#actually I think this storyline (if you can call it that) is kind of insane and like why was deb the one that got pregnant ??

[crownofbegonias]

hey did you know deb had a kid with ace in the smegazine comic strips??

truly insane stuff, but i can never resist an opportunity for character design, so here’s what that kid could maybe look like :)

[youbutstupid]

My personal ranking of all of the episodes directed by Matthew Gray Gubler

1. Mosley Lane, 5x16: the first episode directed by MGG and arguably one of his most iconic. The carnival themes along with the actual story created a really stressful but engaging watch and I loved watching the mum be proved right. The line ‘he was alive yesterday’ really sealed the episode for me.

2. Mr Scratch, 10x21: I love dark and creepy episodes, as you will see from this list, and this episode was perfect. The horror movie aspects added to the mind games that were being played on both the audience and the characters were insane. I loved how the lighting in this episode remained dark so the audience never got any reprieve from the horror. We also had to grieve each character at some point.

3. The Lesson, 8x10: this episode was so gruesome and I don’t normally like gore but this was done in such an interesting and terrifying way. I loved the ballet scene and the end when Hotch is walking through the fake ‘audience’- both such beautifully haunting scenes and I loved how we were put inside the unsub’s delusion.

4. Lauren, 6x18: arguably one of the most iconic episodes for Emily Prentiss’ character. I really loved how this episode opened a lot of things up for Prentiss as a character and also allowed for a lot of things about her to be explained. I also loved the reveal about Doyle’s son and it really left me on edge and questioning a lot.

5. A Beautiful Disaster, 11x18: I really deliberated this ranking because I wanted it to be higher but didn’t know where to place it. I’m not easy to make cry yet this episode had me sobbing. It was so intense and Morgan’s departure was done so beautifully, I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself after watching it. MGG really perfected his craft with the set out of this one.

6. Tall Man, 14x05: this episode is amazing because you can see the influence it takes from the real life Slenderman case which made it really eerie but interesting to watch. I also loved that the episode was JJ centric and we got to learn more about her and her background with Roslyn and her parents. This episode really made me adore JJ’s character even more and AJ’s acting was incredible (I know that isn’t a note about MGG’s directing but I just needed to give AJ her credit because she was insane).

7. Heathridge Manor, 7x19: the old Salem themes with the medieval dresses and the old rituals? Stunning. The visuals for this episode were amazing and the story was so interesting. The end when she hallucinates and we are left with the image of her alone on the doorstep; my Lord.

8. Elliott’s Pond, 12x06: this might not be the right word for a Criminal Minds episode but it honestly felt kind of cosy? With the 80s horror themes and the overall lack of death, this episode is more wholesome than other Gubler episodes whilst still maintaining his classic spark. The end of the case itself was really emotional and heartwarming and I’m glad that MGG gave Hotch’s character some semblance of a goodbye because we know how close he was to Thomas Gibson.

9. Blood Relations, 9x20: probably the most messed up episode ever. Picture every dark theme you can put into a piece of media and you get this episode. It honestly made me feel sick and I think that’s why I liked it so much; I like episodes that make leave an effect and this one definitely did that. I can’t even describe what happened in this episode without getting banned but oh my. This only isn’t higher because I preferred the storylines in the previous episodes.

10. The Capilanos, 13x17: this episode had a good premise and I think the introduction where there is no music and you’re left with the odd squeaks of the clown was amazing. I liked the calls to IT, my only issue with this episode is it had the opportunity to be really tense and scary but the middle chunk of the episode just wasn’t. The end of the case was good though and it started to pick up a lot.

11. Alchemy, 8x20: this episode had a good storyline and the visuals definitely had influences from horror movies such as The Shining. The only reason it’s not higher is because it didn’t hit me as hard as the others, but it’s still a really good episode to watch.

12. The Gatekeeper, 9x07: the storyline was good, it just felt more like classic Criminal Minds than a Gubler episode. The main star of this episode is the team bonding that we get to see with Rossi helping Reid grieve Maeve and then the karaoke scene was so beautiful.

[k-s-morgan]

Heyy! I am such a fan of your work in the Tomarry fandom, and I don’t want to sound intrusive, but I’m just wondering if you ever shared your history with the ship. You said before that you were a huge Snarry fan, so how did you transition from that to this? (Hehe, maybe I’m getting it wrong like you were always a fan of both since then, my apologies if ever. I don’t know if I’m assuming you’re no longer a Snarry fan.) And what made you write fanfic of them? How did you come up with such unique and great storylines? I wonder if you got inspired from someone or something because damn, the way you tell your stories is just my perfect cup of tea. And I can see you enjoy it! Really great.

Hi! Thank you so much for your sweet words <3 You are absolutely right, I used to be a Snarry shipper. I can't say I'm indifferent to this ship now, but the years where I gulped down all kinds of fics featuring them have passed. The passion isn't there any longer.

How I stumbled upon Tomarry: some months before publishing the first chapter of WHGTB, I was re-reading a Snarry fic called The Marriage Stone. Snape is not nearly the bastard I prefer him to be there, but I liked the world-building a lot, so I enjoyed reading it. There is a small arc there where Lucius Malfoy is attracted to Harry, and I found myself fascinated by it. It occured to me that it might be interesting to try the fics centered on Harry and Lucius - I was never a fan of the latter, he's overly pompous and a coward, but I wanted to find something where Lucius would be dark, regal, and a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, the fics I read didn't appeal to me, so I started wondering what other dark, regal character to pair Harry with. I was in the mood for something darker than I typically found in Snarry.

And that's how I thought of Tomarry. In retrospect, it's amazing that I hadn't found them sooner. I always liked the parallels between Harry, Tom, and Severus, and since I thought Harry and Snape might make a potentially great couple, I don't know why I never considered Tom and Harry in the same context until years into shipping Snarry.

I tried some Tomarry fics, and ohh, I fell head over heels. I could no longer go back to my other HP ships, it was like my most perfect drug.

I'm so flattered that you referred to my stories as unique because I actually really hesitated about publishing WHGTB. I knew I would write this story, but the fandom has so many Harry-raising-Tom fics that I thought people are already bored to death with it, so it'd be something I'd create just for myself. Needless to say, the response to it shocked me.

I consider WHGTB and ATLWETD very plain in terms of plot uniqueness - they are just my takes on 'Harry raises Tom' and 'Harry studied with Tom' tropes. To me, stories like Consuming Shadows and Train to Nowhere are unique, while I'm doing the maximum relationship, minimum plot thing. That's what I prefer as a writer, and I love it - knowing other people enjoy it just as much never fails to make me incredibly happy.

As for why I decided to write these fics at all - to be honest, I can never tell how these things work. For example, despite my intense love for Snarry and the years I spent dedicated to this ship, I never wanted to write about them. Same goes for my other fandoms. I can be absolutely insane about a ship, I can love the characters and the universe they come from to death, but the need and desire to write something can be lacking. With Tomarry, I wanted to write about them immediately.

I can't say I got inspired by anything except for a general Tomarry vibe. I think a couple of fics I read might have had an impact on me in terms of some ideas, especially Fate's Favorite since I read it an absurd amount of times, but there is nothing specific I would point out as my source of inspiration. Just a ship itself.

[she-walked-away]

Tag Game Tuesday Monday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

It took me nearly a week to get to it, but thanks Anne @thisbuildinghasfeelings for tagging me!!!

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

Funnily enough, I was watching the Super Bowl in 2020 and was folding laundry when they showed a promo from Lone Star and it was the part where they were talking to the old lady and I heard "Sure ma'am but just so you know I'm a homosexual" and I looked up because that was VERY random for a commercial to say and I the rest of the scene aired and I thought it was one of the best things I've ever seen lmao.

I actually did not start watching the show until 1x08 when TK got shot and I was HOOKED. I remember having to miss the season 1 finale to go to the grocery and checking my twitter account to see if Tarlos got together in the end ajkdhafdas

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3!

I'll never forget the EXPERIENCE that Push was. I was on a whole rollercoaster of emotions and I remember watching the TK waking up and Grace giving birth montage live and when it went off, my husband sitting behind me and very quietly going "whoa." We were both SHOOK. And then the proposal happened in 3x18 and I slunk off my couch because I was dying happily.

I think my rank is 3, 4 bc of the wedding and SOULMATES!!!, 2, and then 1. I really did like season 2 but you can tell Tim kind of bum rushed the ending dalkhdf

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

TK and Carlos will always be number one and I cannot pick a favorite between them. They're both so complex and interesting.

I think my second favorite has got to be Tommy. She always just *fit* in the show better than Michelle and I think she's hilarious and smart and her friendship with Grace and Judd are my favorites. Plus, I love how she and Owen play off each other.

Top five episodes. Go!

Push - nothing will ever top this I'm afraid

Bad Call

Saving Grace

Red vs Blue- LET THEM HAVE FUNNY QUIRKY EPISODES LIKE THIS BUT MORE CARLOS

In Sickness and Health

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

After season 4- I kind of NEED a Carlos one. I always want one and I think we learned a lot about him last season, but 4x18 opened a lot more questions about his childhood for me. Especially since he genuinely doesn't seem to remember a lot of the good times with his dad and it makes me curious if there is some underlying reason why other than just distance as he grew up.

But also NANCY. What is her backstory?? Her dad told her to start saving when she was little and she has thousands of dollars that she can lend out?? I want to know if there is more to it! And how did she get her start? Was she with the original 126 paramedic squad?

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

Obviously Gabriel's murder being solved and it would be great if Tarlos did it TOGETHER. And if one of them is in dangerous peril at the same time in front of the other- would not complain. I'm all for a "being threated and stalked" kind of storyline- I was thinking of along the lines of The Watcher by @ladytessa74 I want to be scared!! And to watch them be scared and IN LOVE AND A TEAM

I saw this earlier, but an episode from like B-shifts POV. You know that Owen and the firefam respond to the most INSANE calls, so I want to see what B shift and Captain Harper's POV is towards A shift. I think it would be hilarious.

Also- give me some silliness within the Catan Crew. Like maybe someone gets a little TOO into a game and then we have an episode of them all pranking each other or a little funny divide- similar to 4x16, but without them actually fighting.

What do you think is going on in this still?

It's Ghost face from Scream asking Carlos what his favorite scary movies are

:)

I think it's either about Gabriel's murder or them finding out that Robert is dead. Rob Lowe said we'd see part of that day so I wonder if we will see the aftermath since I don't think Robert necessarily died within a week after the wedding.

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

I think it could DEF be some *spicy* shower sex. If TK get's injured in 504, Carlos should help make him feel all nice and healed in the SHOWER

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

I think somewhere in Texas like Galveston. It's not too far away, but I think it's far enough to where TK and Carlos would feel okay leaving both their parents for a short trip. I headcanon that they spent A LOT of money on a quick 8 week wedding *cries in timeline* and so they'd have to save up for a bigger and longer honeymoon.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

I HAVE SO MANY SO I AM SO SORRY IF I FORGET TO MENTION. It's hard to me to count my favorite stories beacuse I think this fandom has so many. I usually put them on my kindle when I'm traveling so I can reread on a long road trip and read in between the Pluto TV commercials during my long treadmill runs.

I just found my password for Ao3 that i created in 2015 (i was a fanfiction.net OG and live journal girly lol really dating myself) so I am currently making my way through reviewing @welcometololaland's ALTA and I have so many other ones to review as well! @strandnreyes, @reyesstrand, @paperstorm, @carlos-in-glasses, @ladytessa74, @rmd-writes , @goodways, @heartstringsduet , @liminalmemories21 , @lemonlyman-dotcom and literally so many more. I love going back and rereading fics on my work breaks now I'm back from leave and now that I have my password back, I plan on continuing that!!

I love gifsets by @guardian-angle22, @lutavero, @reasonandfaithinharmony, and more!

Also Anne's @thisbuildinghasfeelings cross-stitch!! Literally SO FREAKING COOL.

If I forgot you, I am so sorry. But if you write or make art or anything else in this fandom- just know that I am obsessed with everything you do :) I've just been silently stalking this fandom since like 2020

[boomboom-tanjiro2019]

OUR BELOVED SUMMER AU

PORTGAS D ACE X F! READER

This is gonna be based off the KDRAMA "Our Beloved Summer" I haven't finished it so keep that in mind. Idk if this is gonna be continued but this is the concept. Use of They/Them for Ivankov. I'm a Mrs. Kook defender. Not much was changed here but I will be altering to fit with the characters personalities a bit. Some original "Our Beloved Summer" characters might be split into two depending on the scene. The formatting is super weird so might not make sense, I really reccomend the show! Basically the different font is when the two are being interviewed and the flashbacks in between are describing the events of their meeting. As it goes on it will make more sense. Obv this is not my original storyline though some parts are changed 100% reccomend the show.

PROLOGUE

May, 2011

Interview, Ace sits in chair shuffling awkwardly. Portgas D. Ace, High School Senior, 17: Oh… start? Uh- My name is Portgas D. Ace.

-

A teacher talks at the front of the classroom as Ace knocks out in a fit of narcolepsy. Camera crew recording to the right of him near a window, miniature camera facing him on his desk, another camera facing the girl next to him.

His eyes flutter open and immediately direct to the camera crew next to him, comfortability snatched away from him.

“Don’t look at the camera” Dragon whispers over.

Ace slowly lifts his head, “It’s too big for me to miss…”

Dragon sighs, “Just… pretend there’s nothing over here”

“How am I supposed to do that? It’s right in front of me??”

“Ignore it-“

“Idiot. Face forward.” The girl in the chair next to Ace whisper shouts over the teacher. Ace furrows his eyebrows and looks at her as she stares down at him from his hunched over position, “…Why are you looking at me? Look at the board.”

‘Bitch.’ Ace thinks.

“Class is dismissed! Do whatever you want.” The teacher, Dracule Mihawk sighs and whispers under his breath, “Fuck these kids.”

He packs up his things as the camera crew stays fixated on him.

“You’re leaving?” she asks, sitting in the same spot.

“None of your business what I’m doing.” Ace messily shoves his things in his bag, papers everywhere crumpled together.

The girl takes a deep breath, “Sir, can we stop recording?” Her head slowly turns to glare at the back of Ace’s head, “It’s really hard to work with such an idiot.”

Ace turns on the heel of his sneakers “Huh? You call me an idi-“

“We have been filming for DAYS. The whole time you’ve been moving around like you’re insane. I can’t focus at ALL because you were so restless.”

“The camera is- RIGHT. THERE. What the hell do you want me to do?”

“Focus on class? Maybe?! You can’t even do that?”

“Then ignore me and focus on yourself.”

“Fine. You don’t care about getting good grades, totally get it. But I refuse for you to end up bringing me down to your level.”

Ace turns to the camera in a “The Office” style fourth wall break, “You heard that right?” He turns back, “I’m SOOO happy for you. Your social skills couldn’t get lower.”

The girl scoffs and murmurs “why did I even agree to this?”

“I KNOW right?” Ace smiles and puts his hands on his hips with a sarcastically confused expression, “Why DID you agree to this?” With that, he storms off.

-

Interview Y/N L/N, High School Senior, 17:  My name is Y/N L/N. I think I first saw Ace around the tenth grade.

-

Flashback to when Y/N is describing, October 17, 2009 

Y/N approaches the library desk, peaking over at the top Bookworms list.

Portgas D Ace

Y/N L/N

“Excuse me, Mrs.?” Y/N asks as the librarian looks up. “Who is…um…” she reads the name one more time “ Ace?”

“Oh? Ace? He’s over there actually.” She points to a guy over in the corner of the library.

-

Y/N L/N, High School Senior, 17: I met him in a weird spot.

-

“Hey.” She stands near the boy, “My name is Y/N. What’s your school rank?”

Ace looks at her, taken aback and kind of bashfully , “Erm… 267.”

She freezes, “But… we only have-“

“267 students.”

-

Y/N L/N, High School Senior, 17:  At that moment, I thought he was a super weird kid. Portgas D. Ace, High School Senior, 17:  UM- No. That was the 2nd time we met. The first time was during the entrance ceremony.

-

Flashback to their freshman year, first day of school.

A multitude of students stand in separate lines at a school gym as school officials sit in chairs on a decorated front stage.

“The student entering into their first year with the best grades from middle school is Y/N L/N!” A principle shouts over the chatter.

-

Portgas D. Ace, High School Senior, 17:  I watched her walk because she looked like a soldier marching into war or something.

-

Y/N grabs her award with a small and serious smile and swiftly going back to her spot in line.

Ace’s deep chocolate eyes meet her piercing and intoxicating ones, he smiles softly at her.

-

Portgas D. Ace, High School Senior, 17:  In my own defense here, I was just trying to be nice to her the first time our eyes met.

-

“Hey.” She tilts her head up in his direction. 

Ace gasps slightly, cursing himself for doing it right after. His eyes widen and he waits for another word intently

“Turn around.” She narrows her eyes at him.

He looks as if he was pretending not to die slowly, his eyes staying in the same position as only his head slowly rotates forward like a depressed owl.

-

Portgas D. Ace, High School Senior, 17:  That’s when I realized she was pretty weird. Y/N L/N, High School Senior, 17:  …ANYWAY- I never thought I would have gotten involved with a kid as weird as HIM.

-

Senior Year, February, 2011

Ace rolls around in a chair, restlessly holding a bag over his head with his nose scrunched and bopping his head to non-existent music like the Wii soundtrack was the only thing that was in his head. Which wouldn’t be an unreasonable assumption. The teachers’ room is packed with desks and computers.

“So- what do you think?” Ivankov smiles in an overexcited manner, “The director is a SUPER close confidant of mine and he PROMISED not to get in your way. Awesome right?” They wink, “You can always refuse of course.”

“…Am I the only one being filmed?” She asks.

“No, there will be another, they’ll record the best student and worst student for a month and see how you two will interact. Like a documentary. That’s where Ace-boy over there comes in.”

Y/N’s eyes pan over to Ace getting slapped with a rolled up piece of paperwork by a female teacher, wincing at the contact and putting on the expression of a hurt puppy… or a spoiled toddler. “Ouch- sorry-“ he whispers.

‘…right.” She thinks.

“Anyway- just keep the offer in mind, alright?” Ivankov smiles.

“Okay I will.” She smiles, “Thank you- wait… sorry- say I do agree to it, do I get paid for it?”

“Of course! You’ll be paid well.”

Ace’s bag stays over his head and his eyes stare directly at her as she’s leaving, catching her off guard. She freezes and looks him up and down before jogging off.

-

Y/N L/N, High School Senior, 17:  To me, it seemed like he was my total opposite. I thought about saying no. Portgas D. Ace, High School Senior, 17:  Yeah, well I had already said no when Iva asked me, but turned out I had no choice in the matter anyway.

-

“ACE!” Dadan calls out to her “not son” and drags him over to the bench the other two are still sitting at, “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY?!”

“OW OW- why would I?! I’m not doing it.” Ace shouts while getting thrown over to sit on the bench.

Garp laughs and hits Ace way too hard on the back, “What are you TALKING ABOUT? Of course you are! Dragon came all this way to ask. Even though he owes me thousands in child support.”

Dadan mumbles, “You mean he owes ME.”

“YOU CAN'T MISS THIS CHANCE.”

“YOU’RE GONNA GET TO STUDY WITH THE TOP STUDENT OF THE YEAR- YOU HAVE TO.”

“I DON’T WANT TO!” Ace shouts, temper rising.

Garp’s grin fades, “Why the HELL not kid? How can you refuse?!”

“Strangers are gonna know my face!” He puts his arms up in defense.

Dadan scoffs, “as if you care about that.”

“I’m a senior! This will affect my academics.” Ace crosses his arms and closes his eyes as if that was a valid argument.

Silence.

Dadan and Garp burst out laughing.

Dadan can barely get the words out and shouts, “WELL THEY CAN’T GET ANY WORSE KID!”

Garp is still smiling but his laughter fades out, “I mean… they could be to Luffy’s level.”

“…Don’t even go there, he’s lucky he’s only a freshman so they can’t ask him to be in the documentary. He’s the only one Ace is beating right now.” Dadan completely stops smiling at the reminder of the horror that is Luffy’s academic life. No one is even sure he can read. “Besides, you’ll be studying with the TOP STUDENT! You should be GRATEFUL!!”

“But…. BUT! I…. THAT GIRL IS A WEIRDO!”

-

Going back to the interview room with the two at least two feet a part glancing at each other tiredly Y/N L/N, High School Senior, 17:  Yeah. That’s it- that’s about how this whole thing started. And it became way more bothersome than I thought.

-

Ace sits down in the classroom he switched to, pulling out an array of unnecessary items.

Y/N sighs, “it’s always the worst students who cause the most ruckus.”

Ace looks confusedly over to her, “You talking to me?”

“Keep your stuff off of my desk.”

Ace sassily scoots his colors over to the complete other side of his desk and slowly scoots the overlapping pages of Y/N’s book to her side.”

-

Portgas D. Ace, 17:  She was way more annoying than I could have ever imagined.

-

The two documentary stars sit at a lunch table alone with cameras between them documenting their every move.

-

Portgas D. Ace, 17: At first I tried to be friends with her.

-

“Hey um….” Ace awkwardly smiles before trying to talk, not being able to think of a conversation starter. He slowly puts his head back down, fiddling with his spoon and food, but a piece goes flying and lands right on Y/N’s white shirt getting sauce stains on it. 

She looks down slowly and coldly, and in Ace’s personal opinion, seems like she is going to beat the living shit out of him. She looks back up and focuses her eyes away from Ace.

Ace’s eyes widen and he stiffens immediately, “Oh- um- sorry…” he cringes at himself.

She ignores his apology and takes a napkin to try to wipe off the stain, she finally looks back up at him and glares, grabbing a sauce packet and slowly opening it.

Oblivious to the action, Ace turns and points at her sheepishly while facing the camera, trying to explain. “I didn’t mean-“ A spray of sauce goes flying at Ace’s shirt as he gasps and faces her defensively. “I said I was sorry!”

“Good for you. I’m not.” 

-

Y/N L/N, 17:  What was I gonna do? We are just too different.

-

Y/N and Ace were forced to be recorded attending a gym class, normally Ace’s forte. However, Y/N was set on using him as a human shield instead of playing normally.

She moved him while trying to avoid the ball, causing Ace to get hit and very uncharacteristically fall to the ground. Y/N taking this opportunity to tilt his head the direction of the ball and get him hit in the face instead of the side of his head had he just stayed there.

She stands up again and Ace pulls away facing her in anger, “HEY WHAT THE F-“

Y/N quickly turns him around to the direction of the ball, still unnecessary given he would have still blocked it with the back of his head, Ace realizes and quickly ducks down.

The ball approaches quickly while Y/N is still in that same spot.

The ball smacks her right smack dab in the middle of the face, knocking her down not from momentum of the throw, but the shock and late reflexes making her fall back much easier than normal.

Ace flips his head around, realizing late, “PFFT- uh- you alright there?” He smiles and lends a hand while Y/N grabs his arm and digs her nails into his wrist in cold blood.

-

Y/N L/N, 17: He acts like a child.

-

Ace lies down on a bench looking up at trees that have light partially peeking through. Like a glimpse of heaven or an artwork showing how nature can work in harmony to form a single piece.

He talks to the camera crew facing a camera up at him from above, “One of the things I love doing the most is lying in the shade, with the sun peeking down on me through the trees.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Y/N interrupts Ace’s filming standing up over him, “Finish that book so you can return it.”

Ace smiles and examines the book, reaching out with it to give to her, as she reaches for it snatching it away with a shit eating grin to put it under his head as a pillow and sighs, “Wow… this is great.”

Y/N fumes and snatches both of the books from under Ace and lets his head hit the hard wood of the bench.

-

Y/N L/N, 17:  To top it off he’s lazy.

-

Students sit in an eerily quiet classroom, pencils marking away at workbooks, the only sound being Ace’s giggling at his phone out texting some of his friends from Whitebeard’s Resort where he works for the summer.

The students glare over at Ace, not one saying a word, settling for silent annoyance. Y/N grows tired and snatches the phone right out of his hand and shoves it in her backpack.

Ace stands up in shock and disbelief, the sound of the clanking chair alarming Mr. Mihawk.

“What was that?” He enters back into the classroom from the conversation he was having with Shanks, probably escaping it honestly, “ACE! You AGAIN?! I thought I told you all to be quiet.” He sighs and rubs his temples.

Ace glares over at Y/N who gives him a fake confused look and innocently smiles.

-

Portgas D. Ace, 17:  Things are already exhausting and she has a knack for making them even worse. Y/N L/N, 17:  To sum it up, Portgas D. Ace is pathetic.

-

"Sorry, what was that last question?" Ace asks Dragon in an isolated room, Y/N sitting two feet to his right.

"How about why can't you pay attention?" She crosses her arms and shoots him a pointed glare.

"Right..." Dragon sighs, "I'm gonna restart the recording now, if we can just get this segment done."

Portgas D Ace: Things I hate? *He smiles* Y/N L/N. She’s some weird girl I know.

Y/N L/N: *Facing him* I hate pathetic things. I despise people who are hopelessly pathetic the most. Portgas D. Ace: *Inconspicuously pointing at her* And being selfish! I hate selfish people who only-

Y/N L/N:  People who cause trouble for others! If you want to fail, fail on your own. Why do the rest of us have to go with you? Portgas D. Ace:  People who are super harsh, and speak without thinking. To me those people are super rude. Y/N L/N:  Look at who is talking. He needs to look in a mirror because he doesn’t think at all.

Portgas D. Ace:  He?! Me??? Y/N L/N:  You started it by bitching at me first! Portgas D. Ace: Ugh. Are you done talking? Y/N: Not yet because I’m obviously still talking. Ace: Why did you guys want me to film this again? Y/N: Because it’s a documentary filming the best student helping the worst. Correct? Ace: Ohhhhh… I see… you’re seeing how long normal people can endure anti-social ones. Experiments like this are just unethical. Y/N: Oh I’m sorry… from the title BEST and WORST student who would you think is more antisocial?

Ace: People like her exhaust everyone around them as soon as they enter society. Y/N: Someone like you wouldn’t even be able to enter society so how would you know that? Dragon: Alright… um… here’s a DIFFERENT question: what do you think you’ll both be doing after ten years?

*Silence* Ace: Let’s see… I’ll be 27 by then… Y/N: Whatever it is, I’m hopeful and pretty sure that I will be good at whatever it is I’m doing. Ace:  Ummmmm… I guess I wanna live an adventurous life without being too tied down. Y/N: I’ll lead groups of people in my company and have an active and fulfilling life, a successful one. Ace: I want a free and open life Ace and Y/N: With one thing for sure- Y/N:  I’ll have nothing to do with the pathetic person next to me. Ace: *Scoff*  That’s how I feel.

Dragon shuts off his camera and exits the room with Ivankov waiting outside, "Maybe I've gotten myself into more trouble than it's worth."

"Oh it'll be fine... They'll learn something and become better people by the end of it." They smile.

"I suppose you'r-" He's interrupted by the sound of clanking chairs and incoherent yelling.

"Or maybe they'll kill each other before filming is over and this will be for nothing" Ivankov pats Dragon on the back and take off.

[diyasgarden]

all this lucy dacus talk made me realize that you could write an prologue or prequel kind of post to your graceland too tashi blurb to the song please stay

Oh anon. Your mind is insane, this actually fits perfectly. You can consider this to be about you, Tashi, and the time leading up to events of this blurb. This deals with depression, please read at your own discretion.

The books on your shelf that you never read / The hunting knife you kept by your bed / The flowers you dried and tied up with twine / Suspended from the ceiling

It's disturbing how little has actually changed. The sun rises and sets like always. Students go to class. The tennis team continues to play. Even her room looks the same. From the outside, everything is fine. Everything is normal. You feel guilty for thinking like this, but is it not the truth? The world is still spinning. It has moved on, but it's left Tashi behind.

You tell me you love me, like it'll be the last time / Like you're playing out, the end of a storyline / I say I love you too, because it's true / What else am I supposed to do? / Maybe bar the door when you move to leave

Sometimes it feels as if she's planned everything out already, and that scares you the most. You'll watch her slip away and you won't be able to do anything about it. How many times can you say "I love you too" before it's not enough to keep her alive anymore? Was it ever enough to keep her alive? You don't let yourself think about the question. It reminds you of how little you can actually do.

I think you mean what you say / When you say you wanna die / I think you mean what you say / When you say you want to stay alive

You can't shake the feeling that you'll lose her. She's a dead girl walking. A body without a soul. She holds some hope that her recovery will go fine and that she'll have her career back. It's so genuine and desperate, like a child's prayers. And you try to cling onto it as well, but you're too scared about what will happen if it doesn't. The Tashi you know would never want to die, but you don't think this is her anyway.

Quit your job / Cut your hair / Get a dog / Change your name / Change your mind / Change your ways / Give them time / Go back to school, go back to sleep / Tell the secret you can't keep / Begin, be done / Break a vow, make a new one / Call me if you need a friend, or never talk to me again / But please stay

You don't care what she does. She could do anything. Drop out of Stanford. Find a new passion completely. At this point she could leave your life completely and it'd be okay. As long as she stays. That's what you want. For her to stay. You'd give anything to guarantee that.

[fiveredlights]

the oversharement of the author: a completely unnecessary post containing my multitude of thoughts on takes one to know one

everyone has been so kind and wonderful about TOTKO so here’s a very, very, very, long author’s note which is me just rambling about anything and everything as a thank you for all the love 🫶

background

for those aware of the fiveredlights lore you may remember in april i had to pause updates because of some weird arm/wrist pain... so that was carpal tunnel syndrome and idk what i did to invoke it this july/august but it came back with such a vengeance that i did not think i was physically gonna be able to write this. but maxiel would not shut up in my brain so i got my hot water bottles and got to work.

this whole idea began after i saw travis kelce go on stage on the eras tour and i went... max and daniel absolutely possess the right type of insane to do something like this.... you can see the original thought post here

the albums

i thought making the albums would take me like a day. literally right up until i hit publish i was still making changes to Sidelines, and i had convinced myself they were real tangible albums with the amount of times i hit albums instead of the playlist button on spotify.

Second Place

the easier album, finished this is a day. cut songs were killer by phoebe bridgers and loml by taylor swift. i was gonna do a whole thing where i was gonna be like “oh the relationship killed him so much he abandoned the guitar to sing a sad piano ballad” and then i realised moon song is rooted in piano. so uh that was cut.

there also was a whole thing where his ex was personified as fire — “can the killer in me tame the fire in you” (killer) with “our field of dreams engulfed in fire” (loml) parallel that i really enjoyed but unfortunately never made it in. also loml has a lyric “the coward claimed he was a lion” which is fun with max adopting the lion as his symbol….anyways

the titled second place comes from another SMAU i used to write for a different fandom (on twitter so it is long gone, rip), where ironically it was also a singer/famous au and i was clearing out my spotify playlists and found the fake album and was like huh. i like that name. luckily for me it worked for the album storyline as well so good times!

Sidelines

this album changed at least fifty times. for the first three weeks of me writing it was called 3 (THREE) because I’m annoying like that, but the more i looked at it i could not convince myself daniel would call it that. because yes, it is his max album but calling it thirty three is a tad too much (in my opinion anyway). sidelines was always on the album, but i was going through my tik tok maxiel folder and saw a daniel edit to sidelines and was like okay yeah that's a better name.

out of 11 songs, only 5 of the original tracklist made it in. cut songs included:

call your mom by noah kahan

apple pie by lizzy mcalpine

orange juice by alfie jukes & nell mescal

orange juice by noah kahan

ivy by taylor swift

science by niall horan

who we are by hozier

with ivy there’s a lyric “and i’ll drink my husband’s wine” which would’ve been the way max and daniel would’ve been like “we’re married lol” but it was cut because to ME ivy is about sapphics cheating on their husbands with each other and i just can’t rewrite ivy like that. here’s some deleted scenes on that:

jeanie 🤠 @/COTADANIEL · i’m sorry daniel WHO’S WINE ARE YOU DRINKING????? driccrodeos [Video: Daniel on stage singing the lyric, “And drink my husband’s wine,” looking offstage to Max, before turning back to the audience and smirking, continuing to sing.] category five event has hit the maxiel towers noah @/ricciardanielo · this album has actually killed me. like i’m not on this earth anymore. why? ivy: “And I’ll drink my husband’s wine.” peace: “Give you my wild, give you a child.” @ max and daniel do you have something you want to tell us or??? ric33stappen if you attend the next race with a ring on your finger and a baby in your arms i swear to god max and daniel i will fuck you up (politely) #like i respect their privacy or whatever but also what the fuck #you know what i mean like what the fuck

in sidelines almost every single song (except for you could start a cult) has a daniel3.jpg post pertaining to a lyric... i realise maybe i should've had someone in universe point it out because i now realise it's quite difficult to spot. whoops.

daniel’s sidelines: live from red rocks is inspired by phoebe bridgers punisher tour (she flicks through the pages of a storybook), taylor swift era’s tour (the lover house) and noah kahan (we’re all be here forever tour; watched live from fenway park specifically on how to write his concert). the whole concert idea was also written literally 5 hours before posting because i originally had a max and daniel article but i could not write it.

easter eggs

i feel incredibly pleased that so many of you picked up on the easter eggs like i get why taylor swift is so insane about hers because it's just so much fun! (spoilers for the rest of my fics...)

blue sweater (thank you to ataraxiaa on ao3 who commented because I didn't realise i had done it) -> glitter on the floor maxiel's communal blue sweater

matthew (rriicciiaarrddoo) & callan (callonmax33) daniel would make a great TP -> old habits die screaming

jake 3(3)81racers Can Max Verstappen fight? -> glitter the floor chapter 3 & 5 recurring plot line

daniel's july 2 2025 post (Photo 2: Max and Daniel sitting in front of a fireplace, the person taking the photo is behind them. Max has his arm around Daniel’s waist, whilst Daniel has his right arm giving the middle finger to the photographer and head turned to the left with an annoyed expression. Max has his head tucked into Daniel’s neck, laughing into his shoulder.) -> inspired by glitter on the floor's 2024/6/7 monaco dark laneway posts

rriicciiaarrddoo "are george and alex married" -> a future easter egg for the glitter on the floor galex sequel

daniel's august 10 2025 post:

 A vase filled with tulips on a table with a white table cloth. -> glitter on the floor, last daniel3.jpg on 2023 has a vase full of flowers, was meant to signify that they got married

Two kookaburra garden statues, next to a rocking chair on a balcony. -> gary and steve from glitter on the floor

daniel's caption: The rumours are true, I am now in possession of half of Max’s WDC and they will be going on auction next week. -> fool me once

things five forgot to include because i have horrible memory but they canonically happened (this will absolutely be updated when i remember new things)

daniel ricciardo broke his hand whilst karting when younger which is why he gave up racing-> lyric in forever "broke a bone that never healed in my hand"

he gets into singing because grace and joe ricciardo put him in choir as a way for him to get out all his yapping and talking at least once a week so they can get a little peace (but it doesn't work because now he sings around the house)

real life references

sometimes i like to use a little reality so that the universe doesn't feel too far away and here's all the real life things i pulled from:

hair tuck max in f1tv japan interview: 2023 honda thanks day

daniel looking like darth vader in austin rain: 2023 monaco boat race

daniel wearing max's hat: 2017 baku podium

checo fought his way to finish p9: probably any race from the latter first half of the 2024 season

daniel ricciardo international relations expert: 2024 post belgium gp

twitter realises daniel ricciardo is hot actually: 2022 abu dhabi gp (the outfit)

daniel playing max's GP in his concert -> i saw adele pause her concert for the olympics womens 100m final so that's how that got in (also i did so much time zone math in order to make sure it was actually the right timing)

max and daniel escaping in a helicopter -> post 2024 belgium gp

[karouvas]

16. a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

(for any fandom :P)

will go with trc again. I feel like I can more readily think of storylines/threads than individual details … but I think Blue’s relationships with her Aunts are really compelling and lovely and fandom should pay more attention to those they clearly inspire who she is so much, like I said I think Blue is in a lot of ways very much like Calla and they mesh really well but I think Persephone was who she probably wanted to emulate most growing up given how much she admires those who are different without trying (I also think her death hits her harder than most fan works portray or we get to see in canon so am attempting to do my part by writing a proper Blue mourning Persephone arc in my fic tesselation) am excited for the consistent Blue and Calla interactions when we get to rereading more of BLLB.

Maybe the Adam and Gansey midnight calls could count as an under appreciated detail? We only see one of them in TDT but in TRB it’s confirmed that they were a consistent Thing for so long and with frequency. The implications lining that up with the Bluesey phone calls are insane. Because it stood out to me on my winter reread and I was disappointed there weren’t many fics on the topic I even ended up writing a 5 things fic about their phone calls over the series and I had to really pay attention to every mention of them talking on the phone in the first two books for this, which did lead to me really having to think through what these frequent and (especially if we’re taking the TDT one as the standard length) lengthy calls to and from the Parrish trailer would have been like. Adam’s mom answers the phone when Gansey calls their number in TRB so I do think said phone is not in Adam’s room but outside of it, I wrote my pre canon under the assumption Robert Parrish works a night shift to minimize some possible awfulness but even so I can’t imagine his mom was never around and that his parents were completely unaware about them and they were definitely not happy about their sons calls with who Robert deemed a “soft rich fag”🫤 and there’s a line in TRB (in the scene where Robert deafens Adam so understandably does not register the first few reads) about complaints about the phone bill so there are… implications there, it’s kind of another circumstance where Adam is actually putting in a lot of effort / putting up with a lot more to be close with Gansey than is visible to Gansey for a combination of privilege and Adam not wanting him to know…. so like with a lot of things with them there’s a really adorable romantic side to those calls and also a darker sadder side both are essential parts of the appeal to me. But yeah I think I can say I’ve given more thought to that detail in canon than most people would.

[stormyoceans]

no because the things i'm reading about it are actually insane, i've learned my lesson and i barely go into the tags anymore or am in tumblr that much for that matter but the things some people are saying about tae are so mean lol... people are just so entitled my god. i don't know if you agree but finding joy outside of fandom is easier and easier every day, for some shows specifically you're better off enjoying it on your own ANYWAY just wanted to let you know that i feel the same way

honestly i always expected this storyline to bring up a fair amount of questionable comments because unfortunately a very big part of fandom (and im talking about any fandom) has a very black and white kind of mentality, which most of the times means that when something like this happens in a show they try to fully put the blame on one character while lifting others from all responsibility, but that's not how it works, in life first of all, but also when it comes to stories

people saying tae deserved to be cheated on are wild to me, but tbh also are those who keep demonizing bahmee, a 21 years old girl who is coming to terms with the fact that maybe her relationship doesn't work while realizing that maybe she also wasn't as straight as she thought she was AND was drunk when she kissed judy. and like don't get me wrong, im not excusing her for what she did (although i don't like people calling her names), but what caused all this was the complete lack of communication between her and tae, and they're BOTH at fault for this

and while i usually HATE cheating storylines, i personally find this one very well written in the way the miscommunication and mistakes is built on are actually very human. this is why i want to wait before judging the storyline as a whole, because i do think there's something worth telling here, about falling in love young and eventually growing up and apart and learning about oneself and hurting people and finding a new way to care about each other (whether romantically or platonically) and becoming better (especially since they're paralleling them with janeryan where jane is the king of communication and maturity)

and i can understand people judging judy because she definitely should have known better, but idk it's just hard for me not to sympathize with both tae and bahmee, and the narrative is also obviously working hard on trying to make us see where they're both coming from, so i do find some comments kinda out of place tbh ;;;;;;;;;

anyway. sorry this got way too long and im not sure i was able to properly explain my thoughts on this matter, and i also don't know if you're actually going to agree with them, but still. thank you for letting me know im not alone in this!!!!!!!!

[lovecolibri]

I just came across a huge ass post (mind you, I have followed the person who reblogged it for years and I don't think I've seen them reblog 911 related things before this season?)

Anygays, the post is basically a rant about how we buddies are being more toxic that the bummies... and that t*mmy as a character has righted his wrongs (like, where lmao), that he's now friends with the persons he wronged (that's why he wasn't invited to the wedding of one of them, also L*cy was actually invited to the vow renewal lmao????) and 'if Ryan doesn’t want to do buddie because he feels its important they stay friends then so be it' (and like, please point out to me where exactly Ryan said exactly those words)...

Among other things and I'm like???? I can't keep doing this lol. These people are insane xmgzkgxkgx

*also do not look at this and how long this has been in my inbox. I often forget things are in there when I see the notification come in at work and would rather use my computer to type. Please keep sending asks, I'm just bad at answering them.*

I think it's pretty clear the show did not intend for T to be around as long as he was, especially if they had gone the route with Eddie instead of Buck, so they didn't put in any effort to have him actually have a conversation with Chim and Hen about things which I think we as an audience deserved to see no matter what if they were bringing him back. Like, yes we see in previous episodes that he got better when Bobby was around but like, that to me just says he's the kind of person who acts how he needs to in order to keep his boss happy and keep his job and if the boss doesn't tolerate certain behavior, that has to be kept on the inside or you risk loosing your job. And Chim calls him in for a favor but says that aside from that favor they didn't ever keep in touch. It would have been nice to see just a moment of him talking to Hen and Chim and formally apologizing.

As for what Ryan has said, we all know that he often talks about how storylines affect him personally and he's a big advocate for men's mental health and cultivating deep and real and honest relationships with other men, so of course he's going to talk about what these storylines mean from that POV. Also, he knows things change at the drop of a hat (switching Buck and Eddie for this coming out storyline this season, dropping the bachelor party stuff when they got the renewal announcement, shifting Eddie's storyline because Devin was available and Tim is obsessed with her , etc) so he doesn't usually talk too much and stays very vague about where things are going. Also also, like, on top of say things that ultimately don't end up happening because the scene got cut or the storyline changed, we know sometimes people straight up lie or are told to focus on saying certain things to throw the audience off in interviews! People have been banging on about L supposedly coming back instead of T because of something Timmy said, when we all know damn good and well that AK was on another show that got picked up before the strikes and wouldn't have been available to film for 911 which Tim would have known long before opening the writers room for s7, plus there's no way the show would have brought her back, ESPECIALLY as a LI for Buck after the flack they got from the fans and GA when she was around, and there's no way she or her PR people would want to stir up that kind of bad press right before she's supposed to headline another show. The interviews can be interesting, and I love hearing things Ryan and Oliver have to say but they are not reliable sources of info and we know this. 🤷🏻‍♀️

But also, like, we know that Eddie was supposed to have the coming out storyline but it got switched when they couldn't get the other actress to come back and Oliver didn't even find out until they had already started filming so we KNOW Ryan is not opposed to Eddie coming out. That's just like, a fact that we know now. So IDK why people are so dead set on saying Ryan, who has MULTIPLE times said "I'm down if that's where the story goes", doesn't want to do it.

[dramadeer]

I have such a soft spot for Mew it's frankly insane. It's not something I was necessarily expecting going in, despite my love for Book (who I think is a genuinely strong actor who always nails the tone of a scene like some sort of acting carpenter).

I think I was genuinely blindsided by how intensely, and seriously, the show treated this story that was, at its core, about loss of innocence and making that loss everyone's problem.

Mew gets cheated on by a partner (and we, the viewers, can argue semantics on this, but both Mew and Top, within canon, clearly see it as cheating) with one of his closest friends and I think there was an expectation, both within us and within him, that it would break him completely. Instead, in a sort of self discovery that I think is emblematic of being in your 20s and realizing that, actually, you're fucking deranged and you're gonna gone girl anyone who's ever wronged you, he decides to both self destruct and also fully externalize that pain. Multitasking king!

Overcoming that pain but also accepting the change that it has brought within you is SUCH an interesting outcome to this storyline. Mew can't go back to who he was before all of this. He can't go back to the glasses or the pastel sweaters just like he can't go back to being as forgiving and optimistic as he used to be. But he also can't sustain these levels of anger anymore, he can't keep partying and hurting the people he cares about. So, where does he go from here?

He uses the hurt as a bridge to a new self. He stops partying and his color palette from the first few episodes creeps back in, but he isn't wearing his glasses anymore and he's always wearing a black undershirt in public (but notably a white one when he's home alone with Top after the party). He can forgive Top but not Boston. It might seem arbitrary, but in a show called "only friends" to me it makes sense. And I honestly kind of love that the one trait he hangs onto the entire show is this incredibly strong belief in setting and implementing his own boundaries.

Just! Purely in terms of narrative, it's such an interesting and rich arc to get in a serialized show!

[carrie-organa]

Here’s How I Would’ve Ended Ted Lasso

My version includes:

actually acknowledging Keeley’s importance and making Roy not a creep.

actually calling Ted out for his weird ass behavior. This guy is depressed and no one ever asks him about his horrible self esteem issues.

Here, take it before I go insane.

Ted’s Storyline

The team would talk about Ted’s decision and there would be a debate about it. Sam and Jamie agree that he should go home to his son (for different but obvious reasons). Colin and Isaac believe strongly in found family and don’t understand why Ted choosing his son has to mean him abandoning them. Jamie’s perspective is changed. They have a good point.

Rebecca’s storyline in general was odd this episode. Her constantly reaching out to Ted and him shutting her down is so stupid and at odds with their relationship.

I would’ve had Ted explain his decision when she’s giving him her “You go, I’ll go” speech. Talk about his dad and bring up the 9/13 connection. WHY WAS THIS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED.

Ted saying that not only does Henry miss him, no one here needs him anymore. He’s given them every tool he can think of and there’s nothing left for him to do. There’s nothing else he can give them.

side note: I think this is really at the root of Ted’s issues and I’m flabbergasted that no one calls him on it. He only feels like he should stay in situations where he’s needed. He never stays somewhere because he wants to be there. He’s the traveling salesman of optimism.

Rebecca: You’re right Ted, maybe we don’t need you to remind us to have hope or to believe in ourselves. To reach for happiness. But just because we no longer need you does not mean you are not wanted. Are you happy here? Ted: It’s not that simple. Henry— Rebecca: Yes, I know about Henry, and I completely understand your concerns. I’m asking you if you’re happy here. You, Ted Lasso, the man, not the coach or the father. Are. You. Happy. Ted (bursting with it): Yes. Of course I am. I never thought I’d have an experience like this in my life. It doesn’t seem real. It feels like I fell asleep and I’m going to wake up in exactly the same place I started when I woke up. But I can’t leave Henry. I can’t abandon my son because I like my job. That’s not fair to him.

Ted’s weird detachment would’ve been addressed during the game. The team’s first half wasn’t effected by them crying over Beard’s video but rather by Ted’s refusal to coach them anymore.

Ted: I’m not gonna give y’all a pep talk. Jamie: why the FUCK not? why are you checking out? (puppy dog eyes) what did we do wrong? Ted: deer in the headlights. Turns to Beard and Roy for help. They don’t offer any. They’re wondering the same thing.

No one is disputing that there’s an issue with Ted’s situation. It hurts to be away from his son, it hurts Henry to be away from his dad. HOWEVER — the only solution isn’t to go home and leave everyone behind.

Ted makes some kind of analogy to ties in football games. Sometimes there are no-win scenarios and you just have to accept it. Roy: that’s bullshit.

The episode is about Ted losing sight of his own philosophy and the people who love him reminding him of it. Restoring his sense of belief and optimism. Telling him not to accept a no-win scenario.

The RoyKeeleyJamie of it all

Roy’s obsession with getting Keeley back when she keeps pushing him away is cringey. Someone needs to ask him why he’s being so insistent. I choose Rebecca.

Rebecca: if you don’t explain yourself right now I’m sending you to HR. I’ve never seen you act like this.

After Jamie/Keeley hug

Roy: what were you talking to Keeley about? Jamie: none of your business, mate. Roy (still an insecure bean): Are you guys…getting back together? Jamie (furrowed brows): No? I just asked if she would go on a business trip to New Zealand with me. Make sure I don’t get thrown out of the entire country hitting on the Prime Minister. Roy (unable to help himself): She’s not PM anymore. Jamie: Hm. Shame. Well, she’s still fit. Jamie makes it clear he’s not interested in starting anything with Keeley, after Mom City he knows he really needs to work on himself before he can date anybody. The perspective is very much side-eying Roy, who has decided to ignore all of his issues.

WHY HAS NO ONE ASKED KEELEY WHAT SHE WANTS.

Roy and Jamie still go to a bar. Still end up at Keeley’s door. But this time not because they were fighting over her (because cringe. even though both of them have feelings for her, they respect her autonomy). No, this time, Roy got fucking pissed and he’s being a sad sack and refuses to go home so Jamie followed him to Keeley’s to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.

Jamie: Roy, mate, let’s go home. We’ll get a kebab on the way. Roy: No, I just…I just need to know what I’m doing wrong. Please. Keeley: Roy… Roy: If you just tell me then I can fix it! Keeley: It isn’t you! (off Roy) It’s not. I promise. I just…I keep ending up in these intense, whirlwind relationships, and I can’t jump into another one again. Not yet. Not until I know it’s going to end up differently. Because I swear to god, Roy, if I lose you again (tearing up) I will not survive it. I barely survived it the first time. Roy: me too… Jamie (cannot handle uncomfortable situations): Yeah me neither, if I’m honest. (off looks from them both) WHAT? You were both so sad and quiet. Well, this one’s always quiet (gesture to Roy) but it was different. It was weird. I saw him crying in his car once. Roy: I was not crying in the car… Jamie: Yes you were! I saw you wipe a tear! Keeley: BOYS! (they’re exhausting. it’s late. she wants to stop being ambushed into these emotional conversations). something about how her type is clearly smoking hot, intense brunettes (check the math — Jamie, Roy, Jack). Preferably by a cheeky Jamie as he leads a quiet Roy to an uber.

The season has not set up Roy and Keeley to get back together. It just hasn’t. But I think it has set up Keeley to acknowledge how much Roy means to her and to explain why she’s skittish about getting back together with him right now. I think she wants to give him a chance, it’s just going to take some time.

I’d like to see a scene with just the two of them where Keeley asks him not to give up, please. Because that’s Roy’s issue, he quits while he’s ahead and he gives up because it’s easier than getting really hurt. He’s putting himself out there, and I love that because growth, but I think there needs to be an acknowledgment that he’s gone about it wrong.

Roy: I know that I’ve been a right fucking twat with all this badgering and I apologize. I know it’s all too little, too late and you’ve moved on. I do want to be friends, if you’ll let me. I just can’t handle another year where you’re not a part of my life. It’s unbearable. Keeley: It really was. Roy: If you want to get coffee sometime, or something (call back to when he asked her out in S1), just let me know. It won’t be a date. Just as friends. Keeley (nodding, equal parts relieved and disappointed): Okay. Roy walks away, they’re in the car park. Keeley calls his name and runs up to him. Kisses his cheek. Obviously there’s still something there, but they’re just gonna have a different start this time. A slow build, rather than an intense start.

Miscellaneous Complaints:

I would’ve added at least another 20 minutes to the finale. How the team reacts to Ted leaving. And I think he should leave, I think he should go back to Kansas and there should be a little time jump. Michelle tells him she knows he’s unfulfilled, Henry saying he misses visiting him in Richmond. This decision is good for literally no one when you actually see it through. It’s a nice gesture but ultimately it’s meaningless.

The way Nate is just there is so unsatisfying to me. He’s such an important character in the show and the finale paid him dust.

What happened with Bex and the other girl when they spoke to Rebecca? There was no resolution there.

BEARD AND JANE ARE NOT COUPLE GOALS. Why does the narrative simultaneously acknowledge that she straight up sucks but never give Beard the push to leave her???? I just straight up do not get it.

In conclusion, I see the vision but the execution was horrible and I don't understand how this is supposed to stick the landing. I genuinely believe they'll announce a Richmond spinoff, especially given Ted's note on Trent's manuscript. Although I do not think that the team's future is anything like the one Ted dreamt about on the plane. Those were the wishes he had for them. I look forward to reading the fics where he's dead wrong and Rebecca drags him back by his moustache hair

[waitmyturtles]

I was in the midst of a little whiny sesh for the first 20 minutes of Playboyy, episode 3, just wondering when the story was finally going to gel. Going from a tidbit, a hint of a main storyline with the missing Nant, back to the antics of everyone, Zouey, First, and now Captain -- a lot, A LOT, A LOT is happening.

But @ginnymoonbeam threw out a quick flare to say that this show has some real sparks, and once I was able to finish it, I have to say I agree. A lot is happening. Every one of the storylines is heavy-to-super-heavy. It's Cheewin, it's chaotic. But somehow, I found it all compelling. Coherent? I don't think so, not emotionally, not entirely narratively. And @bengiyo noted to me last week that there's something stylish about this show that happens to be grabbing, and I agree.

So let me see if I can get everything in order first...

Zouey and Teena (I cannot get over what a fabulous name Teena is) stopped their shit because of a miscommunication,

First and Soong stopped their shit because of a miscommunication and money woes,

Captain and Coach Keen are now something like a thing,

Keen is also something like a thing with Soong,

Nont is needling into a situation with Prom to dig up more on his brother, Nant, and Prom may also be the dude in the hidden video that Nont found on his brother's laptop, and also Prom might be into webcam dudes, and maybe was the guy that Nont was cam-ming to, but then why did the guy on the other side of the webcam call shut his computer when he say Nont's face, so maybe that wasn't Prom, but Nont's recollections later maybe seemed to indicate that it was Prom?

We have definitely had ensemble shows where there was a lot going on, but THERE'S A LOT A LOT A LOT GOING ON, and again, all of this is heavy. Captain's just gotten spooked by the homophobes on his rugby team, and he's about to actually engage with them on a bet, which, yikes. So, sex addiction, possible sex crimes, possible kidnapping, wealth discrimination, homophobia, etc.

If you know my blog, you know I LOVE awl the themes, and I do really love Cheewin's work, including his insane work on YYY, and the last big show of his that I watched, Bed Friend, also just had stuff after stuff until it came together by episode 6 or so. At least, though, earlier in Bed Friend, we had an idea of what the story was and what was holding it together.

Narratively, here in Playboyy, because each of these NUMEROUS storylines is SO weighty -- it just seems like the Nont/Nant storyline doesn't have enough room to breathe. And it's really compelling! Nont is feeling forced to take every last step his brother took to retrace his brother's last locations.

Whew, I mean. Each of these storylines is actually kind-of-good-to-very-good. But I think in fiction -- we have to kill our darlings sometimes. Where will the Captain/Keen storyline take us? Will the Zouey/Teena storyline remain compelling for us to watch as Zouey continues to waver on his comfort in intimacy? Is Soong really judging First for money? What was that whole thing of calling him "baby" at the end?

I'm dithering a bit. I am getting attached to this show, I can feel it, but it's a lot to handle. I'm especially feeling compelled to stick with the show after Den Panuwat's hints about what he wanted to say about queer sex that he couldn't say in Only Friends. I think I just wish the show was slightly easier to watch simply by way of the number of storylines that we're tracking -- because with EVERY storyline we have, we have less time to spend on the ones that are carrying the real weight of the show.

But I'm sticking with this! Stylistically? There is still a lot to love.

[chenfordspiral]

Invading your ask box!

I suck at coming up with questions and also I'm curious of everyone's answers, so in light of manifesting season 7, what are your hopes for when we hopefully get a full season 7?

Go as wild and unrealistic as you want!

Oh boy, this is tough 😂 but thank you so much for asking! I’ve missed being on tumblr and this was so nice to see in my inbox last night 🥰

Well, we might not know what the rest of season 6 will bring but if it doesn’t come up in any of the other six episodes, I’d love to have Lucy and Tim talk about officially moving in together and then actually doing so. I know they’re practically living together already, but I’d love for them to maybe get their own new place together? Get a whole new apartment/house that’s theirs. Honestly, just gimme all the cutesy domestic moments they can fit in because I’m a sucker for that - what else is new? But also, please let them keep working on properly communicating with one another even if it’s hard because no relationship can survive without good communication. 

And, you know, if they're feeling like it, I would also not say no to a proposal.

I WANNA KNOW BABY GIRL EVERS’ NAME FFS. Obviously I’m most invested in Chenford, but it’s driving me insane that we’re 4 eps in, and still don’t know her name. Speaking of kids, I’d love to see more of all the kids Lopez and Harper have. Get rid of some of the unnecessary Bailan domesticity crap and gimme any of the other couples instead. 

Speaking of Bailey.. I’m not a hater, also not exactly a fan, but can we get her in a storyline that doesn’t involve Nolan in some way? I think if she were to interact more with the other characters, we as the audience could potentially get more involved with her character. She’s basically tied to Nolan, and sometimes it feels like a disservice to everyone (including Jenna as an actress) to limit her interactions to basically just him and quick two-sentence exchanges thrown in every 20 eps like with Lucy in 6x04. 

I know it’ll never happen, but I would love to see Chenford babysitting either Jack and his baby sister or baby Leah because we know they’d just.. well, maybe not suck at it but they’d likely struggle and lose a kid or two lol and it’d just be so much fun to watch. 

I also gotta broach the sensitive topic.. I’ve been hoping for Lucy to do a long-term UC op practically since I started watching the show and even more so since Chenford became canon simply because I want to see how she would handle not being able to contact anyone she cares about. Give her a handler that’s not Tim, not Harper, not anyone she’s familiar with so she can experience what it would be like to be completely cut off from her life and the people she loves. Maybe I’m understanding her desire to be a deep cover UC officer and she’d flourish under those circumstances, but I think if she experienced an op without any of her friends (or her boyfriend) as her handler/back up, she’d have a better idea of what her life would really look like if she chose that path. She’s a people person, and I personally don’t think she’d like it as much as I think she wants to like it. (6x02 hinted at her not being as fine about it as she claims to be, and I hope we get to see more of the topic.) If not that, I’d also just like to see an op gone wrong. They’ve all been fairly straight forward without any kind of consequences even after her cover had been blown, and I’d be very interested in seeing something just not go as smoothly. Also, Lucy could do ANY job within the LAPD and absolutely kick ass. Where are all the departments wanting her on their team that the cop offering her that spot at UC school talked about?? Where?! WHERE?!?

I’m rambling now, great. Okay, I’m gonna stop here. I may have missed some obvious wishes here but for now these are some I could think of right off the bat.

Oh oh oh! Lucy’s called Tim babe before, can we get Tim calling Lucy by a pet name? Pretty pleaseeeee 🥺 and last but not least, give us Kojo back. And bring Genny.

Now I’m done. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Suz! ❤︎ This was so much fun!

[theno1joelhater]

good morrow, you. time for a gus lighter rant because he is such an interesting little dude. there are sources/links at the bottom

Gus Lighter my love, my light, the center of my galaxy, i love you so very much but YOU. WHAT ARE YOUR MOTIVES ???? what is the point of all the (max) harm you cause ?? what the hell are you doing you damn character ??? are you just fucking with them? is this for your own personal enjoyment? is this some kind of kink? WHY

firstly, i dont think his title does him justice. he’s not some human therapist who needs therapy—gus lighter isn’t a human at all. either that or at least implied to be some kind of non-human eldritch creature. just look at his video with gabriel (1). he does weird things !!!! things that people can’t do !! also, in his vid w officer avoidy (2) he says that avoidy’s in purgatory. makes you think !!!

now, i get that gus’ whole thing is that he lies and is a lier man but !!! what if that was true. what if avoidy is in purgatory. what if gus lighter was some kind of demon sent out to…idk mess with the cgcu? judge them? i still dont get his motives. this has been entirely unproductive!! the only thing we got was his potential species.

then again, the purgatory demon theory is sorta not great. the whole thing with purgatory is that it’s any empty void where souls await judgement. this leads me into my next theory: gus could be the being judging whether they get into heaven or hell. however, this theory would imply that everyone is already dead. and they’d all be unaware of it too, based off the fact that the justin case storyline exists (sorry, just had to mention it). justin’s whole plan is to convert everyone to him so that he wouldn’t die, but that would be completely thrown out the window if they were all already dead. also bjorn yesterday’s death wouldn’t make sense if was canon (there also might be more to prove they’re all alive, but i can’t be bothered). so cool au, most likely not canon. gus being a demon that judges the souls of the cgcu? that’s sick broski!

well, i don’t think i can decipher his goals and aspirations (at least not now), but i can try and figure out his abilities!

so good boy gus clearly has some kind of mind manipulation powers (source? just look at all the other gus lighter videos!). i’d assume his powers start off weak but quickly get stronger the longer he stays with the person he’s trying to manipulate until they fully submit to whatever he says. this is because at the beginning of his videos, the victims (clients) seem to retain their rational thinking but in the end they fully believe whatever gus says. an example of this’d be in the tim iddboy video (3) tim thinks gus is jumping to conclusions by calling him insane but eventually believes that there is something horribly wrong with him. i’ll admit this example isn’t great, so we’ll look at a different one: freddy frugal. (or should i say freddy financier?) in his video (4) we get a much better example of this. freddy comes in with no issues. gus convinces freddy that he has amnesia and is actually freddy financier. freddy rejects the idea at first but accepts it. again, this just goes to show how powerful his mind powers are (and that he has them!!).

also, a lesser power he has is teleportation. in his vid with gabriel (1) he’s seen behind a door, even though the last time we saw him he was in his chair. when gabriel rubbed his eyes, gus was gone. he did a teleportation !!!!

something i find interesting is that he can’t retain control of all of his clients. in his video with gabriel (1) he says he has some very sick individuals here. i’ll discuss this in depth later. originally, i assumed that was all the characters that have seen him before, since we haven’t seen most of them after their initial video with gus. however, this is disproven by gabriel appearing in a new video (5) and freddy frugal’s video one month after his visit with gus (6). there might also be others but i can’t be bothered to find them. what im trying to say is that you can escape from gus lighter’s influence. he can lose control. that means he can be defeated.

another thing is that he seems to have limits, or something like that. i don’t know how to describe it, but he can be put off by things. he can feel emotions. in the freddy frugal vid, gus said “thats a lot to unpack” (or something of the sort) when freddy says why he showed up to therapy (4). so he has human emotions. that means he can be vulnerable. that means he can be defeated.

well, time for me to talk about my second crack theory of: gus lighter works at a mental hospital! or he has a ward for his more “insane” patients. this can be proven by his video with gabriel (1), where he LITERALLY says that!!! maybe gus could have a mental ward, and characters that we see later on managed to escape him. you can escape gus lighter. he has weaknesses. that means he can be defeated.

so overall? i don’t know SHIT about his motives but he’s got mind manipulation and teleportation. and he has weaknesses. that means he can be defeated.

oh, and just some delicious food for thought: he has basically the same outfit as hugh mann, but inverted.

1. https://youtube.com/shorts/ZNGCVOywZGw?si=vo_bNC4EKx0wEzup

2. https://youtube.com/shorts/Lb0Th4pgDYw?si=TeE8SArB7Tn6muEX

3. https://youtu.be/JoqhpW4Kp_8?si=5D7h_75cvv1JHe8l

4. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4LMHTVOGNOE

5. https://m.youtube.com/shorts/1u-lVcuM2Us?si=D_P0ZLkqRa98F-3_

6. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PosGzDXvjA0

[plushpinkfox]

thoughts on the movie, pt. 2

spoilers ahead (for real this time)

going to make a bullet point list of all the things i noted about the movie

i got up to watch this at 3am est and i have a full day of school today so idk. wish me luck i guess

i think it's a cop-out to make honora mean, actually, because it kind of defeats the point of the whole honora/vanessa and sophie/agatha thing. i know it's easier to exemplify sophie's Evil in the books because we can hear her inner monologue, but she wasn't even that Evil in the movie before they dropped her in the school

like she was kinda bitchy sometimes, sure, but all the "Evil" and "violent" things she did were in defense of agatha so i don't know if that really counts

THEY MADE VANESSA MIXED SO THEY COULD DO THE SISTERS THING. CALLING IT NOW

some lines of dialogue made me cringe too hard. i like the bit with eric or whatever his name was in the beginning but the "god i hate this town" had me foreseeing the reviews

some of the cgi looked fine and then some of it just. looked bad. i think it was really funny how they tried so hard to do primarily practical effects, and you could see it in things like the Trial by Tale, but i feel like it was kind of counteracted by the blood magic storyline? it doesn't matter if your whole Trial is practical effects if half your movie is full of ugly cgi pools of blood and nondescript magical energy blasts

speaking of nondescript magical energy blasts and bad cgi, rafal was so fucking stupid. like what

that fight at the beginning with the kit young duplicates? guys. guys come on. when he said "blood magic" i was like No.

idk i guess it just didn't really coalesce for me

i thought i would be able to contend with kerry washington's dovey performance in this movie but i really generally couldn't, especially after they basically decimated the "agatha's been beautiful all along" storyline

she was a little too manic for my taste. i liked her at some points and at other points she was kind of pissing me off

that anemone backstory made me laugh. you go girl

OK A CHANGE I LIKED: i thought gregor charming was corny. i thought opening a grocery store was corny. i thought his whole deal was a bit stupid. BUT HAVING TEDROS KILL HIM?? MY JAW DROPPED THAT WAS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE BOOK

like having ted kill a random child is bad, obviously, but having him kill a recently mogrified established character was like WHAT

the modern music really fucked it up for me. i think this movie would have been just fine with the score and the special song they recorded for the credits. i think it made it way cornier than it needed to be and i really couldn't forgive it by the end

like you HAD to have a verse of brutal in there? this is not do revenge i thought i was hallucinating

sophie makeover scene demolished (which is sad but whatever) but what really got to me more was the fact that there was no nuance to any of the supporting cast at all? like how are you going to tell me that hester spits sparks in her face one day and then within the week is bowing down to her.

i feel nitpicky but it really is just the basics of a character. tell me why anadil and dot were literally indistinguishable in their character. portrayed exactly the same. sort of hester too.

the soman cameo actually did make me jump. like i already made a joke about this but i did a double take

i think tagatha was cute and i liked how they actually talked more before this but i think this could have been executed similarly while still keeping the whole "agatha is a witch" thing. case in point: they become friends early on, agatha tries to protect gregor-stymph, tedros kills gregor-stymph and gets confused why she's protecting a stymph and comes to the conclusion that "she must be a witch", sophie takes advantage of it to get with tedros, etc. tension. (i might be insane for this so if i am let me know)

i don't think it would have taken much to establish it as the snow ball and the no ball and i think sophie's point would have been more effective if they did

cate blanchett has a nice voice but i didn't vibe with the inconsistent storian narration; it sort of just felt like she was interjecting to explain things to us that the audience at the test screening had a dubious understanding of. like in the tower it was fine but throughout the rest of the movie it was sort of irritating that the movie assumed we couldn't infer what was going on and very rarely did what was going on ACTUALLY require background narration, even if you hadn't read the books

sophie had a very inconsistent characterization in the movie. agatha was consistent but sophie basically switched from good to evil overnight. i understand the point was she felt betrayed and was swayed to evil, but i think the movie made her stupider than she was known to be in the books and underestimated her intelligence, which makes me sad

i felt like the movie utilized a lot of tools to try and explain what was going on to the audience (rafal's monologues, storian narration, dovey and lesso) instead of just trusting that we could understand it on our own so it came off as very exposition heavy but not in like. an understandable way

very frustrated with the consistent erasure of queer characters. hester and anadil confirmed for like a split second in a scene where they dance together at the no ball, but they aren't established enough for the general audience to know that they're queer and it definitely could just come off as best friends

dovesso for a single goddamn second at the end where they look like they're about to kiss and then just go for the most awkward hug in the entire world which just??? really got to me. the whole lady lesso thing was fine, i guess, but i was really hoping that dovey and lesso's enlarged presence in the movie would lead to some depth to their book-based friendship. i know that's my fault for expecting that, but like. i didn't expect "blood magic" either so whatever

part of the problem with the queer character erasure too though is that they were never really that defined in the books (thanks soman) so a lot of it is just really suspicious and doesn't end up REALLY panning out, so they had an excuse to ignore it in the movie

noticed how they made the agaphie kiss at the end very chaste, so that and vanessa being mixed definitely is foreshadowing some sisterhood there

also the line where agatha says "she's like my sister" had me laughing my ass off. they know

i definitely liked sofia wylie the most in this film, but i think sophia anne caruso did the best with what she was given. i think both of them did their best with a rather shallow script.

ANOTHER THING I LIKED: i had my criticism of the no ball scene and i think the ending was rather convoluted and uhhhhh not great in general but i did honestly like the whole "good attacks" thing. i wasn't sure if they were actually going to follow through on the whole good becoming evil and evil becoming good thing but i think they did that well, and sophie's transformation into grand high witch ultimate at the end after her haphazard side-switching was actually okay imo

now did it lead into a stupid-ass castle-crumbling rafal fight? yes. but at least agatha got to fucking STAB HIM WITH EXCALIBUR??? i was hyped. also i thought it was good that rafal explained how he corrupted good and made them vain, that was nice

would have been funny if they did the original book ending but i understand why that wasn't really feasible

overall: mid. that is my review. mid.

i had a good time watching it! i really did! and i read some reviews, and they're about what i expected (which is sort of disappointing but i'll live), but i had a good time and i think that's what really matters here

i'm glad that it wasn't boring and that i'm able to write so much about it and i'll be able to talk about it for a while and follow through on the production of THE SEQUEL THEY MIGHT MAKE LMFAOOOO

THE WORLD WITHOUT PRINCES SETUP????? I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT

hit my limit