#...wow i haven't made a like edit in years.

[forthelostones]

𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 ➺ 𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 #4

anderson construction and landscaping had been parked outside your door since you returned home from university. as if the summer couldn't get any hotter, the business owner works overtime in your area. anderson is collecting new, loyal clients of your neighbors, cementing her permanence in your life for the next few months. what's to come of your girlish crush when she keeps showing up?

𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜. 18+ (mdni); age-gap, young!reader, older!abby, butch!abby, slow-burn, suggestive language, thoughts of infidelity, ellie ft, smoking/drinking, mentions of parents, nickname: sweetheart, and modern au.

𝚊𝚗. everyone wow thank you so much for the love on for your eyes only! it means so much. here’s something a little different, hope you enjoy. any requests don’t hesitate to drop ‘em, xx jstar.

♫ 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝. hypotheticals by lake street drive ♫

https://arab.org/click-to-help/palestine/

I didn’t bother looking at my watch during our session and somehow I noticed the sun was nearly gone. A fist tightened in my stomach when I realized how long she had been in my presence without me being aware of the fact. I can’t remember a time when my social battery grew instead of depleting. 

Technically, I should be tired since I stayed up filtering through applications and cleaning my entire place simultaneously. But it was something about her that energized me. Even motivated me and made me excited about this project. She gave me a sense of agency, which I haven't felt in the last decade.

“You built these bookshelves, didn't you?” She snorted in disbelief as we traveled to the living room before her departure. 

“I did,” I said, in the kitchen as I fetched myself a beer, feeling proud at the recognition. 

I followed her manicured finger trace at the edge of the panels. She twisted her head sideways to read the dusty titles on the shelf. Even though I only saw her back, I knew her mouth was open in astonishment at my first edition copies of classic books, something I’ve been cultivating for twenty years. I bring the tinted bottle to my lips and stand with my free hand on my chin. 

She tucked her index into an original print of The Well of Loneliness. She looked over her shoulder quickly to check if I was watching her, which I was. I quickly diverted my gaze towards the floor and sipped. “I’ve had that book for a while,” I say. 

“Is it okay if I…” 

Her voice became silent, almost a whisper as if she’d be in trouble if she muttered a word about the novel. 

“Of course. Please.” 

I gesture towards the couch and she pulls the untouched book from the shelf as if it were delicate china and sits on my worn sofa. I bit the corner of my mouth as I saw her sit right where I lay my head and I took a seat on the farthest end away from her. She crossed her legs and brought the grey-shaded book onto her lap. The pages were stale and yellow-ish, almost crumbling under her careful touch. She followed the inside of the spine with her thumb, straightening the first page and a shiver traveled down my spine to my toes. 

“From the library of Abigail Anderson.” Her voice drops an octave, loose and saturated in a sexy chuckle. I wanted her to repeat my name just like that until her voice was hoarse.

I knew my cheeks grew bright red and I had the inclination to press the bottle to my face to cool my embarrassment. The embosser was a gift from an ex-girlfriend and she took the liberty of pressing it into every book I owned, even my most valuable ones. 

“You like that?” I smile, concealing my trembling lip with the neck of the bottle and thumb. 

“I wish I had one but my books aren’t special enough.” 

“What do you like to read?” 

“Same stuff you do.” 

That stuff is novels that exclusively includes women.

Her eyes linger with a glint that can only be described as fervor like she never met someone who read lesbian fiction. I didn’t break eye contact like I had been for the last three hours. I took another sip to hold back a large, toothy grin. Her phone vibrated with another ricochet of text messages, which she continuously ignored. But soon she broke our quiet pact by reading the messages and excusing herself to the next room. Her voice has a quiver in it although hushed. 

“Ellie. I’m sorry I just—okay. Okay. I know I am sorry. It just… Of course, I love you are you—alright. I’ll see you soon.” 

She comes back into the living room without moving back to her original spot. Her face was thick with an emotion I knew all too well. Dread. Maybe she needed an excuse to stay longer and I felt okay with that.

“I don’t know if you’re hungry or anything—” / “I’m gonna go—”. 

The jumble of words flusters us both and her grip tightens around her phone. The sight makes me think she could snap it in half right there. Ellie, her girlfriend, definitely gave her a stern talking to. The little cat-like girl I met on the street couldn't have made her feel so small. She brushes a stray hair from her face that wasn’t there. Instead of confidence, I saw her shrink down twice in size. 

“Oh, yea of course,” I rub my hot neck.

Her eyes dart towards the copy of The Well of Loneliness. 

“You can borrow it if you want to.” 

Instead of traveling around the couch, she let her body swipe past me as I rose from the couch. Our clothes mingled in a private dance just before she slipped on her shoes and fiddled with the door. With the book pressed to her chest, she turned to me, a mere two feet away, and thanked me. A silence fell between us. It wasn't awkward, but comfortable. I felt comfortable.

“Anytime, I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

What I wanted to come out as a statement became a question and I resented myself for it. I wanted her to know that I was going to see her.

“Hopefully. ‘Night Ms. Anderson.” 

“Drive safe, sweetheart.” 

A soft I will left her solemn lips and I watched the twinkle of her headlights illuminate my body. I raise my hand to wave her off but she turns her head before I can. I quickly tucked it away in my back pocket. My throat hardened seeing her car drive away.

As I closed the door, the lingering silence of the house struck me strongly. The missing book from the shelf made me feel hollow in a way. I was glad that she took it but I wish... I don't know. I finish my last sip of beer and toss the bottle out. I walk to the bathroom and turn on the shower.

The water offered me a clarity the cool breeze outside could not. I was relishing in a former life that I wish I had done differently. Craving someone who truly understood me and appreciated who I was. I never got that. My heart pumped with anxiety-ridden blood. Painful memories that I shoved away threatened to —

My hands are on the sparkling tiles, spread with 2 inches in between. I press my eyes shut and try to understand where I stand. It feels like the calm beads of water transformed into pebbles. Hitting my skin with an angry vengeance I could not place. The steam inhibits me from getting a deep inhale. I can't move. I open my eyes and soften my knees. I find the strength to reach for the knob and draw my body onto the floor. My knees come to my chest and I count until the water turns cold.

I opened the windows in my bedroom and listened to the chirping of cicadas. I close my eyes and walk backward onto the perfectly made bed. Instantly, my back melted. Why was I denying myself this? I lay with my feet dangling and was disrupted from the lingering sleep by my phone in the living room.

7:30 PM: What have you gotten me into Ms. Anderson?

She sat with the book in her lap, the only blankets around being a plum-colored top sheet. Her legs held the book and a small light illuminated the first page. Her thumb held the right page and her index and middle in the crease. I could imagine how she rubbed them against the paper like earlier. I stared at the photo and fell deeper into the elements of it.

7:35 PM: 400 pages is nothing, You'll do fine.

A bubble appears and vanishes.

7:36 PM: It's actually 448 pages, thank you very much.

7:37 PM: My apologies. 48 extra pages won't kill you.

7:38 PM: You don't know that...

7:40 PM: I think I do.

7:41 PM: Well, we can discuss what you think you know tomorrow...

My fingers twitched to reply but it was clear that she desired to be left alone. I couldn't determine why these casual conversations left my face aching, but they did. I reflected on how long it's been since I went on a date. The number enters my mind and burns slowly like a forest fire. The sides of my head throb as I slip under the blankets.

to be continued...

[squidhominid]

Wow I mean did everyone else in this (Tezuka) fandom just... Ignore the pro colonialism theme of Kimba... or Kei from Blackjack having an incredibly transphobic backstory....

I mean literally making transition out to be something done of shame or being forced...

(I haven't even touched on Two Shuchi's, another incredibly transphobic Blackjack chapter.)

Even as a Astro Boy fan I always am hesitant when I discover a new Tezuka work I didn't know about because it's either "This is gonna be really interesting and funny or incredibly awful."

If any of you guys see this ask just... Don't come after me and read some more Tezuka stuff it's really obvious. I don't really feel like hiding behind anon.

Appreciate the support. I'm just a weird robot who grew up with 2003 Astro Boy, read Metropolis as a teenager, and then got dragged through a group read of Atom: The Beginning, a few years later tripped over the Whaley hybrids paper while doing preliminary research on what to write my paper about, and went

'Wait, fuck. Wait. Fuck. WAIT. FUCK.'

Like, the realization that Metropolis has the same exact 'hybrids bad racial mixing bad gender mixing bad' themes hit me like a fucking bus.

Edit: A large blog reblogged this and made a response that makes it clear people are misinterpreting this post. Please consider the original context, and my response.

[indig0trolls]

BIRTHDAY ADOPTS GIVEAWAY RAFFLE!

Wow! I haven't done one of these in a long long time, so bear with me, but I've just felt incredibly lucky and grateful that so many of you have been so supportive, in general but especially since the start of the year, that I wanted to give a little something back as a thank you!

And what better occasion than my upcoming birthday!

So without further ado... onto the important parts!

RAFFLE RULES

This is a TOTALLY FREE TO ENTER raffle!

The only requirement to enter? You MUST be following me! (This is a thing to say thank you for all the support and kindness, after all!)

HOW TO ENTER!

Fill Out these forms! -> Warm Dusk -> Just a Little Squirrely

You MAY enter for both designs, but you can only WIN one!

One entry per person! If I catch you entering multiple times, or having someone enter for you... it's the blacklist for you, sorry kid thems the breaks.

On that note. NO! You cannot enter for someone else to give as a gift! I just see that getting really messy and don't want to have to sort that out.

You CANNOT resell/Trade these designs, PERIOD! Why? Well, I made them with the intention of giving them away! It just doesn't feel in the spirit of them if someone tacks on a bunch of art and upsells it later.

If. IF you get to a point where you have the design and you don't want it anymore... Give it away again! Host another raffle or gift it to a friend (with respects to my blacklist ofc).

RAFFLE ENDS ON MY BIRTHDAY,, WHICH IS JULY 23RD, AT 4:00PM EDT.

SO YOU HAVE 3 ISH DAYS TO ENTER!

And will be rolled shortly thereafter! (Probably around 5:30pm edt if we're being honest!)

FULL TOS UNDER CUT

TOS

By entering you will be agreeing to follow these terms as follows. PLEASE make sure you read them in full to understand them.

You MAY change the design/species of any design i’ve made after youve bought it, but you must leave credit with INDIG0TEA for the design, and the design itself must be recognizable.

Gender/sex/etc is ultimately up to the buyer.

You may not resell or trade these designs PERIOD. You did not pay for them, so you may not be paid for them! If you happen to get more art and want to be rid of them... Give them away! Host another raffle! That's it, sorry!

You may not include my designs in resale bundles. Period.

You may not EVER feed ANY of my art into an AI interface of ANY kind.​​​​​​​​

If gift this design, please inform me that it has been gifted so that I may update the TOS to reflect that and so future owners cannot be scammed.

You may not give this design (or any of my designs) to anyone on my blacklist, which is linked below for your convenience. Doing so will result in immediate blacklisting/blocking of your accounts.

You may not ever edit the original artwork(s).

You may not repost the original artwork to deviantart, instagram, or other social media/portfolio sites.

You may not use this design for the creation of license-able media such as (but is not limited to): books, animated shorts/shows, Vtuber/twitch streamer sonas, comics/webcomics, and video games (free or otherwise). If you would like to use this design in anything like this, we can negotiate a one time licensing fee which covers use in all of the above. This can be anywhere form an additional 150-500$ depending on your intended use.

You MAY use your design for any other purpose, so long as you are not profiting financially off of my work nor passing it off as your own.

You are allowed to store it in your deviantart sta.sh, post it to tumblr profiles, or upload it to websites like toyhou.se with proper credit.

However, you may not reupload to toyhou.se, to keep the ownership log intact, and to keep the original tos consistent.

For my personal comfort, you may not delete original listings from toyhou.seand resell it separately. This is again to keep the ownership log intact, and to keep the original tos consistent. If the person you wish to resell it to does not have a toyhou.se, I have plenty of invite codes I can give out as necessary.

Please credit to INDIG0TEA the first time you post art of them to websites other than toyhou.se

Violation of many of these terms will result in permanent blacklisting/banning from buying or owning designs by me in the future.

BLACKLIST

[simder-talia-blog]

Info here

The hard part about these type of things is knowing I will forget people. Just know that if I reblog your posts I appreciate you so much and what you do!

For anyone new to the world of CC, I highly recommend these creators, and remember that if you find a creator who has made some things you like, go browse the rest of their catalog! Chances are there is lots more that you're going to love.

@herecirmsims - Makes wonderful, amazing pose packs and has a fun story going as well!

@ellemant - Gorgeous, gorgeous screenshots. Ellemant has also made some of my favorite, and oldest CC that I have in my game!

@eslanes - A longtime favorite account. You have got to check out the amazing Sims version album covers that eslanes has made as renders!

@xsavannahx987 - Awesome CC!

@rebouks - Amazing poses and storytelling! Also builds & sims dumps

@creamlattedream - So much fun MM clothing for your sims, & lots for male sims!

@beansbuilds - Beautiful, detailed builds that I fell in love with from her very first post

@bill-l-s4cc - Very useful CC items!

@xldkx - Incredibly cute & useful deco sims and more!

@the-dew-of-the-sea - makes some of my favorite CC that I have in my game!

@saruin - Superb and creative creations!

@anachrosims - Beautiful, gorgeous historical CC and in game shots that take your breath away!

@elfydrell - Loads of WoW CC!

@yooniesim - A creator of incredible CAS details for your sims, and lots of them!

@hamsterbellbelle - If you're looking for cyberpunk aesthetic, you must browse this creator's catalog!

@serawis - Another lovely CC creator (I especially love the skin overlays!)

@cinamun - Storytelling & gorgeous shots! (I added cinamun after I posted, I have a terrible headache this morning as I was finishing this post, I am sorry for accidentally leaving you out!)

@surely-sims - So much fun & unique CC, if you haven't yet, you must go look!

@simkoos - Again, so much fun & cute CC!

@aira-cc - More MM / kawaii CC that I absolutely love

@lilis-palace - Gorgeous MM historical CC

@twentiethcenturysims - Gorgeous MM historical CC, and even some witch hats for your cats!

@gothoffspring - More lovely CC (and tie dye!)

@simmillercc - More adorable CC

@nolan-sims - another one of my longtime favorites!

@simverses - Tons of wonderful Medieval CC!

@coatisims - All the groceries!

@bodegababysims - MOAR groceries!

@aroundthesims - Another longtime favorite! Sooo many useful and unique items, some of which inspired by her personal life and things she loves, which I love.

@insimniacreations - Tons of functional IRL food!

@moderncrafter - Lots of really nice vehicle CC (check poly for older computers)

@marsosims - More wonderful MM CC, I especially love their hairs

@peacemaker-ic - Can't make a favorites collection without mentioning Peacemaker! Maxis Match CC of all kinds!

I also want to say how much I appreciate anyone on here that has ever made me burst out laughing with something funny that they've posted (screenshots from your game, glitches, a meme you made relating to tumblr website nonsense, commentary on this or that, etc) You're all so funny 💗😆😭

Happy Holidays, everyone! Take care, pls stay healthy & safe, and thank you so much for the past year of simming fun!

EDIT! @crazy-lazy-elder-sims & @helloavocadooo I am so sorry I also forgot to tag you in this. I've had a bad headache for days due to very crazy barometric pressure where I live and I just am not thinking properly. I love that I get to be part of this community with you!

[king-paimon]

Houseki No Kuni Chapter 108 Thoughts: Everything Stays....

Hello all. I hope the month of April was good to everyone. It was alright for me, though I'm just in awe by how fast it went! Time really goes by too quickly as you get older.

Speaking of time, would you look at that? The final chapter of Houseki no Kuni was released! 108 chapters over the course of 12 years. And I've been following it for nearly 5 of those years! Wow! That is quite the feat, Ms. Ichikawa.

I'd been waiting for this day for a long time, and the feeling is bittersweet, with the overlaying feeling of relief. This emotional rollercoaster that Ms. Ichikawa had sent us on has finally reached it's dock.

Phos's story is finally complete. What a ride it had been!

Now the question is: Was I satisfied?....

I'll do my best to answer this. I don't know how long this post will be, but I'm hoping that it won't be too long (edit: Oops. I was wrong.) And as always, please feel free share your own thoughts if you're interested!

Here we go:

Phos's True End: Was It Satisfying?

I reread this chapter a few times to answer this question and to be honest, I still reach the same conclusion: It was fitting. Not absolutely bad or 100% amazing, but in terms of Phos's whole journey throughout this story, I think this was a fitting ending for Phos, and that's good. And if anything else, it's a little ironic.

I mentioned in my last post that I thought it was funny that the remaining piece of Phos had become the youngest/newest member of the pebble species much like how they originally were at the beginning off the whole manga. It seems though, the similarities don't end there because of this little interaction between Eyeball/Pita-pat and Pebble Phos:

I'm sure this was supposed to be a little cheeky conversation and Eyeball/Pita-pat didn't really mean it. But still, this was an interesting exchange to include in this final chapter, especially right before it's implied that Eyeball/Pita-pat passed away.

One intriguing story choice Ichikawa made was having Pebble Phos continuously fall apart near the end to the point that they become a small spec. To be honest, I was not sure how to feel about this part when I first read, especially considering how now there's hardly any of Phos left now. Like, after Eyeball/Pita-pat saved that last bit of Phos so they could have a nice life away from humanity, it'd be unfair for them to break apart again to nothing after all of that. But I did like how the pebbles decided to view Pebble Phos' changes; that their fragments surely became beautiful comets that would brighten someone's day. And that shot with original Phos was nice...

Also, I saw the post that implied that Ichikawa released this final chapter around the same time that a rare famous comet was supposed to be seen on Earth. I want to say that I think it was a pure coincidence, but I'm not putting anything past this author!

This chapter made me think of that one song from Adventure Time: Everything Stays. If you haven't heard of it, please give a listen. It's a song about life and the course of change. It focuses on how even if things appear to stay the same over the course of time, changes still occur, even if subtle. Phos certainly changed a lot throughout their story through intense mind and physical altering events. But I also think they changed subtly even during the less intense moments. I think the moments in this final chapter fit with this song, too. Phos was always evolving, even when it didn't appear so. Through their interactions and lack thereof with others and their environment, Phos was always changing and growing, ever so subtly. And even in this last chapter, Phos is still evolving and that'll likely never end.

Interesting... after thinking about it some more, I think I feel a little more satisfied with how this chapter/story ended. I'm glad that Ms. Ichikawa didn't pull some other twist near the end; that certainly would have ruined it for me. Am I 100% happy with how Phos's story ended? I don't think so. But to me, it's a fitting end.

But what do I think about the series as a whole?

When The Journey Ends: Was It Worth It?

There are very few manga or written stories that had me wanting to see how things end because more often than not, there aren't that many stories that I've read to completion. Part of it is because I don't want the story to end; basically, I'd have the thought process that if I don't know how the story ends, the story doesn't end! Perfect logic (sarcasm). Though this usually happens because I lose interest or because the story goes in directions that I don't like, I'd say one of the main reasons I end up dropping a series is because of how a story ends. How a story ends can completely change one's opinion of a story, and I've seen my fair share of stories that end badly. Sometimes the ending is abrupt and not satisfying, especially if it was lead by a big build up, or the ending is a result of a jarring story pivot that seems to come out of left field. It just seems that many creators don't know how to end their story well. And if I like a story a lot, sometimes I'm too scared to see how it ends. Partially because I don't want the story to end, but mostly because I don't want the end to ruin my experience.

Houseki no Kuni is a unique case for me. I know I've mentioned this before but I'll state it again: I don't think I've ever been so invested in a story like this before. Though that investment had dwindled over time, partially due to me developing new interests, life, and being occasionally dissatisfied with certain story choices, I wanted to see this how this story would end no matter what. And now that it's done, I'm glad I stuck it out.

Was this story perfect? No. There were several story decisions that I wish was either told differently or completely omitted that could have made the story stronger in my opinion.

Did I get a too invested in this story? During certain points, most definitely haha. I remember getting very emotional about certain chapters when I first started making this series of meta posts. I remember seeing some posts from people stating that they no longer liked the manga because of the direction it was going and in some cases, I could see where they were coming from.

Do I regret getting so invested in this story? No. No I don't. Despite not liking certain story aspects, I do not regret getting invested in this story. Though the story was not perfect, this was such a unique experience that I'm grateful to have gone through.

I plan on talking more about how I feel about Houseki no Kuni as a whole in another post. I intend to delve into what I loved about it and what I wish was different. While I could include that stuff here, I think this post is long enough. I've already started working on it, but I know it'll be a while before it's done; you bet there will be some parts with me ranting a little haha

But long story short, despite some grievances I have with some parts of the story, I feel satisfied with how it ended. And I'm glad that I read this series.

What Happens Next: Thank you, HnK Fandom

I want to thank those who've read, liked, and even commented on my posts! I didn't think so many of you would like, let alone read, my longwinded messy posts. I loved every feedback I got, even the ones that didn't agree with me. You made me love being part of this niche fandom. Like I said in the previous section, I have at least one more post that I want to make detailing everything I feel about Houseki No Kuni as a whole. I might make another one that's more for fun, but we'll see. I encourage anyone who's interested to share your own thoughts on the post! I seriously love reading different perspectives.

But after those posts, I don't know how involved I'll be in the fandom afterwards. I may repost some art and other people's meta posts on occasion. But when it comes to meta commentary, these will likely be my last posts about HnK. I have other fandoms that I like to follow, though I don't make posts about them. Perhaps I will, though I know they will be nothing like the posts I've made about Houseki no Kuni. This was the only series I've ever felt compelled to analyze so deeply, which makes it special for me. If I were to post anything about the other stuff I'm into, it'll most likely be of fanart that I made for my own personal enjoyment. I know scare many of my followers away since they'll not be HnK related. But who knows? I haven't made any HnK art in a long time... Maybe one of these days, I can try to make some HnK art again. I have some unfinished pieces on my computer that's now years old. Yeah, I should finish them when I have the time. That'd be a fun little send off.

Anyhow, if you are interested, please hang around for my final HnK meta posts! And when it's out, please please PLEASE share your own thoughts in it! Don't be afraid to share your opinions. I promise I don't bite.

So that's it. These are my thoughts of the final chapter of Houseki no Kuni. I might add more to it, but I'm fine with what I put out. Wow... I still can't believe I got into this series 5 years ago! So much had changed in my life since then. Despite everything, it was worth it.

Thank you again for reading my jargon. It means a lot and I can't wait to post my true final meta posts about Houseki no Kuni.

What a ride this was.

Until next time...

[inkabelledesigns]

Wow it has been like a million years since I showed a WIP doll hasn't it? Well no time like the present! Audrey here has been sitting in my closet for a while, because I've been intimidated to finish her. But as it turns out, it's not that bad! I was really intimidated about giving her one of her ink powers on the hand, but we managed to paint Flow on with little gold gouache. It came out pretty nicely! And then we made her shirt! Got to reuse some old ripped shorts (and I have some leggings I cut up for making her pants), happy to actually make use of my fabrics. XD I haven't sewn in a while. It's not quite the right color, but with a little paint and pastels to color correct it, it'll be close. I don't have a good sweater fabric that matches her in-game shirt, so my plan is to use puffy paint to replicate the pattern and then muck it up with a black puffy paint for the ink.

Gotta say, since I stopped putting pressure on myself to film my hand sewing, it's gotten a little easier. I can do it in my lap while chatting with friends and family if it's an easy enough pattern, and that's a lot more productive for me personally. I know that when I go to edit my doll videos, that may be disappointing, but I'll find a way to make that work. I'd rather do a good job than focus on filming it perfectly.

[janmisali]

FAQ

Q: wow, you're on tumblr?

A: that's not a question, but yeah, this is the Official blog of youtuber jan Misali. I also have my main blog @hbmmaster where I reblog stuff and make more low-effort text posts.

Q: wait, you're on youtube?

A: yeah, I make videos. for new viewers I recommend checking out the best of jan Misali playlist. for people who already watch and enjoy my videos I recommend watching my inspiration playlist, which is a curated selection of videos I personally keep finding myself coming back to.

Q: can you put your name and pronouns in this FAQ?

A: you can call me Mitch, jan Misali, or Misali. "jan" works too, just make sure not to capitalize it. I use he/they pronouns, with no strong preference between the two sets.

Q: when is [video you've announced] coming?

A: by asking this, you have delayed it by another month. sorry!

Q: when is [series that hasn't had a new installment in a while] returning?

A: when I want to go back to working on it, and no sooner

Q: are you going to make a video about [thing you mentioned in a post]?

A: no. some things are just posts

Q: I want to make something based on something you made. is that okay?

A: I'm not a cop. I broadly approve of any stuff people make that's derivative of my own work, as long as I'm given the appropriate amount of credit for it and you tell me about it once it's posted somewhere so I can see it. the only exceptions to this are if you're like just fully reuploading something I made (not cool!) or if it's something I'd disapprove of even if it wasn't derivative of my work (do not write fanfiction with me in it, or like, south park character AI covers of song translations I've made).

Q: you're into languages, right? how many languages do you speak?

A: none

Q: what font do you use in your videos?

A: Noto Serif

Q: what software do you use to make videos?

A: Google Slides and Audacity

Q: can you reblog the scoobypost again?

A: only if you ask nicely.

questions about "the /hj tone indicator is worse than useless" (March 2023)

Q: I think what /hj (half-joking) is supposed to mean is...

A: the reason I find /hj confusing is not, in fact, that not enough people have told me their own personal definitions of what they think it means. I do not need or want to hear any more, thank you.

Q: I think I get what the /oj anon was saying, it's something like...

A: I am not exaggerating by saying that I spent years coming up with interpretations of what the /oj anon could have meant. there is a 0% chance that I haven't at some point considered the exact interpretation you're suggesting. if you want to share your interpretation with someone, find a different person who thinks they understand it and tell them instead of me.

questions about "how many Super Mario games are there NOW?" (May 2024)

Q: will you release the full survey data?

A: no. the full survey data includes the anonymous comments of 5500 random people on the internet who didn't sign up for that.

Q: will you release an edited simplified version of the survey results?

A: I already did! it was in the form of a video called "how many Super Mario games are there NOW?"

Q: will you release the full survey data, but without the open answer sections?

A: no. the raw numbers are not in a comprehensible format, and it would take about as much work as it took to make the video itself to get them into a comprehensible format. I'm not doing that myself, and I'm certainly not going to allow other people to do that on their own just so they can find out what I decided wouldn't be worth mentioning in the two-hour video. if you have a specific question about the results, ask that question instead.

[lemotmo]

I love it when people who at least have an idea of how these things work get questions like this.

Q. Did you hear Ryan's podcast? I'm vibrating at this point 👀👀👀

A. Haha, I did listen to it, anon. It was a good reminder of why podcasts usually turn out to be the better interviews. If you're not aware, in 99% of print interviews the questions have been pre screened by the actors/show so they go into the interview already knowing pretty much everything they're going to say. It's why so many of them are repetitive. Podcasts tend to have a little more leeway. They usually only have to get topics pre-approved. So even though they know what topics are going to be discussed they don't usually know the specific questions. Now obviously those interviews come with greater risks because if your actor doesn't know how to edit themselves they could say something epically bad. Obviously this one was pre-recorded so he had a little bit of a safety cushion but it didn't appear to be heavily edited content wise. I love that he touched on the racist/bigoted thing. Even though this came prior to the entire Gerard nonsense, I'm glad he got a chance to tell those people how incredibly wrong they are where he is concerned. I hope he hasn't seen most of it, but given everything he has been tagged in I fear he has seen more than he should have ever had too.

He's in the position now that Oliver was last year. He's the one doing the promotional interviews, but he's just out of canned answers he can give, lol. There's nothing left for him to say except the 'thing' he can't yet say. So you can tell he's trying to make the same answers sound somewhat new and for the most part he was able to do that. It was though just one more thing that kind of made you go, yeah it's going where we think it's going. I just think the show is all out of later. They can't keep pushing the story to 'next season'. And I think that's why we're seeing so many winks and nods from ABC and the show. The comments they replied to yesterday were intentional. Yes, they deleted them but they knew the people who they were intended for would see them and remember them. It's time. Let's go.

Thanks Nonny!

Ah yes! Hard agree on everything here! I haven't seen/heard the whole podcast yet (I'm planning to listen tomorrow when I'm relaxing), but I've seen all of the videos, snippets and quotes about 911 and Eddie that were posted online.

Everything is aligning and people are noticing the change. There is this tentative surge of emotion of 'Oh wow, this is it. It's actually happening this time. No more clowning,' going around in fandom and even beyond the fandom. Love that for us.

So yeah, the time is right.

The time is now.

Let's go!

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[asexualbookbird]

August feels. Blurry. The Thursday of the year. Of the summer? IT feels like the year. I managed to fill out my entire Summer Bingo Board for the library. I haven't heard back about winning any prizes, but I had fun and that's what counts. Bingo made me branch out of my comfort zone which was really neat. Can't say I'll do it more often, a comfort zone is comfortable, but I do enjoy reading something Different every now and then. Did some crafty things this month, which has been a lot of fun, and I've been Smart and Wise and started on holiday gifts so I'm not scrambling in December. It's called personal growth~

The Bone Season: Tenth Anniversary Edition by Samantha Shannon ⭐⭐ - I'm salty about this. Yes, it's an improvement, but it still sucks. The world and magic is so neat, but we're stuck with a plot Like That. Made me do an actual full review on goodreads and on tumblr if you want all the details.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon ⭐⭐- I kept my original rating because honestly I felt the same as I did years ago. It's worse than the updated version, but it's the core of the novel that needs changing. Props to this one at least for making Paige asexual. I do not want to see this book on ace book lists ever again.

The Adventure Zone: The Suffering Game by The McElroys and Carey Pietsch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- One of the best installments so far. The art is AMAZING, I love the meta they're doing with Griffin and The Hunger, it was a little rushed and I'm bummed we aren't getting a full adaptation of The Stolen Century, but this is still right up there with Petals to the Metal for me!

The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - T Kingfisher has never written a bad novel to me, but this one did take me longer than her others to really click. The audio narrator had some inflections that didn't work for my brain, but once they went through the door, things got Weird and picked up. These two made so many stupid decisions, but it still felt in character! Big Stan Pines energy coming from that uncle.

Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - For book bingo! Got me a square for Read Nonfiction, Read Something About The Environment, and Read Something You Found from Book Page (a magazine advertising new and upcoming books). AND it had a local connection. I learned a lot, it was really neat and didn't feel like I was reading a textbook. It was very engaging, and has me looking at grocery stores differently. It was hard to find, though, because Frostbite is a very common name in the urban fantasy romance genre.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Oof. Very heavy, very creepy, very GOOD. Did not expect the many graphic dog deaths, but that was on me. Technically I WAS warned, my brain just didn't register "SGJ dogs are not safe" as "The dog dies in this one". The audio narrator was very good, but I had to listen to the opening a couple times to really get everything to click. It might've been easier had I" read it myself, but the cadence of the narrator really added to the story.

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox ⭐ - Wow when was the last time I had a true one star read. (Actually not too long ago. It was The Novice.) This wanted so badly to be The Haunting of Hill House, but if you want another book like Hill House, just read Starling House. We missed what actually happened in the book because the main character was losing her memory. If you want that, go read Harrow the Ninth. This was a mess and I hated it.

On that note, I need to read something to recharge my faith in books, so MURDERBOT TIME! That's my only reading plan for September, but now I'm feeling Rushed because the year is almost over and I still have about half of my reading goals list left. Whoops. I'd also like to at least attempt some of the Swordtember prompts, if not do all of them. That looks like a lot of fun! So! Onward we go!

[shinnith]

Best Sims 4 Script Mods✨

wanted a masterlist on this site of my "cannot live without" mods, so buckle up and get ready for your game to finally become even better!

Note: Playing on basic hardware and think your game can't run this high of scripts? My specs are a laptop with barely 4 GB of usable RAM and the most basic cpu+gpu out there. Go ham.

⭐List is under the cut and includes scripts like "All Worlds/Secret Worlds Residential", "Travel to Hidden World Easily", top notch map/loading screen replacements, ongoing projects like "sims 4 multiplayer" and more⭐

Gameplay Tweaks:

✨Darkmode ★ By: Dskecht

As of making this, both Arnie's Darkmode/Plumfruit are broken and will probably stay that way due to their retirement. Dskecht is currently hard at work with updating theirs though, which you can find at the link above, and their main updates about patch fixes here.

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✨All Worlds Are Residential ★ By: Zerbu

With this, destination type worlds (granite falls, selvadorada/ect) and hidden worlds (sylvan glade/forgotten grotto/ect) become residential or whatever lot type you want them to be. You'll need the creator's Venue Changes mod along with it. Cannot explain how important this mod is.

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✨Travel To Venue/Hidden World ★ By: TwelfthDoctor

Quickly travel to places like Forgotten Grotto and more- all from your cell phone!

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✨OMSP Shelf ★ By: AmoeBae

This "shelf" is basically a placeholder and has many slots, which doesn't conflict on placement and you can then turn invisible. If that sounds confusing, basically: wow shelf/table full of decorations instead of like two weirdly placed objects.

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✨More Traits ★ By: MapleBell

A lot of good traits, that I feel go well with a "maxis match" or "basegame" playthrough.

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✨Photographic Memory ★ By: RSVN

Take better photos with a custom camera and frame them in different frames, polaroids, canvases, calendars, ect. Beautiful work.

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✨Sacrificial's Mods

The creator of "Extreme Violence" brings you a ton of other elements. Armageddon, Zombies, Life tragedies, possessed or murderous children & so much more. Go wild.

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✨TurboDriver's Mods

Wouldn't be a complete list without the creator of "whickedwhims". Kudos, TurboDriver.

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✨Basemental's Mods

Mods which are full o' vices, if you catch my drift. All of their work is amazing and goes super well with sacrificial & turbodriver's work.

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More Scripts:

✨Dershayan & 20thCenturyPlumbob Maps/Loading Screen Replacements

I can't choose a favorite set- both creators have made beautiful work, though Dershayan only offers map replacements.

••••⋆••••⋆••••⋆••••⋆••••⋆

✨More Columns in CAS ★ By: weerbesu

CAS UI is incredibly irritating and this helps by giving more columns. You have different choices for how many you want.

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✨Better BuildBuy ★ By: TwistedMexi

Will change your life and TwistedMexi will become like family. Oh, and did I mention it has live camera (tab key) in build mode?

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✨ColorPicker ★ By: Carl's Guides

Hate the game's colors with objects? Carl is here to help.

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✨T.O.O.L ★ By: TwistedMexi

Total manipulation over otherwise locked assets in game (ex. non-editable player items/buildings/terrain like those freaking apartment windows you can't delete or change). This creator is currently working on a huge project for this entire community, and is also another concrete presence.

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✨Big Ongoing Projects✨

🏆Sims 4 Multiplayer

Creator Simsmultiplayer brings you something we've all talked over for years. It's released, but I haven't tested it myself.

🏆Sims 4 Create-A-World

TwistedMexi comes through once again, but this time with the most complex sims mod were seeing being developed. It has years of work already and is currently still in development. Updates at link above.

----------

Kudos to all mod + creators- big and small💞 This game has been tweaked, redesigned and literally fixed by modders time and time again and our community gets even more vibrant each day with their talents. After almost ten years in this community, I have seen such amazing work and tireless effort to creations of assets & mechanics, fixes to game bugs of all types and providing of technical support. We love you guys💖

[clover-system]

Allow us to introduce ourselves

Half a year active, over a hundred followers, the majority of which are veteran tumblers from that one 60k note explosion, and we still haven't properly introduced ourselves. Time to fix that.

We are Clover, an endogenic plural system. That means we are multiple people sharing one brain and body, and we aren't plural because of trauma. We do not have DID. (nor do the vast majority of endos)

I am Quincy, the headmate who fronts the most. Quincy is not my real name, but it could've been, and it's an alias I've been using for a few years.

Edit 2024 August 1: Quincy split into Eliza and Mia. Eliza's egg opened easily. Mine crumbled painfully. We now share the host role and this blog. There isn't much difference between us; we both inherited Quincy's memories.

Edit September 18: I live.

There are a lot of people on here who say that it's impossible for a plural system to form without trauma, but as you may have seen from our syscourse (system discourse (expect a lot of sys- compounds)) reblogs, they rarely cite any credible sources, and that's because they're wrong. I am not a LARPer and I do not claim to have DID. This really is every hour of my life, online and offline. If you have any more questions about plurality, feel free to send me an ask.

Though if we're talking about origins, "not from trauma" is overly vague for my taste. If we're really talking about how the system formed, I prefer "dreamgenic", because everyone originated from some combination of nightdreams and immersive daydreams which I had varying levels of control over.

The second most active headmate, Victoria Penelope, has her own blog @victoria-penelope-clover. She posts more infrequently, when she's able to front/cofront/proxy, and is currently mostly focused on syscourse, with occasional slices of life. She's my older syster.

Headcount is currently in the upper teens. Some more may be mentioned occasionally but I'd rather not have a list of private details about everyone easily accessible here for anyone to see. For the most part, all you'll see every once in a while is some colored text indicating a distinct voice.

Anyway, enough plural stuff! Now for typical bio stuff!

Fleed Reddit to come here and wow Tumblr is way better. Always happy to commune with fellow Rexxitors!

For obsession I circle between Chess, Minecraft, Geometry Dash, Warrior Cats, and Undertale. Fandoms I am on the edge of getting sucked into include The Amazing Digital Circus and Death Note. I also plan to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender at some point. Ever since our syscovery, I've consumed next to no fiction for fear of more headmates.

I have a few projects in the works but I've promised myself that I won't post them publicly until I've actually made substantial progress!

No DNI! Maybe it's just because I'm not jaded by years of wasted time with unproductive trolls, but I think assuming someone is in bad faith just because they disagree with you about something heated is bad actually, partly because I've seen what happens and how long progress takes when left-of-center people generally refuse to interact with, for example, transphobes. Relatedly, I will only block you if I think you're a bot or if you really, really fuck up.

Do not be surprised if I casually shit on something you believe in without warning.

I have an ever-growing queue set to post five times per day, and I try not to post too much more than that. I also try to keep my dash at less than 100 posts per day, which is apparently uncommon here.

Reblog reblog reblog! Not just my posts, but everyone (unless you have a good reason not to, like with this intro post). Reblogs are what keep Tumblr alive! Likes do next to nothing.

That's all for now! If you have any more questions, send me an ask and I might add it to this post!

[sweeter-innocence-fics]

Summer Fic Week 2023 - Day 5: Tracing Every Part of You

Pairing: Pietro Maximoff x Reader

Work Summary:

No powers, college AU.

Spending a day at the lake with the Avengers.

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 3727

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Summer Fics Masterlist.

Taglist: @mrs-kai-anderson @ang3l1te @missryerye @mcximffs @noz4a2 @rottenstyx @starmansirius @xlucyintheskywithdiamondsx @lanemarvels @marrigold-2002 @kathrinchek @alternativeprincess @annocaprosmaloka @thrutheburnout

Taglist info.

Notes:

Sorry it's slightly late (it's past midnight here). I haven't had as much time to edit as usual so I hope it's good.

Everyone is in college.

Warnings for overprotective/jealous/possessive Pietro, FWB to lovers, mentions of drowning, alcohol, tickling, a lot of bickering, mentions of a car accident, mentions of casual sex, these bitches suck at communicating, background Stucky and Wanda x Vision

---

Wanda and Pietro were bickering in the front seat of Wanda’s battered station wagon. She wouldn’t let him drive, since he totalled her last car, and he was sulking about it.

“It’s been three years,” he muttered, “when are you going to get over it?”

“Oh, so you’re reckless and rusty, and you want me to let you drive?” Wanda rolled her eyes.

“I took a refresher course,” he said, slapping the dashboard. “I’m a better driver now! I won’t crash!”

“That’s nice. Get your own car.”

It had been like this for the entire drive. At least they weren’t speaking in Sokovian. They only did that when the arguments got serious.

You sat forward, leaning between their two seats. “Wow, you guys sure know how to make a girl regret riding with you.”

“There was no room in Steve’s car. You had no choice,” said Pietro.

“I’m sure Bucky would’ve let me ride on the back of his bike,” you said, a hint of suggestion in your tone.

Pietro frowned. “And end up splattered all along the sidewalk, I’d bet,” he huffed.

There was a not insignificant part of you that liked to get Pietro riled up. He wasn’t your boyfriend, not by any stretch of the imagination, but you’d been hooking up with him since the beginning of the school year.

Since summer break had started, you had spent almost every day over at his and Wanda’s place. Sometimes, he’d put his arm around you, or lend you his hoody, or sit a little too close to you while you played video games on the couch. But he wasn’t your boyfriend.

He was your friend that you sometimes kissed on the porch when his sister had gone to bed early. A friend who drew patterns on your back with his fingertip whenever he got bored. A friend who had seen you naked.

He never said anything, but he always got a little grumpy whenever you talked about spending time with Bucky or Steve. You couldn’t think of a single reason that he would have to dislike Steve, so you assumed – or hoped – that it was jealousy.

You encouraged it. Maybe if you kept pushing his buttons, he’d get his head out of ass and ask you on a date. A real date, not just you blowing him in the deserted laundrette after midnight, or him going down on you in the backseat of your car.

“Don’t worry, P, you’re still my favourite,” you said, lightly punching his arm. His lips twitched.

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Don’t make you leave you two by the side of the road.”

“We aren’t doing anything,” you said, raising your hands.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”

The first time you’d hooked up with Pietro was on the first night you’d met. You shared a psychology class with Wanda, and you’d struck up a friendship with her. She’d invited you to her birthday party, and you’d ended up chatting with an extremely pretty, very cocky boy with bleached blond hair.

When she’d stumbled in on the two of you in Pietro’s bed later that evening, she’d practically screeched, “What are you doing with my brother?”

You hadn’t known that Pietro was her brother, but it made a lot of things make sense. The fact that it had also been his birthday should’ve clued you in, since she’d told you she had a twin.

Your friends were already waiting for you at the lake when you pulled up. Tony had brought a portable stereo, and there was a large cooler full of ice-cold beers.

You were pondering the drinks selection, but Pietro had other ideas.

“Come on,” he said, grabbing your hand. “Come swim with me.”

You wrinkled your nose. “In the gross lake water?”

He let a laugh. It was a sweet, musical thing that made you feel warm inside. “Why do you come to the lake if not to swim?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. Ambience?”

He snorted. “What about to cool down?”

He had a point there. It was blisteringly hot in the sun, and only mildly more bearable in the shade. You were already wearing a bikini under your clothes, so it wasn’t like you weren’t prepared.

“Alright, fine.”

A grin spread across his face. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” he shouted, and then bolted towards the lake.

“Pietro!” you shrieked, but you were already following him. He kicked off his t-shirt and flip flops as he ran. You were having more trouble with your denim shorts. You had just reached the edge of the water when he took a running jump into it.

You swore. You shed your clothes, leaving them in a haphazard pile, and waded in.

Despite the hot air, the water was very cold. You got to knee depth, and then hesitated. Your reluctance wasn’t missed by Pietro.

“Come onnnn,” he whined. “Come play with me.”

“You’re a child.”

“If I was a child, I would be splashing you right now. What I actually am is a gentleman.”

You put your hand on your heart sarcastically. “Wow. My hero.” You waded in a little deeper, and his eyes lit up. You kept going until the water was just under your boobs.

This was the hard part. “Come on, dragă. If you get it over with, I’ll come warm you up.” There was a prickle of warmth across your skin.

You took a deep breath and then plunged under the water. Even under the water you could hear Pietro whoop. When you resurfaced, his eyes were on you, a wide grin on his face. He held out a hand to you and you took it, letting him pull you into the deeper water.

“Much better,” he murmured, pulling you close. “You want me to warm you up?”

His fingers played with the string of your bikini. “Everyone is right over there,” you said, nodding towards the shore.

“Who cares about everyone? Let me take you somewhere quiet and make you feel good.”

The offer was tempting, but you had a new resolution. No more casual sex with Pietro. If he wanted you, he was going to have to work for it.

“No, thanks,” you said brightly, and turned to swim in the opposite direction.

Nat was wading in up to her thighs. As you swam up to her, she put her hands on her hips.

“Pietro is watching you like a hawk right now,” she said, a half-smile on her face. You had already filled her in on your resolution.

“Good.”

Other people were getting into the water now. You watched as Victor (although everyone called him Vision) paddled in the shallows. He had come with Tony, although you knew he and Wanda were friends, and you were starting to realise why. Pietro was the worst cockblock in the world.

Wanda was watching Vision with a fond smile on her face. Their eyes met, and she gave him a little wave. He waved back, flushing bright red.

“What do you think?” asked Nat. “Are they already boning, or are they about to?”

“There’s no way they’re already boning. He’s way too shy and I don’t think Wanda is in the headspace to make the first move.”

“What are you talking about?”

You spun to see Pietro standing behind you. The water was waist-deep for him, and he had his hands on his hips, mirroring Nat.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop,” you said, and he huffed.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping. You’re loud.”

You looked back over to the shore. Wanda was wading into the water now, wincing with every step. You knew there were some sharp stones around there. Vision offered her a hand, which she gratefully took.

When you turned back to Pietro, his jaw was very tight. “I’m gonna-” he started, but you put both hands on his chest, pushing him into the water.

He flailed around, grabbing at you, and managed to pull you down with him.

“Gross,” said Nat. She swam off to go and talk to Clint.

“What did you do that for?” Pietro growled, but he still had his arms around you.

“I’m not letting you cockblock my friend,” you said, pushing him deeper.

“She’s my sister.”

“And she’s an adult. If she wants to get dicked down by literally the dweebiest guy I’ve ever met, that’s her choice.”

He groaned. “Don’t say ‘dicked down’.” You smiled at him, innocently. His hands came to rest on your hips. “Come swim with me? Watching her talk to him makes my skin crawl.”

“He’s nice. She could do a lot worse.” You also thought she could do better, but Pietro didn’t need to know that. Besides, you were sure that no one would be good enough in his eyes for his beloved sister.

“Come on.” He tried to pull you out into the deeper water, but you stopped him.

“Nuh-uh. We’re staying right here where everyone can see us.”

His eyes glinted dangerously. “Kinky.”

You lightly slapped his shoulder. “Not like that. We’re not fucking, Pietro.”

“We’re not?”

“I know you’re used to getting what you want right away, but delayed gratification can feel so good. You should try it sometime.”

“Well, you should try being less of a tease.” His hands went straight to your armpits, tickling you. You screeched, grabbing onto his shoulders so that you wouldn’t go under.

“Pietro!” you squealed. “You’re… gonna… drown me.” It was a struggle to get the words out. You were breathless from laughter.

“I won’t let you drown, pretty girl.” He stopped tickling you. His arms wrapped around you again, holding you in place.

In spite of yourself, it felt good. Pietro’s arms felt safe.

“I can’t say the same,” you said, and then you pushed down on his head, dunking him under the water.

He came up a few seconds later, spluttering, wet hair plastered over his eyes. You were laughing. You couldn’t help yourself. As soon as he’d managed to swipe his hair out of his eyes, he splashed you.

“Demon woman,” he growled. “Trying to kill me.”

The two of you play-wrestled, tickling and splashing each other until Tony’s voice cut through the air.

“Hey! Lovebirds! If you want some of this barbecue, you’re gonna have to hurry up.”

You looked at Pietro. “I’m pretty hungry.”

“Me too.”

The two of you swam back to the shore. You were the last ones out. Most other people already had their food on paper plates, sitting on beach chairs or towels.

Wanda and Vision were sharing a picnic blanket. You could see Pietro eyeing them, weighing up whether he should go sit down with them to break up whatever was happening.

Too busy watching him watching them, you didn’t see the empty bottle until your foot rolled over it. The ground was flat here, so it slipped out from under you, and you fell forward, letting out an undignified yelp.

Bucky, who had been manning the barbecue, grabbed your arms before you could go all the way over.

“Fuck.”

“You okay, doll?” asked Bucky. He pulled you upright. “You nearly took a tumble there.”

“I’m okay. Thank you.”

“You want something to eat?”

“Yes please.”

As Bucky served some food onto your plate, you snuck a glance back at Pietro, and found that he was staring right at you. His lips were pressed into a hard line.

“What?”

“N-nothing.” He tried to modulate his expression, but he still looked upset. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Bucky handed you your plate. “Pietro? You want some?” he asked.

“Uhh…” Pietro glanced at you, and then back at Bucky. “Sure.”

While Pietro was getting his food, you decided to sit as far away with Wanda as possible. You were pretty sure Pietro was more interested in being with you than cockblocking his sister, but with Pietro, who could say?

Sure enough, as you dug into your burger, Pietro sidled up to you. You were sitting on a stump that was definitely only large enough for one person, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

“Pietro.”

“Sorry, dragă. Not enough seats.”

You looked over at the empty beach chair next to where Steve and Bucky were sitting, and rolled your eyes. “Right.”

“We can share, right? You don’t mind sharing with me?”

“God, you’re so fucking clingy today.”

Pietro’s face fell. He shifted off the stump so that he was sitting on the floor. He didn’t look at you as he picked at his food.

You grimaced. You hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings. It was in line with the kind of playful banter that you and Pietro usually had, but maybe you’d hit on a sore spot.

The two of you ate your food in silence, and it was strange. You weren’t used to him being quiet. Once you were both done eating, you took his paper plate wordlessly, stacked it on top of yours and then put a rock on them so that they wouldn’t blow away.

You could feel Pietro watching you curiously. You stood up, brushed yourself off, and then said, “Come here.”

Bemused, he got to his feet. As he stepped closer to you, you put your hands on his shoulders, manoeuvring him down onto the stump. Once he realised what you were doing, he sat.

You sat down in his lap, sideways on, so that you could put your arms around his neck.

When he gave you a questioningly look, you said, “Not enough seats, right?”

He smiled at you then. “Right.” His hand rested against your hip, thumbing against your skin there.

You had to suppress a shiver. You looked at Pietro, expecting him to look cocky or turned on, but instead, he just smiled at you affectionately.

“You know…” he said slowly. “I hear there’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight.”

“Uh-huh?”

“I was thinking maybe we could… stay out here?”

“How would we get home?”

“Uh… walk?”

“What if it rains?”

“It’s not going to rain!”

“Pietro!”

“Fine, it’s fine if you don’t want to.” He closed his mouth, looking away from you, and you felt a pang of longing. You wanted to watch the stars with Pietro.

You glanced over at where Wanda was sitting. Her and Vision were side by side, looking very comfortable with each other.

“Give me a sec,” you said to Pietro. He looked confused as you walked over to where Wanda was sitting, but didn’t try to follow.

“Wanda,” you said, flopping down onto the edge of her picnic blanket. Vision pulled away from her quickly, glancing nervously around to see if Pietro was with you.

Wanda glared at you. “What do you want?”

“I was thinking that you could do me a favour, and then I could do you a favour.”

She brought her eyebrows together in confusion. “Explain.”

“You let me borrow your car-” She groaned. “Let me finish! Pietro wants to stay here tonight. If you ride with Tony and let me use your car, you can have the house to yourself.”

You glanced at Vision, who, taking your meaning, flushed again.

Wanda gave you a hard stare. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket. You reached for them, but she pulled them back.

“Two conditions. One: Pietro doesn’t drive.”

“Fine.” You’d been expecting that one.

“Two: no sex in my car.”

“I wasn’t gonna-”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” She dangled the keys in front of you.

“Right.” You took them from her. “Thanks, Wands. You’re a lifesaver.”

The rest of the group had begun packing up. The light was starting to fade.

“Hey,” said Bucky, stopping you on your way back over to Pietro. “You coming for the afterparty? Think we’re gonna get some beers in and watch movies at Steve’s place.”

You glanced over at Pietro. Although he couldn’t hear what Bucky was saying, he was giving him a hard stare.

“No thanks, Buck. Me and Pietro are gonna stargaze.”

Bucky gave you a knowing look. “Alright, doll. Have fun.”

You walked back over to Pietro and plonked yourself down in his lap. He hesitated for a second, and then put his arms around you again.

“Don’t look so sour,” you said. “Look what I got.” You dangled Wanda’s car keys in his face. His eyes lit up, and he made a grab for them, but you held them out of reach. “No way. Wanda will kill me if I let you drive her car.”

“But-”

You put your finger over his lips. “You wanna sleep here tonight or not?”

Slowly, begrudgingly, he nodded.

As your friends packed up their cars and made to leave, you said your goodbyes, and then the two of you were alone.

They had left you few a couple of beers, a bag of chips and some of the leftover barbecue. You still had Wanda’s picnic blanket, which you laid out on the dirt riverbank. Steve had even had a pillow in his car, which he was happy to lend you.

When you were finally alone, you put your clothes back on – shorts and a t-shirt and a hoody – and Pietro gave you a funny look. He was already lounging on the blanket, but he tugged on the fabric of your hoody as soon as you were in reach.

“Kind of counter-productive, don’t you think, dragă?”

“I thought we were here to watch the stars.” Ignoring his searching hands, you opened the bag of chips and offered him one. He didn’t take it.

Instead, he slid his hand under your t-shirt. “Among other things.”

“I meant what I said, P.” You grabbed his wrist. “We’re not fucking.”

He drew his eyebrows together in an expression that reminded you of Wanda. He leant up on his elbow. “Why not?”  

You rolled onto your back, stealing the pillow from where it had been lying between you. “Maybe because it’s all we ever do?”

Pietro went quiet. You could feel his gaze, hot and prickly on the side of your face, but you refused to look at him. You wondered if he was angry at you.

He took a deep breath, and you braced yourself, but his words came out very soft. “What’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird all day.”

You huffed out a mirthless laugh, staring up at the sky. It wasn’t quite dark enough to see the stars yet, but it was getting there.

“Has it never occurred to you that maybe I want something real?”

“What do you mean real? This is real.”

He touched your thigh, not sexually, but creating a bridge between you. You didn’t shake him off.

Finally, you turned to look at him. His lips were parted in confusion, eyes fixed firmly on your face.

“Well, maybe I’d like the kind of relationship where you go on dates. The kind where kissing doesn’t always lead to sex. The kind where I know you’re not gonna be off with other girls the second I’m too busy to hang out.”

His face grew red. “That was one time! And we’d only slept together like, twice at that point! It was casual! We were casual!”

You sat up so that your face was level with his. “I don’t want casual.”

He frowned. “So you think Bucky can give you that? The kind of relationship you want?”

You drew back, brow furrowing. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s cool. If you’re seeing him too. I guess we never said we were exclusive or anything.”

“I’m not seeing Bucky. He’s a friend.” You wondered if your efforts to make Pietro jealous had gone too far. He looked hurt, one hand pressed against his chest.

“Right, but you have, yeah?”

You shook your head. “No. Not with Bucky. And I haven’t slept with anyone but you since winter break.”

He stared at you, disbelieving. “Me neither.”

“Pietro… are we dating?”

“… Maybe?”

“Do you wanna be?”

He exhaled sharply. You scooted in closer, nose almost touching his. The longer he went without speaking, the more this felt like a rejection. Still, you held your breath.

“I’ve done this all wrong, dragă,” he murmured. “Do you want to go out with me? On a date?”

Your nose brushed against his as you nodded, and then he grabbed you by the waist, pulling you in.

You were in his lap again, kissing him fervently and feeling the hot skin of his neck under your hands. It felt like he was everywhere at once, his tongue between your lips, his hands in your hair, his firm body under yours.

He rolled you over onto your back, and you felt a little breathless as he went straight for your neck. He already knew exactly how you liked it. He knew how to find and suck on that spot that would make you keen.

This time, though, when you gasped, it was for a different reason. Pietro didn’t notice. He was too busy biting your neck.

“Pietro,” you gasped, slapping his shoulders. “I saw a shooting star!”

He pulled back so that he was hovering over you. “What?”

“A shooting star. Look!”

He rolled over onto his back, but it was obviously long gone by the time he was in position. “I don’t see one.”

“You have to wait. Be patient.”

He groaned. You both knew patience wasn’t his strong suit. After about five minutes, his hand started creeping up your thigh. You put your hand on his, stopping him.

“You’re gonna miss the meteor shower,” you said.

“You’re prettier,” he said smoothly, but you rolled your eyes.

“We’re dating now, remember? You can see me whenever. You can only see the shooting stars tonight.”

He huffed, but turned back to the sky. “This is rigged, they never happen when I- Ohhh.” He gasped. “I saw one!”

His childlike glee warmed you. You rested your head on his shoulder, but he barely seemed to notice. He was too busy staring at the sky.

“They’re pretty, right?” you murmured.

“Beautiful,” he agreed.

“More beautiful than me?”

“Ehh, it’s close.”

You giggled and rolled over so that you could look at his face.

“And another thing,” you said, “you know Bucky wasn’t flirting with me, right? He and Steve have been banging since, like, the first week of college.”

“… No. I did not know that.”

---

Notes:

Preview of tomorrow's fic: Getting railed in a sundress by your dad's friend, Dmitri Antonov. Hopper!Reader.

[animalcopingnewhorizons]

I've been on Tumblr now for over 1 year. 🎉 I thought it might be time to (re)introduce myself and how I've been handling this account.

My name is Layla. I'm almost 42 years old. ♑☀️♒🌙♓⬆️ I just started a personal Tumblr that you're welcome to follow if you want to learn more about me. @trauma-tits (Named after my weekly newsletter. I write a few other places on the internet too.)

Animal Crossing New Horizons is the only Animal Crossing game I've played. I love it so much that I can't move on to other video games because I'd rather be playing ACNH. I've only had one island called Praxis, but I hope to start a new one very soon! (In full disclosure, I've been saying that for months and life keeps getting in the way.)

I usually have my finger on the pulse of fresh posts, but you'll never know that because I reblog everything to the queue which hovers around 300 at all times. I use reblogging in real time to indicate when things aren't from the queue as opposed to marking everything that is. On Fridays, I hit "shuffle queue" and sometimes tweak the times and number of posts.

I've been sharing screenshots from my island Praxis with acnh praxis, animal crossing, animal crossing new horizons, acnh, acnh screenshots, acnh life, & animal crossing creations, and the vacation homes I've decorated in Happy Home Paradise with happy home paradise, happy home designer, happy home dlc, acnh happy home paradise, and acnh exterior or acnh interior as relevant.

Other tags I use:

ac [villager name] and acnh [villager name] because I couldn't remember which one I started with so to ensure I can go back and find things I do both on each post that highlights a villager to remain consistent.

If there is more than one villager showcased, I usually try to tag each one individually. However, if I am in a hurry or I don't know all the villagers and don't have time to look them up, I will use the general acnh villagers. I try to also use acnh [species name], especially if the post is solely one species.

Anything regarding dialogue (photo edited or organic) I use acnh dialogue or ac dialogue if it isn't New Horizons.

acnh codes, custom codes, and acnh custom design for the codes. This is not my strong suit, so any custom stuff you see in my screenshots someone else created (unless otherwise specified). I do not usually share the codes in each post since they aren't mine, but if you ask for them, I'll share.

For dream address posts I also use the tag i really need to start dreaming again because I haven't done it in awhile.

acnh inspiration is for anything that I see that makes me go, "Wow, I wish I was playing right now because this has INSPIRED me!" I never use this tag on my own posts, only rbs of others. If I rb your post with that, you should take it as the HIGHEST compliment. 😘

If there is crossover content between AC and other fandoms, I use when worlds collide, and sometimes I even share crossovers where I am not familiar with the other one.

I love it when people like, reblog, comment, and use my ask box. I love talking to strangers (because a stranger is just a friend you haven't made yet) and I love answering questions. I really like the animal crossing community, and I love making new friends. 💞

I'm still trying to figure out when I should be writing my commentary in the body of the reblog and when it should be a tag instead. If there are other tags you think I should be using to get posts on your dash, lmk. Oh, and I also love it when people go down my page and like a bunch of posts, so don't hesitate to pop over to this account anytime you have the urge. 💕

Thanks for reading this novel of a post, and I hope you're having a day! 💟

[colorfullyminded]

PLSS TELL ME UR STILL DOING KISS THE COOKK!! its almost gunna b a year since ep 6 and i rlly need to know if the other 14 in the works. (take ur well deserved break u dont need to be making fics 24/7)

Oh wow, I wasn't sure if people still wanted that. To be honest, we actually have written up to chapter 8 (9 technically because there's an 8.5). All I really need to do is finish editing them before posting them. The reason I've been so hesitant is also my feelings towards the fic. I both love the fic and also feel incredibly self conscious with some of the decisions I chose in the fic (especially later chapters--some of which haven't been posted yet). I love writing smut, and I do think Wirt deserves to be written more unhinged than people allow him to be (he's a poet for godsake, if he can be so despondently dramatic laying on a couch-- you know his yearnings are just as fantastical, dramatic, and probably hella thirsty. And let's not mention Dipper's search history). I love writing these two because they're so multifaceted and I love trying different perspectives of their personality. Also writing with my friend Clubs has been amazing and I genuinely enjoyed his help with this fic! I want to continue this series when I'm more motivated to write. But again, for how much I love this fic, there are moments where I go back and read and blush and go "I'm sorry, I made Wirt say what? I made him do what?! IS THIS HOW HE WOULD ACT?! THIS DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT? WHATTHE FUCK WAS I ON TO THINK THIS WAS OKAY?!" (I'm in charge of Wirt's dialogue/actions in this story, Clubs does Dipper, and occasionally, though very rarely, we may also add something to the other's characterization). There are times I worry I've made him ooc. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that. I was having fun, I'm enjoying my extra smutty era (where all I wanna write is to be a problem) and honestly if I wanted to explain my reasonings I probably could make an accurate presentation on why Kiss the Cook is not that out of character. But I also do pride myself on my fics and a lot of comments I've received are about how well and real the characters feel. I feel so good that I'm able to articulate and present them in a way that feels genuine and makes the readers feel like it's just another adventure-- but with the two. I like bringing that feeling into my writing. And Kiss the cook, some elements do feel very much like the characters (Clubs does amazing with an older Dipper), but I do start to doubt some of Wirt's actions or my writing in this particular fic as being too "Horny on Main". So it's kind of a love/hate relationship I currently have with this piece of work. But if people do still love this fic and want to continue this adventure, maybe I should go back and get these chapters prepped for posting? Despite my fears, everyone who has commented on KTC have been very supportive and encouraging and sweet. So this whole anxiety and self doubt is probably just in my head. I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I do have other smut WIPS that tackle different layers and so I can always finish those up if I need to take a break from the wildness of KTC. So to answer your question, yes, we do have more in store, and maybe it's time I show you what we've cooked up (no matter how embarrassed I make the reader...or myself)

[ckret2]

saw your recent reblog about feedback and, though I’ve been occasionally gushing in tags, you deserve to hear what I tell my friends! In general, your writing style is perfect at capturing the timing and delivery of the show itself. I’ve never read a fic i’ve been able to visualize more clearly than this one. You write each character so well that between chapters it feels like i’m right back where i used to be, waiting for new episodes again. I do think you haven’t *quite* solved your side-character-ification (applejackification?) of Dipper problem yet, but other than that you’re doing an astounding job at balancing all the characters and their interactions with each other and with bill in a way that feels natural (plus with these more recent chapters i’m seeing lots of good dipper stuff so you’re definitely getting there with him too! besides, it is nice to see Mabel get the spotlight after all these years anyway. healing, even.) You know exactly how to control an audience’s emotions, you know when to drag something out and when to shut it down, you know when to cut off a conversation and when bring up the fact it was cut off later. Little foreshadowings like the loose tooth are well-planted and plot beats like lucid dreaming are dropped and picked back up delicately and with precision, like pressing piano keys. i don’t doubt for a second it’s all a part of some grand instrument, though i wouldn’t be surprised if you told me most of it was improvised - another way you’re just like the show was. you’ve done the episodic-and-serialized thing better than at least half of all silver-age cartoons that have attempted to do so! I adore the way you show kindness to all characters in your scenes, from gideon’s characterless mother to the little freak himself. It truly feels as though you pick no favorites, and that’s something you do better than the show did tbh. Not that TBOB needed to hook me in with a marketing campaign, but hypothetically, in a universe where I didn’t own a hand-sewn bill cipher throw-pillow and yet somehow still found this fic, I would definitely be excited for it after reading! you’re gifted, and i hope this does numbers on AO3. I truly cannot stand hazbin hotel, but I may go back and read your other works once this one’s over, just to hear your narrative voice. it’s a voice worth hearing, and may it be forever amplified.

oh WOW thank you so much??? 😭 this is SUCH a sweet comment and it means so much to me that you took the time to write all this!!

APPLEJACKIFICATION... that made me laugh. Dipper will get some serious development before the end of the eclipse plot and he's key in the next plot, so I think that'll help him make some progress. But yeah—he's not gonna be as important as Mabel, but I do want to make sure he has a plot that stands on its own, smaller though it may be.

It's 2/3 planned, 1/3 improvised. 😁 I've got a lead time of about 15 chapters between what I've posted and what I've written, so I can do stuff like write the poppet chapter, write the tooth fairy arc, edit the poppet chapter, realize that as long as I'm giving him a bloody lip maybe I can loosen his tooth, edit the tooth fairy arc, have him mention that that tooth was loose. And many chapters I haven't written or outlined yet I have loosely planned in my head so I know how to aim toward them.

Wanting to show kindness to all the characters and wanting to give as many of them an internal life as possible is so important to me, and I'm so glad that's showing through so far!

And honestly I think "I hate [xyz] but I'll read it if you're writing it" is the highest compliment. 😂 All my hazbin fics were written pre-season 1 when all we had was the pilot, a couple comics, creator comments, and some Helluva to go by; but idk maybe you'd consider that a plus lol. (If you're interested, on ao3 I've also written Transformers, Godzilla, some Pokémon, and a smattering of other things.)

Thanks again for sending such a nice message!

[beingfacetious]

please give us the correct negative Ted lasso review

Oh my God. This feels like a trap but I can't help it

update from the other side, this is no joke 2k words long and it's not uh happy lmao so dead dove do not eat

TL;DR:

Bill Lawrence's involvement lessened every season and it fuckin' shows

There were arcs and plot points established over the first two seasons that the writers very obviously just changed their minds about for this season

Takes about this season being dark/ending sad on purpose are MUCH too generous. like giving WAY too much credit.

It turns out most of my feelings boil down to "it's not aggressively bad it's just nonsensical"

How tf was every episode twice as long as in previous seasons but everything important happened offscreen

FIRST OF ALL, since MONTHS before the season started airing, I've nursed a conspiracy theory that Bill Lawrence left the show because of creative differences with Jason Sudeikis and that therefore this season would be significantly less good than previous seasons. This started when I saw Bill tweet that he was going home, basically, and I figured we'd get "season 3 is in post" news shortly thereafter but instead there was that weird stuff about things being delayed because of rewrites...? Anyway, that is mostly to say that I was ready to think this season was worse because I love Bill Lawrence's storytelling and have forever and you should give Cougar Town a shot if you haven't yet it's no Scrubs but it's sweet

There were interviews early in the show in which I swear Jason/Brendan/whoever said they pitched the show to Bill because he's fuckin' good at TV and he basically said "this is a great idea but you're writing to the wrong ending, it should be this," and they were like "wow you're right that is a better ending." I can't find that now but I did find this from a more recent Bill interview:

I ran that show the first year because Jason was still shooting movies while we were doing the writers room. Then, at the end of that year, much like Gary with me, I was like, “Ah, I’ll spend a couple of months teaching him how to edit.” But after like a day or two, he’s like, “Yeah, I got it.” (Laughs.) So, the second year, we ran it together, and I’m only able to do other things now because that guy ran the show himself the third year, as it should be. It’s his voice and his world this season.

Now look, Bill Lawrence is obviously not trying to throw shade here because he's lovely and also this is a Hollywood Reporter article and how immature would that be, but I can throw shade for him and I will: Jason Sudeikis is a talented comedic actor and seems like a very nice man and he had a good idea for a show, and his instincts to involve an extremely experienced showrunner with an insane talent for feelsy found family sitcoms were good and he should have stuck to them!! Telling Bill Lawrence you're good after two days of editing instruction or whatever is stupid!! Insisting on your voice and your world when BILL LAWRENCE'S VOICE IS AVAILABLE TO YOU and also you CO-CREATED THE WORLD whatever gdi

OK fine I'll do Ted/Rebecca next. Obviously I was in for Ted/Rebecca. I wanted them to put their faces together. But look, I'm not a shipper over all else; over all else I want a good storyteller to tell me the story they want to tell. If I expect things or see them coming, that's not bad! That's good! If I'm surprised by things, that's good too as long as it holds together! "Subverting expectations" shouldn't look like spiting the audience, a lie is not a twist, etc. SO. If Ted and Rebecca were meant to be platonic soulmates, that's fine!!! I don't NEED them to kiss!!! But I do not believe these people are even friends in season 3, after season 1 and tbh most of my favorite parts of season 2 were about how much they impact each other's lives. That's a dropped ball and there's NO REASON to have not made time for them to interact meaningfully because every episode was so fucking long. Instead I guess we had to know how super sad Rebecca was about not being able to have children but not need to talk to anyone about it and immediately be fully over it. Also see a lot of lingering shots of Rebecca...looking at a matchbook...

sfjbkfgs early in the season they very obviously established that Rebecca's arc was going to be realizing she actually loves the team and wants to support them and see them succeed because of her own heart and not to spite Rupert, and I guess that happened but why didn't it happen gradually in ways I could see, why did it happen in an episode in which I'm supposed to have known all along that this has to do with her childhood self ?? and in which Rupert has a FULL personality change to facilitate her sudden realization. In what fucking world would he invite her to that meeting, because she's smart or because she brings ~diversity or because maybe he wants to sleep with her again? None of it tracks at all lmao but it was also the episode in which I really enjoyed Tony Head so whatever

speaking of not tracking, Nate.........I've never been invested in Nate especially but he was SO cartoonishly evil at the start and then kind of never again. I was braced for a redemption arc I wouldn't care about but that didn't even really happen?? he got a girlfriend and realized Rupert was a bad role model? it turns out his dad thinks he was a prodigy and always just wanted him to be happy, which, lmao WHAT where????? and what am I supposed to believe about Jade changing her mind about him btw because she's seen people be terrible to him at that very table before AND she has to know he loves the place and the food because he's there all the time, so what was the revelation that turned her from relatable-via-Nate-ambivalence to suddenly heart-eyes just fdslelugatw so much of my feeling about this season isn't even like it's bad it's just it's nonsense

One of my big complaints about the season is just Keeley's whole deal. Separating her from the team/rest of the cast was a wild choice. Barbara is fine but I also would have been perfectly fine without her and none of the other new characters for the PR side story added anything to the show. Especially if at the end Rebecca is just going to write Keeley a check for the chump change she needs to run the agency. Why didn't we just do that to begin with??? I guess this season I'm supposed to think Keeley ~learned to be independent in various ways but, again, I don't ?? And her needing to not be with Roy I guess as part of that and then get back together offscreen but then not really be together maybe but then also possibly having throuple vibes later that never get acknowledged feels, whatever, like something Bill Lawrence didn't write sdfjlsefaj,lwte I know this is my unsupportable argument that post I RBed was making fun of but idc

also Jamie wanting to be with Keeley at the end of the show feels extremely Harry Potter epilogue to me lmao Jamie you don't have to marry someone you went to high school with there are so many people

Roy was fine this season. He didn't have much to do but that's probably for the best lol. Him taking Ted's job is probably the only main character ending I feel like makes sense for this season and the overall show. Him training and begrudgingly becoming friends with Jamie was always funny.

OK one of the wrong reviews was basically like if you don't appreciate this season you don't appreciate classic tragic structure. Fuck off with that. First of all this was a sitcom about soccer so even if they were going for a classic tragedy in season 3 that's stupid and they shouldn't have been. But I also just don't think that's what was happening ??? I think I'm supposed to believe everyone gets a happy ending and I just don't. Like the whole oh it's sad that Ted ends up where he started and it's about how persistent optimism and kindness can burn you out or whatever, that's...if that's what they were going for, again, why tf, and also could we have seen that like. at all. Ted barely Teds for anyone this season (frex the previously mentioned never talking to Rebecca). ROY Teds more than Ted in season 3. If we got to see Ted trying to Ted even, like, twice, and either not being able to dig down and find the positivity or I guess noticing that he needs someone to be that for him, OK, fine. A Ted/Keeley scene would have been a PERFECT vehicle for this. Didn't happen. idk if we're supposed to think he's getting back together with Michelle but that would be so...so bad ??? like what about Tan Lines??? why even have Tan Lines??? even if not, we just left completely unaddressed her starting a relationship with their marriage counselor, which is also BAD lmao. God why did I have to see so much of Michelle this season. Michelle video calls every other episode and two lines for Dr. Sharon. Nonsense. lol one of my friends summarized Ted's ending as "yeah going back to the unfulfilling life that didn't work before the show started is a victory for our protagonist"

Even the soccer of it all re that whole thing was silly. Oh marriage counselor boyfriend is a bad guy because he doesn't care about the soccer game. Oh Ted is happy now because he's coaching Henry's rec league soccer team. like it's fine that EVERYONE is still together in Richmond but he's "home" now and still around soccer which is good because we definitely saw him learn to love soccer during the course of the show. sure Jan

(to be fair I am not the audience for "it's about the kid" plots so even if I felt like it worked from the start of the show for Ted to choose moving back to where Henry is, which I don't, I wouldn't care for it, so maybe those criticisms aren't especially valid) (I didn't care about JD's kid either)

speaking of the soccer though every single scene that revolved around the actual soccer team was essentially perfect. Great use of so many of those boys. Very few notes. Sam in particular had a few nice things this season and of course Colin. Another incorrect review by a critic I actually like very much was complaining about Colin's story this season and it being tired and overdone and not caring about Trent's or Isaac's parts of it, but I actually really disagree! It was well done and it was nice to see in the context of professional sports where, sorry, coming out and being received well is not a cliche thing that happens a lot! Also, hot take! Zava was a good part of this season! Nice contained little story that impacted some characters I actually care about plus he was legit funny! Sometimes things in a comedy should be funny! I'd honestly watch three more seasons of Richmond-focused half-hour episodes with idk probably Brett Goldstein in charge

I haven't mentioned Beard because I just never understood what I was supposed to think about him lmao. By far the funniest character overall but I never felt settled on whether he was meant to be a manic pixie comic relief BFF or if he was like...a real person?? It strikes me as potentially bad that he was so worried about Ted's mental state all the time and never really mentioned his own and that was sort of a thing in the weird s2 episode but then not again? I felt so much ire about so much else I didn't have any for him marrying Jane lmao but I do understand the people who are upset about that because that sure seemed pretty toxic, but wasn't it supposed to be played for laughs? Does that fit in a show that's supposed to mainly be about people treating each other well because we're all we've got? idk, RIP Beard, sorry your best friend in the world wasn't at your wedding because it would have been narratively underwhelming to see him leave and then see him back at a future major event or whatever

idk idk, season 1 Rebecca was one of my favorite characters ever and I was so angry in the middleish of the season about how much I felt like she was being wasted, but by the end I was just like...I mean, what's to be mad at. She's not even her anymore. Ted wasn't Ted anymore. Nate I guess literally reverted back to season 1 Nate which also is that...okay...him ending up lower than he started out feels not great

Good for Mae and the bar boys though, used just the right amount this and every season and always a damn delight

OK this is ridiculous I'm going to be done now. I do want to say I enjoyed several episodes this season a lot! A couple top 10 potentials! I really enjoyed the Amsterdam one actually because it reminded me of like a Nancy Meyers movie, very nice and warm, but it feels worth noting that that is not a feeling I would describe as being struck by fucking lightning :))))))

in conclusion maybe we as a nation can move on now from giving SNL alumni we find charming huge budgets and ethereally talented casts and collaborators and letting them get us emotionally invested in their midlife crises sandbox playing