#to sum it up: it’s spectacular

[peaceeandcoolestvibes]

LMFAOOOO mama ♐️ nailed it, she’s a mood

[dreamingeyes]

What if black cat (tssm and msm 2017) were to swap universes?

tssm black cat would def be more flirty because msm peter would visibly react more to it than tssm peter.

the dynamic between msm black cat and tssm peter would probably be the same as the dynamic between msm black cat and msm peter, except tssm peter would probably be smarter in avoiding her bad luck powers

[regallibellbright]

I’m rereading alongside a Tor.com reread club from back after Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen was first published.

Some excerpts as they pertain to the current book:

“In most cases where I’ve only read the book once, it’s because it hasn’t been convenient. I lost my copy, or it came out after A Civil Campaign and I was busy rereading that. Whether I’ve read the book one time or a thousand, I usually give it a thoughtful skim before embarking on the reread. This time, we’re flying blind because Mirror Dance is terrifying.” - Staring Into the Abyss of Mirror Dance

“Nothing clearly bad has happened yet. Mark gets on the Ariel and no one gets tortured or dies. That’s it. We’re OK. Everyone is OK except Mark.” - Chapters 1-2

“As of the end of chapter four, no one has been killed.” Chapters 3-4

I share Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer’s sense of looming dread. Here it comes.

[dawndelion-winery]

L for Loser Lover

They're not normally this...pathetic. Really, it's just the way love brings out the worst in people

Ft. Alhaitham, Childe, Scaramouche (Wanderer)

Alhaitham:

Cold, curt, and ever on top of things, he's not exactly what anyone would picture when asked to imagine a doting lover

For someone who knew over twenty languages, he sure didn't have a clue on how to use any of them

At least, that's how people would think his love life would go

So just what was that flower crown of woven roses doing atop his head?

And the funky chicken looking thing sewn onto his handkerchief???

"It's not a chicken, it's an eagle. My lover embroidered it for me earlier this year on Valentine's Day."

Wow, he sure sounded proud of that

Was that a ghost of a smile on his lips? A faint giggle?

Dear archons the world must be ending

Childe:

Puppy love! Except it's more of an orange cat

Now, he wouldn't scream for attention

Actually, he just might

He's beating up some abyssal beast and suddenly he's pausing to shout for you

Y'know, just in case you weren't watching how cool he was

Some vicious weapon of war he is, slashing away at rifthounds and vishaps alike with that manic emptiness in his eyes

Which glints with a brief sparkle of excitement when he calls your name

He's disgustingly whipped and he can't even be insulted for it

Just try and point out how his eyes only light up when he talks about you, the softness in his features akin to the expression he makes when speaking of his family

"Maybe you're just seeing yourself in my eyes...you're the light of my life, after all."

Scaramouche:

Emotional constipation atop the urge to adore you isn't a good look on him

He's so clearly trying to seem unaffected by you and it's even clearer that it isn't working

You're so lovely to him it's actually disgusting and he wants to throw up

Stunning, breathtaking, spectacular, gorgeous...they don't even begin to describe you, and he starts to hate it

What do you mean you don't understand what he means when he says he can't really call you winsome or ravishing?

It's annoying to him beyond belief

"Can you sum up a sunrise with a simple "It's bewitching"? Beguiling doesn't even begin to explain the hold you have on me. Your stupid face...I don't want to look at anyone or anything else if it were an option. Your pulchritude has no comparison...so much so that even if I wanted to like it to anything to help you understand, it can't..."

Yeah, no, he's not elaborating beyond that

If you've gotten him riled up to the point of that sort of monologue...chances are you've lost your pet name privileges for at least a week

Expect terms of endearment to be replaced by "dumbass" or "idiot"

Taglist: @ryuryuryuyurboat @yinyinggie @mx-kamisato @chaosinanutshell @haliyarobin @irethepotato @boundedbyfate @favonius-captain @aqui-soba @tiredsleep @sadlonelybagel @mastering-procrastinating @lemeowade

[thepastisalreadywritten]

With the addition of Saturn, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally captured all four of our Solar System's giant worlds.

JWST's observations of the ringed planet, taken on 25 June 2023, have been cleaned up and processed, giving us a spectacular view of Saturn's glorious rings, shining golden in the darkness.

By contrast, the disk of Saturn is quite dark in the new image, lacking its characteristic bands of cloud, appearing a relatively featureless dim brown.

This is because of the wavelengths in which JWST sees the Universe – near- and mid-infrared.

These wavelengths of light are usually invisible to the naked human eye, but they can reveal a lot.

For example, thermal emission – associated with heat – is dominated by infrared wavelengths.

When you're trying to learn about what's going on inside a planet wrapped in thick, opaque clouds, studying its temperature is a valuable way to go about it.

Some elements and chemical processes emit infrared light, too. Seeing the planets of the Solar System in wavelengths outside the narrow range admitted by our vision can tell us a lot more about what they have going on.

Saturn

As we saw last week, when we clapped eyes on the raw JWST Saturn images, the observations involved filters that dimmed the light of the planet, while allowing light from the rings and moons to shine brightly.

This is so a team led by planetary scientist Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the UK can study the rings and moons of Saturn in more detail.

They hope to identify new ring structures and, potentially, even new moons orbiting the gas giant.

The image above shows three of Saturn's moons, Dione, Enceladus and Tethys, to the left of the planet.

Although dim, the disk of the planet also reveals information about Saturn's seasonal changes.

The northern hemisphere is reaching the end of its 7-year summer, but the polar region is dark. An unknown aerosol process could be responsible.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere around the edges of the disk appears bright, which could be the result of methane fluorescence, or the glow of trihydrogen, or both. Further analysis could tell us which.

Jupiter

Jupiter was the first of the giant planets to get the JWST treatment, with images dropping in August of last year – and boy howdy were they stunning.

The spectacular detail seen in the planet's turbulent clouds and storms was perhaps not entirely surprising.

However, we also got treated to some rarely seen features: the permanent aurorae that shimmer at Jupiter's poles, invisible in optical wavelengths, and Jupiter's tenuous rings.

We also saw two of the planet's smaller, lesser-known moons, Amalthea and Adrastea, with fuzzy blobs of distant galaxies in the background.

"This one image sums up the science of our Jupiter system program, which studies the dynamics and chemistry of Jupiter itself, its rings, and its satellite system," said astronomer Thierry Fouchet of Paris Observatory in France, who co-led the observations.

Neptune

Observations of Neptune arrived in the latter half of September 2022.

Because Neptune is so very far away, it tends to get a little neglected; you're probably used to seeing, if anything, the images taken by Voyager 2 when it flew past in 1989.

JWST's observations gave us, for the first time in more than 30 years, a new look at the ice giant's dainty rings – and the first ever in infrared.

It also revealed seven of Neptune's 14 known moons, and bright spots in its atmosphere.

Most of those are storm activity, but if you look closely, you'll see a bright band circling the planet's equator.

This had never been seen before and could be, scientists say, a signature of Neptune's global atmospheric circulation.

Uranus

Uranus is also pretty far away, but it's also a huge weirdo. Although very similar to Neptune, the two planets are slightly different hues, which is something of a mystery.

Uranus is also tipped sideways, which is challenging to explain too.

JWST's observations, released in April 2023, aren't solving these conundrums.

However, they have revealed 11 of the 13 structures of the incredible Uranian ring system and an unexplained atmospheric brightening over the planet's polar cap.

JWST has a lot to say about the early Universe; but it's opening up space science close to home, too.

As its first year of operations comes to an end, we can't help but speculate what new wonders will be to come in the years ahead.

Top: Jupiter - Neptune / Bottom: Uranus - Saturn

Credit: NASA

[sweetheart-satoru]

“i think we should break up.” and your heart absolutely drops to the floor. “what?” you whisper, snapping your head in satoru’s direction.

“i just think i can’t be there for you.” he mumbles, avoiding your eyes. you tilt your head, “because of your work?” you mumble, tears gathering in your eyes.

he just hums, getting out of bed. “i have to leave now. sorry, l/n.” satoru is back on the last name basis, which makes you want to slam his head into his stupid wall.

he expects you to argue with him like you regularly do every time he brings up the fact you two should break up.

you don’t even know how to answer. so you don’t. “sorry it has to be this way. i’ll be back around 10, we can talk later then.” and he leaves his apartment in your care even after breaking your heart. he didn’t even seem like he cared at all.

-

while he was gone, he thought you were going to trash his place up. which he didn’t mind as he could easily afford to redo it. but you didn’t. you left it spotless. it was quiet, too quiet.

he looks on the kitchen island to see that you left a note.

i already took everything i left here that’s mine. we don’t need to talk about anything. also, i left you your box of stuff from my apartment in your room.

have a good life.

now it’s his turn for his heart to drop. huh? you’re not gonna convince him to stay with you anymore? not give him any reasons on why you two need to be together?

he crinkles the paper and tosses it out. “have a good life?” he scoffs, walking into his room to see you did in fact bring everything that he gave you or owned.

fuck, he thinks, rubbing a hand through his hair as he goes through all the memories.

-

weeks later he finds out you’ve been doing great in your life, spectacular even. not months- weeks. fucking only three weeks and you’ve already moved on from him.

what a joke.

he’s learned you got a new cat, you started seeing a new guy, you started painting again and post your art and lots more.

how does he know this? from his secret account that you don’t know he has because you thought you got rid of him when you blocked him on everything.

don’t worry, you’ll become his again. just wait.

-

notes: hey guys it’s been awhile 😭

i’m sorta maybe not back, but i wanna write part two and turn him into a yandere or sum idk 😞 lemme know what u think 🫶🏽🫶🏽

[verfound]

FIC: Let's Smoosh Faces (MLB; Lukanette)

Rating: Teen and Up

Characters/Pairings: Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Summary: Marinette had made some pretty spectacular blunders in the past.  She was starting to think none of them would ever top walking up to Luka Couffaine and asking, “WANNA SMOOSH FACES?”  (Or: Wherein Marinette really wants to kiss Luka, Luka really wants to kiss Marinette, but shit keeps happening to prevent said kisses – sorry, smooshies – from happening.)

Author’s Notes/Warnings: Once upon a time, All The Guilty Parties knew who they were and what they did.  But those notes were somewhat vague, so by now the main guilty party (read: your author) has no idea what that means anymore and can sum it all up to Shit Happens in the LBSC Disco?  There’s a Dammit Fic here somewhere, I’m sure.  😂

“Let’s Smoosh Faces”

Marinette was, sadly enough, very familiar with this feeling.  That one where you had just absolutely mortified yourself and were eagerly awaiting the ground to open up beneath you and swallow you whole?  Yeah, that one.  They were practically old friends by this point.

She was just…more acquainted with that feeling being associated with blond supermodels she couldn’t string two sentences together around.  Not…not Luka.

Luka, who was the most comfortable person she knew.

Luka, who she absolutely adored and maybe more than a little loved.

Luka, who was currently staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth like she had just sprouted an extra head because yeah, she probably had.

What the hell had she just done?

[wanderlustinwonderland18]

Turkkila & Versluis: “We Want To Differentiate Ourselves From Previous Years”

Earlier this month, ice dance couple Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis skated in the show L'Apprenti Sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) organized in Champéry, Switzerland. The choreography was done by Salome Brunner and Stéphane Lambiel. The Finns were the only ice dancers in the show. How did they end up there?

“Last year, I edited the music for Deniss Vasiljevs' free program The Lion King,” Matthias says. This season, Matthias has done ten different music cuts for Lambiel's students.

“Towards the end of May, Stéphane asked us if we would be interested in joining the show. It was a great honor,” he continues.

“We were with an amazing group of skaters, some of the world's best. It's unique to skate with a live pianist,” Juulia shares.

In the show, Juulia and Matthias performed to Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2. They presented wonderful lifts and spectacular movements. The international audience was impressed by the couple's soulful performance.

Finland's top couple has been training hard throughout the summer.

“Early May, we went to Rome for new choreography. In June, we had some vacation time and in July, we went to the Czech Republic for five weeks of summer camp,” Juulia says.

The rhythm dance theme for the 2024–25 season is Social Dancing from the 1950s–1970s.

“We chose music from the 1960s because we suspect that many teams will use disco from the 70s,” Juulia explains.

The pair found a go-go jive song that they immediately liked, and combined it with James Brown's classic I Got You.

“We wanted high energy music that the audience can recognize. There is no slow part in our rhythm dance. It is challenging,” Juulia reflects.

The couple's free dance is the Argentine Tango La Rubia Mirella, which is based on true events. The story was introduced to the couple by an Argentinian tango dancer, who worked with them on and off the ice.

“The beginning is quite soft, but the end is really strong. We want to show that we can be strong and fast. The language of movement is traditional tango, but the program is not built from typical dance movements,” Matthias shares.

Juulia plays a strong woman initially, but is used and abused by men. Matthias plays the role of a villain. The ending is dramatic.

“When there is a clear story, you have to bring in more emotion and drama,” Juulia states.

The pair's programs will first be seen in the Challenger Series competitions, followed by the Grand Prix events in Finland and China.

“We are aiming for medal positions in both GP competitions, and thus a place in the GP final. We are trying to collect world ranking points so that we can start competitions in the right groups during the Olympic season,” the couple says in unison.

With a fierce tango, Juulia and Matthias will be taking a different path this upcoming season, changing their image as classical lyrical skaters.

“We want to differentiate ourselves from previous years. A new combination lift is in the works for the free program, and the choreographic elements will be totally in character with the tango,” Juulia sums up.

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #3257: Dewgong (Unbroken Bonds)

Dewgong was not going to jump out when looking at cards. The biggest number on here was 60, and when the spread attack required 3 Energy, some discarding, and also only spread 60 to a couple of Pokemon you wouldn't expect much. Said attack came in the same set as a one turn-only Energy that could cover the cost, though, so in the right format maybe there could be a spot for it. Maybe.

120 HP was a very standard Stage 1 number, and usually was still in range for most major attacks. The Metal Weakness rarely changed that, since the type in any format you'd consider this in was pretty poor and if you did try this later on with Zacian and friends around you'd just be taken out anyway. The Retreat Cost here, being 2, was rather annoying with the way that main attack worked, and you'd probably want to include some ways to switch around to other attackers in your deck.

Tail Whap was just 60 damage for 2 Colorless Energy. If using Dewgong you almost certainly had other attackers to run on Double Colorless Energy such as Zoroark-GX, and you'd want to go with those instead.

Dual Blizzard needed 3 Colorless Energy, and 2 Energy had to be discarded from Dewgong to use it. This granted access to an attack that did 60 damage to 2 of the opponent's Pokemon. This, in a vacuum, wasn't going to be enough. In the context of a deck running mostly Colorless Energy, it was a bit better, as it went very well with the new Triple Acceleration Energy. In the context of SUM-On, it was suddenly rather notable. There were a lot of evolving Pokemon at 60 or fewer HP at the time, even if there were also match-ups against Tag Teams where Dewgong was quite poor. Taking out a couple of Zorua, a Ditto Prism Star, or the non-evolving Spiritomb could really set someone back in their set-up, and this was actually really notable in some match-ups against anyone who couldn't get a Mew on the field.

Dewgong was odd in that it was a Stage 1 that only helped in certain spots and was wrecked by Mew existing. It was also good enough in Zoroark-GX mirror matches that it got some serious use at the end of the SUM-On format to take out weak Basic Pokemon, though it fell off dramatically once things rotated and these Colorless evolving decks weren't as good anymore. It could still make a surprise appearance to take out some Pidgeotto or Spiritomb, but it really had to have a deck that could already fit in that Triple Acceleration Energy to be worth it. Those were rarer after Zoroark-GX became less useful and Dewgong was one of those Pokemon that had a spectacular few months at the end of a format to look at. In that format, Dewgong just won games sometimes, even if it also did nothing in others.

[malaierba]

This fic wasn't supposed to be a fic at all. It was supposed to be a stupid dirty joke that answered what I asked here.

But when an anon asked me about it (thank you whoever you are, im working on it!) it kind of got away from me. Grew legs on its own and ran, I was already halfway through when I realised that wait, this doesn't fit my vision at all?!? where did the structure for my stupid joke go???

But it was already kind of long and tbh there is soooo little laishuro out there that I was like. welp! i'm already here, may as well commit!

Rating: M

Twelve. That was twelve times that Laios had used the wrong name. After everything that transpired in the dungeon, you'd think he'd pay more attention to that he was saying, right?

Laios giggles as Toshiro's hands, exploratory, seem to brush over a ticklish spot as they roam over Laios' torso. It's enough to bring him back to the present moment — Right, probably not the best of times to be thinking about names of all things.

He repeats the motion, hoping to commit that place to memory, much like he already knew that if he bit behind his neck just so the blond would gasp. The sum of both actions results in Laios' hips snapping up, which does wonders for Toshiro's mood.

"That tickles, Shuro" Laios all but giggles against his temple. He'd find it endearing if that wasn't the thirteenth time he—

Stop. He's obviously just distracted. He had been getting it right after they met outside of the dungeon, after all. The only other time he had made the mistake had been the first time something like this happened. Toshiro let it slide then because it was best to not ruin the moment, there were some half foot around so they had been trying to stay quiet in general, and the nervousness and anxiety and the two fingers that Laios shoved in his mouth did make speaking up. difficult.

Toshiro offers an apology against his ear, and in an attempt to avoid getting distracted himself he grabs Laios hips and allows one of his thighs to press against his partner's groin. One of Laios' hand immediately flies to cover his mouth, a loud and honestly quite poorly muffled groan vibrating between their chests, followed by his hips rolling in an obvious display of unsuppressed hunger.

One of Toshiro's hands finds one of Laios' wrists. He presses against it, half-pinning Laios as he pushed away to look at his handiwork. The king below him (still hard to believe, which didn't make him any less proud) is getting desperate. Toshiro felt a wave of desire swell in his belly as he watched Laios watch him grind against him, and something like relief in the background of his mind. If Laios kept his mouth covered then he probably shouldn't understand anything the blond said, which was the best scenario possible that didn't require him explicitly chastising his partner, in the middle of sex, when he'd quite frankly prefer to just hope he was creative enough with all the ways in each he could keep that mouth busy.

"Hey" Laios whispered. "Come here, Shuro, I want t—"

Toshiro never learned what Laios wanted. The hand on Laios hip suddenly found its way into the man's underwear, grasping at it so unexpectedly that Laios freezes below him. Toshiro curses himself inwardly, suddenly frustrated. He starts to pull away, embarrassed at having startled Laios, when the other grabbed him before he got far.

"it's fine, I just didn't— You just surprised me." Laios offers a tentative smile. "You can be a little rougher, if you want? We can continue." Laios waits for Toshiro to say anything, do something. When all the samurai can manage is furrowing his eyebrows and hesitate, he adds. "Unless you want to stop..? Take a break?"

He can tell that Laios is trying, which only makes him feel like a bigger ass. If he were to listen to his instincts, he'd probably be halfway out of the door, uselessly hoping that by scaping hurriedly he'd at least leave the memory of this spectacular fumble alongside his dignity. Luckily for him, ignoring his instincts in favour of trying to do the right thing is at last familiar territory.

Toshiro takes a deep breath. He had gotten too into his head, so much so that even Laios noticed. Least he could do was offer an explanation.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rough." He lets the comment about being allowed to be rougher slide, though he does put a pin on that. Maybe he'll inquire later, if Laios won't be turned off by a partner that can't focus on him properly. "I was distracted. You... you've been calling me the wrong name since we got here."

Toshiro observes the way Laios eyebrows knit together, can almost see him walks himself through everything that's happened so far. He can see the way realisation hits him, first in the way his eyes widen, then in the way that he gasps.

"I'm sorry! I didn't notice!" He's sitting up and reaching for both of Toshiro's hands, which he allows. "You should have said something sooner, Toshiro."

Toshiro feels himself blush. He's reminded of being a child, how Hien would scold him when his timidity got the best of him.

"I didn't want to offend you", he explains, shaking his head. "It's not like you're doing it on purpose. I could tell you weren't thinking." He sighs quietly. "Honestly, I don't know why I got so hung up on it. It's not that important. I should've focused on you instad."

"If it's bothering you, then it is important", Laios countered. "I want you to feel comfortable with me. If you aren't comfortable, it's only natural that you'll be distracted, right?"

"... right"

"It won't happen again", Laios promises, so seriously that Toshiro feels himself smile at his earnestness. "I've been getting it right since, uh, that day, right? I don't really know what happened just now. I guess my subconcious took over!"

Laios offers a fairly carefree, slightly sheepish laugh, which is met by Toshiro tilting his head to a side in curiosity.

"Your subconcious?", he repeats.

"Ah... it's nothing." Toshiro isn't quite sure he believes that, and his silence must communicate as much since Laios eventually massages his neck, looking vaguely embarrased, and explains: "It's just... I started thinking about, you know. What it'd be like if we fooled around since before I got your real name. I guess the part of my brain that associates you + getting handsy with the name 'Shuro'?"

Toshiro all but gapes at Laios, who's in the middle of attempting to laugh his silliness away, and thus either doesn't notice or doesn't care that he just admitted to having have fantasized about Toshiro since... How far back? Toshiro makes a feeble attempt at trying to pinpoint a moment since meeting Laois where he could reasonably assume that the blond had started to regard him sexually, before giving up. He didn't notice, he's not sure he cares that much about the when either. After something like that, there's really only one thing he cares about.

"You make it sound like you've thought about it a lot", he says quietly. Laios misses the moment when Toshiro's hands find his shoulders. Getting pushed back onto the bed is, of course, harder to miss. "So in those fantasies of yours, what am I doing?"

If Laios looked any more like the cat that got the cream, Toshiro would almost fear that the madman had finally figured out how to become part monster.

"Well... remember what I said about not minding it if you're rough?"

[stoshasaurus]

right. I need to add some fucking context to this.

My current pfp in one of my discord servers is one of my recent drawings of Felwinter. I was talking about my desire to go out and get donuts this morning, particularly a banana Bismarck (basically a banana-flavored Boston cream donut, if you asked me to sum it up) from this local donut shop. I expressed that I enjoy having characters as my pfp because I imagine that they are saying my words, and it made me wonder how Felwinter would feel about donuts for breakfast, and banana bismarcks. I promised that once I had returned from my expedition to acquire said donuts, that I would write a short snippet about Felwinter eating a banana Bismarck.

So, here it is. An extremely silly, probably HIGHLY inaccurate mini-fic about Shaxx bringing Felwinter donuts for breakfast.

Disgustingly sweet (both literally and figuratively) Felshaxx fluff ahead.

Felwinter only finds himself sleeping in when he is visiting Shaxx. The Iron Lord never sleeps at all; he doesn’t need to, and there is always work to be done. He often finds himself quite busy in the evenings, scouring submind data or organizing lessons for his new student, activities that he obsesses over long after dusk, when any ordinary man would retire for the night. But endless work and looming threats be damned, Shaxx has an absurdly comfortable bed, with far too many pillows and a mattress so soft that Felwinter’s frame sinks immediately into it like a stone in a pond. He’d never known he needed a soft bed with a mountain of pillows. It has become one of the millions of little things he looks forward to when it comes to visiting his beloved in the Last Safe City of Humanity

His infrequent holiday stays in the City have been growing in length recently. In the past, he was lucky to have a single evening to himself to spend, a few scant hours spent being shown all of the spectacular things Shaxx detailed to him in his letters. Now, he is allotted more time, sometimes a week or more, once or twice a month. There was never any announcement made; Felwinter highly suspects that Radegast had been pestered into lessening the burdens of his duties by those few nosy Lords who had deciphered his unspoken relationship with Shaxx. Absolute wretches, all of them. He cannot complain.

He sleeps in more frequently now; Shaxx wakes earlier than him, often unable to step away from his post for longer than a few hours. But he never leaves without soft murmurs goodbye and a few kisses pressed to his face. Felspring teases him relentlessly when he finds himself brushing his hand over where Shaxx’s had been. He swats at her before dozing off for the next hour or so, Arc energy buzzing across his frame long after the Warlord has gone, soft flickers of static mimicking well-known, well-loved fingertips.

When he does finally wake up, it is to a still-empty house. If he makes a small noise of disappointment, he will never admit to it. He makes the bed, dresses himself, and opens the windows to let the sun and the air in, admiring the cityscape in the distance. It truly is as marvelous as Shaxx had made it out to be. A place where flowers bloom and birds sing, and Lightless people sleep without guns in their hands. Shaxx had entrusted Felwinter (and Felwinter alone. Oh, isn’t that a precious thought?) with a small, messy manuscript of hand-written poetry. Felwinter had smiled as Shaxx asked for his aid in revising it, hiding his apprehension in his hands as he wrung them, his feet as he shuffled them, his eyes as he averted them from his face. The very same manuscript lay on the kitchen counter, pockmarked with notes and bookmarks, the pages marked with fresh ink in the margins where Felwinter had endlessly praised Shaxx’s prose (in a much more legible script). Where words often failed the Iron Lord, his writing never did. He confessed his love through paragraphs of detailed interpretation and literary analysis. Poetry of his own.

Felwinter is in the process of writing more notes in the manuscript when Shaxx finally returns to the house. Felwinter turns to greet him– there is a tray of twin coffee cups in one hand and a small box cradled in the other, another bag tucked in his elbow.

Shaxx’s Ghost graciously removes the man’s helmet in time for him to press a kiss to his forehead. “Morning,” he rumbles as he deposits his goodies on the counter.

Felwinter absorbs the matching icons printed on the bag and the box. Some kind of bakery, evidently. He shuts the manuscript and sets it aside, taking one of the cups when Shaxx hands it to him. “Good morning,” he replies. “How goes the Crucible?”

“Astoundingly boring. I have no exciting clips to share.” The man sounds almost wounded. Felwinter curses whichever Guardian neglected to throw enough grenades to elicit excitement in the Crucible Handler. “The new Lights tend to try their luck during the summer months. I almost feel bad watching them get decimated by some of our veteran fireteams.”

“One would think the loss would motivate them to try harder.”

Shaxx laughs as he opens the box and examines its contents, out of Felwinter’s line of sight. “It does! That’s the thing about the newly Risen. They haven’t learned what quitting is yet.”

Felwinter does not protest when Shaxx plucks something out of the box and presses it insistently into his hand. It is a soft pastry, glazed with a sweet white frosting and sprinkled with what looks like chunks of cookies. Shaxx grabs an identical item out of the box, but his eyes are on Felwinter rather than the thing in his hand.

The Iron Lord puzzles over it, tilting it carefully so as not to spill the toppings, and stares at Shaxx. “What is this?”

“It’s a donut.” He shrugs with one shoulder. “It’s called a Bismarck. A banana Bismarck, to be exact.” He sounds overly proud of himself as he tilts his chin triumphantly. Felwinter huffs at the display.

Felspring hovers over his shoulder, studying the treat curiously. Felwinter wishes that she had a mouth so she could try it herself. In her stead, he slowly takes a bite, watching Shaxx mirror him with equal trepidation. He cranes his neck over the counter and cups his hand under the Bismarck, making sure no debris falls to the floor. The kitchen is flooded with an oddly pregnant silence as they chew thoughtfully in tandem with one another.

Felwinter signifies the end of his chewing and swallowing with “It’s good.”

“I concur,” Shaxx says. He is still chewing, and the words are muffled as he cleverly keeps his mouth as closed as possible. Crumbs speckle the corners of his lips. “Very sweet.”

“Obscenely,” he remarks. Shaxx barks a laugh.

Felwinter takes another bite. He feels like something, a loose screw, or a damaged cog, clicks back into place. He plucks a cookie off of the top of the thing and pops it into his mouth. It crunches loudly in the metal hollow of his mouth, and the sound drowns out every other thought in his head. Shaxx chuckles at him again, looking very strangely infatuated, and Felwinter cannot stop the lights that dot his chest and his neck from flickering in diffidence.

When his mouth dries up from consuming the pastry, Felwinter reaches for the coffee. It is strong, straight black just the way he likes it, and pleasantly hot rather than scalding. He drinks deeply and feels his plates thaw from the warmth of it, his mouth, his throat, his chest, and his stomach, each system absorbing it individually. The bitterness is a perfect complement to the sweetness of the Bismarck. Shaxx watches him overtly, an earnest tenderness visible in his eyes, unhurried anticipation visible in his open posture. Silently, he seeks appraisal.

“It’s very good,” Felwinter murmurs. All of the words he knows feel inadequate to describe his feelings, so he resorts to simplicity instead. “Thank you.”

Shaxx physically sags against the counter with what Felwinter assumes is relief. An uncharacteristically bashful grin pulls at the corners of his mouth. “I’m glad. I wasn’t sure you’d like it.”

The Exo’s eyes sparkle with his version of a coy smile. “Do I not strike you as the type to enjoy banana-flavored sweets, Lord Shaxx?”

“No, Fel. Not at all.”

As if to prove him wrong, he takes another bite of the Bismarck. It is so sickeningly sweet that he is afraid it will somehow rot his metal mouth.

——

Playing Nice has ruined my fucking life. I’m so sorry.

[infinity-squared-comics]

I think a lot of people underestimate how skilled a Yuya is as a duelist, which honestly makes sense, because we almost never see him actually trying.

Throughout every one of his duels, his first four priorities are having fun, making his opponent have fun, making sure the crowd has fun, and finding peaceful solutions to problems. Winning comes *fifth* for him.

*And he still wins.*

We see it in the show, we see him avoid winning combos to look for a more spectacular, more entertaining, more *fun* way to win.

*and he still wins*

He is, in all honesty, *toying* with his opponents most of the time. He very rarely fights for real, and even when he does he’s usually under outside influence.

To put all of this simply, I’ll use an example.

Jack Atlas is widely believed to be one of the greatest duelists in the franchise.

Yuya beats him.

While holding back.

*Twice*.

I’ve mentioned it before, but in Yuya’s second duel with Jack, he doesn’t go for game with timebreaker magician’s banishing effect, because that would be an example of raw power overcoming raw power. Instead, he very specifically sets up a situation in which he can win using several rather weak cards, because that’s what the city needs right now, to see the less powerful, the downtrodden work together to surpass insurmountable odds.

I’ve heard it said that Yuya’s strength as a duelist comes from his four spirit companions. The only thing is- *he doesn’t get there help very often.* For most of the series, he has one spirit companion, same as Yugi or Yuma, only he doesn’t rely on him. He wins most of his duels on his own, and only really brings out Yuto’s help when it would be thematically appropriate, when Yuto wants to help. Because for most of these duels, Yuto doesn’t need to help.

To sum it up- Yuya is much stronger than most people give him credit for, but a lot of people don’t notice that because victory isn’t one of his main focuses.

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

I have watched TMNT Mutant Mayhem on a plane. Some quick thoughts.

-Style is impeccable

-I like how the turtles act like actual teenagers

-The character designs are so fucking peak

-The music choice is great, so is the soundtrack by Trent Reznor

Ok now time for more thoughts

-I was disappointed by Superfly because he goes so hard but I really do think they pussied out with his character and didn't do more interesting things than just. "Kill everyone" being his whole prerogative, as hilarious as it is.

-Plot feels... weak. But it's TMNT. So yeah, it's just like that. Sure the found family aspects can really speak to some people but yeah.

Really to sum it up, good movie. Not too spectacular though (however the visuals are spectacular though).

Anyways

FLYYYYYYY

FLYYYYYY

FLYYYYY

FLYYY

DRINK 'TILL I'M DRUNK

SMOKE 'TILL I'M HIGH

CASTLE ON THE HILL

WAKE UP IN THE SKY

YOU CAN'T TELL ME I AIN'T FLY!

[someonexsomeone]

Fragile

Title: Fragile

Author: SomeonexSomeone

Word Count: 3.5k

Pairing: George Weasley x Reader

Summary: The Triwizard Tournament is a stupid idea...until it brings George something he didn't know he was looking for.

Authors Note: Day 6!!! Wel...okay I know this didn't go up last week. I had to take a week off because, in true fanfic author fashion, my landlord sold the house I was living in and we needed to find living asap lest we go homeless. But!! We did it!! I haven't slept and I'm so stressed I cried when we got approved for a new house, so I wrote this as a reward for myself! I hope you guys like it! I plan to get the one for this week out tomorrow so next Thursday will be back on schedule!

Dumbledore had made many confusing choices throughout the years George went to school with him as the headmaster. Allowing teachers to pick on students was the first to come to mind, followed quickly by random last-minute points to change the winners of the house cup (Fred told him several times to let it go since they won, but there was something that always nagged George about it), but this year’s TwiWizard Tournament was, he had to admit, quickly climbing the list. His brothers never mentioned anything about it, and neither had their parents, so why suddenly bring back a death tournament when everything around them was already a reminder of the death awaiting them outside the castle walls?

“A way to bond us all together!” Dumbledore happily explained, a twinkle in his eye that George knew only from the same look Fred got when he thought he was doing something brilliant, and since Fred was typically a coin toss on whether was would be true or not, George wiggled his nose in distrust. “I want everyone to remember this is a friendly competition, no matter how serious it may get, so intermingling is highly recommended. Now, how about we give a warm welcome to the two new schools joining us this year!”

It was as full of bravado as George expected, each school expecting to out-perform the other with shows of magic and flips and who knows what else, with Hogwarts left to do nothing but a jovial karaoke of their school's anthem. And, who was George to deny the crowd the twin’s spectacular singing voices? The giggles from the people around them were expected, but some coming from the other two schools was a welcome surprise. George couldn’t help giving it that much more of a performance, just to please his adoring audience, eyeing some of the lovely students in pale blue as they huddled closer to hide their laughter from a disapproving headmistress. 

Then came the announcement of how to apply to the tournament. Fred only needed to spare his twin a glance before they nodded, each imagining the large treasure at the top of the podium. After years of selling products, snatching things here and there from Snape and Sprout and pretty much salvaging anything from anyone, there was a lump sum hiding at the bottom of Fred’s trunk, hidden cleverly in a bag disguised as a dirty pair of underwear, that would help improve their operation tenfold, but this? This would do more than they would ever imagine. How many products would they be able to make? How many ingredients they could buy to refine plans they only dared to dream of? Dare say, even turn their production into something so much more than a traveling trunk of wonder? George hadn’t hoped to dream so boldly so quickly, but this would be worth so much more than they could make for the rest of their time in school! This brain was whirling with the plans they already made, and how quickly they could be made real. And then…heartbreak.

“It’s for your safety!” he heard Fudge say, though it was nearly incomprehensible over the shouting throughout the Grand Hall, the twins louder than anyone else. Outrage! They were near enough to the age restriction, and who was some new old wizard to come in and make these decisions for them? Thus, the scheming began.

Even though he believed Dumbledore to be a bigger ditz than not, he did know his magic was stronger and more refined than the average wizard. Alright, the above-average wizard. But this was worth so much more than a little scolding, and he had seen the hint of a smile on the headmaster's face whenever the twins were on the verge of getting in trouble for their pranks. He had a soft spot for troublemakers, Fred decided early on, and it allowed them to be bolder than they would have under a more watchful eye. Jokes on him, George concluded many years later, that his more lenient attitude made him and Fred nearly overly confident in their abilities, especially their abilities to get away with things that a normal person couldn’t even think of. 

A mountain of ingredients was needed for an age-altering potion, even one as temporary as they were planning on making. Illegal? Maybe. But there were no laws against age-altering potions so long as they didn’t get in trouble while under its influence or force someone against their will to drink it. A short 5 minutes, and only a few months of aging? They had made pranks much more elaborate, and they had spent more than their fair share of time over a bubbling cauldron. All they needed was to get the ingredients and everything was as good as set, right?

Wrong.

The first few ingredients were the easiest. George, ever the good student, volunteered to help Professor Sprout water the plants the first years were studying. She was so frazzled, bless her, that she didn’t notice George take clippings from a select bunch of herbs on the opposite side of the greenhouse from where he was supposed to be. Fred was able to sneak a little here and there from their shared potions classroom, and they had just enough money saved up for an innocuous visit to the potion shop down in Hogsmeade. They had more than enough flasks and bottles saved up over the years to dry the needed things appropriately, and the house elves were more than happy to allow them use of a burner to bring everything to a rolling boil. Everything was set for the brewing, needing to happen on a waxing moon to ensure they wouldn’t age too much too quickly, but there was still one, tiny, pesky problem left…

“How in the bloody hell are we going to find a Lightsparrow’s Talon!” Fred was beyond frustrated, pacing the room in front of his brother. The two had commandeered their dorm room, their roommates besides Lee Jordan knowing well enough now that being around the twins while they planned would inevitably cause them to get caught in the crossfire, with papers strewn all around the room. Theories, replacements, and possible combinations filled each page, all with nearly illegible scribbles confirming their uselessness. “I should have just snuck into Snape’s cupboard during detention when I had the chance!”

“And risk trouble not even McGonnogal could talk you out of? You know he’s only locked down even more since someone else started stealing from him.” Fred huffed, finally plopping down on his bed. “Besides, we don’t even know if he has any. None of the upper-level classes are brewing potions with them, and the Matron doesn’t have any potions that require them.”

“So, what? We just give up?” George rolled his eyes. After years of failed experiments, Fred’s grouchy attitude was more than easy to ignore.

“You know that’s not what I’m saying. I just think we need to get a little more creative.”

“But we’ve tried everything! That stupid library never has anything we actually need.” George just chuckled, walking over to his brother to give him a playful pat on the shoulder.

“Why don’t I go take another look before we give up all hope?” Fred huffed again, crossing his arms and slumping his shoulders like a child. “I haven’t reached the end of the Herbology section yet, and we have enough Swindlebrine powder for another go before the final product.” Fred looked at his twin once, before huffing again. A quick flop, and he was more or less laying across his bed.

“...fine. But, after dinner, we formulate a plan to take a look around Snape’s cupboard just in case.”

“Deal.” They shared a smile, George patting Fred’s leg this time, before ducking out the door. The easiest way to deal with Fred, before food was served, was either to distract him with a problem or let him rest. Sleeping, George found, was always the easier option.

Since the new students infiltrated the school, every time of day was absolutely bustling with activity. Between the end of classes and dinner, most students preferred to hang out with friends, meaning the hallways were empty besides the random groups that walked to and fro their destinations, and teachers were either tucked away in their offices to grade work or in their private studies doing their personal projects. It was the time of day that Fred and George found it easiest to scout out prank spots, and sometimes got as lucky as setting up the bulk of it to finish after curfew. Now though? George had to spin his body in every direction to avoid the constant stream of people. His height allowed him an advantage of seeing over most heads, but it also meant people were able to get extremely close and bump into him without any warning. After years of getting away with pranking people in plain sight with the help of a crowd, he was more alert than ever.

Just up ahead, a group of Hogwarts students were loudly arguing with a group from Durmstrang. About what, George didn’t even want to know, but it was making it incredibly difficult to get past. With a huff, one that would impress even Fred, he slipped into a nearby hallway, not nearly as bad as the main corridor, but he didn’t waste much time before making a few more turns. The good part of sneaking out past curfew was the ability to explore every part of the castle without getting distracted. He and Fred nearly had the layout memorized, but the secret passages granted them much easier access. The way he was walking would take him the long way to the Library, but it was filled with empty hallways courtesy of the tens of abandoned classrooms. The further he walked, the fewer people he could see and hear around him, until he came to a pocket with absolutely no one. On either side, the roar of students was ongoing, but the reprieve did George a moment to breathe. 

If this was your school, George thought bitterly, you wouldn’t be treating everything so disrespectfully. Honestly! Who even told them that wandering around the school was a good idea?

“I’ve already told you no, Dennel.” George stopped still. Just around the corner, he could hear the shuffle of feet, almost like they were walking in circles. Vaguely, he thought he recognized the voice, but no face came to mind immediately.

“My Darling, don’t you know that saying no now will do nothing to help you later?” That voice he did know. George groaned internally. The other bad part of all the new students was the absolute influx of activity in the classroom, namely from a group of Beauxbatons boys that thought it was so fun to flaunt their power and wealth and knowledge, even if they were wrong more often than not. It was almost like having the worst combination of Hermione and Draco, multiplied by 5. The leader of their stupid clique? Luc Dennel, a prat in every meaning of the word. “My Mother has already sent the robes. Do you want to break her heart?”

“That’s why I’m giving it back. You have no right to speak for me or dictate what I wear.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong.” George leaned around the corner, peaking out just far enough to witness the conversation. With a start, he recognized you immediately. Although you only shared a few classes, George remembered you were skilled in the subjects you did share, and even went as far as helping those around you in spite of their magical school. At one point, you had even helped with some of his wand movement. His hand tingled in reminder.

“Get your hands off of me.” Dennel had you cornered in the hallway, positioning you so your back was to the wall with little room for escape. In your white-knuckled hand was a bag, no doubt the robes his Mother supposedly sent you, but above that, Dannel had his fingers gripping your wrist so tightly there was no debate on whether it hurt or not.

“Just submit to me already.” Dennel’s words were honey, but his tone sent a shiver down George’s spine. Not from fear, no, but from disgust. “It will happen sooner than you think. Why not just do it now?”

You were shaking. George could see even from his vantage point that your legs were on the brink of giving out, the grip on the bag the only thing keeping you from collapsing. A troubling burn whirled in his chest, the unmistakable feeling of needing to help someone bubbling to the surface. He could hardly remember the last time he felt this, though vaguely the image of Ginny shivering against him when people were accusing her all throughout her First Year of being strange for being so protective of her journal. His hand gripped his wand fiercely. He could hardly watch the way Dennel’s hand raised to touch your face.

“Surely the product in your hair didn’t make you deaf, eh, Dennel?” George rounded the corner then. Both you and Dennel jumped, whipping your heads to look at the unknown spectator to your conversation. George watched your shoulders deflate, from relief or embarrassment he couldn’t tell. George didn’t even flinch at the glare Dennel sent him. “Don’t you know it’s not very polite to corner unsuspecting people in a corridor?”

“This is none of your business, Weasley.”

“Oh? Apologies, I wasn’t aware you owned the hallway.”

“No, but I do own them. So, butt out.” In a single moment, before George could even wave his wand, your fist collided with Dennel’s face, sending you both flying with the grip he still had on your arm. George rushed over, pulling you from the floor and away before Dennel could recover. Your glare was fierce, but George could feel your shaking now as your body was pressed against his.

“No one owns me,” you growled out, laughing the bag at the body on the floor. Dennel recoiled as George flinched. Sympathy pains in this case, he hated to admit, always existed man to man, no matter who they were. “Not even you.”

George hurriedly pulled you along the corridor, away from his original target of the Library, to a hidden corridor. He winced once as the magical door closed behind him, hoping that after escaping that disaster you wouldn’t mind being alone in another low-lit corridor with a man just for a few moments in order to get you to safety.

“I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t want to be in this enclosed space. Just through here, though, will take you to the courtyard. We’ll be out quick, promise.” He tried to gently guide you, mindful of the painful bruise he could see already forming around your wrist, but you only managed one step before your legs gave out. George joined you on the floor quickly. “Woah! Hey, are you okay?”

He hardly knew what to do when you burst into tears, your entire body quaking with your silent sobs. His arms hovered awkwardly, too afraid to touch you but too worried to give you space. All it took was a gentle pat on your back before you turned, throwing yourself into his arms, seeking any comfort you could.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” George could barely make out the whispers between your chattering teeth.

“Oh, no, you have nothing to apologize for,” he reassured quietly. He took another moment, before wrapping his arms entirely around you, squeezing as tightly as he could to his chest. His back was aching with the effort to keep you both upright, but he tried to focus instead on quietly murmuring affirming words to you, watching as the candlelight flickered across the dirt walls in order to keep his breath deep and calming. Who knew that having a little sister that was terrified of everything would make him an expert in handling people? 

The two of you sat there until your breathing slowed to a gentle rhythm, your body almost completely still, and then some. George continued his work, moving from reassurances to mindless chatter, just filling the quiet room with something other than your stuttering gasps of air, not letting you go for a moment. He worried you fell asleep for a second, before you gingerly sat up, rubbing your red eyes to get rid of any cloudy vision.

“I don’t normally do that, I promise.” George let out a startled laugh at your admittance, breaking the gentle atmosphere. You gave him a weak smile.

“I always knew Dennel was an ass.” This time you laughed, offering your hand to help George off the floor. Without needing the words, you looked each other over, whipping a smudge of dirt and a fleck of dust to ensure you both were clean. Well, clean as you could be after proactively cuddling on the floor. Your cheeks flared when you came to the realization of what you must look like to an outsider. You met George’s eyes again when he reached over and gently pat your hair down.

“Thank you.” George just gave you a smile.

“It was no problem at all.”

“Even if it means Dennel is going to be an insufferable ass to you now?”

“He already was.” That made you laugh again. George realized he really liked making you laugh. “What’s his problem, anyway?” At this, your smile fell. George felt like kicking himself. There was an awkward beat of silence. “You don’t have to-”

“He wants my hand in marriage,” you said at the same time. That made George gape. “Well, he wants my family’s business in order to save his, so marriage is what he’s set on now.”

“But…but he’s a Seventh Year! And you’re a Fifth Year! That can’t be allowed.” You rolled your eyes.

“Weasley. Surely you know of the old pureblood traditions. Fifth Year is hardly too young to arrange a marriage.” George just continued to gape at you. “Don’t worry, I don’t want to marry him.”

“Good!” Even George winced at how loud that came out. “I mean, good. He’s a prick.”

“A massive one.” Your smile was back. “So, is there anything I can offer my knight in shining armor for the rescue?”

“Rescue?” George huffed, taken aback. “You hardly needed the help with an arm like that.”

“Yes, I will admit, the punch was all my doing.” George laughed. “But most people would just drop me off somewhere near people and hope I was okay. You’re a special breed, Weasely, to sit with someone on the floor of a dirty corridor while they went through hysterics.” You cut him off before he could rebuke. “So, anything I can help the King of Pranksters with? I am in your debt.”

“That is a dangerous thing to say to me, lovey.” George’s mischievous smirk sent a chill down your spine. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to raincheck that favor. Unless, of course, you could get me a Lightsparrow’s Talon,” George laughed.

Despite the obvious sarcasm in his voice, you still responded, “Would a liquid form work?” That stopped his humor immediately.

“What?”

“Would a liquid form work? It’s the only type I have on me.” You rummaged through your pocket, producing a small bottle of…something that glimmered lightly against the candlelight. George wondered if he was going to have a jaw ache from the way it kept falling open.

“Where did you get that?!” Even as you held it out to him, he was frozen solid.

“It’s not in its purest form, but you wouldn’t need it to be anyway if you’re making a potion. If you mix in some snail secretion it should become tacky again without compromising the effects.” When he still didn’t take it from you, you waved it gently. “Well? Will it work?”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“What? Oh, I brought it from home.” George gave you a funny look. “Liquid Lightsparrow Talon? Don’t you use it here as a cure for muscle and mental fatigue?”

“Lightsparrow Talon is extremely hard to get here!” It was your turn to look confused.

“The Talon is, yes. But if you gain their trust you can start a farm where they drop nearly all the time. The liquid form is a portion of the Talon ground down and liquified to make over a hundred doses per talon.”

“Is this common knowledge? How do you even know this?”

“The method is new, yes, but it’s been published hundreds of times over the years. The research team is based in France.” George smacked his hand against his forehead. Of course you would stop at E in the Herbology section, he thought miserably. If I had just continued for another row I would have answers for Fred by name. Your laugh pulled him from his thoughts.

“You’re pretty funny, you know that.” In a quick motion, you leaned over, tucking the bottle into his front pocket. His face flared red. “Let me know if you need anything else. The exit was this way, right…” Your voice trailed off as you made your way down the dirt path. 

George felt his heart thumping loudly in his chest. 

“Thank you, Dumbledore…”

______________________________________________________________

masterlist  l What is Laufeyfest? l Laufeyfest masterlist

[lemotmo]

I messaged and asked if I could share these before sending this to you just to be sure! But I thought I would share her first Tommy post. She's had a couple of messages about how she was clearly never really pro Tommy. She was, but it was always with a for now kind of narrative. But I thought some people would like to see it. It's favorable to Tommy so no one freak out because it's OLD. We are all aware of her feelings on the matter now. It's her first Tommy post following 7x4 but it's pretty clear what she's actually excited about though. I'm also attaching the post she made following the season finale because it's a mood and sums up most everyone's opinions of that episode nicely. Hopefully the way I had to copy them doesn't format weird. Enjoy!

That episode was heaven. An absolutely beautiful, perfectly Buck episode. I'm going to fawn for a few minutes and then I'm going to overthink some things,lol. First things first Tommy is just fun. What a great first relationship for Buck. No pressure, just lighthearted goodness. He deserves to have the best time and Tommy seems like a great way for him to explore this new reality. He can stay for a while. I won't lie, his face doesn't do much for me personally, but overall I get the appeal and I hope Buck has a blast. Seriously though they did such a good job bringing him into the mix. I'm genuinely stunned. He works and it didn't require a whole lot of effort to make him work. I am thoroughly impressed. And on a completely shallow note that was a spectacular first kiss. Well done all the way around. I'm so overwhelmed and impressed by the entire episode. Bravo to all! Our little Buckley is canonically bi!

Now to the overthinking part, and I'm sorry in advance. The episode text was entirely reliant on Eddie. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall the show ever establishing that Eddie was into Muay Thai prior to last night. Which means they invented an Eddie hobby specifically to give Tommy the same hobby. That's insane behavior. I mean that was absolutely unnecessary and not only did they intentionally add it they made sure to make the audience aware of it. They had Buck repeatedly point out his similarities to Eddie. I was watching live with a couple of friends and we all kind of had a wtf moment. Because are they actually going to do it??? Are they actually maybe baby stepping towards legitimately going there?? I'm going to have to rewatch but man it kind of genuinely feels like it might actually happen. And I'm speechless about it. It's pretty much what everyone is waiting for at this point. I just never thought they'd actually do it. But I don't know guys last night definitely felt like it was something.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Before I rage vomit my opinion of last night's episode I want to make a plea. A plea to Tim, ABC, Ryan Murphy, or anyone with power who will listen. Stop allowing Kristen Reidel to write anything for this show. She shouldn't be allowed near the writers room let alone be allowed to write what are supposed to be significant episodes. She has now written the last two season finales and they have both been atrocious. Worse than bad. Worse than boring. Completely and utterly atrocious. I am truly stunned by how bad this episode was. I mean it was clear the entire back half of the season was a last minute rewrite because they got renewed so fast, and as a result, Tim clearly decided to slow the originally planned stories down. The latter half of this season was abysmal. And because of that they needed a decent finale to salvage any part of it. And the second Kristen's name came up on the opening credits it was over. I dead ass started laughing the last 15 minutes because I could not comprehend how terrible it all was. It was maybe the worst episode in the history of the series. I'm serious. I can't think of a worse overall episode. It was embarrassing. You're the number one show on that network and you rolled that piece of garbage out as your season finale. Really?

I'm not even going to waste breath talking about the ridiculous Bobby/Athena/Cartel nonsense because it was too stupid for words. The only thing I will say is Kristen clearly likes Athena, it's obvious, so why does she always write her as some crazy RoboCop ripoff with a vigilante kink? It's mind boggling. The worst part though was the Eddie/Christopher/Buck arc. That actually broke my heart. In the hands of a more talented writer Oliver and Ryan, and precious Gavin could have salvaged that storyline. They did all the heavy lifting anyway, but the writing failed them miserably (big shock). Ryan did everything he could with that pile of garbage. Tim, you all killed her off. Let it go. I don't want to see her again. For the love of god free Eddie from the Shannon cycle. And then on top of everything else you did to Eddie this season you sent his son away. Look if they're actually going the Buddie route, which I am now convinced they are, Christopher needs to be away for a bit. I get that. But him asking to go stay with his grandparents was not the way to do it. Especially given how well your audience knows Eddie's very complicated relationship with his parents. It was gross. There were other ways to remove Chris from the equation for a bit. That brings me, finally, to that disgusting, completely out of place dinner scene between Buck and Tommy. What in the actual hell was that scene? It was so wildly out of place within the context of the episode it felt like watching whiplash. They clearly had a scene count in Lou's contract and needed one more scene, fine. They're also clearly establishing this relationship as purely surface level so they weren't going to give him a scene at the hospital or anything else that would demonstrate a level of tenderness. That all makes sense. But the audience had just spent 45 minutes watching the man that we all know Buck sees as his dad basically dying. He died. Buck being Buck wanted to talk about it. Tried to have a very serious conversation and Tommy turned that attempt into a daddy sex kink joke. Are you kidding me?!? I get it. For Tommy this is about Buck being hot and them having a good time, and nothing more so he doesn't want to bring anything serious into the mix. Fine. But there were so many less skin crawling ways to drive that point home. It was disgusting. And I continue to be stunned by the amount of Tommy apologists who keep pretending it's not obvious what the show is doing here. He isn't coming across as charming. He's not being written as charming. Look at the GA reactions. You're not meant to be viewing this as a love story. I know you all can see that. Rant done. I need a drink.

Thank you Nonny. I'm glad you asked her if it was okay to post it. You don't often see that kind of courtesy in fandom anymore.

The contrast between the first post and the last post is sending me. :) Once again the OP managed to explain everything in such a rational way. The way she breaks down these episodes and characters without letting herself get carried away by loud fandom voices and general bi Buck happiness, is truly admirable.

If I have to nitpick, I have to admit that I don't agree with that first kiss being a 'spectacular kiss'. I admit I never liked it. I think I must have watched it twice now and then never again. Something has always bothered me about that scene. I can't pinpoint it, but it has always felt a little wooden somehow.

But you know that I am kind of biased. ;) What can I say? I'm a one guy kind of girl and that guy in question is Eddie. :D

Don't turn away yet, because there is another OP post coming after this one. :)

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[thekingofwinterblog]

Thoughts on Brandon Sanderson and people who accuse him of writting "slop"?

that they are not entierly wrong.

Sanderson is a writer who writes both great, and bad things, but above everything else, he might be the most "Technical" writer alive.

He is capable of writing characters such as Wit, Kaladin, Raboniel... But he is also capable of writing characters such as Shalan, who in book 1 was boring beyond belief, book 2 was great but had one of the most headbanging moments of the franchise to let her win an argument, book 3 made tons of mistakes but only got called out on the ones she made because of good intentions(and not the ones like almost blowing an entire military operation due to a bad and spiteful joke), and book 4 was having a total mental breakdown that was not really earned from a story perspective.

The point im leading up to here, is that Shallan is technically, looking at her from exclusively a mechanical, story beat perspective, a perfectly functioning character... But other than book 2, i REALLY dont care about her storyline.

And that sums up Sanderson's bad qualities as a writer in a nutshell.

Brandon always understands how something works, how to mechanically set up a story, and then later pay it off, and that along with a pretty good writing capacity is usually enough to carry his stories to amazing heights... But when he fails to do that, when a story needed a bit more omph, than his decent but not brilliant writing was capable of mustering, it REALLY shows.

Shallan is the best overall example from the Stormlight archives, but it's not the only example, as i could list tons of others, but i would very much agree that when Sanderson doesnt manage to stick the landing on something, Slop is the PERFECT analogy for how to describe it.

Another example is mysteries.

Sanderson is not good as writing mysteries.

He LIKES mysteries, and it's clear he understands the technical spects of writing them, but he is not martin, where you can go back to book 1 and see how already at this early stage he is setting Bran up as the magical god-king of Westeros, and Dany as a woman with severe mental problems that probably should not be anywhere near a crown.

Sanderson's mysteries often boils down to us being told something new and interesting that recontextualises something old, rather than wondering about a question, then getting foreshadowing, and then a payoff.

Shallan is again a perfect example.

book 1. reveals at the end she killed a certain person. Came out of nowhere.

book 2. ending reveals how she did it, but also that she killed someone else.

book 3. she does a good thing, but this thing horribly backfires, but we get no hint of it doing so before the very ending of that storyline when there were plenty of space to hint at the twist before the reveals comes.

book 4. reveals she Killed ANOTHER person in her backstory.

None of these events are illogical... but NONE of them are handled with the kind of care to make the spectacular twists where you can go back and see how her backstory twists flows into another the way Martin might have.

Brandon's mysteries and reveals often work... but they are rarely outstanding. and when they are bad... They feel like Slop you gulp down to get to the much tastier desert(The character bits where he actually shines).

He has other problems as a writer as well, such as clear lack of confidence in many things(Shallan book 1 wouldnt be half as bad if he didnt constantly have characters tell us how witty she is, and her argument with Kalading during the Chasm period needs him to lose, so the man loses 20 IQ points or more to let her dominate him in debate), an ultimate lack of resolve of keeping Stormlight a medieval dark fantasy story with heroic characters(The same kind of dynamic that Dragon Age Origins, best RPG ever made had) and instead is slowly losing a lot of elements that kept it dark, while making it feel a lot more contemporary, but as these dont relate to the slop argument, i wont get too into those here.