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smokeybrandreviews · 2 years ago

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Back For the Very First Time

It’s the end of the year and time i look back on my cinema-going journey over these past twelve months. This one is special because it’s the first since the Boof, that i actually got to go to the theater, itself. I’ve seen a ton of flicks this year had to make up for lost time, and there’s still one i want o check out. I probably won’t see that one, The Whale, because my city is an uncultured cow-town and we never get movies like that in their initial limited run. It’ll probably make it’s way to these parts sometime in January but know, if i had seen it before the turn of the year, it’d probably be pretty high on this list. That said, these are my top films of the year. I recommend all of them because they were wildly entertaining.

10. The Batman

This was a disappointment. I mean, it’s good, super grounded, and actually adapted something new but, at the same time, it was wildly underwhelming. I’ve seen it a few times and with each viewing, I'm less enamored with the entire concept of Battinson. The film, itself, is amazing and i do believe it was one of the best releases this year but I'd be lying if i said it didn’t expect more from Matt Reeves. It feels like a palette swap of The Dark night, like Reeves just watched all of Nolan’s films and stole his homework. Best Batmobile ever brought to film, though.

9. Hellraiser

I was all over this when it was announced that The Hell Priest would present feminine. If you know anything about The Hellbound Heart, then you know that this single change, mad e the new Hellraiser the most accurate adaption of that novella. And then it wasn’t. They cribbed a bit from Barkers yarn but did something wholly original with the lore, with the world, and i dug all of it. This isn’t the Hellraiser i know but it’s a Hellraiser i want to see more of.

8. The Northman

I’m a sucker for my Shakespeare adaptions and this is straight up Hamlet, but with a wildly brutal presentation and the meticulously crafted narrative from Robert Eggers. This man is fast becoming one of my favorite creatives. Dude literally only has three entries on his filmography and they’re all bangers. They’re all on my all-time list. It’s absurd how deft a storyteller this man is. His vision is only matched by his creativity and The Northman really drives that fact home.

7. Pearl

The dark horse A24 entry that made the list at the finish line. I was tempted to put X on this thing but then Pearl quietly dropped and i was absolutely captivated by Mia Goth. I’ve always been a fan of her work but Pearl really demonstrates why i love her so much. his is every bit her film as it is Ti West’s. Goth absolutely devastates as Pearl and it’s a macabre pleasure to witness. X was good and genuinely deserves a spot on this list but Pearl is everything that film was and so much more.

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This one was surprising. It’s the rare sequel that is better than the original. I didn’t expect to like the first Sonic film as much as i did because of how derivative it turned out to bee, but, borderline cliche aside, i had a blast with Sonic 2. It’s weird to see but i think Hollywood is right on the cusp of properly cracking video game adaptions. Detective Pikachu, Arcane, and now this? Yeah, this feels like Batman Begins just dropped and Iron Man is just a few years away. We’ll see how Mario does next year.

5. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

This thing should have really been called Wanda Maximoff and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day because, goddamn! Who’d have thought that the Scarlet Witch would be up there with Killmonger, Thanos, and every villain MCU Spider-Man has faced, as one of the best antagonists in the entire MCU. Honestly, for my money, MoM was the most entertaining entry from The House of Ideas and i say the knowing i like Wakanda Forever more but this thing is re-watchable. I don’t see myself ever watching Black Panther II again. That one hurts. This one is fun.

4. Prey

Bro. Bro... Look, I've been wildly transparent about my love for all things Xeno. I love the Alien franchise and that means, by proxy, i love the Predator franchise. I’ve gushed about my love for Machiko Noguchi, the first human Predator. I’ve lamented about the missed opportunity to adapt that original AvP story line to film and hat would be lost when The Mouse House got a hold of the franchise. Prey proved me wrong. This thing is the best Predator film released to date, outside of the first, i am DYING to see what comes next. F*cking brilliant watch, all day and a real throwback to the Eighties where you had to work around tech limitations to tell your story.

3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

This movie was an exercise in pain. I liked it, i did, but it was a rough watch. Ryan Coogler has crafted a genuinely emotional dirge requiem for Chadwick Boseman and the character of T’Challa. His shadow looms over this entire film and it weighs on your psyche as you watch. It’s heartbreaking but incredibly beautiful. It is, admittedly, flawed in a lot of places but i still enjoyed it. I still enjoyed how much love was put into this film. It’s gorgeous and a legitimately sweet good-bye to Wakanda as we knew it.

2a: Nope

Nope is one of the most authentically black films i have ever seen. This sh*t just hits different. Like, watching this thing makes me feel like i would react in the exact same ways as Em and OJ. Seriously, this is how my cousins and i would act if Jan Jacket showed up over our house. I love that. I love this movie. It’s not as good as Get Out but i think it’s the most accessible film Peele has ever made.

2b. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

I just watched this thing a few days ago and I'm still enamored with how brilliant Glass Onion is. From top to bottom, this is a tour de force in film-making and i adored every second of it. Rian Johnson gets so much sh*t for The Last Jedi but this man can craft a film with the best of them. Also, he wrote the f*cking thing! I forgot to mention that in my review but he wrote that whole movie. Story, script, screenplay; All him. It just frustrates me how brilliant this man is, and how sh*t The Last Jedi turned out.

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

This one is easily the best film I've seen all year. Everything about it absolutely screams masterwork. This one was my A24 entry for the year an I'm glad i made the effort to check it out because, holy sh*t, is this film fantastic! Never mind all of the pretty blatant brilliance that i covered in my proper review, i just really respect the f*ck out of this trend in film to deal with generational trauma. We saw a lot of this during the year with films like Turning Red, Encanto, and even a little bit in Shang-Chi but Everything really put in the work with this sh*t. I left that theater feeling. Just, feeling. I reflected on the scars i have from my parents and how they have shaped my own worldviews. It’s rare that a film leaves me that introspective and i have to give full credit to this movie for allowing me to experience that, after so goddamn long.

Honorable Mentions: Turning Red, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Blonde, X, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, Tár, Morbius (For the memes), The Black Phone, Jackass Forever, Bullet Train, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Barbarian, V/H/S/99

Not Jurassic World: Dominion, though. Never Jurassic World: Dominion. That movie was terrible. Worst than Fallen Kingdom and THAT was a whole ass exercise in masochism just to watch.

#Smokey brand Movie Reviews

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smokeybrand · 2 years ago

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Back For the Very First Time

10. The Batman

9. Hellraiser

8. The Northman

7. Pearl

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

5. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

4. Prey

3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2a: Nope

2b. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Not Jurassic World: Dominion, though. Never Jurassic World: Dominion. That movie was terrible. Worst than Fallen Kingdom and THAT was a whole ass exercise in masochism just to watch.

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ragingbookdragon · 3 years ago

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Aloha, PT. 3 of this piece comin' at you with supersonic speed

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She balanced the tin of cupcakes in one hand and opened the door with the other, already more than nervous as she stepped into GCPD. Some of the officers smiled and nodded at her while others merely watched as she walked up to the desk and cleared her throat.

“Excuse me,” she interrupted. “Is Commissioner Gordon here? I’d like to speak with him.”

The man’s eyes went from the cupcake tin to her face and he asked. “Can I ask what for?”

“Oh, yes, I just need to speak with him about something…involving Batman’s, uh…helpers?” she winced. “It’ll be quick, I promise.”

He cocked a brow, but shrugged and grabbed the phone, pushing a button. “Sir, you’ve got someone here to see you…no sir, she just said it dealt with Batman and the others…understood sir.” He hung the phone up. “He’ll over soon.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, and waited for the detective to arrive. When he did, she held her hand out, “Commissioner Gordon?”

He shook her hand. “Good evening, young lady. What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m (Y/N) and um…it’s a bit complicated actually.”

“We live in a city with men and women who dress up in costumes and fight insane clowns.” He snorted. “We do complicated around here.”

(Y/N) huffed a laugh and nodded. “That’s fair, Commissioner Gordon.” She raised the tray of cupcakes in her hand. “This is going to be really weird, but I was wondering if I could use the spotlight to…call one of them.”

Gordon’s eyes drifted from the cupcakes to her, then back to the desserts. “You wanna use the Bat-Signal to get one of them…so you can give them cupcakes?”

Her mouth opened and closed, then she admitted, “Okay, that sounded a lot better in my head.” She sighed. “It’s not crazy, I swear but—”

“Why don’t you follow me to my office, and we can talk about this, hmm?” he asked, and she nodded.

“That sounds great, sir.” She followed close behind him to a closed-off room and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, waiting for him to sit in his chair.

“So,” he started when he sat down. “Start from the beginning of why you wanna give Batman cupcakes.”

(Y/N)’s cheeks warmed, and she murmured, “Nightwing. I want to give them to Nightwing, actually.” He cocked a brow but said nothing and she cleared her throat. “So, the other week, Nightwing helped me out with something and to repay the debt, I made these.”

“What’d he help you with?” Gordon questioned and she played with the hem of her sweater.

“Uh, he…he, um, helped me with a um…a really embarrassing rejection.” She waved her hand. “And I sobbed like a baby on his shoulder and I just wanna give him these in return and tell him sorry for taking up his valuable time.” (Y/N)’s cheeks felt like they were on fire and she begged, “Please let me use the signal to call and I’ll leave. Promise, sir.”

Gordon watched her for a moment then he chuckled and rose from his desk. “I’ve been doing this for about forty years, and nothing has ever been this funny in my entire life.” She sighed, thinking a ‘no’ was coming and he stood beside her. “Come with me to the elevator and we’ll go up.”

(Y/N) blinked in disbelief. “Wait, what? You’re going to let me?”

“Of all the things I’ve ever had someone come in and ask for? Delivering cupcakes is a new one. And I pride myself on getting the new ones.” He smiled. “Come on.”

Not wanting to blow her chance, she hurried after him with a big smile on her face and soon she was standing next to the giant spotlight, watching it silhouette against the night sky. She waited for a moment, then asked, “So how long does this usually take?”

He grunted. “Takes longer when you ask how long it takes.”

“That makes sense,” she laughed, and someone cleared their throat behind them. Both her and Gordon startled, though his reaction was less noticeable than hers, whereas she jumped a foot in the air.

“Red Hood,” Gordon greeted, holding out a hand to shake. “Good to see you, son.”

“Good to see you as well, Commissioner Gordon.” Red Hood replied. “Big-Bat in charge sent me here to see what was going on. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Gordon said, motioning to (Y/N). “You’ve got a visitor.”

The vigilante turned to her as if finally noticing her presence and he asked, “What’s wrong?”

(Y/N) held out the cupcake tin to him. “I was wondering if you could give these to Nightwing.”

Red Hood glanced down at the cupcakes. “Why’d you make cupcakes for that jerk-off?”

She was shocked to hear such an insult and she bit out, “Well maybe because I wanted to, jerk-off.” He was probably scowling at her from behind that mask, but she wasn’t going to back down. “Nightwing did me a favor last week and I always repay my debts.” (Y/N) held out the tin again. “Will you please give these to him and tell him thank you for his pep-talk?”

Red Hood took the tin from her, asking quietly, “What’d he help you with?”

“Oh my God, why does everyone wanna know?” she griped, then exhaled through her nose. “Fine, I got rejected by a guy I’m in love with, and I boohooed like a baby on a park bench with Nightwing holding my hand like a parent to a child and being super sympathetic.” (Y/N) glared, though she appeared flustered. “Are you happy now, Red Hood?”

“Be a lot happier if you weren’t giving my brother cupcakes,” he muttered under his breath and looked at her. “Do you want the Tupperware back?”

She nodded. “Just tell him that I’ll be back at the bench on Friday this week to pick it up. Same time as the other week.”

“I’ll tell him,” Red Hood said with a rather annoyed tone and started back towards the other side of the building.

“Red Hood!” she called out and he paused, glancing back at her. “Look…I know you’re busy with other things. So…thank you for doing this. Really, I appreciate it.”

He shook his head, murmuring softly, “Don’t worry about it, (Y/N).” And he was gone.

Gordon walked over to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Miss (Y/N)? Are you alright?”

She blinked and nodded, though she felt a great deal of confusion as she said, “He knew my name?”

***

Jason watched his brothers dig into the cupcakes, groaning about how good they were. He didn’t even need to eat the one he had in his hand because he knew. He knew she made the best baked goods he’d ever had, especially these ones which were her specialty. Double Dutch Chocolate Cupcakes with little pink, shimmering pearls. She put them on because she thought they were cute.

He glanced down at the cupcake in his hands, asking, “How do you know, (Y/N), Dick?”

The eldest brother paused midchew and stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. “Huh?”

“Cupcakes,” Jason said, gesturing to them. “She made them as a thanks to you. For last week.” He looked at his brother. “What for?”

Dick swallowed the bite he’d been chewing and nonchalantly replied, “Oh, nothing big. Just being friendly.” He shrugged. “How do you know her?”

Jason scowled. “Don’t do that shit. We both know how I know her.”

“Oh, right! The rejection after the flowers and book!” Dick exclaimed, taking another bite. “So, why’d you say no anyway? She seems like great girl.”

“She is,” he agreed. “The greatest.”

Tim elbowed Dick in the ribs, murmuring, “Is this Jason admitting he’s in love?”

“I don’t know,” Dick replied. “Jaybird, if you’re this pissed at me—”

“I’m not pissed,” he retorted, very much so pissed. “I just don’t want her getting involved with this.”

Dick’s mouth formed an ‘o’. “So that’s why you rejected her. You’re afraid of letting her know about everything.” He hummed knowingly. “See, she said that was probably it. That you’re scared.”

“What?” Jason’s eyes widened. “What’d she say to you?” He handed his younger brother a thumb drive. “What’s this?”

“Recording of the conversation I had with her last Friday,” he replied. “I was planning on giving it to you later tonight.” Dick laid a hand on Jason’s shoulder and murmured, “She’s not going to run away if you’re vulnerable with her Jason.” He nodded to the flash drive. “She’s stronger than you’re giving her credit for.” Dick patted his shoulder and took the cupcake from Jason’s other hand, biting into it. “Oh my God,” he groaned, walking off. “What does she put in these things? They’re addicting.”

***

I’m not afraid of him or what he’s afraid he is.

Jason put his forehead on the desk and stared at the floor, not really sure what was tightening worse, his chest or his throat, but something in the mix started hurting and he let out a shaky breath, vision blurring and he squeezed his eyes shut to keep the tears at bay. Rejecting her affections meant she forgot about him. She forgot that he existed, and she stayed safe. She stayed alive. Jason wanted that. He wanted (Y/N) to grow old with someone and have a family, not die an early death at the hands of some crazed villain or worse, a failure of his saving.

He let out a low groan and rubbed his forehead against the desk, wishing that it would solve all his problems. Mostly the ones in his broken heart. They had texted each other and video called constantly. Usually meeting up once a week to hang out somewhere or go get dinner. His entire life had changed in one conversation, and the only thing he regretted more than telling her he didn’t feel the same way and making her cry was watching her lie that she hadn’t been bothered when he knew deep down that her heart was shattered. He knew it because he watched her breakdown in her car through the manor window before she pulled out of the driveway.

Maybe Dick was right though…and that thought made him wanna vomit because younger-brother syndrome was a real thing and listening to your older brother wasn’t fun. But if she were that honest with Nightwing, that real with him, then maybe he could tell her the truth. All of it. About everything he was hiding from her. His past and most importantly his feelings for her. Maybe he could really keep her safe if he did.

Maybe Jason could be the one she grew old with. The one who held her hand and loved her.

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love-takes-work · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe: End of an Era: Outline & Review

I wrote this review in October but never got around to posting it here

Steven Universe: End of an Era is far more than an art book–it’s also a collection of behind-the-scenes material, stories about the experience of working on the show, planning documents and associated background info, and both older versions of developed concepts AND concepts that never made it into the show. It's a huge fusion of all those elements, and it's definitely an experience!

Some low-quality images are included with my review just to give you an idea of what’s there--it’s not a good substitute for getting your own copy, but here’s a tour!

Like the previous concept art book, Art and Origins, I'll be giving you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. Obviously just about everything is "notable" once again, but I'll aim for unique insight or perspective on the main source material, keeping the screaming about everything new to a minimum so you can also enjoy something for yourself if you pick it up. My low-quality photos should prevent people from feeling like I'm reproducing the book in any capacity. Please grab one while you can and have your own experience!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

OVERVIEW

The book is titled "End of an Era" for a couple reasons--obviously because it is released after the show has wrapped, but also because Gem history recently ended its "Era 2" and began Era 3--an age of prosperity and peace. The author--the person in charge of adapting all of this information into this slick, readable package--is Chris McDonnell, whose work was previously applied on the Art and Origins book.

The foreword is by N.K. Jemisin, a well-known science fiction author who's a huge fan of the show (and wrote a really excellent series that also has a weird geological connection, by the way).

And the cover, like its predecessor, is shiny and decorated with a beach scene featuring minimalistic characters--this time it's the Gems at night in front of the Temple, and on the back cover is a big pink leg ship in a cross-legged pose.

The interior covers are decorated with tons of amazing sketches of Steven and Connie on the front, and a bunch of Gem sketches on the back. Every interior page that most would leave blank is highlighted with some kind of sketch art or character exercise--it's so much to look at, so much to absorb.

The book is dedicated "For Eddie."

Its organization is different from the previous book in that it shares applicable work in chunks associated with groups of episodes rather than pertaining to different aspects of building the show.

FOREWORD

N.K. Jemisin gives us such a great introduction to the book--apparently understanding very well that the audience of this book is full of animation enthusiasts and adult fans more than it is full of kids, and explaining that bewildering journey some adults had from blowing this show off as a silly kid thing to falling in love with it hard and fast.

The important thing, Jemisin says, is being able to trust a storyteller with your heart. And it was clear to her that Rebecca Sugar knew what she was talking about and was saying important things about identity and the radical power that comes with accepting it and demanding respect.

Important also is how we handle heroes and who gets to be one in fantasy. That's part of the reason Steven Universe speaks to so many--because we see ourselves here, and know stories can be about us. Acknowledging the power we all have to MAKE THINGS BETTER with what we fight for is so important--especially if we're going to speaking to the next generation about it.

Highlighting Rose Quartz as a "born leader" who failed and Steven as a relatable scamp who did what she couldn't, Jemisin asserts that we can save the world.

1. END OF AN ERA

We start with an appeal to the audience to think about identity and the formative parts of our childhood--and how different it is if who you are and who you become is restricted, mocked, erased, or Not Allowed. Most people, if not ALL people, can relate to this, but for those of us with a special relationship with Steven Universe because of queer identity, this hits hard.

But it doesn't have to be anything grand to be something we respect--this show's authenticity comes largely from how personal everything is, drawn from real-life experiences and incidental truths from each artist's perspective, leaning hard on childhood and formative experiences.

Rebecca Sugar offers some interview bits to discuss writing philosophy and why "writing female characters" was difficult for a nonbinary person who'd been socialized as a girl and a woman. Rebecca has spoken before about how frustrating it is that marketing for cartoons was SO gendered when she was growing up (and to some extent still is).

The Gems in the story are all "she/her," but on their planet they're defined by their work, not by emotion or relationships (unlike women in our society), so having them be socialized opposite to how she was and be able to claim those emotions through choice and NOT as just an expectation "as women" was revolutionary. Rebecca wants her show to tell all marginalized people that they don't deserve to be in the margins.

Weighing in on other aspects of the show were Ian Jones-Quartey, Joe Johnston, and Miki Brewster. Ian describes feeling like at first doing SU was a thrill ride that meant they'd finally get to do all the cool stuff, but it quickly became a responsibility that he took very seriously--the need to tell a good story now that he'd been given a megaphone.

Promotional art, planning documents, character sketches, and concept art from the lighthearted to the stone serious is included, along with some very cool (sort of famous) timeline charts that track major characters' developments. It's emphasized by Rebecca that the developmental materials ARE NOT CANON (and especially are not MORE canon) compared the final show.

There are concept sketches alongside final art for Aquamarine and Topaz in "Wanted" (with Topaz labeled "Imperial Topaz"), the Zircons in "The Trial," Blue and Yellow Diamond, and the Off Colors (including Pink Lars).

And there's also a spread of "the two sides of Steven's life: Gem Magic and Rock N Roll" featuring Sadie Killer and the Suspects (referred to as "Buck's band")--as well as a cool "Crew Cameos" key and some concepts for short-haired Connie.

And then there's some more "finished" art with stills alongside concepts, including some background art, revision, and really cool "fairytale" art from some of the shadowplay storytelling bits. We get "Lars of the Stars," "Jungle Moon," and "Can't Go Back."

2. THE BEGINNING OF THE END: A SINGLE PALE ROSE

In discussing the huge reveals and Gem mysteries in the show, the pacing is examined, and emphasis is put on the intended "slow burn." One of the most difficult things in the show was to strategize so that every piece that was needed to support another piece in the future was placed properly to seed what it was supposed to.

Some of the ideas they developed were more of a group effort and were fit together collaboratively (like Amethyst's being younger than the other Gems and Jasper being from Earth), while others were intended from the beginning based on Rebecca's vision (the fundamental idea of Pink Diamond's true identity, for instance, as well as Obsidian's design and sword and our Pearl not being Pink's first).

The writing process gets a great deep dive here, including fun tidbits like how the orb in the moon base was inserted by Joe Johnston and they literally had no idea what it was for when they wrote the episode. They repurposed it when they figured out what they needed.

Rebecca credits her detailed timelines for helping keep the order straight, and discusses how other artists are sometimes flabbergasted that a storyboard-driven show can have this much detail and continuity and yet not get wrecked by the free non-scripted boarding process. But Rebecca and the Crew valued that approach and loved the way fresh eyes would handle an idea, making it come back alive, entertaining, vivid.

Several Crew members weigh in on the writing process. Lauren Hecht refers to making lots of incorrect guesses despite being on the inside. Joe Johnston recalled getting briefed on his first day and getting so excited to start working on this massive project.

Miki Brewster remembered being told Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond and being shocked--and also confused about why Ruby and Sapphire would need to be married if they're already basically married. Drew Green talks about being brought in late and getting to watch unaired episodes and a rough of the movie while eating cereal.

Ian Jones-Quartey complains about Pink Diamond's real jester-like form being leaked to the internet through a Hot Topic shirt. Rebecca piggybacks on that and says it was upsetting that the wedding was leaked because of toy fair keychains featuring Ruby and Sapphire in wedding attire. They'd always be worried about leaks, and sometimes Rebecca struggled not to talk about the reality of Pink Diamond before the reveal because she knew it would make so much more sense once the truth was out. And everything associated with Rose makes more sense once you know she's Pink--especially what happened with Bismuth, considering what we know about how Pink Diamond has a habit of treating anyone who no longer serves her interests.

When it comes to visual cues, Rebecca also talks about intentional designs to create a feeling of unity between concepts, like the flower shapes on Pink Diamond's palanquin lining up with the poofs of Steven's hair and the star imagery of the series. Steven Sugar and Mary Nash discuss how the Human Zoo incorporated this imagery, trying to look like Homeworld with a Pink Diamond touch.

Steven Sugar, as a game nerd, liked to throw in video game references from old and modern stuff to feel like he's inserting what he's enjoying and who he is from moment to moment, while Mary Nash, who related to Sadie as a basement-dwelling young person with cult interests, liked to include stuff from MST3K and cult movies. Pearl's hand gestures get a spotlight too--her reflex to cover her mouth when Pink Diamond was being discussed was analyzed here.

A "Top Secret Visual Timeline" from 2016 is included which tells us some Diamond history. It has an earlier version of Pink Pearl's fate and does not include Spinel since the movie hadn't been greenlit. The timeline includes the birth of the Diamonds, the emergence and major story beats for each major character, and some philosophy of the driving force behind each.

We're told that Pink Diamond straightened up, behavior-wise, after she lost her first Pearl, and that Yellow and Blue wanted to give her a planet but White only agreed to it to prove she would fail at managing a colony. Pearl, meanwhile, is so confused to have a Diamond who keeps asking her what she thinks when she doesn't believe she should have opinions.

And when Pink moonlighted as Rose to start conflict, she found herself leading an army to fight Pink's troops--then Yellow's, and eventually Blue's too. Lapis is said to be waiting for the conflict to end on Earth so she can terraform, but she gets trapped instead.

Pearl's love story with Rose is described as "an endless honeymoon" where she's free to love her, while Rose's is more like "I'm now the head of the family and I'm going to give everyone what they never had, so everyone is super special!"

Jasper is described as "adopted" into Yellow's army as the only successful Beta Quartz. And White Diamond knew that Pink Diamond was not dead--she thought she was just running away from home like a brat and would eventually be back.

3. THE HEART OF THE CRYSTAL GEMS

Now we discuss Rose Quartz--the original Pink Diamond. How she was selfish and selfless, never enough and always too much, and how Greg was her first partner who "challenged her" to be an equal. Rebecca describes Rose as being delighted by the idea that both she and Greg reinvented themselves, but when that leads her to want to share her past, Greg isn't interested--he only wants to know who she is now, and doesn't consider the old her to be her.

Rebecca likes Carl Jung's concept of "enantiodromia," which is the idea that extremes lead to their extreme opposite. This is demonstrated in all of the Diamonds. This narrative is interspersed with drawings of Greg and Rose being cute.

But another "heart" of the Crystal Gems is its relationships--particularly, Garnet, the fairy tale romance embodied. More psychological theories are discussed with regard to differentiation in a relationship making the relationship stronger, and how they made sure that happened for Garnet during the appropriate arc. Rebecca has struggled with the idea that she, like Ruby, went straight from a "family" group to a living-with-others situation and never lived by herself. But she also learned that you can in fact develop as a person in the context of a relationship--you don't have to be alone to do it. Ruby learned that too, and chose on her own terms to be with Sapphire.

The wedding made so much sense to Rebecca and the crew that they couldn't imagine a wholesome couple like Ruby and Sapphire not having a wedding episode. They wanted it for years: The wedding concepts always included the tuxedo for Sapphire and the wedding dress for Ruby.

But pushback (often blamed on the conservative standards of the international market) led to negotiations trying to keep Ruby and Sapphire's relationship from being explicit. Rebecca and the Crew were very tired of this double standard, and they were especially irritated by attempts to claim a wedding wouldn't be well received by a core demographic or wouldn't make sense for Steven's character. But other shows had done weddings and Steven had been established to love weddings already.

Rebecca kept adding more elements to the wedding episode to answer all the concerns, but she didn't want to back down from explicit marriage between these characters. They deserved it. And the audience deserved to see this as wholesome, like any other cartoon wedding. Eventually they got their way and were allowed to have the wedding. But the ordered episodes were also coming to a close without promise of more, so Rebecca had to request more episodes to be able to wrap up the storyline!

And of course, there is Steven, the true heart of the team. A very interesting aside discusses Garnet's leadership and how the network pushed the Crewniverse to acknowledge Steven as the leader. This was successfully resisted throughout as well--because Garnet is the leader (unless she's incapacitated, of course). It's fantastic that this concept was preserved because too often a young male chosen one is elevated above people with more experience and knowledge because of that chosen one tradition, so it's really nice to have a show acknowledge that team leadership is more appropriate for an adult.

4. ERA 3

Beginning with a discussion of the Diamonds, this chapter deconstructs the dysfunctional "family" of the Diamonds (who are said to be based on tropes about evil stepmothers and stepsisters), with the thread of dysfunction originating with White Diamond.

Yellow is physical, Blue is emotional, White is judgmental, and Pink is impulsive. Some philosophy on why Pink is naturally manipulative and why she clashes so much with White is offered.

White believes her identity is to be imposed on all because she is the pinnacle of what should be--and therefore, she has the right to make decisions and statements about and on behalf of everyone. But her secret is that she can't do what the others do--act or feel or want. In trying to be everyone, she is no one.

And this becomes very important when she confronts Steven about his identity and turns out to be wrong. The triumph of Steven being totally, fully himself is a beautiful, simple revelation that's described as far more satisfying than the theories about Pink living inside him or Rose returning from his Gem.

Also discussed is Gem architecture. A lot went into this idea, and Steven Sugar weighs in to say he had to think of what it would mean for a world to have buildings but serve no human needs. That's why it's mostly focused on transport and storage. Even the broken planet is meant to indicate a place stripped for its resources, and everything serves a function that is meant to avoid looking like the human equivalents.

And there's another layer, too: a difference between Era 1 and Era 2. Era 2 became more functional to hide Era 1's broken bits, and older Homeworld buildings still have some "ornate and ancient" feel to them. And the fact that props, tools, and even walls and doors could be living was taken from a concept Rebecca thought was horrible from old Busby Berkeley movies, where people were inanimate objects and it was portrayed as lovely. Tom Herpich helped conceptualize these living objects.

Steven dealing with "princess tropes" is discussed here too. The Pebbles (worked on with Pendleton Ward) were sort of his Cinderella's mice, and all the locked-in-a-tower, having supportive tiny friends help you, getting princess clothes made, attending a ball, having to mind your manners stuff was intentionally related to fairy tales.

The point of doing that (besides fun) was to easily invoke the feeling that Steven was being made to be someone he's not, and that he was being treated like THIS is who he really is when it isn't. White Diamond as the "evil stepmother" is discussed with regard to her detailed features and massive scale. They generally didn't put fingernails and eyelashes on characters (especially not to indicate that they were women or girls!), but they decided White would get all of these feminine markers for tradition's sake.

Rebecca also invokes several other references that were included and describes the princess tropes as "chipping away at his integrity" setting him up for the final challenge with White.

There is again tons of concept art: Homeworld architecture, Pebbles, Diamond diagrams, background Jades and Lemon Jade Fusion, Comby, Diamond extraction chambers, and White Diamond.

5. CHANGE YOUR MIND

Now we finally begin to discuss Steven's identity. The "Perfect Steven," discussed in several interviews before this book's release, was an idea back in 2013; the "ultimate Steven," beefed up and shonen-looking, was far from perfect because OUR Steven is perfect, while this alpha hero Steven idea (used in Steven Universe Future) didn't belong being idolized in such a show.

They thought about having Steven fall apart into organic half and Gem half early in the show (during "Giant Woman" after a successful fusion and unfusion, even!), but they didn't try the concept until the last episode. They didn't want the "Pink" Steven to be portrayed as "better" even though he would be more powerful, so they decided he isn't whole without his organic self and he's just as much of a shell as the organic half. They absolutely did not want any ending that required Rose to be inside him or waiting to come back. But the debates were fierce--what DOES it mean to have Rose's Gem?

Ian Jones-Quartey brings in an anecdote about his own family to emphasize some of the immigrant themes that inspired aspects of the show. He had a brother who reinvented himself elsewhere away from family without resolving issues, and all the ramifications of that were explored in the show through Rose Quartz. (He is careful to say he doesn't think his immigrant experience is like being from another planet!) But he did say you can hurt your old family even if they were toxic or didn't know the real you, and you can hurt your new family by hiding your past. The Pizza family of course was also a more direct reference to Ian's Ghanaian family.

In talking about the new Fusions from this episode, Sunstone is largely described by Miki, who also got to board the Sunstone section. Sunstone was described as a cool 1990s character and the evolution just continued into making them a fourth-wall-breaking PSA dispenser. Obsidian is also discussed, with their sword being an early concept. Steven Sugar said they totally knew it would be forged in action. Obsidian being similar to the Temple design is of course another very early detail.

The story of how James Baxter got involved with one of the final scenes (Organic Steven and Pink Steven fusing in front of White Diamond) was shared. His family was fans of the show and Rebecca Sugar took the time to drive to a birthday party for his daughter and give her a drawing. He then owed her a favor, and this was it.

Concept art is again included, this time with sample boards, promo images, a Diamond fight concept, costume design changes for the Gems, new Fusions, the so-called "Mega Diamond" ship conglomerate, some scenes from the White Diamond confrontation, Pink Steven, multiple pages of James Baxter animation, corrupted Gems and their healed selves, and photos from the "Change Your Mind" premiere and some awards. The show has won one design-related Emmy, a Peabody Award, and a GLAAD award.

6. STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE

The book doesn't cover the movie because it got its own book, but dives right into Future. Ian Jones-Quartey emphasizes that the movie and Future are separate and different from the original show, which ENDED. After all, after that, Steven has a neck!

Some new names are invoked now: new writers Kate Tsang, Jack Pendarvis, and Taneka Stotts. They were excited to have Steven make HIS OWN mistakes instead of trying to clean up someone else's! Now, instead of doing the usual shonen anime thing and having the final battle be a big physical rumble, Steven has to make peace with himself and take an active role in coping with what all the fighting has done to him and what effect it's had on who he is (and who he wants to be). There is no sudden "I love myself!" answer, either. It's always a process.

Drew Green and Maya Petersen, who came on board as storyboarders officially in Future, also weighed in on writing for a "mature" show, how to deal with Steven being a "moral compass" while being sort of unreliable, and what they learned as Crew that they didn't know as fans. Drew didn't know Garnet never asks questions. Jack didn't realize the show never deviated from Steven's point of view. Taneka was nervous but excited to collaborate. Kate was worried about how established the show was and what to do as a new writer to contribute appropriately.

Maya was on the old Crew but not as a storyboarder, so felt like some of the "old" ideas ended up not being appropriate for the "new" Future in an embarrassing way--and dreaded the idea of dealing with Steven's emotional problems when they were similar to stuff she'd been through. She also was personally behind the idea of Steven wanting to dump his problems by becoming Stevonnie, and got to work with Etienne Guignard on inventing the Pearl creation backstory with Volleyball.

There's some discussion of "depression hobbies," stress, and the show's pacing. And they say Etienne was entertaining at pitches. There's even some discussion of how Greg is taken off a bit of a pedestal because his terrible restrictive life in the suburbs sounded wholesome to Steven and Greg presented it negatively.

And then there is some information about how the Crew felt behind the scenes due to fan reactions and negative press. Ian discusses feeling offended when the Black characters are described as bad examples, as if their cartoonized but realistic-in-context features are automatically caricatures.

Rebecca Sugar felt beaten down by some of these narratives and began to access mental health services, inspiring some of the content of "Mindful Education." A long reflection from Rebecca discusses people's infighting about her show and what she had a responsibility to show or not show in the story. She learned a lot about bullying from Cartoon Network's anti-bullying program and learned that bullies thrive on whatever attention you give them--unless it is made clear to them by a peer group that no one is impressed by their cruel actions. Also, not all negative feedback is bullying. Constructive criticism is different. Self-awareness can help you avoid internalizing what bullies might do or say to you.

Segueing from the discussion of how people are affected by and connect with the show, we then discuss how they chose as a team what should be covered as the show came to a close. They didn't have time to do quite a few stories they wanted time for, like a Rhodonite story, a Lars side story, and Diamond "prehistory" and religion; all of it was put aside for the main arc with Steven.

They thought people would find those stories about Homeworld and Off Color history very interesting, but so much of the show had been about Steven's Gem adventures, so keeping him mostly on Earth seemed appropriate. The acknowledgment of his battle damage, of his trauma, was necessary and real, and helpful in an important way to the core audience.

Oh, and there was some stuff about a cheeseburger tree. Don't ask.

In discussing the "reverse escapism" of the original show (Gem aliens are intrigued by everyday human culture, and realism is necessary), Rebecca says her views have changed on escapism and gets why some people want a soothing feel-better show. She acknowledged also that her own escapist dreams-come-true fulfilled in the show didn't feel like escapism because they were givens to the majority of mainstream culture, but were never guaranteed to marginalized people.

Rebecca ties in her several-times-told story about "Love Like You" and how the middle bit was when she didn't feel she was worth looking up to, and the realizations she had to tie the beginning to the end. Feeling like someone will like you less if they know you more is terrible. So sometimes a show like this can be helpful in telling people that they belong when their fantasies are things like "I want to be loved" and "I want to know I exist."

In Future, Steven has to connect to who he is and love that person--and understand that person enough to finally feel that even if he's not fixing their problems or saving their world right this second, Steven deserves his family's love and support, and they WANT to give it to him.

There's a huge amount of supplemental material in this section so there's no way I could name it all. The charts for Future's timeline are pretty straightforward, though a few episodes like "A Very Special Episode," "Why So Blue," "In Dreams," and "Bismuth Casual" aren't specifically represented and a couple are in a different order ("Prickly Pair" was conceived as happening after "Fragments" and "Homeworld Bound").

Steven feeling like a monster, having intrusive thoughts, having not forgiven the Diamonds, and getting help/moving on--it's all there.

We have keys, color scripts, and boards for the new opening and some various backgrounds and storyboard art from episodes. Model sheets for Shep, Nice Lapis and Mean Lapis, Jasper, Steven Tag Gems, Pink Steven Powers, Monster Steven. New house concepts, Era 3 Homeworld concept art for the Diamond environments, and background art for the Reef.

New Connie and Greg designs. Concepts for Mega Pearl, the Rose Quartzes, Bluebird, and Morganite (who didn't get used). And there are some photos from recording and the conference room. There are even some extras from "Crossover Nexus," the crossover with OK K.O.!--including an unused cut scene that included Ruby and Sapphire fighting. The rest of the book is a bunch of adorable Crewniverse art--extras, blog drawings, promos, and gifts to each other.

NOTABLE

The first timeline chart in the book features a cool sketch of the original Off Colors, which at the time this planning document was drafted included unused Off Colors Flint and Chert.

We knew of their existence already because of an episode of the podcast, but these two unexpectedly appeared as incidental characters in the Steven Universe Future episode "Homeworld Bound," identified only in the credits. Sad to think that instead of banding with the Off Colors, these two were probably shattered for their crime (being Quartzes who don't want to fight) and that's why we see them being repaired in this episode. Later, there's some brainstorming for types of Off Colors and "a Ruby that wants to wear limb enhancers" is mentioned as well.

It looks like there was also originally more juice to the story of tracking down the events of the war culminating in Pink Diamond's assassination.

One of the timelines talks about Steven thinking it makes sense that Pearl can't talk about her involvement because she might have been a double agent, explaining why Rose Quartz always knew what Pink Diamond was doing. It seems like that bit was supposed to be included in Garnet's version of the story she believed in "Your Mother and Mine." Seems like they originally conceived Garnet's story to inspire the Off Colors to become pirates and freedom fighters, though in the show's canon this storytelling happened after Lars had already reinvented himself the way he did.

Sadie was also supposed to be sending letters to Lars via Steven, which is funny since the "Letters to Lars" episode is just a montage Steven letter. And of course it's specified that Steven was supposed to get Pink Diamond flashbacks by going to the Palace on Homeworld.

The second chart in the book makes references to Sadie's reinvention of herself as a parallel to Lars, Greg, and Pink Diamond all doing the same thing, and how positive it is to embrace such a thing--a version of yourself that YOU create.

I love that Yellow Diamond's arm ship arm-wrestling the Cluster was always part of the plan.

There's some more explicit direction to have Connie help Steven understand the Diamonds as "strict parents," and a lot more emphasis on everyone realizing Rose had been inspired by THEM rather than them all following her.

White Diamond is presented here as if she thinks of Pink Diamond as a "daughter" (whom she now understands she has "lost"). There are notes on how the Diamonds have a responsibility to their children and should attend to it before just continuing to make more.

One of the concept art images for the Off Colors features Rhodonite crouching by Padparadscha saying "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." It's very interesting because she DOES seem to protect Padparadscha in the show, but doesn't seem confident about it in her final version, even though it does seem like she'd be "programmed" to guard aristocratic Gems because of her Ruby and Pearl makeup. Cool.

A "Crew Cameos" spread was included, which is of great interest to some of us who loved seeing the Crew insert themselves into the show. Not every SU Crew person who's been represented in a crowd was there, but this crowd included Amish Kumar, Kat Morris, Amanda Winterstein, Angie Wang, Lamar Abrams, Emily Walus, Mary Nash, Joe Johnston, Christy Cohen, Danny Cragg, Hilary Florido, Danny Hynes, Matt Burnett, Ben Levin, Elle Michalka.

The official national flower of South Korea, Hibiscus syriacus, is the name of Pink Diamond's flower.

One of Steven Sugar's comments about the silhouette difference between humans and Gems points out that humans have ears. This seems to be pretty good confirmation that they are not supposed to have ears, despite that sometimes we'll see ears drawn on them in some frames.

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is characterized in this book as "self-hating" in a really interesting way, saying that because she believed she was not capable of compassion, she practically worshiped those who demonstrated that ability and thought they were so much better than her--which is described as "intoxicating" and resulted in others being drawn to her. How interesting is that!

Timelines reveal that early plans for Pink Diamond's first Pearl originally had her getting destroyed by Pink during a game, and then her destruction was rewritten as a punishment from the Diamonds after Pink Pearl defended Pink Diamond to the other Diamonds. They went back to the idea of her getting hurt by Pink for the final version, though the cracked face and control by White Diamond was not on the agenda until they started writing "Change Your Mind."

10.

The approximate ages of the major characters, based on emergence, are revealed on these timelines. It begins with a cracked-planet-looking graphic depicting four tiny Diamonds emerging at 20,000 years ago. Some suspicious "blacked out" redacting surrounds a long timeline tail that goes back before that, which may mean there are secrets they still don't want to reveal. But the dates go like this:

20,000 years ago: The Diamonds emerge.

11,000 years ago: Pearl is custom-made for Pink Diamond.

8,000 years ago: Sapphire emerges (on Homeworld).

6,000 years ago: Ruby emerges (on a colony).

5,750 years ago: Garnet is formed.

5,600 years ago: Lapis is poofed and put in the mirror.

5,200 years ago: Jasper emerges (on Earth).

5,050 years ago: The Cluster is planted.

5,000 years ago: Amethyst emerges (on Earth).

4,500 years ago: The Crystal Gems found Amethyst.

3,000 years ago: Peridot emerges (on Homeworld).

40 years ago: Pearl found Lapis's mirror at the Galaxy Warp.

And of course we know 14 years ago Steven is born!

11.

Originally the Diamonds were based on a quartet of themes: Love, Fear, Pride, and Sorrow. It got too complicated to keep and it was abandoned, with Pink's identification of "love" being described as "particularly outdated."

12.

Notes on a sketch say that Pearl was inspired to become bold and unashamed because Pink's questions drove her to have opinions, and it's said that Rose "fell in love" with her boldness.

13.

Rebecca tells the story of driving off a ridge and getting stuck in the desert, comparing this to Ruby's tumble during her Wild West adventure and using it as inspiration. She's told this story before but here it is in print. She also included the story about using the flowers from a friend's wedding to put in Ruby's hair.

14.

Rebecca describes having to "fight" notes she was given when it had to do with Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. One she describes as NOT fighting was for a signing card depicting Ruby and Sapphire dancing. It was called "too romantic" and she decided not to worry about it since it wasn't the actual show content.

She was also scolded over her book The Answer because the powers that be expected her to downplay that relationship. She always argued that queer youth deserved these things.

15.

Tom Herpich describes being inspired to name Blue Diamond's comb "Comby" because he was watching the news about Comey getting fired from the FBI. It's also a mineral-related term and I always assumed that reference was intentional, but maybe it's not and this is the only intended significance to Comby's name?

16.

Rainbow Quartz 2.0's design is not discussed, though the other two new Fusions from "Change Your Mind" (Sunstone and Obsidian) were. RQ2 has some sketches included, but no accompanying narrative in the text.

17.

A sheet of corrupted Gems and their healed selves is offered, though it doesn't appear to be final. The obelisk in "Serious Steven" is labeled Albite. The unnamed Worm Monster, Desert Glass, and Watermelon Tourmaline are included. An unnamed birdlike Gem represents the Big Bird monster from "Giant Woman." The crab monster from "Arcade Mania" is labeled Blue Chalcedony. The Tongue Monster is drawn uncorrupted but not named. The Flower Monster from "Back to the Kindergarten" is labeled Grossular Diopside or Titanite. The invisible monster from "Island Adventure" is labeled Moonstone. The Lighthouse Gem is labeled White Topaz. A form for Larimar that was used in "Change Your Mind" but changed in Future is there. The Slinker is listed as Chrysocolla. And the Crab Monster is listed as Aventurine.

On the next page, this is changed to Bixbite (as it was in Steven Universe Future), and we then also have Lace Amethyst, Blue Lace Agate, Crazy Lace Agate (Fusion), Ocean Jasper, the Mother Centipeetle Nephrite (Facet 413 Cabochon 12) and three other Nephrites, Angel Aura Quartz, a hooded Jasper, Zebra Jasper, Biggs Jasper, Watermelon Tourmaline (labeled as Fusion of Gem * Onion--huh?), Snowflake Obsidian, "Little" Larimar, and Orange Spodumene (who was the Worm).

18.

The Rhodonite side story would have been about the love story of a Ruby and a Pearl working for Morganite. Images of Morganite and her servants, unfused, are in the book. We do not get this additional information, but Rebecca said in a panel shortly before the book's release that Rhodonite's story would have been about finding out that she had been Rejuvenated 17 times because her components kept falling in love and needing to be reset.

19.

Referring to the Diamonds on one of the charts, Steven's perspective is "I can't believe I helped these" and then there's a censor bar. Welp.

20.

Some included art by Hilary Florido features Kevin with a souped-up Koala Princess car and another where Kevin is staring at himself in the mirror in front of an altar to himself.

21.

Rebecca's sweater collection is included in the Crew art.

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

#steven universe #steven universe end of an era #su spoilers #long post #su merch #myblog

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herewithmeharry · 4 years ago

Text

Compensation

Request: Can you do one where you convince Harry to make a TikTok with you?

“I have an idea and you might love it or completely hate it.” She announced as she walked into their shared bedroom. Harry was sprawled out on the bed, his right arm behind his head to prop it up while his left held a lazy grip on his phone. His eyes moved from his phone screen to settle on her and he was met with a sight that he’s certain he’ll never tire of. There she was, eyes wide with excitement and eyebrows raised in a suggestive manner.

“Shoot.” Harry encouraged, using his elbows to sit up.

“So I was on TikTok,” she began and he couldn’t help but chuckle because it seemed like he was hearing her say those words at least once a day for the past few weeks. He rolled his eyes teasingly, finding her newest obsession endearing. “And there’s this challenge going around where couples wear each other’s clothes and they just dance to this song and it’s absolutely ridiculous, but...”

“You want us to do it.” Harry finished her sentence, eyebrow cocked and waiting for confirmation.

“Yes.” She grinned hopefully, moving onto the bed and sitting on her knees as she awaited his answer. There was something almost childlike in the way she looked at him with so much hope and Harry found himself exhaling in defeat as he uttered the word “alright”. She squealed with excitement, springing off the bed and skipping to their shared closet.

“You know, J Lo and A Rod did a challenge similar to this one and their video blew up. People loved it.” She stated, maybe as a way to further convince him.

“Are you just using me for TikTok views?” Harry inquired with a playful tone as he forced himself out of his comfortable position on the bed.

“Of course,” she grinned. “Why else would I have married you?” Her quip was enough to get him on his feet and to the closet where he wrapped his arms around her waist, chest pressed against her back and chin resting gently on her shoulder.

“D’you say you’re gonna put me in your clothes?” His lips found her neck and pecked the soft skin repeatedly. She sank into his touch, head tilting ever so slightly to the right to welcome Harry’s tender kisses.

“Hmm,” She confirmed, scanning her racks of clothing to find an option. “I’m thinking we’re gonna have to put you in a dress or a skirt. Something sleeveless perhaps? Show off those nice biceps of yours.” Her right hand moved to squeeze the top of his left arm as if to support her statement.

“Oh, for sure a dress. If we’re doing this, we’re not half-assing it”. She loved Harry’s willingness to partake in what some had described as her ‘TikTok shenanigans’. He wasn’t one to be very active on social media, finding it quite daunting at times. He didn’t mind her sharing a little more than him across all platforms though, and he may not want to admit it, but sometimes he did enjoy being the subject of an occasional Instagram story or TikTok video.

“I like the way you think, Mr. Styles.” She smirked, pulling away from his grip and heading to the corner of the room where her dresses were hanging. She filtered through the hangers, making a mental note of the pieces that could help bring her vision to life. Harry watched with his arms crossed in front of his chest, rolling his bottom lip between his thumb and index finger. A smile crept onto his lips as she mumbled incoherently to herself.

“Okay, I think this one should be good. It’s smocked so should be able to fit over your shoulders and chest alright.” She explained her choice to her husband after turning around, showing him the dress he would be wearing.

“I like the yellow.” He noted, moving towards her and taking the fabric of the midi dress in his hands. She nodded in agreement, grinning as she walked over to her accessories.

“Now you have to find something for me to wear.” She told him, deciding on two hair clips to hold his hair back. He let out a loud puff of air, scanning over his clothes and feeling slightly overwhelmed. He was used to seeing her in his clothes, but those were always his old t-shirts and worn out jumpers. This was different. He had a feeling that tossing her a rolling stones shirt and sweat shorts wasn’t going to cut it.

“This alright?” Harry turned to face her, holding up his colorful JW Anderson cardigan that he had had stuffed in the back of his closet for the past few months. Her eyes widened, large smile plastered on her face.

“Shut up,” she spoke as if to warn him not to get her hopes up. “I love that sweater. It looks so cozy.” She stuck her hands out, ready to welcome the soft garment.

“Oh, it is.” He grinned, finding her a shirt to wear underneath and proposing she wear a pair of blue jeans with it. They exchanged clothes, stripping down to slip on their new attire. While she had no problems putting on her outfit, Harry struggled to pull the dress over his shoulders. With his arms held up straight in the air, she tugged on the dress, getting it into place and Harry let out the breath that he had been holding. She took a step back to look at him as Harry did the same, both erupting in a fit of laughter. They truly were a sight to see; Harry swaying his hips to see the flow of his dress and her fingers barely long enough to accommodate his wide assortment of rings. Anyone walking in with no context might have thought they were getting ready for a Halloween party.

“You look so pretty.” She giggled, pinning his hair off to the side. He grinned down at her, adjusting the pearl necklace around her neck.

“The things I do for you.” He shook his head, pressing his lips to her forehead.

“I’m telling you, it’ll be worth it. You’re gonna be TikTok famous!” She promised, pulling out her phone to film the two of them.

“I better be!” He warned, tugging on the straps of the dress adorning his body. “Or else I’ll be keeping this dress as compensation.”

#harry styles one shot #harry styles imagine #harry styles drabble #Harry Styles #harry styles imagines #harry styles one shots #one direction #1d one shot #1d imagine #hs #husband!harry #harry styles blurb

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mayans-sauce · 4 years ago

Text

✨Day 8✨

Pairing: Bishop Losa x Female Reader

Word Count: 1.8K

Warnings: NSFW, 18+ ONLY, cursing, daddy kink to the max, masturbation (male/female), sex toy-ish, mention of bodily fluids and a lot more dirty stuff lol

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❕When the text is in cursive that’s Bishop’s thoughts, dialogue and story while watching the videos you send him❕

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━━━━━━━✨✨✨✨✨━━━━━━━

Filming something at the clubhouse had been the number one thing you had wanted to do. Since all of the guys were away on the business trip, it left the clubhouse almost completely empty all the time, except for Chucky being there to hold down the fort.

You had sent him home early that evening, telling him that you would stay a while to get some stuff in order, so he might as well just take an early night.

Walking around the place as your mind races with ideas. At first, you thought that sitting your naked self on the pool table would be fun and have a little play session, but that just seemed too easy. You wanted it to be something special for Bishop, something that held a great value to him.

As you stepped into Templo, your eyes locked themselves on his gavel, sitting peacefully on the table. “No... I shouldn't.. should I?” Biting your fingernails as you contemplated if you should do this. You weren't sure if Bishop would be mad at you for doing this.

Looking at his chair, sitting lonely in the room, begging for you to sit your sweet ass on it. It was almost too perfect.

“Fuck it; I'm doing it.”

Grabbing the gavel and hurrying to the bathroom to give it a good wash. As you washed it thoroughly, you couldn't help but start loving this idea more and more. This was definitely going to get you punished when he got home, and just the thought of it made you wet by the seconds.

Getting back into the room again, you looked around. This was the place where they sat and discussed important business, the place where decisions were made, and you were about to do the most unholy thing in the room, and none of them would know except for Bishop.

You felt shy and nervous as you started to take off your clothes. Yes, you were all alone, and you were 99% sure that they didn't have any hidden cameras in here, but just the whole atmosphere felt intimidating.

Sitting on his chair as you got into position, spreading your legs wide for him to see you. Setting up the phone on the table, so he had a full view of you sitting on his throne.

Pressing record, and you were now ready to rock his world.

✨—————————✨

Traveling your hands all over yourself as you warmed up for what you were about to do.

“I wanted to do something very special for you, Bishop, something I knew you would never forget, especially when you walk into this room and sit in this chair. I think you can already guess where I am.”

“In my fucking chair, in... fuck... sweetheart... you are lucky that I'm not over there, or else I would have you bent over my knee and given you a good spanking.”

Bishop had already prepared himself for the video. Just as last night, he was naked on his bed with his dick in his hand, waiting for you to progress with your little show.

Putting two fingers in your mouth as you sucked them nice and wet. Making the travel down your body as you stop at your most precious spot, hovering your fingers over your sensitive pearl.

Looking into the camera with your brow arched, asking him through the screen if you should continue. You imagined that he was already begging you to continue with what you were about to do.

Putting pressure on your clit and rubbing it in delicate circles. The sensation making you close your legs for a moment but quickly prying them open again as you knew Bishop wanted to see.

He started to pump himself in his hand, and he prayed that you would keep your word today and not be a little cock tease.

Slipping your fingers into your wet pussy as your other hand palmed your breast. This was only the pre-show. You had a whole fucking event planned out for him.

Stopping everything you were doing as you giggled out.

“Don't worry, daddy, I'm not done yet. This was only the beginning. I have an even more special surprise for you. Something that is always going to be ingrained in your brain when you look at this.”

You reached behind your back where you had hidden his gavel and held it up for him to see.

“Fuck are you serious.” Bishops heart almost jumped out of his chest, his eyes getting darker with desire, and he could feel himself twitching in his hand.

“I'm going to be a good girl and make myself cum with this daddy.”

Taking the handle into your mouth as best as you could, sucking on it like it was his dick. “Mmm, I bet this is making your cock so fucking hard. The thought that I'm about to fuck myself with your gavel.”

When the handle was slick with your saliva, you made the painfully slow journey down to the area where you needed to feel it the most. Making a stop at your breasts to circle your nipples gently with the tip.

Traveling down further, you stopped at your most sensitive place, your clit pulsing in need to be touched. When you made contact with it, you let out a loud gasp.

Bishop was still slowly teasing himself at the sight of you. He had already wanted to chase his high multiple times, but he knew that the reward of waiting until you came together was going to be mind-blowing.

The anticipation was killing you, and all you wanted was to fill yourself up. But you continued to tease him, drawing out the time.

“What do you think, daddy? Should I put it in? Fuck myself with it and imagining that it's your big cock fucking me?”

“Fuck, yes! Be a good little girl for me and make yourself cum.”

Quickly putting it in your mouth again before you brought it down to your entrance.

Slowly slipping it inside of yourself. The thickness of the handle made you arch your back at the slight painful stretch, but all in all, it felt heavenly. “Fuck, that's so big.”

Bishop felt like he was going to have a heart attack. There you were sat. His fucking queen on his throne with his gavel deep inside your warm tight pussy.

Grabbing onto the metal part of the gavel, you slowly started to move it out until only the tip was inside and then filling yourself up again. Moaning out at the now delicious stretch. “So good... so good, daddy.”

Sticking your thumb into your mouth like Bishop would do most of the time. Sucking your thumb and moaning around it. Increasing the speed of the gavel.

Moving your wet thumb down to circle your needy clit. “Fuck daddy, that feels so good.”

Bishops eyes were fixated on your needy pussy swallowing his gavel whole. His hand moving faster on his hardness as he neared his climax.

Pulling your new favorite toy out to show him how it was covered in your wetness. “This is how you make me feel, Bishop. Wet and horny only for you.”

Pushing it inside of you again, now you were desperate to get to the finish line. Moving the handle rapidly in your tight hole. Your other hand palming your breasts, pulling and pinching your erect nipples for added stimulation.

“I'm going to cum, daddy... are you going to cum as well? I want us to cum together.”

“Fuck keep talking like that, baby.” His heavy moans were the only thing that could be heard in his room. His dick was twitching in his grasp as it was begging to cum.

You felt that heavenly pressure snap inside of you as your warm wetness exploded out of you. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Daddy, please! Fuck me, please. So fucking good.” Holding onto the armchair as the pleasure was too much to handle. Your whole body shaking as you tried the best that you could to move the gavel through your orgasm. Stars clouded your vision as your mind went foggy.

White delicious cream burst out of his tip, covering his hand and abs. This was possibly one of Bishop's strongest orgasms he has had in his life. He felt like he might have a heart attack and pass out. Head hung low as he basked in the post-orgasm feeling, his hand still pumping himself slowly as he wanted it to last forever.

Once you had calmed down from the intense orgasm, you pulled the handle out. Winching as your core was way too sensitive now.

Holding it in front of the camera so that he could have a good look at your thick cream sliding down it.

“That was so good, Bishop. I need to do this again sometime.”

Putting it inside of your mouth to clean it up. “Mmm, taste so good.”

Moving closer to the camera so that he could see your face better. “I hope you liked the show, daddy. Now I think I may do a round two just for myself.”

“Naughty girl.”

Blowing him a sweet kiss and saying your goodbyes.

“Bye, daddy, I love you.”

✨—————————✨

”I love you baby.”

Bishop didn't know what to do with himself after. He was still holding onto himself as his other hand went over his eyes to calm down.

After a few minutes, he picked his phone up again and snapped a picture of the mess that was made, and sent it to you.

📲To: My Wife❤️

Look at the mess you made baby girl!

📲From: My Wife❤️

Looks delicious😈 wish I was there to clean it up😘 you know I always love the taste of you.

📲To: My Wife❤️

Don't start with that now! You are going to get me hard again.

📲From: My Wife❤️

And what if that's exactly what I want to do😈

📲To: My Wife❤️

Are you trying to kill your old man over here?!

📲From: My Wife❤️

Maybe☺️ so I'm guessing that you enjoyed my little performance?

📲To: My Wife❤️

Daddy was very pleased with you little girl. Looking like the queen you are on your throne. I think you gave me a heart attack.

📲From: My Wife❤️

Be careful old man! I don't want you going to an elder home just yet😉

📲To: My Wife❤️

Haha. Very funny.

📲From: My Wife❤️

So is this something you would like to see again?

📲To: My Wife❤️

Next time I will be in the room watching your little play baby girl🍆💦

📲From: My Wife❤️

Sounds like a plan❤️

📲To: My Wife❤️

It's a date!

#Day 8 #Advent Calendar with Bishop #mayans mc #mayans mc x reader #mayans mc smut #mayans mc fandom #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fx #mayans x reader #mayans smut #mayans fandom #mayans fanfic #mayans fx #bishop losa #bishop losa x reader #bishop losa smut #bishop losa fanfiction #obispo losa #michael irby

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gem-rewatch · 4 years ago

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SU rewatch- S1E11- Arcade Mania

Hey, long time no see!

I’m desperately bored in solitary quarantine at university right now, and decided to try and pick this SU rewatch series up again for fun. It’s been a while since I’ve watched through the show in order. Plus, now that this show is completely finished, there’s plenty more connections to make. I can’t promise I’ll be consistent with this, but at the very least I can have fun trying to make a few more posts at my leisure.

Anyways. With that business out of the way. Let’s get right on to the show!

We begin with yet another mission Steven’s guardians have brought him along on! I believe this is the fifth mission we know of that he’s accompanied them on so far. (Lunar Sea Spire, Inverted Pyramid, the unknown mission he returns from in Tiger Millionaire, the desert, and now this one.) It’s really sweet seeing the Gems begin to trust him tagging along more often. There will come a day in the near future where missions become routine for Steven, but in these early episodes, you can really tell that each and every one is a brand new adventure.

In terms of plot, though, this episode is honestly Future Vision: The Prequel.

We learn a lot about Garnet’s abilities and her role in the team here, even if all of these details aren’t spelled out word-for-word quite yet. Hints towards her future vision we see this ep include:

Garnet moving ahead of the group to be in the perfect spot to catch Steven when he falls.

Her flawless moves while fighting and dodging the monsters.

Her becoming a master at the rhythm game later in the episode.

Like, damn. Look at this.

Look at her go.

My Q U E E N!

I had to gif all of this just because it’s such a beautiful and smooth sequence of animation.

If there’s one thing all of the Crystal Gems can 100% agree on, it’s that Garnet is friggin’ amazing.

Garnet: “Let them go. They’re just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they’ll have to answer to me.”

So, does this statement mean that- at this present moment- her extended stay at the arcade was entirely beyond her future vision? That the only futures she saw were ones where she was actually present to deal with containment of the Gem parasites? Given that later scenes insinuate she’d never been to the arcade before, and would have no “data” about its games to factor into her internal understanding of the world, this seems likely.

I adore the gradual palette change here, from shadow, to setting sun. It’s a nice detail that adds so much more life to what could otherwise be a rather mundane transition scene. It seems like unique palettes were more common in early SU- I wonder why Crewniverse stopped implementing these as often later on?

Pearl, entering the arcade: “Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time.”

Thanks, Pearl. Love you too. <3

This sequence of Pearl failing at playing a car chase/road rage game hits so much different knowing what happens in Last One Out of Beach City. It’s genuinely radical how far she grows in confidence from this point, because here, she seems so shackled to rules and guidelines. Now that we know about her rebellious past, it might be tempting to write this characterization off as “early series weirdness,” but... I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.

Instead, I wonder if she’s working through grief-related regression.

Think about it... the pain of Rose’s passing is still so fresh for her. She was a rule breaking rebel once, yes, but she spent all of those days at Rose’s side. And I get the sense that she’s poured so much of herself into keeping Rose safe, into the rebellion against Homeworld, that without those, she’s caught in a vacuum. What IS her purpose now, when the very person she rebelled for is gone?

So she slips back into old pearl-like habits. Chronic rule following, and a fear of deviating from norms. How familiar. Thankfully, much of her arc throughout the show is her directly growing beyond these habits to live boldly as her own Gem.

The friggin video game when Garnet knocks its head off: “TELL MY WIFE I’M SORRYYY!!!”

Yo, what the fuck. This line is both hilarious and messed up, all at once. Please tell me the game isn’t sentient.

Aaaand here we finally introduce Garnet to the video game sensation that is Meat Beat Mania! This game is perfectly suited to her and her power of foresight because its patterns are algorithmic and not vulnerable to spontaneous deviations, and thus easy to predict, with enough input. She’s probably getting a quick rush of satisfaction with every correct move, and she barely has to exert any energy with her future vision to get that rush. After years and years of wading through endless possibility at every avenue, this video game’s patterns must be a rejuvenating breath of fresh air.

It’s addicting.

...Kinda makes me think of how I get sometimes when I play solitaire on my phone for an hour straight. After a while, I barely even think, I’m just shuffling through my deck and moving cards almost on automatic. I don’t have to use much energy to play, and it gives me animated fireworks every time I finish a match. It’s a win-win.

Amethyst: “I’MMA WIN AN AIRPLANE!”

I don’t know what it is about the way Michaela Dietz says the world “airplane,” but this makes me laugh every time. Does... does she think she can win a genuine airplane here because she saw Onion win a tiny motorbike from the ticket booth?? Amethyst, oh my god. XD

She’s got the spirit, this wild child.

So, moving on- we meet up with our crew later the next morning, Garnet nowhere to be seen. There’s an interesting exchange I’d like to highlight real quick-

Pearl: “If we’re supposed to fight a giant foot, Garnet would let us know.” Amethyst: “Yeah, Garnet’s the boss!” Pearl: “Well, we’re all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives.”

Considering the specific phrasing Pearl uses here- “heightened perception” instead of “future vision-” did Garnet outright tell the two of them to not explain her powers, just like she told them not to mention she’s a fusion? Because I’m pretty sure no one ever uses the phrase “heightened perception” again in reference to her powers.

Given the fact that Garnet chose to keep the knowledge of Ruby and Sapphire under the table until she felt Steven could understand her better, my guess is that this is a similar scenario.

Ahah, I genuinely can’t tell if this is Steven being gullible, or just impulsively playing along with Amethyst’s antics. Still- gross, kid. Don’t wipe your wet cereal face on your shirt! Ew! :O

When he goes outside and starts to use a kiddy metal detector to scan for quarters... so THAT’S where he finds his arcade money! Because I can’t imagine Greg is financially able to give him that much to spend on non-essentials at this point in the show.

Okay, so... I just want to bring light to the fact that Garnet has literally been in this arcade ALL NIGHT LONG.

It was evening when she first arrived here- the sun was visibly setting in the background, and when Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl left, the sky was dark. But now it’s morning. Steven was just seen eating breakfast. And Garnet is STILL HERE.

Does this mean Mr. Smiley locked her IN? I have so many questions... Did he try to get her to leave, only to be intimidated by her complete lack of response? I would kill to know more about this interaction. Poor Mr. Smiley. That man deals with so much bullshit in this town, huh?

Geebus, is Garnet a solid wall. Previous episodes have shown Steven forcibly shoving whole tons of food, and swinging a mini-freezer over his head, and yet he can’t get her to budge even an inch.

I absolutely adore how he climbs up her frame like a koala, though, ahah. Cute.

Meat Beat Mania announcer: “That’s rare!!” Steven: “Oh my gosh...!”

I take these two lines as evidence that this is the first time Steven’s ever seen Garnet’s eyes. Specifically, the fact that there’s three of them. Which, makes sense- since Garnet is still really reserved emotionally at this point, and is only begins to get in the habit of taking her visor off to show Steven her full face later on in the show.

This expression deeply hurts me.

Steven’s so distraught here- because the others are in danger, the town is in danger, and he doesn’t have his trusty, dependable guardian who catches him when he falls and beats up scary monsters for him. Without her, the whole team is vulnerable and blind.

He feels alone. He feels... powerless.

And so he responds to that confusing, powerless feeling by trying to compensate with his own power. When all other routes he can think of fail, he smashes the video game console.

It... uh, it works... but once again, Steven entirely fails to consider the consequences, huh? He experienced a little bit of character growth in this regard in the episode Serious Steven, but even past that it’ll remain an recurring issue for him. Hell, his impulsiveness is a general character flaw even stretching into SUF.

In summary, though:

Poor Mr. Smiley. He works so hard, and doesn’t deserve this BS. ;-;

#su #su meta #steven universe #arcade mania #garnet #amethyst #pearl #mr. smiley #jen rewatches su

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dooandpoo · 4 years ago

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Boo’s clown thoughts about Dan

I just re-watched the Heartthrob video from 2018. I have listened to Dan and Phil playing Heartthrob in 2021. I have watched compilations of Dan and Phil’s liveshows and ✨ gay moments ✨ throughout the years. I am officially qualified to make reaching assumptions about Dan’s psyche, and his taste in men 💅. (I am a clown.)

Dan hides many of his feelings under sarcasm. This essay is predicated on a combination of assuming many of his jokes are actually his real feelings, and also taking into account things he has said with sincerity.

First, he wants to fix people. His whole perspective of Bobby changes when the card “never been kissed” is added — Dan gets all soft and literally says “that’s a game changer”. Phil thinks the same, suggests that everything else of Bobby is bravado, to which Dan heartily agrees. Dan loves himself some 💪 meaty men 💪, but gravitates more to the men that seem soft or personable. “Never been kissed” is a big deal for a cool sexy rich guy in high school, and Dan just knows that he could take care of him. It brings Bobby back down to earth, makes him feel real, makes him someone that Dan could relate to. Dan is obsessed with cleaning, takes forever to plan things, gets worked up when things aren’t perfect, must be in control. But he’s drawn to the imperfect, knows that he can do something with it. Someone that’s already perfect isn’t interesting to Dan. But Bobby, who’s rich and sexy but never been kissed? That’s interesting to Dan, that’s someone he can work with.

Dan is a gold-digger 💷💰 (let me explain). Even before the kissing detail is learned about Bobby, Dan chose him to go to the party with just because he’s rich, because his house would be cool, and Dan could pretend to like him for a night of luxury. Dan is a minimalist, he enjoys things to be simple in his life (as stated in the pizza mukbang video), but he loves opulence .... but not for himself. This is fascinating — Dan doesn’t parade his current wealth around, actively works against it. But. He wants to go to a party at a fancy house with a pool, hang off the arm of some cool guy. He wants to have a “team of stylists” for red carpet events to choose his outfits and dress him up all pretty for the world to see. He loves his fancy trips to beautiful places. He gives his Sims elegant and gaudy accessories and furnishings, splurging in a way he never would in real life. This boy loves him some extravagance and attention, wants to parade around looking like a snack, even though most of the time he prefers being low-key.

Dan loves cultivating a specific image for himself. He spent much of his teenage and young adult life trying to fit in, making sure his hair is perfect, making sure his photos are from the perfect MySpace angle, not being “gay”. His Instagram is a wall of black, broken up by only a few things. This is partially because he doesn’t like choice, can’t commit to things when it’s his decision. He can’t choose something “wrong”. See the mukbang video where Phil suggests just picking different clothes from along the line in his closet, and Dan says “that’s how you get ensembles that look like this” indicating Phil’s absurd get-up. Dan can’t imagine just throwing things on willy-nilly, he must present a completely unified vision of himself to the world. In the Attitude shoot, he was devastated that he couldn’t wear the cool boots, that his hair was too long. He secretly wished that it was a nude or horny photoshoot, joking about this during their first Stereo, because he wants to be noticed in that way. He wants to be seen as sexy and cool, he loves it. He wants positive attention. His mid-2020 thirst post on Instagram is a perfect example of this, playing it off as silly when he clearly was really into it. He does this with most of his photos, needing to look a certain way so that the world sees him as cool and sexy even when he’s masking it behind sarcasm. He knows he’s cute, and flaunts it, even though “flaunting it” means he has to be in control of everything all the time.

Let’s go back to the 2018 Heartthrob. One of the boys’ personality traits is revealed to be “can’t wait to have kids”, and Dan is not having it. 🙅‍♂️ Now, Dan would describe that as his fear of commitment. But let’s look closer. Earlier that year, Dan and Phil met Louise’s newborn baby. Both boys go completely gooey the entire time, entranced by her. Dan gets this look in his eye when he hands Pearl to Phil. He watches Phil closely to make sure he’s holding her correctly, hovers and touches her, needing to protect and feel the inherent trust of a baby. He and Phil keep smiling, and then Dan — out of the blue — gets a far away look and comments that there will be phanfiction of him and Phil adopting a baby. Dan was thinking about having a baby with Phil. But he’s scared, because even though Dan would take care of his baby so well, he’d probably worry his ass off making sure the baby has everything. It’s not just the fear of commitment, it’s that he can’t trust himself to do it “correctly”. Even though he’s been with Phil for years, I think Dan second-guesses himself constantly. A baby, or even a dog, for that matter, would send his anxiety into overdrive, because he can’t be in complete control (even though he’d be the best dad and partner ever).

Time to think about thot Dan. In the end, Dan is horny. He visibly reacts to each of the Heartthrob boys that have their “guns out”, and doesn’t easily deny that he’s interested in Bobby for his arms. And Phil knows that. When Dan asks Phil why he thinks Dan chose Bobby ... Phil stalls. Phil does his best to justify his guess that Dan likes Bobby because of his random personality traits, because Dan would like being driven around in a nice car and to ask Bobby about his dream of being a secret agent, but Phil clearly thought Dan would choose Bobby because he knows Dan loves the meaty lads. Phil knows Dan well enough to know that this boy loves him some skin and some muscle showing. (Hmm, interesting that Dan likes his boys meaty 👀, and frequently refers to Phil as such, even at the beginning of this very Heartthrob video …. hmmmm ... says he’d like to receive a lapdance 💋 from Phil “for the spectacle” .... hmmmmmmmmm.)

Back to “commitment” 💍 issues. During a liveshow from the early danisnotonfire days, Dan is asked for relationship advice. Here, he is surprisingly honest and serious. He says to not stay in a relationship where you’re not happy. It seems simple, but Dan really digs deep here. Dan says that if you’re not going to marry a person, don’t stay with them for even a day longer. Dan said that. Dan is scared of trusting others, he is constantly sarcastic and talks about himself disparagingly, but he is self-aware enough to know that he wants commitment. He wants someone to love him forever, to be by his side. That’s why he says there’s no point in remaining in a relationship if you and the other person can’t see yourself together in 50 years. And Dan had been with Phil (in whatever way that means for them) for a few years at that point, completely comfortable with each other. They were already making huge decisions together, like living together and moving to London and starting a radio show and considering moving to New York together. Dan had committed to Phil at this point, knew that he could see himself still with Phil in 50 years. And Phil had committed to Dan, regardless of if Dan felt sure of that or not.

Even earlier than that, Dan had told a fan on formspring that he loves sleeping in the same bed as other people, not even in a sexual way. He loves human contact, sharing space 😌. We know this because he’s so open to hugs with his fans, wants people around to make him feel safe (by people I mean Phil), and is so exasperated by quarantine because he needs more touch and contact. (Tangent — Phil also loves physical touch, as stated in an old liveshow when he said he prefers cuddles to kisses, and is very handsy 👐 with Dan.)

This doesn’t end in physical touch though. He needs other people around. He wants a companion through life. He misses Phil when he’s gone because he’s scared of the house being empty, because Phil makes him feel safe. He wants another person in his bed because it feels nice to be with someone, knowing they’re there. He wants to have someone to work with, to connect with, to make music with, to share moments with. And now this boy has all of that. He has for the last ten-odd years. But this is scary. Dan isolated himself growing up, built barriers between himself and everybody else. He needs to be control of the situation at all times, embarrassed when he’s not. Dan uses self-deprecating language constantly, complains about his inability to connect with people. But he has Phil. Every day they’re together, I think Dan accepts just a little more that he can deserve happiness, that he won’t lose Phil, that Phil is not temporary. Phil shows him that he is worthy of affection, physical and otherwise, that Dan is allowed to reach out and it’s safe to do so. Dan doesn’t have to be alone anymore, he can reach out and Phil is there.

These nonsense ramblings are just to say that Dan has the perfect life partner in Phil. Phil balances him out, lets Dan be himself loudly and quietly, jokes when Dan is too serious. Phil will never leave him, proving that every day, making plans with Dan in mind. Phil is confident and self-assured where Dan is not. They ease each other’s anxieties, approach their fame in similar ways. They genuinely enjoy being together, not just in their personal life, but professionally as well. They are a perfect match, soulmates. 💕

#i refuse to tag this as d*n and ph*l in case those two lurkers see it #this is complete clownery #i know this and accept this #we can't know what's actually going on in these boys' lives and honestly that's a good thing #this is just for fun #and because it makes me feel soft #i relate hardcore to Dan #so I'm projecting sjkhhsdajfl #long post #mine #rambling

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namfine · 4 years ago

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◐ | 𝕬𝖛𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕 | ◑

Greed is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use: of material gain; or social value, such as status, or power.

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

Γ pairing: Jung Hoseok x Reader

Γ word count: 5.2k

Γ summary: When you’re in need of some quick, flashy jewelry for an event, what better place to go than a pawn shop? However when nothing catches your eye, the shop owner shows you something that you absolutely must have. But when the pricing is much more than you anticipated, you think of another way to get it. Just how far are you willing to go for a bargain?

Γ tags: 18+, hoseok x reader, unprotected sex, oral (f), monster fucking kinda, sexual bribery(?) (if you couldnt tell, you fuck for the jewelry), he cums in you lmao, ripped panties, hair pulling, demon au, seven deadly sins au

Γ part: 3 of 7 of our Seven Deadly Sins Milestone Challenge.

⋫ Link to Master List here

Γ a/n: Welcome to part 3 of our seven deadly sins! Hope you guys aren’t too full from reading gluttony because now it’s time for a little greed. Things get a lil more freaky deaky in this chapter so I hope you all enjoy it! A new chapter will be released everyday so please look forward to the remaining sins! As always, thot on, sinners ;)

-Fizzy ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)

When you had first stepped into the pawn shop, you were immediately taken aback. You were so used to seeing the stereotypical dirty, everything out of place, type shops on tv that you were expecting it to be the same in person. However you were surprised to say the least, when the faint smell of sage drifted through your nose, and if you concentrated hard enough you could pick out scents of leather as well.

You slowly walked through the shop, eyes flicking to and fro because everything seemed to catch your attention. From the organized shelves of books, to the clear, gold rimmed cases filled with trinkets, to even the perfectly stocked and alphabetized case of video games and dvd’s. However you walked right past all of those things and more to find the jewelry section.

Tonight you were attending a friend’s art gallery event and while you did have an outfit already picked out, you decided last minute you wanted to buy a new piece of jewelry to bring it all together, because let’s face it, those little pearl earrings were not going to cut it. So when you caught sight of a pawn shop you hadn’t seen before on your street, you decided you would probably find something extravagant but also cheap there. You were only going to wear it for one night after all.

When reaching the front of the store, your eyes flick downward into the clear display full of various jewelry. There were pieces here and there that made your lips purse in consideration but nothing really jumped out at you. Walking towards the right while still looking down, your fingertips dragged across the glass, hoping that something would catch your eye. Too deep in thoughts, you didn’t notice someone calling out to you until your hand softly bumped into someone else’s on the other side of the display.

Your body jumped slightly and you pulled your hand away, an apology ready to come out but dying on your tongue once you looked up and saw who the hand belonged to.

He was absolutely breathtaking, literally, when you looked up at him you swore you felt your breath get lodged in your throat. Your eyes landed on his gentle smile, causing his cheeks to round up into two perfect little circles, his warm eyes made an odd feeling spread throughout your chest- ‘is it a little hotter in here?’-, and his wavy black hair parted down the middle. He seemed ethereal, with his black blazer over the matching shirt and pants. On his ring finger was a bright topaz ring, a gold band surrounding it, the surface glittering softly in the harsh fluorescent lights. It was strange you thought, ‘He seems a little too overdressed for a pawn shop, no?’, his look making your eyebrows furrow slightly together.

He looked to be out of place, like a queen participating in a hot dog eating contest.

“Can I help you with anything?” He inquired softly, tilting his head to the side.

“Uh...,” You shook your head and cleared your throat, trying to gather your thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m looking for a piece of jewelry.” Your eyes glanced down and scanned over the items again. “I uh, have an event later on tonight and I’m trying to find something last minute.” You chuckled sheepishly, looking back up at the handsome man.

“Well what do you have in mind?”

“Not sure, I want it to bring my whole outfit together though.” You smiled thoughtfully, feeling your cheeks warm at the smile you were receiving back.

“What are you wearing? If I see the outfit, I can help you out some more.” So you pulled out your phone, scrolling through your photos to find the picture of the outfit you took a couple of days earlier. It was a simple little long sleeve, black dress, with a v in the back. Your simple heels and pearl earrings were enough to make you presentable, but you really wanted to present yourself.

The man studied it for a few seconds before nodding politely, gesturing to another display case further to your right. Upon reaching it, you noticed this one was filled more with necklaces with a few charms scattered about. While they were more intricate than the ones you were previously looking at, your heart wasn’t really pulling towards any of them.

“See anything you like?” There was something warm about his voice, that just made you feel calm. Which was strange, how could a stranger make you feel this way?

“I’m sorry, not really...these are all very nice though. Thank you anyway.” You glanced up at him, giving a short nod before starting to turn around.

“You know, I might have something for you.” The way he said it made you halt in your tracks. It came out as being helpful but there was something laced underneath it, something that made your body feel like it was being wrapped in chills. You turned back to him and cocked your head to the side, silently urging him to continue.

“Come, I have it in the back room.” He stepped off to the side and pulled open a little door for you. You knew it was odd, him inviting you to the back of the store. Why couldn’t he just go and grab it? Your questions continued to rack your brain, even as you began to walk behind the counter. And when you heard the click of the door locking into place, it was only then that you noticed you were the only person in the store.

As you followed the man to the back, the hallway you were in seemed endless, your heart began to thump in your chest. Your gaze went upwards, the yellow lights above your head casting eerie glows throughout the hallway. You looked at the man's back, watching his shoulders move behind his jacket. Soon enough you couldn’t hear the music coming from the front of the shop anymore, the lights becoming nothing but a small dot. It had seemed you were walking forever but it was only now that you had lost sight of the front. A shadow on the wall caught your attention and as you looked at it, it went away. For a brief moment…

No that’s silly, the lights were just messing with your vision.

But…

For a quick second, it seemed like the shadow of the man had horns protruding from the top of his head.

You scoffed and shook your head, the thought being completely ridiculous.

“Hm? Something funny, y/n?” He looked over his shoulder at you, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Oh ah, I was just thinking about something. Nothing worth mentioning.” You replied, still mainly focused on the wall. He gave a sharp nod, a smile gracing his face before turning back towards the front. Inhaling deeply, you continued following the strange man, until finally, he pushed aside a curtain and you stepped into a room, the sight making your jaw drop in awe.

“This is where I keep my most prized possessions, too valuable for me to put out there for the world to see.” He murmured, delicately swiping his finger over the surface of something on a shelf. You couldn’t quite make out what it was, for something past him got your attention. You took a hesitant step forward, tilting your head to the side, trying to make sense of it.

A throne sat in the back of the room, the seat filled to the brim with gold coins, a few gems and jewels here and there. You could make out a bottle of wine lodged in the center of the pile, the black color popping out intensely against the bright colors of the gold. But upon closer inspection, you noticed there was an orange light, seeming to only shine on the bottle, making you realize that it was a dark red instead. On one of the arms, was a clear crystal skull, dazzling amethysts acting as eyes. As if your awe couldn’t get any bigger, on the top of the throne was a crown, far more extravagant than the ones you had seen previously. It was jewel encrusted all around, but instead of it being gold or silver, this one was stark black. One emerald stood in the middle while tiny versions of it ran around the rim and protruding from the top of it was a bright green snake, poised as if it was getting ready to strike.

The sound of a throat clearing snapped you out of your thoughts.

He chuckled, “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, sorry. This room is just wow, it’s amazing. I’ve never seen so many treasures in one room before.” You fingertips pressed to your lips, taking another moment to look around the room once more.

“This is the piece I wanted to show you.” You looked to the left to see him behind a glass counter. When you walked up to it, he had his hands spread out on the glass, giving you a small smirk. Your heart skipped a beat and you bit down on your lip, feeling that warmth go through your body once more. He glanced down and tapped at the glass with a fingernail, the noise making a sharp sound. When you glanced down, you felt a chill go down your spine. On the top of the glass his fingernail looked normal but in the reflection was a sharp black nail instead. Your eyes quickly looked over to his other nails to find them exactly the same; sharp and black. When you looked in the middle of where the reflection of his face should be, you had barely registered relief when you saw his eyes.

There was a sinister yellow glow, gleaming right at you. And if that weren’t frightening enough, the man smiled at you, two sharp canines peeking through. At that, your head snapped back up to look at him, but instead of what you saw in the glass, it was just his normal features. With wide eyes, you opened your mouth to say something but were cut off at once by him placing a yellow velvet box on top, the sound louder than necessary.

He opened the top and you were at a loss for words. The inside was a darker shade of yellow, a small mirror on the underside of the lid, and in the middle was a beautiful necklace. A thin silver chain adorned an oval blood red ruby, four thin, sharp prongs on each side, holding it. The lighting from above made them glimmer, causing a thought to run through your mind that they almost looked like claws. He pulled it out of the box and dangled it in front of his face, the gem swaying gently in front of him.

“That’s beautiful…” You murmured. Your throat felt parched all of a sudden, so you swallowed the ball of saliva forming in your mouth, but it did nothing to quench the growing thirst in your mind.

“How much?” You asked, taking a brief second to flick your gaze over to the man then back to the necklace. From your peripheral you could see a smirk grow on his face, his eyebrow raising up a little. The tip of his tongue peeked out to lick his lips and he leaned in closer to you. Yet, you still couldn’t take your eyes off the gem.

“Well normally the things in this room aren’t for sale, they are for my viewing pleasure only.” He paused, taking in a breath. “But you seemed really desperate to find something so,” He paused again and that was when you finally looked away and at him, catching him eyeing you up and down slowly. When he reached your face, a sly grin appeared.

“$1,000.”

“$1,000? Are you fucking serious?” Your eyes bugged out at his answer and you couldn’t help the harsh tone. However it seemed that the man was unaffected, cocking his head to the side and swinging the necklace delicately. You didn’t know much about gemstones but you were certainly positive that it was an outrageous price, especially for something in a pawn shop.

“I am actually being quite generous with the pricing y/n, normally this goes for much higher value.” His voice took a condescending ring and his eyebrows bunched together. Worry crossed your face, you really didn’t want to pay that much money for something you were only going to wear for tonight but on the other hand you needed this necklace. It was truly something you had never seen before.

You looked at the piece of jewelry once more, staring directly into the center of the ruby. You didn’t know if you were still reeling from hearing the price or if it was really happening but the middle of the gem seemed to be swirling, looking like a mini vortex. Anger flashed through your body and you had half a mind to just snatch it out of his hand and make a run for it. Your fingers twitched at the thought and it appeared that the man noticed, for he jerked his hand up and caught the ruby in his hand. His fingers clasped shut around it, completely obstructing it from your eyes.

“If you think you’ll be able to get away, you won’t. I’ll have you pinned down before your fingers even got to touch this necklace.” He hissed in a low voice and you didn’t miss the way your body shivered at his tone. You pressed your lips together and chose your next words carefully.

“This is a pawn shop isn’t it? Can we negotiate?” As soon as the last word left your mouth, you felt the tension in the room shift. He squinted at you and leaned in closer to your body, staring intensely into your eyes. You tried your best to not look away, your heart beginning to speed up at his close proximity. The corner of his mouth quirked up into a smirk, the action making your breath hiccup in your throat.

“Depends, what are you willing to give?” He muttered, now looking down at your lips. He didn’t even try to hide it, for his gaze lazily rose back up to your eyes. He was so close that you could see details on his face more clearly, like the mole on his top lip or the hint of yellow slowly whirling in the center of his eyes…

Your eyes widened at noticing it but before you could move away, he brushed his fingertips on the top of your hand. He put his other hand next to your faces, letting his fingers open to allow the necklace to drop. It swung before coming to a stop, the want and need of having it coursing through your mind once more.

You needed this, and you were going to get it one way or another.

You pressed forward, feeling just the barest of touches when your lips made contact with his. He didn’t move so you took that as your sign to continue. You closed your eyes, your lips now fully on his and moved against him, small flashes of yellow going off behind your eyelids. You heard the sound of something, the necklace you presumed, clatter against the glass top of the display. His hands gripped the side of your face, now kissing you back with more ferocity. A nip at your bottom lip caused you to gasp, and he took the opportunity to shove his tongue into your mouth.

You felt like your head was clouded, the lightheadedness making you dizzy. A moan slipped past you and your hands wandered up to grip his suit, the material oddly clearing up your mind, acting as a sort of grounding object to bring you back down. You attempted to jerk him towards you, wanting more of his touch, but he dropped one hand off your face and grabbed your wrists, throwing them off of his body. You stumbled a bit forward and smacked a hand on top of the glass to steady yourself, slightly breaking your kiss. You wasted no time in going back, hands going around his neck now, kissing with such hunger and need.

The man used his free hand to knot itself in your hair, he tugged your head back and went to bite at your neck, his teeth making you gasp. Your hands dug into his hair and gave small tugs, your breathy moans urging him to bite harder. You needed more so you tightened your hold onto his hair and pulled him back up to your mouth. Surprisingly he allowed you to do so and when your lips locked, you raised a leg and pushed yourself up on the counter. He moved back to allow you more room, sliding your legs down on the other side and opening them to let him stand in between.

He grabbed your waist and brought you closer to himself, the feeling of his erection against you made a wave of pleasure go to your core. Your legs wrapped around his waist to lock him in and he grinded against you, squeezing your waist every couple of seconds. His hands slid down your thighs, fingernails digging into you. The subtle pain made you gasp against his mouth and you almost moaned out loud again when he pushed your legs apart, using one hand to guide you onto your back.

He reached up to unbutton your jeans and undo your zipper, yanking them down when he finished. He tossed them to the side and put his mouth right over your mound, moving his lips against your skin. Your legs went to lock around his head but he delivered a swift smack to the outside of your left thigh.

“Keep your legs open for me sweetheart.” He mumbled against you and dragged his tongue up your panties. You let out a low moan at the feeling, lightly tangling your hand in his black hair. He didn’t protest so you twirled a few pieces in between your fingers, the silky texture easily sliding between them. He hooked a finger into your panties and pulled them to the side, taking a quick swipe up your folds, the abrupt feeling of his tongue made your voice hitch and your hips to jerk upwards. His finger that was holding your panties, went to the center and you felt a sudden pull and the sound of material ripping. You lifted your head to see what had happened, but he suddenly pulled your folds apart and licked up once more.

“Fuck,” your voice squeaked out, head dropping back onto the glass. He dug in, tongue licking up and down your pussy, his nose nudging your clit every so often. Your legs trembled, wanting to lock around his head and you almost gave in until you felt two sharp points prodding at the inside of your folds. Your legs twitched at the feeling but you brushed it away when his tongue shoved into your hole. An obscene moan left your mouth and you tugged him impossibly closer to your cunt. You felt that same sharp point directly on your clit now, circling around it lightly.

Your pussy clenched around his tongue and it seemed to spur him on, the sharp point now pressing slightly harder on you. It only lasted a few seconds before his thumb replaced it, pressing harshly onto your clit and causing pleasure to travel throughout your body. It circled around you rapidly, his tongue now moving at what seemed like an impossible speed inside you. Soon that familiar tug pulled inside you and your hips rose upwards.

“Pl-please, I’m gonna-!” You didn’t even get to finish your sentence before your orgasm ripped through your body, your mouth open in a silent scream, your pussy spasming around his tongue. You came down from your high, your breath coming out ragged, and looked down at him. He smirked at you, your arousal glistening on his lips. His eyes looked faintly yellow in your hazy vision. You became slightly more aware that there were more points pricking into your thighs, dragging down. You were pulled up and into a kiss, tasting yourself, his hands going to your lower back. He let you go and grabbed a hand, pulling you off the counter. You allowed him to guide you and when you noticed him leading you towards the throne, you felt your already aching pussy clench.

He barely gave you time to settle before he turned you around and pushed you onto the pile of treasure in the center of the throne. You landed on your palms, feeling some coins slide from beneath your hands. You adjusted to resting on your forearms, the wine bottle directly in front of your face. Upon closer inspection of it, you could clearly make out that it was a dark rusty red color, with a faded label on the side. The glint of the crystal skull caught your attention to your left, but you didn’t have time to glance at it, for you felt your shirt being lifted up and over your head. Before you had a chance to settle, the back of your bra was pulled and you felt it give away. A hand went to your front and yanked it away from you, the coolness from the coins brushed against your breasts and nipples, instantly making them harden.

You heard the sound of clothes rustling and heard a muted thump. Giving a quick side glance, you saw his jacket on the floor. The sound of his belt buckle clinking and then it being thrown to the floor had your hole clench. He kicked your legs apart and rubbed his cock in between your folds, hands going to hold onto your waist. You shivered in anticipation, the combination of him spreading your arousal and the cold contrast of the coins made your mouth water.

“Are you ready for me, darling?” One of his hands left your waist to drag down your back, those sharp points you had been feeling making your spine arch up, you were enjoying them at this point. You gave a meek nod and soon he was stretching your walls, bottoming out in no time. Your fingers splayed out and dug into the pile of coins for support, feeling your breasts touch them when he began to move.

He wasted no time in pounding into your cunt, the force of his hips making you moan out like a whore. One hand went to go fist in your hair, twisting it around his wrist for a more secure hold. “Look at you, such a greedy little thing. Such a greedy little whore for my cock..” You bit your lip at his words, your eyelids fluttering closed.

“Do you always fuck strangers for things you want? Are you that desperate for material things? You little slut.” Opening your eyes, you could see his reflection in the bottle, that one orange light highlighting the object perfectly. His form began to slowly shift before your eyes, and even though you were getting the fucking of a lifetime, you were still coherent enough for a wave of fear to travel through your body.

Maybe it was all the bright lights or you were still delirious from your powerful orgasm but soon enough you saw two pointed objects begin to protrude from his head, and a pair of wings slowly sprout from his back. Your chest quivered but yet you couldn’t bring yourself to scream, at least not out of fear. Panic mixed in with euphoria, the idea that you were here having sex with something not of this world oddly made your already sopping cunt, gush even more. When his wings softly flared out, you kept telling yourself you were just imagining it, and even when you felt something soft brush against the sides of your waist, a small part of you prayed that it was just because all of your senses were on overload.

The more you stared at the reflection, the tighter your body became. What was even happening right now, why are you still here? Why had you not pulled away and ran while you still had the chance? As you racked your brain for answers, there was a tiny voice that kept pushing through, telling you what you didn’t want to hear. That throughout all this, there was a familiarity from it all. That you had seen this before; the wings, horns, the aura of the creature. You briefly wondered if you were pulling it from an old horror movie you’d seen a while ago, but it didn’t sit right.

As if sensing the puzzle coming together in your head, several sharp pricks were dug into your waist- you quickly put two and two together with everything happening, and deduced that they were claws- you felt him pierce through your skin, the sudden pain making you gasp out loud. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from the reflection, and the final nail went in when his eyes locked with yours. With a sinister grin, he blinked and two bright yellow eyes stared right into your soul.

With a cry of terror and pleasure, your orgasm came abruptly, your thighs shaking so uncontrollably that your forearms gave out, and you fell against the mountain of coins. You felt him slam into you a couple of more times before his cum filled you up to the brim, feeling it dribble down your legs after he pulled out. You laid there for a couple of seconds to catch your breath, and you were afraid to turn around and be face to face with whatever just gave you an orgasm of a lifetime.

Gathering your bearings, you pushed up and silently counted to three, not bothering to hide the shock on your face when you saw him looking normal. No claws, no horns, no wings, no glowing yellow eyes…

He zipped his pants and picked his belt up from the floor, smiling at your expression. When you still hadn’t said anything, he picked up his jacket and folded it over his arm, heading towards the counter. You reached down for your shirt and bra, fumbling around trying to get them back on. When you finished you still had not said a word, silently going to the counter to reach for your pants that he was holding out to you. You put them on but still couldn’t shake off your feelings.

He chuckled softly at you and picked up the necklace, giving it a soft look before handing it to you. Wordlessly you took it, the cool metal feeling hot in your hands.

“Well, a bargain is a bargain. Sorry about your panties by the way. Are you alright?” He questioned with a laugh, moving a hand up to smooth down his hair. It didn’t even look out of place, completely untouched.

You brushed it off, still confused about everything “Um...I’m-I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me, I-” You stopped and swallowed, the realization that you just fucked a stranger for a necklace setting in. A flash of horror crossed your face, and you almost cried until he shook his head and gave you a small smile.

“Don’t be, we all do crazy things when consumed with greed.” Even though there was a smile on his face, it barely did anything to ease your discomfort.

“The necklace is yours, come, I’ll walk you outside.” He walked around the counter and nodded towards the front, silently following behind him. The walk to the front was shorter than you remember, the yellow lights you recalled being there, now just white. When you stepped out of the backroom, it was still bright outside, and there were still no people inside. It had felt like you spent hours back there.

When you walked out the door, you still felt uneasy. What exactly had you seen in the reflection of the wine bottle? Why was your need for the necklace so intense?

Something clicked in your mind and deciding that you wanted to leave with some sort of dignity, you turned around to ask him a question.

“I’m so sorry, but I just realized I didn’t get your name,” Heat spread across your cheeks but you continued. “I just got…overwhelmed.” You gave a sheepish smile and he smiled back at you.

“My name is Hoseok.” He grins and gives you a small bow.

“Thank you, Hoseok. For um, this.”

“You’re welcome, next time be careful what you bargain for when you want something.” His tone was playful but chideful, and you couldn’t help but give an exasperated laugh. You gave a politeful nod and turned around to head to your car.

“Goodbye y/n, have fun at your event tonight.”

You almost didn’t register what he said, until you did. You hadn’t told him your name. When you turned back to question him, your heart stopped in your chest when the pawn shop was no longer there. Instead it was just an empty, abandoned building. Deciding that you had enough and needed to get out of there, you sped to your car and drove as fast as you could to your house, wanting to get away as soon as possible.

Your nerves relaxed when you reached your house and got ready. The last thing you put on was the necklace, feeling the ruby flare against your skin. You fingered it gently, the memory of fucking Hoseok burned into your brain.

Once you arrived at your friends art event, you immediately fell into the chatter and hustle of everything. Friends were complimenting your outfit left and right, especially the necklace. You met up with your friend, giving her a congratulatory hug and kiss. You were so deep in conversation that you didn’t notice a mutual friend of yours staring at you, or more so your neck. You were about to question what was wrong until she pointed a finger at your neck.

“Y/n, sorry but do you shower with that necklace on?” You bunched your eyebrows together and your hand went up to clutch it.

“No, I just got this today. Why?”

Now your small group of friends were all staring at it, the stares making your face heat up.

“Your neck is turning green.”

You paused for a half second, then took out your phone to access the camera. Sure enough, there was a thin line of green on your skin. As you looked more at the necklace, you noticed small details of rust on the chain and the ruby that was shining so brightly before you left, was now dull and lifeless.

He had tricked you, he had given you a fake.

#bts smut #jhope x reader #hoseok x reader #seven deadly sins #jhope smut #demon au #admin fizzy #bts imagines #bts scenarios

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dribbonart · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Rewatch: Off Colors

Season five is just a fire hose of content. We get a bunch of new gems in one episode!

Lars gets to be a hero! (Briefly)

Let’s look at the new gems.

The Rutile twins are cool. I like their design. The simple, iconic shapes feel like they’d fit in the main cast easily. They seem more “real” than the other new characters, but I have no idea why.

Padparadscha is cute, but she deserves a personality outside of realizing things after the fact. I feel like she never gets any real development.

I get that it’s a joke, but wouldn’t she realize that her visions are not of use to anyone else? If I kept saying stuff and every time someone said, “Yes, we already know,” I would eventually stop phrasing everything I say as though it were news. The show treats Padparadscha as if she’s stupid or born yesterday.

Rhodonite. Later Garnet says she’s a Ruby and a Pearl, but right now she’s just a fusion. Realistically, you could guess her gems; they have relatively distinctive shapes. In this episode you only get the impression that she’s extremely cautious and fearful, which is understandable.

She used to work for a Morganite, which reminds us of the Lost Episode we’ll never get to see. I guess it was more important that they fight a cactus. It’s better that a show leave us wanting more.

Flourite seems like an old person. The hair and face contribute to the voice. The slowness is supposed to be her collective consciousness reaching consensus.

She’s obviously a metaphor for a plural relationship. I recently saw a video* complaining that the show would be better if they had literal LGBT representation instead of metaphors. Do people not realize that the crew had to fight like the devil just to get the representation they got? Kids’ shows today have to fight for representation, and that’s after Steven Universe got a full-on gay wedding.

Is this the only time the series uses the title card as the establishing shot? It’s a cool moment, but they don’t play into it.

“You can’t just have your characters say how they feel! That makes me feel angry!”

Actually I think this is fine. Lars would never admit his feelings like that in other circumstances, but he’s being pushed to his limit, and he knows Steven won’t think less of him.

A good motto for life.

I keep obsessing about this. The show makes it very clear that Homeworld society has drained its planet of every gram of energy, and when they expand to other planets they leave them equally exhausted. I just think it’s weird that no one ever says this. Yellow Diamond never says, “What are we supposed to do? Homeworld is completely drained!” or something to that effect. It’s always left to the visuals.

No one saw this coming. Lars just straight up dies.

I think it loses his impact on a second watch, but this moment really is magical. The show never told us that Steven could bring back the recently deceased. This is a miracle before our eyes. The ultimate miracle, cheating death.

We can imagine this exact scene playing out with Lion, hundreds of years ago.

Pink Lars! The show never addresses the obvious solution at this point:

Steven and the off colors go to Earth through Lars/Lion.

Steven throws Lars out of Homeworld’s gravitational pull.

Lars drifts at sublight speed back to Earth. It should only take a few million years.

*The same video saying that Diamonds were only analogous to Nazis, as though no other civilization had tyrants, stratified societies, and classes that were killed by the state.

#Steven Universe #Rewatch #SU Rewatch

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officialinuyasha · 4 years ago

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Yashahime Trailer Analysis - Full Breakdown + Theories

Video -

https://youtu.be/ebFV15yPO6U

The Yashahime - Princess Half-Demon Official Trailer came out August 7th Japan Time like Kaoru Wada had teased for us on the Otakon Livestream. Here we will read off of what was posted on the VIZ Media Official Website "The anime’s been announced, but now you can sink your canines into some more juicy tidbits about the show. The anime stars Towa and Setsuna, the twin daughters of Sesshomaru who get separated in a forest fire. Towa ends up in modern times and is raised by Sota Higurashi, Kagome’s little brother. Ten years later, they are reunited, but Setsuna is a demon slayer with no memories of her sister. Joined by Moroha, Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter, they set off on an adventure to regain their missing past." https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/yashahime-princess-half-demon-arrives-in-october You guys will be able to watch Yashahime on VIZ Media's Website and AnimeLab.com when it's released.

First Impressions - @officialkagome : “I can tell the Rumiko has a lot of influence in the writing because key points and moments are conveyed just as they were in the Final Act. I believe it's going to be condensed like in the Final Act, but maybe only at first. Focusing on the girls but still including that bonus chapter. I definitely appreciate the animation, it's very aesthetically pleasing.”

Yes, the animation is being directed by the same person who did The Final Act, Sachiya. They also were the same person that did the Adult SessRin artwork that sold it on a calender. Which I actually own. I'm glad for them to return and do the animation. As it makes sense in the continuity. The animation in fact looks even improved further than what we had since the Final Act! Definitely one of my favorite animation directors next to Kumiko.

As I mentioned in my previous video, I talked about the extra chapter "Since Then" that took place after The Final Act. It was made because of the Tsunami that happened in Japan many years ago. A long time ago, I also wrote a post saying if we continued to show our support for the official streams on VIZ Media's website and still showed interest in the series that they would make this into an episode. Back in 2018 Anime Boston it was hinted about the staff wanting to have Rumiko allowed them to make more anime if we continued to show interest. When we got ahold of the scans for the AniMage and AniMedia magazine scans we could confirm that they have been talking about a sequel since the ending of The Final Act.

In the InuYasha Special Chapter 559 "Since Then" Kagome was living in the feudal era with InuYasha for six months. We have a half year time skip. Life in the Feudal Era so far had been peaceful. InuYasha and Miroku were tracking minor youkai that was released from a seal by a landslide, and discover that the demon actually was originally sealed away by Kikyou shortly before she met InuYasha. So we can say over atleast 53 years ago. The youkai is called Ne no Kubi or Root Head in the official VIZ Media subtitles for the trailer - and it was seeking the Shikon no Tama, not realizing it is already destroyed due to being sealed away for so long. Ne no Kubi attacks Kagome, because she clearly looks like Kikyou, but she wounds its head with a sacred arrow and InuYasha kills it with Tessaiga. During it Sesshoumaru appears to protect the village because Rin is there. We can see shots during the trailer that all take place here from this chapter.

For all those Westerners out their that use the term "canon", yes Yashahime is in Fact "canon" to the original timeline continuity. Rumiko Takahashi has been confirmed to have written the foundation story for Yashahime, and has been working closely over the scripts with Sumisawa. It is officially licensed and in no where near being a fanfiction. Remember, canon was a term that was invented by Westeners because of Christianity. Regardless, this sequel is happening. I have so much to talk about this new trailer that it feels like even after I'm done with this video, more ideas are still going to keep popping up in my head.

Towa is seen fighting another school student. She's known for her martial arts. She kicks this guy in the head. She says "You know, you should take my advice and let me go." Talking about her possible abduction. "Things won't be so hot when my friends get here." I think she's talking to the man in the Feudal Era from the first trailer. That's when Moroha and Setsuna break into save Towa. Then it's talking about Root Head from Chapter 559. However says "Root Head was a demon slain by InuYasha and his friends." I don't know if she's talking after it was slain. But Root Head was in fact originally sealed by Kikyou before she met InuYasha. A possible change or retcon from the Manga considering Rumiko's involvement in this. Sesshoumaru is then saying the same lines that he says from the manga "Root head... A worthless piece of vermin. Except..." If we reference the manga he's actually supposed to say Except, and then "It's too persistent."

Root Head gained the powers of the Tree of Ages (Goshinboku). This is the same Goshiboku that InuYasha was sealed on, seeing the arrow mark. If we slow down this footage you can tell that Roothead is growing in the roots of the Goshinboku. It created a passage from the Feudal Era to present day. Sucked through that passage, Towa was torn from her twin sister, Setsuna, and thrown into the present day.

But I think that is talking about AFTER Root head was slain again from it reawakening after the landslide. My guess is that IF everything does continue on the manga like normal from Chapter 559. But during the time it was reawakened it had already made a portal through a tree tunnel like it describes as in Towa's translated description that a fire happens, and everyone scatters. Even during the livestream from Otakon Kaoru Wada mentioned the fire. Towa goes to escape from the fire and finds that specific portal that sends her to the modern era. Unless they want to push the time skip further than 6 months allowing them time to have the kids. Towa is in Reiwa period, that means it's either 2019 or further making it overall a 20 year time skip since chapter 559. I expect that they have kids in a six year time skip that would make sense since they are all 14. The Tree tunnel is described in Towa's description, that means that we pretty much have a second Well. Considering the well was already made from the same type of wood as the Goshinboku was as it was talked about in the first movie. Now imagine if we had three different eras or even that certain events had changed because of this.

Here we see an Adult Souta and 4 year old Towa when he found her in the Modern Era. They're talking in front of the Sacred Tree. Towa's robe pattern is clearly based on Sesshoumaru's belt.

It looks like Souta wanted to pat Towa on the head, but Towa was scared - Then we see Towa brushing her teeth and Souta's daughter. Who looks strikingly similiar to Hitomi. I hope he married her.

Ten years have passed since the Higurashi family took Towa in. It shows Towa talking to Souta's Daughter in front of the tree. In the next shot, she's wiping the blade from her sword. In the narration Towa says "Don't worry! I can handle this." It shows Towa looking up from the original Trailer, where she's abducted. Wearing that patterned robe and the hint of the Lily flowers in the background. She says "Your big sister's pretty strong!" I think she's talking to Souta's daughter as if referencing herself. She picks up her History book and winks. Now it shows Setsuna and Moroha fighting by a waterfall. This is definitely reminding me of some InuYasha VS Sesshoumaru scenes from the past. "My name is Setsuna. I have nothing more to tell you..." "And the reason you die here." Setsuna's eye glows similar to InuYasha's when they found out he had the black pearl inside his right eye that lead to the Inu no Taishou's grave. Everyone has been trying to figure out if there is a special thing showing in her eye. I'm not so sure but I gave it a try as well. I looked at a few pictures of the gravesite and this one seemed to be the best one.

Though I am skeptical of this. Hosenki's son explained it would take roughly 100 years for him to master the process of making one. When InuYasha had returned to his father's grave for the second time, the pearl was somehow able to give him visions of his troubled past as a way to warn him that he wasn't supposed to be there a second time. Now if we think about it, remember how Setsuna has problems with her memories? Maybe in this moment it is a black pearl, and it's showing her flashbacks helping her remember or perhaps she was given an imperfect black pearl that is causing her memory loss.

Moroha is seen sitting down picking her ear. "With this rouge, I become Beniyasha, Destroyer of Lands!" Moroha has her bow, a good nod to her mother Kagome. "Tremble before the bloodthirstydawn!" Now the rouge doesn't always have to mean lipstick, it depends on the context on which it's taken. The rouge could also mean red, the red clothing that she's wearing. If she is going to be wearing lipstick, it would be cool if they somehow were able to magically bring back the lipstick that was once Izayoi's that was given to Kikyou. I know it was destroyed, but you never know. I like the idea of her having InuYasha and Kagome's locket too from the second movie. In the past I always had the idea of their child having that locket. Maybe she's heard about InuYasha as a story or legend, and is calling him "Beniyasha". So she's pretending to be him in a way, along with the bow on her head representing ears like him.

It shows Towa in the modern era, fighting some guys. She's wearing something on trapped onto her back. Could it be her sword, or something else? My wife mentioned that in Japan, open carry of swords is legal. So I went to double check.

Yes, this is definitely got to be her sword and that she is wearing a sword bag. It has yellow tassels.

I also noticed that there is a symbol at the bottom of her sword bag. It looks like it could be a pinwheel or the Kagome symbol. There are two different versions of the Kagome symbol. 6 pointed and 8 pointed.

"A new wind blows into the Feudal Era." We can see the Dragon symbol on Moroha's sword even more closely. The Dragon is wrapped around an arrow. During the Otakon Live stream Kaoru Wada stated that all three of the girls are the half-demon princesses. Meaning that Moroha would still be called a half-demon regardless of having less demon blood percentage especially during that era. "The Half Demon Princesses are here!" Moroha is fighting a Mistress Centipede. Is this the same Mistress Centipede from the beginning of InuYasha, that corpse was already in the well? If we remember, Sango has fought Centipede demons before but they weren't a Mistress Centipede. She would be killed for the third time. The Mistress Centipede shown in the trailer has three eyes, while the original one has two.

It shows Hisui, Sango and Miroku's son in his demon slayer armor while riding Kirara. Throwing Hiraikotsu! One thing that stood out to me was the prayer beads around his left arm.

I don't think he has Wind Tunnel but it seems to be a reference to his father Miroku. Considering Miroku has given Kagome prayer beads to wear before. Maybe even Hisui has spiritual powers as well. It also appears that he has Sango's sword as well!

Kohaku, all grown up and he's exactly how I imagined him. It seems like he has a scar on his nose. Maybe it's from wearing his demon slayer mask or from getting cut in a battle. He has the weapon he gets from Toutousai in the last episode of the Final Act. Moroha and Setsuna are battling. Could this be the same waterfall that Kikyou bathed at?

Moroha and Setsuna running off, Towa watching them. A guy knocked out in the background, Spider Lily pattern on the backwall, and a knocked out guy next to where the wall was bashed in. Just like how it was in the first trailer we were shown on the Otakon Live Stream.

Finally, Moroha is using her bow and yes she indeed has priestess spiritual powers like Kagome does! It looks like she's still fighting Mistress Centipede as you can see in the background. The attack is called "Heavenly Arrow Barrage". Similar name to InuYasha's Adamant Barrage.

It shows Setsuna using her Naginata. The Naginata is the weapon that can control wind as stated in her profile when her colors were announced! Much like InuYasha's Bakuryuha, or Kouga's Cyclone. It also reminds me of Sesshoumaru when he was fighting InuYasha inside the Black Pearl at the Inu No Taishou's Grave.

Feudal Fairytale - Yashahime Princess Half-Demon Towa takes out her sword and charges while saying "Setsuna! I'll save you!" Yashahime - Coming this October. October 3rd 2020

When we look at the image that came with the announcement. A few things caught my eye, Kagome and Rin are not seen in the picture. Sesshoumaru and InuYasha are both by the Sacred Tree. Speculating that maybe they're trapped in another dimension, or between times since Root Head was able to take the Goshinboku's power. I wonder if something like this happens, could this give Kagome the ability to not age? I'm still for my theory that she shouldn't age because she wasn't born yet, the same way her items were unaffected by Kaguya in the second movie when she froze time. People think InuYasha is holding something, no that is his forelocks and the shading on the tree. No, there is no secret image in Towa's blue sword attack. But hey we get a better look at Hisui's prayer beads on his arm.

There is a new character, everyone speculates to be Shippou and unsure of the character's gender. Looking at the HD picture.

The character has green eyes, dark red hair and purple eyeshadow. It sort of reminds me of Shippou or Ayame's possible child with Kouga. I would have said it was Takechiyo in a human form since Raccoons and Foxes are known to shape shift. But Takechiyo has blue eyes. It's not Jinenji, has blue eyes - Though I think it could be a new character. Could be boy or girl. Determining their gender is something I'm on the fence about atleast by the physical sight of it. Their body seems flat and rugged with torn sleeves, but wearing makeup. There's alot of males who wear makeup in InuYasha. Their attire also seems to be the kind that is most commonly worn by males. But Towa also is another character that dresses male. This character clearly has a weapon. More than likely a sword. Something that's interesting about this picture is that Towa's sword is shaped like Tessaiga in the picture when she's doing her special attack. It zig zags upward like a staircase into the sky - as if representing time passed. You notice it when you realize the other characters are actually not standing on something.

Seems like we are all looking forward to October 3rd for the airing of Yashahime. If you want to see more posts about Official InuYasha News, Artworks, Merchandise, my own personal views and analysis on the series - Be sure to subscribe.

#inuyasha #yashahime #anime #manga #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime princess half demon

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kiatheinsomniac · 5 years ago

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Chapter I: A Bright Opportunity

Clad in robes of deep red and gold, she waited in the shadow of the hidden door, peering through the crack of it being ajar, the hidden stone tunnel stretching out behind her. Her slim body was leaned back against the cold wall as she waited for her contact's company to leave the room. Once alone, she stepped silently out of the shadows and into the warm golden light that poured in through the polished windows, kissing the skin of the woman's face as soon as she pushed her hood down from her head and onto her shoulders.

"Your majesty." She addressed formally, kneeling down as she bowed her head towards the floor and placed a hand over her heart.

"Winifred, I take that your presence before me means you have something of importance?" The red-haired queen of England queried, waving off the alerted guards to lower their weapons before gesturing for the other woman to stand.

"Of course." Spoke the assassin, rising from her bow to pluck a letter from her pocket, the red wax seal already broken, she handed it over to her queen, "A plot by the Vatican - and I'm afraid that your cousin Mary may be involved too, Elizabeth."

"Thank you." The queen spoke, sucking down a breath as she thought of the gravity of the situation - yet another burden for the queen's already heavy shoulders, "Though, this only means more work for you, I need you to uncover if Mary truly is involved, I want to know exactly what powers are conspiring against me and my throne."

"I'll get right to it, your majesty."

LOADING ANIMUS DATA...

██████████████]99%

(Y/n) opened her (e/c) orbs, her vision fuzzy from sleep. An irritated groan was pulled from her lips when she reached for her phone, her alarm blaring in her tired ears. It was six in the morning and her usual time to get up for school.

Her dream was quickly fading from her memory, all she could remember was seeing Queen Elizabeth I of England and an old-fashioned letter with a seal. "Proof that I'm passing history, I suppose." She grumbled to herself as she unlocked her phone to check all her social medias before she exited her plush bed. It was full of white fluffy blankets and pillows and shielded her body from the cold air that nipped at anything outside of her blankets. Her light grey walls stood tall around her in her rather plainly decorated bedroom - there wasn't much aside from her wardrobe and organised desk.

She quickly finished up checking all her messages before jumping out of bed and heading to the bathroom to relieve herself, wash her face and to brush her teeth, shivering gently at the cold temperature, all too eager to get back to her room where she could wrap herself in a blanket as she readied herself.

Upon returning to her room, she began dressing for the day of school that lie ahead, sitting on the floor in front of her full-length mirror to style her (h/l) (h/c) hair and do her usual makeup. As she went through her morning routine, she danced around a little to the music that was playing from her phone - mostly her favourite songs by Lana Del Rey with some Billie Eilish and some classics thrown into the playlist.

Once she was done, she headed downstairs to make herself a coffee to drink while she sat at the dining table doing any homework that was due in that week.

She was the only person in the house. The solitude never bothered her ever since she was young - her parents worked a lot and she never had much of a close relationship to them anyway. In fact, relationships weren't something she was accustomed to anyway - her parents' work meant that they moved house a lot so she never really managed to make friends or stay in touch with them either. But, she was perfectly content with her studies and happily sitting at the top of her classes.

She was one of those people that could never get enough - no matter what she did, there had to be more to get done. For every lesson, there would be another three to learn to push herself further. 'Why settle for less when you can be the best?' she would often say to herself whenever she took a little break from studying to browse the internet on her phone.

Once it was time to leave the house, she was pulling on a coat and slinging her bag over her shoulder, drinking down the last of her slowly cooling coffee.

Her walk was just like any other usual day, taking the paths beside the main road while her music accompanied her through the cold early-spring morning. She let out a sigh while her playlist shuffled in her headphones, blasting loudly in her ears. She passed familiar paths and roads, stopping at the same traffic lights. (Y/n) had the option to be driven to school by the family driver but she preferred the twenty minutes of morning air considering she didn't leave the house often enough.

When she arrived in school, she made her way towards the library where she pulled a notebook and textbook out of her bag, going over chemistry topics regarding balancing equations and relative atomic mass. Her music played softly in her ears now, music without vocals that would distract her if present in the song. This was how her day went: get to school and study, attend classes to study, sit studying at break, attend more classes to study, have a small break for a light snack and drink at lunch before studying then attend her final lesson to study. Once she got home, she'd sleep for a while then listen to music/ paint/ read a book before studying until dinner; after dinner, she'd have a bath and take some time to look after herself before going to bed.

(Y/n) could admit that a change in routine was all she longed for but she didn't know anything else. She had no friends to go out with and didn't really have anything interesting going on at all aside from family events. She wanted a change desperately but had no clue where to start - whenever she tried to mix things up, she'd always fall back into the same routine out of habit. When the bell went off, she packed her notebooks neatly away into her navy blue bag and tucked her phone into her pocket.

The approach of yet another repetitive day.

She sat through her first three lessons, her work at top standard and focus sharp as she pressed herself in her studies more and more. Her attention was following the video on the board that was explaining the use of tangent with angles of elevation and depression, noting down little features to keep in mind (all of which she already knew but noted it down nonetheless to show classwork) when a male teacher, who was escorting a female visitor, entered the classroom, making his way across the room to the teacher's desk. The (e/c)-eyed female had seen the grey-haired teacher around the school before and was rather sure he was one of the receptionists. She watched the hushed conversation quickly occur between the receptionist and maths teacher before the man straightened his back.

"(Y/n) Glacier, could you come with me please?" He spoke up, the student opened her mouth slightly, wondering why she had to be taken out of class.

"Do I need my bag?" She quizzed, reaching for the strap of the navy bag that rested by her feet.

"Yes, please," He spoke as he made his way back outside. (Y/n) quickly gathered her things and made her way outside, closing the door quietly behind her. Her (e/c) gaze managed to get a better look at the visitor. She was a woman in her late middle-ages with fair light brown hair and turquoise eyes. She wore a purple blazer and skirt with a white blouse and black heels.

"I'm not in trouble am I?" The student quizzed, she had no idea why she had been taken out and was beginning to grow worried that she might have done something; though, there was nothing that she was able to think of.

"On the contrary, dearie." The visitor spoke up as they walked towards a classroom, that was bare aside from the school's headmaster, where the three of them took a seat. The school's headmaster was a woman nearing being elderly with jet black hair that presented a few grey streaks. On her nose were thick-rimmed glasses and she wore a deep red blazer with a white blouse and a flowing black skirt that reached her ankles. She was a good headmaster and had been running the school for the good part of three decades from what (Y/n) had heard.

"Miss (L/n), this is Miss Pearl Attaway." The headmaster spoke, "She's a member of staff at Vermere Lake Grammar School and she's representing the board there that are searching for students to join seeing as it's a new establishment."

"Ok. . ." (Y/n) began slowly, "I suppose, to begin with, I'd like to ask: why me?" She began picking at a thread on her skirt under the table, finding herself to be rather nervous.

"Your grades are outstanding, (Y/n)." Pearl Attaway began, "We're looking for students with gifted minds like yours, you'd be a wonderful asset to the school."

"Where is this school?" The (s/t)-skinned student quizzed, wanting to know everything about it before she began to make up her mind on attending.

"The French countryside." The visitor replied. (Y/n) opened her mouth to speak but was cut off, "I know what you're thinking and I'm sure that the proposal of a boarding school comes as quite a shock but your parents have been spoken to and they both are in favour of you going and have left the final decision up to you." (Y/n) stopped to think. This choice was going to be far more difficult and impactful than she originally thought.

"I think that I'm going to need more time to make up my mind on this. . . I mean: France? A boarding school? I've never done anything like that before, I've never stayed away from my house unless I'm with family. . ." She looked down at her lap. This could be her chance to really advance in her studies! And the fact that they had sought her out specifically too! Would she be around more like-minded people?

"It's perfectly understandable if you want some time to think this over but I'm afraid that I'll be needing an answer before the end of the month," Pearl replied. That gave (Y/n) three weeks to make her big decision. The (h/c)-haired student turned to her headmaster.

"I know it's a lot to ask for but could I go home? I want to be somewhere where I can have some clear-headedness to think about this and I'd like to talk to my parents too. It's understandable for you to say no." She requested. The older woman tossed the idea around in her head for a moment.

"I'll have to contact your parents but I'm sure they'll allow you to return home." She smiled as she stood up, everyone else in the room following suit. The receptionist began leading Pearl away. However, the woman in purple paused on the threshold of the door.

"We hope that you'll choose to join us, (Y/n)." And with that said, she was around the corner and out of sight.

"If I may add my thoughts on this," The headmaster spoke up as she began leading (y/n) to her office in order to make a phone call to the student's parents, "I believe this is an excellent opportunity for you, I've seen your grades and your class books and I believe that this school cannot provide the facilities and teachings that you need to further your education. This would be perfect for you."

"I know. . ." (Y/n) began thoughtfully, "It's just the boarding school part that's making me hesitate. I've never been away from my family before." It was true that she was used to solitude but she was used to that in her own household, not in the countryside of another country surrounded by other people her age. She was certainly stuck on the fence. . .

The call was made and she was sent home, hence why she was laying on her bed of lightly coloured pillows and blankets, staring up at her white ceiling.

"This could be the change you want - no! - need! This could be your way to get a change in routine and press yourself to be the best! But it's so far away. . . And? You're not close to your family anyway, it's not like you can't call them for comfort if need be. You're not exactly leaving any friends behind either. . . What if you can make some friends there? If they're looking for people like you perhaps you can get on well with them. This could be the best decision of your life! Or the worst. . . Come on, you get to go to another country and attend an outstanding school! Don't let sentiment hold you back! It's a boarding school, I'm sure you can bring whatever you want to make yourself feel at home. Tell you what: let's do it! Let's go to this school! What have I got to lose? The worst thing that could happen is getting homesick." And so, she reached across the bed for her phone to contact her father who would tell Pearl Attaway that (Y/n) would be attending Vermere Lake.

For the first time in her life, the change she longed for was finally within reach.

#light academia #dark academia #assassins creed #assassins creed fanfiction #arno dorian x reader #altaïr x reader #jacob frye x reader #ezio auditore x reader #edward kenway x reader #fanfiction #connor kenway x reader #kassandra x reader #alexios x reader #the elites

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bookworm411 · 5 years ago

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A Love Letter to Steven Universe

I was eighteen when I first watched Steven Universe. My friends had been trying to get me to watch it for...i don’t even know how long. Years maybe? Because it was a long, long time before I watched the show that they had me listen to Here Comes a Thought when I was feeling particularly anxious one night. I’m pretty sure I cried. I’d never heard a song describe anxiety in such a clear way, and I used it to help calm myself for a long time after, before i even knew who the characters were or what the episode it came from was even about.

Then I started watching Thomas Sanders on YouTube, and he’s a big fan of the show. The more I watched his videos and heard him talk about it, plus the nagging from my friends, the more I thought about watching it.

Now, this was after I’d graduated high school, and I wasn’t in the best mental space. I couldn’t get into/afford collage, I didn’t have a job or even know how to start finding one, or honestly have the urge to get one, so I was at home by myself a lot. All day every day, alone with my thoughts and my sense of, well, uselessness as a human being, with only YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu to keep me company while all my other friends were out doing something with their lives.

I’d been depressed for a long time without realizing it, but this isolation only made things worse.

Thomas Sanders helped. His Sanders Sides videos brought me into a community full of amazing, supportive people. People who...also loved Steven Universe.

So eventually on one of my long hours trying to decide what to watch after finishing Gravity Falls and trying to fill that void, i decided why not? There were a lot of episodes, it would fill the time for a while.

Anyone who’s watched the first few episodes of the show know that it’s...interesting. The first season itself is something one of a kind, but those first few episodes with Cookie Cat and Frybo know that the first time experience of those episodes are something you’ll ever forget, for better or worse.

There were things i didn’t like, of course. there were weird animation moments, Steven was a little bit too annoying at times, Lars was an asshole.

But oh man, the great stuff. Garnet’s complete mystery, Connie’s introduction episode, Giant Woman, Amethyst's pure chaos, the absolute love between the gems and Steven, The Cool Kids being absolute sweethearts to Steven, Greg being so supportive even if he’s a little distant from the gems, Steven’s clear want to know his mother, Together Breakfast, Secret Club, Pearl and Amethyst slowly starting to understand each other and get along. Fucking Stevonie. Lion. the flashback episodes where we got to get to know Rose the same way Steven did, the songs.

Don’t even get me started on the songs.

I was singing along with the opening two or three episodes in.

I started to loo forward to it, as I went through the show. My days went: wake up, get food, watch Steven Universe, probably do something else for a bit, go to bed. Repeat.

(like i said, i had nothing else to do)

I fell in love with the show. I saw a lot of myself in Steven (yes i know i said he was annoying but so was I). In fact i don’t think I’d ever related to a character more. His kindness, his absolute willingness to help anyone who needs it, the love he has for everyone and everything. He was everything i wanted that part of me to be. I was a very eager to please kid, always running errands for teachers, bringing presents for classmates, offering comfort to someone when they needed it. I’m not trying to brag or boast, that’s just...always been who I am. To a fault.

So yeah, I saw a lot of myself (mostly my younger self) in Steven. It helped me connect to him and relate to him easily.

But also, as a storyteller, I was enthralled with the world. The idea of the gems, who they are, where they come from, watching the Townies get used to the weird stuff always going on, watching Steven become a Crystal Gem. The art was beautiful and again, the songs. There were just so many things that I loved about the show that only grew the more i watched it.

Man, I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching Jail Break. Everyone in the fandom talks about it, but it really is just an iconic episode. Meeting Ruby and Sapphire, realizing Garnet is a fusion (which was obvious in hindsight but shut up), Stronger Than You, the baddass fight between Garnet and Jasper. The Lapis and Jasper fusion, the shared feeling between me and the characters at the end of “well. that just happened. what now?”

I loved learning about Beach City, how the gems were involved in the history of it, how different Steven’s Earth is to ours (39 states?)

Then, oh man, Peridot, the growing realization of Steven learning how to deal with his mom’s shadow. I absolutely love the episode where he and the cool kids find Peridot’s escape pod. They had the guts to say to the gems what Steven didn’t or couldn’t or didn’t even know he should.

I could go on and on, about all my favorite plot points, songs, characters, but this is already so long and I’m only on season 2.

Watching Steven grow, go from this little kid who just wanted to be a part of the team to being the leader of the team was incredible. The show talked about real stuff and showed real problems. Everything from making the gems understand that Steven was still a kid to understanding that a step parent can love you more than your biological one. Even just dealing with loneliness and trying find your place in the world, which Steven goes through multiple times.

I can’t count the number of times i re-watched the show. It was my pick-me-up show for when the depression was getting me down, when i needed some light in my life.

During all of this, through every Steven bomb that came out after i finished season four, i started going through my own journey of trying to find my place in the world. I started to go to therapy, eventually. I’ve got a job now, which is nice (if exhausting). I’m 20 now, though, so it took a long time for me to get here, and I’m still trying.

But there were moments that I always held onto. Watching Change Your Mind for the first time as it aired, getting so excited when a new episode was coming on (it reminded me a lot of when i was little, when i would do the same thing for Teen Titans or some other show. The times before you could just pause the TV were fun yet stressful for your bladder). settling down and watching new episodes with my friends when they came over. Singing Here Comes a Thought to my friend’s son when he was an infant, and then watching him watch the TV as the song played while i was re-watching Mindful Education, and then looking at me, like he recognized it as the song I’ll sing to him sometimes. Man I can’t wait until he’s a little older so we can watch it together.

Steven Universe Future honestly reflected the person i was when i first started watching the show (on a very superficial level). Steven trying to figure out what to do now that the universe didn’t need him to save it, him trying to see where he fits in again. Him finally, finally coming to terms with the fact that he is not okay, and having that meltdown that finally led to him getting help, and that got through to his family that he needed them, not the other way around.

I just watched the finale today. I cried like a baby. I’m not afraid to admit it. Watching something that means so much to you end is the definition of bittersweet.

Seven Universe was there for me in my darkest times, when I needed that bit of light. He brought me closer to my friends, helped me make new ones. Gave me something to love when that was hard for me to do.

Now, the show didn’t cure me. It didn’t snap something inside of me or anything like that. It was just a comfort. A warm blanket wrapped around me with a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy day. It didn’t make the snow go away, but it blocked out the cold long enough for me to remember what it’s like to feel warm again, and make me want to seek that warmth permanently.

So thank you, Steven, for everything you’ve done. I’m glad you’re getting the help you need now too.

And thank you Rebecca Sugar, for bringing this light into the world. For fighting for your vision, gifting us your talents, and being a true inspiration to me and many other creators. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next (hopefully after you take a long deserved vacation).

I can’t believe we’ve come so far.

#steven universe #long post #tw depression mention #a love letter to steven universe

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