#the first season may not be the best but it does set stuff up really well

[heytherecentaurs]

Burrow's End is an absolute masterpiece.

In the span of ten episodes Aabria and Co. weave an exciting and emotional adventure story about a family of sentient stoats. It delivers huge laughs, interesting societal criticism, remarkably emotional and well-acted scenes and concludes with a series of epilogue scenes that feel appropriate for each character, some heartfelt and subdued and others bigger than life and all the funnier for it.

Siobhan and Izzy play the perfect pair of siblings. They fight and argue but they also love each other. Jaysohn (Siobhan) looks up to Lila (Izzy) and believes she's the smartest stoat in the world (and by the end she probably is) and Lila hypes up her little brother's athletic skills. They both fully embodied these kids and I could watch them do fun stuff for more episodes. Give me a version of Saved by the Bell with them. Stoat by the Bell.

Brennan and Rashawn, playing sisters, also knock it outta the park, showing a more mature sibling dynamic. Brennan portrays Tula as the quintessential overtired single mother of excitable kids, and Rashawn as younger sister Viola straddles a very interesting line of being intimidating to outsiders but very much more naive and looking to her older sister when she starts a family.

Jasper as Thorn, a guy everyone just lets be a cult leader because he really wanted to, is fantastic. His is a difficult role as the only non-blood relative. Jasper plays Thorn with such real humanity of a guy in over his head and letting his ambition wife call the shots, but also one who agrees with her goal, really loves her and has moments of real menace. He has some very funny scenes, his big speech is perfect, and I just enjoy him.

Erika is wonderful. They play the epitome of generational trauma as many have said but as much trauma as Ava has, she is also loving and willing to learn. The fact Erika took this adversarial role is incredible. The tense dramatic scene primarily between Ava, Tula and Viola is amazing. They act their asses off and make hard choices that I imagine are difficult even for such an experienced player.

Aabria's DMing always feels fun. She doesn't get bogged down in the rules. She knows them. She plays by them. But as a master, she knows how and when to break them too. Her seasons on Dimension 20 have all had a tenseness, a particular edge to them that can give me anxiety during dramatic scenes between two characters. It always feel like one of her NPCs may say something devastating and the tension between characters reaches really thrilling heights. This is present in other seasons, but I don't think anyone does it as well as she does. The first season of hers to have battle maps, Aabria really swung for the fences and gave us some of the wildest maps to date.

Shout out to Carlos Luna's voice acting. He did an incredible job. And shout out to the whole crew who have put together one of the best seasons of D20. They keep finding ways to build on what's come before and they should be commended for it.

Dimension 20 is most successful when the concept is very streamlined. They don't do huge 100 episode campaigns capable of handling huge winding complex narrative, but short focused D&D stories, which is why many of the Side Quests have been so fantastic. They embody this philosophy most clearly, but it's apparent in the most beloved Intrepid Heroes seasons as well—John Hughes/High Fantasy, Game of Thrones/Candyland, Retrofuturism, Film Noir but in a Brain... Burrow's End fits this perfectly. It's streamlined concept paired with great storytellers and great chemistry sets it up to be a smash hit before it begins. And goddamn does it deliver.

Thanks Stupendous Stoats!

#dimension 20 #d20 #burrow's end #aabria iyengar #brennan lee mulligan #izzy roland #isabella roland #erika ishii #siobhan thompson #jasper william cartwright #rashawn scott #rashawn nadine scott #carlos luna #dropout.tv #hey there centaurs

[glossglamour]

Full Robert Sean Leonard 'House'-a-palooza Interview: "As we know, I’m straight, but yeah, it’s like, homina homina homina."

May 01 2006 | By Maureen Ryan

Do you watch the show much?

"I can't watch it. I mean, Hugh doesn't watch it because he's anal and … eight years old. [laughs] And by the way, I don’t buy it, I think he does watch it.

“I watched in the first year. We live in New York and [my fiancé] was in California] and she likes it because I’m on it. But then she left, she had to come back to New York, and what are you going to do? The idea of me watching myself on TV, alone in Santa Monica, was just about... just short of, like, a bottle of Maker’s Mark and a shotgun away from shooting myself. [much laughter]  So I haven’t watched it all season. But when I have watched it, I’ve been mildly confused and Hugh is appropriately grumpy."

I have this theory that a lot of my favorite shows aren’t even about what they’re supposed to be about -- they have to be set in a hospital or police station or outer space or whatever because the network can market that, but they’re secretly not even about that. Like, “House” is really about ethics and morality.

“Yeah, sure, I think that’s true.”

But you can’t pitch that show to the network. “Hey, we have this great show that examines personal morality!"

“‘It’s based on “A View from the Bridge.”’

Right! They’re really going to for that.

“Yeah. [laughs] I think it’s good, and when it’s right, when the show works, the mystery works. It has a Sherlock Holmes-ian feel to it, and you do kind of want to know what’s wrong with [the patients]. And it is interesting, the turns and twists that get you there. And there’s always a little bit of character-driven fun stuff in between, of who these people are and how they affect each other. And that’s it at its best. And I guess that could be true of any show.

“It’s tricky, you’ve got a lead character [who’s different from the TV norm] and you’ve got to be careful because those characters can be one-note. He’s the cranky guy, he’s the Australian guy, I’m the friend in one or two scenes a week. You just have to be careful, and I think we are, we have a really great team of writers. And the numbers are building, people are watching.”

So this two-parter on May 2 and 3, I think the unofficial subtitle is the “Festival of Foreman.” I guess they’re his Emmy episodes, and that’s fine. But you’re hardly in them, what’s up with that?

“Honestly, I’m okay. I don’t want an Emmy. This is what I want -- I know exactly what I want. I did play with a guy named Skip Sudduth, ‘The Iceman Cometh,’ seven years ago. I saw him five years later, and I said, ‘Geez, Skip, where have you been? I don’t see you at readings anymore.’ He said, ‘I’ve been on “Third Watch.”’ It sounded familiar but I’d never seen it. He said, ‘I’ve been doing it for five years.’ I said, ‘Holy crap!’ And he was back doing theater. That’s my dream.

“And it’s happening. I walk down the street and people say, ‘Where are you?’ and I say, ‘I’m on this show called “House.”’ My friend Lewis Black [from 'The Daily Show'] said, ‘What is it called? “Head”?’

“I’m okay. I’ve never been happier than where my career is now. And I don’t want it to change necessarily. Money’s good, and I’m glad I’m getting that, and I’m putting it away for later in life when I do more Tom Stoppard plays at Lincoln Center and make no money. But really, I’m great. I don’t mind working two days a week.

“Because those other guys, the Scooby gang, or the Mod Squad -- they are at that studio for 16 hours a day saying ‘tachycardia, lupus, blablahdeblah.’ Honestly, I’d kill myself if  had to do those scenes for that long. I’m very happy with the size of my role, I don’t want it to get any bigger. I’m happy.”

So we won’t see the very special “House” episode where Dr. Wilson almost dies?

“That might be how I get off the show.” [laughs]

Well, you could die and come back as a ghost. Then it would be the “House Whisperer.”

“Yeah [laughs]. The hair makeup people were saying one day, ‘Oh, I love those scenes with you and Hugh, there should be more of that.’ And I’m like, ‘Shhh! Don’t say that!’ I’m the luckiest man in Hollywood. I work only with Hugh, pretty much, who’s great. And I work two days a week.”

Do you fly back and forth to New York then?

"No, not really. They don’t let me because they need me around, the schedule changes so much. I’m going to try to get away with that a little more [in the upcoming season]. Now that [my fiancé] is here, I really will kill myself if I’m out there as much as I was last year, without her.”

So five days a week you’re doing what – Botox injections? Going to the mall? Watching “Maury”?

“Rob Lowe once said the secret to being an actor in L.A. is sleeping as late as you possibly can and going to be as early as possible. I remember him saying, ‘I recommend pajamas by 4:30 p.m.’”

What’s interesting about this show is that they’re taken something that could be a very formulaic procedural and quite often turn it on its head.

“I didn’t know anything about TV, I’d never done [a TV show], but I now know very well that there are procedurals and character-driven shows. ‘Law & Order’ is a procedural and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is a character-driven show. The test [as to which category a show is in], someone once said to me, which I thought was hysterical, is this question: Did Sam Waterston sleep with [the assistant DA] on ‘Law & Order’? If the answer is ‘I don’t give a [hoot], I want to know the next element of the case,’ then it’s a procedural.

“Our show is weirdly, and there must be precedent for this, but it’s weirdly equally both. I think it’s very much a procedural, and without that sick patient every week, we wouldn’t work. And without the character stuff it wouldn’t work. And weirdly, people do care if House sleeps with one of our characters, and also care equally what’s wrong with this person and how they’re going to solve the case.”

I guess I like the character stuff better, but you’re right, it probably wouldn’t work without the suspense of the weekly case and somebody being critically ill.

“No, I think you need that. I think the echoes of Sherlock Holmes are too strong. The original idea of the show was House and Wilson, like Holmes and Watson. But it got away from that, and his team is Watson, if you want to be technical about it.

“I’m more like … the only way I’ve found to define it, and it’s so pretentious that it makes me want to jump out a window, is like King Lear’s fool. I’m like the only one who tells him the truth. And [Wilson] has nothing to lose. I don’t work for him and he doesn’t work for me. I’m the only character who chooses to be with him as opposed to being there because of a job. And because of that I have the freedom to tell him what I think. Not that Cuddy holds back much.”

I think her role is to say, "No! Bad House!"

“Have you talked to Lisa Edelstein [who plays Cuddy]? She’s so great. This Japanese woman once said to her, ‘You on “ER”!’ And she said, ‘I have been on “ER,” but now I’m on “House.”’ And [the woman says] ‘Oh yes, “House.” You say, “No, you don’t!”’ Every time we do the table read, I burst into laughter at some point, because there is the voice of that woman in my head, ‘You say “No, you don’t!”’ That’s the entire definition of Lisa’s character. Not completely, but we laugh [about it]. We have the same dilemma. We’re on this show that we’re … kind of on. Crew members say, ‘How long have you been on the show?’ ‘Uh, since the pilot.’ They really don’t know what we’re doing there.”

So in terms of the other stuff going on in your career, that’s going well, all the theater stuff?

“I’ve achieved everything I wanted to do. When I was growing up, I wanted to be Kevin Kline, Sam Waterston. I grew up watching the Public Theater and Shakespeare in the park and Marion Seldes. I mean, I may as well be gay.”

I’m not entirely sure you’re not.

[laughs] “But the thing is, I got it [i.e. his goals]. I’ve done 14 Broadway shows and got a Tony award, and now I’m making money and no one even really knows. I’m getting away with murder. If I come back to New York in two years and nothing’s changed, I’ll be thrilled. All I really want to do is [act in] plays, play with my dog, have kids. My desires are pretty simple. I don’t really want to do movies anymore. I’m pretty tired of camera acting.”

Why are you tired of camera acting? Is it the repetition of it?

“No, no, quite the opposite. We don’t rehearse enough. We do scenes where people barely know their lines, where people just about know their lines. In theater, you do it so many times and you get so familiar that then you can actually start having fun with it. And I really miss that feeling.

“It’s true of films too. I don’t know. I think I’m fine on film, but … I have walked offstage and thought, ‘Wow, no one has done that better. People may have done it as well, but not better.' I’ve actually had that feeling after ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night,’ or a Shaw play or whatever. I’ve never felt that way with film. I always feel like, ‘Boy, Donald Sutherland would have done that a lot better.’ [laughs] I just don’t think it’s what I do best. I think I’m fine, but there are people who are eerily good at it. In all humility, of which I have none [laughs], that’s how I feel about my work on stage. I really do feel that I’m gifted at it.”

Just to change gears completely, what happens in the finale?

“Well, I think the finale is a bit of a cliffhanger. Something very exciting happens. It’s extremely exciting and freaky and I think it’s great. I can’t say what it is. You end this season very curious about how the next season is going to start. It’s a great final show and a big cliffhanger.”

So it seems like Hugh Laurie is so disparaging of his own talents. But he’s so good as House.

“Some people ask me, ‘Oh, why does Wilson want to hang out with House so much?’ and I’m like, ‘You idiot.’ [laughs] House is designed to be attractive! He’s brilliant, he’s self-deprecating, he has a limp. But yeah, Hugh hates himself and he’s very funny about it.  There’s no better combination in my book. Like Lewis Black.”

But as an acting partner, he’s good to work with?

“Oh yeah. The thing is, with this part, Hugh has a huge obstacle he has to deal with, having an American accent. His problem isn’t our problem. We as the audience don’t have that problem, because what he doesn’t know is that he does it perfectly. But of course he doesn’t hear that. That’s why he can’t watch the show.

“When you’re doing an accent, you don’t feel like you’re interesting in the role. Even if everyone around is telling you that you are. And to be in a play is one thing, but to be on TV show that runs for years, I don’t know how he’s going to do it. To be that hard on yourself and be that disappointed in your own work. But as I said, and underline this four times, he’s wrong.”

And then he obviously hates when anyone calls him a sex symbol. You read his quotes when people ask him about that stuff and you can feel the embarrassment rising off the page.

“Yeah, he hates that stuff. And even more than the ‘sexy’ stuff, he hates the ‘you’re brilliant’ stuff. Of course there’s a part of him that likes him, there’s a part of all of us that likes that. [But him being hard on his performance], it’s not false vanity.

“I think Hugh does work he’s proud of and does work he thinks is good, I’m just not sure it’ll ever be this [show]. Having an accent… acting is letting go and forgetting yourself, it’s the opposite of ego. It’s flying away and getting away from yourself and forgetting. And when you’re doing an accent, it’s virtually impossible to do that.

“It’s hard when you're in a play, doing the same lines, the same way for eight months. Hugh learns 72 new lines a day and has to put an American accent on them. It really is an actor’s nightmare. I’ve done [with accents] Brian Friel plays, Martin Sherman plays, Tom Stoppard plays, and maybe five months into it you have a night where you kind of feel OK and kind of forget the accent and let go and let the scene happen. To have a strange accent in your mouth while playing a role, and then be judged for it, that’s hard stuff.

“And can I tell you, when you have dinner with Hugh Laurie [speaking in his real accent]… I miss that voice.”

Yeah. He called me once directly for an interview. I was expecting the publicist to put him through, but it was just that voice on the phone. I was sort of thrown for a minute.

“As we know, I’m straight, but yeah, it’s like, homina homina homina.” [laughs]

---- [source (part 2)] | part 1 | part 3 ---

it took me two hours to track this interview down. it might be the longest one he's ever done. first i tracked it down to tumblr pages posting about it with no source please stop doing that. then i found a short youtube video of laurie saying "homina homina" on an snl skit i think and someone in the comments mentioned the site where the rsl interview was posted. however the site wouldn't let me in, i guess they took it down so i headed to archive dot org. i didn't have a specific link though so that didn't really work out either. then for nearly an hour i tried a wide range of word combinations on google until i stumbled upon a livejournal page of rpf hugh laurie/rsl fanfic. SOMEONE tysm karaokegal posted the exact link i was looking for in the comments. quick trip to the wayback machine and here you go!

i should be on those ethical hacking competition things

#house md #hatecrimes md #gg.txt #robert sean leonard #rsl #interview #source hunting success #hugh laurie #james wilson #gregory house #i nearly went insane #trying to find this thing #part 3 is an interview w katie jacobs #part 1 is general quotes #muted

[standreamy]

A very problematic finale.

I really didn’t want to talk about this because I was spoiled with the leaks time ago so I was prepared for the worst, but even so... after watching it... it just made me so sick. 

I don’t really blame people who liked the finale, and I’m aware that this is not anymore the last season. 

But there are so many issues that it's even difficult to know where to start.  So, first of all, a premise...

We don’t know when season 6 was confirmed to the writing crew, but it was almost surely when writing was basically over. Or so we can presume. Season 4 and 5 were written kind of together and between the time the writing ended and season 6 was confirmed and then started to be written, passed quite some time. 

Logically, there wasn’t anymore time to change big stuff. Once the episodes were being animated there would be no chance to change the scrips. Thomas said already that they have too much rush and pressure from tv channels, which prevents them to fix mistakes in the writing or animation. Once things are done, they’re done. And from the leaks and the bible we know that most things, comparing what was probably the info for season 5 when it was the last season and when the series was renewed, stayed the same. 

Some minor changes are probably there, but again, they are MINOR. Changing Emilie’s name with Ladybug’s... removing her glance exchange with Adrien... But the basic issues stayed the same and we can presume they were present in every version of the finale, since from Thomas’s tweets about the choice of keeping Chat out of the finale, that seemed a willing choice made from the start. 

This means that most of this was planned even when season 5 was meant to be the last season.

Possibly no reveal, and if there was it was shoved the last moment or in a very rushed way (It’s already way late for that), Gabriel “winning”, Adrien never learning about the truth, Chat Noir non participating in the final fight. The actual ending of the show.

And all this portrayed to be something positive.

With an ending where all abusive parents were excused and paid no consequences.

“But there are more seasons, surely these elements will be picked up again”. Postponing elements for too long makes higher the risk to make the resolutions anticlimatic and out of their ideal context,  The new butterfly opens a new set of plotlines, and Adrien's plotline will be dragged on.  You may can’t rush Adrien’s reaction and trauma, but if this was the intention, it could have been done seasons ago. When there was still more confirmed seasons to go and it wasn’t a possible finale of the series. 

And I also feel like asking... when did Miraculous and its writing give any reason for fans to trust it picking up again these plotlines and handle them correctly? Where does this trust comes from?

The show is famous from dragging things for longer than they should and not resolving them properly. When there were 5 seasons to handle the plot, the relationships, the characters at the best possible. 5 seasons to build the fluff and the angst, to handle misunderstandings, to build friendship between the characters, between the protagonists... to then lead it to romance. 5 seasons to make the characters fall in love with every side of themselves slowly and gradually, to make character live negative events and heal, to have a decent reveal and seeing what comes after. And there was none of this. Since season 5 must have not been changed a lot since the confirmation of season 6... when was Chat supposed to discover about Chat Blanc? When was Ladybug supposed to develop a trauma out of it? 

What did the Ladynoir dynamic lead to? Their whole talk in s4 finale, their newfound equality? What was that angst subplot needed for? Was it brought up again? Because I remember a lot of fans saying that surely Ladybug would apologize, that Chat would turn that experience as a lesson for self-love and acceptance, that the topic of their misunderstanding would be brought up again in season 5, yet it didn’t happen.  Chat questioning Ladybug about the identities of the secondary heroes, about Multimouse, about many things... Nothing.  I hear a lot of “Surely next season...” “Surely this will be-” And I don’t blame people for hoping, nor I’m judging, but I also think that people who don’t believe it anymore and and think this is way too late have their own reasons too. 

Now, going deeper into what I think are some big issues:

First of all, Adrien/Chat obviously not being included in the final fight and not discovering the truth. 

The first issue about this regards the usual discourse about the balance between the two heroes. 

We are told that Chat and Ladybug are equals even with her being the "leader" but it's always shown and proved otherwise. This happened for seasons with Chat being kept in the dark, then with Ladybug becoming guardian and then with the Ladynoir trust issues plotline in season 4, which was left mostly unresolved.

  Kuro Neko seemed the resolution of that plotline, but not only it didn't explain why Chat would be fundamental for the team (while showing instead that a perfect cat holder would be just more functional and then saying just "But Chat is better" without explaining) but it also mostly blamed the whole thing on Chat while Ladybug says she didn't know he felt left out and adds that he not as needed anymore.  S4 finale instead shows Ladybug admitting she pushed him away on purpose, the exact opposite, didn't apologize and the thing being forgotten because the other heroes couldn't be called up anymore. And this with it being said multiple times that Chat was then just a hero like the others and not anymore her equal. Then, in s5, with the opening even and the situation implying they'd be both just as important, ends up with excluding him from the finale. The co-protagonist, the other half of the whole. The one who is son of the villain.

After 5 seasons of him being extremely related to the plotline due to him being Hawkmoth's son and the plot being basically all centered on his birth, it just leaves everything uncomplete and unfullilling. 

Adrien was never able to have the realization, to deal with it even if it’s sad and heavy with the support system he built. He wasn’t able to live such a big personal growth, an important reaction out of his character was avoided, even with it being so important. True, Adrien would feel lost, angry maybe, sad, but these emotions would have been very important for his character. The reactions that characters have to situations is just as important as the events happening. Marinette's reaction over the truth wasn't as fundamental as it would have been Adrien's.

And this leads to the other big problem that makes me even sicker: Adrien not discovering the truth and Chat either. 

The thing is obviously wrong because of missed character development and for the abuse plotline. The thing that makes me sick about the finale is indeed how the abuse plotline was ended. When it was made such a big point, I find unacceptable to end it with not only Gabriel being fakely redeemed, reminded as a hero by the people but also his abused son. 

Adrien can't come in terms with his own situation as victim, he can't grow and heal from it. Gabriel's death doesn't erase what happened and making Adrien believe he was a hero and even saying he can't even dream to be like him, is... just wrong on so many levels.  It doesn’t matter if Marinette says to be himself and not his father. Adrien still thinks positively about one who abused him for years. Gabriel sacrificing his life for Emilie's may make it seem he wasn't so bad, but it doesn't cancel his actions. He still was a terrorist and an abuser and not only he didn’t pay for his actions (death isn’t a punishment, prison instead yes) but he was rewarded, because he was remembered positively for it.  And while his death could be acceptable eventually, even if him paying for his actions would be better, Adrien not finding out is ridiculous. And Chat not doing it either is just as much a problem, because as I mentioned already in a past message, it implies that Ladybug didn’t tell her "equal partner" about the true final fight. I think it's something pretty important he should know how things really went, instead of just being satisfied with "it's all over, gabriel helped against a random person who died" Of course, it would lead to Adrien discovering, but Chat knowing would only be the right thing. Just as of course Adrien.  Adrien should know. Marinette should have told him, instead of doing as Gabriel wanted. Like, at least not telling around Gabriel was a hero? 

Isn’t she the character who hates lies and injustice? Is not seeing Adrien sad worth making him sadder when he will discover he was lied at?  If we are supposed to believe she is on the right, she is the one showing what true love is and what Adrien deserves, opposite to Gabriel's, it should be portrayed as such. She is just keeping more secrets from him as she always has done with Chat. She isn’t letting him take his own choices. She isn’t letting him be free as he says she makes him feel. 

Of course, she can make mistakes and it could open up an angst plotline, but angst plotlines with Marinette/Ladybug keeping a secret they shouldn’t have kept was already done multiple times and it always ended up with the lesson being forgotten, with the entire resolution being underwhelming or Chat accepting the situation and blaming himself anyway....

We can also say that it’s Nathalie, Plagg, Amelie or Felix telling Adrien. But what counts is that he should have known.

“But Chat Blanc showed that Adrien can’t face his father” Chat Blanc was an alternate reality, one that was supposed to tell that it wasn’t “the right moment, in the right conditions”.  Character weren’t ready yet, they weren’t mature enough or ready to face such a difficulty. And perhaps you may never be ready for such a thing, but you can face it and heal.  Adrien has a better support system, more realization over his situation as victim and is more mature. He isn’t supposed to be the same of back then. 

Whether Season 6 will really pick it up again, Gabriel’s arc was this. The ideal moment for Chat to face his trauma was this.  And even accepting Adrien’s absense and unawereness...  The other issue is that these episodes treat his reaction as a good one. if you want to postpone his reaction, to make clear that it’s only Adrien that tries to convince himself of something that is wrong, you still need to put elements that remind that what he is thinking isn't "right" morally. Especially in a show that tries to teach morals and is always excused to be for kids. There are plenty ways to show with clarity that what Adrien believes is wrong with him still saying those things: soundtrack, Marinette doing a quick grimace of regret or disgust and him not noticing or their kwami saying something at all in the background.

There are plenty more issues, like Gabriel being once again not a solid villain or character, the wish allowing to choose a “sacrifice”, Gabriel “winning”.

Yes, Gabriel may didn’t revive Emilie, and made the perfect world he wished with Adrien as a perfect symbol, but he reunited with Emilie, was remembered as a hero, admired by his son, avoided being imprisoned and paying for his crimes between terrorism and abuse (I don’t see death as a penalty), dying with a serene smile on his face....

Even if the perfect ending wasn’t perfect, even if it resulted in an illusion, in dire consequences, Gabriel’s tale ended mostly in a positive light.   Once again also, it’s highly unprobable that big changes were made between the finale when it was meant as last season and the finale when season 6 was confirmed. So most of these factors would just be part of the real end.  While we can’t confirm that for sure, it’s still something to keep in mind.  I really want to to say again that I don’t want to shame on people who liked this season finale, but just to explain why I perceived these episodes as problematic and why I understand the view of everyone else expressing criticism. 

#ml spoilers #ml recreation #ml s5 finale #ml season 5 #ml conformation #miraculous #ml season 5 spoilers

[marquezian]

‘Some PRs won’t be happy until MotoGP is just a corporate event, stripped of its beauty and soul’

(OP Note: Mat Oxley has a new article out about his battle with KTM's PR but its behind a paywall so I grabbed it since it's a great read! here's the original link)

The MotoGP paddock can be a battlefield between PRs and journalists, who have opposing goals. Once again Mat Oxley has a MotoGP PR machine coming after him and this time the fallout is gloriously entertaining

A couple of years ago I had a disagreement with the PR people from a MotoGP team who tried to stop me doing my job.

I wrote a blog about it. Because a journalist’s only power comes from his or her laptop. If we don’t tell these people to back off, pretty soon there’ll be no point in journalists attending races, so you’ll all just have to enjoy the PR releases instead.

Also, these stories offer fans an interesting insight into the weird and occasionally wonderful dynamics of a journalist’s life in the paddock.

Even better, this latest story is hilarious in its craziness. The team’s PR machine started out complaining that I hadn’t used a certain word in my story (even though I had), while banning their engineers from using that word.

Freaking weird.

It seems like PRs like these won’t be happy until MotoGP is no more than a soulless corporate marketing event, stripped of all its joy and beauty, existing purely to sell you stuff, with a bit of motorbike racing on the side. Just like Formula 1.

Most MotoGP PRs do a great job. They arrange interviews and generally help us to write about MotoGP. Back when I started, in the late 1980s, the only way to talk to a rider was to go knocking on his motorhome door. Or his tent.

Now some PRs behave like we’re there to help them do their job (flog product), rather than the other way around. If any PRs are in doubt about this, the clue is in their job title: PR, for press/public relations.

I still love MotoGP for the racing and technology, and I enjoy talking to the world’s greatest riders and engineers, but the layers of PR bullshit grow thicker and stickier each season.

Clashes between journalists and PRs are inevitable, because they have contradicting objectives. Journos want to dig into what’s going on, while a PR’s job is to protect the brand. Truth isn’t their number-one priority.

Like George Orwell wrote, “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations”.

The world’s first PR person was American Edward Bernays, who during World War I was hired by the US government to sell the idea of the country entering the war, when most Americans weren’t keen. He was so successful that he set up the world’s first PR agency after the war.

Among his numerous corporate gigs, Bernays was employed by the US tobacco industry to get women smoking, because at that time few women smoked. He consulted a Freudian psychoanalyst and promoted cigarettes to women as ‘torches of freedom’. This campaign was another big success.

Bernays’ work spawned a global PR industry that now works in every sphere of human endeavour.

Press relations – as Bernays proved – is a psychological game: you tell journalists selective truths, giving them information you want them to have, while hiding information you don’t want them to have. You cultivate friendships with journalists, because if they like you, they just may be nicer to your brand. And you stay friends, even if you hate their guts, because that’s a game.

Also useful is the possession of a vague idea of how journalism works. That’s why some of the best PRs are former journalists, who swapped sides to make more money. “Journalism is more fun,” one journo-turned-PR told me. “But PR is much more lucrative.”

The Red Bull KTM team is one of MotoGP’s best – hugely dedicated, massively hardworking and well looked after by its management. It enjoys possibly the best morale of any factory team. There’s always a buzz in the KTM garage – the mechanics really enjoy what they do and usually give a friendly nod when you walk down pit lane.

Its riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller are great to talk to and its engineers are generous with their time when you want a quick chat behind the garages. And I’ve had some great interviews with motor sport director Pit Beirer, engine designer Kurt Trieb, technical director Sebastian Risse, crew chief Paul Trevathan and others.

I last interviewed Risse (whose nickname in the team, which includes several Sebastians, is Clever Seb) during last November’s Malaysian GP.

The full interview was published on this site a while back, running to more than 2200 words. The print magazines I work for – in Europe, the USA, Australia and Japan – are more restricted on space, so I had just 500 words to cover each manufacturer, including rider and engineer quotes.

If an editor says he or she wants 500 words, you write 500 words, not 499 or 501. Magazine writing has to be tight, with quotes edited for clarity and brevity. I’ve been doing this for more than forty years, so I think I have the general idea.

PRs who try to control me by telling me what to write is like me walking into the KTM garage and telling the mechanics how to tighten the RC16’s brake bolts. I’d rightly get a slap.

And yet a KTM PR thought it a good idea to tell me how to do my job. This PR accused me of making “misquotations” in my magazine story and asked me to contact my editors, so they could make “the necessary corrections to reflect what was said accurately”.

At first, I thought it was a joke because I still have the tapes and transcripts of the interviews.

But I take the attack seriously. KTM asked these magazines to correct my text. I have no contracts with any of the magazines that publish my stuff, so I’m only ever as good as my last story. And why would an editor want to employ a journo who changes quotes to alter their meaning? Because that’s a serious crime in this job.

The attack seemed especially perverse because my story was very complimentary about KTM’s MotoGP project – “It’s a fantastic motorcycle to ride,” said Miller

To make sure I wasn’t being wrongheaded, I forwarded KTM’s email to two renowned MotoGP journalists, who between them have covered the championship for eighty years.

“I can’t understand what the complaints are about,” wrote Michael Scott, the doyen of MotoGP journalists, who started covering GPs in the early 1980s. “It is a journalist’s job to edit comments for brevity and comprehensibility. However, if someone is going to nitpick about exact wording, you either have to adopt the approach of [a former MotoGP journalist] and publish every ‘um’ and ‘er’ and every half-finished sentence and end up with overlong garble, or report in indirect speech, to preserve clarity and ensure brevity. They are nitpicking because they are nits.”

Sounds like a carpet stroller trying justify their existence,” wrote my other colleague, who covered his first GP around the same time. “It’s astounding, just mindless nitpicking. The really baffling thing is that the context of your story is 500 words of positivity about how KTM are tech trendsetters!”

I would’ve published the rest of this email, but it was way too rude.

I even contacted Britain’s National Union of Journalists to ask its opinion. “I can’t see anything that changed the meaning,” replied an NUJ advisor.

So why is KTM so mad at me?

The first complaint concerned my magazine headline and subsequent discussion about the RC16’s carbon-fibre frame.

(Italics denote their words.)

“We note that in the headline you included ‘CARBON’ whereas in the text itself you’ve removed this and kept it to just ‘frame’.”

A quick read of the story – below – reveals that the word ‘carbon’ did indeed appear within the story. Twice. Whatever they’re smoking is making them paranoid and confused. And a bit sleepy too.

Next, KTM complained about this.

“We are convinced that sooner or later everyone will have carbon frames,” says Risse.

This sentence was edited for clarity from the original, “We are convinced that sooner or later everyone will end up on this”. This was Risse’s answer to my eighth consecutive question about the RC16’s carbon-fibre frame, so there was no doubt that “this” referred to carbon frames, so the meaning hasn’t been changed.

Their last complaint concerned this Miller quote…

“We’ve been able to find more grip with the carbon-fibre frame, so the thing I’ve been working on is understanding the front end to carry more corner speed.”

This quote was subbed for clarity and brevity, from 49 words to 28. Cutting text is a major part of a journalist’s job – in fact it often takes longer to edit a story down to the required word count than to write the first draft.

This was Miller’s full quote…

“We’ve been able to find quite a bit more grip with the new chassis, so that’s the biggest thing we were trying to chase and we’ve got some steps coming to keep improving that and trying to understand the front end a bit more, to carry some corner speed.”

Again, both quotes say the same thing: the new frame gives more grip, but we need to find more corner speed.

What the PRs would’ve liked me to write was something like this, to signal each of my edits to the reader…

Risse, “We are convinced that sooner or later everyone will end up on [have] this [carbon-fibre frame technology]”.

And…

Miller, “We’ve been able to find [quite a bit] more grip with the new [carbon-fibre] chassis [sic, the swingarm was already carbon-fibre], so [that’s the biggest thing we were trying to chase and we’ve got some steps coming to keep improving that] and [Ed: what he’s been working on is] trying to understand the front end a bit more, to carry some corner speed.”

There’s a reason you never read quotes like this: because they’re ugly to read, they make the speaker sound ridiculous and they use twice the space, so the story would contain half the information.

This is why I don’t like PR people telling me how to be a journalist.

As already noted, the story praised KTM’s valiant attempts to beat Ducati. Perhaps its PR geniuses would’ve been happier if I’d more accurately reflected KTM’s recent efforts in MotoGP and written this instead…

Despite massive investment from KTM and Red Bull, working with Red Bull Advanced Technologies (arguably the world’s foremost motor sport aerodynamicists), having one of the best riders on the grid and taking some of the key brains from MotoGP dominators Ducati and Öhlins, KTM is the only manufacturer not to have won a single dry-weather grand prix in almost three years, since June 2021. Even Honda and Suzuki have won more dry GPs in that period.’

During the Sepang tests I had a lively, er, conversation with KTM, in the hope they’d realise their accusations were false. The PR doubled down, so I suggested KTM sues me, so we could go to court and let the experts decide. My offer was declined.

When I got home from Sepang I contacted the magazines that had published the story, because KTM wanted them to make corrections, where possible.

And this is when things got really funny.

The first of my editors that contacted KTM’s PRs told them he had reviewed the transcripts and story and saw no need for any corrections. It provoked this response from KTM’s motor sport PR chief.

“To be clear on this – nobody from KTM clarified that the new chassis was a carbon fibre chassis in 2023 and we were surprised and disappointed to read it as a quote from an official KTM spokesperson.”

So that’s it! KTM engineers weren’t allowed to use the term carbon-fibre to describe the RC16’s new frame, even though everyone was talking about it.

Risse and I spent more than three minutes talking specifically about the carbon frame. He went into some detail describing how it improved the bike but couldn’t actually say carbon-fibre.

How wild is that?!

KTM’s PR wonks had gone wonky – they were in a terminal tank-slapper, triggered by diametrically opposing brainwaves.

What I would’ve given to be sat in that PR/marketing meeting…

“Ladies and gentlemen, our genius MotoGP engineers have designed a genius new frame, so our genius marketing plan is to ban our genius engineers from mentioning their genius creation to anyone. Even though everyone already knows about it.”

“Dude, you’re a marketing genius!”

High-fives all round.

I assume that following this great meeting of the minds the KTM PR team gave KTM’s actual chief MotoGP engineer a bollocking for not telling me that the carbon-fibre frame didn’t exist.

Talk about the tail trying to wag the dog.

And now the crowning glory to this comedy wild-goose chase.

A few weeks after my chat with Risse, another journalist interviewed Risse and he did say the word that should not be said. (I wonder if the crack PRs returned to the office of their actual chief engineer to give him another bollocking.)

So, the PR boss was being economical with the truth when he told me that, “nobody from KTM clarified that the new chassis was a carbon fibre chassis in 2023”.

These people have their knickers in such a twist that I wonder how they get out of bed in the morning.

One last thought: a PR’s job isn’t only to establish good relations with journalists, it’s their job to promote MotoGP to a wider audience.

Considering that motorcycle racing is currently the world’s 30th most popular sport (after horse dressage!), I believe these PRs would be better spending their time trying to grow the sport – by getting stories in mainstream magazines and so on – instead of chasing after journalists for petty nothings.

Finally, I’d like to wish Red Bull KTM all the best for the 2024 season. They’re a great bunch of people (mostly) and I’d love to see them winning GPs again.

#motogp #* #*article #i love PR insights its like cocaine to me

[raayllum]

Partially inspired by @numptypylon's lovely chart but also thoughts have been kicking around my head for a while so

Who's Hurting Who?: The Possession Plotline Avenues

If you want the more straightforward look at Rayla and Callum's paths in S6, check out this (spoiler free) post from a few months ago.

Assumptions We're Making:

Callum won't permanently, if at all, die, because he's a protagonist and this is still technically a children's show. Therefore, we won't be operating under the assumption of "literally dying" and I'm prepared to eat my words later (for a temporary death, anyway). Also arc and theme stuff, but yeah

The possession plot line is happening in S6. This makes sense as stars = destiny and some of the foreshadowing from 6x01 (Callum saying he wouldn't mind death by pillow from Rayla, less morbid than it sounds, etc, and being scared of being possessed)

The possession plot line is being wrapped up / resolved in S6. This means by the end of 6x09, Callum won't be possessed. This leaves him free to have an arc in S7, rather than only being saved/freed by the end of S7 and largely out of commission till then.

Aaravos is freed before the end of 6x09, if not by 6x05. AKA it's just not in the last like three minutes of the season

Callum won't play into Aaravos' hands solely in reference to possession and will have to make A Choice at one point, either pre or post-possession that leads to things happening, because character agency is fun and tragic and there's a decent amount of set up for it

With that out of the way, we gotta break down our own subsections for both Callum and Rayla.

For Callum:

Callum plays into Aaravos' hands and it leads to the possession (we'll call this "choice first, possession second")

Callum is more randomly possessed and plays into Aaravos' hands after being freed (we'll call this "possession first, choice second")

Callum takes a risk (makes a choice) that leads to the possession, is freed, and is then coerced into helping Aaravos anyway (we'll call this "cannot escape your destiny" lmao)

For Rayla, I'm less interested in what she will (or won't) bring herself to do as I am in her mindset going into the situation, and how I think that may cause things to respond accordingly from an arc / story standpoint, so that's going to be the focus here. I am also assuming that while neither of them will kill the other, they will both harm each other (some bruises, maybe some stabbing) because we love the Drama

Rayla refuses to kill him because she refuses to sacrifice something else she loves / him again, even if that means putting the world second (for once). This is Character Development for her and works particularly well for any of his above options. Has the most likely happy ending + works best with "choice first, possession second" as well as "cannot escape your destiny". It is also the likeliest to break him out of the possession in a Positive Way

Rayla refuses to kill him and takes everything on her chin, because it doesn't matter what happens to her / this is a sacrifice she's willing to make in order to save him. This is Classic Rayla Behaviour and is not character development. This works best with "possession first, choice second" (as well as "cannot escape your destiny") and is the likeliest to result in Callum harming Rayla

Rayla does harm him enough to incapacitate him in the moment, possibly because of a freed Runaan urging her to do her duty / make her heart hard enough. This works best with "choice first, possession second" but is, to me, the unlikeliest of the three options, as it doesn't really progress Rayla's arc and removes Callum's agency for everything regarding the possession the most as a result, as it would mean he also isn't breaking free of his own accord

So, best case scenerio:

Callum makes a choice before hand that leads to Aaravos' release (maybe for Rayla's safety or the moon fam coins). This also leads to him being possessed as an extra pawn for Aaravos. Rayla refuses to sacrifice him (1) and sets him free instead. His love for her destroys him first by saving her, and then their love for each other saves him.

Second best case scenario x2:

Callum is randomly possessed and Rayla refuses to sacrifice him (1 or 2). She saves him but is injured in the fight. Callum makes some kind of choice / deal to save her life, playing into Aaravos' hands.

Callum makes a choice to save her. Rayla refuses to sacrifice him (2) and is injured in the fight. Callum makes some kind of choice / deal to save her life, playing into Aaravos' hands. AKA the sole "cannot escape destiny" route & probably the unlikeliest of this 'Callum breaks free' route

The 'Bad Case' scenarios

#3 for Callum in general + #3 for Rayla, leaving to a very dejected and torn up / injured kiddos. Most unclear about where they would go from here as characters / a couple, but not necessarily a bad thing; just unexpected.

And just for posterity's sake:

Callum does play into Aaravos' hands purely by a random possession (thus stripping him of agency, which has its own tragic flair to it and is the Point, even if it is admittedly the least interesting to me) which I think would likely lead to #2 or #3 from Rayla because if they're gonna go tragic, they're gonna go wholly tragic.

#analysis series #i need you to kill me #rayllum #what should i be doing? working on my snake boi callum oneshots #predictions #tdp #what did i do instead? this #the dragon prince #tdp meta #s6 speculation #s6 #arc 2 #mini meta #devil and the lovers

[side-vermin93]

Well.

Long rant below this line if you're just scrolling by.

I normally don't do this sort of thing, I don't post my unfiltered dogshit opinions on any kind of social media, I don't toll the bells when I don't get my way and cry 'Foul Play' unless I truly believe that something is going wrong.

No doubt, everyone has seen the... colourful reaction to TADC's release date being set in May of 2024 (This May) and the Murder Drones tag on Tumblr is exploding for good reason.

Now, before I say my piece, I would like to immediately debunk a common train of thought often used by detractors to devalue the points that others have made when it comes to this controversy:

"Glitch is saying that they are taking their time to make the episodes and the finale as best as it can be." And that we as a fandom are "Overreacting."

To begin with, I personally hope that yes, Glitch is doing everything in their power to make MD as good as it can physically be, I hope that they are giving the finale to the season the sendoff it deserves.

But would it KILL THEM to tell us something? Post teasers, memes, references to Murder Drones or even something as simple as "Hey! You liked TADC, how about you check out Murder Drones while you wait?"

Instead, Glitch has spent months of complete and total radio silence, completely forgot the existence of the anniversary of Murder Drones' pilot, and as they did this, they continued to post teasers of TADC, including a personally vexing post that basically amounted to engagement farming, literally "If this gets 100k likes, we will open the door"

Stuff like this DOES NOT help assuage the fears of fans who believe that Glitch has begun to ignore MD simply because it isn't as popular or as profitable as TADC has become, it smacks of blatant favouritism and foul play when the fans of Murder Drones get nothing, meanwhile TADC is getting WEEKLY teasers, which is only serving to inflame the controversy between TADC and MD fans.

The thing that infuriates me the most is that Murder Drones is in its final stretch for (HOPEFULLY) its first season finale, and yet we have recieved nothing aside from the initial trailers and the release date of "sometime in early 2024" and we are now coming up on the end of the second month of the year, meanwhile TADC gets a concrete release date in MAY, which does NOT excuse the constant teasers and content for TADC that was produced before this point.

As for the overreaction? I think its personally an acceptable response considering the current controversy, but the biggest problem is what Glitch has said today.

"We're also working hard on Murder Drones & will be releasing final episodes soon!"

This, reader, is a very vague statement made by Glitch in their announcement today, and... well, notice how they said "Final Episodes"

Now, this could be Twitter and its word limit screwing them over, but Glitch (and most corporations) is very deliberate with their wording, and this could be no different, do they mean the finale of season one? Or is Murder Drones as a SHOW coming to an end after episode 8? We don't know because Glitch is being vague about this.

Now, because we don't know, we are (reasonably considering how companies often tend to focus on what is most profitable as opposed to any concept of "loyalty") reacting in a negative way towards this wording and believing that MD might very well come to an end before Liam is able to fully finish his story or for us to enjoy the show he has been working on for a long time now.

If it is the end of Murder Drones, then of course people are going to blame TADC for "Killing Murder Drones." Corporations have no loyalties and no qualms about being underhanded, only an appetite for more funding and appeasing their investors, and the most juicy of cash-cows practically fell into their lap.

Now, perhaps we are WRONG, maybe Glitch really did screw up because Twitter loves its word limits, then in which case, shouldn't Glitch try and clarify that in another post as soon as possible? Say that MD isn't going anywhere and that they meant the season finale?

Ultimately, we are in a very turbulent time and tensions are the highest they have ever been, and the next two months will either cool down into something to laugh about later, or there will a shitstorm. No inbetweens.

If it is a false alarm, then I will be there laughing with y'all about how I was doomposting like an idiot, but if it isn't? then I will continue working on my projects in the fandom until I believe I am satisfied, and I will be there when the shitstorm drops.

God, I hope it's the former.

Also sorry if the tags for this are crap, but I don't have the energy left over to fix them.

#murder drones #rant post

[canonicallysoulmates]

J2 JIB11 Panel

The stars aligned and this year both boys were able to attend JIB which means we got a j2 panel! 🙌

There was a cute and funny moment at the beginning of the panel because Jared went to give Jensen a fist bump but he didn't notice and I guess Jared told him and he cracked up laughing and then they fist bumped. Jared shares that their flight got delayed, and that morning he was signing something and a fan asked him how he was and he replied that he was good that he actually felt awake even though he didn't look it and she just went "oh, i know. your face" 😆 To be fair, both of them do look and sound tired.

Also, you'll notice both are wearing Gucci jackets, they were a gift to them and M from Daniela the organizer of this event.

Jumping into the questions, first one up is: Has there ever been a moment on set where they had to overcome their, or one of, their greatest fears to shoot the scene? For Jared the thing that comes to mind is French Mistake. He says it's one of the most nervous times he's been on the spn set due to all the comedic stuff. He didn't feel comfortable doing comedy as Sam, so he would get really nervous when Sam had to be funny because he was like "Sam’s not really funny he’s kind of just chill". He got really nervous shooting some of the comedic scenes but that otherwise it was pretty fun even the stunt stuff. 

Jensen agress and says he doesn’t think there was ever a greatest fear moment while they were filming spn. That they’re doing network tv which is pretty tame in the world of television and they don’t really write stuff that he thinks would be too out of their comfort zone, and after a few seasons the writers knew what their comfort zone was and kind of played in that and utilized it. He was more uncomfortable doing stuff in The boys.

Jared says he looked comfortable, and Jensen replies "it’s called acting dear boy. I was not comfortable". He says that he was very nervous in a few of those scenes, so much so that he called his mom and told her she'd want to skip the show, that she was not the target audience.

Jared asks him if he has ever shared the story about him calling Kripke and saying he was unsure about some things. He has. Jensen says there were a few scenes he was asked to do that he didn't know he had a line but Kripke found it and Jensen couldn't cross it, he has children who may grow up and see this. Says he thinks there was supposed to be more revealed when Soldier Boy was revealed for the first time and there was supposed to be a little bit more intimacy when Soldier Boy had his fun with the ladies. And he once again shares about how his first day on set, the very first scene he had to film was stepping out of the capsule in front of his new cast and crew butt naked.

Jared makes a joke that he has some of the behind the scenes stuff and he’ll post it later and Jensen quips no pun intended 🤣 We know you do baby 😏

Jared also adds that the most nervous he ever got on the set of spn for another person was the scene where Sam gets hit by a car. It wasn’t him, and their stunts while not dangerous were intense but they felt they could take the hit or do whatever but when his stunt man Mike Carpenter did that scene, he had short hair so they put a bald cap on him and put like a thick liquid padding and then the Sam wig and that’s all he had covering his skull for getting hit by a car. And with this type of stunt there's no way to really control it like the way you land, you just have to try your best not to land on your skull. So they do it the first time, they're watching it wondering if he's gonna get up he does, then the second time his foot got caught on the bumber and he got dragged, and the third time he got up and usually stunt actors and actresses they can have like a broken bone and still say they're all good and ask if they need to do it again but this time he got up and said he was done.

Going back to The Boys, Jensen tells the story about how there's a scene where he picks up Karl Urban's character Butcher, throws him over his head and slams him into a desk, obviously this was done with a stunt guy who was wired up cause Jensen's supposed to be super strong flinging this dude over his body with one arm. So at the appex which is when he's right above Jensen's head, they let the wires lose and Jensen actually slammed him as hard as he could into the desk, they’re not slowing the guy down and the first time he did it Jensen was surprised and was like "omg are you okay???" The dude popped back up, said he was fine, to do it again to which Jensen was like ' I don't wanna' but they did and once Jensen got used to it he felt like a beast. x

What's the stupidest injury they’ve ever got on any set? Jared asks, "how much time you got?"

Jensen says they both have a list of these but the first that comes to mind he thinks it was Wendigo, when he was pulling the gun out of the back of the Impala- Jared corrects him this injury actually happened during Hook Man. Basically, he was grabbing a riffle and he pulled it from the center of the gun and the butt of it got caught on the edge of the trunk and the barrel came up and hit him on the eye, and split him open. He says it was pretty stupid and self inflected too so he has no one to blame but himself.

Jared tells the story of how when they filmed the scene where Leviathan!Sam and Dean rob the bank, they’re supposed to fire off some rounds to get everyone’s attention but his gun was too high so it was out of frame and couldn't be seen so he was asked to keep it lower so he did thing is this is a gun he had never shot before- Jensen says that if it had been a normal gun Jared would have been fine but that this one was a weird russian fully automatic machine gun. Anyways, they do the next take with Jared holding it lower and as he starts firing, something is hurting, he can immediately feel something is wrong so he stops and says he thinks he has to do something different and he looks over at Jensen who's kinda looking at him- Jared had managed to burn himself with the hot brass casings as they were ejecting so he had a bunch of ash burn marks, some of which were bleeding from the impact, across his face. Jared also mentions that it was happening so fast that if it had been a bit lower it would have gone right into his eyeball. Let's all be thankful that did not happen! But also, Jared, how are you going to say y'alls stunts weren't dangerous and then tell stories like this.

Also, right before he tells this story he tells Jensen that he's going to know right away where he's going with this and he's right because the moment he says Leviathan!Sam and Dean in the bank Jensen laughs and says this is one of his favorite Jared bonehead moves, and when Jared is telling the story Jensen says that what he loves is that Jared kept going even though he was being hit in the face. x

If they were to attend a con to meet people who would their dream guests to meet be? Jared says this question is similar to the question of if you could have dinner with somebody who would it be, and his initial response to that is are they going to be honest like if he met Obama or some other world leader would they tell him the truth or would they give him canned answers. He thinks he would probably go mostly to musicians, like Eddie Vedder, he thinks actors bore him cause he is one. He finds himself boring so he feels like the soundtrack of his life is what he would go to; Jensen agrees, he goes with musicians as well even though they don’t really do cons that's more an actor thing to do that being said he thinks Keanu Reeves is an interesting guy. He’s trying to think of who he would want to listen to answer questions and speak about things involved in the industry, he wouldn't mind listening to some of the Marvel cast like RDJ strictly for curiosity purposes not like 'omg Iron Man!' but because he thinks RDJ is an interesting fellow who as a lot of interesting things to say about topics he could related to so he would do it more out of curiosity. x

Would they talk about their tattoos?

Jensen says he hasn’t gotten anything new in a while the latest was a little thumb one he got with JDM. Basically they were at a friends (he doesn't mention her by name but Sophia Bush) wedding in Oklahoma and D and Hil were doing something with the bride which meant they had the afternoon free so naturally as one does with JDM you go for beer and tattoos. Jensen says Jared has gotten a few more than he has recently.

Jared replies there’s a few on the list he hasn’t gotten yet, but he has the basquiat crown with JDM and Jensen which they got at JDM's wedding, the day after spn finished he got one with his friend Bruce which is like a geometric design that when asked about what it is he jokes it’s an iphone update it didn't actually have a meaning it's just a random design that he liked how it looked, a star on his bicep, a "come and take it" kind of thing which he says is really cool because he thinks a month later after he got it come and take it become a women’s right thing in Texas, and he also has an homage to Dr. Seuss story Oh, the Places You'll Go! with a T for Tom, A for Austin which is Shep's name and a little moon for Odette.

They ask if the fan has any tattoos, she does, she has an AKF one and also one for the band A-ha who sing Take On Me and Jared comments he and Jensen have both tried and failed to do the high note from that song. I would love to have seen that. x

If they were to go to comic con and dress up, what would they dress up as? Jensen says his go to would be Red Hood and Batman since he already has those costumes, but the fan says besides those and as he's thinking Jared says Bullwinkle 😂 And Jensen laughs and says, yeah, Rocky and Bullwinkle. I would pay money to see them dress up as Rocky and Bullwinkle 🤣

Jared also says Boba fett, he’d like something with a mask cause he’d like the experience of being around people who are passionate about stuff and not have it be flavored by like "aren’t you that guy who was on Gilmore Girls?” Jensen says he'd go as the screen character cause that just seems very comfortable.  x

What has made them remain best friends for so long? The boys joke, Jared saying it's been way too long and Jensen saying that for the most part it’s been contractual 😂

Jared says it's never been bullshit. Since day one they’ve gotten along and the why? Who knows. They have a similar up bringing and background and likes and dislikes and he thinks primarily it's that they got to see each other during their highs and lows. They went through a lot, 15yrs is kindergarten through college and he saw Jensen and what he was going through more than any other human being on the planet and vice versa Jensen saw Jared and what he was going through, his good times, his bad times, everything in between and so you kind of get to really know the soul of somebody not just who they are at their best. You go to a set anywhere you'll probably enjoy most of the people for the first couple of hours, then they get tired or they've had a bad day and they're an asshole or a jerk but he thinks for them it was just like 'hey, you all right?' That it's like they've known each other since birth even though they've actually known each other less than 20yrs. They kind of had a fastforwarded into the fire and they had each other's back and he guesses that's why, that he wishes he knew. Jared, my darling, you just described soulmates! That person who from the moment you meet you feel like you've known them your whole life with whom you have a connection and a bond that you can't explain- that's your soulmate! 🥹

Jensen thinks there's also that SPN is the biggest thing that has happened to their careers so far, and arguably it's one of the biggest things that has happened to their lives, it's certainly changed both their lives from pre-SPN to now and to have another person understand the multitude of levels on how that changed your life to the degree in which he and Jared know each other he thinks it kind of bonds you in a way that's really indescribable. Nobody understands what his life has been like for the past almost 2 decades more than Jared does because he was pretty much right next to him the whole time and he was also going through the same stuff both personally and professionally that Jensen was going through and that really bonds people in a way that's really indescribable. And that it's a good thing they got along and that they laugh at the same jokes, and like the same music, and cheer for the same sports teams that there's just a lot in common thankfully so when they were put in that situation where they were gonna be side by side for as long as they were it was really easy and enjoyable.

Jared also comments that he thinks in general, not just with working relationships or friendships, but with romantic relationships as well or family relationships he thinks it's extremely important to be able to tell somebody when something hurt you or bothered you, and vice versa to listen when someone goes like 'hey, this happened and it felt off base or it didn't feel cool' and for that person to listen cause if you're really good friends with anybody or are close with anybody you'll have disagreeements and you'll go 'well, here's where I'm coming from, help me to understand where you're coming from' and you'll listen and be like 'got it, let's move forward. ' So it's important just with anybody that you care about to shoot straight. x

A big part of acting is dealing with rejection how do they both deal with keeping motivation in trying to act when getting rejected? Jared says this reminds him of a story of when he was still on Gilmore Girls.

He was auditioning like half a dozen times a week for other projects, and he had bought a house in the valley in LA, and a friend of his then girlfriend came over for like a housewarming party and he was showing her around and by his bed in his bedroom he had a stack of 12 or 15 scripts all stuff he was reading and hoping to get an audition for, and she looked over and asked if those were all the auditions he'd been on, Jared kind of laughed and told her to follow him and walked her over to the garage where he had cardboard boxes full of scripts. He had 300 to 400 scripts of auditions he had been on in the past 3 to 4 years.

He thinks the way he deal with rejection now is to treat auditions or meetings as maybe it’s my performance, maybe this is my chance to play this character and also now that he and Jensen have been on the producing side he realizes how silly casting sometimes gets, there can be 5 people who do an amazing job but they're going to be acting with a brunette and they don't want them to look to similar so they decide to go with a blonde or vice versa, or someone is 5'11 and that's too tall to play a 14 year old because they'll be acting with someone whose 5'3 so it comes down to random things. And that's helped a little bit, seeing the vagaries of casting and subtle nuances that don't even really make sense so he tries to go 'all right, I do my best and if that's the last time I get to play the character then so be it'. (sidenote: Jared pulling out the fancy words, first time in my life hearing the word vagaries)

Jensen says he thinks as one gets older your way of dealing with rejection changes. He and Jared have had really great succes so far in their lives and in their career so when there's rejection now he thinks they can both stand firm on the fact that they've been validated by a multitude of people and their career reflects that so that if somebody says 'no, we don't want you for that role' or 'no, we don't like that idea for a show that you're pitching' they'd be like okay, maybe it's not the right time, maybe they just don't see that vision, maybe they're looking for something else- at this point he quips that maybe they want somebody that's not so oddly tall and Jared quips back or oddly bowlegged 😆 But also that as Jared said knowing what they know about being on the other side of it has really kind of drawn the curtain back and see how a lot of times how ridiculous this process can be in getting to that final stage. So, he thinks they deal with it a little differently now. That early on, when they didn't have that affirmation to kind of rely on it was just thick skin, you had to develop thick skin, somebody says you're not good enough you had to know in your heart that you were good enough and that person just didn't see it. x

Last question, what does Dean mean to Jared and what does Sam mean to Jensen? Jared starts to answer that now, after a couple of years of spn being over cause it's been around two and a half years since they finished filming and I guess the fan thought Jared was throwing an indirect about asking this question after spn has been over for a while so they say it's because this question was prepared a long time ago, and Jared has to clarify that's not what he meant- it was actually a little funny, the fan didn't say it in a rude way or anything like that more like a clarification.

But anyways, Jared says he has more hindsight now and that he'd rather answer this question now than 2 or 3 years ago so where he stands now it's difficult for him to try and differentiate what Dean meant and what Jensen meant all he can say is that he learned a lot from both and a lot of the reason he's the man that he is and the actor he is is because he spent 15yrs looking at Jensen and then they're calling action and he was looking at Dean so it's hard to kind of really parse out exactly what he got- says he got his dad voice from Dean to which Jensen says that so has he, Jared continues saying he learned every step of the way and he thinks it was really exciting. That a lot of what he really liked about Dean was his keep going attitude and that's very similar to Jensen kind of like 'yeah, this sucks but we gotta get through it' or 'all right, we're tired it's 16hrs, it's 4am, it's raining or freezing in Vand and we have to do a fight scene but all right it ain't gonna do itself let's go do it' so that kind of evoked something in him.

Jensen concurs that it's the same for him but also that he knows Sam is a part of Jared, that Sam resides in Jared's personality so getting to see as many times as he did Jared bring that element of himself forward and then take on the embodiment of Sam was like getting to see a specific micro aspect of Jared and how he can mold that and play with that and tell the story using that and he's always thought that he was very gifted in doing so and now he's doing it with another character. He thinks he and Jared, because they weren't classically trained as actors and didn't have any formal training to speak of at all they had to learn to use what they knew and that's essentially themselves, Dean is certainly a part of his personality that is exaggerated, Sam is also a part of Jared's personality that is exaggerated so they got to play this kind of exagerated versions of themselves with each other and then they'd yell cut and they'd go back to being themselves so he really feels it's just part of the package that he got with Jared and he'll forever be grateful for that and he looks forward to the next time he gets to see him morph into Sam. Those are lovely answers 💕

J2 JIB11 Panel

#j2 tinhat #i'm so glad we got both boys at jib this year #and in case anyone is wondering yes i am going to cover their solo panels too so keep an eye out for those #jared loves jensen #jensen loves jared #mine #noniwtv

[itaehynz]

INFRUNAMI !

THIRTY • WE DID IT

★ wc: 3.5k words!

☆ warning(s): fluff, kisses (small pecks & stuff), tears may fall.

STILL ON THE PHONE WITH CHAEYOUNG, you continuously talk about what you plan on wearing tomorrow for your "date" with yeonjun. she's been saying yes to every outfit that you've showed but only one really stood out to her. as you notice how she reacted once you tried on that one, you carefully ask "do you think i should wear this one?", she stares back at you through her camera with the hugest grin on her face. "you most definitely SHOULD wear that", she says making sure her liking for the outfit is clear as day.

"okay, i'm gonna go with this one then," you say before huffing slightly as a joke. chaeyoung begins clapping & whistling as if you were one of her favorite performers singing her favorite song. you giggle at her reaction finding it funny how she's way more excited over this date than you are.

you grab a couple of clothing hangers before hanging your clothes on your closet door making sure you know exactly where your outfit is once you wake up. you begin to straighten out your bed & start walking out your room to the bathroom to go brush your teeth & prepare yourself for bed.

"chae, do you think yeonjun'll ask me to be his partner?" you say with utmost curiosity in your tone. chaeyoung hums slightly before saying, "i honestly don't know, you know yeonjun better than me, but the only thing i can really promise you is that when he's ready to ask you he most definitely will."

you smile a little but quickly stop smiling as you grab your phone & walk back into your room. you began to make yourself comfortable and ready for bed before telling chaeyoung that you're beginning to feel a little bit tired. she hums once again & tells you that you can go to sleep but make sure to call her in the morning before getting ready for your "date".

you start to bid her a goodnight while you both begin saying your 'i love you's' & 'sleep well's' before hanging up the phone, putting it on the charger & setting an alarm before drifting off to sleep for the day you have ahead of you.

—

(12:00pm)

waking up to the sound of an alarm blaring in your ears at 12:00pm is not the best thing in the world, but atleast you're seeing yeonjun today. you take your time waking up because yeonjun said he's picking you up around six thirty, which gives you just enough time to make yourself look your absolute best. you walk to your kitchen to grab something small to eat whilst you watch a little bit of the newest season of 'alice in borderland'.

midway through the first episode, you reach for your phone to call chaeyoung like she had asked of you. you open your contacts to press her number & set up your phone on the coffee table carefully. while watching it ring you start to think that she might still be asleep, but knowing her she most definitely is asleep.

but, even though chaeyoung is someone who LOVES sleep… she does also enjoy going out & hanging out with her peers for a while, which is why she loves the quote, 'we're here for a good time, not a long time.'

as you're processing your thoughts, chaeyoung finally picks up the phone. speaking in her always cool & casual tone, she says to you "hey hey yn! how'd you sleep bae?". you automatically snap out of your thoughts once you hear the sound of chaeyoung. you smile at her, "hiii chae, i slept well thank you for asking bae bae, i'm a little nervous for today though..." you say before your smile slowly starts fading away & having a face slight sadness take over your previously carefree expression.

chaeyoung sighs and starts to think about what she can possibly be said to you without being too harsh or careless, "ynnnn, please stop worrying about later on, it's all gonna go well. i can promise you that, take deep breaths & release yourself of all tension within you before leaving your house okay? everything will be fiiiiine~" she says with a genuine smile which makes you smile.

chaeyoung is one of the main people that looks out for you, making sure you're always okay when you start getting a little anxious, like right now. you've always loved her for that. chaeyoung laughs a little when she sees your goofy smile & you start laughing as well.

it's been a couple hours into the call & it's seeming to be around the time you need to start getting ready. you begin walking upstairs to the bathroom outside of your room to brush your teeth, maybe do your makeup and whatever else you need to. chaeyoung's making herself lunch & you ask her what she plans on making, "a small salad with a sandwich— i'm not too hungry as of right now but i just wanna eat something so i don't starve, you know?", she says as you respond to her with a slight hum and go back to rinsing your face.

—

( 5:23pm )

chaeyoung's already finished her sandwich & you've finished putting everything on, as of now you're just adding some finishing touches, making sure everything's good. you ask chae if you look okay and which she obviously says yes to how nice to you look.

you're sitting in your living room watching ep3 of 'alice in borderland' as you receive a message from yeonjun. your eyes slowly skim over the message which says,

jun! 🫧: is it okay if i pick you up sooner? i had everything prepared faster than i expected 😭

you smile at that & respond back quickly.

yn: yes ofc, no worries i'm ready anyway!

he hearts your message before typing back & saying,

jun! 🫧: okay great i'll be there at 5:40? is that okay?

yn: yes that's fine, i'll be right here waiting for you 🤗

you type back before placing down your phone & smiling to yourself.

"why're you smiliiiing, was it yeonjun?" chaeyoung says with a smirk on her face. "how did you know it was him what the hell," "c'mon who are you talking to you right now, yn?" "you're right" you say before laughing slightly. "he said he'll pick me up at 5:40," you say while checking the time, reading 5:38. "soooo, he should actually be here in a few?" chae says with a slight smile on her face. "yeah he'll be pulling in front in a littl—" you say before getting cut off by the honk of a car outside of your house, which is who you're expecting— yeonjun.

"OH, hang up the phone yn & go hang out with your future boyfriend, i'll talk to you later!", chaeyoung says while smirking and raising her eyebrows at you. "okaaaay, i'll talk to you later chaeeee", you say before hanging up and grabbing your coat to leave the house.

once your coat's on, you make sure to go turn off all of the lights & begin taking your leave to go to yeonjun's car.

as you walk out your house, you see yeonjun roll down the passenger's seat window waving at you with a huge smile on his face. you wave back with a smile & open the passenger's seat door before quickly getting in. you both reach out to hug each other before yeonjun locks the car & begins driving off to your awaited destination.

—

after around 40-45 minutes, you've arrived at the very long awaited location & see that it's a little cottage with fairy lights and flowers decorating the outside. yeonjun comes around the car to open the door for you and you step out of the car in pure awe. you cannot believe what you're seeing. 'yeonjun really showed out, oh my gosh' you think to yourself before you look over at yeonjun with your lips slightly parted & wide eyes.

you look back over to the cottage before saying, "yeonjun, this is... wow". he slightly chuckles at your reaction, "is that a good wow or a bad wow?" "don't be stupid." you say with a slightly serious expression. "of course it's a good wow yeonjun, this is beautiful." "ohhh okay, now let's go inside before the food gets cold!" he says to you before grabbing your hand and starts running toward the cottage while dragging you along with him.

if you thought the outside of the cottage was beautiful, you should've seen the inside. the wall was decorated with the polaroids of you guys together that your mothers have taken throughout your childhood years, more fairy lights on the inside, a picnic blanket laid down with a wooden picnic basket sitting on it & to top it all off, cute little fake candles. yeonjun made everything so beautiful, it can't help but bring you to the question, 'will i be his partner by the end of tonight?'... and the answer to your question will be unknown until the end of this night.

you and yeonjun have now fully walked in the cottage. you both choose to sit across from each other and start talking a little. you notice that there's a small bag next to him & can't help but ask him what's in it, "it's some games that we can play if you want to! i figured you wouldn't wanna start eating immediately so i brought some stuff for us to do just in case," he says. you flash him a gentle smile before saying you'd love to play games as he picks up the bag & hooks up a nintendo switch to the tv you didn't even know was there. "since when did you have a switch?" "oh it's not my mine it's beomgyu's, he left it at my house when he came over & i just thought, 'hey why not use this for tomorrow?'" he says before chuckling slightly. you laugh along with him & watch him as you finishes plugging and hooking up the wires to get everything together.

once he finishes hooking up everything he asks you to hand him the mario kart game card & hands you a controller. he takes a controller for himself and starts up the game, you watch as he goes straight into the character choosing menu & tells you to pick one and the vehicle you want to use. "i'm gonna beat you yn," "no you're not, i'm actually really good at this game" you say before playfully rolling your eyes & batting your lashes. he smiles at that and starts choosing the maps so you guys can get started.

-

the first three rounds are over & it's officially the last round. you've came in 2nd place the past three rounds and now you're determined to win the last round to prove to yeonjun that you're 'the best' at this game. the fourth & final round starts with a countdown which has you picking up your acceleration so you can be in front of yeonjun right when the game starts.

you're dodging every obstacle & making sure to pick up power-ups every chance you get, meanwhile yeonjun picks up a shell & launches it at you. you stare at the screen in shock as you watch him hit you & take your first place spot away. now you're on the edge of your seat waiting for the perfect moment to use your shell, you end up right behind him and take the chance to throw the shell at him. with such ease, you've successfully hit him which leaves HIM in shock. you start laughing and pass the 2nd finish line which brings you the third & final lap.

'you're almost there' you think to yourself but before you can finish collecting your thoughts, yeonjun hits you with a shell once again & takes your first place spot once again. you're not even shocked at this point, you knew he was good at the game & he told you that himself! with how hard you're pressing on the acceleration button, you're almost 100% sure that when you finish there will be a small dent in your finger.

you're officially nearing the last finish line which means the lap will finish & you'll lose to yeonjun in second place AGAIN. you're not letting that happen, so right when he's about to hit the finish line... you hit him with a shell, which leaves him in shock once again. you watch as his character spins around a couple time & you officially pass the finish line. with how much happiness this last game has brought you, you can't but get up and do a little victory dance.

"UH HUUUUUH, I BEAT YOU, YOU LOST AND I WON." you say while spinning in a circle doing your little dance. he claps for you & laughs at how funny you look while dancing, "ok ok, i'll admit that you're pretty good but don't forget how i beat you three times in a row before you got first place", he says before cackling like a witch.

you stop dancing & slowly turn to look at him, he's smiling at you. you've seen that smile before, it's not just any random smile showing that he thinks you're funny... it's a genuine smile. a smile that only someone who's deeply in love with you would have. you can't help but get a little shy & look away with a shy smile on your face, "are you ready to eat now?" yeonjun asks you while still smiling. "yeah i'm a little hungry now" you say while still looking away, he says okay & asks if you'd like any sauces with your food. you say yes & ask him if he could add them on top for you, he nods his head softly before going to the back and add the sauce, which is what you're assuming.

he comes back out with three closed trays of your food & he hands them off to you. just as you're about to open it, he stops you? "don't open it yet, let me put something on first and then we can start eating together, is that okay?", you nod before he walks over to the tv & switches the hdmi to regular tv and uses the remote to go over to netflix. "you've started watching the new season of 'aib' right? what episode did you get up to?" "the third one," "okay great me too, i'll put that on and then we can start eating!" he says while you nod your head in agreement.

once he puts on the show, he takes his seat back in his spot across from you. you begin to open your first tray & see words written in sauce saying 'will u',

you're slightly confused so you look up at yeonjun to see him staring at the screen with his chopsticks in hand. you begin to open the next tray as you feel obligated to, and to your surprise it also has words written out in sauce, but this one says 'be my'.

you're starting to put the pieces together as your eyes begin to widen before you quickly open the next tray to see that it says, 'my partner?'— as if on cue, yeonjun sighs & calls your name in a slight whisper but it's still loud enough for you to hear. you slowly look up at him with curious eyes as he says that he has something to tell you. you nod your head before putting all your focus on him.

"i've been in love with you for the longest. i've been a little bad at hiding it lately but that's because i wanted to make sure you'd get a slight hint? moving on, ever since you've moved in down the street from me— i've been crushing on you since then. i've been crushing on the way you talk, your energy, your confidence, your beauty, your flaws, just everything about you in general. but the thing is, you have no flaws- everything about you is perfect. to me. you're the most amazing person i've ever met & i've been waiting to do this for the longest but i was scared. scared that you wouldn't like me back, scared of rejection. it's took a lot in me to even talk to you sometimes because of how nervous i was. but i'm ready now... ready to be the best boyfriend to you, ready to continue being your bestfriend while being your boyfriend at the same time, ready to take you out on REAL dates & make you feel comfortable in your own skin. so this brings me to the question i've been scared to ask since day one— will you be my partner? it would make me the happiest man alive to have you as mine & just be yours."

oh my, he just confessed his true feelings to you and said that he's been in love with you since the day he'd met you.

"yeonjun... i'd be HONORED to have you as my boyfriend. you are the sweetest person i've EVER met and i've been in love with everything about you since the day i had met you as well. if anything, i'd be the happiest person alive to have YOU as mine... and, i'm super sorry for not realizing my feelings sooner— i was in denial for so long because i'd never think that somebody as amazing as you would like me. but i guess i was wrong... i truly admire you & the way you do things... you're so perfect & i'm truly glad i met you, so yes. i'd love to be your partner— no hesitation."

you say as you go in to hug him. he wraps his arms tightly around your waist and pecks a kiss slightly on the left side of your neck. you continue to hug him as you bury your face into his neck and whisper the words, "i love you". he smiles against your neck & says "i love you so much more yn".

you're definitely gonna be staying like that for a while.

—

you both are cuddled up in each other's arms as you both stare at the tv screen. you're laying your head on yeonjun's shoulder & he's laying his head on top of yours. you both have finished your food & it's starting to get a little late. yeonjun pauses the show, "do you wanna start going home & i'll come over tomorrow so we can pick up where we left off?" "yes please do," you say as yeonjun nods & begins picking up the empty food trays to throw them away.

you start to move the picnic basket & begin folding the picnic blanket and turning off the tv. you walk back near the door with the basket in hand to grab your coat & put on your shoes as yeonjun comes back and does the same. he begins to smile at you & you smile back and give him a peck on the lips. "let's go jun, it's really getting late" "okay love," he says as he unplugs the fairy lights and opens the door for you before grabbing your hand and quickly rushing back to his car.

he opens the passenger's door for you and closes it behind you as soon as you're in. he starts the car & turns on the heat before pulling out of his parking spot slowly to start the ride back home.

—

yeonjun starts slowing down a bit as he begins to pull in front of your house. after he stops the car, he taps you lightly to wake you up from the nap you had taken. you slowly open your eyes slowly and look around to see where, once you realize that you’re home you say, “oh”. you look over at yeonjun and sees him staring at you with a fond smile, you start to blush a little which makes you look away. he laughs at that & starts unbuckling his seatbelt “cmon, i’ll walk you to the front!” he says as you begin to smile at how generous he is.

he’s watching you unlock the door & once you do, he looks back up at you. you do the same. he flashes a smile at you, you flash one back. “i’ll see you tomorrow okay?” “okay. i love you” “i love you too,” he says before pressing quick peck on your lips. as he pulls away from you, you can’t help but smile. he gets back into his car and waves at you through the passenger’s seat window, “bye bye jun!” “bye my love!” he says before slowly pulling off.

you walk back into your house & take off your shoes to lay down on your couch for a second and just think about how today went. you start smiling to yourself at the thought of how yeonjun asked you to be his partner & how sincere he was when confessing. you begin to blush and start kicking your feet slightly, “HE ASKED ME OUTTTTT” you say before giggling really loudly.

your giggling stops a little & you let out a little content sigh… you begin thinking to yourself, ‘he asked me out.’ and just as you finish processing your thoughts— you start giggling uncontrollably again…

what a wonderful way to start your christmas break right?

★ prev + masterlist + next!

☆ taglist: @recreatiun @blahbluhblahbluh @iheartsxna @shiggyscumdump @2ynjns @ioszzn @luvsoobs @boba-beom @nobodyshallenter @wccycc @ellesalazar @nyfwyeonjun @bucketofhiros @hyuneyeon @urmumhasacrushonme @xxxx-23nct @sansluvr @ahnneyong @jayeonnature (closed!)

★ author note(s): cannot believe this is the final chapter. i’ve had so much fun making this whole story 🥹🥹

#txt smau #txt imagines #txt imagine #txt fics #txt scenarios #txt x reader #txt fluff #txt fanfic #choi yeonjun smau #choi yeonjun fanfic #choi yeonjun fluff #choi yeonjun scenarios #choi yeonjun x reader #choi yeonjun imagines #yeonjun fluff #yeonjun imagine #yeonjun x reader #yeonjun scenarios #yeonjun imagines #yeonjun fanfic #choi soobin smau #choi soobin x reader #choi beomgyu smau #choi beomgyu x reader #kang taehyun smau #kang taehyun x reader #hueningkai smau #hueningkai x reader #💒 — infrunami. #💌 — fairyoftaehyun

[foxymoxynoona]

MY WRITING

All of my stuff is hosted on AO3 or you can read a lot of it here on tumblr. Thanks for checking out my works!

Check out my update schedule here 

Over the Falls

→ Poolboy Jungkook x Rich Divorcee OC

Read on Tumblr | Read on AO3

Jungkook sees a lot of things as a pool tech. It’s…  fine. It pays the bills between mornings on the water and evenings  rocking out with his garage-band. His favorite thing to see on the job has been Grace Birch –older but a hottie, wealthy but nice, and  unfortunately very married. At least until Grace learns what her husband  has been up to behind her back. Now that she’s free, Jungkook finds  himself wondering: what does it take for a guy like him to catch the eye of a woman like that?

After the Applause

➝ Single Dad Jimin x OC

Read on Tumblr | Read on AO3

Jimin doesn't know how he would have made it this far without the support of his thoughtful, generous neighbor. Hanbyul has lived next to hottie Jimin and his adorable daughter for years now, long enough to remember the wife he was so devoted to and lost far too young. With each safely ensconced on their side of the brick wall of the Parks' grief, it may take an enterprising little scientist to set the stage for a second chance at love.

To Kill A King

➝ Historical Fantasy Prince Jin x OC

Read on Tumblr | Read on Ao3

What's more charming than Prince Seokjin? Nothing, obviously. Except maybe the rotating palace guests who each smile and bow and charm in an attempt to hide their true motives. Fortunately Seokjin has a close circle of friends (well, servants) who watch his back and endure his humor and help him navigate the tumultuous seas of heartbreak, love, and an arranged marriage, not necessarily in that order. If only they had helped him keep a closer eye on his bride-to-be's handmaiden, who arrives with her own agenda... or maybe it would have been better if he had noticed her less? One thing is certain as this royal drama of the heart plays out: there are many people competing to kill a king.

Asunder

Book 2 in Legends of the Red-Lions series, Prequel but can be read first ➝ Warrior Taehyung x Mage OC in Fantasy World AU

Series Masterlist | Read on AO3 | Read Chapter One on Tumblr

As son of the Thane, Teahyung’s life is blessed, his family respected, and his life as a warrior charted from the moment his father claims leadership. As Taehyung’s “blessed years” stack, glued together with violence and tragedy, his life begins to feel less like a gift from the gods and more like a burden. Do the gods really want what’s best for him? Does he really want to be like his father? And when the woman he loves marries his best friend, is he really supposed to just accept it? How is he supposed to choose, Karmen or Jungkook?

Some of these are OT7 series, some of them are member-focused books that have spinoffs featuring other members so I want the worlds organized together.

Birdtan Sonyeondan Series

Masterlist coming early 2023 along with Book 2!

Lone Blue Egg

 ➝ Penguin Hybrid JK x Bird Hybrid OC (complete, words 101,880) Jungkook is a simple man. He goes to work, he hangs out with friends, he worries about finding a mate to take home for his hometown breeding season. Maybe he spends a little more money on cam girls than is fiscally responsible but he has niche tastes. Maybe he feels a bit adrift, but he's a young penguin hybrid, supposedly in his prime, far from his crèche. At least he's good at one thing: taking care of his precious egg. A comfort egg, not a real egg, he's not a real penguin, just a man with penguin DNA and behavioral tendencies. Just like Yoongi isn't actually an owl, even if he does stay up all night and sometimes hoot to fuck with their roommates. But this is a real love story, even if a slightly odd one.

Read on AO3 | Read on Tumblr

The Legends of the Red Lions

OT7 BTS Fantasy AU, books in series focus on individual members

The Avvar are old and the Red-Lion clan goes back to the earliest days, when Tyrdda Bright-Axe refused to join Thelm Gold-Handed in crossing the Waking Sea to plunder the Golden City, the alleged seat of the Old Gods. Instead her people split from the Almarri and became the Avvar clans, settling in the Frostback mountains and the forests and along the coasts and burrowed into nature and found new ways to commune with the gods --sometimes through struggle, sometimes through strife, and many times through victory. There have been many exceptional Avvar over the generations. Thanes, Augurs, Skalds, Warriors, Healers, and Hunters. It is rare though, in one generation, for there to be so many Legendary characters. It may begin to feel like the gods are planning something.

Series Masterlist

Book 1: The Lowlander (Warrior Jungkook x Noble Elf OC) Complete Book 2: Asunder (Taehyung x Mage OC) In Progress + Drabbles (Ongoing, multi-member)

The Secret Song Series

➝ Idol Jungkook x Russian-American OC ➝ Working on side stories for other members as well

Jungkook lost his heart pretty much as soon as he saw Sasha Prazdnikova in Little Bean coffee shop, and hers didn’t actually wait much longer. But life as an idol isn’t easy, and life as an idol’s girlfriend isn’t any easier, especially when Sasha has her own career –as well as her own personal demons from a painful childhood of abuse and trauma. Their love, respect, and support for each other is clear, but is it enough to hold them together through the years? How can a relationship survive when your love story has to be sung through secret songs?

Series Masterlist

Books so far:

Book 1: Little Bean (Done)

Book 2: Flux (Done)

Book 3: My Matryoshka (Starts August 22)

SSP & JK: The B-Sides (drabbles and one-shots)(on-going)

RM: Mono to Stereo (Namjoon-focused collection)(on-going)

V: The Man (Taehyung-focused collection)(on-going) More books, short stories, and drabbles to come

Amended

(complete; 670,676 words) ➝ Police officer!Jungkook x Childhood Friend Single Mom OC

Getting into a bar fight is the least surprising part of Isabella's return home. She sure doesn't expect to run into her childhood friend turned high school enemy, now not just surprisingly a law-abiding citizen but a police officer. Things seem to be going great for him, but Isabella is struggling with more than a bar fight. A single mom with a sick grandmother, an alcoholic mother, an abusive ex, and a short fuse herself, matters are not helped that Jungkook seems to be everywhere. All the time. Especially every time Isabella messes up. Can she really believe him when he says he just wants to help?

Read on AO3 | Read Chapter 1 on Tumblr

⟹ Footnotes & Afterthoughts ➝ Ongoing collection of one shots related to Amended, may focus on side characters/pairings Read all on AO3 | Read on Tumblr:

- JK & Isabella are ready for a baby  - They learn the sex of their baby - Hallowen Night: Zombie Parents Edition - An Afternoon with Namjoon & Sylvie - Wisdom (Teeth) Lost - Taehyung & Kristin: Friends - Pregnancy Announcement #1 - A Domestic Morning - JK & Lily: Ready to Roll - Welcome to the World, Kai - The Milk Murders

Meadow

➝ Alpha Wolf Shifter JK x Omega OC (complete; 558,096 words) Despite being arranged two decades ago, the start of Bronwen and Jungkook's marriage is a difficult one. Misunderstanding, resentment, and a struggle to control unfamiliar instincts threaten to mire them both in a miserable, unhealthy situation. Before they can even begin to reconcile their new intertwined fate, though, Bronwen begins to suspect there's something else holding them back: a lie that threatens everything she's been raised to believe.

Read on Ao3

A Bouquet of Flowers ➝ Ongoing collection of one shots related to Meadow Read all on AO3 |

Read on tumblr:

- Min Yoongi Meets An Animal - Original Character Min Je-Ni (Yoongi's grandmother) drabble: An Arrangement - A Run in with Eun-Kyung - Jungkook's Rut

Sugar Fairy

➝ Bunny!Hybrid JK x Leopard Hybrid OC (Complete; 228,523 words)

Bunny Hybrid Jungkook is at that age... he needs a mate, and it's making life miserable for everyone in the family. The obvious solution is to bring home a girl. The obvious problem is that while it's love at first site for Pippa when he walks into the adoption tent, Jungkook is far more into the sexy cat to her right. Will there ever be peace in the family again?

Read on Ao3

Bite-Sized Sweets ➝ Ongoing collection of Sugar Fairy one shots Read all on AO3 | Read on Tumblr:

- Namjoon Handles Jk's Rut - Need to X-Post: Namjoon & Narae adopt - Need to X-Post: Dae and the dress story

Stories of any length that focus on one member.

A Nice Walk Home

➝ (non-idol) BF Jin x Reader (2283 words) Read on AO3 | Read on Tumblr

-See To Kill A King above.

Dad Yoongi Drabble Collection

➝ (non-idol) husband Yoongi x Reader No rigid story structure, just connected vignettes from the life you and Yoongi navigate together raising your two little ones.

Read all on Ao3 | Read on Tumblr:

A Quiet Morning (3042 words)

Can I Interest You In Some Cookies? (4963 words) 

Are We Ready For Ice Cream? (4878 words)

*Coming Soon*

- Features heavily in “Tell Me What Changed”

An Unexpected Exhibit

➝ (non-idol) rival Namjoon x Reader (5387 words) (G) Read on AO3 | Read on Tumblr

- Features heavily in Sugar Fairy and Amended - See RM: Mono to Stereo under Secret Song Series

Jimin Held Out His Hand

➝ Fairy Lord Jimin x Reader (about 5000 works depending on your choice; two ending options) Read on Tumblr | Read on AO3

After the Applause (See WIP above) 

- Features heavily in Meadow

Spoilers

➝ Pediatric Nurse Tae x Single Mom OC (complete; 32,680 words)

Read on AO3 | Read on Tumblr

It wouldn't be fair to say Jayden is the only pediatric patient Nurse Tae adores, but he's definitely one of his favorites. And Jayden's mom Sydney is the sort of parent who makes a shift in the PICU ward enjoyable, but that's neither here nor there, because at the end of the day, Taehyung is a professional. He has a job to do, a job that is to take care of the children and their families during their stressful stay in the PICU ward. Catching feelings is definitely not allowed.

Regretful Eternal & Yours

➝ God of Death Tae x Goddess of Memories Reader (complete; 4990 words)

Read on Tumblr | Read on AO3

- Features heavily in Sugar Fairy - See Asunder above

Tell Me What Changed 

➝ Fuckboy BFF JK x OC, Special Guest Hoseok (Complete; 261,365 words) Drabbles ongoing, Read on the story masterlist page below

Read on AO3 | Read on Tumblr

Alex and Jungkook have been best friends since childhood --actual best friends. She is NOT in love with him, for real, and wishes people would stop assuming that. Why does no one question if he's in love with her? Huh? But it might have to do with his successful fuckboy status, while Alex is very much... not that. Which is fine and doesn't matter! Until Jimin's impending wedding leaves her eager for a date and willing to put herself out there, and Jungkook can't believe what happens next.

Sea of Indigo

➝ Pibull!Hybrid ex-fighter JK x Human Female Reader (Complete; 240,156 words)

Read on AO3

Pitbull Hybrid Jungkook has finally been freed from the fighting rings, and now finds himself at Marigold Sanctuary & Transition Estate, a place for healing and self-discovery for rescued hybrids. It's stupid, dumb, cheesy, and hell-bent on helping Jungkook "heal" and "find himself" and "decide the course of his life." And right at the center of it is Y/N, a nurse who's got everyone bamboozled that she's like some awesome person. She's not that great. Jungkook hates it here.

+ - Drabble: After You Left or Read on AO3 + A Beautiful Beyond: JK and Y/N Have a Baby or Read on AO3

Insatiable

(complete; 25,149 words)(it’s filthy I am so sorry) ➝ Wolf Hybrid Twin JK(s) x Hyena Hybrid OC

Read on AO3

Emi the abandoned hyena hybrid is at the shelter for two weeks before Seokjin can't stand seeing her so sad for another day. He adopts her, determined to give her a happy home, despite the fact hyenas are matriarchal, demanding, and sexually needy. Several of his friends have hybrids, but it seems too good to be true when Namjoon's wolf hybrid Gukka takes an instant liking to Emi. Unfortunately, so does his idenical twin brother, Jae. And Emi doesn't know how to choose.

DRABBLES

JK X Fan OC Meet at a Concert a little Y/N drabble request, 3k words

Ashtoreth ; Tattooartist!JK x Camgirl reader old drabble/abandoned short story

Features heavily in Asunder

Banner/bars made with photo from Pixabay on pexels

All works are my original work and copyright to me 2020 and beyond, I do not allow translations of my work or reposting anywhere, thanks. If you see something of mine outside of tumblr or ao3, please report for infringement.

#my writing #my masterlist #bts fanfic #bts ff #bts fanfiction #jungkook ff #jeon jungkook ff #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #namjoon fanfic #taehyung fanfiction #seokjin fics #yoongi fanfiction #jungkook x oc #yoongi x reader #seokjin x reader #seokjin x oc #taehyung x oc #taehyung x reader

[btr-rewatch]

BTR REWATCH MINI POST

Big Time Rush Season 1, Episode 8: “Big Time Break”

While I will not be covering this episode in full (I do have some gifsets from it, though), I do wish to ramble a bit about Kendall and Katie, because they've got some great moments together in it.

So. Shows that portray close and healthy sibling dynamics. Makes me insane, right? Right. Siblings who love and look out for each other. When each one manages to be The Protector of the other in some way, regardless of age difference. Brilliant stuff.

And for a show that so often relies on absurdity and just plain off-the-walls humor, it manages to have depth as well, if you're looking for it. Which I am. Why else would I have created this blog but to analyze this delightful series?

Kendall and Katie may possibly be one of my favorite fictional siblings. From the very first episode, there's such a strongly established bond that you can sense even though they really don't interact that much. You see it in the way that Kendall immediately (happily) complies with Katie's request to hear the "Giant Turd" song and when Katie is going on about how often Kendall sings—including when she can't sleep at night.

I won't go into all my thoughts and feelings on the Knight family situation and how a lot of who Kendall is was likely forced upon him when he became "man of the house," but...those thoughts are there. Might explore them at a later date in another post or in a fic, but anyway! As you make your way through the first season, their relationship solidifies more, and you see the warmth. The way that they look out for each other, and the fierceness with which they love each other. Katie is an independent, tough cookie, but she's still a little kid who sees her big brother as a role model and needs his guidance. And Kendall, being the guy who always tries to be there for others and set a good example, does a wonderful job of looking after her while also knowing when to step back. In a lot of ways, he's a combination of brother, father-figure, and friend, which I have OTHER thoughts about (because that is a lot of weight to carry around at 16).

Focusing in on "Big Time Break" though, Kendall's storyline deals with him still wanting to get to know and befriend Jo, even though she has a boyfriend. At one point, Katie overhears Jo on the phone and discovers that Jo doesn't have a boyfriend at all; she's been pretending to have one for fear of romantic pursuits interfering with her career. Perfectly understandable to want to prioritize in life, of course, but Katie is not happy to hear of the deception.

Jo has been LYING to her dear big brother?? Now, she could just sit back and not get involved. After all, Kendall and Jo are older and have their own confusing, teenage lives. It'd be okay if she wanted to shrug and let them figure it out themselves. It doesn't have to be her business.

But Katie Knight can't do that. She goes right over and pulls Kendall from his conversation in a way so very fitting of her character.

This is another aspect of their dynamic that I really like: Katie's complete lack of fear to take charge when needed. Kendall isn't listening to her? She just rolls her eyes and drags him by his ear. Katie Knight, expert on gettin' things done.

She then lets Kendall know that he's been getting played "like a fiddle." Not wanting Jo to be suspicious of their conversation, she cleverly advises Kendall to turn and give Jo the "my little sister is crazy gesture," to which I must include another gif because I love Kendall's execution. He's got the best expressions.

They end the conversation with Katie essentially challenging Kendall to do the right thing, which, in her mind, is to confront Jo and get the truth out of her.

And I love this for two reasons. 1. Katie's vaguely threatening reminder that she looks up to him and 2. They have an adorable handshake! When did they come up with this?? It's so sweet, and I love them.

Lol, so much for a "mini post," but oh well. Kendall and Katie are wonderful siblings, and it delights me. I'm glad they didn't go the route of them being the type of siblings who are always bickering with each other or who ignore each other/generally just don't care. Give me siblings who love each other, who get invested in each other's lives, and who have silly little secret handshakes.

#big time rush #btr #kendall knight #katie knight #btr rewatch #btr season 1

[oneatlatime]

More season 1 thoughts

I like Katara better in the second half of the season than the first. I found her less annoying. Is that because she has evened out as a character, or is that because there was less of her? I don't know. I'd love to see a quantitative analysis of the number of lines per character per episode. Still, Katara handled the whole Pakku problem with fewer explosions than when she was handling the pirates and the waterbending scroll, and you can argue that the Pakku stuff was much more of a direct attack on her, so I'm going to call her reduced annoyingness growth.

Poor Sokka has been consistently my favourite character since episode one, and that hasn't changed at all. He just got royally stomped on in a way specifically designed to cause as much pain to him personally as possible in the finale, and I'll be interested to see if that causes any long term change. My boy is good at repression, so I doubt there will be obvious change, but this show is good at gradual stealth character growth. I'm looking forward to trying to ferret out the subtle changes to him in season 2.

Aang is lovely. I think he appears to be the least changed of our main cast at first glance, but like Sokka, I expect that getting used/possessed/actively participating in mega fishman destruction in the finale is going to have some effect on him (Still not clear on exactly who possessed whom / who was in control. Don't know if I'll ever know, or if it really matters). Aang is a lovable island of fun in a sea of century old war trauma. When he's not being stupid because he's 12, he's being consistently kind and open hearted, with an unshakable core and sense of self. Congrats to Gyatso on raising such a self-possessed boy. And you know what? He's entitled to stupid 12 year old moments because he is 12.

Poor Yue. Kind of a one note character at first glance, but because she's a mirror of Sokka, she feels just as deep as he does. That's clever writing.

Appa continues to be both team transportation and team dad. I think Sokka is team mom. Katara may be feminine, but it's Sokka who's keeping them fed and going in vaguely the right direction. He's the practical one. While Katara's or Aang's actions often drive the story, it's Sokka who's on clean up duty to make sure that the impulsive and bighearted decisions made by his sister and adopted brother blow up in their faces as little as possible.

I am convinced that Momo has no awareness of the main quest. I think Appa knows that his human and his human's friends are trying to save the world. I think Momo knows that these humans and their big furry thing feed him and keep him warm while going to lots of different places.

I loved that the season finale couldn't be predicted. The end game that the show set up was a showdown with the firelord. I expected that the firelord would make his first appearance in the season finale. Instead, we get a conflict I didn't see coming in a location I had honestly forgotten we were going to. Even if you had watched episodes 1 through 17, could you predict the conflict and location of the finale beyond something something fire nation? I like that I couldn't predict it. Too often shows spend so much time building up to the season showdown that it's almost anti-climactic because you've pretty much guessed the shape that the conflict will take. Not this show.

I think my favourite episode of the second half of this season is Bato of the Water Tribe. I loved having a glimpse into non-war water tribe life. It gives us a look at what it is that the people fighting the fire nation are fighting to preserve/get back. It also gives us a rough outline of the kind of person Sokka and Katara's dad is, which surprisingly adds a lot to Sokka's characterisation. And I love an episode where Sokka gets the A plot. The fight scene was really entertaining to watch, although I do feel sorry for June's big beast.

I think the best (as in the most skillfully executed) episode in the second half of the season is probably The Blue Spirit. It's a character episode disguised as an action episode, and not to get too much into fanfic speculative territory, but I feel like it lays groundwork for a couple of possible paths for the characters that certainly weren't available to them before. Also I love the melancholy note it ends on. I don't like unhappy endings as a rule, but I make an exception for contemplative endings, like the Southern Air Temple, the Summer Solstice Part 2, and the Blue Spirit.

I find I prefer the 'problem of the week' type episodes more than the episodes that serve the larger plot, because honestly I just want to hang out with these guys. High stakes adventures are both important and necessary, but it's also cool to have a problem presented and solved in 23 minutes. I feel like the characters act more like people and less like servants of the plot when they're in 'monster of the week' type episodes.

There were fewer eye-poppingly beautiful episodes in the second half of the season, although the Deserter's forest and fireworks festival was nice. The finale was downright bland, but you can't have lush multicoloured foliage at the north pole. I am so thankful that the show doesn't go for that stupid grimdark aesthetic that movies are still struggling with.

Finally, a word on the blasphemous live action that definitely doesn't exist:

Some of the greatest parts of this show are the gorgeously colourful eyepopping backgrounds, the very well thought out combination of bending and cartoon physics, and Sokka's stupid faces. You know what a live action can't do? Any of those things. So really, why did they even try? I can't think of a show, a world, a story, that is more suited to the artistic liberties and conventions of animation.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #atla season 1 #avatar the last airbender

[hyenahunt]

Obbligato: The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 8

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring, two years ago

Characters: HiMERU, Jun

Proofreading: Remi + 310mc (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Peace & hyenahunt

Jun: 'Course, if you were to think of me as a friend... then I'd obviously be happy about it.

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

HiMERU: Hm... So he speaks like that, does he?

— Well then, I wanted to ask you a few questions.

Jun: Ah, uh... Sure, but why’re you getting all formal with me…?

HiMERU: — One moment. Allow me to search my memory.

You are Jun Sazanami, correct?

Jun: Seriously? You know this shit, so why're you acting like we're meeting for the first time? Tryna act like you're beyond even remembering my name again?

That's pretty nasty of you. To an idol, getting your name forgotten is something worse than death... That's what my shitty old man says all the time.

Well, not that you could even call me an idol, the way I am now.

HiMERU: Mm. Considering your attitude... Are you perhaps a friend of HiMERU's?

Jun: A friend... isn't quite how I'd put it, nah. We're not strangers, either, but I don't think you could really call us friends...

Jun: 'Course, if you were to think of me as a friend... then I'd obviously be happy about it.

HiMERU: Is that so? Nonetheless, it seems as if you do have some connection to him. I suppose this is what they call a stroke of good luck.

Do you know what HiMERU is doing at this very moment?

Jun: 'Scuse me...? What're you going on about? "What he's doing" — well, you're right here talking to me, yeah? What kinda riddle is this?

HiMERU: Hm... Allow me to rephrase the question. Have you heard what HiMERU is scheduled to do today?

Jun: Why're you asking me that? As if I'd know what your schedule is, man.

You're weird as ever, huh?

HiMERU: — Yes. HiMERU is a rather interesting existence.

Jun: Seriously, why do you keep talking like you’re someone else?

... but um, either today or tomorrow, Kazehaya-senpai's planning on standing upon a newly set-up stage within the school.

And you said something 'bout wanting to perform on it too, didn'tcha?

You'd been practicing hard every day lately so you could make the most of such an opportunity if it ever happened, right?

Looks like you're real busy, going all out to the point you've even been skipping class for it.

HiMERU: — Yes. And without our permission, as well. That is what I don't understand.

HiMERU has always been obedient, and never once has he gone against our instruction. Recently, however, it seems as if he's been moving about beneath our nose.

It's rather strange... There are a large number of discrepancies between the reports he's given us and the truth, which is certainly suspicious.

That is why I have taken the time to come here, so that I could meet HiMERU in person and ascertain the truth.

... Just once, I'd like to see HiMERU on stage for myself.

Jun: What the hell are you going on about? You alright? Worn yourself out a lil' too much?

Well, not that I hate that part about you. You may look like a flawless idol and all on the outside, but you're kinda a mess on the inside.

HiMERU: — HiMERU is not only flawless in appearance, but as a whole, isn't he?

Jun: Yeah, yeah. That's what you always say, but it's all just lip service.

You may have the reputation of thriving as Reimei's top idol these days, but I heard that the truth is you're just constantly making mistakes.

Doing stuff like forgetting the names of your colleagues, or messing up with your song and dance...

HiMERU: ...?

Jun: All the higher-ups sweep 'em under the table since they don't want Reimei's name to take a hit, though. The Non-Specials often make fun of you, y'know? They say you're pretty awful.

HiMERU: ......

Jun: But I mean, I'm pretty jealous that you get to even just stand on a stage, HiMERU. You might kinda suck as an idol right now, but with enough experience, who knows, you may become a real one eventually —

Well, just keep doing your best and don't give up. I sure hope you don't end up hitting rock-bottom like me again.

As for me, I'm cheering you on. You may be hard to get a handle on sometimes, but anyone can tell you're real serious 'bout it all.

HiMERU: What are you talking about?

Jun: What?

HiMERU: HiMERU is considered flawless and as the Top Idol by all, isn't he?

Jun: Like I said, that's only what you keep insisting, yeah? You suck ass as an idol, so God knows where you got your oddly high confidence from, man.

Are ya getting carried away with how much people call you a top idol? Or maybe not — you've been this way from the very first time I met you.

HiMERU: That can't be... No, perhaps—

— Jun Sazanami. Thank you for the information, but I must be going — I must ascertain the truth of the matter immediately.

Jun: Sure... Well, what the hell was that all about?

Jun: Haha. Honestly, from our very first meeting all the way 'til now, you've always been completely incomprehensible, huh?

...Everything else in Reimei just keeps changing for the worse, but knowing that at least one thing's constant here helps to keep me going.

[ ☆ ]

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#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #hyenahunttl #jun sazanami #himeru #s: obbligato

[lilacthebooklover]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

@snarky-wallflower Thanks for the tag! This was a lot of fun :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

67 currently, but I have deleted a few old ones lol

2. What’s your total word count?

Now, when I tell you I went overboard on this question, I went overboard. My private, unposted, solely-written-by-me fics' total word count is 227,868. My total word count for fics I've collaborated with @charismabee on is 477,549, and my total word count on AO3 is 389,530. However, quite a few of my AO3 fics are collabs with Red, so if you take away everything like Wilting Flowers and Owl House but Kindergarten, you're left with 225,235 words written solely by me. So, if you total up 225,235 + 227,868 + 477,549, then you get a grand total of 930,652 words! Then, of course, there's the whole matter of my old fics on regular Word and not Docs, which would probably add up to at least another 50,000 total considering we're talking about my ASOUE and DT17 phases, as well as all of the private Viva Pinata and miscellaneous musical stuff lurking in there, and we've got that weird writing app on my tablet that I used a lot a couple of years ago whenever my phone got confiscated, but I cannot be bothered to search through all of that right now. So, it mostly rounds up to around 1,000,000 words. Fanfiction may or may not be taking over my life. (Gosh I love maths <3)

3. What fandoms?

I've written mostly for the Kindergarten 1 and 2 fandom, my total fics on AO3 for it totaling 38. However, I have written a heck of a lot of OMORI as well, and dabble in the Owl House, DHMIS, a few webseries on YT as well as the Hatchetverse sometimes, too!

4. Top 5 fics by kudos

1. World's Okayest Uncle at 799. My latest WIP, written for the Hatchetfield Universe and based around the concept of Paul Matthews becoming the accidental uncle of every kid in town. Each chapter focuses on a different child (the three so far about Alice, Richie and Pete respectively), and once all of them have been sufficiently adopted, I've been considering adding some slice-of-life stuff, exploring the changed character dynamics, and looking into parts of canon that would change in the AU as well. 2. Hollow at 455, a Hunter-centric one-shot for the Owl House set immediately after season 2 finished. It was written in the post King's Tide craze of awesome Human Realm content, so it got quite a lot of hits at the time. It focuses on Hunter dealing with the aftermath of Belos seemingly having died, and himself having being thrown into a completely new, unfamiliar world as an unfamiliar God took over his own :) 3. Flapjacks at 279, another Hunter-centric piece because TOH fans can't get enough of him lol (I am very much one of those fans). I began writing it back when Thanks to Them was first released, then got the motivation to finish it after I saw Watching and Dreaming. It focuses on Hunter returning to the Human Realm after the Collector's defeat, as well as Camila's thoughts on being a parent of who knows' how many kids at this point. Hunter finally gets the chance to mourn, and finds out what a flapjack actually is. 4. Gravesfield Historical Society, at 275. In which it's only natural that the Boiling Isles' leading Human Expert decides to do some research, and Gus does his very best to ignore the images plaguing him from looking into Belos' mind. Vee looks for some closure, Hunter is very protective over his little siblings, and Gus just wants to have a fun day at the museum. Things... Don't go to plan. 5. Fading, at 215. Yet another TOH work (I was around when the fandom was active as heck), one of the shortest pieces I've ever written at only 722 words. It's from Flapjack's POV during that scene in Thanks for Them. You know the one. I made lots of people cry, and sacrificed the birb.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Of course!! I thoroughly appreciate every comment I receive; they really make my day. Being part of an active fandom with the Uncle Paul AU has sort of taken me by storm so my inbox is pretty clogged at the moment, but I promise that I have read and smiled over and will reply to the comments all of my lovely readers have left behind! It means so much that someone's not only taken the time to read what I've written, but that they liked it enough to leave a comment behind. Even just keysmashes or "<33"s are really lovely to see, so thank you to the wonderful commentors out there! You guys are awesome :D

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooh, now this is a tough one! Pretty much 95% of what I write is angst, with a good 70% being Hurt No Comfort. Still, I think the angstiest ending I've ever written would have to be that of either "Enough", in which 13 y/o me decided it was a good idea to follow the perspective of kindergartener Theodore Huxley as his brother pushed him to his death, or "Wilted", in which 13 y/o me decided it was a good idea to follow the perspective of suicidal kindergartener Lily as she gave up on finding the one person who cared about her and committed suicide as a result of being bullied. Wilted should probably win out considering the implications of what would happen to Billy as a result, and bc the ending subsequently led to Nugget's death too, but Ted's train of thought in Enough is so gosh darn sad.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Definitely "McDonald's". That's the fluffiest thing I've ever written, no doubt about it. Not a smidgen of angst, just a bunch of kids with colourful eyes and pointy ears walking into a fast food restaurant and discovering what chicken nuggets are. It literally ends with the promise of more cute adventures to come, so I'd say this one's a no-brainer loll

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've only ever received hate once, on a little Gravity Falls AU I made entitled "Puppet Strings and Stage Curtains". I got some pretty nasty criticism on it and, as a kid who was still very anxious about posting stuff online, it really impacted me at the time. I'm still a little nervous even now to open up my inbox because I think I might have gotten another comment like that shfjdhhgkjh. I wound up abandoning the fic because my motivation was completely destroyed, and I couldn't even look at the thing without feeling ashamed. However, I haven't received any hate since, which is great! There's just no reason for it, really; if you like something, leaving a comment is wonderful, and it makes the author happy! If you don't, just don't read the fic. Leaving a hurtful comment isn't going to make anyone happy, and can be really damaging to writers. Shoutout to @weedkillercentral, who, without fail, leaves the bizzarest comments known to man on almost every work I post.

9. Do you write smut?

Nope! I am a ✨minor✨ (@snarky-wallflower dw I too am a nerdy prude, sex jokes are Ew). Still, I do enjoy writing romance from time to time! Some ships are straight-up hard not to enjoy reading/writing for :))

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Funny story, actually. I used to have Wattpad and, as much as I hated using it, a friend of mine liked the site so I used it to support her. I wound up posting some of my own stuff on there at one point. I will never be able to get over the fact that when you searched up my username online, the images used to show a picture of Sharkbomb Glomgold. How do I know this? Because small me got bored and looked up my username, and accidentally found a mirror site to Wattpad with some of my stuff on. It credited my username and everything, but I panicked about it because as far as I was aware, I had no control over whether I could take it down or what else could be put on it. So, I deleted everything on my account, and just like that, the fics on the mirror site vanished. So no, I've never had anything outright stolen-- at least, I hope I haven't-- but that was a Not Fun experience for little me a few years ago

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, I'm not famous enough for that lol. I did have an offer for someone to make a podfic of smth I wrote a few years ago, but they never got around to it. Still, if anyone ever wants to translate one of my fics, I'd love it if you did! Please just let me know and acknowledge me as the OG author; having a work translated sounds awesome.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Many thanks yet again to the amazing @charismabee, my dear co-author and the Kel shirt to my Maverick cosplay wig. The amount of hours I've spent writing with her is actually insane, as well as the times we've just messaged brainstorming AUs or having far too strong feelings about the show Elena of Avalor. We've done joint Whumptobers and Febuwhumps, fics that are combinations of the nichest stories and characters, a lot of redemption arcs for 5-year-olds... If you like my stuff, I thoroughly encourage you to go give her work a read at TheFearIsRed on AO3! :D

If anyone else ever wants to try collaborating on something, I think I'd be willing to give it a try! There are loads of talented authors on here, and co-writing is a lot of fun <3

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Hmm... Well, Paulkins is an obvious one (remember that one post about "hatchetfield fans when normal man and his barista crush show up for 5 seconds"? yeah that's me). They have a level of mutual trust and understanding that's just really nice to explore, they both have issues galore but will support each other no matter what, half infected Paul content is golden and as an avid Uncle Paul truther, Emma finding out about his many children is just too funny a concept to me. They act like teenagers when they see each other, they're both down bad, she knows he doesn't like the Christmas advert jingles, he thinks she's funny,,, they're so <3

Another strong contender is Pearla (Penny x Carla), from the K2 fandom. @goldmoth82 was the one who got me into writing about them with their absolutely incredible stuff (art, fics, you name it!). They're just a traumatised android and a thieving arsonist, what more could you want?

Gold rush (Kel x Mikhael) is another of my favourites though, mostly because it's so funny. Mikhael has declared them rivals, and Kel could not care less. Mikhael challenges him to races, and Kel beats him easily. Mikhael insults him often, but Kel doesn't retaliate. Mikhael wants to be independent and special, to stand out from everyone else. Kel wants to be appreciated as more than just Hero's brother, to be liked and acknowledged as himself. Mikhael would vehemently deny his feelings until Daphne and Bowen tied them up together and forced him to confess. Rivals are just lovers in disguise, everyone. One-sided gold rush is even funnier, because they're technically one-sided rivals. Kel was Mikhael's homosexual awakening. Mikhael looks so dumb and flamboyant because he's trying to impress him. Mikhael claims he hates him and that his bright red face is from anger after Kel effortlessly beats him time and time again. I love them.

But I think out of everything, Wrightworth would have to take my top pic for favourite ship. Gay lawyers who would die for each other for the win.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

Ohh gosh. There are quite a few, but I'd probably say this year's Whumptober. My mental health went schwoop this October and I only got up to day 11 despite my plans. I still intend to finish the collab one with Red when I have time again (exams suck), and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to get around to completing it. At least there's always next year! :"]

16. What are your writing strengths?

Definitely characterisation. I have a lot of fun getting into characters' heads and making studies on them in different scenes or just overall, and have a lot of fun bouncing different personalities off of each other. Once I know a character, I know the character, and writing their POV is as simple as breathing lol. I'd also say that I'm pretty good at tension building and breaking, as well as Hurt No Comfort (you need some good old angst, I'm your gal).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes, for one, though I've been improving on them since I started the TOH Kindergarten AU! I'd also say that I struggle with slower-paced, filler sort of stuff. I might like to build up to an event, but chapters that don't have plot relevance just sort of stump me lol, even when they're necessary :)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I enjoy learning languages, and have been teaching myself Spanish for the past couple of years or so. However, writing them is a whole separate thing entirely. If I had a translator, I'd be all good! I just get a little worried when I write any language that isn't Spanish because google translate is unreliable as heck, so I typically tend to avoid it. Luckily, none of my fandoms really require it- but if that Franziska & Miles brainrot doesn't go away soon, I might be in a bit of a pickle trying to write German dialogue hshjhgfk

19. First fandom you wrote for?

A Series of Unfortunate Events (the Netflix show). It was the first fandom I got really, properly into, diving in headfirst at the age of about 12 and finding a lot of awesome content. The obsession I had with VFDBaudelaireFile13's Violet Snicket AU "Misery Loves Company" a few years ago was wild. My writing back then was very jolty, and I wrote in chapters that only lasted a few paragraphs with big, bold titles that often had at least two exclamation marks at the end. Still, ASOUE is one of my favourite shows to this day, and I don't regret a thing from my time binge-reading everything I could find for it (except that one lemons fic I accidentally came across when starved for content), nor any of the silly little unposted AUs I wrote on Word.

20. Top 3 fics I've ever written:

I puzzled over this question for ages, but found it impossible to choose just one! Ignore that I'm cheating a little here, and take three instead <3

1. An unposted collaborative work with @charismabee/TheFearIsRed that we called MPT. It was the first big fic I ever wrote, and it was probably what really got me into writing as a hobby. I got to spend time at random intervals writing about and whumping my favourite characters with someone I'm very close with, making up the plot as we went along. I remember coming up with the initial idea on a swingset, and spending hours colour-coding every segment of those 50,000 words based on each mention of a character as well as who wrote what. MPT is messy, and a tad repetitive in places, and while finished, I don't believe it's something I'll ever post. But it holds a special place in my heart, and it's a lot of fun looking back on my writing from a couple years ago compared to now 2. Not sure if this fully counts, but an untitled Omori WIP I've got going atm is definitely up there. It's Hero-centric with huge emphasis on his trauma, following the course of the year the events of the game occur in. I've had a blast writing his thoughts and time at college, and I'm geberally just really proud of it thus far. Hopefully, it'll be done by January in time for his birthday! :) 3. Now this one is a posted work– Magical Girls: Omori!, another collab with Red. We came up with the idea, binge-watched season one of Glitter Force on Netflix, and ran with the plot. We've planned out all of season 1 with ideas for season 2, incorporated a plethora of great characters, and been able to mess around with a fun fantasy high school full of our favourites. It's always wonderful to write, and I really like how it's been going!

Thank you again to @snarky-wallflower for the tag! You're amazing <3

As for people I know, I've tagged the vast majority of you already sjhkffg oops.

@charismabee @goldmoth82 @weltato @inprisonforsparkling hey there jpr the au mastermind, fanartist of the century, paul whump bestie and king of michie. you guys are some of my favourite writers out there, i'd love to see what you answer with for this (no pressure ofc!) <33

#20 questions #fanfiction writer #fanfic writing #moots #mutuals #this was fun! #i spent #way too long on those word counts #wayyy too long #then i remembered word #and gave up #<33 #asoue #hatchetfield universe #wrightworth #gold rush #omori #pearla #kindergarten game #the owl house #toh fanfic #omori fanfic #starkid fanfic #uncle paul au #kindergarten 2 fanfic #fanfiction things #ao3 things #ao3 writer #whoops i thought i posted this already

[taylorrepdetective]

You’ve been spot on with everything so far, including her jet being tracked like the NORAD Santa tracker, so any guesses for what transpires post Super Bowl?

I said it was pretty obvious, and it was.

Well, we’re entering a transition phase, so I would never say I can guess anything very far in advance. But similarly to how it all became really clear in November where things were going, I feel like I can make a pretty good guess at what I think we’ll see next. The main caveat being that she is unpredictable and there are a million things I can’t know. But I think we have seen that her and his schedules are easy to see and are set in stone, so it makes predicting things easier that it was from say 2019-early 2023. And none of the below is mind blowingly novel. This is exactly what everyone expects to happen:

I think most likely after he takes a week or so✅, he’ll head to her shows in Australia✅. Probably Sydney✅ for a couple of shows. Then he’ll head home to his offseason routine✅, whatever that looks like. He’s gotta go find those abs with his trainer and shoot some commercials etc. Then she’ll be back and I think she’ll join him wherever that is (possibly Florida with his trainer, that idea was already put out into the universe.) Her next tour break will be their first opportunity to really spend a lot of time together while they’re both off✅. So her jet will park where he is and they’ll make occasional appearances there. He will also probably be seen in her spots (NYC, Nash, LA✅.) Then she’s off to Europe and his offseason/preseason work begins in full. I don’t think she has any real time off at all during the Europe leg so she probably won’t come home but I think he’ll head over there for a couple of shows, probably early on. If he’s allowed with camp and stuff he may try to make it to a London show, an important market for him to be seen in (for his post football A-list movie star future or whatever it is he has in mind.). But I’m not sure it can be swung. Then she’s off again in time for his early games, but then she’s back on the road again and he’ll probably have a bye week where he can go to a show. And then she’s done with tour just in time for her birthday, the holidays and the road to the playoffs/playoffs and engagement season. So really great timing all around. Then it’ll be time for TS11 full of songs everyone will attribute to him, and joe and maybe a bit of Matty. I’m really looking forward to a song about how Travis is a love that is really something, not the idea of something. And maybe he’ll retire. But that is so far away. Look at what happened unexpectedly in the last year. So no bets here, just stating obvious thinking. And even if all this does happen, there will be other things I can’t predict.

Alternatively, if their goal is to end it sooner, that April to June timeframe is probably the best time. After they’ve spent quiet time together and found they have nothing to talk about and then their busy schedules make it too hard. That gives enough time to make it feel plausible that it wasn’t fake and only going to last until the SB. But I think they’ll give it another season, because it’s working so well and all the timing for her tour lines up super well. And it’s clear that for whatever reason, she’s allergic to being single.

#I have many other thoughts but they’re controversial so I’ll just keep some of the whys to myself #forgot to mention they’ll probably take a tropical vacation together #✅ #oh I also forgot that I think there’s a decent chance they’ll go tot he Met Gala. I mentioned it a few eeks ago but thought I’d put it here #also I wrote this the day before TTPD was announced so that changes the TS11 stuff which will now be premiered as all about Toe demise #I gave myself a ✅ for Sydney eve though he only went to one show. the zoo also counts to me #also he smartly spilt up his two shows between two cities to maximize coverage and allow the to fly off together. so smart.

[thatseventiesbitch]

What do you think led Donna to date Casey? S4 was a memorable season but not my favorite because of Donna. I always thought the reason why Donna decided to date Casey was that she was going through some things during this season (i.e. her parents separation, Eric decided to date again) and because of that she needed someone to lean on and thought Casey was perhaps the guy. What really struck me was that Donna always saw herself as independent and a feminist but her poor judgment as well as the events that happened in S4 may have led her to date Casey who is the type of guy she always thought she never liked.

Thanks for the ask!

Personally, no, I do not think Donna chose to date Casey because she thought he would be a good person to lean on and would give her the kind of support she needed during a difficult time in her life. I think that... gives her way too much credit. 😂

Donna was resistant to start dating again. Jackie was the one who set her up with Casey for the first time in S4xE16 "Donna Dates A Kelso" - pretty much against her wishes - but when he shows up Donna is clearly attracted to him and decides to give it a go. On their first date Donna tries to talk to him about what's going on in her life, and here's how that goes:

Donna: Thanks. This is fun. I've been spending, like, way too much time worrying about my mom and stuff. Casey: Hey I learned something in the army. When things are tough turn up the music and crack open another beer. Donna: Yeah you mean, like, things will eventually get better? Casey: I don't know about that. But if they don't, at least you'll have a beer.

So what's sad is that she was looking for that emotional support, for someone to help her process what she was going through at home, but she didn't get it from Casey like she probably would've from Eric. Casey's not that guy. I think Donna's vulnerable and impressionable here, she's taken in by a handsome older man and his charms, and she's looking for a quick way to feel better. Which is exactly what Casey's offering.

And then I think Donna's decision to keep seeing Casey was compounded by the fact that it clearly bothered Eric. He was trying to twist the knife, make her feel jealous with the 'Most Eligible Viking' thing (in a later episode she admits that 'it like, broke my heart' when Eric said he wanted to officially start dating other people), and so she does it back. And it's a lot more effective.

I understand your frustration with Donna during her Casey Kelso phase. It really wasn't her at her best - but as we all know, there were a lot of extenuating circumstances for Donna that season and she was 17 years old at the time, so that tempers a lot of it for me. I enjoyed the unexpected call-back to it in That '90s Show, where she seems to admit as much to her daughter, too. 😂

#thanks for the ask! #That 70s Show #That '70s Show #That 90s Show #That '90s Show #Donna Pinciotti #Donna Forman #Casey Kelso #Eric Forman #Donna and Casey #Eric and Donna #ask #answered #anon #my essays

[memphis-menace]

Siren!Elvis Headcanons (Horny Edition)

THIS IS NSFW. IF YOU ARE A MINOR, SHOO. GO ON, GIT. BEGONE.

So these are my Horny Thoughts about everyone's favorite gator boy.

TW: Dubious consent, coercion in the form of siren magic, blood, idk what the specific warning is but dude's got sharp teeth and claws and he likes to use them so there WILL be wounds. Like nothing insane but scarring will happen.

If you're into that stuff, proceed.

So as I mentioned in the OG headcanon post, sex with gator Elvis can get... messy.

He has sharp teeth and sharp claws and lord almighty does he use them.

For instance, he'll be railing you from behind, biting into your shoulder so hard you're pretty sure his teeth are hitting bone, all while he's gripping your hips so hard his claws are digging into your skin, sure to leave some deep scars.

There is no way to fuck this man and come out unscathed. He just loses himself in his instincts and has to mark you up and let the world know you are HIS.

But he's also super sweet afterwards and will help you patch yourself up. He'll also try to lick your wounds because that's just how he's used to taking care of bleeding but hey he's doing his best. He also likes the way your blood tastes so that m a y factor in to the licking and biting thing.

Now he's got a pretty good sex drive normally, but when mating season rolls around? Oh boy. You better call in to work sick because you aren't getting away from Elvis for a good while. This is when you may seriously want to consider investing in a muzzle. Cause you think he's bad about biting normally? When he's in rut he STRUGGLES to remember that you are in fact, not a gator like him, and your human skin is MUCH more fragile and cannot handle aggressive gator mating marks.

Now, gators are known to fight for dominance when it comes to mating. So Elvis likes it when you make him work for it, so to speak. So if you REALLY wanna get him riled up, wrassle him. Make him prove to you that he is a strong and capable mate.

Sometimes, he may even let you win the aforementioned wrassling. So if you've got some dominance in your nature unlike me , that's your chance. For example; tying the poor boy up so he can't touch or grab you, gagging him so he can't bite you, and riding him at your leisure, enjoying his desperate whimpers and whines.

Deep down he's a good boy and just wants to prove himself to you.

You tired? Not in the mood? Don't worry he has a song for that, you'll be rearing to go in no time :) He'll sing to you so pretty you'll wonder why you ever tried to tell him "no" in the first place. That's not to say he does this ALL the time, he tries to respect boundaries. But sometimes he's just so needy and needs you so bad ):

He doesn't mind fucking in a more "normal" setting, like your bedroom. He understands that for humans, those places are more comfortable. But he much prefers doing it in the swamp. Really he just likes being in the swamp overall for "personal" and "intimate" matters like that. It's just where he's most comfortable. Plus if y;all fuck in the swamp he doesn't have to worry so much about his tail breaking something or your blood staining your sheets/couch/carpet/etc.

I'm sure I'll think of more this is just what I have for now

#siren!elvis #elvis #elvis x reader #austin elvis x reader #yandere elvis x reader #elvis 2022