#full execution because until when do they have to go. where does she look back. how does she not know if they're there

[trendywaifus]

thinking about boxer! stelle’s who is pretty much emotionless and just likes to fight. she’s basically an amateur boxer who’s popularity quickly grew because of her innate ability to adapt to seemingly anything. there’s so many gyms wanting to recruit her, even pro gyms that amateur boxers would do anything to get accepted to. stelle ends up going to ‘set your trail ablaze’, a very promising gym with plenty of aspiring and famous boxers.

she meets you there and oh boy, you gave that girl so much color and shine to her eyes as her relationship with you develops. a lot of the members, esp the coaches (himeko, herta, welt, & etc), was pleasantly surprised about stelle’s transformation! at first, she barely spoke and attended practice without interacting with anyone, and everyone was trying to get her to talk to them but to no avail. then you, a newbie trainer to the gym, who’d give her company despite her nonchalant looks and side glances towards you. you were unbothered by her stoic nature.

“ that’s good, stell’ but your jab’s a little wide—which is fine since you have long arms but because of that, you tend to come back a little slow. you gotta be a tiny bit faster and quickly go back into stance like—. “ before you could step up and show her, she sliently does it, swiftly jabbing and snaps back into her boxing stance with perfect execution. she then looks at you expectedly.

“ yeah, atta girl. that’s perfect, geez, i didn’t have to demonstrate for you! “

“. . .” she nods at you before waiting for your next instructions, ignoring the fluttering feeling in her stomach.

you became stelle’s unofficial personal coach and trainer, helping her improve as both a boxer and a person from your strong support. she grew more comfortable around you and others, becoming a little more vocal and expressive. she now has a habit of following you around like a puppy whenever you’re present in the gym. she’ll visibly sulk and become a little distracted when you’re not there. it was clear to everyone except you that she has a crush on you. you also have a crush on her, i mean, she reminded you of a adorable raccoon with claws! the obvious romantic tension between you and stelle was so agonizing, it was driving the fellow gym members crazy.

it was until stelle’s first pro boxing match where she was getting surprisingly overwhelmed by the other opponent. she looked completely beaten up and worn out, it broke your heart. during the one minute resting period, you were so full of frustration that you splashed water on her bruised face, aggressively patted her cheeks, then squished them together and pulled her into a searing kiss that left everyone in the ring and the audience speechless.

“ i fucking love you stelle but, if you don’t get your tall ass up and win, i’ll take it upon myself to be your sparring partner in every sparring match you do. “

spoiler alert, she indeed got her ass up with astronomically high spirits. a dark shade of red staining her cheeks, an odd, dopey grin plastered on her swollen, busted lips—yeah, she’s ready to kick ass in the name of love.

she totally did.

[kangaracha]

QUEENMAKER | CHAPTER 1

---

pairing chan x reader

genre ninth member au, enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, coming of age, social media, cancel culture, anxiety, depression, forbidden love,

summary To JYPE, the solution is simple; take the sole trainee that will not debut with your brand new girl group, and use her to replace the missing vocalist in your male group that insisted on starting as nine.

Unfortunately, to the fans and the members themselves, it isn't that simple.

status ongoing

taglist OPEN

previous | masterlist | next

---

"Tell me the news," Minseo says before you're even all the way through the door, hauling you over to the couch pushed against the back wall of the room.

Hayoon’s head turns, seated on the other end watching the final four members of their group clean choreography. You don't know her very well compared to Minseo and a couple of the others; she's only been a trainee at JYP for a matter of months, and you'd started working as a group just ten or twelve weeks ago.

Minseo though, you've known for years, ever since she entered the company with no dance skills to speak of but the full voice of an angel. Minseo, you'd been excited beyond belief to debut with. Minseo, you'd been friends with through the worst and the best years here, until they had pulled you apart with no warning.

"This is a lot of manic energy when I could be about to tell you that my contract is terminated," you say, to hide the way your teeth rattle against each other, your heart pounding in your chest. Your nerves are run ragged from the hours spent in that room, executives staring you down - and even now, Hayoon stares from the corner, however unobtrusively.

Minseo bites back a ruder comment, a hand slapping your knee. "That's not the face you'd be wearing if they ended your contract," she tells you confidently. Probably correctly, too.

You can't stop the small smile that tugs at your lips, the rise of emotion down in your chest that squeezes at your lungs. "See?" Minseo cries, pointing at you. "They didn't fire you. They made you an offer."

Slowly, you nod. "They made me an offer," you admit - and for a minute, all the apprehension that has been building in your chest relieves. You're going to debut, one way or another. You're going to live out the dream you've all been chasing for so long now; you're just going to do it-

"Solo debut?" Minseo guesses, and your smile tightens, struggling to slide right off your face. 

"Group debut," you correct her; and then, because there's no better way to tell her, blurt out, "They offered me a contract within an established group. To replace a missing member."

Minseo stares at you, her fingers stiff where they cling to the seat cushion you sit upon. "Which group?" she questions - skipping over, for now, how unusual the circumstances are, the hundred other questions there are to ask about how and why and what the hell are you talking about.

You take a breath, because it's only going to get weirder. "Stray Kids?" you say tentatively, as if she might not know the name - but of course she does. Everyone here knows of them, if not knowing them personally.

"That's a male group," Hayoon says from the corner, because Minseo is too busy stuttering her way through several questions to voice any single one clearly. 

"JYP are interested in making them a co-ed group, if I'm interested in taking the contract," you reply, near-verbatim from the meeting you've just sat through, and twist in your seat to look at her. You don't know her very well, but you've always liked her - calm under pressure, logical and shrewd in her judgment, yet still able to have fun outside of practice. 

"In what world are you not taking the contract?" asks Minseo, who has never once let an opportunity slip through her cut-throat little fingers.

"In this world, maybe," Hayoon shoots back without hesitation, "where she'd be the only girl in a group that's not only all male but also two years her senior."

You don't know how Hayoon managed to sum it all up in one sentence, but she's right; the hesitation that builds up in your chest, the welling fear that you're going to end up somewhere worse than an empty dorm room, your friends debuting without you. It's because of the untenable position the executives have offered you - to join a group of seniors, to always be an other within their unit...

"What happens if you don't take the contract?" Minseo asks.

"I get dropped from the company," you answer, and then shrug. You think it comes off as very nonchalant, despite the pit in your stomach. "I'll be too old for the next planned group, and they aren't willing to offer me a solo contract."

"But they can offer a random contract in a male group?" Minseo presses.

Hayoon is pensive, her brow creased in thought. "Co-ed groups are insanely popular right now," she says, "but adding a girl to an existing boy group is...weird."

"It's creating publicity for the group and the company," you recite, the words still fresh in your mind from another woman's mouth. "They want to do something new and exciting. Something people might talk about."

"Everything always comes down to money or clout," Hayoon sighs.

"I think you should do it," Minseo puts in, leaning back into the sofa. "What else are you going to do, just quit? You've been here like six years for nothing then."

"Four," you correct her, though six isn't wrong; the first two years had just been spent in another company, slowly realizing that they had no intention of debuting you. "And I can try another company still. I'm twenty-two and I look like, eighteen, I'm not dead."

"Another company is risky though," Hayoon points out. "You're trusted and respected in JYP - if I were them, that's why I'd have offered you the contract, not because of talent or anything. Another company isn't going to care at all if you get a chance to debut, even if you audition perfectly and never make a mistake."

"How are you so wise, unnie?" Minseo asks teasingly, and a smile curves the other girl's lips.

"I've been around the block a few times," she responds. "Got friends in high places, giving me advice. How do you think I got here?"

You feel slightly uncomfortable at that; the insinuation she's making. The thought creeps into your head that she stole your spot, but you chase it away just as quickly as it comes - your spot is empty now, not filled by someone else. Your fight is with whatever face of management looked at a photo of you and decided to rip it up, not the girls down here, and there is no point losing friends and allies over it anyway. It's already done. Midnight isn't the path you will be allowed to take.

You turn to look at Hayoon, somewhat surprised at what else she is saying. "You think I should do it too?" you question.

Hayoon is slow to answer, thinking it through one last time. "It's a shit choice," she says, the language slipping from her tongue in a carefully constructed way that says she doesn't care who hears it. "You either become a scapegoat for whatever happens with Stray Kids, or you throw yourself to the wolves of the industry. Solo debut would be much kinder."

"But if you stay," Minseo tacks onto the end, "we get to hang out every day still."

"If you stay," Hayoon interrupts, "you debut in a company you trust and a group known for doing their own thing and protecting each other. If you're going to be added to any group, they're definitely one of the better options."

"Their leader was in the meeting," you say suddenly, your eyes turning to the polished wood of the floor. "He didn't seem very happy about the idea."

"Bang Chan sunbaenim?" Minseo says. "He's really nice though."

"How would you know that?" Hayoon asks. 

Minseo throws a hand up, defensive. "I just see him around, I don't know. Everyone knows Stray Kids are nice guys."

"Nice or not, he was pretty vocal about not wanting a new member in his group," you sigh. 

Hayoon falls silent, apparently without a rebuttal to this statement. "He'll just have to get over it then," Minseo says, elbowing you gently. "What's he going to do, ice you out? He could lose his whole group doing that."

"You're very rude," Hayoon says, leaning forward to look at Minseo. "I don't know what the best decision is. Stay or go, it's a risk either way. You don't know what kind of group you'll end up in with another company either."

"And they want an answer by tomorrow," you add dejectedly.

Minseo pats your arm, Hayoon a quiet, grounding weight on the other side. "You'll make the right choice," she says. "You're way smarter than me, and way better at singing - if I'm going to be mega-famous, you're going to be there quicker."

Despite yourself, a small smile quirks in the corner of your mouth. "But not better at dancing?"

Minseo laughs, open-mouthed and mocking. "No way," she replies. "You'll never be better at dancing than me. Nice try."

TAGLIST

@kokinu09 @rainfallingfromthesky @lixie-phoria @mysweethannie @chlodavids @hanniemylovelyquokka @tfshouldidohere @lauraliisa @puppysmileseungmin @kalopsian-thoughts @puppy-minnie @readerofallthingss @dvbkie099 @keepswingin

[andydrysdalerogers]

Undercover ~ Two ~ Sam

Pairings: Jake Jensen and OFC Samantha Matthews

The Losers have made it back to their families and are out. Well, almost. A threat against the British crown needs to be handled and the CIA has tapped the Losers for one final mission. And they are sending in Jensen.

Jake Jensen hasn't been a civilian in years but now he's undercover to find out why his target is where he is and who he's after.

Enter Sam, someone who Jake doesn't expect and well, he didn't know he was looking for.

Can Jake handle his mission and falling in love? Especially when the truth leads to a bigger mission than expected?

*~* A Jake Jensen Story *~*

Author's note: this story continues after the events of the Losers. I may weave other characters into it but they are all minor. THE TAGLIST IS OPEN.

The playlist is available on Spotify.

cover photo by me! Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Warnings: angst, death, smut, and a bunch of stuff a can’t say because it gives away the plot!

Previous - One - Jake

Story Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Predictable.  

That’s how Sam Matthews would describe her life.  Eat sleep work repeat. Her job as secretary to the head of IT at ADR gave her an income but not joy. The only woman on a floor full of mouth breathing men was cringey. The ogle, the attempts to flirt (badly), the propositions got old and fast. 

When did my life become this, she thought to herself.  She had been on track to get married, become an executive within ADR.  But when Terry left (with his secretary) Sam’s life stalled.  She shuffled around until she landed with Mike, Terry’s best friend.  Mike was just as angry as Sam was, being that said secretary was his girlfriend.  

The beauty of men. A year after and Mike was able to move on.  Not “hey let’s have a beer with the ex-best friend” move on but still.  Sam barely functioned, only really doing the minimum to go to work, not really having anyone else in her life except her mother, her father and brother (who was quite distant), her best friend Stephanie and her cat, Bowie.  

While Sam was getting ready for the day, Mike messaged her about a new member of the security IT team. Jake Jensen. She replied, confirming that she would get it done. She headed out of her cottage and drove into work. Her cottage.  The one thing that her father had set her up with and she managed to hang on to during the break up.  

Heading into ADR, Sam checks herself in the mirror of the elevator.  Ponytail neat, makeup soft, clothes straight, she doesn’t look like a mess and that at least will keep Michael off her ass.  She greets everyone as she enters and tries to avoid the accounting floor where her most unwanted admirer had an office.  

John Fitzpatrick was not an unattractive man; Sam could acknowledge that a bit, but she just wasn’t interested.  John was cocky.  He knew he was good looking, and he had already ran through almost all of the woman at ADR with the exception of Sam.  

After setting up the new security IT manager with his email and logins, Sam sets off on her normal routine, delivering reports from Michael, gathering up the reports needed.  From the corner of her eye, she saw the new guy look at her and quickly duck his head.  She giggled but ignored him as he seemed shy.  But that distraction would cost her. She moved back to her area and went into the break room, not realizing who else was in the room with her.  

“Miss Matthews!” 

“Shit,” she mumbled to herself. She looked up to see John smiling down at her.  He had crowded her near the coffee maker, kitty corner from the door.  

“I was wondering when you would finally let me take you to dinner.” 

“That’s a nice offer, but as I explained before I’m really not interested.” She tried to move away but John stopped her with a hand on her hip. “Please don’t touch me.”  

“Why? Does it get you all hot and bothered?” 

“No, because its sexual harassment.” Sam pushed him away and walked out the door quickly. She barely missed another body in her retreat. “Excuse me, sorry.”  She moved to a corner that made it look like she was heading to the elevator. She crouched in the corner but could still hear from the break room.  

“Pardon me…” she heard John try to follow and stopped by the guy she almost ran into.  “You’re new.”  

“Yeah, hi. I’m Jake, IT.”  

“John, accounting.  Sorry, did you see a brunette pass by?” 

“Uh, yeah, she went into the elevator.” Sam breathed a sigh of relief.  

“Sly minx, she is.  You must know how that is.” Ew, really, she thought.  “Well, I’ll see you around Jake.”  

“Likewise.”  

Sam watched as John walked right by her and waited a moment before going back to the breakroom to retrieve her mug.  She found the new manager in the room, sipping his coffee. 

“Is he gone?” She must have startled him as he choked on his coffee.  

Sam finally had a good look at the man. Blonde spiky hair, memorizing blue eyes behind a set of wire rimmed glasses, pink lips with scruff on his chin.  He was gorgeous.  She could tell he was also slim but well built. He took a moment to respond to her. “Uh, yeah.  I told him that you went up the elevator.”  

Sam sighed in relief. “Thank you.  God, he just won’t take no for an answer.”  

He was still a little slow in responding but he seemed to snap out of it. “Sorry for my species.” He wrinkled his nose, assuming he made a stupid comment. He turned to walk away but Sam found his comment amusing.  

She giggled.  “Thank you for apologizing.  I’m Sam, by the way. Sam Matthews. Sorry Samantha.”  She extended her hand to him.  

“I like Sam.” He flinched again. “I’m Jake Jensen.” He took her hand. It was a warm hand, strong but yet gentle in hers.  

“Oh, you’re the new manger! Welcome to ADR!” She beamed him a smile and he flashed on back, showing off his pearly whites. Sam nearly swooned.  This was the first time since Terry that she found someone she was attracted to.  

“Are you going to have trouble getting back to your office?” he asked. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder.  “I could walk you back.”  

“I would like that,” she replied with a soft smile. “Let me just,” she reached for her mug and poured herself a cup.  

“Princess, huh?” 

She wrinkled her forehead. “Excuse me?” 

He pointed to her hands. “Your mug. Princess.”  

“Oh,” she lifted the mug to look at it.  “Yeah, my father gave it to me.” She blushed and quickly took a sip.  

“Makes sense.  Dad’s princess.  I get it.” Jake quirked a half smile.  “Sooo, I email you every day.” 

Sam giggled, “yep, all your reports. And other things.”  

“How long have you been with ADR?” 

“About four years.  I came in with… a friend and they left, and I stayed.” Sam shrugged. “What made you come to ADR?” 

“A job,” he quirked a smile.  “I’m ex-military and they offered me a position. It’s close to my family so it was a no-brainer.”  

“That must be nice. My mom is in New York so I can only see her every once in a while.”  

“And your dad?” Jake looked like he was sincerely interested and that gave Sam a flutter.  

“Uh, he’s in England with my brother.  We don’t talk a lot. He was quite busy, but he just retired.”  

“Cool.  Maybe he’ll get a chance to visit you.” Jake stopped, missing the look of apprehension on Sam’s face and Sam noticed that she was outside of Mike’s office where she sat. “Well, I better get back.  The boss won’t want me to slack off. Or his assistant.”  A half smile graces his face.  

“No, she wouldn’t.  But she wouldn’t mind if you came by to say hello more often.”  

“I think that can be arranged.”  Jake took a step back and hit a cubicle wall.  “Umm… so… yeah ok.”  He turned and walked back to his area as Sam watched.  He turned back once and raised a hand to wave but hesitated and just rubbed the back of his head as he walked into his area.  

Sam watched with a smile until she heard someone clearing his throat. She turned to see Mike smiling at her.  “I haven’t seen that smile in a while.”  

“Mike, sorry,” she ducked back to her desk.  

“Don’t be sorry Samantha. You haven’t smiled in a long time.” Mike leaned against the doorway. “He’s… interesting.”  

Sam smiled. Interesting doesn’t even begin to cover it.  She went to her computer and set up an appointment.  

Coffee ~ 10AM ~ Daily  Invitees:  J. Jensen and S. Matthews 

She sent it off as Mike went back to work.  She watched as Jake’s head popped up and looked over towards her.  He smiled and sat down.  Her computer pinged. She looked down to see the invitation was accepted.  

Then her instant message popped.  

JJ: I would have asked you to coffee  SM: Really?  JJ: No…  SM: Why?  JJ: Too Beautiful  JJ: Shit  JJ: I mean… 

Sam smiled. His adorable, dorky nature is refreshing compared to all the other men in the office.   SM: I think you’re cute.   SM: Just want to get to know my new team mate  JJ: Me too 

Sam bit her lip, feeling her cheeks flush.  Only Jake Jensen could really bring this out in her.  Because he wasn’t like everyone else. She went on with her day, staying close to Mike’s office as John wouldn’t come around.  As she packed up to leave, a shadow fell over her and she looked up to see Jake in the doorway. “Hi?” 

“I just wanted to make sure you made it to your car uninterrupted.  Consider me your bodyguard,” Jake said with an overexaggerated bow.  

“Thank you, kind sir,” Sam replied. She turned off her lamp and grabbed her bag.  They walked side by side to the garage.  

“So, you feel safe now?” 

“Very.” Sam smiled up at him.  He was so much taller than she was, even in her heels.  

“Good.  My pop taught me to always be a gentleman.  Even if my mouth gets me into trouble.”  

“No filter?” 

“Sometimes. My CO, sorry, commanding officer, would tell me I could talk my way out of a lot of things but it’s usually because I put myself there.” Jake chuckled. They stopped at Sam’s car.  “I guess you made it safe and sound.”  

“Well, couldn’t have done it without my personal bodyguard.”  Sam smiled. “See you tomorrow Jake.”  

“Have a good night Sam.”  He waited until she drove out before heading to his own vehicle.  

* 

* 

* 

In the dark corner of the lot, John Fitzgerald gripped his steering wheel.  This was not an obstacle that he had anticipated.  No matter.  When John Fitzgerald is on a mission, he stops at nothing to get what he wants.   

NEXT

Taglist:

@patzammit

@texmexdarling

@slutforchrisjamalevans

@firephotogrl74

@tinkerbelle67

@before-we-get-started

@bunnyforhim

@alexakeyloveloki

@sunnyhummingbee

@whiskeytangofoxtrot555

@peaceinourtime82

@saucy-sassy-sparkly

@kmc1989

@kandis-mom

@lokislady82

[mamamittens]

Had the horrifying realization why I've been moody lately, really twitchy, irritated, and had the desire to cry very easily on top of wanting to workshop the arguably saddest parts of Nikia's story lol

Soon my least favorite part of having the full, feminine package

Just trying to piece together their (Thatch and Nikia's) reunion.

Did she ever call or was she just so relieved and hopeful that Thatch was willing to take that step she never got the nerve to? She must have waited weeks with no signs until her father delivered the news by accident.

She stared at her snail for hours, trying not to vomit as she worked up the nerve to call and give her condolences.

She never does.

Thatch, in a brief moment of clarity after surgery before being put under to heal, tells the attending nurse to "tell his angel he'll make it up to her soon" and the nurse assumes Thatch is delirious or speaking of his guardian angel, how else could he have managed to just barely dodge the worst of the blow without realizing Teach's intent?

(Thatch had been working on his haki cause he always wanted to know where Nikia was when he visited, worried and secretly wishing to let her know he would always see her)

So no one ever tells Nikia Thatch is okay, the truth kept secret in case Teach had darker plans that required Thatch dead. Most don't even know Thatch calls her, he bribed one of his brothers who mans the snails to keep his silence. The brother doesn't know her number and assumes Thatch would find a way to call himself.

There was no snail capable of making the call where they put Thatch to rest, a total lockdown of information with the patient kept under anesthetic.

Nikia has to make a rigid schedule to remember to eat. Structuring her days because her minimal appetite is gone, desire to cook stabbed dead. She mourns and keeps to herself, with few the wiser. Reassuring herself that Ace, headstrong Ace, is already going after Teach, and as a relative stranger, she has no right place in that conflict.

No right when she could never find the courage to call herself or even confess while he was alive. So she wears his foulard as a comfort and a reminder of her shortcomings. Hesitation kills, she knows this... And she hesitated for nearly three years.

Thatch wakes sometime shortly before Ace is captured and assumes Nikia had been called, shocked and exhausted but determined to recover. Then he gets the news of Ace's execution and the stress nearly gets him out back under again. Barely managing to behave himself well enough to watch the broadcast.

She insists on joining her father's crew to answer the call, desperate to do what she can to make up for three years wasted with her hesitation. Takes flight while they form a line around Marineford so high up she's mistaken for a bird if she's spotted at all.

Thatch is setting off the heart monitor like crazy but the nurses are too preoccupied watching their little brother sacrifice himself for his own little brother to sedate Thatch. Only for a shot from nowhere to buy them all precious time.

Nikia watches with fury, crying into her helmet as Teach steps out onto the battlefield. She doesn't recognize the sound they echoes in her helmet as human, something between a snarl and a sob as Teach and Whitebeard face off.

Teach laughs and her world spins. Fury burning her lungs how dare he laugh after what he's done--

Thatch sucks in a sharp breath as Teach is killed instantly, a horrible weight lifted as his would-be-murderer is denied his quarry for a second time.

She's sent hurtling again, shocked and nearly dropping her gun as instinct kicks in and she rights herself. Her hands trembling as she looks back to see Whitebeard glaring at the sky, a body laid out at his feet without a face, just a smear of blood.

She didn't even realize she pulled the trigger. She sucks in a sharp breath, lungs shuddering as she steadies herself.

With Akainu handicapped and Teach adruptly dead, the evacuation goes swimmingly, Shanks even showing up to assist. He never looks back as Luffy is carried off by his father's old Captain's son.

Nikia flies back, still well out of sight, and collapses onto the deck sobbing in her father's arms.

She's passed out and tucked into his bed when they receive the message Whitebeard wants to meet "The Marineford Shooter".

Whitebeard is furious when he recognizes Nikia as his old friend's daughter, angry an ally interfered in his fight with a young woman who looks worn and frail. Red eyes and dark circles behind glasses.

A familiar fabric wrapped around her waist as she anxiously pulls it tighter.

Then Whitebeard realizes it's deeper than he expected and she may very well have more reasons to have been there than her father. But she doesn't tell him, eyes anywhere but on him until just before she leaves.

Wounded eyes locking with his.

"I... I-I'm sorry about your son."

Whitebeard makes another call, seeking to settle the debt he owed her for saving Ace's life and possibly his own.

He sees her face when Thatch appears on deck, embraced gently by his brothers who missed him dearly.

He sees when Thatch sees her and what she's still wearing as she slips away before she makes a scene. Grumpy but amused when her father threatens Thatch, who's still healing.

Nikia nearly collapses onto her bed, sobbing with relief and shame that she's still too afraid to talk to him.

Thatch hovering in the doorway as she falls apart. Spooking when he pulls her close and settles back onto the bed, just holding her. Retroactively terrified she was at Marineford while being so proud she went to war on his family's behalf wearing his colors.

"I thought you were dead."

"... I meant to call."

Thatch considers all the reasons he hesitated. All the reasons she probably did as well. Still does as she moves to kiss him and freezes, settling her lips between his eyes while still crying instead of where she clearly intended to originally.

"S-Sorry, you're still injured."

Thatch decided he's hesitated enough. That she's gone far enough for him and his.

"I'll never be too injured to kiss my angel."

He pulls her down and kisses her properly, gently holding her wet cheeks between his palms. Noting that she's lost weight. Her eyes look tired.

His 'death' weighed heavily on her.

But they can talk about it all later. Their fears and future aspirations. Take it slow or fast. Why they both hesitated so long.

Later.

For now, they just hold each other close and rest peacefully for the first time in a very long time. Both of them.

I'm going to go cry now and pass TF out for work lol

[canonicallysoulmates]

Mr. Rolin Jones, creator and showrunner of Interview with the Vampire appeared on the post-finale episode of the companion podcast to talk about this first season but also season 2, and the future of this series. It's super insightful, I highly recommend giving it a listen, we learn so much about the process behind creating this show and this season but also about what's coming next like he's thinking about this show in long-game terms like going on for 8yrs minimum, and by the sounds of it so is AMC. The first book is going to be explored in 15 episodes total, we've got the first 7 which means s2 would be 8 episodes. And start getting excited for s3 because the current plan is that the third season will give our brat prince the opportunity to tell his side of the story and explore the second book, The Vampire Lestat.

In this post, I have compiled some highlights of his interview but I reiterate that if you can do so to give the full thing a listen cause it's really interesting.

On getting picked to be the showrunner:

"I came back to the loving arms of AMC. I had done some work with them before and there were a lot of really savy executives, I had a big overall meeting- here are 19 things I wanna do for you guys, talk, talk talk, talk, talk, as I'm leaving the door one of them goes 'you know we forgot to mention our bosses bought the Anne Rice books' and I stopped, and I put everything down, sat back down and said 'we're gonna take another 45 minutes for this meeting' and by the time I walked out I kinda knew that's that I was gonna do. And then they put me through a gauntlet of things to prove that I was the guy and it wasn't just about what's a good pilot story, what's a good first season it was what does this thing look like 8 years from now?"

Up until today, I didn't know showrunners basically had to audition.

About the decision to change Louis race:

"I kinda came around to his ethnicity through a very weird way which is through Lestat. So, there's a very famous sort of rewrite of Lestat starting with book 2 he's an aggressively different character than he was in book 1 but that's the Lestat that she carried on for the rest of time. And I was like okay that should be Lestat and so we tried to take the given circumstances that are set with Lestat and put him back into this time period, and so he had this sort of super emo relationship with this guy named Nicki, and then he had a very...uh, excitable relationship with his mother as his second companion choice- get into that season 3 y'all. And then I was like let's give Lestat a legitimate third attempt at trying to figure out how to be with somebody for the rest of his life and how do you not repeat your mistakes. So, I started from there and I wanted somebody who had some money cause I think he wanted to be you know with his own folks there, and I think he wanted someone I thought who could fight back and who could be a challenge and who would force him to restrain himself. And nobody at AMC was really interested in seven seasons of the regretful plantation owner so you know- even with that though you want it to have some connective threads to the novel so we made Louis come from a lineage that once did own a plantation, did own slaves. The other thing was sort of aesthetic if you were gonna take away the ruffled shirts and all the swampy goodness and you wanted to make this something new, what's the next hot time that had a sense of smell and taste and sound? The birth of jazz seemed pretty right on, and it just so happened there was a spot at that historical time where a black man could get in on some business and still have the sort of morally grey thing that owning a plantation would and- I don't know it all actually clicked into place pretty quickly."

How do they decide when they deviate from the books?

"There were a couple caveats. Make it here and now, make it grand and big but we said you know look she wrote a very transgressive groundbreaking novel in 1973 and try to put her in the room where she was tasked in 2021 with making a tv show out of this and you want it - there's no reason to do something if you're going to just run rough shot over it. So you're constantly, constantly revisiting the book and that's not only in the room where you're building story but that's when you're in draft, that's when you're in after production draft, that's when you're last minute like little things and you find some things that you had passed over didn't think were relevant like 'I'm screaming back at you' and dropping in as much Anne as we could, and that we were gonna write this sort of heightened language that is in the novel we're gonna make our actors talk like that; she is our safety net all the time."

This is insane, when they were in pre-production they were writing scripts for the entire book but due to covid and the cost of lumber AMC called and asked if they had enough in the first half to stay in New Orleans for the entire season. At first, Rolin's put up a fight but what they did was they turned what was originally the first four episodes into this first season. And they did so 50 days before they shot the first day! His original pitch was 10 episodes, they were aiming for 8 but it's now a 15-episode book. He does think the change was to the benefit of the show. I agree, it's mind-blowing to think that the amazing 7 episodes we got were originally compacted into just 4 and that they managed to change course and deliver a product of such high quality within just 50 days.

"Memory is a very, very huge part of this show. The tagline for this show should be: memory is a monster. We're only on episode 7 of 15, you only know half of it. Maybe." 👀

Why is Louis truly doing this interview?

"It is absolutely the question. If you wanna know what we're still digging out of it, it is the why of it. There's a real reason why this is a second interview and the first interview is super important. Tune in season 2. And I will just say this, these two (Daniel and Louis) have been brought together because something very significant happened, life-altering happened to them in 1973. And they didn't get it right and they weren't the right people at the time to do it, and know they think they are, and yet like all of us you still don't know who you are and you still gotta go deeper but that just means there is a lot of meat not only on Louis side but on Molloy's side and most importantly Armand's side who has become for us the single most fascinating character of season 2. Yeah, there's a lot in Dubai that's yet to be revealed."

I need s2 to hurry tf up because what does that mean sir 👀👀👀👀

The real reason he wanted to do this show is s3, The Vampire Lestat. He really knows how he wants to do it, and he couldn't be more excited about it. As goofy as body switching is, and they'll come up with some elegant way, he thinks there's something in the Tale of the Body Thief, Queen of the Dammed he has to think about because it's so massive, and he doesn't know if that's gonna be covered over one season or two.

[weekend-whip]

What's your opinion on the "love at first sight" thing from ninjago? And do you have any headcanon With Pixal an Skylor?

Short Answer: Very 50/50 with it. Love what we did get from it, but by god the executions could have been handled better. 

You sly dog, you got me monologuing. Going slightly off-topic cuz i have THOUGHTS

Long Answer: On one hand, it was already a bold enough move to include even a little romance in a toy commercial aimed a young boys, especially when it was so far from the premise of the show to begin with, so I’m not all that torn up about these things happening “too quick”. From one perspective, it’s just another little facet about the characters that helps drive them in the future, and doesn’t necessarily have to be explored deeper, because that’s not the overall point of the story (unless it’s tied with the plot of the season itself, and at least then it does get well-deserved focus). 

On the other hand, I can absolutely understand why people would find it forced, rushed, or unnecessary (or in Kailor’s case, not doing enough), and that’s valid too. If they really were going to go this route, especially with Zane, then they should’ve at least dedicated an episode of them finding the foundation for a bond rather than swan diving into infatuation. Like I’ve said in my fic, it’s hard to be invested in something that happens offscreen lmao. And there’s also the whole thing of these girls juts being brought into the picture to be love interests, rather than having a full dedicated character of their own. Nya’s obviously somewhat of an exception, and Pixal and Skylor do get their moments (eventually), but generally they’re left very flat if they’re not with the object of their affections. 

Jay, while instantly falling for Nya, gets several seasons worth of ups and down that have impact on their characters until it accumulates which, while that might drive people to believe their relationship is “bad” just because it wasn’t consistently perfect, I found them much more interesting because they had to go through the growing pains to get where they are now. They did get together too quick, especially when Nya wasn’t really giving off any “I have a crush” vibes but liked Jay’s attention. And while they did have several communication bumps and disagreements, they were still able to take a step back, reexamine themselves, and readjust enough to the point that they’re practically married now! And they’re happy! I love it! I really, genuinely do! And I know that Jaya tends to cannibalize Jay’s character as an individual too, but she’s just that big of a part of his life. It’s not that he doesn’t have things he likes to do on his own; he just prefers to do them with her. But, it’s just gotta be in a way that respects Nya’s boundaries and her own preference of doing things on her own. Which is something they come to an agreement about!! And it’s good!! 

But then, you’ve got Zane and Pixal just looking at each other and becoming a thing within like three episodes. Not even a “Zane takes Pixal out in the city and shows her how to be more human” kind of episode, no “Pixal helps him get in better touch with his technological side”, nah! Things you’d think you’d get in a Zane season! She just dies, Zane literally breaks his heart for her, and then suddenly they’re the most adorable thing to happen on the whole show sdfghjkhgf. It’s tragic, honestly! That they have this much great chemistry together but next to nothing to show for it besides life or death circumstances!! I literally wrote a fic on that too! Because as much as I love them and their ship and the strength of their give and take, how they started I just cannot get over! Even if Zane fell immediately, there could have been some interesting tension between him dealing with his new feelings and Pixal realizing that she has feelings to begin with! Just some missed opportunities there, really. 

And then—oooh, and then! Kai and Skylor! If anyone I could believe would fall at first sight, it would be Kai! And it’s hilarious, because he’s flirted with other people in the past and now here he is, suddenly and genuinely interested in this intriguing and probably very attractive individual and his usual flirty tricks aren’t always working!! Which would then make him reexamine himself and also actually talk to Skylor to see if they could even work to begin with!!  Or Kai manages to show Skylor some of what’s she’s missed out on while presumably living her whole life on the island and oop there she goes catching some feelings and then we get to see her QUESTION some of her morally dubious actions!! But that’s not what we got lmfao!!!!! That being said, watching them play off of each other is SO much fun, ESPECIALLY when they’re working together running from Chen in the jungle AND THEY HUG but ummmmm...we still know next to nothing about Skylor. I love Skylor, and I ADORE Kailor, but both of them deserve more than a orange piece of cardboard that’s sassy and clever sometimes *lies down* I’m so sorry sweetie it’s NOT your FAULT

aND ON ONE HAND, I’m insane and actually do kind of like that they’re keeping their relationship out of the light, and it gets to develop on their own terms at their own pace without having to be put on a pedestal for others. That avoids the problems Jaya went through. Maybe they are kinda together, maybe they don’t have a label for it, maybe they’re nervous about making the first move, maybe they’ve been a thing the whole time, but it’s no one else’s business! We get glimpses every now and then that show they still have eyes for one another, or that they’re important to one another, and that’s okay!! It can be enough!!! They’re spicy but they’re also subtle and that’s lovely in it’s own way!!

.....But of course, that only works if it was intentional, and by Crystalized we sure know it wasn’t!!! And the true horrid irony of it all was that how they handled it in Crystalized could’ve been something we’d gotten the whole time, yet the blows would have been cushioned by the fact we would’ve have time to absorb this over the seasons, rather than smacked over the head with it in the clutch. And yet, as much as I wanna be sad that we didn’t get more, or at least sooner, what we did get was just so THEM that i can’t be fully mad!! Kai’s still fumbling but he knows what he wants and can voice it; Skylor’s uncertain but willing to hear him out and wants to hear him out, but they still have silent moments of understanding and can and will take the time to talk things out when they’re able an hnnnnng i love them so muuuuuuuch aaaaaaugh why did i write three paragraphs about kailoooooor kill meeeee

So anyway love at first sight isn’t inherently bad, but it’s how you handle the follow up of it afterward that makes it either something to loathe or something to at least come to appreciate *shrug* 

And I know you also asked for headcanons but aaaaah everything that’s a hc of mine is probably going to wind up in Legacyverse, and I don’t wanna spoil too many small surprises x3 

[skywitchmaja]

succ finale

EXT. NYC - DAY

A PORTAL swirls over the ATN building casting it in a sickly greenish-blue glow. KENDALL ROY pilots a bitchin MECH SUIT with hover pads, laser canons, the works. SHIV and ROMAN ROY pilot similar mech suits. But so does LOGAN ROY’S CRYOGENICALLY PRESERVED HEAD. and his mech suit is bigger, badder, bitchier than the rest, with turbo speed boosters and mega laser canons.

Logan faces his kids. There’s only one of him against three of them, but his shadow looms large, because his mech is fucking huge. Half a parking garage worth of luxury cars and at least two private jets have been sucked into the portal. Another garage worth of cars are strewn across the streets of New York like matchbox cars that a toddler is having a tantrum about being asked to clean up.

LOGAN:

You idiots don’t know fuck all about portals! You couldn’t just throw a couple bus loads full of hourly employees into the portal to slow it down, and now it’s going to swallow the whole building—Everything I’ve built for you. And now I have to clean up after you.

SHIV:

Uh, sure, Dad. We don’t know anything about portals. Because throwing stuff into portals totally slows them down, right? it doesn’t feed them and make them worse or anything.

KENDALL:

It’s over Dad. The time for SUCCESSION is NOW.

LOGAN:

Death is nothing to me. Do you think you three failures and some fucking portal will stop me? Logan is Logan forever.

ROMAN:

Eugh. Okay sure you’re like, richer than god and that mean you’re basically immortal right? Wellllll, guess what? We’re rich too, and there’s three of us.

SHIV:

You do have the keen business sense to know that three is more than one, don’t you?

CLANG! Shiv and Roman fist bump.

TOM: (OS)

THAT’S where you’re wrong!

TOM and GREG appear in their own mech suits.

GREG:

Ha ha yeah, three is only more than one until you add two more. Because two plus one is three.

TOM AND LOGAN:

Shut up, Craig.

Upon realizing they said the same words at the same time, they share a brief but loaded glance.

SHIV:

Really, Tom? You’re going to side with my dead, robot dad over me again?

TOM:

Hi honey…

MEANWHILE the portal is growing bigger and bigger, having swallowed the penthouse/executive suite level of the ATN building.

LOGAN:

That’s enough of this bullshit!

He COCKS his MEGA LASER CANON and in doing so, elbows Tom, who falls onto Greg, sending them both toppling backwards INTO THE PORTAL.

ROMAN:

I bet he got his stupid boxy mech suit from men’s warehouse too, what a loser.

The siblings laugh for longer than this joke is funny. Which isn’t THAT long but it’s long enough to feel awkward.

Shiv discreetly brushes away a tear— it’s hard to tell whether it’s from grief or laughter, but when she looks back up, she wears an expression of cold acceptance. This was always how it was going to end.

While they’re distracted, Logan throws a BUS at them.

LOGAN:

When you three are done with your hyena impression, I have a city to destroy!!

Kendall saws the bus in half with his ENERGY SWORD.

KENDALL:

Uh, don’t you mean save?

LOGAN:

What does it fucking look like I mean?

Logan shoots a MEGA LASER at Kendall, knocking off one of Kendall’s laser canons.

SHIV:

Yeah, because you always communicate your intentions so clearly, and follow up on them exactly how you said you would, right? I don’t know how we could possibly misinterpret anything you’ve ever said or done.

ROMAN:

And we’re communicating this—

He tries to flip Logan off with his mech suit, but his hands are laser canons, so he just fires at the sky.

ROMAN:

BLehhh.

An EPIC MECH BATTLE ensues, choreographed by someone who knows things about action movies and mech suits and fight choreography.

The kids are looking tired, sweaty, battered, worn, but Logan’s cryogenically preserved head lacks some of the weaknesses of the living human body, he is going strong.

LOGAN:

You will never SUCCEED ME!

Logan aims his laser canon at Kendall, but right before he fires, jolts it towards Roman.

Kendall jumps in front of Roman, blocking the laser but losing his energy sword arm.

KENDALL:

What the fuck is your problem?

LOGAN:

I love you kids too much— that’s my problem.

ROMAN:

Wow, thanks.

It’s unclear whether he’s saying this sincerely to Kendall, sarcastically to Logan, or sincerely to Logan. Or sarcastically to Kendall.

ROMAN:

But Ken, you’re fucking, uh, sword/arm.

KENDALL:

It’s okay. Where I’m going, I won’t need it.

ROMAN AND SHIV:

Nooo, don’t sacrifice yourself to defeat our dad and close the portal.

KENDALL:

What? I wasn’t gonna do that. I was talking about the ROY-BOT

KENDALL SHIV AND ROMAN:

MEGA ULTRA ROY-BOT GO!!!

Kendall, Shiv and Roman’s mech suits LEAP into a power ranger style SUPER mech suit, with Shiv and Roman each operating an arm/weapon, and Kendall manning the legs.

LOGAN:

Ohh look at that you combined your robots. Do you want a prize for sharing your toys? Do you think team work is going to save you? Don’t make me laugh.

Logan swings his canon arms towards his front. They lock together forming an ULTRA MEGA SUPER DEADLY LASER CANON.

The portal has stripped the ATN building down to its foundations, and taken sizable chunks out of surrounding buildings.

Shiv and Roman ready their own guns. It looks like this is it— kids versus parent, Roy versus Roys, the final showdown has come down to the final blow.

Before anyone can fire, KENDALL ROMAN SHIV AND LOGAN are ALL SUCKED INTO THE PORTAL.

The portal GURGLES and WHIRLS, expanding and folding rapidly, like a sick, alien heartbeat or a particularly aggressive flickering fluorescent light. It looks for a moment that the portal might take the entire city, but after one last pulse, the portal collapses in on itself and BLINKS out of existence.

The streets are strewn with wreckage. Without the roar of the portal, the city seems quiet. Even the car alarms seem musical after the chaos before.

One woman climbs out of the wreckage, unscathed. She takes a look at the damage, brushes off her skirt, sighs, and pull out her phone to start dealing with all the emails she’s going to get about this. WHO’S that girl? It’s JESS!

[jtl07]

I've been reading your thoughts on each episode of WN as I've been doing my own rewatch and I agree with so many of your points on story structure and pacing. I just finished episode 10 and I'm so looking forward to your write-up of it because holy shit does that episode have some issues. I'm also curious about your thoughts on Mother Superion and how much she knows going into episodes 8 through 10. Cheers!

Hey! Thanks for this, so glad to hear some of my ramblings are actually coherent lol

But yeah, it’s been a mix: there’s some brilliant stuff (I’m still very much intrigued with how they’re setting up Vincent’s betrayal and now that I’ve watched Beatrice’s fight in episode 7 in context, I love it so much more, so excited to write that up) but there’s also some frustrating things - with pacing, as you’ve mentioned, and just execution in general.

The two things that are chafing at me: lack of subtext in the dialogue and how that's made things sluggish (which I’ve mentioned already in my ep5 rewrite) and making full use of the camera.

(Side note re: the former - I wonder if it’s a nod towards how in religion, everything is told orally? idk maybe I’m reaching lol)

For the latter, I’m thinking of framing, of blocking, of how and where the camera lingers. They do the last bit a couple times with Ava in the first episodes, which were beautiful, but I wish there was more of that. I just watched episode 7 last night and there’s two moments that immediately come to mind that could’ve been heightened with different shots: Beatrice leaving the armory after talking with Camila, and Mother Superion leaving the idk courtyard? after Duretti tells her the Pope has died.

Like, wouldn’t it have been cool to have held on Beatrice as she leaves, even from Camila’s pov, viewing Beatrice from the back (and give KTY more opportunity to show that fantastic physicality she has) as she walks away, trying to keep her head up, trying to remember how to walk unarmed? And that moment with Mother Superion, having a different shot could have heightened the change that I think they were trying to show - like maybe straight on as she grapples with the changing situation, or maybe have harder shadows to show the weight she's carrying ...

But speaking about Mother Superion: I was quite surprised that she’s been kind of in the periphery (though maybe that’s just been my attention lol). I feel like I didn’t really start paying attention to her until e7, mostly because of everyone pressuring her. The problem is that I’m not completely sold on her struggle. I think it was in e6 when she agrees with Duretti (disagreeing with Vincent and Beatrice), but then near the opening of e7 she disagrees. Sure, they’re about two different subjects (the shield vs the rejects) but I’m not sold on the whole “keeping herself distant because she cares too much” (which we only know because Mary says it). Part of it might be due to them spending time building up Vincent (so that his betrayal hurts more) and also Duretti as the villain, leaving not a lot of time for Mother Superion (maybe they’re banking on the reveal about her being rejected by the halo as a heavy hitter?) Not to mention, they’re constrained for time because they’re telling two stories in parallel since Ava’s been away from the OCS.

(Actually, a thought just occurred to me: What if ep4 had Mother Superion on comms during that mission to get the shield from Arq-Tech? Maybe even listening in when Beatrice calls out Lilith - maybe even giving the order for everyone to fall back when the alarms when off. OOOoooh yknow what would’ve been spicy? Have Beatrice defy that order, or at least say something like, “I can do it,” and Mother Superion be conflicted about letting her go alone. Oh man, that would’ve been cool, now I’ve made myself sad that we didn’t have that)

Uh … this got away from me lol. But I will say that you’re comment about “how much she [Mother Superion] knows going into episodes 8 through 10” has my curiosity piqued because all of my previous knowledge has only been clips and gifs, focused mostly on avatrice, so I’m very curious at how they’ll build up Mother Superion these next episodes!

Thanks again for the ask :))))))))))

[maxbegone]

happy wednesday! quick shout out to @roseapothecary / @petalwritesx for helping me with the operation name for tk’s plan in this little excerpt. 

“You were that small when you were born,” his mom informs him. She gestures adding, “I don’t know what happened to my little boy. I blink and suddenly you’re an adult.”

“I’m still that little boy, Mom,” TK replies quietly, “And now we have Jonah.”

She hums. “We do. Hopefully he doesn’t give me nearly as much grief as you did when you were a kid.”

He coughs as he tries to cover up a laugh. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, I think she’s talking about the time we lost you at the Central Park Zoo when you were nine,” Enzo replies with a smirk. “Your penguin escapade?”

Carlos looks between them all, clearly very curious. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Did TK not tell you? He devised a whole plan to take a penguin home from the zoo and keep it as a pet.”

“Didn’t everyone?” It’s a serious question, but Carlos shakes his head and his mom chuckles.

“Where were you even going to keep it?”

“We had a freezer,” he states, the plan coming back to him in full force. He’s defensive of it, alright? “And it made ice.”

“Not enough.” Enzo snorts with a shake of his head. “Your penguin pounce was really something, kid.”

“It was called Operation: Tuxedo, thank you. It was going to live in my bathtub and you guys were never going to notice because I would do all of the cleaning and keep the door closed.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” his mom practically cackles, “you were going to clean your bathroom? That would’ve been a miracle and I would’ve collapsed right then and there.”

“Mom,” he groans.

“It’s a rite of passage for Carlos to hear your embarrassing moments from your childhood,” she states rather finitely. “I’m sure you’ve heard some of his.”

“Carlos doesn’t have any embarrassing stories, he has cute ones.”

“Maybe to you,” he replies pointedly, but TK thinks that’s impossible. 

“That isn’t even the half of it,” his mom continues. “His bathroom was always a mess. Which is something, considering who your father is.”

“Can I just say, I am not embarrassed by the penguin thing.”

“I don’t see why you would be!” Enzo agrees. He’s holding back laughter and, honestly, TK’s mildly offended. “Your plan was…flawless.”

“Hey, I was nine! I never said it was well-executed.”

“Neither did I.”

“Okay, Enzo, for a nine-year-old, was it a good plan?”

“I've heard and seen much worse. Remember that I’m a college professor who gets BS excuses all the time.”

Carlos is shaking with silent laughter beside him and as carefully as he can, he hands Jonah back to TK.

“That wasn’t the only time you did it, either,” he continues, holding up two fingers. “Twice! He tried it two more times.”

“Hold on—how?” Carlos turns to him. “Were you just going to hang out in front of the exhibit until the zoo closed and grab one?”

A beat. “Maybe.”

“Babe.”

“Hey, let’s not gloss over the fact that these two didn’t even realize I was gone!”

“TK, you wandered off all the time,” his mom explains. “After a while, I stopped worrying. You’d find your way back, you always did.”

“What did your dad say about all of this?”

TK breathes out, cheeks puffed-up and says, “He…listed off penguin facts. And said that logically it wouldn’t work, but!”

“Twenty-seven years old and he’s still up in arms about this,” his mom laughs, shaking her head as she runs her fingers over Jonah’s soft cheek. “You definitely are the same little boy.”

“Wow.” He bends a little closer to Jonah, who’s fast asleep in his arms. “This is what you have to look forward to, little brother. A whole lifetime of roasting.”

“It wouldn’t be our family if we didn’t,” Enzo declares. “Carlos, might I suggest you have him share his location on his phone with you at all times? God forbid he wanders off and comes home with some sort of animal back in Austin.”

“Oh, we’ve already had that conversation,” Carlos replies. “There was an incident with a lizard.”

“What?”

“Don’t.”

“Nightmare fuel,” he shudders. “Really.”

“I come to New York to meet my brother, I end up being the butt of the joke,” TK mutters under his breath with a shake of his head. He doesn’t mean it, but still. He should be less surprised than he is. “Anyway, Carlos, now you’ve met Enzo, my not-stepdad—”

“—Quite the introduction—”

“Is there really a term for the guy my mom was with for fifteen years but never married?” He asks jokingly.

“Family,” comes Enzo’s reply, and it’s true. “The term is family.”

[tracle0]

hi hi Trade, I am here because I simply Must know more about Elan immediately please and thank you (also do you have any tunes for him? just by the look of him n his vibe I feel like he'd have some bangers) mwah ok bye

:D HELLO

I'm tagging @khufiya-khaufnak-antariksh here as well cause you both asked about Elan and I figured I'd just babble a lil about them to both of you here, hello, thank you for your interest!!!

Okay okay okay Elan issssss yeah! A fucking mess, basically! They, they, they. Hmm. HMMM!

They're basically the result of a fun kidnapping and testing that was executed on a wide number of colour mages. Elan semi-volunteered for it, with zero intention of actually taking part, and then took part anyway. Sucks to be them.

I don't know an awful lot about the actual process, but the general aim of it was to see how much colour could be taken from a mage before they. Yknow. Fucking died. Which for most people was alarmingly far! Strip magic away and see how deep this colourlessness can go.

Alas, most of the people fucking died before anything truly interesting could happen. But but but! Elan did! Not! For various reasons I'm keeping disclosed, they were full of spite and rage and Vengence and decided actually, you know, I'm not gonna die, I'm gonna take this white you're pumping me full of and just. Harness that, thank you very much. Reject the magic you were born with and embrace this synthetic model instead.

Basically, edge 14-year-old brain went 'teehee evil science experiment character :)))?' and I went oh HELL yeah!

Elan is the kinda guy who likes gardening :)! Lil gardener fella! They've got a section of BigBad's base wardened off for Just Them, where they have a little living area and a big garden, where they spend most of their time, chilling out, feeling At Peace, crushing any sliver of green that starts to edge into any stalks or leaves. It is a petrified garden. It could not survive without them. They love it dearly. Sometimes, when they get overwhelmed or frustrated, they smash it and sob in its remains until it's replaced and they start the cycle over again.

They also stand as one of the first characters of mine where I looked at them and decided they wanted to be in a lil relationship, which is nice and good for them! Less good for them that it's, uh, with the. BigBad. The woman who funded and dictated the research that made them Like This.

The relationship is very much a. Toxic one. Power struggles between the two, knowing full well they've hurt each other badly and still coming back for more. By the end of the first book, they quite literally stab her in the back and ease her into her death, all romantic style.

Mmmm despite how things have been phrased, I think Elan does quite like being a White. They want more people to be White so they can understand how things are, how they should be. Very obsessed with perfection and cleanliness and purity. Bleached as many pigments out of themselves as they possibly could, and still finds the red of their blood to be grating.

I have exactly one (2) songs that vibes for them at the moment which I think you know both of, Monday? Tis 'The Quittin' Kind' by Eleisha Eagle and 'Pretty Little Head' by Eliza Rickman. Both vibe with the more toxic part of their relationship with the BigBad. Who has no name. Pretend she does.

Okay that's it! Bye! Thank you!

[asm5129]

Flash Thoughts 9x09--It's My Party and I'll Die if I Want To

Full spoilers ahead!

Tonight was the Return of The CW's Flash, and thus the return of Flash Thoughts! I of course wasn't in town to do Flash Thoughts for the last two episodes so I'm excited to get into this again

So, to get it out of the way

OLIVER QUEEN IS BACK

But how is it handled? Does it do the Godfather of the Arrowverse justice (no pun intended)?

I'd say...Yes. But. the episode is still a bit of a mixed bag. Let's back up a bit.

I think the way they set this story in motion was actually really interesting. Using the weird superaging Barry had to deal with and then got reversed to give Barry a superhero-enforced version of a crisis many people deal with when they hit 30---

Am i using my time on earth wisely?

And to dive into Barry's survival guilt is definitely always an interesting angle to explore. It's fundamental to his entire journey as the Flash.

I genuinely love the kind of meta angle of him being the star, and thus everyone who dies dies for him because he's the most important part of the show

Taking a look at Wally's trauma about being left behind and feeling undervalued and taken advantage of was really interesting too. What we saw tonight was a very similar pain to what we saw all the way back in season 2 when he was first introduced. And honestly, it makes a lot of sense. plus it was interesting to revisit his whole "finding myself" thing that he's been doing for absolutely ages and kinda give a solid reason why it's necessary for kinda the first time haha

it was really cool to get bloodwork back. the CGI monster he turned into was iffy (CW budgets, what can you do), and actually overall I just don't think the VFX for his powers was handled as well as in his original appearance, but I still think he was great.

And Oliver was literally the healthiest he's ever been. It only took him until he died apparently.

Regardless, I actually think this episode handled his return quite well. He's still The Specter (or is it Spectre?) so he can't just pop down to earth any time he likes, but it was established in COIE that even after his death at the hands of the Anti-Monitor and his sacrifice he still existed in some capacity. I think his story from Arrow was used very well to push Barry forward, and their relationship is always really strong and continues to be so.

Oh and of course Ollie's time with dig was beautiful too.

I'll give Eric Wallace this--execution aside, this show has never believed in any benefits of toxic masculinity. It is...genuinely awesome to see men casually and sincerely telling one another "i love you" without an ounce of shame. Oliver and dig saying that to each other in particular was very powerful, because it does show how different Oliver is from where he began.

i know some folks will be pissed about the Green lantern ring thing, and I'll be honest, while i respect what they went for I understand the frustration. It seemed like they were heading in the direction of an exciting payoff to a long held fan theory that slowly became canon, and that would let Dig really transcend Oliver's story. But...I do also get that Dig does not like the cosmic shit. He never has. It would be a little weird for him to go off into space and be a Green Lantern when he's never even stopped puking when Barry uses his super speed.

Anyways, moving on...It's kinda annoying it took three years, but team Flash finally learns about the existence of the new multiverse! Shame we'll never get to see anything done with that though.

Khione gets some confirmation of some of why she is the way she is--specifically, that she is "tuned into the natural order of things". Kinda intriguing, looking forward to seeing where that goes.

Glad we got to dig into the fact that Barry is still mourning Caitlin and Frost too.

In fact, all of this is so interesting, it really ought to have been given more time.

Yeah i think that's my biggest criticism of this episode. It's not so much the content of it, it's that it genuinely feels like this should have been the meat of about half the season and they put it all in one episode.

Especially because this episode played to the strengths that made season 8 so fantastic!

Eric Wallace's Flash has showed multiple times that it's strengths come

A) when it plays with the rest of the Arrowverse in a way that furthers the story of this show

and

B) when it goes really dark and even leans into horror a bit

and the problem is, he's spent most of his run actively leaning away from both. This episode shows just how much of a mistake that is.

Not letting Red Death be Ryan from the Armageddon timeline? Not doing a proper Batwoman/Flash team-up? Not letting Red Death lean into the horror aesthetic her costume easily could have connected her to and instead having those somewhat campy screaming breakdowns and the vibrating camouflage voice? Not letting Red Death lean into the absolutely twisted nature of the comics Red Death?

Eric Wallace's highest points as showrunner were the original Bloodwork story and season 8, especially the Armageddon and Deathstorm arcs (slightly iffy Armageddon finale notwithstanding)

All of these are decisions that lean away from those strengths, and while I'm still enjoying the final season, that's a significant error in judgement on his part.

Anyways. See you next week for more Flash Thoughts on...apparently the return of Matt Letscher's Thawne in a villainous role!

[saffronapplemanga]

Tenjou Renka: Kin no Oujo to Hi no Kusushi - 天上恋歌～金の皇女と火の薬師～

HISTORICAL, ADVENTURE

Tenjou Renka ~Kin no Oujo to Hi no Kusushi~ by Aoki Tomo

(6 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Links to my other manga posts here

I can't remember where I first saw this, but Tenjou Renka caught my eye a while ago with this cover. Look at it — it's gorgeous. Like I said in my Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol post, I've been really getting into historical fiction so this manga looked like something I'd enjoy. I'm currently reading Yona of the Dawn, which Tenjou Renka has some similarities to (ye olde Asia, princess on an adventure, etc.), and I've been having the best time! I plan to give my thoughts on that too, but there's a lot more content with that series and I've been taking my time reading it.

The full title of Tenjou Renka roughly translates to Heavenly Love Song ~The Princess of Kin and Medicine Man of Fire~. I was excited to read this manga because it seems we have a cool falconer princess with some lovely art! So, how did it do?

Twitter reading thread here. Thoughts after the summary.

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

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In the first few pages, we see a precession from the country, Kin, making its way to the allied country, Sou. Here we meet our nomadic princess, Aira.

There are rumors that Aira is to wed the prince of Sou... except she herself doesn't know this??? Awaiting the arrival of their allies, Sou greets them with a show of fireworks. Aira, however, runs straight over to one of the fireworks craftsmen and gives him a big old hug... before saying a word to the royals... when she's supposed to be an ambassador of sorts from Kin... and there are talks of her marrying the prince that's literally standing right there... uh...

What are you doing... She said, "I didn't get the chance to thank you! I'll never forget that night!" GIRL, YOU'RE GONNA GET THIS MAN EXECUTED!!! He's gonna get guillotined! He's gonna get the noose!!!!!!!!!!!

We go back in time a few days, and long story short, Aira and company got attacked mid-journey which led her to fall off a cliff and into a river. The fireworks craftsman, Hakurinshi (or as Aira calls him, Rinshi) finds her washed up. He takes her to his hut to treat her and her falcon. When she wakes up and says she needs to meet back up with her brother. Rinshi tells her to follow him so he can show her something. He lights a firework, which Aira had never seen before, and signals her brother to their location. Reunited, Aira turns to thank Rinshi, but he's already gone. Flash forward to the current day, she sees her savior and takes the opportunity to finally thank him... by aggressively hugging him... in that situation. *sigh*

If you see me spell something wrong, no you didn’t. Twitter, where’s my edit button???

Unsurprisingly, this is bad. Rumors start spreading, some Sou royals and citizens are not happy, and Rinshi gets called in by higher-ups to explain himself. Aira has completely fallen for Rinshi but ends up getting scolded by her brother Uju. He tells her to forget it and that Rinshi is from a different country and class. And he FINALLY tells Aira that there were talks of her being wed to the Sou prince, Kouou, but it's been tabled for now. (Why tf was Aira the last person to find this out?!) She's shocked at this information but Uju says that they wouldn't go through with it if she didn't want to. It isn't until she mulls over the new information and what she did at the palace does she realize, "Oh no, I was super rude to the prince and made an awful first impression!" ...UM, DUH?

*Deep breath*

Prince Kouou shows Aira and Uju around and he reveals that he's a two-faced jerk to only Aira just like I expected. (Aira, why didn't you tell your brother that Kouou wasn't to be trusted?! WHY WON'T ANYONE COMMUNICATE???) Apparently, he thinks the marriage is still on and that it doesn't matter what they want. It's their duty to go through with a political marriage if that's what's decided. Aira has to continue doing ambassador/goodwill duties for the next few days at the Sou palace so they'll be in town for a bit longer.

The last bit of volume one has the people of Kin falling ill from poisoned food. Aira is one of the few who hadn't eaten yet and was spared, thus leaving her to take charge and care for the sick. She goes looking for Rinshi for help since he was able to take care of her and her falcon before. What was weird to me was that she asked him to teach her how to care for the sick instead of asking him to come with her to where they all were. Rinshi is the one who said he was coming with to help, and Aira was surprised by this...

Instead of wasting time at his place learning how to play doctor, take him with you dummy!!! Also, the Sou palace knew what happened but they were like, "Oh no, it's getting late and it'll be morning by the time the doctors come to help!" DON'T YOU GUYS HAVE DOCTORS AT THE PALACE??? WHAT??????

The resolution to this section of the story was also annoying. Plus, no one was at risk of dying. They just threw up and felt sick.

Why THE HELL would you, the cook who prepares everyone’s food, including the Kin royals, use some random plant you don’t know??? Fire him immediately. This isn't poisoned food, this is food poisoning smh.

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***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

I usually try to give manga a few volumes, but honestly? I made it halfway through volume 2, skimmed the rest of the volume, and gave up. I'm going to mention minor spoilers here btw.

It doesn't make sense. The setup for the drama doesn't make any damn sense. I can't even be mad at Aira, at least not completely, because I blame her family/handlers for not teaching her ANYTHING before sending her off to be an ambassador and putting her in these situations! Literally, her handmaiden was teaching her things about the Sou royals she should've already known while they were at the Sou palace... Like... excuse me? I also don't like how there are info dumps.

Aira's handmaiden is teaching her info about Sou AFTER she just did a ceremonial thing at the palace. You should have taught her this stuff before!

We do find out that Aira's tribe recently won independence 8 years ago, so they're kind of "new royalty" but they should still know to tell her to watch herself in Sou. If there was some Sou custom they weren't familiar with that she messed up, or was awkward because she wasn't a princess from birth/comes from a more "primitive" country, then okay. But that's not what's happening here. I mean, even if you weren't promised to the prince, YOU'RE A PRINCESS WHO'S AN AMBASSADOR IN AN ALLIED COUNTRY!!! You didn't even greet the prince and king!!!!!!!!! That's just Manners 101!

And I’m a nobody!

I don't want to compare to Yona of the Dawn, but it's a little hard not to. I'm very early on in Yona of the Dawn (mid vol 5) but even then we see that while Yona is extremely naive, scared, and sheltered, she's not stupid. And in her case, she wasn't prepared for the events that resulted in her life being turned upside down. For Yona, it came out of nowhere. But for Aira, they planned to go to Sou. They knew this was happening. She should have been more prepared to do her duties as the princess of Kin, yet she fumbled it within seconds of her arrival at the palace. It doesn't make her funny or charming. It just makes her look dumb.

There are some parts that DO make sense. Aira being able to stand her ground adds up because she comes from a nomadic tribe.

Action scenes!

A lot of people in Sou, both noble and peasant, call the people of Kin savages/barbarians. Some nobles ask ignorant questions like, "I heard your people live in caves? Is that true? What, you can move your homes? How strange." And honestly, that's realistic. I cannot tell you how many times I've been asked if my family lives in tents and rides camels to school/work.

The start of the show here is Rinshi, hands down. He's known as the local weirdo who collects random plants and rocks and the like.

Mood, tbh. Throwback to my Yotsuba&! post about how me and my friend drove all the way from Tokyo to the Sea of Japan just to go rock collecting.

In reality, he's just a quiet guy with unbound curiosity. He wants to travel and see new things, learn new things, and collect new things so he can learn about those too. Rinshi wears tinted glasses to protect his eyes from light damage, which happens to a lot of craftsmen. But they’re are an unusual thing that no one's ever seen before and just adds to his "weird" status. I swear this man is ahead of his time.

Dreaming of all the cool stuff out there in the big wide world. I'm rooting for you buddy.

He also just seems like a genuinely sweet guy and would make for an awesome male lead!

The author, Aoki, clearly has a great love for Chinese history. This isn't even their first manga with this setting. On Aoki's Twitter, you can see all the research they do. They even get recreated armor/clothing to take reference photos!

Mad respect.

Remember kids, reference is important!

Tenjou Renka is amazing for seeing historical clothing and settings, as well as culture. However, I feel like these things take priority over the actual story.

We love well-researched historical fiction!

I was curious to see what other readers thought of the story, and while unsurprisingly there were people who really enjoyed it, some reviewers share my sentiment.

This reviewer is basically saying how Aira doesn't realize her own position/the situation she's in and just causes so many problems.

This person says that the girls feel immature/juvenile and it's a real shame because the historical aspects are well-researched.

But yeah, this was a title I was excited to get into, but it just left me frustrated and disappointed. I mean, listen — a foreign princess betrothed to the prince falls in love with a local weirdo and they both want to travel the world and learn new things? It’s so frustrating because this manga has the recipe… Tenjou Renka had so much potential, but the contrived drama annoyed the hell out of me. So much didn't make sense or could have been avoided, and that really soured any good it had. I can see a lot of people enjoying this, but unfortunately, it's just not working out for me. I would like to flip through the later volumes if only for the clothing and setting design.

Not even best boy Rinshi can make me keep reading. I hope you collect all the stuff your heart desires.

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If there's any Japanese-only manga you want me to check out, let me know! No promises, I'll only read what I'm interested in, but I'll take suggestions into consideration. Preferably, shorter manga or newer manga with a few volumes out since I like to take breaks from longer series I'm reading :)

[gayspock]

ok so tbh i really need to prep for this interview im fucked with. let me lb peacekeeper wars instead. part 1

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIDBUDGET HELLAURRR

sorry im always blown away. i remember watching so many treks, and then seeing their movies after and foaming... those were obciously MUCH bigger leaps in terms of, like, production but its like... GOD I NEVER REALLY REALISE HOW THE USUAL SHOW LOOKS UNTIL THE SHIFT LOL HELP. i should really be more observant o_o

but THIS... WTF... BUDGET... SO SCARY

th

NEVERMIND EIYW9IFPAEK[GK[PSDPO THE. RYGEL SWIMMING ABOUT IS MAKING ME SCREAM. DOES ANYONE REMEMBER UHM. THE windows screensaver ? the aquarium? hes so that.... I FORGOT HE WAS LIKE SOME SORT OF UCCKING WET BEAST. also the transition of him in the water to above the wter is so funny

diagnosans are so cool i wish we got them more

ALTHOUGH ALSO GRUNCDGHDLDIK WHOSE NAME I CANNOT SPELL... SO FUNNY HE JUST POPPED BACK UP. DONT GIVE US AN EXPL-

SORRY

I JUST SAW

SIKOZUS' NEW

LOOKIMHAVING ... A CATEGORY 10 WOMAN EVENT. IIS OCCURING ON MY SCREEN

ANYWAYS i want to say: like.... for the record, im kinda disappointed that they did fix john and aeryn's predicament so fast. its fine- its FIINEEE- like... its just the cheap cliffhangers are kinda so tired lol. its hardly the worst in the world, but its annoying- although WELL AT LEAST WE CAN GET ON WITH IT, SO LETS NOT FUSS....

BUT actually no i mean. i am also annoyed they fixed chianas blindness soo easily too like COME ON GUYS!! COMMIT TO THE THINGS YOU DO. SHEESH

ALTHOUGH this whole recap is so cute i love it when they do stuff like this - o rat least, when they do it right like here with john .... johns one of the few who could carry like this

THAT BALD CUNT WAS ON EASTENDERS

WHY ARE THEY KIRA NERYSing RYGEL THIS IS SO... YOURE LYINGGGGGG. BE QUEIT. i assume theyre jsut trying to avoid complications- want aeryn in on the action and stuff- and rygel is always out of the action - but omg...

also its so nice they managed to pick stark up. i love his involvement here. but kill yourselves for cutting his hair it was so beautiful

"I heard the key to these things is being relaxed" d'argo youve had 1.5 failed marr- SORRY I CANT FINISH THAT JKOKE THATS TOO MEAN SORRY DARGO ITSNOT YOUR FAULTL

also is this actress officiating them the same one who played the sebacean lass who tortured her at the end of last season

actually i WILL also say: i love the slight revamping to everybodys prosthetics. noranti and the scarran lady both have slightly different looks . chiana's hair is also so nice

SORRY BUT SIKOZU IS SERVING SO BAD IM THROWING UP I AM SO OBSESSED SORRY IM EASYYYY. i said what i said in my last post- i wish they could have used her better, because i do actually REALLY like so much of her but ARHGH execution iwse hell on earth innit

hang on. fucking hell i dont know why- i totally forgot that... this would be wrapping EVERYTHING UP, do you know what i mean? i assumed itd be closing up just the immediate things for some reason- but oh christ, we're going back to the early s4 stuff. thats kinda funny bc i did not care for that LOL. but i'm game nonetheles.... will jool be back? smile.

"is he propositioning me?" CHIANA AOIDJAOSIFASFIAFJ

"however 😏it vibrates" MATE PLEASE

also sorry i didnt say anything but why is greyza so pregnant. girl i dont want you here osrry. although shes funny shes fucking mister eastenders . bald ass head.

HONEY YOURE POINTING A GUN AT TH E BABY! [cut to rygel] IS SO FUNNY

CAN THEY JSUT GET MARRIED

also so sad i said i love sikozu and her new look and i want to know more about what my girlie is up to but is she gonna do fuck all here LOL.... OH WELL.

i love it . peacekeeper infighting . you guys. <3 rip each other apart<3

ALSO GOD OWULD SCORPY AND CRICHTON QUIT IT. GIRLS GROW UP.

ALSO WAIT- so chiana's power is just... full-on, now? no price to pay for using it? BOOOO.

d'argo and aeryn bonding... SHUT UP I NEED MORE OF THAT. WHERES THE BROSHIP BETWEEN THEM, HUH. WE NEVER GET THAT EITHER.

hii 1812 omg hiiii- DONT TELL HIM TO SHUT UP JOHN I'LL KILL YOU SORRY I DONT MEAN THAT

omg hiii jool wow wee i didnt- ALRIGHT UHM. HI JOOL. GIRL HE'S ENGAGED

im sorry but the jokes theyre pulling with rygel actually are making me laugh. "theyre having MY baby." THE WAY HE SAYS IT LIKE THAT IS MAKING ME LOSE IT.

ALTHOUGH i will also say. as much as i have enjoyed this so far i dont really care that much, again, for the actual plot-plot... like all this with pikal, and with the temple stuff from the beginning of s4- i thought those eps were weak, and whilst i am open to more involvement with them, their approach here is as equally uninspiring. like, so what...? reuniting them will be able to bring peace? even if more complication arises, i feel like thats such a boring concept LOL. like- do you know what i mean? but fine thyeyre making it up with everything else

"crichton is your inferior." SIKOZU, GIRL FJSPOGKSPGKSDGPKDS PLEASE...

SORRY BUT

ALSO I HAVE SAID ALL IVE SAID ABOUT SIKOZU YEAH BUT LIKE. SIKOZU/SCORPIUS IS SO FUNNY. again i like sikozu as a character, and i think her insights arent unimportant- BUT HELL, HER AND SCORPY ARE SO FUNNY. LIKE COME ON. PLEASE. BFFR. I LIKED THIER DYNAMIC, IS THE THING - at least in s4 i did.... but a romance between them, or any sexual relationship just doesnt work. please.

okay the eidelons (googled their name) are going to get fucking decimated now arent they

i mean like i said i dont.... I DONT THINK ITS EVEN A GOOD CONCEPT TO ENTERTAIN. SHUT IT DOWN <3 ^_^

is jool about to die

imagine if jool just dieshere it'll be a little funny after everything she comes back and just-

jool?

hi sorry... UHM. EHRM. AWWWKWAARDDDDD

JOOL GIRL ARE YOU OKAY DOWN THERE LOL

dont SHOOT MOYA'S ASS COME ON NOW BE POLITE

"but im prEeGGNANT"

jesus fuCKING CHRIST HE JUST RIPPED OUT HIS HEAD RODS EEK OH EEKE SCORPY ARE YOU WELL

see okay i already didnt care about the eidelons being, like, the solution to the war - it doesnt make sense - but also like... i dont like the implication that humans were sebacean's ancestors, which im pretty sure thats where thats going. sorry. its annoying. what i loved so much about farscape is HOW much humans are like... rempved from everythin, theyre so nothing... theyre not some big, significant race in the universe. theyre not, like, the moral fucking centre like in star trek. i know one of my LEAST faourite doctor who fan theories is th at the time lords come from humans- like come on, man? i dont care about explaining why they look alike! its NOTHINGGGG to me.

i also hate how "small" it makes the universe. i hate coincedences and i hate people bumping into each other. ts so fucking limiting, man. SORRY. circhtons isolation is so hard hitting bc hes so far gone from everything and anything hes ever known and should never be able to return to where he was from. just leaae it

bUHM

UHM, IS DARGO AND CHIANA OKAY

UHM HELLO HEY GUYS

HEY GUYS ARE THEY FUCKING OKAY

LIKE JOKES ASIDE WE DID NOT EVEN SEE THEM SO EHRM . LIKE I MEAN WE DIDNT- DID WE? I MEAN- NO WAY THEYRE FINE.. HUH

"You will die, when I order it." "okay :<" HELP

OKAY DARGO BABY IS OKAY OHGOD- OH OH MY GOD THEYRE ALIVE I KNEW THEY HAD TO BE FUCK OFF.. FUCKING CHRIST

I LOVE THE WAY THEY FUCKING KEEP PUTTING DARGO INTO SPACE. THE BILLIONTH FUCKING TIME. ITS SO FUNNY SORRY. LET GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!!!

the scarran emperor should just get this man. theres no way

im sorry I DONT CARE FOR THESE GUYS ITS SUCH A WEAK ASS CONCEPT. certainly i love the idea of negotiation and peace- but just some fuck random negotiator, please, i dont care. im fine with peace negotiations as resolutions - god, yes - but when its between parties that are actually engaged and dont have some ambiguous powers ... like cmon you cant fucking just magically fix INTERGALACTIC POLITICS. LIKE THIS. like come on be for real. "the secret of peace" - please....

OH THANK GOD CHIANA AND DARGO ARE- HELP THATS SO FUCKINH GUNNY... THATS- THATS JOTHEE?????? YOURE LYING. THATS SO FUNNY.

ALSO THERE-

YEP

I MEAN IT WAS OBVIOUS THE EIDELON(?) owuld jsut die but againe ven FUCKING.... entertaining it i cant STRESS how much i didnt care like come on be REAL . BE FOR REALL. -_-

guys what the fuck did you do to stark GUYS COME ON . LEAVE HIM ALONE.

ARE Q E STOPPING THERE

OKAY

END OF PART 1

I DD NEJOY THAT I MEN I DID HONESTLY HELP

[deyadee]

Self-Deprecating Talk

At night when I slunk off to my room to hide away from my family and sink deeper into my negativity and self-hatred, I get sucked into a hole of “mental-health videos”. Well, I call them “mental-health videos” but they’re only based on psychology advice, with the channel that I watch for them always having a disclaimer so they don’t get sued or something.

So anyway, I’ll get caught in a loop of watching videos that are essentially “Don’t kill yourself! You’re valid, you matter, you have good qualities- you get the gist. Where most of the time I just end up feeling worse because I’m pathetic and using strangers on the internet and their feigned sympathy for someone they don’t know. Though the one I saw tonight got me in the mood to complain.

It was a video titled something “Red Flags you shouldn’t ignore in yourself” and one of the ones it mentions is Self-Deprecating Talk, saying that it’s one of the lead causes of depression and leads to you not seeking your full potential. This one just got under my skin for some reason. While yes, I should definitely be more positive or try to not hate myself as much- I feel like my self-deprecation still has it’s place.

There are many moments in my life where I have faced rejection or complete loss of what little important people in my life. Sure, I’ve always been more introverted, but it feels like anytime I’ve tried to reach out for something new or try to cry out to others I’m met with rejection. So while yes, that same self-deprecation May hold me back from opportunities, it has helped in many instances.

I’ll drown myself in deprecation before even daring to venture into new territory until I can eventually beat it down just enough to build up some confidence and try to execute something with it… only for that to come crumbling down on top of me and hurt me worse. My deprecation does not protect me from rejection or failure, but it lessens the blow. So it goes from “How could this have possibly happened? My life is over. Everything I’ve done is a waste.” It turns into a slightly more softer “I should have expected this. People are assholes, you’re unappealing to the masses, so therefore I shouldn’t have put my trust into succeeding in the first place.”

It’s a loop that feeds itself, but that slight sting after the rejection feels much better than having everything I’ve looked forward to crushed and proving that my confidence is useless. If I set myself up to succeed, I fail and I sink deeper into depression, falling another step behind my peers and what I’m expected to be. If I set myself up knowing that failure is inevitable, then I won’t be disappointed when I’m proven right.

On an unrelated note, I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I managed to set up a hangout with the girl at the front desk. I planned out everything for us to go to Pride Parade Street Fair later this month. I wanted to go over and talk ti her today because her phone’s broken right now, but she wasn’t there today. Fine.

I got home and my father said he talked to the people at the front desk and when he asked the one guy that was there that night if he was the only one working tonight he said “No, but she’s been out with her kid at the pool all day.” While yes, I don’t go to the front desk often, from what my family says they have not hired any new employees to work. I know everyone who works at that front desk and from what I remember there’s only three girls that are fairly young, only a few years older than me at the oldest. So there’s a chance… the cute girl at the front desk has a kid. Now, I’m still going to spend the day at the Street fair with her (especially with all the planning and meticulously counting down the days), I’m not going to be a bitch and treat her like a sewer rat for having a kid- but I just keep thinking that I’m even farther behind the rest of my peers. Even though I do not want kids, it just haunts me knowing that people are getting married and having kids at my age while I’m working at a dollar store and clawing myself apart from the insides. Do I want to get married or have kids right now? Definitely not. Though knowing that you can’t even barely manage to make friends or connect with others that should be your peers while others are finding the love of their life and figuring things out when I’m shivering like a fucking dying baby deer in the corner because I can’t get closer to others without some shit going wrong.

It doesn’t help that with my recent work schedule I just feel like I’m doing nothing with my life besides working or spending my fucking money. I only get paid every two weeks so that shit’s gone even if I try not to spend anything. My schedule is shifting to pretty much earliest possible shift. I wake up, scramble around trying to get everything done and ready when every tiny thing going wrong feels like I’m going to instantly be fired for being late. Then I stay for an extra hour doing basically fucking nothing but getting food to shove in my face and distract myself from my shit existence. Go home, lock myself in my room for hours because I’m mentally and physically exhausted that I don’t feel like doing anything else. Eat. Go to room. Stare at phone until I freak out about having to wake up at the ass crack of Dawn the next day. Try to fall asleep for two hours. Wake up with 3-5 hours slept, feel like shit and barely do anything without chugging caffeine or yawning constantly. Repeat.

Look at me bitching about my stupid ass problems when I know I’m going to die alone. It’s already damn near impossible to find other gay women, let alone ones who don’t want sex and can deal with me not finding them or anyone sexually appealing, and that’s not mentioning they have to deal with my shit personality- if they can even dig that out of the “customer-service-friendly” persona I gotta throw on to pretend I’m a normal social butterfly and not a fat fucking loser who hides in her obsession of the week to distract from how much I fucking hate myself.

I guess they did have a point with the self-deprecating talk though. Oh well, guess that’s even more advice that I’ll continue ignore in favor of wallowing in self-pity.

[alexskarsgardnet]

New Interview! Alex is on the April 3, 2022 cover of The Sunday Times Culture magazine!

Alexander Skarsgård interview: ‘I nearly ran over Greta Thunberg’

The star of Tarzan, Succession and now The Northman says good looks are a mixed blessing

by Jonathan Dean (Sunday April 03 2022)

“That cemetery is where I’ll end up one day,” Alexander Skarsgård says, looking out to the yellow Katarina Church in Stockholm. With blue skies above it, the colours match his country’s flag. He grew up streets away, but mostly lives in the US, where he made his name in Zoolander and The Legend of Tarzan, plus the television shows True Blood and Big Little Lies. Oh, and Succession. He left his country 20 years ago, to become the screen hunk who brings more to a role than big hunks tend to. Yet as we look out to the graveyard, it seems that you can take the Swede out of Sweden, but even the most successful ones come back in the end.

He is sprawled on the sofa, legs spread like cranes. This is how he has to sit. The man is 6ft 3in. We have met to talk about The Northman, a violent, strange, brilliant Viking blockbuster with Nicole Kidman as Skarsgård’s difficult mother. But first a word on those Swedes because, for a country of just ten million people, they really do punch above their weight in the world.

Within minutes the actor mentions Abba, Vikings and Greta Thunberg. It is Swedish bingo. The tech pioneers Daniel Ek (Spotify creator) and Markus Persson (Minecraft) crop up. As does Skarsgård’s famous actor father, Stellan. Only Max Martin, who has written 25 US No 1s, is missing from this full house of Swedish soft power.

Skarsgård cycled past Greta on his way to meet me; she was on a protest. “She’s how we sell our country now,” he reflects. “And I almost hit her with my bike.” Skarsgård smiles. “Greta is like a modern-day Viking — and, like Greta, the Vikings refused to fly.”

Skarsgård ’s childhood was very Swedish. When he was a boy he played next to Viking rune stones on the island of Oland, and was allowed to pick Viking middle names for his younger brothers. For the first he chose Adolf, before his folks said no. Instead he went with Orm — which means snake. “I was used to being the oldest child and had a lot of attention,” he explains. “Then there was somebody cuter than me, so I called him snake.” He gave his other brother the name of a god whose brains are smashed into the sky. Still, the runes were magical to him, inscribed with Vikings who went to far-flung places.

No wonder Skarsgård was picked for Succession. If you need television shorthand for somebody young and a match for a business behemoth like Logan Roy, make them Swedish. Skarsgård’s Lukas Matsson is a rude revelation as the chief executive of the streaming platform GoJo, who may well have brought down the Roy media empire. The actor does not yet know if he is back for series four, but the word is that he will be.

The best scenes in series three were with Matsson and Logan Roy (Brian Cox) in the garden of an Italian villa. The men discuss takeovers until Logan begins a monologue about America . . .

“And Matsson drifts off,” Skarsgård says, laughing. “He is bored. There are all these sycophants in Logan’s life, including his kids — he is a demigod. So what is funny is when he talks about America, instead of going, ‘Tell me more!’ Matsson goes, ‘He talks a lot. I don’t really need him. He’s old and kind of boring.’”

It is a great role. But Skarsgård did not always have it so easy. Born in 1976, he started acting at seven, before quitting at 13. He had found fame in a TV show, but it was tough to have people talk about who you are when you do not yet know yourself.

National service followed, and then six months at Leeds Met studying English and living with a drug dealer. “I basically just hung out and had fun.” Then, seven years after he gave it up, he returned to acting.

“Dad was happy,” Skarsgård says. His father also made it big abroad in everything from Good Will Hunting to Mamma Mia!. “He’d come home from set when I was young and I’d think, ‘If he is having that much fun on a Monday morning, why am I against being an actor?’”

The visionary and bonkers Northman is his hardest role to date. Skarsgård is Amleth, a Viking prince avenging his father. In one extraordinary raid Skarsgård is half-naked, half-wolf, tripping, taking a chunk out of someone’s throat. He is naked and bloody a lot. Think the superb and ghastly Belarusian war film Come and See meets the vivid horror of Midsommar. Yet still you won’t be prepared for a nude Ethan Hawke barking like a dog. I am staggered, in an age of franchises, that this $90 million, weird violent epic was made. “So am I,” Skarsgård says.

Still, Amleth is exactly the sort of role that Skarsgård wants. A wish-fulfilment part that marries the Viking history that beguiled him as a boy with the challenging work that he did not get at the start of his career. After scoring a role in Ben Stiller’s fashion comedy Zoolander in 2001, offers dried up. “I was left auditioning to play the boyfriend of a girl who gets killed in scene four of a low-budget horror movie,” he says of Hollywood.

In Sweden he worked in films that barely paid enough to buy a ticket back to LA. That must have been depressing? “Absolutely,” he says. “I was questioning why I was in the industry.” It was not until 2008 that things changed, when The Wire’s creator David Simon cast him in his Iraq war HBO series Generation Kill.

Charlize Theron once said that it is hard for an actor to be hot. “When meaty roles come through,” she explained, “pretty people get turned away first.” Did Skarsgård have that experience? “As a good looking blonde woman,” he jokes, “I can relate.” He pauses and tries out a few answers.

“I don’t really know if that was the reason I wasn’t getting roles,” he explains eventually. “Starting out in Sweden, there was stuff about being tall and blond …” He laughs. “But most people here are tall and blond. Still, after my first job I was on a stupid ‘sexy hunky hot list’ and then people didn’t take me seriously. If you want characters with depth but have been labelled ‘a dude who takes his shirt off’, you’re not going to get those offers.”

He finds much of his Hollywood life bizarre. He’s dated a string of famous women including Alexa Chung and is a fixture on the gossip websites. But he’s not on social media, will never google his name. “This industry is incredibly ridiculous,” he says. “In meetings people are really insecure and eager to please. But it’s a strict hierarchy. If people at the top say something is good, people fall in line. Also, menial trivial bullshit stuff becomes very important to people. As an actor the value placed on how important something is can become laughable to me.” His real ambition is to have lots of kids. His twice-married father has eight. He wants nine.

Does he know people similar to his billionaire character on Succession? “A little — Stockholm’s a hub for people who start ridiculously successful companies. A lot are programmers, not dudes who got the girl. They sit in the basement and drink Dr Pepper then, suddenly, like the Minecraft guy, outbid Beyoncé on a house in the Hollywood Hills. I like the idea of Matsson being in that rat race of the ultra-wealthy, because it never ends. I’ve been on yachts and seen owners glance at the yacht next door, because it’s 5ft longer. It never ends, does it?”

Sure, but Skarsgård is an A-lister with access to great riches like his Succession role? “I live an incredibly privileged life,” he admits. At 45 he has a reported worth of $15 million. “I don’t really have to work — I’ve made enough. I could retire, which is extraordinary. But I don’t feel the need to broadcast that with expensive clothes or cars. That radiates insecurity. When you see somebody with a $1 million watch? That’s peacocking. It can feel like they’re overcompensating.”

We wrap up. He has a meeting, but then texts me to go out for a beer. When he turns up, he arrives on a bike with a practical handlebar basket and we talk town planning until a couple of friends turn up, one with a tiny baby. It couldn’t be more Swedish. He is wearing normcore chic like he has just walked out of a slightly more expensive H&M. He gets a few looks, sure, but he is at home here — and it is where he will end up.

Excerpt not included in the article (x):

"It was just a treat – when you have all those elements come together. A script that is so impeccable and tight. And someone like Jesse. Then you work with Brian Cox? It's the best ever. To play around with that was nice. I went straight from that villa to Iceland to shoot a scene of me as a viking slave in shackles, dragged through the mud. That was within 48 hours."

How not laugh when saying that daft, “You know Mark?” line? "There was a bit of, 'Will the audience clock it's Zuckerberg we're talking about?' In one version, I said, 'Zuck told me. Oh, you know Mark?' Then we just stuck with Mark. We tweaked it. It's constantly evolving."

The Northman opens on Apr 15

You can purchase the print issue here.

Sources/Thanks:  Article:  Jonathan Dean for The Sunday Times Culture (x)(April 3, 2022), Images:  Our edits, Originals by photographer Charlie Clift via: The Sunday Times Culture (x, x), charlieclift instagram (x, x), & April 9 insta story (x, x) & JonathanDean_ twitter (x):  “Delighted to announce that ALEXANDER SKARSGARD is on the cover this Sunday looking like this.”

[erodasfishtacos]

HSLOT HOUSTON

Okay, I’m actually so happy with this one. Come talk about it with me in my inbox! 😌

warning: smut

please like, comment, share, rec!

🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠

It was a bit of a shock, well a lot of a shock when YN is scrolling through her instagram time and it becomes flooded with a gif of her husband passionately kissing a gorgeous blonde.

The trailer for Don’t Worry Darling had dropped out of nowhere and now there was a nasty feeling on jealously, insecurity, and possessiveness in the pit of her stomach.

She knew it was irrational, they were married for fucks sake, but those emotions weren’t always rational.

YN watched it, over and over, until she tossed her phone onto the side table hard enough that it slides off and falls harshly on the ground.

Harry and crew were downstairs, it didn’t look like the Houston show was going to happen because of the storm.

She felts ridiculous and immature for the tears welling up in her eyes. It’s not like she was upset or mad at him.

She was proud of him for his acting abilities and all of his hard work - that’s why she was mad at herself right now.

YN knows Harry is expecting her downstairs to help figure out details, what to do for the fans, etc.. because she was a major part of the production crew.

But she nearly felt like she was going to throw up.

Could you blame her?

Who on earth would want to see their significant other making out passionately for the world to swoon over?

YN scrubs the tears from her cheeks, hadn’t even realized they were falling.

She does the worst thing ever, pulls it back up and starts ready comments, especially from their friends - it almost felt like betrayal. Jeff, Glenne, Lambert, Gemma.

A message appears at the top of the screen.

Bunny 🐰: come on darling, need you down here. meeting is about to start 😗

Her fingers hesitate.

yn: be down in five

Bunny 🐰: is everything okay? where’s my kiss? 😗😗😗😗😗😗😗😗😗😗

She sighs, she feels bad because it’s not his fault.

He had been offered the role, came home and instantly told his wife that if she wasn’t comfortable with him having romantic scenes - he’d turn it down.

YN wasn’t like that.

When she was being logically she would never want to stand in the way of Harry persuing his dreams.

It was acting and she had even been on set a few times when there were heated scenes but it just felt different - uncomfortable.

YN throws one of the bunny merch hoodies, a pair of cropped leggings, and black nikes before heading down from their suite to the conference room.

Harry had purposefully kept the seat open for her, right next to him, and she slips into quietly as they continue to talk.

There were a lot of higher ups in the room, from the venue, the touring company, his team - deciding on what they should do about the weather warning.

He instantly tugs her as close of possible to him with a long arm wrapped around her shoulder and a subtle kiss to the side of her head.

They’re talking about the people standing outside in the rain for GA, they all get quiet, and Harry nudges his wife, “Darling, they’re talking t’you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Can you repeat the question?” YN asks, eyes a bit wide in embarrassment at all the stares on her face.

A venue manager speaks up, “How do you think the fans will react and how can we ensure them of another show here. We do not want to lose the business of this concert.”

“Obviously upset. People have flown in for the concert - so maybe if you reach out to some of those fans and reimbursement their flights, they’d be more likely to come back and that would look good on you guys,” YN offers, tense and trying to ignore Harry’s concerned expression - he could always tell.

“Jamie, get on that,” The man orders with an executive nod that he liked the idea and Harry squeezes her shoulder lovingly.

The meeting goes on, she would normally wait for Harry to wade through all the people wanting to speak to him but she zips through the maze of bodies and back down the corridor to the elevator.

She about there when she hears someone running to catch up with her, knows exactly who it is when he pulls her back into his strong chest.

“Wha’s wrong?” Her husband murmurs in her ear, lips brushing softly and his arms keeping her as close as possible.

“It’s nothing, I just need some time alone,” YN sighs, stepping out of his warm embrace and turning to face him.

“Did I do somethin’? Baby, c’mon,” He coaxes, frowning as he studies her face, “Talk t’me, please.”

“I’m just - I’m being dumb,” She chuckles with no humor in her tone, tears welling again and she is quick to cover her face in her sleeve because fans are being to notice them.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get y’upstairs,” Harry replies, guiding her towards the elevator and throwing his arm around her to block her - it would look playful in the fan photos.

The crowd gets irritated when Harry refuses to stop and sign things, take pictures but his bodyguards quickly block them from getting to close.

Once in the elevator, alone, Harry cups her face gently, “Baby, y’gotta tell me what’s going on, m’confused.”

“The trailer, it came out and -“

Harry is perplexed for a moment, “Is that why everyone’s blowing up m’phone?”

Then he’s pulling it out, swiping a few times, and the short ten-second trailer is playing across his screen and he knows instantly.

“Sweetheart,” He sighs, tucking it back into his pocket, “M’sorry-“

“No, no. Don’t apologize,” YN interrupts him, eyes frantic as she speaks, “I’m not - It’s not your fault. I just wasn’t expecting it and it threw me off. I am so proud of you -“

“But y’a bit jealous, huh?” Harry smirks, rubbing his thumb against her bottom lip lightly, tugging to tease a bit.

“You’re my husband. Of course, I don’t want to see you do that with anyone else,” YN replies, watching as her husbands eyes meld into something fiery and golden.

“Can I tell you a secret?” He asks, voice deepening into what YN likes to call his sex voice and it really does work - makes her stomach flip.

“Harry, you don’t have to try to make me feel better. I’m re-“

Harry hits the red stop button on elevator, pausing the movement - it was a single elevator to the penthouse so it wasn’t effecting the rest of the hotel guests.

“Let me tell you a secret. The day we had to film tha’ scene, when I had to kiss someone who wasn’t you over and over again. When I had to act like I would fuck someone other than you,” Harry’s teeth are grazing her jugular dangerously, his breathe minty and cool, “You remember that one night on the balcony?”

“Mm,” YN agrees shakily, she remembers that night a few months ago well.

-

Harry had come home from set with a mission.

He hadn’t disclosed what happened that day and YN had completely forgotten to ask later on.

When he stormed through their master bedroom and swung open the balcony doors, his eyes fall hungrily on his wife who’s reading a book on their balcony. ***

Her skin was glowing on the dim fairy lights and reflection of the moon, it was late- nearly midnight when he’d finally gotten home.

She was lounging on the sofa, sprawled in a silk pajama set that was simple but so sexy in the way her natural breasts lay without a bra - nipples poking at the fabric.

It had only taken him a moment, he’d been hard the whole ride home thinking about his wife, and when he saw that, he was striding over and murmuring, “You know your safe words, right baby?”

-

It was him eating her out hungrily, ridding her of her clothes and him still fully dressed as he nipped and sucked at her clit.

-

Then he had bent her over the balcony railing, overlooking the Hollywood hills where surely their neighbors could have seen if they squinted.

His fingers were digging harshly into her backside, thrusting and having her tits sway with the force as he praised her on how well she took it.

-

And it ended with back on the couch, her legs soaked from her multiple releases, skin smattered in bruises and love bites, and Harry kissing her roughly as he pinched her clit and released inside her.

-

“The reason I wrecked y’tha’ night was because doing all that shit on set made me want to come straight home to m’wife,” Harry whispers like there’s other people in the elevator with them.

“Harry,” She mutters shyly, avoiding eye contact and looking down to the marble floor.

“No, look at me, baby. All I could think about were how much better your mouth feels, how no one can ever compare to how fuckin’ sexy y’are,” He rumbles, his hand is slipping underneath her hoodie and palming at her belly.

“Love you,” YN replies, reaching up to press their lips together and whine when his tongue automatically finds it way into her mouth.

“Been with you since I was fifteen. Y’know tha’? There’s a reason for that, s’because nobody gets to me like you do. You always make me crave more. The reason I put that rock on y’finger and y’name on m’bank account.”

“Bunny, please.”

Harry smirks against her lips, “Please what?”

“Fuck me, c’mon,” She begs desperately, his hand teasing at the waistband of her leggings but not giving her anything.

“Gotta give it t’you when you ask, s’my husbandly duty,” Harry kisses her again, hands moving to tug them down.

“Yes, be a good husband,” She scolds, getting on her tiptoes out of instinct as he slips two fingers up into her.

“M’tryin’,” He gruffs, hissing at how wet she is for him as he curls his fingers towards the front her wall to hit her spot, “Only one f’me. Never want anyone else, been an love-struck idiot for you since I was fifteen.”

-

After they finish, Harry presses the button to restart the elevator and they’re both panting, with a light sheen on sweat.

When they step into the foyer of the penthouse, Harry cups her face and makes sure he has her full attention.

“I love you. If this movie or me acting with other people romantically is too much for you. Please tel me, m’job is never more important than m’marriage,” He says seriously, face still splotchy from coming in the sticky, hot elevator.

She shakes her head, “It doesn’t make me uncomfortable - well, not when I’m thinking logically. I’m proud of you, I can’t wait to see the movie.”

“I love y’so much, sunflower. Y’my soulmate, the reason I have the courage and confidence is because of you.”