want to kill him, because we don't know what'll happen to Jack if we do."

"Whoa, I don't think we're going to kill Iris!" Chase protests.

"Why not?" Jackie asks.

The others stare at him in blatant shock.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye au #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #chaseanswers #marvanswers #jackanswers #anonymous #:) anon

[coopsgirl]

There's a new Rings of Power article titled 'The Rings of Power' Details a New Era in Middle-earth: 'Every Good Quest Needs a Fellowship' . This is such blatant pandering because The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have characters going on great journeys/quests. The Second Age doesn't really have anything like that. Characters travel around of course but there is no central (or even secondary) great quests that happen then. Sauron works to retrieve the rings he and Celebrimbor made but I wouldn't even call that a quest.

In the quotes below they say Galadriel has been searching for Sauron (I assume as he is evil) for over a thousand years and describe her again as an elven warrior. Regardless of how much people spin it or take things out of context, she was not a soldier/warrior and I hate what they are doing to her character.

"Galadriel has been on a quest for over a thousand years, scouring Middle-earth, searching for this elusive, undiscovered, very real evil," details Morfydd Clark, who plays a younger iteration of the Elven warrior portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the Lord of the Rings series. "Ultimately, she knows this danger exists, this evil has to be stopped."

"From the beginning, we knew that she couldn't do this alone," showrunner J.D. Payne adds. "Every good quest needs a fellowship."

Also, I thought this quote below from the article was interesting. I guess they didn't get the message that you're not supposed to call them hobbits. The "showrunners" have been very careful to always call them Harfoots (even though they are hobbits) and I wonder if that's a licensing issue or something.

Like the films that have come before it, that fellowship includes some unlikely team-ups of men, dwarves, elves, hobbits and more of Middle-earth's unexpected heroes.

"Meanwhile, Nomvete will play Princess Disa, the first female dwarf to be depicted onscreen in a Tolkien adaptation."

This woman is really getting on my nerves as she has told us multiple times now (particularly at the recent San Diego comic con) that she is the first female dwarf ever to be portrayed on screen (not just in a Tolkien film/show). I'm sure the "showrunners" or producers gave her that talking point and they are either too stupid to realize it's wrong or it's just another virtue signal. There are three dwarf women in the first few minutes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (and they at least made an attempt to give them beards).

Going back even further to 1988's Willow (I love that movie!), we see female Nelwyn (dwarves).

There are also female dwarves in The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016). I haven't seen this film but this looks like like it might be one of the female dwarf characters.

There may be other films that show female dwarf characters (not actors with dwarfism but people playing fantasy dwarves). I don't get why people push that stuff so hard anyway. Is this how it's supposed to work: 'I have no interest in this show/movie' (says person #1). 'But it's got "insert demographic characteristic here" (says person #2). 'Well now I must see it!' (says person #1). Interesting plots and well written/developed characters are what make something fun or interesting to watch (or at least some sweet eye candy - ha!).

If all this show has is random demographic "firsts" (that aren't really firsts at all), then it's definitely going to be bad, hollow, and very shallow. Because otherwise, I don't think the actors/"showrunner" would go on about it so much.

#rings of power #virtue signaling #not tolkien #amazon sucks #why didn't they just make an actual adaptation?