#but idk if that would be jarring for only one scene | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chaos0pikachu · 6 months ago

Text

4 Minutes and the Cinematography of Nipples

I said before that I thought 4 Minutes was pretty instantaneously the best looking BL on the market for 2024 after one episode. Which, not gonna lie, is a pretty big fucking claim. There’s been a lot of BL that’s come out that’s looked good, and I do think there’s been a steady improvement overall in the market in the last few years. Personally I think Japanese and Korean BL have a stronger production quality over a majority of Thai BL but like, if that’s a hot take I guess I prefer my food spicy.

The point being~ if I’m gonna make such a hyperbolic statement, well I better back it up right?

So I’m gonna break down a few scenes from the first episode, what I liked about them, why they worked for me, and why on a technical level I think 4 Minutes has just got it going on.

For better readability you can also check out this essay here.

Sidenote: my google docs kept trying to autocorrect “Bible” to “the Bible” and idk how to teach google I mean the hot Thai actor and not the book of Jesus.

To start, I’m going to break down this scene featuring Great and his nepo baby cat:

I thought starting with this scene would be good because it’s such a low-key scene and honestly making these simplistic scenes visually interesting is very difficult! But if you have the basics down, the foundations of cinematography and film making, these simpler scenes can be really memorable.

Like yeah we’re all gonna remember this scene because shirtless Bible and oh my god Akira!? - I have only recently learned who Akira is; why is this cat getting a bigger bag than me? - but beyond that, what makes it cool to watch? What makes it interesting? What information does it showcase to the audience?

One thing I added to the video was a grid for the rule of thirds.

Rule of thirds is a shot composition technique applied to both film and photography. It’s the grid you see if you film a homevideo and helps a Director and Cinematographer figure out where to place the subject or subjects of the shot. The idea is the gridlines show you where you “should” place the subject(s) of said shot.

Like everything, the rule of thirds is a guideline in filmmaking, not a hard and fast unbreakable rule. Filmmakers like Wes Anderson like to play more with central composition shots, rather than ROT.

Anyway on to the opening shot, right after our credits and we’re moving into the shot.

To start, the first thing I notice is the scene’s color grading. Color grading in film is the manipulation of raw film footage to create specific color tones throughout a project. Sometimes this grading is more pointed and obvious, think The Matrix, while in other films it’s not as obvious but still very prominent, think Killers of the Flower Moon.

It’s not that the before credits scene looks entirely, jarringly different from the opening scene, but the hospital scene is surrounded by whites and blue tones, it’s darker, and only a single source of light exists. It gives the entire scene a much more frantic, uneasy aesthetic but it’s not so far off from the darker muted tones of the next scene that it feels jarring or out of place.

The second big thing I noticed in the episode is the use of aspect ratio. I’m not 100% sure what aspect ratio the production used exactly, but the use of widescreen as opposed to full screen in my opinion, gives the episode a more cinematic feel to it in comparison to other Thai BLs.

Example, if you look at Century of Love (2024) it appears to be filmed in the standard full screen - which I believe is 16:9? - while 4 Minutes is widescreen (thus the black bars at the top and bottom). Widescreen can give a show a more “movie like” quality to it which is part of the vibes I get from 4 Minutes.

(source)

Onto Great’s actual introduction scene.

We’re not starting the shot with static movement, but with a camera panning right. I’ve talked about camera panning and such in BL before and it’s something I’ve found doesn’t happen as often as it should. Which is a shame! It’s such a simple technique but it adds so much.

Imagine if we entered the frame with a static center shot, and then a cut to Great sleeping and turning off his alarm clock, and then another cut to above the bed. Think about how much more boring that could be visually.

Instead, we enter the scene with movement, panning over and creating some interesting visual framing.

So here’s our opening shot, do you notice anything interesting? To start, what I like about this shot other than the panning movement in, is that we don’t see Great’s face yet. In fact we don’t see his face in full until about 30 seconds into the scene. This builds anticipation, yeah we all know what Bible looks like, but for the audience who doesn’t this helps build anticipation.

Who is this character? What does he look like? What’s his deal?

It also engages the audience more, if you notice part of the composition of the shot has Great in the mid-ground slightly blurred out, while the foreground emphasizes the things on his desk. He’s distant from us, the audience, sleeping off his hangover not yet ready to “join” the world yet.

Here’s another two more things I like about this shot:

Lines.

Using lines and shapes can make a scene more visually interesting and invoke different feelings to the viewer. In this shot, I get a sense of symmetry, the camera panning right, lightly drags across the screen alongside the lines below and above Great, almost creating a frame within a frame effect. As if Great is boxed into a clock in and of itself.

You can also see the use of balance in the scene as well, connecting back to that visual theme of symmetry as well as blocking our view of Great’s face. The lava lamb and champagne bottle are almost the same height, which helps create balance in the shot. The champagne bottle informs us Great has been drinking or does drink since it’s positioned so close to his bed, whilst also continuing to hide his face away from the viewer.

I also like that the lava lamp is a bright spot of color. The tone of the scene is mostly muted greens, and gray, but the bright orange lava lamp and even the pink champagne bottle draw our attention but don’t overwhelm us either. It provides the scene with some warmth but doesn’t offset the overall tone of the color grading.

And then, the last bit of this shot:

We have Great knocking over the champagne bottom, and turning off his alarm clock. Notice that the alarm clock and the champagne bottle hit those ROT dots almost exactly. There’s also the use of lines by the length of Great’s arm - I just forgot to add a line I’m a failure, a fake, fml - we see him knock over the bottle, and then we follow the line of his arm directly to the alarm clock which is also a shape, a circle.

I like that they used a clock with a specific notable shape, since by the end of this scene the clock is relevant to the story as a whole. Using a shape makes the clock more visually noticeable and memorable to the audience.

So in the next cut we’re above Great - just like Great’s gonna be above Tyme, fuckin hell I’m corny - in a medium-full shot and there’s a couple things I really like here.

I really like the use of lines here with the bed going in one direction but Great’s body going another. It’s disconcerting, and off kilter a bit.

The use of patterns plus the opposing symmetry, whereas in the previous shot the lava lamp and champagne bottle were providing balance, here one side of the bed is patterned, while the other isn’t. This creates a sense of imbalance and makes the shot more visually interesting.

This medium-full shot at a high angle makes Great smaller, and continues to showcase his dishevelment, keeping him distant from the world itself. Also notice the lack of color here as well.

What could this say about Great as a character? Or his story?

So this next cut is the one that actually inspired me to write this essay to begin with and know what I’ma eat some crow here. I originally said it was a great ROT shot but I was wrooooooong. It’s definitely a center composition shot.

Notice as well, the bed itself is its own shape - rectangle - center in the frame, and yet the shot almost looks unbalanced again because of that singular patterned rug. It’s the only pattern in the entire shot, not even Great’s pillows have noticeable patterns on them.

The above view camera angle in a full shot creates almost an omnipresent feel, as if the audience - or something else? - were looking down upon Great. Whose face we still haven’t seen! It makes him smaller, less powerful, and almost vulnerable. Shots like this are often used in horror films like James Wan’s Malignant (2021) where the horror spector will be looking down above the would-be victim.

Another thing I like about this scene though is we have Great moving. It would be simpler and easier to have his phone just by his alarm clock, or under his pillow, but think about how much more visually interesting it is that he has to move down the bed and reach for his phone. It creates action in an actionless low stakes scene.

And now, 30 whole seconds in and we’ve finally seen Great’s face!

Fun fact, with the ROT grid the gridlines fall right across Bible’s nipples. That’s not a film analysis, just something I noticed entirely intentionally. Thanks Madam Director Ning Bhanbhassa Dhubthien.

The actual shot is in center composition again, as Great rolls over and reveals his face the camera begins to zoom in.

This creates movement in the scene instead of leaving the camera to statically observe it’s now, finally, inviting the audience to meet Great. Pulling us in towards him whereas before we were kept at a distance. Great’s awake and, well as ready to meet the world as somebody with a raging hangover can be.

I also like how Bible is moving constantly in this scene; he rubs his eyes and nose, he twitches his fingers, titles his head back and forth, etc it’s nothing revolutionary but it’s appreciated.

When the scene cuts, we get this shot:

I didn’t put the red dot on his nipple, it just landed there. This is all Madam Director Ning chepie.

But you can see how Great’s body is landing on all those gridlines pretty solidly. Also in the background we see his alarm clock again, a bright blurred circle in the distance. I also like the angle of this shot, as it creates depth in the frame, with Great’s head being in the foreground his lower body in the mid-ground and the background blurred out.

What follows is Akira appearing in frame. Which was really difficult to capture so I don’t have a screenshot. But what I really like is Akira entering the frame out of focus. They could have just cut to Akira, but instead they opted for Akira to enter the frame which is more interesting.

When we do cut, Akira is firmly on one of those dots so we don’t miss them in the frame. I think it’s also interesting that we’ve pulled out again, into a mid-full shot, hanging above Great, and we see that clear symmetry line again between the patterned rug and the regular carpet.

I also really love that when we got to Great sweet-talking Akira and feeding them we’re not just doing a cut, we’re panning downwards which continues to add movement to the scene. And we get that moneyed sponsor shot!

Durex can’t pay for everything okay?

So in the final bit of this scene we get focus on Great, who’s in focus, before he gets up and leaves the frame where the camera then focuses on the clock behind him.

See how in the first frame the background is all blurred out, but once Great walks out of the frame - again, great that he walks out, movement!! Y’all don’t understand how boring 1000 Stars was for me to watch because of the lack of this stuff okay? - and then the focus shifts to the clock. Which is round.

God I know that sounds so dumb, but imagine the clock without that ring light bit on it, it’s just a tiny little rectangle. Not as fun or interesting to look at right? Or as noticeable especially from a distance?

This shift in focus also tells us “this is important” whatever “this” is. The subject of the shot goes from Great to the alarm clock but they are positioned as equally important. We’re meant to pay attention to this seemingly innocuous item, which we learn later in the episode is time. We’re meant to remember and note that time will be important to the story - I know with a title like 4 Minutes you’d fucking hope time would be important but have y’all ever read Youtube comments? It’s rough out there for visual comprehension okay?

So all in all this scene is only 1 minute and 40 seconds give or take. It’s very short, but I don’t think it was boring at all. I think it’s a really solid introduction to a main character. Think, Korn didn’t get this much time to showcase his introduction, his scene is shorter - though also well done - which showcases which character is more of a story priority.

This scene eases the audience into the story, inviting us to wake up into the world like Great is. It uses techniques like lines, shapes, symmetry, color and focus to make what could be a very boring scene into an interesting one.

There’s so so much I probably and certainly missed, I’m far from an expert, but I hope I was able to articulate what I liked about this scene, and why I think it looks good.

Stay tuned for more if I can manage to focus long enough to breakdown more scenes lol

Also red dots on Bible’s nipples are just funny to me it be what it be.

Further Reading:

Composition in Cinematography / THE LAST OF US

Center-Framing vs Chaos-Cinema: Mad Max vs Transformers

Camera Framing: Shot Composition & Cinematography Techniques Explained [The Shot List, Ep 2]

The Ultimate Guide to Camera Shots (50+ Types of Shots and Angles in Film)

Color Grading 101 - Everything You Need to Know

Mixing Film And Digital Footage: Killers Of The Flower Moon

In Praise of Subtle Cinematography

#4 minutes #4 minutes the series #bible sumettikul #4minutes #jesbib #chaos pikachu speaks #pikachu's bl film series

266 notes · View notes

aihoshiino · 3 months ago

Text

chapter 164 thoughts

This post discusses suicide and suicidal ideation in the context of Oshi no Ko.

Chapters Until The Story Ends Without The 143 Kiss Being Addressed Or Acknowledged: 2

Bizarrely, I feel like I don't have a ton to say about this chapter. Not because stuff doesn't happen in it but because… fuck, man. What do I even say. I can't quite 100% shake my suspicion that Akasaka has some asspull up his sleeve and that Aqua might come back in style form, even if altered to the point that he isn't the Aqua we know anymore, but this chapter is clearly set up for us to think he's dead and for us to see other character's reactions to this news, so I'll talk about the text with that assumption in mind. This one will probably be kind of all over the place so bear with me ig

That being said… this is all kind of dumb as fuck, huh

Like. There's just so many insane contrivances with this setup that it's impossible for me to take it seriously. Putting aside that there's no way on planet earth Aqua's plan should have fooled anybody, why in God's name are his family and friends finding out about this from a news broadcast and not, like… Being contacted by the police?? Or at least hearing about it beforehand??

I also really don't like that we're setting up to have a whole chapter focusing on Ruby's response to all this while Aqua's Literal Mother and all his friends get like. Two panels to be shocked at the news. If the series ends without giving them all the space to grieve I think I will be legitimately really pissed off lmao

The presence of 15 Year Lie in this chapter also makes me agonizingly aware that we know basically nothing about it to this day, even though the contents of the movie are what this final arc revolves around. Aqua's plan relies on Kamiki's crimes as exposed by the movie being heinous enough that Kamiki would kill Aqua to silence them but…

WHAT FUCKING CRIMES???

The Kamiki we saw in the movie was only ever portrayed as a victim in the scenes we see. Unless the story is trying to imply that Kamiki is somehow responsible for Uehara and Airi's deaths or that 15YL makes him directly responsible for Gorou's death or - literally I have no idea what this could be referring to.

I dunno, man. It's hard for me to really want to buckle down and analyse this because so much of it feels entirely contrary to the story that came before. I've always insisted that the one thing that we could guarantee was that Aqua and Ruby would survive the series and be happy because so much emotional weight is put on Ai's wish for Aqua and Ruby to grow into adults and be happy, and it really seemed like we were building up to an ending of Aqua deciding for himself that he wants to finally live for himself, so this sudden swerve into Aqua being told by God "actually your purpose in life is to nobly commit suicide for your sister" is uh, jarring to say the least.

Part of the issue with this is that I think Akasaka doesn't think of Aqua's sacrifice as being a suicide, narratively speaking, even though Akane literally acknowledges it as such. But the thing is, Aqua's "sacrifice" is emergent from all the same things as his suicidal ideation - his belief that his life is intrinsically less valuable than everyone else's and his continued guilt and self loathing as a result of his trauma. Aqua literally says to Ruby's face in 143 that he feels guilty just for being alive and it's literally never addressed again.

So it's very difficult not to read this ending as the story approving of Aqua killing himself, but only if it's for the right reasons. Not only is that an insanely irresponsible message to put into a story as widespread and visible as OnK is right now, it's also just fucking ghoulish.

Idk. Even if Aqua lived here, I just really dislike this idea of his whole life's purpose being Narratively Affirmed as being to uplift Ruby at his own expense. Aqua is very much like Ai in that he's a person who has spent basically all of both his lives in service to other people, unable to pursue the things that he wants and that make him genuinely fulfilled - an ending that parallels Ai, where he is denied this to the extent that it kills him, is not a bad idea on paper but the execution here makes it fall apart. Like, if the framing was that Aqua and Kamiki were both unable to move on from the past to the point that it kills them, I'd vibe with that or something like it. But as is, this shit is just baffling.

It doesn't help that Aqua's death is just completely unmoored from anything the series has been setting up all this time. I've seen people defending this as being what Aqua's revenge was building up to, but this very explicitly isn't about Aqua's revenge. It's about "protecting Ruby's future", but the idea that Kamiki was a threat to Ruby specifically is something that was introduced all of four chapters ago. Even then, it's deeply undercooked. Like, what it is about Kamiki that makes him SUCH a threat to Ruby that Aqua has no choice but to take the nuclear option and kill them both? Why is this the one and only way to stop him? We don't know - we basically know nothing about Kamiki besides "he's Ai's crazy ex" which is such a massive letdown for an antagonist who's been built up for this long.

Speaking of Ai…. where the fuck is she!!!

I know this is predictable background noise from the Ai Wife Guy, but it really is baffling to me that she's such a nonfactor when the climax happening right now is her son confronting the man who killed her. At best, we get mild lipservice as to her existence but the series is so all-in on this "protecting Ruby's future" framing that Ai's absence here feels jarring. It's not just that Ai should be relevant because I like her (but I DO and she SHOULD) but because it makes for a bizarrely deflated finale. Instead of the tragedy we've been building up to avenging for over 140 chapters, Aqua's death comes as the result of a plan he came up with on the spot to deal with an ill-defined threat that only came into existence 4-6 chapters ago.

It just doesn't really feel satisfying, especially when the series has been so wishy washy when it comes to focusing on Aqua and Ruby's relationship. If the series was going to make that connection The central axis on which this climax revolves, then it needed more fleshing out than it got, regardless of if the series went the AquRuby route or not.

Two chapters left………..

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #onk spoilers #chapter reviews

71 notes · View notes

iwillneverforgiveyousunghanbin · 1 year ago

Text

bully⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

monday, kim jiwoong — advanced drama

⋆˙⟡ zbully1 smut series masterlist! hanbin, jiwoong, hao, matthew, and taerae included. game day (group) chapter here. all 7 endings here.

⋆˙⟡ wc: 2.8k ⋆˙⟡ reader: femme afab (listed first, she/her are used a couple times) // gender neutral (alternate version listed second, no pronouns used at all to describe reader— scroll down) ⋆˙⟡ series summary: five bullies. six days. it's gonna be a hell of a week, babe. stay hydrated. ⋆˙⟡ monday summary: it's monday, the first day of the school week. you're excited for your advanced drama class, but not too keen on the person you're always forced to run into there. suave, charismatic, repulsively arrogant: kim jiwoong lives to make your life just a bit harder. and lucky you: today he's your scene partner. ⋆˙⟡ warnings: explicit smut. 18+. minors do not interact. please read specific warnings under the cut! angst. lighttt dub-con. bullying. jiwoong plays romeo, that should be a warning for the faint of heart. the smut is fairly light in general. it's only monday guys, we have to survive six consecutive days so let's pace ourselves, ya know? ⋆˙⟡ bully scale: ★★★☆☆ (3)

EXPLICIT SMUT 18+ WARNINGS: fingering/heavy petting (reader receiving), dub-con kind of sort of idk better safe than sorry, bullying, degrading sexual names.

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　

“an exciting day today, as always,” professor lee announces from the center of your chair circle. “we’ll be performing a series of famous two-character scenes in the second half of the class and you’ll have the first half to prepare with your scene partner.”

all of your classmates begin to whisper loudly. several two-character scenes would undoubtedly include some romance. the thought made your head spin with anxiety.

your best friend mina softly kicks your foot with her’s. you turn to look at her, a stunning grin shining back at you.

“i hope i get paired with jiwoong oppa,” she says, giggling quietly.

you scowl. even knowing all the hell that kim jiwoong and his rat bastard friends have caused you this entire year, mina persistently eyes the inconveniently beautiful man with googly eyes through every class.

curious as to how the man himself is reacting to today’s assignment, you steal a glance in his direction: a terrible mistake. jiwoong is leaned back in his chair, one shoe resting on the opposite knee in a cocky, relaxed position. his hair is pushed neatly behind his ears, fashionable brown slacks and a cream-colored sweater tucked into his belt— arms crossed over his chest.

skin perfect and glowing under his black, wire-framed glasses. tongue poking at his cheek in an arrogant smile.

staring right at you.

you immediately look back down at your lap, trying your best to appear unbothered by the bait that jiwoong’s hooked for you.

“i’ll be picking names out of this jar to assign parts at random and, from there, we’ll just jump right in,” professor lee explains as the chatter comes to a halt. “there’s props and minimal costume pieces in the storage closet at your disposal as usual.”

mina bounces her leg happily beside you, fingers crossed behind her chair for good luck. you shake your head sadly. the thing she’s wishing for is the thing you dread most.

“the first scene will be from bonnie and clyde. caroline-sshi will be reading for bonnie,” professor lee calls as he pulls the first slip of paper out of the jar, followed by the second. “and ichan-sshi will read for clyde.”

there’s a chorus of teasing oooooh’s throughout the room, caroline and ichan shyly waving to each other until your professor holds up his hand for silence.

“for our second scene, we have an excerpt from medea,” professor lee says, reaching into the glass jar. “the role of medea will be played by… mina-sshi. and the role of jason will be played by…”

mina’s eyes light up at both the meaty assignment and the anticipation of who her scene partner will be.

“yijin-sshi,” he finishes.

the class giggles at the two sweet girls playing such contentious ex-lovers. mina sighs disappointedly and returns her attention to her shoes.

“our third scene will be from romeo and juliet,” professor lee calls, two slips of paper between his fingers. “reading for romeo, we’ll have… jiwoong-sshi.”

nearly everyone gasps in awe at the casting. how fitting of an actor for such a part! how did jiwoong always manage to get assigned the best roles? who will get to read for juliet?

you dare to steal another glimpse at jiwoong. he’s sitting forward now, legs spread apart with his forearms resting on his thighs— focusing on his hands as he waits. you truly feel sorry for the chump that has to spend the next forty minutes alone with him.

“and the role of juliet will be played by… (y/n)-sshi.”

oh for f*ck’s sake. out of 19 possible partners, of course you’d end up having the terrible luck of being paired with kim jiwoong.

he licks his tongue lightly across his teeth like a predator taunting his prey. you were, for all intents and purposes, fucked.

“while the romantic blocking written in several of these scenes is technically optional,” professor lee says, holding up his hands as if to calm the nervous energy in the room. “it plays an important part in the emotional integrity of the character dynamics. only do what you’re comfortable with, but consider why a stage direction is written and do take it seriously.”

professor lee finishes announcing the rest of the pairings before dismissing you to get to work on your scenes.

“i’m so jealous,” mina whines, stamping her foot cutely as she stands up from her chair. “are you gonna kiss him? if it’s in the scene?”

“KISS HIM!?” you shout, driven by pure shock and disgust. nearly everyone in your class turns to look at you, but you’re too disturbed to care. it was a ridiculous question. there’s no way jiwoong would ever lower himself to kiss you. besides, he’ll be too busy using his mouth to insult you the whole time.

but mina did raise a good question that you hadn’t fully considered yet. just how romantic would the scene you’re assigned be?

“thinking about me?”

the voice comes from behind you, so close in proximity that it makes you jump. you stumble backwards, your back tapping against a solid surface.

looking over your shoulder, you recoil at the sight of kim jiwoong hovering over you, a shaky denial leaving your lips, “i w-wasn’t...”

“explain to me again how you made it into advanced drama with those piss-poor acting skills?” jiwoong huffs, knocking into your shoulder with his as he brushes past you towards the door. when you don’t follow him, he turns around and glares at you expectantly. “did you forget how to walk or something?”

you shake your head silently and run after him out the door. a gap of at least a couple feet forms between you and jiwoong as you struggle to match his determined stride. “um, where are we going?”

“stage. duh,” jiwoong answers plainly, rounding the corner. “if we get there first, we get it all to ourselves and everyone else can fuck off.”

you gulp. you could barely survive jiwoong’s bullying in a crowded room. all alone with jiwoong— no witnesses to keep him at bay… you didn’t like the sound of it.

as you finally reach the side door to the auditorium, jiwoong opens it and lets it swing before you can step inside. it nearly slams into your nose until you catch it with your elbow at the very last second.

“look at you,” jiwoong says with a dark chuckle. “maybe you’re more coordinated than matthew lets on. should we keep testing that theory?”

you inhale deeply, trying your damnedest to not let him get to you yet. you still had thirty-nine long minutes to go. shaking your head in response, you follow him up the stairs and onto the stage. there’s some larger set pieces currently in use in preparation for the winter play; a corner tableau with walls occupies stage right.

jiwoong tosses your script (at your face) and it falls delicately to the ground in front of your feet. “aren’t you gonna pick that up?”

bending down carefully in your short skirt, you pick up your script and flip to the first page of dialogue. your hands are starting to tremble under the pressure of jiwoong’s piercing gaze.

“come here, we can do a cold read first,” he instructs, flipping open his own script. “follow stage directions, but we’ll iron them out later.”

you nod in complacency but stay exactly where you are beside the wall of the corner set— six safe feet away from kim jiwoong.

“seriously?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at you incredulously. “scared i’m gonna bite you?”

your lips part slightly at this remark. you hadn’t been scared of this before, but under the circumstances...

“or maybe you’re scared you’ll bite me,” jiwoong hums smugly. “think you might fall for me during our love scene? that’s almost unbearably pathetic.”

“please just read the script,” you reply quietly, gaze returning to your script. i am unbothered. i am in control of my own destiny, your therapist’s stupid affirmations ring through your head.

jiwoong stares at you for a moment and then, much to your surprise, he obliges.

you take advantage of this, reading through the script carefully and marking the blocking lightly from your fixed position on the stage. as you recite your lines, your ears burn red at what becomes clear to you: the scene is, for lack of a better word, sexy. juliet is a young virgin who is absolutely taken with the charismatic, handsome romeo. he desperately wants to kiss her and then some and juliet wants the same— though she has to feign that she doesn’t because of female fragility or some other bullshit, antiquated principle.

“if i profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss,” jiwoong reads, your heart dropping to your stomach. he makes an agonizingly convincing romeo: charming, witty... gorgeous.

why was this scene beginning to feel kind of... real?

“good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,” you read your next line softly, attempting to steady your nerves as your script shakes between your fingers. “and palm to palm is holy palmers’… k—... kiss.”

jiwoong feeds off of your hesitation, a dangerous smirk darkening his features. this scene is evoking a visible reaction out of you and he’s as aware of it as you are. setting his script down on the hardwood stage floor, jiwoong recites perfectly, “have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?”

“stop it,” you say through gritted teeth as he unsubtly eyes you up and down. you don’t care if he’s in character or not— he’s just trying to get under your skin. “stop doing that.”

he steps towards you, the air souring from the magnitude of his arrogance. “i don’t think that’s your line, now is it?”

“don’t come any closer,” you warn again, a little more conviction this time but still not enough to stop his perpetual motion. you try to move, but your feet are frozen to the floor. at least, you assume they are. that’s the reason you’re not moving, right?

it has to be.

jiwoong takes another step and then another, the distance between you diminishing rapidly.

“if you come any closer, i’ll—… i’ll tell professor lee,” you threaten in panic. he’s just a few inches from you now and you can smell his sharp, spiced cologne. “i’ll tell him everything you’ve ever said to me, you absolute... TWAT ROCKET!”

“ooh, i like the creativity. but it’s still not your line,” he whispers, clucking his tongue in disappointment. “shouldn’t you be taking this a little more seriously, (y/n)-sshi? where’s my stick-up-her-ass, goody two-shoes when i need her, hm? do you want us to both fail today’s assignment or something?”

you did not want to fail today’s assignment. jiwoong bullying you through your whole rehearsal wasn’t exactly helping your chances, but there was hardly an available remedy for that. the only way forward was to just try to be the bigger, more professional actor. sighing resignedly, you read your next line: “ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.��

jiwoong somehow comes closer still, hovering over you like you’re a moth he plans to ensnare in his deadly flame. he raises his hand to your cheek and you flinch, expecting some sort of dull impact. you open your eyes when there is none. when your eyes meet his, jiwoong lifts his index finger— brushing it against your bottom lip as you stand there, unblinking in your shock. “o, then, dear saint... let lips do what hands do.”

he tugs your bottom lip down slightly, running the tip of his thumb gently across the soft, wet inside. you’re screaming inside your head, but not a single sound makes its way out of your mouth. jiwoong has called you names, pulled your hair, left red rashes from twisting the skin on your arms for two years now...

but this is easily the meanest thing he’s ever done.

“they pray, grant thou,” he continues his line, thumb trailing from your lips, past your chin and down your neck. you gasp when he stops at the collar of your shirt, not sure if you’re more disturbed by his audacity to do this or his audacity to suddenly stop. you curse the aching feeling that you now realize has been radiating from your heat since you stepped on this stage. how could your body betray you like this?

jiwoong exhales a mean laugh as he searches your eyes and easily finds what you’re so poorly trying to hide. maybe you really didn’t belong in advanced drama after all.

continuing his trail down the center of your chest and over the curve of your stomach, he breathes, “lest faith turn to despair.”

“jiwoongie,” you whisper, eyes locked on his hand just a couple inches from your clothed core. begging for him to stop; begging for him to start— it’s anyone’s guess. “you—... i—...”

“how thick is your skull that i have to keep reminding you to read your fucking line,” he hisses, the harsh insult sounds just like honey to you. his eyes appear almost black, daring you to disobey him.

you want to run away. you need to stay exactly where you are.

“saints—... saints do not move,” you manage to squeak. “though grant for prayers’ sake.”

“then move not,” jiwoong recites, his left hand finding your hip as he presses you up against the set piece behind you, “while my prayer’s effect i take.”

you don’t know how you’re still breathing as jiwoong’s middle and ring fingers find their way under your skirt and between your legs. a whimper escapes you as he finds the sensitive bud, bucking your hips slightly into his hand at the wave of arousal.

“that easy, baby? feel good?” jiwoong asks rhetorically, as if the growing volume of your mewls isn’t enough proof for him. “fuck, i’ve wanted to do this forever.”

“but—...y-you hate me,” you counter, grinding into his fingers again. jiwoong moans softly at your assertiveness, biting his bottom lip as he works you over.

“i don’t know what that has to do with wanting to fuck you,” he replies, attaching his lips to your collarbone as he shoves the damp fabric of your panties to the side. “really wanna fuck you.”

“jiwoongie,” you whine again, script falling from your hand and onto the floor. your arms wrap around his neck for support as your legs start to weaken. “i—… i think you were just supposed to kiss me.”

“huh. is that right?” he asks, grinning at your adorably innocent protest as he takes his hand off your hip and starts to fool with his belt buckle. “well, professor lee always says to lean into the scene. and you looked like you could use some leaning into.”

“i c-can’t believe i’m letting you do this,” you rasp, biting your bottom lip as the top button of jiwoong’s slacks comes undone.

“i can,” he grunts, flipping you around so that your chest is squished against the wall. his gruff hands push up your skirt and knead into your hips and ass as he admires your form. “fucking insufferable little angel. was hoping you’d secretly be a filthy slut. just for me though, right?”

though hearing jiwoong demean you would normally bring tears to your eyes, it’s intoxicating to you in this moment. it’s a scary, complicated feeling and the only truth you know falls from your lips: “i... hate you.”

“mm, whatever you say baby,” he coos mockingly, the sounds of your arousal growing louder and wetter against his fingers. he flips you back over to face him eagerly. “but you want my cock in you, yeah?”

your lips part as you stare at the bulge in his pants, mouth watering slightly. to your surprise and horror, you really do want it. if you let this happen, the consequences you’ll face could be detrimental.

but in this moment, watching a wavy lock of jiwoong’s hair fall across his forehead as his middle finger starts to prod at your entrance: you want him— need him inside you. your brain is clouded; vision lustful and hazy. how much does jiwoong’s past treatment of you really matter?

“(y/n)!” a voice rings out from the house of the auditorium.

“come fucking on,” jiwoong groans in frustration, your eyes wide like a deer in headlights. somehow it hadn’t even crossed your mind that you might get caught in the act. you start to struggle in jiwoong’s grasp, looking everywhere for a quick exit. he throws a hand over your mouth to keep you quiet, shimmying your skirt back back down over your ass with the other.

“jiwoong-sshi! (y/n)-sshi! time to get ready for performances!”

after running a smoothing hand through your hair for you, jiwoong suddenly pushes you out from behind the set piece you’re pressed up against. you stumble nervously onto center stage.

“oh my god, (y/n)!” mina calls excitedly, running over to you. “how did it go!? where’s jiwoong oppa? did he kiss you? was it amazing? does he taste like smoke and cinnamon? are his lips soft like clouds?”

“mina, that’s enough,” you shush awkwardly, knowing full well jiwoong can hear everything she’s saying— undoubtedly smirking like a wild hyena, that bastard. coming out of your spell of lust, you shudder as the reality of what just happened starts to sink in. how could you let an asshole like him put his hands all over you— almost put himself inside of you? the only answer to all of mina’s questions you can manage is a truthful one: “we didn’t kiss.”

“oh,” mina replies with a small smile, probably happy that there’s still hope for her. “that’s too bad.”

“what’s too bad?” jiwoong asks, stepping out on stage next to you. he hands you your script, tucking his own under his arm. you notice his belt is buckled again. “sorry, i was getting our scripts.”

“nothing!” mina answers much too enthusiastically. “everything’s so, so good actually. now that you’re here. i mean, because professor lee sent me here to find you. and i found you! so everything’s great. perfect, even.”

jiwoong chuckles, turning to you: a malicious glint in his eye. he bites his lip, one corner of his mouth upturning in a mocking smile. then, he turns back to mina before sitting down on the edge of the stage and hopping off. “you know, i really wish we could’ve worked together on this one, mona.”

“it’s mina,” you correct, tears prickling the corners of your eyes. yes, you could see very clearly now. this had all been a sick little game to jiwoong. and you’d fallen right into his trap. he knew you would.

“sure, whatever,” he says, dismissing you with a passive wave of his hand. throwing an arm around mina’s shoulder, jiwoong leads your best friend toward the side door of the auditorium that you’d entered through. “but, like i was saying... i think we’d have a lot of chemistry, muna. maybe you’d like to work more on developing that with me... outside of class?”

the door slams behind them, leaving you standing alone in the spotlight of center stage. your underwear is wet and uncomfortable; your heart races as you blink back tears. of course jiwoong would be cruel enough to use your best friend to deal the final blow.

and, though jiwoong had apparently studied this scene before, you hadn’t even memorized any of your lines.

yes, you’d let your guard down. but how were you supposed to know that something like that would happen? though jiwoong and his friends often made disparaging sexual remarks towards you, he wasn’t someone you thought would want to act on them. the biggest fear crosses your mind now: would he tell his stupid fucking friends about how much of a desperate whore you’d been for him just now?

mondays, you think. at least jiwoong would be out of your sight for another week after today. you walk to the steps at the side of the stage, following jiwoong and mina’s exit route.

at least you can hope that tuesday will be better.

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　

gender neutral version below

EXPLICIT SMUT 18+ WARNINGS: heavy petting (reader receiving), dub-con kind of sort of idk better safe than sorry, bullying, degrading sexual names.

*also want to say that reader plays juliet in a RANDOMLY ASSIGNED scene during class. other people in the fic are assigned parts that are a different gender than they are. just wanted to mention this just in case it makes anyone uncomfy!!

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　

all of your classmates begin to whisper loudly. several two-character scenes would undoubtedly include some romance. the thought made your head spin with anxiety.

your best friend mina softly kicks your foot with her’s. you turn to look at her, a stunning grin shining back at you.

“i hope i get paired with jiwoong oppa,” she says, giggling quietly.

skin perfect and glowing under his black, wire-framed glasses. tongue poking at his cheek in an arrogant smile.

staring right at you.

you immediately look back down at your lap, trying your best to appear unbothered by the bait that jiwoong’s hooked for you.

“i’ll be picking names out of this jar to assign parts completely at random and, from there, we’ll just jump right in,” professor lee explains as the chatter comes to a halt. “there’s props and minimal costume pieces in the storage closet at your disposal as usual.”

mina bounces her leg happily beside you, fingers crossed behind her chair for good luck. you shake your head sadly. the thing she’s wishing for is the thing you dread most.

there’s a chorus of teasing oooooh’s throughout the room, caroline and ichan shyly waving to each other until your professor holds up his hand for silence.

mina’s eyes light up at both the meaty assignment and the anticipation of who her scene partner will be.

“yijin-sshi,” he finishes.

the class giggles at the two sweet girls playing such contentious ex-lovers. mina sighs disappointedly and returns her attention to her shoes.

“our third scene will be from romeo and juliet,” professor lee calls, two slips of paper between his fingers. “reading for romeo, we’ll have… jiwoong-sshi.”

nearly everyone gasps in awe at the casting. how fitting of an actor for such a part! how did jiwoong always manage to get assigned the best roles? who will get to read for juliet?

“and the role of juliet will be played by… (y/n)-sshi.”

oh for f*ck’s sake. out of 19 possible partners, of course you’d end up having the terrible luck of being paired with kim jiwoong.

he licks his tongue lightly across his teeth like a predator taunting his prey. you were, for all intents and purposes, fucked.

professor lee finishes announcing the rest of the pairings before dismissing you to get to work on your scenes.

“i’m so jealous,” mina whines, stamping her foot cutely as she stands up from her chair. “are you gonna kiss him? if it’s in the scene?”

but mina did raise a good question that you hadn’t fully considered yet. just how romantic would the scene you’re assigned be?

“thinking about me?”

the voice comes from behind you, so close in proximity that it makes you jump. you stumble backwards, your back tapping against a solid surface.

looking over your shoulder, you recoil at the sight of kim jiwoong hovering over you, a shaky denial leaving your lips, “i w-wasn’t...”

“stage. duh,” jiwoong answers plainly, rounding the corner. “if we get there first, we get it all to ourselves and everyone else can fuck off.”

you gulp. you could barely survive jiwoong’s bullying in a crowded room. all alone with jiwoong— no witnesses to keep him at bay… you didn’t like the sound of it.

“look at you,” jiwoong says with a dark chuckle. “maybe you’re more coordinated than matthew lets on. should we keep testing that theory?”

jiwoong tosses your script (at your face) and it falls delicately to the ground in front of your feet. “aren’t you gonna pick that up?”

bending down carefully, you pick up your script and flip to the first page of dialogue. your hands are starting to tremble under the pressure of jiwoong’s piercing gaze.

“come here, we can do a cold read first,” he instructs, flipping open his own script. “follow stage directions, but we’ll iron them out later.”

you nod in complacency but stay exactly where you are beside the wall of the corner set— six safe feet away from kim jiwoong.

“seriously?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at you incredulously. “scared i’m gonna bite you?”

your lips part slightly at this remark. you hadn’t been scared of this before, but under the circumstances...

“or maybe you’re scared you’ll bite me,” jiwoong hums smugly. “think you might fall for me during our love scene? that’s almost unbearably pathetic.”

“please just read the script,” you reply quietly, gaze returning to your script. i am unbothered. i am in control of my own destiny, your therapist’s stupid affirmations ring through your head.

jiwoong stares at you for a moment and then, much to your surprise, he obliges.

why was this scene beginning to feel kind of... real?

“stop it,” you say through gritted teeth as he unsubtly eyes you up and down. you don’t care if he’s in character or not— he’s just trying to get under your skin. “stop doing that.”

he steps towards you, the air souring from the magnitude of his arrogance. “i don’t think that’s your line, now is it?”

it has to be.

jiwoong takes another step and then another, the distance between you diminishing rapidly.

“ooh, i like the creativity. but it’s still not your line,” he whispers, clucking his tongue in disappointment. “shouldn’t you be taking this a little more seriously, (y/n)-sshi? do you want us to both fail today’s assignment or something?”

but this is easily the meanest thing he’s ever done.

jiwoong exhales a mean laugh as he searches your eyes and easily finds what you’re so poorly trying to hide. maybe you really didn’t belong in advanced drama after all.

continuing his trail down the center of your chest and over your stomach, he breathes, “lest faith turn to despair.”

“jiwoongie,” you whisper, eyes locked on his hand just a couple inches from your clothed core. begging for him to stop; begging for him to start— it’s anyone’s guess. “you—... i—...”

you want to run away. you need to stay exactly where you are.

“saints—... saints do not move,” you manage to squeak. “though grant for prayers’ sake.”

“then move not,” jiwoong recites, his left hand finding your hip as he presses you up against the set piece behind you, “while my prayer’s effect i take.”

you don’t know how you’re still breathing as jiwoong’s hand finds it’s way between your legs. a whimper escapes you as you buck your hips slightly into his palm at the wave of arousal.

“that easy, baby? feel good?” jiwoong asks rhetorically, as if the growing volume of your mewls isn’t enough proof for him. “fuck, i’ve wanted to do this forever.”

“but—...y-you hate me,” you counter, grinding against his fingers again. jiwoong moans softly at your assertiveness, biting his bottom lip as he works you over.

“i don’t know what that has to do with wanting to fuck you,” he replies, attaching his lips to your collarbone as he starts to tug at your waistband. “really wanna fuck you.”

“huh. is that right?” he asks, grinning at your adorably innocent protest as he brings his left hand to fool with his belt buckle. “well, professor lee always says to lean into the scene. and you looked like you could use some leaning into.”

“i c-can’t believe i’m letting you do this,” you rasp, biting your bottom lip as the top button of jiwoong’s slacks comes undone.

“i can,” he grunts, gruff fingers pulling down his zipper. “fucking insufferable angel. was hoping you’d secretly be filthy like this. just for me though, right?”

“mm, whatever you say baby,” he coos mockingly, the sound of your moaning growing less concealable. “but you want my cock in you, yeah?”

“(y/n)!” a voice rings out from the house of the auditorium.

“jiwoong-sshi! (y/n)-sshi! time to get ready for performances!”

after running a smoothing hand across the top of your head for you, jiwoong suddenly pushes you out from behind the set piece you’re pressed up against. you stumble nervously onto center stage.

“oh,” mina replies with a small smile, probably happy that there’s still hope for her. “that’s too bad.”

and, though jiwoong had apparently studied this scene before, you hadn’t even memorized any of your lines.

mondays, you think. at least jiwoong would be out of your sight for another week after today. you walk to the steps at the side of the stage, following jiwoong and mina’s exit route.

at least you can hope that tuesday will be better.

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　

377 notes · View notes

userlando · 2 years ago

Note

bestie idk what would even be the plot of something like this but i have been Thinking Majorly abt carlos x reader x lando a lot recently... just wanted to let you know in case that mayhaps inspire you 👀

oh bestie you just unlocked something dangerous in my brain. I have no idea how to write threesomes because I’ve only ever done monogamous stuff but hope you like this lil blurb I cooked up for you & you only 🤍

generous (1.8k words) lando/carlos/fem!reader - this is nsfw, minors dni!!

It starts with a squirm. It’s innocuous and barely there but Carlos clocks it so fast. He’s so in tune with you and your mannerisms by now that he knows when something has struck a chord with you, feeling you shift a little where you’re laying against him on the sofa, and he watches your lips part in an innocent and quiet sigh. It almost sounds wistful to the untrained ear, but he can see your eyes flicker across the screen and his own ones dart to the television to look at what exactly has you so… riled up.

Oh. Of course. It’s a sex scene, a bad one at that and it has Carlos eyebrows lifting enough to crease the skin of his forehead. He refrains from smirking because he can feel the pads of your fingers stroking down his arm, almost subconsciously, feeling the hairs on his flesh as they map out a random path.

Lando clears his throat and the sound is so jarring in the quiet room that you jump a little, the both of you looking over at him. His eyes are fastened on the tv, but there’s a tenseness in his body that lets Carlos know that he’s anything but focused on what’s happening on the screen. That, along with a distinct flush on the apples of his cheeks and his fisted hand.

It makes something wicked flare up in the Spaniard’s chest, sliding his hands down your side where it had laid dormant and casual, slipping beneath the blanket he’d thrown over you when the three of you had sat down and decided on a movie.

You don’t say anything at first, nor do you react but he knows that you’ll soon shift your eyes and glance up at him questioningly. You do exactly that when he slips his hand to your lower stomach, under your t-shirt so he can feel the softness against his bare palm. He doesn’t look at you, but you’re staring up at his face, trying to figure out what the hell he’s doing because surely he’s not… Shit.

The sound you make in your throat is quiet, but it’s a whimper that sounds so loud in the room that you can feel your entire body flush warmly when Carlos successfully finds his way inside your shorts, fingers touching the slickness gathered between your thighs. He rubs one finger over your clit, gently and almost non-existent, but you react so beautifully that he can’t help but smirk when Lando shifts in his seat from the corner of his eye.

Carlos knows about your feelings for the Brit, it’s harmless and he’s secure enough in your relationship to feel anything but threatened. That’s why he’d barely reacted when you one day confessed, albeit a little drunkenly, that Lando was sexy. Your words, not his.

You hadn’t brought the subject up after that night, thinking and praying that Carlos had somehow forgotten you confessing your thoughts and feelings for his best friend. He’d certainly acted like it until a few days later after the Imola weekend where you’d stumbled into your hotel room after the club, a little buzzed and a whole lot of horny. He’d had his fingers deep inside you, worked you up to two orgasms and the third one took a little incentive. So, he’d very casually and calmly painted a pretty picture of Lando between your legs and Carlos in your throat, the filthy words whispered in your ear. You’d screamed your orgasm that night.

You suck in a breath between your teeth when your boyfriend slicks his fingers up further and rubs circles where you’re the most sensitive, squirming in his hold and your heart jumps when he takes pity on you, sliding one finger into you. He almost groans at how easily it goes in, daring to add a second finger right after because he knows how achy you must be right now. It’s written all over your face, your hands gripping his shirt as you push conspicuously into his moving fingers.

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?” Carlos asks and you blink your eyes open, confused and a little hazy until you realise that he’s not even talking to you.

Your eyes flick to Lando sitting by your feet like you'd forgotten that he was sitting there - awake, body seizing up in slight panic when you find his eyes already looking at you. The tips of his ears are red, and his mouth drops open like he wants to answer but he can’t find the right words, closing it mutely.

He guiltily looks away before looking back at Carlos, frown marring his face when he realises he’s been caught ogling his girlfriend.

“I’m—“ he stops, like he doesn’t know what to say. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, cabrón.” You can’t see your boyfriend’s face but you can easily hear the smugness in his voice as he speeds up the movement of his fingers. “She’s beautiful, I can’t blame you for looking.”

If you were of sound mind, you’d probably have sat up and slapped his hand away, even scold him. But you can’t lie to yourself, can’t say that you haven’t been fantasising about a scenario like this. Carlos clearly knows it, because even though you haven’t expressed the extent of your desires, he reads you like a book.

And he would be a damned liar if he said that he hadn’t thought of you and his best friend together. It was probably sick and a little twisted, but there was something about it that got him off.

“Maybe I should…” Lando trails off when Carlos curls his fingers, making you stutter out a filthy moan as your stomach starts getting tied up in knots.

He stares and you stare back, because fuck you can’t look away from the brightness of his eyes, how his pupils have blown out in what you can only describe as sheer and utter arousal.

“Are you close, mi amor?” Carlos whispers against the side of your head and you nod with a small keen, feeling his lips twitch against your temple in what you can only assume is a smile.

The smug son of a bitch is having the time of his life and you grip his arm that’s working between your legs when you feel yourself climbing closer to the edge, breaths coming out laboured and messed up. Like you’re sucking for air but can’t quite get enough in your lungs.

The sounds you make are so mesmerising to Lando that he can’t help but stare, clenching his hands in his lap in a poor attempt to shield his half-hard cock from your eyes but he knows the gesture is futile. He’s so entranced by the way you’re looking at him through hooded eyes that he completely misses Carlos’ question aimed at him, only coming to when your eyes flicker up to your boyfriend, breaking the trance he’d found himself in.

“Do you think I should let her come?” Carlos asks again, face so hard to read that it should scare Lando but if he squinted hard enough he can almost see the hidden amusement in his eyes. Or maybe it’s wishful thinking from Lando’s part.

Lando all of a sudden feels overwhelmed, looking down at where you’ve managed to slide onto your back, head resting on your boyfriend’s lap and legs splayed out underneath the blanket. He has a fleeting thought of ripping it off so he could see exactly what Carlos’ fingers are doing to you, but the situation is so bizarre and odd that he doesn’t even know what would be considered crossing a line.

He doesn’t dare to make a move, in fear of abruptly ending whatever this was, but then you open your mouth around a breathless moan and Lando’s hand shoots to cup over his cock; like the mere sound of you hurt him.

Carlos’ eyebrows jump in amusement, staring at his friend with that doe-eyed, vacant look he always holds and Lando almost looks away from the intensity of it.

“Please, please, Carlos.” You plead, grabbing at his arm just to have something to hold on to as your stomach starts coiling, on the brink of an explosive orgasm.

Carlos sucks his teeth, and the sound of it is disapproving enough for you to whine because you know what it means without him having to utter a word. No, you’re not allowed to come.

“I’m not the one you should be asking, nena.” He chastises you, eyes flicking up to the man sitting on the other side of the sofa. “Así que?”

Lando’s Spanish is limited, but it’s clear what Carlos is expecting of him by the tone of his voice and a zip of excitement shoots down his spine when he realises that his friend is handing him the reigns to something he holds so dear. He’d seen Carlos chew out men for even disrespecting you in the past, and he knows how wildly protective Carlos is of you.

His eyes slide down to where you’re writhing, thighs closing and hips pushing up as you’re getting close. He wants to see you come undone but when he opens his mouth, the complete opposite comes tumbling out.

“No.” His voice is hoarse, loud and you whine when Carlos stops the movements of his hand, like he had been expecting Lando to respond in the negative.

Lando is sitting close enough to hear the slick sound as Carlos pulls his fingers out of you, and his hand squeezes himself through his sweatpants subconsciously.

“Lo lamento, amor. If Lando says no then it’s a no.” He says with no real regret in his voice, and it makes you scowl a bit.

Lando can’t help but almost smile in amusement, thinking that you look adorable as you’re pouting with that wild look in your eyes. He’s so preoccupied with the way you’re glaring and huffing at the both of them that he misses Carlos holding up two fingers to your mouth. It’s only when you begrudgingly and shyly open your mouth that he realises that those fingers were just inside of you, heart speeding up when the light of the television catches the slick on his fingers. Fuck.

He watches you suck on Carlos’ fingers, humming and moaning like you’re tasting something so magnificent and Lando makes a noise before he could stop it. The sound catches Carlos’ attention, causing him to look up from you to his friend.

“She tastes very good.” He said, conversationally and Lando struggles to keep his eyes from bugging. “Don’t you, nena?”

The last question is directed at you and you nod shyly, never taking your eyes off of Carlos. He strokes his other hand over your head lovingly and bends to kiss your mouth.

Lando watches silently, feeling a little like an outsider but he can’t keep his eyes off of the slip and slide of your tongues against each other. It’s like watching a train wreck, you just can’t look away from it even if you tried.

He almost feels like passing out, blood rushing to his nether regions when Carlos parts with a slick sound; licking his lower lip as he glances at Lando.

“Do you wanna taste her?”

sorry for stopping at literally the worst time but i had to contain myself or we'd end up with 5k of smut 🫣 so um, hope you liked that. please don't hesitate to send me anything, i'd be happy to write blurbs and stuff! x

#carlos sainz jr #lando norris #carlos sainz jr x lando norris x reader #carlos sainz jr x female reader #lando norris x reader #f1 fics #f1 smut #blurb #f1 blurb #carlos sainz jr smut #lando norris smut #zee's asks 💌

947 notes · View notes

inawickedlittletown · 3 months ago

Text

Sooo I started to read other articles. I didn't after reading the ones that came out right after the episode that justifiably got everyone upset.

This one from tv insider had Tim saying this:

Moving on to Buck and Tommy’s breakup, talk about your approach to it. Why was Tommy sure that Buck would break his heart?

Tommy’s older and Buck is very new to this, and whether Tommy was correct or not, I think what he felt like was exactly what he said: I’m not your last, I’m your first, which is a special thing to be, but as Tommy says, it doesn’t usually end up being the same thing. And I think based on what we know of Buck, he’s maybe not wrong. Buck’s a little impulsive when he’s feeling a certain kind of way. He’s like, move on in, bring your couch. So I just think because Tommy’s a little older and wiser or maybe at some level he feels like he doesn’t deserve Buck, I don’t know. But I think he accurately diagnosed Buck. Buck’s still figuring himself out, and boy, that would be quite risky to move in with that guy as much as you would love to.

That does seem to be Buck’s go-to, which isn’t the best.

Exactly.

Are we going to see Buck single for a significant period of time now? Is he trying to figure out what he wants really out of a relationship?

Yeah, I think that’s right. As Tommy said, you’re still figuring yourself out, and his options have increased by 50 percent of the population. So knowing Buck, that’s going to be choice overload. He’s got to navigate that with a little self-awareness.

So they definitely planned for this. That's what this reads like...they wanted to break them up so that they could send Buck through a period of exploration. Tim says everything Oliver said here in much nicer terms. His view of Buck is so...Idk, it's like he sees Buck as a kid that still doesn't know what he wants. And he decided to put that view right into Tommy's head too. It's a little jarring I guess but this show...has it ever been consistent?

What sucks is that 8x05 was written like they were doing so well. And then right off the back with 8x06 we have warning signs in the date scene with the girl that approaches Buck and how Tommy sort of shrugs off Buck checking her out. I really do wonder where hot waiter fit into this and I'm so glad we didn't see Tommy like checking hot waiter out or something. But I guess that scene was there to sow the seeds. We have Buck spiraling because of the Abby thing and we have Tommy maybe not realizing but reinforcing for himself that he's a stepping stone for Buck and being okay with it in the status quo.

The way that Tim speaks about Buck asking Tommy to move in, he makes it seem like Buck is just barreling in without thought...like if they went through with it Tommy might be proven right. But then what is the point of the scene with Josh where Buck is right on the cusp of an "I love you" just to then be like no actually Tommy knows how this ends and he can read Buck and knows they're not forever. But Tommy is not a mind reader.

Where there is hope is in that Tim doesn't outwardly say anything about Tommy being gone for good. As someone else pointed out the Lou interviews were done by buddie journalists with a bias so there is a question to how much that colored what we got and why they were so determined to close the door fully. Also...why did we get exit interviews in the first place for a character that only had three episodes...it's so odd.

The writers made a point of leaving this open. Do I think we'll get Tommy back any time soon. No. But after the doom and gloom and the time to mourn this a bit I want to be positive and there is really no knowing. Tim says he thinks Buck will be single for a while...okay fine...picture that being the rest of this season.

Buck won't just jump into another relationship...and Oliver gets his Buck slut era 2.0...what if S9 brings back Tommy? What if this is the long game...or at least the thing they can have in their back pocket if Lou is available later on to come back. But that's not something they can promise or that they can commit to and Lou isn't on contract clearly and Oliver wouldn't know if that's the plan...hell even Tim probably doesn't know if they'll do that. Or I'm giving him too much credit because as we've seen this season storylines have been rushed to close up at breakneck speeds so it would be an anomaly for him to prolong something like this.

All this to say, showing the network and Tim that bucktommy matters to a lot of people and that Tommy matters...it may just make a difference.

#911 abc #bucktommy #tim minear #911 discourse #911 spoilers #I said I wasn't going to keep looking at stuff but then I accidentally opened this article and also the variety and thr ones with oliver #they made me wonder #and ponder #right now my view is the door is open and they could revisit at any time and make them have another go at it #but it won't happen any time soon #certainly not this season #but it also leaves tommy as an option for buck if they need to just quickly close up the series as a whole #but idk this is me being delulu about it

34 notes · View notes

weirdthinkingdragon · 2 years ago

Text

Shouldn’t Have Traveled

Yandere Diluc, x chubby reader x yandere Zhongli

Words: 5,700+

warnings: poisoning mentions, slightly descriptive murder, unwanted touch, reader made fun of by others, physically clingy Diluc (you can pry that from my cold, dead, hands)

Took a pic of where the ending scene is for clarity.

Sorry if anyone (besides Donna, Diluc, and Zhongli are ooc. Idk their personalities too well yet.

I’ve decided to leave Mondstat. Not for any reason anyone would think. It’s rather awkward and I’ll never admit the real reason to anyone. I can’t really stand being around Diluc anymore. Donna and other’s words are starting to get to me.

What words? The scathing words of “He’d never like someone like you”. They say that’s due to my different appearance. The words never really hurt, but it’s getting irritating, and I’m unsure how much more I can hear them talk about it before I snap and deck one or more of them. That’s also why I can’t be around Diluc. Just seeing or interacting with him also brings up their words again.

A few final things are being packed tightly into my large bag. My plan is to just stay at the hotel for a week or two and come back. Then again that plan might change, who knows? If somehow a job comes up and they’re welcoming, I’ll maybe live there instead.

Thankfully I kept Mora saved up for a while and quit my job at Good Hunter. Being a cook there was exhausting too. One of Donna’s friends also being there obviously made things worse as she framed me for a lot of things, making the others not too happy with me. Think one of the only ones who do still like me is Barbara when they tried to frame me for making her food extra spicy.

Another glance in my bag. Hmm… I’m a little low on things to drink on my travel to Liyue. Some grape juice would be nice, so I head towards Angel’s Share.

The group of Diluc-obsessed parasites try to block me.

“Yeesh, you guys still have a whole fence shoved up your asses? I should have known you have a poor tree up there now too. Sad it had to die for your personalities. All I’m doing is buying grape juice for travel.” I reply and give an eyeroll with it, entering Angel’s Share.

Their insulted faces a sight to behold being the last thing seen.

A certain redhead was working, catching me by surprise. Really wasn’t expecting for him to be working instead tonight. Fuck. Ah, screw it. A last chat won’t harm anything.

“Diluc?”

His head whips towards the door instantly. His eyes zoning onto the bag I’m carrying. They almost seem to narrow.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be working tonight.” I inform, sitting down in the free seat in front of him. My bag being placed onto the floor.

Diluc places the glass he had in his hands onto the island and looks me in my eyes. “I decided to give Charles a break for the night.”

“That’s one thing I admire about you-” His eyes widen slightly, meanwhile I mentally smack myself for letting that slip. “I- well- It’s how you treat your workers. Unlike many I’ve seen, you’re not as harsh with them, and more thoughtful.”

I cross my arms and mumble “If only Good Hunter stayed the same, I would probably have stayed.”

He rather firmly slams the glass back on the island I didn’t notice he picked back up. “You’re leaving? Alone?” I could almost swear his voice slightly raised like he was worried. Maybe he is? Kaeya has told me he does care about others. As just said how he’s letting Charles have the night off. He just doesn’t show emotions very well most of the time.

“Yeah, I was planning on heading to Liyue early in the morning. I was hoping to get some grape juice for on the way there though. It would need to be in something portable. Bottles or even jars would be fine. Of course, I’d pay the fee for those too.”

Diluc’s frown deepens.

The door open and closed, but I think nothing of it.

“If you don’t have any, I could go find some and come back for you to fill them, if that would be alright. I don’t want to overwork you.”

He shakes his head. “No, that would be fine. Believe it or not, it’s not the first time someone has asked for transportable items to be filled. I’ll work on it. You won’t have to worry about carrying them since I’ll be coming with you tomorrow.”

Wha- no! The whole reason I’m leaving is involving him!

“That’s alright. I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’re quite a busy person as it already is.”

His eyes narrow at me. “I’m not taking “no” as an answer. I’m going with. You need a guide.”

His tone scared me a little, I won’t lie to myself.

He crosses his arms and closes his eyes for a second, taking a breath in before looking at me again. “You don’t even have a vision. You also don’t know where you’re going, and I am worried, whether you believe it or not. I also was planning on going to Liyue as well to visit someone close to me.”

I hate everything he said was nothing but logic. I would just ask him if I could ask a knight or something to come with, but knowing his strong dislike for them, it would be a bad idea.

It stays quiet between us for a minute.

“... Why don’t you go rest up for the night? It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

I wonder if I could get far enough before he could catch me if I left tonight.

“You’re giving away what you’re thinking. You better not. I will catch up. Don’t test it.”

Ugh, fine. I’m still worried since he’ll be tired tomorrow.

While leaving, the group comes up yet again with bottles in their hands. The door opening and closing must have been a friend I didn’t notice was there.

They hold out the empty bottles towards me.

… are they serious? What makes them think I’d trust them? They probably put poison or something in these. Doesn’t help they’re not see through. Yeah, no. I’m not using these. Their smirks are just making me more tired and not wanting to deal with their shit.

“Oh, you guys already know I’m leaving? Uh, thanks…” I take them, already knowing they’re going in the trash.

“Just a little goodbye gift~”

Wow, how thoughtful.

They leave giggling. Probably from malicious intentions.

“Would you like me to take those, (Y/N)?” suddenly asked a voice. I turn to see Charles.

“You haven’t left yet?” I asked him.

“I stayed to clean up a few final things in the back. It’s not my place, but I don’t trust what those women gave you.”

I glance at the 3 glasses in my hands again. “That makes two of us. Are you sure they won’t be dug into by the cats and dogs around? That’s my main concern if I throw them.”

“I can assure they will be taken care of properly.” He informs.

I mentally shrug. Eh, whatever. He’s reliable. I pass him the bottles and go to my house one final time.

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

I feel a hand on my shoulder as I prepare to exit to the bridge with Diluc. Diluc’s not here yet though. Oh archons, if I ever come back, I’m not going to ever hear the end of I took their “precious Diluc”. Turning around, it’s Venti. One of the closest friends I made here, and only ones left. His face is far more serious than I’ve ever seen it.

“... Stay safe out there,” He cautiously looks around. I do as well, and the nuisances are not around for once. Diluc however is seen with his own bag coming up. “Especially from him.” He quickly takes his hand off before Diluc could see.

Diluc glares at Venti while walking up to me. “We better get going.” A hand of his is on my lower back, gently pushing me forward.

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

Numerous quiet hours pass, and my feet are starting to kill me. I’m starting to think Kaeya lied to me it was an easy day trip.

Looking at Diluc, he doesn’t even seem to be the slightest bit uncomfortable. The only noticeable thing is the bags growing under his eyes.

I’ve been trying to think of things to make it less awkward, but nothing comes to mind. He hates small talk.

“So… should I find a way to message you or something if I want to come back to Mondstadt?”

Diluc stops for a moment. “... I’ll inform who I’m going to meet.”

Okay. well, that was a good talk, I guess.

About an hour later, I’m at my limit. Curse everything and whoever created pain. My feet are going to be sore for weeks at this point. How the hell do people wander like this?

Diluc still stays vigilant and glares around at every direction like something will pop out. I’m more worried about him collapsing from exhaustion than anything.

… why do I feel like I still would before he would at this rate?

“When should we set up a small camp for rest for a while? I only brought my small one for more easy transportation, but I think we could both squeeze in.” though I’d much rather not.

It’s already near sunset. Holy fuck I’ve been walking ALL day.

Diluc gives a stare off into the distance in though,, then nods. “I’ll get some firewood.”

I nod and dig out the tent. Fortunately, slamming the sticks in deep enough was pretty easy and I remember how to set it up from camping with a few friends years ago.

Diluc comes not long after with an impressive amount of wood, and drops it onto the ground not far from the tent. He piles a few together and scrapes dirt into a pile around it. He then lights his claymore and holds it onto the wood until it starts to burn.

I begrudgingly have to admit having someone with a pyro vision likely makes traveling a lot easier.

We both crawl under and it’s so phenomenally awkward. Him closer to the back and I in the front. It’s really crowded just between us. We’re both just staring awkwardly at each other in the eyes.

… something drops onto the tent. Then another, then several- it’s raining. How did we not notice that sooner? There was no point in making a fire.

Nope, it’s now already pouring. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” I mumble, but the close proximity likely made him hear it.

“I never need an umbrella, so I’d be fine. Hopefully the temperature won’t drop too much.”

The temperature does rapidly starts to drop though. Now I’m wishing I brought a second blanket with. My arms get tucked together, trying to keep a bit more warmth.

Arms grab my sides, making me let out a surprised noise. “Wha- Diluc! I’m not sure if-”

“Don’t care,” His arms quickly wrap around my back, squeezing me close. “I’d rather you not get sick while we’re on our way.” His great smelling cologn from proximity hitting my senses hard.

The heat that rushes to my face is even warmer than the warmth radiating out of his clothes.

“Uh…” What the fuck am I supposed to say? “Ooh this is nice!”??

It’s definitely not! Ugh, why did he have to be the one for this? I should have lied about when I was leaving…

He tightens his grip when I uncomfortably try to squirm free. “Quit. Moving.”

I stop and mentally sigh. It better not rain again tomorrow night.

He never loosens his grip.

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

The tightness around me while slowly coming back makes me try to squirm free again, while the memories of last night catch up.

Diluc’s arms tighten more than last night. Looking at his eyes, he appears to still be asleep.

The way I’m so torn between enjoying this, and being disgusted is wild. Donna’s words trying to come back. Thankfully the little I know about Diluc is he will never talk about this out loud, even with a blade pointed at him.

For a second, I wonder if I should wake him or let him sleep. But he should probably get ready to get back to Mondstadt ASAP.

Well, since it’s not raining anymore, and I’m still uncomfortable at this, I’m waking him up.

Fortunately, my arms are free. I reach up and shake his shoulder. “Diluc, it’s time for us to continue.” my feet throb in protest at the idea.

He lets out a sigh, almost like he was disappointed. He lets me go and I roll off onto the ground, then getting up. Checking my bag, it thankfully stayed dry.

I pack my bag back together, and we head off again, much to my feet’s displeasure. But from Diluc informed me earlier, we should be about halfway there. Luckily we’ve only encountered some hillachurls, and he gets rid of them so easily it makes me almost feel bad for them.

The sights have been beautiful though. Almost to the point I could ignore the still-growing pain in my feet.

“Here.”

I turn to notice a clear bottle of grape juice handed to me and take it, finally realizing I haven’t drank anything in a while either. I drink it quickly.

“It’s better to stay up with fluids and food for long travels. I’ve… learned my lesson before.”

Well, that’s a can of worms I’m not opening. In speaking of bottles though… “Sorry to change off that, but did Charles give you three that weren’t clear?”

Diluc frown gets worse. “He did, and told me how Donna and the others gave you them,” His voice dipped like he was disgusted even thinking about it. “Had them drink from the poisoned bottles they gave you. Unfortunately, it won’t kill them, but it better make them think twice about their actions. Next time I won’t be so lenient.”

So they were poison- wait, what??? He’s fucking insane! I mean, sure, they were pretty bad and wanted to poison me, but poisoning them back isn’t right either! I force myself to stay calm. I can’t outrun him anyway, and I don’t know where I’m going either if requiring to leave the path. This does open my eyes more on him though.

A secret part of me is touched he did such a thing for me though.

“That’s a bit far, isn’t it? Couldn’t you get in trouble for that?”

“I have my connections if they decide to try anything.”

I shrug. Eh, whatever I guess. I am still staying a bit away from him, which he seems to notice. He comes over and grabs my bag, pulling me right beside him.

“I also don’t think me being this close is necessary.”

“You’d be surprised how quickly an ambush could happen. Especially if we encounter a ruin guard or abyss mage.”

Fat chance a ruin guard would be on the main path. Even I know that.

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

Yet another day already flies by. I plop my backside onto the ground, take my shoes off, and rub my worsening sore feet. “Ugh, I’m not usually one for complaining, but holy Celestia my feet hurt. Smack Kaeya for me next time you see him for lying it was a rather short trip.”

Diluc jabs the stake quite deeply into the ground and is setting up the tent this time. “I’m surprised you got this far without complaining. If it’s really bad though, do you want me to carry you tomorrow?”

Gods no. I could never deal with that embarrassment if anyone traveling were to see it. “No. You’d have a lot more to carry than just your bag already. Me and my bag is too much to ask.”

He gives me a look I can’t understand. Kind of annoying it’s always been rather hard to understand whatever he’s feeling since he hardly shows it.

“It wouldn’t be.”

“I’d rather not test it. Besides, we should be there by tomorrow noon, right?”

He nods.

Looking at the darkening sky, it’s likely not going to rain this time. I glance at the tent, not wanting to stand up and walk to it.

Diluc seems to notice and comes over, crouching down. An arm wraps under my knees, making me instantly realize his intention. “Wait- stop! I can do it!-”

He puts his other arm behind my back, and easily stands up fully. “Don’t struggle.”

I feel like I’ve heard stuff like that more the past few days than all my life before combined.

He places me down on the blanket and sits next to me. Too close next to me. Honestly? I’m too tired to really care at this point.

An arm wraps around my torso, keeping me closer. What is his obsession with touch!? He never is with anyone anymore, not even his own brother!

A very gentle squeeze to my stomach makes me whip my head to look down at his hand.

??? When did he take his glove off!?

“... I’ve heard what many have been saying. If moving is really what you want, I can’t stop you. However, if you ever wish to visit again, both the Winery and Angel’s Share are always open for you to stay. As for me, I’m angry what they’ve been saying.”

I can’t look at him. I should have known someone like him would so easily catch on.

I begrudgingly have to admit his shoulder is a lot more comfortable than the ground. At least not laying on his chest this time.

“Who do you have to see, anyways?”

“Someone you could say I’m very close with. I have something urgent to discuss with them.

I let out a light chuckle. “Wonder who in the Teyvat got the attention to be cared about by the great Diluc. I’ll surely have to meet them.”

“You will sooner or later when in Liyue.”

Not going to tell me? Alright, he can keep his secrets. Not like he has a lack of them.

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

I could kiss the dock we’re walking on to enter Liyue. The guards stand down pretty quickly upon seeing Diluc, so they likely know him.

We get to a hotel and both order rooms. Diluc disappears not too long after, and I stay in my room to rest. I wonder if I should ask someone a tour of Liyue since I know very little about the place.

But first, some rest.

Several hours later, I’m wandering around again, more refreshed. There seem to be a lot of great restaurants to try.

“Hey partner! I reckon you’re new here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.”

I turn around to see someone with two ponytails walking up to me. She feels rather friendly, but still got my guard up a bit just in case.

“Is it really that obvious?” I ask.

“Yeah, But you don’t have to worry. We get a lot of people from all over visit here. So, what were ya lookin’ for? I might be able to help.”

“I was trying to think of where to eat something, honestly. But uh… I’m not really sure what’s right to start with.”

“That’s easy! You can try something at Wanmin Restaurant! I’m sure my friend there would love to figure out something ya might enjoy! C’mon!” She gestures for me to follow her.

It doesn’t take long to get there, and there’s a girl cooking very enthusiastically.

“Heya Xiangling! Got a new friend here for you to figure out what they’d like.”

She whips her head up. “Xinyan! Ooh, a new person, huh? Where you from!?”

“From Mondstadt.”

How hyperactive can someone get? She somehow gets even more excited at the news.

“Mondstadt!? Ooh! Just let me finish these orders, and I’ll try something you’d like!”

Sooner than later she finishes, and makes something else I’m confused of, especially from never seeing such ingredients being used in food before.

… Eyes are on me from behind. I decide to ignore it. It’s probably just someone curious or rude and not worth my time.

Xiangling passes me something finished I’ve never seen before. I’m a little reluctant to try it, but eventually do after a moment’s pause. It’s delicious.

I say so and nearly scarf it down.

They smile back at me.

“I guess you got another to try your new foods!” Xinyan pipes up.

Oh hell yeah, I’m willing to try others she makes.

I jump out of my skin as a hand rests on my shoulder that isn’t Xinyan’s or Xiangling’s.

“Oh Hey, Zhongli! Been a bit. Ya able to show the newbie here around Liyue? You’re a lot better at that than anyone.”

“I would gladly show a tour around Liyue. I suppose it’s not unknown for me to be the one to do so anymore. Thankfully I’m free to do so now.”

Hot damn that voice. Dude, don’t stop talking. I turn to look at the man who was-

… I don’t like how he’s looking at me. It’s not aggression, disgust, etc. It’s more like wonder? Fascination? Something more like that which worries me worse than something negative or neutral.

He offers his hand to me. Is it to give a handshake or to help me stand up? I reach out to grab his hand. I guess I’ll find-

He grabs it gently, and brings it to his face, kissing the back of it.

Aw fuck, it was the weird 3rd option. Well, he’s a gentleman at least.

“Are you ready for the tour, my dear?”

My- my dear??? A little quick on the draw, Doesn’t he think?

I stand off the chair. “Yeah! Even though I just got here, I can tell I like it here already.”

He smiles like he’s very proud of that.

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

Great. I have a bad headache now with everything he’s tried to show and inform to me. This feels like something that should have been spread a few sessions. It was great to know, and I enjoyed it all, but this is too much. I can’t decide if Zhongli talking is helping or worsening the pain.

I rub my forehead. Well, at least it takes away the pain in my feet. “Zhongli?” I cut him off on yet another story of information overload.

He stops and looks at me. “I’m sorry to cut you short. I really like everything, and am totally down to know more, but it’s too much in one setting for me. Would you… maybe be free to continue tomorrow?”

His eyes widen slightly. “Ah, I do apologize. I suppose giving more than just the best tour spots was too much. It appears to have given you a headache. Would you like to come to my place for a bit? I have some tea that would help.”

How about No? Have you ever heard of “stranger, danger”? Seriously, I could be a thief or you could be a murderer for all we know.

“I’m good. Thanks for the offer, though. Just really want to go to bed.”

“Fair enough. Shall we meet at Wanmin Restaurant again tomorrow?”

I nod and turn to head to my room.

“See you then, (Y/N).”

A chill comes over me. Could have sworn my name was never mentioned with him. Or maybe I did? Ugh, head says no thinking.

A group of girls come up to me. “You know, someone like you shouldn’t be interacting with someone like Zhongli.”

Ugh, seriously? He was just showing me around. He really seems to love this place and know the insides and outs. And they should shut up. Their voices are grating my nerves.

A shorter, younger looking woman with them rolls her eyes and almost seems to be playful about it. She comes up to me. “Hey! I’m Hu Tao! It’s nice to see a new face around here!”

I blink a moment, trying to register how she’s super friendly to me already. Trying to sense if she’s just doing it to stab me later, I can’t feel anything off about her. Her being genuine makes it more jarring. Still keeping guarded though, I smile back at her. “Name’s (Y/N). Visiting from Mondstadt.”

Hu Tao gives a massive mischievous smirk, like she knows something bit I don’t. “Mondstadt, huh?...”

“What’s that look for?” I ask.

“Nothing~”

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

It’s finally around noon when I exit my room. Something from the side jumps out.

“Ha-what- Hu Tao! What was that for!”

She giggles. “Nothing serious! It was just funny!

Yeah, so funny to scare someone just exiting their room.

“So what are you here for?” Might as well change whatever that was about.

“To see how you like Liyue so far!”

I was… not even here for a day? “Well, good so far. Though Zhongli feels a little odd.”

Hu Tao gives me the same massive smirk. “I Don’t know… I think Zhongli sure likes ya!”

I try not to laugh at the impossibility, but the bark of a disbelieving laugh still comes out. “Yeah right. Not even in my dreams could that happen. I mean, look at him, and look at me.” I joke, while in the proximity of some girls making fun of me earlier. They’re around too, so may as well give them what they want, though it probably won’t help.

She shrugs. “So? You’d be surprised!”

Thanks for the hope, but no.

She runs off without another word.

“I hope you’re well rested?” Inquired the too-familiar voice of Zhongli.

Oh for fuck sake I just woke up for all this.

“Yeah. Weren’t we going to meet later, though?”

“A friend of mine informed me You’d be around here. With your headache from last night, I guessed it was going to take you a long rest before leaving. Would you like to eat somewhere before we continue where we left off?”

My stomach growls in agreement. Ugh, stupid thing. “Sure. lead the way.”

We reached a different restaurant.

One of the girls from before “Hey, look out everyone, they’ve come to eat all your food!”

Yeah? And what if I do? I’ma nibble all your food for making fun of me. May you always have a mysterious bitemark in everything for eternity.

A hand is placed on my shoulder. “I would like it if you’d refrain from such vulgar outbursts about someone innocent who’s come to visit Liyue.” Zhongli pipes up.

The woman’s face was either red with embarrassment or anger at me. Maybe both.

He lead me to a different one instead, and we ordered.

I notice he keeps looking at me while we eat. What? He got a staring problem? I’m getting mixed signals of what he’s like.

Someone came for the mora for our meals.

Zhongli couldn’t seem to find his, making me nearly facepalm. Whatever, he’s a good man so far, as paying is just a favor for his touring I guess.

“Ah, there. I apologize it took a bit to find.”

The waiter didn’t seem to mind and left.

“Well that sure took a bit to find. Having a hard time remembering where you put your mora doesn’t make sense to me.” I tease.

He nods at me. You’d be right. Thankfully someone very close to me has been watching out for my forgetfulness.”

Good thing someone is for him.

He showed me the rest around the harbor, and even some grounds out of it. One place being the strange really tall statues by the thing in the sky, named the Jade Chamber I guess.

It was starting to get dark out.

Zhongli looks over to his right, then stands in front of me. “Apologies, but I will have to cut this short. I need to… take care of something important.”

His voice dipped into something that almost seemed to show anger. Yikes.

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

I was still restless after hanging out with Xiangling for a bit again, and left right out the town. It should be safe enough being so close.

The giant statues are visible all the way from here.

A pungent smell hits me as I walk the path. My eyes catch sight of a fight not far up ahead, making me hide behind the rock wall to make sure they wouldn’t see me. I peek up to see

!? Diluc and Zhongli… KILLING people!? The moonlight clearly showing their faces. Neither have psychotic smiles, making it all the more unnerving. Multiple dead Treasure hoarders dead, while one of the women that made fun of me already lying on the ground presumably dead too, and being burned. The pungent smell likely their burning flesh. I can’t believe they’re killers!”

Zhongli pierces through the chest of the final woman still standing is the one who made fun of me earlier. She opens her mouth to scream, but Diluc covers her mouth.

“Surprised you’re helping. Doesn’t your contract prevent you from harming your Liyue people?”

“That would normally be the case,” Zhongli then easily pulls his spear from the now corpse of said woman. Her body flops to the ground.

I’m frozen in my spot. I want nothing more than to move, but my body won’t let me.

“But that’s a good thing many don’t fully read contracts anymore. They broke my contract I made with them. They originally weren’t Liyue people. I could already tell from how they were not too kind to Liyue by making snide comments that they were nothing but trouble. The contract involved no demeaning remarks anymore, or they shall be removed from Liyue one way or another. It’s not hard to tell where they must have skipped. And they tried to damage Liyue’s newest, finest jewel.”

What the fuck does that mean!? I have to get out of here! Come on body! move!

Diluc sets fire to the corpse. “Suffer the wrath of the rock. Much better than that nuisance of a bard’s.”

“I agree. I do also admit, I wish you could be here more often than around him. You’ll have plenty of time though. As for making you and our dear like me, that’s still a work in progress. Are you still sure you want to go through with it? Immortality can cause mourning of losing many.”

“I’m not close to many anyways. You’ve not been to Mondstadt, but outside of my work, I’m not well liked by many. They’re not exactly quiet when speaking their opinions. Besides, (Y/N) is in the picture now.”

Me!? Their behaviors make so much sense now. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! I REALLY have to leave!

My body can finally move, and I take a slow step back. Hiding might be the best option since there’s no way I’ll be able to outrun them.

*Snap*

Their heads whip towards the sound.

OH MY GODS WHY WAS A STICK THERE!?

I can only hope they think it’s not a human. I hold my breath.

“In speaking of our dear, come on out. It’s safe now. I saw you try to hide earlier.”

I don’t move.

The sound of long strides comes towards me.

I don’t get time to try to bolt before being grabbed by my wrist tightly, but not enough to hurt. My eyes get locked with Zhongli’s, who seem to almost glow a bright golden yellow.

Diluc comes behind and rather loosely wraps his arms around me, his heat radiating off onto me with his close proximity. It slightly tightens before loosening again. A warning. A threat, showing he won’t hesitate to tighten his grip if I try to struggle free and run. their colognes combining almost making me dizzy. They’re not bad, but both at once is powerful.

Zhongli reaches his hand and folds it under my chin, making me look up at him. “You must be quite lost, dear. I said we wouldn’t hurt you. And that was a promise.”

He brings his face to mine and kisses my lips. I was so shocked I didn’t think of biting him until he pulled away. “Now, let’s get back, shall we? I’ll inform of what went on here, then I’ll join the both of you in cuddling. I’m patient, yet I cannot wait.”

I should have just stayed in Mondstadt.

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

An: I’m sorry I made Diluc so physically obsessed or it seemed too repetitive to a point. I like to think due to his past, he’s touch-starved to the MAX. He just only shows it to a rare few how much he craves it. Yandere Diluc being even worse. That and I’m rather self-projecting of wanting my favorites being so obsessed with touch with reader lol.

Not my proudest work, but screw it. Debated whether or not to post it lol. Was trying to write a more self confident chubby reader since apparently a lot of people are annoyed when they’re not. Even though I’m not self confident at all. Oh well.

Also, writing full fics still feels like pulling teeth

#yandere diluc x reader #yandere diluc #yandere x reader #yandere genshin #yandere zhongli x reader #yandere zhongluc x reader #yandere zhongli #yandere zhongluc #diluc x reader #zhongli x reader #yandere x chubby reader #yandere x you #yandere poly x reader

500 notes · View notes

strang3lov3 · 4 months ago

Text

Questions tag game!! Ty for the tag @covetyou !! ♡

Do you make your bed? Not very well. I straighten everything out but my barbarian of a fiance sleeps like a tornado so there's really no use in making it actually nice. I also leave most blankets untucked because my cat Jojo loves to sleep under the covers all day so I like to make sure he won't get stuck anywhere, has an easy way in and out. You get it.

Favorite number? 69 obviously. The best number.

What's your job? Full-time student, and later I'll be a teacher!

If you could go back to school, would you? I'm in school, so...I guess I'll just say I don't plan on doing more than getting my bachelor's. And I wouldn't go back to high school ever.

Can you parallel park? Fffffffuck no. Nope. I managed to do it for my driver's test when I was 16, and I haven't done it since. I also can't back into a parking spot.

Do you think aliens are real? Of course. My father in law once said something to me about how he really had a lot of respect for Dave Grohl until he learned he believes in UFOs and I think that's so funny. Also, he's a self-proclaimed music nerd but claims that punk has never been political. He said he misses when Green Day only wrote songs about jerking off instead of politics....Idk. I think he might be the one on another fucking planet LMAO

Can you drive a manual car? I can, actually!! I drove a stick-shift 2008 Honda Civic for two years! The clutch had to be replaced within five months of me driving that car 😬 My fiance says he shudders to think of what I did to that car lol.

What's your guilty pleasure? None!! I'm pretty shameless about everything I find enjoyable and I just don't feel guilt for liking what I like.

Tattoos? 14 now. I'm trying to prioritize getting filler on my arms so my tattoos look nice and connected on my wedding day. I also plan to get a crawling panther and cheetah on my back soon, and cover up my linework tats I got when I was 18.

Favorite color? Light blue.

Do you like puzzles? Depends on the puzzle. I fuck with a jigsaw puzzle but most other puzzles I really fucking hate. Like a Rubik's Cube and those weird metal puzzles make me feel stupid lol.

Any phobias? Mhmmmmm. Three. They're all pretty debilitating because they're all so unavoidable. And also, people can be pretty like, not understanding about these things and they make me feel silly and dramatic. But the nature of phobias is that they're irrational and can't always be helped. I wouldn't choose to be this afraid of things if I had any say in the matter, but I don't so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Emetephobia (fear of vomiting) - Last year, every time I went out to eat for about nine months, I'd wake up in the middle of the night and vomit. These experiences have traumatized me on some level so anytime my stomach feels weird - be it hunger, anxiety, pain, etc. I freak out and panic and cry for hours. Like this kinda happens 1-2 times every week.

Blood Injury Injection (BII) phobia - Pretty much what it sounds like. I do not like to see blood, my own or anyone else's (though period blood is different to me and doesn't make me squeamish). I can't look at injuries no matter how small - like that paper cut scene in Everything Everywhere really bothered me and I had to shut off the movie. Injections really freak me out too and I will avoid having my blood drawn at all costs. I know I have a lot of tattoos but I also have them separated in my mind. It's just a different animal to me.

Entomophobia (fear of bugs) - I can't do it. All bugs, big or small, scare the bejesus out of me. I won't sleep in my bedroom if I find a bug in there. Once, I opened up my jar of peanut butter and found it full of ants which was one of the most disturbing things I've ever experienced in real life. Most of my nightmares are all bug related too. Like centipedes in my hair is a common one

Favorite childhood sport? I was a gymnast and a diver. I didn't like team sports so gymnastics was great for me! At 11 I developed Osgood-Schlatter disease which causes severe pain in the knees which kinda sucks when you're a gymnast and you rely on your knees for a lot. So I quit gymnastics to dive instead, which was great because I could flip and still have fun. But after fucking up a dive, I became really scared of the sport and that was it for me. From then on, I focused on art instead of sports.

Do you talk to yourself? Nope. I talk endlessly to others though.

Full pressure tags - @cum-a-calla @mssalo-main @fungal-rot @ghostlovesbaguettes @ovaryacted

@guiltyasdave @kappasbbgirl @senselessviolets @baronessvonglitter @mountainsandmayhem

#strang3lov3 #tag game

20 notes · View notes

kyouka-supremacy · 7 months ago

Note

hello!

I saw your recent post and you hinted that Atsushi is actually kinda twisted and that yoh don't agree with his morals?

If its alr with you, do you mind elaborating? ❤️

Alright, to be fair, I *am* self aware enough to realize a lot of what I say about Atsushi is probably fairly detached from canon. When push comes to shove, he's just a guy trying to get through. A polite dude. I like to stretch on how a lot of his well-mannered behaviour and his desperate attempt to prove himself good are moved by deeply selfish reasons of validating his own right to live, but that said, that doesn't make him inherently evil, either.

Atsushi's double morality is something that comes up a lot, so please check out these posts!! (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8). But overall... Is a good action that is done for deeply selfish reasons, still good? I'm not sure. But when I watched the anime for the first time, and in episode 8 it turned out that Atsushi was not helping the train passengers out of spontaneous inclination to help people in need, but rather just due to a self-interested aim to validate his own right to live... Idk, it didn't positively impress me? I was even less positively impacted by the later line “people can't live unless someone tells them ‘it's okay to go on’! ” The thing is, both scenes feel like more of the author's underlying worldviews that end up being conveyed through the series' protagonist, and that's a consideration to be made by its own– it's not an issue I have with Atsushi specifically, as much as me fundamentally disagreeing with most of bsd's perspectives on the world, as I've already said before.

But that doesn't change the fact that Atsushi is fundamentally selfish¹, does it? The difference is - I think - that for the author, more or less all people are, while to me no one is born selfish. But that still makes Atsushi not really morally virtuous, and I think that's narratively interesting to explore by its own!!! What if there was a character who only did good because (he thinks) that's the only way he has the right to live? What if there was someone who believed the right to live had to be owned in the first place? After having overcome the admittedly jarring sentiment I felt when first engaged with the character, I must admit those are some compelling concepts to explore, even despite disagreeing with the underlying morals.

At the end of the day, it's just a complex nature of the character? I like to emphasize on Atsushi's uncommendable selfishness especially as opposite to Akutagawa's hidden selflessness; but all said, a man who tries to do good despite it not being his first nature is a better man than any of us, isn't he?

¹ And Atsushi is profoundly selfish. I think that Beast in particular proves that he's ready to commit evil just as much as in canon he is to do good, if it's to pursue the goal of his own survival. The first thing we see him do, at the very start of the series, is, symbolically, contemplating robbing other people for his own survival (though in real life I would never judge someone's morality in life and death situations... But maybe since this is fiction, that can still hold narrative value). He will stop acting good as long as it's no longer required of him (each of his interactions with Akutagawa). Maybe it's a little pessimist way to interpret the manga, but perhaps still a consistent one?

#It's very funny to me because in the t/pn fandom I spent a lot of words arguing that the protagonist Emma wasn't selfish.#Despite her defining herself so in two different occasions pffftt.#I still stand by that tho. Emma isn't selfish. Atsushi is tho #atsushi nakajima #bsd #bungou stray dogs #mine #people asks me stuff #All asks answered (つ✧ω✧)つ

31 notes · View notes

mp4fileprocessing · 7 days ago

Text

Thoughts on Wicked

I honestly had a lot of fun! In categorizing myself in who I was in the audience, I would say that I only knew like, one song going in (defying gravity), was skeptical bc I kinda hate ariana grande and was getting irked by the publicity, not really getting the jonathan bailey hype but he's cool, but this was the first musical i ever saw so hey let's check it out it looks like people are having fun.

Main Pro: The Cast Yeah! Cynthia Erivo is insanely talented, and I'm glad she got to flex so hard bc she fit the role of Elphaba perfectly. And I honestly really liked Ariana Grande in this- I thought she lacked some of the arrogance that I was expecting, but I admire how much she committed to it. My main irk was that I honestly didn't think Cynthia and Ariana had fantastic chemistry. Their promoting and interviews make it look like they found themselves in each other and their roles, but I honestly didn't get that vibe. Eh. Anyways. I still don't get get the Jonathan Bailey hype, but watching him put his whole back into this role and kill it made me so happy. Michelle Yeoh, always a pleasure. So, so happy to see her in such a range fo roles. And Jeff Goldblum was a natural choice, I'm glad he continues to be the weird guy (made me laugh out loud tho in that one scene where Elphaba was singing about it being her chance or smth and she looks at this huge stone relief of the wizard, but it's literally just, Jeff).

Main Con: Editing/CGI I will say, and idk if it's just Jon M. Chu, or if this is a growing trend for major movie studios in general, but I'm not a fan of the look of the world--most notably Emerald City. It just looked like, EVERYTHING was cgi, and I wouldn't be surprised if while filming, the actors were standing in big green rooms all day (except for Munchkinland. That looked like a studio set). I want the world to look real, like the characters are walking in the same plane as the audience is! Furthermore, I thought the editing was a bit jarring at times. The random split screen (when it didn't fit the theme of the movie/was not continued later on) and the Cabin-in-the-Woods-style title card was crazy to me. I'm don't know much about editing, but I know enough to think: huh, weird.

All in all, a fun way to start the year. Defo felt like cinema magic

#wicked #cynthia erivo #michelle yeoh #jeff goldblum #ariana grande #jonathan bailey #wizard of oz #movies #film #movie review

13 notes · View notes

sideprince · 1 year ago

Note

A movie question I wanted to throw your way: what do you think about the decision to use a decent amount of physical acting on Rickman’s part for comic effect? I’m thinking his snatch of thin air in Philosopher's Stone, his creeping along the table towards Ron and Harry in Chamber, his dramatic point in that same scene, his walk up to the stage for Dueling Club, his whacking students in Goblet and Order, etc.

On one hand, I feel like this does match the tone of the books; he canonically lurks and prowls and points and snatches at the air, and his menace is often undercut by a physical description that’s meant to be some level of comedic. On the other hand, we don't see Snape nearly as much in the movies as we do in the books, so this aspect of his character seems somewhat overinflated by the movies?

TLDR I don’t think these decisions in the movie were completely out of left field, but it also feels off for some reason. Idk I don’t know how exactly to verbalize my feelings on the matter and wanted to hear your thoughts!

It will probably come as no surprise that I feel like any answer to this question is inseparable from the absolute hatchet jobs that are Steve Kloves' screenplays for the HP franchise. This reply is going to end up inevitably long (you ask me about my favorite subject, you suffer the consequences), but all of it is ultimately framed by the problem of having to make the best of a badly written script. (**edit: This post is way too long. Run away. Don't look back.)

The writing doesn't support the story

The first thing that jumps out to me is that there's a separation between where and how these comedic moments are used, up until the end of GoF and after. They're more a part of the story only until Harry's story arc reaches the point of Cedric's death, when he first witnesses death in the way that allows him to see thestrals after. GoF is when the story takes its first dark turn, and up until then the tone and story is much more in line with children's literature, so it makes more sense that Snape is portrayed in a bit of a playful way. After GoF - even though the films reveal it as an aside and much later than the original story does - Snape resumes his role as spy and becomes more integral to the story as a key character and is thus no longer just a foil in a children's story. I think what doesn't work about it is the inconsistency. The books have comedic moments with Snape too, which are cartoonish, up until the end of DH - I feel those are also out of place, but at least their existence gives a basis to what's done in the films.

Nevertheless, one of the biggest problems with the films is that they're badly edited. I'll leave that analysis for another post (you're welcome), but essentially these comedic moments feel inconsistent in part because there's often a disconnect between the performance a director has asked of his actors and the tone that's established in the editing room once pacing and a soundtrack are added. Any vision a director had for these films was muddled by the involvement of big studio producers and limitations. This is made more jarring by the way that Kloves has interjected light, funny moments in awkward ways throughout the scripts. He struggles overall to convey the world that Rowling has created, and if it weren't for the brilliant production design of Stuart Craig, Kloves' failures would be much more obvious (again, worthy of its own roast post).

Take the scene where Snape whacks Harry and Ron on the head in Gof: why are the students all studying in the Great Hall? Why are various years sitting together? Why is Snape overseeing them? It's a scene almost verbatim out of the book (Fred asks Angelina to the ball casually, he and George tell Ron and Harry to get dates "before all the good ones are gone," we find out Hermione already has a date), but like pretty much every scene that originally takes place in the Gryffindor common room, this one is moved to another location for no discernible reason. The main difference in the change is how restrictive it is: in the common room the children are free to be themselves, but in the Great Hall, under a strict teacher's nose, they have to be quiet and restrained. Another subject that would need its own post is the myriad of ways Kloves goes out of his way to rewrite settings and characters to avoid allowing them to express themselves or grow as characters, and how hard he works to stifle and limit them in ways that are convoluted and work against the story, as if he himself couldn't deal with any kind of emotional vulnerability (in a way, his scripts are a desperate cry for help). This directly contributes to why so many of Snape's comedic moments feel off.

The changes in the scene in GoF don't even make sense from a production perspective, as they required more actors, more lighting, and more setups. Instead of using the cozy setting of the common room to establish camaraderie between the students, Kloves replaced that energy and lightheartedness with Snape in a way that's uncharacteristic. The scene, as he wrote it, is already light and has humor, but Kloves doesn't trust it - he feels the need to exaggerate it and the casualties, as always, are the characters and their portrayal. It's as though he's following a formula and saying, "this page number/scene number must provide relief from the tension of the story" and then doesn't consider how following that directive fits into the rhythm of the narrative. It's closer to being an isolated scene akin to a comedy sketch than to a scene that's part of an act that's part of a film. It's worth noting that, in GoF, Kloves interjects this scene as if he's forcing this moment of comic relief into a story that didn't require it and then relies on playing off of Snape's usual seriousness as its crux. In OOtP, when there's a callback to it as Snape smacks Ron with a book again, it's no longer the point of the scene, but an aside in a comical montage focused on Umbridge (OOtP was also the only film not written by Kloves, so this moment is more likely the result of Michael Goldenberg trying to maintain a consistency with Kloves' work). Overall, I think that feeling of something being off is, again, more rooted in the writing than the performance.

Rickman as an actor playing Snape

There's a lot of criticism in the Snapedom of how Alan Rickman portrays Snape, but not enough acknowledgment that none of the characters are portrayed well, and most of it comes down to Kloves' writing of them. Book!McGonagall insists that all students under 17 are evacuated before the Battle of Hogwarts, where Movie!McGonagall only cares that the Slytherin students are locked in the dungeon, everyone else can stay, what does she care if first years die? Book!Hermione is intelligent and empathetic while Movie!Hermione is a two dimensional maternalistic harpy whose main job is to be a mouthpiece for plot exposition. Book!Ron is funny and brave and fiercely loyal, while Movie!Ron throws Hermione under the bus, is cowardly, and is reduced to a flatly written sidekick. Book!Harry is complex and while I could list a million examples, I'll stick to this one: in PoA when he finds out Sirius betrayed his parents, he's enraged but has no reply when asked if he'd want to kill Sirius. Movie!Harry says with conviction, and without prompting, that he wants to find Sirius with the explicit purpose of killing him. Every single character takes a hit because of how Steve Kloves writes them, and Snape is, sadly, no exception.

While some film shoots allow for improvisation, a big budget production on a tight schedule with scenes that require a lot of prep work can't afford to make many changes. So, for example, while Ralph Fiennes was asked to improvise his scene as Voldemort at the end of DH2 when he re-enters Hogwarts victorious (and that's why the dialogue is redundant and that weird hug with Draco continues to plague us), it could be done because the wardrobe and set and cast were already in place and the time required had already been scheduled in. It wouldn't be possible, though, to add an additional scene - like Snape going feral in the hospital wing at the end of PoA - unless it was written into the script. Additional actors would be required, which would mean coordinating with their schedules and adding them to the budget, not to mention scheduling in additional days with the crew who may already have other work lined up. It would require either pushing every other shooting day back - which is near impossible - in order to use the hospital wing set while it's still up, or tacking on production days to the end of the shooting schedule and rebuilding the set on those days. This can be done for necessary pickups that round out existing scenes, but you can't really say, "hey I decided we need a scene here that didn't exist before" without causing huge problems. Because of how contracts work, any significant scene changes would have to be sent back to Kloves who would have to write alternate scenes and/or dialogue, and even then if you wanted to fix a specific character's arc - like Snape's - you would have to add in so much that it just wouldn't be feasible. Screenplay lengths have to fall within a certain number of pages, because each page is approximately a minute of screen time, so adding a few more to a finished script mid-production is very difficult. The actors have to make the best of what's on the page. Which brings us to Alan Rickman, his choices as an actor, and what informed both him and the character of Snape.

Alan Rickman was a RADA trained actor, so his approach to a character involved a lot of physical work as well as character analysis. As far as I know, he was the only actor to contact JK Rowling directly to ask about his character, because he wanted to make an informed decision about how to play him since Snape was so nuanced and gray. Unlike some of the other actors (like Michael "DIDYAPUTYANAMEINDAGOBLETOFFIYAH" Gambon) Rickman read the books - those that were available when he took on the role, and each as they came out afterwards - and used them to inform his understanding of his character beyond what Kloves wrote (presumably in crayon with all the e's backwards). In interviews and Q&A's it's clear Rickman was fond of the HP books and story, and had a thoughtful process taking on Snape's character. He did not see him as a villain, because, as he's said, he didn't approach characters with that kind of judgment. And while I'm sure the egregious amounts of cash Warner Brothers threw at the actors was inevitably a factor for all of them, several of the ones playing teachers or other adults have said that they took on their role because a child in their life insisted on it, despite them being unfamiliar with the books, whereas Rickman's process was to read Rowling's books in order to decide whether to take the role. Again, he was a RADA trained actor, and thus had a meticulous approach to his work that followed a thoughtful, considered process and a decision based on whether he felt he could embody a character in a way that did them justice/if they were interesting enough to him. By the time he started shooting PS, he also had experience directing a film and was working as a director in theatre as well as still acting, so he understood the process from the perspective of not just an actor, but also as someone behind the camera, someone working with actors both as a peer and director, and someone sitting in an editing room.

We know from his diaries that he became increasingly frustrated with how his own process and expectations clashed with that of the producers on Harry Potter. He wasn't interested in renewing his contract after the first few films (goodness knows how much money they offered him in the end - his wife has said that he never let anyone else pick up a tab in a restaurant and if they argued, he would just say "Harry Potter."). He writes about seeing the films at premieres and being frustrated with how little story and development there is (especially for Snape), which makes me think there are deleted scenes somewhere that haven't been released. At one point he writes about a premiere party where he had internally lost patience with the three Davids (Yates, Heyman, and Barron). It's obvious that there's a discord between the work he wanted to do with Snape's character and what choices the production made:

He describes how, during the filming of the Yule Ball scene in GoF, there was an attempt to get him to dance but he refused because he didn't think Snape would dance:

It was a rare moment of potential for improvisation because, again, the set and cast and timing were already accounted for, and in this case there wasn't even dialogue. The scene where he smacks the boys with the notebook - as far as I know - was scripted. So there's a difference there in how much freedom he had, as an actor, to say no to what he was asked to do. Even in the above diary entry it's clear that, given his way, he felt the character wouldn't even be present in that scene, but he had no choice. This tells me that when he had more freedom to make choices, he did so based on his understanding of Snape as a character and, given that he was an actor who was both very respected (and got away with more than most) and also someone who could get argumentative about his character choices, I think this is the most apt lens to examine his physical work with Snape through.

Knowing that he wasn't interested in continuing the role of Snape after the first couple of films and that he was often frustrated with the lack of characterization and story arc, his physicality in his first scene in CoS (when he reprimands Harry and Ron for flying the car) says a lot. (Caveat that one of the reasons he didn't want to renew his contract was that the shooting schedule restricted his schedule and he wanted work on other projects, but I can't help but wonder if that had been the case had HP provided a more satisfying process.) It's almost certain that he had read all the available books by the time the scene in CoS was filmed, including PoA where Snape becomes apoplectic with rage in a way that, to a child reader, is comical (and intended to be) and to someone analyzing Snape is clearly rooted in triggered trauma.

Alan Rickman knew from the outset that Snape's motivation was his love for Lily, so he would have understood the dynamic between his character and Sirius re: who Snape thought sold Lily out to Voldemort. He would also have understood that Snape's reaction in PoA was more about distress and anxiety, and that this was connected to the promise Snape had made to protect Harry for Lily's sake. This would have therefore informed his portrayal of Snape's anger at Harry in CoS, and it's reasonable to assume that Rickman was trying to walk the line between the way Rowling portrayed Snape in full unhinged rage in PoA, what this tells him about this character when angered, and the connection between the moments in PoA and CoS when it comes to Snape's anxiety over Harry's safety. Unlike the author of a book however, who has full control of how they tell a story, Rickman was an actor in a film - an inevitably collaborative medium which therefore made his portrayal reliant on the decisions of others as well.

Chris Columbus, the HP movies, and feral Snape

PS and CoS were directed by Chris Columbus, the guy who directed both Home Alone and Home Alone II and Mrs. Doubtfire. He was a successful director from the 90s tradition of children's movies whose sensibility was informed by the era's attitude towards children's media: kids wanting to see themselves in narratives, in ways that felt empowering and allowed them to process the confusion of a world run by adults in playful, quasi-cartoonish ways within a 3 act structure where the villains - mean adults - get their comeuppance because it feels fair. One thing that set Harry Potter apart was that the villain was not the mean adult; Snape, the mean adult, is a character kids can hate and project their own experiences onto, but Voldemort is a true villain who represents evil and is vanquished by the hero. Chris Columbus established a tone for the first two films that was no longer apt by PoA, not only because it didn't work for the story, but because that 90s era of children's movies had ended and the culture moved on to more complex narratives (and Columbus has focused more on producing than directing since, because his style doesn't work for audiences anymore).

What's ironic about the way Snape's scene at the start of CoS comes off is that, in the book, there's a great comedic moment that's left out:

This is cut from the film, and instead it's Filch waiting at the top of the marble stairs who catches Ron and Harry being late and delivers them to Snape (I don't know why, the scene in the book is much more dynamic and would have taken up about as much time on screen). Rickman, meanwhile, is using the information he's gotten on who Snape is from the books, and imbuing some of that feral Snape energy into his portrayal of a Snape who is genuinely angry:

(Thank you for making these gifs @smilingformoney , they are truly the gift that keeps on giving.)

The thing is, no matter how much of feral Snape Rickman brought to this, no matter how menacing his performance is, this moment still lives within the dynamics of a Chris Columbus children's film. It gets cut off by Dumbledore's entrance - meant to be a comeuppance for Snape, since Dumbledore (being the voice of wisdom and fairness in this world) prevents him from punishing Harry and Ron (you know what, at least in the books they got detention, but ok). Despite Rickman's performance, Columbus as a director has framed this scene in the same context as the one Kloves cut. The tension is brief, and the focus is on Snape being foiled, because it's what children want to see - a mean adult experiencing consequences. It's down to the editing and soundtrack, choices Columbus made in the editing room. In addition, we don't know how many different ways an actor tries a scene, only what ends up in the final cut of a film. The process of the work done on a set is often much richer and more diverse than what an audience sees in the finished film.

Tbh I think this is also why Snape's feral moments were cut from PoA: it's a darker film, but had to straddle the line between being for both children and tweens and not getting too playful, nor too intense. As much as I want to see feral Snape on screen, it's extremely difficult to make work in a narrative that is about Harry and his friends. It either skews too intense, making the audience uncomfortable because seeing an adult becoming unhinged and in pain is difficult and frightening for most young people, even adults, and would therefore take away from Harry's goals and narrative as well as his changing relationship to Sirius (all of which is already barely supported by Kloves' writing). Alternately, it could also skew too comical and over the top, which takes the audience out of the tension of the film's climactic moments.

If Snape's story had gotten more focus and screen time, an unhinged moment would be better justified because the audience would have been more invested in the character and their arc. PoA sidesteps pretty much all of the most compelling parts of the book, which is the realization that Harry is not only connected to Sirius personally, but that his dad, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew created the Marauders Map, that they were animagi, that Harry's patronus takes the form of his father's stag, and that Snape was initimately connected to all of them as well. For me, reading the end of PoA was what cemented Snape as someone who would be crucial to the narrative and whose role would increase as the series went on. As a result of Kloves skimming over these essential plot twists, Snape is a minor character in the film, showing up mostly as a foil who tries to expose Lupin and then catches him and Black in the Shrieking Shack (this also sets his character up to be minimized in every film down the line, which has a worsening impact as Snape becomes increasingly integral to the plot).

One thing I find interesting is that Snape's comical physicality changes over the films. In PS and CoS he's menacing, a looming, larger than life figure the children fear and easily assume to be a full-fledged villain. By GoF there's a relationship embedded in how he interacts with Harry and his friends. He's no longer terrifying, just intimidating, more of an adult Harry challenges than someone he must defeat. The comedic effect now comes from a rapport within an established dynamic between characters. By HBP, the only comical moment is at Slughorn's party, and it's no longer Rickman who uses physicality - the action happens around him, and the comedic effect is in his lack of reaction to any of it. In other words, he's no longer the comic one, he's become the straight man in a (badly written) comedy sketch (with abysmal timing, what even).

Ultimately, as with most of the characters in the HP films, Snape is undermined by the writing. Rickman was stuck working within the confines he was given. No matter how well he may have understood the character, the limited screen time and character development were always going to stifle how Snape was portrayed on screen. I'm very much pro Let Snape Be Feral but I also don't fault Rickman in how little we saw of that.

How Feral is Snape?

If I'm honest, I feel like the Snapedom has taken the Let Snape Be Feral thing and has started forgetting that he wasn't all-feral-all-the-time. The point of Feral Snape is that it's a heightened state of tension in a character whose trauma is being triggered. Apoplectic Snape wouldn't have an impact at the end of PoA if that was his usual way of being. And, as you so brilliantly showed @said-snape-softly Snape's speech patterns are primarily quiet and controlled, his speech gets softer the more dangerous his mood, and it's only after he reassumes his role as a spy that the description of his speech becomes increasingly volatile (but is still controlled). Feral Snape's definitive aspect is the lack of control shown by a character who usually is so exceptionally capable of self restraint and compartmentalization. So again, while I would have loved to see Feral Snape on screen, I think it's also important to acknowledge that this is not the defining feature of his character and is more about what those moments mean to his arc. Their absence is primarily due to poor writing that didn't create space for them (including what leads up to them), and the direction that didn't carve out any kind of niche for them, not Rickman's choices as an actor.

In fact, Snape as a character is defined by descriptors of his voice more than any other character by far. I have my own theory about why this is, and it has to do with Alan Rickman being inextricably connected with how Snape is written. Chris Columbus said that Alan Rickman was always Snape as far as he was concerned, because when JK Rowling showed him a sketch of Snape she had made, it looked exactly like Rickman. I don't think this is accidental.

Alan Rickman was always intended to be Snape

First, what's important to remember is that before Harry Potter, Alan Rickman was best known in the 90s for playing both villains and sad romantic leads. His signature defining feature was his voice. I think it was Ang Lee who described the casting choice of Greg Wise and Alan Rickman in Sense and Sensibility as wanting Willoughby (Wise) to be dashing and Brandon (Rickman) to be sexy (if this was Emma Thompson and not Ang Lee, my apologies, I can't remember where I read this and can't find the source). This is how Rickman was perceived by audiences up until Harry Potter. And I know a lot of the Snapedom considers him to be sexy as Snape too, but the general audiences of the films don't, so please don't @ me, I'm just setting up a point here.

This is relevant because, as we find out in the end of the books, Rowling wrote Snape's motivations to be rooted in romantic love (I'm very nobly putting aside, for the sake of focusing on Rowling's intentions, my personal interpretation that Snape's feelings for Lily were platonic, please acknowledge how brave I am for this). She pulls a lot from gothic tropes into how he's written, and as much as she's talked about the character having been inspired by a chemistry teacher she disliked, and as much as she's talked about Snape being both morally grey and someone she personally dislikes, she also romanticized him. Between this and what Chris Columbus said about her sketch of him, it's hard for me to ignore that this character, conceived of in the 90s, wasn't written with Alan Rickman in mind from the beginning, especially since Rowling herself has said that she envisioned him in the role. Whether or not he lived up to Rowling's imagination is, frankly, his choice and Rowling's problem.

The story of how Harry Potter was written according to JK Rowling is that it started with the idea coming to her on a train ride in 1990. She completed the PS manuscript in 1995. While everything I'm about to say is absolute conjecture, I can't help but wonder at the connection between these films and the way Snape was written (spoilers ahead, no regrets, these films have been out for over a quarter of a century - forgive my reviews, I can't help myself):

1988: Die Hard comes out. Alan Rickman plays Hans Gruber, a villain who is a genius, composed, controlled, and soft-spoken. (Great film, a classic, the only valid Christmas movie.)

1990: Truly, Madly, Deeply. Rickman plays a man whose wife can't get over his tragic death, nor can his own ghost, who comes back to spend more time with her. No one else can see him, and they can't really share a life anymore. She eventually lets him go as she realizes that his spirit doesn't belong in the mortal world and her own life can't move on as long as she clings to it. (Beautiful film, will break your heart and put it through a shredder.)

1991: Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. Rickman is the Sheriff of Nottingham, an unhinged, feral villain who wears all black complete with billowing cape. (Terrible film, disaster of a period piece, Rickman's performance is the only redeeming thing about it. Halfway through its press tour talk shows started booking Rickman instead of the lead, Kevin Costner, because Rickman stole every scene.)

1995: An Awfully Big Adventure. Rickman is an actor who comes back to his hometown to revive his role as Captain Hook in a local theatre production of Peter Pan. In the process he has an affair with a young ginger stagehand who reminds him of his lost love, a vivacious woman named Stella with bright red hair who, as far as he knows, birthed his child - a son - before she died. It turns out the girl he has an affair with is his daughter, which he realizes when he visits her home where she lives in the care of her aunt and uncle - whose name is Vernon - and connects the dots of who this girl's mother was. (He then rides his motorcycle out to the pier, screams "Stella" at the heavens like he's in a revival production of Streetcar Named Desire, trips and hits his head on the edge of the pier and falls into the water, drowning. I can't make this up. Mike Newell directed this. The same guy who directed GoF. As if following in the vein of the 90s movie obsession with incest as the controversial-trope-du-jour wasn't enough. I don't even need to review this, just sum it up.)

1995: Sense and Sensibility. Rickman plays Colonel Brandon, a forlorn, grieving man who lost his first love at a young age and spends most of the film pining for the only other woman he's ever had a romantic interest in. Wears all black, rides a black horse.

Given what a well-known actor Rickman was in the 90s - especially in England - and how connected his characters all seem to be to various aspects of Snape, it's hard not to see a connection. The entire premise of Truly, Madly, Deeply sounds like the inspiration for the Resurrection Stone in Deathly Hallows. The redheaded lost love whose child is left in the care of an Uncle Vernon in An Awfully Big Adventure is difficult to look past. All of these characters either exude menacingly soft-spoken Snape energy, feral Snape energy, or forlorn because of his lost love Snape energy. As a result, I feel like it's almost inevitable that Rickman inspired Snape, especially when you consider how known he was for his voice and how frequently Snape's voice is used to describe him. When Rowling said that she envisioned him in the role, it makes me wonder if she meant during the casting process for the first film, or well before it. I think his previous roles were a contributing factor in how the character was written in the books. After Tim Roth - who was originally cast in the role - had to back out due to scheduling conflicts, she got her way. Authors don't often get to choose who plays their characters, but in this case it worked out as the production thought Rickman was a good fit as well.

I'm done, I promise

So where does this leave things at the end of this horrendously long post? Rickman's choices of how he physicalized Snape - comedic or not - are only part of a larger whole. He was playing a character who was written based on his other roles, and limited by the shortcomings of how Steve Kloves translated that character from Rowling's books into his own screenplays. Whatever Rickman did on set was limited by that writing, by the directors he worked with, and by the choices made in the editing room.

I'm fascinated by the idea that Rickman was playing a character written with him in mind - but not really him, the him who embodied other characters whose echoes show up in Snape. It's difficult enough to contend with an actor playing a character in a screenplay you wrote with them in mind when you're directing your own script, because they'll never be what you imagined in your head. But for that process to get filtered through several directors, a team of producers, another writer who changes your work, and an editor, let alone throughout a decade of films - that's downright wild. The original intention gets lost and reinterpreted like a game of telephone, and I think that a lot of the consistencies between Movie!Snape and Book!Snape are down to Alan Rickman's nuanced and generous nature as an actor. If I'm honest, I'm not convinced that every Snape moment that comes off comical was meant to be so by Rickman. But again, film is such a collaborative medium that his intentions aren't the only ones that matter, ultimately, at least they aren't the only thing that ends up in the final cut.

My take, personally, is that I'm more interested in critical analysis than personal criticism. I respect that everyone has their own vision of a character and fandom is absolutely here for, among other things, having a place to share those thoughts and feelings. But a character is rarely going to appear on screen the same way you see them in your head, and that's not always going to be a fault, even if it's a disappointment to you. It's interesting to hear different people's perceptions, but there isn't that much to discuss there - you can't refute how someone feels, and you can't argue that their truth is what it is, to them. Whereas with critical analysis there's a lot more to talk about and examine, so it's where my own interest is much more invested.

#asks #long post #said-snape-softly #do I have regrets about the length? not one.#is anyone still reading? not one.

80 notes · View notes