#i genuinely hate him so much and i’m so sick of the double standards and also non critical thinking

[cyberfunsupporter]

FUCK BASIL I HATE BASIL AND BASIL DEFENDERS GOODNIGHT

[tiphprince]

Well, alright. You said you wanted to fight because apparently you think respecting people and their taste in fictional character is too much to ask, so let's go.

first and foremost the reason I will never be able to forgive Snape is the way he outed Remus and consequencially made life for every werewolf in the UK worse than it already was when harsher laws against them were put in place as a result of people finding out that a werewolf had been teaching.

The anti-werewolf laws were put in place before Lupin being a werewolf was made public, so check again. In OotP, Sirius says the laws were made two years prior, meaning in 1993. You have things backwards, it's actually more likely that Dumbledore hired him because of those laws, because they made it harder for him to get a job.

cannonically, the reason Snape outed him wasn't even because of anything Remus had done, but because he was pissed that he lost the Order of Merlin

canonically, no. Remus says that he thinks Snape is mad because he doesn't get the Order. Remus, who also says, "hmmm, I think Snape hates James because James was good at Quidditch". Sure bud. No other possible reason. Remus "thinks" a lot of things, but very few are actually true. Hell, he lies so often Rowling even gave him a tell.

If you don't think this was that deep, think about the fact that you could easily exchange the word "werewolf" for the word "queer" and this would still be a very real situation in the real world given the time period and social views.

Ah yes, queer people who... *check notes* turn into dark beasts every month and risk mauling people to death. If we want to keep going with this extremely digusting analogy, then that means Remus is a queer person who almost, in a fit of mental madness, almost... raped? killed? three children. Remus, who, as a queer teenager, also almost... raped/killed people and laughed about it.

Yeah, let us not.

Cannonically, what we know and see of their relationship, James used childish pranks and jokes on Snape while Snape used harsher and darker magic on the marauders

Your use of the word "cannonically" is very very loose. James, because Sirius was bored: attacked Snape, bound him, levitated him and dropped him twice, choked him (as in, Snape was unable to breathe), insulted him, humiliated him, and took off his underwear in front of a crowd. That, by today's standards, is sexual harassment at best.

What is it, you were saying earlier? "If you're trying to excuse child abuse, I'm already done arguing with you. You aren't worth the time or conversation." Maybe you should take your own advice.

I can't see what reason he'd have to lie to Harry about Snape giving as good as he got

You genuinely can not see any reason for why a bully would lie about his best friend bully? Like, none at all? Nothing comes to mind?

Hell, Sirius even tries to go with the "aah, but boys will be boys, we were 15!", and Harry calls bullshit. Harry, who has more reasons than anyone in the world to despise Snape, calls out Sirius and Remus on their bullshit excuses.

Also, no, one one ever says "Snape gave as good as he got".

James and Sirius are only ever mentioned to be a bully to Snape. Snape and his friends are said to have been nasty to several students, namely muggle borns, gryffindors, and younger kids.

Ah, times to get the book quotes out.

"[...] walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can — I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.” (OotP - Snape's Worst Memory)

"“Once James had deflated his head a bit,” said Sirius. “And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it,” said Lupin." (OotP - Career Advice)

"“ ‘James Potter and Sirius Black. Apprehended using an illegal hex upon Bertram Aubrey. Aubrey’s head twice normal size. Double detention.’" (HBP - Sectumsempra)

still didn't change a bit. In fact, he became worse.

Snape didn't change, and he became worse? He helped save countless lives, risking his own in the process, and that's what you call becoming a worse person?

Snapes love for Lily was undeniably obsessive.

"undeniably" my ass. Snape isn't the one who tried to blackmail Lily into dating him.

I'm not going to get into the whole Regulus vs Snape debate because frankly, I don't give a shit about Regulus. He was a Voldemort fanboy, realised that Voldemort was doing stuff that he didn't like, defected in an heroic act, and in the end accomplished the grand feat of making everything harder for everyone involved. As background character goes, he is pretty cool. He's just not nearly developed enough to be a tenth as interesting as Snape.

You can like an evil character without excusing what they've done.

I agree. This goes for Snape, but for James, or Sirius, or Regulus, or anyone else.

Snape apologists can say what they want to defend him or slander James or excuse the child abuse but first and foremost the reason I will never be able to forgive Snape is the way he outed Remus and consequencially made life for every werewolf in the UK worse than it already was when harsher laws against them were put in place as a result of people finding out that a werewolf had been teaching.

As an adult, Remus actually tried to be civil and treat Snape as an equal while they were colleagues and, cannonically, the reason Snape outed him wasn't even because of anything Remus had done, but because he was pissed that he lost the Order of Merlin that Fudge was going to award him for catching Sirius when Sirius escaped in the end of POA.

If you don't think this was that deep, think about the fact that you could easily exchange the word "werewolf" for the word "queer" and this would still be a very real situation in the real world given the time period and social views.

And I wasn't gonna get into any of the rest of this, but I may as well while I'm here.

There's also genuinely no excuse for the child abuse either. It wasn't Harry's fault that Lily didn't want anything to do with him after he'd treated her horribly nor was it Harry's fault that voldemort targeted his mother because he just existed. and his own abusive childhood wasn't an excuse for how he treated any other student in hogwarts. There's no reason Snape should have been the boggart of a child who's parents had been tortured to insanity by death eaters (probably in front of him, given that Neville recognized the sound of someone being tortured from the egg and reacted like he was reliving trauma when witnessing Moody/Barty use the cruciatus curse). If you're trying to excuse child abuse, I'm already done arguing with you. You aren't worth the time or conversation.

James bullying Snape wasn't the greatest thing James had ever done, that's true, but Snape also treated James no better. I'm not even speaking about fanon right now. Cannonically, what we know and see of their relationship, James used childish pranks and jokes on Snape while Snape used harsher and darker magic on the marauders (sectumsempra. Unlike Harry, Snape knew damn well what that spell did when he tried to hit James with it). Sirius is undoubtedly biased, but I can't see what reason he'd have to lie to Harry about Snape giving as good as he got and knowing darker magic than any other student. Those are both certainly true of adult Snape.

James and Sirius are only ever mentioned to be a bully to Snape. Snape and his friends are said to have been nasty to several students, namely muggle borns, gryffindors, and younger kids.

James grew the fuck up and became head boy and saved Snapes life (endangering himself in the process) even if he did it more for Remus and Sirius than for Snape himself. Snape likely would have left James to die had the roles been reversed, especially since he couldn't have been faulted for it. Snape grew into an adult much older than James ever had been and still didn't change a bit. In fact, he became worse.

Snapes love for Lily was undeniably obsessive. Not to mention that James didn't "steal her from Snape" Lily was her own goddamn person and if she didn't like Snape, then she wasn't obligated to give him anything just because they'd been friends the longest. She didn't chose James over Snape. She just didn't love Snape like that.

I don't know where the whole narrative came from that James harassed Lily into going out with him, given that we only hear of him ever asking her out once in canon. She said no. Then James defended her when Snape insulted her rather than calling her a slur and being horrible to her in response to his pride being wounded.

Snape was on track to being a death eater since he was young, and given his blood status and the friends he had, it was because he believed in it, not because he was forced or grew up brainwashed. He was the one who told voldemort about the prophecy and I think a lot of people glaze over that when they defend him. He wouldn't have cared had voldemort gone after the Longbottoms and he still didn't care about Harry or James. His only concern was for Lily and even then, he still didn't care about being a good person, he became a spy because that was Dumbledores price for protecting Lily.

And cry all you want about "if you hate Snape then you have to hate regulus."

We never see regulus' character in canon. All we know about him was that he was a death eater, but he defected. Not only did he defect, but he died in an active attempt to take Voldemort down. Kreacher was arguably the only person to ever treat Regulus with kindness since he and Sirius fell out as children. Much like Lily and Snape. But unlike Snape going to Dumbledore and begging him to protect her while doing essentially nothing to attempt to protect her himself or even speaking to her to warn her, Regulus planned and executed an entire suicide mission for Kreacher after Kreacher was no longer even in danger anymore.

And if you wanna argue that Regulus didn't do it for Kreacher, then the only other motive it leaves is that Regulus grew up and genuinely did not believe in Voldemort anymore. Which. Five Points to Reg.

So, basically, the one thing we know of Regulus in canon is that he was a death eater, and then he died in an active attempt to bring about Voldemorts demise. A far fucking cry more heroic than Snapes actions in the name of a woman who wanted nothing to do with him. I just do not see how the two are comparable.

That's all I can think of right now, but if there's more, or if I got anything wrong, or if you just wanna argue, then by all means

You can like an evil character without excusing what they've done. Hell, I even like Snapes character. I think Snapes character was cool the same way I think of Barty and Bella. They're not good people, but goddamn are they some interesting fucking characters

[wholemealbreadd]

🥀

[jin0]

been seeing a lot of matchups in your blog lately and I wanted to give it a go. ❄️

Gemini, INTP, bi-ace. 158 cm with straight black hair and tan skin. My outfit style is emo/punk. Pretty much just blacks and reds. Interest lies in world history, digital drawing, writing, musicals, and otome games... Too much of a romance sucker that these fictional men have raised my standards a bit too high. That and romance books too. A bit of a neat freak even if my mind is a jumbled mess. I love learning in general so I would always have one day interests or queries. The other day I wanted to learn how to do a full split (didn’t work out but still trying), yesterday learned European etiquette for the nobility. That kind of thing. Very much an introvert, no I will not come out but when we do go out I’ll make sure to put my full attention to you and the event and only whine in my head when we go back home about how tiring that was.

I may also have a thing for being marked (kind of like cute aggression and they just randomly bite or nip me) but its not as if I’d say that out loud lmao. I may have a resting bitch face but I swear I’m a bit naiive when it comes to social cues and not mad at ya. I once had a coworker during lunch deadpan tell me that the nearby school had it’s own McDonalds and I replied “oh that’s cool!!” with stars in my eyes and she then said she was joking. She felt bad at my enthusiasm. Well a lot of things are possible so I didn’t even question it. Another one would be the time I went on a bus for the first time in years and I shouted out to stop nowhere near a bus stop and everyone looked at me weirdly. It’s one of those embarrassing memories that haunt me.

baby imma be entirely honest with you ??? im just as naive as you. you could tell me abe lincoln is your grandfather and I'd believe you. i wouldn't even question it or the mathematics of this claim, id just be like 'damn, that's nice !! sucks that he got shot tho'

for you my fellow naive friend, i give !! :

both peter and gwen !! because us naive people deserve the double trouble couple 🙈

seating in the corner if the room, you frowned deeply while hearing both laugh on front of you. this was absolutely not funny. your predicament was not funny.

they were the worst for laughing at you had to suffer the memories of your own embarrassing past.

you know these moments in life that you get and they're so embarassing that they stick in your brain for like, forever ? and they come back to haunt you from time to time, sending you through a physically painful reaction ? these moments that you get and you wish no one around you was a mind reader because they had to be buried in the darkest corner of your brain, for the rest if eternity ?

well these moments you had a few, one of them worse than others. this moment you shared it with your boyfriend and girlfriend. you didn't really know why but you didn't mind. not until they started cooing at you and laughing very, very, very loudly.

you felt so embarrassed you hid under your own hoodie, tucking in your legs and hiding yourself on a corner of the seat. you whined and groaned as they laughed harder, giggling to themselves. this was absolutely humiliating and you hated them just enough to put dishsoap on their toothpaste.

"this is not that funny ! stop laughing !" you exclaimed, glaring at both as you saw peter roll to the floor.

your words had the opposite effect, making them laugh a little harder the more they looked at your face.

"this is... this is absolutely hilarious actually..." mumbled gwen, trying to catch her breath and get peter to stop rolling around on the carpet like an idiot.

he turned to you and collapsed on himself, laughing still. sick of dealing with his mockery, you stood up, marching towards him and stepping on him repeatedly.

"you buffoon ! stop laughing at me ! i genuinely hope you stub your toe on the sharpest corner there is out there !" you threatening, gritting your teeth when he only laughed hardee.

you watched him catch his breath, wiping tears of amusement from his eyes and sitting up to look up to you.

"you thought... you thought the school had a macdonald and you didn't question anything !"

"i was young !" you exclaimed to save faces.

"you were a worker ! you had a job ! seems pretty grown to me !" he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders and dodging your feet.

you narrowed your eyes as he jumped back up to seat back on the bed next to gwen. both stared at you, observing your displeased expression.

it was rare for anyone other than them to see you this vivid and expressive. you were known for your natural RBF and difficulty to communicate.

truth is, you weren't difficult to get through, you just needed to be comfortable and making you comfortable had been peter and gwen's mission as soon as they met you. both pieces of sunshine, you were the moon and god did they love their moon. you were the one who brought the stars out and revealed the many secrets hidden under your deep dark sky.

"you both deserve to get shat on by pigeons. mostly you parker. i hope while you're doing all that swinging, you crash into a bird and it bites you."

"bunny, birds don't have teeth." frowned gwen, smiling slightly.

"yeah they do ! you told me they did !" you screamed, pointing an accusing finger at your girlfriend while the boy tried to hide his face in her shoulder.

"i was kidding !" exclaimed the blond girl, laughing louder than ever. "oh my god, you're adorable !"

you groaned, hiding your face in your hands and going back to your seat. peter, being quicker than you quickly webbed the back of your shirt to pull you to his lap. you spun backwards, falling on both your lovers. they kept cooing at you while you attempted to flee from their grasps. you were being detained against your will and you would not stand this.

"stay still bunny, or i'll bite you." he threatened, kissing the side of your face.

you stilled automatically, your brain screaming for you to move. he knew which button to push to get you to listen. you were a sucker for marks and being marked, it wasn't you fault.

"awww, look at you listening so well. you really like it when he bites." teased gwen, her hands caressing your calves.

you glared at her, hiding your face in yours hands again. they would kill you one day.

"now that you're calm, tell us more about that school that had its own macdonalds."

nevermind, you would kill them.

[brattyfics]

Drabble request. Miguel Galindo, fluff #9. Please!

9. “Are we on a date right now?”

This is probably nothing like you were expecting but I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the request.

Looking back on it, you supposed you had been dating Miguel for a while without realizing it.

You were new to Santo Padre, working as an associate lawyer at one of the firms downtown. You heard whispers about the infamous Miguel Galindo all around town, but had never seen him in person. Many of the lawyers at your firm were on his retainer, helping to manage his legitimate businesses. When he needed an additional lawyer, he employed your mentor, Mrs. Jones.

As an associate, it was your job to do grunt work-- boring contract negotiations, settling small claims in court, and whatever else was asked of you. That sometimes meant organizing files, drafting documents, doing research, or even just taking notes. You worked with Jones closely on a lot of cases, but she kept you and everyone else far away from Miguel Galindo. You all scheduled your days around him, taking ‘lunch’ breaks at odd hours when he stopped by for a visit. His name definitely preceded him.

The day you finally met him he wore a stunning, white, three-piece suit. Several beefy bodyguards flanked his sides with guns on their hips. You had forgotten your purse in your haste to get out of the office, so you were still around when he arrived. His expression was neutral enough, but the bodyguards were tense.

“Oh.” Your mouth fell open, taking him in. “Hi. I’m sorry, I left this behind.” You lifted your purse for him to see. He didn’t smile or frown, but he did scan the length of your body with his eyes.

Mrs. Jones stepped out of her office, having seen the interaction through the glass walls. “She was just leaving.” She said with a tight smile on her face. You nodded your agreeance, stepping from behind your own desk to leave.

Your heart thudded in your chest. Miguel and his men clogged the pathway to the door, effectively trapping you in. You remembered all the things people in town said about Miguel doubling as a cartel leader. You thought it was baseless gossip, but with the display before you, you no longer had any doubts about the validity of that claim.

He stood in the center blocking your direct path to the exit, but you decided you’d rather take your chances going around all of them than to pass him. He watched your eyes flicker between his men, himself, and the door, carefully plotting every step. He seemed amused when he gestured for you to come towards him.

You were suspicious of his intentions but did as he wanted. He held your gaze with an intense one of his own, head turning to watch you even as you passed him.

When you made it outside, you let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. Now you understood why Jones cleared out the office for his visits. He had an overpowering aura, one that told you not to fuck up or there would be serious consequences. You barely touched your lunch that day, too wound up to eat.

A month later, Jones began clearing the office out again, stopping you before you could make it out. “I need you to stick around.” Her tone left no room for argument, ushering you back towards the conference room. “I want you to take notes. Nothing more, nothing less. Got it?” You nodded, it wasn’t out of the norm for you to sit in on her meetings.

Miguel joined you minutes later, wearing an equally stunning grey suit. Sans the security guard with the two braids, they all waited outside, lined up like a small army. Besides basic greetings, he didn’t speak much to you. You did what you were paid to, listening to the two of them talk and noting what seemed of importance. They talked numbers the entire time, analyzing the cost vs benefit of purchasing a new chain of businesses. The whole thing was pretty boring and standard. You only looked up when you felt his gaze on you.

“What do you think?” He sat back in the chair, leaving the floor open for you to speak. To your left, Jones sat with a shocked look on her face. You eyed Jones for approval before speaking. She nodded. You answered him, citing the reasons for your opinion. He appeared pleased at the end, a friendly smile on his face. “Let’s do that.”

After that day, you always sat in on the meetings, working more as a second advisor rather than a note-taker. You noticed he seemed fond of you. He would smile when you spoke, laugh sometimes when you said something funny, but you figured he was just being nice. During meetings, he was always watching you. Sometimes he stared at your face too long after you said something he was impressed by or eyed our body as you got up to use the restroom, but you didn’t dwell on it. He was a man after all. Perhaps your biggest clue should have been the pastries and flowers he brought in for the ‘office’. He never directly said they were for you, but he took mental notes of which pastries and flowers you liked and made sure there was more than enough the next time. Overall you thought he was nice, but didn’t imagine he was interested in you.

Your relationship changed the day Jones got sick and had to miss work. She left you to ‘manage’ some of the paralegals and legal assistants. Everybody had something they could be working on for a case, and pretty much managed themselves. You made it through most of the day without incident until Miguel called. He wanted to come in for a consult late in the afternoon. You let him know Jones was out for the day, but he insisted.

He arrived around seven PM after everyone else had left for the day. Like normal, he used you as a sounding board slash accountant. A leak had sprung and flooded in one of his buildings. He contemplated fixing it, getting rid of it, and even tearing the old building down and building a new one. Throughout the whole meeting, you found yourself wondering what he was doing. He didn’t need you for basic advice like that, he was more than capable. His visits had become more frequent in the last few months and you wondered why. He was a busy man, surely he had better things to do with his time.

“Are you hungry?”

“Huh?” You tuned back into what he was saying.

“Are you hungry?”

“Oh no.” You answered politely, waving him off.

“Come on. It is dinner time.” The words were innocent enough but the tone behind them was dangerous. You felt like he could talk you into anything with that voice. A devil in disguise.

“Sure.”

Just like that, he was gesturing for his men to enter the room. You decided on what to eat and he sent two of his men off to pick it up. In the meantime, you kept working, but alarm bells were going off in your head. You felt like you were crossing a line, but when the food arrived, your stomach grumbled, and you pushed those thoughts out of your head. Jones didn’t have to know.

The two of you enjoyed your food, smiling and joking in between bites. You saw a softer, more relaxed side of him than you ever thought you would. He had slipped off his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. You tried to resist, but your eyes kept focusing on the veins of his arms, licking your lips. You just hoped you didn’t appear as thirsty as you felt.

“This is my favorite.” He gestured to his plate.

“I’ve never had it.” You shrugged, taking a sip of your drink.

You froze when he offered it to you, fork a few inches from your face. The act was so intimate, something between boyfriend and girlfriend, you couldn’t ignore the signs anymore.

“Are we on a date right now?”

Despite how nervous he felt, he maintained a neutral expression, as cool as ever. “If you didn’t look so disgusted, I’d say we are.” He broke, showing a bit of his true emotion when he dropped the fork on the plate with a dark chuckle.

Shit. He was the last person you wanted to offend. “I’m not disgusted.” You corrected, but couldn’t look at him. “I’m just confused--surprised, I don’t know.” You stood from the stable, pacing. “I’m a work, you’re a client.” His eyes tracked your movements. “I thought you believed in me, trusted my advice. I didn’t think you were throwing me bones to get in my pants!” You tried not to show how hysterical you felt, hands moving to tuck your hair behind your ears.

He stopped you with a raised hand. “I do believe in you. You’re brilliant.” His tone was pleading, he wanted you to believe him. “Trust me if this was just about sex, there are easier routes.” You took it all in as he spoke. He seemed genuine. “I don’t mix business with pleasure either, but there’s something between us. You’re smart, beautiful, business-minded. I couldn’t help but be charmed.” He was definitely the charmer out of the two of you.

“So we’re dating?” You checked, hating the way the words felt coming from your mouth.

“We’re dating.”

[princessamericachavez]

I wanna write a long multi chapter fic about Jack and Shitty becoming friends but also I don’t have the mental bandwidth right now so instead I’m just gonna blurt out a long bulletpoint fic so bare with me

Okay so Shitty B. Knight arrives to Samwell hungry for life and friends and finally some fucking air to breathe and be himself away from his conservative family

And it is fucking great, okay? From the get go he finds that his loud left wing talk is welcomed here, he gets to joke around and be as weird as he wants and no one cares

He hits it off pretty quickly with nearly everyone in the team. Sure, Johnson is a little weird and keeps talking about this merely being the “prologue of someone else’s story” but what he’s really curious about is the quiet Canadian guy that barely talks to anyone

Now, Shitty knows about Jack Zimmermann. Obviously. You have to grow up under a rock to not know about Bad Bob and his kid.

He also knows what happened. It must be a sore subject.

Is that why he’s so quiet?

It’s not that Shitty makes Jack a project. Not really. It’s that Shitty has been in a place where he felt lonely and out of place before and it sucked ass. He wants to help.

So he tries. Constantly.

Because Shitty sees the spark hiding behind the ice cold facade. He sees the way Jack’s face lights up in the rink, how loud and youthfully he celebrates cellys, how protective of others he is in the ice.

That’s a guy he WANTS to be friends with.

Except he can’t. After every training, Jack shuts back up

“Hey, Jaques, wanna go grab a bite?” “Thanks but I should sleep. We got an early day tomorrow.”

“My man, Zimmermann, lets go to that fucking party across campus!” “I’d rather not.”

“Hey, let’s celebrate this fucking win!” “I was actually gonna watch the game tonight. There was a play there that keeps bothering me.”

Anything that isn’t hockey is an instant No from Jack but Shitty is too stubborn to give up.

“Hey, Jack, I was going to train a bit extra on Sunday. Care to join me? You could teach me some of those sick moves.” “Sure.”

VICTORY. Sort of. Working out extra with Jack is exhausting, physically and mentally because Shitty keeps trying to come up with jokes and keeping up 90% of the conversation.

It takes nearly a month until Jack agrees to grab a bite after their Sunday skate and Shitty is so fucking beat that he nearly falls asleep on his burger.

“Hey, Shits, nice ketchup mustache,” Jack chirps him suddenly. And it’s the smallest, dumbest possible thing but Shitty laughs a little too loud and Jacks shoulders seem to lose a bit of that perpetual tension he’s always carrying.

It gets better after that. Slowly, painstakingly, but Shitty finds himself enjoying Jack’s company more and more.

He’s a genuinely good bro. He listens, even when he’s just grunting along time Shitty’s monologues, and he asks questions that shows that he actually cares, every now and then. It’s odd, being taken seriously.

By the end of their first semester, Jack and Shitty are spending a lot of time together. Which is why he asks him to come to the art kids party where Larissa is going to be.

Who? “Brah, Larissa Duan? Just the coolest fucking chick ever! I told you about her the other day, man. She said we should come over to this thing and I would go, but I know shit about art and I would rather not go along and bring my best fucking bro with me.”

After the word vomit he worries that maybe he pushed too far, judging by the way Jack freezes and stares at him like a deer on headlights. But then Jack sighs and says “fine, I’ll go,” and Shitty whoops with excitement

The party goes better than Shitty could’ve ever dreamed. Larissa’s super chill energy seems to have an effect on Jack, who half an hour in is talking about photography with some other art kids and he even agrees to come grab a beer with him and Larissa afterwards.

Until, of-fucking-course, Jack goes into hockey-mode and asks Larissa if she would like to be their team manager. They need one and she seems good at organizing stuff.

“Brah!” “I think it would be cool” “wait, what” “I’ve been looking to do more stuff and you guys are dope. Would I get my own nickname?”

And Jack looks her with that seriousness that means he’s thinking about hockey and firmly says “Lardo” and she says “sweet” and Shitty corrects “swasome” and things are good.

Thing don’t stay good, because as chill as Shitty tries to be, life rarely stays chill.

After winter break, in the smothering tightness of his folks’ home, Shitty finds himself craving that weird and easy friendship with Jack.

Why he finds is a Hockey Robot. All Jack seems to do and talk about is how to get the team to the play-offs. He trains longer than anyone (more than Shitty can keep up with), and when he isn’t on the ice, he is thinking about hockey or talking about plays or or about eating more protein.

Shitty is angry. Not that he would tell anyone (except Lardo) because it’s really not his place (he knows about shorty family dynamics, no pun intended) but he’s mad because Jack’s folks seem to have done quite a fucking number on him over the break and it kills him to even think about it.

And then family weekend comes and Bad Bob himself shows up to Samwell with his beautiful wife and Shitty has to swallow down his anger because Jack wants them to go have diner together and it’s the first human interaction he’s had with Jack in a month so sure he’ll go.

Shitty is good at being nice and polite around people he dislikes. He hates doing it, but it’s like muscle he had to work on growing up.

Except, Bob and Alicia are nice. Like, fucking nice. Even for Canadian standards. They are sweet and funny and normal and keep reassuring Jack about their love and support every third sentence.

And still, Jack has that grim “thinking about the next game” look on his face the whole time.

Shitty is confused as fuck.

The game goes well and Jack is the happiest Shitty has ever seen him as he celebrates his goal in the ice. He even hugs Shitty and thanks him for his assist.

Three games later they are out of the playoffs and Jack shuts down everything and everyone around him.

Shitty tries. He knocks on his door at least twice a day to see if he wants to go over to the Haus to hang out with the team. He offers going out for burgers or a beer or both. He even enlists Lardo, hoping the team manager will be able to snap him out of it.

Jack leaves early for a Hockey Summer camp and doesn’t say goodbye but Shitty hears from Johnson that he also got dibs on a room at the Haus.

Jack actually texts Shitty during the summer. It shocks him so much that he has to double check his phone before replying.

The texts are just to comment on the NHL playoffs and finals, sporadic and robotic at times, but Shitty does his best to drag the conversations for as long as possible. Once the season is over, so are the texts.

Shitty assumes Jack must be pretty happy though since his old bro won the cup.

When fall comes, Shitty stumbles again into Jack’s hockey-robot mode. His intensity is nearly terrifying. He barely speaks out of practice, only leaves his room to go to lecture or the rink. Looks like he hasn’t been sleeping at all.

Shitty is worried. He’s hurt, too, because he misses the friendly Jack that had slowly started coming out of his shell, and he wonders if it’s going to be like this, back to square-one after every break, but most of all he’s worried about Jack.

Lardo tells him to give him space. She says she sometimes gets “on the zone” for an art project and can forget about the rest of the world. Shitty likes thinking of Jack as an artist, but he hates seeing him this unhappy. None of the old tricks work to cheer him up.

Then comes the first Kegster of the year. Two frogs, Hostler and Ransom, take over planing duties and the party is the biggest the Haus has ever seen.

It’s freaking dope.

And then, fucking Kent Parson fucking shows up asking about Jack.

Lardo and Shitty nearly have to drag him out of his room to greet his old best friend.

Jack is cold towards Pars, in a way Shitty has never seen before. He’s downright rude and mean in every comment, no matter how much Kent tries to joke around, and five minutes later Jack turns around and leaves him talking to himself.

He’s jealous, Shitty realizes, and he’s being petty and awful and he doesn’t know this Jack Zimmermann at all.

Shitty runs after Jack upstairs, maybe a little emboldened by the alcohol.

“Hey, brah, what the fuck was that?”

“Stay out of it, Shits.”

“Nah, man, that was weird as fuck.”

“Seriously, you don’t know what you’re talking about”

“Then tell me, man, I’m your fucking friend! Just talk to me!”

Jack slams his bedroom door on his face and Shitty deflates. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe they are not friends after all.

The rest of the semester is tense. Shitty tries to focus on his classes, on the ice, on how fucking cool and pretty and funny Lardo is, on the parties and the rest of the team.

It just bothers him. He misses Jack. He’s still there but he’s been absent any time they aren’t in the rink. He’s still great and focused and nearly friendly in the ice, but anything else is like the fucking twilight zone.

It’s before a game that he finds Jack sitting outside Faber, curled into a ball and physically shaking.

Shitty thinks of the headlines about Jack OD’ing, thinks of his tension around his loving parents and his reaction to Kent Parson showing up. Anxiety. The word takes form in his head, clear and obvious and the relief of having an answer hits him so hard he wants to laugh.

Instead, he sits next to Jack, who stirs when he feels him by his side but actually seems to relax when he realizes it’s Shitty who found him like this. Jack lets out a breathy “I’m fine” and Shitty says “sure, brah, but I’m fucking nervous about tonight, mind if I sit here for a while?” And Jack shakes his head. So they sit, in uncharacteristic silence, until Jack’s breathing normalizes.

“Thanks, Shits. Could you not-“ “Don’t worry man, I ain’t saying fucking shit to anyone.” And Jack smiles for the first time in months.

By the end of the semester comes the Epikegster to end all the kegsters. Which means, of course, Shitty gets shitfaced.

Which is why he ends up stumbling drunkenly to his room in the middle of the night to grab another pair of sunglasses because who knows where the fuck his other two pairs went

And it’s why he doesn’t know how to react when he finds two linebackers throwing up on his bedroom floor

“Brah, what the fuck, get outta here!” He yells, trying to grab one of the guys and pull him out to the hallway.

Except, the guy is huge. And he is angry.

Shitty doesn’t know what hit him when someone throws him to the floor.

His brain thinks he’s been checked for a second but then he remembers he’s not in the ice.

The other guys, however, apparently don’t remember they aren’t on the field because the second dude tries to tackle Shitty just as he’s getting up and he barely has time to dodge before one gigant ducking foot goes through the bedroom wall

“Hey, man, what the fucking fuck?!”

Shitty tries to steady himself, increasingly accepting that he’s about to get into a fight he didn’t ask for. He has time to think it’s ironic that his first real fight in Samwell will be off-the-ice.

And then the bedroom door opens and in comes Jack Laurent Zimmermann in all of his gorgeous badass glory.

“Let’s all calm down, eh?”

Here’s the thing: it’s easy to forget how strong Jack is. Shitty is used to hanging out with Hockey Bros and it’s easy to forget that not everyone’s bro’s are big muscley athletes defying toxic masculinity standards one day at a time. But Jack, even when he doesn’t look that big, is one of the strongest people he’s met.

He remembers all this when Zimmermann grabs the two by their shirts and drags them out of the room and all the way downstairs.

Shitty stumbles after them, as Jack pulls them like they aren’t both huge masses of muscle and throws them out to the street.

By the time Shitty reaches the porch, a bunch of big as fuck guys are standing there, looking drunk and angry and ready for a fight.

So Shitty does the one thing that makes sense to him: he squares up next to Jack, ready to fight back to back with him.

Before they can get run over by fists, however, Jack reaches for the only emergency measure in the house: an old as balls fire extinguisher.

Two minutes later, the football bro’s are running away and Shitty is laughing so hard he collapses on the floor next to Jack.

Jack kneels next to him, with his serious hockey face on, puts a hand on Shitty’s shoulder and asks “you alright, Shits?”

Shitty nods, still laughing, and to his surprise Jack laughs too, sitting by his side on the floor. They sit there, chuckling, until the sound dies down and they both sigh at nearly the same time.

Whatever tension there was between them seems to have desipated with that clouth of dust of the fire extinguisher.

“Thanks for having my back, bro”

“Hey, you always have mine,” Jack shrugs. “What are best friends for?”

Shitty cries. Jack freaks out that he might have said the wrong thing. Shitty just hugs him and shouts about being the best bros.

That winter break Jack invites Shitty over to his house and Shitty accepts eagerly.

Bob and Alicia are sweet and happy to have him and keep saying how much Jack talks about Shitty and how thankful they are that Jack’s found so many good friends in Samwell and they’ve heard about Lardo and Hostler and Ransom and Johnson and Shitty most of all.

This time he manages not to cry.

At the end of the break, Jack and him are hanging out and Jack says “Hey, Shits, I’m not good at this but I wanted to say thanks, for not giving up on me when I was acting kinda weird.”

And Shitty just laughs and says “it’s alright man, I figured you have like hockey robot mode and then human mode.”

Jack makes a face. Shitty shrugs.

“I’ll take them both, brah.”

Jack doesn’t cry, because he’s Jack and even his human mode struggles with emotions, but he smiles and throws a snowball at Shitty’s face and that’s all he wanted really.

[ruby-whistler]

Ok, I’m glad you could clear that up, just to specify I was talking about these very specific parts with what I was talking about:

. “Seeing this fandom dehumanize the character on such a large scale makes me sick and extremely worried for them, so shut up.”

You did in fact claim you were extremely worried for them. This could easily be taken as implying that you think it says something about their morals/actions/future actions based on how they talk about a very much fictional character in a post. Not cool. That was my only point there. If that’s not what you meant then good, no trouble here, but I’m just telling you because it can be interpreted that way, especially since it’s pretty common for people to say things like that in this fandom, sadly.

I’m glad you clarified the colonization thing, what you said makes sense. I figured you could of meant something like that, so that’s why I gave you the benefit of the doubt. People can totally relate because of their circumstances for any reason, it’s saying it’s canonically accurate when it is very much not which is kind of insensitive.

Your point about Sam was,,, weird? Your saying I can’t sympathize with someone who abused someone,,,, when dream is also some who abused some one. No where in that did I say it’s ok to abuse dream because of that, I’m just stating facts that yes, dreams actions hurt sam. Sam was very fond of tommy and no doubt hm having to deal with the guy who abused him, talked about abusing him, and then killed him would be traumatic for him. You can hurt someone while still being hurt by them. It’s not always a one way street. Again, that doesn’t at all excuse anything sams done, he’s done a lot of awful things, but it is a fact of his character hard boiled into his arc. It’s not exactly hidden away. Just like people are allowed to analyze why dream does the things he does, people are allowed to analyze why sams doing what he does. Doesn’t excuse it, but explains it. Here are some quotes from in game chat on foolishes stream that talk about this. Dream is not just “telling him what he did” he’s taunting him. This has been confirmed many times.

“He kills the other inmates. And laughs. And tells me to come in the cell so he can kill me too.”

“He tells me that he knows everything. That he is waiting.for the right day.”

He talks about at other times even earlier in the arc why he is so obsessedwith the prison. He feels like it is his duty to protect the people who he failed to protect before.

And I found the dream quote! He very much says forever. No questioning that.

“Tubbo, I’m gonna lock Tommy away forever, I mean I need him alive, but that doesn’t mean he has to be free, right?” There’s no reading between the lines that can be done there. He planned for tommy to have his current fate.

I never said you were hyper sensitive? I just said I personally deal with feeling like that (I often project into characters, and seeing people apologize for abuse makes me upset) so it was genuine advice to anyone who feels the same. If something is causing you genuine distress it’s good to take a break. No ones forcing you to, but it can help some people. No where did I imply that anyone was hypersensitive for having to do that? People who say stuff like that about characters should definitely stop, but sadly not everyone will, so it can be good to try and filter things/take a break so you don’t have to see it. Because it can take a toll on your mental health. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking a break, it doesn’t make you hypersensitive. And even if you are, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s valid.

The only reason I asked for you to wait if Anything I said upset you is because I really don’t want to get yelled at, and like I said, I don’t know you. I’ve seen people get really angry at critical asks before and it can help to take a step back before you respond. It was more pertaining to my sensitivity then any one else’s because being yelled at makes me upset so I really don’t want to be yelled at lol. It’s happened before in asks so I was just asking that if you feel like yelling at me please kindly don’t, or at least wait till your not angry, cause it will make me upset. Just a precaution. Sorry if it came off as condescending, I didn’t mean it that way (your response was fine btw)

ah, i think i see the problem - i need to stop with the confusing sentences, this is the second time in that single post someone’s misunderstood what i wrote. i hope you excuse me, english isn’t my first language.

There are literal abuse victims in this fandom, and I personally know a lot of them relate to what c!Dream is going through (more on that later). Seeing this fandom dehumanize the character on such a large scale makes me sick and extremely worried for them, so shut up.

this is the full quote. translation; i am extremely worried for the abuse victims that relate to c!dream’s character for *reasons*, so shut up about this not being a problem.

i never said i was worried for the people who dehumanize him, and definitely not because i was accusing them for this sort of thing bleeding into their real life ideals or opinions.

since our first debate, i have seen poc and non-poc from colonized countries detailing why it is colonization even if the of inhabitants were white, so i do not find it insensitive for people to say it - i don’t necessarily agree nor disagree too much either, but it wasn’t a point i was making in the post, and wasn’t what the problem was about.

please tell me when i said you couldn’t sympathize with c!sam, because to me it seems like you’re making up a point. i’m saying sympathizing with him in the situation where he’s currently abusing someone because you hate the victim (you being some people, not actually you) rubs me the wrong way and feels like people are trying to shift the focus. i am rather sympathetic to c!sam, or as much as i allow myself to be with his actions (similarly to c!dream). i’d like to think i do not have a double standard for any of the characters and c!sam apologists who do not excuse his treatment of c!dream or victim blame him are a 100% valid to feel the way they do in my eyes.

there is a difference between trying to protect people and that desire for protection blooming into hatred, as you put it “obsession” (being willing to break the rules to keep him in), and trying to “break him” so he “wouldn’t try anything”. c!sam’s treatment of c!dream is severe and i do not find it understandable, justified or excused just because the prisoner being kept in inhumane conditions is “taunting him”. i am not saying his goals weren’t initially good or didn’t stem from a good place, but at this point he has become corrupted and his actions aren’t what i’d classify as valid responses to c!dream’s “taunts”.

thanks for the quote. i disagree that he planned to put him in the same position as he himself, because my logical conclusion is that he wouldn’t he in the main cell, and would be able to move around the prison, as well as not be abused by c!sam (who would still be the warden). anything c!dream would’ve done is speculation and there is no proof to the fact that it would happen. the prison wasn’t “remade for c!tommy”, it was more like an “eh, it’ll do” sort of thing. the prison’s conditions were pretty much remade to store someone they hated and considered either a threat or a tool, hence lesser than human. no one else in the prison would face the same treatment c!dream, because they’re not c!dream.

i never said you were calling me hypersensitive, what i meant was, i was hoping you didn’t think my concerns were a thing of sensitivity rather than the need of the community to change something. i would rather continue making posts and analysis in an effort to actively shift the fandom’s perspective than take a break, but i get how that might be beneficial for me to do in the long term, and did not think you would write that with malicious intent or as an insult to me or my personality.

[izzielizzie]

Chapter Six

Weekend runs are bliss. Early morning air fills my lungs and all the worries from the week: Vanessa hijacking the soccer team, TJ showing up everywhere I don’t want him to be, and Bronwyn’s murder investigation, evaporate until the only thing filling my mind is the sound of my music and the ponding of my sneakers on the sidewalk. When I reach the steep hill I use as a marker to end my three miles, I feel motivated enough to keep running, and I can hardly breathe when I reach the top. I’m about the double over and catch my breath when I hear my name being called. I sigh when I recognize the voice. It’s Vanessa. I wonder if it’s too late to pretend I didn’t hear her, but I look up and meet her blue eyes and I have no choice but to walk over to her, where she’s sitting with Cooper, Addy, Luis, and - ugh - TJ. “Maeve! Hi! Fancy seeing you here!” “Vanessa you do realize I live in Bayview right?” Every time Vanessa sees me she acts like I live in Kentucky or something. “I know, I know. I just enjoy seeing you! Do you enjoy seeing me?” I look at Vanessa properly and I realize now why she’s called me over. She’s wearing her soccer uniform. And it has my number from last year. “Sure,” I say. I’m still out of breath and I have no desire to be nice. “Well, I’m so glad I ran into you! Or that you ran into us I guess.” She laughs at her own joke. “I actually wanted your opinion on something. TJ and I are going on a date this weekend and I wanted your advice on where to go.” I’m distracted trying to figure out if bending over to catch my breath would make me look weak, so when I finally register her question all I can do is stare at her. I look between TJ who’s staring at the ground, and Vanessa, who’s smirking at me. Oh this bitch knows exactly what she’s doing. Vanessa continues talking. “Addy was telling us that the beach is great this time of year.” No. No, I can’t do this. I’m gonna faint. Or be sick. Or both. “Vanessa stop,” Luis says, his voice hard. “What? I’m just saying, Maeve knows all about beach dates. She could even-” I don’t hear the rest of her sentence because I’ve turned and started running down the hill again. I can’t see where I’m going through the tears, and I’m so upset that when I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders I panic. I twist and kick out, using the self defense tricks my father taught me ages ago. My foot doesn’t connect with anything though, and it throws me off. “Maeve, Maeve. Stop.” I recognize the voice and I freeze. “Luis?” “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” I can’t see his face through my tears, but his voice is laced with genuine concern and I fall into him, sobbing like my life depends on it. He rubs his hand up and down my back like my mom did when I was a kid, and it’s so relaxing that I can’t even try to imagine how weird we must look: me crying into his chest in the middle of the sidewalk, but I can’t move. I pull away when I’m out of tears, and he gently swipes his thumbs over my cheeks to dry them. “I’m not okay,” I tell him. I know it’s such an obvious thing to say, but as I look into his deep brown eyes that are filled with so much kindness, I feel myself relax for what might be the first time in years. He nods at me. “I know.” “TJ cheated,” I say. I don’t know why I’m telling him, but I haven’t had anyone to talk to lately. Luis’s hand is still on my back, and he’s rubbing small circles on it, almost absentmindedly. It’s nice. He raises his eyebrows at me, telling me to keep talking. “He was at the beach over the summer and he hooked up with Addy and Vanessa found out.” “Dios,” Luis mutters, and I finally realize who I’m talking to. Every time Vanessa subtly attacks me, Luis has been there, and he’s never lifted a finger to stop her. And from what I can tell, he’s suddenly best friends with TJ. I pull away from him. “Not that you’d care,” I mutter. Luis’s face drops and he squeezes my hand the way he did when we were kids. “Maevey, come on.” Maevey. No one has called me that in years. “You stopped talking to me. You stopped caring about me.” Luis and I were best friends when we were kids. Like Nate and Bronwyn. Like Cooper and Addy. All six of us were thick as thieves before my parents sent me to Connecticut to live with my grandparents. When I came back, no one was speaking to each other. When did unconditional love turn into pure hatred? When did we start tearing each other down? Why do we rip each other apart and set fire to the corpse just to watch it burn? Why don’t we patch each other together anymore? I have so many questions for all of them: why did Nate stop laughing? Why can’t Bronwyn relax? Why doesn’t Addy speak her mind? Why is Cooper so hesitant, so perfect? And why doesn’t Luis love me anymore? I guess they have some for me too: why am I so bitter? I’m scared I don’t have the answer. “Maeve,” Luis’s voice jolts me back to myself. “I never stopped caring about you. You left, what was I supposed to do?” “IT WASN’T MY CHOICE.” I tear out of his grasp. I can’t stand being near him. “Maeve, let me drive you home. You’re not thinking straight.” As if. I can’t be in a car with him. “No!” He reaches for me. His hands grip my upper arms and before I can think, I rear back and slap him as hard as I can. “I said no!” I turn and start running before I can even understand what I just did.

Nearly ten hours later, I’m in the ballroom of the grand Bayview hotel that my parents rented out for their charity event. For tonight, we’re a normal family. We stand together, my father in his suit, my mother, sister, and I in our ball gowns. My hair is up, twisted in a knot, and the back of my floor length dress is open. I feel cold, exposed and incredibly raw after this morning. And I also feel so, so, so bad about how I treated Luis. I turned my own anger and fear out on him. He just wanted to make sure I was okay. I can’t be here, talking to the mayor and his wife like I give a damn. I tug on my mother’s sleeve. “Mom, I’m gonna get a drink,” I mutter to her. She nods at me. Normally, she’d insist that I stay with the rest of the family, but everyone’s been walking on eggshells around me since TJ and I broke up. Normally, I’d hate being treated like that, but tonight I’m reveling in the newfound independence. I make my way to the drink table, but before I can even reach it, a tray with a steaming mug of… something materializes in front of me. “Cinnamon hot chocolate? “Wha-” “It’s still your favorite right?” Of course it is. Cinnamon hot chocolate has always been my one true love, but I’m not confused about that. “What are you doing here?” “My father is catering this rather fancy event, and he asked me to help. I could use the money.” How could I forget that his dad owns a café? I used to go there all the time. He pauses and shoots me a wicked grin. “And girls love men in a uniform.” He is wearing a uniform: black slacks, white button down shirt, and a black vest. Pretty standard for waiters. “Girls like men who shut up,” I say as I take the mug from the tray. Luis smiles. “There you are Rojas. You’re sass failed to make an appearance this morning.” I look down at the ground and cup my hands around my steaming mug. When I look up, Luis is looking at me with a look I can’t decipher, but it makes me feel as warm and cozy as the drink in my hands. I shift my mug to one hand and reach up to touch his face with another. “That looks painful,” I say. “You don’t know your own strength.” I laugh a little. “I’m sorry for what I did. It was wrong of me.” “It was,” Luis agrees. I glare at him and he grins. “But I accept your apology.” I return his grin. “What can I do to make it up to you?” Luis’s face takes on an exaggeratedly thoughtful look. “You could serve tables seven and eight for me.” I put my hand on my hip. “I’m being serious here, Santos.” “As am I Rojas,” he says, mimicking my pose. I start laughing at him, and his grin is bright enough to light up a room. I missed that. I missed us. “We could go to the roof. The utility closet is always unlocked. No one would even miss us.” I’m not surprised that he knows this. Luis was always the best person to concoct an escape route. I shift on my uncomfortable heels as I consider his offer and sip my coca. We used to spend ages on the flat part of my garage roof, which was accessible through my window. I’ve missed that too. “Okay,” I finally say. I follow him through the ballroom and into the hallway, where he disposes of his tray and my mug in the hall in front of the kitchen. “You’re so slow,” he says as I trail behind him to the elevator. “My heels are killing me.” “So take them off.” He says this with an easy shrug and a quick grin, like this is the easiest thing in the world. “I’m not walking barefoot,” I say. Luis smiles at me, and before I can understand what is happening, he scoops me up in his arms. “Luis,” I laugh as I link my arms around his neck. I’d tell him to put me down, but I’ve missed this camaraderie with him. “Can’t let you hurt your feet, Maevey.” I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. Luis Santos had always been home to me. For five years I’d been lost without his strong arms and deep brown eyes. I stay in his arms as we push through the doors and step into the twilight. The slanted doors are perfect for laying on, and we stay there for nearly an hour, my head on his shoulder and his arms around me. I wish we could stay here all night, in this world where I never had cancer and was sent to Connecticut because my parents couldn’t deal with the constant pity from everyone. In a world where we were still MaeveandLuis and LuisandMaeve.

[memory-bees]

ok but deadass ppl who hate on darry for being abusive (related to that, he's not abusive, yes he made a mistake for pushing ponyboy but im pretty sure that he and ponyboy can agree that its not abusive, a mistake.) anywho ppl who hate on darry for that are the worst type of people in my opinion

Anon you’re right and you should say it. Obviously, everybody’s entitled to their opinions on characters and every character is up to interpretation, hell even I can see Darry has some bad flaws and although I might not write about it or bring it up a lot I do discuss it with @staygold-motherfucker pretty much weekly lmao. But even then people who don’t like Darry have such a moral superiority and some of them- definitely not all, trust me I used to not like Darry that much either- act like they want people who like him to feel bad? And honestly, the double standards in this fandom are really gross. So many people openly shit on Darry and nobody blinks an eye but the second I say jally isn’t that great of a ship or that Dally isn’t a stand-up guy because he literally beats up little kids in canon I’m horrible! The anons I got the few days after I posted about how I didn’t think jally wasn’t that great of a ship were so fucking nasty and mean and I genuinely wish I could see what these people were saying. And even then, I like jally as a ship! I like Dally as a character! Because a character/ship doesn’t have to be close to Godhood to be a good character! I’m sorry if I sound upset but I’m honest to god sick of seeing Darry shat on relentlessly and getting the occasional anon about how I “support abuse” because I like this character. I’m allowed to like Darry as a character and you’re allowed to like Dally as a character if you do, it’s really not that fucking big of a deal!

[blueprint-han]

Heyyy, so I’m sorry for bothering but I saw that your inbox is open for shit like this... I’m very worried about the hj situation. Like I’ve just recovered from the Han situation and now this... my main concern is... jyp won’t kick him out, right? I swear I’ll fucking lose it if that happens... regarding kingdom - i don’t even care honestly if they’ll not go on it or something, although it would be a big loss in terms of opportunities, I just hope they’re doing okay. Also - like, this may be a bit harsh but my dude apologized, even apologized to the people who made the accusations and they accepted it... I’m pretty sure all of us would want to yeet back in time (including hyunjin himself) and correct the mistake but like sheesh, give him a break, he apologized and is actively trying to be a better person - there’s nothing more he can do. I’m also confused - I’ve read that (almost) all the other idols that were accused recently denied the allegations so I’m not sure but like why y’all attacking one of the only ones who genuinely apologized? Ok nvm, the people telling him to leave the group and making petitions for it are sick in the head, I’m not saying what he did was good but people change and try to better themselves. There’s nothing more he can do rn. And also, this may be harsh but like knetz got some ridiculous double standards imo. (At least from what I’ve seen)

I seriously just hope he won’t be kicked out of the group or I will yeet myself to outer space. All these things piling up, all the hate towards skz makes me genuinely sick and reading how non-stays are bashing them is such a pain in the ass, they don’t deserve the amount of backlash they’re getting and I seriously don’t know why they are receiving it in the first place.

Sorry for the obnoxious length of it and have a nice day😔🎀

Hii babie! Yes, my inbox is always open for stuff like this, which is why I try not to rb any stuff about the discourse issue because I realise some people, including myself may not want to see posts about it on their dash. <3 under the cut!

That's what I'm concerned about too, tbh. :( I'm almost a 99% sure that they won't kick him off the group and maybe this is just some tactic to let the masses calm down before he comes out of his she'll again, but I also understand that 1% of doubt that crawls into me from time to time.

It's confusing, JYP’s method of handling this issue is confusing, I'll say. I think the major reason people are so confused right now is because JYP’s statement leaves such a huge grey area. They deny bullying accusations, while also simultaneously agreeing that hyunjin infact did something harsh. Whether that's because of a door or not, idk, but the statement is super fucking vague and had they had been more clear, a huge chunk of our paranoia would have been eased.

Also, I agree. I have myself argued with my commrades in the past, I've made mistakes in the past that I wish I could turn back time and solve, but the thing I can do is apologize and hope the person forgives me, though they have no obligation to. :\ I do infact think that the hiatus is a good thing for hyunjin. It's good for him to get some rest after handling this accusations and hate, it's more so the way jyp put it that freaked many people out. First saying that “they’ll do better in their artists’ selection process” and now this, OF COURSE people are gonna be worried because it comes off as so dangerously close to breaking the group. So my point is, I think the hiatus is good for him in the view of giving him some time to collect his thoughts and heal from the inevitable damage. However, I will say ‘reflecting on his actions’ at the age of 21 for something he did when he was 14 or so is total dumbassery and I don't understand why JYP would use that in their statement.

Also there are people making petitions for him leaving the group??? Gross. Don't listen to them much, darling. They're just looking for a moment to start discourse in the fandom, although it should not be ignored completely, don't stress too much over that, because there are more stays who will stay with skz than those delusional people.

At this point, cancel kingdom if this is the effect it has on an idols mental health. :\ Ik sweetheart, it's pretty scarring but all we can do is hopefully wait until hyunjin returns from his hiatus. ♡ I hope the other members are doing okay too :( and I hope he's taking care of himself :(

And pls, don't apologise! My inbox is always free for you to vent if you need to, thank you for trusting me <3

[hobiwonder]

A vase of flowers | (m)

Genre: Smut, enemies to lovers.

Pairing: Wealthy art student!taehyung x art student!reader

Warnings: slight angst. language. foreplay, descriptions of unprotected sex, dirty talk. it’s pretty tame otherwise.

Words: 10k

Summary: Art prodigy Taehyung comes to your art store out of desperation   when he doesn’t have enough paint to finish his latest piece. That wouldn’t be a problem if you didn’t hate his elitist ass. 

a/n: this was just to get back in to writing. Its not edited and probably doesn't flow the best. But it did get me writing so here u go!! feedback is much appreciated :)

(he’s a work of art himself!!1!!!1!)

The hustle and bustle of students – females in particular – in the hall outside the lecture theatre was more infuriating than you had anticipated. What else did you expect though? The one day you don’t come late to the lecture is the day Kim Taehyung had decided to show up to class so the hallways outside the room being cramped like a chicken farm was inevitable. Even Minnie sitting beside you was craning her neck forward to catch a glimpse of the artistic prodigy – never mind his out of the ordinary good looks – before the class started. He was very much a superstar at your university but you will never understand why people were so obsessed with people who were not actually that great if you just looked past the good looks and the talent. Talent didn’t automatically make someone a good person and everyone’s obsession with the teal haired artist really pissed you off.

“Ugh, when will these bimbos shut up. He’s not a god!” Your words are muffled against your sweater clad forearm as you try and rest your head before class started. Having the closing shift the night before was one of the few things you despised when you had a class this early in the next morning. But you still showed up to every one of them. Unlike someone else.

“Well it doesn’t help that he looks like one.” Minnie is just shrugging while she continues to lean over her chair to watch the girls twirl their hair, throw back their heads in laughter whenever Kim Taehyung says something ‘funny’, nudging his shoulder with their own to show their frankness when really – none of these girls probably knew him past his bedroom since he rarely showed up to class. But news of him being a womanizer was common although slightly more hushed than that of the football team captain and co-caption Jeon Jungkook and Min Yoongi. Those boys were a headache for another day.

Kim Taehyung wasn’t anything special. In fact – he rarely showed up to class, was given special privileges you were sure of it because he was always in the top three students despite showing his face once in a blue moon, had every professor whipped for his pert ass because of how well connected he was in the industry as well as his family being one of the founding fathers of your current university.

Sure, someone like that is bound to be more popular than your regular high achiever or talented artist but the fact that he had everyone absolutely nuts about him was infuriating. On top of th-

“Are you done with your inner monologue? You’re blocking my way.” The unmistakably deep voice belongs to none other than the boy who you wanted to punch so very much. But that wouldn’t be wise given that most of the class was watching. His annoyingly attractive smirk was always there. Like it was just how his mouth was shaped but you knew that he always made the look a bit more condescending when speaking to you. Not that he would let anyone else know though. Bastard knew how to keep his persona up and you just wanted to smack him even more!

“Oh sorry. Forgot your name was on that seat since you barely come to class. I’ll remember for the next time when you make your monthly appearance.” Minnie is nudging you with her elbow no doubt to shut you up and it’s not the first time this exact scenario had taken place. But you wanted to keep yourself in check since no doubt the rest of your comrades would give Minnie a hard time since they didn’t have the balls to annoy you because of your obvious dislike of Kim Taehyung.

“Missed me, did you?” Your little victory smile is slipping off your face when his smirk deepens and you have to physically grab your desk and grit your teeth from snapping at him again while you move your feet out of the way so his smug ass can get to his stupid seat. Thankfully his seat was towards the end of the row so you didn’t have to catch glimpses of his pretentious face.

“You wish trust fund baby.” Alas, he isn’t affected. Not even a bit as he winks your way while walking to ‘his’ seat.

“Leave the pet names for people who actually get to be with me.” That’s it. Youj will break his stupid obnoxious snobby face!

“Calm down y/n. Everyone is watching.” She holding on to your arm while your eyeballs glare at Taehyung’s direction without even blinking.

“All the more satisfying when I kiss him with my fist! Minnie let me go you knob.” While you’re trying to wrestle your arm free; your professor has walked in looking pleasantly surprised with the semi-full lecture theatre. His gaze almost instantly goes directly to Taehyung because even he knows that most of these new faces that show up once in a while as well are because of Taehyung. They nod at each other before he starts the class and your mouth is agape that no one even questions the favouritism in this class. A bunch of ass kissers!

“Are you seeing this? His daddy probably plays golf with the prof. Jung Soo!”

“So what, y/n? You’re forgetting the rest of them also have parents who play golf with Taehyung’s dad. Most of these rats are rich as fuck. Not everyone comes from humbler beginnings.” Minnie is smiling hopefully as she watches you pout but her response only makes you snort.

“Are you forgetting you’re one of these ‘rats’?”

“Don’t remind me.” She falls back in her seat while hiding her face at the mention of her filthy rich parents being business partners with Kim Taehyung’s. When you’d first found out how well off your best friend was it only made you more enraged. If she could be a decent human being and not get any special treatment – despite being extremely talented as well – then why stupid Kim Taehyung? Minnie had a banging body and a face to match not that it should matter but you were so sick of the double standards. Your best friend also deserved special treatment dammit!

“Why? You shouldn’t be ashamed of being rich, hot AND a decent human being. I would so be one of those girls drooling after that canvas demon if I was gay.”

“Bitch I’m almost convinced you aregay but the way you’re ready to drop your panties for Min Yoongi tells me otherwise.” You only try to muffle your laughter while smacking Minnie’s knee, mumbling a ‘shut up’ before you both opt to pay attention to what your professor is going on about. Not before you catch Taehyung watching you like he was about to grade your upcoming assessment. You just send him another glare and try to ignore his overtly attractive physical presence. How could someone just sittingseem attractive, you will never get it. God really favoured some people more than others huh?

“Thanks for coming. Have a nice day!” The chime of the register as it slid closed was a sound you were starting to hate. The smile on your face was tired and probably was becoming very obviously fake. But that was just a typical day at the arts and crafts store – the only one in the near vicinity of the university hence the more than average traffic even close to 7pm at night on a weekday. Since the store was employed with almost entirely all students, it was able to stay open longer than the regular hours to allow the students with day classes to work during the night shifts. You were an exception though. Being on the lower end of the income spectrum among your peers, you needed as much work as you could get. Doing a bachelors in fine arts helped too as you used the tools that the store sold, on a regular basis. It definitely came in handy when assisting first years and some mature aged students who needed extra help in finding the right type of brushes or paints needed for their canvases.

“You good? You can take off for the rest of the night you know?” You know that Sungwoon is trying to sound helpful but you knew his real intentions. Scoffing in his direction you just grab your blue water bottle to take a good swig and wake you up.

“So you can steal my shift and work instead? Not today satan.”

“You’re literally so dramatic.” He says while heaving the biggest breath out like he was any better. “Maybe I genuinely just want you to rest and not have your face turn in to one of those creepy smiling masks from that one movie.” He’s clicking his fingers s if that’ll help him recall the name of the film any faster. Lucky for him, you knew what he was talking about.

“The Purge?”

“That’s it! See, you knew exactly what I was referring to. You need sleep.” Sungwoon is nodding while looking at you like you stank or something. Ugh screw boys.

“If I did, you’re the first person I’ll get rid off.” You deadpan and you can almost pinpoint when he starts to realise you may not be joking. But you were of course. He was a little shit but all in good fun.

“Well,” he’s picking up his bag and making sure to clock out from the app the store used to make sure everyone was getting to work on time, “I’ll be going then. Have fun scaring off rest of the customers and drowning the revenue for today.”

His squealing laughter is the last thing you hear before he’s scuttling out when you try and smack him across his bicep. Sungwoon was probably one of the few boys you could stand and were actually close enough with for them to joke around like that with you because apart from Minnie, there weren’t many people who really liked talking to you. That much was clear when you’d moved near the campus from your town when you’d been accepted to the rather elite Art University.

Coming from a small town – you’d think you were more friendly but that wasn’t the case with you. You’d grown up with a strict father that made sure to discipline you if you ever messed up your tasks at his workshop. Ever since you could remember how to read and write, you had been helping him out with the business as he could not. His own father – your grandfather – had been even more strict on him according to your mother so there was no changing him. You had never really minded in doing the book-keeping for him or making sure the small town client paid on time after having their cars tended to. That’s until you had started your Junior year in high school and had the choice of choosing between subjects now that you were to apply for universities after. Or that’s what the plan was for most children. You had taken Art as a spare since it was the easiest class at the time and you really didn’t need any complicated subjects to study for because you were having to work at the workshop with your dad even more as you were getting older.

Being an only child also meant that all the expectations your parents had fell upon you to see them through. It also meant that the only time you interacted with your fellow classmates was during class. Not even after because as soon as school would finish – you’d have to rush to the workshop to help your dad sign out cars from the shop to the owners on time. He specifically made appointments towards the end of your school day just so you could be there and help him make sure the checks he was given by the more wealthier customers – only a few – were not for an amount less than he’d quoted them with. Believe it or not, it had happened and every time it did you had to stop yourself from smacking the bastards who had tried to take advantage of your father just because he couldn’t read. Ant to make the matter even more ridiculous, most of the people who tried to scam your father had been those who could actually afford his services. Not Joe who had a farm and sold eggs locally as his main source of living, not Jihoon’s father who was a delivery man and needed his vehicle to keep working and provide for him family and certainly not the old lady who had her truck serviced by your father so she could get to her appointments to the doctor, on time despite her only income being what her son sent from the city where he worked as a chef and had his own family to feed.

The world was filled with unkind people and most of them were those who could afford most things but still tried to take the less fortunate’s share too. Your father was a calm man but all his frustrations were usually taken out on you whenever you would rightfully insult those who tried to seek discounts despite knowing that your father wouldn’t be able to afford the tools he needed to do a fair job on the vehicles if he didn’t get paid the amount he had set on the pricelist which was dismal compared the mechanics you have seen in the city.

But of course, he wouldn’t say much to those low-lives because at least he was getting business. And that was better than nothing. When you’d finally let him know at the end of your senior year that you’d applied to an arts university rather than the business school he had hoped you would go to – things had not gone well, to say the least. Of course all his anger would be directed at you that day from the shop as well as finding out that his only child was not interested in business at all. You had done it as much as you could for the sake of helping out and honestly? Just not knowing what was out there for you to study and do with your life. But If there was anything that working with your father had taught you was that if you didn’t take a chance sooner than later – you’d end up having to rely on someone else for the rest of your life. Just like your father relied on you for so long because he just never got around to even finish school because of doing exactly what you had been – helping out your granddad.

The day you had left for university had been hard and was the second time you had cried. Your father hadn’t even looked at you but your mother had clutched on to you until you had to physically pull her away when your taxi had arrived. Even after making sure there was someone to help out your father at the shop, there was still apprehension present in your gut. It had all felt wrong somehow even as you had been unpacking your stuff in your flat the next night. Thankfully, all the hesitancy, all the fights and the sleepless nights had been worth it when you’d gone in to your first class the next day. You’d been excited to meet new people, make friends, make memories you didn’t even knew you had the option to make. But what do you know, getting accepted in to an elite university meant there were more of the same people you had fought off and defended your father from.

Meeting Minnie was almost a miracle. She had been the only one to come up to you being desperate to find a buddy to get lost around the campus with and not like the rest who had taken one look at your jeans and plaid shirt and moved on to find others with the same clothing or designer bags. People were so materialistic in the city it was almost unbelievable. In your town you had been able to find others who were more so on your social and economic status and feel comfortable. But in the city you were outnumbered. Maybe that’s why people like Kim Taehyung got on your nerves even more than usual. You’d noticed his elitist behaviour when invitations had been sent to attend the commencing party at his house in the first week you’d been attending the university and instantly you knew you would never be able to stand him or people like him. Only a certain number and certain looking people – girls to be exact – had been invited to the famous Kim estate. You’d only found out when Minnie had asked what you were going to wear to the party. The look on your face had probably given away your lie that you weren’t actually invited when you’d made up some excuse of not wanting to go. Minnie being the good sport and the only decent person you had known, had made some excuse about not ‘feeling it’ and stayed in that night and watched all of Harry Potter series with you. With you watching them for the first time.

“Bugger.” Your thoughts are interrupted when you almost trip over the bucket of sale items Sungwoon forgot to move. Taking a deep breath, you pick up the relatively heavy bucket that contained tubes of oil paint in colours such as black, white and red that were bought the most and move it to the stock room so it can be displayed again the next morning. Your shift was going to end in another 2 hours so now most of the work included moving display stock to the back room and print out labels for the discounts that were going up tomorrow morning. This is probably why you didn’t completely hate night shifts because other than a few customers – it mostly involved you working silently and most times even able to use headphones without having to worry about missing anyone at the till waiting for you.

“Hello? You guys still open?” You’d just finished putting away the tubes and the paint brushes when the front door had opened – as signalled by the bell atop it – meaning there was a customer.

“Coming!” Quickly getting down from the ladder where you’d been putting the paint in their designated boxes, you rush outside. “Hi, how can I- Oh. It’s just you.”

Taehyung is scoffing towards you when you roll your eyes seeing as it’s not a real customer. It was true. The last few time she’d come in – he’d browsed for all of 5 minutes before making a weird face and leaving. Probably going to buy his pretentious paints from his pretentious shop. It was as if he only came to the store to make fun of all the products most students living on campus – or not filthy rich like him – used.

“Isn’t that against some customer service code? To have this sort of attitude?” His bright hair has somehow made the place look a little less mundane, you hate to admit it. His very clear skin and the various rings he wore didn’t help either in making you feel less than. You hated how much he actually affected your mood.

“For actual customers? Probably yeah.” This time, it’s him who’s rolling his eyes while his hands comes up to have a feel of a synthetic brush that was hanging in front of him.

“What makes you think I’m not a customer?”

“You really want me to answer that?”

“I actually am here to buy something this time.” His response only makes you smirk as you hum.

“So you do admit that you only come here to flaunt your wealth. That’s a good sign Taehyung.” But for some reason, the teasing that would usually make you feel better doesn’t feel as satisfying when Taehyung is just looking around like he’s in a pickle rather than through an insult back at you.

“Look, I need some paint and maybe a few natural hair brushes. I would go to-”

“Your overpriced and pretentious art store?”

“-my regular spot but I need to finish this painting tonight.” He completely ignores you when you cut in with a smirk and almost sounds like he is pleading. Wait. He was. The new found info perks you up more than you’d anticipated and it’s almost exciting knowing Kim Taehyung’s fate lies in yhour hands. Okay, maybe an exaggeration but still exviting. So you do what anyhone else in your position would – milk out the entire debacle.

“Well, well, well.” Leaning on your elbows on the counter, you can’t help but feel sort of like an evil villain finally with the perfect opportunity to strike. Except, you weren’t the villain really. You were the good guy!

“For fuck’s sake.” Taehyung mumbles lowly under his breath but you could hear him loud and clear. “How long are you going to make me wait?”

You wanted to be cruel, you really did. You wanted to tell him you had ran out of the supplies but you were too tired and honestly, he was probably going to buya  bunch of stuff and if you made a sale above 50,000 won in one transaction then you would make some sweet commission. So whatever.

“Luckily for you, I’m a decent human being so,” stepping out from behind the register, you just deadpan at him, “right this way.”

He seems surprised and so are you. At yourself. Because you’re not sure why you’re being this nice to him when he’s made fun of you on more than one occasion.

“I’m slightly scared you’re leading me somewhere quieter so you can murder me.” His voice is slightly meek and you’re thankful that he can’t see your face because you’re trying to hold in ugly laughter that Kim Taehyung is actually scared of you when alone despite acting like hot shit when surrounded by a herd of girls.

“A good, educated guess. But not today.”

“…. So there is a chance for that to happen another day?” Spinning around to face him abruptly – damn okay maybe you should major in acting because Taehyung flinches but tries to play it off by shrugging his broad shoulders.

“Maybe.” You’re slightly too close to him because you have to crane your neck up to meet his gaze. Just when his own slips down to your lips, you quickly gesture towards the aisle you’ve just stopped in front of. “Here you’ll find what you need. Brushes and paints.”

“Thanks.” You just shrug before turning around to go back to the cash register. That plan doesn’t go too well because a warm grip on your wrist stops you in your tracks and almost on instinct, you’re ripping out your hand from the grasp as soon as you feel it.

“Woah, sorry! I didn’t mean to-” You just cut him off to move past the subject before he even brings it up.

“What do you want now?” Taehyung pauses for a few seconds as if not ready to let your jumpy reaction go just yet but thankfully decides to drop it.

“Look, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t desperate and rally needed the sup-”

“Taehyung, I’m not interested in hearing how you would never set foot in a place where peasants like us – or normal people really – shop so just get to it.”

He however is just biting on the inside of his cheeks as if to burry a smile before it breaks through. “You’re not very patient are you?”

“I haven’t been put in many situations that really require it, so.” You just shrug in his direction but the flash that goes through his eyes that resembled molten dark chocolate sends an involuntary shiver down your spine and thankfully the air con is on and you could blame your odd reaction on to that if he noticed. Why was he looking at you like that?

“That’s too bad. Sometimes the rewards for waiting are quite fulfilling at the end.” And somehow, you’re not sure if he just means that in general or…

His heavy gaze travelling down the length of your body only makes you more eager to move on before you lose all the good comebacks you had at the tip of your tongue just because his looks were making you weak in the knees.

“Whatever.” You turn to leave once again and again, Taehyung reaches out to grab your wrist but pulls himself back before he can. Thankfully, you have already seen him this time so you just cross your hands under your chest, tapping your foot while you wait for him to spit it out.

“Just help me okay? I’m not familiar with these… brands.”

“That’s because none of them are Gucci.” He just rolls his eyes but follows you down the asile anyway.

“You do know that Gucci doesn’t make paint right? If they did it would be amazing though. Maybe I should write to them about this. Hm.” He’s started talking to himself but you start pointing out the different types you had available because you don’t have time to have causal chats with him like you two were friends. Despite his weird behaviour before.

“If you’re looking for oil paints, these ones are smoother and the colour payoff is better than others and if you want buildable colours then go for… this.” You’re about to say they are cheaper than the first brand you had pointed out but then realise that he most likely doesn’t care about the price. Though he doesn’t seem to be looking at you at the moment but only paying attention to the paints just like he paid attention the content in the few lectures you’d seen him at.

“Do they not say the ingredient at the back? That’s peculiar.”

“What’s peculiar is you using the word ‘peculiar’.” You mumble while still watching him inspect the different tubes as if he was going to drink them or something.

“May I get the list of ingredients for these ones here? And the lightfastness rating please.”

“It’s literally at the bottom of the tube.” His eyebrows furrow as he looks back at the tube and looks at the bottom again.

“Oh. Isn’t there like a booklet or something that comes with this so I can check?”

You just continue to stare at him.

“Taehyung, this is a campus arts store and our most expensive paint is 55,000 won. So no, we don’t have fancy brands that make ‘booklets’ for every paint. But if you must know,” You sigh, rolling your eyes at how high maintenance he was with his paints, “I can have a look at the delivery boxed for the ingredients. I know that all of these paints of this brand have a lightfastness rating of II at least.”

“Excellent! And yes that would be great, y/n. I just prefer my oils to be made from pure Linseed is all.” He has a bright smile on his face while he shrugs like that’s just the way it is. But of course, you want to punch him once more for making your job harder than it needs to. He was a college student. What did he need such high quality paints for? Ugh.

So you grit your teeth and walk back to the storage room and fish for the delivery boxes of the brand that Taehyung was interested in. “Stupid rich boy. Used to always getting what he wants.” The mumbling continues on your part while you try to locate the box as quickly as possible so he can go away and stop making your shift harder than it needs to be at almost 8:30 PM at night.

“Aha!” You have finally spotted the boxes that were stacked way at the bottom. Quickly reading through the large ingredient list, you confirm that the paints are unfortunately not made purely from Linseed oil.

“I have some bad news.” When you walk back out to where Taehyung is testing a few brushes, you can see his face drop because you’re sure he can guess what you’re about to say. “The binder used for these paints is a mixture of Linseed and walnut oil as well as a few others.” You shrug but Taehyung seems to be losing it.

“God fucking damnit. I’m screwed.” He’s started to pace around the aisle, looking like his life has just ended and his dog has died. Did he have a dog? You loved dogs.

“Why are you freaking out so badly?” He looks at you like you’re the one who’s acting weird.

“Because I have an auction in three weeks and it usually takes me that long to even finish a painting.” Of course he had an auction. It was common knowledge around campus that he sold his paintings for quite a sum at a few well known auctions. But you couldn’t remember another one happening anytime soon though.

“What auction? There isn’t one scheduled for at least 3 months.” Taehyung is hesitating when you question him. He looks like he would rather not mention it but in the end, sighs and tells you anyway.

“It’s more of an exhibition. Just for my paintings.”

“Oh wow.” Your eyes have widened at the mention of his solo exhibition. He was rich enough to afford to hold one so it shouldn’t be that surprising. But it still was a big deal even for a privileged student like him because you need to have enough credibility and a loyal customer base to attract enough people to an exhibition that is solely filled with your own artwork and not a collection of artists. “ I didn’t know you had your own exhibitions.”

He scratches the back of his head as he shrugs nonchalantly but you see the nerves showing through with how his hands shake slightly. “It’s the first one.”

“Oh.”

“Whatever I’ll just look somewhere else.”

“I use a medium of stand oil, linseed and turpentine, a little wax and add a small amount of cobalt drier to control drying time for my paintings.” You have blurted out your little trick before you could stop yourself. In your defence, he just looked so pitiful. You had to help. He also seems just as surprised at you suggestion and even more surprised when you walk around gathering the supplies you’ve just mentioned.

“Oh… thanks for the tip. I never really thought about that since I never really needed to…”

He silently follows you to the register where you place all the items and scan them so he can pay. Whatever. Maybe you helping him will bring some good karma and give your career a break too and your painting will finally be displayed at the Montero Art Gallery. It was a local gallery but a lot of successful artists you admire had started out from there and you were hoping that your work could be good enough one day to be displayed there too.

“How did you go through all your paints by the way? Should you have a ton of them because you’re supposedly always painting.”

“Supposedly?” Taehyung is smirking while his eyebrows are raised in mock disbelief at your suspicion. “Well, I used up most of them when I had sex on a canvas with Jihyo. Made for a good painting though. Maybe I’ll display that one too.” He’s grinning from ear to ear and you’ve just halted while he pays on the eftpos machine. Okay you definitely regret telling him your trick when he put himself in this position by being a horndog.

“You’re literally so gross.”

“Hey, abstract art is also a thing you know?” He looks serious enough that if he hadn’t said ‘abstract art’ you would think you had actually offended him. You obviously hadn’t when he just winks in your direction while he gathers his items and leaves.

“Asshole.”

It’s been a week since you first saw The Kim Taehyung pop by the little arts store that had previously been too beneath him to even consider buying his supplies there. Though ever since you’d told him about your little trick, he’d been bugging you non-stop on writing tips and you’re almost sure he’s doing it to… well, bug you. It’s as if he isn’t even aware that he’s an artistic prodigy because you’ve seen his paintings yourself and they were hyped up for a reason. Even a bitter person like you could admit that.

So when you get a special request by your boss one Friday evening, you’re surprised to say the least when you figure why you’re even asked to deliver supplies in the first place.

“Are you serious?” Your boss being the sweet old lady she is, is just pushing up her glasses as she nods vigorously at you.

“Of course dear! Must be some poor student who really is in need of help. He sounded quite desperate on the phone.” The old woman was way too nice for her own good. And while you appreciated her big heart, if she says yes to one person that the supplies can be delivered to his house then then word will get around and sooner than later, you’ll have a flood of students ordering their supplies over the phone and wanting them to be delivered. If that was going to be the case then you’ll have to quit since you can’t deliver because you don’t have a car. You relied on public transport damnit!

“Or he’s just lazy Ma.” Yes. Everyone called her ma upon her request. Short for Marion. Not that you minded because she was sweet as honey and really did remind you of your own mother. And she treated you like one too. Especially right now when she just scowls at you and asks you to stop being lazy yourself and deliver the package she’s prepared.

“Ugh fine.” You whine until the very end and she’s just wishing you a safe journey. Thankfully she’d leant you her car for today – it was her idea after all – so you wouldn’t need to spend an hour trying to find the place. It seemed to be quite close to the shop surprisingly. And unsurprisingly, the apartment is in a trendy but expensive neighbourhood. Most kids who went to your school probably lived in these buildings. The one you were supposed to go at though was on the top floor and you’re already angry that this buttcrack insisted on delivery and manipulated poor Marion into having his stuff delivered to his door rather than being at the front reception so the exchange could be faster.

When you reach the top floor, you pull out the receipt to hand it to him first thing as he opens the door and don’t have to spend more time than necessary in this place that you felt so out-of-place in. You’ve already rung the doorbell while you read the receipt and that’s mistake number one that night. It dawns on you who this person must be when you’re reading the names of the exact items Taehyung had bought from you last week. You could turn around and go really. Only if you hadn’t already rang the doorbell and he hadn’t opened it right as you’re setting the heavy bag down.

“Well hello there.” His deep voice is an anchor itself as you stop your movements right then and look up at his smirking face that looking down at you. Ugh. Like always.

“Hi.” Slowly, you straighten yourself up, the bag still near your feet as you step away, trying not to gawk at his perfectly toned skin that is showing way too much from between his unbuttoned shirt. “Here’s your stuff. Goodbye.”

“Oh good. You can set it inside in the kitchen.” You’re gritting your teeth in order to stop yourself from slapping his cheery voice right out of his throat with a punch. Okay maybe that’ll be too much. Maybe. You won’t know until you try though.

“Come on.” He’s gesturing inside his expensive apartment that shinier and cleaner than any place you’ve ever seen. He probably has it professionally cleaned.

“I’m not coming inside you weirdo.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not my type.” Somehow that makes you even more mad and you hate that it does. Fuck him honestly. You knew you weren’t his ‘type’. His type included skinny, rich and bad artists. Just so he could get off on a power-control dynamic you’re guessing.

You just pick up the heavy package without breaking eye contact and step inside, walking straight to the kitchen and placing the materials on the counter. The inside décor is surprising when you take in the various canvases strewn about in the living room on different easels. But what really takes your breath away is the familiar artwork that you’d looked at time and time again when you’d been lacking inspiration. When you’d been in a rut and everything had been too much and all you would want to do is quit. But looking at the work that evoked emotions from a place inside that even you hadn’t still made sense of it was the only thing that had kept you going many times throughout the years you’d been at university.

But how was Taehyung interested in such underrated art? You’d never heard him mention Vincent Van Gogh before. And yet most of his paintings covered the walls of his apartment.

“You like Van Gogh?” Taehyung has gone back to his pallet as he mixes the various shades of reds and oranges together.

“Who doesn’t?”

“Like, all of our school?”

“Nah. They pretend that better artists exist.” His answer surprises you. You’d never pegged him as someone who appreciated the more sombre period of art. His paintings usually were a lot more cheery and sometimes rather complicated.

You’re kind of lost in the long hallway covered with several paintings. The tall ceilings and the dim lighting only making you more excited to take in such beautiful art in silence with the only sound being the bristles of Taehyung’s brushes across the canvas.

“You like his work too I assume?”

“Mhm.” You’re too lost in the various paintings to really properly answer him. You’ve almost forgotten where you are until Taehyung speaks again. But this time, from somewhere far closer as you can smell the musky scent that always accompanied him.

“This one is my favourite.” His voice startles you a little when he appears just behind you, slightly to the side so you can look to the side and watch his long neck fall back when he looks up at the painting.

“I like it too.” Your voice is quieter than before. Like neither of you want to disturb the air surrounding you. It’s probably the first time you haven’t felt instantly annoyed by Taehyung’s presence. When you look besides you again, you don’t realise it’s the second mistake you’ve made that night. Because Taehyung is staring right back at you and this time he doesn’t stop. Your breath hitches in your throat when you catch his dimly lit face staring intensely at you. Or maybe it was the lighting that amplified every look. Every gesture. Whatever it was, in that moment, you’d never felt more attracted to Kim Taehyung.

“I lied.” His whisper floats across your skin and the light breeze that comes with the breath from his words has your eyes closing for just a few seconds longer when they blink.

“A-About what?” Taehyung has somehow moved even closer because you could feel the heat from his chest seeping through your own shirt. It also didn’t help that his shirt was fully unbuttoned and the smooth expanse of his chest was absolutely bare for your traitorous eyes to feast on.

He brings up a hand, slowly as if not to startle you like he had last week, and tucked the stray strand of hair behind your ear. “About you not being my type.”

The only thing your body seems to be able to do at the moment is turn your face back towards the painting, heart thudding in your chest as you feel his hands move all of the hair from your neck out of the way to the other side. Exposing the sensitive flesh to the cool air inside his apartment. “You’re exactly my type and better.”

This time the words are whispered s close to your ear that you have to physically clutch tightly on to yourself so you don’t flinch from his breath tickling the flesh of your neck. You’re biting your lip, trying not make any sudden movements or noise because honestly, you didn’t trust yourself to not jump his bones. How was he this sexy and annoying at the same time?

“I kn-know.” You’re hoping that teasing is evident in your voice but that plan has gone down the gutter as soon as Taehyung presses his luscious lips in to an open mouthed kiss against the side of your throat. So instead, your response comes out way too breathy and you can’t stop the moan escaping you in the end.

“You’re just always looking for trouble aren’t you, y/n?” How is his voice perfectly steady? He doesn’t even sound remotely affected as he brings his arms around you from behind, fully moving behind you as well while he continues to undo the strings of control you had tied tightly around your brain. Because seems like you’re only thinking with your vagina at the moment.

His hand have slipped beneath your shirt after playing with the hem for a few seconds and testing the waters. When you don’t push his hands away – you could barely breath at the moment – he slips them inside your thin shirt, tracing circles across your torso and up until his warm, large – so fucking huge – hands are taking handfuls of your breasts before he’s gently squeezing the mounds.

“Oh.” You feel like you’re going boneless by the second as your head lolls back and on to his shoulder and you’re just praying that your brain shuts up and lets you enjoy these sensations without the red alarm bells going off in your head that you hated him!

You hit mute on said alarms as soon as you feel his index finger and thumbs rolling your puffy nipples through the fabric of your bra into hardened pointy tips and you’ve finally lost the filter on your mouth. “F-Fuck. Taehyung, ungh.”

“Look at you. Thought you hated me, huh?”

“I still, mh f-fuck, d-do.” Being a slave to your stubborn ways, you’re retaliating with your words before you can even keep yourself in check. Taehyung doesn’t seem to be bothered though. He’s just chuckling at your pathetic attempts at trying to hold on to some autonomy even if your body is betraying the fuck out of you. The constant squeezing, rolling and pinching of your nipples has you almost mindless, you’re not sure you can survive much more than this.

“Sure. At least your body doesn’t lie though.” He’s squeezing the mounds firmly this time before he’s slipping one of his hands downwards again. You’re aching and wet and aroused beyond words but finally you’re up to the point where you can easily ignore the rational side of your brain and let your body take control.

Breathing loudly, you’re almost panting with every inch that Taehyung’s hand moves closer to your underwear. You’re so soaked that you can feel your panties sticking to the contours of your pussy lewdly and knowing that Taehyung was about to touch you there had you dripping in more. You can’t remember the last time you were this horny from just foreplay.

Taehyung closes his lips around your pulse point before he sucks a punishing bruise in that patch of skin. “Spread your legs y/n. That’s it.”

He’s cooing at you when you instantly comply, whimpering his name when he presses his entire palm on your clit, rubbing the hard nub in gentle circles while you’re about to cum just from his words alone.

“Look at you. So wet and soaking. Have you always been this wet when you’ve been giving me nasty looks baby? Hm? Tell me.” His pace is increasing and the audible sound of your arousal coming through the layers of clothing makes you want to hide your face from the sheer embarrassment.

“T-Tae. Please.” You’re pleading sounds like you’re on the verge of tears and it’s not too far off from the truth. Your legs are spread but not enough for you to completely enjoy the feel of his hands. Not that he seems to be in any rush though.

“Please what y/n? Please use your pussy as your apology? Are you going to be a mouthy slut or let me use your cunt to milk my cock? It’s the least I deserve after the way you’ve treated me in every lecture.”

He’s pouting in mock hurt as he leans his head forward to look in to your eyes as if you’re not being destroyed by the fast paced circling of your clit under his palm. Your eyebrows are furrowed, eyes half shut as the mind blowing orgasm looms around the corner. You’re about to cry from happiness and relief when he slips your underwear to the side, sliding his middle and index finger in without a warning and without remorse. The force with which he’s pumped his long, thick digits inside jerking back against him. Which only makes matters worse when you can feel the evidence of his own arousal pressing against your back. You’re slightly terrified from the sheer bulk of his erection too because it sits hot and heavy behind you. You just know he isn’t the average size you’re used to and that excite and scares you at the same time.

“Would you listen to that? Your cunt is singing for me babe.” You’d smack him across his chest for being so dramatic and cheesy but the sounds of your excessive wetness just has you hiding your face in his neck. But Taehyung is having none of it when he’s harshly tugging back your head as he weaves his hand in your hair.

“I said listen. You slutty pussy is leaking for me y/n. And you pretend to not even be able to stand my existence.” His words are harsh and said from between his gritted teeth. The sounds of the inside of his palm slapping against your clit with every thrust is obscene and rude. Yet, you can’t seem to care. Only moaning loudly and in a higher pitch with every smack against your heated flesh. Arousal drips steadily around his fingers while your symphony of ‘ahs’ and ‘ohs’ continues – almost sounding like you were in pain.

His grip around your hair is harsh and his pace inside your pussy relentless. It’s like he’s angry. Angry that you’re this wet. Angry that you’re ready to cum around his fingers just like this. That makes the two of you.

“Come on baby. Cum around my fingers. I’ll need it to prep myself before I enter this pussy, hm? You’re too tight for me to just impale you on my cock right now like you want me to. Don’t you?” You’re nodding enthusiastically as your breath hitches with your orgasm ripping through you like a wildfire,

“Taehyung! Fuck I-I’m cumming. Oh god…” You’re heaving and hiccupping as his rigid fingers continue to brush against your sensitive insides until you’re jerking back with each thrust.

“There you go. Easy… easy, baby.” You’re panting like you’ve run a marathon and your neck aches from being bent that way while Taehyung had your head captive.

He doesn’t give you much time to recover as he’s turning you around to pick you up and take you back to the living room, dropping your body down on to the fuzzy carpeted floor. He makes quick work of his shirt and his pants, ridding himself of every item of clothing – not that he was wearing much – before he takes his soiled fingers and wraps them around his extremely intimidating girth. He doesn’t seem nearly as nervous as you but you still don’t stop him. “Take off your clothes for me baby. I want to see you.”

Your body is moving instantly like it was programmed to listen to Taehyung’s every command. Soon, you’re laying back down on the ground, watching him stroke his incredibly hard cock that stood rigid against his toned stomach. He looks like a wolf that’s about to devour you as his pokes out from between the corner of his lips, eyes neve wavering from your own. You’re biting your own lips and squirming on the soft carpet when he just keeps looking and makes no move.

“Spread your legs again baby. Let me see you pussy.” He hisses as soon as your legs fall open, your red, slightly swollen pussy coming in to full view as he finally kneels down to his knees, grabbing your thighs to pull you closer until you were flush against his cock. His hands gently massage the area between your thighs and pussy, needing the rosy flesh and effectively making you drip even more when he looks directly down at his hands that work your labia softly – keeping in mind how sensitive you were.

“Look at you. So puffy. So wet. So fucking beautiful.” He leans forward to look in to your eyes and you’re holding on to your breath when you finally see his face so up close for the first time this evening.

“Can I make you feel good, honey? Will you let my cock make you feel good?” There is no hesitancy in your reply because you’re fisting the soft rug besides you and arching your body in to his.

“Fuck,” it’s the first time you can hear Taehyung’s voice shake as he adjusts his hips and rubs he blunt head of his blood fattened cock against your swollen labia. “I’ve wanted you for so long, y/n. I can’t believe you’re here. Are you sure baby? Because I won’t be able to stop or go gentle once I s-start. Oh fuck.”

You can see how desperate he is for you to say yes but nonetheless, your heart still warms at his concern and even though you were slightly scared of his above average length – and girth – you were mostly excited as the anticipation had built steadily. So you give him the green light, nodding for him to continue.

He seems to be surprised too for some reason and you’re caught off gard when his mouth crashed down to your own. His kiss is ferocious and passionate, tilting his head every which way to capture every noise you make, tongue playing with your own. You’re just enjoying the out of the blue kiss until it all makes sense. Because when you break apart from the kiss to shout out your surprise, you can feel all of his hot length pressing the deepest corners inside your pussy. The kiss had been a perfect distraction and you hadn’t even felt the pain when he’d pushed in.

In fact, the slight burn that was present as he let you adjust around him was more arousing than anything. “T-Tae ungh. You’re s-so big. Oh god.”

He’s watching every facial expression you make and he doesn’t miss the almost drunk expression on your pretty face when he drags his length out slowly, only to slam back inside. Your breasts bounce with every thrust that pushes you further up the carpeted floor. It feels better than good. Better than amazing. You’d never thought you’d enjoy penetrative sex this much after having several mediocre experiences but at this moment, all you wanted to do was egg Taehyung on to go as fast as he could. So you do.

“Fuck y/n.” The seat of his lap slaps against your damp skin as he pounds his leaking cock in to you unremittingly. “You’re so t-tight. The tightest cunt I’ve ever been inside. You like it baby? Hm?”

Taehyung was definitely a dirty talker. All throughout this encounter. He hadn’t stayed quiet for longer than a minute. Always wanting to say what he was feeling, wanted to do to you or was going to do to you. And until today, you never realised how much of a sucker you were for verbal stimulation.

“Y-eh-ess. I lo-uh-ve it.” Your words bounce and hiccup out of you with the same rhythm as Taehyung’s dragging of his cock inside you. It’s like he’d grown even larger and you could cry from how good he felt inside. In fact, you were sure you probably were crying with how blurry your vision was getting.

Taehyung had fully covered your body with his own, pulling one of your legs over his shoulder now to split you open even more before he increased his pace until you felt like he was actually splitting you open.

“Tae! I’m going t-to c-cum again. Oh god.” He was breathing hard, sweat dripping down his temples as his gaze never left your face. You were actually crying now; clawing at his back as you held on while he parted you open every time he pushed the entire girth of his cock until the base so that with every thrust, his balls slapped against your ass obscenely.

“Let go baby. Cum all over my cock.” He could already see the white, translucid creaminess forming around the base of his cock as it continued to slam inside you, signalling how close he himself was with his cock leaking pre-cum profusely. “Fuck, you look so delectable darling. Look at how your pussy gapes around my cock every time, hm? Your pussy was made to fit around my cock. You’re m-mine now. Made j-just for my cock.”

You could tell how close he was since he’d seemed to lost all and every filter on his mouth. Pounding in to you while you clutch on to him for deer life and finally release around his cock that shows no sign of relenting until he reaches his own release. Thankfully, he’s not too far behind as he grabs your legs for the final round, pushing his hips in to the hilt before he’s shouting out his release. You can feel the warmth of his cum explode inside the walls of your pussy, filling you up to the brim until you could feel his spunk leak around you thoroughly abused lips. Taehyung lays his head in to the crook of your neck very much like how you had at the start.

It's peacefully silent as you both catch your breath, your fingers lazily massaging his scalp without even realising. You’re finally gathering your bearings and coming to terms with the fact that you just fucked each other’s brains out when you could barely stand each other before. And you absolutely do not know how to proceed from here. Not when his cock was still inside you. Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about that decision for too long because Taehyung is pulling back his face to stare in your eyes deeply as if he’s also at a loss for words.

You search his face for any disgust or any realisation that will make him pull away from you and you don’t know why you’re this nervous and worried about his reaction. You didn’t care before so why now? Why was your heart beating so fast that you felt like it was going to come out of your mouth?

“Y/N,” Taehyung post-sex, sexy voice breaks you out of your downward spiral as he brings his hand up to caress your cheek damp from the tears earlier. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

You watch him for a few seconds before nodding slowly and that’s all the confirmation Taehyung needs before taking your lips between his once again. And just like that, he kisses you lazily, tangling his hot, sweet tongue with your own for who knows how long. You two stay just like that for a long time, kissing ecahother with so much passion that it scares you how much the thought of breaking away from his lips gives you anxiety. It seems to be the same case for Taehyung because when you break apart to breathe in much needed air, he pulls you back in – mouth open and tongue seeking your own.

Sometime during the night, he’s started to harden inside you once again and rather than breaking away, he fucks you exactly the opposite way he had earlier. This time, it’s slow, even more sensual and the space between your body is almost non-existent. By the time your phone rings and breaks you both out of the haze that had you both intoxicated in the apartment, it’s sometime around midnight. Though Taehyung doesn’t stop even for a second until he’s made you cum once again and spilled himself inside you as well.

The night had definitely taken a turn as you both talk – for once without the intention of insulting each other – and fuck. Mostly fuck actually. Turns out Taehyung made you insatiable and his eagerness and fondness for cumming inside you didn’t exactly help. After replying to Minnie and sending Marion a message of apology, you’re both dozing off on the soft floor.

_________________________________________________________________________

“Come to my art exhibition with me? I want you by my side.” He asks you in the morning, slightly breathless as he grinds his erection – seriously, how often did this boy get hard? – against your damp, soiled pussy, awaking you from your sleep.

“O-Okay.” You can only moan in reply as he takes a nipple between his lips, sucking gently as he coaxes out another orgasm from you before carrying you off to the shower.

“You’re such a horn dog.” Splashing water at his face, you’re laughing as he attacks your sides, tickling you in revenge.

“A horn dog you slept like, a thousand times with.” Your mouth is falling open in mock disbelief but he just kisses your frown away.

“It will be zero times if I see that sex painting at your show!” Taehyung is giggling at your pout and the frown that creases your brows as he kisses it away, promising you that you can burn his ‘sex painting’ before the show.

Maybe he wasn’t so bad.

a/n: thoughts? :ooo

[timedriving]

Timeblazer [For the ship meme Because why not? XD]

send me a ship and i’ll tell you… ( accepting )

who hogs the duvet JOHN!!!!! HOGS IT!!!!!! and it’s not even a “something that gradually happens at night” thing, it’s a “john realises eventually that rip doesn’t actually care about not having it, and so when they’re about to go to bed he wraps himself up in it without asking if rip doesn’t want to share and rip is totally cool with this”

who texts/rings to check how their day is going to check how their day is going? rip. for whatever random reason because he’s feeling bored? john. and sometimes the boredom isn’t JUST staved off by the messaging, but because he’s thought of some new stupid nickname to give rip in his contact list, which he always has a nice chuckle over. anyway rip’s texts are always fairly standard and john will text him like “look at what we found in arkansas mate” and it’ll be a picture of a mountain of rat skulls and rip’s just. thank you. for sharing this with me

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts JOHN... LMFAO... i like to think that rip gets john a birthday gift, right, and it’s something fairly useful, like the helm of hades or something, and john’s like “oh yeah, thanks for the cosplay item, love” and rip’s like “it makes you invisible, john.......” and so john’s like. well shit! and though rip has no actual birthday (he doesn’t know when his nameday is, john!!! it didn’t matter in the future!!!), john suggests they make it the sixth of september (6/9) and rip is like. he sighs about it. but you know what. okay. and on rip’s birthday he gets a plastic bag full of junk (e.g. a stick of gum, an opened pack of cigarettes, an unopened toothbrush), and it doesn’t matter to him, so rip’s fine... except when he gets up to leave and go back on his adventures, he finds a new book in his bag about the history of cereal or something, and he ends up unable to leave because he wants to nail john in his living room

who gets up first in the morning it’s impossible to wake up earlier than a man who only needs like 4 hours of sleep every two weeks, so it’s definitely rip. but i think on the nights that rip does sleep, sometimes john will wake up earlier just to be like “well someone’s certainly slept in” and rip will find himself unable to resist laughing about it-- he’s softer when he’s just woken up, a bit more open with his emotions, and john knows it

who suggests new things in bed john. absolutely. it’s got to be john. though i think if he’d suggest something on the bdsm side of things where there’s proper technique and protocol and stuff involved, rip’s highly likely to get into it enough that he’ll research things himself and be able to make his own suggestions. but stupid shit like “oi, you ever shagged a man in your office before? all those glass windows--” will definitely come from john and rip’s definitely going to be like “i hate you, but also bend over”

who cries at movies i can’t imagine them particularly inclined to watch a lot of movies? and when they do it’s shit like the blob or jurassic park or whatever, not movies that are supposed to be emotional tearjerkers. probably john is more likely to laugh so hard he cries if they ever watch something like that, but i think they’re more or less set in this area

who gives unprompted massages see, rip has discovered that massaging john when he’s feeling tense makes him a bit noisy. and he quite likes when john is noisy. and that means... you know, he’ll do it after a hard case or something, just to make john’s toes curl

who fusses over the other when they’re sick rip’s more visible about his concern, and john likes to go “YEAH, MUM, ALL RIGHT” about it, but, like, you know. i think they’re both really weird about it, in that rip doesn’t really take care of people like this and john’s not used to having someone around when he has a nasty case of the flu?? and john will give him shit for it, of course, because rip fussing is hilarious in its own way, but... he’ll listen. mostly. but he’s still going to smoke. and they’re going to have to have this game where rip hides his cigarettes places and john has to find them and it’s terrible

who gets jealous easiest rip is the jealous type! it’s unfortunate! and it’s not like he gets irritated every time john flirts with someone because... let’s be real, that’s kind of in john’s programming to do it by default, but you know. he can’t help but feel a bit insecure in the case of exes or something. it’s not something that visibly sours his mood or makes him more of a douchebag but like. it’ll be there in the back of his mind like a splinter

who has the most embarrassing taste in music rip finds it... so cute... that john’s taste in music has stayed the same throughout the years. john finds it hilarious that rip’s discs and vinyls range from the beatles to guns n roses to the barenaked ladies to taylor swift, but only taylor’s “speak now” album “taylor swift? really?” “mate, you need to listen to ‘long live’, that song is-- something” “.......hm”

who collects something unusual THEY’RE BOTH WEIRD HOARDERS OF WEIRD THINGS... though i guess rip’s collection is bigger, considering he likes to bring home souvenirs from different points in time. but then, considering that ‘weird’ is their normal, maybe it’s not super unusual? probably the real unusual thing is the fact that since dating rip hunter, john’s home has never lacked cereal, which is... something

who takes the longest to get ready they both wear the exact same clothes everyday and don’t really change out of the norm. it’s easy to get ready. at most there’s only ever a competition when it’s like “last one to be out has to do the laundry”

who is the most tidy and organised rip wins this one, but rip’s always been about efficiency and order and making sure everything is under control. john’s stuff is a bit more haphazard, and sometimes he’ll leave shit that was for work lying about, but it’s not like he’s the type to make a pigsty. rip doesn’t move any of it elsewhere on the virtue that he doesn’t want to deal with anything freaky happening if he touches it on accident... at most he’ll just empty john’s ashtray or do his dishes or something

who gets most excited about the holidays i don’t think they’ll celebrate holidays much, but john probably’s got something about halloween, even if it’s simple? rip probably likes the december holiday season, meanwhile, but only because it’s one of those traditions that’s celebrated even in his future... even if he never celebrated it before. i think he’ll have fun decorating a tree

who is the big spoon/little spoon rip’s the big spoon. no contest. john won’t ever admit to wanting a bit of affection in such a simple way and rip won’t ever admit to really enjoying giving it to him, but it’s like. they’ll be in bed, and john’s going to roll onto his side, mumble a quiet ‘good night’, and rip’s going to say it back, and then the quiet’s going to continue. john has the blankets all to himself and rip is staring at the ceiling, and when some time’s passed he’s going to turn onto his own side and wrap an arm around john’s middle. and john pretends he’s fallen asleep, but he hasn’t yet-- he relaxes just a bit, and rip knows this, and nobody’s going to say anything as rip’s mouth brushes quietly over john’s shoulder

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports there’s no competition when john’s lungs give out so easily i think they’re pretty equally competitive in cards or dice games or something though

who starts the most arguments i think john’s most likely to start arguments with like... a stranger at a pub or something, but not necessarily an argument between them? they have a kind of weird way of being able to relate to each other, which i think makes it easy for them to be agreeable with things and opinions. or at least makes it easy for them to talk instead of going all aggressive and angry with each other

who suggests that they buy a pet GOD... i don’t think either of them are pet types? at most they’re going to be talking to the owner of a pet store or something for a case, and whilst waiting for them to be available to speak with, john’s going to point at a big-eyed cat like “looks a bit like you, mate” and then rip’s going to buy it out of spite like “in case you ever miss me whilst i’m gone” and then they have a cat. i can’t even think of a name they’d give it. rip’s going to be simple and say “steve” and john’s going to be a shit like “the bringer of judgement” and so her name is steve the bringer of judgement, “brij” for short

what couple traditions they have god, drinking and karaoke. but also i like to think that rip and john are eventually going to be able to jam together, and it’s? the chillest thing? rip knows all the songs that john likes, so that’s easy, and maybe here and there john will write lyrics and rip will compose for them, and it’s... easy, and they don’t have to think much, and it’s nice also rip will sit with john every time he waits for his hair dye to set and that’s that. i like to think one time they’d ended up making out and john had to swat rip’s hands away from grabbing his hair like NO... DON’T

what tv shows they watch together cooking shows. i don’t know why i can see them watching cooking shows, but somehow it’s so easy to picture?? like just a sort of lazy television watching thing where they’re not even really paying ALL their attention to the tv, but it’s certainly going...

what other couple they hang out with at some point in their lives they’re going to double date with sara and ava, and ava truly cannot believe that this is rip’s steady partner, that this is the man he is dating, that her former boss is now sleeping with... with this blond rat... except rip seems genuinely happy, so... she’ll be nice... otherwise as chas and renee rebuild their marriage they’ll totally go on double dates. and john will be less of a bitch to renee and renee will be less of a bitch to john and. it’ll be good actually triple date with chas/renee + jim/zed + rip/john would be really cute?? there are two normal couples and then there’s the third one who quietly go ‘i didn’t know there’d only be chicken on the menu’ ‘this is a chicken restaurant’

how they spend time together as a couple rip has a weird penchant for just going on drives or walks, like he can’t get enough looking around the place, which john doesn’t necessarily get but is cool to indulge in. even cooler is when rip decides to portal them to different places, and he’ll get to show john different historical places and tell him true eyewitness accounts of them. i think the day he finds out john actually has some interest in history is the day that his eyes get weirdly bright and he is just... filled with this excitement to show him everything that he knows, and share with him everything that he knows?? drinking and talking is a good staple for them though. they do like to drink, and they do like to talk, and it’s not a half-bad thing to get handsy in the middle of it. besides that i figure they’re easy enough to just stay in the same space doing whatever. rip’s not even bothered by john’s bizarre spell-learning rituals any more!

who made the first move can you believe rip hunter, young time apprentice, saw the frontman for this shitty english punk band and thought he was so captivating on stage that he HAD to have him? and he bought a drink, and he did start speaking with him, and he was so fucking awkward when he spoke to him but still somehow got a kiss? several kisses? TO SPEND THE NIGHT WITH HIM????? anyway the short answer is rip made the first move. the fucking idiot. though i imagine in their reunion it was john who was more openly flirtatious, even if it was in a teasing way, and rip just fell for it like the sucker that he is

who brings flowers home john, in his misguided attempts at proper romance, brings home some daisies. rip, surprised by this, takes them, and then teases him about how much he does like him, and john tells him not to get used to it! christ! it was just ONE nice thing-- a nice thing that rip does appreciate, he says as he kisses him, because he doesn’t think he’s ever gotten flowers from anybody before

who is the best cook rip is better. just, in general, objectively better. john even prefers rip’s eggs and eggs are supposed to be his speciality. rip likes to cook for him, though, and even goes to the effort of filling tupperwares with food for john to have in his fridge whenever rip’s not around, just so john doesn’t have any excuses not to eat anything any more even when he nukes it and it turns out the middle of the food is cold, john’s the type to keep eating it anyway. and even when it’s cold, it’s like... damn, rip hunter really can cook, huh

[ceaderblocks]

The Devil’s in the Details ch. 3

Chapter One Chapter Two

Made alongside @thematrixmutual

Scar had been avoiding everything for the past few days. His builds plateaued, his shop’s stocks dwindled, and Scarassic Island was quiet. Cub and Xisuma had flown in a few times to check on him, but Scar had hidden away, Jellie purring softly as he shoved his face into her soft fur and waited for his friends to leave. 

Scar was tired, miserable, and in so much pain. His wounds from the Void hadn’t healed, and his Vex magic had been taken from him, leaving him drained, empty and lethargic. The Void said it would return when he finished his end of the deal, but Scar wasn’t sure. He continued on, however, packing shulker box after shulker box full of supplies. Jellie meowed softly, watching Scar pack more dirt with trembling hands.

You’re overworking yourself. She seemed to say.

“I know,” Scar answered, stepping on another chest to reach the last of his wood. “I have to do this. The Void told me too. I wish I could cuddle, Jellie, but I don’t have time to risk it.” Jellie meowed in response, sulking away. Scar watched for a moment, saddened, then shook his head and went back to work. The Void hadn’t left him alone after it destroyed Cherry. In fact, it’s insistence had gotten worse. Every night he dreamt of the Other Him, with their cold hands and harsh voice. They gave him instructions on what to build, how to build it and what to use. The Other Him promised to give back his Vex magic when he finished to the Void’s and the Other’s standards. 

God, did Scar miss Vex magic. He missed fooling around with Cub and playing silly pranks. He missed the warmth and the fire that burned inside of him when he had it. He missed eating cake and not feeling sick to his stomach after a bite. Scar really, really hated the cold of the Void. He didn’t know how Xisuma dealt with it. The constant chill sank into his bones, and his layers of clothes never seemed to help his shaking hands.

Closing his last Shulker box, Scar put them into his inventory, and then fastened his Elytra, mentally preparing himself to go back to the Shopping District. The Shopping District meant Hermits, and Hermits meant questions. He was going to fix Cherry, put the redstone stock away, and then come back to work on the Void’s project. Scar made his way to the surface, lighting a rocket and shooting into the sky. 

The wind rushing in his hair was a blessed relief from the previous cramped quarters of his base, and the fresh air helped clear his head. Scar mentally compartmentalized the item’s he needed for the Void’s build, as they’d be more difficult to get. Obsidian, quartz, end stone, end bricks, bedrock, dark oak and maybe some spruce wood? 

Wait, bedrock? How did The Void expect him to get bedrock?

Scar made a surprised hum, backtracking on his thoughts. It was impossible for him to get bedrock, and Xisuma would start to question his motives if he asked for some. Biting his lip, Scar circled the crater that used to be Cherry before landing on the edge. The bedrock problem could wait, Cherry was more important. 

“Oh dear.” Scar whispered, surveying the damage.

Whatever Vex magic he had used was impossibly powerful. Neither Scar nor Cub had seen it destroy blocks before, only mobs. The redstone shop was long gone, not even a slab left. Where the foundation used to be was now a gaping pit, about 16 blocks deep and 16 blocks wide. A whole chunk was missing. It looked like dozens of supercharged creepers had gathered in the centre and blown up. The ground was charred, barren and still smoking. A shiver ran through Scar as he realized he had involuntarily caused this. He felt sick when he realized that if it wasn’t for the Vex, he wouldn’t be alive. 

“Okay,” Scar said, taking a grounding breath. “Let’s just… let’s just start with filling in the hole. I can do that. Just filling the big, gaping hole that I made. Yeah.” 

Scar placed a few shulker boxes, and dug out the dozens of stacks of cobble and dirt he had brought. 

“I hope there’s enough,” Scar muttered to himself. “I’d hate to go back and grind more.”

Climbing to the bottom of the pit, he began painstakingly filling all the missing blocks. It was a slow process, as there were lots of nooks and crannies that he originally couldn’t see. About four hours later he crawled out of the pit and took off his hat and jacket, folding them gently and placing them on the outskirts of the danger zone near his storage. Dirt and dust covered his once clean shirt, but it felt nice to be productive. He had filled half the pit, and had lots of supplies left. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Scar took a moment to look at the setting sun. He had started mid-afternoon, and skipped dinner. He was starving. Reaching into one of the scattered chests, he looked for some baked potatoes he had packed. 

“Here,” A voice said and Scar jumped, smashing his head into the lid of the chest. 

Spinning around, he saw Cub holding out a bottle of water and a plate with baked potatoes on it. Scar hesitantly reached for it, accepting it from his friend. Cub’s new coat had sneaked up on his arms, and the bandages that covered his burns peaked through, making Scar lose his appetite. 

I did that to Cub. Scar thought to himself, accepting the water and food.

“Thank you,” Scar said, nervous around his friend. Did Cub hate him for hurting him? Was he scared of the Vex power Scar had used? Did he see Scar as the same person?

“Can I eat with you? I haven’t seen you in a few days.” Cub asked, sitting on a double chest and patting the spot next to him.

 Scar figured he didn’t have much of a choice, and sat down next to him. Cub pulled out his own meal (which was really not a meal, but just cake) and they ate in silence for a while. Every bite Scar swallowed got stuck in his throat with guilt. Watching Cub eat cake made Scar want to vomit. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“I’m sorry for hurting you.” Scar said abruptly, and Cub made a surprised noise. 

“What? You didn’t hurt me.” Cub said, looking genuinely confused. “When did you hurt me?”

“Yes I did!” Scar scowled, gesturing to Cub’s bandaged arms. “When I let the Vex get out of control, I hurt you!” 

Cub looked at his burnt arms in surprise, then back at Scar, who was tearing up and staring at the ground with determination not to look at his friend. 

“Scar, that wasn’t you.” Cub said. Scar opened his mouth to protest, but was quickly interrupted by Cub. “Seriously, dude. It may have been your body, but it definitely wasn’t you. That Vex magic was super powerful. Like, original time we found it type powerful, not Scar using it powerful.”

A shiver went down Scar’s spine as he remembered the first time Cub and he had stumbled upon the Vex. How they were both beaten and desperate, and how the Vex had embraced them and used it’s magic to tear through them and make their atoms separate at the seams and their voices disappear before shoving them back together again. 

“Oh,” Scar said. “I didn’t…. I wasn’t…”

He took a deep breath, and Cub waited patiently. 

“I wasn’t there, mentally.” Scar finally said. “I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t see or control anything my physical body was doing. Um, I didn’t even know my body was there. I thought I had attacked you when the Vex possessed me.” 

Scar felt sick at the thought of the Vex having complete control over his body while he was mentally checked out. The Vex were immensely powerful, and if they had a suitable vessel then a repeat of what happened with Cub and Cherry would be far more common. If the Hermit wasn’t ConVex, they might be dead.

“It won’t happen again.” Scar said, frowning. The Void had taken his Vex magic, the warmth of it long chilled. “It can’t happen again.”

“I’ll be there if it does.” Cub said reassuringly, patting Scar’s shoulder. 

“Thanks, Cub.” Scar smiled. 

“Any time. Do you need some help filling the pit?” Cub asked, gesturing to the half-filled hole.

“No thanks,” Scar said. “I’m almost finished, and you should rest your wounds anyways.” 

Cub snorted. “My burns aren’t that bad. The bandages are just to protect the scabs. Anyways, I came to drop this off.”

Scar’s eyes widened as Cub pulled a familiar yellow shulker box from his inventory and placed it on the ground. 

“No way!” Scar cried out, opening the lid. It was his treasure chest! He thought he had lost it back on the End Island, but there it was, sitting in front of him. “You found it! How?”

“The Vex guided me.” Cub admitted with a shrug. “They seemed… guilty, in a way? They wanted this back to you. It was tricky to find, you really managed to misplace it!”

“Thank you, Cub! This is amazing!” Scar spun on his heels, launching himself at Cub and entrapping him in a huge hug. 

“It’s no problem, dude.” Cub laughed, returning his hug. There was a pause, and Cub gently pulled away, holding onto Scar’s shoulders firmly. “Scar, if there’s something bothering you, you know you can talk to me, right?” 

Scar frowned. He should’ve seen this coming. His friend was worried, naturally, but he couldn’t tell Cub what the Void wanted from him. 

“I will. Don’t worry.” Scar said, plastering a forced smile on his face. Cub looked relieved, and nodded. 

“Awesome. I have to head back to ConCorp, but’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Sounds good!” Scar said, and waved as Cub lit a firework and took off into the sky. 

Taking a deep breath, Scar turned back to the partially filled crater. The sun was beginning to set, and he had a lot more work to do. 

“This is going to take forever.” Scar muttered to himself. 

“It certainly is.” A voice said, and Scar froze, ice running through his veins as a hand clasped his shoulder.. “It’s also not what the Void wanted you to work on. Breaking our deal already?” 

Scar turned his head to see the Void version of himself looking impassively over the crater. His cyan eyes seemed to glow in the dimming light. After taking a moment to look, the other turned his bored gaze to meet Scar’s fearful one. 

“This isn’t a pillar.” They said. Scar didn’t respond, choosing to keep his mouth shut. 

“Oscar. This isn’t what the Void asked for.” 

“Stop calling me that!” Scar snapped, taking a step away from the other, jerking the icy hand from his shoulder. 

“Oh, rude now, aren’t we?” They said with an amused smirk. “Well, if you don’t like your full name. I’ll just use it. ‘Oscar’. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it, Scar?”

Scar balked at Oscar, rare anger flooding his veins. “Wha- no! You don’t get to take my name! Even if I don’t like people using it! You’re not me!”

Oscar rolled his eyes, and disappeared. Scar whipped his head around, looking for his doppelganger. Cold hands clawed over his mouth and gripped around his chest from behind, pinning Scar in one place. Scar couldn’t help the muffled gasp of surprise and fear escape, before immediately squirming and trying to escape. Icy bands of Void magic began to creep around his body, and Scar cried out in pain as it burnt his body.

“I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in, sweetheart.” Oscar snarled into Scar’s ear. “If you don’t do what the Void says, I will replace you. You’ll be stuck in the Void with a front row seat to the Oscar Show! I’ll destroy everything you care about. This world is ugly and scarred, and I want it fixed. Every block needs to be perfect, and if you won’t do it, I will. I’ll destroy your friends if I have to.”

Scar blanked, terrified for his friends safety, straining against the burning bands of magic. “No! Please, I’ll do it. I’ll stop working on Cherry, I’ll- I’ll leave ConCorp to Cub, I’ll do the Void’s pillars and terraforming. Don’t hurt my friends. Please.”

“I don’t believe you.” Oscar said, but he let go. The bands of magic disappeared, and Scar dropped to his knees, legs shaking and limbs burning. Oscar walked past him, and picked up Scar’s jacket and hat that he had folded aside earlier in the day. 

“Why don’t we start with a test run, hm?”

“What?” Scar said, watching Oscar put on the jacket and hat.

“It’s simple, really.” Oscar said, adjusting the hat to tilt a little to the right. “I replace you for a day, and you watch what I plan to do. Maybe you’ll actually follow through on your promise that way.” 

“Wait, I-” Scar reached out, arms shaking, and Oscar smiled. 

“See you in twenty-four hours.” 

[GoodTimesWithScar left the game.]

[pellicano-sanguino]

I was recently made aware of the fact that there's a freaking Dragonlance musical (yes, made all the way back in 2014, I'm late on the news). It's uploaded to Youtube in full (according to them, it's uploaded with the permission of the creators) and with subtitles (it's a Russian production).

I went in expecting it to be just as badly made and cringeworthy as the animated movie, and I was motivated to watch it purely by nostalgic feelings about the books (they were the first fantasy books I read) and general interest in musical theater. But turns out I...   actually liked it??? Not in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way, I genuinely found it enjoyable. What an unexpected turn of events.

Heh. Quality subtitles.

Disclaimer: It's been ages since read the books, so if I remember something wrong, feel free to correct me.

Now, this is not the next Phantom or Elisabeth or anything like that. This seems to be a rather small production. The props and effect are minimalistic and cheap, looking more like a bunch of larpers than actors (not saying larpers can't have great props, I used to larp myself when I was younger). The singing carries the story, there is very little spoken dialogue and the actors don't dance. We do get a bunch of background dancers, who at first seem really out of place crawling on the floor while the main actors just stand there and sing.

I'm also going to point out that the Dragonlance books are not the easiest or most obvious choice for a story to be adapted into a musical. These books have long, complicated plots that often arch over several books and have a whole bunch of characters. Also, being able to open the vast world and history of Krynn to an audience who may not have read a single book is challenging. Not gonna lie, I am unsure how much someone without any prior knowledge of the series will get out of this show. They do plot explaining surprisingly well but there are plenty of times where you're going to be a bit confused if you don't know the backstory.

The musical's name is The Last Trial, and it's (somewhat loosely) based on the Legends-series, describing the rise and fall of the dark wizard Raistlin Majere, who is probably the most popular Dragonlance character ever. Well, it's a wise choice, since you can tell this story with a slightly smaller cast and don't have to prop dragons. However, I question one thing. You're really going to make a musical about Raistlin? One of his trademark characteristics is his failing health, his violent, chronic cough, resulting in a creepy, raspy voice. And this is the guy you're gonna make sing.

More quality subtitles.

Oh yeah, and another thing I'm going to have to question. Are we really making this a love story? I mean, yeah, I get that all that happens between Raistlin and Crysania does also happen in the books, but I never saw any kind of romance between them. All I saw was a heartless bastard manipulating the feelings of a sensitive and naive woman. The impression I got of Raistlin from the books was a person who's asexual, aromantic and hates everyone (and who's not handsome by any standards, but rather creepy looking, especially his eyes). Not a romantic hero at all. But hey, I can kinda understand the appeal (after all, I do like such musicals as Phantom and Elisabeth, so I can totally see why a cruel and cold character gets all the fangirls; everybody likes bad boys).

The musical opens with a short introduction of this story's Greek Choir-character, Astinus. Astinus is tasked with recording the history of Krynn so he makes a good plot exposition role. I recall there being some hints that he might not be fully mortal. After the intro, stage lights reveal a violin player, who begins to play the musical's theme. The violin player stands out a little, since she's wearing modern clothes despite the story being set in a medieval-ish world. But I got to admit, the music is very, very nice, with a rather calm melody that fits the setting of a magical world of fantasy very well. This could easily be soundtrack for a fantasy movie. The beautiful music is what made me like this show.

Speaking of music, it's time for the main character to deliver the show's first song. Despite rolling my eyes at the thought of Raistlin singing with his ruined voice earlier, I have to admit, they chose the actor really well. There are at least two castings (maybe even more) of this show, and the one I saw, had Evgeny Ergorov playing Raistlin. His voice is very pleasant to listen and it carries hints of ambition, arrogance and of a powerful will that is calm and calculating but under its seeming calmness also very dangerous. I am surprised how quickly I accepted the fact that Raistlin can sing and that instead of having a voice that mirrors his suffering he has a voice that mirrors his might. The lyrics being in Russian helps, being sung in a language I don't speak a word of makes everything sound more magical and poetic. There is certain lyrical beauty to Russian and it fits the songs perfectly (obviously, since the songs were written to be sang in this language).

If we handwave the fact that Evgeny is way too pretty to be playing Raistlin (I'm presuming he's not that bad looking by het standards here, as a lesbian I'm not really the person to be judging male beauty), he looks the part and gets nicely into character. He has Raistlin's prematurely grayed hair, black robes and the staff with a glowing gem held by dragon claws. The musical goes out of its way to disrobe him, though, probably as a fanservice thing (robes really don't let you see his body well...). In the books I don't recall him ever wearing anything else, the mages in Dragonlance wore their robes everywhere like uniforms. Oh well, if wizards can prance around in muggle clothes in the Harry Potter movies, we can do the same here.

Evgeny has a rather strong stage presence. His eyes, while not as creepy as in the books, cast a very cold and powerful gaze, judging everything with distaste and cynicism but never underestimating anything in his arrogance. This Raistlin is full of pride but not blinded or hindered by it. The only trademark part of his character that I consider to be missing is his failing physical health, that creates an opposite to his powerful mind and allows him to manipulate people by using the compassion they feel when seeing a sick, suffering man. Many more prideful men would be insulted when offered help and proclaim that they can take care of themself, but Raistlin never does this; he relies on the help of others whenever it's convenient and never considers such a thing to be below the world's greatest wizard.

Astinus appears again and explains the next song number to the audience. In the war preceding the events in this show, Raistlin fought with a bunch of other heroes to defeat a dark dragon goddess called Takhisis, the primordial source of evil in the Dragonlance pantheon of gods. According to the musical, Raistlin's role was to work as a double agent – he swore an oath to Takhisis and became her servant only to stab her in the back so she could be sealed away in Abyss.  It's been ages since I read the books, so I can't tell if this is how it really went. My faint memories claim it wasn't quite like that, but this is what the musical tells us so let's just go with it. Takhisis, the highest ranking of all the evil gods, is trapped in Abyss, but she still plots her escape and bears grudge to Raistlin. She can't enter the world of mortals in the waking world, but she can appear in their dreams.

Like evil, Takhisis takes many faces aside from her iconic multiheaded dragon queen form. She invades Raistlin's dreams in the form of the Dark Lady and torments him with nightmares and ominous predictions that he'll one day be her servant again and open the gate of her prison. In this version, Takhisis is played by Vera Zoodena. And wow. Just...  wow.

Her Dark Majesty can easily be interpreted as a kinda succubus-like, sexy and seductive femme fatale (because god forbid we have evil female characters who aren't overly sexualized...). This kind of role is very easy to overdo and instead of intimidating and charismatic turn out to be just... cheesy and slutty. But Vera Zoodena knows that a revealing outfit and sexy posing isn't all you need for a powerful female villain. Yes, she is very much directed as seductive, but instead of making me feel like someone made her wear that costume and ordered her to pose like that, I feel that she is in complete control of everything. Vera's stage presence is amazing. Femme fatales rarely have any effect on me (well, they are usually geared towards a male audience anyway) but this Takhisis makes chills run down my spine when she sings. Her voice is so haunting and sexy, I can feel her fingers tipped with deadly claws menacingly caress my skin by just listening to it. (I'm sorry. I promise to keep the TMI to a minimum. But I'm totally hot and bothered for Takhisis.).

Raistlin's nightmares are interrupted by his twinbrother Caramon, who intuitively knows his brother is suffering and rushes to wake him up. Raistlin thanks Caramon for driving away the unwanted dreams, but remains distant. Caramon then begins to sing, advising Raistlin to give up his ambitious plan, which he now reveals to the audience; Raistlin intends to descend into Abyss and challenge Takhisis, ascending to godhood himself if he manages to defeat the goddess. We have fought our wars, says Caramon, the Dark Lady is safely locked away in Abyss and the world needs heroes no more. Well, that's easy for you to say, you're not the one getting your dreams invaded.

Let's talk about Caramon a little. He is supposed to be the opposite of his twin; physically strong but mentally not the brightest, a handsome fellow with a big heart that overflows with kindness towards his friends and family. No ambition, no selfish arrogance guiding his actions, all he longs for is a simple, comfortable life and he cares deeply about the wellbeing of his loved ones. Compare that to Raistlin, who cares not about the feelings of others, uses people as stepping stones to reach his own selfish goals and in his pride desires always more power; when he has become the most powerful wizard in the mortal world even that is not enough, he needs to challenge the gods.

While I do think the actors in this musical do a pretty decent job mostly, I have to say I'm a little disappointed in Andrei Loboshov playing Caramon. His acting is a bit wooden occasionally and he comes off as comically dumb sometimes (I mean yeah, Caramon wasn't the sharpest sword in the weapon rack but still). Also his voice is kinda mediocre compared to others. This is Caramon, he is supposed to be charming and lovable. And handsome. Again, I know I'm not the right person to judge male beauty, but compare this guy to the one playing Raistlin (who is supposed to be the ugly twin). Like, come on.

Raistlin refuses Caramon's offer of simple living. He points out that as a creepy weirdo he will never belong anywhere and will never be as accepted by others like someone normal like Caramon is. He is determined to seek godhood, and abandons his brother's company while making plans how to reach his ambitious goal. He receives a letter that informs him that a priestess of Paladine (the highest ranking of the good gods, adversary of Takhisis) called Crysania seeks to meet him. Fate seems to smile upon the dark wizard, for a priestess of Paladine is exactly what he needs for his plan...

So. Crysania. I have...  mixed feelings about this character. On one hand, I admire the sincerety of her character, her genuine kindness (she is the priestess of the greatest of the good gods after all) and her determination to attempt to do the right thing. And yet she is doomed to betray her god out of her love for a heartless man. Stories about a pure maiden who falls in love with a cursed prince are numerous and the appeal of such stories is clear. However, Beauty and the Beast this is not. My main problem with Crysania is this: I fucking feel bad for what happens to her! She is dumb and naive and thoroughly amai and a very good example of what happens when a woman tries to ”cure” or ”save” a cruel man. It's not even her own fault because Raistlin manipulates the fuck out of her (and even if it were purely because of her own stupidity, victim blaming is bullshit so there!). I just want to rush in there and swoop her in my arms and give Raistlin the middlefinger like NO, you do not deserve the love of this woman, you do not get to use her for your ridiculous ego-inflating power fantasy plans, farewell and up yours!

When I read the books, I imagined Crysania looking unearthily beautiful, like a Greek statue come to life, and having an aura of holiness and piety in her voice. Here she is played by Elena Minina and damn, she is amazing. I don't know how they managed to find someone who so much resembles the official artwork of the character. I find her beauty stunning (just my opinion, there are probably a ton of people who consider her mediocre) and her voice is incredible. It's so clear, like the singing of birds and the sounds of running water on a stream, like silver bells tied to a dancer's ankle. I don't know how to describe it. I know nothing of opera or other top quality singing but I could easily imagine Elena being a truly professional singer. And this is really what made me fall in love with this show; the songs and the amazing singers delivering them.

Raistlin and Crysania meet in the city of Palanthas and have a little talk. Crysania reveals to the black mage that her god Paladine is aware of his plans and does not approve. She attempts to convince him to abandon his plan, not just for the good of mankind and the cosmic balance (the proper balance of good and evil is very important in Dragonlance pantheon) but for his own sake. Repent before it's too late and save yourself! Knowing that this is a chess piece he very much needs, Raistlin immediately goes into manipulation mode and starts to suggest things to Crysania. Oh, you came to me just as a messenger of your god? What if I told you he sent you to me for different reasons – to help me. He proceeds to flatter Crysania, praising her faith and purity (maybe to suggest that someone like her couldn't commit anything unholy, and thus can help him without fear of angering her god) and plants the idea to her head that light and dark mages aren't so black and white, and that sometimes dark magic is necessary to reach a noble cause.

Crysania listens and admits that Raistlin makes many good points but still she advises him to give up his plan. At this moment Raistlin has a coughing fit (the only time we see the fragility of his body in the musical) and Crysania's heart is immediately melted by compassion and she offers her help (as a priestess of Paladine she has healing powers). Raistlin accepts her healing magic but refuses her plea to bring him to the temple to be treated properly there, since even Paladine's clerics can't cure the curse that ruined his body. But appealing to her compassion works for his advantage, as did letting her get close and touch him (it's like he knows she's going to fall in love with him and attempts to bond with her to make it happen.). He insists on leaving but invites Crysania to meet him at the Tower of High Sorcery if she wants to speak with him more. Once she's alone, Crysania sings about how she understands that her fate is tied to this mysterious man who she used to think of as an enemy but is fast growing more fond and respecting of. She feels sorry for him and wants to save him so badly. Let the fire burn my hands, I will endure it or die trying. Meanwhile, I'm here whispering ”don't do it” under my breath. This is a very pretty song.

Astinus steps once more on stage. Crysania asks him how does Raistlin think he can break open the gate of Abyss. Astinus reveals that the gates of Abyss were locked so that they could only be opened by a black mage and a light priest working together (which the gods thought would be unthinkable, apparently, since that would be bringing together two sworn enemies). Crysania understands now what Raistlin had in mind for her. So, he thinks I'm going to be his key. Despite knowing this, she still wants to see him to learn more and asks how to find her way to the Tower of High Sorcery. Astinus tells her that the road there goes through the Grove of the Dead, making it a very perilous journey. Crysania considers this a test of courage set upon her by Raistlin and declares that she will go there.

Next we visit a charming little place called the Inn of the Last Home. The inn is run by Tika, Caramon's wife and she merrily spends time with the customers who sing and dance the night away. Tika is played by Irina Kruglova and it's a shame she has such a small role, since she has a lovely voice.

Back during the war Tika was one of the heroes and fought just as well as everyone else, but now has settled down since just like Caramon she longed for a peaceful, adventure-free life.

When I saw this character, I got worried. It looks like it might be a kender. Good grief, the goddamn kender are the worst thing Dragonlance universe came up with. * shudders* Back in my larp days there was a universally known unwritten rule among gamemasters: no more than one kender per ten other characters. Everyone obeyed this rule and good for them. I never got to play one, but a friend of mine did. She crawled under the tables and stole everyone's shoelaces.  

The joyful tune is disturbed when Crysania comes in and asks if anyone can show her to the Grove of the Dead. Tika tries to convince her not to seek the Grove, explaining that wizards enchanted the forest so that non-magic users couldn't find a way to their tower.

The guests agree with Tika, no one knows what the Grove hides, for the Grove never returns its dead. Crysania is still determined, if no one comes to be her guide, she goes alone. The guests and Tika then come up with an idea to have Caramon go along to keep her safe. No one else dares to go there, but Caramon is a true war hero.

Unfortunately this is the exact moment Caramon enters the inn, drunk as a lord and holding a letter he wrote to Raistlin. Look, Raistlin sent my letter back unopened, and even wrote on top of it ”I have no brother.” The separation of the twins was hard for Caramon and he started to drink his depression away, becoming less like a hero and more like pathetic drunk every day. He sings a sad, drunken, wailing song about how this letter hurt him so deeply.

They are stealing his axe - they are kender! Out! Throw them out!

Crysania rolls eyes at such a guardian, baffled that the intelligent and well mannered Raistlin could have such a disgraceful twin and she goes forth on her own. Tika then shames Caramon for being such a wreck and giving everything up so easily like the opposite of Rick Astley and sends him after the priestess. Your brother messed with her head, now it's your job to get her back safely! Reluctantly Caramon goes, not thrilled to be back on the adventuring business.

The background dancers felt out of place earlier, but in the Grove of the Dead they fit in perfectly, creating an ominous atmosphere. These living shadows creep up to Crysania, who faces them without fear and sends them back with the power of faith. She's prevented from proceeding any further when she comes face to face with an undead warrior named Lord Soth.

In the books, the death knight was sent to assassinate Crysania by Raistlin's sister Kitiara, to prevent the opening of the gates of Abyss. Lord Soth failed in his attempt, Crysania didn't die but she was wounded. Kitiara doesn't appear in this musical, and we don't actually see Lord Soth wounding Crysania. Instead he just poses dramatically and seems to scare Crysania and Caramon from approaching the Tower. He and the rest of the shadows are sent away by Raistlin, who appears to sing a new song.

The song is all about how names have power. It's a very fitting song for a mage, but kinda out of place. I guess it implies that by the power of knowing the name and origin of the creatures of the Grove he can send them away and allow the travellers to reach the Tower. But it looks like he's singing it to Crysania, which makes no sense. Also, what is he doing there? He should be far gone by now, time travelling to the past (yes, this story involves time travelling, a kind of magic that I've always thought way too powerful to exist, since if you have the power to go back in time, wouldn't you be able to keep trying a thing over and over again until you reach a timeline where you're successful? Way too convenient for my taste in magic.).

In the Tower of High Sorcery the Conclave of Mages is holding a meeting re: what to do with Raistlin. There are the white robed light mages and the black robed dark mages, but where are the neutral red ones? Balance of power is important in Dragonlance lore, and besides the forces of good and evil there existed the middle path that was kinda allowed to do whatever they wanted because they held loyalty to neither side. They could have easily put some red mages in the background here, so I wonder why they didn't (local prop department only had white and black robes?).

The conclave calls forth Dalamar, an elf who was spying Raistlin for the Conclave while being his apprentice in dark sorcery. Dalamar reveals all that he knows of Raistlin's plans; that his teacher has time travelled to the city of Istar to look for the gate to Abyss and to learn from another dark wizard who lived there at the time. By doing so Raistlin has apparently broken some union laws the Conclave held and they are disgusted with this (I told you time travelling should be banned!). But then they decide to send Crysania back in time to Istar too, for whatever reason. In the book it was because she was injured and needed a level of healing only the clerics of Paladine back in Istar's days of greatness could offer. But here it's a bit unclear, since we don't see Crysania get wounded and the Conclave never mentions any reasons behind their decision to send her time travelling. Maybe they were just as naive as her and thought she could stop him. Crysania tells them she intends to prevent Raistlin from opening the gates of Abyss and they just...   seem to go with it.

Dalamar and Par-Salian (leader of the Conclave) high five at their decision. Classy wizards are these.

One nice detail they kept are Dalamar's scars. You can see them on his chest. Raistlin wasn't born yesterday, he knew damn well that Dalamar was spying him and to show him that he knows, he burned the elf's chest with his fingertips like branding a calf. Just so you know, I'm on to your scheme and could dispose of you any time I want, I just don't think of you as a threat and don't care if the Conclave finds out because they won't be able to stop me. In the books Dalamar had a bizarre habit of flashing his scars to people. Look at what he did to me! No, stop, put your robes back on, nobody wants to see that, you kinky biscuit!

While the background people are working on propping Istar (mainly just covering everything in white), Dalamar sings a short song that reveals that he actually sends Crysania back in time because he is loyal to his teacher. Whatever you say, Dalamar. Whatever. Anyway, we have travelled back in time to Istar now. Everything and everyone is white and shiny and full of faith. Crysania is awestuck at the beauty of the city and the grandness of faith. Istar is a theocratic city state, and we also meet the guy who runs the city, known as the Kingpriest.

Good god, Alexi Tolstorkorov who plays the Kingpriest has the perfect voice for the role. It's a powerful, booming and majestic voice, making him sound like a charismatic cult leader when he preaches his truth. His voice demands respect and acknowledgment of his authority. Alexi is also rather tall, which makes him look properly intimidating. And considering they probably didn't have much of a budget, they propped him rather decently. Very good Kingpriest, 10/10.

Kingpriest. Dude. You’re saying that to a blind person!

Crysania finds Raistlin among the crowd (disguised as a cleric, because he's smart enough not to prance around in his black robes here) and informs him that Caramon got sent back with her as well but they got separated in the crowd. Raistlin didn't expect his brother to join Crysania in her attempt to stop him, but accepts this new turn of events and is already figuring out how to use it to his advantage. Raistlin tells her that he has already located the gates of Abyss here and soon they will open them together. I was expecting Crysania to tell him she has no such intentions, but here she just seems to...  be too distracted by Wow such great city! Very pure! Much faith! Which is...  awkward. Because this is fucking Istar, in the past. Crysania should know what happens to this city. Like, did they not teach history in whatever school priests of Paladine go to? Apparently they did not and it is up to Raistlin to open Crysania's eyes and reveal the ugly truth to the audience.

Raistlin sings a song about the corruption of Istar, how the priests are drunk with power and use it in manners that should be blasphemous to do in the name of good gods. Not only is magic and the worship of evil and neutral gods forbidden, some of the good gods are banned too and there's racism (I wholeheartedly cheer at the guards jailing kender, though.) and all other disgusting misuses of religion as justification for evil. The city if full of narcisstic men who put their own words in the mouth of god and present it as truth. It's interesting that Weis and Hickman came up with Istar, since Hickman is a devout mormon, so you'd think he's not the kind of person to present a theocracy as a corrupt cult. Anyway, Raistlin uses this moment to again cultivate in Crysania the belief that light and dark are not the same as good and evil. If priests of Paladine can be capable of such wickedness, then logic follows that a black mage can seek a noble cause. Maybe I'm not your enemy, aren't the ones who betrayed your god while claiming to serve him much more deserving to be your enemies? I only seek to rid the world of the source of all evil, while they seek to tear the whole world apart in their crusade against even the smallest shadow.

And then Crysania goes and confronts her fellow priests and the Kingpriest himself like the dumb shit she is, accusing them of their false faith and questioning their authority. Like good grief Crys, how fucking amai can you be?! Did you really think that one woman marching in front of a cultist leader and his brainwashed minions could make them see the light and better their ways by just shaming them? Like oh no, she is giving us the shounen anime protagonist Convincing Shouting treatment and telling us to give up our corrupt religion that benefits us greatly, whatever shall we do? Tell her she's right and that we are ashamed of ourselves for not noticing earlier? Or how about...  we just burn her at the stake for heresy?

Seriously Crysania, did you stop for two seconds to consider what could go wrong with your master plan? Anyway, it's a very nice song between Crysania and the Kingpriest. It also shows Crysania's budding doubts about her faith. She is disgusted that she had to have this revealed to her by an enemy, that her brothers and sisters who she is supposed to trust were holding an ugly secret from her.

So, Crysania is held captive at the temple for heresy. Raistlin doesn't seem particularly concerned with this. Having Crysania doubt her faith works for his plan. Caramon gets imprisoned too, after asking people if they've seen his brother, who's a mage. Use of magic being forbidden, even family members of mages get thrown in jail. There Caramon sings a song how he trusts that his brother will soon come save him. It's sad to see Caramon projecting his own family loyalty to his brother who has never helped anyone if it wasn't relevant to his interests. You poor man, still blind to the truth that your brother can't be redeemed.

In the book Caramon was made to fight in a gladiator arena with other prisoners. This musical also makes him fight, but frames it differently. Here the Kingpriest arranges the fights to find the best warrior to be the Chosen One to deliver world of evil or something along those lines. Disguised as a cleric Raistlin declares Caramon as a volunteer to fight. He is brought to the arena but refuses to pick up his sword, because it's one thing to fight in a war and for self defence but this is just slaughter for the amusement of others and he wants nothing to do with it.

I like how when Caramon refuses to fight, his opponent strikes this seductive pose. Fight me, my love, you know you want to...

The Kingpriest is not pleased for Caramon's refusal. Raistlin explains to him that the man is an honorable knight (yeah sure) who cares not for his own life but will defend the life of another. He suggests that they bring Crysania to the arena. The Kingpriest agrees to this, and Caramon immediately picks up his sword to protect the lady. The fight is fierce and has surprisingly many real swordplay techniques used (I usually expect very little realism from stage swordfights). Yes there's still lots of unreasonable things like turning your back to your enemy and coming way too close during the close combat (you come to a distance I can punch you, you will get pommel to the face) but this is still one of the best stage swordfights I've seen. It's also unusually fast, more often stage fencing uses slower, wider strikes to make it easier to follow the fight. Here, I noticed many of the techniques used only when I was taking screenshots, they happen so fast.

I didn’t even notice this block by grabbing blade at first viewing.

Oh, this looks like a throw! Are they really going to do a throw?

Apparently yes.

I have to tip my hat to the guy who plays Purple Fake Dreads here. He is agile!

He is fierce!

He is bouncy!

Fly away, Purple Fake Dreads!

I especially like the move where he places his foot on Caramon's leg and steps up on it to kick him in the groin.

Go, go, Purple Fake Dreads!

Caramon, who fought more carefully and defensively than his aggressive and impatient opponent, wins the fight, and the Kingpriest grants him and Crysania their freedom as a reward. The citizens of Istar then begin a mass with the Kingpriest, and the chanting gets more and more ominous until everything goes red. The event known as Cataclysm happens.

Angered by the corruption and arrogance of the Kingpriest, the gods threw a fiery mountain down on Istar, sinking the city to the bottom of the sea, changing the landscape and geography of Krynn permanently. Raistlin, Caramon and Crysania escape the divine wrath by time travelling again, to a timeline little after the Cataclysm. This they do offscreen.

Having witnessed the destruction of Istar, Crysania grieves for the innocent lives struck down for the crimes of a few. Her faith weakens once more. Her god doesn't answer to her call, so Raistlin asks her to follow him, which she does. After all, he is the one who showed her the truth and hasn't lied to her, and for that she respects him. She still believes that her fate is tied to the dark wizard, but she is beginning to doubt if her role ever was to help him see the light and not the other way around.

Istar being at the bottom of the sea now, Raistlin can no longer use the gates in there, much to his annoyance. However, there is a second Gate hidden in Zhaman fortress, in a well guarded dwarf kingdom. The black mage needs to find a way to get inside, and simple knowledge of history tells him how to do it.

Caramon comes to his brother, demanding to know why he betrayed him and made him fight in the arena instead of helping him escape. After listening to this for a while, Raistlin tells him that he's being an idiot; arranging for him to get chosen to fight in the arena was his plan to get him out from jail. You got yourself arrested out of stupidity, getting you to be chosen as the one to fight wasn't easy either, you know. So don't come to me claiming I didn't help you and Crysania to get your freedom so we could all escape together instead of leaving you behind to go down with the rest of Istar!

Okay, I get it, Caramon admits. But I'm still done with all of this and I'm going back home! Oh really, Raistlin comments, what a shame, I could have used your help. It hurts me to see the change in Caramon as soon as Raistlin says that, because the dumb man doesn't understand that he's just being manipulated. Caramon is so desperate for any sign of brotherly love from his twin that as soon as Raistlin hints that he could help him, he's ready to do anything. Of course I will help you in any way I can, my dear brother! You poor man, you poor faithful dog wagging your tail no matter how many times your master mistreats you.

What Raistlin has in mind for Caramon is war. Around this time in history, there was a war waged against the dwarf kingdom. Raistlin intends to make history repeat itself, and he needs Caramon to lead the army. What army, it's just the three of us, asks Caramon. And then Raistlin begins to sing, while the background dancers begin what looks like a yoga session. Raistlin is a good speaker and manipulator, he easily convinces warriors to join their attack to Zhaman fortress. Knowing history helps him, for he knows what kind of people went into this war and what their motivations were.  Little by little they gather quite an army to march into war. Caramon questions if what they are doing is the right thing and that they are lying to people to lure them into an unnecessary war. Raistlin convinces him the war is inevitable, and Caramon, too eager to please his brother, turns a blind eye to the unethicalness of it all.

While Caramon is working his hardest to earn them an entry to the gates, Raistlin focuses on working his mindgames with Crysania. He needs to get her to agree to go along with his plan. So he attempts to use her compassion, and sings to her a sad song about his childhood, colouring everything a little to make himself look more like a sympathetic victim of forces beyond his control. He claims to have began learning magic purely for self defence, being bullied as kid, and then goes on to claim that magic is an addiction that can't be fought once you've tried it. He also very clearly has become aware of Crysania falling in love with him and fans those flames as best he can, being all gentlemanly and nice to her even if he's a jerk when he's with his brother. This is one thing that people don't get about abusive people; they are perfectly capable of playing nice when it's beneficial to them and just because someone is ”such a nice guy” doesn't mean they can't be monsters.

Crysania is smart enough to call bullshit on Raistlin claiming to have always been an enemy to Takhisis, pointing out that he did fight on her side during the past war. But Raistlin pulls the ”It was all according to my plan, so I could betray her”-card out of his sleeve. I'm a traitor to both sides and both good and evil look forward to my funerals. Pity poor me who attempted to do what was right but ended up being unfairly hated by everyone. Well, Crysania buys it all, poor woman. They get closer and closer and looks like they are about to kiss...

But no kissels. Excited Caramon arrives to bring news that Zhaman has been conquered. Crysania leaves the men alone, and Caramon sings a happy song about how much glory he has gained in these battles and thanks Raistlin for making him the leader of the army, giving his life meaning and saving him from being a useless, depressed drunk.

Raistlin is initially annoyed that his alone time with Crysania was interrupted, but knowledge that he now has access to the gates he so desires to open puts him in a good mood and he joins Caramon in the victory celebrations. At some point it even looks like he...  smiles a little...   and not sarcastically. Who is this stranger and what have you done with the real Raistlin?

Now all Raistlin needs is to make sure Crysania will follow him to the gates. At night, when they are alone again he begins to sing a romantic song for her, posing sexily while he gazes at the starry sky, and she joins the song. By now she is completely and utterly in love with him and filled with joy when suggested that the feelings might be mutual.

Raistlin does an excellent job at seducing her considering he has no prior experience in romance whatsoever.  He often takes Crysania's hand while they walk but never makes any more forward moves himself, allowing her to be the one who initiates their first kiss.

Except this time too they are interrupted before the kiss can happen. This time by peeping tom Takhisis making her nightly visit to Raistlin's mind and being all Oh my, things are getting juicy in here, wait until I get my popcorn! Raistlin is startled, looks away and tells Crysania to get out. This is the first time Raistlin's behaved like that in front of her, so she's frightened that by making that first move crossed his line and angered him. She runs away, brokenhearted.

Raistlin is left alone with Takhisis, who in her turn tries to play mindgames. She suggests to Raistlin that maybe he wasn't encouraging Crysania's love just because it was convenient for his plan, maybe he too is falling in love.

Raistlin is horrified of such a thought but compliments her Dark Majesty for pointing out his weakness so he can make sure to overcome it. I made her fall in love with me, using her weakness of compassion and pity against her, surely I am above falling into my own trap! Well, regardless of how her love was born, comments Takhisis, your feelings are genuine – don't you want to keep her? Love is stronger than you are, puny mortal, it would overcome you.

Love brings no happiness, only suffering, sings Raistlin. Look at Crysania, who was so fearless, yet now is afraid, made so weak by her love. I must not return a false love, not fall for a creation of my own making. And so he fights to resists the basic human urge, the need to be loved, considering it a dangerous weakness. Without love I can't be hurt. I won't let my feelings hinder me, my brother is nothing but a sword for me and Crysania is nothing but a key. Love will break and weaken any ruler.

Nothing matters more than love, whispers Takhisis (rather uncharacteristic for the goddess of evil to spout such sappy fortune cookie aforisms). No, power is much more dear to me, answers Raistlin, but he is a complete emotional mess after fighting his feelings and can just tiredly beg for the Dark Lady to leave him alone.

Caramon, while unable to hear Takhisis, heard everything Raistlin said and his heart breaks when he finally learns that his brother doesn't love him. So it was all lies, I meant nothing to you? Or maybe I knew this all along and was lying to myself. When Caramon says he's leaving, Raistlin calls out to him, weak and exhausted after chasing Takhisis out of his mind. And even now, after hearing the truth, Caramon hesitates only a moment before coming to Raistlin's side, making sure he's alright. He even takes off his cape to cover the sleepy wizard warmly.

Kind people are unable to ignore a call for help, even when uttered by someone they know wouldn't return the favor, because for kind people there is no such thing as ”someone who doesn't deserve help.” I still want to kick Raistlin for being such a dick, though. While watching Raistlin sleep, Caramon sings a sad song about how he misses the lost happiness and innocence of their childhood.

The next song is very painful. It's Crysania basically slutshaming herself. Instead of recognizing that her broken heart is the result of Raistlin's mindfuckery, she blames herself. And more alarmingly, she makes a decision to change. By now she is as desperate for Raistlin recognizing her worth as Caramon was for any sign of brotherly love. It hurts me to see her like this, because it reminds me too much of real women who end up trying to change to better please their male lovers. This is what has become of her – the fearless lady who went forth to save a wicked man and prevent him from going through a horrible plan has turned into a blind minion of said man, willing to do whatever he wants. Raistlin has corrupted Crysania, broken her in an incredibly vile way. Instead of leaving the cruel man, she is finally convinced to aid him in opening the gates to Abyss. In her despair to be deemed worthy, Crysania decides to do the one thing Raistlin has always been asking of her, even if that means going against her god's will. At one point in the song it looks like she's talking to Paladine (kinda looking skyward) and saying something along the lines of ”I expect you to condemn what I'm about to do.” And so she betrayed her god and went down to Abyss for the sake of love.

Into the Abyss they go, singing a triumphant song together. They went with music forth to battle, not knowing what horrors lie beyond the gates. Crysania is made fearless by her faith, but not the faith she had for her god but her faith in Raistlin's might, sincerely believing it to be powerful enough to defeat a great goddess. Raistlin is made fearless by his trust in himself.

Not too long after passing the gates, they are welcomed by her Dark Majesty herself. Takhisis is aware of Raistlin's plan to kill her, but she pretends not to know. She congratulates Raistlin for opening the gates for her like a good little minion and offers him a place at the foot of her throne. Either she is being sarcastic, or she is attempting to avoid the fight with intimidation tactics, allowing Raistlin a peaceful way out if he chickens now that he is actually face to face with a powerful goddess.

Look at those four women standing beside her Dark Majesty. I didn't get it at the first viewing, but look at them; different colours, wearing a crown decorated with dragon horns – they are the rest of her five necks! The iconic fiveheaded dragon queen form does appear in the musical, cleverly interpreted!

Intimidation tactic seems to be working, Raistlin looks hesitant for a while, but Crysania turns his head so he can't see the Dark Lady and instead looks her in the eyes and this seems to break the fear instilled in Raistlin after so many nightmares. Time for mindgames and backstabbing is over, Raistlin steps up and voices his intentions loud and clear, challenging the goddess of evil.

This is the first time we see Takhisis express anger, now that all pretense has been thrown to the wind. You can almost see her breathe fire as she gives the INSOLENT MORTAL I WILL BREAK YOU IN HALF!-speech. She then summons her minions to fight for her. Including some weird glowstick-lightsaber wielding guys. They didn't have the budget to prop actual horrors from beyond, so they got creative. I think Takhisis should have summoned a bunch of her evil dragons. No matter how incredibly powerful your wizard is, if a flock of red dragons appears, he is toast. Delicious magical toast.

In the next song Takhisis sings about how great her powers are, with a big emphasis on the fact that she can take countless forms. One great way they show this is the actress playing Crysania also joining the song as clearly a Crysania-shaped incarnation of the Dark Lady. She has been tormenting Raistlin with nightmares and goes to work with his fears and darker memories again. It is fascinating that Crysania seems to be one of the things he fears, but that is probably because of his fear of falling in love and therefore becoming vulnerable.

You know, seeing Takhisis and Crysania together and hearing their beautiful voices simultaneously, makes me want to ship them. I know it's a ridiculous crackpairing, Crysania would deem it blasphemous and Takhisis would be like ”She's not as good as Mina.” But hey, if Crysania is ready to betray her god, why not go all out and fall in love with her god's literal rival? Like how deliciously angsty would that get? I'm sorry, this is stupid. Actually, no, I'm not sorry. Because you know what, I can't go to any show's fandom without seeing a fuckton of male/male ships of characters who hate each other in canon/are sworn enemies, so I should not have to be ashamed for blushing at the thought of femslashing Crys and Taksu. The ship may be full of holes but I will sail it!

More random minions. The background dancers just really, really wanted to show off their cool fedoras and scarves, no matter how unfit they are in a fantasy setting.

The next foe Raistlin faces is a succubus. She unfortunately lacks the charisma of Vera Zoodena and comes off as trying too much. I'm sorry, but whatever she's trying, it just doesn't work. Raistlin seems nervous though, and shouts to her ”Don't touch me!” Oh, the bookworm nerd doesn't like me, eh, says the succubus, I'll just pick his brother then. And she goes to snuggle with Caramon's doppelganger. This is a rather interesting scene, because there's a book that tells about the twins' childhood and apparently there was an incident where a girl initially showed intered towards little Raistlin and got his hopes up and then crushed them by deciding to go for the handsome twin instead. So, yeah, Raistlin has brother issues, and of course Takhisis uses them against him.

Time for more childhood trauma. Takhisis summons the images of the kids who bullied Raistlin when he was little. As someone who still occasionally has nightmares of my own bullies, I have to admit I feel sorry for him here. The cruelty of children can wound a person very deeply. The creatures make Raistlin retreat, tearing open wounds he thought had scarred permanently long ago. Anxious and unable to fight his fears, Raistlin falls on his knees and, much like in his childhood, instinctively cries Caramon for help. But his brother is not here to protect him, to chase away the bullies and watch over his sleep so he can wake him up from nightmares.

Now that Takhisis has Raistlin exhausted and crawling on the ground, she appears to him in the disguise of his mother. She calls for Raistlin, and the wizard reacts to the familiar voice, rushing towards her but stopping midway when he finally gets a grip of reality, that these are all shadows summoned by Takhisis and nothing more. Once Takhisis realizes her game is discovered, she drops the pretense and appears as herself, casting her dark spells on Raistlin, pulling him closer. Eventually all of his strength is consumed and he collapses, fallen victim to the Dark Lady's power.

Crysania to the rescue! Having been separated from Raistlin in the darkness of the Abyss, she finally finds him and immediately puts her healing powers to work. Takhisis tells her she is too late, death has claimed the wizard. I will not give him to you, Crysania exclaims, continuing to revive the man she loves. If needed, she is willing to give her own life in exchange of his. Takhisis speaks to Crysania, telling her that even she feels sorry for her, but a flame always leaves its mark. And then, just as life is returning Raistlin's body, the Dark Lady blinds Crysania's eyes.

And now we get to the most painful scene in the show. Blinded Crysania seeks Raistlin's hand and tells him that they have defeated darkness (What?! How? When? The last I checked, Takhisis seemed to be alive and well. I don't get it.). My eyes can see light no more and I am wounded, but your path to godhood is open now. And then Raistlin answers...  that I don't need you anymore. I...  I...  fuck...  Crysania begs him to stay with her, to hold her hand. She was ready to give her life for you! All she wants is for you to hold her hand! I don't cry often when reading books but I remember sobbing all the way through this horrible ending.

Singing arrogantly, Raistlin leaves Crysania behind, blind and wounded, all alone in the darkness of the Abyss. I did what was necessary to reach my goal. The gates were sealed cleverly but with the help of a fool's love I opened them. I don't need you anymore. The price of love in exchange of becoming a god is not too high.

Takhisis speaks to Crysania again, and it's clear now that when she said earlier that she feels sorry for Crysania, it wasn't because of her grief over Raistlin's death, but because she wasn't aware of being used.

Taksu, please, can you not. (Why is everyone in this musical such a dick to blind people?)

Crysania sings a sad song about the senselessness of cruelty and my heart breaks for her. After devoting her life to a man who abandoned her to die alone in the dark, the inside of her chest is pitch black and a void deeper than Abyss where her heart used to be. A final song of grief echoes among the shadows. The Dark Lady's minions dance with Crysania, surprisingly calmly considering they are creatures of evil. Even Takhisis herself holds her in her arms for a while (please kiss her. I know you're not the goddess of death but please. Just kiss her.). Eventually she collapses at the foot of her Dark Majesty's throne and ends her song. The only thing I can do is close my eyes before this void and wait for someone to push. And that's the image we leave Crysania with. A betrayed, blind woman standing on a cliff's edge, waiting for the moment she has to fall down.

Astinus appears again and tells what happened next. Raistlin went on to challenge all of the gods until he was the only one left. However, he did not possess the gods' ability to create. In his war against the gods he had left the mortal world in ruin, and now as the only god of Krynn, he could not repair it. The mortal world had become as desolate, dark and lifeless as the Abyss.

Now, in the books this is not what happens. It's what could happen, but Raistlin gets shown this grim future and that scares him to finally give up his ambitious plan. However he had already opened the gates and entered Abyss, so he chose to remain there and prevent Takhisis from coming through the gates until they had been properly closed behind him. Some versions of the musical also apparently have this ending. However, I prefer this one, where Raistlin reaches that future and has to for all eternity bear the heavy burden of being the one who brought forward the end of the world, all alone in the darkness, the only remaining witness to the devastating results of his actions. I think an ending where we allow him the chance to correct his errors and sacrifice his life nobly for the sake of preventing Takhisis from entering Krynn, is cheaper and doesn't give proper emphasis on the fact that actions have consequenses and often, even in stories involving time travel, once you've made a mistake, you cannot undo it! I prefer stories with the moral ”Don't do this, once you do it there's no going back” than ”Don't do this but if you do, there's always a second chance if you're ready to make some sacrifices.” I know this is fantasy, but in real life, there often aren't second chances. You can only break a fragile thing once. You can only lose someone's trust once.

We get one final song, Lord of Nothing, and it's a great song number. For whatever reason Takhisis sings it with Raistlin, despite the fact that she should be long since defeated in this timeline. Maybe she will forever live on in Raistlin's mind, a fragment of his imagination formed from the memory of nightmares. I don't know, but I don't even care, Vera Zoodena has such a great voice that she can raise Takhisis from the dead any time she wants.

One reason I love this song is that it's basically the Dark Lady vigorously rubbing salt on Raistlin's wounds. Yeah, you wanted this, you wanted this so bad, well look at your kingdom now, oh great Lord of Nothing! As she sings the background dancers gradually take away all of the props, including Raistlin's staff and his robes and then disappear offstage, leaving him standing there alone on the empty stage. It is very satisfying to hear Raistlin sing in anxious manner, desperately trying to lie to himself that he can still fix this, oh please don't let me be left alone in the void. The last one to leave is Astinus. He gives Raistlin his quill and scroll of history before disappearing.

I liked this show and was amazed how nicely it adapted the original material. It's very different to the kind of musical theater I usually watch (Takarazuka). But even a smaller production, with a very small prop budget and actors who sing well but don't dance at all, can be as entertaining as a big, colourful spectacle.

There's been some translating projects going on. Maybe some day there might be an English version done.

[hankypranky]

T. Rickster, The Dickster Part II

Part I can be found here.

They will probably be shorter chapters as this isn’t my usual style. I have an overall plot planned out, so I will continue as long as you guys want me to.

Tom didn't wait until Sam left the door frame before making his way in.. He looked around, not much had changed since he had last been here. The walls were lined with bookcases, full to the brim with small gadgets here and there. The only gap in the books were the space for a loveseat and a leather ottoman.

“Still no TV?” Tom asked.

“Who needs TV when you have all these books”.

Tom ran his finger over one of the shelves and it was coated in dust. “Ah, haven't changed much have you Sam. You a bit dusty in the bedroom too?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I see you haven't changed much either.”

He was about to wipe his hands on his suit, but realized what he was wearing. Rolling the dust off with his fingers, he said pointedly, “Actually, I have changed. Jobs that is. You would know if you had a TV.”

Genuinely happy for him, he merely responded,“Good for you.”

“Thanks. If I can do real journalism for a while, I might be able to get back in my parents good graces too.”

“I thought you hated them.”

“I do, but I want my trust fund back. I am still living over off Payne and Maryland paying too much rent for all the crime scenes I have to detour around. Plus, it will make our yearly trip a lot less awkward.”

“I'm sure they're sick of hearing about the most recent bigfoot sighting.”

“Hey! That last one was legit.”

Needing to keep Tom in check, he moved the conversation to the reason he allowed him in his apartment in the first place. “So, what type of interview do you want to do?”

“Well, most reporting these days are fear based. I'd like to follow you on a standard hunt and give the viewers some pointers on how to protect themselves, so they can feel safer.”

“And my research?”

Tom walked around the small apartment, “I'll introduce you with your all those letters in your name, where you went to college, yada yada…” Turning back to face his ex-lover, he explained, “It would be best to talk about the science while you're capturing a ghost  so they pay attention. Then tell them what they can do at home. And finally you get your plug at the end.”

That sounded reasonable. Tom continued,  Just don't make it too long winded. If you're looking for funds, I can help you set up a text to donate number. If you want to push your business, we can put your number up on screen. However, we will probably only get 7 minutes to start, but hopefully we can turn it into a public service section every week.” Tom shrugged, “Not sure, depends on the ratings.”

Sam stuffed his hands in his pocket, “I don't know how Dean will feel about this. He really doesn't like you.”

“He still mad about throwing up in his car?”

Frown lines formed on Sam’s precious face. “He will never forgive you for that. Ever. Remember that double date we went on at the bowling alley?”

Tom had forgotten about that completely until Sam brought it up. His expression turned to one of delight as the memories came back to him “Really? She was his type! I paid her for services rendered if you don't remember.”

“Exactly, that was the problem. She was a hooker!”

Tom corrected him, “Escort. Busty Asian Beauties finest. Come on, you know I was trying.”

Sam smiled. “Yeah. I know. Okay, now get out of here. I have to go to the bunker. I’ll text you his response.”

He started walking towards the door. Sam went to grab the handle to let him out when Tom looked up into Sam’s hazel eyes. “Thanks Sammy, I really appreciate it.”

At first he was surprised at the sincerity but recalled all too well the Dickster didn't really have a bad bone in his body. He was just a huge pain in the ass.

Tagging the folks that re-blogged the first part. If you don’t want to be tagged, let me know and if you do want to be tagged, let me know!

@mrspadaleckisworld @archangelgabriellives @nobodys-baby-now @meetmeatthecrossroads @1talian1ce @ajcza @nerd-litteraire

[metalheadkells]

@thepaperqueendom said: Thank you! I'm relieved for JD, but this fucking witch hunt is so unnecessary... the result of this trial will throw us back to the middle ages (not that we're not almost there already)

it’s been a few days so i can speak abt it more calmly than i had been last week 🥴 i agree abt the verdict - sets a gut-wrenchingly bad precedent for abuse victims speaking out about their experiences. i would be lying if i said i was relieved for JD in any way shape or form. i didn’t actually watch the trial bc it was grossly sensationalized and also i had/have no interest in using my free time to sit through hours of painful court proceedings. nor have i looked into the specific allegations that have been levied against AH, because they are immaterial to the big picture, which is that this whole thing was Fucked. 

why anyone was able to celebrate a man w/ as many bright red flags as JD unchallenged is completely beyond me. it would take a second of googling to see that he lost his court case in the UK in which the judge found of him guilty of being a “wife-beater”, and to consider the impact that televising the US trial would have on the jury (who were not sequestered, so they were all susceptible to bias by the internet outcry against AH). people were literally applying fandom-tinhatter energy to DV accusations. none of us know the whole story!!! all i know is that - from his text messages and his statements and his history - JD seems like a misogynistic megalomaniacal shitbag and i fully can’t believe so many people were cheering him on. i said i would be calm lol but like HOW?? 

the response online was SO overblown and SO vile that it made me feel genuinely unsafe. because like, i thought we’d moved past this. society really hates women THIS goddamn much, huh. i’ve seen commentators call it delayed metoo backlash, which is the only explanation for the tidal wave of vitriol. 

and i know this might seem trivial in comparison, but think abt fictional female characters who are portrayed as flawed and/or angry. think about skyler vs walt on BRBA. people have such a low tolerance for problematic women despite frequently adoring downright villainous men (fictional and otherwise). i’m sick of the double-standard!