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blondephil · 3 months

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hello (one of the) resident phannie data analyst(s) here with some parasocial stats on dnp’s movie tastes! following: distribution of dan and phil's ratings overall, movies they each rated 5 stars, their lowest-rated movies, and the similarities + differences in their tastes

(lore moment: yes i am a data analyst in my real job. yes i surprised myself with wanting to do this in my spare time. but then i remembered when we read dracula in college (yes i was an english major) and i graphed like, how many times dracula was referred to as vampire versus monster or something. so i shouldn’t be surprised.

first up, their overall rating patterns and by ~special status~ (i.e., wall-e, kill bill, avatar, lmao, plus big hero 6 for the fun of it)

dan’s rated 304 movies and phil’s rated 305. both of them have mean and median ratings of 4 with min 1 and max 5.

both rated kill bill vols. 1 and 2 a 5. wall-e got a 4.5 from dan and a 4 from phil (phake phans). both gave avatar a 3.5. and big hero 6 3.5 (dan) and 4.5 (phil)

rating distribution:

i did analyses here by genre but i need to fix the output (i’m writing all of these based on the markdown document from my phone on the subway, but i need to fix the outputs and i don’t have my computer. so those are pending but there are other genre analyses that i could do & haven’t yet!)

while i was sorting through the data i got the impression that dan overall rated movies higher than phil. so, among movies that they've both rated, here's some information

number of movies dan rated higher than phil: 65

Empire Strikes Back, Blade Runner, Return of the Jedi, My Neighbor Totoro, Back to the Future II, Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story, Phantom Mence, Donnie Darko, Attack of the Clones, Finding Nemo, Oldboy, The Notebook, Batman Begins, Brokeback Mountain, WALL-E, (500) Days of Summer, Up, The Hangover, Drive, The Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Life of Pi, Skyfall, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Whiplash, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Room, The Hateful Eight, The Force Awakens, Manchester by the Sea, Deadpool, La La Land, Moonlight, Rogue One, Call Me By Your Name, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2., Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, I, Tonya, Thor: Ragnorak, Phantom Thread, Roma, The Favourite, The Lighthouse, Toy Story 4, Midsommar, Ad Astra, Knives Out, Soul, The Green Knight, No Time to Die, Don't Look Up, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Turning Red, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion, Beau is Afraid, Barbie, Oppenheimer, Poor Things

number of movies phil rated higher than dan: 55

Star Wars (New Hope), Blair Witch Project, Requiem for a Dream, Memento, Ocean's Eleven, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Moonrise Kingdom, Iron Man 3, Gravity, Prisoners, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, John Wick, Gone Girl, Big Hero 6, Jurassic World, The Martian, The Revenant, Nocturnal Animals, Split, Get Out, Baby Driver, The Disaster Artist, Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, The Greatest Showman, The Last Jedi, Ready Player One, Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born, Rocketman, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Joker, The Rise of Skywalker, The Invisible Man, A Quiet Place Part II, Greenland, Tenet, Malignant, Eternals, The Matrix Resurrections, Scream (2022), Nope, Prey, Talk to Me, Avatar: The Way of the Water, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

number of movies they rated the same: 99!

Alien, ET, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Se7en, Scream, The Fifth Element, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Magnolia, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Spider-Man, Lost in Translation, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Mean Girls, Howl's Moving Castle, Children of Men, The Dark Knight, Pontypool, Inglourious Basterds, Avatar, Toy Story 3, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Black Swan, The Social Network, 21 Jump Street, The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook, The Conjuring, Snowpiercer, Her, Thor: The Dark World, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Boyhood, It Follows, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Interstellar, Ex Machina, The Witch, Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Mad Max: Fury Road, Inside Out, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Your Name., Arrival, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, mother!, It, Blade Runner 2049, Hereditary, Black Panther, Annihilation, A Quiet Place, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Us, Avengers: Endgame, Parasite, It Chapter Two, Marriage Story, Uncut Gems, 1917, Black Widow, The Suicide Squad, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Dune, Last Night in Soho, The Batman (2022), Everything Everywhere All at Once, X, The Northman, Top Gun: Maverick, Bullet Train, Barbarian, Pearl, M3GAN, Dungeons and Dragongs: Honor Among Thieves, Evil Dead Rise, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3., No Hard Feelings, Saltburn, Priscilla, Society of the Snow, Saw X, Leave the World Behind

i didn't analyse this by genre or anything, but i could -- so if you're interested lmk!

the 5 movies with the most different ratings between dan and phil

- Iron Man 2 (dan: 2, phil 3.5)

- The Greatest Showman (d: 2.5, p: 4)

- Malignant (d: 3, p: 4.5)

- Scream (2022) (d: 2.5, p: 4)

- Beau is Afraid (d: 3, p: 1.5)

Interesting that even though dan has more higher rated movies, 4/5 of these ones phil rated higher.

next, their 5-star movies

dan's five stars: 80

Alien, Empire Strikes Back, ET, Blade Runner, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Stand by Me, The Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro, Back to the Future II, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Jurassic Park, Nightmare Before Christmas, Schindler's List, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Toy Story, Fargo, Scream, The Fifth Element, Hercules, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Fight Club, Magnolia, The Emperor's New Groove, Donnie Darko, Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Finding Nemo, Kill Bill, Oldboy, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Shaun of the Dead, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Howl's Moving Castle, Revenge of the Sith, Brokeback Mountain, No Country for Old Men, The Dark Knight, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Tree of Life, 21 Jump Street, The Avengers, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Under the Skin, Whiplash, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, Sicario, The Hateful Eight, La La Land, Arrival, mother!, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, First Man, The Favourite, The Lighthouse, Parasite, Midsommar, Uncut Gems, 1917, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Oppenheimer, Poor Things

phil's five stars:

Star Wars (New Hope), Alien, ET, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Scream, The Fifth Element, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Magnolia, Requiem for a Dream, Memento, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Howl's Moving Castle, The Dark Knight, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 21 Jump Street, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Arrival, Dunkirk, mother!, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, Parasite, Uncut Gems, 1917, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Gladiator, Little Miss Sunshine

overlap: 39

Alien, ET, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Scream, The Fifth Element, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Magnolia, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Howl's Moving Castle, The Dark Knight, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 21 Jump Street, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, Arrival, mother!, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, Parasite, Uncut Gems, 1917, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick

& their lowest rated movies...

dan: matrix resurrections (1) , thor: the dark world (1.5), the rise of skywalker (1.5)

phil: crimes of the future (1), attack of the clones (1.5), thor: the dark world (1.5), don’t look up (1.5), the matrix resurrections (1.5), doctor strange in the multiverse of madness (1.5), beau is afraid (1.5), black bear (1.5)

not even chris hemsworth could save thor the dark world, i guess (kat dennings, though…)

movies they logged on the same date:

note that this is like, non-exhaustive, because this is only based on their diaries that list the date. i think in reality they've watched most of these movies together. frequently dan logged a couple days after phil which aren’t shown here. procrastination queen

Pontypool, Eternals, The Northman, Nope, Barbarian, The Banshees of Inisherin, Glass Onion, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Beau is Afraid, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3., Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Saltburn, Poor Things, Priscilla, Saw X, Leave the World Behind

movies that one logged and not the other:

dan but not phil: 85

The Exorcist, Stand by Me, The Grave of the Fireflies, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Home Alone 2, Schindler's List, Fargo, Romeo & Juliet, Hercules, Men in Black, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Mummy, The 13th Warrior, Fight Club, The Emperor's New Groove, Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Legally Blonde, Monsters, Inc, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scooby-Doo, 28 Days Later, Matrix Reloaded, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, School of Rock, Matrix Revolutions, Saw, Shaun of the Dead, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Revenge of the Sith, The Devil Wears Prada, Borat, Casino Royale, No Country for Old Men, Death Proof, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, There Will Be Blood, Tropic Thunder, Slumdog Millionaire, Moon, District 9, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The King's Speech, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Tree of Life, X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, Argo, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, World War Z, Pacific Rim, Under the Skin, 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, The Babadook, The Lego Movie, x-Men: Days of Future Past, 22 Jump Street, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Theory of Everything, Green Room, Sicario, Spotlight, The Big Short, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Conjuring 2, Train to Busan, Hacksaw Ridge, Doctor Strange, Hidden Figures, Logan, You Were Never Really Here, Game Night, Isle of Dogs, First Man, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Suspiria, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Glass, Hustlers, Pig, Violent Night

phil but not dan: 86

Jaws, The Terminator, Beetlejuice, Die Hard, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Groundhog Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Leon: The Professional, The Usual Suspects, The Frighteners, The Sixth Sense, Being John Malkovich, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Gladiator, Catch Me if You Can, Elf, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Little Miss Sunshine, Pan's Labyrinth, The Prestige, Zodiac, Spider-Man 3, Iron Man, Juno, Lake Mungo, Twilight, Zombieland, Kick-Ass, Brave, Evil Dead, The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me, Monsters University, Man of Steel, About Time, Dallas Buyers Club, Edge of Tomorrow, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, The Boy, Raw, Finding Dory, Suicide Squad, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, John Wick: Chapter 2, Lady Bird, The Ritual, Happy Death Day, Deadpool 2, Ocean's 8, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Bird Box, Booksmart, Crawl, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Platform, Black Bear, Palm Springs, The Empty Man, The Innocents, Titane, Old, Free Guy, The Black Phone, Fresh, Watcher, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Ambulance, Aftersun, Crimes of the Future, Fall, Bones and All, The Menu, Sanctuary, Do Revenge, Smile, Hellraiser (2022), Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Plane, Missing, Infinity Pool, Past Lives, Knock at the Cabin, Scream VI

i’m interested to see how this varies by genre!

miscellaneous non-statistical things that made me parasocially emotional and/or laugh during this process:

they watched nope together on christmas eve 2022 <3

dan rated moulin rouge a 5 <3 nature boy <3

he also rated shrek a 5. of course. (valid).

4.5 from dan and 4 from phil from the notebook

5 from danny for brokeback mountain <3 and a 4.5 from philly

cmbyn, yes, has its issues, but dan rated 4.5 and phil 4

the shape of water got a 4.5 from monsterfucker phil lester (dan gave it a 4)

surprisingly phil rated rocketman higher than dan! surprising because dan liked so many musicals

dan gave hustlers a 3.5. i don't know why i think this is funny, but i do. phil doesn't have it logged or rated, lmao.

a 4 (d) and a 3.5 (p) for barbie!

phil gave twilight a 3. lol.

phil also gave do revenge only a 3.5. tragique.

phil watched a LOT of horror alone in october 2022 (aka while dan was on tour). anyway he's just like me <3

#dan and phil #dnp #phan #dan howell #phil lester #twitter says letterboxd should have been gatekept i say 1) know your phannie history! 2) this is nothing their usernames are so obvious you #think they didn’t know this would be found? be fr!

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weirdmarioenemies · 2 months

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We localized the names of all the Super Mario Land enemies, too!

Yeah! If you don't remember, a few years ago, we came up with localized names for all the Super Mario Land 2 enemies as a sort of Christmas gift from us to you! But did you know? There's a Super Mario Land 1 also, and very few of its enemies have localized names either...! With another holiday upon us, we're making this the gift that keeps on giving, with a whole new set of clever enemy names just for you! I hope you enjoy!

Goombo -> Goombie the Shroom Fish

While "Goombo" has always been a fine name, it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi that other localized Goomba relatives like "Galoomba," "Goombrat," and "Goombud" have. With this new name, which is a clever homage to Hootie & the Blowfish, now it should fit right in!

Bombshell Koopa -> Koopie the Boom Fish

Another enemy that technically has a localized name already, but once again, this fairly boring name lacks the ceci n'est pas une pipe that truly great localized names have. It might seem weird to call a turtle a fish, but when you think about it, all tetrapods are fish, so it's fine!

Bullet Biff -> Shootie the Bullet Fish

You know the drill by now! A name that lacks Allouette, je te plumerai turned much more memorable by one simple yet effective reference! Bullets look kind of like fish, you know!

Since we've spruced up all the enemies with actual localized names, now it's time to Get Creative! The rest will be under the cut!

Fly -> Fruity the Fly Fish

While not explicitly a fruit fly, we figured that for the sake of the homage, this name gets the job done. And don't worry, I checked. He's allowed to reclaim it.

Bunbun -> Stabyoutie the Bee Fish

The Japanese name is an onomatopoeia for the sound a bee makes, but because we couldn't think of an English equivalent, we decided to name it after what it does instead. Watch out! It's gonna stab you!

Gao -> Mewtie the Lion Fish

"Mew" is a common onomatopoeia for a cat, which fits Gao pretty nicely, given a lion is a type of Big Cat! Of course, to remind people this is a lion rather than your typical housecat, we've appended it with "the Lion Fish" for good measure.

King Totomesu -> Roary the Zebra Turkeyfish

I'm pretty sure one of my siblings once had a plush lion named "Roary the Lion" so I've decided to rename King Totomesu in their honor. And see what we did with the descriptor, eh? Eh? Pretty clever, huh?

Honen -> Hootie the Bone Fish again

Yeah, I know we used "Hootie the Bone Fish" for Honebon during our Super Mario Land 2 project, but can you blame us for the repeat? It's a good name! And since none of these names are official, either one can have it. I don't mind.

Yurarin Boo -> Hottie the Blow Fish

Yurarin Boo is a seahorse that blows fire at you, and you may not know this, but fire is Hot! I know it's a seahorse and not a pufferfish, but since it's a fish that blows fire, I figured "Blow Fish" would be a good pun still.

Mekabon -> Rebootie the Bot Fish

As an enemy in the Muda Kingdom (the game's signature water world!) with a fish-eyed stare and arms that look more like flippers than anything else, this enemy's fishy appearance was not lost on us, and we figured we should reflect that in its name.

Torion -> The Blue Fish

I know I said some of the already localized names lacked omelette du fromage or whatever, but some enemies really do just deserve a name that's simple, straight, and to the point. Torion is one such enemy.

Yurarin -> Nottie the No Fish

As a relative of Hottie the Blow Fish without the ability to blow fire, we decided to give it a similar name, but this time specify it can't really do anything special at all. Serves as a nice parallel to the Yurarin/Yurarin Boo naming convention, huh?

Gunion -> Octootie the Blue-Ringed Fish

"Oh, those rings are clearly yellow!" I hear you say, but consider: Super Mario Land was in black and white. Or. Dark green and lighter green. Maybe the official art made a coloring mistake, huh? Huh??? Some people would object to me calling it a Fish also, but at this point it's been well-established that every sea creature is some kind of fish.

Tamao -> Tammy the Jelly Fish

See what I mean? The English instruction manual called this thing a jellyfish, and I'm sticking by it!

Dragonzamasu -> Haughty the Boss Fish

As the boss version of Hottie the Blow Fish, I figured to give it a name that parallel's Hottie's as well! As a boss, you'd expect it to be pretty haughty, huh?

Bataon -> idk man give me a break the Flying Fish

this is really hard you guys

Ganchan -> Cheeky the Stone Fish

What a Cheeky fellow we have here! I think it's fun they decided to give this rolling rock a personality with eyes and cheeks, and we've decided to emphasize that with the name we came up with for it!

Tokotoko -> Scooty the Dude Fish

Tokotoko looks like it's running very fast, but it doesn't even have legs, so it kinda just. Scoots all over the place. And I'd be foolish not to call this guy a Dude, what with the Cool Cool Glasses! And since Batadon is a Fish, Scooty shall be too. Simple as that!

Suu -> Suutie the Arachno-Fish

Decided to stay pretty faithful to the Japanese name with this one, but I figured a clever reference to Hootie & the Blowfish would make it more relatable to the American youth of today.

Kumo -> Kumootie the Arachno-Fish

oh man do i really have to name two separate spiders in a row

Hiyoihoi -> Brutie the Rude Fish

Hiyoihoi has always had sort of "cool delinquent" vibes to me, hence calling him rude, and as a boss, you gotta assume he's a bit of a brute. The name also rhymes with "Scooty the Dude Fish," which this is the boss version of!

Pionpi -> Spooky the Boo Fish

This frightening fishy fiend is sure to give you the heebie-jeebies!

Pompon Flower -> Rootie the Grow Fish

Plants are pretty well known for having roots and growing, and thanks to Hootie the Blue Fish helping us learn that plants can, indeed, be considered fish, that makes every part of this name legally Clever!

Nyololin -> Spewtie the Blow Fish

Look, I know this is the second enemy that we've named "the Blow Fish," but it blows poison at you, and on that note, it is poison like a real blowfish! It all comes together flawlessly!

Chicken -> Tweetie the Crow Fish

Yeah, I know we technically changing its species, but it looks nothing like a chicken! Can you blame us? And the Mario franchise has a long-running tradition of connecting birds and fish (see Cheep Cheep!) so calling it not just a "crow," but a "crow fish" makes it fit in better.

Roketon -> Grutie the Banana Fish

minion joke

Chikako -> Floatie the Glow Fish

Hi the Mod formerly known as Mod Chikako! I hope you like your new legal name going forwards...!

Pipe Fist -> Punchyoutie the Pipe Fist

This one may seem like we're grasping at straws, but being a big hand, I think Punchyoutie the Pipe Fist can grasp straws very easily, thank you very much.

Biokinton -> Cumulootie the Atmosphish

This one's self-explanatory.

And last, but certainly not least...

Tatanga -> Evil Mario

That's it for Super Mario Land! "Like" and "Subscribe" and "Hit the Bell for Notifications" if you want to see us localize the names of every enemy in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3!

#super mario land #april fools #mod hooligon

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starrgaziinggg · 1 year

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FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS | lee minho

PART EIGHT

You finally meet the man your friends Felix and Hyunjin have been blabbing about for the past couple months, and he's a royal pain in the ass.

Lee Minho is a legacy at your university. He received an honorary award when he graduated, got a position as a dancer in a company a week after receiving his diploma...and was renowned as the schools famous ice-cold fuckboy.

After coming back from a three month tour, you're introduced to him through your uni friends...and your life does a 180. It's hard enough to pass classes whilst also trying to navigate your failing relationship...but the added tension that comes with the dance prodigy you seem to be spending more and more time with?

Some would say it's too much to handle.

|Non idol AU|university AU|friends to lovers|

part eight

Everybody knows January is always the slowest month of the year. The year end always passes by in a blur, the days seemingly non existent until new year hits and suddenly it's as though time has slowed down. The days stretch, and January is a long, cold, gruelling month.

That's exactly how your January went. You'd stayed with your family over Christmas and new year, letting the boys invite of spending new year with them be turned down. They understood that you hadn't seen your family since the start of the semester, and wanted to spend as much time as possible with your parents and grandmother until you had to return back to Seoul for the start of the semester.

The only good parts about the start of second semester was that you enjoyed your class rotation, one of your end of school year exams was a group project that ran throughout the course of the whole semester so you got to pair up with Hyunjin and Felix, and you ended up passing all your exams with flying colours.

Of course you, Hyunjin and Felix had gone out to celebrate, bringing the rest of the boys, who had also passed their exams (even Changbin, which was miraculous since he barely attended his classes and did next to no revision) and Chan tagged along too. The only one who wasn't there was Minho, for obvious reasons.

You hadn't spoken to him at all since he'd left. He hadn't made any effort to reach out to you, so you reciprocated the action. It wasn't as though you had much to talk about over the phone, anyway. You'd said what you needed to say when you'd seen him last, and that was that.

After the events of last semester, your life almost started to feel boring, monotonous. It was the same schedule daily; go to classes with Hyun and Lix, come back to the dorms and either watch tv with Seungmin or wait for him to get back from baseball practice and make him spend time with you then.

He knew you were bummed about the whole situation, and although he'd refrained from saying, 'I told you so', you could tell he wanted to knock some sense into you. He'd said from the start that your friends with benefits situation with Minho wasn't good for you, since he could see your feelings for him a mile off. He knew you too well, you'd decided.

Despite this, he'd been a great friend to you after your return to your dorm the first week of January. He played mario kart with you whenever you asked, still cooked you most of your meals, and let you vent about how much you missed Minho. He was probably sick of hearing it, but he never showed.

Hyunjin, although you'd seen him multiple times since you'd been back home, had been kind of distant with you. He hadn't really been his usual clingy, excitable self, though you had no idea why. You didn't blame him for the misunderstanding because you knew how rumours spread - one piece of stray information gets misconstrued and ends up a whole different thing entirely.

You hadn't spoken to him about it much, other than just explaining that he was wrong about the whole thing, and you were starting to think he was more upset about the whole situation than you initially thought. It was due to this that when Hyunjin messaged you, a message very similar to the one you'd received that had started this whole thing, you'd agreed to meet him at the coffee shop for a chat.

The early January air seemed impossibly colder than that of December, so you were pleased to escape the freezing chill of the outdoors as the bell chimed in the coffee shop, signalling your arrival. The best part about the coffee shop you spent most of your time in was that it was less than a five minute walk away from your dorm - and, obviously, that Jeongin worked there. He gives you a wave and a smile from behind the counter, before letting his eyes dash to an obviously stressed Hyunjin sitting in the booth, and back to you.

You shrug at him, unable to do much more, as you walk up to your booth and place a hand on Hyunjin's shoulder to notify him of your presence, since he was sitting in the chair facing away from the door. He practically jolts out his skin when he feels your presence, standing up awkwardly. He moves to hug you without thinking twice, and you'd be lying if you said you hadn't missed his embrace, and him acting fine with you in general.

It's strange for a second as you slide into the booth silently, waiting for Hyunjin to start speaking. After he doesn't make a move to start, fiddling with his fingers instead, you go to talk - just as he begins to speak, which make you both laugh nervously.

"You go," you say, mostly because you weren't actually sure what you were going to say to him in the first place. He takes a deep breath before he begins talking.

"I'm sorry, I'm just getting this massive wave of deja vu and it's making me all wonky," he whines, and paired with the puppy dog look he has on his face, you can't help but to chuckle at him.

"I know, me too," you say honestly. "But whatever you need to tell me, it's alright."

He uses your encourage words and takes them in his stride, pushing on with what he wanted to tell you. "I don't know if you know, but Minho hasn't talked to me since he left. Well, until yesterday."

You did not know this. You had thought Minho's radio silence was reserved only for you; subject to your terms of his leaving for two months.

"Had he been talking to the other guys?" You ask, and he nods, frowning. He pulls the strings of his puffer jacket.

"Yeah, so I figured he was annoyed at me for telling you, you know," he says, tilting his head. You knew. "But he called me last night, saying that Seungmin forced him to call me and sort things out."

You nod this time, knowing Seungmin hated it when his friends fought and although he always put up a demeanour as though he couldn't care less, he was always the one to try and make his friends make up after an argument.

"He was practically screaming down the phone at first, and I understood why after he explained everything to me."

You tilt your head. "Explained what?"

"About how he's practically in love with you," he says instantly, widening his eyes afterwords and covering his mouth with his hands. "Fuck, he specifically told me not to tell you that. See, this is why I keep messing things up so much!"

"It's fine, Hyun," you say sincerely. "I won't say anything. Did he actually tell you that?"

Hyunjin nods slowly. "Yeah, those exact words, amidst some shouting about how I'm a terrible friend."

You can tell he's genuinely upset about whatever Minho had told him, so you go to hold his hand, choosing to focus on comforting your friend over focusing on the revelation. He squeezes yours as soon as you make contact.

"He didn't mean that, Hyunjin. He was just angry," you say, knowing that Minho would regret everything he said to Hyunjin as soon as he'd calmed down. "You're not a terrible friend, you just got things wrong."

"I guess," Hyunjin replies, deflated. "But I still have a lot of apologies to make, and I wanted to do them in person, starting with you. Since Minho isn't back for another three weeks, obviously."

He sighs, looking at your intertwined hands before talking again. "I'm so, so sorry for not being supportive of you and Minho. He was right - he's supposed to be one of my closest, longest friends, and I had absolutely no faith in him. Even after he told me that he felt different about you right at the start, I didn't believe him."

You screw your face up at him, and he almost bangs his head off the table. "Oh my fucking god, I need to shut up, seriously."

"What do you mean he told you right at the start he felt differently about me?"

"I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Jesus, I'm turning into Felix telling all these secrets."

"Hyunjin," you say warningly, and he throws his hands up in the air in defence.

"Okay, okay. You remember that night, when we went clubbing after you and Doha broke up, and me and Minho talked pretty much the whole time we were having drinks in your dorm?" You nod your head in response. "It was then. He basically said he thought there was something special about you, and if anything was ever going to happen between you both he didn't want it to just be some meaningless fling."

You have to force your jaw to stay in place at Hyunjin's revelation. This kind of changed everything, since you knew now how serious Minho was about actually being with you. He'd known it from the start, even going as far as to tell Hyunjin about it.

"But please, please forget I told you that - this is all, fuck, I just need to shut up," Hyunjin rushes out. "Anyway, I just wanted to say how sorry I am about...well, everything. I was horrible to you about your ex, and even though he was a dickhead, I should have been nicer about the whole thing. And then, when you started seeing Minho and I was so judgmental about that too..."

He trails off, and when you look at him properly you realise he's tearing up. He looks down at his lap, sniffling, and your heart genuinely breaks in two. Without a second thought, you stand up and move to his side of the table, wrapping your arms around him. You weren't much of a hugger, but you knew when your friends needed comforting.

Hyunjin responds instantly, letting you hug him and wrapping his arms around your waist. "God, I don't even know why I'm crying."

"It's okay, Hyun," you chuckle, starting to feel emotional yourself. You hated seeing your friends upset (every time Felix so much as drunk cried, your heart shattered), so seeing Hyunjin cry because he felt bad about how he'd treated you was awful.

When you finally pull away from him, he wipes his eyes with his jacket sleeve, running both hands through his long blonde hair as if to sort himself out.

"Jesus, this is not how I wanted this conversation to go," he laughs slightly, revealing his dimples as he shakes his head. "But we're okay, right?"

"Of course we're okay!" You say in disbelief. You'd never had someone care so much about your friendship as to be this worried about it before. As much as you hated seeing Hyun so emotional, it was almost heartwarming to know how much he truly cared for you. "You didn't do anything you did out of spite, you only did it cause you were looking out for me."

He hums, nodding, giving you a lopsided smile. "I think one of the reasons I'm so protective over you is because you're an only child, too. We never had siblings to look out for us, we just had to figure things out for ourselves, and sometimes I feel like you're the little sister I never had. Especially with boys."

He adds the last part in a comedic tone, but it doesn't stop your eyes brimming. You know exactly what he means, and it pulls at your heartstrings. Just before your about to get all sentimental, though, Jeongin dumps his apron on the table and places an extra fancy hot chocolate in front of you, sliding into the booth next to you.

"So, I'm on my break - are you two done with your soppy lovey moment?" He says cheekily, so you roll your eyes at him and give his shoulder a nudge.

"Yes, we're done idiot," Hyunjin replies, distaste in his tone. "Why does she get a free drink and I don't?"

"Because I like her more than I like you," Jeongin says plainly, shrugging. "Now, tell me more about this secret birthday party I'm not supposed to know about."

You spend the next couple hours drinking hot chocolate (you swore Jeongin made the best in the world) and trying to avoid the topic of Jeongin's secret birthday party, which actually was very real and apparently not very secret. You'd all been planning it for months, since he was turning twenty one - a special birthday. All of you had done your best not to tell Jeongin about what was going on, but once Felix knew, he couldn't keep his mouth shut, and Jeongin caught on pretty quickly.

You'd just returned from the shops one night a week later, out to buy your joint present with Seungmin for Jeongin (a pair of shoes you knew he had his eyes on), when you were faced with someone you honestly did not expect to ever talk to again.

As you pushed open the main door of your dorm, balancing a shopping bag, a shoe box and a birthday banner in one hand and your keys in the other, you called out for Seungmin to come and help you carry your things inside. You'd realised something was up when he emerged looking distressed, giving you a worried look.

"What?" Is all you said, an eyebrow raised as he took the shopping bag from you and you headed through to your room to dump all the things you'd bought for Jeongin's party.

"Um," Seungmin started nervously, moving in your way to block your bedroom door. "Firstly, I tried my best to stop her and secondly, please don't scream at me. Or kill me."

You're utterly confused until you push your bedroom door open and Sooyun is sitting on your bed, on her phone. She looks up at you. Your eyes widen as you slowly turn to Seungmin.

"You're a dead man," you say quietly, dumping everything you were holding on the floor and turning to throttle him. He ducks out of your reach.

"Please don't!" Sooyun speaks up, the sound of her voice more than jarring. "It's not his fault, I demanded he let me in. Literally."

"I never though I'd say this," Seungmin says with a shaky voice, holding your wrists in his hands. "But she's right, I really did try to keep her out but she's scrappy!"

You turn to look at Sooyun, who gives you a nervous smile. "I am pretty scrappy."

With a huff, you turn on your heel to face Seungmin. "If were not done talking in five minutes, I've probably murdered her, and you will need to help me bury the body."

"Fair enough," Seungmin breaths out, saluting you as he slowly backs away. You turn to Sooyun.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm doing good, how are you?" Sooyun starts, rolling her eyes sarcastically and clasping her hands. "I'm loving this warm welcome."

"Get out," is all you reply with, pointing towards your door. She huffs, softening up physically.

"Okay, okay, sorry," she rushes, sighing. "You know I use humour as a coping mechanism."

You don't even say anything, just wait for her to continue with whatever it is she's come here to say. You'd honestly be more than content with never speaking to her again but, alas - life seemed to have other plans.

"I'm sorry," she says, and you can tell she's being sincere. You used to know her inside and out, after all. You move to sit on your bed, the opposite end to Sooyun. "I genuinely, really am. I never intended for you to find out the way you did, and I honestly never intended to go behind your back, either."

"But you did do both of those things," you say, surprisingly calmly.

"I did yes, but in my defence I did try to tell you before you found out," she reasons, and you roll your eyes. "You were brushing me off the whole week before you walked in on me and Doha. I tried to make plans with you so many times to tell you, and you ditched me every time."

"I ditched you because I'd just found out Doha was cheating on me!" You shout, remembering you're in a communal living situation and attempting to lower your voice. "I wanted to figure things out myself. I was planning on dumping Doha and coming to tell you, but that didn't happen."

Sooyun huffs, looking up at the ceiling, and when you take a peek at her you watch tears well up in the corner of her eyes.

"I know," she says softly, surprising you. "I know I'm the worst friend ever, and I don't want to excuse my actions at all. I shouldn't have gone behind your back, and I shouldn't have lied to you about it and - I just..."

She stops, taking a deep breath. "I just want you to know that I am sorry for what I did to you, and I will always be sorry. It's the worst thing I've ever done."

"So why did you do it?"

She waits for a second before speaking again, turning to look at you properly. "I never intended to love him, not at all. He was you're boyfriend, but I'd always kind of had a crush on him. I just put it to the back burner for your sake -"

You scoff. "How kind of you."

She actually chuckles at your interruption, shaking her head before continuing. "But then in summer, we bumped into each other in that coffee shop near my place in Busan, and got to talking. I tried so, so hard to ignore my feelings but when he started reciprocating them...I just couldn't help myself. I know it's terrible, and I don't want or expect you to ever forgive me for what I did."

"So what's the point in telling me all this?" You ask, genuinely wondering why she felt the need to explain herself after all these months.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about you, and then in turn I knew I should at least try and apologise," she says, and you tilt your head. "When I saw you at the Christmas markets, you know, at the skating rink, I realised how much I'd missed you."

"What's that got to do with what you want to tell me?"

"You've been looking miserable around campus recently," she points out, and you know she's right. "You looked ecstatic that day at the ice rink with Minho."

"You know him?"

"Everyone knows Lee Minho, babe," she chuckles. "Well done, by the way."

You shrug, feeling kind of proud.

"But you've not been together recently, and I figured that might have something to do with the fact you've had a face like a slapped ass of recent," she tilts her head questioningly. "And as much as you hate me now, we once told each other everything, and it pains me to see you so upset."

Oh, what the hell. You hated her, sure, but you could use a girls perspective on your current situation. You didn't need to make amends with her and you certainly didn't like her by any means.

"He's working away for two months," you start to explain the basics, not wanting to spare huge details of your life to the girl who stabbed you in the back. "And we left things on a bit of a limbo note. I'm fine, it's just...weird."

You notice the way her eyes light up as you speak to her, not expecting you to open up. "Well, if it's any consolation, you looked really cute together. You were smiling at him in a way I don't think I've ever seen you smile, or be as comfortable as you were with Doha. And I'm not just saying that due to the circumstances."

You can't help but let out a laugh. The whole situation was beyond you at this point, and you had much bigger issues you wanted to deal with. At least this was a step towards all that mental improvement you'd told Minho you'd achieve before he came home.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you," you point out with a straight face, and Sooyun holds her hands up.

"Don't expect you too," she counters. "As long as you take in my apology, and sort out your shit with your man, that's good enough for me."

"Excellent. Now get out," you say, but you're smiling slightly as you say it, and she gives you a small smile back as she stands up. When she opens your door, Seungmin is standing cautiously on the other side.

"Oh thank god," he breaths out, placing a hand on his heart. "I was about to get the gloves and shovel out."

Sooyun chuckles, manoeuvring past Seungmin to stand in your hallway. "I wouldn't have been surprised if you had to. It's what I deserve."

Seungmin turns to you with a raised eyebrow and you shrug in response. "Bye, Sooyun."

"Bye guys," is all she says, turning on her heel and seeing herself out of your dorm. Seungmin comes to join you, creating a dip in your bed as he takes a seat.

"So," he starts, getting himself comfortable and turning to face you slowly. "What did the she devil want?"

"Surprisingly, all she wanted was to apologise and tell me she thinks I've looked miserable since Minho left," you answer, rolling your eyes at the nickname that's clearly stuck around after all these months.

"Hm," Seungmin says audibly, a curious look to his face. You'd noticed Seungmin was strangely good at reading people, always paying more attention than most. "She's not wrong, to be fair. But that's all? I thought you guys would be screaming at each other, honestly."

You chuckle, shrugging your shoulders. "Same, seriously. I'm shocked at how civil our conversation was - she literally just apologised and explained how she'd had a crush on Doha for a while or whatever, and wanted to tell me she was seeing him the weekend I found out and broke up with him, so she didn't get the chance."

"Interesting," Seungmin raises his eyebrows. "While it was decent of her to apologise, she's still a snake. And, why does she think she can tell you shit about you're own life as if she has any say in it anymore?"

"Who fucking knows," you groan, leaning against the wall beside your bed, turning your head to look over at Seungmin. "I'm over it. I can be civil."

"She doesn't deserve civil," he points out.

"That's true, but I'm not wasting anymore energy over it. I have other issues to deal with," you say with a sigh. Seungmin tilts his head at you.

"You're finally maturing!" He gleams, grinning at you and showing off his braces. You roll your eyes playfully, knowing that he's kind of right. "You're a better woman than me."

When all you do is raise an eyebrow, he laughs and shakes his head. "You know what I mean. Anyway, how are you doing? You know, with the whole Minho situation."

"I dunno," you respond lazily. "I kind of realised I missed him when I started rereading our texts when I couldn't sleep, and now I just want him to come home."

"That's the last stage - acceptance."

"He's not died, Seungmin," your quick to cut in with a laugh.

"No, but it's the same principle. At least you can finally admit you like him more than as just a sneaky link," Seungmin points out, rearranging his position on your bed.

"It wasn't a very sneaky link," you shake your head laughing. "But yeah, I like him. He's not given me any reason to not. I feel like I was just trying to downplay my feelings for him because I didn't want to admit to myself I liked him as much as I do."

"I get it," Seungmin says after humming. "It's scary to get intense feelings for someone so quick after your relationships ended."

"Yeah," you nod, agreeing with him. Seungmin never failed to help you figure out your emotions. "God, if Minho could hear this conversation he'd be gloating."

"Oh, he so would be," Seungmin laughs, rolling his eyes and the thought of his friend. "On a less deep note, did you get the shoes for Jeongin?"

"Yup," you say, heaving yourself up off your bed to grab the box with Jeongin's shoes in it. You open the lid off the box to show Seungmin, tilting it.

"They are hideous."

You role your eyes as you close the lid of the box again. "Shut up, he's been wanting them for ages. For some reason Jeongin can pull off clothes that would make anyone else look like a clown."

"True," Seungmin nods. "Also, have you heard about our new plan regarding Jeongin's birthday party?"

"No?" You question. Jeongin's 21st was proving to be one of the most complicated events you'd ever helped set up in your life. The boys were going all out on the celebrations, which is what you thought Jeongin deserved for putting up with their idiocy.

"We're now no longer informing Felix of any of the plans. He's out. He's a little blabbermouth and cannot be trusted."

You laugh, giving Seungmin a thumbs up. "I'm so on board with that. The amount of times I've had to cover his mouth or change the subject because he keeps 'forgetting' Jeongin's not supposed to know about his surprise party."

"He's an idiot," Seungmin chuckles, standing up from off of your bed and clasping his hands. "I think it's dinner time. Chicken wraps?"

You nod, grinning. "You speak to my soul."

Jeongin's surprise birthday party arrived faster than you'd expected, the days seeming to be a blur of decorations, organising, studying and sleeping. What was meant to be a small get together at Hyunjin and Felix's dorm turned into a full blown party at Changbin and Chan's apartment in the city centre. You weren't aware of just how many friends Jeongin had outside the guys, but he was apparently a very popular guy.

It was a whole ordeal, having to go as far as miss your last lecture on Friday afternoon to help set up. By the time you, Chan, Changbin and Seungmin were set to finish, their apartment would be transformed from a gym bro torture chamber to party central.

You'd all spared no expense with the decorations; streamers, fairy lights, tinsel, and to top it all off - a banner that read, 'happy brthday Jeongin!". Yes, Hyunjin had been in charge of the banner, and yes - he'd misspelled it.

The operation began at 5pm on the dot. Jisung's role was to assist Jeongin in getting to the party location - a process that was made ten times harder from Jisung's idea to stop Jeongin from finding out he's actually headed to his birthday party. He'd gone as far as to create a group chat excluding Jeongin (and Felix, who knew nothing) and propose his 4 step plan.

Step One: The Study Date.

Him and Jeongin had arranged a study date together on Friday after their lectures last week, leaving Jeongin unsuspecting.

Step Two: The Phone Call.

Changbin phones Jisung in a panic about how he was in the bathroom, accidentally slipped out the shower and hurt himself and the lock has broke, leaving him stranded as Chan was out. This is credible, since the dodgy bathroom lock in Chan and Changbin's apartment is infamous (due to many an awkward on-the-toilet encounter), and Changbin is quite clumsy.

Step Three: The Formation.

Jisung ropes Jeongin into going to rescue Changbin with him. Shouldn't be too hard, since Jeongin likes spending time with his friends and will have nothing better to do. Plus, he'd get a kick out of seeing Changbin trapped and in pain. Meanwhile, everyone is also on their way to the party, or already there.

Step Four: The Party.

Everyone hides and does the whole, classic, 'surprise!' scenario, Jeongin is surprised, everyone parties and life is good.

It was actually a pretty decent plan, and everyone was up for seeing it through. That's how you ended up teetering on the edge of a ladder, trying to pin the banner up.

"A little more to the left," Seungmin says, standing back so he can get a comprehensive view of the misspelled banner. You move the banner accordingly. "Hm, maybe down a bit."

You move the banner again, trying to be careful and not fall to your death.

"No, that's too far, more up," Seungmin nags again.

"Oh my god, it's going here - end of," you say exasperatedly, pinning it in place and climbing down the ladder. It looks fine, so you leave it in place and take the ladders away.

"That's the kitchen area finished," Chan announces, walking over to you and Seungmin, dusting his hands off on his trousers. "Hyunjin is such an idiot."

You laugh, nodding your head. "His excuse was that he was half asleep when he painted it."

"If we get Jeongin drunk really quickly he'll probably not notice," Seungmin points out. "Where's Changbin?"

"Here!" The man in question shouts from his room, wandering out with his phone in hand. "Fifteen minutes until the seed is planted. This place looks good!"

"Thanks," you say with a grin, knowing you'd orchestrated the decoration process. "I should probably go get changed - people should be showing up soon, right?"

"Yup," Chan answers. "I told people to show up at around seven, which is in ten minutes, so get your skates on."

"Hold on," Seungmin speaks up, a confused look on his face. "If people are coming in ten, who's getting Jeongin's cake?"

Everyone falls silent, looking towards each other. Changbin shrugs his shoulders, while you roll your eyes.

"Nobody picked up Jeongin's cake?" You groan, knowing that something was bound to go wrong after everything had been going so smoothly. You'd messaged the group chat to say the cake was due to be picked up at some point today, after ordering it online, but it had clearly gone forgotten. You'd get it if you could have, but the cake shop you'd ordered from had to be driven to, and you didn't have a car.

"Do we have time to get it before people start showing up?" Changbin asks.

"Dunno, isn't the bakery a ten minute drive from here? That's a twenty minute trip, not to mention actually getting the cake, and Jeongin and Jisung are only a five minute drive away. As soon as Changbin calls them, they'll be turning up," Chan responds, looking towards you with raised eyebrows.

"Could you drive there, Chan?" Seungmin asks, but he shakes his head.

"Changbin and I had a couple beers this afternoon," he responds, shutting down Seungmin's question. "I feel okay but I'd definitely be over the limit if I got stopped."

"Why don't you drive, Min?" You ask your dorm mate, but Changbin laughs before he gets a chance to respond.

"Seungmin? He hasn't even passed his written test, let alone the actual test," he scoffs.

You turn to Seungmin with a blank stare. "You haven't got a drivers license?"

"Shut up."

You turn on your heel to Chan. "Would you let me drive your car?"

"Sure, if you treat her with respect."

"I'll go, then," you say, because realistically it's the only option. You'd absolutely hate to miss Jeongin's suprise entrance, but you'd hate it if one of the boys missed it even more. Plus, his cake was super expensive and the plan was to bring it out for him straight away. "Where's your keys?"

Chan walks through to the kitchen area wordlessly, grabbing his car keys and chucking them towards you.

"If she comes back with a scratch -"

"You'll kill me, I know," you chuckle, giving the boys a wave and heading towards the door. "Text me when people start showing up."

"Will do. Drive safe," Seungmin answers, as you leave the apartment and hurry down the stairs. It was going to be a mission to get to the cake shop, pick up the cake and get back to the apartment before Jeongin and Jisung arrived, so you had to move quickly.

Chan's car was fairly easy to drive, which was useful since you hadn't driven much since you'd moved to the city for university. It wasn't long until you reached the cake shop. They handed over the cake after you'd checked it to make sure it was the right one, and you basically scrambled to get back in the car and put the foot down.

You'd set your maps up on your phone to find your way back to the apartment when you got the message that Changbin had called Jisung and set the plan in motion, as Jisung had been texting Changbin to say Jeongin was getting antsy in the library, which was a nightmare. Since Jisung and Jeongin were much closer to the apartment than you were, you could only hope Jisung's stalling would buy you some time.

You wouldn't call yourself a particularly fast driver, but in this instance the speed limits were useless to you. Luckily, the amount of times Minho had driven in this area like a maniac and bragged about never getting ticketed had paid off, as you knew there were no speed cameras around. Usain Bolt would have been your only rival as you parked up, grabbing the keys, your phone and the cake box as you bolted up the stairs of Chan and Changbin's apartment building.

Your efforts seemed futile, though, as you slid into the hallway outside their apartment door and saw Jeongin and Jisung standing right outside the door. There was a only a split second where Jeongin turned round upon your arrival, a confused look over his features, before the door burst open and Jeongin's friends shouted, 'surprise!'.

Although you should have been more startled by the array of people screaming in front of you, or disappointed that you'd missed being on the other side of the door for the surprise, the real reason your jaw dropped and you stood stock still was because of one particular person straight in your eye line.

Minho stood, his face only just visible behind Jisung's, amongst your friends. You felt like you were hallucinating until you were snapped back to reality.

"Oh my god?" Jeongin grins, looking between all of his friends. "How could I not have figured this out!"

"Because you weren't blessed with brains," you heard Seungmin say cheekily, earning him a scowl from the birthday boy.

"Shut up. Is it bad I'm kind of disappointed I didn't get to see Changbin in a state?"

Everyone laughs at this, and you follow as the two boys in front of you are ushered into the apartment. It takes Jeongin all but two seconds to notice Minho, and his reaction makes you think he wasn't aware of his grand return either.

"Minho hyung!" He squeals, even going as far as to give the older man a hug. "I thought you weren't able to be back in time for my birthday?"

"Change of plans," Minho says with a smile, reciprocating Jeongin's hug. "Happy birthday, kid."

The front door closes behind you, and you turn to see Jisung winking at you.

"Did you know about this?" You whisper to him, and you watch him shrug as he takes the cake box out of your hands.

"Might have done. Go say hi," he replies with a genuine smile. You roll your eyes, unable to resist smiling back at him as you turn around - and Minho is standing right there. It almost feels like a dream.

There's a moment where he just looks at you, a small smile playing at his lips, until he pulls you into him and wraps his arms around your shoulders. You just let him take you in his embrace, and if you had to describe how it felt - you'd say it felt like home.

Your reunion was, of course, interrupted as Chan strolls towards you both.

"Okay, lovebirds, there's enough time to get reacquainted later," he grins at you both. You pull apart, thankful that Jeongin's party guests had started to mingle amongst themselves and hadn't witnessed your sappy moment. "How's my baby?"

"Your cars fine," you respond, chucking his car keys in the air, which he catches. "Only scratched her a couple times."

Chan just shakes his head at you, walking away to hang up his car keys. Just as you think you've got a minute to be able to talk to Minho, your arm is swiftly pulled away and Felix drags you into him for a hug.

"Hello, my favourite girl," he grins, wiggling you about. "How's your day been since I last saw you a couple hours ago?"

You laugh, shaking your head at Felix's eternally happy nature. "It's been stressful. I actually still need to get changed, so if I could perhaps get a second -"

"BIRTHDAY SHOTS!" You hear Changbin scream from the kitchen area, and take it as your queue to dip. You silently slide away and grab your bag, heading into Chan's bedroom to get changed. He'd given you permission earlier in the afternoon to change in his room, so you start pulling your clothes out of your bag.

Before you get the chance to change, you hear a gentle knock at the door. Sighing, you shout through that they can come in.

"Sorry to interrupt," Minho says quietly, sliding through the door as if to not reveal his disappearance from the party. "I saw you come in here, and I wanted to say hi properly."

"Hi," you all but giggle, moving closer to him out of instinct. "Is it cringe if I say I've missed you?"

"Super cringe," he answers, coming closer to you still. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you too."

You hum, letting him come even closer and bringing your hand in his. He gives it a squeeze as you rest your head against his chest momentarily.

"You didn't talk to me while you were away," you mumble. You knew why he'd given you the radio silence, but it didn't hurt any less.

"I know," he sighs back, bringing his free hand up to place it in your hair. "I just wanted to give you space. I was so busy, too."

"No, I get it," you interrupt, pulling away slightly to look at him properly. "I just...I dunno, I thought I'd have a lot more time to plan what I'd say to you when you came home."

Minho chuckles, shaking his head slightly. "Well, we've got plenty of time to catch up later. If I don't give Felix about an hour of my time tonight he will kill me."

"I don't doubt it," you smile. "That boy has missed you more than I can say."

Minho can't help but smile, and you can tell how much he has missed his friends. He steps back from you slightly and nods towards your bag on Chan's bed.

"I'll leave you to it. Find me later on though, yeah? We've got a lot to talk about," Minho says, taking a few steps backwards and smiling at you before leaving.

You take a minute to yourself before getting changed, smiling inwardly at the thought of seeing Minho again, of him being back home. You'd waited for this day for almost two months and now it was here - you were more ecstatic than you thought you'd be.

Once changed, you leave Chan's bedroom to find the party in full swing already. You recognise some people, such as Jeongin's friends from work and some people on his course, but you decide to head in the direction of the birthday boy himself. You find him downing shots with Hyunjin, who gives you a grin as you walk towards him.

"Hey," he says, passing you a shot on instinct. You down it with a grimace, placing the empty glass on the table beside you. "You look less crap than you did a half hour ago."

"What a lovely compliment," you sneer, turning to the younger boy to your left. "Happy birthday Jeongin - the big twenty one."

"Don't remind me. I'm as old as you guys now," he laughs, already going to pour another round of shots. "Your decorations are great - I'm so glad they left if to you. If it was any of the boys, Hyunjin's dodgy birthday banner would be the only form of decoration."

"Hey!" Hyunjin shouts as you chuckle.

"You noticed that, did you?" You ask Jeongin, who shrugs with a grin.

"Of course I did, it's literally the centrepiece," he says, turning his attention to Hyunjin. "Really? Who forgets the 'I' in birthday?"

"Okay, okay, now that you're my age doesn't mean you get a pass to be a cheeky shit," Hyunjin counters. "The day you can outdrink me is the day you can make fun of me all you want."

Jeongin takes that as his queue to pass out the shots he has poured, so you take it and clink your glass against his and Hyunjin's before downing it. Hyunjin must have noticed what you had at that moment, Minho sitting next to Felix on the sofa, as he nudges your shoulder.

"Did you talk to him yet?" He asks.

"Yeah, a bit. Did you know he was coming home early?"

Hyunjin shakes his head, and when you look to Jeongin he shakes his too.

"No idea. It was a nice birthday surprise, except Felix won't leave him alone now," Jeongin laughs. "I'm using my birthday boy status to demand a chat."

Jeongin peels off, heading towards Minho and Felix, which leaves you and Hyunjin.

"Don't worry about it," Hyunjin says in a calm tone, obviously sensing you were nervous about how to navigate Minho being home. "Enjoy yourself tonight. I've got no doubts that Minho will be occupied all night, since everyone's missed him almost as much as you have, but you'll have plenty time after the party to talk. Or not talk, up to you."

You nudge his shoulder at his suggestive tone, but laugh all the same. "I know, I guess I'm still shocked he's even here. Have you talked to him yet?"

"Nope," Hyunjin shakes his head. "He arrived only a minute after Felix and I did, and then not even five minutes later Jeongin turned up. I'll catch him at some point tonight."

You hum in response, giving your friend a small smile. "You shouldn't worry either," you say, knowing your emotional friend is probably shitting it for his conversation with Minho after everything that happened. "It will be fine between you two."

"Yeah, I know. I just hope he knows how sorry I am."

You roll your eyes at Hyunjin, unable to help yourself. "Come on you big softie, you know what Minho's like. He probably already doesn't care."

Hyunjin's face lights up at this, as if you've reminded him how much Minho actually loves him, and that he won't let one stupid incident bother him too much.

"You're right," Hyunjin nods, pulling a hand through his messy blonde hair.

You shrug your shoulders in response. "I always am. Now, want to pour us some drinks? Plus, isn't that girl you were seeing a couple months ago, the one on Jeongin's course, here? Maybe you could apologise for ditching her at the library that one time."

Hyunjin laughs, shaking his head. "Yeah, that might be a good idea," he says, looking in the direction of that girl and her friends, until Seungmin starts walking towards you both. "Want a drink, Seungmo?"

"Was just about to ask for one," Seungmin responds, giving Hyunjin a thumbs up when he picks up the bottle of liquor Seungmin wanted. "Plus, I wanted to tell you both to stop moping in the corner. Jeongin's adamant on setting up beer pong, and I need to win this time. He's never stopped rubbing the New Years game in my face."

"What happened on new years?" You ask, the two boys having clearly forgotten you weren't there.

"Only the greatest showdown in history," Hyunjin responds with a grin, handing you and Seungmin the drinks he poured for you both. "It was Jeongin, Changbin and Felix vs me, Seungmin and Changbin with Jisung as ref. It was the most intense game, and Jeongin ended up winning at the last second."

"With some dirty tactics," Seungmin huffs sulkily, turning his attention to you. "Anyway, I'm replacing Changbin with you on my team, because he lost for us last time, so come on."

The beer pong game you get roped into ends up lasting hours, since Jeongin continuously disappears to either talk to his party guests or down the never ending cycle of drinks being given to him. Due to this, Seungmin's team ends up winning, even after Hyunjin's position is switched out to one of Jeongin's work colleagues, since Hyunjin's attempt to apologise to that girl he left in the library actually works.

When people start heading home after a couple hours, you notice him leave with that same girl, a cheeky grin plastering his face. You shake your head at him in response as you continue your clean up mission. Everyone had gotten very drunk very quickly, which had led to Chan and Changbin's apartment getting all but trashed.

Hyunjin's birthday banner was ripped in half, both sides dangling off the wall, though Jeongin had said it looked better like that, since you couldn't see the spelling mistake well. The birthday boy in question was crashed on the couch, the alcohol clearly overcoming him. Felix was right there with him, though that was the opposite of a surprise. You'd think with how often that boy drank he'd began to build a tolerance, but alas.

That left you, Seungmin, Chan, Changbin, Jisung and Minho, each one of you doing your bit to help make the apartment look as presentable as a bunch of drunk people could. You were placing all the red cups into a trash bag, when you felt someone tap your shoulder. Turning, you see Minho behind you, handsome as ever.

"Hey," he says with a smile. "Seungmin and Jisung are planning to crash here tonight, but I was wondering if you wanted a lift home? I haven't been drinking."

You can't help but inwardly smile, not only at the prospect of getting to spend time with Minho, but also at being able to sleep in your own bed and not on the sweat infested gym bro couch.

"Yeah, that would be great," you agree. "When do you want to go?"

"Now, please. I can only spend small doses of time in this apartment. It's the embodiment of revolting," Minho shudders, taking the bin bag from you and tying it up, walking towards the front door with you in tow to place it with the others.

"Oh come on," you counter. "It's not that bad."

"If you opened that fridge, all you'd see is chicken, beer, and protein shakes. This is a terrifying place."

You laugh, turning to find Seungmin and say goodbye. You spot him on his phone, chilling on the sofa beside a sleeping Jeongin who not only had a bunch of random objects stacked on top of him, but had 'dick' written on his forehead.

Walking over, he catches your attention and gives you his signature salute. You return it with a smile. "Use protection," he says lowly to you, an eyebrow raised.

"Shut your mouth," you smile sweetly back, grabbing the dorm keys he chucks at you and turning on your heel. Minho waves bye at his friends quietly, not wanting to wake up the two sleeping beauties.

"Cars parked just outside," he informs you as you both walk down the stairs. "Sorry I couldn't spend much time with you tonight, it was like every time one conversation ended, another one began straight away, and I was in an endless loop of talking about the same thing."

"It must get annoying," you say, walking out the front door of the apartment building as Minho holds the door open for you. "I bet you end up having the same conversation again and again every time you come home from touring."

"Mhm," Minho says, using his car keys to open the door before you both climb in. It feels strange, being back in Minho's car as if he hadn't been gone. "But I won't have to do it anymore."

You turn to him, visibly confused. His eyes widen, and he shakes his head. "Shit. Guess the cats out the bag."

"You're not touring anymore?"

"It was meant to be more of a grand reveal," he sighs with a smile, whilst you practically squeal. It didn't help that you were drunk, being told news as exciting as this.

"So, how - what are you doing now?" You ask, trying to get a grasp of what was happening. Minho starts the car and pulls away, heading in the direction of your dorm.

"You know how I was telling you about possibly getting a permanent position here in Seoul?," he asks, which you nod at. "Well, when I was touring a position opened up, and I applied for it straight away. I was offered the position two days ago, and the transfer was instantaneous. I got the first flight home I could."

You felt like you were dreaming, which wasn't helped from the alcohol in your system. "So you get to stay here, all the time?"

"Yup. I work for a venue owned by my company, which means I'll only ever be dancing there. No need to leave anymore," he smiles, keeping his eyes on the road. "The pay rate isn't as good, but since I'll be working more than when I was touring, I end up making more money in the long run."

You sigh contemptibly, grinning like a madman without even meaning to. It's not long until Minho is pulling up outside your dorm building.

"Are you coming in?" You ask, which he nods at.

"Yeah, if that's what you want," he smiles, getting out of his car. You do the same, closing the door behind you and using your keys to open the main door. Once you reach your bedroom, you can't help but to rush into Minho's arms. He chuckles at you, knowing the alcohol is definitely fuelling your emotions.

It doesn't stop him from holding you tightly against him, placing his head on top of yours.

"I lied before," you mumble. Minho raises an eyebrow, waiting for you to continue. "I didn't just miss you. I wished you'd come home every day. Life wasn't the same without you in it."

Minho doesn't say anything straight away, and at first you think he's going to turn around and say he doesn't like you, he doesn't want to be with you - until you pull away from him slightly and realise he's tearing up.

"What's wrong?" You say instantly, going on your tip toes to catch the tears in the corners of his eyes before they fall.

"Being away from you - it was way harder than I thought it was going to be. There was so many times I wanted to call you just to hear your voice, but I wanted to give you the space you needed. And then when Hyunjin called me, I just got so angry about the whole situation, and I took it out on him which I shouldn't have. I still need to apologise to him for that," he chuckles. "But it made me realise how much I genuinely cared for you, how much I missed you."

You look between his eyes as he talks, taking everything in.

"Why don't we sit down," Minho smiles, nodding towards your bed. "I've got so much I want tot tell you."

"Me too," you agree, sitting on your bed and making yourself comfortable. "You go first."

"No, you," he counters, his usual demanding self. "I want to hear about what you've been up to."

You shake your head but oblige nonetheless. "Well, I did good in all my exams, and I haven't had anymore shit from my lecturers. I haven't really done much, other than spend time with the guys and study."

Minho nods as he listens. "I knew you'd ace those exams, I didn't doubt it."

You smile. "You helped a lot, though. Oh - I almost forgot, the other week Sooyun came to see me."

"The she witch?" Minho says, shocked. "What the hell did she want?"

"She basically told me she's sorry blah blah and that she said I've looked miserable since you left."

Minho's features soften at this, and on instinct his hand goes towards yours. He takes it in his absentmindedly, and you had to admit, you missed the way his skin felt against yours. Warm and safe.

"You...you were miserable whilst I was away?" He asks sincerely.

"Not miserable, just not as happy," you say. "You've been a big part in my life the end of last year, and when you left, it was like a little bit of my happiness did too."

Minho tilts his head, studying you. "I felt the exact same way. It was fucking weird - I thought I'd be fine and I'd be home in a couple months and we'd see each other, but I just couldn't stop thinking about you."

"Hyunjin said you said you love me," you blurt out all of a sudden, and you watch as the tips of Minho's ears turn bright red. You smile at his reaction.

"Hyunjin is an idiot. But he's not wrong."

The smile is completely wiped from your face, hearing him say that out loud.

"You love me?" You say cautiously, not quite believing it was real.

"I don't know much about love," Minho sighs, a small smile on his face. "My parents...they weren't loving to me. Hell, I don't think they even love each other. But, if someone asked me what I think it is - I would say it was this. You. My feelings for you are as close to romantic love as I ever thought I was capable of having."

Shell shocked wouldn't even begin to describe your feelings. You can't help but feel tears brim at the corners of your eyes, just like Minho's had done moments before. He chuckles at your reaction.

"I've never had a serious girlfriend, and I don't know if I'll be any good at being a boyfriend, but if you feel the way I feel, I want to try with you. You are stubborn, naive, and such a brat," he starts, and you scowl at him. He laughs in return before continuing. "But you are also the kindest, most talented, and beautiful person I have ever met. I knew you were special the moment we met, and I'd be an idiot to ever let you go."

"You're just as stubborn as me," you say, stubbornly focusing on that part of Minho's speech. He laughs openly at you, shaking his head with adoration.

"I am, but you love me for it anyway," he says cheekily.

"I do."

"Say it," Minho says instantly, staring you down. "Say you love me."

"What do I get in return?"

Minho scoffs. "You get to love me? What's better than that?"

"A paracetamol and a glass of water," you say, the effects of the alcohol already starting to kick into your system. Minho laughs at you, shaking his head.

"Okay, doll. If you say you love me, I'll nurse your hangover," he says honestly, hands up.

"Even tomorrow? You'll stay the night?" You ask, putting on your best puppy dog eyes.

Minho nods, holding his pinky out. "I promise. Now say you love me."

You look properly into his eyes, sincerity taking over. "Are you ready for my cringe speech?"

He laughs, nodding, so you continue.

"Being cheated on sucks. It's shit to put all your effort into somebody just for them to stomp on it. You were there for me throughout a really crap period of time. You were my friend, and then you were something more, and as much as you were a distraction to what had happened, you also became my rock. My shoulder to lean on - and I really don't know what I would have done without you during those months. You showed me what it felt to be genuinely liked again, sparked my happiness and passion and everything else, and I am so thankful for your dumb existence," you say, trying to keep your confession semi lighthearted. Minho smiles.

You take a deep breath, looking up at Minho. "I love you, Minho. I feel like I didn't know what proper love was until I met you. Nobody has ever treated me like you do, and I have never felt such intense feelings for anyone, ever. I love you, and I'm so glad you feel the same way."

Minho shakes his head fondly, a smile threatening to crack over his features.

"God, who turned us into such sappy people?" He asks, looking back at you.

"Who knows," you laugh, trying your hardest not to cry from all the emotions you were feeling.

"So, what do you think about being my girlfriend?," Minho asks, immediately talking again afterwards. "If you don't want to make things official too quickly that's okay, I mean we have only been on one date and -"

"I would love to be your girlfriend, Minho," you reply seriously. He stops rambling and smiles.

"Really?"

You laugh at him. "Really, really. Your first act as my boyfriend can be to get me some damn paracetamol, my head is pounding."

Minho chuckles as he shakes his head, standing up off the bed. "Is this my life now? Servitude to your highness?"

"Hey! You signed up for this," you laugh, watching as Minho walks out your door to head to your kitchen, knowing exactly where you keep the medication.

You smile in at at yourself, thinking back to the first time you met Minho at that bar, thinking back to how enamoured you were with him and how easily he became such an important part of your life.

It hadn't been easy to get to where you were now, going from nothing but acquaintances, to friends with benefits, to nothing at all - but you'd do it over again in a heartbeat, to be able to call Minho your boyfriend.

"Here you go, love," he says when he returns, placing a glass in your hand and the pills in the other, smiling down at you with adoration.

Yeah, you'd do it all over again.

Maybe friends with benefits works out after all.

sorry about the wait, yet again. I hope this heals all your broken hearts!! feedback is always appreciated, and a massive thankyou to everyone who’s ever interacted with this story <333

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@miamyre @skzgallll @kgllmre @tangerminie @nepytune @jeyelleohe @dis-baku-bitch @judeduartewannabe @endzii23 @mitchinggoni @vixensss @odhnlzl101 @yoonguurt @trashieforchannie @xcookiemonsteer @kingsoowolves@woahsehun @laylasbunbunny @sahazzy @hyukastuffies @multifandomtrash-dree @sherlockholmes08 @iam2out @jisungxident @amnmich @raspbinniecreme @fairygemss @linoots @galaxleeknow @ninashellhole @casualwombatcheesecake @kpopwh0r3 @fixation-dump @mal-lunar-28 @vidkqb @foreverdreamingofyou20 @zerefdragn33l @i8rsie @strayluvr @multinci @cutiespghetti @identityincrisissoulinhell @yoontaethings @lomllino @biribarabiribbaem @downbadreading

#lee know #lee know x y/n #lee know x reader #lee know fluff #lee know imagines #lee know x you #lee know smut #stray kids minho #stray kids boyfriend #lee minho #lee minho x you #lee minho smut #minho lee #stray kids x reader #stray kids #stray kids smut #stray kids fluff

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stingynugget · 6 months

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Merry Christmas enjoy the new chapter 🥹

#fanfic #bowser #bowuigi #bowser x luigi #luigi #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #luigi x bowser

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paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 · 3 months

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'Who am I to Complain?'

As part of my own contribution to this year's first day of Spring 2024, aka the in universe birthday of one Richard John Grayson-Wayne, the First Robin and the crime fighter known as Nightwing, I would like this opportunity finally....FINALLY...posting up for you all a fic that's been in my drafts for pretty much the better part of any entire year. Originally meant on being released last Christmas, various forms of delay, writer's block and other general distractions have prevented me from finally finishing such a project. Well finally after such anticipation at least on my end, I have managed creating a final form for this story I think can satisfy.

For very quick context, this story is a component of my long running idea proposing and lore building of my own version of the DC Comics Universe. In particular, it takes within the long storyline both @thattimdrakeguy and I have crafted for the better part of two years, the first part being involved within the hypothetical Nightwing solo book, 'Clipped Wings' and its follow up crossover with Detective Comics proper, "Blue Hawk Down'. For more information regarding the general summaries of events, check out the links here and here.

I shall like to dedicate this story to my mutuals and friends @adalineozie @meara-eldestofthemall @nightglider124 @faesystem @confusedhummingbird @spider-jaysart @mothnem @lightdusk96 @camo-wolf @sbd-laytall @theredheaded-stuff @celaenaeiln @starlightbelle @shootingstarssel @avaraydrake @pin-crusher2000 @sillymanwithocs @batboyblog @bluegarners @tarisilmarwen @orange-s-mario @altinyns-multimedia-museblog @katmaatui and so many others

Constructive Criticisms are Generally Welcome; Replies and Especially Reblogs are greatly appreciated

The Following May Contain Graphic Scenes of Violence, References to Sexual Assault and other themes not suitable for a Young Audience. Viewer Discretion is Heavily Advised

As per usual, All Rights and Copyrights to Characters and Concepts seen in this work are owned by DC Comics, Inc, a subsidiary of DC Entertaiment and Warner Bros. Discovery

With all that....Happy Birthday Dick Grayson....Here's my gift of Grade A angst for you

Sigh. Cough Cough

Look at yourself. Just Honest to God, Dick, just look at yourself.

Take a good look at those cuts, that blood all over your ugly as hell face, that blood pouring out of your stupid, big fat hole you call a mouth. You wanna know who’s Goddamn fault it was for all this? You wanna know who's responsible for you being more pathetic and a freak than you already are? Cough Cough

You.

Don’t try to deny it. Why should you?

After all, you allowed this to happen to you, right? Not just with what happened tonight but over these last few weeks. You know what I’m talking about. Losing your home and failing to find out how despite insisting you paid for it. What will Kory Cough say now when she comes back and sees that home you wanted to allow her into isn’t even yours anymore? What kind of fiance are you to allow that?

Why stop there? Here you are, without any place to call a house, your face gushing and oozing red as it had been lately, broke, nobody likes you, not a single damn soul cares about you. You wanna know who’s fault it is? Yours. In fact, as you right now are flinging that bottle of peroxide into your ugly face and stinging from it as you deserve, how about we explore what even happened tonight that led to this, shall we?

I think I should…Cough

Three Hours Earlier….

BAM

“Ack!”

“Tell Us Goddamnit, You Blue Wearing Cunt!!”

As if I would. How do I tell these bastards where the hell Bruce is if I wasn’t even able to speak to him for weeks by now?

I know what you’re thinking, ‘but are you his…’

Stop right there right now. If you’re gonna pull that whole ‘you’re his son’ bullshit on me, for one thing, at the very most I was adopted, I ain’t his real kid. I never deserved being his real kid at all given who we are. Another thing too; if he were to come to my help, he would’ve done so about…God knows how many times by now lately. I would handle it anyways, what kind of person needs any sort of father or even friends when it was their own damn fault they wound up taking two bullets to the hamstrings?

Why yes, that’s what I’m going through and yes it was my Goddamn fault being this utterly stupid and an utter embarrassment with my training for getting caught by those sickos like I was. Now you are thinking, everyone has an off day and…

BAM BAM BAM BAM

Crap! Two on the calves and two more on my hamstrings, I can tell.

“Motherfucker….” Damn it all they weren’t supposed to hear that. Great, now they laugh at it.

The hell’s wrong with me? There’s no time to let them know what’s going with my nerves acting up.

“You know, guys” (Cough) Keep it in, Grayson! You got something to say these assholes need to hear Damnit! “ You’re getting absolutely nowhere right now. If I knew where Batman was, I still wouldn’t tell you. So what the hell makes you think I do then after an hour and…”

“Shut the fuck up, Birdfreak!”

BAM

A kick right to my face? Yeah, another in my long line of failures and that one was justified; I should’ve seen that one coming. Hey, compared to the bullet holes though, it’s nothing really. Besides why even be hurt by that when I have this lowlife staring directly at my ugly mug of a face right now?

“You know him, more than us here! You have to know where he went! We got a sweet little gig here and I ain’t rushing to see that pointy eared son of a dick trying to ruin it! ‘Sides, you’re in our hands now, so you see; once we’re all done here one way or another, we can get that dough from the cops since they’re looking for you more than us! Now you tell us if he knows about this place and if he’s coming, will ya?! We ain’t got all night and I’m missing my game!”

Sweet little gig? As in the child trafficking operation they got here right now? Some of those children right behind me behind a cage like animals, forced to see me pinned on my torso and face, taking crap in many ways from them? They call that ‘sweet’ in mine and their faces?!

“You calling that a game? Selling kids to sexual slavery? I really hate to see what’ll be your idea for a movie if that’s what you.re saying” That quip, I couldn’t help, it was damn true and these creeps needed to hear that. It was about as much a fact as Bruce hates me right now and rightfully so.

Yet all they do is laugh even harder than before. They’re really….really starting to get on my nerves.

Their ringleader grins ever so much in my face. His disgusting and unbearable cigarette smoke billows in my face. “So what?”

So what? So what?? Is that really your best retort to me? It’s unbelievable, just what kind of devils and evils dwell in this city. But it’s evil I hunt for every single night. No one around me sees what I have to or does what I do around these parts. Not Bruce, not Tim, not Kory, no Donna….no one. On that note, no one should have to. Maybe it’s my failure to stop evil like this and everything I do, everything so wrong and never good enough, that’s why I’m certain Bruce decided just to cut me off.

No job, no place I can call a house or a home to stay in, no money, no spare clothes, no answering my calls, nothing. It’s been about three months of this so far, a three month test to see if I break if I had nothing, only for the big bad bat wanting me to literally cry my way back home to him. You know what? Screw you too, Bruce. Or whoever was doing all this. I know that, even for you Bruce, ins outs of everything, even you normally won’t stoop this low. It’s not just nothing I’ve been trying to figure out suggests otherwise. Maybe it’s just this….paranoia….no I can’t be paranoid. What’s happening is real and I need to deal with it and…

“Hey Cockscuker, you listening to me??”

Oh right, this asshole.

Looking at him, I can’t help myself but make my eyes go towards his own. What does he think would work now to make me talk?

In his hands was some sort of object. It looks bladed, I can tell based on the glistening of the steel coming from the moonlight coming in through the window. Once he gets a bit closer, I see it now….oh of course….a damn pizza cutter. Oh and just my luck too, in his other hand is a goddamn cheese grater. I guess either this warehouse is for kitchen tools or just my karma telling me how much I fucking suck and rightfully so again. Maybe the latter.

The asshole only grins at me. “Okay then, maybe some…slices can get ya to talk. What do you say?”

I take a deep breath and brace my teeth within my mouth. No use crying out, screaming or any of that weakness than I already showed earlier . This frankly I deserve, and come on.

I’ve taken a few swings from a baseball bat from Two Face, got injected with Slade’s nanoscopic probes that were shredding my cells inside and out, got blasted by an alternate Luthor, forcibly swallowed a heart paralyzing pill by Slade and the actual Luthor (that bald cunt)….and now just a circular blade and a metal sheet with blades on it on my forehead and face?

Seems fitting enough to take; whatever I’ve done and didn’t do in my vow to protect the innocent and never strive off the path of justice, being a terrible friend, never good enough for Batman as I had always been, letting the only two people that actually had any right to care for me fall to the sandy and hard floor, shattering almost every bone in their bodies when I had only one job to do which was catch them….yeah this is appropriate. This is exactly what I deserve after all of that. Losing my home, my job, and my means to do basically anything for myself, I deserve that.

Who am I to complain, really?

Back at the Present Day….

Sssszzzz….

“Ah Fuck!”

Peroxide…it never fails to emit any sort of sting on any sort of cut, don’t it, Dick?

Oh but you gonna start cussing and feeling it now? What the hell’s wrong with you? You can’t handle just a tiny sting of this shit without any yells?

Suck it up, will ya? You’re acting like a spoiled brat.

Who are you to complain about really?

Oh and by the way, there goes the last of our Peroxide, just circling down this old bathroom sink drain into God knows sewer pipes along with the blood it splashed off. You're gonna have to fetch some more, Dick. It’s not like Bruce is gonna get us anymore.

Fuck Him.

We’ve been putting up with his shit every since we lost are damn place to stay in, then our jobs all over this city, villain after villain breaking out, us being blamed for the Mayor, his wife and girl getting ripped to shreds and blood all over one day with one of your Wingdings, making you hunted down from pretty much everyone (for what only $1.5 Billion Alive? Oh c’mon that's too generous of a bounty for you. I’d put myself at about only 25 cents given your piss poor track record); You know for sure Bruce did all this, all behind the scenes, pulling every string he can to get us like this.

And why? Letting him know that you can take care of ourselves that one time and him being this offended by it? Well, fuck it, You’ve been showing him alright! Things are shittybut maybe that’s just how he likes it for you. Nothing gonna change that anytime soon; might as well make it the best for you, because it’s all you can do by now.

So now, no shoes, no fucking good socks at all, only one pair of torn sweats, that black tee, suit and toothbrush in your bag, here in this damn blizzard….every breathe getting…heavier….kinda….getting hard to stay awa…Cough Cough Cough

Hey! Cut it out, Dickface! Cough Keep going at least somewhere! Anywhere out of this snow…so much of it….Wait, that spot there, in this alley. That’ll work for now.

You hear that, laying on this backpack now….yeah this’ll work….at least not being out in that wind, though…..so much snow….it’s everywhere. It’s been everywhere these last few days. Fitting really, since well you do hear that right?

C’mon pick it up, Dick, your ears can’t be that piss poor

Cough

“May I, as your new Mayor, wish us all in this dear Bludhaven…..”

Yeah, there it is…..old Mafia boss now politician giving his speech for what today is.

“A Good…Merry ... .Christmas…!”

Okay, you get the idea. At least that’s one thing you got right….

Getting sleepy now….

…...pretty cold…..tomorrow might be better….

But at least that’s one thing, Dick….

…this damn city….all of its people….they got a good Christmas….

Gotta close your eyes now…..

Wait….that the Redbird….isn't that….can’t be Timmy…..

Cough Cough

Heh…looks like he tripped…Not real though….can’t be…..Bruce doesn’t care….you don’t need him…..but yeah….need rest…..you gave them a good Christmas

Who…am….I….to….Cough…..Complain?

#dick grayson #my posts #first day of spring #fanfic #content warning #cw violence #cw self loathing #cw gore #cw blood #cw self deprecation #cw child abuse #sfw #viewer discretion is advised #cw language

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mosthomoeroticenemies · 1 year

Text

The Contestants

Cherik (Professor X/Magneto) - X-Men

Fuffy (Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Megop (Optimus Prime/Megatron) - Transformers

Curtwen (Curt Mega/Owen Carvour) - Spies are Forever

Thoschei (The Doctor/The Master) - Doctor Who

Perryshmirtz (Perry the Platypus/Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz) - Phineas and Ferb

Catradora (Adora/Catra) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Soukoku (Osamu Dazai/Chuuya Nakahara) - Bungo Stray Dogs

c!TnTDuo (c!Quackity/c!Wilbur Soot) - Dream SMP

Spy/Supervillain - Genghis Khan by Miike Snow

Batman/Joker - Lego Batman

Wrightworth (Phoenix Wright/Miles Edgeworth) - Ace Attorney

Batjokes (Batman/Joker) - Batman

Lawlight (L/Light Yagami) - Death Note

Bowiugi (Bowser/Luigi) - Mario

Stanarrator (Narrator/Stanley) - The Stanley Parable

Kidlaw (Eustass Kid/Trafalgar Law) - One Piece

Shuake (Goro Akechi/Akira Kurusu) - Persona 5

Cuttletavio (Craig Cuttlefish/DJ Octavio) - Splatoon

Gethan (Rupert Giles/Ethan Rayne) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Zosan (Roronoa Zoro/Sanji) - One Piece

ChellDOS (Chell/GLaDOS) - Portal

Jesus Christ/Judas Iscariot - The New Testament

Gwensuzie (Gwen Cooper/Suzie Costello) - Torchwood

Krisnix (Phoenix Wright/Kristoph Gavin) - Ace Attorney

Griffguts (Guts/Griffith) - Berserk

Hannigram (Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter) - Hannibal

Ghiralink (Ghirahim/Link) - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Valvert (Javert/Jean Valjean) - Les Miserables

Abestache (Detective Abe Lincoln/Wilford Warfstache) - Markiplier Cinematic Universe

Sasunaru (Naruto/Sasuke) - Naruto

Jedediah/Octavius - Night at the Museum

Nami/Kalifa - One Piece

Gabv1el (V1/Gabriel) - Ultrakill

Kazumaji (Kazuma Kiryu/Goro Majima) - Yakuza

Zukka (Zuko/Sokka) - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ineffable Husbands (Aziraphale/Crowley) - Good Omens

Billford (Bill Cipher/Stanford Pines) - Gravity Falls

Evelyn Deavor/Elastigirl - Incredibles 2

Jennifer Check/Needy Lesnicki - Jennifer’s Body

Kigo (Kim Possible/Shego) - Kim Possible

Sportarobbie (Sportacus/Robbie Rotten) - Lazy Town

Swan Queen (Emma Swan/Regina Mills) - Once Upon a Time

Hardenshipping (Magma Leader Maxie/Aqua Leader Archie) -Pokemon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire

Westley/Inigo Montoya - Princess Bride

Sonadow (Sonic/Shadow) - Sonic the Hedgehog

Plabs (Plankton/Mr. Krabs) - SpongeBob SquarePants

Kylux (General Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren) - Star Wars

Johnchurch (Merle Highchurch/John Hunger) - The Adventure Zone: Balance

Basigan (Professor Ratigan/Basil of Baker Street) - The Great Mouse Detective

LonelyEyes (Elias Buchard/Peter Lukas) - The Magnus Archives

Johnjack (Jack Harkness/John Hart) - Torchwood

Blicy (Bloom/Icy) - Winx Club

Riddlebat (Batman/The Riddler) - Batman comics

Shin Soukoku (Atsushi Nakajima/Ryuunosuke Akutagawa) - Bungo Stray Dogs

Snowbaz (Baz Pitch/Simon Snow) - Carry On

Komahina (Nagito Komaeda/Hajime Hinata) - Danganronpa

Wonder Woman/Cheetah - DC

Spamvil (Jevil/Spamton) - Deltarune

Rk1000 (Connor/Markus) - Detroit: Become Human

John McClane/Hans Gruber - Die Hard

Fenders (Fenris/Anders) - Dragon Age 2

Vegekaka (Goku/Vegeta) - Dragon Ball Z

Rapple (Apple White/Raven Queen) - Ever After High

Billdip (Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines) - Gravity Falls

Radiostatic (Vox/Alastor) - Hazbin Hotel

Sirdust (Angel Dust/Sir Pretious) - Hazbin Hotel

Fengqing (Feng Xin/Mu Qing) - Heaven Official’s Blessing

Blitzer (Blitzø/Striker) - Helluva Boss

Martha May Whovier/Betty Lou Who - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

ZaDr (Zim/Dib) - Invader Zim

Sarumi (Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki) - K Project

Metadede (King Dedede/Meta Knight) - Kirby

Gandalf/Sauron - Lord of the Rings

Island Husbands (Ben Linus/John Locke) - Lost

Metromind (Megamind/Metro Man) - Megamind

Sherliam (Sherlock Holmes/William James Moriarty) - Moriarty the Patriot

Bujeet (Buford/Bajeet) - Phineas and Ferb

Grovyle/Dusknoir - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky

Shassie (Shawn Spencer/Carlton “Lassie” Lassiter) - Psych

Rayaari (Raya/Namaari) - Raya and the Last Dragon

Tycutio (Mercutio/Tybalt) - Romeo and Juliet

Sherliam (Sherlock Holmes/James Moriarty) - Sherlock

Obikin (Anakin Skywalker/Obi-Wan Kenobi) - Star Wars

Obimaul (Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul) - Star Wars

Oncelax (The Onceler/The Lorax) - The Lorax

Owen Harper/Mark Lynch - Torchwood

Lord Hater/Wander - Wander Over Yonder

Gelphie (Elphaba/Galinda) - Wicked

Cruellanita (Cruella de Vil/Anita) - 101 Dalmations

Angelo Lagusa/Nero Vanetti - 91 Days

Discotrain (The Conductor/DJ Grooves) - A Hat in Time

Klapollo (Klavier Gavin/Apollo Justice) - Ace Attorney

Wrightdot (Godot/Phoenix Wright) - Ace Attorney

Kaneda/Tetsuo - Akira

Sydney Bristow/Lauren Reed - Alias

Ellen Ripley/The Xenomorph - Alien

Zadison (Zoe Benson/Madison Montgomery) - American Horror Story: Coven

Sterling Archer/Barry Dylan - Archer

Y’all (The Poll Takers)/Me (The Poll Maker) - askeletonwar

Just Walk Out!/Papyrus - askeletonwar

Londo Mollari/G’kar - Babylon 5

Rampage/Depth Charge - Beast Wars: Transformers

Pinariz (Riz/Pina) - Beastars

Kunieda Aoi/Hildegarde - Beezlebub

Sebagrell (Grell/Sebastian) - Black Butler

Gus Fring/Walter White - Breaking Bad

Spangel (Spike/Angel) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Spuffy (Spike/Buffy) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Winteriron (Tony Stark/The Winter Soldier) - Captain America: Civil War

Stucky (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes) - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Carulia (Carmen Sandiego/Julia Argent) - Carmen Sandiego

Macavity/Munkustrap - Cats (1998)

Caius Marcius Coriolanus/Tullus Aufidius - Coriolanus

Dean Pelton/Dean Spreck - Community

Shadowghast (Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss) - Critical Role

Blumentrio (Caleb Widogast/Eadwulf Grieve/Astrid Becke) -Critical Role

Theopin (Lapin Cadbury/Sir Theobald Gumbar) - D20: A Crown of Candy

Hero/Villain - dannyphantom.exe

Clex (Superman/Lex Luthor) - DC

Babsquinn (Batgirl/Harley Quinn) - DC

Seavil (Jevil/Seam) - Deltarune

Rengoku Kyoujurou/Akaza - Demon Slayer

Mal/Uma - Descendants

Reed800 (Connor/Gavin Reed) - Detroit: Become Human

Ryokira (Akira/Ryo) - Devilman

Maxwil (Maxwell/Wilson) - Don't Starve

Nikki/Mackenzie - Dork Diaries

Gell/Frisky - Dot X

Dr. Horrible/Captain Hammer - Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Count Dracula/Jonathan Harker - Dracula

Joan Watson/Jamie Moriarty - Elementary

Zerxus Ilerez/Asmodeus - Exandria Unlimited: Calamity

Gratsu (Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster) - Fairy Tail

Gary/John - Faith

Peter Griffin/The Chicken - Family Guy

John Crichton/Scorpius - Farscape

Emiya Archer/Cu Chulainn - Fate Stay Night

Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII

Cidnero (Nero tol Scaeva/Cid Garlond) - Final Fantasy XIV

Willry (Henry Emily/William Afton) - Five Nights at Freddy’s

Victor Frankenstein/The Monster - Frankenstein

Cure Peach/Eas - Fresh Pretty Cure!

Haikaveh (Alhaitham/Kaveh) - Genshin Impact

Sugio (Sugimoto/Ogata) - Golden Kamuy

Nygmobblepot (Edward Nygma/Oswald Cobblepot) - Gotham

Mabifica (Mabel Pines/Pacifica Northwest) - Gravity Falls

Kagehina (Hinata/Kageyama) - Haikyuu!

#mosthomoeroticenemies #contestants

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justanothercinemaniac · 10 months

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The video game crash of 1983 happened in large part because of an over-saturation of crappy video games. The reason these games were bad is because companies gave their artists very little time to work on them. E.T. the Video Game for Atari - one of the games seen as a cause of the crash - famously only had 5 weeks of development time so it could be out by Christmas 1982. This crash came close to killing the entire video game industry until Nintendo came along with the NES and Super Mario Bros three years later.

We are getting an over-saturation of, "crappy," (or at least underwhelming) movies lately and it sounds like it's happening for a lot of the same reasons. Studios are spending a lot of money on projects where the artists - ESPECIALLY VFX artists - are treated like crap and their work suffers for it. Audiences are noticing this lack of quality. That, coupled with the rise of living costs and inflation diminishing the amount of money left over for a trip to movie theaters, has lead to a number of high profile bombs. Much like the gaming crash of '83.

But instead of learning the lessons of these bombs, the big studios just want to keep treating their artists the same horrible way while padding the exec pockets at the cost of a ballooning budget. That's a HUGE part of what the WGA & SAG strikes are about.

Depending on what happens in the next few years - the next few MONTHS - in the entertainment industry, I don't think it's crazy to think we could see a "Movie Crash" similar to the video game crash of 40 years ago. The entire Hollywood entertainment system could completely cave in on itself, leaving millions out of works and seriously damaging the economies of some of our largest population areas like California. The outcome of the WGA and SAG strikes are going to be a deciding factor in how this turns out.

TL;DR - If video games crashed in 1983, movies & TV can crash in 2023 by repeating the same mistakes.

#SAG Strike #WGA Strike #SAG Aftra #WGA #Hollywood Strike #Mine #Strike Stuff

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chussyracing · 13 days

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what has been happening in the world of motorsports lately?

below, you will find a collection of various motorsports related news i have collected over the past two weeks:

FIA, the rules and 2026 onwards

new Concorde Agreement is currently in talks to be ready for 2026 and teams received a draft of it, here is what is being considered/discussed now

the new increased cost cap limit should be $220 mil with number of exceptions not falling under it being reduced (they even discussed maternity leave not being included, but that was immediately denied, another part that now shouldn’t fall under the cost cap are team building activities like Christmas parties etc)

the historical Ferrari bonus for staying in the sport should remain, but will be capped from now on to 5 % of the price pool (no matter the total amount)

they are also discussing a „fund“ of $200 m for new teams so current teams wouldn’t be afraid of losing money (also the starting price for the new team should be SIGNIFICANTLY risen up)

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met with Stefano Domenicali in Imola to discuss a possible Bangkok GP (according to Autosport they want to get Red Bull backing for the 2027/2028 project)

Ollie has been criticizing the new anti-spray wheel covers F1 introduced and tested during Ferrari filming day in Fiorano and FIA officially scratched the project for now

F1 commission wants more diversity from team’s liveries so they will be discussing potential changes (like percentage of car that has to be painted or other solutions)

Ben Sulayem suggested that Andretti could buy an existing team to get into F1, so there is also the possibility of a maximum of 10 teams to be set in the new Concorde Agreement

Red Bull Ring extended both F1 and MotoGP contracts till 2030

Mario Isola said that they more or less finalized the slick tyres construction for 2025 BUT are looking to introduce a new C6 compound which would be softer and suitable for street circuits as there is more and more of them on the calendar

F1 might have special rules for tracks with long straights to prevent maximum usage of engine performance by downshifting from 2026 onwards (don’t ask, I’m glad to downshift when going uphill)

other teams and other racing series

Pat Symonds left the position of F1 CTO and joined Andretti Cadillac (or technically will join after his gardening leave runs out)

Jak Crawford will be testing Aston Martin this Wednesday

Doriane Pin sadly fractured her ribs, so she will be missing 24 hours of Le Mans and FRECA in Zandvoort, so she will be back for F1 Academy race in Barcelona

Steward-Haas racing will end in Nascar series at the end of the year, but Gene Haas said it is just business and person decision and it doesn’t reflect any loss of commitment or anything and doesn’t affect other series including the F1 team

Nyck de Vries scored his first points in FE since returning into the series after F1 (and he would score more if it wasn’t for McLaren. why is it always a McLaren)

Saudi Arabia will host the rally championship from 2025 to 2035

Ferrari

Fred Vasseur said that Ferrari brought minor upgrades to Monaco (track related), and they have many more planned with a bigger package coming in Silverstone

Ferrari did more wet tyre testing for Pirelli in Paul Ricard

Marc Gene (Ferrari… representative, sort of ambassador, spokesperson etc) was on F1 Nation podcast and said that while as a team Ferrari doesn’t want to only focus on winning the driver/constructor titles and they want to celebrate Charles’ win, it is also inevitable that they will start thinking about it and how open it may be if we continue with the upgrade plan like this

apparently, Ferrari are considering using the same suspension as most teams use (pull rod on the front) to get more gains from their upgrades – but that’s something for 2025 as it is a big change and requires chassis change and complete design overthrowing

Ferrari is investing in electrification plant to produce batteries and electric cars and Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds kinda suggested that they might enter FE as well because it could help boost the championship popularity thanks to Ferrari’s dedicated tifosi and the heritage they bring to any racing series (but if anything, it is just innocent discussions at this point)

Red Bull

Red Bull extended their chief engineer Paul Monaghan’s contract to keep him in the team

Red Bull bought minor stake in Leeds United and will supply them with shirts with Red Bull logo from next season

Helmut Marko was pretty mad about the Monaco crash with estimated costs of 2-3m, he said they might postpone some upgrades with how much it was worth and also there is a possibility of Checo being given grid drop penalty since he might change some components

Alpine

Craig Slater and Ted Kravitz reported that Esteban might sit out Canadian GP after Bruno Famin was livid about his drivers lap 1 contact and even spoke about Jack Doohan and Mick Schumacher but Esteban spoke out against the online abuse he has been getting and confirmed he will be racing in Canada

Alpine fired another employee, this time Rob White who was their operations director for the longest time ever

Alpine are reportedly looking to hire Briatore (lol)

Monaco GP

one photographer got injured in the collision of Checo, Nico and Kevin, he was released from the medical center shortly after and it was just minor injury

Monaco GP scored biggest live US TV audience with peak of 2.3 million on ABC

Fernando didn’t know he was out of points the whole Monaco GP, he said he thought he was running in p10 that whole time

Monaco might see some changes next year concerning the banners on the barriers after they already had to take off some of them between quali and race since both Lando and Charles had some pretty big issues after taking part of it in their car and loosing valuable aero points

Mercedes

Mercedes decided to change the front wing which raised questions about its legality at the start of the year (only George was running the updated version in Monaco, they compared the data with Lewis who will get it in Canada)

there has been some talking about Mercedes and if they treat their drivers differently because Lewis has been talking about set ups and upgrades and mentioned that he never had a chance to beat George (tbh I think he was genuinely just referring to the fact that George chose to use the new wing in Monaco) – although, Lewis is probably already getting cut off from certain meetings and decisions and upgrade plans because of his move to Ferrari

Mercedes opened a pop-up shop in Montreal ahead of the Canadian GP

there are a lot of whispers about the Mercedes engines for 2026 and that it is the main reason why Alex extended his contract in Williams under the promise of a strong car from 2026 onwards (don’t ask for source because I didn’t write it down but apparently “in Mercedes the feelings are similar to 2014”)

Williams

James Vowles spoke to Autosport and mentioned that all teams will struggle with weight limit in 2026 with the new rules because the new cars are expected to be much heavier (on the other hand it is not such a surprise when we look back at 2022 and how big of a challenge the weight of the cars was to teams)

he also said that they will bring much more performance over the next few GPs, with upgrades coming in Canada that should help with their weight issues (some rumours talk about improvement of over 4 tenths per lap)

differently related motorsport news

Prince Albert II has a new exhibition at his Cars Collection: Ferrari F1 in Monaco, it includes single seaters driver by Schumacher, Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Vettel or Charles Leclerc’s two races winning SF90

World Stars Football Match which was originally scheduled for Tuesday before the GP at 7pm in Monaco, got cancelled this year

last April Die Aktuelle published an interview with “Michael Schumacher” which was AI made, Michael’s family received financial compensation over the claims

Pride month started and some teams changed their logos or posted supportive messages, we might see some livery changes as well (but on a serious note, apparently, we have the first homophobe of the month in motorsports and it is unsurprisingly Santino Ferrucci with his comments towards Herta and Kirkwood)

F1 24 Driver Ratings have been posted (griding my teeth)

Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Williams and Alpine already confirmed to be at Goodwood festival of speed this year

Las Vegas GP organizers promised to tone down the driver PR duties after bad feedback from the drivers and also promised better solutions for local residents when they already have experience from the previous year

drivers related news

Charles has now officially adopted Oscar and F1 ran with it and included “Oscar Piastri-Leclerc” in the official graphics

F1 24 sim race in Monaco happened, Charles won both quali and race, Alex was second in quali and third in the race

both Alpine boys went to Cannes festival

Charles went to APM Monaco promo evening with Alexandra and Arthur

Maria Sharapova posted a picture from an interview with Lewis and added a caption “a sad pop album in the works” and some people speculated that Lewis will be publishing an album, but tbh I think it was just the “vibes”

Lewis appeared on Hot Ones this past Thursday

silly season

Craig Slater is reporting that Carlos to Mercedes is already off the table because they only offered him a one year contract and they don’t want to sign anyone soon, because they are waiting for Max’s possible move and if that won’t be happening, they want to wait some more till around August/September to sign Kimi Antonelli, while Carlos wants his future decided as soon as possible

Autosport reported Carlos being in advanced talks with Williams

Helmut Marko is adamant that Sebastian Vettel keeps calling him about a free seat, but he insists that it wouldn’t be good for him to go against Max

Esteban is reportedly looking for a way out of the team and is in talks with Audi (if Carlos declines the offer) and Haas (which Komatsu confirmed to media saying they are speaking with both French drivers)

Michael Schmidt reported that Ferrari is no longer interested in Adrian Newey, but he remains in contact with Williams, McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin

and there is a video of Newey signing a Ferrari flag in Monaco and because of this (and a few Italian sources that claim Newey already signed a contract with Ferrari), his manager Eddie Jordan had to deny all the rumours that he signed with Ferrari

on the other hand, Giedo van der Garde said to Viaplay that Newey has already been signed by Vasseur

Michelle Foster believes that Dale Coyne Racing in IndyCar might sign Mick if he doesn’t find a spot on the F1 grid for next year

Mercedes denied that Kimi and Mick would do direct shootouts about who gets the Mercedes seat, because the lap times were set in different conditions, weather, times etc. (but also there are rumors that Kimi was faster than both Mick and George and that Mercedes board agreed on taking Kimi from 2025 onwards)

since Binotto was in the paddock in Imola, there was a lot of talk about him potentially going to some other teams (he was linked to Aston Martin by Speedweek and to Alpine, but also Aston Martin already denied they would be hiring him)

Valtteri “denied” he is trying to get the Williams seat and said he is only coming to their hospitality because quote they have good coffee unquote (never change, you icon)

Joe Saward said that Wiliams should reportedly offer Carlos 2 years contract and if he agrees, it could be announced ahead of Spanish GP (or during)

Motorsport.com reported that Enrico Cardile could leave Ferrari for Aston Martin (one reason being a lucrative offer, the second one being the rumoured signing of Adrian Newey which could diminish Cardile’s role in the technical department)

Gazzetta predicts that Carlos’ main priority to drive for Red Bull in 2026 with the new regs and that to do that he might take one year offer from Williams

Yuki and Esteban are favourites for Audi if Carlos doesn’t take up their offer for the 2025 seat

Carlos Miquel believes that Carlos might sign with VCARB in hopes of getting the RBR seat in the future

apparently Marko wants to promote Lawson and offer him Daniel Ricciardo's seat but Daniel has Horner's backing not to be fired - if Yuki moves to a different team, we might as well get Daniel and Liam in RB from 2025 onwards

(side note: Red Bull apparently has an announcement to make which could or could not be related to Checo's contract)

#wow. that's a lot. a lot of it are rumours. not confirmed. a lot about carlos.#i probably forgot a ton of stuff but anyway #e #f1 #gossip night

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