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spectral-kitkat · 3 years

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Miraculous Rant.

Where the hell do I begin…

Season 1:

The show was decent in season 1. Some episodes were just mindless filler and probably weren’t needed in the grand scheme of things but they helped us get introduced to the characters, we got to know the plot and the world our characters inhabit. It was good. The love story between Adrien and Marinette was cute and off to a touching and fluffy start.

Season 2:

This season was immediately better than season 1. It had character development, it went more into detail about the lore surrounding the Miraculous and we got to learn more about our characters and their families and the villian’s motives. (HM really went from “I wanna destroy the world” to “I wanna wake my wife from the coma she’s in”).

We got to see new heroes which was fun! We got new characters like Luka and Kagami.

The season finale was epic! The Miraculous team all taking down all the previous villains in the show was awesome. At the end we even got Mari kissing Adrien on the cheek. It was great! (Even though it clearly reset itself in season 3 cause it’s never mentioned again)

I really enjoyed season 2 and it’s probably my favourite out of the 4.

Season 3:

Season 3 was kinda good and kinda bad. We had some great episodes but this is where the show took the wrong turn.

Marinette lost some of her character in season 3. This was the start of her descent into being the Queen of Mary Sues. It’s also where she was crowned the Queen of Stalkers! Her character took a fucking nose dive in this season. We had so many moments that just creeped me the fuck out.

1. The ENTIRETY of Puppeteer 2 🤢🤢🤢 I could not stand that episode. When we reached the dreaded statue scene I physically had to pause it like 10 times. That scene takes about 3 minutes to watch… it took me about 20. I cringed so fucking hard because of the secondhand embarrassment I was feeling. That was not sweet, it wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t the least bit cute… it was a train wreck! It was creepy and stalkerish and it’s a wonder Adrien even spoke to her again after that atrocity!

2. LB delivering the present in Chat Blanc. Two words: STALKER BEHAVIOUR!!! I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw LB run her hand across everything in his room and then actually SNIFF Adrien’s pillow. Like WTF!!! 🤮 I’m pretty sure whoever was responsible for that scene clearly thought it was the equivalent of when someone gets their S/O’s jumper or something and it still smells like them. But this turned it up to the nth degree and way passed the line of sanity.

Adrien was extremely under-utilised in this season. He didn’t really do anything. The only episodes we got about him didn’t really focus on him. ‘Felix’ whilst focusing on Adrien’s family didn’t really feature him. ‘Party Crasher’ while a beautiful mess was more about Mari trying to get into the party than the party itself. ‘Chat Blanc’ again focused more on Mari trying to fix her mistake.

We got even more heroes in season 3, not in the right order but they were there. It was fun seeing everyone’s transformations.

Season 3 was also the season of destroying redemptions. The big one obviously being Chloe. Season 2 was setting up this amazing redemption for her and before it could go anywhere it was wiped off the face of the earth during the finale (and don’t worry we’ll get to that dumpster fire later). Gabriel also had any remaining sympathy ripped away from him. How did the guy who stopped Gorizilla from letting Adrien die when he only thought he was CN go from that to using his son like fucking baseball in Chat Blanc when he knew his son was CN. Like I knew you were a shit father but you still cared about Adrien in some way shape or form but after that episode I can see I was clearly mistaken!

Before we get to the finale I want to talk about probably my 2 least favourite episodes from this season: Desperada and Reflekdoll

Desperada:

I fucking hated this episode! The only good thing was Luka getting to be Viperion, other than that this episode was awful!

Marinette was a selfish cringey bitch. Completely ignoring Luka to gush about Adrien to Jagged. Brushing Luka off as soon as Adrien turns up. Immediately cuddling up to Aspik and flirting with him when she needed to focus on the akuma (something which she has told CN not to do many times before)

Adrien, I love you kid but Jesus Christ you were a dumbass in this episode! Aspik’s design was terrible! Aspik himself was awful. I know Adrien tried his best but dude you were given the Black Cat miraculous for a reason! He shouldn’t have tried to be Aspik but even when he did he should’ve called it quits after like 5 resets not 25,913 times.

The only person with a brain this episode was Luka. So well done guitar boy, gold star!

Reflekdoll:

This episode was annoying! It was basically the start of the Marinette can do no wrong streak! When they have to swap miraculous I was happy cause it meant we got to see new outfits and see how they each handle the different powers. It would also serve as a way to get LB and CN to see what their partners role is first hand. Until we actually get to it…

LadyNoire is of course amazing and needs no introduction to using this new miraculous that she’s never used before. She’s cocky and confident and basically just LB in Chat’s costume with his powers.

Mister Bug on the other hand is just useless. He struggles with this new miraculous (like anyone would!) and is stupid and goofy. He has to rely on LadyNoire to solve the lucky charm. They swapped miraculous so shouldn’t that mean that Mister Bug should get the lucky vision and the creative powers that the earrings give him.

Overall Reflekdoll is awful. It was shitty writing and the start of Adrien getting the short end of the stick.

And now the season 3 finale… Just what the fuck. That is my only reaction: what the fuck!

Chloe you poor fucking child! What did they do to you!!! So much potential SQUANDERED!!!!

What was the point in bringing in all these different superheros with unique skill sets, costumes and transformations if you were just going to immediately reveal them to the main villian so they can’t be used again. That’s stupid! If you wanted the shock value that is “Oh no HM knows some of the heroes identities!” Then keep it as only some. Have like Max, Kim and Kagami outside trying to find somewhere to hide but unfortunately they get hit. Or Nino and Alya are hiding but the windows open and they get hit. Have some of the heroes hide so they’re fine! Taking away every ally of LB and CN’s was a stupid move! (Even if they wanted Alya to become a spy have her as part of the like 4 that get revealed or something, it’s not that difficult)

Season 3 was 50/50 for me

Season 4:

So I know season 4 isn’t even halfway through yet but so much is wrong with this season already that I need to vent!

So my biggest problem with this season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybitch and Rena Rouge, I mean Rena Furtive… shit, Chat Noir! Is that CN is basically pointless! Adrien has been flung over a rainbow and is only remembered when he’s needed as

1. Marinette’s love interest

2. Someone for LB to shout at

3. A plot device

He has basically been sidelined. Partners my ASS!!!

Adrien is being blown off by pretty much EVERYONE! It’s coming to a point where this poor sweet summer child is going to crack! And it is not gonna be pretty… I definitely feel like the writers are leading up to a big fight between CN and LB which will probably end with Chat Blanc 2.0.

I REALLY HATE MARINETTE/LADYBUG!!!! In Season 3 I said it was the beginning of her descent, well in season 4 she’s done it. She’s descended, she has hit rock fucking bottom. She is so unlikable I don’t actually care about her as a person. She has entered full blown stalker territory it’s only a matter of time before she starts killing people for even looking at Adrien! Not to mention that Miss Mary Sue here can’t do anything wrong! She never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, she is always perfect no matter what she does… it pisses me off!)

She’s the Guardian now big whoop. I know what it feels like to be stressed and under pressure so I do understand why she needed to tell someone about it all. I just don’t see why that person had to Alya! Especially considering she has someone by her side every akuma attack going through pretty much the exact same thing. I know she’s worried about CB happening again but as I said before the more she leaves him out the more she is actually pushing that to become a possibility! Plus it makes sense for them to reveal their identities now since LB is now the guardian it’s probably a good idea to know who holds the cat miraculous, she knows everyone else’s identities!

Even if she didn’t want to tell CN her identity she could still explain the situation to him. If she didn’t want to tell him anything (which she doesn’t anyway) then instead of Alya she should’ve talked to Luka! Her boyfriend for all of half an episode (thanks writers…). He’s so sweet and caring and clearly loves her so much! If she wanted someone to confide in then why not choose the person you clearly wanted to date but couldn’t because of that very reason! (Yeah I know it’s kinda a moot point now since Luka knows both identities but still). He wanted to try and comfort her so it would’ve been the perfect moment for it. That way you could still date him and he’d know why you had to suddenly leave dates halfway through! But no break the boys heart instead!

Adrien and Marinette were both such fucking idiots in the first 2 episodes. Like why would you start a relationship with someone when you know your heart isn’t in it! That’s called leading someone on and is a really shitty thing to do to someone! No wonder Kagami and Luka ended up akumatized!

Another aspect of season 4 I don’t like is Rena Furtive. Yes ok having a spy for your side is a good strategy but when said spy basically tells an important member of a duo that the 2 person job doesn’t involve them… it just really ticks me off! Alya you are the sidekick to LB and CN! Chat isn’t!

Miraculous specials:

The Miraculous World specials suck! Shanghai is better than NY but still has its problems. Both specials add nothing to the overall plot/lore of the show apart from trying to set up some weird cinematic universe…

NY special:

One of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through! The plane scene alone I paused a few times. I want to say well done to Mari for trying to move on from Adrien (especially considering I’m pretty sure she’s dating Luka at this point) but I can’t help but think it’s just to give her character some pointless development that goes nowhere and doesn’t actually develop anything!

LB can pretty much fuck off at this point! I hate her! She put all this shit on CN (like she doesn’t know exactly how that feels). It’s like why does she get to go off on holiday but CN can’t. LB should’ve stayed in Paris for 3 reasons:

1. She’s recently become the guardian meaning it would probably be best that she stayed with the Mircle Box

2. She’s the only one who can purity the akumas

3. If she’s so sure about being the boss then she should take responsibility of Paris and the citizens.

What really pisses me off about her is what she says to CN during the big fight. “I can’t trust you”… surely you could have this conversation afterwards since you’re supposed to be focusing on taking down the villian! Plus everyone bashes Adrien for giving his miraculous up in this episode but look at it from his point of view: His partner and best friend just said she couldn’t trust him which in turn caused him to cataclysm someone and essentially kill them. That’s gonna take a toll on anyone, especially a 14 year old! He probably thought in that moment. “Ladybug needs a partner she can trust and someone who won’t mess up and kill someone. She needs a better partner.” It makes sense he renounces his miraculous! I’m just upset that in doing so he loses Plagg who is pretty much his only friend who actually understands what Adrien goes through at home.

When Uncanny gets CN to come back, LB acts like it’s not her fault in the first place that he feels inadequate! She didn’t even apologise for saying what she did! He apologised for lying about not being in Paris but nope LB wasn’t in the wrong at all and didn’t have anything to apologise for 🙄… (yes the LadyNoir hug was amazing but I just wish it was under different circumstances!)

Also are we not gonna mention Gabriel Agreste almost starting WW3??? He wanted to launch a fucking missile!!!

Shanghai:

As I said before, this special is way better for several reasons.

We got MariChat! (Best side to the love square imo). This special actually had some semblance on a plot. Fei, whilst a bit op, was a cool character. It was nice to see Wang Cheng again.

However once again there were many problems.

A big one being Marinette yet again! (What a shock! 😒 I’ll come back to this). Another was that once again HM’s motivation has changed. How is getting the Prodigious gonna help bring back Emilie??

Back to Marinette… The fact that the words “Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! … His 5 first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!” come out of her mouth whilst she is flipping through his schedule that she keeps in her pocketbook is a hugh red flag!!! That is not cute or adorable! That’s messed up and Adrien needs to fucking run and maybe possibly go into witness protection… Marinette is a full blown stalker! Not to mention the GPS she has (that could just be the find my friends app on iphone but still).

It also is extremely rude of her to use not only her great uncle’s birthday but also a lie about wanting to know her Chinese heritage in order to go to Shanghai to stalk her obsession, I mean crush. This could’ve been avoided if the Dupain-Chengs were going to Shanghai for the purpose of celebrating Wang Cheng’s bday and then Adrien just so happened to be in Shanghai.

Also this means LB left Paris without telling CN! I know CN did the same but again he can’t purify the akumas. Plus he has a reason he couldn’t stay in Paris, Mari just went cause her crush did. Great guardianship there Marinette.

This was also the last time CN actually did something. Even if it was for a short while before LB and her female partner took over (the beginning of a theme…)

Other things:

There are 2 other things that I wanna say but felt they needed a separate bit.

In Furious Fu, Su-Han has a rule book that he uses to tell Marinette which rules she has broken. At the end of the episode he tells her that is she breaks 1 more rule that he will take the Miraculous and the Miracle Box off her, which fair enough but wouldn’t it be helpful to leave the rule book with her?! How can she be wary of not breaking anymore rules when she doesn’t even know what the rules are??

Now the big one: Master Fu…

Where do I even start with him. He is so fucking manipulative!! He is Asian Dumbledore!

He decides to leave these extremely powerful jewels in the hands of 13 year olds! Surely leaving the miraculous to someone in their 20s would’ve been better!

He clearly favours LB over CN even though the Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be partners! Wouldn’t it make sense for them both to be in contact with the guardian from the start?? He randomly started introducing rules such as if LB and CN find out each other’s identities they would lose their miraculous… what kind of bullshit rule is that? It also came out of fucking nowhere!

Final Thoughts:

But to summarise all of that: Miraculous is on quite a steep decline but I’m invested at this point and I am genuinely curious as to where the fuck this will go.

Marinette needs professional fucking help before the writers even consider canonising Adrienette cause at the moment she is not what Adrien needs!

Adrien needs to stand up for himself! He needs to pull LB to the side and tell her what he feels and what he’s going through cause he is on the precipice of a breakdown!

(Small point that’s more to do with the fandom: when searching for fanfics it’s really annoying that Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir Bashing is a tag but Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug Bashing isn’t. Why does everyone think Marinette can do no wrong???)

#miraculous fandom #miraculous ladybug #miraculous salt #adrien agreste #marinette dupen chang #marinette salt #master fu salt #ladybug and chat noir #fandom salt #thomas astruc salt #adrien deserves better #miraculous season 4 #miraculous season 3 #miraculous rant

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insomnihan · 3 years

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han’s Entire Thoughts & Feelings on Dreamcatcher’s “Odd Eye”

youtube

oh mY F UCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

there are no read mores here so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ALRIGHT SO-

OH MY F UCKING GOD THE SONG WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN WITH THIS??????????? DEAD ASS?????????????? THAT BEGINNING SOUND ALONE TRIGGERED MY FIGHT OR FLIGHT AND THEN IT JUST CALMS DOWN YET MY BRAIN IS ALREADY F UCKING LOSING IT- ITS THE GUITAR ALL THROUGHOUT AND HOW I JUST HEADBANG WITH EVERY HIT OF THAT DRUM OR WHATEVER THE F UCK FOR ME- pls calm down okay i just……………………… leez…… ollounder…………… i oWE YOU MY LIFE- the way the prechorus is so FAST???????? like whaT IN THE ACTUAL F UCK the way it hypes me up with that instrumental the DRUMS GOT ME BOUNCIN AND S HIT AND GET SMACKED IN THE FACE ODD EYE I SWEAR TO GOD I FELT A NEW EMOTION AFTER THA- AFTER THIS WHOLE SONG TO BE HONEST-

THE?????????????? LINE DISTRIBUTION?????????????? IS SO SE*Y?????????????? THE IMMENSE POWER IN SIYEONS AND YOOHYEONS VOICES I CANT- ACTUAL SUA RAPPER CRUMBS idc what yall say minuscule sua rapper crumbs THE AMOUNT OF HANDONG AND DAMI LINES IS F UCKING DELICIOUS 😩😩😩 HANDONG VERSE CHORUS AND BRIDGE?????????????? DAMI BRIDGE??????????????? ‘LIVE IT UP’?????????????? BICTH IM ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

forgot to do this for boca so imma do it here kinda

YES YOOHYEON START THE SONG

THE AMOUNT OF HANDONG?????????????????? I CANT BREATHE??????????????????????

and ofc her ooOOOooOOO-

sua rapper crumbs idc idc-

YOOHYEON AND SIYEON BEING QUEENS OF CHORUSES AGAIN ESPECIALLY THE LAST ONE GO👏OFF👏

jiu ‘no more utopia’ AND sua ‘no more utopia’ pls took me three (3) tries to type ‘utopia’

LIVE IT UP YOURE SO RIGHT QUEEN YOU BETTER RAP YOUR HEART OUT

JIU AND HANDONG CHORUS

THE F UCKING BRIDGE CHANGED MY LIFE

okay for the dance i will be using the mcountdown fancam BC I DO WANT THE F UCK I WANT 👁👁 I JUST WANNA SAY i lit rally CANNOT believe how stable they are dancing LIKE THAT™ thE POWER THEY HOLD ANYWAY as always the dance always S L A P and is literally impossible to dance to without feeling like youre absolutely f ucking d*ing and out of breath……………… LOVE THAT

THE BEGINNING EYE FORMATION ARE YOU KIDDING ME-

im delusional but lowkey deja vu clown me idc idc-

THE SUA RUNNING OUT OF THERE THE JIU THE COMPLICATED HAND STUFF

JUST👏THE👏CHOREO👏FOR👏THE👏CHORUS👏BICTH

siyeon doing this

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

putting a bullet point for just that one (1) second of dami doing That™

handong right after…………………………………

gahyeons part with the other members doing different moves my eyes liked it

THE ENTIRE BRIDGE I DONT NEED TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE

like jiu and dami with handong ive literally watched that for five hours-

i just like the way they lined up and needed it to be linked here

THE SPIN THAT K*LLED US ALL

THE KICK THAT SENT US SIX FEET UNDER

S C R E A M……………………………………………………… Iconic™

DO YOU SEE THE BUDGET IN THE VISUALS JESUS CHRIST- the f ucking set up all of the effects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all of the lights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all of thE GLOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the black and white set and theyre wearing red…………………… the red and white set and theyre wearing black…………………… that purple and green place…………………… the tree and random nature but everything is so futuristic looking…………………… dunno why yoohyeon is in a graffiti covered restroom but im LIVING for it- SIYEON SURROUNDED BY THOSE TVS DAMI IN THAT TRAIN THAT MULTICOLORED PLACE WHEREVER SUA IS EXCUSE ME- I COULD LITERALLY NAME EVERY SCENE IN THIS DAMN MUSIC VIDEO AND THEY👏ALL👏SLAP👏HARD👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

TIME TO SHOW WHICH SCENES I LIKED

youtube

THE WHOLE F UCKING THI-

jk ill name some😊😊😊again id name everything but ill just show one i liked more than others bc this is alreADY TOO DAMN LONG-

this is self restraint btw

I FEEL THREATENED-

helL YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND IF I CRIED????????????????????????

this is here for no reason other than bc i wanted it here-

OOP-

OOP- x2

………………………………… F-

WHY OFC I HAVE TO PUT THIS HERE

ABSOLUTELY…………………………… ABSOLUTELY

OH F CUK-

it was this or the close up shot either way it k*lled me

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

😦

OH NO-

OOP- x3

😔😔😔😔😔😔😔

honestly let me just mention i really clowned and set myself up for heartbreak bc the album is only called ‘road to utopia’ but i assumed theyll find utopia bc thats how trilogies work but then this slaps me in the face- what im saying is im 🤡

T H E M

oK A Y SO THIS POST IS LONG ENOUGH ALREADY LIKE GODDAMNIT COULD I JUST SHUT UP FOR TEN (10) MINUTES PLS- SO HERE ILL JUST SAY ONE (1) WORD………………………………………………

W O M E N™

plus this truly is long enough good god-

JIU

OH BICTH SHE GRABBED ME BY MY NECK RIGHT AT THE START WHEN SHE JUST POPPED UP- lemme just talk about this screenshot for a second the STREAKS IN HER HAIR and THE PIERCING???????? THE JACKET???????GOOD GOD????????? L I S T E N her outfits during the dance scenes the R E D especially jeSUS- its that red one for me im pretty sure some of yall saw me go F E R A L™ on the dashboard about it so i WILL NOT go into it again- and theN THAT DRESS A F CUKING QUEEN LOVE TO SEE IT

SUA

ONCE AGAIN I HAVE TO BRING UP THE VERY START WITH THAT SLOW MO- RED👏IS👏HER👏COLOR 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 the dark hime cut………………… the choker on both the red and the black is it the same one doesnt matter im d*ad……………… yo her wavy hair and that dress when it looked like she was in some hair shampoo commercial bicth i liVED FOR THAT- and theN T H I S YES THIS THAT IN THE SCREENSHOT the leather and the jacket the writing on her face i waNT HER TO BEAT ME WITH THAT LIGHT-

SIYEON

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY IM LITEREALLY CRYINNG

I SWEAR TO GOD I SCREAMED EVERY TIME SHE WAS ON THE SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pls breathe yes i see that orange coat with the collar and her two different colored eyes and how she is sitting in that chair i see her looking so fine in that red outfit especially near the end of the mv oh mY GOD- those pants yall bringing that style back from boca literally let me bREATHE FOR LIKE TWO (2) SECONDS

HANDONG

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LISTENLISTENLISTENLISTEN my eyes legit started tearing up when i saw her so soon in the mv yall DO NOT understand the emotions im going through to rewatch this mv again and again anD- iiiIIIIiiII CANNOT FULLY EXPRESS MYSELF BUT I JUST WANNA DIRECTLY MENTION THOSE CRYSTALS AND HER HIGH PONYTAIL SHE MADE F UCKING SURE TO SHOW OFF HOW POWERFUL SHE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOOHYEON

YOOHYEON WITH BUNS??????????????????? THAT LIPSTICK COLOR RIGHT AT THE START???????? THAT OUTFIT WITH THE RED PLAID SKIRT????????? like when you REALLY look at the outfit the polkadot jacket and the tie makes not a lot of sense but she made it woRK!!!!!!!!! okayokayokay her lip ring and dance outfits lets talk about it to be honest its something about that chain that hangs on her torso that makes it really hit………………… but like the entire outfits HIT™ she ripped her pants didnt she

DAMI

I CANT STAND THIS WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tell me why for literally one (1) second of that ‘live it up’ it snapped my neck???????? it was HARDLY A FLASH OF LIGHT YET IT WAS ENOUGH TO HURT ME- i prefer her short hair but listen the longer hair is making so many points rn- i think i said that for boca too… SHES LITERALLY SITTING YALL AND YET HERE I AM- the jacket the necklace the gloves and then that dramatic spin and the leaves OH MY GOD- DID YALL👏SEE THE WAY👏SHE KEPT👏FEELING👏HER NECK👏👏👏👏👏👏👏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAHYEON

GAHYEON THE WOMAN YOU ARE- i wanna start with the black hair and thee stickers look bc i wanna buT WE LOVE NOIR BY SUNMI but like i love that look like overall????????????? she literally wears the same outfit for that and this screenshot but the vibe is so different i LOVE this purple color she got going rn and that black hair IS A STATEMENT imma be more open here about it but lowkey i am genuinely missing her dark hair rn- anyway THAT DESIGN AROUND HER EYE WITH THAT RED OUTFIT BRUH DO I D*E-

BONUS TIME: B-SIDE TRACKS (short thoughts and parts i liked)

Intro

IVE NEVER BEEN SO FERAL IN MY LIFE

Wind Blows

this instrumental……………………… holy god????????????? its chill for like a second in the beginning and then it just YEETS you in- imma be real i wasnt sure about that ‘wind blows’ part i dunno why i ……… into it at first but yknow whaT THATS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS DAMIS RAP I SWEAR- but then the prechorus parts are so chill??????????? is it bc its handong its probably bc its handong ‘always be with you like gravity’ siyeon pls- it gives me the same energy as tension and break the wall where i feel like i jusT GAIN ALL THE STRENGTH AND CONQUER THE WORLD yes i saw the dance multiple times it k*lled me every single time

Poison Love

literally what the f uck- when i heard it in the highlight medley i knew i was gonna LOVE this like i cant stand how much i love their sexy bops like dami got me immediately ‘why do you?’ YOURE RIGHT DAMI WHY DO I- you could NEVER go wrong with lower register dreamcatcher NOTHING👏CAN👏GO👏WRONG👏 DAMI AND GAHYEON THEIR RAPS JESUS CHRIST i put my hand on my heart i was so taken aback- maybe i went back to replay it a few times when i was listening to it and then handong……………………………………………………… UH ANYWAY-

4 Memory

JIIIIIIIIIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE LOVE THE HAPPY AND BOUNCY AND FUN BOP OF THE ALBUM- like ive said this to a few moots that this song just makes me happy and lifts up my mood its the little instrumental parts in the chorus for me i dunno what it is its just pleasant to my ears and then damis rap is so fun like :cccccc cute- like this is a song about the seasons and wanting to be with someone (well jiu help write this is this about like insomnias or am i a stupid clown-) like i REALLY WISH i could express how much i enjoy this song but i would just be repeating myself that its a feel good happy song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New days

DAAAAAAAAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIKE i dunno how to describe the energy this song holds except ‘friendship energy’- its literally the guitar all throughout the song for me LIKE i feel like im just wrapped in a nice hug BUT NOT JUST ANY KIND OF HUG its the kind that the other person opened their jacket and theyre holding me and their jacket is around me listening to this song yall i kinda wanna cry i dunno- everyone sounds so lovely especially jiu pls her voice is so soft and DAMI OFC HER RAP GETS A HELL YEAH™ FROM ME like the ‘find you’ AND THEN AT THE END ‘FOUND YOU’ IM 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 (if yall cant see its the pleading puppy eyed emoji)

LIKE WHAT A WAY TO START THE F UCKING YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im so in awe of everything about this as SOON AS SOON I SAY i saw the very first photo teaser and i COULDNT STOP LISTENING TO THE HIGHLIGHT MEDLEY AND THE TEASER WITH THE SUITS AND THE DRINKS IS STILL LIVING IN MY HEAD- alright alright ill calm down for this part but its one of my FAVORITE ALBUMS FOR👏SURE👏 like i really cant think of any criticisms regarding anything about it!!!!!!!!!!!! since im posting this after promotions are over (odd eye promotions anyway) i will just say im EXTREMELY proud of what we have accomplished as fans and what the girls have achieved during this era!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was hella wild all around and i am once again saying that im very happy to be an insomnia <3<3<3<3<3<3<3

and ONCE AGAIN JUST ONE (1) MORE TIME RIGHT BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

IN CONCLUSION: THIS ALBUM TAKES ME TO AN ENTIRELY NEW WORLD AND IM GONNA LIVE IT UP

AND AS ALWAYS:

#(i dunno what is up with these i always end up under the weather when i need to do these 😔)#BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITHC!!!!!!!!!!#BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITH C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#YALL IM STILL LOSING MY S HIT™#THE ANXIETY LEADING UP TO THE MV RELEASE WAS WORTH EVERY SECOND #NEVER👏DISAPPOINT👏#EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#dreamcatcher #han.txt #han's mv afterthoughts

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seraphimguks · 4 years

Note

Ship your moots with an idol !

omg i never got an ask like this before EVER omg this is soo exciting!!!!! sorry for being so late with this, I've been working on this ask ever since I got it! my life has been havoc for months so my mind really isn't the right place butttt lets start!!!!

I tried to diversify the idols mentioned and I hope you guys like the idols I chose for you :3

1. @todeobi as Mina from Twice! Honestly Gus was my first friend/moot on tumblr and she really gives a cute, soft spoken, adorable and caring vibe like Mina! Mina is too cute, too sweet and she gives me sweater-paws vibes, and that's exactly how I see Gus too! <3 Gus is also pretty soft-spoken but she always manages to convey her feelings and concern, no matter what. I also feel like Mina is the same, she may seem quiet, but in reality she shows her caring! side quite often to the members so yeah Also Gus also kinddd of has a duality about her, and Mina’s duality on stage is just WOW so yeah :3

2. @juyeonzz as Jimin from BTS! From whatever interactions I’ve had with Qiu, she really gives me those perfectionist, DOWN WITH CAPITALISM, yet those soft uwu please plant me soft kisses on my forehead or else I will scream vibes LOL hahaha (omg please don't take this seriously lmaoo) and I thought this perfectly equates her to Jimin!! Why I say this is because Jimin is also a perfectionist, he strives hard in whatever he does and often faces the repercussions of that. But his efforts and inborn talent really shine in the process! So like for qiu, she really tries her best in writing and her college work too!! also jimin can be very vocal about what he's thinking if he wants but at the same time there's no one softer than him :( So yeah, qiu reminds me most of jimin!!

3. @hwqll as Baekhyun from EXO! I just have an overall feeling that Han here gives me Baekhyun vibes cause she's cool and fun and super funny and soo chaotic at the same time!! That's how I envision Baek too, cause omg if you've seen his pre debut videos of him flipping inside a room full of his friends and being obssessed with the light switch????? Han gives those sweet yet SOO chaotic vibes and I love her for it and we STAN also not how baek looks like a cat and I envision han to also look like a CAT sooo-

4. @kachulein as Joy from Red Velvet!

ok but KACHU IS SUCH A SOFTIE CUTIE and our wavelengths match so much that like I'm sad :((( she's so joyful and is so soft and very adorable, so I couldn't help but pictures Joy in my head. Joy's smile is filled with purity and love and when I tried to associate Kachu to an idol, filled with softness and kindness and then friendly vibes, I thought joy would be a perfect fit!! Joy herself is bubbly and cute and so adorable Jesus Christ, so I thought Kachu and Joy would be a perfect match <3

5. @wenjunuwu as Ryujin from Itzy!

Gayatri gives me these cool girl, bitch better have my money type vibes ngl LMAOOO I know how soft and sensitive she is but still haha I just see her as this super cool girl that I'm so lucky to be friends with! Also I really love how she's so consistent and always responds under any post I make, such a thoughtful bby!! And as much as I know about Ryujin, she's everyone favourite in the group even if you don't stan itzy lol. So I believe knowing how chill and relaxed, at the same time sensitive Gayatri is she makes me think of Ryujin a lottt. And I kind of think she has many friends or is everyone's favourite in the circle she's in so :) 6. @chaoticdeobi as Youngjae from GOT7!

OMGGGG BEA :( honestly I haven't come across someone as nice and sweet and endearing and sooo sweet and adorable and SOFT™️ like her!! Whenever I see her replying to asks or replying to my asks or anything, I just imagine her having this soft giggle and just being so babie and soft and all that wholesome shizz. Youngjae is my bias in got7 for that a reason and that's because he's all about that cute and soft agenda!! Super giggly and always smiling and having fun, I love it when he's always the "MWEOHYA????" in a loud voice all the time cause he seriously doesn't know what's goin on and just laughs his way through LMAOOOO I love him. So yes!!! Bea reminds me of soft and sweet Choi Youngjae! (psst bea I love your writing too <3) 7. @flytomyparadise as Chungha! So I feel like Ywan is such a good conversationalist! Like she's got a great vibe and I really like speaking to her, and she's so chill as well. I saw Eric Nam's podcast on Chungha and haven't seen any idol with more of a chill, yet friendly vibe like her before! And I love how Chungha is able to connect with her fans and the people around her readily, and I thought Ywan is perhaps the same when I think about her!!

Sooo that comes the end of my list!! I was like, writing all my emotions into blocks so you might not understand parts cause was just pouring out my love and appreciation really fast LOL. Buuut I hope you guys liked it :)

#PRECIOUS MOOTS <3 #i love these asks bring moreeee #sorry i was rlly late with this ;(#asks

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fanfictrashdump · 3 years

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Universe in a Jar, 3 - Phase 4 fic

Recap: Some days ago, I reblogged this post about the magical trio. And then my brain went off on a monumental tangent and, I wrote Universe in a Jar.

Characters: Stephen Strange, Loki, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, OC

Rating: T?

Warnings: Language! Nightmares, sass, terrible storytelling, and typos prob.

Summary: Baby-sitting beings arguably more powerful than him goes awry for Doctor Strange. He knows one person who can possibly keep them isolated and out of trouble. Well, he knew someone who could… he hasn’t seen them in decades and for stupid reasons.

Previous Chapter

~*~

While tensions had eased in the household, Stephen maintained a respectable distance from Seph, if only to ensure his continued breathing. During the day, he took to reading in familiar spots, comfortably nestled amongst memories or doing chores that felt comforting in their nostalgia. During the night he tossed and turned in a bed he had once known as well as his own, hoping against all hope that his brain could shut up and allow him to rest, if only for a few hours.

The Hale house had six bedrooms, bigger than his own home with four, despite only ever having two occupants. Wanda and Loki had chosen two rooms at the end of the hallway that overlooked part of the farmland surrounding the houses. Persephone had taken over the grand bedroom on the other side of the hallway. Stephen had debated taking one of the guest rooms on the lower floor, but one step into each of them had his skin crawling in an uncomfortable manner. He wasn't meant for those rooms.

You're family, Stephen. Stop ringing the doorbell, Demeter Hale had once announced, exasperated, one chilly winter morning. And she was right. Stephen practically lived there. Hale manor was quieter than his own home and had a plethora of books on odd topics he had never even heard of–it was a wonderland.

Family, as it were, slept on the top floor. The room Wanda currently occupied was where he would typically drop his clothes in when he stayed over. Though, if he were honest, there was seldom a time he slept over that he made it back into the room for the night. It was a bad habit that spread to high school and beyond, ignoring the propriety of what their parents would explain was not OK for friends to do. But Stephen and Persephone had never been interested in each other that way. Well, at least that they would admit. So, he always stayed in her room.

Tonight was no exception.

Wanda turned in first, as usual, taking solace in the quiet and solitude to mourn her family in silence… or figure out how to get them back. Stephen wasn't exactly sure which one she was on, at the moment. Later, he watched an all-too-flirty Loki amble to his quarters, not before getting a long, drawn-out hug from Persephone (likely more, when he wasn't watching… which he wasn't). Then, she would offer him a shy wave before hiding in the grand bedroom.

After a while, he stopped contemplating the closed door and turned into the bedroom across the hall. It looked… exactly the same way it had when he last stepped foot in it–posters, pictures, school banners, strings of lights littering the canopy. Across the desk chair, an old hoodie, that he could clearly tell used to be his, was discarded. He had raised it to his nose when he first entered the bedroom. It still smelled of him, but there was the faint scent of her perfume permeating the fabric. If he were a sentimental man…

He fell into 'his' side of the bed with a groan. As a way to ease his mind, he had spent some time in the garden, picking tomatoes and berries and tilling a bit of stubborn dirt at the far west corner. His back now burned in protest, but it was a welcome distraction from the monotony. Wong had told him in no uncertain terms that Wanda and Loki needed to settle before they dealt with issues with the Multiverse. It would be a moot point to correct some magic when their owner was simply going to re-do the whole mess the second they could. In all fairness, this was mostly an issue with Wanda. Loki, despite being a stubborn mule and refusing to explain his reasoning, had not done too much damage. It would likely be a while before he slept in his own bed again.

Stephen blinked into the darkness, turning on his side and attempting to sleep in that position. Ten minutes, then thirty, an hour later–no sleep. Amid the cricket chirps and frog songs, a small noise broke the trance-like state of his insomnia. It was ridiculous how quickly he recognized it, and even more pathetic how naturally it brought him to a sit. He glanced at his door, deciding if he was really going to cross the hallway this time. He chickened out the first three times he had heard it, but there was something desperate about the sound tonight. It was bound to be a bad one.

"You've died a thousand times in the hands of the Dormammu. You can go check on Seph, you loser," he berated himself, pushing the bedsheets off and wrenching the door open.

He tiptoed across the hall and gently opened the door. Whatever it was he was expecting to see, it certainly was not this. Persephone was tangled in her sheets, her pajamas of plaid shorts and another old sweatshirt of his rumpled across her body. With every pained, nightmarish pant, a universe exploded around her, encompassing her in iridescent light before fading away. It was like she was locking herself in the same box she had trapped him, killing herself every other breath. Reflected in the glass was every ghost and ghoul that haunted her dreams, sadistic grins flashing down at her weary body.

So this was why she was so exhausted.

Carefully, he clambered to her side, grateful to find that he could easily reach past her barriers. His fingers gripped her shoulder and shook her gently. "Come on. Wake up, Seph." She whimpered again and the glass changed in color. Reflected on its surface was his own face, years younger, nary a single grey on his head. He looked terrifying, even to his own eyes; cold, detached. Stephen shook her more firmly; the barriers flickered.

"Stephen–" Her voice trembled and her whole body quivered. "Please."

His other hand pried hers from the bedsheets and twined them together. "Peep, I'm here." He found himself hunching, speaking the words in a decisive tone in her ear. "It's just a dream, Persephone."

Another shudder ran through her before her hand tightened around his. It took a moment longer before she was able to blink awake, though her eyes were wild and disoriented in the darkness.

His other hand pressed into her back in an effort to soothe her when she shot up with a gasp. "I have you, Peep. You're OK." A second, two, twenty–and she broke into a heart wrenching sob.

Stephen wasn't any good with tears, a fact he gently reminded her of, mid-sob.

Her eyes, still spilling tears, bore into his in disbelief.

"You're absolutely right. I'll shut up now," he hastened to add, awkwardly patting her shoulder.

Seph wiped roughly at her eyes. "Just go, Stephen. I'll see you in the morning." She wrapped herself tight, knees braced against her chest and her line of sight lost elsewhere.

"Peep, don't be like that."

Her brows pulled together and her mouth set into a grim line. "Don't call me that, Steve."

A ghost of a smirk tilted his lips at the annoyance radiating off her. "Why not?"

"I'm not a child."

"I know you're not. You're a grown-up doctor. Well, a psychiatrist, at least." He smiled and nudged her side with his elbow to get a rise out of her.

She didn't take the bait. The ball she had molded herself into tightened.

"I don't practice, anymore."

Stephen's head snapped towards her, instantly. "What?"

"I quit."

He sputtered. "What? Why? And, when? I got your information from the hospital–"

With a groan, she clenched her eyes tightly closed, trying to block out the world as if she wasn't just trapped in a murder box of her own (unconscious) design. "Jesus Christ, you talk a lot. The Blip. I quit after the Blip."

"But, the kids you treat–"

"On a personal capacity," she cut in, hoping the conversation stopped there. Of course, she had known Stephen for far too long to expect that.

"You love your job, Seph. I've seen you pass up box tickets to the damn Philharmonic for a counseling session."

A half shrug left her. "I was alone and I wanted to feel it. So I made this whole mess." Seph gestured at their surroundings with a vague wag of her finger.

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't. Work has always been enough for you. It wasn't the same for me."

He sighed. "Maybe then, but now–"

"It's still the same. You're doing farm chores you never even did when you lived here because you need things to do. You try to shake Loki down every other hour for information on whatever the hell he was doing that prompted you to grab him. Wanda's sick of you. You can't just ever settle down!" There was a sharp edge to her voice that was not lost on him.

Stephen blinked, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, how did this become about me?"

Seph growled under her breath, releasing her limbs and narrowly stopping herself from smacking the living daylights out of him. "Because it is about you and your fucking inability to relate to anyone about anything! Not everything is logical! Wanda lost her family! Loki got bounced around fucking realities! And you're annoyed that you can't get back to the Sanctum until you figure the Wonder Twins out."

"I have other responsibilities–"

"Which Wong is taking care of."

"Wong might think… wait, how do you know Wong?" His head tilted like a distracted dog.

"You might have not reached out to me, but others did. He wanted to know who you were; you had just started training. I told him you were an asshole and that I never wanted to see or hear from you ever again. We exchanged numbers."

He sat in silence for a long while before glancing back up at her. "Why didn't you come to Kamar-Taj?"

"I wasn't invited."

"And the Sanctum?"

"I. Wasn't. Invited."

He chewed at the inside of his cheek, ignoring the weight of her gaze on him. "Come back to the Sanctum with me."

"Nope. I'm fine where I am."

"You're on a farm in rural Nebraska in a town where you are the extent of the diversity."

Persephone sighed, reaching up to brush the overgrown stubble on Stephen's cheeks. "But it's home."

"You're alone, though."

"And you're lonely in a city of five million people."

He pretended to ignore the sting of the comment, opting for some sweet-talking, instead. "You'd like it, though. So many books."

"That is a new bar of low. Don't bribe me, Steve." She scoffed unconvincingly, he caught the slip.

"Like, a loooot of books. In all different languages. Would probably keep you occupied several years."

He knew her too well. She hated it.

"I'll think about it." He smiled a little too brightly. "Just think. No promises." More silence came to keep them company.

He hesitated before wincing. "Does this happen every night? The suffocating and exploding?" She nodded. "You should definitely come. We can figure something out, Wong, you, and me." Another nod. He straightened the fabric of her headwrap and tucked a runaway curl underneath with an easy smile. It was an excuse for contact, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to care and she didn't seem to mind. He retrieved his hand with a sigh. "You're tired. You should get some sleep." He braced on his arms to shuffle out. A hand wrapped around his wrist and held him there.

"Don't go. Please."

Stephen smiled and nodded after a moment. He gestured with his head. "Scoot over, Peep."

"Steve."

"Quiet. You'll get us caught," he whispered, and they both giggled like it was the millionth time those words were said. It probably was. They curled up under the covers and drifted off.

~*~

Stephen was now beyond curious about Persephone's magic.

As the early morning broke over the horizon, he found himself up and about the house, doing little chores that felt like muscle memory. When the coffee was brewed, he took a mug and sat on the stairs to sip, watching as last night's roommate woke and barely acknowledged him as she drifted down the steps, pausing only to ruffle his already messy hair. She stopped at the entry hallway, jumping slightly backward at the floating cloak hovering in place. The words had stuck in her throat, and Stephen watched between the banister poles with a smile on his face.

"Ste–shitshitshit." She inched backward as the garment glided over and stopped in front of her. The cloak lifted a bottom corner to gently glide over her left hand, rubbing itself against her skin before settling around her shoulders in a warm embrace. It urged her forward and to a side table that held some keys and a vase of flowers. Beside the vase, a double-fingered ring sat innocuously. The cloak gestured in its direction and then back at her.

The Sorcerer leaned forward to see what she'd do. With shaking fingers, she picked up the ring and turned it in her hands. The cloak, impatient as ever, grabbed the ring and slipped it over her fingers. All at once, the barriers containing the house inside of the apartment glimmered and symbols etched themselves in brilliant orange light across them. Stephen could barely understand half of them, but the ones he could seemed like they were building blueprints and math that would make the inexplicably large fit into the inexplicably small. It was like staring at the source code on a computer and breaking down the software into its components. He broke out of his reverie by the fourth Stephen being called. He jumped down the remainder of the steps and turned the corner.

Persephone was staring, half fascinated, half horrified at the markings, and was drawing the cloak tight around her shoulders–the cloak was loving it. He stopped beside her and she reached out for his wrist, clasping it as tightly as she did the night before. "Ho–how does it know my magic?"

"You can read this?"

"Yeah, it's in plain… you can't?" Stephen shook his head. "How's it doing this?"

"Not 'it'. You. This is you. The ring's just a conduit. The cloak's just a nuisance." There was a whisper of a huff from the fabric and Seph pulled it tighter, smoothing her hands down the red contours. A rustle like a shiver followed. "Don't get comfortable. This isn't permanent."

"I wasn't assuming…"

"I was telling them." He glared at the cloak. "She's not your new pet. Settle down." His eyes lifted to hers. "They get familiar. Sorry."

"It's OK. They're sweet. After you get over the fact that it's a garment with a mind of its own."

"Are we under attack?" Wanda startled the both of them. They turned to see the witch still in her pajamas, hair mussed up and hands glowing. "Why are we warding?"

"Not warding. Seph put on my sling ring and this happened. It's her magic."

"Oh. She has Chaos magic wards in her repertoire." Wanda pointed at several spots and they lit up red with her magic before fading back to orange.

"I don't know what that means," Seph spoke up meekly, barely breaking through the intense debate the other two were now having, trying to identify the remainder of runes.

Stephen traced a rune with his finger. "Anything dangerous?"

"No. Just protection runes. Over and over and over. Every type under the Chaotic sun. Loki might know about the others, though."

"I still don't know what that means."

"It means you are all sorts of impressive, Peep. I'll pop in on Wong and grab a few books." He offered his open palm for the ring, which she happily gave. However, when the ring came off, the symbols didn't fade. Instead, they crackled like embers and seared themselves into the invisible veil surrounding the space. Stephen frowned. "Maybe I'll take you with me." He turned to Wanda. "Can you and Prince Emo behave while we're gone or do I have to drag you along, too?"

Persephone elbowed him in the ribs. "Stephen–"

"Right. Relating." He drew a breath and his shoulders slumped. He tried again. "Could you and Loki stay put while Seph and I go to the Sanctum? I need to show Wong. It's important."

Wanda and Seph exchanged a lengthy conversation in facial expressions alone before the witch smiled. "We'll be fine. I was just going to sit and read on the porch. Loki won't be awake for a couple of hours."

"OK. Good. Thanks." He stood silently ruminating in his head before abruptly snapping out of it and shaking the cobwebs from his mind. "You ready to go?"

"I'm in my pj's, Steve." He blinked blankly at her and she rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Sure. Can I put on shoes, at least?"

He was already opening a portal by the time she finished asking her question. "No need." With little hesitation, he reached for her hand and stepped through the portal with her in tow.

Persephone barely managed to contain the gasp of wonder at the surroundings. Books, artifacts, paintings–it looked like a museum and it was all functional and there for the students. Stephen had been in a hurry a second before, but just watching her undistilled awe made him pause. His thumb brushed the back of the hand he had twined with his; a familiar gesture that barely pulled her attention. Her free hand reached for a tome lodged between jars of off-looking coins. It rippled in a kaleidoscope of colors upon contact.

"Miss Hale?"

Seph glanced over her shoulder to smile at Wong. His brows were pulled together as if he was trying to work out a particularly hard problem in his head. The problem, most likely, was, how are you not murdering him right now? You seemed pretty adamant about it when I last talked to you.

"Master Wong. How are you?"

Wong smiled kindly. "I'm doing well, Persephone." He seemed to sense the withering heat of Stephen's gaze and reluctantly turned to face the Sorcerer Supreme. "I didn't tell you because I doubted you wanted to hear how she hated your guts. In excruciating detail. And after what you did to her, you forfeited the right to know a thing about her. So save me the glaring."

Stephen pointed at himself. "Sorcerer Supreme."

"And an asshole. They're not mutually exclusive." He glanced at Seph. "You didn't even let her get out of her pajamas."

"She has the cloak!"

"Were you raised by wolves or what?"

"Doesn't matter right now. I have to show you something," Stephen declared in exasperation, tugging the sling ring off and handing it off to Seph.

She held the metal tentatively between her fingers before the weight of expecting stares forced her to slip it on. The magic rippled slower than it had in her house as if it were more hesitant to show itself, but soon there wasn't an inch of wall, bookshelf, or display case that wasn't burning bright orange and twinkling in the dimly lit Sanctum.

"How did you teach her that?" Wong had his eyebrows gathered up high, taking in every marking around him with awe.

"I didn't. I thought it only showed her magic but… it's everyones. It's like she can open them up, like a book. Peep, can you read these, too?" Her eyes danced over several objects before lighting on a sword mounted on the wall.

She pointed at it with a grin. "That one was supposed to be a joke but the spell actually worked." Seph tilted her head as she continued searching. "Actually, a lot of them were jokes that actually work. What are you supposed to do with enchanted dice?"

Wong opened his mouth to comment, but Stephen held a finger up to buy himself some extra time. He opened his palm and Seph dropped the sling ring in it. The symbols still didn't fade.

Wong looked, surprisingly, unimpressed.

"Can I talk now?" Seph giggled under her breath and Stephen gestured him along. "She's a psychiatrist. Why are you surprised she can access the root of magics? She probably became one because she could read things so well, naturally."

"Without training?"

For a second Wong looked like he was deciding whether or not Stephen was stupid. "Hence, why I said naturally."

"And the portals?"

"If you understand how the fabric of the Universe works, you can weave it to your will. We do that all the time. You're just astounded that she can do it naturally because it took you forever to understand. Is this really why you dragged her out of her home in pj's?"

"The symbols don't fade without the sling ring."

At this point, Wong was convinced Strange was stupid. "She's never needed the ring. The ring is a conduit, she can do magic on her own. If you distract her a–BOO!"

Persephone shrieked, jumping back as Wong jumped towards her. Sure enough, the symbols fizzled into the ether, though two, in a rainbow of colors, glimmered on the floor before her and an ominous ripple of red fabric fluttered around her.

"I see the Cloak of Levitation has found a new friend. They're even protecting her."

"They like most people more than me."

Seph rolled her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?" She absently stroked over the fabric covering her arms.

Stephen ignored the jab. "What books would you recommend she start with to learn how to control her abilities?"

Wong was quiet for a long while. "There's a few about the magics of quantum mechanics, but if she's been able to do this her whole life, I doubt she needs them. Why would she need training? Barring an incident–" The two friends glanced shortly at each other out of the corner of the other's eye. "You two had an incident. What did he do?"

Rustling her curls, she scuffed her toe on the concrete floor, eyes downcast. "He was being dumb. I tried to kill him. Well, I blacked out and the power took over. Loki had to break him out of a killing jar."

"Quantum magics, then… and maybe some yoga." He gestured at her with his head. "Come on. I'll show you the library."

Her eyes widened with almost innocent excitement. "This isn't the library?"

With a doe-eyed stare, she followed Wong; Stephen close behind, pretending not to grin. The second Wong opened the doors, Persephone let out a long, disbelieving gasp. She trembled as she walked and the cloak had taken to wrapping itself tightly around her to keep her calm.

Wong smirked. It wasn't often that he received anyone who was this honestly happy to see a room full of books and not think about the bothers of having homework. He began to pull tomes from the shelves, stacking and weighing his options between similar texts. When his pile was nine books deep, he settled them on a table. "This should get you started. When you're done, you can come back and I'll lend you some more. On any topic you like."

"I never got to choose which books I read," Strange defended.

"Because you were annoying and she's not." Seph snickered in her spot, fingers toying with the spines of the stack. "Truly, come back when you're ready, and you're not actively trying to kill the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Tell him not to annoy me and I won't," she defended, though she smiled. "Thank you, Wong." She eagerly hefted the pile and gestured at Stephen. "Hurry up. I have things to read."

"Why don't you just make a portal?"

"Because it's rude to make them in other people's homes without permission," she started pointedly, "and I'm carrying books. Now, please." She smiled brightly at Wong and nodded. Stephen rolled his eyes petulantly. "See you soon, Master Wong." She stepped in the direction where Stephen had made a portal opening straight into her kitchen.

"See you soon, Persephone."

#marvel #mcu phase 4 #stephen strange #doctor strange #wanda maximoff #loki mcu #Master Wong MCU #NY Sanctum #multiverse #original character #physics in action #universe in a jar

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janeofcakes · 4 years

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Keep your Friends Close...: Chapter 7

Hello, everyone! I’m sorry I didn’t get this up earlier in the week. That was my plan after the last short and suspenseful chapter, but the editing gods would not cooperate until last night and this morning. This one is definitely longer though. Definitely. I hope you all enjoy it and it brings respite in these crazy times. On the upside, how much time do we all have for reading now, am I right? I haven’t been able to read anything for months, but I’ve read so many OmegaJohn stories this month already. Love it! I think I might try some reverse Reichenbach next. Anyway, enjoy!

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'Cause love's such an old fashioned word and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night and love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves. This is our last dance. This is our last dance. This is ourselves under pressure. -- Queen, Under Pressure

Weight and power establish velocity, along with time and distance. Assign a figure for each skater based upon average velocity and it further simplifies the equation. Exertion of power can be determined more easily. If velocity equals…

Sherlock’s eyes snap open when a loud bang reaches his ears. He is lying on the over-sized sage green couch in the condo’s living room. Sherlock bought it knowing he would spend hours on it within his mind palace, likely falling asleep on it most nights. He frowns mightily when he hears the bang again.

Glancing at the wall clock and furrowing his brow, Sherlock considers who the hell would come to his door at this hour. Greg? Another bang on the door and he sits up. It can’t be about Molly. He spoke with her just that evening. He had sneaked out of the stadium around 8:30 and gone straight to Ford. Well, almost. There was a stop for her favorite ice cream on the way. They had talked and joked as they ate the contraband treat.

“Seriously, Sherlock, you have to stop coming here every night,” Molly had chided. “I know you’re behind on all that extra work you do after hours. You’d have to be by now.”

“Nonsense. My calculations and strategies for upcoming bouts are coming along perfectly,” he told her around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie dough. “Besides, there is nothing in this world that is more important to me.”

“I’m flattered,” she laughed and then took on a more serious tone. “There’s nothing wrong with letting someone else in, you know.”

“What?” he had seen her knowing expression as soon as he looked her way, even though she quickly shifted her eyes away and into her ice cream pint. “Molly, no. It’s not like that.”

She returned her gaze to him and smiled broadly. It was his turn to look away, cheeks pink.

“Oh, come on. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

“Molly, I can’t.”

“Why on earth not? You’re equals within the organization.”

“I know, I just…” Sherlock finally met her eyes again. “I swore off that sort of sentiment after Victor. You know that. Caring about someone that deeply is not an advantage.”

“Oh, Sherlock, I know he hurt you. I’ll never forgive him for that, but you shouldn’t give up that part of yourself,” Molly touched his arm, putting her own Chubby Hubby pint in her lap. “You shouldn’t deny yourself the chance to be happy.”

“I am happy.”

“Sherlock,” she admonished. He sighed and looked down at his ice cream, prodding it with his spoon.

“You really think I should risk it?” he had asked after a moment.

“I don’t think it would be a risk with this one,” she answered solemnly.

Clearing his mind to focus on the here and now, Sherlock rises from the couch and walks briskly to the foyer as another pound to his front door sounds through the hall. He leans in close and peers into the spy hole to see John Watson’s head and torso. Sherlock steps back, his mind confused by the man’s presence and his stomach already doing those annoying flips.

“John, I wasn’t expecting…” Sherlock begins while opening the door. John pushes in, effectively shoving him out of the way and shuts the door quickly. He looks Sherlock over as though he is looking for...what? Then he scans as much of the condo as he can see from where they stand, going so far as to take a few swift steps in to peer down the hall suspiciously. Befuddled, Sherlock watches his movements closely and takes a quick step back when John suddenly advances on him.

“You’re okay?” John asks distractedly, still glancing around. “He’s not here?”

Sherlock blinks, now utterly confounded. He is about to ask John what the hell he is talking about when he finally notices what John is wearing. Sherlock typically sees everything one has to tell in a glimpse, but the combination of the doctor’s odd behavior and the effect John has on him in general, much as Sherlock hates to admit it, renders his powers of observation moot. Finally observing everything John has to tell, Sherlock finds himself astounded and more than a little confused.

John is in Sherlock’s condo, standing in right front of him in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt. A somewhat clingy t-shirt at that. One that hugs every curve and muscle and dries Sherlock’s mouth in an instant. As he swallows hard, he notices the dark red stain of blood on the tee’s shoulder right at the top of John’s arm.

“Blood,” Sherlock blurts suddenly.

“There’s no one here,” John faces him, finally finished scanning his surroundings like a startled animal.

“You’re bleeding,” Sherlock announces, eyes now roving over John’s body and searching for other signs of injury.

“You’re alone.”

“And from your hip too.”

John puts his hands on Sherlock’s shoulders and pushes him back until he bumps into the door to his condo. Sherlock looks at him with an expression of annoyance and he hopes not arousal. John pins him to the wall with deadly serious eyes.

“You’re sure there’s no one here? You haven’t seen anyone?”

“There’s no one here!” Sherlock’s voice raises in irritation. “Jesus, John.”

The doctor stares at Sherlock for a moment with stormy dark blue eyes that slowly begin to lighten. The anger and seriousness on his face smooths into something softer. He releases his hold on Sherlock and shuffles backwards, relieving the tension and what little space there was between their bodies. Sherlock, however, is not going to let him off that easily. He closes the gap again and touches John’s shoulder just under the blood. John flinches, but does not pull away.

“Sorry,” he mutters.

“What happened?” Sherlock asks, trying no to notice the flip in his stomach at that first touch.

“What?” John looks to his shoulder to see Sherlock’s long fingers, probing around gently to get an idea where the wound is. “Ah, shit.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. Just come with me,” Sherlock takes hold of the hand on John’s uninjured arm and guides him through the condo.

“Christ, I need to put more energy into finding a permanent flat,” John declares with humor in his voice. “This is a bloody palace.”

“It’s one of the bigger ones in this building,” Sherlock tells him as they walk. “If I’m not buying a house, I might as well still have what I like.”

“Which is?”

“Space,” he says as they enter a large bedroom with a vaulted ceiling. John stops about ten steps in and looks around the room in apprehension. Meanwhile, Sherlock drops his hand and continues walking to a door on the far wall.

“Sit,” he gestures at the bed and disappears into the en suite. He opens a cupboard and removes a plastic case. He also grabs two hand towels to sop up blood, knowing he will likely need more than the kit has to offer.

When he returns, supplies in hand, John is not sitting on the bed. He is standing stalk still right where Sherlock left him. He stares, eyes shifting around the room slowly like they are drinking in every detail. Sherlock follows his gaze to a chest of drawers and settles on the photo of him Molly that sits upon it. He looks back at John and clears his throat.

“John?” he steps forward.

“What? Oh, right,” John says, regaining his focus. He starts for the bed, but stops. “Sorry, I can’t do this. I’ll ruin your sheets.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sherlock smirks. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Completely taken aback by the joke, John just stares for a full ten seconds while Sherlock opens the med kit. He watches as the tall man sifts through its contents in search of peroxide, gauze dressings and bandages. Sherlock observes him from the corner of his eye, wondering if John is actually going to sit down and let him tend to his wounds or needs to be prompted again. One thing, he sure as hell is going to explain how he was hurt and why he is running around Detroit in a t-shirt and underpants. Not that Sherlock is complaining, of course, but he is hardly going to tell John that.

“Do you want me to put a towel down before you sit? Because you are going to sit on the bed,” he says, meeting his wide eyes. Are his pupils bigger than the lights should allow? They are certainly beautiful. Blue like the ocean, clear and open. Then John blinks and looks down at his feet as he shifts them.

“No, it’s…” he looks back at Sherlock with honest embarrassment. He bites his lip and it is absolutely adorable. Sherlock almost flinches when his stomach flips this time. “Actually, yeah. I’d feel better about it.”

Sherlock’s lips turn up and he huffs out a breathy laugh.

“Okay,” Sherlock heads for the en suite again and tosses a look over his shoulder. “Be right back.”

When he returns this time, John is standing closer to the bed. He looks nervous, holding one hand in the other and wringing slightly. Sherlock smiles reassuringly, trying to ease John’s mind. He steps in close and drapes a thick dark green towel on the bed. When he stands straight again, he and John are face to face, inches apart. John’s mouth is open and he is breathing more heavily than he should be. His pupils seem even larger than before.

Sherlock shifts back, but is still close. His gaze falls to John’s chest as it rises and falls, the thin fabric of the shirt pulling taut over his pectorals. Sherlock can just make out the darker outline of a nipple before he forces his eyes back to John’s face, trying desperately not to stop on the man’s lips.

“Are you all right?” he asks quietly. “You’re breathing fast. Is it the pain?”

“What?” John replies breathlessly.

“The pain. Is it bad? Does one wound hurt more than the other?”

“No, it’s not bad,” John swallows deliberately. “They’re just flesh wounds.”

“Are they? Why don’t you sit down and let me take a look?”

“I could just do it myself.”

“John, please.”

They share a look. It is very serious and intentional. Is it Sherlock’s imagination or is there heat in John’s eyes? He is certainly trying to keep it from his own. His hand is on John’s, holding it gently, though he does not remember putting it there. John’s hand is warm and soft. God, he wants to hold it forever. He wants to learn everything about this man, spend the rest of his life touching and holding and memorizing every inch, every thought, every dream he holds dear. It all comes upon him so suddenly that their one point of contact feels like the key to a secret door, opening and revealing a part of himself he never knew existed. Sherlock has never felt this way in his life. He had loved Victor, to be sure, but did not feel anything even close to this. It is amazing. And...Jesus Christ, he is completely fucked.

“Please, allow me,” Sherlock whispers in a rough tone. John looks at him without blinking. The very tip of his tongue darts out to lick his lips. It lasts only a millisecond, but the sight of it sends Sherlock’s stomach to flipping and makes him weak in the knees.

“All right,” John breathes. Without pulling his hand away, he turns slightly and sits on the edge of the bed. Swallowing hard and trying not to think about the fact that John Watson is sitting on his bed right in front of him, Sherlock reluctantly releases John’s hand and takes some gauze from the kit.

“Take off your shirt.”

Did he really just say that? Sherlock nearly rolls his eyes in sheer embarrassment. Instead, he shakes his head minutely and then tries to adopt a more professional air, picking up the open bottle of peroxide. Placing the gauze on its top, Sherlock tips the bottle and saturates the gauze.

When he turns to John again, he means to speak, but the words die in his throat and come out as more of a gasp. John is just pulling the t-shirt over his head, tousling his blonde hair as it sweeps past it. He drops it on the bed next to him and looks at Sherlock expectantly, but the coach just gapes. John is gorgeous. His sun-kissed skin looks smooth and almost silky, stretching over his pectorals to his shoulders and down over the mostly defined muscles of his abdomen. There is not a single hair on his broad chest and his nipples are peaking from the slight chill in the air conditioned room. He looks like an underwear model and Sherlock’s mind floods with ways to worship every inch of his body.

“You used to surf in Anaheim,” Sherlock remarks instead, clearing his throat and keeping his tone even. John blinks.

“How did you… You see people, right. How do I keep forgetting that?” John smiles and then winces when he moves his arm.

Sherlock places his left hand on John’s bicep to hold him steady and touches the wet gauze to the wound right at the curve of his shoulder. The skin around John’s eyes tightens slightly as he watches the gentle ministrations clean away blood to reveal an angry dip where the skin was split open and the muscle marred.

“I don’t see, John,” Sherlock corrects as he works, “I…”

“Observe,” John finishes.

“And deduce,” Sherlock continues, looking at John with pin-point focus. The doctor’s eyes rise from the wound to meet his disarming silver gaze, steady and true. Sherlock feels warm, color rising into his cheeks and he feels light-headed. The air around them is heavy with promise, and the glimmer on John’s face is peaceful and welcoming. Looking at him, Sherlock is suddenly struck by the feeling that he has found someone who can truly understand him and the way he thinks, the way he sees the world. Molly has seen it too, but can it be? Could John really be what she thinks he could be? It is a concept Sherlock had given up hope of finding after Victor. At least, he thought he had.

“It’s the tan, right?”

“And the physique,” Sherlock says before thinking and immediately closes his eyes, cursing internally. John just laughs.

“I’m afraid that’ll change once I’ve been here a few more months.”

“You can always join a gym,” Sherlock suggests. As he works, he takes notice of the wound’s odd shape and angle. It is oddly familiar and yet, like none he has ever seen before, and he has seen quite a bit throughout his ten years in derby. This is different. What kind of object would make a mark like this?

“I’m always at the stadium just like you,” John says with a smile, “and I’m not one for going to a gym in the middle of the night. Or getting up at the bloody break of dawn.”

“You could use the exercise equipment at the stadium then. The ladies are usually out of the building by 8-8:30.”

“Oh, I’d feel a little odd doing that. Wouldn’t want to intrude on the off-chance someone is still there.”

Sherlock shrugs as he places a bandage and begins taping. John looks right at him, sparing none of his attention for anything but the man before him.

“How do you keep yourself fit?” John asks in a light tone, brows near his hairline. “Midnight jogs in the park?”

“Of course not,” Sherlock laughs, finishing with the bandage. “I have a few pieces of equipment here.”

“Do you?” John asks thoughtfully. “God, I need to get myself a real place. Having my own equipment would be perfect.”

“And your leg.”

“What?”

“Your leg. It’s also injured.”

“My...right! Right. Of course,” John looks both flustered and relieved. He leans over so his hip is easier to see, clenching his teeth in pain as he goes.

Sherlock bites his lip and ghosts his hand over John’s hip and thigh without touching the fabric of his boxers. He looks at the doctor with great unease. There is definitely more blood on the boxers than there was on John’s tee and it looks fresher. He wets his lips, unable to believe he is about to make his next suggestion.

“This would be a lot easier if you lie down,” he says almost timidly, “and less painful.”

John’s eyes go wide and his lips part in shock. It only lasts a second before the doctor schools his expression, looks at his hip and then back at Sherlock.

“Yeah, okay,” he says as though convincing himself. “Right. You’re right.”

John sits up again and takes a deep breath. With his teeth biting at his lower lip, he lowers himself down slowly and then turns onto his side carefully. It’s the most goddamn erotic thing Sherlock has seen in his life. Bending his good arm and supporting his head on one hand, John looks up at Sherlock. He gives him a pained and hesitant smile.

“Ready?”

“I was about to ask you that,” Sherlock answers with a small smile.

“All right then,” John wets his lips and slips his fingers into the waistband of his boxers. Sherlock’s brain stops as he watches John pull the waistband down to reveal a hipbone, the wound and skin much lighter than the rest of John’s body. Sherlock’s mouth goes dry.

Absolutely. Bone. Dry.

His gaze slides along John’s torso and stops on the exposed skin. He can just see a smattering of light curls that disappear into the boxer shorts. He blinks and shifts his eyes to the wound quickly, hoping John did not notice.

“This one could be deeper,” Sherlock mutters nearly to himself, as he grabs one of the hand towels and presses it against the wound. John inhales sharply, but does not flinch.

“I’m inclined to agree, but won’t know until you clean it up,” John’s voice is tight. “It hasn’t stopped bleeding. Could need stitches. You up for this?”

“Of course,” Sherlock bristles. “I have seen countless injuries on the track.”

“Yeah, but did you have to stitch them up on the fly?”

Sherlock meets his eyes. Truthfully, he has not. But he has come close. Sherlock readies a new piece of gauze and wets it with peroxide. When he is ready, he moves the towel aside and leans in closer. John’s body twitches at Sherlock’s first touch and again periodically as he cleans the wound. It is much deeper than the other one and very similar with that odd shape. Sherlock furrows his brow, trying to place it.

“Why not a house?” John’s voice is quiet and pained.

“What?” Sherlock’s hand stills. He turns his gaze to John, his brows raised in question.

“Why haven’t you bought a house? You’ve been here a long time,” John asks, referring to their previous conversation, clearly trying to distract himself.

“Ah, well,” Sherlock fumbles for words. Sherlock hates being off-balance, taken by surprise. He struggles for equilibrium. “Houses are meant to be shared, not kept by a single man.”

He pauses in both word and action. The two men lock eyes in a very serious gaze.

“The home I grew up in was full of love. It was bright and airy. So was Molly’s. It just doesn’t seem right to have one all to myself.”

“Did you share one with Victor?”

“No,” Sherlock replies after a moment. “Not his style. We lived in an upscale apartment downtown. It was right where he needed to be, both for his work and social life.”

They are silent for a few minutes. It is awkward and yet, not. Sherlock feels very comfortable and calm, even as his nerves remain edgey. His grey eyes suddenly dart to where his own hand rests on John’s hip, a reminder to stay still while he works. He can feel the warmth of the skin under his hand. A light sweat breaks out on Sherlock’s forehead and his heart rate picks up. It sounds so loud in his ears and John must be able to hear it. They are too close for him not to.

“I understand,” John finally says in a quiet voice. “It’s never felt right to me either.”

The look they share takes on new life, a new purpose that they both feel down to their bones. A connection, a common bond, and Sherlock makes up his mind in a split second. John Watson must stay in his condo tonight.

Sherlock straightens and removes the gauze, and his hand, from John’s hip. The angry mark on his skin looks so hateful, marring what is otherwise a gorgeous landscape. Sherlock clears his throat and looks at John, nodding toward the wound.

“So what do you think, Doctor?” he asks cheekily. “Do I need to find a needle and thread?”

“No, I don’t think so,” John chuckles. “A couple of butterfly strips will do it. D’you have any in that first-aid kit of yours?”

“As a matter of fact,” Sherlock gives him a smartass grin, brows still raised. He places the gauze he is holding back on John’s hip, fingertips grazing the soft skin, and then reaches for John’s hand. He places it gingerly on the gauze. “If you would be so kind.”

“It would be my pleasure,” John jokes.

With a smile on his face, Sherlock turns to the kit and begins rifling through its contents for the strips. He knows he has seen them before and is certain he has never used them. Just as he sees them, his hands slow to a stop and eyes lose their focus, as he stares blankly at the kit. John’s wounds are from bullets grazing his body. Sherlock has seen examples just like them in the medical books he studied while Anderson was the team doctor. He wouldn’t trust that man to place a band-aid on a scrape, much less execute decent stitches. Sherlock had felt more secure knowing he could step in, or at least watch to make sure as little was bungled as possible.

Sherlock’s gaze comes back to reality and darts to John’s shoulder, then his hip. He feels the packaged butterfly strips between his fingers, but his mind remains elsewhere. A cold chill drips slowly into his veins as a singular horrifying thought reverberates in his head.

Someone fired shots at John.

Someone attempted to murder John.

Sherlock’s eyes fly to John’s face. He was relaxed and cracking jokes earlier, but now wears an expression of curiosity that creeps in the direction of worry. Sherlock looks away as he tears open the package in his hands. He has placed the first one in seconds and then the other.

“Nicely done, Dr. Holmes,” John jokes, eyes bright and amused again. “Now all we need is a bandage and you’ll be doing my job. I don’t think I’d be very good at yours though.”

“Who shot at you, John?” Sherlock asks without preamble. He pins the doctor with such an intense glower that John cannot possibly look away or avoid the question. His smile fades.

“You really cut to the quick, don’t you?”

Sherlock cocks a brow.

“Have I ever given indication to the contrary during our association?” he asks, but it is not really a question.

John purses his lips, raises his brows and tilts his head to the side in both a thoughtful gesture and one that acquiesces the point. Sherlock leans closer and rests his hand on John’s thigh, just under the wound. He watches John’s face as he glances down at Sherlock’s hand and then lifts his gaze to look at the coach full in the face. His features are wary, but otherwise unreadable. Sherlock squares his jaw. Nothing is going to keep him from finding the truth.

“Who was it, John?” his tone is soft, but firm. Sherlock has not heard anything quite like it from his own lips before. He wonders silently at this man’s power over him and wishes he had some, any power over John. Is he going to tell him the truth outright or try to pass this off as nothing? He trusts Sherlock, but will he trust him with this?

John watches Sherlock for a moment with the same scrutiny that Sherlock studies him. John seems to consider something and then looks resigned, sighing heavily. He sits up and raises a hand to cup the back of his own neck.

“I don’t know,” he says. “He was all in black with a knit cap pulled over his face.”

“A balaclava.”

“If you want to be technical about it, yeah. Either way, I couldn’t see his face.”

“He was in your apartment?”

“Longer than he expected to be. He said he was on a schedule,” John’s voice is harsh and Sherlock’s eyes widen in surprise. He had not expected the attacker would have spoken to John and the fury simmering just beneath the surface of John’s words makes Sherlock wonder what else was said. He is suddenly and inexplicably compelled to lighten John’s mood.

“He can’t be too happy about the delay your kicking his ass has caused.”

John’s eyes go from hard with anger to soft amusement in seconds. A rather unceremonious burst of laughter pops from his lips, now turned up in a smile.

“I wouldn’t say I kicked his ass,” he remarks, “but I don’t mind fucking up his plans one bit.”

“His intention was murder,” Sherlock says with a hint of a question in his voice.

“Without a doubt.”

“Why, John?” Sherlock is suddenly on his knees before the bed at eye level with John. His voice is tense as he tries to find anything at all in the wing he has marked for John that would warrant such an attack. “Is there someone from Anaheim who would want to hurt you? Do you have any enemies?”

“Normal people don’t have enemies, Sherlock,” he answers sharply.

Sherlock jerks back as though he has been slapped in the face. He instantly recalls a conversation they had about the Demons and their coach, James Moriarty. His ‘arch enemy’ Sherlock had called him and John had laughed.

“But why do you two hate each other so much?”

Sherlock knew John had heard different theories from most of the ladies. HardOn’s rendition was the most colorful, as one would expect. Sally’s would be the most accurate. She was there after all, but she had declined to offer an explanation out of respect for her coach. Sherlock had never told anyone what had actually transpired, always dodging the questions with declarations of reps or laps, but John had been nothing but honest with him at their dinner at Angelo’s. His face hid nothing and his obvious pleasure in Sherlock’s company had gotten the better of the coach, as it so often does.

“We had just beaten the Demons badly. It wasn’t for the championship or even a play-off bout, but Moriarty was pissed off,” Sherlock had said with a growing grin. “He made some disparaging remarks about Molly and I…”

“Yeah?” John asked with anticipation. He had looked like a child at Christmastime, his bright blue eyes shining.

“I punched him.”

John howled.

“In the throat.”

John’s laughter died in his throat. He looked at Sherlock in shock and Sherlock thought his chin might actually hit the floor.

“No!” John said in a choked whisper. “You didn’t.”

He laughed so hard when Sherlock nodded and he nearly slipped right off the bench they were sitting on.

“Coach!” HardOn had suddenly yelled form the track. “Stop mistreating Ph.D. He can’t take care of our sorry asses if you keep bustin’ his.”

Hella hooted as she rolled by her partner, slapping her ass on the way. Sherlock had signaled for more laps and then glanced at John as his laughter grew even louder, tears actually beginning to roll from his eyes. Sherlock had grinned at the reckless abandon.

“Shit,” John’s voice draws Sherlock’s eye and pulls him from his thoughts. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“It’s fine,” Sherlock mumbles.

“It’s not,” John persists. “I wasn’t thinking of you. I wasn’t thinking at all.”

Sherlock is looking away and rising to his feet, desperately wishing this conversation would end. He picks up a sterile bandage packet and tears it open, swiftly putting the bandage in place. It surprises John enough that he almost recoils, but Sherlock grabs his hand roughly and shoves it toward the bandage.

“Hold this.”

“Sherlock.”

“It’s fine. Just leave it. I need to get this bandage on and then you will tell me everything that happened.”

John stares at him pointedly while he tapes the bandage down. Once he is finished, he packs up the first-aid kit and closes its latch. Sherlock considers returning it to the en suite, but knows it is the coward’s way out. He has never shrunk back from anything in his life. He is not going to start now. Instead, he meets John’s eyes and sees a fierce determination there that matches his own.

“I didn’t see him when I got home, but he was there,” John begins without being asked.

He goes through everything that took place and in as much detail as he can. Sherlock cringes when John gets to the fire escape and alley. The bastard came so close to finding John there and would have surely killed him where he stood. No place to run. Sherlock does not interrupt, forcing back his fear and worry for John.

By the time the doctor is finished, Sherlock’s eyes are closed and his fingers steepled before his chin. He visualizes it all in his mind, trying to keep his emotions at a distance. He has not been to John’s apartment, but knows the building and general layout for a unit. He watches the man grab John from behind in the kitchen and the ensuing struggle. Sentiment momentarily gets the better of him and he physically flinches when the second bullet grazes John’s hip. He breathes deeply and follows John out the window and down the fire escape.

The whole incident makes him sick to his stomach, but the kitchen is the worst. The thought of a murderer holding John close to his own body from behind, a most vulnerable position indeed. The image stirs within Sherlock an emotion he isn’t sure how to process. Fear and protectiveness, like he was wronged somehow right along with John. It does not make sense. John is not his to protect and yet, there it is, front and center. Sherlock cannot ignore it or his feelings for John. He has tried, of course, since the moment he walked into Greg’s office to meet the doctor. Even though there are no organizational rules preventing them from exploring an attraction, there is still an obstacle and it is the most important. Sherlock’s own heart. He allowed himself to be vulnerable with Victor and paid the price. Recovering from it would have been impossible had he not thrown himself into coaching and derby. He had vowed never to be in that situation again. Since then, Sherlock has never felt the desire to open that door in his mind palace, not even a crack.

Until now.

And it was not a decision. That dinner with John changed everything. The door wasn’t just opened, it was forced from its hinges. In spite of it, Sherlock has tried to board up the doorway and move on. He may have feelings for John, strong feelings, but cannot risk his heart again no matter how persistent it is. Because John would have nothing less than his whole heart and losing it, losing John would destroy him.

John.

So open and honest and yet, such a mystery. John would tell him anything if he only asked, even the personal and painful. John seems so responsive when Sherlock’s resolve slips and finds himself flirting, but truth be told, Sherlock is not entirely certain of John’s interest or orientation, for that matter. The stories of his past relationships are just vague enough that Sherlock has not gathered whether they were with men or women or both. They all have ambiguous names like Chris and Jamie, and are just short enough to provide the gist with no real details. Sherlock still cannot seem to deduce him either, not to the extent that he can everyone else. John cannot possibly know how he confounds Sherlock.

When he opens his eyes, John no longer sits on the bed before him. In fact, John is not even in the room. Sherlock’s eyes look from side to side sharply, his brow furrowing with worry. Is John even in the condo? Sherlock jumps to his feet just as the en suite door opens and the man in question appears in its frame. He still wears only boxer shorts and Sherlock feels his knees weaken a fraction. Flip. Stop it!

“Hey. Sorry,” he says quickly, noticing Sherlock’s distress. “I needed the loo and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Sherlock cocks a brow and gives him a questioning look.

“Your thoughts. You were in your mind palace, yeah?”

“I was,” the coach answers. “For too long it seems. My apologies.”

“No worries,” John’s hand is at the back of his neck again, his brows raised. “I guess I should call the police.”

“No.”

“No?”

“It’s late and they will keep you in the station for hours,” Sherlock explains, making no attempt to keep the disdain from his tone. “You may as well get some sleep. Waiting to tell them in the morning won’t make much difference.”

“But they should start looking before he disappears,” John protests.

“Oh, they won’t catch him,” Sherlock almost chuckles as he approaches John.

“What?” he asks incredulously.

“I’m afraid the police force is far from competent.”

“What? Jesus, Sherlock.”

“But reporting the incident is still a good idea. Better to have it on record in case…”

“In case what?” John’s hands are on his hips. Well, one is more on his waist. Sherlock says nothing. “In case he comes back?”

“It is a possibility, John.”

“I know it is. That’s why I plan to be very careful when I go back.”

“You can’t go back there,” Sherlock tells him abruptly. John’s fixes a glare on him, anger burning dangerously beneath his skin and tinting his cheeks. His mouth is a thin line. He watches Sherlock, biting the inside of his cheek. The coach diplomatically backpedals before John has a chance to speak. “Not tonight anyway. Not until the police look over your apartment and interview the neighbors.”

John narrows his eyes and exhales a steady breath. To Sherlock’s surprise, John remains silent instead of arguing or simply telling him to mind his own fucking business. After a moment of waiting, Sherlock decides this is far worse than shouting. The air is thick with John’s anger and the weight of anticipation is overwhelming. Sherlock’s lips part, placations at the ready, but he remains quiet when John’s features transform right before his eyes. The hard lines soften and his muscles relax.

“Yeah, I suppose that makes sense,” he concedes reluctantly, “but I don’t have my wallet for a hotel. I don’t even have any clothes.”

“You’ll stay here,” Sherlock states as if the decision has already been made and then immediately flinches. Did he learn nothing from his previous misstep? John Watson does not like to be told what to do. He tries for a lighter tone that suggests more than it commands. “I have a spare room.”

“Oh, Sherlock, I couldn’t,” John starts, raising a hand in protest. Sherlock silently blows out a breath of relief that he has skirted the line and John has not taken offense. He shrugs, his confidence returning.

“Why not? You’re here already and you’re right about your state of dress, especially considering the blood. You can’t go anywhere looking like this.”

John’s eyes drop down his own body and Sherlock’s can’t help but follow. Good god.

“You’re right. Of course, you’re right,” he nods with a small smile. “Thank you.”

***

Sherlock stands in his own spare bedroom, surveying everything to make sure he has not forgotten something. John is looking back at him and holding a dark blue t-shirt in his hands. Sherlock hopes it fits well enough. There is a pair of sweatpants in one of his drawers that is far too short for him, but he is quite certain it will fit John well enough. He just has to find them before they talk with the police in the morning. John does not know it yet, but Sherlock intends upon going with him to his apartment. He has already composed the all-team email stating he will not be in the stadium for morning workouts. He has also resolved to look over every inch of the apartment. Sherlock Holmes is no detective, but he will damn well solve this mystery so he can look the man who tried to murder John in the eye when he breaks his nose.

“Well, I hope that fits you,” he tells John. “I’m not exactly your size and your shoulders are a bit broader than mine.”

“Yeah, a bit,” John chuckles and jokes. “Thanks for noticing.”

Sherlock studies him for a moment, taken aback by the apparent flirtation. He wets his lips and glances away. He cannot be reading this correctly. John is not flirting with him. He can’t be flirting with him. He is joking. That’s what it is. He is making light of all this, of the situation.

“I’ll work on finding those sweatpants,” he says in lieu of a real response.

“Thanks,” John replies, dipping his chin in embarrassment. He looks up at Sherlock from under dark lashes that have no business being so long. Flip. “I’m sorry about all this. I hate to impose.”

“It couldn’t be helped,” Sherlock tells him honestly. “I’m glad you came.”

“Yeah, about that. When I first got here I was really abrupt and a little…” he closes his mouth suddenly and stares. “Wait. You’re...you’re glad I came?”

“Yes,” Sherlock answers before he can think better of it. He looks at John, who is very clearly surprised. Anything more than that is difficult to read. Sherlock crinkles his brow in frustration. This would all be so much easier if he could deduce John properly. Of all the people he has ever met, why does the one person whose innermost feelings he most wants to know have to be so damn impossible to read? “We are friends and I want to help.”

“Oh, right,” John looks disappointed and his face falls a fraction. Why?

Sherlock decides quickly that may not have been the best thing to say, but he has no idea what he should have said instead. He clears his throat and gestures to the closet door.

“Extra blankets are on a shelf in the closet,” he explains. John’s gaze follows his hand and then Sherlock as he turns to walk toward another door. “This is the bathroom. Go ahead and use the towels and washcloth hanging on the rack.”

Sherlock squats and opens the cabinet beneath the sink. He pulls out a mid-sized sand pail. It bears the image of the Grinch from the 2018 remake. Molly had begged Sherlock to go with her and they gave him the bucket as soon as he entered the theater. It was some promotional thing and he was the umpteenth person. Dull. He would have refused had they not filled it with popcorn. Sherlock could eat his weight in popcorn.

Once the film was over, Sherlock knew he would never willingly part with it. He felt a certain kinship with the Grinch. Badly hurt in his past, unwilling to let it happen again, shutting out people and feelings, a single friend by his side. He has not mentioned how easily he can put himself in those shoes because Molly would just feel sorry for him, no doubt. She would also not appreciate being equated to Max, the dog and would staunchly disagree. She sees a side of him that no one else does. If they had not grown up together, he probably would have shut her out too. The changes in Victor and their divorce had hurt him so deeply, he did not think he would allow anyone but Molly into his life again. Then he met John and, just like with Cindy Lou Who, everything changed. He supposes John would also not appreciate the comparison.

Sherlock takes a toothbrush still in its unopened package and a small tube of toothpaste from the bucket. Replacing the bucket and standing, he catches John’s curious eye.

“Have a lot of overnight guests, do you?” John smirks, already knowing the answer.

“Dental samples,” Sherlock supplies as he sets them on the sink. “I don’t discard things that could be useful. I’ll get you a comb while I look for the sweatpants.”

“No, Sherlock, I’ve already imposed enough.”

”It’s no trouble at all, John,” he says firmly, placing both items on the counter. John’s lips are curled into the beginnings of a smile when Sherlock looks to him again. The coach actually gives himself a once-over before asking, “What?”

“I appreciate it,” is all he says.

Sherlock finds himself smiling back. Neither one says a word. The two men simply face one another, smiles inexplicably growing into grins. Sherlock could stay this way all night and all day tomorrow too. He would love nothing more than to have John as a house guest for any length of time, sharing stories and jokes. And a bed, his mind supplies so coolly it is like something they were always meant to do.

Sherlock gives his head a quick shake to dispel the images forming in the John wing of his mind palace and slams the door shut before his cheeks are so pink John will think he has a fever. Shifting backwards a step and worrying his lips, he meets John ‘s eyes again. He suddenly feels ridiculous, like he is tucking John in for the night. Not trusting himself to speak, Sherlock turns and walks to the door. When he looks back at John, the man wears yet another unreadable expression. Sherlock shrugs toward the hall and smiles somewhat awkwardly.

“Good night, John.”

“Sherlock, wait,” he steps forward in a rush, tossing the t-shirt on the bed. They are only a couple feet apart now and Sherlock can already feel heat radiating from his cheeks down through his neck and into his chest. He watches as John bites his own lip and wards away the thought of doing it to John himself. John looks at him apprehensively, visibly debating whether or not to share what is on his mind.

“Do you…” John begins, but stops immediately. His features alter into something more decisive and his voice is authoritative when he speaks again. “This has something to do with Billy.”

Sherlock’s brows furrow over narrowed eyes. His mind instantly begins testing and weighing every possible scenario.

“Someone tried to poison him to get him to leave and now as soon as you have another competent doctor, someone tries to kill him? No,” John shakes his head. “It’s too damn coincidental.”

He pauses to run a hand through his hair and cover his mouth in thought. When he removes it, he also shuffles his feet closer to Sherlock’s, bringing them even closer.

“I don’t know exactly how Molly figures into this, but…”

“Saving her is reason enough to eliminate you,” Sherlock finishes for him as it begins to snap into place. John must believe the same because he is already nodding. “It’s Moriarty. It has to be.”

“Now, Sherlock,” John’s face fills with doubt, “don’t rush to any conclusions.”

“I’m not rushing to anything. It makes perfect sense. The bastard wants to win and will do whatever it takes to do it.”

“But murder?”

“Any. Thing,” Sherlock pins John with cold grey eyes. “He has no scruples. His moral compass is skewed. Classic personality trait.”

“Personality trait? Are you saying he’s some kind of psychopath?” John’s tone is incredulous.

“No,” Sherlock replies thoughtfully. “He’s a sociopath.”

John purses his lips and shifts his weight. His hands rest on his hips and he looks at his colleague skeptically.

“Sherlock, there is absolutely no proof that Moriarty has anything to do with this,” he lifts his hand in placation when Sherlock opens his mouth to protest. Against his better judgement, Sherlock remains quiet to hear the doctor out. “I’m not saying I don’t trust your judgement. He is definitely a suspect. I just don’t want you to convince yourself that we should only focus on him is all. It could easily be someone else, anyone else at this point.”

“Fine,” Sherlock says. It makes sense. It does. John is not wrong, but Sherlock still believes Moriarty is behind all of it. Everything he knows about the man, every experience they have shared is all the evidence Sherlock needs. However, solid physical proof is what police will require. All the more reason to go with John to his apartment in the morning, which he might as well mention now while he is at it. “I’m going with you to meet the police tomorrow.”

“What?” John starts. “No, you don’t have to do that.”

“And I am going to search your apartment myself once they’ve gone,” he continues. “I’ve little confidence in their abilities. I will solve this mystery myself.”

“What? Like on Scooby Doo?” John snorts. “ ‘Looks like we have ourselves another mystery’.”

Sherlock shoots him an indignant glare.

“Sherlock,” he takes a step and rests his hands on Sherlock’s shoulders, shaking his head. “This along with coaching and everything else you have on your plate? No. Besides, it’s too risky. We’ve both seen how dangerous this is. I have the bandages to prove it.”

Sherlock meets John’s earnest gaze with one of his own. His voice is quiet and deadly serious.

“Molly is my family. I will place myself in the line of fire to protect her every time. You know that. Failure means the murderer will try again. And she isn’t the only target. So are you. I cannot allow that.”

“Sherlock, I’ll not have you risk your life for me,” he replies shortly. He moves his hands from Sherlock’s shoulders and shakes his head. “That is something I will not allow. I will not put you at risk.”

Sherlock looks at the doctor wickedly and lets out a dark chuckle.

“I’d like to see you try to stop me,” his lips curl upward into a smirk as he watches John with a gleam in his eye.

John presses his lips into a thin line and for a moment, Sherlock thinks he might tell him what a stubborn asshole he is. But the anger and frustration quickly fade from his face, making way for a broad grin and bright eyes. Sherlock could look at those blue eyes for a hundred years and it still wouldn’t be enough.

“Another time,” John breathes.

Their eyes are locked on one another. The human eye can say so much without words. John’s are open and honest, conveying his every emotion so articulately. But there is also something that remains so clearly hidden, just beneath the surface. What Sherlock wouldn’t give to know what it is.

Without realizing it, Sherlock has drifted quite close to John. He knows he should pull back, but has no intention of doing so. John smells so good. Cinnamon and vanilla with a unique musky scent that must belong to John alone. Sherlock inhales deeply, wanting to memorize every detail of it, of this moment because they will never be this close again. John will snap out of this spell and step away, a window in time to be suffocated with shutters and never reopened.

But John is not stepping back. His blue eyes explore every inch of Sherlock’s face as though he has the same idea Sherlock does, but that cannot be. John does not feel the same way and Sherlock feels so many things at once - joy, safety, adoration, comfort and... He feels like he is home. Not just in his condo, but home.

The air around them crackles with electricity and oh, Jesus, he wants to kiss John. It would be so easy. Just lean down, angle his neck, close the gap. Sherlock knows full well John’s lips would be soft, perfect. John is perfect. He does not bore Sherlock, has never bored him, could never bore him. John is funny and intriguing, honest and mysterious. Sherlock loves it all. He could easily spend a night or week or month or forever with John and never know exactly what would happen like he does in anyone else’s company. People are idiots. John is brilliant.

Fear flashes across Sherlock’s features and a chill runs down his neck, spreading into his veins until he can feel it in his fingertips. Did he just profess love for John? No. He tries to deny it, but the proof of it appears around every corner he turns within his mind palace. Fuck! Fuck! What the fuck is he going to do now? It was one thing when it was just an attraction. He can live with suppressing an attraction, but love? With someone he works with and sees every day? Someone he is friends with? If he takes this chance as Molly suggested and it ends like Victor, he will have nothing to fall back on. Derby and skating, his very life blood, will remind him of John.

Sherlock jolts backwards and plants his hand on a nearby dresser to keep himself steady. His breaths are coming rapidly and he holds a palm to his chest. His distress clear, John lurches forward to help, putting a hand on his arm.

“Sherlock!” his voice is urgent and full of worry. “Are you all right?”

“M’fine,” he nods, straightening up. “Fine. Just tired.”

Sherlock shrugs away from John’s touch, leaving his hand hovering alone between them. By the time it is back at John’s side, Sherlock is at the door with his hand on the knob.

“Good night, John,” he whips the door closed and collapses against it, heaving a great sigh. Tipping his head back until it rests against the door, Sherlock’s gaze drifts up and focuses on the ceiling.

He is in love with John Watson.

He is in love with John.

He is so fucked.

----

And at least one idiot knows he’s in love! Hooray! But if, or when, will he give in and let himself show it? If/when will he admit it to John? What will John think? What will he say? Just what were his past relationships and how have they shaped who he is and how he views love? So much we don’t know yet and so much time to learn.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, my friends. Don’t hesitate to ask me anything or just say hi. I love you all! Stay safe.

#Sherlock Holmes #Sherlock #sherlockholmes #sherlock loves john #sherlock fanfic #john watson #johnwatson #johnlock #Johnlock fanfic #sherlock roller derby

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

Text

The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 29: AMJ #4.1

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I don’t have any preamble. Let’s just get on with this.

Thankfully the recap page isn’t as bad as in prior issues.

First of all, we get yet more information not introduced in the earlier issues. Admittedly this is a minor point, but Ken Gullapalli’s last name is first revealed here. Additionally, we get the title of the movie repeated her, even though it has yet to be mentioned in-story.

More significantly, the recap ascribes additional motivations to the Savage Six. It claims that they took umbrage with Mysterio’s life being dramatized at all, whereas prior issues never implied that. Isn’t it great that part of the motivation for the villains is being explained in the recap page.

Another minor point worth noting is that the recap mixes up the sequence of events. It claims Sonny Diperna joined the movie and then the Savage Six attacked. It was actually the other way around. Also, the recap claims the movie lost all but one investor. Depending upon how you wish to interpret that line, it might also be called inaccurate. The investor they found in issue #2 was never one of the original investors. The movie lost all of it’s investors but then found a new one.

Neither of these are that big of a deal. But those are pretty basic thing for a recap to screw up. It’s another example to the shoddy production of this comic (outside the art).

The story proper picks up immediately where the last issue left off. Charlie (the actor playing Spider-Man) quits, claiming the production is cursed. He points out everything has gone wrong, even before the crew were attacked by actual super villains.

MJ counters that things have been looking up since they found a new secure location. Charlie though points out this ‘secure location’ is an abandoned zoo too horrible for anyone to even want to attack them. Charlie accuses MJ of being delusional for believing in the movie.

You know I never had anything to say about Charlie up until now, but in this moment he is the single most relatable character in the whole story.

What’s ambiguous is Williams’ own perception of the character. He’s clearly been framed in an unsympathetic light (and will be again in consequent pages) so the audience isn’t supposed to like him. And yet he is keeping it real, he is pointing out every danger and problem with the production and why it isn’t safe.

I don’t know if he’s intended to be an audience avatar, and author avatar or both. But he’s certainly my avatar right now.

Charlie’s rant continues by claiming people are going to laugh at Sonny Diperna and MJ for participating in this disaster of a movie. ‘McKnight’ then gets up in Charlie’s personal space and grabs him by the shirt. He yells that speaking to MJ the way he did would have gotten him fired anyway. With Mallorie’s prompting, ‘McKnight’ tells Charlie that he’ll be returning the advance he was given for the scene he’s left unfinished.

Charlie though has other ideas.

Charlie wasn’t exactly being rude. The worst thing he said was that MJ was being delusional. Putting aside how she genuinely has been, in context it’s a perfectly valid thing to say. MJ has been pushing and backing an extremely troubled production that has genuinely intimidated Charlie and jeopardised his wellbeing. Last issue alone confirmed several cast and crewmembers had quite the production after the Six’s attack.

Even if it wasn’t fair to call MJ delusional (which it absolutely is), in context Charlie’s outburst is totally sympathetic, it’s something the cast and crew should be able to excuse given the situation. Not to mention, he’s outright warning MJ. He’s informing her she is endangering her career and public image by participating in the film. I’m not saying this is outright concern, but on balance his dialogue to MJ is not exactly rude. He’s justifiably upset and is pointing out the dangers to MJ.

Beck in this scene is problematic. I’m not going to say he assaulted Charlie, but he was way out of line for grabbing him the way he did. That should b the umpteenth warning sign to MJ (who noticeably does nothing) that Beck is bad news and dangerous.

I also detest the framing of Beck in this page. He’s framed as someone defending MJ’s honour, or at the very least a loyal friend. It’s yet more of this messed up sympathetic/friendship portrayal of Beck and his relationship with Mary Jane.

Finally, notice how no one is considering how Charlie’s departure seriously jeopardises the crew. He is now someone constantly off set who knows exactly where the crew are. Do they consider changing location? No. Do they consider that the Six will target Charlie for information no. It’s stupid enough that they aren’t involving the authorities at all. But if you accept that then it’s really stupid for them to not consider Charlie a liability.

On the next page Charlie tries to blackmail ‘McKnight’. He threatens to call his guild rep and report unsafe working conditions; citing the Six’s attack. That is unless he’s allowed to keep his advance. ‘McKnight’ literally tosses cash at Charlie and tells him to leave.

I have nothing really to say about this page. It’s just kind of screwed up that Williams has chosen to make the one character who’s talking some sense unsympathetic.

On the next page MJ proposes that she will play (a fully masked) Spider-Man in the final scene. She suggests Beck use his skills to ‘heavily edit’ the footage to make her look convincing.

Okay, so this is a double-edged sword.

On the plus side we’re finally dealing more with MJ actually acting in a mini-series set up to be about that very premise. Having her pretend to be her lover is also a brilliant set up for character exploration. Have MJ, in an abstract way, see Peter in a new light by pretending to be him. But the potential for interesting commentary goes deeper, because she’s acting out Mysterio’s vision for Spider-Man. It’s an opportunity for Williams to explore MJ and Mysterio’s contrasting views of Spidey. That in turn could say a lot about MJ and Beck, as well as Peter himself.

But on the other hand…isn’t this pretty dumb?

Peter and Mary Jane have completely different body builds. According to official stats, Peter is 2 inches taller than her and weights nearly 50 pounds more than her. Then of course you have the fact that Spider-MAN has a MALE body shape and Mary Jane has a FEMALE body shape. And what about the dialogue? How is MJ supposed to convincingly pull off Charlie’s voice?

Oh, sure Beck’s skills are more than capable of faking the difference. But what is the point?

Why use Mary Jane when you could just use any of the actual men on set?

Master Matrix is in that very scene. His body build might not be identical to Spider-Man’s, but it looks similar enough. Or at the very least it looks far more similar than MJ’s body build does.

In fairness, I don’t know much about Master Matrix, so maybe he’s not capable of the physical movements necessary for the job; he is a robot after all. But there are definitely, other male crewmembers on set. The Kangaroo for example is an actual super villain, he’s literally battled Spider-Man and he also has a far similar body build to Spidey than MJ does.

One might argue that it’s not all about the body type though, they need someone who can act the part, deliver the dialogue. Except if that’s the case, why get MJ? She’s a talented actress but she’ll be wearing a mask, her facial acting will be moot. This means it will just boil down to her ability to voice act, but she is neither trained VA nor would she believably sound like Charlie/Spider-Man. Realistically ‘McKnight’ would have to use technical wizardry to distort MJ’s voice into sounding like Charlie’s. That’s more than likely within his abilities (especially with master Matrix and HERBIE’s help). But you know what would be much easier? Having someone else dub over the footage!

That’d be a lot cheaper, easier and more dramatically effective than altering the vocal performance of the actor in the suit. In fact, given how the mask is realistically going to muffle the voice of the wearer, ADR would likely be employed anyway. If memory serves I think they have done that in every real life Spider-Man film since 2002. Hell, Darth Vader was brought to life with a suit and a voice performance.

The point is Beck wouldn’t need someone in the suit who can deliver dialogue great, so why not get someone with a closer body build?

Shit, if he’s employed so much of his illusionary skills anyway, why not just fake Spider-Man himself? Jesus, Christ he could just make a Spider-Man robot if he wanted or dress up one of the X-Men robots from issue #1.

Or he could play Spider-Man himself. He literally did that in his first ever appearance!

No matter how you slice it, this is yet another interesting idea Williams fails to sufficiently justify.

Moving on, remember how the worst thing Charlie did was call MJ delusional? Remember how Beck took this as an immense insult? Yeah, well he immediately does the same thing on the next page.

Beck explains he’s very uncomfortable with MJ playing that role. MJ retorts that it’s just one scene and since audiences would be none the wiser it wouldn’t affect her character’s arc. She starts to suggest Beck use his illusions to affect the change but Beck interjects that that’d be cheating and would ruin the authenticity of his work. MJ counters that she’s the most ‘authentic connection to Spidey’ Beck will find.

Beck accepts MJ’s offer. He reminisces that MJ was supposed to play his love interest, a version of someone he wanted to exalt. He then acknowledges MJ has become the saving grace of the movie, making her the second woman who had the ‘misfortune’ of believing in him. He further elaborates that they’ve strayed so far from his original vision for the film, he sometimes questions if it’s even the same movie. MJ reassures him that he’s just pivoted.

While this conversation is happening, Mallorie is dealing with another issue. Sonny Diperna has been running late because the paparazzi were tipped off about his inclusion. As a result he can’t get close to the set’s location without revealing it’s location. Mallorie turns to Screwball who launches several remote controlled drones.

A few things to unpack from these pages.

The first is that MJ has it in mind for Beck to use his illusions to finish the scene; something Beck ultimately agrees to. If they were just going to use illusions anyway why do they need MJ specifically to finish the scene? Again they could just get any of the male actors, extras or staff members to fill in.

Shit, they could get Screwball to do it. These pages depict her acrobatic prowess; and weren’t the first to do so. Additionally she’s actually faced off against Spider-Man herself. Between the two of them Screwball is far more qualified than MJ in recreating Spider-Man’s movements and physical prowess. Her on set job also isn’t something necessary to film a scene. If she were in charge of lighting or the cameraperson then that’d be one thing. But she could almost do her job between takes or hand over her responsibilities to someone else temporarily.

MJ’s justification that she is the most authentic connection to Spider-Man is a moot point. Yeah, she has more of a connection to Spider-Man than anyone on set…and? Charlie had 0 connection to the real Spider-Man, and yet he was cast in the role and ideally would be finishing the movie. What on Earth does MJ’s personal connection to Spider-Man have to do with anything?

It can’t be some nonsense about her being able to act well in the scene. Again, realistically she’d be dubbed over and/or her voice would be distorted affecting any vocal performance she’d give. Not to mention her job wouldn’t be to draw upon her personal knowledge of Peter. It’d be to do what Beck would want of her, to bring his vision of Spider-Man to life. At the same time her job would be to synch up as best as she could with Charlie’s performance in all the other scenes. She isn’t creating her take on Spider-Man from the ground up, therefore her ‘authentic connection’ is meaningless.

Also isn’t MJ smart to be hinting to the incredibly clever trickster that she’s got a personal connection to Spider-Man. It’s not like he could research her, learn she’s has (and has had in the past) long-term relationships with Peter Parker.

You know, that guy who famously took Spider-Man’s pictures for the longest time and created Spider-Man’s tech and had Spider-Man as his bodyguard when he ran Parker Industries. If you accept the (BS) post-OMD explanation that everything happened the same way but Pete and MJ just weren’t married then that means Beck could learnt his stuff with Google. This is evidenced by Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #1, wherein literal school children were able to look up Peter and learn about his relationship with Mary Jane.

Mary Jane realistically should already be wary of Beck handpicking her for the movie anyway. She should already suspect that that had something to do with her connection to Spidey. Not only did Williams ignore that, but now she’s just having MJ outright wink to Beck that she has a connection to Spider-Man. That’s not endangering herself, her family, her friends or Spidey’s identity now is it?

Let’s talk about Mysterio. So his dream was to make this biopic about himself. He’s got only a little time to make it before he is literally dragged back to Hell. He envisions it as his magnum opus. A chance to be forgiven by the masses and to make amends to his old flame Betsy. And he’s you know…super egotistical and selfish. His history reveals that to us. His original origin entails him wanting to steal Spider-Man’s limelight by framing him. A revised origin entails him feeling pushed aside in spite of his talent.

So is he really going to compromise this much? Is he really going to so drastically revise the role of the one woman he arguably ever loved to this extent?

The answer is Hell no.

Remember when Beck assaulted someone in the first issue because they insulted his ego?

Remember when he delivered a grand speech about the meaning of art in issue #2?

Is he really going to allow something so important to him be distorted this much? Is he really going to just meekly accept questioning if it’s even his vision anymore?

Again, Hell no, that’s not in character.

And MJ’s rationale is totally nonsensical from Beck’s POV. The whole point of MJ’s character was wrapped up in Beck’s affections for the real life woman she was playing. But now her role is totally unrecognizable from how he began. That’s not a pivot, it’s a wholesale change. Or at least, that’s how Beck would view it.

In the best-case scenario, we could interpret his attitude as evidence of insincerity. As in, he wasn’t actually all that hung up on ‘exalting’ Betsy. At which point MJ should be on her toes and concerned about how genuine he’s been about anything else. Then again she should’ve been at least wary long before now.

As for the other story thread in these pages, we’ll get to that in a little while.

On the next age, Diperna is confused as to who Screwball is. The paparazzi are following his car in several cars. That’s when Screwball’s drones show up and dazzle them with some flashing lights of their own.

Sonny’s confusion over Screwball is itself confusing because he was literally in the same scene as her in the last issue.

Additionally, it’s incredibly dangerous to blind any drivers with flashing lights under any circumstances. Shit, when I was learning to drive it was drilled into me how dangerous it would be to be dazzled by another car and how to avoid accidentally dazzling them myself. Here Screwball is deliberately dazzling three cars. Some of them have open tops and people practically hanging out of them unbuckled.

And on top of that they are clearly moving at speed, around a bend on some kind of upward slope. Accidentally dazzling them with regular car headlights would be a recipe for disaster. Here though, Screwball is using at least six drones to deliberately dazzle them. You can tell from the art and sound effects that one of the cars had to make an abrupt stop. We don’t know if the riders incurred any injuries from that alone but it would’ve been all too easy. Frankly it was really lucky no one was seriously hurt.

I guess you could justify this in a case of self-defence, but the paparazzi were not endangering Sonny’s life. Not unless you argue their cameras were themselves dazzling his driver. But it’s not clear that that was happening and even if it was, that’s not a justification for what Screwball did. Not to mention he could have ended any jeopardy the paparazzi posed by simply stopping the car, getting out and answering their questions. Sure he’d be late, but it’s a lot safer than the alternative. Besides he was already late and it’s publicity for the film.

I’m not suggesting this was out of character for Screwball. But I am saying MJ has just seen a criminal do something extremely dangerous for no justifiable reason. Bu rights her judgement should no longer be reserved about Screwball as it was last issue. Not that it ever should have been. She should be telling Beck to get rid of her or at least try to keep her under control somehow.

Somehow I doubt that will happen.

By the way, the paparazzi are yelling at Diperna during the car chase…why? Neither he nor they could possibly hear one another in that situation.

I am going to leave it there for now as the next few pages are so bad I’ve decided to dedicate a whole post just to them before continuing onto the rest of the issue.

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#Leah Williams #amazing mary jane #mjwatsonedit #Mysterio #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #Spider-Man #Vulture #the vulture #Quentin Beck #Adrian Toomes #Savage Six #The Savage Six #S.H.I.E.L.D.#Peter Parker #Carlos Gomez

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emospritelet · 5 years

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KOL - Belle and Gold finally talked and admitted they’ve fallen for each other ...

This prompt has been sitting in my inbox for some time…

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10] [Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14] [Part 15] [Part 16] [Part 17] [Part 18] [Part 19] [Part 20] [Part 21] {Part 22] [Part 23] [Part 24]

AO3 link

Despite Gold’s firm resolution that he would ask Belle out on a date, events seemed to conspire against him. It was true that they were working the same shift that New Year’s Eve, but with half the usual staff in the hospital, and New Year celebrations getting out of hand all over town, it was proving to be a frantic and exhausting night. In none of the ways he would want if he ever did manage to get a date with her.

He had barely seen Belle all evening, other than a glimpse of her running along a corridor with her arms full of supplies, dark hair bouncing around behind her. The only words they had exchanged were her hurried description of the condition of the latest patient, passed on from one of the nurses, or a brief greeting as they passed each other moving to and from the wards. It was infuriating, but he told himself he could wait until the end of their shift. If she said yes, it would let him leave work on a high, and if she said no, he figured he’d be too tired to feel bad.

Gold checked Leroy’s vitals, shaking his head over having to admit the man for alcohol poisoning. He was planning on having a stern word with him when he came to; at this rate he’d pickle his liver before Astrid could get her way and start dating him. The two of them were even more useless than he was at asking for what they wanted, it seemed. He made a note on the chart, setting it back in place at the end of the bed, and glanced around as Belle hurried over with a file in her hand.

“Who’s next?” he asked absently, taking it from her.

“Henry Swan-Mills slipped on the ice earlier today,” she said. “Emma thought he’d be okay, but he seems to have gotten worse as the evening went on. Suspected broken arm, Graham says.”

“That boy’s always in trouble,” he muttered, and looked her over, noticing how weary she looked. “Haven’t you been here all night? You should get home.”

“I’m covering for Astrid,” she said. “Can’t do everything she does, obviously, but every little helps, I guess. I get off at six, like you.”

So she’ll be leaving when I do. Right. Nothing for it, then. I can ask her when we go. I’m gonna do it.

“Still,” he said aloud. “New Year’s Eve. Don’t you young people count down the hour and kiss each other, or something?”

Belle grinned at him, eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief.

“Well, it is almost midnight,” she said. “How about it?”

“How about what?” he asked, confused.

“New Year’s Eve kiss, of course.”

Gold swallowed hard, blinking at her rapidly, his heart suddenly thumping hard in his chest.

“I’ve - I’ve never had one.”

Belle’s smile grew.

“You’ve never had a New Year’s Eve kiss?” she said. “I could change that, you know.”

He licked his lips, wondering if he had fallen asleep in the break room and was dreaming this entire encounter. He figured that if she offered to go down on him he could pretty much guarantee that he had, but she was simply smiling at him. Smiling and waiting for his answer.

“You - you want to kiss me?” Jesus fucking Christ, you idiot, are you waiting for a bloody written invitation? Kiss the girl, you moron!

Belle shrugged, glancing to the bed beside him.

“Well, it doesn’t look as though Leroy would be up to it, so yeah.”

Gold licked his lips again, and she rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“Stirling,” she said patiently. “I want to kiss you. In fact I’ve wanted to kiss you for some time, and I get the feeling you want to kiss me, so - is that okay?”

He stared at her dumbly, words piling up in his throat and screaming to get out, a painful lump that he couldn’t seem to shift. Belle put her hands on her hips, looking determined.

“Stirling Gold,” she said, her voice firm. "I like you, okay? Not in a ‘friend’ way, not as a colleague, and definitely not as some sort of mentor. I like you. I’m attracted to you emotionally, physically and sexually. Am I making myself clear?“

He swallowed, heart thumping high in his throat, but nodded.

“Yes.” His voice was hoarse. "I - like you too. Like that.“

"So can we kiss?”

There was a touch of impatience in her voice, a glint of danger in her eyes, and he nodded again.

“Alright,” he said.

She reached into her pocket for her phone, her eyes flicking up to meet his as she checked the clock.

“At midnight, then,” she said, and they watched as the time counted down.

“Five,” she said, and Gold murmured with her. “Four. Three. Two. One.”

She leaned in to kiss him, the press of her lips soft and warm against his, and Gold let out a tiny groan at the feel of her. One hand cupped his cheek, fingers sliding into his hair and making him shiver, and the tip of his tongue gently pushed against her lips in response. Belle opened her mouth, tongue stroking against his, and he let out a low hum of pleasure at finally tasting her. His arms went around her, pulling her close against him, eyes closed, lost in the kiss, and she melted into him as the it deepened, her tiny moan sending a ripple of sensation through his body. It was everything he had wanted, for so long. It was perfect. Eventually she pulled back, their lips parting, the taste of him still on her tongue. She was wide-eyed and a little breathless, her lips full and dark, and he imagined he looked just as stunned as she.

“Happy New Year,” she said softly, and he smiled.

“Yes.” He licked his lips to catch the last taste of her. “Belle, would you have dinner with me?”

That sentence, impossible to verbalise for so long, seemed to fall from his mouth with ease, as though her kiss had unlocked something deep in his soul, and he wanted to collapse with relief. He waited anxiously for her reply, and Belle’s smile widened, her eyes sparkling.

“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, I’d love to.”

Gold wanted to punch the air, to dance around the ward despite his bad leg, but contented himself with a smile.

“Tomorrow night?” he asked eagerly. “I mean - I mean not this night coming, I mean the night after. I should think you’ll want to go to bed early tomorrow night - I mean this night coming. Not that I’m suggesting you want to go to bed with me - I - I just mean you’ll want to sleep. Alone. You know, given the late night we’re having right now. This night.”

Her brow had furrowed a little, and he snapped his mouth shut, wanting to sigh in frustration. Back to having zero control over his vocal chords. Either he couldn’t speak or he blurted out a load of bollocks. No bloody middle ground. At least he’d managed to ask her to dinner, he supposed.

“Wednesday night?” she queried, and he nodded mutely. “Yes, I could do that.”

“Right.” He released her from his arms, taking a step back. “Right. Well. Good. Uh - you want to come over at seven-thirty? I’ll cook.”

She smiled, a beautiful sight, her eyes lighting up, and he felt his heart clench.

“Sounds perfect,” she said.

“Yes.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Yes.”

Belle bit her lip, looking amused by his reaction.

“Henry’s in the emergency room,” she reminded him, and he started.

“Right! I’ll - I’ll get to work, then.”

“Happy New Year, Stirling,” she added, and he smiled.

“Happy New Year, Belle.”

Gold drove Belle home when their shift ended at six, and she sat quietly beside him in the car, wishing that he wasn’t taking her back to her father’s house. Wishing that they were instead going home to his place, and crawling into bed together. She was surprised that her imagination was currently pushing the idea of them snuggling up and falling asleep rather than anything more adventurous, but she supposed it was the fatigue talking. At any rate it was a moot point; she had to be there for when Moe woke up, and for the next few weeks she was stuck at her father’s place, caring for him until she could leave him to his own devices and move into her own apartment.

She wasn’t sure how to raise the issue of the Secret Santa gift; she wanted to be sure that he knew how grateful she was, and she didn’t feel that she could do that in a brief conversation. On the other hand, she didn’t want him to think that she had only agreed to have dinner with him because she felt obligated to him. She wrestled with her indecision as Gold turned into her road, and decided to leave discussion of the gift until their date.

He pulled up outside her house, tyres squeaking a little in the thick, fresh snow, and looked across at her as he parked. His eyes were tired, his face drawn, but she thought how handsome he looked, his tiny smile making his eyes crinkle at the corners. Her hand slid over his thigh, making his smile widen.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m - I’m really looking forward to our date.”

“Me too.”

He was gazing at her, his eyes soft, and she leaned in to kiss him, one hand reaching up to cup his cheek as her lips pulled at his. He turned a little in his seat to face her, the kiss deepening, and Belle was sorely tempted to tell him to drive on and take her to his house. She pulled back before she could say anything, biting her lip to capture the taste of him. Gold pressed his forehead to hers, his breathing unsteady.

“Right,” she said reluctantly. “Uh - Happy New Year. I hope you get some sleep.”

“You too,” he said, sitting back. “Don’t run yourself into the ground caring for your father. It’ll do him good to stay active with some light tasks.”

Belle thought that was highly unlikely, given that he hadn’t been inclined to lift a finger around the place even before his heart attack, but she said nothing.

“I’ll - I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she said. “Seven-thirty, right?”

“Right.”

She smiled, kissing him again, and took off her belt, opening the car door and getting out into the frigid air. Snow was still falling, though lightly, the flakes pattering against the exposed skin of her face, and she watched as Gold pulled away in the Cadillac, the car moving slowly on the snow-covered street until it was out of sight.

Belle sighed, feeling drained as she trudged up the path, and let herself into the house as quietly as she could. There was no sound from her father’s room, so she crawled into bed to grab what sleep she could before he woke, a broad smile on her face as she thought of her upcoming date with Gold. At last, after months of pining and hoping and despairing, they would finally be spending an evening together. And, if she had her way, many more in the future.

The sound of Moe blundering around in the kitchen woke her far earlier than she wanted, and she sighed as he called up the stairs.

“Belle! Are you ever getting up? We’re out of coffee!”

Growling to herself, Belle pushed up out of bed and stomped to the door, wrenching it open.

“No we’re not, there’s a new packet in the cupboard!” she snapped. “And I was in bed because I didn’t get home until six-thirty, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” A moment. “Is this all the bacon we have?”

She sighed heavily, grabbing her robe from the back of the door and shrugging it on.

“You can’t have bacon, remember?” she said shortly. “Go and do your exercises, I’ll make you some porridge.”

Moe grumbled something, and shuffled off to the lounge. After a moment she heard the TV start up, and ran her hands through her hair with a frustrated sigh. A few weeks. A few weeks and she could move into the apartment above the library. It couldn’t come soon enough.

New Year’s Day passed quickly, with Belle spending most of her time cooking and cleaning up. Moe had cheered up a little when she served up roast chicken, and even ate all the vegetables she gave him, after which he fell asleep on the couch while she did the laundry. She was tired from lack of sleep, and went to bed early, hoping to be in better shape for her date. Moe was awake before her the next morning, and the scent of fresh coffee pulled her out of bed and downstairs, where he was cooking eggs. Belle’s mouth flattened, and he shrugged at her expression.

“I’m having two scrambled eggs and one piece of bacon, that’s all,” he said, before she could criticise his choice. “It’s a treat.”

“As long as you go back to the healthy stuff tomorrow, I guess,” she said, sitting down. “By the way, you’ll have to get your own dinner tonight, I’m going out.”

“Since when?”

“Since now.” She poured herself some coffee. “I have a date.”

“Yeah?” Moe looked suspicious. “Who with?”

“Dr Gold.”

“Dr - the bloke with the arse?”

He looked outraged, and Belle rolled her eyes.

“The very same,” she said dryly.

“But - but…” Moe opened and closed his mouth. “He’s got to be twice your age!”

“So?”

“So?” He gestured with a spatula. “What are you two gonna have in common?”

“Lots of things, as it turns out,” she said stiffly. “Why do you care? I thought you’d be pleased. You’re always telling me to get my head out of my books and start socialising.”

“Yes, but - ah, never mind.” He shook his head, serving up the eggs and bacon onto a plate. “Tonight, you say?”

“Yes, he’s cooking me dinner.”

“You’re going to his house?”

“Yes Dad,” she said patiently. “I stayed there when I was sick, remember? It’s a very nice house. He doesn’t have a sex dungeon or a bunch of serial killer trophies. It’ll be fine.”

He gave her a flat look, and carried his plate to the table, slumping into the seat.

“Guess I’ll amuse myself then,” he grumbled. “I’ll watch some TV.”

“No takeout,” she said, raising a warning finger. “I cooked you some healthy food, and it’s all in the freezer in portions. You just need to stick it in the microwave.”

He grumbled again, and Belle sighed, sipping at her coffee.

“What time will you be back?” he asked, and she hesitated.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, are we gonna agree a time, or are you gonna make me stay up all night worrying?”

“Dad…”

“I’m just saying, it would be nice to know where you are, that’s all.”

“Okay, fine,” she sighed. “Unless you hear from me to say otherwise, I’ll be home by eleven, okay?”

He grunted, digging into his eggs, and she buried her nose in her coffee. If things turned out the way she hoped, it would be a late night indeed.

She prepared herself carefully that evening, taking a long bath, which also had the effect of relaxing her after a somewhat trying day trying to get Moe to buy into the new diet and fitness regime. He was acting like a reluctant toddler, and it was starting to get on her last nerve, so she put on some music, ran a bubble bath, and had a blissful soak.

She put on a relatively new dress, a deep blue colour with a plunge neckline and a full skirt which showed off her curves and suited her colouring. Ruby had given her pretty silver earrings for Christmas, so she wore those, smiling as she turned this way and that before the mirror, dark curls bouncing around her shoulders. She looked good enough to eat, in her opinion. With any luck, Dr Gold would have an appetite.

It was still snowing, and she had no desire to walk through the snow in tiny shoes, so she carried those in her bag, along with condoms, a toothbrush, clean underwear and tights, and a pot of moisturiser. Just in case. She let the bag swing as she walked, happiness giving her energy, face turned up to catch the snowflakes on her skin as she strode along in sturdy boots, the cold air sharp at the back of her throat. Turning into the road on which Gold’s house stood made her smile, the light from inside sending out a warm glow as she trotted up the path.

He answered the door in his suit pants and waistcoat over a purple silk shirt, his tie dark blue. His eyes crinkled as he smiled, and Belle rose up on her toes with a beaming grin as she leaned in to kiss him. Gold pulled her inside the house, using his cane to push the door shut behind her, his lips sliding over hers as the kiss deepened. Belle let her bag fall, hands resting at his waist, feeling the heat of him through the waistcoat, and a moan came from her as his tongue stroked hers.

Gold broke the kiss with a gasp, chest heaving, already hard in his pants, and she was gazing up at him with heavy-lidded eyes and a wicked smile curving her mouth.

“Well,” she murmured. “Here’s to an enjoyable evening.”

#thespinningmeanie #fic: kiss of life #rumbelle fic #my fic #rumbelle #dr gold x candy striper belle

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jancys-blue-bayou · 5 years

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Come on now, how am I supposed to not want every single number on that list for jancy??? Except for the appearance one I guess unless we're talking uh 👀👀👀 things that are less... apparent. (Sorry I'm terrible)

Holiday headcanon

Answered!

2. Cooking headcanon

Jonathan “Breakfast Boy” Byers is the better cook, having cooked for his family for years. I go a little bit back and forth on Nancy, I don’t think cooking would be something she’s particularly into, her mom is always in the kitchen and maybe she might’ve had a phase when she was little where she liked to help out in the kitchen but think she outgrew that and so isn’t used to cook much at home, though she’s not an idiot of course and knows her way around a kitchen she’s not a spectacular cook. She might like baking more? Since that’s a bit more precise and exact “science”, you can follow a recipe exactly while cooking you generally wing it more, and I can see Nancy liking to do things like that, exact and precise. I think Jonathan likes cooking more than Nancy does and therefore is the one to cook more often, but also Nancy enjoys cooking with Jonathan more than on her own.

3. Sleeping headcanon

Jonathan Byers is the comfiest pillow in the world. That’s what Nancy firmly believes, I believe. We see in s1 Jonathan turn onto his side/tummy when sleeping. My hc for their sleeping position together is not set in stone, I lean towards Jonathan sleeping on his back but kind of turned towards his side and Nancy sleeping with her head tucked into the crook of his neck or on his chest, her arm slung across him holding him and his wrapped around her, I like them nestled close like that, at least in times of comfort. Can also see them both like sleeping on their side, heads turned to each other and like as close together as they can be without actually being on top of one another, and limbs all entangled. Can also see them spooning.

4. Driving headcanon

Jury’s still out on whether Nancy has her license or not. I hc that she does but that she prefers letting Jonathan drive, she feels completely safe with him at the wheel and he’s had more driving experience while she’s a bit unsure perhaps. Kind of feel like driver’s ed could’ve been a thing Nancy struggled with, which I kind of like? Like with her straight A’s in school and studious smart mind can kind of see her having a weak spot like that, and her problem not being to learn traffic rules or anything like that but rather speeding and being to antsy a driver. I hc like with cooking that this is a thing where it’s something they both can do but Jonathan is a bit better at it and also likes to do it more than Nancy does and so she’s happy to let him take the wheel.

5. Bathing/showering headcanon

Answered!

6. Hugging headcanon

Answered! (Mostly for Nancy but Jonathan is just the same, they’re huggy huggy huggy).

7. Kissing headcanon

Headcanon: They’re really really good at it okay? For real though that amazing passionate hungry kiss/makeout/pinnacle of human achievement aside it’s uh…. real nice. They kiss a lot. A lot a lot a lot. Jonathan just finds it really hard not to kiss those lips I mean look at them. And Nancy finds that Jonathan is a natural and is just shook by him kissing her like that I mean jesus christ. Kiss time they see each other in the morning and Nancy will just keep leaving him with little kisses throughout the day. Quick pecks and cheek kisses at school as they’re not super big on serious PDA. Oh and darkroom kisses! You better believe they make out in there all the time. And to Nancy’s pleasure it’s often Jonathan initiating it then.

8. Sex headcanon

Answered!

9. General physical contact headcanon

They’re ALWAYS touching okay. If not kissing or hugging just holding hands or arms around the other or cuddled together on a couch or Nancy plopping herself down in his lap. Look at how even before they got together they always stood like needlessly close together for no real reason at times lmao like all that was missing was the final step of physically touching. Also just feeling Nancy’s hand on him is huge for Jonathan. Her caressing his hand after wrapping his palm in s1. And even more so her comforting, strengthening hand on his shoulder as he’s apologizing to Will’s unconscious body in s2, it’s monumental okay. She can always strengthen him just by putting her hand on him.

10. Physical appearance headcanon

Ahem. He’s got large hands okay. Make of that what you will. That’s all I’ll say about that.

11. Wardrobe headcanon

Kind of moot to answer given we’ve seen both their fall/winter wardrobes and in bts pics of s3 filming their summer wardrobes so not much headcanoning left to do here but I’ll say I am in love with it all okay. I rock a strong sweater game myself if I may say so, so much respect to the Sweater King and Queen of Hawkins. Also Nancy looks amazing in her summerdresses. And I’m glad the bts pics of s3 seem to confirm one headcanon I have: Jonathan Byers does not wear shorts.

12. Jewelry headcanon

Another kind of moot to answer (guess these are more aimed for literary characters) we know of Nancy’s ballet necklace and Jonathan not wearing any. Like I wrote into my Christmas fic I can see Nancy getting Jonathan some cool slightly unusual necklace that’s very much him, like something music related. And thinking he looks super cool in it (like Charlie who wears necklaces very well).

13. Nickname headcanon

Always always always the Thumper headcanon started by the eponymous @iamthethumperanon here and used by me in uh, many fics but for instance here. Otherwise there’s always Nance. I don’t like Jon, he doesn’t feel like a Jon he feels like a Jonathan. And lmao I’m still very pleased with the phone nicknames I gave them in the modern AU sexting fic I did, Nancypants and Jon-Jon aka Thumper. I like him calling her Nancypants sometimes lol and she always lightly smacking him on the arm when he does.

14. Dancing headcanon

Jonathan’s not a dancer. But he’s also not one to say no to Nancy Wheeler. Still mourn we didn’t get more than the iconic look at the Snow Ball come on Nancy could dance with Dustin for one or a few songs but then we needed Jonathan sliding up with “Mind if I cut in?”. Hell I hc that they danced on their own afterwards instead. If Nancy puts on some music in private and beckons for his hand he’s never one to turn her down

15. Singing headcanon

Answered!

16. Anger headcanon

At each other? No. Apart from the fight in the woods and getting huffy over their pent up feelings in the motel room they’re sweetie pies to each other all the time. They have playful banter but it’s not meanspirited in the slightest. I think what would infuriate Nancy the most about Jonathan would be if he kept putting himself and his own needs last, always prioritizing taking care of others above himself. But she wouldn’t get angry at him for it because it’s not something to have anger about, but she’d try to make him see it’s okay to think about himself too. Sure they’d have a fight eventually like all couples but they don’t walk around are meanspirited and angry at each other all the time. And on the other side of the coin, quickest way to poke Nancy or Jonathan’s berserk button is of course to endanger the ones they love. Jonathan beats the shit out of Steve in the alley because of what Steve spews out about Will and Joyce, but with where his and Nancy’s relationship is now, insulting Nancy like that would provoke the same reaction.

17. Soft spot headcanon

Not sure what this one means but uh… Jonathan has a soft spot for everything Nancy does and vice versa? Idk.

18. Favorite possession headcanon

Answered for Nancy here! For Jonathan it’s the camera Nancy gives him in s1.

19. Favorite photograph headcanon

Oh boy. Probably as of yet untaken in canon. Think Jonathan’s favorite photo would definitely be one he takes of Nancy sometime, or one of Nancy together with Will and Joyce.

20. Relationship with/thoughts on _____ headcanon

Music. They overlap more than some might think. We’ve gotten a lot in canon on Jonathan’s music taste (The Clash, Bowie, Joy Division, Television, Talking Heads, The Smiths) gives a pretty clear picture. For Nancy we have the Blondie thing on her wall and Africa by Toto playing in her room in s1 (as I recall it was diegetic music at least? Right?). I hc that Nancy listens to pop, would love Madonna for instance, but also likes new wave and stuff like it and I think Jonathan with his tastes would like new wave too so they’d meet there and I hc Nancy liking Bowie too. She broadens her tastes a little through Jonathan (what did they listen to in the car on the way to Murray?) and she likewise influences him, getting him to open up a bit more to some more poppier stuff (at first tolerating it in his car then discreetly bopping along and finally admitting he likes some of it). And ofc she loves to tease him like she did in the hallway scene and Sassy Boy Byers teases her right back.

#you asked for it lol #jancy #jancy headcanons #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #stranger things headcanons #stranger things

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its-moopoint · 6 years

Text

Anon submission: C's Podcast

I have not seen the podcast and will not watch it. From what I have read I just have to shake my head.

Did C make it a point that running the marathon had nothing to do with S? Was she even asked? She is so defensive when it comes to her "co-star". What the hell is the problem saying that both her sister and S inspired her? S is just her "co-star", right? It's just so weird!

Regarding the nudity? I can't remember who said it, but they said when C/S are doing a sex scene they block everything and everyone out and are in their own little world. Really? Who says that? Again, just weird.

C has learned how to be more soft and sweet playing Claire? Maybe my partner would disagree? Really?Every time I hear her say partner, I think of her acceptance speech when she was so emotional thanking S for being her partner every day. I don't know about you, but if I called my SO partner all the damn time I would not be calling my "co-star" the same thing. We act like a married couple/partner everyday sooo?

C loves going on location so people can focus on the show and she is not coming home to deal with day to day life? Wow! so many thoughts on this one. First, if you want us to focus on the show STOP talking about your damn engagement and how you have nothing to do with S in your personal life. Hate to break it to you C. We have receipts. Many Many receipts. I'm assuming when you are not on location you go home to T? You said that you love going to location so you don't have to deal with day to day life? Don't know what to say about that. I always thought it was weird that in your day to day life instead of taking T to get your license you went with your "co-star". Remember, we have receipts!

Thank goodness, we have this fandom and we have ladies that will post recaps of interviews so we don't have to click on them. Thank you for that. I have no desire watching any of these interviews.

I have always said that season 1 of OL was the best and each season thereafter have their moments. I just think we were spoiled in how wonderful season 1 was. The sad part is I am not excited to watch the second episode. I'm just not.

At this point, I agree with you Moot that it doesn't matter if they are together anymore. Don't get me wrong I love them together but the way she is acting maybe she should be with T. Not sure how that will go when she would rather be on vacation. LOL

It's so tiring to continue with this narrative. C/S are too old for this shit. I know I am LOL

After all this, I still can't quit you ladies.......

______________________________________________

Good morning and thanks for your message!!! Agree on everything. There are just so many things wrong there in what she said.

Like you mentioned her denying S anything to do with her running when she posted herself on twitter about S running his and how inspiring he was. It's like she has split personalities. My issue with this is I can tolerate lies by omission or half truths only but I can't stand outright lies specially when they aren't needed.

Also thanks to C for finally explaining why sex scenes were so good different in Season 1: they were both fools and so naive they really didn't know what they were doing LOL

And Jesus Christ with the going on location to avoid real life. Like she is seriously implying she'd rather live in a fantasy world through her character than her real life with her real SO??

Finally yes, interesting choice of word that of "partner" coming from her and the context she uses it in.

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animebw · 6 years

Text

Binge-Watching: Ajin S2, Episodes 4-7

Oh.

Oh no.

The Point is Lost

I’ve had a lot of bizarre experiences over the course of writing for this blog. I’ve had good shows fall apart by the end. I’ve had shows that start on a rough foot, but truly manage to impress me by the climax. I’ve had shows that were confused about what they wanted to be all the way through. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by shows I thought I would hate, I’ve been let down by shows I hoped I would love. In a world as vibrant and lively as anime, the possibilities of just what you’re getting yourself into are as endless as they are broad.

But I can promise you this: I have never had, nor likely will have any time soon, an experience as frustratingly baffling in its inanity as Ajin Season 2.

Like, wow. Really wow. I was willing to give the first three episodes the benefit of the doubt while the show adjusted to its drastic new direction but my patience has officially run out. This season is bad. It’s really bad. It’s full of things that don’t make sense, confusing plot turns that come out of nowhere, a complete disregard for anything even approaching logic, and an utter failure to understand the show it’s trying to be. There’s a fundamental confusion at the heart of the whole affair that’s leeching out and poisoning everything around it: Ajin season 2 has no fucking clue what it’s trying to be. I described it as a shonen action series last time, in the way that it seemed to be turning its focus to more battle-focused arcs and plot markers while paralleling Kei’s emotional growth with his power growth. But apparently, no sooner had I made that declaration than the show completely lost interest in that train of thought and just had Kei completely master his Ajin off screen. Goodbye, opportunity for smart character development. But it’s okay, because the bad guys are building a James Bond superweapon in the background, and we’re a goddamn spy movie now! Complete with a break-in sequence leading to a car chase straight out of Quantum of Solace! But we’ve also got time for a weird scene out of a third-tier rom-com where Shinomura (yes, I’ finally calling them by their real names now) has to distract this cartoonishly vain office lady from noticing her files getting hacked, and it spirals into her drawling over her luxurious wardrobe while giving valley-girl level romantic advice to Shinomura, and Jesus fucking Christ what is this show even going for anymore?

Honestly, I’m finding it hard to put into words just how aggravating this season is getting. The first season was bad, sure, but it was only bad in a boring, predictable way. In this season, there is just so little thought going into every single aspect that my attention is constantly getting jerked between things that don’t make sense, things that piss me off, and things that leave me wondering what the point was supposed to be. How the fuck is Tosaka still able to keep his job when he’s literally letting 13 government officials die before trying to actually catch Sato? Why does everybody, Kei included, suddenly have mad hacking skills that make any sense of narrative tension effectively moot? Why is the color palette still so drab and sterile when we’ve abandoned all pretense of trying to take this shit seriously? Or have we stopped trying to take it seriously? I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t care. All I know is that this season is a goddamn mess, and I can’t wait for it to be over so I can move on to better things.

The Worst Villains

If there’s one aspect of these episodes that truly drives home what a garbage show Ajin has become, it’s the two American officials who serve as secondary antagonists for episodes 5 through 7. They are, without a doubt, some of the stupidest, most insultingly dumb villains I’ve ever seen. They’re officials from a foreign nation coming over to help with the Ajin problem, and what’s the first thing they do to have any effect on the plot? Drug and kidnap Tosaka- an official of the country they’re visiting- to torture him for the doctor’s whereabouts like an episode of goddamn 24. I mean, what the actual hell? Who does that? In what universe is it anywhere near plausible that a pair of government agents are on this level of James Bond villainy? Breaking international law, much? In what universe does it make sense that the guy is so bafflingly monstrous to his female subordinate? Aren’t they supposed to be partners? Why is he treating her like she’s a slave and it’s the 1800s? Like, this is awful writing. This is what a fifteen-year-old with no actual understanding of international politics think foreign espionage looks like. And I can state that with certainty because I actually wrote a god-awful cringy spy novel when I was fifteen, and this garbage is exactly the kind of overblown, unrealistic sub-Jason Bourne tripe I peppered it with. A team of professional writers should be able to do better than a teenage boy in a creative writing class.

What’s even more insulting is that the only reason these characters even exist is to provide a ham-fisted parallel with Shinomura and Tosaka, another pair of officers where the man treats the woman poorly despite her being an Ajin who owes him her life. There’s a moment in their confrontation where the American lady sneers at Shinomura that she’s basically being kept as a pet, and I almost started screaming at the screen at how fucking obvious the show was bludgeoning this metaphor home. Pot meet kettle and all that. But the metaphor doesn’t amount to anything because I have no idea what anyone was supposed to have learned from these two being an obvious mirror. Shinomura doesn’t re-evaluate her relationship with Tosaka, Tosaka’s only even nastier with her for prioritizing him over the minister, the guy is too over-the-top to do anything but make Tosaka’s subtler curtness to Shinomura feel particularly scummy just by association, and the woman breaking free on her own in the end was an outcome painfully obvious from the start, so it doesn’t fucking amount to anything. Are we supposed to take away that Tosaka being stiff with Shinomura is justified because of how he saved her life and gave her a new start? Is Tosaka supposed to see himself in the guy and start re-evaluating the way he treats Shinomura? Because none of that comes through at all. It’s all just a pointless, obvious waste of time that accomplishes nothing expect conveniently distract the team just when their plan was about to go into motion, letting Sato’s plans advance as boringly efficiently as possible.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Shinomura’s backstory, I have a question for you, show. Part of her backstory was that as a teenager, her dad was essentially forcing her into prostitution to pay off debts. It’s supposed to be really dark, right? Like her life was so miserable and we should feel bad for her? Well, here’s a thought: if you’re trying to make us feel revulsion at the sexual torment Shinomura’s had to suffer, perhaps you could deliver that animation WITHOUT THE CAMERA SHOVING ITSELF IN HER TITS IN A SLINKY NIGHTGOWN WHILE SHE POSES LIKE A MODEL? JUST FUCKING MAYBE?

I’m angry. I’m frustrated. But most of all, I’m insulted. Ajin had the potential to be so much better than this. Fuck you, show. There is no excuse for writing this agonizingly broken.

Odds and Ends

-Kaito remains far too good for this world. Trying to stand up for what’s right even in prison.

-That was an awkward cut away from Sato to the prison field. Did they just pull the music’s plug or something?

-A winged IBM. That’s cool.

-”By the way, what’s his name again?” Oof. That one was a little too close for comfort.

-Okay, Shinomura mind-bludgeoning Kei into going along with saving Tosaka was pretty cool. Well played, milady.

-TAKE YOUR HEELS OFF LADY YOU’RE ANNOUNCING YOUR PRESENCE A MILE AWAY

-Did the OP change? Honestly, I can’t tell the difference if not for the song.

-Did that IBM really pose with the goddamn street signs he pulled up? What an extra motherfucker.

Goddamn, this is going to be a slog. Six more episodes; I can survive that, I think. See you on the other side, brother.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #ajin: demi-human #ajin

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ranchonmysteak · 5 years

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My issues with DITF: My first thoughts

The anime community has been sort of amping this anime up and I’d heard it was like super deep and interesting but it dropped off in quality in the last few episodes. Due to raving nature of the reaction surrounding until the last 2-3 episodes, I was naturally intrigued by this anime. What exactly caused the positive reaction and how had the last few episodes caused such a violent response? (by the way, this rant will be very disjointed and I might clean it up later... If you haven’t watched this anime, you will get very confused.)

I watched the first few minutes and right off the bat, I’m already disappointed. It starts off with a monologue by Hiro, the main character, about a species of bird (this is a plot point later but literally no one cares for now) that requires a male and female to be able to fly. If you couldn’t already tell, this is an analogy for the way the mecha are piloted in the anime and gives off the impression that this anime will be analysing how relationships work.

Now, on to my disappointment: Why did this piss me off?

First off, it’s an incredibly unhealthy expectation of a relationship. It doesn’t really work that way. It’s fine not to have things completely work out in the beginning but one should never have the expectation that a romantic relationship will save your life and if you don’t, you will literally die. Hiro’s words, not mine. He’s not wrong, either. After all, to pilot a mecha in this series, you should have sex! (wow, it’s not like you could just have sex outside a relationship) Shipping off teenagers to have sex to save the world and we don’t even really know if they’re into each other is not problematic at all!

Secondly, it’s heteronormative. You might say,”oh, but it’s Japan. No shit” and I’d like to say that’s racist. Anime and manga are 100% completely able to discuss queer issues. In fact, the studio also created Little Witch Academia and you’d be hard pressed to find someone deny that Diana Cavendish is, at least, a little gay for Akko. Furthermore, this is anime where relationships are discussed and to sort of hamfist a heteronormative moral isn’t great.

I continued watching and found that it was completely boring. I am not kidding when I say I probably accidentally skipped half the episodes just because I was thinking of the better anime I could watch. Jesus Christ. One episode had the girls be really angry at the boys for ogling them which, if you watched anime in the early 2000s, have probably heard of this plot line. It’s about as boring as you could imagine and more!

Side note: how many times has a female character, who has not been established as a pervert, ogled men? It’s a very weird convention than women’s (weirdly enough, straight women get the brunt of this but I watch yuri more often so it might just be me) sexualities get brushed off.

For an anime that is obsessed with sex, it seems really bad at sex ed. It literally only shows one position (missionary) and never quite talks about kink, safe sex and consent, which is wager is incredibly important to educate teenagers on. Sadly, the creators are likely only interested in selling Zero Two figurines to a bunch of horny anime fans who will eat anything up so they don’t give a shit about that.

Which is another thing the anime community duped me on.

They kept mentioning Freud and really interesting sex comparisons (really, it’s about as basic as a 7th grade biology lesson) so I thought that this anime would have something interesting to say about sex. It did not. It may have been more sex positive than other anime but given the characters are technically married (the first episode had allusions to marriage), it probably isn’t extremely sex positive and more creepy. Power to them, I guess.

However, that’s not my point.

My point is that I’m sick of people throwing out references and pretending that means they are very enlightened and they are very interesting! References should have a purpose and be a narrative device in the story. One example that does this well is Flip Flappers. It references ojou type women which were a staple in Class S yuri manga, which the show obviously carries some influence because it is also yuri. The women are perfect and prim and the world is equally perfect and prim. However, the catch is that the world resets at midnight and the day repeats itself ad infinitum. This is a clear parallel to old yuri conventions where lesbian relationships must adhere to traditional Japanese conventions of femininity and stop by graduation. By having the characters fight against this is a statement that this anime will not trivialise the characters’ sexualities and refuses to compromise to homphobia. Here, the reference has a use.

In DITF, there is no use apart from short hand that the robots rely on sex.

That’s it

Speaking of lesbians, there was a lesbian character, Ikuno, who is completely in love with Zero Two, the main love interest for Hiro (because of course). Of course, the robot doesn’t work when the two of them are together because of their incompatible sexualities. Which would be a statement if it weren’t for the fact this character could clearly work with men in the mecha even though she is explicitly lesbian so the point is sort of moot and the sentiment was lost.

She did get a girlfriend, which is cool, I guess.

There was also a bi male character but because his bisexuality is so vague, it almost doesn’t count as representation.

Also, the ending has Zero Two and Hiro die for each other which would be tragic if it weren’t for the fact that the two are unable to function without the other. Again, the anime glorifies an unhealthy and toxic relationship and the fact DITF doesn’t even acknowledge that is worrying given that it’s explicitly about relationships and there are hardly any media which discuss just how hurtful being in this type of relationship is.

#rant #im tired #and incoherent #have fun

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brandonxdylan · 6 years

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Terminal Bliss (1990)

Around season 5 of my premiere binge of Beverly Hills 90210, I decided that I was officially obsessed with Luke Perry, and while riding one of my crush highs, I purchased a VHS copy of his first movie called Terminal Bliss, which has never had a DVD or streaming release. It wasn’t cheap, but now that I’ve watched it, I feel like it was worth it. You know those store brand colas that always try to look like Coke but are always conspicuously, almost subversively...off? Well, Terminal Bliss is to Bret Easton Ellis’ Less Than Zero, as Dr. Skipper is to Dr. Pepper. I don’t think I can put it any clearer than that.

But I’ll try. What follows is part review, part commentary. I know it really has nothing to do with 90210 besides the fact that it stars Luke Perry (who, for the record, is basically playing Dylan McKay here, albeit a version of him with less fucks to give), but I figured this is the best place to post it, because I know I have a few followers who share my love for our reigning Fred Andrews.

We open with some moody shots of a boat drifting on a lake at sunset, and some kids playing in the twilight as Alex, our narrator and protagonist (although tbh you won’t be rooting for anyone in this film) provides a voiceover about the time he witnessed an accidental suicide. It seems while he was a child playing in a tree, a man came up and tied a rope around a branch, planning to hang himself. But the branch breaks, and he falls to his death instead. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be real or just a metaphor, but either way it’s super pretentious and heavy-handed (as is the rest of the movie), and it will come into play later, so hold that thought.

We then transition to Alex and his friend John (played by the reason for this post) as they play lacrosse. Alex and the new girl in town, Stevie, make eyes at each other. John asks Alex, “who’s the bitch?” and follows it up with, “you fuckin’ her?” Just the first of many classy lines courtesy of John/Perry, and I’m not complaining.

After this, we move into meeting the other members of their crew, including the improbably-named Bucky, a freshman at Ohio State who deals drugs, as well as his girlfriend and “best customer” Kirsten. Also Craig, played by the late Alexis Arquette(!) who is a huge Grateful Dead fan and who seems to lift right out of this circle of friends, but is also the only one who gives a solid, believable performance and actually manages to be likable. While out for a drive, John gives Stevie acid, apparently for the first time, even though Stevie seems to have a thing for Alex, who makes eyes at her once again. Alex says in narration that because he wanted her, so did John. Also, now seems like a good time to apologize for the shit quality of these screencaps. I’m not working with primo sources here, folks.

They then go this club (which seems to have an apocalyptic jungle theme) where Stevie and Kirsten waves their arms around dreamily together.

Kirsten says she’s into Stevie’s necklace, and Stevie says without a hint of irony: “my daddy made it for me. He’s dead now.” Then they all do blow and John brings Stevie into some sort of bathroom? Storage room? Anyway, they have sex, right there in the club, surrounded by lava lamps. Alex watches (creepily), and it seems like Stevie sees Alex too, but neither one says anything.

A few months pass, and it’s established that John (sporting an adorable scholastic look: see below) and Stevie have become an item, which stresses out Alex, who tries to deal by journaling(!!) This bites him in the ass, though, as it seems he handed in his angsty, bitter, drug-fuelled musings as an English assignment (sensible), and his teacher (appropriately) interpreted them as a cry for help and showed them to his mother. When informed of this, he calls his teacher a “lying antagonistic bitch” in front of the whole class, and is promptly hauled into a parent-teacher conference where his mom says that Alex “has become arrogant and sarcastic.” I love it. Alex is told to apologize to his teacher, but requests an “alternate path.” This is the point at which I realized that Alex is a pretentious douchebag, and no, there is no redeeming character arc to come. Alex then says he’d prefer to be suspended, is suspended, and then threatened with rehab, which he likens to being “burned at the stake.” Like...what did you expect? Also, he says that Stevie had an abortion, and John makes creepy eyes at Stevie’s freshman sister Tanya. Both of these things will also come into play later. Sort of.

Back at Chez Alex, Alex’s Siouxie Sioux-looking mom goes for a tan in her home tanning booth, as yuppie mothers are wont to do, but not before taking a Valium, which seems like a real bad idea. She tells Alex that he has to stay and watch her to make sure she doesn’t fall asleep. He does, for a minute, but then he starts getting existential, and wishing that he was aborted like Stevie’s baby so he wouldn’t have to go to rehab. Jesus Christ, Alex, grow up. Anyway, it seems like in the midst of all this, he leaves because we hear the door close, a buzzer go off, and his mom scream his name so like...is she okay? We don’t know and it’s literally never mentioned again.

At John’s super bougie graduation party, Stevie gives Kirsten her dead-daddy necklace as a token of their friendship.

After John notices Kirsten wearing it, he hits on her, but she rebuffs his advances. John: “What, a guy can’t cop a feel in his own house?” Then Kirsten implies that it’s not that he hit on her, it’s that he’s doing so “in front of the whole world.” K. But it all turns out to be a moot point anyway because Bucky walks in, which ends the conversation.

Alex gets out of rehab just in time to make it to the party, and they all go for a joy ride in the new Porsche that John’s parents gave him as a graduation present. Here, yet another reason why John is basically just Dylan McKay. Also, Stevie pulls a Footloose and almost dies but it’s chill.

They go for dinner at Bucky’s dad’s country club, where Craig does a shitload of acid, and John is a dick to Stevie, who seems to be losing interest in him. When John invites her to go to the wine cellar with him and do some blow, she refuses and so he grabs Kirsten instead, calling her a “snow bunny,” which I think is the cutest way to say “coke fiend” that I’ve ever heard. And naturally, they do each other, in addition to the blow.

Meanwhile, at the table, tensions flare inexplicably between Bucky and Alex, who puffs on a cigarette and chews the scenery like it’s turkey jerky as he rips Bucky a new asshole for no real reason, calling him out for being a privileged asshole who is destined for a life of suburban mediocrity. Jesus Christ, man, what did Bucky ever do to deserve this unwarranted tirade? He’s not even a villainous character. He’s barely even a character at all, he’s been on screen for like three minutes total at this point.

But Bucky does not take this lying down, and snatches the wig right off Alex’s head, calling him out for basically being just as privileged as he is. It’s the pot calling the kettle platinum, if you will. Anyway, their bitch-fest is interrupted by Craig who has a coughing fit (because of the acid? I guess that could be a thing). Alex takes off, followed by Stevie, and the two inadvertently interrupt Kirsten and John having sex in the wine cellar (as you do). Alex straight up sees them going at it, And although Stevie doesn’t, she sees enough to suspect. She also sees the necklace she gave Kirsten sitting on the floor, and picks it up. Kirsten’s response to all of this is to ask Alex which rehab he went to, because she thinks she’s getting too addicted to coke. Like that’s her actual excuse for fucking John. Whatever helps you sleep at night, sis.

Later, John goes to Stevie’s where he again creepily leers at Tanya, who is sunbathing by the pool. He tells her that she arouses his Lolita complex. Ew.

Then Stevie waltzes into the backyard while eating ice cream right out of the tub. This will be a recurring motif with Stevie, as you will see, as her passion for ice cream comprises about 83% of her character. John says that he has a gift for Stevie and so the two go for a drive. First, he gives her a snake (wtf?)

Then, the real gift, which is a black, oversized t-shirt (which is oddly even more wtf than the snake). As she reluctantly puts it on, John gets all weird and handsy, talking about how his babysitter used to get changed in front of him and it turned him on, and then talking about how constriction is the worst way to die (is that what the snake was supposed to represent?) This is all presumably the last straw for Stevie, and understandably so, as she tries to break it off with John, who pins her down and is alternately angry and weepy as he confesses his love for her. Eventually she wriggles free and runs off. Run, bitch, run.

A few days later, Alex shows up at Stevie’s, interrupting a dream she was having about her giving birth. What follows is the most bizarre conversation in the whole movie. First, Stevie offers Alex ice cream (again, right out of the tub, natch), saying that it’s “creamy, and dreamy, simply to die.” What’s with the hard sell? Are you a brand ambassador for Häagen-Dazs or something?

In response, Alex chooses to ignore this entirely, and instead says: “You know, music is the ultimate form of expression.” THANKS ALEX, NO I DID NOT KNOW THAT BUT THANKS FOR BRINGING IT UP EVEN THOUGH LITERALLY NO ONE WAS TALKING ABOUT MUSIC. They then take a hard turn into talking about sex. To make things stranger, Stevie gives Alex her necklace, without explanation, and starts playing the piano (is that necklace cursed or something? Why does she keep trying to pawn it off?) Alex proceeds to say some egregiously pretentious things about her choice of music (Shostakovich, for the record), as well as her choice of rendition. Around this point, Stevie gets annoyed with Alex’s presence (which makes sense), but he placates her by finally accepting her offer for ice cream. “You know, I think ice cream’s better than sex,” she says. OF COURSE YOU THINK THAT. Alex says that he can’t really comment on that comparison “...since I’ve never had ice cream.” BARF.

Then John shows up in full Dylan-mode: drunk and bitter. He tries to get Stevie to invite him in for the night, which she refutes by saying her parents are home (which they aren’t), and so Alex drives John home. En route, John warns Alex that Stevie is “a manipulative bitch.” Alex then calls out John for being a douchey nympho, and then John calls out Alex for being a know it all. Calm down, fellas, you’re both right.

At the grocery store, Alex listens to Craig go off about the virtues of the Grateful Dead, while carrying around an eggplant. They then run into Stevie and Kirsten, the latter of whom is eating a piece of fruit. When Craig asks what it is, she says “I don’t know.” Reasonable. I mean who hasn’t just picked up a piece of fruit from an unlabelled bin at the grocery store and started munching.

Stevie tries to talk to Alex (IN THE ICE CREAM SECTION), who is predictably standoffish and rude. Be that as it may, Stevie invites him to her sister’s party, and he reluctantly accepts.

Also, as a stray observation, I just wanted to point out that Kirsten always seems drunk. I don’t know if that was an acting choice, if she was directed that way, or if it’s just the way that this actress is. But in any case, it’s both ineffective and endearing, and goes a long way in contributing to the borderline surreal vibe that this movie has. Like this clearly does not take place in our world.

At the party, Bucky talks to Kirsten about their upcoming European vacation, which she seems kind of “meh” about. Then John shows up, and Tanya says that although she wants him there, she feels weird because of his relationship with her sister. Then John says it’s cool because he never really liked Stevie anyway. Tanya seems to accept this happily, which is kind of a bitch movie imo but whatever. Then, presumably for the sole purpose of stirring up an already over-stirred pot, Alex shows up to return Stevie’s necklace to her in front of all of their friends, which seems to reveal to everyone that John and Kirsten had a thing, and that Alex and Stevie KNOW they did. This motherfucking necklace, I can’t with this.

Bucky and John exchange words, with John making some low blows about Kirsten’s drug habit and how it was easy to get her to sleep with him because all he had to do was “put her on the one gram cycle.” Ouch. Anyway, Bucky retaliates (deservedly) by pushing John into the pool (which I TOTALLY called by the way).

Tanya pulls John out of the water and takes him into a bathroom to dry off and tend to his broken lip. He compliments her perfume and asks if it’s Stevie’s, which I guess is supposed to solidify his obsession with her, and to explain(ish) what he does next. He says that Stevie told him that she has a crush on him, and she admits it. Then they start making out but Tanya gets second thoughts and tries to protest. John doesn’t stop, and proceeds to rape her, all the while muttering Stevie’s name. Yikes.

Meanwhile, Kirsten apologizes to Stevie for sleeping with John. Stevie responds by screaming: “YOU ARE DISGUSTING!” This causes Kirsten to break down, and she confesses that she’s really struggling with drugs (as she literally does a line of coke), and how her dad is sending her to Europe with Bucky to save the embarrassment of sending her to rehab. Stevie softens and the two hug it out.

Craig shows up at the party with an old VW wagon to say bye to his friends before he commences his tour with the Grateful Dead for a year. Why was he in this movie again? I mean, aside from being the only likable character and serving up this LEWK:

John finds Stevie and offers her ice cream (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) as a last ditch effort to get her to go to his lakehouse, which he’s been trying to get her to do for most of the movie. She tries to say no, saying that they need time apart, but when John insists that nothing will happen because Alex is coming, she has a change of heart and agrees to leave. That very minute, for whatever reason. I mean if it were me, I’d wait until the next day instead of leaving in the middle of this huge party I was throwing, but you do you. Before they go, Tanya shows up looking devastated, but won’t tell Stevie what happened. Kirsten agrees to look after her while Stevie’s gone.

At the lakehouse, Alex says in narration that he realized that inviting both of them was just a ruse so that he could get Stevie there. No shit. They take the speedboat out and John literally drags Alex all over the lake on water skis, ignoring his signals to stop until Alex faceplants into the water. Fantastic.

Later, Stevie catches Alex reading a book on existential philosophy and low-key calls out his overwhelming pretension. Alex then shows her lines he’s drawn on his arms where he would cut if he were *actually* suicidal. He calls it “necro-masturbation” and she’s understandably put off by this weird confession. Still, instead of heeding this as the final in a long line of crystal clear harbingers of the doom to come, she ignores it and stays.

That night, during a power outage, Stevie starts up a game of Twister by candlelight, which leads to some brief albeit appreciable homoerotic play between John and Alex, and later, a makeout session between John and Stevie. Surprise, surprise. But then, Stevie pulls away and says “that was goodbye.” Goddamn.

Alex muses about how changed John is, and how worried he is about him as he sulks off by himself. The next morning, John asks Alex for help tying up the speedboat. They row out to where the boat is, chatting about acid as they go. Meanwhile, Stevie wakes up and watches from the shore as John gets on the speedboat and tells Alex just how much he loves Stevie. Alex is not having any of it, however, as evidenced by this face:

John then admits that he poked a hole in his condom in order to get Stevie pregnant. Alex calls John a “bastard” in the most dramatic of all stage whispers, as John strips down to provide the patient viewers with the first and only shots of a topless Luke Perry.

Then John leaps into the water with a rope to tie the boat to its anchor. But his foot gets tangled in the process, and he can’t surface. Alex watches, as does Stevie, neither one doing anything. Although in his defense, Alex does effectively convey some conflicted thoughts on the matter. This goes on for a minute or two until eventually, John FUCKING DIES. Alex ties all of this back to the idea of accidental suicide as introduced in the opening scene: John seemed intent on killing himself with drugs, but killed himself in a different way instead...sort of...I guess. Alex posits that even if he did cut John loose, he would have killed himself with drugs eventually anyway. FAIR FAIR OKAY ALEX BUT MAYBE LET’S BACK UP TO THE PART WHERE YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM BUT DIDN’T? Like I know he was a disgusting rapist junkie but basically everyone in this movie is so like fuck off with that holier than though shit pretty please?

Alex and Stevie comfort each other in silence as the film ends.

Honestly, this movie was a fucking trip. It definitely wasn’t bad enough to earn the “so bad, it’s good” badge. It was bad in a more subtle way. I feel like if I had been doing as many drugs as these characters, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. But even still, it was far from a waste of time, and managed to be entertaining in spite of its lesser qualities, which include (but are not limited to) amateurish acting, a goddamn hot mess of a script, clunky dialogue, and of course all of the super hamfisted and on the nose plot points involving drugs, rape, and promiscuity that even Beverly Hills 90210 and Riverdale wouldn’t touch.

There were some things I was kind of into though. For one, it was actually really well shot. Like, genuinely, by any film’s standards. There were some cool creative visuals, and the whole film had a music video feel to it, which kept things stimulating. As well, like I mentioned at the beginning, the movie almost manages to have a surreal, Bret Easton Ellis thing going. If you’ve seen the film versions of Less Than Zero or The Rules of Attraction then you know what I mean. But unfortunately it’s just a much worse film than either of those. With a better script, better acting, and some general polish, it could have been on par with them.

TL;DR: If you’re a fan of Luke Perry (or if ANY of what I’ve included in this post appeals to you in ANY way), then I would low-key recommend Terminal Bliss. I could see this becoming a bad movie night staple if only it were easier to find (I do not necessarily recommend paying a small fortune for a VHS copy). Also, the song that plays over the end credits is kind of a bop and I recommend that even more than the movie itself.

If you’ve actually read through this whole thing, THANK YOU and GOD BLESS because I know this post is a fucking monster with limited appeal. But I felt it was my duty to write. Maybe I need to get a life, idk.

#also because i'm an actual moron i accidentally deleted this the first time i wrote it and had to redo almost the whole thing #so i mean if that makes you appreciate it more...#terminal bliss #luke perry #cannon films #cannon pictures #90s #movie #review #90s movie #vhs #vhs review #90s film #film #film review

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