#big four tv networks

[mateushonrado]

First logos of the Big Four US TV networks

Status Post #10986: NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.

[hopeymchope]

No hardcore fandom has ever died so quickly and so completely as Veronica Mars. This is the story of its murder.

They should study Veronica Mars in Hollywood. I'm serious. It's an incredible story of how to go from "loud, passionate fanbase with its own fandom name that campaigns and advocates constantly for it" to "absolutely zero fucking interest" damn near OVERNIGHT with just ONE epically terri-bad decision.

If you weren't there, you don't understand: From 2007 to 2014, the fandom — the "Marshmallows," as they called themselves — were everywhere in the Internet's geek spaces, my friends. They routinely beat the drum about the series' three seasons and its excellence, lamented its cancellation, pushed others to give the show a try, and always - ALWAYS - proudly and loudly called for the series to be revived.

FULL DISCLOSURE/CONFESSION: I've not even watched that much Veronica Mars, frankly... ? Yeah, I'm sorry! it does seem pretty good from like the four-or-five hours I've experienced firsthand. I just never took the time to sit down with it. Regardless, I find fandoms and their dynamics — both how they operate internally and how they display to others externally — deeply fascinating. And I honestly find them easier to study from the outside than the inside. Like, if I'm IN a fandom, I'm more likely to stay in my corner and ignore places that seem negative. But being on the outside lets me just... absorb what's out there, looking into every forum without judgment. It's like studying pop-culture sociology or something? And it helps that I'm very close to some serious(-ly burnt) Marshmallows. It makes it so much easier to find and absorb the gamut of the fandom.

Besides: There is NO fandom story I've ever seen that's anything like what happened to Veronica Mars and the Marshmallows.

(Time to insert a brief explainer for the uninitiated: Veronica Mars was a TV series that aired from 2004-2007 on the now-deceased UPN network wherein Kristen Bell played the titular character, a high school girl whose single dad was a private detective in the fictional community of Neptune, California. She grew up working "unofficially" as his assistant, which meant that she herself was effectively a teenage private detective.

The three core elements of the series were: 1) Veronica investigating each week's big mystery with plenty of quips and snark, 2) Watching Veronica's various relationships develop and shift, with most of the focus given to a) her relationship to her father and b) Her romantic pursuits (which began as the Veronica/Duncan/Logan triangle before eventually becoming focused on the slow-burn, off-on Veronica/Logan love story), and 3) The gradual development of that season's "mytharc" — the overarching BIG MYSTERY that doesn't get resolved or wrapped until the season finale. So it went over the course of two seasons that took place in high school and the third, shorter season that was at the start of Veronica's collegiate career.)

Just how big and how passionate were the Marshmallows? WELL! When series creator Rob Thomas (not the Matchbox 20 guy) and star Kristen Bell announced the Kickstarter campaign for the Veronica Mars movie in March 2013, it achieved its heretofore-unprecedented goal of TWO MILLION GODDAMN DOLLARS within less than 12 hours. At that time, it was the biggest Kickstarter goal to ever succeed — and certainly the fastest to reach that kind of height. Fans fell OVER themselves to pay out for it. Hell, my own significant other was DEEP in the tank for VM at the time and invested enough to get multiple t-shirts as backer rewards as well as a disk copy of the movie when it eventually came home.

And AFTER the movie hit in 2014? It was thankfully beloved and embraced! The once-teenage characters were adults who were actually out living on their own and working for a living, but the fandom had grown up with them, so it wasn't like they were begging for them to stay young students. They embraced Adult Veronica and her new adventure. The fandom rejoiced loudly and continued to be all over the geek side of the Internet... where they, of course, still wanted more. Sure, there were new novels in the aftermath (which were written by the creator of the series), but most of the Marshmallows were calling for more movies or a streaming revival.

And then, at long last... season four was actually announced. And there was much (premature) rejoicing yet again.

Yes, Veronica Mars returned for a fourth season on Hulu in 2019. It was just eight episodes, and it was heavily centered on one season-long mystery instead of sprinkling that amongst a bunch of smaller ones, but it would still feature the same ol' Veronica. They promised a new, more "adult" mystery/investigation plus a strong focus on Veronica and Logan's love story.

New Hulu purchased the rights to the first three seasons and hyped up its presence on the platform while marketing the return for the new run. The marketing team played up the most popular quips from the show's history plus put out TONS of stuff centered on the Logan/Veronica ship to pump up the fans.

The season was dropped all at once using the classic Netflix "binge" model in July 2019. And then... afterwards?

There was a brief explosion of LOUD RAGE from the Marshmallows at what series creator Rob Thomas had to done to burn and spite the fandom and ruin his own goodwill.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4: See, at the end of the movie, Veronica and Logan finally entered into a long-term relationship. In season four, they've been dating for years, and Logan proposes marriage. But of course there has to be drama/obstacles: In this case, Veronica isn't sure she's ready to marry... or capable of being in a marriage. Ah, but of course she eventually realizes how much Logan means to her. The two are married, and, in the season finale... Logan is killed by a car bomb in the penultimate scene. The final scene is a flashfoward to a year later, where Veronica leaves Neptune alone.

For most fandoms, that'd be a memorable point of pain. A big ol' speed bump that ultimately throws some people off the bus, leaving only the die-hards. But the fact that fans had been invested in this relationship for literally 15 years and that Hulu (and creator Rob Thomas) had heavily marketed the new season as being a big romantic event for the ship... it was too much. Unlike the aftermath of the Star Wars sequels, there was no lingering group of die-hard fans who were open to whatever was next — at least no significant one. I did some Googling and could only find TWO people who still wanted another season.

Funnily enough? Critics LOVED this. Hell, Vanity Fair infamously penned an editorial about how Veronica Mars had "finally grown up" with this finale. I suppose all the other murders and deaths and drug overdoses and r*pe weren't "mature" enough before now for... some... reason. (The same editorial also featured the author openly hating on Veronica ever being in a relationship because it causes "arrested development" and declaring that the movie -- which was acclaimed by both critics AND fans alike, I remind you -- was a lame dud. So. The writer must be a reeeaaaal fun person.)

But a series doesn't live based on critical acclaim, as it turns out. The fandom was murdered overnight. "Marshmallows" stopped appearing in geek spaces online entirely. No one expressed interest in seeing the next season or the next movie. The constant flow of fan AMVs on YouTube and fanfics on AO3 dried up to nothing or damn nearly so.

Since 2019 ? Nothing. Chirping crickets. An intensely dedicated fandom of 12 years was just... vaporized.

I've never seen anything like it before OR since.

That's why it's so fucking fascinating.

So what went wrong?

Creator Rob Thomas was adamant about two things: ONE, the series was intended to be a noir show, which meant there couldn't be any happiness for its protagonist. And TWO, the death of Logan was necessary to evolve and grow the series.

Thomas thought that having Veronica in a relationship would be holding her back, and that a marriage would absolutely kill the series and leave her stagnant. It never even occurred to him that marriage isn't the end of a character's life and growth. It never occurred to him that plenty of drama can be had AFTER someone is married, or that development/growth could be that the characters mature enough to be capable of maintaining a committed relationship. Thomas' view of his own universe was so myopic that he couldn't conceive of any possible way that Veronica could still be a private detective involved in life-threatening investigations AND be married at the same time. Futhermore, he felt that fans just wanted Veronica to become a pregnant housewife, which is about as far from what Marshmallows were after as you can get without straight-up killing Veronica and/or Logan. He managed to do the only thing wronger than what he wrongly thought was their insistence.

On top of the above, Rob Thomas only viewed "noir" as a vehicle for total fatalism... despite the fact that many of the most famous noir stories are cynical and full of moral ambiguity, but they still feature a positive outcome. The Big Sleep still has the protagonist get the girl. The Set-Up arguably ends with the happiest possible ending in spite of the beating the hero receives.

Perhaps most importantly? Despite Thomas own insistence that Veronica Mars was always "noir," the majority of both TV critics and fans did not think that designation ever truly applied. I suspect that's the reason why Thomas decided to go as dark and fatalistic as possible: He wanted to be noir, and he was being told that he wasn't. So he went so far into noir that he killed his own most popular property.

He was adamant that it was the only way for the series to grow. But as it turns out, it was instead the only way for the series to permanently end. Without that season four finale, a passionate group of fans would still be begging for more. With it? It's over. Nobody fucking cares now.

That's kind of amazing.

[ordinaryschmuck]

I love that The Ghost and Molly McGee's forced cancellation isn't just frustrating to fans of the show but to people in the animation industry as well. They're just as sick as we are about how much studios disrespect animation. They keep looking for the next Spongebob, Simspons, or goodness forbid Family Guy, but instead having faith in the creators and their content, they just...wait. They wait to make a profit and do the bare minimum to market their shows and make them available.

Let's look at Gravity Falls for example. I remember that when Gravity Falls was still airing, you would be able to find out a new episode was coming out based on coming across a commercial by random chance or by the people working the show promoting it online. Add that with the fact that it was on a different channel that required you paying MORE for your cable to get it. It WAS available through Disney Channel, a channel more available at a cheaper price, but the entire of Season Two got moved to the more expensive Disney XD, where Disney shows go to die, because...REASONS. With no warning or announcement. I think I found out about Gravity Falls moving to Disney XD because the trailer played during a commercial break. And that's just the START the show's problems. Mixed in with poor marketing, the show would have a crazy inconsistent schedule, where we'd have four episodes a week, a few months of NOTHING, a few more episodes a week, nothing for a few months, a random episode playing between that nothingness with next to no promotion, and all of that happening to the rest of the show until it finally died a slow death with its series finale where four episodes got stretched out for six months. That...is NOT okay. And it doesn't stop with Gravity Falls.

Steven Universe, OK KO, Ducktales 2017, Amphibia, The Owl House, and now Ghost and Molly McGee are all shows that had similar and sometimes WORSE treatments as Gravity Falls did, where the networks gave next to NO marketing, the creators had to promote their own shows themselves, and the airing schedules were so inconsistent with wildly long hiatuses that only the most dedicated fans were willing to keep watching. General audiences (mainly kids) weren't willing to keep up with shows that had ongoing stories if the episodes stories kept being too spaced apart and never had reruns as frequent as other shows like Teen Titans Go or Big City Greens (Or whatever's constantly on network TV nowadays. I don't know. I mostly watch shit on streaming).

The people of the animation industry is catching onto all of these tricks, and they're getting sick of it. They're getting sick of inconsistent schedules. They're getting sick of trying to bend over backwards in every possible way to make the show they wanted. By either making serialized content as episodic as possible so the network could air it more or by condensing their stories as much as they can, already expecting that forced cancellation to happen sooner than later. And in some cases, they don't even get the luxury of being told their show is ending. Did you know that Inside Job and Paranormal Park both had seasons that were already in development before Netflix pulled the plug shortly after releasing new episodes of their shows? Did you know that The Ghost and Molly McGee was already working on a Season Three before Disney shut that down so they had to force out a series finale that would still be good despite the cancellation? Because it's true. It's ALWAYS true. Creators want to make MORE, but the studios won't let them because they didn't profit off of it. Except they WOULD HAVE if they treated it better.

I want kids to grow up with characters that stick around through their childhood, just like I did with mine. I want kids to have their own Ed, Edd n Eddy, Codename: Kids Next Door, Phineas and Ferb, or Kim Possible. I want kids to watch shows that last more than two-three seasons, stick around for years, and leave an impact as if they have all the time in the world because to them, it feels like they do. I want kids to have a show that ends on a high note because the creators wanted it and not because the networks demanded it. But the unfortunate thing is that it doesn't seem possible nowadays. Because if a mostly episodic show like The Ghost and Molly McGee fails, despite being charming and inoffensive and something most kids will love, the what hope IS left.

[itstheghostofmypast]

Lime Milkshake

Non-Idol Choi San x (f)Reader

Summary: Love is not a feeling that comes without a cost, a give-and-take relationship that flourishes if both ends of the line meet at a pleasant frequency. Choi San had yet to understand that concept, especially when he deemed himself to be unworthy of love, in all its forms.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 5.1k

Est Read Time: 25 minutes

Warnings: past relationship trauma, language, ghosting (it triggers me so yes)

Rating: PG-13

Networks: @cromernet @k-labels @san-network

Banner: @cafekitsune

Fate had never been fair, not with anyone who ever dared to dance with it, and luck was often watching from the sidelines, that's exactly how he felt when he saw her walk in with another man that day, watching the way she laughed at something the stranger had said to her- whispered to her, leaning closer to her, who knew the girl he had given his heart to was busy fooling around with it. That day he had stomped out of the shop, making sure to walk past her, feeling her body tense up, breath hitch and eyes widen as she turned her head to face him, locking her panicked orbs with his cold, hard ones-, a look she had never been a victim to before. That was the last time he had seen her, spoken to her, responded to her texts or even made the effort to open the door.

The thing about love is that it leaves a mark, an imprint that one may either wear proudly or cover with shame. She wasn't the first person he had been with, no, he had been in a few other situationships- unfortunately, she wasn't a situationship, she was a relationship, much like his previous ex- the one who had cheated on him with his own best friend, ironically his best friend was unaware of the relationship. He never thought that one night he'd visit her apartment, to surprise her, a day before his birthday, that he wanted to celebrate with his lover, his Bora, his angel, and find none other than Jung Wooyoung with her on her bed. It took Wooyoung four days to force San out of his room and another six for him to actually communicate with him, Bora was already out of the story, someone who didn't even bother calling back San or trying to reach out to him. That day Wooyoung had seen his best friend implode, keeping it in more than his introverted self ever did before, he was shy by nature and was one to put up a strong front to match his physical presence (the current big mountainous one) the old Sannie was as fragile as his porcelain heart, the recent development however was the addition of his nonchalance followed by his tactic to ignore the situation. The younger man had practically broken into his apartment to talk to him, only to find him mindlessly scrolling on his phone, he sat beside him, trying to talk to him but what he had received was a step ahead of the silent treatment- it was as if he was invisible like he wasn't even there. To get a reaction when Wooyoung had snatched it out of his hand and flung it across the room, the man simply grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, mumbling to himself about some movie- it was only two hours in of him sitting with Wooyoung in silence when his head whipped in the direction of his friend, at the sound of a broken sob, he'd never seen Wooyoung cry, let alone sob like that. It was after that when the two finally talked it out, how Wooyoung explained how he never knew San was in a relationship with Bora, and perhaps San shouldn't have hidden his relationship with her if he truly loved her, even if she had asked for it, he should've at least kept him in the loop.

He did thus keep him in the loop, for one fine afternoon Wooyoung had received a text from San, while he was busy cleaning at home, 

"It's over, don't meet her anymore, she's just like her."

Her- two years had passed and she still haunted his best friend, keeping him awake at night until he met someone else, Wooyoung was glad he had, for once San had met someone different, someone who would pull out San from the bubble he hid in, she was honest but careful with her words which Wooyoung had noticed, the two had met at a 7-Eleven at midnight, buying a lime milkshake and bonding over how disgusting of a midnight snack that was- though San had told him how she had done most of the talking, even while he walked her home she was talking, they had exchanged numbers because she had suggested becoming "mid-night snack buddies"- initially Woo thought she meant that sexually, but ironically she didn't, there was no other implication, but honest words of sincerity, a range of snacks were exchanged and shared and slowly San had begun to fall again, only this time he knew his mountain of a friend would fall into her arms and she'd catch him. Or so he thought, the text itself was something that had scared him, as soon as he read it, he was quick to leave his home to his friend's side, only to find her at his door, crying and asking for his help. Initially, he had thought she was no different, just as San had suggested, but it occurred to him how Bora had never cried like this, never tried to fight for San- if she truly was different then she would try no matter what, which is why he had decided to stay out of the matter, only advising her to "Don't give up on him." San, at the realisation that this was Wooyoung's advice, was, to say the least, enraged. His now ex would be at his door all the time, he blocked her number and email address, and made sure she couldn't find him on social media, at one point she began to show up at his door, knocking, gently calling him out, "Sannie, please I- I don't know what I've done, but please listen to me or at least talk to me." He'd ignore her diligently, making sure to leave a message, of how he didn't want her, how she was like her, how she was no different and how he was not someone to play around with. This went on for months, five to be exact, not that he was counting, she came to his door whenever she knew he was home from work, gently knocking on the door, "Hey... it's me, I just wanna talk." "Sannie, please, please just tell me what I did wrong?" "I hope you're taking care of yourself..." "Hey...Wooyoung told me about her...I'm not her San, I'm not Bora-"That was the last time he had heard from her, that night, he had almost opened the door, instead opting to lean his forehead against it, listening to her laboured breathing, "I- I don't know why you think I'd ever do that to you...I don't even know what I did to trigger this- please San, I know you're there. I know you can hear me- everyone in this building thinks I'm insane, like I'm a lunatic- I don't care about that but San I- please don't ghost me like that, don't pretend I never existed....just open the door...if you won't I..." he had heard the way her voice had cracked, his own resolve had begun to crack as well, but when he closed his eyes to keep the waterworks at bay, the image that flashed in front of his eyes was not hers- it was of the one who did this to him, he was so distracted by the face of his ex that he had almost missed her final call, "I won't bother you anymore."

It wasn't fair how all he asked was for true love, yet he was given something bitter as this every time he received any, it was unfair how he'd still cling to the memories, onto the habits and the little activities, only to make himself feel better, to feel whole again. It wasn't fair how he was now climbing down the damp, slippery stairs, on his way to have a disgusting, cold, unworthy lime milkshake. It took him a while to come out of the habits he had developed with Bora, but now that he thinks about it, those comprised of usually pleasing his ex, it was different with her, she'd usually look for a middle ground. Scoffing to himself he stuffed his hands in his jacket, what did it matter, he hadn't heard from her since that night, he hadn't heard from her for almost a year, she was no different, at the end it was only-

"Ah!" 

His ears picked up a loud thump, followed by the sound of things clattering around, a pained cry had him focusing on a crouched figure, leaning against the wall almost at the base of the stairs- oh no, they must've slipped. Making his way quickly, but carefully down the remaining concrete steps he clicked his tongue at the figure, a woman, "Miss, are you okay?" He asked as she watched her gripping her ankle, and let out a shaky breath, she couldn't hear him. Moving closer he tapped her shoulder, "Miss, do you need.... help..." his words died down as his eyes locked with a familiar misty pair, which widened upon a sudden realisation. Honestly, she was quicker than him, shaking her head and mumbling an, "I'm fine", before trying to reach for her bag and its fallen contents hastily, not sparing him a glance.

Did she change her hair?

Did he change his hair?

Her mind raced with a thousand questions, but she didn't listen to any, quickly trying to stuff whatever she had dropped, back in her bag, her keys, her wallet, her perfume, and her…her phone? A gasp escaped her as she continued to frantically look around, hands slapping against the dimly lit stairs, cringing at the wet dirt that stuck to her palm.

He watched her silently, frozen in the spot as he tried to process what had just happened, how did he not notice her walking before him? He hadn't noticed anyone at all, why was she out at this hour? It was still drizzling a bit; it was cold and- since when did she wear wide-legged pants? Sandals in the rain? His ear picked up her little gasp, picking up her little "Where's my phone...", he saw the glint of the device on two steps below, making his way around her to go down quietly. 

She felt his gaze on her, somewhat humiliated, somewhat angry and truly upset. Why was he not helping her? Was he just going to stand there and watch? The San she knew wasn't like this, he was cold-hearted- she saw him crouch down to grab something, her phone- shit- the screen lit up, reflecting off his eyes that had widened for a split second before he closed them, letting out a sigh and locking the screen.

He picked up her phone, pushing the lock button to check the damage, only for his breath to hitch at the sight of her wallpaper, it was the first couple picture they had taken together, one she had coaxed him into after three months of being together;

"Don't worry, it won't have your face or mine." "I... how?" "Watch, just stop walking." She instructed as he stood still, still carrying her on his back, this was a habit that developed when she'd come to the store after leaving work way later than she had imagined, which is why walking back was a bother, so he had brought up this suggestion, "You're wearing trousers anyway." Regardless of how worried she was, he held her with ease, carrying her up the same steps they were now on.

This picture was a shadow of the two, with her on his back, this was the picture she had as her wallpaper when they were dating as well- a year ago. He walked over to her, looking at her face, trying to read through her turmoil, something twisting within him as she stared up at him for a split second before looking away, the familiar words ringing in his ears, "I'm not Bora." 

She looked away from his face, chewing on her lower lip, almost ashamed that he had caught her like this, that he had found out how she still hadn't moved on, as she tried to move her leg, only to wince, eying the reddened ankle swelling as the now tight strap of her sandal pressed against the skin. 

Crouching down he slipped her phone into her back before gently pulling it out of her hand, turning around before she could protest as he stood there, facing ahead, pondering for a moment, before sitting down on the step after hers, quietly waiting for her to understand the signal.

"I- I'm fine, I can walk-"

He sighed, turning around to look at her with a frown, "You can't walk."

"I don't need your help," she looked away, slowly trying to stand up as she braced herself for the pain, only for him to grab onto her arm and move it around his shoulder, manoeuvring so she had to cling onto him when he stood up at full height, arms wrapping around his neck as he hooked his arms under knees.

"No, you do need my help. You don't want my help." He sighed, as he slowly started making his way down the last step, walking down the pathway, ignoring how she let out a shaky breath, her fingers digging into his cotton shirt when he took a quick step, the jerk causing her to wince, making him mumble a small "Sorry."

"It's okay..." she whispered, her warm breath against his neck causing him to shiver, as he cleared his throat to distract himself, before asking her the real question, "Where were you headed?"

"...7/Eleven."

He stopped walking.

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"Why?"

"I think you know why."

That's how the two found themselves sitting on the footpath, grimacing at the weird taste of the lime milkshake, watching the once-in-a-blue-moon car pass by, her bag in between them. She didn't know he had finished before her, but he had stood up and walked back inside the shop, causing her to turn her upper body to look at him walk inside, he'd grown prettier since the last time she saw him- well he was always pretty- she quickly turned back when he came outside with a paper bag in hand, trying to act casual, only that failed when he crouched down in front of her reaching for her ankle, "ITS OKAY-"

Clicking his tongue, he glanced up at her, narrowing his eyes when she cleared her throat, letting him have a look. Folding up the wide end of her pant leg he frowned, "This is bad..." he mumbled, undoing her sandal buckle with deft fingers, watching the imprint in the swollen, pink skin, "Since when did you where such pants?"

"I was trying something new." She sighed, placing the empty bottle of her shake next to her, reaching for her ankle, "I-I'll put some ice on it, it's fine."

"Why did you do it?"

His question caught her off guard, causing her to look at him all confused for a second, before pouting "Wear...sandals? Cause they matched-"

"Cheat on me."

"What?" She frowned, "I didn't cheat on you- San, I understand that lady hurt you, but I'm not her and if you weren't ready to move on, you should've said so." She scoffed, amused and angered by the fact that she had been crying each night for a man, who couldn't see past his ex, what was she? Some form of comfort cushion for him to use when he'd miss his ex?

"Then" he placed his hand on her ankle, gently massaging it, though he narrowed his eyes, glaring at her, a contrast between the way he looked at her and the way he was touching her ankle, "Who was that guy? At the cafe? You don't think I noticed how he was whispering to you?"

Reaching forward she slapped his hand, hard, only for her palm to hit her own ankle in the process, hissing in pain as she looked at him tear-eyed.

"OW- WHY WOULD YOU- ARE U MAD?" He yelled, pushing her hand away as he tenderly ran his thumb over the bluish skin, "Why would you hit your own bruise?" He sighed, before pulling out an ointment from the paper bag with his other hand, ignoring the way she was glaring at him, maybe she did lose her mind when they broke it off.

He had begun massaging the ointment on her ankle, not looking at her, though he could feel her glaring daggers at him, watching him work on her, and for some reason, though he didn't care, he didn't mind. It was as if the voice inside of him was berating him, scolding him for letting his insecurities get the best of him, pushing away the only person who had accepted to glue back the shattered pieces of his heart, promising to place in pieces of hers in the cracks that were left by missing pieces.

"I hate you." 

His hands paused, one holding her ankle and his other hand holding the gauze, not an ounce in him wanted to look at her, wanted to see the hurt that swirled in her eyes, her words hung in the air, still as the mist on a cold bitter morning, perhaps such as this one, it was already past midnight. Clearing his throat, he continued his work as if nothing had happened, not daring to look up at her. Once he was done, he inspected his work before standing up, ignoring how her head followed his movements, still looking up at him, as if waiting for an answer, though he had nothing to give her, she hadn’t answered his question as well, she had only rejected the accusation. He grabbed her sandals in one hand and slung her bag over his shoulder before turning around and crouching down once more, the expanse of his back at her view, making her scoff, but she slowly got on, mumbling an ‘I still hate you.’

He had been making his way up the steps when he began to feel her tighten her arms around his neck, ignoring her for a minute or two, maybe she was scared she’d fall, so he let it be. That is until it became a bit too difficult for him to breathe for which he wheezed out,

“I can’t breathe.”

She let out a small gasp, “Aww…really?” before her grip tightened causing him to stop on a step, coughing out her name.

“That’s how I felt EVERY NIGHT when you IGNORED ME!”

Her grip loosened to its usual strength as he coughed for air, one of his hands flat against the wall as he tried to steady himself, letting go of her uninjured leg, feeling it wrap around him, wiping away a bit of drool with the back of his hand he hissed in anger, “You still haven’t told me who he was? What do you take me for-

“AN IDIOT, I TAKE YOU FOR AN IDIOT!”

“WHAT?” turning his head to glare at her, he frowned as she leaned over his shoulder to glare back with the same intensity, the volume of their voices wasn’t helping either, if anyone were to see them they’d probably call the cops, though that didn’t stop him from finally blowing up, letting out everything he should have the first time she came over to apologise, “WHY?  WHY AM I THE IDIOT WHEN ALL I DID WAS WAIT FOR YOU AT THE CAFÉ LIKE YOU ASKED ME TO? AND THEN YOU BRING OVER SOME GUY AND-

“HE WAS THE F*CKING REAL ESTATE AGENT AND HE IS GAY!”

Just like the previous statement she had bombarded him with, her words hung in the air around them once more, the only sound that was evident to the ear was their heavy breaths, though he could see the way her ears had turned pink, not from the cold nipping at her but the anger that he had caused to run through her veins, “I- I can’t believe you, you walked out on me, you never let me explain and- and all I wanted to do was to surprise you with an apartment we could share.” She sighed, slowly letting go of him, causing him to panic, though she pulled back holding the handrail, “Just give me my stuff, thanks for today, just pretend none of this happened, you’re good at that anyway.”

Turning around to look at her he watched her reach for her bag that he was still holding onto, only for him to pull away, biting his lip to hold back the flood of emotions, especially when she looked up at him all exhausted, “I really did think Wooyoung was right, that you’d give me a chance but- I, I don’t think you were ready for something new and-

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, catching her off guard, eyes widening at the way he looked down at his shoes, holding onto her purse like it was his own, or perhaps he was holding onto something that was hers, the only piece that was not taken away, much like the memories of her, of how she loved him through the darkest patches of his life, how she spent time peeling away each layer with delicate movements, how she spent most of her time trying to understand him, how she’d be there with her melody, trying to soothe his aching soul, only for him to toss her out when the voices inside became so loud he couldn’t hear her’s anymore.

“You’re…sorry?”

“Yeah, I- Hey!” he almost lost his footing when she shoved him, staring at her in shock, for the love of God, they were still on the stairs, “Don’t do that,” he held onto her wrists when she almost shoved him again.

“Why? Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me she hurt you like that, you- don’t you think I would’ve stayed with you? I love you- I- I helped you as much as I could and if I knew you needed professional help I would’ve stayed by your side- did I not love you enough for you to realise that?” her words cut through him, it was as if reality had come and punched him in the face for her, “What’s the point of being so tough of on the outside when you’re hurting on the inside, indirectly hurting everyone who chooses loves you…” He watched her sigh, her resolve breaking as she looked up at him, streaks of fresh tears painting her face, causing his breath to hitch at the sight- no, if he had opened the door on the first day he would’ve cracked, he would’ve crumbled at her feet and to think he didn’t, to think he had let her cry like this at his doorstep for so long, to have her break down, to lose a piece of her every night because he was too afraid to confront her, even though she had come to him, fate was not cruel to him, no, for once fate had pitied him, by sending him a form of compensation he was unworthy of, a form of love that he was unworthy of, for he was unworthy of her.

“I…” his head hung low, fingers tightening around her wrists as he let out a quiet sob, before he slowly sat down, the world around him spinning a bit too fast, though he did not know she had followed after, he didn’t even know when he started bawling his eyes out, his deafening cries were being muffled by her shoulder as she hugged him close, a soothing hand rubbed his back, though she never shushed him, never asked him to stop, in fact, it was as if she was encouraging him to continue crying, to let it all out. Soon his sobs turned into incoherent apologies, which morphed into hiccups of her name, squeezing her close to him as she pressed his face into her neck, whining and mumbling about- honestly, she couldn’t even understand him, she was just glad he had finally decided to let it out, to finally feel whatever he had barricaded away, whatever was stopping him from loving and feeling loved. He doesn’t know how long it took, but he’s sure it was after a solid twenty minutes when he finally peaked up at her, catching the way she gave him a small smile, only for him to whine and hide back in her neck, mumbling, “Do you still hate me?”

“I don’t hate you San, I just hate what you did to me.” She sighed, slowly peeling him off her as she cupped his face, taking note of his puffy eyes and red nose, her thumbs caressing the warm and wet skin below his eyes, “I don’t think I deserved to be punished for something I didn’t do.” He could only meekly nod at her statement, before sniffing and letting out a shaky breath, followed by another apology which she nodded at. Standing up he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, before he picked up her things once more, turning around so she could hop onto his back.

“I can slowly walk there, you know?” she asked only for him to shake his head, not even turning to look at her as he did so, just waiting for her to do as he asked, which she did thankfully.

The walk to her apartment was quiet, though not as tense as the walk to the store was, or before they finally fought, in fact, she felt quite better, she didn’t really know about him, but it had been a long time since she had felt this light as if the weight of the horrid world had been lifted of her shoulders. Ever so often, she’d hear him sniff, but that was all, halfway up the elevator ride to her apartment she felt him gripping her tighter, closer, though she did not say anything.

It was when she was at the door when she tried to move but he didn’t let go, instead stood there facing the door with her on his back, not saying a word or moving an inch.

“San.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

“I can’t lose you again.”

She sighed at his statement, before giving what was similar to a back hug, placing a kiss on his shoulder, slowly slipping out when he eased because of her antics. Limping over to the door she finally unlocked it, turning to look up at a dejected mountain of a man, holding onto her pink sandals in one hand, while on his shoulder clutched close to his body was her hot pink purse, if this wasn’t a serious moment she may have even laughed. Still, the sight of him standing there, like a kitten kicked in the rain had her gripping the doorknob, wondering what she should do next, was it worth the effort? Was giving him another chance worth the risk of the pain? All that therapy she had to go through when she decided to move on- but had she moved on? Well, she thought she did, until she met him again tonight until he began to carry her down the stairs, until she realised he too was going for that horrid drink, until he sat there quietly drinking it with her, until he began to treat her injury as if nothing had happened- perhaps a part of her did not want to move on, or was she waiting to see if he had moved on?

“I can’t just…forget everything San.” She finally gave into the rational part of her being, “I can’t help someone, who doesn’t want to help himself,” looking up at him she noticed the way his eyes had watered, his lower lip trembling, much like his shoulders, “I need to know if what I’m fighting for is worth it? Are we really worth it, Sannie?”

His ears picked up the little nickname, most people who were close to him would call him that, but when the name slipped off her tongue, his heart grew bigger three sizes, his heart grew braver three sizes, something ignited within his soul, his fingertips tingling with a new found sensation, his eyes met hers, eyes burning with a new found determination, a newfound realisation, “We are. I need to make it up to you, I want to make it up to you, I will make it up to you…” he paused, before taking a deep breath, “Only if you let me.”

She looked at him quietly, taking in his words, perhaps she had woken up someone who lay asleep for years, slowly losing himself within the broken shell of a man who walked aimlessly around the Earth claiming to be Choi San, perhaps this was the real Choi San, the one Wooyoung had told her to fight for, the one Wooyoung had told her would love her endlessly, would hold onto her tighter than she’d hold onto him, the one who was to bring down the galaxy and present it to her on his palm, all wrapped within his love and admiration for her.

“I have to go for talking therapy at 8 pm tomorrow.”

“We have to go for our talking therapy at 8 pm tomorrow.” With that he handed her the purse, leaning closer to the door before opening it and picking her up princess style, her sandals still hanging off his fingers as she scoffed, wrapping her arms around him, “You’re sleeping on the couch though.”

“As long as I still have a date with you tomorrow.”

“Again, it’s therapy.”

“Therapy dates can be our thing.” He smiled down at her, a genuine smile, a smile that she had barely seen, one that came with the dimples and the crinkle of his nose, his teeth peaking out at her, contagious enough for her to morph a similar smile, perhaps not as pretty as his, but for him, it was the brightest, most beautiful, most charming smile he had ever seen, the very sight he would long for each night, when his self-induced state of pity would subside and the kinder, selfless San would resurface, the one who had decided to set the same picture as his wallpaper as her own- that’s why he was so shocked to find out that even though the two hadn’t met for almost a year, or talked to each other, they somehow still happened to have the same wallpaper- guess fate really did know what she was doing, enough to have the two craving the disgusting, ungodly lime milkshake.

Taglist: @edenesth @yessa-vie @the-kpop-simp @mlysalt @spooo00oky

[wip]

just how many official tumblr blogs are there? i just recently found out that this one and changes exists which seems less than ideal

Hey, @limelocked!

Great question! We have, we hope, a great answer for you. First up is a comprehensive list of all of current active staff blogs.

You can find ’em by simply searching each name, + @, in the search bar. (i.e., @action)

@action: Highlighting Tumblr’s long-standing social justice priorities of racial justice, mental health, equality, and beyond.

@art Exploring and featuring original artists on Tumblr.

@artistalley: Supporting local artists on Tumblr by buying directly from their storefronts.

@artistpicks: Monthly curated experience by artists and creators on Tumblr.

@best-of-reblogs: A curated collection of some of the best reblog threads on Tumblr.

@bigweekon: Tumblr’s beloved podcast highlighting recent trends, memes, and more.

@blackexcellence: A showcase of things all Black, all excellent, past and present—literature, fashion, music, historical spotlights, and beyond.

@books: Exclusive interviews and curated content from authors, publishers, and book fans.

@changes: Your go-to for new Tumblr launches, bug fixes, and updates on platform.

@creatrs: A network that connects artists, makers, and builders with brands.

@emporium: The Official Blog of the Tumblr Shop™, run by Brick Whartley back from the Island.

@entertainment: Exclusive content and features from across TV, film, and streaming.

@engineering: Behind-the-scenes work on how Tumblr engineers build Tumblr.

@fandom: Home of Fandometrics, Tumblr’s weekly ranking of entertainment properties.

@fashion: Runways to streetwear and every style in between.

@featured: Featuring exclusive content from Tumblr’s many good, good blogs.

@gaming: Exclusive and curated content across mainstream and indie games.

@getloudr An in-kind ad donation program dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices.

@happytuesday: A blog dedicated to all our Tumblr Tuesdays, posts featuring users based on a weekly theme.

@humans: A blog we use so we can reply in the notes of various posts.

@kpop: Exclusive content and a curated experience of K-Pop on Tumblr.

@labs: A way for engineers at Tumblr to experiment in public.

@music: Exclusive content and features on all your favorite musical artists.

@postitforward: Supporting the community with resources for mental health, self-care, and wellness.

@prideplus: Your home for all things LGBTQIA+ on Tumblr.

@radar: Sharing four pieces of original posts from Tumblr artists per day, hand-curated by our team from across the globe.

@staff: The ultimate source for big news, platform updates, and everything that makes Tumblr, Tumblr.

@support: News, tips, and nerdy details from Tumblr Support.

@tee: A blog from your friendly neighborhood Tumblr user, Tee.

@todayontumblr: Daily curated content around trending topics on Tumblr.

@wip: Dedicated to feedback and questions from Tumblr users to Tumblr staff.

There’s more. For our global audiences, you can find all the localized Staff blogs. They’re linked here!

We also have a carousel in the feed somewhere called “Official Blogs,” but it might be that we need to make that more obvious or provide a dedicated feed or page somewhere.

Leave that last point with us, but we hope that helps! Thanks for your question, and have a good day.

(And a tip of the hat to you, @lizzieonka! Consider them tagged)

Best,

—Caragh, Cates, and Cyle

[absolutebl]

47 BLs Announced for 2024

Here are the BLs I have logged on the Spreadsheet of Doom (TM) as announced for 2024 (with supporting evidence, so not just options or acquisitions) as of the beginning of the year. Bold are the ones I'm most intrigued by .

JAPAN

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka

From YTV releasing 1/11 about Soga, who, after a divorce and relocation to Osaka, seeks solace in dining at 26-year-old Sakae's restaurant. Unbeknownst to Soga, Sakae sees him as more than just a regular customer.

Ossan's Love Season 2

Five years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan, so probubly not. More here.

Perfect Propose

Fuji TV (the Pornographer series) adapting Mayo Tsurakame’s manga, production team includes Tadaaki Horai (My Love Mix-Up!) and Takeshi Miyamoto (scriptwriter for “Old Fashion Cupcake”). Hiro’s so stressed at work he barely has time to eat so he passes out on the sidewalk. An unfamiliar face saves him and insists that they once promised to marry each other.

KOREA

Love For Love's Sake

Based on the Manhwa Love Supremacy Zone by Hwacha, this will star actors Lee Tae Vin, Cha Jun Wan, Oh Min Su and Cha Woon Ki. The plot of the drama is based on Tae Myung Ha, a young man who is dropped into a game based off of a novel that he knows. His mission is to make another player, Cha Yeo Woon happy. Cha Yeo Woon is Myung-Has favourite character in the novel. But then the game starts going completely different from the novel.

Love in the Big City

Movie adaptation of Booker nominated famous coming of age novel ‘Love in The Big City’ by Park Sang-Young. A cynical yet fun loving student writer name Young pinballs from home, to class, to Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their worries about life, love, and money with soju and Marlboros. But as time passes Jaehee settles down and leaves Young to face his problems on his own, finding comfort in the arms of the series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness and another who might be the great love of his life. Not really BL. To star Kim Go-eun (The King: Eternal Monarch), Noh Sang-hyun (aka Steve Sanghyun as Young) and Nam Yoon Su (The King’s Affection). More here.

TAIWAN

Anti Reset AKA Anti-Reset AKA Antireset

From Vidol to air on 2/2/2024 about a human and robot find love.

THAILAND

1000 Years Old

From Feel Good Bangkok this is one of many gay vampire BLs coming in 2024. Stars Shane (My Engineer) and fresh face Opal, directed by Champ (2gether). More here.

A Secretly Love

Khonprot, a third-year head hazer of the engineering faculty, has a secret crush on Pluem, a tsundere fourth-year head hazer. Over the years, he's seen Pluem cycle through many girlfriends. Recently, after a public breakup, however, Khonprot thinks things may be different.

Addicted Heroin (Thai version)

From the producers of Love Stage!!

Bad Guy My Boss

Assistant to a player boss who is in love with his boss decides to quit to save himself. The boos then makes a move. (A gay "What's up with Secretary Kim"?)

Born to be Y

announced 9/23

City of Stars AKA Fueangnakorn

Star Hunter started filming this 12/23 about an actor falls in love with a programmer and the narrative intends to “explore the ramifications of being public figure in the social network era who must endure critics, bullying, and defamation.” Looks like another Lovely Writer, Call It What You Want sort of thing.

Four Ever You Project AKA Fourever You Project

Sampler pack BL series from Wabi Sabi stars Bas (Gen Y), Earth (UWMA, 12%). Four stories, four couples, all adapted under the Fourever You Project.

I Saw You in My Dream

DeeHupHouse for WeTV based on the novel of the same name by Afterday. The story portrays Aya, a young man who has prophetic dreams. Everything he dreams always comes true. He doesn’t have a problem with it until he starts to dream of dating the guy next door. But the guy next door is in a serious relationship with a girl he’s known since high school.

Iridescent Love

Got nothing.

Harikarn Solution (the Chains of Heart people - boo) stars Gun (Khom in Unforgotten Night) opposite fresh face but cast includes familiar faces from other pulps. Ordinary office worker kinda recluse dork but who at night however, has an only fans account. Then he meets the guy next door.

Jack & Joker (YinWar)

DeHup brings us be gay, do crimes. Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces doing Leverage but gayer. Yes, thank you, I will have that.

Kidnap

GMMTV Ohm Pawat is back but there is some question over whether this is BL or not.

Knock-Knock Boys

Kongthup for WeTV airing 4/2024 Four college friends who conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. stars Seng Wichai, Best Vittswin, Nokia Chinnawat and Jaonine Jiraphat.

Lost On The River

Another Sammon story

Love Sea (FortPeat)

MAME warning, stars same couple as LITA2, but new characters to the Mameverse. While travelling a writer has a one night stand with a very irritating man.

Love Sick AKA Lovesick remake

Remake of the original. No thank you.

Love Upon a Time (NetJames)

Domundi announced for 6/7/2023 then delayed to 2024. NetJames in a historical BL! Also feat Tonnam(Dr Sing from Triage).

Lovely Addict

9NAA brings us a hotel set, high heat, features same pair as Venus In Sky.

Lover Merman

Fantasy BL about a man who falls in love with a merman.

Me and Who

Domundi for WeTV brings this adaptation of Wickedwish’s novel of the same name. it depicts a young man who dies and is reborn into the body of a billionaire heir. The heir happens to be engaged to a handsome man.

Monster Next Door

WeTV Adapted from the novel Godzilla Next Door by Jiwinil. It portrays an introvert who lives mostly in his room, until an extrovert moves in next door. He is loud, frantic and annoying. Do opposites really attract? Will they find a way to get along?

My Golden Blood

GMMTV. Okay, I do find Joss very watchable but this looks very bad and also very like Kissable Lips. But at least land is finally giving us the trashy gay vampires we richly deserve?

My Love Mix-Up Thai Remake (GemniForth)

GMMTV. Hum, well I do love this pair and I did like the original and maybe this time these characters will actually kiss? I'm actually fine with this pick-up. I kind of enjoy seeing different countries remake the same IP. Especially if it's IP I'm mostly unfazed by.

My Stand-In AKA My Stand In

Chinese IP ALERT! Adapted from the novel Professional Body Double (职业替身) by Shui Qiang Cheng (水千丞) stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please).

OMG Vampire AKA OMG! Vampire (LeeFrank)

Frank and Lee Long Shi are back only vampires now. So many vampires.

Only Boo!

New main pair in an idol romance about a boy who dances good and a food stand vendor. Other side of the tracks, grumpy/sunshine pair who fall deeply in love but, of course, to become an idol baby boy can't date. Boyband but from GMMTV? Control your singing and I'm game.

Ossan‘s Love Thai Remake (EarthMix

Ugh, why?!?!

Red Peafowl

More Thai mafia stuffs.

Spare Me Your Mercy

Increased rates of deaths in terminal patients has a police captain investigating the palliative care doctor with whom he's fallen in love. Their relationship deepens but the mystery persists, driven by mistrust. Adapted from the novel Euthanasia by Sammon (Triage, Manner of Death) stars some old guard BL actors: Tor Thanapob from Hormones as the doctor and (fuck me YES) Jaylerr from Great Men Academy and goddamn Grean Fictions as the captain!

Spirit Reborn AKA Kemjira Will Survive

Star Hunter (of all studios) adapting supposedly the scariest BL. Khem is born cursed. A daughter would be safe but a son dies at 20 so Khem’s mother cleverly gives him a girl’s name, Khemjira “forever safe.” But Knem is baout to turn 20 and he doesn't think it's working so he seeks the help of a cursebreaker, turns out to be his great love from a prvious life.

Star Scope

Wabi Sabi trailer here. Looks sad, one of them is terminally ill, abandons his bf in high school them meet again in uni.

The Boy Next World (BossNoeul)

Same couple as LITA, this is the backstory of Cirrus & Phugun from TharnType 2 played by different actors.

The Hell Guards AKA Hey Don't Mess With My Heart

Boy wakes up from a coma and becomes a messenger between grim reapers and the underworld. Oh will it be... bureaucratic? I think it WILL.

The Hidden Moon

Casting happened 9/23. This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain. A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Stars Benjamin Brasier (2 Moons 2) and Folk Touch Inthirat from Brothers. Trailer here.

The Next Prince (ZeeNew)

Domundi brings us more ZeeNew in a fantasy/historical set in a palace where Zee plays a knight and Nu a prince - FUCK YES PLEASE. I did not expect this pair to stick so I really hope this happens. Trailer here.

The Rebound (MeenPing)

VIU Basketball based romance staring Meen (a national basketball player, so yay for that).

The Trainee (OffGun)

GMMTV Office set, may not be BL. Trailer here.

Time the series

MFlow Entertainment for Gaga, WeTV, Channel 3 trailer here. Airs 1/9 After witnessing the death of his beloved Chris from a gunshot wound, the heartbroken actor Foam is given a pocket watch that allows him to go back in time and discover the truth… Can Foam take the chance to set things right and bring Chris back from the brink of death? Only time will tell…

To Be Continued

High school sweethearts who had a bad break up reunite when both of them have full times jobs but coming out is still a problem. Trailer here.

Vampire Project (BounPrem)

Wabi Sabi's My Broccoli only now... vampires.

Wandee Godday

GMMTV and AllThis Entertainment producing a very pulp offering for GMMTV with new pair GreatInn doing high heat Boxer meets surgeon. It features a one night stand, fake relationship, and all the cheesiest of tropes. Also features Drake, Podd, and Thor+ pretty boy (be still my heart). This is totally my kind of BL even if it actually isn't GMMTV's style of BL, so I'm intrigued. Trailer here.

We Are (PondPhuwin)

GMMTV's university friendship Bl featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawin - basically ALL in the good kind of messy friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is gay. I'm IN! Trailer here.

A reminder we had c. 136 BLs release in 2023 but c. 55 that did not get made.

That seems about right.

Of those announced we seem to get about 2/3 actually released for the year we are told they'll release in.

(source)

[wannaeatramyeon]

Just gonna leave this here and request this type of scenario

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THIS IS IMMEDIATELY! Not me jumping on this straight away because its so fucking funny. Thanks as always, your brain and ideas... NO WORDS

Lookism being a menace at your window

(Gun to Daniel, Vasco, Jake, Johan, Goo, Samuel)

Gun + Big Daniel

1st night

Gun: why are you ignoring my calls

Daniel: GUN?! how did you even get my number! Wait

were those weird heavy breathing calls from YOU?!

Gun: ...

2nd night

Gun: Daniel come fight, don't be a tease

Daniel: NO

3rd night

Gun: Playing hard to get? Fine. I got you this [holds out rose]

Daniel: wtf? IM CALLING THE POLICE

Vasco

Vasco: I SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL FLOWER AND IT REMINDED ME OF YOU <3

You: VASCO YOU'RE SO SWEET!

Vasco: YOURE SO WONDERFUL Y/N, I LOVE YO-

Neighbour: hello police? There's a scary looking thug outside my window

Jake

Jake: [loudly and badly serenading you]

Neighbour: police? There's another scary thug...

Johan

Johan: I... I just wanted to see how you are

You: Aww...

Johan: Here, I got you a present [holds out shoes]

Your shoeless neighbour: POLICE-

Goo

Goo: [throws a little stone at your window]

You: [oblivious + chillin, watching tv]

Goo: [throws a slightly bigger rock]

Goo: [hurls a huge fuck-off brick and your window smashes]

You: WHAT THE FUCK-

[Looks out to see Goo]

Goo: [holds up rose] missed ya babe!!

Samuel (holding up his brass knuckles instead):

Samuel: What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I'm the 3rd and 4th affiliate president, and I've been involved in numerous gangs in Seoul, and I have over 300 confirmed fights. I am trained with brass knuckles and I'm the top fighter in the entire four crews INCLUDING JAKE. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network at White Tiger-

[eldritch-thrumming]

ok i feel like maybe this is really niche but

i’ve been rewatching the newsroom for the 20th time and like… ok

just imagine. steve is this big shot prime time tv news anchor for one of the major networks. he anchors the eight o’clock hour and he’s lonely, isolated, big ego in an even bigger city cause he knows he’s good, just almost number one and the audience loves him, trusts him, admires him and that’s really all he needs. it doesn’t matter that he’s running a toothless program, that he doesn’t challenge his guests, that he sacrifices truth for the sake of being neutral. it doesn’t matter because hes on top and they like him, hes got something hes never had before: love. or at least the closest thing he thinks he’ll ever get to it. the audience loves him. that’s all he needs.

but the president of his network’s news division and his best friend—robin buckley (she’s the youngest president the news division has ever had and the first woman to hold the role)—is growing increasingly worried. just last week steve let a five star general off the hook for admitted war crimes, didn’t push back once even when the guy was clearly lying right to steve’s face and live on the air. robin has seen steve at his best and this isn’t it. his best was when…

well, his best was seven years ago when eddie munson was his executive producer. steve’s best stopped showing up to work with him when eddie munson had fled the country, taken off with a team—dustin included!—to the middle east to cover one of the many us occupations for a competitor network.

but robin’s heard news that eddie munson is back and that he’s looking for a place to land. his current network doesn’t have a spot for him, not on this side of the prime meridian and rumor has it eddie’s looking for a permanent gig now, has had enough of traveling and army rations to last a lifetime.

so robin reviews the tapes. sees the magic steve and eddie used to make together, the way steve could light up a screen. the way he could think on his feet, the way eddie coached him into asking the tough questions. and robin is also not stupid. she knows what happened between the two of them or at least could connect enough of the dots from what little steve’s told her and figure out just why eddie had felt the need to leave the country all together.

she’s fully expecting the backlash when steve finds out she’s hired his former ep, the man who, just as steve was preparing to get down on one knee and ask a very important question, had confessed to having cheated on steve for four months at the beginning of their relationship. but she’s also right. they make magic together in the studio. and maybe steve needs eddie there, just behind the monitor, to remind him why he even wanted to do the news in the first place.

[hoodharlow]

Prologue: Let Me Make Your Night

AN: this part one of my enemies to lovers fic with Joe Burrow and a latina!OC. diclaimer i know NOTHING about football. i thought this white boy was cute and decided to write about him. and a huge thank you to @heavyhitterheaux and @nattinatalia for letting me bounce ideas off with them ilysm <333

Requested? No

Warnings: smut angsty ending

Word Count: 4.8k words

February 2022

Astrid looked at her dad’s text messages and rolled her eyes. Sometimes she’d forget how much of a die hard fan he was of the San Diego Chargers, not the LA Chargers. In his eyes they don’t exist and the Chargers stopped being a real team until the end of 2016. So the fact that she was at SoFi Stadium, where the team resides now, for the superbowl was sending her dad into a frenzy. She invited him to join her, technically his good friend Guy Fieri invited them, but her dad said no and to be safe. 

“Astrid Romero, over here!” photographers yelled at her as she made her way to the box seats. 

She smiled and waved before nudging her best friend to keep walking. 

“Damn, you’re like famous, famous now.” Amira said in a teasing tone. 

“Oh hush.” Astrid said, shyly.

Astrid Romero was an up and coming actress. She starred in the soon to be released drama ‘The Perfect Family’ for HBOMax alongside Mark Ruffalo, Kid Cudi, Noah Centineo, Eva Longoria, Benjamin Bratt and other known actors. It was her first big TV role. The tv show that got her really started was the three episode arc on FBI where she played the daughter of sicario that got kidnapped on her walk to campus and Maggie and OA had to find her so there wouldn’t be a terf war between the carteles. After that she had small roles here and there. Her first movie role was the year before when she starred in an action rom-com movie with Jacob Elordi and Aaron Taylor Johnson. A lot of people compared the movie to ‘This Means War’ but how it was better because it wasn’t as cheesy and predictable as the 2012 movie.

Acting wasn’t her original plan when she moved to LA. She originally planned to study biology at USC and become a doctor like her mom. After she finished her degree in 2020, she planned on taking a gap year before starting med school at USC. Because she needed a job to maintain herself in LA, she interned with her godfather at Food Network. Guy was friends with her dad and the family restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a few years ago and since then her dad and Guy just clicked. He sometimes is a guest judge on Guy’s Grocery Games. 

Astrid mainly worked with the camera crew. It wasn’t until one day she had to fill in for Hunter, Guy Fieri’s oldest son, for an episode of Guy’s Grocery Games. Since then it was like she was hit with the acting bug and she needed to be in front of the camera. Thanks to her connections to Guy, she was able to book auditions and see what’s out there.

When she booked the movie with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jacob Elordi, she was nervous to tell her mom. Mostly out of fear of disappointing her mom that she was briefly going to Seattle for the movie because they had a plan for her to become a doctor. Fortunately for her, her mom was supportive of her and whatever she wanted to do. Both of her parents were very supportive of her and her three older brothers. 

Her two oldest were fraternal twins, Gael and Gabriel. They were four years older than Astrid and her other brother, Esteban, was two years older than her. The twins followed their parents' footsteps. Gael worked as a chef in Hillcrest and Gabriel was doing his residency at UCSD to become a doctor. Meanwhile Esteban played in a minor league baseball team in hopes he'd get scouted into a major league team. 

“J said Drake was able to add us to his list so we can go whenever we want.” Amira said, checking her phone. 

“Okay, I just have to say hi to Guy and get a picture with him so he can confirm to my dad that we were there with him.” Astrid said as they entered the large room. 

She spotted the blonde dip-dyed man and made a beeline toward him, making sure Amira was behind her. She greeted him and his family and got her picture with him. Astrid sent her dad the picture and linked arms with Amira. 

“Is that Martha Stewart?” Amira asked, nodding her head at the older woman. 

“Yes, wanna say hi?” Astrid asked. 

“I don’t know. I never met a convicted felon before.” she said, feigning fear. 

“Ay por favor.” Astrid laughed. 

She pulled Amira to where Martha was and waited a few seconds to greet her. 

“Hi, I’m Astrid Romero, my dad is Enrique Romero. My friend, Amira,  and I just wanted to say hi.” she told the older woman. 

“Hi,” Martha greeted them with both a hug and an air kiss on each cheek. She glanced down to Astrid’s nails. “I love your nails. They’re perfect for spring.”

“Thank you, actually Amira did them for me.” she said. She brought her nails up so the woman could see them better. They were clear acrylic nails, nude at the base, and hand small flowers all over for a spring theme. Her gold rings made her nails stand out more. 

Martha turned to Amira. “You’re so talented.”

“Oh, thank you.” she said shyly. 

Astrid excused herself and answered a text from her dad and left Amira talking to Martha. Amira walked over to her with the biggest smile on her face. 

“Bitch, I’m doing Martha’s nails.” she squealed as they made their way out of the room. 

“Shut up!” Astrid whisper-yelled. “I’m so excited.”

Astrid knew her friend was talented. Amira and Astrid met in their first year at USC. They were assigned to the same dorm. She ran a small nail business in their door to have spending money since her parents only covered her tuition, boarding, and other necessary school expenses. Just like Astrid, Amira got her degree, but didn’t pursue a career with it. After graduation she enrolled into cosmetology school and got her nail technician license. She has a decent following and worked from her apartment until she had enough to open her own nail salon. She also sold press on kits. Amira sometimes traveled with Astrid so she could do her nails for press and for red carpet events. Which was how Amira met her boyfriend, Jack Harlow.

In September Astrid was invited to the Met Gala by Tommy Hilfiger, who did the costumes for the movie she did with Jacob and Aaron. She brought out Amira and she did her nails in the suite Tommy got for everyone he was dressing. Jack spent the whole night asking Astrid about Amira, until she texted her friend asking if she could give Jack her number because he was annoying her. She said yes obviously and they’ve been together for a few months. Astrid also got a lot of compliments on her nails and she was telling them that her best friend Amira did them. From there Amira gained a huge celebrity following. 

The second they entered, Amira and Jack were attached to the hip. Astrid awkwardly sat next to Jack’s best friend, who fell asleep before the game even started. She decided to get up and venture out after getting bored of doing nothing. She tucked her pass inside so no one could snatch it if they walked past her and went to the room next door that was selling team gear and superbowl merch. She decided to get a jersey as a memento of her first superbowl. Knowing her father would drop dead if she bought a jersey from any of the LA teams, she decided to buy a Bengals jersey. She liked tigers and 1998, the year she was born, was the year of the tiger. 

"Good choice." Someone behind her said. 

Astrid turned back and was met with a tall figure, showing him the jersey. "You think so? I only picked this so my dad wouldn't disown me."

"Dang and here I thought you liked the team." The guy said, placing his hand on his chest. 

"We'll see how the game ends." She joked.

"Astrid?" Jack called from the entrance. He angrily stomped toward her. "Your best friend was about to call a search party. You can't just fucking leave like that."

"You two were swapping spit. It's not like I left the stadium." She said, pushing hair behind her ear. 

"Next time take your phone." He said, pulling her phone out of his pocket.

Astrid took her phone, feeling slightly embarrassed that Jack was scolding her like a child. 

"Jack?" The guy said, making his presence known. 

"Yeah–holy shit Joe, I didn't recognize you. What's up, man." Jack said, reaching forward to give the guy, who apparently is named Joe, a bro hug. 

Astrid waited a few seconds for Jack to introduce her to his very cute and tall friend, but the two guys fell into conversation. She got in line and paid for her jersey while Jack caught up with his friend. She sent him a text and returned to where Amira was. 

"Where the fuck were you?" Amira asked in a motherly tone. 

"Next door, getting a jersey." She said, taking off her oversized jacket so she could put on the jersey. 

"Who did you get?" 

"Not sure, I just picked number nine." Astrid said, folding the jersey so it looks cropped. She gestured down to her outfit. "Cute?"

"Yes, it's giving WAG supporting her man at the superbowl." Amira nodded. 

"You think I can be a WAG?" She asked. 

"You could be the Vanessa Hudgens of the NFL. Like people would know you and wonder how an NFL player was able to bag you." 

Astrid laughed at her response. While they waited for the game to start, poses ranging from corny prom poses to thirst trapping ones. Amira's boyfriend came back and the pair went back to overdoing the pda. To keep herself busy she decided to look up the player of the jersey she bought. She stared dumbfoundedly at her phone. 

She bought Joe Burrow's jersey.

That was the guy from the line when she was picking a jersey and began chatting her up. Then she went on Google because she was fairly positive that Jack mentioned him in one of his songs, the name sounded familiar. She was right and copied the lyric onto her Instagram post, adding a few pictures that she took with Amira. While she was on Instagram, she looked him up and without thinking she followed him. 

*

"I can't believe Astrid fucking Romero followed you." Ja'Maar told Joe as they got in the sprinter van with all the other players. After their loss, the team was going to a private party hosted by Kid Cudi. 

"Oh that," he shrugged it off.

In truth, Joe was over the moon. He didn't get a chance to get her name before she left the stand, but Jack said her name and he kept it on the back burner so he could look her up after the game. To his surprise, when he opened his notifications and saw people commenting his @ on her post where she used the line from Jack's song. He was even more surprised to see that she followed him. Obviously he followed her back and liked her post. 

He was going to invite her to the after party but he felt like it was too forward since they only had a two minute conversation. However he found a loophole and invited Jack, telling him he could bring some friends, but to let him know who he was bringing to add them to his VIP section. He was relieved to see her name among the small group Jack was bringing. 

When Joe and the rest of the team arrived at the club, it was in full swing. The dance floor was filled with people dancing and the bar was full. The VIP section Joe had was in the balcony overlooking the whole club. The club provided the team with unlimited bottle service and full access to the private bar in the balcony so they didn't go down where the non VIP guests were. 

Joe looked through the bottles and excused himself to go to the bar. A bartender approached him and took his order. They handed him his drink and went to tend to other people, walking up to the bar. 

"Is this seat taken?" Someone asked. 

He looked up and saw it was Astrid, shaking his head. "It is."

Her face dropped. "Oh, I’m sorry." 

"No, I meant that it is taken now that you're here." Joe corrected himself. 

"Oh, okay." She giggled. 

She took a seat as a bartender asked her what she wanted to drink. She leaned forward, allowing for Joe to take her in. She wore a short sparkly dress. There was a slit down her thigh, but it was fastened by two large, gold safety pins. It was loose-fitting but it knew where to hug her body. The club lights bounced off her dress, making her tan skin glow and the few tattoos she had shine. All in all, she looked beautiful. 

"I'm sorry about the game." She said, crossing her leg. 

Joe shrugged. "We'll get them next time. 

"I know but as a new fan, I was a little sad my new team lost." Astrid pouted. 

"I promise you next time we make it to the super bowl, we'll win just for you." He said. 

"I'm holding you to it." She said, making him laugh.

Astrid and Joe fell into conversation. They were mainly focused on Joe and the teams he played in college. Joe was a bit hesitant about talking about himself because he was used to other people only pretending and not paying any attention to what he said. It was refreshing to talk to Astrid. She was a good listener and knew the right questions to ask him. He was able to relax with her and have a normal conversation with her.

'What a Feeling' by One Direction began playing and Astrid perked up. 

"Do you wanna dance?" She asked Joe. 

"Sure." He nodded. She could ask him to rob a bank and he would. 

She placed a hundred dollar bill to cover their drinks under their drinks and reached for his hand. She led him to the dance floor. They stood off to the side, so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. 

Joe was unsure where to place his hands so he kept them at his sides. Astrid brought his hands to her hips while she wrapped her arms around him. They slowly danced, swaying from side to side. For a change of pace the DJ played 'Bouncin' by Tinashe. This time Astrid turned around and pressed her back against Joe. Luckily this time around, he knew what he was doing. He gently pushed her down and kept his hand on her back as he rolled his hips into her ass.  

The DJ was all over the place after the sing ended. They played a bunch of songs from reggaeton to line dancing. After an hour, or what felt like an hour, of dancing, Astrid and Joe made their way back to the VIP section. They ordered some water and sat back on the stools. 

Joe's stomach growled loud enough that Astrid was able to hear it. He gave her a sheepish look. 

"Sorry, I haven’t eaten since this morning." He said. 

"I know this twenty-four hour taco shop. For being in LA they have decent Mexican food. Plus it's super low-key if you wanna go." She suggested. 

"I would kill for a burrito right now." 

"Lucky for you, you won’t have to." Astrid teased. "I’m going to tell my friends that I’m leaving. Do you want to meet here in five?"

"Sounds like a plan." Joe nodded. 

They went their separate ways. Joe went to where his teammates were and told them he was heading out. While he waited for Astrid he ordered an UberLux. Jeff was showing up in five minutes in a Range Rover. 

"All set." Astrid said when she came back.

She went down to the dance floor and told Amira and Jack she was leaving with Joe. Amira reminded her to share her location and if her plans changed to let her know. 

"Let's go." He said. 

There were paps posted and got a few pictures of Joe and Astris, but thanks to security, they weren't followed. Astrid wore a huge oversized jacket that she used to shield her face from the cameras. She also hid behind Joe's tall frame. They reached their designated Uber, Astrid placed her jacket over her so she wouldn't be photographed as paps took pictures of the car. Once they were a few streets out, she pulled her jacket off and fixed her hair. 

The drive was pretty quiet. The Uber driver kept to himself, making small talk here and there. In less than half an hour the driver pulled up to the taco shop. The pair thanked him and made their way towards the door. Joe held the door open for them and let Astrid in first. 

“Hasta que se aparece.” a cook from back told Astrid when they got in line. 

“Tenía unas entrevistas en Nueva York.” She replied back to him. Astrid turned back to Joe. “Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?” 

“Uh,” Joe lost his train of thought watching a server carry a plate of rolled tacos with all the toppings to a table. “What’s that?”

“Rolled tacos. You can pick from chicken, beef or potato. They come with lettuce, guac, sour cream and cheese.” Astrid explained. 

“I think I’ll get some chicken ones.” He said. He looked up to the menu and read the drinks section. “And a Mexican coke.” 

“Noted.” she said.

When it was their turn to order, Astrid ordered for them. She ordered five carne asada tacos and a horchata for herself. Joe was ready to pay, but she stopped him since he paid for the Uber. She got their drinks and lead Joe towards the back where there weren’t any windows, in case anyone walked by and recognized him. There was a group of tipsy young women sharing a tray of carne asada fries, laughing among themselves over some party they went to. They looked over to Joe and Astrid as if they were trying to figure out where they saw them, but they went back to their food. 

A server came by with Joe and Astrid’s food a few minutes later.

“Do you want salsa?” Astrid asked him. 

“I’m good.” He said, sipping his drink.

Astrid got up and went to get some for her tacos. She put some habanero salsa and salsa verde in the small containers and grabbed a few slices of radishes and limes. She was going to sit opposite of him but decided to sit next to him. 

Joe was waiting patiently for her to come back so he could eat. He reached for a rolled taco from the pile and took a big bite. He groaned. 

“This is so fucking good.” he said before taking another bite. “They don't have food like this back home.”

“They don’t have rolled tacos in Minnesota?” Asrtid asked him. 

“Why would I know what they have in Minnesota?” Joe asked her.

“Isn’t that where you play?” 

“No, Cincinnati is in Ohio.” He shook his head. 

Astrid burst into a fit of giggles. “Oh that’s embarrassing.” 

“You’re such a fake fan.” he teased her. 

“At least the states were next to each other.” she said. 

“Minnesota and Ohio aren’t next to each other.” he laughed. 

“In my defense, the only states I’ve been to outside of California were New York, Washington,and Florida.” 

“Maybe you can come catch a game in Ohio.” he said nonchalantly before eating another rolled taco.

“Hm, maybe, but Minnesota is looking pretty cool too.” she sipped her drink.

They ate in comfortable silence. When they finished, they sat there talking about anything and everything. The more Joe talked to her the more was interested in getting to know her. He studied her face, eyeing her lips while she drank her horchata.

“Is there something on my face?” Astrid asked him, reaching for a napkin from the dispenser.

“No,” Joe shook his head. 

“Oh you were staring and I assume–”

“I wanted to kiss you.” he said shyly.

“Oh don’t let me stop you.” she said a little too excitedly, making him snort.

Joe cupped her face and he slowly leaned into her, capturing her lips. The kiss was slow like a test in the waters. Lust quickly took over as their kiss intensified. He held her in place with his other arm as his lips dominated her. She was practically on his lap now. Astrid whimpered into his mouth when Joe deepened the kiss. They pulled away, breathless.

“Wanna know a fun fact about this place?” Astrid asked him.

“Hm,” he mumbled in response, kissing down her neck. 

“It’s a five minute walk from my place.”

*

What was supposed to be a five minute walk turned into a fifteen minute walk because they had to take five minute breaks with each step. Joe pressed Astrid into her door next to the car gate and leaned in to kiss her, but she curved him. She gently nudged him off, so she could press the code to unlock the gate to her condo.

Once inside her place, Astrid gently pushed Joe against the door. She dropped to her knees. 

“May I have a taste?” She asked sweetly as she took off her jacket. 

“I’m not gonna last, it’s been months since I had some.” He confessed. 

“That’s fine.” she smiled. 

She skillfully undid his belt and popped the buttons of his jeans. She slid her hand into his boxers and pulled out his cock. It was much bigger than she planned for, but she was committed to making him come in her mouth. She reached for her liga and tied her hair into a low bun. She pulled down the top part of her dress, revealing her chest to him. 

She stroked him a few times. She pulled away and sat on her knees, still stroking him. Her eyes never left Joe’s as she leaned forward and took him in her mouth. Joe closed his eyes, enjoying her mouth on him. She quietly moaned, slipping him further into her mouth. She pulled away until she only had his tip. She swirled her tongue around his tip and slid down his length once more. 

Eventually Joe opened his eyes. He was able to see Astrid play with herself through a full length mirror she had facing the door. He slowly bucked his hips to meet her mouth. She took him back in her mouth, bobbing her head, just as he came. He cursed a few times then moaned out Astrid’s name, as she swallowed every drop of his release.

“You’re unbelievable.” He said, reaching down to help her up.

“Yeah?” she asked him.

“Mhm.” he nodded, pulling her back into a kiss. 

Without breaking their kiss, Astrid guided him down the hallway to her living room. Joe bent down and picked her up by the back of her thighs, carrying her a large beige couch. He gently pushed her down on the couch as he shedded off his clothes, only staying in his boxer-briefs. She laid on her back while he hovered over her. He gave her hips a gentle squeeze before he slid his hands up to her breasts. His thumbs delicately ran over her pert nipples as she melted into his hands. Joe helped her out of her dress and panties and tossed them to the growing pile of clothes.

One of his hands made its way back to her hips and lazily ran his finger tips around her core, sending her goosebumps all over. With the other, he balanced himself so he wouldn’t squish her.

Astrid gasped feeling his ring and middle finger inside of her. Joe pressed his thumb to her clit and sped up his fingers. She whined and placed her head on his shoulder.

“Eyes on me, Astrid.” He said.

She moaned as his fingers fucked into her at a deliciously slow pace. As if her hips had a mind of their own, they followed Joe’s fingers. In a matter of minutes she was close.

“Joe…” she gasped

“I know, Astrid.” He pressed his thumb against her clit and increased his pace.

“Sh–Joe!” She climaxed.

Joe’s fingers were still in her. He pushed himself up, hovering over her. He deftly rubbed her clit with his thumb as he made his way down her body. His mouth went straight to her breasts. He gently nipped under them, kissing her tattoos while his free hand was on her nipples, twisting and rubbing them. His tongue traced her pert peaks, egging her on.

Astrid whined loudly. She was so overwhelmed, desperate for some sort of relief. Joe chuckled. He pushed himself off her. Pulling her in a sitting position, he knelt down in front of her. He pushed her legs apart and smirked.

“Taste for taste?” 

*

Astrid had no idea how they ended up in her bed or what round they were on, but she wasn’t complaining. She never been so thoroughly fucked. The most the guys she’s been with do is maybe give her an orgasm and if she’s lucky they eat her out before they fall asleep on her. It’s a complete 180 with Joe. Granted he allegedly hadn’t had some in months, but still he had lot of stamina. 

“Oh, fuck, just like that Joe.” She moaned out as he thrusted his into her. 

Astrid was riding him with her back to him. Her legs tucked under Joe’s thighs. She leaned forward and gripped the comforter in front of her for balance as she bounced on his cock. She felt him sit up and press his chest on her back. One his hands wandered down to her clit, slowly drawing figure eights with his thumb while the other played with her nipples.

“Fuck,” she managed to murmur before her climax took over. She repeated his name as she slowed her movements.

“You got one more?” Joe asked. 

“Yes.” she nodded.

“That’s what I like to hear.” he grinned. 

Joe pulled his length out of her and positioned her so that only her ass was in the air for him, so she wouldn't be on all fours. He knew she was exhausted from all those previous rounds. He knelt in front of her and aligned himself to her entrance, slowly pushing himself in her once more. His hands gripped her waist as he slowly rocked into her. As the minutes passed, his thrusts got rougher, and Astrid couldn’t hold back. She begged Joe to keep fucking her at that irritatingly slow and rough pace she loved. He leaned over, his chest against her back.

“Fuck.” Joe moaned out.

His lips kissed all over her neck as he continued to fuck Astrid. She rocked back against him, meeting his thrusts.

“That’s it, take me so good, Astrid.” He groaned in her ear. Joe shifted his hips as he thrusted into her. The new angle hit her in that spot that made her beg for him.

“Please, fuck—”

She pushed back rougher to meet his thrusts. He gripped her hips with one hand while the other went back down to her clit. Joe worked his fingers roughly as he pushed his hips into Astrid. He buried his face in her neck, kissing her sweet spot. Her quiet praises filled the room, egging him on. She quietly whimpered his name, lazily meeting his thrusts before her orgasm took over. Joe’s orgasm followed soon after. He cried her name and pushed himself deep inside Astrid, spilling every last drop in her. 

He plopped next to her, careful not to squish her. He brushed her hair off her face. 

“Was it good?” he asked her nervously.

“More than good.” she nodded sleepily. 

They laid in silence, trying to catch their breaths. Eventually Astrid got up to use the bathroom and clean herself up. She washed her face removing the make up and Joe’s release from when he came on her face a few rounds ago. She exited the bathroom and found it empty. She figured that Joe went to get his clothes in the living room. But she heard a car pull outside her place. She pushed the curtains to the side to get a view and saw Joe get in the car.

Never in a million years did she expect him to leave so abruptly. Obviously it was one time thing and nothing was going to come out of their hook up. But she deserved at least a goodbye. 

[steven1123x]

In the summer of 2008, Rose Quartz Universe was filming her son, Steven Quartz Universe, unaware that he would soon become the star of a cartoon produced by Cartoon Network under the guidance of a brilliant director. [STEVEN UNIVERSE ACTORS AU]

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

My take on Steven Universe and how Steven got his big break into the acting world and even got his own TV show on Cartoon Network. This was inspired by a short on YouTube I saw called ‘Steven Moves In’ you can look up ‘Steven Universe shorts and watch the video.

I hope I can keep this going for you guys as much as I can. Anyway. Bye, guys!

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

Behind The Scenes - Chapter 1: Steven’s Big Break.

June 2008.

“Is it on?” a voice asked. A boy nods. The boy had a head of curly black hair, had black eyes, he also wore a salmon pink T-shirt that was too big for him, and cuffed jeans. He has a Band-Aid on his left cheek, he also had no shoes on his feet as he sat next to his father in his van which had both the doors open. the child flashed a smile and a peace sign to his mother.

The woman behind the camera chuckled, and the boy smiled softly at her.

“Come on, Steven, show us what you wrote.” his father insisted. Steven took a deep breath strummed the ukulele and sang. Steven has heard stories about her team members and wanted to write a song about them, and him if he was a member of his mother’s rebellion so, that was how this song came to be.

“If you're evil and you're on the rise

You can count on the four of us taking you down

'Cause we're good and evil never beats us

We'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas

We are the Crystal Gems

We'll always save the day!

And if you think we can't

We'll always find a way!

That's why the people of this world believe in

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and Steven!”

She laughed in amusement then stopped recording and closed the screen to the video camera, Setting it down so she could upload it to YouTube later on her computer. The man, Greg Universe, looks at his wife walks over to their van, picks up Steven, and kisses his cheek. Steven laughed as the woman spun him around. Her husband smiles, grabs her all-white MacBook, takes out the SD card from the camera, plugs it into the computer, and starts editing it for YouTube.

Steven Quartz Universe has a musical talent from his father, Gregory Universe, and the ability to learn faster than other children from his mother, Rose Quartz Universe.

Greg was only twenty-six years old when he and Rose had Steven. And he couldn’t be any happier, they knew that they had to tie the knot, so in 2001, they got married in Los Angeles Rose’s team — The Crystal Gems were there also for it, Pearl, Rose’s friend (And probably crush) was jealous of her that she was getting married to a rockstar and had a baby with Rose in the process the previous year.

Seven years later, they were happily married and very happy with their son, Steven Quartz Universe who was born on August 15, 2000.

Over time though, He wondered why Steven was not aging like the other kids in his grade were. By the age of one, he still looked a few months old. Rose had an idea of why he wasn’t aging.

Due to her being a gem, she and the other Crystal Gems don’t age. But, no matter what they still loved him no matter what.

Steven looks at his parents.

His mother, Rose Quartz Universe possesses a commanding stature, towering above both her husband and son at an impressive height of approximately eight feet. Her taller and heavier build projects a sense of strength and presence. Her complexion is characterized by pale peach skin that exudes a soft and gentle radiance, complemented by defined pink lips that add a touch of delicacy to her features.

Her mesmerizing appearance is accentuated by bright black eyes that seem to hold a world of depth and mystery within them. Cascading down her shoulders, her long, curly pink hair is meticulously styled in thick ringlets, lending an air of elegance to her overall demeanor. Notably, her unique gemstone is situated where a human navel would typically be found, serving as a distinctive and striking feature that sets her apart.

His father, Greg is a uniquely styled individual, appearing with a plump physique typical of middle-age, yet with a touch of eccentricity in his appearance. His dark-beige beard frames his mouth, contrasting with his taupe hair, which is styled into a mullet cascading down to his waist. Despite his middle-aged plumpness, he maintains a somewhat skinny frame. Notably, Greg sports a full head of hair, adding to the curious juxtaposition of his appearance.

Moreover, he flaunts a tan line gracing his shoulders and feet, hinting at his outdoor ventures. To add a hint of edginess, his look is further accentuated by earring pieces that embellish his overall look with a touch of individuality.

The Video was finished uploading as they went back to their beach house, located in Delaware.

His childhood home. A two-story house elevated on stilts, characteristic of areas prone to flooding or coastal regions. The front of the house is symmetrical, featuring a central door and two windows on each floor. The exterior is painted in white, creating a contrast with the green surroundings of trees and a clear blue sky.

A distinctive feature of the house is its spacious second-story deck, accessible via a staircase from the ground level. This deck wraps around the front and one side of the house, providing ample outdoor space for relaxation or social activities. Beneath the deck, the ground level seems open, likely used for parking or storage purposes, effectively utilizing the house's footprint and offering protection against potential water damage.

They walked inside and Steven smiled and looked around his home.

He looked at a spacious and elegantly designed open-plan living space with a coastal design aesthetic. The room is illuminated by natural light and features a color scheme predominantly consisting of whites and creams, complemented by deep blues and natural wood tones.

In the living area, there is a large, white sofa adorned with stylish throw pillows, creating a cozy and inviting ambiance. Positioned in front of the sofa is a dark wooden coffee table adorned with books and decorative items, adding a touch of sophistication to the space.

Moving towards the left, there is a dining area featuring a simple wooden table surrounded by contemporary chairs, seamlessly connected to the nearby kitchen. The kitchen boasts white cabinetry and a visually striking blue island, topped with elegant white marble, adding a pop of color and a touch of luxury to the room.

Pictures hung on the walls of Greg and Rose’s wedding in California, an acoustic guitar that was signed by Chester Bennington - who was the lead singer for one of their favorite bands LINKIN PARK. Three surfboards lined up the wall. A white one with red roses, A large board bright pink one with hibiscus flowers all over the board which was custom-made for Rose, and the smallest one was light blue with a large white stripe going diagonally.

The room is further enhanced by large windows that offer picturesque views of a water body, enhancing the serene coast.

Steven was now playing on his Nintendo DS in the living room, Rose was cooking dinner as her husband helped her. Steven looks up from his game of Mario. Pausing his game and walking to the kitchen. Steven grabs a chair and stands on it watching his mother. Rose looks over her shoulder.

“Looks like you have a little helper.” Greg smiled and looked at his son.

“What are you guys making?” Steven asked.

“Where making mozzarella sticks,” Rose said Steven’s eyes lit up. He loved mozzarella sticks, and the way his parents made them was amazing!

Rose smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Oh, you don’t need this anymore,” she said, pulling the Band-Aid off his cheek. Steven smiled as he took his finger and felt the soft fuzzy surface, the cut wasn’t there anymore.

He was playing at the beach the previous day. He and his friends Lance and Mikey were playing tag and Steven fell on a rock and scraped his cheek a little bit. He went home then got cleaned up, then he was back to playing again. Rose asked him if she could heal his cheek with her spit but he didn’t want to. Rose respects his boundaries and wishes, so she doesn’t press on.

Rose wondered if he would ever get his gem powers, or maybe it was a possibility that he wouldn’t get them at all. But Steven wants to be like his mother and learn about his gem heritage and culture.

Greg grabs the bowl that was filled with the mozzarella sticks and puts them in the fridge to cool them before frying them. He walked to the sink and washed his hands. He dried them, walked to the couch, and picked up his acoustic guitar that was sitting on a guitar stand. He sat on the couch and began to strum it.

Steven and Rose both smiled. Rose loved her husband’s playing ever since they met at that concert back in 1987. Steven knew the story of how they met. Then they had him — The light of their lives. Steven Quartz Universe.

When Greg heard his full name for the first time, he started tearing up. It was such a beautiful name for such a beautiful, bright, and intelligent boy. And Steven was very intelligent for Seven years old.

But, he does love doing stuff like most kids do, from going to the skatepark to playing video games. And Steven had an active imagination and loved to play pretend with his parents and friends.

Since it was summer vacation and his birthday was in two months, what he wanted to do was visit California and go to a movie/TV studio. Greg and Rose were unsure of this though — Any concerned parent would. But, they wanted to respect Steven’s decision in all of this and be supportive as much as they could throughout his life and moving forward.

An hour passed, and Greg put the cheese sticks in the oven and closed the door. Rose was on her phone texting one of her teammates that she’d fought along the rebellion a long time ago way before she even met Greg. Steven sat on the couch next to her and looked at his mother texting on her iPhone 3G.

“Who are you texting, mom?”

Rose looked from her phone and faced her son. “You remember the Crystal Gems do you?” Rose asks him.

Steven nods.

“They just want to see how I’m doing and if I’m alright.”

“Do you still talk to Pearl, Mom?”

“Yes, I still talk to Pearl, Steven.” she smiled and kissed her son’s cheek.

Steven smiled back. He felt a sense of happiness. Steven then hugs her. Greg pulled out the food from the oven and plated it for the three of them to share. He pulls out the marinara sauce that he’d made, puts it into three individual dipping cups, and puts the sauce inside them. He served it with some Caesar salad and some spaghetti he’d made earlier in the day while Steven was swimming on the beach.

Dishes were put in the dishwasher, Steven was changing into his bathing suit in his room. Rose wore a one-piece swimsuit with a circle in the middle where her gem was exposed. Steven grabbed a towel, walked downstairs, and saw his mother.

Rose and Steven both went outside to the waves and played together.

Greg smiled and walked down the steps of the beach house with his acoustic guitar in his hand. He had his long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He sat on the sand and played some notes on his guitar as the sun was beginning to set.

Morning approached Greg and Rose were both asleep in their room, Rose woke up and stretched, her pink messy hair falling on her shoulders.

She got up and did her morning routine. She walks out of her room Rose sees her son playing on his Nintendo GameCube up in his loft bedroom. Steven woke up an hour ago and now he was playing Sonic Heroes.

“Good morning, Steven!” Rose called out to him. Steven paused his game and smiled, he got up from his bed, ran downstairs, and hugged her. Rose smiled and bent down to hug him, Standing at eight feet tall. So he only reached up toward her legs. But he didn’t mind it as much. He still had a lot of growing to do.

“You want to go out for breakfast?”

“Yeah, but what about, Dad?”

“We can wait for him.”

“Or, you can text him.”

Steven nods and pulls out his phone from his pocket then texts him.

Greg walked down the stairs in a black t-shirt and jean shorts. “Let’s go, guys! Rose, you can drive.” her husband said, tossing the keys toward her. Rose caught them one-handed and they walked out of the beach house, Rose unlocked the van and got into it, and Steven opened the passenger side door and crawled into the back, Rose stuck the key in and they went to Washington to a diner in Deleware.

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Steven was reading the menu. Greg was on his phone, Rose looked over his shoulder. “Whatcha doing?” Greg looked at his wife and smiled. “I’m seeing if that video you posted of Steven playing the ukelele got some views.”

Rose’s eyes widen, that video got ten thousand views overnight! “Steven! look,” she said, the seven-year-old looked up at his mother. Rose gave her phone to him and he read the numbers, he looked up with white stars in his pupils as he read the numbers. “Ten. T-Thous-what?!” Steven said in shock and disbelief at what he was reading off her screen.

Rose smiles and nods. “Looks like you are famous my superstar.” Rose smiled softly at him, Steven stood up and sat in her lap. Rose felt his warmth and wrapped her arm around his body softly, Steven felt happy at the moment that he saw his video of him playing the ukelele and singing had gone viral on YouTube!

Rose got a text notification, she pulled it out of her shorts pocket and pressed the button to unlock her iPhone 3G.

She sees the lock screen of her iPhone. It features a background showing her, Steven, and her husband. Standing at his car wash The lock screen displays the time as 9:29 AM on Monday, June 17. Notably, there is a text message notification from a contact named “Christopher,” Rose read the message content; Can Lucas come over today, or is it a bad time, Mrs. Universe? Additionally, there is a slider at the bottom prompting her to "slide to reply.” Rose slid to reply to the message.

“Mom? Who are you texting?”

“You remember your friend, Lucas? his father asked if he could come over.”

“Please, mom? can he?” her son begged. Rose giggled and patted his curly hair. “Sure he can, Steven. Your friends are always welcome.” Steven smiled as he sat up and hugged his mother’s neck. Greg smiled then put a hand on his black fluffy, curly hair

Rose texts him back, saying that he can come over. Steven wanted to jump for joy, but he sat still and kept calm. Rose saw a teen walking up to them, she wore a black apron and her brown hair was in a ponytail.

“Hello, are you ready to order?” she asked with a smile on her face, Steven smiled and looked at her.

“Can I have the chocolate chip pancakes?” he asked. The teen recognized the boy instantly and smiled.

“Hey! I saw the video of your son yesterday after my shift, he’s very talented with that ukulele.”

“Thank you!” Steven said.

“Thank you so much, miss. He is incredibly talented.” Greg smiled

“He is very talented. Who does he get it from?”

“He gets it from me.”

“And he picks up things very fast from me.” Rose smiled. Steven looks around the restaurant.

“I hope your son gets a job as a singer or an actor one day, you're going places. Say,” she knelt to his level.

“What’s your name?”

“Steven,” he said.

“Well, Steven. I hope to see your face in movies and TV one day, and if you do. Don’t forget about who helped you achieve your dreams.”

Steven smiles at her. “I won’t! what’s your name?”

“Pearl.”

“Oh, that’s funny. I have a friend named Pearl.” Rose chuckled.

“That’s awesome,” she said. “Are you ready to order?"

“We will have the scrambled eggs with bacon and this little guy will have the chocolate chip pancakes,” Greg said, passing the menus towards Pearl so she could collect them, Pearl wrote everything down on her notepad, then collected the menus. “Are you okay with water?”

“Do you have a strawberry milkshake?” Rose asked.

Pearl nods. “We do.”

“Mom, can I have one too?” Steven asked.

Rose nods. “Okay, what kind? we have chocolate, vanilla, Oreo, and strawberry.” Pearl asked him.

“Um, may I have Oreo?” he asked. Pearl smiled and wrote it on her notepad.

“Alright, I will put these in so you guys can get your breakfast.” Pearl smiled and walked off.

Rose turned on her phone and she played a game. Greg went on his and dug into his pocket and pulled out a pair of earbuds. He looked at Steven.

“Steven, do you want to listen to some music with me?” Steven nods happily. Greg gave him the left earbud. He grabbed it and he went into his music and played a song. It was called ‘All The Small Things’ by ‘Blink-182, one of their favorite bands. Rose looked at them and wanted to take a picture of them.

Maybe when Pearl comes back with our food I can ask her to take a picture of us.

Rose saw her walk up with their drinks. “Here you go, guys,” Pearl said setting down their milkshakes and orange juice. “Thank you, oh, can you take a picture of us?” she asked, pressing the home button and going to the camera app.

“I can,” Pearl said, as she took the photo and handed her phone back to Rose. Rose saw them and smiled. “This is so cute. thank you.” she smiles.

Pearl nods. “I’ll be back with your breakfast,” she said walking off. Steven tapped his mom on the arm.

“Mom, can I get down?” Steven asked, pulling the earbud off his ear and letting it hang off from the floor.

Rose nods as she sets Steven off her lap and onto the floor.

The boy walked towards his chair and tried to get on so he could sit, but he was too short and tiny. Rose saw that his son was struggling so she helped him up.

“Thank you,” Steven said, Rose smiled and kissed his head.

Just then, A boy and his father walked in, Greg looked at them and smiled

He sees a younger man, with a happy expression. He has short, neatly styled hair and clear skin. He is looking directly at his son. His overall appearance seems clean and well-maintained. Additionally, he is wearing a small earring in one ear, adding a subtle touch of style or personal expression to his look. The plain and out-of-focus background serves to highlight his face and features, making him the central focus.

The boy standing next to his father is depicted as a cheerful and happy child with dark brown skin. He is wearing a blue short-sleeve T-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of white Converse sneakers and has shoulder-length dreadlocks.

“Greg, Rose, how are you two!” the man — Christopher, or Cris asked the couple.

“We're good, I’m glad that you came. Greg said, hugging the man. Rose looked at his son.

“Hi, Lucas.” she smiled.

“Hi, Rose. you look pretty today.”

“Aw, thank you, Lucas.” She smiled. he then turned to Steven.

“Hi, Steven!”

“Hi!” he smiled, Lucas went toward him and gave him a high five. “Steven! Where matching!” Lucas smiled, looking at Steven’s blue T-shirt which was a little bit too big for him.

Lucas knows that he won’t grow normally like other kids, but he doesn’t care. Their still friends.

Steven and Lucas both met at school in September two years ago when Steven was in first grade. Lucas had changed schools in Delaware. Steven already had no friends because of the way he looked at others. One boy asked if there was something wrong with him or if he had a disability.

And someone even asked Lucas, in front of him ‘Why do you hang out with that baby?’ Lucas was so angry at this and wanted to kick him in the leg. But Steven told him to let it go and went to play Pokémon with him on his GameBoy.

“Hey, Steven,” Lucas said.

“Hi!” he said happily.

“What’s up? we're going to have so much fun together” Lucas said. Steven smiles and hugs his friend. Just then, Pearl walked back to their table with their food.

“Here you go, guys,” Pearl said, handing them their breakfast. Steven smiled and unrolled his napkin revealing a fork and knife and eating his pancakes. Christopher smiled and put a hand on his son’s head.

“Okay, Lucas. I’m off to work now. Have fun with Steven, your momma will pick you up. I have to work late tonight.” he told his son, Locas nods

“Okay, bye Dad!” he said, seeing him walk out of the diner.

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Steven, Lucas, Greg, and Rose went to the arcade when they went back and played some games, Lucas and Steven went to ski ball while Greg and Rose were on the racing simulators. The owner of the arcade—Mr. Thomas was pleased to see them having fun. He smiled and watched them, Despite that Greg’s wife was an alien. He didn’t care he was happy to see a person or alien, having fun.

Mr. Thomas was standing not too far away, attending the prize booth. He appeared to be in his thirties, with short light brown hair. He is wearing a checkered shirt with colors that include red, blue, and white. He also wore blue jeans and Vans on his feet. He also had a welcoming smile on his face.

“Hey, Steven!” Mr. Thomas said walking up towards the boy. Steven smiled and looked at the man.

“Hi, Mr. Thomas,” he said. He smiled at the boy and knelt to his level.

“Hello, Steven! I heard that your birthday is in two months, are ya doing anything fun?” Steven wanted to go to LA for his birthday and meet his mom’s friends who also lived there. He was excited for his birthday. He was turning eight years old. He loved his birthday a lot, hopefully, this one will be special for him. Steven smiled and continued to play ski ball with Lucas. They hoped they would never separate.

Steven was now in his bedroom, it was ten o’clock PM, and he was playing Super Mario Sunshine. Rose walked upstairs to his loft bedroom. Steven looks at his mom, she wearing her Mr. Universe T-shirt and long pants. “Hey, mom,” he said, still playing.

“Hi, Steven,” she said, the boy smiled, Rose sat on the bed, Steven paused the game and hugged her, feeling the warmth of his mother could put him to sleep. Steven yawned as he hugged her tighter, Rose smiled and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight, Steven.”She whispers, covering him up with the white puffy comforter.

Rose walked downstairs and into her and Greg’s room. Greg was on his laptop. His wife walked to her side of the bed and went in, he looked at her and smiled lovingly at her. “I love you, Rose.”

“I love you too, Greg,” she said, kissing her husband on the cheek. Greg smiled, closed his laptop, and put it beside him. Rose got comfortable and they both went to sleep

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A/N: hi guys! I hope you all enjoyed this fanfic as much as I did. I love making stuff like this. I thought of a Steven Universe Actors AU for a while now. I started writing this three days to come up with, I hope you guys review this it’ll mean a lot to me if you do.

[layce2015]

Supernatural (Dean Winchester x Female!Reader)

Ghostfacers

Masterlist

(A/N: So the way this episode is gonna be written is gonna be different. I forgot about this episode and when I watched it the other night I was like 'well, crap! How am I gonna do this?' So it's gonna be a mix of how my book is normally written but when the characters are 'speaking to the camera' it's gonna be written like how a play is written. But when Harry and Ed speak to the camera or voice over, Ed is in italics and Harry's in bold. Hopefully that makes sense.)

Hello. I am Harry Spangler

And I am Ed Zeddmore. Now if you have received this tape, you must be some sort of bigwig network executive. Well, today is your lucky day, mister.

Because the unsolicited pilot you are about to watch is the bold new future of "reality TV."

Mmmm. We know you've had it hard during the crippling writer's strike.

Lazy fat cats.

Who needs writers when you've got guys like us? Our team faced horrible horrors to bring you the footage that will change your world forever. So strap in for the scariest hour in the history of television.

In the history of your life...

Strap in for...

Ghostfacers! 

Harry and Ed exit an AMC Gremlin with Wisconsin license plate, each carrying a metal briefcase with a "Ghostfacers" sticker.

You know, it can get kind of hard balancing our daytime careers with our nighttime missions.

Yeah, but Ed and I pretty much call the shots at the Kinko's where we work, so we can usually pretty much get off by six every night?

Yeah, six o'clock. It used to be just, you know, you and I taking on the cases -- just Harry and me.

Two lone wolves.

And two lone wolves need, uh...other wolves.

PHASE 1: THE HOMEWORK

"Morning, 'facers." Ed greets the gang as he and Harry enter the Ghostfacers office. "Good morning, Ghostfacers." Harry greets. "It's seven p.m., dude." Spruce, one of their teammates, informs. "It's morning to a Ghostfacer. Corbett, what do we got, buddy?" Harry asked the younger man.

"Oh, I'm just putting up some of the --" Corbett stammers before Ed speaks up. "Yeah, this has got to go up here. That's got to go here...got to see the whole field. Markers, eraser -- good job." He said as he looks over the board.

Corbett: I first saw Ed putting up flyers down at the -- the outlet mall in Scogan, so I-I read one, and I thought to myself, "huh. Where do ghosts come from?" And now here I am.

"Ed, your sister's abusing staff." Harry groaned as Maggie rolls her eyes at him while she sat in front of the computer. "That's adopted sister, thank you very much." Ed corrected him.

Maggie: Ed has been obsessed with the supernatural since we were kids, you know, and then he meets Harry at computer camp...and love at first geek.

Spruce: Spruce here. What up, playaaa? I am 15/16 Jew, 1/16 Cherokee. My grandfather is a mohel, my great-grandfather was a tallis maker, and my great-great-grandfather was a degenerate gambler and had a peyote addiction.

"Okay, people. Let's cut the chatter and get on a mission. Okay? Morton house...one of our big fish. All right, we all know the legend. Every four years, supposedly, this becomes the most haunted place in America." Ed explained to the team. "The leap year ghost, some call it. The ghost returns at midnight just as February 29th begins." Harry adds.

"And no one has ever stayed the night, right?" Maggie asked. "Yeah, well, every testimony that we dug up, every eyewitness has cut and run well before midnight." Harry tells her. "Well, that's all about to change, baby." Ed said, cockily. "Absolutely true, Ed. Absolutely true." Harry said as Ed drinks his cup of coffee then hums approvingly.

"Mmm. That's good." he compliments as he looks over F Corbett. "It's French vanilla, 'cause the other day, you said how much you liked it, so..." Corbett said, bashful, and Ed nods. "Thank you." He said. "You are welcome." Corbett said, awkwardly.

I like Corbett. I do. Shows up early, does his job, lot of good hustle out -- I think he's got the hots for Ed, and that could spell trouble for the whole team.

Corbett: Ed's kind of the more rugged, with that really golden...beautiful sort of beard. Definitely nice. Uh, and Harry's nice.

"29th is this Friday, facers. We want this mission, we got to move on it now, or guess what -- He's gone for another four years." Ed tells the team when there was a sudden loud noise. Ed's whiteboard crashes to the ground, caused by the garage door it was attached to opening up.

"Oh, watch out!"

"Who is that?"

"Dad! Come on!" Ed yells as his dad tries to pull in the garage and looks around in confusion. "Just cut the cameras. We don't need that. We don't need this part. We don't --" Harry tells Spruce before he turns the camera off.

PHASE II: INFILTRATION

"Stay low. Follow formation." Ed tells the team as they walk up to the chain linked fence at the Morton house. "Okay, as suspected. A lot of people have tried to break into the Morton house. The local authorities have just gotten fed up." Ed explained to them. "Looks like the cops have got this place pretty well fenced off." Harry said as he begins to pull out the wire cutters.

"Wait. Didn't you guys get, like, a permit or something?" Maggie asked them, making Ed and Harry look at her. "A permit?" Harry said, confused, then he and Ed share a look. "That's a good idea for next time." said Harry and Ed nods. "Yeah." He said and they start to cut the chain when Spruce shouts. "Car!"

"Car. shh, shh! Flashlights off." Harry tells the others and the team turns their flashlights off. "Keep totally still." Maggie whispers as the loud rumble of a car engine approaching, along with a radio playing "We're an American Band."

The car pulls up and they could see three people inside of it. The passenger and backseat driver stick their head out and pull out their flashlights. They shined them towards the Morton House for a few moments before they drive away.

"It's okay. Not cops -- just hicks." Spruce informed him friend as Ed opens the gate with the wire cutters. "Ed's got it." Harry said and everyone gets up. "Guys, let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Go! go!" Harry said and they start to make their way to the house.

"Hear that, people? Let's keep it quiet." Ed tells the team as they make their way deeper into house after they make it inside of the buildings. "There's the kitchen sink." Harry tells Ed. "Copy that. Copy that." Ed said as they make it to the living room area. "All right, everybody. Ghostfacers, let's line up. Everybody. We'll set up camp right here. This is command center one." Ed said and everyone sets down the equipment on the floor. "We're gonna call this the Eagle's Nest." Harry said and everyone starts setting up equipment.  

"Hallway cam one up and running." Corbett said after he sets up the camera in one of the hallways. "Looking good, Corbett." Ed compliments from the main base, through the walkie. "Copy that, Ed." Corbett said, smiling, while Ed seemed baffled. "Uh...uh, you're welcome." He stammers.

'All right, Spruce, how are we doing there, buddy?" Ed asked Spruce through his walkie. "Checking basement camera two, mein fuhrer." Spruce replied. "Maggie, I got no visual on you, Maggie." Ed said. "This is Maggie. Do you copy?" Maggie's voice asked through the walkie. "There you are. Hello. Harry, are you alive?" Ed said. "Upstairs, Ed. Camera one." Harry replied.

"Looking good. I can smell syndication. All right, fellas. Let's regroup at the Eagle's Nest." Ed said to the others.

Morton House

10:40PM

Base Camp

"All right, Spangler. Battery check, battery check. Check. Okay." Harry said as they check their equipment. "Check. Check. Yo, Corbett, dude." Spruce said as he looks through the camera and at Corbett, who has a flashlight strapped to his head. "Lookin' good, Corbett." Harry said.

"You're Robocop." Spruce said to Corbett. "R-robocop? You think I -- you think I look like Robocop?" Corbett asked but before Spruce could reply, Ed speaks up. "Everybody, bring it in. Bring it in." Ed said and everyone gather up in a circle..

"We've all been here before. Standard walk-through. Team one, west. Team two, east. Spin the tires, light the fires. Ghostfacers on three. 1, 2, 3..." Ed said then all of them shout. "Ghostfacers!"

PHASE III: FACE TIME

Morton House

10:51 PM

1st Floor

"Hello! I'm speaking to the restless spirits of the Morton house!" Ed calls out as he and Corbett walk around the first floor. "Okay." Corbett mutters as they continue on. "Hello! My name's Ed." Ed shouts then he turns to Corbett. "Careful. Watch my back." He said to him. "Okay. Okay." Corbett said.

"What's your name?" Ed calls out as he looks at his EMF meter. ".3, .29." he reads out. "Is there an entity or entities here with us now? Can you give us a sign of your presence?" Corbett asked, quickly, without taking a breath. "You got to breathe, buddy." Ed tries to calm him.

"I can't breathe." Corbett said, slightly panicked. "Corbett, night vision." Ed tells him and Corbett nods. "Okay. Okay. Yeah." He whispers as he flips the night vision on the camera. "Calm down, buddy. Breathe, all right? Calm the whirlwinds of your mind." Ed tells him, calmly.

2nd Floor

"We're doing a basic EMF, EVP, temp-flux sweep. Looks like we've got all of our ducks in a row here." Harry said as he, Spruce and Maggie walk down the hall. But then there was camera interference on Spruce's camera just as the EMF makes a noise.

"What?" Harry said, shocked. "I don't know. It's weird." Spruce said but then it quit. "It's gone." He said then they come up to a door. 'All right. Get this. Get this." Harry said and he tries unsuccessfully to kick in the door.

"Turn the knob." Spruce tells him. "All right...that's a good idea." Harry said and he opens door then jumps back and runs away. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" He exclaims, fearfully. "It's just a rat, dude." Spruce said, unfazed.

I don't really like rats. They're gross. Rats are like the... rats of the world.

"What -- was that an apparition? Was that a spectral -- was that a .4? What do we got, 'cause the EMP was just off the --" Harry asked as he comes back but then Spruce throws a dead rat at him. "Oh, God! Oh, that is so not funny, Spruce!" Harry screams as Spruce chuckles.

1st Floor 

"Oh, God. Okay, it was just...I think it was just this branch...Okay...in the window." Corbett said, shakily.. "This is spooky, man. This place..." Ed started to say when they were confronted by three figures, approaching them with flashlights. "Freeze! police officers! don't move!" A male voice shouts. "Oh no!" Corbett exclaims. "All right. All right. All right. Take it easy, take it easy." A different male voice assures them as Ed and Corbett start to freak out.

"Let's see some identification. Come on. Let's see some i.d." a female voice demanded as Corbet hands in his ID. "What -- are we under -- under arrest?" He asked, fearfully, as Ed said. "We are unarmed."

"Want to explain that weirdo outfit, Mr., uh, Corbett?" the man asked as he looks at the ID but Ed stops and realized that these three people looked familiar. "I know you." Ed said and the first man, Dean, looks up at him. "Yeah, sure you do. Give me some identification." Dean demands but Ed shakes his head. "Yeah, ho-- whoa, hold on a second." He said as he looks between the three people, shining his flashlight at them.

"I know all three of you. Yeah." said Ed as he looks between Dean, Sam and (y/n). "What?" Corbett said, confused, as Ed nodded while (y/n)'s eyes widen in recognition. "Holy sh--!" She said and Dean looks over at her. "What?" Dean asked as Sam's eyes widen in recognition too. "Sh--!" Sam mutters as (y/n) turns to Dean.

"Uh, West Texas...the...the tulpa we had to take out. Those two goofballs that almost got us killed...The hellhounds or something?" She said and Dean looks over at Ed. "F--- me." Dean grumbles. "Yeah, we're not hellhounds anymore, okay? It didn't test that well." Ed snapped at them.

"Ed, what's going on?" Corbett asked Ed. "They're not cops, buddy -- no, not at all." Ed tells him. "Ed, you had a partner, too, didn't you -- A different guy?" Dean asked him. "Oh, yeah, yeah." Ed replied. "Is he around here somewhere?" Dean asked him. "He's running around, chasing ghosts." Ed replied. "Okay, well, listen, you and Rambo need to get your girlfriends and get out of here." Dean tells them and Ed gets annoyed.

"All right. Listen here, chisel chest, okay? We were here first. We've already set up base camp. We beat you." he said then Dean turns to Sam and (y/n). "They were here first." He said to them as Ed nods. But then Dean grabs Ed and pushes him up against the wall. "Oh, God." Ed exclaimed.

"Ed..." Dean said in a low voice. "Yeah?" Ed said, unsure. "...where's your partner?" Dean asked again.

​​​2nd Floor

"10.6. 10.7, guys. The EMF is really spiking here." Harry said as he and his team walk down the hall. "Temperature's down, like, 11 degrees." Maggie informs as she holds the thermometer. "All right, all right, keep your eyes peeled. This could be it." Harry said then he turns to Maggie. "Maggie, can I get a reading in here, please?" He asked when Spruce noticed the camera interference. "Something keeps messing with the chip. I don't know what's going on here." Spruce said as there was more interference, then suddenly a man in 50s-style suit and hat appears.

"Guys. Guys. Guys." he shouts and Maggie and Harry turn and see an apparition of the man. "Look buddy, I'm sorry. That's it. I'm telling you, that's all the money I --" the apparition said until gunshots ring out and the apparition of the man falls and disappears, making the three Ghostfacers jump.

​​​1st Floor

"What are you doing in the Morton House, Ed - on leap year -- what are you thinking?" Dean asked Ed, angrily. "We're here to spend the night, okay? It's for our TV show." Ed replied. "What? Great. Perfect." Sam grumbles. "Yeah, nobody's ever spent the night before." Corbett said and the three hunters turn to them. "Uh, actually, yeah, they have." (Y/n) said. "Uh, we've never heard of them." Ed said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, you know why? 'Cause the ones that have haven't lived to talk about it!" (y/n) said to them, loudly. "Oh, come on, I don't believe you." Ed said, exasperated. "Look -- missing-persons reports going back almost a half century. John Graham stayed on a dare -- gone. Julie Wilkerson -- gone. There are tons more. All of them came to just stay the night through, always on a leap year. The only body they ever found was the last owner, Freeman Daggett." Sam explained to them as he shows the reports to Ed and Corbett.

"These look legit." Ed said, shocked. "They are legit." (y/n) said, annoyed. "Look, Ed, we ain't got much time here, buddy. Starting at midnight, your friends are going to die." Sam said when Harry, Maggie, and Spruce run down the stairs and into the living room.

"Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Guys! Guys! Oh, my god! Oh, my god! We got one! Corbett! Corbett, we saw one! We saw one!" Harry shouts to Ed and Corbett, frantically. "Get outta here!" Ed said, amazed. "It was a full apparition! It was like a class four. It was a spectral illumination! It..." Harry said before Maggie speaks up. "It was amazing!" she said then Harry noticed Dean, Sam and (y/n).

"Hey, aren't those the a------s from Texas?" Harry asked. "Yes." replied Ed. "All right, let's have this reunion across the street, guys." Dean tells them.

"Crap. What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked as Sam, Dean and (y/n) try to usher them out of the building. "Come on, come on. We'll get you ice cream -- our treat. What do you say? Let's go." (Y/n) said but Harry stands his ground. "Yeah, I say no." He said and Maggie goes over to Ed.

'Look at this. Look, look. Ed, Ed. No. No. Look at this. Okay, honest-to-god proof, all right?" Maggie said as she shows the group their footage on the laptop. "Are you kidding me?" Ed said, shocked. "Yeah. No, not kidding." Harry said, smiling.

"What kind of reading did we get?" Spruce asked. "Uh, it was a 10.9." Harry replied. "10.9?" Ed said, shocked. "Yeah, it was 10.9. It was almost 11. I came out, and I was like, 'what's going on?' And I was like -- wait, watch this. Oh! He got blasted. It was crazy." Harry exclaimed while Sam, Dean and (y/n) walk away from the group and talk amongst themselves.

Spruce follows them, still recording them on his camera.

"Think we were off on this? I mean, that was just a death echo." Sam said. "Yeah, but what's it doing here? Did anybody get shot here?" Dean asked his brother and girlfriend. "No, not that Sam and I could find." she replied as Sam shakes his head.

"What's a death echo?" Spruce asked and the trio look over at him. "Look, we got a problem here. That ghost ain't it." Sam said. "Yeah, that's real. Like, that happened." Harry said, pointing at the laptop. "What's a death echo?" Spruce asked again. "Echoes are trapped in a loop, okay? They keep replaying how they died over and over and over again, usually in the place where they were ganked. It's about as dangerous as a scary movie." Dean replied.

"So maybe the echo's not dangerous, but maybe something else is." (y/n) said and Dean turns back to her and Sam. "You're right." he mutters then he turns to the Ghostfacers. 

"All right, we need to get out of here, guys. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Pack it up." Dean shouts. "Guys, time is running out!" Sam said as the trio go to try and move them out. "We're moving!" (Y/n) shouts.

"What about all of our equipment? What are we gonna..." Maggie asked but the trio usher them out of the room. "Lots of fun. Let's go." Dean orders while Harry talks over him. "We got more material. We got all kinds of stuff. We'll make you guys recurring guest stars." He said but Ed looks around and shouts. "Wait! Wait! Where's Corbett?"

2nd Floor

"I wish to communicate with the restless spirits here." Corbett said as he stands in a room by himself. Then there was camera interference. "Uh, lights out? Oh, I think I got night vision here." Corbett mutters and he switches to night vision. "That's better." He said as he points the camera to himself, not realizing a tall figure standing behind him.

Living Room

"No man left behind." Ed said when they hear an anguished scream in the distance. "That was Corbett." Harry and Ed said then they run up the stairs while Dean, Sam and (y/n) protest. "We'll get him! Go back!" Dean shouts. "Guys!" Sam shouts. "Damn it!" (Y/n) growls in anger.

2nd Floor

"No! where are you, dude? Tell us where you are! Corbett!" Ed shouts as they run. "Let me go! Guys!" Corbett shouts but they couldn't find him at all, just hear him. "Corbett, you need to come back, Corbett." Ed shouts then they hear Corbett screaming. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Come on." Dean said to Ed, stopping him from going anywhere as they hear Corbett's screams continue, fading away.

"Corbett's...He's not here. Let's go. Let's go." Sam encourages the Ghostfacers but Harry shakes his head. "No. No. No. No, that was Corbett. Didn't you hear that?" Harry asked while Dean, Sam and (y/n) usher the others back to the living room. But the clock had already midnight.

"Oh, god, what's happened? Oh, god. He's gone. He just disappeared." Ed mutters, devastated. "Okay, let's just go through all the angles. Let's go through all the cameras we have." Harry said while Sam, Dean and (y/n) walk off to the side.

"Well, it's 12:04, boys." (Y/n) said and Sam sighs then turns to Dean. "You good? You happy?" he asked him. "Yeah, I am happy." Dean said, sarcastically. "Let's go hunt the Morton house, you said, it's our Grand Canyon." Sam mocks. "Sam, I don't want to hear this." Dean growls.

"You got two months left, Dean. Instead, we're gonna die tonight." (Y/n) said, annoyed, as Sam picks up a chair and smashes it against the sealed front door. "Whoa! what the hell is going on, guys?" Spruce asked and the trio turn to him. 

"I'll tell you what's going on. Every door, every window, I'm guessing every exit out of this house -- they're all sealed." Sam replied. "But w-why are they sealed?" Maggie asked, scared. "It's a supernatural lockdown, okay? Whatever took Corbett doesn't want us to leave, and it's no death echo. This is a bad mother, and it wants us scared." (Y/n) explained. "Or it just wants us." Maggie said when the sound of the EMF detector goes off.

"Uh, guys, the camera's fritzing again." Spruce said as there was interference on his camera. "Whoa. Whoa. Guys, the EMF's starting to spike. This is a big one!" Ed said as Harry and Maggie walked to the middle of the room, both of them secretly holding hands

"Everybody, stay close. There's something coming." Sam said when another apparition appears. "Woah!" the Ghostfacers shout. "Is this the same echo you guys saw earlier?" Dean asked Harry. "No, it's a different guy." Harry replied and Dean looks over at Sam and (y/n).

"Multiple echoes? What the hell's going on?" he asked them. 'Beats me." Sam said as (y/n) shrugs. "Okay. All right. All right. All right." Dean said then he goes up to the apparition and starts to yell at it. "Uh, hey, buddy! Hey. Hey. Wake up. You're dead! Hello!"

"What's he doing? What's he doing?" Harry asked Sam and (y/n) as Dean continues to shout at the apparition. "It's rare, but sometimes you can shock an echo out of its loop if you can talk to the part of the ghost that's still human, but usually you have to have some kind of connection to the deceased." (Y/n) explains while Dean shouts.  Come on! Wake up! Be dead!"

The apparition flickers and turns around as everyone hears a noise. 'You guys hear that?" Harry asked. "What's that sound?" Ed asked as Dean shouts.  Snap out of it, buddy, huh? Come on, what are you waiting for? You're gonzo! You're dead!" 

A bright light shines on the apparition and the sound of a car horn approaching. The apparition flies backwards, as if hit by an invisible vehicle. "Where the hell did it go?" Harry asked as everyone looks around, confused.

The group follow Sam, Dean and (y/n) down the hallway of the 2nd floor. "Dude, there's no records of any of this here. No one got shot here. Obviously, no one got run over by a freaking train." Dean grumbles to Sam and (y/n). "Stay close." Sam said to the others as they walk on.

"Did the echoes take Corbett?" Maggie asked them. "Yes. No. I don't know. We don't know what's doing what here; that's what we're trying to figure out, okay?" Dean said, annoyed. "All right, stay close." (Y/n) tells them before Sam turns to the others.

"Okay, look, um, death echoes are ghosts, okay? Now, ghosts -- they usually haunt places where they lived or where they died." he explains. 'Except these mooks didn't live or die here." Dean added. "Right." (y/n) agreed.

"So, what are they doing here?" Maggie asked. "Hey, give the lady a cigar." Dean exclaims and (y/n) turns to her and see Maggie still holding a camera. 'All right, seriously, does looking at this nightmare through that camera make you feel better or something? I mean..." she said and Maggie stammers. "Um...I, uh... Well, yeah. Uh, yeah. I think so." She said and (y/n) huffs at this as they continue to walk through house. 

They enter a room full of stuffed animal heads on the walls, as well as file cabinets. Sam goes over and holds up a broken framed certificate. "Freeman Daggett, house's last owner, officially commended for 20 years of fine service at the Gamble General Hospital." he said. "He was a Doctor?" Dean asked. "Janitor." Sam corrected as (y/n) looks around the room.

"This looks like his den. When'd you say he died -- '64?" she asked him. "Yeah, heart attack." Sam replied. "What are these, c-rations?" Maggie asked as she points out something that looked like food trays. "Yeah, army-issued, three squares -- like a lifetime supply." Dean said.

"God, is that all he ate?" Maggie asked. "One-stop shopping." (Y/n) said as they continued to look around the room.

"Oh, come on, guys. This is ridiculous. I mean, how the hell is this supposed to find Corbett, huh? We should be digging up the friggin' floorboards right now." Ed said as Sam holds up a dusty pamphlet. "Huh. Survival Under Atomic Attack. An optimist." He said then there's a loud BANG as Dean pries the safe open then he and (y/n) leaf through the file box.

"Crap. Crap. Taxidermy. Okay. You said Daggett was a hospital janitor?" Dean asked Sam. "Yeah." Sam Reid when (y/n) found something. "Ewww. Got three toe tags here -- one, death by gunshots, train accident, and suicide." she said and Sam and Dean's face scrunch up in disgust. "Ewwwwww!" they said, disgusted. 

"What?" Harry asked. "Well, that explains why all the death echoes are here. They're here because their bodies are here...somewhere in the house." Sam said. "Daggett brought the remains home from the morgue. To play." Dean simplified then Harry and Ed made the same face. 

"Ewwwww! Ugh!" they exclaimed, disgusted. "That's nasty, dude." Spruce said. "Right." Sam said and Dean looks around. "Wait a minute." He said, realizing Maggie was missing. 

"Corbett." Maggie said as she walks around another room. Then she startles herself by coming across her own reflection in a mirror. "Okay, Maggie." She mutters and she swings the camera around, frightened, to reveal Dean. "Closer to the herd, okay?" Dean said as Harry runs in. "Maggie? Maggie?" He calls out. "She's fine." Dean assures him.

"Harry. Harry, I got an 8.6 and climbing fast. Something huge is coming. Look. Something big is coming." Ed exclaims. "It's past 11, you guys." Harry said as Spruce's camera got interference. 'What? Nobody move! Hold on. Hold on. Stay quiet." Dean said, quickly, as there was more camera interference.

Then suddenly (y/n), standing between Sam and Dean, disappears into thin air. "It's really cold in here." Ed said. "Harry?" Maggie said, worried, while Dean and Sam look between them to see (y/n) was gone.

"(Y/n)?" Sam said, confused, while Dean was taken aback by this. "Some kind of surge." Ed said. "(Y/n)?" Dean calls out but no answer. "Where'd she go?" Spruce asked. "Oh, no." Maggie whispers as Dean finds (y/n)'s dropped flashlight and picks it up.

"(Y/n)!" Dean shouts, panicked and worried.

"(Y/n)!" Sam calls out as they walk down the hallway. "Corbett!" Ed shouts. "(Y/n)!" Dean yells, his heart beating against his throat. "Corbett! Talk to us!" Harry shouts as they look around as well. "(Y/n)!" Sam and Dean shout just as Maggie and Harry stopped in a spot in the middle of the room, Spruce turns his camera to them.

"God, I am so scared. I'm so scared." Maggie said, fearfully. "It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay, Maggie." Harry assures her. They share a look before Maggie and Harry start to kiss.

"Corbett!" Ed's voice called while Maggie and Harry were still making out. "Bom-chicka-bow-wow...woah." Spruce whispers behind his camera until Ed finds Maggie and Harry. "My best friend... And my best sister." Ed shouts and Harry and Maggie break their kiss and embrace.

"Ed."

"Harry."

"Ed."

"Harry."

"Ed. listen, Ed." Harry said, trying to sound calm. "Are you banging my sister?" Ed asked Harry, angrily. "No! No!" Harry said then Ed takes off his glasses and turns to Spruce. "Hold my glasses." Ed tells him. "You got it." Spruce said as he takes Ed's glasses. "Ed." Harry said but then Ed attacks Harry. "Ed! Ed! Ed! Ed! Ed!" Harry shouts. "Guys!" Spruce shouts as Maggie screams. "Get off Harry!"

Then Dean and Sam show up and break up the fight. "What the f--- are you doing?! Cut it out!" Dean yells at them. "We're down by two people." Sam tells them then he and Dean turn away. "(Y/n)!" Sam shouts as he walks out. "(Y/n)!" Dean shouts.

"Great." Maggie grumbles as Harry and Ed look at each other. "Sorry." Harry said to Ed. "I'm sorry." Ed said then he turns to Spruce. "Give me my glasses. Did he knock my -- my tooth there?" Ed asked Spruce as he hands the glasses back to Ed. "Uh, no." Spruce said.

"I won that, right?" Ed asked him. "Yep. You're good." Spruce said, which annoyed Harry. "Thanks, Spruce." Harry said, sarcastically. "Yeah, it's my fault." Spruce grumbles. "That's real great. That's nice. Thanks." Maggie said as she walks off.

Meanwhile, in the basement, the song, It's My Party was playing in the background. In the middle was a table with cake and confetti and what looked like people gathered around. Corbett, who was at one end of the table, starts to come to consciousness when he heard a voice call out to him. 

"Corbett. Corbett. Hey. Corbett, hey." the voice said and he raises his head to see (y/n) across the table, she was tied to a chair just like he is. "(Y/n)?" Corbett said, confused. "Corbett, hey, you got to keep listening to my voice, okay? I'm right here. Stay awake." (y/n) said but then another voice comes in.

"Don't listen." a deep voice said and Corbett and (y/n) look up to see Daggett as he picks up a knife. "It stops hurting, so don't worry." Daggett said as he goes around Corbett and stands behind him, which started to make (y/n) panic but she does her best to stay cool. 

"Corbett, stay with me. Stay with me, you got it? I'm right here." she said to Corbett, who looks straight at her, and she could tell that he was beyond terrified. "Hey. Stay with me. Don't. Don't." (y/n) shouts at Daggett but it was too late as Daggett stabs Corbett through the throat. "No. Corbett! No! Corbett!" (y/n) screams as blood pours out of Corbett's wound and she watches him die in front of her.

"Corbett! Where'd you guys go?" Harry calls out as Dean and Sam look around. "Where are you guys?" Maggie calls out when Harry looks over at Dean. "Dean, what are you doing?" He asked. "Okay, so Daggett was a cold war nut, okay? He was -- he was an amateur taxidermist. He liked to slow dance with cadavers, and all he ate were c-rations, so what the hell are we looking for?!" Dean growls.

"Horrible little life." Maggie suggests. "Yeah, a lonely life...A cold war life. He was scared." Sam said but then he stops as he realized something. "He was scared...he was scared." Sam said as he and his brother share a look and both of them came to the same conclusion. 

"Scared of what? What?" Harry asked but Sam and Dean run off. "Guys, where are you going?" Harry asked as he follows them. "Wait, don't leave me in here, you guys." Maggie said as she catches up to them.

"Get away from me." (Y/n) growls at the man as he walks up to her. "This won't hurt. It's okay. It's okay. Relax. Relax." Daggett assures her and he straps a party hat onto her head while Corbett slumps dead at the other end of the table.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going?" Maggie asked Dean and Sam as they start to walk towards the door of the basement. "Guys like Daggett back then, the ones who were really scared of the Russkies -- they built bomb shelters. We're guessing he's got one. I'll bet you it's in the basement." Dean said and Spruce follows him when the door slams behind Dean, cutting him and Spruce off from Harry, Ed, Sam and Maggie.

"Woah!" Harry shouts. "Woah! That is not funny!" Ed said, shocked, while Sam goes to the doorknob and tries to open it but it wouldn't budge.

"Um, who closed the door?" Spruce asked Dean, nervously. "It did. It wants to separate us." Dean replied and goes up to the door. "Sam!" He yells. "Dean! You okay?" Sam asked. "Yeah, listen to me! There's some salt in my duffle. Make a circle and get inside." Dean said. "Okay." Sam said and he walks away from the door while Ed, Harry and Maggie look at him, confused.

"Inside? Inside his duffle bag?" Ed asked Sam. "In the salt!" Sam shouts at him. "Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah." Ed said and they make their way back to base. Dean continues down the basement stairs.

"Okay. Get in the circle. Get in the circle." Sam tells the others after making a salt circle. "Come on. Come on. Quick, quick." Ed said as Harry and Maggie get into the circle with Sam and Ed. "Guys, guys, I don't want to die, okay, and I don't want you to die." Harry cried. "Harry, listen -- listen to me, okay? listen. If we don't die...it's totally okay if you, uh, do my sister." Ed said and Maggie pushes Ed. 

"Hey, hey, stopped." Sam yells when Maggie realized there was another interference on her camera. "Hey guys, hey guys, it's coming again." she tells them. "Oh, god. Oh, OK. Oh god, oh god." Ed stammers when the lights continue to flicker.

Then the group sees Corbett standing in front of them, bloody and unable to speak. "Oh. Oh, C-Corbett." Ed said, sadly, as they all look at him.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Spruce asked Dean as they make their way around the basement. "What?" Dean asked. "Earlier, you, (y/n) and Sam -- she said you had two months left?" Spruce asked. "Yeah, it's complicated. A while ago, (y/n)..." Dean started to say but stops himself and shakes his head.

"No. No. No. I'm not gonna whine about my b------- problems to some b------- reality show. I'm gonna do my f------ job." he tells Spruce and he looks around some more. "Is it cancer?" Spruce asked. "Shut up." Dean growls then he stops as he hears music.

"You hear that?" he asked Spruce.

"I've been waiting for some more friends." Daggett said to (y/n) as he leans down to her. "I get lonely. But you're coming to my party, aren't you?" He asked her as she tries to pull back as much as she could in her chair.

"Is that music?" Spruce asked as Dean goes up to a cabinet. "Yeah, it's coming from behind this wall." Dean said and he singlehandedly pushes a cabinet away from the wall. "Wow, you're strong." Spruce said with sarcasm and Dean flips a middle finger to Spruce's camera.

"You'll stay a good, long time." Daggett said to (y/n) and he raises his knife until Dean breaks the door open to the bomb shelter. "(Y/n)!" Dean shouts and he shoots Daggett, who disappears, then unties (y/n). "Oh god." Spruce mutters, horrified, as he sees the whole birthday table, with the party guests of old corpses and one new corpse: Corbett. "Oh, no, Corbett." He whispers.

,

Ed, Harry, Sam and Maggie were still in the salt ring as Corbett's death echo happens again. "Oh god, what have we done? Oh god." Ed mutters. "Keep calm." Sam said to them. "Ed. Ed. Corbett's a -- he's a death echo. He's reliving his own murder." Harry tells him. "Over and over forever." Maggie said, sadly.

"What's this Daggett guy's problem anyway?" Spruce asked Dean and (y/n) as they walk out of the room.

"Loneliness." (y/n) replied.

"What, he's never heard of a Realdoll?" Dean asked. "No, no, no, Daggett was the Norman Bates, stuff-your-mother kind of lonely. I mean, that's why he lifted these bodies from the morgue, threw himself a birthday party, except they were the only ones who would come. Anyway, so, at midnight, he sealed them in the bomb shelter and went upstairs and o.d.'d on horse tranqs." (Y/n) informed and Dean looks at her, confused.

"How do you know this?" he asked her. "'Cause he told me." She replied. "Oh. yeah. Okay, so now that he's dead, what? Same song, different verse, trying to get people to come to his party?" Dean said. "Pretty much, yeah. Stay forever." (Y/n) said and Dean starts to load his gun

"Are those real bullets?" Spruce asked him. "It's rock salt." Dean replied.

Harry sings the Ghostfacers theme song that they made up as they stand there until Corbett's apparition appears again. "Guys, it's -- it's Corbett. He's -- he's -- he's trapped. He's in a lot of pain, you know? We got to try and...we got to try and pull him out of his loop. We have to." Ed said as he stands up and faces Corbett. "Ed." Sam and Harry said. "Corbett. Corbett, it's -- Oh, god." Ed said as he looks down at the salt line.

"Don't cross the line of salt." Harry said. Ed hesitates, then steps over the salt line, confronting the ghost of Corbett. "I gotta do it, Harry." Ed said. Harry looks over at Sam, who nods, and Ed turns to Corbett. "Corbett, listen to me. Okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Listen. Listen. Oh, god. Corbett. Oh." Ed said but then the ghost starts to flicker.

"Get back!" Harry shouts and Ed quickly retreats. "oh, god. Whoa. Oh, I can't, okay? He's not hearing me, okay? He won't stop dying." Ed said, fearfully.

Meanwhile, Dean is attempting to break down the basement door that's still separating Dean, (y/n) and Spruce from the others. (y/n) turns and sees that Spruce was still holding his camera and he had it aimed at her ass. "Hey!" She growls and he moves the camera back to her face. "Eyes up here, buddy. And are you seriously still shooting?" She asked. "It makes him feel better. Don't ask." Dean said when there was camera interference and flickering in Spruce's camera.

"Ah, hell, guys. Get in your ghost-role thing. Something's coming." Spruce said as he spins around and sees Daggett. Daggett then knocks Spruce and his camera to the ground, causing him to roll and scream. Spruce screamed as Daggett approaches Spruce, but is shot and dissipated by (y/n).

"I...I know how we can get through to him." Harry said. "How?" Sam asked him and Harry looks over at Ed. "Ed...He had feelings for you." He said and Ed gives him a bewildered and shocked look. "He wanted you." Harry said. "Wa-- wanted me to what?" Ed said, confused. "You know..." Harry said then he demonstrates with a slight grunt and pelvic thrust

"And you know what you've got to do. You can do it, Ed. You've always been the brave one. Yes, you can. You make us brave -- Maggie, right?" Harry said to her. "Yeah. Yeah you do. You totally do." Maggie said as Ed looks between them. "Ed...You got to go be gay for that poor, dead intern. You got to send him into the light." Harry said then Ed looks over at Sam.

"It should work." Sam said and then Ed approaches the ghost of Corbett again. "Corbett." Ed said as he steps over the salt line. "Corbett, look. Hey, it's just Ed, buddy. It's just me. Hey, hey, Corbett, listen to me. Listen to me." Ed said as he approaches Corbett..

"I -- we...Okay. You meant...Corbett, you meant a lot to the team. You meant...You meant a lot to me. You know, never back down...Never say a bad word, okay? I remember that, Corbett. I-I remember that. I remember because I love you, Corbett. I really, truly love you. Do you remember that? do you?" Ed asked, a tear running down his face, and then Corbett looks over at Ed.

"Hey. Ed?" he asked. "Yeah. Yeah, Corbett, it's...Corbett, yeah, it's me. It's me. look at me. You got to help us, man. you have to help us, Corbett. Please. please. Please help us right now." Ed begs as Corbett stares at Ed.

"Take it easy. You all right?" (y/n) asked Spruce when there was camera interference and flickering in Spruce's camera. The ghost of Daggett appears behind Dean. "Uh, guys..." Spruce said then Daggett throws Dean, then (y/n) against the wall and was about to attack Spruce.

"This is bad -- very bad." Spruce stammers, fearfully, when Corbett appears behind Daggett. "Corbett?" Spruce said, confused, then Corbett's ghost attacks Daggett and they both disappear in a blinding flash of light.

"You all right, guys?" Spruce asked as (y/n) and Dean pick themselves up off the floor. "You all right?" Spruce asked he comes up to the couple. "God." (Y/n) groans while Dean looks back at the camera, covering the lens with his hand.

Morning came as the door to the Morton House opens, and Ed, Sam, Dean, (y/n), Harry and Maggie exit. Harry and Maggie pause to hug, while Sam gives Ed his phone number on a scrap of paper and Dean checks on (y/n). Then they start to load up and leave

Leap year, February 29th, the Morton House. A tragic day. A day of souls bound in torment, of lives held in cruel balance. But the Ghostfacers, they did the best that they could.

We lost a beloved friend, but we gained new allies.

We know this much: that every day, including today, is a new beginning. We learned more than we can say in the brutal feat of the Morton House.

The Ghostfacers were forced to face something far more scary than ghosts. They were forced to face themselves.

War changes Man.

 And Maggie and (y/n).

War changes man. And two women...You know Corbett, we just...ah gosh, we just like to think that you're out there, watching over us.

As far as we're concerned, you're not an intern anymore. You have more than earned full Ghostfacer status. Plus, it would be cool to have a ghost on the team.

Yeah. Heh heh. And here we were thinking that, you know, we were teaching you and all this time you were teaching us, about heart, about dedication, and about how gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day. Thank you, Alan J. Corbett.

Go well into that starry night, young Turk. Go well.

"Come on, Spruce, I gotta get all this stuff packed up!" Corbett said as he and Spruce load up the van, getting ready to head to the Morton house. "So, pack and talk!" Spruce said as he aims the camera at him. "I don't know what to say." Corbett said. "Say what comes to mind. This is one of our confessional moments, Corbett, so confess. What did you think was going to happen tonight? What do you think is going to happen on this trip?" Spruce asked him.

Corbett sighs then thinks before he speaks up. "I think tonight, I really do, I think all of our dreams are going to come true." He replies then looks over at Spruce. "Does that sound stupid?" He asked. "Kind of does, yeah." Spruce said and the two chuckle a bit.

In Memory of Alan J. Corbett,

1985-2008

King of the Impossible 

*(y/n)'s POV*

"So, guys, what do you think? Are you alright?" Ed asked us as the boys and I say there and finished watching Ed and Harry's show. "You know, I kind of think it was half-awesome." Dean replies. "Half-awesome? That - that's full-on good, right?" Maggie said, excited.

"Yeah, um, I mean it's bizarre how you all are able to honor Corbett's memory while grossly exploiting the manner of his death. Well done." Sam said as Dean secretly slips the device into a backpack under the table. "Yeah. It's a real tight rope you guys are walking there." I said. "Yeah, all right guys." Sam mutters.

"Nah, that's reality, man. Yeah, Corbett gave his life searching for the truth, and it's our job over here to share it with the world." Ed said. "Right. Well, um, our experience, you know what you get when you show the world the truth?" Sam asked him. "A straightjacket." I said. "Or a punch in the face. Sometimes both." Dean adds. "Right." Sam said.

"Oh come on, guys, don't be 'facer haters just because we happen to have gotten the footage of the century." Harry exclaims. "Oh yeah." Ed said. "You got us there." I said, shrugging. "Yeah." Sam said. "Yeah, well we'll see you guys around." Sam said as we start to head towards the door.

"Peace out." Spruce said as Sam, Dean and I leave and Ed shuts the door behind us.

"We clean?" Sam asked as we get to the Impala. Suddenly, we hear Ed shout. "No! are you kidding me?"

"Electromagnet wiped out every tape and hard drive that they have." Dean said, smiling. "The world just isn't ready for the Ghostfacers." I said as we get into the car. "It's too bad. I kinda liked the show." Dean said. "It had its moments." Sam said and I nod. "Yeah, it was pretty entertaining." I added then Dean starts the Impala and we drive off.

@rach5ive @kitsun369 @itzabbyxx @cevans-winchester @ellie-andthemachine

[g5mlp]

Here's the entire My Little Pony 2024 Franchise Overview presentation. This was originally distributed online in mid-June 2023, and we reported on it then, but there are a couple of details that didn't make it into the post.

Download links 2024 Franchise Overview 2023 Marketing Plans Hasbro Brands Overview

Slides 2–4. Various random stats which are mostly not important or not properly contextualized. I have just a slight feeling that the stat on slide 3 implying that MLP is bigger than Barbie at the moment is cherrypicked.

Slides 5–6. Slide 6 is the first slide with specific data about Tell Your Tale viewers. It tells us that Tell Your Tale outperformed Make Your Mark on audience approval and toy purchase basket size, and that it outperformed other franchises on repeat toy purchase rate. There are a few more of these stats on slide 20.

Slides 7–9. Tell Your Tale Season 2 will be real, and will have four specials (the accompanying visuals don't seem to be related, other than the beach stuff for special 2). They didn't really explain what "hair play in every episode" or "more magical moments" will mean, although maybe the former is intended to encourage the purchase of toys.

Slides 10–12. This is basically a summary of things that have already been done within the MLP brand over the last few years. "LBE" means "location-based entertainment".

Slide 10 seems to indicate that there are about 7 songs left to be released in Tell Your Tale Season 1.

On slide 12, from left to right, the featured things are the VR book My Little Pony: Virtual Magic; the Sofia Carson-narrated Calm "sleep story"; the I Can Read Comics Level 1 book Sister Switch; the first issue of the G5 IDW comics; the MLP mascots at the Galaxyland theme park in Edmonton, Canada; a render of the lobby of the My Little Pony & Transformers Playlodge in Shanghai; and the "Flight to Equestria" ferris wheel at Galaxyland.

Slides 13–14. Mostly licensed merch, although the Izzy brushable on slide 14 still hasn't been seen anywhere other than this presentation.

Slide 15. Another indication that Make Your Mark won't get anything in 2024: the best they can say about it is that it will "live on Netflix" (i.e. won't be removed from Netflix), which was probably going to happen anyway.

Given the "new episodes weekly" statement, 328 minutes can be neatly divided into 4 22-minute episodes and 48 5-minute episodes, all for Tell Your Tale. Consistent episode lengths make sense for Hasbro, since they intend to license their shows out to TV networks with standard half-hour programming blocks.

"Linear and AVOD" probably refers to traditional TV channels and ad-supported free streaming sites. Some past MLP content is already available on "AVOD" sites such as Pluto TV.

It seems like G5 music will continue to have that generic pop sound.

It's implied that some of the video games shown will be updated in 2024. Maybe not all of them, though, since the MLP Roblox game (Visit Maretime Bay) was shut down in February 2023.

Slides 16–17. They want to grow viewership a lot and convert it to toy purchases. They call Tell Your Tale their "one & only ponable content series"; obviously, maintaining two ongoing animated shows would directly contradict this statement.

The Pipp, Misty, Sunny and Izzy brushables shown all seem to be new, as is the concept art for the accessories of the former three. The Izzy brushable is probably the same one as on slide 14.

Slide 18. They will do a bunch of promo stuff, including releasing a licensed console video game in Q3 2024. The first and third Tell Your Tale specials are to be the tentpole moments (i.e. big marketing focal points) of 2024.

Slides 19–20. Slide 20 features some more new stats on how well Tell Your Tale is performing; it has 177 million cumulative YouTube views, good repeat viewership and better repeat purchase rate than Make Your Mark.

This image is from a different presentation, "2023 Marketing Plans". This slide reveals the Secrets of Starlight logo for the fourth and final My Little Pony: Make Your Mark special.

The "album launch" could be referring to the My Little Pony Theme Song (Sped Up + lofi remixes) EP that was released today. Or maybe something else?

This slide is from the other presentation that was revealed, "Hasbro Brands Overview". It doesn't really reveal anything that wasn't previously known, although it does suggest that Bridlewoodstock will feature in more marketing content through the rest of the year.

Notes

Almost all of the text in the 2024 Franchise Overview presentation is shown in the Calibri font. It doesn't seem like it was originally intended to be that way, and I think it might be due to custom fonts not being loaded properly by whoever converted the presentation to PDF. In spite of this issue, the presentation is likely genuine, evidenced by the high quality images embedded in it, including a shot from a future Tell Your Tale episode on slide 8.

Slides 15 and 18 both note that future plans are subject to change. However, it's probably somewhat unlikely that Hasbro could return to Make Your Mark in 2024. Even if they were to commission more Make Your Mark episodes right now, and could justify the budget for it, it would probably still take more than a year before the first episodes could be completed. I could be wrong about this, but there's nothing to suggest that it would be in the interest of Hasbro, Netflix, Atomic Cartoons or anyone else (except maybe the fans) for Make Your Mark to be renewed after 2023.

While the TYT Audience Report and MLP Shopper Analysis by AIM & We Are Family both seem to be focused on 2- to 8-year-old girls, it's not necessarily an indication that Hasbro is focused solely on this demographic – they might just be the most lucrative demographic, or the one whose analysis produced the best numbers to show to Hasbro's investors and partners.

[kemetic-dreams]

Carol Diann Johnson was born in the Bronx, New York City, on July 17, 1935, to John Johnson, a subway conductor, and Mabel (Faulk), a nurse. While Carroll was still an infant, the family moved to Harlem, where she grew up except for a brief period in which her parents had left her with an aunt in North Carolina. She attended Music and Art High School, and was a classmate of Billy Dee Williams. In many interviews about her childhood, Carroll recalls her parents' support, and their enrolling her in dance, singing, and modeling classes. By the time Carroll was 15, she was modeling for Ebony. "She also began entering television contests, including Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, under the name Diahann Carroll." After graduating from high school, she attended New York University, where she majored in sociology, "but she left before graduating to pursue a show-business career, promising her family that if the career did not materialize after two years, she would return to college.

Carroll's big break came at the age of 18, when she appeared as a contestant on the DuMont Television Network program, Chance of a Lifetime, hosted by Dennis James. On the show, which aired January 8, 1954, she took the $1,000 top prize for a rendition of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein song, "Why Was I Born?" She went on to win the following four weeks. Engagements at Manhattan's Café Society and Latin Quarter, nightclubs soon followed.

Carroll's film debut was a supporting role in Carmen Jones (1954), as a friend to the sultry lead character played by Dorothy Dandridge. That same year, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in the Broadway musical, House of Flowers. A few years later, she played Clara in the film version of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1959), but her character's singing parts were dubbed by opera singer Loulie Jean Norman. The following year, Carroll made a guest appearance in the series Peter Gunn, in the episode "Sing a Song of Murder" (1960). In the next two years, she starred with Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, and Joanne Woodward in the film Paris Blues (1961) and won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (the first time for a Black woman) for portraying Barbara Woodruff in the Samuel A. Taylor and Richard Rodgers musical No Strings. Twelve years later, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role alongside James Earl Jones in the film Claudine (1974), which part had been written specifically for actress Diana Sands (who had made guest appearances on Julia as Carroll's cousin Sara), but shortly before filming was to begin, Sands learned she was terminally ill with cancer. Sands attempted to carry on with the role, but as filming began, she became too ill to continue and recommended her friend Carroll take over the role. Sands died in September 1973, before the film's release in April 1974.

Carroll is known for her titular role in the television series Julia (1968-71), which made her the first African-American actress to star in her own television series who did not play a domestic worker. That role won her the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female for its first year, and a nomination for an Primetime Emmy Award in 1969. Some of Carroll's earlier work also included appearances on shows hosted by Johnny Carson, Judy Garland, Merv Griffin, Jack Paar, and Ed Sullivan, and on The Hollywood Palace variety show. In 1984, Carroll joined the nighttime soap opera Dynasty at the end of its fourth season as the mixed-race jet set diva Dominique Deveraux, Blake Carrington's half-sister. Her high-profile role on Dynasty also reunited her with her schoolmate Billy Dee Williams, who briefly played her onscreen husband Brady Lloyd. Carroll remained on the show and made several appearances on its short-lived spin-off, The Colbys until she departed at the end of the seventh season in 1987. In 1989, she began the recurring role of Marion Gilbert in A Different World, for which she received her third Emmy nomination that same year.

In 1991, Carroll portrayed Eleanor Potter, the doting, concerned, and protective wife of Jimmy Potter (portrayed by Chuck Patterson), in the musical drama film The Five Heartbeats (1991), also featuring actor and musician Robert Townsend and Michael Wright. She reunited with Billy Dee Williams again in 1995, portraying his character's wife Mrs. Greyson in Lonesome Dove: The Series. The following year, Carroll starred as the self-loving and deluded silent movie star Norma Desmond in the Canadian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of the film Sunset Boulevard. In 2001, Carroll made her animation debut in The Legend of Tarzan, in which she voiced Queen La, ruler of the ancient city of Opar.

In 2006, Carroll appeared in several episodes the television medical drama Grey's Anatomy as Jane Burke, the demanding mother of Dr. Preston Burke. From 2008 to 2014, she appeared on USA Network's series White Collar in the recurring role of June, the savvy widow who rents out her guest room to Neal Caffrey. In 2010, Carroll was featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docudrama titled 1 a Minute and appeared as Nana in two Lifetime movie adaptations of Patricia Cornwell’s novels: At Risk and The Front.

In 2013, Carroll was present on stage at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards to briefly speak about being the first African-American nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She was quoted as saying about Kerry Washington, nominated for Scandal, "She better get this award."

Carroll was a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council, a volunteer group of celebrity women who served the women's outreach of the Los Angeles Mission, working with women in rehabilitation from problems with alcohol, drugs, or prostitution. She helped to form the group along with other female television personalities including Mary Frann, Linda Gray, Donna Mills, and Joan Van Ark.

Carroll was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. She said the diagnosis "stunned" her, because there was no family history of breast cancer, and she had always led a healthy lifestyle. She underwent nine weeks of radiation therapy and had been clear for years after the diagnosis. She frequently spoke of the need for early detection and prevention of the disease. She died from cancer at her home in West Hollywood, California, on October 4, 2019, at the age of 84. Carroll also had dementia at the time of her death, though actor Marc Copage, who played her character's son on Julia, said that she did not appear to show serious signs of cognitive decline as late as 2017. A memorial service was held in November 24, 2019, at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York City.

[ordinaryschmuck]

I think the reason why you often see more game/show/movie announcements for a random Marvel character you never heard of where DC primarily focuses on Batman and Batman related characters is because...Marvel built more trust with the obscure.

All the way back when they started the MCU, Marvel didn't have the rights to its more iconic, recognizable, and, more important, marketable characters. Spider-Man went to Sony, X-Men and Fantastic Four went to Fox, and even the Hulk was technically owned Universal. By the time the MCU was being conceived, Marvel only had its C-listers and D-listers. No one even HEARD of characters like Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and ESPECIALLY the Guardians of the Galaxy before the MCU. Even characters like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, characters considered Marvel's big three nowadays, characters who the MCU relied on, weren't as huge as DC's big three. Meanwhile, DC had access to ALL of its characters, relying on its most recognizable IPs like Batman and Superman...And, oh yeah, I guess Wonder Woman was there too...Sometimes.

But the biggest seller was always Batman. Because how could he not be? He looked cool, he had an impressive rogues gallery to make toys of, and is everything for DC as Spider-Man was to Marvel. Both Batman and Spider-Man could sell anything. But Marvel technically didn't have the FULL rights to Spider-Man and DC...didn't bother with its other characters. Batman made bank with his videogames, movies, and TV shows to the point where they could sell a Gotham prequel series to Fox and STILL make a lot of cash. Why bother making a movie about Aquaman or The Flash when it likely won't sell as well as BATMAN. Sure, you got a Green Arrow TV show on the same network as a Superman prequel series, but that didn't change how most of DC's other projects weren't connected to Batman in someway.

Teen Titans was a show that starred Robin, Batman's sidekick. Same with Young Justice. And the only time kids got introduced to other DC characters, it was for a campy show like Batman: The Brave and the Bold where BATMAN teamed up with a hero a week. Which would have been a smart way to bring other characters into the light, but it's still connected strictly through BATMAN. Even now, DC has what is best described as a Batman problem. The Flash was a movie that featured two versions of Batman, one of them bringing in nostalgia through a past Batman movie instead of focusing on an old Flash product. And with the last few years, the only video games were Batman related, with Gotham Knights starring Batman's sidekicks and that Suicide Squad game starring Harley Quinn, a BATMAN villain who goes to kill BATMAN that's actually the same BATMAN from an old BATMAN game.

And yeah...I love Batman. We ALL love Batman. He's the coolest character ever conceived and it's the easiest thing in the world to make a movie about him. It might not be a GOOD movie sometimes, but it's at least a movie that'll make billions. But with this over-saturation of Batman, it left DC unsure if they can make anything big WITHOUT him. Because how can they be sure it'll succeed without their signature character that gave them a shitload of money?

But let's go back to Marvel. Starting a cinematic universe without their most popular IPs was a risk. They SORT of had the rights to the Hulk, but...there was no way Hulk would have made more money than a Spider-Man movie. If they wanted to make a successful franchise, Marvel had to put more faith in its other characters, allowing to make good movies and hope that enough people would be interested to see more. And...it worked. Iron Man was a hit, Thor and Captain America got people interest, and the big pay off was the box office smash that was The Avengers. Everyone started to know these characters and it didn't stop there. Guardians of the Galaxy became popular enough to be another big franchise for Marvel, Black Panther became the most popular Black superhero after Blade (another Marvel character), and people were left BEGGING for Spider-Man and the X-Men to join this universe so they could see their old favorites interact with their NEW favorites. And that just...never stopped. Marvel kept pushing more and more characters to the spotlight, with it paying it off for them.

Before 2014, NO ONE would consider buying a Guardians of the Galaxy game. But due to the MCU's revamping of those characters, it was enough to make people willing to do so. And in a few years, we're getting games based on Iron Man, Captain America and Black Panther, and JUST Black Panther, all because the Marvel had enough faith to turn this C-listers into A-listers. As for TV shows, we've got connected MCU stuff like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel, but also a really good and imaginative cartoon with Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

Now, to be fair, it's not paying off for Marvel, especially with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels causing the studio to lose bank. They're even thinking about cutting back on riskier stuff and focusing on their bigger franchises. Which...honestly sounds dumb to me not only because the MCU was founded on taking risks, but also because DC is exactly what you get when you focus on JUST the money makers. We're still getting nothing but Batman and Batman related characters or movies/universes that references nothing but Batman. To the point where I just want DC to retire Batman for a year, maybe TWO tops. Marvel proved that you can make a hit if you let other characters than the most marketable one. Even if it fails like The Marvels did, it's not because Captain Marvel isn't as iconic as Iron Man, it's because the movie wasn't as well-written enough. It was a fun time, sure, but not as strongly written as other MCU films. And that's what DC needs to learn and Marvel to remember: It's not about who's the most popular, it's about strong writing.

Hopefully we get more attention on lesser-known Marvel and DC characters in the future.

[uwmspeccoll]

Halloween Spotlight!

We are getting into the Halloween spirit today with Luke Geddes's TV Guide parody zine TV Grime Vol. 1. Geddes describes TV Grime as “a compendium of deeply personal reflections on every Halloween-themed television episode I’ve ever seen, laid out in a TV Guide-style grid on over 100 newsprint pages.” His reviews are accompanied by a ratings system that judges each episode’s Autumnal Ambiance, Spooky Vibes, Fright Factor, and Overall Quality, along with a detailed channel guide on where to watch.  

The issue covers all the big-hitting sitcoms of the 80s, 90s and 00s, including Growing Pains, Fraiser, Martin, Party of Five, Freaks and Geeks, and delightfully has four pages dedicated to The Simpsons' annual Treehouse of Horror episodes. Sprinkled throughout, readers are treated to old network advertisements of their Halloween line-ups. 

TV Grime Vol. 1 was printed in Milwaukee, WI October 2022 by Geddes's record label and publishing company Works of Love and is available online here.  

– Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

[signor-signor]

Trending 27th - March 2024

Talking to Craig McCracken

If you had a chance to talk to Craig McCracken, what would you say to him that not only complements him on the work he’s done in the past 30+ years, but also reassures him that there’s still interest in the plans he made for S3?

As someone who grew up watching Cartoon Network in the ‘90s, I would tell him…

“Hi, Craig-o, pleased to meet you! I’ve known your work since the early-mid nineties. I believe you were involved in 2 Stupid Dogs and Dexter’s Laboratory. It must have been a real treat getting to know some history behind Hanna-Barbera. I know it was for me. When I first saw a piece of your own work, it was on the side of a box of Fruity Pebbles promoting World Premiere Toons - one of the characters was Bubbles of the PPG. I gotta say, you’ve been one of my inspirations growing up.”

When it gets to the point where I talk about WOY, I would say this to him…

“I remember when I got into Wander Over Yonder. When I first saw your early sketches of him, I thought of Cantus the Minstrel from Fraggle Rock. And what can I say? I’m a sucker for anything related to Muppets. How about Jack McBrayer? He’s the perfect choice for the character’s voice! WOY marks the first time I got to hear Jack sing. It’s the show that provided the springboard for shows Disney apparently loves best, specifically Star vs. the Forces of Evil and Big City Greens - those shows wouldn’t have been picked up if it wasn’t for Daron Nefcy and the Houghton Bros.’ involvement in the first season. It’s also the first show where Andy Bean provided music for a TV series and where people like Noël Wells got to try their hand at voice acting. The show has made a lot more history than you can possibly imagine, so please don’t take it too lightly.”

Now comes the part where I talk about the elephant in the room, or rather, the ape in the space capsule…

“To be honest, I really looked forward to watching episodes of the show during its run. When I looked at your announcement about the premature cancellation and the plans you’d made for that third and final season, I was totally perplexed. Disney let Fish Hooks go on for three seasons regardless of content - was that because no one turned deaf ears or blind eyes to it? I always assumed they’d treat WOY the same way they treated FH.”

“Somehow it just doesn’t feel right to let your show bite the dust just because the “higher up bosses of bosses of bosses” didn’t see the need to make more, especially not after you made most fans aware of the existence of the plans for S3 and led them to believe it was guaranteed to be amazing. Why do you think I haven’t given up on WOY? And why else would I have Kid encourage viewers to watch the show (Kid Cosmic was great, by the way, one that definitely ended in victory)? I cannot think of any other show that was canceled one week before S2’s premiere, seven months after the S1 finale, five months after writing on S2 wrapped up, five months after your pitch for S3. You, Craig, are one of the most experienced cartoonists in the business and you don’t deserve to be treated like this.”

“To let you know just how determined I am to right this wrong, I worked four months on an Illustrator piece featuring over 140 individuals, built a LEGO Star Nomad (when I showed it to Dave Thomas (@owner-of-wendys), he said, “Dude… that Star Nomad is incredible. Well done!”), and wrote a pre-S3 shorts idea where Andy the Watchdog interviews refugees on the ex-secret planet. Heck, I even had to figure out what Star Force Enforcement Force look like and how the plot of S3 might play out.”

“@peepsqueak started the SaveWOY campaign, and I’m seeing to it that it shan’t be in vain. I know you’re busy with your other projects, but there is still a show waiting to be completed on your own terms. Until the time comes, keep making people smile! Darkest times call for sunniest of smiles!”