#also fun fact if you can't come up with a good caption for these just randomly generating one over and over again

[rotisseries]

maybe if they just took ganon to the barbie movie he would calm down a bit

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - It's 2024 & I'm talking about TayNew... really?

(They pretty much told us all to sit down and shut tf up, 'cause they got this. AND THEY DO.)

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Feb 2024 Wk 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube grey) ep 9 of 12 - I broke. In my defense, it was Monday, I needed comfort, and TayNew were right tf there. Ya know what? They are great in this show. It's a great adaptation. I might like it more than the JBL live action. You know why? Really, honestly WHY...?

That was a PHENOMENAL KISS. Those boys did Thailand fucking proud. They did fandom a solid. Thank you OGs for reminding us how it's done. I was getting used to SloppyHot. And SloppyHot has its place, but that TayNew rooftop kiss was a top tear class act. It was tender and sweet and respectful and joyful. It was eye work and breath work and years of practice. How very far BL has come while still staying so much the same. TayNew - I salute you!

(Read all about distribution issues here.)

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 12fin - we waiting, I guess? Bah.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 11 of 12 - The recipe book thing was so damn cute and I love a claiming. YOU KNOW I LOVE A CLAIMING!

In fact, I love OffGun.

I love food based BL.

I adored seeing a reboot of "the infamous dragging". 

But I don’t love anything else about this show. Sigh.

1000 Years Old ep 1 of 12 - Finally we get our gay vampire BL from Feel Good Bangkok. Stars Shane (My Engineer) and fresh face Opal, directed by Champ (2gether). It’s kind of odd but enjoyable. A group of teen UFO seekers find a vampire instead. Opal looks a bit like a mix between Newnu + Leo (VIXX) - so cute + edge. Also, nice to see Shane again on our screens after so long. 

Finally, I like the subtle (and sometimes not subtle) presence of ghosts permeating this show. Do the friends know she's there? Do they know she's dead? Is the existence of paranormal accepted but not that of aliens? Or are the two combined? Is this lazy writing or just fun world building? Who cares! It's enjoyable.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 12fin - the nail painting bit was very cutie queers and I've not seen it done in BL before, so that was nice. For some reason captions never dropped for me on this last episode, but it didn’t really matter. Not much happened and I understood everything anyway.

Quick pitch?

From the people who brought us Unforgotten Night based on a y-novel, about a young man nursing a heartbreak who has a one-night stand, but the other boy didn't want it to end. This turned out to be a pulp that wasn’t half as good as it should have been and even less memorable, but not terrible. 5/10 DON'T BOTHER unless you're v bored

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 3 of 12 - Oh it is such a pulp: the acting is not good and the script is terrible. Of course, I’m mildly enjoying it. Very good dream kissing. There's something appealing about these main characters - I think it's the moot crushes. We rarely get to see that. These days everything feels very one sided, this... isn't.

A Secretly Love (Thai WeTV) - Khonprot, a third-year hazer of the engineering faculty, has a secret crush on Pluem, a tsundere fourth-year head hazer. Over the years, he's seen Pluem cycle through girlfriends. Recently, after a public breakup, however, Khonprot thinks maybe a boy has a chance.

I tried but I can't get into my WeTV account anymore and I'm way too lazy to figure it out. I'll catch it grey if I can, since I've rebooted the bootlegging side of my BL life for Cherry Magic anyway.

So this show may stay in this section, or I may bump it down to "it's airing but..."

If anyone is watching it, let me know if it's good?

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Love For Love's Sake (Korea Weds iQIYI) 7-8fin - Ugh it was GREAT, despite some pretty telling flaws. I ended up feeling like some of the filming was amateurish (very overworked low angles - director's first feature, I assume), and the narrative is a little disjoined and on the nose, AND the subs are clumsy (which I don't expect from KBL) BUT I still loved it. (FYI - I wouldn't be so harsh on a BL for this kinda thing except one from Korea.)

Quick pitch:

This isekai-based KBL is about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. Like many queer narratives, this show is actually about self worth, trust, and found family, and it is VERY on the nose. But I don’t expect subtlety from my BL and I enjoyed it's truly lovely redemption arc and earnest performances. While I found the narrative a touch disjointed with overworked filming angles and poorer than average captions, this is certainly much better than early KBL in terms of consistency of tone, script, and immersion. Highly rewatchable and charming, which counts for a lot. 9/10

Trigger warning for suicide depicted.

Perfect Propose (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - Gosh, it’s so lovely. But I do just constantly want to give them both hugs. 

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - Oh look, Taiwan has created yet another BL where I spend most of the time watching it grinning like an idiot. Surprise surprise. The pet name thing was fucking adorable. Also Taiwan once more proving they come by their "kings of kissing" title honestly. I mean to say. In a week of good kisses this one was just... WOW.

On the other hand, some of the underpinning themes are starting to v worry me (ownership, consent, age), and we only just got started, and I don't trust this production company so... I have concerns.

But also... YAY KISSES!

(I'm made of weak moral fiber.)

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - Like many other shows on this list. I just enjoy it the most when the two leads are on screen together. So this episode was kind of lacking because they were apart for most of it. I also am starting to agree with the tone of the plot, that maybe they ARE better off as friends not lovers. (And I'm sure I'm not supposed to want that.) Oh Japan, must you?

My Strawberry Film (Japan Gaga) ep 1 of 8 - Oh it’s good. In the arthouse lane so don’t expect sweetness & light or an HEA. If there’s no cartoon aspect to a JBL, there’s usually no joy. But it is certainly good. Teens uncover some old film and a mystery around a pretty girl. The background music is wildly annoying (and rarely in the background). 

It's Done

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have any spare time. 2024 is crazy busy for me so far.

The Servant and the Young Master - from Vietnam, it's on YouTube. I will give it a try when I have a window of time.

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) - A Burmese BL? @heretherebedork vouched for it, so I will give it a watch.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) - Gave me Luminous Solution vibes have decided not to watch.

It's Airing But...

Dead Friend Forever (Thai iQIYI) - rumors are it's interesting. I'm waiting to know how it ends.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… probubly not. I won't be watching this. I disliked Season one and actively hated the follow ups. No thank you.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - dropped it at ep 4.

Next Week Looks Like This:

2/24 Unknown (Taiwan Youku) 12 eps - Older brother tough guy breadwinner looks after his sister and defacto adopted little brother. Little bother falls in love with him and is sent away after a stolen kiss. But when he comes back…

Sam Lin has a cameo so even if I wasn't already excited, I'm in. We should be on our guard though, Taiwan will occasionally go edgy, dark, and sad... this could go there.

One assumes GMMTV is filling in the BL time slot with something queer on their YT Channel after Cooking Crush ends, they gonna lose subs if they don't. But I've not been paying attention to the chatter so I don't know which of their line-up it will be. I think G4 are filming/off radar now, and Earth is in that het noona thing? Plus they gotta sort out the IP for MIx-Up and Ossen. So it won't be one of the announced adaptations. They'll hold My Golden Blood for the high season, so I think it'll be one of the lesser known lead-outs. Wandee or Only Boo maybe? But they only just started filming those. Are we getting our long awaited GL? Anything else left from 2023 that I forgot about?

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Two crawling kisses from Thailand this week. Now this is a fetish I didn't know I had. Turns out, we love this one! (*waves hand in air* I speak for all of us now.)

Cooking Crush

City of Stars

Possibly the best tsundere to cinnamon roll pivot we've had in a long time.

Also the best asshole to KING pivot. Could we have a whole drama staring this character now? Please?

And finally our sunshine learning to love himself.

SIGH. what a lovely show.

And a good SMILEY kiss from a KBL.

And then some cute cuddles? Korea is spoiling me these days. I'm catching expectations now. What's next? Japan learns to kiss in their light BLs? Ha! I kill me.

(All Love for Love's Sake).

(Last week)

[octuscle]

Blonde by FaceTime

Alec has always had a bit of a crush on his friend Van. Actually, ever since they played together in the sandbox. But even then, Alec was the little chubby one. And Van the sweet heartbreaker. Van went through the usual stages to captain of the football team of an alpha career. And now he had his MBA cum laude and was about to embark on a stellar career.

Just to be close to Van, Alec had also studied business. At the same college. Although with his grades, he could have gone to a much better college. And even though he had always wanted to study medicine to become a pediatrician. And now it was all for nothing. Van had moved to Chicago a week ago to become a product manager for an online platform. And Alec had gotten an offer to go to work for an engineering company from their hometown to their branch in the Czech Republic. Alec had paid a high price for his hidden, never-expressed love. Getting a great georgraphic distance from Van now was probably the best solution.

Even now, when Van had become almost unattainable, Alec held on to him. He had gotten a deer, Van's nickname since childhood for some reason, inked on his forearm. And he started running to get closer to his own ideal, Van's athletic body. Today was the first fun run he participated in. He had already lost a few pounds. He was proud of that. So he had a colleague take a picture of himself and sent the Van "Miss you pal" was the caption.

Almost immediately his phone rang. Facetime video call from Van.

"Hi bro, damn you look good! How's life over in old Europe? It's still the middle of the night here, I was just getting in a quick work out before work."

Van turned the view and showed a picture of himself from the mirror. Alec had to swallow and got a dry throat. He didn't know what he was doing. The devil was riding him. So an "I love you" came out of his mouth.

For a second there was silence. "Dude, you better keep your massive cock under control. I would never be able to tame your monster" Van replied laughing. Alec laughed along with him. He was relieved that Van had taken it that way. Yes, the dick comparison had been the only contest with Van in which he had regularly won.

"Hehehehe, it's tough with all the hot studs here at the start."

Indeed, the bulge in his tight running shorts was scary. Many participants in the run, as well as spectators, had already been staring at him and whispering.

"That's what I think, bro! Is your stay successful then? What is the news on the market of nutritional supplements? Can't wait for you to bring back some cool new stuff."

Arec talked a bit about the fitness trade show here in Brno. In fact, there were a few things he wanted to include in the lineup of his fitness startup. He could use a little breath of fresh air for his business. True, he was a genius when it came to marketing and app development. And in theory, he knew everything about crossfitting and bodybuilding. But he just didn't have the body to make it believable. Fortunately, Van was regularly available as a model. When he posted something on Instagram, his sales went straight up.

Van replied that he had seen videos from the show on YouTube. "Dude, you did great on stage. Arac laughed and held the phone so that you could see as much of his biceps as possible. "Bruh, it was just a spontaneous idea. Several people had approached me. Actually, I don't feel in shape for competitions at all" "Honey, I don't think you need to be fishing for compliments right now. Come on, make your tits dance for me!" Arac didn't have to be asked twice. He loved this. The moment when Van had shown him how to do it was just awesome. Today his pecs were almost bigger than his friend's. A few people around him applauded. He had almost forgotten about the conversation with Van that he was standing in the middle of the fair among all the other visitors.

"Did you read the comments on your performance. They called you 'the blond angel'. Suits me, bro." Arac stroked his hair. He loved his blond hair. He had been blond since he was a kid, unlike Van. In pictures of the two of them from kindergarten, Van had always been the one with the darker hair. Today there was hardly any difference between the two.

"Bro, did you write down what all you are supposed to bring. I mean, we both know you can't remember anything with that birdbrain stuck in that hot skull of yours."

"Bruh, i may not b as smart as u, but i can still read ur emails" Arad laughed boomingly. A few guests at the fair took pictures of him. As best he could while talking on the phone, Arad did them the favor and struck a few poses. In his head, he frantically went over what all his duties here were. Fuck, he just forgot everything. And a few tasks, if he had to be honest, he didn't understand at all. He'd graduated from college with difficulty and on an athletic scholarship. He was glad he had Van as a mentor, Van had always been the smart one of the two. "Fuck, bruh! day all speak czech or german here. N english with uh nasty accent. I'm really lost here without uh brain like you!" "Goldilocks, you should have used your head for something other than growing a Viking mane for the last few years." Van laughed. "Don't worry about it, as long as you come back safe and sound!" "Wait uh minute, deer! I've got some selfies to take right now." A couple of the local bodybuilders and a bunch of chicks had already lined up. Arad let them take their selfies with him and turned back to Van.

"Deer, I miss you! When will I see you again?" "Dumbass, I'm already in the locker room. I'll be on the training floor in a minute. Did you clean up and tidy the gym properly? It would be cool if you could at least get this job done."

Brad looked around. Yes, he had carefully worked through the piece of paper with his work instructions. Damn, there sure were a lot of things he had to do in the morning before the Gym opened. He had already secretly let Van in before he officially opened the doors right away. On the one hand, Van could work out before the others, and on the other hand, he had someone to check if he had done everything right. Brad wanted to do this job well. Van earned enough for the two of them, but he didn't always want to be just the decorative accessory. Oh what was he kidding himself. He had turned Van into a fellow who was almost as hot as Brad himself. And now he was making sure they both ate the right diet, that the apartment was tidy. And that Van got to work out before the others. He looked around him. All set, he could open the doors. The door opened and Van came out of the locker rooms grinning.

"Honey, you already know you're not allowed to work bare-chested" "Hehehe, it's not just me who would be happier with that." Van laughed and threw him the T-shirt with the club logo. Before putting it on, Brad gave Van a passionate kiss. Something he had to do now…. Right, unlock the door and let in the members who were waiting outside.He was so glad he had Van.

[savventeen]

hmm savv what would u do with mutual pining and woozi? :3c

daisy,,, beloved,,,,,,,,,, how dare you make me think about mutual pining w/ woozi ( /hj ) (i am already pining for him and thinking abt MUTUAL pining is going to drive me actually insane methinks g o d sdkjflskjdf)

ok so. SO. after vibrating in my seat and fantasizing abt lying down in the middle of the floor for the rest of time as i think about this concept, i have come to the following conclusion: mixtapes. and i mean in the classic "hey i made you this mixtape" sense

reader and jihoon are both producers for the same label and don't really interact that much at first. in fact, they don't actually even meet for the first time until soonyoung invites them both to his birthday party and they start talking shop, bonding over teasing soonyoung, and then ending the night with a promise to grab lunch together sometime.

fast forward a couple of months and they are officially Friends. they've managed to start a tradition of getting lunch together once a week and bitching about various work bullshit, and they've also started to hang out together in group settings after realizing they have more mutual friends as well

reader is the first one to send jihoon a song. it's a few hours after their weekly vent session, jihoon having taken up most of the time complaining about shitty higher-ups giving ridiculous deadlines and stuck-up idol wannabes trying to tell him how to do his job without having a clue about what his job actually is, and he gets a message from reader that says "i feel like this fits ur current mood" with a link to a song. [cw the song linked has a somewhat startling gun sound] he clicks on the link, curious, and then bursts out laughing after a few confused moments of listening bc that was NOT what he was expecting, at all

and that's how it starts, really. a few days later, he sends reader a song with the caption "how much u wanna bet soonyoung would choreograph something to this just bc it has the word 'tiger' in the title" / "no bet he absolutely would" / "ur no fun :P" / "sorry can't hear you i'm sending it to soonyoung as we speak"

pretty soon they're sending songs back and forth almost daily "what are ur thoughts on this" / "?? i don't speak french" / "and?" / "...ok yeah this is p good" "is this kinda close to the vibe you're trying to get for that one group you're working with?" / "not quite. but that's ok bc IM Vibin with this one" "i need u to stop whatever ur doing and listen to this with the bassist bass you can get with w/ ur setup" / "ok??" ... "holy shit" / "RIGHT?"

fast forward another couple of months, and reader shows up to jihoon's studio with a can of coke zero and a flash drive. "what's this?" / "this, my dear woozi-ssi, is going to be the solution to our creative blocks" and then reader goes on to explain their idea: they both have tracks that they're stuck on (personal, professional, or otherwise), and so they're gonna 'sisterhood of the traveling pants this shit' ('i literally have no idea what you're talking about'). aka: reader put some files they're having trouble with on this flash drive, and jihoon's gonna add any notes/ideas he has and then give it back with some of his own trouble files on it. rinse and repeat

and not only does it work ("ohmygod i've been trying to figure out that bridge transition for DAYS THANK YOU") but it also becomes Their Thing. like, they're used to collaborating with other writers/producers/etc bc it comes with the job, but something about this silly little flash drive... feels Special. [*cough*it's because they're catching Feelings*cough*]

tHIS IS GETTING SO LONG FUCK OKAY other things i would include in this fic: - one noticing the other has been working on a lot more love songs lately (or maybe a lot more Sad (read: pining) love songs) - reader has a bad day at some point and they end up losing the flash drive and they have a breakdown over it (jihoon comforts them and also helps them find it we love emotional hurt/comfort in this household) - scenes where they're individually waxing poetic about the other to different friends and the friends are like "bro. ur in love with them" "uh, no? they just have a great work ethic and a great taste in music also their lyricism is just—" "you. are. in. love." "i admire them professionally!

AND THEN THE CONCLUSION!! one of them decides to bite the metaphorical bullet and confess their Feelings. this could be either of them, but i'm gonna go with jihoon bc i can. so of course he can't just say "hey i love you" like a normal person, he has to confess through music. so he goes out and buys a new flash drive (with a really cute cover bc he knows they'd like it) and puts two folders on there. the first folder is full of instrumental files and is titled "all the times i couldn't find the words". and the second folder is titled "and all the times i could" and it's all love songs he's written inspired by/for reader

he sneaks into their studio and leaves the flash drive on your desk while you're in a meeting, and then he Waits and waits and waits some more until it's time to go home and it's been total radio silence and his heart feels like it's been crushed. so he starts to head home in the rain (bc i am a cheesy bastard and love rainy confession scenes) but after a few minutes of walking he hears shouting behind him and he turns to see you sprinting at him while screaming his name and before he can get a word out you're clutching his shoulders, soaked to the bone and asking "do you mean it? the songs, did— do you really mean it?"

and all he can do is nod because his heart still hasn't quite found its way back to his chest yet, and then he can't nod anymore because you're kissing him. you're kissing him, and he drops the umbrella he was holding and you're both kissing in the rain bc you're both obnoxious helpless romantics and "y/n-ah, i mean it— i mean it. i love you"

"i love you too, you stupid romantic bastard oh my god"

"hey, you're the one who started kissing me in the rain"

and it ends like the cheesy romcom this turned into bc i couldn't help myself and i need to lie down in a puddle of feelings now k thx

[send me a person and a trope/au and i'll tell you what kind of plot i'd write for them]

[everythingsinred]

Natsume Is a Cat (pt. 3)

If anyone is looking at this nonsense... thanks. Isn't the world golden on our side of things? Let's get back to it, to our academic and scholarly research!

Where were we? Onto cats likes and dislikes?

Cats don't much like water. They don't care for swimming and avoid it when possible (that doesn't mean they're dirty though; cats are very good at self-grooming).

Water bugs them, after all.

But the dark doesn't! Cats have a tapetum lucidum in their eyes which lets them see in the dark, so there's nothing to fear even in total darkness.

They tend to underestimate their weight and enjoy sitting on chests if they so choose, even if the person they're sitting on doesn't like it as much.

I had to include this because my cat Phoebe does this to me every night.

But they don't really like going places. They would prefer to do nothing.

You can try to make them, but they revert back to inaction. Always.

Natsume does nothing all the time. It's his favorite thing to do.

Cats also typically dislike when they're introduced to a new cat in their home. Especially at first, they might be cruel to the new cat, but in time, they might get attached.

Cats do this often. They look at you, spot your interest, and then run, for the sole purpose of making you chase them. They do this on purpose. They like the chase. They will stop and let you pet them eventually but they need to play the game first. I'm not making this up. This is true.

And to wrap things up, I will conclude with pages I had in my folder with unclear captions that I saved too long ago and now no longer remember where I was going with them.

Titled, "catlike". I agree, but I can't explain it.

Titled, "gives cat vibes." Don't know what that's supposed to mean. He does look like a black cat here though.

Titled, "hes a cat i can tell". Very unhelpful to me. I guess it's just a vibe?

"hes a cat what do u want me to say" Well, past!Anya, I want you to say specifically where you were going with this. But I'll bite. He does seem like a cat here.

"omg just like a cat". Have no idea if this is about what Aoi is saying (misunderstood and thought of as scary, like a cat) or Natsume in the background doing fuck all. Maybe both. Either way, I agree.

And to finally finish off, let's discuss the fact that the person he gets along best with is Ruka, who has the animal pheromone alice. Unlike literally every other person on the planet, Natsume has never been angry at Ruka. He loves Ruka. He always loved Ruka. Natsume is a cat.

(This is clearly a joke. Natsume is not nice to Ruka because he's under the affect of animal pheromones. Because Natsume is a human being. But it's a funny joke. Their friendship is very clearly authentic and beautiful. Natsume is kind to Ruka because Ruka is perfect and has never done anything wrong ever, in his life.)

BONUS

Not related to cat stuff, but this one was funny:

"AND HERE COMES NATSUME WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!"

Okay I'm done now! Thanks so much for reading this silly nonsense rambling. It was fun to put together and I hope it was a fun read too! Have a great day/night. I'm very tired and this took longer than I thought it would, so I'm going to sleep. Love y'all <3

Also, in case y'all missed the first two parts, they are as follows:

Part 1. or Part 2.

[everyonewooeverywhere]

pookie I dunno anything about riize but I'd love for you to show me their pictures and ramble about your fave <3

hehehe ok~~~

this should go w/o saying, but i am ot7 all the way. so you know...fuck sm actually

anyway~

this shit is kinda long...sorry not sorry

picking a fave is really really hard for me soooo...i'm just gonna talk about all of them if ya don't mind 😀 (i am wonbin & anton biased though...i think)

so, talent-wise, i've been a pretty big fan of shotaro for a while. he is such a phenomenal dancer. like his rhythm and body control is fucking insane.

here are some must watches of him dancing : 1 | 2 | 3

other than his talent, i love listening to him talk 🫠 he's pretty soft-spoken and his little giggle? 😔 i love him

eunseok is a cheeky bitch, and i love him for it. he gives the energy that he would relentlessly make fun of his partner. it's like his love language.

also his cheekbones??? higher that god fr

i've always wanted to just pat sungchan on the head. like *pat pat* you know? granted dude is tall as fuck so he'd have to crouch down so i could give him a good pat, but i feel like he'd be willing.

i also randomly think about his verse in "90's love" like once a month ✌️

one thing i love about wonbin is that he will always serve cunt. genuinely, the face card goes so fucking hard i cannot.

personally, this little "mysterious pretty boy" persona sm has got him doing cracks me up because boo just wants to be silly 24/7. and he is. go watch a couple episodes of "we riize" and i promise you will understand.

SPEAKING OF FACE CARDS. good god 🫠

genuinely fuck sm for depriving us of seunghan. this man is actually so stunning that i can't breathe.

other than just a pretty face though i could genuinely fall asleep to the sound of him just talking. his deep raspy voice is the kinda shit that actually makes me melt.

also is just a silly guy. baby come home i miss you 🥺

sohee gives major toddler energy. like not in the sense that he's immature, but he is like riize's child. they love him. i love him. we all love him.

i honestly do feel like in another universe him and i would be great friends though. idk he just gives me that vibe.

fun fact about me....the closer an idol i like gets to my age the more delusional i get because like, would i go for a 25+ yo man rn?? fuck no. but someone less than a year older than me?? of course 😌 (i have a whole "subunit" of idols that fit into this don't worry. ask me about sometime i'd love to spill)

anyway, that rant aside, i fucking love anton (for many more reasons than us being close in age 💀). he is genuinely so fucking hilarious (source: riize tiktok captions). i'm in love with his energy. we would definitely vibe well together i can just tell.

he's also so college!bf coded (ofc he is he's literally 20 💀). BUT i'm currently hunting my campus for my anton lee dupe.

[natolesims]

Hi! Just wanted to let you know I love your Not So Berry (as you must’ve seen hehe) and you storytelling style! You in fact inspired me to play my own Not So Berry ✨ and even though I forget to take screenshots most of the time (-.-) I would love to post some of it on my simblr. I was looking for a fast way to edit but even more so add text like you do, with corresponding colors with each characters, do you have recommandations? After some trial and errors I thought I'd better ask directly what you are using ´:D

Thanks for your time 💖 keep up the good work✨✨✨

Hi hi!!

First of all: THANK YOU SO MUCH ;A; dahsd I feel honoured you say that, I'm so glad you like the gameplay and I can't wait to see what you come up with in yours!! This seriously made me feel rainbows in my stomach :'D

Second: I'm so sorry for taking my sweet time answering this, but I honestly don't know what to tell you xD I do the bare minimum while adding text, so I apologize in advance because this is going to be pretty bland.

BUT.

What I can say is that I tend to color-code my characters without thinking, so that helps me a lot to assign their text color. I keep tweaking the tones depending on how legible the captions are, but trying to choose vibrant tones makes it easier to read because of contrast! And once you have the tone, you can save the color into your palette library in photoshop so you can save time the next time you're editing.

Also, I don't use a special font or anything, but I found these two X X PSD templates that are ready to slap some captions in them (you'll probably have to download a couple of fonts depending on what you want to use), so they might be practical and useful to you!

Also, if you don't use photoshop, I strongly suggest Pixlr or Canva to add the text you want! I personally used Pixlr in my beginnings. It was fun :D

Lastly, I tend to use a "small" font size because I don't usually like BIG captions, but looking at my first story posts where the font is even smaller I'm like:

So have in mind that most readers will be using the app to read and that will make the images even smaller than you're seeing them on desktop, so don't be afraid to size up the text! Don't make the same mistake as I did, hehe.

Aaaaaaand that's pretty much it. I hope this helps!! Have fun and welcome to the dark sideeee

[humoropedia123]

Funny Movie Quotes: A Symphony of Laughter

Creating humor is an art form, and crafting a funny movie quotes requires a delicate balance of timing, delivery, and context. Screenwriters, directors, and actors collaborate to bring these moments to life. Let's peek behind the curtain and understand the creative process that goes into writing memorable and funny dialogue.

Behind the Scenes: Crafting a Classic Quote In the making of the iconic line, "I'll be back" from The Terminator (1984), James Cameron aimed for simplicity and impact. The result? A quote that has become synonymous with Arnold Schwarzenegger's tough-guy persona.

Funny Movie Quotes and Pop Culture The influence of funny movie quotes extends far beyond the silver screen. In the age of memes and viral content, these quotes become the foundation of internet culture. From GIFs to social media captions, the impact of these quotes on pop culture is undeniable.

Humor in Context: Understanding the Scene While a funny line can stand on its own, the context in which it's delivered often enhances its humor. Let's explore instances where the setting, characters, and plot contribute to the comedic brilliance of a movie quote.

Challenges in Translating Humor The universality of humor is a fascinating aspect, but it also poses challenges when translating funny movie quotes across languages. What may be uproarious in one language might lose its charm in another. Let's delve into instances where humor faces the hurdle of translation.

Lost in Translation: When Humor Doesn't Cross Borders The wordplay and cultural references in the "You can't handle the truth!" quote from A Few Good Men may not resonate as strongly when translated into another language. Understanding these cultural nuances is crucial to preserving the essence of a funny movie quote.

The Evolution of Humor in Cinema Humor, like any art form, evolves over time. What was considered funny in the past may not elicit the same laughter today. Let's explore the changing trends in humor within the realm of cinema, comparing the comedic styles of classic and modern movies.

From Slapstick to Satire: A Journey Through Time While classic comedies relied heavily on physical humor and witty banter, modern comedies often incorporate satire and self-awareness. The evolution of humor reflects societal changes and the dynamic nature of entertainment preferences.

Impact on Movie Marketing Humorous quotes aren't just confined to the runtime of a movie; they often play a crucial role in marketing campaigns. Let's examine how movies leverage funny quotes to create buzz, attract audiences, and leave a lasting impression.

From Script to Screen: Using Humor for Promotion The Deadpool marketing campaign is a prime example of using humor to generate interest. The irreverent and witty quotes in promotional materials set the tone for a movie that defied traditional superhero tropes.

Fun Facts About Funny Movie Quotes Behind every quote lies a story, and some of these stories are as entertaining as the quotes themselves. Let's uncover some fun facts and behind-the-scenes anecdotes that add an extra layer of intrigue to our favorite funny movie quotes.

Trivia Time: Unearthing Hidden Gems Did you know that the "I'm king of the world!" line from Titanic was improvised by Leonardo DiCaprio? Sometimes, the most iconic moments on screen come from spontaneity and creativity.

How to Incorporate Humor in Your Life As we wrap up our exploration of funny movie quotes, it's essential to highlight the impact of humor on our daily lives. Embracing humor, whether through movies or everyday situations, can significantly enhance our well-being.

Daily Doses of Laughter: Incorporating Funny Quotes Into Your Day Challenge yourself to introduce a funny movie quote into your conversations or share one on social media. The joy that humor brings is not confined to the cinema; it's a gift meant to be shared.

Conclusion Funny movie quotes are more than just lines spoken on screen; they are cultural phenomena that bring joy, laughter, and a sense of connection. From classic one-liners to contemporary wit, these quotes have a timeless quality that transcends the boundaries of cinema. As you explore the provided URL for a collection of the best funny movie quotes, remember the magic of laughter and its ability to enrich our lives.

[theglitterypages]

Secret Life of Gojo Satoru 2

Part 1

Pairings: Gojo Satoru x fem! Reader

Summary: What is the worst thing that could happen if you left the twins with their father?

Word Count: 1000+

~~~~~~~

“I'll be back soon okay? Behave with Dada, understood?” the twins just nodded their head and kissed your cheeks, when you flicked your eyes upwards you met Gojo's blue ones. “You know that I would always find out if you'll be feeding them tons of chocolate. No chocolates, or else you'll be sleeping at your room in Jujutsu High.” Gojo felt like his heart stopped beating, he knew that you're not lying, if there is anything he has learned in this marriage it is the fact that you never spat empty threats.

The first time you threatened him like this, he ignored it and still bribed the kids with sweets and when you found out, he did slept at his room in Jujutsu High, Yaga was laughing his ass off when he found out and he even mocked him of how he was the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in the community but in the house you are the ruler, Gojo didn't mind it, he loves you so dearly and your toughness made him fall for you.

Gojo has a sweet tooth, it is because he has to keep on eating sweets because of his technique and even if you have a sweet tooth as well you wouldn't want your kids to have too much sugar and you have to remind Gojo over and over again that he shouldn't give them too much sweets, they have to learn to eat nutritious food and Gojo being Gojo, he uses the sweets to bribe the kids, that's why you were forced to teach him a lesson by letting him sleep in jujutsu high, much to Yaga's amusement.

With a pale face he picked up the twins and smiled at you sweetly, “No sweets for the kids today, got it Mama.” he told you and you laughed before kissing him on his cheeks, you heard him whine about how you missed his lips but you just stuck your tongue out. “You can have all the kisses later, Satoru but if you feed them sweets you should just kiss the wall.” Gojo dramatically looked at you and shook his head, “Then just give me one kiss right now, I need motivation baby.” the twins looked at their father with disgusted faces and when you were about to lean in to kiss Gojo, Akira cupped your face and kissed you instead.

Gojo never felt so betrayed in his whole life. He was about to lean in to kiss you but Akihiro pushed his face away before leaning towards you.

“Aww babies, I love you. Come here Hiro, let Mama kiss you.” Hiro giggled and gave you a kiss and you giggled at the two, “Better luck next time, Satoru.” you winked at your husband and went out of your house and you swear you could hear Gojo's whines about the kiss that he didn't get but you just laughed it off.

---

“Dada! We're hungry!” The twins told their father as they got tired of running around the house, so far Gojo is being able to manage to take care of the two and he felt relieved that they're not throwing tantrums as of now.

He pat their heads and stood up, “Alright, Dada will cook for you two. But you guys should behave. I'll turn on the TV, watch some cartoons and let Dada do the work is that okay?” the twins nodded their head in excitement and sat at the carpet on the living room while holding their toys, before Gojo left the living room to went to the kitchen he saw the twins held each other's hand as they watch. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, he decided to silently take a picture so he could show you later.

The twins are fond of fried chicken that's why Gojo decided to fry some but as he waits for the chicken to get cooked he heard a loud crash and he ran to see what happened and he was frozen at what he saw.

“Dada! Hiro broke the vase because he threw the ball!” Gojo's jaw dropped when he saw the vase, Hiro was pouting and glaring at his sister saying that she's not suppose to say what happened. Gojo immediately picked them up and made them sat at the couch as he clean the broken pieces of the vase, after making sure that it was all taken care of he looked at the twins.

Gojo is not that strict as a parent, he believes that his children should be guided in what they do not to be controlled on what to do and if they made a mistake they should learn from their own failures. But that's not the case with three year olds.

“Hiro, look at Dada.” he sat at the front of the two and gave them a smile to reassure them that he's not mad. “That vase is not really important because we can buy another but if something happened to you or to your sister, Mama and I would be upset because you two are our most valuable treasure. You were planning to clean your mess and hide it to Dada weren't you?” Gojo asked his son.

Akihiro looked at his tiny hands and sniffed, “Sorry Dada.” he whispered and Gojo cupped his face gently to make him look up at him, “Just promise you won't keep any secrets from Dada and Mama. Also, don't fight with Akira alright? You two should protect each other do you understand?” Hiro nodded his head and looked at his sister, he hugged her and kissed her cheeks. “Sorry, Kira.” Gojo smiled and ruffled their hair before standing up.

“Don't worry about the vase, I'll be the one to explain to Mama. Watch TV and wait for me to finish cooking.” he kissed their foreheads and went back to kitchen, thank goodness the chicken didn't get burned.

----

When Gojo finished cooking, he called the twins to the kitchen and made them sat on their designated chairs before he placed down their foods. “After eating, we'll take a bath. You two smell bad.” Gojo lied and the twins glared at him. “No! You are smelly Dada! Mama said we smell good!” he laughed as he saw the twins' noses turned red in annoyance, it's a thing that the two inherited from you, the only difference is that your whole face gets red every time you're annoyed.

It was cute and he loves that the twins got that trait from you, “Kira, don't be messy.” Hiro reached for a tissue and wiped his sister's mouth while Gojo watched them with a smile plastered on his lips, he can't believe these kids are his, he's thankful that he found a woman who was strong enough to stay with him and gave him two angels, he couldn't ask for more.

“Kids, look at here. Dada will send Mama a picture.”

The twins smiled at the camera and Gojo chuckled before sending them to you with a caption. “Our 12 rounds that night are worth it babe, look at our angels.” he knows he'll receive a smack for that caption but he'll cross the bridge when he get there.

As he had said, he have to give the twins a bath and they are both excited to take a bath so it wasn't a tough job for Gojo, “Dada you stink! Shower already!” Akira pinched her nose and frowned at Gojo, Hiro laughed and also started teasing his father. “That's why Mama didn't kiss Dada he smells bad!” Hiro splashed water to Gojo and Gojo gasped.

“Young man, you want a fight?”

“Kira help!”

The twins ended up giving their father a bath, Gojo was all wet and the kids are not yet done so he told them to settle down so he could finish and take a bath on his own.

After that, Gojo took them in their room and dressed them, he put some baby powder in their back and when they were all done he took the box of toys from the top of the cabinet so the twins could play in their room. “Stay here while I shower alright? Shout for Dada if you need something.” The twins are too busy playing to give him attention that's why they just gave him a thumbs up, Gojo shook his head with a chuckle before he ran to the bathroom and turn on the shower.

----

Akihiro got bored playing his toys and he poked his sister's arm. “This is not fun, let's play other things.” Akira frowned but agreed to her brother, “What are we gonna play though?” Akihiro looked around the room and his gaze landed at the pillow, he was planning on throwing it to Akira and have a pillow fight but whe he got closer to the pillows, he saw the big bottle of baby powder, Akihiro waste no time and turn the lid befor squeezing it.

Akira's face was so white because of the powder, she wiped away the powder on her face before glaring at her brother, Hiro giggled and run away, Akira looked around to search for the other bottle of baby powder since she knew they have so many of that and when she successfully saw one she climb on the chair and reach for the baby powder placed on the table. She climbed down the chair and removed the seal before squeezing it towards her brother's direction.

The floor became slippery because of the powder, the twins are falling around the room but they didn't mind it, instead they giggled every time they fall and as they keep on going, they ran out of baby powder.

“Mine's empty now, let me get another one.” Hiro told his sister before he climbed at the same chair where his sister climbed and took two bottles of baby powder giving the other one to Kira.

Their war resumed and at the exact moment, Gojo just got out of the shower, he could hear their giggles and he was about to smile but as he sense the trouble, he immediately ran and his knees almost gave in when he saw that the whole room is covered by powder.

“DADA!”

Gojo had to drop his infinity when the twins charged themselves towards him, the next thing he knew his face was now full of powder, the twins' giggles filled his ears and Gojo decided to laugh it off. “We're all so dead.” he wiped his face and looked at his children, being a mischievous dad that he is, he wiped his hands on their faces and the twin ran away from him.

The three of them ran inside the room, slipping from time to time, when Gojo finally caught the twins he carried them and shook them as an attempt to get rid of the powders, “Wow Dada is so strong!” Akihiro giggled while Kira held onto her Dad tightly, “Enough, enough, Dada too high, too high.” Gojo put them down in front of a full length mirror and he sat in between them, “Look at our faces. You think Mama will still love us?” the twins giggled and nodded their heads.

When you got inside the house the first thing you heard were giggles, as you follow the voices you stopped on the room of the twins and when you opened it you saw Gojo and the twins trying to get rid of the evidences of their mess.

Gojo's hair has never been whiter, he's not wearing any shirt and his whole body is full of baby powder. The twins? They're worse than that to the point that you couldn't even describe their apperances in words.

“Gojo Satoru.” you called your husband, your voice stern and your stare was blank.

And at that moment, Gojo knows that he fucked up.

[pixuou]

random 4am rant about the existential questions of posting sims stories on tumblr

now that i'm forced to stop with the storytelling posts for a minute, i thought i would share this thought that has been straining my brain for AGES: some time ago i read somewhere that the most common (and according to some, the most annoying) mistake writers make is being inconsistent with the use of past/present tense in their writing, and i'm going to take a wild guess and say this is probably even more of a thing for people who post their writing periodically - like us simblrs. and god damn it i only noticed this in my writing after a good while of having been posting my gameplay already, even though i knew about it before! and then once i realised i'd been doing it the whole time, i tried very hard to avoid it and stick to either past or present tense while writing about what my sims got up to, but failed over and over again. apparently some posts don't feel right in present tense, while other posts don't make sense in past tense. it also hugely depends on when i'm posting a certain bit of a story/gameplay - it's different to post screenshots fresh-out-of-the-game than to be a week behind and try to catch up on uploading and write about the events knowing fully well what happened in the game after. i am definitely more prone to do the latter, and so i've been thinking maybe i should try to stick to past tense. the funny thing is i barely notice when others make this "mistake", unless i'm binge reading a story of course. but normally my dashboard is full of gameplay stories mixed with each other and you simply just don't remember or care to start thinking about what tense that one blog usually posts their stories in and if they're consistent. i only get bothered by this when i catch myself writing like that. does anybody else obsess over this? or even care about it (either from a reader's or a writer's pov)? if you do happen to care about this or notice it in posts - which do you think suits sims stories on tumblr better? telling the story as if it happened in the past or is happening right now in the present? i guess it also depends on writing style and how far a player takes their stories from the literal things that happen in the game. omg now i could start philosophizing on this too - like is it okay if one day i post like i'm trying to write a novel, and the next day i don't have the energy and just go "stella earned a bronze gardening badge ! yay."? but i WON'T get deeper into this now i promise. if you have any opinions you'd like to share on this please do - i'm really curious! as for myself, i can't decide if i see myself more as an enthusiastic sims player sharing my game or as an enthusiastic but uncreative and lazy storyteller using the sims to have fun coming up with small bits of writing and dialogue when i feel like it. in fact even if you take away the posting and community aspect of it, i still feel this is a question in me that i can't answer - do i love the game for the game, or do i just use it as a platform that helps me bring out the creativity in me that i otherwise find overwhelming to do something about? what even is the game? ...but then i realise i really don't have to answer this. just do what makes you happy. i love playing and i love writing and maybe some of it is cringey, and maybe sometimes i don't have it in me to go all out with captions so i let the pictures speak more instead, and maybe i entertain myself the most of all with my posts, and maybe i mix past and present tense. but it makes me happy and that's all that matters.

...this started as a post about grammar

[deviltoys]

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

hey, kevin here, i apologize that somethin' of this matter is being posted so late like this and so sudden. i won't be typing as i usually do as the accusations here are a serious matter and there won't be a need for my usual, light-hearted typing style.

it has come to my attention, though this information has been kept private for maybe a month, two? but has only just recently been brought to my attention by a good friend of mine. the claims were sent to him over instagram by my ex; kai or huhrizon. the photo will be attached below in which, kai, is laughing about the fact he believes he's found out that i am a minor. more specifically, fifteen. which couldn't be farther from the truth, this thread will be debunking and defending myself before he can come out and express these fabricated lies to try and ruin my reputation because he's upset that i wasn't ready for a relationship.

kai messaging mattia over the fact he believes he has uncovered 'my mother's facebook profile'. which will be debunked below.

very interesting that you decided to not only, try to uncover things about my identity after i politely explained to you that i no longer wanted to pursue a relationship, but that you're brewing up fake rumours just to try to get back at me for it.

onto the main claim. kai has been professing, that i, am infact a fifteen year old falsifying his age online. the reason he believes these claims are that, one, he found my mother's facebook profile. and two, that there was a photo on there of me, with the caption 'happy birthday kevin' posted onto the account. mattia has explained to me that this photo isn't here to be displayed as evidence, solely because kai sent the picture through instagram's vanish mode.

* this mode automatically deletes anything sent after the chat is closed.

mattia informed me that this photo was overall suspicious though as kai had blurred out the user's facebook handle. very odd indeed kai, very odd. i have no clue what this women looked like as there were no further photos, so until then, i don't know how i can debunk the woman not being my mother; appearance wise.

what reason do i have to believe this is motivated out of spite? before kai and i had become acquainted, i followed him through dylan, who had publicity posted about how his friend had created a dark blog. wanting to follow more creators who shared a similar interest, i followed him. immediately, kai had started sending asks about whether or not i was single. we had not talked nor even messages before, we had liked a few of each others posts and that was the max of our interactions. but i responded with a flirty remark, which i am now known for, but wasn't at the time. flirting was thrown back and fourth and after awhile i had realized i was no longer ready, mentally or emotionally for a relationship at that point in time. i still had full feelings for kai, yet kindly expressed my discomfort with a relationship. which he mutually accepted and that was that. i thought we were ended things on great terms, we both communicated and got our messages out of the way.

apparently this was not the case, as kai, without my knowledge goes to search for any sort of dirt he can find on me. which, i will be using a post by dylan to explain why i have reason to be swayed into the fact this was out of anger— i love dylan, and he's not included in these accusations whatsoever, but this post is important to view. do not drag him into this, please. i'm serious.

dylan admits to kai being able to ruin people's lives for fun. which is obviously, not a good look for him. he purposefully goes on the hunt for any information he can attach to someone. unluckily for him, he couldn't find anything worth exposing, so he restorts to making up lies about my age in an attempt to get some sort of revenge? as punishment for breaking his heart i presume. very, very mature after a breakup which i calmly and kindly let you know that i wasn't ready for anything further.

now, onto the rebuttal i have for his big accusation; me being a fifteen year old who's mother's social, kai sniffed up. my mother does not own any form of social media, she has an email which is technically not even a social app. ( this is used for her grad teachers, in order to contact her for reasons that will be explained ).

my mother hasn't had any social app for years, much less posts or takes photos of us to display whatsoever. my mother entered a relationship with a man, who at the time she didn't know was very, very anti-lgbtq.

* before anything else it's important to note that kai, believes i have a brother. i told him this in order to stray away any true information about me, as there are very few people i fully trust with the knowledge of my personal life. much less, someone who i just met at the time; i.e kai. kai had mentioned a friend of either his or his brothers being named 'hank' to try to also fit the lie of having a brother, i told him it was a funny coincidence that my brother had the same name. i do not have a brother, my sister and i are both trans— she being mtf, and i being ftm. she has given me explicit permission to disclose this, as i wouldn't ever dream of letting that information out without her word.

this leads into my main argument. my mother had been with this man for quite awhile, and had finally asked us for permission to give him the news, that we were both transgender and that he should know for the future of our family. he obviously, did not take this well. to keep details minimal for the safety of my family, i'll briefly explain some of the shit he's done to my mother. stalk, threaten, send unsolicited photos and dead animals to our home, try to get my mother to meet up - or find her location to meet up with her, and many, many more vile things. my family has been hiding, moving, and changing our identities ever since. my mother has wanted a healthy, safe environment for her children to grow up in without fear that their lives would be taken or in some way ruined by this man. we can't keep a house for more than a year before we're forced to go into hiding because of a message from him or some sick prank from somebody who knows about the situation. this is all i can say, as i don't want him to somehow get ahold of this post. which is also why i am withholding my families legal names as well as her ex's legal name just to be cautious. though it is never ever justified to lie to your partner, kai and i had barely talked and i felt pressured by the environment and excitement to rush headfirst into a relationship. causing me to hold back any truth to my personal life, excluding interests, stories, and stuff of that sort. which deserves an apology all on it's own.

now, where this fifteen, number came from. not a clue in hell, my sister, is sixteen but was fifteen at the time i was in a relationship with kai. i have no clue if this has anything to do with it, but he knew, as i told him i was celebrating her birthday through text. letting him know, the age she was and the age she was turning.

i live off the grid and always have. my legal name is not on here, my family or friends names, etc. my personality, all me, the stories or hobbies i have? true. my job? true. i express the true me on here while still holding back information that could cause my family into another year of hiding. my mother never has and never will have any socials. she barely uses her email out of fear, but has no choice as it's her only means of communication to her job.

another quick thing i would like to mention, to be truthful, as this is a post solely based on trust alone. as i have no physical evidence to back it up. i sent a photo to kai, letting him know it was taken when i was in middle school. i told him my mother put a filter over it, which is weird right? i just explained how my mother doesn't have socials, he's got to be lying, right? no, my teacher had taken the photo and she had edited on her photo to show our grandma, who she sent the image through phone messages. this was no lie, but it was a misdirection to try to get kai to believe my mother posted about me. i still didn't trust him and never fully did, so this was another. morally wrong, attempt to cover my true identity by lying to him about it. which, again, never right to lie to your partner. but i have a family to protect, it's hard to make friends and relationships online when you have to hide who you truly are your whole life. and i'm sorry that's been the case, though the information my mutuals privately know is all the truth. i've grown to trust a fair few, so thank you.

as a summary, these claims are total bullshit. i can provide more context or answers to any questions you may have, below, through dms, or through my inbox. this was once again posted before he could get his word out, as i wanted to make sure everyone knew what i had to say, in case he decided to 'expose' me while i was at work, or too busy to compile a rebuttal. thank you all for listening, you don't have to believe a word of this. as yes, my story does sound far-fetched but i have no way that i can verify it without putting my family in danger. which, i'd much rather lose my online status over a silly rumour than harm my family for another multitude of years. this is a rather short and rushed post though, as it's been bugging me for awhile and i just need to push it out.

[join-the-joywrite]

and I don't want to (but I love you)

@jatp-week Day 6: favourite trope

Not me doing a self-indulgent and stupidly long enemies to lovers au :>

Julie Molina didn't have enemies in her life. She had competitors, sure. Everyone did. But Sunset Curve took the whole cake. She didn't have enemies but Luke Patterson came dangerously close.

Luke Patterson, on the other hand, fully considered Julie Molina his number one enemy. He had zero qualms about saying that to her face and behind her back. He knew his band was the best but Julie had a real knack for knocking his ego down a bit and he hated her for it. Maybe he wouldn't get so riled up if she was nice about it or if not nice, she was less nasty and more stern. Honestly, it seemed like she took pleasure in criticizing Sunset Curve.

The rivalry between them extended to their bands and friend circles. Well, for the most part, anyway. Julie and Luke let Willie and Alex get away with their little forbidden lovers thing because they both thought the pair was cute together. It was pretty much the only thing they agreed on. Ever.

Willie only ever talked about Alex, not the band and Alex made sure to steer clear of mentioning Julie whenever he talked about Willie. The arrangement worked for all sides.

Julie and Luke's rivalry extended far beyond their music. It crept into their classes and had them fighting for the top spot. The teachers were thrilled. It meant Luke put in as much effort as he possibly could into every assignment or test. Even if it was out of pure spite, it was working.

And then, oh dear, and then there was a group project. Obviously, they split to opposite ends of the room with their friends to choose pairs (except Willie and Alex, who were shoved together and assured it was perfect) but apparently, it was important to learn how to work with people you dislike because in the workplace you might be forced to work with people you dislike -- or something like that.

Julie and Luke had never let their rivalry coerce them into doing stupid things -- except the one time where Carrie was convinced Luke could hold his breath longer and Julie almost drowned in the school pool to prove Carrie wrong -- but the moment they were paired up, Julie and Luke both wanted nothing more than to break several school rules, vandalism being the top one and starting violent fights being the second. It was unclear if they wanted to fight each other or their teacher.

Matters were made worse when their friends got to pair off together on their own terms while they were stuck with each other. The only thing keeping them from completely refusing to do any work was that they both were still competing for the highest scores.

Their friends had never been more entertained and the two opposing groups bonded over watching the two most stubborn people they knew suffer out a school project together. The clear awkwardness between them was hilarious and it was a pleasant thing to see them sitting at the same table and not trying to verbally murder each other. Bobby turned out to be the funniest person in the whole group. He had a meme-y caption for every moment they caught of Julie and Luke sitting near enough to have a normal conversation and the others loved it. He also seemed to be able to relate all the memes to the pair and was strangely good at photoshop, which earned him the Groupchat King title. (Julie and Luke were completely unaware of this groupchat excluding only them -- which, for the others' safety, was for the best.) Flynn's favourite was a photo of Julie with a feral look on her face, miming strangling a smug Luke. Me & 2020 was Bobby's winning caption. She wasn't sure which was which and that made it even better, in her opinion.

As the weeks passed, Julie and Luke's rivalry mellowed. As far as they said, it was still going strong but their actions told another story. There were playful nudges in the hallway, now. Teasing death glares across a classroom. Locked gazes and stifled giggles at inside jokes -- the fact that they even had those was surprising enough. They willingly shared a lunch table for the sole purpose of interrupting a mini date between Willie and Alex but most of it was spent in their own world anyway. Their mockery of each other had become gentler and more harmless teasing than anything.

And then one Tuesday, Luke didn't show up at school.

Of course, Luke's band knew exactly what was up, but they -- with support from Julie's friends -- decided it would be fun to play dumb and send Julie to Luke's house, just to check up on him, you know, despite the fact that the group project was long over and she really had no need to meddle further into Luke's life. The mere fact that Julie forgot she still had class and was seriously ready to leave immediately said a lot.

"I can promise you that it's really not as bad as it looks," Luke said from under several pillows, a puffy duvet and maybe three stuffed animals, "but there's no band practice today and I'm not coming to school tomorrow either so can one of you flick Julie's forehead for me? It's tradition."

"Band practice, huh?" Julie said, dropping her bag on the floor with a soft thud. "And here I thought you just had nothing more interesting going on in your life than disrupting mine."

Luke sat up fast enough that his head spun, his vision swam and two pillows fell off the bed. "Who told you where I live?"

"You did, dork. Here, I brought your homework and my dad's trying something out in the kitchen. He misread balf the recipe so it's the blandest thing I've ever tasted but if you're sick, it'll be good for you."

Luke responded to the bit that made sense. "I don't want bland food," he said, scrunching up his nose as Julie set a small stack of papers on the desk in the corner and walked up to him with a covered bowl.

"As if you'd know the difference. Your mom said you can't taste anything anyway."

"You talked to my mom?" Luke asked, looking mortified.

"Yeah, duh. What, did you think I climbed through your bedroom window? I don't care that much for you."

"Aww, I knew you cared for me."

Julie didn't respond to it. "So this is supposed to be a vegetable stew," she said, tapping the plastic wrap over the bowl, "but like I said, mistakes were made."

"Well, what is it then?" Luke asked, leaning over to peer at the bowl.

"I'd call it . . . semi-flavoured water with surprise veggies."

"Joy."

"I know, right? Anyway, I'll leave you to your . . . pillow fort? Cute stuffies. I have the same penguin."

Luke glanced at the penguin that was still secured in his arm. "Don't you dare tell your friends. Especially not Flynn. She's ruthless."

"She is not. But fine, only because you're sick. I'll be back for my bowl tomorrow and it better be empty."

Luke watched Julie leave with a look of amazement. As soon as he heard his front door close, footsteps pattered through the hallway, leading up to his mother sticking her head in his room. "I like her."

"I'm going back to sleep," Luke said, diving back into the safety of all his pillows, wondering if it was the fever or Julie that set his cheeks blazing.

Probably the fever.

"Good afternoon, dork. Reggie says you said you liked the semi-flavoured water and my dad felt very appreciated by that so he's made some actual stew for you to try. It's beef stew this time so please don't get surprised. Did you do yesterday's homework? You should, because I brought today's. How do you feel?"

Luke, who had been staring at Julie with his mouth slightly open in a perfect picture of surprise, blinked when he realised she'd stopped speaking. "Don't you knock?!"

"Your mom said you were asleep and I could just leave everything here for you but you were awake so. . ." Julie trailed off, shrugging.

"You . . . you are so strange."

Julie shrugged as she set the homework down on the desk and walked up to the nightstand to put the covered bowl down in Luke's reach. "You need to come back to school. I feel bad bullying your friends."

"I'm sure they'll be glad to hear that," Luke said sarcastically. He paused for a second. "Yeah, I did the homework. Most of it. My mom said it'll help to get out of bed and do something. I tried to play the guitar but she was adamant I didn't do that something."

Julie nodded and walked back to Luke's desk. She rifled through the mess and picked up all the homework. "I'll finish this essay for you," she said almost absently, searching among the pages. "Please tell me you did your science homework. I got a lot of that wrong and no one wants to give me the answers because apparently, I should learn my work."

"Uh . . . yeah. Um, yeah, I did the science. Wh-- what do you mean 'do the essay' for me?"

Julie looked up as she gathered everything into a pile of messy and uneven papers. "It's on the African American civil rights movement. It's factual and ninety percent of the class will have the same essay anyway so--"

"No. No, I mean . . . why?"

"Oh. Uh . . . why not?"

Luke didn't have a response, so he fell silent.

"Well, that's all of yesterday's homework. Get some rest and then make sure you eat. I can't have my favourite punching bag get too weak to take a hit."

As Julie turned and left his room, Luke felt the sudden urge to scream, so instead, he slammed his burning face into his favourite penguin. Yes, she had called him a punching bag, but she'd also called him her favourite.

"Music class just isn't the same without booing you. Also, Alex said you managed to keep the beef stew down yesterday so my dad thought you could try something a little heavier. This is an experimental chicken and fried rice . . . thing. I do not reccomend eating unless you're sure you're okay enough for a full meal. That said, I brought more beef stew in case you're not up for the chicken and rice."

"You can't just walk in unannounced!" Luke cried as Julie set down the two bowls on the nightstand.

"I can, actually," Julie said, flashing a set of keys at Luke.

Luke's jaw dropped when he recognized the keychains. "Hey, those are mine!"

"Wow, so observant. Your mom gave it to me before I left yesterday because your dad is at work and she needed to go out today and with you holed up in here, there wouldn't be anyone to open for me."

Luke frowned. "Oh, yeah, she said something like that but I was half-asleep."

Julie was pleasantly surprised to find Luke's homework neatly gathered at the corner of the desk. It didn't escape her how Luke seemed to glow with pride when she commented on it. She had to fight a smile as she dropped Luke's homework into her bag.

"Get some rest, dork. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call someone from Sunset Swerve. I'll be busy."

"It's Sunset CURVE and you know it."

"Really? I never noticed."

Luke pouted. "Tuxedo Sam says you're being very mean right now. I'm sick and I deserve care."

"Well, you can tell your stupid penguin that Skipper will beat his ass."

"You named your penguin after the penguins from Madagascar?"

"You call yours Tuxedo Sam."

"Yeah, okay, that's fair."

Julie rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "Take a nap, Moody McSleeveless."

Luke glanced at the penguin laying nearby as he heard Julie lock up the house again. "Don't look at me like that, she's mean all the time."

"I BROUGHT CAKE!"

Luke scrambled up, launching Tuxedo Sam off the bed. "Who died?"

"No one died," Julie said, picking up the penguin as she walked up to Luke's bed. "It's Friday and since you're doing a little better, I thought you could do with a small treat. Tuxedo Sam agrees."

"Give me back my penguin," Luke said, reaching both arms out to Julie.

"Did you do yesterday's homework?"

"Yes."

"Did you really eat both bowls of food yesterday?"

"Yes."

"And keep it down?"

"Yes, ma'am, now can I please have my penguin back?"

Julie passed Luke the stuffed animal. "You're adorable," she blurted, turning away immediately to hide her own stunned look. She cleared her throat as she headed to the desk to grab Luke's homework. "So, that group project? We got a ninety-five."

That distracted Luke easily enough. "What happened to the other five?!"

"We're very bad at teamwork," Julie said, glancing back at Luke over her shoulder to see him relax against the pillows.

"Ah. That . . . makes sense."

Julie nodded. "Mhm."

The silence that blanketed the room wasn't as awkward as it should have been.

"I have to go. Most of the teachers said it would be okay to get your homework on Monday, but Mr Hughes is on my tail about your chemistry paper. My dad is making cupcakes tonight for some reason and I told Willie he could have some, so I'll send extra with him to give to Alex to give to you, but enjoy that crappy store cake for now. I left proper lunch with your mom for when you feel like it."

It didn't register that the only reason Mr Hughes would be harassing Julie about Luke's homework was if Julie herself had taken responsibility for Luke. Well, it did register, but by then, Julie was long gone and the only response Luke could muster was a muffled scream into poor Tuxedo Sam.

"Oh, ew, gross. Luke, it smells like the middle school locker room in here. What were you doing?"

Luke had never looked more sheepish in his life as he pointed to the canister on his nightstand -- right next to his alarm clock. "My phone went off about an hour ago and I thought it was the alarm so I did the smart thing and slammed it down but I missed. Obviously."

Holding her nose, Julie dropped everything she was carrying on Luke's table and tore the curtains open, pushing the windows as far as they could go. She stood there for a moment, relishing in the fresh air. "I'll come back inside when I can breathe," Julie said, halfway out the window.

Luke wanted to melt into his pillows. A week later and he was only feeling slightly better. The pros of it was that Julie visited every day with something tasty and a level of snark that only amused him. The cons of it was that Julie visited every day and left him flustered and red in the face.

He firmly believed that Julie only came by every day because she had homework to drop off, but today was Saturday. There was no more homework to drop off.

And she could have just backtracked right out the door again but instead, she headed for the windows on the other side of his room. Why?

Because she's taking care of you, dork.

Luke couldn't help but think that the logical voice in his head sounded suspiciously like Julie.

"Hey, my parents have some stupid couple's yoga thing on Saturdays. Did you break in?"

Julie pulled the windows halfway closed and stepped back into the room. "No, I still have your keys. Your dad tried to give me the spare key to the front door but your mom said it'll be fine if I kept yours until you're back on your feet."

"Wow. She really trusts you, huh?"

Julie shrugged. "I'm a very trustworthy person."

"No, you're not. I saw you lose a pen that you stuck behind your ear and then you proceeded to lose three more by tucking them behind your other ear and in your pockets. You then tried to steal mine."

"I was fourteen," Julie said defensively.

"It happened last week!"

"I felt fourteen."

Luke gave Julie a deadpan look.

"Cute pyjamas."

"I know, right? Bobby got us matching ones when we were like fifteen for band bonding. I mean, I grew out of the pants but the shirt still fits."

Julie scoffed as she stared at the dark haired cartoon smiling at her from the pink shirt. "Looks really good on you, Skip."

"Hey, I like being Skipper. She's Barbie's most intelligent sister."

"Oh, yeah?" Luke didn't even notice that Julie had made herself comfortable at the foot of his bed. "And if you're Skipper, who are the others?"

"Bobby is Chelsea, 'cause he's the youngest of us, Alex is Barbie, 'cause his summer jobs have been everywhere, and Reg is Stacie, 'cause she's Bobby's favourite and Bobby's favourite bandmate is Reg."

Julie's head tilted slightly. "You sound drunk."

"The bottle said one teaspoon of cough syrup but I didn't read and I took two tablespoons. It's okay, though. Mom panicked and called the doctor and he says the cough syrup he gave me is for kids and I'm just really, really, really intolerant. Which you should remember for me because I plan to be super famous with the band and there are gonna be a lot of after parties and I don't wanna get drunk five minutes in. I think the cough syrup is kicking in."

"Luke Patterson, you are unbelievable."

"I know, right?" He attempted a winning smile, but it came off as plain childlike.

Julie chastised herself for finding him adorable. They were mortal enemies and she had to remember that. Then what are you doing in his room on a Saturday, after explicitly telling the rest of his band to stay away?

Julie found it unnerving how much the voice in her head sounded like a teasing Luke.

"You're like, really annoying."

Julie frowned. "I -- I'm sorry?"

"You should be." Luke was sitting cross-legged now, fiddling with the ears of a stuffed bunny. "It's really messing with my head."

Julie decided she liked tipsy Luke -- even if it was just cough syrup. "How so?"

"No, it's nothing."

"You can tell me, Luke. I promised not to tell anyone about your stuffed animals and I kept it, right?"

"Yeah, but this time the secret about you. You're not allowed to know."

Curiosity more than anything made Julie lean forward slightly. "It'll be our secret."

"Okay, but you have to promise not to talk about it."

Julie nodded quickly. Luke tugged at the bunny's ears for a moment.

"You're like . . . really pretty."

Julie couldn't help the soft laugh that bubbled out of her. Adorable, she thought.

"Like, a lot of pretty. You're pretty on the inside, too."

"On the inside?"

"Yeah. On the inside. You know, your heart."

"M-my heart?"

Luke nodded at his stuffed rabbit. "Yeah. You have a really pretty heart. It beats like a drum. Making music. Like you."

Julie's mouth hung open, surprise silencing her.

"You have the prettiest music in you. I can hear it like -- like a song that gets stuck in my head all day. It's really annoying but it's so pretty. It smells like flowers and it looks like butterflies."

At this point, Julie didn't think she'd be able to speak, even if she knew what to say. Luke was talking to the stuffed animal, frowning as he struggled to voice his thoughts understandably.

"Sometimes it's just so loud and I wanna cover my ears and run away but it just gets louder and louder and then you come over and you're saying something mean but the music is there and it's not so loud anymore but I still can't hear anything else. Your heart sounds like a ballad."

Julie was frozen to her seat at the edge of the bed. Part of her wondered if it was Luke talking or the fever. Part of her desperately hoped it was Luke.

"Julie, you are music."

It was a simple sentence. Anyone could have said it. It could mean a lot or it could mean nothing at all. If anyone else had said it to her, she would have taken it as the highest form of a compliment. But that wasn't what Luke was saying.

Everyone knew that Luke spoke best through lyrics and chords. His books and desks were covered in etched notes and scribbled words. Luke lived and breathed music. It was everything to him. Without it, Luke didn't know who he was.

And he compared it to Julie.

Julie stared at the text on her phone. She bit her lower lip, unsure of what to say in response.

Mom said you visited yesterday. I was dazed for most of it. I didn't say anything stupid or incriminating, right? Not that anything could be more incriminating than the three stuffed animals on my bed.

Ten minutes after that, another had come through. Jules, are you ignoring me? Did I do something?

Then another five minutes later. This is still Julie Molina's number, right?

Julie quickly typed out something before she chickened out again and tossed her phone to the foot of her bed once it was sent.

Hey. Got busy in the kitchen with dad. No, you're good. See you at school tomorrow?

Julie scrambled for her phone to send one last word.

A few streets away, Luke stared at the word 'dork'. He was sure he had said something. He vaguely remembered yapping on about music to Julie -- duh, what else did they share? -- and then suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. He wondered if he'd fallen asleep talking and Julie had left then or if he really had said something to make her leave.

Yeah, he wrote back, see you at school.

Luke cornered Julie as soon as he caught sight of her in the school hallway. "You've been ignoring me and I don't like that."

Julie squeaked. "I most definitely am not ignoring you."

"Julie, you're pretty much the only person in this school that doesn't keep their phone on mute or vibrate. I know you heard my texts yesterday."

"So what if I am?" Julie asked, folding her arms. "We're not friends, so why should you care if I reply to your texts or not? In fact, why were you even messaging me in the first place?"

While Luke fumbled for a response, Julie slipped past him and continued on her way to class.

"Oh, that is just rude!" Luke yelled after Julie.

She ignored him all through any classes they shared and when lunch rolled around, she made sure to sit with Carrie and Flynn at a small table. Luke had never looked more offended in his life as he joined Reggie in sitting with Alex and Willie.

"What did you do on Saturday?" Alex asked, leaning forward to whisper. "Julie was fine when she told us we don't need to come by at all."

"Julie told you not to come over?" Luke asked, ripping his gaze from Julie to Alex and then Reggie, who shook his head.

"Bro, she actually called Alex and told him that we don't need to come see you because she was going to."

"Yeah, I remember her being there but I was drugged up on cough syrup."

"Weak," Alex whispered loudly, grinning when he made Willie laugh.

"Maybe you said something?" Willie suggested.

"Yeah, probably! But she's not talking to me. She's not even insulting me, which I would very much prefer over this apathy."

"You know where she lives," Reggie said dismissively. "Maybe you should pay her a visit."

Luke glanced across the cafeteria to see Julie quickly whip her head down to stare at her fold. "Yeah. Maybe."

Julie was tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Her plans were thrown way off the rails when she walked into her room and found Luke petering around the shelves beside her bed.

"What are you doing here?"

Luke drew his hand back sharply. "Cute box. What's in it?"

"None of your business," Julie snapped, hurriedly closing her bedroom door. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you but you were ignoring me and--"

"You could've just yelled at me from outside," Julie hissed. "I would have come down to shut you up! You can't be in here. Get out of my room."

"No. Not until you tell me why you've been avoiding me since Saturday. Jules, what--"

"Fine! Go and wait for me in the garage. I'll come talk to you in there."

Luke hesitated, unsure if Julie was serious.

When she heard footsteps getting closer, Julie grabbed Luke by the neckline of his shirt and dragged him to the window. "Get out," she whispered hurriedly, "I'll come down to the garage, I promise."

Thankfully, by the time her father arrived, Luke was gone.

"Who were you talking to, mija?"

"Luke," Julie said with a smile. She pointed at the phone. "He liked the cupcakes I sent with Willie."

"Oh, that's great. You didn't take something yesterday and today? Is he feeling better?"

"Much," Julie said, nodding, "in fact, we have some talking to do, so I'm gonna meet him in the garage in a few minutes."

"So late?"

Julie absolutely could not lie to her dad. But she could do half truths. "It's a long overdue discussion."

"School work?"

Julie shrugged. "Music."

"Ah. The garage makes sense. Well, do you wanna take some food down? Midnight snack?"

"Thanks, dad," Julie said with a smile, "you're the best."

"Oh, your dad is the best!" Luke cried as soon as he saw Julie walk in with a plate of cookies.

"These are experimental, too. They're some kind of oatmeal and choc mint blend. They taste good, in my opinion."

"Everything your dad makes tastes good," Luke said, grabbing three cookies. "My mom's starting to get jealous of how much I love your dad's cooking."

Juli smiled and set the plate down on the coffee table. Was there any point beating around the bush? Sugarcoating things?

"You told me I was music."

Luke paused, one and a half cookies gone. "What?"

Julie kept her gaze trained on the tassels of the carpet. "You told me I'm annoying . . . because I'm pretty. Because I have a pretty heart. You said it beats like a drum and I have the prettiest music in me that gets stuck in your head. It --"

"Smells like spring and looks like butterflies. . ." Luke looked positively mortified.

Julie, refusing to look up, did not notice. "You said . . . you said my heart sounds like a ballad and then -- and then you told me I am music."

Had he really said all that aloud? Well, no wonder Julie was avoiding him like the plague.

Julie tensed up when she could see Luke's feet step in front of her. Almost every part of her screamed that this was wrong. They shouldn't be so close without bickering and fighting. But deeper within, beyond the confines of logic and sense, Luke's voice told her that this was the furthest thing from wrong.

"I said all that? Aloud?"

Julie nodded.

"You know what music is to me."

Julie nodded again.

"Jules," Luke said gently. "Julie, look at me."

Julie refused to, so Luke gingerly tucked his finger under her chin and lifted her head, waiting until her gaze fell on him before speaking.

"You know what music is to me," he said again, prompting another nod from Julie. "Then you know what you mean to me."

Julie blinked a few times and shook her head. "No. No, that's just the fever talking. You -- you didn't really mean all of that."

"If you really believe that, why are you avoiding me?"

"I . . . I don't know."

Luke dropped his hand to take hold of Julie's. He glanced at her, waiting for her to pull away. When she didn't, he interlocked his fingers with hers. "I meant every word. Okay, maybe not literally, but you know what I mean."

Julie shook her head. "We're not even friends, Luke."

"Hm, well, who said I wanted to be your friend?"

Julie wanted to hate Luke. She wanted to loathe the sight of him. She didn't want to like him, let alone love him.

And yet, she did.

So before the overthinker in her could stop her, Julie leaned up on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. Luke beamed at her like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Not the response I was expecting, but definitely one I'm enjoying."

"Don't make me regret it."

"Yes, ma'am. Now, what are my chances of getting two more? And one for the road? Within the next five seconds becaus my mom doesn't know I snuck out and she think I'm still sick."

"Dork," Julie said fondly, shaking her head.

"I'm serious!"

"You can have two."

"Three."

"Two."

"Four."

"One."

"Two will do," Luke said, letting go of Julie's hands to wrap his arms around her. He gave her a small squeeze. "Plus a hug."

"Dork," Julie said again. But he was her dork and he was her favourite.

Before anyone comes for me about the cough syrup thing, I'm drawing from experience. I mean I never confessed my undying love for anyone but I did blurt out some weird shit. Also, THAT WAS LONG AND IF YOU SURVIVED THE ENTIRE THING, CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU

Mara's masterlist

[handonhaven]

P.s. Bad/broken English cause am from the Caribbean, hope you maybe can understand some parts 🙃..

1. Everyday I fight for my spot in heaven when it comes to the legacies fandom, The timeline on Twitter been going wild since week and going worst since they posted that hope poster last night and I can tell you with the hardcore hate us handon's been getting the handon nation never fail's to entertain the heck outta me been laughing from last night till this minute😂😂😂😂😭😭. The handon's and hosie's in arguments, the hizzie and hosie's been arguing but like the fun part is watching the handon's and Hizzie's arguing with the hoise's the time line been killing me since Monday😂😂😂 sorry if I sound toxic😭 am deadass just tired of the hosie's it's always the hosie's, all grown ass adults hosie stans a agrue over ship Pon Twitter and them suppose to be the one to set examples me cah bada😂😂😭...

2. The hosie's talking about hope doesn't have any storyline out of Landon and this season is deadass about hope she finally getting the spotlight and the hosie's still complaining about hope not having a storyline all because of the hope poster 🤦🤦 and if the hope poster did have a Josie saying on it I know for a damn fact the hosie's would be rubbing it in every other ships fans faces 🙄🙄..... We been wanting Landon's own storyline for so fcking long and now maybe we getting it (if the writers actually makes the effort🙄) Dani did say hope and Landon gonna figure them self outside of there realtionship, assuming that's b4 the pause is up.. and that's exactly what there doing hope as a storyline and Landon as a storyline ( although they making Landon storyline about other people except him) a can't bother 🤦..

3. I stuggle with my emotions and am trying to break my attachment with legacies and mostly handon Everytime I try to come out of the handon fandom and legacies fandom because of the toxicity cause its not good for my mental health some how am right back to where I started and can't get out.. the handon fandom is So entertaining deadass😂😂😭.....

Jesus this long asf am sorry 😭😭😭...

It’s all good, your English is totally fine! I don’t have a twitter but will look around sometimes so I’ve seen some of it and it has indeed been ridiculous. I just can’t believe that people are absolutely losing their minds over a poster with a little quote. Though I can’t deny it can be quite entertaining to see. 😂 You don’t sound toxic, sometimes with this fandom you just have to laugh because of the kind of behavior that goes on. And yeah, it’s always the H*sies, which I feel is a lot of kids as well, but it’s sad that there are so many adults too. Hard to believe the way they act, and over a ship that’s not even real in the show.

Oh yeah, it seems that’s all anyone can talk about, Hope’s whole story “revolving around Landon,” even though Hope is literally getting her own storyline right now. But exactly, they’re still complaining because of a poster rather than focusing on what’s happening in the show. Even though it looks like they’re reusing stuff from s3 promo (why they’re doing basically no promo for s4, who knows) and the quote is also technically from what was originally part of s3 too. And I love seeing new matching Handon posters and love how they sort of hinted at the connection between Hope’s humanity and Landon with the caption and that poster, but overall, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal? At least not to the extent that people are making it. And it’s not like this is the first and only Hope poster, we did get the first poster for this season with just Hope that had no relation to Landon. And Handon is the main couple of the show, so just because they continue to show that with some of the promo material doesn’t mean everything about Hope revolves around Landon. No one was complaining when Landon’s quote on his poster was about Hope (I know it’s because they don’t care because they hate him, but just saying). There’s nothing wrong with them showing that their love story is still a big part of the show and their characters. And they can still have their own storylines outside of that. Which is what we are now seeing (hopefully with Landon too).

And exactly, just imagine the reaction if Hope’s poster had a quote about Josie, we’d never hear the end of it. I just think it’s ironic how they complain about Hope and her storyline revolving around Landon when they make everything having to do with Hope about Josie and vice versa. I mean, they even want a no humanity Hope and dark Josie team up, which would take away from Hope’s own storyline that they’ve supposedly waited so long for? Such hypocrites...

And so true, I’m really hoping we’re gonna finally get Landon’s own storyline, we’ve gone an entire season without seeing any of his storyline. So let’s hope the writers will give it to us and actually treat him like a character rather than a plot device. And I hope Danielle was right as well about both Hope and Landon figuring things out about themselves, it could be really interesting. They better not continue to make Landon’s storyline about other people like they did all last season and last episode, I can’t take it anymore. But even with Hope and Landon’s own separate storylines, their love for each other is still a huge part of their characters and who they are, the show can’t just forget that, no matter how badly the antis want them to.

And I totally get that, I often feel like I have to distance myself from this show and the fandom because it’s not good for my mental health either. The show is basically always disappointing to me these days and the fandom is so toxic, but I love Hope and Landon so much that it’s hard to distance myself the way I know I should. 😭 And yeah, the fact that it can also be very entertaining to see what goes on in the fandom doesn’t help, haha.

But no worries, this response obviously got long as well. 😂

[nostuntmanneeded]

Mm, I’m a little younger than Ale and I can honestly say she was probably ignorant at the time. I knew I was when I dressed up as a Japanese schoolgirl for Halloween once despite being Baltic af. While I regret it, it gives insight because I had no idea what cultural appropriation was at the time. I don’t think she did it maliciously. It was a costume party and people go all out for those. I blame the people who threw the party more than I blame her. For Ale, I firmly believe she was 100% ignorant and just having fun with friends at parties. An ‘in the moment’ thing. Who knows if she knows now or not. She may still be confused on the topic. She may think it wasn’t a big deal because it was a costume party. She may be like ‘well, apologizing won’t do anything now’. // Before anything else, I'm not throwing hands or anything, I'm just trying to explain things here since we've talked about this already lol. I'm not even gonna go over the fact that she hasn't taken a single liability or show an ounce of remorse for these actions, also refusing to apologize because 'it won't do anything now' doesn't make it any less terrible, in fact it makes it much worse. If you're genuinely sorry and regretful, you would apologize nonetheless because apologies are basic human decency and accountability, not damage control. Ignorance should never be an excuse for you to get away with your foolishness, I myself, have done a couple of things that I didn't know was offensive at the time. When I was young I used to pull on the corner of my eyes and pose for a picture to mimic the 'East Asian eye look'. Keyword: young. Those parties happened only a few years ago, around 2018 and she was already on her mid/late twenties by that time. She has no excuse to be that ignorant not only was she old enough to know about this, degree or no degree, she's an educated person and you don't have to study in a prestigious institution to know about these things. I came from a good luxury school but they don't teach these things but they taught me well enough to respect other cultures. The things I know about indigenous peoples and other oppressed races, I learned from the internet, you'll be surprised by how much you'll learn with just a few simple clicks. Also, this is a person who's known for making frequent travels meaning, she's visited a lot of places and she is constantly being exposed to countless diverse cultures. How do you not learn anything from that? How are you still this ignorant? You can't possibly blame the people who threw the party more than unless she was dragged by the hair to get to that party and forced to wear those "costumes" and was blackmailed to post a picture of herself with her face painted dark with the hashtag #JungleParty and another video of her friends doing the Native American war cry captioned with 'savage'. She willingly went to that party as a grown woman fully capable of making her own decisions. She chose to go that party, she chose to wear those "costumes" and she chose to post those things, the fact that she wasn't the one who threw the party, doesn't make her innocent. What if the host was also '100% ignorant'? Every single person in that party share the same brain. That wasn't just some regular party where they all agreed to match their costumes (even if it was, it's still wrong), it was a themed party they literally called it Jungle Party and Asian Night they clearly have established among themselves that they are going to have a party based on a particular culture so are you telling me that they all had the time to go buy/make those 'costumes' and come up with an idea how to paint their faces and yet not a single one of them bothered to do a research on the background about the culture they were planning to use? Again, why on earth would you host and participate on a themed party 'inspired' by a culture you do not understand? The fact that they decided to have a costume party and use cultures for it is a red flag on its own.

Exactly!

And what gets me is the fact that Alejandra wants to be a famous Hollywood actress. She wants to be in the public eye and she wants to be known to everyone.

These posts are problematic and when she was called out on them, she just limited her comments. She didn't bother to acknowledge it or apologize.

[thoroughlyskeptic]

“We both went to the London premiere but not together. We weren’t engaged and there was no reason to sort of show off to the world." USA Today November 18, 2014.

I'd like the Nannies to express their opinion about this please. With the full understanding that no person or persons on this side of the computer can control, sway or change Ben's mind or heart. That's not the point. The point is to understand what you believe is the psychological reasoning behind the decision to use that phrasing with his pregnant, soon to be fiancé and soon to be wife and soon to be mother of his child. According to People magazine and the Daily Mail, and those, including nannies, who said they have seen a Birth Certificate, Christopher Carlton Cumberbatch was born on June 1st.  Dislike it all you want, having a birthday makes it possible, and given human nature, likely that people will speculate on the date of conception, especially considering the facts, including the timing with regards to the Oscars and the shotgun* nature of the wedding. If it was a full term no problem pregnancy, 40 weeks, not under or over due, she was 2 and a half months pregnant when the above statement was made.

This story you nannies have built up, that Ben and Sophie have a true perfect love forever, that they never fight, how do you reconcile that with the whole unvarnished truth? Unless Sophie was totally gormless, she must have known she was pregnant. If Ben was dating her and truly in love, he would have known she was pregnant. They married three months later. He was in true love with the women he married, the woman he proposed to, whom he didn't mention by her name in interviews, and didn't want to walk down the red carpet to his movie premiere with the woman making his dreams come true, his dreams of being a father.

Now you are going to yell about things like privacy. That what he said was meant to protect Sophie and hide the pregnancy. I think anyone who is at all skeptical could answer that one. No one eager for privacy about their personal life talks to reporters, USA Today, or People magazine at all, let alone does a wedding dress spread in Vogue. I'm surprised it was in the print edition, and not the digital only. After all, maternity bridal gowns aren't really "en vogue". The long and short of it is that photo spread was well positioned and they managed to photograph her to look like she wasn't 5 1/2 months pregnant, perhaps to make that style of gown more in demand. Shotgun weddings tend to favor empire waists and lots of flounce to disguise the bump.

Now, I know the next question from the peanut gallery will be, why bring this up? They have stayed together, have two more kids together and it has been x and whatever years.

Here are several responses. Pick one or more in any combination.

1. Our feelings don't have to be right to be valid.

2. You have the option to object to our perfectly valid emotional reaction.

3. We have a right to block you from our page. You also have this right.

4. If you object to our opinions, you do not have to read our blogs or interact with us in anyway. If you are constantly feeling harassed because you see content from skeptics, BLOCK THEM, don't blame them! If the worker at Sea World handed you a poncho to protect yourself and you didn't use it, you can't blame the Shamu if you get splashed.(Sorry for the outdated and insensitive analogy but I wanted something easy to understand. I disagree whole hearted with the captivity of intelligent creatures be they aquatic or terrestrial mammals.)

5. We are valid in our own right as people. If you attack us on a personal level, we will defend ourselves and we have the right to do so.

6. As long as we do not interact with anyone,(i.e. Ben, Sophie, Karon, his management, etc) we can say whatever we want on our own blogs. The majority of us have never met him and don't want to. As far as we are concerned, Ben is an imaginary person that we are writing as a character for a long running D&D campaign.

7. However, the same does not apply to you. Many of you have gone out of your way to meet him. You believe that by sending hate to skeptics or doxxing them you will earn validation from him. I worry that some of you are on the brink and if he doesn't acknowledge you one time, or does something that you can't justify with your world view, one of you will snap. You think this about us, I know. But the nannies on the whole have much more emotional investment in Ben's personal life. (As a for instance, The skeptics call him Ben because at least one nanny has said that, "we don't know that he prefers that nickname so we should use his full name" another said "nicknames are for close friends and family and we aren't those, so we should call him by his full name or Mr. Cumberbatch." If Ben even has two thoughts about any skeptic or nanny(especially how they address him in blog posts) for the entire year I'd be surprised. Unless, of course, it when he has to think about you lot bothering him, stalking him, and generally making a nuisance of yourselves.

******

I also know you complain that the skeptics don't "love" Ben in every thing he does and don't always watch all his work. The gatekeeping within the fandom, not include how you discount and loathe the skeptics, is extreme. Fans must be all or nothing.

1. Not everyone has the money to participate fully, whether that is buying movies, theater tickets, merchandise or going to conventions to hear him speak. Disregarding fans based on their ability to participate, especially due to financial inability, is gatekeeping and it is the worst kind of gatekeeping. You are saying the only good fans are rich ones.

2. Generally the nannies viewpoint is Eurocentric as well. Some people have jobs, have children to raise, have other things that take priority over "being a fan". Being a fan requires time that poorer countries, less developed countries generally lack. Some countries censor the movies that are shown. Doctor Strange was not shown in the East the way it was in the west and unless you can afford to travel to another location,(Say the London Premiere that didn't quite happen and the nannies were upset because he didn't preform like a good little monkey in a suit for them?) you are made to feel left out by the uber fans.

3. Some people have emotional triggers. Ben's roles tend more towards the dramatic then comedic. Drama can deeply affect those who have experienced similar situations. He has been in movies dealing with Cancer, Childhood Abuse, Incest, Slavery, War, Pedophilia, have I missed any major triggers?

4. He is also in the MCU and the Hobbit movies which have flashing lights which makes them inaccessible to those who have seizures and migraines. Another oft used gatekeeping tactic in fandoms is the restriction of accessibility. In the US, there are compliancy laws for disabilities(although they aren't always obeyed) but smaller, poorer countries may not have accessible movie theaters. Fans with disabilities can not travel as easily as more abled fans. Smaller independent films Benedict made at the beginning of his career may not have captions or audio description or may be unafforable for those that have medical costs to consider.

5. There is also gender bias in the Cumberbatch fandom. One need only look at their chosen name, Cumberbitches. I can think of 15 more gender neutral terms off the top of my head but men and those who identify as male were inherently excluded from the fandom. I can think of ONE male fan. Maybe one that writes under his wife's account as to not get ridiculed. Because they would be ridiculed by the nannies, that is who they are, the "gatekeepers of the fandom", deciding who is worthy to be a Ben fan.

They have made fun of fans before. Not just skeptics. People they don't like or don't want in their little clique. So the majority of Ben's fans are middle aged rich white women. Not because that's who he's trying to reach as an audience but because that is who his uber fans allow to worship him.

If you are in need of examples of how out of control the uber fans are take the following for an example.

Someone did a nice tweet about other actors. It had nothing to do with Ben, although it did feature Tom Hiddleston and other Marvel actors. The ubers starting by saying Ben wasn't listed, then jumped into, well, a screenshot is worth a thousand words.

As they say, that escalated quickly...

*Shotgun Wedding is an American term for a marriage precipitated by the pregnancy. It comes from an American colloquialism, termed as such based on a stereotypical scenario in which the father of the pregnant bride-to-be threatens the reluctant groom with a shotgun in order to ensure that he follows through with the wedding.

[jackalgirl]

Telling vs. Showing

I had posted an excerpt from the Turkey City Lexicon a while back, about "Telling Not Showing", which is one of those things that writers are recommended not to do.

Violates the cardinal rule of good writing. The reader should be allowed to react, not be instructed in how to react. Carefully observed details render authorial value judgments unnecessary. For instance, instead of telling us "she had a bad childhood, an unhappy childhood," specific incidents--involving, say, a locked closet and two jars of honey--should be shown.

I was thinking about this the other night -- and I stress that it came to me by itself, please please don't anyone think I'm calling you out on this, because I am not -- and thought it might be fun* to provide an example. Stick around (under the cut) if you're interested.

* I lie. Aethel and Felix told me to write this, and woke me up early to do so. Fine. I'm done, you two, may I please go get some more coffee? Thank you.

Telling

Felix found Aethel in the galley, reading one of Max’s books. He made a face, wondering why she was reading it. When he’d first met her, it probably would have never occurred to him to ask her why — she’s weird and more than a little scary — but he had come to understand that she put all that weirdness and scariness to service in the way she cared for people, and he knew she cared for him, so he sat down and asked anyway. She looked, he thought, a little relieved to be interrupted, which did not really surprise him. She was very much willing to tell him about it, and in fact confirmed his suspicion that she found the text…how did she put it? Tedious. But she was reading it to better understand the way the people in the Order think, so she was determined to read it anyway. Good luck with that, he thought, and got himself something to eat out of the fridge.

versus Showing

Felix found Aethel in the galley, a book open before her on the common table and a line between her eyebrows. It must be one of Max’s books, he thought. He sat down and she looked up. Perhaps he was imagining it, but it appeared to him that she had a look of relief on her face. “Watcha readin’, Aethel?” He asked her. When he’d first met her, it probably would have never occurred to him to ask her a question like this — she’s weird and more than a little scary — but he had come to understand that she put all that weirdness and scariness to service in the way she cared for people, and he knew she cared for him, so in this particular moment, he hadn’t hesitated. “One of the vicar’s books on Scientism,” she said, confirming his guess. He made a face. “Ugh. Why? You’re always arguing with him about it.” And driving him nuts. Another point in her favor, actually. “It’s important to him,” she said. “And what’s more, it’s important to this colony. It would be foolish for me to dismiss it. I want to understand it better.” Felix gestured at the book. “Is that helping?” Aethel let out a sigh. “Alas, no. It is tedious.” “That’s why I like serial books,” Felix grinned. He tilted his head. “Why is it, ah, tedious, though?” “The author uses words like a collector,” she said. “But not like an artist.” Felix tilted his head and his expression must have told her he didn’t get it — I don’t get it — because she leaned back and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do you remember the Sprat Fancy party in Byzantium?” She asked. Felix felt his face screw up again. “It was awful.” At first, Byzantium had impressed him. It was so clean! But eventually he realized it was as full of trash as the rest of the Colony — just higher-class trash, is all. Plus, the people there were always looking down on him — worse than the crew of the Groundbreaker, if that was possible. Or worse than the crew had been, before I helped Aethel fix the heat. Now they liked him well enough. But in Byzantium, nothing the crew had done had changed the Byzantines’ attitudes towards them. Their disdain is baked in, Aethel had said at the time. And speaking of baking, Aethel said, “do you remember the food?” “Ugh. Do I ever. The prettiest food you ever saw. Tasted like shit, though.” “What would those people have thought of a Boarst Pocket?” Aethel asked. “Ha!” Felix drummed the table with his hands in amusement. “They’d hold up their noses, for sure. Something that plain and simple?” “And yet, it is delicious?” “Yes,” Felix spoke with the conviction of a dedicated cultist. Aethel nodded. She tapped the pages in front of her. “This book is like the food in Byzantium. It is concerned about its appearance, and about all the different colors it can show you — it is very pretty. But it tastes like shit.” “So why are you eating it?” Felix asked, then remembered she’d answered him earlier. “Because you want to understand the system,” he said. She nodded. “I think of it as reconnaissance,” she said. “At some point, I’m going to have to deal with Order people who are higher ranked than Max. I need to understand what they think — or at least, what they’re telling people they think, which may not be the same.” “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they all turned out to be a pack of hypocrites,” Felix said. “I’ll bet it’s all a show for power.” “Perhaps it’s not all a show for power,” Aethel suggested. But then she relented. “But yes, I tend to think that in the end, that’s the Order’s primary goal.” All that talk about Boarst Pockets made him want one, so he got up and got one out of the fridge. “Would you like one, boss?” He said, waggling the packet, knowing her answer in advance: “No thank you, Felix,” she said politely. He chuckled to himself. I don’t get how she can like spratwurst and not like boarst. Some things just defied understanding. I hope she has better luck with that book.

I liked writing this, because it gave me a little epiphany for another scene (the "Sprat Fancy" party) and an opportunity to put Sprat Fancy magazine into the actual fic, as opposed to it remaining as something of a joke.

[ Image description: cover of "Sprat Fancy", showing an adorable pink-splotched, white sprat from above, looking up at the camera with her gorgeous black eyes. Text reads: "Sprat Fancy Magazine - your guide to Halcyon's Fancy Sprats" and "Volume 22, Issue 8, 2 bits" with article leads: "Sacred Beasts: The Role of Sprats in the Faith", "Refuge: Keeping your precious sprat safe from marauders (and hungry neighbors)", "Ooo La La! Jolicoeur Haberdashery releases an all new line of fancy sprat fashion! Get a sneak peak of the latest on the Byzantine spratwalk!", "Place Your Bets: Your comprehensive guide to this season's All-Colony Fancy Spratstravanaza - who's in? Who's out? You may just be surprised by this year's contenders!" and a corner flag: "Ask Doctor Sprat". The cover image is captioned: "'Bakonu' by Captain Pearl Jenkins. With this large beauty take 'Best in Show' from Lord Reginald Kim III?" End ID. ]

Sometimes, having to write stuff out like this (especially between major scenes) is really daunting, because it generally doesn't come to me all at once like the major scenes do. I know, right from the get-go, that this is going to be a time-consuming process (I call it "sausage making"), and it's scary when I don't immediately see a clear way forward or understand how it will turn out. But I find that once I get going, the characters are happy to cooperate. And it's always worthwhile, because most of the time, I get some kind of revelation or epiphany (as above) that makes the story better, or maybe it's just neat and makes me giggle. But that's reason enough.

This is part of the pros of showing versus telling, in addition to giving the reader more to discover, understand, and react to on their own (rather than simply telling them how to react, which is what you want to avoid). The obvious con is that it takes so much longer. I would think that telling would be useful in contexts where you just don't have the column space, or are limited in the number of words you can provide. And I think it could also be useful -- used judiciously -- if you're deliberately trying to hide something from the reader.

But if you've been telling instead of showing because the amount of work you can see in front of you daunts you (or you just can't envision how it's going to go), I can only say: give it a try. You'll be surprised at what the characters are just waiting to tell you, if you only give them the chance.