#*briefly pops up to promote this*

[drvirgus]

The shooting Range

Idol! Minji X Athlete! Reader

Wc: 2k

One Shot

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Focused, I stared at the target, my hand outstretched and holding the gun in the correct position. I closed one of my eyes, especially since I needed to train both. I took a deep breath and moved my finger to the trigger. As I exhaled, I fired. This was my 150th shot today.

I pressed the button in front of me, bringing the target towards me, and immediately focused on it. I used 5 shots per target. My eyes narrowed as I counted the points I obtained on this target. Unsatisfied with the result, I sighed and secured the gun, placing it back in its place.

"Y/n," I heard someone say, recognizing my coach. My hand, still holding the target, lowered as my back straightened. My eyes now on my coach, who smiled at me. I smiled back at the taller man. "Yes?" I asked, as he didn't start speaking.

"You need to stop your training," the older man said, furrowing my brow. My head tilted to the side as I saw another girl behind him. She was taller and seemed to be a bit more muscular. Her face also seemed quite familiar. Especially when she politely smiled at me.

My eyes refocused on my coach. "Why?" I asked with a furrowed brow and visibly tense shoulders. "I've only done 150 shots," I added, pointing to the targets next to the gun. My coach glanced briefly at the targets and then at me, sighing softly.

He gestured to the woman behind him. "This is Minji, and she and her team will be filming here shortly," my coach said, causing my eyes to glance at Minji again. "So what? Let them," I replied with a disapproving shrug of my shoulders. Minji seemed to smirk at that.

"You need concentration during your training, and I need to explain and show everything to Minji here. That would only distract you. Plus, you shouldn't be caught on camera during your training," my coach explained, which annoyed me even more. My eyes fell on Minji once again before I sighed.

„How long will it take?" I asked, slightly more annoyed as I placed the used target on the stack. Minii's eyes followed me, but I simply looked at my coach, who then turned to Minii. "Well, I'm not quite sure. Maybe 1-2 hours?" she asked. "We've already shot some footage," she added shortly after, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"What exactly is a K-Pop idol doing at a shooting range?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. Minji chuckled at that as she looked down at me. Her eyes gleamed with a certain curiosity. "I've always wanted to try it," she replied with a smirk, which took all my strength not to roll my eyes.

"So, you're disrupting my training for that?" I asked, but my coach immediately interrupted me. His hand on the back of my head as he gently tapped it. Outraged, I looked at him with my mouth open as I rubbed the back of my head. Minji laughed at that. "If only it were Hanni," I muttered quietly, causing Minji to stop laughing.

"Oh? A fan?" she asked, pointing her finger at me. I shook my head and shrugged. "Not really. But it's hard not to know about you when almost all of Korea promotes you," I replied, which made Minji laugh even louder. She nodded. "But why Hanni, then?" she asked, making me blush a little.

Minji's eyebrows shot up, and she nodded understandingly. She bit her lip for a moment but then turned her head as one of her managers said something to her. Unfortunately, I couldn't really hear it as a sudden tinnitus started in my ears. I sighed. "Alright. I'll go grab something to eat. I'll be back in 2 hours," I said as I took the stack in my hand and placed the gun back in its place. "But you start over," my coach said sternly, causing me to roll my eyes.

———————————————————————————

With the pistol in my hand, I stared at the target. My eyes narrowed as I tried to concentrate. "And then, out of nowhere, Haerin grabbed my hand. It startled me so much that I stumbled backward into Danielle, pushing her into Hyein. In the end, we almost landed on Hanni. She saw her life flash before her eyes. She didn't even scream and would've just died silently,"

I sighed, lowering the pistol. With narrowed eyes, I looked at Minji, who was sitting relaxed beside me, occasionally reaching into the small bag of chips and popping one into her mouth. "Do I look like I want to chat?" I asked, causing Minji to visibly hesitate.

"Am I bothering you?" she asked, sounding a bit sadder as she looked at me from her seated position. Her doe eyes softened, making me swallow. It looked pretty cute...

"No, not at all," I tried to say with a sarcastic tone, but Minji interrupted me with a broad grin on her face. "Okay, good. Anyway," she continued, which made me sigh again.

Anyway... that was also good training. It was never completely quiet at competitions...

I lifted the pistol once again and tried to focus on the target while Minii continued to chew my ear off. It was weird. Minji came to the shooting range every Monday at exactly the same time. She would shoot for a few minutes next to me, and I had to admit she was really good, but for the rest of the hours, she just sat there and talked to me. All I wanted was to train in peace.

"Hanni said you're cute."

Startled, with widened eyes, I turned my head at lightning speed to Minji, completely missing my target as I accidentally fired. With nervous hands, I placed the pistol on the desk in front of me and looked at the taller woman with obvious interest. She seemed to notice, starting to giggle.

"Oh? Do you still have a crush on Hanni?" she asked, popping another chip into her mouth. Then she held out the bag to me. "Want some?" she asked, but I shook my head. "I don't have a crush on her. It's more... I find her cute. Like a little sister," I replied, which made Minji hum loudly. Her eyes roamed over my entire face. "But she's the same age as me. Does that mean you see me as a sister too?" Minji asked, standing up from her seat, immediately towering over me.

My eyes narrowed instantly. "Why are you standing up? Are you trying to prove something?" I asked, rolling my eyes. Minji laughed. "Let's go get some food. I'm hungry," the younger one replied with just a smile. My eyes fell on the bag of chips and then to Minji.

„I Can't. I have to train," I sighed, but Minii just smiled even wider. "You don't have to. That was your thousandth shot. You're done," she said, surprising me. "Since when do you stalk me? Don't you have better things to do as an idol?" I asked, sighing, which only made Minji laugh. The taller one looked at me with a smile as she took my hand. She shook her head slightly, causing her long black hair to sway from left to right.

"What's better than a date with you?" she asked, making me stutter. My mouth slightly opened. "Date?" I asked, which made Minji laugh even louder. "Of course. A friends date," she replied with a grin, making me blush slightly. My head lowered slightly. Of course, she didn't mean a real date...

I'm an idiot...

"No thanks. I have to do 500 more today," I replied, causing Minii to sigh in disappointment. Her eyes roamed over my entire face as I got back into position and lifted the pistol.

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My eyes focused on the people who were talking loudly and laughing. My mouth shifted to the side as I bit the inside of my cheek. I could hear Minji laughing loudly and then she glanced at me. Her smile disappeared from her face, and I immediately stared back at the target. Minji was doing it on purpose. She knew I always trained at this time of day...

"Um. Excuse me?" I heard someone say shyly. My eyes widened as I noticed Hanni next to me. She had a pistol in her hand and held it firmly with both hands. I politely smiled. "Yes?" I asked as I briefly glanced at the pistol in her hand and then into her eyes.

"Could you explain this to me?" she asked, which surprised me even more. My eyes wandered back to Minji, who was currently teaching Danielle how to shoot. Hyein was just shooting without proper stance. With a smile on my face, I nodded. I gestured for her to use the desk next to me.

Quickly and carefully, I explained the key points to the equally tall person. I observed every movement and kept a safe distance. When she hit one of the targets, she looked at me with big, happy eyes, which made me smile contentedly. But my eyes kept wandering back to Minji, who seemed to be busy with the others.

I sighed in annoyance. "I hit it," Haerin's voice rang out as she threw herself into Minji’s arms. My forehead creased at the sight, and my mouth twisted into a disgusted look, of course without me noticing. Minji looked at me, her eyebrows raised.

I saw Minji start to giggle and slowly let go of Haerin. With a very relaxed, almost too slow pace, she came over to me. But my arms crossed over my chest, which only made Minji laugh even more.

"What?!" I asked, probably sounding a bit annoyed, but Minli didn't seem to mind at all. Her eyes wide as she looked first at Hanni, who was focusing on shooting, and then at me. "So? How's it going with your crush?" she asked with a grin, which only made me furrow my brow even more.

"Not good."

"Why not?" Minji asked, a grin on her face, her hands on her hips as she looked down at me. Her eyes were expectant as they met mine. "It's none of your business," I replied, annoyed, turning my back to her slightly. Minji laughed as she now covered her mouth with her hand. Feeling offended that she was really laughing at me, I gently hit her arm.

"My crush isn't going well either," I heard Minji say, which immediately made me roll my eyes. "Did I ask?" I retorted, which made Minji huff. "She doesn't even care about me," Minji continued, which only made me angrier.

So I started to ignore her. "Her training is always more important than looking at me. She didn't even want to go eat with me," Minji said, emphasizing each word. My expression twisted. Unaware that the taller one was talking about me, Minji continued, "Even though I visit her every Monday and spend a few hours with her."

Slowly furrowing my brow, I looked up at the younger person. She smiled gently at me, nodding slightly with her head. "Yes, Y/n. I'm talking about you," the younger one said, shocking me visibly. My mouth opened as my arms uncrossed from my chest.

I looked at the taller woman for a while.

"You... you said it was a friends' date."

"That was a lie. I didn't know you liked me."

"Neither did I."

"What?"

My head lowered as I felt my cheeks blush. Embarrassed, I laughed, "I... I didn't know I liked you either," I replied, which made Minji laugh a bit. Her cheeks were also visibly flushed. I took a deep breath.

"Do you-"

„Do you-"

Surprised that we spoke simultaneously, we both paused. Laughing, I looked at the younger one. "Do you want to go get something to eat? As... a date?" I asked, which immediately made Minji nod. Her smile turning to a big gummy smile.

"Definitely."

[sgiandubh]

Once someone shows facts about anything then there will be something to discuss. After 10 years everything anyone has about Sam and Caitriona has been opinion. All the Sam and Caitriona pictures and videos together have been acting or promotional, so not reliable as to personal life. All the pictures about Sam with anyone other than Caitriona are short life and appear set up and his interviews about personal life are awkward. Caitriona, aside from talking briefly about her son, is for the most part private. So agree, disagree. So far no one has truth, facts or anything more than speculation.

Dear Facts Anon,

You are the same Anon regularly popping in here with her deaf drumbeat and her rather fragile English, and I should ignore your very primitive and desperate attempt to curb my enthusiasm. But I am not, because this is the only answer you, your sock accounts or any other Anons are going to get from me on this topic.

Perhaps you chose to lie to yourself and you are comfortable with it (not my problem, of course), but we do have pictures of SC that are neither promo, nor acting. I shall not add insult to injury and enumerate them here, since that would make you look and probably even feel like a fool. These have been mentioned to death, over many years, to no possible avail. To be honest, dialogue about these has always been impossible, across the Great Divide or even across those tiny rivulets of nuanced opinions. Because every time something does not seem to fit, it is dismissed with insults, flimsy accusations, counter-narrative and calumny. In anger. You call that 'a discussion', Anon?

You write, with confidence: 'Once someone shows facts about anything then there will be something to discuss'. Facts have been shown, more than once. Facts are still being discussed, under the counter, never in public. Primarily because of the disgusting collective reaction to the coffee run revelations, something many wanted to see, many pressured to see and when it was finally there, lo and behold: feather and brimstone and insults and accusations. How this served the very idea of 'discussion' is just beyond any logic. If that served to something, it was certainly to put a halting stop to any open discussion about anything: people have feelings, people have self-esteem. Show me the masochist that would come back for more insults, after what happened and still does. It served as cautionary tale to many, including myself.

The intellectual gap across the Great Divide is a reality. Calling us 'mental' will not help anything. You have nothing to do on this page and you shall receive nothing from me. You are undeserving, Anon. I do not know you and I do not trust you. Trust being the operative word, here.

[raapija]

I'm curious (read invested) do you have a time line in mind for the strollonso au? Like when they met, got engaged, got married

In my pookie au, which I set most of my edits into, it goes something like this.... THIS IS GONNA BE LONG OH LORD, I have a whole thing formulated in my brain and writing is down is gonna be a struggle

2014-2015 They met for the first time very briefly as Fernando was visiting the Ferrari Academy drivers at Prema. Note that Lance is a massive Fernando fan since he was a kid, so this was like meeting his hero. Nando immediately forgot about this meeting as it was just a promotional thing, very sad :(

2017 Lance debuts in F1 at Williams, he's about 19yo and still a massive Nando fan but they rarely interact with each other (see, 'shy canadian rookie'). Sure, they talk every now and then, but no sparks yet...

2018 This is where it starts to get interesting. Nando is struggling (and when I say struggling I mean STRUGGLING) at McLaren and his interest starts to waver which leads to his little fixation on Lance. It started out pretty tame and harmless with Nando writing little notes/letters to him and hiding them around the Williams garage (no one knows how he did it without getting caught) and Lance's belongings. He gets more invested in this than driving the McLaren GP2 engine shitbox.

Eventually Nando gathers up enough courage to ask the 20 year old man out. To his absolute horror and shock, the kid says "yeah, sure" and that's how they began dating. For the remainder of 2018, they keep it strictly to themselves, not telling anyone in case their relationship gets leaked. Lots of hotel room slumber parties, discreet dinner dates and traveling in the same planes between races.

Fun little side story I got is that in 2018, Lance, Fernando and Lando took part as team LANCELANDONANDO (hilarious, I know) in the 24h of Daytona ✨ They finished like... 50th, but it was a big deal since Lando was a tiny little baby boy and Nando was a bit of a mentor to him. (see, 'nando never got kids of his own but really wants to be a father figure)

2019-2020 Nando decides to "retire" from F1 after losing all his ambition to drive because of McLaren draining the life force out of him. Now that Nando isn't in F1, they can make their relationship public since the conflict of interest is no longer an issue.

2019 is a rather dark time for Lance, as the media rips him to shreds for 1) dating a man, 2) being almost 20 years younger AND 3) the person he's dating just happens to be Fernando Alonso. He's called every name under the sun, constantly ridiculed and the fans pretty much turn against him. He tries to avoid all the drama by becoming more closed in and even more shy around people.

Fernando, on the other hand, is off doing indy and endurance racing. He's pretty outspoken about their relationship and does his best to gain respect for Lance, always praising him and telling nice things about him. This starts to work after a while as the media starts to forget about the whole thing.

Nando would visit the F1 grid from time to time and Lance would be at his indy races. Eventually it became normal to see them together and act like a couple and the fans started to support them, so the media did a complete 180°. Now it was a race to get the best Strollonso story in the papers...

During this time also, Lance starts to visit Fernando's karting school a lot more and after a while becomes a key part in its operation. He would volunteer as a race director for the kids' tournaments, pop in as a guest coach or just help around with whatever they were doing. He would become a bit of a celebrity in that community of young drivers and really like spending time there.

2021 Surprise! Fernando gets bored of the other stuff and unretires himself to come back into F1 with Alpine! Before this Lance, Nando, Alpine and Aston Martin have a proper sit-down with FIA to figure out how they can allow Nando back in without the risk of sharing team secrets. A couple rule changes, some NDA's and contracts later, it's settled and F1 gets its most popular Spaniard (sorry Carlos) back on track. Everyone celebrates!

Turns out Nando is on a revenge mission this time. All that pent up McLaren resentment is poured right into Alpine and he becomes the villain of F1, which the fans kinda like. Outside the track, he and Lance live their best comfy life, getting a couple houses together, traveling and expanding their family with a doggy, Nyla! 🥰

2022 Alpine is in shambles. Estie Bestie is threatening to strangle his best friend's boyfriend on a daily basis. Lance suggests, just as a joke, that Fernando should come to Aston as he knew Sebastian was about to retire and they hadn't found a replacement for next season. Fernando doesn't take it as a joke. So, Nando calls up Lance's dad and he agrees immediately to take the Spaniard in.

Fast forward to the end of the season, Alpine gets a couple more big L's, and finally Nando can leave that sinking ship to walk right into Aston Martin's motorhome as soon as he drops out the last race. Fans rejoice, as Strollonso is now in the same team, media is fired up from the potential content and FIA can have a breather now that company secrets are no longer at risk.

2023 Working in the same team turns out to be the best choice they ever made. The team spirit is at an all time high, everyone is enjoying working together and the fans absolutely love them. Nando's tiktok influencer career also helps tremendously and people follow their social medias like it's Friends in 1996.

Nando decides before the summer break that it's now or never and proposes to Lance. To his absolute horror and shock, the 25 year old says "yeah, sure" and they get engaged. Everyone expects a big and glamorous wedding, but turns out they have a small civil ceremony during the break with just family and close friends, away from the limelight. It's a cute and intimate wedding party in Tuscany that only gets out as Lance posts a few pictures from it. Fans rejoice once again! Future's looking all bright and rosy for them <3 And speaking of rosy... They got another fur child! Rósa was Lance's 25th birthday present 🥰

2024.... We'll see ✨

[autoandro-meda]

not cumming in

(2,382 words, contains ftm tf)

With an exasperated, desperate huff, you sprint into the bathroom in your apartment and slam the door shut behind you. Leaning your back and shoulders against the door, you try to breathe in and out to subside your panic. Your throat feels raspy, all of your skin is slightly itchy, and pinches of warmth coat every inch of your skin. Right now, you should be getting out of your apartment and off to work like any other day, but when you woke up something was wrong. Something was wrong, and now it was getting worse.

Monotony and who you are were boring you, and deep in your mind last night, you pleaded and begged silently. The one thing you wanted was something to change, something to grip you from your boring job as a receptionist who never got appreciated. You wanted something to make you feel less like a pristine sight to be seen by all the men in suits above you; you wanted every excuse to break your cycle and be human. Rationally, you figured this wouldn't happen, or that it'd happen in a year's time with a promotion that wouldn't fix anything.

When you awoke this morning, you did not expect to feel so aroused. You aren't the wake-up-and-flick-it type, but from the moment your eyes fully opened, it was like a primal desire in you to rub one out real quick. That's fine; you have plenty of time to get ready, and so you use your middle and index finger to circle and massage your clit until it pops. Or, that's what you meant, because this was one of those masturbation sessions that accidentally turns into the best orgasm you've ever had. Your sweet spot was extra sweet, you supposed, and by the end of it, your knees were bent and being used to hoist your waist off the bed while you quaked and chirped moans of joy. When it was done, gravity came back into play, and you flopped back down onto the mattress.

After an award-winning performance like that, often you lay in bed for a moment and recuperate yourself without moving. Cumming like that knocked the steam out of you to the point where you still had your fingers tucked inside of you. You lay in bed in a daze for quite some time, arousal flowing through your body and swirling around from tip to toe. The clamminess on your fingers made you remember them, and slowly you went to wiggle them out of your bush. However, when your finger immediately crashed into a landmass, you realized something was wrong with your own personal treasure.

You could feel your clit still, and a lot more of it. The small nub had swollen, or more accurately, elongated a bit down below. Confused, you investigated briefly with your fingers; it felt like a half-inch-long thick noodle sort of. You had never had this happen before; was it because you came so hard? As you touched it, you had the thought to stop moving your fingers and to hold it in place. Precisely, you gripped it, and as you felt a slight sensation of your clit migrating further outward from your body, what was happening dawned on you.

It was growing, actively growing wider and longer beyond the size it should be. Washed by the reality of your situation, you propped up on your opposite elbow and peeked below the sheets. What you saw shocked you, and when you removed your hand with a recoiling thrust, your now small, but thickening, member poked out from the front part of your genitals. Your eyes were bulging just as much as your clit was, but as you removed your hand up your body, you noticed something more. Sweat droplets pooled on your midriff, and you could see them seep into your pores. The spots where this happened quickly grew a bit irritated, becoming hotter and itchier. As you brushed your hand over the spot, your palm gave way to body hair that seemed to sprout out at your own touch. You jumped back in disbelief; in a single accidental pet, you had given yourself a happy trail. You gazed down the landing strip, and back to your member which was only stretching further out from the alcove of your vagina.

You sprinted to the bathroom in a panic, but you had no reasonable plan on how to stop it. In the bathroom, you went and tossed off the T-shirt you went to bed in with the idea of shaving the hair off to start. This plan was stopped when a new problem was added to your plate; you tossed the shirt aside and glanced in the mirror to check for damages. Your eyes fell to your chest, which looked like it was deflating. It wasn't like you were packing a massive cup size, but your breasts were suddenly dripping and looked almost unhealthy. Cupping them in your hands, you could feel them shrinking into your body, but seeing your hands on your tits in the mirror also made you realize your hands were thickening with a wider grip. Thickening was a good word for yourself, as with a pinch you witnessed pounds of muscle shoot into and settle on your shoulder blades.

You looked down again; the middle points of your arms and legs were slightly pulsing as they seemed to change body fat into lean muscle, but only in parts that seemed to hold any curvature. There was a buckling at your hips; you had to grip the counter to stand upright, your biceps popped out from the tension. Something was shifting in your waist, trying to get rid of those "child-bearing hips" and to move all that junk to where it was more useful. White knuckle gripping the counter, you tried to will it to stop. There was an attempt to concentrate, but from your previous searches, you had pawed all over yourself and pulled out so much more body hair on your chest and forearms. For a moment you thought your breasts had stopped sagging, but upon further inspection, they had receded back into your body completely; a slightly perky set of muscular pectorals replaced them.

This shattered you; you clutched a hand to your mouth in shock. As you wiped it off to compose yourself, a slight amount of stubble is left on the tip of your chin. Your concentration dissolves, and the force in your hips explodes out. Your waist shoves itself some inches inward, but they don't go to your track runner thighs like you were afraid of. No, you watch, mouth agape, as your waist tucks in and expands what was once your clitoris into a thick, leaking, sensitive cock. There was a jitter between your legs; it was utterly massive in every sense. Too thick to hide, over 7 inches to cope with, and that was just one factor in everything that just happened. For a second, you stand there looking at yourself, or what is supposed to be yourself. Now, you don't look like the well-kept office receptionist you were yesterday; now, you look like a scruffy faggot who had his brains fucked out of his ears.

Still shirtless, pants undone, you retreat back to bed and call your boss. He answers, and you go to say hello in a way that makes you both stop. You expected him to be mad you were late; he expected your sing-songy voice to give him horrible news. Neither of you expected your voice to sound so deep that you could sing tenor at the jazz bar, to the point where your boss asked if it was even you. Realizing you could not convince him that it was, you had to change plans.

"No, actually, I-I'm her boyfriend," you lied to your boss, "and she woke up today with a 103 fever so I'm taking her to the doctor. She can't talk much so I hope it's fine I called in for her." Anxiously, you awaited his reply. Your boss took to you so kindly, probably nicer than he's ever treated you before, giving you condolences of having to take care of poor, sweet, innocent... you. Hearing yourself be patronized made your skin crawl, so you thanked him and hung up, not wanting to think about it.

You could have taken the day off to try and reverse it, but an overwhelming thought was on your mind; you had to try first. A white bottle of lotion sat on your nightstand; you used it to keep your palms soft and delicate all the time. This was not the case today, as you fluffed up two of your pillows to have a deep, buried hole between the two of them. Promptly, you applied the lotion to your oversized dick. Curiosity had you getting used to its veins and other qualities, gripping your balls and thumbing at the head of it as you eyed up this hole. Things happen for a reason; this was an absurd reason but still a reason. In your head was a fantasy where you were a man, and that is what caused you to cum so hard this morning.

You immediately went to recreate your fantasy, shoving your dick into the space between your pillows and pressing down on top to feel some tension. At first, the humping was very clunky; you had only been a man for less than an hour after all. But with some repeated pushes, and some impulsive mutters of hums and moans, you were off to the races. The way it felt to fuck something was mind-altering, that delightful vulnerable feeling of erotic joy eroding your sense to the point of drool and babbling cries to feel more and more. Going erect was like a stupor; you were trembling so bad you were afraid you'd fall over. Across your bed was a full-body mirror, and a mindless glance over showed off all that you were. Kneeling in your bed was still you, a pathetic sweating man fucking his pillows and going insane over it, and somehow it was you. Force burst from your dick and without warning you glazed both your pillows in pent-up, stringy cum and jizz. Again you had to break, leaning over your pillows and leaving your cock in its sticky little hole. There you slumped, trying not to think about how to explain this to everyone.

You didn't have time to think, as a familiar sensation pooled into your waist and genitals. This time, however, humiliation and panic took you over even worse. It was already so long, how could it still be getting bigger?

[talaok]

Bad influence

Request: Can you make a Joe Quinn one where him and the reader have been together since 5 months of shooting season 4 and the reader had been in since the 1st but they met on set of 4 and when the premiere is there they act all goofy together and stuff and the cast gets asked if he are normaly like that which we are and we also get those questions? :) it doesnt make sense but it popped i my head.And when there are interviews for this sesson which they also do together they also act like that like never serious and stuff

Warnings:none

*I don’t know if this was exactly what you wanted,but I really tried and I hope you like it!*

"come on Joe, they're waiting!" "I know! It's these bloody shoes" he shouted from the other room. You were in front of the door, ready to go while he was still getting prepared. The driver had arrived ten minutes before and was waiting in front of the hotel. You rolled your eyes and exhaled dramatically. "I swear to god Joseph, if you make me late for the world premiere, I will kill you" you said marching towards him. "got it got it got it" he said hopping in order to get the shoe on. The technique somehow worked and he straightened up and looked at you with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry babe" You scowled at him "Let's go" you said exasperated reaching your hand out for him to take. He took a step towards you and took it, looking at you with his big brown eyes. "has anyone ever told you that you look really hot when you're angry?" he asked, putting his free arm around your back, and pulling you closer to him. You raised your eyebrows and looked at him amusingly "Yes, you. All the time" His lips twitched into a smug grin as he leaned down to kiss you briefly. "Well, it's true" he whispered against your lips. "Shall we go?"

This was the 4th premiere you were attending and it was so crazy to think about. You could still remember how scared you felt the first time. it was 2016 and this was your first big role, and even though the event was relatively small, since it was just the first season and no one knew about it yet, you remember how you froze in front of the photographers and managed to look like a scarecrow in all of the photos, not to mention how you panicked completely when you had to be interviewed and asked the reporter to repeat the initial question at least twice before finally answering. But you had gotten better throughout the years, now you knew how to pose, how to answer questions without giving too much away, and how to always look like you knew what you were doing, even when you didn't. So this time, it made sense to think that you would be completely at ease, but you weren't, you weren't because this time Joseph was gonna be there, and as much as you loved him, let's just say that he wasn't exactly the most well-behaved and serious celebrity. And that wouldn't have been that much of a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that he was also a bad influence on you. For the past two weeks, you had done many interviews to promote the new season, and, at first, you used to always get paired up with him since most of your scenes were together, but after about a week of being yelled at by both of your agents and at one point even by the production because you were never serious and never actually answered any of the questions, you got separated for good. But now you were gonna be together the whole night and only God knows what Joe could come up with.

The driver stopped right in front of the entrance and you could already hear all of the fan's screams.  You had managed to arrive late and everyone was already in. Great, just great you thought as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath to mentally prepare yourself. You remained shocked as you opened them back up. You were alone in the car, Joe was nowhere to be seen. "What the fu-" you muttered to yourself,  just as the car door opened and the sunlight momentarily blinded you. As your vision cleared you noticed who had opened the door and immediately shook your head disapprovingly but smiling, diverted. "Ms. Y/LN, they're waiting for you" Joe said with a formal tone, as he reached out his hand to help you out of the car. "Why thank you Mr. Quinn" you said, imitating his tone, and getting out of the car. Right in front of you was the red carpet and on both sides of it were bunches of screaming fans, yelling both of your names. You smiled nervously at him and he looked around "This looks fun" he said raising his eyebrows, clearly impressed by the amount of people he was looking at. "I know right?" you joked before starting down the carpet.

The autographs and photos part was always your favorite, you loved seeing how happy the fans were when you talked to them or hugged them. It was probably the best part of your job. Unfortunately, since you were late you couldn't spend that much time there and had to quickly get to the photograph's part.

The whole cast had to take individual photos, then some with everyone and ultimately everyone could take pictures with whoever they wanted. The first part was fairly easy. This year there was a panel with the series name as a background, so you positioned yourself in front of it and started posing until they told you you were good to go. You walked away to where the rest of the cast was standing. "Oh hey Y/N" Maya greeted you enthusiastically. "Hi!" you hugged her quickly. You said hi to everyone else and went back to Maya's side. Joe was getting his pictures taken and just as you looked at him you snorted and covered your mouth to stop yourself from laughing out loud. he was standing there . Not smiling, not posing, literally just standing there. he looked like he had no idea where he was and had just stumbled across the red carpet. Maya noticed your expression and gave you a puzzled look "I'm sorry it's just-" you snorted again "look at him" you nodded towards him. Maya chuckled softly "Yeah... men" You burst out laughing and Joe turned his head to look at you quizzically. You waved him off while still giggling and he got back to the photographers, who in the meantime had started yelling at him to look at them.

"We gotta take a picture together babe" you said excitedly as everyone went their way after the group photo. He licked his lips and smirked"Absolutely" he said sarcastically. You smiled widely, took his hand, and walked to the panel. He put his arm around your back and you did the same, posing in front of the photographers. "This is boring" he said after just a few seconds and you tilted your head and looked at him sternly "Whatever you have in mind I'm not doing it" you whispered. He raised his eyebrows and gave you a smug grin "I wanna pick you up". "See, that's exactly what I was talk-" you couldn't even finish the sentence as he bent down and with a hand on your back and one behind your legs swiftly picked you up, and in a matter of seconds you found yourself in his arms. You couldn't help but laugh as he grinned at you. "I knew you would have liked it"

before the actual showing of the first episode, the whole cast had to be interviewed in small groups and now it was your turn. You made your way on the stage and towards the two journalists, a man and a woman, while waving at the roaring audience, followed by Joe and Maya. "Welcome guys!" they greeted you as you all did the same. "This is very exciting, isn't it? this is the biggest premiere you had, so many people are here, waiting impatiently to see the new season, how does that feel?" "It feels great! we're very excited for you to see it, we worked hard on it and we hope you like it" Maya said, and as she finished, the interviewer looked at you and joe encouraging you to speak "Uhh... Yeah" Joe took the lead " I mean, yeah" he cleared his throat "Everything she said" he answered panicked, making you giggle softly. You looked at him amused and gave him a thumbs-up, making fun of him. He bit his lip to hold back a smile. "Great!" the male journalist spoke up. "How was the red carpet? There were so many fans this time! How did it feel, all of that love?" he asked "Well... it felt great. I always enjoy meeting all of them and this time, as you said there were so many and it was just extraordinary" you answered. "And Joseph, this is your first big premiere, how does it feel?" As he said his name, Joe widened his eyes, and you smiled at his reaction. "It feels" he paused and looked around "It feels... terrifying" he answered half-laughing. The journalists chuckled "Well at least Y/N is here with you, that must make it easier" he assumed "You would think that, wouldn't you? except for the fact that she was literally laughing at me before when they were taking my pictures" he looked accusatorily at you and you busted out laughing, turning around to hide. "Wait, Y/N, did you really?" the woman asked, clearly amused. You turned back around and tried to hold back a laugh as you saw Joe pretending to be angry at you.   "Well yes" you began "But I can explain" "Yeah, sure you can" Joe commented, making you laugh softly again "It's just that the way he poses is really funny to me" you tried explaining. "Oh great, thanks a lot BABE, very supportive of you" you laughed again, this time with everyone else in the room. "Ok, ok, ok" the interviewer tried to get everyone focused again. "So tell us about this season. How was filming it and working all together again?" "Oh, it was great!" Maya answered "I really missed everyone and we just had so much fun on set, it was incredible" she finished "Yeah, it was really cool. It was really fun seeing everyone again and working with them, it felt like an eternity had gone by since we last did that, so it was just great." you said smiling. It was joseph's turn. "Well, I didn't know anyone so one day I just showed up on set and met them all and thought..."these people are awful, what did I get myself into?" And then I met Y/n and  I was like "Oh no, this is gonna be hell, isn't it?" and then it was." he joked. "Oh yeah, same for me. I forgot about that, I met him and I immediately wanted to quit, but unfortunately, I had already signed the contract" You said raising your shoulders in sign of resignation. The interviewers both laughed and you smiled at each other. "Do you always get interviewed together? Because I'm starting to think it's not such a good idea" the man joked "Oh, you're kidding, but it's true." Maya said" I have been sent here literally just to babysit. The original plan was to send them together but then they actually thought about it and were like..no, that's not a good idea" she continued, making you laugh embarrassed "Well you're doing a terrible job Maya, let me tell you" Joe sarcastically said, making everyone laugh again. "ok, unfortunately, we need to wrap up. so, very quickly, describe season 4 in just three words. Maya, you go fist" "Scary... music and... sad" she answered it was your turn and you panicked. why couldn't they tell you the question before so that you could prepare them already? "Uhhh, vecna, funny and... gay" Everyone laughed "gay?" the woman asked confused You snorted "Yes, well at least to me" "ok... moving on, Joe?" "well I think Y/N is totally right so I'm gonna say...very much gay" You grinned at him"we're gonna get yelled at again, aren't we?"

You left the stage and Sadie, Priah and Caleb came on. You decided to stay back a moment to see how they did. "Welcome everyone" the woman said as they all greeted her. And just as they positioned themselves between the two interviewers, Priah's mic fell from her hand, "I'm sorry I'm very nervous" she said, as she retrieved it. "Oh, don't worry. Y/N and Joe were just here before you and I promise you you can't do worse than them" the woman reassured her "Yeah, that was really something... are they always like that?" the man asked curiously Caleb laughed "Oh god, I'm sorry you had to go through that. No, but yeah, they are always like that. Trust me, filming with them is always a fun experience"

[guardian-angle22]

Tag Game Tuesday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Thank you for the tags! @thisbuildinghasfeelings @rmd-writes & @goldenskykaysani

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I first started watching LS around the 2nd or 3rd episode of season 1 after seeing some adorable gifs of Owen & TK floating around on my tumblr feed.

I wish I could find out who patient zero was that first brought them to my attention from my follow list, but I think it must've been someone from the Skam fandom? maybe?

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3, baby!! and ngl, I highly doubt anything will top it at this point just based off where the plots have gone since.

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

I mean - y'all knew what the answer would be to this one, right? Obviously Paul is my favorite. I do also really love TK. I know I have a reputation for loving Paul because I get very animated about him LOL... but I would like to put TK in my pocket and keep him safe forever, thank you.

Top five episodes. Go!

3.13

2.09

3.08

2.08

3.04

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Paul. One hundred percent, I need it from Paul. I know everyone and their brother is going to or has answered Carlos for this and that tracks for a tarlos based fandom... but my unpopular opinion is that we've gotten quite a bit of character backstory for him this past season compared to some others like Nancy, Paul, and Marj. I feel like Paul has been part of the core group since the beginning but hasn't seen the amount of meaty plots as some of the others have. He's due!

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

Okay, I have two ideas for this: - an episode in which some of the characters who rarely interact are somehow trapped together due to some kind of emergency/disaster/storm and must navigate their way out together while the rest of the team helps from the outside. There are a few groupings we could use for it, but I personally would have the potential pairings be one of the following (or all three at once??): Paul & Tommy... TK & Grace... Judd & Carlos. I feel like these 3 pairings are people we don't get to see interact one-on-one often (or at all) and it would be super fun! - a true HEAT WAVE. they very briefly had that heat thing happen in 4x01 but I want a whole episode about a temperature heat wave and how first responders have to deal with them. this is TEXAS, c'mon. Plus the theme of heat throughout the episode could pop up in various character's stories. Tarlos = sexy heat. One of the firefighters = heat in the form of pressure in their job like a promotion of some kind. etc.

What do you think is going on in this still?

I have absolutely no fucking clue 😂 So I will instead direct you to this wonderful little spec fic by @littlemissmarianna As much as I hate everything to do with the Gabriel plot and tbh am not excited to see its continuation... if they manage to pull something off like that fic, I might actually enjoy some of it!

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

... soooooooo I must confess something here...

*whispers* I don't actually know all about the elusive 5.05 spicy scene. someone needs to fill me in. I have not been paying attention to spoilers & speculation as much this time around since last season's speculation went so terribly for me 🤭🤣

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

Something about Carlos "getting homesick after a weekend in Branson" just tickles me. and the sarcastic way TK talks about the idea of Carlos wanting to travel the world also just amuses me to no end...

so this paired with the way the wedding went down, I think TK wouldn't want to make Carlos travel very far. or leave his mother so soon. I think TK wants his husband to feel as safe and comfortable as possible and so they spend a weekend at a nice spa/resort near Austin. Some place like this: Miraval Austin and then spend the rest of their honeymoon week bundled up together at home.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

for fics, I'm gonna be a little lazy here and link some of my previous themed fic rec lists:

but truly there are some wonderful fics in those lists!!! For some fanart: - this one by @whatsintheboxmh is one of my faves. ankle grab my beloved. 🥺🥰 - this one of s5 TK by @fitzherbertssmolder is so adorable! - this one of BUTTERCUP! by @greentealycheejelly is absolutely precious. - this one of Paul & Marjan!! by @heartstringsduet is amazingggg. give me all the paul fanart - this one of Grace by @yorit1 is stunning.

I'm not sure who has already done this, but I'm gonna tag some mutuals that I don't think I've seen it from yet (no pressure though!!) @lemonlyman-dotcom @herefortarlos @tkstrandreyes @three-drink-amy @littlemissmarianna @mikibwrites @alrightbuckaroo

[fictionkinfessions]

Reply to @ 748650924689555456/real-talk-but-i-hope-i-dont-ever-cross-the-line

First of all, it was nearly impossible for me to read this essay. You’ve gotta start breaking up more of your ridiculously long paragraphs.

Anyway, this is such an elitist take, which why in the WORLD are we making kinning elitist in the first place? Congratulations on not having that problem or not kinning from every media you consume, do you want like… a medal for that? Some praise? I mean seriously, want do you get from shitting on people who DO kin from everything they consume? Gods forbid they watch, read, play something and see themself in it. I’m not saying it doesn’t become a problem at times, because it definitely can from what I’ve seen, but for serious, what do you think your borderline villain monologue is going to do in this situation beyond making people feel like shit? What’s the point of popping in here, writing all of this ON ANON, and acting like it’s so cool of you?

The people you’re ranting about probably already know it’s a problem and are trying to work on that, or, if they aren’t, have made some peace with it because gods forbid someone finds something that briefly helps them when the world is quite literally falling apart around us. Having a little escapism or a little something to focus on beyond the world being shit is good for people, believe it or not. Makes people happy to find themself in media they consume, little pieces of themself that make them feel better to learn about. Fuck, some people are uncomfortable with exploring parts of themselves without the barrier of kin for trauma reasons, isn’t it a good thing they find multiple parts of themself all over the place?

Anyway. It’s so cool that you kin in the specific way that you do, but the majority of people don’t. Fuck, tons of people don’t even kin spirituality. Regardless of that, who cares if they have an “identity crisis” or split? That doesn’t concern you and frankly, acting like it does and you’re going to make a documentary on the people who probably have life rough enough already is so shitty. This entire ask is so shitty lmfao!!!!

There are tons of problems in fandom spaces that are encouraged by people who kin, I won’t lie, but kinning a ton or pairing two white guys who have “no chemistry” or whatever else you said is REALLY not the issues to focus on. Let’s talk about white people who use names from closed cultures. Or how fandom spaces promote misogyny? How about we focus on something that has real, genuine meaning and doesn’t make people feel terrible for no reason beyond YOU don’t like something?

All your “exposure” is going to do is get people who use kinning as a method of escapism from already horrible lives targeted and harassed more and more by nonkin. I just don’t see the point in this ask beyond “I’m better than you and everyone will see how weird and hollow you guys are 🫶🏻🫶🏻” like idk anon??? Touch grass or something lmfao

Sorry if this is mean mpc, I’m trying not to be, but still get the point across.

x

[jegbigbang]

Mod Announcement (Re: Fic Ideas)

Hi everyone! We are so happy to hear that so many of you are excited to join us!

Even though some of us mods have been talking about this since last year, we didn’t factor in the fact that a lot of people weren’t expecting a Jegulus Big Bang and some questions regarding fic ideas have popped up. As is detailed in our FAQ, in order to maintain anonymity when we are doing artist and writer pairings, we require all fic ideas to be new.

That said, as this is our first year and we popped up without much warning, we have discussed within the mod team and have decided to allow people to submit ideas that they may have posted about or discussed in online spaces before, within reason.

If you have a fic idea and have briefly discussed it on Tumblr, you have until sign ups open on May 1st to scrub mentions of the idea from your blog. The sooner the better. Any works that have already had a chapter posted or been extensively promoted are still ineligible for the fest. However, if there’s an idea you made a couple of posts about you are free to delete and choose that idea for your big bang fic!

If the Jeg Big Bang continues in the future, we won’t be allowing this again—but there’s always going to be some teething issues on the first run! Once again we are so thankful for all the responses we’ve had, and are so excited to hear everyone’s ideas!

– Shan & Maggie

[onedepressopls]

smoke signals | hayffie series

hello!

i am. coming out of retirement briefly. it is effies-scrapbook/effies-tardis! i have since lost my login credentials to my old fandom blog, but this is me hahaha

popping into the hayffie tag to promote my newest series, smoke signals:

the sun also rises (complete): effie centric, follows effie throughout her journey from capitol elite to rebel to a woman trying to pick up the pieces.

cowboy like me (in progress): haymitch centric, follows haymitch throughout the events of tsar -- and after -- in 3 movements.

content warnings for: torture, substance abuse, non-explicit sexual assault, character death, and violence

as always please read, kudos and review if you'd like! <3

[short-black-diamond]

The other woman.

Warnings: Angst, cheating, pregnancy, smut-briefly, reader is sad and depressed, Izuku is a cheater, but doesn’t want to be, long fic!

I also didn’t proofread it. so. uh, sorry if I made some mistakes that pissed you off...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwbHIZ4pbOA

-> listen to this while you read!

WHAT IF...What if you and Izuku were barely communicating with each other and he ended up cheating on you?

Another restless night with you trying to stay up for your husband, the number one pro hero. You know that he is saving the world, but you can’t help that nagging feeling of him staying away from you for...other reasons. 

But, you don’t say anything. Instead, you go to bed-if something would’ve happedened to him, you’d get contacted first by Bakugo, or some other friend or pro hero, or the hospital.

Right after you’ve lay down, you heard the door open. “Honey, I’m home!”, he called in his tired voice, fatigue covering his mind and body. But, instead of standing up right away to greet Izuku, you stayed were you were. You didn’t want to see him at the moment. 

Meanwhile, Izuku was confused. Weren’t you always waiting for him, napping on the couch? Did he do something? “Sweetie?”

No answer.

That gave him panic. Frantically, he stepped out of his boots and into each room to find you. He found you in your guys’ shared bedroom. “Hey...you awake?”, he whispered, softly shaking you. He knew that he came late, and that you’d wait for him, but you’d at least try to stay up for him. What he was met was barely a grunt and a soft “you stink”. He chuckled quietly and went to the bathroom. 

Still, he felt like something was wrong. 

Now, fresh out of the shower and into a new set of clothes, he went under the blankets and pulled you towards him. This time, you were sound asleep. He sighed, embracing you with his arms. 

...

“I-I’m getting a promotion!“, you cheered, alone in your shared apartment. As always, you were not talking to Izuku, but one of your bunnies. Mika, a hazelnut coloured one, gave you his attention and sniffed curiously on the paper you’ve read the news from.

You clapped your hands a few times-a habit of yours when you were too happy and didn’t want to be loud. You sighed dreamily and looked at the paper again, holding it higher up so Mika couldn’t get a bite. 

Dear Mrs. Midoriya, 

We are happy to announce that you will get a higher position as a detective and you will be able to lead your own cases. Your paycheck will raise too. ;)

best wishes, 

Headquarters, Japan

you squealed with joy and made Izuku’s favourite dish. Also, you didn’t sleep at all that night, your adrenaline being on 24/7, which meant you could work on your first own case. You were thrilled, to say the least. That also meant that you and Izuku could be working together. 

You quickly got to work and found out about your new case. While you were hot on the trail of a cheeky and mysterious burglar, you received a notification from one of your female friends. A photo with her and her wide stomach. You were happy for her. “AWWWW, so cute! Congratulations! I hope that your child will be healthy!”, end of your voicemail. 

Then, you closed your laptop, put the papers involving your case into a folder-organised, of course-and stared at your phone. then, you looked at the other female friends who sent you similar photos, even videos. A child, twins, pregnant, shortly before childbirth, after childbirth. 

You were...jealous. You also wanted to have a child. I’m going to ask him tonight. But, right after you’ve finished your thought, another notification popped up on your mobile. This time, it was from another, an unknown number. 

Somebody sent you a video. What could it be? A friend of yours who got a new phone? a villain holding somebody hostage? You were anxious with anticipation. Nonetheless, you started the record. 

You weren’t prepared to see your husband fuck another woman though. He was drilling into that bitch with a vigor you wish he’d use on you. he was always gentle with you. but right now, you were just...angry. 

and sad...and frustrated...

what did that woman have that you didn’t? what did you do to deserve to make Izuku cheat on you? Especially after he’d promised you thousands of times that he wouldn’t cheat on you? In the end of the recording, you noticed the woman having short brown hair, a deep blush, a high pitched voice, and she was chubby. 

Right before you pressed the call button with the speaking partner being your cheating husband, you stopped before your finger touched the green button. 

You had a much better idea. 

...

“Hey sweetie!“, your husband called, taking off his boots. he halted on his way to you, smelling Katsudon. He smiled to himself. “Hey.“, you heard behind you. 

you were just washing up the last dishes, when you felt his hot breath on your neck. Sending nice shivers down your neck. 

I bet you did the same to her. 

“Hey, back. You know...I...got promoted...!“, you whispered, smirking at him lighting up. “Really?! I’m so happy! You deserved this!“

How good he acted like he didn’t just cheat on you a few hours ago. and apropos ‘you deserved this!’, you don’t deserve me, slut.

“I’m glad myself! I hope that I’ll be able to save future victims, protect the civilians and make much more money with that!“ 

“I’m sure you will.“, he exclaimed softly, pulling you closer to him. he nuzzled into your neck, with you caressing his hair. “Take a shower, Izuku. Okay?“, you asked, fighting your tears. How could he act to...intimate with you? after he cheated on you?!

“I’ll be right back...“, he murmured, reluctangly letting go of you and stepping into the shower. I shouldn’t have done that with Uraraka...I cheated! I will tell her, first thing when I see her!

Ten minutes, Midoriya stepped out of the shower, not finding you in the kitchen. Now, he smelled roses-he saw them- growing along the walls and ceiling. 

A doing of your quirk, you were able to make flowers and plants, roots, even trees!-emmit from any ground.  and you were able to save many people with your flowers, you were even able to create new plants! You actually met like that-you savinf people by making big roots and them sliding to the ground like riding down the slide. He was too late to save anybody, but luckily, you were there. after a shy interaction he asked for your number and you set the first date.

your flowers all had meaning, and roses meant romance...or erotic.

He opened the bedroom door and found you, only covered in your lingerie, with nice heels, handcuffs and a choker, on the bed. He grew hard instantly. 

“Some here, baby.“, you said, curling your right pointy finger and giving him your seductive gaze. In a matter of seconds, you had Izuku pounce on you, but before he could lather your face and body in bruises and hickeys, you held a hand up. “I’ll let you fuck me. But under one condition. You have to make me...

a mother.“

It took him a few moments to register your words, with your glorious body underneath him and your and the flowers’ scent filling his senses, and when he understood, his dick grew painfully hard. “Y-you want me to make you pregnant? B-but what about-” “My career can wait. don’t...don’t you want me to give you a son or daughter? Twins? Triplets? Quad-”

“GOD YES, I’ve been waiting for you give me the OK since forever!”, he cried, tears streaming down his face. All of his plans of telling you that he cheated flew out of the window when you kissed his neck and he went fucking you like rabbits.

In the next morning, you woke up with no Izuku. Still, you got up and went to the bathroom. You went back to last night’s event in your head: Izuku made you cum many times, so did he-no, he came more. He fucked you orgasm after orgasm and you were sure to get pregnant. 

Step one, finished. Now on to step two. 

Right after the day after intercourse ended, you got another notif. From the same number. It was a photo this time, of him kissing the same person. He smiled into the kiss. 

You felt like bawling your eyes out, or kill him. But, since your plan was a long and big one, you didn’t act up on it. No, right now, you focused on doing your job. But, you contacted a model firm and a music company, for future purposes.

...

This time, you went home later than him because he could finish earlier and you were all ready for step two. 

You let one of your friends to a test and the test was negative, which you then took home with you.

“Heyyy, how is my beautiful wife doing?”, Izuku asked, embracing you in a comforting hug. Time to start the act. 

“Oh,...well..“, you trailed off, putting on fake sadness. Of course, the pro hero noticed your concern and pulled you closer. “What is it?“, he whispered. 

“You remember our night together?” “How could I forget?” You forgot to be true to your words, you stupid bitch- “Well...it...didn’t work...“, you mumbled, your voice ‘cracking‘, as you took out the negative test. 

He stared at it for a long time. “(Y/n) I’m so...so sorry...!”, he whispered, hugging you closer. You could smell his scent, mixed with a different one. That cheating bastard!

You gently pushed him away from you, his heart breaking at you avoiding body contact with him. you looked at him with a sad and dissapointed expression and looked away, going to sleep in the guest room. Now that the young man was alone, he thought about your behavior. 

You and him didn’t really spend time together, the last time being him and you fucking last night. Before that, you were busy looking for evidences of a new case you could work on alone since you got your promotion.

...

Guys sorry for stopping mid story. I don’t really have any motivation right now. I hope you guys are okay. :)

I hope I’ll get to post the second part soon.

[lolahasmoxie]

our story will be different - E.M.

Pairing - Eddie Munson x y/n

Count - 988 words

Warning - angst, but ends in fluff.

Notes - Popped into my head and wouldn't go away. Also, thanks for loving the last couple of head cannons I wrote. You sure do know how to make a hyper-fixated gal feel special.

Cold sheets woke Eddie up at the ungodly hour of 3:27 am. He grumbled to himself as he got out of your warm bed. Peeking his head out of the bedroom, he could see a faint light in the kitchen. Well, that was one mystery solved. Usually, you slept like the dead; once you were out, you were out until the sun's rays started to burn into your bedroom.

He silently padded down the hallway, not wanting to startle you, and felt a slight smile on his lips as he spied on you. You were seated at the small table, a mug of steaming tea in your hand. You were wearing his old boxers and an oversized shirt you had stolen from your dad when you were a pre-teen. On your feet were the slouchy socks Wayne had gifted you for Christmas. His heart felt like it could burst; anyone who saw him would immediately peg him for the love-dumb fool that he was.

His happiness at seeing you was shortlived when he noticed the thousand-yard stare in your eyes. You didn't have that look when you came home, even though he could tell something was off. You had been out with some of your girlfriends. Your best friend had received a new promotion, and it had been a while since you'd all had the chance to let loose and catch up. You had come home shortly after midnight, buzzed and adorably affectionate the way you were when you had one too many. You had quickly given him the highlights of your evening, and after a short makeout session, you had both gone to bed.

"If you stare at that wall any harder, you're gonna put a hole through it," he said softly as he approached the table. His worry grew when your lips quirked up, but your eyes stared straight ahead.

"You should be in bed; it's late."

"Could say the same about you," he said as he sat beside you. He studied you briefly with an elbow on the table, chin in his hand. Messy hair and a sad expression on your face, he worried about what could be hurting you at this hour. "I didn't do something, did I? Cause if I did..."

"No, baby," you interjected quickly. Your eyes finally met his, and you gave him your best happy smile as you took his hand in yours. You brought his hand to your lips, gently kissing his knuckles before placing it back on the table but not letting go. "Just a lot on my mind."

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked. You knew he would never press you for information, and you sighed heavily before casting your eyes down to your joined hands.

"Kai thinks that Chris might be cheating on her."

Eddie let out a heavy sigh at the news. Your best friend had been with her boyfriend for five years, and they had been engaged for almost a year and were planning the wedding. Eddie liked Kai; she had always been kind and friendly to him, but he loved how protective she was over you.

"Jesus," he murmured.

"She's figuring out how she wants to confront him. I knew they'd been having some problems, but I never thought he would actually do something like that to her. I mean....". Your voice drifted off.

"What?" he asked gently. You paused, the intrusive thoughts plaguing you all night finally coming out.

"What if that's us?"

"Baby," he said as he gently squeezed your hand. "No way, that will never be us."

"You don't know that," you said, your voice on the cusp of crying. "I used to think that Kai and Chris were the one couple that would never break up, and now, shit, if they can't make it, what's to say that won't be us in a year?"

"It'll never happen," Eddie said, his shaggy hair moving as he shook his head.

"You have psychic powers I don't know about?" you teased.

"Don't need them," he said with certainty. "First off, we aren't Kai and Chris; we are us, and we will never end up like them."

"Fucks sake, you play guitar in a band, Eddie. You expect me to believe that you would never cheat?" Eddie chuckled as he scooted his chair closer to you.

"Princess, all other women became pussy non grata the minute I asked you to be mine. I love you, and only you." This time he was the one to raise your joined hands, and you felt your heart melt when his lips touched your knuckles.

"Really?" You should have known that Eddie's dramatic ass would never give you a simple answer. Your breath hitched when he got down on both knees before you, taking your hands in his.

"I would love you even if you were a worm. I will love you when we're old gray farts telling everyone about our grandkids. I will love you until there isn't a breath left in my body. I'll love in this life and the next. Understand?"

"Fuck, you really know how to make a statement," you said as you sniffled at Eddie's assurances. He gave you that boyish grin that made your heart swell as he reached out and brushed an errant tear from your cheek. He quickly stood up and held a hand out to help you up.

"Only the best for my baby," he said with a grin. "Now, I know it's late, but since we don't have to work tomorrow, maybe you could let me show you how much I love you." You couldn't help but giggle as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. How could you say no to him?

So you didn't. You simply let him lead you back to your bedroom and let him cover you like the night. He was right; your story was going to be different.

[six-costume-refs]

Hey so I’m a lil confused on what happened with the West End Alts situation, all I know is that because they reduced from 9 to 8 shows a week, the alts no longer consistently have at least one day a week on right? But then I hear about how there’s something up with the alt costumes too? Is it possible that you can summarise bc all I’m seeing is fallout across various instas

Hey! So...there's a whole lot. Quick note that I've been on hiatus the last few weeks so apologies for taking so long to reply to you (and I know I have many more unanswered asks on this to get to as well, so apologies to y'all and will do so when I have time).

I did briefly hop in from hiatus to post this, which I would suggest reading. I was light on details because I simply did not have time to go into it more, but it gives a base for a lot of what I'll say here. First things first, the show schedule. Most West End shows perform eight shows a week: 6 days of shows with 1 day off, and 2 of the days have an extra matinee added. It's meant to be optimal for tourist audiences and families. But Six is a much shorter show with an unconventional format that originally wasn't really trying to appeal to those traditional musical theatre audiences, and so a lot of their marketing promoted them more as a fun night out pop show rather than a West End musical. With that and the shorter show in mind, they operated a nine show per week schedule (they've also had some similarly unique scheduling and marketing in the US, particularly for Broadway and the Vegas run). However, the way that pay is set up under the UK actor's union (Equity) is based on the more conventional West End schedules, with actors contracted for either eight show weeks or twelve show weeks. So Six has had all their actors on eight show week contracts, and covered the one show disparity between eight-show-contract and nine-show-schedule by requiring that all actors have to have one show off per week. This meant that each role would have to have a cover perform for at least one show per week. Hence, the West End alternate system was born! But it's been almost five years now, and the outlook for Six is very different. The West End production is very successful, very established, much more polished, and hugely appealing to a more conventional tourist audience. They don't need to focus on setting themselves apart like they originally did; they've long since established themselves as a tenet and huge force of the West End, and much of their marketing now focuses on that status. (A really good comparison for anyone who is from the US and was into theatre about ten years ago is how Hamilton shifted their marketing - they started out as another unconventional, "risky" show that really leaned into those features as part of their marketing, but as the show became more popular and mainstream they've long since started to focus on ongoing success and tourism.) So, yes, right now, they are trialing an eight-show-per-week schedule. Without the ninth performance, they do not need scheduled alternate shows and so they are temporarily not happening during this trial period. Which sucks, but the switch to eight shows is a good thing and is one of many examples of how they're shifting their operations for that longevity by optimizing financials. It's also much more sustainable for everyone involved with the show, because Six is very intense and overuse injuries are rampant. But, again, they are promoting this as a trial period. It gives them time to see how it works financially and to see how the cast functions with this performance schedule (including if more covers could be needed in the future). They'll re-assess, probably in Jan/Feb, and see what happens then. I'm personally expecting that they will keep an eight week schedule, but it's also wholly in the realm of possibility that they might do so and still re-introduce some level of scheduled alternate system, depending on what needs/concerns they find. (Right now the UK Tour principals each have a show off every other week with alts scheduled for their first covers on alternating weeks, while Broadway/NCL swings out each principal for one show every few months, so there are definitely systems for some scheduled swing-ons that are significantly reduced from the weekly alt system. And of course the alts will be on for any injuries/illness/vacations, of which there have already been many). It's also worth noting that because this is a shorter trial period, the contracts will likely have to be renegotiated in some form. So....the costumes.

We've seen some pretty clear evidence for them in the theater, starting in tech week. Naomi and Hannah both posted their makeup; both of them got glitter eyeshadows for both of their principals plus a third glitter that matches the color of an alternate costume (Naomi orange, Hannah light pink). They also both got palettes that were inclusive of both their queens colors' and those alternate colors: for Hannah it's a pink palette that some other Howards have used in the past, but for Naomi the dominant color is oranges and it's a very blatant departure from what makeup they've given Cleves principals/alts in recent years so I really don't find there to be an easily argued alternative explanation. And Hannah got three lipsticks, in the exact same shades that they normally assign for Howard, Parr, and pink alt. We've also seen blue, orange, and pink alternate costumes in the theater, but weeks after the previous' cast's costumes were loaded out and stored in one of their maintenance areas. I've posted about all of that a fair bit in this thread, although note that it hasn't been updated in about a month and is now out of date. But starting about two weeks into this current cast's performances, there have been a couple messages/statements about both alt costumes and covers that seem to imply they don't exist, which I think is what you saw. However...I think they've all been worded oddly and far too carefully, plus the very tangible evidence of alt makeup, plus the existence of alt costumes was also denied in 2021, so I've been incredibly skeptical. But earlier today on live Hannah said they aren't contracted to have second covers for the moment, which is pretty clear but with a providence that that may not always be the case. That also ties in with a theory I've been forming over the last few weeks: that Six is still undecided on whether these alternates will have additional covers, but has had the costume team make all the provisions necessary so that covers can be very quickly added when those decisions are made. This also allows the costume team to move on - most of them are working on Starlight Express these next few months and likely wouldn't be able to return to Six at the drop of a hat for all the prep needed to alt costumes later on. Setting everything up in advance for that possibility is just more efficient for everybody and would allow the alts to quickly learn/debut new tracks if needed. To me, those plans most likely mean: - That the alternates were fit with pre-existing alternate costumes that are now altered for them and stored in the theater - That the alternates were given makeup for all three queens, such as the glitters/palettes/lipsticks that I talked about above - That the alternates were given wigs/hairstyles that intentionally have more versatility in their rigging/cuts to be repurposed for a wide variety of queens if needed (which does seem to be the case, and is not how they'd be set up if they were purely intended to be worn as we've seen them used so far for their first covers) (Also noting that if they're not formally contracted for any additional covers, they cannot be formally rehearsing them; that's why I expect that if they were to add any additional covers it would be finalized and contracted when the performance schedule is for convenience's sake) However...again, this is purely a speculation/theory of mine based on what I've seen and some of the very careful wording (but does seem supported by Hannah's). And even if I'm correct, Six preparing for the possibility of second covers/alternate costumes does not necessarily mean that that will actually wind up in use. Once again, Six is moving to a longer-term focus and in some trial periods to see how they can maintain the show going forward, so some of the production management will still be in flux in the coming weeks/months.

[thatdamndonnareed]

Honestly,

I'm still fuming and upset that The Artful Dodger got ZERO promotion. I had randomly seen a TV Line article about it that was literally a paragraph long, and was like "hmm, sounds intriguing," and then kind of forgot about it, until one day I was needing something new to watch and I was like "oh yeah, let me go check out that Oliver Twist show I read briefly about." Then, I literally had to SEARCH for it on Hulu even though it had JUST come out and it took forever to pop up, when it should have been on their MAIN PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, all this to say, I'm still obsessing over this little show and more people need to discover it either accidentally or willfully, so here is my daily plug to go watch The Artful Dodger because if there is no season 2 I will simply cease to exist.

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #70: 2019

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Lil Nas X, Post Malone and Swae Lee, Halsey, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Marshmello, Ariana Grande, Khalid, Travis Scott, Jonas Brothers. End description]

More information about this blog here

And here we are with the final full decade featured on this blog. All throughout the 2010's retrospectives, we have been focusing a lot on how streaming and internet culture in general is shaping pop music. Now, that can be seen more than ever. Especially with the number one song this year, Lil Nas X's Old Town Road -- one of the first viral TikTok songs we'll be seeing. Old Town Road isn't just notable for how it took off through meme culture or how TikTok would soon come to be one of the main forces behind pop success, but the track was also controversial for how it blurred the lines between genres. Not through aesthetic or sound (which is nothing new), but through marketing. After reaching number nineteen on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the magazine disqualified the song from counting as the genre. It should be mentioned that country circles have a history of drawing clear lines around what counts as their genre. There was a time when many country music tastemakers considered artists like Johnny Cash or John Denver to be too rock or pop for country. In fact during the 1975 CMAs, Charlie Rich burned John Denver's card after announcing him as the winner. And if it even needs to be said, this tension is even more noticeable when you factor race into the mix. Especially when you factor in how country being classified as a "white" genre was a marketing strategy less than a hundred years ago. Here's an article that went more in depth on the issue in response to the Old Town Road debate.

“Determining which chart a song lives on is an ongoing process that depends on a number of factors, most notably the song’s musical composition, but also how the song is marketed and promoted, the musical history of the artist, airplay the song receives, and how the song is platformed on streaming services.” - a representative from Billboard for Rolling Stone

Obviously, this is a lot of discourse and debate to drop onto a short TikTok meme song. But since this blog is essentially about how music is marketed, I couldn't not bring it up. Because Old Town Road wasn't controversial just because it was a song that used both country and rap influences (country had been incorporating more hip-hop production into their sound all decade), but it was largely controversial because Lil Nas X wasn't a country artist. This is a concept I touched on briefly during the rise of nu metal, but the definition of a genre can change depending on whether you're evaluating the sound as music or as marketing. And if you're in the world of marketing, the definition of "country music" is "music performed by country artists within the country music industry". But with the internet making it more possible than ever for people outside the industry to gain pop success, the lines are allowed to become even more blurred.

Unlike the start of the decade, the pop music now is much more low-key and moody. The popularity of trap lends well to a darker sound, and even pop tracks like Billie Eilish's Bad Guy and Ariana Grande's 7 Rings are taking influence from this production style. Lo-fi music and "bedroom pop" are now becoming the go-to sound. More production styles that encourage more individual, introspective listening. Music that sounds like it could have been produced by one person in their bedroom. And maybe the timing was just right. Because soon, most people would have to make their music out of their bedrooms.

See you all in 2020.

[popculturebuffet]

Into the Spider-Verse: Spider-Ham (Marvel Tails #1 and Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #15) (Comissioned by WeirdKev15)

Hello all you happy webheads and welcome back to Into the Spider-Verse, my look at the origins of every webslinger from the landmark film in the build up to Across the Spider-Verse. And it's bittersweet to be this close to the end of the web here: i'm proud of myself for this project and kev for having cooked it up as it allowed me to really dig into my love of spider-man, and comics in general, with new ideas and even possible new retrospectives wholesale coming out of this.

But before we can end this ride, we still have one Spidey to cover, who after our previous spider-persons adventures with crackers and milk, their predecesors literal oppisite sex clone, mob goons without fear, rock n roll pop art halluciongens in your giant spider mecha, and giant spiders stripping you naked, one man comes along to say..

Yes it's time for the debut of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham a

And i'm sure many of you, both those familiar with the comics and those who just watched the movie, are asking the same question: why. The answer is simple. Way way back in the 1980's, Marvel had a new animated arm, Marvel Productions, which was a massive deal, producing both GI Joe and Transformers, which both started as comics first to promote the upcoming toylines, as well as Dungeons and Dragons, My LIttle Pony Tales, Muppet Babies, Jem and the Holograms, Kid N Play and the Biker Mice From Mars. There were also of course marvel cartoons like Spider-Man(the 80s one), Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, The Incredible Hulk, the more popular Incredible Hulk and the infamous and destined to be covered Pryde of the X-Men Pilot.

So naturally Marvel wanted more ips to feed into the almighty merchandising machine, because shockingly, companies have ALWAYS wanted every dollar they can get out of making more and more adaptations as long s they can afford it. So two writers set to work to spitball this: They were Tom DeFalco, a longtime spider-man editor who would go on to write the guidebook I had as a kid that really got me into the comics and taught me a lot about his rogues gallery and more importantly would write the book himself briefly, being the one to crystalize Mary Jane's tragic Backstory and her knowing Peter Parker is spider-man all along. WIth him was the wonderful Larry Hama, at the time writing GI JOe for marvel.. and at the time of this writing STILL writing his continuation of that continuity for IDW as he should. Hama deserves all the credit for setting the foundations of the GI Joe universe most adaptations follows and for writing one hell of a comic in the process, and not one to rest on his laurels would later have the defining run on Wolverine's solo book.

So as you can imagine when these two legends get together.. they created a simple but enduringly weird joke that has lasted decades. It's a concept that just works: Spider-Man.. but he's a funny animal. Weirdly though Marvel Animation passed on it, not wanting anything to do with it despite the fact that in a time when Garfield was at the peak of his powers and they'd be making muppet babies, funny animals were a VERY easy sell. Seriously why Marvel Animation was so stupid is a riddle for the ages but Marvel liked printing money, so they put Porker in a one shot, Marvel Tails, parodying the marvel reprint mag marvel Tales. That said DeFalco didn't expect much from it and was suprised months later when the higher ups asked for another issue. He explained it was a one shot.. and then they asked when the next issue was and he got the memo. While DeFalco wrote the one shot that launched the character he freely admits he's not the one who made him a star. That honor goes to Steve Skeates. Skeates had been a mainstay in the industry, paticuarlly having a run on Aquaman i've been trying to read for some time that really launched the character to new heights before Superfriends would shove him back to the depths for a while. He was burnt out on the industry and freely admits he wouldn't of done the book for Larry Hama if it was any other book, but felt the format allowed him to do a throwback to the kinds of books he liked writing while still throwing in plenty of comedy to keep it fresh. The result was pretty great, with Skeates wisely having Porker's various foes not be the obvious joke of being the animals they resemble, for instance the Vulture being a possum in a buzzard suit instead of a vulture.

And we'll be seeing that contrast between Porker's humble one shot joke beginings and evolved more nuanced parody as unlike most of the characters featured... Porker didn't get his origin story for a while. While most of the spider-persons got there's in their very first appearance or arc, Porker's origin didn't come about till late in his solo books run. So today we'll be looking at both his first appearance in Marvel Tails, and his origin story in Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham #15 under the cut!

Spider-Ham begins his career in a typical spider-man setting: stopping a typical gang of thugs with ease and some quips. But it's not long before we get into one of the weird things about this story, something that just dosen't really work with it: Captain Americat. Cap is pictured here as Peter's steadfast partner and a reporter at his paper and none of this works. Now this is an AU, it COULD work and the idea of steve and peter being closer partners and steve mentoring him is great, just as the idea of Tony mentoring him was a brilliant one the movies captalized on. But here it's just treated as a normal thing without really being used for a joke that this is so unusual. A large part of this is something that's easy to forget as it hasn't been true about the character since the early 2000's. Spidey.. used to be a bit of a loner when it came to the rest of the Marvel Universe. Granted he was the kind of loaner who had an entire ongoing dedicated to him teaming up with other heroes and a tv show where he had two super college roomies he'd fight crime with, but when it came to consistant teamups his only real super friends were the fantastic four and in a few years Daredevil. Spider-Woman existed, but Jessica was largely her own thing by design, with only the name in common and wouldn't really become an ally or even friend of peter's till they were in the avengers together. Peter would have team ups but he really wasn't super close with the rest of the marvel universe. This changed in the early 2000's as his joining the new avengers gave him a lot of new allies in the marvel universe: He'd be on the new avengers until Brian Micheal Bendis left the book, he joined HIckman's avengers for the first arc, with Doc Ock taking his place, and joined the Mighty Avengers and Mark Waid's avengers afterwords, only in the last few years taking a break from the group entirely, ironically as his MCU counterpart became heavily associated with them himself. Not only that the dawn of the spider-verse and miles migrating to become the 616's second spider-man, meant peter soon had a spider-family.

Even now in his current tirefire of a solo i've been purposfully avoiding but suspect i'l lhave to confront some day, he has Ms Marvel, soon to be thrown in the fridge, Norman Osborn, long story, and his current girlfriend the black cat. Peter's no longer the solo operator he once was.. but back then it's very weird fo ra parody of the character to just.. casually hang out with Captain America regularly and this angle was wisely dropped.

This isn't the only weird thing in this issue either. For some reason rather than pulling from peter's many rogues, the issue has him face the Masked Marauder, some punk ripping off a super high tech arcade. It comes off more like a Scooby Doo Mystery complete with various red herings and the actual culprit showing up early on. He's not even the main threat as the everlovin hulk is also shoved into this issue. His origin is a little neat, with Bruce Bunny being an arcade game maker who gets shoved into a cabinet.

The result though just isn't that funny. Ther'es a good joke about steve stashing his shield in his coat

But otherwise i'ts just kinda.. there and didn't leave the best first impression back when I first read it. It's nicely drawn, but dosen't have much actually to say or any really satire of the character. It's clear they had the name but no idea what to do with it. THe backup is pretty funny though, the weird Goose Rider, take a while guess, who just.. spends it riding around, thinking about grabbing a burger, and dealing iwth shouty civlians and some random doofus called chainsaw. This satire.. actually works as from what I can tell Ghost Rider's early rogues gallery before his reinvention in the 90's wasn't all that impressive with few exceptions. It's more what I wanted. Thankfully when Peter got his title shot, things perked up and by the time we get to his origin... we get something delightful.

As you can tell both by the cover used for this review and from the title, this one's a parody of spider-man no more. Even if you haven't read the story (I've only read the iconic issue iwth the cover), you've doubtlessly seen it's cover, and the various homages to both that and the shot of peter throwing his costume in the trash and walking away, both by spider-heroes and the rest of the marvel. It helps that Sam Rami choose it as the backbone of Spider-Man 2 and ended up making an even BETTER version of the story in the process. Even Miles had his own version of it after his mom died and he blamed himself for it since the second ultimate venom was the reason she died. If you've read more recent comics and seen Rio alive and well that's because Miles befriended the Molocule Man, a very shy man with the power to control molocules... which shockingly for comics has been treated every bit as horrifyingly powerful as it should since his introduction, with MM's only real wekaness being his crippling neurosis. So when the universe died and was put back, Molocule brought her back as a thank you present. I had a point here.. ah yes.. I love the Molocule Man and feel he's a highly underated character. Oh that with the severe stress and sacrifice of being a spider-man, it's not a huge leap to have that moment of doubt. And it's an even shorter leap to take that moment and parody it and Peter's angst for all it's worth. We open with J Jonah Jackal hooking himself up to an idea machine while his three young wards, the junior newsboys watch. They are Jermiah Jackal, JJJ's snooty nephew, Bunson Bunny, our resident nerd who talks in big snetences and Upton Adam Stray, a combination of a black sterotype and

If your getting some deja vu from a rich magnate having three young sidekicks who both acompany him and try to steer away his worse instincts, one of whom is jonah's literal nephew.. GOOD. It means you have good taste and also get the bit. Spider-Ham has a bit of the old Scrooge McDuck stories in it's dna, simply adding spider-man and his rogues to the mix, and really JJJ is such a perfect fit for scrooge and Peter for Donald, that I can't blame both writers for dipping into this formula when it fits spider-man shockingly well now he's a pig.

This issue is written by steven Mellor, who took over the title later in his run, but like Skeates does a really fun job with it.

With Jonah having peter come to the clubhouse to view an idea he came up with that involves the kids

Peter deals with typical spider-man things. That is trying to get a date with his ex Betty Bat. It goes about usual for peter

Also as you might have noticed, hilariously, Peter Porker looks a LOT like John Mulaney, despite having been created only one year after John was born. I mean he's also a talking pig but the hair is distractingly like his future voice actors and I love it.

Baby P decides to handle this like a mature, rational young swine

Before bemoaning that he's still single.. what I like is that Mellor both really gets how Peter Parker Mopey Rants work, and milks it with everyone starring not sure what to do as peter ineternally rants and the janitor eventually asking him to leave as he's getting his tears on the floor. Peter then reflects back to his origin, the reason we're here. And even for a talking pig.. peter's origin is hilaroiusly bizzare. It's my kind of weird shenanigans. Okay so in this version Peter.. was a spider, which is clever enough.. but May was a mad scientest who befriended peter and showed him her new invention: a fission powered hairdryer. It made her radoactive, it wasn't good.. and well... I can't say what happens next and have most of you belivie it actually happened so here's photographic evdience.

This.. this is comedy gold, and clever as all hell. Just deciding to have may be radioactive nad bite peter. It's as nuts as it is brilliant and I love it. So we get the standard origin moments of Peter testing out his powers.. and we also get a nice gag out of him bending a pipe in the original amazing fantasy #15

Peter returns to find may basically the dodering old lady sterotype she was in earlier spider-man comics, and decides to look after her and not tell her the truth, as well as put his powers to use. Peter's genius in this version is also from the bite and thus Spider-Ham is born

After running into flash thompsons counterpart, who sadly isn't named flash beagle, we get jonah's meeting where he's dressed himself and the boys up in superhero outfits and ...

To become Black Beagle and his beagle brigadeers. Peter is dragged along for this and this.. is easily the weakest part of the issue. While the idea of Jonah becoming a hero himself is great and has been used well, here it's just kinda there and is mostly a setup for them to befriend "Andy Warthog" and see a bunch of celebrity pastiches. It's a boring page or two

Thankfully it picks up with a delightful parody of one of my faviorite spider-man rogue as the Hobgobbler crashes the party! God bless this pun. He kidnaps one of the celebrties and we get a ncie character moment. Despite how silly this character and his origin are... it's still neat to see the core of spider-man.. is still present.

No matter the universe, no matter who wears the mask... they can't turn down responsiblity. Try as he might.. Peter just can't let someone else get hurt if he can help it and that's what makes spider-man the hero we love so much: that drive to help people no matter what it takes. It's what makes a spider-person what they are wethere they be man, woman, ham or nb.

So Peter naturally wins, in a nicely drawn fight, cooks the turkey and drive sJonah home. He WANTS to just get some deserved sleep but Aunt May has other plans.. thankfully said plans give our hero his much deserved happy ending. Action is already his reward.

As you can probably figure, this issue is a massive improvment and it's clear even with two diffrent writers, the full ongoing got the concept better and more importantly had more fun with it. The result.. is fucking great. Also the puns. Dear lord the puns. And that's not getting into the backup which has the scavengers fight kangaroo the conquerer. Who damn well better be among the council of kangs. At any rate this issue was greatr and even with the brief slowdown, is a great issue, not only getting me reintrested in this run, but also showing off just what you can do with a parody: have it be both heartfelt and clearly get what it's making fun of while still being great.

Next Time: The web ends as we look at the movie itself. Anyone can wear the mask but is one Miles Morales up to the task? Can he fill peter's shoes? Well yeah, I mean there's even a sequel, but it's still one hell of a ride.

[mdhwrites]

I really love your post about why the anti-discrimination theme falls flat on TOH.

Honestly, applied to Amphibia, the issue is taken care of. From S1, we saw how frogs are treated and the injustice and inequality in the whole hierarchy. For example, despite being called Frog Valley, there are no frog majors but toad majors like Toadstool and he used to be awful and greedy.

Then we have the toad lords and soldiers who subjugate towns like Grime used to instead of protecting them. And the newts are either annoyingly arrogant like Duckweed or inside their own world, that kind of is explained in how Newtopia looks so fancy while the rest of Amphibia is medieval and surrounded by monsters.

Most importantly, many characters have a point of view or conflict related to the hierarchy and the state of their society. The Dinner and The Three Armies showed the biases of Grime, Beatrix, Hop Pop, Tritonio, and others against each other but instead of leaving it like that to be pessimistic or not addressing it, all Amphibia faced those issues to create a more harmonious and just society for everyone.

Okay so two things first. 1: Context for Amphibia fans is that I did a blog discussing how TOH accidentally discriminates against the demons of the demon realm and only promotes the most human of them, thus making a theme of anti-discrimination... Rough to put it mildly. Link here. 2: I don't think Amphibia explicitly has a theme of anti-discrimination either. It touches on it in ways but those ways are mostly due to one of its other core themes: Community. That's not all surprising either because it's hard to talk about community without also talking about inclusivity to those communities and allowing those communities to at least have a personality.

Now yes, you're absolutely right that the end of the series actually explicitly discusses the actual bigotry that each culture has towards each other in admittedly not my favorite but a fine episode. I actually want to expand from just the literal text though for why I think Amphibia does such a good job at not demonizing any of the races despite the fact that two of them may as well exist to be villainous. After all, the toads and the newts are often adversaries to the main characters. Wasn't that a problem for TOH?

Yes... Which makes it a good thing that the first adversary for Anne is the frogs.

Actually deep diving how Amphibia handles race, inclusivity, etc. like that is FASCINATING. You could probably do an entire college essay based solely on this one aspect because the show actually portrays multiple versions of communities and acceptance into them masterfully. I'm going to only briefly touch on each but I could probably say more on all of them and this actually includes humans as well which arguably might be Amphibia's one stumble on the issue but it's not a big one.

Let's start with that inflammatory line though. Of all the races, the frogs are actually just explicitly the most racist. They are against ANYTHING they don't know. Even other humans after Anne are entirely based on their perception of Anne. It actually takes Anne returning and showing fallibility for Sasha to become her own person to the community who is on par with Anne despite all she's done for them. Before then, the closer you are to her in their eyes, the more acceptable you are. They explicitly state this with Marcy. Otherwise, you're just a weird thing to potentially be purged because you are dangerous for being unknown. This is explicitly something Anne has to overcome, including one episode where she becomes popular by becoming more frog-like through her zits. The Plantars are the closest to being progressive in the town and even Polly can get swept up into mob mentality when the people get ready to take down Marcy (if I'm remembering the joke right).

The upside to the frogs is supreme loyalty to each other. While Toadstool is self serving and selfish, even he eventually figures out that he likes the frog way of thinking. The community you are a part of means the world to you. It is arguably the most important thing besides family. They play at war with each other because no one can actually hate someone in this community. Once you are in, you have the protection of ALL. It's just getting that acceptance is hard.

So even the race we spend the most time with is actually still flawed in some way. It is not perfect. How about the one that theoretically is the most evil? One could argue the Newts but that's more got to do with the combined culture of Amphibia which we only get Andrias as a main show of besides the one episode in the past. I do not want to say Andrias represents all newts, even if his ideas are still obviously in the current culture of newts, hence why I won't say they're the most antagonistic.

The toads on the other hand are fascinating because while they are brutal conquerors and willing to subjugate others, they're also theoretically the most inclusive. They are the closest to a meritocracy in Amphibia. If you can prove your battle prowess and ability to lead, even a gangly weirdo from another world can rise quickly and take a role of power. However, this culture is also part of why they're such a joke/a problem. The passionate rise to the top while the grunts are mostly going to be complacent and the toads still push a "Got mine, fuck you" mentality so that once a job is done, selfishness takes hold. This is why they're good at taking a city but bad at keeping it because they lack discipline because as a community, they don't have either a national ideal to work for like the newts or each other like the frogs. Each one proves themselves but that also makes each of them in competition with one another. It also explains why they're willing to subjugate a people because if they were worth their own lives, they would be able to resist.

Grime is actually the exception here from everything we can see. Beatrix even takes a loss from a frog better than Grime. Grime is different from a lot of Toads though and seems to hold a more personal need to prove himself, rather than that being strictly personal. He gets knocked down lower on defeat and rises higher in triumph. It takes longer than it likely would have with other captains for him to recognize that Sasha's ability to get rid of her guard is impressive and deserving of re-evaluation because he's not willing to admit he's wrong. He is the one toad who will take a city and stay vigilant because he is stubborn enough to not want to lose those gains no matter the cost, hence why he seems to constantly look for a status quote he can keep a hold of rather than seeking endless glory. Sprig challenges that most explicitly and so he lashes out with anger rather than the admiration that he should. The admiration that the toads who Anne first met liked in her when they thought she could be ruthless and strong. Those toads in fact accepted her WAY faster than even potentially the Plantars as Sprig needed his life to be saved first.

Next let's talk about the newts. We get weirdly more time with their society than even the toads but I don't know how much I'd say we actually learn about it which is an issue with Marcy as well. Buuuut this actually is in line with their culture. They're more of a melting pot where they are both more enlightened in that everyone gets a fair shake but they're much more rigid. It's probably the closest to modern America we get where you CAN apply for an important job but you need the connections, open doors, etc. like that to get it. You can prove yourself but it will only get you so far and people will only care so much.

A large part of this is actually in how the newts specifically treat Marcy. Where as someone so high in the ranks for toads would be respected and have friends simply due to being so outstanding, see Sasha, Marcy has a position but no acceptance beyond that. Respect but no friends. They are willing to use her because she is the most useful tool for a job but they aren't going to act like they'reclose with her for that. Not without, sadly enough, a reason to. Olivia keeps her at arm's length, the other advisors don't really seem to actually have a relationship with her but Andrias does because she fits into his plans best if she trusts him.

Sprig also gets to demonstrate this because his interesting worldview gives him a position in the society but no special treatment besides getting that position. He still has to prove himself in all the same ways and while some quirkiness is allowed, you must keep THEIR peace. Even the frogs allow for more individuality once you are in their community. But again, it's a little rough when it comes to the newts because Marcy isn't actually a look into their culture like Sasha is for the toads as she never gets episodes just about her in Newtopia like Sasha does with Grime. I'd be intrigued about what the journal potentially changes about this.

ANWAYS, for the last one we have the Thai community and humanity. Or more so the former. I don't know if there's a unifying concept for humanity as a whole, which is befitting the treatment of the trio's mix of perspectives as well, but more a theme of optimism. That people may be lazy and a bit self serving but most people's hearts are in the right place. That they care.

The Thai community is the only one I really want to talk about because Thai Temple is admittedly one of my favorite episodes of Amphibia period. As someone who grew up in Alaska, I actually related to Anne not seeing the beauty of her culture really well. There's a highway in Alaska that sandwiches you perfectly besides mountain cliffs and the ocean and it is GORGEOUS. Aaaand I stopped caring about it because it became routine. I closed my mind to it. Like nature will accept you though if you are willing to give it the time, so is the Thai Community at the temple. If you show interest, interest will be shown back. That's why the Plantars are easily adopted into it because the people there want to share who they are, they're probably just not used to people actually being interested.

There's more I could say that dips more into the community aspects but how they treat Anne, Oum and Bea are a different subject (all of it positive and makes me sad as a straight white dude who doesn't keep religion honestly) but yeah, I hope this shows how Amphibia looks at acceptance, community and how different people treat those who are different in varying ways. Like I said, this is also still mostly scratching the surface as probably a lot more could be said about each. Even the original ask brings up how the walls of Newtopia cuts the newts off from nature itself while somewhere like Wartwood has to live in harmony with it.

End of the day though, it's still almost an incidental biproduct that no one in Amphibia feels half baked. Every society has a purpose and role to its storytelling and that helps make it a more cohesive work with a lot less accidents than be interpreted in awful ways. Seriously, if you have not watched Amphibia, GO WATCH AMPHIBIA.

I can guaranty the show will accept you, even if you don't love it like me.

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