#talk to the editor

[shigayokagayama]

happy one year anniversary to the most insane week in internet history

[trungles]

I can’t tell if I’m kidding, really.

[overtake]

I’m sorry we need about 5k more words of mechanic Daniel driver max pls and ty!!!

Part One

I’m actually so shocked (but pleasantly surprised and honored!) by people enjoying this verse because I almost deleted it without posting. I don’t have 5k more, but I can offer 1.2k!

I still lowkey hate this - and you can definitely tell I have no vision for where this story would go, hence why it’s just harping on the same 3 details we already knew - but it’s all yours and I hope you have a good time reading it anyway :)

Five minutes into pretending to examine an engine instead of obsess over what Max said, Daniel breaks.

“Did you mention me to Max?” he asks Cyril, trying to come across casual.

Cyril looks at him disbelievingly. “Max Verstappen is in our garage and you think I talked about you at all?”

Daniel lifts a hand to his chest and feigns being shot. “People love me, you know. Guys are all over this.”

Cyril heaves out a long-suffering sigh. “Get to work, Daniel.”

Daniel’s lucky, given his condition, that everything is relatively routine today. He does three oil changes, and he could kiss those people’s feet for it.

He’s mentally preparing himself to slide under a car, wincing at much more congested he’ll be once he emerges again, when Max suddenly appears in the corner of the garage.

“Hello,” he says. He does a cute little half-wave to get Daniel’s attention.

“Hey,” Daniel says, straightening and rubbing his grimy hands on his thighs. “Cyril’s working on your car, so he’ll have any updates you need.”

“It’s not my car, just a rental,” Max dismisses. “No, I just have …” He cuts himself off, turns a sweet pink on the apples of his cheeks. “You sounded sick earlier and looked really pale. I brought you soup.”

He lifts a takeaway bag from the cafe down the street, which usually specializes in ten dollar lattes and sandwiches with names so cutesy, you have to practice five times to order without shame.

Daniel smiles at the idea of Max Verstappen, world champion, saying one of those horrible names for Daniel’s benefit. “You didn’t have to do that. Thank you. Let me pay you back.”

Max shakes his head. “It’s my thanks for fixing the car.”

Daniel raises his eyebrows. “So what soup did you get Cyril, who’s actually doing that?”

Max scrunches his nose in disgust. “You cannot expect me to say the name Noodle Nest Paradise more than one time.”

“How many times did you laugh trying to get that out?”

Max shudders. “I pretended to speak really bad English and just pointed at the menu.”

“So you could’ve ordered multiple,” Daniel points out. Max very blatantly pretends not to hear. He focuses instead on pulling a little bag from the order and holding it up proudly, smiling a crinkly-eyed smile.

“I got you crackers!”

Eating soup with Max Verstappen is an out of body experience.

Daniel’s been eating his soup over the coffee table in the office because it felt wrong to make Max sit at the grimy, wobbly table in the closet-sized corner of the garage where Daniel and Cyril usually change and scarf down meals. This, however, means they’re stuck together on the loveseat. Max’s expensive skinny jeans knock knees with Daniel’s greasy coveralls when they get too into the conversation.

Daniel knows he’s being a terrible conversationalist, especially at first. His normal easy charisma is buried somewhere in the pile of tissues he’s burning through. He’s basically just answering Max’s rapid-fire questions about his life, his job, his family, his non-existent partner (“do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend or anything?” Max had asked, and looked remarkably pleased by Daniel’s answer of no).

Daniel’s about 87% sure he’s being hit on right now. It’s a nice confidence booster given how much of a mess he looks, but it’s not like it matters. Max is Max, and Max is F1, and Max doesn’t live here.

He likes Max, though, the longer they talk. He likes his eagerness, his down-to-earth nature, his total lack of interest in discussing racing. Max delights in all Daniel’s behaviours that usually make people roll their eyes and wait for him to be done, whereas Max leans into Daniel’s dumb songs or drawn out jokes. He likes the long lashes that frame Max’s bright, happy eyes, and soft double chin he gets when he ducks his head into his laugh.

Daniel’s not sure how much time passes before Cyril comes in, but he knows his voice has faded to practically nothing, and he’s having to constantly turn to avoid coughing on Max.

Cyril’s timing is rather unfortunate, entering just as Daniel breaks into a particularly rough wheeze. Max is patting his back gently, which Cyril will definitely have words about later. Presently, however, he seems too concerned about Daniel’s wellbeing to lecture him about appropriate contact with famous customers.

“Daniel. Go home,” he orders, voice kind but firm. His tone leaves no room for argument, not that Daniel really wants to fight him on it. He’s enjoying this, but his brain and body feel as if they’re wading through a pool of thick custard.

“Are you okay to drive?” Max checks. His eyebrows are knitted in sweet concern, like Daniel actually might keel over and die in the ten-minute ride home.

“All good,” Daniel promises. He stands, then promptly has to collapse back onto the couch when black spots dot his vision.

“I’m driving you,” Cyril says firmly.

“I just stood up too fast.” Sure, he’s a little woozier than expected, but he could do this drive blindfolded and half-dead.

“I’ll drive you,” Max says. “I mean, Cyril has work to do, but I’m just sitting here.”

“How do I know you won’t kidnap me or steal my car?” Daniel rasps.

“He’s not worth kidnapping, and selling his car probably couldn’t cover an oil change for the kinds of cars you drive,” Cyril informs Max. He ignores Daniel’s protests, then pushes Daniel back down to the couch when he half-rises from it.

“Stay. I will get your keys and bag.”

The second Daniel’s brain understands that he’s off-duty, that it’s no longer expected to carry him through the day, it mostly blacks out, and everything is a blur from there.

He’s pretty confident Cyril steals his phone to call his mum, which is vaguely embarrassing but perhaps necessary given his current state. He knows Cyril gives Max directions to Daniel’s parents’ place instead of his own. He feels Max’s hands help him into the passenger seat, and he definitely mutters some fever-addled sentences on the drive. That’s about all he remembers until he wakes up in his childhood bed, shivering and sweating while his mum runs a hand through his hair and forces medicine down his throat, before he falls back asleep again.

When he finally comes to enough to make his way downstairs, he finds his parents seated at the kitchen table. His mum jumps up, forces him into a chair and fusses over him while simultaneously lecturing him about going to work sick. His dad just sits there, eyebrows half-raised, until Daniel is settled with food and water.

“So. You had an exciting day at work.”

He slides a piece of scrap paper across the table. There, under some advertisement for gardening services, is a scrawled message in red pen:

It was lovely to meet you (again). I hope the terribly named soup made you feel better! :)

- Max

Under his name, Max has scrawled a phone number.

Daniel runs his finger over the lines, feeling the imprint of each number that Max etched into the paper. It’s neatly written, far more cautious and intentional than the rest of the words, as if to ensure that no digit could be misread or smudged.

Daniel pauses, processes the full note, and double backs to the word ‘again.’

“Yeah,” Daniel croaks through the stabbing pains in his throat. He stares at the word harder, like it might reveal what the fuck Max means by again. “I guess today was pretty interesting.”

[royalarchivist]

Ironmouse: Part of the reason why I love this server so much is because everybody's so nice. Everyone! Like, every single person is super nice! And it's like- it's like, genuine nice, it's not like fake niceness. [...] I've literally talked to almost everybody at least once like outside of the QSMP. We've talked on Discord, people regularly check in on me, we get in group chats and we play games like outside of the server... You don't really find that sort of connection all the time with people.

Ironmouse recently talked about her experience on QSMP, and how kind all the members are. I'm posting the entire conversation instead of cutting it up like I usually would because I really enjoyed hearing her thoughts on the server.

[ Subtitle Transcript ]

-

Ironmouse: Honestly, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I did. He's so nice, he's so- he's always been super nice to me. He's been so nice, I– part of the reason why I- I love this server so much is because everybody's so nice. Everyone! Like, every single person is super nice! And it's like- it's like, genuine nice, it's not like fake niceness. You know how sometimes like– you always hear like, "Oh yeah, you know–" when–

Ironmouse: Whenever you like, join like a new thing, right? Whenever you like join like a new thing, you always worry, 'cuz you always think: "Oh, are the people gonna like me? Are they gonna be nice to me? What if- What if- you know, what if this, what if that?" But everybody like genuinely was nice when I first came by, and everybody has been so nice to me– not just in the game, but outside of the game, and–

Ironmouse: Something special about the QSMP is like... People wanna be your friend like outside of the game? Like, I've literally talked to ev– almost– almost everybody at least once like outside of the QSMP, like... We've talked on Discord, people like regularly check in on me, and like we get in group chats and like we- we play games like outside of the server, and it's just like... You don't really find that sort of connection all the time with people? You know what I mean? It's very– it's very not common when you go on like, a content creator-like server or stuff like that, you know? You'll get like one or two people that you get close to and stuff, but like... Everybody is SO nice, and everybody's been so nice to me, and I can't tell you how many people like, wished me– not just like wished me happy birthday, or like wished- said, "Oh, you know, hap- Merry Christmas!" dadadada, it's like genuinely like... Asked how I'm doing, and like talk to me, and like... Just like– I dunno, it's just like so- so- it's so wonderful. Ironmouse: Like, I get that with VShojo a lot, like– we're all like besties, and we all like talk all the time, but I feel like it's different, 'cuz like VShojo– we're VShojo, we're like– we're our own group, but this is like... You know... You don't expect this sorta thing when you get invited to like be on some- be a part of something, you know? And it's- and it's been so– it's been so wonderful and everybody's been so GENUINELY nice to me, and I- I appreciate everybody on the server so much, and they're just some of the nicest people that I've ever met ever, and it's just–

Ironmouse: It just warms my heart, and I'm just really– really like, thankful to be a part of something so great, and something so positive! Because like, everybody's so supportive! Like– the time when like, I didn't like– I- I- I had a moment where it's like I– do you guys remember in December when I- I was not around a lot? And like, I had to take breaks and all this stuff and it turns out it was like the concert stuff? They all like would message me regularly, like, we would all keep up with each other, and we would all talk. And I remember telling them about like, how much stress I was under, and like all the- all the pressures of the concert and stuff, and– and they were cheering, and- and- and they were just so... so kind to me, it was just so– so sweet, and- and you know, I was in a group chat with a- with a few people, and they were all just so excited and- and- just super nice, and- and very- very sweet, and it's just– and it's just very– I'm sorry if I'm rambling! It's just...

Ironmouse: I dunno! I- I- I just enjoy being here, and I enjoy hanging out with everybody, and... it's just nice to meet really good people. You don't really find that. You don't find that sort of thing all the time. Don't get me wrong– it's not like I haven't met a lot of good people, like– I just feel like this whole like, my whole like– Ever, like– My streaming journey, I've just been nothing but surprised at the goodness of people? Don't get me wrong– I've met assholes and sht like that, and I've met- I've encountered some people that are NOT so nice. I'll never like, talk about it or whatever because that's their thing, and I'm just gonna do my thing and I don't wanna like, you know, spread any type of stupid drama or whatever the fck, but like... I'm just always surprised about how– how incredibly nice people are, and how genuine a lot of people are, and it's... It- it's just nice, especially since like– You're used to coming from like, a certain background and a certain like, environment where it's like, you've met a lot of like fcked up mean people in your life, and you've just been around a lot of like fckery, you know? So when- when you're around stuff that's NOT fcked, it's just like, "Woah, this is crazy! Is this- is this how life is supposed to be?!" And it's just- it's just really... it's really- it's really nice. It's very nice.

Ironmouse: Yeah, it's very refreshing, that's why I- I enjoy hanging out on here, everybody's just so nice to me. And it's not just like being nice just to be on-stream, it's nice off-stream, on-stream, friendship on-stream, off-stream, it's- it's just- it's just so- it's- it's- it's wonderful. It's wonderful. And I just have to say like... man, I'm just really thankful that like... it's crazy that like I got invited to be on here and I'm just really thankful that, you know... Quackity like, reached out to me and he's- he's just been nothing but nice, everybody- everybody's just so kind. Everybody's so nice. This is something truly special.

[boyfridged]

i wish that 1. it was more of common knowledge that jason’s death marks a huge shift in tone of gotham-centric stories 2. dc also capitalised on this meta in their storytelling.

i want to see flashbacks that imitate the cheesy and sweet style of silver age nostalgia (one that we know from barr’s detective comics run for example). jay should have the iconic original robin costume (i don’t care that it’s silly, it’s supposed to be silly), and he should be cracking up jokes that made sense only in the 80s. and there should be scenes of him and batman (batman who used to smile at him openly) investigating in daylight.

cut to panels of dark, gritty gotham that have dominated contemporary stories. military boots in place of the pixie ones. blood on jason’s hands.

the contrast.

[habken]

I can never find what I’m looking for when I try and look up tutorials on programs it’s always so much easier to fuck around and figure stuff out myself

[eightyuh]

glen and harry pre-story

[iinryer]

oliver stark ryan guzman and jlh sharing an edit on their stories that gave me full body goosebumps at 11:30 in the morning. im going to throw UP

[livesincerely]

“Jack,” Davey murmurs, close enough that he can feel the whisper of his breath against his cheeks. “Apparently you haven’t noticed, but we’ve been dating for years. Tomorrow is our three-year anniversary.”

Jack, who had been swaying towards the warmth of Davey’s body, towards the promise of a kiss, freezes dead in his tracks. “What?”

But Davey just smiles. “Three years,” he repeats calmly.

“No, no, I heard you the first time, I jus’…” Jack shakes his head, hard, as if that with somehow make any of what’s happening make any kind of sense. “What?”

“When’s the last time you had sex with anyone but me?” Davey prompts—impossibly patient, all things considered. “Or went out on a date? Gave someone your number?”

“Not in fuckin’ ages,” Jack sputters, offended at the very thought. “You an’ me, we’ve got a good thing goin’. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“You wouldn’t cheat on me?” Davey specifies, tilting his head.

“Course not!”

“Why would it be cheating if we aren’t together?” Davey asks, pointedly.

Jack stares at him, trying to find the riddle hidden in Davey’s question. Because… Because…

“Oh,” he says blankly.

Davey laughs, curling his hands around Jack’s waist. “Oh,” he agrees.

“Three years?” Jack asks weakly.

“Jackie,” Davey sighs, apparently realizing that Jack needs this spelled out to him. “We live together. We share a bedroom. We spent last Christmas at your mom’s house and you introduced me to Charlie’s kids as ‘Uncle David’.”

“Oh,” Jack says again, because it really bears repeating. “How the hell have you managed to put up with my dumbass for three fucking years?”

“It probably helps that I’m madly in love with you,” Davey says, rolling his eyes even as another soft smile curls over his lips.

“Huh,” Jack says. It’s maybe not the best response, but it’s honestly a miracle he manages to say anything at all.

“You’re in love with me too,” Davey helpfully informs him.

“Well, I knew that part,” Jack huffs. Then, “How did you know that?”

“Because I know you,” Davey says, lacing their fingers together. “But feel free to say it aloud any time you like.”

“I love you, too,” Jack murmurs.

Davey’s smile is like the first days of spring: bright like sunshine, full of promise and full of hope.

And the taste of his kiss is even better.

[fortheloveofwbb]

alexa play the one that got away by katy perry 💔💔💔😭😭😔😔😔🤧🤧🤧

this is supposed to be unserious. I was watching the syd n tp show last night and as soon as I heard syd say that I went to search for the audio 😭

[skythealmighty]

please reblog im actually very curious :tism:

[in-kyblogs]

Devil’s Minion hints - Part II // link to Part I

Part II Ep 8

- what to say of the whole ‘disregard’ debacle, well. Why do you have such an antagonistic relationship to the former house servant Daniel? What is it about him that makes you even more uncomfortable than Louis, the vampire you actually remember attacking you and almost killing you, does? Arguing as foreplay, as you say. Also clearly the memory wipe doesn’t totally erase feelings: he is angry at him even if he doesn’t remember the psychological torture, but at the same time there’s no fear. Only a need to rile Armand up. (Also Armand are you trying to look extra slutty for Daniel sitting like that? What are you doing with the unbuttoned shirts, really.)

- Mr. Molloy count: 3

- Armand is so sick and twisted btw for that little smirk when Daniel says he’s ‘a bright young reporter with a point of view’. No remorse in sight none. He’s like ‘yes you are. Do you remember who said that to you? Because I do’. My favourite sicko

- When Armand says that journalism is Daniel’s drug, wow he did really clock him. Have you seen that post about Daniel chasing an high from the adrenaline of interviewing dangerous people? Yeah. Armand really does understand him on an intimate level, like the comment in the season 2 finale also reveals. Probably too good an understanding for a superficial-I tortured you once-acquaintance. On the other hand torture sure is an intimate experience to share with someo[gunshot]

- the little wistful smile he has when he talks about ‘the boy we met in sf’.

- the way Armand can’t help but smile at Daniel’s sassy comments directed against him. Like he should want to kill him for the disrespect alone why does he seem almost fond of this insufferable human?

- I am so impressed with this episode by the way. Before seeing this season I was like ‘one hour of ww II Europe? Grim.’ I though I wouldn’t like this one and in the end it ended up being one of my favourite episodes. It’s really a character study and I loved that. Also great job at woveing in European politics (the soldiers saying ‘speak Russian’ and Emilia refusing and speaking romanian, the complex intermixing of cultures in Eastern Europe with the whole urss situation is a big thing we still see the effects of today). Usually I don’t trust at all US shows to talk about eu politics and history without making it usa centric in some way but they proved me wrong here. 9/10 episode all in all

[i-like-forcefem]

Oooo darling~

I just bought the most lovely pair of shoes for you! And I decided that if you promise to be a Good Girl I’ll release your foot constraints and let you walk around in them!

“MmHHHMMmM”

Awwww, that gag never gets old does it? This will be just lovely~

These shoes match you cute little dress and make up better then I dreamed, now raise your cute little foot for me, doll, lets make you even cuter~

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

With Splatoon 3 wrapping up its updates, we'll in all likelihood see the fandom go into a bit of a lull, and that's to be expected. Even someone as obsessive as me lost interest between 2 ending and 3 getting revealed, it's why this blog was almost completely dead between 2020 and early 2022 and it's something I want to try and avoid this time around, though I am not making any promises.

But this is also relevant because a lot of what I do here is interaction-driven, with outfit requests and fashion challenges and such, and I suspect that as we head into 2025 that interaction is going to die down significantly.

With that in mind, if we ever reach a point where I stop getting submissions, or just consistently very few of them, for the fashion challenges, then I'll wrap them up with one extra big and fancy challenge. Our own little final fest of sorts, if you will. Maybe with art prizes? I'd really like that, and will do what I can, but I am not making that a promise.

As for what I do here, I've still got some of those weapon-based outfit requests to get around to, and since I've gotten so close I think I'll try and round it out and make an outfit for every weapon in the game, too. After that? I've got some ideas, but it ultimately depends on how long I can keep my interest in the game going. What I can promise is that I'll keep reposting news from the official social media accounts, and if any interesting rumors or relevant datamines pop up I'll keep y'all up to date on that too.

In the last month or so, some time before the Grand Festival, I reached 3000 followers, which while not a big number is almost double the amount I had in the Splatoon 2 era.

Followers is of course something that absolutely does not matter on this, the most cloutless social media site ever, but I really can't overstate how much it warms my heart that there's this many people interested in what I do here, because what I do here is just some of the most nerdy shit imaginable. Thank you all so much, sincerely.

[linposter]

he squeemed!

[bepoucorp]

HIHIIII BEPOUUU ITS MICHAELLLL FROM TWITTER DOT COM !!! X33

ANYWAAYSSS MESSAGING MUTUALS IS SPOOKY AS SHIT SO I AM DOING IT VIA TUMBLR ASK ! ANYHOW !! SINCE YOU’RE THE RIDDLEJOKES GUY… THOUGHTS ON THE RIDDLER AND JOKER IN THE BATMAN 2022 MOVIE ? ^_^

( unrelated but i’m also very curious as to when your commissions will be open again ,,,, also tell my favorite guys — bepouverse edward and harvey — that i say hi :3333 )

HIII MICHAEL!! NO WORRIES!! i promise i dont bite, usually! AND YES??? im so HAHA im excited to see them... i actually drew some vague implied riddlejokes/riddlebats/batjokeriddles ?? IDFK for my friend @/ scitzophren 's birthday with Batman 2022!

they care so much for each other in arkham,,, um... i know I'll open coms this summer fs?? I just have been trying to hype myself up to it LMAOO + need to see what im willing to draw lately! OH and bepouverse harvs and eddie say hi??? with all those question marks (im too lazy to draw rn)