gearsofluck

[ambersky0319]

I am

so tired

i woke up at midnight and couldnt fall back to sleep. i was on and off sleeping

FINALLY i felt like i was entering proper sleep

and my goddamn alarm goes off at 4:45

im so tired but i still gotta go to work 😫

[theflagscene]

I find this scene in episode six very interesting, it was very minimal but I think it said kind of a lot.

Yai is doing his damndest to convince Tharn to take a chance on a relationship with Phaya, so of course good ole doctor snakey shows up. Only he doesn’t spare a passing glance at Yai and it seems like Yai doesn’t realize the other man is there, even after another person has drawn him away from Tharn and his brooding stare.

The only time Yai has ever even acknowledged the existence of Chalothon was to Phaya in episode three, to reassure him that Tharn hadn’t just been snatched away from him by some random stranger. And that’s it, that’s all Yai has to say about that. He says that they’ve known Chalothon since they were kids, okay, so let’s break that down.

One can assume that the night Phaya drowned when they were kids, the third boy was Chalothon, right? He lures them away to the Naga festival with firecrackers and food, yet when Phaya is in fact being called into the water, sees the Naga’s green eyes and starts to drown, the third boy isn’t with Tharn and Yai. The next time you see Tharn, he’s just with Yai and the third boy, who we’re just going to assume is Chalothon, isn’t there with them. He shows back up with sweets for both boys - none for himself - after Phaya is already dying in the river.

When Tharn claims to have gotten a sign about a boy drowning, Yai laughs at him and the third (Chalothon) is quick to agree and attempts to drag the two away. That is until they hear Phaya’s auntie crying for help, which is when both Tharn and Yai take off, Chalothon following close behind. He’s playing the long con, this is their 4th incarnation (sorry for the spoilers if you didn’t know that) Which means snakey boy has failed to get Tharn to return with him to the Naga kingdom three times already, not including the first time he lost them to King Garuda. He has learned, he knows he can’t push, he needs to bide his time, but he also has to steer clear of Luangpor. Guess who is never seen anywhere near the all knowing monk? Yeah, the third boy, the other witness and sort of hero that ‘helped’ save Phaya that night. He doesn’t show up when Tharn, Yai, Phaya and their aunties speak with the revered monk the next day.

I think that Chalothon is using some witchery to insert himself into the good graces of the people in Tharn’s life when needed, but otherwise they don’t actually realize he’s there. Like he’s purposely blocking Yai from interacting with him because Yai is that annoying older brother who would tell Tharn; dude that doctor guy is sus as hell!

To Yai he’s made a memory of himself like an old childhood friend, but otherwise Yai is none the wiser to him. He already has Tharn’s trust implicitly, not only as his long time friend but as a medical professional. Chalothon has been manipulating and gaslighting Tharn for - one can assume - most of his adult life. Using mental health and basically the fear of being insane to keep Tharn controlled, and it was going so well too, until Phaya showed back up in his life.

Hot-headed, knuckled brain Phaya who’s both bark and bite. He already has his memories as King Garuda trickling back in, probably faster than Chalothon expected. And it quickly became clear that while Chalothon might have been able to cause descension in the ranks using simple medical jargon and the fear of being labeled as mentally unstable, Phaya and Tharn reconnecting has already awoken their powers, not to mention that their memories are returning as lightning speed. Think in episode five when Phaya grabs Chalothon’s shoulder and burns him, he just does it instinctually, without even trying. Not only that, but the mark left behind is in the shape of talons. Phaya is becoming too strong and Yai is pushing Tharn closer toward him, even offering himself up as protection, sacrifice, one might say.

Chalothon has no need for Yai anymore, subtly is no longer the name of the game. And while he might be willing to wait yet another lifetime to try again, that doesn’t mean Chalothon wants to. But he has made it clear that he will kill Tharn and start all over if his hand is forced and since Yai is firmly committed to keeping Phaya and Tharn together, well… I’m thinking he might have just moved himself higher up ole doctor snakey’s list of very expendable people.



[aalghul]

Nice post about Roy I like how kind your response was. But yeah as a Roy fan I find the idea that he would hate anyone but the man who killed his daughter to be silly. Cause like thing is Roy has a line till he doesn’t. Like you said Roy draws a line for himself with Cheshire but he never ever 100 percent commits. Even after the bombing and her holding a gun to Lian and threatening to shoot her while trying to escape prison, in his time with the League he still is hinted to love her and still lets Lian visit her. Flash forward to now they are still on again off again lovers/enemies. The old Titans ‘Roy breaks up with Cheshire’ story was written like it was the full end of their relationship but DC loves that concept and in comics they will always come back.

With Mia or people hurting his family Roy would not care at the end of the day unless that family member died sorry. Roy forgave a woman who babysat Lian and helped terrorists kidnap her and then broke his leg in an attempt to kill Cheshire. No he didn’t just forgive her he offered to let her keep babysitting Lian saying he didn’t think he had the right to judge anyone.

People other than Roy say he belongs in the light but Roy kind of hates that about himself and actively denies and resists it because he thinks the dirty work is the real important work. He worked in fantasy superhero CIA for years and even killed for them, left and made the Outsiders, initially didn’t want to leave and basically stayed till the last second till his mental health gave in, joined the League and didn’t actually have a great time with the group or ever really believe he belonged, had a horrible ending with that group and became a straight up villain after the ROA fiasco and worked on a team of villains all of whom except Slade he expressed some sort of sympathy for.

Roy just doesn’t give up on people and kind of really wants to do antihero work and tries to again and again. The age/maturity thing kind of gets it but that only matters where you connect Roy and Jason, they are peers and work together in some fashion off screen for a year in Outsiders, put a ROA recovering villain Roy with really any post UTRH Jason save Morrison Jason and you could write an intergenerational friendship arc easy.

People forget but before 52 first started a lot of people wanted a Jason Roy book. It was floated around as an idea for ages and rumor was even Winick made a pitch but can’t confirm. When 52 was first announced a lot of people thought not only that RHATO made sense and only Kory didn’t belong but thought the comic had real potential. And really it might have since Roy and Cheshire at one point would not have made sense for either character and notably everything about their relationship happened off screen. We give things a pass because of how well the stories are written. I think most issues with comics are people moralizing about the characters and saying they would never do this or that when 9 times out of 10 the writer just shat over the execution of a concept and the writing as is was shit.

-- i’m just going to include my thoughts down here --

I agree with everything you said about Roy just not being the person who holds a lot of hatred for people. He comes off as strict and even angry sometimes, but at heart, he’s one of the most understanding characters.

I always took Roy’s failed attempts at being an anti-hero as proof that it’s not what he’s meant to do. He keeps trying because he sees his sympathy and desire to do more as a sign that he needs to get his hands dirtier, but each time leaves him with the realization that he can’t be doing that type of work. He was reluctant to leave the Outsiders because he didn’t want to abandon them, that’s why he does leave as soon as Ollie provides funding for them (which he also does specifically because he knows Roy wouldn’t leave, no matter how much he wanted to, otherwise). The Outsiders did end in Roy himself realizing he couldn’t stay there.

I think Roy has always worked best in the various Titans teams he’s been part of. Unfortunately, Teen Titans (2003) set a new status quo with enough of the original Titans leaving and the team working under the leadership of younger members even when more experienced Titans were present. So we could never really go back to the titans as they were in any of the iterations prior to that.

I don’t think Jason and Roy worked together for a whole year; it was just Jason reaching out to Dick, and then subsequently teaming up with him and Roy to give them information of Black Lightning. Which definitely worked to let Roy know the type of person that Jason is (i.e. not a villain), but it was also very much through Dick, so it would again be a reminder of the time that Jason, as a child, teamed up with Roy and the others. Roy’s affinity to taking a guiding role when he works with team members significantly younger than him is just such an important part of who he is that I can’t get past it. I don’t mean to say that Roy��s going to treat Jason like a child, but that there’s going to be a significant gap between their friendship as compared to the friendship that post-flashpoint gave them. Roy is just at a completely different stage from Jason, who is essentially just beginning to catch up on life as a teenager. That difference can’t be ignored easily.

I didn’t read comics back then (and was also a very little kid lol) so I didn’t know about that being something people wanted back then! It must be disappointing to see how it’s turned out.

At the end of the day, I personally think that Roy and Jason could work together very well short-term, and then it would have to end in them walking their separate ways because Roy can never stay in the dark too long, whether he admits it or not. I get what you’re saying about good execution making all the difference, though! I just want to stay as consistent to Roy’s character as possible, so Jason and Roy as best friends/a long-term anti-hero duo never quite works out.

[cto10121]

Seriously, Why Did Shakespeare Make Juliet 13?

One common trope among the annals of R&J clownery is the matter of Juliet’s age, which never fails to send clowns into a frothy spiral of pearl-clutching, hand-wringing agita (Romeo’s age, meanwhile, is never a cause of much paternalistic concern). But it’s worth asking the question, especially since:

His sources for the tale feature a much older Juliet and of course, Romeo. Why the change?

13 was considered too young to be married even by Shakespeare’s time; for the lower classes it was almost unheard of. Only children by nobility were betrothed that young, and chiefly for political alliance.

So there is a bit of a ~mystery. There have been many theories, some more likelier than others. Let’s count the ways.

1. Social Criticism: The Bad Old Days(tm)

This is most likely the case, tying into the fact that early modern Englishmen and women married in their late 20s as the norm. Even Shakespeare was at least 18 when he married his 27-year-old wife.

Nobility did betroth their young children for alliance, but it was understood by the late 1500s that 13-14 year-old girls were too young to bear children safely. A delay of a year or two before marital consummation was the norm. Shakespeare may have wanted to reflect that reality for his multi-class audience.

Also, Shakespeare was adapting a history set in the 1300s, during De La Scala’s rule in Verona. If Shakespeare had wanted to clue his audience in that this tragedy was set during the Bad Old Catholic Days, making Lady Capulet and the Nurse encourage their 13-year-old to consider marriage and explain that girls as young as she were already married would set those 🚩🚩🚩 🚩 a-waving for a 1590s audience. There is definitely an attempt to problematize the Capulets. Sure enough, we do have contemporary accounts mentioning a “tyrant” Capulet.

So Shakespeare’s audience (and we) would immediately understand the critique and also the dramatic stakes for Juliet—what kind of family she has been raised in, and the danger she would soon be in for merely resisting her father’s will.

2. Social Criticism: The Disempowerment of Youth

In de-aging his lovers, Shakespeare may have wanted to emphasize just how much Romeo and Juliet are at the mercy of their families. They have a degree of agency and autonomy, more so on Romeo’s part since he is undoubtedly older. But otherwise they are largely dependent on their families, and thus more vulnerable to the (deadly) consequences of their feud.

That’s why they don’t even consider fleeing Verona—not that it wouldn’t be just as stupid an idea even if they were older. But actual minors out in the world is a recipe for disaster.

3. The Power of (First) Love

Shakespeare may have wanted to make sure R&J had as little romantic experience as possible to drive home this point. While 13 was considered too young for marriage, love was a different matter. Even now the average age of first romantic experience for most people is 13-16. Romeo is hung up on Rosaline, but doesn’t seem to know her well at all or made much of an effort to woo her. And Juliet honestly is not thinking of marriage.

That said, there are some things in the play that go against R&J having no romantic experience prior to this. Romeo is impatient with Rosaline’s chastity vow and overall does not value chastity much. He also does not hesitate to pursue and woo Juliet. Juliet picks up on the flirtation right away without so much as a “whut” and tells Romeo that he kisses “by th’book.” She also warns Romeo that if he has no intention of marrying her, to leave her “to her grief.” Kids grow up so fast, I guess.

All of this may just be a sign of their instant chemistry rather than any prior romantic experience, though. As soon as they meet each other it’s as if they have grown by like 3-5 years older lol. And R&J are just as likely to experience first love at 16/18 as 13/17. But it does show that Shakespeare and his time were well aware erotic attachments began on the younger side.

4. Practical Theater Stuff

As Shakespeare’s troupe was all men, with young boys playing women, it would make sense for Shakespeare to write closer to the actor for Juliet. 13/14/15-year-old boy=13-year-old female character. Audience verisimilitude, and all that.

He may not have been necessarily 13, though, so again, weak sauce. And Elizabethans accepted such a whole host of artificial stage conventions that I doubt they would have really had their Suspension of Disbelief threatened by an older boy as Juliet.

Bonus: Adaptations

Due to vastly changing attitudes and norms, Juliet’s age has been changed for modern adaptations, for various different reasons, many valid. Those that have kept her age intact, though, have not always understood the social criticism and deliberate purpose behind Shakespeare’s decision to age his lovers down. Hence you get a lot of 13-going-on-3 Juliets and casting kid-looking actresses in the role general. If not, then she is portrayed as more immature and energetic than the text ever suggests, from tomboyish to typical girly-girl playing with her dollies (🤮).

Ditto for Romeo. Romeo’s age is not specified in the text, but casting directors have rarely aged him down to Juliet’s canonical age (the closest is probably the Polish and Cocciante musicals with really baby faced Romeos). More often, to compensate, Romeo’s actors have simply played him as more boyish and immature than even his part reads—a caricature of a teen boy as a more “fitting” partner for a more child-like Juliet.

All much ado about nothing, imo. Shakespeare would probably not give a groat if you raise Juliet’s age, so long the cruelty of the forced marriage is conveyed. With the expansion of childhood, the delay of marriage, and the rampant neo Puritanism, 16 is very much the new 13. Even so, with the age gap discourse, the clownery about Romeo being a Creepy Italian Groomer has only grown worse.

[omgkalyppso]

Which canon character respects your OC most? What gained that respect? for étoile?

This ask makes me realize I could someday write a very indulgent little Lae'zel pov fic about her feelings on Étoile and their faith.

Woe! A million spoilers be upon ye.

Lae'zel!

Act 1 Étoile was so respectful and understanding of Lae'zel's nature while maintaining their own way of handling things; and they gave an amount of grace to her (and Shadowheart's) faith that Lae'zel would have initially felt was unusual and later would have realized was unique.

They indulged her rough way of handling obstacles on the grounds of cultural differences, keeping faith, rightfully, that she had more discipline than to kill indiscriminately, or at least that she would not be without reason if counselled towards or against a particular target.

This was more independence than she would have been afforded otherwise, and ultimately it did cause some tension when she knew she was grasping at the straws of her old life after the temple of Lathander, because she could hear when Étoile was fumbling in their attempts to be supportive of the faulty logic she was knitting together. It was good-natured of them to suppose with her that overcoming ceremorphosis and discovering a manner of defeating this great weapon of her people's long-time enemy could earn her the forgiveness and respect of her god-queen, but it was something she grew out of along-side them, as the truth of Vlaakith became inescapable. She knew she would be no exception in her queen's favor, and even if she could have been, by now she had gathered a stronger knowledge and understanding of the richness of multiverse, and could not sacrifice her fellows for her own glory and security.

For all Étoile and other followers of Auril might be called fanatics and cruel for how they would sacrifice the plane and themselves at the order of their god, Lae'zel knew that they at least did so with both eyes open, not fooled into acts of discompassion towards one another beneath the lie of a loving god.

Étoile didn't hesitate to sign away the Crown of Karsus, for the surest way to remove the Crown from the Material Plane, for the promise of a safe and sane mind after all the broken promises of their journey, and for her. Étoile would never have chosen the Emperor over her alone, and never still over an entire people — her people.

Étoile feared they'd lost her respect when they faltered at the end: when they couldn't sacrifice themself for the safety of those same people, nor all of Faerûn, nor for Orpheus, demi-god-prince of her people; but who else but Orpheus would have had the conviction of character, or the power, to commit themselves to oblivion.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen Étoile helpless because of a mortal failing, but she was mortal too, and their continued march forward would still have been worth following even if it hadn't been the only path left to her.

Étoile's ready respect for Orpheus, to spare him a fate that they could not have suffered themself, also met Lae'zel in her values, and would fit in the great telling of their tale that she would spread with love and by force when she united with Vlaakith's unwitting slaves in the Astral.

.

I think Vlaakith performing an intentional self-destruct to send pieces of her power to phylacteries all over the multiverse like any good god-lich would be a cool excuse to bring a version or two of her and Lae'zel's ultimate showdown into Étoile's corners of the world. Like. Crown-of-Karsus!Raphael with a piece of the fallen god whose people call Étoile liberator? It could be fun.

[cassynite]

❌😊🍐 for Sparrow!

Aaaah thank you for the ask Ella!!! These were really good questions :)

❌ What kind of things would end any relationship for them? Is there a history behind why these things bother them? Could they ever take someone back despite this? If so or if not, why?

This is SUCH a tough question for Sparrow. One of her major character flaws is that she's so desperate for connections to others that she never really learns how to establish boundaries--she is incredibly guarded and lets very few people in, but once she DOES it's equally as hard to lose her affections. As a friend or as a lover, Sparrow is deeply loyal, but that becomes a double-edged sword if the person turns out to be unworthy of that loyalty. There are very few circumstances that would cause Sparrow to genuinely cut ties and end a relationship. The first is if her partner ends it first or otherwise indicates that any care, kindness, or consideration they gave her in the past was a lie. Another circumstance would be if the partner knowingly or unknowingly pressures her into being someone she is not; she would go along with it out of affection but if they don't consider her wants and needs, eventually it will feel too much like how she lived as Evaethi's shadow. In that case, she would feel very guilty about ending things, and would likely outright run away rather than confront her partner. Another situation would be if they did something so truly morally reprehensible that Sparrow would not be able to abide by it--mainly this would involve acts of enslavement of some kind. But even in that case, she would have to be in a good position mentally to have the strength to give up on the relationship, it would have to be something REALLY BAD, and she would probably be open to reconciliation if they made the effort to change or at least not do it again.

😊 What can make your OC smile even when they’re feeling down? What cheers them up and makes everything feel better for them? Is your OC genrally a happy person and do they enjoy making others smile? What about your OC makes others happy?

Ha, I think it won't be a surprise to learn that Sparrow is not really a happy person as a general rule. Her natural demeanor leans more melancholy. However, Daeran's jokes will always, without fail, make her at least smile if not outright laugh. This was true even before she liked him, and after they start seeing each other Daeran is always able to lift Sparrow's spirits easily with a joke or witty comment. In general, a comment or sign of affection from Daeran is often enough to help lift her spirits. Sparrow also likes to make other people happy as well, especially if she cares deeply for them. She dislikes seeing distress or sadness in the people she loves so she will often try to make people happier through comfort and direct action to the root cause of the issue. She'll be a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear, and will be deadly earnest in her attempt to help soothe or solve the problem that's plaguing her loved one. Daeran often gets blindsided by her earnest straightforwardness sometimes, because since she's rarely open about things it might feel like it comes out of nowhere.

🍐 What is your OC’s mentality? Are they overall positive? Negative? A bit of both? Describe their thought patterns and reasoning behind their choice making!

Sparrow's mentality definitely runs toward the more negative. She is always expecting the other shoe to drop when things are going well--her entire life has shown her that good periods never last, and that something will always come by to shatter it given enough time. Everything goes away, so she always prepares for the lean times so she's not hurt too bad by them. This is helpful in the Crusades, when she's making contingencies for contingencies and is rarely completely blindsided by her enemies, but lends to fraught situations in peacetime when she's trying to build her relationship with Daeran. It's that negative expectation that something will go wrong, this will end badly, that leads her to catastrophizing arguments and blowing things out of proportion.

[writingmyheartoutforyou]

I honestly don't care if nativenews is a psyop or not. It's not my place to speculate on a stranger's identity, so until/unless they reveal themselves I'm not going to speak on that part of their online presence. What I care about is that they're spreading misinformation (intentional or otherwise) to their followers. If their goal is to report the news, they've failed. Most of their posts from what I can tell are screenshots of quote tweets of clickbait. There are no links to the original article, or even summaries of what those articles might have said. The fact that they're mostly quote tweets is also a bad sign. They're prepping you for how to respond by leading with a reaction. You already know what you're supposed to be feeling and therefore are less likely to seek out the original article. There are also no calls to action. No links to NGOs or charities for you to support. No phone numbers for government officials to call, or donations to candidates that might be able to help. Just pictures of distressed or injured civilians that cause you to get angry, but no outlet to help or channel that anger. Meaning your more likely to lash out at others on this website, than actually help anybody. As far as I can tell they don't interact with their followers at all (or at least so rarely I couldn't find it). No comments, no replies, maybe an answered ask every once and a while, but those seem very rare. They get their followers riled up, but make no attempts to help or calm them down. That account is a breeding ground for lies and misinformation. There are no checks and balances to make sure the information being "reported" is accurate or even factual. The posts are deliberately incendiary in order to boost engagement. I have seen no attempts to correct bad information, and in fact they post so often as to drown out previous posts. None of this seems like a well-intentioned person trying to fight injustice, it feels more like a provocateur trying to start fights across Tumblr. I've blocked them and I encourage others to do so as well. At the very least don't engage with them. Get your news from actual news outlets, not random users on a dying internet platform.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Hurricane Heist (2018)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I’m going to throw myself at the mercy of the court because the first time around, I liked The Hurricane Heist. In my defence, I was tickled by the premise and the potential rather than the execution. This is a dopey movie that makes flabbergasting decisions along the way and some good ones too. You’ll probably laugh at it more often than not but there are good ideas within someone will someday steal and use to greater effect.

As a hurricane descends upon the East Coast, Federal Bank employee Casey (Maggie Grace) is double-crossed by Perkins (Ralph Ineson). He and his team plan on using the storm to cover their tracks while they steal millions from the treasury. To stop them, she teams up with meteorologist Will (Toby Kebbell), whose brother Breeze (Ryan Kwanten) is being held hostage.

Anyone with a functioning brain will immediately spot tell-tale signs this movie isn’t going to be very bright. A pre-title scene has a terrified young Will look into the hurricane that just killed his father and spot a distinctly skull-like cloud leering at him. “Well… he’s a kid. Maybe he just imagined it?” I have to assume so, but then why does it show up again during the film’s climax in present day? Meanwhile, the fields we see Casey and Will race through as they try to catch up to Perkins are bone-dry! I understand they’re in the eye of the storm (a device every hurricane movie uses at some point) but just because it’s sunny doesn’t mean the rest of the wind and rain wasn’t there a second ago!

To be fair, we get plenty of good shots of the devastating storm. Streets are flooded, normally innocent projectiles are flying so fast they could impale you and buildings are barely holding together. We see the devastation, even if the wind's power is inconsistent and the protagonists always manage to avoid flying debris, even when shards of glass are whirling through the air and skewering the bad guys.

The technical flaws are a nitpick. The real problem is the writing. There are so many things that could’ve gone wrong you’re surprised the villains didn’t throw away this scheme while cooking it up in their lair. They needed a hurricane big enough for the entire town to be evacuated to land at the same time as the money drop-off. The thieves also need the hurricane to cover up their crime… which must be done under mounting pressure as they take down the guards they haven’t seduced to their cause, crack access codes, transport the money and then drive allll the way to safety? I understand the movie "needed to happen", that riches are motivating enough but if they were willing to go that far, why not just highjack the truck on the way to the facility instead?

With all of these problems, how could anyone ever think this movie was good enough to endorse? Well, here’s the thing. The hurricane actually serves to spice up what would otherwise be a pretty dull heist movie quite well. In many scenes, characters are either ahead, or in a jam when suddenly… HURRICANE! and things get thrown all out of whack. It isolates our heroes and adds danger to an already dangerous situation. "The Hurricane Heist" had my mind swirlig with possibilities. How about a story where a dedicated police officer is after a prison escapee… in the middle of a giant monster attack? Or a city-wide revenge film while a reccord-breaking snow storm rages outside? There’s got to be something there someone can use.

The Hurricane Heist is ridiculous. The attempts at making the characters endearing fail and the action/chase scenes are exciting but not enough to make you forget how convoluted the plot is, or to overlook the flaws in the special effects and writing departments. Writers Scott Windhauser & Jeff Dixon managed to give the villain a believable, full-rounded arc and the last chase is pretty cool (director Rob Cohen also brought to us the first Fast and Furious, so he knows car action) but despite these legitimately well-made elements, I still feel a little embarrassed at the thought of having seen this movie not once, but twice. (July 5, 2019)

[versadies]

「 BE WITH YOU ! 」

SALUTATIONS. BE WITH YOU!

ADDRESSED. tartaglia, kaeya alberich, scaramouche, and thoma (w/ gn!reader)

STAMPS/SYPNOSIS. 4 characters, 4 different drabbles, 4 (almost failed) attempts of fluffiness <33

CONTENT. fluff/no-angst, spoilers to scaramouche’s real name, ooc characters, mentions of being sick (kaeya), mentions of violence/fighting (childe), second hand embarrassment (scaramouche), slight crack (scaramouche), harbinger!reader, novelist!reader, adventurer!reader

PENPALS. @scaraslover @saving-for-xiao @dawgimsohot @kazu-topia @chiruru @aqualesha @renamichii @mrkamisato @shenhesl0ver @serami00 @serenareiss @hiqhkey @emperatris-rinaka @bystander36 @irisxiel @ladycoleigh @034ven @dear-dairiess @owozi8 @hadesaedes @chiro-chiro-kun @hersscherofyatta @mariusvonhangme @yuzuricebun @nejibot @hoshikistarlette @solaaresque @crowbird @lordbugs @flowersforayato @headintheclouddd @estelwrld @giyusimpsassemble @irethepotatosblog @moonlightaangel @alice0blog @shotosbrainrot @sniffoat @chihawari @mxsomn @kuni-kuzushii @jiminscarmex @mitsukii14 @ylimeprive @sachispet @loreleis-world @sn-owo @starforecasts @someonetookmynamelmao @ceylestia @lychme @ymikkos @reallysporadicarcade @melodyyamino

POST-SCRIPT. came back from buying milk just to write this b4 today ends (def did not deadass crammed this 🤡🤡🤡) anywayz hope you enjoy <333 !!! this fic is for @bluexiao & @anantaru ’s sweet 'n spice collab :DDDD

LINKS. SOMETHING SWEET MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST | TAGLIST

Sometimes, you often wonder what goes on inside CHILDE’s head.

Most days — if not everyday — without fail, the 11th Harbinger would often come to you and bother you for the sake of having a duel with him by the training grounds, something that you always weren’t in a mood for.

Sure, it’s established that you’re much stronger than him — but so are most of his seniors. It didn’t make sense for him to bug you of all people to fight him besides the fact that you’re the same age as him.

“Care to have a fight with me?” The harbinger asks for the nth time as he follows you around Zapolyarny Palace much to your dismay.

“No.”

“Aw come on! It’ll be great, don’t you want to let out some steam? I could destroy the world for you to fight me ag—”

“No. Don’t you have some work to do, Tartaglia?” You said, walking towards your office. “Go ask someone else to fight. I’m not in the mood for your silly antics.”

“But I want you!”

You stop your tracks and turn towards his direction with a raised eyebrow, causing him to realize his words and stop his tracks as well.

“…Wait, I didn’t mean it like that.”

You would’ve believed it, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s covering half of his face that’s obviously red.

Huh, cute.

You try to stop yourself from grinning at the sight of the now flustered harbinger.

“My my, I didn’t know the 11th Harbinger would see me that way. If you want me so bad, you’ll have to do a lot more than just ask me out to fight.” You teased, not meaning any of those words. You just want to see him getting more flustered, nothing more, nothing less (at least that’s what you want to believe).

Unnoticed by you, Childe’s eyes widen a little. He did get flustered, but your words left more than just embarrassment for your comrade.

It left him a signal. A sign that he can shoot his shot with you!

You watched the ginger-haired man, who now has a new idea and determination, run away from you. You thought he left out of embarrassment like you hoped, but a part of you thought otherwise.

You shrug to yourself before continuing walking towards your office. Oh well, we’ll just have to see next time when he decides to bother me again. You thought, unaware that you just made things escalate more and gave Childe a reason to start asking you to go on dates with him instead of fights.

Today’s a lovely day.

Not only are you free to do what you want after finishing your tasks, but you also have all the time in the world to relax without a certain Cavalry Captain bothering you for reasons unknown.

“( Name ), care to deliver this to KAEYA Alberich’s home?”

Or so you thought.

You slowly look at Sara with a “really?” look on your face, looking at the packed meal your colleague dropped by the counter. “Care to ask why you want me to do that?” You asked.

Sara giggles in response. “Well for starters, you’re one of the only adventurers that’s available at the moment and have nothing to do.” She said as she started cooking up another meal. “Besides, this one’s sort of important. It turns out that Kaeya got sick, so he needs some soup for him to eat.”

You raise an eyebrow. You didn’t hear anything about Kaeya getting sick… Is that why he hasn’t come around Good Hunter for the past few days?

Sara notices the look on your face, giving you a teasing look. “What? Concerned for him?”

You feel your cheeks warming up, grabbing the packed meal instantly. “Of course not. I’ll be back soon.”

Or so you thought once again.

It took a while to look for the cavalry captain’s home, but you could’ve gone back instantly once Kaeya opened the door and grabbed his meal, if it weren’t for him dragging you inside for you to suddenly become his caretaker.

“I’m starting to think you only ordered the soup because you wanted me here.” You commented with a raised eyebrow as you blew the soup gently before moving the spoon towards his mouth.

“Is that what you think? I wouldn’t mind that enticing thought.” He retorts with a small smirk before opening his mouth to eat the soup.

“You can eat the soup yourself, Alberich.” You rolled your eyes,

He swallows his food. “How can I do that when I’m terribly sick?” Kaeya asks with a chuckle.

You rolled your eyes once again before feeding him. “Because you can, you’ve done it for the past few days, haven't you? You only used this opportunity to make me spoon feed you.”

“If that’s what you want to believe, ( Name ).”

Yet despite knowing the fact that Kaeya is capable of taking care of himself (after catching him opening a bottle of wine while standing up), you found yourself sticking with him the whole day, helping him in every way you can (not without you two replying to each other’s comments every now and then).

As much as you didn’t want to admit, you missed talking to the cavalry captain after not seeing him for a while. It’s no lie that you always find yourself spending time with him despite always claiming he’s just trying to find a way to tease you whenever he gets the opportunity to.

Perhaps that’s why you’ve been unknowingly smiling the whole day, something that Kaeya noticed very well.

By the time night comes, it is time for you to come home.

“I have to go now.” You said, packing your things up. “You’ll… be alright here alone, right?”

“Why? Are you worried?” Kaeya comments teasingly.

You chuckled in response. “In your dreams. I’ll come back tomorrow morning with breakfast.”

“Oh what would I do without the ever so caring ( Name )?”

“Crash and burn, maybe.” You then bid Kaeya goodbye before walking out from his room.

If only you knew it’s the world he’d crush and burn had it not been for you.

I could destroy the world for you.

It’s no lie among those in Inazuma that THOMA has a huge crush on you, an infamous novelist.

People could see how the way he looks at you is reserved for you. Whenever you’re in the same room or area as him, he can’t stop looking at you even if he doesn't want to. He’d sometimes suddenly just smiles when you come to his thoughts out of nowhere, feel like he’s on the verge to faint from even just talking to you—

Ah, he’s so helplessly in love!

Every week, he’d come to where you are and help you with whatever you need, be it shopping out with you, cleaning your place, taking care of your plants, accompanying you on your daily strolls around the city, and so on. It’s honestly one of the only ways he gets to spend time with you and hopefully get to know you more.

The thing is, you really thought he was just doing this because he’s a fan of your work and because of how he always helps people out, so you never considered that he’s doing this because he has a thing for you. He probably sees you as a weirdo for your exaggerated words.

A shame really, you have a thing for him.

It wasn’t until he confessed when you realized how wrong you were about him.

The two of you arrive at your home after having dinner together at Komore's Teahouse when Thoma suddenly confesses out loud.

“What?” You ask in disbelief, eyes widened in surprise.

Thoma shyly looks away from your gaze, laughing nervously. “I have… feelings for you, ( Name ). I want to be more than just friends, but if that’s not what you want then—”

“Why wouldn’t I want that?”

The blonde-haired man looks at you in surprise. “What?”

You start to grin, cheeks warming up. “I have feelings for you too, you silly man.”

Thoma’s eyes brighten. “Re-Really?”

You laugh at his reactions. “Yes. I love you just like one of my characters loves their love interest in the story, I could destroy the world for you!”

He laughs at your exaggeration. “Oh I wouldn’t want you to do that.”

“Take me out on another date next week, then maybe I won’t destroy the world.” You said teasingly.

He nods eagerly. “How does 15:00 on Wednesday sound? My treat of course!”

As SCARAMOUCHE’s lover, you are not exempted from his harsh demeanor.

Of course, his treatment towards you isn’t as harsh as how he treats others, and you really didn’t mind since his “harsh” words don't affect you. Besides, should there be a situation where he’d cross the line, he’d apologize through physical affection and a sweet quiet apology.

You really didn’t mind, because there are many things as to why you love your lover so much and many things for him to show you that he cares.

He just came back to your shared home when he noticed how you didn’t greet him, much to his confusion. He looked everywhere the house and found you by the bedroom, wiping your eyes as if there are te—

Are you crying?

“Why is this happening to me?” You asked quietly as you tried your best to wipe your tears away, your back facing him.

Scaramouche didn’t know what to do, wondering what on Earth is making you so sad. Is it because of something he said before he left? Is it because of your insecurities? Or… Is it because someone hurt you?

He doesn’t really know what’s wrong, humans are so complicated with their emotions and feelings.

But.. He wants to be here for you.

He slowly walks towards you hesitantly before giving you a hug from behind, causing you to gasp in surprise.

“Kunikuzushi? What…?”

“I’m here for you.” He said quietly, trying to not feel embarrassed. “I don’t know why you’re crying but if it’s because of something I said, I’m sorry. I… I didn’t know you got affected by it, I’ll try harder on not hurting your feelings anymore. But if it’s because of someone, you know I could destroy the world for you, rig—”

“What are you talking about?” You asked, turning around to face your lover. “I’m crying because I was yawning a lot.”

…

Oh.

Scaramouche feels like a part of his soul passed away when he heard your reason.

“…So you’re not sad?”

You furrow your eyebrows. “No…?”

He immediately turns away from your direction. “I’m gonna go out again.”

[bigskydreaming]

Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?

So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....

Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....

So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.

And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”

And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”

And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”

And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.

Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.

“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.

“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”

Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids. 

“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.

“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”

“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint? 

What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?

Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower. 

“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”

He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”

As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes. 

“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”

Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.

“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”

He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”

Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”

Signal just snorts.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”

“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”

“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”

“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”

Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”

“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”

“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”

“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”

“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”

The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.

“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”

Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”

“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”

“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer. 

“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”

“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”

“You did what?”

“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”

Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.

“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”

“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.

“Plus he bribes better.”

“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”

Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”

“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”

“Its called an homage, 4chan.”

“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."

Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.

“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”

Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”

Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.

“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”

“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”

Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”

“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”

“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.

Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”

“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”

“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.

“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”

“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”

Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest. 

“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”

“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”

Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”

“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”

Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.

“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.

She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”

“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.

“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.

“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”

She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”

“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.

Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.

Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.

“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”

Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”

“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.

“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.

“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”

Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”

“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”

“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.

Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.

Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:

“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”

[the-lone-witch-and-secret-room]

Camila Noceda and Flawed Parenting

A perspective by a flawed person with loving but extremely flawed parents

I’m genuinely baffled at some people’s hostile reaction towards Camila. Like… do any of you have flawless parents that always know the best solution instantly, make no mistakes and never get emotional?

My parents are great. They’re super supportive and I love them very, very much. Overall I think I got very lucky in the parents department.

But god, they are far from flawless. I still live at home, and despite all the good, there’s moments when I can’t take my dad anymore. He’s the kind of dad that stayed up until two am to help me with homework when I was in school, and he does so, so many things to make sure I’m happy. I know that. But despite all of this, I have told my mom in emotional moments before that I’m not sure if I can keep living with him, because for all his good sides, he has a couple of fatal flaws that sometimes make him unbearable.

My mom listens to me and is very open to being educated on certain topics, but she has her flaws, too. She hates when I fight with my dad, and gets so torn up about it that I’ve once apologized to my dad out of fear of her getting into a car crash otherwise. She’s very vocal about certain flaws of mine, and sometimes uses the things she does for me as leverage against me when she gets very emotional.

And both of my parents pay a lot more attention to my brother because he needs it more, because he’s more of a “problem child” while I “seem so capable” even when I’m not.

And guess what? I’m not a perfect child. I make mistakes sometimes, some of them pretty severe. Just like Luz, I’m the kind of person that struggles to communicate certain issues of mine to her parents. I’m stubborn, and when I get emotional, I say very hurtful things sometimes. So do they.

And this has nothing to do with my parents being horrible or abusive. They’re neither of those things.

The takeaway from this should not be that my entire family is made up of terrible people, but that we’re all flawed in our own ways, despite loving each other and trying our best. There’s things about my parents I wish I could change, and there are things about me that my parents wish they could change. And to an extent, that’s perfectly normal.

In our strengths and flaws and frustration with each other, we’re all human.

Specific, spoiler-y Camila and Luz things under the cut since this got very long.

We have no indication that Camila has a pattern of emotionally manipulating Luz. Her “emotional manipulation” as I’ve seen some people put it, is people for some reason thinking that the second you become an adult, you’re suddenly perfect and can no longer make mistakes, lest you’ll be dubbed horrible and abusive.

The whole concept is absurd to me. There is no perfect way to parent. There simply isn’t. Of course, there’s some genuinely abusive patterns that are horrible and inexcusable. But out of the parenting styles that aren’t, which one works depends on a number of factors, one of which absolutely includes that every child is different and has different needs. Camila is an amazing parent for Vee, giving the kid everything she’s ever longed for. She’s not an ideal parent for Luz. And that’s because Luz and Vee have fundamentally different needs.

Likewise, Luz is a pretty great child for Eda, but not a perfect fit for Camila. Luz relates to Eda a lot more than she relates to her mom, and that’s why the two of them have an easier time understanding each other. Both of these mother-child relationships exist, and one is not more doomed to fail than the other, but I think you’ll agree that the better you understand someone and where they’re coming from, the easier it is to communicate, pick up on certain signs, etc.

As mom and daughter, Camila and Luz are both flawed and have issues seeing the other’s perspective because of how different they are. And we should simultaneously acknowledge both of their roles in the issue and give both of them the space to learn and grow past those issues.

Luz struggles to communicate her problems. She doesn’t want to burden people in the demon realm, and it’s a given that this started out as not wanting to burden her mom. So she keeps quiet about her issues. Camila tries hard but can’t read her daughter’s mind, so there’s only so much she can do to understand and help the way Luz needs her to. Hell, Eda, who Luz is a lot more open with than her mom, struggles to help her, because Luz doesn’t tell her what’s wrong. I don’t see anyone calling Eda a terrible mom for that.

Camila tries her best, but she struggles to understand her daughter because of this, and because of how fundamentally different they are. She loves Luz’s creativity, we actively see her supporting it in the new episode—she keeps the weird stuff Luz made because she thinks Luz will regret throwing it away, and even plays along in what she assumes to be some elaborate role play because “she’s glad Luz kept her creativity even though it’s not made things easy for her at school”. But at the beginning of the show, said creativity got out of hand and people got hurt. Luz could’ve gotten hurt. So of course Camila had to interfere. I love Luz dearly, but she thought it was okay to bring snakes to school and set off fireworks inside a school building. Creativity is great. Doing reckless stuff that causes people to get hurt is not.

In sending Luz to camp, Camila tried to have someone else fix her issue because she didn’t know how to help Luz. That was a mistake, and a bad one at that, but she’s realizing that. She looks disheartened when Vee tries to throw out Luz’s stuff, because she never meant to change her daughter or take that part of her away. She just thought Luz needed a reality check—which, for the record, is something the narrative actually agrees with.

Luz spends her time in the demon realm getting reality check after reality check, realizing that even her ideal fantasy world where she has everything she always wanted doesn’t mean she’s free of consequences. She goes overboard constantly, causing:

-Eda to be forced to fly into a trap because Luz is chasing a fantasy (Witches before Wizards)

-Eda to almost be branded by her sister because Luz doesn’t think through why Eda doesn’t use magic to publicly announce her presence constantly (Once Upon a Swap)

-Eda and the twins to get kidnapped by a Slitherbeast because Luz stole Amity’s wand (Adventures in the Elements)

-Her friends to get hurt when she goes overboard trying to help Willow (Wing it like Witches)

-Eda to be captured and almost petrified because Luz thought she could just steal from the Emperor with no consequences in an attempt to help (Agony of a Witch)

I’m like 90% sure these aren’t even all. None of those make her a terrible person, for the record, but as all humans are, she is flawed and makes bad choices. She learns from these experiences and matures, just like her mom had hoped she would at camp. She’s also made friends there, which was another thing Camila wanted for her daughter.

You’ll probably realize that a lot of Luz’s behaviors I mentioned follow one of two patterns: 1. Luz’s idealized fantasy world causing problems, when she walks around with rose tinted glasses and gets people in trouble in the process because she hasn’t thought about the consequences, and 2. Luz trying to help someone she loves, but instead making things worse in the progress. The issue with this one is often that she doesn’t communicate her ideas/listen to the people she’s trying to help—like when Willow and Gus said they’ve had enough of Grudgby, or how she never actually talks to Eda about the healing hat idea before doing something reckless.

…does the latter one sound familiar to you at all? No? Because it’s the exact same thing that Camila did.

Some of the things Luz does are reckless and actively endanger others and herself, and that’s something that I think we need to acknowledge before judging Camila. As Luz’s mom, it’s Camila’s job to interfere in those situations. That she made a mistake while trying to protect Luz doesn’t make her a terrible person, especially as, again, the narrative proves her right to an extent.

I’m not saying her making Luz promise to come back and stay isn’t something that hurt Luz—it absolutely is. But it was born out of desperation. She’s emotional and in shock. She’s so full of pain and regret. She just wants her fourteen year old daughter home safe, and there’s nothing abusive or even morally ambiguous about that.

From Luz’s perspective, what she says is absolutely heartbreaking, but from Camila’s, it’s perfectly reasonable. I doubt Camila has the full picture, but even if she does, she’s had a full fifteen seconds to process that her daughter has not only been lying to her for months, but chose to leave her, and is in the demon realm of all places. Of course she’d be emotional and upset about that! Who wouldn’t? Camila isn’t a robot. If she’d been calm about this I’d be way more concerned, honestly.

My parents don’t get mad that easily, but if I would lie to them for weeks on end, they’d be pissed off too, not even taking the running away from home part into account. That’s a normal thing. People don’t like being lied to. Camila is absolutely devastated in that moment because she’s scared that Luz left because she hates her, when Luz actively states that her leaving wasn’t about her mom—which is another thing we should really be acknowledging.

Abusive parents suck and abuse should obviously never be apologized or trivialized, but saying something hurtful in the heat of the moment isn’t the same thing as being an abusive parent. My parents have done this. I’ve done this. And yes, those things can be emotionally manipulative, but there’s a huge difference in whether that’s a habit or a person speaking out of hurt and desperation in a very specific context. I doubt there’s anyone on the entire planet that hasn’t had a bad moment where they’ve said something like this because they were hurting. People lash out when they hurt, and they beg for reassurance when they’re scared. That’s something we all do.

The whole mindset of “all parents have to be perfect and can never get upset or make any mistakes” is harmful as hell, and honestly also very unrealistic. No parent is perfect, and especially people like me who have a relationship with their parents that’s very good overall should know that.

Once you have a child, parenting is a non-stop learning process, every day for the rest of your life. Taking away that room to grow and expecting perfection isn’t helping anyone, especially not struggling single parents.

And I see Camila as someone who is very willing to learn, because at the end of the day, all she wants is for Luz to be happy. Let’s give her some time to wrap her head around this whole situation. Let’s see what she says once she sees for herself how happy Luz is in that world, may it be via the videos eventually coming through or Camila visiting and meeting Luz’s found family, her friends and her girlfriend.

Ultimately, I don’t think Camila will force Luz to stay at home, but we have to give her some time. She wants what’s best for Luz, and she’s gonna need some convincing that a dangerous magical world is what’s best. I feel like that’s very normal considering the circumstances.

Her and Luz need to work on their communication on both ends, they both have things to learn, but I’m certain they’ll manage to fix their relationship in the long run.

If the bunk bed is any indication, I think Vee is gonna stay in the human realm permanently while Luz sleeps at home but keeps attending Hexside in the daytime. That feels like a solution that keeps everyone happy, and allows Luz to spend time with all the people she loves. I can’t see her being forced to choose at the end.

As a closing statement: Eda isn’t an ideal mom, Amity isn’t an ideal friend or girlfriend and neither is Luz, Lilith isn’t an ideal sister… but that’s because no one is ever an ideal anything. Being flawed is a big part of being human. Everyone has different facets to their personality. Their flaws are what makes them such great, relatable, believable characters.

And I feel the same way about Camila. She’s an extremely believable character that reminds me of my own parents, flawed but very loving nonetheless.

(Also honestly, I think it’s pretty telling that some of you guys immediately bash the black single mom that’s obviously trying her hardest while giving the benefit of the doubt to Alador, who has been portrayed as neglecting and threatened his six year old daughter on screen. This was already a thing before we knew much about either of them, and I’m disappointed but unfortunately not very surprised that it still is.)

[hotcrosscorgibuns]

I never post on this account myself, but i’m too lazy to deal with my alts. And these RiseOTMNT boys have a firm chokehold on my brainworms atm. Here’s an Oc/self insert/persona, whatever you wanna call it! As well as some additional Krang doodles, i’m slowly building a massive google doc of Krang lore/headcannons so please feel free to hit me up if you are interested in pink bubble gum eldritch horrors and how they expand their alien dictatorship! Enjoy some ramblings below the cut, im sorry its so long lmaooo:

Aven is an alien species of my own imagination, i suck at making creature names so for now I call them Vixens! Gen bits:

Vixens are extremely flexible/adaptable genetically! Over time they can shift and voluntarily change their molecular structure to assimilate with new environments/species! (While also maintaining access to their OG genetic make up)

They are a highly emotional/social species, essentially empaths. They can weaponize their/others emotions in order to defend themselves or manipulate their environments. 

Her home planet was invaded by the Krang long before the failed first Earth Invasion.

During the invasion she, along with a mass amount of others were captured to be assimilated into the Hive. Her assimilation attempt failed to bond her to the Hive and instead ended with a split bond to the Krang that initiated the parasitic implant (”C”/Ceasar)

Krang are a parasitic Hivemind based species, they are also extremely adaptable and use assimilated species to expand the Hive’s library of genetic advantages.

Older techniques of capturing/brainwashing specimens involved a direct implant of physical/genetic material from a Krang donor. 

While “C” was attempting to complete Aven’s implant the emotional feedback from her abilities/defense mechanisms caused an instinctual panic/flight response. The implant’s physical bond was completed but the link to the Hive was not.

Aven and “C” very quickly realized that attempting to remove the implant risked both their lives. Staying during the invasion was also a death sentence, the Hive would hold no mercy for a member with such a weakness. Both were forced to flee, “C” effectively becoming a defector.

They’ve been on the run, staying on random planets in random galaxies for years/centuries. Neither know that the Krang/Hive was eventually captured in the prison dimension, they eventually end up on earth much much later. They just think they’ve been lucky to escape this long.

In cannon show/move/timeline plot Aven + “C” have been living on earth for only 10yrs (their present day being the year that Casey is sent back in time to). As soon as any sign of Krang invasion shows up on the news or otherwise both of them are evacuating NYC as quickly as possible, cant risk getting found.

They dont meet the turtles/any main characters until months after the Krang are defeated and they feel like it’s safe enough to actually return to their lil apartment in the city. It’s a dramatic, accidental meeting, and it takes a long long time to convince anyone that they arent affiliated with the dictarotship and just wanted to get mcdonalds. 

[illuminatedquill]

Extracurricular, An Analysis

Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri

“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as it’s accomplice.”  - Tom Robbins 

You know the story. You’ve heard it before, right? 

Boy meets girl. 

Girl finds out that boy is running a side protection business for prostitutes. 

Girl decides to blackmail boy into letting her join his business. 

Classic high school criminal shenanigans ensue leading them into more dangerous situations where they are forced to make desperate decisions to stay alive. 

Oh, and they fall in love along the way. 

Oh? You haven’t heard this one before? Then let me introduce you to this delightful kdrama called Extracurricular. 

I watched this one while waiting for the newest Hometown Cha Cha Cha episodes to drop and ended up binging the whole series in two days. There are many remarkable parts of this series: it’s a crime drama, first and foremost, that showcases high school teenagers caught in a cycle of violence and crime, abandoned by the society and adults that are supposed to be protecting them. There are no clear good guys and bad guys in this drama; everyone is cast in shades of grey. Our main leads, Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri, run the prostitution business, and are both from broken family backgrounds. Their actions are morally questionable at best, but the top tier performances from Kim Dong Hee (you might remember him from Itaewon Class) and Park Ju Hyun make you cheer for them anyway. You want them to have a happy ending, despite the horrible things they do. The audience is always reminded that despite how clever they are in staying ahead, their actions have consequences, and they’re just high school kids. The drama never pulls it punches. 

But, weirdly enough, it’s also a love story. And that’s the part the really sticks with me until now. (The chemistry between the main leads is absolute dynamite and I could watch ten episodes of them just verbally sparring with each other. They don’t even kiss. They’re that fantastic when together on screen.)

I’m writing this because this is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite kdramas and I have a lot of feelings about our main pairing, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri. I can’t call them a couple (wait, didn’t I just say they fall in love) because their relationship can’t be labelled simply as that. Think of it as something similar to the main leads in My Ahjussi. Two people who should have become soulmates, yet met at the wrong time. 

This kdrama is not particularly happy, and while I do encourage people to watch this, I am warning that the subject matter is extremely dark. If you’re sensitive to scenes depicting sexual assault, graphic violence, or anything in that zip code you’ll want to steer clear. 

Also, I’ll be diving into spoiler territory in this analysis. So if you want to go in clean, then stop reading here. 

Still here? Awesome. Let’s dive deep into the messy, amazing pairing that is Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri. First, let’s do a brief character background on our two main leads, starting with Ji-soo. 

Oh Ji-soo is one half of our main pairing and this story starts with him. He lives by himself and has been essentially abandoned by his only parents; his father is a failed businessman who gambles whatever money he acquires on scams and his mother ran away. His apartment is small, sparse, but functional. He owns only a few outfits aside from his school uniform. The only unique item he owns is a pet hermit crab that he takes care of. His life outside of school is non-existent; he has no friends, no one to hang out with and do typical high school teenager activities with. He takes care of himself and lives only for himself and his “dream”: to graduate, attend college, get married, and have kids like a normal person. 

But to do that, he needs a large amount of money. He has no other financial means to do so (his father is largely absent, as is his mother), so he decides, at some point, to start up this protection business for prostitutes. The drama doesn’t go into detail about the how and why he came to this conclusion that this was the best way to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, so you’ll have to suspend your disbelief from the get go. Considering the themes of the story (how youths abandoned by society tend to act out in extreme ways to make it in this world), it’s not hard to believe his desperation would drive him to make such a decision. 

Ji-soo, despite his shady business, is actually a decent person. There’s a streak of humanity that exists inside him that refuses to go out, despite the increasingly dark and bleak events that start to overtake his life. He’s attached to his hermit crab, cares for his “employees” outside of them being tools to make him money, and doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. He goes above and beyond what’s required to help out people at the risk of his own life (in particular, Gyu-ri, and we’ll get into that shortly). 

What we learn from the first few episodes is that Oh Ji-soo is extremely smart and methodical in how he approaches his life. At school, he is known as a model student - quiet, top of the class in terms of grades, doesn’t draw any attention to himself, always follows along with what the teachers ask of him. Only his homeroom teacher, Mr. Cho, seems to consider his quiet style of existence to be concerning and tries to make him less socially awkward by pairing him up with another student in a new extracurricular club. This leads to the introduction of Bae Gyu-ri, Ji-soo’s longtime crush and future partner-in-crime. 

Meet Bae Gyu-ri, the other half of our dynamic duo. Her introduction into the story kickstarts the entire plot, as one of her earliest actions leads to a domino effect that spells increasing doom and tragedy for our main leads. She messes with Ji-soo’s operation at a critical moment and she spends the rest of the drama doing her best to make up for the consequences that follow. 

In my personal opinion, she is probably the best main female lead I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. Hands down, no other character exists (currently) that rivals her sheer cunning, wit, and badassery. Gyu-ri is Crazy, capital C, and is the chaos to Ji-soo’s control; the fire to his ice. Despite being the direct cause of half the events that happen to Ji-soo in the drama, he can’t help but need her because of what she offers. They make an incredible team. Her competitiveness, her need to win no matter the odds, helps them survive time and time again. 

Gyu-ri is from the opposite end of the spectrum of Ji-soo; he’s dirt poor and she’s insanely rich (always nice to see a reversal of typical kdrama tropes). Her mother and father run a successful entertainment company. Gyu-ri is popular at school, friends with seemingly everybody, pretty, cheerful and gets along well with her teachers. Ji-soo, and the audience, believe from the beginning that she has the perfect life. It’s not hard to believe that she’s just involving herself in Ji-soo’s business because she’s bored and needs an outlet, at first. 

We soon learn otherwise. Gyu-ri has more in common with Ji-soo than he initially realizes, in that they’re both trapped in circumstances beyond their control - it’s just that Gyu-ri’s cage is gilded, whereas his is not. Her parents are strict and have her life planned out for her, all without her consent or input, leaving her feeling frustrated and powerless despite her rich lifestyle. A suicide attempt hasn’t done much to change her parents attitude towards her, only serving to further their control over her life. 

So, when she learns of Ji-soo’s operation she immediately seeks to angle her way into it. First, she tries to rip him off, believing that he’s an evil “pimp” and thus deserves it. But after spending some time with him, she changes her mind last second and decides to help him out instead. 

And, now, let’s get into their relationship, which is one of the best (if not the best) aspect in the entire series. 

I need to be upfront about something: the relationship between Ji-soo and Gyu-ri is not exactly healthy. I wouldn’t describe it as toxic - the circumstances surrounding them aren’t exactly the best environment to encourage open and honest communication - but it’s definitely not what should be considered ideal, especially for young adults, and especially for young adults who are dabbling in crime instead of studying. 

So, why do I love them so much? If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I loathe toxic relationships in kdramas, so I understand if you think I’m coming off as hypocritical here. Why do I like Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri when I didn’t like, for example from recent history, (oh boy, here I go again on my Nevertheless BS) Park Jae-eon and Yu Na-bi?

First, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are way cooler than Jae-eon and Na-bi ever could be. They run a criminal enterprise that involves having a high amount of intelligence, cunning, and daring to do so. Do Jae-eon and Na-bi run a criminal enterprise as a side business? No, they don’t, because they’re boring art students. 

Secondly, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri actually progress in their relationship and change their views as they learn from each other. Now, granted, that progress isn’t towards becoming better versions of each other - quite the opposite. But at least they have progress. Jae-eon and Na-bi stayed in the same stupid cycle for the whole series and then decided that it was better staying that way as opposed to trying for something else. 

Last, but certainly not least, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are actually interesting to watch for me. The chemistry between Park Ju Hyun and Kim Dong Hee is explosive and they way they spar, exchange looks, and just generally exist around each other on screen is something I can watch forever. I’ve said this before but Han So Hee and Song Kang’s on screen chemistry, outside of their intimate scenes, really didn’t impress me. 

Okay, back to Extracurricular. This relationship, man. It’s all I can think about (other than HomeCha’s Du-sik and Hye-jin, but that’s another post). Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are so good together. 

I’ve noted before that Ji-soo is methodical in how he approaches his life; he plans out everything ahead, and rigs any situation as much as he can in his favor. It’s brilliant, but when a crisis happens, he doesn’t know how to deal with it effectively. He panics and flounders; becomes indecisive at a time when clear, decisive action is required. 

Enter Gyu-ri. She quickly becomes the partner he never knew he needed. When there’s a situation, she becomes invaluable in her quick thinking and wit, coming up with solutions on the fly. It’s not perfect, but it keeps them just one small step ahead of whatever is coming their way. 

The only thing preventing them from becoming unstoppable is the lack of communication and trust they have with each other. A lot of that has to do with how Gyu-ri entered Ji-soo’s business - she blackmailed him first, and, when that failed, she strong armed her way into getting him to accept her help. It’s implied in the drama that Ji-soo has had a crush on Gyu-ri for a while (since ninth grade, I believe) and in the first episode he actually gets the chance to spend time with her outside of school on a sort of quasi-date. 

It goes sideways pretty quickly because of some shenanigans from his business, but not before she gets to know him and says some pretty touching words regarding his situation. Poor guy is head over heels - even after finding out that she’s the one blackmailing him, his feelings are only dampened, not extinguished. When he catches a glimpse of her family’s situation, he gains a deeper understanding of her and why she acts the way she does. Even more importantly, Ji-soo treats her the same after finding out this information which, to someone like Gyu-ri, means more than if he comforted her about it. 

If you want to see a physical representation of how he feels, other than paying attention to his actions, you can see it in him keeping mementos from Gyu-ri. She has an interesting habit of folding bags into origami shapes and giving it to him. Even after the blackmail reveal, you can see that he continues to keep these in a container on his desk. It’s really cute that he keeps these, when it probably doesn’t even matter that much to Gyu-ri. 

Towards the end of the drama, Ji-soo prepares to turn himself in to prevent Gyu-ri from being implicated in the crimes they committed. And it costs him almost everything to protect her. Ji-soo, the quiet, nerdy kid, puts himself on the line time and time again to protect Gyu-ri, knowing that it puts his life and his dream at risk to do so. And all for what? For some girl that he thinks doesn’t even like him in return? 

Well, let’s talk about that. Because I’ve seen some comments that Gyu-ri was only using Ji-soo for her own selfish gain. And I can agree that was how it was at the beginning for her; she definitely was only interested in acquiring money, like Ji-soo was, in order to achieve her own goal of being free from her parents. 

But, oh man, that is not what is motivating her at the end. 

It’s actually pointed out relatively early by some of her friends that it’s obvious that she likes Ji-soo more than he likes her. Understandably Ji-soo is keeping her at arms length from him given the whole recent blackmailing, so it would make sense that it looks that way. 

Further questioning reveals what she likes the most about him: 

“It’s not like I’m crazy about him. He’s fun. And amusing. He’s smart. And there’s a certain charm he has. He also has a wolfish side to him. But he thinks he’s a puppy.” 

- Bae Gyu-ri

But, as she gets to know Ji-soo better, you can certainly see that she starts to fall hard for him. As a cover story for why they hang out so much together during and after school, Gyu-ri states to everyone that they’re dating. The reactions across the school definitely imply that this is a shocking development, which means that Gyu-ri hasn’t dated anyone before. So why Ji-soo other than the reasons she herself states? 

He challenges her, just as she challenges him. Gyu-ri may be the more dynamic, quick thinking of the pair but Ji-soo is every inch her intellectual equal - just in different ways. She doesn’t seem to be the type to be easily impressed, but you can tell that she’s definitely impressed by Ji-soo’s operation and how thoroughly set up it is. When Ji-soo is frustrated at the beginning by his setbacks, he blows up at another student (knocks him out in a crazy punch) and immediately walks over to Gyu-ri afterwards (who saw the whole thing) to inform her that she is now his partner in crime. 

The look in her eyes, and the small smirk she has speaks volumes about her attraction to him in that scene. Smoldering. 

And, oh yes, she’s prone to jealousy. Another classmate, Min-hee, gives Ji-soo a present out of the blue (it was supposed to be for her boyfriend, Ki-tae, but that’s another sub-plot) - all within view of Gyu-ri. It’s hilarious how she tries to brush it off. Later, for plot reasons, Ji-soo has to spend more time with Min-hee which only furthers Gyu-ri’s annoyance. 

And her motivations stop being entirely about the money and more towards helping preserve the dream that she and Ji-soo share about being free. There’s a scene in episode 8 where it’s revealed that, due to a business partnership with a local gang (set up by none other than Gyu-ri herself in a desperate move), Ji-soo would have to drop out of school permanently to work on their behalf. Gyu-ri overhears this and, despite badly needing the gang’s help in sustaining their own business, immediately terminates the partnership. 

All because it would interfere with Ji-soo’s dream. 

Man, if that isn’t love. 

In the following episode, Gyu-ri, and later on Ji-soo, is kidnapped by the same gang in retaliation for terminating their partnership. Ji-soo comes to her rescue but Gyu-ri is already almost free (again, she’s really, really badass) and is demanding that they bring Ji-soo to her instead of running for her life. 

Surviving this latest attempt puts the two in a reflective, vulnerable mood and Gyu-ri asks Ji-soo why he keeps saving her. Ji-soo asks later on why she keeps risking her life to be with him. They don’t say the answer in words but in an almost kiss (yeah, you read that right - almost). 

And then, if you aren’t already convinced, Ji-soo crosses his one last remaining line in an effort to keep Gyu-ri safe; he accidentally pushes a fellow classmate down some steps and, instead of helping her, leaves her to die after grabbing the evidence she has on him and Gyu-ri. 

Extracurricular pulls off quite the magic trick here, hiding this well done love story in the middle of a serious crime drama. 

The real tragedy is that Ji-soo thinks that Gyu-ri views this whole business, and by extension his life, as one big game. It’s something that she takes offense at, visibly becoming upset when he says that. 

But even if that were true, he should be assured since Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. 

As they hurtle towards the end and face up to the consequences of their actions, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri undoubtedly lose sight of their original goals and dreams. They do some fairly horrible things to stay alive and ahead of the police who are close on their trail. You can’t really blame them for doing what they did; in the face of a society that has abandoned them, what they’re doing is a logical outcome to gain what they want so desperately and deserve so much: the chance to be free to live like normal, care-free people. 

I can’t say for certain that they achieve that. The drama is serious in consequences and, at the end, the net around them is drawing tighter and tighter. I won’t spoil the ending scene for you, because I highly encourage you watch this drama yourself but I will say this: Ji-soo and Gyu-ri seem stuck in an impossible situation with nowhere to go, and no one to help them, with a clock ticking down towards either death or discovery by the police. 

But, all the same, I’m always the optimist. They’ve gotten through situations like this before and they can certainly do so again. Maybe not as bad as this one, but not too far out of their league. And, like I mentioned before, Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. Especially when it comes to Ji-soo. 

Their relationship is truly dangerous, as Ji-soo himself notes. Them being together is the source of their problems; they’re too much alike now, as opposed to the beginning of the drama where he stated that they’re too different. Their love is the kind of love where both of them are willing to burn the whole world down if it means keeping each other safe. 

I’m a real sucker for those kind of love stories. No one’s a hero here. They’re just kids in high school, doing the best with what they know. 

Who are we to judge what is right and wrong? Especially when the one committing the acts are high school kids who don’t know any better and just want to save each other? 

Do we have that right? 

Do they really deserve that punishment? Shouldn’t we be pointing fingers at the society that forced them to act this way? 

Extracurricular really makes you think about that. Is it really so outlandish and terrible what Ji-soo and Gyu-ri do to survive when the adults who are supposed to be protecting them, teaching them better, have failed in their duty? 

Maybe they really did win at the end. Not so much in succeeding in their goals but in gaining something that not even regular people are likely to find - a partner, a soulmate, someone who will stand by you no matter what. 

If you do watch the ending, and are not an optimist like I am, then all I can say is this: whatever happened, they were together at the end. 

They were together. 

[elsmina]

Show Me

Ellie Williams x F!Reader

Things become heated between Y/N and Ellie, faster than expected.

Warnings: Smut (oops)

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•

•

I recalled of the previous night. Ellie and I were both drunk, and things moved at a fast rate. What it resulted in was a heated make-out session between the two of us, who previously promised we were just friends. But my feelings, and the events of the day before, said otherwise.

Now, we spent time in the garage she called home, talking about everything and anything, but what happened yesterday.

"I got some snacks, you want some?" asked Ellie, who moved off the bed and towards the other side of the room. "What do you mean by snacks?" I said knowing all too well that Ellie was going to pull out the same stale beef jerky she’s been finding in Jackson and eating for the past 4 years.

"You know...beef jerky, and, more beef jerky." She admitted, chuckling. "Oh yeah, I’m good." I snickered, adjusting my position on the bed.

She came back and slumped herself next to me, her back against the headboard and a pack of beef jerky in her hands. I suddenly felt the need to bring up the topic of yesterday, wanting confrontation, "Ellie, are we ever going to talk about what happened?"

I looked over at her. I could see so many different words plastered across her face, but I couldn’t read a single one. "Of course, yeah,” she nervously began to say, placing the pack of jerky on the side table, "I know we were drunk, but I don’t know, it’s not like I haven’t thought of doing that in a sober state."

What she said took me aback, and my eyes shifted around the room, trying to process it. "Thought of what?"

"You know, being with you. Not just as friends."

"Say something." She desperately added after the silence became unbearable.

"Ellie, you don’t know how often I think of that. You can’t even begin to imagine what I think about." I fiddled with my fingers, avoiding eye contact once I’d realized the gravity of my words and how vulnerable I had left myself.

"Look at me." I sharply turned, meeting her gaze that wasn’t as soft as before.

"Show me what you think about."

It was a stern demand, and it took a few moments of processing before I could understand exactly what she meant.

"Fuck, I’m gonna regret this."

And with that, I cupped her face and pressed our lips together. She moved achingly closer. I decided to shift my weight onto her, straddling her with my thighs as I sat firmly on her lap. She placed her hands on my lower back, rubbing up and down. I kissed her and began to slowly buck my hips against hers, knowing what that would cause in response.

As I expected, she slightly gasped within the kiss. Her smooth, yet firm hands moved from my lower back, and over to my thighs. Her hands were both placed on my thighs, and she began to slightly squeeze. My arms rested on her shoulders as I kept my steady hip movement.

The kiss got sloppier, strands of her auburn hair that were tightly packed into her little bun, now made their way onto the front of her face. I took a hand to her face, pushing them out of the way and placing my hand on her cheek.

We were both getting needier, and she brought her strong hands to my waist and turned me over so that I was flat on the bed and she was hovering over me. My body jolted against the bed. "Y/N, are you sure you’re okay with this?" she asked, stopping any motion and just resting above me. "Fuck yeah.” She connected her lips to my neck, and soon I was losing my composure.

This was really happening.

My lips were ajar, and moans began to uncontrollably escape. I could almost feel her smirk against my neck. All this did was drive me crazier. I pushed her slightly back, her lips off my skin. I brought my hands to the rim of her shirt, desperately trying to get it over her head. Ellie chuckled at my failed attempt at getting her shirt off.

"Fucking help me." I sternly said with desperation laced in my voice. She lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor. Her hairband found its way off along with her shirt, letting her hair fall around her face and slightly graze my cheeks. I pushed at her chest again, so that she was now far enough that I could get a good look at her toned body in utter admiration.

"Ellie," I began, bringing my hand to her supple abdomen, so tempted to just slide my hand under the band of her sports bra. "What?" She retorted, looking me straight in the eyes with what seemed to be pure lust disguised as cluelessness. "You’re so fucking hot."

The words that made their way out of my mouth didn’t even seem to be mine anymore. She pushed me back, and whispered enticingly into my ear, "Nowhere as near as you, Y/N."

I was completely pushed off the edge. Her words rang in my head over and over again, almost making me unaware of her hand that concurrently made its way to the rim of my shirt, moving agonizingly slow.

Pulling my shirt over, she was fast to also unclip my bra. "May I?" she softly asked, looking for the last bit of reassurance before exploring every inch of my body, unclothed.

I nodded, watching as her eyes lowered to my chest and her hands pulled down the two grey straps on my shoulder. And with one action, I was exposed to her, and self-doubt washed over me. Whether or not she had realized, she answered with the right words: "You’re so beautiful Y/N."

A smile crept onto my lips, but that smile was quickly replaced with a whimper when her slightly cold fingers brushed over my bare chest, moving in circles over my breasts. "Shit, Ellie," "I need you." a lustful confession that seemed to be enough to drive the girl hovering above even further into a spiral of sexual longing.

She brought her lips back to mine, and my hands uncontrollably moved all over her, tugging a handful of times at the sports bra that hugged her chest firmly. She seemed to have finally got the message when she lifted her bra over her head and came back to kissing me. My hands became more uncontrollable, moving over to her chest and acting out the same motions she had on mine.

She moaned into the kiss, and I took that as a sign to continue. 10 seconds into that act of eliciting, she held at my hands with a lot of pressure, moving them away from her chest and pinning them above my head. She had reclaimed dominance, and boy, was I ready to let her have me however she wanted to.

She now had one hand holding my hands above me, one on my chest with a bit more force than before. Her soft lips placed little kisses from my lips, to my neck. Both hands now lowered to my waist and her lips continued to trail down, till her mouth reached the same breast she was fondling with.

I gasped, feeling almost lightheaded due to the intimacy of the moment. Soon, her lips continued down, kissing gently on my stomach till she finally reached the waist band of my jeans. She unzipped them and began to pull them down by the belt loops. Her eyes met mine, and I dissolved, the feeling of wetness between my legs only increasing.

Soon, my jeans were thrown onto the ground, and she started unbuckling her belt, followed by her jeans. All that separated her from where I most needed her was a thin layer of fabric.

"Y/N, tell me what you want." this demand made my ears ring and my mind said everything I wanted her to do to me in the split of a second, but I was only able to vocalize one word, "You."

Without warning, she used her strong arms to push my legs further apart, and began to kiss my inner thighs. Calm moans fell from my mouth, and my hand found its way to her, slighting stroking her soft hair. Her fingers grabbed at the band of my underwear, pulling them down, and off, to meet the pile of clothes on the floor.

"Please." A whine that exposed my desperation and vulnerability, one she used to fuel herself in the moment. She brought her face back between my legs, looking straight up at me this time.

"Please what?" retorted Ellie devilishly, a tone too commanding to not have me in shambles. Her hot breath against my heat only made the weakness in my bones worse.

"Please, Ellie. Touch me."

Within that same very second, her lips attached to my heat, gathering the wetness that had accumulated and pressing gently against the bud of nerves. My back immediately arched off the bed, moans filling the room fast. "Oh, fuck..." My hand came back to her hair, but with a lot more force, not even realizing that I had pushed her closer to me.

She drew circles with her tongue around my aching bud. I sucked in a harsh breath, dying to feel that release at the hands of the girl between my legs. After a few long seconds of steady tongue movement against my clit, Ellie brought a finger to my entrance.

My teeth clenched to hold back full-throated moans as her finger slid in. Her tongue continued to move at the same pace. She maintained the perfect in-and-out motion with her finger. "Ellie, more" I desperately moaned. She added her middle finger to accompany her index finger in the task of making me come undone. She let her fingers sink in deeper, and come out at in a sharper movement.

"Shit." I could feel my legs become weaker, shaking more and more with every stroke. She moved her fingers faster, reaching deeper as I could feel myself get closer to that release I longed for.

Throwing my head back, my back arched as her fingers and tongue continued to do all sorts of things to me. All sorts of feelings I had only dreamt of feeling in the hands of Ellie.

“I’m so close…” Ellie hit the right spot in me and like that, my orgasm hit me at once. She moved her body up and connected our lips while her fingers continued to move in me at a slower pace through my orgasm. The kiss was sloppy as I moaned within it, and my body continued to jerk.

About a minute after what felt like pure bliss, she brought her fingers out and I was able to regain composure. Ellie laid next to me, her bare body facing mine as she watched me heave a sigh of satisfaction.

"Was that as good as you’d hoped?" She spoke softly. "Even better." I looked over at her, bringing my body closer to hers.

She held me in her arms and I rested my head on her chest; her heartbeat was also going at a much faster pace. "You’re next, miss." I added, feeling tiredness wash over me. "Mhm, deal. But only if you rest first." She tiredly said, placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Mhm."

My eyes began to shut, satisfaction still rushing throughout my body as Ellie held me close. So very close. Closer than I’d ever imagined.

•

•

•

(credits to gif owner)

[crystalsenergy]

positions to touch the Shadow: the journey to your Self - # 1 (contacting our fragilities, fears, pain and so on)

pics not mine

Shadow: what is it? - The Shadow is an archetype by Carl Jung about what would be potential traumas / problems / characteristics of ourselves that we decided to hide from others and/or us. these Shadows, although they seem useless to people - because they are completely important for true self-knowledge. people hide this in an attempt to live without them, thinking they will succeed.

advice: it's important that you respect your pace, so as not to suffer the consequences of such abrupt contact with your "internal enemies". i have some experience with people who were completely unaware of their problems that, for me, were clearly appearing in their behavior in an unnoticed and irrational way, and when these people touched their Shadows, they went through moments of shock and a slight crisis for ask themselves about different points in their life. it's like opening the chest of that room hidden from your mind and finding significant points that influence your personality and, consequently, ending up also in contact with the memories of what may have originated all of this in the life experience of these people. it's delicate, so we need to respect our own time. on the other hand, i have also dealt with people who, when in contact with their Shadows, didn't feel so much sudden suffering and confusion, but an even greater hunger for knowing themselves. if you already know yourself and know that you don’t have to go so calmly, go for it. otherwise: respect your time, but don't miss the opportunity, don't waste time. the sooner we start looking for the completeness of our personality, the better it gets.

▪ PLANETS ▪

- Saturn: Saturn is present in our daily lives, in the sense that it appears within us (since the positions and aspects with Saturn influence our personality) in different situations, showing us where we lack maturity, where we need to evolve. Saturn is that internal voice (which can be increased or decreased depending on our life experiences) that tells us where we aren't good, that makes us be more rigid with ourselves. the positions of Saturn refer to the most practical thing and that turn out to be much more conscious than the other planets and asteroids. however, even so, i have seen cases of people who evidently have low self-esteem, which is explained by a position and an aspect with Saturn (Sun square Saturn + Saturn in Aries) but who admit none of this to themselves, however, a person who is outside and observes them, notes several irrational and defensive behaviors when they listen to phrases, for example, that touch their internal wounds, activating the feeling of 'not being good enough at anything'. this prevents us from evolving in the sense that the less we give light to it, the less we know each other and the more we make decisions and attitudes based on irrationality and lack of awareness of our fears and weakness.

- Pluto: our unconscious pains, the problems that we are not able to touch so easily, but that deeply affect our personality. once we touch on our Pluto issues that we try so hard to hide, we may be able to find a healthier way of dealing with almost unconscious patterns. here we have the most rotten, bad and negative feelings and sensations, the experiences that we want to forget, but that influence our personality so much. Plutonian matters (sign and house, but especially the house) speak a lot about how we project ourselves around the world. if we have the ability to analyze ourselves in a more psychological and internal way, trying to establish contact with our personal unconscious, we can transform such problems and negative feelings that we carry within us. but the first step involves letting go of the habit of hiding these problems even from yourself. Pluto wants you to let your power emerge to be reborn in the face of pain and hard phases. we all have a subject for which we will undergo transformations - be it in the way we accept that subject in our life, how we see that area in life and the way we treat others or how we treat ourselves. it's necessary to know how to overcome all the fear you have of such a subject present in the house in its positioning (example: Pluto in 7th house - excessive fear of being betrayed or left out of a relationship, going through troubled and unbalanced relationships. you need to learn through all these bad experiences).

▪ OBSERVATIONS ▪

- if you have intercepted houses, signs and planets: this means an empty area in your life, something that was not given to you or that you didn't know how to develop.

- aspects between shadow planets, asteroids cited, either among themselves (example: Saturn square Chiron, Lilith conj Pluto), or with personal planets (example: Nessus conj Venus) must also be taken into account when studying your Shadow side.

▪ ADVICE ▪

- make a mini summary of everything you have from each shadow placement and organize it all in a list, studying a point one by one.

examples:

"saturn in my natal chart 🌌✨

- saturn in aries [low self-esteem, power issues] - saturn in 8th house [rejection of my sexuality] - saturn square sun [another possibility of low self-esteem, feeling thati should not have fun, relax, have an internal father who in the end is me. me = my internal strict father.] - saturn opposite neptune [difficulty with my psychological, with living my restrictive issues and obstacles in my life in a more creative way, embracing myself. difficulty with being complacent with myself] - saturn square chiron [a feeling that I deserve to go through what I am going through, a desire to further hide my weaknesses and show myself to the world in a more controlled and inhibited way with regard to my internal problems and pains"

"black moon lilith (true lilith, the most known) in my natal chart 🐍✨

- lilith in libra [obsession or denial of being in relationships, extreme experiences in relationships, power to transmute the way i see and deal with world and others] - lilith in 3rd house [feeling unable to know things and feeling smart, running away from conversations and socializing, having an immense power to persuade people through words, having to deal with the feeling of not being heard] - lilith square north node [feeling of having to go against my purpose in life, the possibility of self-sabotage in order to fail to fulfill what i was given as a task for this life, i may have difficulty embracing my most intense and dense sides of my personality . and at the same time i can have an immense power and energy to evolve using this intense energy in a positive way]"

▪ FICTIONAL POINT ▪

- Black Moon Lilith (h13 'True Lilith'): deep power to transmute the energies of pain of Dark Lilith and humiliation of asteroid Lilith. Black Moon Lilith represents the obsession, the escape, what we really do with all our unconscious energy and potentials. where you can experience the ambivalence of extreme desire and extreme denial / rejection. where you can pass through a deep transformation / meatamorphose.

▪ ASTEROIDS ▪

- Lilith (1181): where you are confrontational, impulsive, where you seek exile and rebellion because of feeling suppressed, humiliated or incapable. where there is refusal, emotional and psychic frustrations. where you feel untrustworthy, shameful. how is the core of your wound and how it was experienced by yourself. the projections in collective expectations and where you refuse to agree to them. where you experience pain, passion, redemption. the core of these issues.

- Dark Lilith (h58 'Waldemath Black Moon'): the most hurt and intense side of Lilith. psyche instincts. it's when you feel pain because of the suppression that you experienced and where you have an extremely pain to deal, what can lead you to seek revenge or simply act in defensive / aggressive ways. represents your reaction to your original pains (1181 Lilith). it is an intense energy and if it isn'tr used correctly, it can lead you to self-destruction or it can even lead you to insert this energy from your frustrations and negations into your human experiences. if we get lost in the middle of our pain, we can become selfish and project our negative experiences and emotions on the community or on other people.

- Chiron: where there is more pain within you, the situations in which you are most vulnerable and that you seem to be unable to cope with at all. represents cycles of pain in your life. it can also represent things that you feel you were "born" to have to deal with. it also represents subjects in which you sin when it comes to healing but you are / can be extremely good at healing others.

- Nessus: where you can experience some type of abuse, toxicity or abusive experience. acts of violence and situations of this kind.

- Proserpina (26): where you can have to work to leave the fantasy aside, where you may not have maturity. it represents a cycle of killing and grieving the child's fragile ego, and then becoming more mature. is the loss of innocence, revival and reconstruction.

- Achilles (588): your deep weakness, deep wounding, ‘achilles heel’.

- Echo (60): where you don't believe in yourself, where you may lack self-esteem and may be little original, where you may have to deal with narcissistic people. where you are prone to being manipulated and losing your individuality to others.

- Atropos (273): where you can experience endings or transformations, loss or death that can impact you deeply.

- Narcissus (37117): where you can be indifferent, selfish, what needs to be improved; or where you may have to experience situations of manipulation, being with people in general or with someone really narcissistic, or it can mean in which subject you will have to deal with extreme disinterest, lack of empathy, or abuse on the part of people, which can cause you deep pain.

- Karma (3811): karmic issues, which seems like you have to deal with this life in a repetitive and tiring way. which can bring you a feeling of helplessness, circumstances of pain and difficulties.

- Dionysus (3671): where you can have a double nature. where you can have addictions, and a tendency to get easily intoxicated.

- Grieve (4451): one more tip about possibilities for grief, sorrow.

[how-masterful]

To Have Your Cake (And Eat It Too)

Dhawan!master x Reader

Summary: The Master has gotten himself tied up. On your birthday of all days. Stuck in a straightjacket and with no idea how long its going to last, you decide to treat your Time lord with a share of your sweet and sinful birthday desires

Notes: for the second year in a row, this is the official how masterful birthday fic™ for her absolutely beloved @plethora-of-imagines . happy birthday, my love! I hope through all the chaos of losing the first draft, flaky internet connections, and a crippling desire for this fic to work out, you hopefully enjoy your birthday gift! 🥳❤💫

this fic was partly inspired by this piece of artwork by @/thoscheii

The Master tugged angrily on his arms, for the fifth time that minute. He grit his teeth together, yanking his shoulders downwards. 

It was a fruitless effort. 

The straight jacket still refused to budge.

“I’ve tried everything, Master. You really are stuck in there until those time locks fall off.”

He tugged once more, before sighing and sinking back into his chair.

“Great. Absolutely magnificent.”

It was a stupid idea. You’d told him as such. The planet of the bachelors, solo men that thrived on their isolation from women. Females within the species simply didn't exist. The Master had seemingly decided the best idea in the universe, something he’d say about every new plan, would be to try and blend in in order to steal some exciting world destroying weapons (and obviously refuse to tell you about the details). It would be an absolute piece of cake, he’d decreed as soon as he’d planned it- sneak in, steal the plans, sneak out. It would only take fifteen minutes or so. That was 7 hours ago.

However, in his pride and… underestimation of the species’ intelligence, he’d made a single, glaring oversight.

He hadn't taken the bloody wedding ring off of his finger.

“Have you really tried everything?”

You turned from your position leant against the console, sending him an offended expression. The Tardis hummed and whirred in your defence.

“Yes! Every single idea you gave me!”

“Are you sure?”

You widened your eyes in an expression that hopefully conveyed to him it wouldn't be wise to ask again. The Tardis beeped rapidly, hoping to dissolve the tension. Still leaning against the console you folded your arms, looking down at your husband. 

“Yes, Master. I promise. I really think you’re just gonna have to wait this one out.”

The Master let out a loud and rather obnoxious groan. He let his head fall back, scrunching up his face in a look of pure annoyance. But even that expression of disappointment, and most likely rage, couldn't be fully executed. The thick red collar that sat around his neck propped up his head like a neck brace.

To his credit, taking off his ring wasn't something he had to do often. Since the day he’d put it on for the first time it never seemingly came off. That was part of his overt sentimentality that you secretly adored. Plus, it hadn’t caused any problems for the pair of you. The ring, a golden band engraved with endless circular Gallifreyan, sat snugly on his finger and often shone, even in low light. It acted as a symbol, a sign to other creatures great and small that he was indeed a taken Time Lord. It matched your own, your wedding band sharing the same design that comfortably nested itself upon your own hand. Of course, yours had to share a finger with the engagement ring- a white point star, shrunken perfectly to sit and shimmer in a band forged from the oldest nugget of gold in the universe.

You looked down at the ring, smiling fondly at the glimmering star that sat on your finger. It shifted and refracted at even the smallest of movements, even in the low light of the Tardis. From there you looked up to see the Master still trying to flop back his head, grumbling and muttering something most likely threatening to himself. You tilted your head, watching him struggle, before carefully making your way over to sit yourself down in his lap. Taking his face in your hands you carefully brushed over his cheeks with your thumbs, the anger and rage that simmered in his expression slowly melting away as he stared up at you with a rare, rather defeated expression.

It wasn't often that the Master was the one in need of saving. At least in the typical, damsel in distress sort of way. It was no secret that the Master had a history of getting in over his head, especially when it came to the Doctor and their centuries long rivalry- from the Autons all the way to the Kasaavin, the Master would sometimes need that extra helping hand. But with you, he was always so proudly in command. The Master of the situation, one could say. With you he would stride in, proudly taking control over every situation: if you were in danger he’d burst in burning with unstoppable rage, guns blazing- more likely TCE blazing, and would happily destroy anything and anyone that was in the path between you and him. Only now it was him that required the whole rescuing thing.

Seeing him like this, bound in a jacket with timed locks that simply refused to budge, almost made him look humbled. But of course he wouldn't let something so small destroy his persistent (And slightly enjoyable) egomania.

“It suits you, y’know.”

The Master rolled his eyes.

“Is that your way of making me feel better?”

“I’m serious. I never thought I'd say it, but you suit a collar and straight jacket.”

The Master bit back a laugh, sending you an incredulous expression.

“Really? Is that so? Because I feel like a knock off Houdini. Even I don't deserve that.”

You pouted dramatically, sticking out your bottom lip. Your hand reached up to ruffle his already messy hair, earning an even angrier scowl.

“You’re enjoying yourself far too much. Just you wait until I get out of here.”

“Aw, is the big bad Master angry he's got his collar on and matches his wife?”

The Master gave a reluctant laugh, narrowing his eyes like a cat. You tickled under his chin with your fingers, enjoying watching him attempt to squirm away. You could tell he was trying so hard to seem offended, but the way he subtly titled his head to grant you more access to the strip of skin under his chin made you believe otherwise. 

It was also undeniable that the thick red collar that sat around his neck matched your own. It seemed, to the Master, that his collaring of you was a pre marriage arrangement. Your own was a rich, purple leather that curved around your throat, lined with golden velvet that sat flush against your skin. Golden hardware, buckles and rings decorated the piece, making the thing look incredibly lavish and expensive- and judging by the Masters taste, it probably was.

“Don't patronise me, love.”

The Master was scowling again. It looked rather cute. You placed a quick peck to the top of his forehead, watching him scowl in return.

“I can't help it Master, you look like a kicked puppy. All grumpy and angry. You know Its your own fault you got into this mess.”

The Master opened his mouth, ready to argue to the ends of the earth as to how he wasn't responsible for the consequences of his own actions. This argument was neither new, nor something you wanted to get into again.

 Suddenly, you had a thought. It was a naughty thought, rather nefarious. 

Though not deadly, the thought was slightly dangerous. If only for what the Master might do when he finally got free. Yes, this was an ample opportunity for you to follow through, and use the new situation to your advantage. He’d be so proud, you thought, if it wasn't him in said situation. 

You pushed your finger against the Master's lips, catching the Time Lord slightly off guard. Once again, his eyes narrowed.

“Move. Your. Finger.”

“I’m pretty sure this is the universal symbol of shut up and listen, Master.”

The Time Lord pressed his lips into a thin line, glaring absolute daggers in your direction. Slowly you pulled your finger away from his lips, moving your face so close your noses almost touched.

“Fine, I'm listening.”

“Of all the days, Master. You had to choose today. Lucky for you, the Tardis thinks there's not much time left on those time locks. Lucky for me, it gives me just enough time to have some fun with you.”

If the Master's eyes were narrow before, now they were creeping wide. You could see the calculations his brain was performing behind his eyes, all the thoughts and possibilities swirling around in his head like brain soup. Rarely was the Master ever in a situation where somebody intended to have fun with HIM. Usually it was the other way around. This was a new sensation, a feeling of which the Master in all his years of existence had yet to fully comprehend.

Was this… what nervousness felt like?

It wasn't long until he was about to find out.

In all his time, cataloguing his thoughts and trying to figure out what you could possibly mean, the Master failed to notice you slipping from his lap and heading off towards the kitchen. With a skip in your step, you quickly made your way towards the piece of delicious, freshly baked cake that sat under the crystal glass dome on the counter top-  grabbing a fork on your journey back as you circled, returning to the door from which you came.

Quickly scarpering back to the console room, you could see the Master still thinking, his eyebrows furrowed as he tugged at the jacket once more. He really did look like a curious cat, sneering at the problem at hand while also being absolutely fascinated. You carefully made your way towards the Time Lord, letting out a small cough to break him from his focus. Suddenly, his head snapped up towards you, his mess of hair flying backwards as he looked from your smug expression to the plate in your hand, before turning back to your face with a knowing look.

The large triangle of birthday cake, decorated in thick frosting and rainbow sprinkles, sat upon the fine china plate. 

“What are you up to now?”

“You decided to get yourself tied up on my birthday. You’re going to enjoy this slice of cake with me even if I have to feed you it by hand. Now open.”

The Master watched intently as you held the fork to his lips, sending you an unimpressed expression.

“There's nothing on it.” he deadpanned.

“I know that,” you sighed. “Hold it for me while I get myself comfortable.”

The Master rolled his eyes, before opening his lips and taking the fork between his teeth. He looked like those flamenco dancers that would brandish a rose in their mouth while dancing, only slightly less flamboyant. Though the Master definitely was no stranger to flamboyance, if his past regenerations and even more recent plans were anything to go off.

“What on earth are you planning?” he mumbled through gritted teeth, watching you precariously place the plate upon his thigh. His eyes watched with absolute wonder as he saw what you were doing.

Carefully, in front of the Time Lord, you began to tug at the hem of your underwear from beneath the already rather short dressing gown- the pile of clothes you’d rescued him in already sat in a pile in the corner of the room. You slowly shimmied your panties down your legs, his eyes never leaving your body as you purposely drew out your movements. You could tell the Master was fascinated, the way his chest had begun to rise and fall slightly faster than usual. Methodically you teased him, slipping the underwear from your legs and throwing them on to the pile. Your hands then slowly wandered to the Master's knees, the Time Lord taking in a deep breath as you fiddled with the zipper of his trousers, pulling it down to expose his underwear. You took hold of the plate on his thigh before it toppled, using your other hand to pull down the waistband of the Masters underwear, carefully freeing the Masters hardening cock. You could hear him let out a low, guttural groan behind the fork.

Without breaking his gaze you straddled over his thighs, pushing your body against his own as you sank yourself down to sit on his now firm cock. You gasped softly as you felt him inside you, the Masters left eye practically twitching as he bit down on the fork in his mouth. You rocked backwards and forwards a couple times, settling yourself down in his lap, before you brought the plate to sit between your chest and his own. Soon after, you finally reached to pull the fork from between his teeth. The Master was staring at you, wordlessly, lightly panting for breath as you smiled oh so innocently.

“There,” you teased. “Much comfier.”

The Master was working his way towards catching his breath.

“You know… if you were anybody else… I'd kill you for this.”

You laughed lightly, measuring out the size of the first bite with the prongs of the fork.

“Good. Because if anybody else did this to you, I'd kill them as well. You’re my husband after all.”

“You’re getting far too cheeky, love. I think you need reminding who's in charge here.”

You leant forwards in the Masters lap, purposely shifting your hips. You couldn't help but smile at the involuntary gasp he gave.

“What are you going to do, Master? Spank me? With what hands?”

The Master met your gaze, matching your expression. Your faces were mere inches away from each others, your eyes daring each other to make the next move.

“You’re in so much trouble after this.”

“You can't punish the birthday girl, Master. That's just plain old rude.”

The Master chuckled fondly.

“Forgive me for misplacing my manners, dearest. I must’ve left them with my hands.”

“Apology accepted.”

You nipped at the end of his nose with your teeth, before giggling cheekily and leaning in for a kiss. The Master, in all his superiority and domination, couldn't help but kiss back. He always failed to stay fully angry at you. Your noses brushed together as you stole a kiss from each other's mouths, the pair of you dissolving into quiet laughter once you parted. 

“Let me have this moment, Master. Please.”

The Master pondered for a moment, tilting his head dramatically to the side and watching your hopeful expression blossom onto your face. He huffed out a sigh, looking up at you with another defeated expression. Only this one was full of genuine fondness.

“Fine.” he sighed finally. “Because it's your birthday.”

Your smile was absolutely beaming. You pulled the end chunk of cake onto the fork, holding it up to the Masters mouth. The frosting was almost dripping back onto the plate from the fluffy, bite sized piece. He parted his lips, waiting for you to place the cake into his mouth.

“Say please, Master.”

“Don't push it, Y/n.”

You simply shrugged in return, before placing the cake into the Master's mouth. As he chewed you gently began to circle your hips, lightly moving atop his cock, generating a small amount of friction. The Master gave a quiet moan, letting his eyes flutter shut as the cake melted on his tongue. He licked at his lips, catching the small trail of frosting and sprinkles that had remained on his lips.

“How is it?” you purred softly.

The Master smacked his lips together, before giving a lazy smile.

“I’m enjoying myself more than I anticipated.”

“Poor Master, did you think I was going to torture you?”

The Master chuckled as you offered him another piece of cake, parting his lips and watching you intently as you teasingly pulled the fork slowly from his mouth. You continued to twist and circle your hips, the Master's eyes watching you almost hypnotically. You could feel a hot flush begin to creep up your face, the apples of your cheeks blushing a sweet red as your shoulders began to relax. The Master smirked, watching you break off another chunk of the sprinkle covered cake. Only this time you placed it into your own mouth.

You could see why the Master reacted so positively. The flavours swirled and collided in your mouth, your taste buds exploding with sensory pleasure. Your hips swivelled and rocked, much like clockwork, as you rolled your head over your shoulders and gave a deep moan of pleasure.

“Shit, that's a good cake.” you admitted, fluttering open your eyes. The Master was licking his lips, hands lightly tugging on the straightjacket as you licked the frosting from your teeth.

“It's almost as nice as our first wedding cake.”

“Go on, take another bite.”

Weakly, you nodded, breaking off another chunk with the fork and placing it on your tongue. The ‘yes Master’ you gave was almost a whisper.

You did the same for your husband, feeding him another chunk of the cake while continuously building a rhythm of motion atop his cock. The Master was groaning, harder than before, a light sweat beginning to form on his brow. He couldn't help but notice how much closer you’d pressed yourself to his torso, the cake almost sliding from the plate that was now practically diagonal against your chest.

“Y’know, it's not the first time I've worn something like this.” the Master admitted between mouthfuls.

“Seriously?” your voice was almost lost behind a moan.

“White straightjacket, red collar, I think they- fuck- chose something from my personal history to cage me in.”

The Master was now beginning to thrust his hips up against yours, jostling your rhythm and causing you to give a shocked gasp of pleasure. The plate almost fell from your chest, barely being caught by your spare hand and the edge of the fork.

“Master, yes-”

You bit your bottom lip to suppress the guttural moan you wanted to give. The sweetness of the cake mixed with the burning deep in your belly was causing your senses to go into overdrive. The Master was methodical, thrusting up as best he could with the top of his body tied in place. His movements were sending chills shooting up your spine, knowing exactly how to make you gasp for breath and beg for more. He always knew exactly what you desired, his body and mind instinctively understanding every primal desire you had. Maybe you were just obvious. Or perhaps he was more sentimental than he let on.

Soon the once imposing slice of cake was nothing more than a single section. Crumbs and sprinkles poked from the corners of your mouth and onto your lips, the Master's teeth gnashing upwards in a bid to lick them away. Your speed and ferocity had increased to the point where you needed to stabilize yourself atop the Masters thrusting cock. Both of you had begun to sweat. Something needed to give.

“Master, I need, fuck-”

“I swear to god, let me taste you.”

The Master was panting like an animal.

“The plate-”

“Fuck the plate. I’ll buy you as many as you want. Come here, do as you’re told.”

You gave an inhumane snarl as the fork clattered to the floor, your fingers grasping hold of the last square of cake. Frosting oozed down your fingers as you relented your grip on the plate, the small black plate crashing down onto the hard wood and shattering into thousands of shards. The Master opened wide as you bucked your hips, your fingers pushing the cake firmly against his mouth. Sprinkles and crumbs smeared over the Masters lips as you abandoned all inhibition, your own mouth diving in to follow as your lips crashed together in an animalistic kiss. Teeth and tongues slashed and battled for control as the sweet concoction oozed down your throats, the taste of the frosting melting into the taste of each others mouths.

Crumbs and sticky decoration stained the clean white straightjacket as your fingers clasped hold of the Masters shoulders, your forehead pushing against his as he snarled into the kiss. Your hips thrusted furiously against his own, the pair of you rising and falling against the back of the chair as you begged for friction and every sensation you were willing to share. Your fingers fisted into the back of the Master's hair, the other hand stroking down his back and running over the intricate set of time locks that connected the jacket together in an intricate lattice of latches. You tugged on them as you went, growing deeper into the kiss as you bounced yourself up and down in the Masters lap. 

You could feel yourself getting close to the precipice of satisfaction, the Master's teeth nipping at your bottom lip as his tongue licked over the mess. Your noses pushed together as you hissed in delight, your body clamouring for release as you whined pathetically in his ear.

“Master, so close” you begged, tugging on his earlobe with your teeth.

The Master snapped his teeth together, pushing his forehead against his own.

“Don't you dare cum” he barked, groaning as you licked down the side of his face.

“Please, please I can't-”

“Listen to your Master” he growled in your ear. As if that would do anything but make it worse.

The Master continued to thrust and groan, his face flush almost as red as his collar as he edged you closer and closer to release. You struggled to even control your mouth, groans and cries of pleasure escaping your throat as you completely fell apart in the Masters lap. Everything was building up inside of you, your body absolutely ready to feel the warm wave of release course through your very being. All you were waiting on was the Masters word.

And then it finally arrived.

“Cum”

You felt your whole body ricochet from the sudden release of pressure. Your scream was painfully desperate as you felt yourself fold into nothingness in the Masters lap. You gave in completely, the warmth spreading through your entire body as you climaxed hard and fast upon the Masters still hard cock. Tears were mixing with the streaming sweat as you slumped forward against the Master's chest, the Time Lord chuckling as your exhausted eyes fluttered shut on impact. You were about to sleepily flirt, much like usual, sweetening the already malleable Master with your flattering words and praises, when a loud bang sent your eyes flying wide open.

One by one, the time locks that ran up the Masters spine unclasped and plummeted down to the floor, collecting in a heap as they slid through the back of the chair. You picked your head up to look at the Master, sweat dripping from his brow and sprinkles caught in his stubble, watching as the Time Lords face slowly began to spread into a dangerous grin. You felt a chill go down your spine as he slowly began to unfold his arms, forcing you to sit up in his lap, supporting yourself by pushing down on his thighs.

“Well then”

The Master purred, pulling his arms free from their clasps. His fingers wriggled within the triangle shaped tip of the sleeve, his hands reaching up to slickly unclasp the thick red collar from around his neck. It fell to the floor, joining the locks, fork, and what was left of the plate. He looked down at you with a typical, Masterful, Cheshire cat grin.

“Would you look at that?”

Instinctively you gulped, looking up at the Master as he lifted your chin with his cloth covered fingers.

“Now I don't know about you, love, but I've noticed you’ve been getting a little bit too cheeky for my liking.”

At best, you sent him a weak smile. You knew what was about to happen.

“And I have hands now. Lucky, lucky you.”

“I'm guessing you’re going to punish me now, aren't you Master?”

The Master shushed you, tutting as he shook his head. He still clasped your chin in his hand.

“You said it yourself, dear. I can't punish the birthday girl. But I can encourage her to help me get the release I so lovingly provided for her. It's only fair, after all. If there happens to be a lesson or two learned in the process? Call that an added bonus.”

You chuckled weakly as the Master guided you to stand, supporting your still twitching hips as you sent him a wry smile.

“Y’know Master, there's a phrase we have on earth. You can't have your cake and eat it too.”

The Master tilted his head, his mouth making a small ‘o’ shape as he crooked an eyebrow. It soon melted away into a gentle smile, his fingers tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

“Oh, my love.” he grinned, a chuckle building in his throat as he pecked the top of your forehead.

“I just did.”

All of a sudden you felt yourself being lifted into the air, the impact of the Masters shoulder against your stomach knocking the wind out of your system. He barked out a proud laugh as he raised a hand to spank your already reddened ass, his teeth nipping at the soft flesh of your hip as you gave a surprised yelp.

“Happy birthday, Y/N!” he cried, laughing as he carried you towards the bedroom, where god knows what painful pleasure awaited you.

“I hope the birthday girl has room for seconds!”