#inspired by an actual real life convo i had

[miru667]

The whole Once-ler family is working full tilt!

Here's my full piece for the VK Onceler Zine! I was very lucky to get to be a part of it...🥹 I used concept art as my inspiration this time: [link] Keep reading below for my process vid and all my director's commentary!

Thank you for being curious! Here's a video of my WIPs:

Deadlines were TIGHT for this zine! We were given only 2 months (compared to the 6 months I had on the previous onceler zine), so to make sure I could finish on time, I decided to do only base colours and lighting, with almost no shading anywhere. Still, trying to balance all the colours took the longest for me, as you can see in the vid. xP

Also idk if anyone noticed, but for the face I chose to use an already existing onceler doodle: [link] Why? Well, why not! I really liked that doodle and I didn't want it to go to waste. 😆

Things that I enjoyed sneaking in:

-the golden spiral! Vaguely, at least! At the very least I hope your eyes can follow the order of thneed production, from the fallen tree at the window to the tuft harvesting to the thread spinning, to knitting the thneed and then drawing up plans for bigger and better things, and then ending with him pulling on his iconic glove to show he's going to take control now

-15 cents, a nail, and a great great great grandfather snail, as well as a tin pail since that's where you're supposed to deposit your payment

-combining things from the 2012 movie and concept art, the 1972 movie, and the 1971 book (e.g. that funny wrench he uses to fix pipes)

-Miss O'Schmunce-ler! You can see from the vid that I added the bracelet pretty late, because it was a late decision to have a Miss O'Schumunce-ler somewhere. I chose her to be the one picking up the pencil in the end, since she's pretty good with a pencil in the movie hehe. You guys can pretend the arms holding the phone is Miss Funce-ler.

-a thneed, a seed, and a (grickle grass) weed on the floor. The thneed is just the first of many that will soon create a giant pile. The seed lies forgotten in the corner. The weed is foreshadowing the future.

-hinting that Lorax and Once-ler were actually good friends, like they were in the Lorax musical stageplay. 🥺 I kept this part of the script in my mind for this piece:

This was aftermath Once-ler talking to the Lorax, reminiscing on their good times...and also being stupid and inconsiderate because the Lorax was in fact there all along as his friend, trying to warn him of what was going to happen. 😔

So in my zine piece we're witnessing a peaceful time before all the real biggering really starts. I like to think that in this scene, the Lorax had been sitting on the Once-ler's lap, holding his gloves for him and having a nice chat together with maybe some harmless bickering, but then the Once-ler gets a phone call so he cuts their convo short and rolls his chair over to the window to answer it. Putting business over friendship as usual, of course. Inspo for the lap sitting comes from this fanart by Emi that I love: [link]

What else...the parts that I'm proud of the most are the stool (I spent 2 days just drawing this stool), the curtains, the fact that I was able to include every truffula colour, and the Once-ler's pose. I was close to giving up on that pose because I had no idea how to draw it but I'm glad that I tried again. I wanted to show him at ease during a stage in his life that we never got to see much: the happier and more innocent days of his biggering when he only had a small shop. 😊

That's all, I think! Thanks for reading if you did! Once again it was an honour to be part of this zine!!

[querenciasturniolo]

ghost ⮕ s.t.

word count: 4.1k

warnings: depictions of death (no active murder), mentions of death, mentions of vomit, blood, suspense, anxiety, fear, swearing

summary: murders in los angeles have been happening left and right, and right as you think it couldn’t get any worse, one of your best friends is gone.

a/n: this took much longer than it should have, and for that i’m sorry, but i have a few things to say beforehand. this was inspired by multiple edits, two separate convos i had with @floofparker and @champangekisses , scream being one of my FAVORITE scary movies, and, of course, the iconic “WHO’S MOST LIKELY TO BE THE GHOSTFACE KILLERRRR” from chris. this took FOREVER, but i’m so proud of it and so excited to put it out. this is pretty reminiscent to the movie, but i added my own little spin on it. PLEASE read the bolded disclaimer and take it to heart, i don’t think anything that goes down in this fic would actually happen, hence the name fanfiction. it’s supposed to be unrealistic, that’s the point. i hope you enjoy 🫶🏻

everything written is completely fictional. the people i write for are written with characteristics and mannerisms that i made for them, this is in no way depicting what would actually happen in real life.

Twenty year old social media star Christopher (Chris) Sturniolo was found dead outside of his Los Angeles home on September 22, 2023. His brothers, who he made comedy videos with on multiple platforms, Nicolas and Matthew Sturniolo, claim their brother had been out with long-time friend and fellow content creator, Y/f/n Y/l/n, hours before.

Nick and Matt told police moments before they rushed out to find their brother with multiple stab wounds, they heard yelling and a struggle. When they reached Chris, the assailant was gone. Y/n hasn’t spoken about their day together prior to his death, and has refused to answer any questions asked. Her and Matt Sturniolo seem to have ended their year-long relationship shortly after this tragedy, but we all want to know why. Was there an affair? Was the guilt too much to keep the secret after Chris’ death?

On October 13, 2022, Y/n’s brother was murdered brutally, and their mother suffered a very public breakdown. The assailant in her brother’s case has yet to be found.

Chris Sturniolo’s murder was the fifth in a little less than two months. Police have yet to tell the public any of their leads in this string of serial murders, but have disclosed that they are far from closing these cases.

The article had only been out for an hour, and your Instagram and Tiktok were already being swarmed with notifications. So many, that you had to delete both apps off of your phone to keep it from crashing.

You hadn’t left your bed since that day, only to get something to eat and some water when you ran out—you couldn’t even go to the funeral. You couldn’t bring yourself to answer your phone, you couldn’t even answer the countless messages you scrolled through in the days following your best friend’s death.

Today was the day, you decided, that you were going to do something. Three weeks couldn’t have been too late to get your shit back together. You had woken up in the late afternoon and gotten into the shower, standing under the hot spray for what felt like forever and just allowing yourself to relax and release any tension in your body.

You had made a full meal for the first time since…that morning. You were nauseous the entire time you ate, but you had to do this. When your brother died, everyone told you that the best way to get through your grief was to continue your regular routine as much as possible. Filming a video was on your to do list. You weren’t going to post it, it was just for you to get back into the routine of talking to a camera.

Setting up your camera was the hardest part. You knew how to do it blindfolded by now, but the thought of doing anything like this, even if you weren’t going to post it, felt wrong, almost. It felt wrong to look into a camera and talk about that day, talk about your last day with Chris.

You sat down on your couch after pressing record and ran a hand over your face, finally looking into the lens and sighing.

“It’s been awhile.” You started, rolling your eyes at the corniness of your statement. “I don’t even know why I said that, I’m not even posting this.” You grumbled, dropping your head into your hands and carding your fingers through your hair. The burning in your throat started, and you continuously fought through the knot and forming tears.

You looked up again, hoping your eyes didn’t look as red as they felt. “I picked Chris up at ten fifteen, and we spent the entire day together. We went thrifting, as much as he complained the whole time.” You said, a ghost of a smile forming on your face as your eyes focused elsewhere.

“He, oh my God.” You said, chuckling to yourself and shaking your head. “He would throw whatever I had in my hands in the basket and ask if we were done yet, every time I picked something up. I don’t know what his problem was, considering he had gotten a few things too.” You said, sighing softly and glancing over at the camera.

“We went to lunch—that honestly sounds more fancy than it is, we stopped at In-n-Out—and we just came back to my house afterwards. We talked about…a lot of things.” You started, tears pooling in your eyes as you closed them and let yourself remember.

“We talked…we talked about life, and getting older.” You said, dropping your head back and looking up at the ceiling. “Fears, hopes and whatnot. We talked about everything.” You said, sighing softly as the remnants of Chris’ voice in your memory sang through.

“I don’t know what I want right now. I’m grateful that I’m doing so well, but in five years, where will I be?”

“It started getting late, so I took him home. He told me to come in if I wanted, but I…I was tired, I wanted to go home. He…he got out of the car, and I didn’t. I never...” You dropped your head in your hands again, your breathing labored as you fought off the guilt that had been deteriorating you for the last three weeks.

You lifted your head, about to stand and turn off your camera when your phone buzzed next to you. You sighed and flipped it over, frowning at the screen.

No Caller ID flashed before you. Usually you’d ignore the call, but something in you couldn’t resist as you slid the icon over and pressed it to your ear.

“Hello?” You asked, your voice quiet and shaky.

“It was your fault, you know.”

You’d never ended a call so fast, your phone hitting the couch as you stared down at it with wide eyes. The voice was distorted, completely unrecognizable, but familiar at the same time. This was some sick joke, it had to be. You took a deep breath and shook your head.

You stood and walked over to your camera on weak knees, stopping the recording and taking your camera off of the tripod. As you shut off the camera, your phone buzzed on the couch. A sigh left your lips as you placed the camera on the coffee table and ran your hands through your hair.

What was the worst that could happen, right? You picked up your phone, No Caller ID still flashing across the screen. You slid the icon over again and pressed your phone to your ear.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

Your entire body went on high alert. “Who is this?” You asked, your voice trembling.

“That’s not important, what’s important is I know what really happened that day.”

All of the air left your lungs as you shakily sat down on the couch. “What are you talking about?” You asked. A dark chuckle rang through the receiver, your heart pounding in your ears as you waited for an answer.

“You didn’t wait for him to get inside, did you, Sweetheart?”

A broken sob left your lips as you hung up the phone and dropped it, your whole body shaking with each shattered cry that escaped you. The guilt was too much, it was the only thing about your last day with him that you couldn’t bring yourself to even say.

You blame yourself for Chris’ death, if you had just waited a few moments for him to get in the door, none of this would have happened. It was killing you every single day, not knowing if your being there would have changed anything.

You ignored the next call, and went through your contacts. Your finger hovered over Matt’s name, your chest aching as you swiped out of his contact, clicked the one under it, and held your phone to your ear. Before Nick could even finish his greeting, you were straining to get your words out of your mouth through the knot in your throat.

“Nick, something is wrong. Please, please come over.” You whispered into the phone, trying your best to keep your voice steady as his silence on the other end made your skin crawl.

“I’ll be there soon.”

You put your phone on the couch and took your time pacing around your living room.

Nick would be here soon, there was no reason to panic. The person on the phone was nothing, no one. Your phone’s incessant buzzing pulled you out of your pacing. You were frustrated now, the guilt and pain that you’d been holding in for so long was finally out in the open and slapping you right in the face.

How did they know? You hadn’t told anyone, you couldn’t even bring yourself to say it out loud.

It didn’t matter, the person on the phone had no idea what they were talking about, which sounded about as stupid as you thought it did, but it was the only thing keeping you from pulling your hair out of your head.

You pulled your phone from the couch and answered, the buzzing driving you up the wall.

“Listen, I’ve already called the police, and they’re tracing this call right no—”

The laughter on the other end cut you off, your heartbeat pounding in your ears as that sickening, metallic voice rang through the receiver.

“Oh, Sweetheart. We both know that isn’t true. I do know, however, that your little friend and boyfriend are on their way right now. Care to explain how they’re going to help you?”

Every hair on your body stood on end, your chest aching with the intensity of each beat against your rib cage. You fish-mouthed, unable to get any words out as the voice continued.

“How are they going to stop me, hm? How are they going to keep me from gutting you the same way I did your dear old friend, Chris? Or your brother?”

You froze, your gaze stuck to the floor as each word processed in your mind. “My brother?” You whimpered, a sinister chuckle vibrated against your ear.

“You heard me, Sweetheart. He put up quite the fight, too. More of a fight than your little friend.”

“Shut up!” You screamed into the receiver, hanging up the phone and throwing it across the room. You could distinctly hear the shatter of your screen as you crumpled in on yourself.

Michael’s murder had completely destroyed you. Your entire world was uprooted, and your mom, your mom hasn’t been the same since. She spends her days sitting in a rocking chair in front of the window, rocking slowly back and forth in a daze.

You’d never shaken more in your life, your entire body twitching and fighting each movement you tried to make as you stood from the floor. You needed to get up, you couldn’t let yourself stay on the ground or you’d never move.

Before you reached your kitchen, the sound of a knock at the door had you jumping out of your skin. It took everything in you to walk to the door and peek out the peephole, ripping it open the moment you registered Nick and Matt standing on your porch.

You hadn’t said a word before they rushed in and wrapped you in the tightest hugs you’d ever experienced in your life. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you pushed the door shut and held them tightly.

“I’m so sorry.” You sobbed, both of their arms holding you as you completely crumbled. “I didn’t wait for him to get inside, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, he’d be here right now if it wasn’t for me. I’m so fucking sorry.” You rambled. Neither of them spoke, but their shoulders shaking softly against you answered the silent question of if they were listening.

When you finally pulled away, you were still shaking like a leaf. The guilt of holding it in for so long had been washed away, but the fear of that voice on the phone was still running rampant.

“No one blames you.” Nick said, his eyes rimmed red. “We’ve never blamed you. So you don’t need to worry about that.” You glanced at Matt, who’s eyes were still on the floor before you met Nick’s eyes again. “What happened?”

You sniffed and shook your head as you wiped at your face. “Nothing, it’s fine. It isn’t important.” You whispered, wrapping your arms around your abdomen as your eyes rested on Matt’s hunched frame. Nick sighed from where he stood and ran a hand over his face.

“I’ll leave you two to talk, but then I want to know what happened.” He said before he turned and walked towards the living room.

For what felt like hours, you and Matt stood across from each other in the mudroom of your childhood home, you staring at him, and him staring at the floor. When his eyes finally met yours, it felt as though your heart shattered and mended itself all at once. You hadn’t seen him since before Chris’ death, and the only message you’d sent him since then was telling him that the two of you needed to break up.

He looked as beautiful as he always had, but he looked different. Under his eyes were dusted in a dark purple, the whites of them tinged pink, his cheeks sunken in.

“Matty,” you whispered and took a step forward. He shook his head and looked back down at the floor.

“Why?”

It took everything in you not to wrap him in your arms and never let go. You knew exactly what he was asking you, and you knew the answer. It had taken these three weeks of you doing nothing more than surviving to realize you had no other reason to break up with Matt, other than the fact that looking at him would remind you of Chris, and you couldn’t handle it. It was selfish, and you could only imagine how he felt.

“I…I don’t have a good reason.”

Matt nodded and sniffed before looking up and meeting your eyes. The blue of his iris’ was striking against the red rimming his eyes. Your own eyes were burning as his gaze scanned over your face.

“Is it true?”

You frowned, confusion clouding your mind as he sighed and shook his head.

“What the article said, about you and Chris. Is it true? Was there…did you…”

You gasped as the realization hit you of what he was asking.

“Matt, what? I would never, I could never do that to you. I didn’t look at Chris like that, you know that.” You rambled on.

Matt nodded. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, just…a moment of weakness, I didn’t mean it.” He mumbled, taking a step closer to you. “Why did you end…us? I needed you, and you just…you shut me out.”

You took a deep breath in through your nose and shook your head. “I couldn’t bear looking at you and seeing him. I know, that’s selfish, and I’m sorry.” You whispered.

“I shattered the mirror in my bathroom the other night.”

You looked up, your eyebrows furrowed as Matt held up his hands. A gasp left your lips and you reached forward, delicately taking his cut up and bruised hands in yours. Before you could ask him why, he answered the silent question brokenly.

“Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw him.” You met his eyes again, and didn’t stop yourself as you pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace.

“I’m sorry, Matty. I should have been there.” You mumbled into his shoulder, his arms tightening around your waist as he breathed you in. Neither of you said anything, just held each other for as long as the other needed.

“Um, Y/n? Did you do this on purpose?”

You pulled away from Matt and turned around, seeing Nick holding your shattered phone in his hand. You sighed and nodded, the fear you’d completely forgotten about creeping up.

“I was getting prank phone calls, it’s not that big of a deal.” You mumbled, pulling away completely and walking towards the living room.

“What kind of prank phone calls would make you shatter your phone?” Matt asked quietly, you turned to face him and shrugged your shoulders, trying desperately to hide the shaking of your hands. You didn’t want to talk about it, you couldn't talk about it. If you talked about it, that would make it real.

Before you could even sit on the couch, Nick’s phone was went off in his pocket. Your heart pounded as he pulled it out and looked down at it with a frown.

“No Caller ID?” He mumbled, your jaw dropping as he pulled it to his ear. It was a few moments of silence before he met your eyes and handed it to you. “They asked for you.”

You whimpered as you took the phone and pressed it to your ear, not saying a word as the mechanical voice spoke again.

“You really thought smashing your phone would get rid of me, Sweetheart?”

“What do you want?!” You cried, the other line buzzing in silence for only a moment before Matt stepped forward and almost snatched the phone from your hand.

“I’m upstairs, come find me.”

The line beeped right as Matt grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear. You froze in your spot, Matt turning to face you and dropping Nick’s phone on the couch. He grabbed your shoulders and shook you once lightly.

“What did they say? Baby, breathe. What did they say?!” Matt asked, his grip on your shoulders tight as you fought off the panic.

“He’s in the house. He’s in the house.” You whispered, your eyes meeting Matt’s. Nick moved from his spot and stopped right next to Matt, his eyes wide as he scanned your face.

“Y/n, who is in the house?” He asked, his voice quiet in shock. You shook your head, nausea overtaking you as you pushed past Matt and sprinted to the kitchen. You couldn’t make it to the trash, turning and vomiting into the sink, your breaths heaving as you felt a warm hand rest on your back.

It took everything in you not to crumple to the floor as you looked up and shook your head.

“H-He told me he’s the one that killed Michael…and C-Chris.” You whispered the last word, your throat burning and your stomach lurching. Matt’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“How long have you been getting these phone calls?” He asked, his voice shaky as Nick handed you a bottle of water.

“It’s only been the last couple of hours, I thought it was some sort of sick prank until—”

A shatter from upstairs had your entire body tensing, your breath catching in your throat. Nick’s head whipped to the stairs as Matt reached for a knife and turned away.

“What are you doing?” You asked, grabbing his arm tightly and making him face you. Nick had his phone dialed and already pressed to his ear, speaking quickly to the 9-1-1 operator.

“I’m fucking going up there.” He said, pulling his arm from your grip and continuing his way towards the stairs.

“Matt, are you stupid?” Nick asked, stepping in front of the staircase as he hung up the phone. “The police are being dispatched, don’t do anything rash.” Matt shoved past Nick and ascended the stairs, his knuckles white on the handle of the knife. Nick groaned and faced you fully. “What are we gonna do?” He asked.

“We can’t just let him go up there by himself.” You whispered, walking past Nick and slowly stepping up the stairs.

“Jesus, you guys are gonna get us killed.” Nick grumbled from behind you. You heard a shuffle in the kitchen and turned, seeing him follow you up with a knife in his hand. “What? One of us had to grab something.” He whispered. You faced forward again, listening for any bump or creak that could indicate where Matt or the man that was in your house were.

It was silent as you walked through the upstairs. Each door you passed was closed, the only sound upstairs being the sound of Nick’s and your footsteps, and the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears.

“Matt?” You called out, the back of Nick’s hand hitting your shoulder. You looked at him, bewilderment etched into your face.

“Have you never seen a scary movie? Calling out in a dark house is the number one way to fucking die.” He said through his teeth. You rolled your eyes and opened your mouth to fire back.

“Get off of me!”

You jumped, your head whipping down the hallway to see a door slam. “Matt!” You shouted, running without thinking towards the door and shoving it open. The moment you stepped into the center of the room, you knew something was wrong. The door clicked behind you, and you froze in place.

“Look what we have here.”

You turned, your eyes meeting Matt’s. His entire demeanor changed, the heartbroken boy you’d seen before was gone. In his place, stood what you could only describe as a monster. His eyes were dark, his smirk sinister, and his shoulders were square.

“Matty?” You asked, Nick coming from behind him with an almost identical smirk.

The both of them chuckled and looked between each other. Nick stepped forward, causing you to take a quick step back.

“Oh, Honey. Matty’s been gone for a while.” His hooded eyes stared you down as you fully processed what was truly happening. The both of them had tricked you.

You took in a shaky breath past the knot in your throat as you took another step back.

“You?” You exhaled, your eyes switching between them as their smirks grew impossibly wider. Matt rolled his eyes and looked over to Nick.

“Us?” He mocked, meeting your eyes and taking a step closer to you. “Yes, Baby. Us. Is that so surprising?” He teased, your eyes brimming with hot, salty tears. The cool air in the room had them burning, and your throat felt like it was on fire.

“You two were behind the murders all along?” You asked, your voice barely reaching a whisper as they moved closer to you almost strategically, boxing you in with each step they took.

Nick chuckled and nodded his head, his eyes never leaving yours as he cocked his head to the side. “She’s catching up, Matt. Yes, every single one.” He said, his voice thick with venom.

“But why?” You whimpered, your back hitting the wall. You were cornered, you couldn’t get past them no matter how hard you tried. Nick and Matt’s eyes were wicked as they watched you, Matt’s smirk growing as he glanced over at Nick.

“Hear that, Nick? She wants a motive.” He said, his eyes meeting yours again. “It isn’t enough that we just felt like it?”

“You killed Michael in cold blood, just because you felt like it?” You spat. Nick quirked an eyebrow and lightly ran the tip of his finger over the blade of the knife he was holding.

“See, now you’re getting it. Not everyone needs a motive, some people are just sick and twisted.” He pouted at the end of his sentence, anger flushing through you and coating your skin in heat.

“And Chris?” You asked. Matt chuckled and shook his head.

“You really can’t be that dense, Baby.” He said.

“Don’t fucking call me that.” You said through gritted teeth.

“It was only a distraction. We were getting sloppy, and what’s better to get the cops off of our case than getting rid of one of us?” Nick interrupted. You shook your head.

“Murder isn’t a distraction, you sick fucks.” You spat, looking around the room for any escape.

Matt chuckled, and flipped the blade in his hand. “Oh, Baby. You really aren’t understanding, are you?”

Before you could spit in his face, the door behind them was pushed open, your eyes shifting to the shadowed figure walking into the room. Your heart pounded in your chest as realization slowly set in, a broken cry leaving your lips as you shook your head.

“No.” You whispered.

The white mask on his face would have been comical if every hair on your body wasn’t standing on end. You watched each movement closely, your knees buckling as you slid to the floor. The wood was ice cold as the man crouched down in front of you. He pulled the mask from his face, your choked sob being caught in your throat as you shook your head and looked down at the floor.

His warm finger rested on your chin and he lifted it up until your eyes met his, a broken whimper leaving your lips as you met the familiar blue eyes you’d looked into a million times before.

“What’s the matter, Sweetheart?” Chris said, his voice gravelly and rough as it left his smirking lips. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

tags: @lvrsparadise , @ssturniolo , @floofparker , @cat-loves-music , @geniejunn , @its-jennarose , @dwntwn-strnlo , @20nugs , @hiraethlimerence , @lavieenvalentina , @strniolo , @toyourloves , @jellybeanbby , @thetriplets3 , @mxriverse , @stvrni0lo , @gabbylovesreading , @tylerscreat0r , @angelcake-222 , @obsessivencrazy , @lollibumblebee , @stargirlv0id , @idontexistman , @emssturniolo , @soursturniolo , @bernardenjoyer , @mxqdii , @leah-loves-lilies , @mattsnutsack , @lovelysturniolo

[romanarose]

Congrats on reaching 1k followers 🎉

Can I request number 7 from the smut prompt "that was the prettiest sound i’ve ever heard" with Steven Grant? ❤

HI!!! Sorry this took forever I got caught up in writing 3 different series lol and my anxiety has been horrific since June lol bad time for a follower celebration but im TRYING

"Prettiest Sounds"

Steven Grant x Reader

Join my taglist! : Masterlist

Summary: You are self-conscious that don't sound sexy when cum, Steven assure you that you do.

Warnings: PIV sex, references to a past shitty ex.

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

You burry your face in Steven's neck as he fucks into you with care; your attempt to muffle the moans that couldn't help escape, yet another attempt in a long string of them. Steven just made you feel so good... it was hard to hide, but you tried.

When Steven moved enough to kiss and lick and nibble at your neck, you bit down on your bottom lip, a light whimper escaping you.

"Let me hear you, love." Steven begged as his hips thrust inside you, your fingers clawing into his sweaty back in an attempt to stay grounded. "Please?"

"You don't want that." It slips from your lips before you can stop it, your intrusive thoughts taking on a life of their own. You pinch your eyes closed, hoping he didn't hear you.

He did, of course. Steven had great hearing and slowed down to a stop. "Why would you say that, darling?" When you didn't answer, Steven carefully pulling out of you and making you whimper when he did. With a stroke of your hair out of your face, Steven laid on his side next to you. "Love? Please talk to me?

You hesitate, but with your eyes still closed in a cringe, you relent. "It doesn't sound good."

His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What doesn't?"

Finally, you give into his gentle touches. Steven and you had only started dating recently, and only begun having sex this week, both wanting to take it slow. "I don't sound... sexy. during sex."

Steven had to take a moment to process what was said. "Well of course you do darling, I've heard you, you sound beautiful!"

"No," You shake your head. "That's not... real..."

His eyes widen comically large. "You mean... you're faking... uh- you're faking... orgasms?" He nearly whispers the last words, still a little awkward around sex.

"NO!" You are quick to reassure your sweet Steven. "I'm not faking the orgasms, I'm just faking... the sounds..." Embarrassment causes you to look away from him, but Steven coaxes you back to looking at him.

"Love... did he make you feel that way?" Steven knew you had a bad experience with your last boyfriend; he always nitpicked you in everything from the way you dress, the way you did your hair, how you walked... nothing was free from subtle critiques and little jabs.

You nod, confirming his suspicions with glistening eyes. "He said... I don't sound feminine enough."

The small rise and fall of his chest was a telltale that Steven was mentally envisioning kicking his ass. "That's not true, I know it's not. Whatever you sound like in genuine pleasure is sexy. I want to know how I make you feel, how I actually make you feel. I don't want a performance."

It took a little more reassurance, Steven encouraging you to open up during sexy and communicate, but as you made love that night, you threw away the fake, porny moans and let Steven hear you. When you came, you thought it was the least sexy thing you could've imagined, but it caused Steven to spill into you with a pathetic, loud whine.

"That was the prettiest sound I've ever heard."

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

this was inspired by a convo between me and Dolli about Will Miller actually XD

@fandxmslxt69 @k-ra @ivystoryweaver @whatthefishh @campingwiththecharmings @littlenosoul @missdictatorme @steven-grants-world @ahookedheroespureheart @runa-falls @mikaelak @stevenandmarcslove @pikapuff-316 @@myfandomlikesandstories @milkymoon2483

[isumugui]

sae rlly js wanted rin to not rely on him for his sole motivation to play football as that doesnt really get you to be the best. so by giving rin sort of a reality check (if u can call it that) it provided rin a new inspiration to be the best - by beating his brother n vengeance basically.

rin's playstyle is rlly quite similar to sae's when not awakened and i think it's because after sae left for spain, he took over as like the highschool team captain (replacement for sae basically lol) n by doing what sae did - midfielder, controlling the field, and playing for the team. that had never developed rin's ego as his own but just as a watered down sae for the team. so when sae came back n saw that rin was following in his footsteps rather than finding what kind of player he was himself so yeah... he got a lil agitated lol.

i think the reason why sae had said "as long as ur hung up on being my brother, you'll never surpass me." (smth like that) was because he wanted rin to be unique, to succeed because of his own plays and be known as itoshi rin. he saw rin's talent from very early on n that's why he had told rin that "rin, you're incredible. play football with me" because he knew rin could achieve far in life. for the entire time that rin has played football, he's played it with sae. so when sae left, rin had a hard time actually playing football. it's like when u play videogames n u have a duo u play w frequently, when they get off the game n ur forced to play solo (especially in team games) it's hard to navigate the game w/o them as all the others in the team js can't comprehend the things u do n why u would do them. but your duo did n helped enable u to do those things + another example is when u have fun w ur duo in the game n then they hop off, suddenly the game is much more boring. (sry for the metaphor ish thing but i kinda wanted to compare it to real life events)

rin found football, without sae to help him with it, almost suffocating in a sense that he wasn't able to be enable to hit shots n score goals comfortably. so instead of developing the ego of a striker in which he play independently, he decided to become the captain that leads the team to score the victory goal rather than the star player who scores the victory goal. the highschool football team also kinda enabled it since y'know... they're side characters. after sae got like reality checked HARD in spain and came back, he had completely changed his dream n unbeknownst to rin, decided to pursue a dream of becoming a midfielder rather than a striker.

i think in the little argument they had, what rlly ticked sae off was when rin said "i'm the younger brother of the world's best striker!" it's also kinda evident in the manga as well because his eyes widened a bit. i also think this is when sae realized that rin was following in his footsteps rather then finding his own path. sae had also said in the convo "so i'll be a midfielder n you'll reach the top as a striker." sae wanted rin to pursue his own dream n reach the top through his own ambitions rather than rely on him for it. he didnt want rin to just be 'itoshi sae's younger brother second best in the world to him', he wanted 'itoshi rin, best in the world.' i also think the 1v1 he did w rin rlly just confirmed his suspicions abt rin following in his footsteps. 1v1's in a sense require more skill rather than just brain n good passes. it doesn't require teamwork. i think that shows to sae that rin hadn't evolved as a striker who plays for himself as he can't even beat sae (a midfielder) in a 1v1. - sorry if i do not know what i'm saying btw.

i also think this is why sae worked well w shidou in the u20 match because shidou was an embodiment of a striker (excluding barou lol) he had a n ego n if he did ever pass, it was for his own self benefit to score. talking abt u20, rin's flow thingy. isagi mentions it n it's kinda ironic but rin n sae's flow states r completely different. polar opposites even. i think that shows how much rin had restricted himself from being a striker when sae left as he was hung up on being second best. in the u20 match, when sae like... trash talks (idk how to call it) rin again, that's what really enabled rin to go into flow state. and i also kinda lost my flow so i dont know what i'm saying anymore.... :3. i actually think rin was ROBBED in u20 but like it's whatever now. still though, even if rin didn't score, sae was proud of him. it's evident on his face but he knew that rin still needed time to develop this new ego of his so like he decided to... say isagi was good (dick move btw hubby like srsly give rin a break). but i think it's what rin needed bc he's popping off rn in the pxg match n his ego seems more developed!!!!!!!!! also the fact that sae had went directly to rin right after the match ended (shidou doesnt count >:( cuz shidou went up to sae) plusssssss forgot to mention, rin actually held his own in the second 1v1 against sae so yeah, i think that also shows to sae that rin improved (and i like to think he would've liked to say that)

all in all, this was a rant from ur's truly bc i had finished all my work and i had nothing to do except think about my 2 pretty boys :p + agree with the post anon gave me :)



[stupidrant]

Some atreboda headcanons, prompts & AU’s that ive thought of that i think you guys may like?

Idol!/singer!angrboda, fan!atreus

Vampire!angrboda, werewolf!atreus

arranged marriage that actually works out

Fated/destined/twin flame love 

Sun!goddess angrboda, moon!god atreus

Atreus shoots a cupid’s arrow at angrboda not knowing she already had feelings prior 😒

“No matter where i go, i will always carry you with me” 

princess of jotunheim x prince of midgard/asgard

Boat date while rowing through the waters of vanaheim bc she absolutely loves the view there

Atreus makes angrboda a knife 🥲

Angrboda’s baking chronicles ft atreus

Clumsy first kiss

Angrboda playing with his hair causes him to grow out his hair just for her 😭😭 (this is me hoping they grow out his hair next game)

Atreus likes to bite her affectionately 

atreus the type to be like “bro my hand is mad cold we gotta hold hands” and angrboda fell for it now theyre holding hands 🙄

Atreus writes a song for angrboda 

Siren!angrboda, sailor!atreus (slightly inspired by a convo with @bellaaldamas)

Cuddling in their animal forms 🦊🐺❤️

Atreus gets yelled at by kratos and is annoyed but if he gets sent to the corner by angrboda, he’s heartbroken 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

Atreus has piles of drawings of angrboda trying to perfect every little detail abt her but he feels no matter how much he does a amazing job, nothing can compare to the real life 🥲

If there was a family photobook, angrboda would secretly take some of baby atreus photos 😎

While finding the giants, atreus visits angrboda frequently but recently he feels more homesick than ever before. He asks if he can see her again (he just seent her like 3 days ago) and the gods of [insert mythology here] says no 😠yet he sneaks to see her anyways 😭

[getoswhore]

ORIGINAL PINNED POST / MASTERLISTS

phew. . .

this is tbh a lot harder than i thought it would be ?! but what i’m trying to sob out, is that sadly, today is the day that i will be leaving this silly little blog of mine — archiving it and letting it go. . . :/

‘cause of my little time to write anymore – i got college and work to deal with, real-life issues with a busy schedule more than anything, and far more important things to handle with than some filthy porn about some supaaa hot characters (SADLY) :/ ( but don't get me wrong, i do love some good written filth ! ) + another reason is because of my lack of motivation to write now too……..

buuut don't get me wrong, to me, writing has always been such a joy and a hobby that i adored so much ! ( i’ve been writing since i was 13?? :o ) and that's a long time !! and doing something for so long has became. . . a little tiring. . . a little boring too, repetitive even. . . :/ but don't get me wrong !!! this blog has brought me so much joy and inspiration. and it's all because YOU. ALL OF Y’ALL, ALL 12K OF Y’ALL. like, y’all have made this blog so much fun and so exciting to log in and just to write or even just to talk, to just have stupid little convos about crazy little things and get horny on main about characters ( mostly over getō – aka the loml >:D ). and y'all made it so fun to write too, y'all did give me that motivation i’ve always needed because of y’alls encouragement and never-ending love and support, which lead us to multiple ( proud ) milestones !! and that appreciation towards my work has always made me more than happy ! so thank you so much !!! <33

this is why i love y’all so much, and i will dearly miss you guys, and all of our stupid little jokes and memes together :( especially all of my moots :(( i love you guys sm, y'all are srsly more than just moots, i take y'all as actual friends in my leedle phone :((( so, ( moots ) if y'all would like to stay in contact ask me for my discord !

but seriously, thank you, all of you. thanks for always being so cool and awesome, and thanks for always putting up with my insanty and crazy tots about my man suguru getō ( who y'all should always be shipping me with forever :| ) + of sooo many other cuties !!! like srsly, thank you ! thanks for being a moot, a friend, or a cool anon, or just a really awesome follower !!! <333 you are so freaking amazing and sooo hot, so please take care !!! <333 big smooches and tight hugs for you all !!

thank you all so much for the amazing memories i’ve had here !! i will miss you all so much !! and thank you for being supportive to me and this ever-growing blog, it's grown a lot and succeeded in my eyes — beyond to be honest. i’m super grateful and happy, thank you so much. <3

— bella: april 14th, 2023 !

[victoriaspriing]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about.

I was tagged by @swearphil! thank you sm renee <33

Hii!! so 2024 is right around the corner, happy new year yayay. Actually, if I think too much about it I think I'll start crying cause like what do you mean we're less than 42 hours from staring a new year?!! 2023 doesn't feel real tbh time in general doesn't feel real but yeah anyways I'll save that convo for another time. I'm here today to reflect on all the gifsets I've made throughout this year, which let me add, has been A LOT. I'm going to start by sharing some fun stats (yes renee I'm copying you <33), and then I'll do a fun top 5 of my fave gifsets, and to finish it off I'd also like to use this to shout out some of my fave people and creators on this hellsite cause you all made my 2023 so much better and I love you all for that <333

fun statistics:

In total I made 61 gifsets in 2023

57 are heartstopper (not surprised)

3 are 911 lone star (mostly tarlos)

1 are dan and phil

In august I made 20 gifsets, which are the most gifsets I've made in a month this year

In may I made 1 gifset, which is the month I made less gifsets this year

6 of the gifsets are song lyrics edits

3 of the gifsets are heartstopper comic edits

31 of the gifsets are scenes from heartstopper

6 of the gifsets are heartstopper compilations from s1 and s2

top 5 gifsets from 2023 (in no particular order)

that one dnp gifset: I think most people know that I was and still am a big dan and phil fan, and that I spent most of my teenage years obsessing over them and giffing them and only them. Well, they went on hiatus and they stopped having a big impact on my life util they decided to come back and ruin my life again (in a good way). This gifset was the first time I giffed them since like idk 2019/2020, and it does mean a lot to me :') it's not really about the concept and the coloring, I chose this one to be apart of my top 5 for sentimental reasons, and I think that's valid.

give your friendships the magic you would give a romance: once again, sentimental reasons. when I read this quote on loveless it just spoke to me in so many levels. One of the things I love the most about heartstopper is the importance they give to friendship and I just had to make something that highlighted that and I think it turned out super good.

I think nellie loves him: well, now I think I snapped with this one akdhjahak I just love it so much. the coloring.. the heartstopper tv scenes with the heartstopper comic scenes, like chef's kiss, just perfect. of course this is not an original idea so I'd love to thank @rose-nobles for inspiring this gifset <33

mr. ajayi loves museum dates with his grumpy bf: and just like that we are back to sentimental reasons ahdhkas. well, this was one of the first gifsets I made when season two came out and it blew up. I've never had that many notes on a gifset, and honestly I think it's well deserved cause the coloring is good and I had finally just figured out how to sharpen gifs, so yeah love that for me.

I'm bi actually: I had so much fun making this one. the amount of bi coded elements and colors I included on this, I WAS ON A MISSION. the fact I made the font wobbly hsjgdjaka, I love love this gifset.

a little shout out to my faves (I hope you all have an amazing 2024)

@swearphil ☆ @barrowsteeth ☆ @narliee ☆ @cafecdramin ☆ @heroeddiemunson ☆ @nelsonnicholas ☆ @curlyhairedprince ☆ @wylanvannecks ☆ @aimeegbbs ☆ @indimlights ☆ @jelloandsugar ☆ @perrieedwards ☆ @imogen-heaney ☆ @thatwasthenightthingschanged ☆ @klinejack ☆ @birthdaysentiment ☆ @seeleybooth ☆ @sonseulsoleil ☆ @taraolssons ☆ @immortals-malec ☆ @parissquads ☆ @rose-nobles ☆ @itwasmagic ☆ @perccyjackson ☆ @naomismcpherson ☆ @neverfindmegone ☆ @charlieisverybored

Okay I think that's it, I'm so sorry if I missed someone. I'm also tagging everyone that wants to do this, just say I tagged you in it <33

[roseillith]

Pls don’t hurt yourself. Deleting a blog is one thing but pls don’t hurt yourself. So sorry to hear you’re feeling this way. You put so much joy and beauty into the world via this blog im one of many recipients of that and no matter how you feel you look like externally, i and many others get a chance to see your soul and it’s beautiful, expansive, smart, inspirational and full of humour! As a black person I also sometimes feel alienated and off key when my fam speak ga of twi around me and yet haven’t taught me, sometimes I feel so disconnected from everyone and feel like I’m floating away with nothing to hold me, no anchor to any sort of real meaningful life. Betrayal from friends or from love, broken heartedness, loneliness strike but still there is a lil bit of light, there is the wind blowing on my face, a glass of water, a favourite song, some sun. There are small joys that remind us we are not alone. And You are not alone and I hope that one day soon you receive all the joy light and good energy you put into this harsh world. Pls don’t give up. We love you, keep your head up

tyvm I appreciate your message deeply, I feel a constant push n pull whenever I log on & post on here, the things that I’ve posted recently (including this) has made feel ashamed in that I have spilled out all of my thoughts n feelings out on this public platform, the same place that I’ve been constructing as way to separate my physical& literal self and run towards things that I have stored inside me, all of the stuff the I carry along with me whenever I’m out in public, that I know I can’t share w/ any nigga that I know out there instead I try to avert my eyes from all other dudes out there cuz I know I don’t fit in and feel physically gross when I’m around w/ a bunch of dudes, me failing to be a man in general and avoid man-to-man convos irl and instead retreating those inner stuff into the girl that I want to be, the kind of girl where I know I can apply all the totality of myself out there into the world.

Now I’m just staring at this public persona that I have made of myself feeling increasingly distant day-to-day and I wonder why I put all my all into this blog w/ gifs,pics,anime stuff, film stuff, music stuff etc. when I can’t muster up the courage to talk about all that shit outside out aloud without having to be disgusted from hearing the sound of my voice or/and how the person/s I’m saying it to is even viewing me physically & as a person/“grown up man” having the courage to go out and transition to the girl that I can see in the distance.

The one rule I had when making this blog was to never spill out my personal shit of actually being a man irl who’s found solace and significant more ease in being a woman online cuz I know that if I ever did that it would be embarrassing & the end for me personally, I wouldn't be able to look myself in the eye, all the shit that I had posted on here it all being a lie to me, and worse of all I never really took in any support from anyone else here I had this lone wolf-esque mentality where I always try and not get close to anybody I was mutuals w/, never share anything abt my personal shit, always looking through the window seeing other ppl chill with others, and when I look at myself on here I’m feel still as alone as I do irl & tbh much of it is my fault from not being able to put myself out there and feeling disassociated from myself in whatever I do on here and irl

[green-socks]

(Do You) Share My Affection

Pairing: Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (aka hangster)

Summary: Bradley and Jake end up on a date with each other through an anonymous dating app (because they are just a little bit idiots about each other). The date is the wakeup call they needed.

Words: 2.7k

Warnings: suggestive/mature language, making out, oblivious idiots to lovers, very vague IceMav in the background.

Notes: So, I saw a screenshot from somewhere of two people having a pretty random convo, but one of them said "Wow, there's way more sexual tension now that I hate you" and I went oh that's Bradley flirting with Jake. Thanks to those unknown people for inspiring the text exchange in this! This was supposed to be a quick silly/horny thing and it got a little more serious than originally intended but it is what it is. And yes, they use the app from Ted Lasso, because I thought it worked perfectly for what I wanted. Once again many thanks to @a-reader-and-a-writer for betaing (most of this), listening to my rambles, and for coming up with Jake's username <3 Same goes for @writeforfandoms with the rambles. Everything I write is for you two basically <3

MASTERLIST

CloudWrangler: Well, you know, I like long walks on the beach, getting flowers.. and blowjobs😉

CloudWrangler: That's the first date already planned right there. You’re welcome😘

Bradley hadn’t looked up from his phone all day, spending nearly every moment chatting with this nameless (unless you counted his username, which Bradley did not) guy. He was never like this. Normally Phoenix gave him shit for taking forever to answer her texts. Called him a grandpa for often calling her rather than texting.

Originally when Payback had suggested Bradley try out this new dating app, Bantr, he had been more than a little skeptical. He had never used a dating app before, having been content with finding his hookups the old-fashioned way – bars. Hadn't had any trouble with it either, so what did he need an app for? But this new app wasn't picture-based like many others, instead just having faceless people chat and try to connect that way. Bradley supposed that seemed less superficial than even his usual method, which is why when Maverick of all people had badgered him to get out there and make a profile, he'd complied. Mav and Ice had even helped set it up (came up with the username too), which Bradley would never admit to anyone, thank you.

Despite his initial wariness, the app seemed to have a point after all. CloudWrangler had messaged him the day before, and they hadn't stopped talking since. Bradley thought the total anonymity was actually kind of freeing, and found it really easy to talk to the other person, even without knowing what he looked like. Bradley didn't even know how old the man was, but based on some things they'd talked about, he assumed they were roughly the same age. They had talked about mostly superficial, casual stuff like movies, but sometimes the conversation derailed to downright weird nonsense with them arguing over something inconsequential, making Bradley laugh out loud even. He was honestly having fun flirting and, well, bantering with this random man.

Which was why Bradley had asked if they should actually go out and see if they'd have fun in real life too. Sure they could have continued getting to know each other better by texting, but Bradley was still holding on to his ways of preferring a face-to-face conversation. Since Bantr was more of an honest to god dating app and not just for hooking up, Bradley hoped his wanting to meet so soon didn't scare the other man away. Even if their messages had gotten progressively more suggestive too.

Chuckling to himself, Bradley wrote a reply.

Gosling84: 🙄

Gosling84: Yeah well I don’t know, I like nice tits. That’s about all I need

Gosling84: Let me know if you’re up for it

CloudWrangler: I’ll have you know I’ve been told I have very nice tits indeed. But you’re gonna have to give me a bit more if you wanna get to know them, so you let me know if you’re up for it

So yeah, CloudWrangler seriously had no filter, but neither did Bradley. They both shared equal blame in escalating the flirting, which also had turned into a one-upping contest. Bradley was particularly proud of asking the other man if he was a fitted sheet since he was complicated and infuriating but Bradley needed him on his bed.

Gosling84: Fair. But I’m honestly having a hard time coming up with more requests for our date right now

CloudWrangler: And they call me easy…

Gosling84: Wait

Gosling84: How do you feel about baseball?

CloudWrangler: Eh. I can watch a game every now and then. More enjoyable if I go to the game instead of watching at home. Much more of a football kind of guy🤘🏻😎

Gosling84: Ugh

Gosling84: There’s somehow more sexual tension now that I hate you

CloudWrangler: Hate sex is fun sex babe, let’s go

CloudWrangler: I do have one last question though

CloudWrangler: Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?

Gosling84: Hell yes.

CloudWrangler: jfc. Hate sex it is

CloudWrangler: You free tonight?

Bradley snorted to himself slightly. It was nearing eight on a Saturday evening and he'd been talking to the guy all day. Yeah, he was free.

They ended up agreeing on a dive bar far enough from base that Bradley felt comfortable he wouldn’t be running into people he knew all night. He was glad the other man – whose name he still didn’t know – had suggested it. Not that Bradley had a problem with people knowing if he went on a date, it was just easier to avoid a) someone giving him shit for going out with a man, or b) one of his squad mates just giving him shit for going out in general. Like Hangman, who seemed to live for being a pain in his ass, and had essentially cockblocked Bradley the couple of times a girl had approached him at The Hard Deck. Not that Bradley had truthfully minded very much, since he had still been in no condition to do anything anyway. But now it had been months since he'd last gotten laid, what with deployment, the mission, and the healing after the mission, so he was ready to be getting back in the game. Maybe going on this date wasn't such a bad idea.

He decided on his usual attire of nice jeans, a white tank top, and one of his father’s old Hawaiian shirts. It was casual but still nice, and most importantly it made Bradley feel confident. He knew he looked good, but it was still kind of nerve-wracking to go on what was essentially a blind date, since the other guy didn’t know what Bradley looked like any more than Bradley knew what CloudWrangler looked like. Besides that he apparently had nice tits.

Shaking his head, wondering if he was insane for doing this, Bradley grabbed the keys to his Bronco and set off.

-

Jake was nervous. And when he was nervous he was early. Only Bob was as bad as he was about being early everywhere, and somehow Jake managed it even when spending a good amount of time on his hair. He'd been sitting at the booth for 15 minutes now, watching the door like a hawk for every person who walked in, wondering if they were his mystery man.

Would they have the same chemistry in person too? Would there be a physical attraction? Usually he could count on there being that (often only that). This was his first ever Bantr date. He was much more used to Grindr hookups, but this was different. He never talked to guys on Grindr for this long before meeting up, and usually it was just straight to fucking anyway. Not much talking was required there. This was the first time he didn't have just his good looks to rely on. It was new for him in many ways.

He decided to leave one more message to the guy.

CloudWrangler: I'm at the second booth from the back, left side of the counter. Wearing an orange shirt. Come find me😉

Now he just had to wait for the guy to arrive. At least there was no one important to witness it if he got stood up or something. Trying to get his nerves under control, he stuck a new toothpick in his mouth, just as the door opened once again.

And then the toothpick fell out.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" he croaked to himself as none other than Bradley fucking Bradshaw walked in, strutting like the rooster he was.

What were the chances that Rooster would arrive at the same bar as he was?? What the fuck?

Rooster had frozen a few steps from the door, looking down at his phone and then looking up straight at Jake. And then repeating it three times, shock and recognition warring on his face.

No. No way. No fucking way. This was not real.

Jake buried his face in his hands, groaning at the mess that was his personal life, as the mustached menace sat himself down at the booth opposite him.

"Bradshaw. Whatare you doing here?" It was more of a rhetorical question, since the answer was becoming quite apparent.

Bradshaw answered anyway, "Well, as I understood it, I think I was supposed to give you a blowjob in exchange for getting to see your tits, or something like that."

Jake's mouth dropped open as his hands finally fell back into his lap.

"First of all, I should have asked why did this happen to me, and second of all, who said you were blowing me? I just said I like blowjobs."

Jake didn't know what possessed him to say that, but he thought it may have served its purpose when Rooster's mouth dropped open as well. At least they were now even.

He felt like he was slowly gaining back his footing in this bizarre situation, so he continued teasing, "Besides, you didn't even bring me flowers."

Rooster's eyes shot open (when had he closed them?) and inexplicably, his face flushed red.

"Now, don't laugh," the brunet started, "but I actually did."

"What?"

"You said you liked getting flowers, so I stopped to get some. That's what took me so long," Rooster mumbled.

There was a faint buzzing in Jake's head. Was this real life? Had he hit his head? Had Rooster?

"Wh- Well, where are they?" Jake asked, bewildered.

Rooster blushed even harder, positively scarlet now.

"They're still in the Bronco. I chickened out on actually bringing them inside."

Jake was going to die, here at this booth. Yes he was.

"Same old Rooster," he chortled. "That's… goddamn adorable. What did you get me?" he couldn't help asking.

"Uhh.. It was just a bouquet that I thought looked nice. I don't really know much about flowers, and I didn't know what he – you, that is – liked. There were some daisies I think. Reminded me of mom a little bit," Rooster admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh."

Jake was sure he would have loved the flowers. Who doesn't love getting flowers? They make you feel special.

An awkward silence settled at their table. Jake had no idea how to continue from here. Would they still have the date? Would it be weird? If he was honest with himself, now that the initial shock had worn off, he was kind of relieved. He already knew Rooster, was already attracted to him (obviously), he already..... liked Rooster.

Shit. This was his opportunity to have it all, only Rooster probably wouldn't want to…

"Do you–"

"Do you–"

They both started at the same time and then cut off, motioning for the other to go on, chuckling awkwardly. Jake groaned internally. Why were they like this?

For all Jake's jokes about Rooster's perch, he was the one to actually take the leap this time.

"Do you want to maybe go for a walk? I feel like we should talk, and it's getting louder in here," the brunet asked.

It wasn't really that loud at the bar, but Jake admitted that it might be easier to have whatever conversation they were about to have in a more private setting, so he agreed.

"It's not really a walk on the beach but," Rooster shrugged, "we can walk as long as you'd like at least."

Jake arched an eyebrow at him. "You're really angling for that blowjob, huh, Roo?"

"No, it's not that! I mean, I just–" he broke off with an exasperated sigh. "If I'd known it was you, I would've planned a proper date."

"What? Why?"

"Well, you know. You deserve a proper date."

He did not know. In fact, Jake was very much not in the know right now.

"Besides," Rooster continued, unaware or uncaring of Jake's confusion, "I'm probably not what you were looking for tonight."

Alright. Here went nothing.

"Are you kidding me? I mean yeah, I didn't expect you, but I was on that dumb app trying to forget about you in the first place," Jake said, trying to sound a lot cooler about it than he felt. "Javy said I was being stupid, that I should at least try shooting my shot with you first before assumi–"

Jake suddenly noticed that Rooster had stopped a few paces ago.

"Well, why didn't you?" Rooster demanded, as if he was personally offended by this revelation.

"Well, I thought you were straight for one thing!"

"Oh." Rooster blinked. "Well, I'm not."

"I kind of got that now, yeah," Jake rolled his eyes.

"What's stopping you now then?"

Jake froze. Rooster was calling his bluff, but Jake could do that right back. Trying to look unaffected still, even with his heart hammering wildly, he threw back as cockily as he could muster, "The fact that you're standing over there and I'm over here?"

What he hadn't anticipated – even though he probably should have – was Rooster taking those few steps to come stand right in front of Jake, so close that he had to slightly tilt his head up to meet Rooster's dark eyes. And damn if that didn't thrill him.

"What about now, Jake?" the other man asked in a low voice.

At the sound of his first name coming out of those lips, Jake let out a sound that was purely plosives.

Bradley – because yeah, this was getting way too intimate for callsigns – reached out and cradled Jake's jaw in one big hand. 

"In case there's still something stopping you, let me tell you what was stopping me. I was just the dumbest man alive. I didn't even realize it before the moment I saw you tonight, that the reason I was having so much fun talking to the guy on the app was that it reminded me of you. I was having fun because I was talking to you, and not some stranger."

Jake blinked. Oh. Okay then.

"I guess we're both a bit dumb," he said, huffing out a laugh. "I should've known it was you. Who else loves pineapple on pizza?"

Bradley rolled his eyes, smiled as if that was the best joke he'd ever heard, and leaned in to kiss him.

-

Bradley really didn't know how he'd been so dumb. Kissing Jake felt so right he wondered how he had ever kissed anyone else. And Bradley liked kissing. This was just.. different somehow. Better.

He moved his hand to cup the back of Jake's neck just as the blond let out the tiniest, breathy little moan. Bradley wanted more of that. All of it. He felt Jake step even closer so that they were pressed together from head to toe, Jake's arms coming around Bradley's waist, running across his back.

His tongue had wandered off to explore Jake's mouth a good while ago, and Bradley vaguely thought that he might never pull it back to his own. He'd just have to live like this, his face plastered to Jake's. Didn't sound like a bad idea.

Jake evidently disagreed. He pulled away just a little bit to catch his breath, but Bradley didn't mind. He could continue his project of inhaling every piece of the other man he possibly could, instead bending down a little to kiss and nip at his jaw, down toward his neck.

"Br– Bradley?" Jake panted. "D'you wanna.. maybe go somewhere? You know, somewhere more private?"

Bradley blinked a few times to clear his head. "Yeah, yeah that sounds good."

Then he remembered they were more than a half an hour's drive away from their homes. Shit. That was a long time in a situation like this. In separate cars.

"Is the back of my Bronco private enough?" Bradley asked, hoping Jake knew this was just to take the edge off and that he would treat the blonde like he deserved when they got home. And talk. They'd talk more, later.

"Shit, yeah, that's good enough for now," Jake grunted and grabbed Bradley's hand to drag him back toward the bar's parking lot.

"As long as we don't destroy my flowers. I still want them."

"Of course, sweetheart," Bradley murmured, pressing a kiss to Jake's knuckles, and enjoyed the way his cheeks went a little pinker.

[end]

----------------------------------------------

Bonus: telling you how it went when IceMav helped BradBrad set up the profile, courtesy of Vee. Cause Mav and Bradley were in the kitchen while Ice was in the living room, occasionally intervening because he had to. As his voice wouldn't carry that far, he texted Mav his opinions instead.

*ding* "Geez, Ice! I said we won't say it!" *ding* "I said fine!" *ding* "Then you come do it!" *ding* "Oh. That is better."

thank god for Ice

-----------------------------------------------

tagsies: @wildbornsiren @mayhem24-7forever @callsign-phoenix @hederasgarden @lt-natrace @marvelousmermaid @luckyladycreator2 @alexxavicry @blue-aconite @writercole

[notyouraryang0dd3ss]

Thank you for creating this account, you are so brave.

Prefacing: I used to tolerate TS and her music when I was a teen and couldn't really avoid it. Now I'm 25 and I find her abhorrent as a human being.

(I'm not American and where I am from TS was never a Big Hit, unless we're talking 14 year old girls that eventually grow out of liking her. It's not entirely for a good reason, my country's a bit too conservative-brainwashed to like a self-proclained "girl boss" on a gov. level.)

Something that I noticed about that cult-like worship of that frankly boring woman is that most of the interesting shit about her is 1. made up 2. not about her music and I DO NOT understand how this is even considered a singer anymore.

Like, for example. A bunch of liberal queers like her because they take her bland music and fill it with their own meanings. Her lyrics are so soulless and boring and generic you can apply them to anything. You don't have to go listen to staples of quuer music like what drag queens, or queer women, or Black gay men create: because their music is visceral, it speaks onto real lived through opression that not everyone can relate to. But not with fucking TS! She writes the most TYPICAL line and a bunch of people assign some secret gay meaning to it. The amount of times I saw TS added to playlists for queer content is ridiculous. Like she wouldn't be half as popular if her music was regarded as what it is: straight white girl soliloquy.

The shit about her love life? Should not be fucking mentioned in regards to her as an artist. She's SO fucking fake. She will complain that people only see her as some girl who dates all those guys but she's the one fucking monetizing her love story. I'd understand if she didnt TRY TO but she fucking does! She knows she's bland and boring and she relies on people liking gossip enough to listen to her crap.

ok quick note when you said “liberal queers” it should be “queer liberals”. im assuming english isnt your first language so your native tongue has different grammatical rules but in this instance you put “queer” in front of “liberal.” i just don’t want you to be accused of being homophobic or anything so this is a quick note for you

you said you were 25 and everyone who’s been following this blog has been 20+ demographic in particular. i think it must be because we’re old enough to remember her entire journey starting w the 2009 kanye west mtv incident up until this moment. her staunchest swifties on here were born after the fearless release 💀

hmmmm i always wonder what people imply by Taylor Swift being a global superstar. like she’s isn’t popular in the entire continent of Africa but that doesn’t count apparently? and as much as she is popular in south asia, so much news is framed with a western perspective and all westerners think whiteness is default, and this includes taylor swift. i wouldnt be surprised if theyre inflating her popularity abroad as they are here in the states. idk

and so true! she’s known for her controversies and dating drama. even her music is known not for its success but ppl questioning the legitimacy of her grammys she’s received for her music.

also your gaylor hate—i understand. im not straight and i think gaylors were lobotomized by taylor swift’s music like genuinely these bitches have bricks for brains. there are soooooooo many better queer musicians especially musicians of color who write songs of their literal shared experience of queer love, identity, etc. but here they go theorizing that taylor seift and karlie kloss secretly dated 😭 it reminds me of this convo i had with my friend about gay people admiring/looking up to straight and cis people and labelling them as “gay icons.” its so stupid and reductive and continues to marginalize actual queer artists.

also talking abt taylor swift playlists i will never forget when i found spotify’s bad bunny x taylor swift playlist inspired by their photo from the 2023 grammys 💀 it was so dumb

“straight white girl soliloquy” PERIOD ANON! i need to start making a list of what you guys say cause its fkn fire

taylor swift embedded her relationships so deeply into her brand and music that its inseparable from herself. she really does define herself by her partners and her fans do too, which is why they expected this to be a joe alwyn album.

she really is so unoriginal and unremarkable and that’s why her thing WORKS. because to swifties she’s like “another everyday girl like you and me :)” 🙄 whatever. yuck!

[obwjam]

GIANT TRENT CRIMM!!!!! IVE SEEN NO GIANT TRENT CONTENT WHAT ARE UR THOUGHTS ON HIM PLS

this has been sitting in my inbox for a while so let me make that up to you with a FICLET (inspired by convos with @rockification and @snack-at-midnight) in which trent discovers a borrower and is so enamored that he just HAS to tell ted

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You were exhausted.

Your entire day was spent begging, pleading with the giant who had caught you mere days ago not to reveal your existence to anyone else. You knew who he was -- reporter-turned-author Trent Crimm, formerly of The Independent, now just independent. You spent your days traversing the vast AFC Richmond training facility, finding new places to hide and explore just about every day.

You just didn't count on someone finding you.

"It's alright, little one," Trent reassured you for the millionth time. You cringed at the nickname he used for you. It was so... dehumanizing. "Ted is a wonderful man, he won't hurt you."

You rolled your eyes. "I know he won't hurt me."

"Then might I ask what the problem is?" Despite how icky it made him feel, Trent knew he could use his size to his advantage. The two of you sat at his desk right next door to the coaches office, alone inside the facility at nearly 1 a.m. The writer leaned over you slightly, his shadow casting a long, dark shape that engulfed your form. You looked up with wide eyes and gulped.

"I... I just..." you started, unsure of how sassy you wanted to get. He could do anything to you. "I'm not very... keen on being discovered by an entire football club."

Trent felt a pang in his stomach. He really was sympathetic to your situation, but even if he didn't work in journalism anymore, he was still a journalist at heart, which meant that a secret like the existence of tiny people just couldn't stay a secret.

"You're lucky. There was a time I'd have reported your existence to the entire world," Trent remarked, subtly hoping that it would somehow make you feel better. "Besides, it's not the entire football club. It's just Ted." Trent thought for a moment. "And maybe Beard."

"Wow, lucky me," you snapped, not really thinking.

Trent pursed his lips and sighed. This snappy version of you was a far cry from the tiny he had discovered in his office around this time of night just a few days ago.

"Oh, my... what on earth...?"

You froze. You knew you lived in a place where the team was in and out at unorthodox hours, but you could read a clock. It was 2 a.m. Who was actually here at 2 a.m.?

Oh, right. The guy whose desk you were raiding supplies from.

Trent was speechless. Standing on his desk, clutching a paper clip like their life depended on it, was a human, no more than a few inches tall. As strange as it all was, as a journalist, he had heard it all. Phone calls and emails and messages from all sorts of people, ranging from good-mannered readers to straight-up nutcases... several of whom once tried to warn him of the existence of "imps" that would soon take over the world. What that had to do with him, a sports reporter, never made sense to Trent, but it's the first thing that popped into his mind.

You couldn't move. Why is he here? was the only thing going through your mind. This wasn't real. It was just another nightmare. You'd wake up any moment now...

Slowly, Trent leaned down. Nope, this was all very real. His salt-and-pepper hair spilled over his shoulders as his face grew closer to your trembling form, trying to find the words. I'm about to be the very first person to make contact with a tiny lifeform, he thought, not stopping to think that this might not be the first time.

"Hello, little one," he managed to say, quieter than he thought he was capable of. "I hope you'll excuse my surprise, I'm... well, I didn't expect to be seeing any tiny people on my desk tonight."

You just stared at him. What were you supposed to say?

"I'm Trent Crimm. What's..." he started before noticing just how scared you were. He had to adjust his plans. "You can tell me your name later, if you'd like." He cautiously took a seat, enamored at the way you gaped at his movements. "Is it alright if I ask you some questions?"

At this point, Trent knew just about everything he could ever want to know about you. He had this way of making you feel safe and drawing you in...

"I'm sorry, (y/n), I just -- if you were me, do you really think you could keep this a secret? You -- your existence -- it's quite remarkable, really."

You opened your mouth to reply, but Trent continued.

"You told me you've observed every single person who's ever walked through this clubhouse. Right?"

You nodded.

"So by now, you must have seen Ted, and how... gentle he is with others."

Another nod, though this one tentative.

"Then believe me when I say that me -- Ted -- we would keep you safe," Trent said, fumbling his words a bit. "I know you're nervous, but I promise, I'd never do anything to hurt you. At all."

You felt yourself blush. You were really starting to believe him.

"Why..." you began, checking to see how Trent would react to you speaking. He looked at you warmly, eager to hear what you had to say. "Why do you need to tell anyone at all?"

Trent sighed, leaning back in his chair, and took a moment to think. "Truthfully? I just can't contain my excitement," he said, shrugging. A small smile spread across his face. "If I can't tell the world, then... I suppose it's alright to tell just one person. Right?"

Your eyes darted to the tabletop, unsure of how to process this. On the one hand, you were a person, and it was unfair to dismiss your feelings. On the other hand, though... meeting Ted didn't seem like such a bad idea. He seemed like a good ally to have. And you had to admit, it was kind of flattering that Trent was so enamored with you. At the very least, he did ask if it was okay for him to introduce you to Ted... even if he was quite forward about it.

"Look... I understand the way you feel, I--I think. It's just... I don't think I'm ready yet -- to meet another person," you clarified. You stole a glance at Trent, who was taking it all in. You clenched your teeth under the weight of his stare. He's so big. "Maybe one day, when I... get used to being around you."

Trent's expression brightened. "Being around me, eh?"

Your face got hot. "Yeah. I don't think I could get rid of you now, even if I tried."

Trent laughed. "I suppose you're right." He cautiously put his elbow down on the desk, cupping his chin in his hand. The more he stared at you, the more he felt an intense desire to protect you and keep you safe from the madhouse of AFC Richmond. He was fascinated by your entire existence -- your life, your upbringing, your culture, everything. The dichotomy of the way you would nervously eye his hand and his movements, yet traverse the terrain that towered over you like an expert outdoorsman, was enamoring. It was an entirely new race of people to learn more about, and there was nothing Trent loved more than learning about people.

And telling stories.

"You know, I've asked you an awful lot of questions about yourself. Is there anything you'd like to ask me?"

You perked up. "Actually, I do. A lot of things. Starting with that device you stare at all day."

"The laptop?" Trent questioned, pointing to his closed Macbook.

You shook your head. "No. The smaller one. The rectangle."

Trent stifled a laugh. "You mean my phone?"

"Don't laugh," you chided. "How does it work?"

Now Trent was really smiling. Things as everyday and mundane as his phone were like a wonder to you, and to Trent, that was just downright adorable.

“Well, why don’t I just show you?” he said playfully, pulling his phone from his pocket with a twinkle in his eye. He stretched his arms out and held his phone upright, not even needing to touch the screen for it to flicker to life.

Trent felt a warmth fill his chest when he saw your eyes light up with the screen. He would tell Ted about you eventually, but right now, he was happy to have you all to himself.

[just-a-carrot]

HELLO CARROT!

Given how apparently I’m immune to playing OW games without recording them now, you’ll audibly hear my thoughts within the next few weeks (I’m posting tomorrow because I’m an absolute maniac), BUT I WANNA SAY THINGS HERE BECAUSE APPRECIATION CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG!

Also Merry Christmas! It’s midnight when I’m writing this, so ‘tis the day of caroling and festivities and woah. Or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate!

Back to the Our Cinderella topic, I have only played Genzou’s route as of now (I’m sure that’s hardly surprising, he is my fav), but the others are next. Their time is coming. They cannot escape. SO SPOILERS FOR GENZOU’S ROUTE!

First off, I saw you included the little dancing in front of TV Iggy pose and the joy I felt seeing it was off the charts. I kept bringing it up, I was very happy. And seeing Iggy moving about was really cool in general, even without the novelty of seeing a suggestion I made exist in the game.

NEXT UP! Genzou drunk singing is an image I didn’t know I needed, thank you for the visual and the brain food. BUT ALSO I HAVE BEEN CONNECTING JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR SONGS TO OW FOR SO LONG AND HEARING THE MUSICAL BE MENTIONED BY GENZOU THREW ME FOR A LOOP. Great musical, very nice. Last Supper reminds me of Genzou and Orlam. Judas’s voice in general reminds me of Orlam. Musicals and OW can further connect in my brain hobby drawer.

The text interactions in general were really funny, actually. I liked the absolute chaos that was Iggy and Genzou’s text conversations, I was laughing while trying to read a lot of the time. I remember the aforementioned drunk singing conversation and the puddle one both got me pretty good while I was reading, and it was overall fun to see more lighthearted conversations from the characters, even if it’s in a different universe from the main canon.

To end things off, ‘cause again 1) I haven’t finished all the game’s routes yet, and 2) you’ll be able to hear my thoughts in the moment if you choose in future anyways, I wanna mention the version of Cinderella Bucks tells at the end? I can’t get it out of my head. When I was thinking about the game after having just played it, my mind kept flashing back to CinderJesus. It absolutely decimated my brain function, but in a very fun way. More slice-of-life Bucks, please, she’s peak comedy.

Very fun game, 10/10, very sad I couldn’t buy the Kirby in the first playthrough but it’s on my to-do list, aaaand yeah! Thank you for making this! I loved every minute of it, and I’m really excited to play the remaining routes once my irl festivities are over.

sob this is so sweet! 😭💕 i'm excited to watch your playthrough too -- things are a bit overwhelming in general for me right now as i'm still with my family and doing a bunch of things, but even if i'm unable to find time this week i will for sure watch once i'm back home next week. i'm really happy that you're enjoying it so much already tho ahhhh and that you're finding it so entertaining 🥺

i'm glad you liked the poses i had so much fun with them and also using some of the suggestions to add more! and LMAO JCS is a musical i grew up watching (my parents used to play the original album in the house lol) so i get the songs stuck in my head a lot, hence why it randomly worked its way into this (among many other random silly little references or inspirations from my own life hahaha). that is extremely funny to me 🤣

i'm glad you liked the convos they were the epitome of silly. and also bucks's part hahaha. i was half-worried it would end up being too ridiculous and random for people because it just got so weird in places hahaha

thank you so much for this lovely message and all of your thoughts and for playing the game! 🥺💕 i look forward to watching the playthrough so i can see all of your reactions in real-time lakjdfs

[reginarubie]

Kissed by Fire ~ Kissed by Steel 1: What inspired you to write the fic this way? 2: Which scene did you put on first? 3: What is your favorite plot? 4: What's your favorite line of dialogue? 5: Which part was hardest to write? 6: What is your fic special or different from all your other fics? 7: Where did the title come from? 8: Did any real person or event inspire any part of this? 9: Was there an alternate version of this fic? 10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story? 11: What do you like most about this fic? 12: What do you like least about this fic? 13: What song did you hear that made you want to write this story? Or if you haven't heard anything yet, what do you think readers should hear to keep us reading? 14: Is there anything you would like readers to learn from reading this fic? 15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Hi nonny,

These are very throughout, I hope I manage to satisfy you on all of them!

I was inspired by some friends here on tumblr who were all like, “you like Aemond, you like Sansa, why don’t you write a fic about them?” and by that time there were very few fics about them so I thought “why not?”. About writing it that way, the thing about me is that I go “braccio” which is that usually I go with the flow, this way it felt best, it felt the most plausible.

What scene did I put in first… this is kind of hard, because I don’t usually put scenes down. I imagine them though, and the first few I imagined were: how Sansa was pushed back in time, so the prologue; Sansa waking up and Aemond telling her that he would show her his scar because he had seen hers.

I think I have a few favorite plots: AemondSa being the first one for how it’s going to play out, close second Daeron/Symon and last… well I won’t tell because it’d be spoilerish 😉.

My favorite line of dialogue … I think this one is hard, but I think the whole convo between Aemond and Sansa after she managed to be naturalised as a Whent. “I told you I could not tell you everything, told you I was willing to work beside you. I did not work behind your back, I did what I had to do to ensure your family came off clean from this. Lord Strong has no lawful way to pursue me anymore and it’s not any of yours fault!” she said “that was the goal and I reached it. If this is not enough for you to believe me, then what are we talking about?” Aemond let his hands fall at his sides “I don’t know” he said at last “what are we even talking about?” Why do I love this convo so much, you may ask, it’s because it’s a relationship cracking under pressure, like coal becoming diamond under pressure. It was part of their journey, and it was so overwhelmingly real to me that made it one of my favorites convos in the entire series.

I think the hardest are Rhaenyra’ chapters because I feel out of place in her mind, but on the all the most taxing one to write was Rhaenycent cold end.

This story is special to me, if confronted with others, because it’s the first one I have written about a time-travel plot and the first one I have felt the need to expand creating a whole AU universe.

The title actually comes from a poll I opened, the idea was because Sansa is kissed by fire for her hair and Aemond is kissed by steel because of his scar, plus Aemond kisses Sansa and represents fire whilst instead Sansa represents steel. Instead, the subtitles usually come from songs that inspired me during the writing.

Not really. Though some of the relationships dynamics I have seen in my life seep through the writing at times. I think a bit of my own sarcastic sassiness seeps at times in the characters, but that’s mostly it, really.

Is there an alternate version?, not that I know of, not written by me. 🤔 though perhaps there will be in future, whose to say?

This pairing sort of was suggested by @sansaissteel and @maddiethefashionista and I kind of became hooked, it made sense for the time-travel plot and I thought that if Sansa was pushed in that time Aemond would be the one to whom she’d naturally shift her attention and love.

I like the most how many great characters I could explore and how many interesting dynamics. I think I love especially — beyond the AemondSa and the way it weaves with Sansa’ original timeline — the Starks of that time and little Celia and the Royces.

I like the least the character of Lord Strong. But not much anything else.

I actually have a Spotify playlist (which I’ll link down below) though not all songs I listen to are there — I have been a bit remiss on updating it tbh — and tbh, the songs I use in the edits are pretty much the song I listened to on repeat when I wrote that particular chapter.

Oh, I did not start to write this to teach readers anything, but I think I’d like them to put their attention to the way the dynamics shift and the way characters can have or not redeeming arcs or qualities if treated correctly and mostly how to be able to set boundaries and learn to work together as a team which is what Aemond and Sansa are currently doing.

What I learned? I like the way the dynamics between Daeron and his brothers and between the Targtower siblings is flawed but still good, I think I learned much more about my own dynamic with my sibling than I consciously knew by writing these complex siblings dynamics.

I think that’s all! Hope you enjoyed and thank you for showing so much interest in me and the story!

Firesteel instrumental playlist

Firesteel playlist

[antisociallilbrat]

I agree, Eddie's death was such a 'Steve death' moment when he died in Dustin's arms after saying he loves Dustin. Also, all of those convos between Eddie and Dustin would normally have been applicable for Dustin and Steve instead, and as you said, it is obvious the writers killed Eddie to give Dustin a more personal grief arc for S4 and S5, else why make Eddie as Dustin's brother figure specifically and have him die in Dustin's arms? They didn't even let Dustin be there at the hospital scene with the other Party members. He was spending time grieving Eddie and talking to Wayne instead, like... there is a reason why they showed Dustin's grief over Eddie. He was practically the only one grieving over him with Wayne and he was the one whose grief we had to focus on as the audience. And I love Steve, but if the Duffers actually were open to killing their main cast, they would have killed Steve instead. That's why it's kinda 'of obvious' to me that Steve is pretty much the safest character out of all the other characters, he not only is a main character but also a fan favorite. But I think since Eddie became such a popular character, the Duffers will focus on his character more via Dustin's grief in the next season. I doubt they'd bring him back though, but they'd most likely give Dustin a more focused arc regarding Eddie, possibly similar to Nancy's grief regarding Barb.

Yeah we're definitely going to be seeing Dustin grieving over Eddie in some capacity in season five. Although with the supposed time jump, I wonder how much we'll see of it.

What I would like to see would be a scene with Dustin and Mike talking about Eddie. Dustin filling Mike in what had happened with Eddie and them grieving Eddie together because Mike also had a link with Eddie. Also I just want more Dustin and Mike scenes in general, let other characters interact with each other Suffer Brothers!

I'm also hoping that since it's the final seasons, characters lives will actually be at stake because what the Suffer Brothers are doing right now, giving the main cast plot armor, is a disservice to the audience, or at least ones that like good storytelling.

Yes no one wants their favorite character to die but the story is more meaningful? (I don't think thats the word I'm looking for) when there's real threats to them. You should be sitting on the edge of your seat as your fav is up against a threat, you shouldn't be able to just assume they're safe just because they're apart of the main cast.

Characters dying can add more depth to them or complete their arc, make them more well rounded. And I'm not saying the Suffer Brother should go all walking dead with the main characters, but it would be nice to actually have to hold my breath and hope that my fav makes it out alive. The threat to their life should feel real. You want to feel emotion as you watch a show. The Suffer brothers have done this already, the Max scene killed me but that's still not permanent death. We know she's coming back and I hate that we know she's coming back, ya know? Just like with Hopper in season three.

Also none of main cast dying makes the villains look so lame. If Henry Creel can't kill one of the main characters, he's a poorly written villain. This is entirely my opinion though. And no he didn't even kill Eddie technically so it doesn't count.

I'll say my last point on this. The Suffer Brothers took a lot of inspiration from Stephen King's It. If you follow my blog you've seen me talk about this. And that is so ironic because King kills main characters in It. We don't even get to see much of adult Stan because he dies before the adult characters reunion. Then there's Eddie who died in the final battle, showing the threat against them was very real. King only had to one character during that battle to show that.

ALSO there's like SEVEN main character's in It and he killed TWO of them. I'm just saying

Thank you anon for your thoughts, I always love talking about stuff like this!

[eastofoktober]

final the bear thoughts

ok so…maybe i have to watch this season again but so many of these episodes felt like artsy film student does fine dining documentary rather than the more grounded television drama/comedy of the bear’s first season

and there were pieces of that this season…tina’s episode, the episode with the cleanup for the photog, natalie/sugar’s episode but mostly

it felt very atmospheric, arthouse…gorgeously filmed but ultimately adding nothing plotwise so it felt like most of the 10 episode season was squandered to beautifully shot metaphors instead of dedicated to dialogue and plot and the characters actually interacting with each other in the present

i wanted more resolution and felt kind of shitty to get to the end and have it be ‘to be continued’, especially since the last episode felt like it was building up to so much and it kind of just…never went off…and i get they got renewed for a 4th season and maybe felt like they had breathing room for all of this but things felt very slow at points and i think they could have tightened it up or at least used more of the season to devote to character episodes. like i’d love to see ebra and gary get origin stories. and even richie, like how did richie and mikey become friends??

but anyway.

tina’s episode (episode 6/napkins) is definitely my number one episode this season, love getting to know how tina ended up at the bear, love that scene of her meeting richie and mikey and neil. and that whole convo with her and mikey is perfect

other moments i loved:

-natalie/marcus scene and when natalie defends marcus from computer saying they need to cut him from the budget

-the richie and tiff scene where theyre talking about richie coming to the wedding/richie being alone

-adam asking syd to go into the biz with him

-the fak brothers carrying most of the comedy (my number one being real life chef matty mattheson continuing to not be a cook)

-the chat between syd and uncle jimmy/cicero where he’s like ‘did i fuck them up/am i fucking this up for them’

-marcus and tina sharing their dishes and tips with each other

-syd bringing food to natalie and pete

-marcus and the violet, and creating dessert inspired by it

-the party at syd’s place at the end

[bisluthq]

Idt the Folkmore songs are 'about' Matty but I really do think some of them, mainly the ones that are fantasies of younger loves like Cardigan/August are a bit inspired by him. That doesn't mean it's ABOUT him in the way TTPD/parts of Midnights are very literally about him but I do kinda buy that she got some inspiration from bumping into him, reminiscing and let her creative freedom run with it. The way she describes him in songs that are *actually* about him, like this boy-man who brought unique 'color' into her life really does come across to me how she describes the figure in some of those songs and in the Long Pond sessions, that Peter Pan type who wouldn't commit, gave you a hard time but you were really into him. Plus she literally said herself, 'I keep those longings locked in lowercase' 'I swirled you into all of my poems'-- the reason those lines and the 'scarlet maroon' one caught so many people's attention and had them wondering about the implications is because they....were meant to. When multiple different people go 'wait what', it's usually because something was done intentionally to make them go 'wait what'. Again, I'm not saying it's ABOUT him literally and that she was longing after him during COVID lol, Folkmore was like a creative writing exercise and I believe her when she described it as fiction but I really do believe she, being a creative person, started to see him as a bit of a source of inspiration at the time and those ideas of young love coming back, love triangles etc got in her head. I think she only started writing about him for real on Midnights but that's because he was literally...there. She was seeing him for real and real things were developing and whatnot.

eh I really don’t know about a brief chance encounter leading to THAT much inspo but I think she was reflecting on a lot of exes and ex somethings in the folkmore era/pandemic. TDDS is Drew fanfic. She mentions Joe Jonas pretty explicitly. The 1 seems to be about a lot of people in a lot of ways and such. So I’m not saying there aren’t shades of Matty but idk I doubt a rando public encounter while they were in relationships inspired her that dramatically. I’m not saying he’s not in the album but not because she bumped into him briefly lol.

it’s like exile fits Taylor and Joe’s breakup tbh and the NME encounter fits her talking to him but that’s a fun coincidence/taylor’s life imitates art because obviously if Joe really had beef with Matty after a 2 min convo he’d have had a big problem with her hanging out with him and making music together idk.