#Literally sucks and has no depth to it whatsoever

[acourtofthought]

This argument is honestly driving me bananas right now.

The fandom: "Elain always sits by the sunniest windows which is SJM using possible foreshadowing to tell us she's not meant to stay in the NC because she needs light and she's never going to truly thrive in the darkness that exists within the NC!"

The fandom: "This line is SJM using possible foreshadowing for Elain leaving the Night Court to be with her mate who is the heir to Day with Sun in his veins!"

The fandom: "Possible foreshadowing that Elain, just like the rose, will always risk being trampled or walked on when in the wrong place!"

The fandom: "SJM using possible foreshadowing yet again to tell us that Elain will only "bloom" when she's in a court synonymous with sunshine and her mate as flowers need light to bloom."

The fandom: "Evidence that Elain doesn't belong in the Night Court because no one really values what she has to offer and they don't realize what she's capable of. They dismiss her offer to help with the Trove in favor of Nesta searching because Nesta is their go to sister."

The fandom: "This line is SJM using possible foreshadowing to tell us that the Night Court is sucking the life from Elain, that it's not the color black but what black represents within the court, it's darkness and occasional cruelty".

Some in the fandom recently: "This line talking about the rose charm needing light in order for its true depth to be visible is definitely not referring to Elain whatsoever even though she's often associated with roses ("she was a rose bloom in a mud field" roses on her drawers, the rose carving her father gave her", etc.), is often underestimated and is regularly mentioned as needing light and the reason it's not about her is because her beauty is often talked about so it's not a secret!"

🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦

"thing of secret, lovely beauty" is referring to the charms (symbolic of Elain's) hidden depth. How it's true "colors" will be revealed in the light.

Despite the many mentions of Elain being underestimated, of them not giving Elain credit or assuming she's too "prim" or "like a dog" or only interested in her gardens, despite the many mentions of Elain needing light before this........only now with this ROSE charm needing light, it is has no possible symbolism to Elain, am I understanding that correctly? Though we've literally had 10 plus other mentions of Elain as a rose or Elain wanting sunshine, this is the one that's definitely not hinting at her coming into her own when leaving the NC for a place synonymous with light? In the same bonus we have Az thinking she's too hopeful, too trusting, too innocent, too pure and claiming she has no interest in Lucien yet this underestimated charm revealing itself in the light has got nothing to do with Elain?

No, Az is not using the necklace as a metaphor for Elain. It's just a necklace to Az but it was gifted to her and the author chose to use language that clearly matches the other references she's used for Elain in regards to light and how others perceive her.

Elain saying she needed sunshine to Nesta was just Nesta thinking Elain wanted to go outside.

It's the reader that is supposed to read between the lines, like us picking up on the hint that Elain needing "sunshine" is SJM telling us Elain will leave the NC. That's no different than reading between the lines about this rose charm and how easily it could be hinting at Elain's future and when we'll see her true character come into focus.

Neither Elain or Gwyn's beauty is a secret.

But Elain's true personality is a secret to those in the IC.

"loyal like a dog, doesn't dream beyond her pretty dresses, would faint to hear such thoughts, maybe you'll become interesting at last". These are fairly hurtful statements, are they not? You're telling me that the truth of who Elain actually is could not be considered a thing of secret, lovely beauty when it's finally revealed to everyone?

And Gwyn being Az's possible mate is also a secret to him. The fact that he's holding the image of her happiness inside of him but forces himself to erase the smile it brings to his face and doesn't stop to think on why that is?

That is also a thing of secret, lovely beauty.

Elain for eventually being able to prove what she's worth to all who underestimated her when "held to the light" and Az being close to getting the thing he's been wanting for so long and with a female he already feels positive things for.

It refers to both females in a different way but not because Az is calling either Elain or Gwyn that or because it's about their physical appearance. He's first talking about the charm but the reader realizes it's two-fold, there is a hidden meaning in his description of the charm. The second time it's the narrator speaking because Az is clueless about what Gwyn could be to him and why her happiness is making him smile and glow inside.

Beauty goes beyond the physical and to those who claim I'm making this too complicated, that's exactly what E/riels say when we argue about Elain and the black dress since they believe it's "just a dress".

I'm not sure why certain readers are so against the possibility that just as SJM hinted at Elain needing to leave the NC to fully come into herself many times throughout the series, she could be telling us the same thing in the bonus with the description of the charm. Though those same people will agree with every other reference to Elain and light, this is the one time they want to claim means nothing.

It's a bit odd that certain readers are gatekeeping the entire Bonus Chapter as belonging to Gwyn and Gwyn alone as if the author isn't leaving us clues for Elain's future as well as Az and Gwyns.

[flower-boi16]

Why Helluva Boss's Villains Suck

So, Helluva Boss is a series with a LOT of villains. The show certainly has a large rogues gallery of them, that's for sure. There's just one thing though; Helluva Boss's villains...suck. And In this post I'm going to explain why.

1. What Makes A Good Villain?

Before I get to why I don't like HB's villains let's first ask a question; what makes a good villain? To me, a good villain could be either of two things; 1) They could be compelling and interesting antagonists; with deeper motivations as to why they do the things they do or why they act that way, a good villain is a villain that's interesting and complex. However, not all villains need to have a lot of depth to be good villains as 2) Sometimes some villains don't need to be super deep or compelling and could just be fun or entertaining to watch. Take villains like Magica De Spell from Ducktales 2017 or any villain from the Disney Renaissance Era; they may not be super deep or compelling characters, but they are still good villains because they are simply fun and entertaining to watch, usually by having a personality to them that makes them a bit goofy while also being a villain you can take seriously due to the threat they may pose to our heroes.

And, generally speaking, a good villain should be able to be semi-competent and pose some kind of threat towards the protagonist, without being incompetent (Unless you writing a villain that's supposed to be dumb like Lord Hater from Wander Over Yonder, but villains like him are usually villains you aren't supposed to take too seriously)

A good antagonist should be a character that poses a threat to the heroes while also being a compelling character in their own right or just being fun and entertaining to watch. So, now that we've established what (in my opinion) makes a good villain, let's now start talking about why HB's villains don't work.

2. My Thoughts on Each Villian in Helluva Boss

Now it's time for me to give my thoughts on each villain in Helluva Boss. Note that I'm only going to include recurring antagonists and I'm going in order of which they all first appeared. Ok, so now, let's begin.

Stella - Stella had some potential to be interesting. Unfortunately, HB squandered that potential and made her a one-dimensional abusive asshole to make Stolas more sympathetic. Not much to say about Stella, she's just a boring one-dimensional asshole.

Veriosika Mayday - Another underdeveloped villain. She's kinda supposed to play into Blitz's whole arc but so far she hasn't gotten much if any development whatsoever. Again, not much to say about her, she's just boring like Stella. Maybe the show will develop her in the future but for now, she's kinda just a one-dimensional basic bitch.

The Cherubs - Don't have much to say about them either. It would have been cool to have them be recurring rivals for the IMPs but nope. Like the other villains, they aren't really that interesting.

Striker - Now...I'm probably going to get hate for this but; Striker is an overrated AF villain. I don't find him that interesting - HOWEVER, I will say he's one of the show's better villains because he's at least kind of menacing in his debut episode. Aside from that he's the "Oh a character that is better than the protag at literally everything who turns out to be the villain!". Ya I don't care for Striker that much - he's fine but I still don't care for him.

The Dhorks - These guys are just stupid. 1) They already had VIDEO EVIDENCE of the IMPs and they FOR SOME FUCKING REASON didn't send it to the government already??? How did they even get the footage of the imps??? And then 2) they also FOR SOME REASON kept on using melee weapons against the IMPs when the episode shows us that they. have. GUNS. Why don't they just use those??? Oh, it's because Edo weapons were more "badass"? These are villains we are suppoused to take semi-seriously, deliberately making them idiots doesn't fucking work. Also 3) Seeing Stars shows that the humans don't recognize the IMPs at all - meaning that, even after obtaining MORE video evidence of the IMPs existing, they STILL just...didn't tell the governments about this for some reason??? Maybe there's an explanation for this in a future episode but for now this is just bullshit! So ya, the dhorks suck, they're boring and just flat out stupid. Least favorite villains in the show so far.

Crimson - Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you...the show's most POINTLESS antagonist. I've already said this multiple times, but why. Literally why. Why did Moxxie need to be the THIRD character with daddy issues? It adds nothing to his character and removing this aspect changes nothing about him - he's the same character without his daddy issues. Crimson literally has nothing interesting about him aside from "abusive dad mob boss". Like all the other villains, he's fucking boring.

So ya, that's my thoughts on each villain in Helluva Boss. As you can see, I don't have very nice things to say about any of them, and if you paid attention to what I was saying about them - you can see one of my major issues with HB's villains. That being...

3. They're Boring

Helluva Boss's villains are just. BORING. A majority of them are very one-dimensional Saturday morning cartoon villains with nothing interesting about them - none of them feel like developed or compelling characters. Granted, as I already said, a villain doesn't need to be super compelling to be good - sometimes a good villain is just one that's fun to watch while still being a good threat to the heroes.

But in order to do that you need to make that villain have a well-fleshed-out personality and mannerisms that make them entertaining to watch. HB's villains don't have that; they aren't compelling nor are they fun to watch, they are just boring. Stella especially is an example of this problem; I've said it before, but there was potential to make Stella an interesting character, but the show chose to waste that in favor of making her a mustache-twirling villain who just likes making Stolass suffer for shits and giggles.

The "I like tormenting you" line especially hammers this in; Stella is just a one-dimensional asshole and nothing else. Again, you don't need to have a character to be super compelling to be a good villain; sometimes you just need them to be fun to watch, but Stella isn't interesting nor is she fun to watch. She's just one-dimensional. Obviously, a character like Stella could work; after all, some stories just like having a villain REVEL in how evil they are like Lord Dominator from Wander Over Yonder, which falls under the "just fun to watch" category, but once again, Stella isn't fun to watch nor is she a compelling or interesting character, she's just boring.

Which is something I can say for all of HB's villains; they aren't compelling or interesting characters nor are they fun and entertaining to watch, they're all just one-dimensional and boring.

Another character I'd like to bring up is Verosika, a character who so far has gotten ZERO development TWO SEASONS IN! Maybe the show will develop Verosika more in the future, but for now there isn't anything about her that's interesting except for MAYBE her past with Blitz, but how the show is going to execute that we'll just have to wait and see.

So Helluva Boss's villains are boring, they aren't compelling characters nor are they fun to watch, now let's move onto my second problem, that being...

4. Some of Them Are Stupid/Incompetent

So a good villain is supposed to be competent, right? Well sometimes an incompetent villain can work; however, it only works when the villain is SUPPOSED to be stupid because they're a villain who you're not supposed to take very seriously. The problem comes when you're supposed to take a villain seriously but they act like idiots to the audience when the story doesn't want us to see them that way.

There are three examples I can think of when I say that sometimes HB's villains are just incompetent at times, those being Striker, The Dhorks, and Crimson. I already talked about the Dhorks here in this post but they're not the only villains that make dumb decisions in the show; Striker does too Western Energy.

For one, when Stolas calls the IMPs for help, Striker for some reason doesn't immediately go and break Stolas's phone when he can HEAR HIM TALKING to them. Instead, he just sits there, letting Stolas notify IMPs that he's in trouble, and THEN takes Stolas's phone. Striker literally could've just smashed Stolas's phone the second he heard Stolas talking - if he did that, then IMP wouldn't have been notified that Stolas has been captured and the episode's plot wouldn't have happened. It's making a villain stupid for the sake of the plot.

And then later in the episode, when he has Stolas tied up on the train tracks, he decides to just... monologue to him? When he could literally just finish Stolas instantly by decapitating him or something, why is he just sitting there doing nothing and stabbing Stolas in random places???

Then there's Crimson, who, for some reason, didn't check to see if Chaz was lying to him. Seriously, if somebody you used to hate went and said "Oh hey I'm rich now", wouldn't you go and check to see if they're lying or not? But Crimson for some reason didn't think to do that, so he just...let himself get scammed because he was too stupid to actually check for himself. Yaaaaaaay.

Again, I already talked about the Dhorks, but it bears repeating that the fact that they decided to use melee weapons when THEY HAVE GUNS is fucking stupid. The show tries to pass this off by saying "They chose those melee weapons cuz they were badass!", except that excuse doesn't work because it makes the Dhorks just...incompetent. And usually when a narrative purposefully makes a villain stupid we aren't supposed to take that villain seriously, but the Dhorks are villains who we are supposed to take at least semi-seriously so deliberately making them stupid like this doesn't really work.

Another example I can think of is in Oops where when Blitz comes up with a plan to get rid of all the henchmen all at once using guns, they, for some reason, didn't hear all the gunshots and screaming going on and didn't go to check what the fuck was happening. If they did do that, then they would have most likely all gotten shot and not only would the episode's climax not happen, but the show would also lose two of its major recurring villains.

So HB's villains are often incompetent or just straight up stupid - they make dumb decisions just so to continue the plot. If they did the logical thing, major changes in the show's plot would happen and it can't have that now, would it? Now let's talk about the next problem...

5. There's Too. Fucking. Many of them

This is my last problem with HB's villains, that being; there are just WAY too many of them. Now, having multiple recurring antagonists isn't a bad thing, a lot of shows have a few smaller recurring antagonists here and there. The problem here is that in HB with each new villain creates a new plotline; Stella's conflict with Stolas regarding their divorce, the Cherubs being kicked out of Heaven and probably will try to get revenge on the IMPs, the Dhorks going to expose the existence of demons, Striker going to assassinate Stolas, and Crimson most likely going to get payback from Moxxie.

It contributes to a major issue I have with this show; there's just. TOO MANY plotlines going on and it makes it feel unfocused. Most shows I've seen usually have a main plot and 2-3 maybe even 4 smaller plots than it focuses on per season. HB meanwhile set up six yes six plotlines in just its first season (The ones I've already mentioned + Blitz making amends with the people he hurt and Stolitz). And now in season 2, it's just. Adding more with Crimson.

The show suffers from cramming in TOO MANY characters and plotlines making the show feel messy and unfocused. I would also like to point out how the show just adds plotlines that are like. Completely unnecessary? Mainly the Dhroks and Cherubs plotlines; these aren't connected to the show's core story (whatever tf its supposed to even BE at this point), and removing them doesn't change anything about the show, so they are just completely unneeded. The same thing goes with the Crimson plotline.

They only serve to clutter the show even more and make it feel unfocused, which is a problem HB's villains contribute to a LOT.

6. Conclusion

So, ya, that's why I don't like the villains in Helluva Boss. In conclusion; HB's villains are boring, one-dimensional, sometimes flat-out incompetent, and are just plain underwhelming. So uh ya...bye.

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Halfway through Lightlark, here's what we got so far

The Centennial is a serious deadly game. in which no one playing has been killed in 500 years and you don't even start killing anyone until 50 days into the game.

The Uniquely Wicked Curses on each territory range from "can't go outside at a certain time/place" to "everyone dies at 25." No it is never examined in depth how any of this, even the shallow curses, actually effect the kingdoms afflicted by them.

Isla has been trained as a perfect warrior and ruler since she was a child but she kinda sucks at everything she's put through. Examples include: her plan is to lay low and make the others underestimate her but she fights against Grim with full power and blows her cover. She doesn't have any plans for covering the fact that she doesn't have any powers. She did not know another ruler turned his kingdom into a democracy during his reign despite said ruler being 500 ruling for 500 years.

Speaking of her training, it's not even training it's just straight up abuse. Every time Isla has to do something new and challenging we're treated to some character backstory of her guardians putting her through absolutely horrific or mentally/emotionally damaging situations. It's unclear if she realizes how horrible this is or if she views it as tough but necessary, or if the story itself acknowledges how abusive this behaviour was.

I've said this already but EVERYTHING runs on Aesthetic/Vibes and what SOUNDS cool rather than what would actually be practical or make any sense whatsoever. See: my previous post about the golden sword, the gem encrusted sword, and the "thicker than her thigh" sword.

This is one book that would benefit from a world map because I don't know how I'm supposed to be picturing how this setting looks like.

The edgy night-themed bad boy Walmart Rhysand love interest is named Grimshaw, nicknamed Grim. Not even an attempt at a kinda sexy name. If he's the winner of the love triangle I'm expecting to happen I refuse it on the basis of his name alone.

There is not a single character I'm convinced does anything when they're not around Isla. It's rarely if ever even mentioned what anyone is doing when they're not physically present in the story. Not even Celeste, the best friend character who is Isla's ally and supposed to be just as active in the search for the Bondbreaker that's gonna break their curses.

(Celeste literally goes and finds a pair of magical gloves that are made of human skin and not only are we not involved in this search at all, Isla never asks if Celeste found the gloves or skinned a person to get them. She doesn't want to know but I sure do. We're supposed to care about her and their friendship. Give me something about her to care about.)

Speaking of which... this book's plot is basically a long list of tasks for Isla to accomplish. Either she's doing a Demonstration for the game or she's hunting for the MacGuffins.

The Demonstrations are set up by each ruler to show off their powers/skills/etc and be a basis for how each ruler will pair off for the rest of the game. Super important stuff. Each one takes up about one chapter and the demonstration itself maybe 2-3 pages.

The MacGuffin hunt is basically Isla going "this cursebreaker thing might be in this place. I'll check there." It's not there. She moves onto the next place 2 chapters later. And later on just going on forest expeditions with the second male love interest.

Even beyond all the story stuff, the writing itself... it tries very hard to be poetic and meaningful but it comes off as either cringy or unclear what the author is even trying to say.

The way sentences and paragraphs are formatted and broken up... i love a good fragmented sentence, of course I do, but even I know there are WAY too many of them. There are too many single sentence paragraphs, one after the other. It's trying to build anticipation and suspense but. It's not working.

As a bonus, I specifically wanted a book that was dumb and bad and wouldn't make me overthink it. I'm definitely not doing that with this one!! There's nothing of substance to overthink!

[golbrocklovely]

I honestly think it would be better if either Colby or Malia would get us more of Malia than just her boobs or ass. The hate M and C receive won’t calm down if esp Colby will make it look like he is there for her boobs and looks. And sorry to say it but for now it kinda looks like this . We can say that he is there for personality, but how they expect their fans to judge it this way , if we don’t see his gf in any other light than just her nice figure? If they are anyway open about their relationship and posting eo without any other worry, then honestly i cannot understand what is stopping f.e Colby from posting some more natural videos of them just interacting, where we can see more of real Malia. I believe that if she would be seen more of who she is , rather what does she looks like, then she would have been accepted by more of the people. But C posting only her hot photos, her boobs and ass , just throws her kinda more under the bus. She looks beautiful and hot, but for goddamn Man, if you see that your girl has been already called multiple names such as “whore” then why are you adding to the potion , by feeding her haters and letting them continue their scenerio of you being with her for just her body. It doesn’t picture you or your gf in good light, but we all know that at the end of the day, it’s M who receives much more hate, cause they will still thirsty for C.

i don't agree with your argument whatsoever.

bc here's the thing, what you're basically saying is one, anyone that shows off their body a lot has no personality and thus has to prove there is something more there, and two, it's malia's own fault for the hate she gets. and colby isn't helping and is instead stoking the flames by merely posting his own gf.

my issue here is that when has colby ever shown anything that would allude that he only cares about her body and that's it?? i've seen everything he's done with her, and none of it has ever been straight up "oh look at my hot sexy gf's tits and ass". the closest thing he ever came to maybe, and i'm saying the strongest maybe, is the cherry emoji he used for her now red hair (which again could be referring to her hair and not her boobs). other than that, it's not like this man is commenting peach and eggplant emojis every time she posts something. his comments are usually very basic and non-sexual/body related.

bc let's be forreal here for a moment, colby has had multiple flings over the years. all of these women have had nice bodies. if he was truly in this relationship for just the sex or just her body, why the hell would he hard launch her? why would he tell anyone about her? if it was just a fuck buddies friends with benefits situation, why would he share it with us now? if anything it would make more sense to say nothing and pretend she doesn't exist but keep the situationship going.

so this just shows that clearly there is something more going on, aka he's into her bc not only is she hot, she's also a full fledge human being with depth. a surprise that should come to literally no one. hot ppl can also have personalities. it's not that crazy of a concept.

and why should malia show off her personality? all it would do is cause the ppl that hate her to use it as ammunition later down the line to hurt her. i mean, her haters already use her body against her every chance they get, what's to stop them from picking her personality apart bit by bit? not only that, she has nothing to prove to us. she is not here for us. she's here for colby. that's who she is dating, that is who she has to make happy at the end of the day. genuinely, if i was her, i wouldn't talk to any of us. bc as a collective, we all fucking suck and are assholes for no reason other than bc we're judgmental losers who's parasocial relationship has rotted our brains out, thinking we somehow have a say in everything snc do with their lives. including who they date.

i know at the end of the day i'm not that way with snc, but as a whole that's probably how a lot of us come across regardless of our intentions.

also genuinely who's logging on to insta and saying "lemme see your personality". like… it's an aesthetics competition of a site. it's a place to post only the good and right angles of your life. bffr. i mean prime example is amber. we know she is amazing and super sweet, but her insta is just her mostly naked body and showing off how rich she is. her insta alone, if i was to think like how malia's haters do, would tell me she's a slut who has multiple sugar daddies and that she only cares about materialistic things. but that is not who she is, right? even if i never watched a single video of hers, her personality would still be there. so it's safe to say that malia's is also there, and just bc we don't get to see it doesn't mean it's nonexistent.

and even if she showed off her personality and somehow was a saint and an angel sent from heaven above, ppl that hate her would find something to complain about. she could wear a turtleneck and be covered from head to toe and still be called a whore. that's how misogyny works. it always counts against us regardless. a game with constant changing rules.

[onetrueartform]

My opinion of MOM is only slightly changed from when I first saw it on Mother’s Day 2022. It has good entertainment value but, much like L&T, falls apart narratively when you look at it beyond that superficiality.

Largely forgettable. That’s the problem with a lot of the Phase 4 films. Wakanda Forever, Eternals and NWH are the only ones that really stick with you or stand out narratively. Don’t have that problem with the miniseries. But I digress. Back to MOM.

I’ve never understood people saying this is “Wanda’s movie” when A. she only has 29 minutes of screentime and B. Much like Stephen, she has no real arc. Her only role in this installment is to be The Villain™️, and she’s not even really the villain here. An antagonist sure. That damned book was manipulating her grief. I’ve also noticed the majority of discussion surrounding her actions here are pretty evenly split between people who have children versus people who don’t. Wanda stans, even childless and/or childfree ones, tend to fall into the former camp.

Stephen throws in her face TWICE that “her children aren’t real”. Yes, that’s true. But they were real TO WANDA. Yes, the Darkhold might’ve turned them into Living Emotional Crutches that Wanda felt she needed to have by whatever means necessary, but they were real to her. Stephen’s attempt at logic-ing Wanda out of this was always going to fail because this is an emotion-based situation. Wong recognized this and tried an emotional appeal on Mount Wundagore. Yes, it would suck knowing you in this reality can’t have what makes you happy but knowing your children are out there happy somewhere is the important thing. For all the grief some people have given him for bringing that up, 838!Wanda uses that exact same argument and it gets through to Sacred Timeline!Wanda.

Another thing, it’s very weak writing to rely on The Darkhold so heavily. In an unfortunate piece of particularly weak storytelling, the script beats you over the head with “the book is the real villain” while also presenting Wanda as the problem. Speaking of bad writing, it’s abundantly obvious to me that Waldron does not understand nuance. He thinks of these characters as surface-level archetypes and that’s it. There’s no depth to Stephen or Wanda or Wong, either Christine, or even America. Stephen is on the defensive the entire story. Wanda is the Darkhold’s latest sword.

Really, none of these characters have any arc whatsoever. They just exist to fulfill plot functions and have no agency. We talk and talk about how Wanda is incredibly OOC here, and that’s true, but you know who else is? Everyone else! Even characters we just met here or are MCU OCs (the 838 cast).

Stephen is reduced to a Pinball Protagonist from literally the moment he wakes up. Nothing he does effects anything or anyone. He doesn’t defeat Wanda or make her see reason, he doesn’t destroy the Darkhold, he doesn’t really DO anything. His plot function is “protect America” and that’s it. Weirdly enough, he does have a tiny sliver of an arc if you squint. I just couldn’t really tell you what it is.

Related to point 3, this is the most blatantly “plot-driven” installment of the entire MCU up to this point. The film really suffers for it.

It’s Evil Dead With MCU Characters. This is not a compliment or a positive comparison.

[redshiftsinger]

yeah I felt like this was pretty clear pretty early on, that at no point do they genuinely like him as a person.

Some of that is absolutely direct racism. Ed was always going to be othered in that room unless somehow no one noticed that he's not caucasian. They literally introduce the first characters among the partygoers by having them declare that they're "huge fans" of phrenology, which is just a big bunch of pseudoscience put together to justify racism. That's not accidental and ignoring it would be a big failure of media literacy.

But also, they're not the kind of people who are trying to form any genuine social connections. They're just like Jack says about pirates: all in various stages of fucking each other over. Even if Ed were white, they'd never be looking at him as a potential new friend, not really. They were always going to have their sights on what they think they can gain for themselves.

Which isn't really a counterpoint to the racism at all. Aggressive, toxic self-interest drives a lot of racist bullshit (feel like I need to note that like masculinity, not all self-interest is inherently toxic. Healthy self-interest includes things like setting and upholding good personal boundaries). But the racism aspect isn't the one I feel most qualified to explore, plus you've already done a great job with it, so I'm gonna focus more on the aspect of the social dynamic they had established for themselves before Ed even entered the picture.

They start out trying to flatter "Godfrey Thornrose" and inspire the envy of the other guests by monopolizing the attention of someone they believe is famous. It's the same kind of treatment that Frenchie and Oluwande are getting, because the guy Frenchie picked out for their first mark believes that Oluwande is royalty, and while the racism in that guy is still very clear, he's trying to kiss ass because he thinks that by sucking up to royalty, he may stand to personally benefit. Even if that prince is a black man. Class status still has power -- this isn't a nuance-free portrayal of racism. There's intersectionality in play.

Conversely, they believe that "Jeff" is merely an accountant. Ed hasn't set himself up with a perceived status that overrides the biases they have against him because of his race. When Frenchie says "you know you can pick anything right" he's not saying "accounting is lame" he's saying "you're not shooting high enough, friend".

Of course it's not Ed's fault that he doesn't understand all this. He's never had the opportunity to learn it before. Stede was ill-equipped to explain the issues of racism in that environment, Stede has plenty of blind spots due to his own privilege. And presumably Frenchie assumed he'd already know what he's doing well enough to be doing it on purpose -- I mean, if I was going to idk an academic conference or something with Beyonce in disguise so that people won't realize she's Beyonce, I'd generally assume that she's reasonably aware of the nuances of the situation and is making conscious choices with that knowledge in mind, until/unless something happened to make it clear that she's not (I picked an academic conference for example here because it would be completely absurd to suggest that actual real-life Beyonce might not know how to navigate a crowd of superficial ass-kissers and at least low-key racists, but it's a lot more plausible that she might be out of her depth in a room full of professors since that's not directly an aspect of her career. And also because my dad was actually a professor so like Stede grew up around posh knobs, I grew up around academics, and they definitely have their own set of ingroup/outgroup signifiers. No insult whatsoever is intended to the intelligence of Queen Bey with this hypothetical).

So Ed's out of his depth, unaware of the ways in which he's set up to fail before he even starts. And initially it's fine, they mostly ignore him in favor of "Godfrey Thornrose" -- the person they think is more important, and therefore more likely to benefit them to gain the favor of. When Stede fumbles the "phrenology reading" thing, they start to lose interest in him as they realize he's not actually as skilled (either at actual phrenology, or at putting on a good show of faking it -- not sure they really care about the distinction there so much as they care about the perception of proximity to power and fame) as they thought. Meanwhile, Ed draws attention to himself and to the fact that he doesn't really fit in with them, by making a comment that's clearly not the sort of comment one "in the know" about the rules of engagement at these kinds of events would make. He plays it off as a joke when he realizes he's misstepped, and there's that moment of tension where it's not clear if the partygoers will buy it. And then Antoinette laughs, and cues everyone else to laugh by declaring him "absolutely hilarious".

I'd suggest that that's the moment they turned on Ed. Before that, he was mostly being ignored -- they didn't think he was important, therefore they didn't think he was worth paying attention to. But then they realized that they weren't going to get anything out of brownnosing "Godfrey", probably assuming that he's just as much of a fake as they all are, so whatever, just ignore that guy now. Maybe make fun of him a little, because in their circle status is gained by tearing others down, but otherwise he's unimportant. Sure, they realized he was an impostor. They just thought he was the same kind of impostor they all are, just another rich jackass pretending to be more interesting than he really is while jockeying for status, rather than realizing he's actually completely lied about his identity. But now, well, they don't have a famous guy to kiss up to, so they might as well just mess with someone for entertainment. Play up the idea that they're fawning over him, so they can tear him down later and laugh about how he really believed that they thought he was interesting.

Sometimes I see some excellent discussion around s1e5, which is just such a meaty episode, and a fun little game to play on rewatches is trying to spot the moment Ed's "fans" at the party stop laughing with him and start laughing at him.

And honestly? I kinda think it adds to the episode if you understand it as them laughing at him all along, with him just being too caught up in thinking it's possible for him to "win this interaction" to notice.

There's definitely a shift, there's a turning point at the dinner table when the angles go all unsettling as Ed realizes what's been happening, when Antoinette reaches for the bows in his beard in a very on-the-nose mirror of the experience pretty much every poc has ever had of someone feeling entitled to touch our hair, when a cork pops in the background and Ed flinches and they just keep laughing at him, but Ed is so unused to the passive-aggressive style of racism he experienced that I truly think they've been laughing at him all along and he just wasn't forced to acknowledge it until that moment.

From the start, they exoticize Ed, playing up his outlandish stories and making him the center of attention, and rewatching is so unsettling because you know they don't see Ed as a person, they see him as a novelty. Stede, unused to both the apparently positive attention Ed is getting and not equipped to notice the racist undertones, can't expect what's going to happen, and Ed's certainly more used to the kind of racism where people just call him a donkey to his face, so he tries so fucking hard to win these people over, to get them to laugh with him, unaware that they're already sharing a joke at his expense.

And I think it's honestly hard to get the whole point of the episode if you don't approach it with this reading! From the minute Ed walks in there, the only brown guest in the room, he's "lost" the game he wanted to play. It's a confirmation for him of his mother's warning that some people aren't meant for that life and never will be, and it's the reason why, when Stede tells him he thought Ed was actually quite sophisticated, letting him know that he'd done nothing fucking wrong, Ed falls for that man like a pile of bricks.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Best decision I ever made when writing H2O au was making every other planet besides Pandora a dlc story instead of part of the main story

Because

A) you're more attached to the main cast because it doesn't rotate every 3 hours to a whole new set of people. Also the B-team and the bl2 VHs are actually around this time since they are very important characters in the series

B) you get to help Ellie and Moxxi build Sanc-3 with crew missions, and that also gave me a reason to bring Scooper back because hello he's adorable

C) the Calypsos are the sole main villain with their cult instead of Maliwan butting in randomly and stealing the spotlight so we can focus on twin character development and maybe some actual set-up plot twists

D) I get to design a new HQ because honestly. The naming system for Sanctuary-1, 2, and 3 still confuses me I thought the flying city was Sanctuary 1 as the mining ship, but apparently its not bc it started flying so the flying version is 2 that blew up and that's why we don't talk about it?? and uhhhhh... I might be dumb. So I just designed Sanctuary-II as my own HQ for the Raiders (cough Roland's rest cough) after Sanctuary (one) blew up in Commander Lily n the fight for Sanctuary (note that it doesn't say 'and the fight for Sanctuary-II' so yknow.)

E) it's understandably way more concerning when the apocalypse happens at the end of the game and Pandora is about to fuckin crumble to pieces bc the ship isn't done yet and the crew has no way of leaving so if Pandora goes bye-bye so does everyone on it. Plus the Destroyer is released. But hey. Who ever cared about the Destroyer clearly not the lore checking team ooooooh

F) Maya is actually on Pandora with Krieg and Ava instead of just dicking around on Athenas 'cause guess what books are hella portable with digistruct technology and Krieg is way more important to Maya than... Whatever she was doing on Athenas. Reading? Meditating? All things she could be doing on Pandora. And Ava being Ava would be more than happy to tag along to Pandora 'cause obviously she hated Athenas in the first place.

And finally:

Pandora can have its environmental diversity back!!! I LOVED the different environments in 2, it showed that Pandora wasn't JUST a desert planet but then they regressed in 3. We got the Arms Race map which is beautiful and amazing, but that's the only one that takes place in a different area. The rest are all deserts and it makes me a bit sad. I was hoping to see more of the highlands with the grassy areas and stalkers and threshers, or the glacial areas with the bullymongs and skags, but :( I miss stuff like that where entering a new area could be *anything*. Like the eridium blight was SOOOO cool the first time through. It blew my goddamn mind, environmental storytelling Ho! But now in 3 every main story planet is basically just a single biome or type of area and ech. I wish there were more, so keeping the game on Pandora gives that opportunity for the characters to explore beyond the small circle of desert they find themselves in during the start of the story. Like they didn't have to go so hard with the Caustic Caverns but they did and I'm forever grateful

[sadisthetic]

I’m giving the designers objectively the right amount of credit. I’m a former lego employee :-)

doubt. even if you were, why are you taking personal offense to criticism to the show as a whole and are taking time out in your life to defend something under the mask of anonymity where you have absolutely no claim to your name? wheres your sense of professionalism? taking offense a silly small no name artist questioning a design element. in a caption of bloody fanart no less. and you say youre an ex lego employee! ex! so youre less relevant now. if youre not lying that is. you wont even say what your position was. lego employee is so vague.

anyways. because youre on anon all this claim does is make you sound like the "my uncle works at nintendo!" meme. im sorry to say that as an anon. you are nobody

by the way. by set design im speaking from an entertainment arts perspective. not the sets that kids buy in the store. im talking about sets that are Actually used in the show. this kind of design work.

http://www.cynthiahalley.com/ not ninjago related but this is MY definition of set design. aka. what im seeing in the show. not the simplified little toy models

anyways. looks like youre not done!

shakes out my hands. alright! you wanna play this kinda game? okay sure, ill play along! why not. i have time to procrastinate. you are rude by the way!

lets google that very phrase you gave here

mhm mhm! yup! that sure is the grate that jays prison was based on! but huh..... hm! im kinda curious about what the inside looks like. you know? the inside of the hold that jay is in that this is all about?

lets add a term to the search

huh! huh! interesting. that doesnt look like anything i saw in the show. hmmmm actually this doesnt give me enough sense about the architecture of the ship, so let do the same research that ive been doing for my own curiositys sake

cool..... pretty expansive actually. ehhhh i want a tour. this doesnt sate my curiosity enough. i wanna see what the grates underside looks like because im bored and obsessed with this lego show

i wont waste everyones time. an example is at about 11 minutes in

wow i learned a lot about ships. also i looked at diagrams. not that you ever had the thought to. hm. now how did the hold jay was in look like again

thats fucking stupid. in the few frames we are given of it of the different angles, its clearly just a fucking box. no depth leading to the curve of the hull, no visible door and likely no door whatsoever bc it would complicate things. a box that probably is in the shape of its opening. lets be real. this is a design that was easy and convenient for the cg modeler to make. ive done 3d work for a class. its hell. i dont blame them. but anyways. ppl who worked on this probably just saw the grates on the surface of the deck and was like oh we dont know what that looks like on the inside but its a perfect place to throw poor ole jay in! grab the trusty basic 3d cube. use difference to cut it out. add texture. and to be honest? yeah the story doesnt need an entire storage space to be built for realism sake. why would they do that for a cg lego show. lets get lazy about it, what do the kids know, whats important is that jays life sucks. the sparseness serves more of a purpose the bleak hopelessness of the pit jay has dug himself into

my point still stands. this is just a hole. it aint right. this is not how old ships were built. this cell was made for jays specifically for the sake of simplicity in both the production standpoint and story. its dumb but serviceable for a narrative purpose

but anyways so from this ive learned an important thing or two about you! you! dont know how to research! you! have only ever looked surface level. literally surface level, you saw these images of the deck and never even thought about whats underneath? the very thing ive been questioning? ive been talking about how its just a fucking cube this entire time. its just a hole. you given me more insight about ships so i thank you for that but uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. youre very bad at convincing someone whos right

also you contradicted yourself. you said that "the concepts for the misfortune’s keep were done carefully" but then you go on to say that it "doesn’t require accurate research"? after telling ME, silly ole me who clearly has easily done more research than you, to do a bit research? hello? whats the truth? hm? what are you trying to prove now. doesnt need research because its "basic hollywood tropes" kay so whats been done here is nothing original because theyre copying whats already been done hundreds of times. great argument. dont get me wrong tho i love a good trope. especially when it involves things i enjoy. like jay having the most miserable time. heres the thing tho. what is being brought into question is not what HAPPENS to jay. its the fucking lazy set dressing. am i wrong to point out thats just a hole? its a hole. absolutely no deeper thought has gone into designing that. why are you so mad about it?

i do this for a hobby. criticizing ninjago is literally 75% of the fun for me. thinking soooo much about the shows i like and pointing out the bits that are wack is how i occupy my brain in my spare time. so what are you doing man. is defending ninjagos honor your hobby? get a better one. or at least more thought and consideration and media literacy. like im thinking about the show from a production standpoint as well as writing. this show has So many holes in it btw so theres MUCH to think about and mull over. a lot of stuff for me to play with. its nice in that sense. ninjago is a sandbox if anything. im sure im not alone in thinking this

thanks for the soapbox anon! youve overstayed your welcome! get out of my house! im just a guy with opinions as scathing as they are.

OH WAIT IF YOURE REALLY AN EX LEGO DESIGNER? WHY ARE SO MANY OF THE NINJAS GI'S LAPELS FOLDED RIGHT OVER LEFT? ITS BASIC KNOWLEDGE THAT IN A LOT OF EAST ASIAN CULTURES, TRADITIONAL CLOTHING THAT FOLDED IS FOR DEAD PEOPLE. NINJAGO IS LOOSELY (SO VERY LOOSELY.) BASED ON JAPANESE CULTURE. SO CLEARLY VERY LITTLE RESEARCH GOES INTO DESIGNING THE LITTLE LEGO GUYS OUTFITS THEMSELVES!!!! WHOS THE WHITE GUY WHO DESIGNED THE MINIFIGURES. I HAVE PERSONAL BEEF WITH THEM.

but if youre a nobody. byebye. i dont think you can come back from this. im done here. this was fun. drops the mic

[darklesmylove]

i’m sorry, but the ending to rule of wolves was so wrong in so many ways and i’m frustrated as hell.

to start—

more than anything, nina and hanne’s story makes me so fucking upset. hanne being coded as trans is amazing and i absolutely love it, but having to live under the face of another man for the rest of their life isn’t a good resolution to their dysphoria?? trans ftm individuals aren’t fine with suddenly becoming another person as long as they look male, they still want to be themselves, so that’s kind of bullshit to me and feels very transphobic. and nina having to live a lie as someone else wearing someone else’s face, and having to be stuck in a country that still would likely try and kill her if she was found out?? even worse, she is never going back to live in ravka when every book she’s been in she says how much she misses it and all of her actions are in service of saving her country. she’s never going back to be with the crows, her FRIENDS, and the only person she has is hanne. that’s not a romantic ending, i’m sorry but it’s really not, and they both deserved better.

you guys already know that i would be upset about aleksander’s ending too. his first pov was really promising to me, the banter with yuri was funny and there was so much depth to his thoughts, but afterwards it was just.... nothing. he didn’t add anything to the plot of the story, he sat around with his cult for the rest of his book, didn’t use his power, and then suddenly was fine to kneel to zoya in the middle of battle when the whole point of him waiting around was to make his dramatic return. literally the epitome of out of character considering he’s an immortal villain obsessed with dramatic entrance and being ravka’s savior. then after doing NOTHING the whole book, he essentially gets killed and tortured for all of eternity?? it felt so pointless and disingenuous and his first death scene in ruin and rising was so much more fitting and actually felt right. and the fact that suddenly no one gave a fuck that yuri was still conscious in his body and also would be tortured for all eternity was just gross. yes yuri wasn’t the most amazing person, but he didn’t deserve the same fate as aleksander, being punished for crimes and atrocities he didn’t commit. aleksander should never have been resurrected, and that’s coming from someone who likes his character.

genya was also done so fucking dirty, i absolutely hate that david died and it was completely pointless and had no affect on the plot whatsoever. genya deserves to be happy and i dont know leigh just fucks her over a thousand times for no reason. i feel like sometimes she kills people just for shock value, because harshaw and matthias’ death gave me the same exact feeling as david’s.

and then nikolai. i’m sorry but all of his life he was fighting for the throne and his place, trying to prove he was worthy for his country that he loved so much. suddenly giving that all up felt completely wrong and a terrible end to his character arc. zoya being queen i was ambivalent about, though her being an extremely powerful ruthless immortal on the throne is kind of hypocritical considering that’s the reason why the darkling was unfit to rule, for the literal exact same reasons (which i don’t disagree with by the way). i felt like nikolai was sidelined in his own book and had very little character development other than his relationship with zoya, and that sucks because this was supposed to be his duology.

i’m just upset because the first 3/4 of the book was so promising to me and then it fell apart, as i feel it did with ruin and rising as well. of course there were really amazing high points to this book but the end left a bad taste in my mouth with how wrong it was. all of these characters deserved better and that’s hard to come to terms with knowing this is the one of the last books she’s releasing in the grishaverse.

[smol-and-grumpy]

Light My Fire - CH10

Pairing: CEO!Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: She always thought her boss was an ill-tempered man, but when he presents her with a proposition she can’t quite deny, she gets to know him better. It’s not bad, right? Because all she has to do is being fake married to him for six months, sounds do-able, right? Right.

Warnings: Fluff, NSFW

WC: 2828

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Beta’d by @deanwanddamons​​​​​​​​ <3

SERIES MATSTERLIST

BECOME A PATRON ~ BUY ME A COFFEE

A very loud, very piercing sound catapults her wide awake and Y/N almost stands up straight in bed upon hearing the unfamiliar noise.

There’s a shuffling sound of a hand taping on a night stand. It needs too many misses to finally stop that horrible, horrible noise. When silence returns, she closes her eyes again.

It takes her a little while to remember where she is and when she does, her eyes fly back open with horror.

Blinking, she sees that she’s still in Dean’s room, still horizontal in his bed and she feels him, feels his legs, his arms, his body. They’re connected and tangled together in more places than they’re not.

She knows that she should maybe get up, should maybe hop into the showers and get dressed for work but she just can’t seem to move because he’s half draped over her, and strangely, she’s very okay with that. It’s too cozy in bed to want to move at all. So she does what every sane person would do after the ringing of an alarm — she closes her eyes again.

Another shrill noise snaps her out of her cozy cocoon after a while.

Oh my god, that fucking alarm again!

Dean stirs next to her, his hand flies to where his alarm is, picks it up and throws it against the wall, the ringing dies down. He slips his hand underneath the covers, arm weaving around her waist. 

“No wonder you’re always so grumpy,” She mumbles into the pillow, catches his scent off of it.

Y/N feels Dean lifting his head to look at her.

“What?” His voice is deep and raspy, still full of sleep, the bass of it vibrates onto her back.

“Your alarm. It literally makes me angry hearing it.”

He chuckles at that, “I have to buy a new one now anyway.”

She turns onto her back and tries to blink the sleep out of her eyes and then she looks into Dean’s eyes who is propped onto his elbow looking down at her.

Oh my god, how can he look so good so early in the morning? It’s not fucking fair! His hair is ruffled up but it makes him even more cute.

“What time is it?” She squints her eyes, looking at him feels like looking into the fucking sun. Her eyes can’t take it so early in the morning.

“6.15am,”

“What? Oh my god, Dean!”

He chuckles as she buries her face back deep into the pillow, she takes another breath of his intoxicating scent.

Dean kisses her temple, “Come on! Rise and shine, Y/N!” 

“No,” She mumbles.

His hands find her under the covers to tickle her and she’s squirming in his grip, “Oh my god, okay, okay! I’m up!”

Dean gets out of bed to walk to the bathroom and she follows grumpily. She avoids looking in the mirror because she would then see what she knows. That she looks like she’s been run over by trucks — repeatedly. 

He’s already brushing his teeth and she picks up her toothbrush while he helps her squirt toothpaste on it. With a glare, she places the brush into her mouth and walks out of the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Dean calls after her.

“I’m taking a shower.” She answers, and proceeds to walk into her own room. 

There, she gets out the shirt, tosses it on her bed that’s still made since yesterday morning. Getting out of her panties, she balls them up and throws them into the hamper. She continues to brush her teeth as she walks to the bathroom and sits down to pee. After flushing, she spits out the toothpaste and rinses out her brush before she gets into the shower. 

She’s in the middle of soaping up when Dean walks in naked like a fucking greek god. He clearly has no shame whatsoever. But again, she probably would have none either if she  looked like that.

Dean leans against the sink, she can’t really see him in detail because the shower glass begins to fog up. She can see his outline, can see that he crosses his arms over his chest and there’s a chuckle, “You’re not a morning person, are you?”

“Ya think?” She grimaces and rinses the shampoo out of her hair.

He ignores her snarky remark and steps into the shower. From up close she can see that his body’s still damp, little droplets of water resting on his shoulders. He already took a shower. And then her eyes wander down to his boner. Yep, definitely hard and it definitely looks inviting. It makes her knees weak and he grins cockily because he knows. Damn him.

She rinses the foam from her face and when she opens her eyes again, Dean’s right up in her space as he cradles her head between his big palms and tilts her face up to look him in the eye.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good,” She replies, “Just angry about your alarm clock,” She’s pouting a litte.

Dean chuckles, “You can order me a new one. See it as one of your tasks for the day. Order something that has a less penetrating sound.”

“Oh, I will. Maybe then you’ll be less grumpy in the mornings,”

“Hey, I’m not the grumpy one around here right now.” He grins and leans down to kiss her. 

It’s soft at first, he’s gentle, as if he’s testing the water. It only grows heavier when she kisses him back. She sucks on his tongue like he normally does to her and Dean groans against her mouth. 

“Fuck,” He breathes out, “What are you doing to me?”

What is she doing to him? More like what is he fucking doing to her?

He picks her up, and the next thing she knows he has her pinned against the tiled wall. The impact makes her bite down on his bottom lip that’s still attached to her, and he groans some more at that. 

It’s all rough and need and want, and her mind is fogged as much as the shower, her pussy clenches and releases around nothing.

Dean nibbles down her throat, “You want this? Tell me you want this,”

How is she supposed to answer him when he sucks down her throat and thrusts his hips so his dick grinds so good against her aching cunt?

She tries nonetheless, “Y— oh go—, ye— ss,” 

There goes her coherent thoughts.

He kisses around her lips, plants little pecks on her nose, her cheeks, “Next time, I promise, I’ll take my time,” His breathing is ragged, “I just— fuck— just want to feel you around my cock now, can I?”

“Please,” She stammers, doesn’t even care that it came out whiny.

He smiles, kisses her and lines himself up with one hand while the other one still holds her pinned against the shower wall. 

Dean takes his time now, threads the head of his cock along her folds, slicks it up with her juice before she feels him at her entrance. He goes in slow, and she feels the stretch and burn and he moans into her mouth upon feeling the warmth of her pussy.

“Goddamn it,” He lowers his face to the crook of her neck, sucks at her skin and her hand fists in his hair, one is on his back, nails digging into his flesh.

“Dean,” She whines out, because he’s still moving awfully slow. He pauses and his body shudders when he bottoms out.

His thrusts stay slow, as if he doesn’t dare to hurt her.

“Harder, please,” She needs it. Fucking wants him to have his way with her.

He chuckles, his mouth leaves her skin, and there’s skin between his teeth that he releases before he kisses it to sooth it, “Harder, yeah?”

“Uh-huh,” 

“Christ,” Dean curses, picking up speed and she wedges an arm between them to rub at herself, “Dammit, you’re already tight as it is but you rubbing yourself? It just got wetter and tighter. Keep doing it, baby,”

Baby.

Okay, she really loves it when he calls her that, not going to lie. The endearment goes straight to her core and Dean curses some more as her pussy pulses around him. She can feel it too.

“You’re killing me,” He kisses her deep and with the same roughness he fucks up into her.

She wants to tell him that he’s the one who’s killing her— but she can’t, because her toes are curling and there’s a growing sensation in the depths of her core. It gets stronger and stronger. 

“Fuck, yes, yes, yes, don’t stop don’t—”

The explosion hits her whole body, she’s shaking above him and Dean has to hold her tighter so as not to let her slip out of his grip. Her hands fly around him, scrambles at his back for purchase. She’s sure that she’ll leave a mark on him, hoping that he doesn’t mind. He groans too, his voice deep and loud as he buries his face deep into her neck and he shudders all over. 

When he comes down from his high, he chuckles, kisses up her shoulder, her neck, her cheek until he meets her lips, “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”

She blushes at that, but fortunately her cheeks are already flared up from the fucking, “You too,” She smiles and Dean kisses her again before he sets her down. She squirms at the loss when he pulls his still half hard cock out of her with another peck on her nose. 

Her legs are wobbly and Dean helps her standing up straight while he places her back under the spray and begins to soap her up. He groans out when his hand goes down there and his fingers slips along her folds. It’s still slick and full of his cum.

Y/N does the same to him, squeezes body wash into her palms and begins to soap up Dean’s chest. She can feel every bump, every muscle twitching, he’s so firm but soft at the same time, it’s ridiculously sexy, and she can’t believe that she’s married to him! Well, fake married— potatoes, potatoes...

Her hands go further down, and she feels his stomach clench when she’s soaping him up underneath his navel. Dean groans out when she grabs his dick, working both hands around his length that’s already increased in size.

Dean groans out, his lips capturing hers for a kiss before he parts, pulling his lower body away from her. His mouth ghosts over hers, their minty breath mixes with the scent of her body wash, “Baby, you gotta stop that or else I have to fuck you again.”

She raises her eyebrows with a cocky grin because she really doesn’t know if it’s a threat or a promise.

Dean rolls his eyes playfully, groans out a little, and he makes her let go of his cock causing her to pout, “Jesus,” He surges forward, teeth sinking down onto her bottom lip as she yelps up with a giggle.

Of course he’s right. They don’t have that kind of time, so she rinses herself out and Dean follows her under the spray. The smell of her body wash fills the room, the scent hangs heavy and humid in the air and she has to grin at him.

“What?” He asks her with one eyebrow raised as she walks over to her towel and starts to dry herself off. 

She starts to chuckle, “You’ll smell like my body wash now.”

Dean just shrugs like he really doesn’t care and continues to wash away the foam from his body.

*

She has to hurry, she knows, because Dean’s already finished and he told her that he’s waiting for her, but she really doesn’t know what she should wear today. 

In all honesty, she doesn’t really have many choices but her head’s still hurting and it seems like she has a hard time getting her makeup right. 

She opts for a dress. It seems like the best choice because there aren’t any buttons she has to deal with and as for the makeup? Powder and mascara it is. And instead of lipstick, she just uses gloss. She really doesn’t want to waste energy on how she dresses when she knows that the day ahead will be stressful as it is. Sure, it’s Friday, but they always have a lot to do on every freaking day of the week. And— oh shit! She’s going away tomorrow, so she will have even more to do and to arrange for her and Dean’s absent.

“‘M sorry, I’m making you late again.” She groans when she walks into the living space and comes to stand next to him and Dean hands her a cup of coffee. She stares at it.

“Don’t worry, it’s already cooled down a little,” 

She has to grin at that, “Thanks,”

“Take your time,” Dean says and turns a page of the newspaper that’s spread in front of him.

She takes a seat on the stool at the kitchen island and lays her cheek on the cold surface, still feeling so hungover, “I think we have to go, my boss will kill me if I’m late,”

Dean chuckles but doesn’t look up from the paper, “I think we’ve established that your boss is a dick.”

“Yeah, and now,” She drinks half her coffee, “I’m definitely going to be late,”

He looks up from the papers, “You want breakfast? I think I still have toast somewhere,” 

“Dean, are you listening to what I’m saying? We’re late! My boss will definitely call me into his office. And no, ugh, I don’t think I can keep solid food down,”

Dean raises an eyebrow. He’s already in his suit jacket, the tie neat and he even wears cufflinks. He presses his lips together into a smile as he watches her down her coffee, his dimples of content are showing. A rare sight.

He abandons the newspaper and comes to stand behind her. His arms on either side of her body as he braces his hands on the surface of the kitchen island crowding her in. She feels him lowering himself behind her to whisper into her ear. She feels hot all of a sudden, “I think he’ll be okay with it,” He noses behind her ear, making all the hair on her back stand up, “And if he calls you into his office, it’s not because you’re late.”

*

They arrive and Ruby’s already there, although not really, because she’s slumped over her desk.

Dean squeezes at Y/N’s hand that’s still in his and they stand next to Ruby’s desk, which is the opposite of Y/N’s own desk. He tries to keep a straight face as he clears his throat loudly next to Ruby.

“Huh? Shit! Yeah, I’m here,” Ruby sits upright, is startled by the noise and she looks up at the source to see Dean and Y/N grinning. Her friend’s face falls, “Sorry, sir— I’m—”

“Ruby,” Dean says, and he let go of Y/N’s hand to let her sit down at her desk, “If you could work? That’d be great. And if you need to sleep, go take a nap in the break room like everyone else does.”

Y/N’s jaw drops. How does he know? He’s never in there! 

“I need to see you,” He tells her, “You got my email, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Ruby scrambles to gather the papers together and stands up.

“Is my brother in?” He asks. Sam’s office is situated a floor below them. 

“Yes, sir.”

Dean raises his eyebrow, “You had a good night?”

Y/N tries to hide her grin.

“Yes, sir.” Ruby’s cheeks turn red.

“You can go wait in my office, I’ll be right there,” Dean says and Ruby nods, walks towards his office.

Dean smiles at Y/N and then he takes a step closer, cages her in with one hand on the back of her chair and one braced on the desk. He lowers himself enough to whisper into her ear, “Did you notice too that Ruby’s still wearing the clothes from last night?”

She snorts out a laugh, “Yeah,”

He laughs with her, places a kiss on the top of her hair, “Okay, let’s work, shall we?” Dean turns around and walks to his office.

“Dean?”

Y/N watches him turn around, “Please don’t tease her about it?”

He shrugs, leaves his hands in the air, “Of course, I won’t. What my employees do in their own time is none of my business.”

“What am I doing as well?” She raises an eyebrow.

He replicates the rise of the eyebrow, his hands disappear into his pants pockets and he grins cockily, “You’re doing me, so yeah, that is my business. Now order that damn alarm clock or I’ll need to see you in my office next.”

CH11

[nightswithkookmin]

Hello Goldy 💜 So JK dint post for Jin and so does Tae. Both of them di t post for Jinins bday also. Whats going on here ? I dont understand if JK and Tae have been banned from posting on their boyfriends bday. As u can tell i am both Jikook and Taejin shipper. What do u think is happening or should i say not happening.

This topic...

Hold on, lemme put on my tinfoil hat:

I got nothing. Lol.

Secondly, aaaaah Tae Kook!

Lol. Tae Kook. The evil power duo of BTS, my favorite rageddy boogie men of ship street Avenue, PPP- pathological party poopers of Bangtan fantasyland- stomping on shipper's parade, putting commas in people's hopes and dreams. Y'all didn't get the memo? When we said y'all be snatching hearts, this is not the kind of horror heart snatching we was talking about! Y'all ratchet for this shit. Lol.

Someone give them the memo. Atatatatatat.

Lmho.

I mean for Jk, I've already speculated a few times- several times now, how I feel he's kind off been on a self assertive journey since late 2019 and coupled with a lot of things I felt was happening with him, Jimin and group around that period, that him not posting for the members' birthdays sort of make a lot of sense to me.

I've also speculated on what I felt was going on with Kook, RM and Tae around JM's birthday this year, so Tae not posting for JM also sort of made sense to me?

Tae missed Jimin's birthday as well. It would have been 'problematic' in today's social media climate if he posted for any body else within the group after that. It's the same with JK when he missed Jin's birthday last December- had he posted for anybody else, I'm afraid several trucks would have been sent to BigHit HQ demanding his head on a spike. Chileee.

Can't blame them though. Even the members themselves, during 2017 Festa, descended hard on JK for gifting a present to Jimin and not the others- they pay attention to these things, you know? Jin in his recent VLive had said he had been up waiting for texts and all- or something along the lines of that, and I'm pretty sure he pays attention to who posts what on their Twitter account on his birthday. Well we know Jimin does this too. Lol.

You don't need to be a mad scientist to figure out that one member posting for another and not the others would make the members feel some kind of way about it even if they don't say it out loud.

Frankly, like I said, I feel they set themselves up for this shit- miss one, miss them all or risk solo stans coming for your ass. That's how we roll on these fang gang streets. Lol.

But for Kook, I sort of felt his was deliberate- may be an impulsive decision at the time, but deliberate nonetheless. I mean he had all 24 hours post Jin's birthday to belate that shit- better late than never, but he didn't do that.

Whatever had transpired within that period- which I've speculated on in past posts, I feel that had pushed him to his breaking point and had incentivized him or propelled him to reel back, reevaluate his goals, intentions, purpose, calling- whatever you wanna call it, and eventually had embarked on a journey to reassert himself and take back control of his life all throughout 2020- until recent times...

- Y'all see Jikook's dynamics have flipped again post Jimin's birthday right? Clear your schedules. We gone talk. Soon. Muhahaha.

I don said, Jikook have/had been asserting themselves against eachother and against the group this year. And for Jk, that self assertion would come in the form of him putting up boundaries and reinforcing already existing boundaries among other things, which would in turn require him demanding and demonstrating his independence from anything and anyone he had relinquished his self autonomy to- prior to. In my opinion.

I'm gonna step on a few toes here and regurgitate, JK didn't just take a step back from his life, he took a step back from Jimin as well, in my opinion- I can literally hear temperatures rising. Chilee. Lmho.

It's easy to lose yourself in the process of loving someone. And when you love this person more than you love yourself, in the thick of love, under heavy public and peer scrutiny, where you are being told to change this and that about yourself everyday and everytime as a prerequisite for being able to love this person you want within a group; then you are bound to end up with nothing but the total eradication of who you are at your core or at least a drift away from your true self and the expressions of it... Sigh.

I mean all the, 'try not to be so possessive, he's our friend too' 'operation neutralize Jikook' 'chilee, don't lean too much into him, this is an award' 'I've got Jimin, restrain Kook' 'oh I think you stared too long here' 'look away' 'you got him a present, why didn't you get us any' 'is that your heart eyes?' 'Tuck it away' 'why do you film Jimin a lot?' 'use this person, not Jimin for your GCF if you want the clicks' 'GCF in Tokyo? How about OT7 in wherever mate?' - all these little tweaks and adjustments he's had to make to his personality and his expressions of self in order to hide his relationship within the group climaxes honestly. In my opinion. And late 2019 to me was that peak for JK. Again, in my opinion.

Changes like these don't come drastically. They creep up on you. Its slippery slope till you're caught knee deep in the mud. For instance, notice when the members complained about him not caring for them because he hadn't presented them with gifts like he did Jimin, he had agreed immediately to give them presents in the future in order to not answer to their question of why he had chosen to give just Jimin a present. That compromise to me was one of the early signs of him losing his authenticity. In my opinion.

Jimin and the members were quick to point out that he didn't have to do that because giving and gifting were not obligations and honestly they were right. He doesn't have to do things if he doesn't want to.

That's the paradox of Jungkook. He does the things he wants to do without shame and he is fearless and unapologetic about it. But you see, he is also often very passive when it comes to the things he doesn't want to do and would hesitate in insisting on his boundaries until he is pushed to his limits- from my observation of his interactions with the members and I think Suga and RM have talked about this too.

A classic example of this is his conversation with Jimin about their friendship- when Jimin said they were in between love and friends. His hesitation was a sign he was uncomfortable with that description but he didn't assert himself over it.

Another example would be Jimin saying during their log that he was taking a liking to JK- JK didn't react as much but JM turning to ask him if he was ok with him saying things like that was a sign they had had the talk about 'boundaries.'

JK is a very assertive person but his position as the youngest within the group places a lot of restrictions on his assertiveness I feel.

We talk a lot about Jimin being Kumbaya and sacrificing a lot of their personal happiness for the good of the group- well, I've been talking. Y'all don't say shit much- fuxking lurkers 😒 y'all suck. Lol. [Delete before you post, you idiot. They don't know you like that]

Anywho, we often talk about Jimin in this context but we- by we, I mean I, don't talk enough about all the ways JK often sacrifices his authenticity for the Kumbaya of the group as well. But unlike Jimin, I feel JK does it so he can keep his glass closet- fucking whippidy whip whipped. Lol.

And it's crazy because that sacrifice he makes of his true feelings and it's expression is what often leads people to question whether he acts exclusively with JM at all.

Often I hear shippers complain about how he did this with Jimin but he did similar thing with another member- listen, if you've heard JK sigh upon seeing RM imitating his mannerisms to try to neutralize his nonverbal gestures around Jimin, you'd understand what exclusivity means for him.

And when, you think about that he had to apologize to and explain himself for choosing to wear his man's bag over another member- it's not hard to see where his authentic self began to erode- It started from the moment the apologies begun. Never apologize for who you are- class dismissed. Lol.

Then he goes on to talk about losing his passions for his GCFs, his music- this is a person everyone within the group had said is or was the most passionate member within the group... You gotta wonder where it all went wrong. Know what I mean? Come on work me. I'm writing this at 2am. Lol.

I think Jimin was right when he said giving should never be a task. You should give from your heart and from your own free will. Not for show, and certainly not to please anyone.

Wishing a member a happy birthday should never be a duty, task or obligation- especially when such moments and expressions of it has become performative over the years rather than as true expressions of the love and affections they have for eachother- ok, I'm dozing off now. Lmho.

I mean let's face it, posting on Twitter for eachother has become more of a culture and an established tradition within the group that sentimental members within the group hold on to.

The birthday twitter post has been hijacked and lowkey/highkey advances the OT7 kumbaya agenda BigHit is bent on pushing and sells the BTS bromance fantasy to us rather than an actual representation of their love for eachother. In my opinion. I could be wrong about this.

JK asserting himself would mean him choosing not to participate in expressions that to him are performative, shallow and lacks depth whatsoever.

I know what you are gonna say- but but Jimin's birthday. But but but nothing. Lol. I have said I felt he was going to post for Jimin's birthday. Dude geared up for it with the 5/8 and everything.

And given as he's been on a journey to do the things he wants to and to pursue meaning in his expressions of self within the group, I feel and I believe he believes wishing his man a happy birthday on social is meaningful- Confirmation bias this shit. Lol.

Not that the act itself is meaningful, but that the act holds meaning to Jimin. I think I've talked extensively about Jimin and how important his birthday is to him. The only reason I feel he wouldn't or didn't post for him was if Jimin had asked him not to- which I believe he did. Posting for Jimin would have been tantamount to outing their relationship gangster style. Lol.

And we all know how the members feel about that. Smirk.

So no, I don't think he's been banned from posting for his man's birthday. I think this is him deciding not to partake in performative expressions of love- perhaps because that has never been him?

I don't know for Tae's Journey. His decision not to post feels very random to me. Who knows, he and JK have been talking a lot lately it seems and getting closer post Sope. So if you ask me, this perhaps is him taking a page out of JK's self help book and pursuing that authenticity of self expressions I've talked about?

I mean he did do awesome things for Jin's birthday so I don't think we can complain much. Getting his friends to wish Jin a happy birthday certainly pulls weight over a second post on Twitter. Jin got a birthday party with the members, RM had the same.....

The thing that bothers me and my friends over here about Jikook's incident is the lack of closure after that traumatizing experience.

With the others JK didn't post for, at least we got to see him in a VLive with them interacting and just giving us moments here and there. So even if he didn't post, we know he was with them and they shared the memory of that day together- which I feel is what we shippers want. For them to show eachother love- whatever way they express it.

With Jimin- Nada. Zero. Zilch. We got nothing my guy. Jimin didn't share any insight or give any details remotely resembling closure for us. We were hoping for a bangtan bomb or Episode but nothing so far. I hate it here.

We didn't get to see JK showing the love we know he feels for Jimin- he's proven time and again he loves that man. We didn't get to see them share the memories of that day together. Not even through narration- Jimin, you sonova bish! Lol.

Would I ever move on from that incident? No.

Do I want to move on from that incident- chileee I've been trying. It would haunt me for the rest of my Jikook life. Lol. I still get get nightmares thinking about it and it's Christmas. Sigh.

I think we would have to observe rather than anticipate how they choose to express and communicate their love for one another- especially Jikook and by extension Taejin- chilee Anon, I respect your hustle. Lol.

I don't blame you though. I mean sometimes Jin be looking like he wants to gobb-ok

What was your question again? Lol. I hope I answered it. Chilee. Keep supporting Jikook.

Signed,

GOLDY

[isagisyoichi]

For real, Niko is the perfect rival for isagi and they just gonna throw him off to the side?? Also I wanna know why he hates ppl seeing his forehead niko backstory when sobs, they really suck at letting us know the players on a personal level ngl

Also, I think it’d be better if chigiri got subbed out for barou since he can score better than defending and he has such a big ego it’d be a good match against shidou(assuming barou is the one being subbed in) also I would literally read anything you write for niko I’m starving lolol and ur hcs r sm fun 🙏 sorry for rambling!

RIGHT they're so alike yet so different, and it would've been very cool for them to compete against each other once again, especially after all isagi has learned

AND ME TOOOO :( he's so cute i srsly don't know why he wants to hide his forehead, his eyes are so pretty :( but i want a niko backstory soooo much too, i wanna know why he started playing soccer and stuff :(

and i agree, bllk is so bad w letting us get to know the characters on a deeper level 😭 like we only know chigiri bachira barou rin kuons backstories like why do we not know anything about these people BRIDKMRRKDK 😭 and we barely know anything about isagi's backstory either and he's literally the mc 😭

and they give us like q&a's to get to know the characters better but like they're such trivial things lil i dont want to know their favorite animal please give me DEPTH ☝🏼

also, bllk has this tendency of introducing characters out of the blue and not giving them like concrete personalities and stuff. like it rly bothered me how they gave us yuki otoya and tabito out of nowhere with like no backstory whatsoever and we just had to go along with the notion that they were worthy of the top 6 😐 like who the hell are these people 😭

and tbh yeah i rly thought chigiri was going to be subbed out first due to injury because of his leg and how it was made to be such a big deal. i feel like subbing out niko would be a bad move on bllks end esp since he's made sm good plays that prevented the u20 from scoring 💔 i think niko's a really important part of the defense and also bc i'd love to see barou v ryusei LOLL

and thank you sm for the kind words MWAH <3 i'm so glad you like my writing :')

and also don't apologize omggg i actually love getting asks ab this kinda stuff, so dont worry!!!! and if anything, i'm the one rambling 😭 but rly it's okay!!! i love hearing other ppls thoughts and bouncing back ideas as well as talking about niko hehe so theres nothing to apologize for :D

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

𝔸𝕝𝕡𝕙𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕥 𝕒𝕤𝕜

He is such a bastard man and I hate that he is so hot for no reason, like why???? But thank you for requesting with us anon and I hope you like this!

>Admin 𝕋

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

A - Aftercare: How do they take care of their s/o after sex?  

EH, Naraku wouldn’t take care of their s/o after sex, he would just leave there to regain conciousness, then let them clean themselves, unless he was a good mood, only then he will ever help them out. But that wouldn’t be common.

B - Body: What is their favorite body part?   

His favorite body part would be boobs and neck. This man loves sucking on them boobies, loves tasting the mon his tongue and with the neck he loves biting it, and hard. He loves hearing you scream, not knowing if it is from pain or pleasure.   

C - Cum: Anything to do with it    

He likes cumming inside of you, always thinking that he is making you that way, telling others that you are his and only his, icky but effective i guess ololol.

D - Daring: How willing are they to take risks? Are they experimental or do they prefer to stick within their comfort zone?    

OH MY GOD this guy will literally have an audience, he would risk so much. He will use you as a toy for experiments and do anything that he will think will feel good to him.

E - Experience: Is this their first time? Or do they have more experience under their belt?  

Nah Naraku has so much experience it’s ridiculous, he would know the body of so like the back of his fucking hand, like it is kind of weird and kind of a turn on, since he knows what he is doing ya know.

F - Fair: How fair are they with their s/o? How much of a tease are they?   

PLEASE JUST, HE”S A TEASE AND A BASTARD BECAUSE OF IT. He likes watching you cry and whimper when he teases and likes to watch you want him until you can’t think about anything else.   

G - Green light: How do they come up with a safeword to use if they or their s/o are uncomfortable and want to stop? 

I don’t see him creating a safe word for their s/o, no I see him just doing what he wants, without thinking of what they want, I mean he is a villain and he is super arrogant so oop yeah it would suck.

H - Hands: How touchy are they? Where do they usually like to touch their s/o?

He touches you all the time, because he loves how you feel, so soft and supple. Will want to constantly have you around so he can grope you, if he wants to. They are a plaything to him, and he wants his plaything near him at all times. 

I - Intimacy: Do they tend to be a romantic when in the bedroom? How much of a sap can they be?     

Nahhhhhhh not a lot of romance here, just there for the sex, but he wouldn’t do it to someone he wasn’t attracted to so that’s something. But he can be sap if he get extra satisfied so hopefully their s/o can hang in there and give him what he wants. 

J - Jest: Are they prone to being a little silly, or are they more serious?

I cannot see silly Naraku so I’m just gonna say he will be very serious and very controlling, like ahahahaha he’ll have fun but idk about his s/o man.      

K - Kinks: Any kinks that never fail to get them off?      I feel Naraku would have a lot of kinks spanning from choking you to biting, and just overall making you do weird position for maximum depth ya know.

L - Lust: What really gets them going? Any specific turn-ons?    

 when he sees fear in your eyes, when he sees that you think you are going to die and just. He's crazy into morbid stuff like blood play.

M - Move: What is their pace like? Are they fast or slow, rough or gentle?

They go all kinda of fast and rough, he doesn't likenit gentle because he wants to get off, not really feel the feels of sex.     

N - No way: Do they have any turn-offs? Anything that they’re not willing to do in the bedroom?  

He wouldn't like it if you were not really screaming and just limp? Liken if you seem like you don't like it then you don't scream and not vocal.

O - Oral: Do they usually give or receive? How skilled are they?  

He likes when you give, like because it feels good ya know. Sometimes he'll give you oral if he is in the mood.

Q - Quickie: Have they tried it with their s/o? How did it go?

P - Position: What is their favorite position?    

Any position that has bent down and your ass up bro he loves that shit like LOVES THE SHIT.

No quickies in this house, just long hours of fucking from dawn til dusk, no breaks at all, s/o will live on his dick lolol

R - Role: Top, bottom, or switch?   

Top, top toptoptoptoptoptoptotp and doesn’t accept anything else other than that, and will not  change his mind ever.

S - Stamina: How long can they last? How many rounds before they’re finally tuckered out?      

AAHHAHAHAHHA Naraku has the stamina of a BEAST like oh my god his s/o would actually pass out and he still wouldn’t be finished. I would feel so bad for whoever dates him I swear. SO many rounds, so many.

T - Toys: Do they have any toys? How often are they used on their s/o or on themselves?  

He likes teasing you so he will have toys ready all the time, he will have toys from big to small to vibrators to like dragon dildos, bastard man is freaky. He will do very often unless he is lazy and just wants to fuck you normally.  

U - Understand: How easily can they understand their s/o without them having to say a word?

Hmmmmmmm he can easily understand them, but he wouldn’t do anything with them if he wasn’t feeling it.      

V - Vocal: How loud are they?     

He wouldn’t be very loud, if anything he would grunt a bit and dirty talk you until you cum, and maybe gasp when he cums.  

W - Weird: What is the weirdest thing they’ve done/tried to do before, during, or after sex? 

I fee; like Naraku already does really things for sex, but the weirdest he would probably do is fuck them with his tentacles, all of them all different sizes and widths.

X - X-ray: What’s going on below the belt?

Man, he can go small, he can go big, he can be thick or he can go thin. The man is a shapeshifting demon, he can shapeshift his dick too lolololol. It’d be a fun game.  

Y - Yearn: How do they get the attention of their s/o when they’re in the mood?

He will just verbally say that he wants to have sex, no pouting or silent signals, just a “(y/n), I want to have sex right now” and you can’t deny him whatsoever.

Z - Zzz: How quickly do they fall asleep afterward?   

If he is tired enough, he take you in his arms and sleep on you, so he is comfortable feels safe oddly enough.  

[bitching-barista]

Pacing of the story is all over the place this season. This clip following on from the cute chemistry filled Younes one is such a weird transition to me 🤨🤨🤨 No new information came of this clip whatsoever other than an excuse to annoy fans with her face again.

Can we just have at least a few school clips without Kato in please for the love of god?! Do you think they will do anything with her character this season? I can’t understand why they keep shoving her in these scenes with dumb lines still when they know the audience hates her, unless there’s a point to it.

Literally though, how hard is it to just not put her in a clip. None of her lines ever matter enough that they couldn’t be said by anyone else or just cut out of the scene entirely so why does she have to be there. If they insist on keeping her I would like for them to recognize that she’s manipulative racist trash but they probably won’t do that. I doubt that they’ll really do anything with her character this season because the acting ability isn’t there to pull anything off and the character itself has no depth to explore.

I’m trying to stay positive because I love Yasmina and I’ve been waiting for her season for a long time and the clips without k*to have been really good, but seeing and hearing k*to more than almost all of the other characters is really killing my enthusiasm and enjoyment. She just sucks all of the energy out of the scenes she’s in and it’s like why am I watching this. I do think that this was a weird transition too especially with how good the last clip was and the tone that it had switching to this with her in it felt awkward. I feel like this conversation could’ve been had in a text. On the bright side we did get to see Zoe and we got a Jana mention

[girlsluvbot]

MATCHMAKER pt.1

pairing: roseanne park × fem! reader

genre: fluff, angst

about:

matchmaker /ˈmatʃmeɪkə/

noun

a person who arranges marriages or initiates romantic relationships between others.

"an enthusiastic matchmaker who continually tried to pair off the difficult bachelor with unattached ladies"

a/n: i'm back!!! hehe this goddamn thing took so long to write, i both despise and adore it with every fibre of my being. enjoy my blood, sweat and tears in the form of a fic.

You loved your job. Very few people are lucky enough to be able to relate to that statement, and you were thankfully one of them. Hell, not only did you love your job, you were extremely good at it.

Since you were a little kid, writing nas always been your biggest passion. Wether it was writing short stories, poems or essays about the french revolution, you were always happy when you were able to put your feelings and thoughts onto paper. This was the main reason why you became the manager of your local newspaper during middle school, high school and eventually even university.

You've won multiple writing contests and even people who had no idea what your name was knew one thing about you: you were an amazing writer.

Years of practice, your impeccable set of skills and a recommendation letter from your university professor secured you a job at Vogue almost immediately. After all this hard work, you finally achieved everything you were looking for. You were truly happy.

Until this very moment.

"Well, I don't know," the woman sitting in front of you made a disgusted grimace, "it just lacks any emotion whatsoever. I've quite literally never read something so stiff and akward."

And here they were. The first words of criticism you have ever recieved. You were so used to everyone praising your work, you didn't know how to react or respond.

Three months ago, you would have never gotten into a similar situation: simply because there was nothing about your work to critize. But a lot has changed in the past few weeks, and not exactly in the good kind of way.

When you first joined Vogue, you were the head editor and journalist of the spread dedicated almost entirely to interviews. Thats what you did, talked to celebrities and wrote about them. And that's what you were good at, almost too good.

Just a year after working in the magazine you got promoted. You were still the head editor, but now of a completely different part of the journal: one dedicated to a single topic. Love. This was bad news, very bad news.

Why, you ask? The reason was fairly simple but no less embarrassing. Even as the head editor of a spread all about love, you've never experienced it yourself. In other words, you've never been in love. And how are you supposed to write about something you know nothing about?

Your boss looks at you and shakes her head. She reaches for the stack of papers on the table in front of her and starts reading, "For example; 'His lips brushed against mine. They were soft. The kiss was short but sweet. I loved it.' What the actual heck? I kiss my cat more passionately than this." she took off her glasses and started massaging the crook of her nose.

"Listen, Y/N, I've read your previous pieces and they were simply wonderful. But this? I don't even know what else to say without hurting your feelings."

"I'm so sorry. I know, it's just that I dont have much experience in said area." you don't finish the sentence, hoping she somehow gets the memo. She doesn't.

"What area?"

"Love. I dont have much experience with love." you blurt out the words that have been on your mind nonstop since the day of your promotion.

"Oh, you poor thing" she leans back in her chair, her eyes scanning your every move, "Isn't that unfortunate."

You nod your head slowly, trying not to get offended at her words full of pity.

"How are you supposed to write romance stories then? This won't work." the woman grabs a post-it note

"Are," your voice cracks in the middle of the sentence, "Are you firing me?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I'm not," she hands you the piece of paper with a phone number, "We just have to improvise for the time being. Do you know Roseanne Park? She's the manager of our Matchmaker spread. You can be her assistant for the next few months, help her around, learn a thing or two. Hopefully your writing wont be so...bland after."

To be completely honest, you didn't handle changes well. Maybe that's why you were standing in front of your new, and hopefully temporary, bosses office, trying to build up the courage to knock on her door.

One of the reasons why you were so nervous was that Roseanne Park, the manager of the Vogue Matchmaker was insanely attractive. Admittedly, you did some online stalking the night before- okay, a lot of it. Here's the thing; you were a planner. Whether it came to your career, writing or even relationships, you liked to beprepared.

That's why after a few hours spent on the internet, you knew everything. The name of her sister (Alice Park), if the had a pet (yes, a fish named Joohwangie) and who her favorite band was (The 1975).

You weren't usually like this, so head over heels for a girl you haven't even met. But your writing, the reason you were here in the first place, didn't usually suck so after all, some things really do change easily.

Just as you reached for the dark wooden door in front of you, it opened before your hand could even touch it's sleek surface.

"Oh!" the tall woman stopped in her tracks. Thanks to your thorough internet digging, you instantly recognized her. Roseanne Park. Your new boss. A 'matchmaker' if you will.

"You must be Y/N! I've heard that you're going to be my assistant for a bit." your cheeks heated up for no apparent reason. Did she know the reason why you got transferred here so quickly? Every molecule in your body wished and prayed to every possible god out there that she didn't.

"Yeah, that's me!" you finally composed yourself enough to speak, but that didn't mean your voice didn't sound like one of a twelve year old boy going through puberty- high pitched and squeaky.

You examined her face more in depth, and realized quite a few things:

She was somehow even prettier in real life. How? you had no idea. Some people just really won the genetics lottery, you thought.

Her hair was red. Like undeniably, undoubtedly red. In all of the pictures you found yesterday it was either brown or black, so this change caught you off guard. You couldn't complain though, because this girl looked like a hotter version of Ariel with a much better sense in fashion (and music).

"Have you been standing out here for too long?"

"Oh no, I just arrived." lying has never been so easy.

"Great! I'm gonna go downstairs to grab a package but you can look around the office while I'm gone," she opened the door a bit to let you walk in.

You did as she told you and entered the room. The door closed behind you without you noticing, the only thing you could focus on was this girl's office. It looked just like you would imagine heaven to look like- full of light, white furniture and expensive looking leather couches.

There were pictures everywhere: a dozen of four young girls (one of them being Roseanne), a few more of her with famous celebrities and one of a familiar looking face- her sister.

You carefully walked towards the table in the middle of the room, not wanting to damage anything. You noticed quite a bit of unexpected clutter, and above everything a print of the brand new Vogue issue. A woman on the cover flashed you a beautiful smile as you picked it up. The headline stated: Kim Jisoo talks acting, NYFW and love.

You flipped the glossy magazine pages to find the spread dedicated to said interview and noticed just what you were looking for: the author of the article. The credits at the bottom of the page revealed a nice surprise- Author; Roseanne Park.

"Well what do you think? Is it a good article?" your soul almost left your body when you realized who was standing next to you. You quickly put the magazine down, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to touch your stuff. I just saw the cover and..."

"Oh my gosh, are you kidding? That's completely okay, I don't mind." she pointed to the journal, "That interview is actually one of the favorite pieces I ever wrote, and not just because it's about Jisoo. Plus, my friend took the pictures, so it was extra fun." She opened the spread again and pointed to a name credited right next to hers, Photographer; Lalisa Manoban.

"Oh wow. I've seen her pictures before, they're really good. I with I could take photos like that. Seriously."

Here's one thing to note: when you're nervous, you ramble. Like a lot. Some people would say its better than staying silent, but let's be honest- it's like stepping into a puddle instead of mud. Not a disaster, but there's still plenty to complain about.

Thankfully, Roseanne only giggled, "I know exactly what you mean. I hope you'll get to work with her someday."

You both stared at the magazine spread for a second before Roseanne broke the silence.

"But now, let's get to bussines. Sit down please, this might take a while," she pointed tkwards one of the leather couches you noticed earlier and took a seat at the other side of the table.

"So, as you probably already know, my name is Roseanne Park. As a manager of Matchmaker, my job is to read these letters," she grabben a handful of papers for emphasis, "and respond to them, give advixe basically. The title 'Matchmaker' comes from the fact that the majority of the letters talk about love. Any questions so far?"

When you shook your head no, she continued, "As my assistant, your job is fairly simple. You're going to sort and read through the hundreds of letters I recieve weekly and pick the most interesting ones for me to feature. And occasionally, you might accompany me to a few interviews. Sounds good?"

You slowly nodded, processing all the new information. Letters, answers, interviews and a hot boss. That doesn't sound so bad.

"Great. So Y/N," she suddenly stood up, "Would you mind going with me to Subway? I'm starving."

By the time you were finished with lunch, you had a new point to add to your list of realizations about your new boss:

She loves food, and by loves I mean LOVES.

The moment you arrived at the restaurant, food was the only thing she would talk about. She told you about what she had for dinner and breakfast, what kind of snacks she hid in the office and what kind of salad she was getting alongside a baguette.

After she actually managed to get a bit of calories into her system (thanks to a foot-long chicken turkey sandwich) the conversation finally got more interesting.

Don't get me wrong, you could listen to this girl talk for hours, no matter the topic. But after listening to a thirty minute long monologue about why pineapple pizza is the best thing ever invented, even you have reached your limit.

"So," you start, in an effort to break the ice, "how long have you been working at Vogue?"

She squints at the toast in front of her, trying to remember, "About five years? Yeah, it's gonna be five years in May."

"Oh wow, that's impressive."

She tilts her head, "Is it? I mean, when you work as often as I do, time just goes by. I don't even remember the last time I went out with my friends to discuss something that wasn't work related."

You pout, regretting the choice to ask her about work.

"But at the same time, I love what I do so I can't really complain. What about you though? Why did you decide to become a journalist?"

"Oh, I started just a year ago. And I studied literature, so I guess becoming a journalist made sense."

"Why did you study literature then? There's so many other better paying jobs out there."

"I don't think anyone works in such a field for money, that's for sure," you try to lighten the atmosphere, "Well, my mom wanted to become a writer, but she got pregnant before she could finish her book and she's been pretty much busy ever since. I guess her love for books kind of rubbed off on me."

Roseanne nods, to let you know she's listening. "I'm glad you and your mom have such an important aspect of your lives in common. My mother wanted me to become a lawyer, I doubt she's ever read even a single fiction book in her entire life."

"What does she think about your job now?"

Her lips tighten and she crosses her arms. "I don't know. I haven't talked to her since," her eyes seem empty, their signature spark gone. You can tell you struck a nerve. "I haven't talked to her since I moved out."

"Well, I'm sure that she's proud of you," you can't help but add.

Rosie lets out a dry laugh, "You don't know my mother then," she slowly pushes her plate away, "I think I'm full so I'm gonna head back to the office."

Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut. You learned this the hard way.

You head back after your lunch break ends, alone. Even though Roseanne walked you through everything she expects you to help around with, you know that your job doesn't start and end with sorting through letters.

You softly knock on the office door before heading in. She's already sitting there, behind her desk. Without looking up from her laptop, she scoffs, "You're late."

"It's just five minutes," you shrug, not taking her tone seriously. Finally, she raises her sight to meet yours. Even without her saying anything, you understand. Do not play around with fire.

You mumble an apology and quickly run to the small hallway at the other side of the room which leads to your own (significantly smaller) office.

"What makes you think I'm done?" Turning around, you notice that her eyes are piercing through your back. Unsure of what she expects you to do, you walk back in front of her.

"While you were out there doing god knows what for two hours," you resist the urge to roll your eyes, "I already did your job and sorted through the letters. You're welcome."

She walks around the table and pushes a thick stack of papers against your chest, "That means you'll be doing my job and write replies to them. Can you handle that?"

You try not to show her how terrified you are. You? Giving relationship advice? Sounds like a recipe for a royal disaster. Instead, you rise your chin and smile, "Yes ma'am."

She visibly winces at the formal title, but still nods and returns to her seat. You take this as a sign to head back to your spot and do your job. Well, her job for now.

You sit down calmly and shuffle through the papers, trying not to look too freaked out. What the heck are you going to do now?

A quick peek at your boss reveals that she's either busy with work or just flat out ignoring you.

Trying to remain collected, you pick out the top letter from the pile. The first paragraph reads:

Hi Rosie! I'm a huge fan of your Matchmaker spread :) I never thought I'd be the one writing you a message but here we are hahaha. (Let's hope this gets featured!)

You roll your eyes but continue reading,

Me and my boyfriend have been dating for just about two months and I would describe our relationship as 'lowkey'. We first met at a bar a last year but we surprisingly didn't immediately hit it off.

With a raised eyebrow you skip over a page full of sappy descriptions and relationship stories, before getting to the end of the letter.

So what should I do? He's really sweet but I'm not sure if I'm ready to meet his family just yet.... please help! Love, Courtney.

You fold the paper back to it's original state with a quiet gulp. What on earth did you get yourself into?

[dudebroreg]

In the isolation of this quarantine, I’m gonna resurrect THIS old ass argument. “Can Spike still rightfully end up with Buffy after his actions, and if he can’t, isn’t the same true for Angel?” and “Is Spuffy as meaningful as or even compare to Bangel?”. The following “conversation” is hypothetical and “person” represents most of the arguments I’ve seen people on the other side of this make. Person: I don’t see how anyone could possibly ship Buffy and Spike after the bathroom scene. Me: He didn’t have a soul when he did that. Once he does have a soul, the evil he did is no longer his fault unless he repeats the behavior, but their slow-burned bond and her eventual love for who he becomes in Chosen is real. It’s canon that she fell in love with him when their fingers locked before his death if you take Joss’s words as truth, and even if you don’t and need something to be solidified on the program to accept it as canon, interpreting what Buffy felt in those last moments as romantic love is no more or less provable than the “she was just saying it to make Spike feel better” take. It makes complete sense that Spike thought she was lying after all of his experiences, though. That’s part of his own tragedy. That angst is part of why we love them as a pairing. Person: Wow look at you making excuses for one of the worst things someone can possibly do. There’s no going back after that. Idc what the plot did to justify his actions, and it’s despicable to think that the show would still give them anything resembling a love story after that. Boo hoo about his little tragedy. Am I supposed to feel bad after what he tried to do to her? Me: Okay fine, I see your point. I don’t see how anyone could possibly ship Buffy and Angel after he went on a killing spree meant to emotionally torture her, targeted her friends and family, KILLED JENNY and not only got off on the pain it inflicted on Buffy’s father figure but set it up to be as devastating for Giles as humanly possible, and almost brought Hell on Earth which would have killed millions in global genocide all for his twisted amusement. I don’t see how anyone could feel bad about him having a sword driven through him and pulled into Acathla after what he tried to do to Buffy, to her loved ones, and to the entire fucking world. Oh also he tried to drive a sword into her face right before her badass comeback. Person: He didn’t have a soul when he did that. It’s not Angel’s fault what Angelus does. It’s not really him, but Bangel’s epic eternal love at first sight is real and will never die. Me: .... Person: ... It’s different because Spike is a little more human even when he doesn’t have a soul. Me: Does that mean he deserves less credit or more? :/ :/ Person: ANGEL AND ANGELUS IS DIFFERENT FROM SOULLESS SPIKE AND SPIKE. Me: Nah same lore same rules breh. Soulless Spike seems more human because William was a sentimental sap and hopeless romantic when he was sired and so Spike was a deranged version of that personality, but still a demon and still wired to do evil, no matter how deeply he feels for someone. Liam was a self-indulgent douche who lived primarily for his own satisfaction when he was sired and thus became Angelus. Like in life, Angelus in death gave into all of his wicked cravings but without guilt or remorse. Who Spike and Angel are without a soul fits who they were with a soul perfectly within the rules of Buffyverse vampirism. But Soulless Spike is still Soulless Spike, he is still supernaturally coded to be a monster, and his ensouled version deserves the same level of forgiveness or lack thereof as his grandsire. If you don’t think Buffy should be with someone who’s done unspeakable things regardless of the supernatural reason for it, fine, but that’s not what you’re saying. Me: The bathroom scene was hard to watch but an important turning point because he realized that in his chipped state he can’t be his fully monstrous self nor can he be a good man. His options were to get the chip removed and be William the Bloody again, or get his soul and attempt to be a good man. The decision he made was something Angelus would never do, which I could use to say Spike is just better, but really they’re just different people with different motives. Bangel and Spuffy present the same issues with the concept of being pardoned via soul and if either vampire is really “worthy” of her romantic affections, no matter how much you try to twist Buffy/Spike as the more unshippable pairing to suit your own preference on which character Buffy should have a future with.

Person: ARE YOU SAYING SEASON 6 SPUFFY WASN’T TOXIC?! Me: Nah it definitely was, but Spuffy fandom in large part really doesn’t want Buffy to end up with season 6 Spike. Many of us think their “relationship” when he was soulless was *entertaining* and added character depth, and that they had real moments of connection in the midst of the ugliness, but most of us recognize how unhealthy it was and that it was no recipe for happily-ever-after. Irl there would be no turning back but also irl people are not literal demons who can go and win a soul to make up for some missing piece of them, just as Angel’s situation would also not happen in our reality. Me: A lot of us DO want her to end up with fully actualized soul-having Spike as he was by the end of season 7, in season 5 of Angel, and post series. Bangel is the passionate all-consuming first love story, but they NEVER achieved the level of understanding and full realization of the other that Spuffy ultimately did. Probably in part because Buffy was a fuckin’ high school teenager when Bangel happened, but that’s vampire genre for ya. Me: The speech Spike gave Buffy in Touched is something Angel could NEVER deliver at any point we’ve seen them, because Angel never knew her the way Spike did, and Buffy’s conceptualization of Angel is super idealistic and passion-charged, lacking the full range of understanding she has of Spike, probably because, again, she was a fuckin’ high school teenager when Bangel happened. Me: If she loves both of them, which I believe she does and the creator of the verse believes she does, it would take years for Buffy and Angel to discover and know each other to the depths that Buffy and Spike already do. Never mind that Buffy and Angel changed - they didn’t even know each other THAT well when they were together. The more Angel the Series dives into the whole of Angel, the more clear that becomes, and Buffy wasn’t anywhere near her full growth when he left for LA. Why go back and rebuild Buffy’s first major relationship when Spike is right there, the feelings are developed enough to where if she said “I absolutely do love you and you were wrong for doubting it” it wouldn’t seem wild whatsoever, and the natural romantic endpoint of her journey has more substance there? Because you just like Bangel more? Cool! You do you, but Buffy/Angel is still in no way the morally superior tv couple. Me: Also, not to be a dick on that whole love-at-first-sight deal, but it’s canon that Angel loved her the moment he saw her, which is weird to me since the first time he saw her was watching her creepily from a distance when she was 15 years-old in a short skirt and literally sucking on a lollipop.  Okay so I’m just being a prick with that last part because that too is a byproduct of 90s TV and vampire genre. “Bangel or Spuffy” is mostly a “which type of fictional relationship do I vibe with?” based debate. Bangel is one of those epic earth-shattering-consuming-my-whole-being-at-first-kiss romances, and the people who love that kinda thing will be inclined to support them, and I do love Angel as a whole. What I will always fight, no matter how old this subject and these shows get, is this wack idea that there are problems within Spuffy that make it more unshippable than Bangel, or even more hilariously that Buffy “deserves” better than Spike and yet “deserves” Angel. 

Though, if you tell me you think she’s too good for both of them, you have a much stronger case there, but that doesn’t make me love Spuffy any less, nor would it make someone else stop loving Bangel.