#can't believe i'm writing this before i literally GRADUATE

[nctstar]

life update <3

hi everyone!

just thought I'd do a little update here now that surprisingly, my blog is gaining a lot more attention than I thought it would (really appreciate it!). as I probably hinted at earlier, I am a full-time student but I'm actually graduating VERY soon (literally in a few hours!!!). anyways, long story short, my life is changing and it's scary and exciting all at the same time. despite all this, I really have so enjoyed writing for this blog and I'm still a big nctzen and I wanna continue, but I've come to realise I probably need a biiit more structure, especially now that I'm getting a lot of requests too :D so I'm gonna list out a few things below that I'll hopefully be able to follow into the new year.

if you send me a request, I will try to finish it within 2 weeks. It would really be nice if you specified if you want a text post or fic, but if not I'll assume that's up to me :)

the requests in my inbox so far I will try to finish this month so that we can all follow that ^ properly in the new year.

i will try to update the ongoing series (labyrinth being the only one rn) 1-4 times a month, depending on how busy I am that particular month.

appreciate you all and feel free to send asks/requests or just random thoughts, this is a safe space and I would love to be friends :)

i will also make a carrd so you guys can get to know me better but for the record if you have instagram you can follow me there (I make nct edits) @/l4vendersun.

[dedalvs]

When will humankind learn the lesson of its hubris and begin to heal itself? Also can you recommend any undergraduate or graduate level resources (textbooks etc.) for learning about fiction? I already read Writing Fiction by Burroway. Thanks in advance

January 14, 3182. Make a note of the date and return to this post when it comes.

To your second question, I've never read anything on writing fiction, only writing in general. I've found something valuable in every book on writing, even if there were things in the book I found less valuable. For example, I read Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg, and while there was much of it I didn't care for, there are some passags that have stuck with me 22 years later. When it comes to writing guides, I think the best thing to do is read what interests you while understand that what you are really doing is building your own writing guide inside you. You're absorbing what you find personally meaningful and using it to create your own personal styleguide that, like it or not, you'll be following for the rest of your life. Rather than rejecting that, and trying to decide which text will be the text that tells you how to write, embrace it, realize that you are going to do what you're going to do, and then try to work within that framework. That is, if that's what's happening, how will you approach a styleguide? What will it mean to you to read a very didactic text (i.e. "All serious writers must do x; no serious writer every does y") vs. a loosey-goosey one (e.g. "Dance naked in the garden of your creativity and allow your flowers to bloom!")? What are you looking for in these texts and what will you do with information or strategies that you find valuable?

Returning to Writing Down the Bones, I have to say I found the book to be mostly woo. It was more a kind of self-help/empowerment book than a book on writing, in my opinion. But there is something in there that I'm sure I'd heard before but which finally resonated with me. Specifically, it was the way she articulated that it really, truly doesn't matter what you put on the page when you're drafting. Drafting is not the time to reject. Even some idea comes to you that you find absurd, illogical, thematically inappropriate—whatever. It's not the time to push it away. Indeed, it's wasted effort. Editing and revising is the time to question. If you're writing, you shouldn't let anything stop you—even your own brain.

Why it took till then for this idea to take root, I don't know. It could be how she worded it. It could be that it came at the right time. Perhaps I was more open to new ideas when I was reading this book. It may also have something to do with a transition that had taken place for me in writing. After all, when I started high school, I was not regularly using a computer (we'd only just gotten a computer that stayed at home). When I started writing, I wrote by hand—on paper. It's a much, much different thing to edit and revise when you're writing on paper than it is on when you're working on a computer! I mean, digital real estate is cheap. When you're writing by hand, it can literally hurt to write seven or eight pages—and then to discard them in editing! Right now I'm working on a novel draft where I've decided an entire section needs to come out. If I'd written that by hand?! I can't even imagine.

I guess the tl;dr of it is I don't have a specific text to recommend. Rather, I encourage you to look around and grab anything that interests you. In doing so, though, I encourage you to approach it differently, focusing on what in it you find valuable, without either wholly rejecting it or feeling you have to follow it to the letter like an Ikea manual. I even found something valuable in C. S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, which I honestly can't believe I read.

If you'd like some fiction advice that may be generally useful no matter what you're writing, this is what I can offer:

A valuable skill to hone is being able to read your work as if you have no other knowledge of it. In other words, you need to be able to read your work like a reader. One of the most difficult things to do with fiction is to cut. You usually have a lot more characterization, a lot more plot points, a lot more detail, etc. than end up on the page. The important question is if you cut something, will the reader notice? Will it actually feel like something's miss it, or will a reader never notice? Mind, I'm not saying that as a writer you can't tell if something is superfluous, or that anything you cut will be superfluous. I'm saying sometimes even if you cut something important a reader will still get the impression that what they are reading is whole and unedited. That isn't a good thing or a bad thing: it's a neutral thing. The question you'll have to answer is what is this whole that the reader is getting, and is that whole something you're satisfied with?

Get multiple rounds of feedback from many different readers. I say this not because it's vital, because beta readers are important, because you have to have multiple perspectives on your work, etc. None of that. Getting feedback from many different readers is a form of self-care on the part of the writer. I was deathly afraid of feedback as a young writer. I welcomed praise, sure, but anything else felt too painful to bear. This changed when I took a short fiction class at Berkeley. Suddenly a short story of mine wasn't getting one round of feedback: it was getting fourteen. And not just from the professor, but from fellow students. This was a minor revolution for me in terms of accepting feedback. If I were to take, say, one round of feedback, certainly there would be some praise, but there would also be notes like "awkward phrasing", "why did x character do y?", "this is unclear", "too much description", etc. These things would burn me. I would seethe reading them, and it would hurt so deeply. But! Imagine that one of them circles a paragraph and writes "too much description" and then the other thirteen readers say absolutely nothing at all about that paragraph—maybe one even puts a smiley face next to it. THAT puts the criticism in its proper context. Maybe your writing isn't too bad! Maybe there isn't too much description. Maybe that particular reader just wasn't vibing with it, and maybe that's okay. And then let's look at it from the other perspective. Say thirteen out of fourteen papers have a sentence marked and all of them say things like "huh?", "what's this mean?", "confusing", etc. Guess what? The sentence is probably confusing. And for some reason if everyone's saying the same thing it hurts a lot less. It means, yeah, you probably made a little mistake, and that's okay. It's not one person singling you out, and it's not the case that they don't know what they're talking about. I can't emphasize enough how freeing it is to look at reviews of your work if you have a handful or more to draw from rather than just a single good friend.

It's okay to write the fun part first. You may have a plot device you're really excited about, but to get there, you have to introduce your characters, have them get together, have them go to a place, meet someone else, etc. And it may take time and energy to write all that. You may feel pressured to get through that before you get to the part you really want to write. You certainly can, but you do not have to. I don't know if younger writers can appreciate exactly what it means to have a computer. You can write a little bit now and literally copy and paste it into some other document later. Try doing that with a typewriter! You can write something like "Insert paragraphs later of characters traveling to x location". You can even drop a variable in there so it's easy to find with the search function later (e.g. "ZZZZZ insert scene description here"—now you just need to search for "ZZZZZ"). You can put it in a different color on the screen so it's easy to find when scrolling. You can paste a freaking photo into your document! It's extraordinary what you can do with a computer that you couldn't do in years past. You've got a ton of options. But most importanly, when your work is done, no one will know what order you wrote it in.

In fiction, nothing has to happen. Villains don't have to be punished; heroes don't have to win; characters don't have to have a specific arc that comes to some conclusion. Honestly, one of the tropes (if you can even call it a trope) that I find most frustrating in sequels for movie franchises is after the characters are introduced, they take a few character and assign to them the major story conflict, and then for the rest, they give them a mini arc. It's like, "Mondo 2: Exploding the Mondoverse sees our hero Larjo Biggins take on new villain the Krunge as the very core of the Mondoverse is threatened with destruction! Also, Siddles Nuli learns its okay to be left out sometimes and she shouldn't get her feelings hurt, and Old Mucko learns that even though technology is advancing, sometimes good old fashioned common sense is just what the doctor ordered!" If you get to the end of your story, and you feel it's done, you don't have to panic if you suddenly realize we don't know whether Hupsi ever made it to Bumbus 7. It's okay if Story A is resolved but Story B is not.

I don't care if you used Trope A in your new story even though you used Trope A in your past seven stories and neither should you. Seriously, you think anyone was complaining when Agatha Christie put out another mystery novel? "Oh. Mystery again, huh? Gee, we were all hoping you'd write a book about the struggles traditional fishing villages are facing in the wake of industrial modernization." No we fucking weren't!

I hope you find some of this useful. Whether you did or not, though, be sure you enjoy what you're doing. If you are, you're doing the right thing.

[mxstellatayte]

okay this is so vague but a something for lewis based off the song pretty please by dutch melrose ?

I LOVE DUTCH MELROSE OMG I ABSOLUTELY CAN. also this one is dedicated my simply simply lovely bestie and horny ride-or-die (not like that) pookie @vivi-81 who has recently converted to being a lewis hoe <3 love you bestie

this fic is multiple chapters because i couldn't help myself! writing this dynamic is really really fun and i'm going to do my best to finish the fic by 15 september, but here is a teaser of the first chapter and the release schedule/masterlist!

this fic spans literal years. prepare yourselves yall because you're in for a WILD ride lol

teaser (this post): 4 september chapter 1: 8 september (🌻/🥀) chapter 2: 22 september (🌻/🪷) chapter 3: 6 october

teaser below the cut!

the conversation continues easily as the two of you finish your breakfast, then, as you begin to prepare yourself to stand and leave, he stops you. "actually, there's one last thing i wanted to do before we went on camera."

your head tilts in confusion as you set your signature lipstick back in your bag, a deep red balm that you've used since you started working at vogue. it's become your trademark product, and almost everyone in the office knows exactly which one you use. "do i need to be worried, lewis?"

"no, not at all! it's this," he says, and your eyebrows rise in complete and utter shock when he pulls out a small box wrapped in white paper and a crimson bow wrapped around it all. "i wanted to get you a gift as a way of saying thank you for all the curveball questions you've thrown at me this year." your hands shake as you take the box from him, and you already know exactly which brand it is. cartier. sure, you've written pieces about their timeless looks and elegant aesthetics, and owning a piece of their jewelry has always been a dream of yours, but it's always been just that: a dream.

"lewis, i can't accept this. i- i'm honestly at a loss for words. seriously, no." you can't help but flush at how he's looking at you, those annoyingly beautiful eyes of his and the stupidly perfect crow's feet that only show up when he really smiles- when he smiles the way he is now. gods, amelia was right. you really are down bad for the driver.

"please, just open it up. if you don't like it, i'll take it back and you can choose something you prefer." he nudges the box towards you once more, and the crisp wax seal that sits on top of the paper is incredibly enticing.

"are you serious?" a part of you wants to think that this is some sick joke, that there's cameras on you and it's all going up on one of those prank channels on youtube. a much, much bigger part of you believes lewis, though. that is the part of you that takes the box between your shaking hands, carefully pops open the wax seal, nimbly unties the beautiful ribbon, and gently unfolds the pure white paper. when you finally open the box, you gasp, tears threatening to well in your eyes. "lewis..."

"do you like it?" his voice sounds anxious and hopeful, and you can't help but realize how much thought he'd put into this gift. when you'd invited him into your office to review some photos that were to go into an article in the next vogue issue a few months prior, he'd seen the vision board on your wall and asked about it. bashfully, you had explained to him that it was a silly idea you had when you graduated from uni with your friends- each of you made one, cutting and pasting photos from pinterest, magazines, newspapers, and anything you could find, assembling your dreams in a mishmash of colors and ideas. one of your dreams on the board had been to own this exact necklace- the cartier juste un clou necklace in white gold. the fourteen diamonds set in the precious metal glitter back at you, and you can't help but smile.

"i love it, lewis. thank you so much." he visibly relaxes, his shoulders loosening and the crease between his eyebrows disappearing.

"i'm glad. here, turn around. let me put it on you?" you happily oblige, lifting your hair out of the way after you stand so that he can fasten the delicate clasp over your spine.

it's safe to say that both his and your fans noticed the necklace hanging between your collarbones, sitting just below the star necklace you wear daily on top of your dark grey high-collared shirt. you try your best not to look at the comments on the videos of your interviews, but amelia had shown you one that day after the unedited interview went up online.

"are they dating or something? i can't get over how lewis looks at her."

taglist: @pear-1206 @vivi-81

join my taglist here!

[blindmagdalena]

writing a completely insane au for the boys rn and I'm having such a hard time figuring out what age the seven (i.e a-train, the deep, maeve, translucent, noir) are in season 1 specifically and when they all joined the seven (minus homelander and starlight obvi) and i was wondering if you had literally any idea at all

A-Train, Maeve and the Deep are apparently all around the same age. i can't find a source for it, but this article has a whole bunch of birthdays and info. March 1985 for the Deep, March 1986 for Maeve, and January 1987 for A-Train.

they all attended Godolkin, so it's possible they graduated one after another and were each hired by Vought straight out of school. we know A-Train did Teenage Kix before he joined the seven, but career-wise nothing else is mentioned for Maeve and The Deep.

A-Train is the youngest of the bunch and he did replace Mister Marathon, so before Annie, he would have been the newest member.

Translucent is closer to Homelander's age, like 40, which makes sense to me.

they don't have an exact age for Annie, but during s1 her mom says something to the effect of "I've been waiting 23 years for this" so i would assume Annie is 23-24 when she joins the seven.

Noir is more complicated. he appeared to be in his mid-20s in 1984, but he has a healing factor, a power that typically slows aging, so it's hard to say how old he is.

as for when they joined The Seven, according to Diabolical—which i believe takes place around the year 2000—Homelander would have been the founding captain with Noir being the teammate he met first. although Homelander tells Maeve that she's the one he's known the longest, so take that with a grain of salt.

all that said, i'd say the team was formed with Homelander, Black Noir, Queen Maeve, Translucent, The Deep, Lamplighter and Mister Marathon in the early 2000s.

[beautifulfuckup99]

You cant just leave us like that!!!! I need the next part to that Yoongi story! That series EATS!!!!!!11!!!!!1111!!!!!

Thank you! Lol!

Title: Those Damn Words...

Warning(s): Fluff and Slight Smut!

Author's Note: This will be part 4 in my Yoongi series. These are the other parts for those who wanna read it lol.

First Part: Those damn eyes

Second Part: Those damn lips

Third Part: Those damn hands

**************************************************

"I still cannot believe you did this. This is insane, you're insane..." You chuckle as you walk into the neat and put together beach house that Yoongi had just surprised you with the news about last night...

"We had to celebrate graduating in style, Y/N. Plus, that pretty little check would've never been mine if it wasn't for your... Feature." He smirks at you, making you look away bashfully, shaking your head at his little hint of your moans on his latest song.

"No, no. I'm still pissed that you sold it." You try as you shake your head and Yoongi hums, slowly walking over to you to hold you from behind as you look out the large glass window that shows the ocean so clearly. You guys were literally on the beach, and you were mesmerized by this scenery.

After your little breakdown, Yoongi had agreed to no more large workloads and if there had to be nights where he was stuck at the studio, you were right there with him.

He enjoyed talking you through the process of writing music and making beats, and he especially enjoyed nights where you'd end up falling asleep at the studio while he was sucked into his work because seeing your soft expression was a great motivator to keep working hard.

"I can't remember the last time I stayed at the beach. Actually... I don't think there was ever a time I stayed at the beach." You mutter to yourself as you feel Yoongi gently kiss your shoulder.

"Jeez. I don't even know what to do first..." You say sheepishly and Yoongi hums.

"Last one down to the beach has to lick the other one's foot." He whispers in your ear before taking off running to the sliding glass door that leads to the beach. You squeal and chase after him.

"Yoongi! Not fair!" You shout with laughter.

*********************************************

"This place is so much fun!" You scream over the loud music of the beach bar and grill you two were currently enjoying a night in.

The place was crowded, and no AC meant you were relying on the slight ocean breeze coming in every now and again from the open door by the dance floor.

Yoongi was never much of a partier, but after a few drinks, his wild side seemed to show up more, and it was just refreshing to see your boyfriend cut loose.

"Mm... You're so beautiful, baby..." He says in an awestruck tone that makes you blush more and shake your head at him. He grabs you loosely around the waist and it makes you giggle, head foggy as you let him pull you close. He sloppily kisses along the side of your face as you grab at his arms, laughing in only a way a tipsy mess could laugh.

"Let's go... Somewhere private..." He whispers in your ear finally as you smile wide in anticipation.

"Mm... Don't make me wait." You smirk back and he chuckles as he pulls you off towards the exit of the crowded bar. He leads you towards the rental jeep and you step in front of him and the driver's side.

"Uh-Uh. No driving." You giggle and Yoongi snorts at that.

"Wasn't planning on it..." He smirks before pressing into you, backing you up more into the car because there's no doors. You blush harder as you realize what he's hinting at.

"What are you doing, Mr. Min?" You taunt quietly as you look up at him, gripping his shirt that was already buttoned loosely.

"Getting my girlfriend some air. You're all red and sweaty..." He snickers and you hit his chest lightly.

"I bet my hair's a mess..." You pout and he smirks and nods in agreement.

"The way I like it..." He says and you snort this time, rolling your eyes playfully. "Kinda like how you looked the night we met." He continues. "Remember?" He asks and you bite your lip at the memory that floods your already far away mind.

A bar in the city by the campus, a mysterious figure dressed in all black sitting at the bar watching you intently until you finally walked over to say hi. A very mind-blowing experience in the bar bathroom and then again in his car...

"I remember." You finally smirk as you reach up to wrap your arms around his neck, his black hair almost covering his eyes with how sweaty and messy it was.

"Yeah? Feel like jogging my memory?" He asks quietly as he looks you in the eyes, still trying to catch his breath from the night of dancing and drinking.

You smirk at the challenge and slowly lean in till your nose is pressed against his. "You know... I'm not gonna think any less of you for... Giving in." You whisper after a bit of just eyeing him. He pauses before it sinks in. He chuckles softly.

"You say that now..." He says back and your heart flutters. You remembered the night. Word for word. You'd wanted to tease him by using his words against him from the night. But him saying that just showed he remembered too. You nod slowly and smirk at him, deciding to continue acting like he did that night you two met.

"I can say that tomorrow morning too." You whisper before leaning up and slowly taking his bottom lip into your mouth to softly bite on to and tug at. You suck on it slowly, making Yoongi groan softly as he grips your waist tighter.

"You're dangerous..." He pants the second he gets his lip back. He kisses you deeply and passionately, making you grip his hair hard to try and keep up with the intense make out session.

You felt the need and desire in this kiss, and you felt it too. The heat was too much for a simple ocean breeze to put out. You couldn't even think about the fact that you were still in the parking lot. Your thoughts were on his lips. On keeping this feeling going.

Your hands roam his body before you grip his ass in your hands, making him laugh against your lips. "I didn't do all that..." He tries playfully against your lips and you smirk.

"Yes. You did." You snicker and swat at his ass.

"Hey!" He laughs.

"You did that too..." You joke before looking up at him. He rests his head against yours and smiles in adoration of you before kissing you again.

He picks you up and places you on the driver's seat before getting between your legs. Your heart races as you get a surge of excitement from doing this.

"Someone could see..." You pant when he moves to kiss down your neck.

"Then let's be quick." He smirks and reaches under your dress to yank your underwear down. You gasp happily and bite at his sweet spot on the cork of his neck, eager to feel him. He undoes his belt and jeans and slides his cock out of his boxers, resting it between your folds, making your clit twitch in anticipation. He groans at the feeling and kisses you hotly, sliding the tip into you.

"Now it's just like the night we met..." He pants against your lips, chuckling breathlessly. You smile wide and hook your ankles around him.

"Shut up..." You giggle before grinding down more on his cock. "Get going, Mr. Min. I'm waiting..." You taunt.

*********************************************

The next morning, it's the sounds of the waves crashing into the sand that wakes you. You and Yoongi had fallen asleep in the backseat of the jeep, you basically laying on his chest. You were using his button down as a blanket and the sun was warm, but the breeze was cool against your skin.

"Mm... Baby? Let's go..." You stop talking when a glint catches your eye. You examine your hand that is resting gently on his bare chest and gasp as you see the engagement ring on your finger.

"Y-Yo-Yoongi!" You squeal instantly and swat at his chest. He groans and slowly wakes up.

"First day engaged and you're hitting me..." He mumbles playfully as he slowly wakes up.

"First... Whoa, that's not-" He cuts you off.

"You told me last month that if I was gonna call you Mrs. Min, I needed to give you a ring first. So... I did." He smirks at you, and you shake your head in disbelief.

"That... No fair. You didn't ask me." You point out as you look him in the eyes.

He hums and smiles down at you. "Will you? Marry me?" He asks softly as he holds your left hand.

"Maybe a little more enthusiasm..." You mutter playfully.

He chuckles at that. "I can't give you too much. I'm hungover as hell..." He jokes before stroking your cheek tenderly.

"That night we met..." He begins. "I thought I was screwed. Because after we were done, all I wanted was to do it again. And again, and again, and... When we realized we were roommates, I... I knew I was screwed. Because all of the time we spent together showed me I loved your mind just as much as I loved your body. And now... Now I am so happy to be screwed. Because I know I've met my match with you, Y/N. I know that I can only have this life... If you're in it too." He says quietly. "I was planning on proposing last night, but... I had one too many shots..." He chuckles sheepishly and you smile at that.

"Y/N? Will you marry me?" He asks finally and you check the ring and then look back at him, smiling softly.

"Well... The ring is already on..." You say teasingly and look at him. You grab his face and peck his lips sweetly, smiling wide.

"Some roommate you turned out to be..." You joke against his lips as you take a real good look at your man.

Your damn man...

***************************************

That is the END of the Yoongi series lol. I already know there's some of ya'll that want a pt.2 to the Jimin Dom story, I've gotten three different messages for it. I will be giving the part 2 soon, and some of you are asking about a masterlist. I will have that out ASAP too. Maybe after I get these requests out lol

[galaxythreads]

i literally don't understand the mcu script writes who've bragged about never having seen the previous movies, like bro??? how do you expect that script to be consistent with the rest of the canon?????????

normally I'd laugh and be like Yeah, anon, these guys are insane, but you have bypassed Mental Breakdown part of my brain and now I am deeply, deeply curious.

---

Why is it that mcu script writers are so proud to be arrogant?

---

Warning for minor language.

So anyway, the person I thought of specifically as being Generally Terrible to the Franchise Lately was Michael Waldron, who wrote Loki, Dr. Strange 2, AND is currently working on Avengers: Secret Wars. (Yay)

So I did a lot of research about where this guy CAME from and how he's impacted everything because I swear to God I'd never heard of him before Loki. And now I see him everywhere, but usually only in loathing.

---

Michael Waldron, according to Wikipedia, is currently 35 as of 2022 and graduated from some Film School i haven't heard of and can't be bothered to remember. He is unmarried(?) and has been active in the film industry since 2014. (8 years, for those of you counting.) He started work on Loki in 2020(? unconfirmed).

The thing that struck me the most was how incredibly short his project list is.

My man has six (6) completed projects. He had three before he started on Loki. And while this doesn't necessarily mean that he's bad, it does show a level of inexperience that baffles me personally.

For comparison, Kenneth Brangah, one of four screenwriters for Thor 1's list is this:

And again, it's not like Brangah's list is enormous, but I do see a lot more experience under their belt before they were approached by MCU rather than Waldron, who had done three projects. Brangah had 20 years in sceenwriting when he went to work for Thor. Waldron had six.

And the amazing thing to me is that even the shows Waldron's executive producer on, he wrote like, two episodes for it? Then he handed it off to other writers. So he doesn't, as far as I can tell and I found, seem to have a lot of experience actually working the writing process, just supervising it.

(I could be wrong)

But here is his latest series Heels, for reference.

the section says "Written by" above the names, I cropped it weirdly.

---

So we have a man who has, at this point, worked six years in the industry. He has worked on three shows. He was the assistant for one show, he did not write in the other one, and he has written for ONE show, total. Produced one show, was the executive producer for ONE show.

What I am seeing here, is, from what I can see, a lack of experience. And it shows. Badly.

So why did Marvel hire him?

----

According to an interview Waldron did, where I'm drawing a great deal of this information, he has always wanted to work for the Big Leagues. He wanted to work on Star Wars mostly, from what I could see, but he didn't think that Marvel would be bad either. When he approached his agent about how to get working for Marvel his agent told him he needed to have written a movie.

Now you're probably wondering. I DID look at that list of projects he's been involved in, and there wasn't a movie.

You are correct!

Waldron wrote a movie called The Worst Guy of All Time and the Girl Who Came to Kill Him. It's on The Black List and was never filmed, to my understanding. But he sure did write that script. And that script, I believe, is where a lot of issues in Loki start to come to light, but we'll get to that in a minute.

"At some point the script made its way to Marvel as they were meeting people for Loki and that got him in the door to pitch and that pitch got him the job."

When Kevin Feige was hiring directors, Waldron walked in and "I thought I was going to get it, but that's my attitude, I guess, hopefully as unarrogantly as that can sound, but I think you got to be confident" (Waldron). Feige was apparently impressed and hired him on.

Which again, a bold choice that COULD have been great, to give a small name the chance to work on a project like this?? Incredible. Just not in this context.

I feel immensely confused that MCU, which is a multi-billion dollar industry, did NOT actually hire someone with years and years of experience like they did for Thor 1. Instead, they went with someone who, personally to me, didn't have enough experience to seem like he knew what he was doing.

So now Waldron is working in MCU. Things are going great for him. He has TWENTY WEEKS to come up with the plot, the scripts, and the story for the entire Loki series.

TWENTY. I cannot emphasize this enough. That is no time at all. They went from blank slate NO IDEAS to a full script in TWENTY. WEEKS.

So HOW then, did Waldron get approached to do Dr. Strange 2?

Apparently, Waldron and Owen Wilson were talking one day and Waldron got asked to do Dr. Strange 2 because it was just as chaotic as Loki was.

WALDRON: Yeah. By that time, I had been able to build the trust. We'd written Loki. Loki was in good shape at that point. It was headed into production. I was getting ready to go to Atlanta. Fortunately, the scripts were in good shape. One of our writers, a close friend of mine, Eric Martin, took my place and went and was the writer on set, which you've got to have, and he did amazing work carrying the show across the finish line, from a writing standpoint. And yeah, it was just, "All right. You did Loki. That was crazy. Come do Dr. Strange. This is going to be crazy, too." That was really fun.

And guess what! This is the instructions he was given FOR Dr. Strange 2.

WALDRON: It is purely, 100%, "Make the most kick ass Dr. Strange movie you can possibly make." There was no, "You got to get here. It's got to fit here."

Which, by the way, Feige stated that he had no plans for the Loki series beyond time travel, and Waldron was instructed to do whatever he felt like. A 100% most kick-ass time travel series, you might say.

---

Okay. So now that we have some background, I'm going to get onto my soapbox and explain why this man was a horrible, horrible directing choice and shows 0 understanding of the characters. This is going to go over Loki and Dr. Strange 2, for reference.

---

LOKI:

The biggest disaster I see with Loki is that the FIRST -- and I emphasize this, the FIRST -- thing that Waldron says about Loki in the interview is this:

Waldron: And I'd written a time travel movie about a character who was kind of a villain, and kind of a sh*thead, like Loki.

I think that the problem that Waldron suffered from the most in Loki is that Waldron didn't want to make a TV series about Loki. He doesn't like the character very much from what I can tell. Obviously, he calls him a sh*thead, but he never has anything nice to say about Loki as a whole either. He doesn't want to talk about Loki as a person, or Loki's story, Waldron wants to talk about the TVA. I seriously cannot emphasize this enough. Not once in the interview did Loki as a person come up. Loki didn't even seem to be a character to him.

The TVA is where Waldron seems like most of his time was spent, because that was, after all, what MCU wanted to do. I honestly, genuinely do not believe this man would have taken the job for Loki if it wasn't about time travel. Because Waldron could focus on the TVA and not Loki. Loki was an irritant he had to occasionally do something with.

And now we get to his script that was pitched to MCU.

Waldron: I sat down and I wrote a script that was a time travel action rom-com, is how I would describe it...because they [Marvel] wanted to make a time travel show. And I'd written a time travel movie about a character who was kind of a villain, and kind of a shithead, like Loki.

And the thing is, to me, sounds a lot like the TV series. A romcom, with time travel, and a sh*thead kind-of villain. That's the series we got. I do wonder how much of this pitch made it into the final series, because this is what Waldron had as a reference. (The director wanted to make a romance from what I understand, that was her vision of the series was this long-winding romance, and it doesn't look like anyone sat down in the writer's room and explained to them that the last thing that would fuel Loki's story forward was romance.)

And the thing is, Waldron doesn't seem to understand Loki as a character at all, if Loki is "kind of a villain and a sh*thead" because yeah, sure, Loki can be considered that, but that's not WHO Loki is. That's what people SEE him as.

Waldron at no point references having read the scripts for the Avengers, Thor 1 or the Dark World inside this interview. This doesn't mean he hasn't seen the movies or read the screenplay, as I often hear said about him, but it is strange to me that he makes so little mention of Loki.

This man is so focused on the TVA. Despite how much of a disaster the TVA ended up being. Here's some notable quotes:

WALDRON: What did I learn? Don't write one about time travel, because it's a pain in the ass.

WALDRON: ...A foundation of what constitutes a broken time law and what doesn't, so that we could then just, which is about Loki breaking a time law, and then you have to move all that stuff as far to the background as humanly possible, because you don't want the audience focusing on the rules of time travel during your show.

I love how "Loki breaking a time law" is supposed to be the center of it all and comes off as an afterthought.

And.

"don't want the audience focusing on the rules of time travel in your show" YEAH. CAUSE IT'S GARBAGE. Maybe if he and the others had had more than a weekend (exaggeration, untrue statement) to work on how time travel works, we'd have something that didn't make me want to scream into a pillow for ten years.

WALDRON:  All over our writer's room, our white boards were just covered in timelines. And it's just, "No, time travel works this way," "No, time travel works that way." That was the great challenge of our show, it was because the Time Variance Authority is an organization that literally manages and polices all of time, we had to define what time is to them and what time is in the MCU. 

I think we can blame this disaster on the Russo brothers. ^

WALDRON: Those are all questions we had to ask and define for ourselves. I think that what's fun about the TVA is it takes something remarkable, like time travel, and really packages it in a very soulless, sort of bureaucratic way. That's what was exciting to me, as a writer, was to take something so magical and just make it utterly soulless. -- So what we have is a writer's room so focused on the TVA that Loki becomes a secondary concern and the lens from which we VIEW the TVA, and then it stops becoming Loki's series and starts to become the TVA's.

But no one seemed to realize this.

And also "That's what was exciting to me...was to take something so magical and make it utterly soulless" is a GREAT way to go about time travel. I also think he applies this to everything and it shows.

So again. Writer focused on the TVA. Appears to me to not care about Loki. Spends a majority of the interview discussing ANYTHING but the main lead of his show. Does not want to talk about growth or character or WHERE LOKI CAME FROM? WHY ARE YOU NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR LEAD?

But that's okay. Because we all know that the TVA was the main character of Loki, don't we?

---

Another interesting point, I thought, was how Waldron writes relationships. I watched a review of his TV series Heels, where the reviewer came to this conclusion about the main characters:

"...And that's just what made this show so fascinating, is that…all these characters, that in some way, treat each other horribly, but in other sense do care about each other, and they're all so entwined with trying to make this thing work."

and that sounded extremely familiar. Because this is the cast of Loki. Waldron seems to have discovered his Character Formula.

Thanks. I hate it.

I just...this man can't have been a bad writer in just Loki right, and this has to be a consistent theme across all his work? And honestly, he's worked on so little that I don't know. I can't have an honest opinion of him. From what he has worked on, terrible character chemistry seems to be the general vibe. Waldron does not seem to know how to write characters that you understand why they like each other.

Hence, Loki being abused by every figure of authority in Loki, and Slyive treating him horribly, but somehow they all like each other in the end.

Because that's Loki. The TVA series, Loki on the side, getting beat up. Because he's bad.

---

DR. STRANGE 2:

Dr. Strange 2 has a similar set of problems. It was written in a rushed time frame, there was no overarching idea for a plot and where the story needed to go, Waldron was just told to do what he wanted, and Waldron didn't seem to be too focused on character arcs.

Wanda, obviously, takes a devastating hit as far as arcs go, but I wouldn't say that Dr. Strange was spared, either. The two of them go through rapid flipflopping in terms of the growth they've incurred throughout the entire MCU, and it shows. Badly.

One thing that Waldron did say that absolutely baffled me was this:

WALDRON: I became good friends with Jac Schaeffer, head writer of WandaVision, while I was writing Loki. Her and I became good pals, because we were kind of in it together and everything...So, I had the benefit of just being able to call Jac and talk to her about Wanda's character and everything, because it was really important to me that I do right by her with what she did with Wanda as a character. And also, with Lizzie, who's a friend of mine. I really worked with her and made sure, "Okay, you guys just did this incredibly intimate show about this character that grew her so much. Let's make sure that we're doing that justice and telling a fulfilling next chapter of that story."

I am so confused. Waldron honestly appears to want to do right by Wanda, but Wanda's growth from WandaVision was destroyed in Dr Strange 2 (and I want to emphasize here that Waldron made no such comment about talking to Tom Hid. or previous directors of Thor movies) so then how did Wanda end up going through such a downward spiral? Waldron wanted to do right by her, and yet???

I think the biggest problem is that Waldron doesn't have to think long term. He's almost not supposed to. He said this:

WALDRON: Well, I think one of the joys of being a writer in the Marvel world is getting to make terrible messes and leave them for your predecessors

WALDRON: For instance, you write the Loki show and then you end up writing Dr. Strange 2, having to clean up your own mess and that can be a lot of fun.

WALDRON: And it will naturally connect to the MCU and it will naturally get the MCU to where it's supposed to go, in some ways that we expect and ways that sometimes you don't expect, and I think that's part of the fun.

Waldron was given the explicit instruction to write a good Dr. Strange movie, but not a good MCU movie. Part of the reason that Phase 4 feels like a bunch of puzzle pieces from different puzzles is that it was designed to be that way. Feige is just going with the flow to see what will happen rather than having any sort of idea of where to take the series.

"It will naturally get MCU to where it's supposed to go" is one of the most hilarious statements I've ever heard, by the way. As someone who has done original writing, and planned out a series, my 200+ page document of planning, background, and worldbuilding laughs at you. (And I still don't have it all finished, because I've had MONTHS to work on this). Maybe. Maybe they want to try and not publish the first draft of phase 4?

Waldron wasn't told to make a movie about Wanda, or how to progress Wanda's character in a way that made sense post her growth. And any problems that were there they blamed on the Darkhold, because it's someone else's problem to clean up. Very neat. Very good planning.

---

So overall, I don't think that MCU writers are proud of their ignorance, I just don't think that they see a problem with it. Writers are told to do what they want to, without there being any plans for character growth or plot advancement, so they do. They put whatever they want out on the sandbox and wait for someone else to clean it up.

Feige seems fully onboard with this plan. So the real problem, I think, is the fact that MCU is expecting writers to come up with complex, interconnected plots in twenty weeks, and the writer's don't have the time to write consistent character arcs, they just tell a flashy story because at least you get something out there.

I honestly don't imagine Secret Wars will be any different. Waldron has shown that he really really enjoys writing stories, but not characters. This is not to say that we should blame all of this on Waldron, because I don't think it's really his fault. I think it's more the fact that he's the byproduct of a system set to fail.

The writer's ignorance is someone else's problem in MCU, apparently. But don't worry. This will naturally get MCU where it's supposed to go. Just tilt your head and squint a little. Then close one eye. And then the other. Now you can see what brilliance Phase 4 is clearly.

[ro-is-struggling]

Finally, Ro's followers celebration!!!!! I'd like to request this prompt: Character A and Character B have feelings for each other but can't bring themselves to admit it. That is until they have to pretend to be a couple (for a mission, a family party, whatever) and end up kissing on more than one occasion. Their feelings for each other become evident and they end up confessing their feelings - but not before acting like a couple of nervous, awkward idiots {Brooklyn 99 2x23} with james potter! I want it to be fluffy, pls😩🥰 thank you. love u <3

Hi beautiful!! Of course my first request had to be from you💜💜💜

Thank you so much for participating! I'm so happy to start the celebration with your request💕 I had a lot of fun writing this one so I hope you like it!!

Undercover Mission || James Potter x Reader

Summary: An undercover mission for the Order of the Phoenix leads you and James to confront your repressed feelings for each other as you are forced to kiss to keep your covers from being blown.

Warnings: fluff, a little bit of angst, mutual pining, idiots in love, friends to lovers, humor, set after they graduated from Hogwarts

English is not my first language

Word count: 4900

Notes: I based this story on the episode of b99 from which I got the prompt, I hope you don't mind. I just think James and Jake are literally the same person so I couldn’t resist

"Are we sure we have the right guy?" you asked, the boredom and exhaustion clear in your voice. James, Sirius, Marlene and you had spent the last few hours trapped in an old van following a guy under suspicion that he was a Death Eater. Dumbledore believed he was transporting an important package for the Dark Lord and he wanted the Order of the Phoenix to intercept it before it reached its destination, but so far nothing interesting or remotely suspicious had happened.

"If Albus suspects him then there's gotta be a reason," James stated beside you, his eyes glued to the window as he kept an eye on his target. 

"I know, but this dude hasn't done anything since we got here," you complained, letting your head fall back against the seat cushion. "Am I the only one who doesn't understand why he would be in the Muggle world if he wanted to do Death Eater shit? It doesn't make sense."

"Cause we wouldn't expect it," Sirius said from the driver's seat. 

"Or they're planning an attack," Marleen muttered next to him and your heart stopped for a moment. You really hoped things wouldn't escalate to such a level. If they were planning something big you didn't know if the backup would arrive in time to stop them and save the lives of the innocent muggles caught in the line of fire.

"I don't think they are," James said, turning to look at you for a moment. His tone of voice was soft but determined, trying to control the situation and clear those ideas from his friends' minds —especially yours. "Albus would have heard something if that was their plan all along."

The van fell into silence for a few minutes as you waited for something to happen. The soft rock playing on the radio was the only thing that could be heard inside the vehicle, anticipation, fear, boredom and adrenaline a strange mix of feelings that affected the minds of the four young, newly graduated from Hogwarts. You were definitely too young and inexperienced to be participating in secret missions, but someone had to do it. Someone had to stand up and fight for what was right. 

You drove through town for another hour following your target. The sun had already gone down when you parked on a nice, well-lit, but quiet street. Your target entered a restaurant at the end of the street and you let out an exclamation of joy as you finally got out of that old truck for a while to stretch your legs.

"Okay, we'll go in and keep an eye on him I'm case he makes the deal inside. You two stay here and wait for my signal" James instructed his friends as both you and he exited the vehicle. You took a moment to straighten your clothes, wrinkled after so many hours sitting in the car. It wasn't the nicest muggle outfit you had, but luckily the restaurant didn't seem to be too fancy so you'd be fine.

"Do you see him anywhere?" James asked once inside the establishment, scanning the crowded front desk for his target. You gently nudged him in the ribs to shut him up, nodding your head forward. His eyes followed your movement and he then discovered that just a couple of inches away was the man you had been following all day. He spoke to the woman at the front desk and was quickly escorted to a table inside the restaurant, leaving you behind without any visual of what he was doing. 

"What's taking so long?" you complained in a mumble that only James could hear. "He could be making the deal right now."

"Should we use our wands?" suggested James. Using magic was risky, but it would get you a table at the restaurant in a matter of seconds.

"No, I have a better idea." Taking James by the hand, you walked up to the woman at the front desk to ask for a table. She informed you that the place was full and that you would have to wait for a table to clear before you could get in. But that was not an option for you, you had to get in and you had to get in now. So you held onto James' arm and smiling warmly you said, "Oh but we just got engaged and this is where we had our first date, isn't that right sweetie?"

James looked at you with wide eyes, surprised by your words. It took him a few seconds to respond, not because he didn't know what to answer but because he had been stunned to hear you call him by that affectionate nickname. He would be lying if he said he didn't want to hear you call him that for the rest of his life.

"Yes, yes! It was a beautiful night like this one. And special too. When you left the restaurant that night I knew you were the one, I just knew." James played along, wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you close against his body as he spoke, looking at you with a smile on his lips and the distinctive glint of love shining in his eyes. It felt real, too real, so you looked away before losing yourself in his beautiful blue eyes. You were on an important mission and you had to concentrate. "I would have made a reservation but I didn't know if she was gonna say yes." 

"Oh I love how nervous you were!" you exclaimed fondly, playfully tapping his nose and letting out a giggle. "You just had to see him, he was adorable," you added, standing on your tiptoes to reach up to give him a kiss on the cheek. James' heart raced, the blood in his whole body pooling in his cheeks as he struggled not to let his feelings for you show. He'd had a crush on you for a long time —since fifth year to be exact—, but you two had always been such good friends that he'd never gotten around to doing anything about it. He valued your friendship too much to risk losing it. That's why he had to control his heart or the mission wouldn't be the only thing that went wrong.

"You look so sweet together!" the receptionist exclaimed, watching you tenderly. "I'm sure I can find room for two young lovers."

"Yeah.. we are lovers… together... in bed" James muttered awkwardly, struggling to stop his imagination from running wild. He had pictured what his life with you might be like more times than he was proud to admit, but this wasn't the time or place to fantasize about your wedding or think about the name of your future child.

"Okay," you said with a smile, squeezing James' arm to shut him up as you watched the woman disappear inside the restaurant. "Keep it together, Potter. We need that table," you muttered just for him to hear. You knew it was weird for him to be in such an intimate and romantic situation with you. You had been friends for so long that you were pretty sure he saw you as a sister —a thought that made your heart clench painfully in your chest—, but he had to keep his cool for a few more minutes. Once at the table you could drop the act and laugh at how weird it was to imagine being married while keeping your target well guarded. 

However, things proved to be more difficult than that.

The woman returned a few minutes later with a smile on her face. She led you to your table herself, wishing you a lovely evening and a happy marriage before returning to her desk. You barely had time to settle into your seats before the couple seated at the table next to yours showered you with congratulations on your engagement as well. It was an elderly couple who were there celebrating fifty years of marriage, so neither of you had the heart to ignore them.

"So, when did you guys meet?" the man asked you.

"Last year" you said without thinking, your eyes searching the crowd for your target.

"Five years ago" James stated at the same time, his gaze locked on the Death Eater dining alone a couple of tables away. 

The elderly couple looked at you in confusion and you hurried to correct the mistake. "We met five years ago but we don't count that."

"Yeah, I was dating another girl at that time" James noted and technically he wasn't lying. When you met he was in love with Lily Evans and while you never officially dated, he had planned his entire life with her at that time.

"And I wasn't interested in dating," you laughed. "But a year ago we bumped into each other and we haven't been able to separate ever since."

"How sweet!" the woman exclaimed, looking at you fondly. She reminded you of your grandmother in some ways, which only made things weirder. It was hard not to get carried away with the role you were playing when fate seemed to be determined to make you imagine your perfect life at James' side. "How did you know she was the one?" the old lady asked your friend, looking at him expectantly.

James looked at you, panic written all over his face. "I'd love to answer that..." he stammered, trying to buy himself some time to think. He knew exactly how to answer that question, he had a memorized list of the things you did that made him fall in love with you, but he couldn't be honest. If he spoke from the heart he risked being exposed.  "Just whenever I look at her face," he finished, unsure if it was the right thing to say.

"And what about you?" The woman directed her question at you this time.

Your eyes met James' as you contemplated your answer. For a second, you felt as if the world had ceased to exist, the chatter of the people around you getting quieter and quieter until it disappeared altogether. It was just you and him in that restaurant, looking into each other's eyes with an intimacy that felt different. You lost yourself deep in his eyes, looking straight into his soul as your mind went over all the things you adored about him.  

"He makes me laugh" you replied honestly, putting a smile on James' face. 

"And you know, there's really no one else's opinion who I care about more than hers," he added, feeling comfortable and confident enough to open up a bit.

The elderly couple went on to tell you a bit of their life story and as much as you found it adorable, neither of you were able to pay much attention. They could barely remember that they were on a mission, their eyes occasionally traveling to their target to make sure he wasn't doing anything suspicious. You were both too distracted, lost in your own thoughts as you repeated each other's words over and over in your heads. You knew you just were playing roles, but what you had said to each other, the knowing look you had shared, it all felt too real, too sincere. Of course you both dismissed it after spinning it around in your heads for a while, convincing yourselves that you were seeing things where there was nothing because for some reason you were the only two people in the world unable to see that you were in love. 

The moment you were sharing was interrupted when you noticed your target getting up from the table. You kicked James lightly to get his attention, silently motioning for him to look at the Death Eater you were supposed to be watching. Excusing yourselves from the lovely old couple you had been chatting with for the last thirty minutes, you rose from the table and made your way to the back of the restaurant, following in your target's footsteps. 

"Do you think he's going to meet his partner?" you spoke in a whisper so that no one but James would hear you.

"I don't know," he replied.

Just as the words left his lips, the man turned and made direct eye contact with you. Time stopped for a second, panic taking over as you realized you had been discovered. You had no reason to be there and you were pretty sure that the Death Eater had already seen you parked in front of him hours ago. He wasn't stupid, he would be able to put two and two together and then your mission would be ruined at best. At worst, you would have to fight to get the briefcase he was carrying, endangering the lives of many innocent Muggles.

But before the panic could fully take hold of you, you felt James' hands close around your waist. You turned to look at him, but you couldn't do or say anything because suddenly his lips crashed against yours. You didn't even take a second to question what was happening, letting the feeling of euphoria run through your body as you felt the caress of James' lips on yours. You lost yourself in him instantly, in the taste of his mouth, in the warmth of his body against yours, in the delicate way he held you in his arms. You were flying in the sky in complete bliss as you let James guide the kiss, struggling to keep up the peace.

But the moment ended as abruptly as it had begun, leaving you dazed and confused, missing James' lips the second they parted from yours.

"I'm sorry, I just- I didn't know what else to do," he spluttered awkwardly, his thoughts clouded by the scent of your perfume.

"No, it's okay," you hurried to say, struggling to form coherent sentences so as not to let him know how much his kiss had really affected you. "It's all good. We kept our cover intact, good job. Very quick thinking, very professional." You were tense and couldn't look him in the eye when you spoke, but neither could he so neither of you mentioned anything, opting to pretend nothing had happened as you went on with your mission.

"C'mon he's on the move" James announced as he climbed into the van once again. He kept his gaze straight ahead, his body rigid against the seat of the vehicle as if he was afraid to let go and end up accidentally touching you. He needed to keep his distance from you until he recovered his cognitive functions. His brain would never be able to process what had happened if your perfume kept assaulting his nostrils.

"So how was the restaurant?" Marlene asked you to fill the awkward silence that had formed. She could feel the tension in the air, a tension that wasn't there before you guys disappeared behind the restaurant doors. It was different from the tensions she was used to feeling when you and James were together, much more intense, and she couldn't help but wonder what had happened in there.

"Great! It was fine, totally normal and appropriate" you replied suspiciously quickly raising your voice to a higher pitch than usual. If she didn't suspect something had happened before, she definitely did now.

"What happened? Why are you being so weird?" Sirius asked, looking at you curiously through the rearview mirror.

"Y/N and I kissed" James confessed with a sigh, knowing it would be best to be honest with his friends. After all, it hadn't meant anything, had it? There was nothing strange about telling them the truth because you had nothing to hide. Strange would be if you kept it a secret.

"WHAT? Tell me everything!" Marlene exclaimed in a shout of joy, turning to see her friend in the back seat with a big smile on her face. She knew about your crush on James from day one and couldn't believe there was finally a breakthrough in your story. Sometimes Marlene felt like she was more involved in your little secret romance with James than you were yourself.

"Calm down! It was just to keep our cover from being blown, we didn't have a choice" you explained, feeling the blood from all over your body travel to your cheeks.

"Yeah, it didn't mean anything," James added, ignoring the stabbing pain that shot through his heart as he said it. 

"I want details," her friend insisted and you rolled your eyes.

"Marlene, it was just a kiss, okay? It was nothing." Only it hadn't been just a kiss, not to you at least, but you weren't going to admit it in front of everyone —especially not James.

"Yeah, who cares about a kiss? Call me if you grab each other's asses" Sirius interjected from the driver's seat, a mischievous grin plastered on his lips. James reached out from behind his back and smacked him on the shoulder, a silent way of telling his friend that this was not the time for his jokes.

Marlene was going to continue pressing you for more details —you and James kissing was the most interesting thing that had happened to her that day—, but her attention was drawn back to the mission at hand when Sirius alerted you that your target had gotten out of the car and was walking towards a park. He still had the briefcase in his hand, but the streets were deserted which made you think he wasn't going to meet anyone that night, but to leave the package for someone else to pick up.

"Okay, you and Sirius follow him just in case he does meet with someone after this." you instructed Marlene, watching as your target returned to his car, without the briefcase in his hands this time.

"Right! And you and James follow your hearts" your friend replied with a smile.

"No!" you grumbled, giving Marlene a murderous look. "We're gonna stay with the package."

"And each other forever" she insisted and you swore she was doing it on purpose to spite you. You didn't even dignify her comment with a response, opting instead to exit the vehicle and slam the door a little harder than necessary. James followed you, crossing the street beside you to get to the park your target had come from. 

You walked in silence, enjoying the quiet of the night. The place was deserted, something that was both good and bad. On the one hand it was good because if things went wrong at least there were no Muggles around who could get hurt. On the other hand it was bad because you had no way to hide so you wouldn't stand out. When the Death Eaters came to pick up the package they would see you, there was no doubt about that. You realized then that you would have to be quick if you wanted to catch them.

"Why can't we just take the briefcase and go?" James asked as he leaned back against a tree, his back to the bench next to where your target had left the hidden package.

"Because Albus wants to arrest everyone involved in this and for that we need the briefcase to exchange hands, otherwise there's no case." you explained and James grunted, hating having to stand there for who knows how much longer until someone showed up.

Neither of you spoke for a while, the weight of the silence and the tension in the air increasing your nerves. James' mind was riddled with doubts, fearing he had made a mistake by kissing you in the restaurant. You had told him that you understood why he had done it, assuring him that you had no issue with it, but it didn't feel like things were good between you. You were distant and tense, and you could barely look him in the eye. Regret was eating him up inside, knowing it was his fault that you felt uncomfortable around him.

"Hey, seriously, we're cool right?" James broke the silence forcing you to look away from the starry sky to face him.

"Yeah, totally," you nodded with a smile, hoping that was enough to calm him down. "We're fine." If only he knew that the reason for your strange behavior was that you were fighting the urge to take his face in your hands and kiss him one more time....

"Why do they have to schedule their drop off so late? Death Eaters have no respect for Auror's lives and times." James joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. You let out a chuckle and he felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. "I'm starving, we barely got to eat at that stupid restaurant."

"I know! Mr. and Mrs. Green were adorable but they couldn't stop talking" you said, remembering the chatty couple. You couldn't have been there more than forty minutes and somehow you knew when and where they had married, how they met, how many children they had and the names of their grandchildren. "I'm craving ice cream as weird as it might be considering how late it is."

"It's not weird at all, you always crave sweets at these hours, that's why you have trouble sleeping."

"You know what I really want to get right now?"

"Cookies and cream?" said James, more as a statement than a question. "It's your favorite, isn't it? Especially for times like this. I'm assuming you already have one in the freezer waiting for you to celebrate."

"Y-yes," you nodded in surprise. You weren't surprised that he knew what your favorite ice cream flavor was —you had been friends for years, that was normal—, you were surprised at how quickly and confidently he had spoken, leaving you no time to say anything before answering for you. He remembered your silly tradition of celebrating the little good things in life with your favorite flavor of ice cream even though it was something you usually did alone. It was a small, insignificant detail, but it made you feel appreciated. He remembered.

"I brought one too if you want to spend the night at my place after this is all over. We can celebrate together." You were going to tell him how much you appreciated his sweet gesture and how he was the one person you wanted to celebrate your victories in life with, but the words died in your throat when you noticed a man approaching the briefcase they had been guarding for the last fifteen minutes.

"James, he's looking at us," you tried to warn him discreetly, but your friend was too distracted rambling on about the different flavors of ice cream and which ones were the best. "Well, this is happening," you murmured, taking James' face in your hands and leaning in to join your lips in a kiss.

You were the one in control this time, dictating the intensity of the kiss, guiding the movements of James' lips on yours. He was too surprised to do more than try to keep up with the pace of your lips. His hands settled on your hips instinctively, pulling you tight against his body as he allowed himself to lose himself in your mouth for a moment. The mission, his doubts, the tension, all was forgotten as he melted under your caresses. 

Though his bliss was cut short when you suddenly pulled away, taking your wand and pointing it at the man who had picked up the briefcase. Reality hit him like a train, his brain working twice as hard to regain its functions so he could end this mission once and for all.

The Death Eater didn't give up without putting up a fight, pulling out his wand and casting spell after spell in your direction as he tried to escape. Neither of you recognized who your attacker was, which frightened you a little because it meant that the Dark Lord had more followers than the Order of the Phoenix expected or even knew about. Still you didn't let that affect you, fighting shoulder to shoulder until you incapacitated your unknown attacker.

"An empty diary?" you said in disbelief as you stared at the mysterious object inside the briefcase you had fought so hard to obtain. "We did all that for an empty diary?"

"It has to be important," James interjected as he used an incantation to restrain the Death Eater's wrists. "They wouldn't do all this for an insignificant empty diary. Albus will know what to do."

“I’m exhausted!” you exclaimed the moment you crossed the entrance threshold of James' house, dropping dramatically onto the couch. It had been a long day, but at least things had turned out well. Both Death Eaters were in custody awaiting trial for their crimes. Thanks to you the army of he who shall not be named had two less soldiers, and as insignificant as it seemed, it was a victory for everyone.

"We can go to sleep if you're tired and leave the ice cream for tomorrow" James said, knowing full well what your response would be.

"Never!" You jumped off the couch, running to the kitchen in search of the ice cream. James let out a laugh, shaking his head as he followed closely behind you. While you took the ice cream out of the freezer he grabbed spoons and a couple of bowls so you could share the frozen dessert without fighting over the pot.

After making a short toast celebrating your victory you engaged in casual conversation while enjoying the ice cream. You didn't even bother to go to the couch, settling into the kitchen without a problem. You sat on the counter next to the sink, swinging your legs playfully as you ate your ice cream. James stood next to you, leaning back on the counter with his body leaning slightly to the side so he could look at you better as you talked. He had a big smile on his face as he listened to you list the reasons why the cookies and cream ice cream was the best of all, completely enamored with the passion with which you addressed such trivial topics as ice cream flavors. 

He loved everything about you, even the things you saw as flaws. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to tell you how he felt about you, to hold you in his arms and kiss you until he couldn't feel his lips. But he knew he couldn't -he shouldn't-, your friendship was the most important thing to him and he couldn't lose it for anything in the world.

"I'm sorry for kissing you today," he apologized, breaking the small silence that had formed. "I hope it doesn't make things weird between us."

"Oh no don't worry about it," you downplayed it. "And I'm sorry for kissing you too."

"You know I care about you, right?" James put his empty ice cream bowl on the counter, turning completely around so he could look you in the eyes. You nodded your head slightly, losing yourself in the shine in his eyes. Those damn eyes of his! 

"I value our friendship, what we have is something special and I wouldn't want to see it ruined for a stupid decision I made under pressure." There was truth in his words, but there was also pain. He didn't want to ruin your friendship, but he also didn't want to keep being just your friend. He didn't regret kissing you, at least not entirely. A part of him would always be glad he did because no matter what, now he knew what your lips felt like on his.

"Yeah, I get it... Our friendship is the most important thing to me too," you said, but you couldn't stop your eyes from lowering to James' lips. He was too close to you, you could smell his cologne every time you breathed, feel his body heat tickling your side. You couldn't think straight, only feel the devastating weight of longing to feel his lips on yours. If you concentrated hard enough you could still taste his mouth and feel the ghost of his fingers caressing your hips. 

James didn't miss the way your eyes locked on his lips, unconsciously leaning closer and closer to you. A rebellious hand slid over your leg, caressing your thigh gently. Your gaze returned to his eyes then and James saw in them a special glow he had never noticed in them before. It was desire. You wanted him. You were as desperate to feel your lips together as he was. And now that he knew it, he didn't plan to leave you wanting for another second.

Once again he took it upon himself to close the little distance that separated you, bringing your lips together in a kiss full of desperation and repressed feelings. And even though this was the third time you had been in that situation that day, this time it felt different. This kiss was not the product of an impulsive decision made in the heat of the moment. No, this was a kiss that was long overdue, the product of the conscious decision of two people who had repressed their feelings for too long. And that made it taste that much sweeter, it made everything that much more special.

And as James lost himself in the warmth of your body wrapped around his he knew that things between you would never be the same again, but that was a good thing.

[asherloki]

Arranged marriage with Sherlock

Always by my side!

Bbc Sherlock

Warning:- arranged marriage, anxiety!

Otherwise fluff!

I'm writing these tropes! Here's the list!

It all started when my family became determined to marry me off to someone, literally anyone, as I failed to find myself a suitable groom they took it in their own hands. I was furious and rejected every men they presented. But it was my mistake, because the last guy whom they confirmed on my behalf looked a little suspicious. I didn't know how to get his information out so I thought to seek help from the best person in London. Yes, Sherlock Holmes and his assistant and friend John Watson. As I knocked, and finding the door open, I entered to find the two men arguing,

"Sherlock Holmes?" I called out loudly. Both of them looked at me and I told them everything. The detective listened and said, "I would've declined this case immediately but guess you're really in trouble." I was unsure of his remark.

"What ?"

"The way you described him, it says, he doesn't value anyone, he isn't going to value your opinion, I'm sorry but he is not someone who is... Suitable for you ".

"What do you mean by that?" I wanted a clear explanation.

"Look at you, you're young, posh, I believe educated and have own opinion, a little self centric perhaps but he, he's gonna treat you like you don't matter, so if it wasn't for you I would've turned it down but ...." He paused, "I'm not going to sit quietly and see your life getting ruined."

"What will you do?" John asked him.

"I'll find about this guy and see if he's fine for her."

Two days passed and I got his call,

"Yes?" I answered.

"I atleast expected a greeting" said the man from the other side. "Anyway come to Baker Street at once."

So I did and obviously that guy turned out to be a jerk, who disrespects everyone.

"So you better tell your family." He said.

"But that ain't gonna work." I replied.

"Why so?"

"You see, I don't wanna get married right now, and I have rejected 15 men they've chose".

"Fifteen?"

"Yes, and he's the sixteenth but my reason for rejecting them was, I... I wanna study Mr Holmes, more, I know I'm already a graduate but I want more, a good job too, I don't want to be my husband's house wife and as you've seen him, they won't let me work."

"Have you told your parents?"

"No use, they'll be marrying me off anyway, they're determined."

"That's illegal, you can simply..."

"They're my family Mr Holmes, I'd rather marry a jerk than letting them go through this legal trouble."

"But that'll ruin your life" he said with such power in his voice and that was the truth.

"I guess your work is done then, just the payment part is left".

"Are you going to marry him ?"

"Yes unfortunately."

"Then I'm unsuccessful in your case, I can't accept a penny."

"You did your job".

"I won't take a coin".

It was absolutely ridiculous to argue with him, so I greeted and went away although before leaving I just heard John's voice saying, "Sherlock, I have a plan."

I shrugged it off as I was genuinely in trouble. Later that evening, I found out that my marriage with that Jerk was called off because someone else, said to be better turned up to ask my hand in marriage, Sherlock Holmes. Can you believe it? What a ridiculous thing he has done honestly. I was furious. I couldn't help but enter my room and call him,

"Hello?"

"What are you ? A lunatic?" I was absolutely angry.

"See , you can't greet properly, what's wrong?"

"You asked my family to marry me ?"

"John and Mycroft did, it is arranged between our families."

"I asked help and you idiot, you took this opportunity to marry me? Does my parents know how older you are than me ?"

"Yes they do, yet they accepted and I'm still helping you".

"Exactly how?"

"If you marry me, you won't have to be with that Jerk, I won't stop you from studying and you can work as long as you want you can stay with us, and in the mean time, if you find someone whom you and I both find suitable for you, you are free to follow your heart."

"I need your approval now?"

"Oh yes you do"

"Fine but you can't force yourself on me, that's the fear I have in arranged marriage "

"I assure you I won't, now get ready for the wedding young lady."

That was the conversation we had before the wedding and we met on our wedding day again. Everyone were so happy but I was still trying to process everything. I myself did the rituals hesitated but look at the cold detective, he did everything so smoothly. I couldn't believe I had to live in that rusty dusty flat with him. But yet after all he was saving my life, it was true.

I became Mrs Sherlock Holmes. After the wedding we both went to the very famous 221b Baker Street. When I entered his flat, it was absolutely disaster, papers filled the floor, and his dining table was more like a chemistry lab.

"Uh, I know this isn't something you expected" he said, he seemed a little embarrassed, "but um give me some time I'll, I'll fix it". And offered me a smile. I stared with furrowed eye brow, I still can't believe I'm married. But I kept on reminding me, it's just a help, he helped me. Because of him that Jerk won't be forcing himself on you.

I smiled back to him too then wondered where should I keep my things, "my things?" I asked.

"Oh yes um that's my room you can put it there... I mean" he paused a little, "our room". He said, I didn't know what was happening, but it sounded good, 'our room'. I did as he said and saw him picking the papers from the ground. People said he's a junkie, he might be, but not he was extremely sweet, at least at this moment. No wait? What am I thinking, perhaps I was just hungry.

"May I open the fridge?" I asked impatiently, he was about to warn me to be careful but I already opened it and yes, there were human thumbs. I gave a light scream and closed the door.

"At least wait till I tell you" he said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect that."

"You okay?" He seemed a little concerned not gonna lie.

"No I was shocked, I'm fine don't worry. So you don't have food in there."

"Nope"

"You don't cook?"

"Nope"

"Who does?"

"Mrs Hudson, John"

"John? He lives here?"

"Yes with rosie his daughter."

"Oh"

"Is that a prob..."

"It's okay I can cook".

He forgot to blink perhaps.

"You want to cook? In my kitchen... I mean our.. I.. you can cook?"

"Do I look stupid? Ofcourse I can cook, just tell me what you have, I'll make something out of it,"

He walked towards the kitchen, still not blinking and took out every little thing he had but I already had in mind what I'm gonna cook.

"Cool, you have chicken and everything, looks like chicken tikka masala would be perfect. now you can clean while I see what I can make."

He stared as if his eyes said, 'bosy' . But he nodded and went back to his work.

After half an hour John came with Rosie. The first thing Rosie did was hug Sherlock. And he seemed really fond of her. It was so sweet I could stare at them if I weren't cooking. He's not that cold as he seems, perhaps these walls and John and Rosie could only see this side of him, and now me. Then Sherlock stood up and walked towards me while John and Rosie went to their room.

"Um I was thinking, perhaps we can order something, because we always eat together so.."

"I made for them too". This reply too seemed surprising to him.

"You did?"

"Yes I made for five people, you me John rosie and Mrs Hudson, what? You thought I'll only cook for myself?"

He stared and I almost wanted to hit him with my frying pan for being such an idiot.

"I... Thanks" he uttered.

"Okay um.. welcome maybe" that was the most awkward thanks and welcome I've ever been a part of.

Obviously my heart was in my hand when we sat to dine, what if they didn't like it?

"Why aren't you eating?" John asked.

"Oh no I want you three to eat first and tell me if you like it?"

I waited nervously as they took their first bite and then I saw their expression, enough to tell me it was good.

"It's soooo good" said little rosie, "really good" said John. And then I stared at the stupid man, also the most intelligent man as well actually, the man I was married to, "it's um.." he started,

"You can do better, be honest like you're always, harsh honest". Urged John.

"It's, better than anything I've ever had, I believe you know the secret of making good food, which is putting every spice in right amount and..."

"She doesn't need this, your intellectual explanation." John scolded him.

"Yeah right sorry."

I couldn't help but a soft giggle escaped from my mouth, "that's okay, glad you all liked it, now let us have our dinner."

After we four ate and Mrs Hudson also came to say it was so good. And surprisingly I saw Mr detective helping John with the dishes. I took this opportunity to roamed around the little flat. Rosie was already asleep and I stood by the window. After their work was done John went to sleep. And I could hear light footsteps of Sherlock approaching,

"That was very thoughtful of you". He said from behind. I turned to face him.

"Please, it was normal, atleast for me."

"If I'm being honest then I must say I deduced you wrong, I thought you were self centric."

No he wasn't wrong, I am self centric but how could I say, how could I confess? as standing by the window I realised I... I started to like his little family and him as well.

"I actually am, but I like when people praises my cooking so Maybe that's why. Anyway I am sleepy."

"Oh yes ofcourse, then we must ..." He looked at me and I gulped because things started to get pretty awkward at this point.

"Don't worry " he assured, "I'll keep my promise, I won't take advantage of you."

"Oh no I know, I trust you with it."

And sleeping beside him, didn't feel awkward at all. Even though when I woke up I saw my hand was on his chest and he was wide awake.

"Oh I'm sorry" I apologised taking away my hand.

"No it's fine, I believe you are used to sleep hugging a pillow isn't it?"

Again Mr detective deduces everything, "mm yes".

"So it's fine, don't worry about it." He got up saying so. Yet ofcourse it was awkward. But I tried to think nothing of it and replied,

"Yes I guess, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes cases, I'll take John with me too, will you be okay here?"

"Rosie will be here right?"

"Nope she'll be at school."

"When will you come?"

"Maybe before lunch."

That was okay, I could just go out and explore the place till then. And that's that, the two men went on their adventure and I went out to roam around Baker Street. I sat inside a cafe for an hour two, perhaps two until my phone rang and it was Sherlock, "yes?" I recieved it and said.

"Hey um.. when are you coming?" He asked from the other side.

"Are you two home already? I thought... Never mind, I thought it'd take you time, it's okay I'm coming."

And apparently I went to 221b, to find the two men already sat.

"There you are" said John.

"Yes, I am."

"He's never been this excited to get home before honestly."

"JOHN" snapped Sherlock at his comment.

"Uhhhh, okay" I said awkwardly and we three had lunch together. Later that evening both John and Sherlock were home, discussing about the case and Rosie went down to Mrs Hudson.

"So that's it, now I'm gonna go out get some air" said John and Sherlock and I nodded. We both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you wanna walk outside too?" Sherlock asked me nervously.

"I mean, I wouldn't mind." I said smiling cause I really wanted to go out for walk.

We both walked aimlessly through the streets and some small talks were the entertainer for us. Many stores, cafe, restaurant passed and we walked together. It felt good surprisingly. He too felt good perhaps, his brows are always furrowed but now I see there's a twinkle in his eyes, brows relaxed and is that a little smile?

"You're staring" he snapped me out of my deduction.

"Oh yes , I was , trying to deduce you". I answered smartly or tried to do so.

"Oh really? So what did you get?"

Is he challenging me?

"Well, your case might've been well, you seem happy."

"Hmmm" he just hummed, but it was an acknowledging hum.

"Was I right?"

"Fifty percent".

"Now what does that mean?"

"Coffee or tea?" He literally shrugged it off and didn't explain, that's something new.

"Tea" I replied

"Same, let's get in here" he took me into a cafeteria. He ordered two English tea and some biscuits. It came in no time almost.

"It's actually good." I remarked as I took a bite of the biscuit.

"Ginger nuts" he said.

"I know your favourite. But mine is Bourbon."

"I know, I ordered those too, and if you'd like cakes , pastry you can get them too." He offered.

We had a good time there, just us, we got to know eachother more. It felt like he's very own. He talked of his past, his work, his friends. Perhaps he felt the same way about me. We made this evening date an everyday thing, even if he had work he'd take break for an hour and we'd try tea from different places. And I discovered he's and excellent violinist. He and I would even talk till we sleep. It's been many times we'd just talk stay awake at night and unknowingly drifted off between them.

But the other day as I layed down talking to him with my phone and giggling with him. He asked me, "you're quite likable to all aren't you, people must've been very fond of you since your childhood?"

I paused for a moment, as I remembered my horrible days, those horrible angry faces, those elders shouting at me saying things that hit me like dart, that pierced my heart, thess memories may have been burried under but, comes out time to time. I'm sure he saw my smile fading,

"Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" He said this a little louder as he held my hand. I remembered my horrible days and I felt tears falling down my cheeks. My phone fell from my hand as I looked at him and held his hand which hand my other palm in it and started crying. I bet he couldn't believe it, he told me his dark side smiling but I wasn't him, I wasn't strong. So I held him and cried, that was the first time he held me that close, he wrapped me in his arms tightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it'd cause you pain, forgive me".

I tried to control as I felt a little better after letting it all out, "no it wasn't your fault, you see Sherlock, I wasn't likable or something like that so I didn't have much people liking me. I was never upto the mark according to them, You've seen how vulnerable I am, Sherlock please don't leave me for this, I will do anything but don't abandon me for being weak."

"Shhh, no I can never leave you, how could I?who says you're weak, you survived every brick they threw at you from that young age, You're stronger than you think, and I? I won't ever leave you, and I think your parents have been harsh because they wanted good for you, even though creating trauma isn't the way but, it's okay, that was past, you're here now, you're looking for work and doing things you like, you'll see your family will understand you one day, for now, I'm not leaving."

He stroked my hair trying to calm me down. And I did perhaps, for that night, I hoped he knew what comes with me, hope he knows how to deal with this side of me. Bet he does, Sherlock Holmes knows everything. Since then I'd say we became good friends. And perhaps a little more as we're supposed to be, after all I shouldn't forget I married him.

A few months later as we were walking together from our evening tea date, and reached home we saw inspector lestrade at our doorstep.

"Sherlock".

"Lestrade? You look nervous, desparate... Well like as usual".

Should I laugh at him being this silly? Perhaps not now. We entered and he explained his case, it needed Sherlock and John to be investigating it right away but,

"You guys need to come to yorkshire with me, until the case solves." Said lestrade, and it was for a long time. I never felt like this. I felt as if without him, I forgot how deal with things. He felt the same I was sure, I looked at his face amd his expression was as similar to mine.

"But lestrade..." There wasn't any excuse but, Sherlock tried to form some kind of reason but there wasn't any.

"What?" The detective inspector snapped.

"Nothing" no he couldn't say it, "could you wait outside?"

"But I need to fetch you right now."

"I said outside, I need to talk to my wife." Sherlock yelled at these words. He yelled at lestrade for me. I felt safe, safe to be his wife. At that very moment I embraced my title and my marriage.

He went out and Sherlock looked at me, "listen I..."

"I know, I don't like being without you either, but I don't wanna be someone who drives you away from the thing you love, your work." I replied.

"What I meant to say is not this, look, it is true, these days since you've come, I was happy to be at home, I liked being here. As you deduced me smiling, it was half for case and half for being with you, I enjoy being here, with you. You are the best friend to whom I never feared of being judged and you are the one whom I stared at, when you cooked, when you try to play my violin, when you play with Rosie and even when you sleep. Yes and I know I promised you something but guess right now all I want for us is to do that one thing that is still left for us do as a married couple."

My heart leaped as I realised what he meant. But he needed to be at Yorkshire that moment than in our bedroom. I couldn't think more and placed my lips on his. He kissed me more passionately, hungrily, lovingly. After the kiss. As we breathed heavily I whispered, "perhaps after you come back from Yorkshire, we'll can be completely married then."

"so you won't go to anyone else?" He asked, our forheads touching one another's.

"no, where can I go, this is my home, you're my home Sherlock."

"And you're mine".

That was that and both the men went on their adventure. Molly would come sometimes to check on Rosie and we became good friends. Sherlock would call everyday and then after 2 and a half weeks. He came. We stood staring at eachother for a minute after his arrival. That distance between us was needed to know the value of eachother. And we valued us.

1 years later...

As we sat on the couch, he looking for cases and I was doing my work, he called out, "I must say it".

"What?" I was surprised, what now?

"I can't keep it, I haven't said this to you in a year". He was nervous again.

"What is it?"

"I love you" it took him a year to utter these words again to me.

"I know, thank goodness you said this again, after more than a year of our marriage, I believe you said this to me first time when you came from Yorkshire and kissed me isn't it Sherlock?". I said and got back to work.

"You didn't say it back?" He asked with his puppy eyes. Aww look at him. I put my laptop down and kissed his left cheek and said,

"I love you too Sherlock Holmes ".

Taglist:- @poetrypirate @astudyinlaura @peppiloll @callsign-sunshine @el-de-phi @druggedbyfiction @mysticwitchcraftco

[golbrocklovely]

finally, after so long, here is my review of the conjuring series/hell week.

this is EXTREMELY LONG so strap in, grab a drink, and a snack. or, feel free to skip to the end to read my overall thoughts lol

like previous hell weeks, i'm gonna rate each episode and then answer whether or not i would rewatch the episode.

lmk what you guys thought !

episode one:

the obvious meat and potatoes of this whole video was satori and cody's method, which i'm just gonna refer to as The Method just bc it's easier to say then writing out their names over and over again lol

i'll be honest with you, i'm super glad that snc did their best to debunk the tapping and whatnot. i honestly think that if they hadn't tried, a lot of ppl wouldn't believe them at all or would think that either they're lying, or satori and cody are.

as for the answers that satori and cody gave… it's hard. bc on one hand i truly do believe in psychics and mediums. i myself have experienced readings or things i have done on my own. i have had a lot of things happen to me that just logically don't make sense. i do believe there are ppl that have the ability to talk to the dead. but part of me is weary of satori and cody. idk know them from a hole in the wall. they could have easily researched snc, and their past relatives, and just bullshitted the rest. same thing with their producer. it's not hard to look up someone's ancestry. i would like to believe that isn't the case, but you can't be too sure.

the debunking that snc tried did make a strong case for The Method, especially doing it in random locations that they didn't know about. but again… idk. part of me just felt like i was side-eying the whole time. and look, i want to believe that they have good intentions and they are genuinely contacting something. but again, ppl lie for far less.

but no matter if they were lying or not, i 100% believe snc's reaction to it. it was real for them, and that's all that really matters to me tbh.

i felt really bad for sam, or i guess happy for him but sad that he was crying so much. my theory with him has always been that even tho he has experienced attachments and heard things, seen things, all that jazz - i truly think for the longest time he never fully believed. i think he would rather chalk up a paranormal experience as a group psychosis before saying a place was haunted. but since that probably wouldn't bode well for either of them, he just agreed that what they experienced was "crazy" and moved on like nothing happened. also, i have this general feeling that he doesn't believe his own experiences, which is why he questions ppl like colby when he goes thru something, but i haven't really fleshed out why that could be the case. but i think this was his "come to jesus" moment, so to speak. i mean, he explained it himself that he honestly didn't think there was anything after this life. that once you died, you're gone. so this was both great and terrifying news to hear. not to mention, to hear it from your dead grandmother was definitely surprising for sure. i honestly hope this brought him some closure or comfort. bc i know i always felt really sad growing up that my grandparents, literally all of them, never got to see me graduate high school or college or perform on stage. but i always had a feeling that they watched me do all of that so it's nice to hear that for someone else, that was the case.

granted, The Method could just be bullshit to conjure up an emotional response for views and notoriety… but for now, i'm gonna just take it at face value. sure, it's real. i think what also makes me lean towards that is that cody and satori don't charge ppl for this. it only happens at the conjuring for the most part, so…. unless they start becoming a side-show circus act with a big ticket price, i'm just gonna take them at their word. plus, the random locations snc took them to, unless the boys are in on it (which opens up too many cans of worms), The Method wouldn't have been able to work in these spots or actually have satori and cody come up with real ppl that died there.

i will say tho, it was kinda funny that sam's having this emotional breakdown over hearing his grandmom telling him she's watching over him and his siblings, and then colby's getting his great grandfather coming thru to tell him to tell his parents that he's there lol like…. thanks dude i never met. appreciate the love and support.

overall this episode was fine. it wasn't my favorite of the series, but it wasn't a bad way to start the series. this episode did draw me in enough to want to see the rest, but i was also a little weary of what was to come.

(oh yeah i forgot to add that the new owner… something feels deeply off about her. like i can't put my finger on it, but if it comes out years down the line that she was bringing demons into the house or something, i will not be surprised lol)

rating: 3/5

would i rewatch: yeah i guess, but not fully

~~~~~~~~

episode two:

so going into this episode, i was a bit… not excited, since i knew amanda was going to be in the video. i've always had my reservations with her. mostly, i think she has abilities, i just think she talks them up to be something that they aren't. plus she has made some comments in past videos that just make me look at her sideways bc they don't make a lick of fucking sense (ie queen mary, she talked to a ghost that said he had lived other lives before this one, he was just stuck in this one for some reason, and she literally told snc she didn't believe that bc "reincarnation isn't in the bible" …..BRO, you talk to the dead. maybe not everything in a 2000+ year old book that's been translated 150+ times is gonna be accurate. also again, need i remind you, YOU TALK TO DEAD PPL). as for how i felt about her during this episode, she was fine, i guess. the only time she annoyed me was during the estes method where her and sam were just bouncing off one another in the worse way lol but i'll get more into that later.

i think it was really interesting that they interviewed andrea perron. they need to do that more often: find ppl that used to live in these places that they visit and get their story, instead of just listening to tour guides who amp up the scares just bc they need to. i thought her interview was really intriguing and i can only imagine how horrible it must have been to live in that house all the way back then. and to see your mother get thrown across the room?? idk what i would even do as a kid in that moment.

so the first part of the investigation was with amanda, snc, and cody and satori. (side note, i love that the touch toy for the ghost kids is a basset hound). i think this whole first part was kinda funny only bc in my most cynical mind, it's three fake mediums trying to one up each other the whole time lol

i don't fully believe that, but that's what my mind kept going back to.

i do find it odd that amanda couldn't see her past relatives but The Method was able to allow them to talk. idk, if i could see dead ppl, i think i would be a bit pissed if my loved ones were like "nah, i know you got the vision but i ain't showing myself in front of you". it also doesn't really help her case of what her abilities are or how strong they are if she can't even see ppl she actually once knew.

i also find it odd that all loved ones are apparently able to get across is "watching over __" bc both snc and now amanda got that message. again, to me, this just reads as like someone in this scenario is faking something. idk what, but i just remember laughing at this whole part bc it just felt funny to watch each one try to one up the other and then snc are just like :O the whole time.

and what made this top tier comedy to me was sam asking who wrote amanda's name, and them saying it was a spirit. i'm so sorry…. but you gotta be on fucking CRACK to think that happened. i believe in ghost, the paranormal, the whole enchilada………. but a ghost soldier wrote amanda's name in the sand???? no. sorry. that didn't happened. and you cannot tell me it did lmao

honestly in situations like this, i'm more incline to believe equipment than these, respectfully, quack jobs.

i thought it was sweet that colby kept being really nice to abigail and calling her the matriarch of the house. isn't he just a sweet boy lol

the second half of the day 2 was where i got more interested and into the video. the rempod going off constantly, the camera immediately dying, that little cabinet door opening, all of that in like five minutes is crazy. and then the estes method, while interesting, was also deeply annoying since sam and amanda decided to tag team and do the one thing i hate that they try to do during the estes method - connect everything while the words are still coming out. like CALM DOWN. connect later. it was freaky to see the rempod going off in time with their estes method tho.

the woods session was kinda cool. idk how i feel about the alice box yet. why does it only say some words but the others are just on the little text box? whatever i guess. gonna be honest, woods don't really scare me for paranormal reasons. i'm more inclined to believe i'm gonna get my ass eaten by a bear or stabbed by a human so it wasn't really all that creepy, but it was cool to see this half. and then to have snc sleep in the woods… props. but to be in the woods in august in hoodies was a choice i wouldn't make, personally.

day three josh and seth came and thank GOD there were ppl in this series/episode i actually liked that joined them. their half made the video a lot better. so they start off by doing the ritual, which honestly just felt more like (literally) dancing on someone's grave so…. idk about that one. a bit disrespectful if you ask me. colby literally did the ice spice on her grave… boy i would haunt your ass for eternity for that one lmao

hearing andrea perron speak of that fateful night of her mother being possessed, again, my heart breaks for her. whether you believe in the paranormal or not, something traumatic happened to her and her family. and i just feel for her.

so when they moved on into the investigation, i just gotta say, if they plan to use the spirit box, they NEED to invest in a microphone or a better speaker for that thing bc good god i couldn't hear a single thing that was coming thru. but moving past the spirit box, the door to the library just opening on it's own?? and the camera moving slightly?? that's nuts. bc it's one thing for a draft to open a door. you're talking about the middle of august tho. there's not gonna be strong winds (for the most part) during that time of the year unless it's storming. so if a draft blew the door open, it had to have been a HUGE one to literally push a rock out of the way. and it can't be ac bc then that door would be constantly opening.

when they separated, i get why they did, but like… why do you have to do it in the dark? i would be turning on flashlights or some form of light immediately. you're not about to catching me busting my ass on the stairs of a 300+ year old house lol

josh's sleeve moving was actually kinda freaky, ngl. i know it was very subtle, and technically could have just him moving his arm and then feeling the sleeve pull or relax or whatever, but to me… it looked like something pulled it.

then when snc went in alone, i find it funny to think of a spirit just running up and down the stairs, fucking with the rempod or the motion sensor, just to see them freak out. when sam invited whatever it was up to them, and then it got near the motion thing, and colby noped out of there and literally yelled at sam like "why did you invite it up here with us?!" ngl - favorite part of the whole video. also it was kinda cute that snc tried to do The Method on their own. kinda wish it would have worked for them.

colby doing the whole "imagine being andrea perron" speech he gave…. colby, can you not? also, are you good? lol

okay, so my overall thoughts on this episode - dragged in the beginning, but got good half way thru. they also got some really good evidence outside of The Method, which i would rather they not use every episode (but end up doing regardless).

rating: 3.5/5

would i rewatch: sure, but only the second half

~~~~~~~~

episode three

so the previous episode left off with sam going into the basement late at night, almost looking possessed or something. and while i obviously didn't think that, i did want to know why he would go down there alone for some reason.

but that's for a later point in this review. let's get to the collab they did.

larray and bella…….. omg, i'll just be completely honest: i hated this collab. like genuinely, it takes a lot for me to find ppl insufferable, but larray took the cake this time. bella was fine, she seemed nice and did her best. and i love that me and @xplrvibes literally said "oh i bet they're gonna try to say bella is an empath bc she's a girl bc they do that all the time" and WOULDN'T YOU BELIEVE IT 11 minutes in they asked if she was one. i'm just glad she said no lol but back to larray……. first off, that shirt was a choice. and i'll leave it at that. but secondly, i'm okay with ppl joking is scary situations. i'm okay with them having guests that hear them say something insane and then immediately go "yeah fuck no to that, i'm leaving" or some iteration of that joke. but, larray took it too far. i don't think he said anything else other than "i don't want to be here" ect. and i get he was scared, but GOD, SHUT UP. like i got it the first five times you said it, i don't need to hear it the next 24. it literally took for him to get a message from the beyond to get him to be quiet.

i'll be honest, i don't even want to review this half of the video bc it was SUCH a drag. i remember i wasn't even half way thru and i was like… oh you're joking, we're not done yet? bc that's how annoying that whole section was. it wasn't solely larray, but he definitely exacerbated the problem.

the ring of lights that ppl can cross over, idk about that. it feels like it's fake but whatever. bella having a separate phone just for content… i love that for her lol them going into the basement is cut short only for the fact that we KNOW sam went down there first and colby was none the wiser until like two days later. The Method being done for bella and larray was cool i guess. but then sam getting an extremely private message that he couldn't share, i get that. and i hope that whatever message he got was something he needed to hear (but the way he mouthed "oh no" makes me think otherwise). my only issue is why even use any of the footage from that then? i know it's a bit nitpicky, so i'm not gonna press on it too much.

to the fans on tiktok that were saying "omg what if the message was from corey la barrie"….. please seek professional help. this isn't a fanfic. stop thinking like it is. bc i saw MULTIPLE tiktoks saying that.

but continuing on with The Method, i'll be honest with you: i'm not sure what the afterlife is like or what it entails. but it is hard for me to just blindly accept that it's all good and light and love and whatever random other words satori and cody wanted to throw in there that abigail said. i know it's my cynical mind, but hearing shit like that just makes me roll my eyes. like i know that sounds dark and sad, but that whole thing just made me go like "okay… sure."

maybe it's bc it's too generic. like that's what every form of media has said about the other side for forever. if i was able to get my point across and reach a ton of ppl, i would be sending messages like "god is woman and she sucks at beer pong" or "ice cream is free up here but only on tuesdays" or "guess what? i'm hanging out with EVERYONE'S dogs" not just love and light. boooorrrrriiiinnngggg lol

but i will note something that i thought was interesting only bc i've always had a similar thought process: cody says he doesn't know why they're able to do what they do. he believes it might have had something to do with his cancer complications and dying once. and the reason why i can believe that is i've always had this belief - so, as someone who has attempted to end my own life twice, i've come very close to death. and i think ppl that knock on death's door, you can't just unknock. you can't ding dong ditch death. so i kinda feel like those that get very close to the other side cross a line that can't be uncrossed, so to speak. which i think is also why i had the most paranormal experiences when i was going through some dark times (or had just gone thru them).

what i find peculiar is how the narrative of the basement has changed. before it was dark and demented, something evil lurking around each corner, colby having a full blown panic attack down there. all that, right? but now it's "oh it's just a trickster spirit that likes to cause havoc and is for the most part harmless. and also really would rather you be in the woods." and yet even with that knowledge in mind, everyone was still too freaked out. like if they kept getting cryptic and weird messages i would just be like "find a different trick. you don't scare me" or eventually just leave the basement altogether if nothing was going to be happening besides "come to the woods" over and over again.

but bc snc never listen, they went to woods. and again… woods to me aren't scary for paranormal reasons. more so for bears or humans. but they did get some cool evidence at the graveyard.

i'm just gonna skip that whole thing and get to the part that i want, no - NEED, to talk about which is…. colby standing up for himself when sam told him about the basement.

i was genuinely confused as to why snc weren't mentioning sam going into the basement. like i figured, sam went down there, something happened, and then he told colby. or something to that effect. but to find out that a) he had no real plans of posting this into the vid and b) he waited like two days to finally tell colby it happened…. that's really fucked, ngl. the absolute hurt that was on colby's face is so evident, no wonder sam started backpedaling (but just made it all the more worse). like colby has made it abundantly clear time and time again that he doesn't like being left in the dark about where someone is going/doesn't like being left behind and sam did exactly that. not only that, but he then did something that both him and colby swore they would do together - go to the basement. everyone was waiting to see them go together and experience whatever's down there, but sam took that for himself - like colby said. and then sam tried to justify it with "oh nothing really happened, plus we don't have to show fans, plus i really needed to do it bc everything has been so crazy" and it's like………. WHO DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN ON THIS JOURNEY WITH YOU???? it's colby. while colby might have had some form of belief system before all of this, this whole situation has been insane to him as well. so you don't get to use that as an excuse. and then to say that fans don't need to see this footage, that just feels wrong. bc at the end of the day, the person sam hurt was colby. and regardless of whether or not we would have known about it, colby still would have known. and that's the part that sucks. sam was extremely self-centered for making this decision and then thinking colby would just let it slide.

and i know some of you are gonna probably be up my ass about this opinion since god forbid i give criticism towards sam. but i would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed, especially if sam was upset about it. and god knows there wouldn't have been an argument about including those clips in a video, but i digress. i just think it was messed up of sam to do to that to colby. and i hope bts he apologized profusely.

but to be a bit more light hearted about it… colby looks really hot when he's angry or annoyed. so that's nice, i guess lol it's the clenched jaw and the narrowed eyes, in case you didn't know why you found it hot either. also, he was too calm, and that's hot AND scary lol

i think it's funny to think that if they didn't include sam going there by himself and then this confrontation, we would never know why in the next part colby seemed annoyed/angry and ppl probably would have just blamed the spirits or some shit.

which also did happen…

but to bring it back for a second, you know what the scariest part of this video was for me? the tick on colby's leg. GROSS. disgusting. i would have screamed so loud i'd wake the dead lmao

but anyway the estes methods they did in the basement were very revealing and honestly the best part of the episode imo. them realizing, or believing, that dave is actually the trickster spirit and not some soldier following them around was actually really cool to see unravel. and surprisingly this time around sam jumping to conclusion over and over again paid off well. and then when colby was asking the questions, it was interesting to see his reaction to what was being said. him being annoyed at sam before hand really elevated the estes method, funny enough.

maybe it's bc i don't know about trickster spirits and what they are meant to do or whatever, but if i know the spirit i'm talking to is fucking with me, i'm just not gonna talk to it anymore. i'm not gonna give it what it wants, which is to see me scared. and i think snc, without knowing it, were feeding into what dave wanted.

their equipment malfunctioning over and over again was crazy, ngl. but the actual scariest part of the whole vid was who the FUCK was that behind them in the basement coming up the steps??? fuck The Method, now THAT is proof of the other side existing, especially if snc were alone in that house at that point (which assumingly they were).

so this episode was a bit of rollercoaster for me. some parts were just plan bad to me. like i wouldn't even consider rewatching the first half again tbh. it was tedious to do it just to make this review, so that alone deducts this episode a bunch. but the second half, basically everything after The Method where larray and bella's loved ones talked to them, was pretty decent/better. and of course, once snc were alone, the video was at its best. i truly wish snc would just realize that they do so much better and get such better results without other ppl. just the two of them is enough. i truly wanted to like this episode, and i did to some extent, but no offense to larray, his over reactions just soured most of the video for me. he seems like a nice guy, and i didn't mind him the first time around when snc collabed with him, but god… just shut up next time lol

rating: 2.9/5

would i rewatch: only the tail end, tbh…. so no i guess lol

~~~~~~~~

episode four

i'll be honest with yall, i was mixed about how this final episode was gonna play out. part of me was excited to see it, another part of me was like… eh, don't care. but i will say, i was pleasantly surprised with this one. i guess in a weird way it was my favorite of all the episodes, but that's not saying much since none were really my favorite anyway.

niki and george were fantastic. honestly no notes. they didn't talk the entire fucking time, they weren't overly negative, they kept in line with snc's humor and or seriousness. i loved it truly. 10/10.

i completely forgot that kris called them to tell them about a dream she had. her and niki, and celina too… all having dreams about snc. what are they, fans??

i'm joking btw.

i think the dream element can be a bit questionable, but i do also think it's kinda creepy too. even if for argument's sake it's not real and/or is propped up to be something more serious than it is.

the foil house/tent thing they built was…. confusing. but i'm down for them to start using different methods, especially if they end up working or are interesting. they split up and neither really got anything that compelling, but when they played the picture game it was creepy that only colby's pics got fucked with a bit. it's always colby lol

but i gotta ask, didn't they break the first rule of the game which is nothing is supposed to cross over the circle in the middle? bc sam did that by putting the water cup down in it. also, i highly doubt that snc trashed that camera. highkey it's probably in their office rn.

the duel estes method, in theory, is a cool idea. but the execution wasn't really good enough. like sure, they got some answers, i guess. but half of the words were just random. and tying niki and colby together was kinda pointless. snc just love exploring their kinks on camera huh skskks jk

so, i think what was a bit confusing about sam freaking out (before) going into the basement is that did you really think colby wasn't gonna send you down there at some point? he has made a big stink about it since it happened to him. of course sam had to have known this was gonna happen. not to mention, sam's fucking challenge for colby would have literally caused him to get lost in the woods…. so i would say sam got the nicer of the two options.

as for what transpired in the basement, clearly sam was absolutely losing it. whether it was paranormal or not, he was scared out of his fucking mind. and i get it must have been creepy as hell down there. and god knows he lasted longer than i would have. but there is no reason he has to push himself that far to believe there is something more. like is it really worth being permanently scarred just to know if something is down there? not to mention, but whatever is down there, feeds off of havoc and scared energy. and you basically fell into its trap. like, i'm not blaming sam for freaking out. god knows i would be way worse in that situation. but i also wouldn't have been the dumbass who leaves my phone upstairs and has no extra back up light.

also colby is too forgiving bc i would been like "since you love the basement so much, here you go :)" lmaooo

(sidenote, why is colby walking around in only his socks???? ewwwww. do that in your own home, not the conjuring my guy. and another sidenote, does sam's face look swollen in the basement, or is that just the camera being hella zoomed in? idk why he just looks different)

colby giving a whole disclaimer or explanation about why he could leave sam in the basement…. i blame the fandom bc there is no reason for him to being doing all that. sam was literally gonna have him walk alone to the fucking graveyard. sam is fine in the basement. he can leave whenever he wants to. colby ain't a bad guy for giving him a challenge like that.

the walkie dying is so eerily spooky to the og alone conjuring video it's kinda crazy. but, maybe there is just bad reception lol

moving onto the final stretch of the video, the tarot reading. i know snc kinda showed more of the original reading on xplrclub, but if they truly think her first reading was super accurate, i really hope this reading is also just as accurate. snc deserve a lot more positive than negative these next couple months. so i hope that happens for them.

(might have to do a tarot reading on them myself just for funsies)

The Method's last messages… again, idk. imma just say this, to quote beetlejuice the musical "positivity is luxury that few can afford" and i'll just leave me beliefs at that.

i'll be completely honest with yall, idk what the priestess did with snc. the whole thing, the ouija board and exorcism/cleansing was intriguing, don't get me wrong, but idk what the fuck was happening. i kinda just watched it and accepted it at face value bc again, idk anything. it probably would have been for the best if snc explained it a bit better or did something to let us know what was up. i don't really believe everything that the priestess believes, but i do find her interesting enough that i hope she comes back eventually. god knows snc are gonna need another cleansing at some point.

colby going into the woods blindfolded…. is he trying to literally fall off of a bridge? what is with yall using blindfolds and ties? enough of the kinky shit, already.

but as for what happened out there, i think it was an interesting end to the final investigation. i could sort of hear something running up on colby, and i can only imagine how that would have felt in the moment. and who knows what it could have been? my bet is it was an animal, but i also feel like if it was one, it would have kept chasing him. but who knows. i'm just glad he didn't get hurt.

overall, i would say this was my favorite episode. i think it had a lot more high moments than lows, and that alone makes it the best. the collabs were good in this one, they got really cool evidence, and it was just a great way to wrap up this series.

rating: 4/5

would i rewatch: yeah :)

~~~~~~~~

now, onto my thoughts on this whole thing:

so going into this series, i wasn't too excited, as i had mentioned before. i felt as if snc should have taken this year off and came back during hell week if that was something they direly wanted to do. bc a lot of the content that came out this year was just… not good. it wasn't on par with what their calibar is. but i think this series was probably the best thing that came out this year by them. a lot of cool and interesting things happened in this series, and clearly snc's hearts were fully invested in this. there was passion in this series, and that's what a lot of their other videos this year have lacked, imo.

as for The Method and it changing the world….. i love snc, clearly. i deeply care for them. but they truly need to have someone in their camp that's gonna tell them reality. i mean, just as i'm writing this, there are tons of ppl on tiktok and youtube trying to disprove and nitpick apart the series and in particular The Method. but here's how i feel about that: satori and cody could be lying, that's true. they could be faking it somehow. but i don't think that's the takeaway from this series. i've seen how many ppl this brought closure to, how many ppl feel better now knowing there is something else after this life. and that in itself is worth it, even if it's not real. this series wasn't gonna change my mind bc i myself already believed in the paranormal and already believed that there is something more out there. i don't need two random ppl to prove to me i'm right. i already believe that on my own. and in that regard, i know that this series isn't for me. it's for those that needed to hear those words, that needed the confirmation. and for those ppl, i'm happy this gave you that. honest to god. just bc i didn't get that out of this doesn't mean i look down on those that did. if this helped you in any way, that's fantastic and i'm glad. i'm not here to argue whether or not The Method is a lie. idc tbh. snc believe it, and i believe them.

and if it comes out that satori and cody lied, fuck them. but until otherwise proven, i'll believe what they're selling. i'm just… not gonna buy any myself.

but even taking them out of the conjuring equation, snc caught some crazy shit there. of course, a lot of it was amplified by The Method, but i think what they did outside of that was more interesting and compelling than The Method. what i think will be more important is what they now do with the information they know. how are they gonna move forward now knowing what they know? what are they gonna impliment now that they didn't think to use before the conjuring? that's what matters to me.

idk if i got an ask that said this or not (i would have to double check but if i did - hi anon, here's your answer), but i know ppl are asking how snc are gonna top themselves this next year for hell week. personally, i don't think they have to. i think they should go back to what hell week looks like usually: a bunch of different places with different guests, but now more amplified. maybe, crazy concept, do more solo investigations. how about during next year's hell week you just… go alone to all seven places? maybe stop by the conjuring another time? you already proved (for the most part) that there is an afterlife and more beyond this life, why not go back thru your greatest hits with fresh eyes? that's what will make a difference in the content and take it to the next level without you literally contacting a demon or something.

i was pleasantly surprised by this series, and i'm more excited now to see what they do next than i was before, so… mission accomplish lol

[myloveforhergoeson]

Hiya! 😊 You're now a writer for the show. What three episode storylines are you gonna write? (In other words, what are you gonna make the boys do?)

ohm y god i literally have so many episode ideas but i'll try not to repeat any of the ones i've made posts about (except my first bullet bc im so passionate about it) so i'll give you my big list. most if not all will likely be something i DO end up writing about in my own story because ehehe i love making them do things

ones i think i've mentioned before:

a returning to minnesota chapter!! not for anything but nostalgia, getting to see the guy's favorite places, seeing their friends and families, bringing them back to realize how far they'd come. not so shy spon for my fic but i wrote a chapter like this last month and it's probably one of my favorite things i've written to date. it let me explore some of the boys' past, family dynamics, a little bit about Katie and agh i can't believe btr didn't capitalize on that at least once. ik its expensive to fund sets and hire new actors but idk i imagine it like an hour special where they could afford to shell out a bit more. idc when it happens, could be after they sign their record contract or the last episode or whatever :)

sketch comedy episode, something akin to saturday night live or so random

graduation! like you and i talked about lol i think it would be sweet

get me in the writers room stat:

originally i'd planned a "home alone lost in new york" like chapter for my story around thanksgiving where the boys are going to perform at the parade in town but they end up having their own adventure around the city beforehand. boyish antics, screaming gustavo, beautiful scenes, the works. i was just in too much of a slump to actually put it to paper :)

more tour-focused chapters (again, spon for my own fic lol) the episode in Canada was cute and the one on the bus was fun but idk there's just so many elements toward touring that i think they could've capitalized on; homesickness (for CA or MN), hardship of a go go go schedule, or fun things like being able to travel with your best friends and not ending up on the world's most wanted list lol. i know they tried really hard with this one so i don't blame them too much but my vision is just different and that's okay!

crossovers! while i'm so very happy dan schnider didn't have either of his disgusting hands in big time rush, i do remember watching the icarly/victorious crossover for the first time and wishing big time rush were there. it takes place in LA! the victorious kids are singers! carly, sam, and Freddie are pop culture experts! it would've worked really well :) so i'm writing that as a chapter for my fic LMAO

generally either an episode focusing in on or more scenes including james and lucy since the writers wanted them to be together so bad. inherently there's nothing wrong with them being together, but i do not think the relationship was given enough time to develop. give me lucy discovering her feelings for him, give me james not being creepy and obsessive about her; something more needed to be done on both of their parts to make me believe in it

additionally on that note more with jo/kendall and logan/camille; i love them both but they also had little development, just more than james/lucy. maybe they give carlos a gf (not alexa IMO, sorry. that got into weird territory for me idk why they made him be with a "real" person when he isn't other than they were already together irl) earlier and they can all have like conversations about their gfs and how much they love being together idk

and another generally, there were many songs btr put out that i love so much and feel like deserved their own episodes for hehe. i know not all of them have storylines easily transposed but i think they used confetti falling like four different times in the last season when any other love song from their third album could have been placed instead

and also another generally, and i know the early 2000s would've never allowed this for children's television but they should have and i'm the writer now!!!, but more representation all around. maybe some episodes about cultural heritage that didn't make stereotypes the main focus, canon LGBTQIA+ characters, holidays that aren't christmas, aspects like that where all kids can see themselves represented... LA is such a huge melting pot, it's not all white kids trying to make their dreams come true!

good god that was long SORRY AKJBSKJGBAB i have a lot to say and there's a lot im trying to incorporate into my story to add in what i think enhances the already present storyline. that's what's so beautiful about fandom, i love that we can have conversations like this :)

but what about you? anything you'd like to add in? i'd love to know <3 thank you for the question!

ask me a question! save my life!

[occidentaltourist]

Can’t decide between S2 & S3 as the best season of Buffy. Season 2 was so delicious with the drama, Spike before the later seasons did what they did with him, Drusilla, Angelus, that heartbreaking finale…but Season 3 had Faith 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh my goodness, what a difficult choice! Impossible, even. :)

Not to be hyperbolic on main, but I'm honestly not sure a US TV show has had a better two season run than S2-S3 of BtVS, especially a network one running 22-23 episodes a year. The characters, the stories (motw as well as the big season arcs), the relationships, the layers! the metaphors and the symbolism that worked so perfectly with the everyday high school drama and the challenges involved in coming of age ... relatable, yet also so epically drawn ... ugh, the writing! Just so good. Hard to believe it now, that the actors and writers never won a major award for such a seminal series.

I might give a slight edge to S2, because of the aspects you mention: Angel/Angelus with Dru, Darla, and Spike; Innocence and then that devastating two-part finale Becoming. I still can't hear 'Full of Grace' without my tear ducts starting up and bringing me instantly back to the ending:

Then again, S3 was also SO GOOD with my girl Faith mixing it up and the finale?? High school was literally hell and then it burned down entirely ... Graduation Day, you will always be famous.

[humorously-yours]

Part - 01 Alistair & You🫠

This is literally the first time that I'm writing a fanfic story. I want your support guyz😚

You're a fresher in Oxford University. You came from a Simple middle class family, you have big dreams, you wanna be an Independent woman when you will graduate. You know about Posh people specially the kids (Filthy, Rich, Spoilt & Rotten). Yes! This is how you describe those people who have unlimited money and political power and you just can't bear that these rich fellas don't like Poor humans not even middle class people like you.

However you got an admission in Oxford, & you will make sure that you only have to mind your own business, wanna make some new friends who should share the same interest like you, Always be aware not to interact with any Posh Guy, like the members of The Riot Club who believes in "Girls for now, Girls for later" ideology. These boys don't consider women as humans, but just only sex toys with whom they can do whatever they want.

On your first day at college, you met Miles Richards, who was quite adorable, handsome and offcourse tall like above 6ft. You kind of into him like a crush thing you know & He likes you too, You guys start dating. He told you about his family, that he's rich and how much powerful his dad is, but you weren't sad on this fact, because you truly like him and trust him, and you have this feeling that He is not like other Rich boys, He's different and he loves you, respects you, take care of you.

One day Miles & you went on a date and he told he has become a new member of The Riot Club. When you heard him, you got worry because the other members of this club and you already know that that aren't really good in friendships & they are students but wanna live life like an adult, you asked that Does he really want to be in this thing. Miles was so happy and he was only talking about the dinning themes, alcohol, parties and tasks in the club all the time. You had no choice but to listen and warned him, that 'Whatever you do, just don't end up in jail." He laughed at your words.

He got too busy with his Riot Club boys and started spending less time with you, sometimes he was too much drunk that don't even pick your calls and don't even reply you back. You were not jealous of his enjoyment but just worried for him.

One day You got a message from Miles that He wants to meet you in a restaurant, asked you to put a pretty dress and came in an hour. You were so happy to see that message and you chose to wear a really hot red dress, just to impress him.😌

You reached the restaurant on time and saw that Miles was with Other Riot Club members, you got confused but said Hi to Miles. Miles was shocked to see you there and told you to leave but you told him that he texted you to come for a date.

Miles and You had no idea that the text was not sent by Miles himself but was actually sent by one of the new member of The Riot Club- ALASTAIR RYLE from Miles' phone.

About Alistair Ryle - He came from a Posh family, really powerful. He is a first-year history student whose brother, Sebastian, was considered a "legendary" member of the Riot Club. Alistair is politically right, leading to intense conflict and rivalry with Miles. Alistair attended Harrow School, unlike his brother, who attended Eton.

In simple words Alistair doesn't like Miles at all, He hated him because of their opposite ideologies and political opinion. Alistair doesn't like whenever Miles wins anything and he lost, Alistair is arrogant, egoistic, rude and kind of Asshole in real life. He doesn't like when people compare him with his brother.

Since he was jealous of Miles and wants to destroy him, He took Miles' phone without his presence and texted you to come at the restaurant.

When Miles was forcing you to leave the place, Alistair stopped Miles and came to you. He looked at you. You have never met Alistair before but you know Alistair and Miles are classmates and he can't stand Miles.

Alistair is a man who don't know how to respect a woman, He's anti-feminist, never had a girlfriend in his life, but not a virgin because of course For him, you don't have to respect your partner especially a woman to loose your virginity.

Alistair gave you a glass of Champagne and asked you to sit, and was really nice to you, asking how are you, where have you been to school, How did you met Miles, and what subject you have opted and etc. You looked at him for a sec, and thought that He's really a nice guy, you just had a prejudice against him.

But then he suddenly asked you "How would you like to make €300 tonight?? You looked at Miles. He was continuously telling Alistair that You are his girlfriend and don't say a word to her please. But you didn't understand what they were talking about.

You laughed in confusion and asked Alistair what is he talking about. One of the riot boy said "just for Few BlowJobs".

You were stunned for a moment and looked at Miles. Asked him what are they talking about? What is happening here, I came here for you, We have a date. Right??

Miles was yelling at them that it's really disrespectful, She's my girlfriend for Christ sake. You can't talk to her like that.

Alistair laughed and told you that Miles doesn't even consider you as his girlfriend, He quoted "Girls for now, Girls for later" said by Miles frankly when they all arrived at the restaurant.

You were upset and disappointed at Miles. But you know there is something special in you that you didn't get furious at Miles. See you are a confident and smart lady.

You looked at Alistair, made a deep eye to eye contact, really confident and said "Nice try Alistair. Let me know you that whatever Miles is saying to you about me doesn't affect our relationship. I trust my man, He might have said those words just to make you loosers laugh, but I know he truly respects me. So You have failed in your fucking plan. And one thing more, You're a history student, Right? I can assume you know about British History, like World Wars, industrialization, British Power all over the globe and Royal Kings and Queens. So, lemme ask you something that being a citizen of a country which was ruled by a Women more than once, How on earth you became a misogynist then? Because I believe, you truly respects the royalty and Rich people especially who are involved in Politics."

Alistair was continuously staring at you, He & You didn't even blink once. You looked at Miles who was in shock and relieved at the same time because you didn't broke up with him. You stoodup and put you right leg on the chair and asked Alistair the same question - "How would you like to make €300 tonight, Alistair??"

You pointed at you Heels, and said "Don't worry, You Don't have to blow me Alistair, You just have to lick them".

When you arrived at the restaurant every member of the fucking Riot Club was laughing and mocking at you, making you feel uncomfortable, but when you confronted Alistair, everyone was shocked and speechless.

Alistair wasn't shocked and he stood up, he's tall, has the same height as Miles, and came close to you, like really close that there is not even a tiny space for an air to pass, your heart was racing a marathon and you started thinking that now This Asshole is going to threaten you and verbally abuse you, However, You stood in confidence and looked at him, and He said - "Impressive".

You didn't react at his word. He took a step back & said- "You can Go!". You were sceptical about what just happened. You looked at Miles and then you left the place. The whole thing happened at the restaurant was an assault to you, you have never imagined in your life that you would have to face such disgusting thing in your life. You cried the whole night, and questioning yourself why didn't your Boyfriend did anything to save you from the mess?? Why did you blindly trusted him, after all he's rich bratt like others. You didn't pick Miles' calls, not even replyed to his messages, you were too much upset what happened to you.

The next day, you were late for your class, You came out from your room, and saw Alistair was standing there, smoking a ciggerate, waiting for you. Although He was sober, but you still thought He might be drunk and came here only to threaten me.

You both looked at each other for a sec. He extinguished the rest of his cigarette and came close to, asked you- "When will you be free from your schedule?? "

You asked him- "Why?"

He said you - " Just wanna talk about Yesterday".

You said- "What do you want from me Alistair?? I don't know you. And I don't wanna interact with you at all. Okay??"

Alistair was starring at you for continuously and there is a seriousmess on his face, when you were looking at him in his eyes you could just assume that like he's just about push you to door behind you and kissed you passionately. This is the first time that someone had broke his Male Ego. And that person is you, he never imagined that he will fall for a woman who shattered his arrogance in some simple words.

He came close to you again. You are a short girl and can only reach to his shoulders. But he was too close that both of your nose tips were slightly touching.

He wasn't leaving the eye contact with you, he looked down on your lips. You were wearing a pink shiny lipgloss. He looked at your shirt, You were wearing a baby pink shirt, unbuttoned from the top to your cleavage, he looked at your chest & came even close to you to smell you, You smelled like Jasmine & Rosemary. In this moment you are feeling a little discomfort and but there is a feeling of deep down hotness which you can't explain to anyone. You smelled him too and He was wearing the most costliest perfume in the world, because it's different and it's truly attractive. And then he looked at your waist and then your legs. He checked out you infront of you, and you weren't able to do something.

He went down on his left knee, touched your ankle, you stepped back and said- "What the fuck are you doing??

Alistair looked at you and said which you have never expected. He said- "I can even lick them if you want. I'll not charge anything from you."

You were shocked and said -" What??"

Alistair laughed and tied your shoo laces. He stood up. He apologized to you on behalf of everyone and himself too. Then He took phone from your hand and dialed his number, and said - " If you need anything, I'll be there for you."

And then he left.

Now, You were in a position that you can't comprehend what just happened, Alistair was like- Never let them know your next move. You were in total confusion why this Men Alistair, a day ago misbehaved with you, suddenly went on his knees and apologized, I mean, didn't threaten, didn't show any money power, and not even said any bad word to you.

Comment down 2; If you wanna know what happened between Miles, You & Alistair after that??

[nyakaze]

helping with your first day of school! — (graduated) hakaze kaoru. ♡

tw/cws: none! | a.n. just fluff hehehe <3 school isn't starting from me until sept, but i'm already in the mood for a fresh start... please no.

the night before, kaoru helps you get your school bag ready, setting 10 alarms that ring every 5 minutes, and with skincare products! he separates the products you need for the night from the ones you'll use in the morning. let's not forget the outfit... that's something you have to pick carefully (especially if you have to respect dress-code) but no worries! he has a great fashion sense, he says accessories will help a lot, especially if you wear an uniform and can't show your style clearly to everyone— "details are the key for a good fit." he says; "try wearing this necklace, it will suit you so~ well, trust me!"

he stayed there for the night. as you couldn't fall asleep, staying with him could be a nice way to spend these hours, relieving a little of the stress you've accumulated with cuddles, and a lot of kisses: on your hands, on your forehead, cheeks, lips.. kaoru is so sweet.

he will wake you up if the alarm won't do his magic... but if you woke up for the excitement (read: nervousness), then there will be no need to wake you up, at all.

"breathe in, breathe out... now, let's go get ready! while you change, i'll prepare you an healthy breakfast so you can do great throughout the day! you'll need a lot of energy, you know?"

as soon as you finish getting dressed, you go and eat breakfast. it was pancakes with strawberries, and a writing made with cream that said "from your dearly loved kaoru ♡" on top. after eating, you go back to your room as he has to help you with finishing up the last things, such as make-up (if it's allowed), re-checking your bag, your phone/laptop's battery, helping you tying your shoes, and giving you a snack to bring along, in case you get hungry. oh, and a kiss to finish the check process!

now that you're ready, you're off to go! of course, he's accompanying you. ☆ holds your hand all the time, (if you take public transport and it's crowded, he will hold you veery close teehehe) and as soon you find yourself to the gates, before he lets you go, he gives you a kiss, and some words of reassurance.

"don't let anyone put you down! walk with your head up, be confident and be yourself. if you won't slay, no one will, haha. seriously, smile and try to make new friends! you will do great for sure, i believe in you. now go, and show them your worth!"

"kaoru, it's literally just the first day of school"

"school can be like a zoo, sometimes."

"you're right. i'll keep it in mind. then, i'm off! thank you a lot! love you!"

and here you go, to your not-so awaited first day, that felt great for the first time, thanks to kaoru.

"love you too!"—i don't think you could hear me, though. a notification pops on your phone's screen: "i'm gonna pick you up later, so wait for me at the gates."

— nyakaze, 2023. do not plagiarize, repost as yours or translate. reblogs are appreciated <3

[harwin-breakbones-strong]

The Blurred Line Between Love & Hate...

Modern AU - A Harwin Strong x Stark!Fem Reader story. 

Ryan's scenes as Simon Beecher on The Secrets She Keeps keep on being an inspiration, I keep writing things with the idea of how I can use them, it’s getting out of control 😅

Synopsis: You grew up as the perfect daughter. Perfect grades, obeyed your parents, no boyfriend until you were 18. Graduated Winterfell High as valedictorian. Top of your class at university. Your parents were proud to show you off at every social event back then. 

Your future was decided for you a long time ago. You were taught to play by the rules, to always think of the family's reputation, to always give yourself 200% into your work. 

But you were also taught to never trust the Strongs. Never befriend them, never get involved in any way with them. When you asked why they were your family's enemies, the answer was never clear. 

You were called a workaholic. You simply liked your life as it was. You were sticking to your routine. You liked being in control. 

You didn't feel like the perfect daughter anymore. You stopped being the woman they thought you were… because you slipped up. One moment, one impulsive act… turned into the biggest secret of your life. Some things, some people were just worth lying for…

+ masterlist of my stories here +

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sound of a received message coming from a phone made you walk out of the bathroom to enter the bedroom. 

"Yours or mine?", you asked. 

"Yours.", answered the man still laying in bed, back against the headboard.

Before you could cross the distance to your phone, he gently grasped your wrist and brought your hand to his lips.

You lightly squeezed his hand in return as you offered him a fond smile. Of the two of you, Harwin was the romantic and affectionate one.

You pulled away and he kept holding your hand until you were out of his reach.

You grabbed your device from the coffee table, ignoring the heated gaze of your lover raking up and down your body. He was clearly appreciating the view he had from the bed, of the black short sleeved, knee length dress you wore hugging your curves perfectly, and giving him a glimpse of your back as the dress was only half zipped.

"Henry fucked up and needs me to save his ass. Again. I can't believe my father chose this guy as head of marketing instead of me.", you ranted, annoyed as you read the text. 

You put your phone back down and walked over to the wooden dresser across from the bed, where you left your rings, necklace and earrings. 

"Still haven't changed your mind about going official, have you?", he wished to know. He sounded grouchy, irked. Well, even more than the last time he asked. 

The two of you had been having this conversation for the past 6 months. Harwin wanted to go public with the relationship. He was growing frustrated, tired of hiding and meeting in hotel rooms. You wished it was that simple. However, there was too much at stake at the moment for you to reveal your relationship. That… and the fact you feared your father’s reaction. 

"You know I can't. If my father finds out I'm sleeping with a Strong, he literally IS going to kill me. Then you… Then me again.", you argued with a heavy sigh. 

You locked eyes with him through his reflection in the mirror. So much had happened in the last 3 years…

You grew up being taught the Strongs were your family's enemies so, when you had met Harwin at the bar of the hotel you always stayed in, in New York, you naturally wanted to keep your distance. But you had a terrible day and things went out of control. You will never forget that day for several reasons… 

You were picking up the pieces of your broken heart after walking in on your boyfriend in bed with another woman. The asshole tried to justify his cheating by saying that you were married to your job, putting in hours to please your father and he was nothing more than an afterthought. You were drowning your sadness in your daiquiri in silence, until a man sat in the seat next to you. You recognized him immediately and it was clear he knew who you were as well. 

"Is Horizon losing that much money to Cineo for you seek comfort in a glass? 

You sent him a dark glance. What a jerk. Horizon was doing fine, despite the concurrence. It was your family's streaming platform, established internationally. First platform to exist, no matter how much Netflix liked to pretend they were there first. Cineo was the Strongs' own platform, launched two years after. The two have been in competition, especially in Westeros ever since. Both companies were accusing one another of spying, stealing ideas, hiring producers and crew behind the other company's back, screwing the competitiveness of the market, among other things. 

"As much as I would love a verbal sparring with you on any other day, Mr Strong, I'm afraid I'm not in the mood right now.", you responded a bit harshly. "Please, just leave me alone.", you added in a soft pleading voice. 

You felt exhausted and miserable, and wished to be left with nothing but regrets as company. 

He studied you for a moment then did something that took you completely by surprise. 

"That was uncalled for, I'm sorry." he replied, genuinely apologizing. "May I ask what happened?" 

You still didn't know to this day what pushed you to tell him the truth instead of just ignoring him or going back to your room. 

"I can't keep a man around for more than a year apparently.", you revealed with a sad sarcastic chuckle. "Thought I would surprise him with takeout from his favorite restaurant and a bottle of wine. Only to find him fucking someone else on my couch." 

Harwin didn't say anything. He sipped at his own drink. 

"You must be rejoicing on the inside seeing me like this.", you sneered. 

"Contrary to what you believe about me, I don't take joy in other people's suffering. Even when they're a Stark.", Harwin admitted with an empathic look in your direction. "I know what it feels like, being lied to and betrayed."

"You? Cheated on?", you wondered out loud, bewildered. 

"How is that so hard to believe?" 

"Please, don't act as if you didn't know you're attractive, charming… and polite. Not something many men know the definition of these days. A flash of that smile can get you any woman, I'm sure." 

"Got all that from our two minute conversation?"

His smirk was infuriating, yet he was joking and you felt the corner of your own mouth turning up in a hardly contained smile. 

"No woman in her right mind would cheat on a guy like you."

"Tell that to my ex and my former best friend. I was nothing but a bank account to them."

"That's what happened with the Targaryen girl.", you guessed as you played with your bracelet. "You have more decency that I have. Basically told everyone in the industry what kind of man my ex is, I fear he's not going to find a job anytime soon." 

The two of you laughed. You spent the evening at the bar with Harwin, talking. It had been far from unpleasant. He had been a welcomed distraction. 

And when you got out of the elevator on the same floor – since your suites were a few doors apart – later that night, you had no intention for anything to happen. He was a Strong and you were a Tyrell. Nothing could ever happen. 

In front of the door of his suite, you confessed it felt great to have your mind taken off everything that worried you. You offered him your hand to shake, he took it with an amused smile. 

"We can't change the circumstances with our families but we can be cordial to one another, can't we?" 

"We can.", he agreed with a nod. "Their shared hatred doesn't have to be ours." 

You intended to let go of his warm hand that enveloped yours…You didn't. 

You kissed him. When you realized what you were doing, you pulled away with a gasp. 

His eyes dived into yours. 

You were about to apologize when his arms snaked around your waist and drew you back to him for another kiss. 

It just… happened. You didn't know why it did. One moment you were only thinking of getting some much needed sleep and the next, your lips collided with his. 

You had sex with him that night and declared the next morning before leaving his room, that it had been a mistake, it would never happen again and you would ruin his life if he dared speak of it to anyone. 

That threat became meaningless when you ran into him in London three weeks later… You had no idea what he did but the man you had been flirting with gave you a pathetic excuse and left in the middle of dinner after he had to take an important call. In retaliation, you spilled your margarita onto his date's dress pretending it was an accident when you left the restaurant. 

It was petty but you felt he deserved it for ruining your evening. You were going back to your room pretty satisfied with yourself when he entered the elevator just before the doors closed. You kept your eyes on the doors while he stared at you. Still, you noticed how handsome he looked with his hair tied and away from his face, a 3-day stubble on his jaw and a suit that matched the color of his eyes. When he understood you had no intention of speaking to him, he pressed the stop button and the elevator paused its movement just before reaching your floor. He turned on you immediately and you took a step back. 

"Feel pretty proud of yourself, don't you?" 

"I have no idea what you mean.", you played the innocent. After all, he didn't witness the scene and he had no proof it was you who ruined the woman's expensive dress. 

"You didn't have to wreck my plans. I kept my mouth shut."  

"Oh yeah?! And what you did to MY date? Jordan made an escape like his life depended on it!", you shouted back. How dared he?! 

"He's not worthy of you."

"You're fucking unbelievable! We had sex once and you think you know me?!" 

"He's married! Okay? I saw him remove his wedding ring. I wanted to spare you the heartache.", Harwin explained, irritated. 

That gave you pause. Damn. You should have known Jordan was too perfect to be true. 

"I suppose I should thank you." 

"Don't mention it. You didn't have to ruin her dress, you know?" 

You bit your lip to keep from grinning. 

"I probably saved you, too. Checking her phone every 5 minutes? Definitely wasn't interested in your personality." 

"Oh, so now you care?", he said, raising an eyebrow as his expression lost any trace of exasperation. 

You snickered. 

"I don't." 

He took a step forward into your personal space, you took a step back. Then another and another, until your back hit the wall of the elevator. 

"I make you feel out of control and it scares the hell out of you.", he whispered against your lips as his hands came to rest on your hips. 

The warmth of his palms burned through the fabric of your skirt. You were trying to keep a clear head but his proximity was making it difficult. Your body didn't forget his touch and was reacting accordingly. Traitor. 

"You need to allow yourself to live a little…" 

You put a hand to his clothed chest to regain a bit more space from him. 

"I like my life as it is.", you murmured, breathless, heart pounding in your chest. 

He hummed, not believing a word. 

"No, you don't…" 

He captured your lips in a hot kiss as his hands cupped your ass to remove any distance between you two. 

Hadn't it been for the interphone asking if everything was alright, you probably would have let him have his way with you there and then. You somehow managed to make your way out of the elevator to your suite, not detaching your hands and lips from one another. 

That's how you stumbled into bed with Harwin Strong for the second time, internally swearing to yourself it was the last time and it wouldn't happen again. 

It kept happening.

The sex was amazing, the banter agreeable and you both slowly turned to each other for comfort and support over time. 

You couldn't remember at which point you stopped leaving the bed right after you had both climaxed to take a shower and started staying under the sheets either on your side or cuddled up to him, your head on his chest, the tips of his fingers tracing the soft skin of your shoulder. 

It flourished into a real relationship, a secret one for both your sakes and led to real love, though neither of you had voiced your feelings with those little three words yet. 

Here you were, 3 years later. You lost a higher position on the company's ladder to an incompetent colleague who did nothing but flatter your father to get into his good grace but you had Harwin, his love and his support. It was enough for now.

~

> MASTERLIST HERE <

[boozles]

Boozle's 2023 Top Ten Dramas

I've been really enjoying reading everyone's top lists of the year, and I've actually been thinking about my own for a few weeks now, because I knew how hard it would be for me to put my lists together! Basically, in terms of Asian drama series, I watched a lot this year. According to my MDL, I have completed 99 dramas for the whole year. (Disclaimer: not all of these were BL, and a handful were short films. Regardless, I still think that's a ridiculous amount and I understand why people think I have no life x_x) So, I think you all can understand why these lists are going to be a little difficult for me!

Note: Everything I say here is my own personal thoughts and opinions. I'm not trying to attack anyone for liking something I don't, or disliking something I loved. We're all pals here, okay? <3

Top Ten Dramas (Note: not all dramas were released in 2023.)

(i) He's Coming to Me (2019) After watching Something in my Room last year, I swore to never watch another 'ghost boyfriend' series because gosh, even if ghosts are my favourite spooky thing, my heart cannot handle the pain of a sad ending. However, Ohm and Singto sucked me in, and this was just lovely and even gave me a happier ending than I'd expected. I'm a little sad that I was so late to this series, but it has definitely found it's place in my heart.

(ii) My School President (2022/23) I still can't believe that I originally thought this was gonna suck and only started it because I wanted to see what everyone was fussing over. I became so invested in these lads and gosh, I fell in love with the cast (minus Prom, who still irks me). Fourth, Gemini and Mark were absolute standouts in this, and I honestly cannot wait for My Love Mix-Up! because they will be fantastic.

(iii) Moonlight Chicken (2023) This is a surprise to no one, because it seems like it's on everyone's favourites list. Again, though, this was a surprising hit for me; I originally only planned on watching for First and Khaotung because I didn't really know Earth and Mix very well (I only started watching BL at the tail end of 2022, so I feel like I was still a little bit of a newbie at the time) and I just fell in love with EarthMix. They have chemistry that is just so mesmerising and belongs to them. The writing of this series was also just perfect, and the cast was wonderful. It deserves all the accolades it's been getting, and I honestly think this will always be a favourite of mine.

(iv) Choco Milk Shake (2022) In all honesty, I expected this to be weird because it's literally about a guy's pets coming back as humans and his dog falls in love with him and his cat falls in love with his uncle. It sounds like it should be creepy, but it really isn't. I sobbed like an absolute baby during this, and whilst I found the ending a little confusing, I loved it. I really hope we get that rumoured second season.

(v) The Gifted (2018) & The Gifted: Graduation (2020) Okay, I'm including both seasons of The Gifted because I loved them both for their own reasons. However, one of the main things I loved about this series was that it made me appreciate actors I'd never cared much for before. I didn't get all the fuss about Gun Attaphan until I watched this (and yes, I'd already seen Not Me), but I thought he was spectacular in this. Chimon and Nanon were fantastic, and I really loved Mek and Victor, even if they weren't as porminent and I'd have liked.

(vi) A Boss and Babe (2023) Ah, my first experience of ForceBook. I would die for these men. This was a bloody brilliant series, and if you want my honest opinion, it really showed how fantastic Book is at acting, because Cher is nothing like any other character he has portrayed. I loved the backstories and the little nuances, and the supporting cast was fantastic, too. This series deserves more credit and respect (but can we pretend the Our Skyy 2 episodes never happened? Because they were so weird.)

(vii) Beyond Evil (2021) This is probably the best Kdrama I watched all year. It had everything I need - murder, mystery, tortured men with tragic backstories, plus twists and turns in every damn episodes. The acting and writing was superb and I'm honestly depressed there isn't going to be a season 2 (as far as I know?).

(viii) Only Friends (2023) Okay, I know we all have our complaints about things that went wrong with OF, but you know what? I still loved it. Yes, I still think the creators made mistakes with allowing fan opinions to influence the editing and I'm bitted about the treatment of Boston in the end, but I loved these characters and their stories. The cast put their heart and soul into their performances (especially Khaotung and Force) and I really hope we get to see them in future series' together again, as they all work so well together.

(ix) I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023) This was another series I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did, yet I was there with the rest of you, bawling my eyes out when it ended. Despite the fact my dream career is a historian, I often don't enjoy historical dramas, so I put this off for the first few weeks of it airing until all the gif sets finally forced me to check it out. The cast was fantastic, and the writing was brilliant. I will be broken hearted if they don't get a second season, because they deserve it.

(x) I told Sunset About You (2020) & I Promised You the Moon (2021) I'm including both series as one since technically it's just season 1 and season 2. I loved these shows. They were the most realistic portrayals of young teenage queer love that I have seen in so long. I know a lot of people get angry with Teh in IPYTM but by gosh, my heart just hurt for that confused boy; Billkin's crying is so tragically realistic and as much as I too hated that he was hurting Oh-Aew, I also could understand the confusing feelings that come with growing up. Oh-Aew was just...perfect. PP Krit really just cut my chest open, crawled inside and made a little home for himself with this performance. My only issue is that these two haven't been in anything else together since, and I really hope 2024 fixes that, because as much as I support their music careers, I need them on my screen again.

Honorary Mentions: (i) Kiseki: Dear to Me (2023) (ii) The Warp Effect (2022) (iii) Home School (2023) (iv) Our Dating Sim (2023) (v) La Pluie (2023)

[notkijoon]

omg hi everyone!! i'm essie (she/her, 25+, est) and i am literally SO excited to be here ◡̈ this is my paranoid mess and excuse to look at hyunjin all the time lol moon kijoon. i love the concept of this roleplay so much so i'm so stoked to write with you all and see what crazy stuff goes down the next three months!!! (admins if ur reading this i would love for you to make this man lose his f*king mind okay i'm giving you guys permission now)

i'm down for more brainstorming & organic plotting; to avoid getting shad*wb*nned i do prefer plotting on discord (essie1123)! feel free to like this post if you want me to approach first & can't wait to get to know you all real soon ♡ here's some fun stuff below the cut :

typical art kid, just wants to do visual art stuff and be edgy and cool and slightly emo circa 2006 my chemical romance era u feel me

graduated hs in 2019 and moved to california to go to ucla

wound up getting himself involved in an artistic cult called echoes of eden out in the desert and saw some wild shit go down that basically traumatized him (picture the entire movie midsommar)

got so scared he left the commune but began becoming paranoid that members and their leader were stalking him and going to find a way to force him back

after moving back to korea, decided to take a job at camp saesori so he could feel like he was going under the radar for awhile to get away from the possibility that anyone was after him

somebody get this man a drink

the news of han minjung’s death brought his anxiety and paranoia to a new level as he’d only met her a few weeks before her death (plus this being his first summer here so like wtf forreal) and didn't know anything about her prior but has unjustifiably begun to believe that maybe he was actually the intended target

+ for the time being i've come up with just a few general connections i'd love to see for kijoon here !!