#this actually probably isn’t something i would tweet now that i’m thinking about it

[pearlpool]

more tagsposting because i’m having tweetable thoughts and i can’t tweet rn

[iateyourparents]

new girl | c.b.

pairing: colby brock x fem!reader

summary: colby goes live on instagram but not everything goes as planned.

warnings: nothing really, just bad writing and grammar(sorry, english isn’t my first language)

an: colby was pacing so much on his ig live and it gave me this idea <3

pictures are from pinterest and colby’s snap:)

Your and Colby’s relationship was still somewhat fresh. And mostly important, hidden from his fans.

It wasn’t that you wanted to keep it hidden forever but you were together for seven months so you both didn’t feel ready for viewers reaction.

You knew he had many fangirls and some of them would probably eat you alive but you were ready for that and didn’t really care, but it didn’t change the fact that hiding it was making it even more exciting for you two, more special. So you didn’t rush to announce it although sometimes you wished you could just say to world he’s yours.

Currently you and Colby were sitting in the living room of your airbnb, waiting for ordered food while Sam was sleeping upstairs.

“I think I will go live on instagram for a few minutes.” Colby told you but didn’t move from his place under you on a couch.

“Okay, do you want me to go to our room?” you asked grazing his bare chest with your fingers.

“No, you can sit here. I will be careful to not show you.” he promised and you smirked at him.

“You better do, I’m not sure if your fans would be happy with some girl wearing only your hoodie.” you both laughed and you rolled of him so he could get up. He quickly kissed your lips and told you that he would start live on the balcony.

You were sitting silently on your phone, sometimes looking at Colby and listening to him answering people’s questions. He moved from outside and now was pacing around the room trying to not show you on his phone.

You started reading something on your phone only giving half of your attention to Colby’s words.

“Let Sam sleep.” he laughed and he didn’t even noticed his mistake, but fans surely did. The little, short flash of you lying on the couch in black hoodie was visible for his viewers for only a second but it was enough for them, they still caught it and started asking about you.

Colby noticed the comments and cursed himself but tried to act like there’s no comments about you. Until there were only comments about you and he just had to adress that.

“What?” he acted surprised “I’m alone here guys.” he looked at the couch where you finally looked at him and immediately understood what happend so you quickly but silently got up and went upstairs “Look, there’s no one on the couch. Maybe it was just a screen glitch or something.” he laughed.

Next day whole fandom was talking about mysterious girl on Colby’s live and him trying to play it off.

“You are screwed.” Sam laughed looking at tweets “Or maybe not. Some girl’s theory says it’s prank, like the one we did with Jake.”

“Maybe Sam could act like your girlfriend again and we would just act like it’s actually a prank again?” you offered looking at Colby.

You knew he was worried that the hate you would get after announcing your relationship would scare you off, so you didn’t want to press him into announcing even if you felt like you wanted to just go in public with him holding your hand and kiss him freely whenever you felt like it.

“We should think about it.” Colby agreed “Would you do that Sam?”

“Sure bro.” Sam shrugged and announced he’s heading to the store.

“Do you think we should do that?” you asked quietly.

“What do you mean?” Colby looked at you after placing kiss on your forehead.

“Wouldn’t you want to announce it already?” you squeezed his hand “I know you’re scared I won’t be able to handle the hate but I’m afraid I even more won’t be able to handle not being able to kiss you in public, hold your hand and hug you.”

“You’re sure?” he looked at you with a hope “I really want to tell the world you’re mine girl but I don’t want you to be hated on by my fans, it would kill me.” he placed his forehead on yours.

“I’m sure love. I love you and I don’t care what your fans think about me as long as I have you on my side.” at your words Colby smiled widely.

“I love you baby.” he kissed you “I’m sure Sam will be sad he’s no longer have to be my girlfriend.” you both laughed.

“How do you want to announce it?” you tilted your head looking at him and playing with his rings on his fingers.

“We are supposed to be exploring a house this weekend, would you like to go with us?” he smirked and you nodded with a smile.

“Sounds fun.” after a moment of silence you added “I hope your fangirls won’t be haunting me after the announcement.”

Colby laughed at that.

“I’m sure they will love you, you are just impossible to not love.” he kissed your nose.

“Yeah but they also hoped to be your girl some day.” you giggled.

“Well, this place isn’t available anymore, sorry.” he shrugged “Let’s watch something.”

[non-stop-imagines]

My Girlfriend

From this idea 💖

Pairing: Logan Sargeant x Black Fem!Reader

Summary: In which Logan loves you. That's it. That's the tweet.

Word Count: ~4.1k words and a lot of smau

Warning: Twitter environment, mentions of food, one small steamy moment, it gets "angsty", Logan and reader get in small short fight, curse words, really really mushy, making it supremely obvious that Logan's love language is touch in this

A/N: I love you guys so much. I want to start there. You guys make me feel so comfortable and seen, so thank you. Now, this way actually really fun and cute to write. I don't know what it is but Logan brings my motherly instinct out but in a "I want to date him and take care of him" sort of way. Like he's the type of guy I would have a crush on in high school. Anyway, hope you guys like it and I hope to more Logan fics in the future because he deserves it. Love you all!! 💖💛💖💛

Masterlist

__________

   You poke your head from around the corner of the Williams paddock to get a glimpse of who was approaching next, knowing from the commotion that it had to be a driver. It took a moment for your eyes to find the center of everyone's attention, but once you did your guard immediately went down and you waved at the couple walking toward the paddock building.

   "Yn! You're here!" Lily runs up to you and engulfs you in a tight hug, making you giggle with her. Although you two haven't seen each other in person very much, but you both forced your boyfriends to give the other your numbers, so you guys have been talking non-stop since before it was even confirmed that Logan was going to be a Williams driver.

   “Of course I’m here. It’s home race weekend! And my first full week of my last college summer break so I’m thriving right now.” You hold onto Lily for a little longer, basking in the touch of your friend, a temporary quelling of your real desire to finally be with Logan again in person. “Speaking of, have you guys seen the guest of honor? I’ve been waiting to surprise him for half an hour because he thinks that I had to stay on campus for an extra week.” 

   “He should be heading over in a moment, I think I saw him when we walked in, and we have a meeting in about 20 minutes, so…” Alex checks the time on his phone and then scans the paddock for his teammate. Eventually he spots a small crowd building around a blonde and his somewhat intimidating trainer, heading in the direction of the Williams paddock building. “He’s coming! Hide!” Alex whisper-yells towards you and Lily, who were still in a tight embrace. You two quickly break apart and you tiptoe back around the corner of the building waiting to hear your boyfriend’s voice in person for the first time in 5 months. “You’re late.” Alex starts to improvise once Logan reaches the building.

   “What do you mean? The meeting isn’t for another 20 minutes.” Logan sounded exhausted already, probably emotionally from believing that the one weekend he thought he would be able to have you there was ruined.

   “No, um, there was someone else that was looking for you. They said it was important.” You were surprised Alex wasn’t breaking. You thought he would in a situation like this.

   “What? Who? Did you text me or something?” Right as Logan was going to check his phone for a missed text or call from his teammate, you saunter from around the corner.

   “Where were you? You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago.” You tap your wrist as you slowly start to walk over to where Logan stood, motionless, mouth hanging open. It took everything in you to not run and jump into his arms, and Logan was urging his feet to move but at the moment was failing to make them listen.

   “No way.” These were the first words directed towards you, that and the brightest smile you’ve ever seen grace your boyfriend’s face. “No fucking way.” Finally his feet cooperated with him and he ran toward you, bring you into the tightest hug you have ever received, one arm fully wrapped around your shoulders and the other wrapped around just enough to cradle your head into the nape of his neck, giving you a much needed whiff of his cologne. Your arms immediately found home around his waist, resting there but also feeling like they were trying to pull him into you so he could never leave again.

   “Did you miss me?” You giggle, sniffing back tears while your face is still in his neck.

   “Are you kidding me? Hell, yeah I missed you! I thought you said you had to stay on campus for another week?” Logan spoke into your braids, pressing his lips to the top of your head when he wasn’t speaking.

   “I had to throw you off my trail somehow.” It was like you read each other’s mind after you answered his question, because once you finished speaking, you both pulled back just enough to look at each other's face.

   “I’m not letting you out of my sight.” Logan’s eyes continuously move over your face, an automatic grin tugging at the sides of his mouth.

   “Sounds good to me.” You wiggle your arms from Logan’s grip to bring your hands to his face, leading his head down so you could finally kiss him, a borderline inappropriate kiss if you took in the entire scene and were close enough to see exactly the amount of tongue being used. A quiet cough signaled for you two to end the kiss, but it was a slow natural end because you knew exactly who it was that coughed. A cough you have heard many times over facetime.

   “Hi, Ben.” You turn to the tall, buff man that has stalked up behind Logan’s shoulder, drawing out your words and giving him shit-eating grin as the cherry on top.

   “There’s the voice that has haunted every single training session.” Ben reciprocates your grin, but after a moment, and a light scratch to Logan’s head, you’re released from Logan’s arms,  grasp still on your hand, free to give a side hug to your boyfriend’s trainer. “How are you doing?”

   “Much better now.” You’re yanked back into your boyfriend, your back against his chest as he brings his face back to your neck.

   "Hate to break up this moment, really. But, uh, it's now 8 minutes until the meeting." Alex gave you two a remorseful smile, tilting his head towards the building. Logan doesn't move, doesn't loosen his grip, just groans into your shoulder, takes one more deep breath, then presses one more kiss to your head.

   "Fine." Logan grumbles towards his teammate but then brings his mouth close to your ear. "Don't go too far, okay?" This made shivers run down your back, not the words, those were simple instructions given to make sure he could come right back to you. It was the feeling of his breath on your ear, the feeling of his hands grazing your sides, not wanting to break the touch, and the light kisses that are pressed right behind your ear and on your shoulder after you nod in agreement to staying close. Once he finally lets go of you to head to his meeting, Lily quickly makes her way to his spot, taking your hand to lead you God knows where, but Logan still watches you go off with her, glad that you were finally there in person, and realizing exactly how much of a positive difference just your presence had on the outlook of his race weekend. He needed you with him at races, and he was going to make sure you are always there.

logansargeant

Liked by lilymhe and 38,208 others

logansargeant Girlfriend appreciation post because I finally got to kiss her after not seeing her in person for 5 months

tagged yourusername

View all 163 comments

user1 YES MY FAVORITE COUPLE IS TOGETHER AGAIN SUDJKSMS

yourusername Sooo when's my next race? 😗

>logansargeant All of the rest of the races this season if I can help it

lilymhe PRETTY GIRL 😍😍

> lilymhe Logan how in the world did you bag this baddie 🥵

>yourusername LOVE YOU BBY 😘😍💕

>logansargeant Well rn I'm questioning whether I've bagged her at all 🧍🏼‍♂️

--

   "You left me." You pout, leaning from behind the barrier that separates guests from the rest of the garage to look at your boyfriend, who was in the nook where his helmet sat on a shelf as he spoke to his trainer.

   "It wasn't my choice. I wanted to wait until you woke up." He takes a couple of steps towards you, undoing the top strap of his race suit so he could be more comfortable.

   "We didn't have time to wait for you to wake up." Ben comments, picking up Logan's helmet as he does so.

   "Ben, why do you hate me so?" You dramatically fluctuate your voice, instinctively allowing Logan to snake his arms under yours to pull you in as much as he could into a hug and nuzzle his head into your neck.

   "I don't hate you. I will say that those 5 months I didn't see you in person weren't long enough." You both chuckle at the banter thrown between you two before you bring your attention to your boyfriend clinging to you.

   "You okay, baby?" You bring a hand to the back of Logan's head, gently raking your nails through his hair.

   "Yeah, just glad you're here." His voice was low, words vibrating through your neck before you feel his lips press a kiss at the base.

   "I'm glad I get to be here." Logan finally lifts his head from the crook of your neck, tired eyes moving around your face and lips not giving away exactly how happy he was that he could touch you, smell you, hear your voice. "You sure you're okay?"

   Logan stays silent for a moment, neutral face before pressing a kiss to your lips, nothing special, something like what you guys give each other after saying "Hello". After the kiss, though, a tickling, eye crinkling smile emerged on his face. "That's crazy…" His words were more of a whisper to himself.

   "Can I get in on this great realization?" You mess with his appearance, velcroing the top strap on his race suit and smoothing down hair that moved while his face was in your neck.

   "Kissing you calms me down immediately." It was said so matter-of-factly, but the abrupt discovery caused you to blink your eyes wide and for him to explain. "Ten seconds ago, I was ready to high-tail it outta here." He pauses, his child-like smile melting your heart. "Okay, I'm exaggerating, I'm just always very freaking nervous before driving, and not in a good way most of the time, but I had to just deal with it cause I had no choice. Now, I'm just excited. It's fucking Monaco, and your here with me and now I'm ready to put in some fire qualifying laps." He still had a smile on his face, looking at you like you were a crown jewel.

   "Well, I'm glad I can help." You giggle out your words, a smile on your face that coaxes Logan to kiss you again, spontaneously, pulling you in by your shoulders.

   "I love you." Logan didn't want to leave, didn't want to remove his hands from you, so he was glad that he could mentally use waiting for your response as an excuse.

   "I love you too. Now, go put those fire laps in. I'll be here." You wave him away and watch as he practically bounces to grab his helmet, get weighed and then hop in his car. You look over at Ben, still in the nook next to the shelves that still held one more helmet, smiling and nodding at the "Thank you" he mouths your way.

__________

   "16th isn't too bad." You place pressure with your thumb at the top of Logan's bare shoulder. You were kneeling behind him on the massage bed in his room, massaging his shoulders, the sound of the cars on track for Q2 quietly rumbling in the background.

   "Yeah, I guess…" Logan has his head tilted to the side, exposing a greater surface area for you to massage. It was silent for a moment after that, you just kept focusing on massaging out Logan's shoulders, using the grunts he would let out as a guide for where to massage next, and placing kisses on different areas as you went.

   "You extracted from the car what you could on this track. That's all anyone can ask for." You had to keep yourself from raising your voice, you had the tendency to get loud when you were passionate about something, in this case, passionate about keeping your boyfriend out of the dark cave he was walking himself into.

   "Yeah, but Alex-" Logan was about to depreciate himself further, but you were quick to shut it down, stopping your hands where they were and leaning over his shoulder so you were able look at the side of his face, but the feeling of your eyes on him made him turn to look at you. 

   "Do not compare yourself to Alex. Alex has been driving at this level since 2019. He was a Red Bull driver. He was Max Verstappen's teammate. This is your sixth race in F1. You're still learning, and that's okay. Okay?" You watched him with a straight face, waiting for confirmation that he heard and understood you. To show that he was listening in his own way, he takes one of your hands that had traveled higher up his shoulder and grabbed it, wrapping your arm around his shoulder as a means of pulling you back to his side, letting his eyes roam around your face before leaning in to kiss you.

   "Okay." He lets a content grin that held a slight bit of smugness settle on his face after he answers, and then goes in for another kiss. And another. And another. And as he kept kissing you, progressively using more and more tongue, he gently used your arm to guide you around him as he shifted back against the wall behind the massage table, ultimately ending up with you on your knees straddling him as you continued to make out. An air of youthful lust was swirling around you two as the make out session went on and hands began to wander. It first started with Logan's hands traveling down your sides, finally landing at your hips, thumbs massaging your the portion of flesh between your torso and the top of your thigh. It elicited an oddly erotic feeling as he did so, bringing you to want the same for him. So it was your turn to let your hands roam free next, removing themselves from his hair and running from his shoulders down to wear his race suit clung to his waist. You slithered a hand inside and continued down his thigh before coming back up to palm him through his underwear, your other hand sliding back up to his shoulder to give you stability. You smile into the kiss as you feel him get harder under your hand, swallowing the low, grumbling moans he let out.

   “Fuuucckk…” This came out as a hiss from Logan’s agape mouth as you begin to move your hand up and down over him, still over his underwear, and kiss along his jaw.

   “You want me to help you feel better?” You whisper this in his ear, then trail kisses from his earlobe, behind his ear and down his neck.

   If everything went your guys’ way, you would’ve been able to do as you said, allowed the lust in his brain to take over and mask the stress from the day, even for just a moment. But life doesn’t work like that, and instead Ben walks in without warning, cause all three parties in the room to yelp in shock. “What the fuck, you two!?" There was a mad scramble from you and Logan to make yourselves at least semi decent while Ben exits and comes back in a minute later.

   "I bet you'll knock next time." You comment when he comes back in, you standing next to the massage table and Logan sitting on top of it, leaning over to press his lips to your head, smiling against your hair.

   "I never had to worry about it until you decided to grace us with your constant presence." He sets down some equipment on a chair in the corner and pulls out his phone to look at something.

   "Speaking of, it's your lucky day. I'll be around for the rest of the season. Logan will have his own groupee." You beam like a proud child, looking toward your boyfriend when you feel his head lift up.

   "Wha-how? What about your last semester?" Logan messed with your hair the slightest bit while waiting for your answer.

   "My counselor helped me figure out how I could do the rest of my classes online. And since I'm studying athletic training and physical therapy, I can shadow Ben here and get some hands-on experience. Everyone wins, that is, if Ben doesn't hate me so much that he doesn't let me shadow him?" You bat your eyelashes and pout at the tall man who stares at you for a moment then takes a defeated deep breath.

   "Stop saying I hate you. I don't hate you, you're just always here… but I guess you won't be a nuisance if you're helping." Obviously exhausted with the 2 horny young adults in front of him, Ben sighs and runs a hand through his hair, already mentally preparing to have to deal with you and Logan together for the rest of the season, but he couldn't help but feel a little sappy when he see you both send wide, thankful smiles his way. "Okay, that's enough. Stop looking at me like that. You, off the table and start stretching out your arms. You, over here so you can keep your hands off my driver." He points and beckons you over to him, and you watch as he begins Logan's post driving recovery routine.

__

   "Fuck." This was the first word uttered from Logan as he plopped down in a folding chair in the garage following his retirement from the race in Hungary. He didn't take the time to look at anyone or anything, just sat down, took the towel from the back of the chair, and put it over his head as he rested his elbows on his knees. You look around the garage for anyone that could possibly reprimand you before moving from behind the barrier to go over to your boyfriend, squatting next to him. 

   “Hey, you were doing good. It was just a misstep.” You place a hand on his arm in an effort to console him, but in response he jerks his arm away from you.

   “It was a bit more than just a fucking misstep, Yn. God, why are you always trying to make it seem like everything is fine when my literal fucking job is on the line each time I fuck up?” His voice was stern but tired as he turned his head to look at you, view partially disrupted from the towel.

   “I think it’s because your fucking job is on the line that you can’t do this. It happens, Logan.” You match the annoyed energy he gave you, because you were annoyed. Yeah, this sucked. It felt horrible watching him spin out with only 3 laps to go knowing that he had the capability to do great things in that updated Williams car. But that’s not the situation.

   “Sure, it happens, but not every fucking race. I don’t know if you realize, but I’m the only one doing this shit! And it’s not something I can just fucking get over, not matter what you tell me. So honestly I just need you to leave me alone because the last thing I fucking need is for you to tell me that everything is okay.” You proceeded to stand from your squatted position as he lashed out at you, watching as he swipes the towel from his head and sits straight up to look at you. From his eyes you could tell that he was not backing down from his words, and while you weren’t completely going to let his little boy-like outburst slide, you think about your answer for a moment. Your jaw shifted as you gave him an exhausted neutral look, observing the flush in his cheeks trying to be remedied by a creeping blush. He was tired. He was dehydrated. 

   “Fine. I’m gonna go. But not because you, whoever you think you are, told me to, but because I know MY Logan will meet me back in his room to talk to me like a person. You see, MY Logan doesn’t raise his voice at me, MY Logan doesn’t cuss me out, and MY Logan does not wallow. So, when MY Logan is ready to talk, you can tell him to meet me in his room.” 

   You turn on your heel and begin to make your way out of the garage, plastering a smile on for passersby. “Yn…” Logan calls after you, reaching a hand out that you don’t see because you kept your back turned, but you do put your own hand up to signal for him to stop talking, pausing for a second longer and then continuing on to where the drivers’ rooms were.

__________

   There was a gentle knock on the door half an hour after the debacle that you didn't verbally respond to, you just jumped off of the massage bed and grabbed the Gatorade and banana that sat on the table next to you, waiting for him to open the door. When he does, he flashes a miniscule pitiful grin, closes the door, and walks over to take the snack that you were holding out to him. But he wanted to focus on you, have his hands free for the moment when he was able to touch you again without fear of you biting his hands off, so he places the food back on the massage bed and begins to play with his fingers.

   "Hi." He started off slow, trying to gauge how you were feeling.

   "Hi." Your arms were crossed and exhausted annoyance was still on your face, but he could see that it had relaxed somewhat, so he continued cautiously.

   "I'm sorry." He tests the waters with a smile after he speaks, taking a small step forward that you don't step back from. You stay stoic and unmoving, only lifting an eyebrow when Logan began to run a finger up and down your upper arm. He was making progress."There's no excuse for how I acted out there. I was an ass."

    You were silent, purposefully done so to make Logan sweat a bit before flashing a grin. "I forgive you. Honestly, the reaction you had made sense, you were tired and frustrated. But the way that you expressed it, that was where you went wrong." Logan brings you closer to him by your elbows, since your arms were still crossed, and gives you a kiss on your forehead.

   "Yeah, I know." This was mumbled against your forehead because at this point, now that Logan had his hands on you, had your perfume swirling around his head, he didn't want to move.

   "Next time, just tell me that you don't want to talk right now. And I would also suggest giving me a kiss so I know you're not mad or being a brat." You giggle, a sound that intensifies when Logan pulls you all the way into his chest and peppers kisses at the base of your jaw.

   "Got it." He pulls back to answer you, and then gives you one more kiss, this time on your lips.

   "Good. Now, uh, you still have the post-race meeting don't you?" You absentmindedly mess with the collar of his quarter zip jacket that your just now realizing he had on, trying to schedule out the rest of the day in your head. 

   "Yeah, and to be honest, I don't know how long it's gonna go. I probably won't be back at the hotel until late." His heart fluttered watching you, your face the physical representation of the wheels turning and then shifting in an instant when his words register.

   "You mean 'we' won't be back until late." You grin confidently up at him.

   "Uh, how would you…" Logan looks at you questioningly as you give one last swipe to his collar and pat him on the chest.

   "It's pretty comfy on the floor outside of the meeting room. And I'll have earphones, so I won't hear a thing, even though you guys basically whisper anyway." You turn around to pick up and hand the banana and Gatorade to him again, flicking your eyes at the fruit indicating that you wanted him to take a bite. Now. And he does, aftee breaking off a piece and handing it to you since he knew that you were probably stressing all day and were extremely hungry. Just as you smiled and ate the piece of fruit there was a couple of knocks on the door before Ben entered, announcing his presence, but he stood confused when he just saw you two eating.

   "You want some banana?" Logan somehow holds in his laughter as he holds out the fruit to his trainer who looks at both of you before pinching his nose and getting to what he came in for.

   "No, thank you…Come on, the meeting is in a few minutes." When both you and Logan start following, Ben stops in his tracks. "Where do you think you're going?" Ben wiggles a finger at you as Logan snakes his hand in yours and you begin to swing the arm of the entwined hand.

   "I'll be outside the room. And I've got earphones, so I definitely won't hear everyone's whispers." Your wide, tooth-filled child like smile didn't seem to visibly sway the trainer, but a tip of his head toward the door had you and Logan practically skipping behind him, hands clasped together up until the last possible moment when he disappears behind the meeting room door and you take a seat on the floor, making yourself busy until you can touch your boyfriend again.

yourusername

Liked by williamsracing and 20,480 others

yourusername So proud of this guy and were only halfway through the season! 💙 Now it's time to party 🥳

tagged logansargeant

View all 216 comments

logansargeant 💙

user2 LITTLE LOGAN 🥹😫

>yourusername I KNOW HE WAS SUCH A QT 😍😍

>user2 THE QUEEN ANSWERED I LUV YOU💕

>logansargeant Was? 😔

user3 I'm in love with all of these photos 😍 only Yn can grace us with such great pics of our baby

user4 We're all so proud of this boy! After Silverstone that car has been a rocketship 🚀

>user4 you know, all things considered

yourusername

Liked by lewishamilton and 29,839 others

yourusername A little R&R before gettin back to it. Spain and Florida style 🌴

View all 138 comments

alex_albon Please tell me what Logan is like drunk 🙏

>logansargeant You could've asked anything and this is it

>alex_albon The world wants to know 🌎

>yourusername He's touchy feely ☺️

user5 Queen, you're with a man that takes fishing pics?

>yourusername It's his one down fall (but Im the one taking them so what does it say about me?) 🤷🏿‍♀️

user6 Loving this black women being loved aesthetic 🖤🤎

user7 Ben must've been the adult supervision

logansargeant

Liked by oscarpiastri and 39,628 others

logansargeant Quality Time ♥️ Now back to work 💪🏼

View all 359 comments

yourusername This is why I'm with you...you take such great pictures of me 💁🏿‍♀️

>logansargeant Yes...that's why 👀

daltonsargeant It was great seeing you two! Now go put in those hours 💪🏼💪🏼🇺🇸

user8 Yn is so pretty it hurts

>logansargeant It's a satisfying pain 😌

[eclipseaotters]

The funny thing about Jungkook’s live and all the other lives he’s had recently is that—

It’s all so Seven MV-coded 😂

Listen, I’m not here to assume that the Seven MV took some inspiration from Jikook’s relationship, especially for one, Jungkook didn’t even write the song. For sure, he’s had more input in the MV making but I still don’t want to liken it to Jikook in any way because Seven Jungkook is just one big simp and Seven Sohee is very stubborn and dismissive right until the last bit.

It’s comical and funny if we don’t deep it! But I don’t want to feed into the toxic Jungkook simp agenda that runs around shipping circles. It just sucks that he’s always the ultimate simp, regardless of who he’s shipped with, and the simping is often imbalanced.

Now that that’s out of the way, I really just wanna let out a laugh at how Jungkook’s live birthed a new genre of Jikook tweets in relation to this.

We know what this is reminiscent of (cue in: Weight of the world on your shoulders—), but I can’t even perceive these takes negatively because these are actually based on True Events SO maaaaybe we can limit the Jungkook simp culture to…getting Jimin to do a live? 😭

Okay, great!

Now, Jimin isn’t exactly Seven Sohee. He’s just…a different kind of evil. Libra evil? Because why the heck would you respond to your little bro (asking fans if they can handle him coming out from under the blanket) by commenting, “In my case, I can handle it.”????

It doesn’t help at all that Jungkook visibly melts and downright agrees.

What the heck.

And then, like clockwork, Jungkook starts convincing Jimin to come and do a live. And the King of Babygirlism has the audacity to respond with “Seems like you’re gonna hit me!” How in the world am I to read that it a non-flirty tone?

Jungkook’s convincing persists and it’s not a one time thing. When translations were coming in, I really thought he only says it once, but no. He repeats it multiple times throughout the entire live. Seven MV levels of persistence.

[Trans by: verritaee on Twitter]

Somewhere along the way, Jungkook even leverages on ARMYs, which is really smart and sneaky. Use ARMYs as bait to lure the ARMY-pleaser. You know how public proposals bring about this social pressure to say yes to the proposer? Yeah, Jungkook’s the only public proposer I’d forgive, probably.

Can you imagine him doing this to his other hyungs? I truly can’t, not in a million years.

And then, amidst the giggly persuading, Jimin in Seven Sohee-coded fashion says, “I’m not that easy.” which, of COURSE, gets deleted by God (because we’ll never truly know who deleted it, right?)

How am I supposed to take this, really?

Somewhere along the way, there’s also a mention of a picture being sent. And honestly, it’s not the selca sending that gets to me—I already think that they’re a couple so naturally, for me, they’d have hundreds of bed selcas of each other. It’s the fact that Jimin commented it on a live. That, and the 2 o’clock thing, which has multiple translations but implies something fruity either way.

And it’s all capped off with Jungkook ~coincidentally~ flexing his arm right after he says goodbye to Jimin. I genuinely found it so endearingly funny because it was just sooo random. What are you doing, you little peacock? 😭

And while that might be enough to convince Jimin to come, it’s definitely not enough for a live. That one’s gonna take a lot more prodding.

Because we know Jimin’s the kind to want to feel in control of the situation, especially in a live, real-time setup. Going live at Hybe instead of at home, doing scheduled lives instead of spontaneous. A new live with Jungkook—after having THAT jikook birthday live, that vminhopekook live in October and the recent idgaf lives that Jungkook has done—is not the kind that Jimin can control and he knows that.

So Jungkook might just have to do something more elaborate than a fake funeral to get Jimin to say yes, because Jimin is not that easy!

[concreteburialplot]

pretty sure you’re my fellow chase atlantic girlie that i’ve seen posted on my feed but if something chase atlantic x bad omens ever happened i. would. lose. my. mind. like i’m fully aware that noah would have fun posting things just because he likes to create chaos but someone on the bo tiktok account reposted cas’s video and it doesn’t mean anything but like,,, chase atlantic and bad omens are my bread and butter. and i mean they’re aware of each other just saying 🤠

and i’m sure if there ever was a collab someone somewhere would have smth negative to say but they could stfu because those are my angels. LIKE I’M SORRY can you imagine a chase atlantic feature on a song like bad decisions????

i need it. (at the same time i’m not ready for it)

YES! I AM HER! i am your fellow chase / omens girlie lmao

(just seeing their logos side by side like that makes me feel dizzy & makes my heart explode)

i actually hadn’t heard anything about the repost so thank you for bringing it to my attention! i just about lost my mind 🥲 my fav boys interacting ? 😭 my heart 😩 they are also my babies so get it 100% 🥺

(you didn’t ask for this but i’m offering it anyway 🥲)

so, couple things that come into play here that i think are interesting

warning: beyond this point will contain lengthy unnecessary, unasked for, unwarranted & disorganized reaching, theories, wishful delusional thinking & dissection. i am a swiftie at heart so it’s a reflex to look too much into cryptic behavior lol

+ rambling bc i’m a gemini who loves chase atlantic & rarely gets to talk about them to anyone so 🥲💔

i’m also aware that omens x chase fans are very niche & nobody actually cares what i have to say about this topic but whatever 🥲💔 i just need to get this out 🥲

1 - i have known for a while that at least noah knows about / is a fan of chase atlantic. i believe he liked a tweet about them a while ago, when chase was doing a livestream i think? & he’s posted about them before, example here:

whether or not chase knows about bad omens i’m not sure but they probably do now at least

2 - Omens & Chase are under the same management company! They’re both under MDDN, so they’re at least in the same circles

3 - as much as i’d KILLLLL to hear chase feature on bad decisions i unfortunately don’t think noah would be down for it (i think he’s stated before he’s not open to features on bad omens’ discography ?? but i could be mistaken) - so the more likely scenario in the realm of (unrealistic) features would be noah featuring on a chase song

4 - the Bad Omens official tiktok account has only reposted 6 videos total, besides cas’ & the other 5 were specifically about the band - with how they handle their social media i find it interesting that they’d do that

also

obviously Kras is in CA so them reposting it isn’t out of the ordinary BUT both band accounts reposted the same day (even tho the video itself was posted 6 days ago, they both reposted the next day) - again just interesting

5 - the audio on the tiktok was mamacita so that begs the question that if there WERE to be a collab … would it be noah featuring on mamacita …………. bc the thought of that …. makes my head spin 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 (we also been knew that noah’s music taste is vast, so him being interested in / open to featuring on a different genre track, especially of a band he likes, isn’t THAT crazy to imagine)

6 - however the caption cas’ tiktok was something like “christian said that if you use this filter he’ll show you his verse on mamacita” so that could mean a couple things IF a collab is being teased

a - it’s not actually kras’ verse it’s noah’s

b - kras’ verse could be first & noah’s 2nd (😵‍💫)

c - they’re hinting at a feature on another song on chase’s upcoming album

d - there is no collab & i’m a clown for believing that there could be (it’s this one)

7 - we know chase is open to having features from different genres & are pretty lax about who they work with (& lax in general)

8 - i’m unsure how well the collab would be received - i think noah featuring on chase would go over significantly better than the other way around but still idk - chase’ fanbase seems a lot more chill than omens

REGARDLESS i fear for chase if they collab bc [a lot of] bad omens fans are mean, judgy & ruthless especially about artists outside of metal/metalcore. chase’s fandom is fairly chill (in my experience) & unfortunately i honestly think any interaction with bad omens would bring a lot of unnecessary drama & hate to them :///// and i can smell the “bad omens is selling out” accusations from here

9 - again i think the repost was really interesting & unusual for their normal social media activity/strategy & so the fact that it’s so out of the ordinary + subtle + sneaky ON TOP OF ALLL of those other factors ^ has got me extremely intrigued

10 - that all being said ……. unfortunately as you touched on, Noah is a troll at heart, so he could very well just be causing mischief - for what reason, nobody knows - also choosing that tiktok was so random ?? so ?? [especially since it was cas’ tiktok, not chase or even their members??]

i’m interested to see if there’s any other sneaky interactions between them moving forward - noah loves taylor swift so he may be taking a page or 2 from her book & starting to get more cryptic as their fanbase expands ?? lol

seeing kras on the same page of an omens official account really made me feel crazy. that is something i never ever thought i’d see, thought i was hallucinating lol (i love them so much 🥹)

i am slightly hopeful but also ready to be disappointed lol

am i a fool for underestimating noah sebastian’s troll behavior? probably

has he trolled me before? yes

will i have too much faith in him to not troll me again after this? yeah :/

regardless,

anyway sorry this is ridiculously long for no reason & nobody actually cares about my insane hypothesizing 🥲 if anyone got this far, you’re a trooper & i’m giving you a star

i was just really really really excited about this bc i love them both so much & nobody else cares & it made me really sad but it’s fine 🥲🥲💔💔

[shuitsuki]

I’m crazy uwahn asylum!!! I don’t need to talk about the “Reasoning” side, as I already have. Only now, an hour after, is the cards of the solving scout truly hitting, though I had already been late to the drop of the cards themselves since I surprisingly forgot it was the day. The concept of cross theme scouts is so fun so far for the very first one (frankly, I’m happy feature scouts have been put to rest as a concept for now! It would be nice if they returned someday, the dedicated outfits that are special and just for one character are a fun concept, but I hope it won’t be soon. Clearly the designs themselves were a product of how tired it had become, although a lot of the FS2s were a hit in my book, to be quite honest.) & I was so excited to get to see Yuzuru in full!!!! I didn’t expect ITSUKI SHUU & SECCHAN TO BE THERE.

Oouh, ouuuh. Just like the other side I really like this side, too. Does the bottom of Sena’s hair look far darker than usual or am I crazy? Somehow I notice the shading far more than in the past, and with the theme and the outfit it looks good, and the pipe… Sena smoking… Okay. Mutual made a tweet about it and I had noticed too and it made me a little crazy. I really like this Shuu, too… the thinkeerrr. I don’t know he looks good. I wish he looked more frustrated, somehow. I know he probably got I don’t know botox or something or simply became conscious of his wrinkles (my twisted mind) and that’s why he isn’t as expressive as he used to be but I miss it nonetheless.

Yuzuru… the star of the show. I looove love love his expression. The choker looks good on all of them but on him it’s like Hahaha Hahaha… wow. My chest feels a little light. Is it just me? Um, cough. I now notice it borderline seems like a leash, akin to the ones the majestic magic outfits had, but he is so unhinged looking & clearly not being held back by anyone which is fucking awesome. I like it a lot. It has been compared to Noble Game in nature, and, yeah. Not to mention, the cards simply look good together, as much as they are serving in a different light regarding the style of their outfits, clearly they are displaying similar sides of him.

They have been reborn. Actually, I wonder if the scout story (stories?) will make a reference to the tour they shared as 4☆? … Either way, I love when Yuzuru is armed. While Kaoru looks playful in his card, taunting, Yuzuru almost appears as though he’s hunting you down, though his grip on that cane seems ever graceful. Yuzuru is also far more, [swallows], Exposed. To say the least. Just as in the past! The mirroring certainly feels intentional, but I’m unaware on if it’s actually true or mere coincidence?

Gosh, I hate these theme scouts for kind of making me want to pull for Both. That’s their tactic, isn’t it?! Well. I won’t give in. I’m stingy. But I’ll be thinking about it. Someone had made a tweet joking about the birds looking like/being Shuu & Mika and it means nothing, he’s not here, it’s stupid to even say that & Mean it. But it’s funny that Shuu appeared 😭 and on the Mika bird side, too… cute. Which is also the side that has their breasts out, scandalous in my opinion. But judging by the scout he was in with Sena in the past, I wonder if he has any standards at all. No, I shan’t shame him. Kaoru & Yuzuru are an interesting combo. It’s not like it’s the first time they’ve been together. They’re both stunning cards for all they’re worth.

Kyaaa! I’m so eager to see the unbloomeds, as well as their new casual outfits〜!

[shejustcalledmeafish]

Behold an extensive but not complete because he does it so much compilation of John Hart’s fourth wall breaks in The Sins of Captain John (made for @4thwallbreakersshowdown but also serves as general propaganda to give the boxset a listen for Torchwood fans)

Transcript below the cut, but first an important content warning that Scene Six (timestamps marked in the transcript) has background sex noises, so just be aware where you’re listening. There aren’t any major spoilers for the boxset, though.

Have fun and Vote John Hart for Ultimate Fourth Wall Breaker!

Scene One: The Restored (0:01-0:09)

John: Or maybe, if I’d known this was an audiobook, I’d’ve bought the complete Buffy on DVD! (Heavy sigh) Well, before you go asking for a refund, let’s set the scene.

(Five seconds of John’s theme song plays)

Scene Two: The Restored (0:14-0:28)

(Background space station falling apart noises)

John: I reckon I’ve got about four hours before I’m sent tumbling into the icy black void of space which is just long enough for me to tell you [sigh] how I got here. So, strap in, get comfy, and let’s give the fourth wall a bloody good seeing to.

(John’s theme) 

Scene Three: The Restored (0:33-0:46)

Sir Thomas, dying: I pray that I shall find the gates of paradise open, and that a choir of angels—

John: Yeah, yeah, yeah, very moving. But this scene has been going on for ages and we’ve a zombie apocalypse to avert, so maybe, we should get going.

(John’s theme) 

Scene Four: The Restored (0:51-1:11)

(Faint screams in background)

John: (giddy) Plus, if this was a film or a tv show, it would look so, so cool. Cue exciting music!

(Exciting music plays, accompanied by horse snorting and galloping. The music continues to climax)

John: Heeyaw! (Whip crack) Heeyaw!! (Whip crack)

Mohisha: Heeyaw! (Whip crack)

(Horses galloping intensifies)

John, yelling: This is probably the single most visually impressive thing I’ve ever done!

(John’s theme)

Scene Five: Peach Blossom Heights (1:16-1:43)

(Background space station falling apart noises)

John: (grimly) This is it, John. Beginning of the end. (Much less grim) Or, for you listeners at home, the halfway mark. (High-pitched voice) ‘Yay, Captain Jack is in it,” I hear you squeal. Except for you, over there, tweeting angrily around your cats(?) that (nerdy voice) “actually, I think you’ll find his name isn’t Captain Jack Harkness yet” yeah, I see you. While we’re at it, strictly speaking, mine isn’t Captain John Hart either. (dramatic mock gasp) I know! But listen, isn’t continuity boring?

(John’s theme) 

Scene Six: Peach Blossom Heights (1:48-2:28)

(Genial, generic, elevator-like music plays)

John: Basically, while many listeners were totally on board for all the gratuitous sex following my previous outing The Death of Captain Jack, we received some complaints (background sex noises begin) ranging from (gruff voice) ‘utter filth!’ to, uh, (higher-pitched voice) “you people should be locked up!” So, you’ll just have to picture the scene without any of the more explicit sound effects or dialogue. (sharp inhale, voice now giddy) I mean, in reality, this went on for hours, but, who wants to hear that?

(Notable pause)

John: (faux shock) You do? Shame. Take it up with the people who wrote all those strongly-worded emails. You have them to thank. Anyway, maybe they’ll release it as a bonus disk or something. Moving on.

(John’s theme) 

Scene Seven: Darker Purposes (2:33-3:01)

John: Suppose it was nice while it lasted. I hope you’ve all enjoyed yourselves. So, why don’t you get comfy, and we’ll see how this absolute clusterfuck comes to a conclusion. …where’s the theme tune? We’re meant to have a theme tune.

Scott Handcock, irl director of the boxset: (slightly muffled as if over an intercom) Uh, is it not playing?

John: No! Scott, it’s not playing, I can’t hear anything.

Scott: (inaudible), how ‘bout now?

John: Nope. (starts whistling)

Scott: How about… now!

(Torchwood theme starts playing)

[sergeifyodorov]

Sidney Crosby for the character ask

actually i do have a very specific first impression of sidney which is that i was . can’t have been ten, probably closer to seven or eight and i was living w my dad and hockey was on and it was pens vs a team that was not the leafs, and i knew he was a leafsfan so i was like “why are you watching hockey if it’s not your team” and he was like “sometimes i like to watch it for sid the kid” and i was like. a kid? and he pointed out what must have been a truly baby sidney and i remember clearly thinking I Hope He’ll Be A Leaf Some Day… truly my delusions have always been there.

IMPRESSION NOW

well GOAT obviously

beyond that he is such a good leader and obviously just a huge awkward dorky sweetheart -- there are no stories of bad encounters with him, like, ever. i think my general vision of him is just someone who is so stubborn and willful and good, who has pushed all of himself into doing hockey and doing hockey well and has negotiated some kind of reward from the universe for it. definitely has The Tism. if i were a hockey boy i too wouldve jerked off to posters of young sidney.

also is aging incredibly as both a player and as a guy… i don’t think either sidney or the audience are ready for silver fox sidney crosby. but the time is approaching far more rapidly than either of us would care to admit

i do however believe that the instant he retires he will vanish into the distant nova scotian woods, or perhaps the sea, and we will never hear anything about him again.

FAV MOMENT

much like ovi, sidney is Old and thereby has an abundance of Moments. Here are some:

sidovi duelling hat tricks night (it was both of their moments, come on)

That one anecdote about him walking with reporters coatless somewhere in the negative tens, followed by them going through the tim hortons in the rink and people stopping and realizing who it is the moment that he goes into the elevator

2010 olympic golden goal

this isn’t technically a Sidney Moment but the steve dangle tweet about “has sidney crosby passed the torch followed by sidney crosby ripping out his opponent’s heart and eating it has been happening for the past six years” (the tweet itself is also about four or five years old)

The entirety of his Fucked Up Teeth era where he had to wear the fishbowl and fought a bunch of people . I think we don’t remember enough that Sid used to be an absolute bloody menace -- I’m pretty sure he’s either the only rookie or one of the only rookies with 100 pts and 100 PIM in a season.

he did the michigan before it was cool btw

IDEA FOR STORY

well let’s go back to the disappearing into the woods thing. have you guys heard of sable island perchance

well u see. there is an island off the coast of nova scotia

it’s got an electoral district and everything. Or it’s part of one. Which is weird because only a couple of researchers live there periodically.

anyway. king under the mountain type au where post-concussions sid decides instead to leave hockey, go back to nova scotia and become a lighthouse keeper/researcher. living on sable island, skating once a year on the thin-ass ocean ice when it freezes. disappears when the sport of hockey needs him most etc

in fact in this au he leaves in 2012, and because there’s no hope of his returning the penguins are. Substantially worse in the following year, not only breaking hard from the playoffs but also doing a leedle light tanking to get themselves a similarly touted prospect… 2013 first overall pick nathan mackinnon.

natemac who is and has always been a sidney fanboy numero uno AND a sicko who wants 2 win above all else. natemac who gets himself immediately into a war of wills with geno because geno wants sid to live a good life, a long and peaceful life away from where he has been and natemac who knows that there is something else going on. that sid gave up, but he is not lost.

so nate and geno play out nate’s rookie year; nate breaks in the offseason for sable island in search of sidney. cue geno coming along.

nategenosidney roadtrip 2 return to hockey nightmare psychosexual experience for everyone involved (geno has to contend with his feelings for sidney, a dear friend and colleague who he wants to both protect and win alongside, as well as his frustration towards nate, this doughy-faced and overemotional young firecracker… a lot like a certain sid, back in the day.) (sid has to deal with his feelings for geno, a respected teammate who he wanted to become captain after him but so clearly would rather not have that spot in his life replaced, and his new affection for this nate guy, someone who is so earnest and so competitive and so insane in exactly the same way as him that he’s not sure if it’s deliriously endearing or driving him nuts)(nate has to deal with his huge awfully enrapturing celebrity crush on someone he has always wanted to play with but who is apparently unavailable and has to deal with this sort of weird captainrookie mutual bullying homoeroticism he’s developed with geno)

i think this just ends up in a threesome tbh but who am i to say

UNPOPULAR OPINION

honestly… i do not find him that particularly attractive… i think it is maybe something to do with yalls competency kink (can’t blame u). the lips and the ass are great though he’s just almost too pretty for me. 

also i am a sidstache truther

FAV RELATIONSHIP

genuine tie between nate, geno, and ovi

FAV HEADCANON

go read jes ticklefighthockey’s entire archive right now and then go read her entire ao3. THAT is true sidscholarship i do not feel as if i am anywhere near capable of that level of it

[plantsarepeopletoo]

Only Friends Music Ep2 (2/2)

Part one covers the first half of EP2, or you can find links on my pinned comment.

This is a series of posts taking a closer look at the music of only friends. Reminder, Playing with the music is like body language, it moves with the conversation. Verbal says something either through lyrics or something like a song title.

Warning, this is long, but a lot of it is lyrics and music players.

Last song of [2/4]

Song: Alright Come On by Sonic Spark Type: Vocal Scene: Friends go wakeboarding

The friends and Top go wakeboarding and Alright Come On sounds like a party song, something to hype everyone up. Lyrics start when Top goes out on the water,

Oh you're so pretty and mean It ain't what it seems But you really stand out against the lined up faces

They edit the song so the lyrics pause, and we get Mew correcting Cheum, saying Top isn’t his boyfriend. The lyrics start again when April is out wakeboarding

When are we going to be alone I guess the fight is on A knock out for a kiss in the empty spaces

At that line, Top turns to look at Boston, who had been staring at him.

[3/4]

Song Blue Skies by JAKE $ING

Scene: Top is helping Mew put together a table

Type: Verbal/Playful

In the show, the song has no lyrics, but it does use the song as a way of expressing the emotion, and beats of the scene. The drum beat starts after Top says, “so that you can think of me when you look at it”. And continues while Mew offers the cookies, and Top tries to get Mew to feed him. The rest of the instruments come in after Top says “I've been doing this for so long that my arms are tired. Can’t you see?” Everything but the drums pauses when Mew picks up a cookie, and there are three bass drum beats like a heartbeat before Mew asks “How about I feed you like this? If you want it come and get it” 

Keyboard and guitar start up again, Mew puts the cookie in his mouth, a snare beat as Top moves to get the cookie, and the song continues in full from there. It dissipates along with the mood when Mew pushes Top away after he goes in for a kiss, yelling “You can’t do that”  

Here are the lyrics, not in the show, (Translated lyrics in [brackets]. Used google translate, so I left the original Korean.)

Wow You look so perfect  I’ll hit the ground  If you keep on looking at me like that  And you  Don’t know what you do to me  And I  Would probably go and end it all If you found out  No words can explain what  I’m feeling  Being with you feels as easy as breathing  And right when I do you just  Go on and steal it  Am I out of my mind?  You got me so high  Being with you feels like blue skies  [I'm bored day after day without you]  너 없이 하루 하루 지루해  [I can't think when I see you]  난 널 보면 생각 잘 안돼   [Because you are so beautiful]  아름다워서  You got me so  [Time goes so fast when I'm with you] 너랑 있을때 시간이 너무 빨리 가  [Now when I see another girl] 이제는 딴 여자 볼때  Out of focus, [I can’t see] 보이지 않아 [Only you] 오직 너 뿐이야 (okay) [Never turn my gaze] 내 시선은 절대 안 돌려 [From the first moment I saw you] 처음 본 순간 부터 It was clear skies from day one got me so high  [Floating] 붕뜬 spaceship, we in that ufo sight (we in that)  I’m falling fast for you, no parachute  [Leave now] 이제 떠나버려 lonely life 'Cause I finally found something true 

Lyrics tell of falling for someone, but being horribly afraid to let it be known, I know I’ve gone off about Mew needing control, and I am thinking it’s because of fear. Top has so much more experience than him, and @VivienneActing just tweeted that Mew may be Demi, so this might be one of the first times Mew is feeling like this. That’s why he needs to control the beats of the relationship, or Top might set his own pace again like he did at the beginning. I do think Mew has feeling for Top, but he might not trust Top enough to let him actually kiss. Especially as their first kiss escalated so quickly beyond Mew’s control

While the song talks about it being easy to be with a person, and being so high, it also talks about falling without a parachute. Emotions both new, and stronger than he’s ever known. A mixture of euphoria and fear.

For further reading on Mew thoughts from @rocketturtle4:

More specific, but slightly older (EP3 and before writer’s Demi tweet) here. 

And more general, but more recent (EP4) thoughts on communication here

The Negotiation scenes:

This section is a bit different because we get three scenes of negotiation in a row, and just watching how differently they use the music. Especially with Sand and Ray's scene at the end.

Song: Look At Me Closely by Blue Topaz Scene: Top asks to stay the night at Mew’s place, after the cookie.

“Can I stay the night here?” Top starts the negotiation as the drums of Look at me closely start. Mew puts up a boundary, saying Top can stay, but sleep on the sofa. Top pushes at the boundary, testing if he can get more, “I didn’t get out of line (before). Don’t you trust me?” 

Side note, look at everything someone says if they say this very closely. Are they pushing you to do something you’re not comfortable with? 

Back in the scene, Mew remains firm, reminding Top that they have reset, this is their first sleepover. That “We are not a thing.” The guitars come in, without the bass, but they continue their talk. Mew stays firm in what he wants until Top relents, only asking for a blanket, and the music fades.

Song: Running Around In The Dark by Ryan James Carr Scene: Boston and Nick talk about their relationship

Running around in the dark- Nick fumbling around in the dark trying to be more than just a “favorite”.

Nick starts with "What are we to each other?" Boston counters with giving him options, "Fuck buddies, or Friends with Benefits?" As Nick thinks, drums start playing, the negotiation has started.

The bass comes in while Boston explains, fuck buddies don’t care what the other does, while friends with benefits are friends but they sleep with each other. The music pauses when Nick asks "And what am I to you?"

"What is the matter with you? Don't tell me you're into this already. If so, I'll stop. I hate dramas." Boston has completely over ridden the negotiation, using his trump card of stopping completely if Nick keeps pushing. An low, droning organ song plays as Nick backtracks, "I'm not being dramatic. I asked out of curiosity." Higher piano notes come in right before Nick chooses fuck buddies, trying to set a boundary. Boston immediately pushes in, scooting closer to Nick, trying to appease him. "We can push our status a little farther"

The music just sounds sad, slow, with a distant sounding piano that doesn't quite have a melody.

Song: unknown Scene: Sand and Amm outside the bar

Next scene is with Sand, Amm, and Ray outside the bar. They play with the music again in a way I really liked. Sand and a girl walk out of the bar, Lost in a dream is playing, steady rock, confident. Stops when Ray shows up

While Ray and Sand are talking we get a drum, stopping with a Bass slide at “Have you known each other long”

Sand replies and we get a bassline and drums back as Ray talks to Amm, then music pauses “Come to my place instead.” And music comes in with everything, drums, bass, guitar, Ray is dominating the negotiation. It goes on until Sand pulls Ray away from Amm. We get a bass drum start up at Ray begging Sand to go with him (With or without Amm). Cymbals and snare join as full drum beat at “You’re such a pesterer” And Sand apologizes to Amm, the beat pauses for her to scold him. She leaves then we get the full song. It's one of my favorite music scenes, do check it out, if you have time.

Song: อย่าดีกว่า (Better Not) by Micro Scene: Sand and Ray driving to Ray’s house Type: Vocal

Next scene, Sand and Ray are going to Ray’s. A Micro song plays i the background of their conversation. Ray sings the Chorus:

I better not, Just forget it, I should forget, forget it, Keep telling myself that I should not.

Whole song is about having a secret crush on someone and watching them, but the part that is actually louder, that Ray sings along to, is about not starting, about forgetting about the whole thing. EP4 Spoiler: So, we know who this was about now. And it’s interesting to me that Ray is singing this song with Sand in the car. Like he knows he still has an attachment to someone else, but being with Sand feels good. That the old feelings have no hope in being reciprocated so he should let go. 

[4/4]

Song: Halo: sing me to sleep Scene: Ray and Sand talking at Ray’s house Type: Vocal

Ray and Sand at Ray’s house, as Sand offers to be Ray’s friend there is a soft acoustic guitar. Until Ray starts playing Sparkle Shirt Shiny Shoes on the record player. It’s funky and just serves as background music. But, There is a sound, it’s like a head rush, when Ray asks if Sand has ever been hit on by a guy.

When Sand responds “If we click, I’m open.” Halo: Sing me to sleep starts, and plays until Ray lights his cigarette with Sand’s.

There are no lyrics in the show:

Broke, I can’t afford to let you in But we’re bad, so what’s the harm in one more sin? Take off your halo, you’re beautiful I don’t care if it tears me apart We couldn’t let go, from the get-go I think we’re past tryna to hide who we are Baby, I don’t mind you calling I’m still awake, come on by Say the things you shouldn’t be saying I don’t want you to act Like you still have that halo, halo, got that halo Like you still have that halo, halo, you should let it go Don’t stop, I love it when you touch my skin I know it’s bad, I don’t care if the walls are caving in right now I know it’s bad but I don’t care, I don’t care I need you to kill off my lonely nights Otherwise I’ll just be dead inside I can’t keep pretending you don’t exist Hate the lies, you know I can’t resist, yeah (chorus) Sing me to sleep, I need you, want you Don’t wanna dream, just lay ‘til darkness Sing me to sleep, I need you watching Don’t wanna dream, just lay ‘til darkness

Ray and Sand are already falling, even if they don’t admit it to each other or to themselves. They can’t afford to let the other in, but they can’t let go either. Sand tries in vain  a few times in the next episodes, but he can’t, the puppy dog eyes melt him. 

Ray needs Sand to kill off his lonely nights. “I don’t mind you calling, I’m still awake, come on by, say the things you shouldn’t be saying” Minor EP4 spoiler, Ray has Mew as his emergency contact, will drop everything to go to him. I could see Sand wanting to be that person, Ray’s Emergency Contact, even now, in this moment, Sand cannot keep his eyes off Ray. 

Song: A Heavy Load by Sven Karlsson Scene: After the smoky kiss Type: vocal

Music starts when Ray asks "Open enough for someone like me?" and pauses while they talk about if they can be friends if they continue. Then comes back after Sand agrees, after Ray puts out his cigarette, the lyrics play:

Don’t come round and waste my time A generation of my time There is nothing we can do To stop the plague from breaking through

It mirrors Halo, walls are caving in, the plagues breaking through. Lyrics continue, not in the show:

There’s a heavy load upon my back No way to throw it off For a second I believe it’s gone I’m just a fool out of luck Standing on the open road Always with the heavy load Don’t let me carry it along I think my head is full of stone There’s not a whole lot I can do When all my visions have come true There are times when everything feels great I’m on top of the world But eventually my spirit breaks Can’t get the final word (Chorus) Don’t come round and waste my time A generation of my time There is nothing we can do To stop this plague from breaking through

They’re just beginning their relationship, a relationship that will carry the weight of their loneliness, there could be more positive songs, just like how Nick and boston’s start with Lurking TIger, Mew and Top’s start with Always Always and Check for Pulse. 

It’s interesting to note that the hints the music is giving us about the characters' emotional arcs are paying off in the following episodes, despite the characters lack of self awareness in this episode. These songs are from episode 2, and as we have continued through episodes 3 and 4 more of our characters' arcs and feelings have been revealed to us (and sometimes themselves). Ray and Sand’s progress and self awareness have paid off the lyrics we see in this episode about feelings that need letting go of (Ray and Mew) and Sand and Ray’s combined loneliness and desire for an Important Person to share their loads. Mew has continued to struggle with control of his own desires and boundaries and we have seen how his feelings are overcoming his fear and desire for control. Though unlike Ray and Sand he seems to be lacking self awareness. Top continues to feel out the cracks in Mew’s boundaries (though whether he’s pushing through them out of a desire to be more or a desire to take and leave remains to be seen). Nick continues to try to get more from Boston, but most of their songs have not had words. They’re all going to boil over at the start of EP3 when we get a hip hop song begging for love. But that is in the next post!

Thank you so much, @rocketturtle4 and @shouldiusemyname for everything, editing, helping organize, and putting up with me.

[disasterbijamietartt]

Reasons Jamie and Keeley should be endgame

Hello everyone, I present to you my probably not comprehensive post full of breadcrumbs why I believe Jamie and Keeley should end up together.

Note: As my blog description says, I ship Jamie x Keeley x Roy, but that is in the little canon divergent world in my head where Roy got his shit together. Looking at the current canon, Roy’s just not at the point where I would want him to be in a relationship with either Keeley or Jamie or anyone to be honest. Could I change my mind if he actually gets the development that is teased in this article and my next exciting meta post titled »Maybe I’m delusional and drank too much wine, but this is why Roy Kent being a closeted queer man explains EVERYTHING« is not actually delusional? Yes. But for the time being, Jamie x Keeley is the outcome I’m hoping for.

So, but now onto the reasons, not in any particular order – I tried to make it comprehensible, but I gave up halfway through, since it took too much time and just word vomited lol

It won’t make sense for Jamie to end up with anyone else 

There is of course the option, that Jamie isn’t meant to end up with someone by the end of season 3, but that is an option I decided to ignore lol.

Jamie is a too central and important character on the show to end up with some random person, that hasn’t been introduced on the show yet. That would just be really poor writing (and we’re talking about the show that set up Sam & Rebecca in the first season in a way that was easy to miss but was so obvious in hindsight). So now let’s take a look at possible love interests for Jamie that are not Keeley.

The only person aside of Keeley that he has enough backstory and interaction with, so a romance subplot would have some sustenance, is (and I don't believe I actually write this as something that could legit happen and doesn't only live in fangirls minds) Roy – I know that a lot of Jamie x Keeley shippers don’t particularly like Roy x Jamie and a lot of Roy’s behaviour right now is a red flag for any kind of relationship, especially with Jamie, but there is not one other person Jamie has a deep and complicated emotional back story with, that could be turned into a romance. NOT ONE.

Which is actually, if they don’t want to feature two queer storylines this season, a very good argument supporting Jamie x Keeley (and if they actually go down the queer Roy and Jamie road, Jamie x Keeley x Roy is endgame, I do not make the rules – nobody puts Keeley in a corner).

Since they want to build up Roy’s friendship with Jamie, and there is the Zava stuff and possibly a resolution of the »Ted dumped me«-subplot, more ManCity stuff and dealing with his father, him hopefully playing a crucial part in Nate's redemption, it is hard to imagine how they could wriggle in another subplot for Jamie where he meets someone totally new, falls in love and gets a convincing happily ever after. They want to get Phil finally his Emmy nomination this season – see this tweet – so he’ll have a lot of good material, but at this point of the narrative it makes more sense to address the loose ends that still need to be tied up, instead of introducing something new.

And his relationship with Keeley is one of those loose ends that needs to be tied up – could they do this with both of them ending up as best friends? Sure, but there are a lot of reasons why they could or should be endgame instead.

So, anyways, his love interest has to be someone he already knows at this point of the story, since ending up with some random person simply wouldn’t feel like a good and rewarding story for a main character.

But I can’t think of any woman who would make sense for me, so let’s look at »age appropriate women he canonically knows« to hammer the point home that no one except Keeley makes sense.

Rebecca – some people suggested that because of the »shite in nineing armour« prophecy, but … I think Rebecca and Jamie had one actual interaction in the whole show so far (Christmas, when she rolls her eyes about him not knowing Secret Santa) and it would not make sense for Rebecca to dump Sam and then start dating another footballer who��s roughly half her age. They could possibly construct something about bonding over their mutual distrust of Zava, but a romance makes no sense at all for either of them. What I’d rather see with him and Rebecca: Jamie’s relationship with Keeley and his well being were collateral damage in Rebecca’s revenge – and I’m sure she deep down knows how she fucked him over and took him back without argument because she felt guilty. So the fact, that she used him as a pawn, doing something unforgivable to him even though he didn’t deserve it, actually being acknowledged by her would be nice.

Bex – some people theorise that Jamie is actually Diane’s father and not Rupert and while I generally support everything that hurts Rupert, there is not enough actual set up for them to work, even if she cheated on Rupert with Jamie and he is the father. Like, we virtually know nothing about Bex as a person and even though I’m curious about their backstory, it would make no sense to give them a romantic subplot. (I could rather see Jamie telling Rebecca that Bex is actually a gold digger manipulating Rupert and not another naive woman that fell under his spell – and their backstory is definitely a loose end that should be tight up)

Sassy – LOL no I can’t even think of any far-fetched reason that would make this even remotely plausible

Sharon – When I asked ChatGPT who Jamie’s love interest in the upcoming season could be, it was really adamant that he has feelings for his sports therapist, but that would be just as unethical as Michelle and Jake, so NO.

Shandy – she is too new and not well enough developed to make sense as a romantic partner for Jamie in my opinion. And their short interaction in the background didn’t look like the show wanted to set up a big romance to come, but to show that Keeley was upset/jealous.

So, I hope I didn’t forget anyone, but … yeah, there is no real romance material for him with any woman on the show, except for Keeley.

With Keeley we have history and they still share a strong bond and just looking at their interactions this season, we have both being awkward, shy and flustered around each other AND as pointed out above Keeley being upset about Shandy talking to him. We also know from the trailer that he goes to her place looking sad/anxious and them hugging. Which all looks like romance arc set-up.

Jamie’s confession

Why have Jamie confess to Keeley at the end of season 2 and still have him have feelings for her, if it is meant to go nowhere?

He is too important a character to just have confessed to cause drama and tension for Roy and Keeley and they could have found something else to further complicate his relationship with Roy. Roy's irrational jealousy of Jamie didn't need any more fodder.

Another important point: When Keeley tells Roy about the confession, she doesn’t address her feelings at all – if she had no lingering feelings for Jamie, she could have told Roy so. But she didn’t.

Also, this happened in 2x10, which would have been 2x8, if Apple had not ordered two extra episodes, in other words mirroring 1x8, the episode Keeley and Jamie hooked up last, even more than it already did.

Another thing: Keeley states in this episode that she wants her death to nourish people and in his confession Jamie tells her how much an impact she had on his life, essentially telling her how having her in his live nourished him.

In other words: Jamie gives her exactly what she needs.

(Also, as shown in 2x2 when Roy catches her wanking to the video of him crying, Keeley values emotional openness and vulnerability – and that is something Jamie gives her even in season 1, before he has all his growth; it is the reason for their hook-up in 1x8, since his openness und vulnerability made her feel special and important.)

Keeley obviously still has feelings for Jamie 

Like, she never stopped caring for him, which is obvious by all their interactions after their break-up (the next day when she runs into Jamie’s rebound is awkward, but she still seems genuinely amused by his “You’re welcome. I like to make people feel good.” bit) and how comfortable they still were around each other.

And how she was upset Jamie deleted her number in 2x2, the way she talks about him and just the way she checks him out and looks at him.

But most importantly: Keeley didn’t dump him because she didn’t love him anymore – she dumped him because he wasn’t showing accountability.

And if that boy has learned one thing it is accountability. He has grown so much since season 1 and while I generally dislike the idea of "gifting" a guy the girl he loves once he gets his shit together, it feels like they deserve a second chance.

Especially since messing with their relationship was one thing Rebecca wanted to do to mess with the team and — even though I think her advice to Keeley in the restroom was genuine — it never really sat well with me how much a role she played in their breakup. And the way she compared Jamie with Rupert like, no, Jamie is 23 and immature, but that doesn’t mean he can’t grow and that he will never show accountability for his mistakes. The fact that Rupert’s a piece of shit doesn’t mean that Jamie couldn’t have learned if Keeley and him just had an honest conversation about it.

Also, let’s look at this quote from Keeley: “Whenever I break up with someone, I spend months questioning it, wondering if I made a huge fucking mistake. But you have really helped me to feel good about this decision, just by... being you.”

This is almost lampshading that she will do exactly this: wondering whether she made a fucking mistake dumping him. Since she was being impulsive, running from issues instead of constructively addressing them and not giving Jamie a chance to fix his behaviour before breaking things off.

I honestly don’t blame Jamie for having a rebound since for him the break up came out of the blue and must have hurt a lot.

(Like, his first instinct, when he learns about the Roy x Keeley break up, is to comfort Roy because he knows how it feels to be dumped by Keeley - which kind of implies he would have wanted some comfort he didn’t get. Rebecca really got what she wanted: every progress Jamie had made so far was undone when Keeley dumped him - but he never let Keeley feel this, instead he used the team as an outlet for his pain and anger, and still got back on a path of growth with Keeley’s help by “Two Aces”. Just to be sent back to Man City. It hurts so much to think about how absolutely awful he must have felt, basically losing EVERYTHING.)

But anyway, both of them got the impression that the other got over their break-up in less than 24 hours.

Which is a big painful misunderstanding that in my opinion needs to be addressed.

Jamie x Keeley are a healthier couple than Roy x Keeley 

Looking at Roy x Keeley throughout the second season, it gets painfully obvious that they have problems in their communication. They both rather bottle up their emotions and ignore issues instead of talking about them (see Jamie’s confession). They only address issues if they don’t have another choice. (see “Headspace”) They seem to be unaware what the other one actually wants/needs (see "Inverting the pyramid of success")

This is NOT a good basis for a relationship.

(And honestly, I tried to explain the appeal of Roy x Keeley to someone and … I couldn’t come up with anything except “They’re grumpy & sunshine and … hot together? Sometimes they support each other, but most of the time they’re communication sucks? They’re good in theory but bad in execution?”)

Jamie on the other hand was even in season 1 fully capable of being open and vulnerable with Keeley, which is something season 3 Roy is still unable to do.

Another thing: Keeley's advice in “The Signal” is actually pretty toxic and says a lot about Roy’s lacking anger management (and her fear of rejection) – like, really, agreeing to everything your angry boyfriend says until he calms down? This shouldn’t be necessary in a healthy relationship!

And in “Headspace” and “Midnight Train to Royston” it gets obvious that she has problems telling Roy stuff that could potentially anger him.

And also in “Headspace” Roy does not get that Keeley felt overwhelmed by his clinginess until she exploded in his face (bonus: Jamie’s accidental relationship advice saved Roy x Keeley). But in “Do the Rightest Thing”, Jamie was able to sense her bad mood the moment he stepped in a room with her and she didn’t had to tell him.

Point is: Jamie’s superpower is empathy – in the first season he often used it to find peoples weaknesses and which buttons he had to press to get Roy to explode. But in dealing with people who have difficulties expressing their feelings, it is a very valuable ability to, you know, be able to sense when something is off or to lift them up when they need it. And by now Jamie is so far on his emotional growth journey, that he would work so much better with Keeley than Roy ever did.

The only problem: What about Roy?

My upcoming Roy meta post is basically the result of my reflections about how this would work with Roy’s character arc, so I won’t go into depth here and list the myriad of reasons why I believe Roy is queer and nothing else makes sense.

But basically I could picture Roy having a realisation similar to him leaving Chelsea, that he regrets not staying with Keeley, but that in the long run it was the right decision, because it led him to a place that was actually better for him. (And honestly, that is the kind of realisation I want Keeley and Jamie to have once they get back together - that breaking up instead of working on their relationship may be something they regret, but that it is also the reason they both got the growth they needed to become the best versions of themselves.)

And while the break up with Keeley is framed to be a mistake by basically everyone, that could be there to throw viewers off Jamie x Keeley endgame, similar to the way the writers made it look like Rebecca was texting with Ted on Bantr before we got the Sam reveal.

But my main argument agains Roy x Keeley endgame is, that the article linked above basically says that Jamie helps Roy to grow emotionally in return for their training sessions. But would Roy x Keeley be a satisfying endgame, if they got back together because Jamie was Roy’s wingman, teaching him to be in touch with his emotions? Like essentially: “Your ex-boyfriend, who is still in love with you, taught me to be a better version of myself and to get in touch with my emotions, so that I now can be a good boyfriend to you. Please take me back.”

Would it be a satisfying story for Jamie to be the glue that brings the woman he loves and the man he admires back together while he gets … well, not nothing, since he likely would get their friendship in return, but would it be really satisfying if he saves the main couple’s romance and ends up without a romance of his own?

(Or it means Jamie x Keeley x Roy is endgame, again, I do not make the rules – but Roy x Keeley? Nope, no way, I don’t see it.)

How it could happen

Considering that this season mirrors the first season – with Rebecca still hellbent to get revenge on Rupert but this time with the opposite goal (which likely will cause her to – almost – reach her season 1 goal of destroying the club/team, before a shite in nineing armour fixes everything) Jamie x Keeley endgame would just make so much sense to me.

Like the things that broke apart in the first season get fixed and heal and get better.

And if Keeley’s and Jamie’s second chance romance arc starts in 3x4 (as I have theorised here) it would mirror their breakup in 1x4.

And honestly, it would be so hilarious to get a "You can’t get mad. You broke up with me!" callback to 1x5, if Roy finds out about Jamie & Keeley in 3x5 lmao (something like picking Jamie up for training and running into Keeley)

But if they want to go with a bit more slow burn, I can picture Jamie offering Keeley to help her get back together with Roy, since he believes Keeley is actually over him and wants to make her happy by fixing her relationship with Roy. While at the same time Keeley is questioning, whether breaking up with Jamie was a mistake, and realises that she actually rather wants to get back with Jamie, but is unsure whether he actually still loves her, since he wants to help her to get back with Roy, yadda yadda, until they finally both fess up.

Cue the happily ever after!

(And now I’ll wait until Wednesday, when something I totally didn’t expect happens and I have to settle with the sad truth that I made myself a clown in a tin hat x’D)

[ntshastark]

X-Men: Evolution is nothing like the comics

But still a better adaptation than the MCU

So, this tweet kind of really annoyed me. It’s in portuguese, but it says:

Good thing X-Men Evolution came out at a time when there wasn't much access to the internet, if this cartoon had come out now in 2022, even though it's a VERY GOOD cartoon, it would be massacred by the internet for not being faithful to the comics

My problem with it is how it implies that comic stans will tear any adaptation down if it’s not “faithful” enough. I won’t deny some people are like this, but I’d actually say (most) comic fans are actually more likely to enjoy an adaptation that’s nothing like the source material than most people. Under the right circumstances.

(Disclaimer: Whenever I say ‘comic’, assume I mean Marvel/DC comics unless stated otherwise; and whenever I say ‘film’ or ‘TV series’, I’m including both live-action and animation)

First, I want to make it clear that I’ve loved few cartoons in my childhood as much as I’ve loved XMEvo. It was HUGE in Brazil, as popular as XMTAS is in the USA. It was literally my first superhero obsession, and it actually, still to this day, colour a lot of the things I feel about the X-Men.

Second, I want to defend the right to not like an adaptation for not being faithful. I’m a fan of The Princess Diaries (book series), so that’s a pain I know all too well. It sucks to see a character or story that you love be turned into something completely different, and it’s a thousand times worse when this twisted version becomes the most popular one.

But anyway. How to be a good adaptation without “being faithful”?

1. Being its own, separate thing

Comics are basically the most adaptable stories there are. Those who read them are familiar with the multiverse, likely have several different versions of the same characters that they like, and sometimes even prefer an elseworld than the main universe. If you make a film or a TV series based on a comic and, from the start, treats it as just another different universe, it’s unlikely that a lot of people won’t like it just because it’s different. Maybe they won’t like those specific changes, but just the fact that there are changes is completely understandable.

(XMEvo never tried to be like 616, or even Ults, it always made it clear that it was an AU)

2. Not claiming to adapt directly if you’re not going to

Another thing about comics is that they’re old as balls. By this point, literally everything’s happened at least once, probably twice, maybe three times but with a different name now. It’s not like a book or even a graphic novel or a mini, where there’s a linear story with beginning middle and end. So there’s a huge number of stories for adaptations to choose, or even just tap into. If the adaptation isn’t an origin story, or specifically say it’s going to be based on a certain arc, no one is even gonna be able to directly compare it to the source material.

(The name ‘X-Men: Evolution’ isn’t a callback to any specific arc - at least that I know of - and neither are any of the episode names - which tbh really surprised me. The series taps into some origin stories but none of them are really the main focus)

3. Not being the only adaptation

And, side effect of comics being old as balls, there’s adaptations to spare. Rarely a book will be adapted more than once, unless the first adaptation is a success and then the adaptation itself gets a remake. The only exceptions I can think of are Literature Classics (so even older) and Percy Jackson (exactly because the fans hated the first adaptation for not being faithful to the books). The fucking horrendous Princess Diaries adaptation is actually getting a damn sequel.

Basically, comic fans are used to adaptations. They inevitably reach a larger audience than the comics and influence their perspective on the characters, which is “dangerous”. But adaptations end, the next one happens, the general public’s perception is adjusted again. An adaptation that people know is an adaptation and treat as an adaptation is never going to annoy a fan of the source material the way an adaptation that’s treated as the main version, or, even worse, seen as an original work, will. And being less annoyed by it means you’re more likely to give it a chance, even with it being different from the original.

(XMEvo came out 3 years after XMTAS ended, lasted 3 years, and 4 years later Wolverine and the X-Men came out. It also premiered the same year as the first X-Men live-action film)

4. It’s ok if it’s not, the comics are still there

And the thing about comics is that they don’t die. Even if the adaptation is bad, the comics are still coming out and you can just focus on reading them and ignore the rest. Sometimes, however, elements from the adaptation are incorporated into the comics. You can only hope it’s done in a organic manner and doesn’t interfere much with the established characters and relationships you already love.

(XMEvo did have an effect in the comics, as it was the first appearance of Laura Kinney. Laura was introduced in the comics as a new character, after XMEvo was already finished)

And what does the MCU has to do with this?

Well, you see. The MCU does absolutely not a single one of those things.

2. It chooses specific arcs to adapt - or claim to.

The MCU isn’t adapting “vibes”. Each character besides Spider-Man has their origin story adapted. Event names show up in the actual titles. Sometimes comic panels are directly recreated on-screen. There’s no way it could pretend to not be directly using specific comic storylines as a base (and then not paying the people who made those comics).

A film based on a book is supposed to tell the same story of the book. Maybe some details change, but the story is the same. Comics usually have a lot more leeway, but if you choose to wave that, you should be prepared to have your film/TV series judged accordingly. Committing to adapt a specific comic arc is completely different than simply making a movie about a character or a team that has decades of stories to pick elements from.

3. It monopolises adaptation. 

Not only have other Marvel adaptations been based on the MCU instead of the comics for a long time now (ex.: ’Avengers Assemble’ replacing ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ in 2013), but recently every single Marvel animated project was cancelled (’Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘Avengers: Black Panther’s Quest’, and the entire Marvel Rising line-up all ended in 2019. ‘Spider-Man’ ended in 2020), and projects set in the MCU were announced (’I Am Groot’ in 2020, ‘Spider-Man: Freshman Year’ and ‘Marvel Zombies’ in 2021).

[[For the sake of completion: ‘Hit-Monkey’ (2021) was cancelled and ‘M.O.D.O.K.’ (2021) is in limbo. The only non-MCU animated properties still going - besides Sony’s Spider-Verse - are ‘Baymax!’ (technically based on Marvel comics, but in practice just a Disney property), ‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ (has been in production since 2018 and keeps getting delayed) and ‘X-Men '97′, which is actually the first non-MCU project fully produced by Marvel Studios (it’s clearly being done to promote the introduction of the mutants in the MCU, but at least some good is coming out of it) (ETA: Marvel apparently can’t recast the Fox X-Men cast until 2025, so I guess the only way for them to do something not MCU-based is not being legally allowed to)]]

It’s not that bad when a comic adaptation doesn’t do your favourite character justice if another, hopefully better, one happens not too long after, or even simultaneously but in a different medium. But the MCU has been going for over 10 years and there’s no end in sight. A character you like is dead, written completely different, had some of their more meaningful relationships erased, or was whitewashed? Tough luck. Maybe in 50 years this shit will be finally over and they’ll get another shot.

And, yes, this deprives Marvel fans who don’t enjoy the MCU of content, but it also monopolises the public perception of characters. That version, inaccurate as it is, is all the general public is going to know.

4. It doesn’t leave the comics alone.

Taking over all the possible adaptations wasn’t enough. There has been countless changes to the comics so that they more closely resemble the MCU. Characters’ stories, personalities, relationships. Team rosters, teams’ existences. Events are constantly recycled so that they help promote films that are (supposedly) based on previous events. It’s all done extremely obviously and clearly under instructions from above. Nothing about it is organic, most of it barely even makes sense.

There’s nowhere left to run. Adaptations other than the films are now either based on it (if you’re lucky) or part of it. The comics are being moulded to its image, usually to their detriment. Everyone else in the world sees “Marvel” as a synonym to "MCU”. Your favourite character is now incredibly popular, but only as a whitewashed antisemitic version, and if their fans could spit on you via twitter for pointing that out they would.

1. It doesn’t stay on its lane.

The MCU straight up claimed for itself the reality number of the original comics universe (616), even when it already had a established reality number (199999). It is in no way satisfied with being an adaptation, it needs to have the center stage. The comics, the original universe, what started everything, is pushed aside in favour of it. And this was officiated when they gave it the main universe’s number. The MCU is the main universe, and comics are simply the script’s first draft.

So I think it’s fair that “the internet” “massacres” it “for not being faithful to the comics”. Your regular comic adaptation doesn’t really need to be, but we’re way past that. If the MCU is to be the main universe, then the bare minimum it should be is accurate to the main universe’s stories.

[kinocomix]

Metal band story devlog 10: OKAY. CHARACTER DESIGNS. LET’S GET TO IT.

So initially when I finally decided it was time for some character designs I faced a problem. It was not a lack of skill or frustration at my art, it was the fact that I don’t know what I’m designing really. let me explain:

I think a very important thing to do in general is to be aware of your shortcomings and I try to apply this rule to myself as often as possible without it being self destructive. one of those shortcomings is my inability to draw things that I’m not personally familiar with.

I don’t think I would have ever drawn shoes that weren’t my own, so you can imagine what that says about characters and people.

This tends to bleed into art block and a good solution for it is to usually find inspiration somewhere. I don’t like doing that, nothing wrong about it and before you accuse me of being on my high horse I will gently remind you and myself that there is nothing new under the sun. I will inevitably end up being inspired by something even if I’m not actively aware of it but I find that basing a design on someone else’s design feels derivative, which setting aside the legal issues of me wanting to publish potentially copied designs, isn’t very nice of me to do to my fellow artists. I’m better than that. In any case I needed to try to start somewhere so I tried making a design for character A. this is the classical musician. I didn’t base the design on their personality because that never not felt weird to me. I don’t want to know what someone is like when I see them, that’s not how people work. 

here is the pathetic first attempt, where i went in with “they’re probably tall and skinny” in mind:

I knew that A would be a classical musician, so I really wanted to include at least a vague reference to one of my favourite pianists, Nahre Sol. I think she’s very cool and so I opted to make A’s hair similar to her’s.

The actual image is upside down

It still looked boring as fuck tho so as is the case with character design, you iterate.

Here you can see I drew a crane, which is a thing you can do when you think designing people is boring as fuck which it usually is if you don’t have fun with the shapes. I really liked how the crane’s body looked like a teardrop and how long the legs were, it also was mostly black and white which went well with the “classical musician who wears classical clothes” vibe.

So I tried a more geometric approach, with long legs but It didn’t fit into the vibe I had in mind and the feet were so comically large i anticipated people would be distracted by it:

I defaulted back to a more organic looking teardrop shape and ended up with this which i liked:

Let’s note a couple of things about this: I liked the eyes, but i very quickly realised I can’t have that be the default shape of the eyes, because please look at this monstrosity: 

I came back to it the next day and made a realisation: those are some big legs. So I decided to lean into it and thought It would be cool if she was strong and muscular, and you’ll note that I’m saying “she”, we’ll get to that in a moment.

I had taken the time to think about the fact that I'd like her more if she was more in context. Because floating in the void like that, she’s just some character which was bothering me. So I started small and made a height chart with some general body types/shapes:

This made me more confident in the design because it had some story now, she was very tall and imposing. 

I was reminded of a tweet by Pseudonymjones where she talks about a kid who saw her and called her “the lady with the big muscles” which i thought was cool as fuck in may 2019 and still think is cool as fuck now.

This made me like the character so much more and It made sense to me because of everything that I knew so far about the character and the setting that she would be trans. All my research showed that metal musicians would be very likely to be normal understanding human beings and I already know what not to do and what’s preferable from the research I did for Almost Home.

So I present to you the first sketch of Leila:

Note: when designing characters I always design them naked, because clothes a character design does not make. They help, but you can’t start there.

Obviously the design will evolve naturally (and by the end of this devlog update) and get polished the more I draw her but I think this is a solid start. For starters let’s fix those ankles and draw some more sketches to get a feel for what Leila is like when she moves.

Okay, I’m digging the vibe. I also drew this other one where I forgot to factor in the pelvis when accounting for the length of the legs, so i went ahead and tried to edit it:

It looks a bit better, the legs still look gigantic but I think I want to keep that. I imagine she goes to the gym quite frequently on account of being a tryhard. Perhaps that’s one of the things I could explore in the story?

I also tried messing around with her face a bit. I ended up sticking to the one I originally made, which felt the most natural. Maybe that says something about me and how I go with the first thing I see, but it is what it is.

Also here’s a tip for anyone who might need it, you know those doll dress up games where you drag PNGs onto the model? You can use that system when trying to make variations of a design. I did it with a light pad.

This was when I consulted a friend of mine, Alaa. He pointed out the limbs i drew looked kind of ballooney. This wasn't from a lack of reference, it was the abstraction that was done improperly. You see here's two things to keep in mind: firstly I didn't want her to look muscular despite how strong she is. Obviously some of it is bound to show what with her legs as you'll see but I wanted her to seem like a quirky human at first. Secondly, while it's true that I tried to make the limbs with contracted muscles bigger if that's not tastefully done then it just looks silly. So here's where we're at now:

To the left here's you'll note two things, Alaa suggested making her five heads tall instead of 6 which we'll get to in a moment, and the fact that the musculature seems more real now. Here's what i decided to take from his suggestion: i like that the muscles look nicer in the legs, so i changed the legs to match and shortened the pelvis to make her a head shorter. Now about that missing head. Initially while this made the proportions better this also made her shorter which goes against the “awesome towering person” effect i wanted to give her so i had 2 options. I either could keep the extra length but try to fit it in somewhere which could work but it would add extra time to this entire process which I do not have and I am one human being; OR I could simply scale her up. This would make her base circle bigger which would require some quick math every time i need to put her in a scene but that's not an issue for me. 

And this is where we ended up. This is something we can use to make a turn around ref sheet once we have an outfit(s). For reference, I drew Graham from Almost home who is about the size of an average human:

Yes, Charlie and Graham are not actually short. Everyone is just taller than them cause that's my experience being short, It just never came up lol

Here's what I like about this and here's what I'm glad I did not include: I like the cartooney proportions that still show some respect to the human. I like that she has the stubborn belly fat that some body builders struggle with. I like that while she looks imposing and is to some extent, a lot of her personality traits will contrast that and give her depth and nuance. (Also in case you're curious, her base circle is 1.2 times the size of average characters)

A final note, which is by no means an insult to any stylistic approach or artist, there's a fine line to tread between “muscular curvy woman” and “pixar mom”. Here's a drawing on the back of a receipt that a friend drew with some suggestions on how to push the proportions. Solid suggestions, but they don't really fit the vibe I'm going for which is fine- when we make art not everyone is going to like it and that's just how things are.

And yes, she's still naked. Clothes come at the very end when we know we have all the proportions and visual quirks figured out. Buuut that's something I won't include in the devlog. Gotta draw the line of “okay, spoilers” somewhere. Next week, we'll start doing the rest of the cast.

Devlog updates on Tuesdays.

[weltonlasso]

Someone needs to shake Ted and remind him that when oxygen masks come down on planes you put your own mask on before you put it on your kid.

I just can't imagine this ending well for him...

ABSOFUCKINLUTELY they do. Had about 5 old women comment on a Tweet I made about this to tell me that I was not supposed to understand the overall story of Ted Lasso. that it was “obvious I don’t have children” and couldn’t possibly get what is so beautiful about Ted choosing Henry.

(k. Thanks Pam, I’m so glad all the Facebook moms with the awesome insights got the Ted Lasso ending they wanted!!!!!!)

I have been telling myself—like legit people are saying 10/10 perfect finale, no notes, which is truly insane to me but also here’s the goddamn thing.

I am a child of divorce. My my dad cheated on my mom constantly when I was young. When I was 16 I got a birthday card from an address I didn’t recognize. I opened it, thinking probably an old aunt or something. It was signed “with love, your sister xxx and not mom xxx”

and that’s how I found out from one of his mistresses ON MY BIRTHDAY that I had another sibling. I just sat there in the driveway of my house while I tried to reorient myself to this new world I found myself in. AT SIXTEEN.

My youngest sister (by my mom) was 6 at this time. And my mom made her choice to stay with my dad out of obligation to their children. She didn’t want my younger sisters to grow up in a different home than the one we lived in. She wanted to raise all of her kids there no matter what.

He left us a year later.

Cut to the next 10 years of my life 17-27 trying to be my moms partner, confidant, punching bag—she took all of her anger for him and directed it at me because I was still there.

My life will never be the same because of actions and choice that my dad made that specifically caused me and my family pain. I have spent years in therapy and will probably never ever have a relationship with him again. Obviously.

But it also really sucked having a single parent who relied on me for EVERYTHING. It is only now many year later, in therapy, that I can recognize the psychological effects and the physical toll it took on me to play that role. And I had no other choice because I was a child and this was what my mom needed from me. I did not have the skills to recognize that pulling me into the role of adult and spouse and caretaker to my parent would fundamentally change they way I saw myself and how I interpreted things around me. I wish to god my mom had not put that on me. It’s hard enough finding yourself as a child, it doesn’t help to have the extra burden of being “caretaker” to a parent when you’re still learning who you are. When your feelings are never validated because you’re always making sure your parent is happy and supported. YOU FEEL VERY ISOLATED. It’s a fucking burden to have to do this for a parent!!!!!!!!!!!!! And be strong for them when there isn’t anyone to be strong for you!!!!!!!!

Phewww felt compelled and somehow that all came out and now y’all finally know my big connection to the show!!! Father trauma at age 16!!! It’s fun here!!!!! Let’s NOT do that to Henry, how about?

Cause Ted definitely would have had enough therapy by now to be aware enough of the pressure he’d be putting on his young son by acting this way. and it frustrates the shit out of me that the show can use this misguided interpretation of “therapy” to say LOOK AT OUR SHOW ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and then literally drop the ball on the storyline, like legit. Just. stopped. caring.

Instead the show really said: like ya actually instead of all that baggage, let’s cut that for time. From now on Ted is just a mystical woman who floats in and out of the lives of the people who need her.

WHO NEEDS THERAPY WHEN U CAN FLY.

[breadclubrising]

So, I’m no expert on any of this, but I’ve gathered Kenny is probably in the midst of some face turning from evil to probably good. Probably. Does he ever do that these days when Ibushi isn’t somehow in the works? It seems like he has two settings (to an outsider to all this), oh look Ibushi is here, and Eeeevil in the Most Cartoon Way.

But again, mostly a bystander who pops in now and again wondering if the golden lovers are back yet.

Welcome, bystander :)

Even being a bystander, you can probably guess that I have an obnoxiously thorough answer to this question. Because I've been wondering the same thing. (The first thing; I think people would probably alert me if the second thing happened.)

You're right on about those two modes, but I have to confess, I haven't been paying enough attention to speculate on whether there will really be a face turn. Twitter seems to think there's at least some lessening of the heeling, and historically Kenny's face turns have been gradual, while his heel turns have been more sudden.

As for whether it indicates Ibushi adjacency these days: all I can say is that historically it has; "these days" would actually be Kenny's entire career, more or less! In the past, there's been both correlation and causation: his alignment gravitates between heel and face in rough correlation to his proximity to Ibushi, and all of his alignment shifts so far have (in kayfabe) had heavy Ibushi Reasons behind them¹.

So does Kenny's (maybe) face turn mean Golden Lovers stuff is nigh? Other than the fact that Kenny being a babyface has historically corresponded with Golden Lovers, there's not really any reason (yet?) to think it would now. The biggest indicator imo will be whether we see Increasing Ibushi References in the coming weeks/months.

Okay but like... what if it did? There's also no reason to think it doesn't, and many reasons to think it might! All of these things could be explained by not-Ibushi-in-AEW reasons, but:

I mean, the big one is Ibushi tweeting a few times that the Golden Lovers will have matches together, implying that it's in the works. (imo, this isn’t really news, but it’s evidence in favor, maybe?)

Ibushi and the Golden Lovers pretty much have to be babyfaces², so if we are shifting into Golden Lovers mode, it's likely Kenny will have to be more of a face.

The Young Bucks also seem to be shifting, which could set the stage for... something? That one could mean anything, tbh.

One of the major themes of Kenny's entire career/character is that he is his truest, happiest, most confident self around Kota. Last time, Kenny tried to goad Kota back with trolling, but Kota mostly was worried about him as a person, and dragged him back to his best self through The Power of Love. It would be a pretty great character note if Kenny remembered that Kota was never fooled or impressed by the heel persona, and decided to try being a good person ahead of time, in order to bring Kota back into his life.

Ibushi has been pretty darn quiet about NJPW on the twitta. A few times he said he's going to tell the truth someday and that he’s still mad at some individuals, but otherwise he's been quiet and even sympathetic/gracious about his dealings with them. I can think of very little leverage they have over him besides the fact that they control when and where he can wrestle. If he’s behaving, maybe it’s because of ‘the America thing’ that was referenced in his original receipts screenshots?

HEAVY AEW and NJPW crossover stuff is happening, in general. Especially if Ibushi gets closer to coming back from his injury, it’s gonna become more and more weird if they don’t address the Golden Lovers situation in some way.

People (who are wrong) fuckin’ LOVE The Cleaner. It’s kind of a gamble to try to be a babyface again, when what the people want is sneering leather jacket tragic anime villain, bc they’re not really seeing how it’s a pathetic facade to obscure the yearning heart of a bereft Lover. So why might such a gamble be worth taking?

ANYWAY, Anon, I don’t really know whether your question was about history, correlation, or evidence, but hopefully I’ve covered the bases and answered it!

-----

¹Quick refresher if you need it: Kenny's Jr. Heavyweight heel turn happened after his leaving DDT for NJPW (while Ibushi had full-time contracts at both companies, the madman). His last match at DDT was a Golden Lovers match after which he told fans that Japan was his home, and then he debuted in NJPW like 2 weeks later and said (in English) that he was actually lying about that. His face turn began with a slow crash-and-burn that neatly coincided with Ibushi's return to NJPW in 2017 for the G1. And then he went to AEW, where he was The Cleaner again and became increasingly so, notably soon after emotionally telling the Young Bucks that he chose them, not AEW the business; implying that he made Some Sacrifices.

²Ibushi is a mega-babyface all the time. This is partly because he does a lot of flips, but also because that's who Ibushi is as a person. (Even Kota Ibushi The Character's gimmick is 'generally earnest and emotional guy who is extremely skilled at professional wrestling', because while Ibushi thinks about character plenty, he doesn't want to have to think about it during matches). Even if Ibushi did a heel turn, the Golden Lovers' gimmick has always been 'because you're my world bro and you make me a better person', and again... they don’t really want to pretend to be anything else. It would be hard to do that and be Eeevil also (but tbh i would like to see it). So, Kenny kind of like... logistically has to be a babyface in order to be anywhere near Kota, as evidenced by the completely nonsensical Bullet Club stuff that surrounded their reunion.

[josiebelladonna]

okay, pro-ai people, what you got for me.

do your worst-

mmmkay, keep going

true, and you know, this was something that i believed would happen with merely the natural progression of technology and everything, as a building off digital art. but that’s not what’s happening, though—it’s also not “replicating” human-made art, it’s straight-up taking the data around it and storing it in algorithms. biggest missed opportunity i’ve seen… ever. in my whole life.

that’s beside the point, though—something tells me this guy has never done a speed drawing or speed paint before. but again, beside the point. what’s happening is typing into the algorithm to make whatever and then boom, done. absolutely zero effort.

let’s be real: i don’t care about engagement. sometime last year i decided i just wasn’t going to give a shit about it anymore because it doesn’t mean anything when you think about it. but my instagram likes have steadily fallen off a cliff since september: my reach has been phenomenal, though, i get at least 1000 people looking at me on a monthly basis and that’s on a weak month like december, too; but likes have been utterly abysmal lately. things i thought would be huge like my erotic drawings and yet people hardly bat an eye at them. it’d be easy to assume that “huh, there’s no place for this girl, especially since her art doesn’t look like anything else i’ve seen before. where do you place her?”

it’s something that has nagged at me for years, my place in the art world that is. it’s not anime because a.) it just isn’t—greatly influenced by it, but that’s not what it is, though; b.) that’s incorrect terminology anyway: anime is animation, manga is printed work; and c.) it just isn’t. i don’t fit in manga/anime circles for this reason, and i also don’t fit into cartoonist circles for this reason, too—cartoonists have gotten alarmingly cutthroat as of late, too, going on about their politics instead of making stuff that moves me. it’s really weird, and tragic, too, like you can only talk about that stuff before it gets exhausting and you’re wishing for your own alex skolnick.

i’m also seeing things like “it’s being framed as a crypto grift when it’s being done by actual artists” to which i say you’re probably looking at straight digital art for all we know—which tells me we’ve passed the point of no return there.

apparently, this guy started out as a traditional artist (account was started in 2017) and then switched to ai and—  you’re going to buy into an illusion because it’s the latest thing at the expense of your own roots and call it “ludditism”. god, that’s upsetting.

wait, wait, wait… did you miss something here? i feel like that above tweet should’ve led into something.

also, “there’s no need to hate something simply because it’s different.” there you go again with the “anti-ai is ableist” horseshit. i read about this when it started coming forth into the foray, and i always do, too: as an artist and someone who reads and has an extensive scientific background so i literally think like a scientist, this shit should sound off alarm bells everywhere.

i love how this guy just says “don’t be afraid because you’re wrong” and then does fuck all to back it up. paramount signs of blind leading the blind—it’s really weird because once you sift through the playground insults and the sense of entitlement, that’s really all what the pro-ai argument boils down to. seriously, go on twitter or the ai tag here on tumblr right now and see the pro-arguments that are meant to be mediating: they all have that air of “because i said so” and they don’t tell you anything—or they’re like mike portnoy and they’re like “but it’s so cool though!!”

worse, these people are so far gone in it that there’s no convincing them otherwise, even if you back it up and follow the research and show them the truth. they’re quickly reaching the level of trumpers and pro-lifers. they are just so convinced that they’re the ones telling the truth that they get all misty-eyed about it and yet you get absolutely nothing from them when you approach them logically. you learn nothing… except how they are as people, of course, and you find that it was nothing more than emotionally manipulative propaganda.

abortion is healthcare, not ~murder of babies~ (and being anti-abortion has roots in antisemitism and rape apology, too, so pro-life feminists can stop lying to us) trump is hitler 2.0 and magats (idk what they’re called, there’s about 12 different names for them) are the new nazis and ai is an existential threat whether you want to believe it or not.

too bad. IT’S NOT ART. IT’S THEFT AND ANTIHUMAN.

you didn’t say anything??

also, fuck twitter for making the most-replied tweets the most visible now, god, i’m glad i don’t have an account on there anymore.

by the way, i checked the replies under that thread, and—

did no one learn from 2016? i mean, jesus christ, it wasn’t even that long ago. “oh, the pandemic! the pandemic has warped my perception of time! wah wah wah!”  listen, when you close yourself off to a vacuum like this, you only receive feedback that backs you up and kisses your ass rather than challenge you and help you grow and learn and bust down your own pretenses… god forbid. fake news was actually a thing (until it wasn’t), and there still is hordes upon hordes of misinformation about covid and the vaccines, and it all comes down to not questioning and going, “maybe this isn’t the truth, maybe the truth is somewhere else or maybe it’s inside me. maybe the vaccine does work after all. maybe there is something that does resonate with me from the other side of the aisle. maybe this cool thing really is pernicious and i’m only believing my own bullshit because i’m the one who’s actually afraid.” also, hot take: memes contribute to propaganda because they’re based on punchlines and specific context rather than tell you something you should know. i can’t say how many times i see a meme anywhere and i have no idea what the hell it’s supposed to mean.

i like how that top tweet—nice touch with the “nft” in the username, too. yeah, people still take crypto seriously after the bottom dropped out on the market and i haven’t seen a commercial for it since last march—just reinforces the doom mindset that i’m seeing a lot of legit artists resign to (please don’t, i’m begging you, you are letting them win by undertaking this mindset)… as if there’s no such thing as legislation or artists banning together against this. they think no one can write petitions or get the ball rolling and make someone in a position of authority really look at the ethical implications of ai.

really, i want someone to look into starting a petition, do something to get the ball rolling to their congressman or whoever to really look at the ethics behind ai to expose the truth about it and maybe do something about it because it’s only a matter of time before the hollow propaganda wins. yeah, congress is what it is, but it’s something, though. it’s called making use of the tools that you have at your disposal, even if they don’t function at the ideal level, something that’s been with us from the first time our ancestors created fire. unlike h.r. puff n stuff here^, i actually want art to go places. and not because i said so.

[heyharoldsboo]

im the anon who asked this : https://www.tumblr.com/heyharoldsboo/708468451053813760/just-telling-you-all-it-will-probably-be-announced

sorry if it came off not nice, english is not my first language and it was not my intention to sound rude. I was simply asking for your girls opinions on what it means that he in not going. Do you think netflix has involvement in these kinds of cons? or is it more the actor? And what would it mean PR wise if he is not going? Like was it too soon since the controversy, because it hasnt even been a month. I was just wondering how bad it was that we has not going and that the haters actually got what they wanted. I read she had actually sold a lot of tickets? Why do you think she decided not to have him there. that was it though, sorry if I was rude, didnt mean too. Thanks for taking the time to answer. xox

ANON I AM SO SO SORRY. Honestly feel bad. Please don’t think the worst of me. I am nice I swear. I’m just stingy.

Okay, so now that I have hung my head in shame, here is my take:

Do I think Netflix has involvement? On bigger cons, probably yes. There might even be appearances stipulated on his contract. On a small con like this? Most likely, 99,9% likely that no, it’s not involved. From what it looks, he got invited by the organisation and agreed to go.

From what I read in her page, a lot of tickets were sold yesterday after the announcement and after the haters got a hold of it. It had been live for 10 hours on their Instagram when it got on Twitter and that mess started.

Now, it’s honestly a gamble. If he is announced, the backslash could happen - and it did. If he withdrew, this news could come up that he had refused to go to a charity con organised by a SA survivor. So it was a lose-lose situation in any occasion.

The backslash however, wasn’t terribly big. Somewhere around 4k tweets worldwide between yesterday and today’s early hours. But to a con that holds 2k tickets, it might seem like a lot.

I find it terribly difficult to believe that his team didn’t warn the con organisation about what was happening. They decided to gamble on posting his appearance. Now, there are two possibilities after this, in my opinion: the first is that he told his team that he doesn’t feel comfortable about going, and asked one of his castmates to go in his behalf, so the con isn’t penalised by this anymore than it has already been. The second is that the con asked him not to go, because of backslash, and in order to fulfil his end of the deal, they got her in contact with another cast member.

It’s a small con, with only one person + volunteers organising. They may have decided it was a security risk, based on Twitter.

In my most honest opinion, if he had been announced in the beginning of March, we wouldn’t have this problem. But it was too soon for the internet haters to know that he was speaking somewhere so soon. Most complaints were about “giving him a platform”.

If his PR team is good, they’ll probably soft launch him. Have in be seen doing groceries, or going down the street. Post a little something on his airtight controlled comment Instagram. Go to an official event where he won’t need to talk, just appear and smile, preferably dressed by a brand that can take the heat (as YSL did).

The major problem is that this was a small con. If this happens towards a big company, it won’t even be acknowledged.

So, that’s my take! Hope I answered it! And I’m sorry again 🥺