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#(i know dt probably did have kids already at that point but you know what I mean!! he's uncooked!!!!)
shesnake · 9 months
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thinking about doctor who from river song's perspective always fucks me up like imagine spending 24 years in sexy wedded bliss with peter capaldi at his hottest then the next time you see him he's an uncooked pre-dilf david tennant who talks to you like That.. I too would lose the will to live
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fisherrprince · 2 months
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OK HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS ABT MAMOOK SINCE YOURE SO NICE. pardon me
mamook drove me a little insane because it is so, SSSSO close to being good but there’s these little flaws in dialogue/characterization consistency that were scientifically engineered to bother me. maybe no one else is bothered. but I AM so here’s the deal
bakool ja ja made a heel-face turn too fast and broke his character slightly while doing it
zereel ja did the same thing
the rest of mamook was said to be divided, but not really shown to be divided to the extent I wanted to see out of it
being the final tablet, the “things go differently” of the plot structure happened here. but it also didn’t happen here, for the above reasons, also because things go different is in solution nine sort of? and “solving the problem” equally happened too fast and in such a way that I felt simultaneously good and weird about
which again is scientifically engineered to bother me because on the surface I LOVE this. I love it being weird and bad in there I love the one billion dead egg twist and I love lamatyi attempting to approach it from a “is this a cultural difference we are accepting, or is this genuinely harmful” POV. something I kinda wish was stronger themewise with the regulators. BUT!!!!! we get no time for consequences. keep in mind that I understand a major theme of dt is learning and developing and I think mamook should end up with the ending it has now. but I cannot abide having no characterization consequences
NO. 1 bakool ja ja up until this point has been bowser. the cartoon bully. He’s done a bunch of very bowserish things including kidnapping lamatyi and releasing a monster, and he’s not very sorry about it. He’s not all that smart, he’s very tactical, he blows off competition with overconfidence, he’s THE one hope and champion and Divine Blessing from his hometown and it bothers me that he’s so fast to repent and so articulate of his issues! would that not get to your head at all? it has, demonstrably, gotten to his head already! would you not have conflict between what your mother tells you, softly and in tears behind closed doors, when the rest of your people praise you as a savior and a god amongst men. I just wish he was 1) consistently abrasive to us, still seeing us as sorta not on his side until the attack on Tural, I don’t think he should say sorry where he says sorry it should be later or not at all (when he’d apologize thru action not word), and 2) more in his head about it all. Obviously he’s of two minds. He has two heads. the heads should have slightly disagreed in the cenote when confronting wuk lamat but came to the same conclusion as in canon is what im saying I loved when he disagreed with himself that was rad
NO. 2 zereel ja. I know people like him. people like him don’t give up so easily. I know, in steven universe fashion, this is not a realism character, this is a plotline about unity. BUT! AGAIN every one of the previous trials was about unity and we can afford to take a risk with him. Maybe it would have been fine if he stayed mad and bad? maybe it would have been fine if he were just more reluctant? how does milaal ja feel about him?? Why did gulool ja choose him? We brought that up but didn’t really explore it. I don’t know if we should have killed him I think he’s allowed to grow. but he would not so quickly unless something else happened. I feel like the short thing later with him at the crowning of the dawnservants should have been a little tenser too how does bakool ja ja feel about him Now. Probably pretty complicated. How does the rest of mamook see him
NO. 3 I dunno I just wanted to see more of the mamool ja who lived there. what stokes their belief so so strongly… how do they feel… where are the kids? im getting distracted but what’s the birth rate of blessed siblings in contrast to normal kids out of hoobigo/boonewa pairs? does it always happen just with a very high infant mortality rate? Or does it happen half the time and there’s like, a whole NEW issue with kids running around who were not blessed? I know the vibe is rancid
NO. 4 this one is a little self explanatory the way I worded it. But also, I feel like importing nonnative crops in order to help those who want to stay and prosper is a good solution. Just the way that it’s… I dunno. I wish it was presented as more of just a part of the solution, because it was, just not emphasized enough that this won’t solve all your problems.
look (throws 3 ring binder out the window causing a huge crash and cat yowl sfx) this is a smaller part of a larger problem throughout dawntrail in that the ideas are very good but the dialogue put together to present these ideas to the audience is not and it creates a weird sense of goodbad, in that I feel like if I DIG AND PLAY, it’s great, but when first presented with anything I’m put off. But I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT ANYMORE !!!!!! I’ve already said that piece! I’m going to think about sphene for the next THIRTY SEVEN HOURS! Thank you for listening
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dragonmarquise · 6 days
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Since devil theory is into anime, what types of genres do they usually watch????
Oh boy, this is gonna be a fun one to talk about :D
Well, for the most part. Also a bit long!
But first, something that’s probably not needed, but just in case: A disclaimer that some of the series mentioned here might not have aged well in terms of like… depictions of minorities or handling certain serious topics in questionable ways. I know a lot of the stuff I loved as a kid had problems like that.
*gestures towards Cardcaptor Sakura which has at least 3 different child/student x adult/teacher relationships, including the protagonist’s own parents for fuck’s sake!!*
Long story short, some of the mentioned series here are ones I have watched myself at some point in my life! I still love some of these for the good parts, but I’m not gonna make excuses for the bad parts (if what I just said about Cardcaptor Sakura doesn’t already make that clear). Again, this kind of thing is probably obvious for most people? But it’s also probably a good idea to state the obvious anyways.
So yeah, now that the disclaimer is established, onto anime talk!! Also a bit of manga talk here and there, since there’s overlap with different series. :u
Reiterating from my big Devil Theory post, all four of them had a little anime-manga club going during their school days (Nunchaku was an honorary member since she still lived in the US during this time). Adding more to this headcanon/idea, they kinda-sorta still have the club going, but it’s really just the four of them hanging out and watching/reading/talking about anime-manga stuff together like friends anyways. Also debates on stuff like power levels, which characters would win in a crossover battle (a la Death Battle), arguments over why a certain manga series does or did not deserve to have an anime adaptation, etc. :P
Also each of them have been bullied for this particular interest to some extent and at some point in their lives. Even with anime and manga being more “acceptable” these days, their first instinct is to still keep quiet about it, and hide any merch they have from anyone who notices. It takes each of them a while to actually open up about the topic to their own partners, let alone any friends outside of their own little circle. They get there eventually!
Moving on to the specific topic of favorite genres, in general they’ll at least check out the popular stuff together. Astro Boy, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, YuYu Hakusho, One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Full Metal Alchemist, Mob Psycho 100, My Hero Academia, Delicious in Dungeon, Odd Taxi, also various anime movies like the Studio Ghibli films, so on and so forth. You probably get the point! Dragon Ball and its sequels is probably the big one they all remember starting off with. Each of them also have preferences for other stuff they’ll watch/read on their own!
Just as a reminder of who’s who, I’ll put in parentheses which OC corresponds to which DT palette, and a little blurb about them.
For specific favorites for Sai (spring palette, guy with anger problems who gets it sorted out eventually), his favorites are pretty straightforward: as long as it has awesome fights, he’ll watch it! He’ll suffer through a show with a crappy plot if it at least has excellent animation for the fight scenes. Like basically “we saved the budget for the fight scenes and cheaped out on everything else” levels of blegh. Same with manga, it better at minimum have cool art and fight scenes or it ain’t worth it in his opinion. Also he was absolutely inspired to get into art because of those fight scenes, and thus he now works as a freelance artist!
For Nunchaku (summer palette, butch lesbian with high gremlin energy), she really likes sports manga. Admittedly I don’t know a whole lot about this genre of anime/manga myself, but from snippets I’ve seen, I know it can get wild sometimes! Because of the period of her life where her parents forced her to do as many sports as possible, she knows a decent amount about a lot of different sports. She likes to see how the series she reads/watches compare to the real thing, and enjoys when things get really ridiculous.
Also a big fan of the early seasons of Pokemon, Digimon, and Yugioh. Those were her big intros to anime besides Dragon Ball. The later seasons of those three, eh, not so much. She doesn’t hate them but doesn’t love them either, y’know?
In addition to that, she also keeps an eye out for good wlw/yuri series. Nunchaku mostly checks out series made by (or at least written by) actual lesbians, bi women etc. But even then she has a very small pool of stuff she particularly loves, and is also frustrated with how little butch x butch stuff there is.
For Bō (winter palette, blond hair and weightlifting tech guy), he will check out anything involving mecha or cool technology, though he doesn’t always like them (Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably a big one that he regrets watching at all). At the least, if he likes the designs of the mecha/robots featured in the series, he’ll still buy figures or kits of them.
With series he’ll check out on his own that he actually likes, it’s mostly gay manga (i.e. stuff that tends to get labeled as "bara" in Western anime fandoms, even though the term itself is not generally seen as a positive in Japan. At least from what I’ve researched, it probably varies). Of course he enjoys them because Gay, but also because they tend to feature characters with similar body types as him who aren’t meant to be jokes in some way. Which, probably says a lot, doesn’t it? :(
So then besides those two genres and the big popular series he’ll check out with his friends, he’s more into gaming. Like, they all play video games and have their favorites, but Bō is the only one who would call himself a gamer. He has suffered through a lot of horrible video game adaptations of various series, lol…
And finally Daishō (autumn palette, leader of Devil Theory and sometimes basically roleplays as an anime villain while in costume lol), with his love of horror movies, he is also of course a big fan of horror anime and manga! Though whether he genuinely loves what he reads or not kinda depends, due to… sorta complicated feelings.
Okay so, the idea is, for a long while (including even into adulthood), he would check out particularly gruesome and gorey series, even if it got to a point of making him feel genuinely ill. Like, I’m talking about stuff with no deep story or themes to them, no cathartic or at least bittersweet endings. They were mostly if not completely just for the shock value of truly horrific things happening to the characters, who never survived in these series.
And a lot of the time, he read them just to laugh at the characters for being stupid, thinking they deserve the suffering. This also applies to non-anime/non-manga series too. He’d check out the stuff even big slasher fans would want to avoid, if that gives a better idea of what he was seeking.
After sorting out some personal issues (a lot of issues actually, including his big guilt about almost getting his friends and himself killed due to the deal with Faux), he comes to realize he only bothered with that particular subset of horror as a form of self-harm. Again, the big guilt about the Faux deal going wrong, though also guilt about feeling like he’s not doing enough for his friends, that his problems aren’t as bad as other people’s, and so on. Made himself suffer through horror content he can’t stand himself as a sort of subconscious punishment.
Once he works through those feelings, he stops reading/watching stuff like that. He even throws out and burns a lot of the books/DVDs/etc that he collected from that horror subset. After that, he still enjoys horror stuff of course! But he actually respects his own limits and doesn’t force himself to watch/read stuff he knows will just make him feel terrible or ill. He’s a big fan of Junji Ito stuff, plus other stuff in the same vein.
And, I think that about covers it! I was expecting to namedrop a few more series than this, but eh. :P
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pancake-breakfast · 1 year
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I should be sleeping, but I'm not known for my wisdom in that particular field, so on with Trigun Book Club!
Archive
Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10
Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8
TriMax Volume 1: Covers + 1-2, 2 DT, 3-4, 3 DT, 5-6
TriMax Volume 2: Covers + 1, 2-4
Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 2, Chapter 5 below.
Chapter 5: Desperado
Oh, no. They're coming for Vash's friends on the sand steamer.
Wait, that's the girl from the end of the last chapter, huh? That means they can't be far from Milly and Meryl.
Nico-oniisaaaaaaan!!!
"Did your work go well?" Heh. I'll note he does not answer this question. Nicholas D. Wolfwood. The "D" is for "Deflection."
Gods, his hands. This is so much more traumatic in context.
NIGHTOW, WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE, LITERALLY ON THE SAME PAGE AS THAT NIGHTMARE?!?!
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NM, it's just Vash's bad driving. Or maybe he noticed WW wasn't sleeping so good and decided to unsubtly wake him up?
LOL, I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about what's going on in WW's head here, but they're all spoilers, so I'll keep them to myself.
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LOLOLOLOL, WW dragging unconscious Vash into the inn and demanding two rooms is just so funny to me. Like, no wonder these people are staring at him like that. They must have SO MANY QUESTIONS.
I assume there will only be one room. And one bed. Edit: My assumption was wrong.
LOL, nothing wakes Vash up quite like the sound of someone else in need, trying to do the right thing against impossible odds.
He's so cute when he's semi-conscious.
WW, what the hell life have you been living? I'm so sorry, my guy. No wonder Vash is giving you such a headache.
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I wish I could find a suitable picture to show just how much this building looks like the old Spanish missions dotting the landscape in certain parts of the Southwestern U.S., but it seems like 99.9999% of the pictures are of the buildings inside the walls... or of the ones that have been extensively renovated rather than having crumbly bits like so many of them do. (Also, it's late and so I can't be arsed to do a detailed search. Maybe this will help get my point across? IDK, I'm not writing an essay on Spanish missions right now. I already did that back in 4th grade.)
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If I had a son who was recklessly hellbent on getting himself killed alongside me as I defended the town/inn/whatever, I'd tie him up and lock him away, too.
LOL, dehydrated Vash. Gods, babygirl is in baaaaad shape. He's trying, though.
I dunno, a half-dead Vash is still probably pretty competent.
Is now a good time to point out that the word "Desperado" means "The Desperate"? (Also, apparently it's not actually Spanish. We're learning things today in Trigun Book Club.)
"What was that, Vashie?" *Vash barks insistently* "You think you can come up with a plan?" *Vash barks enthusiastically* "Ok, I trust you, boy!" *Vash wags his tail.*
Some quick Spanish notes on page 134 here for those who may not hear these terms so frequently: Mi Amigo = my friend (may not actually indicate a friend; can also be used to create a mock-friendly tone in a situation where intimidation is coming into play) Jefe (pronounced "heh-fay") = slang term meaning "boss" or "leader" (can also be used sort of like "man" or "dude" in English, or in a mock-friendly tone to kinda rub in that the person being called "jefe" is not in charge of the situation) Comprende? = Do you understand?
This guy has too many teeth. And a weird way of standing. Is... is he wearing metal underwear?? What kind of weirdness do you have to go through to get this kind of anatomy? How does he close his lips??? M... maybe it's a mask of some sort??
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Holland en Flambe sounds like a dessert.
Rest in peace, vodka. I'm sure someone out there misses you.
Hahahahaha, this kid. He's having to hold the whole weight of intimidation because Vash looks like a rag doll someone left out in the rain too long. Wait. Does Wolfwood know Vash is here?? Heheheheheheheh.... BF's gonna be maaaaaaad....
I love Vash's expression through this bit. He's trying, but he does NOT have the energy for this right now.
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FWOOM
Listen to your father, Rob.
Ohhhhh, shit.
Ok, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this. I love the absolute chaos of the top part taking over the whole page, with this guy's shouting bearing down on Vash and the family from the top, claws sweeping in from the left with a motion so fast and deadly it leaves motion lines going all the way up the page... and then, cutting in at the bottom, in a panel that's practically pure-white serenity, the soft but definite *click* of the Punisher's machine gun opening. Beautiful.
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And, of course, we turn the page into a two-page spread of Wolfwood letting 'er rip, adding a more controlled and entirely different type of chaos to the scene.
LOL, BF's mad. Just a little, though. Confusion has tempered his anger.
Ok, this, though. How the angle goes from him carelessly tapping Vash on the head with his gun (while practicing shit trigger discipline, I might add) to us looking up at Wolfwood from a perspective very close to what Vash's would be if he could lift his head. How, in the second panel, Wolfwood looks like a desperate man about to pull an executioner's trigger out of fear and confusion for the unknown before him. How, even so, he's debating if Vash is actually the monster he's heard of when there's so much evidence that, despite superhuman skills that Wolfwood has witnessed multiple times firsthand, Vash seems so kind and cares so much for people he ends up in this situation even while half-dead.
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Meanwhile, Vash seems to be taking well-deserved nap....
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Text
tuxedo iii, m | myg
pairing(s): yoongi x reader, mentions of previous jungkook x reader
summary: It’s the next morning. Your cat is still a man. Fuck. He still thinks he owns the place, including you. Sigh. Well, you still have to do your job, because, yikes, your cat-man has spent a small fortune on new clothes (spending like he’s got a black card, what’s up with that?). Ah, but... maybe both of you are starting to finally acknowledge that he might be a more man than cat – at least for the time being...?
warnings: rated M (18+) for language, mentions of the coronavirus pandemic; possibly full-on crack; mentions of and a tiny bit of smut (fem reader, spanking, doggy, unintentional??? voyeurism, dry humping / thigh riding); domestic and soft moments with your cat-man; non-idol!AU - cat!Yoongi x human!reader; ft slightly cocky Jeon Jungkook (+drama!!!) and bestfriend!Kim Seokjin; breaking of the fourth wall; are YOU a furry? yeah, I kinda think you are
*deep breath* I reference a certain boat that was stuck in the Suez Canal, Yoongi's livestream where he poked himself in the nose with the coffee straw, his love for tangerines, too many Twitch chat memes, that time his mom called him a boiled dumpling, 'BST' pink pajama Yoongi, DTS, TXT's 'Cat & Dog', etc...
part i | part ii
-
You woke up slowly. 
A perfect, peaceful morning. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Neck cradled by your memory foam pillow? Check. Back well supported by your soft mattress? Check. Not sleeping on your sofa and destroying your spine? Check. Hey, you’re moving up in life! Ah, what a normal day already. You opened your eyes a crack; vision blurred from the morning sunlight filtering through your curtains. Bundled in your minty-green duvet? Check. Wearing your extra soft black-and-white striped pajamas? Check. 
Large pale human hand firmly gripping your right titty? Check. 
Wait… 
What?
Your eyes snapped open and flew to your left. 
Min Yoongi's face was centimeters from yours, buried into your pillow, messy bedhead sticking out everywhere. Black choker with the tiny silver bell around his neck. Still had those black velvety pointed cat ears and glowing pale skin, pretty pink lips ever-so-slightly upturned, warm exhale against your ear. 
Your cat still a disturbingly handsome man?
Ah, yup, check. 
His hand was on your right breast, fingers molded to the soft curve. A quick glance and, whew, he was still fully dressed in his black t-shirt and sweatpants from yesterday. Yes, fully, completely dressed. Shit, what if he caught you staring? You quickly flickered your eyes up at the ceiling, hastily wiping the drool away from your mouth. Whoa there. That would be embarrassing if he caught that.
Also, kind of gross. Don’t be gross. Keep it together.
Hahaha…
Well, yup, this was still awkward, the whole hand-on-the-titty thing, hahaha, but not as awkward as it would be if, hahaha, you accidentally, oh, don't know, hahaha, got really, really, really disgustingly drunk and, hahaha, had somehow lost all impulse control and, hahaha, fucked your cat?
Man.
Cat-man. 
Hahaha, that would never happen. You’d make sure of that.
... 
Unless?
No, no, no, stop, he's your cat, your cat, he's literally been a (cat) man for one fucking day, albeit a incredibly hot, deliciously built (cat) man who put your facial massager on your nipple and let you touch his human dick in the shower and he was hard for a hot second, so... no, no, no, stop, you are not a desperate thot, get a fucking grip – well, you kind of are – but not him, for fuck’s sake, you still don't understand what the fuck is going on or if he even remotely likes you and, let's face it, he probably doesn’t because you almost paid a guy to chop off his nuts–
"Are you dying?"
You choked on air and lurched sharply at the sudden deep, raspy voice. The grip on your right breast tightened, preventing you from moving away. You did what any sensible human being would do in this situation and wheezed like you were on the verge of passing out. 
"Urk!"
"Do you have high blood pressure?" Yoongi yawned calmly, turning his face to the side to avoid breathing in your face, thereby pressing his body even closer to you. Your neck and ears heated to five billion degrees. "Your heart's beating abnormally fast. Maybe you should see a doctor."
You definitely needed to see a doctor for something as well as several gallons of holy water and a priest to get an exorcism for that horny demon inside you. 
"Y-Your hand!"
Yoongi grunted. "What about it?"
What about it???
"It's on my tits!" you squeaked.
Yoongi lifted his head, squinting. "It is." Then his head dropped and he closed his eyes again. 
HELLO, Min Yoongi? That's ALL you have to say???
"Is there a problem?"
IS THERE A PROBLEM???????
"I've always slept like this," he mumbled.
That's... true though. Your tuxedo cat, previously named Shooky until you realized he had his own name, did used to always sleep next to you, when he wasn’t trying to murder you by sitting on your chest, that is (he was adamant on letting you know when he needed breakfast). Usually, your cat was splayed out by your left side, his long body extended and pressed against you, his white, sock-like paws encircling your arm. Shooky had basically been a small furry heater that kicked you sometimes in his sleep. 
Keyword: small.
"Y-You w-were a cat!" you sputtered.
"I'm still a cat."
"No, you're a man! With arms!"
"The reach is a little farther. Who cares?"
WHO CARES???????
Before you could very loudly inform Yoongi who exactly cared – that’s you, by the way, yes, you – he wrapped his arms around you and yanked your body to his, turning you into a red-hot chili pepper with the amount of heat your face was now emitting. Then his free hand grabbed your other titty. Without asking! Without even so much as buying you dinner or, hell, giving you a goddamn cracker! You didn't need to be wined and dined, but at least a single fucking snack before using your tits like his own personal stress ball!
Yoongi pressed your back into his chest.
You froze. 
He pressed his crotch into your ass, shivering slightly.
Your soul left your body. 
"Ugh, this human body is terrible," Yoongi muttered. "Always so cold. I need this extra body heat or I'll die."
You'll die? YOU’LL DIE?
You were pretty sure that you were already dead. Rest in peace.
Hang on. 
Something was stuck in a very specific place, quite similar to a far-too-large boat in a narrow canal.
"Um."
Er...
"What?" your cat-man grunted.
"Your..." You gulped. "Dick."
"What about it?"
"You, uh... have morning wood."
"Is that a human euphemism?" he grumbled impatiently, clear annoyance in his tone. "I don't understand your species. Wouldn't it be easier to be straightforward and explain yourself clearly?"
A muscle in your eye twitched, reaching breaking point.
"Your dick is rock-hard and you're shoving it between my ass cheeks!"
"Yeah, so? It's cold too."
Your irritation fizzled out at Yoongi’s self-assured, completely calm response. In fact, he sounded borderline bored and exasperated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. His hard dick was cold, so he put it in the warmest place he could find, your ass, duh. Nothing weird about it, of course. Your mind reeled, unable to compute what the fuck was going on. Thus, your body did what it did best in these moments where you did not want to give a response that would most certainly expose you and your dire need to get dicked.
Not deal with it, of course.
You fainted.
-
"Fuck!"
You shot out of bed at the harsh yell, tangled in the covers, barely registering that Yoongi no longer had a death grip on your tits – in fact, he was no longer in bed at all – and stumbled towards the source of the sound, highly disoriented, your earlier fainting spell turning you into a bumbling mess.
Admittedly, not that different from your usual self.
(Ouch, roasted.)
"What, what, what?" you croaked, running into the doorframe of the bedroom and nearly taking yourself out. 
Might as well, maybe it would have been a blessing in disguise, considering the way your life was going. 
You finally tumbled your way to the kitchen, where your cat-man was hissing at the pan on the stove. 
"I was trying to make eggs," Yoongi spat, pointing accusingly at the frying pan. His ears were flat and his tail was sticking straight up. "And then it attacked me."
If you had three functioning brain cells, you would have remembered Yoongi putting his morning wood between your ass cheeks this morning, but alas, you only had two at the moment – you did run into the doorframe, might have lost one there – so instead you nudged him aside and rolled up your sleeves, taking the pan and shaking it so the eggs wouldn't burn. 
"Was it the oil? Sometimes it pops," you asked as Yoongi continued death glaring at the pan.
"I saw you doing this yesterday. You didn't seem bothered," he mumbled, finishing with a low, angry hiss as if the pan was sentient and mocking him. The oil popped and seared your forearm, but at this point you maybe had five hair follicles total on your arms with how many times hot oil had splattered in you. It used to bother you when you were a kid, but years of cooking had desensitized the feeling, turning it to nothing more than a mere annoyance. Yoongi stayed behind you, intermittently letting out hisses of rage as you cooked.
"I told you, my dad's a chef. You get used to it," you said, tipping the pan and flipping the thin egg pancake with ease. 
"That's bizarre," Yoongi muttered. "No normal animal gets used to pain."
Normality was starting to become a bit of a foreign concept to you.  As for being an animal, well…
You took the pan off the heat and rolled the egg onto a plate with a spare set of chopsticks, turning it into a log shape. A literal egg roll, ready to be sliced into bite-sized pieces. You took a sniff. It seemed to be seasoned already. Had Yoongi simply copied what you did yesterday? His observation skills were insane.
"Then again, you seem to enjoy–"
"Yoongi," you blurted, not wanting to know what he thought you seemed to enjoy, but very sure it was going to be one-hundred-percent embarrassing and only for you. "There's some leftover beef and vegetables in the fridge you can have with the egg and rice."
He raised his eyebrows. "Beef? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Because I was asleep and maybe half-dead? "Did you brush your teeth?' you asked suddenly. 
Yoongi scowled. "Unfortunately."
"Right, so should I, goodbye now."
You marched away hurriedly, trying not to think about how your cat had surely witnessed you getting spanked while being fucked from behind by none other than, surprise, surprise, his not-so-favorite human being, Jeon Jungkook. Tattoo guy strikes again. The worst part was, you couldn't lock the door on your cat either, because then he would meow incessantly while you were getting deep-dicked and that was even worse. 
"Your cat really likes you, huh?" Jungkook mused as you yanked open the bedroom door to the black-and-white tuxedo furball. 
"Like is a strong word," you muttered at your cat, who yawned and sauntered past you to his cat tree, acting like he owned the damn place. 
"I like you."
"Hah... wait, what?"
Jungkook grinned as your eyes found his. Took a while. You were a little distracted by his nakedness. His tattoos up his right arm. His tan skin. His muscles. His white teeth biting on his lower lip, tiny mole underneath flashing. His long black hair, framing dark chocolate eyes and teasing, cocked eyebrow. 
"I like you," he repeated, voice deep and sexy.
You turned red and made the most coherent noise you could. 
“... Urk?”
“Noona.”
Why did he look so fucking hot and disrespectful at the same time when saying an honorific?
Jungkook came up to you, hand cupping your head and tangling his fingers in your hair. He brought his face close to yours, lips brushing against your swollen ones, taking your breath away.
"Wanna go back to me spanking you while you get off on my dick?"
Respectfully, of course. 
"How much rice do you want?"
You started, poking yourself in the nose with your toothpaste-covered toothbrush and smearing mint up your nostril – almost as bad as poking a coffee straw up your nose during a livestream in front of millions of people, yikes – as Yoongi appeared behind you, breaking you out of the memory. Your cat-man watched you with mild disgust and displeasure as you coughed and dunked your head into the sink, hurriedly rinsing off your burning nose.
"Whatever, I'll just fill it halfway."
And he left you sputtering, pajamas and hair soaking wet in your haste.
Awesome. 
-
“I’m ordering some groceries,” you announced in between bites of rice and egg. You tapped lightly at the phone screen as you spoke. Green onions, tofu, cucumbers… “Do you want anything?”
“Meat.”
You swiped rapidly and added packages of chicken, pork, and beef into your cart. Why the fuck not? You like meat. All kinds of–
“Yes, Yoongi, I’m getting meat. Anything else?”
“What else is there?”
You made a face and handed him your phone. “All sorts of things. Household products too, in case you don’t want to smell like my soap.”
“Your soap is preferable,” he said absentmindedly, scrolling through the online grocery app. You continued eating, shoving things in your mouth and none of it dick. Sad. At least it tasted good. Your cat-man had seasoned the egg well. You jumped as Yoongi spoke again. “I want these.” He turned the phone around.
You squinted at the screen, staring at a picture of orange balls. “Tangerines? Why?”
He turned the phone back to him. “They’re small, round, and look tasty.”
You blinked at him, then shrugged. “Sure, why not? I guess your palette might have changed. Try whatever you want.”
He pursed his lips and pressed a few buttons as you ate. You realized you needed to order more groceries now that your cat was a man eating your human food and no longer a cat eating his rather expensive cat food. Sigh. You had put Shooky’s cat bowls in a cabinet earlier this morning before sitting down to eat. It seemed weird leaving them out on the floor like that. Kind of offensive, maybe, now that your cat was a man and all…
“Okay, I ordered it.”
“Ah, okay, that’s good. They’ll probably come later this week.”
-
After breakfast, you spent nearly half an hour with Yoongi trying to pick out something for him to watch from your various streaming services, only for him to select a historical drama series. Like what? You cat (man) wanted to watch historical drama out of all things? Instead of learning about the modern world, he wanted to watch a depiction of the past?
Whatever, it had seventy-seven episodes, so at least he would be occupied for a while.
You let him be and went to your computer, intending on getting some editing done. Sure, the universe decided your cat was a man now, but you still needed to pay for said cat-man’s existence. You still didn’t know what you were going do to with all that cat food, cat toys, cat tree… ugh, this was all a problem for future you, not present you.
Present you needed to splice five-hundred images of PepeHands together and overlay it over a League of Legends one-shot compilation.
Uh, so, it was this meme of a green frog named Pepe holding up his anthropomorphic hands in despair, therefore coining the term PepeHands for a particular Twitch chat emote… never mind, it just meant you were spending some time video editing for a gaming YouTuber and it required concentration, shitty memes, and well-timed captions. And you were getting paid good money to do this.
Yeah, it’s a weird world.
You sat at your desktop and got to work, doing the rough cuts of the video first. Thankfully, the YouTuber had already sent you the timestamps of the noteworthy moments, therefore making your job a lot easier. You spent several hours compiling the clips before adding your extra flair and effects. You had a library of images and sound bites that you commonly used (including Goofy singing Evanescence's ‘Bring Me to Life’) and was in the middle of grayscaling a video clip and adding the familiar audio of all around me are familiar faces before being scared shitless.
“Woof.”
You swore someone was singing ‘Mad World’ as they were narrating your life right now.
“Gah!”
You jerked in your seat to see Yoongi leaning over behind you, eyebrow raised as you gawked at him.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” you exclaimed, pulling back an earcup of your headset.
He frowned. “How can I sneak up on you?” He flicked the silver bell on the black choker around his neck, making it jingle cheerfully. “You put stupid thing on me, remember?”
You winced. “Well, I’d take it off, but there’s some kind of voodoo magic on that shit – and hey, don’t change the subject! You have that weird cat thing where you’re silent no matter what.”
Yoongi looked unbothered. “Weird cat thing? Thought you said I was a man?”
“Thought you said you were a cat?” you shot back.
You glared at him and he gave you a blank expression. Then he cocked his head to your desk.
“Your phone is flashing.”
You jerked your head to see your phone screen flicker. You grabbed it off you desk and unlocked it, checking your messages. Five messages from – ah, but of course – your best friend. Kim Seokjin.
LET ME SEE YOUR CAT
LET ME SEE YOUR CAT
LET ME SEE YOUR CAT
LET ME SEE YOUR CAT
LET ME SEE YOUR CAT
You pursed your lips. With the pandemic and all, you hadn’t visited Seokjin in forever, but every week he would text you, asking for a photo of your cat and he would send you a picture of his sugar glider. With every week being the same and nothing interesting of note happening, it was hard to think of conversation topics. Therefore, Seokjin and you came up with this weekly event so your friendship wouldn’t deteriorate. Also, both of you were serious introverts, so he spent most of this pandemic playing MapleStory while you spent most of it on your couch watching Netflix with your cat. It was a miracle you two hadn’t morphed into actual potatoes yet.
You glanced at Yoongi, who was inspecting his nails and picking at them. You frowned and batted at his hand. He frowned back and smacked yours, harder. You glared at him. He gave you a vacant stare, as if he had done nothing.
“Why are you picking at your cuticles?” you muttered, going back to your phone and sending Seokjin an old picture of Shooky. You couldn’t exactly send him a picture of current Shooky. He was… well, currently not a cat. You stared at the picture of the fluffy tuxedo cat curled into a ball, asleep in your lap on the couch.
That moment wasn’t even that long ago.
Somehow, it felt like ages since you had last petted that furry butt.
“Hm, dunno. Occupies my hands, I guess,” Yoongi replied distractedly.
“Well, you shouldn’t. It’s not good for you.” You noticed you had another message from the local delivery service, saying a package had arrived at your doorstep. You stood, placing your phone on the desk and looked at Yoongi, who was staring at his old cat tree, the one by the window. When he was a cat, he used to poke his head between the curtains and look outside, watching the birds. It was his favorite haunt.
Now…
“Why’d you say woof?” you asked abruptly, giving him a quizzical look. “I thought you were a cat.”
Yoongi shrugged, tearing his eyes away from the cat tree to give you an uninterested stare. “Thought it would surprise you more. You’ve heard meow for long enough.”
You furrowed your brow. “Why would you want to surprise me?”
He shrugged again. “I was bored.”
“… You were bored so you decided to sneak up and scare the shit out of me?”
He paused, black tail swishing back and forth, pointed ears perked. Then he nodded.
“Yup.”
Sigh.
-
You lugged in the huge cardboard box, Yoongi standing out of sight of the front door as you huffed and puffed with your weak arms. Okay, it wasn’t even that big, but it was quite heavy and you weren’t exactly John Cena. Your arms were about as strong as a bowl of overcooked ramyeon noodles and that was putting it kindly. You weren’t the working out type. People who worked out diligently were dog people. People who preferred sleeping as their primary workout regimen had cats. What were the kinds of people who had cat-men then? The kind of people who like sleeping, but also needed a…
(You already know the answer.)
Yoongi snapped the door closed the second you managed to pull it on far enough to do so.
“You look like a boiled dumpling,” he commented.
“At least I’m delicious food,” you wheezed, inspecting the box. You recognized the clothing brand. “Is this the stuff your ordered? How did it come so fast?”
“I selected next-day delivery.”
You paled.
“I need clothes as soon as possible, don’t I? Or should I go back to being naked, since you’re a pervert?”
You choked, ears burning. “I’m not a pervert!”
“Mhm.”
You tried not to think about the hit on your wallet as you grabbed your keys from the side table and opened the box, seeing all the plastic packages inside. Monotone, in white or black. Figures. You tipped the box to the side and the clothes spilled out, tumbling all over the floor. It took a firm shake to dump it all on the ground. You got on your hands and knees to spread them out, tossing the cardboard aside carelessly to shift through the items. Hopefully, Yoongi had read the listings and selected the correct sizes. From your brief glance, you noticed the tops were quite oversized. Maybe he liked that fit? He had been quite a fluffy cat.
You spotted the packing slip with all the prices listed. You fished it out and then heard a thunk-thunk-thunk, the sound of cardboard on hardwood. Huh?
You looked up to see Yoongi swatting the box around.
“What… are you doing?”
He shrugged. “Investigating.”
You blinked. “Investigating what?”
“Don’t know. I simply feel the need to investigate, thus I am doing so.”
You stared at Yoongi for several minutes as he continued to… uh, investigate (???) the cardboard box, holding it this way and that, smacking it around, watching the flaps bounce in the air as it rolled. His velvety ears perked upwards, sleek black tail swishing with interest.
His expression was completely neutral.
For the first time since becoming a human, you thought Yoongi was more cat than man.
“Uh… okay…”
You glimpsed down to the paper in your hands, seeing the total cost.
You felt the color drain out of your face.
My… wallet…
F in the chat.
You fainted.
-
You felt someone poking you in the head.
“Are you dead?”
You gasped and jerked up like a drown victim coming up for air, still in mild shock of the sudden financial hit of your cat becoming a man. It was okay. You weren’t poor. You just didn’t expect Yoongi to be a shopping like he owned a fucking black card.
“Did I spend too much?”
You snapped out of your stunned state at his soft tone. Yoongi wasn’t looking at you. He was kneeling on top of the pile of clothes, dark eyes on the paper in your shaking hands. With a start, you realized his words were heavy with guilt, his ears pointing downwards and tail tucked against the ground.
“No,” you said quickly, putting the receipt down. “No, Yoongi. I asked you to buy clothes, remember? And besides, it’s better for you to buy things you like and are interested in, rather than me wasting money on things you’ll never wear.”
He raised his head a little, eyes darting from your face to your hands.
You smiled at him, reaching up to pat his head and stroke the fur on his ears. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s only money. Money will never be more important to me than you, okay?”
For a second, you saw something flicker in Yoongi’s eyes. It was so fast that you barely caught it. Relief? Gratitude? Fondness? Then he ticked his head out of your hand, fair cheeks flushing pink.
“You… you don’t have to do that,” he muttered.
“O… oh.” For some reason, you felt a pang in your chest at his words. “R-right.”
Yoongi made eye contact with you, dark brown orbs guarded. He spoke quietly, without emotion.
“Do you wish this never happened?”
“What?” You furrowed your brows. “What do you mean?”
He gestured to himself, waving a hand up and down carelessly. “This. Human me.”
Human me.
You answered instantly.
“No.”
Yoongi gave you the disbelieving side-eye.
You let out a sheepish puff of air. “I always kind of wished you were human.” You scratched the back of your head aimlessly. “No one listened to me like you did. Even if I was having the shittest day of all time, you always made it better. You were the best cat ever.” You chuckled, smiling up at him. “Sure, your species changed, but you’re still the same, right?”
His eyes shifted, his cheeks still a light pink. “I’m still a cat,” he mumbled awkwardly.
You raised your brows. “Mhm, is that why you were playing with the box?”
“I wasn’t playing with the box,” Yoongi huffed, sounding insulted.
“Then I’ll break it down and recycle it.”
“No,” he snapped firmly. “It’s useful. We’re keeping it.”
“We don’t need a box, Yoongi.”
He tutted. “Hmph, humans. So wasteful. A perfectly good box should be reused.”
“Right.”
You tried to hide your laugh as Yoongi refused to look you in the eye.
-
You left Yoongi to examine his new wardrobe on the floor. You tried to pick them up but he stubbornly remained on the pile of clothes, not letting you move them. When you stood up to leave, you asked him when he was going to move – he replied with, "When it feels right", just cat things, you supposed – and hurried off to export the edited video you were working on earlier. The due date was today and you had to review it for quality.
A certain quality. 
A certain quality of... of... 
Needing the money.
Because your cat (man) had spent fat chunk of it on clothes, only to be more interested in the box they came in and sitting on said clothes rather than the actual items themselves. 
Sigh. 
-
"I ordered the wrong color."
"Oh?" you muttered distractedly, clocking on the export button. You'd been going cross-eyed for the past two or three hours – had it really been that long? shit – and checked your phone to see Gukmul, Seokjin's white sugar glider, peering up at the camera on a white fluffy blanket. You smiled, typing a response to praise his cuteness, completely ignoring the fact that Seokjin had also stuck his handsome face in the photo, smiling with a thumbs-up next to his pet. 
The reply was instant. 
hello, acknowledge my BEAUTIFUL FACE
You deliberately didn't answer right away to piss Seokjin off even more. 
"What's wrong with it?" you asked, looking up. 
Your jaw dropped. 
You dropped your phone. 
Yoongi, your cat-man with excellent reflexes, made absolutely no move to catch it. 
It smacked you in the calf and hit your toes – fucking ow, holy shit – before clattering to the floor. You had a protective phone case on it with a cute tuxedo cat graphic. The screen wouldn't crack with the protector on it. In this moment, however, you didn't give a shit about your smartphone, Kim Seokjin, or even the blinding pain in your foot. Nope. 
You were ogling at Min Yoongi in pink silk pajamas.
-
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to–
Oi!
No, don't you dare scroll past! You think you're clever or something?! Hm? Advertisements always happen at the most crucial parts, you say? 
This is just an ad? 
Look here, Lemona Vitamin C Powder can provide a lot of benefits, including providing natural energy and boosting your immune system in, say, a worldwide pandemic–
STOP TRYING TO SCROLL PAST!!!
-
Jeon Jungkook stared at his phone. 
At a very specific number. 
He put it down, sighing a little, looking out the window instead. It was a nice day, but he couldn't enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Pandemic and all that. He frowned, looking at the urban jungle surrounding him. Had he made a mistake moving here to the big city? Sometimes he wondered. Back then, he had moved to finish school and pursue his ambitions. Back then, his choice had seemed full of opportunities, but now.
What did he have, really?
A tiny apartment with a kind and understanding landlord. The world at his fingertips from his computer. Still a decent amount of savings left. Online courses that he needed to finish to get his film degree. 
Loneliness.
He delved into his memories, smiling at the recollection of confused looks, awkward smiles, indignant huffs. So very unlike him to tease so much, but it was too fun and he hadn't felt the usual nervousness and shyness he had around others. There was something comforting about that smile, that apartment, and that fluffy tuxedo cat that loved to interrupt everything. 
He shouldn't have played it off.
He shouldn't have distracted.
Not after he admitted it.
"I like you."
Jungkook said it to the air, to the memory. So vivid that he reached out to touch those lips, but then it all disappeared, just like that. 
Ah.
He looked at the back of his phone, wondering. But now he was too nervous and shy to pick it up again. Why was that? When he was there, being seen by those surprised eyes, he could do and say shameless things. But far away, when he was alone, Jungkook was hesitating, suddenly afraid.
Sigh. 
-
You sneezed. 
Very loudly and jerking your head away from your cat-man in luxurious pink silk, jamming your nose into your elbow.
Yoongi raised an eyebrow. 
You sniffed, rubbing your nose. 
"Someone must be thinking about me..." you muttered. 
Yoongi looked down, plucking the collar of the pajamas. "The cotton shirts are the same size, but for some reason this one fits tighter. Why is that? Is there no regulated sizing in human fashion?"
Dude, be glad you're not a girl, you thought dryly. "Might be the fabric," you coughed distractedly. Distractedly because you were staring at quite possibly the most gorgeous man in the history of men and you stared at a lot of men in your short lifetime, so you had experienced eyeballs.
Wait. 
Man or cat-man?
Well, Yoongi was definitely the most gorgeous cat-man considering you were pretty sure there was only one in current existence.
His pointed ears stood straight up in interest, black hair messy from taking clothes on and off, fair cheeks and nose flushed pink, perhaps from physical exertion. Dark brown eyes sheepish, not quite looking at you. The black leather choker stood out on his neck, silver bell gleaming against his collarbones. The material was a mauve-pink silk, clinging to his lean body, showing off his shoulders and long limbs. The button-up shirt created a rather deep v-neckline, a sliver of pale chest visible. And his legs! His slim legs reminded you of a nimble dancer, ending in fuzzy black slippers. 
There was a weird lump in one of the pant legs, going down his thigh. 
Whoa. 
"W-Why did you pick them?" you tried to ask in the least awkward way possible, attempting – and failing – to not to stare at his delectable thighs. 
Yoongi shrugged. "They looked like the ones you have. I meant to get black, but I suppose I didn't read the listing closely enough. They're comfortable though," he mused before making a face. Your eyes bulged as there was a sudden jerk in his pants, creating a large tent in the crotch. 
Alarms sounded off in your head, arousal shooting up like a rocket. 
Oh. 
Oh??? 
Oh!!!!!!!
"My tail is stuck," Yoongi grunted, lowering the back of the pink silk pants. The sleek black cat tail slid out, swishing in the air, tent in his pants gone. 
Oh…
Right. The tail.
Because he's a cat... man.
Your inner thot was sad. Your dignity smacked you upside the head, highly disappointed in you for falling for that, then calmly shot down your arousal rocket with your shame. Oof.
"Can you show me how to sew so I can fix my own clothes from now on?" Yoongi asked as he readjusted the front of the silk shirt. 
You bent down to pick up your phone, trying to do something with your face and hands to disguise your embarrassment and burning ears. "Yeah, of course." You placed it on your desk and turned back to face him. 
Yoongi was right next to you. 
Literally so close that you could feel his body heat. 
"... Urk!"
You jumped in your seat, banging your knee against your desk and howling in pain, computer chair rolling and making you lose your balance, ass about to slip before Yoongi grabbed your chair and shoved it into the table, making you trip and fall back into the seat, head hitting the headrest a little too hard, seeing stars and rubber duckies for a second. 
Wait, were they rubber duckies? They were white and glittery, almost as if they were made from snow…
Yoongi slapped you in the face.
“Ow!”
You rubbed your cheek, blinking rapidly to clear your vision before glaring at him.
“Checking if you were alive,” was his placid response.
Alright, it wasn’t that hard, but the unexpectedness of it still hurt. You frowned, only for the pain to slowly melt away, quickly being replaced by something else as you realized Yoongi was still half-leaning over you, a knee on your computer gaming chair to prevent it from rolling. The sting in your knee was temporarily forgotten. Yoongi spoke again, his voice low and deep, almost a sensual purr.
“You hit yourself pretty hard.”
He doesn’t know what’s he’s doing. It’s just a coincidence. A kitty-incidence, Seokjin would say.
Your eyes widened as Yoongi closed in, peering at your unfocused gaze. Now you could see down his shirt. Holy shit. Were you so deprived that you were getting mad horny from seeing Yoongi’s fucking clavicle and sternum?
Is that even a question?
Yes.
Yes, you were.
“You look like you did last night.”
“What?” you breathed, still unabashedly looking down his shirt.
“Your pupils are dilated.”
You froze. His cool fingertips were on your neck.
“Heartrate increased.”
You wanted to pull back, say, no, wait, don’t do that, but Yoongi was too close and his exhale was too feathery, brushing against your lips, and you couldn’t move, trapped in your chair, between him wrapped in pink silk and your mind reeling, him still playing fucking doctor while you were trying not to jump his half-covered ass.
“And that smell.”
You finally tore your gaze away, eyes drifting up to his.
You swallowed.
“S… smell?”
Oh no.
Oh no, no, no.
Ohnoohshitwhatifhecansmellmypus–
Yoongi’s eyes narrowed, surveying you closely. He was so close you couldn’t see his lips, only his dark brown orbs. He didn’t say anything. He smelled like your soap, reminding you of his naked body pressed against you in the shower. Your heartbeat was leaping to your throat, threatening to choke you with your own horniness. Honestly, at this point, would you even be surprised?
You chuckled nervously, clinging onto your last shreds of self-preservation, which, admittedly, were rapidly yeeting out of your hands.
“Hahaha… but you’re… a cat… yeah?”
Right?
Seconds passed.
Right???
Minutes passed.
RIGHT???????
Yoongi’s lashes lowered, not quite looking at your eyes. Staring at your lips.
“I’m a man too,” he whispered softly.
Your eyes widened.
Yoongi kissed you.
You were so shocked that you swore your eyes nearly left your head.
It was a soft kiss, his eyes closed, tilting his head slightly to fit better against yours, pressing you back into your chair. Your head hit the headrest and you gasped, your tongue lightly flicking his lips and they parted, his own tongue sliding against yours, gentle licks, your brain malfunctioning, but body remembering, hands coming up to grab his shirt and yank him closer, pressing back against him. He backed up a little at your suddenness, exhaling hard. Your eyes snapped open, suddenly aware of how forceful you were.
Yoongi looked away, pointed black ears flicking back and forth uneasily.
You kissed your cat. Man. Cat-man.
He’s been a man for not even two days and you just tried to make out with him like a demented beast!
“A-ah, Yoongi, no, I’m so sorry, I-I… please, I didn’t mean to…” you stuttered, letting go of him quickly, but also not wanting to let go, but you should, your hands getting confused by your mental signals, repeatedly clasping and unclasping the pink silk, not realizing that he wasn’t even trying to move away.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Yoongi said slowly.
You clutched his shirt, staring at your white knuckles, unable to look at him directly.
“I’m sorry, it’s just… you’re so handsome, but I’m your owner… and I cracked…”
“What you are is a desperate, sexually deprived human.”
You jerked your head up, seeing his unreadable expression. “I-It’s been over a year–”
All of a sudden, Yoongi lowered his knee and grabbed you by the ass, scooting you down on the rolling chair. You yelped at the swift movement, gasping as your crotch collided with his thigh, wincing as you heard the squelch of your panties jamming into your soaked core.
Yikes.
Welp, you can’t hide that shit now.
“You like things like this, don’t you?” Yoongi murmured.
Your cheeks heated. “T…Things like w-what…?”
Oh, you knew what. You knew very well what, but you also couldn’t form coherent sentences.
His fingers sank into your ass and he pressed you into his thigh, rolling it into your heat. The whines tore out of your throat involuntarily, grabbing his arm and staring up at him with shaking eyes, seeing his curious gaze looking down at you.
“B-But, Yoongi… I’m your o-owner,” you panted, resolve slipping with every second, your hips already rocking into his thigh, the slippery thin fabric doing nothing to hide his lean muscle, your own thighs clamping around his leg. “I’m supposed to t-take care of y-you…”
And last more than two days, fucking shit, get it together!
But you couldn’t get it together, especially not as Yoongi’s voice dropped to a lower octave, one side of his lips curving upwards.
“It’s a little different now, isn’t it?” he drawled softly, lashes lowering, eyebrows raising, his black hair darkening his gaze. “Since I am now capable to take care of you too.”
You whimpered, losing it.
Just started freely humping his leg, self-preservation completely gone. Did he even know what he was capable of, really? Did he have any idea what he could do? Surely not.
Surely, he had no idea how good he could make you feel.
Yoongi bit the side of his lip, frowning. “How will can I make it feel better? I’m only cop…” He trailed off, furry ears anxiously flicking.
You tugged on his arm, getting his attention. “Angle your leg a little more downwards… Y-Yeah, like that…” He did as you instructed, his thigh now pressing down on your clit and your rocking hips moving faster, clinging to his arm and setting your jaw, moaning at the added pleasure. “A-ah… yeah, fuck… yes, I c-can… like this…”
“You can what?” Yoongi breathed, watching your face closely, firmly holding the armrests of the chair so it wouldn’t slide.  
Your head tipped back a little, bucking harder into his thigh, so wet your juices were soaking through your leggings and drenching the pink silk, turning it darker, the strong scent of your sweet arousal clearly evident. Your eyes drifted to Yoongi’s dark orbs covered by black hair, vision hazy, noticing the slight inquisitive upturn of his upper lip. There was no point in hiding it anymore.
“Can cum, Yoongi, fuck, I’m going to cum…” you moaned, inhaling his scent, his presence, saying his name and looking up at him, the stimulation and touch of another enough to get you there, eyelids fluttering as your orgasm swept down, taking you away and filling you with serene satisfaction, crashing waves soaring through you, washing away the sand of your dry spell, a different kind of euphoria than when you were on your own, pulling Yoongi close, kissing him deeply, breathing hard.
“Y… Yoongi…”
“Was it nice?” he murmured. “Was I what you needed?���
“Yeah…” You kissed his soft lips again, semi-breathless. “I–” The wave of guilt came now, your words dropping, brows furrowing, a sharp pang in your chest. Rising, rising. Panic. Yoongi lowered his head, black hair and soft pointed ear rubbing against your eyebrow, nuzzling your cheek. Once. Twice. Again, headbutting you lightly, smoothing the worry away from your forehead, a small laugh bubbling from your throat.
“What are you doing?” you chuckled, patting his arm, smoothing out the wrinkles you had made while furiously humping him. Your eye caught the dark mark now on one of his thighs. Welp. You lasted less than ten minutes.
Pink pajama Yoongi was dangerous.
“You liked this,” he mumbled. “When you were upset.”
You chuckled, instinctively reaching up and caressing his velvety ear. “You were a little smaller then.”
“Only a little.”
He slowed until he came to a full stop, dark eye staring into yours, cheek to cheek.
“I have to look after you, my clumsy human.”
-
part iv
--
masterpost
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semperama · 3 years
Text
DTS Season 4, Ep 1
My live-blogging under the cut! Full of spoilers, obviously.
This show is so pretty to look at, but some of the production looks like it was done by a college kid just learning how to do cool transitions on a power point.
I would literally pay Netflix to never put a shot of Christian Horner jogging on my screen again.
I do love seeing all these pretty people in 4K. And the landscapes too. And the cars. But mostly the pretty people.
Watching these Team Principles get coached into modeling for the camera is T H E most cringe thing ever. Their egos are big enough, okay. Enough already.
Toto is...a large man. Very large.
It's funny watching this after having seen the season. Like, the drama of Mercedes' car not doing great in testing is not really drama when you know what happened over the course of the season. It really puts into perspective how DTS tries to build an internal narrative that's separate from reality.
Christian is such an asshole, lmao. I just want to punch his stupid face.
Now Christian and Geri riding horses? Give me a breaaakkk.
They really do pay Will Buxton to state the obvious, don't they? "You want to qualify first, because then the other 19 drivers will be behind you." Oh really? Thanks.
Literally every time Daniel speaks my heart sinks, because I know what's coming in episode 2 already.
I do kind of wish the races themselves all had the production value of DTS. If you could switch between the drivers' cameras and radios and footage from overhead and footage of their faces, that would be amazing. Although they'd probably never allow that.
Lewis fighting with the pit wall about when to box should definitely be a spot on every Grand Prix bingo card.
Yuki. <33
I did actually forget about Max having to give Lewis the place back in Bahrain. The season is so long I'm sure I'm going to be reminded of all kinds of stuff I forgot while watching this.
"Still got it, Bono." "Yeah, not bad for an old man." Wholesome. <3
I'm so glad the next episode is about Mclaren so hopefully I get a break from Horner, jfc.
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obsidianfr3sk · 3 years
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Shooting Star
@renegades-ship-weeks - Renegades Ship Week #1 | Humon - Dancing
Summary: Maybe it was the fact that Simon wasn’t aware of Max’s weird tendency to sleep when they played upbeat songs. Or maybe that he had never heard that song. He had seen him dancing at public events, with him or with other members of the Council. He had also seen him dancing during their wedding day, and he was dancing with him. But he hadn’t seen him dancing like that before.
AO3
SKDJFJHDSJ IT’S TODAY, IT’S TODAY SDKFJHJDSK TODAY THE RENEGADES SHIP WEEK STARTS TODAY AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO START IT WITH SOME RENEGAYS CONTENT <3
Ok, so this... is kind of a songfic (? I thought the format fitted the prompt better. The song I choose for this is Shooting Star by Owl City (thank you, Dawnie, for letting me know about its existance uwu). I’d recommend you hear the song before reading this or when the dancing scene arrives (you’ll know, don’t worry). 
None of this would be possible without the help of the amazing  @greasicookies. Thanks for hosting this event✨ I don’t know if there has been another thing like this before, but this is actually my first ship weeks in this fandom and I’m so exited!! I hope we can get a lot more! And for those who are still thinking about participating or not, go for it c:
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy!✨
Tag list: @honey-hippie-harper @healing-winston-pratt @lackadae @the-wee-woo-rita @dt-everwoods @greenalmond 
When the sun goes down and the lights burn out,
then it's time for you to shine
brighter than a shooting star.
So shine no matter where you are.
Enough time had passed for him to forget the first time he danced with Hugh.
It was one of the downsides of knowing someone for a long time. The first time they probably danced together was to some tune they heard on the radio in the living room of one of their houses, the park, or the street, but it happened when he was so young, that now, Simon couldn’t remember what song it was, if the sky was blue that day, or how the concept of dancing looked like for them at that age.
But one of the advantages of knowing someone for a long time was that you were constantly making memories with them. So, for him, the first time he really danced with Hugh, was during their wedding day. And it was beautiful and romantic, and if he could live inside a moment for the rest of his existence, it would be that one.
And he didn’t even feel embarrassed while he was doing it.
Not that he was embarrassed to dance with his husband in public. It was something he had… thought about. That maybe there was still someone inside of him that was constantly telling him he was wrong, that his feelings were wrong, and that everything that Hugh represented was also wrong, and since he was thinking about that stuff in the middle of the night, he woke up Hugh to tell him that he loved him (to which Hugh responded, “Okay. I don't love it when you wake me up though.")
The next day, Adrian was invited to a birthday party. He was super excited because it was the first birthday party he attended after the Age of Anarchy. Adrian hadn’t looked that happy in months, and even though Simon didn’t feel like going, he did, just so he could share that little moment of happiness with his son. The three of them walked down the street to the house where the party was being hosted, and it didn’t take long for Adrian to join the other kids.
Hugh and Simon sat down at an empty table. They didn’t mind being the only ones there because, at least, they could talk to each other. Although, now that Simon remembered, they were, like, a feet apart from each other, and that morning, after he got out of the shower, he saw Hugh standing in front of the mirror while wearing a random shirt.
As soon as he walked into the room, he asked him:
“Do you think this shirt looks too… gay?”
And Simon just said:
“Love. Everything you wear looks gay.”
He ended up wearing another shirt anyway. And khakis.
Yeah.
Luckily, it was a one-time thing.
At that moment, he was feeling a little bit awkward because they didn’t know anybody at that party, but everyone else seemed to know each other. Simon was pretty sure that the only reason they weren’t actively trying to talk to them was that they weren’t sure if they could, not because those suburban mothers and their husbands were hate-criming them or something.
They definitely weren’t hate-criming them. And he wasn’t being sarcastic. Simon was also wearing khakis that day, plus a purple polo, so they ended up looking like a couple of straight friends who decided to adopt a kid to strengthen their friendship or something.
He was eating a brownie he had gotten from the candy bar when they both received a message from Kasumi about something that was going on at Headquarters and that she needed one of them to be there (adding “pretty please” at the end of the sentence so it didn’t sound too harsh).
They looked at each other and Hugh raised an eyebrow.
“Do you want me to go?”
Simon shrugged. “I can go if you want to.”
“No, I’ll go. You stay with Adrian. Let me say goodbye to him.”
Adrian got out of the trampoline as soon as he heard his name. Hugh explained the situation to him, but then assured him that they would see each other at the house, and then Adrian asked him if he wanted him to save some cake for him. He smiled, told him that would be nice, and kissed his forehead before going with the mom that was hosting the party to thank her for inviting them (only because Simon told him he had to, since he had seen enough movies to know that if he didn’t, those evil white mothers would hate them for the rest of their lives and wouldn’t let their kids play with theirs).
Adrian returned to the trampoline soon after that, and since Hugh hadn’t finished his brownie, Simon didn’t see why he couldn’t do it for him. He stayed there, doing his best not to think about all the things others may be saying about him for sitting at a table all by himself and fighting against his instinct to disappear.
Which he ended up doing when he heard some kid saying “ Pops ” right next to him.
It took him longer to realize that kid was Adrian and he was talking to him.
They stared at each other for a while before Simon said, “What’s wrong, darling?”
Adrian was smiling. There wasn’t anything wrong with him. “Can you enter the competition with me?”
But when he looked at where his kid was pointing, he realized there was something very wrong with that competition.
First of all, the judge was a clown that had been going around the party giving balloon animals and doing typical clown stuff with the kids, and he didn’t know why, but Simon had always had an irrational… not fear, but distrust towards clowns. Maybe it was because when he went to his first birthday party at the age of four, his animal balloon popped after just a few seconds of having him, and the clown, being completely done with him, gave him another and told him: “Don’t be gay, kiddo” , in a really rude and condescending tone (but who knows.)
Then, it was a dancing competition.
Dancing .
In front of another fifteen kids and their parents.
And Simon wanted to say no because he knew he didn’t have to do anything that would make him feel uncomfortable in any way…
But he ended up saying yes. Because he wanted to see Adrian happy,  and he knew Adrian would be happy if they participated in the competition.
So he just nodded and let him guide him to the center of the dancefloor, which was only a small portion of the garden that was covered in gravel. Then, Adrian extended his hands towards him, Simon grabbed them and waited until the music started to play.
It wasn’t… that bad. Honestly, Simon has done more embarrassing things during his lifetime. For example, when Queen Bee punched him during a fight while she was wearing not one, but three rings, and she started to laugh as soon as she saw the first tears running down his face. Simon turned invisible so no one could see him, but it was already too late and everyone there already knew Dread Warden was crying like a little kid because a lady had punched him a little too hard.
And no one was laughing at him for that (except Queen Bee because, as his enemy, that was her job), but he felt like every single one of those people, who were more busy trying to escape the bees that were buzzing around during the fight, were actually paying enough attention to him to laugh at his tears. So that's why, that afternoon, while Adrian was having the time of his life trying to win that competition with his dad, he could only think that bunch of seven-year-olds was making fun of him (the same way those four-year-old made fun of him when the clown called him gay).
It felt like a lot. And they didn't win, but as soon as they got eliminated, he waited for Adrian to go back with the other kids, turned invisible, made his way to the bathroom, and proceeded to puke his guts out as soon as he kneeled in front of the toilet. He spent a good ten minutes waiting for the panic attack to pass before deciding he could go back to the party as nothing had happened.
The first thing he saw after returning to the backyard, was Adrian looking around, totally lost in that sea of people. And as soon as he noticed Simon was there, he let go of the balloon animal he was holding, and just ran towards him and hugged him tightly by the waist.
Simon immediately hugged him back.
A little confused. But he didn't hesitate to hug him back.
“Pops… I'm feeling sick” Adrian mumbled.
“You're feeling sick?” he nodded slightly. That was his chance. “You know, I'm feeling a little bit sick too. What if we… just— go home?”
Adrian was super on board with that idea and didn't let go of Simon while he did his best to look normal while he said goodbye to the birthday boy and his parents. They had served the cake while he was gone, so the mom gave him four pieces inside a small plastic container, which only meant he was going to go back to that house to return it to her.
When they arrived at the house, Adrian grabbed him by the waist again and he refused to let him go, even after Simon kindly asked him to do it so he could make some tea for the two of them (because, for what Adrian told him while they were in the car, he was dizzy and had a stomach ache). But Adrian grabbed him tighter, so Simon had to be extra careful while making the chamomile tea because he was terrified of burning his kid with the boiling water. Then, he put both cups in a small tray and slowly walked to the living room, where he put it on the coffee table and sat down with Adrian on the couch.
Adrian grabbed his cup (that was shaped like an orange and had a smiley face) and Simon realized it was the first time he drank tea with him.
“Be careful, darling.”
“I will…”
And while he saw him sipping his tea, he just knew he had to ask him.
“Adrian— did something happen while I was gone?” he whispered. Adrian didn’t turn to see him. “Did— the kids laugh at you? Did someone there make you feel… bad? You can tell me.”
Adrian continued sipping his tea a little bit before putting it back on the tray. After that, he finally looked him in the eye, opened his mouth to answer, and—
He started crying.
When he finally managed to calm down a little, he explained to him that he got scared when he went to the table to ask him if he wanted cake too because he thought something bad had happened to him.
Adrian— well, he thought that Simon had died.
And it broke his heart because it wasn’t like Adrian didn’t have a completely valid reason to believe that.
So they stayed there, on the couch, hugging each other, until Adrian stopped crying and told him he wanted to go play with his toys.
His tea was already cold by then. But Adrian had finished his’, so that was a good thing. He knew chamomile tea helped to reduce anxiety levels.
It didn’t help him though.
Hugh called Simon to tell him he was going to stay at Headquarters the rest of the day and Adrian suddenly developed supernatural hearing because he was able to hear his dad’s voice from the other side of the house. He asked Simon to pass him the phone and stayed a couple of minutes talking with Hugh, telling him about how awesome the party had been and that he wanted to see him again soon.
Then, the rest of the day went as normal. Except that, occasionally, Adrian left what he was doing and went to where Simon was. Just... to make sure he was still there, he guessed.
At least he wasn’t saying anything about the fact of Hugh not being there with them. Because Adrian only had two moods when it came to the relationship with his dads, and one of them was “If I don’t see you and my daddy in this exact moment, right in front of me, I’m literally gonna cry and scream until I explode” , and it would have been a little bit difficult to deal with that at the moment.
He didn’t say anything when he put on his pajamas and went upstairs to wait for Simon to finish his chores so they could go to bed together. It took him a little bit longer than he expected because he was organizing the fridge (he spent like forty minutes trying to remember the very specific organization system Hugh had implemented the first minute they moved to that house), but he eventually did and when he entered the room, Adrian was already falling asleep.
So he kissed him goodnight and tried to sleep too.
He was about to do it when Hugh opened the bedroom’s door.
Instead of saying “I’m home” , “Hi, love” , or even asking “What’s the kid doing here?” , he greeted him with:
“Did you clean the fridge?”
And Simon immediately knew he had messed up the organization system.
“Yes, I did. It smelled like eggs.”
“The cheese goes next to the eggs. Animal products go together.”
He didn’t sound mad.
He sounded condescending, but he kind of knew he didn’t mean to.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he answered.
He heard him taking his uniform off before putting on normal clothes, and he laid next to Adrian. He slightly opened his eyes and a small smile appeared on his face; then he rolled over and got closer to him.
They waited for Adrian to fall asleep again before they started talking about their days.
“So, yeah,” Simon said after finishing the tale of how he had a panic attack so violent that he ended up puking in a very elegant and suburban bathroom at a stranger’s house. “I think dancing is not my thing.”
“Dancing sucks,” Hugh said. Adrian was drooling a little bit on his shirt, but either he didn't notice or he just didn't care.  “I have never had… a panic attack over that, but… I don’t like it. It feels unnatural. And I’m not very good at it anyway.”
“You don’t like doing things you’re not good at.”
“Not gonna lie, it kind of hurts my ego.”
Simon snorted and Hugh smiled a little bit.
A day after that, Adrian asked Simon if they could go eat at that fast food restaurant they had passed by last week when they were going to Headquarters. He agreed and the three of them went to the exact place Adrian said. It was located in a… “not very nice zone” and apparently, all the parents of the city had decided to bring their kids there too, which meant it was loud and messy, and those employees were obviously overworked.
Hugh and he would have turned around as soon as they saw the state of the place, but Adrian was in a weird mood, and it was Simon’s turn to make dinner, something he didn’t feel like doing. So he told Hugh to pick something at random (after he spent a whole minute looking at the options) and order a combo with a toy for Adrian, plus twenty nuggets that Simon was not willing to share with any members of his family.
Adrian’s order arrived first. He had already finished his burguer when his dads got their meals, and he announced to them (because he wasn't going to ask for permission) that he was going to go play at the playground. Hugh told him to be careful, but Adrian practically ignored him and took off before he could even finish saying “... and don’t you dare take off your socks while you’re inside that thing”.
Simon started to play with Adrian’s toy (a cheap action figure of a random white man that wore a green jacket and was winking at him) while Hugh saw through the glass that separated them from the playground area, probably making sure Adrian didn’t get hurt or took off his socks, which in his head, would have been worse.
When Hugh was finally able to calm down, he turned to see Simon.
“So— you really eat those twenty nuggets by yourself.”
“Nineteen,” Simon corrected. “This—” he showed the nugget to him “—is the last one. Do you want it?”
He had his own nuggets and a cheeseburger he hadn’t finished yet. “Only if you don’t want it.”
“Nah. I do want it,” he answered. “I was just trying to be nice.”
Simon put the nugget inside his mouth and while he was chewing it, he realized Hugh was staring at him, but he couldn’t figure out why until he blurted out:
“I'm sorry I wasn't there for you during the party.”
He wasn’t expecting that.
“Oh—” he took a sip of his soda “—Don’t worry. You didn’t know.”
“Next time call me. So I can help you.”
And he promised himself (and Hugh) he would do it by taking his hand under the table and nodding, before resting his head on his shoulder.
“Do you think I shouldn’t have eaten those twenty nuggets?” he asked after a while.
“Not all at,” Hugh assured him. “Actually, it was very sexy of you.”
“I feel very sexy right now, not gonna lie.”
“Good. Because I think you should kiss me. If you’re in the mood for that.”
Simon was in the mood for that. He first kissed Hugh’s cheek, but he thought it wasn’t enough, so he decided to go for his lips. He wasn’t able to stop when he felt Hugh’s putting his hand on his knee, and before they could start making out in the middle of a restaurant as if they were a couple of straight teenagers, he heard a pitched voice say “Ew!”, which immediately made them break the kiss and go into fight mode, ready to be kicked out and banned from ever coming back there.
But it was only Adrian.
“Ew, pops, don’t do that,” he kept saying. “Why are you kissing him?”
“Because he’s my husband, Adrian. And your dad.”
Adrian crossed his arms and frowned.
“Well, I don’t like it—” he extended his hand “—Can I have some ice cream, pops?”
“You didn’t finish your fries, son,” Hugh pointed out. But he didn’t listen to him, again, and asked Simon once more if he could have some ice cream, making a lot of emphasis when he pronounced “pops” .
And there it was, Adrian’s second mood: “I only love you, pops, and if someone gives me enough candy bars, I would throw Captain Chromium down the stairs.”
A year has gone by since then. Therapy and meds had helped him a lot so he had never needed to call him during a panic attack, mostly because when that happened, someone was always willing to help him. For example, one time Tamaya and Simon went to a departmental store during their lunch break because she wanted to buy a bag of eggnog gummies that were only sold there, and Adrian decided to join them. There, Simon turned around for a quick second to check a mirror that would look amazing at their house before realizing that his kid had disappeared. He could see Tamaya looking at some little bird statues that they sold there (being extra careful as to not hit anything with her wings), but Adrian was nowhere to be seen. So obviously he started this frenetic search for him, which lasted, like, five minutes, because Tamaya eventually found Simon, and told him that Adrian had been with her the whole time, just that he was too short for Simon to notice him. They had to go to the restroom and Tamaya grabbed Simon’s and Adrian’s hands while they both calmed down, telling them from time to time that everything was all right (but deep down, Simon knew it really wasn’t; they were in the ladies restroom and there was a mother with his kid that looked at them in a weird way).
Tamaya must have told Kasumi about the whole thing because she taught him a few strategies she had learned to control her own panic attacks. She had been going to therapy too but read a few books about spirituality and meditation, not because she was super into it, but because she thought some concepts were interesting. One time, Evander was the only one there and since empathy wasn’t his strong suit, the only thing he kept saying was “Breathe, Simon, breathe, for fuck’s sake”. He wasn’t yelling, but he wasn’t being nice either, and honestly, that attitude only worsened Simon’s state; he even began to scream that he needed to go to the hospital because he thought he was dying, and Evander began to panic too because he had never been alone when Simon was in that state. Eventually, Simon remembered the promise he made and tried to reach for his phone while mumbling something about calling Hugh, but Evander told him not to worry about it, that he was going to call him.
And Evander, instead of grabbing his phone and doing that, opened the door, and after making sure no one else was there, he yelled:
“HUGH, SIMON NEEDS TO TALK TO YOU!”
Hugh was there in a matter of seconds.
Most of the time, he was there in a matter of seconds.
He kind of knew that if he ever needed the same kind of help, Hugh was going to call him but he never did. Not until a couple of months ago.
They were at a Women’s Day event. There was a group of dancers that was going to do a kind of opening number; a performance in honor of the victims of femicide. Tamaya was going to give a speech about the issue and how that day wasn’t of celebration, but of reflection and remembrance. Kasumi was hugging her ukulele case (she was going to perform a song she had written during the Age of Anarchy, which she refused to show the rest of the team), Evander was reading a pamphlet someone had given him, and Simon was holding Hugh’s hand, trying to hide the fact they weren’t doing much.
Suddenly, Hugh asked him: “Why is it so hot in here?”
They were at Cosmopolis Park and it was March. He didn’t feel it was that hot to be honest.
Evander turned to see them and smirked. “I’m sorry.”
Kasumi rolled her eyes and Tamaya hit him in the back of the head, without even bothering to take her eyes away from her notes.
Hugh didn’t think it was funny. “I’m being serious— It’s really hot.”
“Change into your civilian clothes after the inauguration,” Kasumi said.
The five of them were wearing their uniforms. Tamaya had a purple kerchief (that represented the feminist movement) around her wrist and Kasumi had a green one (that represented the fight for reproductive rights). Evander and Simon had talked about changing their clothes and put on the gray t-shirts the male members of patrol units were wearing. Only the female members were wearing their full uniforms because when the sun started to go down, there was going to be a march and they were going to be the ones protecting the people there. Tamaya and Kasumi had told them that the feminist organizations they were in contact with had told them they didn’t want any male patrol units during the march, but said that if Hugh, Simon, Evander, or Adrian wanted to go, they could. Simon was the only one who told them he accepted, Hugh and Evander remained quiet, and he wasn’t even sure if Adrian was aware of the situation, since he had decided to stay at Headquarters with Prism.
But Simon was about to tell Hugh about what Evander and he were going to do when Hugh said: “ No .”
Because he was working. And when he was working, he had to wear his superhero suit.
Tamaya and Kasumi had more important matters to attend to, so they dismissed Hugh and continued with their plans. The leader of the dance group told them they were ready, and the five of them walked to the stage. Instead of being the first one to talk (like he did at every event) Hugh stayed back and allowed Tamaya to do her thing.
He didn't seem like he wanted to do a lot of talking anyways. Simon could tell that pretending he wasn't uncomfortable wearing his suit that day was taking a lot of his energy, and he even began to think his husband was going to faint in front of all the cameras (but it was probably just his anxiety talking, like always).
When Tamaya finished, they watched the whole performance with the rest of the public. The dancers were wearing black clothes and purple kerchiefs, but six of them had white dresses with red paint that pretended to be blood. They danced while other women in the background sang the song and played some drums. At the end of the performance, a little girl entered the stage and yelled: “Justice for Lady I!” , before letting go of the six balloons she was holding.
Simon clapped until his hands were numb.
And until he realized Hugh was gone.
“Where is he?” Simon asked Tamaya.
She knew exactly what he was talking about.
“In the middle of the performance, he told me he wanted to go somewhere else,” she said.
Then she went quiet again. So Simon added: “Did he tell you where he was going to be?”
“I didn't ask him. I just said 'Elope, bitch' . And he did.”
Simon started to look for him in the crowd until he felt his phone vibrating on his pants. He didn't see who was calling but, for some reason, he knew it was Hugh.
“Hello?”
The other side of the line remained quiet.
For a second, Simon's imagination started to run wild and he was already imagining a scenario where someone had kidnaped Hugh (somehow) and he wasn't able to talk because if he did, they were going to hurt him or someone else. But then, he saw him in the distance, near some trees and a little bit far away from the event, and Simon walked towards him. Without hanging up the phone, just in case.
He only did it when he was right next to him.
Hugh didn't say anything for a long time. And Simon didn't, either, mainly because he was waiting for the answer to his question of “Is there anything I can do for you?” , an answer that never arrived.
Then, he proved with:
“Did you see the whole performance?”
Hugh turned to see him. They were both sitting under a tree, gazing at the distance.
He said, with a monotone voice and an emotionless expression:
“I will never understand contemporary dance.”
After a couple of minutes, he asked him if they could go back home ( home ; not the Headquarters) and Simon accepted. Hugh went the whole way without talking to him, massaging his temple, and when he asked him if there was something wrong, he told him he had a headache, but in a very… weird way.
He was irritable. To say the least. So Simon decided that the best thing he could do at that moment was to not intervene and just keep driving.
Hugh went upstairs and locked himself in their room, while Simon waited for Prism to take Adrian back home before the march started so she could go join them. He managed to keep Adrian downstairs so he didn't go and bother his other dad. It wasn't until 11 PM, when Adrian was already asleep and Kasumi told him the march had ended, that he decided to go check on Hugh.
It was pretty late but the TV was on and he was completely awake.
It didn’t surprise him at all.
“Are you feeling better?”
But instead of answering, he asked back: “How are you feeling?”
“Fine. I just— I stayed downstairs. I guessed you didn’t want to be bothered.” Simon tried to recognize the show that was on, but couldn’t. “What are you watching?”
He sat down on the mattress and Hugh got closer to him. Simon took it as a sign he wanted to cuddle, so he laid next to him and rested his head on his chest.
“You know what other thing I will never understand?”
Contemporary dance.
“What?”
“People who go out with their partners to take dance classes. And dance competitions.”
“Everything that has to do with dancing, then.” He nodded. “Don’t worry. After the clown thing, I’ve hated  anything that has to do with dancing too.”
“It’s too… complicated.”
“Yes.”
“You need a lot of coordination”
“You do.”
“And people are looking at you.”
“They definitely are.”
Hugh smiled a little bit. “No, they’re not. Don’t be silly. People don’t care.”
After that, Simon could at least be sure that Hugh would never take him to dance classes or make him enter dance competitions. It just… wasn’t their thing.
Maybe, their thing was to stay at Headquarters until very late at night, finishing their paperwork, with the rest of the Council.
Like they had been doing the last couple of hours.
Tamaya had been the first one to go home. Her husband had called her and said that her kid didn’t want to go to sleep if his mom wasn’t there to read him a bedtime story. Hugh said that Evander could finish her share of the paperwork and before he could refuse, she answered: “Well, thank you very much, Blacklight” and left. After that, Evander spent a good entire minutes bitching about how Hugh couldn’t just give him more responsibilities just because, to which Hugh responded “Yes, I can” , and Kasumi had to tell both of them to stop because Adrian was there. According to her, if they started to yell curse words to each other, he was going to start repeating the same words every time he was angry and kids weren’t supposed to swear (even though she was ten when Simon heard her say “Oh, fuck” for the first time).
After Evander and Kasumi finished their respective share of the paperwork (plus Tamaya’s) they decided they were going to spend the night there because it was already too late. Simon and Hugh were distracted for a little while, discussing something related to what they were doing, when suddenly, Kasumi and Evander were already inflating a mattress with a pump they had taken out of nowhere. When they asked them where they got those things, Evander just answered they hadn’t revealed all their secrets yet.
Suddenly, the air pump broke at the same time the crayon Adrian was using to color a couple of butterflies did, and Kasumi and he whispered, at the same time:
“Oh, fuck.”
Simon thought everyone was going to die of laughter right there. Everyone except Kasumi. She was going to die of embarrassment.
After she apologized to Adrian for swearing in front of him, Evander got a couple of blankets for them to put on the mattress so it was a little bit more comfortable for them. They asked Adrian if he wanted to sleep with them, but Adrian said he wasn’t sleepy yet. Still, Kasumi told Evander to leave a small space for Adrian in case he changed his mind.
They fell asleep almost immediately.
And soon after that, the baby monitor Simon carried around practically everywhere let them know that Max had woken up and was crying.
“Hugh—”
“Yes, I’ll go. Wait here.” He got closer to the door, but then he turned around to see Adrian, who was still drawing. “When I’m back, you better be asleep, Sketch.”
Adrian rolled his eyes and growled, but instead of getting angry or something, Hugh laughed and left.
Five minutes went by.
Then, fifteen.
Then, half an hour.
Forty minutes.
An hour.
Simon felt his eyes were burning and his whole body felt like it didn’t belong to him. Luckily all the paperwork was gone now, and Adrian was holding the baby monitor in his small hands.
Max wasn’t crying anymore, but he could hear Hugh’s voice, although he couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying.
“What’s going on?” he asked Adrian.
Adrian looked more tired than before, but not that much. They definitely were messing up his sleeping schedule. “Daddy has been trying to put Max in his crib a couple of times but when he tries to leave he starts crying again.”
Simon nodded and tried not to think about it.
He really tried not to think about it.
“Pops,” Adrian called him. “I’m tired. I wanna go to bed.”
Finally.
“Well—” and an idea popped into his head “—let’s go with your daddy and Max to tell them we’re leaving. So you can say goodnight to them too.”
Adrian agreed to do that and being extra careful as not to disturb Evander and Kasumi, they walked through the practically empty corridors, holding hands and feeling like ghosts in an abandoned building (although he knew it was not abandoned, there were some people still there, just not in that area specifically).
They arrived at Max’s quarantine area and all the lights were out. It took him more than a second to notice Hugh sitting on the floor, in the middle of the room, barefoot and only wearing his undershirt and his blue leggings. He was holding Max close to his chest and had an empty bottle in his left hand.
He looked done. He looked so freaking done, but Max, on the other hand, looked very pleased with himself, sucking on his pacifier and with his brown eyes wide open.
Simon tried to hide his laugh. “What happened you guys?”
“Ask your kid,” Hugh answered. “He started it.”
“Just leave him in the crib,” Adrian said, a little bit impatient.
Hugh stood up, walked towards the crib, and, without taking his eyes away from Adrian, he put Max there. And Max, obviously, began to scream so loud that Adrian covered his ears.
“I can’t,” Hugh said. He hugged his baby once more and his screams turned into really quiet sobs. “He’s being a real Westwood right now.”
Simon pretended not to be offended by that joke (a joke Adrian was too young to understand and too tired to care about.)
He put his hands on his kid’s shoulders. “Adrian wants to go to bed,” he told Hugh. “And honestly, me too.”
“And I would love to join you,” Hugh said, “but, you know… your baby is holding me hostage. The Westwood genes—”
“Captain—”
“Okay, don’t get mad.” He pulled Max closer to him. “He won’t close his eyes. And I’ve already tried almost everything.”
Adrian bumped his head against the glass and Simon imitated him. If Hugh hadn’t been holding Max, he would probably do that too.
When looked up again, he wanted to wish him good luck with the Max thing and that he should ask Evander and Kasumi before getting in their improvised bed (if he didn't want to sleep on the floor and preferred something a little bit more comfortable) (although he suspected Evander was going to get all defensive and Hugh was going to have to sleep in the floor anyways.) But he couldn't because the first thing he noticed was that the room was covered in a dark blue light that came out of a small sphere that was one of Max's night lights.
Hugh didn't notice Simon's confusion.
“Love, don't you think that's going to have an opposite effect?” he asked him, doing his best not to sound too… rude.
“No, not at all,” Hugh answered. “He likes it. I don't know if it's the colors or what but he likes it.”
“Good, but the point it's for him to fall asleep,” he insisted. “Not if he likes it or not.”
But he pretended as if he hadn't listened to him and turned on the other night light.
Immediately, the room was filled with yellow stars that contrasted with the blue veil that filled their vision.
At that moment, Simon realized Max was looking at him. He smiled at him, his baby smiled back, and then hid his face on his dad's chest. Then, Simon turned invisible, and when Max looked at him again, he reappeared, making him giggle.
And he hid his face again.
It was a game they constantly played when he was visiting him. And he hoped they would never stop playing it.
“What are you doing?” Adrian asked Hugh, who was scrolling through his cellphone, almost mindlessly.
“I'm searching for a— for a song… a song Max likes,” he mumbled. Then, he clicked his tongue. “Max likes a very specific song, and I play it when nothing else works. It is so energetic, it makes him very tired. But… I can't find it right now.”
Max turned his face around and Simon appeared once more.
“Why don't you sing it to him?” he wondered.
“Oh, no, he cries every time I try to sing a song for him—” he stopped looking at his phone for a second “—Every single time, Si. I don't know what's with him and my singing. He just goes crazy and it's impossible to calm him down. Won't try again, zero out of ten.”
After a few more scrolling, Hugh ended up finding the song and smiled. He put his phone on a small table, and he and Simon made eye contact for a moment.
“You'll see he'll fall asleep after playing this,” Hugh told him. “Don't worry.”
Then, the song started playing.
Hugh sat Max inside his crib, but this time, he didn't cry. He just looked back at his dad, waiting for something to happen.
Adrian grabbed his hand and tried to pull him away. Then, tried doing the same with Simon's cape. But Simon was way too intrigued by Hugh's strategy. Mainly because he had never heard about it, even though he said it wasn't his first time doing it.
And he tried not to think about that.
So instead of walking away, he pulled Adrian closer to him and silently told him to stay still. Just for a while.
Hugh grabbed Max’s wrist very carefully and started moving them around.
Close your tired eyes, relax, and then,
Count from one to ten and open them.
All these heavy thoughts will try to weigh you down,
but not this time...
Simon wished he had brought a camera with him. Because Max looked as if he were dancing to the song and it was freaking adorable.
Way up in the air you're finally free,
and you can stay up there right next to me.
Hugh let go of Max’s wrists and stepped back a couple of meters. Max, once again, didn’t start crying and continued dancing  in his baby way, wiggling his body and staring at his dad with a smile on his face.
All this gravity will try to pull you down,
but not this time...
Maybe it was the fact that Simon wasn’t aware of Max’s weird tendency to sleep when they played upbeat songs. Or maybe that he had never heard that song. He had seen him dancing at public events, with him or with other members of the Council. He had also seen him dancing during their wedding day, and he was dancing with him.
But he hadn’t seen him dancing like that before.
The chorus started and he lip-synced the lyrics while moving his feet. The stars moved around the room and the blue light gave the impression of him being in the middle of the space, among the universe that had made him and every single prodigy out there the way they were. He flapped his arms as if he was trying to imitate the shooting stars the singer was talking about. Colorful sparkles and rainbow comets seemed to appear all around him, surrounding him in a weird but beautiful whirlwind. But he didn’t even bother to look at them like he didn’t care about the things that were going on around him because at that moment, the only thing that existed there was him and the beat.
During the small bridge between the chorus and the next verse, he opened his eyes again, and their gazes crossed once more.
And since Simon knew that face as if it were his own, he could notice he was starting to feel embarrassed.
Adrian pulled his cape once more.
“Come on, Adrian,” he said, grabbing his older son by the wrist, “let’s show your brother and the Captain how we dance.”
Hugh started laughing and Adrian tried to kick him. “Noooo, let me go,” he complained.
“Hey, don’t be like that, it will be fun,” Simon insisted. Adrian stopped yelling and let his dad grab both of his hands, frowning and pouting. “Are you gonna let my husband dance better than us?”
He didn’t want to appeal to any of his two moods, but apparently, he did.
“No,” he answered immediately. “I’m the best dancer in this family.”
“Prove it,” Hugh said from the other side of the glass, casually leaning against Max’s crib. “We’re waiting.”
He remained completely still for a couple of seconds, gazing at him, and Simon started to move Adrian’s hands around like Hugh had done with Max before. His expression dulled little by little, and when he was finally convinced, he let out a very loud “UGH, FINE!” , with the same tone he had used to be homophobic at the restaurant. Simon laughed out loud and Hugh took his imaginary hat off, to let him know that the floor was his.
Gaze into my eyes when the fire starts,
and fan the flames so hot, it melts our hearts.
Oh, the pouring rain, will try to put it out,
but not this time…
First, Adrian moved his arms as if they were dancing a weird version of one of those vintage dances Simon had only seen on TV, similar to what they were doing during the party he constantly thought about. Then, Simon made him spin and they let go of each other, so Adrian could start giving it all, dancing like the guys from the (kind of) cheesy movies he liked to watch, which the professional actors made look cool but when he did it, were hilarious and lovely.
Let your colors burn and brightly burst
into a million sparks that all disperse,
and illuminate a world that'll try to bring you down,
but not this time...
“Pops, you’re not dancing!” Adrian suddenly yelled while pointed at him with an evil grin on his face. “You’re not dancing! Your husband is going to take us down if you don’t dance!”
Hugh had been moving up and down slightly because he knew that was Adrian’s moment to show off, but when he heard Adrian yelled that he got closer to them, dancing with more emphasis and pointing at Simon, like daring him to a duel. Adrian grabbed him by the waist to shake him up a little, and Simon just yelled: “I GOT IT, I GOT IT!”.
Because he got it. He knew he had to dance too.
Even if he wasn’t sure of how to do it.
And it was probably so obvious that Hugh noticed that small detail because as soon as the chorus started once again, he raised his arms, and Simon, without doubting, followed his lead. Then, he spread them, and it reminded him of when they were little and liked to think that they could develop flying abilities if they pretended they were planes. Simon moved a little bit to the left, then a little bit to the right, and realized they matched with the song and he didn’t look dumb at all while doing it.
Especially because Hugh was mirroring each of his movements and he was smiling and laughing, and even began to sing, just a little bit.
“The judges said that singing is not allowed during the competition,” said Adrian with a teasing tone of voice.
Hugh spun two times and Simon spun one.
“The evaluation criteria is completely arbitrary,” Hugh grinned. “I don’t understand it, it doesn’t exist to me.”
Adrian shook his head with fake exasperation and proceeded to shake his head from side to side, while snapping his fingers and singing the lyrics too, pretending he had a better singing voice than his dad did. Which was true.
Simon was about to make a joke about it, when he saw something moving in Max’s crib.
And he realized he had been completely terrified of not being there when that eventually happened.
He was holding onto the crib bars as if his life depended on it. His pacifier had fallen off his mouth, but he didn’t care and was staring at the rest of his family, completely poker-faced because obviously, he was so little he didn’t comprehend how amazing it was what he was doing.
Max was still too young to understand how amazing he was.
“MAX, YOU’RE STANDING!” Simon cheered. “HUGH, THE BABY IS STANDING!”
A thousand heartbeats beat in time…
Hugh turned around violently and Adrian pointed at his little brother immediately after noticing too, squealing and jumping. “He is! He really is!”
And when all the eyes went on Max, instead of hiding like he did every time someone who wasn’t the Council or his parents visited him, his whole face lit up and Simon could hear his baby laugh from the other side of the glass even louder than he could hear the music.
It makes this dark planet come alive...
Adrian continued to cheer his brother, stomping his feet and using the glass that divided them like a drum, and Hugh threw a glance at Simon, before looking at Max again and opening his arms as if Max was able to run to him and hug him.
“Max, you’re standing!” Hugh repeated. “Congratulations, love!”
So when the lights flicker out tonight...
Max's smile widened even more and he began his body up and down, with an intent to join the party. Simon couldn’t help but imitate his movements, and suddenly he got an idea.
You gotta shine...
He grabbed an invisible mic, pointed at the baby that was giggling so hard he had his eyes closed, and began to sing:
“When the sun goes down and the lights burn out, then it’s time for you to shine! Brighter than a shooting star! So shine no matter where you are! ”
Max's movements became quicker and his laugh louder. Adrian took out his imaginary guitar, and continued to stomp his feet while making guitar noises with his mouth because he was sure that he had just become an amazing musician and nothing could stop him.
And he looked so convinced that Simon believed him, because Adrian was as amazing as he believed he was, and he would never let anyone make him believe otherwise.
“Fill the darkest night with a brilliant light, 'cause it's time for you to shine!”
Finally, he saw Hugh grabbing two drumsticks that only existed inside his head, and beginning to play the battery, making all the stars and colorful sparkles jump around him, leaving small traces of their existence all around his face. He threw the drumsticks in the air, spun once more, and finally caught them in the air, before continuing playing his instrument.
Simon knew that Hugh was completely aware of how amazing he was. Prodigies with powers like the ones he had weren’t born every day, and prodigies who also had the exact combination of characteristics that allowed him to go as far as he had been able to go were even fewer.
But sometimes Simon did wonder if he knew he was also amazing when he wasn't being Captain Chromium.
Captain Chromium would never be able to make those rainbow sparkles shine as bright as Hugh Everhart was doing it right now, and Simon thought it was one of the most beautiful views his eyes would ever be able to see.
So when he spun again and tripped with his own feet, leaning against the glass to not hit his head with it, Simon pressed his hand against the glass.
“BRIGHTER THAN A SHOOTING STAR! ” Adrian yelled. “SO SHINE NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE!”
And we wondered again.
Do you know it?
Do you know how amazing you are being right now?
Please tell me you do.
But he never did. The singer, Adrian, and Max mumbled “Tonight” at the same time, although Max did in a way only he could understand and without even noticing what he was saying.
Simon smiled at Hugh, and he smiled back at him, as he always did.
When he walked to Max's crib and carried him in his arms, he noticed the sparkles were completely gone. But he still grabbed Max's little wrist and waved goodbye at them, while his baby's eyelids started getting heavy. Then, before he could do the same thing with Adrian, he threw a kiss at them, before hugging Simon's arm and asking him if they could go to sleep now, again.
Simon looked at Hugh one more time. Hugh tilted his head, smiled a little bit more, and said:
“Good night, Si.”
And Si laughed under his breath.
“Good night to you too. Shooting Star.”
He never called him like that again.
But it was alright because Hugh never danced like that again. And no one could see the same shooting star twice.
Still, Simon wanted to believe that someday he would.
Maybe someday.
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parcoeurs · 3 years
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Extremely fascinated by your wag AU tag 👀.
thanks bestie so am i.
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okay lmao so this isn't an actual fic that'll ever be written but. i was talking to my friend about it who still hasn't finished dts season 3 unfortunately but it means that i've switched around ages and years etc. i promise this has the potential to be a fun and sexy time but there's just s o much background shit that needs to be discussed. tw for mentions of irl deaths etc:
but pierre & charles meeting when they're 5-6 (which is what i think charles actually says irl but someone said it might've been closer to when they were 10-11? regardless.) and charles' dad passes away when they're 9-10, and jules when they're 13-14 and charles quits racing then. (fyi i know that irl jules passed away first)
he thinks about quitting when his dad passes away but keeps going with help from jules. so when the accident etc happens, it's not even like an active decision he ponders. he just knows there's no way he'll race again.
and pierre's been with him throughout everything, his best friend who he can talk to when he can't bear looking at his own family. so he doesn't understand when pierre tells him he's going to keep racing. when charles had told him he was never going to get into a kart ever again, pierre had nodded, grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. important to note that they're barely teenagers rn so yes charles feels betrayed that pierre isn't feeling the same things he is and isn't choosing the same future for himself etc.
they have a huge fight, lots of crying, lots of dramatic teenage angst. but it ultimately ends with charles shutting pierre out of his life. which is easier said than done when it's your best friend whose family is super close with yours. but it works because pierre is off racing around the world and charles has done all he can to never have to think about that stuff.
so charles goes to school, is doing uni somewhere in europe. studies something generic like business or maybe if i'm feeling suuuuper indulgent i will have him major in environmental studies like moi <3 pointedly does not come to monaco during grand prix weekend or the week before or the week after.
and then anthoine passes away too. (they're 20-21 now)
they see each other again at the funeral but don't talk, they meet up afterwards. pierre breaking down in charles' arms, clutching at his back, telling him he was right. pierre should've quit, he can't do this anymore either. they haven't said a word to each other in 7 years but charles still knows pierre, and knows that this isn't actually what pierre wants. or what he should do. (charles vaguely knows pierre's in f1 but doesn't know he's with redbull, doesn't know redbull's the top team etc)
"you can still do this, you will," charles tells him.
"not without you again."
so then comes the challenge of mending their relationship while still working through the shared trauma, and the Layers of past trauma. and also just the general awkwardness that comes with a friendship breakup/makeup situation you know! they can't just act like nothing happened but would it be easier that way?
they start texting first, then they play fifa or cod together. (sometimes pierre's british friend lewis joins too.)
slowly slowly slowly, they become friends again and then inseparable too. maybe even closer than they were before and charles only now realizes how much he missed pierre. while pierre still can't believe he has charles back now, it's as good as he let himself imagine.
the part i'm unsure about is if i would want pierre's career trajectory to be the same or not. because i think the demotion adds SUCH a painful but interesting aspect to his ~storyline. but ultimately i think maybe he just doesn't get the second seat immediately. spends more years with toro rosso/alpha tauri before getting "called up" (sorry i have no idea what the proper terminology is haha ignore the nba/nhl terms).
he invites charles to his first race in the red bull and charles says no. immediately. pierre's quiet on the other side of the phone, internally thinking he messed this up somehow. he thought things were going well and he takes this as charles doesn't want to see him. but he knows there's a lot more that's stopping charles and he also knows charles will definitely pull back if pierre asks about the other stuff. so he moves right along, asking charles about school, the weather, and tries not to let it show in his voice that he misses his best friend and needs him too.
"i'm going to try to watch," charles says, after pierre's yawned goodnight through the phone and is waiting for him to hang up. because you know pierre's not going to hang up first.
"what?"
"the race. i'm going to try. goodnight!" mentally charles slams the phone shut but really he just smashes at the red button before shoving it under his bed and looking at his hands trying to get answers for what he just did.
his only relief is that he didn't promise pierre he would watch, just that he would try. couldn't even choke out a, "good luck." (insert long paragraph about charles letting pierre down or thinking he has).
he only watches qualifying. pierre p3. already knows on saturday that there's no way he can watch the actual race.
but on sunday when he's supposed to be going over his notes for his climate change science & policy course (yes.... i did it...) he finds himself with his heart in his mouth refreshing formula1 dot com. watches the random names move up and down while keeping his eyes on 10 - gasly. (starts shaking for a second when he sees pierre's name drop until the IN PIT sign comes up across his name. fellas the thing about triggers is-- anyways.)
the scariest part is that by the time he's scrolled through all of red bull's socials to look at pictures of pierre on the podium (he finished p2 sorry i know this truly does not matter), he's forgotten about the race. the anxiety sits small in the back of his throat, his happiness for pierre is bright and loud in front of him. charles sends him a message, asking him to call whenever he can and adds a blue & red heart emoji which feels like a Big Step. but basically pierre calls and acts like nothing has happened since the last time they talked. mentions the breakfast he had in detail as if he didn’t get a podium in his first race with red bull. finally with a big team. but charles embarrassingly realizes that maybe his text didn't exactly imply in literally any way whatsoever that he knows the results of the race and was trying to congratulate pierre with this call. charles probably feels so embarrassed at this point but somehow still can't manage to say anything about the race until the next day maybe.
maybe texts pierre, good job. or, you were great. or something about him and not the race. or maybe reposts a picture from red bull but not one of pierre in his car, pointedly. only one of him on the podium. and pierre probably reposts it with the squid emoji and/or my favourite sentence in the world, merci petit calamaro.
charles cries when he reads it.
not to be lazy now but [insert 10k words of them building their friendship. meeting up in monaco with both of their families. meeting in milan or london or paris idk where pierre would live. but he flies charles out. not on a private jet because charles flat out refused lol. not because he's an environmentally conscious king he's just too, embarrassed? overwhelmed? by pierre doing Things Like That for him. even though he wants it lol. like when he graduates he's soooo annoyed that pierre couldn't come celebrate immediately because it was race week. but when he comes home his apartment is filled with flowers (roses, his favourite) and balloons and a giant teddy bear as tall as charles. and he DOES post 12 instagram stories to go with the other 30 from his other friends congratulating him. so yeah charles goes through a lot of personal growth and therapy. to the point where he's watching pierre race again, and waiting for him to invite him to a race again!!! do not even think about actual dates i'm fucking begging you but the one he goes to is monza :))))]
ultimately charles' path to understand/accepting/moving on from, his trauma, happens once he has pierre back in his life. it's also encouraged by pierre, but it's also not entirely because of him. not sure how to word that but yeah. these things are happening at the same time but charles still has to go through them by himself.
pierre takes him on romantic dates all around the world and charles doesn't realize that's what they are. fully in his bestie vibes only mood while pining for pierre in a way he doesn't even quite understand. almost a self deprecating, jeez whoever gets to date pierre is going to be so lucky :/
fanpage on ig: met pierre's alleged bf he's so pretty and sweet, i complimented his shoes and he was so nice. charles reading that: i didnt know he was dating someone :( why wouldn't he tell me :( well at least someone complimented my shoes today :(
pierre doesn't necessarily think they're dating, but he does know charles doesn't quite realize what they're doing so he's just waiting for him to come to terms with it.
not to give this au 10 different subplots but yeah that miscommunication plot becomes our prize for surviving through the first part of this.
but yeah at the last race of the year, that pierre wins because i said so? charles finds him before he goes on to the podium, kisses his helmet. says i love you, i'm so proud of you.
THEN, finally, charles does become pierre's wag. we made it kids. we did it joe.
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pyrefell · 4 years
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Headcanons for some of the boys? Namely horrorfell, underswap and underfell?
you let me off my child leash and i honestly wasn’t even really sure where to even start here, so you get some pretty general headcanons. i have a lot to say about underfell and horrorfell,,,
UNDERSWAP:
IN ALL HONESTY, Underswap is currently one of my least developed AU interpretations. I'm still just really indecisive. BUT! I do have some stuff that I'm fairly set on.
Papyrus:
Never really grew out of the shyness he had as a babybones, he’s always had a much more outgoing brother to hide behind. 
He's the one that designed the puzzles in Snowdin! Puzzles are still one of his special interests in this AU. (Sans gets really excited to tell anyone that asks that his Very Cool little brother designed them.) 
He's fairly low to mid (but consistent) energy. He tries (and usually succeeds) to act all chill but he gets really excited about some things and can reach True Papyrus levels of loud. 
He and Undyne are still friends in this AU! He doesn't go to see her super often because. Hotland. But when they are together, it's pretty chaotic. They like to design things a la Mickey's Dick Smasher. 
Man, he's sure been feeling a lot of deja vu lately. Huh, wonder what that's all about. :)
Sans:
He’s still the Judge! And he's still the one that has to deal with the ever shifting and resetting timeline. It's...really starting to take a toll on him, but what's the point in telling anyone? They won't remember and besides, who's going to believe him anyways? 
He was always fairly outgoing and bubbly but he took on an even more bubbly persona kind of unconsciously to overcompensate for and hide how Tired he is now. 
Sans is just about the opposite of his brother energywise. He's full of energy for short bursts and then he sleeps for hours. He's started sleeping more since everything with the timeline started. It's not the best sleep but he’s just...so tired nowadays. 
Still completely willing to eat condiments for a joke (or a """joke"""). He eats mayonnaise by the handful. Does it mostly to embarrass (and disgust) Papyrus. 
Genuinely enraged by people who think he's young. Sure, he may be only a few inches over 5', but he's a Wide Boy. And not a naïve child, he's the older brother, thank you very much. Haven't you heard his voice? What kid has a voice that deep? 
UNDERFELL: 
One general headcanon I have is that they both have DT in their systems. Gaster gave them injections when they were still very young babybones in the sterile lab and they’d started mysteriously falling down. He’s not really a bad guy there, he wanted to save them. Of course, it’s probably got it’s side effects, right? After all the Bromalgamate and Comic Papyrus exist. :)
Their relationship is...strained. They definitely still love each other and would fight to the death for the other but they don't really talk. They both blame each other for how the other turned out, how they act.
Papyrus:
He’s blind in his scarred socket! He first got the wound when he was still pretty little and because he and Sans were still living out on the streets, he wasn’t able to get any real kind of medical care. It’s still pretty fragile but there’s really not a whole lot that can be done anymore. 
He can cook! Like, really well, actually. Grillby taught him when he was younger. He’s particularly good at cooking with whatever’s already in the house. 
I think he still wants to believe everyone can change and be good if they try. Though, whether he actually believes that anymore is kind of debatable. And I  think that he doesn’t really enjoy all the fighting. He doesn’t take any real pride or joy in what he's become. He really wanted (and still wants) to actually protect monsters. 
There's a square of fabric on his scarf that's from a well-loved blanket he'd had as a babybones. It still brings him some semblance of comfort when he needs it. 
He's well aware of timelines. Well okay, 'well aware' isn't exactly the right way to put it. He can't put a name to what's happening, why he can remember things that haven't happened yet or have happened at all. He at one point attempted to keep a journal about it all but it was gone the next reset. He'd like to talk to Sans about it, but given how their relationship is... 
Sans:
He’s got 3 golden teeth, he got hit pretty good almost directly on those teeth around the same time Papyrus got his scar. They were really loose after that but didn’t actually come out until later. 
Most still see him as free EXP. He doesn't get attacked as much anymore but the times he has, he's been able to suffice on just dodging until Papyrus shows up. He could just as easily fight back, but he's decided there could be some benefit to hiding what he can do for just a bit longer. Besides, he'd rather not place any more targets on their backs. 
He knows how to sew! He learned completely out of necessity when they were both young. They only had so many pieces of clothes, after all. He's the one who sewed the little square of Papyrus's blanket into his scarf. 
King of eavesdropping. Despite his stature (and who his brother is for that matter), he's surprisingly good at going unnoticed. He tends to play like he's completely shitfaced and passed out at Grillby's, just in case someone lets something slip. 
They both blame themselves for how the other turned out but Sans has it bad. He's supposed to be the older brother, right? He was supposed to keep Papyrus safe and stars, did he do a shit job at it, even if there were some things he just couldn't do anything about. 
HORRORFELL: 
OKAY SO, my Horrorfell doesn't start the same way the normal Horrortale AU starts. The short version is that Frisk doesn't fall until YEARS after they normally would have and they fall with Aliza. The Famine devastated the Underground. Frisk's left to try and figure out why they didn't fall when they should have and why they can't remember anything that happened during those years between. They have to balance keeping themselves and Aliza alive and trying to get through to at least Sans, who, while his memory is terrible he knows he's supposed to be pissed at them. They left the Underground to rot. I think that's all y'all really need lmao. I'm definitely going to write about Horrorfell, in fact I've already started something about it
ANYWAYS! On to the headcanons for the Boys. These two are so ride or die now it’s almost unreal. They’ve had a lot of time to air out their grievances and have the years worth of fights with each other. They work together so much better now and it comes in handy for both protecting each other and hunting. They're the most efficient and successful hunters in the Underground. 
Papyrus:
He’s effectively completely blind at this point. He needs coke bottle lenses to see. He ends up completely depending on his hearing and sense of smell when he's hunting. Despite his failing eyesight, he remains the best chef in Snowdin after Grillby's disappearance. He's always sure to use as much as he possibly can. 
His new stature has made it incredibly difficult to get into most buildings. He often ends up walking on all fours and his magic's started to adjust his body for that. He doesn’t recognize himself so much anymore. 
While Sans was comatose, Papyrus spent his time trying to ration out food, attempting to keep the peace for the denizens of Snowdin and caring for Sans. He'd continued to cut his own rations not only for the rest of Snowdin but for Sans too when he hopefully wakes up. 
He'd managed his way out to the rest of the Underground with his own brand of 'shortcut' earlier on despite the lockdown in Snowdin. Some say they'd seen him but no one's really sure if that's true and if it is, how did he get out? Can he do it again and maybe talk some sense into the Empress? They used to be friends, right? 
His memory is also not very good. He and Sans keep a big whiteboard in the kitchen with pertinent information and there's a calendar in every room with all the past dates marked off, just in case someone forgets. 
Sans:
The reason why the hole in his skull is so big and leads into his nasal cavity is because of preexisting cracks. Undyne really didn't mean to hit him! Really, she didn't... 
The selfish part of him almost wishes the DT in him hadn't kept him around, but he can't bring himself to really want that. He can't leave Papyrus alone, especially not now. 
His relationship with Frisk is...tense to say the least. When he first saw them, he didn't fully process who they were but he felt nothing but rage. He doesn't really believe what Frisk's saying when they claim they can't remember anything. Their relationship could absolutely mend, there's just so many roadblocks at the start. 
Seeing as he can't reliably use his shortcuts anymore, he's not as efficient a hunter as he could be. But that doesn't mean he isn't extremely deadly. The brothers are revered for the effectiveness, after all. 
He's developed some pretty nasty coping habits, most of which involve some kind of self harm either intentional or not. Papyrus tries his best to limit it, but he's not the best either.
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Popular!Luz AU concept post
This au concept is something me, @crispyclown , and @molotov-does-stuff worked out together on @pastatiger ‘s TOH discord.
The basic concept is “what if Luz never did become friends with Willow and actually did become popular” based on an offhanded comment from boscha in ‘Understanding Willow’ that went to the effect of “that human could have been popular if she wasn’t hanging out with Willow”.
Here’s all the headcanons we’ve all put together:
Timeline:
1) 'teenage abomination' never happens. Luz just has a boring day and becomes vaguely aware of Hexside.
2) during ’Covention’, Amity and Luz meet for the first time. They don’t hit it off but they don’t not hit it off either. After the Lilith speech, Amity still steps on King’s cupcake, but it’s completely by accident. Amity tries to ‘keep up appearances as a Blight’ and ends up accidentally insulting Luz and King while attempting to apologize. Luz ultimately still has the “Bog of Immediate Regret” line, but Amity doesn’t really care one way or the other, so she nearly says ‘you read Azura too?!’ Before instead accepting. Amity and Luz’s bet is pretty low stakes — Amity apologizes to king if she loses, Luz apologizes to Amity if she loses, maybe? But Eda and Lillith get waaaay into the bet and both sides cheat as canon. Amity still breaks down when the construction glyph is revealed, but Luz formally concedes anyways (with low stakes she doesn’t have any serious need to win, and she still would rather be this girl’s friend than her enemy), citing their own relative skill levels, before going and talking to Amity. Amity is still DISTRAUGHT about the whole ordeal, but she and Luz have a much more in-depth heart-to-heart, where Luz explains what she did, tells Amity how cool Luz thinks she is, and manages to tell her the “I’m not a witch, but… I’m training to be one“ line. Amity leaves Luz with the line, ‘they say humans can't learn any magic. But... I don't think that's going to stop you.' And… they’re, maybe friends? Unclear friends? Probably just acquaintances but the point is its nonnegative relationship development.
3) ‘Hooty's Moving Hassle' is removed.
4) in ‘Lost in Language’, Luz is still a little over-friendly with Amity (Amity respects her for serious but also She Has A Reputation, Luz) when they meet in the library. Luz still gets sucked in to the twins’ chaotic energy, and Luz still thinks hanging out with them will somehow translate to brownie points with Amity. When Amity walks in on them in the secret room, she’s much more visibly and viscerally betrayed by (what she thinks) Luz did. However after saving themselves from evil Otabin, Luz does convince her the twins tricked her, they book trade as canon, Amity actually clearly thinks of Luz as a friend at the end of it all.
5) the moonlight conjuration incident happens after the library incident. Amity spins a BS story about Luz being a skilled witch to her parents and invites her to the conjuring. While initially their conjuring goes as canon (ie nowhere), Luz turns it to a regular party with Boscha, Skara, Amity, and herself. (and Cat, i think? Whoever their canon fourth was, she’s still here.) Eventually they try again, and since (in this au) the conjuring's power == your conjuring group's friendship's strength, and everyone here is at least somewhat friends with luz now, they do manage to animate a few things.
6) at some point here, Luz, Boscha, and Skara team up for a pickup game of grudgeby, and Luz learns the fireball glyph.
7) During ‘Once Upon a Swap', both Skara and Boscha notice how out of character King!Luz is acting. They can admit King!Luz is being cool, if a lil dorky, but they have an out-of-character moment where Boscha tries to ask 'Luz' if she's okay. King doesn't get it, but the others walk in on it so Boscha resumes acting like a challenged alpha bitch. (Luz eventually explains to Skara what was goin on that day. Luz ‘conveniently’ never got the chance to clue Boscha in.)
8) at some point around here, Luz manages to get Eda to enroll her in Hexside.
9) 'adventures in the elements' is changed bc Luz does know two glyphs. However, She and Amity want to hang out some more and Amity thought Luz's fire glyph could help her learn the fireball spell, so they still go to the knee together (with Eda, Emira, and Edric as terrible excuses for chaperones.) Luz learns the ice spell under Eda’s somewhat hands-off tutelage, possibly after accidentally angering the Slitherbeast as in canon.
10) In ‘First Day', Boscha is looking forward to finally getting a read on this girl who wormed her way straight into Amity's heart. (she's not jealous. nuhuh. not even a little. YOU’RE jealous!) Luz still immediately gets Detention'd, tho, but this time Amity and Boscha show up to bust her out unprompted, leading to a VERY awkward moment where Viney (and Jerbo and Barcus) refuse to trust Luz on the basis that Boscha and Amity are her friends, and both of them are notorious jerks who would ABSOLUTELY bully the DT kids. Amity has to duck out for her performance tho. the episode concludes as canon.
11) we get an extended time where we see how Luz easily makes friends with almost everyone at Hexside. She's friend-shaped and she gets a HUGE popularity boost for being honest friends with Skara and Amity. (she gets rancid vibes from Boscha when they’re at school together, but she can't put her finger on *why*. and besides, Boscha calls Luz her friend too, so that probably counts.) during this time Luz meets Gus, who is one of E&E's classmates. Gus can have an episode, as a treat.
12) Luz finally meets Willow, and gets slapped in the face HARD with confirmation that Amity and Boscha are kind of massive assholes. Luz tries to befriend Willow, but Willow refuses to trust her due to how often Boscha, Amity, and the rest of the popular girls who make up most of Luz’s closer friend group have bullied her.
13) Luz tries to get Boscha to take it down a notch. Boscha takes it up a notch. Luz tries to get Amity to help, Amity asks why it matters — it’s just ‘half a witch willow’, no one cares. Luz realizes, awkwardly (and probably with the assistance of Jerbo and/or Barcus), that while she currently has a lot a friends and is popular, if she defends Willow from Boscha’s bullying she’ll lose a lot of her popularity. Luz kind of has a small breakdown over this, because she doesn’t want to risk friends here when in the human world she has so few, but at the same time, she has Principles! She can’t just ignore this! As one of her schemes to help Willow without going against Boscha directly, Luz manages to get Willow transferred out of Abominations, although Willow is kinda annoyed by this since even though she’s in plant track she feels a stranger. (This alienation eventually goes away, but not before…)

14) Luz snaps and punches Boscha in the face one day for bullying Willow once too many times. Boscha gets PISSED and Luz is NOT BACKING DOWN, even though she’s scared. Boscha basically exiles Luz from the friend group, which has the added effect of making almost all of Luz’s friends stop talking to her, most painfully Skara and Amity. Willow starts to tolerate her, but only barely. (Gus is still Luz’s friend tho. In fact, Gus, the DT kids, and E&E Are the only Hexside students at this point who’ll be caught dead with Luz.)

15) ‘Understanding Willow’ Is changed; Luz catches Amity burning up Willow’s memories. However, since Amity, Luz, and Willow are distinctly *not* talking to each other, the quest to save Willow’s mind is *much* more tense. Luz keeps taking potshots at Amity for abandoning the both of them, Inner Willow hates both of them, and Amity is trying desperately not to have fun with people who hate her and also trying desperately to defend her actions. Amity still reveals the same secret of the day she stopped being Willow’s friend; Luz, meanwhile, reveals some bad memories of her own human school that make it very obvious how much the chance to be popular meant to her and how she genuinely empathizes with Willow’s whole situation. Ultimately ends with a bit of a tense moment between the three where they admit they’re not friends yet… but at the very least they’re all willing to be friends, now.
16) We get some time watching Luz slowly re-making her friends throughout the school, as people decide they really do like Willow and Luz as people and they’re kinda tired of Boscha been an alpha bitch. Maybe spliced with Willow & Luz & Amity hangin out, being friendly, or with Boscha been salty and Skara et al. being here by obligation even though they *clearly* wanna hang out with Luz some more.
17) ‘Wing It Like Witches’ happens largely beat for beat here. Boscha attempts to re-assert social dominance, Luz invokes the sacred rites of a game of grubby with a bet, Luz tries to get Willow and Gus in for it but Gus can’t and Willow won’t; Amity talks Willow into forming a 3 person team with her. Extra angst from the fact that Boscha and Luz did actually have some bonding over being on the same team on an earlier grubby game.
18) Grom happens now, largely as canon. When preparing Luz for the main fight, Amity theorizes (incorrectly) that Luz’s greatest fear is losing her friends on the boiling isles; Luz goes along with it, because ‘I already faced that fear once this year, it’ll be a cinch’. Grom tries it but it doesn’t work, but then from turns into her mom. (We see Amity nearly cry from Grom turning into her, but realizes what’s going on, and then has a massive blush from being called ‘her’ Amity. Skara rolls her eyes, bc she’s been clued in. Boscha is deliberately not caring.)
.
20) Boscha eventually gets to the point where she decides to apologize to Willow. She starts with a BS ‘lol sry’ approach, ends with a record-scratch-sudden rant where Boscha really does break it — and herself — down in honest apology. Some of the bad attempts are played for comedy, this one played completely straight.
Miscellanious other elements:
Unrequited Boschamity / exes Boschamity, boscha has cool banter with her friends (mildly platonic boschluz banter, snarky boschamity banter, member boschkara banter, etc), Boscha being really jealous of Luz, Everyone — EVERYONE — pines at Skara, Luz also pines at willow eventually, BOSCHA ACTUALLY GETS A REDEMPTION ARC AND ITS WELL WRITTEN AND NO ITS NOT IN SERVICE OF A SHIP, Boscha::Azula Amity::Zuko wrt redemption arcs, Boscha joins the inevitable rebellion as one of those ‘everyone in public thinks I’m an enemy of the rebellion so I can help them out real nice in the DL’ people, and yes we ARE overthrowing the government at some point in this au just not right now, right now we’re having ANGST and LUMITY, boscha is actually very nice to her friends when she wants to be she just usually doesn’t feel like she Should Be Vulnerable, any episode that’s just ‘Luz With Willow And/or Gus doing Hijinks’ (ex ‘Really Small Problems’, ‘Something Ventured, Someone Framed’) that hasn’t already been mapped to an event in this timeline is skipped completely, yes that means Mathholomule successfully becomes president of the human club, none of this aus cast is actually friends with him tho don’t worry, Edric has been quietly dating Jerbo for a while now but his sisters don’t know, Emira is a disaster lesbian for Viney and the teasing is relentless, Emira is a terminal prankster with a maladapted sense of boundaries as a result of her parents, this is a point of contention for her courtship of Viney who can and will go OFF on her for crossing the line and not feeling guilty, Edric is very aware of boundaries but he also finds looking to her for direction gets him in trouble the least at home so he just feels terrible afterwards and tries to get Emira to tone it down and/or apologize, basically the library incident was her idea in this au and he went along with it because of blight child optics stuff, Luz’s memory may out Luz to Willow and Amity, Willow and Amity absolutely say ‘gay rights’, in fact the entire isle says ‘gay rights’, this au tricks you into thinking ‘oh easy lumity’ but then Willow comes in like a wrecking ball, during that murky period when Luz’s friends all hate her bc she punched boscha all the people still willing to talk to her get friendly REAL fast, yes that includes willow and amity once they all stop hating each other, nobody lets Amity live down “Oh, wow,,, sports” except Luz who didn’t get it, Everyone has a song assigned to them at the sleepover, Luz’s is Bad Reputation, Skara’s is Caramelldansen, Boscha’s is Money Machine, Amity’s is Eminence Front because I say so
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sourgrapelaffytaffy · 4 years
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Who is Scrooge? Is that Scrooge McDuck you're talking about? If it is pls tell me ur opinions of him I’d love to hear them 👀👀👀👀
Yes. I am talking about Scrooge McDuck, specifically his interpretation in Ducktales 2017. Now, to preface this a little bit, every time I try to express my opinion on Scrooge, it gets me hounded. So even right now I’m a little hesitant to post this, but since DT17 is ending after this season, I might as well get this out of my system.
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The Ducktales fandom, at least a large portion of it HATE Scrooge. Season 1 was great. It had so much mystery in it. But once the mystery was unraveled, people decided that they HATED Scrooge. Yes. He did something wrong, but it’s like the entire fandom did a 180 and totally turned their back on him. Now during seasons 2 & 3, people will find any reason at all to hate on Scrooge, even when he does things IN CHARACTER
I’ve always loved Scrooge, ever since I watched MCC and the original DT as a kid. He always made me smile because I knew, deep underneath his grouchy exterior, there was a duck who LOVED his family. And the new Scrooge is the same. However, a majority of the fandom treats him terribly. Every time Scrooge messes up, they attack him.
Every time I tried to write about Scrooge and his feelings, I got attacked for it. I didn’t like how Goldie treated him in the new series, I got attacked for it. I felt bad that he was ABANDONED for ten years by his family, I was told he deserved it because of what he built for Della when she was also in the wrong. I was told I was excusing his mean actions when I never said stuff like that. Every time I tried to write something for him, I got paragraph after paragraph about how Scrooge is a terrible character & the reason for every (in-universe) problem in the show.
I got so tired that my last post in this fandom was FROM NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR. I made this post, and got SWARMED. I’ve honestly unfollowed so many DT17 blogs because I honestly couldn’t take people telling me that Scrooge was a bad person.
THIS IS WHERE THE ACTUAL SMART TALKING STARTS
Here’s the thing (and thank you for reading this far). Scrooge has always been mean, greedy, and selfish. That’s his character. It’s always been his character since he first appeared in comics. But with Ducktales 2017, people expect Scrooge to not be mean anymore. Scrooge is greedy / mean / selfish, he learns his lesson, apologizes, and life goes on. Modern cartoons make people expect that he will develop from this, and that this behavior will never happen again.
But that’s not realistic.
We are flawed. I snap because I’m mad, I know it’s wrong. I apologize. But because of natural, human anger, I will snap again. I won’t just stop being mad magically. I will have bad days and good days. And so will Scrooge. The important thing is that Scrooge APOLOGIZES. He recognizes how much his actions affect his kids & he says he’s sorry
In a very recent episode, an adventure goes wrong & Scrooge assume he needs to make a new team to get it right. This makes Huey Dewey Louie & Webby feel like Scrooge is replacing them. Scrooge has been shown several times throughout the series to be REALLY BAD AT PICKING UP SOCIAL QUEUES. He doesn’t understand peoples feelings (probably from years of shutting down his own). He doesn’t realize until Della points it out to him. He tells the children he’s sorry, and that he never meant to hurt their feelings, and in disney cartoon fashion, the conflict wraps up in a pretty bow. I thought it was a great episode.
However. People here said “please realize he never would’ve apologized if Della hadn’t told him to.” ???? ARE YOU??? KIDDING ME??? We know he’s bad at recognizing feelings. How else was he supposed to know? He needs to be told bluntly or else he won’t know.
Yes. He was mean / selfish / greedy, but that is his CHARACTER. As soon as he realizes he’s being terrible. He apologizes.
Ofc this worked better when the show was formulaic instead of episodic, i.e. “something happens, Scrooge does/says a bad thing, Scrooge learns he was wrong & walks away with a lesson”
But modern, episodic cartoons have people thinking, “this character learned their lesson, they will never do anything bad ever again, and if they slip up, they’re terrible” and that’s a very bad mentality to bring into the real world.
Scrooge is flawed. Scrooge has CHARACTER. Scrooge is mean, but he is also kind and warm and loving. He cares so much about his family and has shown so many times that they mean more to him than anything in the whole world. God forbid he be flawed. God forbid he be imperfect. God forbid he messes up sometimes.
Scrooge isn’t like Luz, or Stanley, or Mickey Mouse, or Phineas, or any other Disney TVA protagonist. He has depth and flaws and he’s amazing because of it. I just wish everyone else could see that flaws don’t make a character irredeemable. Even if they make the same mistake 50 times THEY CAN STILL BE ENJOYABLE.
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Once again, Ducktales Fandom. You’ve burned me before and I honestly don’t have the energy for you to tell me how my opinion on Scrooge McDuck is flawed. Do not add onto this post and tell me he’s a bad person. Do not tell me he’s the cause for every problem the Duck family faces. I ALREADY KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT HIM SO PLEASE DONT SHOVE IT IN MY FACE ANYMORE. I honestly do not think I can take it at this point. 
I was 17 when I first started this show. I’m 20 now. And I’m over being told how terrible my opinions are.
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starttheanarchy · 4 years
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@thehandsomeasshole from x
Jack did smile at the little sass she threw his way, despite himself. “Well, empty, those things weigh nearly five tonnes. So, nice try. I guess.” He chose to ignore her initial comment about using the loaders for their designed purpose. There was not enough patience in Jack’s body to unpack all of that right now.
“Oh, the vaults are definitely a curse. But, once you get the ball rolling around here, there’s not really anything anyone can do to stop it.” Jack shrugged lightly, scanning through the first four pages while he spoke, “You just… gotta do what you can before another idiot comes along and screws everything up even worse than you did.”
“Nah, you’re right. Princess made me feel a little icky. How about… I- I’ll get back to you, I’ll think of something real good.” he laughed lightly, beginning to scribble down some notes on the papers before he continued.
“You sure as hell act like ‘em, you and your bandit buddies. Just exactly how many things or people have you killed since you got to Pandora? Hey, look, I’ll even give wildlife a pass cause- Well, you could kill a hundred skags one day and the next day there’d be two hundred more. Let’s just focus on people. Maybe you’re not running around screaming about meat bicycles, and maybe it is a little rude of me, but it’s also correct. You just don’t wanna admit it.”
“The people who are still decent in this universe are few and far, kid. In my entire life, I’ve only met two people who were truly selfless.” One’s dead and the other’s… worse. “But, you do realise that if it wasn’t me up here, it’d just be someone else? Hell, Dahl and Atlas would still be plowing through planets like they’re big balls of paper and slaughtering everyone in their way while going off about fighting for those planets’ freedoms and peace.”
“Ooh, I love tyrant! Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Always considered myself more notorious, than anything else.” The sharp, almost humorous-sounding edge to his voice gave the impression he was teasing her, “Kid, it’s nothin’ I haven’t heard before. You really think I’m gonna be kicking it anytime soon, anyway? Nah. Nope, not happening! I got way too much to do.”
Jack’s brows knitted together and slowly raised in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Sure, maybe she didn’t care, he’d just never had a person who hated him ask for his side of the story before.
He decided not to express his shock.
“So, I’d been working on Helios since it launched, I was, uh-… A- a programming and engineering specialist for Hyperion for ten, fifteen years, maybe. I was in charge of most of the construction, getting together schematic proposals to give to my bosses, all that kinda shit.”
“The first time I met Lilith and Roland was when Dahl decided they wanted to massacre all the workers on Helios and take it over. They… They didn’t discriminate. If you worked for Hyperion, they’d gun you down without even batting an eye. They killed so many of the workers up here, I knew them all personally. We- we didn’t even have a real military then, for God’s sake! They shot workers out of the sky when they were trying to evacuate. That was the level of murderous psychopaths we were trying to deal with. We defended as best as we could, but even the freaking loaders weren’t weaponised yet, I had like… Six hours to get them into a position to defend themselves, and you bet your ass I did it. I guess that actually answers your earlier question, too. I used them for a job they weren’t made for out of necessity, the damn Lost Legion shot at them when they were running away, too. Assholes.”
“I managed to get the vault hunter’s I’d hired down to Elpis in a moonshot, think you’ve met a couple of them. They got to Concordia thanks to-” Shit. He hadn’t actually thought about Janey in a while. He’d ask Athena how they were both doing, but she’d probably curb stop his head before he could even say hello. “-uh, this mechanic. They asked Lilith and Roland to help cause, y'know, Dahl had stuck a jamming signal somewhere on that moon and I couldn’t work Helios’s defences until it was shut off. They knew people on Helios were dying, and they said no.”
“They only started to help when their lives were in immediate danger and Dahl got control of the moonshot laser and start firing away at Elpis. I really did trust 'em to help us, y'know? Like they promised they would.”
“I guess they kinda did. We managed to get control of the laser again and… They blew it up. They nearly took the whole space station down just because they didn’t want Hyperion having it. That stupid laser could’ve saved Pandora, you know. It could’ve- The blasts were so concentrated we could’ve wiped out an entire bandit settlement and their nice neighbours next door would’ve barely felt the ground tremble. I’d worked so hard on that laser. You have any idea how hard it was to make? How much progress they destroyed when they blew that damn thing up? A lot! A whole, freaking lot and-… Sorry. Off topic. Uh…”
He made a small noise, “Oh, yeah. Anyway, after that it was just a rush trying to get to the vault before anyone else did. Dahl was already there, but after what happened with those two I wouldn’t have been surprised if they got to the vault first just so we couldn’t.”
“But, we did. My vault hunters took care of the- The Empyrean Sentinel, I think they called it. Big bastard, more human than the other vault monsters. Freaky stuff.”
“So, the Sentinel was dead, and we finally got to the vault relic. It looked like… Nothing. Very underwhelming. Just a weird little floating vault symbol. I decided to touch it and-…” Jack went quiet for a while, his knuckles growing white with how tightly he was gripping the armrests of his chair, “And I saw… everything.”
He felt sick even talking about it. The pit in his stomach growing deeper and he knew if he didn’t stop soon he’d fall into a full blown breakdown. So, he took a shaky breath in and continued.
“Wasn’t long after that when Lilith made her grand entrance. She destroyed the relic and- blasted the fuck out of my face. You ever had your face branded by some freaky eridian technology? It sucks. Real bad.”
He let his head drop back, and he rubbed his eyes, “So, there’s my side. Think I can quit my day job and become a professional story teller?” Though he tried to make a joke, the fire in his voice seemed to have dissipated. He just sounded… tired.
A rumbling high pitched cry of a living creature, the soft hum of a laser heating up. Before the spiderant can fully leave the ground in its attempt to launch itself at the red head, a quick shot from the head of DT turns it into ash. Moments later the large floating torso of a robot moves its way over to where the rest of the spiderants are and begins clearing the area with ease. "To be fair DT is a floating robot, I should get props for him being able to lift anything over a tonne at all." Is all she can say as she watches her creation be used not exactly for what she had originally intended.
A noise of agreement left her as she nodded her head, this was a mess that she was playing catch up on. Every step revealed a new and sometimes old issues or problems, and untold horrors that would explain some of the residents insanity.
"Oh so what am I suppose to not fight back and die? Self-defense is a thing." She keeps her lips tight on the actual number of people, she knows it is higher then she ever wanted.
Another reason to the countless hours she was stuck away while the others rested. But that is a mental spiral that no one has seen yet even herself, and Gaige wasn't going to break that record.
"Do you realize that it doesn't matter who, I would still be here. I would cause just as much chaos even if it was Maliwan or Torgue, the company doesn't matter, it is the enormity of the actions that are taking place that I have a grievance against. So once I am done with this, I got a whole check list to work through."
A small tsk as her eyes roll once more, she could already feel the odd ache from rolling them too often. But to want the title of tyrant why trying to claim being a hero? And he was calling her a hypocrite, the gall. But then there is silence after her offer. It is enough to get her to move forwards, the area now clear of deadly wildlife, and to sit down on top one of the ridges. And she could hear him begin in her ear, truly starting fro the beginning.
Her hand goes to her vault buckle, slipping it off and clicking it open to show a hidden system of her own design. A small holoscreen flickered to life above it and she began to take notes, to be able to keep her questions to herself and not interrupt. But before she could really take much, she had to slowly turn her eyes back to that giant floating H as he began to talk about the first real blood shed the station ever saw. No one deserved that kind of fate, let alone those who can't even fight back. And she could understand why loaders were used for what they are, even if there had been enough time to design something new.
Through out the whole story she let out the occasional hum or tsk in reaction, but also to let the man on the other side of the echo understand she was still listening.
A mechanic on Concordia? Something to ask others later on, there couldn't be many considering the lack of them on Pandora. As well as to ask on the reason why for the initial no considering at that point the vault hunters as far as she was aware had no issues with Hyperion, let alone Jack.
And she was torn on the laser because she could understand the pain of such handwork just ripped away. And she had a vague idea on how challenging it was with the laser that rested inside DT's head. But at the same time, she would never want anyone to have a laser of that magnitude considering if it could do that to a bandit settlement. Well it would only be a few tweaks away from being able to glass planets.
She paused in her notes when he mentioned seeing everything, it was hard to believe but there was something in his voice that made her believe he certainly saw something he shouldn't have. Gaige was going to have to go back onto that one on a different day since she could tell that right now was a horrible time to do so. And even as he talked about what Lilith did and the reason why he wore a mask, she could head just how this was not the cocky Jack from earlier.
This was a person who was done but still going. Something that it seemed being near Pandora did to people.
"Well I would say quit your day job regardless and stop all this without anymore murder. But we both know we are too far in to be willing to stop." A small click as she closed the cover on the buckle to once more hide away her person little holounit that stored information that she kept only for herself. The notes saved for review for another day. "I do have questions, but you sound..... Rough. Would you rather a topic change? Or just end this call? I do have things to do, and I'm sure you have plenty of ill placed paper work to finish."
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thehandsomeasshole · 4 years
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@starttheanarchy from X
"Then why use them for a job they are not meant for, just keep them to their original purpose and make something new that works for what you need. And because quality work will save in the long term with less repairs, replacements, and malfunctions over all. And your welcome." The wide grin could be heard in her last three words. She was raised to have some manners after all. "And DT could probably do it as long as the load weight isn't over hmmm..." She drifts off as fingers tap together, mental math being calculated. "Eight tonne? Maybe less. I'm not exactly sure on that front since I actually haven't tested his limits on that front. Hmm something to test another day." Her eyes drifted over the floating form of her robot as it stayed ever vigilant of her surroundings. She knew it could do some heavy lifting since she had used previous versions to move things in the junk yard.
Eyes roll at yet another reason on why to avoid corporations, and another as he seems to enjoy being a pest.
"Actually last thing I did was fix up several things that were in disrepair in Overlook, since too much of the population of that poor town have the skull-shivers and had no access to the medicine. Something about repair tickets being ignored or something like that. And I didn't come here for the shallow reason of becoming rich, I'm opening the vault to try and prevent a very clearly corrupt corporation from monopolization on something that might be a blessing or a curse." If she had it her way, she would keep it locked forever since no one has a full understanding of the capabilities and issues of Eridium that began to spawn after the first one opened. To many variables and yet everyone wanting to just add more into the chaos.
"Yes, yes. The definition fits, but you seem to think I am on the same level of depravity like the Fleshrippers or the Bloodshots. To which all I can say is, rude and incorrect. And princess? Really?" That got her to shoot a glare back at the space station.
"Not everyone. Yes there are people who still deserve a chance to be treated like a decent human because they are. But you seem to be hard at work for making it so those people are just as dead as the rest. And you are right, no one has used an army of robots to lay siege on a planet in the name of their own ideals. They used armies of people, and all of them were considered like a plague upon humanity in the context of history. Dictators, tyrants, oppressors, authoritarians, monsters. Wonder how will you be written down."
At the laughter, and how it grew as she talked about what started this whole hot mess off for her on planet side, it made her skin itch with irritation. Out of everything on this fucking disaster hellscape, it was Hyperion that tried to kill her first. Sure others might have had to deal with bandits at other stops, but she went from off the inter-space shuttle to the train with no issues.
It was fair to say Jack was the first person to try to actually kill her. Even when escaping Eden-5 they were aiming for capture to make her life a living hell instead of a death sentience. It was one of the reasons she was trying so damn hard to keep surviving at this point, out of spite for the asshole who tried to kill them after using some shitty signs to inform them of their supposed doom.
Hands were clenched into fists and she could feel a chill roll through her body. It was like the ice never left at times.
A deep breath as she turns her face to the sun that burns the landscape, she is fine and alive. And she isn't going to follow his script and get pissed. She isn't going to scream like everyone else on this planet. The Mechromancer is going to do what she always does, go against what is expected.
"How about you tell me something else instead. You worked with the Crimson Raiders? What happened? What is the full story, from beginning to end?" Her voice is calm and even, one that seems to hold no judgment and wanting to listen. And she does, after all there isn't much information on the group. Gaige had no plans to jump ship, but she honestly had as much trust for them as she did for most anyone on this planet that wasn't shooting at her. Eden-5 taught her that the only person she could ever trust was her father and the friends she created with her own two hands.
"No bullshit, no propaganda. Just your side of the story. I have time."
Jack did smile at the little sass she threw his way, despite himself. "Well, empty, those things weigh nearly five tonnes. So, nice try. I guess." He chose to ignore her initial comment about using the loaders for their designed purpose. There was not enough patience in Jack's body to unpack all of that right now.
"Oh, the vaults are definitely a curse. But, once you get the ball rolling around here, there's not really anything anyone can do to stop it." Jack shrugged lightly, scanning through the first four pages while he spoke, "You just… gotta do what you can before another idiot comes along and screws everything up even worse than you did."
"Nah, you're right. Princess made me feel a little icky. How about… I- I'll get back to you, I'll think of something real good." he laughed lightly, beginning to scribble down some notes on the papers before he continued. 
"You sure as hell act like 'em, you and your bandit buddies. Just exactly how many things or people have you killed since you got to Pandora? Hey, look, I'll even give wildlife a pass cause- Well, you could kill a hundred skags one day and the next day there'd be two hundred more. Let's just focus on people. Maybe you're not running around screaming about meat bicycles, and maybe it is a little rude of me, but it's also correct. You just don't wanna admit it."
"The people who are still decent in this universe are few and far, kid. In my entire life, I've only met two people who were truly selfless." One's dead and the other’s… worse. "But, you do realise that if it wasn't me up here, it'd just be someone else? Hell, Dahl and Atlas would still be plowing through planets like they're big balls of paper and slaughtering everyone in their way while going off about fighting for those planets' freedoms and peace."
"Ooh, I love tyrant! Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Always considered myself more notorious, than anything else." The sharp, almost humorous-sounding edge to his voice gave the impression he was teasing her, "Kid, it's nothin' I haven't heard before. You really think I'm gonna be kicking it anytime soon, anyway? Nah. Nope, not happening! I got way too much to do."
Jack's brows knitted together and slowly raised in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Sure, maybe she didn't care, he'd just never had a person who hated him ask for his side of the story before.
He decided not to express his shock.
"So, I'd been working on Helios since it launched, I was, uh-... A- a programming and engineering specialist for Hyperion for ten, fifteen years, maybe. I was in charge of most of the construction, getting together schematic proposals to give to my bosses, all that kinda shit."
"The first time I met Lilith and Roland was when Dahl decided they wanted to massacre all the workers on Helios and take it over. They… They didn't discriminate. If you worked for Hyperion, they'd gun you down without even batting an eye. They killed so many of the workers up here, I knew them all personally. We- we didn't even have a real military then, for God's sake! They shot workers out of the sky when they were trying to evacuate. That was the level of murderous psychopaths we were trying to deal with. We defended as best as we could, but even the freaking loaders weren't weaponised yet, I had like… Six hours to get them into a position to defend themselves, and you bet your ass I did it. I guess that actually answers your earlier question, too. I used them for a job they weren't made for out of necessity, the damn Lost Legion shot at them when they were running away, too. Assholes."
"I managed to get the vault hunter's I'd hired down to Elpis in a moonshot, think you've met a couple of them. They got to Concordia thanks to-" Shit. He hadn't actually thought about Janey in a while. He'd ask Athena how they were both doing, but she'd probably curb stop his head before he could even say hello. "-uh, this mechanic. They asked Lilith and Roland to help cause, y'know, Dahl had stuck a jamming signal somewhere on that moon and I couldn't work Helios's defences until it was shut off. They knew people on Helios were dying, and they said no."
"They only started to help when their lives were in immediate danger and Dahl got control of the moonshot laser and start firing away at Elpis. I really did trust 'em to help us, y'know? Like they promised they would."
"I guess they kinda did. We managed to get control of the laser again and… They blew it up. They nearly took the whole space station down just because they didn't want Hyperion having it. That stupid laser could've saved Pandora, you know. It could've- The blasts were so concentrated we could've wiped out an entire bandit settlement and their nice neighbours next door would've barely felt the ground tremble. I'd worked so hard on that laser. You have any idea how hard it was to make? How much progress they destroyed when they blew that damn thing up? A lot! A whole, freaking lot and-... Sorry. Off topic. Uh…"
He made a small noise, "Oh, yeah. Anyway, after that it was just a rush trying to get to the vault before anyone else did. Dahl was already there, but after what happened with those two I wouldn't have been surprised if they got to the vault first just so we couldn't."
"But, we did. My vault hunters took care of the- The Empyrean Sentinel, I think they called it. Big bastard, more human than the other vault monsters. Freaky stuff."
"So, the Sentinel was dead, and we finally got to the vault relic. It looked like… Nothing. Very underwhelming. Just a weird little floating vault symbol. I decided to touch it and-..." Jack went quiet for a while, his knuckles growing white with how tightly he was gripping the armrests of his chair, "And I saw… everything."
He felt sick even talking about it. The pit in his stomach growing deeper and he knew if he didn't stop soon he'd fall into a full blown breakdown. So, he took a shaky breath in and continued.
"Wasn't long after that when Lilith made her grand entrance. She destroyed the relic and- blasted the fuck out of my face. You ever had your face branded by some freaky eridian technology? It sucks. Real bad."
He let his head drop back, and he rubbed his eyes, "So, there's my side. Think I can quit my day job and become a professional story teller?" Though he tried to make a joke, the fire in his voice seemed to have dissipated. He just sounded… tired.
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nodesiretogrowup · 4 years
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alright, round 2
Quack Pack!:
Damn, they just throw you into the sitcom. I love it. All the overacting and over the top poses/reactions are great
Dewey’s entrance is great
Is the bear the one from the last episode?
“I’ve shenaned-once, I’ll shenan-again” BEAUTIFUL
And then he just one-legged hops up the stairs backwards
I liked the Della and Louie are both wearing green. It’s a cute thing to tie them together
ON THE MOOOOOOOOON
Louie totally did this scheme with Dewey in Della’s place at some point
The fact that Scrooge stops to entertain the idea is great
 “We’ve got about...30 mins” I love when shows make allusions to the actual runtime
Beakley and Webby had the BEST ENTRANCE! They must have seen the Lady Gaga halftime show
That dangerous agent stuff is probably gonna come back. Next week is the spy episode so...
“I’m not a spy” I wonder how that worked in the plot of the fake show. Did Beakley do spy stuff? It just doesn’t make sense for a sitcom
From the get-go Huey could tell things were off
WHY DID DONALD HAVE TO MAKE SUCH A SEXY FACE AT THE CAMERA?! I DON’T WANT TO HAVE A CRUSH ON DONALD! CURSE THE DT CREW FOR MAKING DONALD HOT! AND THE SEXY VOICE!
I wish they had just used the Quack Pack intro for the theme this episode
I want Launchpad’s band to somehow exist. I liked the girl’s design a lot
INTRODUCING DELLA!
“QUACK PACK WAS TAPED IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE.” Oh 90s sitcoms
When you rewatch the episode you can see they foreshadowed the twist. Donald looks directly into the camera an awful lot for someone that doesn’t know there even is a camera
Knox Quackington? Even for a show full of punny names, that is a ridiculous name
His outfit looks more “ace reporter” than “eccentric photographer”
“He’s a spy” Do you think Gene was trying to pretend to be a spy for the wacky misunderstanding of the episode in-universe or he just didn’t know how photographers act?
“YOU’RE SO SMALL! But so STRONG!” Webby has probably killed a man
The screen wipes are GREAT, though that feels more like an anime thing than sitcom. Sitcom scene wipes usually were establishing shots of the house they live in or the city. I’ve watched far too much tv
Louie’s lie speil was great and solid logic
“Time is money, kids, and I’d rather spend time because it’s not money” Inspirational
Donald sure cares a lot about the lighting. How would he know the office had the best lighting, hmmmmm
Something about that hand movement makes me think 90s but I’m not sure why
Dewey doing the dance that the triplets do in Mr. Duck Steps Out is cute
The blank pages made me think about how people can’t read in their dreams
“On the moon we had this old saying-always check your pockets” To be fair, that is good advice
Poor Huey just CAN’T catch a break! First he hallucinates a talking guidebook (THAT BURNS TO DEATH AND COMES BACK AS A GHOST) now reality is SHATTERING BEFORE HIM. Yeah...this season’s gonna do a number on this kid. Hopefully he gets a break next week
“Since when are YOU a hairstylist?” “SINCE THE INTERNET” Now THAT is a quarantine MOOD right there 
So we learn later that SHABOOEY is Gene’s catchphrase, is Dewey saying it because he’s being controlled by Gene in that moment? 
Donald looks into the camera again
SOMEONE HELP THIS CHILD! HIS WORLD IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL
THE FUCKING PEP COMMERCIAL! GOD IT WAS SO 90S AND BEAUTIFUL!! I NEED THE SONG TO BE RELEASED! 
Maybe because it was a soda ad in a Disney Afternoon-based show, but the commercial made me think of Coo-Coo Cola from Rescue Rangers
Ducktales-the ONLY Disney show with an in-universe “and you’re watching Disney Channel”
I love Huey dearly but....it’s really fun watching him MCFRICKIN LOSE IT
Dewey can’t throw...because he’s a theatre kid
Donald looks at the camera again
Louie’s wipe DEFINITELY looks like something out of an anime. Is Louie secretly a weeb? I mean he is in a different show
Gene doing his best not to break character. A true thespian through and through
“Yo” *all the ladies cheer*
All of the sudden BAM Launchpad has a band. Is he the Uncle Jesse?
I love that we don’t get to hear them play
“Trapped in a mystical prison that’s constantly laughing at us” I call that my brain :’)
“WHO ARE THOSE LITTLE GUYS?”
“I figured if anyone would crack, it’d be Dewey” Huey seems WAY more likely to snap imho
“But that was from soul-crushing loneliness” Della, you wanna talk about that? With a professional perhaps?
“We need some wacky hijinks!”
“HOW DID I GET HERE? WHY AM I DANCING?” Huey gets SO MANY great lines this episode
And once again we have Donald looking directly into the camera
“Cute girl stuff” Della probably went around with a meat tenderizer as a kid, so it’s normal
Goofy seemed to be aware of the cheering. HMMMMMMM
AAAAAAAAAAAAND.....GOOF TROOP POSE
I’ve been calling DT17 Goofy Chibi Goofy because of how short he is compared to how he normally looks. They probably made him shorter so he and Donald fit in a single frame easier. I know a lot of the boarders/animators for the show have a hard time doing scenes with Launchpad and the kids because of how MASSIVE he is compared to the kids
Goofy knew something was different about Donald. HMMMMMMM
The way Don delivers the line “You CAN help” has a weird inflection, at least to me
I want Goofy thinking to become a meme and people put random sounds over it like those are Goofy’s thoughts
That face-slap was loud
AND DONALD LOOKS INTO THE CAMERA LIKE HE’S ON THE OFFICE
Where was Dewey that whole time? He kind of just...disappears for a bit
Oh Launchpad, you MAJESTIC himbo. And Gene smiles, too cute
“Getting the lid off that peanut butter jar was an adventure” In that household it probably could have
Donald using Louie and Della’s names when he could have just said you broke your mom’s vase or something like that
You look pretty nervous there, Donny-boy
“I don’t mean the last episode” Good, because you kinda lost your mind in the last episode
Wow, flashbacking is TRIPPY
“EVERYONE, TILT YOUR HEAD TO THE LEFT THEN SCRATCH YOUR CHIN” So that’s how you do it
“We should really get back to the plot, I mean problem”
Why don’t you want to flashback, DONALD?
lol Goofy does it too even though he wasn’t present for that event
Gene’s just blankly staring in the background
“REMINISCE HARDER” What you tell yourself as you take a test and are trying to remember what you studied
Yay, the journal is brought up!
“How many lamps did this jerk have?” Excellent question
Webby looks INSANE and Huey FULLY SUPPORTS HER
DONALD HAS PTSD AND NEEDS HELP
I feel like Gene took some MAJOR liberties with Donald’s wish. When I think normal family problems I don’t think of sitcoms. In fact that is the FURTHEST THING from what I think of as normal. Then again Gene is played by Urkel, so that might be his normal
Speaking of, does Gene know that they are all ALREADY in a tv show? How far does this rabbit hole go?
“EVERYONE STOP CATCHPHRASING!” “Is ‘I’m not a spy’ seriously my catchphrase?” You deserve better, Beakley
Of COURSE Dewey’s cool with it...because he’s a theatre kid
DEAR LORD, SOMEONE HELP THIS MAN!
Gene just trying to sneak out. I don’t think he wanted to deal with all that family drama
“HOW MANY MORE SECRETS DOES THIS AGENT HAVE?!” Oh Launchpad. Next week you’ll learn all about secrets and agents and secret agents
Gene feels like what would happen if all of Genie’s pop culture references were limited to the 90s. I LOVE IT
“AGES! The long ago year of 1990!” Well I feel old (born in 91). His eyes after he says it are just AMAZING
Gene being so knowledgeable about what makes great tv is hilarious. Clearly he should have directed the Darkwing movie lol
Seriously though, this really gives us a good look at Donald’s psyche. The guy just wants his family to be safe. But it’s even deeper than that. He wants to be normal, which includes him having a voice that’s easier for people to understand. He’s got a lot of baggage and trauma that needs to be dealt with, mainly how he views himself. Like, fuck
The HURT you see in Della’s eyes when Donald talks about why he likes it there BROKE ME
Huey’s line about adventuring being who they are got me teary eyed
Goofy just shrugs as he walks out
Of course Launchpad was gonna get the multiple dates plot. We’re ALL thirsty for some Launchpad
“Probably at least 3 seasons, plus spinoffs, and I assume they’ll reboot the show eventually.” Lines like this make me think Gene is very aware he is in a tv show
WHY THE FUCK WERE THE AUDIENCE HUMANS?! IS GENE AWARE THAT HUMANS EXIST AND ARE WATCHING THE VERY SHOW HE’S ON?! WHAT IS REAL ANYMORE?!
 “HORRIBLE, FLESH-FACED MONSTERS!” Not gonna argue with that
Dewey is SUCH a drama queen
I don’t like how Scrooge called Gene genie. He told you his name, there’s no need to be rude
POGS
Ok the study date girl kinda reminds me of Laura from Family Matters, but that might just be because Urkel is there lol
How old is Launchpad supposed to BE in the sitcom? I don’t think a 30-something is going on many study dates
“You all seem real nice, I feel bad about the mix-up” LAUNCHPAD YOU BEAUTIFUL HIMBO
OH GOD THE LAURA DUCK IN THE BACKGROUND. JESUS
Beakley and Della telling the dates to find themselves and to be independent SLAYED ME. I was NOT expecting that!
“AH, MY PET SNAKE!” “Louie why would you have this?” “THIS IS A POORLY CONCEIVED STORYLINE!” “Eh, everyone’s a critic.” Louie’s right though, DEWEY would be the one with an exotic pet. Or any pet
Tiny Johnny and Randy
WHY ARE THE HUMAN KIDS’ PROPORTIONS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE ADULTS?! THEY HAVE GIANT FUCKING HEADS!
 PUT SOME PEP IN YOUR STEP
The ENTIRE SCENE of Goofy and Donald together was SO HEARTWARMING and something we could NEVER GET before this series!  Having Donald and Goofy talk about being parents is WONDERFUL! It’s something we’ve never seen before with these characters. Donald just wants to be normal and Goofy giving a beautiful speech about how there really is no normal so enjoy the candid moments in life. I LEGIT CRIED
OF COURSE Goofy would have the wallet overflowing with pictures, he is THAT DAD. Seeing Max was great. I thought we might see PJ but I SQUEE’D when they showed the picture of Max and Roxanne! I hope they show up for real later on
We get a hint at the OTHER twist here with Goofy actively encouraging Donald to put things back to normal while everyone else that aren’t the Duck family are trying to keep them there
Also, Goofy’s ears have bones
DON’T MESS WITH DONALD’S FAMILY. It will NOT end well for you
Goofy just starts snapping pics, like the true photographer he is
SAX TIME
“LET’S GET QUACKING” It’s no “I AM THE STORM” but still good
AVENGERS CAMERA SPIN
“A lamp in a lamp?” I can’t tell if that is BRILLIANT or lazy. Or BRILLIANTLY LAZY
“YA HA HA HOOOOWIIIIIEEEEE” It wouldn’t be a proper Goofy cameo without the yell
The scorpions got bored and left
 “The sound of no one laughing never sounded SO GOOD”
“BEST EPISODE EVER!” Definitely in my top 5
“Gawrsh, that’s sweet.” *does a cute wave* “Wait, Goofy was really here this whole time?”
Ok, but where was Goofy before then? Did Gene poof him away from something important? I WANT ANSWERS!
I bet they had this bit so people wouldn’t freakout like they did with Darkwing
I love Launchpad just being confused and waving at Goofy. He’s never met the dude before so it’s understandable. But I NEED they to have a proper interaction. THING OF THE PROPERTY DAMAGE!
“Magic’s got NOTHIN’ on a big name guest star” YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN A SHOW!
Lowkey want that Goofy lava lamp
The little Maxes flying over Goofy’s head...ADORABLE
PLEASE TELL ME THEY GOT GOOFY HOME SAFE
Donald using his last wish on the picture made me tear up. He could have had ANYTHING. He could have wished for a normal voice. But he used it for a family memory
Donald and Beakley both looked into the camera for the picture. WHILE FIGHTING DEMON HUMANS.
I can’t lie, THIS was the episode I was most excited for even before we got the premiere date. I was excited for the 90s cheesiness. Then we found out Goofy was gonna be in it and I got even more excited. Goofy is one of my faves, especially Dad Goofy. I was expecting it to be balls-to-the-wall insanity nonstop but they got me in the feels too. I want more of this Goofy and Donald. The two of them being single parents who lost someone close to them. Like I said earlier, this episode is in my top 5 for sure.
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mmacabrera · 5 years
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Della & Launchpad: healthy rivalries and individual developments
I'm a sucker for funny one-sided rivalries in which one of them has absolutely no idea what's going on and it's friendly but the other one just freaking hates the other's guts (be that justified or not), but what actually attracts me about the idea of Della and Launchpad's rivalry is the potential for their individual developments, specifically the one that can be born from Della never actually liking Launchpad but simply accepting him as he is and from LP accepting that Della may never be his friend like everybody else and that is actually a growing point for him.
Let me explain this.
First of all, Della.
Part of Della's journey now back on Earth is for her to accept that time doesn't wait for anybody, and the things she thought she knew had changed. Her actions had consequences and she can't simply expect to knock down the door after a decade and find the things as she left them. Della is optimistic by necessity, if she's not determined to find the good thing in a situation or the right angle to get out from a bad place, she may fall prey to her anxiety.
She is finally home but things have changed, her expectations for her return shatter just like Scrooge's magic feather when he opens the door and sees her. But at least, in her mind, Della can be sure of some things that will never change, especially after she fought so hard to come back: 1. She is HDL's mother and 2. She is the pilot of the family.
Sadly, the first point is threatened by her own ineptitude as she never had to act like a mother before, and the job to be a mother is especially rough for her now that her kids are already grown up and they were never under the same parenting than Donald and Della's. She doesn't know who they are. As Scrooge said, she needs to adapt to all that since she is not their mother yet. And satisfyingly so, she is doing exactly that, slowly but surely she is learning to be a mother instead of a funny aunt and that's super great already.
The thing is that she is already anxious about being a mother and all her failures are starting getting to her, she is already scared that things are too different since she left and the only that may stay the same is that she is the pilot everybody will relay on. It's safe ground for her.
Yeeeeeaaaah, nope. Because in the many changes that time did to the McDucks there's one that could destroy Della's to her core, that could destroy the little confidence she still has in herself, and that one is another pilot on the family. This is because is the only thing she's gonna feel useful with if the whole mother situation doesn't end ok. And there's this person, yeah, a person that she doesn't know at all and appeared when she wasn't there, a person that's a pilot, a person that actually knows her family as it is now and knows how to treat them. In conclusion, a person that could replace her.
That's Della's breaking point for her anxiety.
If Launchpad is everything she thought she should be in the family picture then she can't be in the picture and isn't that terrifying? That after fighting so hard to come back to a family someone else seems to have taken your place? Someone you don't even know at all, that acts so freely and so undisturbed about it?
Unknowingly for Della and Launchpad, LP becomes a symbol for her, he is the embodiment of all she fears. Replacement, the time passing, the things she doesn't know yet. Launchpad is the enemy, and they don't even know how nor why.
Funnily enough, some of this is true the other way around, because Della embodies LP's fears too.
Replacement and being seen as the bad guy. And none of them knows that, either.
Being replaceable is one of LP's insecurities, he feels like that and when he's reassured that he's not, he's obviously very happy about it. It's consistent in 87!DT, 91!DWD and 17!DT. In modern depictions we see this in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y system!" and in one comic of the 17!DT (I'm relying on memory here so I don't really remember what is called but I'm pretty sure it was a pretty arrogant pilot that made LP insecure, what a jerky individual). We see how being the McDuck Family's pilot/driver is really important to Launchpad, as he feels if he's useful in that way, he isn't going to be replaced.
Another trait of Launchpad is that he believes he is A Good Guy and he feels extremely taken aback when someone immediately doubts it (there's a better take about it on this post because I'm not going to expand on this too much here), and that combined with the fact the "He's Everybody's Friend!" and he's part of the McDuck family could get him in a dire situation when another Good Guy (in this case, Della) questions his intentions, especially when that good guy is part of the family he loves.
Launchpad is an extremely emotionally intelligent person, anyone would have been mad or show at least a little of annoyance at the unsolicited treatment he got subjected by Della, but as LP probably knows Della's situation, he is able to understand that her outburst was not born from meanness but from fear. He accepts it and hopes they may get another chance at being friends. To show Della he's family. Della, on the other hand, actively thinks LP is trying to replace her, to get her out of the family, maybe? And will probably question this in him repeatedly and push him to get out of the family because that's her place.
Thing is, everybody has a breaking point and if Della keeps putting Launchpad in the place of the Bad Guy when he has only been trying to be supportive, even him will end mad. His inability to make Della his friend, to not make her comprehend he's family too, to make her understand he isn't trying to replace her and he's a Good Guy may get to him more than anything.
He may need to actively fight Della because you know what? He isn't going to get replaced either if he can help it, and if he has to fight Della to show it then so be it.
It's not Della's fault, but it isn't Launchpad's either and he shouldn't just accept that, but he may need to accept she may never be his friend. He can't be everybody's friend.
Launchpad symbolizes for Della three obstacles: things she missed and doesn't know about, her old position in the family is threatened, and the most important, her relationship with her kids and her family.
In that regard, Della symbolizes three questions for Launchpad: can I still be part of the family if one of them doesn't like me? Can I still be part of the family if I'm not living there anymore? Can I be part of the family if I'm not useful to them?
Thing is, you'll never like your fears nor your anxiety, but you can learn to live with it and accept it.
Della may be scared to accept that things changed, to accept that she knowing her mistakes does not regress the lost time and to accept that she has a new place on the family, not her old one, a new one with new responsibilities and expectations. But in accepting that the past is the past and that she has to adapt 100% to her new circumstances, she can accept that Launchpad is part of the family, she doesn't like him but she wasn't there at the moment he became a part of the family, and that's symbolizes how Della finally accepts how all the things she missed are missed, that her position in the family is different but that doesn't mean she is not part of it anymore, she can't antagonize every bad thing or ignore it but she can learn to accept them, that they're now a part of her life and she can learn from it better than before. She doesn't like Launchpad but she accepts he gained his place at the family before she could do anything about it and that's maybe a bad thing for her in a way but it has given her a new thing, hey, she has learned that having an obstacle isn't that bad and it'll make her grow into her new position.
Launchpad may be disappointed in the fact that Della may never consider him a friend, but in accepting that he may be able to understand that Della not liking him doesn't mean he's not part of the family or that he's not a Good Guy. He's still part of the family, no matter if he's useful to them or not, if he's living with the family or not, if one member of the family likes him entirely or not. And in accepting that, he could be able to accept Della's proposed rivalry, making it mutual, making it a tool for them both to grow their ability as pilots and to reaffirm their position in the family.
And all that without having to become friends at all.
Everybody loves screaming at how we should have more m/f healthy friendships but we also should have m/f healthy rivalries that don't end in romance either or have an ounce of weird sexual/romantic tension. They truly feel something to admire and be better than the other, and their friction is born from that and not from some unnecessary hidden tension that doesn't add any depth to the characters.
Having a reason for the characters to rival each other that ends in individual developments without having to sacrifice their dispute instead of just making it about the simple "all good guys should be friends" is more fun and interesting to watch.
And it would be really cool if we could have that with LP and Della.
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takerfoxx · 5 years
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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Season 4, Episode 3, First Impressions!
It’s partytime!
You know, this episode was fun and all, but part of it felt a little...off. And it wasn’t hard to figure out what. 
See, while the set-up for the plot was fine, it’s placement felt weird. It was the standard “Heroes get praised a lot for doing heroic stuff, fame goes to their heads, they make mistakes out of overconfidence, and have to fix them while learning a lesson about humility and whatnot.” Which is all well and good, but that sort of thing feels like it should have taken place earlier in the series, and not after Adora went through all that traumatizing craziness in the last finale. I get that it’s customary for this show to pull things back at the start of the arcs before working up to full throttle, and again, it’s not bad, it’s just...odd.
Anyway.
The party itself was a hoot though, and despite the aesop, I did enjoy seeing Adora and Bow genuinely enjoying themselves. Even Swift Wind was fun to watch. Normally I don’t care for these scenes because the recipients are usually uncomfortable and awkward and it’s painful to watch, but since they were actually receptive of the attention for once, it was just fun. So screw you, moral about being humble! Let the heroes have their party, they deserve it! Also, I got a kick out of how after Bow woke up in that cage with the villagers, he wasn’t all, “Oh no, I screwed up and got everyone captured. I’m such a failure and a fake, this is all my fault.” No, he was all, “Guys, relax! I’m friggin’ tech-master Bow! I’m in this sort of situation all the time, so of course I can figure out a way to get us out of here!” And he does. And it’s awesome.
Still, the absence of Glimmer was felt, which is probably part of the reason things felt off and they made the mistakes that they did. She really is kind of a grounding force in their group dynamic, and I do see that becoming a plot point later.
As for Flutterina...well, not much to say about her character, seeing how, you know, it’s DT in disguise, though that does raise some questions about our favorite shape-shifting thespian. First of all, were they Flutterina the whole time, or did they make the switch during the attack? If it’s the former, then how did no one notice a new fairy kid running around? If it’s the latter, then what did they do with the real Flutterina? Because there are some troubling implications with that whole business. 
Speaking of which, I am very curious about DT and what they’re all about. Because I don’t really buy how they’re being presented. I mean, them being Glimmer’s cousin seems to have been nixed, but what about the whole double agent thing? Like, sure, Catra staged this whole thing so that she would have a mole in the Rebellion, well done. But why did DT join the Horde in the first place? It couldn’t just had been wanting more opportunities to shape shift. No, I feel that there’s more to their game, that they’re pulling the long con on Catra. If so, the main question is why. Do they have a grudge against Catra and/or the Horde as a whole? Where they a relative or a friend of Tung Lashor, perhaps? Time will tell.
Anyway, as seems to be the formula, while the heroes were doing all the episodic stuff and learning the lessons, all the meaty character work is again done by the villains. Here we get a glimpse into Catra’s psyche, and it turns out that she really, really regrets what she did to Entrapta, and that Adora’s condemnations over opening the portal really got to her. Now she’s basically doubling down on her actions because she feels that she has no choice, sunk cost fallacy and all that. And any reminder of what she did causes her to flip out. 
Like she did to Scorpia. 
Now, I’m not sure how much of that I actually believe or how much was her putting on a front. I mean, so far she’s either turned on or been turned on by everyone she’s genuinely cared about, so she might just be instinctively protecting herself. Personally, I feel that the reason she lets Scorpia look after Emily is in part out of guilt. But regardless, the damage is done, and Scorpia’s heart is broken. But as hard as that was to watch, it needed to happen. Scorpia needs to stop lying to herself and hopefully face reality and oh did I mention that I am really looking forward to Scorpia’s personal arc?
But that doesn’t hold a candle to how Hordak feels about Entrapta. Damn, he took her alleged betrayal really personal, to the point where he assumes that any tech on the Rebellion’s side is her doing. He finally found someone who valued him as a person and didn’t judge him for his imperfections, only to be lead to believe that she turned on him. I have a feeling that when he finally finds out what Catra did to her is what’s going to cause him to throw her leash off of him and send her off to Beast Island. Hell, maybe he’s already planning on doing that. I can’t imagine that he’s going to put up with being her bitch for very long.
Speaking of Catra, I think I mentioned this before, but I’m noticing a lot of parallels between her and Glimmer, to the point where she’s kind of Glimmer’s dark reflection. They both had complex relationships with their mothers/mother-figures in which they felt like they were being held back and not given the responsibility that they wanted, they formed a tight-knit trio that proved to be their side’s most effective force, to taking over the whole she-bang. But their methods, motivations, and end results are so very different. And I’ve heard down the grapevine that the two are destined to have a face-to-face confrontation, and to be honest, I’m kind of looking forward to that more than I am to another Adora/Catra scrap. 
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