#and understand. that was how it was with EVERY character song. they were so extremely different from each other and yet so good | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thesilmarillionblog · 9 months ago

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𓏲 𓂃 L o s i n g Y o u

Part:𝟷𝟻

Click here to read the first part.

Summary: Everything was good as a member of Payback and Soldier Boy's secret girlfriend until the team and your relationship with him began to fall apart due to a new member and her developing relationship with Ben right in front of your eyes.

Pairing: Soldier Boy / Reader

Warnings: +18! (MINORS DNI), language, sexual tension, misogynistic language, toxic masculinity mentioned, some fluff

Word Count: 4777

A/N: English is not my first language.

* This story is inspired by the song "Losing You" by Dream Evil.

1986

Ben took a firm hold of your throat as you hung onto the table underneath you and continued to pound you with forceful movements with his cock. With one strong thrust in between curses, his fingers around your throat from the back grew even tighter until he began to spill inside of you, releasing a loud growl on top of you. He then pressed his hips against your ass. You were convinced that, if you were a regular supe, you would break under the intense pressure he applied to you as he continued to penetrate you while he choked you hard.

That was just one of those moments when he didn't really care if you came with him or not.

When Ben finished spilling inside you, he gave you a very hard spanking on your ass after withdrawing his hand from your throat. “That felt good, but you need to learn how to stay silent and stay still when I fuck your cunt,” he grumbled.

You muttered, “I don't like it when you're being too harsh on me,” as he stared in awe at the thick ropes dripping from your swollen pussy.

He whispered, “Come on,” planting a kiss on your forehead before gathering his cum and inserting it into your pussy. “You're a supe; you can't even feel sore; you heal in seconds.”

“Yes, but in any case, I don't like it. You could try to be a little more kind.”

“You're complaining way too much nowadays.”

“I simply want you to be a little more sympathetic. Is it too much for you?” As you waited for him to finish, you looked at him with a pained expression.

“Are you angry because I didn't let you come?” showed his amusement at your sour attitude.

Since you knew Ben's character from the start and you didn't voice any complaints for months, Ben failed to understand the recent change in your attitude. But he felt a little uncomfortable because you were attempting to get closer to him throughout the sexual interaction lately.

“It's difficult to resist giving you a quick fuck when you're wearing that sexy suit, as it makes me so fucking aroused. You already know that I'm not easy to handle, but I'll do my best to be gentle, okay?” he said, since he did not want you to leave his van with a sad face after a satisfying sexual activity. After all, you were trying your best to satisfy his needs.

He kept his cum within yours and played with your clit a little bit longer as you remained motionless. Given how often you had sex in a single day, you were fortunate that your superior genetics prevented you from being pregnant.

You asked him, “Will you be joining the after party when Gala is over?” as he tucked himself in his pants.

Ben said in a harsh voice, “Of course,” watching you adjust your skirt and pull up your soaked underwear while avoiding eye contact. “But I need something to do first.”

You answered, “Okay,” knowing that he wouldn't answer any more questions.

He noticed that you were wearing an unhappy expression as you hurriedly fixed your messy hair, and he gave you a long, gentle kiss on the nape of your neck while giving you a warm hug from behind. “I'll be more gentle next time.”

“You say the same thing every time, yet every time you get harsher with me.” You said in an icy voice, “I'm not sure if you're trying to beat me or fuck me, Ben.”

Ben immediately turned you toward him as his body tensed. “I'm not trying to harm you in any way, of course. I just know that you are extremely strong. Nothing is capable of harming you.”

“Well, my body might not be vulnerable, but my feelings are,” you said with a sigh. When you realized he had no idea how harsh he was on you, you attempted to break free of his hug.

Ben tightened his hold around your abdomen to keep you from escaping him. “Okay, I got the message. The next time, I'll be as slow and gentle as you wish.”��

You just gave him a nod.

He felt a little guilty for being too harsh after seeing the hurt expression on your face, so he kissed you gently on the lips and ran his fingers over your cheek.

“I'm not trying to harm you in any way. It's just difficult to maintain control when I'm with you, but I promise I'll do better. Do you trust me?”

“Yes, Ben,” you said in a whisper as you gave him a quick kiss in return and gave in to his hug.

As he began to dance with you and spin you around, he grabbed one of your hands. He leaned back and kissed you firmly in between your giggles, saying, “I'll be a good fucking gentleman when I'm dancing with you tonight, though you don't know how to dance properly like me.”

Ben entered Stan Edgar's room, took a quick look around, and then sat down in front of the large table in front of the chair.

Ben lit a cigarette inside the room and asked, “Why did you invite me to your feet this time?”

“Let's just have a nice little conversation,” he stated, casting a disapproving glance at Ben's cigarette.

“About?”

“How is Payback doing overall? I heard that you haven't been as excited to go to film events lately.”

“Who fucking told you this?” Ben inquired, annoyed that people were constantly informing him about his behavior as if he were just a kid.

“Remember that everyone is constantly watching you, so try not to get too worked up too soon. After all, you're the biggest and strongest Supe ever—Soldier Boy.”

Star Edgar said, “How's your relationship with Y/N?” when Ben didn't respond and kept smoking.

“What relationship?” Ben, displeased with Stan Edgar's cunning tone, asked aggressively. He was constantly up to something.

“You don't need to keep it a secret from me. My eyes are always on everything, all at once, as you are already aware. You're continuously in her van, or she's in yours. I'm not even mentioning that you've been practically living in her place for the past month. You've been neglecting your duties to our country a little too much recently, Soldier Boy.”

Ben's mouth clinched at Stan Edgar's remarks since he detested being searched out, watched, or having his behavior analyzed, and that's exactly what he was doing to him at that moment.

“Are your incompetent staff members spying on me in order to increase their pay? Do they also give a head to you under your stupid desk?”

“You're going too far. All I'm asking is that you fulfill your duties.” Stan Edgar got up and grinned while sipping his coffee. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“For your own sake, you had better not provoke me. You're pressuring me to give you a hard punch right now, and you know I'm not that patient.”

Stan Edgar went on, "It's about the mission I gave you and Y/N last month,” disregarding Ben's threats. “You were told to kill everyone there, but you didn't.”

When Stan Edgar mentioned that stupid mission, Ben's body tensed up, but he waited for him to continue while maintaining the same attitude.

“Y/N persuaded you not to kill them there, according to one of my soldiers. It wasn't right of you to leave them alive.”

Ben excused himself by saying, “There were kids among them.” He couldn't decide if you had persuaded him to make the choice or not. “I'm not a bad person.”

“You're not, of course. However, a mission is a mission. It's never easy to be a soldier, no one ever said. Nobody knows this better than you. However, this was not the first time. She has been supporting you in making decisions similar to those in certain situations. Am I wrong?”

Ben ignored him and kept smoking weed in the room. “We are a fucking team.”

“But you're the leader,” Stan Edgar said. “People began arguing that you're listening to a woman's orders, which you may not be aware of. It's been said that a lady controls the most powerful Supe on the planet. Do you even know whats going on around you?”

“I'm not fucking listening to anyone, you fuckface.” Ben angrily rose up and gestured to Stan Edgar's face. “If I fucking held your head and squeezed my hand a bit, your useless brain would be all over the place, so don't push my fucking nerves.”

“I'm not indicating, of course, that I agree with them. But you have to stop allowing people to say stuff like that. Our nation's soldiers look up to you; they idolize you, and their kids dream to be just like you. However, how can men or soldiers in our nation ever respect Soldier Boy if they believe he is listening to a woman during a crucial mission?”

Ben remained silent and stood by the window, surveying the yard.

“Never allow a woman to control or manipulate you. Even if you're not really acutely aware of it at the moment, that is what she is doing to you. I spoke with Crimson Countess a few days ago, and I've already decided that she will soon join your team. Undoubtedly, your squad will be asked if they want her on the team or not. She will be obedient and docile, and this is an excellent opportunity to reveal your real self to the world once more. You need to put things right again. It's vital for safeguarding your image.”

Ben just said, “Fuck you and everyone,” since he didn't want to say anything more, but his mind was racing with thoughts that were about you.

“Be the hero everyone needs.”

Present

Ben was thinking about how you were struggling with your powers and what had happened in Herogasm when he woke up quite early in the morning. Nothing was going as he had anticipated, and things were just getting worse than he had planned. He began to feel a little insecure, though he didn't show you. He was used to getting what he wanted, after all.

In spite of everything, he felt comforted to see you resting sweetly in his bed because you chose to, rather than because you had to, as you had been forced to do weeks earlier. Ben couldn't contain his excitement at the idea.

He couldn't help but smile a little when you whined in your sleep, but he did his best not abuse the fragile trust you had by firmly resting his side on the bed and not touching you, watching your back.

Your ass had other ideas while you slept soundly, though. Unavoidably, Ben's cock disagreed, as his hardness was evident from your ass' forceful contact with his cock like you were trying to get him to take action.

Your ass was practically rubbing against him as though he tried to think something else. Ben tried to ignore his aching erection, kept his eyes closed, and didn't touch you, even though he wasn't sure if your sleeping body was trying to relax or reach an orgasm at this time.

But he opened his eyes as he smelled the blood all over the room.

When you heard Ben calling your name, you mumbled something in an angry tone.

Ben said, “I guess you're bleeding down there,” and you opened your eyes right away.

You muttered, “Oh, fuck,” as you swiftly moved on the bed and checked between your legs. You felt ashamed and disgusted when you saw your bloody underwear and the bed. “I'm sorry.”

Ben continued to stare between your legs and the blood all over the sheets before saying, “Hey, it's alright. Our life is now a bit more colorful.”

As you struggled to get out of bed without making more mess, you couldn't help but smile at what he said. But when the truth set in, you realized that you hadn't had your period for quite a very long time.

“Ben, can you check there to see if there are any peds around?” you said after you failed to find any in the restroom.

“Sure. But what does it actually look like? Of course, I'm familiar with women's underwear, but not with pussy protection.”

“Haven't you seen one before? You'll know when you find one,” you said, pressing your smile.

“I wonder if they upgraded peds too,” Ben muttered, and hurriedly went through every part of the wardrobe before finding the winged pussy thing and handing it to you.

Ben couldn't help but smile as he observed the blood on the bed. It was just like the first time he took you in as a coach, only with a lot less blood, of course. Time flies. He quickly gathered all of the bloodied sheets, exited the room, and placed them in Frenchie's room's washing machine.

You began to feel a little better after seeing Ben already changing the sheets.

He asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you nodded quickly to him. “I guess I should have slept in my own bed.”

Ben instantly replied, “Of course not,” as he started to get dressed. “That you slept here pleases me, actually. In any case, your bed is excessively small and completely useless. You're welcome at any time, baby.”

“I guess it is,” you said with a small chuckle as you examined his massive muscles flexing as he put on a shirt.

He turned to face you and asked, “Do you still want to do some training?” He repressed his smile when he saw you checking his body.

“Yeah, of course.”

Ben walked slowly toward you and said, “We can delay to tomorrow; you don't have to push yourself.” He spoke in a sympathetic manner. He did not want you to push yourself too hard during intense training when your body was more vulnerable than usual.

This time, you couldn't stop laughing. “I'll be bleeding tomorrow too, Ben.”

He couldn't resist a grin as he saw your amusement. “Well, sweetheart, I'm not the best pussy health expert, it seems.”

“It seems so,” you said, smiling shyly at him.

Butcher questioned, “Something happened last night?” out of the blue as you were enjoying your breakfast peacefully.

“Like what?” Your face reddened, quite unsure of his question.

“Damn, don't get too excited. As reported by Frenchie, you vanished for a bit, and your t-shirt was torn. To develop a strong connection built on trust, it would be preferable if we didn't hold any secrets. Don't you think?”

After exchanging glances with Ben, you at last spoke: “I fought Noir. He watched us from a distance, and I tracked him. As you may know, he was a former teammate of mine; in fact, we were very good friends. Despite my attempts to communicate with him, he persisted in his attacks, so I just defended myself until he gave up. That's it.”

Ben's body stiffened when you told Butcher how near you were to Noir. Talking about him always made Ben furious, and he couldn't help but feel envy welling up within him once more. But at least you two were no longer on speaking terms, so he restrained himself from saying something sour, which would make you feel uncomfortable.

“Fuck me,” Butcher whispered in shock. “Only God knows what he is up to now. It would have been best to slaughter him there. You are the strongest Supe woman, right? Am I mistaken?” You gave Butcher a stare as he inquired, taking a hostile posture.

“Why in the world would she murder that dumb puppet? For your own benefit or in order to get greater public attention? Go fuck your face and fuck, no.” Ben got frustrated in less than a second and added, “Don't get her involved in your stupid stuff.”

“Calm down; I'm not interested in anything more than learning about her abilities. I find myself wondering all the time if she is stronger than Queen Maeve.”

Butcher was undoubtedly skilled at inciting outrage quickly.

You arched an eyebrow and confidently leaned back in your chair, asking, “Are you still on Temp-V?” You always welcomed challenges with open arms.

Butcher smiled at you and said, “I think I have one or two more hours left, babygirl. Do you feel like fighting or something?”

Ben cut him off, saying, “Will you stop fucking calling her names?” Butcher gave him no reaction. When he did his best to enrage Ben, you couldn't tell if he was being too bold or too foolish.

You crossed your arms over your chest and said, “I'm waiting; do your best shot.”

Ben gave you a serious glance and said, “Hey,” but you just nodded to let him know that you were perfectly fine.

“As you wish.”

As you waited patiently, Butcher lasered your left cheek without warning. You gasped, having never seen such power among the supes before.

You said, “Ow.” Finally, it didn't hurt, showing your power, but you gasped in surprise because you hadn't expected such a thing from him. It felt as gentle as a tickle.

“You okay?” Ben asked, gently brushing your chin with his thumb before you could even react.

“Definitely,” you answered. You undoubtedly felt more at ease knowing that Butcher's abilities had no effect on you.

Butcher said, “Guess you're still worthy,” and got to his feet. “Anyhow. I'll be out of the house for a few hours. Will you two please behave and not ruin the house again?”

You noticed Butcher's red and exhausted eyes and somewhat sluggish heartbeat as he put on his jacket, and you asked, “Are you okay, by the way?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked jokingly, taken aback by the question you asked.

“You appear somewhat ill. Additionally, your heartbeats are abnormal. I think you should see a doctor soon,” you said, but all he did was smirk, put on his jacket, and light a cigarette.

He continued, “For your information, darling,” after glancing at Ben's bitter expression. “I'm not into supe women; they are too tough to handle, okay, so we can't work out. Stop worrying about me,” he said, winking at you.

You rolled your eyes at him and didn't make any further comments.

Make sure you use your GPS, Bluetooth, and Internet to find Mindstorm while you're away." Ben stated in a commanding voice, "I've got things to talk to him," obviously giving Butcher instructions as he wore a haughty expression. He was not open to any arguments.

Butcher grumbled, “He's not easy to find,” but Ben didn't seem to give a damn. “Hughie and Starlight are already putting in maximum effort. We have other things to take care of, and we know they're just as vital as cleaning up the mess you made.”

“We made a deal. A deal you wanted it,” Ben remarked angrily. The way Butcher was acting irritated him.

“Yeah, let me remind you, mate; you couldn't kill Homelander yesterday, right?”

“You fought Homelander?” you asked Ben as your eyes widened in shock.

Ben said that. “Well, yeah.” He was a little uncomfortable not telling you sooner. But yesterday, when you were having a small talk, he showed no interest in Homelander at all. “Your baby boy couldn't find the Twins and brought them to me, okay? He fucking ruined the mission. That's not to say I couldn't murder Homelander. Therefore, quit fucking blaming me for your own failures.”

"What is done is done," Butcher simply said. “I don't think he'll show up anytime soon, but we have to find him and kill him as quickly as possible. By now, the little bitch must be scared to death. He has no idea what's going to happen next. I'll locate Mindstorm in the meantime, alright?”

Ben finally gave him a nod and you watched him Butcher to leave.

“Why didn't you tell me you fought Homelander?”

Ben responded, “I don't know,” as his fingertips slid across your chair. “It didn't seem more important than blowing up Herogasm and you fighting Noir.”

You muttered, “It is, of course, important. He must be indeed powerful judging by you and Butcher combined couldn't finish him, huh?”

Ben chuckled a little, but it was obvious he wasn't laughing because his confidence had been shaky over the last few weeks. He was ready to deny it and give you a proper explanation when he gave you a sly look. Instead, he said, “Baby, it's even difficult to cum twice in a raw. After blowing up the whole place, I ran out of energy in a matter of minutes.”

You laughed at his defense. “Well, I think it seems those trainings will be beneficial to you too, then.”

Ben said, “If you are ready, I am always ready,” and then he got to his feet and stretched his muscles.

As soon as he took off his t-shirt, you couldn't help but stare at his muscular, broad physique. You knew he was doing it intentionally, but instructing him to put on his t-shirt would just make him egotistical and cocky. You were aware of it, and he knew you knew.

“Are you absolutely sure your bleeding will not be an issue?” Ben questioned you, gazing at you and focusing on the space between your legs and shorts.

You answered, “No, Ben,” as you slightly adjusted your shorts and extended your muscles.

Ben noticed that you were shifting your hips to the sides, and he licked his lip. He then arched an eyebrow and said, “Well, baby. Can we prevent demolishing the walls once more?”

“I wasn't planning to send you against the wall,” you said in a innocent manner.

You raised your hand abruptly and moved to punch him, but he blocked your strike and remarked, “You almost got me there, baby.”

He caught your fist in his large palms as you attempted to hit him again, and you lifted your other hand to strike him. But he held both of your fists tightly in his palms, forcing you to exert a little more effort.

You lifted your knee to go between Ben's legs as he opened his mouth to speak, but he immediately stopped you again by the legs.

He winked at you and said, “Not there, sweetheart,” as he rearranged your posture and moved you so that your back was to his chest while he continued speaking into your ear. Even though he wasn't pushing himself, you could feel him getting harder on your back as he continued to place his hands with yours on your stomach.

As of right now, it appears to be somewhat difficult to beat him in battle. But, as usual, you had different plans.

You took a few long breaths, laid back into his chest, and relaxed a little. It was clear from his gasp that he hadn't anticipated that movement of yours. Breathing deeply, you sensed Ben's touches around your fists becoming softer.

Once you had waited enough, you eventually managed to break free from his tight hold by turning around and hitting him to the floor very harshly, which managed to crack it enough.

Ben said, “Oh, fuck,” as he observed you circling him while grinning proudly.

“It was quite simple,” you grinned. “Maybe you're the one who needs some training, Benjamin.”

He dragged you down before you could even finish making fun of him, causing your face to come into contact with his sweating chest. Your hands paused on his chest as he grabbed you firmly around the waist.

“We need to practice your defense techniques for sure, sweetheart. You're becoming more proficient at attacking, though; I am sure of that.” Ben smiled slightly and murmured, “We're even now.”

“Not yet.”

You waited on top of him, feeling his hardness between your legs, and for some reason, you moved slightly. Perhaps you couldn't stop yourself from rubbing against his hardness below you because you didn't touch yourself enough or because of the hormones brought on by your period. It felt as though your body was screaming for you to give yourself in already.

You felt a slight pressure on your pussy through your panties, and your lips parted. There were obstacles between you, yet you could still feel his hardness.

But you weren't sure because you were still bleeding, so you glanced back at Ben to see whether he was showing signs of disgust or anything else. Due to your supe genetic background, you rarely got your period in the past, and it never caused you any problems since you never got your period while you were with Ben. However, Ben had only yearning in his eyes when you looked at him.

Ben held you in place as if you would reconsider, his hands tightening on your waist. Even though it was difficult, he waited patiently because he didn't want you to make you move on and destroy the fragile trust you had in him.

Your hands moved to his packs on his muscular chest and remained there. Ben's fingers also moved to linger on your bare legs, slid from your legs into your shorts, and softly touched your underwear, causing you to gasp.

When you began to rub against his erection and his fingers tightened around your flesh beneath your shorts, you couldn't help gasping a little.

The pressure of his enormous cock was enough to give you shivers, even though it was difficult to feel him completely because of your underwear, peds, shorts, and also his sweatpants. There was too much between you. You continued to grind against his cock in order to get pleasure, nailing his belly each time, your movements becoming more rapid and powerful.

As you were grinding against Ben's cock to trigger an orgasm and nailing his abdomen, he was struggling to contain himself and not cum inside his sweatpants under you. The fact that you were on your period and bleeding while moving your body over him made the situation even hotter. His body was screaming at him to switch positions, take his aching cock from his boxers, and slide it inside your bloody pussy immediately, but he maintained his composure and allowed you to enjoy yourself on him as you pleased.

Ben groaned, “Come on, baby,” noticing that you were struggling. “You are almost there.”

You said in a whispering voice, “Ben,” not quite sure why you were beging him.

Ben's hand grasped your hips and urged you to keep moving on him as soon as he noticed your pleading eyes and realized you were slowing down because there was not enough friction.

You pressed your lips together to keep yourself from moaning aloud when he pressed your body on his hard cock and made you move on top of him, taking control, and your hands trailed wildly over every inch of his chest.

Ben groaned loudly, feeling your back arching finally. “Let it go, baby,” he said. “Yes, fuck! Cum to me.”

Your walls began to clench around nothingness as you let out a low gasp as your orgasm hit hard. Your head leaned back, and you nailed his abdomen as your body shivered on top of him. You were unable to control your moans while your walls kept clenching as you rode your orgasm.

Ben couldn't help but smile as he watched you pant harshly on him and listen to your soft moans. He knew it was something more intimate than anything you had ever experienced together because he felt so close to you in that moment, with your hearts beating wildly behind your chests.

His hands lingered around your back, softening on your waist.

⋆⋅☆⋆☆⋅⋆──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──────⋆⋅☆⋆☆⋅⋆

When you rode your orgasm completely, you came to your senses, and your eyes met Ben's green ones. He was breathing heavily under you, though he didn't cum. In addition to strong desire, there was something deeper there that was difficult to describe in the way he looked at you. You didn't know how much time you spent staring at each other.

Next Chapter

A/N: We are almost there now. Comments and reblogs are appreciated very much. I’m very curious about what you think about this chapter in general, hehe

Taglist: @mostlymarvelgirl @xmariakx @spnfamily-j2 @suspicious-stain-in-spain @atomicsoulcollecto @yvonneeeeeeee @starryperson @mfnqueen1 @chaand-sitara @boywivlove @stilinskisthings @brynanna @delaynew @yoyoanaria @n-o-p-e-never @ghostslillady @deans-spinster-witch @demodemo909 @stoneyggirl2 @cheynovak @libby99hb @moneyburner @purplerosequartz @simpin4pixels @deebris @spideybv28 @mystic-mara @tranquilty @winchesterwild78 @jennifer0305 @ultraviolencexs @thecutestaaakawaii @justtnat

@babythe67chevy @multifandomdiva @hey-there0-0 @shadowghoul2525 @darkqueen1995 @jenn-777q @certifiedhaters

* I made a Playlist for 'Losing You'. There are the songs I got inspiration from while writing this series. You can click here to see it. <3

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art-outlaw · 1 month ago

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Private Number # Chapter Twenty Two

Daniel Ricciardo x Aero Engineer!Reader

Summary: You didn’t like him. That much was clear to both of you. He was cocky and arrogant and totally oblivious to all of the work you and your team did for him. No one else saw him for the egomaniac he was - only you. You were forced to work for him but that didn’t mean you had to fall under the spell he had trapped everyone else under. And you made sure that he knew that.

Chapters: 22/?

Warnings/ Rating: Swearing. Degradation of main character.

Word Count: 3574

Posted: 25 Mar 2025

It wasn’t a chore to domestically exist with Daniel Ricciardo.

He was housetrained: he cooked, he tidied up after himself, and made sure that you were never left wanting for anything. Anything. And you weren’t speaking of materialistic things.

You were pretty sure that in the last twenty four hours alone, the two of you had practically christened every surface in the house so much that if a crime scene team ever came in here with a UV touch, they’d be skittering away from your place faster than they could ask ‘what the fuck?’.

And it was… blissful.

God, how had you been so oblivious for this long to realise that he was so much more to you than the driver of your car and an incessant pain in your ass?

But your pain in the ass was now standing – shirtless, good lord that man had a body – in the kitchen, loudly humming away to the country song he had overrun your speaker system with as he cooked you dinner. And you were just fondly watching him, waxing teeth-achingly sweet poetry about him in your head. How had you never realised how empty your house felt until his presence filled it totally?

His car keys on the bench, his shoes by the door, and his jacket thrown so carelessly over a kitchen stool, breaking up the clean perfection that was your previously dull life. Those little things that you hadn’t experienced from anyone in such a long time. Had you ever actually experienced it? Your dating life had been extremely limited before him – dedication to your work had put a pin in that particular balloon of your life for the longest time. But now you had him, someone that would so openly understand the world you lived, because he lived it too.

“So,” You started, as one song faded out to the next. “Are you just planning on being here to cook for me every night? Because I’m already getting used to the idea of not living on cup noodles or eggs on toast anymore.”

Daniel chuckled, still facing the stove. “If this is your way of asking me to move in, its a piss-poor excuse for it.”

Warmth flushed your face. You hadn’t even considered how that would’ve sounded to him – you’d only been together officially for 24 hours, moving in was out of the question… right?. You stumbled and stuttered a response, watching with growing relief as his laughter shook his shoulders. “Asshole.” You muttered under your breath.

Daniel only laughed harder. “As long as you want me here, cooking your dinner and serenading you, I’ll be here, honey.”

God, you just melted when he called you honey.

“So,” he continued. “You didn’t get the chance to tell me how today with Christian and Bianca went today–”

“Bianca! Shit! That was her name!” You exclaim, smacking your forehead. Fuck, how could you not remember that? Daniel only quirked an eyebrow. “Um, yeah, the meeting went…well, I guess? Not for them, but definitely good for me. Pretty much told them to shove it, keep their nose out of my family business and focus on the work I do as lead aero-engineer. So a successful meeting in my books.”

You finish with a shrug.

“Told ya,, the ‘fuck ‘em all’ approach: works like a charm every time.” He glanced over his shoulder to flick you a shit-eating grin. He flicked his head to the side, “Also, hope you don’t mind, I cracked a red for the recipe and figured you might want a glass or two depending on how your day went.”

Without saying anything beyond “A man after my own heart,” You strolled over to pour both of you a glass. Before you could chicken out, you continued, “You know, if you don’t have your own place near the factory you are more than welcome to stay here. With me, obviously. But if you do have your own place that’s obviously totally fine too, I’m not trying to pressure you to–”

He cut you off with a smacking kiss to your temple, and cooling the burning heat that had very quickly been flushing across your cheeks. “Saves me from booking an Airbnb every time I have to do sim work… Plus, you’re right, I’d be with you, obviously. ”

He finished with a smirk, clearly drawing some level of amusement from your bumbling words. You almost flushed again from his quirked mouth, a flash of a memory coming to mind of exactly what he had done with that very same mouth the night before (and that morning, and again in the shower you had shared).

“Good.” You managed to choke out, taking a large swig from your wine to hopefully cover how you croaked out your response. Daniel only let out a chuckle, and turned back to the stove.

“You know,” He said casually, stirring the pot of the chicken cacciatore – oh lord, you needed to marry this man – bubbling away. “I had a very interesting run in with Penny from HR this afternoon.”

You felt your shoulders tense ever so slightly. You and Daniel hadn’t specifically said when you were going to announce your relationship to the people it needed to be, but you had a feeling you knew where this was going.

“She said that she had a particularly stimulating conversation with Christian when he came to see her. He mentioned needing to pull out a policy that he’d need me to sign. Something about intra-working relationships, specifically for senior members of staff, that sort of thing. Do you know anything about that? He said that it was apparently already ‘pretty serious’ and would need to be done quickly.” Even with him turned away, you could feel the smug grin on his face.

Immediately, you groaned. Daniel’s barking laughter covered the sound of Zac Bryan’s crooning for a moment, and you felt like crawling under the dining table in embarrassment. “I might know something about that?”

Daniel hummed non committedly. “Apparently it was a real shit day for Christian. Lost his PR marketing strategy in you, and then the most marketable, ruggedly handsome, single driver on the grid. Bad morning to be Christian Horner, huh?”

Finally Daniel turned back to you, and confirmed the grin you had suspected was there. He kept talking, his smile widening with every word. “So I would say that your meeting was productive in more ways than one today, huh?”

You sucked in both your lips to hide the smile creeping over your own face. Making sure that the team principal’s day had been a shit show in more ways than one was most definitely a highlight of your career. Daniel’s eyes met yours, and you both cracked into rib-splitting laughter. “Oh, man, I would’ve given anything to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.”

You laughed again. “His face was the most remarkable shade of red. It was like a ripened tomato! I’ve got a feeling that Geri will make sure that man is on heart medication with how high I think his blood pressure hit.”

Both of you burst into cackles again, and the warmth of your homecoming hit you all over again. It had been so long since you had come to your place and felt at home. Whether it was the place itself, or the man standing before you giving you a plate of chicken cacciatore and a kiss, you weren’t sure.

But you had a feeling it wasn’t the house.

######################################

You should’ve known better than to expect the blissful reality you were living to last. It was always like this in your life; things were going well and then the universe decided to send you a ‘fuck you, sit down’ type event to make sure you never forgot where you stood in your own life.

The day had started perfectly: you had woken up to the sight of the man you adored with his head planted firmly between your thighs and your breaths coming out in a gasp, then he’d cooked you breakfast. Then you’d shared a shower, with you firmly pressed up against the glass door and Daniel behind you, taking you so hard that you were sure your neighbours a block over could’ve heard the cacophony you were making.

And then you’d done something neither of you had done before: you drove to work together. He finally had the chance to drive your old school Aston Martin DB4 that he had no-so-secretly coveted all those months ago. You had laughed at him wildly as he sat in the driver’s seat and stroked the wheel with pure reverence in his eyes.

And when he had finally pulled out onto the road and turned to meet your eyes, you could see more than just adoration for the car in his eyes. Even more so when his hand slipped across the middle console to grip your thigh. You rolled your eyes at the cliche, but shimmied over closer to him anyways. You were such a sucker for the man.

When you had finally pulled into the Red Bull Milton Keynes headquarters parking lot, he’d gotten out of the car, shot you a glare as you made to open your own door, to come over and very gentlemanly help you out. Again, you had rolled your eyes at him with your lovestruck grin hidden between your teeth, and made some sarcastic commentary about women’s suffrage that had him laughing too.

Hand in hand, you entered the foyer of the main building, and ducked your head as people turned to stare open-mouthed and wide-eyed as you made your way to the elevators. And when you had successfully made it across the gauntlet of impolite stares, Daniel swept you into his arms and pressed a long, smacking kiss to your forehead before walking away, leaving you a blushing mess.

“I’ll see you for lunch!” He shouted over his shoulder. Mouths still agape, it was almost comical watching people’s heads turn between you still flushing by the elevators, and Daniel swaggering away.

You spun back to the elevators, frantically punching the button repeatedly in the hopes the elevator would hear your mental pleading for it to get here faster.

And that’s where the blissful bubble of fantasy you were living in ended.

A small, feminine throat clearing sounded behind you. You shut your eyes, and prayed for any deity to answer your prayers that it wasn’t who you thought it would be. With a politely bland smile on your face, you turned to face Bianca from marketing or PR or whatever soul sucking part of the business she worked in.

“Good morning, Bianca.”

All you received in response was a hum of acknowledgement. And then in the most simperingly annoying tone possible, Bianca asked, “Have you spoken with Christian this morning? I believe he has some things to discuss with you. There were a few things we didn’t get to touch on before your departure, but I figured I’d see if he had managed to catch you up on them since then.”

“No,” Your teeth were gritted behind the aching muscles of your forced smile. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning, when I made my opinion of your next PR stunt pretty clear.”

Bianca let out a smug sounding hum, but there was nothing but cold malice flashing behind her eyes. “Yes, you made your position quite clear. Good thing that your contract had a few workarounds for us to… you know, work around. Anyways, enjoy your day!”

And before the sinking feeling in your stomach had fully landed, Bianca had already spun on her stupidly high heel and trotted away on the echoing linoleum foyer floor. Buzzing filled your ears, and you got onto the elevator on auto-pilot.

They couldn’t have.

Surely they wouldn’t have.

They would have.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to your floor, where you watched like an outsider looking in, as your entire team turned to face you. Expressions ranging from awe to distrust shone out to you. But there was no mistaking the shock underlying each one of them. The entire floor of employees went silent.

Tentatively, you stepped out onto the aero-engineering floor and moved towards your office, hand scrabbling through your handbag for your phone as an excuse to keep from seeing all their staring eyes. Finally, as the glass door to your office swung shut behind you, you pulled out your phone. Hands shaking, you searched up the Red Bull social media pages, where you could see the same video had been posted across every platform.

Your face, the poster image of the bombshell news that had just rocked the motorsporting world. Every single aspect of your life that you had worked so hard to keep under wraps, now aired for anyone and everyone to see.

The video was only just over a minute long, but watching felt like hours had passed by. They hadn’t gotten a direct interview with you, but the snippets of press work you had to do over the years were cropped in between shots of you working on the car or in the team. You working inside your office. You on the pit wall, pointing at data points and graphs with the team engineers looking over your shoulder. You laughing with drivers and pit crew.

All so complimentary to the work you had done - the invaluable part you had played in their success in building the team up to the formidable and almost unbeatable monster they had become this season.

All of that would’ve been fine, right up until the video flicked over to none other than Mr Christian Fucking Horner himself. Where he, in the backdrop of his stupidly glossy office, announced what an honour it had been to be a part of the continuation of your father’s legacy through you. That whilst you had hidden away from the public eye, racing blood was in your veins. Buzzing nothingness filled your ears, and Horner’s voice faded out as the rush of blood through your body took over every other sense.

Without another thought, you clicked on the comments and began wading through the sea of shit that was people’s commentary on your life and your lies.

“Wow talk about nepotism as a disease. Can’t find a job anywhere in F1 where its not about what you know but who you know”

“Fuuuuuck no way!! Always wondered about that. Thought she must’ve died with them and the press just didn’t report it.”

“Raw and not even for the money. Next Question”

“Damn if I were here I wouldn’t even bother working, she must be fucking loaded with Shelby’s money”

“Yea, I’d tap that”

On and on, people’s comments flooded your screen. Commentary about your work was minimal - it hadn’t mattered all that had been said about your work. You had been reduced, with one ninety second clip, to the daughter of an F1 legend and nothing more. No matter that you nearly single-handedly developed technology that pushed the car’s aero-specs into the next stratosphere of technological advancements. It was suddenly no matter that you had been working behind the scenes, without a single mention of your father’s last name or his money or world championships.

You had been reduced to nothing more than the product of someone else’s efforts.

Your screen went blurry, the tears that had been steadily filling your eyes spilling over. You sat down on your chair with a heavy thud, spinning it till it faced away from the rest of your team on the other side of your glass door. You wouldn’t be able to handle the looks of absolute betrayal that was surely on all of their faces.

Even with the heavy panelled glass separating you from them, murmurings made their way through to you, even if the words themselves couldn’t be made out.

The video played through for the fourth time. It was like a trainwreck you couldn’t look away from.

And then the phone started vibrating. The words flashed across the top of your screen- incoming call from: Daniel The One and Only Sex God

Even with everything going on, you barked out a wet laugh. Clearly Daniel, between last night and this morning had taken your phone and changed his contact name. You weren’t sure what you had him down as anymore; had you ever actually saved his number? Or was it still the private number that had put all of these last few months into motion?

Dragging your finger across the screen, you picked up the call. Daniel’s heavy panting immediately came down the phone line. “Did you change your name on my phone?”

You don’t know why it’s the first thing out of your mouth with everything going on, but it is. He pants out a laugh, clearly as taken aback by the left-field questions as you are. A vague part of your brain wonders why he’s so out of breath. “We can come back to that, baby, I’m a little more worried about some other things going on right now.”

A watery, sad laugh makes its way out of you. “Guessing someone filled you in on the videos that dropped this morning then?”

“Yeah, you could say that. Where are you? I’m on the exec level and I can’t see you.”

You chance a glance around your chair, back out towards your team. You only look long enough to see a few people still looking your way. They’d formed a group now, huddled together and presumably discussing the news. Whirling back around you say, “Hiding in my office. Deciding how long I’m going to have to live in here before all of this dies down. That, or whether the angry hordes will come after me with pitchforks screaming ‘down with nepotism’.”

“What angry hordes are going to come after you?” You can hear the whirring buzz of an electric drill in the background of the call now - clearly Daniel had moved on to another part of the factory. Inevitably making his way to you. “Pretty sure security would stop them before they got past the parking lot, honey.”

“Doesn’t help if they're already in the building.” You whisper.

Daniel huffs down the line, and then the call cuts out. Right at the same time as the soft ‘whoosh’ of your door opening. You don’t turn around. You already know who it is.

He comes around to kneel in front of you, placing his hands on your knees, gentle but grounding. Tears start to fall again, and rather than sobbing you try to focus on all the small knicks and flecks across his knuckles and hands - the ones that tell the story of him. He leans forward to press his lips to your forehead. “I think you need to talk to your team.”

“Daniel, they think I’m a liar - which I am!”

He hushes you gently, moving his hands to wipe the tears that haven’t stopped falling.”Even still,” he says softly, “They’ll want to hear it from you, not from some stupid post on social media.”

You look up at him and sniffle. “They’re going to hate me.”

Daniel smiles, and drags his finger under your eyes again. Swiping across your cheeks and down across your lips. “I think you underestimate the kind of leader you are. And overestimate the number of people who you think hate you.”

You shake your head, but he keeps you from moving away. “And,” he continues. “I think you forget that even if you hadn’t moved heaven and earth to be where you are today without using your father’s name, his name and his legacy…it’s not something to be ashamed of.”

You open your mouth to speak, but he cuts you off again. “And, if anyone gives you shit–” he breaks with a peck to your tear streaked cheeks. “-- I’ll break their face.”

You have to laugh at that. There wasn’t a universe where you could see Daniel beating anyone up, but the sentiment warmed you. You knew what he meant: he was in your corner. He would be there to back you up, no matter what people said or did.

A soft echoing knock broke the bubble Daniel and yourself had built in the two minutes he’d been in your office. A young engineer, a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed recent uni graduate you had taken a chance on hiring last season, poked her head through the door with an apology in her wide eyes. You liked Jessie, she had reminded you of yourself when you were younger. But she was so much smarter, fresh and forward thinking. You had never had a reason to doubt your decision in hiring her. But the look in her eyes now had your stomach sinking.

“Hey, I’m seriously so sorry to interrupt, but uh, the team wants to, you know, speak to you. Out here, if that’s okay.”

You look past Jessie out on the aero-floor. The team that had been huddled before was now spread out. Some seated, other’s perched on their desk or standing tall with arms crossed, all staring at you expectantly.

Daniel reached forward and pried the phone from your hands, locking it and finally shutting off the grating sound of Christian’s voice filling your office. Leading you out of your chair, he smiled gently. “Time to face the music.”

######################################

Soooo, I guess, hi everyone? It's been a while, you look good.

Let me first say that whilst it has been a lovely long break from this platform, that I felt I needed, I will say sorry for those who have been ever so patiently waiting for updates that never came. I have set myself a small resolution this year of getting this story finished so I can remove it from the intrusive thoughts I have at night. I too, it seems, need to know how this story ends.

Welcome back, I hope you missed me like I all missed you. Cheers to more updates in future.

######################################

@seasidepierre @haterpenny @summertimemadness @sarcastic--bitchy @weirdestmentalityphilosopher @its-astrotea-love @marvelgirlswwe @miahelen @noope306 @hockey-and-wine @isntmadrid @feminismisaflawlessbitch @awalkinthe--park @tee-jay-ell @anaxlivia @earth-to-lottie @honeybadgerstan @riccardoshoey @colourofinfinity @midnightroses07 @kissingvalentino @gingerxarmy @itsreigns @okayleafs @thinemineours @hellolipoops

@thatchickwiththecamera @mjuikoli @angryhamsterenergy @loverofallthingsdannyric @tall-tanned-tattoo @ohpuckyeah @danielxricciardo @ggaslyp1 @cjbarnesss @one-oblivious-nerd @harley-sunday @damndanielricciardo @lharrietg @breeze-bloks @sugardontbesweet @sabsi2222 @rule107 @defnotsobbing @theworldofemmy @dr3-merclaren @japanesekel @j-brielmalfoy

@paarraanoid @reidslefteyebrow @superdeath @yeehawdaniel @lewispool @monte-carlando @wonderlandofsu @urafakebetch @icemanhoneybadger @dizzysight @iamemy4 @sincerelywithheart @f1ck-em-all @statisticlytimmy

@mk15x @theplobnrgone @readerselegance @eitak-t @sad-fridge2323 @danielricciardo3f1 @darkice99 @fixthatcanon @galaxymacbeth @rachaeldonnaspiteri1 @pukklv @little-emmie-bear @ourlazydetectivekitten @the-lazy-leprechaun @mightychar @macaronnv @brithishamericangirls-blog @alphalib22 @xaviersgifted @prettybiching @letsthedogpackandthecats @dr3lover @fan-of-many-bands @sugardontbesweet @lovebynorth @mishaandthebrits

#f1 #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo fanfiction #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo imagine #Formula 1 #formula one fanfiction #ongoing series #DR3 #DR Private Number

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trippinsorrows · 9 months ago

Text

with me + part twenty

authors note: this is more on the boring/filler side, and i apologize for that, but it covers some necessary things and hints at other things. plus, the one after this is wrestlemania and then after that is the infamous disney trip, and those def won't be boring/fillers. 👀

also, what do you ya'll think reader is having? i'm also open to name suggestions cause i hate naming characters lmao

status: in progress // masterlist

warnings: fluff, language, angst, and suggestive themes

song inspo: with me by destiny’s child

faceclaims

words: 6.6k

taglist: @pixiedust4000 @yolobloggers @wanderingreigns @southerngirl41 @msbigredmachine @romanreignsbae

Life is one crazy ass ride.

You’ve always known this, but the past few months have really shown you just how insane things can be. It’s been up, it’s been down, it’s been just a fucking rollercoaster of events and emotions, but somehow, things always seen to work out in your favor.

You expected, maybe more so hoped, that your Live with Jadah would go over well. Would help people see and understand that there’s so much more to the story, so much more to you than the lies that have been fed to them by your apparently psychotic ex-best friend. That was the semi-goal.

Well, to say that goal was met is a bit of an understatement.

The Live went viral, spreading and making it to most global and some international platforms. TMZ formally issued an apology to you, Joe, and Jadah, and retracted their story with Mariah, even scrubbing the interview, which Joe’s legal team believes is only to avoid getting caught up in the several lawsuits she’s been slapped with.

So many publications have turned the tide, no longer speaking on you and your situation with an almost judgmental stance but rather just reposting the Live and letting the facts speak for themselves.

And social media…..holy shit.

One thing you never expected was for the Live to go viral, but you especially never expected for yourself to also go viral in a different way, that is.

While the general public was initially against you, bashing you every which way to Sunday, it’s almost completely turned with the vast majority now utterly and wholly intrigued with you. They’ve dug up old headshots from when you cheered in college, clips of you either practicing or competing, and a few Snap videos you were in, again, all during your college years.

Not to mention the clips they took from the Live, primarily of you playfully twerking with Jadah. That clipped with the TikToks you did with Naomi has resulted in people making TikToks and “edits,” as Alexis explained, posting and sharing everywhere.

Apparently, the vast majority of social media finds you extremely attractive, and have even been comparing you to the infamous prison bae, Jeremy Meeks, from way back when. Minus the criminal aspects, of course.

“Look at this one! These are my favorite.” Alexis turns her phone so the group of you can see what is yet another edit of you, err, more so your ass than anything to good googly moogly by Project Pat, which apparently was already going viral on TikTok as people post videos of friends and loved ones with a nice ass. Seems you’ve been added to that group.

“I don’t get the fascination,” you admit with a shake of your hand, fingers tapping against your glass of lemonade. “Like, I’m not even famous.”

“You kinda are now,” Bianca suggests. It's a crazy suggestion, too, because in what world does someone like you, from a small ass town with virtually no major social media footprint, qualify as famous. “Not like, A-List celeb famous, but you don’t make it to the Shade Room if you’re not at least kinda famous.”

Alexis makes a sound, adding, “ya’ll whole lil situation made the March event on their calendar.”

“On their what?” Jadah is understandably confused, asking, “what the hell does that even mean?”

“Twin, I’m gonna need to make a PowerPoint for you or something.”

“Please do, and make sure to add the fancy transitions.”

“Custom slide backgrounds?”

“You know the key to my heart.”

The meeting and union of Jadah and Alexis remains to be seen as one of the worst or best things you could have ever done. They’re so damn similar it felt almost criminal to not introduce them, but with both having such strong personalities, a clash could be one of the titans. So far, however, they’re vibing just as well as you and Jadah have. Hence why all of these ladies are sitting around your coffee table, various drinks in hand, most alcoholic, except for yours of course.

Which reminds you…

“Oh shit,” you announce, four sets of eyes falling on you as you realize you haven’t shared the news with the majority of them, ironically, Jadah being the only one to know. “I haven’t had a chance to ask.”

You decide to be dramatic as hell, pausing as Alexis is the first to say, impatiently, “ask what, hoe?”

Another pause followed by an intentional rub of your belly as you nonchalantly ask, “which one of ya’ll wants to be in charge of planning the baby shower?”

You’re met with instant screams and squeals of enjoyment, a big smile falling on your face as you’re hit with all of the questions and exclamations.

“I knew it! I knew it was just a matter of time before BDJ struck again!”

“Y/N! Oh my goodness, congratulations!”

“No freaking way! That’s amazing!”

“I’m gonna act like I didn’t already know, so congratulations, great value sister wife!”

Alexis and Jadah’s statements make you laugh while Bianca and Kaylah’s cause your heart to swell. You then try to quiet them down, “thank you, guys. We’re excited. But, we haven’t told Callie yet, so please keep it to yourselves.”

“Of course.” Kaylah excitedly asks, “how far along are you?”

“Almost three months,” you answer, proudly. Although entirely unexpected, or maybe not depending on how you look at it, you’ve found your excitement at this pregnancy growing every single day. Excitement at having another child, giving Callie the chance to be a big sister, to give Joe the opportunity to experience this pregnancy with you from conception to birth and beyond. He deserves it, especially now that you know what he went through with Jadah.

“Wait. Damn. This means we can’t have a hot girl summer until next year!” Alexis is pouting as she downs the rest of her drink before reaching for the bottle to get a refill. “You couldn’t let that nigga shoot up the club later this fall instead.”

Kaylah’s nose turns up as she also takes a sip of her moscato but not before muttering, “didn’t need that visual.”

Rolling your eyes, you point out, “Alexis, we are too damn old to be having a hot girl summer. Half of us are moms and/or in relationships except your non-committal ass.”

Non-committal has nothing to do with the topic that floats to the front of your mind, but having a room full of women to consult with seems like a perfect opportunity to discuss something that’s still bothering you to some extent.

“Let me ask ya’ll something.” You take a sip of your sparkling apple cider and get to explaining. “So, every time I try to talk to Joe about planning for when the baby gets here, like having my mom or his mom come stay with us a bit to help out when he’s on the road, he either ignores me, changes the subject, or just pacifies me. And I’m trying really hard not to cuss him out, but between baby emotions and me being me, it’s hard.”

Being perceptive is always something you’ve prided yourself on, valued as one of your attributes, so it’s hard not to miss when Kaylah, Alexis, and even Jadah all look suddenly uncomfortable with your question, like they also want to change the subject.

Bianca is the first and only to speak out.

“Yeah, that’s kind of weird.” Her agreement is the quintessential example of validation you were needing for this situation. “I get you’re barely three months, but why not start with the plans now? The sooner the better since it seems like his schedule is pretty hectic.”

Throwing your hands up in the air, you echo her sentiments. “Exactly! And one thing to know about me, which I know he has to know about me is that I like to plan. I hate surprises. We need to start figuring out this shit now.”

“I’d definitely talk to him about it, cause men can be very go with the flow, but this isn’t one of those things that I think should be go with the flow.”

“I feel like you should maybe just wait it out and see where the cards fall.” Kaylah’s suggestion is casual, but her eye contact is sparse, and you actually don’t know what to make of that.

Jadah contributes to the conversation with agreement to Kaylah’s point. “I agree. Trust your man, whore.”

“But—” And as if present and overhearing said conversation, your phone starts to ring, the man himself filling up your lock screen. “Speaking of the devil…..” You lift and show your phone to the group. “I gotta take this ya’ll.”

“Well, duh.” Alexis says like it’s a no brainer. “BDJ probably won’t stop calling until you pick up anyway.”

Laughing, you untangle your legs and climb off the sofa at the same time you answer his FaceTime, quickly telling him, “hold on.”

“I’ll be back,” you inform, but the last thing you hear is Bianca making the awful mistake of asking Alexis what “BDJ” stands for. Alexis and Jadah start to laugh.

Obviously, Jadah also knows what’s up.

Locking the door behind you, you sit down on the patio set that was delivered only two days prior and situate your phone on the accompanying table. Legs crossed, you give him the go, “okay, i’m good now. Just wanted some privacy.”

He doesn’t hesitate to slide right into protective papa bear mode. “How you feeling?”

“Alright.” Your hand unintentionally lands on your stomach as you explain, “had some nausea this morning, but that’s not out of the norm. I had pretty bad morning sickness when I was pregnant with Callie the first few months.”

You can tell he’s not entirely satisfied with this answer, leaning more on the concerned and conservative side. “When’s your next checkup?”

“April 8th. I made sure to schedule it so you can be there.” Joe indicated he wanted the first Monday after WrestleMania to be a day of rest for you and Callie, and it can still be, but you also couldn’t miss the opportunity for him to be a part of your first official well-baby visit. Especially with this being the first time you’ll be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat.

That must especially be special for him.

“I promise I’m okay, Joe.” Out of respect for him and his emotional state at such an important time in his life, you haven’t told him everything Jadah shared with you. Haven’t made him aware of your knowledge regarding his loss. You’re not sure if you ever will, to be honest. If he wishes to discuss that with you, you’ll always be there to listen and support. But, there’s zero desire to dig up painful memories and trigger this man.

That doesn’t, however, mean you can’t reassure him when you can see there’s a level of anxiety and apprehension.

“If I wasn’t, you and Dr. Young would be the first to know.” It’s a promise. You would never do anything to risk unnecessary complications with this pregnancy. “How do you feel? You look tired.”

He’s looked as such for the past couple weeks, and you feel slightly bad, knowing the whole Mariah ordeal must have taken a toll on him. Not to mention his intense training and preparation for WrestleMania.

Of course, he just shrugs, playing it off. “I’m good.” You make a knowing sound. “What?”

“Seriously, Joe. This is me. I know you like the back of my hand. You’re exhausted. It’s okay to admit as such.”

“I’m fine, Y/N. I promise.”

Joe is every bit stubborn as he is caring. He won’t agree with you, but that doesn’t make what you’re saying any less true.

“Whatever, just know I’m giving you a well deserved massage when we come to see you next week.” Coyly, you imply with a shrug of your shoulder. “And maybe a lil’ more depending on the layout of your place and if we can get some privacy from your lil’ twin.”

“Naw, that lil more is happening no matter what, even if I have to fuck you in the rental.”

His tone of surety makes you laugh as you think about something. “I don’t think we’ve ever fucked in a car before.” The list of places this man has been balls deep in you is endless, but a vehicle and plane seem to have not made the list. Yet. “Might have to change that.”

He also laughs. “Wherever you want it, baby, you just gotta tell me when and how.” Just more and more reasons to love this man to infinity and beyond. He matches your freak so well.

Joe asks about Callie, of course, and you let him know she’s in seven heaven playing with her cousin in her new room that’s gradually filling up even though she still doesn’t even have all of her stuff from back in your apartment. It also goes without saying that you remind him she’s absolutely thrilled to see him soon, the same as you, which is the same as him. Reunions between the three of you are just all around enjoyable.

Naturally, Joe apologizes, for no good reason, at not being able to come with you as you take Callie back to your hometown for your final apartment walkthrough and to close all other matters, officially making your move to Florida complete. It’s a bit of a bittersweet thing, leaving the place you grew up and have so many memories in. However, what’s ahead of you is so much better than what’s behind you.

And while you would love Joe to be able to come too, it’s also not necessary.

Especially when he finds out what else is on your agenda before you say goodbye for good.

Realizing your time with him could be cut at any moment, you decide it’s now or never to break the news to him. “There’s something I need to tell you, and I know right off the bat, you’re not going to be in agreement, but I need you to just hear me out.”

He’s hesitant and already skeptical but nods. “I’m listening.”

A deep breath followed by a quick prayer to the big man that Joe will at least try to be open to this plan. “I’m gonna go see my dad while I’m there.”

This is something you’ve really been thinking about, on and off, since the Christmas ordeal. It just hasn’t been such a major priority given all the other fires you’ve been having to put out. Alexis was right when she said the dynamic with your dad has a lot to do with the situation with Joe and not telling him about Callie.

And you being able to acknowledge that has made you realize you’ve been holding onto a lot of pain and anger towards that man. More pain than anything. And it’s time to let it go. The same way you’re leaving that town for good, albeit bittersweet, you need to drop the baggage of hurt at the door before the curtain closes permanently.

In this case, that means sitting in front of the man who is your biological father and nothing more, speaking your peace, and closing that chapter.

For good.

To some extent, you expected, maybe more so hoped, for Joe to be more receptive.

It was wishful thinking, at best.

Immediately, he protests, face turned up in a scowl that reminds you of Callie when she’s in one of her moods. “Like hell you—”

Closing your eyes, you do your best to keep your voice leveled. “Hear me out, please.”

“Y/N, do you not remember the last time you saw that man?” Most definitely do you remember. That was definitely a low moment for you. “You were a fucking wreck. I’m not seeing you go through that again, especially with you being pregnant.”

“Do you really think if I had even an inkling it wouldn’t be safe for our baby I’d be doing it? Come on, Joe. You know me. I would never put either of our children in harm's way.” And you know he knows this, knows this very well, but you can also understand his anxiety from a couple different angles. “Before when I saw him, I was still looking for his love and approval. I can admit that now.” It’s been a tough pill to swallow, going back and forth between emotion and logic, coming to grips with such an uncomfortable truth. “I don’t need that anymore. I don’t even want it. I have you. I have Callie. My mom. Our friends. Even this new baby, but if I’m leaving that town for good, I need to leave all of the hurt it brought me there too. That includes making my peace with him.”

When he still doesn't say anything, you continue to plead your case.

“I need to do this, Joe. I’m not asking you to understand.” You’re not quite sure he could. This is one of those things that unless you’ve lived it, lived with a neglectful, uninvolved parent, you just couldn’t get it. “I’m just asking you to trust me.”

He’s quiet for a few minutes, and you already know it’s because he’s sitting on your words, doing his best to meet you where you are. Eventually, he says in a resigned voice, “I don’t want you going alone.”

There’s an immense amount of gratitude for his blessing, and his request is more than fair. You also figured as such, assuring him, “I already talked with Bianca about it. She’s gonna go with me.”

This seems to make him feel at least a little bit better. He scratches his beard. “Alright. But the minute you start feeling off—”

“I’ll cut it off. I know.” That goes without saying. You meant what you said. Nothing could make you put your baby at risk. “Thank you, Joe.”

Not wanting this to be the last topic you discuss, you switch gears a bit to something that will hopefully lessen his unease. “I also think we should tell Callie when we come to see you next week. I just told the girls today, and I’m gonna tell my mom while I’m there. Callie deserves to know.” The order of which you’ve told people about your pregnancy isn’t exactly how you would have preferred it to go. In a perfect world, it would have been Joe, Calllie, your mom, and then your close friends. But, life be lifing, so you just have to roll with it as best you can.

Joe nods. “I agree.” You overhear a distant voice in the background before his gaze falls on you. “I gotta go, babe.”

It’s hard not to feel disappointed. “I get it.” This pregnancy has your emotions a bit on the high, sensitive end, because there’s no reason for you to feel like crying just because this man has to get back to work. You miss him like crazy, sure, but this has always been a bit of the dynamic. You get him in doses, sometimes big, sometimes small. “Can we still call you tonight? You know Callie can’t sleep unless she can tell both of us goodnight.”

It’s such a twist, a beautiful, unexpected thing. Once upon a time, it was just you she needed to see and/or speak to before she could fall asleep. But now, it’s both you and Joe, and you honestly couldn't love that more.

Their relationship and bond is so precious to you.

And now that you understand what Joe’s been through, you can see why he’s always willing to move heaven and earth for her. She’s the little girl he’s always wanted and finally has.

“Of course.” You weren’t expecting any other answer. “I love you.”

A warm smile sets on your face. “I love you too, baby.”

You settle on a time that works best for him and end the call. Ignoring the sadness at not being able to talk to him further, you walk back in the house for a sure pick-me-up.

“Well, it’s about time,” Bianca teases, dimples nice and pronounced. “Thought we were gonna have to check on ya’ll.”

“No, she’s back too early….” Alexis, as per usual, confuses you when she asks, “ya’ll weren’t having phone sex?” She curses and then grabs her purse, digging out her wallet, slapping a wad of cash into Jadah’s expecting hand.

“Told you,” Jadah says knowingly, smirk on her pretty face as she counts the cash. “One thing I do know about Joe is he’s an all out type of man. It’s rounds or nothing.” She then looks over at you, apologizing, “hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t.” It’s an honest answer. You’re old, mature, and secure enough to acknowledge and be okay with the fact your man has been with her in almost every way he’s probably been with you. Outside of the emotional connection component, which is really what matters the most to you. Sex would just be sex if you didn’t love him as much as you do. If he didn’t love you as much as he does. That’s what makes it so explosive.

“Well, it bothers me!” Kaylah looks so disgusted, and you can’t blame her. “Joe is literally like my brother!”

Bianca cosigns with a shake of her head. “And it bothers me because Y/N literally is my sister.”

“That’s so wild, so ya’ll are half sisters, right?” Jadah asks, pointing between the two of you as you move back onto the sofa. “Same mom or…..”

“No, same dad, but we don’t claim him.”

Jadah makes an ‘O’ with her mouth as Alexis leans over to whisper something in her ear. “Got it. Daddy issues. Ya’ll should just jump him then.”

“That’s what I said! Stomp his ole’ mean ass.”

Yeah…..putting Alexis and Jadah together may have created a new kind of threat to society.

“Anyway.” Refocusing them is really the best and only option. “As we were discussing, ya’ll think I should bring it up to Joe when we fly there next week?” You then remember the pact mentality and aim your question toward Bianca. “Let me just ask you, cause you seem to be the only one who gets where I’m coming from.”

At that, Bianca opens and closes her mouth. “Oh. That. I…..I think you should just leave it alone. I’m sure Joe has his reasons.”

Now it’s your turn to look shocked. “What? That’s not what you said literally not even 10 minutes ago.”

Bianca switching up on you definitely wasn’t in the cards, especially since she was providing you all the affirmation and validation you were seeking in your dilemma.

She looks off, almost in a guilty, sheepish way. “I changed my mind….”

“What did ya’ll say to her?” It’s directed toward Alexis and and even Jadah, because Kaylah doesn’t seem like the type to try to sway people one way or the other. “Can’t leave ya’ll asses alone for two minutes.”

“I don’t like your tone, Mama Mia. Watch it.” Alexis warns, and you can only roll your eyes. “What you need to be focused on is what you’re gonna wear to the Hall of Fame and WrestleMania.”

Kaylah gasps, also remembering. “Shit, I completely forgot about that.”

Your eyes land on her with premature excitement. “You’re going to the awards too?” She nods and you let out a big sigh of relief. “Oh thank god, I was kinda nervous. I’m sure Trinity is going too, but the more the merrier, I feel like I’m gonna be so out of place there or everyone’s going to hate me.”

“Girl, like Joe is going to let that happen.” Jadah is, surprisingly, the first one to jump to calm your nerves. “Him taking you in and of itself is such a ‘fuck you’ move. He really said ya’ll not about to bully the woman I love and think I’m finna just keep her on the backburner.”

“I agree.” Kaylah chimes, providing additional and useful context. “The internet wrestling community is a cesspool, and they’ll always find some reason to complain and bitch, but Joe has never been about that. He’s gonna have you on his arm regardless of who has something to say about it.”

“Ummmm, why are we acting like majority of the internet isn’t all on Y/N’s dick now that ya’ll cleared up the air?” Alexis lifts her phone, adding, “I literally can’t get on TikTok or Twitter without seeing edits and photos of Y/N that the internet has dug up. They can’t get enough of her.”

“Her ass, specifically,” Jadah adds, and you shake your head.

“I think what they’re trying to say is that maybe you should redirect your focus on fashion and hair choices vs public perception, because it seems to be in your favor currently.” Bianca’s advice is wise and on time. It also is very much giving off teacher vibes, just another thing you two can connect on.

You’re really happy you asked her to come visit you.

That you gave her a chance.

It’s proving to be a really good decision.

“Well, I’m gonna have my mom do my silk press while I’m there, so there’s that.” Typically, you avoid heat like the plague, sucking up the pain in the ass wash days to keep your curls hydrated and thriving. However, you’re okay with every now and then sitting in that damn chair for what feels like, and is, hours for these special occasions. And attending the Hall of Fame awards as well as WrestleMania definitely constitutes a special moment. “As far as fashion…..I have no idea. I don’t really have a lot of fancy clothes, and the ones I do have are before Callie and even now with the weight I’ve gained from this pregnancy already, I don’t know if I can still wear them.”

“Well then it’s obvious what we need to do.” Alexis says with a ‘duh’ tone. “We need to go find you some dresses! Like, today.”

“I probably do need to pick up something too.” Kaylah says with a heavy sigh. “I think Josh said something about wearing red.”

“Of course you have to wear red. That’s Bloodline colors.”

You chuckle at Bianca’s enthusiasm. It’s kinda cool that she’s also into wrestling. You’re so tempted to ask Joe if he can get tickets for her, Darius, and Taylor, but you also don’t want to do too much. It already means a lot to you that he got tickets for your mom and Alexis.

“I hate to pull the girls from their playing. They must be having a blast considering not one has come down in like over an hour.” It’s true. Not to mention you can also occasionally hear the chorus of giggles and shouting indicating just how great a time they’re having.

“I can watch them for ya’ll.”Jadah’s suggestion causes all sets of eyes to land on her. She rolls her eyes. “You all go get the shopping done, and I’ll stay here with the kids.”

“Jadah, you don’t have to—”

“I don’t mind. I’m not really that big on shopping anyway.” Finally. A difference between her and Alexis. “Plus, I have some client stuff I can get caught up with.”

You’re still reluctant, offering her another out. “If you’re sure….”

“Y/N, I would hope by now you’ve figured out I’m too blunt to lie. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to.” Jadah shrugs, directing her next statement to Kaylah and Bianca. “If you’re also good with it too, of course.”

Bianca and Kaylah echo agreement with you, hence it being decided.

With a chuckle, you announce, “I guess we’re going shopping.”

———-

Things have been hard since you first landed back in your hometown.

Saying goodbye to your students was hard.

Saying goodbye to friends in town has been hard.

Bidding farewell to the apartment you first brought your sweet little girl home to after she was born was very hard.

Visiting your grandma’s grave one last time for who knows how long…..that’ll be brutal.

But this….confronting your father for the last time…

To say you’re a bit on the anxious side is putting it nicely.

This was always going to be on the nerve inducing side for a variety of good and valid reasons. It’s just getting to the moment where it happens, where you sit in the parking lot of the restaurant he agreed to meet “you” at is just bringing out some indecision you’re certain comes from a place of anxiety.

Finally stepping out of the car, you and Bianca reach the door of the restaurant when she turns to you, mouth turned into a bit of a frown as she reminds, “you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s not about what I want to do. It’s about what I need to do, Bianca.” It’s the truth. This isn’t something you’ve been dying to have happen your entire life, but for the sake of your healing, it’s what needs to happen. “But, if you feel uncomfortable, I totally get—”

“Not at all.” She reaches for your hand. “You’ve got this.”

A deep breath followed by a head nod as you accept her hand. She gives you a little squeeze and opens the door, leading the way figuratively and literally. As expected, he’s already there and waiting, sitting near the back of the restaurant. You’re not surprised a man like him is right on time. He seems like the punctual bastard type.

And Bianca has reiterated as such before.

Together, you walk hand in hand towards him. Your eyes never leave him, watching as he lights up with a genuine smile at seeing Bianca, but that smile almost instantly drops when he sets his gaze on you.

Expected.

Wholly expected.

Immediately, his nose is turned up in visible disgust, primarily directed toward you. “Bianca, what is the meaning of this?”

“What?” Her voice is full of nonchalance as is the expression on her face. “I told you your daughter wanted to speak with you.”

He just didn’t know which daughter.

There’s no denying or misunderstanding his anger at the subterfuge. He shoots up from the table. “I’m not putting up with—”

Bianca is quick with it, assertively informing him, “if you want even a chance of seeing Taylor again, you’re gonna sit right back down and hear her out.” It means the world to you that not only has Bianca agreed to be here with you today, but it’s the fact that she’s willing to be so loyal to you.

Like a sister.

Because she is your sister.

He scoffs almost immediately. “Using my grandchild to blackmail me? That’s low, Bianca. Your mother and I raised you better than that.”

She crosses her arms and matches his energy. “You are the last person that needs to be talking about raising anyone.” She then looks at you, placing a comforting hand on your arm. “I’ll be right over there if you need me, okay?”

Nodding, she gives you one last supportive squeeze and ignores her father to walk over and slide into a booth across the room.

Left alone, you watch him begrudgingly sit down so he’s across from you, same set of brown eyes locking. It kills you how much of yourself you can see in him, starting with the same set of eyes. You just have to remind yourself that that’s where the similarities end.

“This won’t take long, which I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear.” He doesn’t agree nor disagree, not that it makes much of a difference to you. At all. “I’m moving from this town. Tomorrow’s the day I hand over my keys, and I’ll officially be living in Florida full time. Not that you care, because we both know you never have and never will give a flying fuck about me.”

“Is there a point to this?” The edge in his voice, maybe even a couple months ago, might have killed you. Stolen your joy. Now, it does nothing. He no longer has that power over you, because you’ve taken that power back.

And it feels so damn good.

“I did it, you know.” Without giving him a chance, if he even would, to respond, you continue. “I made something of myself. I’m successful. I have a career. I found love all without you ever doing a goddamn thing for me.”

For a second, you swear you see a different emotion flash in his familiar irises, but it’s gone almost instantly, replaced with that permanent disdain you refuse to allow sway you from your goal.

“I have a man who loves me in every single healthy way that exists, who loves our daughter more than there are words in all the languages put together.” Emotion chokes you up, but you manage to stick with the mental points you made for this conversation. “And you wanna know something? We conceived her when he was still married.”

Leaning forward as you lower your voice, both for privacy and emotionality. “But, I didn’t tell him. I deprived him and our little girl for the first almost five years of her life because I was so scared that he was going to be like you, that he was going to reject her and hurt her the way you hurt me.”

It’s a bit painful for you to verbalize those words, but also so damn liberating to free them from the confines of your subconscious.

To also release those shackles they had on you.

“But, I was so so so wrong, because he is the best damn dad she could have asked for, and he was angry with me for not telling him about her. He wanted to be in her life. He wanted her. And it’s through that I finally realized something.”

Your voice cracks as you finally release your truth and acknowledge freedom from over 30 years of emotional bondage.

“I’ve finally realized after all these years that it’s not that I’m not good enough for you.” You shake your head, pointing at him with all the intention and determination you can muster up. “You’re not good enough for me. Not good enough to be my dad. Definitely not good enough to be a grandfather to my kids. Not good enough to be in my life.” There isn’t an ounce of hesitation or a stutter in your voice. “It’s not that I don’t deserve to be in your life. You don’t deserve to be in mine. You never did, and you never will.”

And never again will you seek out that love and validation from him. You don’t need it.

You never did.

“I actually feel sorry for you, because I am an amazing, strong black woman who was raised by an even more amazing, strong black woman who was also raised by a phenomenal black woman. And my daughter….” Just thinking about Callie, her warm smile and the great big hug she gave you, before you and Bianca left her and Taylor with your mom, makes you all choked up again. “—is the kindest, sweetest, smartest kid you could ever meet. But as long as there is breath in my body, you will not know her or any other kids I bring into this world.”

That’s a promise, an oath, a swear on everything that you love and hold dear.

“After today, you are dead to me, and I truly hope you one day see all that you missed out on, but I’m not going to wait around for that. I’m going to spend the rest of my life surrounded with love and family because that’s what I deserve.” Grabbing your purse and sliding out the booth, you make eye contact with Bianca who starts to head over. “Take care, Captain Wilson.”

As soon as she’s at your side, he shoots up from the booth. “Bianca, if you leave with that girl—”

“That woman,” Bianca corrects with all the sharpness. “You mean my sister?”

His lips turn up with a hateful snarl. “This hoodrat trash is not your sister.”

You actually laugh at his words, laugh at the fact that he’s truly so pathetic and a piece of shit he couldn’t even take any of what you just said to heart. It also makes you wonder if he’s aware of all the shit that’s been happening online regarding you. Not that it makes a difference.

It’s just something else he would try to use to justify not being in your life.

Like a coward.

“No.” She lifts her chin, taking your hand. “She is my sister, but you?” Bianca shakes her head, and you can hear the emotion catch in her voice. “You’re not my father. You’re the trash.”

If he offers a visible response to her harsh words, you’ll never know because Bianca tugs on your hand, directing the both of you to turn around as she marches you out the restaurant. Once out of the vicinity, she spins you around and brings you in for a big, loving hug.

“I’m so damn proud of you.” Eyes closing, you accept and lean into her embrace. You’re also insanely proud of you. “You said what you had to say. The ball is in his court now.”

“I highly doubt he’s gonna do anything with it.” Separating, you again thank her. “I really appreciate you being here with me today. I’m not sure Joe would have been okay with me doing this, if you weren’t here.”

She smirks, head tilted to the side. “Nowhere else I’d rather be, hun.”

It’s the truth. Along with the fact that you’re not even sure you would and even could have gone through with this if not for her assistance and support. It’s crazy how the people you’ve met in recent months have become such important figures in your life and the people you thought were important are now strangers.

Life….always a wild ride, for sure.

“And speaking of Joe….” She’s understandably confused as you casually throw out, “guess who’s going to WrestleMania with her little sister?”

Bianca’s eyes are as wide as saucers. “Seriously?” Laughing, you nod. “Oh my god—” She captures you in another big hug, the two of you nearly hopping like damn teenagers. “Wait, just me or—”

“Of course not. Taylor and Darius too. I feel like he might divorce your ass if you tried to go without him.”

“You’re not entirely wrong.” Her laughter lessens as she looks at you with admiration and appreciation. “You really didn’t have to do that, Y/N.”

“It wasn’t that big a deal.” And it wasn’t. After biting the bullet and pushing aside unnecessary anxiety, you just shot Joe a text asking if there was any way Bianca and her family could attend Mania. His response was an almost instant yes. “Besides….we’re sisters.” Your eyes begin to water as you give a one shoulder shrug. “We look out for each other.”

Her smile matches the emotionality of this moment. “You’re damn right we do.” Sniffling, she wipes her eyes and then gasps. “Shit, now I need to find a dress. Does this town have any stores where I could maybe find something?”

Her question is so laughable. “Not really, sis. Let’s just wait till we fly home. I’m sure we could find you something there. Maybe the boutique where I got my dresses."

Home…..

You’re not sure if you’ve referred to Florida as home prior to this moment, but it feels so good, so right. Like it’s where you’re supposed to be. Where you were always supposed to be.

Home with your daughter, with your man, with the baby growing inside you.

With your family.

#roman reigns x black!reader #roman reigns x black!oc #roman reigns fic #roman reigns #arisnotebook

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timkontheunsure · 3 months ago

Text

Ozzie's not perfect but that so good 😊

Intersectionality of classism, racism and ableism

Ozzie's a pretty lovable carebear of a sin, it's honestly great seeing the nuisance this guy gets in the writing. I love seeing a nice bloke who is a little bit classist, racist and ableist; because these are traits anyone can have.

Like how Stolas' and Millie's are there for character development, so is Ozzie's. 🙂

And none of these things feel like they'll be unsormaounable for Fizz and Ozzie.

Classism

Alot of foke have asked if Fizz gets to be mad that Ozzie didn't try very hard to save his best friend. And well yer he probably will be mad in s3.

He begged his partner to keep his best friend safe, he gets to be mad. Doesn't matter if Ozzie thought he had a good reason to not do so, like keep his head down to try to keep Fizz safe; Fizz can be mad for not being listened to.

But that's not the only thing Ozzie got coming due, and means we'll get some really interesting stuff.

Ok you know how Stolas is only just started to understand how his being born in a position of privilege has affected his and Blitz's relationship? And that alot of the things he did wrong weren't out malice, but from unthinking ignorant?

Well Fizz & Ozzie's power dinamic is worse, because he's 1 of the 7 actually responsible for settling up a lot of that cast system...

And while Stolas got a bit of a mixed bag with his privilege. Never having to think about money, and given housing for himself and his kid. But also getting almost no choice in his life, and being forced into an abusive marriage.

Ozzie by contrast has it all good. His big day to day headaches being his own safety record on vibes. And his own reputation making him want to try to keep a loving relationship on the down low. (His own fault).

His bacis maybe unthinking, but he's not actually ignorant of the way hell works for imps.

They've been dealing the extremely class divided by pretending it doesn't exist; leaving any fallout for Fizz to deal with alone.

Like how till recently him and Fizz were in the closet. Something Ozzie felt so uncomfortable about, he outed another royal/imp couple to shove under the bus to help them hide better. His wanting them safe isn't from a bad place, but his actions aren't clean.

Fizz was happy attacking Blitz, someone he believes hurt him out of spite. But Ozzie's the one who physically drags Stolas in, mocks him for slumming with an imp, then take the piss for lossing his wife and kid.

It really isn't a compliment when someone says "You sold your life for a thrust" and to "Pretend you don't see that crust", and equates their downfall to dating an imp. That's mockery.

I'm glad Blitz got to push back a little with when it's proven Fizzmodeus have a romantic relationship. Cus yep they are massive fucking hypocrites.

Even with harassing Moxxie for singing a love song to Millie, it's not Ozzie that takes the heat. It's Fizz.

Ozzie's need to hid them, is directly the reason to tell Moxxie off for the love song, because he's pretending love and lust can't coexist. And Millie wouldn't bonk Fizz over the head he'd if they didn't interrupt her husbands song.

The need to hid, to keep Ozzie's reputation; stops Oz from being aloud to be visibly too pissed at M&M.

Ok that the lightest fallout that Fizz takes from them not dealing with the power imbalance. But cus of staying closeted Fizz gets kidnapped, and nearly killed to keep 'their' secret.

Then attacked by stalkers cus Ozzie can't be seen caring about him;

(Making every other year of the clown pageant something Fizz must face solo).

All for Ozzie to out them both without checking Fizz ok with it first. Stopping Mammon blackmailing him, like Crim did.

So a good action, but it's acting unilaterally for both sides of the couple without any planning ahead. (Ozzie's is the biggest himmo).

Telling everyone he loves Fizz comes from a good place, but it's stepping on a boundary without checking it. When any possible backlash will likely to fall again on Fizz, not Ozzie.

But it's not the only boundary of Fizz's Ozzie's over stepping for a while.

Racism

Ozzie a pretty risk adverse guy, but also doesn't have a cool head in crisis.

This makes him less likely to stand up for what's right, untill he's backed into a corner. (Making some of the stuff he'll do to get out of a bad situation abit of a shit show).

Ozzie's of a both chicken, and also a little bit of a cock lol. (Viv did well with making him a cockerel).

He doesn't yet want to stick his neck out for people he really should be. But is happy to tag in when Bee says Blitz is a good guy. Even though he owns Blitz for saving Fizz twice, and Stolas stopping him himmboing into getting Fizz killed.

In comparison Bee and Tex's relationship isn't a secret. All the Sins know, and basically every hellhound knows. Both their communities know they are in a stable loving relationship.

She stands up for her man to Mammon. And even non verbally tells Ozzie to back off, that it's her fight.

She doesn't need it to be a life or death situation to tell people to feck off if they don't like it.

Bee is willing to give Blitz a chance, and speaks up for him first. Ozzie's more of a tagalog. He does speak up for Blitz, a guy he has much more reason to want to help; but only after Bee.

And then doesn't do more even though IMP are legally under his jurisdiction. And his partner begs him to. (There's a good chance Ozzie could have told Satan to back off, and it'd have worked. But Ozzie isn't a planner in a fast situation).

Even though he knows that Blitz will die at the hands of a corrupt racist political system without someone stepping in.

Ozzie even has the neve to look a bit put out when Blitz calls him and the other Sins on their shit. "All I was trying to do was raise above this stupid fucking place YOU ALL FORCED US INTO!"

Doesn't Blitz know he's one of the 'good ones'?

But Oz is just not a strong person yet, and honestly think this might be something he eventually gels with Stolas over. Learning to be less passive.

But with them out Ozzie is able to tell Ma to do one for being rude about Fizz. Yay! 😁 He's becoming more free in what he can do. Love that characters development.

Ableism

And while taking about Stolas we can highlight the last character flaw Ozzie has, that's not immediate obviously.

Ok I actually think making the loving, and supportive partner to the physical disabled guy just a bit ableist too is A+ writing. 🙂

Ozzie has a pretty big problem with Stolas. (I'm going to need a thesaurus for all the ways Ozzie is a mardy over Stolas being autistic).

He gets arsy when Stolas doesn't take the chair he draw out.

Gets pissed when he's get a real answer to if he's "Still gettin' yo' kink on with that feisty imp?" Not treated as the verbal wallpaper it was. And treating Blitz like all he can be is a race kink.

Assumes the worse intentions of Stolas by suggested he's after date rape drugs. (Going chalk this up as ableist thing too, as assuming the worst in autistic people cus they're weird is really common).

Is creped out by Stolas stimming, and angry at Stolas being excited to help with his special interest.

Is annoyed that Stolas stops him signing a contract to have Fizz decapitated. (Ozzie's just really isn't a planner. No wonder Fizz does all that for him day to day. 🙂 They work well together).

Then sets Stolas on fire for making him a speedy viable contract, because the lawyer is slow.

And after Fizz is safe and sound at home, Ozzie complains that he got stuck all day with Stolas, and bragged how refused to help Blitz... (He's being unthinkingly ungrateful here, because he's used to getting things as he's top of the heap).

Some neurotypicallys really do just hate you on sight for missing social cues, and Ozzie is being that guy.

He can't even hide how much he dislikes Stolas while Stolas busy doing the thing Fizz asked him to do.

(Ozzie, you contempt is showing again bud).

This is all ableism, because the underlying message 'Why don't you just get it, and read my mind for me?! Why do I have to make allowances for your disability, and communicate what I want clearly. It's your fault I'm mildly inconvenients'.

Ok getting back to Fizz, because how he treats Stolas, leads into his attitude around Fizz's care.

Ozzie does a common mistake that all carers will do at somepoint. He reduces the ability of the disabled person to be autonomous. And he does this primarily for safety; but it's also out of a paternalistic view that he knows best.

(He's older, has more experience, more powerful; surely he can't get this wrong right?)

When Fizz has a knock to his confidence about being out and about by himself, Fizz is being hyperbolic about hating going outside. And Ozzie over corrects tells him he never had to do that again.

And Fizz's face drops.

It's infantilizing him, by removing some of his choices. He does this again when he goes behind Fizz's back to ask Blitz to bodyguard him.

Things can be done for a place of love, and still be removing someone's autonomy. Yes without Blitz there Fizz wouldn't have had the strength to tell Mammon to fuck off, but things can be both good and bad.

(Honestly I could probably have written 'things can be both good and bad' with pics of Ozzie doing shit, and call it a day 4 drafts ago)....

This has happened with me and every disabled person I know. Fizz needs to talk with Ozzie and redraw boundaries. They'll have to do this after each situation comes up.

Like Ozzie really wasn't happy with Fizz going out alone at the start of Opps. But they compromised on having his phone on him, and a driver giving him a lift.

With Fizz no longer working for Mammon, and their relationship being public, arguably there's less immediate danger now.

But it's the intersectionality that's making it hard for Fizz to start that conversation. He's not just a imp dating a royal, he's a disabled imp who's prosthetics are gifted and maintained by Oz, dating a Sin who was instrumental in putting his whole race near the bottom of the ladder....

Fizz is likely going to need Blitz and Stolas' input to feel comfortable redrawing those tightening boundaries.

It's the reason he feels like he does have to apologise for getting hurt and kidnapped.

(Ozzie did great reminding Fizz he doesn't have to apologise here).

Alright cards on the table when I've had to tell my SO/carer to back off, it's always started by talking to a friend outside our dinamic. And that healthy. You get a different view, your able to sanity check what you want Vs what practical. And it gives you backup.

Making a conversation more likely to be constructive not destructive.

Because this is only insurmountable if they don't try and climb it together.

#I love Ozzie but think he's got some work to do. Same as the rest of the cast #Helluva boss #fizzmodeus #Characters as shades of grey in helluva and it one of the things I love #fizzarolli #Character analysis into character arc theory

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spooksalotnoel · 1 year ago

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The geek squad, and why MBAV had so much potential

For most of you this show hasn't been in your mind since you were 10-12. But for the ones who have rewatched this show recently, you will totally understand. I couldn't count on my fingers how many times I've seen this show. When I first watched this show I didn't even know there was a movie. Typically coming into shows like this, without context of the movie the show doesn't make sense. In this case, I watched the show 5 times before noticing the movie, yes, the added information of the movie really ties into the show, but it's still watchable without it. My Babysitter's a Vampire had so much potential it actually makes me sad. As far as rewatching it recently, that final episode is brutal without closure. I don't think I'd be able to watch a reboot if that was even a possibility. The original cast has such great chemistry and on top of that there's just the 2000's flare to it.

It sucks to see one of my favorite shows growing up lose everything. The fandom is also so extremely small due to its cancellation. But here's everything this show did right.

Casting, I think every actor incapsulates their characters greatly! They play their roles as 14–15-year-olds great and I think they display the awkward teen-age phase well. Every character is pretty likeable.

Soundtrack, the music directors/music compositors on this show put a lot of detail into their work. And mostly all of the songs were made exactly for this show.

Setting/environment, having the setting the way it is makes the show have such an amazing environment!

Overall, it's a bummer to see a show like this taken for granted. And it's also been taken off of Netflix, so I am especially hurt. I really hope there are still people who enjoy this show!

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hrts4hanniehae · 1 year ago

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With Seventeen

*this is not a representation of the members of svt irl. y/n race and character type will be pre-determined to allow for a better plot.

masterlist

relationships

Y/N calls everyone (except Dino) 'Hyung' more often than 'Oppa' because it really sounds weird for her to use 'Oppa'

Scoups

He babies her. If he had to pick a favourite member, it would be her (and Jeonghan)

She didn’t speak a word of Korean when she first stepped foot into the green room, so Scoups acted as her older brother

His parents “adopted” her as their daughter when she was unable to visit her family.

With Svt, Scoups is always in older brother mode. But with Y/N, he can act like a younger brother.

They are each others’ safe spaces.

Jeonghan

If Jeonghan is a Devil disguised as an Angel, Y/N is Sadako.

They are a menace of a duo. If you thought Jeongcheol was unstoppable in GOSE, JeongY/N is far worse.

Jeonghan openly cheats and Y/N manipulates the situation.

His cheeky nature rubbed off on her during their trainee days.

Jeonghan teases her a lot but also babies her. They have the most sibling-like relationship ever.

Being the only other member in Seventeen who can speak Japanese, Jeonghan makes Y/N feel less homesick.

Joshua

He was her source of comfort through every difficulty she faced as Svt’s only female member.

Joshua was one of the members she warmed up to the quickest.

He helped her to feel more at home in a foreign country and tried his best to help with her Korean despite a huge language barrier.

Jun

He comforted her throughout their trainee days. Of all the members, he understood her pain of being homesick and leaving your whole family behind in another country.

Despite the initial language barrier, Y/N and Jun developed a very close bond. Carats initially thought that JunY/N were siblings due to their close nature.

JunY/N are extremely chaotic together (Mousebusters…)

Hoshi

Y/N admires him a lot for his professionalism. She’s impressed with how much time and energy he puts into choreographing so many of their performances and working in the studio at the same time while always being a mood lifter.

Likewise, Hoshi admires her for her hard work and dedication to Seventeen.

Their relationship shines during GOSE episodes where Y/N can be seen either supporting him or completely irritated by him.

At some point, His contact name in her phone became “Furry”

Wonwoo

Gamer buddies!!

Y/N wasn’t the best student when she was studying. After school, she’d always go to arcades or internet cafes to play games.

That was how Wonwoo and Y/N bonded.

They have a very close relationship and can often be seen sleeping while leaning against each other.

Wonwoo reminds Y/N of her older brother, Masaharu.

Woozi

When they first got to know each other, Woozi began to teach her some producing knowledge.

Now she can produce her own songs.

He taught her how to play the guitar and she’s 80% guaranteed to be in his producing studio whenever he goes live in it.

They are quite close and like to just be in each other’s presence.

Yes, they go to the gym together. Y/N may not look like it, but she’s a gym regular.

The8

They entered the company around the same time so of all the members, he (& Jun) understood her pain of being homesick and leaving your whole family behind in another country.

Yes, there was a huge language barrier, but they got past it as Y/N could understand some Chinese words.

They share many interests in Tea and Art, so they regularly have tea together and just enjoy each other’s presence.

When Y/N first entered Pledis, her style… wasn’t the best. After meeting The8, her style drastically improved.

In interviews, she always says that she can only look that good because of The8.

Mingyu

Carats see them as a Visual Duo, despite Y/N not being officially labelled as a visual.

They are a very compatible duo with their appearance and overall vibe.

Y/N sometimes thinks that Mingyu acts younger than her. He’s often accidentally called her ‘Noona’.

They have a very unique bond which some may see as a servant and a princess. Mingyu ADORES Y/N like she’s his actual younger sister.

She doesn’t complain though.

The Sun and the Moon

Carats can tell that with him, Y/N is brighter in terms of personality.

DK was a gentleman around her while they were trainees, trying his best to make her feel comfortable around 13 guys. He definitely succeeded.

He adores her and always tries to keep Y/N smiling. If he notices that she’s anxious or sad about something, he would do something funny to draw attention away from her and make her smile.

He’s a scaredy-cat while she’s barely afraid of anything. (she’s more scared of societal expectations/stress/failure). So in most of the scary GOSE episodes, DK can be seen cowering behind her.

Seungkwan

They are constantly battling over their song knowledge–or anything for that matter. In GOSE they always bicker. (But they still love each other ofc)

He always calls her ‘Noona’ to mock her even though she’s younger than him.

You can bet that they are a terrifying duo on game shows or on TV programmes.

They may bicker a lot, but Seungkwan really cares about her.

Vernon

They are like actual siblings.

They text like siblings.

At one point, all of Y/N’s photocards in an album looked the same because she copied Vernon’s poses.

They often write lyrics together and just hang out in general.

If she wants a midnight snack, her buddy will 100% be Vernon.

Dino

The only member to actually call her ‘Noona’.

She thinks it’s super cute.

Instead of being babied, she babies him. When he’s bullied/ganged up on in GOSE, she’s the first to defend or comfort him. (Especially in The Tag)

She’s probably slightly higher in rank than Wonwoo as Dino’s #1 Fan.

Most of his Danceology videos are filmed with her dancing or her in the background.

She’s his source of comfort and vice versa.

Whenever Dino talks about being bullied by his 12 hyungs, he’ll always add “But my 1 Noona protects me”

He’s developed a small crush on Y/N but he’ll never admit it.

current taglist: @fairyofhour @megseungmin @sun-daddy-yoriichi @woozixo @euphoric-univers @christinewithluv @haowonbins @ocyeanicc @asyre @superhoshisvt @bangantokchy @chimmy-bts @angelarin @daisawa @writingbarnes @jeonghansshitester @belladaises @wonwootakemyheart @wonwooz1 @luchiet @kookssecret @caratsland @peachescreamandcrumble @thepoopdokyeomtouched @isabellah29 @leah-rose03 @coupshour @sooheehan @heesbees @hyuckxtagram @kissesfrmwonwoo @httphera @porridgesblog

#seventeen imagines #caratsland #svt x reader #dino x reader #seventeen headcanons #svt fluff #seventeen x reader #seventeen 14th member #14th member of seventeen

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urproblematicfav-arsonk · 1 month ago

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youtube

I keep going through some of Elsie Lovelock's old covers (that SO OLD BTW MAN LIKE WHAT THE FUCK IS TIME) and every day I'm reminded of how robbed we were. So its rant tim babey.

Elsie really embodied that old Disney era princess vibe for Charlie perfectly. She nails the dainty, soft and sincere tone and every time she plays Charlie in a fansong or just the pilot, she is a PRINCESS in every sense. I think her heavy background doing Disney covers, and essentially playing nothing but princesses for these videos gave her a lot of support for playing Charlie. Because of Elsie's vocal background, and the genre of character Charlie is, it all wraps together to create a very specific energy for her that feels cohesive and gives her character so much depth.

youtube

Charlie's aesthetic is all very classic Disney. She has the big black eyes that are very Betty boop, early days of animation. Her vocal style, her personality is very reminiscent of Snow White and Aurora, and I mean FUCK. The first song she sings is fucking Judy Garland.

Charlie is meant to embody this sorta, ditzy but kind hearted young protagonist era of female characters, specifically from the 1930-1950s, with her visual style and with her musical choices.

It's something that ties to her Alastor, actually and helps imply this developing relationship dynamic that was...supposed to happen and was essentially completely cut with the overhaul on Alastor's motivations that they did for the series.

It gives her a direct artistic connection to him, something that subtly shows that there is SOME common ground between them, and there is understanding. Its similar to how Husk's ears used to have Angel's stripes, and Angel's gloves are a pop of red like Husk's wings(this was also cut)

(I'd actually argue that the Wizard of Oz/50s aesthetic is foreshadowing for some kind of parallel to Vox. Obvi, this is also cut concept and isn't anything. I will use it in fic tho.)

Elsie will always be my Charlie at least

I think 60% of the problems with the hh series honestly come down to casting and direction. Watching dubs of the show and going "ohhh so the scene wasn't actually THAT BAD, the actors were just explicitly forced to a bad job." I can not stress enough to you people that JJ was not doing his best work, and its because the hh crew is deeply unprofessional/actively mean and terrible at their jobs. Genuinely why the fuck did Blake Roman give a stronger performance in his original music than in hh??(hint: its cuz he was directing himself and could perform to the best of his ability)

Anyway, its just that Erika Henningsen sounds like, zoey deschanel adorkable but also extremely annoying because of the adorkable. There's no soft sweetness. There's no heartbreaking sincerity. She does not give any princessy fairytale energy at all and her Traditional Broadway singing style completely strips Charlie of sounding unique or again,,,,, like a princess.

Its not her fault, she's just a Broadway baby doing her thing. She's just the symptom of a larger problem at the core of hh's design.

#I'll always remember u subtle vox/charlie foreshadowing that was in the pilot #im so obsessed with your hypothetical existence that got murdered that its in all of my fic lore #anyway #rant tim #character analysis #musical analysis #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism

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the-oblivious-writer · 1 year ago

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Carpenter Sisters Headcanons

Sam Carpenter & Tara Carpenter

Notes: Just some headcanons of my favorite sisters (aka my beloveds). Wanted to give you something since I've been pretty inactive this month partly due to the Christmas special I'm planning (which is coming soon) I also just love Sam & Tara sm, they will forever live on no matter what

Sam Carpenter

We should all already know this but, Sam is all the above when it comes to Tara. Big sister? Check. Dad? Check. Mom? Check, check, check

Makes Tara carry around a bunch of self-defense weapons like a taser, pepper spray etc

Texts like an old man. She doesn't know a whole bunch of "text lingo" so Tara uses that to her advantage. She'd text you "Kys" thinking it meant "keep yourself safe" because that's what Tara told her. She definitely uses these emojis: 😂 🙂

Is completely lost when it comes to "slang terms" and abbreviations. Tara: "You ate that Sam." Sam: "Ate what? I'm not even eating." Tara's laughed/made fun of her for it while Sam remains confused

Hates being called Samantha. It reminds her of how her mother would scold and ridicule her. When Tara started calling her Sammy, she couldn't be any happier with the given nickname

Never got Tara's love for Horror growing up, but tried to understand for her. In her opinion, it's illogical how most of the characters act, but Tara likes it so she doesn't mind giving it another try

Definitely introverted. She's more outgoing with people she's comfortable with; Tara, Mindy, Chad. Growing up, she never socialized a lot

Will always set everybody else's plate before her own

The Core Four have game nights and it can get... intense. Let's just say on multiple occasions (whether that was Tara buying her out during monopoly or Chad and Mindy giving her yet another +4 in Uno) she has been extremely close to flipping the table

Could laugh to the point where she's gasping for air, I can imagine her and the Core Four just wheezing over the dumbest things

Definitely had "the world doesn't understand me so I cope by blasting music very loudly in my room, not gaf who I piss off" phase. One of the songs she would blast was Creep by Radiohead (canon event. I can't interfere.)

Tara Carpenter

Could sleep anywhere, and always sleeping any chance she gets. I'd say she's a night person, and hates being woken up so early in the morning. And I can imagine she's a sleep talker too

Growing up she had a favorite stuffed animal she carried around everywhere with her and refused to sleep without it

She was a thumbsucker growing up, which she was teased for

Never learned how to ride a bike

She's always hated needles. Whenever she was forced to get a shot when she was younger, she refused to take it without Sam being in the room with her. Sam would let Tara squeeze her hand as tightly as she needed to

Cannot drive for shit. I just know this woman is a bad driver, Sam and the others just hold on to dear life and cross their fingers when Tara gets into the driver's seat

Her car is a complete mess, like you'll just find the randomist stuff in there. There's probably no limit to what you could find if you just try hard enough

She wakes up in the weirdest positions and thinks, "How tf did this even happen-"

Bullies kids on roblox (I don't make the rules)

If someone messes with Sam, they better count their days

She can get soo competitive. If she's winning, you'll know. Can get cocky when celebrating, chanting and everything

Her, Chad, and Mindy would put together one of those "performances" when they were little in order to convince Sam to let them stay up late or have a sleep over. Sam said yes every time

Tara's a shark defender. She believes they're extremely misunderstood creatures

-----------

A/N: I need a Sam & Tara for Christmas

#tara carpenter #sam carpenter #tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x y/n #sam carpenter x reader #sam carpenter x you #tara carpenter x you #jenna ortega #sam carpenter x y/n #melissa barrera #tara carpenter headcanons #sam carpenter headcanons #scream headcanons

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laylasverse · 21 days ago

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[ 💫 🍃 & 🍊 ] for your better cr from your FANTASTIQUE ask game!! (i’m in love with your mind)

EXCUSE THE MESS ✶ ASK GAME ﹙ 💫 🍃 🍊 ﹚

◞ answering for my better cr. ily theo :(

𐔌 . 💫 ⋮ 'BOUT YOU ֹ ₊ ꒱ what do you reminisce on late at night? is it a person you had to leave behind? someone who left you? why are you still reminded of that past? are you upset with the memories? do you regret them?

in the late hours of the night i tend to be reminded of the girl i was convinced i was soul tied to. spoiler alert, it did not end well! she was my best friend from sixth to ninth grade and i was in love with her. like i have notes saying, "she was crying today. i never want redacted to be crying. she doesn't deserve that," from the seventh grade. i loved that girl so bad that it crumbled in front of me & it was mostly my fault.

i'm not upset with the memories i shared with her. we both helped each other grow and come out of our shells. we just happened to be cursed with a female homoerotic friendship so young. but what does still make me upset is that when i confessed my feelings, two years after we stopped being friends, she told me & i quote, "glad you got that off your chest."

like girl i have youtube videos we made where we are clearly in love with each other. not to mention that everyone who knew us thought we were dating. you couldn't have given me anything a little better than that? oh, well. i don't see or talk to her anymore. thank god!

fun fact! phoebe bridgers is the artist that got me through this era.

𐔌 . 🍃 ⋮ PILOT JONES ֹ ₊ ꒱ who is your bad influence? the one person you can count on to be involved with something insane and drag you along with them? have they always been "bad"? why won't you let them go?

i have a few people like this in my life. a few friends who are always in some kind of mess. i won't name them because it doesn't matter their names ( they're not famous or "characters" ). they are not bad influences on me ( i am extremely skeptical & hard to manipulate lol ), they just make very bad decisions after i give them my advice. i don't want to say they let me down but.. y'know.. they do sometimes.

one of the worst is my older brother. he seems to make the wrong decisions at every turn. all i can do is be there when he finally breaks down.

i won't let these people in my life go because i need them as a reminder of all the people in the world that don't think like me. each of them show me a new world in their own way. even if they do constantly piss me off.

𐔌 . 🍊 ⋮ FORREST GUMP ֹ ₊ ꒱ who runs your mind? the person you're always thinking about? when you make a joke that doesn't quite land, who do you know would've loved it?

jason. and that stupid dork knows it. whole-heartedly.

every single time i tell a joke to someone and they don't get the reference / callback i think about how jason would be giving me a look before chuckling and shaking his head in amusement. i make him giggle in private dw. he understand me to a level that should be a little concerning but it's okay 'cause he's my sugarplum.

i actually did post him to this song on my instagram story for valentines day. he called me corny but was smiling so hard that both his dimples were showing when he said it. i know what you are, boy.

﹙ extra context my better cr is extremely similar to this reality. most of what i have experienced here i have scripted there. ﹚ ꕀ hopefully this doesn't give off "woe is me" lol

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heybiji · 6 months ago

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hi i found your page cause of your Masks art!!

imma be running a game of masks and was wondering if you have any tips

Oh hello! Very cool you're gonna run a MASKS game, it can be a lot of fun!

I'm not sure how helpful my advice will be since I'm still learning and am not sure how well I actually run the game haha, but for starters there's a whole lot of great advice on Reddit that will help with the mechanics and the structure of the game. In my opinion, the Principles section in the GM part of the core book is critical and succinct and is great advice for running ttrpgs in general.

my top advice is:

"We play to get the next issue picked up!"

Play the game like we want people to buy the next issue and not put the series down! Take chances! Make big choices! Make it interesting! Be bold!!

other things:

Theme. Establish the themes of your story early on. This will help you understand how the world and story should respond to the PCs. And make the themes interesting to you! For example, beyond the general coming-of-age story themes already built into the character arcs, I lean heavily into the concepts of fame, celebrity, and the 24-hour news cycle. And all the things that were going on in the early 2000s.

Be a Fan of the PCs. This is my favorite rule from The Principles. Make sure all your players soak this rule in. The MASKS mechanics mean characters will often make less-than-optimal decisions, so players must feel supported in their character choices. You should be a fan of the characters, and so should your players! They should want to help bring out every character's arc, not just their own.

Treating Human Life as Meaningful is what Makes Threats Real. This is another principle, but yeah, make the world's NPCs feel like they matter, and that will make the world worth protecting. Treat them as people. Give everyone Drives, not just your Villains. Mentally treating even non-villain NPCs as having Conditions can do a lot to help with characterization.

Condense. Condense your world, your NPCs, make the world feel smaller. In our game, for example, having the Protege's mentor also be the same superhero who saved the Delinquent years ago was a great decision.

Playlists. I have a bunch of different playlists for the campaign, from a big one of music of the time (our game is set in 2004) to playlists for important NPCs, to playlists I asked my players to curate for their characters. Music inspires me a bunch, a song can help create a villain for me, and I also like choosing a different "ending" song for every episode based on whatever happened.

Stories. Okay, here's the thing. I don't really care much for superhero stories. Why did I choose to run MASKS, you ask? Because of the emotion-based mechanics. That's my shit. But anyway, I don't take in much superhero media... But I do LOVE movies and television and stories in general, and I think taking in a lot of "short stories" is helpful to develop an instinct on how to pace a story, make a character or moment memorable, etc. And because MASKS has an episodic nature, this is extremely important! The sheer amount of movies I've watched has helped me a whole bunch, since they have to get the Beginning, Middle, and End done within such a short time frame.

Don't Wait. This is an instinct I've picked up from some of my favorite media. Don't wait for The big important moment. Make a lot of big important moments, and make the characters have to make a lot of important choices, and keep the momentum going. Paint yourself into a corner and then force yourself to think of ways out! It makes the story more interesting. (this may not apply to everyone, I get this kind of mindset from shows like Breaking Bad and Succession, which for your story could be too much haha)

Everyone Works. Okay, I am not a benevolent, sweet GM, I will not smile with tears in my eyes and quietly work away and accept that without complaint. no way. I make my players help me a lot. I'm gonna whine. Guys I'm doing so much work! Guys this is hard! Weeehhh! MAKE THEM HELP YOU. RUNNING A GAME IS SOOOOO MUCH WORK OH MY GOD IT'S SOOOOOO MUCH WORK!!! Ask them to take notes! Ask them to treat the world with sincerity! Ask them to make NPCs! Ask them to play NPCs! Ask them to help fill out the world! Ask them to tell you what their character wants to do next so you have extra time to consider it! Ask them to make playlists for their characters to help you figure out how to engage with them! Don't let them just show up on playday!! I'm a "you get what you give" kind of GM. You're a player too and you deserve to enjoy the game as well, and having the other players help you helps a BUNCH. PUT THEM TO WORK.

what else. uh. visuals help a lot with engagement so i subscribed to a bunch of modern battlemap patreons. i run using Foundry which lists the rules upon every roll which is great for me, someone with horrid memory. if you're lucky and favored by god, you'll have a benevolent player that will be the scribe for your sessions and log everything down so they can be referred back to (again, great for someone like me with a horrid memory). remember to give focus to the PC's out-of-costume lives as well. make NPCs in response to your PCs (superheroes, villains, touch on something of a PC in the creation process). be silly. be serious. be sincere.

i'm still figuring out how to run the game, maybe i'll have better advice on a later day, but i hope this can help some! sorry this is longwinded and more a stream of consciousness than it is succinct.

#ask biji #masks a new generation #ttrpgs #the truth is i have very little idea of what i'm doing #it's my first time running a PBTA game #but i do think the system is quite fun and fits my GM style more than say dnd #but also i'm so serious make your players work #PUT THEM TO WORK #GMING IS SOOOOOO MUCH WORK #okay maybe it doesn't have to be #but for ME it is a whole lot of work #dnd at least has a lot of parts to use #masks on the other hand is a lot of hey just make it up!!#i quite like just making things up but it is an extra mental load #so yeah PUT THEM TO WORK #also if you draw please post your art in the masks tag #my presence there must be diluted

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ruins-of-tragedy · 3 months ago

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I finished XO Kitty yesterday. And AGHHHH.

(Spoilers for season two ahead...)

I understand that Min Ho is the better love interest. They made sure to build him up like an overpowered protagonist who can never be defeated.

However, did that absolutely have to happen at the expense of Yuri?

We are way past character annihilation now.

And forget about being a good choice for the titular person. They have discarded the sapphic love interest not only as a potential option but also as a decent character.

Yuri Han is just a shell of the person she used to be. She has been turned into a bad girlfriend, a bad friend and a badly written plot point in general.

When Kitty asks her to get in contact with Jina, Yuri just straight up lies. She knows it's important to Kitty, yet she doesn't come clean about never having reached out to her mother. Until she is confronted about it.

I get how she is having issues with her mum. Being any form of queer is never easy. But she could have just told Kitty about not wanting to do it in the first place. Giving a reason for it is not compulsory.

At the end of the day, this feels like a lousy excuse to cook up drama on the part of the writers and cover for easily avoidable deceit.

Especially since Yuri continues to lie about having sent a non-existent email, even after Kitty apparently 'pesters' her over it; because it obviously matters to her.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The whole cheating thing and Yuri's subsequent treatment of Kitty and Juliana is definitely not the best.

Considering these people are some of the pillars Yuri's season one persona is built upon, it's devastating to watch them shatter without any valid exploration whatsoever.

Throughout season two, her only redeeming interactions occur due to Dae and Alex. And the ones which involve Alex are stretching it a little.

After everything that has gone down, Yuri convincing Jiwon to give Kitty a chance is appreciated but not nearly enough.

And maybe they are breaking down Yuri to build her back again. Her ending up 'poor' may hint at that. They want her to be a better person first and what not.

But so far, this feels like an extremely partial setup that never really cared about the sapphic love interest. Especially because they have been portraying season two as a showdown between Min Ho and Yuri.

Just take a look at the thumbnail for the trailer of it-

Min Ho is infallible in the face of Yuri's faults.

While Yuri's character was off taking a sabbatical, Min Ho was out there winning hearts and making an impact.

Essentially, Yuri now seems to have been a shallow attempt at checking the box of token queer representation. Also getting sapphic viewers to tune in to build tension for the show was an added bonus.

Don't even get me started on Juliana and Praveena. Every WLW character was sidelined or discarded within the first five episodes. Thankfully, they didn't have existing backgrounds to ruin as well.

How Juliana and Kitty managed to become buddy-buddy without ever really interacting on screen still confounds me.

Also, I understand music doesn't have to have an identity based on sexuality. It can be appreciated by a wide range of audiences. And I am bound to agree.

However, with everything that has already occurred, using Chappell Roan's song for Min Ho and Kitty when there is not only a lesbian love interest for her but also sapphic women within the same vicinity... It screams disrespect in the face of such a context.

At best, these actions are tone deaf. But after the abrupt assassination of all the WLW folks, it has now developed into stabbing an already festering wound on the back.

This is my fault, to be honest. For entertaining the possibility it would be a fair play between characters of great potential.

One of whom is a legitimate lesbian.

Why do I ever expect anything better? This is a freaking Netflix show.

My only complaint now is, if they were always planning on doing Yuri dirty like this, introducing her as an option was never necessary.

I am sure there are other ways of exploring bisexuality. Spitting on sapphics in the process is not required practice.

Even if Min Ho was forever the end game, destroying Yuri as a whole to assure that is just plain garbage. There are better ways to make it happen. This was not it.

The writing for Yuri is obviously lacking and leaves a little too much to be desired. And it's pretty apparent they added her into the love constellation for the #views.

With season three's status up in the air, Yuri's fate has been sealed well. They didn't even give her a fair shot. And I don't think they ever will.

Love that for me. I got played hard.

I have deleted this post once already.

And another time, Tumblr did it for me because it wouldn't save the draft for whatever reason.

My excuse for the first one was I don't want to spread unnecessary vitriol.

I am now realising this is not that. And it's extremely important to share with the world.

If not for anyone else, then for me.

@lgbtpopcult said it best; western media gives straight girls love stories, and gay girls "representation."

It may not be the rule, but there are very few exceptions.

I am done.

(Also, this is not an attempt to erase Kitty's bisexual identity. I just think they did a terrible job of portraying the same. And that occurs while putting down WLW people.

Katherine Song Covey is not straight, I am aware. But a lot of the fanbase for the show is.

They now have a wonderful love story to witness, while people like me suffer from heartbreak on the sidelines.

Out here holding funerals for characters whose potential they have mercilessly executed. Pun intended.

Cheers.)

#XO Kitty #KittyYuri #Kitty x Yuri #Yuri x Kitty #Yuri Han #Juliana Porter #Praveena #XO Kitty Season Two

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strobbylemonade · 6 months ago

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canto 7 pt 3 spoilers and thoughts and stuff

i really didn't expect her to be like.. locked up. by herself. its so sad. i feel so bad for her in the lighthouse. also the I WANT YOU poster cracked me up.

vergilius calling her "my lady" was cute. i thought we were going to get more of their friendship this canto but apparently not. maybe later :( but also what's up with his eyes?? who's his old friend??? WHO did he take the eyes from?? it's not don quixote because he still has his eyes, so it's either the bloodfiend moses spoke with, or it's the progenitor?? or there's more first-gen blood fiends we don't know about.

adding more guesses to the dante's identity flame:

dante is bari/the bookhunter

dante is vergilius' "old friend"

dante is the bloodfiend vergilius got his eyes from

dante is verigilius' old friend who IS the bloodfiend vergilius got his eyes from

dante is dante and their old self is destroyed

dante is an extremely powerful unknown character who gets their memories back but after their canto they pull a don quixote and chooses to live the rest of their lives as the dante we know

sanchos expressions were really really awesome. she's just so... augh....

THESE GUYS REALLY PISSED ME OFF.

i'm not smart enough to understand the implications of this. but ??? sinclair standing up for donqui?? yaaaayy!!!! the sign??? and also him paralleling bari is definitely not a coincidence. i wonder what the mark of cain has to do with it all.

i didn't notice while i was playing but sinclair starts blushing when he asks her to open up. they're so cute. and they're trying their hardest to be vulnerable to their fucked up lil family. i love them.

WE GOT OUTIS LORE!!! LET'S GO!!! this was surprisingly vulnerable of her... and dante's response of "I will. As long as they have the will to change, to move forward, I will be there for them." was great. also girl what do you mean TENS OF THOUSANDS??? i'm starting to think outis has a lot more guilt for the smoke war than she lets on.

uhh and speaking of change that's another theme that's popping up more interestingly enough. yi sang, sinclair, and being "unable to change" is what caused heathcliff to distort. interesting narrative theme. (starts side eyeing dante and outis). also change being one of the biggest themes of library of ruina, with roland and angela needing to break the cycle of the City to achieve their good ending.

bari is cool as shit

the cutscene that follows this where they're all talking about how much fun they had with donqui through the stageplay was genuinely both so cheesy and sweet i almost cried.

oughhh i'm not bothered to grab screenshots from every part i enjoyed of the final point so we're doing dot points again!

sancho's backstory of being born alone and wishing to die before don quixote gave her love and life was... holy shit. "That is why you saved my life from the periphery of death... tried to share your love... and made my heart beat again."

again with the themes of suicide. the original don quixote sees sancho as special because she doesn't want to inflict suffering on others and instead simply wishes to "burn myself to ashes like I was never here". and that's how she gets her first family. because she suffered alone. and then don quixote makes his children suffer alone in la manchaland.

"I don't know who I am" lyric in Hero hits really song. YEAH I FORGOT TO MENTION MILI PEAK!!! it really feels like some of their older music, especially something from mahoyaku (the Big Moon in the background during the final phase certainly helped). the second part sounds especially like Cast Me a Spell. or something from miracle milk with the way the instrumentals and sfx sound. i really like it.

DON QUIXOTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WAAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAA

"She was incandescent, like a brilliant star twinkling in the night sky. / That very brilliance compelled me to reach out and hope." OUGHHH. dante's role in this chapter has been really interesting... they're like her, they're chained to their past but are also playing the role of someone who they don't know who they're meant to be. they have a really passive role in bringing sancho back to the Gang, with the other sinners stepping in to help her moreso than dante themselves, and then at the end, it's sancho who saves them, acts as their star, and gives them their dreams back (of having all the sinners together as one big happy family).

and just. holy shit. this entire sequence.

I DID NOT EXPECT A QUICKTIME EVENT!! big cast a spell vibes... i genuinely gasped when the fireworks went off..

LMAO SHE'S MAKING FUN OF HIM FOR THE ROCINANTE THING. also kyaa hong lu's teaching dante how to smile!!! i'm sure this won't have any terrifying implications next canto!!! definitely!! there's some interesting parallels to what donqui said about dante having an "expression" and what demian said about being able to hear them all the way back in canto iii, because donqui/demian listen to their "heart" and not their actual face/voice. interesting

also new dante sprite please???? please??? new dante pose perhaps even??? please????

interesting we're getting the clock ticking closer to doomsday after canto 7 and not 8. with the trajectory they're on, doomsday will happen during or after outis' canto (and before faust's). fun. can't wait for the random lore drop next intervallo/event where they take turns feeding don quixote their blood. please. please. please???

mili peak. pass on peak. feelings peak. augh. i love my idiot family and their pet Cosmic Horror Entity. although i would argue it's a family of 15 and not 12!!! i love found family!!!!

#limbus company #strbylmn posts #canto vii spoilers

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youremyheaven · 2 years ago

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Beauty & the Beast: The Path of Venus (Vedic Astrology Analysis) 🌸🔥

Beauty & the Beast is essentially a "bad boy meets good girl" esque story, although that is oversimplifying things.

Love is a transformative tool and it is true love that lets both individuals transform. the Beast turns into a prince and Beauty understands the true nature of beauty, which is not shallow or superficial.

the reason, beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder is that, when you look at someone or something with love, it becomes beautiful to you. Their character and essence transcend their physical form; beauty becomes a sentiment that is deeply felt; its profound and moving, like the beauty of nature or of ancient monuments; its beauty that is beyond the mundane; such as perfectly symmetrical features or adhering to every "trend".

Yun Hyongkeun, the esteemed artist once said, "True sorrow is connected to true beauty"

He had Purvashada Moon and Venus in UBP (Venus exalts in the sign of Pisces)

Here's an excerpt from an interview:

“What is a beautiful thing? It’s associated with the humanity’s inner world. To live most beautifully means to survive after experiencing extreme suffering and hardship,” Yun said.

imo, this is a very Venusian sentiment; Claire Nakti in her video had mentioned how Venusians are "externally splendorous but internally corrosive"

this is to say that these natives create beauty, are drawn to beauty and perhaps are physically beautiful but more often than not, it does not come from a place of ease or comfort. just like how the beautiful lotus blooms in the mud, Venusians create beauty in the midst of chaos and ugliness.

Fun fact: Namjoon has a song called Yun dedicated to the artist which paraphrases this sentiment as "true beauty is true sadness". Namjoon himself has Purvaphalguni sun so it makes sense why he feels connected to this sentiment.

something that is truly beautiful affects us deeply. be it certain people or certain places, it almost makes us melancholy. now why does beauty make us sad?

innately, we understand that beauty, like life, is ephemeral and being in the presence of it, triggers our own sense of life/time passing and mortality. everything and everyone one must die; including the beautiful things and its almost painful to accept that.

now we must first understand that there is nothing shallow or superficial about beauty. Belle does not love the Beast DESPITE his ugliness but perhaps because of it. she finds him intriguing, his character, and his essence all appeal to her. if she were repulsed by him truly, she would not have wanted to marry him. although she was put off by him initially, she warmed to him after that, if that weren't the case, this story wouldn't progress the way it does.

in Claire Nakti's video about Venusian men, she mentioned how Venus's influence gives these men "true masculinity" but they're also often not considered conventionally physically attractive. She cited Pete Davidson & Travis Scott as examples and how what's appealing/sexy/magnetic about them has to do with how they carry themselves, their personality, their vibe, etc

so, we understand that Beauty & the Beast is not about a young woman who in her kindness and generosity, agrees to marry a Beast; she is attracted to him; but what makes him attractive to her is his essence, his nature etc

Now that we've established that, let's look at the story of Psyche & Eros; there are many parallels between this tale from Greek mythology and Beauty & the Beast

like all tales, this too, is a spiritual and philosophical allegory

i will quickly sum it up:

Psyche was a princess famed for her beauty, so much so that it made Aphrodite (Goddess of love & beauty, equivalent to Venus) jealous. She decided to send her own son, Eros (aka Cupid) to shoot Psyche with his arrows of love, to force her to fall in love with a hideous Beast. Much to her dismay, Eros himself fell in love with Psyche and decided to marry her.

now remember that Psyche is a mortal and Eros is a God. This union is not easy. back in her kingdom, people are in mourning because according to them, she's marrying a winged beast. after a while, she's with Eros at their abode, living a life of marital bliss, however, Eros can only visit her at night and she is commanded to never set her eyes on him. so she literally has no idea who or what he is.

one night after her sisters convince her that her new husband is a ghastly and terrifying beast, she decides to take a look at him. however Eros wakes up and realizes that she betrayed him and loses his trust in her and subsequently abandons her.

Psyche has to face several trials and tribulations before she can redeem herself and unite with Eros again; this time in the presence of all Gods, including Aphrodite, they get married, she ascends to the status of a Goddess and later on they have a child, Hedone, Goddess of Pleasure.

Psyche is the Greek word for "soul" or "mind", curiously, its also Greek for "butterfly" or "moth"

Eros means "love" and "desire"

Hedone means "pleasure"

Aphrodite is associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation and prosperity.

This is essentially a love story. Psyche is the personification of the soul, which innately longs to unite with the object of its desire. Like all mortals, Psyche despite finding it, does not trust it or understand it. It is only when she loses what she had, that she realizes how precious it was. Psyche must undergo a painful process of self-realization and undertake several trials in order to redeem herself and prove worthy of Eros.

Desire is the source of everything and Eros is the first god to have come into existence; he is self-formed. it is desire that got Psyche into this mess but its love that will get her out of it.

Thus, the quest for love finds its end in the union between soul/mind and love/desire; together they create pleasure (literally)

looking at it as an allegory, the trials that Psyche undertook were necessary because they led to her growth and development as a person. if you're familiar with Carl Jung, you will recognise this as the process of individuation.

Jung saw it as the process of self-realization, the discovery, and experience of meaning and purpose in life; the means by which one finds oneself and becomes who one really is. It depends upon the interplay and synthesis of opposites e.g. conscious and unconscious, personal and collective, psyche and soma, divine and human, life and death. (link to the article)

the story is one of Psyche's transformation; she leaves behind her kingdom to marry a complete stranger she has never seen and is later abandoned by him, then must strive to redeem herself and win him back. metamorphosis is synonymous with butterflies and Psyche is symbolised by butterfly wings.

so what does this story tell us? Psyche was a renowned beauty who harbored doubts that her new husband was a ghastly beast. but it is she who goes on an arduous and challenging journey to win back the man she feared was a beast, not the other way around.

the soul evolves, matures, and develops, and comes to unite with their love/desire and that creates pleasure. this is essentially a Venusian story.

Venus concerns itself with love & beauty and the story of Psyche & Eros, or its fairy-tale rendition, Beauty & the Beast both explore these themes.

in the same video, Claire also mentioned how Venusian influence often manifests as ugliness in men, but they are also said to possess "true masculinity" the kind that women deeply desire.

Venus creates elitism; Venusians attract each other but Venus being a corrosive planet means they have to prove worthy of each other's company.

the Venusian nakshatras are : Bharani, Purvaphalguni & Purvashada

also, keep in mind that Venus exalts in the sign of Pisces

its interesting that all 3 Venusian nakshatras are Ugra nakshatras that are "cruel" in nature, assigning the native qualities like fierceness, a tendency to be torturous and cruel. the gem associated with Venus is the diamond; they are beautiful stones that come into being after being subject to immensely straining conditions of heat & pressure. this is imo, very telling of the nature of Venusian natives. they endure so much suffering in order to create the beauty that others know them for.

one of the earliest screen adaptations of Beauty & the Beast is Cocteau's 1943 adaptation, in which Josette Day plays Belle.

She has Venus & Ketu in Purvaphalguni

Penelope (2006) is a gender reversed retelling of Beauty & the Beast and it stars Christina Ricci who is Purvashada moon

James McAvoy has an exalted Venus in Pisces (UBP) which is a placement signifying ultimate devotion to the lover, its interesting how in this story he's the one who must help Penelope ("the Beast") break the spell she's under. the whole thing is sooo Pisces coded ngl

Emilie de Ravin plays Belle in Once Upon A Time, she has Moon and mercury in Purvashada

Kristin Kreuk, Purvashada sun played the Belle based character in the tv series, Beauty & the Beast

in 1997's Beautician & the Beast, Fran Drescher plays a Belle inspired character. She has Ketu in Bharani

Jane Eyre is considered by many to be loosely based on Beauty & the Beast.

To begin with, Charlotte Bronte who authored Jane Eyre, was Purvaphalguni rising with an exalted Venus in Pisces (UBP)

As such we'll look at the actors who have played Lady Jane in its film & TV adaptations.

Zelah Clarke played Lady Jane in the 1983 miniseries Jane Eyre. She is Bharani moon

Ruth Wilson who played Jane Eyre in the 2006 tv series, has Purvaphalguni moon

Sussanah York who played Jane Eyre in the 1970 adaptation has Purvashada sun, Purvaphalguni moon with Ketu in Bharani

A Court of Thorns & Roses, is a highly popular fantasy novel that is a retelling of Beauty & the Beast. its author, Sarah J Maas has an exalted Venus in Revati as her amatyakaraka

Anthony Trollope’s Ayala’s Angel features a heroine who rejects the honourable Colonel Stubbs because of his appearance and ugly surname, until she is persuaded by events that he is “the real Angel of Light” she has been seeking all along.

Trollope has Ketu in Purvashada

The Tiger's Bride is a post-modern retelling of the Beauty & the Beast. its written by Angela Carter who has Sun & Moon in Bharani.

The Beast must learn to express his heart and mind to become worth loving. He has his own journey of growth, acceptance and forgiveness.

It’s a pattern echoed in many Jane Austen novels, including Pride & Prejudice in which the proud, rich Mr Darcy must reveal his true goodness to win the witty and sharp Elizabeth Bennet.

in its perhaps most famous adaptation, Liz is played by Keira Knightley who has an exalted Venus in Revati, with Mars & Rahu in Bharani

in another adaptation of the same, the Liz character is played by Aishwarya Rai who is Purvashada moon.

to an extent, Marianne's character arc in Sense & Sensibility, also by Jane Austen is very similar. she initially falls for the handsome, young and ultimately found to be shitty John Willoughby and later realises her love for & marries Colonel Brandon, who is much older and an amputee but who truly cares for & loves her.

the 2011 movie From Prada to Nada is a retelling of Sense & Sensibility. it stars Alexa PenVega as Marianne. She has Ketu in Purvaphalguni

the 2000 Indian adaptation, titled Kandukondein Kandukondein stars Aishwarya Rai in the Marianne equivalent character. She has Purvashada Moon

Conclusion:

Beauty & the Beast focuses on Belle’s awakening to the Beast’s virtue rather than the Beast experiencing a change. it is a story about the path of a Venusian woman.

it is a quintessential Venusian tale about the union of two equals. true to Venusian nature, they have to undergo several trials and tribulations before this becomes possible.

Thus when the body (the beast) unites with the soul (beauty) it creates pleasure and harmony, thereby fulfilling all the promises of Venus.

#venus #venusian #venusian nakshatras #bharani #purvashada #purvaphalguni #feminine journey #beauty and the beast #vedic astrology #vedic astro notes #sidereal astrology #astro observations #nakshatras

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idreamofthemeparks · 6 months ago

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I went to both Tokyo Disney parks! Some thoughts/experiences:

People there wave at animatronics! I get laughed at for doing that in Florida!

Go during Halloween if you can. Tons of cosplayers go and the costumes you'll see are insane. And you can easily get a picture with a really good cosplayer instead of waiting in line for an official face character.

The Halloween night show at DisneySea was the worst. 7 minutes of very few fireworks, followed by an extremely weird heartfelt song that was like "🎵it's Halloween night... And we will go out... And get treats🎶". What the hell was that? Also, they run fireworks until 9PM exactly. I'm guessing they have to because there would be massive crowds of people waiting if there was just one show. People there have no qualms about sitting and waiting for 3+ hours for a parade or fireworks show.

Fantasy Springs was really great. The central area, design aesthetic and rockwork tied it all together really well and the transitions between the different areas were about as seamless as they could possibly be.

The Frozen animatronics, because they were like 4ft tall and so skinny and had such huge eyes, looked like weird dolls/aliens up close. That might creep some people out but I really genuinely loved it. Get in the back of the boat and you can see them freeze between scenes. I've said this before but it's very weird that it's a boat ride, since it relies on one specific scene happening at a time, and every other boat ride there had scenes running continuously!

The Magic Lamp Theater is really good! I skipped it on my last trip because there's no real indication anywhere that it's anything more than a 3D show with Genie, but it has a preshow with an animatronic and it has live actors! And it runs continuously all day!

THE GACHA MACHINE IN THE TOWER OF TERROR GIFT SHOP. FUCK THAT ONE MACHINE IN PARTICULAR. I shit you not, I rolled that thing 9 times and didn't get the Henry keychain I wanted.

I saw a really amazing Sinbad cosplayer but they wouldn't let me get a picture :(

At Disneysea, I did 20k 2x, Sinbad 3x, Indiana Jones 3x, Raging Spirits 1x, Nemo 1x, Peter Pan 1x and Frozen 1x, and the carousel 1x. I would've done Aquatopia, but last time it got me very wet and I had to go home on the subway with wet socks, so no thanks.

It's insane how good the single rider lines are especially at night. Wish they would bring those to Disneyland. Beauty could use one; they even had signs up for one but it wasn't in use.

Why is Sinbad always a walk on?? It's one of the best dark rides ever and it has a cute character in it!

Covid absolutely murdered DisneySea's live entertainment and it has NOT recovered. The afternoon lagoon show was a "Halloween greeting" that consisted entirely of some characters riding a barge out onto the water and dancing. Remember when they used to sail pirate ships in that lagoon? Multiple theaters are sitting empty, notably in Lost River Delta and Triton's Kingdom. Very sad.

If you don't know how to use the app or how passes work, you're screwed on lines and you can't even get into certain restaurants, at least at DisneySea! It's heartbreaking! I made friends with an American couple in the morning who had no idea how any of the passes worked, so I told them. It took multiple explanations, which I don't blame them for because it took me a few weeks to understand it myself. Then when we got into the park at rope drop, they tried to get Frozen passes... and couldn't, because their app glitched out at the crucial moment. I understand the Fantasy Springs thing because it's so new, but paid fastpasses being implemented here and everything being dependent on the app... It hurts to watch, man. Especially since last time I went, there were still paper Fastpasses, which are much easier and more accessible. Idk, I just think it should be possible to walk into a theme park and have at least a chance of doing stuff without memorizing the rules of a bunch of different reservation systems (same problem I've had with WDW for years).

When you're on Frozen it's easy to not notice how bad the ride design is, unless you're like me (thinking "wow look at that empty space", "do we need 3 rooms for one song" etc) because it really is a technical marvel. Also I got hit directly in the eye by a water jet right after the Let It Go scene. Rude.

Haunted Mansion is smack dab in the middle of Fantasyland there. I'm not sure what the alternative is but it doesn't fit in there at all.

I do not care for Haunted Mansion Holiday. I hadn't seen it in person before this but damn it's so cheap-looking. Also I'm salty that I didn't get to see the Tokyo bride.

What I like about Beauty and the Beast is that you get a nice long look at every animatronic since the scenes are so long. I felt satisfied after one go-around, which is rare for me.

Were there canoes in Rivers of America at WDW? Regardless, I'm glad that there are some in Tokyo. Rafts, canoes and a boat-- multiple forms of transportation, like Walt wanted!

Davy Jones on Pirates has one of the funniest line deliveries I've seen on a ride. "So says I..... DAVY JONES-UH!"

Monsters Inc was really good. It's basically just Men in Black: Alien Attack-- you enter through a company run by weird creatures, and then shoot at those creatures as you go through a city that looks a lot like New York. They seem to have seasonal changes to the dialogue-- Luz said "happy Halloween" at the end!

In a crowded bathroom, a CM said "hime-sama, dozo!" to indicate which stall I should use. That's honestly the first time I've been called "princess" in a bathroom. This was even in Frontierland, a place you would not expect to be called a princess.

Country Bears Vacation Hoedown was great. Nothing prepares you for a bear singing Achey Breaky Heart in Japanese. They opened with Great Outdoors, which I remember from that one Disneyland sing-along VHS that I watched as a kid!

The Snow White ride is the one where the witch just fucking kills you at the end! The amount of stuff this park keeps that American Disney parks think are super offensive is insane. Yeah, we'll keep Trader Sam. Sure, we'll play Dixie in Critter Country. I do understand why they made those changes in America-- especially on Pirates, I forgot how creepy the bride auction scene was.

Sucks to see Space Mountain gone. I bet something big is coming to Tomorrowland since they got rid of Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain at the same time.

I'm pleasantly surprised that they kept Peter Pan's Flight, with Fantasy Springs and all. Though to be fair, it doesn't have a huge amount of space and barely any room for the queue, so there's probably not too much they could actually do with it.

I didn't get a picture but at the front of the Halloween parade was Dr Facilier doing the fruitiest little dance. And, WHERE IS THE HAUNTED MANSION BRIDE FACE CHARACTER? It's the Halloween parade!!! I did see like 4 women cosplaying as her though.

I got podracing and the Gungan city on Star Tours. Honestly, perfect. wouldn't change a thing.

I can't believe (in a good way) they included the FSU gopher on Splash-- nobody there knows what FSU is.

Someone was telling jokes and doing audience participation stuff over the intercom in the Jungle Cruise queue. Fun!

The Belle animatronics are life sized and not creepy up close. Probably not made by the same design team as Frozen.

Maybe I just haven't been to a Disney park in long enough but I'm pleasantly surprised at how close you get to the animatronics on these rides. Like, close enough to see the stray hairs on their heads. I wonder if someone has to re-style the animatronics' hair at night.

I really genuinely bow down to Japanese Disney fans. These mfs will spend 15-hour days in full cosplay, long sleeves and wigs and all. I saw a good number of people doing it.

People here are also so earnest! No sarcasm or irony, no "dad dragged to Disney" type shit (at least not that I saw). People clap at Country Bears, wave to you from the queue when you're on a ride, etc. For the most part, everyone really wants to be there. Plus Japanese people are so pleasant in general. I was at rope drop trying to get into an extremely popular land that opened 4 months ago. I haven't been in that situation in America but I don't think everyone involved would be quietly, politely filing into the gates. The only comparable situation I've been in was going to Hollywood Studios right after Rise of the Resistance opened, and it was kill or be killed there.

Don't try to do every single ride at Disneyland in one day, holy shit. I went on ALL the dark rides and it was a LOT of exertion. Prioritize the stuff you can't get at home. And you should probably do rope drop regardless of how many rides you do.

By the way, rope drop there consists of getting in line at 6:30 AM or earlier. I got to Disneyland at 6:30 on a Sunday and there were at LEAST a thousand people ahead of me. These people really do not fucking play around.

Million Dollar Bunny always works there! Is this one called 100 Million Yen Bunny?

Maybe I'm just spoiled by Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland, but the Tokyo one would really benefit from an Astro Orbiter or something. The place is largely just one level and that would make it a lot more dynamic.

Overall, yeah, I still think DisneySea is the best theme park in the world. Both parks are absolutely stacked in terms of attractions, the food is fantastic, and the staff, of course, is excellent in every way. It's just an incredibly pleasant experience overall. I can always find something to complain about at any park but my issues here were very minimal. In case you're going anytime soon, here are the rope drop plans that worked well for me (keep in mind that I got to both parks at 6:30AM):

DisneySea: first, grab a pass for Frozen if possible. It's crucial to get in super early for this one to get the standby pass; I've heard that international credit cards can take a little bit to process payments so you may have a hard time getting Premiere Access. If you get a standby pass, you can buy Premiere Access for another Fantasy Springs ride, or for Soaring if you're into that (it'll be 80 min minimum all day, but it's not worth that wait at all if you've been on either US version). Grab a 40th pass for Indiana Jones if you don't want to do single-rider for that one, or for Nemo if you do (Journey to the Center of the Earth was closed when I went, but prioritize that one too). Set an alarm to get another Fantasy Springs standby pass as soon as you can, because they run out fast. Run to Tower of Terror. Then do whatever you want for the rest of the day-- if you single-rider Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits, they are walk-ons all day. 20k Leagues will be a walk-on after 8PM.

Disneyland: grab Premiere Access for Beauty, then get a 40th pass for Monsters Inc. If you're in the park early enough, they should both give you really early return times. Set an alarm for the next time you can get 40th and Premiere passes (the app will tell you both) and when they go off, you can probably get a 40th pass for Big Thunder. You can buy Premiere for Baymax too, if you're into that. Then run to Pooh, and if you have enough time before your 40th/Premiere return times, go to Mansion. All the other dark rides in the park will have very reasonable wait times for the rest of the day, except for Splash, which will probably have Premiere Access available for pretty long into the day. Pooh and Monsters' wait times will go way down after 8PM too. If you want to see the afternoon parade, I recommend getting in the Peter Pan queue about 3PM; it's in a good spot to see the floats and you don't have to deal with the truly massive amount of people who by that point will have secured all the good parade viewing spots 3 hours earlier.

#disney parks #theme parks #tokyo disney resort #tokyo disneysea #tokyo disneyland

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