#after I first binged Rise (before the movie)

[joyfuladorable]

More art from Twitter! Still on that Rise sapphics train (I will never disembark)

[hischierdevils]

Friend's Don't | Q.H.

note: this was based on the g o r g e o u s picture above (quinn looks so fine) and the song Friend's Don't by Maddie & Tae

summary: everyone can see that you and quinn are more than friends. everyone except the two of you.

warnings: slightly jealous quinn, mentions of panic, fluff :)

wc: 2.4K

They don't cancel other plans Have conversations with nothing but their eyes They don't hear each other's names and forget to concentrate Hits a nerve and lights you up like dynamite

You hadn’t planned on spending time with your best friend over his all-star break, assuming since he saw you all the time he’d want to spend his break with his family. You assumed wrong because Quinn showed up at your place with his suitcase in tow and an extra plane ticket for you. He gave you an offhand comment about wanting to spend time with all of his favorite people as he watched you pack your bags and your heart nearly melted. 

The two of you met a year ago when you got lost on your first day of your new job. You were the new social media intern and had gotten lost in the halls of Rogers Arena, quite literally running into Quinn. He was sweet and showed you where to go. He also made sure to circle back and check on you at the end of the week to see how you were doing. He was the first friend you made in Vancouver. 

Your friendship grew organically, movie nights turned into binge watching shows together. It was pretty much guaranteed that he would be spending his day off with you if he could. He was always so quiet and reserved and you felt honored when he started talking to you about his problems. He’d call you after road games late at night when he was wide awake and couldn’t sleep. Anytime you had good news or bad, he was always the one you wanted to share it with. 

Somewhere along the way you realized that the feelings you had for Quinn were more than just platonic friendship. Every time you heard his name come up in conversation, you’d get distracted and find yourself suddenly daydreaming about him. The two of you could have an entire conversation without even speaking, much to Petey’s annoyance. You hadn’t wanted to risk your friendship so you kept your feelings to yourself. 

They don't almost say "I love you" When they're downtown somewhere, just a little drunk They don't talk about the future and put each other in it And get chills with every accidental touch

Quinn didn’t have to convince you to come with him, you happily flew with him to New York where the two of you met up with his brother Jack and his friend and teammate, John Marino. The four of you were currently in The Palace, a club that Jack had suggested. 

You were having fun, enjoying the alcohol a little too much, when Quinn accidentally bumped into you. He quickly put his hand on your waist to steady you so you didn’t fall over and heat spread through your body from his touch. “Sorry.” He mumbles as a slight blush rises to his cheeks. 

“It’s alright, Quinny.” You smile up at him as he keeps his hand on your body and for a moment you let yourself wonder what it would feel like to lean into him. To kiss him and tell him exactly how you feel…

“Maybe I should quit dancing for a while, eh?” He muses as steps away from you, leaving you wanting more of his touch. He looks undeniably hot tonight even though his outfit is simple. Black jeans, dark long sleeve shirt, and a backwards hat…you were quite proud of yourself for not jumping on him the moment you saw him. 

John says something to Quinn, effectively capturing the oldest Hughes’ attention. Quinn gives you a small smile before walking over and sitting down next to Marino. Since Jack took off for the bathroom, you sit by yourself and people watch. Many people are out dancing on the dance floor and you internally weigh the risk of asking Quinn to dance with you. 

The song changes to something with a slower tempo and you watch as people couple up on the dance floor. Glancing over at Quinn again, you silently wonder what makes him wearing a backwards hat ten times hotter. Unaware of your eyes on him, he brings the lip of his bud light bottle up to his mouth and takes a long sip. You must’ve been watching him for far too long because you feel someone nudge your shoulder. 

Turning your head, you find Jack smirking at you. “Do you need another drink? You look a little thirsty y/n.” 

“Fuck off.” You roll your eyes at him as you stand from your seat. Your drink is empty so you make your way over to the bar and Jack follows behind you. 

He leans against the bar beside you and sips his beer as you order your drink. “I need one of you to make the first move because the tension is killing me.” He says to you. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You play innocent even though he definitely just caught you checking out his brother. 

“Please, y/n.” Jack scoffs. “You look at him like he hung the stars in the sky and he can’t take his eyes off of you for two seconds. Just make out already!” The bartender hands you your new drink, looking slightly alarmed from Jack’s tone. 

“Thank you.” You tip him before turning your attention to Jack. “Quinn and I are just friends. That’s all we’re ever going to be.” 

He shakes his head at you in disbelief. “Is that what you want to be?”

You look over to the spot where you left Quinn, only to spot him chatting with a girl. Something he said makes her laugh and she leans into him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Jealousy washes over you as you watch the interaction and you force yourself to take a drink. 

“I want to be drunk and dancing.” You say to Jack. He follows your gaze, scrunching his eyebrows together as he watches Quinn flirt with the girl. 

“Let’s dance then.” Jack takes your hand and leads you to the dance floor before you have time to argue. He finds a spot for the two of you where Quinn has an unobstructed view and begins dancing beside you, keeping your hand held tightly in his. 

I keep telling myself this might be nothing But one look in your eyes and, God, there's something You can lie to me and say you don't But I know you do, and I love you too

It only takes Quinn about three minutes to realize you’re gone and he starts to panic as he looks around the large place, only calming down when he spots you at the bar with Jack. He’s just about to stand up and join you when the girl runs over and introduces herself. He holds a brief conversation with her out of politeness before Marino steps in, taking the girl's attention off of Quinn. 

You’re no longer at the bar when he searches for you again and when he finally does lay his eyes on you, he’s surprised by the rage he suddenly feels. He watches as his own brother spins you around the dance floor, soliciting smiles from you that should only be meant for him. 

He’s up and moving toward you before he can think about it. He hasn’t stepped over the friends line out of respect for you and the amazing relationship the two of you already share, but the sight of another man's hands on you is making him physically ill. Even though sober Quinn knows you have no interest in Jack whatsoever, inebriated Quinn needs reassurance. 

“What are you guys doing?” He asks once he reaches you, trying to play it cool. 

Jack catches the jealousy on his older brother's face immediately and pulls you closer into his chest as you both dance to the beat. “Y/n, wanted to dance.”

“With you?” As annoyed as Quinn is, he can’t help but be mesmerized by your smile as you let go of Jack’s hand and reach for him.  

“Do you wanna dance with me, Quinny?” He decides at that moment that you’re the only one he wants to dance with for the rest of forever. Your eyelids seem a little heavy and he knows that this isn’t the right place or time to confess his feelings so he accepts your hand, pulling you away from Jack and into his chest.

“She’s all yours.” Jack winks at Quinn over your head before walking over to John who’s still entertaining the girl. 

You wrap one arm around Quinn’s waist and place your opposite hand on his shoulder so you can face him while you dance together. “Are you having fun?” He asks you as he places a hand on your lower back, pulling you closer to him. 

“Mhm.” You look up at him through your lashes, a sleepy smile on your face. “Are you? Are you happy to see Jack?” 

It melts his heart to know that even in your sleepy-drunk state, you’re still concerned about his happiness. “I was.” He laughs to himself as he realizes Jack was betting on him getting jealous when he saw the two of you dancing together, effectively being the kick Quinn needed to make a move. “Kind of forgot how much of a pain in the ass he is.” 

“But you love him.” You muse as you rest your head on his shoulder. His heart begins to beat faster as the word love leaves your mouth. He wasn’t sure of it before but he is now as he holds you tightly in his arms. He’s in love with his best friend. 

Friends don't stand around, playing with their keys Finding reasons not to leave Trying to hide their chemistry Get a little too close We do, but friends don't

Quinn walks you up to your hotel room, a steady hand on your lower back the entire way even though you switched to water an hour ago. You swipe your key card and he follows you inside, making sure the door is securely shut behind you. 

He sits on the edge of your bed quietly as you flutter in and out of the bathroom, doing your nightly routine. He’s watched you do it so many times he knows exactly what you’re looking for every time you step out of the bathroom in search of something. 

“I don’t know what I'd do without you.” You mumble as he hands you your moisturizer on your third trip from the bathroom. He smiles softly in response and as you walk away again, he starts to wonder what his life would be like without you in it. If he couldn’t call you to hear what book you were reading that week, what baked goods you were trying to make or even just hear your voice…

The feeling of loss slams him so hard in the chest that he panics and walks to the doorway to the bathroom just to make sure that you’re still there. You’re innocently brushing your teeth but when you see the look on his face, you quickly finish up. 

“Are you okay?” You ask as you walk toward him. 

“Y-yeah, yeah.” He nods, trying to convince himself as well as you. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

“I’m okay, Quinn.” You laugh as you flick the light off and walk past him to put your things in your suitcase. “I’m all ready for bed.” You assure him as you sit on the edge of the hotel bed. 

He nods, realizing this is his cue to head to his own room for the night. “Right, uh, good night y/n.” He turns toward the door, even though the last thing he wants to do is leave you right now. 

“Wait!” You jump off the bed, reaching for his hand. “Do you want to…um…” 

“Yes.” He responds, his body half turned toward the door. 

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” You laugh as he walks closer to you. 

“Whatever it is, the answer’s yes.” He gently places his free hand on your face, softly caressing your cheek as his eyes flicker down to your lips and then back to your eyes. 

“Quinn…” Your voice is just a whisper as you both try to communicate everything you’re not saying. “Kiss me.”

He doesn’t hesitate by pressing his lips to yours. Gently at first but as soon as you kiss him back, he’s backing you up so the backs of your legs touch the bed. He lets go of your hand and cups the back of your neck, tilting your head so he can kiss you deeper. You run your tongue over his bottom lip until he parts them, allowing you entrance. 

When the two of you finally pull away you’re both panting and your lips are swollen. Quinn presses his forehead to yours as he rubs soothing circles on your back. “That was…” He searches for the right word. 

“Amazing?” You supply as you smile. “Want to do it again?” 

“Absolutely.” 

Quinn ends up spending the night. Once you thoroughly exhaust yourselves with your make out session, he cuddles you tightly to him as you lay in bed together. He asks you to confirm at least three times that it’s not a dream before he falls asleep so you kiss him softly in response each time.

In the morning, you’re rudely awakened by none other than Jack, rounding everyone up for breakfast. “Y/n, do you know where Quinn is? He’s not in his ro-” Jack’s eyes go wide as Quinn opens the door for him. 

“No, haven’t seen him.” You tell Jack as you sit up in bed. Quinn laughs at your sarcasm as he closes the door behind Jack. 

He looks between the two of you, taking notice of the clothes Quinn is still wearing from the night before. “Just friends, eh?” Jack sits on the edge of the bed and smirks at you. “Was this a friendly sleepover, y/n?”

Quinn points to the door. “Alright, get out.”

Jack ignores his brother and winks at you, causing you to laugh. “How come I didn’t get an invite?”

“Seriously, man?” Quinn slaps Jack’s shoulder. 

“Alright, okay.” Jack laughs as he holds his hands up in surrender, “I better get credit for this at the wedding.” 

Quinn winces, fearing it may be way too soon for you to hear jokes like that when everything is still too new. He shoves Jack out the door, promising you’ll meet him for breakfast in ten minutes. When he turns around to look at you, you’re smiling at him. “We’re not inviting him to our wedding right?” 

“Absolutely not.” Quinn grins walking over to capture your lips in a kiss.

[spidergrysn]

Spider!Mark origins: Mark Lee x Reader part 2

cw: slight angst??? a bit of violence.. corny dialogue!! mark is such a cute little dork .. virgin! mark LOLLLLLL, loss of virginity, soft sex, praise, spider webs🤗

wc: 7.4k

ISSUE #1: MARK’S ORGINS 🕷️

ISSUE #2: THE MAKING OF A HERO 🕷️

For the next few weeks, y/n and Mark spent an increasing amount of time together. Every day after school, they would head straight to y/n's house, which had basically become Mark’s superhero 101 training grounds.

The routine was established quickly: they'd drop their bags at the door and head straight to the backyard, where y/n already had a training area set up. Because y/n had been trained in combat from the minute she exited the womb, she made a pretty damn good teacher. She would make Mark spar for hours, not stopping until he couldn’t move a muscle.

Mark, despite coming a long way from when they first started, still found himself on the losing end every time, but each loss only made him want to work harder and harder. He had to prove to y/n he was worthy enough.

Outside of the tedious training. y/n helped Mark research about the spider, scouring through scientific journals, news articles, and even sub-reddit conspiracy forums to gather every scrap of information they could possibly find.

At each training session, y/n made sure to mark down and careful observe Mark’s abilities. She noted every nuance, every change, every new detail. From there she was able to, to weigh his strengths and weaknesses, applying it to training making sure he can get out of every possible scenario.

Despite the intensity of their training, there were moments of rest. They would take breaks to snack on y/n's homemade cookies or binge stupid tiktok’s they found on each others fyps. In those moments, they could feel each other becoming more and more comfortable with one another.

•

•

As the week came to an end, y/n had happily invited Mark to join her and Haechan for a movie night. Mark, brimming with excitement, swiftly made his way out of his room, only to be intercepted by his aunt just before stepping out the door.

"Where exactly are you running off to again? You've been going out a lot lately," his aunt lightly scolded, a knowing glint in her eye.

Mark scratched his neck nervously, struggling to come up with a proper response. "Uh, I'm going to a friend's house... I mean, I've been going to a friend's house," he stumbled over his words.

His aunt eyed him curiously, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Uh huh, and does this friend have a name?" she inquired looking him up and down.

"Y/n—her name is y/n. We go to school together," Mark replied quickly, hoping to evade further interrogation from his nosy auntie.

"A GIRL! Oh my god, my little Minhyung is growing up!" his aunt exclaimed, her excitement evident as she squeezed his cheeks affectionately. "Wait, why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend, Minhyung?" she added, playfully scolding him and insisting that he invite y/n over for dinner.

Mark sighed, patiently explaining to his aunt that y/n was just a friend who happened to be a girl, and that they weren't dating. His aunt chuckled knowingly, giving him a knowing look before shooing him out the door.

"Oh, and Honey, one more thing," his aunt called after him as he turned to leave.

Mark paused, turning back to face her. "Use protection!" she shouted, earning a groan from Mark as he dashed off, his aunt's laughter echoing behind him as she closed the door.

•

•

Texting back and forth, Mark impatiently waits outside, his fingers tapping anxiously on his phone screen as he texts y/n.

mark 🕷️: yo I'm right outside & it's cold,so please open the door.

y/n 🎧 : yo who is this????

mark 🕷️: ihy sm.

Finally, the door swings open, revealing y/n standing there with a warm smile. Mark, bundled up in a hoodie and baggy pants against the cold, returns her smile as he steps inside quickly trying to escape the cold air.

"Sup, Mark," Haechan greets, rising from the couch to dap Mark up before they settle on to the couch together. Y/n smiles at them both before heading to the kitchen to whip up some popcorn for their movie night. She pops the buttery goodness in her mouth as she rejoins them on the couch, sandwiching herself between Haechan and Mark.

As the movie begins to play, the trio immediately focus on the screen, their laughter and mid-movie talking filling the room. They transition from loud conversations to moments of silence, absorbed in the film's emotional rollercoaster. At one point, tears threaten to spill from Haechan and Mark’s eyes as y/n giggles at their dramatics.

Before the movie could even end, both Haechan and Mark leaned against each other softly snoring dead asleep. Chuckling softly at the sight, y/n reaches for her phone, thinking this is the perfect time for a funny candid picture to embarrass the boys with later. However, before she can even open the camera app, Mark stirs awake, disrupting her mischief with a sleepy smile.

"Uhh, y/n, what are you doing?" Mark questions, slightly startling the girl.

"Uhhh, shit, oh, nothing, I was just making sure you didn’t choke on my brother's drool the way you guys were sleeping," y/n retorts quickly, causing Mark to laugh embarrassedly and wipe his mouth just in case.

She laughs at his reaction before poking Mark on his cheek.

"Hey, Mark, I have a surprise for you," y/n says, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. Mark perks up at this, his curiosity piqued, as y/n grabs his arm and leads him to her backyard.

She urges him to close his eyes as she opens the back door, taking his hand and guiding him outside. When he uncovers his eyes, Mark finds a big paper bag covered in spider stickers and cute little spiderwebs. "TA-DA," y/n announces proudly as she signals for Mark to uncover his eyes.

Mark chuckles at the sight of the decorated paper bag. "Oh, dope, you got me a decorated paper bag. I've always wanted this," he jokes, but y/n urges him to open the bag.

Mark grabs the bag, raising an eyebrow at its weight. He carefully removes the tissue paper and discovers a red and blue skin-tight suit with a dark black spider emblem on it. He notices that the suit even has a hoodie attached, reminding him of the day he saved y/n in the alley while wearing a hoodie himself.

He then pulls out a matching mask and notices a rectangular box in the bag. Curious, he opens it and finds a cool technological device that looks like it should go on his wrists. "It’s for your webs. It’ll help you aim them better and make them stronger," y/n explains, smiling at her friend's reaction.

Before y/n can say another word, Mark embraces her tightly, expressing his gratitude. "Thank you so much, y/n. Seriously, this is so fucking awesome. When did you even have the time to do this? It's just... wow?!"

Y/n laughs with him, enjoying his excitement. "You wanna try it on and test these bad boys out?" she suggests, raising an eyebrow daringly.

"HELL YEAH," Mark responds enthusiastically, scrambling to the bathroom to try on his new gifts.

•

•

Mark can’t help but admire himself in the mirror. He also couldn’t help but laugh, at the fact that his cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. This was easily the best gift he’s ever gotten. The fabric hugged his frame perfectly, and he can't help but feel a surge of excitement coursing through him. He genuinely felt like a real deal superhero.

"OKAY, princess, quit checking yourself out in the bathroom and come out. We've got some brainstorming to do," y/n calls out, knocking on the door.

Mark fumbles with the door, a bit embarrassed at the fact that he had been staring at himself for so long. "Sorry, you were taking forever. I was almost gonna break the do--" y/n starts before her gaze trails over Mark's figure. "Whew, that fits nicely in all the right places... Turn around real quick, Mark."

Mark hesitantly complies, turning around as instructed. "Yeah, your butt looks great. Any villain would be intimidated by that," y/n jokes, causing Mark to giggle slightly, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"So let’s get down to business... You have the skills, you have the suit, and all you need now is a superhero name," y/n declares, beaming at Mark.

"Now, I've compiled a list of super awesome amazing brilliant names I've come up with, or I've found in articles from your recent crime-fighting, and by articles I mean tweets. Now let’s pick one out," y/n continues, excitedly.

"Spider-boy," y/n suggests.

"I'm a grown-ass man. Why would I go by that?" Mark responds.

"Okay... What about Arachne Man?" y/n proposes.

"Hell no," Mark replies.

"Uhhh, Super Spider 3000?"

"What's with the 3,000, y/n?" Mark questions.

"I don't know, I thought it sounded kinda cool." y/n shrugs.

“The Weaver?”

"That makes me sound like an old lady in a knitting club," Mark protests, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Okay... How about Your Amazing Friendly Neighbor Spider-Man?" y/n suggests, sounding a bit exasperated.

Mark considers the name for a moment, running it over in his mind. "You know what, y/n, that's not half bad... Just a bit long, I will say."

"Jesus Christ, you motherfucking idiots, why not just Spider-Man?" Haechan interjects, finally chiming in from his spot on the couch.

"That's probably the smartest thing you've ever uttered," y/n teases her brother before turning back to Mark. "So, what do you think?"

"Spider-Man... I like it," Mark responds with a grin as y/n yelps out a big YES!

•

•

"Testing 123... 321... Amazing Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, can you hear me over?" y/n's voice crackles over the intercom built into Mark's hood.

"I heard you after the testing... Also, aren't we shortening the name?" Mark questions as he gracefully swings from building to building.

"Sorry, it's just so catchy! Just testing to make sure you can hear me all good over the intercom," y/n responds from her laptop in her room.

"Well, I can," Mark confirms.

"Okay, good. I'm gonna power up the camera feed on your suit so I can navigate you the right way," y/n explains.

"THERE'S A CAMERA ON HERE?!" Mark exclaims, amazed.

"Yup! There's one built into the spider on your suit, and then there are a couple on your mask, so whatever you see, I can see," y/n confirms.

"Jesus Christ, this is giving me motion sickness. Do you ever get sick swinging from those damn webs?" y/n asks, hearing mark chuckle in her intercom.

"No, I'll have to take you for a ride one day," Mark responds, almost confidently, before adding with a stammered, "if you want."

"I'll have to take you up for that one day, Spider-Boy... For now, let's focus on getting you out of this mission alive," y/n finishes.

"ALIVE?! I COULD DIE?!" Mark's voice rises in panic.

"Mhmm, there's like a 50% chance... But you'll be okay. NOW MARK, A SHARP LEFT!" y/n directs, a bit muffled.

"Are you eating chips right now?!" Mark questions, swinging to the left.

"Uhh—nooo," y/n denies, crunching on another chip before changing the subject.

"Okay, so here's the rundown: BABY'S FIRST DRUG BUST," y/n announces.

"You say this like you've done one before," Mark retorts, but y/n goes silent for a moment before giggling.

"ANYWAYS, back to the subject at hand. In exactly 10 minutes, you're gonna arrive in Hell's Kitchen," y/n explains.

"That sounds like fun," Mark says sarcastically before y/n shushes him.

"There's some big meeting happening in one of the buildings I'm navigating you to. Supposedly, it's some kind of drug trafficking scheme run by Wilson Fisk. I'm sure you know who that is, right...?" y/n prompts.

"Kingpin?" Mark responds.

"Yes, him! The meeting is gonna be all sorts of big drug lord mafia guy wannabes. Your job is to interfere with the truck shipments. I don't know exactly how yet, but you have to stop it from going anywhere," y/n instructs.

"Okay, got it... Hell's Kitchen, beat some bad guys, and stop drugs. Okay, makes enough sense," Mark acknowledges.

"AHT! This is supposed to be a stealth mission, Mark. Whatever you do, DO NOT interfere with the meeting. They don't need to know you're there. Just stop the truckloads. The only people you should be interfering with are the drivers," y/n emphasizes.

"Got it," Mark says hesitantly, listening.

“Okay, Mark, swing right, and there should be a big building leading down that alley," y/n directs.

Mark gives a sound of acknowledgment before landing on top of a large building. He carefully surveys the area, making sure he can't see anyone.

"Okay, Mark, this may be a bit risky, but see if you can get in through a vent and record audio of everything going down," y/n suggests.

"Okay," Mark whispers, finding a vent that he barely fits inside.

"Okay, so what you're gonna do is carefully press the spider that's on your chest," y/n instructs.

Mark follows her guidance, watching as a tiny spider emerges from the big spider print on his chest, crawling down the vent.

“What the hell?!” Mark exclaims in awe.

“Oh yes, that’s a mini spider camera mic thingy me and Haechan worked really hard to develop for you,” y/n says casually. “It should be able to record everything going on. When the meeting is over, press the spider on your chest again, and it’ll come back. For now, just sit tight until it’s over.”

Mark hums in agreement, half wondering about what’s going on in the meeting and half wondering about what other surprises lay in his suit.

Y/n pulls Mark out of his thoughts, her voice coming in sternly. “Okay, I’m loading everything recording onto my computer. Look to see if they’re moving yet.” Mark gives a quick yes and looks through the shielded vents, observing a bunch of suited men carefully. “I think they’re wrapping it up,” Mark says.

“Gotcha, I’m gonna give you some instructions on how to leave. You should end up on top of the building facing the loading truck,” y/n directs.

Mark begins to move before he sharply pauses when he hears the room below him suddenly go silent. An alarm sounds, and the men below start talking about a "rat."

“Uhhh, y/n... I think they might have heard me,” Mark reports.

“Aht, okay... Keep following the exit instructions. I’m gonna get you out of here. Return back here immediately,” y/n says sternly as she types some commands on the computer. “But the mission?” Mark protests before y/n cuts him off, insisting once again to come back immediately.

Mark safely exits the vent, standing on the building, watching the few trucks he sees as he observes some men loading them up. He takes a deep breath before muttering a sorry and diving down there.

“Mark, you fucking idiot,” y/n says, screaming over the intercom before it goes silent on both sides.

•

•

•

Y/n screams, shutting her laptop with a snap, and jumps off her bed. She quickly paces to Haechan’s room, whisking the door open.

“Woah, woah, I could’ve been naked or, better yet, jacking off. What happened to knocking?” Haechan yells.

“Shut up and grab your car keys. Something went wrong with the plan, and now Mark is going to get himself killed. We need to do something about it,” y/n says quickly as Haechan groans, heading to the garage to get his car out. Y/n rushes to the garage, typing a code into a safe before taking a briefcase out and hopping into Haechan’s sleek black sports car.

"Told you he wasn’t ready, and now you’re gonna get your only friend killed," Haechan says, whistling. "Shut the fuck up and drive," y/n says, clearly annoyed.

•

•

•

"Sup, guys! Did I crash the drug dealing party, or is there still room for one more?" Mark says, trying not to show how nervous he was to the group of crooks.

"Who the hell are you, tough guy?" some guy says, sizing Mark up before spitting on the ground next to him.

Mark slowly backs up before accidentally tripping over his own foot. "Fuck," he exclaims, falling down as he sees the men crowd around him, getting ready to attack. Mark quickly shoots a web, hitting one guy in the face before swiftly jumping up and punching someone to his left.

"Hey, guys, it’s not nice to jump people! Ten versus one, now that’s unfair," Mark says, swiftly spraying his webs, sticking two bad guys together as they hit the ground with a thump. Before Mark could take a break, he hears gunshots and quickly jumps up, sticking to a wall to avoid it before carefully shooting out his webs, taking the gun from one of the bad guys.

"COME ONNN! What happened to hand-to-hand combat? You guys are killing me here," Mark says, jumping down in front of another. He winds his fist back, getting ready to punch the guy in the face before he gets a tingling sensation and turns around to see a giant man towering over him.

"Hey, Big Guy, let’s take it easy now," Mark says as the man gruffly laughs at him.

"I knew there was some annoying insect ruining my plans," the man says in a deep voice, closing in on the boy.

"Ah, well, actually, spiders aren’t insects," Mark says matter-of-factly, getting ready to shoot his webs before he’s thrown roughly into a wall, groaning in pain at the impact. “I’ve heard about you," the man says, briskly leaning over him.

Mark coughs; he swears he can taste metal in his mouth before he’s cut off again, getting punched. "Some low little sorry excuse of a hero, stopping petty crime, tcht," Kingpin says, his voice laced with venom.

"Well, now is where you get crushed, spider-boy," Kingpin says, raising his fist again before Mark quickly musters his strength to get up, dodging the attack and landing a swift, hard punch in his opponent's face.

Fisk barely flies back but chuckles, wiping where Mark had hit him. "Not bad," he exclaims, getting ready to retaliate.

•

•

•

"TURN HERE!" y/n's urgent command pierced the air as Haechan slammed the brakes, the tires screeching in protest. "If I don’t come back in 15 minutes tops, I want you to know that one time I let Jaemin take your car to a party, and that's why the paint looks slightly different on one side. He made me promise not to tell you," y/n confessed in a rush, while Haechan muttered something along the lines of hoping she wouldn't return.

Swiftly, y/n snatched the case, darting into an alley to change into the sleek, black attire inside the case . A mask obscured everything but her eyes as she armed herself with two lengthy black electrical escrima sticks. Emerging from the alley with a determined stride, she set out to locate Mark.

Breathless, y/n stealthily approached Mark's location. Her heart caught in her throat as she witnessed most of Kingpin's henchmen strewn unconscious, only to find Mark, weakened and bleeding, slumped against the wall as Kingpin pummeled him relentlessly.

"Fucking dumbass" y/n muttered, taking a deep breath before springing into action with catlike agility. "Hope there's room for one more," she exclaimed, aiming to divert Kingpin's attention from his assault on Mark.

Kingpin's laughter echoed as he turned his attention to the smaller figure before him. "This is who came to save you, Spider-boy? Oh dear, you're both as good as dead," he taunted.

Launching himself at y/n, Kingpin found himself thwarted by her flawless agility. She retaliated swiftly, delivering a jolt of electricity with her weapon, causing Kingpin to recoil in agony. Annoyed, he lunged again, only to be met with another swift dodge, as y/n striked him somewhere solidifying the fact he probably wont be having any kids anytime soon. He crumbles in pain as y/n eyes quickly meets Mark’s body.

Rushing to Mark's side, y/n hoisted him up, supporting his weight as they fled, knowing Kingpin would soon recover. They dashed from the alley, Mark's pained groans echoing through the street. Pressing an intercom in her ear, y/n reached out to Haechan for assistance.

“Earth to Haechan, are you there?" she pleaded desperately.

"Dammit, you're alive," Haechan's voice crackled through the earpiece.

"Not the time for jokes; Mark is badly hurt. We need to get him back home ASAP. Can you track my location? He's weighing me down, and at this rate, I don't think we'll make it back in one piece," y/n stammers in a rush.

"I got you. I'll be there in 5 minutes tops," Haechan assured, the engine revving to life.

While supporting Mark, y/n raced as fast as she could, her senses on high alert to evade any pursuers. "Dammit, Mark," she muttered, observing his agonized state.

“Hurry, get in!" Haechan's urgent voice echoed as a group of men closed in on them. Swiftly, y/n ushered Mark into the back seat, taking her place beside Haechan, urging him to step on it.

Haechan navigated the streets with precision, maneuvering crazily to shake off their pursuers. Finally, they arrived home, the garage offering a brief break from the chaos outside.

Together they carried Mark to the living room, laying him gently on the floor, both sighing at his injuries.

“Go get the first aid kit," y/n commanded, her voice slightly hoarse, as she swiftly began to strip away Mark's bloodied clothing to assess his injuries. Haechan darts off, returning moments later with the first aid kit clutched tightly in his grasp.

Y/n sighs as she tended to Mark's wounds. His eyelids fluttered, struggling to remain open as waves of drowsiness washed over him.

"He's gonna have a giant headache when he wakes up," Haechan remarked, a note of concern lacing his words. Y/n shot him a wry look, her eyes brimming with exhaustion and tears as she finished up his bandages. "Just take him to one of the guest rooms so he can rest," she instructed, her tone firm yet full of concern for her friend.

Haechan nods in understanding, carefully lifting Mark's limp form into his arms. With a gentle touch, he cradled his friend, carrying him away to a guest room where he could recuperate in peace. As they disappeared from view, y/n exhaled a weary sigh, her mind racing with thoughts of the night's events, her hands cover her face as she can only think of what could have happened to Mark.

•

•

•

When Mark finally awoke, he was greeted by a pounding headache, his consciousness slowly emerging from the depths of hell. Groaning softly, he blinked, attempting to figure out where he was. The memories of the brutal encounter with Kingpin's henchmen flooded back, each blow replaying in his mind and it was like he could feel the pain all over again.

Struggling to push past the throbbing pain, Mark sat up abruptly, his gaze scanning the room in confusion. His eyes fell upon a note perched on the bedside table, it urging him to meet y/n into the backyard. He takes a deep breath, rising from the bed, as his legs unsteady beneath him make his way to the backyard.

As he stepped into the familiar place, he spotted y/n seated on a weathered bench, her silhouette illuminated by the soft glow of moonlight. She turned her head, sensing his presence, and offered a gentle smile as he carefully approached, slightly limping in pain.

“Hey," he murmured, his voice hoarse from sleeping as he joined her on the bench. Before he could utter another word, y/n's hand collided with his cheek in a resounding slap, leaving a bright red mark on his left side. Mark winced, his gaze dropping as he slightly whines.

"I deserved that," he admitted, his tone apologetic.

y/n's expression softened, though traces of anger flickered in her eyes. "You're an idiot, you know that," she half-yelled , her voice carrying a mixture of frustration and concern. "If I say come back, you come back immediately. You could've died out there."

Mark's shoulders sagged, his gaze fixed on the ground. "I know... I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to prove that I could do it, that all of your training was paying off," he admitted, a sense of disappointment filled the air. y/n looks at the boy softly before shaking her head attempting to break the tension

“It is paying off. From what was left of Kingpin's men, you did pretty great, Spider-Man," she reassured, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Mark nodded, appreciative as his eyes met her gaze. They both sit in silence, a distant rumble of thunder echoed through the night sky, signaling the onset of rain. Y/n tilted her head back, gazing as the sky, a smile gracing her lips as droplets danced upon her skin.

Mark watched her, captivated by the ethereal beauty of the made y/n’s h/c hair stick to her forehead which somehow, framed her features beautifully in the cool rain. Mark leans in closer, his heart pounding in his chest. As he breaks the comfortable silence.

"Your eyes are pretty," he murmured softly, his breath mingling with hers in the cool night air.

“and your eye is very swollen.”

y/n's playful retort was met with a soft smile, her fingers brushing against his swollen eye and then equally swollen lip with a tender touch.

"Promise me you won't do something dumb like this again?" y/n demands, her voice slightly shaking.

Mark shook his head gently, a tender smile playing on his lips as he leaned in to plant a soft kiss on the girl's plush lips. "I can't promise I won't do anything dumb," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, "but I promise I'll always bounce right back."

With that he embraced her in his warm arms as, they watched the gentle patter of raindrops.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It had been nearly a week since y/n last saw Mark. His absence from school and the silence of his phone left her restless, her mind couldn’t help but overthink everything that had gone down last week.

"What if my breath stank, and that's why he's avoiding me?" she exclaimed, as she vented to her brother, who was engrossed in a video game, only half-listening to her concerns.

"It probably did, like it does right now," Haechan quipped, a smirk playing on his lips as y/n rose to switch off his playstation , her irritation reaching its peak. "Why did you do that? I was about to level up!" Haechan protested, his pleas falling on deaf ears as y/n stood her ground.

"Because you were being mean," she retorted, hands firmly planted on her hips, her frustration bubbling over. "Why don't you have any friends to annoy with this mess?" Haechan grumbled, shooting his sister a disgruntled glare.

"Because people are meaner," y/n sighed, sinking onto the couch beside her brother. "What if he's dead or got kidnapped, and I'm just overreacting?" she mused aloud.

"Well, at least if he's dead, I don't have to hear you talk about this again," Haechan retorts, earning himself a punch from his sister before she stormed off to her room, frustration etched into every line of her face. Seated before her makeup desk, y/n resolved that if Mark was still alive, she'd knock some sense into him.

Adjusting her dress and pulling out an annoying wedgie, y/n stood before the doorway of a quaint, beautiful house, her heart pounding in her chest as she rang the doorbell.

The door swung open, revealing a middle-aged woman whose warm smile instantly eased y/n's nerves. "Hello, dear," the woman greeted, her eyes twinkling with kindness as she greeted the girl.

She smiles again before saying, "give me a sec." With a wink, as she vanished behind the door. From behind the closed door, y/n could hear the muffled voices very clearly, giggling at what was being said.

"Benji, you would not believe it! Mark has brought a girl home, and she's beautiful at that," the woman exclaimed.

When the door finally opened, the older lady reappeared, this time accompanied by a man whose almost warmer smile put her even more at ease. "And who might you be, young lady?" he asks, friendly as ever.

Returning the smile, the girl nodded before speaking, her voice cheerful than usual and very respectful. "Hi! I'm y/n. I've heard so many nice things about you, Mr. and Mrs. Park," she said, extending her hand for a handshake. To her surprise, Mrs. Park enveloped her in a warm hug, squeezing the girl tightly.

"You have to excuse Jennie; she's a hugger, and Mark doesn't have many friends over, let alone girls, so it's a big deal," the older man chuckled, breaking the moment with laughter before ushering her inside.

As she settled into a seat, Mrs. Park's went on and on not knowing in advance about y/n's visit, promising to bake a cake for her next time. y/n simply thanked her profusely, a genuine smile not leaving her face.

"Just sit tight, dear. Mark will be home soon. You know how he is, always ripping and running," Mrs. Park reassured her. As y/n nods in agreement.

y/n's anticipation peaked as she heard the door creak open, and Mark's aunt rushed to greet him. "Minhyung! You have a visitor here. Next time, give me a heads up before your girlfriend comes; I would've baked a cake," she scolded, her playful reprimand filling the room.

Caught off guard, Mark's eyes widened as they met y/n's, a flicker of surprise in his gaze. "Oh, Minhyung, hi!" y/n greeted him with an overly cheery tone, her demeanor sending a shiver down his spine for reasons he couldn't explain.

As Aunt Park suggested they retreat to Mark's room, he led y/n upstairs, his mind racing with questions. "How did you find my house?" he finally blurted out, his surprise evident.

"Why are you avoiding me, Minhyung?" y/n countered, her eyebrow arching as she studied him intently. Mark's gaze darted away, avoiding her intense eyes as he struggled to find an answer.

"I've been busy," he replied, his words sounding hollow even to his own ears as he stared at a poster behind her.

y/n sighed, frustration bubbling to the surface. "Busy? Doing what? You haven't been at school, you haven't texted me back since our fight, since we kissed—never mind," she trailed off, her voice tinged with disappointment.

Sensing her frustration, Mark joined her on the bed, his eyes fixed on the floor before meeting hers. "I just—" he began, only to be cut off by y/n's exasperated interruption.

You just what!," she snapped, her annoyance cutting through the air like a knife.

"I just... I don't want to disappoint you like I did last time. So I've been training hard and staying up all hours of the night so I can prove to you that I can take this whole superhero thing seriously, for real," he confessed feeling the most vulnerable he’s ever felt with anyone.

As y/n softened her gaze, she observes him more closely, noticing a few bruises peeking out from beneath his clothes, concealed with makeup to avoid his aunt's prying eyes.

y/n sighed, her hand reaching out to grasp his. "I'm not disappointed in you at all, Mark. I really do believe in you," she reassured him, her touch gentle as she moved to caress his face, locking eyes with him. He bit his lip, his gaze lingering on her before he leaned in, craving the softness of her lips against his. As their kiss deepened, he tasted the faint sweetness of her strawberry lip gloss, savoring it all despite the stickiness it left behind. In that moment, he felt like he could kiss her forever, losing himself in the warmth of her lips.

Breaking apart, they both gasped for breath, their eyes locked in an intense gaze, pupils dilated. Mark opened his mouth to speak, his voice barely above a whisper. "You know, you were my first kiss," he confessed, his gaze dropping to the floor. "To be honest, y/n, you're my first real friend too," he admitted

"You're so funny, snarky, and beautiful, and I don't want to disappoint you or mess anything up," he continued, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him.

"For the first time since my parents died and i had to live with my aunt and uncle , since l've moved from place to place, for once, I feel like I belong, and I have someone who cares about me, and that's you," he confessed, his voice cracking with emotion. y/n reached out to comfort him, gently stroking his head as he let his tears fall.

They sat together in a comfortable silence, finding comfort in each other's embrace until Auntie Park's voice shattered the sentimental moment. "Y/N, Mark, dinner is ready!" she called out, barging into the room with a cheerful smile, only to pause as she caught sight of them holding each other.

"Auntie," Mark groaned, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment as he urged her for privacy. With a playful giggle, Auntie Park retreated, reminding them to be safe before disappearing, leaving Y/n and Mark to exchange amused glances.

With a shared chuckle, they eventually straightened themselves up, and made their way to downstairs for dinner.

•

•

•

"Thank you so much for dinner, Mrs. Park," y/n said, enveloping the older lady in a warm hug as she and Mark stood outside the doorway.

"Anytime, my dear. You're welcome anytime," Mrs. Park replied, her gaze shifting to her nephew. "Minhyung, make sure she gets home safe," she instructed, her concern evident in her tone. Mark nodded , offering a quick "Yes, ma'am" before hugging his aunt.

As they walked side by side to y/n’s house, they go back and forth catching each other up on their week. When they finally reached her door, y/n punched in the security code, only to find her brother not there.

"Hey, Mark, do you wanna maybe watch a movie? Haechan isn't here, so..." y/n trailed off, a mischievous glint in her eye as she heads towards her bedroom. Mark's smile widened at the invitation, and he followed her inside without hesitation.

The night started out innocently enough for y/n and Mark as they lounged on y/n’s bed. It was nothing out of the ordinary; they had done this dozens of times at this point, after every hangout or training session. But this time, it felt different.

As the movie played on, y/n couldn't help but sneak sidelong glances at her friend. She didn’t even know what they were; they had kissed twice but never taken it further than that. Lost in thought, she couldn’t help but gaze at Mark, eyeing his chiseled features and toned physique in his white tank top and unbuttoned polo. For some reason, it made her heart flutter, and her thoughts started drifting to things she knew would never happen.

But GOD she wanted Mark badly. She wanted to rip his clothes off and fuck the nerd out of him. Now, this wasn't the first time she had such thoughts.

A few fantasies had slipped into her mind here and there, especially after a sweaty training session or even after he kissed her that first time. All she could think about was him.

Now, y/n wasn't a virgin (thanks to Jeno at summer camp a few years back), but it had been quite some time, and even then, she still lacked experience. And then there was Mark. She knew for a fact that this man was a virgin, mostly because y/n just so happened to be his first kiss.

y/n sighed quietly , feeling as though the air had thickened with tension, but she waved it off as her hormones being crazy.

“ah what are you thinking about?”

y/n snaps back to reality hearing mark’s voice question her.

"Ah, nothing," y/n stammered, her face heating up. Mark looked her up and down before slightly laughing. For some reason, his laugh sounded extra beautiful today, pulling at y/n's heartstrings. "If it's nothing, why are your cheeks turning pink?" Mark questioned, tilting his head.

y/n sighed again, unable to resist any longer. She leaned in and captured his lips in a heat-searing kiss. It started off a bit slow, each of them carefully kissing one another, trying to find a steady pace.

But as soon as y/n heard a small whine from Mark, the kissing quickly deepened, hands began to roam over one another.

y/n squeezed Mark's arms, feeling his muscles, as Mark gently put his hand on y/n’s back, softly rubbing it. "Do you wanna take this off?" Mark asked between kisses, gesturing to y/n's shirt, to which she nodded, letting him take it off.

"Wow, you're so gorgeous," Mark exclaimed, looking at her toned body, kissing her body, causing shivers to go up her spine as she urged him to take his shirt off. Mark obliged, pulling it off swiftly in one motion, showing off his sculpted body. "Whew, I really got you right, huh?" the girl giggled, sliding into Mark's lap as he simply hummed, going back into kiss her before she broke apart, before he could protest.

She began to trail kisses down his neck and across his chiseled torso. Mark groaned with pure pleasure; he could feel his cock twitching in his pants as his body overheated with need. He'd never felt like this before, and he couldn't get enough of it. As if by instinct, his superhuman strength took over, and he flipped y/n swiftly, pinning her down on her soft mattress, causing a small yelp to leave her mouth.

y/n's eyes widened at the surprising gesture. Mark's eyes widened as well as he went to apologize for being too rough before y/n cut him off, saying she liked it, getting another well-earned moan out of Mark. He couldn't help but pause again to just look at her beauty and melt in it.

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he said, sighing as he watched her take off her bra.

She smiled, throwing her bra across the room before pulling his face down to meet hers.

"Quit talking and show me," she said, giggling, getting a "Yes, ma'am" from Mark as he began to trail kisses all over her body, eliciting so many beautiful noises he could get lost in.

He kissed carefully between her thighs before his fingers trailed her clothed pussy. He groaned at the wetness from her panties as she moaned at the light touch of his fingers.

"Can I take these off?" Mark asked, dazed.

"Mhmm," Y/N eagerly agreed as she watched Mark loop his fingers in her panties before taking them off.

"Fuckkkk. I need to taste you," Mark groaned as he gazed at her cunt, all sticky and wet, just waiting for him.

y/n let out a measly please before Mark opened her legs and his mouth latched onto her cunt. Mark's tongue moved fast and then slow, a bit confused on what to do but somehow still enjoying himself as he got lost in the taste.

y/n slightly giggled, looking down at him before bucking her hips, urging Mark to follow the same pace with his tongue.

And that's all Mark needed before y/n was rhythmically riding his tongue, both of their minds lost in pleasure, as y/n went down to fist Mark's hair.

"Aa-h, tastes sooo good," he moaned in between eating out her cunt. He looked up with the biggest puppy eyes, his chin wet before tilting his head and asking y/n if he's doing "good." Something about Mark being in between her legs, eyes all big and chin all wet, practically begging for praise only made y/n get wetter.

"Mhmm, doing so good, Markie, so good baby," y/n stammered as Mark moaned at the nickname, as he went a bit faster, soaking up all her juices on his tongue.

"M-Mark, slow down, l'm gonna-" y/n huffed out, trying to pull away from him as he held her down, going a bit faster.

He moaned against her cunt, making her head spin and legs shake from pleasure.

He pinned her thighs down, lapping her pussy up a few more times before he felt her thighs clench around him, her voice gets higher and he felt even more wetness on his face as he lapped up her cum. He moaned at the taste as y/n backed up, overstimulated from pleasure.

"Mark, ah, enough, uhh," y/n moaned as the boy quickly sat up, giving the girl a sorry as she giggled & trying to catch her breath.

She sat up on the bed, looking at him with such adoration. "You did such a good job, thank you," she said, smiling.

"Ah, you taste really good, I could do it for hours," Mark said shamelessly as y/n eyed his pants.

"Do you want me to help you too?" y/n asked, staring at Mark's hard cock in his pants.

Mark nodded before opening his mouth."I want to be in you... if that's okay," he said sheepishly, like he didn't just eat her pussy like he hasn't eaten in years. y/n giggled before laying on the bed, gesturing for Mark to take off his pants.

He groaned, pulling them down, and y/n almost passed out as his cock sprung from his underwear.

"What the fuck Mark, you're huge," y/n groaned, a bit shocked.

"Yeah, I think it had something to do with the spider bite," Mark playfully joked before hovering on top of Y/N.

"I don't have a condom," Mark said quickly, getting ready to get off the bed before Y/N stopped him.

"No worries, I'm on birth control," Y/N said, making Mark grin widely.

"Ah, okay-uh, one more thing," Mark quickly added, not wanting to ruin the moment anymore.

"Mhmm?"y/n asked, curious.

"I just really like you, and we spend so much time together, and we've kissed, and now we are doing this, but I just... please be my girlfriend," Mark said sincerely, looking into the girl's eyes.

y/n smiled, giggling before saying a yes.

"Okay, yes, but ask me again when your dick isn't out, Mr. Romantic," y/n said, making Mark warm up a bit at his sudden outburst.

"Now come here, Spider-boy, I need you," and with carnal speed, Mark was on top of y/n trailing kisses down her neck again, feverishly kissing and bitting her lips trying to get those sweet noises out he lips again.

"Can I please?" Mark moaned as y/n nodded, signaling him to put it in. Mark groaned one last time, getting a good look at the beautiful woman under him before slowly sliding the tip in her even wetter cunt, causing a moan from both of them.

"Fuckkkkkk, you feel so good and warm and fuckk, oh my god, I feel so wow," Mark blubbered in pleasure as he pushed in deeper.

"Oh my god, y/n, you're clenching so fucking tight around my cock, you're so fucking wet I can't," Mark said mindlessly as y/n groaned at the words coming out of his mouth. Mark started to go slowly, rhythmically, as they both moaned in unison at how good it felt.

"Fuck, baby, you're so pretty and tight," Mark threw his head back, speeding up his hips, not stopping anytime soon.

"Mm, Markie, so big... I'm so full," y/n stuttered as Mark went even faster at the praise.

"Mhmm, yeah, baby, it's good?" Mark moaned out softly, caressing y/n's face with his hand.

"So-so good,"y/n whimpered, eyes rolled back in pleasure.

Mark took one more good look at y/n before his hips stuttered, he came into y/n's warm cunt, his mouth spewing out loud "fucks" and "baby" as he slowly fell on top of y/n, lost in bliss.

y/n caught her breath before laughing a bit, holding the boy tight in her arms.

"You did so good, Markie, I'm proud of you," she said quietly into his ear as the boy gave her a quiet "thank you."

They both lay there for a while in each other's arms, comfortable.

"Hey, y/n?"

"Mm, yes, Markie?"

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?" Mark asked again, giggling.

"Of course I do. Now let's go get cleaned up; you can stay the night if you want," y/n said, a smile hinting in her voice.

Mark got up, helping y/n off the bed as he carefully guided her to the bathroom, hand in hand with stupid smiles on both of their faces.

•

•

did u guys see mark’s new accc and his posts??????! SPIDER MARK IS ALIVE AND WELL AHHH😭😭😭😭😭😭🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️💔💔💔 also i turned 20 LOL

[idv-sunsxin3]

Horropedia // 3 AM Thoughts

Notes// Late night moments with him- I sometimes can't or don't even want to sleep just because I wanna make a snack and binge on my fav stuff/ih

____

{When you can't sleep}

Usually. Horropedia is a big night owl- he definitely would go all-nighters at times just to spend his only time on his favorite hobby after a long day of work. Relying on the art of coffee to keep him awake...

But of course, sometimes he does sleep at normal hours. Especially when you come over to stay over after a little indoor date or because you both just comfortably decided to.

Knowing yourself... there are times you get hungry at night and make chocolate pudding in the middle of the night- or using whatever you have that is still in the fridge.

But well... late night snacks at Joshua's is a different story-- at first, you're not even sure if is right to just raid someone's fridge like that. Last time you tried to make lunch for him, he tries everything to prevent you from moving a finger while being his "guest"-- well, that's a very too special treatment for a typical guest at his place 🤔

Nonetheless, you gotta.... nudge your boyfriend awake??? You took a second to contemplate before "screw it, I'm hungry and that's important-"/ih

"Babe."

You nudge Horropedia by the shoulder lightly. His arms are wrapped around you, asleep with his face half-buried in the pillow and glasses put away by the nightstand.

He doesn't respond the first time, merely twitching slightly while still muttering random things that sound incoherent, so you try again with more force.

"Babe," you raise your tone a bit while whispering. He then grumbles under his breath, slowly rousing from sleep.

"...What?" he asks, voice raspy before he takes one hard to rub his eyes a bit. What time is it...?

"I'm hungry," you tell him quietly, whispering not to break the tranquility of the night.

'What....?" He mutters, leaning on the back of your neck as he keeps his cheekbone laying on his pillow. Small groans can be heard as warm breath brushes over your nape.

"I'm hungry.... Food, please." you politely request him, but louder this time.

Horropedia wakes up a little bit more at your request. Blinking once or twice before pulling away to stare at the back of your skull for a moment. He frowns at you. Glancing at the clock on the wall, before giving you a slightly frustrated stare once more. Carefully reaching out his hand for his glasses through the dark before wearing them. His eyes can be vaguely seen as tired and in disbelief.

"At this hour...???" he asks dryly. "It couldn't wait until breakfast at least?"

You shake your head, knowing yourself very well that you'll go more edgy by the time the sun rises.

"No... I don't think l'Il be able to sleep." You sincerely say as in slight sorry tone, "I can make you your coffee, if you want...--"

He sighs as a response, but doesn't contest further. Instead, he presses a kiss to your cheek, and then one to your lips a bit lazily... seeming to want to feel its familiar softness one more time before stretching a bit.

"You're silly..." he says it fondly though his breath, and you beam up at him tiredly. I mean, he doesn't seem to mind it much.

He slips out of bed. "I'II just make you a snack that you like, okay?" he suggests through his remaining hiarse tone, "I gotta have to get myself a coffee too anyway... you silly menace of society-"

Before walking out of the room, he throws another playful glare as he says that, obviously intending to tease you.

You can only nod happily,

climbing out of the sheets after him.

___

{When he can't sleep}

Sometimes, he wants to sleep beside you. And there are times he struggles to sleep because he's too excited to see tomorrow with you. Thinking about all the things he reminisces... the things he wants to talk with you.

You can feel a pair of eyes staring through the pitch-black room, windows shut closes with curtains on and the door locked.

It almost sounds like a horror movie, the typical story about monsters underneath your bed... except that you is just your lover having this strange 3am thoughts while staring at you in your sleep. Laying beside you on his bed as you're trying to keep yourself warm... Horropedia has this nature of keeping the room cold with the AC on.

"So the killer was named William Afton, and his modus operandi was to abduct a child and hide their bodies in the fursuits of the animatronic performers. Afton was never caught, and the spirits of those victims melded with the Freddy's cast — which is why they seek vengeance in the fiction.---"

His feathery voice softly rambles on as he plays around your hair. Before shifting his tiny attention on your unattended fingers, brushing your palms in slow and small circular motion before carefully interwining its fingers with his.

His eyes shifting to different angles as his hand lightly motion around. Yet, his glance never fail to look away from your sleepy face for more than a second.

The only light present is the dim-lit dot that comes from his watch. His gun is put away on his desk from afar, sloghtly blinking whole it's charging. Your eyes go heavy by the slight soothing feeling of his hands tightly rubbing your scalp, as you snuggle more into the sheets.

"Mm..." That’s what you manage to say through your groggy voice, as if unconsciously making sure that you're listening to him. So the music of his chatty voice would never stop like a radiobox.

"While the story of the ghost children remains consistent with the Five Nights at Freddy's video game lore, there's an extra component in the movie. When Mike was younger, he watched his younger brother Garrett be kidnapped by an unknown assailant...---" Horropedia goes on as he starts pointing out the lore changes and additions to the fandom by the new horror movie. He goes on and on and on with the topic... from analisis to personal theories- until he notices the silence from you.

His heads slowly gets closer to your figure, which happens to be now in full sleeping mode. He sighs silently with a warm smile before planting a kiss on your forehead and softly booping your nose goodnight.

"We'll talk more when the sunrise comes, then."

The brunette declares quietly. He still cannot sleep... So he ends up smiling like a dork as he listens to your light snoring... until his eyes decide to rest once more.

[the-starry-seas]

what's one of your fics i could binge tonight?

hmmm, what are you in the mood for?

running with the wolves to get to you, 10k, rated G

Jango and Obi-Wan have been keeping an important secret as their relationship develops, which is that they’re both werewolves. Besides that minor detail, things are going great – at least until their car breaks down on a road trip and the only place they have to stay is an abandoned hotel. The day before Halloween. Which is on a full moon. No way this could go wrong, right?

who you are makes me who i am, 10k, rated G

Boba isn’t the kind of person who forms connections with people. ‘Friends’ are a foreign concept, and the idea of love is even more confusing. Then he saves a woman’s life, and she saves his, and he starts to wonder if it’s all as strange to him as he thinks.

the arms of the ocean delivered me, 11k, rated G

Two years ago, Echo was badly injured by humans, and taken to the Skako Minor aquarium. It's only after he's lost all hope that he finally has a chance to get home, thanks to meeting the Batch - the only other merpeople he's seen since losing his family. When the Batch drops everything to protect him and get him home, is it really any surprise that he wants them to stay?

ghosts have voices, 16k, rated T

Still reeling from Order 66, Obi-Wan finds an even bigger problem on Mustafar: a powerful Dark Side entity that feeds on the life force of Jedi. He’s lucky to escape with baby Luke and Leia, but his regret at their parents’ deaths isn’t the only thing that follows him from the lava moon. The entity is on the hunt. Stranded on a poisonous planet, the odds of surviving aren’t in Obi-Wan’s favour. At least he has an ally in Cody – but even if they manage to escape, Obi-Wan doesn’t know how to ask the man he secretly loves to stay.

if i don't make it back from where i've gone, just know i loved you all along, 23k, rated T

A movie AU where Leonardo travels back in time with Casey. Because even though Leonardo doesn’t want to live any more, Casey doesn’t want to give up on him, and maybe, just maybe, Casey has enough hope for both of them. Or, from my rambling while planning this fic: “future Leo is just so much fun because he's spent the past 22 years demonising his past self for starting the apocalypse but then when he travels back in time to the day it happened so he can stop it, he realises his past self was just a dumb naive kid who had no idea of the potential consequences, so future Leo decides to be gentle with him and it's the only self-love he's ever had because he's always hated himself a little”. As well as “Leonardo trying to break the cycle by being kind to his past self (while still hating his current self) makes me want to put him in therapy and I think makes Dr Delicate Touch want to use him as a piñata”.

this family can bear any weather, 30k, rated G

When Donnie gets his hands on the Arc Capacitor after the events of Out of the Shadows, he decides to repurpose the tech for his own use. Unfortunately the first test run doesn't go well, and he's accidentally transported to a different dimension. His first thought is to find the new reality's version of Donnie, so they can work together to find him a way back home, but while trying to find their lair, he finds a much different version of his brothers instead. At eight, nine, and ten years old, the young turtles are hopelessly lost in the sewers beneath the city, and their only chance at getting home is Donnie. Between finding a way to get four lost turtle kids back to their dad, and finding a way to get himself back to his own reality, he's got a lot to do. AKA the Rise/Bayverse crossover that exactly nobody asked for but I'm writing all the same. Updating Fridays.

Clever Girl, 50k, rated T

A year after defeating Commander Krang, the turtles discover that the Foot Clan intends to bring Shredder back to life. Hoping to stop this plan before it begins, they travel to a secret base, looking for the intended project head, Baxter Stockman. They find the base, they don't find Stockman, and more important than either of those things, they find dinosaurs. Four turtles, four Utahraptors - what could go wrong?

or if you really want a long read, one of my favourites:

two's company, three's a crowd, four's a love story, 91k, rated T

post-BOBF canon Din Djarin/Omera/Cobb Vanth/Paz Vizsla

There’s some BOBF spoilers/references in here, and it's set post-show, but tbh you probably won’t be able to tell canon from headcanon unless you’ve seen the show and know the difference already. Boba, Fennec, the Armorer, and Luke Skywalker make brief appearances in a few scenes. Anyway this is just me in denial of Paz’s BOBF characterization and the fact that Cobb and Omera have only existed for like 15 minutes total in live action. Welcome to my immense amount of headcanons! The majority of this fic is from Din's POV, but there's also a few chapters each from Paz's, Omera's, and Cobb's POV.

[kalena-henden]

Shows I finished in 2024 so far...

A Good Day to be a Dog - A woman accidentally kisses her co-worker and turns into a dog during the night due to a family curse. She has to get her co-worker to kiss her as a dog to break stay human full-time or she will permanently remain a dog after 100 days. The first two-thirds were fun hijinks and a cute romance. The final third with the past life curse origin was a drag. Still upset the mountain god didn't apologize after wrongly punishing the wrong people due to his misunderstanding.

My Demon - A high powered business woman becomes entangled with a deal-making demon when she saves him and his powers transfer to her. This show stole plot heavily from shows like Goblin and Doom at Your Service and failed to do make those concepts their own. However, I still enjoyed it to the end, mostly due to the chemistry between the leads. They had such a fun and lively relationship.

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract - A Joseon-era bride who is widowed on her wedding day is transported to the future where she falls for a man who looks exactly like her dead husband. The story was okay but I was mainly here for the chemistry between the leads.

Fixer Upper: Hotel - Chip and Jo work their magic on an entire hotel. I love seeing the process and the design is beautiful as always.

Memorist - A detective who can see people's thoughts when he touches them teams up with a genius profiler to take down murders. As mysteries unfold and truths are revealed, everything is not as it seems forcing them to confront their traumatic pasts. I binged this in 4 days. The first half is dark but, just when I thought I had the villains pegged, the story opens up to explore the various sides of people to reveal the good, the bad, and the morally grey. I'm still thinking about this months later. I especially loved our detective/profiler team. I really want to rewatch.

Be Melodramatic - This a satire on the entertainment industry, grief, motherhood, and love that is done with 100% deadpan humor which is why I thought the concepts were interesting but fell flat due to not connecting with the humor. This took me almost 9 months to finish.

Death's Game - A man kills himself and then is given 12 chances to survive in someone else's body or he will be sent to hell. It's an anti-suicide version of A Christmas Carol. It was okay. While a host of great actors shine in their guest roles, it was maddening that the man didn't seem to learn along the way until the last body. Where the story ended felt like a copout. If this were a movie where you don't have much time, I would understand, but I wanted to see what would happen next. We needed just one more episode.

Marry My Husband - A woman with terminal cancer is murdered by her husband and best friend who were having an affair, when she is transported back in time before she was married to change her fate and find the love she deserves. This was such a great revenge story. Some of the best villains in kdramaland. A cute romance with a man who adores her. Real friendships. And the OSTs will stick with you.

Queen of Divorce - It started off okay but went downhill quickly. Honestly, such a waste of a great cast.

Daisy Jones & The Six - An interesting look at a fictional 70s rock band as they rise to the top before flaming out. I had listened to the audiobook but I liked the series better.

Doctor Slump - Two young doctors who were academic rivals in high school find themselves grappling with depression and fall in love as they heal together. This was a solid, even keel show for me. I enjoyed their healing journey and their romance.

Live Your Own Life - An outcast chaebol whose parents died in a mysterious car crash falls for his hardworking trainer who needs to learn to become independent from her family. I watched this 50-episode family drama for Ha Joon. There were some interesting things that kept me watching but it was just okay.

Princess Hours - The crown prince and a young artist, who are both high school seniors, navigate the complexities of an arranged marriage and court politics in modern day Korea. This was a really interesting study in how people can change and grow and fall in love as they grapple with the expectations of a nation. It's an old school kdrama and alot is meant to be inferred. It's almost as much about what is not shown or said as much as what is which was frustrating at times. However, when someone explained things, everything started to click for me and I saw all the things that were implied increasing my enjoyment.

Wedding Impossible - A gay chaebol asks his best friend to marry him to hide his sexuality from everyone. His brother who wants him to marry someone else for his own good decides to break them up by seducing his brother's fiance. It's a ridiculous premise with a fun, bickering enemies to lovers couple. It lags a bit in the last part but I still enjoyed this romance. Moon Sang Min is a new fave.

High School King of Savvy - A high school hockey player is asked by his older brother to pretend to be him at his job as a corporate executive while he investigates something nefarious. The high schooler then has to juggle both school and work life as he unexpectedly falls for his brother's secretary. This is a crazy, age-gap romance with Seo In Guk. The only reason the romance works is because both the leads are so pure hearted and kind. Lee Soo Hyuk is doing his best sexy, self-sabotaging second male lead, who even smiles! It was a bit much but it settled down in the second half and I loved the big found family feel of the cast.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes - The first half was interesting with many characters’ selfish and dark intentions mixed with a little mystery were set up in contrast to our optimistic, self-sacrificing female lead. However, the second half drowned in major events happening and then being dismissed as if they never happened, multiple secret keepers refusing to tell the secret multiple times an episodes even when asked point blank when the answers could stop so many bad things from happening, and the existential dread I felt about what the big reveal was going to be only for it to completely dismissed. I knew this was a tragedy going in but still I felt angry and exhausted by the end.

Vigilante - A police university student decides to take the law into his own hands after his mother's murderer is let back on the streets to avenge her and other's like her who have been failed by the justice system. A manhunt for him ensues, bringing together an unlikely and at times unhinged group who decides to reveal the truth and bring justice. At 8 episode (six hours total), it felt like it was just starting to gel by the end. Definitely set up for more potential seasons after Nam Joo Hyuk gets out of the military.

Love Me Love Me Voice - A newer voice actor and singer is one day noticed online by her secretive voice acting idol and a whirlwind courtship begins. These are the sweetest, kindest people ever. I love how the dramatic readings and song performances are seamlessly woven into the story. Multiple romances, great friendships, mouthwatering food, and beautiful locals. This is a feel good story of first love.

[dandylovesturtles]

Sorry if you've been asked this before, but I was curious how and when you got into Rise! Like, were you watching the show while it was airing? Or were you one of the people who joined the fandom around when the movie was coming out? Or some other third option?

I got into Rise well after the movie came out. I've never been into TMNT prior to this and despite appearances don't actually keep up with what the new cartoons are haha - I didn't even know there had been a more recent TMNT adaptation than the 2012 one. I just remember at some point in about October of last year I started getting fed clips of Donnie specifically by the yt algorithm, probably because I had finished watching Ducktales 2017 a few months earlier and it knew I had been watching clips of Mark Beaks (who is also voiced by Josh Brener and honestly I'm kind of surprised I don't see this exploited more often). At first I just ignored it because I had never watched TMNT before, but one night I was bored and decided to click on one... which turned into me watching a bunch of "Donnie being my favorite for X amount of minutes" or "ROTTMNT out of context" videos for a couple hours because I jived with the humor and found myself laughing a lot.

So then I decided to watch the first episode to see if I liked it and by the end of the weekend I had binged the entire show and movie and was already experiencing withdrawals so I spent a million hours on AO3.

And then I started writing IMBI and now here we are almost a full year later.

Thanks for the ask!

[lunadeathbed]

Hi Ren

Notes: How I think Ren would react to the MC getting freaky with a toy and calling out his name. (–‿⁠・⁠)

!!! Gender-Neutral Anatomy (technically I guess, the hole isn't specific 👀) + Reader!!!

My writing doesn't specify any gender or body parts so interpret it however you like!

Pink : Ren Blue : Angel

The colour will tell you who's perspective your reading from, the first word is a different colour. Every time the perspective changes the colour changes. Also texts and dialogue are just highlighted to tell you who is saying what not the perspective.

Part 2 of Normally Not Normal ↓

You enter your bedroom in just a plain black shirt.

Ren already knew what you were up to after you left your room to go shower. What he didn't expect though was the brand new black vibrator you walked into the room with, he hadn't seen that one before. He watched you closely as you sat down on your bed, puting the vibrator on a towel to your left

Pulling out your phone you look at your contacts, clicking on Ren's you started to question whether this was a good idea.

You inhaled and send the text.

“Hey Ren”

Ren certainly wasn't expecting to be getting a message from you right now. He sent one back as fast as he could.

“What's up angel?”

You were surprised at how fast he replied. It was certainly to late to back out of this now.

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later?”

“I was gonna binge a bunch of horror movies and I know that you like them too”

You hoped you weren't being to forward, waiting for his response you bit your bottom lip.

Ren was ecstatic, YOU were asking HIM to hang out.

“Of course, I would love to”

“What time do I need to get there?”

Ren smiled to himself, you were really adorable and so thoughtful too.

You nearly jumped of your bed at your excitement. You bearly managed to answer him.

“At like 8 maybe a bit earlier”

Watching you through the camera he looked at you fondly. How could you be so amazing. You really were an angel.

“I'll pick up some snacks on the way over”

“Ok”

It was currently 6 you still had some time before Ren arrived. You left the room to go get something.

Ren watched intently as you stood up and left the room shortly returning with a bottle of lube. He knew the exact type you were using, he even bought the same one. He pulled out his own bottle from the side draw of his desk.

He continued to watch you as you opened the cap and squeezed some onto your hand, rubbing it over the vibrator. Ren felt his excitement rise, his sweats began to feel a bit to tight to contain his throbbing boner. He pulled down his pants to relieve some tension, covering his dick in some of the lube. He imagined the feeling of your hands stroking his length. They were so small compared to his, so much gentler and warm.

You lifted your shirt enough to get better access to yourself, parting your legs in a more suitable position.

Ren watched as you turned on the toy and pressed it against yourself, listening to your soft moans. He himself started at the same pace pressing down on his length slowly letting a groan escape him.

You continued to rub the toy against yourself gasping whenever it hit you just right. Finally pushing the toy into your needy hole, you moan out Ren's name.

Ren stared at the screen in total awe listening to you call out his name nearly every time you buried the vibrator back into yourself.

It was heavenly.

Matching your pase, his own moans and breaths mix with yours coming from the monitor.

You began to pick up your pace letting a string of his name come out, slurring your words. You imagined how he felt inside you. How his significantly larger hands held down your waist, how his touch was so gentle. The way he looked at you, the way he said your name. How his soft hair clung to his face, his fresh sent of mint and linon swirling in the air.

You loved how Ren felt so intoxicating, almost like poison making his way through your thoughts until you couldn't think about anything else. You felt your eyes role back and the waves of pleasure come over you.

Ren came it sync with you as you called out his name. Breathing heavily he felt a surge of needy possessiveness rise over him.

You were his Angel.

His and only his.

You even said it yourself.

He wanted-no needed to hear your voice. Reaching for his phone he waited a second to calm down before calling you.

You heard your ringtone go of, you paused catching your breath for a second looking at the screen.

Ren was calling.

He sure had some impeccable timing.

You answer the call.

“Hi Ren”, you sounded a bit out of breath. You hope it wasn't too noticeable.

“H-hey Angel”, he sounded a bit out of breath too. You wondered why a little, he was probably working out or something. He certainly had the build of someone who did.

Ren spoke again snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Are there any snacks you want me to pick up?”

“I forgot to ask earlier”

Oh, right. Horror movie binge.

"hmm"

“Uh, can you get some ramen cups?”

“Sure thing Angel, anything else?”

“mhh, no get whatever you want”

“Ok Angel, I'll see you soon”

“Bye Ren”

Ren enjoyed toying with you a little even when he “wasn't” ment to be. He looked at the monitor displaying your bedroom. You looked a little dumbstruck as you collapse back onto your bed.

Notes: I wrote this while watching a shitty action movie at 10 o'clock at night

(⁠・⁠–⁠・⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

Also there's gonna be a part 2 but I'm not sure if I wanna make it another smut or wholesome, I might do a bit of both. Let me know what the people want plz. This is the first time I'm posting my work so please be nice.

(⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆

If there are any errors or feedback please let me know!

[of-dragonss]

i could really use some comfort from dew rn so, if you're comfortable with it, could you write dew x f!reader who is dealing with a pretty bad depressive episode? just, all the comfort and fluff because i desperately need it from my fav ghoul <3 thank u!

of course lovely! sorry for the wait, i hope you’ve been feeling better! 🖤

☽ ༚  ༵ ۰ ✧ ۰  ༵ ༚ ༵ ۰ ✧ ۰  ༵ 

— dewdrop x reader (i keep accidentally writing readers with no specific gender i apologize 😭)

summary: dewdrop stays with you during a depressive episode. just a lot of fluff 🖤

I’ll get through it with you next to me.

Dewdrop knew you were dealing with a bad depressive episode. Sister Imperator has let you have time by yourself for once. Not ordering you around to help around the Abbey. He also knew the weather changing has triggered your seasonal depression. Which in turn, caused you to feel very unlike yourself these past few days.

Locked up in your dorm, the Ghoulettes bringing you food when needed. Making sure you were at least keeping yourself fed with enough water to drink. Otherwise everyone left you alone.

Until tonight when Dewdrop passed by your dorm and the faint sound of sobbing can be heard from underneath your door. He was uncertain at first of what to do, but in the end decided to knock to make his presence known before silently and slowly opening your door.

“Y/n? Do you need anything?” He asked quietly, closing the door behind him as he entered with slow movements, making his way towards your bed where you laid under the covers, sobs turned to hiccups and loud sniffles as you tried to calm down your crying.

“I’m here for you, I hope you know. Whatever you need, just ask.” He sat himself at the edge of your bed, waiting for you to calm yourself down as he reached out to where he made out your shoulder as you laid on your side, facing the wall, slowly rubbing his hand up and down in calm bing motions.

“Stay the night?” Came your shaky reply after a long few minutes of silence, and the occasional sniffling coming from you. “Please.”

In a flash, Dewdrop got up from the bed and ran around your room in search of your laptop you two would watch movies and tv shows on during both of your free time in the Abbey when there was an opportunity for.

He was usually talkative but he knew you weren’t in the mood for talking. But he knew a movie and a cuddle would cheer you up even slightly. So, grabbing your laptop from your desk, he went back to the bed where he quickly pulled the covers away from you, moving inhumanly fast as he easily lifted you up and laid down on the bed in your spot, you half on top of him, head on his chest, cuddled up to his side.

“Figured we could watch a movie, until we fall asleep. How does that sound, love?” He kissed the top of you hand as he set up your laptop where you both can easily see the screen perfectly.

Nodding into his chest and wrapping your arms under him to hold yourself impossibly closer to Dewdrop he pick a random movie you both frequently watch during the colder months, Hocus Pocus. Dewdrop resting his cheek on top of your head as the movie began to play.

The two of you happy and content with each other’s presence, safe in his arms. “I can get through this rut with you next to me. Stay until I wake up?” You asked quietly, fatigue evident in you hoarse voice.

“Of course. Anything for you.” He smiled, pushing your hair out of your face to kiss your forehead. And as the movie played on, the two of you drifted to sleep cuddled up to each other.

As the sun started rising again into the sky, you woke up in a panic. Bolting up in bed, struggling to breath. Dewdrop immediately woke up the second he smelled the overwhelming scent of your fear. Tears streamed down your face from the nightmare you had thanks to your current mental state.

Dew held your face in his hands gently, resting his forehead in yours. “It’s okay. It’s okay, i’m here.” He whispered over and over again as you slowly started being more aware of your surroundings. Moving to wrap your arms around his slim frame, clinging onto Dewdrop like your life depended on it.

“Breath with me.” He instructed softly, taking deep intakes of breaths and long exhales. You two did this several more times until you calmed down, only hiccuping here and there. “Let’s go back to sleep, yeah?” He gently pushed you back to lay down on the bed.

“You have to leave. I don’t want you to get in trouble.” You spoke softly, frowning.

“Doesn’t matter. What does though is you. I’m staying with you for as long as you’ll have me.” He kissed your forehead, bringing you in close to him once again.

“Okay.” You sighed, giving in easily at his touch, already feeling drowsy. And in each others arms, once again, the two of you fell asleep. Safe and protected.

[lordshroom]

Happy One Year Anniversary to 2012 Good Genes! WOOOOO

I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported the comic! Whether it's writing a comment, leaving a like when a new chapter drops (or spamming likes as you binge it), or just reading it. Thank you <3

Hard to believe I've managed to semi-consistently update a comic for a whole ass year. When I started this comic, it was a means to force myself to learn how to draw the turtles and just force myself outside my comfort zone: dynamic posing, perspective, shivers backgrounds.

I thought I would run with this idea for a few months, get bored, then move on to something else. A fate that has unfortunately fell many of my previous projects.

But then I started recognizing the same few blogs liking the new updates. I got a few followers. I got a few comments. Every note felt like something special, a sign that people actually wanted to read this story.

So I kept making the comic. One of the biggest shifts in mindset came from when I met Gavin Smith, an artist for the IDW series, I asked him how long it took him to draw a page. He said, "It changes depending on the page. Sometimes it takes three hours sometimes it takes three days." My priorities shifted from "Get the comic done as soon as possible before I get bored" to "make the comic you want to make". The comic went from this to this. I missed coloring, so I started coloring. But I always liked inking more than coloring, so I started inking the comic pretty soon after.

This does mean the comic takes longer to get out, and that bums me out. But I don't mind taking some extra time to give the pages some zest because, well, you guys. If you're going to take the time out of your day to read the pages, I'm going to take some extra time to work on them.

My dream job has always been to be a writer. I've fluctuated between writing books, movie scripts, comic scripts, and a bunch of other stuff.

When I was little, I would imagine elaborate 2012 fan fiction. I never wrote any of this down since I was deeply embarrassed by my fascination with TMNT. It was a boy's show, and I was a girl. On top of that, 2012 became my lifelong hyperfixation. I didn't even seek out an online community for 2012, the closest I ever got was the forums for the show on the Nick site I watched the episodes on.

In high school, I realized who the hell cares and started entering the online community. I watched Rise and 2003, bought the IDW hardcovers, and started getting the figures.

Then in college, I said, "screw it," and started writing a fan fiction on AO3. It did not perform well. I tried to tell myself that I should write for myself, but it was hard to find the motivation to continue so I moved on.

Last summer, I started working on my original story and considered making it a webcomic. I watched a bunch of videos about making comics and wanted to try it out. Now, all the advice for making your first comic is to "make it small so you actually finish it!"

I did not take that advice.

The idea for 2012 Good Genes was old, like, fan-fiction-I-made-in-my-head-in-high-school old. It was different from the current comic. That old version took place post-season 5 with a bunch of OCs and Donnie being mutated into something more bug-like. I went with a retelling of "Vengence is Mine" so I wouldn't have to worry about designing any new characters/ environments, and I those handful of episodes as a blueprint.

2012 Good Genes was supposed to be a learning exercise and became something so much more with your support. That support got me to work on another fanfiction on AO3, which got so much more love than I was expecting. It was so touching that people liked my writing enough to read it without any silly pictures.

So I'm going to say it again, thank you. Thank you so much for a fantastic year. I would not be where I am today without your support.

And if you managed to get through all my rambling, here's an update!

"The Invasion!" will have four more pages which I'm still drawing. After that is an original episode that I want to take time to write a script and design a character before I start posting updates, so in the meantime I will be working on drawing some stuff for my asks and working on the next chapter for "Perfect Son".

[nerdyvocals]

Hello again! To be honest, @look-at-those-niceass-rocks and I weren't originally sure if we were going to watch Rise of Red or not, but I saw some. Interesting things on tiktok, and we decided this would be a fun excuse to get tipsy on a Saturday night (we even made themed cocktails!), and that we would have a lot of unhinged things to say. Previously, we've also watched and kept a running commentary of the first three films and the Royal Wedding short film.

That said, I know opinions on this film have been very divided, and if you're looking for high praise, you will not find it here. The movie was cute, and we had fun, but we did not have a lot of compliments, and we're still messaging each other with criticisms a week later. If you're looking for two dumbasses who give tipsy critiques (please drink responsibly) about children's movies, please, proceed under the cut!

First, an honorable mention from a few days before the watch party: Bee (after we mentioned that we both, despite not originally planning on watching Rise of Red, had avoided spoilers just in case we changed our minds): Why do I care about spoilers for an unasked-for fourth movie in a franchise I only just became interested in?

Me (reading the description): Okay, so it looks like it's Back to the Future but Disney Bee: Great! Me: Was this needed? I feel like the trilogy wrapped things up nicely

Uma: This is Auradon, the kingdom where all your favorite fairytales are true. It was formed 30 years ago when- Me: PAUSE, okay so of the few things I've seen on tiktok,

Uma: Guess who they left in charge while they're gone? Me: That seems like a bad plan Bee: I was about to say

Me: So the biggest complaint I've seen so far has been about this, where Uma says that Auradon was founded 30 years ago Bee: Right Me: I've seen people call it a plot hole because in the first movie, Mal says the kingdom was founded 20 years ago, and I don't think they ever say exactly how much time passes between any of the movies, but the reality is, and I'm gonna touch your hand when I say this, Bee: *cackling* Me: The first movie came out in 2015. It is now 2024. The first movie came out almost 10 years ago, and in fact, when you add 10 to 20, ya get 30. Bee: *still wheezing* Me: Now, I don't know if the complaints are coming from new, younger fans who just recently binged the original trilogy in preparation for this and didn't realize when the first one came out, or if they're from older fans who have lost track of time and don't want to face the math- Bee: Fuck math, man!

(Continuing from the previous conversation, after discussing character ages and determining that Uma is likely between 26-28 at this point) Bee: That's too young to be headmaster, she's a baby Me: Bee, that's fairly close to 30, that's not unreasonable. I feel ya though, I'm not an adult, I'm a baby with a drinking permit. Bee: I think I've finally surpassed baby with a drinking permit, I'm more like. Adult, reluctantly

Fairy Godmother: The queen of Hearts refused to join Auradon when we united Me: Yeah, because you would've imprisoned her???

Blonde Wonderland Guard: *appears* Me: Lucius Malfoy??? Bee: Wig Me: Starkid's A Very Potter Sequel Lucius Malfoy???

Me: Does she (Red) have a nose ring??? Bee: Oh shit, she does! Me: We finally get some edginess to character design and it's when nose rings are no longer edgy

Honorable mention: Us spending Multiple Minutes trying to figure out if Maddox was supposed to be The Mad Hatter or the son of the Mad Hatter. We ended with no answers

(About Paolo!Charming) Bee: Oh, he has only gotten hotter Me: Correct! Why does he have blue in his hair Bee: Because he's hot

Me: Imagine being this in love still after raising Chad

Cindy: We wouldn't have been able to make this great family Bee: And Chad

Cindy: *presents Chloe with the Most Hideous Shoes I have Ever Seen* Me: *chugs what's left of my drink*

Cindy: We can visit Chad at college another time Me: Chad got into college??? Bee: Nepo baby

Bee: Does anyone in this movie understand "show don't tell?" Movie: *Insert Love Ain't It, aka Exposition: the Song* Me: Nope!

Cindy and the Queen of Hearts: *share a look* Me: Ex-lovers Red and Chloe: *share a look* Me: Future lovers?

Me: JABBERWOCKY MENTION! Bee: Drink!

Me: Is that supposed to be Jasmine and Aladdin? Bee: I think so? Me: Why does Jasmine have a fuck-ass bob? What is it with Descendants and fuck-ass bobs???

Me: I'm going to get so drunk over this Bee: I think that's safet Me: ...Safet???

Me: Where are Harry and Gil? Bee: On their honeymoon

(During the What's My Name? reprise) Bee: ...I need to take another drink Me: Same Bee: My drink is almost gone, I'm so sad Me: Do what I did, make another Bee: I will after this dork-ass song

Uma: Do you mind? Queen: I think I do Me: *pausing* Do you want to make a second drink real quick before things get cringier? Bee: ...I think that's a good idea

Me: I think I don't hate the silhouette of the Queen of Hearts' look, but it's way too monochromatic Bee: Drink! You're right though, there's no dimension

*Wand Breaks* Me: OH SHIT Bee: You could do that this whole time???

Cindy: Stop it, Bridget, you're better than this! Me: Is she? Bee: I don't think she is

Aladdin: Look at her, she's enjoying this! Me: Yeah, she's a teenager experiencing parental affection for the first time. Y'all really learned nothing, huh? Bee: You'd think after ten years they'd get their shit together

(As Cinderella is being led away) Bee: I love her poofs Me: God, me too, I love puff sleeves Bee: We are both just Anne Shirley

Fairy Godmother: *is young* Me. She looks so much like Jane Bee: For a second there, I thought that just straight up was Jane Me: Brilliant casting

Me: Why are their clothes so modern if this is supposed to be over thirty years ago

Me: This princess insult doesn't work if you're both princesses

Red and Chloe: *forehead touch* Me: Gay Bee: Kiss

(After Fight of Our Lives) Bee: I feel like this didn't need to be a song Me: We could've just had a homoerotic sword fight à la The Princess Bride

Me: Ahhh, that's why everyone is dressed so modern, so they can blend in without a costume change! That's so lazy!

Bee: He (Merlin) pulls a lit Molotov cocktail from his bag

(Alchemy Class) Bee: ...The hap is fuckening

Red: *eats a cupcake* Bee: These falsies are really gonna help me do alchemy!!!

Bridget: It's Jasmine and Aladdin! J&A: Call us Jaladdin! Me: I will not be doing that Bee: *choking* WHAT THE FUCK

Morgie: Son of Morgana! Me: See, Morgana has a kid already, but gee, why wouldn't Disney want children Googling Mordred? Bee: Hehehe

Uliana: TELL BRIDGET I WILL DESTROY HER Me: See, girl, she did warn you Bee: Why are Jaladdin going with?

Ella: Will you go to castlecoming with me? Me: OH Bee: GAY Me: So it wasn't a prank that turned her evil, it was that her girlfriend ditched her for a boy, Us, simultaneously: IT'S GIVING GOOD LUCK BABE

(In the Tremaine Manor) Me: Oooh, this kid is about to learn what parental abuse is

Bee: I need them to try and fix it and then have to go back again because they accidentally turn Cinderella evil Me: That's what the fifth movie is about, actually

Uliana's Hideout: *emerging from the water* Me: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT Bee: "Can-I-Have-A-Cigarette" lookin' ass Me: *WHEEZE*

(During Perfect Revenge) Bee: Kenny Ortega, I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you when I had you

(It was at this point, when Uliana was hanging by her tentacles, that Bee's husband entered to check on us) [Husband]: ...What in the Doc Ock

Me: Ooooh, that last sip hit, I think I've made it to drunk Bee: Oh boy! Me: I'm so glad I don;t have to be anywhere tomorrow Bee: Drink some water Me: Water is for weaklings! Bee: I don't get hangovers anymore because I hydrate while I drink Me: I don't get hangovers because I'm 22 Bee: Suck my dick, Levi Me: I don't think [Husband] would appreciate that Bee: [HUSBAND], CAN LEVI SUCK MY DICK?! [Husband], distantly: I don't know how to respond to that??? Me: *falling off the couch crying laughing*

Bridget: *talking about her Shuffle of Love dance* Me: If not going on date, why worried about love, I am drunk Bee: No, you're correct

Bridget: If I was your mom, I'd love to have a daughter that thinks for herself Me: BOY WOW I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO GET HIT IN THE MOMMY ISSUES

Bee: Oh, pretty boy (Paolo!Charming) is back! Also I stood up and I too am now drunk

(After some line about valiant knights being always good) Me: Have you heard of Lancelot? Bee: I was about to say

(During the Hands Dirty sequence) Me: This is a song from a better movie Bee: Not again

Bee: I simply do not believe that Cinderella would let her daughter grow up that dumb as hell. I do, however, believe that Prince Charming would let his daughter grow up that dumb as hell Me: have you met Chad? Bee: That's fair, actually. Chad's adopted Me: Who's goddamn white baby is that? Bee: Who's goddamn white baby is that!

Me: Pause! So here, funnily enough, is a perfect example of what my mentor calls "Disney Patches:"

Bee: Drink! Me: So what they're trying to do here is show that Ella has to wear her clothes to the bone and patches them herself. When you add patches to garments to make them look like they've been repaired, you need to make sure the placement makes sense, as in think about where clothes would likely wear to holes: for pants, that's gonna be mainly knees and inner thigh. Disney has a habit of just putting patches wherever in places they just wouldn't be, like here. Why does she have patches in random places on her leg? Bee: Ohhh Me: In some cases in can be a stylistic choice, but I would argue that Ella wouldn't be the type to waste that much fabric for no reason. I can forgive the pockets though, I've had pants that got holes in the pockets, and sometimes it's easier to replace them than to patch

(A shot of Headmaster Merlin's Door) Bee: Hmmm, Merlin Me: ...Headmaster Merlin Bee: hmmmmmmmm, Merlin

Bee, completely deadpan: Hoot hoot, motherfuckers

Me: The Night Falls scene fell flat on its face so this scene could feebly crawl

Me: It has only just occurred to me that Chloe's shoes were supposed to be glass this whole time, I thought they were just fucky Doc Martens Bee: Yeah! Put the uh. The ug. Put the ugly in uggs Me: I think you need to drink more water Bee: I think you're right

Me: They're red and blue gays Bee: They're red and blue gays!

Me: Fuck whatever this movie is supposed to be about, I need them to kiss

Bee: Obsessed with his (Merlin's) coat, costume department popped the fuck off with that Me: That's my line Bee: Drink bitch!

Me: Wait, is that the end? Bee: It can't be, there's no way that worked Me: There's only ten minutes left???

Uma: You didn't think that was the end of the story, did you? Me: FUCK OFF

Bee: I am deadass on Reddit Me: *dying* Bee: Trying to figure out what the fuck

Bee: Where was the climax??? Was it supposed to be that thing in Merlin's office? Me: It can't have been Bee: If it was it fell so flat. I feel like I've sobered up watching that

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Hi Dreamy! Soo I watched TDP Season 6 last night! That was a GOOD season. Many of the open processes were led to satisfying conclusions, so that was nice. However, can I just ask... how do you bear with the pacing. I grapple with the sudden aging of the characters, Rayla's unannounced return from her unannounced disappearance, with the bad jokes, with the weird side quests. Zym isn't even one of the main characters anymore. "Rise of the Archmage" or whatever would describe the plot so much better?

What I'm trying to say is, I think I generally like the story and the arcs that people are taken through, but the differences between seasons just botch it up for me so much that cannot get more invested. It's a shame for such a well thought-out universe. It somehow seems like the writers were making it up as they went along without a real vision, and now after that last, rather poorly-received "setup" season, they finally got their act together. But what is up with that. How can I enjoy episodes of such a wide range in quality.

It bothers me very much. This could have been done better, more consistently. There is a cut to me before the aging and after the aging. They patched it up with the reenactment of that scene. It kinda works. But why was it made to have been needed. Lol.

Hey there! I personally enjoyed season 4 and 5 but I understand it wasn’t the same for everyone. Actually when I watched the Dragon Prince for the the first time, after I binged all of arc 1 shortly after the release of S3, I got really invested and followed a lot of news and even watched the zoom panel with the cast and crew, all of which lead me to finding the graphic novel Through the Moon and being able to get that and read it then. Definitely reading that helped me prepare for arc 2, at least knowing what to expect of Rayla and Rayllum. I know not everyone knew about the graphic novel so I do wonder if perhaps maybe it could’ve been animated as a short movie and released in between S3 and 4, since the events of it wouldn’t have fit at the end of S3 and neither at the beginning of S4. But at the same time, I’m not sure if they would’ve been given the greenlight for that by Netflix 🤷🏽‍♀️

As for the time skip, I’m actually fine with it since I feel like it gives more opportunity for a lot of different changes to have occurred, like Callum having learned more magic, Ezran to have grown more into his role as king, showing that Claudia getting the ingredients and everything needed to bring back Viren was a lot harder and needed a lot of time to complete, showing the gravity and difficulty of that spell, and lastly showing that despite Rayla’s intense long search of Viren, she couldn’t find him at all. And with the tone and theme of the show having matured in the Mystery of Aaravos by a whole lot, I do think it makes much more sense for the characters to be older and more mature to deal with it all.

Ngl I do miss seeing Zym more a great deal too but his role also depends on where we’re at in the story, like in arc 1, it was focused on him hatching and being a newborn dragon being brought home, along with him being a major target for Viren. S4 definitely was his biggest role in arc 2 since we now see him being a toddler and having become more stubborn and going against his mother a lot lol. But I guess his role has more to do with where we’re at in the plot? I do hope we get to see more of him in S7 though 😭

I guess the title “Mystery of Aaravos” has to do a lot with how as the audience, there’s so much we don’t know about him when we start the arc and then we learn more as we go, esp in S6.

As for all of the side plots, I do feel like S6 does tie them well together, kinda like how in arc 1, we did start getting the sunfire elves plot with Amaya, which at first may have felt unrelated to the main plot but it ultimately tied into it. In arc 2, we do see it tie in sooner in S5 when Callum and Rayla wanted to go to the Great Bookery of Lux Aurea, along with Janai having the nightmares about Aaravos and all of that.

To answer your question on how to better enjoy arc 2 esp between the gaps, I’ll suggest some of the graphic novels and also add a link to the short stories released before S4 and 5 which could hopefully bridge more gaps and help you enjoy more:

Through the Moon: Graphic novel set right after S3, deals with Rayla’s fears of Viren still being alive as well as her not having closure on what happened to her parents and Runaan, leading up to events of her leaving, definitely recommend reading, esp if you decide to do a whole series rewatch right after you finish season 3.

The Dragon Prince: Reflections: All short stories available on the Dragon Prince official website to read for free. Volume 1 stories were released Pre-S4 and are mostly set within the 2 year time gap. Volume 2 stories were released before season 5 most set between S4 & 5, with the exception of ‘Strangers’, which is set during S4 when Soren was tied up by Terry and Claudia and deals with him reacting to Viren being alive, and the three-part story ‘Chasing Shadows’ which is focused on Rayla’s time in Scumport pre-S4, and ‘Queen’s Mercy’ which is a Kim’dael backstory.

Bloodmoon Huntress: Graphic novel with a Rayla backstory, starts with her parents leaving for the dragon guard & her being adopted by Runaan and Ethari. It shows a lot of how it impacted Rayla, gives ALOT of insight into Rayla’s upbringing and how she forms her understanding of how to love someone, esp in terms of her eventually leaving Callum when she’s older. This book also introduced Kim’dael who we also see in S5.

There’s also the graphic novel ‘Puzzle House’ which is a Soren and Claudia backstory set after their mother left, which I also loved and found giving more insight into Claudia’s character, but I would definitely say that ‘Through the Moon’ and ‘Bloodmoon Huntress’ would help bridge gaps more. I guess a good way to keep up with all of these releases would be to follow TDP official social media like their Instagram and Twitter since that’s where they post the updates and new releases. You can also follow Aaron and Justin on Twitter too since they post a lot of news first hand.

Let me know if you want to discuss more and if you want me to provide anymore resources 😊 I really hope these can improve your experience with the saga and help you enjoy it more ❤️❤️

[copwef]

My adventure with Rise of the TMNT and it's community.

I remember very clearly where I was when I heard about rottmnt for the first time. I was over at my sister's house for a night. Everyone else was asleep and I was still trying to watch TV. When all of a sudden their was an ad for a new TMNT show.

At the time I was a fan of 2012 TMNT, but as a child I was too dumb to keep up with the show on a regular basis. Plus we still use cable so I had no way to binge all the episodes. To this day I haven't watched all the all the episodes of 2012 TMNT.

However when I got home at like 11:00 PM the next day. I saw the the first episode of Rottmnt was on. I watched it and while it seemed kinda childish and goofy at first, I slowly grew to like the show more and more. I watched every episode at least once and watched the season 2 finale when it came out. This was the first show I kept up with like this.

However, as I said, I was a dumb kid. I was oblivious to many things such as Donnie's autism, Mikey's ADHD, How the show had been cancelled unfairly, and many other messages of the show.

However a couple months ago, I got reminded of the show and searched it up. I watched a lot of old clips on YouTube until I saw that I had missed the rottmnt movie. I had no way to watch it or the show, so I resorted to watching the few reaction videos I could find at the time. Then I watched character analysis and saw how much of the show's messages I missed as a kid.

One night while I looking at a rottmnt comic dub compilation, I saw something that seemed cool. A comic series that showed what the future turtle's did before the events of the movie. I quickly made a Tumblr account and searched up this au.

I quickly discovered the creator of this au was @somerandomdudelmao and the comic series in question was called the cass apocalypse series. If you have somehow not read this series I HIGHLY recommend it. The characters act like they do in the show, the art is fantastic, and I consider it the closest thing there is to as "season 3" of Rottmnt at this time.

This discovery led me into the rottmnt fandom. I discovered many other very talented artists and writers. If I tried to list all of the talented people in this community I would be here literally all day. It inspired me too both write my 3 part own series called "Rottmnt Atoning" and my first attempt at drawing Leo.

So consider this a thank you message to everyone in the rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles community. Thank you for helping me rediscover this show after forgetting about it. I have a couple good ideas for Au's and I will try to post them when I can.

Now if only we could get an official rottmnt season 3.... Actually at this rate the community is so talented that if don't get an official season 3 we could just band together and make it ourselves.

[in-death-we-fall]

Six Feet Down Under

Metal Hammer 112, April 2003

Touring and whoring on the other side of the world, Hammer kept a diary of death with the Murderdolls through their residency at Australia’s Big Day Out festival. Shock horror: Mark Hughes. B-movie hero: Tony Mott.

(drive link)

The Big Day Out. The Australian travelling musical circus that steamrolls its way around Australia and New Zealand every winter with the hottest bands on the planet flying from all over the globe to join down under’s best bands in a mayhem filled fortnight. This year’s line-up, features among others, The Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Jane’s Addiction, Jimmy Eat World, The Hard Ons and deathglam monstrosities, the Murderdolls. So far, the Mid West (sic) based five-piece outfit have been the cream of the festival, appropriately headlining the ‘Essentials’ stage. This is the band’s first time in the Antipodes and quizzical music fans have crowded to see the much-talked about live set. With Sydney copping the biggest crowds of all the legs on the tour, the band are preparing something special. But at 3pm in the afternoon you wouldn’t know it. Most of the band are still in bed from the night before, well, actually… the week before.

The ‘Dolls have been in Sydney for five days before their Big Day Out show and not finding much to do early on in the week they’ve just been getting down to the (sic) rock’n’roll’s most popular pastime: hard drinking. Drummer ‘Big’ Ben ‘The Ghoul’ Graves and bass player Eric Griffin are recovering from last night’s binge. While singer Wednesday and guitarist Joey Jordison are recovering from the night before the night before. Acey Slade, who maintains his sobriety, but still stays out ‘til dawn, has been up since !!am and is the only one ready for the show. With the band on stage at 7:15pm, things need doing. Staggering through their beer can and ‘paraphernalia’-strewn rooms to the showers, they’re down in their van and on the way out to the Big Day Out site just after 4pm.

Situated at the same place that hosted the Sydney 2000 olympics, the festival facilities are first rate and the sell-out crowd of 52,000 festival-goers are making the most of it. The temperature’s pushing a blistering 35°C and being the middle of a drought-ridden summer in Australia, everything’s dry, dusty and cracked. It’s a good 40-minute drive from the city to the festival and the sun’s stinging in through the van windows. Not big fans of the sunlight, the Murderdolls have got their leather jackets up over their heads to avoid even the slightest hint of a tan.

In the cool, air-conditioned shade of backstage I get to sit down with Joey Jordison and singer Wednesday 13 to gind out how the band are doing after their meteoric rise over the past eight months. Joey is straight down the line, measured and professional. “This si the first Big Day Out for all of us. Slipknot have only been down here once but not that (sic) this festival. This is something I’ve really wanted to play – something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time.”

For Wednesday, this is another notch on his rise as an international rock’n’roller. “It’s awesome,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to be out on the front of a rock’n’roll band at a festival like this. After struggling doing my own band for six years I actually quit my job back in April and I’ve been touring every since. I’ve done all the things I ever dreamed about. I’ve been to Europe three times, Japan twice and here we are now in Australia and that has all been pretty much in the last six months! Holy shit we’re doing some things that some bands have never done!”

“We just checked out the videotape from the Auckland show the other day and fuck man, it was awesome!” enthuses Joey. “People are saying we are pulling the most people to that stage out of everyone. Our band has been doing really well especially since we’ve only been going for a short time. We hope that after the BDO we’ll be able to come back and do some real headlining shows down here. We are having fun though, thinking about it, we’ve never had so many days off between shows before, it’s more like the Big Day Off!”

The band wasn’t supposed to be so idle. Most overseas bands on the BDO bill play a bunch of satellite shows in various cities around the country and for a month prior, the Murderdolls had been slated to perform a Sydney show with fellow US rockers The Deftones. But with very little warning, the Murderdolls were dumped from the bill just before the show. What really pissed off Joey and the lads was a lot of the Murderdolls fans had bought tickets on the basis that the band would be playing but in the end had to watch the Deftones supported by ex-At The Drive-In chancers, Sparta.

Without much choice in the matter the Murderdolls issued a statement on their website apologising to their fans and kept trying to fly their flag with some instore appearances at local record stores. One in particular at Utopia Records, was insane. There was such a roar when the band turned up, they looked truly surprised at the number of kids who had showed up, most dressed in black and red outfits.

“Someone told us there was only going to be about 150 kids, which was supposed to be a good turn-out for Utopia records for a new band,” retells Joey. “But when we turned up there (sic) almost 500! We talked to fans and signed everything that they had. We were there for a good three and a half hours. And at the Channel V interview it was pretty much the same story. Hordes of kids that wouldn’t let us get away.”

“That’s the cool thing with our fans,” explains Wednesday. “We’re not a radio band or an MTV band with this created army of little kids which I think is more pure than being the Number One radio band or liking it because someone tells you to like it. I know that our fans are real. It is really cool to see these hordes of kids show up, they are dressed like us, they know everything about us, it is just awesome.”

Thinking further ahead fans will be please to know the band are not going to let up on the groundswell already created by the Murderdolls. “I have to go back and finish recording some Slipknot stuff,” reveals Joey. “Then we (the Murderdolls) are going to do some more touring. There’s usually a three to four month sort of break between recording and when an album comes out so we are going to tour pretty much all the way from the end of May all the way to maybe the beginning of October. Which will be good because there’ll be less sunlight at that time of year,” jokes Wednesday raising his non-existent eyebrows and throwing his arms, heavily tattooed with b-grade horror heroes, into the air.

As the hot afternoon drifts into an only slightly less simmering evening, there’s a small problem with guitarist Acey. He’s got indigestion. This amounts to a small crisis because first aid officials must follow procedure and administer the medicine. This takes two St. John’s Ambulance men on pushbikes in a five minute ride from their base at the side of the main stadium. Very un-rock’n’roll indeed.

With the gig just 45 minutes away, the boys are pacing around their trailer, having their pics taken for Hammer. Acey inside in front of the mirror still applying the last of his make-up, Ghoul is getting powdered up, Wednesday’s still with the photographer, while Joey’s nervously pacing around, in the trailer, out the trailer, back in… Eric meanwhile is ready for the stage and cracks open the obligatory bottle of Jack Daniel’s. As a Murderdolls ritual, they’re applying the slap, the band have to listen to Kiss. “Must. Have. Kiss.” stipulates Joey. “‘All American Man’! We sometimes change that to ‘All American Ghoul’,” chimes in the Ghoul.

Just 10 minutes before showtime and the long lanky frame of Ben Graves is stretched spider-like up against the dressing room wall. “I’ll be in pain afterwards,” he explains. Wednesday has by now finished his solo shots with Hamer’s photographer. The day is hot enough anyway, and under the photographers lights the heat is even more stifling. ‘Jesus, it’s fucking hot!” exclaims the frontman. “But I don’t mind… I’m a naturally dead person in front of a camera” he laughs.

More Kiss blares out from the dressing room, this time ‘Dr Love’! Then the moment comes: ground fucking zero at the Big Day Out! The band clamber into the van and head around the back way to the Essentials stage. The bottle of Jack’s being passed around as they approach the stage the band take a quick peak (sic) to see how the crow’s building up. It’s the biggest yet, taking up most of the grassy area out the back of the main stadium. Joey – who regularly suffers from pre-gig nerves as his pre-stage vomiting on Slipknot’s ‘Disasterpiece (sic)’ DVD proves in all its technicolour glory – is bricking it.

Five minutes before the band are due to hit the powerchords and the guys are milling around in the wings. Ghoul is banging on some warm-up pads and everyone is getting psyched. They’ve left the Kiss CD backstage so they have to hum ‘All American Man’ together. Then they make their way to the stage.

A couple of huge Murderdolls logos adorn the stage and in an eruption of noise and energy, the Dolls take the stage and instantly kick off with ‘Dawn of The Dead’. Jordison in black leather Gestapo hat is jumping around stage left, Acey is wailing away stage right while Eric bangs away on the bass doing his best Nikki Sixx impression, while the Ghoul wrecks the trap kit. Wednesday is the last to take the stage and screaming, “We are the dead, coming for you!” And the crowd goes fucking wild.

The kids down the front, dressed up in full glam-goth regalia, know every word and sing along fervently with the band while among the throng watching from the side of stage are some of the biggest names in the Australian music industry. Members of bands like 28 days, Machine Gun Fellatio, Cog, Jimmy Eat World, Pre-Shrunk, and Sparta all stand wide eyed and mouths agape at the outrageous rock revisionism being unleashed onstage.

By the time the band have launched into ‘I (sic) Was a Teenage Zombie’, ‘Let’s Go To War’ and ‘Slit My Wrists (sic)’, the crows know what they’re in for. Most who have showed up for curiosity (sic) sake are still hanging around, but if anything the crowd is building and everyone looks like they are right into it having fun. The intro to ‘Twist My Sister’ is a kid’s nursery rhyme ‘Old McDonald’ which gets the whole crowd singing along.

Unbelievably, some lunatic in the crowd starts throwing bangers at the stage, but the fireworks only make it as far as the front row of fans before blowing up in their faces. Wednesday tries to get the guy to quit while geeing up the rest of the crowd. “All the people down the front tell the people at the back to ‘Die Die Die… my bride!’ he yells as the band grind into the song…

Today’s set includes two new songs, and we can report that both are killer kitsch rock rippers. The first, set for legendary status is called ‘The Devil Made Me Do It… And I’ll Do It Again’ while the second is the set closer, a crowd sing along gem ‘I Love to Say Fuck’. Wednesday grabs his big black umbrella, emblazoned with the word FUCK, Eric, Acey, and Joey are going crazy, jumping up and down in unison, Ghoul is all arms and legs behind the kit while Wednesday is right down in the crowd’s face urging them to stick their fingers in the air and yell ‘Fuck!’. It looks great to watch. “It isn’t choreographed,” says Wednesday later. “Everything’s pretty much spontaneous. There are some things like we all jump on an ascent in the music or whatever but everything else is stuff that just happens on stage.”

They (sic) crowd are almost passing out from the combination of frenzied activity and the extreme heat, but still manage to scream out for more as the band leave the stage. “A lot of people don’t know that’s what drives a show,” explains Wednesday about his relationship with the audience. “You have to make fans feel part of the event and I think we do it better than anyone else.”

The band then jump back into the van for the two minute trip back to their dressing room behind the main stage. When they get back there the guys are all super hyped up. Excitedly buzzing around their dressing room, drinking beers, telling jokes. Joey is busy analysing the gig, and the BDO circus in general. He and Wednesday have got an interview to do with Australian TV scheduled for 8:45pm. It’s almost 9pm and Joey has another issue: “I want to eat! I must eat before I talk!” he exclaims. The interview is postponed for 20 minutes.

Bass player Eric is hanging around, so I grab him for a quick chat. Of all the Murderdolls, Eric seems the shyest but is probably the one most up for anything, especially if it is party related. He may only be small, (even in his Ace Frehley six-inch platforms he’s still barely average height!) but he’s a true rock’n’roller with a party attitude to match. “‘Machine Gun Fellatio’ that’s a cool fuckin’ name,” he squeaks discussing some of the other bands on the BDO bill. And he does squeak, kinda, like annoying Brit ‘comedian’ Joe Pasquale.

I bring up the fact that esteemed record producer, Nick Launey (Silverchair, INXS) was side of stage watching the show and had an interesting story to tell me about Eric. “I think I know where this is going,” smiles Eric slyly. “I met him about two years ago in LA at a party and we were all fucked up. I got dragged down three flights of stairs by my hair and he reckoned it was the biggest rock’n’roll moment of ‘00 for him. First impressions count, man.”

“It was so rock’n’roll!” Launey informs me later. “It was the launch of Orgy’s album and they had these models dressed as prostitutes lying on a bed and Eric jumps up on the bed with them, which of course you weren’t allowed to do. So the bouncers are dragging him out by his hair, kicking and screaming, down the stairs. His head was literally bouncing down each stair like a cartoon character and all the while he’s just got his middle fingers up on each hand and is yelling out ‘Fuck You!’, ‘Get Fucked!’, ‘Fuck you, mind the hair!’ Somehow he got back into the party and I asked him ‘how’s your head?’ and he just said “Whaddya mean?” - it was just so rock’n’roll!”

Eric has pre-arranged with their tour driver to take him over to the Boiler Room, where the BDO’s electronica acts are playing. He wants to see German electronic innovators Kraftwerk. “One of the bands I was in before the Murderdolls was very digital and computer based,” he reveals. “Kraftwerk don’t do a lot of live shows and I don’t think I’ll ever get the opportunity to see them again. They’re pretty important to the genre and even if I catch just 10 minutes of their set I think it will be worth coming over. A short ride through the back entrance, we arrive at the Boiler Room and manage to get in, via a bit of a labyrinth, through the backdoor and into the main arena just at the side of the stage. The Kraftwerk guys are standing robot-like in front of their computers while the huge dome-like venue is dripping with sweat from the 10.000+ strong punters who have basically been locked in the room all day listening (sic) the dance bands. We get a good vantage point but after about five minutes we’re leaving. “Jeez! That was the most boring piece of crap I’ve seen!” exclaims Eric when he gets back to the dressing room. “But it was worth going because I scored some drugs!”

Acey’s just hanging around backstage with his camera and a little doll from The Nightmare Before Christmas. He has a ritual where he takes a photograph of the doll in front of landmarks all around the world. “I have him in front of the Eiffel Tower for instance,” he says. “The other day I took a pic of him in front of the Sydney Opera House.” And with that he takes a photo of the doll sitting in front of a sign that says ‘Sleazy’. Hmmm. Odd man.

Acey and Eric are loving every minute of the Murderdolls ride. They’re both on their first trip to Australia and according to both of them it is (sic) has been “Cool as hell!” “The Gold Coast was really on,” says Eric. “It’s been kinda mellow since we got to Sydney because we’ve had four or five days off before this show so we’ve just been trying to find out what’s been going on. It’s been building gradually… and we’ve been partying a lot – maybe too much,” he adds sheepishly. Rick the tour manager – who’s passing by – agrees: “Yep, they’ve been very naughty boys – they’ve got to go to bed early tonight with no supper,” he jokes.

“He knows we’re the most dangerous band on the tour,” counters Eric. It’s a fact that seems to deter any other bands partying with the Murderdolls too. “The only band that has even reached out to us are the guys in Jane’s Addiction, in particular, Dava Navarro,” offers Acey. “He actually came out of his way to come over and introduce himself. And pretty much comes up and talks to us everyday he sees us along with the drummer, Steven [Perkins]. Everyone else is just kinda like, ‘What’s Up?’ Maybe it’s because we don’t look like we’re the most approachable band. Then again no-one has done anything to piss us off at all.”

No one may be talking to the Murderdolls but there is talk of the Murderdolls all over BDO. Most centres around their appearance with most Australian musical luminaries agreeing the band are the best dressed at the festival. One member of Aussie band the Resin Dogs even goes as far as to say, “The Murderdolls rock the wardrobe”. Acey is kinda flattered but non-plussed by the comments. “What image?” he exclaims. “This is how we are all day! Obviously we knock it up a notch for the show but this is the real thing. We don’t care if people like us as sexual deviants or not, but one thing’s for sure – they’ll fucking remember us.”

Big Ben Graves strides over to join us at the table. “Did I hear the words sexual deviant?” he announces in his deeply rounded US accent. “I’ve always been like that! Some people have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other – I just two devils. There is NO voice of reason!”

We ask him if he has had any interesting adventures since he’s been in Australia and then instantly regret it…

“Dude, it has been nothing but interesting adventures. For instance last night, he (indicating Eric) he almost screwed a one-armed girl!”

“She had three tits and one arm,” giggles the dimunitive (sic) bassist.

“Yeah. It was weird,” continues the Ghoul, “one of her arms was like a stump and it looked like it had a nipple on it. I must admit I almost fucked her just for the freakiness of it.”

And with that starter for 10, the Ghoul is off. He starts ranting on with these sick freak jokes that crack everyone up and inside a minute you get a window to his personality. “Our drummer is one bona fide sick fuck,” jokes Wednesday of him later. “He stills (sic) freaks us out. I’ll just look at him sometimes and say to myself, ‘holy shit, dude, what planet are you from?’”

“It was weird on the Gold Coast,” says Eric, picking up on the tour adventure thread. “The girls there were the hottest chicks I had ever seen in my life but by the same token I had never got as much shit for the way I look than I have there as well. It was like two opposite poles. At first it was, ‘hey freak, where’s the funeral?’ and the next was, ‘sit down have a drink with us.”

“As far as people looking at you weird, I found Sydney is where I got the stares,” admits the Ghoul. “Sydney sucks! Although we did have some girls staking out our hotel which was pretty funny and I did have an over-zealous fan thrown out of the bar. The guy was just touching me a little more than he should and I didn’t like it,” he says animatedly. “I was like, ‘man, don’t make me waste this perfectly good bottle of Heineken by breaking it over your head. I’ve done it before’. Eric looks at him and says, “yeah he has!” But he was on something. I remember thinking ‘I want whatever he’s on… times ten!”

“I gotta say though, the Sydney crowd today was one of the best crowds we’ve had so far,” offers Acey as he joins the throng. “It was insane. It is good for us this tour, because the kids don’t know what we are all about yet so we have to prove ourselves. By the end of the set they all had their hands in the air.”

By this time Joey and Wednesday have finished their feed and their hastily re-scheduled interview and are looking for some more mischievous fun for themselves. “First of all, I’m going to go back over to the stage we played because there are a lot of kids hanging around over there still wanting to see us,” explains Joey. “Then after that, I’m gonna go directly where ever (sic) the free drinks are at…” Suddenly, Eric’s doubled over in the doorway of the dressing room. It’s been 45 minutes since he visited Kraftwerk in the Boiler Room and the pharmaceuticals are beginning to take effect. We ask if he’s OK. “Yeah man, I just think I’m gonna spew!” he grins. The rest of the band are baiting him ceaselessly.

“C’mon chuck it up man!” they urge and all crack up laughing together.

In the middle of all the commotion Wednesday is taking a piss in the corner of the dressing room. The place is a wreck: there are empty bottles of booze, food scrapes (sic), squashed fruit, hairdryers, make-up, boots, clothes (black and red if (sic) course) and of course a giant mirror. Wednesday is actually pissing into a bottle of Corona. At the same time I am just about to pick up my freshly opened bottle of Corona from the table which is besides (sic) a now suspicious looking bottle. “Yeah I always piss in the empty bottles,” giggles Wednesday. And then I leave ‘em on the table just to piss off anyone who might want to grab some of our rider or whatever. Just be careful just to get bottles from down there in the ice box, he laughs mischievously. Suddenly the oddly warm bottle in my hand seems less than appealing…

As the clock turns 1am the only people left at the stadium are the cleaners, the roadies and the still-partying Murderdolls. Last to leave, the van is parked just outside the dressing room and all I can see through the opened door is the Ghoul chucking around a baguette, now baked hard as a rock over the course of the stifling hot day. “Look at this - it could be used as a weapon to seriously maim you!” he screams bouncing the French loaf off the wall. A post vomit Eric cracks up, as the two hold a mock baguette joust oblivious to the outside world. They eventually make off back to their hotel room in the city, but don’t hang there for too long. The weekend lights of Sydney beckon and they cruise down William street in King’s Cross, to an underground rock venue called Club 77. It’s glam night, just their crowd and they spend the wee hours of the morning hanging out with fans and getting stuck into the sauce with a vengeance. Australia has officially been Murderdolled!

Blood and Glitter

Gavin Braddeley charts the rise of shock rock

Glam is hard evidence that what goes around comes around. Long dismissed as the definitive climax of 70s bad taste, in recent years glam rock has arisen from the grave, albeit with a veil of cobwebs draped over its original dusting of glitter. Originally a violent reaction to the 60s happy fad for all things natural, worthy, meaningful and drab, glam was all about being deliberately artificial, selfish, throwaway and garish.

In the States Alice Cooper was impaling baby dolls and throwing blood bottles around the stage from ‘70 onwards culminating in the vaudeville theatrics of the ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ album/tour of ‘76.

Back in the UK, the Glam pioneer was lame pop pixie Marc Bolan (sic), photogenic frontman with T-Rex, who caused a sensation when he took to the stage on Top of the Pops in ‘71 with glitter under his eyes, clad in what looked suspiciously like drag. Never one to miss a trick, the lizard-like David Bowie soon jumped from the hippy ship to take on his otherworldly Ziggy Stardust persona.

The older generation may have thought that smearing make-up on your face and covering your clothes in sequins made you look like a ‘pooftah’. Alice Cooper got around this by replacing Glam’s overt ‘fagginess’ with ghoulish melodrama, prompting one critic to observe that Americans were more comfortable with necrophilia than homosexuality. And then came Kiss. Gene Simmons’ monstrous blood vomiting, fire breathing ‘Demon’ persona enslaved an entire generation of US children crossing Glam’s theatricality with heavy metal machismo to create one of the most influential bands in rock music history.

W.A.S.P. and Mötley Crüe supercharged Kiss’s sleaze and violence quotient to spectacular effect in the 80s, and provide the missing link between Glam and the Murderdolls, who happily cite the back-combed bad boys as a large part of their creative DNA. The chief inheritor of the Glam tradition in the last decade, however, is cross-dressing controversialist Marilyn Manson. Bowie may have metaphorically murdered his creation Ziggy Stardust in the summer of ‘74, while Bolan (sic) died more literally in a car accident three years later, but quarter-of-a-century on, Manson used his own dark arts to conjure their spirit on ‘Mechanical Animals’, his own tribute to pop’s most decadent decade.

Dead… and loving it!

The Murderdolls��� five favourite movie death scenes of all time…

The Murderdolls are proof positive that nothing gets some folks’ creative juices flowing quite so freely as a truly delicious cinematic death scene. Joey and Wednesday have a few favourites – both carnage connoisseurs identifying the ‘74 classic power toolfest The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the gory cream of the crop – a movie currently being remade with a certain Mr. Manson in the soundtrack composer’s chair. (As a curious aside, you never actually see the girl hung on the hook – just a shadow – but such is the film’s sordid impact that most viewers swear you do!)

Joey 1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre “The girl on the hook.”

2. Friday The 13th Part IV “When the knife comes through the bed and impales the chick.”

3. The Exorcist “When the priest is hucked out through the plate glass window.”

4. A Nightmare on Elm Street “Where the girl is getting dragged across the rooftop.”

5. Necromancy “Where a group of devils and monsters take a girl apart.”

Wednesday 1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre “The girl on the hook.”

2. Dawn of the Dead “When the spiked ball comes down and rips the guy’s head apart.”

3. Phantasm “A silver ball hits the guy in the head and sucks out all his brains.”

4. Hellraiser “Where (sic) the end sequence where the guy is being chased by all these hooks. They attach themselves to him and rip him apart.”

5. Nightmare On Elm Street “Where Freddy rips out the guy’s veins and uses them like strings controlling a puppet.”

Schlock n’ Roll

B-movie classics that have influenced shock rockers of now and then…

Some horror movies are best watched not so much with your tongue in your cheek, as thrust firmly through it, films that by accident or design are more about fun than fear. The same could be said of numerous horror loving bands, including the Murderdolls, where an ‘everyday is Halloween’ ethos prevails. Here are a few examples of B movie blood fests which may not have won any Oscars, have been paid tribute to by schlock loving bands over the years…

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) It is no surprise that the mother-of-all cult movies inspired the mother-of-all cult bands, and when Glenn Danzig created a label to release early Misfits material he dubbed it ‘Plan 9’. Frequently voted the worst movie of all time with its ludicrous script, mind bogglingly bad special effects, cardboard sets, and even more cardboard artistry, Plan 9 From Outer Space is irresistibly entertaining. Directed by the cross-dressing caliph of crap Ed Wood Junior, featuring proto-goth babe Vampira and Bela Lugosi (dying of drug addiction, he was replaced mid production by a stand-in who looks nothing like him).

The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971) Featuring horror cinema’s kind of camp Vincent Price as the fiendish Phibes, avenging the death of his wife using maniacal methods borrowed from the biblical plagues, all against wonderful, strangely psychedelic sets. Also possessed of a strange psychedelic sensibility are punk pioneers the Damned, though in the 80s, lead singer Dave Vanian’s horror sensibilities took centre stage, attracting a goth following. The 80 track ‘13th Floor Vendetta’ is a classic example of the band’s game-topping which, if you listen carefully, is all about ol’ Doc Phibes.

Mars Attacks! (1996) Director Tim Burton’s tribute to the drive-in shockers of the 50s and 60s, Mars Attacks! was actually based upon a ‘62 series of bubblegum cards, discontinued because of their gruesomely graphic pictures of earthlings being exterminated by alien invaders. As such this inspiration might suggest Mars Attacks! has little by way of plot, but for anyone with a weakness for vintage schlock sci-fi it’s a true Technicolor treat. This must certainly include the Misfits and when they reformed, they did so without the blessing of founder Glenn Danzig, but with their monster movie obsessions intact – among a multitude of horror movie tributes on their ‘97 comeback album ‘American Psycho’ was ‘Mars Attacks’ (and even an instrumental coincidentally titled ‘Abominable Dr Phibes’!)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957) The drive-in movies of the 50s and 60s typically featured juvenile delinquents or monsters, and this bargain-basement effort delivered both in one lurid package. Before becoming ‘Pa’ on TV’s Little House on the Prairie Michael Landon stars as a troubled teen – though when he starts growing hair in strange places, it’s more than just hormones to blame. A howl from beginning to end, Teenage inspired a number on ‘Songs the Lord Taught Us’, the ‘80 debut from drive-in movie loving ghoulish rockers The Cramps.

Murder, mayhem and a right old mess

Minging Murderdoll tales from the Big Day Out

Who is the messiest Murderdoll of them all? Wednesday: “That would be Eric and The Ghoul. They are just messy as fuck. But you know you’ve just got to get used to living with these people. We’ve been on the road since July. You live on a bus for six weeks which means you’ve got (sic) live in everyone else’s shit.”

Who is the tidy anal doll? Joey: “No-one. We’re all pretty fuckin’ messy.” Wednesday: “I just took two garbage bags of mess out of my room. And just put it in the hallway. Just full of chicken bones and beer bottles and all sorts of shit like that, it was just smelling really bad so I had to get rid of it.”

So you do that yourself? Wednesday: “I don’t let the cleaning staff come into my room and tidy up. I put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign for the whole week I am there.” Joey: “The housekeepers are scared shitless to come into our rooms anyway so we keep it easy for them and put the ‘Do Not Disturb” signs up the whole time. They are going to be so scared to come into our rooms and clean up after we’ve been there for a fuckin’ week!”

[aevyk-ing]

DreamWorks4Me

If you've seen the news, DreamWorks as a studio is going through a huge change. They're going to start outsourcing every movie from now on and laying off almost 50% of their staff.

This makes me really sad for them and their legacy, so I wanted to share with you my fondest memories of their movies. Feel free to do the same!:

I didn't have a The Road to el Dorado copy while growing up. My best friend and neighbor had one and we would have an afternoon snack in her home, watch The Road... and then play. This was one of the two movies we rewatched the most.

I've always loved Chicken Run. I had this huge poster of it, but threw it away when I had a nightmare where the chickens started jumping from it. I still think it's Aardman's best movie and the one with the best soundtrack (which was also my introduction to both Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell!).

I sort of remember how Shrek knocked it out the park. There was a before and an after in animated movies.

While a lot of people say it's a bad movie, I kinda like Sinbad. The adventure, the character design, the places and Eris, of course.

I like Puss since his first appearance in Shrek 2.

I really like Over the Hedge. The music is great and the concept interesting. I remember reading the actual comic strips in the Sunday newspaper and I still have some of them.

While Shrek the Third is not that good, I really liked Artie for some reason. That's why one of the characters from my book Gotxinka is called Artii!

I wasn't much interested in Kung Fu Panda at the beginning, but it grew on me. One afternoon, the second and third movies were on TV, so I watched the first one and then put the other two on TV, binge watching the three!

How to train your dragon was the movie that helped me out of my depression and got me into cosplaying, drawing fancomics and writing fanfiction. And also got me into watching almost everything in English.

I love Megamind and will be forever mad I couldn't watch in on cinemas.

I know people don't like it much, but I find the Puss in Boots movie enjoyable.

I really liked Rise of the Guardians and it's a pity they didn't make more stuff with those characters. I almost cosplayed Toothiana, but did a casual version of her instead.

I couldn't watch The Croods in cinemas either, but I watched it in English a while after and fell in love with it! It's so creative and the relationship of Guy and Eep is so sweet.

I did my hair like Astrid to watch HTTYD2. That version of her outfit is my favorite cosplay of her.

And, of course, Riders of Berk were the first series I watched in full English. I didn't have Netflix when Race to the Edge aired, so I would get up early to watch someone streaming it and I had a blast. I didn't know if I should watch Trollhunters, but I saw a video with Kelsey Grammer and I'm so glad I gave it a try! The show helped me in one of my lowest moments (like HTTYD had done years before).

[kyndaris]

Days of Transit and Films

Living in Australia, the first day of travel is almost always the most uneventful. Why? Because in order to reach any other country (besides New Zealand) involves a bloody long flight. So, it was with my trip to Japan via ANA (which took about 9 hours and 45 minutes or so). It also didn't help that there was congestion at Sydney airport, which delayed our departure time by upwards of thirty minutes. By the time we landed in Tokyo, it was nearly 9 PM local time and bleachpanda and I needed to go through customs, collect our baggage and check-in to our hotel.

Thankfully, getting through immigration didn't take too long for either me or bleachpanda. With our luggage in tow, we breezed through quarantine and went about securing ourselves a taxi to take us to our hotel for the night: Toyoko Inn II in Haneda.

On the 9 hour flight over to Japan, I kept myself entertained with several films while bleachpanda battled with motion sickness. Still, she managed to watch Barbie despite sleeping for the majority of our time onboard. As for me, the films I watched included: The Marsh King's Daughter, Puppy Love, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Dumb Money. An eclectic collection of films that started off strong in the psychological thriller genre before dovetailing into a lighthearted romantic comedy and animated child film. Then I finished it off by watching a meme-heavy film about gamers rising up and sticking it to the man.

Sadly, during my flight over to Japan, I didn't get much reading done. Nor could bleachpanda and I have any riveting conversations given her proclivity for motion sickness and had her eyes closed every time our plane hit turbulence.

But what to say about the films I binged on the way to Japan? Well, The Marsh King's Daughter was a movie that tickled my interest a few months back when I first saw the trailer. It starred Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn and so was immediately on my radar as a weighty exploration of the human condition. While it wasn't exactly the most riveting watch, it still managed to capture my attention for the duration of its run-time.

After enjoying the tension-heavy film about family, love and toxic obsession, I decided to watch something I could completely shut my brain off. Enter: Puppy Love starring Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin (two actors who caught my eye back when they were starting out. One featured in a guilty pleasure show I watched back when I was in university - Pretty Little Liars - and the other started out as an antagonist in Glee before becoming the better version of the fastest man alive).

From Puppy Love, I hopped over to watch a film about a singing crocodile and the wacky plot shenanigans that come from a half-animated, half live-action musical starring the likes of Shawn Mendes, Javier Bardem and Constance Wu. Is it strange that there's a singing crocodile whose exact origins were never exactly explained? Yes, but the songs are catchy and it's a nice feel-good film.

And even though Lyle doesn't speak, he can readily communicate through song - which, admittedly, beggars belief but these aren't things one should think too hard about.

Then finally, after nearly nine hours in the air, and fully from a sandwich dinner, I settled the headphones back onto my ears to watch Dumb Money. Though I never did watch it in cinemas, I did read about how people were using the RobinHood app to hold the line against The Man when it came to the shorting of the GameStop stock back in 2021.

At 8:57 PM, we landed at Haneda airport. After our plane taxied to its designated spot, we traipsed down a set of stairs for the waiting shuttles that took us to the terminal proper. Due to the late hour, we were the only flight going through immigration and customs, smoothing exiting the airport about twenty minutes to ten.

One short taxi ride later took us to our hotel close by. I, of course, managed to embarrass myself by trying to close the automatic door of the cab. It was only when I heard the driver tell me twice to stop that I realised the error of my ways. Still, we managed to check-in to the hotel only a few minutes past 10 PM. Once inside, bleachpanda and I dumped our gear and flopped onto the bed, exhausted from a day on the plane.

The next day, I woke up early and puttered around our shared room as bleachpanda snored away. At 7 AM, bleachpanda's alarm went off and after spending 45 getting ready, the two of us headed down for breakfast. Once full, we visited a local shrine nearby as well as a 7-Eleven wherein I bought a banana and milk.

Returning to our hotel at around 9:30, it was back on the road for the two of us as we headed to Narita airport for our flight to Seoul. We arrived with barely any time to spare as we checked-in for our flight and sped through security. Still, we managed to try out Japan McDonald's. I picked a Teriyaki Pork Burger (which was mildly disappointing because of how dense the sauce was) and bleachpanda enjoyed an Ebi Burger. Full, we boarded our flight to Seoul, wherein we were treated with another heavy meal.

At 4:30 PM, we landed at Incheon International. On the flight, I watched Venom: Let There Be Carnage while belachpanda slept on, too ill from the turbulent start to our flight. The sequel to Sony's Venom was a fun watch, even if it didn't win any awards. Tom Hardy, I can most assuredly say, is living his best Eddie Brock life, given the banter between our two protagonists.

In fact, it reminded me of my relationship with bleachpanda during the trip. I'd tease and aggravate her, she'd threaten to murder me in my sleep...

And yet she'd still comply with all my walking demands as we managed to rack up a 14,500 step count average over the three weeks we were out and about on our overseas trip.

Once we grabbed our luggage and went through South Korea immigration, we took a taxi to our hotel in the heart of Seoul. After wechecked in to our hotel in South Korea: ENA Suite Namdaemun, bleachpanda and I ventured out to enjoy a nice meal out at Michelin Star winner: Korea Ginseng Chicken Soup.