#plus I do not want to even think about setting up a new social media account and worrying about timing my work and tracking materials

[neverendingford]

.

[saintslewis]

❝ 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 | 𝐋𝐇𝟒𝟒 ❞

pairing: sir lewis hamilton x fem!journalist reader

summary: a lil joke thing i wanted to write because homeboy is bringing home the big bucks 🤭

warnings: just read 🫵🏽 this is a crack fic lol

saint’s team radio 🎀: don’t take this all too seriously 😭 hope y’all enjoy plus who know i’ll actually make it into a thing 🧍🏽‍♀️

tags: @alika-4466 @purplelewlew @exotic-iris13 @arshiyuh @mauvecherie-writes @yeea-nah @youre-sooooo-funny @louvrepool @queenshikongo3 @cherry2stems @httpsserene @motheroffae

-

Being an independent journalist in this sport wasn’t easy at all but only within the parameters of any paddock around the world as most journalists rarely agreed with you, being neutral about anything in f1 wasn’t your thing.

Speaking your mind as the race went on was what set you apart from the rest, along with your humour and your honesty towards drivers and team principals. Not to mention you were extremely biased, keeping your liking to three to five drivers but only one occupied your mind every time you think about him.

I think you know who I’m talking about.

Your support for Lewis goes back to 2015, discovering the sport and immediately wanting to put your journalism skills to the test, aiming for the f1 paddock to at least catch a glimpse of the most talked about driver. Quickly building up a blog and several other social media accounts, you got to telling the world your thoughts and feelings for every race and your supporters rooted for you to achieve your goal.

Having the opportunity to attend thee race in 2020 as a guest of F1, you arrived at the Turkish Grand Prix with your head held high and a dress so gorgeous that it sparked rumours between you and the driver you were writing about. Not to mention the hug he gave you when you first met in the Mercedes garage, praising and thanking you for the support over the years. He’s been watching you and your work. That made your heart so warm.

Then he won his 7th world championship, breaking all records and that day, he deemed you his lucky charm.

And since then, it’s been a work wife-work husband friendship between you two. Fans constantly shipping you too, the clips of your shared interviews at the media pen of the intense eye contact and even off-track sightings once in a while such as a quick lunch.

yourusername • 13 mins ago

The atmosphere in Australia was unlike anything you’ve ever seen in your career, the paddock was practically painted red, Ferrari red to be specific. Everyone eager for Lewis to arrive as his first season as a driver for the legendary team.

Deciding to subtly support him and his new team, you rocked maroon everything, not yet ready to fully embrace the extreme bright red. It just might be your new favourite colour, from your hair right down to the tips of your high heeled boots.

Whilst setting your camera equipment up (gracefully given to you by Ferrari themselves), you couldn’t help but reminisce back to the year before of when he told you he was leaving Mercedes, a single facetime call in the nighttime.

“You made me pause the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, this better be good.” You said, placing the popcorn bowl down on your coffee table. Giving him squinted eyes, he just smiled at you.

“Are you alone right now?” He asked and that set aback for a bit. “You tryna do something funny, Lewis? Because you’re in Monaco right now and I’m at my house.” You raised your eyebrow at him, hiding how nervous you were to even suggest that to him but thankfully, he took it as a joke.

“No no, I’ve got some big news and I wanted to tell you before it gets out.” He replied, seeing how you stood up and placed your phone on your kitchen counter to prepare for this. “Okay, I’m ready. What’s up?” You clasped your hands together, not prepared to hear what came out of his mouth next.

“I’m moving to Ferrari next year.”

“You’re lying.” And all he did was smile as he saw your face drop at this news. He shook his head and that woke you to run around your apartment screaming. Running back to your phone, he was still there but just laughing his lungs out.

“Give me the details right now or else I’ll fly there. I’m not playing, Lew.”

A small smile was plastered on your face as you racked through the memories of that night and till that day, you still couldn’t believe it even though it was right in front of you. The media pen became louder and louder as you continued to mic yourself up along with connecting the mic to the camera and you immediately knew who caused the stir.

He already had such an aura surrounding him so much so that you could feel him whenever he entered the room. You were aware he arrived earlier and most likely changed but seeing the official team shirt on him was odd but fitting.

Lewis had a simple routine whenever he got to the media pen: everyone else then you because his time with you could be lengthened and he was so damn grateful that it was a Thursday because it meant even more time just walking around the paddock pretending it’s an interview when really, you guys were just spending time together.

After all the drivers had their interviews with you, laughing as they walked away because of some joke you told or happy that you asked different questions than everyone else. The man of the hour strolled over to your section with a look in his eye that gave you a shiver down your spine.

“Do not give me that look, Lewis. It’s weird seeing you in that shirt.” You said as he leaned against the barricade, maintaining eye contact with you. “I’m just taking in the red on you, it’s your colour.” He smirked at the reaction from you, the slight shock from the tone of his voice.

There was always a tad bit of tension between the two of you, feeling that twinge of a spark whenever he merely touched you. As you worked with over the years, you wanted your crush on him to diminish because that would just be unprofessional but he did not seem to care. At all. Often being spotted at various places together that he claimed were just two friends hanging out but just one look from him could have you in the clouds of days.

“Uh..huh. Wanna get these questions done or you wanna keep staring?” You asked with sass, watching him tilt his head a little and maintaining eye contact. “We can go right ahead, Y/n.” Lewis replied and you knew this was going to be a long interview.

Several questions later with a bunch of tension that you were sure the viewers would catch, you discreetly turned the camera to ask one of your infamous unserious questions that you did with every driver and you were sure this one were to get a laugh out of Lewis.

Holding the little card in front of you, you grinned with your left eye closing slightly more than the other. “It’s one of my favourite parts of any interview, unserious question time.” You said. “How unserious are we speaking here?” He asked with the slightest grin on his face just admiring you do your job.

“Only if you promise to answer it.” You said, holding out your manicured pinkie finger and Lewis hooked his with yours, solidifying the promise. “Okay okay, the whole world was shocked on how much Ferrari wanted you so much so that they literally doubled your salary.” You started.

“It’s now sitting at a hundred million a year. My question to you is who you gonna share it with and will it be me?”

“If you’re being serious, then it can be you.” He smiled and in that moment, your stomach dropped.

“Carl Davidson, I’m not playing around. Are you being for real?” You asked, lowering your voice so that no one could hear a thing.

He leaned in a bit more to whisper his next answer. “As real as you meeting me later on for dinner.” Lewis faced you then winked, walking away with your face still in shock. After standing there for what felt like forever, you felt your phone vibrate with a text from the man himself.

lew <3

you look gorgeous in red btw

-

yourusername

liked by theestallion, f1wags and 43,747 others

yourusername “anything you want, princess” — lewis hamilton.

view comments

user give me your game card

user you’re eating the red wig DOWN

spinzbeatsinc oh for him to buy me a g wagon

yourusername you already have one???

user you gold digging bitch

user no ways 😭

user not you using him for his money

user think about it, what is he gonna do with so much??

fan she got the chance and she took it, i gotta respect it

user i hope this is a hard launch because i’ve been shipping these two for YEARS

user me too!!

lewishamilton just say the word 🫡

yourusername 🤭🤭🤭🤭

saint’s team radio (again) 🎀: hope you all enjoyed! again, this is like a crack fic lol. there’s so many stories that’ll be released soon i’m excited 🥹 okay bye!

[ciaraswritings]

Hello can I ask a work from you? :) Maybe Batmom pranks Bruce and the boys (plus steph and cassie) where she goes in labor. By like just putting water on the floor. It’s super chaotic and they all end up slipping on it. She doesn’t tell them it’s a prank until their halfway to the hospital and it’s just super chaotic and funny. Tysm!

Batprank

Disclaimer: I do not own DC or their settings. This is certainly not canon.

Warnings & Topics: Pregnancy, water breaking, pranking, mentions of sexual intercourse, romantic scenes between a married couple. This is not suitable for younger readers. 18+.

Word Count: 2.5K words

Summary: Batmom!reader decides to try out a prank that she found on social media.

Author's Note: Great story idea, anon. Posting this ten minutes before leaving for work, I'm not even dressed yet. So if there are typos or mistakes I'll come back later and edit them out. Don't have bad time management, kids. I hope everyone reading is safe and well, and I hope you all enjoy.

Part Two

Sunday afternoons could only be described one way in this household. Long and lazy, sometimes excruciatingly so. I was scrolling on my favorite social media app again, watching short videos. If Bruce were laying with me, he'd say I was doom scrolling. He often discouraged the kids and I from this practice of scrolling through short videos for hours on end, but there was hardly anything else to do on an afternoon like this. 

I cradled my swollen stomach, one hand resting over my navel, the other propping my phone on the bed. Inside my womb, I could feel flutters of movement, vibrations moving through my stomach. Pausing the video I was watching, I looked down at my stomach. The baby I was carrying had woken and was pushing against the front of my tummy. "Ouch. I know you're just stretching, but you have to wait to come out, little one." I returned my attention to the video of directions on how to fold towels to look like birds. 

My thumb swiped mindlessly over the screen for several more minutes. My brain wasn't really processing anything of what I was seeing. I was mainly focused on the baby's movements, feeling her stretch and kick, thinking about the cradle that Dick and Jason had put together for their little sister several weeks before and how it would soon have a newborn in it. Thinking about the songs I was going to sing to her at night. Thinking about seeing Bruce hold her for the first time. 

After about ten recommended videos that didn't interest me, I got ready to close the app. I might as well do something more useful with my time. As I swiped to view one last video, the picture of a pregnant woman caught my eye. I watched with interest as she emptied a bottle of water onto the floor next to a flight of stairs, before keeling over clutching her stomach and calling a man's name, along with the news that her water had broken. Much to my amusement, her partner came rushing down the stairs, slipping on the water and sliding across the floor on his backside. I couldn't help but chuckle. It was a good prank, though probably staged, as most pranks on this app tend to be at some level. Would this actually work? I wondered to myself. I closed the app on my phone before pressing the power button to darken the screen. Standing up wasn't my favorite, but I wanted to go see what my husband was up to.

I moved down the stairs cautiously, using the handrail. Falling could damage the organs that kept the baby safe, which is why Bruce had suggested moving to a bedroom on the first floor until she arrived. We hadn't done that yet, but it wasn't the worst idea. Anything to keep little Ava safe. Or Emma. Or something. Over the last seven months, Bruce and I had both been advocating for our own choice of name for the baby. Not that it would matter once we were finally able to hold her in our arms. 

Once I had descended down the first flight of stairs, I happened to look back at the steps behind me. It reminded me of the short video I had watched a couple minutes before. I wondered again if the prank actually worked, or if it was staged. What the family's reactions would be if I pulled that sort-of-cruel prank on them. Chuckling at the thought, I started moving towards the entrance to the Batcave.

I followed the stairs down to the dark, cold cave that I had learned to love. After all, this was home to my husband's greatest passion, and I would never try to get in between him and what made him feel fulfilled. I smiled upon seeing my dearest at the Batcomputer. Bruce was fixated on the screen, hardly noticing when I ran my hands over his shoulders from behind, my arms wrapping around his neck. "Hi there."

He looked up, not startled, but he hadn't expected my presence. "You're supposed to be resting."

I pressed a kiss to his bristly cheek. "I got tired of resting."

He turned the chair to face me. His large hands ran over my stomach, trying to feel the movement of his child, but she had already gone back to sleep, it seemed. "Can you wake her up so I can feel her?"

I looked down at him, laughing. "How exactly do you propose I do that?" 

He glared at me, but I could see the smile in his eyes. "I don't know how you do that, I've never been pregnant before."

Chuckling, I pecked his lips. "I'd want to know if you had been." Turning my attention to the screen, I noticed the faces of several inmates that had escaped the nearby asylum recently. "Getting anywhere on the case?" 

Bruce stood before turning me so my back was to the computer before kissing my lips sweetly. "You're not allowed to think about anything stressful right now, do you understand?"

I chuckled, looking up into his pretty blue eyes. "My poor baby, are you stressed?"

"Maybe. Lots of things going on at the moment." My husband knelt in front of me, pressing gentle kisses to my stomach. "Thinking about the case, the pregnancy, the company, the kids, all of it all at once."

My fingers ran through his uncombed hair. "Don't worry, the baby will be here soon, and you can scratch pregnancy off your worry list."

His eyes met mine again as he gently kissed my stomach. "I'll have a baby to worry about then. You'll tell me right away when your water breaks, won't you?" 

Smiling, I took his face in my hands. "You'll be the first to know. After Ava and I, of course." 

Bruce's eyes narrowed playfully, and he stood up once again. "You mean Emma?"

I chuckled and pulled him down slightly to brush my nose against his, our lips not quite meeting. "I mean Ava." 

"You mean Emma," Bruce grinned, kissing me passionately, stroking my stomach with his thumbs. A giggle escaped my throat, but I didn't break the kiss. He moved his hands to my hips, his caresses moving to my sides. 

"I thought you guys promised not to have sex in the cave anymore?" Stephanie's voice cut through our kiss, causing me to jump and Bruce to turn his head to glare at her. 

"We are not having sex, though we still can at eight months," Bruce gave me a side glance. 

I returned the glance. "You try having sex with a nearly full-grown baby in your tummy. Give it a try, let's see how you like it."

"Fair enough," he muttered before pecking my lips. 

Stephanie rolled her eyes as she passed us. "Disgusting, don't talk about it in the cave anymore either."

I chuckled, giving the girl's shoulder a squeeze and my husband's cheek a kiss. "I'm heading back upstairs, sex talk averted." 

Feeling Bruce grab my hand, I turned my head back towards him. "You will tell me when you go into labor?"

Reassuringly squeezing his hand, I smiled. "I promise I will. But I'm pretty sure we have some time before that happens." 

I made my way up the stairs, leaving Bruce to grump about our moment being interrupted. When I reached the landing, I was greeted by Alfred, who offered me a tall glass of water. "You'll remember what the doctor said about water consumption, madam," he held it out to me, and I almost reluctantly accepted it. 

"I do remember, but I don't think I can consume much else after that wonderful lunch you prepared for us, Alfred." 

"Flattery gets you nowhere, miss. Drink it all." He stood there so expectantly, his gaze piercing me like a sharp knife. Hesitantly, I sipped from the glass. My words had been the honest truth, I was still full from lunch. At least finishing a small amount got Alfred to turn and head back towards the kitchen. 

I looked at the glass in my hand that was still nearly full. Finishing it completely would be too impossible a feat at the moment, but I didn't feel like pouring it down the drain. I thought once again of that short video, of the woman with her own bottle of water, and suddenly, I knew exactly what to do with the remaining water. 

...

I had successfully emptied the glass of water onto the floor, a puddle beneath my feet. I made sure to splash some on my clothes before stuffing the glass inside an indoor potted bush. Someone would find it later, I was sure. The prank had been set perfectly next to the staircase on the marble flooring. Observing the scene, I grinned. If this actually were to work... 

"Damian, go tell your father that my water broke!" I yelled up the stairs for the person I knew to be in his room. 

I saw his head pop around the corner, observing with narrowed eyes, already suspicious. He was always suspicious. But my staged scene was convincing enough. Holding back mirth, I watched as his eyes widened and he made four bounds down the thirty stairs before disappearing into the Batcave's entrance.

Before I could get my laughter out of my system, Bruce, Stephanie, Damian, and Tim were tripping over each other in their haste to be by my side. I clutched my stomach and groaned in mock agony.

"Mom!" I watched with amusement as Tim rushed to my side before falling victim to the puddle of water and slipping, falling and sliding across the floor on his backside. Stephanie, ignoring Tim's accident, was the first to arrive at my side, her enthusiasm clear.

"Is Emma coming?!" She put her hand on my stomach, trying to feel the movement of the baby. I couldn't help but chuckle slightly while acting like I was in pain. 

"You mean Ava is coming!" Bruce was about to scoop me into his arms, but instead, slipped in the puddle and landed next to Tim on the marble floor. I ignored my husband's groaning and decided to fight for the victory, while still clutching my stomach. 

"Ava? You really mean it?"

"Yes!" Bruce hastily picked himself up, but I could see his bruised ego underneath his concern and panic. Before I could ensure that my battle for my daughter's name was won, I was picked up and nearly dropped again as Bruce clumsily fought with the closet door that stored the delivery bag we had packed a month or two before. "Timothy, get the bag out of the closet!"

I covered my mouth to keep my laughter inside. Tim had been watching the scene with interest from the floor, but he snapped to attention to retrieve the bag. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jason rounding the corner, looking like he had just woken from a long slumber. 

"Wha's goin on?" His sleepy eyes weren't registering the display before him. 

"Your mother is about to give birth in our hallway!" My poor husband growled before marching with me to the entryway of the mansion. 

"Oh, congratu... huh?" Jason blinked at me. 

"Alfred! Where's the damn car!" Bruce was sweating at this point, but I was thoroughly amused. This prank actually worked.

"In the garage, sir, would you like me to fetch it for you?" Alfred, the only calm soul in the vicinity, called from the kitchen. 

"Yes! Right now!" 

Seconds later, I was being half carried, half hauled out the front door. A small crowd of our family members had gathered, trying to be as helpful as they could, but in reality it was simply Cassandra and Stephanie badgering Bruce with questions about when they could come see the baby, Tim slipping once again in the puddle, and Jason trying to get through to Dick's cell phone. It was when I was stuck in the back seat of the car like a bag full of golf clubs that I decided it was time to come clean. "Guys, I'm just kid-" 

I was cut off when Damian slid into the seat next to me with his beloved sword drawn. "Come on, Pennyworth, drive!" His words were intensified as he waved the sword in the air. 

"Damian, no, it was just a-"

"Damian, you put that away this instant!" Bruce cut me off once again. "You'll kill your sister before she's even born!" I could see Alfred giving us a side eye from the driver's seat.

"Bruce, Bruce, my water didn't even-" 

"Don't worry, one of the kids will clean it up, let's go!" He pushed Damian out of the seat and took his place before slamming the car door shut. 

Alfred glanced at us from the rearview mirror. "Yes sir, is the madam comfortable?"

"No I'm not comfortable!" I grabbed Bruce's hand, trying to get his focus as the car pulled out of the gates.  I noticed that the car was turning the opposite direction of the hospital. "Darling, I was-"

"I know it hurts, just hang on," he pressed a kiss to my cheek before proceeding to dial Dick's number on his cell phone. "Why isn't he picking up?!"

"It was a prank!" Laughing, I grabbed his face in my hands, forcing him to look into my eyes. "Darling, darling, I was just kidding. It was a prank." 

His eyes were blank for a moment before the realization hit. "Are you ser... (Y/N)!" 

Chuckling, I pressed my lips to his forehead. "She's not coming yet, I just wanted to see if you'd fall for it."

"But of course I would... did... fall for it..." He grabbed my hand in mine before sighing and kissing the back of it. "Alfred, she pranked us."

"Yes, sir, she certainly did." I could see the butler's half amused glare from the mirror before the car came to a stop at a red light.

My husband pressed a kiss to my lips before giving me an unamused look. "We're naming her Emma, you've lost your naming rights."

I burst into laughter, returning the glare. "I am her mother, I have naming rights!"

He chuckled, shaking his head at me. "Not after that stunt. Don't you agree, Alfred?"

Alfred didn't respond to the question, but instead nodded at the shopping center next to the stoplight. "How convenient, we happen to be right next to the madam's favorite restaurant, shall we make a stop?"

"Yes, that's perfect." Bruce pressed a kiss to my cheek as the car pulled into the parking lot. "I'll get your usual and we can bring it home?" 

"Perfect indeed," I chuckled, still in shock that my prank had worked so well. I rested my hand on my stomach while my husband stepped out of the car. Watching him disappear into the doors of the restaurant, I looked over at Alfred. "This restaurant is nowhere near the hospital." 

"I do know that, madam." 

"And we were supposed to be going to the hospital." 

"Were we?"

"You knew?" 

Alfred turned in the driver's seat, holding up the empty water glass I had stored in the bush just minutes before, giving me a displeased glance. "I'd bury it a bit deeper next time, Miss (Y/N)." 

Part Two

[braidlottie]

rockstar!reader x lottie matthews 🎸☆⋆𖦹°★

there’s only one transmasc implied reader headcanon but you can picture this as any reader you want!!

↯ your band has been together for a while now, having three albums out,, but your fourth album was focused on lottie :33

↯ lottie thinks it’s adorable how you shield her from the public eye. you’re always scared to post her on social media because people would try to send her threats or try to attack her in public. but you were glad there was a positive side to it. when you told fans you were seeing someone, they were super supportive.

↯ but lottie wants your fans to see her and she knows it’ll make you so happy :((

↯ she comes to your shows whenever she’s free, and you make sure she’s set up in the vip booth instead of being in the pit/nosebleeds. plus she has a better view of u :3

↯ she even goes on tour with you! she surprises you right before you’re about to leave with her suitcases packed and ready :(( your band loves her so much (i feel like your drummer called her mom once) cuddling in those tight little bunks at night in the tour bus with her :(((

↯ staring at her the whole time while you play one of her favorite songs you wrote about her >_< and your fans have a fucking field day with it on twitter 😭😭 your ship name is trending and you’re getting tagged in videos of her staring back at you heh :3

↯ doing press/interviews for your new album and saying that lottie was the inspiration behind it :((

↯ lottie eventually gets social media and likes fan edits of you and her and the band :] and even interacting with fans sometimes :3

↯ your band does the puppy interview and lottie is taking you so many pictures of you behind the camera :3333 but when you do the thirst tweets interview, she gets sooo Jealous otuhfj;

↯ you’re literally drenched in sweat after a concert and lottie has those “fuck me eyes” :3

↯ lottie will literally sit on your lap while you’re writing songs. you’re so focused, scribbling away in your notepad with your guitar nearby, and she’ll just take a seat, wrapping her arms around your neck and playing with your hair >_<

↯ if you were big enough your band would get individual funko pops and she would keep yours at her desk in her office :((( her own mini bf 😊

↯ covering her from paparazzi because they’re very aggressive and always want pictures of her :/ a tabloid goes around where you pushed a pap down only because he touched her shoulder 😭😭

↯ SHE HAS SO MUCH MERCH. too much, it actually scares you sometimes. from beanie and stickers and hoodies, even socks,,,, she’s literally your biggest fan :}

↯ doing tiktoks with her for the band’s account :3 even on her own account, she uses your new single for her tiktoks about the wellness center 😭😭😭

↯ for your anniversary one year, you sing her the entire album that you wrote about her acoustically, and she had heart eye the entire time :( she even ends up crying halfway through:(((

↯ going to guitar center and watching you spend 4k on 3 guitars and a new amp 😭

↯ she doesn’t even have to pay for a signed cd/vinyl, she just brings it to you with a sharpie and a big smile :3

↯ a video went around of your trailer rocking from side to side and people immediately thought you were fucking (the two of you denied it but you actually were 😁😁)

taglist: @antlerbf @deerlottie @theyellowjacketschewtoy @girltwinklater @kessellluvr

[remidyal]

So I'm going to start speculating a little about future D20 seasons, just because we're running out of JY and thinking about that makes me sad.

My guess is that we're getting another four side quests, plus the replays of the Time Quangle live shows, before whenever the next IH season is (probably jan or feb 2025). From Dropout's production schedule, most likely at least two, probably three, and maybe all four are either already filmed or filming presently. The strikes may have disrupted this somewhat, however.

We know the names of two from the 5th anniversary video; we also know from the JY FAQ for a fact that one of these two, called "Never Stop Blowing Up" is next.

In the last few years this has been the slot for a campaign not GMed by Brennan or Aabria; I'm going to actually guess that there's a decent chance Brennan also won't be a player though I'm not at all sure of the timing with paternity leave and all. What the season is from that title could be a lot of things, though social media stars or stuntpeople have been guesses I've enjoyed. I think this is going to be a new setting, rather than something set in a preexisting universe, but I could be wrong there and there's been speculation that it might be something Starstruck (in which case I WOULD expect Brennan at the table).

GM possibilities for this or any other season even just from among people who have played on D20 before are too widespread to even do a complete list; highlights who have played on but haven't GMed for D20 and who I understand have experience (and would be excited to see) include but certainly aren't limited to Jasper, Ify, and Anjali from various side quests. Among the IH, Siobhan has made it fairly clear that she's not interested in GMing. I don't know if Ally has experience or not but they would obviously run something wild and I'd be here for it. Lou I believe has DMed home games but not actual plays; I'm uncertain if he'd be interested in running for a show, but I'd certainly watch if he did. Emily and especially Murph have a ton of experience as well but I think NADDPOD is kind of too much for Murph at least to GM outside that. Zac is low-key the IH I think is the most likely to end up GMing a season; rotating heroes is a thing, of course, but I don't think the workload there is as high as NADDPOD's.

We also know a Dungeons and Drag Queens 2 is coming at some point. The most likely format for this is a straightforward sequel with Brennan GMing for either the same four players or four different Queens, but I would actually love to see one of the players from the prior run step into the GM seat if any of them have gotten deeply into the hobby in the meantime. If they swap Brennan out for another DM here, this would maybe be the one season where I'd be delighted for it to be Murph, simply for the makeup possibilities. (One possibility is simply that he wears Cody Walsh cosplay for the season.)

I also think (or maybe I'm just trying to speak into existence) that we will get another 10-episode Aabria-GMed season this year, probably as the lead-in right before the next IH season for the third time running. Burrow's End and ACoFaF are both out of this world, stellar seasons to me (MiMa is... complicated by how much I want the property it's mocking to fade from memory, but that isn't its fault or hers) and I want to see what she does next.

Last, probably between D&DQ2 and that 10-episode season if that happens, we'll probably have another 4-6 episode original. If Brennan DMs D&DQ2 and Never Stop Blowing Up, this will probably be someone else; otherwise, not much to go off of.

It's possible that the live shows end up filling in one of these slots and are treated as a season until themselves, but I think they're going to be released not all in a row but rather to fill weeks between seasons. This might just be a greedy hope on my part, though! I do hope Brennan sits out at least one season, and I'd love it if the person who GMs who isn't Aabria or Brennan is someone who's done less prominent projects. (I'm actually talking myself into really rooting for a Zac-GMed season, though Ify's been my main hope for a long while.)

One thing that does seem to have shifted lately, specifically in Dropout's marketing - in the past, they were always extremely secretive about seasons past the currently airing one until it was complete, with the names not even known until the release of the season trailers. This changed a little when they teased Matt Mercer gming a season (which turned out to be RavWar) during Never After's airing; it's changed much more in the last two seasons, with a teaser for Junior Year coming out before Burrow's End had even started airing and with the names of multiple seasons being given in advance. It wouldn't surprise me if we continue getting little seeds for future seasons as we move forward.

[w1ldthoughts]

Ruin My Life

A/n: Technically anon requested and was gifted to me by someone who I very much adore @justhereforherbert 💙 (go read her entire Masterlist it is gold)

Hope you all like cheesy fiction

For as long as you could remember, you’d always wanted one thing. There was one goal in mind and you were set out to do everything possible to achieve that goal. By the age of 5, you could play the piano and the guitar and your parents sent you to any and every theater camp imaginable to ensure you had all the tools needed to succeed. Being an actor full-time was hard. Your first role was as a background character in a show that was canceled after one season. Then there was a recurring role in a CW teen drama that only lasted two years. Finally, a year ago you had your big break, starring in your first feature film. Things were actually starting to come together.

“This press tour shouldn’t be too bad, especially for your first one. Of course we’re starting here in LA for the big premiere, then New York, London and we’ll do a stop in Paris. It’ll go by fast.” Your assistant Anna rambled on as you nodded your head without looking up from your phone. Justin had just left the facility and was on his way over.

“We have hair and makeup set. Your nail appointment is tomorrow at 2 and the final dress fitting is on Friday anytime in the afternoon.”

Placing the phone on the counter, you thanked her for keeping your life in order and let her know you wouldn’t miss anything this week. You’d only been looking forward to this your entire life.

“Now, I know your family RSVP’d a few days ago but are you sure you don’t want a plus one? I mean—oh. Speak of the handsome devil.”

The door opened and in walked the only person that could even be a potential plus one, in a dream world.

“Hi guys, I brought dinner.” He held up the bags and set them on the counter and nodded toward Anna’s iPad. “What are you two working on?”

You laughed to yourself as Justin and Anna settled in and immediately started eating as she scrolled through your schedule to get him up to speed. “Does everything look okay? Would you give it the Herbert stamp of approval?”

“I would…but there’s a question mark here by the plus one on your guest list for the premiere.” He pointed out.

Anna gave you a look, anxiously waiting to see where this was going. But she also realized she might not want to be here for this so before the conversation continued, all of her things were packed and she was out the door.

“Okay. Now that she’s gone, I can freely do this.” His lips were on yours immediately, a soft and delicate feel against your own left your breath catching in your throat. Sometimes when you kissed him it felt urgent, like you were operating purely on instinct and couldn’t get enough. This felt warm, reassuring…safe. Like the entirety of your relationship was wrapped up into one simple embrace. There is home here, there is love. Justin pulled away to catch his breath, running his thumb to smooth over your brow. “I’ve been thinking about some things. About us. We’ve been together for a while and it’s been the most amazing year and a half of my life and you mean the world to me. You know that, right?”

You nod, not knowing where he was going with this.

“I think—no. I know, I should be your plus one at the premiere.”

“Excuse me? Who are you and what the hell have you done with the real Justin?”

His lips curl into a slight smile, holding you at the waist to pull you close. “Look, I’m not saying I’m ready for the MET Gala or anything. But I do think that I should be there, by your side and support you like you’ve supported me. “We only share what we want. No hiding.”

“You’re right but I’m usually up in a box with a bunch of other people. Are you sure you’re comfortable with that? If we do this, there’s no going back. You barely post social media content that isn’t an ad, you really want to do a movie premiere with me? In public? Together?”

“Yes,” he urges, without breaking eye contact. He was actually being serious about this. “People are going to find out about us eventually, it should be on our own terms. That way we can control the narrative.”

It’s almost like you’re waiting for him to say he’s kidding. For as long as you’ve been together he’s always valued his privacy, it was something the two of you had in common. But maybe you could still be private without being hidden. “You’re a diabolical genius who’s getting a little too good at this media training thing,” you place both of your arms on his shoulders with a sigh, “then you flash those freaking dimples and you keep getting away with it. I’m onto you.”

“But seriously Justin, I want us to meet with Ashley and figure this out. The last thing I want to do is ruin your life.”

“Y/n,” he whispers. “You are stuck with me for the foreseeable future. We can do this.”

You let out a content hum as he presses a kiss to the side of your head, setting up a meeting with Ashley in the morning.

Three days later…

The nerves were definitely starting to kick in. You were desperately hoping not to trip or make a fool of yourself. All you had to do was walk down the carpet, smile for the cameras and go inside. It was the most simple yet stressful thing in the world.

Your boyfriend’s comforting hand found a place in your lap, bringing you back down to Earth. “You’re going to be incredible today. And this dress? Looks fucking incredible on you.”

It reminded you of the times you’d talked him off the ledge after a bad loss or helped nurse the bumps and bruises that inevitably accumulated during the season. In a few short months, you’d be doing it all over again. You were thankful that he could be your rock when you needed it. The car came to a stop just as you stepped out of your daydream. Before the door opened, you turned around and locked eyes with him, “let’s do this” he mouths, looking more confident than you could ever hope to be.

Y/n! Y/n! Over here!

Smile!

Is that Justin Herbert?

Y/n and Justin, look this way!

How long have you two been a couple?

He was the most solid presence the entire time, holding your hand and smiling for the camera at every turn. Then there were solo shots of you and pictures with the rest of the cast before entering the cinema.

“Justin we have to ask. You attended a movie premiere last week with a certain up and coming actress. How was that experience?” Daniel Popper of the Athletic asked at OTAs.

The quarterback laughs quietly before formulating a response. “Um yeah it was fun. I got to go in and watch my girlfriend’s movie in a room full of people who worked really hard on it. The movie was great and I had a great time. Thank you.”

“One follow-up question Justin. Y/n was on Jimmy Kimmel last night and said she could break down an NFL defense right now if she needed to. Do you two watch a lot of game film together?”

He recalled the exact moment Daniel was talking about because he’d been in the green room with Anna and the rest of your team watching the entire thing. “She’s probably right. During the season we do have to get creative with our quality time so I do go through some film with her so if it came down to it, she very well could dissect an NFL defense. I’ve definitely given her a lot of the information she needs.”

“I think that’s it. Thank you, Justin.”

“Thank you, guys.”

The only way this controlled chaos was working was because they did things their own way. No People Magazine exclusives or DeuxMoi anonymous tips and any and every interview you did had a “no ask” list or a limit was placed on the number of questions that could be asked about your relationship. Justin would rather die than have his every move documented on social media and there was no way in hell that you’d allow that to happen.

“There’s no way I would ever wear that.” He cringed at the phone, emphasizing his point. A small part of you wanted to laugh because he looked like a toddler on the verge of a temper tantrum but you really needed to focus.

“Well babe, unless Nike suddenly started making custom suits then you’re going to have to expand your horizons. If I can figure out the difference between cover one and cover two, then you can wear sunscreen every day and wear pants that aren’t khakis.”

Justin shrugged at the last part, “it’s not New York Fashion week I’m playing football. No one cares what I wear.”

“But for the Oscars, I’ll definitely make an exception, because we’re going.”

You sat up from your spot next to him and smiled. “I appreciate and adore your enthusiasm but let’s just be real here. I’ll be lucky if I get invited, let alone nominated. This isn’t some little award show, it's the freaking Oscars. Might as well be a shot in the dark.”

As much as you’d been hearing the whispers about your performance there was still some doubt. It was your first role on a stage this big and with all the changes in your personal and professional life, it was hard to assume that anything would go according to plan. But even though life continues to be unpredictable, you were sure about one thing. More like one person.

“Hey, look at me.” He smirks, sitting across from you so your knees are touching. Justin holds out his hands for you to hold and when you do he instructs you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. “Now we’re going to say positive things that we want to put out into the universe. You will get nominated for an Oscar.” He waits patiently for you to repeat him as you chew on the inside of your cheek.

“I will get nominated for an Oscar.”

“You will win.”

“I will win.”

“We will celebrate your win…together.”

“We will celebrate my win together. Now it’s your turn.”

The man chuckles and allows you to guide him this time. “You will get to the Super Bowl.”

“I will get to the Super Bowl.”

“You will win.”

“I will win.”

“We will celebrate together.” The two of you say simultaneously. “Looks like we’ve got work to do.” You tell him with a laugh.

He lets you scoot closer so you can lean your head on his shoulder. “And celebrations to look forward to.”

Silence washes over you as each of you think about your respective life plans. Award shows, Super Bowl parades and everything in between. The thought of walking alongside you through it all brought him inexplicable joy.

He broke the silence stating,“I may have lied to you before, you did ruin my life.”

His confession sent chills down your spine. “What? What do you mean, what happened?”

Justin wraps an arm around you, reaching down to kiss your forehead. “I thought I had everything figured out before I met you. Now, you’ve come in and flipped my entire world upside down. And I’ve never been happier. You’ve ruined me, in the best way. If you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.”

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. And for what it’s worth, I think you’ve ruined me too.”

[rosewaterconley]

I solved a mystery that only I care about lol

ok so I have no clue what I'm doing and social media terrifies me. I will probably never touch this account again. why did I have to follow 3 algorithm-selected accounts to get into this website? I can actually name 3 people I'd want to follow on here and it's none of the people your fucking robot told me to follow. but hey, I feel like I have to post it here rather than my blogspot since nobody in the world actually uses blogspot and I want people to see this!

so anyway, there's this band out of the city of Milwaukee called Hero of a Hundred Fights. they dropped a couple CDs in the early 2000s and seem to have broken up, though all their members have been in bands since. that'll be important a little later. for now, Hero of a Hundred Fights are important to me on 2 levels:

I'm a Wisconsinite who has a tiny bit of an obsession with local history and art and really fuck with their weird mathy little corner of the 2000s hardcore scene

I'm a Faction Paradox fan and their 2001 EP The Remote, The Cold contains numerous references to the series! if you've heard of this EP before, it was probably in the context of some "music that references Faction Paradox" list or another

about #2... see, everyone already knows that track 2 is called Faction Paradox and track 3 is called The Celestis. we've all long since put together that the title is a reference to Lawrence Miles' Interference. but what about the lyrics? unfortunately, we don't know. they're not online, and the vocals are good, mind, but rather incoherent.

well, we didn't know. until I ordered a CD copy for like $8 lol. that's all it took! so here you go, the lyrics booklet plus some of the other artwork featured on the CD. artist Nick Slough did a great job on this art and it's a shame only the cover is widely available online (though that's hardly a problem unique to the physical version of this one album). turns out, this is some kinda concept album based on the Miles novel Interference. cool! really love the lyrics on Rope especially. "I need your blood to get this vessel running" and "my life was in your hands, I cut them off and now they're mine" are both raw as hell.

the cover art is pretty interesting. this album was recorded in 2000, released in 2001. the entire creative process occurred before the first standalone Faction Paradox release, The Book of the War. this means the album is entirely Doctor Who-based, not based on the FP series itself. it also means, if we assume the humanoid characters on the art are supposed to be the Remote, that this is the first-ever professional art depicting them!

disclaimer: the booklet lyrics don't 100% match up with what's said in the songs! it's mostly accurate but unfortunately there are some sections missing, some repeated bits that are only written once et al. that's all par for the course but I figured I'd mention it - especially in the case anybody wants to use this to transcribe the lyrics on Genius or some other site like that.

and while we're here, Hero 100 member William Zientara has been in a billion different bands, and I think he's probably the most responsible for the Doctor Who theme on this album. See, he was also in a short-lived band called Managara - named after a Doctor Who tie-in novel so obscure even I, owner of a complete set of Virgin New Adventures who spends my work breaks combing through digital copies of old fanzines, have only ever heard it discussed a handful of times. one of their songs is called Happiness Patrol. more recently, in 2021, he was in the band Fuiguirnet, who have a song called What Grows From the Seeds of Doom! which means Zientara has been randomly tossing Doctor Who references into songs from at least three different bands for twenty years!

so uhh without any further rambling here's the lyrics and art:

[accio-victuuri]

LRLG CPN : 1/23/2023 Contribution 🎉

The first piece for this year, just in time for the lunar new year celebration. as with all the other lrlg, this may be hard to understand because it’s only random incidents. most of these are speculations from our part, and it’s really just nice to read as a turtle. true or not. it’s all cpn anyway.

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

It starts with a conversation between the boys and staff, with GG saying the others got there earlier. the more important bits tho are the following pieces:

"Those few are doing publicity in the company and summarizing at the end of the year"

"It's only been a week since the entire outline, and the content hasn't been filled in yet. Don't you worry?"

"Then I guess your summary this year is another set of templates."

GG: "Well, just pay attention to the wording"

GG: "Movies and TV dramas still need to be separated. Last year, all of them were waiting to be broadcast. Wait for me to talk to him in private” (announcement of working overtime in the company)

WYB: (still out of the situation) What did you say?

GG: It’s useless to tell you

This could be pertaining to yibo-official’s year end post which had a round up of all Bobo’s works. I love this cause it shows how they talk about career related things — even the simple stuff can come up in conversation. and it’s not like we need any more example of how their studios work together. it’s one of the strongest cpns out there, the similarities in their studios’ content.

Plus I like how one of GG’s love language to Yibo is consulting on things like that for him. It’s not because Bobo doesn’t care, but he does not have that sense of being hands-on like GG. ( Bobo is a perfectionist in his acting/dancing/singing but not so much with his social media presence — he doesn’t even post much. that’s what his team is for, to do the social media side for him ) It’s the artist in him ( GG ) and his knowledge in visual media / branding etc that probably makes him more attuned in what is out there representing him and Yibo. He cares so much about every detail when it comes to Bobo, everything will be perfect and up to standard as long as he has a say on it.

Then there is a whole conversation again between them and their staff. It’s pretty chill and feels like the usual atmosphere when both of the employees come together. Turtles really went back to 2018 with this exchange tho :

WYB: "Nonsense, how many noodles can you eat?"

GG: 👊

WYB: "If you can't say it, just hit it"

GG: 👊👊👊

WYB: “Maybe you can eat two extra sticks after eating noodles”

Staff : "Is this the level we talk about?"

GG: "He's idle"

WYB: "Drink the soup when it is salty"

GG: 😒

Bobo is still coaxing GG to eat more!!!! 😂

The next 2 paragraphs of text are all in GREEN, which means it is all Yibo. Lol. Does he really talk that loudly on the phone? Or maybe this contributor sits close to Bobo. Anyway, read along and see how sweet he is. He really checks up on ZZ and look at that bit about his mom wanting ZZ to come back. and he cooks noodles now? he is bored when he’s not with ZZ? I cannot with them.

( thinking of this cute bobo while reading 🥺🥺🥺 )

"Didn't you go to bed early last night?"

"Then what's going on here?"

"I asked Miss X to buy it and send it to you"

"The humidifiers will arrive tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and there are two”

"When are you coming back"

"xx asked when you will come back for dinner"

"If you don't come back, I have to go by myself. It's boring."

"I have a companion, I won't go by myself"

"Not sure when you will come back

"I'll cook noodles for you"

“Get out of the car and eat noodles”

"Mom said you come back and let me cook noodles for you"

Then you have an exchange where Mister Wang is buying strawberries. 🍓🍓🍓 Look at him making everyone feel like they have to have a higher standard when it comes to romance. Wherever he goes, he thinks of what he can get the love of his life. He really spoils him.

WYB (eating strawberries): very sweet

Staff C: You get what you pay for

WYB: Then buy six boxes (give it to him) and send it away

Staff A: You are more sour than strawberries

WYB: If you want something sweet, ask your partner to buy it for you

Staff A: Do you think all men in the world are the same (like him)? Can you still think about giving your daughter-in-law a taste of strawberry sweetness before buying it? Totally impossible.

Worker C: (my wife) She doesn’t eat it, she said it’s just right to eat in summer, but it’s too cold in winter

Staff C (awakened by Mr. Wang, the master of love): Then I will also buy two boxes for (my wife) and send them back.

WYB : Whatever you want to eat, you can follow Brother X (staff C) and come back together

Staff member C: I’m afraid I’ll move the store to you,

WYB : See if there’s any little tomatoes .

Staff member B: I’ve gone to take photos and send them to the group Here, see what else you want.

The last bit is the two of them bickering like an old married couple even if the subject is work. which is their default. you are both so lucky to have each other. ♥️💚

WYB: "Here I want red"

GG: "Green attracts money, wyb"

WYB: "You and I won't be because I am making money"

GG: "What do you mean me and you, what do you mean me and you"

WYB: "Then you asked me to follow you because I am making money?"

GG: "Look at how shameless he is"

GG: "You think you're a lucky cat"

WYB: "Lucky Bull"

GG: "Lucky Dog and Lucky Cow"

GG: "Should I say it or not, you are really lucky"

WYB: "Here you go"

GG: "It's awesome"

WYB: "Ah"

GG: "You better be

WYB: "☺️"

AND THAT’S IT! 🤍

Note: If I “missed” something that jumped out for you in this LRLG post then feel free to reply or reblog and add your thoughts. I don’t purposely leave out certain things, I just add ones that were interesting for me. I say this many many times but it’s impossible to catalogue every single thing that comes out of the fandom. I make posts so I can archive it myself, it’s for my personal use.

[ghostiiess]

[NSB HEADCANONS] - the boys taking care of you while you're sick

◇─◇──◇─◇◇─◇──◇─◇◇─◇──◇─◇◇─◇──◇─◇◇─◇──◇─◇◇

pov: you're sick and your boyfriend want to take care of you

warnings: none that i can think of

type: comfort and super wholesome

members: all of them!!

also, thank you guys for the big support and likes <3 i really appreciate it! it make me smile that you love what i'm writing and my content! lot of love, mwahhh!!

oliver:

would take care of you x100

he would stay by your side and make sure you stay in your bed and relax (and sleep)

oliver would *ofc* sing you to sleep if you can't sleep or don't want to!

oliver scream the words "comfort" and "safe place" to me

so he would make sure you're comfortable and okay

need more pillow? he'll go take some more

want something to drink? he'll make it for you

tired of being tired? he'll listen to you and try'll to help you

for real, oliver just want you to feel better

whatever he'll do, he'll do it with love

and since you're someone who's not totally okay with the idea of being helped, being cherish, being affective... he'll finally be able to take care of you and to spoil you as much as he want (since you're sick and can't really do smth abt it)

he'll order boba and sushi for you :(

and some soup too!

he'll feed you if you're comfortable with this kind of things

oliver moy is just a kind and caring guy who love spoiling, helping, making people's day, so if you're sick, be ready to receive A LOT of little attentions and cuddles

plus, this man doesn't really care if he's sick after

he say that he have a good health system, so...

"y/n, i don't mind being with you. you're my priority, okay?"

PLEASE, WE ALL WANT AN OLIVER MOY KIND OF PERSON IN OUR LIFE <33

(the rest of the members are under the cut!)

sebastian:

this man-

he would tease you so much-

sorry not sorry

"hahahaha, you're so sick.. get it? you're sick and are sick as a person.." (flashback to heeseung from enha saying "yeah i'm sick! i'm dope!")

nah for real, i think seb would also take care of you SO SO SO MUCH

be ready for this man's attention

because he's going to give it all to you!!

you want some food? he'll order it (he'll try to cook what you want first and it's not really good looking, he'll order the food and say that he cooked them for you 😭)

"oh yeah, i totally cooked it for you!"

sebastian would also be the type of boyfriend to spoil you a lot during your sickness

want some cuddles? he'll gave them to you even if he might be sick for the next few days

this boy do not mind it

all he want is you to feel better

he'll check on google "how to help someone with sickness"

he's so cute-

sebastian moy would find some "solutions" to your sickness :( and he would gave them to you

he would also play with your hair

he'll try to make you asleep with his singing voice

and would set a timer of 20-25 minutes during your nap so he could check up on you just to make sure you're not dead in your sleep

seb know how you're not really used to people who always check up on you or take care of you. he know it's not easy understanding that people actually do that because they care about you, but he's willing to try and show his affection to you

he would also check up on your needs and change your water bottle times to times (even while you're sleeping) to make sure you have fresh new water during the day

isn't he so caring?

please, let this man take care of you :(

ryan:

this boy would ask the stars on his snapchat (or any of his social medias) some tips to help you during your sickness

"hey stars!! long story short: y/n is feeling sick and idk what to do or what to give her. do you guys have any tips/products that i should need to help her out? thank you in advance guys, love you <3"

he'll also search on google the best ways to help you out with your sickness

like this man is 100% into it

and we love seeing it lmao

RYAN NGUYEN IS SO CUTE :((

he would take notes of the products he found interesting

plus with the replies the stars sent to him.. he's ready to go!!

he would kiss your forehead and write on a sticky note something, just in case, you wake up and you're like "where is ryan???"

"hey pretty baby. went to the supermarket since ur sick. if you're hungry, i made you some tea and oatmeal. apparently, it give you energy and it hep when you're sick. anyways, ily, i'll back soon <3"

tell me this boy isn't adorable and kind?

he bought you some chicken soup, some spicy food (apparently it help) if you're in the mood for that, some ramen, some avocados and yogurt!! he also have chocolate and some bottles of fresh water! he also have different kind of tea for you to try if that's something you like

he's into it, yeah..

but he want you to feel better

he know being sick is so annoying..

he'll sing you to sleep or let you rant about your problems

he want you to know that it's okay to be sick and okay to be scared of what we're going throught

since you're sick, he'll do your chores or the things you needed to do that day or that week

"ryan, you don't have to wash my clothes. i can do it. i'm only sick, not dead. i can walk and do it by myself!"

"what did i tell you, baby? if you're sick, then i'll take care of anything. i really don't mind, love. please, go back to bed, i don't want you to catch a cold"

"how can i catch a cold-"

"everything's possible okay? one time, seb catched a cold while it was summer. everything can happen, im telling you."

to conclude ryan's part: he would take care so much of you :( please, never let him go because he's so adorable and so clingy to you when you're sick

he can finally take care of you without you telling him to go away >:)

ooh and if you're lucky enough, he'll let you play videogames with him on his lap ;)

justin:

the moment justin know you're sick, you're done

i mean, not literally, but like you can't do anything else about it

this man'll spoil you very much

he'll buy you so much food and goodies to make your sickness week not so terrible

"hey my love, i'm currently in target. what do you need or want? oh and btw, forget money exist, thank you!! i love you" he send through a voice message because he know how you love hearing his voice!

" wdym 'forget money exist' you still have to take care of your wallet lol.. but if you could find any of *fav food/desserts* it would make me super happy

he would smile in front of his phone

"k perfect, thx u!!"

he would also buy some blankets and more pillows :)

and squishmallows

he love squishmallows!!

he would make your breakfast and he would bring it to your bed

for lunch or dinner, he would cook you some pasta for you since spicy food really help when we're sick and we already know good jp is as a cook

if he have things to do, he would make them first, but don't worry! he would also check up on you!

his texts be like "hey baby, im thinking abt you, pls don't forget to drink water and to eat some soup :)) i love you, i'll be with you tonight, i promise!!"

and voice messages be like "hi babe, me and the boys are going to film the video for this week.. humm.. i don't really know what to say, but i hope my voice can make you feel a bit better. darren say hi btw! okkk byeee my love!"

justin would try his best to help you, for sure <3

kane:

this man is excited

and super happy

i mean, he's not excited and happy because you're sick, but because he can *finally* take care of you!

"YAYYY!! i can finally take care of her without her complaining!"

he would do anything for you lol

want some soup? he'll buy you some

want to drink boba? he'll buy you some

want so milk? LETS GO, HE'LL GIVE YOU SOME

although he have to film and work, he'll make sure you're comfortable and have everything you need close to you while he's gone so you don't have to move

you have medicine, big bottle of water, different kind of food, you also have your phone and some headphones if you want to listen to some music

he'll check up on you during the days like "hey, are you feeling better?" or "hey, have you been taking care of yourself?"

since you're sick and stuck to bed, he'll think it's a good oppurtunity to watch animes with you!

"wanna watch the latest episode of our fav anime?"

if you had something important to do, to go to, or something like that, he'll make sure it'll be done by him!

needed to give a paper to your friend? he'll do it!

"hey hum... y/n needed to give you a paper"

needed to go to that place? or missed an event? he'll make sure to take pictures and videos and film EVERYTHING he can so you don't really miss it

kane ratan is such a sweetheart, for real :(

he would tell you about his life, about his day... just to make you know he's here for you and that he want to change your ideas for a little while

darren:

darren liang would take care so much about you :(

having a headache? he would give you medicine and toasty

you're tired? he would sing you to sleep and tell you "good night stories"

his good night stories are just a way to say that he's telling his schedule for today, what he's going to do with the boys today, his thoughts.. random thoughts, you know?

he would text you during the day

"i'm sorry you feel this way baby :( i'm here if you ever need anything. call me whenever you need or want to, i'll reply. my schedule might be busy today, but i'll always find time for you"

he would cook you a good soup

and make food just for you

"why would i bought these when i can make these? plus, i know you love my cooking skills"

he's so adorable

he would send you pictures of him and the boys to make you smile

"i'm the only hot in this picture haha 😎😋"

"did you hear that sex help with sickness?? lol, want me to help you? 😏😏"

he would cuddle you and give you forehead kisses

he would also tell you affirmations like "you look super sexy right now, like sheesh..."

"dar', i'm wearing your hoodie,i have a messy bun and i have no makeup on. i'm everything but sexy rn"

he would caress your cheeks with his fingers and make you sure you understand how beautiful you are

"stop saying that, baby. you look so good, y/n. trust me. you're beautiful, so so beautiful. wearing proper clothes or my hoodie, good looking hair or messy bun, makeup or not, you'll always light up my day with your beauty"

he would sing his outro song to you

his singing voice is amazing omg

idk how to conclude headcanons, but know that dar will be there until the very end, sick or not :)

regie:

as soon he heard you were sick, regie ran to the closet supermarket to buy whatever you needed

he bought more medecine, bought you some magazines/revues, and some books/mangas!

he also bought you food, like chocolate, candies, gummies.. stuff like that in case you were hungry for that type of thing

he made a soup for you <3

he searched online "best soup ever when sick" like isn't he adorable and cute?

regie macalino would *always* be here for you

always, always, always

"idc if i have to film smth for the channel. i want to make sure my girl is doing fine, first."

he would give you fresh bottle of water, check up on you, take your temperature..

regie would also be here for you by sending you random selfies or random texts messages

"the boys says hi"

"if you ever need anything, please text them to me and i'll do my best to give it to you"

"hey my love, don't forget to drink water and to eat some soup"

"y/n, baby, are you okay? just checking up on you"

"just finished to film. going to the store. if you need smth, pls, text them to me"

he care so much about you

he would even give you massage

and run you a nice hot good bubble bath if you love these kind of things haha

he'll make food he know you like

he'll put your fav movie on the tv and cuddle with you if it can make you feel better

regie would do his best to make you see that being sick with him isn't too bad

like he's trying his hardest here to make you know you're okay and that you're his priority atm

he would also give you his clothes and do some selfcare with you if it can make you feel more relaxed

and of course, he'll sing to you :(

"i don't know you" would be heard lol

if you guys didn't know, idky is an unrealeased song that nsb made! i think the song is also on youtube (thankfully a star publish it, otherwise it wouldn't be here lol) for those who would want to hear it

it's so good, and so soft, and so relaxing?

to conclude this headcanon, macalino would take care so much about you :(

he's really screaming "boyfriend material" lol

hope you guys liked it!! <3

taglist open!! if you want to be added, please send a request and not on my forms. i have a problem there and i'm trying my best to fix it asap!! : @nsb-rkive @kentisbaby @firebenderwolf

[sadghoststudios]

STATE OF PLAY 12/23: a little news and updates roundup!

Howdy all! Squeaking in just before the new year, I thought now's as good a time as ever for a little roundup of anything you might have missed, and what we're currently working on! Aiming to do these quarterly from now on 🫡✨

If you wanna keep up with posts like this from us without relying on social media, you can also sub to our newsletter! Promise not to annoy you. Good emails only.

Recap and news under the cut!

2023 Roundup

DemiDato

We had two releases this year, but DemiDato was the big one! For those that don't know, this game spent a long 5+ years in and out of development hell, so it was a big relief to finally put everyone's hard work out into the world back in March.

We were also lucky enough to feature DD in the Queer Games & Queer Halloween bundles this year, so even if you haven't had a chance to grab the game outright, check your itch library - you might already own it!

As for the future of our monsters, a 1.1 update is still on the cards! The bulk of it is already complete - there's some script tidying and quality of life improvements already in the WIP build, as well as a fancy schmancy CG Gallery (which you can see a little preview of in the devlog I wrote). 

1.1 development has admittedly stalled a little, as I really want to implement some animated video transitions plus an animated intro and trailer into its final build, but it's been hard to find the time to teach myself a whole new skillset while also being in preproduction for our new title (more on that in a bit!). In my head for all the years of development, the game has always had a really cheesy reality show intro with horribl(y good) graphics, just like the real life shows that inspired it. So even if the feature didn't make it to 1.0, I still really want it to happen eventually. (Plus, when we do eventually rerelease on Steam, a trailer is very important for the store page! That means it counts as futureproofing, right...?)

If you want to hear some more about what the release was like, my dear friend Kaiju of Digital Diversity interviewed me right after the game came out! You can read the interview on Digital Diversity over here.

GrandNya

Our second game of the year was a short little nugget written for 2023's Josei Jam, and devved almost solo by timepatches (hi! that's me!)

It'd been a long time since I managed to get anything off the ground in a jam setting, and I still find it a little intimidating (it's really difficult for me to get new ideas & iterate on them fast enough to meet the start deadline and recruit others), so solo dev it was! My art is hardly intricate but it gets the story across, and I'm proud of the VN as a whole - whatever you think of 'wholesome games' as a movement, it's hard to deny that we all need a cosy space now and then, and that’s the kind of story I like to tell most. And it's not like GrandNya is all sunshine, either, which you'll know if you got to the end!

I also managed to apply to Hand-Eye Society's Super FESTival with GrandNya, and was somehow accepted, which I'm still pinching myself about! What a stellar lineup of games to share a page with.

Fest aside, it was a pretty quiet release all things considered, so don't worry if you missed it! Your grandmas are still there on our itch page anytime, to give you a lil’ pocket of safe queer story to live in whenever you need it.

Intoxicated

Now for something completely different!! Despite some prior medical commitments around the jam date (which then got moved, typical), I was VERY stoked to be able to hop on the team for Kristi HusbandoGoddess' Yuri Jam game, Intoxicated!

It was an absolute blast. Turtles were drawn in the group chat for reasons I can no longer remember. It singlehandedly made me decide that I want to do more jam work on others' teams, because I forgot how fun it can be working toward a common goal in a more relaxed environment! 

And the game turned out incredible. Check it out if you support women's wrongs! ♡

Plans for 2024

[Codename BAT 🦇] (the big otome/amare game)

Oh yeah. It's big.

I won't spill too much just yet, but just know that I've had this idea as a vague plot bunny in the back of my mind for years. Then, as my dear friend Charlie and I were on VC beta testing a late DemiDato build, it came up and they were so excited about the idea that I couldn't help but start seriously thinking about how to make it.

Well. That was in March. After I took a break and worked on GrandNya, I've been working ever since on building out the world (it's set in the same universe as the rest of our library, but deals a bit more with the actual ramifications of it all, so I had to set some things in stone I haven't before). More recently I've been building out the most coherent, easy-to-follow outline I can (not my strong point, and bless my beta readers for their support while I complain about it). 

Very soon I should be able to start writing! Terrifying! I can't wait. Once I'm a fair way into the script writing you'll get to hear about exactly what I'm cooking, and I think... you'll like where we're going.

[Other Redacted Thing]

Not my project so I won't spoil exactly what it is, but I get to do some UI work for an upcoming jam project and I am SO excited! I get to work with some very familiar faces again! You'll know what it is as soon as I'm allowed to tell you 👀

What I will say is that it shares a coincidental similarity with my long project...

That's it!! ✨

Thank you for reading all my waffle (being long winded is my special talent), and for sticking with us through the inevitable periods of radio silence! We're still just little fish in a very big pond, but every time someone plays something I made and feels some type of way, I remember what the point of all this is. 

It makes me very happy to be able to share stories with y'all. Here's to more in 2024!

♡ Madi Wander (@timepatches)

[sunnyie-eve]

Celebrity Crush || Adorable habit

Paring: Joseph Quinn x Original female costar

Word Count: 3209

Summary: Puppies and first times

Warnings: cute interactions

A/N: For this I’ll be using my OFC in Trouble in Hawkins for this OFC to play her.

Last: Theories & More | Next: Ridiculous Questions

"We're not even on set anymore and you still listen to this song?" Joe gives me a look while we hang around to hotel waiting for interviews to be set up. "Because it's one of my favorite songs and I love music from the 80's." I give him a look as I scroll through my phone looking at videos and pictures I took while on set.

"I feel you, Johanna. I feel you, I was half convinced I'd waken, Satisfied enough to dream you. Happily I was mistaken, Johanna." I sing to bug Jamie as he sat in full Vecna makeup on his phone. "Please, Presley not again." He glances up at me. "I'll steal you, Johanna. I'll steal you. Do they think that walls can hide you? Even now I'm at your window. I am in the dark beside you. Buried sweetly in your yellow hair." I continue to sing making him huff, "Presley, love, stop." He tilts his head. "I feel you, Johanna. And one day, I'll steal you, 'Til I'm with you and I'm with you there, Buried sweetly in your yellow hair." I put my all into it as I finish as I reach out to him with my free hand. "You sounded wonderful like always. You're done now right?" He ask so I stopped filming.

I laugh at how he got an annoyed because anytime we were near each other I would sing it. I decide to post the video online for fun. Plus fans would love it. "They still aren't ready?" Joseph joins us. "Nope." I read comments on the video. "What are you up to?" He comes over sitting down next to me. "Just going though my camera roll seeing what I can post without giving things away I took on set." I look over at him. He moves closer and puts his arm on the back behind me to see my phone better. "What about that photo?" He taps on one making it bigger. It was us dressed up because we were on break sitting at the school lunch a table eating pretzels laughing at something. Gaten was the one who took the picture and sent it to us.

"That's a good choice." I turn my head giving him a smile. "It's one of my favorites of us together on set because we're just being us. We weren't trying to take a photo or video. Gaten just happen to catch the moment." He smiles back and I glance at his lips for just a millisecond. "True and he didn't send it to us until a week later." I laugh and post it to Instagram. "We gotta teach you have to use social media." I add making him laugh. "I feel like it's not my thing. The type of person I am." He shakes his head. "Just have one to look at other people things or just for friends. You don't have to post things of you don't want to." I let him know. "I'll think about it." He does his tongue thing.

"I find that so adorable." I slightly turn to face him at an angle. "What?" He asks confused. "The thing you do with your tongue. When you go like this." I do what he does. "It's embarrassing when you call it adorable." He whines. "It's not like I go around saying it to everyone and the whole world. It's just what I think and let you know." I explain to him. "Well, if my habit is adorable your nose scrunch habit is." He tells me. "This thing?" I do it. "It's adorable." He says before doing his habit. "But if I say it now?" I roll my eyes in a playful way. "Fine, I'll let it pass." He does the same making me laugh at him. "I'm glad you got the role of Eddie. Sad it was short though... But I can't imagine anyone else playing him as well as you did. Plus I got to add a great new person into my life."

They tell us it was time so we head into the room and take our seats. "Have any of you forget your part?" She asks and and everyone says all the time but I said only a few times. "Any hilarious situation on the movie that's stuck in you mind?" She asks. "Funny situations? There's so many." I think about it while Maya talks about our yogurt night. We were confused till she said golf cart racing making us laugh about it. Then talked about night shoots being hot an cold. Next we were playing a little game having to pick between two things a our characters. "Sorry one more time." Joseph asks. "We're in characters picking between tow things." Maya tell him.

"Working in Scoops Ahoy or Family video?" She asks us so we say Family Video. "Steve picking up girls would be more fun to watch because he would fail." I say my answer then say fight for Nancy's love because you can't die. When she was done we have a guy next staring with Joseph about how he sees Eddie. Joe, Maya and I tell him we have experience with video stores. And Natalia talks about how people can relate to the show. "Did any of you actually played Dungeons and Dragons?" He asks us. "I played once." Natalia tells him. "I did actually over the pandemic. I played Dungeons and Dragons with some friends and it was pretty difficult actually." Joe adds while Maya says her uncle is a Dungeons Master. Then we tell him there's gonna be a season five because some people don't think so.

The next lady was challenging us to a Stranger Things Imposable quiz and playing against Sadie, Caleb, and Priya. "They're very smart." Joe says making me agree. "But we have you and your pretty smart too." He adds. "Round One trivia, we'll start with a relatively easy one. On what date does Will Byers go missing?" She asks us ad we think. "No, I don't think it's the 7th. I'm sure it's the 6th. November 6th 1983." I say but Joe locks in the 7th and we get it wrong. "I should listen to you." He groans. "You said before we started, I was pretty smart then choose to ignore me." I look back at him.

"Question two; Who founded Hawkins Middle School AV Club?" She asks us. "Oh, that's um.. Bob right?" Joe asks making me look at him puzzled, "No... or was it" I tell him but again he was set on it. "Was it not the teacher?" Natalia asks. "I'm having a brain fart of his name." I try to think harder. "Wait, Joe might be right on this one. I don't think it's Mr. Clark. Ugh!" I cover my face as Natalia just says Mr. Clark. "No, it was Bob." She says making us all groan and Joseph lets out a laugh making me laugh too.

"Question three; What flavor Slurpee does Alexei ask Hopper to pick up for him?" She asks. "Cherry!" I shout out making the others laugh at me. "We'll go with cherry." Joe points at me and we get it. "On the night the Scoops Troop get stuck in the Russian elevator, where does Erica say she's meant to be?" She asks and I think back to watching that episode. While Maya and Joe talk it out. "Sleepover." They says. "Tina's house. Because Steve snaps saying, I don't care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator! Therefore, Skylar is going to kill me in the afterlife!" I quote as we get the point. "Oh, yeah." He remembers.

"What is the first message that Will spells out though the Christmas lights and letters on the wall?" Was the next question. "Was run, right?" Natalia says and we're told it's second. "I'm here... Right here?" Joe sips on his drink. "Right here." Joe does his ET impression and points his finger at Joseph who laughs. "What are six things that Eleven's mother Terry says on a loop?" She asks and I had no clue because I skip those episodes when I watch at times. "Chicken noddle soup." I start to crack up at Joe. "Rainbow. Sunflower." We get two. "Chicken noddle soup." Joe says again making me shake my head laughing. "Guys, I say we throw the towel in on this one." He says so we agree.

"Round two, Who said it." She tells us. "If anyone asks where I am, I've left the country." She reads. "Joyce. Erica. "Joseph says. "I was going to say maybe Finn." Joe says and I point my finger at him, "Yeah, he tells his mom." I agree and we get it. "How many children are you friends with?" She says and we easily get it. "Why, who do you have to look good for?" She says and I let everyone think because I knew it was me. "Oh, Skylar." Maya picks her head up. "When?" Joe asks confused. "It's before you push me into the backroom against the door while play fighting about the part where we followed the guy to Jazzercise." I explain it quickly. "Oh yeah."

"Okay, it's official I'm never having kids." We all thing about it and get it wrong because it was Dustin. "You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill.." She reads and we say Erica. Next question was worth a lot of points and we just had to be closer than the other team. "How many  times does Joyce say Will's name in season 1?" She asks. "Are you kidding me?" We all complain. "I'm not even trying." I say as they all debate about a number but we only get five points. We score 14 points while the others scored 22. "I say they won because of the girls." I laugh.

Next we get ready the puppy interview and I was excited. "You're bouncing like you're six." Joseph laughs at me. "Because I want the puppies." I say as we take our seat son the floor. I sat between him and Natalia. "I'm Joe and I play Eddie. I'm Presley and I play Skylar. I'm Natalia Dyer and I paly Nancy Wheeler. I'm Maya Hawk and I play Robin. I'm Joe Keery and I play Steve." We all introduce ourselves. When they bring the puppies out they run around and one runs straight to me. "Look at you." I hold it and give it love while Joseph tries to get one. I notice his tongue out making me smile to myself.

"After almost six years, how does it feel having the series come to an end soon?" We're asked. "It's sad because it's a chapter in your life ending." I answer petting the puppy laying on my lap. "If you could play any other character on the Stranger Things, who would it be?" I think about while I look at the puppy. "Probably Dustin if I was a guy." I watch the other puppies play. "The one will not leave your lap." Natalia looks at it. "It loves me." I laugh watching Joseph watch the puppies with his tongue still out.

"What's a role people would be surprised to hear you auditioned for?" They asks. "I was up for Spider-Man. Still waiting to hear." Joseph makes me laugh. "I was the second choice to play the daughter in War Of The Worlds but Dakota Fanning got it." I say mine. "If you had to create an 80's mixtape, which songs would you add?" We're asked next. We all agree on Running up that hill by Kate Bush. "Message in a bottle. I like that sing." Joe says. "Head Over Heels, Tears for Fear." Joseph says still failing to get a puppy to come to him. "Yes!" I grab his arm. "Like my character I love that song. Also any rock songs really." I give more love to the puppy that has not left my lap.

The next one was, If you could guest star on any series what would it be. "American Horror Story." I pick up the puppy, "Look at how cute he is." I tell Joseph still holing him while he pets it because it kills me how hard he's been trying to catch one. "Come here little one." I pass him the puppy but after a few seconds it comes back to my lap. "If any actor could have a cameo on Stranger Things who would you want it to be?" Was the question. "Molly Ringwald just because of Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink. And an band or artist to preform a song in the show." I say while Maya says Adam Sandler.

Once again no puppy would go near Joseph so I pat his knee making the puppy playfully bite it so he uses the toy making it play with him for a bit on my lap. "Oh, I was was starstruck by Nikki Sixx on the set of the Dirt. A friend who worked on set asked me if I wanted to get lunch with her and when I showed up I bumped into him." I say then while Joe talks about peeing next to Steve Carell, I see Joseph's habit so I look at him doing my nose scrunch making him chuckle. "You're surprised by the tattoos? I had a fan show up at my aunt's wedding because I joked online I was the only person without a date." I make the shocked. "How did they find where it was?" Maya asks. "I have no clue because it was like a small backyard wedding in a small town and they were out of state fans." I add. "That's not a fan that's a stalker." Natalia tells me.

After Natalia talks about her audition I go next, "I had a scene with Gaten which was easy because we knew each other sligthy-ish because of Broadway working together once. And I believe it was you too..." I look at Joe. "Yeah, bullying you and another for me was the camera part." He adds for him. While they ask Joe and Maya about movies they done, the puppy finally leaves me and Joseph makes fun of me. "I see my character with trauma issues and panic attacks while trying to act like everything is fine." I answer where I see Skyler in 2022.

"Wait, they're all rescues?" I ask the lady who says yes making me excited. "I want this one. Can I? Look he loves me." I pout petting him. "If you want to you can." She lets me know. "Yes!" I clap my hands getting up and talk more about adopting the puppy. "I'm not surprised." Joseph walks over to me as I hold the puppy still. "I've been wanting get one anyways so today works out very well for me." I explain. "Don't you have two other things you have to do today?" He asks. "Shit..." I look at my watch. "Wanna puppy sit for me?" I give him a smile. "Fine." He takes the puppy from me. "Thank you. Oh, and his name is Dexter." I rush off.

"Hey teen Vogue, I'm Presley Monroe and today I will be sharing with you some of my firsts. "First time I knew I wanted to act was since I can remember. My parents have tapes of me acting out scenes from my favorite movies and I would over act in situations." I answer thinking back. "The first big musical I was in I played Tina in Ruthless. She was a ruthless child murderer who would stop at nothing to be a star. I was eight at the time and for Born To Entertain, I had a tap dance that took me a two days to learn. People were shocked I got it so quickly."

"First time turned down was when I auditioned to play the daughter in War Of The Worlds. Dakota Fanning got it but I was told I was their second pick. My mom was upset because she loved Tom Cruise." I laugh thinking about it. "First memory from auditioning for Stranger Things... I remember being confidence then as soon as I got there I was ready to run back to the car. I literally turned to leave and when I was I saw Gaten who was surprised to see me. He told me he had to do a chemistry read with someone trying to play Dustin's sister so that made me feel good again."

"First time I was recognized was when I was at the store with my dad grocery shopping after things about the show were being released. It was quite awkward for me because I didn't except anyone pointing me out so early. Like I've done small parts in movies and shows but no one ever cared." I laugh. "First famous person to follow me was P!nk after she saw video of me performing Try for a huge scale high school talent show. I sang and did the choreography with an old friend at the time I just tuned eighteen too."

"First Red Carpet event I was blind and had no clue where to look. I looked like a shy child who lost their mother at the store. There was so many times where I had to be reminded to smile and I was like only ten. So I felt like a deer in headlights with these strange adults screaming my name." I shake off the feeling. "First friend I made on the Stranger Things Cast. Well, I already knew-ish Caleb and Gaten, later Sadie in season two. I can't remember if it was Natalia or Charlie but I think it was her then him. Of course it's them two first because I had most scenes with them not including the kids."

"First on screen kiss... Let me think, my first on screen kiss was during We're the Millers. I was nervous but Will was so sweet so he calmed my nerves down. He's a really funny guy and before the kiss he would joke around. I love Will, he's a great guy to work with and a wonderful friend. "My first celebrity crush was Johnny Depp. The two movies that did it for me were Edward Scissorhands and Crybaby. I've loved that man since I was four years old." I laugh at myself as we finish up.

Originally I was supposed to do the wired autocomplete interview but they had to push it back to tomorrow. When I get back to the hotel I go to Joseph's room to get my puppy back. "He's mine now sorry." He shuts the door on me after opening it. "Quinn!" I laugh so he opens the door letting me in. "I'm serious, he loves me." He says giving the puppy love. "Then when you go back home I'll send him over at times to visit you." I joke with him. "If you do that at least send yourself with him." He gives me a look with a smile.

[victorianwhitechapel]

The Long Shadow review – a shattering serial killer drama that breaks all the rules

A mighty cast including Katherine Kelly and Toby Jones tells the stories of the women murdered by Peter Sutcliffe. Finally, the focus is on the victims

By the end of the first two of the seven episodes of ITV’s new drama about the Yorkshire Ripper made available for review, Peter Sutcliffe has barely been glimpsed. This alone marks it out from the herd of serial killer dramas, let alone documentaries, of which every streaming platform has a full quota. The general rule is that, however much the makers stress that their creation will centre the victims instead of the perpetrator of the crimes, they somehow all end up in thrall to precisely that person. Even when there really are intentions otherwise, the perpetrator inevitably becomes the dramatic focus and the narrative engine.

The Long Shadow – so far, at least, which is already further than most – shatters the general rule. Written by George Kay (whose last outing was the very different, very fun Hijack starring Idris Elba) and directed by Lewis Arnold (Sherwood, Time, Des – the Dennis Nilsen drama starring David Tennant), it is based on Michael Bilton’s book Wicked Beyond Belief, plus additional research and with the consultation and blessing of the families.

More than any rendering of a notorious case that I can remember, the attention is on the women. Specifically, the living women. And, when they are gone, the people they leave behind. After Wilma McCann’s (Gemma Laurie) murder, and the investigation that will take five years to apprehend Sutcliffe despite the police interviewing him nine times, the focus moves to Emily Jackson (Katherine Kelly). The opening episodes concentrate on presenting her situation to us in the round, as dire financial straits drive the embattled wife and mother to sell sex and put her fatally in Sutcliffe’s sights.

The Long Shadow deals in details. It is not simply poverty that leads the Jacksons to extreme solutions, but the social pressures and the desire not to lose face in front of the neighbours are all carefully and accurately drawn. So too are the subtle prejudices that nudge Irene Richardson (Molly Vevers) out of the chance of a job as a nanny that might have saved her from becoming Sutcliffe’s third murder victim.

After her, there is Marcella Claxton (Jasmine Lee-Jones), who survives a hammer attack by the man who will soon be tagged “the Yorkshire Ripper” by the media, though the moniker – hated by the families – is barely used in The Long Shadow. She miscarries at four months as a result of the attack. Back home from hospital, we see her gently touching her terrible head wound, trying to see it in the mirror and gauge its extent, with the empty cot in the background – a moving evocation of the literal and metaphorical extent of trauma; how much we want to find its boundaries and how impossible it can be to do so.

The police investigation weaves round the women’s stories, and although it hits many familiar beats, the quality of the writing and presence of the likes of Toby Jones, David Morrissey and Lee Ingleby as the various detectives in charge over the years means that this too is better done than usual. We have come to expect virulent misogyny and racism to be on show in dramas set in earlier decades and involving the police – or any other unwieldy, male-dominated institution – but The Long Shadow succeeds in embedding it more quietly but firmly. It is a way of life, a way of thinking rather than a succession of big instances (though it still has its moments, such as when the detectives’ hospital interview with Claxton turns into an interrogation, as their engineered politeness in front of a black woman begins to fail).

This all means that we better understand how the investigation went so wrong so many times, with even “the good guys” believing that the deaths of sex workers (and assuming that any woman near a known streetwalking area was one) were not worth much effort, or that any woman drunk and out after dark got what was coming to her. And it means we can better see its descendant attitudes now and how insidiously they still work against women. Big, sexist/racist set pieces or a clear divide between bad cops and the angelic few who have managed to transcend their eras allow us to believe that things are different now. The Long Shadow’s subtlety and care denies us such mistaken comfort.

The Long Shadow is on ITV and ITVX in the UK, and on Stan in Australia

==

I hope one day they do the same with the Whitechapel Victims... RIP.

[outrunningthedark]

joined the 911 fandom few months back and…has it always been this annoying or did something shift recently. someone on twt said maybe mehta coming back doesnt have anything to do w buddie at all and now they are getting cooked for “raining on people’s parade and being a negative nancy for no reason” …. this whole cycle of setting expectations and bullying people for not having the same enthusiasm then getting annoyed that the tv show isnt delivering the same expectation you set is just so annoying??? glad that your blog exists and you exist because this fandom is in heavy NEED of rational minded people 😭🫶🏽

I've been actively involved in fandom since the start of s4 (was a lurker in s3) and from my perspective...things get worse as the seasons continue! In s4, there was *some* hope for canon!Buddie, but Ana came back into the picture and TayKay soon followed so expectations were lowered (because we didn't know how long they'd stick around). Thennn...the shooting happened. Plus the change in guardianship. People were on board again AND we were introduced to even more new fans who couldn't believe "the gay firefighters" weren't together yet. Season five? Eddie breaks up with Ana, Buck breaks up with TayKay..."If Buddie not canon then why did they break up with their girlfriends?" And now season six is about how "all signs point to canon Buddie" no matter what happens. (ie They were convinced Eddie would be a big part of Buck in the coma to hint at feelings and when he wasn't they changed their theories to "explain" why his absence was a good thing; same with the sperm donor arc - all that non-communication was going to pay off once Eddie confronted Buck about a decision he didn't think through and now the lack of 6A content is going unmentioned because Oliver has (twice) emphasized that there's nothing for Buck to come to grips with, he knew what he was doing when he said yes.) I think the fandom just really, really wants to be right about this one thing for two reasons: 1. It would be a game-changer. How many fans of a queer ship can say that they got the endgame they wanted? Furthermore, how many can say their canon ship started out with two straight characters who fell in love over time because a show thought that made the better story? (Not the SPN fandom, that's for sure. They're some of the biggest naysayers you'll find around here because "I've been where you are." Mind you, most us are old af and remember a time when queer ships stayed in fandom spaces because TV shows wouldn't dare take the risk of alienating audiences.) 2. Having Buddie go canon is an opportunity to get back at any and everyone who doesn't believe it'll happen; the ultimate "I told you so!" victory lap.

I do agree with the fandom when it comes to keeping opinions out of other people's inboxes unless they're open to reading it (obviously me :P), but expressing an opinion on your own page (whether that be twitter or tumblr) is what having a social media account in a fandom is for. You don't have to agree with the person. You don't even have to read it. But you can't stop them from feeling how they feel. And quite frankly, while having hope is nice to see (I do, too!), some people could use a reality check. We're not in the writers' room. We don't know what the writing staff is really thinking when they come up with stuff. Even when Kristen makes comments and Oliver gives his perspective, the fandom calls them "liars" or twists their words to fit a narrative that makes for (what they think is) a better outcome. They'll also advise people not to read the articles, but...nobody actually lies in those because they don't give away all that much information, and the information they do give is to tell fandom when things aren't about Buddie, lmao. Kristen said the coma arc was about Bobby and Chim and there fandom was hyping up Eddie's importance only to realize she meant what she said. Oliver says Eddie going after Buck in 6x10 isn't hinting at anything and they're envisioning feelings realizations at Buck's bedside, which never came. They're TELLING fandom to not get its hopes up right now and the speculation has only gone deeper into "this can't be about anything other than Buddie" because everyone is too invested to turn back now.

As for Captain Mehta - I have my own theories about this. Could his presence bring about a mention of the shooting? Yep. Could his presence inspire another conversation? Yep. But *why* him and *why* he finally has a first name? 1. Is everyone at that table supposed to call him Captain Mehta or just Mehta? Nobody knows him on a personal level? 2. Is it possible that throwing some third no-name/relatively unknown firefighter into the scene (along with Capt. Williams and possibly Julie) does nothing to gauge the audience's interest? At least the audience will remember Mehta and there's a connection between him and both halves of Buddie whereas we've seen Julie in limited quantities (and not even as one of their friends off the job) and Miranda Williams was last seen in early s4.

I'm not saying him being back can't be the precursor to important things, but people also thought the Buckleys were coming back after two years so their kids could yell at them some more and they would decline to be with their son in the hospital (why else would they have returned right then, duh!) and we all saw how that turned out. This fandom loves to say "Bestie, you're watching a FOX procedural" on the ~discourse~ days while routinely ignoring the fact that we're watching a FOX procedural. Sometimes what you see really is what you get when the show runners are (currently) pandering to an audience that includes everyone but us.

[biarritzzz]

women under 30-ish just really either don't have friends, because any tension is easier resolved by ghosting, helping each other is a yuck, and everyone is a cloistered hermit post-covid, so it's not even a concept. That, or they have many superficial friendships they won't care for because everyone is a rentoid that has to move a lot for jobs, and that's intensional design.

Thus even honest to god lesbians of main internet age group only really care about finding the one and being isolated together, preferably in a cabin in the woods.

Women's friendships are a bygone.

As someone who is closer to 40 than 30, when you're in college it's far easier to make friends or at least to meet people as you are all in the same place, attending the same courses, knowing all the same people. You don't need an excuse to socialize. You also have plenty of time to just hang out. But are these friendships long-lasting? Not necessarily because many are just situational bonds that dissolve as soon as you graduate and move away for work.

I don't think it's solely a matter of age though as in my experience most women just don't have the desire to invest in and nurture friendships. Many are content with surface level stuff, as you point out. I've always cared more. I remember calling all my friends from primary school at the end of summer because I assumed they would want to keep in touch even if we were all attending a different middle school. And none of them (about 5 or 6) were interested in continuing our friendship. It crushed me.

As you get older, people simply have less time or rather they have other priorities. They get married, start a family and then you don't see them for a good 5 years. After which they reemerge but it's likely you no longer have anything in common. You know a friendship has run its course when every time you get together all you end up talking is your past as friends because you no longer have anything else to talk about other than a few generalities that are common to everyone.

You try to meet new people but the thing is, unlike in school or in university, you often only have one thing in common, usually a hobby. Which is fine. But it doesn't really lend itself to deep meaningful friendships. On top of that, getting older means you're more set in your ways and less flexible but also your BS detector is better so you tend to avoid people who are obvious messes vs when you're younger, you're up for anything, you have more energy and therefore you're more likely to make connections, even if these end up in flames.

As for lesbians, most of us want to meet 'the one' which is a normal and human desire, especially when the outside world is so hostile to us and so unrelatable. So I do think lesbians tend to maybe put all their eggs into that one basket but lesbians run into the same problems as heterosexuals: family and kids (many lesbians want children) take priority and friendships take a backseat.

I don't know about the 'cabin in the woods' aspect (which is very US by the way) but there is indeed this romantic idea that your spouse should fulfill all your needs in terms of human connection and obviously that's not realistic nor healthy. As a lesbian meeting someone you actually connect and have chemistry with is so rare that I think these (lucky) lesbians assume they shouldn't push their luck: they found a romantic partner and that's the best they're going to get. Hence the fantasy of "she will be my spouse AND my best friend". That's my theory anyway.

Something you mention is internet and social media and I agree that while it may seem easier on paper to connect with other people thanks to the reach of the internet, it's also easier to ghost and block plus it creates this fake online intimacy that often doesn't translate in real life. So many young people seem content living online rather than connecting face to face.

And to end: it's time to stop blaming covid for lack of human contact. Covid was four years ago. Time to move on.

[dojae-huh]

I’ll be waiting for your commentaries on Doyoung youth documentary! I think you’re really gonna like a lot of the contents during this promotional era. Thankful that promotion nowadays are not just about going to variety shows. Thanks to social media, we got to see him appear to talk shows and see him talks more. We’re seeing more of Doyoung who is not part of NCT. His thought process, his interaction with people outside of his circle or out of his field. I can see he’s a lot more confident too. He really says ‘This is who I really am’ through this era (album-wise and personality-wise). Despite being ambitious he’s also aware that this album will not appeal to all due to people’s preference. But most important thing to him, he’s satisfied with it. I learnt a lot from him through this album. Once again, you’re really gonna enjoy it!!

*sobs* Yeah, only in June. I'm in a new country, and the prices for mobile internet are insane here. Plus there are complications with buying a package in the first place giving my location and lack of a credit card. I have to severely safe on data. Unlimited is not even an option.

I see that Doyoung goes on a lot of programmes where he can sing live. It's really great he has the opportunity to do now what he had been longing for for so long (remember how he complained about his parts in NCT songs? "I will do what I have to do"). All his patience and perseverance is paying off.

I think, it is extremely hard to wait for postponed gratification (when an idol starts to invest blood and tears since day one of a trainee life), to see other, younger people, making it or doing what you want to do (like freshly debuted groups achieving more awards than NCT), add to it the loom of enlistment over male idols. Fortunately, in comparison to poor Taeil, and even Taeyong to a degree, Doyoung lucked out with the debut time window. I'm really happy for him and for his fans.

I also suppose that he got a full album because he found those additional 3 songs himself (one he wrote, one from Lucy's guy, maybe Kenzie's or the one with Mark can be counted as the 3d). As it is less about money, and more about finding enough of good songs that can go together. The songs were collected over a long time as well (Tae had less than a year after Shalala).

I said before that I don't find idol Jaehyun interesting, he is bland to me. (His real self I'm sure I will like, what's with the love for arts, old things and jazz). Doyoung is a different case, but mostly because I invest in knowing him and see past his fake facade of a cute trembling bunny. The real Doyoung is tenfold more charming than his idol image that he developed over the years in apprehension of antis and not his NCT fans. After his shift in image (from savage) there always was a difference between what he allowed to show being in a group setting with other 127 members versus his communication with his own fans. With his fans he was more honest (Doyoung/Dongyoung divide, fake boyfriend pictures, etc). And as a soloist he is even more sincere. I'm looking forward to seeing him open up in those interviews (he will never be not self-censored, but still).

I thought yesterday about Doyoung's words about standing out. To me, he is a more unusual and rare individual than even Taeyong. I guess "tortured artist" is a well-explored personality, heh. There are many of them in the industry. Meanwhile a "tribal chief" could be more often found behind the scenes, not on the pop-stage. And if they exist, they are not "seen". The idol culture exposes artists, shows them from many sides, it is very different from how pop-scene is elsewhere.

Real Doyoung gives off a lot of energy. Active positive energy. Many idols are a subject of desire (sex appeal), adoration (cuteness) or empathy ("mistreatment"), not many are "class presidents" (Hanbin seems to be one, btw), those who push you.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling, but Do's chant guide cracked me up. It heavily reminded me how he persuaded his class to participate in a choir competetion and led them to win it.

Doyoung: "Repeat after me. You all emit light, you are all fireflies and stars, you are all kind and meant for great things. You are my support, I'm your support. If I can do it, you can do it. Do like me, do better than me. Sing with me."

[polithicc]

10, 23, 26, 27, 53

helloooo!

10. What were you doing at midnight last night? - i went out to dinner with my friends last night and when i got home i decided i wanted to read for a bit and ended up doing that plus scrolling through social media. then at like 11 something i got soooo sleepy, but i still needed to shower and take off my makeup. so i set an alarm for midnight and took a nap, which i didnt think it would work but it did! so at midnight i was getting ready to shower.

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? - dont know how unique this is, but im afraid that someone will push me off the platform when im waiting for the train.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? - i saw this video about slovenia recently that i cant stop thinking about and im seriously considering changing my vacation plans this year to go there instead.

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be? - angry orchard hard cider. but also, and i hate that this is my answer, PBR

53. What has been you worst haircut/style? - in 2020 i was living with my brother and his wife who is a hairstylist. covid boredom hit and she gave me highlights. that was fine. then in august i broke my ankle and had to get surgery and i got sooo bored and restless bc i then couldnt even leave my house to go on a walk. for some reason i thought a new hairstyle would fix me, so i had her cut my hair into a very short bob (like ear length) and give me bangs. it was awful, it was truly the lord farquaad haircut.

65 Questions You Aren't Used To