#these are old... like... late 2023/early 2024 old

[karaambit]

are the mk1 fans even still on here

[eeveelikessoda]

Oughhh…Hell’s Studio Sammy….Save me….

[pardycity]

to the guys in the sovver who poked at my comforter carrd back in january, that's gonna be moved to nekoweb soon. the ret will be there :o]c

[endless-ineffabilities]

The Bolter (part five)

Steve Rogers x f!reader / (Bucky Barnes x f!reader)

synopsis : Steve carries out his decision to return to Peggy, aiming to live out the rest of his days with her. But this means he's leaving everything behind - he's leaving you. Did he make the right choice? Will there be anything left with you to come back to?

in this chapter : In present day, the reader and Bucky get closer - will one of them finally slip up? We also see what happened in 2018, during the battle in Wakanda.

themes/warnings : pining, unrequited love, Bucky dealing with ptsd, brief mention of violence, language

word count : 2.1k

main masterlist ▪︎ series masterlist

📝 a little bit of an explanation on the timeline : 2016 - Civil War ▪︎ 2017 - post Civil War / Steve and reader on the run ▪︎ early 2018 - Infinity War ▪︎ 2018 to 2023 - the lost years / post-snap ▪︎ late 2023 - Endgame / Steve's departure ▪︎ 2024 - present day / Falcon and the Winter Soldier period ▪︎ 1950s - where Steve went back

2024, seven months after Steve's departure

You win. Again.

By now, you're convinced Bucky is actually letting you win in Battleship. Each guess he made had been wrong, so it must be deliberate.

"James Buchanan Barnes," you sigh.

His lips form a sly smirk. He isn't even trying to deny it.

You reach across and lightly shove his non-vibranium arm. "It's no fun if there's no challenge."

He shrugs, "Maybe I like the way you react when you win. You get so... expressive." Another smirk. Damn him.

What could possibly be so amusing about the way you practically screeched and stuck your tongue at him the first time you won?

"Yeah, but you let me win four times in a row."

"Deal with it, doll."

"You suck."

He grimaces, "Suck?"

Right. You keep forgetting he is an very old, very ancient centenarian.

"It's an expression."

Something flashes across his face, and you can't really make out what it is. "Do you suck, too?"

"What?" you exclaim. "I just said it's an expression. It means you're annoying."

He holds your gaze for a moment, before laughing, eyes visibly crinkling at the corners. "I'm messing with you, doll. I know what that means. I'm old, not unaware."

Damn him again.

And damn the way the rare instances of his laughter is slowly growing to be a thing you yearn for. Bucky has a playful side, you've come to realize. You get this feeling of lightness, because you're proud of him. The more it comes out, the more it shows how much he has healed.

You blink at him, shaking your head, before bursting into laughter yourself.

Damn it all to hell.

It takes a beat for you to collect yourselves.

Then for a second, it's there. That fleeting shift in his expression. A pinch in his eyebrows giving way to a look of shame. Just for a moment, his mind drifts back to the long list of names in his notebook. To Yori's son. To the crimson in his ledger.

You notice, and you don't hesitate in taking his hand, squeezing gently. "Hey," you say, catching his attention. "I'm glad we get to do this."

I'm glad I have you.

Glancing down at your hand wrapped around his, he smiles, slowly, like a sun rising and casting its glow over the horizon.

"Let's play one more time," Bucky says as he begins rearranging the pieces on his side.

You were about to protest, but then he adds, "I won't let you win, I swear."

Fifteen minutes later, you do indeed win again. He laughs at the incredulous expression that must be plastered on your face.

You take it. Because maybe you did win, fair and square.

Or maybe because his laughter feels like winning.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

The days have blurred into weeks and into months.

It feels like time is passing quickly, every second feels less and less like the lash of a whip, reminding Bucky of past pains. Of loss. Of all his sins.

Life almost feels normal. The kind of normal he is afforded in his life, at least.

Sessions with his court-mandated therapist. You. Dinners with Yori, desperately unable to tell him the truth. You. Sleepless nights, glimpses of his darkness haunting him. You. Sleepless nights, tempting images of you.

Behind all the laughter and the times you would spend playing Battleship on the floor of his barely furnished apartment, Bucky gets a sense of something gnawing at him. Something not unfamiliar, but unwelcome all the while.

It's fear. He has something to lose, once more. A friend or a kindred spirit. Whatever else you will find in each other. It's there and it's real, and it makes him feel like Bucky again.

He doesn't want to lose it, whatever it is. He's already lost Steve.

He's not going to lose you too.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

early 2018, Infinity War

After you and Steve left the cabin, it's like the universe was sent a go-ahead signal of some sort.

The world slowly descended into chaos, and the Avengers were needed back into the fold.

Your group had to rush to Scotland to rescue Wanda and Vision. Then it was back to the Avengers compound.

"You think all is forgiven?" Senator Ross asked, the threat evident in his tone. "You think you can just walk back in here like nothing happened? Romanoff has been leading my team on some wild goose chase - "

Natasha merely scoffs, unamused.

" - and Huntress has been actively aiding and abetting her fellow fugitives around the globe."

You were about to say something snarky, but Steve had already taken a step forward, partially shielding you from Ross' view.

"We're not looking for forgiveness, and we're way past asking permission," Steve declared.

In that time, life became drastically different from your days in Alaska. You barely had a moment of repose, worried about the fate of the world.

But you found comfort in the blonde super soldier who was constantly hovering over you. His eyes would meet yours before a decision would be made. His hand sometimes pressed at the small of your back as you walked beside him. Time and again, you found him watching you, a silent question in his eyes. You'd nod back, I'm okay.

You didn't notice, but in one of those moments, Wanda had witnessed the exchange.

And she felt it. That something. Much like what she has with Vision.

But it just wasn't the right time.

It is a bit hard to face the truth that you might be in love when the whole world is burning.

"I guess this is our normal, after all," you wistfully remarked to him one evening, after everyone else had left. The plans were laid. You all were to go to Wakanda the next day.

Steve felt a sense of bitterness arising from him upon hearing your words. It really isn't fair. He has always done everything right, but he's losing count of how many joys he's had to sacrifice.

He lost everyone once. His mom, his sister, Bucky, his fellow soldiers, Dr. Erskine, Peggy. He'd buried himself in ice, only to wake up again in a world that wasn't his anymore.

What else does he have to lose, who else, before he is finally allowed to be happy?

His smile was pained when he replied, "I think I figured out the kind of normal I want."

Despite your exhaustion, you smiled back and curiously asked, "Oh yeah?"

Steve hopelessly tried to commit you to memory. The lilt in your voice, the shape of your lips. That undying spark in your eyes, which remained even when everything was cast in gloom.

Just in case he would wake up one day and find his whole world taken from him once more.

"Yeah," he finally said.

The world is ablaze, but he's grown used to it. He knew he would lay his life down on the line again if that means it would be saved.

But everything be damned, he allowed himself one selfish thought when he confessed, "We never should have left that cabin."

I'm in love with you, were the words caught in his throat. His heart screamed it, yearning to be heard.

And you did.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

It was a cruel twist of fate. But Thanos deemed it destiny.

Was it always meant to happen? Were they always meant to lose?

Steve didn't know how long he stayed on the ground next to the pile of ashes that used to be his best friend.

Bucky was gone.

Steve barely heard the screams. Anguished voices calling out the names of their friends, still searching.

All that would have been unbearable. The sounds of distress enough to drive one mad. But Steve heard nothing. He had nothing.

It's not fair. Inside, he felt like that sickly kid who was always dealt the worst hand. It does feel like he's a kid again, petulant and angry. It's not fair, he thought over and over, I don't deserve this.

Bring Bucky back to me.

Maybe it was all his fault. Maybe if he never took that damned serum... maybe... maybe...

"Cap," he heard someone break him out of his haze. Rhodey stood to the side. "Steve," he repeated, pleading, but Steve still could not find the strength to get up.

Then from the distance, he heard Natasha calling out for you. He stumbled to his feet, his head spinning. Casting one last glance at the spot where Bucky vanished, he turned and started running.

He found Natasha immediately, but not you.

"Where is she?" Steve growled, and his voice sounded rougher than he's ever heard before. Natasha would have recoiled in surprise, if she didn't possess nerves of steel.

"I'm looking," Natasha snapped impatiently. You would have been her loss too.

Steve felt as if he had already scoured through the whole field twice, his body threatening to just give in and crumble to the ground once more, as the hope of finding you dimmed.

Then he heard your faint voice, weak and weary, standing out among all the others.

"Steve?" There you stood, your face half-covered in dried blood and soot. "Did we lose?"

He swiveled around and took you in, a deep breath of helpless relief exiting his lungs. He was angry and defeated.

He wanted to throw Captain America to the wind, and surrender everything.

He wanted to hear his mother's voice singing to him again. This world is cruel, and he wanted to go back home.

But there you were.

There you were, and Steve knew he had not lost everything.

"How did it happen?" you asked as he approached. "Steve, what do we do? There must be something - "

His mouth crashes into yours with such bruising intensity that it makes you stumble backward, but his arms were quick to catch you.

He was right.

You never should have left that cabin.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

2024, seven months after Steve's departure

The nightmare is different.

It's worse. Much worse.

Bucky bolts upright on the floor of his living room, having chosen to bypass the comfort of his bedroom. He thinks this is because he needs to keep his TV on in the background, something to muffle the noise in his mind late at night.

Another reason, one he hasn't confronted yet, is how comfort feels so foreign. It feels wrong, like he doesn't deserve it.

Perhaps that is why he can't find comfort even in his dreams.

It flashes before his eyes, like a broken montage.

It's almost the same every time. He's the Winter Soldier. He's on a mission. There are faces swarming around him, bodies either racing to attack or running away. But he doesn't see any of them. He doesn't feel anything as he makes every single one of them crumble.

But it's different this time. The Winter Soldier does not so much as falter or show any hesitation as he wraps his metal fingers around your windpipe.

The Winter Soldier coldly watches as you expire. Bucky helplessly watches, unable to stop as he loses everything.

Thankfully awake, in this world where he still has you, Bucky's chest feels like it's about to implode.

So much for being a superabled freak.

The clock reads 3:13. It's late, but he needs some air.

He walks for 10 minutes, aimlessly. Then for 20 more, his mind having made a decision on its own. He soon finds himself standing in front of a familiar brownstone building, where your apartment is situated on the top floor.

You don't seem confused when you answer the buzzer. It wouldn't be the first time he has shown up unannounced.

"Can't sleep either?" You're a welcome vision when you greet him at the door, cheeks flushed by the white wine you usually drink at these hours.

She's still here, Bucky reminds himself. The only comfort that he won't deny.

Instead of walking past you, straight into your apartment like he always does, he takes one step closer.

And then another.

He shuts the door behind him.

You watch him carefully, scanning his every movement. There's something here, something different. He takes another step and he has you pressed against the wall.

His eyes betray the storm of emotion brewing inside. He has to remind himself that you're here, and he has you.

"Bucky," you whisper, and it's all he needs.

He leans in and finally touches his lips to yours.

Read part six here ~

taglist (let me know if you wish to be added!) : @vicmc624 @littleliyah16 @babezawa @klammykayla @justsebstan @blue--ingenue @numblytemporary @bradshawass @delicious-xx @mrsevans90 @heartarianagran @tinystarfishgalaxy @kyoquixote @mochibochinochi @spngingerbread21 @zbeez-outlet @rena15 @raging-panda @marveldaydreamer @integers @torntaltos @imthebadguyyy @iidear @blackhawkfanatic @smhnxdiii

My emotions!!!!!! Hahahaha this chapter is a whole mess and so are our protagonists 🔪🫀

yes yes, expect that the next one is 18+ --- but I still won't say exactly with who --- maybe it's a trick? Maybe it's neither of them? Oh well, honestly some of you have got it bang on already 🤷🏻‍♀️

As always, I am keen to hear what you guys think!!

[aftgficrec]

Anonymous asked: Hiiii is there any andreil fics with a medieval or post apocalyptic setting? thank you in advance

We are pretty loose with what constitutes medieval and tend to include fics with swords and steeds unless the author specifies a different time period. For more stories and pairings try these ao3 aftg tag searches: royalty here, kings and kingdoms here, fairy tales here, medieval here, and fantasy here. 

Andreil apocalypse aus will follow in another post. -A

previous recs:

‘An Assassin's Guide to Romance’ here 

‘eclipse’ here

‘The boy is a pipe dream’ here

‘Vanilla Twilight’ here

‘All the King's Men’ here

‘On the Edge of a Knife’ here

‘One page prompts’ ch 6, ‘Admirers And Visitors,’ ‘Knights of the Fox Table,’ ‘Silver, Secrets and Steel’ series, and ‘this isn't home (but it's close enough)’ in our foxes with swords! ask

you may also like:

‘That One Time Neil Ended Up In a Fairy Tale’ series here (updated)

‘Winter Woes’ series here

‘If I Don't Keep Up My Light’ here

our tags for medieval, royalty, historical, dragons, fantasy, and fairy tales

A Cruel Twist of Fate by nvrhrdofhm [Rated M, 10941 Words, Complete, AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2024]

Twenty years ago, Aaron’s mother had become pregnant, the father was unknown, even to herself. Fearing for what the birth would mean for her future, she sought counsel from a soothsayer. She stole away in the middle of the night and received the curse; “Started as one but separated soon. A reflection of the other, always to be doomed. Stolen too early, returned far too late. The two’s lives will be a cruel twist of fate.” A fantasy AU focused on the Minyard twins. It's a short but fun time. Yes, I know that sounds like an innuendo, let's just ignore that.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: blood, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon

NB: fic art by @flightyfoxart here

Reign & Fall by maydaykevin [Rated M, 32847 Words, Complete, 2017]

“It is quite simple what I am asking of you, Neil.” Stuart’s voice, however pleasant, was laced with an underlying venom. “Retrieve what they have wrongfully taken.” Neil is given a quest. Chaos ensues.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: canonical character death, tw: blood/gore, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: choking, tw: noncon kiss

NB: the major character death tag refers to a series villain

Land of Reverence series by shadowdreams [Rated G/T, Collection, 2 complete works, Updated 2022]

Part 1: Would You Rescue Me [G, 37691 Words] Previously recced here His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Nathaniel of Baltimore has been tasked with rescuing the shy Princess of Palmetto from a dragon as part of a marriage ritual as old as time. The only problem? That’s definitely not a princess waiting for him in a dingy cave in the mountainside.

tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced child abuse

Part 2: I'll be there anytime you call [T, 31264 Words] Previously recced here “You have to go back to Baltimore.” Andrew looked up at his brother, halting his move to reach for one of the water pitchers. Watching Aaron nervously shift in place, Andrew took in the uncomfortable silence settling over the large room they all had gathered in. This couldn’t be good.  Or, what happens after Andrew and Neil finally make it to Palmetto after the Royal Liberation.

tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced abuse

All for the Royal Court by AL_fiction [Rated T, 75902 Words, Complete, 2023]

Previously recced here 

“Abram has recently fled to Palmetto, the capital city of the vast country of Foxcourt after the loss of his mother in Troy. Earning himself the title Library Thief and a wanted poster with his name on it in his first few days, Abram survives by pickpocketing and hiding, skills he's gotten good at on the run. This all changes when he gets himself hired by Day, Head Assistant to King Wymack himself

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: graphic injuries, tw: blood/gore, tw: implied/referenced drug addiction, tw: nonconsensual drug use, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: canonical character death

Queens by Fire_Bear [Rated M, 10110 Words, Incomplete, Updated 2020]

The courts of the kingdoms hold great power, from the rooks to the bishops, the knights to the kings. But none are as powerful as the queens. Anyone with the magical power levels of a queen is highly sought after in the courts. They are coveted, revered, feared, hated, loved - and trapped. There was once a kingdom that held four queens, some hidden, others known.

tw: implied/referenced abuse

Of Dark Wizards & Knights by justdk [Rated T, 3400 Words, Complete, Andreil Week 2019]

Previously recced here

Neil just wants to live in his cave and do magic and raise his cute little fox kits but nooooo. In which Neil meets the legendary Sam of Wilds, Tiggy, and Gary... and a short knight with blonde hair and great arms

tw: scars

Of Solstice Sweets & Kisses justdk [Rated T, 1940 Words, Complete, 2020]

A companion piece to Of Dark Wizards & Knights, above

When Andrew had asked for leave to visit Neil, he had not expected them to spend the entire day roaming the Dark Woods collecting branches, greenery, holly, nuts, and rocks. He had assumed they would spend the day and night tucked away in Neil’s cave, eating, cuddling in the surprisingly comfortable nest of furs, and playing with Sir and King, Neil’s domesticated foxes. Neil had assured him that all of that was still on the menu but that first he needed to prepare for his annual Solstice rituals. [or magical Midwinter fluff]

pre relationship andreil

Doubt Truth To Be a Liar by sunrise_and_death [Rated T, 793 Words, Complete, Andreil Week 2018, Locked]

It was the ghost that tipped Neil off. Or, a snapshot of All for the Game meets Hamlet.

tw: implied/referenced murder

becomings by jemwrites [Rated M, 3310 Words, Complete, 2020]

A Witcher, a Mage, a Fox Cub, a Warmonger: four individuals in a horrifying world, and how they came to be. (In other words: how Andrew became a monster, how neil became a sorcerer, how Kevin became a legacy and how Riko's bloodthirst will lead to chasing all three) No knowledge of The Witcher (tv show, game or book) required.

tw: violence, tw: blood, tw: vomit, tw: implied/referenced murder, tw: child abandonment, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced torture

Art

Aftg, Empire and palace dramas AU art by @anthemisarts: headcanons and character sketches | Lady Renee and Lady Allison | Kevin, the young emperor | Neil, a fugitive prince | Andrew and Neil first meeting preview | Andrew, knight of the fox kingdom detains a suspicious Neil

AFTG Royalty/Medieval AU art by @nicknizzard: Andrew swearing his oath to Neil | Aftg medieval AU part 2 | KevAaron in the medieval AU | more Medieval Andreil

[bigfatboogiewoogie]

Went through old sketchbooks just to be hit in the face with my previous usm insanity BUT I FEEL LIKE THESE HELD UP BETTER THAN I THOUGHT SO HERES SOME OF THE BEST SCRIBBLES😋😋😋 i wanna say these are from late 2023 - early 2024??? Anyways i always feel like my art evolves pretty fast so when i look back at old art and see it isn’t complete shit from a butt i get surprised

[mgu-h]

What are your top 3 moments of Max and Lando from 2024? A little late, but I’m quite curious lol

Or in general, what are your favorite moments of them of all time?

my chronological study is not yet caught up, so i can't really do 2024 justice, but i've covered a lot of ground from 2013 to early 2023, and there's just so many things that stand out!!! not just moments but like.. idk. whole parts of their lives. i'll check some dates {edit: and add 20 gifs and a video}, but otherwise, off the dome, my favorite moments lmao let's do this:

max's story about seeing lando driving his kart at 9yrs old, the small details about the location and lando's helmet that he remembered, the fondness in his tone of voice as he talked about it, and calling himself a day one fanboy of lando

there's this old old post on max's insta where he's just starting out, with lando commenting on it in a supportive or teasing way... just seeing how long they've been friends, all the footage of them karting, sharing podiums, and goofing off in tiny race suits together, it's not one moment that i love but the pool of shared experiences and competition

jumping forward in time a bit, that time max said that lando had taken care of him after he stopped racing and wasn't sure what to do, it's just important to me that max showed up just playing on lando's twitch first. lando opened up this whole path for him, ultimately hiring him, shaping the trajectory of the rest of his life

there's some deeply notable streaming early on in lando's house, a favorite being the absurd bathrobe tech support, with lando fresh out of the shower and all up in max's personal space. and then idk it's a small detail but there's times where max and lando are wearing the same glasses and i love that

i can't pick a favorite of the quadrant videos filmed in summer and fall 2021, there's so many deeply endearing and iconic moments, like the hot sauce video, the lie detector (big reaction), the pink 'how well do you know' video (max's absurdly fond tone of voice saying "useless" is my first memory of him, from years ago), the outtakes of the part of the elgato video where they kick niran out of their house

there's connor's august twitch stream from holiday with them all tipsy and topless and deeply tanned on a boat. lando hovering around max's back, making max smell his underarm when he complained. it reminds me of pics i saw of lando shirtless in a paddling pool which i assume were taken by max.

the way they were wearing each other's golf shirts on the course in that one fall golf stream, i think it was shortly after sochi. the whole recurring bit with them sharing a wardrobe, the "whose shoes are those?" "whose joggers are those? "whose hoodie is that?" bit, the fact that it kept going even after they moved apart

those key december 2021 streams, the loooong halo stream where chat called max both lando's dog and his wag. just the wild argument they had about max moving to monaco, with max saying lando'd get lonely, offering to be a house husband almost, and 'joking around' like 'he doesn't want me, we're done, etc..

then the sweet sad energy of the last stream in the house, where lando picks a fight about who's better at golf and uses his keyboard clicking to annoy max. for some reason i love this fight the most out of everything, i've listened to it dozens of times probably, i even transcribed it to see what the sentence length looked like before i started writing rpf. it's just like the perfect quintessence of their dynamic.

max showing up on the mclaren tiktok account in lando's hotel room in dubai the next month jan 2022, having gone on the trip with lando and his gf

quadrant leaving a small cardboard cutout of max in lando's office, after lando was a pest while max tried to plan the office remodel surprise for him. then lando using it to tease max, and lying about throwing it out, keeping it around, and still having it in 2025

the infamous and perfect moment in july where max covered up lando's head after the rally car passed by because lando fully didn't do it himself and max either saw that or knew that he wouldn't do it and that he needed to do it for him

lando being a dj on max's twitch, the sleepover vibes, the way they support him in his new hobby and validate him

max's 2022 singapore trip and the incredible tikok where lando answers the hotel door wearing the exact same clothes as max but in inverted colors, where he slaps max very hard on what looked like the inner thigh, where max bites his knuckle with nerves and is proud of lando's p4

[i've got the winter and spring content to go through in detail, i don't really know what happened here]

the march 2023 max twitch stream with lando in the blue hoodie (kitten, max smelling his underarm, lando losing his mind about a memory of max when he was drunk). i'm pretty sure in that stream, max's dad comes in and asks if lando is staying the night, in a way that communicates he's done it a hundred times before and is welcome to do it a hundred more

the april 2023 twitch streams where lando wanders around, laying with bare feet kicked up on the bed, massaging his back (each others' backs, max returns the favor), lint rolling himself. around this time P says on stream that max is lando's boyfriend, she also calls him his slave and labels what they share as an addiction(!!!)

i know they go to motogp together in the summer of this year, i remember the adorable almost kinda matching outfits. there's also that footage of max looking at lando asleep in that egg pod thing from around then too

[i don't really know yet if/what nortrell happened in late 2023]

then like, 2024, i have so much to catch up on, but i was aware of him by the end of the season. obviously the infamous post disaster races had that gentle parenting from max about eating and sleep while playing tarkov, which was lovely, and then the way max defended him at crucial parts of the season and like asked 'where's the backing' and got angry on his behalf was good too.

2025...... so much so far. the "you said my name so I know you're lying." the "stop fucking kissing her max and hurry the fuck up." connor's "his brother and his boyfriend" comment. the fact that i got jumpscared by max streaming from lando's office again. the pushups. watching the super bowl. just so much.

that was more than i expected to remember lmao anyway, nortrell rights

[sunshine-zenith]

I mean. If A New Wish takes place roughly 20 years after the original series (which seems to be the case since Vicky was 16 in the original and is said to be 36 here), then wouldn't Peri be RIGHT at college age?? Why is he immediately going into childcare instead of spending some time partying at the club.

Like I kind of get why he keeps getting distracted by his parents- he literally hasn't seen them in years and there doesn't seem to have been any contact between them during that period. Who was raising him while Cosmo and Wanda were gone. Is he still the only fairy born within the past ten thousand years. Did he cope at all with suddenly losing his brother forever, or is he just repressing it like he's apparently subconsciously been doing with Vicky and who knows what else. Peri and Dev can go to therapy together

This ask got me seriously thinking about the timeline between FOP and FOP:ANW, especially in relation to the Cosma-Fairywinkles

So Wanda and Cosmo’s ten thousand year long vacation obviously involved time travel, and from how both Wanda and Peri words things, it sounds like he wasn’t there with them, at least for the last part of it — she specifically says they lost track of him during those ten thousand years and he specifically call it their (his parents’) vacation, not our vacation. That said, this trip, again, obviously involved time travel, meaning that while ten thousand years passed for Cosmo and Wanda, they might’ve only been gone for a few months for Peri. While that’s still a super long time, given how old Cosmo and Wanda are, it might not be that long for them (ex I was talking about school timelines with an older coworker, and she said that while an extra year is a long time for someone in their 20s, like me, for someone in their 40s-50s like her it’s nothing)

That said, even if the vacation wasn’t that long from Peri’s perspective, Peri specifically notes he hasn’t seen them since they got back from it — we don’t actually know how long Cosmo and Wanda were living as a “normal retired human couple” but it’s been long enough that they at least know some of the local celebrations (the lightbulb-ice cream parade)

Wanda and Cosmo don’t seem like the type of people to abandon/neglect their kid, especially after something as presumably tragic and traumatic as their sibling completely forgetting about them, so I’m just gonna assume that they either didn’t start their vacation until Peri was old enough to be on his own, or that they took Peri with them and Peri broke off from them early on when he reached the age of majority

Cosmo specifically notes the year 2001, which is a reference to when the original show started airing. This also technically establishes 2001 as the year Peri was born, since Timmy doesn’t age over the course of the series (ignoring timeline shenanigans from later in the series that ended up being reversed anyway) (also Peri is officially Gen Z rep)

I’m gonna say that ANW takes place in 2023-2024, since that’s when it was animated/aired, so about 22-23 years from the original series, which works with Vicky being said to be in her late 30s-early 40s and AJ looking to be in his early 30s (plus for all the fantastical elements these shows include when history is concerned — ie every they do with dinosaurs — this writers do seem fond of establishing political events in the series as matching the real world — ie Cosmo getting emotional over Obama and wanting to go back to those days. Establishing the show as being 2024 instead of 2021 gives enough distance in universe from quarantines that the writers can get away with not mentioning it. If it was meant to be set in 2021, I feel like the writers would include some kind of reference — a throw away line establishing it as something that did/didn’t happen in universe)

We don’t know how fairies age, how long it takes them to reach the age of majority, but yeah, Peri just feels very Young Adult coded, and him being 20-23 just kinda works with his character. He comes off as someone fresh out of school working their first real job and being blindsided by how different it is from what he expected/studied. Assuming that he aged like a human up until adulthood and assuming that Cosmo and Wanda waited until he was old enough to study on his own (18) in a safe environment (a fairy academy presumably), that means it’s potentially been 2-5 years since he’s seen them and that he spent his adulthood/adult education without them — no wonder they still see him like a kid while he wants them to treat him like an independent adult, he was basically still a kid going off to school when they last saw him while he had years of his own to give the adult thing again (again, in a hard but semi-sheltered environment that would be a school in fairy world). It’s possible Cosmo and Wanda are overcompensating for the thousands of years they missed (for them)/missing important events like graduation (for Peri)

It makes me think of the fact that the writers specifically named the robots that care for Dev and fulfill his demands (ei what ends up being Peri’s job when he comes along) “au pairs” — an au pair is basically a cross between a foreign exchange student and a nanny, someone (typically a young adult) from a different country who moves in with a local family and helps take care of the children and house in exchange for a living situation, and many au pairs specifically take on the role while studying at a local university. That’s not too far off from what Peri/a Fairy Godparent’s role is

All that out of the way… yeah Peri should be in the club. BUT who would he even go out with? Yes he had similar aged peers in the original series (Foop/Irep and Goldie), but we don’t actually know if fairies started having kids again after he was born. If he had classmates as an adult, they would likely be fairies much older than him returning to school, so people he might not easily relate to

Thinking about it, it starts to make sense why Peri was given such a hard case for his first godkid — fairies can chose to go into retirement but for the longest time couldn’t have children, so there wasn’t anyone to take up the jobs they leave behind. In the original series there was a fairy godparent shortage that probably only got worse as fairies working that job got to the point of “okay, this is my last child, I’m done after this.” Peri was possibly one of the only fairy godparents available (who else would go to Dev? Cookie? The fairy still pissed off at Cosmo and Wanda and going after Hazel? Please, she’d probably refuse before even looking at Dev), plus he didn’t have anyone experienced to give him advice going into things, so he couldn’t, say, negotiate for an easier kid to start with or something before taking up the job

Peri is a young adult with almost no one to relate to, choosing a career that he views as “the family business” to make his parents proud, choosing a career he automatically has a unique relationship to because of the timing of when he was born and who he grew up with, who has a strained relationship with his parents because of years of (unintentional but still) no contact (not to mention the very real family loss of having their other kid/his big brother basically go away forever and completely forget about them in the process, which can’t be easy to navigate), who’s working a hard job with no experience and seeming no resources

He really was doomed from the get go, wasn’t he

[delicateperspective]

Hi!! Newbie here😜..wondering if you could shed some light on NICK G and Harry and his 19th birthday? Was there something that happened there? I'm learning he is kind of a POS and wondering if he and Harry are still in touch? Thanks for your viewpoints..I have enjoyed your blog and am learning so much from you and the other bloggers😊

aw thank you! i won't go too much into H's 19th. partly because there are circumstances around it that creep me out and partly because I think @todayisdeadinside working on something about it and so i'll let him tackle that more in depth.

(just a little bit of context, the party in question was technically the second day of celebrations for H's birthday - with the day before H, Grimmy, and Corden having had a late night at Groucho.)

Grimmy was very pleased with himself about putting his birthday together. Niall was there for a bit, but L and Li were across town at a different club (of course, it as 2013. that closet was iron).

one of the first things about this party that bugs me is this: Grimmy hired a female stripper. one, weird for your friend who is a decade older than you to hire a stripper for your birthday REGUARDLESS. two, if Grimmy clearly knew H was closeted - why put him in this postition?

this is how H's face looked. its not the face of someone who is enjoying the entertainment.

one of the workers at the bar said "“She took her clothes of but kept her bra and pants on. There were lots of party poppers being let off. They wanted to embarrass him. It wasn’t meant to be a sexy thing... it was just for fun."

interestingly enough, this article says "Later, the star was clearly the worse for wear as he attempted to make a birthday speech at Rita’s, thanking his guests for coming along. Most encouraged him to sit back down as he slurred his words." which leads me into my next point.

this was said at the first location they went to. H was so far gone even by then that he couldn't even give a speech. but they kept going. kept drinking. changed locations. replaced margaritas with jagerbombs.

heres some pap pictures of the night when H attempts to leave the club.

sure, looks like a fun night for a 19 year old. but... and maybe this is just me... but at 28 (which grimmy was at the time) his behavior toward H during this era, his behavior and participation in this party, hiring the stripper, etc. is all very shady and kind of creepy.

i wont post the picture, but they were all out until about 6 AM when they ended up crashing at a friend's flat. where people proceeded to post pictures of the back of his head while he is completely blacked out on their insta.

just.... sorry. im not much older than grimmy was during this time. and i can't imagine.

was H a grown adult responsbile for his own actions by that point? sure, barely, but sure. is it still creepy AF for grimmy to have hired the stripper even if H was straight? absolutely. would i go out (even with friends my own age) and let them drink to the point of barely being able to walk and then blacking out without hovering like a mother of a toddler? nope, not a chance.

also, to answer your second question, yes. they're still intouch. H was at his birthday party in September 2024. and again back in 2023, he confirmed they still speak.

although, grimmy's autobiography carefully avoids most mentions of H (those NDAs must be quite extensive).

theres way more to go into here that probably fules my irritation toward this man and this party a little. but on a very surface level, grimmy latched onto H from early on. he became very obviously jelous of L and the tension was clear. he's done a number of questionable things over the years (including joking about sleeping with H several times - with and without carol*ne flack who was his roomate-, making fun of L on the radio, nearly outing H on the radio, etc) but the relationship between all of them seems to have smoothed over a bit. The fued between L and Grimmy was clearly over by 2017/2018.

(yes, all of those were on the same day in LA in 2018)

[rc-catalog]

It’s that time again—our Creator Of The Month celebration is back, and this month’s spotlight is glowing brighter than ever!

Please join us in welcoming the endlessly talented Lola, @malbontesmrs, to the COTM hall of fame! 💗

From Procreate to her keyboard, Lola is a true architect of imagination—and we’re thrilled to celebrate her work all month long! To help you get to know the magic behind the masterpieces, we’ve put together a short interview where she shares her inspirations, her process, and more! 🌸

💬 1) INTRODUCE YOURSELF! 

Hi, I’m Lola. And to be honest, I’m terribly boring.

💬 2) WHEN AND HOW DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER ROMANCE CLUB! What drew you in, and what made you stay? Were there any particular characters, stories, or moments that left a mark on you?

I discovered RC in April 2021, and played enough that when I re-downloaded the app after deleting it, I still had a profile. I actually more or less forgot about it, HS1 JUST finished fully releasing, and I remember reading up to where Vicky gave Bont the food from the school kitchens at least. I think I may have deleted the app shortly after that because of the CY Alexander scene . It’s also entirely possible that I just got too busy and didn’t put it on my new phone. When I redownloaded it in 2023, it was because an acquaintance suggested it, but even then I barely touched it until HS2 started releasing (though I did love SoS and probably played it like 3-4 times before then). I didn’t remember playing HS1 at all until after I played it again, so when I started HS2, and encountered Malbonte and Lucifer for the first time, all I could think was “omg, how could anyone like these jerks”. …anyway, that’s my husband and my other husband now, so I guess I figured that out. I guess all that is to say Alice’s HS brought me, kept me, and continues to keep me on this app.

💬 3) HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CREATING? Can be both RC related and in general! What first sparked your passion for it?

I’ve been creating (in general) for a long time. I won’t say how long, but I’m probably older than most of those who know me realize 😂. But for RC, I only started in early 2024. I also only somewhat recently started working with digital painting (late 2023). I’ve been writing since forever, but I only recently started publicly posting my work as well. I’m generally not very social 😅

💬 4) DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST EVER CREATION? Again, can be RC related or in general! What was it, how did it feel to bring it to life, and looking back now, how do you feel about it?

The first creative thing I did for RC was the first three chapters of my long fic, Lux in Tenebris. I’ll talk about it in question 7 though, because I don’t want to get too repetitive. The first piece of art I posted in the RC fandom was a picture of Bont that I posted from an old account. I loved, and still love that piece. It was the first time I moved out of a more cartoony style, and inspired the HS2 portrait series I ended up doing later. link

💬 5) DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS OR HABITS WHEN YOU CREATE? A playlist you always put on, a time of day you prefer, snacks or specific tools/software?

I’m still working on my HS long fics, and I have a playlist I use for those (mostly Rok Nardin songs because they feel very applicable and they’re instrumental, so random words I’m hearing don’t end up in my writing). I write on my iPad with the keyboard attachment because I’m more likely to carry it around than a laptop. I use Word (bleh) because I need it for work anyway, but Word isn’t really friendly for HTML markup and that’s how I write my fics, so I have been considering other options (Rok Nardin Spotify playlist for those who might be curious). I also keep my fics in the cloud so I can access them on my phone in case inspiration hits while I’m at the doctor’s office or something. I save each chapter as an individual file, and for these fics I’ve been posting them as I write them. If I ever do another series like this again though, I may consider a different course of action because it does get a little stressful when writers block hits. My fics are long, and I try to post chapters every week or two, so I’m writing a looooot these days. If I have writer’s block (which has been happening more and more lately), I use different strategies. My bestie isn’t a RC fan, but she’s happy to let me run thoughts by her (which has come to some entertaining results from time to time). Sometimes I’ll just put on that same Rok Nardin playlist I use when writing and go for a walk, because it helps keep me in the mind of it so I can brainstorm. If that doesn’t work… I step away. Close my iPad and don’t even think about it for a bit, or move onto a drawing for a while. For art: No rituals, no things I do every time. I draw when the inspiration hits, and draw until I’m bored of drawing 😂. I have surprisingly very few abandoned WIPs despite this though. I use Procreate, iPad and Apple Pencil. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks while drawing. Sometimes I don’t. Drawing is a very, very casual thing I do. Fun fact: most of my art only uses two brushes and a heck-ton of smudging. Any additional brushes are stamps. I wish I could tell you which brushes they are, but “Brush 4” probably doesn’t help 🤷🏼‍♀️

💬 6) IS THERE A PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER CREATIVE SELF? Or readers in general?

1000% it’s that practice makes perfect. My art feels like a huge testament to that statement because (I think anyway) you can see the major improvements I’ve made in the last year alone. I have one CG that I like to practice new techniques by redrawing it, and I keep them in a row in my procreate folder so I can see the progression and my own improvement. It helps with motivation, but I find it also helps because I can take things I like from different versions to incorporate them into my style. I picked up a lot of technical skills and techniques by doing that. As for writing, I know it’s the most cliché advice ever, but write for yourself. Write what you want to read; chances are there’s someone else who wants to too. The nice thing about doing that, is that you can do whatever you want. And for both, don’t value your work based on its engagement. That was a tough lesson for me to learn, especially with my art, which hasn’t been getting very much engagement at all these days, and my new fic, which isn’t getting nearly as much in the way of comments as Lux in Tenebris did. What I’ve found though, is that every time I start to get bummed about the lack of engagement on BO&BR, someone pops up out of nowhere to tell me they’ve loved my stories and have been reading them for a while. The point is, just because I’m not seeing engagement, doesn’t mean it’s not there; sometimes people just don’t know what to say, sometimes they’re too shy to say anything, sometimes they mean to say something and it slips their minds. Either way, if you work on something you love, it doesn’t matter what other people think.

💬 7) CHOOSE 3-5 OF YOUR FAVOURITE WORKS AND RAMBLE AWAY! We want all the behind-the-scenes thoughts: What do these pieces mean to you? What inspired them? Were there any struggles you faced while creating them? What emotions or memories are tied to them now?

Lux in Tenebris – Malbonte x MC HS1 (long) fanfiction (Posted on AO3, rated E for occasional smut and canon-typical descriptions of violence / death)

I chose this one first for a reason, because it is by far the most meaningful project I’ve ever done (and to be honest, hopefully the most meaningful I’ll ever do). Lux in Tenebris is my entire 2024; I started it in January, and finished it in December— it’s over 255,000 words (1100 pages). I was (am? but it’s much better managed now) very sick in 2024, and I ended up in the hospital for over a month. Lux was my main project through the year, and it helped me get through the harder times; it is a tangible representation of my struggles that year. I love Lux, and I hope I always will. I know it’s not perfect, there were a lot of chapters I wrote when I was extremely unwell and could definitely use some editing, but I’m not perfect either. It was the first long fic that I ever fully completed, and it was the first project I’ve ever done that I legitimately made for myself and my own enjoyment; other people liking it was a very unexpected, and pleasant, bonus. (Though admittedly, I did at one point think how nice it would be if a non-Malbonte fan read it and became a Malbonte fan 😂. That didn’t happen to my knowledge, but I had a non-HS1 fan read it and enthusiastically love it, so I’m counting that 😄). It also wasn’t the story I planned in the beginning (I completely changed course around chapter 3, then totally committed to that change by chapter 7). I’m happy with the direction it took though. I poured my whole life into that fic, and I’m still working on the sequel. So yeah, it’s pretty important to me. I loved writing it, I love reading it, and I love talking about it. This fic is my baby.

2. The HS2 LI series

Similar to Lux in Tenebris, I worked on these portraits to distract me from being sick, and I wanted to work with a bit more variety of people. HS2 is (probably obviously) my favourite story on the app, and I wanted to honour it somehow, I guess. I actually want to do the series over, because I feel like I’ve learned a lot of new techniques and improved my art since then, but we’ll see. I have to finish the ABH series first. I actually find Dino and Lucifer to be two of the most difficult people I’ve drawn to get “right”, and those two portraits took the longest by quite a bit to do (Luci with his tattoos especially. Tbh, the more I look at it, the more I reeeeeally want to redo War and Astaroth too…) Anyway, yeah, it was a fun project that I did because I love HS2, and it was a lot of fun to work on. Of course with practice, as I’ve improved, I can see a lot more issues with these pictures than I could when I did them, but I’ll always love the project itself because it was a nice distraction from the things going on at the time. Dino / Lucifer / Mimi / Astaroth / War / Hunger / Malbonte

3. Black Obelisks & Blood Roses (Malbonte x MC HS2 fanfiction) – in progress sequel to Lux in Tenebris (Posted on AO3, rated E for occasional smut and canon-typical descriptions of violence / death)

I debated choosing this, but decided I can’t promote Lux without promoting the sequel I’m currently writing, Black Obelisks & Blood Roses. It’s only about 1/3 of the way done, but it’s already over 164,000 words (650 pages). I’m actively updating at least twice a month, but often more than that (and never less). I grieved Lux in Tenebris when it was finished. It literally felt like a piece of me died or something. I had started planning BO&BR very early into writing Lux, so I knew I was going to write a sequel, but I had every intention of taking a month or two between the two. I did not. I started this one earlier than I planned because I was so sad about finishing Lux that I had to. It’s been a lot more of a struggle to write, especially lately. I’ve got a lot going on in my life, and honestly, the subject matter is kind of a bummer sometimes. I’m only JUST coming out of Season 1 now in the fic. BUT, I still love writing it, and going back to my little world with Malbonte and Antigone. I just revealed my first major divergence from canon (and not-so-secret crossover), and I’m simultaneously nervous and excited. I’ve been planning this for months and I’m kind of freaking out that it’s already here. Anyway, my fics take a lot more of my time, so I tend to have a lot more feelings around them. I plot and plan constantly, readjust and rework plans as needed. Even still, I go with the flow while I write, and sometimes things happen that even I didn’t expect but they feel right, so it becomes part of the story. That’s my favourite part to be honest, when I write something and I’m like “damn, that wasn’t supposed to happen yet but it’s SO GOOD here”.

4. Raphael Portrait

I’m two characters (David and 🥰Cassiel🥰) away from finishing the ABH LI portrait series, but Raphael is the latest art piece I’ve completed, and definitely in my top 3 best pieces ever, I think (it could be #1, but I’m biased so clearly my best piece is Malbonte 😂). I’ve started experimenting more with open mouth smiles, which has been fun. I love Raphael’s smile, it’s just… ugh, so cute. I started working on pictures recently where I do the parts I don’t enjoy doing first, so that I don’t just kinda say “eh, it’s done enough”, aaaaand I’m pretty happy with that decision looking at this final piece. I’m really happy with how he turned out (especially his hair, haha and the light fixture in the background 😅). Unfortunately I’ve also been finding him a bit intimidating because I feel like he’s pushed the bar up. I haven’t even started the next portrait in the series (though I probably will the second I put this down because I’m suddenly feeling inspired) (update: I did in fact start it, but I’m still feeling intimidated by Raphael, so it didn’t get done by time of writing 😅).

5. Malbonte Portrait, CG Redraw

Last one! I wasn’t going to add this piece, but I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t because this is my practice CG! I have many, many, versions of this CG in my procreate folder, because I use it to practice, play with brushes, and teach myself new techniques. I keep them in a row at the bottom of my folder so I can see my progress, and refer back to things I like and don’t like about the ones I’ve done. This one is my favourite so far. I love Malbonte, so I’m always happy to complete Malbonte fan art. I think when practicing, especially if you’re going to do the same drawing over and over again like I do, it’s important to draw something that you enjoy doing. This CG is one of my favourites, and it’s a fantastic face-front portrait for practicing faces. I love it.

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read Lola's feature and celebrate her incredible work with us! And of course, thank you to all the amazing creators who submitted this month—we’re constantly in awe of your talent and passion.

Here’s to you, Lola—you paint stories we can’t stop reading and write pictures we can’t stop staring at. Congratulations, and thank you for sharing your gift with us! 🩷

[delicatecentipede]

my new chnt shirt (2025) and my old one (unknown date , most likely late 2023 early 2024)

the reason it has such a faded print after a year is NOT because it was glued with bad glue. this is because i genuinely wore it almost every other day after school (i went to a school that had a uniform) and i also had 2 dogs at the time , and one was a puppy , so she would try eating the shirt while i was wearing it. the old shirt was loved a LOT okay

i’ll try my best to not fuck up the new one okay

[breakaway71]

On the Death of a Fandom

I saw a post recently that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. In it, someone mentioned Julie and the Phatoms being a dead or dying fandom. Someone replied rather heatedly denying this phrasing.

Okay. Listen, this fandom has owned my entire heart for four years. I've written hundreds of thousands of words and I see no signs of slowing down anytime soon. And I'm sorry, I really am, but no matter how much I love it, it is a dying fandom. It's impossible to deny. There has been no new content to provide fuel for years. Look at the amount of engagement on fics from three or four years ago, then from two years ago, then now. There has been a massive decline even from a single year ago. I'm admittedly on the fringes, primarily writing crossovers, gen fic, or one of the less popular ships, but you can't deny the facts. Because for all that gen fic is not generally popular, Family Matters - a fic that was written very early on, and definitely not the best or most cohesive work - is still the most kudos'd JATP fic on AO3. Meanwhile, the stories I've written in 2023/2024 - most of which I'd argue are far better - are lucky to still be hitting double digits.

I have literally experienced the entire range of this fandom, most popular to least and every angle in between, and I have witnessed the steep decline, the slow death, the masses of people who moved on to other things and never came back, especially after the cancellation announcement.

And it sucks, obviously it sucks, but that shouldn't stop the people who love it from still loving it. It shouldn't stop people, new to the fandom or old friends, from engaging with it. Because, yeah, the fandom is dying, but it's also still here. There are a lot of us still not willing to let it go. Call it life support.

JATP is not the first dying fandom I've been a part of. It won't be the last. The way we engage with media has changed so radically from what it was ten, twenty, thirty years ago that fandom deaths happen so much more swiftly and brutally now. There isn't a lot of staying power anymore, especially for shows that were streamed from a place like Netflix, shows that never even got multiple seasons. Frankly, it's a miracle there are still any of us here at all, and that does speak to how much this show meant (and still means) to so many people.

But dying or not, that doesn't mean you shouldn't find the joy where you can. it doesn't mean you should feel strange if you got into this fandom late and want to create for it now. My last fic gave me a ton of joy to write, and received all of 13 kudos. And I treasured every damn one of them all the more for knowing how few people are left to have enjoyed it.

Don't be offended that people understand when a fandom is dying. Just do what you can to keep it going as long as possible, for as long as it continues to mean something to you and give you any amount of happiness it can.

[ranfordgallus]

Was there a reason as to why you made krattastrophe?

Well im glad you asked....because i already told why i made it but im gonna tell the whole story..

In late 2022, i had this AU where chris turns into a villain (very original...) and...actually this is my first ever AU! And so i had this whole story that...i thought would be cool.

And then, i wrote my first wild kratts AU fanfiction and would post it on insta, i thought it'll be cool and epic...but from my lack of not knowing how to write or type a story, it just sounds really fucking corny

Here is a little screenshot of one of the fanfic, and...you can see the...unprofessionalism... also something to add, this part is the first part of the story, but it doesnt show it the comic.. but the explaination for this weird...typing, is because its not really meant to be taken seriously..

Okok...this is were the comic starts, so basically months later, i had this idea of turning my AU into a comic, and asked if anyones into the idea in my insta story, most said yes so i drew the first comic pages which you can see in the first part of episode 1. I drew this for fun though, but then..it turned into my passion project.

Until mid 2023, my passion project of making the comic feels just like a project, as people asked for more it felt like i had to do it, feeling like work than something i enjoy... and so i lost my passion and "cancelled" my comic, stopping at episode 2 where the scene of martin waking up from unconsciousness starts...

BUUTTTT....then...in early 2024, i reread my "cancelled" comic, and i suddenly had this feeling to continue the comic again, even though i cancelled it. But then i realized that i just needed a big break from making the comic from the constant demands, making my project feel like work than something im passionate about..and so i created more panels to continue the martin scene, uncancelling the comic once more.. and here i am! Still creating the comic for fun!!!!

Now...here are some other stuffs and facts of my krattastrophe AU

These are old concept art of khriz and chris, now..you could see that khriz looks different, he doesnt look uncanny and just looks like...ordinary chris.

This is the very first concept art of chris in krattastrophe

Now here are sum facts or..infos

Before it was even called "Krattastrophe" i still had concept names, the first was "the primal effect", and then second, "the snowball effect", though im still unsatisfied with the names...UNTIL i had an idea, i could mix catastrophe with "kratt", creating Krattastrophe.. and i kept it ever since...grins

The fanfiction and the comics story is VASTLY different, though similiar but...different, i talked about this before but ill talk abt again CUZ I CAN...anyway in the fanfiction, there was a scene where khriz and chris hides away in an apartment after faking chris's death, however, in the comic...they never went to an apartment, but stays in zachs building. In the fanfiction, there was a scene where....chris killed a random man? Because he was a bully when he was a kid, because khriz taunted him to kill him, taking revenge...and then chris accidently eating him? ....its so edgy and full of shock value for no reason, my ass shouldnt have even wrote a single word in that story, but in the comic...it will not happen, obviously...its corny as hell LMAO

And thats all i gotta say teegeyeyeh

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XXIII (federal 2025): Trumpet of Patriots

Running where: for the Senate and a majority of House seats in all six states (no candidates in the ACT or NT)

Prior review as the Australian Federation Party: federal 2022 (which links to older reviews of the Country Alliance, with no relevance today but of historical interest regarding the party’s origins)

See also my reviews of the Palmer United Party/United Australia Party: federal 2013, VIC 2014, federal 2016, VIC 2018, federal 2019, federal 2022, VIC 2022, NSW 2023

What I said before: “The AusFeds are covid conspiracists … a hotbed of fringe politics and anti-vax advocacy, and must be rejected.” (federal 2022)

What I think this year: Here's the review I've been anticipating writing ever since I began this year's series.

You know the feeling when you are familiar with a band—you don’t necessarily like them, you’re just aware they exist—as a tiny wee outfit, gigging around the place and releasing a couple of albums with very niche appeal, and overnight they have a number one hit and everybody’s talking about them as some brand-new thing? That whole “I knew them before they were famous” vibe? Yeah, that’s how us micro-party nerds feel about the Australian Federation Party/Trumpet of Patriots (TOP). They were our gag, the weirdos we would trot out to amuse people who went through their lives blissfully unaware of updates to the AEC’s register of parties.

But now TOP are headline news, to the point that some people even think Clive Palmer founded them this year. Oh you sweet summer electoral children (are you even 18 years old and eligible to vote?). TOP are so much more than that: they are crackpots to whom Clive has hitched his wagon. He is, after all, simply not capable of concocting a party name as outlandish as Trumpet of Patriots by himself.

The original Trumpet of Patriots formed in August 2021 and applied for registration in December that year. It was one of the many groupings to emerge from the “Freedom” movement of covid denialists, antivaxxers, and assorted selfish people horrified they were required to do anything for the common good or care about other people. It used the slogans “make Australia free again” and “unifying the voice of reason” and held all the views you would expect: appropriation of “bodily autonomy” in the antivaxxer sense, hostility to the United Nations and any other international agreements to which Australia is a signatory, conspiracy theories about “The Great Reset”, the end of judicial and ministerial immunities (recall the violent demands on social media and at rallies that cookers have made about arresting and even executing prominent politicians), and so on.

These charmers did not achieve registration before the 2022 federal election (or at all), with prospective Trumpet of Patriots candidates instead standing under the banner of the Australian Federation Party, one of the most cracked parties at that election. This dalliance proved to be no electoral one-night stand: the two saw in each other something that they liked. For the AusFeds, it was a catchier name; for TOP, it was federal registration. And so the two merged in late 2024, with the AusFeds’ registered name updated to be Trumpet of Patriots.

Clive Palmer did not enter the picture until early this year, and he only did so because his United Australia Party (UAP) had been de-registered and the High Court affirmed that it could not contest this election. As I said in my review of One Nation, everybody involved with UAP is unintelligent and incurious even by the low standards of the far-right. They de-registered the party, evidently to avoid financial disclosure requirements, and did not realise this meant they could not re-register ahead of the next election—despite the fact this restriction has existed for over forty years to avoid cynical de-/re-registration, misleading registrations posing as a recently de-registered party, or squatting on a name but not contesting elections (and Australia, the land of the squattocracy, knows all about squatting).

Clive decided that in lieu of the UAP contesting this federal election, he would bankroll Trumpet of Patriots. Former leader Nick Duffield handed the leadership to Suellen Wrightson, who ran for Palmer United at various elections in 2013–16, stood for the UAP in 2019–22 (and was for a time the NSW assistant state director), and in 2019 her husband Dean stood for the UAP in Watson and her daughter Meg in McMahon. The party website was promptly updated with the UAP’s garish bright yellow colour scheme, redirected from a dot com domain to a dot org domain, and the old TOP logo (a boring navy-blue-and-white one with a lion and the Southern Cross) replaced with some of the most shithouse AI art you have seen in your life of a lion blowing a trumpet.

Anyway, what does TOP stand for besides Clive trying to pollute federal parliament with even more numpties like current senator Ralph Babet? I think you can guess: this is full-throated Trump worship seeking to bring his destructive and hate-filled policies to Australia. If you’ve paid even the slightest attention to Babet, you can tell the man wishes he was in the US Congress and keeps trying to fight US political and culture wars; he has his head plunged in the social media septic tank and seems to barely even grasp that Australia is a separate country with its own issues.

TOP would like to Americanise—or Trumpise—our politics even further. The homepage boasts that “In the USA, government waste and corruption is finally being exposed” and that in Australia “We will drain the swamp!” They have a policy to replicate the Department of Government Efficiency here, so that we too can claim fictitious savings by destroying public institutions, wrecking lives, and ending high-value programmes Trumpists simply don't like or refuse to understand. Like parties such as Sustainable Australia, TOP thinks we can solve housing issues by cutting immigration rather than improving supply. They depict coal power as cheap and renewables as expensive and unreliable when the truth is the opposite and that the likes of AGL have been seeking to offload old outdated coal-fired assets in favour of cheaper renewable sources of electricity. TOP's policies go on like this: fearmongering about banking and cash, racist opposition to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and to Welcomes to Country, nonsense about schools having a “woke agenda”, antisemitic dogwhistles about “globalism is the scourge of the free world”, on and on and on.

It's all very wearying and the sooner the Trumpet of Patriots falls silent, the better our politics will be.

Recommendation: Give Trumpet of Patriots a very low preference in the House (a fitting pick for your very last preference!) and a weak or no preference in the Senate

Website: https://trumpetofpatriots.org/

[oscarpiastriwdc]

albums i would play for each driver on the 2024 F1 grid to expand their music taste

Max Verstappen: Graceland by Paul Simon - As a fan of classic and folk rock, I'd imagine Max has been exposed to Simon and Garfunkel and I think he'd enjoy the sprawling, detailed, careful expanse of Simon's solo masterpiece. Angels in the architecture spinning in infinity, etc etc

Checo Perez: Ramomex by Rebel'd Punk - One of the Mexican bands who pioneered punk music in the country, but Checo probably missed this release because he was too busy karting and moving to europe as a teen. It's never too late to have a proper angry punk phase, though.

Charles Leclerc: Ten Love Songs by Susanne Sundfør - Groundbreaking, life-altering pop music that pushes every boundary. This hits the sad songs craving and I think would interest him as a musician and burgeoning songwriter.

Carlos Sainz: Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey - daddy issues. I just know he'd vibe out to Brooklyn Baby.

Lando Norris: Destiny by DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ - I dream of sitting him down and exposing him to actually good, interesting, fun contemporary dj music.

Oscar Piastri: Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads - He has that certain David Byrne swag and demeanor of someone who'd love the Talking Heads if only given the chance.

Fernando Alonso: 10,000 gecs by 100 gecs - At first the old man would be extremely confused but once he was on board he would be blasting The Most Wanted Person In The United States all day every day.

Lance Stroll: Talon of the Hawk by The Front Bottoms - that post that's like the problem is men are making podcasts instead of forming midwest emo bands. but it's men are becoming f1 drivers instead of forming midwest emo bands. I think some TFB exposure could be the spark of inspiration for a great career pivot.

Lewis Hamilton: Maps by billy woods and Kenny Segal - I fear Lewis might have been too worried about Merc's performance last year to have checked out this fantastic collaboration that was one of 2023's best albums.

George Russell: Contra by Vampire Weekend - I just saw Vampire Weekend live following the release of the new album and at the show there was a guy a few feet ahead of me in the merch line who had the exact same energy as GR. The mix of prep vibes and world music would work into his taste while expanding his listening beyond coldplay.

Yuki Tsunoda: GLOW ON by Turnstile - 100% a selfish pick, I want to mosh with Yuki in the pit of a Turnstile pit.

Daniel Ricciardo: The Panhandlers by The Panhandlers - A country supergroup I return to time and again, wistful and nostalgic, making you yearn for West Texas no matter where in the world you are.

Alex Albon: Pelican West by Haircut 100 - Funky British jazz pop, perfect for dancing and vibing.

Logan Sargeant: Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling by Slaughter Beach, Dog - I fear Logie might be too young or too norm core to have had a proper Modern Baseball phase (it's never too late logie! listen to Intersection!) but Ewald's 2023 offering seems like something he missed last year that's perfectly up his alley.

Valtteri Bottas: Merriweather Post Pavillion by Animal Collective - Weird and complex, I think he should throw it on while on a long bike ride and let his mullet fly in the breeze.

Zhou Guanyu: God Save the Animals by Alex G - no you don't understand i need him to listen to Alex G he would love it

Kevin Magnussen: Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins - Ethereal music he can feel and let wash over him in a wave to relax and transcend the horrors of driving for Haas.

Nico Hulkenberg: Supernatural by Santana - dad music but make it funky and good

Pierre Gasly: Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans by Uffie - A perfect twist on early 2000s French electronic music, I think it'd remind him of the club while sounding entirely new and make him want to pick up a side dj gig of his own.

Esteban Ocon: Lescop by Lescop - French indie pop-rock! His most recent album is fantastic, but Este should check out Lescop's 2013 debut first.

following a conversation with @liamlawsonlesbian and her definitive book rec list i'm doing something similar for music (she bullied me into posting this sorry). large range in popularity/mainstream-ness of artists depending on the driver and what i think they're already listening to.

[marswasnothere]

Technically this is fairy anon's ask but I'm going to cut it up and compile it into one slightly more readable post (readable to me at least) ↓ long post!

Age Swap Maxiel AU Canon! - the freak4freak court's universe

Yup! I was originally debating between current 2024-25 timeline, with an aged down Daniel and a regular Max, or having Max in Sebastian Vettel's place, with a regular(ish, slightly aged down) Daniel and Older Max

The way it was meant to happen 😔 Younger Daniel does replace Checo in the age swap au, the new talent replaced the by-gone driver. Similar situation to our world where his performance clause and points expectation is not met.

Hell team Vcarb for early 2024, sorry little guy. Lets just say younger Daniel replicated his Miami quali results every single race in early 2024. He'd drag Pierre Hamelin over to Red Bull as his race engineer.

Baby badger gets an f1 seat for his (late) 19th birthday canon. Going by the 2024 calendar, younger Daniel has a free practice session in Silverstone (2023 parallels) and far outperforms Checo, and gets his seat before the following race in Hungary. Pretty much exactly half the year in Red Bull, plus he got to have a home race/s in Melbourne and Imola while in vcarb.

Older Max wasn't socialised the same way as regular Max, leading to that ruthless competetivness, obsession with success, and lack of proper outlets for excitement or rage.

Younger Daniel lacks the experience that regular Daniel has to get Older Max out of his shell and let himself be silly, so he is his usual excitable self, but is cautious around Max (to start with) as he doesn't want to annoy/piss off his teammate.

Daniel deeefinitely benefits from modern technology. He doesn't get quite as homesick and sad he can't get immediate love and help from his mum and dad, but you're bang on right about the physical connection. Younger Daniel still needs that. Even if he can spend hours on facetime while he talks with his parents and Michelle, his need to be in face to face conversations, to be in the same room as someone, to be able to bump shoulders and give a quick side hug is too strong to be satiated by calls alone. Max fulfills that.

He's soooo starstruck. He's been watching F1 for so long, but actually noticed Max when he first won in Barcelona 2016 (at like 10 years old omg). He watched Max as a fan and in karting, then dropped off the fan-ness of it when his dreams of getting to F1 became realer and realer by the day. Sometime in F3, Daniel got this au's F3 championship of coooourse, Max acknowledges him, send shim a video of congratulations. Maybe when he's in F2, they're doing a photoshoot of every driver under the red bull formula family (like that one recent photoshoot, l*am warning) and he gets to meet Max in person, in a non-race situation.

Max is very happy to have a new, better teammate under his wing, someone who brings life to the red bull garage rather than an increasingly depressing atmosphere from his previous teammate getting dnfs and out-of-points results. Max does think this Daniel is adorable, making jokes, seeing if those jokes annoy Max, and when Max laughs, says he likes Daniel's jokes, Daniel lets that fear of annoying his new teammate go.

Yesyesyesyesyes canon canon. I also don't know if a driver's old number is reserved while they take number 1. maybe they have a conversation about it, strictly professional and considering the rules of the sport, but there's such an intimate undertone of Daniel taking Max's number, and when Max eventually can't use number 1 anymore, he takes Daniel's original 33. Reverting back to our world numbers omg.

Yup canon crushing on Max without knowing it was a crush. The drivers around Max's age, not the younguns, talk to him about the obvious fact they're about to hook up, just like he did with Seb "back in those days" (something something drivers communal inside joke of a sex postion called the golden boy bulling. or something)

Every ask answer has been on a vague timeline, but I'm going to decide (along with answering your other questions about the tension points below) that the tipping point is a combination of the advice call/pillow humping and a big big crash. Daniel calls Max before the Dutch GP, asking for advice, but also just wanting to hear his voice telling him how much of a good boydriver he is. Because it's in the european stretch, they'd be in motorhomes instead of a hotel, with Daniel getting to lavish in a fancy new thing he hasn't been in before, and enjoying the feel of the pillows quite a lot. Max, on the other side of the phone, recognises Daniel going quiet and the distinct shuffling, and at that point he wants to grab Daniel and hold him close and make him come. He approaches Daniel's motorhome after Daniel hangs up the call, and the interaction goes a bit more awkward than written, than how he wants it to be, and Max turns from his door feeling unresolved.

Daniel is a bit distant on race day, feeling like Max is going to interrogate him about his inappropriate actions, until Fernando pulls him aside and says "so has Max given you the overunder-porpoising-catalunya-champagne-spray-handy job yet?" and Daniel realises, oh! apparently i CAN be sexual with him!

They get closer over the following week, after Max's win at his home race, and Daniel getting a whole lot of attention on him for Monza. There's a lot of attention of a lot of drivers during Monza, but he's included in that list, lil italian badger.

That's when the big crash happens.

The second option for the crash. It's big, dramatic, the car flips once, twice, lands right side up thankfully. One car caused it, Daniel got hit hard, a third car got caught in it and retires from the race during the red flag. Whatever Max's place is during the race, he pulls up and parks his car in the gravel right when it's confirmed that Daniel crashed, but not yet that he's okay. He jumps out, runs towards the wrecked car, getting there before the stewards and medical car, helping a shaken up Daniel with removing his steering wheel and getting out of the car. He's pushed aside by the stewards, yelled at about violations, but he sees Daniel getting strapped in to the extrication board and taken into the track ambulance, throwing up a thumbs up to a cheering crowd, and that's all he needs.

The og! The very first idea of the age swap au, explained in here. I don't want to clog anyone's feeds with an idea they're squicked by so I'll talk about it on request. By all means, this will be a seperate au to this current age swap maxiel au.

I think Pyry could be younger Daniel's trainer. Being honest I totally forgot about him until I rewatched that one vlog where Daniel translates Max, Pyry, and Yuki's messages in their own langauges (calls himself a labrador using Pyrys words. PLEASE.) After one singular training session together, to see if Max and Daniel will somehow be more productive together, if the competitiveness will lead them to breaking personal records, Pyry and Rupert decide to never let them train together, because it lead to the sparring on the floor and both getting boners about it.

Yes. All of this, all of what's been written, and everytime he smiles he's got braces. Remember.

Max's pubes stuck in his braces while he's giving an interview, realising when he's walking up to the mic by mouth feel, and trying to talk with his lips over his teeth the entire time. It looks and sounds soooo weird.

Canon yes. Max refuses to leave Daniel's side, even when some other drivers come to visit, like the drivers who caused/got caught in the crash to apologise, Max is there, pretending he's not listening, but studying Daniel's face to see if he forgives them. If Daniel is nice to them, then Max is nice to them. Somewhat. No punches thrown, but a poignant comment during a press conference is given for sure.

In an ideal world, the ring gets put on after Max retires, Daniel gets a championship, they become dads, and Max gets to take his adopted chubby toddlers to the races to watch their other dad go zoom zoom in a big car. I feel like that's the ideal ending to any maxiel au lolol.

Yup yes. Link to ask and response.

Thematic earrings for each race Daniel.