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br-disaster · 4 years ago

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Nie Huaisang’s outfits appreciation post

After the terrible loss of our second best dressed cultivator and fashion icon Nie Mingjue, the cultivation world now lacks one of it’s pillars. But little did they know, our fashion king had a disciple, someone capable of honoring his legacy in many ways.

While we all grief, a new icon rises.

And I’m here to prove that Nie Huaisang deserves his late brother’s title not only because Mingjue’s no longer serving looks -may his fashionable soul rest in peace-, but because Huaisang has always been a stylish icon on his own.

I mean, this look right here is enough proof:

Huaisang has quite a lot of robes, and they are all so different, I decided to compile them chronologically:

1. the “assigned fashionable at birth”one

Look at this small bean with his cream-colored robes. Whoever chose this color for him did a great job, though it’s a bit weird that they looked at baby Mingjue and went “all you’ll wear is dark gray from now on” and then Huaisang was born and “cream it is!” And we don’t really see anybody else from the Nie sect wearing this color, I wonder if it has anything to do with Huaisang’s mom, or if it’s just for the dark\light color contrast, the two young masters can’t possibly wear the same colors, it would ruin the aesthetic.

It looks just like his main-possibly-stay-at-home-robes, like he just really loved this especific set and had a lot of other robes that looked just the same growing up.

Really small, really cute, makes you want to carry him around saying: look at my baby, he’s so stylish!

2. the “good old Gusu days” one

This is like a uniform, there’s nothing really special about it. But I’d like to point out two things:

One: the silver embroidery on the shoulders and the silver on his waist belt matches the pristine white of his robes really well.

Two: look how wide his shouders look, there you go, Huaisang, keeping the Nie shoulder game strong!

3. The “it’s called fashion, dage” one

Cream-colored again! It embodies teen!Huaisang’s aesthetic perfectly: it’s expensive, it’s pretty, it looks comfortable, but it’s minimalistic.

I mean, I have no idea if it is actually expensive, but it surely looks expensive.

It has no discernable patterns, but the fabric just looks so good, look at the texture. It looks warm and heavy (rip Ji Li). And it’s pleated, look at him! Everything about this one screams rich-carefree-spoiled-delicate-pretty-gongzi.

And well, we see him strolling around and getting in trouble instead of going straight home in this robes, then on Fatal Journey we see him painting landscapes instead of practicing and claiming he doesn’t want to become the Nie sect leader in this very set of robes. Maybe he has indeed been wearing similar robes since his childhood and wants to, you know, go back to when things were as simple as taking the long way home coming back from Gusu.

4. the “didn’t really engage on the war but needed to look good regardless” one

This one is so pretty, y’all. It’s silver and white and gray, the brothers are matching with their disciples’ robes, you won’t find a Sect with a superior fashion sense.

I can totally understand why he didn’t change to some post-Sunshot robes. Imagine looking this good at home, with none of your friends or disciples or brother to see you. Nope. This robes belong to a banquet, even one as unpleasing and akward as this one.

(They technically saw him, since he wore the same robes while they were planning the whole Sunshot thing, but no one was paying attention to it, right? And you can’t let such a nice look go to waste)

One of my favorites, for sure. It even matches his fan. It’s peak aesthetic.

5. the “I’m only here for the food and the drama” one

I didn’t really like this one at first. It looked kinda futuristic in my head, you know? It’s probably just the really structured fabric and the color, but It was a bit too much.

But now, looking at it as I take screenshots, I like them. It’s bold and fierce and remember the shoulder accessories being a code for battle? Well, I doubt Huaisang shot a single arrow that day, but he was supposed to be competing, so it makes a lot of sense that he’s dressed like this while his brother is wearing his pretty, dark yet lighter civillian robes to watch him.

He’s even wearing epaulettes (well, I trust that that’s the name) that matches the ones Mingjue wore with his Sunshot robes! Are they the same pair? Did he borrow it? Or do they secretly comission the same robes and accessories and wear them on alternate occasions?

These are the most battle-coded (and at the same time is not battle-coded at all, it’s too ostentatious) robes we see him wearing until now, and he is representing his sect at the hunt, he has to look like a proper heir that is capable of fighting, whether he likes it or not - and judging by how unenthusiastic he was during the opening shoot-the-wen-prisioners ceremony, I’d say he was not enjoying it at all-.

But it’s such a cool look, I really like it now.

6. the “he will throw hands with a non-corporeal entity while giving his big brother all the love and understanding he deserves” one

This may look like the same robes we usually wears at home, but they lack the pleated part and I don’t think his long sleeves would fit inside his wirst thingy, which I now know it’s called a vambrace or a bracer, they were quite wide sleeves.

Anyway, we again have his minimalistic aesthetic. No patterns, the only addition being the outer robe that realy looks like the one Mingjue wears with his stay-at-home robes, except with no sleeves; and the bracers\vambraces.

But look how different this looks in comparison with the previous one; he wasn’t fighting shit in those pompous silver robes, but he was so determined here, ready to face anything. This is the difference between a battle-coded look and a battle-codded Huaisang.

It’s practical, it’s pretty, looks comfortable and it’s perfect for scolding your older brother then comforting him because he gets emotional when people argue with him, ok?

Huaisang is the best younger brother, fight me

8.the “sad, sad” one

I’ll just say that the inner robes are really similar to the one Mingjue wears with his stay-at-home robes, though they are not the same. Perhaps my theory that they did comission a lot of similar itens is correct after all.

I don’t think this look is particularly good, and the context surely doesn’t help at all, but it’s interesting to see him in gray and black.

Overall, I hate it here.

9. the “somehow even worse” one

Look, if I had to compile all his outfits, I had to include this one. But there’s nothing to say about it except just looking at him wearing it makes me sad.

10. the “you didn’t see that coming, did you?” one

This one here is a trick, ok? At this point of the story we have no idea of what’s going on and if this misterious person is important or not; all we know is that he is quite fond of patterns and dark clothing. And that he has some money.

But damn, once we find out who this is, it instantly becomes something else entirely.

It’s so fucking DARK!! It’s Wei Wuxian’s kind of dark, it’s crazy to think our boy Huaisang, who’s been wearing light grays, white and cream all his life would come up with something like that. It doesn’t even look Nie, and that’s probably what he was going for, y’know, so no one could recognize him and all of that.

But jesus, this look is just wow. It’s perfect for a scheming mastermind, even though we don’t really know about it yet. The scales pattern is really nice and I love when he wears this sort of robe, with the fitted sleeves and the extra fabric at the shoulders. The flame (I think) pattern is nice too, though it’s a bit too much here, just a bit. But he seems to like this pattern a lot, so let him have it

And the craziest part is: we know these robes. And i’ve seen a couple of posts about them, it’s the same inner robe he wore at the Phoenix Mountain night hunt competition, almost 16 years ago.

Like what are these robes made of??

11. the “sneaky, sneaky” one

The famous Nie pattern, am I right?

I love all theories about this one and as I took the screenshots, I noticed how his inner robe is the same as robe number 8. Huaisang says no to excessive buying, please reuse your clothes!

I’m particularly fond of the theory that Nie Mingjue comissioned robes for both his didi and his boyfriend Xichen, but I can accept that Huaisang just inherited his brother’s robes, though the flame pattern (once again proving we won’t guess Huaisang is behind everything not even after seeing him wearing the same patterns as in episode one twice) at the bottom is definetly a Huaisang thing.

I really like how heavy it looks, and the black thin stripe.We know it’s the same pattern as Xichen’s robe but seeing it combined with the back and light gray of the Nies really gives it a distinct identity.

12. the “and the oscar goes to...” one

Look at him, all innocent-looking placing all the chess pieces on their right places. Gotta love director Nie. And it makes so much sense that he would wear something as light as this robes for this moment. He wore light colors for most of his youth, when he was carefree and naive and harmless; he cultivated a reputation of being dependent, fearful and stupid even. In this moment, more than ever, he needs people to believe this is exactly who he is, and what’s the best way of doing it?

Yes, reminding them of your old self. All he does is pretend and lie while he cries and faints. A director and an actor too!

Throw yourself at your brother’s sworn brothers trying to look harmless while annoying the hell out of them? check.

Faint conveniently as your brother’s murderer lies at your face about killing said brother because even you have limits and you can’t watch that fuckery and not want to murder him right there? check.

Pretend to be stupid while conducting the protagonist and pretty much everybody else to ask the right questions and therefore unmask the terrible things your nemesis did? also check.

And the robes are really pretty, look at the texture at the bottom right!! Silver and white go really well together. Wide, wide sleeves and this heavy-looking fabric. Superb, really, one of my favorites again.

And look at him carrying his saber (which he probably left at Pier Lotus later)!

13. the “...and cut!” one

Look at these robes and tell me they don’t absolutely look like something Nie Mingjue would wear. You know he would.

And it’s such a contrast to his previous robes. The white and silver one for looking innocent and lost and funny; the dark gray to look like a serious sect leader who will endorse the accusations against his enemy (Ok, he did act confused and lost and innocent in these robes, but he also showed real shock and grief and sadness, he did show his true feelings too)

He’s honoring his brother here, he did it, he brought justice to him, he defeated his brother’s murderer. He spent years wanting and waiting for this moment, it’s only fair he would do so while looking so much like his beloved older brother.

I love everything about this look. The color palette is almost the same as the one robe his brother wore to the post-Sunshot campaign banquet. The dark,shining gray, the black, the thin bronze\golden stripe at the collar. Even that extra overlaid fabric at the bottom front of his robes is the same as Mingjue used to wear. Beautiful, really.

He would be really proud of you, I hope you know that, Huaisang.

14. the “I may or may not steal your chief cultivator status, watch out Wangji” one

I know he would never steal Wangji’s post, cql!NHS doesn’t even want it; but like, we deserved Chief cultivator!Huaisang, right? So it was worth the joke, I think.

The inner light gray robe yet AGAIN, I suspect this is his favorite inner robe.

We have some bold patterns here, so elegant. I really like when he wears this kind of outer robe, accentuating his shoulders, suits him really well, And this is such a Nie color palette, just like the previous one. In fact, Huaisang wears way more dark colors than we give him credit for. Especially after becoming sect leader.

Sleeve game on point too, really long. And it matches his fan as well.

Lovely look, I wish we could have seen more.

In conclusion:

King of versatility, resusing 16 year-old robes AND looking damn good while doing it! He looks good scheming, he looks good lying, he looks good fainting, he even looks good tricking people into stabbing other people!

Name a more iconic king, I’ll wait.

#this ended up more like meta than I intended #but Huaisang deserves all the praise #also it's super long #but he has many outfits ok #nie huaisang #nie brothers #cql #mdzs #i spent an unhealthy amount of time doing this #why? huaisang deserved a post too #same thing I said about the other post stands please tell me if I said something disrespectful

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9worldstales · 3 years ago

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MCU Loki: Why I fear they failed to deliver what they promised

At this point I’m kind of confused by who the “Loki” series is trying to reach or which is the goal/message they’re trying to pass along.

They had tried to intrigue assorted audience but, if you ask me, the series has often failed to deliver what it seemed to promise.

Of course I might be wrong. Or maybe I'm not seeing another type of audience the series aimed and managed to reach.

When the series started I wanted to keep a positive mentality and hope whatever seemed not to work would be fixed along the way or have a reason for existing that I just wasn't seeing because I hadn't seen the full story yet.

However, after 5 episodes I'm starting to lose hope the series will make a genuine effort to reach the fans at whom it seemed to aim.

PART 1 – “LOKI” IS NOT FOR THE OLD FANS WHO PRODUCED META SHOWING HOW HIS TRAUMA DAMAGED HIM

"I think it's the struggle with identity, who you are, who you want to be. I'm really drawn to characters who are fighting for control. Certainly you see that with Loki over the first 10 years of movies, he's out of control at pivotal parts of his life, he was adopted and everything and that manifest itself through anger and spite towards his family." [Loki's Struggle With His Identity Confirmed To Be A Focus Of His Disney+ Series]

What was it about Loki as a character that attracted you? He’s just fun, for one. He has a very playful sense of humor about him. I like how he never quite lets you know what he’s thinking. Beyond that, what I connect to about him is the same thing the legions of fans do, which is his humanity and his vulnerability. This is a guy who—yes, on the one hand, he was the prince of Asgard, seems like a nice life—but his father, in fact, killed his actual birth father, adopted him, lied to him about his heritage and parentage his entire life, he was forced to live in the shadow of his oafish older brother who was born to be king. He’s experienced a lot of trauma, and I think that what he’s looking for is just a little bit of control over his life. Which he feels like maybe he’s never quite had. That’s something I think we can all relate with. [From Loki to Doctor Strange and Star Wars, Michael Waldron Is the New Franchise Whisperer]

Let’s be honest, the audience for the “Loki” series is not really meant to be Marvel movies old time fans who enjoyed “Thor” and “The Avengers”, made countless Meta analyzing Loki’s behaviour and who wanted answers about what happened to Loki prior to “The Avengers” or wanted to see Loki’s family terrible dynamics be discussed, or at least to see explored the wrong dynamics of Loki’s interracial adoption (he’s taken away from his planet, the truth is hidden from him, his look is changed to disguise him as an Asgardian, nothing is done against the racial hate for the Jotuns at which Loki is exposed, even witnessing it from his brother) or talk how much in control of himself Loki was during “The Avengers” (okay, the web said the sceptre manipulated Loki, but what about acknowledging that in his own series? It doesn’t have to come from Loki who had no idea he was manipulated but someone could mention ‘think yourself lucky here the stones don’t work, they’ve the nasty tendency to manipulate people’).

The series has avoided digging into all that as much as they could.

Even when Loki talks with Sylvie, the most we get is a small big about how Frigga was awesome in his eyes and taught him magic, but this isn’t meant to explain any of the issues Loki had with his family, it just make Sylvie feel bad because she can’t remember her adoptive mother, as for the D.B. Cooper born out of a bet with Thor, yeah, fun but completely random. What’s meant to be the message about family dynamics here, that it was the bets between Thor and Loki that caused Loki to decide to conquer Earth? Or what about the Sif loop? Is it there to push on Loki the blame of his poor relation with Sif?

No, clearly not.

In regard to Loki the Frigga flashback is there to remark he had a loving and supportive family while the other two are there to have Loki admit he is ‘a mischievous scamp’, ‘a horrible person’ and ‘a narcissist’.

To put it in Classic Loki’s words: ‘Damn it! Animals, animals! We lie and we cheat, we cut the throat of every person who trusts us, and for what? Power. Glorious power. Glorious purpose! We cannot change. We're broken, every version of us. Forever. And whenever one of us dares try to fix themselves, they're sent here to die.’

In short it’s all Loki’s fault if he does bad, nothing happened to him that could have messed him up, he’s just a horrible person… however…

PART 2 – “LOKI” IS NOT FOR THE OLD AND NEW FANS WHO BELIEVED LOKI TO BE A DANGEROUS, EVIL, PSYCHOPATH VILLAIN EITHER

"Loki is an a**, and that makes my life as a writer, easy." ... "Due to the trauma in Loki’s life, I would even [accept a story] in which he is committed to being all bad." [Michael Waldron on Loki: He’s an a**. That makes things easy]

Considering the series is trying to pin SOLELY on Loki his wrongdoing, completely skipping the toxic way in which he was raised you might think they want to paint him as an evil, psychopath who was just born bad.

But no, that’s not the intention, we see it from the start.

Loki is given a quick briefing on how his beloved family loved him despite him hurting them, a briefing that contains false information which would work if we accept the briefing as manipulative but, at this point I’m not so sure that was the author’s intent. The Doylist purpose of the briefing is clearly to show the audience how Loki cares for his family, how he still has feelings, feels pain at the idea Frigga and Odin died and wish to make up with his brother.

It’s not just they loved him and did nothing wrong toward him, it’s also he who loved them and didn’t mean to harm them. That’s why we’re fed that damn discourse about Loki sending the Dark Elves to kill Frigga, because the series wants to remark that no, Loki didn’t want to kill his family, he loved them.

Tom Hiddleston used to say what Loki is came from a place of pain but the series didn’t explore that place of pain… it just gave him more pain and not just in episode 1. Episode 2 has him discovering Asgard is destroyed, episode 3 has him remembering Frigga, episode 4 shows him believing Sylvie die and watching Mobius being pruned. He doesn’t cry in Ep 5, episode 5 wants us to truly feel bad for Sylvie, not for him, but there’s a lot of bitterness from Classic Loki who commits a heroic suicide so you might say we get a sad Loki anyway.

And this also works as a shock to make him change his mind about his ‘glorious purposes’. Sorta, with Thor reminding us he’s not so bad and Loki explaining his behaviour as “I don't enjoy hurting people. I... I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to. Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear.”

Plot-wise, this is completely useless.

The show will prove Sylvie is not Loki and has completely different motivations and Mobius, being an expert in Variants, should know.

What’s more why would Mobius care if Loki enjoys hurting people or not?

His goal is to capture Sylvie with Loki’s help. The most he should care about is how to keep Loki loyal to him, not if Loki has fun hurting people or not which, in fact, is a knowledge that won’t be used in his investigation.

No, this is here for the viewers, to tell them Loki isn’t a sadistic, evil villain, he’s someone weak who tries to scare others so as not to look weak. As Mobius will put in ‘a scared little boy, shivering in the cold’ who has an ‘insecure need for validation’.

What’s more?

The show will try his hardest to establish he’s not even competent.

Let’s talk of him as a fighter.

In the movies Loki is a competent fighter and side material establish he’s pretty strong, definitely much more than a human.

In “The Avengers” we see Captain America needs Iron Man’s help to beat him and, anyway, Loki’s plan was to be captured. Loki manages to walk away on his feet when Coulson hits him with that superspecial weapon and it’ll take him to be Hulk smashed after a fight with Thor and a meeting with an explosive arrow of Hawkeye before he can’t fight any longer.

This doesn’t happen in the “Loki” series.

Loki gets beaten up by various people in 4 episodes, preferably women (B-15, the people possessed by Sylvie, the guards on the train, Sif). You might say in episode 5 he’s not but actually Classic Loki is the one who gets swallowed by Alioth and our Loki instead survives because he has Sylvie supporting him as, on his own he couldn’t even distract Alioth.

Let’s talk of him as a wizard.

He can use magic, impressive magic but… it serves him mostly nothing. In the TVA his magic doesn’t work. Outside of it is mostly useless. It doesn’t help win fights. The Tempad he caused to disappear gets broken. To beat Alioth they needs enchantment, not his own magic. What’s more, when they’ve to go on the train his disguise wouldn’t have worked without Sylvie’s enchantment and, if this wasn’t enough, he got drunk, removed the disguise and wasn’t even able to make tickets appear.

Classic Loki too, with his impressive illusions is ultimately a distraction. Alioth tears easily through his illusions which aren’t even solid.

Let’s talk of him as a planner.

All Loki will accomplish is to escape from the Time theatre for a brief period in episode 1 and figure out Sylvie hides in apocalypses in episode 2. The rest of his plans fails or are not plan or are mocked over and not even put into practice.

Let’s talk about him as a manipulator with a silver tongue.

He can’t even persuade Mobius when he’s telling him the truth, Mobius dismisses it as a lie due to ‘cockroach's survival mechanism’.

And psychologically?

He’s just someone who crave attention because he’s a narcissist scared of being alone. Not a psychopath.

Loki is not meant to be a dangerous, evil, psychopath villain in this series, he’s a not serious man, a clown, a scared little boy in need of attention, a narcissist who needs to be loved.

Welcome to cartoon villain Loki, this Loki isn’t the Variant of “The Avengers” Loki, he’s the Variant of “Avengers Assemble”Loki… only he’s even less competent than him.

PART 3 – “LOKI” IS NOT EVEN HERE FOR GENERAL MARVEL MOVIE FANS

"That's a lot of Infinity Stones. That's true but they are useless there in the TVA, so I don't know. Is that gun loaded or not? We'll see..." [Loki Writer Comments On Whether TVA’s Infinity Stones Will Return In MCU]

“We had to create an insane institutional knowledge of how time travel would work within the TVA so the audience never has to think about it again. It was a lot of drawings of squiggly timelines.” Marvel already made its case for how time travel works in Avengers: Endgame, but that, Waldron points out, “is the way the Avengers understand it.” With a TV show it’s a little different. “I was always very acutely aware of the fact that there’s a week between each of our episodes and these fans are going to do exactly what I would do, which is pick this apart. We wanted to create a time-travel logic that was so airtight it could sustain over six hours. There’s some time-travel sci-fi concepts here that I’m eager for my Rick and Morty colleagues to see.” [How the Man Behind LokiIs Shaping Marvel’s Phase 4 and Beyond]

BC: The TVA is there to clean everybody up? MW: Yeah, Avengers: Endgame… that's how The Avengers understand time travel. 'Loki,' episode one, is how the TVA explains time travel to Loki and we're certainly building on what's come before us. [Loki: Michael Waldron On Gender Fluidity, Mephisto, Time Travel & More]

It’s true “Loki” is focusing on a new corner of the MCU but it interconnects very poorly with the movies before it.

Although Loki escaped with the Tesseract... it just dismisses completely the Infinity Stones.

Despite talking a lot about timelines and creating branching realities it waved away the whole plot of "Avengers: Endgame" as apparently supposed to happen even though it should have created branching realities.

We see Renslayer wave away how the Avengers went in the past causing the Tesseract to end up in Loki’s hands... and all the other things the Avengers did that affected the past goes unmentioned.

Bruce meeting the Ancient, Thor meeting his mother and taking away Thor’s hammer, Rocket being seen as he steals the reality stone from Jane, Tony stealing a suitcase and damaging the place in which the Tesseract was kept then meeting Howard Stark, 4 flacons of Pyn particles missing, an alarm given to the military bases, how Steve managed to bring back the sceptre if that timeline was pruned, how a timeline handled being without Thanos and Co as they went in the future or how they clearly didn’t bring the orb back the second they took it as Nebula remained unconscious there and nobody came and when she woke up Thanos could get her. It didn’t even explain why Steve remaining with Peggy didn’t change anything.

It's not that the audience has all explained... it's that they were told to dismiss it as 'meant to happen' and that was it.

What's more, the TVA apparently didn't list a finger to stop 2014 Thanos from going in the future and causing Tony Stark's death.

As if this wasn't enough, “Loki” just skips any possible connection with the movies, even hands Loki false information about them (he lead the Dark Elves to his mother when Loki had no idea the Kurse was a Dark Elf and they would have found her anyway as they were searching for the Aether which Malekith could sense, he’s born solely to cause pain and suffering and death, overlooks how he saved Jane twice or helped the Asgardian escape Hela) and never discusses them again.

Even with Classic Loki, who’s a Variant of “Avengers: Infinity War” Loki, they don’t talk about what happened after Loki’s supposed dead, apparently hinting it was better if he died, nor explain how Loki knew Thor survived.

PART 4 – “LOKI” IS NOT REALLY OFFERING A GOOD REPRESENTATION FOR FEMALES EVEN THOUGH IT CLEARLY AIMS AT FEMALE AUDIENCE

Let’s make a quick experiment.

Everyone, let’s name all the characters we remember which appeared in more than 1 episode of “Loki” for more than one minute.

We’ve, of course, Loki, Mobius, B-15, Renslayer, Sylvie, C-20 and Miss Minute.

5 females versus 2 males.

What’s more, females are not sexualized, they remains completely dressed, they’re clearly not there to attract male gazes, they’re represented as strong, dangerous, in control, something archived often by showing them beating males either physically or intellectually or in rank.

It seems promising. At first.

Is there someone who’s sexualized?

The “Loki” series takes care to offer us Tom Hiddleston naked.

So since there’s an abundance of females in the cast and Tom Hiddleston is shown naked is it aiming at a female audience?

Very, very likely but… but how’s then handled all this?

When Loki is seen undressed he’s not in a situation of power, like Thor who’s twice shows half naked in his movies but because he’s changing/washing and perfectly comfortable in showing his body and once in a situation which could be a male forbidden fantasy, to have many women massage your naked body, no, he’s shown as he’s powerless while being stripped by a machine. Clearly not a male power fantasy, more like a male nightmare.

And, in a totally not surprising way, pictures of this scene were spread by many female fans because it was aimed at them… though a part of them, was also honestly appalled at seeing this scene in contest, finding the forced stripping humiliating and degrading.

Sure, a naked Tom Hiddleston makes a nice eye-candy but this wasn’t how Loki’s many fans wanted to see Loki naked.

But let’s talk of female representation here, since the show seems to be interested in female audience… only who even though this was the representation women wanted doesn’t understand much of women representation in the first place.

Why?

For start because women here are all the same type of woman.

Strong fighters who’re in control and confident, with no real characterization beyond this to speak of despite the large amount of screen time.

Renslayer is an ex-hunter who can fight one on one against Sylvie and who clearly has the position of power she has because she was good as a hunter and shows her abilities in fighting after that Sylvie had beaten 2 guards at the same time. B-15 is introduced by beating Loki and is the commander of a squad. C-20 is another commander and, albeit possessed, can dispose of a part of her squad members.

Do I need to spend words on how Sylvie is depicted as this awesome fighter who has learnt to fight by herself, can keep at bay more than 1 Minuteman, can use a sword, has learnt enchantment on her own and is feared by all the TVA? Do I?

And it’s awesome to have women who are strong fighters in positions of command/power/control… but why women has to be represented as just that?

Even when they add a female as an one episode cameo, it's Sif, beating the hell out of Loki. And what about the Lady in Lamentis 1 who was too old to be strong but managed to blast away both Loki and Sylvie seeing through their deceptions?

Even the harmless Miss Minute can avoid being hit by Loki and gets she has to pretend to do researches to stall Sylvie and save Renslayer.

Women kick asses here… but that’s all they’re good for.

And so we get to Sylvie, who is the superior Loki Variant… because she’s female.

Kid Loki: You're different. Why? Loki: No, I'm not, you see? I'm the same, really. I'm the same as all of you. Have any of you met a woman Variant of us? Classic Loki: Sounds terrifying. Loki: Oh, she is. But that's kind of what's great about her. She's different. She's not trying to take over the TVA, she's trying to take it down. And she needs me. Now, you said Alioth is what keeps us here. You said it's a living thing. You said it's a shark. Well, if it lives, it dies. So I'm gonna kill the shark. I'm gonna kill Alioth, and I could use all the help I can get.

That’s what Loki preaches to his fellow Lokis who think a woman Loki would be terrific.

I mean, they’ve an alligator Loki, a POC Loki, but the one who has to be different is the female Loki. Because being female is a character trait.

Mobius: Okay. I feel like I'm always looking up to you. I like it. It's appropriate. [Ep 1]

Basically females in the “Loki” series are all representation of the Action girl trope and aren’t even different representation of said trope. I mean, “The Avengers” have 5 actions boy who’re clearly as different as they could be. Girls can be represented as different too, if they really aim at young audience they can take good old “Sailor Moon” as an example. 5 action girls who are strong and determinate AND DIFFERENT, more than just someone who kicks the adversary away.

And it’s not like they don’t know how to characterize people in a different way.

Mobius is an analyst who shows sympathetic traits toward the Variants and a certain level or intelligence. U-92 and D-90 are hunters who are shown to held Variants in little regard (U-92 wanted to attack the boy they found in the church, D-90 mistreated the scared people in the shelter). Casey is an harmless and naïve guy who had never seen a fish. The guy who made Loki sign the papers about what he said seemed emotionless but he clearly loved cats as not only he had one but on his cup there was also the image of a cat. Martin is clearly a bossy daddy’s son, who think too high of himself to the point he can’t respect rules. The boy in the church, despite thinking Sylvie was a demon, accepted and ate food she gave him and remained in the place despite the crime. He’s clearly more brave than he looked like but he’s also naïve as he easily trusted ‘the demon’ and Mobius.

What’s C-20 character trait when she gets described by Sylvie?

Sylvie: Yeah. She was just a regular person on Earth. Loki: A regular person? Sylvie: Loved margaritas.

She’s a regular person who loves margaritas. Liking a drink is not a character trait!

There’s a more diverse female representation in “Thor” than in “Loki”.

In “Thor” we’ve Frigga, queen of Asgard, loving mother and wife who’s powerless to erase Thor’s banishment. We’ve Sif, a dangerous and loyal warrior. We’ve Jane, the amazing scientist with a lot of enthusiasm. We’ve Darcy, who’s funny and who seems focused mostly on herself but who, when the city is attacked, worried to save all the animals at the pet store.

But maybe the one who gets the worst treatment is the supposed heroine, Sylvie, because the poor girl is turned into a Mary Sue.

In case someone isn’t familiar with the term:

“The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye colour, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favourite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series.” [tvtropes.org]

So let’s see how she fits this checklist:

1) She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye colour: Sylvie painted her hair blonde even though the Lokis are supposed to be black haired

2) has a similarly cool and exotic name: She is the only Loki Variant who has changed her name from Loki to Sylvie.

3) She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting: Awesome at fighting she can enchant people, an ability the Lokis don’t posses, that she magically learnt on her own and that is necessary in the story. Also she figured out how a Tempad worked BEFOREseeing it in action.

4) She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing: No flaws, all her plans involve fighting and brute force is no substitute for diplomacy and guile, which could be a flaw… if it wasn’t for the fact that the series will prove Sylvie can plan just fine without using fighting and brute strength and also be successful at it.

5) She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story: She was taken by the TVA when she was younger than Kid Loki but managed to escape them and had to live alone and on the run till then.

6) The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting: Loki, who has never loved anyone, falls for her, Mobius saves her and apologizes to her, B-15, who used to look down at Variants, basically asks her what should they do and is shown admiring her, the Lokis don’t criticize her plan, Classic Loki dies to save her, everyone views her as the superior Loki Variant.

7) if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal: Renslayer, the hunter who has arrested her, is currently playing the part of the antagonist who’s fascist and believes in a murderous, lying cult.

8) She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favourite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc.: She’s the Variant and love interest of the titular character.

9) Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series: Loki, the title character, has conveniently been turned into someone who’s a weak fighter and incapable of planning which Sylvie has to save by enchanting guards or giving him her sword or pruning herself or teaching him how to enchant and coming up with all the plans.

Now all she needs in order to be a perfect Mary Sue is to know how to sing well as Mary Sue usually do this as well, though I’m sure she can do it because Loki could so she surely can.

Sylvie is amazing, Loki himself said so:

Loki: No. We may lose. Sometimes painfully. But we don't die. We survive. I mean, you did. You were just a child when the TVA took you, but you nearly took down the organization that claims to govern the order of time. You did it on your own. You ran rings around them. You're amazing!

There’s nothing inherently wrong in having a new female character who’s competent, for whom the hero falls and who changes him… if all this is built around a solid plot.

Think at “Iron Man”.

Tony Stark is, to quote Tony Stark himself a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? But the movie shows us why he’s that.

It spends time setting up his pedigree, how he inherited the money and intelligence from his father, how he was supported as he grew and studied becoming always a greater genius. Tony shows himself to be charming before seducing his first woman onscreen so that when he does it makes sense. His philanthropic activities are, at first, just mentioned but seems rooted in how his father was a hero who helped fighting Nazi and then they became his mission. He felt guilty he was a merchant of death and tried to make up for it.

Sylvie too could have a solid plot behind herself.

Instead than magically knowing what a TemPad does and how it works and managing to escape with it, she could have escaped with, let’s say, a hunter that discovered the truth and decided to rebel to the TVA or just had pity of her. Maybe another Mobius Variant who used to work at the TVA prior to Mobius and that, instead than an analyst was a hunter. She might have learnt fighting from him and then he too died and she was left alone.

Enchantment might have been an ability she might have learnt coming in contact with a mind stone. It could have been an occasion also to talk how mind stones can influence people negatively. Or it could have been taught to her by Frigga who, with a female daughter, decided to teach her a different type of magic than Loki.

Her past could have been explored more instead than being tragic for the sake of tragic. We might have seen her fall in love and either be betrayed or have to say goodbye to her loved one because that reality got pruned. We might have seen her being interested in males and females alike as she’s supposed to be interested in both.

She could have had discussions with Loki that weren’t just about Frigga or about how the TVA kidnapped her from Asgard, she escaped and from that point on she was always on the run, or about how love didn’t feel real, but more about how they were, how they felt, what hurt them and what made them happy, what they liked and what they disliked, their ideals and their fears, things that can built up a relation.

Loki basically fall for her because she’s on a mission for revenge instead than power and seems confident. That’s his reasoning.

She falls for Loki… because apparently he’s the person who spend time with her who praised her. That’s not a solid love story, that’s desperation.

SYlvie could have flaws, she could have learnt diplomacy or persuasion from Loki or could have something she lacks and Loki has so that they would complete each other.

And since the purpose was to have Sylvie and Loki fall for each other… they could have let Loki have characteristics that can motivate the exceptional heroine to fall in love for him PRIOR to him falling in love for her. He might be shown good at something, instead than just a clown.

Even if we say the real purpose of this series was to turn Sylvie into the protagonist, the heroine, a good Loki character was still needed to explain why this awesome girl would fall for him.

So okay, there will surely still be women who can see themselves in Sylvie and imagine they got Loki… and it’s not bad really… but I think we deserved more.

Long story short, yes, “Loki” has many females in its cast and this is meant to draw the female audience… but the representation is poor as almost all of the females have no character traits and Sylvie is just a Mary Sue with no realistic characterization.

A good female representation is diverse and solid. Women don't need to be born irrealistically perfect out of nothing to be good, they can inherith and grow and learn to be as such like any human being.

Last but not least…

PART 5 – DOES “LOKI” REALLY OFFERS REPRESENTATION TO THE LGBT COMMUNITY?

BC: There is a lot of talk on social media about Loki being gender fluid. Wouldn't that actually be a natural fit for the character? MW: Yeah, I guess as, with all questions pertaining to that stuff, I think those answers, truly, are best experienced in the watching of the show, as opposed to me trying to answer them. Because it's just watching it and the way that's addressed and everything will just be more fulfilling. BC: Why do you think it's important that Loki is gender fluid? MW: I think that Loki is a character that a lot of fans see representation in. People that haven't felt represented before, and they see themselves in Loki and everything. So we want to do justice to the character, to who the character is in the comics and in Norse mythology as well. And you also … you know you want folks to feel represented, and everything. That's why it's important. It always has been. It comes from everybody on the creative team. [Loki: Michael Waldron On Gender Fluidity, Mephisto, Time Travel & More]

The series hugely spread the info that this Loki would be fluid and Bisexual. The news were welcomed with delight and it’s awesome how the series didn’t hesitate to put it on paper.

Loki being fluid was written for everyone to see, and Loki having male and female interests was spelled out for everyone to hear.

IT’S A GREAT THING!

However…

It’s all we got.

It had no relevance into the plot whatsoever, it’s just a random info we’re given.

Him being fluid was on a paper along with his other data like eye colour and birth planet.

Him being interested in males and females seems to be put there just to imply he tried a large amount of people before deciding love didn’t feel real.

Assuming the other Lokis too were fluid, they actually found terrific the idea of a woman Loki in a not positive way. They weren’t interested or asking for clarifications about what Loki meant.

Loki’s bisexuality doesn’t even get a side story, them sending Fandral to beat Loki instead than Sif because Loki cheated on him or something. I’m not upset Loki ended up with a female, this is one of the possibilities of a Bisexual person. I’m upset that this was used merely to attract the audience but then wasn’t explored. They could have said Asgard was open minded with it, or disapproved it so Loki had to keep it hidden, or it could have been Sylvie who discussed some experience in that regard.

We were told over and over it was a show about identity. We expected it to be explored instead we were just told ‘ah, by the way, Loki is bisexual, let’s move on.’ And that was all.

Having representation from an important Marvel character is always important, especially considering the shortage of representation. But honestly I expected more.

PART 7 – TO SUM IT UP

Many of the people who worked in “Loki” are fantastic actors. They worked hard for this series, I can see they tried their best.

The premises for the “Loki” series are interesting.

We get a Loki who hadn’t experienced most of what happened in the movies yet, we make him confront with someone who knows his life, the one he lived and the one he was meant to live and we also make him confront with Variations of himself.

Loki has the Tesseract and the TVA has plenty of infinity stones, we could explore them.

The TVA itself have a fascist organization that dictates people’s lives and murders whoever tries to do differently, that goes so far as to brainwash the people working in it, which mistreats and belittle the Variants and establish a manipulative cult around the Time-Keeper with elements of police brutality which could be very actual.

Time travelling was the plot of "Avengers: Endgame" they could have tied the movie to the series, esplore the why some time travels were allowed and some weren't or their effects.

There were references to plenty of awesome comics they could take inspiration from.

But unless it redeems itself with the last episode… well, so far it’s failing to deliver what it promised due to a really poor plot which doesn’t give the characters a chance to be themselves or to be characterized as they’ve no real story nor real differences to speak of.

They’re given more time than a movie as they’re a series… but that’s no good excuse for wasting said time.

I’m still hoping the last episode will be spectacular, that it’ll manage to erase the messes of the other 5… but, as of now I’m disappointed.

I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and hope they’ll surprise me.

#mcu loki #loki #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #9 worlds study

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otomes-world · 4 years ago

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Unexpected interaction

Okay... I decided make something unusual for myself, of course. You know why? I simply cannot think: should it bea yandere story or not, maybe... little(?) spicy (?), and firstmore... which one character I should use. Haha... Picture and idea belong to @twisted-n-thirsty

This day turned out to be especially noisy and eventful. However, it couldn`t be otherwise, right? After all, this isn`t only a renowned competition in which two famous institution of magic take part. None other than Neige Le Blanche and Vil Schoenheit compete. This fact alone couldn`t fail to attract unnecessary attention.

You watched with a sigh as the fans filled the space more and more. Someone was looking for their places, someone was crowding near souvenir shops, someone was watching you.

You didn’t want to exaggerate, but almost from the very morning you felt someone’s glances on you. However, despite your concern, you didn`t dare to tell others about it. Their thoughts were occupied by another things, and you didn`t want to bother them. Ace, Deuce and the others put so much effort into the preparation. Even now, for the last time before the performance, they practiced the movements so that everything would go perfectly.

Sighing, you decided leave it up. Even if not of your own free will, you were the manager of the NRC team. So, audience considered you to be one of the staff members, whom you can turn to in case of anything. You would do the same. Probably.

You have already turned to go backstage and decided to spend the last hours before the start of the company of your team. You want once again support them. Suddenly you were blocked by three dazzling youths. Ignoring your politely forced smile, the silver-haired man in the middle began to speak.

“I apologize for disturbing you, you were as beautiful as the rose in the wilderness. No, you are like snow agate that has been polished by blizzards for a long time. The stone, with its patterns resembling the aurora, is as beautiful and unattainable as you are"

When he finished his monologue, he politely took your hand and kissed it. Trying to be as calm as possible, you carefully took the writst from his palm and discreetly tried to wipe it on clothes. Apparently, it wasn`t hidden from the man with stunning purple eyes.

Silver haired man, who was standing in front of you, it didn`t bother at all, or maybe he just didn`t notice. He just continued to look at you with a soft smile, as if expecting something. What exactly remained a mystery to you. He didn`t hope that you would sparkle with hearts in your eyes from him and fly to embrace him, right? However, a sincere, somewhat reminiscent of a puppy’s look, spoke of the opposite.

Clearing your throat, you decided to turn off the conversation, but `the prince charming from fairy tales` again didn`t let you insert a word.

“How impolite of me, I should have introduced myself earlier. My name is Justin Quicksilver Elias Langston Ashford von Grauhaarige y Maldonia the 3rd. Can I know the name of my destiny?“

You just restraining yourself from the whistle from the length of his name, as you almost choked on hearing the last phrase. Fortunately, the companions of the personality-with-the-tongue-break-by-name came to your aid. The jet-black haired youth put a hand on Justin’s shoulder.

"Silv… aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?” The blond man next to him shook his head wearily. “If you scare off your not-yet-beloved, what will you do?”

“Haha,” even laughs of the lilac-eyed man’s was graceful. “Justin is just beeing himself, no more, no less.” Then he turned his attention to you. “I apologize for my friend, he sometimes gets carried away. I hope, he didn’t seem unpleasant to you. My name is Raven Adonis “

"Oh! No-no, it’s okay, you’re very kind,” you immediately rushed to refute what he said, judging by the aura hovering around and the names they were princes, at least.

“Well, I will conclude our greeting so that we can hear the name of the most beautiful creature,” the blond with green eyes attracted your attention. “Let me introduce myself, Winston Aro Prince”

Realizing that you can’t get out of it, you once again, with a wry smile, tried to pronounce it as politely as possible, “I have the honor to meet you, Name”

“Even your name is as beautiful as you-…” Justin tried to sing you some praises again, but the hand on his shoulder clenched in warning. The young man immediately turned to his friend, and spoke with the most serious face. “Raven, don’t stop me. Is it a sin to sing the beauty of a wonderful flower? Is it a sin to shout about your love to the whole world?“

Realizing that it smells of trouble, you immediately began to think about an excuse to escape. Fortunately, Grim’s voice was heard in the distance, who is clearly was looking for you. Hastily apologizing, you retired, secretly rejoicing in an easy escape.

However, despite all the extravagance, one person or several..still caught your attention.

Who was it? Silver man who doesn't lost at words? Mysterious and intriguing black haired man with lilic eyes? Or maybe blond with green eyes? Leave your answers and I`ll write continuation (￣▽￣) Part 2

#rsa! aro #rsa! quicksilver #rsa! raven #tw #twst #twisted wonderland #rsa!mob #twst Grimm #rsamobs #twst fic #twst oneshot #female reader #rsa x reader #royal sword academy #rsa oc

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freifraufischer · 3 years ago

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An interesting sports/politics observation:

I’ve been following the dumpster fire at USAG for quite some time now and became deeply interested in following the sport of gymnastics in more than a 4 year fan way around the time that the Larry Nassar scandal broke.

The post mortem on the US women’s gymnastics team results in Tokyo was honestly starting around Olympic trials in June. The US women have never traveled much internationally for decades so they compete less than other international gymnasts. The argument has been that the travel takes away from valuable training time. What was little became none because of COVID and the bankruptcy filing of USAG to deal with the lawsuits arising from the abuse scandal.

It was known that the US women were also being domestically over scored by judges at home. Domestic overscoring is not unique to the US but most countries that have it also complete internationally so their athletes have a real sense of how international judges will evaluate their routines. There have been alarm bells for at least three years that the US women were not going to get credit for elements and face deductions in international competition that they weren’t facing at home. Just this year one of them was literally used in a pictorial example of a international judging document for something that should be deducted--the fact that current athletes are used this way is a whole other horrible kettle of fish. I should add that the discovery that routines that were being scored highly in the US would fail at the olympics isn’t even new. Famously the reigning world champion missed out on the all around final at the 2012 games because she wasn’t given credit for connections and series that were overlooked at home.

Now the job of bringing domestic meet scoring into line is on the national team staff and the job of advising and strategizing is that of the “High Performance Director” for the women’s program. This is the job that was held (under the title National Team Coordinator) by Martha Karolyi with an iron fist before 2016. She was replaced (after fits and starts) by a man named Tom Forrester. Forrester’s defining qualities for the job have been that he is nice. Literally the bar was that low. He has demonstrated a rather alarming lack of knowledge about what international judges deduct for (after Junior World Championships he expressed surprise that they deducted for dance elements--something that happened again in Tokyo to US gymnasts), did not understand the Olympic selection criteria for individuals, and appeared to have a very very faulty understanding of the rights of athletes with an ongoing abuse complaint (more on that later).

He was relatively removed from the culture of high level elite coaching for the last few decades and the athletes considered him nice. The last time he had been deeply involved in senior US gymnastics politics was the mid 1990s when several of his gymnasts were passed over for the 1996 Olympic Team because injured athletes were petitioned on to the team over those that competed at trials. Mind you this was a time when the Olympic team had 7 members and the people petitioned on were the 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist Shannon Miller and 1995 National Champion Dominique Moceanu. It would have been literally insane not to have them on the Olympic team. But it has become apparent that Tom Forrester felt a great injustice was done to his athletes and the the worst part of US gymnastics team management was that Martha Karolyi picked favorites.

This year he denied the petition of a former world champion to Olympic trials (she likely wouldn’t have made the team but her exclusion is... questionable) and after the fact justified it by saying she had failed to meet a criteria for the petition that he never told her existed. At trials the team was chosen (by a committee that he had essentially full control over) took the top all around finishers in order of how they did at trials (as he would have liked them to have done in 1996). This was in willful defiance that the format of the olympics now demands not all arounders but strategic use of team building for the best score possible. The US did not bring the highest potential scoring team to the olympics because of one man’s wounded pride from 25 years ago.

And before you might be tempted to tell yourself he did this because he wanted to support the athletes let me tell you about the fact that he allowed a coach that was under investigation for abuse to come to a camp where one of the athletes that had filed the complaint against her was also in attendance. His wife, who has a history of unhinged social media rants, claimed he didn’t have the authority to send home an athletes chosen coach. In reality Louie Hernandez had the legal right not to have to be there with her. That coach would later be banned for longer than anyone else has ever been banned in USAG history.

So in June anyone following the details of this knew that Tom’s strategy was entirely “we have Simone and so we will win.” Because that kind of pressure and stress couldn’t possibly have any terrible consequences on an athlete. Spoiler: It did.

People within the sport were warning about this before Simone Biles lost herself in the air during that vault in Tokyo. The fact that we were all lucky not to watch one of the greatest athletes of a generation break her neck can not be overstated. It was so scary that one of the most famously bitter angry and terrible human beings of Gymnastics that has been saying awful things about Biles for years kept telling Russian media that she made the right decision to pull out. That was pigs flying territory.

Forrester left the athletes to face the press alone after the final.

So with that backdrop I want to give this observation: Dominque Moceanu, an olympic gold medalist who has an abuse story so horrific with villains so cartonishly evil that if it was written as fiction the author would be told it was over the top, wrote a book about the culture of abuse in in the sport and USAG in 2008. She was called insane, living on another planet, and apparently sent hundreds of emails by those within the sport that she was ungrateful for what her abusers had done for her (emails that she has apparently kept and I’m telling you I’d love to read more then the few I’ve seen). Moceanu was a figure out of greek legend, Cassandra doomed to tell the truth and be called mad (and attention seeking). In light of the fall of the Karolyis and the Nassar scandal Moceanu has become a more respected figure as someone that has been speaking out about abuse for a long time. She has also been someone that other victims went to over the decades to talk to before they could come forward. A weight that no one should have to bear.

I had been joking that the only way people would start to trust USAG was honestly trying to reform was if they put someone like Moceanu in charge (Aly Raisman’s name is floated but even she points out that she’s not qualified). Moceanu is. But the old guard of the sport have spent two decades telling people that Moceanu is crazy. I didn’t think she’d take the job and I didn’t think USAG would ever hire her.

But here is the interesting thing .... her social media presence radically changed character in the last three months. Starting around the time of US Nationals and continuing though trials and the olympics between posts supporting team USA athletes and raising a voice to support Simone Biles and the need for a cultural change in the sport were digs at Tom Forrester and about the need for transparency in that job.

And this: “Would someone be kind enough to notify me if the U.S. women’s high performance coordinator position opens up? Asking for a friend.” (x) At the same time (literally the same day as one of those tweets) she launched a youtube channel that is essentially a political fluff piece about her as a change agent in gymnastics coaching.

She’s auditioning for that job.

There are a bunch of other interesting elements of her online behavior and some other telling notes about things she’s said ... but it’s interesting to notice something like that unfold.

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wish-that-i-was-buckys-girl · 4 years ago

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Teacher’s Pet

Hello again everyone! This is the first fan fiction of the pop song prompt series. This song is based off of Melanie Martinez’s song “Teacher’s Pet.” This story follows the story similar to that discussed in the song. I liked the idea of doing this one, cause it seemed like something Lance would do. Also, Lance is softer here, less of an asshole to the reader outright, but you’ll see why he actually is one in the end.

Summary: You were Lance’s favorite student, but after one night you became much more. What could go wrong?

Warnings: Smut, Dirty Talk, Cheating, Jealousy, losing virginity, Dom/Sub undertones.

A/N: As usual, if I missed any warnings just let me know and I will happily add them! Also, as I have no one to proofread, if there are mistakes, just message me and let me know. I hope you enjoy!

(Not my gif)

You were Lance’s star pupil. You had been working with him for six years, 3 years as a student, 3 years as a student/assistant. You were 17 when you joined, hoping to get a spot on the Olympic team with Lance’s training. You did, of course, but that wasn’t the only special treatment you received from Lance’s gym.

First it started with side glances when you were about 19. You would catch him staring at you when he was working with other girls, letting his hand linger a little bit longer than normal when he was trying to fix your posture. At first you just figured it was all coincidence. Lance wouldn’t be interested in you. There were a million other girls he works with that he would probably sleep with faster than he would sleep with you. It’s not like you would object to sleeping with Lance, you knew of his reputation, but you just knew you weren’t his “type.”

Side glances turned into him watching all of your routines while he was working with other girls, lacking any kind of subtlety in the process. Lingering hands turned into full on grabbing of flesh and accidental brushes against your breasts and ass. You didn’t understand what was going on, so you confided in your friends.

“He totally has a thing for you” Tara said. “There’s no way he doesn’t. Do you have a gut feeling? You know when women get that gut feeling we are right every time. You can practically feel the sexual tension.”

“I understand what you’re saying Tara, but why me? You see the girls I compete with.”

“Men are men, Y/N. When they like a woman, they’ll go after her even if they don’t fit their “type.” Just take it as a compliment. I don’t think anything will come of it anyways. Just enjoy the extra attention.”

And Tara was right. Nothing did come of it. Well, nothing did at first. It was months later that something started to bloom before you even had a chance to watch it sprout.

You were in the locker room after practice one day, getting dressed after your shower. You thought you were alone since you had a private practice that day. Again, you thought you were until you heard footsteps coming from the gym. Lance appeared behind you.

“Good work today Y/L/N. You’re getting better on the silk ropes. You didn’t have much core strength when you got here, I can see you improving a lot” he said leaning against a locker with a smirk.

“Thanks, Lance. I can see you’re improving too” you said jokingly.

You and Lance had also been friends for a while now. You never really hung out outside of the gym, but when you were together the chemistry was undeniable. That didn’t stop you from denying it.

Lance laughed in return. “You have so much fire in you. I don’t understand why you don’t apply it to the rounds. You could rank higher if you just let a little bit of that out.”

“Lance you know I have the energy of a an 87 year old woman. I’m lazy.” You said throwing a peace sign up to make the conversation more comedic.

“You can’t be lazy if you wanna be a gold medalist like me.”

“I’m more a silver girl myself.”

Lance bit his lip. “Really Y/N. I want to see you reach your fullest potential.”

“I’d say you’re helping me enough Lance. Private lessons, regular lessons, then weight training.”

“Well, maybe I can help you loosen up a bit” he said leaning into you.

“And how would you do that?” You said in a nervous whisper.

“Come to my office and I’ll show you.”

He took your hand and his and led you back out to the gym area where his office was. It was unlocked since he hadn’t left for the night. He walked in and turned on a lamp, not wanting to turn on the big light in case any custodians had come for their shift early, drawing attention to you and him.

“Lance, what the hell are we doing in here? Do you need to show me a new routine or something?” You tried playing dumb. Your mind couldn’t comprehend what was actually going on.

“Come on Y/N, you know what happening here.”

“I really don’t, Lance.”

“Do I have to show you?”

“Yes!”

He strutted over to you and shoved you up against the door to his office. He held his hand on the back of your head so you wouldn’t hurt yourself by his shove.

He stood over you, lips lingering close.

“I’ve wanted you for so long, I’ve been waiting and waiting for the right moment. Waiting for you to stare right back at me. Waiting for you to try and touch me. You’re stubborn, I’ll give you that. I think it’s time I show you how to unwind.”

You couldn’t do anything but breathe in response. You finally got the courage to speak.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Lay down on my desk.”

You walked over to the desk and sat down on it, afraid to lay all the way down as he instructed. He caressed your hair and put a strand of it behind your ear. He took his hand and placed it on the small of your back. He put the other on your waist, and laid you down gently. He slowly took your clean leggings off, looking up at you with a lust filled stare. Your mind was racing, not knowing what to think or do. You never thought you’d get to this point.

You laid your head back and stared at the ceiling, nervous about the things are about to ensue.

“Baby... have you been touched yet?”

You swallowed and shook your head. You thought Lance would make fun of your inexperience.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re with an advanced man. I’ll be sure to take care of you real good. Can I touch you?”

You nodded.

“This is all about you, I need you to be comfortable and communicate with me for everything, got that?”

“Yes, Lance.”

“You can call me sir, baby.”

“Yes, sir.”

He slowly brought his hand to your wetness, finding your clit immediately, making you moan softly. It was involuntary, that’s for sure.

“Oh you’re such a sweet little thing aren’t you? You like when I touch you like this?” He asks rubbing your clit slowly.

“Yes I do sir” you say in a breathy moan.

“Good girl, you gonna be a good girl for me the whole time?”

You nodded.

“Use your words baby.”

“I’ll be a good girl, sir. I promise.”

“Look at you, looking all pretty for me.” He inserted two fingers inside of you, smiling as your face contorted in absolute pleasure. He continued playing with your clit with his other hand.

“Oh god that feel so good, please keep going...” your back arching slightly as you moan.

He smiles, leaning down to put his mouth around your clit as he continues to finger you.

He lightly sucks on your nub, picking up the pace of his fingers. You could feel your eyes roll in the back of your head as he sucked.

You grabbed his gelled hair, surprisingly he didn’t yell at you, he continued to finger and suck as you reached your first climax. You could feel it coming, slowly building. You sat up and grabbed his hair as hard as you could, moaning his name as loud as you could. You both hoped the custodians weren’t there yet.

“Yes Lance! Oh god oh fuck! I’m coming!”

He lapped up all your juices, happy to lick up every last drop.

He came up after you came down from your high, going in for a deep kiss.

You sucked on each other’s lips, nibbling every so often. You continued until you felt like your lips had gone numb. As you pulled away from one another, you smiled.

“You were such a good girl for me. Do you think you can continue to do that?”

You smile and nod “I’ll be a good girl.”

“That’s good baby, I know you’ll be my good girl.”

He takes his cock out of his tight sweatpants. You nervously look at it. His size is definitely intimidating, especially for someone like you who has no experience.

He strokes it, making it grow even larger.

“You ready sweetheart?”

“Mhm, yes I am sir.”

He slowly climbs on top of you, his tip brushing your lower lips slightly as you both get situated.

He slid in gently, pushing enough to make you gasp in both pain and pleasure.

“That’s it baby, you think you can take it all?”

You nod with gritted teeth and closed eyes. You wanted to do it for him.

He pushed in all the way, bottoming out in you pussy. A tear rolled down your cheek from the pain. Lance wiped it away with his thumb, slowly starting to go in and out of you.

You grunted every time he filled you up entirely. Lance wanted to go faster, but he wanted to wait for your permission first. Fuck if it wasn’t hard for him to contain himself though.

You continued to moan. He just felt so good inside of you. You never knew this is what sex could feel like. You felt warm and whole. It felt right.

“Go faster, Lance.”

“You sure angel?”

“Yes! Yes I’m sure!”

“Don’t gotta tell me again.” He rapidly picked up his pace, slamming into you. With every slam you would let out a guttural moan you couldn’t contain.

“Fuck fuck fuck! Oh god keep going!”

“You feel so good and tight around my cock baby.”

“God Lance fuck me harder!”

He goes full speed, absolutely wrecking your body. You never knew your body could handle anything like this.

“Yeah baby you like that? You like when I fill you up?”

“Yes, yes, oh god Lance please keep fucking me!”

Your body began to get the same feeling it did just moments ago when Lance’s head was between your legs.

“Lance I’m gonna come again! Oh god oh fuck!”

Lance hadn’t noticed that you stopped calling him sir. You hadn’t either, both absolutely engulfed in making love to each other. Lance might call it fucking, you call it love making, because it felt like love making. Even though it wasn’t an extravagant night, and you were fucking on his desk in his office, this was an out of world experience.

“Come around my cock baby, I wanna feel you come all over me.”

He didn’t have to say it twice. Before you knew it, you were coming all over him.

“Oh god!”

“I got you baby, don’t worry, I got you” Lance said slowing his pace down. In no time, Lance was pulling out to come all over your stomach.

You both sat in silence, hearing nothing but heavy breathing.

You sat up a little to see Lance smiling.

“What is it?”

“Oh nothin’. Just wanted this for a long time. It was even better than I expected, especially with you being a virgin.”

“You like that I’m a virgin? Well, was.”

“Of course, angel, I broke your innocence. Now I’ll always know that I was your first. God that’s gonna make me so hard at practice when I think about it.”

You sat up all the way after Lance cleaned your stomach off with a towel. You put your clothes on and grabbed your bag to head home.

“Thanks, uh, thanks for this coach.”

“Same time tomorrow, angel?”

“... what?”

“Oh c’mon. You didn’t think this would be a one-time deal did you?”

“I... I really didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know you’d want me more than once.”

Lance rolled his eyes playfully “I know I can be an asshole baby, but I won’t treat you like that. You’re my girl. My good girl.”

______________________________________

From that day forward, you had been given the title “assistant” as well as student. You had worked closely with Lance, both during and after practice. You had fucked like rabbits for months, only meeting at your place and fucking in his office really. You had no idea why he wouldn’t take you to his place.

Was it dirty? Was he embarrassed where he lived?

You brushed it off, figuring it was nothing.

That was until one day at the gym your whole perspective had changed.

You walked in in your outfit like any other day, ready to get the girls started on their routine. Lance hadn’t arrived at the gym yet, but that was normal on Tuesdays.

Just as you had gotten all of the girls started on their routines you saw Lance walk in. Your face immediately lit up. That was until you saw a woman and a baby come in behind him.

“Lance! I need the keys to the van! I have to get Gabby to the daycare!”

“Maggie just calm down! They’re in my office! Fucking relax!”

Maybe it was his sister. Maybe it was his cousin? A roommate who was struggling to get by on her own? Your mind was full of thoughts, not realizing the actual truth of the situation.

Maggie followed him into his office and grabbed the keys from his hand. After, she gave him a deep kiss on the mouth.

“God, I hate you, but you’re just so damn cute I can’t stand to stay angry. Love you honey. See you after work!”

You felt like crying. No, you felt like throwing up. You felt like you could do both at the same damn time. How could he do this to you? How could he have a wife and child and still have the nerve to sleep with you and call you his “girl.” You froze in the middle of the gym, immediately turning around to avert Lance’s gaze. You knew he was going to look and see if you noticed what had happened just moments ago.

Some hot tears streamed down your face, but you chose to quickly wipe them away and turn around to face him.

He strutted up to you, almost nervous, like you were going to cause a scene in front of all of the girls. Instead, you turned and smiled at him.

“Hey, how come you were late?” Playing dumb.

Lance seemed dumbfounded. How could you not have noticed what happened? Nonetheless, he played dumb as well. “Uhhh.... I uhm. My car wouldn’t start.”

“Well, that’s just silly, you know if your car won’t start you can call me, right?”

“I uhm, I know. I just didn’t, I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You could never bother me.”

Before Lance approached you, you decided to roll with the punches. Of course, it hurt that he had a wife and kid. Of course, it hurt that you weren’t his wife, or girlfriend at that, but this is the closest thing you’ve ever experienced that emulated love. You weren’t going to give that up, not even for decent morals.

As the years went on you and Lance continued your nightly escapes and sneaking around behind his wife’s back. You felt good, though. He chose to spend time with you over his family. At the end of the days, however, your jealousy never subsided. You always knew you wouldn’t be the one he would sleep next to at night. You would never truly be “his girl.”

#Lance Tucker #lance tucker x reader #lance tucker x you #sebastian stan #sebastian stan characters

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itstheendofthegoddamnworld · 4 years ago

Text

The She-Wolf and the Young Dragon (Lyanna Stark x Daeron Targaryen OC)

I wrote this during my fanfiction module in my final year at university.

Brief: An AU of GRRM’s novels ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, taking place before the events of the first book. A ‘what if’ scenario where one of the children of King Aerys II and Rhaella Targaryen, Daeron survives infancy into his adulthood, where he is the one to supposedly ‘kidnap’ Lyanna Stark instead of eldest brother, Rhaegar.

BRANDON

His father warned him many times before, that the Starks never did well down south. Yet no matter how stubborn he was, he would never listen.

It lingered in the warmer climate how out of place Brandon Stark was in comparison to what he experienced in the North. No matter how big the lands were, it would remain outdated in contrast to the rest of Westeros.

The Capital held a different atmosphere to Winterfell when he landed ashore from the mouth of the Blackwater Bay. The smell of the streets and manure was strong even when mixed with the strong current of the salt in the air.

Even from here, he could see the Red Keep in all its glory, as beautiful and imposing as he had predicted it to be. The dragons who had ruled for centuries made everything very impressive, even when no winged beast flew any longer in the air. The Targaryens had made King’s Landing their home and he knew for certain of the risk of walking into the dragon’s den.

“Where is she?” His voice was thunderous when it bounced from pillar to pillar, booming across the hall with steps following, the five men he journeyed with were persistent in tailing behind. The Great Hall was quiet when the Young Wolf of Winterfell stormed through the double doors, noting of the fact that neither the King nor his Hand was around to witness, excluding the few Kingsguard and those of Prince Rhaegar’s own sworn swords that lingered; a deadly chill that passed. Good, Brandon thought, the Gods know how this would go if he were here.

“Brandon Stark, your travels to King’s Landing were swift?” At the base of the steps to the Iron Throne, the Silver Prince was dressed as if ready for long periods of mourning: his deep indigo eyes were just as drab and dark as his attire, his long silver-gold hair tied in a careful knot.

“Don’t you play me for a fool, where is she?” He barked. “I know you have her!” Hovering below the steps himself, glaring up at the Prince. Brandon Stark was all wolf and no man it seemed, yet he still felt inadequate beneath the Dragon.

“Why would you accuse me of kidnapping your sister?”

Brandon’s face grew ever-so-hot, “You gave her the roses at the tourney! My brother had been the one to hold me back before I had the chance to smack you off your horse. Or had you forgotten just as much when you were getting cosy with her that same evening?”

Ser Arthur Dayne was just an inch away from cutting the Stark heir in half if he dared lay a finger on his Prince - Brandon knew that himself. It would be all Seven Hells unleashed if the King had heard of such a crime. The Prince of Dragonstone didn’t seem alarmed nor angered by the accusations, albeit puzzled, before telling his close friend to lower his weapon.

“I think you have been left in disarray by this, Brandon.”

“How? You were taking part in the tourney, my sister had eyes for you even with a future betrothed waiting for her.” He glowered, holding his sword carefully. Prince Rhaegar’s jaw clenched noticeably before he gave a polite, strained smile.

“There has been a misinterpretation of information spread between who you believe was me and the one you seek. You see, I was not the only Targaryen Prince there.” Rhaegar explained calmly, observing how Brandon’s face scrunched up. “If you are looking for a man with my features, perhaps it is my brother you may be wanting to pursue.”

Brandon seemed reluctant to admit that, grudgingly removing his hand from his sword. Of course, it would make sense now, and now the only fool standing here is I.

“Daeron,” Brandon groaned, “he was the one to give the roses to my sister?”

“It would seem so. Those two did seem to grow close in a short amount of time. After all, who would’ve imagined the skilled mystery knight to win the tourney and my brother’s heart?” Said Rhaegar. “She had tended to his wounds after his defeat, I saw it myself... What took place in Harrenhal was what I had to explain to my wife.”

Poor Elia Martell was sweet and innocent: someone who should’ve been told everything in the end. At the end of the day, Rhaegar’s so-called infidelity was untrue and Elia could rest easy knowing her husband remained nonetheless faithful. “What would we do with them then? For all we know, they could be all the way to Essos by now.”

The Silver Prince moved before he stood at a level ground with Brandon. “If I know one thing about my brother, he wouldn’t be keen to travel east. Don’t take my brother for a fool. My father’s spies have eyes not just in Westeros but across the Narrow Sea, thanks to his growing paranoia. He’s still here, I know that for a fact - lurking in a shadow that keeps him and your sister concealed from wandering eyes.”

But for how long will that veil stay up? Brandon thought. You cannot hide anything when you lurk within these walls. “Help me find my brother before the wind catches our words and my father or Robert Baratheon do. Stay here in the Keep and I will grant you and your men housing, your stay here unscathed, and we will go find them together.”

Brandon wavered, but the consequences seemed far too grave; with too much at stake. “And of your father? What if he hears of this squabble between me and his heir?”

Rhaegar grimaced. “Then I pray to both the Seven and your Old Gods that his wrath is merciful.” No mercy would come from those haunted by madness. Brandon knew of no such thing. The Mad King was more an old dog than a sane ruler, one that needed to be put down soon enough.

LYANNA

“Oh, my love.”

The laugh had tumbled from her throat by the time she had landed softly on the pillows beneath her, her long dark hair fanning around her with the following melodic chuckle shortly joining hers. Their bodies were tangled and laid naked as the day they had been born, beneath the cherry wood ceiling with the low candlelight surrounding them.

In the past, Lyanna would’ve held her admiration for the eldest born son of the Mad King at bay around her brothers, but she had never imagined the second-born to have captured her heart. In the dim light, he could’ve been the spitting image of Rhaegar, but the shadows cut false definitions of sharp edges to his face, giving him a more mature look like his brother momentarily. But his eyes were not like the Silver Prince: the second-born was more spirited and his eyes were the lovely colour of lavender, just like the ones Lyanna saw when travelling down on her travels to Harrenhal. She had gotten her brother Eddard to pick some for her and she smelt them whilst riding horseback, as sweet as the summertime and what the singers proclaimed. Had she been able to keep them before Benjen stole them from her tauntingly, she would’ve braided them into her hair, a freshness to keep her content for the rest of the journey down south.

The Young Dragon had eyes that brought her memories of Winterfell with her brothers: where Old Nan would talk about the ice giants beyond the wall and of the wilderness that followed. The cold bite was ever so bitter but the She-Wolf survived throughout. There was more to the North in his eyes that she wasn’t used to, a rigidness that was not found in him. Daeron had more Northerner in him than dragon, it seemed.

She remembered the night when Rhaegar sang with his silver harp at the feast and how the tears came quickly to her eyes, the same as most of the other ladies in the hall. His song was full of solemnity, yet Lyanna had to ignore the snickering from Benjen and when she and Daeron stole timid glances, sheepish but frequent. Rhaegar was a man a decade her senior and tied in matrimony. She would never compete with a married woman for a man everyone admired. What he’s not like of Rhaegar, I prefer. He will be everything his brother is not and so much more.

“You still have much energy, even at this time of the night.” She smoothed at the fair hairs on his chest, kissing at his shoulder fondly. She could imagine living here for the rest of her life with just Daeron and away from the eyes of those, the duties and responsibilities, living and making their own family. “You have tired me out, Daeron.”

“Few people get to ride a dragon; it can be rather draining.” Her husband winked, chuckling softly when her face warmed in reaction. Their laughter died down when his attention was drawn to her kisses resuming on his skin, quickly kissing her back with such feverish intent.

“The last of the dragons died a century before you were born, Your Grace. Lost in tragedy if we dare choose to forget, hmm?” Her eyes were blue as the winter roses she loved in the North, alive and full of mirth.

“You needn’t address me like that, my lady,” Daeron smiled, stroking away the hair from her face, “after all, we are equals.” In the eyes of the north and the Old Gods, they wouldn’t be, but Lyanna did not need to follow those customs. In the eyes of the Gods and men, we are one and together. A Targaryen, whose flame burns bright like his, just like those of greatness who came before him.

“In the eyes of the Faith, perhaps, but not to my father.” Lyanna sighed. “I believe he would find me more wild than dutiful.”

His hair was slicked from sweat when he pulled it from his face, tenderly kissing at her with such ardour. “The North I was told of was all cold and bitterness, but there was a flame within you that was only seen in those who carried the blood of the dragon. I never thought I would see it so brightly in you.” Daeron said. “When we return to the cities, we may wed in your custom, and revisit our fathers when the time comes.”

“And of your father, Aerys? Has there been no word of His Grace or his spies?”

“My father… grows more delirious the longer the days grow, his position falters whilst my brother is alive, his mistrust festers. Rhaegar is every right a King, but getting rid of my father will be troublesome without the right aid.” Daeron admitted bitterly. “That will be his problem, for now. He’ll be ready to find us when he has dealt accordingly with my father.”

“Rhaegar will not be able to conceal everything if he is not in on our secret already, not from my brothers alone. We will not be able to hide any longer.” Brandon will have to halt his wedding for a month if he hasn’t already. He would hunt to the ends of Essos to find me. She dreaded.

Daeron hesitated when he rose from their small bed, his bareness not a problem for either of them. “I fear my father may do something that will not only break him and our families, but tear the entire realm apart.”

Lyanna too rose from the bed and came to embrace him from behind. “If you have me, you have the North by your side, I swear it. We knelt to the Conqueror three centuries ago, we have stood with you since then.” Lyanna promised proudly. “Brandon shall marry one of Hoster Tully’s daughters, and therefore, he will have the Riverlands too. The Arryns from Ned, thanks to Jon. They would aid you if it is needed for their allegiance.”

Daeron’s lavender eyes widened in surprise when he turned to her. “And of your betrothed? Surely Robert Baratheon will not have our side when he accuses me of kidnapping his lady.”

“I am not his lady. I never was. Robert is all boar than man, and his appetite for other ladies would continue no matter his age.” Lyanna objected. “He will hear of my wrath before he dares lay a hand on you.”

The Young Dragon held her tightly in his arms, “I would hope no day would have to arrive, for any of us.” He drawled. “No stress should come to a mother and her potential newborn.”

Lyanna could imagine how her stomach would look when swelled with a child—their child—and the very image of her one day holding her babe in her arms. It made the She-Wolf eager for it to be a so-called reality. A son, she hoped for, a son who would share the blood of the North and Old Valyria. Two powerful houses, coming together as one.

“We still have not thought of names, if the time comes for it.” Lyanna changed the subject quickly, settling her husband to sit once more, his hand to her back and stroking the back of her long hair. “Were there any you had in mind?”

“My grand-uncle Aemon is at the wall, but he is everything a King should be had he not turned it away for my grandfather,” Daeron said with a sad smile, “I want to honour his name, for the man who was too generous and gave the crown to his brother.”

Lyanna smiled, “He sounds like a good man.” Daeron agreed, and for a moment, the wistfulness hung over his head as much as it did over his older brother, giving him a similar look to the Silver Prince. No matter how far he goes, he will always have some part of Rhaegar’s despondency.

“No matter what happens, we will endure this together, against everyone else. We deal with your father and my own when we return. For now, I want to enjoy your company as much as possible.” The She-Wolf softly spoke, enveloping her husband gently. Even in the coolness of their room, he was warm to the touch. But she would get used to it.

The Young Dragon had encircled her to his chest and pulled her back to the bed, caressing and kissing her with such glee. “My little wife, as brave as those of winter who came before her and strong as ice itself. The dragon and the wolf have a fitting name.”

#asoiaf au #asoiaf #daeron targaryen x lyanna stark #Lyanna Stark #preasoiaf #what if asoiaf #what if #game of thrones #A Song of Ice and Fire #rhaella targaryen #aerys ii targaryen #Rhaegar Targaryen #brandon stark #targaryen OC #daeron targaryen (son of aerys ii targaryen)

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 4 years ago

Note

"Sebek, happy birthday!" I hand him a figurine of Malleus, crafted out of paper mache. "I hope you like it!"

"That way, we can SIMP over Malleus-sama, together!" I say excitedly, taking his hands in mines. Then, out of nowhere, I whip out a notebook with Malleus' face on the cover.

"so, comrade, whatcha got?"

(hbd, sebek!)

“It seems that my collection of young master memorabilia is rapidly increasing by the minute!” Sebek bellowed cheerily as he accepted his present.

“This figurine shall find new residence at my desk along with the miniature young master and the little Lilia-sama! Perhaps it will make for an effective paperweight in addition to a tasteful decoration!”

“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow as you took one of his hands. “I can see that you, too, appear to collect merchendise of the young master. Hmph! A human that understands their place is commendable.”

“However, there is no greater fan than I, and I scoff at those who would DARE challenge my admiration for the young master!!” Sebek smirked mockingly. “HUMAN!! Do you seek to engage me in a battle to determine which of us is more whole heartedly devoted, mind, body, and soul, to the one, the only, Malleus Draconia-sama?!”

“Sebek, calm down,” Silver advised with a sigh as he stepped between you and the birthday boy. “I think your guest here had no intention of fighting you... They’re just looking for someone to speak with on the young master.”

“Stay out of this, Silver...! This is between me and them!!”

“If it is between you and them, why not discuss the young master’s positive traits rather than compete with one another?” Silver suggested, remaining calm in the face of Sebek’s emptional outburst.

“Oh? You propose an interesting idea. The young master had many positive traits to be praised!!”

“That’s right.” Silver nodded. “At the end of the day, you both appreciate the young master. It is better to share that appreciation instead of stirring up conflict with it. Surely... the young master would prefer that path of peace as well.”

“Very well, then!” Sebek turned his attention to you, the belligerence in his demeanor wiped clean. “Human!! What are your thoughts on the young master’s magical prowess? It is impressive, is it not?! Let us discuss!!”

#Sebek birthday takeover

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baoshan-sanren · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 7

of the wwx emperor au which I’m thinking about calling Emperor Wei WuXian and his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Birthday

The Sect Leader meeting begins as any other. Jin GuangShan heaps empty flattery onto the YunMeng Jiang Sect, then everyone else heaps empty flattery onto the LanLing Jin Sect, then Jin GuangShan returns the favor for some, while ignoring the others. Wei Ying lets his eyes focus on some invisible point in the distance, and tries to ignore the sickly-sweet smell of honeysuckle that seems to follow Jin GuangShan like a cloud.

He thinks about the Wen Sect. He thinks about Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing. He thinks about the misfortune that is his shijie’s betrothal to Jin GuangShan’s pompous brat of a son, and how incredibly satisfying it would be, to break off that arrangement. He thinks about the stark contrast of flowing white robes on a moonlit rooftop, and those same robes pooled on the floor of his receiving hall.

Nie MingJue interrupts the verbose flow of insincerity with an impatient bark that makes half of the Sect Leaders recoil. None dare accuse him of discourtesy however, not with the Emperor in attendance. Once they have calmed their ruffled feathers, the conversation turns to more productive subjects. Unfortunately, these productive subjects are equally as boring, and Wei Ying thinks it cannot be healthy, suppressing so many urges to yawn in such a short period of time.

Usually, he listens with half an ear, just in case he is required to offer some sound of assent or dissent. Uncle Jiang is skilled at steering these discussions to a reasonable conclusion, and Wei Ying only has to agree without giving them much thought. He is prepared to do the same today, but the mention of Gusu catches his attention, and he finds himself listening without intending to do so.

The past year had been difficult for many; a drought in YingChuan, YangQuan, HeJian, followed by a heavy rainfall that had flooded parts of LanLing, MoLing, TingShan, and Gusu. Crops were ruined, livelihoods lost. Wei Ying is aware. The royal coffers had borne the brunt of these misfortunes. In fact, he is fairly certain that the royal coffers had paid for the necessary relief multiple times, and that the majority of this relief had gone to LanLing, LangYa, and the Sects closely aligned with the LanLing Jin. He clearly remembers the amounts requested by HeJian Fan and QingHe Nie. He knows exactly how much silver it took to reinforce MeiShan’s river dams. And he knows that GuangLing had received enough to rebuild the entire region from the ground up.

Yet, somehow, HeJian Fan and QingHe Nie, historically more in need of assistance, seem to have recovered fully. But the LanLing Jin faction claims to still be in distress. It is not so obvious, since none of the Sect Leaders will speak plainly, but these strings of complaints about failing crops, impassable roads, and roving groups of bandits can only lead to one place. They are angling for further assistance, and Wei Ying, never the one to count the gold in the treasury, or to care how it is spent, finds himself indignant at their shamelessness.

Perhaps it is only the fact that his mind keeps circling back to Lan Zhan’s white robes. Or perhaps it is the continuous silence at the end of the hall where Lan QiRen kneels, still as a statue. Whatever the reason, Wei Ying decides that enough is enough.

“Sect Leader Lan,” he says, interrupting Qin CangYe mid-sentence, “we have not heard any tales of your misfortunes. How does Gusu fare in the wake of these hardships?”

Lan QiRen does not look surprised to be addressed. He bows low, his voice both chillingly cool and irreproachably respectful.

“The Gusu Lan are honored by the Emperor’s attention. There is no need to trouble Your Majesty with our insignificant hardships.”

“TingShan has requested assistance three times in the last six months,” Wei Ying says, “It is unlikely that the calamities which have befallen them had bypassed Gusu altogether. You are neighbors after all. I would like to know the extent of the damage your region has suffered, and your methods of remedy.”

The others seem under the impression that the Emperor is preparing to reprimand the Gusu Lan, and most of them settle in comfortably, expecting a pleasant diversion. After all, in the past few years, the ritual humiliation of the Lan Sect had become a type of entertainment in its own right.

Lan QiRen rises, and makes his way to the center of the hall. Wei Ying has never bothered to study the Lan Sect Leader closely, but he does so now.

It is fascinating to see Lan Zhan’s hostile pride and courtesy being perfectly mirrored by a man whose appearance is so drastically different. Lan Zhan wears them as an armor, but it is an oddly endearing and somehow fragile-appearing armor, one Wei Ying thinks may easily crack under pressure. Lan QiRen, however, wears his pride as he would a sword. An ounce less of respect, and it would give the impression of hostility.

“Answering Your Majesty, three towns and six villages had requested assistance with the drought, one town and two villages with the excessive rainfall. The initial aid sent by Your Majesty had been distributed during the drought, to replace the lost crops for a period of one year, with hopes that the following harvest would make any further assistance unnecessary. LianYi was most severely affected, their poor irrigation techniques unable to sustain a prolonged shortage. The issue was solved by construction of of check dams, irrigation canals, and cisterns. Five other villages in close proximity to LianYi will also benefit from this construction; between them, the cost of the project was fully funded. The excessive rainfall had adversely affected the commerce in CaiYi Town, destroyed two embankments in ChuanYi, and decimated the dam at WuHou. WuHou was flooded, and it cannot sustain rebuilding efforts at this time. The villagers have been moved to HanYi, where approximately half are still receiving financial assistance from the Gusu Lan. The embankments at ChuanYi have been repaired; none of the villagers were displaced in the process. The commerce in CaiYi Town is still recovering. Its proximity to Gusu has allowed for temporary relocation of those whose livelihoods were lost. The Gusu Lan are still considering the best way to proceed on the provision of future assistance.”

Wei Ying leans back in his seat.

He does not like Sect Leader Lan. He never has. There is something about Lan QiRen’s bearing that suggests even Heavens should think twice before demanding his respect. And yet, it is difficult not to feel admiration for his fortitude, for his ability to stand, utterly unbowed, in the face of so much hostility.

“I am told that before my mother’s death, one could not become a Sect Leader without attending lectures at Cloud Recesses,” Wei Ying says thoughtfully, “Sect Leader Lan, do you still teach?”

The man does not blink at the mention of the Empress, although more than one Sect Leader squirms in discomfort.

“I do, Your Majesty.”

“There is clearly much the Empire could learn from your example,” Wei Ying says, “The Gusu Lan are to be commended for their competence.”

Lan QiRen accepts the compliment with the same cool serenity with which he accepts insults. Wei Ying wonders what it would take to provoke the man into any display of emotion.

“The financial relief you are currently sending to HanYi must cease. From this day on, the royal treasury with step in and provide the necessary assistance. I will also ask that you submit the cost of CaiYi Town restoration to the Royal Treasurer, so that those who have been relocated to Gusu may return to their homes.”

Lan QiRen still appears to be utterly unmoved, although he does kneel, and thank the Emperor for his generosity.

Wei Ying does not want to be thanked. He would rather have some indication as to what the man is actually thinking underneath that cool exterior. But it seems that his efforts will not bear fruit today, so he focuses on needling the others.

“I am sure that any Sect Leader who is encountering difficulties in allocating their existing funds, will be grateful for Lan Sect Leader’s advice and guidance. Today, I will assume that any neglect of their duty is a result of ignorance, and not willful mismanagement. Therefore, I expect that they will educate themselves on how to govern more responsibly the future.”

The silence that greets his words seems a perfect excuse to bring the meeting to an end. Wei Ying feels that he has exhausted his store of patience for the day; he sweeps out of the hall while most of the Sect Leaders are still seated, forcing them to pay their respects to his retreating back.

He has not gone a dozen steps before Jiang FengMian catches up.

“That was... imprudent,” he says.

It certainly must have been, for uncle Jiang to actually say so out loud. Ordinarily, he would wait to voice his complaints until they are both behind closed doors, as no one should ever question the Emperor in public. Since Wei Ying rarely bothers taking initiative, these conversations are rare, and tend to end in Wei Ying yielding to his uncle’s superior understanding. This time, however, Wei Ying has no regrets.

“I know what you want to say. The Sect Leaders feel that they have been insulted for the sake of a Sect they unanimously despise, even when they cannot agree on anything else. I have given them a good reason to show a united front, when it is preferable to have them waste time in petty bickering. Worse, Lan QiRen will not thank me for holding him up as a shining example of competence, just so I can better highlight their abysmal failures. It is likely that my actions have only increased the animosity the others feel towards the Lan Sect.”

Uncle Jiang sighs, “If you know that nothing was accomplished by it, then why?”

“Something was accomplished. The Lan Sect will receive the assistance it needs. The rest have been accused of mismanagement, and will rush to either hide or distribute any misappropriated funds. Right now, they are anxious that I mean to send an independent magistrate to re-examine their spending. I hope this keeps them on the edge for months. It serves them right. As if LanLing Jin would ever need financial assistance from the Royal Treasury,” he scoffs, “Jin GuangShan could probably build an Immortal Mountain of his own, but has the audacity to complain about the cost of dam repairs.”

“The Emperor is the father of the nation,” uncle Jiang says gently, “he should have more patience for his children, even when it seems that they do not deserve it.”

Wei Ying has never been so grateful to see the doors of his own chambers.

It is only the first day. The first day out of seven, and not even half over.

“Parents who are afraid to put their foot down, usually have children who step on their toes,” he says firmly, “Now, I must change for the banquet. If the High Councilor insists, we may continue this conversation later.”

Uncle Jiang does not look particularly happy, but he bows and heads back to the meeting hall, probably intending to placate everyone Wei Ying has offended.

Wei Ying does not care. If Jin GuangShan even breathes in his direction in the next twenty-four hours, shijie will have to find someone else to marry.

#the untamed #cql #mdzs #ficlet #m #wwx emperor au #trust me this is actually relevant to the plot #lmaoooo #ily guys

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reifromrfa · 4 years ago

Text

Our Love Story - Jumin x Sun Hi

Commissioned by @ramannnn

AHHH thank you so much for commissioning me! This was so much fun to write! Sun Hi is such a sweet and cute oc ;w;

If you guys are curious about @ramannnn‘s lovely oc, you can meet her HERE! Follow her for more lovely art <3 ) (Psst! Her requests are open too!)

Congratulations to Jumin and Sun Hi for their baby~ ;)

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using elements from the otome game Mystic Messenger which belong to and is created by Cheritz. I do not claim any ownership on the characters or world of Mystic Messenger.

Word count: 2,247 words

She lets out a contented sigh as he pulls her closer, cradling her to his chest. Sun-Hi nuzzles her face against her husband's skin, closing her eyes. This is perfect...everything is perfect. She doesn't know how she ended up here, in this man's loving arms, but she's not complaining or ungrateful --it's just sometimes, Sun-Hi feels like she's living in a fairy tale. How could she not, when she's lying in a bed on a private island in Cambodia, perched on the side of a mountainside surrounded by lush greenery and top-of-the-line furniture and appliances. When she opened the door to their room balcony earlier that day, she was greeted by an infinity pool overlooking the sea. Sun-Hi can hear the soft sounds of the waves crashing against the shore even at this hour of night, as she basked in the afterglow of their love-making.

When Jumin asked her to trust him to plan their honeymoon, she didn't at all expect anything like this; Sun-Hi is a simple girl, she never dreamed of anything this grand, though she should have anticipated her love would spare no expense for her. If she has to be honest, it can be a little intimidating to be surrounded by so much glamour --but she hopes Jumin knows she can live without any of those luxuries. The one thing Sun-Hi can't live without, though, is the man in her arms. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she plants a kiss on his chest and looks up at Jumin Han, smiling.

"I love you, Jumin."

A smile spreads across his face and he leans down, kissing her tenderly. "I love you too, Sun-Hi. Why don't you try to rest?" He draws nearer to her, planting kisses on her shoulder. Sun-Hi giggles and playfully pushes him away.

"Because you keep doing things like that!" She meets his lips for a kiss but pulls away when his hand moves down her waist to her bare thigh. Her cheeks flush and she covers her face shyly. "Jumin, my love...!"

He lets out a light laugh and pulls her closer to him again, fingers trailing over her skin. Sun-Hi inhales sharply, her face beet red.

"At t-this rate, we'll have a dozen children!" she can't keep the stammer out of her words, the way he's touching her sending sparks throughout her body. Jumin lets out a low hum, pondering her words.

"A dozen children...that's quite a lot, my love. We'll have to come up with names, then."

Sun-Hi giggles and shifts her head, staring up at the ceiling. Tapping her chin with a finger thoughtfully, she narrows her eyes and racks her brain for names. "Hmm...I'm thinking, if we have a boy first, maybe we can name him 'So'. What do you think?" She looks at Jumin, gauging his expression. Jumin smiles, seeing his wife's expectant look. He intertwines his fingers with hers and pulls her hand up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand.

"I think that's a lovely name, Sun-Hi. And if it's a girl?" Jumin pushes away strands of her raven hair that fell over her face, wanting to have a full view of her face and that adorable expression as she thinks. When he sees a gleam come to her eyes he waits patiently for her response, not realizing that his smile grows wider based on her reactions.

"How about 'Yun'?"

"Hmm." Jumin looks up at the ceiling, pretending to mull it over. "I think that's a lovely name, my love. But how do you feel about 'Elizabeth'?"

Sun-Hi's eyes widen and a laugh bubbles from her lips.

"He's too adorable."

Out loud, she says, "Elizabeth would be a good name too, but wouldn't Elizabeth the 3rd get confused..? She'd think we'd be calling her."

Jumin chuckles softly. "You make an excellent point, my wife. Then we shall name our firstborn daughter 'Yun'." He kisses her forehead.

Sun-Hi beams. "But that's only two names so far. We still have ten more to go!" She's joking, of course, but she notices her husband's brows furrowing.

"Though I wouldn't mind it, I'd prefer not to have that much." Jumin locks his gray eyes with her dark brown ones, a serious expression on his face. "I don't want to have to compete for your attention and affection."

That makes Sun-Hi break out into a smile. She touches his cheek gently, gazing lovingly at the man who looks adorable and handsome despite the seriousness of his face. "Jumin, you don't have to compete with anyone, ever. You're my love, my husband, and all of me is yours now. You have me, every piece of me. You're the only one who runs through my mind all day --I see you in everything I do. It's just not possible anymore to be without you."

Her words make him feel as though his body is aflame, a pleasant warmth spreading throughout his being and Jumin closes the distance between them, capturing her soft lips in his. He pours his love and adoration into a passionate kiss, a kiss that allows him to express what mere words can't anymore.

"I love you, Sun-Hi. I wish I can find deeper words, more profound words to express my feelings for you but there are none. The depth of my love for you is incalculable, immeasurable. I love you, I love you..."

When he pulls away, he presses his forehead to hers, eyes closed, breathing labored. Jumin takes Sun-Hi's hand and places it on his chest, above his heart.

"My love, can you feel that? Only you make me feel this way. Only you make me feel as though I'm alive."

Sun-Hi gasps, her own breathing coming out in pants. Her fingers press against his chest and she feels his strong, erratic heartbeat beating against her palm and Sun-Hi lets out something between a gasp, a sob and a laugh. Her feelings for this man overwhelm her and to know he feels the same causes a myriad of emotions to burst inside her. Tears prick her eyes and she laughs, kissing him lightly.

"Jumin, there's no one else I want but you. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together, with those important to us. And one day we'll start a family of our own...I want to do that, with you, my love. Only with you."

He rolls on top of her, supporting his weight as he leans down and continues kissing her, the sheets getting tangled around them. Sun-Hi wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer, then gasps as she feels his hand tracing the side of her body. Jumin doesn't stop though, and with her lips parted, his tongue finds hers.

With her heart beating hard against her chest, Sun-Hi feels herself grow warm and she moans from his kisses, hands moving on his body. Her eyes are closed as she relishes in the feelings and sensations this man ignites in her. She never thought she'd be able to experience a love such as this, but Jumin is adamant about proving her wrong by wrapping her in his love. Though Sun-Hi feels spoiled, she won't ever complain because she wants his love too, she wants his gaze on her, wants to be the one making him smile and laugh and seeing the adorable side he rarely shows others. Yes, in loving him she may have grown to be a little more selfish, but she knows in her heart that she won't love anyone like she loves the man in her arms right now --and she'll continue loving him, for the rest of their days.

————-————-

[707 has entered the chatroom]

Yoosung★: I'm really worried for Sun-Hi

Yoosung★: ToT

707: WHAT!707: WHAT HAPPENED??

ZEN: Sun-Hi's been feeling sick

ZEN: Man...I really wish we could go visit her

ZEN: But that stupid jerk said we can't

ZEN: Not until they find out why she's feeling sick

Jaehee Kang: Mr. Han is only being cautious

Jaehee Kang: Though I do admit, I'm worried too

Jaehee Kang: He's been staying home with her for the past few days...

Yoosung★: ToT

Yoosung★: Sun-Hi, feel better soon!

707: What are

707: Her symptoms?

ZEN: I heard she's been throwing up?

Yoosung★: ToT

Yoosung★: Poor Sun-Hi

Yoosung★: I want to make her some soup

Yoosung★: But we can't even go see her ;;;;

Jaehee Kang: I'm sure Mr. Han has his nutritionists taking care of Sun-Hi's meals, Yoosung

Jaehee Kang: Don't worry about it

707: Lololol what Jaehee is saying

707: Is that

707: Your cooking

707: Can't compare to

707: The level of Jumin's personal chefs

707: And professional nutritionists

Yoosung★: ;0; ;0; ;0;

Yoosung★: Jaehee, is that true?

ZEN: Lmao Jaehee roasted you by accident hahaha

[Jumin Han has entered the chatroom]

707: !!!!!!

707: Why!

707: If it isn't the man in question!

Jumin Han: Everyone, good evening.

Jumin Han: ?

Jumin Han: Man in question...?

ZEN: Ya, silver spoon

ZEN: How is Sun-Hi?

Jaehee Kang: I hope Sun-Hi is doing better.

Yoosung★: Jumin, will you let me give Sun-Hi some of my home-cooked meals ToT

[V has entered the chatroom]

V: Everyone, hello ^^

Jumin Han: V. Perfect timing, you're here as well.

V: Yes...I see everyone has been concerned for Sun-Hi. How is she, Jumin?

Jumin Han: Sun-Hi is doing better. Splendid, actually.

707: Did you cure her

707: With the power

707: Of

707: E V E R L A S T I N G L O V E

707: ???

Jumin Han: Hmm. I suppose you can say that.

Jumin Han: My love for her is the root of all of this.

ZEN: ?!

Jaehee Kang: ...

707: O_O

707: JUMIN, THIS IS A PURE CHATROOM!

707: Gaaaaaahh my innocent eyes!

V: ^^;;

ZEN: Hold on

ZEN: What exactly are you saying, jerk?

Jumin Han: That Sun-Hi's 'illness' for the past few days is my doing.

ZEN: Why is illness in quotation marks ;;;;

707: Yoosung cover your eyes!

Yoosung★: >:( Jumin, it's your fault she felt bad??

Jumin Han: Yes. Yes it is.

V: Jumin...

Jaehee Kang: ;;; Mr. Han, I don't think that's something to be proud about...

[Sun-Hi has entered the chatroom]

Yoosung★: Sun-Hi! You're HERE!

Yoosung★: ToT

Sun-Hi: Hello, everyone ^^

ZEN: Ya, Sun-Hi, did this jerk hurt you??

707: >_< I don't think these people are from earth

707: weewooweewooweewooooooooo

Jaehee Kang: Sun-Hi, it's nice to see you here again

Jumin Han: My love.

Jumin Han: Now that everyone is here, I think it's time we tell everyone the news.

ZEN: News???

Jaehee Kang: !

Sun-Hi: ^^ Yes, I think so too, Jumin.

Sun-Hi: So...the past few days, I haven't been feeling too well

Sun-Hi: But it's okay

Sun-Hi: Because instead of me being sick...

Sun-Hi: It turns out

Sun-Hi: Jumin and I are expecting ^^

ZEN: !!!!

707: !!!!!

Jaehee Kang: That..!

V: Haha, congratulations, Sun-Hi and Jumin ^^

V: Though I have to say, I'm not too surprised about this news...

V: But still, I'm excited

V: We will have a new member in our family :)

Yoosung★: Whoaaaaaaa a BABY! Sun-Hi is pregnant!

Jaehee Kang: Congratulations to both of you! This is wonderful!

Yoosung★: Congfgfra!

Yoosung★: CONGRATS!!!!! Omg, my fingers are shaking

Yoosung★: This is so COOL!

ZEN: Congratulations, Sun-Hi!

ZEN: But ya...JUMIN HAN

ZEN: Did you really have to say all that stuff up there??

ZEN: About this being your fault?!

V: Hahaha.

ZEN: Really...this JERK...

Jumin Han: Of course it's my fault. It should be mine and mine alone.

V: Haha Jumin, you're too cute

Sun-Hi: He is <3

V: I would come over with a glass of champagne, but now you won't be able to drink, Sun-Hi ^^

Yoosung★: A baby! I'll teach the baby all about LOLOL! I'll be the cool uncle! XD

707: WRONG!

707: Who else would be cooler

707: Than the Defender of Justice himself?!

ZEN: Not this again

707: And that

707: Is

Jaehee Kang: ;;;;

707: ME!

707: SEVEN!

707: ZERO!

707: SEVEN!

707: A man who slept in the freezer

707: The definition

707: Of COOL!

707: I'll be the coolest uncle hehe

ZEN: Sure, go ahead, fight for that title

ZEN: I'll be the most handsome uncle

Jaehee Kang: There's never been any doubt about that ^^

V: Haha I'm sure all of you would make great uncles and aunt to the baby

Sun-Hi: And you too, V ^^

V: Haha of course

V: You must let me take photos of the baby

Sun-Hi: Omg yes please!

707: Before photographs

707: We need to discuss THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

Yoosung★: What is it?

707: Who will be

707: the fairy godfather~?

Sun-Hi: Haha, I was actually of you, Seven~

707: OoO!

ZEN: Sun-Hi, you should reconsider...

Jumin arches his brow at his wife questioningly and Sun-Hi giggles.

Jumin Han: V is the best option, of course.

Yoosung★: Hey! What about me?? I'm the cool uncle ;n;

V: Haha, there can be more than one godparent, of course...

Sun-Hi lays her head on Jumin's shoulder, a content smile on her face as her hand goes to her belly. Jumin pulls her closer, kissing the top of her head. This is another chapter to their love story, a chapter that Jumin is most eager to read. But he knows their story has barely just begun, they still have many chapters to write together. And he'll be here by her side, holding her hand as they write each word --together.

»»————-　♡　————-««

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groovybaybee · 4 years ago

Text

Greener - I

cw: mentions of abuse (not this chapter and nothing too intense but better safe than sorry) also alcohol consumption

(6k)

Spago, 7pm, reservation under my name, have fun saucy xxx

Oh, Lucy. Lovely, wonderful, maddening Lucy. Not only would she select my date for the evening, she, of course, would make a decision about when and where.

In all honesty, I do not mind. I would gladly allow that girl to run my life, she pretty much has made all the big decisions for me anyway. Lucy had been the one who forced me to enter our school’s talent show and sing in public for the first time. I lost hard, unable to compete with Anthony Piaz’s flaming diabolo tricks, but I was grateful to her, nonetheless. Lucy was also the one who made me move out to Los Angeles with her, telling me we needed to be with the stars if we wanted to be like them. It might sound cheesy, but that girl can be very persuasive when she wants to be. Since we were teenagers, she told me all about how we were going to make it big, I would be a singer and she would produce all my music.

Lucy has always been a dreamer, but she is the most dedicated and ambitious person I know, plotting out every detail of every day to make sure she could get to where she wanted to be. Her and I had understood that we could not just rock up in America and instantly start working for record labels. We would spend hours in her room, writing and producing songs every weekend, sending them to local and national radio stations, record labels, anyone we could think of.

Then one day, the universe fell into place. Our song, Penny, started to gain some traction. I will never forget the day we heard our song played on the radio for the first time. I never could forget it with the video of the two of us screaming and crying and laughing and hugging being sent to my phone every time I get frustrated.

‘They never gave up, and neither will we’

Luce has always been good like that, putting things in perspective when I start spiralling out.

Truthfully, Lucy has always been a bit of a hero to me. The voice of reason, even when I did not want to hear it. I trust her with my life. So, when I was offered a contract with a record label, I had insisted that she aid in the production, knowing that once the world could see her talent there would be no stopping her. And there never has been. Though we still work together on projects and tracks wherever we can, both of us have been blessed with opportunities to work with some of our idols in the music industry. However, it still feels the most special when it is just her and me working together.

Knowing that she always has my best interests at heart, agreeing to be set up on a blind date by her was easy. It was only afterwards that the doubts had started to creep in. Of course, Lucy knows me well, probably better than anyone, and so her choice of date for me would undoubtedly be my type. I know that they will be charming and funny and most likely have a smile that makes me want to swat them directly in the face for being so cute. However, it would be impossible for her to know the other person so well, so me showing up may not be what they had hoped for.

They could want to meet someone girly, polished, calm. While I can be those things sometimes, pretending to be anyone but myself would only lead down an unfortunate and embarrassing path in the long run. This self-assuredness, in theory, is lovely, but does not stop the nagging feeling in my stomach that whoever I am meeting at the restaurant will not be pleased to see me.

Trying my best to shake this thought, I get ready for my date. Landing on a simple black dress (knowing my tendencies to spill anything in my grasp), partnering it with a silver chain necklace, a few matching rings, and some thickly heeled silver boots. I put on a touch of makeup, style my hair, and spritz myself with perfume before grabbing a coat, stuffing the pockets with my necessities, and getting in the Uber I had pre-emptively ordered. I am going to be early but that suits me just fine.

Arriving at the restaurant, nestled beside Rodeo Drive, I thank the driver and exit the car. Spago is far too fancy for me to feel fully comfortable, a small part of myself always believing that my life is some sort of coma dream and one day I would wake up back home, older and having done nothing with my life. Despite my instinct to run and feign illness, I enter the restaurant and tell the matre d’ Lucy’s name. He gives me a pleasant smile and leads me through the bustling restaurant to an empty table on the patio outside. Thanking him, I seat myself at the table beside a sheltered, freestanding fireplace, taking a second to appreciate the warmth of the toasting embers against the slight breeze of the evening under the dwindling sun.

Looking out to the chair across from me, panic and excitement swirl around in my stomach. Wondering what they will be like and whether we will get on has me desperately searching around the quiet outside space for anyone who works here to urge them for a glass of wine. I manage to locate someone, but the thought instantly leaves my mind when I notice a person trailing behind them. They head straight in my direction and my head snaps back to the table, trying not to have their first impression of me be my crazy wine-hungry eyes. I take a deep breath, and a second to remember Lucy’s message: ‘have fun’.

Turning to meet my date as they stop at our table, a smile slips across my lips without my telling it to. Yep, Lucy definitely knows me. The man in front of me is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, but with an added dash of unreservedness, dressed in a black dress shirt, the collar of which pokes out over a baby blue suit jacket, trousers matching. My eyes land on his hand, ringed fingers clutching a bouquet of yellow roses. I cannot deny it, the sight sends a little zip of happiness through my body. Travelling upwards, I land on his face. And pause.

If this is a very elaborate prank, I have to give it up to Lucy. This is incredible. I remember her telling me that she was working with him on a track for his second album, but I would not have thought they were close enough to discuss love lives. If so, surely she would have snapped him up for herself. The amount of conversations we had spent discussing our celebrity crushes and he always popped up on both of our lists. There is no way this is happening. This just proves that I am, in fact, comatose.

“Hi,” he speaks with a tentative smile.

On the off chance that I am not in a simulation, I stand up and greet him, still unable to form words as he presses a kiss to each of my cheeks.

“Lucy said you liked yellow,” he says almost sounding nervous, looking down at the bunch of flowers in his hand.

“I do,” I say softly, shaking my head to bring me back to reality while he is looking away from me. “They’re, uh, they’re beautiful.”

He hands me the flowers and my brain almost completely malfunctions, unable to comprehend that I am sat, on a date, with a man I have been fawning over from afar for over a year. Sure, I have always known of him, but something about him kicking off his solo career and dressing differently, acting differently, it was all just incredibly attractive. Something so sexy about his confidence. An opinion I had expressed to Lucy many times in varying degrees of enthusiasm, her use of the word ‘saucy’ in her text to me suddenly making a lot more sense.

“Thank you, really,” I say, looking up from the flowers to him, a full head taller than me. “Sorry, I’m being weird, Lucy just… is full of surprises,” I admit, meeting his gaze as he observes me cautiously. He must think I am crazy, or incredibly rude, most likely both.

“I’m Violet,” I quickly introduce myself and gesture for us to sit. He does, with a relieved smile which I mirror.

“Harry,” he says gently.

Duh.

Harry Styles. I am on a date with Harry Styles. The man I had admitted to wanting to let ‘break my heart and sex me back together’. Not one of my best lines, I will agree. And he is even better looking in person. His hair is kind of messy in a very put-together kind of way. His eyes are deep and their hold on me is strong. And his lips kink up at the edges, pulling joy out to his cheeks as he watches me, almost assessing me.

“Yeah, I’m actually a fan of your music,” I admit shyly, hoping that he finds it endearing rather than psychotic.

“Likewise. To be honest, I can’t believe I’m sat here with you,” he speaks deeply.

This has to be a prank. No way on Earth did Harry Styles, Harry Styles, just say that to me.

“I didn’t realise you and Lucy were so close,” I confess, allowing my confusion and curiosity to spill out of my mouth at lightning speed.

“Oh, yeah, first day we met it was like instant sibling rivalry, you know? Straight away bullying each other,” Harry explains with a low, breathy chuckle. God, even his laugh is sexy.

I will admit to being relieved to hear that their feelings for one another were strictly platonic, not wanting to step on Lucy’s toes even if she had been the one to set us up. Something about hearing this new information allows my most recent conversations with her to make a lot more sense, her being the one to let me explain in detail all the disgusting things I would let this man do to me while she just laughed. That sly devil.

“How long have you two known each other?” he asks, sipping at the glass of water on his side of the table.

“Oh, since we were kids, think our souls are melded at this point,” I tell him, earning a captivated smile that reaches up to his eyes. “Do you do this thing a lot?” I ask, fascinated as to how I ended up in this situation. When he looks at me blankly, I hurriedly add, “Blind dates?”

“Not really, only one other time and it was… interesting,” he says, eyes glazing over as his mind flashes back.

“Me neither,” I start, bringing his attention back to the present in hopes to prevent him from reliving whatever terrible memory I had just triggered, “I do have a very important question for you though,”

“What’s that?” he asks with a grin that matches the one creeping on to my face.

“Are you a wine person?” I ask, faking sincerity.

“Oh, yeah,” he nods, laughing at my intensity.

“Good, ten points to you,” I smirk as we both glance down at the drinks menus, after a moment of reflection I speak up, “Want to just get the cheapest? Don’t think my palette could tell the difference.”

Harry lets out a small laugh and agrees happily, ordering a bottle of chardonnay for the two of us when the waiter circles around to us. My mind begins to spiral as I watch Harry pour us each a glass, wondering how I ended up here, what I think of him, what he thinks of me. Brain almost about to short-circuit[AH1] , I cheers my glass with his and take a long sip of white wine, desperate for a touch of Dutch courage.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a few moments, eyes locked as we drink in our surroundings, allowing the madness of the evening to sink in for our brains to process. There is a gentle smirk on each of our faces, enjoying the mischief of our mutual friend.

“I really loved the album by the way,” I confess to him, only to be rewarded with a bright and grateful smile.

“Thank you,” he says softly, an excited buzz coming from him as he shifts in his seat to lean his elbows on the table, chin resting on his interlaced knuckles. “I listen to The Lady Grey Project at least once a week,” he admits, and if I look closely (which I do) I can see a light rosy flush appearing on his cheeks.

At this point I reckon a rhinoceros could stampede into the restaurant and I would not bat an eyelid. Of course, he listens to my album regularly, this is a dream, in all honesty I am just shocked he does not have a tattoo of my face on his body somewhere. I say a silent prayer that I will be allowed to remain in whatever simulation I am in.

“You’re too kind,” I smirk, having to use my wine glass to hide as much of my blushing face from him.

“Can I ask where the Lady Grey name came from?” he asks curious about my stage-name, watching intently as I swallow and place my glass down. “Sorry if I’m being too nosy by the way, tell me to fuck off if you want,” he says, causing a light laugh to tumble from my lips.

He watches me with a soft gaze that makes me want to melt into a puddle underneath the table. Does he like me? No, he is probably just being polite.

Calm down crazy.

“Um, well, Lucy and I used to spend days in her room making music, and all we would eat was Cadbury’s Fingers and all we drank was Lady Grey tea, it was kind of our fuel you know? And then it just kind of stuck, and we used to joke about who Lady Grey was and I don’t know, I sort of idolised the character we created,” I explain as best I can.

“So, you became her?” Harry asks softly, his smile never faltering once while I spoke.

“Yeah, Lady Grey and Lucy Hind were going to take on the world together,” I say, looking down at the tablecloth, a slight feeling of embarrassment for oversharing my childhood dreams. It probably seemed so silly to him.

“And you are,” is all he says.

When I look up at him, his eyes are so gentle and comforting, and staring into them feels like stepping into a warm bath.

The waiter arrives back to our table to take our orders, preventing me from drooling over how idyllic this date is becoming. Harry apologises for the two of us, neither having even looked at the food menu yet, and asks for another minute. Eventually, we order our food and the conversation continues to flow easily, finding out about each other’s passions for not only music, but art in general, both discovering that the other loves to draw and paint despite having very minimal talent for it.

We talk about what we are working on, both giddy at gaining secret information about the other’s new projects. He whispers to me that he has a new album coming out at the end of the year, in return I tell him I have a small tour happening in a few months, a few intimate venues across the country. He tells me he would love to come to a show. I mentally let out a scream.

We discuss our hometowns throughout the main course, both hailing from the north of England, giggling over the surprising culture shock of living in LA. Conversation moves to talking about our families and still feeling homesick.

“I’ve been writing about home a lot recently,” I admit, finishing my second glass of wine, “I miss the colour green so much,” I laugh honestly, missing the miles and miles of fields and trees I could see from my family home.

“I get that completely,” he says, refilling my glass without me even having to ask, “I miss my little village and knowing everyone there. LA can feel a bit lonely at times,”

There is a pregnant pause, silence falling over the two of us as I give him a small nod, understanding wholly the feeling of moving across the world. It is scary and isolating and you really have to push through and commit to your work to ensure it was all worthwhile. However, that does not leave much room for forging any kind of relationship other than professional. Harry is right, it can be very lonely sometimes.

I find myself watching him, eyes a little bit softened by the wine and the evening light. Seeing his face flicker under the crackling firelight feels like I am seeing him for the first time, as though his features are completely new to me and I get to meet a whole new person. He really is breath-taking. Something about getting to know him allows me to see his personality in his physicality; patient eyes and dimples that deepen every time I nearly knock over my glass and insist that I am not drunk, that this is just how I am. Finding myself smiling while I watch him, I remind myself to act like a normal human being and sip at my wine.

But he watches me right back.

When desert rolls around, both of us are too full to appreciate anything fancy, sadly deciding to call it a night. After insisting that we split the bill, threatening to get his bank account details somehow and send him a direct deposit, we leave the table.

“Man, I shouldn’t have worn this dress, looks like I’m smuggling a watermelon,” I say, rubbing my bloated belly slightly as we walk through the restaurant, now significantly emptier than when I had arrived nearly three hours earlier.

“I like it,” Harry tells me, biting back a smirk, “Wrote a song about watermelons, actually,”

“Really? You’ll have to let me hear it sometime,” I say, thanking him as he holds the door open for me to walk through.

“Do you, uh, do you need a lift home?” Harry asks once we are outside, wrapping our jackets a little tighter around ourselves in the early autumn air. I pause to look at him and assess the sincerity of his offer. When he looks at me with nothing but kindness and caution, I nod, finding his trepidation incredibly endearing.

“That would be great, thank you,” I say softly, failing to mention that I would say yes to any offer he made so long as it meant I could spend longer getting to know him.

“Cool!” he says with so much enthusiasm that I have to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from smiling too big, utterly smitten with him. Harry clears his throat and pulls out his phone, calling his driver to come and pick us up. “He’ll be five minutes,” his voice is back to its low rumble when he turns to me, a light flush spread across his cheekbones. I pretend not to notice, instead fixing my attention to the roses in my hand.

“I’ve had a really nice time,” I tell him, hoping that in showing some vulnerability it will ease his embarrassment. It works. As I look up at him, he meets my gaze and smiles down at me gently.

“Me too. I think you’re really cool to be around,” he says tenderly, taking a step closer to me so that he is less than an arm’s length away. “More than exceeded my expectations for tonight,” he teases.

“I think part of me still thinks this is a prank,” I admit, breathing a laugh as I find myself gravitating closer to Harry, silently praying that he will kiss me.

“I know, I was listening to Penny on the way here to keep me sane,” his voice has dropped to just above a whisper, his face less than a foot from mine.

“As if,” I laugh incredulously, finding myself stepping back slightly so I do not deafen him.

“I was!” he defends with a chuckle, “I love that song,”

“Sorry,” I breathe, “I just didn’t think anyone really listened to it, except maybe my parents,”

“It was the first song of yours I ever heard,” he says, closing the gap between us again, “Thought how talented you were, even wanted to cover it.”

Back into the simulation you go.

“Wanna make sweet music together?” I tease, my voice a little low and breathy as the space between us rapidly reduces.

Harry exhales a chuckle, eyes flitting between my own and my lips.

He is fully going to kiss you.

Or at least he would, if that had not been the moment Harry’s driver decides to pull up to the curb, startling us both. Gaze fixed to the ground to hide my certainly bright pink cheeks, I shuffle into the car when Harry opens the door for me, sliding in shortly afterwards.

“Where to?” Harry asks, clearing his throat slightly.

I tell him my address, watching as he and his driver share a small nod before we set off.

The first few minutes of the ride are, I will admit, awkward. The only sound to be heard is the crinkling of the paper surrounding my flowers, my hands fidgeting nervously.

He was going to kiss me. He totally would have kissed me if we were alone for just one more moment.

An assertive person would kiss him now.

Would he want that? Would I want that? For our first kiss to be in the back of his car as we drove through my neighbourhood. I’m not so sure. Harry feels special, like he deserves a bit more romance than that.

I continue to fiddle with the paper in my lap.

“What’s your favourite flower?” I ask curiously, eyes fixating on the bright yellow petals.

“Quite like apple blossoms,” he tells me. His voice is soft, and I can tell his head is turned to look directly at me.

“See, I never would have guessed that.” I confess. Upon hearing him breathe a laugh, I follow it up with a mirrored tone, “What? You’re a mysterious dude.”

“Very mysterious,” he jokes as I look back up at him. There is a warmth in his eyes as they shimmer with laughter. It is almost as though the small amount of time focussing on something other than him has erased all memory of his face. Suddenly, excitement courses through my body. His stupid, happy face making my stomach squeeze itself.

“A real enigma,” I smirk after gathering myself.

There is silence again in the car, our eyes softly locked on the other’s, even as we pull up beside my house.

“This is me,” my voice is barely louder than a whisper.

“I’ll walk you,” Harry says, our gaze still unmoved.

For a moment, my mind drifts to Harry’s driver. I wonder what he makes of us sitting in the back of his car despite reaching our destination. Perhaps he thinks it is sweet, two kids still so nervous enough around one another that we both refuse to make a move. Maybe he thinks we are crazy and should just get out of the car like normal people would.

I nod my head slightly, more so trying to encourage myself to get moving rather than Harry. In all honesty, I would love little more than to just sit here and look at him, to feel whatever tension there is between us for a moment longer. But I steal myself away from that thought and open the car door.

Harry, ever the gentleman, sees me to my front door. It is a little old-fashioned but incredibly charming, nonetheless. I turn to face him once we reach the doorstep, craning my neck a little to meet his eyes.

My gaze lingers a moment on his lips, and I wonder if I should kiss him. Or would he not like that? He seems like he would not be opposed to a woman making the first move, but he is also the type to open doors and walk people to their homes. What if he wants to be the one to initiate? I doubt he would find me kissing him to be emasculating, but what if he recoiled at the thought? Maybe I shouldn’t kiss him. Maybe I should invite him inside. I will admit, the idea of ending the night with him sounds idyllic, but what if that gives the wrong impression. What if he is the type of guy who cares about a woman’s sexual habits? I never would have him pegged for that sort of person, but you never know.

Nerves and paranoia form a whirlpool in my brain, sucking me in until I am so overwhelmed that all I can physically do is stare at him, trying not to allow my eyes to widen too far in fear of looking like a maniac.

He looks down at me with a gentle gaze, his right hand lifting and fingertips gently grazing the side of my left hand. His thumb brushes across my wrists, his eyes flitting across my face until I am convinced that he has stopped on my lips. The palpable energy from outside the restaurant returns.

“Can I—” Harry starts but I interrupt him.

“Yes,” I say hurriedly, my heart beating a little louder in my chest at the thought of his lips against mine.

Thank goodness he’s making the first move. If it were up to you, you would be standing here for days.

“Great,” he smiles broadly, quickly retracting his hand from mine and reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, “Lets make music sometime.”

Harry hands me his unlocked phone.

You absolute fucking idiot, V.

I quickly input my phone number and hand it back to him with a small smile.

“Great,” he grins, part of me hating how adorable he is, the majority simply hating how dim-witted I am.

He wasn’t trying to kiss you.

“Hang out again soon?” he asks brightly.

I just nod and return a polite smile. He beams down at me before bidding me goodnight and walking back to his car.

As quick as physically possible, I unlock my front door, dash inside and shut the door behind me.

Idiot, idiot, idiot.

I sink to the floor, back pressed to the door. He wants to work together. While that notion alone would have had me fainting before tonight, I cannot help but feel a little disheartened to have misread the situation.

He didn’t want to kiss you.

My mind quickly scans through the whole evening, wonder at which event I began to misinterpret the signals. Maybe he was going to give me a hug outside the restaurant. Maybe he actually was going to kiss me, but then I laughed in his face and stepped away from him. Did I put him off me that quickly?

Pulling myself off the floor, I put the flowers in a mug of water, telling myself I will deal with them tomorrow once I am over the embarrassment.

* * *

I barely sleep, tossing and turning and reliving every stupid detail and mistake I undoubtedly made.

“You absolute cow!” I shout with a laugh when I spot Lucy walking towards me.

She just laughs along with me, a slight bashful blush arising in her cheeks as she steps closer to me.

I had text her when I got home last night, asking her to meet me first thing and she had agreed. Meeting at the dog park between our houses had been my idea, desperate to see her new Dalmatian puppy, Pip. I had arrived early, pre-emptively getting Lucy and I lattes, knowing fully well that no matter what time I got there I would still beat her by at least ten minutes.

“Thanks, gorgeous,” Lucy greets, taking the coffee I had extended to her.

“Hello, sweetpea,” I say in a higher pitch than my natural tone, crouching to welcome the excited dog. Pip wags her tail aggressively, desperately trying to lick my face. I giggle as my face scrunches at all the attention she is giving me, “I know, I know, it’s been a whole two days since I saw you, how could I neglect you like that?”

“She pissed on my shoes. Right little dickhead,” Lucy muses as I stand up, giving the pup one last scratch behind the ears. My eyes drop to her feet as we begin to walk through the park. “Not these ones, idiot,” she laughs.

“Don’t call me an idiot, I have a bone to pick with you,” I reply, trying my very hardest to chastise her but just giggling through it, faking sincerity always having been difficult for me, “What was it you told me? ‘Its just a date, no biggie’?”

“Something like that,” she mumbles, feigning shame but smirking as she looks at the ground.

“Harry Styles,” I mock, “Harry fucking Styles. You could have warned me, mate! I thought about him in the shower before dinner, thought I must have slipped and bumped my head when he rocked up,”

Lucy laughs as continue through the park, walking out on to the open expanse of the field. Pip excitedly yaps at the dogs playing in the distance, a little too young to join them just yet. We walk in bemused silence for a moment until we find a bench and take seat on it, sipping intermittently at our cooled down coffees.

“How was it then? Complete disaster or did you hold it together?” Lucy asks.

“Well, I thought I was holding it together, we were even kind of flirty,” I begin. Remembering last night stirs up excitement in my stomach, contrasting my skin crawling with embarrassment, “But he never kissed me. He walked me to my door, got me to give him my number and left,”

Luce nods, letting me give her the gist of the previous night, not pushing for more information as I bounce one of my legs anxiously. “He got your number though?” She offers, always looking on the bright side.

“Yeah, because he wants to make music together,” I say, a small smirk interrupting my words.

“Make music or make music?” She teases, wiggling her eyebrows dramatically.

“I don’t know!” I laugh, giving her a gentle push when she keeps leaning closer to me and putting her creepy moving eyebrows in my eyeline, “We complimented each other and stuff, and it became a bit of a joke but now I’m worried he was serious and I just made a fool out of myself… I did have half a bottle of wine,” my tone more serious now.

“One, you’re a delight when you drink. Two, I bet Harry was such a fucking flirt, ‘Oh yeah, baby, lets make symphonies with our bodies’,” I cannot help but crack a smile at her, surprisingly accurate, impression, “And three, even if you did misread things, it sounds like he would be up for working with you, and if I remember correctly, you said you’d give your left kidney to sing a duet with him,”

“I’m never drinking sambuca again,” I mutter, shuddering at the memory of that night, drunkenly screaming as Sweet Creature played over the speakers of the bar.

“I say text him,” Lucy shrugs as if the solution is so obvious that she cannot understand why the two of us are even having this conversation.

“Ah,” I breath, “That’s another thing. I was a bit distracted by the whole ‘not wanting to kiss me’ thing that I forgot to ask for his number.”

“Idiot,” Lucy giggles, picking up Pip as she paws at her leg and setting her between the two of us on the bench, allowing me better access to pet her freely, “I’ll text it you,”

“I can’t text him out of the blue, won’t that look psycho?” I stress.

“No,” Lucy says, again so plainly it is as though she cannot believe she is explaining something so simple, “Pretty sure Harry likes confident people anyway.”

“Why would he want to date me then?” I mumble, eyes fixed on Pip’s as her mouth hangs open, tongue rolling out happily as she gets attention from the both of us.

“Maybe because you can throw it back like no one I’ve ever seen,” Lucy teases.

“Fucking hate sambuca,” I grumble half-heartedly.

The text from Lucy arrives on my phone a few hours later, just as I step out of the shower. I have to wipe a few droplets of water from the screen before it allows me to unlock it.

Don’t puss out x

Underneath is what I can only assume is Harry’s number. I stare at the white screen for a while, contemplating whether or not to text him. Should I? Luce said he liked confidence, and I wanted him to like me, or at least not think of me as some blob of flesh he sat through dinner with. What would I say? What possible message could I send that did not make me sound like a creep?

Hey it’s Violet. Lucy gave me your number, promise I didn’t ask for it

No, that sounds rude.

Hi, it’s Violet from last night. Lucy gave me your number, hope you don’t mind. I’d love to make sweet music with you

He could read that two ways. Either he would read it as me just wanting to work together, or that I wanted to see him with no clothes on. Neither option appeal despite both being shamefully accurate.

The condensation on my bathroom mirror has almost vanished by the time I set my phone back down. Desperate to go about my day without worrying, I head across the landing and into my bedroom.

Despite having lived here for well over a year, the Los Angeles heat never fails to stifle me, even as autumn creeps into view. The humidity seeps into my bare skin as I flop back on my bed, urgently searching for a reason to get back up and be proactive with the work I need to get done today. That in itself should be reason enough, but the temperature in my room seems to counter any sensible thoughts in my brain. So, I let my eyes close for a moment.

However, Lucy’s words keep circling around in my mind.

‘Don’t puss out’

That is what I always do. Deciding to grow a backbone, I stand up and march back into the bathroom to pick up my phone. I quickly unlock it, ignoring the notifications on my lock screen, assuming its just my manager prompting me to get my act together. I quickly copy the phone number from Lucy and make a contact for Harry, set on typing a message to him and pressing send before I can overthink how keen I will most likely come across.

You are keen.

Selecting his contact, my phone takes me to a chat with him, however, it is not blank like I had expected. Instead, there is a white bubble of text, a smaller bubble beneath it, both timestamped seven minutes ago.

I know films and tv shows always say you should wait at least three days before messaging but I reckon it’s all bollocks. I had a really good time last night and would love to hang out again. I understand if this seems a bit eager so I’ll leave it up to you. Whatever you fancy I’m up for – Harry

Also I don’t know why I signed that off like it’s an email but I’m going to stick with it so I seem confident – Harry

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animatedminds · 4 years ago

Text

Let’s Get Dangerous Review!

It’s dangerous. In a good way. <cue dramatic music> Okay, obviously there’s more thoughts than just that. I’ve been waiting for it for weeks, and it arrived just as awesome as I hoped. For the first time, let’s give my full movie style review to the double length Ducktales special: “Let’s Get Dangerous.”

The spoilers are open and widely discussed, so maybe don’t look past the following image if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

To note, I’m not entirely convinced that this was actually meant to be a pilot. It definitely does introduce a new status quo for the Darkwing trio of characters (minus Honker for now, here’s hoping they haven’t forgotten him), but it’s also a very remote story that still tries to take place within the context of Ducktales’ universe, so it really depends on what they choose to do.

But let’s just get down to it.

First off, as I mentioned in my earlier post… Taurus Bulba. He was maybe the biggest and most eye-catching aspect of the first part of the episode, as one of the few elements we hadn’t already seen yet, and his reputation as a really, really bad guy has quite preceded him. As I may have gushed somewhat about, he’s one of the best parts of the special.

James Monroe Inglehart, for those living away from the Disney scene for a decade, is an actor and voice actor most famous for being the original Genie on Broadway’s Aladdin. A grand, bombastic presence, he generally plays characters who - much like the genie himself - a big, jolly, kind but maybe a little mischievous souls that take the attention of a room and brighten up the characters’ day - like Lance, in Tangled the Series. The most interesting thing about Bulba is that Inglehart brings that exact same energy to the role, and so Bulba keep that jollity and lofty personality in a package that becomes increasingly less nice as the story goes on. As someone who keenly remembers Taurus Bulba as cruel monster willing to hurt kids and capable of crushing Darkwing like nobody’s business, the contrast was immediately fun to watch - and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In this story, Bulba is recast from a crime lord intending to use a super weapon go on an endless plundering spree to a FOWL scientist with a respectable reputation who intends to use a super weapon to take over the world, and the transition goes off fairly well. The end result is a pretty standard mix of superhero fight and Bond plot, as Bulba ends up holed up in his lab with his squadron of elite supervillain minions - all plundered a particular fictional universe - with the heroes having to break in / escape from his captivity and stop him before he destroys everything. It’s very Silver Age, with Bulba in the role of maniacal villain, and he’s contrasted very well with Bradford - who is as always an antagonist who prides himself on pragmatism. This contrast leads to some great moments: Bradford’s increasing frustration with the cavalier attitude of both the heroes and the villains gives him the best stint of characterization he’s had since the beginning of the season - he basically spends the whole episode arguing with everyone about how badly thought out their actions are, while also badly hiding his own secrets.

The Fearsome Five (of which Quackerjack is voices by his original actor) are great to see, though used minimally. If you’re expecting to see classic show dynamics between the villains and Darkwing, that’s not really what they’re used for. Mostly, they’re minions with personality, and they’re more there to establish both to the audience and to Drake the character himself that he is ready to take on really big threats even with his lack of superpowers.

But enough about the villains, on to the heroes!

A couple episodes ago, with the Halloween episode, I criticized that story for not balancing its A and B plot all that well. This episode does not have that problem. The story is actually maybe about three fifths Darkwing’s story, and the rest of it is Scrooge and the nephews as they figure out what Bulba is up to independently of Darkwing and try to stop him themselves. It’s somewhat similar to Timephoon, where they’re there constantly and are doing their own bid to solve the story but the focus isn’t primarily on them. Instead, we have some of the best “HDL actually matter to the story” bits of the show, where they escape Bulba’s prison on their own and lead Bradford out, all the while slowly figuring out that something is shady about the guy. Meanwhile, Scrooge gets stuck in the original Ducktales universe’s most memed scene, which was a fun gag (but not the best gag - that would be the one and only Bonkers D. Bobcat as the Harvey Bullock-style cop in the Darkwing show).

Which I suppose can lead to a digression about the mad science bit here. The alternate universes here are… interesting. I always pay special attention to how things like time travel or other dimensions or alternate universes work in a series, and this one reminds me the most - I think - of DC’s Dark Multiverse: a collection of universes that are both explicitly fictional but made real because people created them. Ultimately, it’s less as if the OG Darkwing universe exists independently of the Ducktales universe and more that the in-universe Darkwing show as a world based off of it that the characters can reach into. I wish the episode had delved into that more, and now you’ve got people trying to use it to look for more establishment of OG Darkwing elements (though I was fine with it being separate, perceiving anything else as rather needlessly inexplicable), but ultimately that is not specifically what the episode is about, and is kept rather separate.

So what is the episode about? Like you didn’t already know…

As always, Gosalyn Waddlemeyer is a little girl whose grandfather was done away with by Taurus Bulba, and who falls into Darkwing’s lap over the course of his adventure with him. Here, her grandfather is (possibly) still alive, just lost in the ether a la Gravity Falls’ Grunkle Ford. And like the mighty glazed McGuffin, Darkwing’s goal in the episode is less strictly defeating Bulba as it is helping her get her grandfather and her home back. Gosalyn here is self-sufficient and action oriented (it may be my inner Brooklyn 99 fan talking, but I loved Stephanie Beatriz as her, and kind of wish she had gotten a wider range of lines), taking on her own crusade against Bulba until she realizes she can go to Darkwing for help, and is constantly trying to pull him into the fight - even while he is reluctant, and no matter what the danger - so that they can win and she can get justice. But in the end, she has to accept that they might not be able to.

As a longtime Batman fan, I immediately recognized a plethora of Robin references with Gosalyn. She’s a kid who’s family was taken from her by a villain, given a surrogate home by the hero - like Dick Grayson. She’s a street tough who originally met the hero committing a crime, and who is both skeptical of his heroism and heavily critical of his flaws - like Jason Todd. And she’s a young genius with a lot of scientific knowledge, tech skills and common sense - just like Tim Drake. There’s even elements of Carrie Kelley or Terry McGinnis there, in her determined if not gung-ho approach to heroism despite her circumstances and the hermit-like behavior of the hero.

And in the end, this is a fairly apt comparison, because Gosalyn essentially ends the story more as a Robin figure than previously, now as Darkwing’s more of a ward and official sidekick alongside Launchpad. The story does not, to note, involve her being adopted by Drake or becoming Gosalyn Mallard. Indeed, they don’t really end up having that sort of relationship. They’re distant and don’t really know how to relate to one another, and not about to broach the subject of family except in distant terms. There’s ultimately far less emphasis than before on Gosalyn and Drake being similar and hitting it off on a personal level, or even really Drake keying into Gosalyn’s potential and spirit as a person vs an element in his adventure. Throughout the story he regards her as a victim to be saved, then ultimately as an ally with potential to be respected, and in the end he gives her an offer to take up the mantle along side him while they search for her family… which ultimately creates something very different.

For people expecting something a little more akin to the implications the show made with Gyro and BOYD, Gosalyn here. The implication that they could be a family is brought up by Launchpad, but neither Drake nor Gosalyn are really there at the end of the story - I want to say they’re not there yet, but the way the story goes gives off the impression that the dynamic duo dichotomy is the relationship for the two the writing is most comfortable giving them.

Again, I’m a longtime Batman fan, so I understand and appreciate the nod. It gives them a really cool status quo that’s distinct from what came before it. Still, the strong father/daughter relationship between the two was very much the heart and soul of the original show, an endearing quality that created the character traits we love about both characters, and ultimately one of the primary characteristics that set the Darkwing family apart even from most comic book superhero stars - so even if they made something great out of it, it’s a shame to see Ducktales ultimately keep that relationship at arms’ length.

But that’s less a criticism and more just something I wish they had chosen to do differently - and it makes sense for the 2017 team’s take on Darkwing, which has always been more focused on “irrepressible hero who doesn’t give up” - a pluckie rookie growing into his competence - than “former fool whose great potential is unleashed through the people around him.” The latter is there, sometimes, but it’s not prominent. Original Darkwing was a man made better by his daughter, while the modern Darkwing doesn’t quite need that to find the hero within.

The only (and I mean only) criticism I have is the way the characters kind of jump around in how they respond to things. Drake wanting more crime, and then freaking out when super crime shows up and it’s way more than he thought he can handle is fine, and is one of the better character bits in the special. It being unclear whether Drake is against fighting supervillains because he thinks they’re too powerful vs because he doesn’t want to risk Gosalyn’s safety is another thing, though - it seems the show intended to imply the latter but forgot to include the line somewhere, so it’s not inferred until later and Drake suddenly benching Gos towards the end lacks set-up.

For her part, Gosalyn is suddenly and quickly afraid to fight for a brief moment so Launchpad can inspire her to face impossible odds, even though it was hardly the first time she had done so in the special. The ending I think wanted the characters to be somewhere that the rest of the special hadn’t gotten them to yet. But it’s all good - it ends well, so all’s well. Best gag of the episode, btw? Fenton, who is awful at keeping his secret identity secret, has hooked up Darkwing with his own hi-tech hero lair. Darkwing, despite supposedly being a detective (or at least an actor playing a detective), ends up as one of the two or three people remaining on Earth who hasn’t figured out that Fenton is Gizmoduck. Darkwing considers himself good friends with Fenton, despite hating Gizmoduck. It’s actually very funny.

It’s as of now unclear what is coming up for Darkwing. We know the St. Canard characters are going to factor in more as the FOWL plot progresses, and this episode kicks that plot into high gear - the characters now know about FOWL and their intentions, and are preparing themselves for a far more dangerous fight than usual. In short, with the midseason comes the renewed focus on the primary plot of the season, as per the usual. Like I said before, while I’m not as on board as most with the idea that this was a pilot, St. Canard was definitely established here - with series regular Zan Owlson as it’s new mayor, and a general aesthetic and set of protagonists. It wouldn’t be remiss for a future episode this season to take place there (though we know Negaduck isn’t happening this season).

The new few episodes, however, are focused more on the quest for Finch’s treasures and FOWL, so that’s going to have to wait for a while. We’ve been promised, as I recall, an episode that brings all the kids together (unless that’s part of the finale), which is nice - I may have mentioned before that the best episodes of the series have been the ones that put the kids (who are the characters with the most focus throughout its run) together and let all their personalities run through an adventure together - and with the cast growing somewhat constantly, it’s nice to know that no one is being forgotten.

Either way, I give the episode a great deal of recommendation - I only had a couple things that bothered me, and a few wishes for different choices, and ultimately I’m planning on watching it a ton of times just like I did the first Darkwing episode. From a classic Darkwing fan, and in the words of Bat-Mite, it’s a different intepretation to be sure, but not at all one without merit.

So thanks to Frank Angones, Matt Youngberg and the Ducktales crew! I hope my virtual thumbs up reaches them somehow, but either way, it was a good day to be dangerous.

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