#though I have seen some insta clips making fun of it

[itspileofgoodthings]

things I truly do not give a damn about: Taylor removing the mattress line

[solshineonyou]

long rant incoming

yk a main reason why I haven't watched GSI performances was because I wanted to watch all the episodes from start to finish. The thing is, I dreaded to do it.

I've had my fair share of survival shows. First one I ever watched was YG treasure box. I've also managed to watch pdx 101 (though only until ep. 5) and also road to kingdom.

It's no secret that mnet is notorious for rigging votes and editing shows to make things look bad. And I hated the idea of gsi from the start. Not only because it's mnet, but because this involves a community I'm so close to.

the kband community has been a fairly peaceful place, albeit a few bad eggs here and there, and when it comes to ANY for of interaction me and my friends go wild over it.

But what is gsi? quoting from mnet, it's a"death match of the bands"

death match??? and kbands??? in the same circle????

mnet had one job and they fucked it up.

It reminds me of the equestria girls rainbow rocks movie, what we thought was going to be a fun battle of the bands, it was basically made so that they destroy each other for the top.

I might be a bit exaggerating but when I wanted a battle of the bands type show I wanted to see lots of fun banter, interactions, and even friendly competition.

I only know what goes on through others but it's obvious it's a shit situation: some contestants showing blatant displeasure being there and the competition itself, and even heard from a live audience how the comments from the mentors were scripted (I cannot find the tweet to this again so I can't 100% confirm).

I want to compare this to a fellow popular band survival show. As a person who has been surrounded by those who watched superband, I've heard little to none bad talk about the show. Occasionally saying how a judge's comment was shit but that's about it. And I've seen clips on how they basically fostered relationships and dynamics through that show. Heck, they're still in touch on insta an such.

Whereas with gsi I've barely heard such. Occasional mentions and probably those who have known each other in the past but that's about it. (I do know that onewe didn't manage to keep in touch since most ppl now use insta but they only have phone numbers but that's a story for another time).

as a kband fan, what I want is a show where it's all fun and friendly competition. I want to see bandmen swap members for funsies and even learn from each other. I don't want to see them being pitted against each other and getting fucked up and leading to fans fighting.

so yeah, I ended up being "fuck this, let's just watch the performances and fun clips."

tl;dr fuck mnet, gsi sucks, stick to the good parts

[feelingofcontent]

DNP Rewatch: Cards Against Humanity PHAN EDITION!

Date video was published: 02/21/2021 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 437

Another joint video! So soon after the last one! Phil teased it in a member’s post the day before. And he posted a joint selfie with a caption I’m still not over (”just a couple of boys who bought a house together...” 🥺 and Dan’s comment as well) to promote this video and the upcoming Stereo shows. 

0:00 - they both look so good in this video. also I love the boxes background and ‘presenting’ Dan with the fireworks effect

0:26 - king of comedy Phil. and then his immediate look at Dan to see if he made him laugh

0:37 - “I freakin’ did that” I...what was Phil in early 2021. also I had missed Dan’s facial expression reactions so much

0:41 - at least on camera and just from the front, the haircuts don’t look too bad. Dan had posted insta stories earlier in the month about Phil giving him a haircut (1, 2)

0:59 - Dan looks so offended! 😂 I feel like Dan’s curls are a lot more forgiving of mistakes

1:17 - from the texting video, Phil had sent this haircut picture he used here to Dan around this time. I love Phil’s laughter at it by this point

1:28 - there are even more polaroids lower on the fridge than what was in the Keep it or YEET IT video 🥺

1:50 - this clip is SO interesting to me. it’s obviously from a bit later in filming, because Phil has already had part of his drink. and yet he edited it in here at the start, so it was important to them to include. it is incredibly loud...“we were already locked down with each other”... “big commitment” and the look on Phil’s face. and as I’ve said before, just like every public mention or description of their relationship, Dan is doing all the talking. I just have a lot of thoughts about these few seconds

2:15 - love that before he knows what it is Phil goes “mmmm” but then immediately makes fun of Dan for it

2:35 - “this is for you, sugar freak” we’re two minutes in and this video is already so much

2:46 - aka they also made $$$

3:21 - great example of them just bouncing ideas around and off each other. I do love what they ended up doing with the show titles. the first of the Stereo shows (1, 2) was just two days after this video went up

3:56 - Dan on a random tangent

4:29 - Phil being ready to immediately react to what Dan says there...same wavelength

4:34 - “the things it’s seen” 👀 Phil’s face...

5:06 - I don’t want to know 😳 (all I could think about when I saw this clip the first time is the fic @intoapuddle​ had written shortly before this)

5:18 - Phil was ready to hoard them in the last video though

5:42 - I love that the cube turns into a running joke

6:00 - why did Phil say “Phan” like that

6:05 - Phil replied to a tweet from one of the people that made and gave them the game

6:30 - their use of “creativity” like this over the years is very consistent

6:47 - more excellent Dan face reactions. also I notice he kept it zoomed in so we can’t see exactly what Phil’s hand is doing there

6:57 - he really didn’t cover that “fuck” very well

7:29 - “how could I forget the sechs?!” Phil is something in this

7:52 - Phil’s look is saying he’s not sure if this one is okay to do on camera

8:03 - and another (although much more casual/silly) instance of Dan saying out loud something that Phil won’t. and with Dan there, Phil censored it much less in general than in the last video, even though it’s still on his channel

8:24 - Dan looks proud of himself for that one. Phil had tweeted one of those awkward-hand photos back in 2014

8:49 - again...somewhat terrified of the awareness they have. Dan knew immediately...maybe Phil was trying to forget

9:25 - Dan discussed this far too much on the gaming channel too...this was the most specifically he asked that though

10:01 - Dan already knows something that is going to disturb him is going to come out of Phil’s mouth

10:16 - “but I’m trying to be honest” and there’s some truth from Phil about what he was trying to do on YouTube in early 2021

10:28 - the giant “XD” editing bit there 😂

10:48 - this awkward Dan moment was at Big Weekend 2014. (Dan was there alone because Phil was ill.)

11:07 - and this card idea must have come from this Dan tweet in 2015...he can blame himself

11:39 - Dan doing a lot of staring in this video. and Phil thinking about what this would involve far too much

11:52 - they’re only saying who wins the round sometimes

12:01 - I really want to know what Phil was going to say after “I wonder if I...” give us your thoughts about your channel Phil!

12:11 - what is this little Phil smile and sway

12:15 - which is a thing Phil had tweeted back in 2015

12:26 - the parallel of this and the same reaction from Phil to one of the cards Dan did in the CAH gaming video

12:39 - Phil doesn’t want to talk about that

12:46 - Phil choosing that card just to tease Dan and then both being super sarcastic about it

13:04 - Phil saying the words “when I first met Dan...” was maybe the most surprising thing in this video. and then sharing this little bit of their early-on

13:31 - also cannot get over how Phil says “that’s such a Dan one” 😭

13:44 - Phil looks nervous every time a card starts with his name...there are none they used that start with “Dan” although there are a lot of Dan-specific reference ones

13:53 - the sequence of emotions that go across Dan’s face as Phil says he’d “be quite good at lapdancing” 😂

14:09 - I’m really not sure we needed those details

14:33 - this bit is so cute and funny

14:52 - and aww at Dan being pleased that there was still a Phil story he hadn’t heard

15:07 - Dan be so defensive about this and Phil with the “bitch” out of nowhere

15:18 - which is what Dan called himself in a video with Louise back in 2014

15:23 - seeing Dan being able to laugh at “full time internet homo” (which was a freudian slip from a live show that haunted him) is just 😭

15:28 - and then the ‘cheers’-ing of those cards

15:41 - “cheesy sparkling water” is a reference to THE CHEESE CHALLENGE where he tried both of those things

16:09 - “you need to start using it” jesus christ Dan

16:24 - I was speechless when I got the notification for this Phil tweet. and Dan’s reply!!

16:40 - they were both at max chaos during the Stereo era

16:53 - 😂 they are having two completely separate conversations after that

17:05 - Phil’s “I’ve got the Santa hats” just sends me 😂

17:23 - “you want to do something to replace this as soon as possible” I love this video so much

17:30 - no telling us who the winner was

17:45 - they showed these under-the-stairs inspo pics in the texting video too. maybe Dan sent them to Phil to use in this video

17:53 - Dan had this tree ready-to-go for a while; it was visible in the background of the lounge in the pigeon video. I was not so sure about how it looked at the time, but it looks much better actually installed under the stairs

18:15 - lets be honest...it was a lot of degenerative filth. and I wouldn’t have it any other way

18:40 - probably my favorite bit of all. Phil just calling him out on this! and then including it in the video!!

18:57 - it didn’t stop Dan from just staring more, clearly

This is definitely in the running for my favorite video of 2021. It was just SO MUCH after a couple years of basically no joint content at all. And the start of the Stereo era! Such a good time.

[luki-fanfic]

Helluva Boss 5: The Harvest Moon Festival

Huh, Helluva Boss usually drops by mid month. Wonder why this episode is taking so long to put toget-

*Episode airs*

0_0

Oh. That’s why.

I’ll admit it, my interest in HB was waning. Episode 3 and 4 honestly didn’t do much to keep me interested. Spring Broken had a lot of plot and writing issues, and I felt the concept could have been better executed. C.H.E.R.U.B was more solid, but did have some issues, and just wasn’t that fun to watch.

Harvest Moon on the other hand? Oh boy, now there’s an episode. I am, if you’ll pardon the pun, back on this horse. World building, the action scenes, incredible animation, relationship development of the bad kind, more worlds, interesting characters! It gives us so much to work with.

Spoilers abound, so read carefully.

That said, I will start this with my biggest complaint – and it’s one I’ve had for several episodes, but this one really rammed it home due to the ‘sneak peak’ clip we had of the opening. In the black and white boards, the swearing was limited, and honestly the writing was pretty witty. Then we got the finished product – certain lines were missing, and several words had been replaced with random swearing. Considering what the scene was, it felt like the finished product was a step down – I really wish the scriptwriters would realise random swearing isn’t always funny, and they’ve given proof that their writing is snappy as is.

Anyway...onto the actual episode. We learn that I.M.P seems to be building up their business as Blitzø has 15 clients looking for a kill. Considering he had to do a sale to get a multiple kill, and the other episodes show him basically going out straight after getting the job, they’re clearly building up a name for themselves.

This is further shown with the arrival of Striker, who compliments his decision to go into business for himself, since most Imps don’t. This is new information, since we’ve seen Wally attempt to start his own business – although clearly it wasn’t going well – but if Striker is to be believed, most companies in Hell, even Imp City, don’t have Imps as the owners. Maybe it’s a financial capital thing, maybe it’s partially Hell’s racism, or maybe Imps just generally prefer to follow, which Striker seems to allude later. It’s hard to say with the information we’ve got at this point, but it does put I.M.P in a slightly different light – and probably explains why Blitzø is fairly incompetent when it comes to running the whole thing. He has literally no one to ask or use as an example, and the society he lives in generally assumes he’s going to fail by the nature of him being an Imp.

In fact, even though Blitzø owns I.M.P, he is still completely dependent on Stolas and his Grimoire. Without it, I.M.P is screwed – the reason they’re even at the Harvest Festival is because they can’t work. And that’s what Striker tells him in the final act. Their society has made sure that he can never truly be successful on his own merit, no matter how hard he tries.

I’ve seen some debate on whether what Striker told Blitzø was true or just an attempt to let his guard down. It’s hard to say, because Striker says and does some very conflicting things, but I’m going to believe it was genuine. Why?

He lets Millie and Moxxie live to have leverage over him. He does insult Blitzø to their faces, but why would he need leverage once his job was done?

When Moxxie learns the truth, he doesn’t even try to talk him round, just kill him. Millie is also tossed to the side – possibly because neither of them are ‘superior.' Blitzø gets a full on speech about their superiority and how much he respects him, even if he’s hiding a knife in his tail for if he can’t talk him round.

When he has Blitzø on the ground at his mercy, he doesn’t mock him. Instead, he tells him he genuinely thought they’d be a good team. He had the advantage, but doesn’t take the chance to continue the insult.

Like most Imps, Striker seems to dislike the demon royalty, but at the end of the day, is also working for one (and can I say that twist was brilliantly well done? It made SO much sense but I honestly didn’t see it coming). What is his end goal? Is he envious that Blitzø has some kind of power of Stolas while he has to be obedient? Is he aiming to kill Stella once Stolas is down? Maybe opening an assassination business to take out anything Overlord and above? We just don’t know.

And with that, we’ll step off this train of thought to speak about something else very important in this episode. Stolas. Specifically his relationship with Blitzø, and precisely how wrong it is.

I admit it, I future-shipped them, especially thanks to the Instagram (which become a bit of a bait and switch when the insta-accounts were declared ‘non-canon’). I acknowledged that the relationship was problematic and needed some serious work on both sides before it could really be a functioning relationship, but this episode hammered home exactly how much needs to happen in a way the other episodes didn’t. The pilot and Murder Family treated Stolas as a gag, and then Loo Loo Land made us all care about him and his actions. But Harvest Moon showed the other side of it, and I'm not sure the ship can realistically recover.

Stolas considers Imps as inferior, to a ridiculous degree, and Blitzø is no exception. He has absolutely no respect for Blitzø, and holds all the power in the relationship. We saw this a little in the previous episodes, but they were either alone, or Blitzø was working for him, and surrounded by people aware of the relationship. His actions could be somewhat explained away.

In Harvest Moon, Stolas proves he treats Blitzø this way even in public. Blitzø has very obvious issues regarding his name, so Stolas persistently using a nickname and treating him the way he does around people who aren’t aware, says a lot about how much Stolas doesn’t care about Blitzø’s opinions. Even if Blitzø does have some feelings for him – which I do suspect due to his panicked attempt to explain it as transactional. If he didn’t care, he would probably find it easier to explain. At the same time though, he’d be happier if he could get the book without the monthly visits, because what he has with Stolas isn’t a relationship, no matter what Stolas tries to pretend. Any feelings Blitzø develops puts him even further under his control.

Part of me wonders if the relationship evolved between the pilot and the first episode in planning, and that’s why we have such a disconnect between the Insta relationship and the canon one. I’m really hoping the series addresses it in the future.

Finally, lets talk about that final reveal. Stella has hired a hitman to kill Stolas – even armed him with two angel-tech guns.

(Which, also finally gives us confirmation that Imps/Hellhounds/Succubi can die from conventional weapons, but the higher ranked native demons need angel weaponry to off them).

Stella is also confident enough to scream it over the dinner table. Stolas either doesn’t care, or isn’t paying attention – if he doesn’t care, if definitely puts his motives regarding the original invite up in the air, but if he isn’t paying attention? Then it’s another point in the anti-Stolas tab.

That said, this scenario does ask a question. Why don’t these two divorce? Stolas is clearly not in love any more, and living together clearly isn’t doing Octavia’s mental health any favours if she’s literally hiding behind her music rather than interact with her parents. He should be the first to offer a divorce, but he hasn’t brought it up. And if he hasn’t, maybe the reason Stella hasn’t is because they can’t?

It’s generally assumed that the two of them have an arranged marriage, and that Stella’s anger at his relationship with Blitzø is due to his status more than the cheating. But then wouldn’t it make more sense to hire a hitman to kill Blitzø rather than Stolas? Choosing to kill Stolas, even if it would hurt Octavia, suggests it’s the only option left to her.

I’m guessing we’ll (finally) get some Stella development next time Striker appears, and get an idea of what makes her tick. But for now, I suspect the two of them regularly had lovers on the side, but kept it discreet until this point. Stolas refusing to keep his relationship with Blitzø quiet is causing untold damage to their name and status. Stella wants rid of a man who not only doesn’t love her (if he ever did), but is constantly humiliating her for not hiding his much lower class lover (which we know by this episode he doesn’t even attempt), and since the rules of Hell for demons of their status doesn’t allow divorce (or perhaps their arrangement doesn’t), assassination it is.

Hell, maybe the plan was to kill Stolas, and frame Blitzø for it. Striker clearly knew about their relationship before they met (which should have been a red flag now that I thing about it), so Stella probably mentioned him. It would also put the recruiting on another level, if Striker actually did get Blitzø involved at the final moment and teamed up.

Oh, and as a final amendment? If that angel-gun that Striker left behind is not now in the hands of I.M.P and becomes a key piece when Asmodeus, Mammon and the real Fizzarolli show up? I will be very disappointed.

[all-things-mlqc]

The five boys react to an overweight MC that works as a nutritionist but struggles a lot to lose weight? It might be strange but it happens sometimes. PLEASE!!! Btw, I love your work❤️

This was really fun to write about. Knowing that these guys are so supportive of MC and want to help her in any way possible with whatever she’s struggling with is just so sweet. 

Thank you for the love and support as well! 😭 I’m usually just memeing it up out here so writing HCs is very new for me but your support helps so much! I did meme a lot while writing this as well because what’s life without memes, so you can find all of my inner thoughts crossed out~ Hope you enjoy!

HC below the cut~

Gavin:

Gavin loves and supports MC through everything. He’s constantly watching and confronts her whenever he believes something is wrong.

After noticing her sulking at herself in the mirror, he asks what’s troubling her.

“Nothing really! You don’t need to worry about me.”

She gives him a small smile and turns away from the mirror.

He figured it had something to do with her figure given the way she was looking at herself.

He remembered her mentioning how even though she’s a nutritionist, she still struggled with her own weight.

She didn’t seem all that down back when mentioning it, but the expression she had in the mirror said otherwise.

He stood up from the sofa and asked if she wanted to go with him during his morning jog.

“Why would you want me to do that? I’d only slow you down.”

Gavin: I don’t mind. If it’ll help, then I’ll do anything I can.

This man isn’t one for small talk. He gets straight to the point. He observes, finds the problem and seeks out a solution. There was no need for MC to confirm his suspicions about wanting to lose weight; It was all in her expression.

“I don’t really want you to go out of your way for me... Besides, it’s important you don’t slack off with your training.”

Gavin: I wouldn’t be slacking off. Training with you would only make me work harder.

A NATURAL ROMANTIC BUT ALSO A FUCKING MORON WHO GAVE HER A BLOOD SOAKED LETTER. IM GONNA BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU YA DUMBASS

MC takes up on Gavin’s offer considering how adamant he was. He also didn’t seem concerned in the slightest about MC being a burden BECAUSE SHES LITERALLY THE LIGHT IN HIS LIFE AND WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HER

After they go jogging, they stop for a healthy meal of MCs choice because Gavin doesn’t know what food is. Have you seen his kitchen? INSTA NOODLES EVERYWHERE. Boy is literally the type to throw a lunchables on the dinner table and give thanks for his beloved meal. Omg nononono I’m thinking of all these sad things now about how Gavin was literally homeless for a while as a kid so he probably just got used to eating something small and simple every day. BYE IMMA GO CRY NOW

While eating, Gavin comes up with a few more ideas to help and offers to take her to his gym every other day.

They come up with a plausible schedule that could seem efficient to MC’s wish of losing weight.

This also gives MC the chance to make sure Gavin is taking care of himself as well.

Kiro:

Kiro and MC meet up when he finally has free time and manages to escape from Savin.

Like their normal days together, they end up walking around Loveland City, going to some sightseeing locations. They just enjoy each other’s company.

When stopping to buy a snack, Kiro grabs two bags of chips and beams up at MC only to see her forced smile. He immediately gets concerned given how positive she always is.

Kiro: Are you ok? What’s on your mind?

“No, it’s nothing. I’m just trying to narrow down on the amount of junk food I eat.”

Kiro: Why is that? You’ve always told me to live to the fullest.

“Well... I’m trying to lose some weight but it seems more problematic than I had originally thought.”

With MC looking ashamed of how little progress she has made thus far, Kiro places both bags back on the shelf with a bright smile.

Kiro: Well if we both work together then there’s no chance we could lose this fight! Besides, Savin has been at my throat lately considering the mount of junk food I’ve been eating recently too.

“Kiro...”

MC stared at Kiro, dumbfounded, who seemed so positive. This gave MC a boost of confidence, herself.

She quietly thanked him while giving him a genuine smile.

They spent the whole day doing fun activities. In a way, this was part of Kiro’s plan to help MC. He knew how much this mattered to her so he wanted to keep a smile on her face while secretly help her from the shadows.

It’s honestly what he does best. It’s hard to tell in the game since we don’t get to see every expression he makes or how he reacts to things, but take a good look at his reactions in the anime. You can see how serious he really is behind his happy facade.

He continues to silently help her every time they spend time together as well as send her encouraging texts and reminders.

Nobody is more positive and encouraging than Kiro~

Lucien:

Lucien knows everything nutritionists know, let’s be real. This man was a child prodigy who skipped half of his school life, going straight to college.

He knows EXACTLY what MC needs. The one problem is, so does MC.

She knows what she needs to do but doesn’t have the kind of support she needs. She easily becomes discouraged when things don’t work out after trying so hard.

Luckily, Lucien is also a wonderful supporter minus when he just “what’s a magic? Don’t know em. No thoughts. Head empty. Only science and death”. Uhu then what do you call that flying cop outside the window? Where’s your science behind that? Lucien: “Well you see, there is a certain DNA mutation that—“ DO NOT ANSWER THAT YOU FOOL I KNOW ITS SCIENCE BUT MAGIC IS EASIER TO ACCEPT RN BECAUSE MY BRAIN GO BRRR

But considering it’s MCs health, he is very supportive and even explains that many people struggle with the same problem. There’s not exactly any problem with how someone looks unless it is overall affecting their health for the worse but he will gladly help MC if she wishes to lose weight.

Knowing that Lucien views it this way immediately gives MC more confidence.

An enormous amount of stress has been lifted off her shoulders which will ultimately help her reach her goal.

Lucien comes up with a solid workout plan and diet that is easy for MC to follow and even offers to make her some special meals to help with weight loss because Bill Nye over here has the solution to everything

I also highkey imagined him whispering in her ear like the first day they met that if she follows his plan without any casualties, he would give her special rewards and yes I do mean THOSE kind of rewards because this man is K I N K Y. I don’t even like him, I blame my friend who’s constantly giving me these ideas about him. You’re lucky you’re a bitch or I’d probably be on the floor for you too.

Victor:

Victor’s biggest struggle is vulnerability. He is very blunt and says what comes to his mind without always thinking it through.

Because of this, he upsets MC when talking about her weight.

He meant no harm from whatever he may have said but notices MC’s sorrowful expression after lifting his eyes from the papers on his desk to meet her gaze.

He immediately acknowledges what he had done and puts everything away for the day, offering to take her to Souvenir.

“What..?”

Victor: I’m done for the day. If you don’t have anything else to do, you can come with me.

“But why?”

Victor: You’re still you regardless of your weight, but if it’s something you want to change, I’ll help.

The man wanted to tell her she’s beautiful and amazing no matter what, but hahaha we all know this man can’t compliment for the life of him. Jkjk he can but like I said before, v u l n e r a b i l i t y. He struggles with expressing his true feelings.

MC responds with pure shock on her face,

“Really?? You’d help me?”

Victor: Only an idiot would ask a question like that. You should count on me more when you’re struggling with something like this.

Baka this baka that. If I don’t add it somewhere, than this whole HC isn’t accurate at all. All you thirsty Victor hoes go watch his baka clip if you want more *spray bottles*

He tidies up his desk and grabs his coat, heading towards the door while MC stumbles over her thoughts.

He only stops halfway out the door to look back over his shoulder at MC.

Victor: Well?

“I— I’m coming!”

She rushes over and follows him out the door.

Victor ends up making MC a delicious and healthy meal, one he knows is a special meal for a weight loss diet.

Cooking was never that important to him. He only learned because of the little girl he once knew. But now... Now he has a new reason to continue cooking.

That girl had come back to him and he would do anything in his power to make her happy.

Shaw:

He watches MC intently as she talks about how difficult it is for her.

Right before MC finishes, he places her on his skateboard and takes off without giving her time to protest.

She shouts in fear ofc. Why wouldn’t she. I’m terrified every time the game says he puts mc on his skateboard just—

Shaw chuckles with amusement in her ear and then tells her to push off with her own feet.

“ARE YOU INSANE?” yes, yes he is

Shaw: I won’t let you fall but I won’t stop until you push.

“Fine fine!”

With the help of Shaw keeping her steady, she’s able to smoothly push off the skateboard a few times.

After getting the hang of it, there’s a slight smile taking place of her feared expression from before.

Shaw’s expression, however, doesn’t change in the slightest. That teasing smirk rests on his face as she continues to push them down the park sidewalk.

As they reach the main road, she yells back to Shaw when the skateboard doesn’t slow down.

“Shaw—!”

It’s all she managed to get out as the fear she once had returned again.

MC shut her eyes with panic as the street grew closer and closer, only to feel an arm wrap around her as the cold wind hitting her face dissipated.

When her eyes opened, she saw Shaw giving her the same mocking smirk he always wears. However, his eyes showed signs of gentleness he doesn’t often express.

He offers her one of his skateboards for workout purposes as well as being her workout partner.

MCs chuckles out of amusement from the idea of HER riding a skateboard by herself. totally a reason why Shaw made this offer. He feeds off of entertainment.

She politely declines his offer of skateboarding but hesitantly asks if he would help her in other ways.

The question needs no thought from Shaw but he doesn’t want her to know he made up his mind to help long ago. ah yes, his one weakness as well, vulnerability

Shaw: I suppose being of assistance to you may turn out entertaining.

MC: Is that all I am to you? A source of entertainment?

She pouts at him half jokingly but he pays no mind to it as he kicks up his skateboard and continues walking ahead while suggesting a few things they can do to help with weight loss. Daring but not enough to scare her away. He actually wants to help but needs her to comply with his suggestions

Shaw is the type to help those he cares for without making it obvious. He believes personal relationships is a weakness for someone like him so he always keeps people at arms length; He always wants a possible way out for when he has to push people away.

While this is true, he’s also struggled with vulnerability his whole life. Considering the type of person his father was, growing up with a man like that not only puts pressure on Shaw, but also forms this broken and terrified personality under his overconfident facade.

Someone please just hold this man, he’s trying his best and needs healing

Their solution for MC is to try some fun activities together. Fun enough for MC to believe that Shaw isn’t going out of his way for her but also not as extreme to the point where MC won’t participate.

[monster-bait]

Hey there! I just had a couple of questions? First being, while I know its hard to get started with followers and traction on tumblr - especially lately - Do you have any tips for tags I could use or blogs that wouldn't mind being tagged in the monster fics that I've begun writing? I really want to join this community of awesome monster lover authors. Which brings me to ny next question, can I tag you in my stories? Tumblr notifs are very dumb but I hope you'd enjoy them! Thnk u -Kat

First off—OMG YES, PLS TAG MEEEE!!! I miss SO much, you guys. I reblog what I catch onto my bookshelf page, but I miss a ton of great writing from the community at large, so please, feel free to tag me, always! And that goes for anyone reading! If you’re writing exophilia/monster stories or adjacent-themed fanfic, you can always tag me! I encourage it! I’ve been introduced to so many great writers in the community by being tagged in their work— @margoteve, @frostsinth, and the wonderful @weasleasley, just to name a few!

As far as who else to tag, I have no idea and can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I’m sure it’s a question others have as well, so if you’re reading this and you’re a blog who enjoys being tagged in other people’s writing, sound off in the comments or reblog!

Second—check my #writing woes tag for posts specifically about starting out and building a following and keeping a following, I know I’ve written them. 

Tags: the tags I use on every single thing I write are: exophilia, monster boyfriend, monster lover, monster x human (if that’s the kind of story) _ _ _ girl/boyfriend (fill in the blank with creature type), and my own tag, monsterbait writes. I will say, when the tagging system is working, it makes some decent recs on my dash. If you go to the actual tracked tag’s page, it’s a frustrating mix of the same handful of creators (not that they don’t deserve to be there, but often the “top blogs” and posts are accounts who are no longer active, which I imagine is extremely frustrating for a newbie reader/fan!) but the recs generated on people’s dashboards are by most recent post, so new writers and stories without 600 notes actually have a chance of being seen by more than just their followers!

My writing woes tag will have more, but I will give you this bit of advice, because I think it’s important for a creator just starting out: this isn’t an easy platform to break into, but it’s by far the kindest to creators. I have NO idea how to get people to follow me on Insta/FB, short of begging (which I’ve done.) ((It still hasn’t worked.)) 

Gaining followers at a steady clip is a numbers game—the more content you churn out, the faster your follower count will increase. A bit of caution, though: the faster you churn out content, the faster you burn out the part of this that’s supposed to be fun. Ignore jerks in your inbox, write stories you love, and don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for not writing fast enough/the story they want. 

Good luck, don’t forget to tag me, and I can’t wait to see you show up on my dash!! 💖💖💖

[lightwoodsmagic]

Hi! So I agree Liam is queer, and the pink🔺in his video compels me not to ignore it. I saw one of your Ziam posts making its rounds after the SIU video, so I thought you were the person to ask. I only joined the fandom after Zayn left, and I’ve always had a hard time finding info on why and how that played out at the time (nobody seems to agree). Could you elaborate (or link to previous posts) on why you think Ziam is still a thing, and how they are telling us? Thanks for your insight so far!

 Hi anon! 

Thank you so much for thinking of me! I’m sorry it’s taken me a little while to answer, but it took me a bit to gather all the info I wanted (while I should’ve been working oop).

Okay, please know that this post is gonna be loooooong, so I’ve popped it under the cut.

You’re right about nobody agreeing on Zayn leaving the band, and it makes sense that people have differing views. It’s such a complicated thing; there was a lot happening at the time. 

I’m going to start by saying there’s a brilliant masterpost about Zayn leaving here. It’s incredibly detailed, talks about pretty much every aspect of it, and there’s so much to look into. It’s also wonderful to demonstrate how much the boys and Zayn still hinted at things and loved each other, like Harry using Zayn’s mic one night, Liam talking about him fondly in interviews, Niall still calling him by his nickname, and Louis wearing his clothes.

It’s a long read, but incredibly worth it, as it this stunting timeline.

Everyone is absolutely entitled to their opinion, so I’ll just give you mine. I’m gonna keep it (kind of) short though. A lot of what I’m about to say can be found in the masterposts I’ve linked above.

I believe that Zayn leaving was out of his control, and was never completely his decision. I believe that he was set to return, but for some reason, the plan changed. Mind of Mine was apparently written before he left, and while I think he would’ve been working on solo music before he left (and that all of them were to some extent), to tease an album right after the announcement that he left makes no sense. A contract like the one that 1D had/has with Syco would cost an obscene amount of money to get out of, and Zayn’s net worth didn’t change at all. They made it seem so simple in the very few interviews with Zayn afterwards, saying he just called his security, got on a plane, and left. I think Zayn struggled a lot with everything, they all did, but I don’t think he could’ve just left. There were articles put out about his new album that mentioned Simco and everything, but when people pointed out that it didn’t make sense with the narrative that Simon felt ‘betrayed’, the references were removed straight away. 

There’s also a very solid theory that MoM was counted as One Direction’s sixth and final contracted album, and it really stands up. Check it out! 

Look. There’s a lot to unpack with the whole situation, and I’ve hardly touched on it at all, but I really do encourage you to look into it with everything I’ve linked above  💞

Okay, now onto the second part of your ask! 

Ziam. My loooovveesss.  

I’m going to start by saying that there’s a lot of ways that Liam and Zayn have hinted that they’re still together, and honestly? The boys ain’t even subtle about it. I’ll start by talking about heaps of ways they’ve done that since Zayn left!

Alright, let’s start with the fact that they WILL NOT STOP LIKING, REBLOGGING, AND RETWEETING POSTS FROM ZIAM ACCOUNTS. 

(x) (x)

These aren’t subtle Ziam accounts, and it’s not just these examples. This also isn’t just something in the past; that bottom right one references Stack It Up.

They’ve also both reposted fanart from a well known Ziam where each drawing referenced the other one. 

(x)

The Zayn art says ‘Love Payne’ on the beanie. Well then. 

And the Liam one? That he posted on his personal insta? The artist added the ‘love’ tattoo from Zayn’s hand onto Liam’s. It’s obvious, and it’s not like Liam wouldn’t have noticed that suddenly there was a new tattoo added ON HIS OWN HAND. 

Not very subtle, hey.

It’s also not the only shady social media activity related to the boys  👀

There was the time that Liam explained why he’d written ‘personally’ twice in a thank you post in his insta story to Bvlgari. 

But he hadn’t. What had happened was that Twitter account @TheZiamNews had made a small mistake, and had actually written it twice. The only explanation was that Liam saw it on a Ziam update page VERY quickly, thought he had made the original mistake, and then explained. Interesting that Liam keeps up to date with them. 

There was also the time Liam blocked an account for talking absolute shit about Zayn, or when Herbie Critchlow (a producer from Icarus Falls) retweeted a tweet about Common being about Ziam. Also can’t forget Brandon Colbein posting on insta about some songs he’d written, and somehow there was one for Zayn and one for Liam. 

Oh, and when Liam’s friend Andy (who seems to…split the fandom, but alas) posted a video of him listening to Icarus Falls, or every single mirroring insta post Liam and Zayn can’t seem to help making.

And their eyebrow slits! 😊 this goes allllll the way back to One Direction days.

(x)

Now, this is a constant, recurring thing for them over the years.

It’s usually at the same time, and it usually signifies something. 

Zayn went ALL OUT one day, just after Z*gi ‘broke up’, and put a slit in his eyebrow, but it wasn’t a normal one. It was in the shape of an L. That fucking sap. Not to be outdone though, Liam popped a lil’ Z in the graphics for his show last year in Japan. 

SAPS, THE BOTH OF THEM.

Now, jewellery. 

OOOOOF are we in for it now. You’re probably regretting this ask already. 

Cartier. 

Say that single word around someone who believes in Ziam and you’ve lost them forever. 

Back in 2015 (so yes, a while ago but bear with me) during the OTRA tour, Zayn suddenly started wearing a gold Cartier bracelet. It was interesting because Zayn didn’t wear bracelets at the time. It was particularly interesting because Liam had been seen earlier that day with jewellery bags buying a present. Curious.

Or obvious. 

Either or. 

A similar thing happened when Zayn attended the ‘Straight Outta Compton’ premiere, one of his first appearances after he left the band. He was wearing a Hublot watch, which was also interesting because Zayn didn’t wear watches either. 

But GUESS WHERE LIAM HAD BEEN 2 DAYS BEFORE THE PREMIERE?

You’re damn right, anon. It was Hublot.

Now, the Cartier love bracelet. 

This picture was posted when Liam was getting ready for the Brits in 2017. For those that don’t know, the Cartier love bracelet has little screws, and can only be undone with a little gold screwdriver that comes with it. 

Liam wore it everywhere that year, and so often. It didn’t make sense for it to be ‘given to him by Ch*ryl’, because they would’ve used every opportunity to show that damn screwdriver. 

But they didn’t, because she didn’t have it. Zayn did. 

There’s also the other matching bracelets they’ve worn by Alexander McQueen.

And also the other time Zayn wore Cartier in his film clip, or the fact that Zayn started wearing a ring on his right ring finger that was sold and marketed by Cartier AS A WEDDING RING. 

They also share watches if Zayn decides to wear one, because they’re cute like that.

Now, they also share clothes. 

So many clothes, ohmygod. 

(x)

A prime example of this actually happened just last year! TWICE! IN NYC WHEN LIAM WAS THERE (obviously to see his husband). Both times, Liam was out and about wearing two of Zayn’s jackets. 

It’s also absolutely not a coincidence that when Zayn was staying at G*gi’s apartment on Bond Street, Liam stayed at a hotel a few minutes away a number of times, but when Zayn moved to Soho, Liam suddenly switched hotels to one in Soho, a few minutes away from Zayn’s new place. Just can’t stay away from an old band mate you hardly talk to, hey. 

Also can’t ignore Liam wearing numerous Kooples shirts during the time Zayn was doing promotional stuff for them. Husbands givin’ gifts.

 NYC isn’t the only city that relates to Ziam though! 

Ahhhhhhhh. Ziami. What a time, what a time, what a time (for you and I).

Anyway. 

At the start of last year, Liam and Zayn were both in Miami at the same time filming music videos for Let Me and Familiar respectively, arriving either at the same time or a day apart. It was at a time when Zayn was all over his socials, posting poems and selfies and generally being his relaxed, gorgeous self, which wasn’t incredibly common for a while. 

People were convinced they could hear Zayn in one of Liam’s insta stories, talking in the background just before Liam realises and raises his voice. It’s definitely not firm though, and Liam has someone in his team with a similar accent, but I’ve linked it so you can judge for yourself! Regardless, we knew they were both there, but it was a fun lil’ talking point!

Anyway, according to people who live in the area and know the coastline, they were in the same area at the same time, and we also knew that Liam wasn’t with Ch*ryl because she was back in the UK. Now, Liam posted an Instagram story the next morning half naked in bed, his 4 tattoo (we’ll get to that) and roses on full display, and saying he’d wrecked his voice. 

Well then. 

He also posted this. 

It was a video, but it was Liam, in his room ‘alone’ with two desserts for breakfast at a time when we knew Zayn was there and no one else was, and he suddenly had no voice. 

Okay okay, we get it. 

They also consistently reference the number 25, and honestly, no one knows why the fuck.

Just casually on Liam’s jackets and shoes, Zayn’s shoes and a shirt that was sold (even the red and yellow, ffs Zayn), and also Zayn’s NECK, which he got in 2018. There was also chevrons on a collection for Zayn, just like Liam’s tattoos.

Speaking of tattoos Zayn got in 2018. 

That big, red wolf on his chest just up there?

One of the biggest Ziam things to ever happen. 

Red was Liam’s mic colour in 1D, everything they fucking do seems to be related to red, and Liam’s nickname is Wolfie because he’s from Wolverhampton. 

It’s a red wolf, directly on his chest, and it’s 100% for Liam. It’s not the only red wolf tattoo Zayn has; he also has one on his leg with feathers, just like Liam’s feather tattoo. 

The media often talk about the eyes Zayn has underneath that, and that they’re for G*gi, but the eyes underneath are so much lighter than the surrounding ink, the shape fits easily, and to me, it seems clear they’ve been done in a way that they can easily be inked over. It was designed for a cover up, and hopefully it’s coming. Zayn also has Liam’s name literally inked into his skin. 

They also have coordinating hand tattoos. The mandala on Zayn’s hand and the roses on Liam’s are explained brilliantly in this post. The two of these together mean ‘Symbol of Eternity’. Fucking hell. 

The three roses on Liam’s hand also translates to ‘I love you’. FUUUCCCKKKKKKK.

Liam also wore a ring for a while, until he was forced to take it off, but then he rebelled anyway, and got this.

It’s important because not only is it on his wedding finger, it’s also what he said about it, and when he got it. 

Now, not only is 4 as an angel number about changing the only things that you can in a situation, but Liam directly said that’s what it was. He can’t wear a wedding ring, so he did the next best thing. 

It also came when Liam and Ch*ryl became ‘official’, and when he’d already quashed marriage twice in an interview. Interesting choice, then. He also spoke of the 4 and a ring forming a halo, but still somehow shut down marriage talk? 

…….okay then. 

Some incredibly brilliant people pointed out that it also came just before Valentine’s Day.

And just before he started wearing the Cartier bracelet from earlier. 

There’s also the blatant references to a gorgeous, loving relationship throughout Icarus Falls, especially in Common and There You Are. There You Are was pushed as a Z*gi song, but people realised it was impossible when they found old pictures of the name of the song on his original plan for Mind of Mine, and realised it just hadn’t made that album. It doesn’t fit their timeline at all, but it does fit Ziam.

We don’t see Zayn very much at the moment, and I’m glad that he’s taking his time just doing what he’s doing! It does mean that we hardly see them interact or reference each other much, but I have absolutely no reason to believe they’ve broken up. The fact that they’re both still going through PR relationship bullshit, and the timing of Liam getting a ‘girlfriend’ right now instead of just rumours is very interesting to me, because Z*gi officially finished again not that long ago. When one is ‘single’, the other can’t be, it seems. 

This isn’t even everything, anon. They’re not subtle; Zayn just isn’t in the public eye as much. 

Everything they do screams love, devotion, and commitment to each other. 

And it’s fucking gorgeous.

[calpalirwin]

Night Out

A/N: Remember my post about the high-heeled princess vs the muddy sneakers tomboy? Yeah, this is that blurb.

And away, and away we go!

~~~

“Just a Friday night with the boys,” I told my reflection, my hands gripping the bathroom counter as I tried to slow my breathing.

If it’s just a night out with the boys why are you so nervous?

Because you’ve had a crush on Ashton since you met and now you’re both finally single?

Shut up!

These are your thoughts, you know that right?

I said shut up!

“Just a Friday night with the boys,” I repeated to myself.

Oh, if only that were true.

~~~

I had first met Ashton and the rest of 5SOS at a photoshoot after my friend had called me up asking for extra help when a colleague bailed on her at the last minute.

“Please Y/N?” Katie begged me over the phone. “You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“And you know I’m not like you. I take photos on my phone for fun.”

“Good photos!”

“I’m not a professional like you are, okay? I’ll ruin your business.”

“No you won’t. C’mon, at least let me tell you who the photoshoot is for.”

“Who?”

“5SOS!”

I sighed. She knew that band was my weakness. “Damn it, alright. I’m in.”

“Yay! You won’t regret this Y/N!”

~~~

“So, did Katie just hire you?” the tall man with brown hair and hazel eyes asked me. He had on a white button up shirt with short sleeves and roses on it tucked into fitted black slacks.

“What?” I sputtered, looking around to see who he was talking to, because it certainly couldn’t be me. Only it had to be because it was just us in the room. “Me?” I asked stupidly, pointing at myself.

He giggled. The real-life, not from a video clip, giggle. “Yes, you. Who else?”

“Casper?”

He giggled again. “You’re funny, you know that? Name’s Ashton,” he said, offering me his- very large- hand.

“Y/N,” I choked out, shaking his hand, trying not to drool over how warm and soft it felt despite his rugged looks. The man looked like a god, not a drummer.

“Funny girl with a cute name,” he noted. “So, how do you know Katie?”

“How do you know Katie?” I challenged, my brain forgetting how to work.

“She’s my photographer…?”

“Right… um…”

“Jesus, you are new,” he giggled a third time. “Relax. Loosen up a bit.”

“I am not new. I’ve just never done this before.”

“Think that makes ya new, gorgeous,” he winked.

Oh, God… I was gonna pass out. I reached past him for the water bottles on the table, busying myself with taking a sip, trying to ignore his presence.

“Wow, you are impossible to get to know. I asked a simple question. It wasn’t a rude one, was it?”

“She’s my best friend. I’m just here to help her out,” I said, trying to appear more confident than I actually was.

“Oh, so you’re not like a real photographer?”

“Nope,” I said, popping the “p” loudly. “I’m a writer. Well, I work for a publishing company anyway.”

“Oh, that’s cool. You do know how to use a camera though, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not an idiot.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, just checking. My livelihood depends on you and Katie not making me and my bandmates look like shit.”

“My bandmates and me,” I corrected under my breath.

“What was that?” he asked, leaning down to hear me better. “Sorry, my hearing’s shit.”

“I said that’s impossible!” I blurted, my cheeks flushing as I realized I had just more or less confessed that I found him attractive.

He just giggled again.

~~~

What I thought was just a one time occurrence quickly spiraled into more. The next time Katie called me to help with a photoshoot, she jumped straight to what I needed to hear.

“It’s another 5SOS one!”

“Great, so you want me to make a fool of myself again?” I asked, even though we both knew I was going to say yes.

“Oh, c’mon! Your pictures came out great, Y/N. And the boys liked you.”

“I tripped him!” I said, meaning Ashton. It had been unintentional. I was sitting with my legs kicked out when he had walked backwards into me. He had fallen, then did a weird backwards sort of skip to get his other foot out behind his falling weight to catch himself. “Make all the men fall for you like that?” he had winked.

“Oh, please! It was an accident! That man needs to watch where he’s walking.”

“That man needs to do a lot of things…” I mumbled under my breath.

“I heard that!”

~~~

“You’re not gonna trip me again, are ya?” Ashton’s voice sounded from behind me.

I whirled to see the man sporting short sleeved white collared shirt, similar to the one he wore at our first meeting, only without the roses decorating it. “You should watch where you’re walking,” I said, using Katie’s words as I scrambled to find my own.

“You this flustered with everyone, or am I just special?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

This time, instead of giggling, he smirked.

~~~

“Y/N, I gotta another 5-” Katie started.

“I’m in,” I responded.

This time, Ashton Irwin would not fluster me.

~~~

“I think you were stalking me if I didn’t know any better.”

I narrowed my eyes at the man, whose leather jacket and slicked back hair made him look like a modern-day James Dean. No! His antics of riling me up ended here and now!

“Trust me, I’d rather be anywhere else,” I lied. Well, it was half a lie at least. I would rather be somewhere else- a somewhere else that included him in a bed with our clothes on the floor. But, he didn’t need to know that.

His face fell at my words. “Oh… sorry if I made you uncomfortable…” Long gone was the usual giggle and smirk of a man who knew he made heads turn. In its place was a sincere apology that he had crossed some imaginary line. Even his hazel eyes, which usually danced with mischief were sorrowful.

“Oh, no!” I rushed, feeling guilty my words gave him the impression that he had done something wrong. “I’m sorry. I just… you… friends?” I asked, biting my lower lip. Friends? Really? That was the best I could come up with?

“Friends,” he nodded, a small smile coming back to his features. “You know me and the guys really like it when you work with Katie. We, uh… might have requested you this time?” he admitted, a hand coming to rest at the back of his neck as he dodged my gaze.

“You requested me? I’m not even a photographer…”

“You do good work. Plus, you’re like really chill and easygoing. Now that we’re friends, you should hang out with us sometime.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool.”

~~~

That was when our friendship really took off. 

Ashton quickly became one of my best friends and I got along really well with the other 3. They were my boys and I was their girl. I quickly earned the title of honorary bro, a role that I took seriously, suddenly grateful for a lifetime of being a tomboy.

That being said, I was still jealous as hell when I had to play his wingman, wishing that one day he would see me as one of the girls he flirted with instead of the girl-bro who helped him seal the deal.

To take the sting out of the wound, I dated around myself.

But tonight? Well, tonight Ashton and I were both single at the same time. And I was determined to get my man.

~~~

The night out had been my idea. A lie that I needed a bros night out after a hard week. In truth, I just wanted a night out with Ashton, but was too nervous to blatantly ask him out. So, I was going to hide under the guise of a harmless boys night out, and pray I blew him out of the water.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror: my hair curled, bright red lipstick drawing attention to my lips, my black dress drawing attention to my curves, and my heels giving me just enough height to hopefully reach Ashton’s lips.

“Just a Friday night with the boys,” I said one last time before heading out.

~~~

Calum let out a long, low whistle when I walked in. “You said guys night, not girls night,” he said, wrapping me in a hug.

“I take it I look good?”

“Stunning. Is this for-?” He let his question hang between us. He knew I had a crush on Ashton. They all knew. All but Ashton.

“Damn,” Mike choked from behind me. “Keep me out of your selfies, please.”

“Too much?” I asked, biting my lip, suddenly feeling very nervous I was overdoing it.

“Oh…” Mike said with realization. “Operation Get Yo Man?”

I nodded my head fast, biting further down on my lip.

“Stop, you’ll ruin the lipstick,” both men scolded me.

“Whoa, Cal got a girl already?” Luke asked, rounding the corner. “Y/N?” he gasped once he realized it was me, his blue eyes wide in shock. “I can’t… you look… wow…”

“It’s Operation Get Yo Man,” Mike told Luke.

“Yeah, I can see that. Has Ash seen her yet?”

“He’s not here!” I said worriedly, twisting my hands. “Oh, this was so stupid!”

“Relax,” Calum said, his hands coming down on my shoulders, turning me to look at him. “Ash is gonna flip when he sees you. This is gonna work.”

“Really?”

“You look like a fuckin model,” Mike said.

“Says the one engaged to a model…”

“So, who better to judge?” he asked, his green eyes twinkling.

“Okay, picture!” I said, feeling excited again as I pulled out my phone. “C’mon, you two,” I said when Luke and Mike hung back. “Crystal and Sierra are both well aware of my feelings.”

“Alright,” Luke shrugged, throwing an arm around me, while Mike came to stand behind me, and Calum threw his arm around me from the other side of Luke. “Say Operation Get Yo Man!” Luke teased, my phone in his hand as he had the longest reach.

“Operation Get Yo Man!” we grinned at the camera as Luke snapped a series of pictures.

“Oh, post that one!” Calum said, once we let go and looked at our selfies.

I quickly put the photo on my Insta-

thefaby/n: Operation Get Yo Man with the best wingmen a girl could ask for! #boysnight #operationgetyoman #myboys

~~~

“Really? You took the selfie without me?” Ashton’s voice said as he slid in the booth.

“Sorry,” I shrugged.

His hazel eyes locked with mine, before scanning my body. “Whoa…” he breathed.

“Mate, you knew what she was wearing. You saw the post,” Calum smirked.

“No, I didn’t. I saw that Y/N posted, and i just assumed… whoa…” he said again.

From across the table I could see his Adam’s apple moving as he struggled to come to terms with the girl I normally was in comparison to the girl across from him. Good. He could be the flustered one for once. “Problem?” I smiled.

“No, no problem,” he said, shaking his head, going back to being unbothered. “You look good.”

“I know,” I smirked, taking a sip from my drink, making sure he was watching as my red lips wrapped around the straw.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight, boys?” Ashton asked, drumming his hands on the table and avoiding my eye.

“It’s Operation Get Yo Man,” Mike said, throwing his arm around me.

“Oh, so we’re her wingmen tonight? Alright,” Ashton said, licking his lips and looking around the rest of the bar. “See anything you like so far?” he asked, as simply as if he was asking if I wanted him to pass over the fries.

I drummed my fingers against my chin, drawing his attention to my lips again. “You know what? As a matter of fact, I do. Cal, care to dance?” I said, offering my hand out to Calum who sat on the other side of the booth with Ashton.

To his credit, he kept his face calm as Ashton got out to allow Calum to pass as Luke moved to let me out on our side. “What are you doing?” Calum whispered, wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“Trust me. Now put your hand on my lower back. Touch my ass if you have to.”

His arm slid down my back, giving my ass a small squeeze before resting his hand on it as we walked off. I could swear I heard Ashton mutter a “Motherfucker.”

“You know, a lesser man would be mad you’re using him like this,” Calum said.

“You’re not mad, are you?” I asked, turning and wrapping my arms around his neck as he swayed me in time to the music.

His cheeks crinkled with his smile. “Nah. You help me get laid all the time. Glad to repay the favor.”

“Thank you,” I smiled, lifting my heels up to peck his cheek. “Think it’s working?”

“If it doesn’t, he’s an idiot. So, out of curiosity, why Ash?”

“Aw, Cal, are you jealous?”

“I’d be lying if I said you weren’t turning me on right now. But, I’m more than fine with our friendship staying a friendship. If you ever wanna fool around though…”

I placed my hand on his chest and laughed, feeling him rumble with his own laughter. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. But…”

“But, Ash.”

“But, Ash,” I nodded. “He just… he went out of his way to make me feel welcome. You all have. But, he did it first. And I thought he was actually flirting with me whereas you guys were just being nice to me. And just…” I sighed, closing my eyes as I collected my thoughts. “Did I misread everything? Am I only friends with you guys to get close to him? Am I only friends with him because I want something more?”

“Hey, stop,” Cal said firmly. “Whatever the original intentions were, you’re one of us now. That’s not gonna change. Yes, we all know you’re closest with Ash. But our friendships are still real friendships. This doesn’t go away if things with you and Ash go wrong. You know that right? We’re your boys and you’re our girl. End of discussion. Case closed.”

“Thanks, Cal,” I said, resting my head against his chest.

“Anytime, Y/N, anytime,” he murmured against my hair. “Oh, looks like my work here is done,” he said, his chin rubbing at my head as he nodded at Ashton walking towards us. “Hey, mate.”

Ashton nodded his head curtly, his lips pressed tightly together. He was mad. But why? I liked him, but that didn’t mean my feelings were reciprocated.

“Need something?” I asked. I wanted him to want me. But I wanted him to want the real me. Not the girl dressed up who was dancing and flirting with his best mate. 

“Yeah, can we talk? In private?” His gaze shifted from mine to Calum as he asked his second question. 

“She’s all yours, mate,” Calum said, stepping away from me. But not before he placed a kiss on my cheek and whispered, “Get yo man, girl.”

I mouthed a thank you as the darker man strolled off back to our booth, leaving me alone with Ashton. “So what’s up?”

“Stop playing innocent,” he snapped. 

“Excuse me?”

“This act you’re playing. It’s not cute.”

“What act?”

“This!” His hand waved about my whole body.

“I can’t dress nice for a night out with my boys? You’re not my father, Ashton.”

“No, but you’re like a sister to me. And I would hope my sister’s friends would have enough sense to call her out for acting like a… like a…”

“Like a what, Ash? Like a girl?” I challenged. I knew what he was trying to say, but I also knew he respected women too much to ever say they were acting like a tramp. He was all about women being unapologetically themselves. Why was he on my case about it?

“You know what I mean. This isn’t you.”

“Spoiler alert: I can be a lot more than the girl-bro. I can be the girl-girl too.”

“Yeah. But are you doing this because you want to? Or are you doing it to impress someone?”

“What does it matter?” I continued to challenge, even though part of me knew he was right. Either he liked me for me or he didn’t. So why had I dressed up for him?

“Would you quit dodging the question and answer? Is this really a night out with your boys, or is there something more? Operation Get Yo Man? Really, Y/N? Is it Cal?”

“What? No, it’s not Cal. God. You really don’t see it. do you?”

“See what? That you’re crazy?”

“I like you, dumbass!” I blurted. “I liked you the whole time!”

“Oh.”

“Look, I get it, okay? I’m not some tight-skirt, high-heeled princess. I’m the blue jeans and muddy sneakers tomboy.  Both are beautiful. Both are dangerous.”

“Both are you,” he cut me off.

My face flushed. “Both are not me. Look, I get it. I’m not the conventional beauty you normally date. But, I’m tired of hiding. So, I’m putting myself out there. Ball’s in your court, now,” I said. 

“Jesus, took ya long enough…”

“What?”

“Y/N, I’ve liked you since I met you. You’ve got spunk. You’re unapologetically yourself 100 percent of the time. More than that, you’re my best friend. You see me for me. And I see you for you.”

“You like me?”

“Of course I do! God, I was so nervous around you, I literally tripped.”

“You played it off well…”

“That’s because while you make me a nervous wreck, you also instill a level of confidence in me I never knew I had.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So… where does that leave us?”

“I think it leaves us right about here,” he said before ducking his head down to kiss me. It was soft. It was sweet. It was fierce. It was everything I dreamed it was.

“Here’s good,” I smiled, breathless once we pulled apart.

~~~

The next morning, I woke up in a bed that was not mine in a shirt that was also not mine. “Oh, fuck… what happened last night?”

“You got rip roaring drunk, and ended up in my bed,” Ashton’s voice sounded from where he was lying next to me in bed, shirtless and scrolling through his phone. “Aspirin and water’s right there for ya.”

“Thanks,” I said, quickly swallowing the two small pills with a swig of water. Waking up in his bed with him next to me was nothing new. But, given what I thought I remembered about last night…  “Ash, did we… ?” I asked, both afraid of what I had done last night and what we had done.

His phone clattered on his bedside table and he rolled over to face me. “What’s the last thing you remember, Y/N?”

“Let’s see… dancing with Cal. You and me arguing. Did we kiss?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Then what?”

“Then nothing. You continued to dance and drink, saying that it was the best night of your life. Then you asked me to take you home. You’re a very needy drunk, Y/N.”

I leaned my head in one of my hands and shut my eyes in a wince. “Oh, God… Sorry… So we didn’t… ?”

“Have sex? No,” he shook his head.

“Thanks for not taking advantage.”

“Ew, don’t thank me for doing the right thing…”

I sighed. “We don’t go back to normal after this, huh?”

“Oh, you mean back to before we confessed our feelings for each other, and you ended up safely in my bed, untouched?”

I let out a weak laugh. “Yeah, that.”

“We don’t.”

“Oh, cool,” I fake-smiled. “I’m gonna get an Uber. See ya around, I guess,” I said, offering a small two-finger wave and throwing back the covers.

“Y/N.”

“What?” I asked, the room spinning.

“You can’t just leave.”

“Yes, I can, Ash. I’ve already made enough of a fool of myself. Let me go nurse this hangover in peace.”

He scoffed. “You can barely walk. Get back in bed.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” I said, taking a few unsteady steps forward before falling on the floor. “Ow… Ash…”

I heard his giggle as he got out of bed. “Told ya,” he smirked before scooping me up like a small child and placing me back in his bed.

“Shut up…”

“You’re ridiculous, you know that? Do you know why we kissed?”

“Because I’ve been wanting to kiss you for the past year and a half?”

“Well… maybe. But, it’s because I kissed you. Because I like you.”

“Well, that’s dumb of you.”

“Hey. Be proud of yourself. Operation Get Yo Man was a success. You got him.”

“I do?”

“Honestly, woman. Am I gonna spend the rest of my life reassuring you that I’m into you?”

“Maybe?”

“Alright then. Victory selfie for my hungover girlfriend?”

“You know me too well, Ashton Irwin.”

“Get over here,” he giggled, pulling me to lay against his shoulder, phone already posed for the shot.

I closed my eyes against him, grinning and breathing in his scent, feeling his lips kiss my hair as the camera shutter clicked rapidly. “Perfect,” I said, looking at the picture of us before putting it up on my Insta.

thefaby/n: Status Report- Operation Get Yo Man: successful. #operationgetyoman #successfulmission #myman

[illgiveyouahint]

the thing about all this instagram content and the content at the end of s3 and all the other social media content is that if it was a clip it would kinda feel pointless/like a filler. Like nothing is happening, there's no plot and people are just chilling/having fun, right? but druck still knows how important that stuff is. How it builds the characters and builds the relationship between them and make the friendships that much stronger. 

I mean we're getting this amazing david x amira content and we had them have that selfie at the end of s3 and we're now all ready for that amira x david interaction even though in the clips itself they barely said two words to each other so far. But when they do have a scene together in s4 it'll not feel out of place because they've already established that these two know each other/hang out with this extra insta content.

also while we've seen some Kiki x Carlos in the clips when you think about it most of the establishment of them as a couple and why we like them as a couple is through the instas and seeing kiki teaching carlos ballet or them going on a walk etc.

tl;dr Druck is using their social media very well (I think they are hands down the best out of all the remakes when it comes to their insta content) and using it in a way that still works as a storytelling technique.

[jongdality]

me thinkin' about how i've grown up with exo and watched as they lived and learned and developed as professionals and humans, overcoming the struggles of a poor debut concept and scandal after scandal with their tenacity and love for each other

Then thinkin' about how Kyungsoo, a somewhat aloof, awkward and weird boy who decided to be bold and try out for SM after old people at karaoke competitions told him to and he made 8 brothers for life who love him dearly and support him and his antics and his acting career and call him cute no matter how much he says he isn't good at anything and that he's boring and Manly and how he has starred in a full-ass movie and is partially credited as breaking the "idol-actor" stereotype and writes love songs with chanyeol on the DL that chanyeol reveals on his lives and wrote the lyrics to a lovely, comforting song for us before leaving to join the military so he can become an even bigger star in multiple films once he gets out

Then thinkin' about how bbh, an outgoing boy who flicked lights on and off to make his friends giggle, met a friend for life, kjd, on the very same day they both were to audition to get into a group that was about to debut, how he worked hard to break down barriers in the group and became the moodmaker, and how people thought he was bad at dancing because he hadn't had time to train but actually every solo dance he's been given he's slayed to the point that he became the CENTER FOR CBX, how he worked hard to learn piano in a very short amount of time to play The Answer for his EXO-Ls, how even after an early scandal in which is privacy was invaded he still looks at us with such love and protection and is NOW an amazing solo artist who texts the exo group chat saying he misses them so much

Then thinkin' about Suho. Kim frickin' Joonmyeon. The underdog of the entire group. Born rich, charismatic and well-educated, could have been ANYTHING but CHOSE to train for SEVEN YEARS due to his love of music. You guys. When Baek and another member got into trouble for cussing while playing video games sometime in 2012-2013 and a sasaeng threatened to reveal the voice clips of them cussing purportedly to apink members, joonmyeon texted her personally, so cold, so professional, "are you blackmailing us? If you release the clip you won't be forgiven" big fuckin dad energy, worked so hard on his singing and dancing yet still asks not to be given too many lines or placed center too often, gives up his seats for his members ALWAYS, accepted their first awards show win alone stoic and professional as the boys broke down in the back room after the news of kris leaving broke, now has multiple solo songs and acts and is literally set to be higher-level management at SM due to all his hard work, definitely puts out that goofy mom energy but is actually extremely intelligent, protective and the go-to guy for all the members and this para has no point i just think kim joonmyun deserves everything

Remembering that chanyeol has a famous sister and is a multitalented instrumentalist that didn't actually need to become an idol, but he did because he wanted "brothers", how he skyrocketed an entire foot from debut til now, how he's all teeth and ears and big anime eyes and legs and he's confident and happy after years of struggling w his weight and self-image, makin music and writing lyrics and modeling for tommy hilfiger and riding scooters in paris and despite the fact that he can't dance he tries, despite the fact that he didn't audition to be a rapper he became one of korea's best, how he turns into a little kid every time he's around any small animal and just tries to cuddle and feed it as he coos in his Low Man Voice, his tough raps but then his soft exo station song SSFW, and now exo-sc with his bestie and ACTING!!!

Thinkin' about Xiumin. Xiumin who came in as a vocalist and ended up being one of the best dancers in the group (even tho he hits the highest notes!!!). Xiumin who is the oldest and wisest but is still willing to throw that ass back to havana to make cbx laugh. Xiumin who is korea's pick, who kids and ahjummas alike fall for. Xiumin who is beautiful and quiet and humble and supports his brothers from the sidelines, who is so loving and caring, who released an adorable solo that matches him so well and is now winning fckn awards in military training for being so goddamn amazing. Xiumin who attends TVXQ concerts and supports all of his fellow celebrities. Mark's dad. Amazing man. Says he has no friends outside of exo but literally everyone loves him. Dedicated his formative years to the group even when he wasn't spotlighted like he deserves to be and-

Lay. That's it. That's the paragraph. He came in not speaking Korean and is now one of the top-grossing musicians in all of China. Breaking barriers. Learning languages in a matter of months. Solo albums out the wazoo that he composed. Coming back to wish Kyungsoo goodbye even though he hasn't been on a stage with them in years. Didn't leave, although I'm sure he was mistreated just as much as the members who did. All of exo loves him so fucking much.

Kai. Kai who could have been a professional ballet dancer, could have been a full-time model, debuts as the SCREAMO BOY in mama. Gets made fun of for his skin complexion. Is shy and embarrassed for the first 2 or 3 years of exo interviews, and is still pretty shy and introverted. But boy became the fucking IDOL'S IDOL. FANCAMS GOING VIRAL LEFT AND RIGHT. SUSTAINING INJURIES, CRYING WHEN HE MESSES UP AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT DANCE ROUTINE TO "I SEE YOU". Is such a perfectionist to the point of pushing himself into constant injury, and besides that has had his personal life broadcasted all over the news MULTIPLE times even though he's so shy and withdrawn irl. People cry to meet him, now. Front and center of every exo dance. A dancing god and the reason half of NCT auditioned. I cannot emphasize how proud I am of Kai, who is only a few months older than sehun yet has had to grow up so fast as the face of the group. Solo during the olympics with plantar fasciitis. Model who stuns at every Gucci show in new and experimental designs.

Sehun. Oh fuckin' Sehun. Ran away from recruiters because his mom told him not to talk to strangers, and now he's modelling for every major fashion campaign, is on the cover of vogue, has his dream dog and certifiably has the biggest dick of all exo members. Became a main dancer through hard work and practice even though nobody ever talks about how hard osh works bc he's sort of overshadowed by kai. Insecure about his singing voice but makes crowds go wild every time he even croons out one beautiful, dulcet line. Babied by junmyeon, kissed and coddled by all the exo members, still has Big Baby Energy but is debuting in a group with his fellow chaotic neutral yeol and looking all sexy with his swooped back hair and his 0 follows on insta. Sings in We Young and raps his little heart out. His solo during concerts still shake my very uterus and im pretty sure he's gay. That's how powerful ohs is, and he can only go up from here.

And finally my baby boy kim jongdae. Chanyeol once said Jongdae is so nice that he comes off as stupid and that is absolutely positively true. Boy is the manifestation of the john mulaney quote "you could pour soup on my lap and id apologize to you". Is a ray of fucking sunshine whose only goal as he was singing in that video from high school was to "become a singer". It's his passion. It's the reason he LIVES. He prays to jesus before every concert but worships music. One of THE best vocalists in the game with the cleanest and most controlled voice, sings in the shower, sings in the car, sings while walking to pet some deer, sings because he loves it and now he's a soloist with his own album out and another in the works, and not only that, he dances his feet on fire in CBX and exo routines and remains steady to hit those high notes. Duets abound because everyone loves him. Will tell a bitch to back off when talking about his private life bc he's probably a husband with 6 happy, healthy children at home. Started out as the nervous boy chasing a dream on that fateful day with bbh and became the nation's pick, sings CONSTANTLY, yet is still so humble he opens up a yt channel just to cover other artists' songs. MCs for Baekhyun's solo and shows up to all his performances to monitor. Heart of gold. Smiles when he's hurting. Deserves this solo career and deserves the happiest life this world can provide him.

Words aren't enough to express how grateful I am for these men, how proud I am and how much I just want them to know that we know how hard they've worked to get as far as they have. Compare them to any other group, even other SM groups, and it's clear that their passion, drive, skill and professionalism is unrivaled. They are all born artists and musicians down to their core, and with that, they're all kind, sweet people who are who they are because they debuted as 18, 19, 20, etc year old men 7 years ago and have grown up together, suffered together, celebrated together and loved together. They've switched up sounds, concepts, gone experimental, have created some of the most beautiful ballads and harmonies music has ever seen, and they strive for nothing but the best. ALWAYS. They have never disappointed me, and they never fail to inspire me every time they show the fruits of all their labor (as well as multiple creative people and teams that come together to create EXO) onstage as one.

Exo we are one, saranghaja.

[flying-elliska]

S3 Rewatch - Episode 3 

The next three clips are just...not fun so I’m going to do them together and rather quickly. We’re in the thick of Lucas’ self-denial and internalized homophobia and it’s pretty damn brutal. 

Mercredi 21:05 “L’échelle de Kinsey”

Starts with a shot of Lucas from above on his bed with his computer and this angle makes him look small, caged in. Coupled with the look on his face, it feels claustrophobic. The “sexual orientation/Kinsey scale” test he does is much more medical than in the OG ; he basically lies by saying he’s attracted to the other sex in all questions, barely hesitating. He’s 0.6 point above the hetero line (where does that 0.6 come from hmmm...). It doesn’t help. The next thing he googles is “how to make sure nobody knows you are gay.” And then he gets this horrible advice : being agressive and disgusted towards openly gay people, using girls and vulgar language.... Isak’s “gay test” was about him not fitting stereotypes and being confused and it was kind of darkly funny, this clip is just violent and awful, especially right after the last one and Alexia’s wise words. The difference can be explained by 1) the fact that Eliott kissing Lucille was much more of a betrayal seen as how they were openly flirting and Eliott hid it from Lucas (which Even didn’t so it was more about Isak feeling like he’d misinterpreted) 2) He probably thinks that he exposed himself with the girls and said offensive stuff to Alexia, isolating himself from that support 3) he is just terrified of facing the depth of his feelings. So he isn’t able to even acknowledge his attraction in an online test, he only sort of uses the g-word in a paranoid, self loathing google search to avoid being found out. And the fact that it’s Lucas’ voice reading the comment makes it feel like he’s really internalizing them. Yikes. 

Jeudi 12h40 “Balance ton porc”

It’s great to see Alexia dance, she seems very happy and confident and badass and as a plus size girl who hated sports in high school...feels healing. The rest of the clip tho ? Gross. Taken out of context, I would have hated Lucas in this clip, and even his friends (who are like...also very much staring at girls dancing and objectifying them) remarks on his comments being violent and wonder if there’s something wrong with him. His “are you faggots or what ?” question doesn’t land quite as intended, since Arthur comments it’s a very “repressed gay” question. (The fact that homophobes are secretely gay is also a cliché, yikes). But it shows that this is out of character for Lucas. Basile meanwhile is....Basile, socially oblivious and generally unfortunate, and Lucas’s “we’re watching hot girls” comment is just gross - the particular words he uses “de la bonne meuf” makes it sounds as if he’s talking about meat (’de la’ is generally used about quantities of things you can consume, like food). They’re just pathetic in this whole clip. Arthur and Yann are somewhat more self-aware but they’re still participating. The use of “Balance ton porc” which is a movement against sexual harassment in the style of #metoo makes the whole thing more confusing - Basile bringing it up shows he’s at least somewhat aware of misogyny being bad, and yet he doesn’t know how to put that in practice and handle his horny desperation. It’s the whole ‘society pushes hella mixed messages on teenage boys” aspect. You kinda feel sorry for them, but in a “what a bunch of morons” kind of way. 

Jeudi 16h50 “Nobody” 

...and the real kicker. This clip is just brutal, man. It brings to light the reason Lucas is behaving like he does. Lucas pulls out all the stops, declares his love for Chloé to get it back. And his words and eyes are so heartfelt and emotional,  it feels real but it’s instantly obvious his feelings are about Eliott, not Chloé - and this is the first time we get how bad Lucas has it : it’s never happened to him before, he didn’t expect it, he can’t deal, he thinks about it when he wakes up and when he goes to bed, and so he does stupid shit. He looks so overwhelmed. And yet by saying that to the wrong person, he puts himself in even deeper trouble than before. The boys’ admirative faces are so funny though, especially Basile’s, especially with Basile’s posts on insta, it almost looks like he considers him some sort of pick-up guru - and Lucas starting to give him advice, so full of shit, and then Eliott arrives and bam! all gone. The way it’s filmed is brilliant, we see Eliott arrive in the background before Lucas does, there is this anticipation, Lucas turns and we see the look of panic on his face but the boys don’t, it’s all a perception game. Eliott is smiling, the boys seem to think he’s cool, and yet Lucas is all ‘I don’t know who he is, he has no friends, he’s a stalker...” Like, that’s just so mean. And he’s overexplaining in a super suspicious way. I wonder if, down the line, after he came out and got with Eliott, any of his friends ever remembered shit like this and roasted him a little or at least ...said like...yeah we could have noticed bc you were not subtle...And the way he looks after Eliott, a throw back to him seeking Eliott in the courtyard the week before, feels so sad, like they just keep missing each other. 

In a way this was France’s first mini-hellweek. Lucas never tries quite that hard to take on the macho player asshole persona after that, thank god. This is though, a very striking portrayal of what internalized prejudice can turn you into out of fear and shame. It’s not fun, but I think it was necessary to show that Lucas can be that asshole and he has to make a conscious choice not to be. 

Previous clip 

[topconfessions]

Anonymous confession: TOP *is* dating

Hi best Admin!

_ _ _

 We are dealing with a man, who delights in communicating in hints and symbolic gestures. Also, it seems like he gets a kick of “hiding things in plain daylight”. Right in front of media, and fans. Even his most weird posts usually carries an undertone, or hint.

  I have a suggestion - and quite a lot of Instagram screenshots to back it up: T.O.P seem to be dating a Korean, possibly Philippinian, woman named Gavin/Gabin. Yes, BigBang as in Seungri scandal, a.s.o. They´ve been sending each other “hints” on their open Instagram accounts (they have private accounts, too, but obviously I can´t verify those contents). Also, they are found in the same photos around Instagram, having dinner and going to museums - usually with other people as chaperones Very Korean - if one is au fait with Korean dating. But always the two of them. There is also a possibility, that they went to a seaside resort in Korea together two weeks ago (maybe Yangyang), while T.O.P went M.I.A. from social media. The hints consists mainly of animal photos, which the majority of fans see as a sign of an impending song release.

Of course, the photos can serve more than one area of use. Some photos are taken from @skyhighfarmhudsonvalley, an enterprise that T.O.P´s artist friend @markgrotjahn promotes. The same animals and outdoor backgrounds have shown up on both T.OP´s and Gavins feeds. Also pictures taken at the same place, at the same time, such as art galleries. For those who has followed T.O.P for a while, some patterns can be seen. Such as sending picture-hints on his official account to women he might be seeing (one example was model Asia Chow), suddenly go on a liking spree on a woman´s older Insta posts, taking pictures in which an outline of a person can be seen (himself; also Han Seo Hee - a painting with an eye, if I remember it correctly), and now also this Gavin.

Gavin can be seen very briefly in a film clip, now back on T.O.P´s official account; also on @topsdeleted - a strange film with a greenish puddle, in which the contours of a man, and than a woman, can be seen. He hides the woman´s face with his phone. Her very special hairline can be identified, though. All comments/questions about the woman in the greeninsh puddle, has swiftly been deleted. One detail is: Some commented on T.O.P´s Insta twice some days ago, just in passing, the following: “Giving all vips in need  petting zoo”. If one reads that sentence, the first letters make out the woman´s name. “Petting zoo” refers to what Gavin had as a new description on her open Insta account. The messages were soon deleted, and not by the commenter. And yes, it could be a whole row of coincidences, but T.O.P has now for two weeks gone on several liking and/or commenting sprees on his own Instagram page, as well on other peoples´. Both friends and fans. Here are some interesting - open - accounts. There are many crossing posts and pictures, if one takes an overriding view: @choi_seung_hyun_tttop (his private account is an open secret; he even uses its profile pic as a joke on his official Insta: chateau_kun) @gavin_v5 (private: 0512.v  also  sk2ya_) @daniel.schine.lee (T.O.P friend, maybe dating @omyjxx - G´s female friend) @mnet_lovecatcher and @topsdeleted - fanbased account, trying to keep up with T.O.P´s curating of his posts also on Twitter, a fanbased Twitter in-the-know, that stores official Instagram photos and messages, that emphasises my suggestion:

TOPLOVE (@choistm) | Twitter

None of these accounts are my own, but the accounts whose name-hints were deleted (possibly by Seunghyun himself, since he loves his IPhone like a newborn child) were @achillestender and @prettypartisan. PP has screenshots of the comment - which disappeared without them deleting it.   Gavin is starring in an upcoming programme (August 22nd), named Mnet Lovecatcher. Could it be that she and T.O.P have been leaking hints just for fun, to each other - and friends? Is that really a good thing - aren´t there contract clauses for this? Truly - even famous people leave digital footprints…

   P.s. This just in: Gavin changed her profile photo right now, from a High Valley chipmunk, and deleted the zoo text - but I have screenshots, in case you´re ever interested in seeing them. As I said - it´s all hints and hints - but it happended right after the second “Giving all vips”-comment. Coincidence? Or someone known to love his hinting game + likes to scroll his Insta comments? P.s. 2 The woman has changed pics and texts around again, as has T.O.P. Is somebody nervous? P.s. 3 The woman called “Moony” (might´ve dated her in January) seem to still be in the game.

[tehkatie]

Skam France season 3 has come to a close and I have a lot to say. So buckle up. I’ll start with the fact that I’ve learned to give a show and it’s showrunners a chance before I start hating and bitching. I remember that I once said that none of the remakes could emulate the level of perfection that Skam OG season 3 had to me when I saw it for the first time. I said that if I had it my way none of the remakes would be able to touch season 3. Beyond that I showed Skam France so much hatred at the start. I said I hated the girl squad, I said I disliked Lucas and Yann, I said I had issues with the casting and acting, and I gave up on it. I’d personally like to kick my own ass. Like me now and past me can square the fuck up.

I should’ve given them a chance because Skam France season 3 is without a doubt one of the best pieces of teen media that I’ve seen in my life. That’s a big statement and I want y’all to know that I don’t say it lightly. This is coming from someone who’s watched most of the teen shows available for me to watch since I was a teenager myself. I don’t give a shit what anyone else says, this lived up to the OG in every way possible. And they truly proved me wrong. Like I was fucking wrong. Y’all don’t understand how negative I was about Axel playing Lucas. I was like he can’t act and there’s just no way he’ll pull me in like Tareji playing Isak. I didn’t even want to watch season 3 and I truly was not going to until I stumbled into the tag on the day the ‘call your girlfriend’ clip dropped. I caught up and holy shit. Bitch I was beyond wrong.

This season of Skam France will forever have my soul in a tight ass grip. It was so tonaly different than OG. It’s like it turned the dial from a 10 to a 100. I feel more than comfortable with calling this a reimagining rather than a remake. Lucas was not Isak and Eliott was not Even to me. Sure they had the same choices but also vastly different mindsets that led them to those choices. And even somewhat different results at times. Because of that it became its own entity for me and that’s all I ever wanted from these remakes. As each episode passed it became impossible for me to personally keep comparing it to OG beyond trying to predict when clips would come. Although it was a similar story the important thing is that nothing felt exactly the same.

The France team took this story and tailor made it for their characters, their country, and the message they wanted to communicate. I was so scared that this remake in particular wouldn’t take any big risks but they did. They changed some personalities drastically, reworked storylines, upped the dramatic feel while keeping it realistic, added and rearranged clips, changed up the roles everyone played in Lucas’s life, and made the symbolism fit their own story. It was so beautifully done. Once I saw Vendredi 20hr27 1 and Samedi 9h17 I began to think this was one of those very rare cases where gold was struck twice. My thoughts were confirmed with the rest of episode 5 to episode 10.

Because of the way they made me feel with each clip drop I will always revel in the fact that I got to watch this one truly live. I came in pretty late for season 3 of OG during hiatus week. I missed all the actual tension, the back and forth, generally most of the struggles other than the MI storyline. But this time boy did I feel everything. Like I said before I came in to this one at the ‘call your girlfriend’ clip and couldn’t stop daily checking the tag until this last clip. I legit felt what Lucas did and for a show to give me emotions like that when I’ve ‘seen it’ not once but twice before....I don’t have words y’all omg. This whole season was painful, powerful, beautiful, and brilliant. My heart still hurts.

Now I’m going to touch on the hate briefly y’all. Stick with me. Though I personally loved every choice David and Niels made with this season, they couldn’t please everyone. People wanted to yell bad writing when something didn’t go their way or how they thought it should’ve. There was no trust from some. Even when we all know exactly how this show works. Of course characters were going to say and do stupid shit because guess what? They’re 16. They also didn’t react the same in every situation either which real humans wouldn’t. So nothing was ever OOC to me. Just like people, the characters changed through each experience and I adore them for keeping that aspect of life. It was truly so amazing to see everything happen in real time and see how these characters developed day by day. Every character had some sort of development even if Lucas was the focus. I’m sitting here in tears yet again just so amazed and so grateful that we got this remake and the chance to meet all of these amazing characters. I adored the relationships between Lucas and his support system aka le gang & le crew & le coloc. I fell in love with the characters of Lucas and Eliott, and their love. But most of all I fell in love with the story of Lucas and his journey to accepting and educating himself.

I also loved the fandom because man y’all we are some passionate messes. With all the theories, meta posts, clip reactions, gif sets, memes that were made to brighten everyone’s moods, David Baguette, THE HUNT FOR ELIOTT’S INSTA, the running gag of Eliott being a ghost lmaoooo, THE CLOWN MAKE UP, us wanting to give Axel an Oscar, loving Maxence to death, WANTING TO FIGHT AXEL FOR POSTING THEN DELETING PICTURES IN 5 SECONDS, religiously watching Maxence’s lives, Ouba and Brian, Axel being a meme, the bunny hat from Maxence’s live, TRAJEUDI AND VENDREADI, and overall just everything. It was the most fun I’ve had watching an emotionally taxing show. When it made me cry, y’all made me laugh. So thank you. Ready for round 2?

Now I’ve got to talk about the cast & crew. I can’t even put into words how proud I am of Axel, Maxence, David, Niels, and everyone else in the cast & crew. Like they all made this season something that I’ll never forget. I’m going to be rewatching forever and showing anyone that is interested in a journey of acceptance and understanding. David and Niels went in with a vision and I saw it in all its beauty. They truly went there hardcore. Sometimes it was hard to even rewatch clips because it was so aligned with certain parts of my experience. I remember when watching OG and Italia I saw myself in Isak and Martino and I was so scared that I wouldn’t have that with Lucas. But I did and I’m forever grateful for that.

Axel truly made me feel everything and if I could personally say thank you to him I would. I’d also like a second to apologize to him for any doubt I had in the past. Of course he won’t see this but still. I’m beyond sorry. I truly couldn’t imagine anyone but him playing Lucas anymore. He knocked it out of the park and I hope he’s as proud of himself as we are of him. And Maxence, first acting job? Sorry I call bullshit. His portrayal of Eliott was one of the most amazing debuts I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m insanely proud of him. He’s one of only a small handful of people that I’ve seen portray bipolar disorder so well. Like to the point where actually diagnosed people felt represented. That’s so beautiful to me. That they got to see themselves represented in a character that was handled with the utmost care. I’ll end the praising on this note, casting Axel and Maxence was one of the best decisions ever made. Trust me when I say no matter how much we love Elu we’ll likely never love them as much as those two do.

Okay in conclusion, Skam, Skam Italia, and Skam France are the types of stories I wish would’ve been out there way before now. I’m so happy that the teens of these days that are struggling with their sexuality or mental illness will get such realistic, heartwarming, and amazing stories like these. I can’t believe this is the final clip we’ll have from Lucas’s perspective but I’m so happy his journey has come to a ‘to be continued’. He’s been to hell and back over the course of these two and a half months. Even though there will be no true ‘happy ending’ there’s definitely a bright future ahead for him, his support system, and for the love of his life Eliott. In case the cast and crew ever foolishly forget, I’ll never not be thinking of them. Ugh love them and love y’all. Now onto our French queen Imane!! Viva la France!!

[neon-schmetterlinge]

11 questions answered and asked (Skam edition)

Rules:

Always repost the rules!

Answer the questions given to you by the one who tagged you!

Give 11 questions

Tag 11 people!

Thank you for tagging me and the fun questions, @fille-lioncelle! 😘 (also sorry it took me forever to actually do this rip)

If you could change one thing about the OG/each remake you’ve seen, what would it be? just one thing?? oh God... og: Yousef stays in Oslo for the finale Druck: let Mia talk about her sexuality instead of beating around the bush the whole season

Do you speak any of the languages it’s been (re)told in, and if so have you watched it? What was it like? If not, do you wish you did? yes, German - and it’s been really fun to watch it and immediately get what they’re talking about for once! especially when it comes to all those almost untranslatable slang terms like “Gesichtsgulasch” and “was kackst du mich so von der Seite an” - wunderschön

Do you have a favourite season? Which one? season 3 (surprise, surprise)

Do you watch any of the remakes? I only really follow Druck, but I watched the first season of Skam NL and the first few clips of most remakes (I keep telling myself that I’ll catch up on some them soon, though)

Do you think there are things the remakes have (notably) improved on? kudos to Druck for making Alex a likeable character because it made s2 a lot more enjoyable. and yay for a wlw main!

Are there characters you wish had gotten more attention in the OG/remakes? definitely the Balloon Squad, also I feel like we know almost nothing about Eskild even though he’s such an important character (have we ever learnt what he studies??)

Do you (still) follow any of the OG/remake instagram accounts? I still follow some of the OG accounts, mainly because I’m just too lazy to unfollow them (and what if they suddenly start posting again) I only follow a couple of the Druck characters because everytime they flood Insta with content it lowkey stresses me out

Do you like the cabin episode from OG s2? haven’t watched it in a while but what’s not to like about an episode with so many iconic moments :D

How many jackets is too many jackets for one character? fun fact: I just took three jackets with me on vacation because I couldn’t pick just one, so my answer clearly is that you can never have enough jackets! I’m sure Isak would agree ;)

What’s your favourite party happening in any of the Skams? so many parties to choose from! maybe the Abiball because that’s something I wish we would have seen in the og

Do you think you’d have been/would be friends with any of the characters in your teens? If so, who? probably og Eva. and I would have wished to be friends with Sana but thought I’m not cool enough for her

My questions (all of them for the og and remakes):

Do you have a favourite running gag/inside joke? 

Which character without an Instagram account should get one? What do you think it’d look like?

Which bloopers make you laugh the most?

Which character would you choose as a study partner?

Do you prefer watching the clips in real time or watching the entire episode/season once it’s out?

What did Even do with that bun he got from Vilde at the kosegruppa meeting? (he’s holding it in one shot and it’s gone in the next one)

Which character gives you the most wardrobe envy?

Do you have a clip/episode that’s your go-to comfort watch? Which one?

Who out of the cast would be the most fun to make and eat disgusting cheese toasties with?

If you could wipe one clip from the face of the earth, which one would you pick?

Is there a specific set/location you’d like to visit or have already been to?

trying to tag some people who I haven’t seen do this yet:  @thegirlnooneknows5, @lovedeven, @canonicallyanxious, @greathalesonfire, aaand maybe you wanna have a go at these question too, @fille-lioncelle? :)

[freakin-edikan]

More Unpopular Smash Onions

I have a lot of Smash Onions and here are most of them in one post. Be warned it’s long and stupid

Bayonetta Should Not Have Been in Smash Ever

The whole point of Bayonetta is that she whips out these crazy combos and super strong witch tricks to defeat her opponents. The only problem is...barely anyone else can do that because they’re not supposed to because it’s Smash Bros and not Street Fighter. There was no way to nerf Bayonetta without ruining her, and there was no way to keep the Bayonetta feel and style without her dominating the game.

Cloud Should Not Have Been in Smash Ever

He was too fast, he was too strong, he had a projectile. Sakurai specifically said he knew Ike had exactly these stats when Ike was added to Brawl in 2008. He intentionally left them out so as to not let Ike become too strong. But years later, Cloud strutted into Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS with these same attributes anyway. He’s a lot more tame now, but how many Peaches had to die?

The Zelda Characters Got the Short End of the Stick

A game with 30 years of history does not deserve to be represented by three Links, two Zeldas, and one Ganondorf. It’s clear that the development team was banking on the games sticking to its Ocarina formula, which is why they tried so hard to keep all the designs from one game and didn’t introduce anyone who wasn’t a Triforce bearer. By the time they finally stumbled on the idea of giving characters designs from different games, they had run out of space for any newcomers specific to particular games in the series, and the potential for new characters had run out.

I’m aware that Zelda isn’t as popular in Japan as it is in the United States; however, seeing how big Super Smash Bros. and its audience is, I think its representation could be a little better than that.

Zelda Got the Short End of the Stick

You mean to tell me it took 17 years for someone to look at that trainwreck of a moveset and finally do something about it? Y’all ugly.

There Doesn’t Need to be 15,897 Marths

If the devs over at Sora Ltd. played their cards right, our Fire Emblem lineup could have consisted of a balance of characters and assist trophies that could show off the most prominent aspects of the series. My idea is this:

Characters

Marth

Ike

Lyn

Robin

Assist Trophies

A Manakete (from any game)

A Pegasus Knight + Triangle Attack (any game but preferably the ones who made it famous—so Palla, Catria, and Est.)

A main villain (person, any game)

A main villain (monster, any game)

Ephraim?

Micaiah.

...and some cute lil spirits/stickers/trophies with some lore or references or something. If you ask me, we got the characters we got because of poor planning. I might not know the ins and outs of the process, but that’s what it looks like to me.

I Am Singling Out Corrin Specifically

This pick feels like an impulse because of the fact that FE14 was new, but besides that, I (a salty Peach main and Bandana Dee fan) first thought the character was busted. Never before had we a character with such ridiculous range—I thought Shulk’s energy sword Sunday was pushing it. It looks like Corrin set a precedent, though, because tall, adult characters who can reach across the entire stage seem to be the norm nowadays.

The Mario Characters are Out of Character

I think it’s telling when you can’t convey the character of Mario properly. Mario in Smash rather quickly moved away from his friendly everyman balancedness to a very aggressive, very angery Man who apparently just beats the living daylights out of people as the Smash Ultimate music blares in the background. Mario in his games is so much more friendly, eccentric, comical, fun. Smash Mario is way too serious; he doesn’t even smile in his renders anymore. I know, it’s a fighting game; you have to be serious to some extent. I just find this a little odd considering, um...

Peach was pretty similar when she first came to Melee. But when Brawl came around, her headbutt was replaced with hearts, her explosions with hearts, her diplomatic walk with a ditzy skip—it’s all incredibly suspicious. I talked about this before, but I think Smash makes Peach look dumb. I feel like it tries too hard to appeal to the girl who couldn’t pick any of the boy characters because they were icky so she picked the prettiest, girliest girl and that’s Peach. Her character feels like it’s making a mockery of her. (I mean, who remembers the tea time? I remember the tea time.) Nearly all of the nuance in Peach’s character is gone; I like the Toads and it feels like she’s commanding an army, but she herself with the rainbows and the hearts...I don’t know. It makes me. Uncomfortable. Peach has displayed far more competence before; she’s a very intelligent individual, but in Smash it’s not showing.

If I thought Peach was bad, imagine how I feel about Daisy! They barely changed a couple of animations and visuals but no attributes. It feels cheap and lazy and even though she’s an echo fighter, other “clones” had at least a little more thought put into them. And no “Hi, I’m Daisy”??? Preposterous. I think it goes to show that you really can’t make a clone of Peach because her moveset is too unique, and tinkering with it makes it fall apart. I think this was a bad call.

Bowser Jr. seems fine. He’s just a kid with some toys and it shows. Bowser...can at least walk straight, nowadays. But...

Luigi Baby I’m So Sorry That a Ugly Ass Bitch Would Even Do That

So when Smash 64 came out in 1999, Luigi had had his own voice for 3 years. Smash had decided to take Mario’s voice clips and pitch them up instead. This didn’t change until Brawl.

Luigi is Mario’s taller, slippery-er, eccentric younger brother, and Smash played the eccentric up to 11. (I mean, who remembers the Negative Zone? I remember the Negative Zone.) The hip bumps? And the weird dances? And the being able to fall over and be so round that he can just roll back up? I’ve never seen him do that anywhere but Smash. I don’t know who that is with the green hat in Smash. But it’s not Luigi.

The great thing is that he plays like Luigi! But he sure doesn’t act like it. And neither does Mario. And Mario and Luigi don’t play off each other at all, either. They’re so awkward to put together in this game; it’s like an attack on the sibling family unit.

We Don’t Stan Rosalina

We don’t stan her

“We Made Up Lore About EarthBound Hoping No One Would Notice Also We Really Like Pollyanna and the First Eight Melodies and We Exclusively Reference Mother 1 But We Still Won’t Put Ninten in This Game”

Ness is supposed to have defensive and support PSI because he has the highest physical offensive stats—and the lowest IQ—in EarthBound. He can’t use PK Starstorm, or PK Fire, or PK Thunder. He can use PSI Shield and Brainshock and Paralysis and um, PSI Rockin, and though I don’t mind using Ness and Lucas as they are now, I still can’t help but notice how inaccuracy-laden all the EarthBound references were, and that a moveset focused around trapping an opponent to go in for the beat down intrigues me.

Listen, no one else in this game has made-up lore about how their friends taught them certain moves after the end of their game, and how they channeled their big finisher into smaller bursts of energy while taking on the friend’s (much weaker!) signature move as their Final Smash. You could probably explain the magic Zelda uses as they come in crystals anyone could theoretically use, but the framing that they use for Ness and Lucas? It’s pretty silly.

Okay, about Ninten...he doesn’t have to be in Smash. But what’s the point of saying “Mother (Series)” and then making this weird conglomerate of ideas that doesn’t actually get the point across? All three games communicate very different ideas, but hardly any of what’s in Smash portrays any of it very well.

Where’s Bandana Dee

Where is he

Realistic Guns

Joker is about to enter this game with a literal fucking glock and I’m not okay

Final Smashes is the Same

It’s either a Mega Laser, a Giant Stage Hazard, a I’m Gonna Just Ram Into You Like Nobody’s Business, or a Barage of Attacks With One Final Hit. For all the crap I give Peach’s Final Smash, at least it’s different. Oh, there’s a new kind now: the We Stole Snake’s After We Thought He Was Never Coming Back And Oh God He’s Here. Oh No He’s Back. He’s Angry Oh N-

Kirby and Jigglypuff

They haven’t been great for years! I want them back to being good again.

Okay so Jigglypuff was OD’ing in Melee. But insta-death shield break just doesn’t tell me you care about them!

Speaking of Caring About Kirby

I see y’all only putting Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby Super Star content in your game. Look, whoever made Kirby 64 and friends disappeared the same year Sakurai left HAL Laboratory. The new Kirby games acknowledge all of Kirby’s history, and they take many cues from Smash. Smash is a big game, but the least it could do was reciprocate some of that.

The Music Selection is Underwhelming Me So Far

And it’s not the sheer number; I think that’s incredible. My problem is many of the songs are remixes with multiple versions. There are multiple versions of Light Plane from Pilotwings, multiple versions of Magicant, multiple Ballads of the Goddess, a billion Mario Main Themes. There are so many different musicians arranging for these games; are they all sitting there thinking “I’ll do you one better!!” making the same songs again? Some series have one song being remixed over and over while the rest of the soundtrack is just ripped from the original and chucked into the game. Other songs are just weak, which I expect, but they’re just so...mild.

The original music in Smash Ultimate I think is also pretty weak. It’s the same problem Brawl ran into and the only difference is the Ultimate themes are better orchestrated. The arrangement became stale to me and I think it’s because the game is so big that it couldn’t tie itself together as neatly as Smash 64 could (although only one, maybe two people worked on Smash 64’s music).

Stage Hazards

I don’t remember if it’s possible to turn them off but I am tired of the goddamn Flying Man.

So I think that’s about it. Thanks for reading and on the off chance that someone responds to it, you don’t have to go through the entire thing just to pick it apart bit by bit, I don’t want anyone to have to slog through that unless they want to, I guess. Happy New Year!

[lululawrence]

Hoping you will share your thoughts about the Nick/Greg switch. I'm a huge fan of both of them and I think this is a great move.

some of the thoughts have to do with the timing of the announcement and not really being surprised by it. i mean, i was surprised (and kinda sad that i won’t be able to listen to greg anymore outside of his podcasts) because it wasn’t like i was expecting it, but like, once i heard i was like ohhhh yeah well, that makes sense. ya know? like, i’m currently writing a completely 100% self indulgent radio 1 fic where harry and louis aren’t one of the djs there, but louis’ an intern so it’s got all the djs doing their thing outside of that, ya know? and part of that was because i love greg, ant, grace, and chris and their dynamic and wanted it in a fic. i wanted to be able to have scott and chris show up and refer to them. i wanted grimmy doing his thing as he does. i didn’t want any of them replaced. but that meant that i had to research info about their time slots, how long they’d been in them, when they started with radio 1, etc so i could accurately describe how harry came to listen to them and be so attached etc and while doing this reading i learned a lot about the details behind the numbers for the breakfast show since grimmy took over.

this got entirely too long, because when did i ever answer something in a few words when i could use a shitload? so beneath the cut are the rest of my thoughts lol

i mean, i think a lot of people knew that the numbers for nick on the breakfast show have never been what the breakfast show used to and is accustomed to pulling, but the big wigs at the bbc were constantly supporting him and backing him up, spouting things like “well the numbers for the older demographics don’t matter for us anyway because we’re looking to up the number for the younger demographic”, which it has done but not to the extent they were hoping for i would imagine. (please note all this is just my opinion and understanding of what i read, as an american mother whose degree was in english education and nothing to do with media or broadcasting lol) that being said, the numbers weren’t POOR. they just weren’t good or as high as was i think anticipated.

also please keep in mind though, that grimmy has a very specific appeal. the same reasons that a lot of people don’t like him are exactly why those who do are so faithful to him. he also rubs elbows and runs in friend groups with people who are well known and hold a certain appeal because they’re seen as the trendsetters, right? there is a lot that can be gained for bbc by having someone who is in that group because it’s all about who you know and who is on your side. those connections aren’t going to want to be thrown away.

greg, meanwhile, pulls exactly the demographic that the bbc bosses have said they wanted to increase for the breakfast show. when listening to newsbeat during scott mills’ show today, one of the radio 1 bosses had an audio clip saying that it’s the perfect time to announce for greg because after his success with pedal for the peaks in conjunction with sport relief and then going out there and doing interviews at biggest weekend with the top names in the music industry (i laughed this was included because greg is still getting clapback on twitter for telling taylor to her face she needed to take a shower) that he’s just been gaining momentum and making a good name for himself which just goes to show that he’s the perfect person for the job. 

here’s the thing with greg. he’s quirky and funny and not afraid to make an arse of himself and that makes people kind of instantly love him. he’s witty and funny and intent on making his show a safe space for him to be himself as well as his listeners. that doesn’t mean he won’t make fun of you, but it’s all done without the intent of being cruel. the time slot he’s in currently also allowed him to build a rapport across demographic lines because he’s on during the drive home for the uk which also means kids are out of school, studying, etc. by building up popularity amongst the demographic where it is understood the bbc wants to have a higher listenership for in the mornings, and then switching him at what appears to be the height of his name recognition, to the morning show is a fantastic move for them. it will hopefully do everything they want it to while also giving greg a chance at a slot that many djs aspire to have. 

back to nick. a lot of times, when djs reach the morning shows for their station, they either stay there because they’ve finally reached their goal, until they find something bigger to move onto, or they’re retired when it’s determined they are old news and no longer viable or sent to a less desirable sister station. that…is not happening with nick. he’s staying with radio 1, he’s just going to be doing the drive home instead. now, was it actually fully his decision? fully, probably not. partially, maybe. recently the other bbc radio stations moved to manchester (i stopped by just to look in while i was there since i missed getting a peek at the bbc studios in london). if grimmy were moved to radio 2, as often happens with the djs who are no longer pulling the demographic desired for radio 1, then the bbc would lose out on his social circles that are centered in london. not only that, but nick does still draw a crowd and is popular with younger demographics, so the move to radio 2 just doesn’t make business sense for them. plus nick very likely would not find that move appealing for career reasons.

so, this whole long winded post is just to say it makes SO MUCH SENSE that these two are switching slots for a lot of reasons and when i heard it immediately settled and was like ah. yeah. alright then.

NOW ME AS A LISTENER AND LOVER OF THEM?!?! i’m ecstatic for greg. i’m happy to not lose nick. i’m SO EXCITED i get to hear nick’s lovely northern voice more often since he’ll actually be on when i’m awake now lol but that means i won’t get greg’s soothing voice while i’m taking my kids to various appointments anymore, and that makes me a bit sad. i hope that greg keeps doing his weekly podcasts. i wouldn’t even mind if he did like scott and did daily. (i would be so happy i could cry, actually lol). i don’t want nick to stop doing his podcasts. i would love if he started doing them more like he used to rather than his once weekly “here’s my star interview of the week” podcast, which i don’t mind but preferred his older ones. i’m worried that grace and ant and chris won’t be going with greg to the breakfast show because they are as important to me and the dynamic greg has as greg himself. i’m sure chris won’t go, since he’s the news, but grace? ant? sigh. oh gosh i just caught up on nick’s insta and saw the post about fiona leaving the show too. THE TIMING OF IT ALL MAKES SENSE BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT DETAILS HERE! sl;akdhg;alskfj 

so yeah. i’m sure you’re regretting it by now, but these are my thoughts and feelings regarding the announcement this morning lolll thank you for asking!