#25 things challenge

[chocostrwberry]

Secrets

[callunavulgari]

Top 25 Fics of 2024

1. In the Kitchen or the Tulips by @teddywesworl | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 44k

Eddie’s face is way too hot, and the damn heart monitor is gonna give away his secrets if it doesn’t shut the fuck up. Steve Harrington carried me out of Hell, he thinks, deliberately. A prickle of something frantic festers at the base of his skull as he pictures himself limp in Steve’s arms, Steve’s hands clutching at his filthy jacket, his blood-soaked jeans. Did he have to do CPR? Did he peel Eddie’s clothes away from the gore of his midsection to get a look at the damage? Did he touch me? Did he touch me? Did he touch me? Heather Says: Each year, my lists are usually pretty varied. A smattering of fandoms, a smattering of pairings. You know. The usual stuff when you're not hyperfixating on something. This year, 80-90% of this list is Steddie. It got me good. My lists ALSO typically go in the order that I've read them throughout the year, which means that this lovely touch-activated telepathic soulmates fic was the first one that dragged me in by the scruff of the neck this January. It's both very good and also introduced my to teddywesworl as a writer. You'll see them again.

2. STRIKE TEN. by oaseas | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 16k

Steve’s striking out. It’s the summer after his graduation, he’s working 9-5 at Scoops Ahoy, and hey, did you hear? He’s striking out. Enter Robin, her ‘you rule/you suck’ board, and a promise to romance the next girl through the door. Except, that’s no girl. That’s Eddie Munson. Heather Says: I really genuinely adore the idea of Eddie running into Steve and Robin during the Scoops era. I love love love the way it completely changes the vibe of the fic, because lets be honest here, Scoops era was fun. This season was considerably darker. This fic was probably one of the first I read with this trope and it made me a forever fan.

3. The Shire is NOT on Fire by kissesforcas | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 54k

The kids convince Steve to take them all to a Renaissance Faire and LARP event. Steve has more fun than he admits. Heather Says: Speaking of fun, this one is REALLY fun. It will also immediately make you want to run away and join the Ren Faire. Or at the very least, go visit one immediately.

4. like a heartbeat drives you mad by redbelles | Stranger Things | Chrissy/Eddie | 4k

Eddie shifts in his seat, drums his fingers against the table. “Look,” he says, “I have this policy where I don’t pry, but it’s just that like, you’re Chrissy Cunningham, you know? Total goody two shoes. And if you want something stronger, I’ll help you, I swear, just…” He pauses again. “Have you tried taking the edge off the old-fashioned way?” It takes an embarrassingly long moment for her to get it, but when she does, she can feel herself blushing, furious and blotchy all the way up to the roots of her hair. “Oh,” she squeaks out. “You mean like— like? Sex?” Heather Says: Hi, multishipper here. See, I love Chrissy. I love her with Robin. I love her with Nancy. I love her with Carol. I even love her with Heather. I love her as platonic besties with Eddie, yes, but I do also occasionally love her with Eddie. This one may be short, but it's perfection in a fic and one of my favorite hellcheer fics as a whole.

5. Duality by broomclosetkink | Stranger Things | Chrissy/Eddie | 55k

“Holy fuck, did I take acid?” he asks. Because he’s staring at himself in the mirror, but he is Chrissy Cunningham. Her hair is messy from being slept on, her face is bare of make-up, and she’s wearing a soft pink gown nightgown. It has little white flowers on it and a lace ribbon. He can see her nipples through the thin fabric. “What the fuck,” he whispers. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.” Chrissy’s face twists with his expressions, and Chrissy’s mouth forms the words, and Chrissy’s voice is a little hysterical in the big room. Heather Says: Oh look, another hellcheer fic. I did say that I liked them too. This one has BODYSWAP, which is one of my favorite tropes. It's well-written and has one of my favorite Chrissy's that I read all year. They also wrote Legendary, an omega Chrissy fic that is just as delightful.

6. Anemone by @teddywesworl | Stranger Things | Eddie/Steve | 28k

Steve is abducted by a government black op in the aftermath of Vecna's defeat. When they throw him in a tiny cell with a rutting Eddie Munson, he thinks they'll both go feral and kill each other before they can be rescued—but there's another way out. Heather Says: Anemone took the fandom by storm in... April? I think? Originally posted anonymously, which was DISTRESSING because my story subscribe wasn't working for it so I basically had to refresh it's tab every day or so while it was actively updating. Definitely mind the tags, but it's one of my favorite fic that I read this year.

7. heaven cannot wait forever by anonymous | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 16k | WIP

"There's something to be said about endurance, Steve." Steve puts his foot on his professor's chair, Jimmy Choo trainer propped there on the worn armrest. The motion widens his legs, leaves the long line of his thigh, the seam of his jeans available to Munson's gaze, if he so chooses to look. "And you, sir?" Steve bites his lip. "How much longer can you endure?" Heather Says: Speaking of things posted anonymously, this was ALSO a fic that was anonymously posted in April. It also, however, has not updated since then. Which is fine, because life exists and fic is a privilege not a right. BUT, I have also reread this three times since then while hoping it'll update. It does feature a Steve who is significantly brattier than ours, but the dynamic here is absolutely delicious. Mind the tags for this one too. Everyone is of age, but there is an age difference that is heavily leaned into and Eddie is his college professor.

8. Insta-heart by slipgoingunder | Star Wars | Reylo | 17k

Ben Solo is an Instacart shopper's worst nightmare: rude, demanding, and extremely particular about his produce. Fuck this guy. No, really: Fuck. This. Guy. Heather Says: Look, sometimes you want to read something that is mindless in the same way that a romcom is mindless without committing to learning new characters. This was fun, it was hot, and I really enjoyed it a lot.

9. Hades' Dogs by @teddywesworl | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 34k

KAS groans and rolls over onto his back, splaying like a starfish. “Sweetheart, I am a cybernetically enhanced supervillain in a one-window cell in outer space,” he says. “I’m not exactly out here thinking about whether it’s socially acceptable to ask my hot guard about his mysterious backstory.” Steve stands there in stone-faced silence, processing ‘cybernetically enhanced supervillain’ and ‘cell,’ but KAS isn’t quite done. “You might want to get a better lie, though,” he says. “Your secret’s safe with me, but I’m not the only creature on this station that can catch you on it.” Heather Says: Now THIS fic (and it's sequel: Dossier: The Agitator) may just be my favorite fic that I read this year. I LOVE AUs. I love fusions. And the fact that THIS is a Mass Effect fusion with Eddie as a secret super-powered biotic and Steve as the undercover operative sent after him? Oh my GOD, it felt like Christmas. I read the whole thing in the bathtub. The water was freezing by the time I finished, but I just couldn't STOP. It also made me want to replay Mass Effect so badly.

10. Sleight of Hand by smithereen | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 143k

Steve needs a weed dealer. He gets a bit more than that. Heather Says: Another favorite trope: one where they met before canon because Steve needed some weed. Again, it changes the script. Things are lighter (sort of) since Eddie isn't dropkicked into upside down crap and instead we get to see the changes in Steve from an outsider's POV. I love it so much and this was a really, really fantastic example of this trope.

11. Who Shall Sing Me Into Deathsleep by @teddywesworl | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 37k

Eddie snarled, and the depth of the sound sent a shock through Steve, and his surprise was such that he stopped fighting altogether and really looked at his attacker for the first time: of a height with him, though leaner. Stubble on the strong chin. A dusting of black hair on the back of the hand that held the knife that was suddenly pressed against his throat. Wild, dark eyes, gleaming with death. Heather Says: I actually held off on reading this one for a while during my subsequent devouring of anything and everything that Teddy had ever written, mostly because I wasn't too sure I would like the POV Outsider considering how large the fic was. And then I read it and immediately knew why the author said it was one of the fics that she was most proud of. Guys, I know the tags are scary. I don't care if you don't care about pagan gods, eldritch creatures, or iron age fantasy AUS. Give it a chance. It's beautiful.

12. fire & holy smoke by @andthepeople | Challengers | Art/Patrick | 10k

They’re in Delray Beach, Florida in February of 2011 when Patrick talks to Art for the first time in three years. “My doubles partner sprained his ankle,” is what he says, standing in the tunnel to the locker rooms, feet bare in slides and hands twisted up in the hem of his t-shirt. “I was hoping you could tap in.” Heather Says: It's always a bit difficult to figure out which of spqr's fics I'm going to include in this list because they're always SO GOOD. This year I have three for you. This first one I got the notification for on my day off and literally went to go see Challengers by myself in an empty theater because it was the third or fourth fic they'd written for the fandom and I wanted to get around to reading it.

13. brutalizer by @andthepeople | Challengers | Art/Tashi/Patrick | 8k

“If you win tomorrow,” Tashi tells Patrick, "I’ll let you fuck him.” Heather Says: Second spqr fic, second Challengers fic on this list. I had to settle for picking two of them, but all five are amazing. I picked this as the second one because it packs such an incredibly punch. I came out of that movie also rooting for the toxic throuple and this one lays it out so perfectly in all it's imperfect glory. Of course they made a sex tape. Of course Art wants Patrick. Of course it's tragic and sexy and perfect. Of course.

14. King For A Day by @entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 12k

Steve stumbles across something unexpected while trying to close up Scoops, and learns that he and Eddie Munson have more in common than he thought. Heather Says: Remember when I said that I loved Scoop era Steddie? And remember how last year every other rec was by @entanglednow? Well, this year they wrote it! And it was just as delightful as I thought it would be.

15. Skull Rock Era by @chattre-kisses | Stranger Things | Eddie/Steve | 71k

Steve Harrington never planned for Eddie Munson. Steve was supposed to marry his high school sweetheart, have 2.5 children, and take over the family business. He was supposed to live a blissful life on a nondescript cul-de-sac, complete with a white picket fence and a closet full of tasteful polo shirts. He was supposed to make a graceful transition between being the golden boy and being the American Dream. Mediocrity was what destiny had designed for Steve. Reality had other plans. Heather Says: Another slow burn where they meet prior to Vecna, this one where they run into each other just after Nancy breaks up with Steve in season two. It takes you through their relationship in the intervening years and is just. Slow, sweet, sad, but mostly, so incredibly wonderful. Also! There's a fic playlist! I love fic playlists!

16. i can give you a heartbeat by soupbitchin | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 113k

Being dead isn’t like Eddie thought it would be. For starters, he’s a lot more alive than he expected. Heather Says: This is ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN THOUSAND words of Eddie as a ghost. It is just as heart-wrenching and beautiful as it seems and I highly, highly recommend.

17. Sports Performance by @entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 17k

Steve discovers something unexpected while waiting alone in Eddie's room, and struggles to be a supportive friend. Heather Says: What is one friendly himbo to do when he finds porn of what might as well be a caricature of himself under his friend's bed? Be freaking weird about it, that's what. And yes, this includes dressing the part. There's some mild second hand embarrassment that twinged me (because really Steve) but god, this whole thing was so good.

18. Secret Admirer by scoops_aboy86 | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 29k

In the first few letters, Eddie had tried to disguise his handwriting. It occurred to him after a while, though, that there would be no reason for someone like Steve Harrington to recognize it, so he stopped. And he was right, nothing happened. Steve hasn’t figured out the secret admirer letters he kept answering were written by none other than the official Freak of Hawkins High. Heather Says: Another Scoops era fic! This one with secret admirer Eddie!

19. I’m a lover, boy by @gayjinkies | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 41k

the basketball team unanimously votes that Steve would be the worst at giving a blowjob. Steve wants to test the truth of that with the only guy he knows might be down to help - Eddie Munson. Heather Says: Look, I've given the word count for the full series even though I've just linked to the first part of it, but I highly recommend reading both this and Steve's POV part for this fic. It is funny and surprisingly sweet and I had so much fun reading both of them. Because yes, OF COURSE Steve is absolutely mortally offended by the idea that he would be bad at something and immediately set out to correct it despite *checks notes* not? being gay?

20. sweet nothings by jilliancares | Marvel | Deadpool/Spiderman | 6k

“I mean, this shit won’t work on me ‘cause of my healing factor," Wade continues. "And everybody knows that Spidey’s a beta!” Heather Says: Despite the VERY clear hyperfixation on Stranger Things this year, I still really love me some spideypool. Identity reveals are my kryptonite.

21. and the doors are open by gunsandbutter | Inception | Arthur/Eames | 14k

“Yusuf,” she says, dangerously, “did you give my point man a love potion?” Heather Says: In other news, I miss Inception fandom circa 2011 so incredibly much. I had a brief flirtation with this fandom again sometime last month and realized how much I missed not only the content, but that sense of community that sort of died a slow painful death along with livejournal.

22. evergreen ever sun ever moon by Sister | Batman | Tim/Jason | 38k

He peels the domino off of Tim’s face. The blown blood vessels are back in the whites of Tim’s eyes, and the dark circles are dire again, blue-purple and sunk in deep. “You wanna tell me how much sleep you didn’t get today?” Jason says. Heather Says: I feel like once a year I fall in love with at least one Tim/Jason fic despite being not involved in the fandom whatsoever. I have NO IDEA how this happens, but I'm not upset about it. The dynamic is on point, the found family is a warm flame in my cold heart, etc. etc. Trust the process. Read the fic.

23. tell me when my hunting days are done by @galaxyspeaking | Arcane | Jayce/Viktor | 9k

The first thing Viktor notices as he opens his eyes is the absence of pain. The second is gut-wrenching hunger. Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly, terribly wrong. Heather Says: So, CURRENTLY, when I'm not doomscrolling because of seasonal depression and y'know, everything else wrong with the world right now, my brain is duking it out and trying to decide if Dragon Age or Arcane are the hyperfixations of the moment. On one hand, Dragon Age has been ten years in the making and I am rabid. On the other, oh my god ARCANE. Season two utterly destroyed me over and over again and I can't decide if I'm upset, impressed, or just.. ARGH about it. This fic came along though and soothed me with vampire Viktor and so much messiness. Obsession! Blood! Possessiveness! I loved it. There's also ART! By the author!

24. and any thing that may not misbecome the mighty sender by @teddywesworl | Dragon Age: Veilguard | Lucanis/Spite/Rook | 13k

Treviso is under foreign occupation, and Caterina Dellamorte is dead. There is a shadow in the Crow’s heart, grief and fury drowned in disappointment. He gathers up these feelings and, as he did every day for a year at the bottom of the sea, ignores them. Heather Says: Again, brain duking it out between Arcane and Dragon Age. I was TICKLED when I saw that teddywesworl was writing fic for Dragon Age. And not just fic. No, fic that involved SPITE. I went into this game thinking I'd be fairly ambivilant about everything and instead came out obsessed with the one that I didn't even end up romancing. I was sure I was going to romance Neve, so I made DECISIONS and fully regretted them by the end of it. But I've got a second playthrough going where I get more of these three and until then, I have this fantastic fic to soothe my soul.

25. A Different Wilderness by @andthepeople | Merlin | Merlin/Arthur | 28k

Merlin dies. Arthur lives. For 1600 years. Heather Says: I DID say that there were three spqr fics on this list. This particular fic was a surprise RIGHT at the end of the season. If I'd posted this earlier in December, which is what I usually do, I wouldn't have read this yet. So I'm going to count that as a sign that this was meant to happen, because I read this magnificent fic in one go last night and friends, I am changed as a person. Not only do I immediately want to dive headfirst into Merthur fandom again, but this fic is going to live in the same place in my heart that the Not Easily Conquered series does. There's this perfect weightiness to it. Yes, it's the sense of history going back eons, but it's also the scope of the emotion there. It's the fact that you get such a real visceral sense of grief from what's essentially excerpts of outsider pov ranging from historical texts to interviews. There's a line near the end of it and I won't give it away because it spoils a bit of the ending, but when dropdeaddream wrote "so how long have i loved you for? womb to tomb, sweetheart" all those years ago, THAT's the feeling that this entire fic exudes. God, what a masterpiece. What a way to go out.

[st-loveconfessions]

Day 25: Leave a comment on a WIP encouraging the author

Maintaining the motivation to finish a WIP is a problem that all authors know to some degree. Another thing all authors know is how a nice comment on a WIP can actually provide you with the much-needed boost to get you out of your slump. 

This is why today’s challenge is all about spreading the love for WIPs. Maybe you have one specific WIP in mind for which you would love to see an update. Maybe you’ll want to head over to AO3 and specifically search for unfinished works.

Tell the author what you love about their story, leave some encouraging words, and who knows? Maybe you’ll soon receive an update notification!

[stormypip7]

day one of fates february!

[powerbottomblake]

cannot recommend enough reading outside anglocentric trendy literature

[theageofsims]

Let me tell you all something... I can not wait until this mofo starts going gray... DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!?!?! Let me calm down. lmao. I need to pray that he makes it that far first of all... so... let us all pray because I know somebody else out there crazy for Andre English, too. I'm not sure if I'm going to make him wait until his Elder age (fingers crossed... ONE HAND!) to turn him slightly gray or if I'm just gonna start while he's still in his adult phase... he's younger than Sulani so... ya girl got time to see his ass age like fine wine...

Seriously though -- where in the hell did this one even COME FROM? I am so TIRED of people complaining about pre-mades and game generated Sims when this dude just came walking down the goddamned sidewalk in Oasis Springs! (I'm like convinced all the hotties live in Oasis Springs -- like no bullshit, William lives there, Ken does too... they're in another save, but still -- lmao, I can feel it in my heart!).

I can't even think of a time in this legacy where someone actually had a damn job that entered the legacy -- like seriously. And not working as a vender or something like that, but a college professor? A COLLEGE PROFESSOR? EXCUSE ME!!!!

I don't even know though. Sulani was just pulling dudes with jobs from DAY ONE. Well -- she only pulled Gavin Richards before Andre, but his ass had a job, too! And he called her to ask her about "action plans" like, the literal day after.

And Sulani don't even need a dude lmaoooo. Like she literally is making tons of money being a best-selling author -- which makes Andre even BETTER lmfao. Because he exists in this legacy only because Sulani WANTS him and doesn't NEED him... I AM SCREAMING!!!!!!!

Sulani did so good. I wanted that girl to have the best EVERYTHING like since forever ago, but didn't even know if it were possible and then the game was like -- she gonna have the best EVERY GODDAMNED THING ... including Andre English.

I'm shutting up now lmao.

[batsplat]

It actually kills me that Pecco is Valentino’s #1 protege bc I kinda feel like had they both met in like…2000 (let’s say they were the same age somehow) I feel like the mutual vibe between them would’ve been kinda like…“hm this guy SUCKS”.

Do u agree? I can see younger Vale being a little intrigued by Pecco, & Pecco being a little starstuck (like younger Casey) but I just think their vibes are so incompatible. Particularly compared w the other academy boys, who I think are slightly better fits…(except, hilariously, I would also say Luca is another kind of outlier).

IDK. Anyway thank u for all your amazing answers & historical knowledge batsplat <3 I so appreciate all the time you take to answer these questions & lay out the full surrounding context to things <3

first off, thank you!! that's really lovely!! secondly. hm this is a fun one I hadn't really thought about. the thing about the young casey comparison + what his relationship with valentino looked like is that he is six and a half-ish years younger than valentino... which feeds into why he's so starstruck. that's a very different dynamic from being valentino's direct peer, I feel. I kinda think the problem you have for any italian in vaguely that same age bracket is that it's just going to be tough to handle being so completely outshone by valentino. like, let's not speculate about results here because that's a fool's errand - in terms of actual popularity, there just isn't really any rider you could put alongside young valentino for that to be a remotely equal contest. and that inequity is worse if you're italian... you're not even going to have your home crowd rooting for you, right. the media attention will be 98% focused on the other guy. melandri's a good case study here, as a guy who's just a bit younger than valentino and highly rated in his junior years, but whose own relationship with valentino seemed to kinda sour over the years for various reasons. melandri is admittedly a bit of an odd bloke in his own right and is also a bit odd in the way he talks about valentino, but he's spoken a fair bit about how tough it was feeling like nobody in italy gave a shit about him with valentino around. which must be tough! there's 'working in silence' and then there's being 'practically invisible'... and that does also inevitably affect the relationship I reckon. you have to have an ego at pecco's level - and that kind of ego would always take some bruising if you have to come up against valentino in his full pomp

in terms of their actual interpersonal dynamic, it's always important to remember valentino got on pretty well with basically almost everyone!! especially in those early years, you don't even really have the same wariness of potential rivals. like, once he gets to the premier class it's more or less 'biaggi' and 'not biaggi'. he never has any issues with his title rival in 2000, kenny roberts jr. he's always gotten on very well with countryman and 1998 title rival capirossi, who he remained good friends with even when they were kinda *hand wiggles* title rivals in 2006. capirossi should have been more of a title contender that season and could well have gone on to win that title, but he got taken out in catalunya through no fault of his own - so not really any time for tensions to develop, which makes it a bit tricky to judge what that might have done to the relationship. when valentino and him have a tight duel in sepang later that season and valentino puts on a rather stern last lap defence to win that race (got to be one of his most underappreciated rides, he has like three classic race wins in 2006 I never see anyone discuss), capirossi climbs on his lap during the podium ceremony. so, y'know. capirossi is admittedly a way milder character than pecco, but it is notable how fond he remains of valentino throughout. though unlike pecco he does play into one of valentino's core weaknesses - valentino's fondness for having a little guy around. if you shave off ten centimetres from pecco then he'd basically be set for life

that being said, I agree they probably wouldn't be particularly close lol. prime valentino is probably a little too much for pecco, like you imagine they'd be cordial but pecco's just a tad reserved and wants to assert a bit of autonomy. which actually places him in a pretty decent position for that relationship to not blow up completely in his face - you kinda feel like he'd straddle the line between not being as abrasive as biaggi and not having *gestures vaguely* whatever that was between valentino and sete. the nicky hayden principle, right - who got through two teammate stints with valentino and actually beating him to a title with that relationship completely intact. cf hayden saying that valentino never played any mind games with him, that valentino didn't change his behaviour towards hayden depending on the points gap etc. valentino might "know how to play people", but he's not doing it with just anyone

some of this does inevitably depend on how much of a competitive threat pecco is in this hypothetical timeline. and if you actually put him in the dani/casey/jorge age bracket then all bets are off. it's basically the opposite of what I was saying with casey and jorge, where you'd imagine valentino-the-mentor-figure would have been an incredibly helpful presence for those two guys specifically. the thing about valentino is that he's very adept at being both valentino-the-rival and valentino-the-mentor-figure, but those two roles just look completely different. decent mentor all things considered, considerably less fun to have as a rival. and with pecco... I mean, you're basically dealing with a less prickly less neurotic casey-type, aren't you. pecco has the edge over casey in that he's not quite as... you know. how do I say this diplomatically. I don't think pecco would spend half the season complaining about valentino 'moaning and whinging' and then feature valentino's name on his title-winning shirt, let's put it that way. even with the italian factor, I reckon he'd manage to be at least 2% more normal about valentino, which probably would also help make the dynamic with valentino a bit more normal. and I'm sure valentino would come up with some horribly inventive ways of tormenting pecco and I do reckon he's absolutely up to that task, but I don't think something like laguna 2008 specifically would be the way to go about it. doesn't feel like you could quite blow up that relationship with a single race. the thing about laguna 2008 is that it's very bespoke casey torture, like that does not hit nearly as well against any other rival. ... I just realised I spent a good five minutes daydreaming about what advice I'd give valentino to crack pecco, which. anyways. let's cut it off there. but yeah, that would've been quite a fun match-up actually - specifically because pecco is such an annoyingly excellent defensive rider. arguably better at that than any of valentino's major rivals, which given valentino's MO you'd think would throw up its own distinct challenge

where the casey example IS instructive is in reminding you what an annoyingly charismatic bastard valentino is. I kind of feel like if you can have that kind of an effect on baby casey, you probably can make any of these undersocialised brats fall head over heels for you if you have a good swing at it. there's also the interesting question of what happens to pecco if you take away the vr46 support structure (obviously we're assuming he's still making it to motogp). my sense is you take away a little bit of... not his self-belief, exactly, or even his confidence necessarily - just a sense of security, of comfort in his own skin. I do reckon it makes him a bit more casey-ish in some aspects, just a touch more brittle and likely to take things personally... but, well, obviously we are now in the realm of very far-flung speculation. idk! whatever the exact age permutations between him and valentino would be, my sense is that valentino is charming enough and pecco is susceptible enough to being charmed that it's not like. open revulsion from day one. and to some extent, pecco's canonical willingness to let valentino hog the spotlight would stand him in good stead - it's like when casey said he didn't want to be the next valentino... these aren't necessarily guys who would even want that kind of attention on them. which does feel like a different dynamic to melandri doing his own showy celebrations. they DO want to be liked, maybe more than either of them are willing to admit, they both have a similarly pronounced sensitivity to being misinterpreted - but I don't feel like pecco would be killing himself with envy over valentino's reach in italy. maybe just a little bit, because that is probably normal in that situation... but I reckon he'd work through it

anyway, yeah. my thing is I don't actually give anyone a particularly high chance of surviving valentino's initial charm onslaught unscathed and I... don't feel like pecco would be an exception to that? the closest exception is jorge, but valentino never tried to charm him - and also jorge was still aggressively deeply weird about valentino so I'm not sure that's the template. cf how jorge still not managing to shut up about how fantastic valentino's celebrations were even when they were in an actual title fight. so yeah, idk. I don't see any reason why valentino would react that negatively towards pecco, who definitely comes across more like casey than he does like jorge and wouldn't immediately register as an active nuisance to valentino. I don't think they'd be FRIENDS and maybe they wouldn't match each other's vibe particularly well... interesting question actually if they'd have better or worse interpersonal chemistry than casey and valentino. maybe a bit worse? pecco's perhaps somewhat more guarded and world-weary from day one, so maybe a tad better at just keeping his distance and playing things by ear. pecco's natural wariness would probably do him quite a lot of good there and just make sure things... maybe get a bit unpleasant between him and valentino but never actively terrible. maybe the closest analogue would be a snippier, slightly brittler version of dovi, actually. two guys who get on pretty well but just move in different circles - with relatively restrained open animosity unless the competitive situation demands otherwise

[learningfromlosing]

Double creature feature? Early in the morning when I've risen up for the first time but crawling back to my den to rest one again 🦇

2014/2024 battle ready ⚔️

Tagged by @zombearzilla I tag anyone who wants to play? Maybe @gingerbeer-queer ?

[scoringeffects]

.

[lunarcartoonist]

Day 25 - Scarecrow Day 26 - Camera Day 27- Road

Decided to do the Inktober Challenge this month, doing my Simple Things drawings - which I haven't done in a few years!

Feels nice to do traditional ink drawings again.

At some point I'll upload these drawings as cards on my Etsy store.

[phagodyke]

sorry for googling "is shadow of the erdtree hard" do u still think im cool....

[aller-geez]

Spent the last 12 hours working on this Essential Expressions template for my favorite boy, Remington :3

If it didn’t take me so much blood sweat and tears I would do one of these for each of the 12 OC’s 😭

But for now, just Rem has these expressions, and the OC snz meme one 😂

Not that anyone cares anyway 😂😂

[these-violet-delights-fic]

Is it annoying when younger people think they "discovered" old music?

Mildly.

Will it always be annoying when a teenager asks why some old person is singing their cool song (I've seen someone confused that "some old guys" were singing "All you need is love", not One Direction [they were summarily destroyed in the comments])?

Yes.

Does this cycle repeat every generation, if not decade, because new people are discovering new music FOR THEMSELVES?

Always.

saw a grown woman on tiktok snidely calling gen z the christopher columbus generation bc someone’s fifteen year old son ‘thought he’d discovered weezer’. newsflash every generation finds out about the music of the previous generation at some point it comes free with being fifteen. being annoying about music also comes free with being fifteen. a kid saying yeah i’ve just found this band nirvana have you ever heard of them should be a thing of joy

[luulapants]

25 ways to be a little more punk in 2025

Cut fast fashion - buy used, learn to mend and/or make your own clothes, buy fewer clothes less often so you can save up for ethically made quality

Cancel subscriptions - relearn how to pirate media, spend $10/month buying a digital album from a small artist instead of on Spotify, stream on free services since the paid ones make you watch ads anyway

Green your community - there's lots of ways to do this, like seedbombing or joining a community garden or organizing neighborhood trash pickups

Be kind - stop to give directions, check on stopped cars, smile at kids, let people cut you in line, offer to get stuff off the high shelf, hold the door, ask people if they're okay

Intervene - learn bystander intervention techniques and be prepared to use them, even if it feels awkward

Get closer to your food - grow it yourself, can and preserve it, buy from a farmstand, learn where it's from, go fishing, make it from scratch, learn a new ingredient

Use opensource software - try LibreOffice, try Reaper, learn Linux, use a free Photoshop clone. The next time an app tries to force you to pay, look to see if there's an opensource alternative

Make less trash - start a compost, be mindful of packaging, find another use for that plastic, make it a challenge for yourself!

Get involved in local politics - show up at meetings for city council, the zoning commission, the park district, school boards; fight the NIMBYs that always show up and force them to focus on the things impacting the most vulnerable folks in your community

DIY > fashion - shake off the obsession with pristine presentation that you've been taught! Cut your own hair, use homemade cosmetics, exchange mani/pedis with friends, make your own jewelry, duct tape those broken headphones!

Ditch Google - Chromium browsers (which is almost all of them) are now bloated spyware, and Google search sucks now, so why not finally make the jump to Firefox and another search like DuckDuckGo? Or put the Wikipedia app on your phone and look things up there?

Forage - learn about local edible plants and how to safely and sustainably harvest them or go find fruit trees and such accessible to the public.

Volunteer - every week tutoring at the library or once a month at the humane society or twice a year serving food at the soup kitchen, you can find something that matches your availability

Help your neighbors - which means you have to meet them first and find out how you can help (including your unhoused neighbors), like elderly or disabled folks that might need help with yardwork or who that escape artist dog belongs to or whether the police have been hassling people sleeping rough

Fix stuff - the next time something breaks (a small appliance, an electronic, a piece of furniture, etc.), see if you can figure out what's wrong with it, if there are tutorials on fixing it, or if you can order a replacement part from the manufacturer instead of trashing the whole thing

Mix up your transit - find out what's walkable, try biking instead of driving, try public transit and complain to the city if it sucks, take a train instead of a plane, start a carpool at work

Engage in the arts - go see a local play, check out an art gallery or a small museum, buy art from the farmer's market

Go to the library - to check out a book or a movie or a CD, to use the computers or the printer, to find out if they have other weird rentals like a seed library or luggage, to use meeting space, to file your taxes, to take a class, to ask question

Listen local - see what's happening at local music venues or other events where local musicians will be performing, stop for buskers, find a favorite artist, and support them

Buy local - it's less convenient than online shopping or going to a big box store that sells everything, but try buying what you can from small local shops in your area

Become unmarketable - there are a lot of ways you can disrupt your online marketing surveillance, including buying less, using decoy emails, deleting or removing permissions from apps that spy on you, checking your privacy settings, not clicking advertising links, and...

Use cash - go to the bank and take out cash instead of using your credit card or e-payment for everything! It's better on small businesses and it's untraceable

Give what you can - as capitalism churns on, normal shmucks have less and less, so think about what you can give (time, money, skills, space, stuff) and how it will make the most impact

Talk about wages - with your coworkers, with your friends, while unionizing! Stop thinking about wages as a measure of your worth and talk about whether or not the bosses are paying fairly for the labor they receive

Think about wealthflow - there are a thousand little mechanisms that corporations and billionaires use to capture wealth from the lower class: fees for transactions, interest, vendor platforms, subscriptions, and more. Start thinking about where your money goes, how and where it's getting captured and removed from our class, and where you have the ability to cut off the flow and pass cash directly to your fellow working class people

[brushstrokesofmymind]

Three Things Challenge –5-25-25

Three Things Challenge MM70 – May 25, 2015 In honor of all our service men and women who have sacrificed their lives honorably and selflessly for the freedom we have today, we are grateful and thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you for your unwavering dedicated sacrifice for this great nation we love. Our American Flag, sacred with unity and pride. Side to side, it freely…

[violinfantasy]

just got home turned on the pairs sp stream saw mb on the ice and immediately got annoyed