#I talked about this before but this is a never ending source of hilarious for me

[cvrnelians]

smile like you mean it - chapter five

You knew filing for divorce would be no easy feat. But filing for divorce from Roman Roy?

"No easy feat” might as well have been synonymous with “impossible."

warnings: drug use, alcoholism, miscarriage, Roman and the rest of the Roy family being awful.

chapters 1-3 // chapter four

music

chapter five

10 ways to get someone to like you: A foolproof guide

If you want to be liked, be likable.

Roman scowled and slammed his laptop shut, carelessly tossing it to the end of the bed. 

“What a stupid fucking article.”

He got up and stretched, his limbs still rigid from a heavy sleep. If there was anything positive to come out of the complete and utter shitshow that was the day before, a good night’s sleep took the cake. Rest was something Roman didn’t get a whole lot of lately, but when he did sleep, he slept hard. 

Prior to becoming COO of Waystar Royco, he had always been a heavy sleeper. It wasn’t unusual for him to get eight hours of shuteye even after napping all day. He had a copious amount of (not-so-fond) childhood memories in which Connor, Kendall, and Shiv jumped on his bed in order to wake him up. They often had to hit him with pillows and shake him to the point of nausea to get him to finally open his eyes.

Well, they didn’t really have to. 

There were a small handful of differences between now and then. 

Although he would never admit it, his job was a big source of stress for him. The most pathetic thing about it? Most days he didn’t accomplish even twenty five percent of what his colleagues did. And what he was able to do completely exhausted him. It was a lot to live up to, being the inheritor—and now a figurehead—of a monster he hadn’t created; a monster he wasn’t even sure he wanted to keep feeding. 

Another major difference between now and then was that Kendall no longer needed to shake him from a dead sleep in order to make him feel nauseous. All it really took was watching him walk into your room in the middle of the night, casual as could be, to put Roman into a not-so-ideal headspace.

“Acting like he was reuniting with an old friend or some shit,” he mumbled under his breath. He got into the shower, his mind going a million miles a minute as he continued talking to himself. “I’m Kendall,” he mocked. “I’m better than everyone now, didn’t you know? I went to rehab. I drink green juice. I’ve read The Secret. I don’t have stress anymore because I never see my own children. Look how stable I am now.” 

This was the one downside of being so well-rested. His brain actually lived up to its potential. His mind simply refused to slow down. No matter how hard he willed himself not to think of you, he only thought about you that much more. Not that this was all that different from any other day. Roman thought about you all the time, sleep deprived or not.

He liked you. Okay? Even with your cheap clothes and your shitty attitude and your refusal to sit next to him in the car, he had some…feelings when it came to you.

Ew.

He hated it when you were upset with him, and he hated it even more when you weren’t around.

From the first time he saw you, he liked you. A lot, actually.

Roman liked you a lot.

He had gone to your room the night before to say he was sorry discuss how hypersensitive you were being in response to the hilarious things he said, but he stopped short in the doorway. 

As it turned out, you were busy. So as any gentleman would, Roman said fuck that noise and booked it back to his room. That was the second time you made him run that day, you little jerk.

He wondered if he should take bearing witness to that stomach-turning embrace between you and Kendall as a sign. Perhaps he should never apologize to anyone, for any reason, ever again. Not even to those who deserved an apology. Not even to you. If that was what he got for trying to be the bigger person, having to watch his stormcloud of an older brother get what he wanted without even having to try, well…what was the point? 

“Likable. Likable? What does that even mean?” he asked himself. 

Why would the author of that article automatically assume the people reading it were the unlikable ones? What kind of introduction was that? Why should he have to shoulder the responsibility of someone not liking him? Why should he have to do all this work to win you over? Why was he even worried about it? You should be the one trying to get into his good graces. You should be the one typing stupid questions into Google at seven o’ clock in the morning, not him. It didn’t matter that he called you a run-of-the-mill, ladder climbing, H&M wearing plebeian (or a coffee gopher). It didn’t matter that he had driven you to the brink of a full blown mental breakdown under his tenure. It didn’t matter that knowing he was the one that made you cry felt like a punch to the gut.

...which didn't even turn him on, by the way.

None of it mattered. He shouldn’t have to apologize for a thing. You were obviously sleeping with Kendall. Kendall! Even if you weren’t working for him, sleeping with Kendall would still put you in the wrong in any context. You were trying so desperately to make Roman believe he was the problem, just as everyone else did. You little gaslighter. 

You weren’t seriously going to leave over a couple of little insults, right?

Right?

He was so distracted by his own thoughts, he somehow managed to get a concerning amount of shampoo in his eyes. 

“Ow, FUCK!” 

Following five stressful minutes of washing his eyes out (or trying to, anyway), he slumped over and held his hands over his face, allowing the water to run directly over his head. He could still picture you crying on the plane, which he had been doing on a loop for the past several hours. He could concede that he came off a little unpleasant at times, but it was more of a defense mechanism than anything. Deep down, Roman knew he didn’t take anyone seriously simply because no one else took him seriously. But you had wanted to be taken seriously, and did everything to earn that. 

You were having some relatively fun banter prior to the moment he turned on you like a feral dog. When he was finished with his cutting little monologue, you looked like you had been slapped. Seeing you so upset and proceeding to mock you for it…

Ugh.

This was not uncharacteristic of Roman, but it wasn't necessarily his proudest moment, either. It made him sick to his stomach, as a matter of fact. 

A lot of things about the past few days made him sick to his stomach.

He could remember having a similar feeling from when he was growing up. Everything would be fine and dandy until he would say or do one little thing to set Logan off, and then bam: 

First came the hurt, then came the ridicule. 

“Oh, you’re crying now? You’re crying? Why don’t you just go tell Kendall about it? I’m sure he’d love nothing more.” 

Roman cringed at his own words.

First came the hurt, then came the ridicule. 

And then he was alone.

If you want to be liked, be likable.

He would never say it to you directly, but if he could, he would.

"I’m sorry I made you so sad."

☽ 

“You have no idea how things will turn out, and it’s very juvenile. It’s fucking dumb. You’re being dumb!”

You cringed as Kendall’s words bounced around in your head.

Last night had been very interesting, to say the least.

For several hours now, you lay flat on your back, slipping in and out of a restless sleep. When you did become lucid, you simply stared up at the impossibly tall vaulted ceiling. It was painted and preserved beautifully, gold borders encasing rich shades of red and blue. You reached your arm up, pretending to trace and retrace the intricate patterns with your fingers. Exhausted yet unable to sleep, you needed something mindless and soothing to wind yourself down. 

Sadly, your efforts were to no avail. Your mind was still racing, hyper focused on what transpired the night before. It was jarring to think that just a simple “so, how have you been?” from Kendall would open a Pandora's box you had no clue even existed. You didn’t have much time to concentrate on it, though. At that moment, two things happened at once.

You felt a stab of panic as you received a notification that your flight was now boarding. You couldn’t believe it. You had missed your flight. You had dissociated to the point of having missed your flight. And before you could even sit up, you were startled by a loud banging noise against your door. It sounded like someone was ramming something into it full force. You weren't even sure who you were hoping not to see at this point.

Not since Kendall went absolutely ballistic on you.

“Knock, knock!” a familiar voice yelled. He didn’t bother actually knocking, nor did he wait for you to respond. He probably thought the unpleasant crash was sufficient enough.

You were almost relieved.

Enter one Roman Roy.

But he wasn’t alone. In front of him was the culprit, the battering ram that nearly gave you a heart attack, in the form of a large metal breakfast cart. If that wasn’t bizarre enough, he was dressed in athletic wear. He looked out of place in such a grandiose room, like you were playing a beginner’s version of “I Spy.” 

I spy with my little eye something reprehensible.

“Here comes the breakfast fairy,” he said in an awkward, singsong voice. He slowly rolled  the unsteady cart towards you. “Here to um…y’know. Bring you breakfast. Breakfast just for you.”

A wheel broke off as he made his way over, making coffee spill onto the tray. He cursed as he shakily lifted the tray up off the cart and reached over to hand it to you. You gawked at him. “Okay, that’s what I get for saying that. That was fucking stupid. I didn’t say that. You don’t remember me saying that.” 

“You brought me breakfast?”

“It would appear so,” he said cheerfully. “Like a good boy.”

“I missed my flight,” you blurted out awkwardly. 

He paused for a second, taking a deep breath before reverting back to his typically rude delivery. “Yeah, not my problem. Can you please just take the tray? It’s really heavy.”  

“I missed my flight,” you repeated. 

He ignored you and slowly set the tray on your lap. He lifted the lid to reveal a pretty solid breakfast as far as you were concerned: a single poptart and two comically large cups of coffee. One was black, the other a latte with a poorly drawn happy face carved into the foam. You would have laughed if you weren’t so stressed out. All of this buildup for a lone pastry and an alarming amount of coffee.

“Where’s the second poptart?”

“I ate it. Obviously. Don’t be ungrateful,” he snapped. “You like wildberry, right? You seem like you would like wildberry. A little fun, a little different. Spice up your life, or whatever.”

You rolled your eyes, breaking the poptart into several pieces before taking a bite. “You could have the most elaborate breakfast in the world, and yet you’d prefer to have this?”

“What? I may be rich but that doesn’t mean I like exclusively rich people things. Have you seen rich people food? I mean, probably not but…” 

You tentatively picked up the latte. “Did you poison this? Did you spit in this?”

“Hah, you wish.”

“I wish?”

“I mean, I can if you’d like,” he said, leaning towards you.

“No!” you yelled, making him wince. You lowered your voice. “Sorry, no. I think I’m alright.”

He reached down to pick up the other mug. “This one's for meee.”

“Of course it is.”

He gasped, cradling the side of his face with his palm in mock excitement. “Uh oh. I have an idea. Do you want to spit in mine?”

“I hate this conversation," you sighed. "You’d probably be into that, so I’m gonna say no.”

“Well, how do you know for sure that the cool one is yours?”

You shrugged. “Because I’m cool.”

“You sure about that?” 

“And I know you like your coffee black.”

“Touché,” he said, leaning against the wall across from your bed. You both drank your coffee in silence for a few moments.

“Did you bring this from home?” you asked, pointing to the poptart. 

“No. I made that lanky muppet go buy me a box.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Wh...Wait, are you talking about Greg?”

“Yeah, I figured I would send Gumby on a little errand since I apparently can’t do that with you anymore. Since you’re—” he made air quotes with his fingers—“quitting.” 

“Wait, does he even know how to drive in the UK? How did he even get to a store? We’re miles from—” 

“I told him I would make him sleep outside if he didn’t figure out a way to score me some. I have no clue how he got all the way out into the city so fast. Can you believe that? Being tall does have its perks, I guess. His strides had him moving at the speed of light, apparently.” 

You gawked at him again, horrified. 

Poor, poor Greg.

You dropped the remaining pieces of the poptart on your plate. “I’m not hungry anymore.” 

“Oh come on, it’s funny. Don’t let his efforts be in vain.” He took a big gulp of coffee. “Anyway. I was thinking...”

“Why are you dressed like that?” you asked.

“Like what?”

“Like a fitness influencer.”

“I was getting to that. Don’t interrupt me.”

You leaned your head back and groaned. 

“Okay, drama. Calm down. We’re all supposed to go golfing this morning, but I hate golf. I'm pretty sure you do, too. You told me once. So I thought maybe we could, like. I don’t know. Pretend to go for a run like we usually do? Talk? Only if it’s not going to cut into your busy schedule, of course. Ms. Newly Unemployed.”

“Roman, what could you possibly want to talk about? If you’re going to try and convince me to stay, don’t waste your time.”

“I was thinking we could get to know each other, at least a little bit. That way, I would know what to put in your reference letter when you blow this popsicle stand.”  

“Yeah. Like you would write the letter yourself,” you mused. "Like you even could. You can't even reply to an email in a timely manner."

“Hey!”

“Fine. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do. Like I said, I missed my flight and am feeling like a total idiot. Bet you’re really getting off on that one.” 

He stared at you for a few seconds, like he was thinking carefully about what to say next. 

“What?” you asked.

He sighed. “I’m not getting off on it as much as you might think.”

You raised your eyebrows.

“I don’t know how you perceive me exactly, but I have a general idea. And I know this might come as a shock, but like I said, I’m really not that bad. I mean, okay. I am. I am. But not in every situation, not always. I’ll have you know, I do have my moments.”

“Yeah? When?”

“Right now, maybe? Look, I brough—”

“Brought me breakfast. Yeah. I can see that.”

“Which I still haven’t gotten a proper thank you for, by the way.”

“I’ll give you a proper thank you when you give me a proper apology.”

“Fine. Okay, I’m sorry I was a little unreasonable with you yesterday. I’m sorry I, uh…manhandled you when we were getting into the car. Or tried to. Like, really, really tried.You’re pretty strong, you know that?” 

“Is that all?” you asked, cocking your head to one side.

“And I’m sorry for what I said about you and Kendall. And calling you names. I didn’t mean it. That about covers it, right?”

“And?”

“...being a dick?”

You considered not even bringing it up, but since you decided to quit your job, you simply did not care anymore.

“Aren’t you sorry that you lied to me?”

“Wait, what?” he asked, on the verge of laughter. “I didn’t lie to you. Lie to you about what?” 

Your conversation with Kendall rang loud and clear in your ears.

“It’s so good to see you. I wish you could’ve been on the flight with us, but I know you got held up. Work comes first.” 

Work comes first? What did that have to do with there not being enough seats on the jet? 

“Got held up?” 

“Yeah, Roman told us you guys were swamped.” 

“I…I mean, yeah. I’m always busy, but we flew separately because Roman told me there wasn’t enough room on the plane for us.” 

“I’m sorry. What did you just say?” 

“Yeah, he said there were some issues with the seats. A few of them needed to be repaired, so there wasn’t enough space for everyone.”

“Are you…oh my god,”  Kendall scoffed. “Oh my fucking god.”

“Ken, I don’t—”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Roman, why did we fly here separate from everybody else?”

Roman choked on his coffee, making him stop to clear his throat. “I already told you, there wasn’t enough space for our sparkling personalities on Dad's favorite plane.”

“Not enough space?”

“Yep.”

“You sure about that?”

“Look, no matter what evocative bullshit you send my way this morning, you can’t change my mind. I’ve already decided. I want to make things up to you. So, if you’re upset that I maybe told a little white lie, I’m sorry.”

“So you did lie, then?”

He eyed you sheepishly.

“Sort of. How did you figure it out?"

“I don’t get it. Of all things, why would you lie about that?” 

“I don’t know, maybe it had something to do with me not wanting to hang out with my family in a torture chamber for hours? What if we crashed? You think I wanna die surrounded by a bunch of scorpions?”

“They’re your family!”

“Unfortunately."

“If the two of us crashed together, you’d have died alongside someone that doesn’t even like you. How is that more appealing?”

"Oh, how you wound me," he said flatly. “That may be so, but you don’t annoy me. Not to mention, you only sting me if I sting you first. It’s refreshing.”

You didn’t have the mental bandwidth to analyze that one this morning.

“Alright, fine. But your apology tour isn’t quite over yet.”

“You do know I don’t have to apologize to you at all, don’t you? You’re leaving. You’re basically nothing to me.”

“And yet, here you are.” 

“What can I say? I’m just such a nice guy.”

You both stared at each other for a second before launching into hysterics.

Roman sighed as you both attempted to stop cackling. “You know this is the most you’ve smiled at me in…like, ever? Is that poptart really that good?”

“I just feel relieved is all.”

“And why is that?”

“Why do you think?” you asked. "I'm finally freeing myself from your reign of tyranny."

"Do you really hate me that much?" he asked, setting down his mug. “We have fun sometimes, don't we? I mean, we got into a blowout argument yesterday and now we're totally fine. Even when we argue, I still don't feel like we're enemies. And believe me, I have a lot of those. Are you sure you want to leave?”

The way he was looking at you was truthfully making you a little sad. But as per usual, he wasn't thinking logically. You were practically attached at the hip every day. Of course there was some level of familiarity between the two of you, even amidst all the chaos. It was easy to mistake for friendship, given how often you were in communication, given how much you did for him. But that was your job.

You had to stop yourself from smiling.

Not anymore, it wasn't.

“Roman, the way we communicate is super dysfunctional. You’ve made me cry multiple times. Yes, I’m sure I want to leave.”

“Ugh," he groaned. "Okay. Look, as far as I'm concerned, you're king shit of fuck mountain right now."

"Excuse me, what?" you laughed.

"What you say goes. Pick a number, I'll increase your salary. Lay out some ground rules. I'm not the most ethically sound person in the world, but I do know how to compromise when it comes to doing what's best for business. And you're probably the only person who can tolerate me, so."

"Roman, I don't think I can come back from yesterday. That was way, way too much. But it's not just you. Last nigh—"

"I was wrong," he interrupted you. "I usually am. Shocker. But here's the thing: you're kind of like...invaluable, to me?" It came out as more of a reluctant question than a statement. His voice was shaky and small as he continued on. "You've, um...helped me a lot. In more ways than one. And I don't want you quitting and just going to work for Kendall again, because I don't really trust him."

"Roman, I can assure you that is not something you will ever have to worry about. Last nigh—"

"Just don't go, please."

You would've been more annoyed with him constantly interrupting you if his voice didn't sound so pitiful, if he didn't look so pitiful. You were caught off guard by the groveling. Not necessarily put off by it, but certainly surprised. This was possibly the most vulnerable you had ever seen him. And the whole breakfast thing; since when did Roman go out of his way to do something deliberately nice for you? It was very obviously to serve his own purposes. He didn't want you to quit, but it didn't seem to come from a bad place.

You had observed him for a second too long, it seemed. He cleared his throat and quickly regained his composure. Just like his kindness, Roman's willingness to be vulnerable also had a very short shelf life.

"If you expect another apology, you can fuck off. And I know you do expect one. But don't actually fuck off, you know what I mean? Out of everybody here, I want you to fuck off the least."

"Wow," you said flatly. "That's amazing."

"I know. I can't believe it, either."

☽ 

kendall 👀👀

@pearlstiare // @ay0nha // @theladyalicnt // @littleladdty @spacebaby1

[armenianwriterman]

So, this is it. The end of Rooster Teeth. The end of something I spent half of my life watching. I got into RT through randomly stumbling across Season 1 of Death Battle by chance and I never looked back. I spent more than half of my life watching their stuff, laughing along with their jokes, and being inspired by the people who made it. They were a source of joy in my life, especially in times when I really needed it. The talent and passion of those that worked there always shined through on everything they did. To those who worked there, I'm sorry it ended the way it did, and I wish them the best of luck as you go forwards. I'll always remember the heart and soul they put in, the engrossing stories they told, and hilarious insanity you really can't find anywhere else.

But, while there was a lot of good, there was also a lot of bad. The crunch, the toxic bro culture, the sexual predator that worked there for 12 years, it was a mess. It is horrible that any of this happened at all, and to those who were effected by it, I am so sorry you had to go through that. I felt terrible about being sad it closing for this reason, but after some reflection, I think what I'm really sad about is how much it meant to people. Me, the other fans, and all the employees, anyone who saw the goodbye stream could testify to that.

From that shared meaning spawned a community that I was a part of. One that unquestionably had a lot of problems as well, (I'm definitely not going to miss the anti-woke grifters when they inevitably move on to the next thing), but a community nonetheless. I don't really talk about my personal life on here much but, I'm not good with social interactions or maintaining relationships with people I don't see daily. I haven't ever really had a job before despite my attempts to get one, and well, given that I want to work in the TV/Film industry and the state that it's currently in...yeah. I sometimes feel like a failure, wonder why I should even bother trying.

But with RT, I had a community of people who were like me. People who I could nerd out with and not really worry about alienating. People I could laugh and cry with. I felt like I had a place here like I never really did elsewhere. One of my big regrets is that I never had the opportunity to go to a fan event and meet others in my community in person. But the good news is, despite the company closing, the community is still going to stick around for a long time. The fanmade archives are a thing, and many of the shows are either already going to continue, or in talks to continue.

Tonight, I decided to watch one final thing on their website and I chose Red vs Blue Season 13, partly because it's one of my favorite, if not the favorite, things this media company ever put out. But I also chose it because of the ending. Because even when things are bleak, even when the future is uncertain, there will always be hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that your friends (and Rooster Teeth employees in this case) will all eventually be okay. In other words, because in the end, you just have to have faith. Ain't that a bitch?

Being a fan wasn't always easy, but I look around at everyone talking about what Rooster Teeth and its community meant to them, and I know that is why we were here. And I'm glad I was here with all of you.

❤️🤍🖤💛, 🟨🟨🟨🟨⬛, 🔴🆚🔵

[hiemaldesirae]

LOOL YES!! That's what you get Alastor!! Cursed cat!Alastor adores Vox and would never hurt him. Honestly it'd be hilarious if Vox does an interview that night and the entire hotel (plus Lucifer) catches it and Cursed cat!Alastor is on Vox's shoulders just purring away and happily nuzzling Vox's screen and being happily petted and Alastor is gripping his fixed staff, grinding his fangs, jealousy leaking from him.

Charlie is pleased: "Alastor, I knew you could find that cat a good home! Thank you! =D"

Everyone else is fucking shocked. They know Alastor threw that cat at the Vees for entertainment and hell raising purposes (and in Husk's case, a way to try and get Vox to come back to him. Most of Alastor's schemes involving the Vees always, always revolve about getting Vox back.)

The interview is about a new product of Voxtech, but at the end of it, they ask about Vox's new pet and Vox just puffs up, proud as can be:

Vox: "This little demon just charged into the lobby, brutally attacking my staff! 2 or 3 died, I think 4 or 5 were maimed so I of course had to keep him! Isn't that right, Venom? (Cause Vox thought he had rabies....and he foams at the mouth when he attacks...so...and the V theme.) Isn't he precious?"

*sir is fine, for future reference. but YEAH, alastor would definitely be seething with rage- like whole fucking cartoon ass face too, he's NOT having the time of his life rn. why the FUCK was vox petting that hellspawn???? that should've been HIM ???????????

also venom is a perfect name for that little shit, honestly, though ill be fr i can only think of the. You know. Venom.

anyway whatever here's another writing snip. (vv short because i have morning classes tmw and im going to freak if im late again) you guys are greedy asf but whatever ill provide like any good father would

"Oh, dear... and he *kept* it, is that right?" Rosie gasps as she watches Alastor grip his hair tightly, head cradled in his hands. She giggles as she continues teasing the poor demon, "My, Alastor, isn't he quite the catch? Compassionate and caring to boot, not to mention that he seems to be *quite* popular among the denizens of Hell!"

"Rosie, my dear, please. Stop talking. For the love of God, stop talking," Alastor's ears flatten more as he begs his friend, Rosie merely laughing softly in delight as she watches.

"You can hardly blame me for being curious, Alastor! I mean, you always refused to take your sweet little picture box to Cannibal Town when the two of you were still talking... why, I had to learn of your dalliance through Mimzy! And, not to devalue my beloved's qualities, of course, but she's *hardly* the greatest source of information one can find-- I married her out of love, not for her communication skills."

"That *thing* probably has rabies," Alastor spits out, looking as if he'd just swallowed a particularly bitter pill. "I don't *understand* what he sees in it!"

"Well, it does look quite like you," Rosie points out leisurely. She takes a sip out of her teacup before continuing, "Perhaps he's treating it as a substitute for you? You know, in the way that some would treat their plushs like pets, he's treating his pet as... well, you."

Alastor narrows his eyes at her. "Vox *knows* that if he wanted to talk to me, he could easily just go over and tune into our shared frequencies. He's *replacing* me with it, Rosie, I just know it!"

"Hm... well, in that case, why don't you just go and make it clear to him that you aren't replacable?" Rosie taps the edge of her cup with a knowing glint in her abyssal black eyes, holding her good friend's gaze steadily. "You've never shyed away from confrontation before, have you, Alastor? Why be hesitant now?"

Alastor licked his lips, staring down in his lap before he picked up his own teacup and downed the liquid inside like a shot.

"Thank you for hosting me today, Rosie. I think... I've reached a conclusion."

A knowing smirk crosses the Cannibal Overlord's face. "Of course you have. I expect to be formally introduced to your lovely little muse soon, you understand?"

"Yes, my fair lady," Alastor rolls his eyes with amusement. "But you had better not try and take a bite of him."

"Who, little old me? I'd never, dear!"

"You had better not," Alastor frowns. Though his tone is joking, his expression falls flat.

Elsewhere, in the Entertainment District, Vox sneezes into Venom's fur as he cradles the fluffball of red fur. The freaky kitten turns to look up at him with a questioning look, but he only ruffles Venom's ears apologetically.

"Sorry, Ven. I don't know what came over me just now- oh, look at this! Should we get you this collar, or that one...?"

[fernsnailz]

Wait, Shadow and the rest of Team Dark worked for G.U.N? That feels really weird given his backstory, as well as Rouge's distaste for the law...

yeah lol, it's a bit unclear because they only work for GUN in some canon. rouge has always been an agent of sorts, starting in SA2 where she worked as an undercover agent for the president. however, the president and GUN are treated as two separate entities in that game, and rouge doesn't seem to have any connection to GUN.

the first time it's mentioned that team dark works alongside GUN is Sonic 06, where rouge and shadow are explicitly stated to be working as GUN agents. rouge is in communication with them pretty consistently throughout the game, and shadow's story begins with him on an official GUN mission to find rouge and the scepter of darkness. omega's role with GUN in 06 is a bit unclear - as far as i can tell, it's never explicitly stated within the game whether omega works for GUN or not? idk. if anyone has any sources stating otherwise lmk

of course, given that 06's timeline is basically completely erased from existence once the game's story ends, it's entirely possible that team dark's involvement with GUN starts and ends within the 06 timeline. future games never bring it up as far as i can remember... which brings us to the archie comics (as it always does).

the archie comics take 06's concept of team dark GUN agents and REALLY runs with it. all three members seem to work for GUN full time, where they operate under commander tower (aka the commander from SHtH 2005) and work alongside hope kintobor (genius teen related to the robotniks. it's complicated. she's also only there pre-reboot).

pre-reboot archie doesn't dive deep into why each member decided to join GUN. shadow starts working for them soon after he regains all of his memories and seems to work alongside them to ensure the general safety of the world, rouge is likely there for a paycheck (and any missions that involve chaos emeralds and various gems), and omega is. complicated. technically archie omega (pre-reboot) is a combination of e-123 omega and e-102 gamma (quite literally. like both of their personalities in one robot) and he was just kinda brought to work at GUN after shadow found him in the middle of a forest. don't worry about it

GUN mostly serves as a vessel for team dark to be sent on missions and adventures throughout the various archie sonic stories, and team dark is able to work alongside them without much conflict. that is, until the reboot.

after the super genesis wave (aka the reboot), team dark's first mission with gun is to destroy the black comet 2 and the black arms forces on it. they're not alone this time - they have a number of other GUN soldiers with them, and here we start to see the cracks between GUN and team dark form. given that they're fighting the black arms and shadow is half black arms, some of the GUN soldiers very clearly Do Not Like Shadow and Do Not Trust Him.

but what really matters here is what commander tower does during this arc - before the mission, he asks rouge and omega to neutralize shadow if he falls under the influence of the black arms.

while the reboot never had enough time to dig much deeper into the gray morality of GUN, it's very clearly a consistent trait of the organization. it's most apparent in the arc i just talked about, but future arcs hint at some shady stuff happening when they can. for example, GUN seems to have snively robotnik (aka eggman's evil nephew) on staff as a scientist, and they very clearly show us (in this panel i think is honestly kinda hilarious) that snively is Up To Some Evil Shenanigans.

with all that in mind, i can finally give my opinions on team dark as GUN agents. i completely agree with the sentiment you expressed in your ask - shadow working for GUN completely conflicts with his past, his traumas, and his characterization within most of the games. despite shadow being a "for the greater good" sort of person, i don't think he would ever trust GUN enough to work alongside them. and i think the same goes for rouge and omega, though to a lesser degree. while i think both of them would find it beneficial to work alongside GUN in some cases, ultimately they're both entirely self-driven and wouldn't see much of a reason to work for GUN full time. and because of this, i generally think it was probably for the best that the modern version of team dark just kinda dropped the GUN agent narrative. it puts less limitations on their characters, and the stories don't have to make every team dark related event about GUN.

and yet... i really like the stuff that post-reboot archie had going on. i love the inside look at GUN, and i love seeing how much pressure and strain they put on team dark. because ultimately, GUN is an antagonistic force that a group of heroes are working for. the military is a consistent obstacle in sonic stories, and to see how they impact the characters they've hurt the most from the inside of their organization is so interesting to me. GUN is doing the same thing that all of team dark's previous foes have tried to do to them - they're using team dark as weapons and turning them against each other. maybe the members of team dark wouldn't want to work for GUN, but GUN would do ANYTHING to keep the three of them around because all three of them are liabilities if they're let loose into the world with no supervision. GUN is keeping their enemies close and using them as weapons. and i fuckin love that

so while i'm ultimately glad that team dark is no longer associated with GUN, i would have loved to see a version of the narrative exploring why they left. they would all know GUN was just using them, but what would have been the final straw? did they resign peacefully? are they all on the run as rogue agents? i dunno! but i wish it could be explored a little, even if it wasn't canon or whatever. wghelp that's all i got for this one good night tristate area

[mecachrome]

your oscar primer was absolutely brilliant, thank you so much for posting it!! well-researched, well-written, and a good balance of educational and hilarious. if you want to share, i’d be very interested in reading any of the parts you mentioned that you cut out, like george-admiring, oscar’s psyche, etc, but no pressure ofc 🫶

omg no thank you so much for your kind words, i appreciate it a lot!!! :D andddd let me see... honestly i was just going to add a few more quotes & anecdotes from other people about his personality but i ended up incorporating most of them into the primer (e.g. mark's), but in general i think it's really charming how Every Single Adult who has ever worked with oscar throughout the years is so deeply and immediately convinced of his maturity. i did work in most of this old ask but it has a few extra quotes in there from mclaren personnel! anyway more below the cut:

i guess really the thing to Me about oscar is like...... idk if this makes any sense but i personally love how he's naturally a really gracious and diplomatic person but is also deeeeeply self-assured and objective, which on one hand means he presents as quite humble when he doesn't make excuses for himself or get caught up in deceptively high results, but on the other also means he refuses to give anyone else credit for his own success; if you remember me briefly mentioning prematax in that post he talks about it in the f1fs pod where he basically goes i didn't win because of PREMA, in fact i've NEVER LOST TO A TEAMMATE, SO. like any racing driver that is def a big source of pride for him, and i think it speaks to the "silent killer" (per lando) side to him, the guy who mark says "falls asleep" when hearing stories of his (championless) career, who said that he supported mark out of national obligation growing up but—let us not forget—vettel was the one winning everything back then anyway, who says he put even more pressure on himself to win his final race in f2 despite having clinched the title 2 races prior because he felt the innate urge to prove that he wouldn't simply ease off the gas pedal and still had it in himself to subjugate the field one last time.

along these lines oomf and i have discussed before how he and alex rank similarly on the kind/nice dichotomy in a way that is slightly diametric to lando, wherein he is always willing to offer tidy bits of sympathy for someone else's struggles but doesn't ever really envision any of them as relevant to his own experiences, because getting caught up in that "external noise" would be a waste of time (even with logan in the f3 finale it was honestly kind of like "aw man that sucks, i'd hate for it to be me... ANYWAY"). like not to maybe exaggerate his interiority but i enjoy that he carries an amount of hidden tension that he obviously consciously decides to not take reactionary measures over—though that doesn't mean it isn't there, it's just very well regulated (unrelated but he does actually work with mental coach emma murray, who also works with scott mclaughlin and whom he says helped him center himself at the end of his eurocup season). but he's still very... unfiltered about when he's been disrespected in an unperturbed, straightforward manner, like saying otmar confronting him on the sim over being promoted to the seat was "bizarre and frankly upsetting," the face he made when he was told they'd overtaken alpine in the standings in 2023, telling the kids in that hp tuners interview that the renault engineers treated his first f1 test too nonchalantly, etc. 😭 like every interview back when he was a reserve driver was soooo "i'm gracious about being stuck in this role but also i've proven myself way too much to Not Hate This Compromise and i'll be pissed as hell if i don't get a seat next year"... i'll stop here but basically he is truly a master of balancing gritted-teeth conviction with his tactical charm and it is one of my fav things ever about him!!!

also another quote i love is this one from david sera about his driving style, because 1) i love the correlation between it and his personality/calmness, 2) i'm obsessed with the dynamic of his early rc days helping nurture a style of "finesse" in his driving throughout his junior career that may not have appeared naturally if he'd only begun racing in karting (and subsequently how he had to learn to not get "muscled around" after moving to europe), and 3) of course as a noted jb22 appreciator i love when people note similarities in his inputs to jb because it is delicious to ME:

Coming from a remote control car background where concentration, finesse and smooth inputs, these were the traits we saw in Oscar in the cadet category. [...] You would often see other drivers have an advantage in the early part of the race, driving more aggressively, but Oscar had a more calm approach.

c__c but back to the first part of the ask and our good friend russell jorge, i'm mostly obsessed with oscar's reactions to his performance at the rollercoaster that was spa 2021 and the fact that he's been so vocally appreciate of george "outperforming" the car he was in. the 2 instances of the word HERO on his twitter:

and then this quote in an interview he did in 2022:

"[Success] is definitely not just defined by just world championships, and if you can outperform the car that you're in—I think George Russell has been a very fine example of that in years previous, you know, constantly getting the most out of that Williams and of course Spa. (laughs) Bit controversial, but he got a podium at the end of the day! And even without that, he qualified second, he outqualified everyone except Max in a Williams, which, you know, is an unbelievable result."

also george being the only f1 driver (i think) to tweet him for his f2 title :saluting_face:

AND ALSO THEM SHARING THE ANECDOTE OF THEIR AWKWARD FIRST MEETING ON THE FAST & CURIOUS POD??? aka oscar was told in his april 2023 ep that they were going to interview george next and he was like oh ok you can ask him about our "slightly left-field introduction," and then they had george on who was like oh yeah i met oscar for the first time washing our hands together in the bathroom on our way to the ausgp in 2020 😭 what a way to meet.

[popponn]

foxes, sake, and what follows after a reunion. [yae miko x f!reader]

notes: in a way, part 2 of this. could be read separately. contains depictions and mentions of hangover and drinking.

Sometimes, you forgot Miko is a fox. A very mischievous fox.

But, at times like this, she would never fail to remind you of that fact.

“Oh, are you up, Sleeping Beauty?” Miko smiled as she gazed down at you.

“Wha…?” you started, nearly incoherent. Your head throbbed, cruelly reminding you of your drinking spree just a few hours ago. You held back a groan at that reminder. Talk about a loose lightweight.

Graceful and mocking, Miko laughed. “How cute,” she mused. Was it another time, you would have protested or at least glared at her. Luckily, you were too busy trying to gather yourself at the moment.

“What happened?” you slowly blinked, trying to wave off your headache. It didn't help at all.

“My favorite swordmaster was too overjoyed by our reunion,” Miko narrated, as if the said favorite swordmaster wasn't lying pathetically on her lap. “So, I spared her some mercy and let her drink to her heart contents before gently nursing her on a bench, out in a cold night.”

“You just wanted to embarrass me,” you chided. One of your hands grasped around your waist, trying to find your blade, only to be caught by one of Miko’s hands instead and lose its strength immediately.

“You knew I would never do that. On top of that, you are a silent drunk who just keep drinking like a divorced middle age,” Miko replied, her fingers gently tangling with yours, her other hand never stopping combing through your strands. “If anything, it was both cute and cool in your own way.”

You groaned at her answer, before shifting your head on her lap to be more comfortable. Miko didn't protest, thankfully seeing it seemed to be impossible for you to be able to get up anytime soon. Talk about overdoing it.

“You should have stopped me,” you said.

“And lose a source of entertainment? In your dreams,” Miko scoffed.

“If I was any mortal I would have died from alcohol poisoning.”

“Yet, here we are. Your head on my lap, with a way-too-early hangover,” a ghost of touch landed on your lips as your hand limply was laid on top of your belly.

You merely sighed. Then, saying, “Five more minutes, then we are going home.”

“Sure, sure,” Miko said, with no trance of faith in you.

“I’m serious. And why don't you just drag me home or leave me be in the first place?” you scolded, feeling your composure coming back.

“Well, I did consider dragging you up the mountain, but in the end I couldn't decide which pose was the most hilarious. So, here we are,” Miko traced your lips once again. “You were so cute, sleeping like a baby. Should we do this every night?”

You closed your eyes, before yet again heaving out a heavy sigh. As you turned and pressed your face to her stomach, Miko chuckled, humoring and fond. Tiredly, you finally replied, “Just… let's skip the alcohol next time.”

“Sure, Dearest. Sure,” Miko said, teasing like a fox.

[momo-de-avis]

Your video talk reminded me of an archeologist guy that saw so much mis/disinformation and conspiracy theories being peddled on tiktok, that he started to make videos debunking all that bullshit, and ended up kinda making a career out of it. Milo Rossi, Miniminuteman on YouTube, he's hilarious.

lmao know exactly who he is, he's so goddamn funny, he doesn't even debunk shit, he just clowns on conspiracy theorists now which honestly is the way to do it

my whole reaction yesterday came from a video I came across some little boy who was talking about a "great book he read" and its a book Ive seen, never felt inclined to even touch it, smelt of shit to me in the distance, it's "as razoes do atraso portugues" or something like that by some economist (economists always think they know history) and this little dude summarised the book and its apparently... bc of the MArquis of Pombal. And he did this in the Gen Z tone which made it even more obnoxious "yeah, the guy we were taught at school was so awesome! that guy!" what school? what school taught you that? "he ruined our economy because he made sure the gold found in brasil [which had been pouring in since before he was minister of jack shit] was misapropriated and then he kicked out the jesuits who were responsible for education" absolutely no nuance on matter, one of the most interesting, most controversial figures in our history that I always describe to my clients as "one step forward, two steps back" a guy who is described by Brazilian historian Laurentino Gomes, who dead describes XVIII portugal as the most backwards and delayed european nation (because it WAS), as the only moment of progress in our history because how hard can it be to grasp that a man who was raised on the Republic of Letters, who was taught among some of the brightest Liberal minds of Austria and England was responsible for some of the most incredible progress in Portugal AND YET was also responsible for some of the greatest set backs due to his paranoia and dictatorial ruling as Prime Minister? Where is nuance?

The dude in the video also said that, according to the book, the Marquis of Pombal was responsible for implementing Absolutism... is John V a joke to us? Do you think absolutism sprouted from Pombal's ass one day when he went to take a shit in Rua do Século after the earthquake? Do you think we call Manuel I proto-absolutist because it's just a fun little quirky thing historians dug out of their sphincter?

Why do yall think the medallion with his face in Commerce Square is there with the completely wrong that, something like 1838?

Did people lose their ability to think?

Stop reading history books written by economists. I am a fair believer than anyone can become a historian so long as they learn the methodology and digs into the sources (I'm not a historian myself, I'm an art historian) but economists are doomed to fail man, fuck them

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: The Spirealm (致命游戏)

Source: Google Images

It started off peculiarly; first, his domestic cat refused to let him cuddle it. Lin Qiushi soon found that a sense of disharmony and incongruity began to pervade everything around him. Then, one odd day, he pushed open a door, and he discovered that the hallway he was familiar with turned into a boundless corridor. At both ends of this corridor were twelve, identical iron gates. Thus, the story began.

Source: MyDramaList (2024)

Action, Adventure, Augmented Reality? Sign Me Up!

I do not consume everything that has the 'entering a virtual game with real life consequences' plot-line but when I do, I more or less will enjoy them. The Spirealm is exactly that plot-line and after just finishing 19th Floor (another Chinese drama with similar concept), I was expecting more and hoping for lesser disappointment.

This drama did not disappoint at all. Lets first talk about the roles and the cast. Brilliant job on the casting, everybody pulled off their role so wonderfully, it felt like they were made for their roles. As for the characters these actors portrayed, wow. I haven't been obsessed with a fictional Chinese character in such a long time but Ruan Lan Zhu is so easy to be obsessed with. The writing was brilliant because I very quickly grew attached to the main people and when shit hit the fan, yeah, I felt everything as if I was a part of them.

Spoilers going on from here so if you haven't watched the show, go and watch it now, please?

As I was saying, I was so attached to some of the characters, I really, wow... Say Li Dong Yuan first. I actually already was spoiled with his death, I even knew which door was going to cause his death yet when it happened, I physically gasped. Then his farewell scene came about and goodness gracious, Xiao Zhuang's reaction was absolutely heart-wrenching. It really did not help that right before getting stabbed, the door Dong Yuan went through for Ling Ling was one of the most entertaining and comedic doors.

After that Zao Zao's death? She was already trying her best in the real world, she tried her best in the spirealm. She gave one of the best speeches ever. Yet that chandelier... I never hated chandeliers as much as I do now.

That's the thing about The Spirealm. This show has plenty of heartbreaking scenes but at the same time, it has a bunch of hilarious scenes too. You really can go from laughing one second and then depressed the next. Exactly like when Cheng Yi Xie sacrificed himself for his brother? One second I was laughing at Lan Zhu begging for Ling Ling's forgiveness and suddenly I was pissed but before I could even get real mad, I was hit with a broken heart. This may sound like a complain but the roller coaster of emotions made this drama ten times more interesting than other dramas.

Moving on to the game or doors or levels (however you want to call them). I really, really enjoy shows with this concept but many a times, the stakes just aren't high enough. Not The Spirealm though. I mean, look at Dong Yuan, Zao Zao and Yi Xie. They are part of the main leads and that world did not go easy on them. As much as I hate that they died, I really appreciated the high stakes in this drama. It made watching the show so much more worth it.

Anyhow, despite thoroughly enjoying this drama, I have so many questions. First things first, did I miss the significance of the necklace Lan Zhu gave Ling Ling during the first door?

Also (this is not that important by the way), when the time comes, the players have no choice but through the door. We've watched Ling Ling enter his doors plenty a time. Now tell me how did Wu Qi survive?

I may be someone who loves an ambiguous ending but if the theory that everything was not real is in fact real, I hate it. Yet, everything being a part of Ling Ling's dream or "hallucination" does make sense, as much as I hate it. Remember where Ling Ling walked into upon completing the first door? He entered the door in the middle of the road and exited it into his house? The discrepancies started right from the beginning. Which (if I did not miss anything) might explain the lack of significance behind the necklace. It will also explain why Ling Ling's time between each door is never long yet Wu Qi's not worried about his next door when he witnessed Dong Yuan's death? Or that Chen Fei's advancement is so much slower than Ling Ling. Furthermore, I'm supposed to believe the crew learnt about a mysterious man who helped Xiong Qi reunite with Xiao Ke in the spirealm and they did not investigate more?

I really do hate the everything was not real theory but I also cannot deny it's the most reasonable one. There was another theory I chanced upon on Douyin a while back and have since forgotten most of the information. However, I like that theory a lot even though it was quite farfetched. Long story short, the user theorised that after Lan Zhu walked into the portal and cleaned the program, Ling Ling woke up and regained consciousness after being hit, right? That's not reality but the 12th door and the door god for this last door is Lan Zhu. That was all I remember but the user did provide explanations and timestamps for their theory and upon reading it, it did make sense too. Therefore, if I ever come across that video again, I will link it here.

In the meantime, let's wallow in the conclusion of The Spirealm. It was a quick and short ride but an extremely memorable one.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

More productions from China here: 19th Floor (19层) | Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴)

[thedrarrylibrarian]

Can I say that I'm SO excited for this rec? It's always so much fun to host a guest in the library, and I have loved reaching out and making new connections with people I hadn't talked with before, but it's EXTRA fun when the reccer is already a friend AND when she recs a brilliant fic that I hadn't previously read! I don't know what else to say about this lovely writer than she's a wonderful and positive addition to our fandom, and a dear friend of mine. Without further ado, here is @nv-md to share our April Happy Hour Rec!

On a normal day, my inbox is not usually a source of joy. Bills, ads, work, and more ads, means that I spend most of my time avoiding emails at all costs.

However, an email from AO3 brings me nothing but joy.

An email that one of my favorite authors has written another seven thousand words (that I get to savor for free in the middle of the produce section while ignoring the poor man behind me who just wants to buy squash)? 

Well, there’s no greater joy than that.

And I’ll be taking zero comments at this time about how much I rely on fanfic for serotonin.

So, onto the fic in question!

I cannot recommend InnerLilith’s work enough. Like honestly, all of her fics are bangers and you should feel free to stop looking at this post to go and read them all right this moment. But, if you want to stick around, I’d love to tell you about ‘I’m lying when I’m looking away’.

I'm lying when I'm looking away by InnerLilith (6,757 words, rated E)

Sometimes it takes a Purim party and a flapper dress for Harry to figure out what he likes. (Spoiler: He likes Malfoy.)

This fic features: Jewish holidays and traditions, Draco in a flapper dress, flustered Harry, hilarious banter, meaningful discussions about gender norms, the smuttiest smut that ever smutted, and a soft ending that melted my heart.

I fell into this story headfirst and it was nothing but delightful from start to finish.

Harry’s POV is perfect. He’s a goddamn mess, has no idea which way is up, and waxes poetic about Draco’s legs and skin and lips and collarbones, and generally makes a fool of himself in front of all of his friends. Classic Harry James Potter behavior that I will never get enough of.

“Then he was striding over, all that leg just exposed, so Harry could see the muscles shifting with each step, the ripple of satin over his hinging joints, the soft, dark promise of what hid underneath.”

Draco is cool and confident (omg the snark), his legs are long, his dress is short, and I love him as much as Harry does. Honestly, I think about Draco in a flapper dress at least once a day.

“Malfoy certainly seemed to think nothing of it, sauntering around like he was born in that flapper dress. And maybe that’s what the big deal was for Harry, actually—how Malfoy acted like it wasn’t a big deal at all, and how he was right.”

Everyone is at the Purim party, including our beloved Fred (who lives), and they all make cameos as they watch Harry drool over Draco. If I tried to include all my favorite parts, then I would just have to copy the entire fic into this rec, but just know, the gang’s all here and it’s wonderful and brilliant. Lilith nails each voice, their costumes are hysterical (I will never recover from Luna as a demiguise), and I wish I was cool enough to be invited to their party.

In between eating hamantaschen and celebrating with wine, Harry and Draco circle each other all night. They’re not enemies, but it’s clear they don’t quite know how to be friends either, and they’re so obviously into each other that you can’t help but root for them to figure it out. There’s just enough ‘will they or won’t they’ to keep you on the edge of your seat and to make the ending that much more satisfying. Then—

THE SMUT! 

That’s all I can say about that because you need to read it yourself—it is delicious—but here’s a little teaser.

“Harry tugged his clothes off frantically, and when Draco brought a hand to the straps of his dress, slanting his brow in a question, Harry said, leave it, leave it, and his voice sounded cracked and desperate.”

This fic has it all and you will not regret one moment spent in this world. I wish that we could gather around a table, drinking and eating and laughing and talking about this fic. Since we can’t do that, please read it and then come and yell at me about it. 

Happy reading and a big hug and kiss to the Librarian, your hard work does not go unnoticed and it is sososo appreciated!

Hugs and kisses back and thank you to @nv-md for joining us for Happy Hour! As always, if you enjoyed a fic, please leave a kudos or comment!

Lots of Love and Happy Friday!

[o-vera-nalyzing]

https://www.tumblr.com/o-vera-nalyzing/746306642579226624/haikyuu-is-just-aftg-without-a-made-up-sport-the?source=share

Hi, you're the first person that I know of that love both Haikyuu and AFTG. So excited....! And I never thought it before but yes, Kageyama/Hinata is if Kevin end up with Neil....

So because you also love Haikyuu. From AFTG, which characters (can be your favorite or not) will be besties with who (in your opinions) if they were in other universe, with characters from Haikyuu? Why? Please pick 3 or 5 characters from each series. Hope my questions are not confusing.....

oooh this is a really good question!!! i think the obvious ones are like neil/kevin/hinata/kageyama who would all be besties for the fact that they’re all obsessed with their respective sports to the point of insanity. i think they would argue a lot ab which sports was better and kevin and kageyama would get way too into it but come out the other end besties.

without the connection of sports i think neil and hinata wouldn’t get along. hinata would try soooo hard to be neil’s friend and neil would be like ‘why is this weird smiley child harassing me?’ yes he would call hinata a child even tho he’s taller than him.

as for the rest, i think that dan/matt and daichi/suga would tooootally get along so well and talk about their respective demon underclass men. andrew and tsukki would have a cunt-off (for clarification they would bitch at eachother until one finally broke) and unfortunately my vote is on andrew winning cause tsukki is going to think that short jokes will work far more than they actually will. andrew would tolerate the banter for a little while cause he’s chaotic but eventually tsukki would cross a line and andrew would pull a knife <3

those are the ones that really stand out to me from karasuno but outside of karasuno obviously oikawa and nicky are best friends and probably facetime daily. kevin and atsumu are too alike to be extremely close but they have a healthy respect for eachother.

i think a lot of these are just characters that i find similar and therefore they would get along but as for ones that aren’t similar but i still think would get along, i have to pick kenma and neil. they’re both often quiet and just weird enough to get along, but they’re definitely not similar. kenma would definitely find neil’s antics with the press hilarious and neil would occasionally rt like kenma’s merch sales or something and break the internet just for funsies. also kuroo would find neil very entertaining and treat him like a weird dog kenma found in the dumpster (appropriate response) and neil is so used to that from andrew and the monsters he would actually feel more comfortable around kuroo because of it.

i hope that answers ur question, that’s just off the top of my head but that was really fun so thanks for asking!!

[riveatstoes]

For Your Consideration, Some Terrible Losers Club Headcanons**

**Mostly Eddie cus I think he’s silly

When they got married, Eddie and Myra’s wedding colors were teal and white

Their wedding song was “A Thousand Years” from the Twilight soundtrack — Eddie thinks it’s the most beautiful song to ever be written

Richie uses Apple Music (saw this in a fanfic somewhere, couldn’t unsee it)

Eddie’s the type of guy to mansplain the “true message of” Hamilton to the women in his workplace/Myra

After Derry 2016, Bill sends all of his books to Beverly so she can approve/veto the endings. She’s usually a good neutral party

The Losers meet once a month at least for dinner and to catch up

Richie gives them all VIP passes to his future shows and they never fail to show up (even when he ends up relentlessly bullying them on stage)

Bill and Richie definitely kissed in front of paparazzi once “for the bit” (Audra approved of this and thought it was hilarious)

Eddie was a huge fan of Twilight but didn’t admit it because he saw himself as “above” the other fans

They welcomed Patty Uris as an honorary Loser after Stan’s funeral. She and Mike get along the most of all of them

Despite not being a millennial, Eddie certainly acts like a stereotypical one and you cannot convince me otherwise (hence the Twilight and Hamilton references)

Eddie’s the type of guy to say “don’t talk to me before I’ve had my coffee”*

*If he doesn’t have his coffee then Eddie’s a little bit agitated throughout the day, BUT if Beverly doesn’t have her coffee she will kill someone. Stan is somewhere between them

Mike adopted a Pomeranian after leaving Derry. Richie is sometimes horrified of it

The others bring up Eddie frequently in a joking way, but rarely (at first) does Richie participate. Somehow nobody notices that he gets quiet when they bring the topic up

The Losers got famous on social media after reconnecting, purely because of how weird they seem together. Beverly’s personal accounts quickly turned into everyone’s source for Losers content

I’m sorry but Ben seems like the type of guy to go to a family event and ask “where’s my hug? :D”

Bill would want to make his son a junior to “carry on his family name” but also, I feel like if he were to have kids he’d be graced with all girls. Girldad Bill…hm

Richie being their universe’s Bill Hader is so silly to me because, and ONLY because of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. I feel like the Losers would relentlessly bully him for that shit

Not a headcanon but I love Patty and Audra, I’m quite possibly their biggest fan

Audra, Patty, and Bev best girlboss unit. I love the idea of them hanging out maybe I should write a fanfic about it

Obviously I’m a huge fan of the idea that Stanley and Eddie never died but that’s not exactly a headcanon so. Um. They’re still alive in my heart

[a-student-out-of-time]

Hey there! How are you?

I dunno if you heard, but Danganronpa Mauve Chapter 1 has been traduced recently, the Free Time Events are currently being published as well.

If you've watched it, what were your thoughts about the plot and characters (victim and culprit especially) ?

//Hey there! I've been meaning to get to this, and now that Zeph has finally posted the FTEs of the key characters in question, I can share.

//See, I never like viewing character behaviors and actions in isolation within the within the killing game and especially not in the trials themselves.

//Now that we've got some context, let's analyze:

//I'm once again annoyed that we're going through Hope's Peak Academy for like the fifth or sixth time, because I'm tired of this damn place and the people running it. That's really more of a me thing than a problem with people who make these games, of course, since it's already an established setting.

//More to the point, I like that Mauve is actually doing somethings differently. For starters, we actually got to switch POVs permanently this time, where our original protag was replaced partway in. Even then, Hiruto and Nozomi both had chances to not only have their own characters, but interact as well.

//I like this cast overall, and nobody annoys or infuriates me as badly as some others I could name : P

//I hesitate to give my opinions on a fangan before Chapter 1 is complete, hence why it took me so long, but I think it was pretty solid, if a bit derivative in its setup. Not bad overall.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

//However, props for actually killing a protagonist and doing so in a method nobody's done before, using the morning announcement's bell as a cover. That was a twist I genuinely didn't see coming.

//The game did so much to build up Misaki's character, and if you're a long-term fan like me, you're aware that can be a bad sign. I was so certain that she'd be killed or get got in a technicality, but no, she actually had nothing to do with this.

//Also, in kind of a hilarious experience, I used to make some jokes about Hitomi being blind since I thought her eyes being closed was more of an aesthetic thing like with Brock from Pokemon. Meanwhile, I made a prediction that nobody in the group setting up her concert would be the killer, since that felt too obvious to me.

//In the end, my theory was wrong but my jokes were accurate. Hitomi actually IS blind and our culprit was a member of that group.

//Specifically, none other than Kotori, who i never would've thought at first. And yeah, the elephant in the room here is not only her method of killing but also how utterly nasty and elitist she acts at the end of the trial. Something that really cemented the fandom's view o her as a terrible person.

//However, I wanted to see her FTEs before I rendered my judgement, because those are often the best sources of context for behaviors and attitudes among the cast.

//Sure enough, there was a lot to learn from them. Now, I can completely understand why people don't like her- frankly, her attitude does get pretty grating- but it's also kind of hilarious how her character conflict boils down to her feeling unsure about her relationship with her teacher now that she's surpassed his skills.

//Kotori Fukuoka, Suffering From Success.

//More to the point, watching her FTEs really does clear some things up:

Kotori's attitude and open insistence that she's a narcissist, always talking about great she is and how full of herself she is, actually leads me to believe the exact opposite. She doesn't think much of herself and is trying to prop herself up through that attitude.

Watching her FTEs, she never says anything half as elitist and nasty as she did in the post-trial. She never insults Hiruto or Nozomi or anyone else, never implies untalented people don't belong in Hope's Peak and actually apologies at the end. Compare that to someone like Byakuya, who can't shut up about how much he looks down on everyone. I agree with the idea she only said this stuff at the end to retroactively justify the killing to herself.

Her backstory is actually pretty credible, where her sensei- a friend of her parents- was the one who invested so much into her at a young age and wanted to show her what baking is like, even naming a bakery after her. It was thanks to that, and him offering to let her study abroad in France, that she got to make it into the franchise it is by the time Mauve takes place. But now she has no idea what to think, since she's surpassed him as her teacher, and it's clear she views him like a second father. These are the kinds of things that also drove others to become the Blackened.

She says that baking is the only thing she's actually good at. Once again a fine example of how being an Ultimate stunts and limits what people can do, and when that's gone, they feel like they have nothing else.

//So no, I don't see Kotori as just an inherently bad person. She's an arrogant little snot who needs her ego deflated, but she's nothing like some of the nastier characters we've seen out there, who trample over others without a second thought. We need to consider that the Killing Game often brings out the best and worst in people, especially when they're driven to murder.

//People don't reveal who they "really are" at the end, they say and do all kinds of crazy shit because they're afraid of dying. People reveal who they really are when they're most comfortable, like they often are at the ends of their FTEs.

//Overall, I'm really looking forward to Chapter 2 and where we go from here.

[lightofraye]

An Open Letter

Hello Danneel,

I suppose it had to happen, right? A “letter” to you. After all, I’ve written two to your husband. I had been pondering this for some time. I imagine your “stans” believe that I dislike you because you’re in a position that I wish to be in—the woman married to Jensen Ackles.

Perhaps.

Perhaps not.

See… when my life became chaotic and I lost track of a number of my favorite celebrities’ work and career, I became unaware that Jensen moved onto different shows, eventually settling in Supernatural for fifteen years.

By the time my life arranged itself in a way that I could begin to track down information—some easy to find, some next to impossible—I learned of the tail end of Supernatural. However, my provider was being ornery and refused to carry CW. So I just let it go.

My family, my life, was my primary focus for a time. Then I found a good internet provider, dropped my satellite provider, and began adding streamers. That’s when I came across The Boys. Then Big Sky. Then Supernatural on Netflix.

I became a new-old fan. I remembered Jensen on Days of Our Lives, after all. I remembered talking about him with one of my best friends. I remember talking about his unusual name—Jensen. And I remember talking about his acting.

Then I saw you. Longtime married, three kids. All the news articles kept raving about how great you two were. I saw the older videos of you two together, that livestream with Misha in the Impala….

I felt the sting, just a bit, of what I assumed was jealousy. I sighed, set it aside. I would follow Jensen’s work, I told myself. Jared’s too. Others that I admired. Just added to the list.

Something kept bothering me. I kept going back to it. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the problem. Mere jealousy couldn’t be it. I’ve had that sting before, grew past it. (Henry Cavill, anyone?) So why couldn’t I get past this?

It was pure happenstance, me coming to Tumblr. I was feeling very dissatisfied with Facebook, didn’t like Twitter. Reddit was not my thing. There were other, smaller, options, but damn if I didn’t keep coming back to Tumblr, largely because of the hilarious memes I’d see snipped and shared.

Why not? I told myself.

Let’s see how it goes. Signed up, picked a few areas of interest and I was off.

Boy, was I off.

Discovering the subsections of the fandom left me reeling. Destiel? Where the hell did they come up with that? Wincest? Yikes. And then—

Tinhat?!

COCKLES?!

Needless to say, it was… phew. I found a few I liked and focused on them. Then someone mentioned YOU. I rolled my eyes; you hadn’t been active in acting other than a few teeny-tiny but parts. What could they possibly say about YOU?

Then I read the post. And another. And another. I would spent a good few weeks carefully devouring everything I read. There’s so much, I may never cover it all. But I saw enough.

I would fact-check as best I could. Some were completely lost. The Wayback Machine could only do so much. Not everyone saved the sources. 

But I saw enough.

Then I sat back and it CLICKED. It wasn’t jealousy that waved hello to me. It was the personality traits, the behavior, the way you spoke to him, that all matched what I knew and learned in my several decades of life.

You are insecure.

You lack confidence.

You lack any outside interests.

You are unsupportive.

You care for nothing and no one outside of money. Oh, you have your children—you just don’t care about them. You have your husband—all you see are dollar signs.

There is no love. There is nothing genuinely GOOD in how you view Jensen. You don’t want him home; you push him out. All you want is the constant stream of income.

I see what you’ve done. All the acting in the world wouldn’t change the rest—you’ve an empty heart, a black soul.

Let him go, Danneel.

That’s my best advice to you. Let him go. Get some therapy and grow as a person.

Maybe then you could actually like the person you see the mirror.

In discordant tunes, Raye

[burningvelvet]

to cope with my post-binge blues from watching black sails, i just finished the treasure island audiobook. it's my first time with any treasure island media - now i have to watch the muppets movie. any way here are my thoughts:

- i knew the character of trelawney had to be based on the romantic era edward john trelawny of byron/shelley fame and I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sources: WONG, AMY R. “The Poetics of Talk in Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island.’" A Sandison Robert Louis Stevenson and the Appearance of Modernism

- i know that black sails isn't fully intended to be a perfect prequel or meant to be taken as filling in all of the gaps to treasure island but i'm still going to compare & contrast the two lol

- billy spending his whole life obsessed with flint and having alcohol withdrawal induced hallucinations about him. OMG. and i'm shocked that they just casually dropped that he visited flint in georgia to get the map like did flint request to see him before he died, was it just about the map, or did he want closure about the whole thing, did billy seek flint out, why didn't they kill each other, how the fuck did that whole thing go? i need more information dammit

- saw another post on here talking about how in black sails flint has that speech about the drunk guy named flint asking his grandpa for rum before disappearing into the sea and then in treasure island we find out flints last words were asking a "darby mcgraw" for rum before he died SO IN THE BLACK SAILS UNIVERSE DARBY IS HIS GRANDPA and so im wondering DID FLINT 1.0 EVER EXIST AT ALL OR WAS IT SIMPLY FORESHADOWING ALL ALONG but at the same time it doesnt matter because the black sails creators said the ending is intentionally canonically up to interpretation and black sails canon and treasure island canon dont match up any way but still it gives us so much to think about bc we never canonically find out who the fuck darby is

- the doctor is the funniest character ever and him giving zero shits about billy or silver is hilarious LMAO

- rly enjoy the descriptions of the contents of billy's pockets and chest. i love old shit and that whole nautical aesthetic ugh. im currently wondering about the significance of the five sea shells billy had (jim wonders abt them too) if they were souvenirs from the island or what... but we never find out!!

- and what the fuck was up with those black spots I NEED ANSWERS! It worked on Billy but not Silver?

- having grown up on PotC i'm very enthused at the references (the song, the rum, "dead mens chest," etc)

- wish we saw more of jims mom, she was lowkey a badass for a moment there telling everyone off and willing to face the wrath of the pirates with her son lol

- love how the men just take jim on for his valour and then decide to make him a cabinboy and the mom just gets a replacement son to help her around the house lmaoooo i wonder if that was a common thing for single women to do though?

- long john silver has a sort of jekyll/hyde personality (btw the author stevenson also wrote jekyll/hyde for those of you who dont know!) - also why the fuck did they leave him to his own devices toward the end and not have a gun on him 24/7 like? i was also shocked that he didnt run off with all the gold only some of it. most chaotic character ever

- my biggest questions are why did black sails take out the alcoholism and the sea shanties? but importantly the alcholism - if they were going for gritty, as they were? flint and billy's alcoholism is integral to their characters (defines their characters actually) in the book as contrasted by silvers moderation & thats rly interesting. and the lack of singing is just boring - pirates rly did have sea shanties - however i can understand for time constraints per episode and whatnot them taking out the singing for practicality - but the alcoholism again is integral to those characters as well as being historically accurate and realistic & would have added a lot imo

EDIT: immediately after posting this i realized that since there are a few years between the treasure burial and flint's supposed death in georgia, he could have become a drunk in that time if we're creating a black sails to treasure island timeline, and billy wouldn't have become a drunk til later on since black sails is set roughly 20 yrs before treasure island.

HOWEVER - by the talks of it in treasure island, and all the pirates referring to flint as a drunk etc., it would still seem that flint was always that way when they knew him, prone to drinking... but at the same time i guess you could say all the characters are jollier than in black sails as indicated by their singing and their more stereotypical piratey ways.

however i still think the alcoholism & addiction theme would have added an extra layer to everything especially after flints sad drunk scene with eleanor. also in toby stephens deep fathoms interview he said flint is essentially like an addict when it comes to his delusion & desires. anyway i digress

transcript here, audio is on youtube: https://www.justsaypodcast.com/blog/2018/12/18/transcript-interview-with-toby-stephens-of-black-sails

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 Review - Drop The Tea

Have you ever envisioned a brawl between a Shuckle and a Polteageist? Whether you have or haven’t, this episode delivers just that. I like that this is more of a Pokemon-focused episode rather than Horizons’ usual human and Pokemon-focused episodes. While there were some humans that played a key part in this episode, they weren’t the real focus of this episode as it was all Polteageist.

Polteageist makes its official anime debut alongside Sinistea; though, the main focus is on the latter. Despite it being a Pokemon that can only say its name, it’s interesting to see it interact with the other wild Pokemon aboard the Brave Asagi. My only issue is that how it stumbled upon the airship was never explained, but I think that’s the beauty of the mysteriousness. It flew around dropping purple liquid, which is most likely its black tea. This was caused Roy to investigate it. Liko heard mysterious clinking noises, which prompted her to check out the source. While the plot was about Roy and Liko trying to find out the source of this mysterious happening, they ultimately take a backseat from the spotlight. After all, Polteageist is the star and I think the writers did a clever job incorporating that. I think the part where it got stuck on Alolan Muk’s back was cute; I think that part of the episode showed off how much personality it has.

Though, I do wonder if Polteageist was mad at Shuckle for letting someone drink its juice or did it have some sort of rivalry as they both produce tasty fluids? It can be a bit hard to decipher Pokemon’s behavioral patterns as these cute creatures do not talk; sometimes, some aren’t facially expressive, so they have to rely on body language—but body language can be hard to interpret as well.

I love that out of the wild Pokemon aboard the airship, Shuckle gets the most focus; it’s unexpected that this tortoise-like Pokemon would be the deuteragonist of this episode. I sure didn’t expect it. The part where Dot wanted to drink its juice straight from the shell was hilarious; too bad she was stopped by Quaxly. I think the cutest thing about Shuckle was that the anime did honor the game’s logic as it is a VERY slow Pokemon with a base speed stat of 5. Just seeing the part where Shuckle was sluggishly walking as a snail’s pace was hilarious—it was so slow that it had to be pushed to resume the plot. I think the anime also showed off its high defense and special defense stats as it tanked all of Polteageist’s attacks without much damage. I never knew the anime would be this accurate about a Pokemon’s stats—they never follow this logic in the previous anime as Ash would carry around extremely heavy Pokemon like Larvitar and Hippopotas as if they were made of cotton.

I do like that that the wild Pokemon do have their own hangout in the basement where they hold club-like parties. Even owned Pokemon like Captain Pikachu and Rockruff join in on the fun. I think this is really cute and it shows that the wild Pokemon on the airship are just as important as the trainer-owned Pokemon. I’d like to see more episodes that revolve around them if possible. Also, Captain Pikachu has a Skitty mug; isn’t that adorable?

Speaking of honoring game logic, Sinistea usually evolves by exposing it to a chipped or a cracked pot. I think it’s interesting to see it being “born” from the opposite way—by having Polteageist’s tea exposing it to a chipped teacup. Does this mean this is the first time asexual reproduction is seen in the anime? I think this is quite interesting. It’s cool that Diana had a chipped cup; I think she was already aware of Polteageist being on the ship, but said nothing as she wanted to prove her theory.

Like I mentioned before, I want to see more episodes of the wild Pokemon on the Brave Asagi. This episode proves that they’re as interesting as the human characters. I’d like to see how they stumbled upon the airship too. Before I end this review, there’s a little fun trivia that I know about Polteageist. It’s Japanese name is Potdeath, which makes sense since it’s a teapot and the death fits its ghost typing. Did you know that it’s also a pun; if you pronounce it by how it is pronounced in Japanese, you’re basically saying “It’s a pot” (Pot-desu). Isn’t that both cute and funny? Do you think we need more Brave Asagi Pokemon episodes?

[augment-techs]

What if: What if Skull had come with Bulk onto terraventure in lost galaxy 👀

First thing's first: *instantly kills Professor Phenomenus* Sorry guy; I know you were in the 'I'm a Ranger' civilian call, but you should never have been on Terra Venture, you're like a thousand year's old.

On with the good thoughts.

Bulk and Skull in space--the one year Earth got a break from attempts to take it over.

I would like to take this opportunity to posit the theory that while Bulk and the Professor had jobs as tech originally that got sidelined due to constraints with the staff, Bulk and Skull are basically jack of all trades and could probably present their hundreds of recorded jobs to be able to do literally anything.

Bulk can stay on as a restaurant proprietor; Skull can swap around with assisting in the upkeep of the various biomes when he's not taking the opportunity of free time to better himself with as many musical instruments as he can get his hands on.

They are both Friend Shaped and because I am highly convinced Damon and Maya could never be happy with just the Rangers--Damon because he was never supposed to be on Terra Venture and Maya because all the Rangers were involved in the worst day of her life and thus instantly brought up trauma in the back of her mind--I am going to have Maya stumble into friendship with Bulk, while Skull proves himself to be reasonably interesting enough for Damon to find worth talking to.

Let's keep in mind that the boys probably joined the colony in an effort to move away from how they were in Angel Grove, prove themselves as more than just in the way or laughingstocks or--because I am interconnecting the comics with this, fight me--found themselves lonelier than they thought when literally all the teens they'd grown up with or come to respect (all Rangers) had left without saying goodbye.

Given the opportunity, I think Bulk could prove to be invaluable as a source for Maya to understand Earth's history in a clear and concise way that Kendrix and Kai don't have the time to explain, and Leo, Damon, and Mike just...aren't very good at. Bulk in his position as bartender and chef would be able to feed Maya human food Mirinoi could never fathom: potato pancakes, Pad Krapow Moo Saap, yakitori, Gulab Jamun, sanguinaccio dolce, Qumbe--and then teach her the background on the continents and cultures the cuisine originated from; more than happy to answer any additional questions the woman would inevitably have.

Skull, contrariwise, would most often find himself nearby when Trakeena or Scorpius's Generals happened to teleport in to cause trouble. Being from Angel Grove, he is not at all impressed by the insectoid species constantly interrupting his work. Would eventually being able to straight up just chase off any Stingwingers that would try and mess with his duties, and would gain a bit of a reputation among the staff of Terra Venture's lower staff as the guy to call to work under high pressure. Something Bulk would be incredibly proud of if he wasn't fully aware that Skull still had troubles with anxiety and only had one injection from before the launch that was supposed to keep him balanced for a year.

Damon kind of feels bad for being a little standoffish the first time Skull bails him out of an incident before morphing in the middle of a barely controlled panic attack and ends up requesting Skull as a partner for assignments on the ship.

As a bonus to Bulk becoming friendly with Maya, he also ends up becoming something like friends with Kendrix and Kai who, while brilliant, don't have encyclopedic knowledge of ancient Earth and enjoy picking his brain from time to time; even asking for aid with Ranger Problems when Alpha mentions "knowing" both Bulk and Skull when Zordon was alive--which would bring about a hilarious, confusing, and heartbreaking misunderstanding.

Leo instantly respects Bulk for reasons he can't really put into words except that he seems to be really good for the Team.

Mike, when he returns to the world of the living, is more inclined to...maybe not respect...but enjoy the company of Skull--especially when he finds him after curfew in the park trying out a new guitar.

Also the Lost Galaxy is not going to be misleading. Terra Venture LITERALLY gets lost because of an interdimensional transport accident. The Rangers still have the Astro Megaship, but they are SUPER lost.

Which means lots of things.

Like maybe the Rangers do wind up with Karone, but only because, say, both Damon and Skull got recruited by Trakeena to mess with a machine she didn't understand and they wound up resurrecting the Psycho Rangers as a unit, which means MORE interactions with MORE Astro Rangers.

But Karone showed up to fix the Psychos' brains and Kendrix didn't die--in fact, they wind up KEEPING the Psycho Rangers with the Astro Rangers sticking around for a little to help everyone acclimate.

Bulk ends up with a whole new set of duckies lining up to follow him around juuuuuust in time for Terra Venture to make contact with some Guardians of Eltar that ran aground their ship because the humans don't have a registered charter and, lo, Zelya and the Sentry Force Four come to meet with Stanton and Reinier while negotiating with Trakeena the return of Damon and Skull after the miserable bitch snapped them up again to see what else they can do.

So many possible intergalactic incidences...but so much more fun. Relationships: Psycho Rangers & Bulk; Psycho Rangers & Karone; Maya/Kendrix Morgan; Maya & Bulk; Bulk & Skull; Skull & Damon Henderson; past Zelya/Skull. Additional Tags: Bulk is having a much better time than in canon; Skull is having a so-so time; NEW SKILLS; Big Papa Bear Bulk; Skull Needs a Hug; Past Relationship Trauma; PTSD; Leukemia; Amnesia; Post-Human Weapon ANGST; Trakeen spends three Episodes Flirting with Zelya; Stolen Beauty Episode - Canon Divergence; Skul Confirmed Gay; Food as a Metaphor for Love.

@skyland2703