#In short the entertainment industry is really taking a step backwards. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

arecomicsevengood · 4 years ago

Text

Quarantine Movie-Watching Journal, Continued

Throughout all this quarantine time I’ve been chronicling my watching movies, I’ve also been reading books, but have had assorted troubles on a level that seems close to basic comprehension, or just getting on their wavelength. Part of this is having a certain tendency towards the difficult or avant-garde in terms of what I think is “good,” but also wanting things to make sense or have a certain level of clarity: It’s maybe a difficult balance to strike but I don’t know, plenty of books pull it off, I have plenty of favorites. Nothing I’ve read recently has really been hitting, the only thing I’ve found compulsively readable is Virginie Despentes’ Vernon Subutex series, which I would hesitate to recommend as I also think they’re kind of bad. I want clarity on a certain level, and mystery on a deeper one; a lot of things essentially get the formula backwards, and feel incredibly obvious and free of ideas while employing obfuscatory language. (This isn’t to say I like “straightforward” prose, the “mystery” I’m referring to is basically created as an act of alchemy when language is functioning on its highest level, and insight, mood, imagery, and motion are all generated simultaneously. This isn’t “plain speech” I’m describing, but it doesn’t short-circuit the brain’s ability to make sense of it.)

In watching a lot of older movies I find that one of the things that help them maintain a level of interest is I possess a certain confusion about their cultural context. Even if something is a perfectly straightforward mainstream entertainment, there is still a sense of confusion or mystery about it, where you can follow it perfectly, but don’t necessarily know where it’s coming from, so it’s unclear where it’s going. In contrast, watching modern movies, especially more mainstream things but also, generally speaking, everything, I feel like not only do I know exactly where it’s coming from it’s also aggressively spelling everything out, as if to avoid moral confusion. This is also combined with a certain aggressiveness to the editing, so even as everything too fast-paced on certain level, it also ends up being too long, because it needs to fit in a certain level of redundancy. Older things tend to have a greater degree of storytelling clarity that’s also premised on a higher level of trust in the viewer’s ability to intuit things. Maybe there’s also a greater level of reliance on a set of semiotic devices that we’ve become more critical of over time, but what’s emerged in their absence feels more self-consciously insistent.

Little Women (2019) dir. Greta Gerwig

After watching this I looked up on IMDB to see what Gerwig is up to now and she’s slated to direct a Barbie movie? I hate this era, where success doesn’t lead to any actual clout to make important or interesting work, but instead forces artists into these traps of economic contract where they service a trademark. Also this movie is kind of weird because all these actresses are in their twenties but I think are meant to be playing teenagers for most of it? Or even younger? This movie basically feels like it is meant to be for children but is given this gloss over it to maybe seem appealing to young adult modern feminists but it doesn’t really seem like it would be except to the extent they’re indulging a youthful nostalgia.

Shirley (2020) dir. Josephine Decker

I’ve been wanting to watch Decker’s last movie Madeline’s Madeline because a lady I met and thought was cute has a small role in it. I guess all her movies are about artists and performers? I like that this one seems capable of depicting a fiction writer without just presenting their work as autobiographical but I guess that’s because it’s, you know, a real person whose story is being told. Elisabeth Moss is pretty good as Shirley Jackson. Jackson acts real weird and petulant and destructive and I sort of went in feeling like she would be depicted as a manipulative monster, but watching it I felt like it was probably well-researched and accurate to how she was but not in a way that makes me dislike Shirley Jackson — but also I do like destructive difficult personalities and I think that’s basically a fine and acceptable way for artists, or anyone, to behave. I still don’t think this is really a good movie, Shirley Jackson is not really the lead but more like the only interesting character: She’s got an obnoxious and self-satisfied husband, but the movie is more about this couple that moves in — a woman who’s pretty dull is the focal point, and her husband is boring, and manipulative too, albeit in a very commonplace way. Pretty average.

The Predator (2018) dir. Shane Black

A movie about how people with Asperger’s are the next step in human evolution that nonetheless uses the r-word slur to describe them, filled with some of the most generic actors imaginable. I like Shane Black movies as much as the next guy, but am indifferent to the Predator franchise. Maybe because, despite the R rating, they really do feel like they’re made to sell toys, like so many cartoons of the eighties? I hope the sequel the ending transparently sets up never gets made.

The Lighthouse (2019) dir. Robert Eggers

Wasn’t able to finish The Witch and I stopped and started this one a few times. Tries to avoid accusations that “all these modern horror movies are dumb as shit” by not being a horror movie but it also isn’t really anything else — Not funny enough to be a comedy nor evocative enough to be an art movie. Sort of like High Life in the sense that Robert Pattinson isn’t actually good in it but maybe it’s surprising that a mainstream actor would be in a “weird movie,” but he doesn’t really have to do anything in either, at least as far as building a character goes. It’s underwritten enough he might not even know how to read. Willem Dafoe is ok as a guy doing the sea captain voice from The Simpsons.

The Whistlers (2020) dir. Corneliu Poromboiu

Contemporary crime thing that vaguely reminded me of all the other post-Tarantino crime movies made in the past 25 years that I don’t really remember, particularly the ones in other languages. This one’s got characters learning a whistling language to communicate in a way cops will just thing is birds. Also a semi-complicated plot, told non-linearly. The female lead also pretends to be a prostitute and has sex with a criminal dude so the police watching him with hidden cameras don’t figure out what she’s up to, although, if I understand the plot, I’m pretty sure they work it out anyway.

Pain And Glory (2019) dir. Pedro Almodovar

This one stars Antonio Banderas, is pretty plainly autobiographical, being about a filmmaker approaching the end of his life -- Penelope Cruz plays the mother in flashbacks that are then shown to be a filmed recreation as an autobiographical work is begun, which is the sort of twist that could seem corny but isn’t. The film has a weird/interesting structure, the slow revelation of details from the character’s past forming a narrative a film can be made of eventually but before that there’s this totally separate story involving an actor, heroin use, and an ex-lover. That stuff’s good but also it sort of wraps up halfway through. Like, a bundle of narrative threads culminate, and then the film keeps going, to eventually tie up other bits that seem incidental. Maybe this would be fine in a theater but streamed at home I got a bit anxious. Penelope Cruz made me think “I could watch Vanilla Sky” but it turned out I can’t, it’s unwatchable.

High Heels (1991) dir. Pedro Almodovar

I love Almodovar, my stance has been that there’s a degree of diminishing returns the more of his work you see but it’s been years since I’ve seen one of his movies, and at this point I remember very little of any of them. This one’s on Criterion as part of a collection of films with scores by Ryuichi Sakamoto — Sakamoto’s not my favorite member of Yellow Magic Orchestra but he’s certainly an adept talent, and this one operates differently than I’d expect from him, most of the music feels saxophone-led, sort of in a jazz vein. Obviously you can compose for this instrumentation but yeah, not what I’d expect. The movie itself is pretty solid: bright colors, some melodrama, a ridiculous twist, a sense of humor which feels both over the top and somewhat deadpan. A woman’s mother returns to Spain after close to a lifetime away, she ends up sleeping with the daughter’s husband, he turns up dead, the daughter reveals he killed her stepfather as a child. The movie is primarily about the daughter’s yearning for the approval for an emotionally distant mother, at one point she summarizes the Bergman movie Autumn Sonata for her, but Almodovar is gayer and more sexually perverse than Bergman. so it’s less dour than I’m maybe making it sound. At one point the daughter is wearing a sweater with the pattern of the Maryland flag on it? But the credits reveal all her outfits are by Chanel.

The Handmaid’s Tale (1990) dir. Volker Schlondorff

The score is closer to what I would expect from Sakamoto here, in a martial/industrial vein, though not exclusively. Stars Natasha Richardson, and her performance feels related to what she did in Patty Hearst — a depiction of a woman shutting down parts of herself for the sake of her own survival, displaying inner reserves of strength through the appearance of submission. This seems a lot better than the current Hulu show, although I think it’s largely dismissed? It’s been a while since I read the book so I can’t remember how many liberties it takes. Obviously there remain traces of an exploitation bent in a weird way, through depiction of women in dehumanized sexual contexts but I feel like this movie is good at depicting competition between women in the context of a rigged patriarchal system.

Merry Christmas Mister Lawrence (1983) dir. Nagisa Oshima

Never seen any of Oshima’s films, despite the allure of explicit sex in an artsy context. This has Sakamoto in it opposite David Bowie. There’s a lot of English language being spoken in a thick Japanese accent. David Bowie plays a prisoner of war Sakamoto, as a military officer, falls in love with and tries to keep from harm, his score does the heavy lifting of highlighting these emotions. Was not super-into this movie but it’s always interesting to think about how popular YMO were, and if these are the type of faces you enjoy looking at you can do that. Sakamoto’s got a weird hairline. The movie is fine considered in the context of like, 1980s movies (not my fave decade) that are period military dramas (not my favorite genre) and exist in this Japanese film context that is neither super-insane and exuberant in its style nor is it super-austere and minimal.

A Farewell To Arms (1932) dir. Frank Borzage

Very well-shot piece of romance, starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes, in an adaptation of a Ernest Hemingway novel I don’t remember whether or not I read in high school. Hemingway didn’t like it, maybe because there were a lot of changes, which confuses the issue of whether or not I know the source material further. I don’t like this movie as much as I liked History Is Made At Night but it makes a lot more sense as a narrative, easily reduced to a bare-bones plot: He’s in the army, she’s a nurse, people don’t want them to be together during World War I, he ends up deserting to be with her. Feels lush, romantic, dreamy and swooning, but I feel like the strengths are more in the cinematography than the characters — the leads are fine enough, though not super deep, beyond the depths of their love, but the supporting cast is a bit dull.

War Of The Worlds (2005) dir. Steven Spielberg

Feel like I had heard this one was good? I appreciate Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible movies, and Spielberg some of the time I guess. This is a blockbuster that feels post-9/11 in a way where I wonder what a post-Corona thing would feel like — feel like it would shy away from away from a lot of spectacle or something but probably I’m wrong about that. So this one focuses on a parent and his children making their way across an increasingly demolished landscape to make it to the other parent, alien monsters are in the way, kinda just seems logistically weird or like the premise of the quest is unsound given the stakes should probably just be survival? But maybe this is post-covid thinking of how such a thing would operate — the disaster picture with a “human element” to focus the narrative on is a decades-old form and one I don’t really get down with nor do I think is generally considered to age well - i.e. I don’t remember growing up with The Towering Inferno being on TV.

My Twentieth Century (1989) dir. Ildiko Enyedi

Weird Hungarian movie where like… angels/stars observe? As two twins are born in the late eighteen-hundreds and go on to have separate lives? One as an anarchist, the other as like a party girl type who seduces rich men. The latter gets more attention than the former. Sort of a fairy tale atmosphere, which makes the explicit sex scenes awkward. There’s also a scene where a guy gives a sexist lecture about how women should be allowed to vote even though they have no sense of logic and are obsessed with sex. He draws a dick on the chalkboard and talks about how women can’t understand beauty since they are obsessed with erections which are disgusting. Not really sure what it adds to the movie as a whole since I’m not sure which one of the two characters played by the same actress is meant to be watching it, but it’s funny. A lot of things are confusing about this movie, but it’s still sort of interesting and therefore worthwhile I guess. Apparently the director has a new movie on Netflix — I don’t have Netflix at the moment but might get it for a month or two in the future to catch up on assorted things like Sion Sono’s The Forest Of Love and the David Lynch content.

His Girl Friday (1940) dir. Howard Hawks

not into this one. Rosalind Russell wears a cool suit at first though. Features the thing where a male romantic lead (Cary Grant) is openly manipulative but it’s sort of viewed as fine and funny because the woman in question is confident and modern, which kinda feels like a fascinating view into the gender dynamics of the time, although I don’t think it works as a comedy as far as me being able to figure out what the jokes are. The journalists getting caught up in crime intrigue plot is cool though, that kind of feels like something that always works.

Lured (1947) dir. Douglas Sirk

Kind of have no idea why I watched all the older Douglas Sirk movies on the Criterion Channel at this point, even the ones I liked I don’t think I liked that much? This one stars Lucille Ball, who I don’t love. Other movies I watched recently that were partly comedies and partly suspense things worked better than this. This one’s about attractive young women disappearing and Lucille Ball getting hired by the police to be an undercover detective. She ends up finding love, but then the man she gets engaged to is framed for murder by the actual killer. Features scenes where the police (led by Charles Coburn, who’s fine in this) talk about how crazy Baudelaire was. Wouldn’t recommend.

Far From Heaven (2002) dir. Todd Haynes

Not sure I have any strong feelings towards Todd Haynes, but it seems likely I might end up watching a bunch of his movies eventually. This came out in high school, and I had no interest in it, but I’m more charitable towards the whole fifties melodrama thing it’s paying homage to now. Julianne Moore stars as a woman whose husband (Dennis Quaid) is gay and repressing himself via alcoholism, who strikes up a friendship with her black gardener, (Dennis Haysbert) which scandalizes her neighbors. The moments Moore and Haysbert spend together are maybe the most interesting - particularly them going to an all-black restaurant - but the aspect of them being watched and judged feels more cliched. Similarly, the stuff about Dennis Quaid’s homosexuality is most interesting as a lived-in thing, and his drinking, hitting his wife, etc., is less so. The veins of sensuality running through the movie are richer than the plot structure that unites them. This might be one of the things that makes Carol a superior movie.

The Violent Men (1955) dir. Rudolph Mate

This stars a bunch of people I don’t like — Glenn Ford, Edward G Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck is fine in other stuff but boring here. Dianne Foster plays her daughter, and that’s the meatiest role basically- she gets to denounce violent men. This is a western about a guy being pressured to sell his land for cheap. Criterion Channel programmed this as part of a series called “western noir” and I don’t know about this stuff. Foster’s character is definitely the most interesting part — her parents are essentially these gangsters running the town, her teen angst feels like it stems from an inherent morality and disgust with them. Stanwyck is cheating on Foster’s father (Robinson) with a guy I think is his brother who also enforces the violence. The mom tries to kill the father, and then is herself killed by a woman in love with the person she’s sleeping with, so the daughter, you would think, would go through a gamut of emotions. But she’s a totally secondary to Glenn Ford’s male lead, who she ends up riding off into the sunset with — he initially was involved in a relationship with a woman who didn’t care about his inherent morality in favor of a materialism, but she just sort of gets dropped from the narrative at a certain point. The movie really tries to play it both ways with regards to the violence, but I feel like that’s pretty common actually: While I feel like today the title might primarily be intended as an indictment, it also feels like at the time it was very much the sales pitch to the audience.

Shane (1953) dir. George Stevens

Classic western, about homesteaders just trying to live who end up needing to get in gunfights with people who want their land. Jean Arthur plays the wife and mother, which is why I sought it out (especially sicne she had established rapport with Stevens) but she’s barely in it. The titular Shane is a good dude who wanders through and ends up helping them out. The kid’s infatuation of Shane is really annoying to me personally. I love how this has two big fist-fights though, the second of which is a They Live style thing, a conflict between friends that becomes incredibly drawn out. The first fight is also just incredibly brutal and well-choreographed, probably the high point of the movie.

Cast A Deadly Spell (1991) dir. Martin Campbell

TV movie made for HBO with very Vertigo Comics energy, I started off thinking “this is dumb” but very quickly got on its side. It’s a riff on HP Lovecraft mythology set in a 1940s Los Angeles where everyone uses magic except for one private detective, whose name is Harry Lovecraft. Pretty PG-rated, some practical effects (not the best kind, more like gargoyle demon creature costumes I assume are made of foam), and a pretty easily foreseeable “twist” ending where the apocalypse is averted because the virgin sacrifice just lost her virginity to a cop. Not actually that clever but clever enough to work and be consistently enjoyable. Julianne Moore plays a nightclub singer. My interest in this is brought about because there’s a sequel (where I guess the deal is the detective does use magic, and no one else does) called Witch Hunt starring Dennis Hopper and directed by Paul Schrader.

Jennifer’s Body (2009) dir. Karyn Kusama

The climax of Cast A Deadly Spell shares a plot point with this, which I think is being reevaluated as a “cult classic” to what I assume is the same audience that valued the Scott Pilgrim movie: People ten years younger than me who think it’s charming when things are completely obnoxious. A lot of musical cues, all mixed at too loud relative to the rest of the audio, bad jokes. This tone does help power the whole nihilistic, I-enjoy-seeing-these-superfluous-characters-die aspect of the plot but the sort of emotional core of the horror is less present. This movie is basically fine, by lowered modern movies standards, but it’s perfectly disposable and not really worth valuing in any way. I watched Kusama’s movie Destroyer starring Nicole Kidman a year ago and don’t remember anything about it now.

Dead Ringers (1988) dir. David Cronenberg

Rewatch. I think for a while I would’ve considered this my favorite Cronenberg but nowadays I might favor eXistenZ? Jeremy Irons in dual roles as twin brothers, with different personalities, but who routinely impersonate each other, and whose lives begin to deteriorate as a relationship with a woman leads to them individuate themselves from each other. They’re gynecologists, and the whole thing is suffused with an air of creepiness. There’s this sense of airlessness to the movie, a sense of panic, which is present incredibly early on and just sort of keeps going, getting weirder and more uncomfortable as you become accustomed to it, that feels like a sure sign of mastery. I’m fascinated to think about how watching it in a crowd, or on a date, would feel. Most movies don’t operate like this.

Imagine The Sound (1981) dir. Ron Mann

Mann is the director of Comic Book Confidential, which I saw as a middle schooler. This is a documentary about free jazz, featuring interviews and performance footage. Paul Bley and Cecil Taylor are both shown playing solo piano, which isn’t my favorite context to hear them in. Bill Dixon and Archie Shepp say some cool stuff, there is some nice trio footage of Shepp with a rhythm section.

Born In Flames (1983) dir. Lizzie Borden

Easily the best movie I watched for the first time in the time period I’m covering in this post. I heard about this years ago but only seeing it now, when it feels super-relevant. It is shot in New York in the eighties, features plenty of documentation of the city as it was, but in the context of the movie, there has been a socialist revolution ten years earlier, and this film then documents the struggle of the women, particularly black women, who are slipping through the cracks, and fighting for the ongoing quest to make a utopia, but exist in opposition to the party in power. While focusing on black women, there’s also plenty of white women, also opposed to and more progre.ssive than the people in power, but that are having their own conversations which are very different. There’s also montage sequences of women performing labor that cut between women wrapping up chicken to close-ups of a condom being rolled onto a erect penis. The title song is by the Red Krayola, circa the Kangaroo? era where Lora Logic provided vocals. So yeah, this movie rules! It would be a good double-feature with The Spook Who Sat By The Door, though in a film school context, or a sociology context, you would need to do a great deal of groundwork first. Could also work as a double-feature with The Falls for how what you are seeing is the aftermath of a great sociological reshaping realized on a low-budget. I think I put off this movie I think because I was skeptical of the director’s self-conscious “artist’s name” but it turns out they got it legally named as a young child.

State Of Siege (1972) dir. Costa-Gavras

Also really good! Better than Born In Flames when considered in terms of its level of craft. Would make for a fine double feature with my beloved Patty Hearst. Tightly structured over the course of a week, leftist terrorists kidnap an American and interrogate him about what exactly he’s doing in their Latin American country that’s being run by death squads. He denies wrong-doing, but basically everything he’s done is already known to them. This exists in parallel to police interrogations of leftists. Pretty large scale, tons of characters, some basically incidental. Screenplay’s written by the guy who wrote Battle Of Algiers.

Olivia (1951) dir. Jacqueline Audry

French movie sort of about lesbian love at an all-girl’s boarding school that’s weird because everyone seems like they’re feeling homosexual love, but just for one instructor who eggs everyone on. Everyone acts weird in this one, basically. There’s a lot of doting. The atmosphere is pretty unfathomable to me. Chaste-seeming in some ways, but also like everyone is being psychologically tortured by being subject to the whims of each other, but also just rolling with it in this deferential way. Seems like it could feel “emotionally true” to a lesbian experience but only in highly, highly specific circumstances?

Lucia (1968) dir. Humberto Solas

Good score in this one, which is not that much like I Am Cuba but I feel obligated to compare them anyway - both are from Cuba and use this three-story anthology structure. All the stories in this movie revolve around different women named Lucia, in three different, historically important, time periods. The first is about a woman who falls in love with a man from Spain, during the time of Cuba’s war of independence, he says he doesn’t think about politics, but this is one lie among several. This ends with brutal sequences of war. The second takes place under the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. The third takes place post-revolution, and is about a literacy coach teaching a woman to read and write under the eye of a domineering chauvinistic husband. As with I Am Cuba, it is the very act of considering these three stories together that brings out their propagandistic aspect, and makes them feel less like individual stories. They’re all beautifully shot, although it’s less in less of a show-offy way than I Am Cuba.

Mr. Klein (1976) dir. Joseph Losey

This one’s got a cool premise- About an art dealer, played by Alain Delon, who is buying art from Jews at low prices as they leave occupied France quickly, but who then starts getting confused for another person with the same name as him, who is Jewish. Gets sort of Kakfa-esque but also remains grounded in this world where there are rational explanations for things. (at least as far as the holocaust is rational) So the line gets walked between bits that feel vaguely verging on nightmare but also sort of maintain the plausible deniability of belonging to the waking world, of a paranoia for something the exact scope of which remains unnamed. Ends with Klein as one of many in a trainyard full of people being sent off to concentration camps, which to me felt sort of tasteless, as a large-scale recreation, but that feels deliberate, as a way of offsetting the scope of the film being primarily focused on one person, whose relationship to the larger horror, before it affected him, was parasitic.

Husbands (1970) dir. John Cassavetes

Not into this one. The semi-improvisatory nature of the dialogue never coalesces into characters that seem to have a real core to them, there’s always just this sort of drunken aggression mode. What even is there to these characters, besides the aggression they treat women with? What separates them from one another, makes them distinct entities, beyond the sense they egg each other on?

Casino (1995) dir. Martin Scorsese

Rewatch. Joe Pesci plays the violent Italian guy, Robert De Niro plays the level-headed Jew, Sharon Stone plays the blonde who gets strung out on drugs. Three hours long to contain everyone’s arcs, but also sort of feels like it neatly has act breaks at pretty close to the hour marks, while also telling this pretty big historical sweeping piece about how corporate control comes to Las Vegas, the notion that “the house always wins” but even the individual whose job it is to run the house is himself situated inside a larger house. Both here and in Raging Bull, De Niro plays a character whose third act involves trying to be an entertainer for reasons of ego, and it’s so weird. Yeah, a great movie, one of the few that the reductive view of Scorsese as “someone who just makes mob movies” applies to, I have no opinion on whether it’s better than Goodfella or not.

Blue Collar (1978) dir. Paul Schrader

Not great. Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto co-star. Sometimes feels like maybe it’s meant to function partly as a comedy but doesn’t. It’s also mostly a crime movie, about people working at an auto plant who decide to rob their union’s vault. They end up not making any money from that robbery, but the union can claim insurance funds, so they get to benefit while the working men continue to be shafted, worried about the consequences of what they’ve done. Kotto dies, and Pryor and Keitel are turned against each other by circumstance, which the film tries to play off as being about the divisions among people that keep the working class weak. I definitely feel like the Schrader oeuvre begins with Hardcore.

Mona Lisa (1986) dir. Neil Jordan

This ends up kind of feeling like a lesser version of Hardcore, with British accents. Bob Hoskins, out of jail, starts driving for a prostitute, they dislike each other at first, but become friendly. She asks him to track down a younger girl she was friends with, who a pimp has gotten strung out on drugs. (Hoskins is also a father to a daughter, though his relationship with the mother is strained from having gone to prison.) Hoskins’ character isn’t that interesting and the film revolves around him, the female lead is more interesting but deliberately removed from the larger narrative. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good Neil Jordan movie.

The Untouchables (1987) dir. Brian De Palma

Rewatch. Great Ennio Morricone score in this one, a real reminder of a different era in terms of what constituted a blockbuster or a prestige picture. David Mamet provides the screenplay. De Palma is pretty reined-in, while Mission: Impossible is an insane procession of sequences of top-notch visual storytelling, the most De Palma trademark thing here is a first-person perspective of a home invasion scene, watching Sean Connery, that ends up being a deliberate choice of a limited perspective to surprise as he gets lured to his death. I feel like there’s a straight line between this movie and Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990), but obviously what that line runs through is the reality-rewriting effect of Tim Burton’s Batman.

Pulp Fiction (1994) dir. Quentin Tarantino

Rewatch. Can scarcely comprehend how it would’ve felt to see this in a theater when it came out. I watched it the first time in college on a laptop and headphones and it blew me away, even after years of a bunch of it being referenced on The Simpsons and everywhere else. I haven’t seen it since. Rewatching is this exercise in seeing what you don’t remember when everything’s been processed a million times. Feels like Tarantino’s best screenplay due to its construction, more so than any dialogue, which is obviously a little in love with itself. Samuel Jackson wears a Krazy Kat t-shirt after his suit gets covered in blood. Quentin Tarantino casts himself as the white guy who gets to say the n-word a bunch.

6 notes · View notes

superthiccthighssavelives · 5 years ago

Text

Give Me A Try

Anonymous asked:

could you do a taron fic based off of the song “give me a try.” by the wombats?? everytime I hear that damn song taron pops into my mind

Thanks my lovely anon, I was thinking and thinking about this and what I could do, and more than just a one shot came to mind. I have no idea how long this will be or where it’s going...but I am here for it.

This is going to be switching POVs, btw. It will start off PG and casually slide into NSFW I’m sure later on...

I hope you enjoy the ride!

Chapter 1 - The London Underground

What a epically, incredibly, awful day I am having. Seriously.

If it wasn't bad enough that I've spilled coffee all over my new Michael Kors white blouse, I've also broken a heel on my shoe, and now, because of the incredulous heavy rain, I have missed my train.

I've only moved to London a short 2 months ago, and have been getting acquainted with the city and getting around. I've been taking the tube every day at the same time. I see the same people, I take the same route.

I was gifted, I truly mean gifted, with a terribly fabulous job at British GQ. Ok, maybe not that fabulous, but it's a start. I was assistant to the fashion editor.

Basically my job was to do anything, and everything. Coffee, scheduling, phone calls, picking up dry cleaning, you name it, I do it.

I have a friend in the fashion industry who helped me score the gig, and although my goal is not in fashion, or even entertainment, I do need experience in the journalism world.

So, here I am. Soaking wet, hobbling with a broken shoe, running in an attempt to get on the next train before the doors close on me, which is just about to happen.

And...there it goes. I take a deep breath and try to refrain from screaming at the top of my lungs in front of a bunch of random people down here. This day is just shot to hell.

I want my bed, and a glass of vodka.

It feels like forever for the next train. My feet hurt, I just want to sit down. How long has it been?

What seems like an hour later, I see the lights heading my way and I am ready to collapse. The doors ding open, and following suit today, I trip on air and free fall into an elderly gentleman, who gives me an angry scowl.

I try to apologize, but he turns away. Another deep breath. And another. I can do this. Just 15 minutes until my stop.

I look around for a spot to sit, it seems 7:00pm is the hottest time to ride the tube, every seat is filled.

I’m so close to just sitting on the damn floor, I’m beyond caring at this point. Of course, the only salvageable thing I’m wearing is my pants, and decide against it. I’m holding the heel of my broken shoe in my hand while gripping onto the overhead rail. The train darkens as we speed through a tunnel, except after a few seconds it’s still not lit back up.

I am jerked back violently as the train comes to a screeching stop.

Really? I mean, seriously? How on Earth can this many things just go wrong today. Why am I being punished?

A voice overhead tells us there is a delay (obviously), to hold tight and we should be going again shortly.

I want to cry, can this day just end? I’ve had enough. I don’t even have anyone to go home and bitch to. My best friend isn’t due here for another 3 months after she finishes her internship with a movie studio back in the US.

A dim light flicks on, but we’re still not moving. I just want to sit down. That’s it. I rest my head against my arm, that’s also tired, of holding it above my head. I feel my eyes water a bit, and pull myself back. ’It’s just a bad day, I can get through this.’ is repeating in my head, over and over.

I take a look around, no one else seems too bothered by the delay. People are still on their phones, listening to music and reading books. Their faces pretty much stoney. There are a few people walking through cars looking for seats, maybe that’s what I should be doing as well. I’m sure there is bound to be one on here somewhere.

I limp my way down the center aisle towards the door, trying to look ahead for an empty spot. As I’m stepping through the opening, the lights flick off again and I’m hit with a force. I think I’ve barreled into another person, shit. How many times is this going to happen today?

The train jerks and the lights flash back on, instead of being flung backwards, I reach out to the only thing I can grab onto to keep me upright. I glance up, a pair of light green eyes gaze back down at me. I get a bit disoriented for a moment, and notice my hands grasping onto this man’s jacket. His hands are firm on my lower back. I quickly gain my balance and take a step back.

“Sorry” It’s a shotty, inanimate apology, but I am just not in the mood for niceties. He smiles, and nods, his gaze still lingering.

“Excuse me” I hear from behind me.

Instead of moving towards the next car, I take a step to the side, almost in perfect time with the poor man I just crashed into, except in the opposite direction. A few more people pass through, and I seem to be frozen in place. I feel his eyes still watching me, and I’m looking anywhere else to avoid any eye contact. I have to get out of here.

Finally I get to pass through the door and claim an open seat. I rest my head against the back of the chair and close my eyes. Am I home yet?

10 long minutes later, I arrive at my stop and make my way up stairs that seem to go on forever. I cannot walk 5 blocks with my broken shoe, I’ve got to find a cab or something. I feel someone behind me, but I’m probably being paranoid, the train just let out and …”Hey...excuse me!”

“Hey, Miss!”

I turn to see if I’m the one being addressed, turns out, I wasn’t being paranoid at all.

It was the guy on the train, coming towards me, yelling at me to wait. I have no idea why he’s following me, but I am not about to find out. I jump in the nearest empty cab and take a deep breath. Maybe I should get a car...

Graphics courtesy of @stardustmess

#taron egerton imagine #taron x reader #taron egerton x reader #taron egerton #fanfic #reader insert #for anon #writing #give me a try

54 notes · View notes

psycho-slytherin · 6 years ago

Text

Strangers ch. 34

Yoongi finds your phone– and so does someone else...

Pairing: Yoongi x (female) Reader

Word count: 1.8k

Genre: fluff, angst

|mlist|

<–– Prev Next ––>

You force a laugh. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t lie to me, y/n,” Yoongi says softly, his voice a knife in your back. “These– Jesus.” He exhales sharply as your phone buzzes again, again, again. You would’ve turned your notifications off months ago, but you need Twitter for your jobs. “How long has it been like this?”

@satanhasaholdoffrance: hey @yourname make like a tree and die

@queenynuwu: I hope y/n knows we love her!! <3 @yourname

@gummyyoongi: has anyone found @yourname‘s address yet?

“I don’t know what you mean,” you reply stubbornly. You don’t want your weight on Yoongi’s shoulders, not when you know he’ll blame himself.

“Bullshit. You said this wasn’t happening! You told me that my fans weren’t coming after you.”

“And you never checked,” you reply, your throat tight. “You know what I am. I’m a liar. And you trusted me– that’s your mistake.”

Yoongi flinches. “I know you don’t mean that.”

You begin trembling, your hands and arms and shoulders tensing against your will. “You shouldn’t trust me, Yoongi.” I’ve kept too many secrets from you.

“Well, I do trust you. I know you too well, y/n, and you don’t mean that. But this?” He taps your phone. “This is messed up.”

You take a step back, shrinking into yourself. “I-I’m sorry.”

“What? No. Why are you apologizing?” Yoongi gets up and walks towards you, his eyes intense. “My fans– the stuff they’re saying– that’s what’s messed up. And y/n, I’m so, so sorry this happened. You don’t deserve it.”

“I, uh...” you mumble, confused. Why isn’t he angry at you? You lied to him, again and again and again. “Sorry...”

Yoongi sighs, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “What are you even apologizing for?”

“I don’t know!” You cry. “I thought you’d be mad at me!”

“I’m not mad at you, y/n-ie.” Yoongi raises his arm and brushes a loose strand of hair out of your face. “I’m just worried. The comments you’re getting, the haters... they’re too much for anyone.”

Your mind drifts to the nightmares, the thoughts that your hate comments have inspired within you.

Yoongi’s gaze darkens, but he’s not looking at you– he’s staring far off, at something beyond. “I’ve seen idols, trainees– friends– that internalized those things, and they didn’t see an escape... no one is equipped to deal with this shit alone, no one.” Yoongi swallows, and his voice wavers. “So don’t try, y/n. You’re not alone, and I can’t lose you.”

You blink hard before drawing back and punching Yoongi in the arm.

“Ow!” Yoongi yelps, rubbing his arm. “What the hell?”

“That’s for being dramatic,” you say, using all your willpower to keep your voice light. “And this–” you poke him in the ribs– “is for being selfish. I don’t wanna lose me either, nerd. It’s not all about you.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Yoongi laughs. “My bad, I almost forgot that you’re a force to be reckoned with.”

“Just don’t let it happen again,” you sniff haughtily.

“I won’t, promise. Hey, do you need a lift to your next job?”

“Nah, I’ll take the bus. I’m not famous like you,” you reply. Besides, you want to be alone with your thoughts.

“Suit yourself. I have to go to the studio anyways.”

“Another BTS comeback already?” You muse, and Yoongi winks.

“Nope.”

~~~

Once Yoongi leaves, you wriggle into another sweater and shrug your coat on over it. You can’t help but feel chilly lately, and you can’t afford to get a cold.

You leave your apartment building and quickly walk towards the bus stop. Your afternoon will be spent on a photoshoot for a new makeup line, and Lisa said you’d be able to keep some of the merchandise.

You adjust your face mask and pop in your earphones, your mind a whirling dervish of thoughts. You imagined Yoongi would be furious– after all, you’d promised no more secrets. You couldn’t help but keep your Twitter mess to yourself, because you didn’t want your friend to stress about it.

Friend... the word seems strange to you, almost wrong.

Well, we’re ‘dating’ now, you think, so I guess he’s my fake-boyfriend instead.

It’s weird; for years you were completely in love with Yoongi, besotted with his face and voice and laugh and lyrics. His shy, goofy nature. His irresistible charm. You remember when you and Lisa would scream together at every new music video, each concept photo, any hint or clue or theory. It seems so long ago now.

Speaking of Lisa... your phone begins buzzing with a call from your manager/friend.

“Y/n, darling, how are you doing? How’s the leg?”

“All healed up now,” you reply, flexing and unflexing your left leg. You lost a lot of blood, but your injury missed all the arteries and important stuff.

“Great. Hey, I lined up a job, it’s yours for the taking if you’re interested. They need an extra in a cologne commercial, it should only be a two-day shoot and we can plan around Moon Over The Sea. What do you think?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” you murmur absentmindedly. “How much does it pay?”

“Pretty well, your cut would be only a little less than you’re making on the makeup shoot today.”

“Alright, sign me up.”

“Great. And... how’s it going with Yoongi?”

You jolt. “What?”

“C’mon, y/n, you can’t expect me not to ask. You’re dating your idol!”

“I-I’m not, really...”

“Oh, shush. It’s official, isn’t it? BigHit confirmed it last week. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were together!”

You grit your teeth– you have to tell her the truth. “Lisa, seriously, it’s not real.”

“I know, I bet it totally feels like a fairy tale, huh? I’m so jealous.” Lisa’s voice gets quieter, pouty. “We have to hang out soon, it’s been ages since we’ve had a proper gossip sesh!”

“But...”

“No buts! I’m ordering you as your manager to hang out with your best friend... who is also your manager... who is also me.”

You can’t help but laugh. “Yes ma’am, just pencil me in.”

“Will do! See you soon.”

“See ya.

Humming to yourself, you continue your bus ride, arriving at the studio a few minutes early. A fashionable young man strides up to you bearing shorts and a shirt.

“Ah, you’re here. L/n y/n, right? Perfect, perfect, put these on and we’ll get you straight into hair and makeup.”

“Uhh...” you examine the outfit he gave you. “Are you sure this is for me?”

“Of course I am, what are you talking about?”

“It’s black, these shorts are made of leather, and...” you trail off, gulping. “It’s all very tight.” That’s right, clothes like these will only hug the curves you don’t have. You’re not a sex icon like some of the female idols you’ve seen Yoongi with on TV. You know as someone in the entertainment industry, you’re supposed to be fashionable– but you’re too much a fan of oversized sweaters and soft pants to let them go. “I don’t know if this outfit suits me.”

“Nonsense, you’re beautiful– you just need the confidence! Besides, you’re gonna have to get used to this type of stuff if you want to get anywhere in your career,” the man chuckles. “Changing room is over there. When you’re ready, head to hair and makeup.”

“R-right,” you mumble, taking the clothes. They look so cold, you shiver just thinking about putting them on.

Ten minutes later, you stare at yourself in the mirror. Staring back at you seems to be a child, a little girl who doesn’t belong, who can barely fill out the tight crop top or shorts. And you’re supposed to be dating Yoongi? You don’t know if you want to laugh or cry. Yoongi deserves better, someone prettier, smarter, who looks like they belong at his side. In your mind’s eye, you can see Yoongi next to you in the mirror– black-haired, a brow raised, his mouth quirking upwards in a lazy smirk. He looks like a prince, a god, and you look like you’re playing dress-up next to him. No wonder so many people are upset; you’re doing Yoongi no favors by being with him.

You sigh and shake your head. You’re cold, so cold, and you hate it. You turn away from the mirror to get your hair and makeup done.

“Okay, can you give me a little lip bite? Something cheeky? Oh, perfect! Yes, hold like that!” The camera flashes while you sit frozen in place. “Cross your legs now, hold the lipstick closer to your face... can you give me bedroom eyes?”

Face flushed, you lower your lashes and pout your lips like you’ve seen real models do, and the camera flashes again and again. The lipstick you’ve got on is a brighter red than you’ve ever dared to wear, and combined with the outfit and your bold eyeliner, you look a little edgy.

“Great, y/n, you’re doing wonderfully. We need one more photo for the spread...” the photographer looks around the photo studio, which is a rather minimalist set. “Can someone get me that chair? Y/n, sit on it backwards and try for a smirk– like an ‘I’m-better-than-you’ face.”

But I’m not. Still you try, channeling your inner Seokjin as you fix the camera with your best downward stare, and then half smiling as though you’ve got a secret– which you do, too many to count. Half a dozen shots later, you’re dismissed with the promise that the money will be wired to your account by Friday.

The next morning, you wake up to the familiar buzzing of your notifications, again and again and again. You haven’t overslept, have you? No, your clock informs you that it’s not even six AM. You groan and flip your phone over to read your new mentions.

@beautyoftheseoul: Check out our new line of matte lipsticks, modeled by #MoonOverTheSea’s @yourname!

@chimyoongles: Omg @2460sunshine did you see that @yourname liked a yoongi thirst tweet? Lmaooo I’m dying she’s rly all of us

@scarletwitchisjunghoseok: I think I love @yourname now that she’s exposed herself as an army lololol

@captainkookie21: why are ppl stanning @yourname for her fuckup lol it just goes to show what a liar and a slut she is.

You blink sleepily. You liked a tweet about Yoongi? You’ve been careful about doing that ever since you became a public figure, in case Yoongi noticed. You tap through your likes and gasp:

@slutfordionysus: rt if you want Suga to crush you between his thighs, like if you want him to use his tongue technology on you ;)

Oh, fuck. You never liked that. You’ve never even seen that tweet. Which means... you’ve been hacked?

144 notes · View notes

fanfictrashdump · 4 years ago

Text

Queening a Pawn, 8

Summary: During the Time Heist, Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped. He did not expect, however, to be pulled through a Time Loop that delivered him to a Midgard more than a decade older, wiser, and bitterer. Having just lived through his unsuccessful attack in New York, Loki must learn to live in Midgard after the defeat of Thanos (post-Endgame). The question is, who is Loki without a quest for a throne or total domination?

Pairings: Loki x OC

Loki sat to the side of the agent's training grounds, attaching weight to different lengths of sticks and slats of wood– the nearest thing to a sword or dagger he was currently allowed in the gyms. And, even then, they were granted on his good behavior and the recommendation of both Thor and the compound manager. He sent a rogue smirk to a handful of agents who glanced at him, cross-legged and surrounded by materials like a child, and made any sort of mocking face. It turns out that they were no longer feeling high and mighty when they had no idea what he was doing, and though he had been exceedingly well-behaved the month he had been living free in the building, the agents seemed to be waiting for him to snap. He carefully balanced a makeshift blade in his hand, feeling it tilt severely to one side. With a frown, he undid the adhesive bandage and shifted the weight further down the wooden length and tried again. He certainly wasn't making much headway, but the tedious work was proving cathartic to his grossly unstimulated mind.

The sound of giggling pulled him out of his focused reverie. A short glance to the door made him double-take and wonder if his isolation or lack of magic was causing him to have hallucinations, because he could swear there were a dozen or so tiny humans rushing into the gym.

"Hey, what did I say about wandering off? James?"

Loki suppressed a smile. Delilah had been bringing up the rear of the group with the Falcon at her side and had stopped to stare down a small, blond boy who had clearly been on his way to grab at the bows and arrows. The child gave her a wide, knowing grin and rejoined his peers a second later. "STARK agents have to be big and strong to help catch all the bad guys, right?" There was an angelic chorus of yes at her question. "Well, this is where they train. STARK agents, SHIELD agents, and some Avengers, like Sam, come here to get fit. They train with weapons, with each other, and some even train with their powers!" There was a wave of oohs at that, and Loki chuckled to himself as he wrapped up another set of sticks.

"Whacha doin'?"

When the Asgardian looked up, he couldn't help but smirk. "I believe, James, you were told not to wander off." He was already on his feet before the child could even protest.

Making sure the child was with him, he approached the group with unease. The agents were already staring daggers at him when the boy snuck off to him and their sentiments weren't improving when it came to a whole hoard of them. Loki cleared his throat and Lilah spun on her heel looking friendly if a little confused. He gestured the boy.

"James! You're going to lose cookie privileges if you keep sneaking off, OK?" The tone she was using on the child sounded familiar, and Loki couldn't tell if he was offended by it or not…

A hand tugged on his shirt, and he looked down to spot a freckled, brown-haired boy looking curiously up at him. "You're Loki. My mom said you were bad." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam wince and Delilah mouth I'm sorry.

Ah, youth!

If there was something to be expected of children, it's ruthless honesty. It was actually quite refreshing to be described in such binary terms without any of the vitriol behind it that it usually had. The crowd gathering to stare at him had grown, but he paid them no mind as he took a knee, leaning against his arm as he leveled with the boy.

"I suppose your mum was right about that–," he looked at the name tag pinned to his shirt, "–Jackson."

"I heard you brought a bajillion aliens that killed a bunch of people!" A redheaded girl in a purple dress exclaimed, a little too excitedly for the content of the message. "But then my dad said that Thor said you weren't a bad guy no more!"

"What do brains look like!?"

"Guys!" Lilah admonished, clearly having lost control of the pack of wolves.

"Why'd you kill those people?"

Delilah cut over the crowd. "Lo, you don't have to–"

"I suppose," Loki started, ignoring the wild signals she and Sam were giving him, "I was unhappy and I trusted someone who I shouldn't have, not knowing he would hurt a lot of people."

"Why were you unhappy?" The same girl in the purple dress asked. She looked struck with sadness at the confession.

"I had a fight with my parents," he replied, and immediately felt like an idiot. What was worse was that it was true, but he wasn't dwelling on that truth at the moment. "They hurt my feelings and I got sad and a little bit crazy. A lot bit crazy." The kids giggled.

Several of the children had sat down around Loki, as if he were telling a deranged campfire story. "But you're not a bad guy no more?" James asked.

"Er… I've gotten better. I got caught when I was doing naughty things and they brought me here and then they put these bracelets on so I can't be naughty, anymore."

James was already feeling the manacles before Loki could even react. He decided that staying as still as he possibly could had the least chance of getting him killed, afterward. "What'd they do?"

"They stop me from doing magic."

"I saw a magician once. He pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Can you do that?" It was Jackson who queried.

Loki chuckled. "I'm afraid not. At least not with these on." He tapped his wrist twice.

"But you can still fight! I saw a video of you on YouTube with some daggers and–"

"Oh, that's what Delilah's here for." The woman in question flushed, immediately, when fourteen small children and Sam turned their full attention on her. "You should ask the agents for the video of her fighting me. She's so scary! I'd be on my best behavior if I were you." There was a few woahs and wows at that. "But, even if she wasn't, I wouldn't be much trouble."

James tilted his head and his demeanor and blond hair reminded Loki of Thor. "Why not?"

Loki thought for a second, before leaning in conspiratorially. "Don't tell anyone, but I kind of like it here. I don't want to get kicked out." The children all nodded in understanding, adorably serious about the confession. Loki made a show locking his lips and gesturing to Sam and Delilah with his head before straightening up. "I think you imps have gotten enough high security secrets out of me for the day."

Someone came running into the room, jumping beside Loki and giving a scream of surprise. The kids were off their feet, screaming "Bucky!" at the top of their lungs. A moment later Sam and Bucky had kids hanging off them as they moved to the secondary gym to play some dodgeball.

Lilah tried to contain the grin on her face, looking at Loki out of the side of her eye when she came to stand beside him. "That was–"

"Too much?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No. It was brilliant?" The word seemed foreign on her tongue, or perhaps it was its relation to him. "Did you really just explain the Battle of New York to a bunch of eight year-olds?"

"I suppose I did, yes." She nudged him in the ribs with a smile. "What?"

"You're good with kids?" The observation sounded like a question from her lips.

Loki smirked, turning his head to face her. "You're surprised." His was most definitely not a question.

"A little bit, yeah. Pleasantly surprised." Copying his pose, she nudged him in the side with her hip. "Thanks for entertaining their questions. I hope it wasn't bad for you." Lilah cut him off before he could protest. "No, really. Thank you. It's a big deal… or, it is to me." She unwound, reaching for the hand nearest her, curled around his bicep and gave it a squeeze. "I'll see you a little later, Lo." She retreated, walking backwards to face him for a few paces, offering him a smile and a wink, before turning and disappearing through another door. Loki stood still for a long moment, biting into the inside of his cheek as he determined whether or not it was concerning that his heart felt like it was overinflated.

Valkyrie's voice appeared suddenly beside him. "Close your mouth, Loki. You'll catch flies."

He groaned, his head hanging, immediately. "Do you just appear anywhere you're unwanted or is it a happy coincidence?"

"I follow the scent of yearning and desperation." She quipped.

Loki smirked. "So, you end up chasing your own tail quite often, don't you?"

Valkyrie laughed, clapping Loki on the back which jolted him a half-step forward. "I think you're confusing genuine concern for desire, there, Snakeboy."

"Am I?"

"He's not my type." Loki knew exactly what she meant. There was silence between them. "Delilah on the other hand…"

He tilted his neck left and right, his spine cracking as he did so. The tension in his neck was only rivaled by the tension in his jaw as he ground his teeth together in response. "Perhaps you can make your intentions known to her."

"Oh, Lokes," she cooed, grinning. "Who says I haven't?" Loki cut his eyes at her, failing at keeping his expression even. "She's a good kisser."

"Well, I suppose you don't mind lowering yourself to such a standard," he drawled, looking at his fingernails with feigned interest. "Considering your life in Sakaar and all."

Delilah stuck her head out the door with a smile. "Brunn! You're here!" The human scurried from the door towards them. She had tied her red and gold STARK Industries t-shirt at the back in a knot and had braided her shaggy fringe out of her eyes.

"I'd ask how the dodgeball was going, but you look about ready to pass out," Valkyrie commented, straightening some of the braids in Delilah's hair until it resembled a warrior's pompadour–fit and ready for battle.

"They've divided themselves into humans vs Lokis and are waging battle… except they're all Lokis and we're the humans and instead of battle, they just wait for me to chase them and then play dead."

Loki couldn't help but snort, quickly trying to cover up the laughter with a cough. Lilah narrowed her eyes at him with a shake of her head. "I should have chosen my armies more carefully. I'd have definitely conquered the world with a handful of children at my command."

"Just when I thought you could be a positive influence," Delilah joked before looking pleadingly at Valkyrie. "Do you mind rallying the troops? They're on the adrenaline kick."

"My pleasure," Brunnhilde declared with a wicked grin, loosening her shoulders before leaving them and kicking the door open. "Alright, where are those tricky Lokis?" She yelled, before the door closed behind her.

"Oh, Lord. She's worse, isn't she?" Delilah muttered with a sigh. Loki nodded with a smirk and she groaned in defeat.

"I wasn't aware that you and the Valkyrie were…" he trailed off.

"Were…?"

"Involved?" He finished, looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

Delilah let out a cackle. "Involved? With Valkyrie?" Her smile fell almost immediately and a flush rose up her already pinkened face. "What exactly did she say?"

"Nothing much. Went on about your abilities in kissing." He said, easily, with an airy gesture of his hand.

"Oh. Nothing else?" She fidgeted, tugging at the end of one of her braids.

Loki smirked, crowding her. "Is there anything else? Are you keeping secrets from me?"

"Obviously."

"Is that advisable?" The space between them continued to shrink. "I am the god of lies."

"Secrets are not lies," she challenged, sticking her index finger into his sternum.

He closed his fist around her finger. "Lies of omission–"

She snatched her hand away, making a face at him. "–are only lies when you consciously withhold information for your benefit," she countered, "I went to Catholic school."

"So, you're well practiced on your knees?" He quipped, raising an eyebrow in challenge. He let out a hiss when she jabbed him in the shoulder. "I apologize. That was too easy a target."

Lilah looked up, and in the moment she looked like the portrait of innocence. Her wide green eyes were glowing under the fluorescent lighting of the gymnasium, hair tastefully in disarray from running after the little monsters. "I'm too easy a target?"

His insides did that same overinflated song and dance number. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering over her cheek. "Not at all."

She shivered in her spot, but remained unflinching. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you haven't decided how to murder me," she explained, slowly. "But I'm certain it'll end in some sort of cannibalism."

He wetted his lips, and for a moment he swore her eyes widened but a fraction before darkening. "It's not murder I'm contemplating, but I might take you up on the cannibalism," he husked, his fingers now trailing her neck. "You're avoiding my question, dearest. About the Valkyrie?"

"We're just friends. She just knew you'd bring it up with me." Lilah blushed again, setting her mouth into a scowl to avoid looking weak.

"And why would she want that?"

Delilah didn't answer, finding herself mercifully delivered by a notification on her smartwatch. When she turned her attention back to him, she had reset her casual mask. "Would you, er, like to come with us to the mess hall? The kids were hanging onto your every word, so…"

"Would you like me to come?"

Delilah rolled her eyes. "Really? Would I ask you if I didn't?"

He was getting comfortable in this banter. "Must you answer my every question with a question?"

"Must you?"

Loki chuckled, tilting his head like a curious pup. "I would love nothing more than to accompany you and your little monsters to lunch," he assured, fist over heart before he bowed. "Provided, of course, that I am not the adult in charge."

"Lo, I wouldn't put you in charge of watching paint dry, much less of minding small children." There was a glint of a frown in his face at the comment, that was quickly covered up by a smirk. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. You're very capable, just not the most responsible adult I know. You like having fun and doing pranks and–"

He waved off her concern. "It's fine. You needn't bother with explaining yourself."

"No." She had Loki's hand in hers. "It's just– I'm good at taking care of people and bad with talking and I'm sorry."

Loki squeezed her hand. "I'm not worth your time, pixie."

"Hey! Don't badmouth my friend!"

He genuinely laughed at her heated response. "Are you going to slap me again?"

"I might. You're a good person, Loki."

The phrase knocked something loose in his chest and he took a rattling breath to try and ease the ache. Before he could respond in kind, the rabid pack of children had exited the gym with Valkyrie and Bucky in tow, looking more tired than all the children, combined. He dropped Delilah's hand amid the chorus of Lokis being shouted at him, and he couldn't help but smile. He wished he was half as interesting as what these children thought he was.

"Have you all fought valiantly against the Valkyrie and the Winter Soldier?" He asked, bending down to face them. They all nodded, excitedly. "Well, we shall feast with the gods, then!" Loki was nearly knocked off-balance by James, the sweet, nosy blond, clambering onto his back and winding his small arms around his neck. "Alright, come on, you lot."

It was no time before Loki found himself the most popular person in the former Avenger's compound. He sat at the center of one of the long lunch tables with a mess of children sat around him, hanging onto his every word. Delilah smiled from the next table over. The demigod was regaling the children with a tale of how he convinced Thor he was a normal stray dog for a whole month, only to pop up and scare him the second he tried to give him a bath.

"Is it true you're a prince?" A little girl asked, to his right.

He bit down on a piece of asparagus. Every time he had a vegetable, so did the rest of the table, so he figured he would do some poor parents a favor. "Yes, I am."

The little girl gasped. "Do you think I could be a princess one day?"

Delilah expected Loki to brush it off as an absurdity and say that Princesses were born that way, but he was beaten to the punch by another girl down the line. "Don't be stupid! You can't just become a princess! You have to be one for forever! "

Loki frowned. "That's not very nice, Alice. Is that any way to treat your peer?" Delilah and Valkyrie both looked at each other, nearly choking on their juice boxes. "In chess, a lowly pawn can become a Queen. Why is it inconceivable for an ordinary person to become a princess? Through hard work, you can do anything. Apologize to Callie, please."

"But she–"

The look Loki sent the child could have very well melted paint, and it took less than a second of it for Alice to mutter an apology to Callie and continue her meal, somewhat sullen. "The only thing stopping any of you from being whatever you like is the time you put into it. If you're not willing to work harder than anyone else, you're not fully dedicated. That goes for anything: prince, princess, warrior, healer, engineer– anything."

"But, can I be a princess, though?" Callie asked, again.

Loki smirked. "I'll put in a good word for you with King Brunnhilde. How about that?" The rest of the table began clamoring for the same favor. "Alright, I'll talk to her. Let's go fetch your dessert, you imps." All fifteen left the table to get some sweets, and sat right back down. Loki had sneaked a few extra cookies with his scoop of ice cream and was alternating bites.

"Oh, shit," Delilah muttered, making Valkyrie frown and turn towards the table where she echoed the sentiment. "Loki, you're not supposed to have ice cream, remember?"

The Asgardian frowned, narrowing his eyes at Lilah, who seemed to be staring quite pointedly, but he had no idea at what. "Pardon?"

"You know! The way you get cranky when you eat something frosty," she explained carefully, lifting her eyebrows. Loki glanced down.

The hand holding the ice cream scoop was beginning to turn dusky blue at the contact and he quickly set it down on his plate with a chuckle. "Right. Of course." He rubbed his hands together quickly to dispel the color. "Do I have any on my face?" She shook her head in the negative, but did prompt him to pull his collar up. "Thank you."

"Really? Him changing species doesn't freak you out?" Valkyrie whispered. "His eyes literally turn the color of nightmares!"

"Loki is Loki is Loki is Loki…," she countered, stuffing a piece of brownie in her mouth. "Stop laughing at me!" She threw a piece of her treat at the King's cackling face.

"In chess, a lowly pawn can become a Queen and I already have a lovely pawn in mind," Brunnhilde imitated Loki's mannerisms and smoky tone.

"You're such a shit friend, I swear!" Delilah complained, though she was laughing, too.

"Delilah, let my awful flirting trick you right into my pants."

"I certainly hope to have more finesse than that, my King," Loki said, suddenly standing beside the table with a smirk. Delilah flushed a deep rouge, lowering her face to stare at the table, hoping the ground would decide to show her mercy and swallow her whole. "The children have finished their lunch. Where should they be taken?"

"Sam and Bucky are on drop-offs. Let me get them!" Lilah squeaked, all too eager to volunteer and leave her place in that conversation.

"We should put a bell around your neck, so we know when you're creeping around."

"And miss her face turn that fetching shade of red? Blasphemy!" She had returned with Sam and Bucky and was busy giving instructions about where they were going now. "You could probably do with thirteen more royals in your court, couldn't you?"

"I thought there were fourteen kids?"

"Alice will become royalty when she learns some manners!" He snapped, much to her amusement.

Valkyrie smiled. "I'll take your suggestion under consideration, Prince."

"Thank you, my King." His eyes flickered upwards to where Delilah stood, clearing the kids' lunch table. "Now, about that pawn–"

"Not going to help you, Snakeboy. She can do better."

"She could also do worse!" He defended, almost pouting. He hesitated before tacking on, "can't she?"

She laughed heartily. "Here? No. I think you're bottom of the barrel, I'm afraid." Valkyrie hummed, contemplating before sucking against her teeth and sighing. "But for some reason, she's sweet on you, anyway. Don't fuck up."

#Loki #loki fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fiction #mcu #mcu fanfiction #post-endgame #alternate timeline #valkyrie is pan af fight me #loki x oc #loki x ofc #valkyrie #babysitting

1 note · View note

metalgearkong · 5 years ago

Text

Jedi: Fallen Order - Review (PS4)

11/24/19

Developed by Respawn Entertainment

Up until now, Electronic Arts has taken the wrong direction with their exclusive Star Wars license. So far they created not one, but two awful Star Wars: Battlefront games, both overstuffed with microtransactions and unethical loot boxes. Sure the graphics, sights, and sounds of Star Wars were present, but when the entry fee was $60 and the base game had so little to it, I wasn’t a fan. Jedi: Fallen Order is an answer to all the rightful criticism EA has taken, and they have finally funded developer Respawn Entertainment to make a dedicated single-player, offline, action/adventure game that Star Wars fans have wanted for years. Jedi: Fallen Order is an enormous step in the right direction with the Star Wars license, and shows the potential on what a lot of money and talented people can create when backed by passion.

This is yet another game taking place place between episodes III and IV, a few years after Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi Order. I don’t know if the Force Unleashed games are still considered canon, but I certainly hope not. We play as Cal Kestis, a young Jedi Padawan who survived the purge, and has been hiding out for years as a scrapper taking apart old ships from the war. The Empire has established itself firmly as the dominant superpower of the galaxy, equipped with all the classic Star Wars stuff I love, such as AT-ATs, AT-STs, Stormtroopers, and TIE fighters. A few additions include the Inquisitors, apparently Dark Jedi not following the "rule of two,” who seek out and kill the remaining Jedi in hiding. I guess they come from a TV show or something, but I’ve never watched any of those. Accompanying them are Purge Troopers, who use electro-magnetic melee weapons and can be a struggle to take down. I think the Purge Troopers should have just taken the role of the Inquisitors because I think it would be way cooler to know that the only experienced Force-users left alive now are Obi-Wan, Yoda, the Emperor, and Vader.

The gameplay could be described as a combination of Uncharted exploring, and Dark Souls combat (although it more so reminds me of 2018′s God of War, also inspired by Dark Souls). I didn’t give this game enough credit in the beginning. I decided to play the game on the hard difficulty option, but a few a few hours, I bumped it back down to normal mode. I underestimated the combat and how tough even simple enemies could be. Encounters involve locking on to one enemy at a time, and timing attacks, parries, and dodges. Even low level bad guys can take down your health, especially because they usually appear in small groups. I quite enjoyed fighting members of the Empire, especially basic Stormtroopers, but fighting creatures was much more annoying. Space bugs, space rats, and space crabs feel like a chore to kill as they leap backwards and avoid your lightsaber strikes, and its often harder to read their telegraphs.

Coming across a squad of Stormtroopers is always where I had the most devilish fun. I appreciate how the game gave the troops a lot of personality. You can hear them chatting to each other before a fight, and they make sarcastic comments as you slowly dwindle their numbers. Laser bolts can be reflected back at the shooter, making ranged combat pretty easy. It’s when the game mixes melee enemies and ranged enemies where it gets a little more tricky and engaging. Every melee trooper is a Scout Trooper and I found that a little hilarious and inconsistent compared to a Scout’s role and ability levels from the films. I didn’t realize they can stand toe-to-toe with a Jedi using their electric sticks and block plenty of lightsaber strikes before being killed. I also liked the detail that when an AT-ST is defeated, you then get to brutally execute the pilot as he scrambles out and fires his pistol as a last ditch effort before his merciless death.

Bosses range from the aforementioned AT-STs, as well as large indigenous creatures found on different planets. Each world, from what I could tell, also has an optional, semi-hidden boss. These didn’t draw my attention much because they’re basically clones of other tougher creatures, only with a greater damage output, higher speed, and more health. You do get experience points for defeating enemies, but I lived happily without taking down these frustrating side-bosses. The most blatant rip-off of the Souls-like formula is the fact that when you rest at meditation spots (save points), it resets all the enemies in the level. This makes more sense in a game with tighter gameplay, such as Hollow Knight or Dark Souls, but there’s not as much of a need for experience points, and the gameplay isn’t reliable enough to warrant farming XP from regular enemies over and over again. I nearly gagged when the game warned me that meditating resets the enemies around you. I’m sick of seeing this mechanic, especially if it isn’t necessary.

I wish the gameplay was a little tighter and snappier. Enemies telegraphy their attacks well enough most of the time, but if an enemy is about to do an unblockable attack, the game doesn’t let you react quick enough to go from blocking to dodging. Many times I’d be blocking or trying to parry, and when an unblockable attack was coming, I couldn’t quick-step to the side fast enough. This means your reflexes not only have to be good enough, but you have to give the game a head start because it takes some time to go from one thing to another. This would happen often enough to get me frustrated. Another annoyance was Cal falling to the ground when the block meter isn’t depleted, and getting hit repeatedly as he’s trying to get up. I get that you can’t block forever, but you shouldn’t be “stunned” when the block meter isn’t empty yet. I don’t know if some of the clumsiness was intentional, but I would get pissed off during tougher fights because I felt like I was fighting an enemy as well as the mechanics.

This all has to do with combat, but I found the traversing to be more reliable. Respawn Entertainment definitely borrows heavily from the Uncharted and rebooted Tomb Raider series. Cal can’t do a lot at first, but as he remembers powers over time, you unlock more abilities such as Force push, Force pull, wall running, double jumping, and more. Sliding down icy or muddy slopes is always fun, especially when combined with other traversal obstacles such as gaps and the need to wall run at the beginning or end. If you die in combat, your brought back to a meditation point, but if you die while adventuring, the game resets you quickly and with a small loss of health. The animations were great as well. I really did feel like a character in the Star Wars universe climbing rocky terrain, jumping over ledges, climbing, and all sorts of stuff like that. It gave the game a cinematic feel even during gameplay. Same goes for combat which can be a little imprecise, but at least looks great. It’s funny, however, that a lot of what prevents Cal from going to new places is the game, is him simply not “remembering” how to do something, especially when he will recall one of his skills out of the blue.

One of the greatest strengths of the game is also it’s greatest weakness: the level design. Each planet you visit has its own interconnecting environments, of which short cuts can be unlocked so you can loop back around easier in the future. The map is also extremely helpful as it gives you a 3D view of the environments, shows where you haven’t explored, shows where places are locked, and shows things like meditation spots. But there isn’t one bit of fast-travel in the game, so when you find yourself deep in a tomb or canyon, you have to hike your way all the way back to your ship. Granted, the developers have tried their best to make the way back interesting with new enemies or new ways to get back to the start, but when some of the environments are as large and twisting as they are, it can be a grind to get from A to B sometimes. Regardless, I’m impressed with how big and detailed each location is (my favorite being the lush jungles of Kashyyyk). It also gives you reminders of places you can re-explore once new abilities are unlocked.

The story itself is one of the worst aspects of the game. While the settings and storytelling itself can be quite good on regular occasions, the overall plot is extremely basic. When Cal is forced to use his powers to save his friend during an industrial accident, he draws the attention of the Empire and the Inquisitors. The game becomes a race between you and the Empire to find a hidden list of Force-sensitive children left in the galaxy. This list (Holocron) has been hidden by a former Jedi who simply has put it in a difficult place to get to simply as a test, so that anyone who finds it would be “worthy” or something. We don’t necessarily see the Empire taking steps to find this list, but they pop in and our during cinematics when it’s convenient for the game. It’s basically an excuse to hop between a handful of planets and get slightly further and further as we unlock new abilities (a la Metroidvania). We spend a vast amount of time in deep tombs, putting Lara’s recent adventures to shame. It got old after a bit, even if the graphics and designs were gorgeous. I also think the game had one or two many giant ball puzzles.

The acting can be hit or miss as well. The most annoying character was Cere (Debra Wilson), one of the members of your small crew, who is a former Jedi Master, but has cut herself off from the Force. I think on a technical level, Wilson plays this character like a seasoned actor, but I found Cere’s character to be like one of those teachers or supervisors who is more dramatic than she needs to be. Cere comes off as condescending and a bit self-important, making excuses for herself while holding Cal to a very noble and high standard. She just comes off as endlessly melodramatic, and I don’t see a lot of need for her to have been a former Jedi, especially because she’s nothing but a co-pilot, quest-giver, and expositioner.. Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan) is a very vanilla hero who isn’t too bright, but is very altruistic. He has to have everything explained to him, even though I think he could have easily been telling other characters information, rather than being so clueless as a Jedi Padawan. Monaghan does a pretty good job playing him, I just thought the character itself was a little bland and typical.

Instead of the main Inquisitor chasing you around (called the “Second Sister”) I think being pursued by Darth Vader would have been way more fun. How much cooler would it have been to be hunted by THE Darth Vader, him doing exactly what his job was during this time period? Another inconsistency that irked me was that Cal is a Padawan, yet he’s proficient in single blade, staff, and double lightsaber combat. I know this makes the game more “fun” but it doesn’t make sense to me that a teenage Padawan is an expert in three forms of lightsaber combat, each of them needing nearly a lifetime to master. I was annoyed I could switch to a lightsaber staff at any time with no background or explanation for it. I would have liked it much more if the story and game stuck to single blade combat, and not felt like it would have been too basic or boring for most players. But I think the larger thing to blame is the Star Wars canon and Force-using, lightsaber-using people don’t get much of a technical explanation on how much the Force aids you or how much training you need to do on your own.

It may not seem like it, but overall I am actually pretty happy with Jedi: Fallen Order. Not only does it eschew the practices EA has become notorious for, but it’s a game in a genre I really enjoy. Aside from some combat imperfections, flat story, and average characters, I had a lot of fun exploring this game at every turn. Finding chests with cosmetic collectibles and playing with the Force powers kept me going from one corner to the next. I also enjoyed the music which was done by composers Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, instead of relying too much on the famous John William tracks (although they are heard far and few between). They evoked a Star Warsy tone and atmosphere without outright copying existing works. I loved moments like my first AT-ST fight, or climbing and piloting an AT-AT. Most of the set-piece moments were exciting and unique for a Star Wars video game. It certainly has its blemishes, but definitely not things that couldn’t be ironed out in a future sequel. I really hope Respawn Entertainment and EA continue on this path of coming up with semi-original stories with their Star Wars license and make single player driven experiences.

7.5/10

#jedi fallen order #star wars #lucasarts #respawn entertainment #cal kestis #debra wilso #inquisitors #darth vader #stormtroopers #star wars game #review #ps4

5 notes · View notes

vee-angel · 6 years ago

Text

The Sodom Virus Chronicles (Introduction)

Hey, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but I’ve felt extra motivated to write lately, so hopefully I’ll be putting out content more often. This is part of a project I’ve had in mind for quite a while. This introduction is part of the basic premise of a series of stories that will have an exciting amount of possibilities. And don’t worry, I’m still definitely going to be continuing work on the Pervert Pentet series (after all, you’ve only met Piper and Nancy so far; there’s still Teira, Sherry, and Bailee). So enjoy this introduction to the world of The Sodom Virus Chronicles! And remember, this is all just for fun and fantasy.

***

In the late 1970’s a strange new ailment appeared in the world.

The illness only seemed to affect females, and its effects were devastating; at first it presented with diminished motor control and cognitive function, a loss of hair, nails, teeth; eventually leading to death a few months later. By the early 1980’s the illness had spread so widely as to become an epidemic, with several countries declaring a state of emergency. Scientists scrambled to figure out the cause in the hope that they could come up with a vaccine, a treatment, hopefully even a cure. Eventually statistical information revealed a surprising fact: Women who stayed chaste deteriorated far faster than those with a male partner. More surprising still, the most promiscuous women deteriorated slowest of all.

A series of experiments were carried out, each with progressively better results. The result that finally showed a complete stop to the progression of the illness was the group engaging in unprotected anal sex at least four times each day. It was eventually hypothesized that the so called “Sodom Virus” was a form of genetic deterioration that, for reasons unknown, was neutralized by the presence of a Y chromosome. Doctors believed that the incomplete genetic material in male sperm was most easily broken down into usable material when administered to the female body This would be consistent with the experimental results; anal absorption was more efficient than vaginal, and much of the material was destroyed by stomach acids when swallowed. Therefore, while anal application was most efficient (with four average sized ejaculations per day being sufficient to stop the progression of the virus), similar effects could be achieved through higher amounts of sperm being administered to the vagina (seven times per day) or mouth (ten times per day).

When the news broke across the world, it was met with mixed reactions. Some were skeptical, claiming it was some misogynistic hoax, others hoped that it could be adapted with some kind of synthetic replacement, even though doctors said that was unlikely to become reality anytime in the near future. Men around the world stepped up, though. Nearly every hospital or medical office adapted large sections to be able to collect and administer sperm. Females who weren’t able to have sex due to age, communicable disease, or other factors were given priority. Women who were healthy and attractive were turned away from such facilities, sometimes harshly. After all, the supply was limited, and no one was willing to let the most vulnerable of the population suffer a slow and unpleasant death because some college lesbian thought “men are gross” or “anal is uncomfortable.” For the first time in history, young women were shamed for chastity.

Practically overnight, pornographers became captains of industry. What was once seen as a shameful luxury became a necessity, as humanity’s survival became dependent upon the near perpetual arousal of men. Donating sperm and fucking women became a civic duty. While it would take time for laws to be amended, nearly the entire world decided to no longer to prosecute rape or sexual assault except in the most extreme of cases.

The cosmetic surgery industry boomed as well, as did gym membership, beauty treatments, cosmetics, and nearly anything that could help make women more attractive. It was an uncomfortable conversation for most of the world to have, but it was a sad truth that a woman’s life expectancy was now correlated to how sexually attractive she was.

A few years after the cure was found, the world had stabilized, knowing they had managed to narrowly avoid species-wide extinction, yet the world was still frantic to adapt to this new society. Supplies of semen were slowly increasing, as drugs to improve sperm production and decrease refractory period became more commonplace, but it still wasn’t enough. Most civilized societies decided to prioritize their young, concentrating the treatment into a daily injection given to all underage girls until they come of age. After that, their health and life would depend on their ability to attract men willing to fuck them.

By the early part of the twenty-first century, the world looked very different than anyone would have imagined. It had been a few generations since the Sodom Virus emerged, and the effect on the demographics of the world was substantial. Even in such a short time, unattractive or prudish women had practically become extinct, and the men with the highest sex drives passed on that trait to the next generation.

The ubiquitousness of pornography resulted in progressively greater extremes, with the average woman expected to be the personal porn-star of whatever man happened to be using her. The now outrageously influential porn-company CEO’s could practically write their own legislation, often making laws that seemed more to serve their own amusement rather than any practical function. While many female politicians had tried to stand firm against society’s hard turn toward misogyny, it had been difficult to take them seriously when they had to beg someone to fuck them in the ass every few hours.

While the vast majority of women under forty were now safe from the degenerative effects of the Sodom Virus, they were still competitive. Partially due to a combination of a genetic predisposition to hyper-sexuality, cultural conditioning, and a general fear of not getting enough sperm to ensure the Virus stayed dormant.

In the most powerful country in the world, feminism was outlawed. Even the barest hint of a belief in women’s equality was punishable by a fate many considered worse than death. Throughout most towns and cities were Repositories where feminists were stored; in truth they were often little more than an outdoor metal post where a small cluster of feminists were chained until such a time that someone borrowed them for some purpose considered beneath even a woman. In a mockery of the their desire for independence, they were unable to be owned. As a result, they lost the only thing that put restrictions on their use. While all women were generally open for sex, heavier use and permanent modifications were at the discretion of their owners. But without owners, feminists were open to any use by anyone of any sex or status. They were often rented out free to perform hard or dangerous labor. Cosmetic surgeons and some of the more extreme sadists practiced and experimented on them to determine if their techniques were survivable and resulted in the desired effect. Some female athletes even used feminists like punching dummies to train for the increasingly popular All-Female sport of competitive rape.

Body modification, plastic surgery, and beauty treatments had become far more commonplace; and given that attractiveness was a necessity to women’s health, government subsidies made it universally affordable. Even girls who grew up in families living below the poverty line were easily able to get beach-ball sized breast implants and regular anal bleaching. In fact, some states even imposed mandatory minimum breast sizes, fearing that some errant flat-chested feminist may attempt to pose as a man as part of some deviant scheme.

The women who thrived in this society were the ones who considered themselves lucky to live in such a world. They read about the dark ages of feminism and prudishness as a backwards time of female oppression. They were finally free from the horrendous burdens of yesteryear; expectations of chastity, dignity, autonomy. Mainstream society agreed that such things were a regrettable mistake to force on women, a relic from a less progressive society. Women needed attention, affection, direction. The modern female couldn’t imagine the evils of a society in which she wasn’t perpetually exposed and stared at, touched, or told what to do. It was generally agreed upon that the Sodom Virus was a miracle of nature that came about to correct an unnatural error of mankind.

Women’s self-expression became unrestricted as well. Now that comfort was secondary to sex-appeal, women of all kinds were able to express who they were on the inside. Fashion became more daring, appealing to the extremes of every male sex-fantasy. Bimbos, punk-sluts, cow-girls, sporty dykes, and a rainbow of other looks and styles became commonplace. On an average day, one could walk down the street and expect to see anything from tattoo-clad goth girls in lolita style french maid outfits to busty Southern belle’s in sun-dresses that weren’t quite long enough to cover their cunt. And of course there were the women who had put so much work into their bodies that they saw no point in hiding any part of it from view with clothing.

The world of entertainment changed as well. While the privacy of female celebrities had never really been respected, the public now felt a sense of entitlement to see their most private or shameful acts. Not only were pictures and videos of every part of famous women’s bodies available at the cost of a few swipes of a touchpad, but they perpetually ran the risk of public outrage if any desirable content wasn’t available. If a female was part of a famous family, for example, it could be seen as an offense to her fans if she didn’t make videos of her 69ing with her sister, licking her mother’s asshole, or pissing in her own mouth. Younger celebrities often had to make frequent apologies for such failings, and hope that it would be understood that the busy job of constantly accommodating the sexual generosity of her fans might cause delays in filming or releasing such videos.

While the number of female politicians dropped swiftly after the rise of the Sodom Virus, there had recently been a resurgence of women in positions of political influence. Many were aging porn-stars, who were looked up to as progressive icons who had led the fight against the perversions of female dignity and modesty even before the Virus. Others were younger girls with even more forward-thinking viewpoints. They believed that the older politicians had become complacent in fighting against the evils of feminism.

All in all, the world had changed drastically from anything it had ever been before.

#sodomvirus sodomviruschronicles #sodomvirus

45 notes · View notes

thanapols-blog · 5 years ago

Text

˗ˏˋ ( chittaphon leechaiyapornkul. 22. cismale. he/him. ) thanapol ‘poe’ sathorn-sui is a 97 liner + has been at so!ar entertainment for four years. they are the main vocalist + lead dancer in the group zon3. they are known by their fans to be resolute, attentive + diligent but they can also be critical, arrogant + vindictive. i hope that they can make it in this industry. [ penned by lex, 21, gmt+8, she/they. ]

background.

long story short, poe was originally a professional ballet dancer who never really expected to end up in the mainstream entertainment industry. but hey, shit happens.

from the age of three, ballet had been his sole focus, furiously honed and disciplined to expertise. he was something of a prodigy, and a source of pride for his adoptive mum and dad (who are both relatively famous in their respective fields of fashion design and architecture).

but though they loved poe, they took more note of his skill than anything else and soon started seeing him as their potential legacy rather than their child. they sent him to extra lessons, got him a coach, a personal physician, and basically milked his young talent for all it was worth.

at eleven, he was signed with a professional ballet company, and by fourteen, had started performing among the ensemble. this life of diligence and discipline began to wear on poe, however; his ambition made him cynical and vindictive, even at such a youthful age.

as he was approaching the age of seventeen, he’d started to grow restless. he’d been with the company six years and still they refused to promote him past the corps. he was talented, he knew that much — he didn’t doubt his skill for a second, but was also never complacent, always seeking to improve — and this stagnancy infuriated him.

by eighteen, he was downright bitter, especially after a newer dancer was promoted to soloist before him. still, life opened a different door: at that dancer’s celebratory karaoke party, a scout for solar overheard poe singing and, after attending one of the ballet company’s shows later that week, approached him about coming to train under them.

it felt like such a jarring offer, an opportunity that come out of absolutely nowhere (who gets noticed at karaoke?), but poe barely even needed the rest of the weekend to think it over before calling the rep about the audition process, quick to join as a new trainee.

his parents were... not pleased, deeming the career switch unwise and seeing the entire thing as a ‘lesser’ art. until today, he still doesn’t have their support, but poe went with his gut regardless. his relationship with both of them has been strained ever since.

he trained for a good four years before there was talk of him and his group members possibly debuting. his vocal ability has improved significantly, though his preference is easily still dance. it took him a while to adapt to new styles, but he’s used his classical training to his advantage.

personality.

in the public eye, he’s all rehearsed smiles and polite nods of acknowledgement. he has an almost mysterious air about him, on camera and in the media; he’s calm and courteous, unruffled and endearingly quiet, an image that’s been carefully cultivated for good reason.

because the truth is, poe is far less pleasant in real life. he’s disciplined, diligent; rigidly meticulous in every way, from his daily routine to his diet to the way he behaves in front of other people.

he doesn’t talk much; he’s clipped and curt, but it’s less because he’s ‘mysterious’ and more because he’s bordering on misanthropic. he’s not shy, but very reticent and guarded, holding within him a quick temper and a malicious streak that rears its head at inopportune moments.

he’s unafraid to step on other people’s toes on his way to the top, and anyone who knows him knows that, too. his ambition is his crutch — because surely the effort he’s spent, the years he’s lost, the person he never got to be; surely having lost all of that will prove worth it, once success finally comes knocking.

miscellaneous.

he speaks thai, mandarin and korean with about the same degree of fluency across the board, thanks to his household and particular upbringing.

very much a cat person. sometimes rescues strays and finds them good homes, but has never had one himself because he knows he doesn’t have the time to take care of it.

very, very strict about his diet. the most indulgent snack he ever gets is when he has almond butter dip with his carrot and celery sticks.

an early riser. does kinda pass out the moment his head hits the pillow come nighttime, though. also sneaks short naps throughout the day.

can be very backhanded and vindictive when it comes to people he really doesn’t like. he’s very sneaky and spiteful about revenge of any sort.

connections.

rivals! especially like a super serious arch-nemesis type deal? that’d be fun. hate his guts, pls.

people he’s backstabbed/betrayed in however small or large a capacity. maybe he told them a wrong rehearsal time once on purpose. maybe he spread fake rumours about them?

someone he’s weirdly endeared to?? he’ll look out for them and make them proper meals if they’re not eating healthy but also insult their life choices along the way. ...probably not the best deal tbh.

an actual genuine friend or two. why do you stick around? hell if poe knows, bc even he wouldn’t, really.

people from his past, who knew him during his time with the ballet company? or maybe even childhood rich kid friends, with their parents setting up play dates for them.

flirtationships!! he’s not the most charming sort even on his best days and he’s kind of an angry blushing mess around someone he actually likes, but he does still do the casual flirting thing.

speaking of someone he actually likes, maybe a begrudging infatuation of some sort? like he fell ass-backwards into crushing on them and has no idea how it happened.

anything you can come up with, just toss my way and we can discuss!!

#hqidolintro #this is a mess but #like this and i'll come crashing into ur dms!!

10 notes · View notes

cloudynames · 6 years ago

Text

The Earth Fell in Love with the Moon

okay the long awaited story is finally here!! jesus christ it took so long i am s o r r y. all that matters is that its finally here and i hope you all enjoy <33 this is one of my favorite pieces ive written in a long time so i hope itll satisfy everyone

Word Count: 6,468

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Sensual themes, swearing

lets get it

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

If there were two things you were good at, it would be creating new gadgets and rejecting opportunities. Every step of your life, carefully crafted, led you to achieve your dream job at NASA. Out of the ordinary, you weren’t actually all too interested in space. You fell in love with rockets and mechanics. The sound of metal clashing and seeing your creation come to life fascinated and drew you in, trapping you within the life of a mechanic. However, you preferred to use your proper title of ‘Head of Maintenance and Mechanics.’ Life was extraordinary with a powerful position, having seen things no ordinary person would. Coming home covered in soot and sweat was fulfilling and you wouldn’t want it any other way nor felt the need to make additions.

As a result, rejecting the continuous romantic advances from a new trainee named Kun forced you to become abnormally professional when it came to denying someone of any desires, work or romance related. He arrived in the spring with an abundance of other rookies and as spring faded into summer, many of his comrades dropped like flies soon realizing the commitment it took to become a master of space.

Everyone left except a few, one of them being Qian Kun. Kun was a flame. No, not like a bonfire flame, ready to devour whoever got in his way of his dreams. Much to his dismay, he resembled a candle, barely burning and a threat to none.

Well, maybe a threat to you.

With a flat screwdriver in one hand and the other in a bag of screws, you started repairing the outside of the newest spacecraft, ready to be launched next season with high hopes for technological advances. You didn’t spend much time working on the rocket yourself due to your position but it seemed like everyone decided to take the day off in your department. Left mostly alone, you were running around to complete daily tasks while putting your foot forward for NCT 2XXX, also known as the pride and joy of your life.

Working with multiple people within the industry, you were one of the lead designers of NCT 2XXX, a marvelous spaceship with an exterior as strong as diamonds and interior just as remarkable. You have been with NASA for over five years and with NCT 2XXX for three. To say you were loyal to both projects was an understatement, you were unbelievably devoted. With a project as spectacular as this under your belt, you were bound to become one of the most famous engineers of all time. Perhaps in the future, historians would print the name with such care and remember the time from when they were a child, seeing the ship shoot off into sky for the first time.

Once the final screw for the plate was tightened into place, you sighed and peeped back at the row. It had only been a few minutes but it felt like forever, hunched over repeating the boring hand movements. Guilt exploded in your stomach. You’ve been assigning newbies to do this for months on end? A mental note was formed in your head, remembering to make sure they have some diversity.

A hand clamping down on your shoulder disturbed you greatly, almost spilling out bolts and screws from your pocket. Without turning around, you yelled, “Qian Kun! How many times must I tell you to leave me alone when I’m working!”

Giggles spill out of the offender as he shuffled closer to you. “Wow, this is what Head of Maintenance does all day? How come you never have time to talk me since you can multitask perfectly fine?”

Starting on a new row, you rolled your eyes dramatically, “Maybe it’s because I don’t want to talk to you?”

“Why are you so mean?!” Kun whines, pathetically stomping in place.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” You snap, turning around and giving yourself a serious case of whiplash.

“I’m on break but I can leave if you really want me to!” He tempts, a mischievous glint lingering in his eyes.

“What’s the condition?” You exhaled heavily, mentally preparing yourself for whatever he decides to shock you with today.

“Go on a date with me!” He pleads, sticking out his bottom lip and giving you puppy eyes. Sweat drops smeared his forehead and his hair was messy from his training. Dark spots soaked through his training uniform and his glowing, honey skin was covered in bruises and scars. As pitiful as he appeared, you clicked your tongue in annoyance and turned around.

“I’m not interested, space boy.”

“But I’m interested.” He counters, frowning and nearly throwing a temper tantrum. Was this man really an adult or a man-baby?

Your mother had taught you that patience would be the greatest virtue in life. She had made sure you expressed it every day, having you write down one thing each day that you had to wait for and the relief following. With a hushed voice, she told you that good things came to those who were patience--especially to those patient with people. Kun was putting this theory to the test today.

“Ah yes, because bothering me every minute of the day will make me fancy a date with your lame ass!”

Before he can respond, his training coach blows a whistle, signalling breaktime was over. He burns holes into the back of your head, observing intently as you rummaged through the wool bag for a knot.

“I’ll be back.”

With that, he left in a flash and leaving you to nearly scream his name.

If Kun said he was going to be back, he was going to be back.

Five hours later and a provided lunch break from a local mom and pop place, you were seated in the meeting room with a water bottle and notepad. Tapping incessantly, you wondered why the higher-ups called you in for today. They never ringed for you, only when they needed to figure out why a rookie was causing trouble.

Suddenly, a click was heard and the shuffling of men and women came herding in, murmurs spreading across the room. Once comfortable in their respective seats, the woman at the head of the table opened, “Ah, (y/n), our most important piece to NASA!”

Rolling your eyes subtly, you give a sickly, sweet grin, “Yes, yes. How may I be of assistance today?”

The projector snapped to life and the lights dimmed. You turned to the screen, waiting for further information.

“Well,” a man with glasses and slicked back hair states, “We have all seen you work on NCT 2XXX and do believe us when we say that it is beyond terrific! That being said, one of our previous correspondences had recently left us due to seeking more and become greedy in his work. We need someone to finish WayV, another rocket for a specialised group of astronauts.”

Biting your tongue, you stared at everyone in amazement. “So I’m supposed to work on two projects?”

“Precisely.”

They left, shaking your hand and thanking you profusely for being so corresponding and helpful. The entire time, your mind was in overdrive. How were you supposed to finish two projects near the same launch date? It was near damn impossible! Of course they were sure to pay you more to compensate, but in such a short amount of time, maybe it was better to reject their advances. NASA had hired more engineers for this exact reason; why did it have to be you?

Staring at the blueprint on top of your wooden, almost broken desk, you reached over for your phone and checked the time. Midnight was plastered on your screen and you groan, extremely close to slamming your head on said desk. Your head was aching and your heart was pounding abnormally. Stress is an important part of life but after living life so plain and planned out, unforeseen problems caused you to lash out in your thoughts.

Marks began to appear on the sheet of paper as you sketched out a very, very rough version of the final product. With a haze clouding your mind and your eyes too focused on the design in front of you, Kun quietly snuck by and leaned down to your ear.

“Boo.”

Nearly falling back in your chair, you pushed yourself backwards with a hand on your chest. Kun, knelt over while dying of laughter exclaimed, “Oh my god! You should’ve seen your reaction!”

A rosy hue graces your cheeks, making you scrunch up your nose and return to your work. Mindlessly drawing hearts and stars and swirls in the corner of the paper, you mutter, “Why are you still here?”

“Aw, are you embarrassed? You never just ask me a question without calling me a name!” He teases, ruffling your hair and using a pointer finger to press deeply into your cheek.

Groaning, you push him away and huff, blowing the hair in front of your face to flip messily to the back. Kun wasn’t going to leave any time soon, especially if he was here already after his training period. You grab the stool which you were using to prop up your feet and slide it to the side of you, patting lightly on the top. He stares and points a finger at himself, asking ‘me?’ within his head. Adding an overdone nod finally connected the dots in his head, placing himself to the right of you.

“Are you going to ask my question or do I have to choke it out of you?” You threaten, playing with the lead in the pencil a little too much for his liking.

“Ah, well to be quite honest, I’m not sure. I guess I didn’t want to go back to the dorms just yet.” He reasons, avoiding your judgemental gaze.

Kun was a man of many talents. On his first day, officially hired as an astronaut, he entertained the conference room with a deck of cards, magically shaking one and flipping it over to reveal a heart. Your superiors were impressed, slowly falling in love with his charisma from day one. Then, a few days after while carrying in a shipment of new parts, you overheard a sugary voice singing in a tongue unfamiliar to you. Perhaps you lingered around the area longer than needed only for Kun to walk out with wet hair and still buttoning up a shirt. He flashed a smirk to you and strolled the opposite way, leaving you to slump against a wall, desperately trying to fan yourself off. From that day forward, his furrowed eyebrows and pushed back hazel locks had you stealing glances at the boy. One would be a fool to reject the attractiveness of Qian Kun. He was charismatic, talented, and handsome.

Although he was practically a Greek man, he was a terrible liar.

Humming in response and letting it pass by you for now, Kun broke the silence, “Why are you here though?”

“Well, I’ve been assigned a new project and unfortunately it won’t be completed during regular work hours, hence why I’m staying here at,” you took a swift glimpse at your phone, “12:17.”

“Do you at least get paid extra?” He asks, stealing a pencil from your desk and twirling it between his fingers.

Rolling your eyes woefully, “Nope.”

“So why do you do it?’ He questions, throwing a fit and muttering about how he’ll take it up to the higher-ups for you not receiving adequate pay.

With an exasperated yawn, you stare with him with stars within your eyes and a drowsy smile painted on your lips, “Because I love my job.”

Kun gawked at you, mouth slightly parted open. A lot of the time, you pushed him away yet here he was, sitting so close to you and conversing with you like close friends would do. With your tousled hair, falling upon your face and framing you beautifully, he gulped. Your doe eyes seemed to look into his soul and he was afraid you might find all his secrets he has casted away. The bags under your eyes and puffy, red cheeks displayed off the delicate side of you that he wasn’t sure you even possessed until tonight. At work, you were always headstrong and devoted. Seeing you in such a way had his heart pumping wildly, so much so that he almost led one of his hands to hold his chest for he felt that his heart was going to burst. You were hardworking, intelligent, and beautiful.

Qian Kun was simply smitten for you.

Increasingly, Kun had started to stay behind longer with you, assisting you as you worked late until dawn. He barely had any time to sleep but sharing secrets and giggling in the dusty work closet made up for all the time lost. Both of you would make fun of your superiors or play silly computer games in one of the research rooms while eating whatever Kun decided to cook that night. It wasn’t all fun however, you made sure of it. He would help you lift objects and hammer out sheets, bringing you closer to completing both WayV and NCT 2XXX.

Even though he stayed with you until ungodly hours almost every day, you questioned his true intentions. Every time you asked him why he stays late, he simply shrugs and answers with a joke. Deep down, you wished for there to be a hidden reason. Spending more time with the Chinese boy had you falling for him harder than before. Your hateful scowls turned into fluttering adorations and fluttering touches. A friendship was developing before your eyes and as you began to know more about Kun, you started to become dependent on the extra company.

For the past two days, you waited patiently near your desk for the boy to come bouncing to your side. Unfortunately, you would receive no call and were left to work in utter silence except for the melodic piano arrangements lulling softly in the background. As a result, this led you to believe Kun was upset at you. Flashbacks occurred in your head as you thought back to what could’ve frustrated the joyful boy. You did spill a sticky, dark soda on his white shirt just a few days before he disappeared. But was Kun one to hold grudges?

On the third night of listening to the same piano arrangement, footsteps emerged from behind you and you shut off your phone, turning your head before facing a sleep-deprived Kun. His face was adorned with purplish undereyes and stress written all over. He moved sluggishly, grabbing his usual stool before slowly setting himself on top. Kun watched with tired eyes, no life found within them at all.

“Are you okay?” You ask, concerned, and place a hand on his shoulder. Rubbing small circles in his back, you hope to comfort him in such a time of distress.

“Yeah, training has just been really… rough.” He trails off, eyes falling to his lap and moving further away from your touch.

Nodding, you resume to your work. You wanted Kun to be here for the past few days, but why is it that when he appears, you wish to be alone? His cold presence disturbed you and your wish to disappear grew. An irritated Kun was not someone anyone would want to spend time with.

“They told me I would never be an astronaut.”

You nearly drop the circuit board as his voice falters, hoarse and defeated. Setting down the piece of technology, you scoot closer to him.

“Don’t listen to them.”

He laughs mockingly, shoving his head in his hands. “I have to. Our test results and training progress came out. My test results are fine; I’m average. Yet, my training scores are the lowest in the group of all the rookies combined. I got yelled at by my teachers and one of them said, very distastefully might I add, that I would never make it to the sky. He mocked me, saying I might have the confidence and cool factor but I would never accomplish anything or become anyone.”

When he lifts his head, his cheeks are stained with waterfalls and his lip quivers for relief. Out of character, you grasp him and pull him into your chest, hugging tightly. Tentatively, he wraps his arms around you and bursts into tears once more. Your skin feels hot and sticky from his hold and your lab coat rapidly becoming soaked from his cries. A hand drifts up to his hair as you curl his locks between your fingers, shushing him as his sobs grow in volume. The once joyful boy was now wailing in your arms about how he’ll never be good enough for anything. Heartache hurts, especially because Kun is so cheerful all the time. Never in a million years you would’ve thought that a day might come where he shows his piled up hidden feelings of stress.

His body gradually stops shaking and he removes himself from you, rubbing his cheeks and eyes. You pass him your water bottle and he laughs, taking a sip. Although he appears better, sorrow hides in his iries and your own tears well up. It’s time to repay Kun for all his charity.

“Kun, you’ve helped me throughout this entire project for Wayv. I think it’s time for me to help you.” You state, flashing him a wide smile.

“No! I’m okay! You don’t need to.” He argues, sulking.

Ah, there it was. His fiery personality made a come back from his recent gloomy demeanor.

“I want to and I will. That is final.”

His pout expands and your grin only grows as you return to the circuit board, knowing you won against Kun.

The next night, with two energy drinks and a haul of textbooks, the two of you laid down in one of the break rooms with the comfiest couches and softest blankets.

You examine one of his test scores, curled up in a blue comforter.

“Hm, your mathematics skills are off the charts good. Did you major in math?”

He nods, looking over terms in his notebook. Kun flips through the words too briskly for your liking. How did he even retain any of that information?

Scrunching your nose distastefully, you start, “You’ll never learn terms with definitions like that. Use flashcards or use an app that’ll repeat the answer and definition multiple times.”

His mouth hangs open, shocked at your abrupt reprimand. “I never had to do that! Math is so easy. You barely have to memorize anything! Only a few theorems but you could practically bullshit that.”

“Well, now you have to. Your biology is good but your physical science and engineering has work to be done.”

He lets out an obnoxious groan, snuggling deeper within the blanket wrapped around him. After a few moments of him complaining, he grabs a pen and a few flashcards, diligently writing down terms to definitions. You scoot closer to him, your head so close to leaning on his shoulder.

“Thank you.” A quiet voice whispers and he turns his head to you, a small smile graced upon his face.

“Of course. If you told me you were struggling earlier, I could’ve helped you more.”

A groan falls out of his mouth, “No, (y/n). You’re too busy with your projects anyway. I don’t want to bother you.”

“You’re not bothering me at all!” You grumble, bumping into him and having his pen spill from a perfect line to a crooked mess. He glares, relining his design.

“I felt like I was though at one point.” He confesses, tapping his pen repeatedly against his book, eyes piercing into yours like daggers. “Why did you try to push me away so much?”

Ah, you should have foreseen this. Kun was a curious man, hence the reason for striving to become an astronaut. He asks questions until he makes you beg to just shut up. All his teachers probably wanted to kill him by now due to his incessant whining. His goal, clear in mind, was to find out the reason behind your fake distaste for the cadet. Red as a ruby, you lifted your head and gazed back, faked your innocence, “What do you mean?”

He shoves his work aside and adjusts his entire body, muscles flaunting off. Has Kun always been so lean?

“Obviously I’m talking about a month ago where you wanted to punt me into space if you ever got the chance.”

“Haha, very funny.” You mock, truly laughing afterwards. “To answer your question, I don’t know what changed.” To take the leap of faith or not might’ve been the hardest decision in your life. Nothing in your life could’ve prepared you for this exact moment in life. Comparing this dangerous moment to everything in college, you rather take every course all over again. If he rejects you, you’re back to the mundane life you’ve always known. Although in the slightest chance he might accept you, life would be a fairytale.

Fuck it.

“Maybe it’s how your eyelashes flutter when you’re almost asleep or how you push your hair back just the way I like it. I don’t know when everything changed. To put it simply, I started noticing things about you that nobody else would ever notice. You like black coffee but if you didn’t have to restrain your calorie intake, you would order the sweetest thing on the menu. Whenever you laugh at something stupid, you throw your head back and hide yourself, embarrassed to be in the moment. But no, it could’ve been when you mumbled translations under your breath as you read instructions or how your fingers ghosted upon my skin late at night. I think I really am whipped for you--”

Kun gently grabs your face and closes the long gap between you two, his tongue licking your bottom one and exploring your mouth. Still focused on you, he unwraps himself from his cocoon and climbs on top of you, hands running through your hair, desperate and longing. He made you experience all this pent up emotion he had towards you and it felt as if you were floating on a cloud. It was dirty. Lying in one of the breakrooms with a boy, who you weren’t even dating, and having his hands roam all over your body.

His hips rolled against yours, making you gasp at the sudden contact. Whether it had been accidental or on purpose, you craved for the motion to happen once more. Kun smelled like vanilla and left your head hazy and light. Hands disappeared from your hair and moved under your shirt, his thumb playing with your waistband. His breath was sweet and tasted like the chocolate shared between the two of you just a few hours ago. He pulls away suddenly, a string of saliva forming and the sight has you heavily breathing. Kun leans down once more and leaves a kiss on your forehead and you reach for one of his hands, intertwining your fingers.

“So, you’re clearly experienced. Have you been kissing any other engineers other than me?”

“Shut up!” He yells, tickling you relentlessly for a minute before brushing your disheveled hair out of your eyes.

“Only you, baby. It’s only ever been you”

Midnight blue nights with Kun was the highlight of your life. Working all night till dawn seeped into Kun’s dorm fulfilled you and you wouldn’t have it any other way. It might’ve been harder to focus due to calculated distractions conducted by the mischievous boy but when it came down to crunch time, both you and Kun worked in perfect harmization. The beginning of summer morphed into a deep heat of August before you even had a chance to blink and walks to the convenience store to buy ice cream became a must to combat the humid heat.

Glancing at your phone, you inwardly groaned seeing the time was only five. It would be so long until you could see Kun again. With your brain being fried from all the hard work from the day, you took a break. Mindlessly, you scrolled through social media and caught up with the recent drama. Your break was cut short as a squeal was shouted directly into your ear and arms wrapped around you.

“What the hell--”

“Baby! I got in! They accepted me for Project WayV! I’m so excited!”

Your boyfriend’s eyes were gleaming with pure, unsaturated happiness. A smile melts onto your face and you envelope him in a embrace just as emotional as his. You had seen how hard Kun had been working for his goal. He would stay up nights on end studying and if he wasn’t studying, he would be assisting you in your projects. Sometimes he would stay at your house and you would do laundry, not forgetting to notice how the size of his uniform changed from an extra small, gradually transforming into a small and finally to a medium. If he wasn’t studying or helping you, he was training. Love filled you and contentment hugged every curve of your body. To say you were proud was an understatement. This had been everything Kun had craved for.

Would it be selfish, however, to hate the future? Yes, Kun had been working hard to become an astronaut but once summer becomes cool and sweltering, fiery red days fade, where would Kun stand? In the sky trapped in a box, gathering research for greedy scientists on the small earth below? Would you be alone once more as you were just a few months ago? Would you despise the blue, crystal region for stealing the one you loved the most?

Mustering all your strength possible into faking a grin, you exclaim, “I’m so proud of you dear, you deserve it!”

A piece of your soul chipped away from that moment and it became difficult to face the future. Kun would be gone. For a long time. The worst case scenario might arise and he might never come back.

You were never the villain in the story. Trying to delay Kun’s dream would make you the monster. No, you’re not the monster. Minoring in theatre in college helped you after all. Fake it till you make it, right?

If it meant you had to lose everything for Qian Kun, you would give everything in a flash.

Motivated, you labored away more than ever. Rarely ever leaving the station, you were hunched over and slaving over numerous tasks every day. A fool you would’ve been if you didn’t think Kun would notice. One thing could contest his love for the mystery of space and that thing was you. If his dear was feeling slowed down, he would pick you up and aid you.

“Let’s go get slushies.” He offered a hand out to you one late night, forehead covered in sweat from being stuck in a poorly air-conditioned room. You accepted his hand, letting him drag you on another summer adventure. Evil thoughts plagued your mind. Surely, this wouldn’t be the last trip?

The walk was mostly quiet, the only noise being made was when Kun nearly tripped over the curb.

(“How was I supposed to know that the curb was there!”

“By looking, sweetheart.”)

He bought you a cherry slushie, leaving him with a blueberry one. With syrupy hands, he grabbed yours and swang them between the two of you.

“Baby, can you enlighten me?”

Confused, “What’s up?”

Ah, Kun never fails to amaze you. He is simply too intelligent and observant for his own good.

“Are… you okay?”

“Nothing, precious.” A lie escapes you before you realize what you’re saying. Had you been so accustomed to lying that it slips out at this point?

Kun drags you to slow down, having you turn around and look at him. In the late summer evening with pink and orange mixing in the azure reflecting off his skin had your heart stop beating for a second. His plump pink lips were stained with blue and the sides of his hair were still wet from sweat. This picture perfect sight had you falling in love all over again. You wouldn’t see this scene again in an undetermined amount of time. If he went up to the beautiful atmosphere, how would you be able to hear his luscious voice? Could you bear to wake up every morning to a cold bed?

“Stop lying, (y/n).”

Another jump of faith this time more daring.

“I’m petrified.” You admit.

“Of what?” His voice is soft and gentle, so familiar and so heart-warming.

“The future.” A tear falls from your eye and you feebly laugh. Where had it come from? Soon, you were full-on bawling. Kun rushes to your side in an instant, shushing you and hugging you.

Moments in life make us want to pause, rewind, fast forward, and record. In one instant, you wanted to complete all four. You would pause to savor this exact act and scene in life. If you were ever feeling down, you could rewind and relive this moment over again. To fast forward was dangerous, but it would need to be done to see the future for the two of you, something to look forward to. Finally, recording every single happening in this one frame to remember one of the last moments before the sky took away Qian Kun, your space boy.

“Baby, I’m scared too.” He reveals, shakily and nervously. “I don’t want to lose you, dear god I would collapse if I lost you.”

You nod, not able to respond or form a corrhent sentence. He speaks for you.

“You’re my first and last. Without you in my life, I would be so lost. I wouldn’t even be on the project for WayV! You’re my beginning and my end and everything in between. If you say no, I won’t do it. I will deny the project. Of course, NASA will be pissed at me,” he laughs, trembling upon your skin, “but if it’s to make you smile once more, even if it was one last time, I’ll do it.”

Rejection dances on the tip of your tongue. To say yes and have Kun next to you every day and night sounded like a fairytale. Your dream would truly come alive, yet where would Kun’s dream fall? With a heart begging no, ‘please don’t leave me,’ your mind wins once more against a terrible, cruel decision.

“My space boy, you’re so foolish. You have to go up there. No if, ands, or buts. That is final.”

With tears streaming down both of your faces, he tilts your head up and kisses you with more passion than the first night he confessed. It was a battle of love and bitterness. Your tongues fought over dominance, wanting to show the other their passionate feelings.

With blue and red tongues mixing and leaving each other’s lips with purple, bruised lips, you two took the longer route home. You might’ve minored in theatre, but you weren’t sure if majoring would’ve helped you from seeing Kun’s sparkling, chocolate-colored eyes. The entire time felt like you were under a lie detector. Perhaps in some alternate universe, the two of you would’ve never expressed your doubts..

Fall knocked at your door quicker than you had anticipated. Trips to the convenience store dwindled and stops at either Kun’s dorm or your apartment became more popular. Time was ticking away slowly and the two of you tried to spend as much time together. With each fun, spectacular day came with a night full of depression. Kun’s time was slowly draining and his launch date snuck up on you. He would be in space for nine months, one of the longest trips done in recent years. It terrified you but it motivated you to work harder than before. For him.

So that he can come back safe.

October 15, the day that was another page to mark in history and another date to burn in your mind. Waking up in your cold, sad apartment had you crying before you had even stepped into the bathroom. Traces of Kun were left all around. His hoodies, draped over chairs, left a cut in your heart, piercing every vein in your body. Fate was cruel. What was more cruel than fate was free will. If you said pleaded to him to not leave you, he would be next to you right now in the scalding, hot shower, leaving butterfly kisses across your nape.

Today would be another performance; a test of your acting abilities. To fool everyone and make them believe that you were the happy, supportive partner. Your mind drifted away at your workstation, not paying much attention to the world around you. People noticed and caught on fast, offering a hand when you needed an errand run down to Mission Control or a speedy calculation.

Never did anyone say you were good at acting.

Dreadfully, you glanced at the clock and gulped. Take-off is in less than two hours and Kun wouldn’t be able to see anyone in due time. You rush around the building, asking superiors and juniors if they had seen the boy. Following directions from Head of Security, you rapped your fist against the waiting room door.

“Come in.” A soft, possibly tearful, voice whispered, just loud enough to hear on the other side of the door.

Opening the door and closing it gently, a hug greeted you from inside the room. Vanilla overwhelmed your sense and you melted in Kun’s arms, gripping onto him with a strong force.

“Love--” You begin but are cut off abruptly by Kun’s lips crashing into yours. A pattern forms and you both fall into the rhythm, quiet moans slipping from the sinful mouths of both. Kun had this amazing power to make you lose all train of thought when with him and you forgot every dreadful moment leading up to this point until he broke away.

“Where do I start?” He laughs anxiously, a hand pushing away the hair in his face. “God, I’ll miss you so fucking much. It hurts so much thinking about it.” Kun takes your hand, dragging it to his chest and letting you feel his heartbeat. His heart beats rapidly and you clench the protective suit.

“I’ll miss you more.” You murmur, planting kisses upon his neck. He pulls away and chuckles at your sour expression.

“Let me talk for once. Doll, I truly will miss you. I ran to the convenience store to print out every photo I had of you in my phone so I would have it on the trip.” He snickers, a tear falling from his eye and you reach out to wipe it away. If only you could erase every tear he’ll have after he’s gone.“It’ll be hard, but I’ll try to record every day without you so you can watch it once I’m back. You know I don’t like talking about myself, but I’m so afraid of this trip. It’s dangerous as hell and there might be so many complications. Believe me, this world will not take me away without seeing you one last time. Don’t worry, baby. I will be okay.”

You were whimpering at this point and huffed stiffly with each passing second. Everything you wanted to hear was coming out of Kun’s mouth, but knowing that he’ll be gone in just a few hours stings at your skin. He recognizes this and rubs your back, letting you live in this scene. After your weeping slowed down, he requested a wish, something so personal and hopeful.

“You’ll wait for me?”

With a pathetic giggle, “If you bring me back a star.” He bursts out in laughter, doubling over. Always so lighthearted.

“I love you.” He confesses, a sorrowful expression painting his face.

“I love you more, space boy.”

Words left unspoken stopped at your tongue. Kun wouldn’t know that he was your star that night.

And the nights before.

He was the star of your life.

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

A cloud of white exhaust spreads over the sandy field and the whole of NASA erupts into joy. Many are hugging their friends, some are with their lovers. The cameras pan back to the crowd, bouncing around and cheering as the gigantic, white spacecraft launches itself into the sky. The launch was successful, no failures or any worries. You checked every single valve and bolt yourself, of course it would be perfect.

Watching through a glossy window, your hand touched where the earth met the sky. The more you stared into the abyss, the more you appreciated the beauty. It wasn’t a single shade of blue, no. The sky, your sky, mixed with all shades of baby blue and flecks of gold and white shimmered brightly. It was like if someone took a paintbrush and went over the canvas repeatedly until they ran out of paint. If this glistening azure sky was so gorgeous, how did the deep blues of space match up to this competitor?

The clouds earn the sky extra points but with images of stars from past years makes your heart flutter in amazement. Humankind has accomplished so much in such little time and you, scientists and creatives, are leading the battle for improvement. Kun is a pioneer to this philosophy. One of the most brilliant leaders.

All the pieces locked into place as you observed the last gusts of white sputter and disperse. The moon and its gravitational pull kept the earth from getting out of hand and too far away to connect. Kun was the moon and you were earth, constantly being pulled to Kun whenever you wanted to shut down and hide from everyone. The simile makes you smile and you peer up, a tear escaping your duct. Hopefully Kun is viewing you from the oh, so tiny aircraft.

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

Kun eyes the tiny earth, still strapped in his seat but able to obtain a view. He wishfully sighs, a smile breaking out onto his face.

He prays that you know he’s looking down at you, dreaming of a time where you could see something just as beautiful as right now.

Ah, maybe not as beautiful as he thought. He still has you, waiting patiently for his return. Now, you are the most ethereal sight he has ever had the chance to look at.

As soon as he receives the green from Mission Control, he unbuckles himself and moves to the supply room, reaching for one of the cameras and moving to a relatively quiet spot. With a deep breath, Kun turns on the camera.

“Hi baby, it’s your favorite space boy. Welcome to space, day 0!”

#nct #nct scenarios #nct imagine #nct headcanon #nct kun #wayv kun #wayv #nct qian kun #qian kun #nct 2019 #writing #kpop scenarios #kpop imagine #kpop headcanons #kun

61 notes · View notes

sweet-little-bird-fanfic · 6 years ago

Text

YOUNG K - Pure Desire

Masterlist & Chapters: Check my bio for the masterlist link. Idk why but posts with links don't show up on the tumblr's search feature anymore. So, I'll leave the link to my master list there, where you can find the other chapters easily. I hope this is still functional for you guys, sorry for the trouble. I hope you can still enjoy my work despite the technical issues.

Summary: A young writer that's struggling with her work until she crosses paths with an intense and fated new type of inspiration; An inspiration called: YOUNG K!

Genre: Fanfic; Romance; Humour; Smut (in the future chapters)

Warnings: Swearing? ; The hot stuff will slowly begin on the next chapter and after that, it becomes a mess! I promise eheh (っ˘ڡ˘ς)

A/N: a short chapter to create a good atmosphere and background.

Chapter 1- Drunk Hug

I knew the day wouldn't go well from the moment I woke up... 45 minutes late. To be honest, things had been hard lately. I've had been a professional writer for 3 years and I went to live in Korea right after I published my first romance. I bought a house and rented 2 of the rooms to 2 amazing brothers that ended up becoming my family: Kim Jii (he worked in the entertainment industry) and his 16 years old little brother Kim Joon (who was still a student). Truth to be told, it's not like I had been working that hard in those few writing years. Not because I was lazy, but because it was really simple for me to write a story and for some miracle, it would become a success. That was the case until I hit a wall last month whilst writing my third book! Nothing seemed right, I wasn't satisfied with anything and I was simply irritated with my own creation. There was something missing and I couldn't find what it was... But it was something crucial and I couldn't stop wondering if my passion for writing had reached its limits. I was so worried about that thought, that I made myself not being able to write properly. Call it a rocky mistake or an overthinking problem, but the point was that I was 1hour late to meet with my editor and I had nothing new to show him. "SHIT!"

I got off the bus and run as fast as I could. Gladly, the coffee shop We agreed to meet at was near the station. When I finally reached my destination, I was invaded by a strong and warm coffee fragrance, which woke up my senses a little. It wasn't hard to find the man I called "Boss". He had really short hair and was quite skinny, but his facial expression made him look like an angry bear. "I'm going to die." I sat on the chair in front of him and before I could apologise for being late, he threw a bunch of papers on the table in my direction. My heart started beating really fast when I recognise that those pieces of papers were the chapters I sent him by e-mail.

- You call yourself a writer, Miss?! - he said as loud as he could - I'm going to pretend you didn't send me this and that I didn't have to come from England to Korean just to scold you in person.

- I'm really sorry! I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't ...

- You need to take a break and stop obsessing about writing. We didn't give you any deadlines, so I don't understand why you're writing a chapter a day. - he said interrupting me with a sharp voice.

I didn't move or say anything, I just looked down to my hand and prayed I wouldn't get myself fired. I could hear his heavy annoyed breath and I could feel his eyes observing me. There was a long moment of silence that was broken by his hand caressing his chin.

- When was the last time you did something that wasn't writing? - he sighted - Go out, get inspired. Don't contact me until the young writer I know is back.

He stood up and dressed his elegant coat as he made sure to burn my soul with his reprehensible look. Before leaving the store our eyes locked and he gave me a petty smile, which made me feel even worse than I already was.

That was it. I've had it! I needed to get some fresh air and get away from everything. I think I've never walked so much in my entire life. I explored the city pretending I was a tourist and that I had nothing to worry about. I tried the typical food, went to the famous attractions and even bought some souvenirs. I was now wearing an "I love South Korea" black shirt and a cool hat. Not to mention the bags I was holding with sweets, cosmetics and funny socks for the boys at home.

I grabbed my phone and sent Kim Jii (Bro) and Kim Joon (Baby bro) a picture of some socks:

Me: Do you need socks? ~~ Bro: Seriously... Baby bro: I swear, I'll burn them if you buy them, Noona! Bro: Go grab the matches. I bet she already bought them ME: (T_T) Bro: Ya paboya, don't come home early. I made a mistake at work and had to bring it home ( ಥ ʖ̯ ಥ) ME: LOL... Are you trying to fix it? Bro: BYE! ❤︎ ~~~ Baby bro: AHAHAH I guess it's not that easy to fix omg, kill him Noona! you make enough money to support me, right? ME: BYE! ❤︎ ~~~ Baby bro: YAAAAAAAAAA!

***

Making myself busy during the whole day was hard, but I managed to stay out until night time. I ended up at a street restaurant where I ate too much and definitely drunk too many bottles of soju. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol in my blood making me feel lonely and defeated or if it was simply my low self-esteem working really well on putting me down, or if it was the sum of these two. But I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how stupid and untalented, I probably was. I was really strong and didn't let any tear fall from my watering eyes.

- I need a hug... - I said drunk and desperate for some affection.

I stood up and left some money on the table. I was able to walk half properly until I found a taxi.

- Good evening, where to?

- Home, please! - I said excitedly.

For some weird reason, the driver seemed to think I was joking by the way he looked at him.

- And where is home?

- Oh! It's where I live, Sir! - I drew a square in the air with my fingers - In a house!

He stared at me for more than one minute and studied my touristic clothes and bags. I offered him some sweets and after I gave him my address he seemed less annoyed. "Why is he mad? Maybe he had a bad day or something." I thought as I gave him more sweets to make his night less bitter.

It didn't take long until I arrived home. I was glad all the lights were still on because the path was somehow really blurry. As I walked into the house, I could hear a lot of voices and laughs. "Too loud, fuckers." I couldn't recognise all the voices, but they were quite familiar. There were four beautiful boys in the living room with Kim Joon, my baby bro. I get closer to try to find out who our visits were and I saw a skinny blond boy laughing and making the others laugh with him.

- Your laugh seems contagious. - I said with a serious face as I tried to catch my cat.

- Why aren't you laughing, then? - He said adjusting his glasses.

- Oh, I'm vaccinated. Don't worry! - I said hugging my cat and letting her go after squeezing too hard.

Everyone laughed but the blond boy, he made a straight face and tried to look offended. I didn't worry too much, he seemed like he could handle a joke. I saw Kim Joon walking in my direction and I automatically hugged him really tightly. He tried to get rid of my arms and look me in the eyes, but I hid my face against his chest.

- Noona, are you drunk?!

- Aigooo! - I said as I pushed him away - That explains a lot of things, you're so smart! - I said and caressed his hair.

- Ya, paboya! Why are you acting up? - I heard Kim Jii (big bro) behind me.

After hearing my big brother's voice, tears started falling down uncontrollably. I just turned around and hugged him and berried my face into his neck. He smelled really nice today and that made me feel easeful and numbed. My hands holding his muscular backs were trembling, but the feeling of his sturdy hard body against mine made my heart hurt a little less. And when he finally hugged me back a shiver run through my body and made my legs weak. I hugged him tighter as I felt myself give away and I felt his soft and hesitant touch on my messy hair. To think all I needed was a hug from my... "WAIT A MINUTE!" Smells good? Muscular backs? What do you mean sturdy hard body?! And why would he hesitantly touch my hair, when usually he just messes it all up! I stepped back and pushed away from the boy I was hugging. "Oh, my ovaries!"

What a handsome young man! I felt as if his deep dark eyes were invading my soul, as he slightly leaned his head to the left and stared at me confused. He smiled awkwardly at me when he noticed my embarrassment. His cheeks lift up when he smiled and made his masculine face look adorably cute. I was still really confused and didn't notice I was still walking backwards as I stared at his face. And when I finally recognised him, I tripped and fell on my ass.

- Young... Young K! - I almost screamed and then looked around and realised DAY6 were in my living room looking at my drunk self.

I saw Young K biting his lower lip gently as he decreased the distance between us and reached out his hand to me.

- You know my name! It's only fair if I know yours too. - he said with what I thought it was a kind but at the same time naughty smile.

- Fuck.

- What? - he asked letting a laugh escape and bit his lip again.

- Oh! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Fuck me! Fuck! NO! No, I don't mean that, hhhhhh fuck!

- What the fuck is wrong with you, Violet!? - I heard big bother Kim Jii shout behind Young K.

Additional information: Violet calls Kim Jii and Kim Joon brothers, but their not her real brothers. She simply loves them a lot and since they live together they became each other family xD

~~~~

A/N: This wasn't a very long chapter but It was just the beginning! I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know your thoughts about it ~

See you next time, hugs from your Sweet Little Bird.

78 notes · View notes

istgimamess · 6 years ago

Text

Label: sm entertainment

Stage name: bella (because you're beautiful~)

Debut year: 2015 (3 yrs active)

Debut concept: aggressive bubblegum synth, dance heavy, vocal heavy, bright, pop!

Number of members: 4

Group name: strawberry jam (sj)

Fandom name: jammers

Position: main vocal, visual, dance line

Male bestie: Jongin (EXO)

How you meet: you are a hard worker, always putting your best foot forward, giving it your all; putting all your effort into anything you do! Which is such a great quality, you're told! Lord knows, you've benefited from that personality trait thousands of times, mostly in your career and personal relationships! However, alot of the time, it tends to have a negative effect! Mainly on your health! You put so much effort into whatever you're working on at the moment: new choreography, new music etc. that you tend to neglect your personal health! This lands you in the hospital alot; its not ideal, but you can't complain, your doctor is probably your favorite! Which is where you end up meeting (*cough*...fighting with) Jongin! You had a really important public appearance coming up, a couple of variety shows and another comeback all scheduled within a weeks time; and you knew your health wasn't at its prime, so you were basically in mental panic mode! You were hoping to get in and out of your check up as fast as possible, because you had things to do! Long story short, that wasn't happening! You ended up sticking your head in to the doctors office, to confront the patient before you! Which happened to be Jongin! "Hi! Yeah, sorry! Could you, I don't know, hurry up!? I've aged quite drastically since being here.." "He's my doctor and I was here first!" "Yeah, well he likes me better!" After a few more minutes of back and forth, a kindergarten-like tantrum and some overdramatic whining on both of your parts, you were left by your very flustered doctor to "..Work things out!.." You quickly end up bonding over your mutual lack of priority when it comes to your health, your whiney childlike mannerisms when you're sick or hungry and a love for the theater! He ends up becoming one of your best friends and you're almost always together! You're both quite determined and hardworking, both tending to over work yourselves and this is usually the cause for most of your fights: scolding eachother for not prioritizing your health! He ends up worrying about your health more than he does his, and vice versa! But you're constantly supporting eachother in anything you pursue! "Jongin, I heard Bella from Strawberry Jam is your best friend, is that true!?" "Yeah, she's my best friend!" "Cool! I also heard she is the biggest EXO supporter, is that right!?" "Yes, she is! I made a joke the other day about her leaving music to work for EXO and help us promote our new album!" "Really!? What did she say!?" "It was so funny, she took the album and walked over to the street corner and just stood there like this...(^ gif ^)..I couldn't stop laughing!" Your friendship is really goals!

Female bestie: Jennie (Blackpink)

How you meet: you love singing and you love theatrics but sometimes you feel like dancing and choreography, in general, can be very confusing and frustrating! So you decided to take some dance classes on the side, for some extra practice! That's how you meet Jennie, through a friend of a friend! One day after class, you accidently trip over her bag and take her down in a mess of legs, elbows and sweat! "Oh my god- I'm so sorry!...Ouch! Sorry! Yikes- are you okay!?" "Yes, of course! I'm clearly living the dream!" "Oh, well...glad I could help you do that then..." you stared at eachother for a few beats of silence, still sprawled out on the floor, and then busted out laughing! You ended up attached at the hip! It's an inside joke that you were split at birth and that you're actually twins; that's how similar your personalities are and your sense of humor! You're both really sarcastic and it's 100x worse when you're together! The fans love it! And despite how goofy and silly you both are when you're together, everyone can tell you both care about eachother immensely! You're always supporting eachother and you're always both genuinely happy for eachothers successes! She calls herself your "only fan!" And she lives up to that name! "Jennie! Did you hear yet!? Strawberry Jams song 'Pink' has hit the Billboard charts!" "..(^ gif ^)..What!? Seriously!?! I have to call Bella!!..." Such a cute friendship!

Group bestie: NCT OT18

How you meet: this probably, most definitely was the weirdest encounter you've ever had! You love to skateboard; you wouldn't say you're that great at it, I mean, you're no Tony hawk! But it is a hobby of yours! And when you have a stressful, busy day, full of dance practices and studio visits- you like to sneak out in the middle of the night, when the streets are empty, go down to the local park and skate to de-stress a bit! It's kind of like your secret rendezvous self-care session! Not even your group members know about it! The park, Seoul in general, is usually dead with no soul in sight at this time of night! Which is why you're so startled when one second you're minding your own business, practicing an inward heel flip and the next second you're surrounded by a bunch of guys who look like they've just stepped straight out of an Avril Lavigne MV! It startles you so much you trip backwards over your board and land flat on your back! You say about every curse word in every language you know, on the way down! "Oh my god! I told you we would scare her!" "If anybody scared her, it was you with that stupid pedo face!" "That's so rude! Taeyong, tell him that was rude!" "I mean..I did tell you to shave this morning.." "Yeah, you kind of look like an asian yeti.." "Or a pedophile, definitely a pedophile.." "Seriously?! Is this attack necessary!?? I mean-" "Umm, so sorry, pedi-yeti and friends..could you possibly, I don't know...help me up!?" They ended up hauling you up and bombarding you with questions left and right! Questions about your skateboard, questions about your skating technique etc etc. The more they asked, the more you answered and the more you answered, the more they asked! It was pretty much down hill from there! But it's all good, they quickly became some of your biggest supporters and closest friends! They always cheer for you the loudest at award shows! And sometimes, Taeyong or Ten, will send you little videos and clips (with the funniest captions) they filmed, on the down low, of the rest of the members singing and dancing to your music, unaware the were being filmed! "..[Bella, your music is hurting innocent bystanders! RIP Jeno]..(^ gif ^).." They're such a mess and it's the cutest!

Boyfriend: Taehyung (BTS)

Ship name(s): tella, bae couple, baehyung

How you meet: the way you 'officially' meet is kind of funny! And the time and location is a bit obscure! Anytime someone asks him when and where you met, he says Italy in June! You say it was definitely paris, late July! Both of you would be right and wrong! You love traveling and any time you have the opportunity, you jump on it! This is no secret! You first noticed him in Paris, he first noticed you in Italy, you both noticed eachother in Chicago! By the time you ended up back in the Incheon International Airport - you were 98.7% positive you had picked up a stalker abroad! "Are you following me!?" "I was going to ask you the same thing!" "Well I asked you first, so answer!" "I don't take demands from potential stalkers!" Some threats to call the police and a couple defensive hand gestures later, you eventually both settled on fate being the reason you've bumped into eachother over and over again! As cheesy as it might sound! You quickly bond over your artistic and creative sides, and a strong love for traveling and then there is no going back! He's one of your biggest supporters and you both often credit eachother as being an inspiration and muse! You eventually, after realizing how important and serious your relationship was becoming, went public! You figured your close friends and family would be the most supportive, and they were, but in actuality it was the fans that became your biggest supporters! "Tae-oppa!! Over here!! Taehyung-oppa!! You and Bella-unnie are the cutest couple ever!! I will always support you!!" "...(^ gif ^)..." It's so heartwarming!

Biggest fan: your biggest fan is probably Junhoe from IKON! He's always covering your songs, he even covers the songs you cover! He says it's only because he wants to prove he can harmonize with you, always calling you out in interviews hoping to get the chance to meet you and collaborate! "Bella from Strawberry Jam is my favorite! She has the best voice, even better than me! And she has good taste in music, I would love to collaborate with her if given the chance!" He's always showing support for your comebacks as well and even your solo projects; watching every drama and CF you do and streaming your music, constantly singing along with you at the top of his lungs! He's a dedicated and loyal fan and he's pretty loud and proud about it! So much, that it's even a running joke in his group that he would leave the rest of the members for even just a chance to perform with you! Well, it's a joke to them! Him, not so much! "Junhoe! I heard that you're a huge fan of Bella from Strawberry Jam, is that true!?" "Yes! She is my favorite singer!" "Oh really!? I heard that you would leave IKON without a second thought, if she ever wanted to perform with you!" "Yes, I would! In a heartbeat!" "What the-...you answered that so fast! You would really leave us, huh!?" "Yep!.." "...(^ gif ^)..." It's pretty funny!

Scandal: it's really no secret you have been trying to break out into the acting industry for a while, and make that cross over from idol to actress - auditioning and taking acting classes and workshops in your spare time! It's also no secret that you're good long time friends with Jaebum from GOT7! You've know eachother since before your debut and he's one of your closest friends, almost family! He's always helping you practice and reading scripts with you to help prepare you for auditions, giving you advice and direction on characters! So it's really not shocking when dispatch comes out with photographs of you two, on multiple days, coming out of your apartment and/or restaurants! What is a bit shocking is the headlines that are attached to those photos! "Strawberry Jams Bella and GOT7s Jaebum! Are they together!?" "Does GOT7s Jaebum have a sweet tooth for Strawberry Jam!? New couple alert!" It's ridiculous! "Are they serious!? A sweet tooth!? Who is writing this mush!?" "What I don't understand is how they got us mixed up!? I mean, I'm clearly the more desirable one in this relationship.." "Are you trying to make me throw up, or does that just come naturally when looking at your face?" "I'm a masterpiece and you are blessed to be in my presence.." What a dork!

Other activities: it's no secret you live for the dramatics, and the theatre is almost like your second home! So when SM suggested you audition for a couple of upcoming dramas, you jumped on the opportunity! And it was the best thing you could've possibly done! You ended up, not only booking a role, but booking a lead! You got to act along Seo Kang Joon (^ gif ^) who is the sweetest and most talented! You made new life long friends, won a couple of awards and gained a whole new following! Sure, they made you dye your hair a darker shade a red and teased you a bit on set about your sense of humor, but it was totally worth it! "It was so fun! And the hair color choice is actually kind of growing on me!" "Oh really!? Quickly, say that again into the camera! In 10 years when you're bald, I want proof that you were once satisfied..." "JB, I will literally push you off of this rooftop..." You didn't, but you were close to it!

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

@suchqt here is your idol ship~ thanks so much for the request and I hope you like it! 😅 Let me know what you think!

14 notes · View notes

svtmatokis · 7 years ago

Text

Dating them not you

Request: You getting kicked out of your flat and you have no where else to go so you call your boyfriend Jihoon but he’s too busy to help you so you call the other members and they try to help since it takes a few days for Jihoon to snap back to reality.

Requested by @scorpiomonbebe

Pairing: Jihoonxreader; ReaderxSeventeen (friendship)

You couldn’t believe it. You had been living at your current place ever since you moved out on your own. You were a good tenant, you paid rent on time and you literally had no damages on the place. But yet, after five loyal years, your landlords who were this couple from Busan, had given you a notice stating that their daughter had recently given birth and they wanted to move back to the city to be closer to her. That meant that you had one week to find and move into a new place.

You had no idea what to do, your parents were currently travelling and had no cellular service. They had left you in the care of your lovely boyfriend of three years, Jihoon.

Jihoon. That’s who you were going to call.

Quickly pressing 1 on your phone, you waited with baited breath as the phone rang.

“Y/N?” You heard his voice over the line.

“Ah...Jihoonie...do you have a moment?” You asked hesitantly, you knew that the group was preparing for a comeback so they were all fairly busy.

“Neh, Neh, what is it?” He asked though he sounded distracted. Probably in the middle of working on another song.

“My landlords just gave me a one week notice to move out…” you started slowly.

“Mwoh? Jinja? That sucks. Let me know if you need anything.”he said still sounding distracted. “I have to go now. We’re going to start recording. Call me later when you figure things out okay?” And suddenly the line went dead.

“But I do need you…” you whispered into the phone before letting out a big sigh.

You thought about all the people you could call, Mingyu? No, he was probably busy writing raps for the next comeback.

All your friends were currently on holiday since it was reading break so that wasn’t going to work.

Suddenly, a thought hit you.

Grabbing your phone again, you looked for a number.

Y/N: Jisoo….

JS: ?? Hi Y/N what’s up?

You quickly texted him everything that had happened and suddenly your phone rang.

“Oppa?”

“Are you okay?” You could hear Jisoo’s voice which was slightly is out of breath. Probably had dance practice.

You hadn’t wanted to call Jisoo, but when Jihoon was in producer mode, it was really hard to talk to him. Something that you had wanted to bring up but never had the chance to. Jisoo and the other members always came through whenever you needed someone to talk to or vent to about your relationship with Jihoon.

Not saying that you were unhappy with Jihoon, he just had moments where your mind drew a complete blank when it came to how he acted sometimes.

“Neh…” you sighed, “I just don’t know what to do….” you looked around your apartment at all your things. You had a lot of packing to do, and you also had to find a place that was immediately available.

You heard Jisoo sigh on the other side, “Have you called Jihoon?”

You nodded but realized he couldn’t see you. “Neh...but he’s in producer mode right now..”

“Ah….” Jisoo said understanding and thought to himself. “I’m grabbing the boys and we’ll be at your place in twenty minutes. Don’t go anywhere”

“Boys?” You asked hesitantly. Were they really going to drag Jihoon over too? “And don’t you have practice?”

“Coups and Jeonghan Hyung, we’d grab Jihoon but the kid hasn’t left the studio since yesterday. The three of us have finished recording for the day so we’re basically free. See you soon.” he said and the line went dead.

‘What is with people hanging up on me today?’ You thought to yourself.

Exactly twenty minutes later, your doorbell rang and in walked, Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Jisoo with various snacks.

“What. Am. I. Going. To. Do” you muttered banging your head against the arm of the couch but was quickly padded by Jeonghans hand.

“How about not giving yourself a concussion before WE decide what to do?” Jisoo suggested from his spot next to you pulling you farther away.

“We?” you asked looking at the three of them who gave you looks of obviousness.

“We aren’t going to let you go through this on your own Y/N. Realistically, Jihoon should be here, but that child becomes oblivious to the world when he’s producing.” Jeonghan shook his head, “We need to have a talk with him regarding priorities….this isn’t the first time you’ve called for our help”

Seungcheol nodded his head in agreement. “You said you had one week to pack right?”

You nodded before sighing and falling backwards into a lying down position, “It’s not packing and getting my stuff out of here that’s the issue...it’s trying to find a place on such short notice and getting everything moved in.. then I have work meaning I actually have less time to pack and I have this deadline to meet too and argggg” you pulled at your hair. This was so frustrating! Timing was not on your side at all.

The three boys looked at you with concern in their eyes.

“Y/N,” Seungcheol looked at you, “When was the last time you saw Jihoon?”

You shrugged your shoulders, apart from him being with Seventeen, he often locked himself in his production studio to work on future material for the team too and you worked as a project manager for Seungcheol dad’s company so it was hard to find time that made sense for both of you.

The two of you were labeled the power couple of both worlds, him in the entertainment industry and you being one of the most sought after project managers the corporate side. It was actually through Seungcheol that you had met Jihoon during the company Christmas party you were forced to attend.

You had known Seungcheol ever since you started working for his father and the two of you had a nice friendship that never developed to anything more as his father had hoped but alas, the producer of Seventeen had caught your eye and not too long after the first meeting, he had called you out for a date on one of the rare times your schedules had worked for the two of you.

You knew that dating an idol was hard but you and Jihoon had expressed and understood the concern, but as of late since they started preparing for another comeback in a row, he had less and less time for you.

“Maybe a month ago? We text a lot...but we haven’t gone out out…oh wait no, it was at your Clap comeback party. So about three weeks ago?” You thought, “Yea...three weeks ago”

You were met with silence as the three boys looked at you, shock evident on their faces.

“Y/N, we had lunch literally last week, and the week before that.” Jisoo stated, “Hell the four of us went out for dinner three days ago and don’t think we don’t know that you and Wonwoo hit up the bookstore yesterday, that guy came in with a new bookshelf worth.”

You shrugged, “Everytime I ask Jihoon, he says he’s busy and tells me that we’ll go out next time. He always says if I have a problem, to call him but then this happened and you guys are the ones here not him. Sometimes I feel like he cares, but not enough. Sometimes I just feel like he takes me for granted.” you looked up at the ceiling and let out a big breath.

“Y/N…..” Jeonghan said getting off the couch and sitting next to you while Jisoo moved to the top of your head and Seungcheol took Jisoo’s spot next to you.

“How long have you been holding that in for?” Seungcheol asked as he patted your arm.

You shrugged and blinked back tears, “I dont know….a while?” You sighed sitting up and moved so that the four of you were sitting in a circle. “I mean, your dad always tells me to take a break, go out or something, so I do. But whenever I ask Jihoon, he’s never available so I end up going out with one of my friends or with one of you guys.” You wrapped your arms around your knees and rested your chin on top of them.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m dating Seventeen as a whole...I just want my Jihoonie back….but I have to deal with this first so…”

Silence fell on the group, all deep in thought until Seungcheol sat up straight going into leader mode.

“Okay, we have one week right?” He asked looking at you for confirmation.

“Realistically three days if I use my one sick day…”

“Don’t worry about work. I’ll talk to my father, he only speaks highly of you so I’m sure he’d understand. I want you to not worry about Jihoon okay? Right now, we have to focus on what’s happening and sucks for him if he claims he’s too busy for his own girlfriend. You have us to help you.”

You hesitated looking at the determined look on his face,”But I dont want to bother you though-“

The group cut you off with laughter.

“You aren’t bothering us Y/N… we’re taking care of you like you’ve taken care of us.” Jisoo said smiling wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

“Neh, remember those nights you used to come to our practice room to bring dinner and snacks when you knew we were preparing for a live show? And all those times you came to support us at our fan meets and concerts?” Jeonghan asked and you nodded.

“If we didn’t want to help, we wouldn’t be here okay? You don’t deserve to go through this alone. Plus, I’m sure once the other members hear about it, they’ll want to help too. You’re family Y/N” Seungcheol finished with bright smile on his face.

Unable to blink back tears you bowed your head, “Thank you.. Thank you so much you guys. I don’t know what I would’ve done if it weren’t for you.”

”Like Coup’s said Y/N, you don’t deserve to go through this alone.” Jeonghan said looking at his phone, “But our leader better call one of the members back before all nine of them call each of us.”

“Right….we didn’t tell them where we were going” Seungcheol chuckled to himself before stepping out to call Sooyoung who was more or less in charge.

You looked at Jisoo who only gave you his innocent eyes and smile while shrugging. “When I told him, he literally took mine and Hannie’s hands and ran out the door.”

“Ah….” you said nodding slightly.

“So we were thinking...for now while you find a place to stay, why don’t you come stay with the three of us?” Jeonghan suggested as the four of you were at your favourite Korean BBQ restaurant having dinner causing you to choke on your meat.

“E-excuse me?” you asked looking at him wide eyed.

“We talked about it on the way here, it’s in the same building at the rest of the team, just a different flat, Jeonghan and I can share a room for the time being…..” Seungcheol said slowly gaging your reaction.

You put your chopsticks down, “I CANNOT do that.” you said mouthful of meat with finality in your voice.

Two hours later, the four of you were back at your flat with ice cream.

“I cannot believe I agreed to that” you muttered and took a big bite out of your triple chocolate ice cream causing your three best friends to laugh at you.

You guys spent the rest of the night planning what you guys were going to do for that week.

Most of the members were filled in on what your current situation was and they were ready to help where they could. So while you, Seungcheol and Jisoo went flat shopping for the first few days, Jeonghan would lead the packing of your apartment with strict instructions to leave your clothes and undergarments alone.

Reluctantly, you had agreed to stay with the 95’ liners who had gotten their own place within the Pledis flat until you were able to find a place that you could move into but you also made them promise to let you cook and clean during the time you stayed with them. So that was one headache out of the way.

Seungcheol’s father was understanding and even offered to give you the week off but you quickly refused stating that you had a project deadline and just because you were moving and trying to find somewhere to live, didn’t mean that you could neglect your duties.

He moved the project deadline to two weeks forward (cause he could) and told you if you didn’t take the week off, you were fired. That was more than enough for you to agree.

You had heard from Jihoon only once during the week with a quick text asking if you were okay. You could tell he was still in zombie producer mode so you didn’t push further except a simple “Yes”

The past week had been crazy, much to your dismay, you were unable to find a place right away. The boys would come over whenever they could to help you pack and you did your clothes and personal belongings yourself. The only person you didn’t see at all was Jihoon who according to the other members, had locked himself in the studio only coming out to use the bathroom.

Moving day had finally come, Jisoo and Seungcheol had stayed over at your place the night before to help you finish packing whatever needed to be packing as well as to label what was going to their apartment and what was going into the storage unit. Then Seungcheol and Mingyu would take all your extra stuff in a truck (driven by one of the managers) to a storage unit where your stuff would stay until you found a new place.

Around the time Jeonghan had showed up to wake the boys up, Jihoon who had finally emerged from his man cave and walked into the dorm.

The boys quickly noticed him but were too busy getting ready to say anything so he approached Dino who looked like he was ready since he was sitting on the couch on his phone.

“Ah Hyung, you’re finally done?” the maknae asked looking up at Jihoon.

“Neh…” he said in a slight daze rubbing his eyes, “What’s going on? It’s a rest day for us isn’t it?”

“Oh...Didn’t you know? Y/N-Noona’s moving today. So we’re all helping her. Don’t you talk to your girlfriend Hyung?” the ever blunt maknae asked.

Jihoon felt guilt wash over him as he thought about your call earlier that week.

Noting the look on his face, Dino gestured to Jeonghan who was talking to Mingyu since he was one of the few members going to the storage unit with Seungcheol.

“You should talk to Jeonghan-Hyung, he’s been helping Y/N all this week when he wasn’t at practice.”

Jihoon observed the room and noted that two people were missing.

“Where’s Seungcheol-Hyung And Jisoo-Hyung?” He asked and the maknae thought for a moment.

“Oh, they stayed with Y/N last night to help her finish what we didn’t do this week.” He paused, “You should really talk to Jeonghan Hyung though..”

Reluctantly, he walked over to Jeonghan who gave him a look of faux surprise.

“So he lives” Jeonghan said looking at him from the corner of his eye, “Don’t worry, she’s not mad. She said she was used to it”

Those words didn’t make Jihoon feel any better.

Seeing the look on Jihoon’s face, Jeonghan patted his shoulder, “It’s okay, you’re coming with us right?” he asked quickly.

Jihoon nodded his head despite how tired he was as he changed into something he didn’t mind getting dirty or damaged and soon he was out the door with the rest of them. Totally forgetting to ask where you were actually going to be moving.

Back your flat, you, Jisoo and Seungcheol were passed out on the floor, surrounded by packed boxes and bags. Seungcheol had passed out near the couch while you and Jisoo were closer to the kitchen sharing one large blanket. The three of you fell asleep somewhere between 4-5am, with you passing out first and Jisoo and Seungcheol following not far behind.

That was how Jeonghan and the rest of Seventeen had found you.

“Aish… leave you three alone and it looks the aftermath of a party. What happened to the neat box piles that I labeled?”

Still half asleep, you responded in a tired voice “We had to reorganize some boxes cause not EVERYTHING is going to the storage unit. A few boxes of clothes are going to your place as well as some shoes.” You slowly opened your eyes and noticed that instead of the ten boys you were expecting you saw eleven. “Jihoonie” you said with a tired smile, “What are you doing here?”

He slowly walked up to you, almost nervously, “Y/N-ah….” he knelt down and put his head on your shoulder almost bowing. “Mian…”

“Hmmm?” You asked in a sleepy daze, Seungcheol and Jisoo were slowly waking up as Jeonghan motioned for everyone to start moving things to the truck and also it give you two alone time.

Once the boys dispersed, Jihoon slowly pulled you up, knowing how dizzy you got when you were still half asleep.

”I’m sorry...I’m so freaking sorry” Jihoon said holding both your hands as he bowed. “I should’ve been here for you. I knew you were going through a tough time and yet I still put my needs over yours…”

You shook your head, “It’s okay...Jisoo, Seungcheol, and Jeonghan Oppa helped out a lot. I understand when you’re busy Jihoon.”

He shook his head and muttered, “That’s not what Jeonghan-Hyung said…”

“Hmmm?” you asked sitting up completely as you noticed the boys were helping carry various boxes to the truck and the furniture being moved by the professionals you hired.

“He said that after you called me, you called Jisoo-hyung right away.” he sighed and looked away, “He said that it’s been happening so often that Jisoo keeps his phone with him at all times now...I didn’t realize it was that bad…”

You looked at him and sighed, this was not a conversation you wanted to have with him at 8am in the morning especially on moving day.

“It’s….complicated” you admitted. “I understand that you’re busy so I don’t let it bother me too much...but when it gets to the point where I try to spend all my free time with you but you always tell me you’re busy and our schedules don’t match up and when you do have free time, you use it to sleep or write music or spend it on your own….it makes me feel neglected. Times when I need you, you’re busy, times like this week…” you sighed and ran your hand through your hair, “Sometimes, I feel like I’m dating your members and not you…”

Your last statement broke Jihoon’s heart as he realized what he had done. “Y/N…” he started but you shook your head.

“Jisoo and Seungcheol make it a point to have lunch with me at least once a week, the three of them make sure we have dinner AT LEAST once every other week, if I can’t make dinner, they have this weird tendency to show up at my office with take out. Don’t ask, I stopped questioning a long time ago. Wonwoo and I go to the bookstore almost every month, if not the bookstore, he and Mingyu and I go for coffee at least once a week. Hell everyone else MAKES me do something with them when they know I’m free and you’re busy. We don’t spend time together outside of events, I get that you play a big role in your team Jihoon...but please...make time for me too…” you looked down.

The next thing you knew, Jihoon had wrapped his arms around you and whispered apologies in your ear. He never realized that you felt that way and he realized himself that indeed, he made you feel neglected and that he wasn’t the best boyfriend and that you deserved better.

You patted his back, “It’s okay Jihoon… I told you, I’m not mad…”

He pulled away but kept his arms securely around you. You noticed that his eyes were slightly red from tearing up and you put your head on his shoulder.

“Don’t cry… I told you.. I’m not mad at you… I just want the Jihoon I had a year ago back..”

His arms tightened around you as he nodded his head, letting more tears of guilt fall. He wasn’t one to show emotions in front of people, but with you it was different. You had supported him through everything and took care of his members too which is why in turn, they treated you like family.

“I promise I’ll do better… I promise…” he whispered kissing the top of your head. You nodded your head in response and wrapped your arms tightly around nuzzling into his chest. It felt good to have his arms around you once again, and this time, you knew it was for the long term. Cause Jihoon was never one to break promises.

The two of you stayed like that until Jeonghan popped his head through the door with a knowing smile on his face as if he heard the whole conversation.

“Y/N, we’re pretty much done packing the stuff into the two trucks. But you better come out before Seokmin goes through the box labeled undergarments that he has in his hands.”

“The hell Jeonghan, I said Jisoo was supposed to take that box.” you said pulling away from Jihoon while Jihoon stood up quickly and grabbed the umbrella next to the door before walking out.

The next thing you heard was a screaming Seokmin and a snap causing you and Jeonghan to cringe.

Seungcheol, Sooyoung and Mingyu ran through the door laughing with tears in their eyes before collapsing on the floor while Jisoo walked closely behind them with a straight face holding your umbrella in two pieces.

“You need a new umbrella, and maybe a tranquilizer to subdue Jihoon…. he hasn’t stopped chasing Seokmin around the truck and I’m surprised for someone who claimed he was so tired.”

The rest of the move went by well (outside of your broken umbrella and a frustrated Jihoon), you made sure he came with you to unpack your things with Jisoo, Jeonghan, Wonwoo, and Minghao while the rest of the boys went to the storage unit to put your other things away.

You stayed with the 95’ line for about two weeks which meant that Jihoon too “lived” with the 95’ line. He would still go back to his dorm to sleep once in a while but he was a frequent visitor during the days they had a break.

Jihoon kept his promise like you knew he would and spent as much time with you as he could, be it watching a movie at the dorms or even joining you for dinner with the 95’ line once in a while.

He was especially attentive when you had finally found a place, in the same building and made sure he helped you move your things this time. Plus, it was another place he could crash if he didn’t want to spend time in the dorm with the other members and boy was he a frequent visitor, especially the first few nights after his comeback, you would feel the door to your bedroom open and soon arms would be wrapped tightly around you and suddenly, everything felt like home.

#kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #jihoon #jihoon imagines #jihoon scenarios #seventeen #svt #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #woozi #woozi scenarios #woozi imagines

107 notes · View notes

youarenotthewalrus · 6 years ago

Link

this article is dumb, i shouldn’t be hate-reading and you shouldn’t either but here we are so let’s do this:

We begin with a description of a platformer doing something clever and metatextual at the end. Followed by;

What this means is that the game stands in stark contrast to an industry whose products, historically speaking, rely on hijacking the reptile brains of hormone-crazed teenaged boys. In short, the history of videogames is the history of the glorification of violence.

Ah yes, who can forget such bloodthirsty products of the military-industrial complex as Pong, Tetris, Pacman or Zork?

We can debate what constitutes the first videogame, and whether it’s fair to attribute the invention of videogames to the military,

Given the contentiousness of that assertion, I should certainly hope so!

but what’s undeniable is that military engineers—ever ready to coopt, conspire with, or commission innovation from the private sector (e.g., the splitting of the atom, the invention of I.Q.)—more or less immediately recognized that videogames could be employed as a cheap substitute for teaching soldiers how to do everything from fly a plane to take out a sniper.

Kinda reductive to reduce the history of video games to FPSes in general and America’s Army in particular, doncha think?

Anyway, then we get some more waffle about how first-person shooters video games are training us to kill, before we get to the real question: given that this platformer he just finished playing did something a little artsy, can video games be art even despite the fact that were originally works of military propaganda intended to inure potential military recruits to violence? And more importantly, given that this guy seems to think the history of video games began with first person shooters, is he really qualified to answer this question?

Then we get some pointless side chatter over the claim that games are good for your brain, followed by the charge that games are addictive--despite the explicit comparison made to gambling (at “your local Native American casino,” no less), there is no discussion of lootboxes or microtransactions whatsoever, suggesting the author is not aware of specific steps which are taken to make games addictive and is just invoking vague notions of all games being addictive. None of this ever comes up again, and we promptly move back to talking about the actual game.

More specifically, Inside is what’s known as a “2D side-scroller”—meaning that you observe your figure mostly in profile in the center of your screen while a background landscape scrolling right-to-left gives the illusion of left-to-right forward motion.

Somehow, the use of the term “2D side-scroller” in quotes does not make me feel that this fellow is sufficiently familiar with video games to assess whether or not they can be art, as does the fact that he reckons that the platformer he is playing hearkens back to a 1981 shoot-em-up he remembers from his teens, which makes his apparent conviction that video games originated as first person shooters all the more baffling.

And while the world of videogames has already become a “spectator sport,” I’m unaware of any instance of the record of a videogame player’s performance becoming intellectual property, as it has in the world of chess, and in a whole array of sports. True, gamers go “professional” by attracting followers on the internet and earning ad revenue, but their play itself is not copyrighted. Games might wind up in museums (worldwide, there are at least seventeen museums dedicated to videogames), but bracketed moments of the play of particular games have not yet become value-able as art.

I invite the author to start selling unauthorized DVDs of clips from popular Twitch streamers and gaming YouTubers and see how long their lawyers allow him to entertain the notion that Let’s Plays do not constitute intellectual property.

the 2D side-scroller and its pitbull of a cousin, the first-person shooter,

???

The rest of the section is pretty unremarkable, so we move onto him complaining about lousy movie critique, then lousy video game critique, then explaining the concept of Easter eggs, then video game puzzles:

The puzzles of Limbo and Inside are more ambitious than the puzzles of most games in that their solutions often require the player to wait, or to exhibit what in psychology and education circles is known as divergent thought—for example, a corpse is a corpse, but it is also potentially a deadweight that can be used to spring a boobytrap.

Making the player wait or use an unusual object as a weight doesn’t strike me as particularly devilishly clever.

Then we get this jewel of a paragraph:

Nevertheless, puzzles themselves stand as an obstacle blocking the path of videogames’ journey from game to art. For while I might willingly suspend my disbelief long enough to accept that a boy has been tasked with jogging exhaustedly through a factory that churns out invincible blob creatures, I will find that willingness strained when I am also confronted with confounding puzzles placed in my path for no good reason. Videogames, in other words, ignore the basic tenets of internal consistency—in order to keep playing, you must suspend your disbelief, and then suspend it again, and again, and again, which means that in order to play and enjoy videogames you must also suspend the kind of critical judgment that is normally associated with art.

You heard it here, folks, accepting weird gameplay conceits means you can’t critically analyze a game.

Similarly, Easter eggs appeal only on the level of geek fetish—which is more or less the opposite of critical appreciation—and it is for this reason that I won’t address the puzzles and Easter eggs in Inside, even though they eventually lead to what some have concluded is the game’s “hidden meaning.” And this is the problem of videogames in a nutshell, because meaning in work of art is no more hidden from its beholder than the summit of a mountain is hidden from the mountain climber.

Sounds to me more like the problem is that he’s ignoring what the game itself is telling him about its plot and themes because it’s doing it in a way he finds aesthetically displeasing. I don’t know much about critical analysis but I feel like that’s not really how you should be doing it.

We then get a description of the plots of Limbo and Inside, including a decent bit of analysis marred by a bit of “murder simulator”-ism.

This is worth noting because prior to this moment the violence the boy has inflicted, either in Limbo or Inside, has been indirect—really an act of self-defense—but now the game is threatening to creep back into the usual videogame mode of affectless murder. You are given a choice: slip backward toward the wantonly horrific likes of Grand Theft Auto (1997) and Postal 2 (2003) [3] , or pause a moment and then continue on in a macabre but not morally bankrupt pursuit narrative. In this way, the player is implicated in a wryly disjointed bit of commentary on the history of gaming itself.

I mean this entirely sincerely: someone should get this guy a copy of Undertale. I think he’d enjoy it, if he could get past the idea of having to accept JRPG conventions.

Sadly, video game still aren’t art because he can list a bunch of movies that had vaguely similar elements:

From there, it’s not hard to find antecedents for Inside in both literature and film—it’s a little bit Soylent Green, a little bit Logan’s Run, a little bit The Island of Dr. Moreau, and more than a little bit Frankenstein. The imagery starts to seem familiar, too, with milieus lifted from E.T., Alien, and The Poseidon Adventure. But all this allusive flotsam becomes a bit of a disappointment, as eventually you become hard pressed to find anything in Inside that you haven’t seen inside something else.

Ezra Pound demanded that artists “make it new,” and Marcel Proust insisted that a writer is someone who invents a voice as unique as his or her fingerprint, but Inside isn’t even really trying to tell a story that hasn’t been told before. That’s a problem. Art cannot be made up wholly of references to other art. Star Wars, for example, does not come close to art because at its core it is nothing more than a pre-fab mash-up of archetypes mail-ordered from the IKEA superstore of Joseph Campbell.

I mean... why can’t art be composed solely of references to other art? Why can the whole not be more than the sum of its parts? If I take a picture of the Mona Lisa and photoshop a photo of a can of soup over her head, the resulting work is distinct from either of the originals, even though I provided no original content except the idea of sticking the two together.

Put another way, Inside could only have been designed by someone who hasn’t read Roland Barthes’s “The Death of the Author,” and hasn’t read Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” and hasn’t read T.S. Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent”—someone who hasn’t, in other words, engaged theoretically with what art is. And that, in turn, leads to the simple conclusion that on the level of its plot Inside is not trying to do what art does.

Good god this guy is snobbish.

Second, there’s still the meta-twist to consider: perhaps Inside is a game with both a text and a subtext. And perhaps a subtext can help the videogame industry evolve beyond the hyperviolence that is its womb and its crutch.

“Hyperviolent” is not exactly how I would describe Breakout or Super Mario Bros. Anyway, he then ponders the potential meaning of the evil scientists at the end of the game being stand-ins for the developers, and comes to the conclusion that...

The problem of games today is that their creators have not imagined any purpose for them greater than fun. There are exceptions to this, of course, but for the most part games equate escape with distraction—to be distracted is to be entertained, and it is good to be entertained.

Unlike the rest of popular media, of course.

The obligation of art, as Henry James described it, is to be interesting, and if you’re paying attention, that is to say, if you’re trying for more than distraction, then Inside begins to be interesting with its name, which stands in stark contrast to games like Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

I too enjoy criticizing games for being superficial based on their titles.

Then we get some final analysis, a quote from a Raymond Carver short story I read in high school and remember mostly as something my friends in English class found homoerotic subtext in, and the claim that the goal of art is a feeling of transcendental bliss:

The much remarked-upon narrator of Raymond Carver’s classic short story, “Cathedral,” experiences such a moment as the story climaxes with a blind man helping him draw a church. “My eyes were still closed,” the narrator says. “I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything.”

At its most ambitious, Inside aspires to a similar feeling. Escape in art that is not transcendence is cheap, and if you can climb beyond the foolish puzzles and the Easter eggs and the hidden meanings, you can feel, for a moment, that you are not alone on your sofa with your phone, playing a game; rather, you are somewhere else—somewhere grassy, bathed in warmth by a ray of sunlight falling from above.

And that’s nice and all but it feels like he didn’t really lead up to it.

Anyway, I spent way too much time picking through this but here we go. Final rating: 2/10, the next time you want to know if video games are art yet ask someone who actually plays them.

#idle musings #long post

1 note · View note

argyle-s · 7 years ago

Text

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME CHAPTER 16/38

Rating: Mature

Read at Ao3

Start at the Beginning

Kara, the DEO and the Superfriends make preparations for the CatCo Gala, and Kara hire's Cat's new assistant.

Thanks to @ifourmindbeso for her great work as a beta. Any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.

Chapter 16 – Preparation

Vegas was fun. She’d caught Zatanna’s act, courtesy of one Bruce Wayne, and then used the backstage pass he’d given her to talk to the woman who was one of the most famous stage magicians and most powerful sorceresses in the world. The conversation had ended with Zatanna inscribing a handful of mystical glyphs onto Kara’s soul, which was a rather weird process, but short of some sort of talisman, it was the only way the magics could be made permanent.

Most of the glyphs were simple yet powerful protection spells. A ward against lightning, a ward against sonic attacks, a specific ward against banshees, which had led to a couple of playful digs about Irish ex-girlfriends, which made Kara gag a little, which only made Zatanna laugh harder. Kara was pretty sure, from the speed with which Zatanna had performed the ritual, she’d done the protective glyph thing more than a few times before.

The glamour had taken a bit longer, and Zatanna has explained that it was entirely related to the need to make the glamour both dynamic, and permanent. Glamours were usually spells cast at need by the user. Zatanna had told her that normally, she would have simply taught the person asking to cast the glamour themselves since most humans were tuned in enough to mystical energies that they could manage simple glamour and charm work, even if they couldn’t sling anything like a real spell.

The problem, she said, was that Kara’s mystical connection was tapped into the Kryptonian magisphere. So, while it was a strong connection, strong enough that Kara could have slung some seriously heavy duty spell work, Zatanna didn’t know anything about how to teach Kryptonian magic. That’s why the full protection package had been necessary. Zatanna had branded the protection glyphs onto Kara’s soul as a way to forge a connection to Earth’s magisphere. That connection was weak, but it gave her enough power to trigger the glamour which Zatanna had imbedded within another glyph.

When Zatanna was done, Kara had marveled at the result. She could pick any color she wanted, just as long as she could picture it in her head and say the name backwards. Saying ‘normal’ backwards would cancel the glamour, returning her to her natural hair color. Then, Zatanna had dragged Kara out for a night on the town.

Kara was profoundly glad, when she arrived back in National City a little after 6:30 AM, that she didn’t *need* sleep. She was also profoundly grateful alcohol didn’t affect her, because if it had she was pretty sure she’d have done unspeakable things to Zatanna. The girl was beautiful and more than willing. Worse, Kara could see the kind of understanding in Zatanna’s eyes that had attracted her to Sara. The kind of understanding that only came from loss. Even sober, she’d been hard to resist, and if Kara hadn’t known her in the future and known the kind of relationship she might destroy before it could even start, she might have given in anyway. Instead, she’d spent the night playing the oblivious dork, a role which fit her rather well, and left Zatanna with a goodbye hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Then she’d flown home, taken a cold shower, and rushed out the door to Noonan’s with a lovely head of auburn hair. Sally, her usual waitress, had barely recognized her at first, which was a good sign. Three sticky buns and two breakfast burritos later, she’d picked up Cat’s latte and headed for the office.

“Wow,” Winn said. “That’s new.”

Kara smiled as she sat down at her desk. “You like it?”

“Yeah, but, isn’t it a bit risky? I mean, Supergirl’s a blonde and you’re a blonde. You become a redhead, and suddenly, so does the Girl of Steel?” he asked in a whisper.

“I can switch back and forth,” she said.

“That’s a wig?” he asked.

“No,” Kara said. “I’ll explain later, but I will tell you, my stylist was hot.”

“Oh?” Winn said. “Like, ‘I spent the whole time drooling,’ hot, or ‘I took her home and I had to change the sheets before I left for work,’ hot?”

Kara sighed dramatically. “Sadly, the former more than that latter, but it was a close thing.”

“Kara, you have got to live a little,” Winn said. “Everyone should have a smoking hot hairdresser story.”

“Do you?” Kara asked.

Winn blushed a little.

“Oh, you do,” Kara said, smiling. She leaned forward a bit to whisper, “Him or her?”

“You’re just going to have to wonder,” Winn said. “I promised Raphael I would never speak of it.”

Kara laughed as she checked her tablet for the day’s schedule. “Are the servers for the website coming in today?” she asked.

Winn nodded. “Should be here around noon. Honestly, I can’t believe the contractors got everything done in two days. I figured they’d be under foot for weeks.”

“It’s all about connections,” Kara said. And it was. She hadn’t used the normal CatCo contractors to build out the forty-second floor. She’s used ones the DEO used for their ‘we need a new alien containment facility in under twelve hours’ type emergencies.

“Do I even want to ask?”

Kara shook her head. “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to throw you into space.”

“Yeah,” Winn said, grinning. “I’m okay with not knowing.”

“You have your tux for tomorrow night?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Winn said. “I picked it up from Konex last night.”

“Good, I…” Kara stopped at the familiar hum of machinery, grinning just a little bit as she heard Cat mumbling to herself about having to listen to Angie Harmon’s long rant on how hard it was to be a Republican in the entertainment industry. “She’s here,” she said, as she picked up Cat’s latte, adjusted so that only Winn could see her zap it, then stood up and got into position.

The door to Cat’s elevator opened up and she stepped out, eyes still on her phone as she deleted emails.

“Keira,” she said as she watched towards her office, “call the florist and send Ellen a dozen red roses, and make sure to tell her I’m always willing to do her show, any time she asks.”

“Yes, Ms. Grant,” Kara said, as she held out the latte.

Cat took it and started to raise it to her lips, onto to stop half way there. She lifted her head and looked at Kara. “I see you took my advice on the hair,” she said. “Pity you weren’t so attentive on the wardrobe.”

If anyone else had said it, Kara would have been furious, but the slightly teasing hint of a grin on Cat’s face, the one she doubted anyone else would have spotted, took all the sting out of Cat’s words.

“One step at a time, Ms. Grant,” Kara said. “I wouldn’t want anyone to die of shock, after all.”

This time, Cat did smile, though she took a sip of her latte to cover it as she started walking again. Kara picked up her tablet and followed.

“Today is fairly clear. The issue goes to print at 2:00 PM. Everyone except fashion has been edited, approved and finalized.”

“What’s taking fashion so long?”

“Kelly managed to find a costume house who could make replicas of the Kryptonian outfits in the sketches Supergirl sent over. The photo shoot was yesterday, but when I left last night, she was still waiting for the pictures to come back from the photographer. She’s got a backup layout with just the sketches, plus some of the photos of Supergirl and an article about her costume in case the photographer doesn’t get her the prints in time. I’ve looked over it, and the backup is really good, but she’s hoping to go with live shots.”

“Who’s the photographer?”

“Alex DeWitt,” Kara said.

“Hmmm… Is that the girl from LA you convinced me to hire instead of Horton Spence?”

“Yes,” Kara said.

“Well, I hope she delivers,” Cat said as she picked up the remote, and turned on the TVs behind her desk. “I… Is that Maxwell Lord?”

Kara looked up and sure enough, there he was, sitting on the couch, getting interviewed by the host of ‘National City This Morning’. Kara took the remote out of Cat’s hand and selected the specific monitor, turning up the volume.

“Look, it’s not a matter of inexperience. I’ll be the first one to admit that so far, this ‘Supergirl’ as some people are calling her, has done a good job,” Max said.

“Then what *is* your concern?” the host asked.

“Look at what happened last Friday,” Max said. “She blabs to the media that she’s Superman’s cousin, and not even six hours after the news hits, Reactron attacks her in the middle of a crowded highway.”

“An attack that seemed completely ineffective,” the host pointed out.

“This time,” Max said. “But think about it. How much danger were the people on that highway in? Do you know how much Reactron’s fights with Superman have cost Metropolis?”

“No,” the host replied.

“Forty-nine million dollars in total damage,” Max said. “And sure, Supergirl was able to shut him down, although how she managed that is still a mystery when her cousin couldn’t do it for years, but what about next time? How many villains are going to go after Supergirl as a way to get back at her cousin? You seriously think she’s be able to take them all down as easily as she did Reactron? And even if she does turn out to be stronger than her cousin, that’s almost worse because all the aliens and monsters that used to go to Metropolis just to prove they were the biggest, baddest, monster on the block are going to start heading right for National City.”

“And if that’s not bad enough,” Max continued, “she seems to be some kind of glory hound. She’s been flying around what, two weeks and she’s already giving interviews. It’s no secret that CatCo is dedicating an entire issue to her.”

“Well, Superman gave his first interview just three days after he made his first appearance,” the host said.

“And we all know what that did,” Max replied. “How many times has the Daily Planet been attacked? Do we really want the same thing happening to CatCo plaza? Mark my words. National City does not need the kind of problems Supergirl is going to bring here.”

Kara jumped slightly as she felt Cat tug at the remote. She forced herself to loosen her grip and watched as Cat muted the audio.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about Maxwell Lord,” Cat said. “I’m pretty sure our girl is going to prove everything he said is wrong once we get her up and running.”

Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I really hate that man,” she said.

“I’ve noticed,” Cat said. “Someday, you’ll have to tell me why.”

“You mean aside from the fact that he looks at you like a piece of meat?”

Cat laughed. “While I appreciate the sentiment, Keira, I’m a divorced mother who’s closer to fifty than forty. You’re a little late to defend my virtue.”

Kara could feel herself blush a little, but she tried to shake it off. “I don’t trust him,” she said. “He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He uses people and throws them away, and never worries about how what he does hurts them.”

“The same could be said of me,” Cat pointed out.

Kara turned and looked at her, and she could make out the faint worry in Cat’s face, almost like she was looking for Kara’s approval. The whole idea was ridiculous, of course, but something in Kara responded to it. “Ms. Grant, you give two weeks’ severance to assistants who don’t last out their first day. And yes, I’ve seen you fire half a department in one go, but I also read every single one of those termination packets, so I know every one of them deserved it. You’re hard to work for, but you’re nowhere near as capricious or cruel as you make everyone think you are. You care. You may work hard to make sure people think you don’t, which I don’t understand at all, but I know you well enough to know you care every bit as much as Supergirl does.”

Kara turned back to the screen, where Max Lord was still pontificating. “He doesn’t. The only thing Max Lord cares about is himself. He tells himself he’s some generous, benevolent nobleman taking care of the peasants because it makes him feel good about himself, but he doesn’t know what it means to really give or to sacrifice for someone else. Maxwell Lord is a narcissistic little sociopath who’s going to kill a lot of people someday. I just hope Supergirl is there to stop him.”

She started slightly when felt a hand rest on her shoulder and turned to find Cat giving her a concerned look.

“I’m sure if Supergirl is needed, she’ll be there,” Cat said.

The tension she’d felt from the moment she’d first spotted Maxwell Lord’s face seemed to melt right out of her and Kara wasn’t the least bit surprised. Alex’s faith in her had always been her source of strength, but Cat’s faith in her had always been a guiding light, a way to find the calm in the storm until that faith itself had become the calm. She reached up, covering Cat’s hand with her own, smiling at her, silently hoping Cat realized how much that faith meant to her.

They stayed there for a few moments, Kara knowing she must be smiling like an idiot, but too lost in the warm, caring smile Cat was giving her to care. Much as she regretted it, she was the one who had to pull away when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.

“Excuse me,” she said, taking the phone out. She sighed when she saw the call was from the DEO. “I’ve got to take this,” she said.

Cat nodded. “Go ahead.”

Fifteen minutes later, she was walking into J’onn’s office to find him, Alex and Susan waiting.

“You mind telling me what’s so urgent I have to walk out of work in the middle of a meeting with my boss?” Kara asked.

“You mind telling me why the President of the United States is attending your boss’s party tomorrow night?” J’onn replied.

Kara stopped and smiled. “She’s coming?” she asked excitedly.

“Apparently,” J’onn said.

“Kara, what were you thinking?” Alex asked.

“That it would be easier to convince her to go ahead with the Alien Amnesty act if I could actually talk to her,” Kara said.

“Kara,” Susan said, “that’s not at issue. The problem is, you invited her into a war zone.”

Kara turned to look at Susan. “She’ll be safe,” Kara said.

“How can you be sure?” J’onn asked.

“I’ve convinced Ms. Grant to hang a Kryptonian Concord Banner on the side of the venue,” Kara said. “No-one will attack, and if they did, even my Aunt’s forces would hunt them down.”

“Kara, I know you want to think the best of your Aunt,” Alex said, “but-“

“This isn’t about that,” Kara said. “A Concord Banner’s sacred. If it’s violated, every alien on this planet would hunt down the person who did it because they know what would happen if they didn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Susan asked.

“Krypton wasn’t alone out there. Why do you think so many aliens were housed in a Kryptonian prison? Krypton was part of a larger society. It was a power near the heart of a league of independent worlds that spanned a sphere almost ten thousand lightyears in diameter. If anyone violated that Concord Banner, every alien world within three thousand lightyears would send someone to hunt down the guilty party and see that they are brought to justice.”

J’onn closed his eyes and reached up to rub his temples slowly. “Ms. Danvers,” he said. “Did it even occur to you to consider what might happen if a human violated the banner?”

“It did, actually,” Kara said.

J’onn opened his eyes and looked at her. “Really? Because I don’t think you’ve thought through the possible consequences.”

Kara took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “You mean you don’t think I’ve realized I might have to be the one to enforce judgement if someone violates the banner?” she asked. “That I might have to kill someone in order to protect this planet from the consequences of some ignorant, bigoted human’s actions.” She walked over and placed her hands down on J’onn’s desk. “Been there. Done that. Or did you forget already?”

“Kara!” Alex said.

J’onn held up his hand. “No, Alex, she’s right.” He looked at her. “I’m sorry.”

Kara stood up, taking a step back from his desk. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s a risk and I probably should have told you about the invitation and the banner first. I’m starting to feel like I’ve spent too much time around Oliver Queen.”

“Um, Oliver Queen is dead, Kara,” Alex said.

“Unfortunately, only in this universe,” she said.

“Right,” Alex said. “Not gonna get used to that anytime soon.”

“Tequila helps,” Susan said. “Or it makes you forget about it. I don’t really remember which.”

Kara laughed and Susan smiled at her.

“Okay,” J’onn said. “There’s still a problem though.”

“What’s that?” Kara asked.

“We’ve been tasked to provide security,” J’onn said.

“Well, that’s not a problem,” Kara said. “I’m in charge of organizing the party, so, I can slot you into the security arrangements.”

“That will certainly make things easier,” J’onn said, “though I wish we had more time to prepare.”

Kara grinned. “Trust me,” she said. “In about ten minutes, you’re going to have the most accurate intel on a location you’ve ever seen. AND I know the perfect person in local law enforcement to serve as a liaison.”

“Who?” Alex said.

“Detective Maggie Sawyer,” Kara said.

“Your girlfriend?” J’onn asked.

“Really?” Kara said. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not dating Maggie before it sinks in?”

“I don’t know,” Susan said. “Sounds like you might be protesting a bit much.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Look, we all knew Maggie in the other timeline,” Kara said. “I ran into her at a bar after my date stood me up. She’d just got dumped by her ex-girlfriend, who happens to be a Roltikkon by the way, but I’m really *not* Maggie’s type.”

“Okay,” Susan said, holding up her hands. “Sorry.”

Kara nodded. “Look, Maggie’s amazing. I’ve seen her go toe-to-toe with an Infernian armed with nothing but a steel pipe and come out on top.”

“Sounds like we should be recruiting her,” J’onn said.

“That could be counterproductive,” Kara said. “One of the things that made her so valuable to the team in the other timeline was her position at the NCPD. She pulled us in on cases we would never have picked up on otherwise.

Kara watched as J’onn turned that over in his head, then nodded.

“I see your point, but we should at least get her consultant credentials and go ahead and start fostering that relationship now instead of waiting for whatever kicked it off in the original timeline,” he said.

“I agree,” Kara replied. She looked over at Alex. “You should be her handler.”

“Why me?” Alex asked. “I mean, I’m already your handler.”

“The two of you were partners in the other timeline,” Kara said. “Once you started working together, both of you started closing a lot more cases.”

“There’s something else,” J’onn said.

“What?”

“General Lane wants an invitation,” J’onn said.

Kara’s first instinct was to say no, but then something occurred to her and a smile spread across her face.

“Kara,” Alex said. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” Kara said.

“Kara, I know that smile,” Alex said. “That’s your ‘I found the cookie dough mom hid under the carrots’ smile.”

“Oh, relax,” Kara said. “It’s not like I’m going to debauch the man’s eldest daughter in front of him.”

“Okay,” Susan said, “am I the only one who noticed that she felt the need to specify which daughter she wouldn’t be debauching?”

“No,” J’onn and Alex said in unison.

“Just tell me where to send the invitation,” Kara said. “I have to interview Cat’s new assistant in an hour.”

The woman approaching the dock was pale. The kind of pale usually associated with someone who never went outside. Her hair was jet black, and her lips covered in a dark red lipstick that stood out. She was well dressed, in an expensive single breasted gray wool pant suit, covered with an even more expensive black peacoat. The boots were well-made flats, which would have seemed slightly out of character if it weren’t for the distinct limp the woman walked with and the heavy derby cane she leaned on. She moved quickly, but with every other step she shifted, leaning to the right as she swung an unbending left leg forward and planted it with obvious care, the cane coming down at the same time, providing support as she swung. Her eyes were hidden behind large wraparound sunglasses. If anyone had looked carefully, they would have noticed a slightly paler band around the ring finger on her left hand, indicating the absence of a ring that had once been worn.

Anyone on the docks who saw the woman would remember her, not just because she stood out, but because she so clearly didn’t belong there. Yet, she moved with purpose, confidence and determination as she approached a small fishing boat.

If anyone had been able to see her eyes, they would have noticed that she was scanning the area with the skill of a veteran, watching for threats and for anything out of the ordinary, but the only one on the docks who did notice, though not from her eyes, was the target. A tall, wiry young black man with blonde hair and tattoos running down his arms. He was wearing heavy navy canvas cargo pants and a red t-shirt, and she could feel him watching her even as he shifted empty plastic tubs off a pallet, getting them ready to be loaded onto the boat tied up at the dock.

An older man was standing nearby, looking at her more openly, and seeing less about her than the man she’d come to see. She dismissed him as a threat, but it was obvious he was her target’s boss.

She walked up to the target, stopping far enough away that they were out of arm’s reach, but close enough that he couldn’t ignore her without it being clearly deliberate. He sat down the stack of tubs he was moving, and looked at her.

“Yes?” he said.

“I need to talk to you,” she said.

“Lady, I don’t know you,” he said.

“If you’re looking to hire the boat, it’s mine,” the other man said.

She turned towards him. “Are you his boss?”

“Yeah,” the man said.

She slipped her hand into her pocket, and pulled out a wad of bills. She peeled off five one-hundred dollar bills, and held them out to the man. “I need two hours of his time,” she said.

He looked to the target for a moment and the target sighed and nodded. “It’s okay,” he said.

The man reached out and took the five hundred, then watched as she counted out another five.

“This never happened,” she said, holding out the second stack of bills, which disappeared without any hesitation this time. She turned back to the target. “Is there someplace around here we can get lunch?” she asked.

The target nodded. “Follow me,” he said.

She watched as he stepped by her, and even watching, she nearly missed him unbuttoning the pockets on his pants. She smiled, impressed. He was good. She’d known that ahead of time, but he was better than she’d expected him to be at this point. Of course, anyone who didn’t know him, didn’t understand, might have thought him letting her get behind him was a rookie mistake, but it wasn’t. Not with so much water around them. They were in his playground.

She followed along for nearly a block. He didn’t speak until they were out of earshot of everyone else. “Who sent you?” he asked. “Arthur, or David?”

“Neither,” she said. “And I apologize for the theatrics, but your friend in Metropolis had no idea what name you’d be using.”

“How’d my friend find me if he didn’t know what name to look for?”

“Long story,” she said. “But he didn’t. I found you. I just checked with your friend to see if I could find an easier way to make contact.”

“You could have gone with something lower profile,” he said.

“Trust me, this is a lot lower profile than I usually am,” she said. “Now, food. Please.”

He turned and lead her around a corner to a little shack with a faded sign that declared ‘Best Sushi in Kodiak!’.

She felt herself smile as he waved to the old Japanese man behind the counter and headed for a booth in the back corner. One that would leave him perfectly positioned to see anyone approaching. She slid in opposite him.

“So,” she said. “What do I call you?”

“Jack,” he said. “Jack Gray. And what do I call you?”

“Linda Lee,” she said.

“Sounds about as real as the limp,” he replied.

She frowned. “What gave it away?”

“The cane,” he said. “You did a good job adding wear to it, but you’re still thinking about how to use it. The movement isn’t habitual yet.”

She grinned. “Good catch,” she said.

Before either of them could say anything else, a waitress appeared. The woman took a moment to scan her features. Eurasian. Based on phenotype, the granddaughter of the man ‘Jack’ had waved to as they entered. Based on the smile on her face and the scent of pheromones she was giving off, she had a bit of a crush. She was in for a bit of a disappointment and not just because ‘Jack’ would be leaving after today.

The woman watched as Jack ordered a Sashimi Platter, then turned to the waitress and ordered herself two ‘Kodiak’ rolls, two ‘Volcano’ rolls, and two ‘Godzilla’ rolls, along with a bowl of miso soup, an order of pickled garlic, a bowl of edamame and some fried oysters.

The waitress double checked the order, and looked like she watched to explain just how much food the woman was ordering, but she glanced at Jack and he gave her a slight nod, and she scrambled off to get them their drinks.

“I suppose that answers that question,” he said.

“I figured it would,” she said. “I’m actually here to ask for your help. The cloak and dagger stuff is less about you and more about me. If I were seen here, it would attract the wrong kind of attention.”

“The disguise must be really good,” he said.

“Better than the one I normally wear,” she replied.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but helping people is how I wound up in the mess I’m already in,” he said. “I’m not in the business anymore.”

She didn’t respond immediately, because the waitress arrived with a platter loaded with their drinks, and the woman’s soup and edamame.

“Your oysters will be just another moment,” the waitress said.

“That’s fine,” the woman replied. She waited until the waitress stepped away before turning to her soup. “You mind?” she asked.

He shook his head, and she tucked in, devouring the soup in just a few moments, before turning to the bowl of steamed soy beans.

“Let me make my offer,” she said. “If you don’t want to take it, I’ll give you two thousand dollars. That should at least make up for me blowing your cover here.”

“Well, that’s more thoughtful than I expected you to be,” he said. “Go ahead.”

“I need someone to guard a Queen,” she said.

“Not interested,” he replied. “I’ve learned to keep away from royalty.”

She laughed. “I can understand why,” she said. “Arthur’s a bit full of himself.” She watched the slight tightening of his jaws. He’d taken offense. That was a good sign. It meant he still cared. Not that she’d ever really doubted. “But this Queen is unique,” she said. “Like any good ruler, information is her primary weapon, but her goal isn’t power. She wants to change the world, make it a better place.”

“Don’t they all?” he asked.

“The difference is, she’s actually doing it,” the woman said. “Not with armies and bombs, but with words, newspapers, magazines, Twitter and tumblr, YouTube and Facebook, tv shows and radio. She pushes and pulls. Shapes conversations and narratives. She inspires, leads, and gives people hope.”

“You make her sound like a Saint,” he said.

The woman snorted, and then laughed, slapping the table so hard the bowl of edamame bounced a few inches. “Oh, Rao’s light, no,” she said, managing to keep her voice low enough that only he could hear her. “She’s vain, conceited, self-absorbed, a little narcissistic, mean, fickle, self-aggrandizing, more than a little petty and absolutely the most pig-headed, stubborn pain in the ass I’ve ever met.”

“You’re really selling this,” he said.

She reached up and took her sunglasses off, showing him the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. “I’m not interested in selling you anything, Jack. She’s not a perfect person. She’s hard to please, hard to get along with and some days, she’s hard to love.”

He stared at her for a moment, and nodded slightly. “You’re not looking for someone to protect a Queen, you’re looking for someone to protect a friend.”

The woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “Family. I’m looking for someone to protect family. I can’t do what I need to do if my attention is divided. I asked your friend for advice, to help me find someone I could trust. Someone who, if they took the job, would die before they failed. Someone who would protect their charge, even if it was from him. Or me.”

She saw the wheels turning behind his eyes, and saw the exact moment it clicked, and he leaned back, slightly shocked.

“You know who I am,” she said.

He nodded. “I do. You’re my friend’s cousin. And I have a pretty good idea who you’re asking me to protect. What I don’t understand is why. She can afford to hire protection if she needs it.”

“There’s no one she could hire that can protect her from people like me. You though, you could.”

Their conversation stopped for a few moments as the waitress arrived with their food. The woman smiled and thanked her, and began mixing Wasabi into her soy sauce.

“Your skill set can bypass our gifts,” she said.

“I know,” he said.

“They would underestimate you. It would give you an edge, a chance to strike from surprise.”

“Even so, those like you would be a difficult challenge.”

“And if it comes to it, I would be more difficult than most, because *I* am warded against your skills,” she said.

“Why go through such effort to protect someone if you believe you might one day be in conflict with them?” he asked.

“If you ever have to stop me from hurting her, it would be because I’m not myself. Because something had altered my brain. I don’t expect it to happen, but I’d be a fool not to plan for the contingency, since it *has* happened before. And if it does happen, don’t hesitate. Just put me down. For everyone’s sake.”

He picked up a piece of his sushi and dipped it in soy sauce before popping it in his mouth, chewing slowly. Once he’d swallowed, he asked, “If I did this, what would be my cover?”

“You’re be her assistant. You’d run errands, fetch coffee, manage her schedule.”

“I can’t guard her full time if I’m off running errands,” he said.

“Neither could I, but she would never accept a dedicated bodyguard. This is the best I can do,” she said

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. If you found me, I’ve already lingered too long in one place. What you’re asking... I would be too visible, too rooted to the same spot. Arthur and David would both know where I am.”

She picked up her chopsticks and selected a piece of her Godzilla roll, dipping it in the mixture of soy sauce and Wasabi as she spoke. “You can’t keep running, Jack. I understand why you’re upset with Arthur. You trusted him, and he spent your whole life lying to you. I understand why you hate David. He’s a monster. But you are giving them all the control right now.” She placed the piece of sushi in her mouth and chewed slowly, letting her words sink in.

“I hid who I am for eleven years, not because I wanted to, but because other people were afraid. I let other people chart the course of my life and I nearly watched everything I love burn, again. In the end, I couldn’t do it. If I’m going to be damned either way, I’d rather be damned for being who I am and I’m going down fighting, with my head held high. This is your chance to make that same decision. The decision to be who you are. A better man than your father, and a braver man than your king.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “You and Metropolis, you’re both dangerous, you know that? You make people want to be better than they are.”

She smiled. “You’ll do it?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll do it. You think you could give me a lift to National City?”

“After I finish my Sushi,” she said.

Kara sat in the conference room, rubbing her temples as she waited. Kaldur’ahm, Cat’s new assistant slash bodyguard was at her apartment getting fitted for the wardrobe Konex was making for him. The suits were all going to be designer. It had taken a little creative hacking to create Jackson Hyde, but Kaldur’ahm’s new cover identity would stand up to a standard DEO level security clearance.

The money issue had been a little bit trickier. Kara was trying to do as much as possible above board, which was why she’d gone through the DEO for so many things, even before coming out as Supergirl. But she wanted to keep Kaldur’ahm off the DEO’s radar, so there was a good bit of white collar crime involved as she transferred money pretty much no-one knew she had around, building a paper trail that didn’t lead back to her. Konex was helpful in that regard, since most human cybersecurity was more of a suggestion to him, than anything else.

By the time CatCo’s HR department was finished digging, they were going to find that Jackson Hyde was a trust fund baby whose parents had died in a boating accident. There would be some stuff about him working his way up and down the coast after college, before settling down in National City and applying for a job at several places around town. It was all nice and pat, and Kara had no doubt Cat would see right through it if she ever bothered to look. Kara really hoped she didn’t.

Kara looked up as the door to the conference room opened, and her face split into a smile as she saw the pizza boxes and the brown paper bag James was carrying. She loved Sushi, but flying home had burned through those calories already, and she was starving.

“Pizza and pot stickers,” James said.

“That’s my favorite meal!” she said.

“I know that about you,” James replied, setting the food down on the table. “Winn should be here any minute with Maggie and your sister.”

Kara took one of the pizzas off the stack and flipped it open. “I love Hawaiian,” she said happily as she picked up a slice covered with ham, pineapple and bacon.

“Yeah, I noticed that the day you ate six of them,” James said.

Kara gave a slight pout. “Alex never lets me order Hawaiian,” she said.

“That’s because pineapple does not belong on pizza,” Alex shouted from the hallway. “It’s sick, and wrong and what the hell happened to your hair?” she asked as she walked through the door.

Kara smiled. “You like it?”

“I… how…” she turned and looked at the door, waiting impatiently as Winn closed it behind her and Maggie.

“Damn it, Kara,” Maggie said as she looked past Alex, “stealing all the attention with the ‘hot librarian’ thing wasn’t enough? You’ve gotta go and be a red head too?”

Kara gave Maggie a wicked grin, and said, “Elprup.”

Everyone else’s jaw dropped as her hair turned a deep, rich shade of purple.

“That… is SOOOOO cool!” Winn said. “Is that a Kryptonian thing? Can you change anything else? Are you a shape shifter?”

“No, no, and no,” Kara said. “Lamron,” she said, and her hair changed back to its normal blonde. “Nrubua,” she said, and her hair shifted again, returning to the same shade of Auburn it had been when everyone walked into the room. “I went and saw a friend of a friend last night. She worked a little magic, and voilà. Voice-activated color-changing hair.”

“Okay, wait a minute,” Winn said. “Magic? Like, literal magic? As in the hot, I spent the whole time drooling, hairdresser did actual magic on your hair?”

Kara sighed. “And yet, I’m the one who gets ragged on for not being able to keep a secret.” She took a bite of her pizza and started chewing furiously.

“It’s okay,” Maggie said. “I can wait until your sister is not around to get details.”

Kara glared.

“Not to be a spoil sport,” James said, “but I still need to get back and review final proofs for the digital edition of the new issue, so…”

Kara swallowed her pizza, and looked at Alex. “Did you bring them?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Though the director would have preferred to do this at HQ.”

Kara shrugged. “I would have preferred to leave Sam Lane off the guest list for tomorrow night. Sometimes you just have to roll with it.”

“Wait, Lucy’s dad is going to be at the party tomorrow?” James asked.

“Yeah,” Kara said. “Lucy too, probably. But Lois will be there too, so maybe that will keep him occupied.” Kara did not miss the slightly raised eyebrow on Alex at the mention of Lucy, and decided distraction was the best way to keep Alex from figuring anything out. “But right now, Alex has some papers for you guys to sign.”

“What kind of papers?” Maggie asked.

“Security clearances and NDA’s,” Alex said as she sat her briefcase on the table and pulled out three large envelopes.

“For what?” Maggie asked.

“You have to sign the NDA before I can tell you,” Alex replied.

Kara could see the argument building, and much as she’d like to watch Maggie and Alex go ten rounds, right now wasn’t a good time. “Mags,” she said.

Maggie turned to her. “Yeah?”

“Go with me on this, okay?”

She could see the hesitation, and she understood it, but Maggie finally nodded and sat down, taking the form from Alex and reaching for a pen. Winn and James both sat down too, as Alex handed them their non-disclosure agreements. Once all three were signed, Alex lay packets down in front of each of them, and they all up ended them almost immediately. Each one dropped a leather ID folio on the table, along with a stack of paperwork with tabs indicating where signatures went.

“Welcome to the DEO,” Kara said. “Since you all know about Supergirl, I convinced Director Henshaw to run security clearances for all of you, and issue you credentials as consultants.”

“Really,” Winn said, picking up his ID folio and flipping it open. “This is so cool!”

“Winn,” Kara said, “You can’t show it off.”

“I know,” Winn said, curling his hands around it protectively. “It’s still cool though.”

Kara grinned. “Wait until Alex shows you the special features.”

“Special features?” Maggie asked.

Alex pulled out hers and held it up, showing them the DEO badge. “These wouldn’t be much good in public, since the DEO doesn’t officially exist. But,” she touched a spot on the side of the wallet, and the ID turned into an FBI ID, “we still get by.”

Maggie looked over at Winn, and both of them smiled at each other. “Psychic paper,” they said together.

“Oh, no,” Kara said, looking at Maggie. “He did not get you started on Doctor Who.”

“Seriously?” Maggie said. “I started watching Doctor who when I was five.”

Kara sighed as she felt Alex’s and come to rest on her shoulder, and turned to look up at Alex. “I take back everything nice I ever said about her.”

“What?” Maggie asked.

Alex smiled as she shook her head. “Please, don’t,” she said. “No one wants to hear her rant about how insulting Doctor Who is to aliens.”

“Wait,” Winn said, “what?”

James just looked up at Alex in desperation. “Where do I need to sign?”

“Heard the lecture?”

“From Clark,” he said, “And three of the Green Lanterns.”

“I’m not that bad,” Kara said, stomping her foot slightly, and making the whole table jump.

“Yes, you are,” Alex said.

#supergirl #supercat #supercanary #sanvers #fanfiction #the shape of things to come #kara danvers #alex danvers #cat grant #maggie sawyer #sara lance #j'onn j'onzz #susan vasquez #lois lane #clark kent #james olsen #winn schott jr.#future shock

5 notes · View notes

jimmyjohnsmnm · 4 years ago

Text

How to Write Emails That Actually Drive Results

Every client that I work with has his or her own unique problems, but they all have one thing in common.

Can you guess what it is?

Regardless of industry, size, or even the person’s position within the company, everyone uses email and wants to know how to write email that customers open.

Despite the rise of social media, forums, and mobile chat apps, email remains one of the most popular forms of communication in the world.

According to a study from Radicati, there are over 3.7 billion email users worldwide, and that number is steadily rising.

If you think that statistic is high, you’ll want to sit down before I tell you the volume of emails being sent.

We’re sending and receiving 269 billion emails every day. It seems impossible to stick out in this crowd.

Yet email remains one of the most effective channels of marketing, with a median ROI that’s nearly 5x that of other channels like social media, direct mail, and paid search.

Adobe even found that half of all consumers prefer being contacted by brands via email over social media and direct mail.

Email newsletters specifically have the highest reported positive experience by consumers in a recent survey.

Of course, knowing email is effective and writing an effective email doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.

If you send the wrong emails, you’ll end up losing customers. In fact, 66% of people unsubscribe from emails because they’re not aligned with their interests.

You need great emails to keep your customers happy.

That’s the problem I’m going to alleviate for you today.

You know all the reasons why you should be using email, but we’re going to dive into the nitty-gritty details of how to actually write these emails.

The first step is to segment our email lists so we can target our emails to the right audiences.

How to Write Emails With Proper Audience Segmentation

We know email is effective, but we don’t have time to personally email each and every customer on our lists. Each email needs to feel personal, though.

When your customers are properly segmented, it’s easier to send emails that feel more personalized.

Messages will be based on your target customers’ interactions with your company and website. As a result, they won’t feel generic, sporadic, or irrelevant.

A recent survey by Ascend2 found that 51% of marketers consider email list segmentation to be the most effective personalization tactic.

Did a customer recently make a purchase from you?

A thank-you email explaining the benefits of the purchase can help you keep your brand front-and-center in that customer’s mind.

Perhaps a prospective customer abandoned his or her shopping cart before taking the next step and purchasing a product. Consider sending a discount code to entice that person back.

MailChimp recently measured 11,000 segmented campaigns against non-segmented campaigns from the same customers. It found that the segmented campaigns outperformed their non-segmented counterparts across every metric.

So what are some ways to segment your customer lists?

Basic demographics like age, sex, and location are a great place to start. They’re not always enough, but they’ll help you get started.

You’re likely going to speak differently to a retired veteran than you would to a teenager or recent college grad. Also, men and women may respond differently to the language you use in email marketing.

Of course, this type of personal information may not be available. It’s also not the most effective way to segment audiences.

Marketing automation platform MailChimp offers a variety of popular audience segmentation options based on engagement, behavior, and other criteria that you might find useful.

These behavioral triggers are actually much more likely to predict a customer’s response anyway. Recommended purchases, for example, work regardless of age, sex, or location.

Behaviors like buying, canceling, subscribing, and cart abandonment can be easily addressed with personalized emails.

Ideally, you’ll send the right message to the right consumer at the right time. It sounds impossible, but modern marketing technology makes it not only accessible, but also automated.

Behavior triggers stand out as one of the most effective innovation opportunities for markers. Marketers can analyze behavior triggers among their audiences to find strategies that really work.

If you can set up an email marketing strategy that actually makes consumers eager to open your emails, you stand to enjoy much greater conversion rates.

As mentioned above, behavior segmentation also makes it easier to automate emails.

Marketing automation is an important part of the sales cycle, and you’re essentially leaving money on the table by not employing it.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity!

Charity: Water, for example, has a great email automation campaign that tracks the progress of your donation to the organization.

When we donate money, we rarely get to see how the money is being spent. In fact, it’s one of the key barriers that nonprofits face when attempting to raise funds.

Automated emails that provide useful data provide personalized transparency to the process. Consumers feel like they understand their role in the equation.

Now we have our customer lists segmented into the right groups, and it’s time to craft the right emails for each group.

To do that, we need to decide what our goal for each segment is and work backward from there.

How to Write Email by Building Backward From the Goal

It’s important to have a goal for your email campaign. Otherwise, you’re just firing off emails and hoping to resonate with your audience.

Not a good strategy.

There are only four basic types of emails you can write:

Narrative: Tell a compelling story.

Descriptive: Illustrate your product or service with words.

Expository: Teach your audience how to do something.

Persuasive: Convince readers to take action.

Each type will have a different tone and goal.

Let’s say your goal is to persuade customers to complete a post-purchase survey about their experience.

There needs to be a clear CTA, preferably graphic, that entices users to click. That should be the focus of a short email that concisely explains the benefit of taking the survey.

Here’s an example of a persuasive email from Wayfair.

On the other hand, an expository email provides all the facts necessary for a customer to understand a topic.

These are typically newsletters, but not always.

In the case of this GrubHub email, the goal is an order confirmation displaying all the relevant information about your order.

Descriptive emails are typically announcements for new products. They allow you to generate buzz (and hopefully a few sales). Here’s a descriptive menu from Cook Smarts.

Plus, descriptive emails give you a chance to show your passion for your products. Here’s a descriptive menu from Cook Smarts.

And finally, we have the narrative email, which allows you to tell your brand story. Here, Poncho turns an ordinary weather report into a narrative infographic.

Right now we’re going to try an exercise. Think of all the different types of emails you may send to your customers based on their behaviors and other events.

New product releases, leadership changes, sales and promotions, thank-you emails for customers’ order, emails that tell customers you’re sorry to see them go, responses to abandoned carts, and holiday celebrations immediately come to mind.

The next step is to decide the goal for each of these behaviors. What do you want the customer to do?

You typically want a click-through to your website. You can also use a CTA to ask for a purchase or to deliver relevant content.

Creating these templates in advance keeps customers feeling personally connected to your business while you save time and resources.

5 Steps to Write the Perfect Email

Now you know why you should be emailing your customers. You’re also familiar with the different types of emails you might send.

What we need to do is nail down a replicable process for writing them.

Of course, you must start with a list of subscribers. Collect email addresses from your fans and followers so you’re communicating with as many people as possible.

youtube

Once you have a list, you can write emails that respond to the behavioral triggers I talked about above.

Here’s where to start.

1. How to Write Email Subject Lines

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and the subject line is that chance for emails.

The subject line determines whether or not your email is ever read. A recent survey found that 33% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone.

You have to nail that first impression if you want your copy to get read.

The email marketing specialists at Constant Contact have seen thousands of effective emails. The company offers a few tips for subject lines (along with great examples of winning formulas).

It’s important to keep the subject short and snappy. Many email programs cut off long subject lines, which means your subscribers won’t see the whole thing. Above, there’s an example with just a simple acronym from Bisque Imports.

Everyone knows what TGIF means, so it works. However, you can also use other types of language to get your emails read.

A teaser or announcement can provide a great way to entice people to click through and read. People love a mystery or an opportunity, so they’re more likely to check out the email’s body if the subject line arouses their interest.

Check out this example from FluentCity announcing the winners of a recent contest.

Whatever you do, avoid spammy language like “Buy Now.”

You don’t need to be overly promotional. Focus on being informative and entertaining.

In fact, entertaining and/or funny subject lines are a great way to increase the chances of an email being opened.

Check out this gem of a subject line from The Basketry.

Nice pun, right?

Once you have the right subject, it’s time to move on to the content of the email body.

2. Keep Emails For Customers Short and Friendly.

The worst mistake you can make with an email is trying to cram too much information into an email. The document ends up being too long.

Sure, people need to know relevant information, but you can spread out the information over several emails.

Alternatively, you can link to pages on your website so the reader can seek out more details if he or she wants.

Whatever the case, don’t waste your subscribers’ time. That’s the fastest way to the “unsubscribe” button.

A simple teaser with a link to your website is all that’s needed.

Check out this simple example from Postmates, which invites customers to click through for a limited-time offer of lattes on demand.

The company doesn’t waste any time getting to the point. There’s a brief, three-word greeting, and then the company immediately jumps into the point of the offer.

After we get a description of the offer, we’re immediately given a CTA button to click through and take advantage of the offer.

This short, sweet, and to-the-point approach is how every email should be treated. We only spend 15-20 seconds reading an email, so it shouldn’t resemble a novel.

There’s a lot of information to fit in such a small space, though, so how do we decide what to cut and what to keep?

Let’s explore that.

3. Write Better Emails by Adding Relevant Information and Calls to Action.

Journalists are required to find out the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a story before publishing. That’s a standard we’re going to set for our emails.

Each email we send needs to answer these vital questions.

Say we have a weekend sale coming up.

The sale is the what, our store location is the where, our business is the who, the holiday is when, special pricing is why, and showing up is how it’s done.

Without this information, your recipients will be lost.

It’s also vital to have a CTA or buy it now buttons. Otherwise, how can your customers take action?

These buttons offer great ways to entice clicks, but before using these advanced techniques, make sure your customers can view them on mobile devices.

Nearly half of emails are checked on mobile devices.

It’s a shame to spend time crafting a brief, compelling email only to experience limited engagement because of mobile incompatibility.

Don’t become that marketer.

Now we need to make sure each customer feels individually connected to your business.

4. Personalize each email and use the second-person point of view.

Nobody wants to feel like they’re just another faceless number.

It’s important to greet each individual using personal language, which becomes an easy feat to accomplish with email template programs.

You also need to write emails in the second person. Focusing on “you” opens a conversation in which the recipient feels important.

Check out this email from The Skimm, which does a great job of using the second person in a personalized email

This email makes it clear that the recipient is the center of attention. We all like to feel special, and this is how it’s done.

Now that we have the email together, there’s just one last thing to do.

5. Proofread and check your grammar multiple times.

There’s no worse feeling than spending hours designing the perfect email template, sending it out to your contact list, and finding a glaring typographical error.

Typos are the worst, and with emails, they can constitute a sign of spam. It looks unprofessional and may even get your email blocked by spam filters.

Take the time to perform at least two rounds of edits to check for these typos and to make sure everything is polished before you send an email out to your customers.

Now that everything’s grammatically correct, we can finally send our email out and reap the benefits.

Conclusion

Email is one of the most widely-used forms of communication in the modern world. More people use email than social media, chat programs, and forums.

In other words, it’s the perfect chance to connect with your audience. But only if you follow best practices and get creative.

Sending email newsletters and emails based on triggered actions can increase conversions, build trust, and lead to a healthy ROI.

By creating targeted email templates based on behaviors may be the most important change you make to your digital marketing efforts.

Have you found success using email?

The post How to Write Emails That Actually Drive Results appeared first on Neil Patel.

Original content source: https://ift.tt/2tQSEqd via https://neilpatel.com The post, How to Write Emails That Actually Drive Results, has been shared from https://ift.tt/3keZuex via https://ift.tt/2r0Go64

0 notes