#bc most of my stuff are set in s1

[7-deadly-cats]

killing me softly | 10

K M S M A S T E R L I S T | <- P R E V I O U S | N E X T ->

✿ G E N R E ✿ she fell first, he fell harder | slice of life | drama

✿ P A I R I N G ✿ s1!rafe cameron x overthinking!reader (f)

✿ C O N T E N T W A R N I N G ✿ swearing, suggestive language, mild sexual references and implications, mentions of drug cravings (coke), rafe being unable to name his emotions or rather rafe being a pro at deflecting his feelings, just rafe being rafe let's be real

✿ S U M M A R Y O F L A S T P A R T ✿ while rafe was making himself something to eat, you felt comfortable enough to joke around with him openly. later, though, you thought you had annoyed him during the sketchbook discussion and brought it up. rafe reacted irritably which made you snap back at him. after a slightly tense back-and-forth, the argument ended with rafe inviting you to kelce’s party on friday night so you could finally shut your brain off for once. before you could overthink it, you agreed.

✿ W O R D C O U N T ✿ 2.6k+

✿ A / N ✿ after that last part i felt like it made sense to check in with rafe’s pov again aka him being confused as shit (he's so fun to write omg), plus i threw in more smau elements bc i felt silly (that’s also why the written part is shorter than usual). sorry if this part felt a little underwhelming, next part will be more in-person reader x rafe interactions again. anyway, as always, i hope you guys enjoy reading, pls lmk what you think <33

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W E E K O N E // W E D N E S D A Y

Rafe set his phone back down on the kitchen counter, a frown tugging at his face. These fucking idiots weren’t worth his time.

Shit, he already regretted having mentioned you were coming on Friday in the first place. Now he had to deal with Kelce’s dumbass comments and Topper’s curious bullshit until then.

Already, his phone buzzed again—then again.

Fuck, should’ve just kept my damn mouth shut.

Annoyed, he put his phone on silent, tapping his fingers against the counter while listening to the faint sound of your voice through the door.

A few minutes ago, your phone had gone off at the table—your dad apparently—and you'd quickly excused yourself to take the call in the foyer.

You two had been working for two hours straight on this shitty project, writing stuff down, finalizing ideas and shit, and Rafe had used the moment to refill his water. Bored out of his mind, he’d decided to check the group chat.

And now, who would've guessed, he was pissed again.

What pissed him off the most was stupid Topper actually agreeing with Kelce. Fucking idiot.

Rafe wasn’t acting crazy, the fuck? He’d just made it very clear that the two of them shouldn’t act like brain-dead thirteen-year-olds in front of you on Friday.

You’d already been so fucking tense yesterday at Kelce’s place, and Rafe really didn’t need to soak up more of that nervous energy.

Then again, it wasn’t like he’d invited you as his date or anything. You were just a guest. He wasn’t your fucking babysitter—or boyfriend—or whatever.

At that thought, Rafe furrowed his brows. That’s the last thing he needed—some clingy girl who constantly needed his attention.

After his last situationship with Amelia Brooks, he was done with girls who wanted to talk his ear off or track him down at school to dump some unnecessary bullshit on him.

And honestly? He didn’t even know why he got into the whole fuckbuddies thing with her in the first place. Hanging out with her had been boring as hell and in bed? Same shit.

Shit, next time I get that bored, I’ll just get a fucking dog or something. At least that’d be more fun.

And even though, at first, he’d thought he’d drawn the short straw getting partnered with the quiet girl, he was honestly fucking glad it had been you—out of all the try-hard artsy girls and weird-ass hipster dudes in that class.

You only texted when necessary, never made pointless calls, and today you’d even tried to avoid him at school. Shit, even Kelce acted more like a clingy girl than you did.

Three days into the project, Rafe still couldn’t tell if you actually liked him or just tolerated him. One minute you were distant and off in your own head, the next you were all bubbly and cracking jokes.

So, like, what the fuck?

Either you had some kind of split personality or you were just fucking weird.

Shit, both probably.

Although, the way you’d snapped at him earlier when he'd called you out for overthinking? Yeah, that kinda pointed to the first option. It had thrown him off for sure, but holy fucking shit, more than anything, it had amused him.

Most people didn’t have the balls to push back on him—his annoying sisters being the exception. Girls usually just tried to act all whiny or pulled some pick-me-whatever-bullshit, and if he argued with a FWB chick, he’d just drop her and that'd be it. And guys? A punch usually did the job.

But you? Fuck, he really hadn’t expected you to actually argue with him without throwing curse words at him or some shit like that.

And weirdly, it was kinda refreshing. For once, it'd felt like he'd been talking to an adult, someone who took him seriously and not just started shit to provoke him.

What really caught him off guard, though, was how you could just slide back into a normal conversation afterward—no big blowup, no lingering drama.

How the hell you pulled that off, Rafe had no idea. Not that he cared enough to figure it out. Yeah, sometimes it pissed him off that you wouldn’t just say what was on your mind, but still… you were kinda chill to be around?

Nah. Rafe didn’t know how to describe it. Shit just didn’t feel like a total waste of his free evening, that was all.

The door to the foyer opened, and Rafe straightened up. Judging by your face, the call hadn’t been an emergency.

Rafe leaned back against the counter, a crooked smirk on his face, Topper and Kelce's bullshit forgotten. “Daddy pissed you’ve been gone too long?”

“Ugh,” you said with a frown. “Please never use that term again when referring to my father.”

Rafe chuckled. “Save that shit for the bedroom, I see.”

And holy shit, the way your face always turned red whenever things got even remotely sexual? Rafe found it deeply entertaining. The only dick you’d ever seen was probably in a high school biology textbook.

That’s exactly why you just needed to get it over with, then maybe shit like that wouldn’t throw you off so bad.

Shit, maybe Rafe would get you laid himself if he didn't fear you'd explode at the sight of seeing a cock in real life. Plus you'd probably make things unbearably uncomfortable during sex AND for the remaining project sessions and he absolutely wasn't in for that shit.

Irritated by his own thoughts, he just said, "So, you heading out or what?”

For a second, your brows furrowed for reasons Rafe couldn’t quite figure out. Then you just nodded with a small smile. “Yeah, uh, my dad and I usually do movie nights on Wednesdays and he just wanted to know if we were still in for that.”

Either that was another half-assed excuse or you had some weird-ass relationship with your—

“It’s kind of a tradition,” you added, this time with an awkward smile, “since my mom has her girls’ night every Wednesday. I kinda forgot about that.”

So this was like... a father-daughter bonding thing?

Rafe immediately thought of his dad and favorite child Sarah, and yeah, that pissed him right the fuck off.

He shrugged. “So?”

Your smile faltered a little which did something weird to his chest. “I don’t know, I mean���we got pretty far today, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Rafe muttered, arms crossed.

You crossed yours too, scratching at your upper arm. “Okay… so maybe we call it a night then.” There was an hesitation in your voice and after a small pause you added, “Unless you wanna continue.”

An awkward smile tugged at your lips, and the fact that you still looked uncomfortable around him irritated the hell out of Rafe.

He nodded slowly, shrugging the weird feeling in his chest off as annoyance. “Yeah, nah. I’m done with school-shit for today.”

You mimicked his nod with a subtle frown. “I think next time we can start with the final draft,” you said, shifting your weight from one foot to the other. “Depending on when you’re free.”

Didn’t you have art class together tomorrow? Whatever.

Rafe exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “No idea. I’m at the country club tomorrow, and Friday’s Kelce’s dumbass party.”

You nodded and let out a stiff little chuckle. “Yeah, no, definitely not in the mood to work then either.”

No shit.

“Yeah, Saturday’s off the table because of that, and Sunday’s that open-air movie thing,” Rafe added, half considering asking if you wanted to join but then, why the fuck would he? Just so he wouldn’t have to bear Topper and Kelce alone?

Yeah, nah. He’d just do a line before, and they’d be bearable enough.

You nodded again. “Okay, yeah, no big deal. We’ll figure something out next week then.”

But the smile on your face didn’t quite match the weird tone in your voice, and fuck—why were you so damn complicated?

“Yeah.” Rafe pushed off the counter with a quick nod and jerked his chin toward the dining room. “Don’t forget your stuff.”

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After the door clicked shut behind you, Tannyhill fell into a weird kind of silence that made Rafe feel… off.

Not uncomfortable or lonely or any of that bullshit, he didn’t even know what it was exactly. It felt more like coming down from a line. And this being the closest comparison he could come up with?

Had to be withdrawals from last weekend or some bullshit like that.

And the fact that he’d sold his last damn gram to that bum Scott yesterday? Yeah, that wasn’t helping either.

In fact, it just worsened his mood.

Fuck, now that he thought about it—feeling that void—he needed it even more.

Jaw tight, Rafe made his way upstairs to grab his wallet. As much as it pissed him off to hand over the cut, Barry needed his fucking share if Rafe wanted to keep dealing.

At the door, he grabbed his motorcycle helmet, already halfway out, when he noticed—no phone.

Groaning, he set the helmet down and started searching the kitchen. He spotted it lying on the dining room table, and turned to head out when—

The fuck?

Something white caught his eye on the carpet: your dumbass Apple Pencil. He’d nearly stepped on it.

Annoyed, he picked it up. Usually, your brain caught every fucking thought in the goddamn world—how the hell did you forget this?

Fuck, no. If this was some kind of "girl marks her territory" move, holy shit, absolutely not.

He placed the pencil on the table and pulled out his phone, brows furrowed.

Rafe let his phone drop back into his shorts pocket and just stood there for a second, completely blanking on what the hell he'd even been about to do before having texted with you.

You’d scrambled his fucking brain again, and like, no joke, what the actual fuck was going on in your head? Or more like: what the fuck did you even base that occasional attitude on?

Because this? What. The. Fuck.

He’d gone into that damn chat pissed, annoyed at your dumbass Apple Pencil, and now he had another app on his phone and let himself get pulled into those fucked up weird-ass-creature-whatever-pictures.

And the fact that Sarah had been talking to Wheezie about you? Fuck, that nearly sent him into full rage mode. He legit wanted to crash Sarah’s stupid little hangout with her lame-ass little friends and tell her to keep her fucking nose out of shit that was none of her business.

Somehow though, there was this weird, lingering lightness in his chest that kept him from doing so. And he had no fucking clue what it meant.

Rafe rubbed the bridge of his nose, brows knit. Fuck, what—At this point, he wasn’t even sure anymore if it was withdrawals, because come on, his coke usage hadn’t even been that heavy lately.

Or maybe Kelce was fucking right. Maybe you really were a goddamn witch.

Because fuck, sometimes you made his nerves fucking boil, frustrated the shit out of him with that split-personality vibe of yours, but just as fast as that feeling came, it vanished again.

And what fucked with his head the most?

You actually seemed to care. Not in some fake or soft, pathetic way—but like… you noticed when he was pissed. And you tried to understand why.

Like today. With the sketchbook thing.

Rafe just couldn’t, for the fucking life of him, understand why you couldn’t just rip one goddamn page out of the sketchbook, set Wheezie’s pad aside, and be done with it. But no, you had to start arguing with him about privacy or whatever kind of bullshit.

That had definitely pulled at his nerves but he had seen the way you’d reacted yesterday when he picked up your iPad, and even though he still didn’t get it, he figured it must mean something to you.

Yeah, and then? You'd called him out on his mood.

And holy shit, you'd been like two seconds away from giving one of those weird-ass little speeches again that made both of you feel uncomfortable as shit.

So he’d cut just you off. Shut your bullshit down before you got any deeper. And that—fucking hell—that’s when you'd snapped.

But just as fast, you’d chilled out again, even gotten soft. And then you started with that “Overthinking is a me problem” crap.

Like dude, could you please just shut your damn brain off for one minute?

And since your nervous energy was starting to give him a migraine—and Rafe couldn’t stand one more goddamn second or project session of that kind—he decided he’d put an end to it.

Once and for all.

Or at least until the project was over. After that, you could go back to spiraling for all he cared.

Jesus. Just the thought of seeing you at Kelce’s party on Friday. He almost felt bad for you.

Kelce’s parties weren’t like regular Kook parties. Nah, that fucking idiot had to go big every time.

He’d invite like 200% more people than his parents’ place could physically hold, and 90% of them were some annoying bitches from school, the other 10% just random dudes Kelce was cool with or knew from the gym.

The music? Played at a volume that could probably be heard across the goddamn Cut. And the alcohol? Jesus fucking Christ. Liquor stores probably quadrupled their profit that weekend alone.

Not to mention the lineup of party drugs.

Rafe had once taken acid from some random dude and had ended up hallucinating his fucking soul out.

After that? He stuck with Barry’s shit. At least with him, Rafe knew that guy wouldn't try to kill him.

And girls like you? Shy and introverted: your spawn rate at those parties was basically zero.

Sure, Rafe had subconsciously noticed you at other parties or bonfires before. You weren’t new to the scene exactly. But a Kelce party?

Shit. Either you were gonna get eaten alive or throw your overthinking brain in the trash and actually let go for once.

And Rafe? He had no clue how you were gonna play it. Which, fuck, only made him even more curious for Friday.

Would you actually be down to do a line? Or would you just curl up in some quiet corner with a lame-ass beer?

If some annoying bitch tried to start a fake-deep convo with you just to squeeze gossip out of your shy little mouth, would you entertain her? Or let yourself get dragged into gossip on your own?

And what Rafe was most curious about—what really fucked with his head—was this: If one of Kelce’s gym-bro frat-type assholes came up and started hitting on you, would you let him? Or would you hide behind your friend, pretend you weren’t even there?

Then—bam—out of the blue, some random image popped into his brain.

You. With some dude. Making out in some dark-ass corner. Your hands in his hair. Your lips on his and—

What the fuck.

Rafe furrowed his brows, rubbed a hand down his face like he could scrub the image from his mind, and physically shook his head to throw it off.

Shit.

He needed a line. Two, actually. Shit, maybe three at this point.

He grabbed your goddamn Apple Pencil and shoved it in his backpack by the front door, grabbed his helmet, and shot Barry a quick text:

Because fuck. Rafe didn’t even know what was making his head ache this bad. Or this—Jesus Christ—this weird-ass feeling in his chest.

Like pressure. Or heat. Or fucking whatever.

All he knew was that it pissed him off to be stuck in his own brain like this right now with no one around to entertain him with their bullshit.

Because, shit, yeah, surprisingly Rafe found you—your nervousness excluded—oddly … easy to be around. And in just three days, he’d already gotten so used to your presence, this new, unknown variable in his life that entertained him that–

Fuck all that.

Why the hell was this even taking up space in his head?

Annoyed by something he couldn’t even name, Rafe slammed the door of Tannyhill behind him, mind already locked in on the high waiting for him at Barry’s shitty-ass trailer.

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[delight-angelsbliss]

Hello, may I request S1-30 where Sonic see his crush excitedly showing papers, stickers and perfume for letters to their group of friends asking for their opinions in some combinations of it bc she is writing a very important letter, then some days pass she seems kinda down and never touch in the subject of the letter anymore just to Sonic found a crumpled love letter cleanly to him with no sender but with the same combination of paper, stickers and perfume that he and their friends chose to reader's letter? (Btw I've been liking your writing a lot 💕)

Prompt: writing a letter only to throw it away

Warnings: none to my knowledge crazy notes go brr

Notes: I'm back queens did u miss me HELP THIS IS SO CUTE also ty I've been trying hard 😋 ok so basically when I was writing this on a bench with some ppl but someone was harassing me coming way too close and breathing down my neck I was literally so creeped out brother euugh and someone was laughing screaming saying " she's getting harassed!" I also had therapy and I might go back to a mental hospital again. Chat btw is sonic a homeless man? Idrk so I'll just pretend they have apartments and stuff lol also the reset thing isn't absolutely gone but I'll manage

Ever since February started you've been raving about a particular letter you're making everyone knew about it and even tried to help you

What perfume? Moschino pink Boquet seemed fitting! Should I pick the blue or pink envelope? White with hearts may be cool

The one who helped you the most was definitely amy, I see her as a romance enthusiast and would definitely be there for anyone who struggles or something with romance

But someone was more intrigued than helpful, ofc it was Sonic! Making little jabs at you for trying, pushing to who it could be, teasing you for having a crush

It was ENDLESS!! He was so relentless with his teasing that it got annoying at some point. But could you blame him? From his point of view you were in love with someone else and that made him jealous

He felt heartbroken but let it go to keep you as happy as possible

It's like his heart was ripped out his chest and eaten but he paid no mind and instead tried his best to continue helping you with the letter for mystery person

But at the point where he made peace with you not being in love with him.. You've already stopped talking about it

It's like you've never even heard of it

Maybe it has been sent? He didn't know but it made him a bit worried

But one day while back at his place, he finds a neatly designed letter, the envelope was white and had small hand drawn hearts every where with a nice perfume scent

The letter had his name on it but no sender, but the cute packaging reminded him of a certain someone's letter

Was it really from you? No way. His heart lights up and so does his smile, if it was really from you he had to find out!! His crush left him a letter his life felt whole and complete

If it was really from you then Sonic knew he had to confront you about it

Not long after he starts racing to your place, but suddenly he goes back home

It's best to get some flowers, don't you think?

With everything in hand, flowers and the letter, his feet race to your apartment

In mere seconds Sonic reaches your place, his heart beats as fast as possible as his hand hovers against your door. The sun had its time and was now setting, the shade from the others building and the combination from the setting sun made it all feel so much more romantic

Sonic calms his breathing, returning to his normal state: cockiness

His hands finally give a strong knock

After you open the door, your gaze meets the letter that was oh so gently in his hand

"Be my valentine..?" Sonic holds out the flowers

Maybe leaving letters do work

[autozer0]

The main reason I don’t post my wolftross headcannons was because most of the became cannon, that being said here’s all of my silly wolftross headcannons

(Most of these are rather from before Centross “died”or right sometime after Violet came back)

•when Fenris turned into human from wolf after Centross death(aka for the second time) got a bit more “rugged” (messier and curlier hair, longer hair, tali and ears a bit more furry and longer) (Centross and Rae were very big fans of the change)

•they were both super clingy and almost never left each others side when the first got together (mostly Centross teehee)

-and after everything calmed down after fable died and stuff and Violet wasn’t as busy anymore, Fenris was WAYY more clingy #dogthings

•Centross can carry wolf with ease

•Fenris mask is like Reki handband(from sk8, iykyk)and shows his emotions that way

*Wolf is good at a lot of things so when Centross see something he’s not good at he’s surprised and happy in a way

•Centross has struggled with eye contact ever sense beginning of s2 bc it makes him neverous and he liked to hold eye contact with people to “scare them” in s1

•Centross was touch starve like a bitch in s2 which is why one of his maiin love languages is physical touch (other being quality time)

•Every since the masquerade, they’ve been learning how to ballroom dance( after Fenris gained some of his memories it turned more into him teaching Centross)

•Fenris made Centross a playlist to listen to while he was building the grave/working on the solstice. Whenever Violet misses Fenris and cant really visit him he listens to it

•Fenris is a bit more touchy compared to other people because of his time as a wolf and when he first met Centross it caught him off guard because he wasn’t use to it(cough touch starved cough)

•Fenris just goes non-verble sometimes, especially in groups setting (this is a mix of implied and self projection shhh)

•Along with sparring together, they also worked out together

•Fenris sometimes make Centross try’s Starbarks products before gifting them to Rae (Centross’ response usually was that it was fine and told fenris to stop overthinking things and stuff)

•Fenris love language is gift giving and physical touch while Centross is acts of service and quality (which is why they always have silly little picnics that are a mix of physical touch and quality time)

•Centross let Fenris dye his hair once after the void incident, though because Centross sucked at maintaining it slowly fade out. It was a black with dark purple ends,

•Centross has a stupid amount of tattoos from mostly everyone( but mainly Fenris)

Most of these are old but I just never posted them so here you go

[transformersconfessions]

The more I get *deep* into other continuities like G1 (most people have not watched all of G1 bc it's so long, even tho the most interesting worldbuilding concepts are late S2+S3), Marvel comics, the shortlived IDW2, even Skybound (which doesn't have as much active discussion as you'd think) the less I am satisfied by "continuity soup" and ill-defined, amorphous fanon settings. That isn't to say I'm against mixing details or coming up with original stuff, some of the best fanfics do that, but more that there are genuinely a lot of really interesting concepts that grip the imagination throughout the franchise (esp if you like scifi) that have a TON of transformative potential.

I don't blame anyone for not being a superfan or wanting to delve that deeply into the franchise tho, it's more like a self-inflicted curse because I have so many characters I love and rarepairs that are mainly "rare" because no one has experienced what they're from. Like Octane and Sandstorm are a rarepair (they have 21 tagged fics! <- I say trying not to be greedy), but they aren't a crackship, they had an episode in G1 focusing on them together. I love SkyStar, but it makes me think that if it wasn't for Fire in the Sky being really early Season 1, it wouldn't have gotten as huge as it is today. It's like a flashbang of yaoi for anyone starting their G1 watch journey, whereas by the time you get to the episode Starscream's Ghost you have to be someone dedicated enough to not be scared away by the killing of most of the S1 cast including Oppy, the AKOM animation, the time sink of watching 75 eps if you haven't skipped any..etc. Even tho the idea of a Decepticon getting exiled and then going on a lunch date with an Autobot who tries to protect him from other Decepticons is so slashy!

I have come to the conclusion I must muscle up and start writing myself 🫡 I can only hope that my stuff will be good enough to get ppl invested 🙂‍↕️

*

[kibblemode]

I know like nothing about any of ur ocs or works so, could you sum up telling me about whichever you want so I can ask more questions in person? Please feel free to make the ask as long as possible!

stares autistically...YAYU..galaxy quest is my Main ocverse bc its almost 11 yrs old now and its just been a default in my mind since i was 11-12ish but capitalist creepshow is a close 2nd with how fleshed out it is...my oc carrd has some good info character wise but its lacking on worldbuilding + plot stuff bc im insanely character focused and suck at that shit badly LOL, also the plot/episode page and number of seasons on gq's page is outdated bc i recently like completely redid the plot and havent updated it yet 😭 anyway u can have existing gq lore. sorry if this is weirdly worded and hard to understand im at work rn 😢 i also have a couple scattered tumblr posts on random important bits of lore/character stuff ill get them later. oh ya and toyhouse if u want to see whos who or whatever. a couple side characters havent been redesigned yet but ill get there eventually lol

gq is like. a 90s-2000s CN styled adult cartoon (i always sum it up as if futurama and chowder were 1 cartoon. BIG BIG influences from chowder especially with the voice acting my goddd )..its Planned to have 5 seasons, it used to be 4 but with the new plot i had to add one to fit it in without Completely starting over on every single season lol, also perhaps 1 semi canon movie and a small side series for a bunch of silly mostly canon fillers i couldnt fit into the show itself.

so like i said im bad at having a consistent plot, also words are hard for me so ur getting a Very shitty bastardized version of what i Do have.

Basically it takes place mostly on 2 planets, earth and alkaliba(i hate this name i made it up when i was like 15ish, i just cant think of something better rn😔) its initially in 2009, but actually this is like a Different 2009. bc basically there was a mass extinction like several hundred million years ago and everything just kinda started over but like only Slightly different (sounds stupid af out loud but just trust me ok) alkaliba had existed for a Very long time the next galaxy over and it just so happens that the planet is dying and all their natural resources are fucked. so melody (lenarrs mom) set up an agreement with alkaliba that they could borror resources from earth. (melody is thousands of years old, but thats a secret lol) also melody was from another dimension Also a very powerful sorcerer and kept most of her spells and whatnot in her journal But its written in her native dimensions language which nobody on earth (except lenarr) can read. anyway she used her magic to connect the 2 planets using a series of portals called stargates (again. subject to change, also they connect to a Lot of other planets besides just earth but whatever) that allowed ppl to easily travel between the 2. bc of this alkaliba Kinda "colonized" (FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD) earth? and that was normal for a few thousand years.

anyway for s1 jump ahead to where canon starts (2009) tix is sent to earth by meredith (queen of alkaliba, tix is her son but u dont know that until later in s1 when they actually Go to alkaliba) to pretty much track lenarr down and convince him to use his powers he inherented from melody (lenarr is not aware of this at all) to pretty much save alkaliba (BIG SPOILER. THIS IS SOMEWHAT DISHONEST. sure lenarr could Choose to save alkaliba but that would result in the destruction of earth or it could be vice versa. it cant be both BUT youll see) so he find lenarr Completely by coincidence after lenarr offers to help him bc tix has never seen snow or ice in his life and is having Difficulty. anyway this is ridiculous that i havent figured this out after 10+ years but tix does Something to convince lenarr to go with him, bc obviously lenarr would be very hesitant to. a bunch of shit happens u know the drill 1st episode shit to establish everything. i could type out a full episode 1 plot but i don't particularly want to rn😢

s2-3 is just mostly playing toys w my characters and tix teaching lenarr how to use his powers (s1 finale is when lenarr starts to Get it but u know) also s2 is noodles villain arc and s3 has eugene in it which is so fun bc i really really like noodle and eugene is funny. OH AND THE MAIN VILLAINS. hydro is the Main antagonist but he has 5 other idek what to call them. henchmen????? that either work for him (griff, dimentia, derric) Or are loyal to him bc he practically saved their life (grem and pixie, also dimentia a little? its complicated) and while Yes hydro IS a villain and he IS evil, hes actually just trying to save earth bc in his mind alkaliba is actually like the typical alien invasion thing u see in movies (not exactly whats happening but it Is possible u could see it that way) he just goes abt it in the weirdest most fucked up way possible. also BIG plotpoint worth mentioning, grem and tix were dating for at least 3000+ years before tix left him for his (now deceased) wife, which grem is Extremely bitter abt. so hes obviously loyal to hydro bc hydro helped him escape his abusive father BUT hes also doing it for himself to get back at tix. (important note tix Was the asshole in that situation 100%, grem is actually right to be upset a little but probably not That much) anyway once lenarr tix and zach(forgot to mention zach is tixs best friend who tix brings along bc hes smart and good at strategizing, also bc tix is GAYYYYYY) get to alkaliba finally it is literally impossible to conceal the fact that tix is a prince there. and bc lenarr doesnt know the Real reason why hes there he doesnt think much of it, in fact he finds it weird that tix wouldnt tell him that.

jumping allll the way to s4 when the Actual shit goes down. this is where shit gets less in depth bc its Extremely new..this is when lenarr learns that hes being used to basically doom earth, u know. his home planet. (considering having either hydro or grem tell him, not in a nice way either) obviously he gets really upset abt this, Especially bc its been at least a couple years since canon started and zach and tix are basically like family to him at this point. he probably runs off idk. i need to think abt it more bc i JUST made this up but im considering recycling an OLDD concept from like early highschool gq where lenarr gets to visit melody in her home dimension. also forgot to mention. melody and lenarrs older brother ruben both committed suicide when lenarr was younger. melody only did it to go back to her home dimension, but ruben did it bc he got rlly depressed after melody died ÷(

anyway lenarr gets to see melody, its very sweet ÷) he talks to her abt his problem abd she gives him some kinda cryptic advice bc Plot. this changes lenarr basically, at this point hes mastered melodys spellbook and Now he can create his own spells or whatever. SO. he comes up with a way to make it so NEITHER planet gets destroyed somehow. this works bc lenarr is actually like twice as powrful as melody at his full potential. after this the main villains would most likely have their redemption arcs somehow i havent thought up What exactly happens yet. and for s5 its basically just me wrapping things up and playing with my toys freely...theres still active plot happening thats very relevant to the story obviously but its a liiiiitle less high stakes and thats all i got in regards to the main plot bc if i sat here and typed a detailed explanation of my fun fillers id be here for years

SOME GENERAL TRIVIA FUN FACTS DEVELOPMENT SHIT 4 FUNSIES TOO.

originally gq was Not supposed to be a cartoon nor was it an ocverse. it was a fucking spm fan spinoff i made up bc i was autistic af and 12. grem was my first ever oc that was Not a fursona and he was actually terrible like as a person. i mean hes kinda terrible now but not as bad

griffs name was changed a few years after i made him. it used to be falcon (STUPID AF BUT I WAS 12. REMEMBER THIS.) also i thought itd be funny for his name to be griff bc youd think its short for griffon but no its short for grifford. also texs and tiabia names were changed too. tiabis name was janette and she was actually originally an adult but i thought itd be better if she was 7

like 99.999% of my original designs and concept art + silly little comics of my villains bc it was just them when it was still a mario thing is lost media forever bc my mom accidentally threw it all away when we moved to a new house i miss it every dayyyy id do Anything to see it again..... the Only original stuff i have is from highschool and i fucking hate my artstyle then so its sad af...its just lenarrs finalized design (which actually barely changed since then) and MAYBE if i looked hard enough thru my old computers i could find zachs original design too? idk i dont feel like looking

speaking of the spm thing. dimentia was supposed to be dimentios little sister which is why shes named that (original i know) but i decided to take the name a different direction after it became its own thing

grem went through the most design changes by a huge margin, but imo derrics few redesigns were the most insane and drastic. pixie went through One change and it got reversed a couple years later LOL

some Stupid reasons behind design changes were 1. hydro used to have 4 heads, hence the dumbass wordplay on "hydra" but i got so fucking fed up with drawing them every time + i kept forgetting to so i just made him a regular dragon. and 2. griff has his mask bc i literally just kept getting mad trying to draw his face right. thats literally it. thats the only reason.

fun fact noodle was probably my least favorite oc before i redesigned him. i hated him SO FUCKING MUCH especiallyafter i came up with his villain arc. now hes my favorite toy and i lovie

HUGE props to my bff @/killer12345blog. hes literally my cowriter and theres a couple characters of his in the main canon that play a HUGE part (eugene, daffodil, and louise) also eugene was actually a joke character and i HATED HIM (AS PART OF THE BIT) but i randomly got really attached to him now hes the villain for s3😇

gq was actually RECENTLY renamed. it used to be H.I.D.E. dont ask me what it means or what it stands for idfkkkkk i thought itd come to me eventually but it didnt so i changed it bc w/o a meaning it was just dumb af

tix was originally very very small. like around pixies size. also gq was still a video game for a bit but it was like its own Thing by then. tix was intended to be the tutorial character kinda like tippi

also im going to go ahead and say this LMAO. the original alkaliban designs were Heavily inspired by homestuck bc thats what i liked back then. ive tried soooo hard to make it not as obvious but i feel like itll always be so so obvious 😭

im actually kinda considering having gq be 3d animated instead of 2d, stylistically if that were the case itd look kinda like. idk. do u remember that moomins cartoon they made a few years ago. like that. but i seriously doubt ill end up making it 3d anyway

i fucking hate musicals usually but my GOD are there a couple showtunes i want in there. jfc. i have a dedicated yt playlist of songs i want in gq Or relate heavily to certain characters/events. hi. speaking of i like to think gq would have a very 80s cartoon soundtrack like the one in labyrinth or something similar

tix and zach were originally Much younger. tix was like 19 or 20 and zach was 17 iirc? i changed that bc 1. dumb and 2. i wanted tix and zach to be in love i didnt quite like the age gap it was a little iffy

the origin of lenarrs name is kinda silly. i was having trouble coming up w a fitting name and one day after school we drove past a sign for lennar homes or whatever the companys called and i went AHAAAAAAAH!☝️🤑

i think noodle was originally brazillian, idr why that changed..also tex was japanese iirc

tix is like Billions of years old probably. its intentionally left unclear and vague but also IDEFK.

im probably forgetting LOADS of important shit but whatever....u get the idea + ive been typing for like 2 hours in between work shit

[theriverbeyond]

#SPOILERS

ok so I watched arcane s2 act 1 and my immediate reaction is mostly mixed -- I think there was gorgeous art and strong individual emotional beats but I think it all got watered down by everything else -- I did LIKE it, I guess (?) and am reserving full judgement for the whole season until the next 2 acts release, but yeah.

warning for SPOILERS and also critiques below:

the deluge of new characters I have no reason to care about, and whom i am given no specific reason to care about (besides the itty bitty one, and that's just bc they are a child) does not hit. I dojt get it. why are these people special or chosen for the strike squad. they're just randos, and fangirls and one of them is a random dude you all seem to have grabbed off the street (?) also who tf is amara. was she even in season 1 at all?

the integrated music videos felt significantly LESS integrated this season than the last. last season it felt like the "music video" segments were just like.... really well done and stylized parts of the show, here they feel more like clipshows or standalone music videos during which the actual show takes a pause. some of them do advance the plot and all are gorgeously done but like, I dunno. feels a bit much, honestly, especially in a show that NEEDS to be incredibly economical with its time

relating to that, it feels as if nothing really happened at all besides setup, and I guess that was perhaps narratively necessary, but using THREE episodes of a 9 episode season to set up the plot feels..... REALLY wasteful, especially when i feel like those 3 episodes didnt have a tight plot OR tight character focus. everything feels very loose. the timeskip between s1 and s2 is like.... idk! why did we skip that. why didnt we just skip farther. how is Vi suddenly beloved by topside those bitches hate her!!! anyway. there is a lot happening and a lot being set up and, as i said before, a LOT of new characters being introduced and I'm not very emotionally invested in most of them. The differences between act 1 s1 and act 1 s2 are feeling incredibly stark right now.

To me, Arcane has always been a character driven work, so I can forgive it of plot issues if the emotional focus and character arcs are strong. I.... didn't feel that here! and even the big character moments didn't quite hit. for me. like ok CaitVi kissed. but like. they've known each other for a week? Why are they acting married? The most resonant and emotionally intense part of the CaitVi arc in act 1 was when Caitlyn HIT HER with HER GUN, in a way that felt deeply reminiscent of how encorcers probably hit Vi when she was in prison. And that was like at the very end. sorry but the kiss just did not hit for me. sorry. so sorry. you can kill me with Hammers if yuo want to

A lot of characters seem to be making plot centric decisions that simply do not feel within their character. Vi becoming an enforcer -- I literally do not care about the game, it is emotionally inconceivable for show!Vi to do be super down with gassing the undercity. Jinx and Sevika suddenly being buddy buddy is weird, even thought i LIKE it, it just feels.... fast. Jinx's arc, emotionally, feels the best and most consistant, and I feel like there's so much setup happening it isn't given the space it needs to breathe. Caitlyn becoming a facist is like.... fine, I guess. I really like the emotional conflict this inserts to the story but again it just feels inconsistant with her lifelong characterization as someone who is out of place on the force. also didn't she actually get fired lol. why is there a Kiramann supercomputer.

a lot of stuff just feels emotionally really off. Cait going wild with anger in her grief is fine, but then it feels.... bad that the redhead bitch who's CHILD Jace KILLED last season is a villian for wanting revenge also? maybe this is just an inherent weakness of the genre. or the source material. or whatever. i mean season 1 was pretty enforcer-critical at least in the first 2 acts. sorry for wanting a story made by people with money to be consistant in its negative framing of cops :/

l am deeply confused about the Noxian angle here -- I think it serves a meta narrative function of giving Topside and Bottom (aka, all the characters we care about, who hate each other rn) a common enemy to rally against, but there is just. a lot going on, honestly. too much? only time will tell. this all makes me deeply concerned/curious about the governmental system of Piltover though. why is Caitlyn like the town King now. why are they not electing new councilors.

don't even get me started on viktor being undercity jesus

Anyway. things I liked: the opening, especially its contrast to season 1. Jinx & Vi's fistfight was incredible I just wish Vi felt more emotionally consistant BEFORE it happened. I really LIKE jinx being given essentially a second chance in the form of saving and caring for a child in a situation that puts HER in a reversed position from her youth. like OK it definitely feels way out of left field but like, that's fine I guess. I like what they're doing with the kid. the art is gorgeous as always. I love how the enforcer squad is represented like hunting hounds, coming out of the gas. unfortunately i think their gas masks are wildly erotic. anyway. what was i saying?

that's my immediate thoughts. I'm definitely open for comments/explaining, but i really don't like the "it makes sense if you play the game/pay attention to LoL meta" kind of explanations I see thrown around -- it's a narrative weakness to be relying on viewers to know LoL lore, especially on the heels of season 1, which didn't need viewers to know anything.

[melrosing]

(from my rando's POV) GRRM feels a bit like he's in a Lucy-with-the-football situation—a non-insignificant part of S2 was filmed w/o writers due to the strike, was two episodes short prob b/c of said strike, and the HBO-Disney megazord doesn't pick showrunners of franchise shows for their creative talent or desire to honor the material, they pick them for their ability to Get Stuff Done In A Profitable Manner, so. Idk, I dunno what he was expecting with S2?

(this isn't saying S2 crit is invalid or that he shouldn't be upset, but some of this WAS foreseeable? Maybe I'm missing something)

idk I have seen amazing HBO adaptations (personal faves inc. My Brilliant Friend, Patrick Melrose, etc) so I think GRRM could well have had high expectations the second time round. and I do think S1 was good; there were parts I didn't like, but I would say more of it I did. they navigated most of the changes pretty gracefully, and I was a huge fan of the change they made to Alicent and Rhaenyra's relationship.

so I don't know why they fumbled S2 so badly. I found watching Alicent and Rhaenyra this season a lot like watching Tyrion in S5 onwards - they're so stagnant, they keep repeating the same things over and over, they're never truly unlikeable and they always mean well.... like strike or not I thought they were setting up for something so much more interesting in S1, but by S2 the writers just seemed to lose courage and started walking back their most interesting work. even with the strike and HBO hacking the tail of their season off, it feels like they didn't even know how to fill the time they had left.

i know GRRM's blog post specifically concerns butterfly effects rather than the execution of what did make it to the show, but I think the absence of characters like Maelor is plainer for the uninspired writing on Helaena in the rest of the season. in S1 they were taking the gaps in F&B and filling them with interesting detail, so I think then it was easy for GRRM to forgive compromises he didn't like. now HOTD is tearing gaps in itself and expects everyone to ignore them, so omissions like Maelor feel more egregious to him, bc at least they add SOMETHING.

i do feel kind of confused on what to feel now though. on the one hand it is hilarious to me that GRRM was this messy, otoh the haterism is so strong in fandom that im.... genuinely a little worried for the writing team lol. im starting to think the biggest problem they faced with this show was the scale. they were trying to write something good but i get the impression that the focus ended up being more on budget and logistics than the story itself. i don't think that's an excuse for everything but i do think if i were them i would feel extremely demoralised and defensive rn. and after all it's not really a sin to write mid tv

[brian-kinney-apologist]

hey babe!! i have a qaf question for u

ok so ive heard ppl in this (very small) fandom talk abt hal sparks really negatively either because of his character (understandable, micheal sucks ass) or because of his political views/beliefs/whatevers

i have never understood the second part and was told that u are quite the qaf historian so i was wondering if u could give me a lil summary of what those beliefs/views of his are because i would really like to know!!

ty in advance 🖤

well hello there, nice to know that my reputation in qaf fandom is still alive and well lol

so. here's the thing: if we're talking politics overall he didn't say anything questionable as far as I know (he has a podcast on youtube or smth where he trashes trump and other republican politicians (I'm not american so my knowledge of american politics is pretty basic so don't quote me on this one lol) so it's fine with me lol)

if we're talking the show though 👀💀

he did say some things back in the day that made people dislike him (but mind you now everything is cool between everyone involved in the show at least public wise so we're going to talk about the times when the show was airing and some time after it ended)

1. the most questionable™️ thing that he's ever said was comparing kissing a man (a costar on screen) to kissing a dog and people thought he meant that it was disgusting or smth BUT he did clarify later that people misinterpreted him because he meant that he's not attracted to men so kissing male costars on set during filming did nothing for him (it was an answer to some interviewer's question what it's like to kiss a man so take it as it is 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️)

btw interviewers AND fans had no decorum back in the day asking the whole cast all sorts of personal questions (poor randy still has ptsd bc of this 😭💀)

2. now it's tea time!!!! hal used to have a beef with gale and randy that led to him being hated by their fans. so. before the show aired hal was the most famous actor in the cast (except for sharon gless obviously) and he thought (was promised ?????) that he'd be the lead man™️ of the show. but after qaf aired everyone fell for gale (obviously sorry not sorry lol) because he served and ate everyone up. and also everyone focused on britin. hal didn't like that (considering it was basically gale's and randy's first roles on tv) and he started saying some stuff about them (publicly). for example, he said that actors' work is doing what's written in the script no questions asked. that was a clear dig at gale and randy as they were famous for constantly questioning/criticising the writers/showrunners/producers, disliking their plotlines and basically voicing their opinions on set (they did nothing wrong, should've complained more, look at s5 🥲). also hal did say one time that he would never work with gale again but didn't elaborate why. and as far as I know he did say more shady stuff about gale and randy during different interviews but I don't have any more specific examples (i think he was also constantly pointing out that he's straight while gale didn't say much about his own sexuality and hal was speculating about it). moreover, I remember reading somwhere that hal didn't like people who drank/did drugs bc he himself was against this stuff and gale and peter smoke some weed before some s1 promotion event and hal had a problem with it. the last thing: he also did complain about gale staying in character (whatever that means in regards of gale) during filming but no one else complained so 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️.

(I lied last thing fr fr I wanted to point out that gale and randy NEVER said anything bad about hal so that kinda makes you think)

hope this helps, if someone has something to add or wants to correct me, feel free to do so

[variousqueerthings]

Should I watch spartacus? I've tried a few times but always lapse after a few eps bc the characters didn't really connect for me

listen, I don't usually rec spartacus to people, because it's - quite frankly - not for everyone. the language is crass, there's a ton of toxic masculinity, a whole bunch of graphic violence of (most) kinds, and it's got this super stylised environment building to it that can be hard for people to get used to

that being said I've seen it three times now and it makes me very emotional each time. so, if you're thinking of giving it another whirl, here's what I will say:

it definitely does take a little bit to get into the characters beyond the hur-dur big muscle men who all hate each other and make comments about who has the biggest dick (and like, this never totally goes away, but it's filtered through a different lens as the story goes along and the characters do start caring for one another) and here's more tits and undulating oiled women (I must stress though that everyone is oiled up and naked in this show, it's equality), but once you get into the meat of the story, I'd say rouuughly halfway-ish through s1, they really really start growing on you, like fungus. fungi -- especially crixus and agron (whom you may not have reached depending on where you stopped), I'd say for me especially crixus, who is always annoying to me for a fair bit in s1 and then you realise what sort of a character he is and where his arc is going and you're like ohhh ok. ok ok, got it, and there's a scene in the... second last episode of s1 I think where he is sobbing and unable to hold the woman he loves (naevia) as she's dragged away from him and they swear to see one another again... well, let's just say it made me feel things

the political drama of the show is *chefs kiss* it just builds and builds and builds across the whole show, with the second season being a prequel that adds context (it was made out of necessity -- the main actor was very sick, but it also adds to the story, both in terms of backstory and a new important character)

speaking of story -- some of my favourite pacing of all time! it sets up some premises and it continuously moves towards fulfilling those narrative arcs, it is a Very Satisfying Show Pacing-wise

some gay people in this show do die, because a lot of people on this show die (some very sad stuff happens to... well, everyone), but also this is a "the main gays are immortal" show, in which a beautiful m/m couple just fuckn. Cannot Die (they survive some stuff lemme tell you) and it was the first show I really saw that sentiment in

there are some very cool women in this show -- I think there should have been even more and it definitely is male-skewed, but the women on this show have their own really neat arcs and skill-sets, and it manages to not do the misstep of "the only women worth anything are the ones who aren't traditionally feminine/can fight and the rest are lesser," (with characters like diona, sybil, seppia and many minor characters mattering to the plot) while also giving us some gorgeous fighty-anger ladies (naevia, saxa), pragmatic leadership women (mira, laeta, gaia), a whole bunch who fit into difficult-to-categorise spaces (kore, aurelia, melitta) and ofc evil and scheme-y (lucretia, ilythia). I think for the most part the show is also very good at navigating ideas around power and womanhood, with characters like lucretia being both oppressor (owns slaves, can order crixus to have sex with her, is callus towards their humanity), while also at times suffering from lack of power, because she is only as worthwhile as who she is married to (same goes for ilythia and other roman women, and there's an interesting arc in s4 about how easily citizenship/personhood can be entirely stripped from you)

there's a very beautiful ethos beneath it all -- yes beneath all the hyper-violence and graphic sex and horrible dehumanisation (this is a show in which many of the main characters are slaves after all) it's got a strong core about protecting those who cannot protect themselves and it mourns the deaths of innocents (pietros, diona, aurelia, kore, etc)/isn't just about the Fighter Types, it's about fighting to overthrow systems even when it seems hopeless in order to build a better future, about loyalty, about community, about building cross-cultural bridges, about beautiful oiled up peo- wait hold on...

I think -- vs some other shows that I could mention - GoT - that's what's so strong about it. it has an arc, it has a point to it, and it like. wants to give its characters purpose, narratively

there's a couple of missteps, and I think part of that is the time the show was written in, but considering it's 2010 + its main actor died after s1 unfortunately it's miles ahead of many of its peers and most shows that came out in the 2010s that I'd argue tried to catch some of its rizz. flair. pizzazz

I think the right state of mind to go into it with is:

obvs ask yourself first if the sheer amount of sex and violence onscreen is a dealbreaker. you can also ask me what kind of violence if you want to prepare, because for me it was the not-knowing that was stressful the first time around, the next times I could step away during a few scenes that were too much for me, but on the whole was okay

we good on sex and violence? ok then, next step is: the language is gonna be super idiosyncratic. a mix of giving old (?) grammar (the word "the" no longer exists for the most part), kiwi accents (this was filmed in aotearoa/new zealand), names you're not used to hearing, and swearing in every sentence. let that seep into your bones, it becomes very fun after awhile (or it did for me)

give yourself a little shake and then go: "this is a Very Cool Show. not as a negative, it genuinely is Very Cool. other shows wish they were this Cool. it'll take half a second to immerse myself in just how Cool everything is, but once I'm used to it, it'll be awe-striking music, amazing stunt/fight-work in nearly every episode, beautiful -- and I mean beautiful -- character relationship arcs, and a vibe that's giving Mythological the whole way through," my friend it is unreal how Cool this show is, the pay-offs for its various setups make me punch the air when I get to them, every time, and by the final season you're screaming for the Roman Empire to fall beneath the heels of these beautiful oily people, while a majestic choir soars in the background

believe that the final episode of this show is gonna be so worth it -- not because it was a slog to get there, but because we're all so used to being let down in the final hour, but the ending of spartacus? chef's kiss. made me cry the last two times, which is why I'm putting it off this time.

in conclusion: this is not a show for everyone. it's definitely giving sexy boobs angry men at times. it is also a show with a quite similar set of ideas to things like black sails and sense8, which is what is so good about it. it's about how people matter and deserve humanity and it's very cathartic for me in this current day and age to watch these characters navigate the ideas of what a "revolution" looks like. it's a tragedy though, although there's joy along the way, and this is one of those stories where it was worth the trying no matter the cost

it's like. a good story. so many sexy bosom shots though (I mean, this may be the opposite of a deal-breaker now I write it out). but you've gotta gaze through the bosoms to see the plot. or something. yeah that makes sense

I've got a more detailed draft post of all my pros and cons of the show that I'll put out as well -- that was is full of spoilers that may be somewhat incomprehensible if one hasn't watched the show, but hey. it's out there

[thereisnolumos]

darklina thoughts: I wanted to get into the shadow and bone Fandom(books and show) because of the amazing gif set of the darklina kiss I saw

Like who are these two that are sharing such a beautiful kiss. And look so aesthically pleasing together with the darkness and light vibes. I was so excited to find out who these two were because these kind of ships are my everything. Than I find out and 😨😱😤😠🤬!!!!! It was like running full steam a head with tons of excitement and crashing face first into a wall when I find out everything about this Fandom. Both about the books and show. The author and this beautiful ship. And I'm like God why do authors do this ship. Tease us with everything we want and the full potential. But than do a completely one 80 and waste are time on things we don't care about, or find insulting or toxic, and tells us are tastes are dumb and toxic. So now I just read fics and look at beautiful art of Darklina and the potential they could have been. It's just so annoying because this stuff happens all the time!!! And don't get me started on what I heard about the author. I don't know if their true. And wish I could find out real stuff about her. But if it is. God she is so messed up for doing this to us.

I only got in the fandom bcs I randomly saw a teaser for the first season and Ben Barnes was there in all his dark glory. I knew nothing about the books, but the way that show was promoted I was expecting the epic dark romance, villain who’s not really a villain gets the girl all the vibe. Plus cool world build and complicated detailed story overall.

I got none of that.

That show was interesting and hopeful for the first 5 episodes (we will always have 1x05🖤). It wasn’t as detailed and complex as I expected, but it had potential and the main pair - the one they based THE ENTIRE promotion on by the way - was having one of the most fiery and spark inducing chemistry I’ve ever seen on the screen, so I kept my hopes up for the overall plot and focused on them. And then… then they backpedaled SO HARD on everything that made that show interesting for the broad audience, I wonder how they didn’t give themselves a whiplash… though considering the horrible quality of s2 they probably did

Though I didn’t like the way s1 ended, I still thought there is hope, and “we need a conflict for our main pair, I guess”. I truly, wholeheartedly believed that creators and writers of the show are not complete idiots and know how to read the room and what the most of their audience is there for, so that’s what they’ll deliver. But oh my, how wrong I was.

The second season is downright unwatchable with how horrifyingly terrible it is. I only suffered through the entire thing for Ben, who, bless his heart, tried his hardest to deliver the complexity and depth of his character, who he only agreed to play if they “won’t make him a cardboard villain”. And they did exactly that in s2, or tried to, bcs Ben Barnes and his talent didn’t let them, despite all their efforts. The rest of the cast I guess didn’t have enough experience to fix the worst writing imaginable with their acting, so most of the characters became absolutely bland and uninteresting and SO IDIOTICALLY STUPUD, I yelled at them constantly, scaring my cat the entire time.

Also, as much as I understand it from exploring the fandom, the creators and writers of the show are die hard fans of the Crows, and they don’t actually like Alina’s trilogy at all. So… why didn’t they just do the books they wanted I’ll never know. Instead, they forced the Crows in the plot they were never a part of (making all of them okay with selling a girl to slavery in the process. Despite one of them being the former slave and the other one being the one who got her out of it… make it make sense, I beg of you), in the second season they wasted SO MUCH time on their plot lines that 1)didn’t matter one bit for the overall story, 2)were absolutely uninteresting to everyone who isn’t the Crows fan beforehand. In the end we got half-assed Alina and Aleksander’s story with half-assed Crows’ story. They should’ve just made the Crows show, without touching Alina and Aleksander

I haven’t read the books, but from what I gathered in the fandom, though still committing the same sin of putting all the promotion and marketing into the Dark romance trope without actually delivering on it, and force feeding the fans one of the worst and most toxic pairings ever with Malina, at least Alina and Aleksander’s characters weren’t made so cardboard and stupid, and there was tragedy in their story, not the shit that they gave us in s2. Though I absolutely DESPISE the fact that Alina looses her powers in the end and goes on to live Mal’s dream life… Like WHAT THE FUCK?? What levels of internalized misogyny do you need to have as a woman, to write this plot line for your female protagonist???? I can’t.

On Mal’s toxicity: at least that made him a fleshed out character in the books. Absolutely horrible one, how could the author make him “get the girl” is beyond me. But at least he had a personality, however terrible one. In the show, I guess understanding, that no one would root for that asshole, they removed his toxicity almost completely, but that made him as bland as stale porridge. There wasn’t ANYTHING left on his character. At all. How anyone could’ve rooted for him I absolutely refuse to understand. Any woman deserved better than Blade😈

I don’t know anything about Leigh Bardugo, except for the fact that she butcher my native language and makes me furious. If you don’t know the language at least on a medium level, perhaps don’t use it in your books. Or at least hire someone who does. The way she butchered it, I’m not sure she even used Google translate…

So yeah, I’m with you on only reading Darklina fanfics and admiring fan art. I’m not at all sad that they cancelled the show, and I’m even giddy that those creators and writers didn’t get their wet dream of the Crows spin off. They didn’t deserve it after the shit they pulled in the second season. I do hope that they won’t ruin any other shows in the future. I am sad for the actors, who deserved much better and who were actually good at their parts, while the writing was okay. Poor Archie Renaux suffered the most, his character didn’t have good writing at all, not for a single scene. I hope we’ll see more of all of them.

And we need Ben and Jessie to do a film together. Preferably a rom com, but I’m not picky. Just that their characters are together. Such chemistry can’t be wasted

[7-deadly-cats]

killing me softly | 8

K M S M A S T E R L I S T | <- P R E V I O U S | N E X T ->

✿ G E N R E ✿ she fell first, he fell harder | slice of life | drama

✿ P A I R I N G ✿ s1!rafe cameron x overthinking!reader (f)

✿ C O N T E N T W A R N I N G ✿ swearing, suggestive language, overthinking, mild sexual references and implications

✿ S U M M A R Y O F L A S T P A R T ✿ you had been freaking out after rafe had left you on read, and when he finally replied, it only worsened the weird vibes between you two. trying to avoid him completely backfired when he confronted you at school, forcing you to admit that you’d panicked over his invite for no real reason. but instead of being pissed or making fun of you, he just… took it in stride, teasing you in a way that somehow made all your worries disappear. plus he still wanted you to come over later for another school work session.

✿ W O R D C O U N T ✿ 4.2k+

✿ A / N ✿ sorry for the delay on this part. like i already mentioned in a previous post, i was very busy the last two weeks and i didn't find the time to write. i'm still very occupied bc i'm probably moving soon and all that stuff and i don't want my writing to suffer just bc i rushed things. anyway i tried my best on this part, thank you for your support and patience and i hope you guys enjoy <33

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W E E K O N E // W E D N E S D A Y

"He said WHAT?!" Cara’s voice rang out through your phone, her eyes wide in shock.

You were lying on your bed, FaceTime open, having called her right after school to catch her up on everything. Because holy shit—A LOT had happened since your last update. And that was literally just yesterday afternoon, right after your visit to Kelce’s.

So you’d spent the past hour walking her through everything—how you’d completely embarrassed yourself trying to set up a third study session with Rafe after turning down his invite, only for him to leave you on read. How he finally texted you later that night, which somehow spiraled into this weirdly tense back-and-forth. How you then tried to avoid him at school today… and failed spectacularly when you ran into him in the courtyard, where he straight-up confronted you about the whole thing.

And even just telling Cara about it had your face heating up all over again. The memory of that conversation alone made your stomach twist because, honestly? You hadn’t felt that uncomfortable in a long time.

You had actually fucking admitted—to his face—that you were an overthinking crazy bitch who only turned down his invite because you got so deep in your own head, you convinced yourself he just wanted to sleep with you.

Yeah. That happened.

And the way he had reacted? You never could’ve predicted it in a million years.

You’d thought he’d laugh at you, stay pissed, and throw it back in your face—but somehow, he hadn’t. Instead, he had this annoyingly effortless way of brushing past your humiliating confession, making you feel like maybe—just maybe—he actually got you.

You just gave Cara a sheepish smile. “He said I really need to get laid.”

"Oh my god, girl," Cara shook her head, grinning so hard her face could split. "AHHH, I don’t even know what to say."

"Imagine how I felt," you laughed. "I just gave the most uncomfortable speech of my life, and that’s his response." You shook your head, still baffled. "Like… I was so overwhelmed, but somehow, the whole argument just disappeared after that. And what’s even crazier? He still wants me to come over later."

Cara gasped. “TO FUCK?!”

"What? No," you snorted. "Because I admitted that my excuse was bullshit, meaning I am still free today. And then he made sure to inform me that this wouldn’t be a sex date." You pursed your lips. "Unless I wanted it to be."

“WHAT?!” Cara’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, and your phone speaker practically blew out.

You burst into laughter, your cheeks burning. "Yeah, but that was obviously a joke—even I got that."

Cara shook her head. "Oh, honey. Even if it was a joke, he wouldn't just say shit like that for no reason."

"Maybe," you frowned, refusing to let yourself spiral—again. "But I think... I don’t know, Rafe just seems like the type who—" You hesitated, tilting your head. "I feel like he was overwhelmed by the situation as well. Or, I mean, by my confession. Okay, not overwhelmed, but like... either he didn’t want to make me uncomfortable or he didn’t want to feel awkward himself. You get me?"

"I do," Cara said with a knowing smirk. "But, it’s obvious he likes you, girl. I’m telling you—tonight is your chance. Give him a little something to work with."

You shook your head immediately. "Absolutely not."

"I’m not saying go for a kiss," Cara rolled her eyes. "Just, you know—give him those heart eyes, don’t shy away from being close to him. Subtle flirting is key, Y/N."

"I’m just grateful he still wants to work on this project with me after this humiliating conversation," you sighed, rolling onto your back, holding your phone above you. "If I suddenly start acting different... I mean, aside from the fact that I suck at flirting—"

"Because you never try."

"EXACTLY," you shot back. "And if I suddenly switch things up, he’s definitely gonna think I’m actually insane."

Cara sighed dramatically. "You're not supposed to act fake or pull some alter ego move. Just, you know, let him know that you think he’s kinda cool, too."

“I think he knows damn well he’s fine as shit.” You smirked. Rafe had that aura, that confidence—big dick energy.

“Of course, he does,” Cara exclaimed. “But when he hears it from a girl who’s caught his interest? That changes the game in your favor.”

“Yeah, sure…”

And so your phone call went on for the next two hours. Cara kept feeding your delusions while you tried to rationalize every little thing. At some point, she started telling you about her failed attempt to casually bump into JJ Maybank while taking a walk in the Cut. She’d ended up empty-handed—except for the little bag of weed she got from Barry.

“I even wore boots,” Cara sighed. “And all I saw were weird-ass people everywhere. Like, is it really that hard to dress decently once in a while? Or, I don’t know, shower?”

By 3 p.m., she was helping you pick out an outfit. Your meeting with Rafe wasn’t anything serious—like, not really—but still, no way were you about to show up at his place looking like a damn mess.

After trying on what felt like a thousand outfit combos, you finally settled on something casual. Even though the time and setting were… pretty intimate for two people meeting alone in the evening, this wasn’t a date—it was a project work session.

And even though Cara insisted you should wear a nice low-cut top or maybe a skirt that was way too short… yeah, no.

Crying to Rafe about being scared he just wanted to get you into bed just hours ago, only to show up at his place half-naked? Absolutely not. He probably already thought you were crazy anyway.

“Okay, C, gotta go,” you finally said, sinking into your desk chair—your bed was buried under a mountain of clothes. “Dinner’s almost ready, and I still need to shower and, you know, try not to completely lose my mind.”

Cara smirked. “You got this, Y/N. Just stay cool and stop overthinking. Yeah, yeah, I know—that’s basically impossible for you, but at least try.” Her grin widened. “And have fun on your little date. Think of me when he gives you a goodnight kiss.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll text you if I can.”

After hanging up, you turned to the mountain of clothes on your bed. You were so lost in thought about the meeting in less than two hours that you almost didn’t notice your phone vibrating on your desk.

And as much as your heart always skipped a beat when Rafe texted you, this time you felt an odd lightness in your mind and in the way you typed your response to him.

With a big grin, you set your phone back down on your desk. You had no fucking clue why, but ever since that weird confrontation/conversation/confession at school today, it felt like the invisible wall that had been between you since your visit to Kelce had finally come down making room for a more comfortable dynamic.

Maybe it was the way Rafe had handled the situation earlier—with that effortless ease and an almost unspoken understanding. Or maybe it was the fact that today, you had hit a level of nervousness, peak embarrassment, and sheer humiliation so high that nothing really mattered anymore meaning you could actually show who was lurking beneath that shy exterior.

It was probably a mix of both—along with the undeniable truth that, no matter how much you thought you were embarrassing yourself, Rafe never truly called you out on it. Instead, he smoothed things over so seamlessly, like it was second nature to him.

Of course, there was always the possibility that he was just using you—to secure a good grade in art, to make sure he didn’t completely tank his senior year. Maybe that was why he hadn’t ditched you yet, why he was being so friendly, maybe even a little flirty. Maybe this was all just a game to him, a way to mess with you and—

AHHHH. NO. STOP.

You shook your head. I’m spiraling again.

And even if that were the case, the simple fact that you had Rafe’s attention at all was… kind of a nice feeling. You knew that was completely ridiculous, even pathetic. But after years of crushing on him, finally getting to spend time with him—even if it was just for this stupid school project—yeah, at this point, you’d take what you could get.

Either way, you didn’t have the time or energy to overanalyze it any further.

At dinner, you let your parents know you’d be taking the SUV later. That, of course, led to a flood of questions about where you were going, and since you were a terrible liar, you told them the truth.

"Oh, say hi to Ward for me," your mom said. "I hope he’s enjoying his Grady-White."

Right. That. Ward Cameron had recently bought a boat from your mom’s company.

You just nodded and conveniently left out the fact that Ward and Rose were off at some charity event tonight, meaning you and Rafe basically had Tannyhill to yourselves. The last thing you needed was a conversation about safe sex.

After a quick shower, you slipped into the outfit you had put together with Cara earlier. And just like that, it was already 5:45 PM.

Tannyhill wasn’t too far from here—especially not by car—but while you didn’t want to be late, you also didn’t want to be that overly punctual nerd. But seriously, what was the right time to show up?

Ugh, why do I have to overcomplicate everything?

You packed your bag, hesitated for a split second—literally a nanosecond—debating whether you should bring a condom just in case of the highly improbable, borderline impossible, one-in-a-billion chance that you might need it (not that you had ever actually bought any yourself, but Cara had gifted you some for your 18th birthday, and they had been buried deep in a secret compartment of your closet ever since).

But yeah, no. You VERY quickly dismissed that thought.

Not only was it insanely delusional and embarrassing, but knowing your luck, you’d probably trip in front of Rafe, and it would fall out of your bag right at his feet.

FUCKKKKKK NO. The mere thought of that—DUDE, NO. JUST THE FACT THAT YOU WERE EVEN CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY OF HAVING SEX WITH RAFE TONIGHT. LIKE, WHAT?????? BE FOR FUCKING REAL GIRL.

Shaking off that painfully embarrassing moment of self-awareness, you said goodbye to your parents and got into the SUV.

A short while later, you pulled up to Tannyhill. You drove up the long driveway and parked in a spot near the garages beside the house.

And then… you just sat there, staring at the steering wheel.

I’m in my car. On the Camerons’ property. About to meet Rafe Cameron. For a school project. In the late afternoon. Alone.

Your brain seemed to short-circuit for a second and then—

WHAT THE ACTUAL HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

The nervousness you had been trying to suppress came crashing down all at once. Your hands started to tremble again, and that weird, fluttery feeling returned to your stomach.

This was absolutely insane. First, you had worked with him in the dining hall of Kildare Academy, then at Kelce’s place, and now—AT HIS HOUSE? IN THE SPAN OF THREE DAYS. The rate of escalation here deserved to be analyzed by a math professor.

Okay, I got this, you told yourself. Even if I make a fool of myself, Rafe won’t make a big deal out of it. He didn’t invite me over just to get in my pants, and he’s not using me just to score a good grade. This is a completely normal meeting at a completely normal time to work on a completely normal school project.

…

Normal. Yeah, that wasn’t exactly a word you were familiar with, but whatever. For once in your life, your brain needed to just go with the flow instead of overanalyzing every little thing.

You got out of the car, gripping your bag tightly, and walked up to the large front door. No more overthinking—you simply rang the doorbell.

Still, you were painfully aware of your racing heartbeat.

You were already bracing yourself for some kind of embarrassing moment the second he opened the door. But instead of a 6'2 cute frat boy, you were greeted by the pretty face of a blonde girl. She had a bag slung over her shoulder and was wearing white sneakers as if she were about to head out.

Of course, you recognized Sarah Cameron—she was a grade below you. But you had never actually spoken to her, so seeing her instead of Rafe threw you off for a second. (Which was kind of stupid, considering, you know, she lived here.)

Then you remembered—Rafe had gone to the gym earlier, so maybe he wasn’t even home yet.

Sarah had that effortlessly pretty smile. "Hi," she said, and before you could respond, she added, "My brother’s still in the shower."

She had that look on her face—you couldn’t quite describe it but it basically said, I don’t know who you are, and you’re probably just some random girl my brother is messing around with but hi, very nice to meet you.

Oh god. This was so awkward.

Still, you smiled and tried not to turn red at the thought of Rafe in the shower. "Oh, um, no problem, I’ll just wait."

The silence that followed was already creeping in, so you quickly tried to fill it. "Sarah, right?"

Sarah nodded, crossing her arms as she leaned against the doorframe. Her gaze flickered briefly to your bag. "Are you staying over tonight?"

BROOOOOOOO. Was making situations unbearably awkward just a Cameron thing?

Your cheeks warmed as you quickly shook your head, a nervous laugh slipping from your lips. "Oh, no, this is just... I’m here for a school project."

Why did that clarification—the fact that you even had to clarify it—make the whole interaction even more awkward?

But Sarah just chuckled softly. "Just asking because he was really insistent about getting me to leave tonight."

... Okay. WHAT. LEGIT, WHAT???

You forced a small, awkward smile. "Oh, um..." WHAT WERE YOU EVEN SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT? SORRY???

"Don’t worry," Sarah said with a genuine smile, saving you from your own misery. "I was meeting up with friends anyway." Then her expression turned slightly playful. "I was just curious to see who'd be showing up tonight. Normally, he gives in quicker when I ask for a name."

Whatever that was supposed to mean—holy shit.

Somewhere inside the house, a door shut. Sarah smirked. "I should go. Don’t wanna kill the vibe when he sees I’m still here. Go on, you can wait inside." She slipped past you, offering a friendly smile. "Have fun and don't hesitate to put him in his place." She chuckled. "It was nice meeting you, Y/N."

Overwhelmed, mildly embarrassed, and somehow also amused, you gave her a small wave. "You too, and same."

As she finally turned to leave, you hesitated for a second, debating whether you should just stay put—but that would be kinda weird. So, instead, you stepped inside the foyer and closed the door behind you.

Okay... now what?

Somehow, waiting inside for Rafe to eventually come downstairs felt even weirder than if you'd just waited outside. But no, no second-guessing. No overanalyzing. Tonight, you were turning your brain off.

Hahahahahaha as if that was even possible.

You sank down onto a leather bench near the door, somewhat grateful to have a moment to process everything.

Then again, that was not a good thing, because now Sarah’s words were replaying in your head. And on top of that, there was the creeping realization that RAFE MIGHT BE STANDING NAKED UNDER THE SHOWER RIGHT NOW OR IN HIS ROOM GETTING DRESSED OKOKOKOKOK.

Please. Chill.

You wiped your sweaty palms against your clothes, feeling like a lab rat in some kind of twisted experiment. Your brain had no reference point for this situation, no past experiences to pull from for guidance.

Because this? Being alone in a boy’s house—a boy who also happened to be your crush—yeah, no, this was uncharted territory.

Alright, you needed a distraction until he came downstairs. So, you pulled out your phone.

As soon as you heard Rafe’s footsteps in the hallway, you quickly shoved your phone away, fighting the urge to bolt out of the house. Not that it mattered—you were frozen in place anyway.

You straightened up, gripping the strap of your bag tightly as you spotted his Off-White slides at the top of the stairs. Then his shorts, the hem of his shirt, and finally—

His broad shoulders were draped with a white towel. And holy shit—his sharp jawline, his stupidly perfect face, and damp hair falling messily over his forehead.

The whole image did something to you. Something you shoved deep, deep down the second his eyes landed on you in the foyer.

For a split second, you thought you caught a flicker of confusion—or surprise?—in his expression, but it was quickly masked by either realization or… annoyance?

You stood there awkwardly, not sure how to look at him or what the hell to say. MAYBE A SMILE?

“Sarah let you in?” It was more of a statement than a question.

And now that he was on the same level as you, you could smell his aftershave—fresh, clean, stupidly good—and holy shit, was that the post-pump from his workout still lingering in his biceps?

Unsure if his irritated tone was directed at you or his sister, you just nodded. “She said I could wait here. Hope that’s not a problem or anything…”

Rafe barely lifted a brow, exhaling a small amused scoff as he eyed the bench for a second. “Nah but you could’ve also sat down in the living room.”

???

“It's fine,” you said, forcing an awkward smile. “And the bench is actually comfier than it looks.”

Cringe.

This whole situation felt wrong, and his weirdly tense vibe wasn’t helping.

And something about the way he was looking at you made you think he knew exactly how uncomfortable you felt. His gaze bore into you before he spoke again, irritation lacing his voice. “What? Did she make a stupid comment?”

“No,” you answered a little too quickly, already feeling the heat creeping up your face. “She just said hi and left right after.”

Rafe eyed you like he didn’t quite believe you. Then his mouth twisted into an irritated smile, and he shook his head, muttering more to himself than to you. “She’s always sticking her nose in shit that’s none of her business.”

Okaaay, so he and Sarah weren’t exactly on the best terms.

You figured his mood probably had more to do with her than with you. (Thumbs up for that realization and for not spiraling over it. Yay.)

"I didn’t mind talking to her," you said with what you hoped was an understanding smile. "She seems nice."

That seemed to amuse Rafe. His brows lifted, a smirk playing on his lips. "You thought Kelce was 'nice' too. Remind me to never trust your judgment of people."

Your mouth fell open in mock offense, before you let out an amused chuckle. "And who, in your expert opinion, is actually worthy of being called 'nice'? You?"

GIRL. WHAT.

But Rafe just scoffed, shaking his head in amusement. "Shit, no. But you can’t go around calling every person you meet 'nice.'"

"If that’s the impression I get, then yeah, I can," you shot back with a shrug, oddly comfortable in this little banter.

"Okay." Rafe tilted his chin up slightly, a cocky grin spreading across his face. "Then what’s your impression of me? And don’t tell me 'nice'."

Oh, fuck. You really should’ve seen that coming.

And the heat rising in your face? Yeah, there was no stopping that.

So what the hell were you supposed to say? My impression of you? Hmm, let’s ask my eleven-year-old self when she saw you on the first day of school—loud, annoying, and immediately decided she was gonna marry you one day.

MHM. SHOVING THAT THOUGHT AWAY.

"Um…" You started, wanting to shrink into yourself like a snail retreating into its shell. "You’re…" Cute? Handsome? Hot?? Complicated? Moody? "Blunt," you finally settled on.

Rafe let out something close to a chuckle.

And then, like the words were right there on the tip of your tongue, like you physically couldn’t stop yourself, like it was something you wanted him to hear, you added, "And more considerate than you probably think."

For the first time ever in the history of your interactions (which, to be fair, could be counted on one hand), it was Rafe who looked genuinely caught off guard.

Not subtly, either—no, he was visibly thrown off.

You saw it in the way his lips twitched, like he was about to smirk, about to brush it off or deflect somehow.

But for some reason, his delayed reaction gave you the push to keep going.

"I mean, one doesn’t cancel out the other," you said with a sheepish smile, already regretting your choice. "And obviously… I mean it’s kind of obvious that I… well, I’m not the most extroverted person."

You let out a nervous laugh, unsure why you even started this, but it was too late to back out now.

"I overthink things a lot which makes me kind of awkward in situations I’m not used to. I mean, I’m not socially incompetent or anything, but… what I’m trying to say is, I—well, you—you have this way of making it feel like I’m not embarrassing myself as much." Another nervous laugh. Please stop talking.

"Maybe you do it subconsciously, or maybe it’s intentional, but…" You got this girl, keep going. "I just wanted to say I ... appreciate it. That you don’t make a big deal out of things, I mean. Like this morning."

You tilted your head slightly, and—GIRL—was that a hint of playfulness in your tone? "Which, by the way, could technically be considered nice."

Wow, two big-ass speeches in one day— and then THESE?!

And as much as you felt the cringe creeping up your neck, it did feel good having said this. Because fuck yeah, you were in fact grateful for how he handled your awkward behavior without making it seem like his interactions with you were forced. Plus his blunt and deflecting responses somehow helped to pull you out of your head.

And the fact that you even felt comfortable enough to say something like that to him, despite how incredibly cheesy and cringe it was, and even though he was probably thinking, What the actual fuck? Why didn’t I just drop this class? And what is wrong with this girl?!

That was like a badge of honor coming from an introvert.

And Rafe? He had already looked speechless after your first little monologue this morning, but now? Poor guy seemed completely lost like he had no idea whether you were messing with him or being dead serious. You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure out how the fuck you had gone from shy silence to this.

THIS IS HOW I FEEL EVERY DAMN TIME, you wanted to say, but you were so caught up in your own embarrassment that you just stared at him in silence.

But then, he seemed to snap out of it. A wide grin spread across his face, and you already knew you weren’t going to like what he was about to say. "Are you trying to hit on me?"

ARE YOU SHITTING ME?

The color drained from your face as you quickly shook your head. "What? No, that's—I'm being serious."

Rafe pulled the towel from around his shoulders and tilted his head, amusement clear in his expression. "One doesn’t rule out the other, does it?"

OH. MY. GOD.

"I..." But the words were stuck in your throat, embarrassment probably written all over your face.

And then he even had the nerve to raise his brows as if he was genuinely awaiting a response. However, that look was quickly replaced by a cocky smirk when it was clear that you were incapable of doing so.

"Aight, I'd say I'll grab some food and then we continue our shitty project", he said, eyeing you with amusement. "Unless you feel like continuing your little appreciation speech about me.”

I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE.

Your cheeks burned, blood rushing in your ears, and—shit, really—you should probably be annoyed or pissed that, for the second time today, he had dodged your emotional confession and twisted it in a way that played into his hands.

But then again, that was exactly the conclusion you had just come to: He didn’t make a big deal out of things like this.

And that was precisely what you'd learned to like about him.

Besides, your mind was still too focused on his initial reaction. Yeah, at first, he had looked surprised and overwhelmed but for that one moment—just one—you had managed to flip the dynamic.

And hey, some might have even called Rafe Cameron’s stunned expression at that moment—the boyish shock, the unexpected softness in his features—flustered.

And THAT? That was an entirely different kind of ego boost.

Still, all you could do was frown with burning cheeks, shaking your head. “It’s fine.”

Rafe nodded. “Thought so.” Then, still wearing that smug smile, he jerked his head toward the door on the left side of the entrance. “Come on, we still gotta get shit done today.”

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K M S M A S T E R L I S T | <- P R E V I O U S | N E X T ->

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[lingeringscars]

harper s3 yj thoughts so far

fell into a depression watching the cabin burn and didn't do anything to help keep it burning. she had accepted death at that point

it took her a minute after winter broke to come to her senses and find that will to live

helped tai build the shelters during the time jump

isn't vocally against shauna but is more on mari's side during their beefs. mostly bc she is also a little shit and relates to that in mari.

i think she did try with shauna. she had a lot of empathy for her. but eventually she just couldn't do that anymore.

this really changes with the trial <3

she has a strong sense of justice, and she truly did believe ben

she also does what she is told and that is a really interesting contrast to play around with esp in a yj setting where she is both going to try to free people and will follow orders and is a good soldier. wants peace but will keep fighting if that is what they have. wants to survive (most of the time) but has severe survivors guilt and struggles.

thinking about kane's who we want to be doesn't always win quote and how applicable it is to yj. this was esp true after javi, so i think working overtime to make sure it doesn't happen with ben.

at first, she might have bought into the stories about how he burned down the cabin. i think in general she really likes listening to van tell stories

this starts to fade as well because it is more about their experiences, which she doesn't vibe with the spins on that

she makes little jokes at the nat holy leader stuff. it probably falls flat with others, but i think nat appreciates it (my own interpretation. obviously nat rpers can have different thoughts there!)

she makes little digs about shauna that is probably not great. i can't think of any examples rn but i think after lottie, akilah, and travis change their votes it def comes out at them (v where's your mom, monty?)

she still holds on to that ben is their coach mentality and is struggling with letting javi die, but she cannot actively kill ben

she does pick a card because she has to; she still recognizes that refusing would not be good

she ends up going with lottie, akilah, and travis because she doesn't trust lottie right now. she saw what lottie did to travis earlier, and she saw what the gas did. she is not a fan. i think she truly believes (and says) that lottie is just using them to try to connect to something she lost and taking it out on them because of it.

she's probably most afraid of lottie because of it, actually. shauna is scary, but shauna is almost a familiar scary. people who lash out because they are in pain and hold firm to their beliefs because they can't shake them is familiar. lottie is uncharted territory. someone who causes pain while truly believing it is good. someone who is trying so hard to do something else and connect to something that harper doesn't understand.

she's usually very curious and asks questions, but she's also skeptical and javi dying pivoted things for her. she can't put her faith in the wilderness. these were HER actions, not something else. what SHE did. i am sure her not distancing herself from this works really well for the group.

i think she thinks there is SOMETHING going on, but she doesn't think it's some mystical connection to the wilderness. don't ask her what else though she can't tell you.

case by case basis for whether or not she was part of the cave gas scene because i think it fits and aligns with the jobi nuts + the original harper death scene. i've kept in her canon her getting v sick off the jobi nuts, and i think i combined that with the shrooms from s1 but it would also be applicable here

even if she did not personally experience it, she would have been wary about it all anyway. she said drugs are meant for fun not forced visions

i do think forced / coerced drugs is a sore point for her too and the perception that lottie is weaponizing that is really uncomfortable to her

i'm all over the place because trying to collect my thoughts across the episodes but if it wasn't clear she did not change her vote

she definitely cried when ben was found guilty but hid it away as anger and stormed off (to plan how to set him free. i think she does need some level of support from others to attempt to do that, though. being the only one would not work. akilah and travis changed their votes, and they were the two she would have looked to for this, so that dashed a lot of hopes. she really is not happy with them for this and feels personally betrayed by them doing this, even though it isn't personal. it does make her 10x more wary of lottie and that influence, though)

she has never run faster than when she had a reason to save ben

finds time to check in with travis after because she is acutely aware of the parallel between him knocking ben over when he was about to be shot and him knocking nat out of the way when she was about to be slit

probably ends up in ben's place staring down all of them just bc i think that would be a hot shot. she'll move out of the way for akilah to have her moment

as soon as shauna and melissa disappear, she's in the pen helping ben :(((

i don't think she can do much but she'll stay there with him screaming all night instead of retreating to the huts :(((

a lot of trying to do better after javi and struggling because that is Not the vibe that is going around DFHSH

[otsanda]

I was reading this great meta by @fuckyeahisawthat about Aziraphale and Crowley metaphorically switching places— from Crowley being the giver of Knowledge and the freedom of choice to humanity and Aziraphale being the protector, by giving humans the flaming sword to Crowley being the protector of humanity and Aziraphale granting knowledge and freedom of choice.

But this made something click into place for me that I’d been turning over in my mind for a while: what if it’s not just freedom and knowledge and choice for humanity… what if Aziraphale functionally brings freedom and choice and knowledge to everyone!

I mean, one thing I haven’t really seen anyone talking about is the contrast between the portrayal of angels and demons (generally) in S1 and specific angels and demons in S2. The first season really set Heaven and Hell up as full of a lot of characters who had their own quirks and unique aspects, but still functioned very well as cogs in the same type of machine.

Gabriel and Beelzebub are the most obvious examples, since they had the biggest pivot in S2: suddenly it’s not just Aziraphale and Crowley who are the special ones.

We get to see these two other characters have thoughts and desires and aspirations beyond that of following their angelic/demonic natures or furthering the cause of their respective sides. S2 really humanizes both of these characters who were (in S1) the best real example that we saw of an official representative of the corporate goings-on from each side. God and Satan were there in S1, but in a much less visible way (and even LESS visible in S2).

But even beyond Beez and Gabe, S2 took careful steps to humanize a lot of other ethereal/occult characters as well. We see Michael both confident and shaken, sarcastic and unsure. Strong, but with aspirations to go Higher. Uriel pushes back, questions authority, and asks for reassurance that they’ve not done something wrong. Side note: I really hope we get to see more Uriel development bc Uriel has so much interesting potential to me.

Muriel wasn’t in S1, but is an obvious parallel for early Aziraphale and we see a lot of similarities between them (their enthusiasm and delight at experiencing Earth, being believed when attempting a particular human job, enjoying books, etc).

Even the demons we see aren’t a monolith. Shax feels quite different from the classic evil demons we’ve met before. Furfur and Eric too. Although they’re doing demon stuff, none of these demons act all that demonic. We see even more hints at them struggling and learning and growing. Being… more human.

Heck, even the demon with the scary mouth in E4, Astoreth, was just doing his job.

So then what if the end of S2 is establishing Crowley as the defender of Humanity while positioning Aziraphale to share knowledge and the freedom of choice in heaven. If the ‘big battle’ that Crowley mentioned at the end of S1 is between Humanity and whoever is representing Heaven or Hell, maybe it’s time to give more ethereal and occult beings the opportunity to choose their own place in that fight.

Because I think that Crowley is right that Heaven and Hell are toxic. And Aziraphale is right that they both can do good. And separating the two of them, as painful as it is to watch, could give Aziraphale the space to see glimpses of humanity in the other angels (and even demons?) while positioned in Heaven. And it could give Crowley... probably trust issues, actually. I guess let's put a pin in that part.

But come Season 3, I would love to see Crowley and Aziraphale positioned on opposite sides of the war to end all wars, Aziraphale representing Heaven (and Hell?) and Crowley alongside Humanity. But before anything truly awful happens, they do what they always do.

They’ll come up with a plan. And they'll rescue one another and themselves.

And everything else and everyone else will fall into place around them.

[horizon-verizon]

"...we just hate the way Emma talk about this character feels like a mockery" Isn’t that just most of the cast, though? Most of them don’t bother to read the source material. Then they show up to interviews without a real understanding of their character arcs or endings and just throw out headcanons. Annoying? Yes. But it happens. It was annoying when Tom said Aegon was an empath (and his fans went wild, claiming he’s the only one who "gets him"). Emma, for the most part, provides a fairly neutral take on Rhaenyra. Sure, they’ve had moments where they veer into headcanon territory, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen. Then again, who wouldn’t start slipping after being asked the same question a thousand times: “What do you think your character felt when…?” 🙄 Out of the whole cast, Matthew Needham is one of the few who actually seems to understand his character. He doesn’t mock the role, try to justify actions, or force “good” qualities over the bad ones; he just presents his character as it is.

Anon talks about this post.

I haven't watched any interviews after the puppy one, that one with the black backdrop where Fabien and Matt were uncontrollably laughing, and one group one where Matt said he'd protect Emma in a different time period. And I haven't gone back for S1 interviews, so I wouldn't know about Emma's patterns there too well. But I have had the impression from clips on TikTok that it is as you describe, to the point that some people thought that they were a little wishy-washy to please the actor of Alicent (forgot her name) bc they were in their begiining of their friendship and we were all still in the midst of the show's pushing antiDaemonism/pro-Alicentism for Rhaenyra's popularity, which...never made any sense.

Important to note some things that other anon said:

A)

[...] we just hate the way Emma talk about this character feels like a mockery If Emma hates girlie stuff and thinking wore a skirt is their highest achivement? Its fine. But their fans had use the book to justifying that they are right while this character were nothing like in the book, it's better for them to throw fire and blood and embraced that their character love their stepmother.

B)

there's a lot of queer/minority actors in hollywood did all of them act like Emma? Emma didnt look like how George describe the character and didnt acting and behave like her, this one is older than her stepmom, the question is is this really the character? It is so understandable that Ryan and Miguel chose Emma through audition in Zoom meeting at the pandemic and it shows.

I forgot about the [bold] line above in the first quote or my eyes skipped it, but this presents as approaching transphobia/enbyphobia bc I'm not sure how Emma's supposed hatred feminine socially-coded feminine clothing impacted how the costumers created the clothes or how the writers decided to write a lot of show!Rhaenyra's subpar approaches to the war preparations. And Emma not looking like how GRRM describes Rhaenyra should really only refer to her (Rhaenyra's) clothing, bc acting is a priority over looks when considering fancasting. The person can be the "perfect" mirror of the official small-mouthed, plump Rhaenyra but if they can't act or portray Rhaenyra's character it's been a complete waste, esp when it's the MC. Makes the whole thing far less enjoyable or plain intolerable. And in general, fancasting/casting is not going to be perfect in terms of looks fitting those either detailed to T in the original text OR imagined so by one set of the audience from some deatils of the text anyway. It's not ever going to fit everyone's perfect idea of what the character looks like OR, again, fit the exact truely detailed accout from the text itself. No one looks like a "canon" Targ except maybe an albino, and even then we know Targs typically had "gold" (yellow/blonde) AND "silver" (white, NOT gray!) hair tendrils or has purple eyes (not dark blue that could pass as such, true purple).

So again, what we should consider is how the actor acts, what is written for them to base such acting on, and finally how the costumers/producers decided how this character dresses.

So there appears to be just some more possible transphobia here.

[setmeatopthepyre]

9-1-1 tag game

so uhh I was tagged in this by a whole bunch of people (thank you!) ages ago but I kept. forgetting about it (sorry). so here we go! also heads up I am terrible at choosing a favorite anything bc I hate picking just one thing so. yeah.

tagged by @iphyslitterator @sorryimlatecapt @epiphainie @kinardtk @beanarie @sugdenlovesdingle

Rules: answer your opinion on these nine topics, then tag nine other people to give their opinion as well

Favorite Character: Buck / Chimney / Tommy / Karen

Character You Relate to the Most: personality wise, Chimney and Buck (also for the late bi awakening & adhd) with a side of Tommy socially. but also Eddie when he gets to be silly. I feel his dumb joke delivery in my soul.

Favorite Episode: I'm gonna go with my favorite from each season to ease the burden of choosing The Favorite(s) a little. so. uh. sorry for the wall of text lmao.

S1 E1: Pilot. It's got a little bit of everything and fuckboy buck is everything to me.

S2 E6: Dosed and E12: Chimney Begins. E6: I love a healthy mix of goofy shenanigans and angst, and the pageant scene is so fucking funny every single time. E12: I also love chimney (and tommy) and chimney begins is just such a fantastic episode. kenny is so good in it. there's eli! there's angst and joy and just such a satisfying emotional arc. it feels like a million things happen but nothing feels rushed and nothing drags. it gets weirdly trippy towards the end. it's great.

S3 E17: Powerless. this was a tough one bc s3 has a ton of episodes where I love some parts and dislike others, so they tend to balance out. but this episode has some fun calls and some really human moments I like, plus the angst of bobby listening to athena fight over the radio? goddd.

S4 E5: Buck Begins and E12: Treasure Hunt. what can I say, buck (and buckley sibling) backstory and love me anyway. also, shenanigans.

S5 E13: Fear-o-Phobia. mann there's so much angst but it doesn't drag or feel overdone and we really dig into the meat of some of their psyches and it's so messy.

S6 E7: Cursed and E11: In Another Life. E7: felisa and eddie had such good chemistry alright? also silly curse stuff and the buck sperm donation shenanigans! jesus I still can't believe that's a storyline we got. E11: yeah ok so I like buck-centric storylines (especially buck-and-bobby!). coma dream! chimney who is just on board right away! evil buck! angry bobby! yeaah!

S7 E4: Buck, Bothered and Bewildered and E5: You Don't Know Me. E4 for obvious reasons (the bachelor opening had me double checking I'd downloaded the wrong show, there's joshmaddiechimney shenanigans, there's harbor tour!!, tommy tommy tommy's so cool!!, buck acting a complete fool, eddie being an oblivious dumbass, ravi!, the top gun throwback basketball scene! the kiss!!), though god that call with the mistaken identity and the storyline with athena and harry are rough. not bad, just rough. and E5 has some of my absolute favorite scenes, like the 'so tell me about the hot pilot' scene between maddie and buck. it might be my most rewatched scene, period.

S8a E1: Buzzkill and E5: Masks. mann, I remember the optimism I had in e1! there's silliness, there's interesting plot being set up, there's still hope for the future, there's fun interactions... and E5 for obvious reasons but also because it just felt like a kind of old school fun theme episode with just the right amount of cheese.

Hottest Take: Season Six Was Good, Actually. idk i've seen a lot of people dislike it but I... don't know why? there's a few storylines I don't care about as much but there's some really fun episodes. oh on that note, the sperm donation storyline had a lot of potential and I'm sad we didn't get more of it. it could've been such a cool way to dive into different dynamics between characters we don't really know! there could've been baby shenanigans! medium-warm take bc I think a lot of people in my circles agree with it, but taylor is an incredibly interesting character (and they should've kept her on!). in my heart, there is a version of 9-1-1 where taylor didn't disappear after the break up but stayed as a recurring character and becomes best frenemies with buck (and eddie!) and it would be sooo good and provide sooo many fun plot opportunities. perhaps my hottest take: I think we as a fandom may be making too big of a deal about eddie moving to el paso. we don't even know if he's actually going. the looking at houses was a product placement and the show just loooooves to zig instead of zag it's more likely to me that eddie is gone for like one week so buck can be isolated for the maddie storyline and then he's back.

Favorite Lone Star Character: marjan, carlos, judd, grace (especially judd and grace together), paul. to just stare at: carlos and tommy.

Favorite Ship: bucktommy (and for lone star: tarlos and judd/grace)

Most Underrated Character: josh. underutilized by the show: karen, josh, eddie, chimney. i want karen & chimney to have plots outside of their romantic relationships, dammit. they both have unexplored depths! and let josh do more than give quippy lines and be the gay best friend/coworker. also i think there's so much potential in eddie as a character that is barely touched on and it keeps circling back to vague handwavy trauma which can be interesting but needs more room to get to be interesting imo.

Most Underrated Ship: (chimney begins-era) chimtommy, also eddietommy. so much opportunity for a game of emotional repression and comphet chicken.

One Thing You'd Love to See: where's that tommytommytommytommytommy gif? also see: underutilized characters. I'd love to see 118 side character shenanigans. just one episode with no mains (or they're on screen for like a minute).

lmao this became such a long post so uh enjoy. once I get going with opinions I just don't stop and like I said I can't pick favorites. :') not tagging bc I think everyone & their mom already got tagged ages ago but if you do want to be tagged go for it or send me a message & I'll tag you sneaky like.

[speremint]

Good Omens S2 Thoughts

OBVIOUSLY spoilers for GO S2 below, so if you've not seen, and don't wanna be spoiled, don't read!

The tl;dr of this long post is that I loved S2, it was a lot of fun, and I love that it focused more on Az and Crowley, but I also think it was a little out of pocket and a little messy in writing.

Anyway I fuckin.. am still processing all of what I watched, and am currently rewatching with a friend, too, but here's my jumbled thoughts on S2 and especially the final episode because I'm having many emotions and I need to get my thoughts out somewhere.

Listen. I would like to clarify that I loved S2 and I loved S1, and I think S2 was VERY smart to parse down on supporting characters and keep it stuck to Crowley and Aziraphale for the most part.

I'm assuming that S2 was made with S3 in mind though, esp after this post from Neil Gaiman, bc lord I will cry if there's no S3.

The focus on the story of Job I am being super optimistic in hoping that maybe it's Gaiman punching us in the throat with S2 before offering us a nicer S3... regardless though, I loved the season despite my minor criticisms.

I... do not have anything against Beelzebub/Gabriel, but holy shit was that out of left field for the ending... I just feel that, despite Gabriel having memory loss (it doesn't seem to be COMPLETE since it was kinda touch and go during scenes), they should've sprinkled in some sort of foreshadowing the his relationship or fondness of Beelzebub.

Have him at least not try to decimate that fuckin fly with books, or take an interest in books on forbidden romance, or rebellion against authority, or maybe just flat out have him be interested in Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship, or Nina and Maggie's. Just SOMETHING to set it up a little bit...

EDIT:: while rewatching, I suppose they hinged most of their foreshadowing in Beelzebub's passiveness and interest in Gabriel, but it's a little hard to have a comparison given how little they were in S1

It was only after I skimmed the GO tag that I saw people were pissed about Aziraphale's choice in E6 and I'm kinda just like ??? It's not OOC though... He's always been loyal to Heaven, and the times when he's been questioning, the biggest issue, is that Crowley was an enabler. He kept Aziraphale from REALLY facing the consequences of these decisions because he's acted as a safety net in some of the situations they're put in.

I love the added scenes of the past with Crowley and Aziraphale, they're fuckin great and I like that it continues to expand upon their relationship and "temptations", but I do think it was kinda reiterating stuff we knew from S1... even if it was good fan service, for lack of a better word. I just kinda wish they had sprinkled in more reinforcements of Aziraphale's fealty to heaven. Or, perhaps during the scene when Azira is worried he's going to become a demon, he could take that time to ask Crowley on his feelings on being a demon, and perhaps if he regrets it, just to also set up for the finale desire of Aziraphale in turning Crowley back into an angel.

Regardless though, S3, assuming there is one, will be a big wake up call to Aziraphale when he's left on his own and also under a tighter leash by heaven, especially since Crowley is gone. Also, expanding on Crowley being a high rank when he was an angel made my fuckin night, I still stick to the headcanon that he was the Archangel Raphael, don't @ me

I do think that... some of the stuff that happened in S3 did feel a little like a response to fans as well, since I know Gaiman is on tumblr and Ik the fandom has been really vitriolic over the fact that Az and Crowley didn't kiss or anything in S1... tbh I didn't think it was that big of a deal cause love is shown in many different ways, and I admit I do like that they kissed in S2, but it did also feel uhhh kinda spontaneous.

Not a bad thing, just wasn't expecting it. I did replay the scene bc I'm an angsty bitch. But yeah, I'm like ehhh.

Also Nina and Maggie randomly coming at the end to like.. sit Crowley down and be like "erm youre stupid and in love" felt very weird in a way I can't quite describe, but also felt kinda undeserved. Esp cause Crowley was like "eh I guess". I think the more subtle off handed chat he had with Nina about Aziraphale being his partner was a more elegant way of setting that up, and having him reflect on that instead would've been better. But also tbf he and Azira were being bitches and indeed messing with Maggie and Nina.

I don't like the term of describing content as "fanfic"y because a lot of fanfiction is super well written, but I think S2 was very... fan service-y... rather.

Which tbh I don't mind that much, esp given Gaiman really didn't want an S2 to respect Pratchett's passing as his cowriter. So... meh. I did genuinely dislike the ball scene at the end though. Just... it was really weird, and I'm not sure what they were trying to say with it, other than Aziraphale is fucking demented... and tbh he should've known better since the fucker's been on earth for ages, idk. After talkin with a friend, it just was a really weird scene, and if anything was OOC for him, I think it was that bc his removal of free will, speech, and even actions, was fucking insane.

Also I don't think John Hamm is attractive, so I tbh was just confused for a lot of his scenes that had interactions or alluded to him...

I liked S2, I really did. It was campy, it was a lil sloppy, but it was fun, and it gave a lot more Crowley and Aziraphale being a bitchy little married couple before their fuckin messy ass divorce at the end.

ANYWAY... I really can't wait to see what happens, and I am PRAYING that there'll be an S3. Until then, I will happily sit in my puddle of tears