#but this original pitch of him intrigues me a lot

[sophfandoms53]

Anyway shout out to Dewey who constantly looked like he was having the worst time of his fucking life in the pitches

Just an 11 year old pissed off at the world it seems😭

[sorcerous-caress]

So fun fact about me irl I work with children but often my teacher language slips out like telling my friends to say “bye bye bus”, telling another person in my lecture writing to “be nice to the pencil, it’s your friend.” And greeting a roomful of grown as adults with good morning boys and girls. It’s mortifying but How do you think the companions would react to having a teacher!tav slip up like that.

Dealing with a Teacher Tav

[Bg3, fluff, platonic kinda, nb!reader]

[Gale, Shadowheart, Laezel, Wyll, Karlach, Astarion, Halsin, Minthara, Jaheira, Minsc]

Gale

He delightfully plays along whenever you tell him to thank a stranger or say goodbye to an inanimate object. He thinks it's very silly and joyous.

Teachers have always been a big part of his life, it doesn't phase him in the slightest when you unawarly awake the deep memories of being in wizards pre-school for him.

Says good morning to you back, adding a teacher honorific at the end for the sake of being playful while asking if you've finally graded the homework he handed in.

He gives you an apple occasionally. He thinks he is very hilarious.

Shadowheart

She freezes in awkwardness whenever it happens, not sure if you’re being serious or just playing around. Sometimes, you don't even register slipping up as go on with your day, leaving her wondering if she's imagining things.

She has zero experience with the school system, completely confused by the need to say thank you for carriage after it arrived. It's just a carriage, why should she?

One time while her and Laezel were arguing, you used the same call you'd use in the classroom to get the kids to quiet down and it completely caught them both off guard. They just stood there baffled, forgetting their original argument.

Laezel

Why, yes, she is very familiar with teachers. In fact, she was the best out of her class, ask any githyanki teacher, and they'd tell you endless praise about her throat cutting techniques and sword welding stances.

You, whoever, use very unusual teaching techniques. How would learning a song about washing your hand and brushing your teeth help her in slaying her enemies?

Intriguing, so you take advantage of the brain's tendency to latch on to phrases that rhyme, which makes them easier to remember? And you encode your melodies with instructions to embed them into the impressionable youth?

Huh. She actually is impressed. She made her decision, you will lend your teaching skills to help her embed the most effect way of fracturing someone's spine into a melody to spread to the githyanki children.

Wyll

As someone who has been an unofficial teacher for so many kids throughout his years, he can relate to your struggle a lot. He slips up more than he cares to admit.

The both of you meeting early in the morning while still groggy and tired, your brains working on automatic mods as you greet each other with the same high pitched enthusiastic voice you use to greet a toddler.

Then just stare at each other, complete understanding between the two of you. Like two people accidentally using their customer service voice in front of the other.

You struggle to tie your boots once, and he unconsciously bends down to tie them for you while using the rabbit loop euphemism, only to stop in his tracks as he realises what he's doing.

He uses a curse word once, and you immediately use your teachers voice and say, "we don't speak like that here, that's wasn't very nice."

You're both tired, you both need a nap and neither of you brings it up when the other slips.

Karlach

Much like Gale, she finds it extremely amusing. Top tier comedy to her. Unlike Gale, she hasn't been to any proper schooling system, so she doesn't exactly know what most of these phrases mean or imply.

In a way, it lets her pretend she was a part of something like a school in her youth, like she could've had a normal childhood like everyone else.

She'd indulge you, saying goodbye and thank you to the pigeon that delivered her a letter, or overhearing Wyll's rabbit loop ryhme and whispering it under her breath as she ties her own boots. Who knew this could've been so easy?

Astarion

You remind him of how Leon was with his daughter back in Cazador's manor. Astarion never was close with any of them, but still, he sometimes overheard him attempting to give his daughter a semblance of a normal childhood and growth.

It's endearing when you accidentally use your teaching ways while dealing with the owlbear cub, but he'll never admit it.

Doesn't indulge you with it, he has appearance to keep. Well, unless he has a chance to twist your innocent meaning words into a sex or gorey joke like the 12y old humour that he has.

Ah, the scrowl on your face is the exact same one Leon had around him, such fond memories.

Halsin

Ah, you bring him back to his old days of having to deal with the children at the grove. Although his methods focused more on showing them that nature is a friend rather than inanimate objects.

But who is he to judge your ways? If anything he could learn a thing or two from you to add to his skillset.

Tells you about the fables that were passed down from elf to elf throughout the generations, animal stories have always done a great part in teaching him morality.

Do you happen to have any? Maybe you could tell it to the children of the grove, they are good kids.

Minthara

As a noble, she was only given the best and most prestigious of teachers while growing up. Even the ones that weren't a drow would still be considered the best of the best, crème de la crème.

Yet not a single one of them applied such...childish methods. etiquette and discipline were taught by the lash and threat of punishment, not lullabies and gentle guidance.

....it's not as bad as she imagined.

She doesn't get why some of your companions find it amusing. She doesn't bother indulging either.

But sometimes, sometimes, when it's just the two of you, and she is sure not a single soul is around, she will reply with a pun with the most deadpan face expression you've seen.

Jaheira

Despite what most would think, she actually integrated the same methods into her teachings back when her kids were little, it just happened to be weaved with her more dangerous lifestyle ascept.

Here comes the plane, with the airplane usual holding a good dosage amount of poison to build resistance.

A short rhyme about what to check before leaving the house, except the list has a suspicious amount of daggers and trap disarm kits in it.

If it works, it works, so what if she had to alter a kid's book about a honey loving yellow bear into one with decipherable texts to teach them Harpers' secret communication language.

Minsc

Ah! Boo does use the same method on him sometimes, the two of you have a lot in common. Although Boo's methods do involve a bit of biting every now and then.

Say, how about he teaches you some fables from Rashemen, a lot of them are about a rabbit who got lost after not listening to his witch frog companion.

You could use it in your teachings later! Show the youth the importance of good teamwork. Yes, he is aware of the fact he didn't listen to Jaheira and got captured by the cult. No, he doesn't see why this is relevant? Why is Boo suddenly agreeing with you? He is supposed to be on his side.

[shortpplfedup]

We Are Episodes 1-5: Just guys being dudes I guess

Well I didn't think this was the show that would bring me back to writing anything, but low stakes and baby steps I guess. As with most of the BL I've enjoyed lately, I originally had absolutely zero intention of watching this. A 4-couple 16-ep hangout BL from New Siwaj? Nothing in there I need. Then this photo emerged from the set stills...

...and suddenly I was listening. Not terribly attentively mind you, but my curiosity was piqued enough to give her a try. So I did, and 5 weeks in I've decided she can stay for now.

I wanna be clear: there is nothing happening in this show. This isn't a good or interesting show. This is all about guys being dudes, hanging out with their friends, making new friends, and liking each other. Occasionally some of them talk about Art. But the vibes are...intriguing is far too strong a word. It's fun. It's cute. The characters are cutouts but clearly drawn (that is definitely one of New's strengths, I always know who his characters are and they rarely surprise or confuse me). The situations they put them in are pure undiluted tropery, but it works somehow? The cast has a lot of charm, that helps. Aou is playing probably my favourite character of his ever. Satang is making aegyo work for him shockingly well. Winny is giving something inexplicably fun as a surly art student. Poom is a goofy delight. Godji is here being hilarious. Every character is somehow pitched perfectly for the vibe. I am endeared. Each of our 4 couples is playing in their own genre of romantic comedy, but it all pulls together and not apart for me because of the breezy vibe of the whole. It ain't much, but it feels like everybody was having fun making this, and I'm really responding to that right now.

Our trope troupe, in no particular order.

Chain and Pun

Let's start with the friends to lovers couple, because there isn't much happening here yet (methinks the reshoots have pushed their story back near the end). There are all indications that both are somewhat aware of how they might feel. Pun is kinda chaotic and dumb like a fox methinks. Chain is endeared. 1.5/4 hearts

Tan and Fang

Next up we have the loud and quiet pair. Fang mostly keeps himself to himself and Tan is LITERALLY incapable of doing that. Motormouthing a mile a minute, telling all his business, calling friend gatherings together to announce that he likes somebody (not that they're dating, just that he likes them). He's annoying. And Fang is endeared by that. Him agreeing to date Tan seems a little out of nowhere but there isn't any pretence or secrecy to Tan. What you see is exactly what you get, and Fang seems to like what he sees. 2.5/4 hearts.

Toey and Q

Our third couple are our grumpy/sunshine couple. Normally this level of cutesy would drive me straight up a wall, but I think what's saving it for me is that nobody's really denying their feelings here. Q grumbles, but Toey has him completely wrapped around his little finger, and they both kinda know it. I'm pretty sure these two would actually burn down the world for each other if it was required. 3.5/4 hearts.

Phum and Peem

Our enemies to lovers couple. Up until this week I did not understand what they hell they were doing with these two, but it's clicked into place now: you think Phum is taking advantage, but Peem wouldn't be doing a single solitary fuck of this if he didn't want to. He started this out by kicking that man in the nuts, he ain't scared. Once Peem's curiosity overrode his pisstivity, it was only a matter of time. Watching him wait this entire episode for Phum to kiss him, then slowly realize he was gonna have to be the one to do it himself was...*snort* 2.5/4 hearts.

[lollytea]

So... has the new info released more critters in the brain?

It feels like this show was bursting with passionate ideas and creativity from the early stages. It makes me appreciate the final product both for what it is and what it wanted to be, even if there's a lot of things that I'm critical of.

I found the pitch bible SO interesting, though I don't really have anything valuable to comment on. I can see changes that they made that were ultimately so much better (Like making King a child, the inclusion of Gus, Eda's beast curse) but I'm also intrigued by these scrapped ideas. After watching the pilot I was so fascinated by whatever is going on with Eda and the Emperor's Coven. Her jewel is a shock collar?? Hello???

I do like lumity quite a bit but I'm kinda a bit sad that they changed so much about the evolution of their relationship from the original pitch. I genuinely enjoy the setup and the way their lives intertwine. I have to clarify excessively that I don't dislike lumity but there were beats of their development that I found a bit unsatisfying. But judging from this pitch, they originally had a lot of foundation for the relationship. I don't have the words to explain it. I just wish I could have seen the version of lumity that was originally intended.

I kinda like the idea of Lilith as the headmistress of Hexside. Idk something about it just feels right to me. Maybe it's the fact that it more closely links the high school stuff to the main plot, rather than Hexside and the Owl House being like Luz's two separate worlds that only occasionally meet.

THOSE FUCKING HUMANS WHO WERE MUTATED BY LIVING ON THE BOILING ISLES FOR TOO LONG IS INSANE I KEEP THINKING ABOUT THEM. CRAZY WORLDBUILDING SHIT TO DROP

Oh. If you're talking about hunlow specifically, then I have barely anything really. Considering William is 13, I wonder if Paulina would have stayed 14, instead of aging up over the course of the series. So they'd still be around the same age.

Paulina doesn't get nearly as much info in her page as Luz, Amity and William so I don't imagine she was intended to be anything more than a quirky side character.

I don't really care about beta hunlow all that much. It's fun to think about occasionally but their Canon selves are tough to beat. And William is like. An angry infant in my mind, so I'm not prone to thinking of him in romantic situations

I've got this. Do with it as you will

[elmaestrostan]

@protect-daniel-james sleuthing under the cut (I typed it in my notes then realised it wouldn’t paste into comments of your post in the app, doh!

Ok, so to preface this when I first found myself crushing on Unai, I was like nope, just going to be chill, not like past crushes, soooo I’m certainly not going to operate a tumblr in his honour or be intrigued about his private life, nope, just admire…

That lasted until it didn’t, because nothing apparently intrigues me more than a mysterious man, so the part of me that digs being an unpaid FBI agent kicked in 😅

I’d read that story (from 2020) the London gf sold to the papers not long after he joined Villa, but (other than the football watching in bed stuff making me like him even more, despite the situation), I didn’t go back to that until mid December last year when curiosity got the better of me…

So there’s Luisa, his first wife, and her name is still out there as such, which is where a lot of the confusion comes from because he obviously openly talked about her and their son loads earlier in his career, then… nothing. I’ve seen her comment on his Instagram posts (usually when he’s pictured with Lander), and it seems like they’re still close and she seems sweet (they apparently quarantined together, I’ll come back to this shortly).

Then there’s Lucila (and for the love of god could he have picked a woman with a more similar name to his ex, didn’t he know amateur sleuths would get confused by this? So inconsiderate 😂). They appear to have been together at least since some point during his tenure at Sevilla (possibly well before that), definitely in Paris (she’s the ‘wife’ mentioned by the press when their apartment was burgled, and the one in that photo with him in the tux that gets labelled as Luisa), and then I guess she must have stayed in Spain or travelled back & forth a lot when he was hooking up with the lady in London. That gf seemed very convinced he was single and just didn’t want to settle down, so he must have been juggling two women & the Arsenal bin fire… (I mean that’s almost impressive tbh… I don’t have enough energy for my own very low key life lol).

A couple of months after the original story dropped there’s that article where its revealed he’d been dating a woman long term back in Spain at the same time, that her name is Lucila, and that friends said they’d been together 10+ years at that point. Now whilst reading through the comments (deranged way to waste time, yeesh) on the Daily Mail version of the London gf’s original story I spotted an interesting one: someone clearly knew his situation well and said they’d lived near him in London, that the reason he hadn’t introduced the gf was because he was long term with Lucila who is Argentinian (this is about two months before any info about her comes out into the press so they clearly knew a fair bit), that she’s rude (I hope not, but they commented on her appearance too so bitter commenter maybe?), that she’d given up on having children because of him, and that they’d been together since he’d split from his wife who he was quarantining with back in Spain at that point.

So yes, I then clocked it’s Lucila in the Hondarribia medal ceremony video, so they obviously patched up after his… dalliance in London.

.

.

Little bit more goss and it’s a big/sweet one:

.

.

They have a baby! She must be about a year old now. When I was down this wormhole I was intrigued enough to have a gander on Instagram to see if she had a profile, and it’s private but at the time she had a profile photo of her holding the baby at VP 🥹 When I was at the final game the other week I was fairly close to the tunnel and spotted her hand him the baby as he came off the pitch (I’m honestly surprised no one else clocked that or thought enough of it to post anything on Twitter or whatever).

Annnnd… just to add to the theme… One of Lucila’s surnames is Vila 😂 Of course it is 😂 She has the name Valentina in her profile so I’m assuming that’s the daughter’s name? But I hope that’s the maternal name she’s passed on because how perfect?🥲

I’ve been keeping that under my hat for a while (and will probably delete/private this post in a day or so once you’ve read it). He’s clearly so private and guarded now post Arsenal and all that stuff coming out. Talk about an enigma wrapped in a mystery 👀

[rea-grimm]

Ghosts of Crimson peak - 3

One grey afternoon when you took the day off, Thomas sought you out. He wanted to show you something. You wondered if it was another memory or scene from the past.

But he had already warned you that it would not be as bad as before. At least that's what he kept telling you as he led you into the living room, where all the furniture had been moved to the side and there was now enough plaza to dance on.

You had no idea what he wanted to show you that needed so much space. But before you could ask what he wanted to show you, a pleasant golden light flooded the place.

Instead of a living room, you found yourself in a large room that was definitely meant for more people. It was far too large and rather empty for the two of you. The room was lit by dim side lights and the main light provided a chandelier dotted with candles.

You glanced around the dance floor as you looked at Thomas, who was standing next to you, giving you a look that made your heart melt. 

"Could I ask you to accompany me to the ball?" He asked you with a smile. 

"I'm not sure. I don't even have a dress..." you replied, unsure of the right way to respond. You hadn't been to a ball before. You weren't much for that sort of thing and there were too many people there for you in the first place.

"That's not a problem," he replied, and before you knew it, you were wearing a beautiful, long dress appropriate for its time. It was an amazing illusion. When you touched them with your hands, they felt nice to the touch, though it was confusing how your normal clothes still felt on you.

"These are beautiful," you breathed, twirling around in them.

"They suit you," he smiled, bowing and offering you his hand before continuing, "May I ask the prettiest lady at this ball to dance?" He asked. 

"I don't even know how to dance," you replied in surprise.

"I assure you, it's not that hard. Just let me lead," he didn't let up. Finally, you nodded in agreement and took his hand. 

His touch was slightly cold but incredibly real. Thomas pulled you lightly against him, his other arm around your waist. At that moment, music filled the room and you began to dance.

You could see he was a great dancer and he led you around the floor like nothing. You were quite thankful that he was a ghost, as you felt like you stepped on his foot every other step.

"Don't think about it. Just enjoy it," he said, seeing your concern and looking you in the eye. You nodded in agreement and as the dance continued, you slowly stopped thinking about it.

Once the music stopped you stopped, Thomas bowed before kissing your hand.

"You're a breathtaking dancer," he replied before leaning closer to you, taking your chin lightly and kissing you. His lips were cool and when he pulled away, your lips began to warm. It was like winter, when a snowflake landed on your skin. 

When he pulled away, you noticed that the ballroom had melted away and you were in the living room again. Your dress had also disappeared and you were back in your original clothes. You were afraid that Thomas would also disappear, but he was still standing in front of you, looking at you lovingly. 

When you finally released all the footage that covered the seven days you spent here and more. Fans cheering you on and giving you all kinds of advice on how to deal with the ghosts. Plus they had a lot of questions about the place and even more about the ghost baronet. 

Have you thought about doing a Q&A video with Thomas Sharpe. You tried pitching it to him, but even though he was intrigued by your work and the new technology in general, he turned you down. He wasn't sure he wanted the whole world to know about his crimes. You understood and you didn't force him into anything.

A few days later, when you were looking through the fan mail, you noticed a familiar envelope. Again, you found a letter sealed with a wax seal. You broke it open and pulled out the stack of papers inside. 

The first thing you read was an anonymous letter in which the person in question explained that, you met all the conditions, you were given ownership of the entire property. After the letter, you looked at the rest of the papers. These were gift deeds and all the documents indicated that the whole property belonged to you. 

You again sent these documents to your friend who confirmed that everything was in order and it really belonged to you. However, even from these documents he did not find out who the previous owner was and who actually gave it to you. 

You wanted to inform the Baronet of this news and so you automatically headed to his workshop with the documents, where his presence used to be strongest. 

"Thomas?" you called to him, looking around. You flinched as the ghost appeared next to you. 

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned, trying to figure out what had you so excited.

"Looks like I'm the new owner here," you smiled at him and showed him the papers. Thomas took them from you and looked them over. 

"Are you staying here?" He asked as he looked up from the papers and handed them back to you.

"I think I will. I've grown quite fond of this place. Although it's going to be a lot of work getting this place together," you shrugged. You meant what you said. This place really grew on you. 

After this you officially moved into Allerdale Hall and even got the necessary things done for permanent residency in England. You immediately set about a plan to clear the house of ghosts. 

Over the course of those few days, you found several ways to get rid of the worst of the ghosts. Now all that was left were the ghosts of the victims and the Baronet himself. 

With the baronet's cooperation, you managed to properly bury the bodies of the victims that the police hadn't found and that were still haunting the place. But before the ghosts of the victims disappeared, Thomas asked for their forgiveness. He was already prepared for the worst and didn't expect anyone to be able to forgive him. 

Slowly, you managed to exorcise all the ghosts, leaving the Baronet as the last one.

No matter how hard you tried, you had no idea what exactly to do to keep him moving on. You tried all sorts of methods, but you still felt it had something to do with forgiveness. 

"You should forgive yourself, too. Everyone else has already forgiven you," you said one evening. You took his hand and looked into his eyes. Although he had been quite happy lately, his face was now tormented by sadness.

"I can't do that," he replied, looking to the side. 

"But you can. Your previous wives have forgiven you. Now it's your turn," you said gently. "Or do you want to torture yourself for the rest of your life over this?"

"I don't want to leave you," he said weakly, finally looking you in the eye. This stung your heart.

"I don't want to leave you either, but wouldn't it be better to move on?" You asked him. Truthfully, you didn't want to lose him either, but you didn't want him to endlessly eat himself 

"Do you think I deserve this?" He asked you hesitantly. 

"From the very beginning," you replied determinedly. 

Thomas leaned closer to you and stroked your cheek. Automatically, you leaned towards him and hugged him. You had the feeling that this was your last reunion. 

"Thank you," he murmured before kissing you. You returned the kiss, feeling that it was much shorter than you would have liked. You wanted to be strong, but when you pulled away, you could feel tears forming in your eyes. You were still holding him when you began to feel his body slowly fading away.

"Don't shed a tear for me," he said gently, wiping away the tear that was streaming down your cheek. "'Smile suits you much better,' he smiled weakly at you. "You have filled my world with light. I love you with all my heart..." he said before completely melting away. 

There was nothing you could say in response. You didn't trust your voice and let the tears flow freely. The purple hill was unusually quiet now, and the only sound was your sobbing. As much as you wished for him, you had no idea it would be so hard for you.

1, 2, 3, 4

[woundlingus]

can i ask why you hate wayward sisters?

First and foremost, because I know a lot of people feel this way about wayward sisters, it’s got nothing to do with a general disinterest in seeing a woman led cast in the supernatural universe, believing that there cannot be a Supernatural without Sam&Dean, and nothing to do with not wanting success for the girls and the pilot.

I was really excited when they first announced it because I was a huge fan of Jody and Donna and their gaggle of hunter girls, personally my favourite was Alex- maybe because she’s a little Sam coded with wanting to go to medical school and be normal and I’m just really captivated by her origin story as vampire bait. The bitterness came later when it was all for nothing because it never got picked up, behind closed doors it was likely already slammed down by The CW because we know from interviews the president has said he doesn’t think people would care about a show without Sam and Dean, and then to add insult to injury they aired one more wayward sisters relevant episode after the fact.

Most people think of wayward sisters as that one episode, the true pilot episode but that’s not really the case,

You have Patience; where they kill off a very beloved season one character, Missouri, for the character development of a character who would never be relevant again which is both a waste and lazy writing because why should I care about Patience grieving when I don’t even know her? There’s nothing driving a connection here between me and this character other than a one hit wonder from the early days and then they just kill the only interesting thing about the girl before it has time to blossom into something better and tragic.

Then it’s The Bad Place; which is the introduction to Kaia- because every girl we don’t know need their own episode apparently. We didn’t know Sam and Dean and yet they made a perfectly captivating pilot episode where it explored them enough as characters to make them interesting right then and there… but I digress. This is Episode NINE, and Jack only now makes his return to the screen because he’s relevant to move the plot of a different show along. And again, like Patience I just don’t care about Kaia’s struggles because I do not know her as a character, they’ve just thrown her at the audience already laid bare as if that’s meant to make her interesting when it’s made her so flat with no intrigue.

THEN, it’s Wayward Sisters. I just hate the premise of this being an AU thing, like the girls have to go away lest whatever insane bullshit the writers want to throw at them is going to conflict with the world ending drama of the Winchesters. There is nothing particularly interesting about the bad place, it’s an empty forest and sometimes there’s spooky noises in the background, it’s just purgatory with a different colour filter.

Then it fails, and then it’s ANOTHER WAYWARD SISTERS EPISODE! It’s Donna and her niece who never became plot relevant enough for anyone to remember she’s supposed to be in the gang! At least this one is fun because Sam is going to get sold on the black market I guess?

This was the mid season finale in a show that is very clearly entering its last stages of life. They used nearly the entire front half of season 13 to pitch a show that never happened. Could you imagine the kinds of interesting things that could’ve happened in all that time? Maybe something relevant to Jack, or Mary, since those are two characters I want to like very badly and I just can’t sometimes because they weren’t very interesting in season 13. Because they didn’t get a chance to be before they were thrown away. Jack is the big plot, he’s there, then they throw him away, then they bring him back for another show and use that show to throw him away again.

Also, honestly? I don’t really like the girls, but not how you think. It’s nothing to do with being a woman hater, I know it sounds like that when there’s absolutely nothing interesting about some of the male characters I like (*cough* Asmodeus and Loki *cough*) and yet I’ll make huge elaborate headcanons and adore them, but it’s the being a woman myself that makes them harder to stand. A guy being a loser? Whatever. Those women being characterised as motherly angel saints who have a gentle and tender blooming WLW relationships and they’ll coyly hold hands and be chaste lovers, but don’t forget they’re GirlBosses, and they all dress in flannel because they’re just so super tough! But also they all have to wear a full face of makeup to fight vampires! It’s different, because I’m watching that and I know there’s not a hint of irony in it and the writers have written them like that not because they’re being lazy or they’re hacks, but because that’s how they actually see women, that’s what they think women want to see. When a guy character sucks he just sucks, when a woman sucks I can see the misogyny that went into writing her and I don’t want to look. Jody and Donna are Sam and Dean’s peers and I think maybe even younger than them and yet they’re motherly and tender through the horrors. Claire hasn’t had a moment of peace since she was like five years old where she was possessed by an angel who knew her mind couldn’t comprehend consent and used her to kill people, then took her father again and tore her family apart, and then they just take all the teeth out of her bite and make her snappy and quick witted instead because there always needs to be plausible deniability about whether or not a character might dislike the Winchesters because they’re just the specialist little boys ever! It’s the potential that upsets me, it’s that we could’ve really had a female led hunting show and it failed from the jump because they were not writing interesting and complex characters, it’s the same grief I have with Mary that they’ve taken all the complexities about being a hunter and the horrors of what you have to do to survive and they’ve taken the teeth out of these women to make them flatter and more placid characters out of I guess fear of upsetting the male characters? Fear of letting a woman take up space and be loud? It’s not like they can’t be those things and also interesting, Jo and Ellen were interesting, the writers here just don’t care for the women and their relationships they’re writing, they’re just throwing shit at paper and hoping to make bank off women.

It wasn’t one episode and I’m kinda just bitter, it was four episodes about people we never really see again in a season filled with a LOT of things that were insanely interesting to me if my entire blog doesn’t give that away, I’m a little crazed about s13. It was just a massive waste to think about the characterisation time and plot development and relationship building that could’ve been done for characters that actually mattered this season, especially when this is the one where they’re actually going to have Michael V Lucifer. You’d think that would be a bigger deal than it was.

In a season filled with so much already, they dedicated four episodes to a show that doesn’t exist, and the vast majority of plots in the main storyline suffered for it by being incomplete, jarring, or lacklustre.

At least Jensen had the balls to make The Winchesters stand on its own two feet, I guess I have to give him respect for that. Could you imagine if the finale to the show was his back door pilot?

[romancomicsblog]

Spider-Man Home Turf: My Pitch for Tom Holland's Next Spider-Man Movie

With the success of the original trilogy and a promise of 9 films in total, another Tom Holland Spider-Man film is imminent.

Although the writers strike is still going on (PAY YOUR WRITERS DISNEY), currently the next Spider-Man film is in early development and slated for 2025. That will likely be pushed back, but the idea of Spider-Man 4 is incredibly intriguing.

This film is not only a continuation of Peter's story, but a restart for him as well. There's a lot of potential for new characters, new story, and a different version of Spidey than what came before.

I have a pitch, one that takes whats great about Watts original trilogy, and I think brings Peter to a place we've never seen him go in live action.

This is not a script, just more so a general idea for the movie. I do have ideas for characters and casting though!

*Spoilers for the MCU in general and all Spider-Man movies*

Let's start with what I love about Watts trilogy:

Something/Someone New Everytime

Whether you love or hate these movies, one must admit every film felt different than what came before. Whether it was the John Hughes high school element, a road trip through Europe, or a multiversal magic finale, none of the films felt like Webbs or Raimis, but something fresh instead.

With the exception of No Way Home, the movies also focused on villains we had not seen before. Vulture, Mysterio, Shocker, The Thinker, all classic villains that never got their time in the light. I like that trend, and want to continue it.

The Mentor

One of the fun things about these movies for me is Peter gets a mentor to match his internal problem at hand. The best part is the mentor is usually kind of bad at it, leading Peter to come to his own conclusions and move beyond them to become an even better hero.

The character needs to make sense in the context of the story, be flawed, and most importantly, connected to the MCU in a way we've seen before.

Love Story

I like all the Peter/MJ & Peter/Liz stuff in all the movies. With MJ and Ned gone now, we're gonna want a new character for Peter to fall for. Again, I'd prefer someone we have never seen before, who can become a fan favorite in their own right.

With all that out of the way, here is the idea:

Peter Parker, now struggling to find any joy in his normal life, spends most of his time fighting crime as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He will be in the suit for most of the movie, completely neglecting his normal life, as he feels there is nothing for him there.

Because there are not as many big world ending threats or villains to fight, in order to fill up his life, he has begun taking out portions of the mysterious Kingpins operations, to the dismay of Wilson Fisk.

Kingpin will be one of our main villains of the movie. In this film, Fisk will have secondary goons The Tinkerer, who you may remember from Spider-Man Homecoming, creating gear for his men:

And an enforcer, a menace hoping to one day take on even more power than he already has, Hammerhead.

Hammerhead is a brawler, who can be conniving and slimey. I want someone likable but borderline annoying. Someone who can trade blows and quips and really have some fun against Spider-Man.

Personally, I think who better than Saul Goodman himself Bob Odenkirk, but I'll leaving casting up to someone else.

After a huge fight with Hammerhead and Fisk goons, Spider-Man will be approached by a vigilante he has never seen before.

Enter the mentor. What character better to warn Peter of the dangers of balancing the vigilante life than Matt Murdock?

Unlike mentors before, Daredevil will actually be an extremely positive force for Peter. He will show him the value of balance and the danger of going too into the darkness of being a vigilante.

Daredevil will warn Spider-Man that messing with organized crime without understanding it leads to a power vacuum and desperation, which leads to more danger for civilians. Peter will not listen, which will lead to our actual big bad of the film:

Mr Negative.

Martin Li will be a young newer type of crime boss. With his inexperience will come chaos, and with his power will come war.

I do not have a casting for him, as I feel this character should be a new Chinese actor. Someone relatively young and menacing.

He is joined by his gang the Inner Demons, who will be former members of the Hand who needed a leader when the five fingers fell, and his right hand man and enforcer, The Scorpion.

Some may forget, this character was introduced in Spider-Man Homecoming played by Michael Mando, which I love immensely. I want him geared up, in the suit, using that seem fierce energy he had in his post credit scene.

Seeking to gain financially from the commotion of this gang war will be cat burglar Felicia Hardy.

If Matt is the angel on Peter's shoulder, Felicia will be the Devil on Spideys.

Felicia will also be escaping her past through her persona of The Black Cat, and will serve as temptation for Spider-Man to leave Peter Parker behind.

While she is trying to convince him to move on and just be Spider-Man, Black Cat does have Peter's best interest at heart. I want a flawed but good person here, who will round out team Spidey.

I'd like an actress who maybe feels a tad older than Peter.

My mind jumps to Anya Taylor Joy, but I'm open to suggestions.

Throughout the film, Peter will learn about balance from both Black Cat and Daredevil, how the criminal organizations came to power, and how to properly take them down to save New York.

And with all that comes the pitch:

While trying to clean up the streets Peter Parker accidentally opens the door to a gang war between super powered Mr. Negative and the dangerous Kingpin, leaving the streets of New York desperate for a hero. With the help of new allies Daredevil and the Black Cat, Spider-Man must learn what it takes to save his city.

Spider-Man Home Turf would put Peter at the center of gang war, (something we've never seen), fighting alongside Daredevil (a new mentor), and with a love interest not for Peter but for Spider-Man (a new and different love story).

It would also keep Peter in New York, something the Watts movies did not do enough of, and at the center of the best parts of the Netflix Marvel universe.

It's big enough to feel like Spider-Man, and small enough to be the start of something new.

I think Spider-Man can benefit from a smaller start. Seeing Spidey fighting on the streets of New York is all a fan really wants.

But as long as it's not the clone saga, I will be happy.

If you'd like to support me you can follow me on my socials here!

[goddevouringserpent]

okay okay i’m intrigued — give me your best pitch for why i should make nuestra parte de noche / our share of night my next fucked up read 👁️👂

(hope you don't mind if I answer this publicly, I have a strong emotional attachment to this book and want everyone to read it--if you'd rather it was private let me know & I'll delete it!)

SO. this book is thee most fucked up thing I have read in a while, which is saying a lot because Mariana Enríquez made a whole ass career out of writing fucked up shit (her short story compilations are also very much worth a look). it is pure undiluted Latin American anguish. that part is... difficult to explain, since it's such a cultural thing, but essentially: Our Share of Night takes place primarily in Argentina, and the plot is heavily heavily informed by both colonial history and the history of military dictatorships and the crimes against humanity committed during, how that shaped our society & culture. many of us carry a great deal of generational trauma still and it's in books like hers where that trauma... shines, so to speak, and if you'll forgive the clumsy wording. it's raw and bloody and painful and unapologetic about all of those, but it's handled very, very well.

now, as a word of warning before I get into what the book is about and potentially make it interesting: this book contains some VERY HEAVY SHIT. Enríquez does not pull her punches. I am hesitant to spoil it because it's a book that does not deserve to be spoiled, but. there's a lot of body horror, a lot of violence, a lot of harm done to children, a lot of abuse--again, all handled tastefully and within the context of allegories or even direct references to colonialism / military violence. but it is a lot. so be warned.

the story itself is also difficult to summarize because, again, I want to spoil as little as possible, but: it revolves around Juan, a man who possesses extraordinary abilities to communicate with things such as the dead, demonic beings, and an entity known as "The Darkness" (keep in mind I read this book in the original Spanish & I don't know how that was translated--in my version it was "La Oscuridad"), and his son Gaspar who deserves the world, baby boy, baby. Juan is a very profoundly fucked up man. he is the poster child for Does Everything Wrong Always All The Time. he is bitter and full of both rage and sick, twisted love and is one of the best protagonists I've seen in ages, by which I mean that he sucks so fucking bad. I don't want to predispose anyone against him by saying this BTW, I think his suckiness is a feature and embrace it lmao

Juan is part (well, not really, but for the sake of simplicity we'll say that he's part of it) of a TREMENDOUSLY FUCKED UP organization called the Order, and throughout the whole book his goal is to protect Gaspar from being exploited and abused by that Order, like Juan himself was. remember how I mentioned above that many people in Argentina are still affected by generational trauma? yeah. this is Generational Trauma, The Book.

it's about not wanting to repeat behaviors, about breaking cycles, about not wanting to fall prey to the people that hurt you but hurting everyone around you in the process because all you know how to do is hurt, lash out, be cruel and vicious. it's a book about how far you'd go for the people you love and how far is too far and can you come back from too far? it's about there's always someone worse and about how sometimes you're that 'someone worse'. it's a book about blood in a country that's been bled dry, multiple times over.

if I've piqued your interest (or anyone's!) then please please feel free to DM me with more questions--or with any reactions if you do choose to read it--because I love this book so fucking much I would talk about it forever if I could, but I would never forgive myself if I spoiled it for someone else because it's... an experience, lmao

(note: considering the subject matter, I would recommend that people who don't know anything about the 1973-1983 Argentinian dictatorship read up on it, even just a little bit, because it is relevant to truly understand what the author's trying to express. it is somewhat of a plot point even. I don't think you'd be lost, per se, if you went in not knowing anything, but you'd definitely miss out on some stuff that makes it deeper and more harrowing, I feel. knowledge of what we mean when we say 'los desaparecidos' / the disappeared is, I'd say, pretty important.)

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Fate/Strange Fake 1

Author: Ryohgo Narita

Illustrator: Shizuki Morii

Label: Dengeki Bunko

Release Date: 10 January 2015

My Score: 4/5

Genre: Action, Battle Royale

This series is part of the Fate franchise and it follows a “fake” Holy Grail War in America. The rules are a bit different to the usual Holy Grail War, in ways that aren’t made all too clear in this volume. This volume serves as an extended prologue as we are introduced to the masters and servants that we will be following throughout the series. Each chapter introduces a new pair and focuses on them.

This was a really good first volume. It got me intrigued to follow the story and the characters. The characters are all interesting and the story has a lot of potential. it’s definitely an introductory volume that made me more excited in what this series will become rather than enjoying this volume on it’s own. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to get through it but it was the kind of book that always made me want to read on. I‘m super interested in how this series is going to progress and I ended this volume just wanting to read the next.

As much as I enjoyed this volume, I don’t feel like I have a lot to say about it and I’m worried this is going be recurring issue with this series so I am going to talk about the characters that appear on the covers for each volume that I do. Similar to what I did with Youzitsu, but I want to go more in-depth.

On the cover for this volume is Archer/Gilgamesh and Lancer/Enkidu. Their identities are revealed soon after they are introduced so I wouldn’t consider it a spoiler (also, I think everyone in the Fate fandom knows what Gilgamesh and Enkidu look like). For most of the servants, their identities are either explicitly stated or we are given enough clues to make an educated guess. The exception is a certain someone who is introduced at the end of the volume and I haven’t been spoiled as to who they are so I am very excited to learn more.

Gilgamesh is the first servant to be introduced in this volume. Gilgamesh would have to be the servant with the most appearances in this franchise. He was in the original, he was in Zero, Extra CCC, and this, and of course he appears in Grand Order and I’m probably forgetting something. Gilgamesh is always a fun and interesting character so it’s not hard to see why people love him and each writer is usually able to do something with him to make things interesting. Here, it seems to be his relationship with Enkidu that will be explored, and I really am excited to see more of their dynamic. I might be more interested in Gilgamesh’s master though than Gilgamesh himself. His master, Tine, is a Native American, and it’s so cool to see Native American representation in anything. I’m really interested to learn more about her and what her role in the narrative is going to be.

I think this was Enkidu’s first appearance in the franchise. They later appeared in Grand Order but I think this predates that. I love seeing a non-binary take on a figure like Enkidu and I really like the way that they are portrayed. Enkidu’s master is a wolf and I love them. I hope nothing bad happens to them. These two are my favourite pair so far. I really hope the wolf survives this series.

Also, I had to laugh at Nasu’s afterword where he talks about how Narita pitched this as a 5-volume series. Nasu says, ‘Narita, do you really think this plot is going to fit in 5 volumes?’ The series is ongoing at 8 volumes so I had to laugh.

Adaptation Notes:

A TV Special anime adaptation came out recently. I watched and it motivated me to finally read the light novels so it definitely works well as an advertisement for the series. It condenses the first volume into a 55 minute episode and it does a pretty good job of it. There’s some stuff that’s cut out and some details are lost and it makes it feel more like highlight reel than anything else but it manages to tell a coherent story and get you pumped for the full anime. Because of the way that the original volume was structured with each chapter focusing on a specific master/servant pair, the anime did some restructuring of scenes to make the timeline more linear so that we jump between different storylines. We get more backstory and details about the masters and servants in the light novel. In particular, the anime cut a lot of details about Assassin’s identity and the situation with Tsubaki. Also, most of the last chapter, where we are introduced to Ayaka is cut from the anime.

A full-length TV series has been announced and there’s been some speculation as to whether they will continue where the special left off or readapt the first volume more faithfully. I feel like they will continue where the special ended and adapt that last chapter fully. I feel like they will have to add back in the details that were cut with Assassin and Tsubaki at some point but maybe there will be a good time in future plotlines to do that and they won’t do it straight away. I don’t think they will just readapt the first volume. The special is a perfectly serviceable adaptation to introduce the characters and, aside from those bits, I don’t see any point in readapting it.

[ylojgtr]

star wars movies ranked by how much i like rewatching them:

1. Revenge of the Sith - the culmination of the prequels, where everything comes together so nicely, just such a satisfying story. my favourite characterizations of pretty much everyone who appears in it (except grevous lmao) and the 3d cgi finally came into its own to make a very unique aesthetic imo

2. A New Hope - the original, full of creativity from so many people, just a perfect movie honestly. the special effects are absolutely fantastic and the story is simple but so well told. i feel myself getting swept away by the adventure and mystique in this one more than any other

3. The Empire Strikes Back - personally my favourite star wars movie, it builds on the original in every way i could hope for. some excellent character development for luke and the jumping between storylines is super fun. it has some great silly moments with yoda and lando and also some seriously dramatic set pieces on hoth and bespin

4. Rogue One - what was probably pitched as a nostalgia bait plot hole filler turned out to be one of the best character driven team movies in the last decade (all in my opinion, of course). jyn's faith in life and hope being restored is what makes the conclusion so heartbreaking and krennic is such a hateable villain with stakes directly connected to the protagonist. of course the whole cast is amazing. i remember being surprised at how fast i learned the names of all these previously unknown characters because i just liked them so much. each one is unique in personality, aesthetic, and what they bring to the discussion of the movie's themes. they don't all get a ton of screentime, but for what they're given each has a really well deserved heroic conclusion, however sad they are

5. Attack of the Clones - while its not my favourite in terms of characterization, plot development nor does it have my favourite gags, i still find myself coming back to this one for the vibes. it's 85% cgi, but the giant battle on geonosis and the intrigue of kamino are so fun and i think those awkward special effects kind of add to it. it's just fun, yk? the mystery elements are some of my favourites in the movies, although i think that aspect is better done in the clone wars series

6. The Last Jedi - really difficult spot to pick but i ultimately chose this over phantom menace because honestly i usually just watch the maul fight lmao. this movie is tricky for me since i like a lot of the ideas present, but hate it at the same time for completely derailing the sequels. had jj made all 3, we could have had a mildly entertaining if very repetitive nostalgia trip. with the way it was done, we have one of those movies, one movie that completely swerves the opposite direction and gives a taste of something more, then violently course corrects to the point of everything going off the rails. i think had rian johnson been given control for the whole series, we could have gotten something very special, and so this movie is here because it's fun to live in that world even for just one film. kylo is at his peak here and i love the idea of rey coming from no "important" background, i don't love how rey developed in this movie but had it been followed up on properly it probably would have been better. really i like rose and finns story as well as the end scene, which is more of the movie than phantom menace, so there

7. Solo - i really like this movie, don't get me wrong. the star wars underworld is super cool to see on the "big screen" (so they say) and i think han's portrayal is EXTREMELY well done. his arc fits perfectly into his story, the naïveté at the start and the reluctant hero at the end. he's a pure hearted boy thrown into a situation where heroism is punched in the stomach and kicked in a corner and seeing him navigate it is endlessly captivating. i like the new characters too (especially l3-37 and enfys) and it's so cool to see lando in his prime. all the forced-in explanations about how han got his name, how the millennium falcon ends up looking like that, etc etc is kinda unnecessary but id imagine they needed to do that to get the movie greenlit lmao, but honestly those are the things that drag it down in terms of rewatchability for me. once you see how the falcon lost its escape pod for the first time the novelty wears off, and enough time is spent on it that it becomes a drawback, time taken away from what i really want to see: character interactions, development, and fun, unpredictable action. the end where han kills beckett never gets old though and everytime i watch it i have that same feeling of relief, sadness and shock

8. Return of the Jedi - i love this movie, but in terms of rewatching it for fun on its own, i get a lot of what i like about it from other movies. ive always been a little underwhelmed by this one tbh. the death star again is fine, but it doesn't hold the same existential horror as the first time around. the emperor is perfection, but he's way more over the top in rots which is more entertaining lmao. vaders redemption is awesome and the perfect way to end the trilogy, but it is what we were expecting, isn't it? ewoks are fun and work symbolically i thinkbut they make for less spectacular action than other combatants

9. The Phantom Menace - qui-gon is one of my favourite star wars characters, ever. liam neeson's performance is excellent, and i love watching him throughout the whole thing. however, the story isn't as tight as other movies and while i love the thought and implications of the politics it explores, the senate and trade disputes kinda bring it down if im just watching it for fun. the podrace section is really popular for how fun it is, and i do like it, but car chases and races are often my least favourite type of action and i would sooner choose to watch a different action set piece. the fight at the end is AMAZING but i can watch it on youtube if i want so yeah, it goes here

10. The Clone Wars - it's...not good lmao. everyone knows this. but it is pretty fun. and most importantly, it kickstarted the best star wars media of all time, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. seeing the introduction of ahsoka and rex, and the reintroduction of ventress and cody, while neat to look back on, are improved upon in the series so id sooner just watch that. i have no problem watching it, despite its faults, but definitely not my go-to (i do wish we got to see rotta the hutt again though smh)

11. The Force Awakens - literally just watch a new hope. lmao that's not entirely true but all the characters here i prefer in tlj. there are some great moments, like when you think ben is going to accept help but he cements himself on the dark side or when finn and poe escape the star destroyer. the practical effects are nice, the sets and costumes are cool. but really this movie just makes me sad seeing how much promise these characters had and knowing how they all went to waste. maybe this will change someday and ill be able to take it for what it is, but now is not that time lol

12. The Rise of Skywalker - *sigh* yeah this one is just painful to watch. i honestly can only think of one character moment i like from this movie, which is when c3po calls the cast his friends. and thats like one line. i hate what they did to rey, to ben, to finn, to poe. rey's arc just sizzled out, she's more just going along with whatever comes her way, doing what she's told. she has more agency than that!! i honestly think she should have turned to the dark side. my ideal head canon was that rey and ben essentially switch sides at the end of tlj before both realizing that absolute adherence to either the extreme light or dark would only result in death and destruction as the universe fought to have balance. so they both come together in the middle and try and explore the practicality of living in the neutral area of the force. this would have opened up some really cool discussion about good vs evil (which is what star wars is known as being an excellent example of), it would have created a new, unique era of star wars to set future stories in in the future, and it would have ended the saga in a poetic way (the prequels end in darkness, the originals end in light, the sequels end in the middle). alas, this didn't happen, and this movie just makes me sad. there's nothing wrong with liking it, to be clear, i just like to pretend it doesn't exist

[chicagocubsreactions]

Cubs again plan to investigate possibility of signing Shohei Ohtani

[original article]

Why did Shohei Ohtani meet with the Chicago Cubs? That question has never been fully answered in detail. Ohtani rarely speaks with the media and his representatives at Creative Artists Agency closely guard the information around the Japanese superstar.

The Cubs were granted an audience with Ohtani in December 2017, which could mean nothing in the complex negotiations that will fascinate the baseball world. But the Cubs again plan to be involved in Ohtani’s process, a league source confirmed, which doesn’t guarantee anything other than more rumors and daydreaming about him performing at Wrigley Field.

Cubs executives simply wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they didn’t seriously investigate this possibility. It would also be bad business for a multibillion-dollar franchise to ignore the global marketing possibilities around the team’s iconic stadium and streaming platforms with Ohtani as must-see TV.

Jed Hoyer’s bold decision to sign Craig Counsell to a five-year, $40 million contract and fire manager David Ross dominated the news cycles this week at Major League Baseball’s general manager meetings in Arizona. But as executives and agents wheeled their suitcases through an outdoor plaza Thursday and checked out of the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia, the offseason focus will shift back to the players.

It’s unclear if there are any clues in the seven finalists Ohtani chose when he narrowed the list from the 30 teams that were sent a questionnaire that asked for detailed explanations on how each organization would handle the assimilation process from Japan and maximize his enormous talents as a hitter and a pitcher.

Clearly, the calculus has changed. The National League now features the full-time designated hitter and Ohtani will be recovering from elbow surgery and unavailable to pitch next season. The Los Angeles Angels squandered their six years with Ohtani, who never competed in a playoff game with Mike Trout.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are widely seen as a team that will aggressively pursue Ohtani. The Texas Rangers are coming off their first World Series title in franchise history. The San Diego Padres are preparing to cut payroll. The Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants could be appealing if Ohtani still has a geographic preference. The Cubs were also invited to CAA headquarters in Los Angeles to make their recruiting pitch.

“I look back on that,” Hoyer said. “We had a great meeting. It felt like we prepared a ton. It was a really good dialogue, good conversation. Obviously, he was going to only choose one out of seven. But we had been to three NLCSs in a row and won a World Series. We had things rolling pretty well.

“It doesn’t surprise me he took a meeting with us, even though us and Texas were the only two teams that weren’t on the West Coast. I think that’s why we were outliers. But it doesn’t surprise me, given when it happened. We had it rolling at that point and I think he was intrigued.”

The Cubs built part of their presentation off material they gathered while unsuccessfully courting Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka after a last-place season in 2013. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and Theo Epstein, the president of baseball operations at that time, were involved in the Ohtani meeting. Nao Masamoto, a longtime Cubs official, served as an interpreter. To answer any questions about the team’s pitching infrastructure, the Cubs included Tommy Hottovy, the future pitching coach, and Kyle Hendricks, their World Series Game 7 starter. The Cubs showed Ohtani a piece of virtual-reality equipment used by their hitters.

“Going back to when he came over and when we met with him, there were zero questions about his ability on the mound,” Hoyer said. “That’s all borne out. But I feel like with the bat, there were a lot of questions about how things would translate and would he be able to handle inside fastballs and stuff like that. He proved he could do it.”

Hoyer laughed and continued: “There’s no question the offensive part of his game was underestimated. I think the pitching was probably viewed accurately.”

This time, the Cubs won’t be capped at a $300,000 maximum bonus and Ohtani won’t be restricted by the international signing rules. There were also some health questions back then about Ohtani, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018. But this is still a perennial MVP candidate with the left-handed power to hit 40 home runs a year and pitch like a Cy Young Award winner when healthy. Future Hall of Famer sounds like an understatement when describing someone who’s already one of the best athletes in the history of professional sports.

“It was pretty clear that he wanted to do both and DH-ing was the best option for that,” Hoyer said. “We couldn’t provide that. The Dodgers and Padres couldn’t provide that. It was four NL teams and three AL teams and I thought we were at a big disadvantage because we couldn’t offer him the ability to DH. As good as the meeting went, we knew that was always going to be an uphill climb.

“It doesn’t surprise me in the end that he picked an AL team. But I wish we could roll back the clock and take a shot at it again.”

That rare opportunity is here again and no one expected Counsell to pick the Cubs, either.

[viatorix]

Sol’s OBKK Fic Rec List

ObiKaka fic rec list let’s goooooo! Here’s a list of my absolute favourites and ones I’m currently subscribed to. I’ll be adding to this when new favs pop up. 

Long Fic

Diplopia by blacknoise. [Probably abandoned].  Damn I love this one. Post-fourth war obkk where Obito is still an angy boy and vicious. It's pretty dark in places, and the relationship is pretty toxic and sex-fueled (by god there's a lot of sex), but it looks like it has the chance to slowly get better.

Kamui Blues by butter_peanut. [Completed]  Obkk become Kamui roommates and sort of fall in love along the way and Obito realises that maybe this world is worth saving after all. God I just *bites knuckle* love this so much. Angsty and sweet and with a happy ending and finished??? Hell yes.

Pitch Black by butter_peanut [Completed] Obito gives Kakashi both of his eyes raises baby Naruto while blind. Role reversal as he’s stalked by a ruthless Kakashi who can’t stop caring about Obito. 

Pity Speaks Backwards by cyavillain [Completed]. Right before he’s supposed to announce the 4th War, Obito decides he doesn’t want to do this anymore but doesn’t want to go back to Konoha and helps Kakashi on the downlow. Heavy Hurt/Comfort with sexual healing. Mainly just focuses on Obito and Kakashi’s relationship. 

Quintessential Reflection by ridingthemagic2arpet [WIP]. Kakashi discovers Kamui and a strange Akatsuki member who inhabits it. He’s convinced that Tobi has stolen Obito’s eye and Kakashi intends to bring down the whole organisation from the inside. 

Gem of the Eddy by beetlebee [Probably abandoned]  Obkk isn't the main focus of the plot, which instead involves around the revival of Uzushio, but this fic is still funny, and cute, and heartwarming. Oh, and Kakashi has been turned into a kitsune fox along with the rest of Team 7. The interactions between fox!Kakashi and Obito are so good, I've gone back and just read those chapters. Beetlebee also has a few other obkk fic that are pretty good.

Discography by malamanteau [WIP]  Post-fourth war that focuses on Kakashi and Obito's relationship and Obito accepting the damage he's done and trying to make up for it.

The Komorebi Series by tomorrowsrain [Probably abandoned]  After Obito sets the Kyuubi on Konoha (which he soon regrets) and Kakashi defends him, they're both banished from Konoha and roam as missing-nin. Only have Team 7 fostered on them and become sensei. This is really sweet with serious found family feels going on.

What Once Was Lost by LilanAsmodora [WIP]  Obito kills Kakashi during the fourth war and insta-regrets while also being haunted by Kakashi's not-ghost. He tries to fix things by going back in time and saving his younger self. There's still a lot of set up going on in this fic but it looks like it's heading interesting places and I do enjoy the multiple POVs.

Eleven Months by Amikotsu [Probably abandoned]. Obito breaks out of Madara’s cave, losing his Zetsu arm in the process and while he can’t save Rin, he can return with Kakashi to Konoha. This is just really sweet with young Obito and Kakashi becoming friends and reliant on one another. It’s pre-ObiKaka still where it’s stopped (they’re still young teenagers). Also features really nice original side characters. Really wish this would update. 

Crimson Stains by Hellowriters [Probably abandoned]. Kakashi accidently dimension hops in his pajamas to a world where Obito is alive and Kakashi’s alternative self is the leader of Akatsuki. The shinobi world has all but been destroyed and the remnants of those who oppose Akatsuki are forced to survive underground. Nice intrigue going on. Also features Hokage Kushina!

One shots

Convergence by blacknoise. Snippets of Obito and Kakashi's relationship that are really sweet and angsty all at the same time.

The New Recruit by butter_peanut. I’m just out here recommending all of Peanut’s stuff, don’t mind me. Kakashi infiltrates Akatsuki as Sukea and there are shenanigans. 

Ghost Story by Hiiraeth. Not explicitly OBKK (tagged platonic in this only), but still good. Obito doesn’t die, to his surprise, and now shares a body with Kakashi.

Let me feel your heartbeat (grow faster, faster) by MomoYoMaki. Little time travel fic in which Kakashi travels back to his younger self and jail breaks Obito from Madara’s cave. 

Choose life by Foxfluent. Obito saves Kakashi’s life. Then keeps on saving him. They both fall a little in love. Very sweet. 

Smut  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Do me a favor by colormebleu. [WIP] Obito and Kakashi have been fake dating for years and now start to ‘practice’ sex to ‘make it convincing’ and well...

A Week in Kiri With the Hound by butter_peanut. [Completed] Kakashi doesn’t love himself and Obito teaches him how with sex

You’re just a daydream away by shannyan [Complete] Largely smut but with feelings that make me gooey inside. Obito visits Kakashi in his Tsukuyomi dream and doesn’t understand why despite the fact that Kakashi could have anything he wanted, his dream is about his devotion to Obito. Obito hijacks Dream!Obito’s body and things go from there. I really love this one. 

[caught-in-the-filter]

Chasing a Shadow (Chasing a High) - Chapter 4

Summary: Fulfilling the prompt from karlyfr13s - Smutty CS notion: sweet duckling Princess Emma stumbles on Dark Hook and is too intrigued for her own good…there are some things she just won’t tell Queen Snow 😉

A/N: Soooooo I meant to post this sooner. At first I put it off a little because I wanted to have more of chapter 5 written first. And well... I did figure out some notes of where I want to go with it, but I haven't really touched the doc since—between work, life, lack of focus, and general exhaustion these days. But I want to work on it again, I just... can't seem to get anywhere with writing lately. So I'm not waiting anymore, I'm not gonna keep you guys waiting longer, and I'm hoping that posting this chapter will get me back into the swing of writing it again.

Thank you again to @karlyfr13s for the original prompt. And a huge shoutout and lots of love to @veryverynotgoodwrites for continuing to beta this fic, for being an amazing friend (and fic cheerleader), and for getting me, helping me, and encouraging me to keep going. ❤️❤️❤️

Rated: E; Words (Ch4): 3140; AO3 tumblr.: Ch1, Ch2, Ch3, Ch4

—— As soon as Emma stepped through the door to his quarters when she at last returned to his ship, the Dark One spun her around and slammed her against it, pressing his chest to her back as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and scraped his teeth along the side of her neck, sinking them into her flesh and laving over the mark with his tongue as he rutted against the curve of her ass. It was as if insatiable desire had completely consumed him, his actions and mannerisms already rougher than they had been even while he’d had her restrained in his bed. Emma shook her head to clear it as her mind tried to wander into much more sinister territories.

“Captain?” she questioned softly, the heightened pitch of her voice surely noticeable as she shivered at his touch and the uncertain thoughts it brought forth.

Tightening his grip, he tugged her golden locks and turned them toward the table in the center of the room, a wave of his hook swiping away the items on its surface with a quick burst of air. As paper floated away and metal clattered to the floor, the Dark One harshly bent her over the edge. Emma reached out to stop her face from hitting the hard wood, but the Dark One still managed to press her cheek against it before releasing his hold on her hair with a shove.

“You’ve been hiding things from me, little wench,” the Dark One growled as he lifted her skirts in the crook of his hook and gave her bare ass a firm slap. “You didn’t tell me you had magic.” He swatted her again, his handprint already turning bright red on her skin.

“I figured you’d already known,” Emma said breathlessly. “You always know.”

“I suppose perhaps I should have,” he said, “given your pedigree. The power of the queen and king’s true love must have been bursting inside you from birth.”

“Mhmm. But it didn’t seem relevant for… this.” She gasped as he hit her again before massaging the raw flesh with a tight grip, almost apologetically. Almost.

“Not relevant?” he scoffed, his hand sliding lower toward the apex of her thighs, finding traces of arousal already beginning to drip from her core as he rubbed along her folds. “Do you not know what magic can do for you? What more it can make you feel?”

“I—what do you m—”

The Dark One interrupted her with his hand on her throat and his hook against her stomach, pulling her back to his chest before guiding both her arms to wrap behind his neck.

“Ohh, Princess, let me show you how much more you’re capable of.” His touch glided down her sides, and he held her in his arms as he lowered his lips to suck a mark over her pulse point. “I want you to take this off,” he murmured against her skin, catching her hands when they moved to the ties at the front of her dress and returning them instead to the nape of his neck. “Not like that, love. With your magic. You’ve seen me do it.” He teased her through her skirts, running the curve of his hook along the crease of her covered thigh, and gods, she wanted to feel it on her clit. “Picture your dress somewhere else, anywhere else, and set it there in your mind. You can do it.”

Emma concentrated carefully, which was not an easy feat while the Dark One continued to brand her flesh with his lips and teeth. Pinching her eyes closed, she imagined him lifting it over her head and discarding it. It wasn’t until she felt his grin against her spine and his hand between her legs that she reopened her eyes with a start. She turned her head to find her dress draped neatly over the chair at the head of the table, right where she’d envisioned him placing it.

“See?” He hummed along her shoulder as he pulled her tighter against him. She’d never object to his chest hair brushing against her back, realizing the peek at his deep neckline wasn’t quite enough and closing her eyes again until the rest tickled her too. She could feel his chest rumble lightly as he chuckled. “Very good, eager lass,” he said, thrusting against her bare ass to let her know just how successful she was in baring him as well.

The Dark One teased at her entrance until she welcomed his fingers into her tight heat, making them slick with her arousal as he thrust and curled them inside her. He had no trouble finding the spot that made her knees buckle beneath her and left her leaning against him for support, already an expert in the subject of her body.

“Take this feeling and let your magic mingle with it, Emma,” he guided. “You’ve such light magic in you. Let it lift you.”

Emma kept her eyes shut, focusing only on what he was making her feel. She anchored her hands in his hair, tugging dark tufts as she laced her fingers through it and held on as if it were the only thing keeping her upright. An ease suddenly washed over her as she chased her high, and she found herself taking his instruction quite literally. She glanced down to see her feet no longer on the floor but floating above it. Bending her knees, she locked her legs behind him to keep herself in place as her body instinctively bowed away from his touch while her mind wanted nothing more.

“Please, Dark One,” Emma practically sobbed, more overwhelmed than ever and yet not quite there. “Killian, I need—”

“Tell me, darling,” he growled, dragging his teeth against her jaw before nipping at the shell of her ear. “Tell me what you need, or take it yourself.”

Emma couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, she needed him to just know. “Please,” she whispered, a tear forming in the corner of her eye as his hand worked her hard and fast, though it still wasn’t enough. I need your cock, she wanted to beg, the words trapped on the tip of her tongue as it pressed against the barrier of her teeth. She knew he’d challenge her to take it again, knew he’d hold back until she pushed herself, and so take it she did. She tipped her head back and sent a rush of air with it, coaxing his cock to stand at attention at exactly the angle she wanted and eliciting a deep groan from low in the Dark One’s belly as she sank down on him.

“Fuck yes, Princess,” he gritted as he met her thrust for thrust, his fingers finally slipping from her as his cock took their place. Raising his hand to Emma’s breast, the Dark One kneaded her soft flesh, drawing small, sweet gasps from her lips as he rolled and pinched her nipple while his hook began an expert assault on her clit. He nuzzled her neck and traced as much of her skin as he could with his mouth as he praised her all the while. “There’s a good little wench. Yes. Take it, Emma. Feel as you’ve never felt before. Very good. Fuck.”

Elated cries of “Yes! Yes!” echoed through the room, and neither could be sure which of them said any given one as they desperately encouraged each other.

“Killian. Captain, please. Yes, Killian—” His name poured from her lips as her release soon poured on his cock. She arched her back almost inhumanly and rode him with abandon as her magic kept her aloft. The lamplight flickered as the flames crackled and surged with the waves of her orgasm.

The Dark One’s eyes were also ablaze as he relished the effects of her magic at the height of her pleasure, a sense of pride behind them as he watched her writhe. As he finally eased her down from her high, her feet landing gently on the floor, he held her while she struggled to steady herself on uneasy legs.

“Easy, love,” he cooed. Scooping her into his arms, he carried her to the bed and set her on the mattress. “You’re amazing, Emma,” he praised, placing a kiss on her forehead, “you really are.”

“That was amazing,” she sighed, unable to help the smile that spread across her face at his compliment. A blush flushed her cheeks a soft pink and spread down her body as he scanned her in awe. She turned to lay on her side and shifted closer to the wall to give him more room as he settled next to her and mirrored her position.

“That was just the beginning of what magic can do for you,” the Dark One grinned. He rested his chin on his palm and caressed her side with the curve of his hook, lazily brushing it along her skin, leaving chills in its wake.

“And the beginning of our fun, I see,” Emma assessed as she glanced down at his straining cock still wet with her arousal. “You haven’t—”

The Dark One stopped her hand with a nod and a puff of red smoke as it reached for him, guiding her arm back to drape over her stomach.

“We’ve plenty of time for that, darling,” he soothed, though the pain in his voice revealed his struggle to control himself. “Wielding so much power can be draining when you’re not used to it yet. You’ll be needing your rest if we’re to continue your... training, of sorts.”

“Fine.” Emma raised her hand and stroked his shoulder instead, pulling him closer to her and snuggling against him as her fingers inched toward his spine to tenderly rub his back. She could feel his cock nudging her as she shifted, and she rocked into him, subtly at first until he caught on and let out a hearty chuckle.

“Rest, Emma,” he ordered, stilling her with his hook at her hip. She rolled her eyes at him, but he was right—she was tired.

As he watched her slowly succumb to the siren song of sleep, pressed to his chest as they rest in each other’s embrace, the Dark One felt an urge to utter words he never thought he’d want to say again, but he knew it was far too soon. He chose instead to kiss her forehead once more and mutter, “My insatiable Princess,” with a fondness he almost hoped would convey the thought just the same.

—/—/—

Emma awoke slowly, gently roused from her sleep by a familiar, wonderful feeling. She wondered at first if she were still inside her dream, because she opened her eyes only to find herself in complete darkness, the oh-so-innocent image of the Dark One’s head between her legs making for a very pleasant slumber and a very wet Emma. But as her brows furrowed and she felt herself moving her hips, her hands darted downward to meet soft hair, and the devilish chuckle against her sensitive skin told her for certain that her current experience was real.

“Hello, Princess,” the Dark One greeted with a deliberate lick along her folds, flicking her clit with the tip of his tongue. “Did you have a good rest?” he asked with another skilled pass. “Though you clearly weren’t resting in your mind, were you? Naughty girl.”

Emma shook her head in response, a mischievous smirk forming on her face before it quickly turned into a pout as she clenched her fists and tugged his hair.

“Why can’t I see?”

“You’re blindfolded, love,” he explained, “because I need you to focus on what you feel and only on that. That’s the essence of what magic is—a feeling, a way to channel your emotions into something that can give you what you need, if you’re willing to let it. I want you to let it.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Mmm, I do love when you address me like that. But you should claim your power, Emma. There’s no need for formal address when you’re the one who should demand that respect.”

“Well, you just called me ‘Emma.’”

“Because you like it when I do,” the Dark One quipped, placing a kiss just above where he’d been licking. “I can tell it does something to you when I say your name.” He peppered a few more kisses along her inner thigh before sucking her flesh between his teeth and worrying it as she gasped and held herself steady. “And I must admit, I enjoy hearing you say mine. Few people have even heard it, let alone dare to speak it, but you say it so sweetly while you’re falling apart for me.”

“Then make me fall apart again and you shall hear it,” Emma challenged, canting her hips in invitation. “Touch me. Please.”

“As you wish.”

Emma could sense his smile as he said it and wondered if he’d play his tricks on her again. She rocked her hips gently as he nuzzled her clit in an effort to make him tend to where she needed him.

The Dark One hummed, acknowledging her impatience. Tucking his arms under her thighs, he locked them in place as his mouth returned to her flesh. He positively devoured her, licking and sucking relentlessly, dragging his teeth and tongue against her before plunging back into her heat with wicked flicks. As her back arched, he pressed the flat of his hook against her stomach to hold her still. Her feet thumping brutally against his back as she thrashed in his hold only made him increase the pace, matching it with his fingers as they slipped through her sodden folds and teased at her ass, daring to peek inside before retreating and gently prodding it again and again.

“Fuck. Fuck!” Emma cried, digging in her heels hard enough to bruise him. His arm tightened around her leg as he slid his hook lower and rubbed rapid circles over her clit. Emma jumped as a loud boom of thunder cracked and rumbled in time with their rhythm. The waves lapped at the sides of the boat as he lapped at her arousal, swaying the vessel as Emma writhed on the bed, her eyes slammed shut in concentration regardless of the blindfold as she chased her release.

“That’s it, Emma! That’s it!” The Dark One growled praises and encouragements between his skilled attacks. The storms outside raged on as Emma faced her own hurricane of feelings, both growing stronger the closer she became to finding what she sought.

“Killian. Fuck yes, Killian, please—”

“You’re so fucking beautiful like this, darling. So strong, so perfect. Embrace it, Emma. Feel it.” His fingers replaced his tongue as he thrust them inside her and curled, mercilessly hitting the soft spot that sent her reeling every time. “Yes, Princess. That’s it.”

Emma screamed his name as he sucked her clit and she came hard on his hand and chin. He fucked her through it with his fingers, joined once more by his tongue, as she soaked both as well as the sheets beneath her. As Emma finally settled back onto the mattress, slowly regaining control of her labored breaths, so too settled the sky and sea, a sated sense of calm washing over everything. With the way she’d aggressively pulled at his hair, Emma wondered briefly if he’d have any left on his head when she finally let it go.

“Bloody fucking brilliant, that was,” the Dark One proudly marveled, kissing his way up her body as he climbed onto the bed and held himself above her, gently removing her blindfold.

“Did I—” Emma’s eyes widened as she began to realize exactly what had happened “—was that me?”

“Aye,” he affirmed. “Isn’t it exhilarating? You’ve no idea the power you possess.” His lips teased hers as he spoke, making a playful attempt to catch one between them. But Emma didn’t share his excitement, and she turned away from him, shaking her head.

“No, it’s—it’s terrifying!” Emma’s breathing quickened as she grasped the magnitude of the effects her magic had on their surroundings, fearing the potential devastation she could have caused in her moments of bliss. “What just happened, what I just felt, I couldn’t control it.”

“But you will, my dear. I’ll teach you how.” The Dark One shifted his weight to one side and raised his hand to caress her cheek, but Emma planted her palms on his shoulders and pushed him away as she scrambled back toward the pillows behind her.

“No,” she said firmly as she got to her feet. “I’d never lost control before you. Whatever this is, whatever you’re doing to me, I don’t want it.”

“You sought me out,” he sneered, offended by her accusation, “and I’ve done nothing to you but give you pleasure.” Standing as well, the Dark One closed the space Emma had created between them. “This magic is a part of you, love, whether you like it or not. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m a fan of every part of you, magic included.”

“You’re darkening it or something.” Emma was frantic now, doing everything she could to distance herself from him as she backed away in circles around the table in the small room while he closely kept her pace. “You—you have to be. I didn’t… I can’t—”

“I would never, ever do that to you. You have to know that.” He reached for her again but her hands shot out toward him too, paralyzing him in a swirling cloud of white. “I trusted you. Perhaps more than I should have, because I thought you trusted me too.”

“I thought I was starting to,” Emma glanced at her shaking hands, wringing them desperately in an effort to calm them down, “but you’ve made it so that I can no longer trust myself either.”

“Emma, please—”

“No, Dark One.” Emma looked at him with fear in her eyes and tried to ignore the pleading in his as it broke her more than she’d ever admit. “I can’t take the chance that I’m wrong about you,” she said as she retrieved her dress and slipped it on over her head. She didn’t want to hurt him, she didn’t, but if he were helping her put others at risk, then she had no choice but to run far away and fast. Hesitating at the door, she whispered, “I’m sorry,” before she took off in the direction of home, overwhelmed with a million different emotions as he futilely called after her.

When Emma couldn’t listen anymore, she waved her hand and found herself in her room again. She collapsed on the floor, her chest heaving and tears welling in her eyes as she struggled to control her racing mind and pounding heart.

——

Tag list ❤️: @anothersworld @batana54 @darkcolinodonorgasm @deckerstarblanche @donteattheappleshook @elizabeethan @holdingoutforapiratehero @hollyethecurious @ilovemesomekillianjones @itsfabianadocarmo @jonesfandomfanatic @jrob64 @justanother-unluckysoul @karlyfr13s @klynn-stormz @kmomof4 @laschatzi @motherkatereloyshipper @qualitycoffeethings @resident-of-storybrooke @sotangledupinit @stahlop @teamhook @the-darkdragonfly @thejollyroger-writer @tiganasummertree @ultraluckycatnd @veryverynotgoodwrites @wefoundloveunderthelight @whimsicallyenchantedrose @xhookswenchx @xsajx @zaharadessert

[wickedgamesoyaoya]

❧ 24. taken hostage

❧Masterlist - Previous - Next

❧ A/N: yes, I am a sucker for ya’ll and I re-made the profiles. lmao <3 thank you guys, though for sticking by the story even tho I SUCK AND VANISH A LOT.

When your captor originally inquired into whether you would be interested in starring in their advertisement, you politely shook your head and declined the implied offer. While the idea was certainly intriguing, and could potentially prove to be an exciting experience, you found yourself itching to spend the remainder of the day relaxing. According to the videographer, filming would last around an hour and half, meaning you would only have 30 minutes to stroll around the venue before the exhibitors packed up for the evening.

“Please consider it again? You’re like, our ideal person for this! You’re super cute, and you look like the perfect girlfriend!” The marketing team on a final attempt to recruit you sent their most charismatic member, Poppy – their social media community manager. The young girl had her fingers clasped together as she silently begged you to alter your position. “If you want me on my knees, I can do that too.”

And based on the way her eyes shifted to the dust covered flooring below her, you did not doubt her sincerity.

“Please don’t do that. I’ll do it, okay?” Reaching out, you patted her folded hands once, praying that she would regain her composure now that you accepted your defeat.

“Oh my god. YES. Thank you!” The blonde released a high-pitched squeal before launching herself in your direction. Seconds later, you were caught in her embrace and the sudden display of affection brought a melodic laugh to dance past your lips.

In that moment you really could not understand why your best friends were so worried, especially when there were so many kind people attending the convention. And maybe you had accidentally manifested what occurred next, as only five minutes later, you learned exactly why your friends were on edge.

“This is your fake boyfriend for the next hour and half, y/n! Iwaizumi Hajime!”

The second your eyes met the athletic trainer’s; your heart weaseled its way into your stomach. And as your eyelids expanded in size in astonishment, Iwaizumi swallowed harshly with panic animating his features. The fear that was brewing inside of his stomach earlier at the prospect of running into you had tripped now due to the circumstances.

“Why’re you looking at each other like that?” A theatrical gasp parted her lips as her gaze drifted between you and the black-haired male. “Oh god, don’t tell me he’s your ex!”

“No, he’s not an ex, you don’t have to worry.” A weak smile traced along your mouth to reassure the girl. Because while your friends would certainly be against your participation in the advertisement, you did not want to trouble the crew after issuing your acceptance. You could be professional, and you hoped that so could he. “He’s more like a stranger with some memories.”

The blonde responded to the description with an amused giggle, while Iwaizumi blinked in quick intervals in confusion.

Well, what did he expect? He was clearly not a friend.

“Very poetic, y/n! Okay so I’ll give you guys a few minutes to reacquaint yourselves and then we’ll start filming!” After slapping her palms together in a single clap, the young girl stepped away, leaving you to figure out how to lessen the awkwardness that was slowly gathering around you.

“So, hi.” It seemed appropriate to begin with a basic greeting, one that you decided to package with a polite smile. The tension radiating from the male had an interesting impact on you – it made you somehow feel calmer. And the thing was, you were not well accustomed to experiencing tranquility around Iwaizumi – hell, you never felt so composed around him until now.

What was it that Matsukawa said to you again? The one who cares less holds the power in the relationship?

You wouldn’t qualify your feelings as less, but you were no longer as emotionally overwhelmed as you first were when Iwaizumi gifted you his attention.

“I swear I didn’t plot this.”

“I didn’t think you did.”

A sympathetic glint shimmered in your irises as he raised his hands in a sign of innocence. The action made the male appear far younger than his age, and it was almost endearing.

“Oh, I just thought because of the- ” Returning his hands to his sides, guilt brought the male to avert his gaze. He was far too ashamed to even admit that he was involved scheme that prompted the end of your barely existent relationship.

“Iwaizumi, it’s okay. Things happen, okay? Sometimes things just aren’t meant to be.” In order to secure his attention, you tipped your head to the side. You were seeking to comfort him, but your words had only sprouted a dull ache within his chest.

Because it wasn’t okay – not if you still believed that your relationship with him wasn’t meant to be. Iwaizumi was not one who believed in fate, or predestined partners, but he felt a spark with you that made him want to be better.

And isn’t that what an ideal partner should do? Make you want to be the best version of yourself?

Iwaizumi could not bring himself to answer your statements, and thankfully he was saved by Poppy’s return. The blonde was accompanied by the videographer and the director, the three individuals were absolutely enthusiastic to begin, contrasting the dread filling the athletic trainer’s body.

“Okay, everyone! Lets film this bad boy!”

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[frosted-night]

Jack Frost Designs Review

Yes it’s finally his time. This is going to include his book designs including previous incarnations in said books. There are more movie concept designs than book so, let’s dig in shall we?

This was in fact the first ever Jack Joyce designed while he came up with The Guardians Of Childhood. He even comes with his own backstory! (Which was cut. Sorry Joyce posts walls of text so it’s a girthy read.)

So instead of a young mischievous trickster, we got a much more depressing story of Jack. (Jack by default is sad obviously) but this one... It kind of hits differently and almost reminds me of the story he crafted for Pitch. A dad who tried to defend his family but through tragic events was ripped from them and changed completely. Design wise, he’s a lot more tree than snow. There doesn’t exist a colored version of this so we’ll never know if he sported winter and dull dead leaf colors rather than grassy greens.This Jack has a weird presence to him, I can’t put my finger on it. Rating: 6/10 He’s really neat! Just a little too Autumn feeling rather than a blend of both Autumn and Winter.

Nightlight feels like the baby evolution if Jack was a pokemon and that's what I’m gonna stick with. Below is a more recent version of him colored.

In all honesty that one is easier on the eyes proportion wise because sometimes Joyce has ‘interesting’ anatomy choices but we aint going into that today. It’s interesting how his hair somehow looks shorter and longer than Jack’s at the same time. Could be because the longer strands float seamlessly but star boy hair physics what can ya do. It’s a little hard to tell what is his skin and what is his armor, so that is a casuality in making a character only have one or two colors in their color scheme. I love other artist’s depictions of Nightlight but the canon one feels a little weak color wise. Rating: 5/10 Sorry, get some better LEDs and then come back.

Here we have a book Jack but I can’t entirely recall if this was used in the books or not. I digress. This design looks like him still wearing very Nightlight-esque armor/clothing and slowly growing into his new persona as Jack Frost. The intricacies are hard to make out but we’ll work with it. This one is very interesting to me because he very much looks like an older teen close to young adult. His hair looks very fluffy too. Not many complaints about this one but not much praise either.

Rating: 6/10 Not great but doesn’t stand out that much.

Remember when I said Joyce had ‘interesting’ anatomy decisions? Jack looks like he has half a head here and it bothers me GREATLY. This is the adult Jack design he went with. Supposedly he likes the opera and he sure looks it. This! Exists!! Kind of wish it didn’t. The outfit is nice but it just doesn’t fit Jack as a whole. This just screams to me that it’s someone else with a similar-ish hairstyle.

Rating: 3/10 Guess he’d be the...Phantom Of The Opera. (I’ll go home and so should he.)

And finally the final Jack. This is the one that almost exactly resembles the Jack we got in the movies(Probably because it was made after the movie but w/e) but just add a cape on him. I can’t really tell if hes got a hoodie and a cape, or just a cloak+hood on top of a sweatshirt. It isn’t too important because my thoughts on this one are obvious. Rating: 10/10 Edna Mode would have a field day with you boy.

MOVIE DESIGN TIME

Joyce claims this is a design he drafted when Leonardo DiCaprio was considered to voice Jack and I can kind of see that with how his face is drawn here. This Jack looks a lot more like a warrior and less of that trickster look. I can’t say I’m a fan of the weird antenna his hood has but his sword is really cool looking.

Rating: 4/10 Nice bow and sword but it can’t save your fashion choices.

This looks like a lanky 11-13 year old who would put rocks or slugs in my shoes and relish in my disgust. He has the exact look of a snot nose kid and I’m unsure how to feel about it.

His various hairstyles drafted here sort of make him softer looking or just more of a snot nose, no in between. Maybe even an Anime Protagonist.

The top right one almost looks like Hiccup from How To Train Your Dragon if you squint. It’ll be a little hard to rate them all as one individual but why not.

Rating: 5/10 I don’t hate them but they aren’t my cup of tea.

AH- IS THAT A FUCKIN GREMLIN?

Oh wait no it isn’t he looks like a 10 year old. Whatever don’t feed him after midnight. The staff’s design of not being shaped like a G is an interesting tidbit but the whole design looks like he’s really young or like a troll etc. This Jack looks like he thinks girls have cooties uses outdated slang.

Rating: 4/10 This is me being generous.

It honestly looks like he hiked his pants up all the way to his chest. A late teen with horrid fashion choices once again. Not many other thoughts here.

Rating: 2/10 Get a sweater on or something.

This is one is very interesting looking to me. His clothes looked a lot more leather based and very human-like. The tatters, tears and frays all make him look like he was a victim of an accident that never changed his clothes. It makes me wonder if this Jack had the same death as the final movie Jack or something else entirely. Either way, this one looks like hes a mid to late teen which really adds to my intrigue.

This was another image that greatly resembled the design so I included it here. It almost looks like his skin is blue here which is pretty neat to me at least. He’s also got leaf motifs here, which from the first Jack design Joyce made, we can see a pattern here.

Rating: 8 /10 I was originally weirded out by his head but now its not so bad.

This Jack is definitely dressed more like a nature boy rather than him having human influenced fashion and it’s an appealing touch. The tiny leaf sprouting from his staff is also kind of cute since the designers seemed to want to put leafs somewhere on his designs. His hairstyle is also very cute but it reminds me of Sasuke Uchiha in a sense. (Not a setback for me at least)

Rating: 7/10 13 year old Jack is going thru a phase.

I thought this Jack didn’t show up again in story boards but I was wrong!

They look a little different from each other but just similar enough to pair together, so bare with me. The first one obviously has looser pants, slightly longer sleeves and got his leaf motif going. This second Jack is a VERY green. It gives the impression that this Jack made his clothes out of plants and natural materials. Again I’m not wholly sure if greens fit his color scheme but they sure went for it for a while. I can’t say I’m a fan of it because it heavily reminds me of Peter Pan.

However a very similar looking Jack could be found in this storyboard. It doesn’t look as green as the other storyboards made it out to be and looks more like dead grass. Which is a pretty nice touch.

Rating: 5/10 I don’t hate it but it just doesn’t vibe yknow.

Speaking of a vibe...hoo this certainly has one.  This Jack isn’t old but certainly doesn’t look very young, maybe in the 20-30 range, thats just me. He has facial features that remind me of Pitch but resembles the Jack Frost of Santa Clause 3

That being said, I wondered if him looking similar to Pitch was in the storyline of them being brothers.(Which was a scrapped thing, who knew.) He’s a bit more menacing in this design but certainly seems like he relishes in his work.

Rating: 4/10 I’d make it a lower score but I gotta give it props

NOW THIS JACK IS KINDA INTERESTING. This one looks like he’s 16 and going through a grunge phase. He’s gonna play Nirvana loudly and not turn it down even if you tell him too. His staff itself has mini icicles hanging off of it and leafs look stuck to his shirt. Did you glue or staple those on Jack? His hair also looks much longer than his other designs and I kind of dig it( Shut up I’m bias.) I’m not wholly sure why else this design has stuck with me but it just has something about it that I just love. I wish there was a full body drawing of it.

(He also kinda has the same hair as the Jack Frost in Runescape but I wont go on about that hoo hoo)

Rating: 9/10 *Bad Boy by Cascada plays in the distance*

This one definitely feels like middleschooler trying to be in a band. His sticks just resemble drumsticks to me what can I say. I’m a big fan of his shoes and his color scheme screams a hibernating tree in winter. His hair also looks like it’s covered in frost rather than it being wholly white, which is very neat!! He looks like he wants to fight but has slight hesitance. Overall a very balanced Jack.

Rating: 8/10 He’s ready for band practice

Not many thoughts here, I just found these tiny Jack designs cute. His hoodie being a jacket instead just adds to the charm of this one.

No talk to him he angy.

Rating: 6/10 fun sized boi

Now this Jack resembles the one earlier that dressed entirely in leather brown colors, however he clearly is different than that one. I’m gonna say it, he looks like a zombie or undead in this design and its pretty fucking gnarly. I don’t know whats going on with his hair but I’m gonna assume it’s just the wind making it look like that. He just has the vibe that he was once human but was turned into something else entirely. It isnt in uncanny territory but borders that. This version of Jack meeting Pitch and the others would have been *very* interesting. Rating: 7/10 Eat a twinkie Jack you’ll feel better.

The final design! I can’t complain much about this one. The way his staff subtly has a G shape and a hexagon(his signature shape) is a wonderful touch. Additionally, the way the frost is gathered mostly where his hand is such an intricate detail. His signature hoodie is iconic at this point so I can’t bad mouth that either.(I can’t anyway because there's no complaints from me here.) Although, I never understood the leather straps that his pants had or their functions. I couldn’t find any colonial outfits that resembled Jack’s pants so its a total mystery to me at least.

And I can’t go on about this design until I mention the snowflake pattern in his eyes

Pure beauty. It’s at a hue of blue that almost looks impossible to have, combined with the electric blue color of the snowflake in his eyes. The amount of detail in this movie amazes me to this day. Rating: One Great Blizzard <3/10