#WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE 😭😭

[leilanihours]

hiii ! req for paige x teammate gf reader (they're in a secret rs but the teammates know) — when kk and ice went live on insta then while they're interacting with fans, they didn't notice that paige and her gf is shown in the live while they're cuddling and kissing on the bed until they saw a comment about them. You can add anything you want to add, this is just my idea hehe THANKS !!!!

# ADORN

pairing: paige bueckers x gf!reader

word count: 1657

warnings: none!

summary: your relationship with paige gets exposed, but with her still in your arms, is it really the end of the world?

⭑ from lani: idk how to feel abt this one and lowk feel like my work has been so flat lately but fuck it we ball 😭

“OKAY SO BOOM,” you hear your teammate, kk, say to her phone, “we back with another insta live! how y’all doin’?”

“kk someone said they saw you at chick-fil-a being a big back, can you confirm?” ice snickers as she reads a viewer’s comment.

“man, y’all never stop, huh?” kk side-eyes jokingly.

you giggle off-camera as you peer over your girlfriend’s shoulder to watch the two girls interact with fans. you were rested against the headboard of your hotel bed, paige lying comfortably on top of you with her arms around your torso and face buried in your neck.

you aimlessly rubbed her taut muscles underneath her loose shirt, relieving her stress from the game earlier in the day. the team was currently away from its home in connecticut, as they had an away-game against ohio state.

the huskies won, of course, but the score was much too close for anyone’s comfort, especially paige’s. with this season being her first after her acl tear last year, she felt immense pressure to come back twice as good and carry the team on her shoulders all the way to a national championship.

she never talked with anyone about how she was feeling - except with you. she claimed that you were the only one that truly understood her fears and would be able to chase them away simply with your warm smile and passionate words. when she told you this with tears in her eyes from her overwhelming emotions, your heart swelled immensely at her vulnerability.

the two of you had been together for close to a year now, and all your teammates and close friends were aware, but you both opted for a private relationship. there were many reasons as to why this was the decision, the most important being that you knew how the media would react - and neither of you wanted to jeopardize your careers.

there had been a few rumors and speculations about your particular closeness with the blonde, but you had been very careful around the cameras, ensuring that no one would have concrete evidence of your relationship.

as of right now, your entanglement with paige was out of frame, shielding you two from the camera and live viewers. paige was half asleep on her phone, still nestled in your arms while you listened in on your teammates’ silly bickering.

“i know they’re beefing right now but kendrick definitely won!” kk exclaims.

“okay, but who’s the better artist overall?” ice responds as her eyes scan the rapid-fire comments.

“that’s not even the point of this discussion, bro.”

“whatever,” ice laughs, shaking her head, “someone asked where everyone else is - yanna and aubrey are out getting dunkin for all of us, nika is already sleeping, aaliyah is taking a shower, and…” she stops herself before she mentions you and paige, “i actually don’t know what everyone else is doing.”

“what are you talkin’ about, ice? paige and-“ kk is cut off by ice swiftly kicking her leg under the table they’re sat at. she gives her a pointed glare as if to say “shut the hell up,” which makes you chuckle.

“anyways…” ice moves on from the close slip-up, “did y’all watch the game today? i think it was on youtube live or something.”

you tune out of their conversation when you feel paige groan lightly into your skin.

“you okay, babe?” you whisper into her ear.

“mhm,” she responds with a slight rasp in her voice, “can you do that thing you were doin’ earlier, though?”

“what thing?” you didn’t even notice what you were doing, or at least what you stopped doing, until she mentioned it.

“when you rub my back,” she answers.

“you like that?”

“'course i do,” she hums, “it’s like a massage.”

a flushed smile graces your face as you go back to caressing her soft skin, focusing on her tense muscles. when you press particularly hard on her lower back, she lets out a satisfied groan as she drops the arm that was stretched and holding her phone.

you can practically feel her melt into your embrace entirely, body going limp as she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. after placing a delicate kiss on her head, you too let your eyes close as you began to fall asleep with her.

“kk, i think they want you to sing,” ice says, pointing to one of the messages on the screen.

“oh i gotchu,” she smiles, instantly getting up from her chair, “what song should i sing?”

“do…” ice responds before reading one of the fans’ suggestions, “oh someone said do adorn by miguel.”

“that’s a good one, okay let me warm up a bit,” she says before obnoxiously and very poorly attempting to do vocal runs to “warm up her voice.”

“hold on you’re, like, not in frame right now,” ice says before she slightly adjusts the camera so that kk can be seen clearly.

but unbeknownst to all of you, your compromised position with paige can now also be seen clearly. you were too comfortable in your slumber and on the girl in your arms to pay attention to what the camera was showing.

kk was too busy "performing" for the fans and ice was too busy making fun of her for doing so, which is why nobody knew what what going on.

"did she eat guys?" ice asks the fans with a grin as kk sits back down, slightly out of breath from dancing.

both of them scan the comments, slightly confused with furrowed eyebrows at what the comments were talking about. it certainly wasn't about kk or ice.

user01: OH MY GOD

user02: THIS SHIP IS SAILING GUYS

user03: is that who i think it is in the bg 😳

at the third comment they read, they both inch closer to the screen to try and understand what their fans' were so enthralled by.

ice is first to realize how you and paige could easily be seen cuddling on the bed behind her and kk. with wide eyes, she quickly yet subtley moved the camera so that you and paige were once again hidden.

kk, still oblivious as to what they were so focused on, whispered to ice, "what happened?"

"they saw paige and y/n," ice replied putting a hand up to cover her mouth while leaning to whisper back in kk's ear.

now it was kk's turn to widen her eyes and cover her mouth, this time in shock. she turned to look back at you two, still fast asleep with arms intertwined.

she stood up from her chair and moved to block the bed entirely, not wanting another incident to happen. she knew that the fans loved to screenshot and record their lives, which always ended up being posted all over social media no matter what.

she also knew that she and ice would be getting an earful from you two once you caught drift of the situation.

------

you began to wake up as soon as you felt your girlfriend move from her position on top of you. she’s now next to you, head resting on your shoulder as one of her arms rests on your stomach.

“where you goin’?” you mumble, voice hoarse from just waking up. you were only half awake but you could tell that the room was now empty, the silence comforting and sunrise peeking through the hotel blinds.

“nowhere, ma, i’m right here,” paige rasps with a light kiss to your collarbone.

you were about to fall back asleep but are disturbed by your phone vibrating violently next to you. with a tired groan, you blindly reach for it in an attempt to silence it. even as you pick it up and unlock it, you are still bombarded with notifactions from all kinds of social apps - instagram, tiktok, twitter - you name it.

you’re now awake with curiosity, confused as to why you’re getting so many messages. you usually had your phone on “do not disturb” with the exceptions of your family, friends, and select media accounts. you scroll aimlessly through some of your dms, but when you don’t find an answer, you relocate and scroll through your explore feed.

your eyes shoot open as you register one of the top posts - a video clip of you and paige sleeping peacefully behind ice and kk on live.

“shit."

"what?" paige mumbles into your shirt.

"look," you nudge her, showing her the post on your screen.

"oh shit."

"my thoughts exactly..." you say, heart beating faster with anxiety at the thought of your careers at risk, "what do we do?"

"i mean," she starts cautiously, "i don't think there's much we can do."

as much as you hated to hear it, it was the truth. clips and captures had already spread like wildfire. people have always speculated and theorized, but with this mishap, their suspicions were practically confirmed.

paige sits up against the headboard of the bed when she notices your reaction - or lack thereof. your expression remains unmoved as you think of any way to de-escalate the situation.

"hey," she says, grabbing your phone from your grasp, "don't stress it too much, alright? what's done is done, and all we can do is act normal - like nothing happened. i can even beat up ice and kk if you want."

you know she's only half joking but the sentiment brightens your mood, "you're right. thanks, p."

"whatever it takes to get you off your phone and back under this blanket," she shrugs, "i mean, did you see the time? we have a full hour before we have to meet up with the team, i'm not letting it go to waste."

"so you're spending it...sleeping?" you giggle.

"no," she protests, "i'm spending it in a nice ass bed with my beautiful girlfriend."

"and who is this girlfriend?" you tease.

"at this point, i think the whole world knows it's you, ma."

[melodic-haze]

Arlecchino with a dom filthy rich reader. Reader showers her with lots of gifts on a daily basis. Jewelry, clothes, you name it. Reader would buy it all for her. Arlecchino is spoiled rotten by reader. Arlecchino would always say how reader doesn't need to give her gifts everyday. She finds it unnecessary but the way Arlecchino would wear those expensive outfits and jewelry as Reader fucks her says otherwise.

[Sorry for my bad English]

☆ — DEMO TRACK: sub!Arlecchino x dom!afab!Reader

☆ — TYPE: NSFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: Reader with a strap

☆ — NOTES: NOOO DON'T BE SORRY DUDE❗️❗️ It's easy to understand and it got the point across, this is actually pretty good english :333 gonna tell you rn it's so much better than the english from people where I'm at 😭 actually atrocious

Arlecchino would ABSOLUTELY try and refuse your gifts at first, saying that she has no need for such material things when she already has you :333 (could not be my ass I'm so money-oriented it's so bad LMAOOO)

You have money to burn though—you can so easily buy your lover whatever she may want without needing to look at the price!!! You wanna spoil this woman in a way that she had never been spoiled before, so you pay attention to her likes and dislikes, take notes on her preferences, buy things that link with your observations and/or remind you of her

Eventually though Arlecchino would come to accept that buying her things, especially when they're so expensive, is one of the many ways that you show love. Far be it for her to reject your gifts when you've taken the time to pick them out with her in mind, even if yeah she says it's unnecessary. If it's coming from you then why would she refuse???

I think she'd initially like. Not wear them though 😞 not bc she's ungrateful, but bc she personally thinks whatever you've bought her doesn't suit her unless it's something practical. This ESPECIALLY applies to jewellery bc like. It's. An accessory. She doesn't really need it in her life, does she???? But she warms up to it :33333

The jingle of the precious necklace around her slender neck definitely helps with convincing that perhaps such gifts were okay.

It was a custom-made gift crafted using the finest metals, notably the highest-quality starsilver one could find in Dragonspine's unstable landscape. Perhaps you could have bought something much more.. easily produced such as gold, but you didn't—couldn't—settle for less when it came to the prime target of your bountiful affection and the person who was in need of true love.

Though you admit, it wasn't because of the item's worth that had you wanting for a custom gift for your paramour, no. Rather, your thoughts had often wandered to the crafted image of a red glow illuminating pale skin, along with how beautiful a sight it must be.

And when you see the magical jewels reflect its crimson light on Arlecchino's naked skin, when the chains clink quietly as the pendant bounces on top of her chest, you pride yourself in being right as you smirk and continue to fuck her with your faux appendage.

Your hand went to graze her neck, fingers trailing down as you slowed your efforts. It would have been nice to overwhelm her, to fill her over and over until she forgot herself, but you adored the view you were blessed with right this very moment. Despite how formidable this woman was, you still managed to leave her grasping for breath, glistening chest heaving as her necklace followed suit.

Such a thought itself had prompted you to reach for the camera on the bedside table before taking a quick picture. She would often question your want to capture her visage in such an unruly state but really, you can't help it!

After all, she looks positively delightful, all dressed up and gilded with your money.

My GOD being rich would also mean you can do that thing where like you rip the clothes off bc you got way too excited. She'd ask you why you did that but then you can easily tell her that you'll buy her another one and more 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ full disclosure heat shot up to her very core at the display ☺️

This is like the greatest sort of ask I've ever had bc I LOVEEEEE jewellery just saying

I read something somewhere about how if you buy your partner a necklace or smth then it's like you're binding them to you. Like a collar but a lot more innocent unless yk you WANT it to be less-than-innocent

Buying her all these things being not just a way to show your love but also to show ownership is kinda crazy in a hot way, and really why wouldn't you?? When she's this formidable and Beautifully Handsome figure, why wouldn't you want to show off the fact that she's fully and utterly yours???? Just clocking onto how perhaps her children point out that the sparkles make her look brighter, or how random people may stop and stare at the shimmering pendant on her neck and knowing that you've given her whatever bounties she could ever ask for (if she wanted to ask) is!!!! Definitely A Feeling 😋😋😋

BONUS if the necklace itself is sturdy too. You'd have to think of how she would much prefer practicality, so you've made sure the metal is STRONG and REINFORCED enough to withstand force........esp when you go to tug on it harshly like a collar. Bc really at the end of the day, that's what this is—the only difference is an actual collar would be thick and would wrap around the neck while a necklace is thin and hangs loosely

In any case you tug on it harshly, bring her even closer and more personal as you start drilling into her again, and it lifts her up instead of breaking thank god ☺️☺️☺️ and she does NOTHING but take what you give her!!!!! She hangs there like a ragdoll, eyes glazed over as little grunts and quiet moans escape her lips before you hit that One Spot at that certain and then suddenly her hands are grasping onto you frantically :3

And at daily life THEN that's when she starts fully accepting your gifts and wearing it without feeling like she's extorted you somehow. When people ask her about it, she'll say that she got it all from her lover before looking at you with a tint of red on her cheeks, remembering the times when you've fucked her to the point where she felt like an object herself 🫶

[lalovi]

Hello! Is it okay if I request Royal Margarine Cookie or Capsaicin Cookie x (gender neutral) reader who seems to be all strict and stern yet ends up being easy to fluster (sorry if this is long! But i hope you understand 😭😢)

AN: I hope you don't mind that I made this a multiple char fic- 😓

``I am not blushing!``

Multiple x GN! Reader

ROYAL MARGARINE, Affogato, Prune Juice, AVENTURINE, HEIZOU, DAZAI, Rui Kamishiro

Warnings: none

"Come now, there's no need to be so serious!" He grinned, lifting his head with an almost taunting aura.

You crossed your arms, brows knitting in annoyance. "We are not dropping this. Punctuality should be a priority!"

A low chuckle escaped him. "You won't forgive me for being only a few minutes late?"

Your expression only grew more agitated from here. The shamelessness of this man is truely extraordinary. Though as his gaze continued to burn into you, your confidence began to waver.

"I just think-" your eyes wander off of him and instead shift to somewhere else. Anywhere else, really. As long as it wasn't him since you knew his glare and Cheshire grin were all it took for you to break. "I just think you should aim to be on time."

He seemed amused by you.

But why? It's not like you said anything funny.

"Oh my... are you still not going to forgive me?" He inched closer to you; so close that his scent began to haze your mind.

Your mouth opened slightly as if you were going to respond, yet all that came out was a single, broken, shaky breath.

"Maybe you'll forgive me if I were to..." His lips met yours in an instant, and they lingered there for a moment before he pulled away.

"Sweet." He mumbled to himself.

You were a mess. You had just been scolding him a second ago, hadn't you? Why was he the one in controll now? And just why did you have to fold under his charm so quickly?

You covered your face with your hands in embarrassment.

His lips tugged into a snide smile as he observed your pathetic attempt at hiding the blush on your face. "Are you doing alright? You seem a bit redder than before."

"I'm doing fine." You still couldn't bring yourself to look him in the eye.

"Really? I thought my teasing had become too much for you and you had started blushing or something.."

"I am not blushing!"

His teasing grin only widened, though it seemed like he decided to drop it in the end. "Of course. You mever get flustered, after all."

You didn't say much; only uttering a "you suck," under your breath to which he immediately began laughing at.

"Well now that we have this settled, why don't we start on the actual reason for our meetup?"

《☆》 End

[kayunivy]

June 21st is Kaito's birthday and to celebrate how about we talk about his "fight" with Makoto in the movie 23? :D

I see a lot of people commenting on how Kaito didn't stand a chance against Makoto among other things, but why doesn't anyone talk about how tough this guy is???? Let's go back to the scene.

Kid had already run quite a distance until he reached the safe, doing some acrobatics along the way. A few minutes later he is hit by a taser that makes him pass out, and then he almost drowns, escaping at the last second. Soon after, he has to run again through a huge mansion and finally comes face to face with Makoto in the height of his jealousy. A really stupid jealousy but Sonoko doesn't help either.

Kaito knows well that he has no chance against Makoto who is basically a god in this anime (seriously why are some characters so exaggeratedly strong?? they think they are in dragon ball) Anyway! Even though he knows this, he goes to Makoto precisely because moments before he said he liked it more when the robberies were more difficult, he liked the adrenaline.

He enters in such an insane moment that sparks literally come out of his eyes... BRO??? IS THIS SO @?!$@? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.... Er anyway.......

AAAAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 😭

Regardless of whether he is becoming exhausted (he is human after all), Kaito manages to easily dodge Makoto's initial blows. And he even tries to give some blows too, he really isn't very afraid of death... Let's be honest, it's kind of admirable that he's survived this far.

He took a punch that, even though it didn't hit him so hard, was still strong enough to push him back a lot (Makoto, you were really trying to kill him...).

Anyone else would have at least fainted after a punch like that, but Kaito remained standing feeling a little pain. Wtf??? It's not like he had training to be this resilient?? Magicians don't need to be almost immortal haha... Seriously how is he still standing after all this?? And then he flies away as if nothing had happened???

I really admire Kaito's resistance, both physical (which was the focus of this post) and mental resistance, which I intend to talk about in a future post. So... Happy birthday little baby! 🕊️

[koolades-world]

Hi, hopefully it's still before the 5th for you bcz idk, bcz of the time zones 😭 Asmo and the number 40 would be cute imo. Congrats on 2k, that's a huge number! You must be really proud of yourself! Wish ya even more! 💕

thank you! don't worry you were on time!

so glad to see the asmo lovers come out of the woodworks for this event. i'll compile a masterlist once i complete the final request tomorrow but i think he got four requests which might be the most!

enjoy <3

prompt 40 w/ Asmo

Although Asmo was the avatar of lust and was famous for his physical beauty, you were surprised at just how many people overlooked the other beautiful things about him. Maybe it was just because they didn't know him like you did, but you could argue that his inner beauty rivaled that of what he showed off daily. There was no doubt that he was gorgeous, but he had many other glowing qualities.

You adored his mannerisms, like the way his hand always found it's way into yours when you walked side by side and the way he always looked out for you. He always scanned a room, looking specifically for you, and the way his face lit up when he saw you was adorable. You could help but melt at every time he went out of his way for you and appreciated you for you, and not what you stood for. You couldn't imagine your life without him. He always found a way to seamlessly add you to his packed schedule and you felt as if you were together more than you were apart.

One of your favorite things about him was his laugh, which was surprisingly something he didn't talk about much. He admitted to you once while drunk that the reason for this was because he didn't like it. You'd tried to comfort him in the moment, but he'd moved on and ran off before you could. After that, it hadn't come up again and you didn't want to drag down his mood. Any time he laughed at a joke you made, or when he saw one of his brother do something stupid, you thought about how much you loved it. To you, it was like the sound of the last school bell of the day. Hearing it instantly made you day better every time you heard it.

You couldn't fathom why he hated it, since he was the most handsome individual you'd ever met, inside and out. But, you always never pestered him about it because you knew what it was like to be insecure and dislike something about yourself. It was human, after all. Despite all that though, you'd always hoped that it might come up naturally one day and you could tell him you adored it.

"Mc, sweetheart, do you want another sweet tea?" Asmo got up and stretched his legs. Since the weather permitted it, the two of you, and his brothers were having a beach day. At first, it was just the two of you, but one by one, his brothers invited themselves along until they all wanted to go. Asmo didn't want to give up your time together, so he made his brothers promise they'd give you space. You knew that wouldn't last long, but you let him has his moment.

"No thanks. I'm still working on this one." You gestured to the half full glass beside you.

"Alright." He walked around behind your chairs to the cooler and refilled his own glass. He sat back down once he was done. Rather than shut his eyes again, he watched his brothers fool around closer to the water. Mammon and Levi were fooling around knee deep in the water. After a well timed, swift push from Levi, Mammon feel into the water. It must've been deeper than it looked behind him, because he got totally submerged. He came back up about a second later, furious at Levi. He tried a couple times to shove Levi back but failed every time. Asmo burst out laughing like he hadn't in a while, swatting your arm a couple times to make sure you were watching. While what Levi and Mammon were doing was undeniably funny, you couldn't tear your eyes away from Asmo.

"What? I know I'm beautiful." He swept his bangs aside and smiled at you, fluttering his eyelashes.

"You have such a pretty laugh is all." Asmo seemed a little surprised at your words. He opened and closed his mouth a couples times before shutting it all together. "Really, you do. I love it."

He wordlessly started at you, before responding with a quiet, "Thank you." The rest of your afternoon together was just as it had been before, but you caught Asmo giving you significantly more lingering looks. That night, his Devilgram post about you beach trip was very sweet and was mostly pictures of you and him together. He sat down with you after dinner and gave you a hug, and insisted on cuddling. You noticed he started to laugh more after you'd told him that. How wonderful it was to see how far one sweet compliment could take him. You were glad you could uplift him in the same way he uplifted you countless times.

[pinkfreakk]

Mhhhh can I be honest? I didn't hate it but I'm kinda disappointed... it left me more confused than before and it really shouldn't have. The start was fine, a bit of suspense although it was clear those deaths weren't permanent. Mrs. Flood, as always, was one of the most interesting particulars, as she keeps breaking the fourth wall and saying things that just make you ask why. Like what do they mean. I have high expectations for her and I genuinely like her for now.

There were some things I liked: the tardis, the way the other worlds were mentioned, the 73 yards thing. I enjoyed the memories of the past, how the time window tried to reply to ruby alone. I also liked the general emotion there was, and was sad to see ruby go so early.

Now... here come the problems: sutekh. What do you mean a literal God of death has been reduced to an obedient puppy? Like.. ruby got close and he just.. let her? He was fr dragged around like a dog and hasn't done much at all. His angels of death, or whatever they were called, used the dust to kill everyone and okay, they eliminated so many people, but here comes another problem. Like babes, why didn't you kill them off earlier, when they grabbed sutekh by the collar?😭 the plot armor was kinda insane imho. The general thing seemed good but when you stop to think about it it's different. I liked it at first, although not fully, and I wasn't bored, but by the end of it, more and more negative details just popped up. Another problem was the mother. I didn't despise it, it was very sweet, but at the same time I expected more because it was simply natural! This mystery, along with the snow, the hidden song, was milked way too much, and while I understand creating hype is important, too much of it for a rather simple reveal can make the latter disappointing, and it kinda was. Also what the hell... how did sutekh come back?? Did somebody get it... was he there since the fourth doctor? DID HE SEE THE FLUX AND ALL THOSE MESSES WHATTT. How tf.. guess that salt was for the toymaker only. Thank God they didn't bring trickster or they might have ruined him LMAO. I kinda expected ruby's mother to be a God.. but okay ig.

Overall, okay but not okay at the same time. I'm scared of what might happen after this. It's my favorite show and I would be devastated to watch it die because of a poorly written episode. :/

What do yall think?

[beaulesbian]

One Piece 1118 spoilers again, about the Iron Giant

So in the chapter 1117 we have seen the Iron Giant take a hit from the Gorosei, the broadcast fizzling out because of that, and it was almost like he was losing power, shutting down.

In this chapter 1118, the Iron Giant was thrown into the sea and wondering where did Joyboy go, because it felt him before - possibly it awakened thanks to only being near Luffy's Gear 5 vicinity and feeling his presence.

And we see that Luffy is out of Gear 5 (end of last chapter as well as beginning of this one)

Only until he was eating and got new strength, he was ready to go back into Gear 5,

And not alone on top of that -

- that the Irong Giant seemed to notice him (or both Luffy in Gear 5 and Bonney as Nika too), notice their presence as Joyboy.

Possibly in the next chapter it could resurface from the sea and help Luffy and Bonney hold off the Gorosei to help them escape.

Which makes me thing back to beginning of Egghead arc where Vegapunk was telling Luffy how the Iron Giant ended up on Egghead - that the Gorosei didn't even know it's been carried and hidden on Egghead. How it attacked the Marijoa, but stopped in the middle of it, seemingly running out of power -

Which seems very similar to what could be happening when the Iron Giant doesn't feel Joyboy (or Nika powers) nearby, and why it started waking up just when Luffy went into Gear 5 for the first time on Egghead.

It could mean there really was another awakened Nika devil fruit user 200 years ago, or not even Nika fruit (as the Iron Giant could be reacting to Bonney here as well), but someone unlocking the potential of Nika - of freedom! In a place where the captives of the celestial dragons didn't have freedom, someone might have tried for something big that the Iron Giant activated, but something happened to there, (maybe abrupt end of trying for a revolution?,) and that's why the Iron Giant is so remorseful and apologetic towards Joyboy.

I think this was all predicted/thought about when the Iron Giant first began waking up thanks to Luffy's Gear 5, but it feels more confirmed from the recent chapters.

(I just can't wait for next one 😭)

[panelshowsource]

now that s17 is over, how did you like it? it feels like most people either thought it was mild or weak, which makes me sad, so i stopped going to the discussion threads about it :""( i also don't see much anticipation for s18...

aww anon well, first, if you had a good time then that's what matters! so i hope series 17 brought you a little joy each week, that's what panel shows are for in my humble opinion 😚

because i know i'm about to word vomit some word salad, i'll throw out some s17 reactions + s18 thoughts below the cut! that way anyone who is sick of my nonsense doesn't have to scroll past it lmaooo

series 17 was a decent one! i don't think it's in the hall of fame, but it's definitely nowhere near the couple of "unwatchables" as they're (pretty unfairly) called. i've talked before about one of the downfalls of a season is when a group doesn't harness their dynamic and take control of the show — when they're in the studio and just sit quietly, waiting for greg to give them permission to speak, things flow well for the editors but the experience lacks. this is why s1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, even 12 are so silly and chaotic: the contestants were constantly fighting, interrupting or pausing judging, trying to convince or gaslight or challenge greg, just...speaking! talking! interacting! if that doesn't happen, taskmaster can just feel like show and tell, which is not when it's at its best

ultimately, this is why too many polite and well-behaved people in a single series is a pleasant watch but doesn't hit very hard. this series was exceptionally nice, we have to admit. joanne followed by steve may have been the "hang on a second ☝️" contestants of the series, but not by a lot, meanwhile nick and sophie were the loveliest, pretty quiet people and john was dead silent most of the time. actually, that was something that ended up surprising me — john was so focused on the tasks, so focused on winning, most of the time he didn't pause to give significant, funny commentary while filming, didn't give us *nearly* the banter with alex i anticipated, and was particularly quiet in the studio. i knew he'd be in it to win it, don't get me wrong, but he approached taskmaster more as a richard herring than an ed gamble, if you know what i mean. it was very funny to me when he was on the tm podcast and was more or less like "i know i didn't prioritise being entertaining" lmao that earnestness can be sweet, because i do like to watch the show imagining how i would do each task, but his ~no nonsense~ approach was turned up to 11 for a lot more of the series than i anticipated. i almost wish john had leaned a little more into his self-aware neuroticism and competitiveness just because that's generally a good character on taskmaster — and this series was definitely missing that

(you know, talking about this really reinforces my belief that kerry godliman is perhaps the most perfect taskmaster contestant...ever. competitive, no nonsense and full of nonsense, top bantz, stands up for herself and tears down others but fights without being genuinely angry or butthurt, doesn't know enough to try and figure out a workaround for every single task, loves and bullies alex in equal measure... just love the woman. love her. fuck it, same for jess knappett. i miss my girls😭 this is ALSO why i think rosie is a great fit for tm)

anywayz i haven't read mucho mucho discourse about series 17, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's the vague "criticism" people: just more lowkey vibes than other series. but some people prefer that, so..!!!

i think, too, too many people look back at series 1–...7? at least and want to see the same greg–alex dynamic, approach to the prize tasks, approach to scoring, lil tricks, what have you — and that is not gonna happen again. ever. for example, greg and alex have talked too many times about how hard they try to score things "fairly" because that's become such a big point of conversation for the viewers at home and, atp, even the contestants. personally, i don't prefer that. fuck fair! this is not a real competition it's an entertainment show!! when greg was throwing out points willy nilly, bonus points for eating hair, giving 5 points to a prize just bc it's his personal sense of humour and ranking another contestant's prize low every week just bc that's a funny recurring joke/dynamic, whatever. i do not care. give phil wang 1 point every time. points schmoints. but that cannot happen anymore because the viewers starting taking the points so darn seriously. (not to mention the opportunity to do coc is now pretty coveted for its $$$ and exposure, too, i'd imagine.) the same goes for greg leaning into his dictator role, the master/slave relationship between him and alex, alex being super stoic and quiet — not only does tm think those characters and dynamics are played out, but in some ways the audience has evolved beyond all that

my point is that people get caught up in the Old Gen Taskmaster that hooked them and can't accept the ways in which the show has evolved — even if it's in their opinion for worse. do i think it would kill taskmaster to go back to slightly less convoluted tasks and commit to the 1–5 point system instead of constant ties (or "this was a 3-point effort")? no. i would like to see that lmao but i don't view the series through the lens of a series 1 fan anymore, either. a reality check would help a lot of complainers

i did read one thing i thought was interesting — that with the huge number of series we're at with tm uk, and now the accessibility of other countries' spin-offs, there is a bigger and bigger pool of God Tier Taskmaster to compare each new series to. it used to be "hmm does this new series stack up against series 4, one of the all-time greats?" but now we're stacking new series up against the top ~6 of tm uk, tm nz s2, a couple of the tm belgiums, tm aus s1, and so on. competition is stiff!! not many series can be The Very Best Of All Time, so with each new tm uk that isn't, people start to feel like the show has gone downhill when it probably is stagnant at worst. does that make sense?

i don't wanna sound like every criticism of tm can be explained away or comes from a bad place. as i've mentioned above, i have my qualms. this series, one of my major qualms and seriously unpopular opinions was that i didn't like that steve wasn't actually bringing in prizes half the time. like, he was doing bits and they were funny bits, but greg was scoring him mad high for the effort he put into his bits instead of the actual prizes he brought in for entry. i stand by that opinion, but the thing is i didn't let that ruin my experience of the show. but, maybe, it just comes down to the fact i want to like it...so i do ^^

maybe i talked way too much about criticism and negativity hahah some things i really enjoyed from this series:

nick is probably the second person following john kearns who i actively disliked before taskmaster specifically because i had only ever seen their comedy characters doing dictionary corner or a bit of standup — and i really didn't like them. (still never seen ted lasso!) lo and behold, they go on taskmaster and are S Tier Sweethearts and i see them both in totally new lights! in fact john's last standup show is being released shortly and i cannot wait to watch it — which me of the past would never believe i'm saying lmao so i'm so grateful the show opened my eyes to what a funny, sweet person nick is!! and may i say his and john's styles in the studio are massively underrated. they are both incredibly snazzy dressers!

steve and nick were a sweet little team weren't they! i think it would have been funnier to have john x sophie (the best and the worst, in their own ways) vs. the more harmonious steve x nick x sophie, but regardless it was very cute stuff

the location was great! i fucking love a big open field, i fucking love a river

greg has had some really strong intro "speeches" the last few series and i loved his this time around. they're just equal parts stupid and weird + his authoritative, classic greg delivery always makes me laugh heh

some of the strongest live tasks in a while!! catching the little monsters, passing the loo through the tube, bouncing the ball on the bar — all felt like quintessential uncomplicated classic taskmaster parlour games and they were good fun

TONS out outtakes content!

and gosh it's wonderful to have a new little hour of pleasantness to have each week :)

regarding s18... it's an interesting lineup! in a good way!! i think rosie's character is more or less a perfect fit for the taskmaster format. obviously she is one of the biggest female comedians in the uk right now, but i didn't bet on her doing tm because i didn't think the show could commit to accommodating her disability for 10 episodes. and, frankly, they may not — and i guarantee she is completely okay with that. she was born from the rhod gilbert school of showing up to fuck around, and i sleep soundly knowing she will do just that. i really like jack dee and i'm happy for alex to have made it work with him. it typically wouldn't be my choice to have two senior comedian white men on one series, and (unpopularly?) i'm not really a zaltzman person, but i have no doubt he'll be quite charming. emma sidi is part of the alex horne bubble of friends i have mentioned a few times before, but i actually don't know much about her. babatunde feels like a sensible fresh pick since he's been doing more variety/panel shows; i don't watch him on googlebox (which i love) because i don't like mo gilligan (very unsorry about this opinion heh), but what i've seen of him i've enjoyed! i don't think the group's dynamic is obvious just from their list of names, but the fact they're all comedians is VERY promising and makes me supersupersuper happy — all comedian lineups are historically the strongest. so yay!! but can you imagine who will be on a team?? god imagine a jack x rosie team lmfaoooooooooooo i live for the thought

hope that made sense and if it didn't whoops! don't mind me heheh

[marshmallowprotection]

The Mc in another story (if you decide to do Ray’s route at least) is bold as hell, heading to an undisclosed secondary location and the first thing they do is flirt with the random guy that brought them there in the first place.

“Do you have any questions about the game?��

“How do I pursue you, Ray?”

They wasted NO TIME, they were charmed by that man from the start 😭

I’m rambling but do you think GE ever reflects on their first encounter. Like Mc is so bold but also really endearing 😭

Oh, it actually comes up quite a few times in narration. Suit Saeran points out how stupid you were to go to a secondary location in his last phone call with you. The fact Suit Saeran says what he does at the end of the route tells me that you two are bound to have a longer conversation about safety when GE Saeran has time to breathe and think about the scope of not only what Suit Saeran and Ray did, but what you did. Why did you trust them like that?

Ray may not outright say it himself, but he didn't expect you to go along with him at first, and that's why he had contingency plans set up. He thought you would think twice about trusting him, even if he was gentle in his approach. That's a contrast against Suit Saeran and his full awareness into the matter.

I genuinely think GE Saeran is going to tell you, "My love, I know you trust people without a second thought... but in the future, let's try to think carefully before we get into unmarked cars, okay? I'm happy to know you trusted me but next time, don't trust people who do that to you. My intentions weren't the best but I can't imagine the next guy'll be any better... so, if someone asks, make sure you talk to me about it first. I can hand off that information to Saeyoung and he'll take care of it, okay?"

[spicyliumang]

Instead of ripping my hair out trying to make Enya by scratch, I opted to import her sims model instead 🧍🏾‍♀️

[kaiiscottage]

JUST WHEN THE WERE STARTING TO GET ALONG AGAIN IT'S SO OVER I'M GONNA LOSE IT

[simmingonthelow]

🎊Happy Holi🎊

[ihamtmus]

it's weird how jhope is Right There and he's like the Most Talented Person but some armys just. don't see him. should be studied

[fromtheseventhhell]

what do you think about the affc 2003 old script release? sansa fans are claiming because it says “take north” it means actually retake the north instead of heading north

It's interesting to look at George's notes and try to line them up with the plotlines we already have, but it's hard to make predictions on future ones because of how fragmented they are. The only reason it's being used as proof is because Stansas have already decided that's how her story will play out; It's just confirmation bias.

Regarding Sansa's portion, I think it lines up with what we've already gotten from her AFFC + TWOW chapters. Her final AFFC chapter includes LF outlining his "plan", which is supposed to culminate in her revealing her identity, gaining the support of the Vale, and retaking the North...hence the "take the north" in the outline. The fact that it predates the Tourney on the list, introduced afterward in her TWOW sample, seems to line up. LF's "prizes" of returning her identity and Winterfell give us her motivations + reasoning for why she is, for now, willing to follow his plan. The only actual new point seems to be "Kill the Mouse".

It's hard to theorize on any of these because they could all be subject to change/revision but to me, this outline shows that George has an entire arc in the Vale planned out of her. The Tourney hasn't even begun yet, we have Myranda potentially realizing Sansa's identity, Sansa hasn't even begun allying with the knights of the Vale, an engagement to Harry hasn't been secured, SW's health is up in the air, I doubt that the Mad Mouse will be killed off anytime soon, etc. She has a lot of story left to play out where she is and nothing actually indicates that she will be physically heading North anytime soon. The issue is that people keep trying to align her book arc with the show. Ultimately we won't ever really know until George releases TWOW, but it is funny to me that this is taken as ultimate proof when there's so much from George that they ignore. They'll rally around a few fragmented thoughts from 10 years ago, but then they ignore it when he outright says he has no idea what D&D are doing with Sansa and that things will be very different in the books 🤷🏾‍♀️

[irhabiya]

it is what it issssss

[bylertruther]

kinda cool how in season one eleven escapes the lab thinking she's the monster & in season four eleven escapes the lab again knowing she never was and that none of what happened was ever her fault.

and how in season two she goes on a journey to figure out part of her past and is told by another of the lab's victims that she needs to find strength in pain and anger & in season four we saw that it was her mother calling her by her real, human name and telling her that she loved her that gave her enough strength to overpower evil and banish it from their dimension, not the hurt and rage she felt at her being taken away. and that again, she was able to perform a miracle and bring her friend back to life by thinking of the love she showed her and the way she had always treated her like she was a human being.

she and her story are just really cool, methinks.