#i think at this point we should all just forget that the movie was based on the book series. it would be better for everyone

[technicalknockout]

YOU ALSO LIKE THE HTTYD BOOKS??? HELL YES. i have. been losing it over hiccup the second for. hours. and how hes the whole reason the story of the httyd books YET DOESNT EVEN FUCKING APPEAR ONCE IN THE HTTYD MOVIES. theres no hiccup the second equivalent. what the fuck. i could fit them in so easily. make them background context for why the majority of the archepeliago is hostile with dragons. hiccup the seconds death happened and the whole dragon rebellion happened very far ago leading to this sort of hostility but it was so long ago nobody really remembers and hiccup the second is vaguely remembered but nothing important about him actually is. furious doesnt even need to still be alive for this to work. hiccup the second. hautning the narrative. i like him

Ok first off. AHHHHHHH YES YES YES HELLO FELLOW HICCUP THE SECOND STAN!!!!! i actually watched the movie first and then the book so i was like "wow cool" on the first watch but Oh my god i would be so lying if i said i never once wished for a hiccup the second in the movies. Like i KNOW the movies are basically like a whole different thing from the books after the first one but?? BUT???? Idk im very biased i love the guy. Ik you pointed this out but he really is the reason for literally everything in the books if you care enough to look into it and i really do think him being some sort of background lore in the movies would be so cool.. *digging thru the httyd ao3 tags*

incidentally if you ask me to choose between the movies and the books i would say the books in a heartbeat. i love the movies it's one of my favorites but a) the books made me cry harder b) theres no hiccup the second OR hiccup the first c) the book lore is absolutely golden and ive never seen anything else top it and d) the movies overwrote fishlegs into almost non-existance which. HELLO?? EXCUSE ME???????

[gurugirl]

Truth or Dare | slumber party!h

Summary: Y/n's coworker, Harry, has never been to a slumber party so she decides to remedy that and give him a sleepover he'll never forget.

A/N: Based off this request. Thanks anon! I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 6,752

Warning: smut

. . .

By her third glass of chardonnay, her stomach was feeling the acid from the wine but she was having such a good time talking to Harry from the operations department that she didn’t care. She’d have another before calling it a night. Just one more glass so she could sit with him a little longer and listen to him talk and watch as he ran his finger along the edge of his pint glass.

He was probably looking at her like he was because he was also three pints of lager in and he was kind so he was holding eye contact to be polite. Certainly, it wasn’t because he found her attractive (though she’d have welcomed that).

The company’s management meeting was long over and everyone else had gone home but Harry and Y/n stayed for another round. They rarely ever got to talk at the office. She’d always wanted to pick his brain about why he decided to move to the US and how, of all companies, he chose to work at Dunn Services.

Y/n laughed on cue as he mentioned something from his childhood with his sister having her friends over to stay the night. He grinned, a healthy row of teeth aimed at her before he looked down and laughed at himself, “In truth? I never did have a sleepover or anything like that.”

“Really? Surely you had friends…”

Harry nodded, “Oh yeah I had a lot of friends. But I never stayed over at anyone’s and they never came over to mine either. Just… I don’t know. Never happened.”

Placing her nearly empty glass down she turned and waved with a smile as the waitress walked by, “Can we get another round, please?”

“How are you getting home?” Harry asked when she faced him, crossing her leg over her knee toward him.

“Taxi. You?”

“Might walk. I’m not far from here.”

Nodding she placed her elbows on the table, “So, I think that you’ve missed out on an integral right of passage, having never had a slumber party. You should definitely remedy that at some point. I highly recommend a fun sleepover. In fact, if you need pointers on what to do during a sleepover, I’m your gal.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your go-to during a slumber party?” Harry teased before taking another sip of his beer.

“Well, I think there are like two main components. The first is entertainment and I’m always keen on a good movie, or a dumb one, either way… a movie for sure if I’m picking. Some people like to play board games or whatever, but I like to stuff myself into a pile of blankets and pillows and just lie, or drape,” she spoke using her arms to demonstrate herself draping into pillows. “Occasionally, if the mood is right, I’ll enjoy a little truth or dare.”

“Got it. A movie and maybe if the mood is right, truth or dare. And what’s the second component.”

Y/n crossed her fingers together and raised her brows as if she were about to say something very important, “Snacks. Beverages. Good ones. Usually just small bites but here’s my list…” She cleared her throat, “Buttered popcorn, and possibly potato chips. Definitely something chocolatey, and maybe something like a cookie or a snack cake. If not potato chips then tortilla chips and if it’s tortilla chips, salsa should also definitely be on the menu.”

Harry held back the laugh in his throat as he nodded, “Wow. Okay. What about like a burger or Chinese food? Would that be allowed?”

Y/n shrugged, “It’s your party. You can do what you want. I’m just telling you what I’d do and what would be a hit with your sleepover buddy.”

Harry breathed out a laugh. Y/n could tell he was getting bashful. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was. She watched him for a few seconds before the waitress returned with their drinks.

A quick gulp of wine and she nudged at his shin with her shoe, “You wanna have a slumber party with me?”

Harry blinked and tilted his head, “What? You mean… Seriously?”

She shrugged, “Why not? Then next time someone asks if you’ve ever had a proper slumber party you can say that you have.”

He laughed loudly, his husky voice was like music to her ears. Pointing at her with his finger he grinned, “Now how I can argue with that? I mean,” he shook his head, a glint in his eye, “Every time someone asks me if I’ve been to a slumber party and I tell them I haven’t, it’s such a disappointment! The look on their faces when they realize my whole childhood was a sham…”

They both laughed, leaning in toward one another, tittering toward the edges of their stools.

Harry tilted his head, “Actually I think it sounds fun. You just name the day and I’ll be there.”

Y/n smiled at him. She knew it was crazy. Having a grown man at her place for a slumber party. Typically adults didn’t have those kinds of sleepovers – it was usually with the intent of something far more salacious. But she’d show him a good time, she thought, raising her glass toward his, “Deal.”

.                 .                 .

Y/n had her sofa bed pulled out and piled high with extra blankets and pillows. She had all her favorite snacks plus she ordered cheeseburgers and fries for the guest of the night. It was silly. Truly she hadn’t had a real slumber party in ages, but she couldn’t help but feel a little bit of excitement that she’d be hanging out with Harry all night. It was possible that her small crush on him was making her feel all giddy but she’d push down that feeling until he gave her any extenuating signals.

Because the truth was that they were both single, young adults and this was such an unlikely scenario. No one would look at this and say Oh how cute of these two grown adults hanging out in bed together for a sleepover. So innocent! No, she knew better. While maybe nothing would actually happen it certainly wouldn’t look innocent.

And of course, she did pick out the perfect pijama set. Something a little more flattering on her body but not too hey I really need to get laid tonight. It was a happy compromise. Cotton shorts and a button-up, matching short-sleeved top. This was just supposed to be a slumber party after all.

Right?

Besides, the little paper invitation she gave him on Monday morning told him to arrive in his sleepwear so she had to look the part. And not to toot her own horn but she made a very cute invitation just for him tucked into a pink envelope with a separate little response card that had space at the bottom for him to mark yes or no if he could come. It was a yes. Obviously.

When Harry finally arrived he was wearing a pair of grey sweats and a white t-shirt. And for some fucking bizarre reason he looked so much hotter than he did when he wore his well-fitted suits at work.

Because goddamn did his shirt somehow just hug his torso in all the right spots and it allowed her to take a good look at all tattoos on his arms that were normally hidden under brushed wool jackets or long-sleeved button-up shirts. She knew he had tattoos. She’d seen him roll up his sleeves a couple of times but she never wanted to be rude and stare for long.

And then the sweatpants, while loose in the legs, fit his waist and hips and…

“You okay?” Harry was still standing in the doorway with his backpack draped over his arm waiting to be invited in.

“Yeah, sorry. Not used to seeing you dressed down like this. Almost unrecognizable.”

Harry let out a soft laugh, his eyes crinkling as Y/n stepped aside to let him in, “Would you like to see my ID? Swear I’m the Harry Styles, the guy you invited over for chips, popcorn, and truth or dare. I’ve even got your invite somewhere in my bag…”

She breathed a laugh through her nose and watched him enter into her space, “Movies too. Oh, and I also ordered cheeseburgers. Remembered that you mentioned that.”

He seemed quite pleased with the burgers as she handed him the bag. She got those small ones, five to an order, “Thanks. Fries too, huh?” He reached into the bag and pulled out three crinkle-cut french fries then stuffed them into his mouth.

“So should we settle in and pick out a movie?” She gestured toward her couch.

Harry had seen the pull-out couch with heaps of pillows and blankets when he walked in. He knew that that would be where they’d be spending most of the evening. It was the glaring thing about the whole slumber party slash sleepover. That they’d be probably sleeping next to one another. As two young, healthy, attractive adults.

“Sure,” he nodded and waited for her to pick which side she was going to take before climbing in next to her, the thin mattress and metal frame giving way gently under his weight before he leaned back against a mountain of pillows, bag of burgers safe in his hands.

Y/n had a few video streaming services at the ready and they settled on a cheesy comedy from the late 90s before Y/n reached over to her coffee table and then lined up all the snacks between them.

They chatted a little, having both seen the movie already. Topics were anything from what their plans were for the rest of the weekend to what they’d eaten for lunch at work. And it was only a little awkward when they both reached into the bowl of M&M’s at the same time, fingers brushing together.

Harry moved his hand away, “Sorry. You go…”

Y/n grinned at him, scooping a handful of candy into her palm, and then sat up, adjusting her seating as she crossed her legs together, “Wanna do truth or dare? Pretend like we’re 15 again having a sleepover. Really get into the whole slumber party vibe, ya know?”

Harry dug out a few M&M’s and let out a chesty laugh, “If I’m 15 again we’re in big trouble.”

Y/n snorted a laugh, “Why? What do you mean?”

He shook his head, a wide grin on his face with deep set dimples carved into each cheek as he turned his head to look at her, “If this were happening when I was 15 I’d already be in the bathroom hyperventilating and probably trying to will away a boner after our hands touched in the M&M’s bowl.”

Y/n guffawed and threw her head back, nearly choking on her bite of chocolatey candies as Harry laughed with her. Honestly, it was the best icebreaker she could have asked for. Things had been kind of clunky between them up until that moment as they were still trying to navigate how to act around one another. And she knew he was teasing but the good belly laugh that she got from Harry’s story was exactly what they needed.

“Okay fine. We’ll just keep going about it as adults then. No fifteen-year-olds here tonight,” Y/n chuckled as she shoveled a few kernels of popcorn into her mouth.

Y/n kept her eyes on him as she chewed her mouthful, “So truth or dare?”

Harry cocked his head at her, “So the mood is right then? For truth or dare?”

Y/n’s brows furrowed, “The mood?”

“Yeah. You said it over drinks. Remember when you were telling me what the most important components are to a sleepover and you said you liked truth or dare if the mood was right.”

Nodding slowly, she thought back to what she’d said, “Yeah. I guess I did say that. And I mean… I think the mood’s right for a little truth or dare. Movie’s almost over and you just pretty much kicked us off with that truth.” A breathy laugh was pushed from her mouth.

She could tell Harry was mulling on another question as he bit the inside of his cheek, head tilting in agreement, “So that means it’s your turn. Truth or dare?”

Biting her lip as she pondered, she pressed her back into the soft pillows behind her, “Truth.”

Harry shifted to his side, long legs stretching the length of the mattress as he propped his head up in his hand, a pillow under his arm, “Have you ever kissed a co-worker before?”

Scoffing Y/n moved to her side, mimicking Harry’s position on her side, “No,” she grinned. It was true. She’d never once done anything with any of her coworkers. Having Harry over at her house was the closest she’d ever gotten to doing anything like that. “Now you. Truth or dare?”

His green eyes slid over her features, “Truth.”

She laughed to herself, trying to think of something funny, “How many stuffed animals do you own?”

Licking his lips he nodded, “Think maybe two? Gifts from my niece… Truth or dare?”

“Mmm… dare,” she giggled.

Harry lifted a brow, “Ahhh… feeling bold yeah? Okay… hmm…” He pursed his lips to the side as he considered the dare. “Read to me the last text you sent to anyone. And you have to show me to prove it was the last one. And it can’t be any texts you and me, cause that’s not fair.”

Y/n blinked. She wasn’t exactly sure what her last text was besides Harry. But she was slightly worried because if it was what she was thinking… lifting up her message app she scrolled down to the text thread below Harry’s and it was a text with her sister. Which was what she had been worried about. She gulped, hoping that the things she said about her “coworker” who was coming to stay with her weren’t the last things she and her sister texted about.

Puffing out a breath she covered up all the previous texts to show Harry the last text from her sister – God knows you need it. Sending you good vibes, sis ;)

Harry squinted as he looked at the message and pointed, “That’s to you. The dare was to show me the last text you sent to someone. Let’s see it…”

Feeling her neck heat up she angled the phone away from him and read what she’d sent her sister. And there was no mention of Harry but if he were even halfway decent at picking up clues he might be able to figure out what was being discussed prior.

She shook her head and looked up at him. She couldn’t believe she was about to show him what was on her screen. But a dare was a dare. What was the worst that could happen?

lol I doubt anything will happen but I wouldn’t turn him down. Got condoms just in case 😜 send all your good vibes my way

Harry’s brows squished together as he looked at the text and back to Y/n and then down again at the words on her screen. She saw his throat bob and she knew the look on his face. He fucking knew what that was. He had to know.

She had to look away. She pulled the phone down and killed the screen. The awkwardness between them thick and uncomfortable as she peeked back at him. The edge of his mouth was pulled upward in a smirk, “That’s to your sister?”

Nodding she blew out an exasperated breath, “Your turn. Truth or dare?”

Harry grinned as he positioned his knee closer to Y/n, his eyes still on hers, “Dare.”

Swallowing her embarrassment down the best she could she decided to ask him the same, “Now show me the last text you sent anyone besides me.”

Harry’s smartass grin told her all she needed to know. That his last text probably wasn’t nearly as risqué as hers.

And it wasn’t. Not even close.

You can have two pounds for free. I’ve got so many growing I can’t keep up. As long as you come to pick them up on Monday they’re yours.

“I have a bunch of zucchini growing in my garden,” Harry pulled the phone away and laid it down next to his hip. “Got a neighbor who wants some.”

Of course, his last text to anyone was about zucchini. Jesus, she was so far out of her depth.

He was still wearing that shit-eating grin as he said, “Truth or dare, Y/n?”

And the way he said her name, all slow and sexy-like had her insides heating up. Well, maybe she made up the sexy part but he was definitely teasing her. She could just feel it.

“Truth.”

She was sure she’d regret that. Truth or dare. It didn’t matter. She was still reeling from showing him her texts.

“Was that text about me?” Shit-eating grin in place as he asked. Fucker.

Y/n’s eyes grew wide dropping her mouth open in surprise. Of course, he was going to ask that. Of course!

“Oh come on, Harry…” she pleaded.

He lifted his brows and awarded her a larger grin with those cute indents scoring into his cheeks, “Them’s the rules, baby. You chose truth and now you have to be honest.”

Clearing her throat she sat up to her bottom and leaned forward so she didn’t have to look at him as she put her head in her hands and laughed in disbelief, “Jesus. Seriously?”

“Yep. Spill. Let’s hear it.”

“Okay. Fine. Yes. It was about you.”

Keeping her eyes on her lap she waited for a smug remark. Some kind of teasing reply but it was quiet. Slowly she turned to look back at him and he was still lying on his side, head in his palm as he watched her, his eyes fixed to hers.

She shrugged, “Your turn. Truth or dare?”

Harry flattened his lips and squinted at her before cocking his head, “Hold on… Really? That was about me?”

Sighing she rolled her eyes, “Yes. Sorry. I was… it was just funny… it was me joking around with my sister is all.”

He blinked and looked down at the space between them as he nodded, “Okay. I see. So you didn’t actually mean it?”

“Well… I guess… We were joking. Obviously, nothing has to happen. I would never expect that. I…” she breathed out exasperated.

“Obviously nothing has to happen. Did you want it to happen?” His pupils were pinned to hers again.

Opening her mouth she stopped herself for a moment. She knew her answer was yes but she didn’t want to come off like a creep. She hadn’t expected it and assumed it wouldn’t. But the truth remained; she hoped it would happen.

Deflating her posture she laid back to her side to face Harry, tucking a pillow into her chest, “The truth is that I think you’re attractive and I haven’t been with anyone in kind of a long time and… she knows that, my sister. So we were just… it was lighthearted but yeah I mean… without any expectations, cause I would never… I hope you know that. But I did think it would be nice.”

“Nice. Yeah. I agree. It would be nice. And just so you know,” he swung his head to look over his shoulder before looking back at her, “I brought condoms as well. You know… just in case.”

She was a bit stunned at that. Was he…

“Dare me to kiss you,” he grinned, irises dropping to her lips for a second before looking back into her eyes.

She laughed, “That’s not how the game works. The rules are you can’t��”

“Fuck the rules. Dare me to kiss you.”

Shaking her head with a wide smile stretched across her face she felt like her skin was pricking as her heartbeat picked up. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

Looking back into his eyes she inhaled deeply, “Fine. I dare you to kiss me.”

Harry’s smirk was unreal. The way he dragged his gaze over her face and down to her mouth was almost lewd, “Didn’t need to play truth or dare to get me to kiss you, Y/n,” he scooted in, grabbing the pillow she had tucked into her chest and tossing it away before he drew a hand up to her face, “You just needed to ask.”

She held her breath as he closed in slowly until it was as if all the tension in the room had popped and fizzled when his lips met hers.

He was so soft and gentle. Lips winding easily, carefully at first. And then she parted her lips more, kissing him back and letting her mouth press into his bottom lip before their tongues were meshed.

She moved her knee out to stabilize herself and knocked over the bowl of popcorn between them. Laughing into his mouth she gasped as she parted from him but he only reached for her again, placing his palm at the back of her head to pull her mouth back against his with a grunt from his chest as he pushed the bowl away and drove his arm underneath her side to keep her from getting too far.

Harry was softly moaning as his tongue worked its way into her mouth gently. It was clear he’d wanted to kiss her. That he liked it. And that notion made her head spin combined with the feel of his thumb traveling over her jaw. There was not going to be any stopping the momentum that had begun.

Well, except for when the bowl of M&M’s poured out against her leg. She had to push at him. As much as she would have loved to have kept making out, she would not have been able to enjoy melted chocolate on her legs or the bedsheets tucked around the mattress (think of the scrubbing she’d need to do!).

“Sorry,” she panted and looked down at the smashed pieces of popcorn and the chocolate candies strewn between them, “I’ve gotta pick this up. Our body heat will melt all these and it’s gonna be a big mess.”

Harry grinned, “Why don’t we just move this party to your bed for a little bit? Clean up later? The M&M’s won’t melt if we’re not laying on them.”

She laughed, already feeling overwhelmed and overheated from the kiss and now he was suggesting taking it to her bed? This was really happening, wasn’t it? She nodded and they both moved off the sofa sleeper to their feet, Harry following behind Y/n as she led him to her bedroom.

She already had her bedside lamp on. Bed made perfectly, everything tucked in and neat.

She turned to look at him and he stepped against her, palm splaying at her low back, “I dare you to get onto your bed and take your clothes off.”

A small laugh burst from her chest, “Oh, so now we’re just doing dares?”

He nodded, “Making up our own rules for this game. S’more fun this way.”

Letting go of her he watched as she stepped backward toward her bed and began to unbutton her nightshirt until it was shed from her body before she pushed her shorts down her legs. She was left in a pretty white bralette (something soft for bedtime) that stretched around her breasts and a pair of thin cotton panties that matched. She kneed up onto her bed and let her feet dangle off the edge and pointed, “Now I dare you to take off your clothes.”

He peeled his white t-shirt off, his hair mussing in the process. She watched with her lips parted at the gorgeous man stripping before her. Not only was he built exactly like what she dreamed of (tattoos, beefy, muscular, a touch soft, very masculine) but the boner tenting his sweats was hard not to home in on.

Harry stuck his fingers into the waistband and looked up at her, “M’not wearing any underwear, so be warned…”

She swallowed as the material lowered, belly button, happy trail, a bit of dark hair and then he pulled the stretchy waistband away from his body so his cock could push free and she was already clenching at just the sight as he removed his sweatpants, cock full and heavy between his strong thighs.

Jesus Christ.

Harry stepped forward, nudging himself between her knees and she leaned back to look up at him, “I dare you to take off the rest of this. Since I’m completely naked feels only fair.”

She bit her lip and looked down at his girthy dick. He was clearly not shy of his body, standing there like that, cock right in front of her. But why should he be shy when he looked like that?

Scooting back further into the bed she got up to her knees and pulled the bralette off first, feeling the heat of his gaze on her tits as she then slid her panties down her thighs. She wasn’t nearly as confident as Harry was as she quickly pulled at her top blanket and covered herself with a small laugh.

Harry stepped forward, one knee on the mattress before climbing in next to her, nosing at her cheek softly before his lips were connected to hers again. And she melted into him just like before. His mouth was magic or something because before she realized it, he’d pulled the blankets off her body and he had a big palm sliding up her thigh and over her hip, “Don’t cover up. So pretty. Knew you would be.”

She pushed her fingers into his thick wavey hair and felt her side hit the mattress as Harry pulled at her again, mouth still smeared against hers. He grabbed at her thigh, hitching it over his hip as he tucked in closer and it was warm and she could feel it. Feel him against her hip.

His giant hand smoothed against her bottom and up her spine until he was wrapping his long fingers around the back of her neck. Y/n nudged in closer, driving her hips forward until she was practically straddling him. So Harry took that as his cue to move to his back, taking her hips in his hands so she’d follow with him.

It had caught her off guard, the sudden change in position but her lips never stopped moving with his. Their kisses were wet and she could smell their saliva, and a touch of onion even from the burgers he’d eaten.

He guided her hips down, his thick cock hot under her thigh until she felt her pussy drag against warm skin at the base of his dick. A small gasp escaped her mouth as he pulled her up, letting her pussy glide up his length, “So wet already, Y/n…”

She was. It was embarrassing. Every inch of his shaft her pussy dragged against, coated him, wetted his skin. He kept pushing and pulling at her hips, using her slippery pussy like a soft wet toy he could run up and down his length.

Then she felt his fingers move around to her backside, digits sliding against her pussy as he licked into her mouth.

Gently she rolled against him and when she moved herself further down he pushed a fingertip inside, “Go on. Fuck yourself on my finger a little bit,” he whispered against her mouth.

He was filthy. She had no idea. He’d always been so sweet at work. So polite and respectful. But here he was reaching around her ass to get a finger inside of her cunt as she rubbed her pussy over his cock.

She panted into his mouth as she slid down around his finger, her clit smushed into his dick, slippery as she rolled up and down. But then he began to assist as he added another finger and began to fuck into her pussy, letting his digits curve into her the best he could from his angle. Slushy wet, she stopped moving her hips and parted from the kiss as she looked down at him. She could tell she was gushing all over his palm and probably his dick as she moaned.

“S’that feel good. You’re gettin’ my fingers all wet like it feels good.”

Nodding she gasped, “Yeah. Feels so good…”

Harry rutted up against her, his cock still pressed into her clit, and she panted, eyes still searing into his. She didn’t want to look away. She almost couldn’t believe he was in her bed fingering her like that.

“Your turn to dare me to do something. What do you want, Y/n?”

She moaned and closed her eyes. She was certain of what she wanted as she listened to the way his fingers gushed with each plunge into her.

“Fuck… dare you to… put on a condom.”

She popped her eyes open to peer down at him as he slid his fingers out of her, wiping her arousal on her ass, “They right here?” He moved his hand toward her bedside table, a knuckle tapping at the wood.

Climbing off of him she opened the drawer, “Yeah, a whole box. Hold on…”

Reaching over to pull out the condoms she felt Harry’s hands on her hips as he moved to sit up, then his lips were on her back, dotting warm kisses to her shoulder blades as she finally plucked a condom from the fresh box.

She watched him put the condom on and as expected, it didn’t cover his entire length. He was kind of a big guy. Well, maybe there was no kind of about it. Before today she had no idea he was packing like that. Though he always did come off as very confident and sure of himself.

She bit her lip as she watched him toss the wrapper away and then he kneed up to her, arm sliding to her back and carefully lowering her to the bed before spreading her legs apart as he fit himself there, sturdy thighs pushing against her soft ones.

“Gonna tell your sister her good vibes worked?” He smirked down at her, hands scouring her hips and tummy and then kneading softly at her tits.

Y/n laughed and reached a hand down to his knee before he pulled at her, making her thighs drape over his as he inched in closer.

“Hmm?” He was awfully teasing, she thought, grinning at her waiting for an answer.

“Probably,” she spit out in a laugh.  

Harry gripped at her thighs, lifting her a bit more to fit her bum over his bent knees and she wanted to scream in embarrassment when she realized he was inspecting her sodden vulva. She’d gotten herself all tidied up for him, should anything like this happen, so at least she had that going for her.

He smoothed his thumb through her pussylips, spreading them apart, and softly blew out a breath, “That is very pretty. Think we get him in there?”

She rolled her eyes as she watched him wrap his palm around his base and lay his fat cock over her mons, the condomed-tip reaching to her belly button, maybe further past, “Well, it’s made for it, so I’m pretty sure–”

“What… your pussy’s made to fit around my cock?” A cocky dimpled smirk gave way to a laugh.

“You know what I meant. It’s meant to… like…” she breathed out a laugh.

“Oh, I know… just fucking with you, Y/n.”

He gazed at her as he reared back, painting his cockhead through her labia, up and down, a soft bump into her clit before he repeated, spreading her soft lips apart as he watched the way his crown smeared her arousal between her creases.

When she moaned and wiggled her hips he pointed himself right at her little muscle, nudging softly forward, opening it up for himself. And she felt that first push, the way his tip fit into her, spreading apart and then stretching to accommodate his circumference.

“Oh god…” she breathed as he slipped in halfway and then pulled back.

“Almost there,” he panted as he kept his eyes on where they were connected, pushing and pulling back until she was swallowing him whole, his cock enveloped in her soft, warm pussy.

When he’d buried in whole, he moaned and watched her face twist up in ecstasy. Her lips were dropped open and her neck stretched long as she grasped onto the forearm of the hand he had gripping her waist.

Slowly he began to thrust, viscous liquid seeping from her pussy and sticking to his shaft. It was filthy. She was so wet that every time he bottomed out there was a splat and a plap sounding between them.

She let out a deep moan and her lips curled up, humid breath escaping her mouth as she felt him driving into her guts. He was taking it easy. Languidly fucking into her with wet claps every time he plunged in.

When her cunt was taking him easier and she was dripping down to her ass he moved in a little harder, faster. Angling himself over her, a palm down on the mattress so he could work into her with more gusto.

“Ah! Harry…” she squeaked at the stronger thrusts and clung onto his lats. He was panting, lips parted and pink, a curl falling over his forehead as he plowed into her splooshing pussy.

“Fuck you’re wet. Pussy is gushing, Y/n…”

Her brows pushed together as she gasped, her body knocked upward every time his hips met hers making her tits bounce. Harry didn’t know where to keep his focus. He loved watching his cock disappear into her hole but he kind of liked being right over her so he could see her face crinkle up every time he bottomed out and then her pretty breasts sway up and down. Or maybe he’d like to fuck her from behind, watch her ass jiggle as he pounded into her.

“Mmm… fuck that’s big!”

Harry groaned, “Yeah? Sure know how to sweet talk a man don’t you, pretty? S’hurt?”

She watched his face, a lusty grin, droopy eyelids as he continued muscling his way in deep.

She hissed when he bucked in, as if he was showing off just how deep he could push in and she coughed out, “Mmm… a little!”

Harry was going to lose his mind with her if she kept squeaking out moans and splatting around his cock like she was but he would be a gentleman and pull back a touch. Slowing down a little he sat up and moved his hand between them, smushing his thumb into her clit, which was so sticky wet even that swished and slid under the pad of his digit.

“Yessss…” she breathed out before murmuring on about how good it felt. “Oh fuck, that’s it. Oh god… please don’t stop… Harry, fuck, yes…”

The clit. The magical little nob that worked wonders as long as the man knew where to find it. Clearly, Harry knew right where it was. Knew how to circle over it, pressing against it just right. Knew how to fuck into her as well. Sliding his length through her vaginal walls, spreading her open, and grazing against her gummy little spot on the inside that had her buzzing and liquifying for him.

He watched her whine and squirm under him, loving how she was so into it. God that was an ego boost, “Like that, Y/n? Gonna come for me? Yeah?”

Her ears were already ringing when she lost herself, gripping around him and crying out as her orgasm washed through her tummy. Harry’s cock made her feel so full, so incredibly stuffed to the brim that it weighed her down and she could hardly move as he bulldozed into her, the pad of his thick thumb smushing fast circles over her throbbing nub.

Fucking her through it he gasped at how she spasmed and milked around him, her pussy trying to siphon his come right through his condom. But Harry wouldn’t come just yet. He had something to prove. Wanted to make a show of his prowess and give her something to tell her sister about.

So when she was finally calmed and her pussy wasn’t clamping around him like a vice grip he slid his hand under her head and kissed her gently, speaking low and soft against her lips, “Gonna have you flip over, okay? Just need a little more yeah?”

When he parted from the kiss she blinked up at him, fluttering lashes and out of breath, “You didn’t come?”

He shook his head, pulling himself out, gently before he placed his hands on her hips, “Not yet. I will soon, though. M’right on the edge. Won’t take me long.”

She rolled to her side as he lifted her hips and helped her get to her tummy. She felt his hands on her ass, squeezing and rubbing each meaty globe in his big palms. Then he was straddling her thighs as he spread her gently and she felt him push his thick tip back into her pussy, sharp and hot. It was tighter, felt a lot fuller like that as he began driving in deep and then pulling out to his tip, before plowing back into the hilt.

His moans grew louder and, even he could admit, sounded quite whiny, pathetic. He was shaking as he watched his dick spread her in half, her soft ass jiggling as he smacked into her, skin patting, his cock leaking precum steadily into his condom.

He hissed when it felt too good. His balls squeezing and his fat dick throbbing inside of her. He thrusted forward, landing a palm down next to her shoulder, his chest pressed into her back as he rutted himself in, tucking his cock through her insides and puffed out a hot groan into her ear, “Fuck you feel good. Gonna make me come, baby…”

She moaned and nodded, “Come for me, Harry…”

He might have held out for another thirty seconds, possibly a minute longer but her breathy words, all sultry and pleading had him pumping into his condom in an instant. He gargled on a moan and squeezed his eyes closed as he buried in and stilled his hips, ass flexing so he could push in further if it were possible.

Y/n felt him crushing her back as he collapsed over her, panted breaths in her ear, cock still throbbing in the aftermath of his orgasm.

She didn’t mind it. Liked his weight on her like that. Enjoyed the way he seemed just as fucked out as she was. She could even feel his heart pounding in his chest against her back.

With a moan, she turned her head and nuzzled her face into her blanket with her eyes closed. She’d fall asleep that way if he couldn’t get up. It was quite warm and comforting. Like a weighted blanket draped over her body. And maybe she did doze off for a bit because when she opened her eyes she felt him moving off of her before he crashed down next to her, the springs in her mattress bouncing under him.

Pushing herself to lie on her side she ran a hand over his chest and he turned to look at her, a dopey smile on his flushed face, “So this is what happens at slumber parties, huh? I’ve really missed out all these years.”

She giggled and nodded into her pillow, “Yep. They’re just like big orgies really. Normally there are more than just two people. It’s how I lost my virginity.”

Harry sputtered a laugh, “Really?”

Y/n couldn’t help but to cackle loudly and roll to her back, the biggest grin on her face, “No, silly. I was teasing.”

He slid a hand over her tummy, “So this isn’t what happens at slumber parties, then?” She could hear the cheeky smile in his voice.

She turned her head to look at him, “Well, not usually. But I think we made our own rules for this one today.”

“Yeah? Well, I have to give it to you. You throw a hell of a party. I’m certain this is gonna go down as the best sleepover in history.”

. . .

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[faerygardenparty]

Sorry for talking about this again but I keep seeing people go “oh don’t you think artists deserve to be paid for their work??” in response to the watcher shit and it’s so…. disingenuous, by that logic we should all be fully in support of NFT artists and YouTubers who sell shitty online courses for exorbitant amounts of money, one of my biggest issues with this is that a subscription service is an inherently predatory business model that typically relies on the customer forgetting they signed up, making them jump through so many hoops to unsubscribe in the hopes that they’ll give up and keep giving them money, and making the refund process just as difficult as the unsubscribing process so the service can keep the money they scammed out of the customer

You also really can’t guilt people into paying for such a highly unreasonable price, Hulu is $7 a month, $2 with a student discount, and has over 1,200 shows and 1,300 movies, even rooster teeth at its peak had a lot more content to offer to their subscribers than watcher does, even dropout, which I’ve seen far too many people compare this to, has over 20 shows, many of which with multiple seasons, the longest of which being dimension 20 with 21 seasons and over 200 episodes, the other service I’ve seen people bring up is nebula, which has 175 content creators on it and is a dollar cheaper than watcher tv, watcher does not have nearly enough content to justify the $6 a month fee

I should also point out nebula has a membership option in which you pay a one time fee and get access to the service forever without ever having to pay again, which, yes, while it may be expensive, it’s also much better in my opinion than a predatory subscription-based model

This is also not an artistic decision, it is a business decision, artists can make shitty business decisions too, it doesn’t make them exempt from criticism just because they’re an artist

[lunamoonbby]

Hurt to comfort...it's just soap saying that reader can be annoying and a handful cause of her ADHD

Reader is female and a marine biologist

The use of wifey and lovie to refer to reader

This also based of me and my experiences with ADHD

What if simon is married to a reader with ADHD(the inattentive kind) and they also say the most random things too like quotes from movies and TV shows or thing they make up on the spot

So imagine Price, Soap, and Gaz are at Simon's and reader house to hangout and they're all talking about something like the game that's on TV and Simon asked wifey for her opinion and she give him her opinion and before she can finish her thought she's like "what should I make for dinner?" And Simon has to be like "lovie focus to what were you saying" and she's like oh right and finishes her thoughts and when it's all quiet she says, "I like apples and bananas...but I don't actually like bananas, the texture throws me off and smell is too pungent....but I do like banana bread...I should make banana bread...OH I haven't had corn bread in awhile" and price, soap, and gaz are like where she'd get the corn bread from and ghost is like, "I could get the ingredients to make corn bread and banana bread tomorrow" and wifey is like "yes please".

Wifey and ghost start to cuddle and wifey is like "I have to use the bathroom" and he let's go of her and she get distracted and starts doing something else like preparing a turkey and cheese sandwich for her and Simon cause she got hungry and if she's hungry simon is hungry and ghost notices that shes doing something else and he's like "don't you have to use the bathroom" and reader is like "oh yeah that's right" and she goes and soap is like, "I don't know how you do it LT but she would annoy the hell out me to the point I would yell at her" and everyone goes silent ghost is about to rip soap a new one until he sees wifey with tears coming out her eyes and she squeaks out an "oh" and runs up the stairs totally forgetting about the sandwiches and to not annoy anyone else cause she thinks if soap is annoyed at her then that means everyone else is annoyed and it's only a matter of time before ghost yells at her for her adhd tendencies.

She hears ghost yelling at soap saying he knew what he signed up for when he decided to get with his lovie and it's never a dull moment with her ADHD tendencies and it keeps him on his toes and that she can be random at times but he loves his wifey for who she is that she's the sun to his storm, and so he goes up stairs to check on her and he's like "lovie just know I would never yell at you and that I love you and your little ADHD tendencies and you aren't annoying anyone, so come let's go down stairs and say bye to the guys and we can watch a movie."

they go down stairs and before soap could apologize and wifey is like,"that's why you can't keep a girlfriend" gaz, price, and Simon are laughing and soap is like, " yeah I deserve that and I just want to say im sorry and I never should of said those things in the first place" and reader like "apology acknowledged...that doesn't mean I accept, just be nicer to people" and soap is like, "ok I'll be more nicer from now on and not just to you but to other people as well" and the guys leave bidding a fair well.

Simon and reader are cuddled up on the couch watching a shark movie and reader pointing out all the inaccuracies and Simon is having a blast watching his lovie get mad until lovie sees a sandwich in the movie and is like "the two sandwiches I was making!!!!" And Simon is like "don't worry I dealt with that before I checked up on you let me go get them" and he comes back with the 2 and lovie is like "one is for you, cause I figured if I was hungry then your hungry" and eventhough Simon isn't really hungry he still eats the sandwich cause his wifey was thinking about him when she was making her self a sandwich.

[daisyvisions]

[9:47PM] Jump Scare - (j.cm)

Warnings: Smut (18+, minors DNI), bf!Changmin, cockwarming, mentions of dry humping, making out, groping, unprotected p in v, just the tip 😏, pet name (baby), something nasty happening with other people around. Word Count: 0.9K

A/N: based on this idea that was sent a lifetime ago. Forgot that this idea came from you too omg @snowflakewhispers HAHA Proofread once, this one was fun to write! Tagging @deoboyznet @aimeecarreros @winterchimez

Thinking about bf!Changmin, who’s got both of you in a… well quite a compromising position while your friends are around. Now don’t worry, it’s not that any of your friends can actually see what you and Changmin are up to, it’s just a naughty little secret between a boyfriend and a girlfriend.

It was an accident really, you weren’t supposed to be in this position with him at all. Changmin had invited you over to his place and at some point you couldn’t keep your hands off each other. Making out and grinding into each other on the couch while a movie you put on was just playing in the background.

“Just a little bit baby…” He mumbles against the sensitive skin of your neck.

“Min, we have to- fuck, w-we should be watching.” You whine as you grip his hair.

“The movie can wait.” He licks a trail from your collarbone all the way to that spot beneath your earlobe. “C’mon please? Just the tip? I promise I’ll be quick.”

“Okay fine, just the tip alright?” You sighed in defeat.

And just like that, Changmin gets off you and sits back on the couch, patting his lap with that mischievous grin on his face. You get up to sit on him, your back pressed against his chest as you start slowly moving your hips, grinding your ass against his semi-hard bulge.

His hands play with your breasts for a bit as he leaves kisses on your neck before unzipping his pants and pulling out his cock. You lift your hips enough for him to pull your flimsy shorts and underwear to the side with one hand while the other holds his member, the tip rubbing in-between your wet folds and finally pushing the head inside your entrance.

“Fuck your pussy’s too greedy, practically sucking me in.” He groans as he slowly thrusts up, desperately wanting his whole length inside you right now.

“You said only the tip Min-” You breathe out.

“Just a little more promise, not all the way.” Changmin whispers in your ear as you lay back into him. He guides your hips lower, inserting more of himself inside. God you both can feel the delicious stretch of your walls hugging his member. Changmin continues to thrust slowly into you as much as he can go, holding back all his willpower to just shove it all in until-

Knock knock knock.

“Open up Changmin!” A voice from the front door shouts.

The sound startles both of you and you accidentally sink into his lap so quick almost forgetting that half of Changmin’s dick was literally inside you until you felt him go all the way in, the tip hitting that spot you love. You nearly moan out so loud but Changmin covers your mouth quickly.

“Stay still…” Changmin says to your through gritted teeth, trying to conceal the groan that was stuck in his throat when you fully sat on him. He scrambles to grab the throw blanket on the couch and covers you both while your friends start entering the apartment.

“What? Did you guys start the movie already without us?” Younghoon chuckles.

“Huh?” You both ask him simultaneously.

“It’s movie night lovebirds! Did you forget? C’mon!” Haknyeon chimes in as he plops on the couch next to the two of you. You subtly turn to Changmin with a panicked look on your face.

“Just keep quiet okay?” He whispers in your ear.

Looks like this is gonna be one hell of a night.

The whole time during the movie you try your best not to squirm, but as the minutes go by that task alone becomes more difficult especially when you or Changmin adjust yourselves every now and then, the tip of his cock nudging that sweet spot in you every time.

Changmin tries to subtly pinch or hold your hips whenever he feels your walls fluttering around him or when his member twitches inside you, a sign that he is also trying his best to keep calm and not make anything obvious.

Though, while you were panicking internally, seeing you in such a state and trying your best not to elicit any erotic sound was rather amusing for Changmin. He’s never seen you like this before and it was causing a little fire burning inside him, telling him that this will definitely not be the last time he would want to do this to you.

‘Whose idea was it to watch a horror movie?’ You thought to yourself. You could never stay still with these things, which was why it was becoming harder for you to not move.

And while some of your friends were talking, some focusing on the movie, a jump scare appears on the screen. The scene and everyone’s reaction caused your body to jolt up, making you slightly bounce on Changmin’s length. You yelp, but the sound of it was almost borderline erotic that you had to quickly fake cough to hide it and play it off cooly.

You’re stuck in your own thoughts, overthinking if anyone had noticed your near slip but Changmin, amused as ever, pinches your thighs, bringing you back to reality.

“Better stay quiet baby, or else they’ll know what’s going on under this blanket.” He whispers in your ear.

But what you both didn’t know was Sangyeon was growing suspicious of the two of you since he entered the apartment.

And now with that weird sound you just made along with the fact that you haven’t left Changmin’s lap since they got there, he can’t stop thinking if whether or not what he thinks is happening under those sheets is actually happening.

[dalekofchaos]

Friendly reminder. Bruce Wayne hung up the suit and retired after THREATENING someone with a gun and this was his reaction.

And then his immediate reaction is to shut down and close the Batcave and his only words were. "Never again"

A truly tragic, but fitting way for Bruce’s career to end. Powerful stuff. Batman's career ended the same way it began: with a desperate man wielding a gun

Batman choosing not to be weak like Joe Chill >>>> Batman going on a killing spree because fighting crime is hard.

And by the way, since Zack Snyder says his inspiration was Dark Knight Returns, I got news for you, TDKR Batman doesn't kill either.

Zack Snyder is a complete blithering fucking idiot.

his statement on Batman just lines up with what I’ve seen from all of his work. He likes the idea of the comics he makes movies out of but he doesn’t actually understand their themes. A Batman that kills is pointless. An edgy Superman is not only the most boring way to write him, but doesn’t make any sense without the wholesome one. That’s why injustice Superman/brightburn/Plutonian/omniman/homelander kind of make sense in their own ways because the original exists to compare them to.(mostly also boring though) His take on watchmen was pretty much devoid of any of the actual commentary from the graphic novel, but instead was just a dark justice league that were pretty bad at their jobs. Rorschach was just framed as a kind of unhinged Batman, but still a badass that does good, which is wildly generous compared to the way he’s originally written. I can understand turning your brain off and coasting through an action movie, but his fans are delusional if they think he does any of these stories justice. I wouldn’t take any of his comments seriously if they would stop letting him make these mediocre movies.

Zack Snyder is all flash and no substance. His films are visually stunning but utterly lacking in compelling storytelling.

The point of Batman is he cannot 'stoop to their level'. He HAS to be better, he HAS to believe these criminals can be rehabilitated, because if he kills them, he becomes just like them. With his wit, his intellect, he could future proof the city against crime ever happening by just killing the criminals before they commit crimes based on probable statistics and similar themes. But a Batman who refuses to kill is a murderer by inaction. Every time he chooses not to put Joker in the ground, he's allowed him to slaughter dozens, hundreds more, just for a laugh. Batman is equally guilty for every one of those deaths, because he could simply kill the Joker, and stop him from ever killing again. But he doesn't. Snyder saying Batman can kill, Batman SHOULD kill, is to say that without batman doing so, or being able to, he is just as bad as the villians. Except dipshit doesn't even have his Batman kill The Joker. "Oopsie daisy, Joker got out and bombed a hospital full of people, sowwwwyyyy, I put him back in jail again dunt worry TeeHeee :3". And then next week we do it all over again. OR. You kill the Joker, and he never hurts another person again. Which is why Jason Todd works so well as a counter to batman, and SHOULD be what Snyder is looking into. The reason why Zod works so well as a villain is because Humans are flawed apes who cant be trusted to govern themselves and should be conquered, and Superman, a literal God, could fix all that, but doesn't, because of Hope. Its foolish, childish even, to consider that a solution. And when placed in the vacuum of a comic book it works because you have to suspend disbelief, and forget that Superman let a city full of people die while he punched Zod through skyscrapers.

If you want Batman to kill people, just go and read one of his 1784956th copies that kill people. Go read Midnighter. Go read Punisher. Go read Moon Knight. Go read Peacemaker. Go read Nighthawk. What is stopping you?

I'm sure all those characters have brought about the peace and prosperity and the crime-free society that a "killer Batman" was supposed to. "Punisher would clean Gotham in under a week", right, just like he cleaned Marvel's New York, didn't he?

It has to be Batman specifically the one doing the killing? The number of superheroes that kill is nowadays much higher than the number of heroes who don't. Remember how Hawkeye spent the better part of his existence being the most anti-killing Avenger? Nowadays he is known as a super-assassin that "never had a non-kill rule". Should heroes who don't kill go extinct?

I like that Batman doesn't kill people. I feel no need to turn him into something he isn't like it was done to Hawkeye. If I wanted a Batman that kills, I would go and read one of the thousand "Batman who kills" out there.

Batman should not kill and should never kill.

"Gotham would be better off if Batman just killed The Joker"

You. Miss. The. Entire. Point.

Bruce Wayne lost his parents to crime and Bruce Wayne is a child who died alongside his parents and was reborn as a creature dedicated to insuring it never happened to any other child. He made a vow never to reduce himself to the criminal scum’s level or to Joe Chill’s level. He never kills for a reason.

Batman not killing is what makes him so compelling, if he kills criminals, there is no moral conflict, he is no better than the Punisher, Wolverine or any other dark edgy hero. Hell, if he starts to take a life, Batman is no better than Ra’s Al Ghul.

In the Daredevil Netflix show, Frank Castle told Daredevil this “That’s not how this works. You cross over to my side of the line, you don’t get to come back from that. Not ever.” That alone is why Batman should not kill, not even The Joker. Bruce Wayne is not Frank Castle, stop trying to make him Frank Castle. I mean…Stan Lee was absolutely disgusted when someone called The Punisher a hero, Frank Castle is a murderer, not a hero. How is this so hard for people to understand?

I don’t want to hear that Batman killed in the old comics and I don’t want to hear Elseworld stories. It’s an established fact that Batman does not kill and it’s a big part of his character.

Guess what? We already got a Bruce who killed The Joker, it happened in the Burtonverse/Schumacherverse and he was disgusted with himself. “So, you're willing to take a life.” “Long as it's Two-Face.” “Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but your pain doesn't die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And you won't know why.”

A huge part of Bruce’s character is that he doesn’t kill, no matter what. Same with Clark. But edgelord writers from the New 52, DCEU and the Injustice abominations think it’s cool to make heroes kill. Heroes should not kill. You can’t be a hero and a killer. IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY!

Guess what would happen if Batman kills The Joker? The Joker wins. The Joker and Batman are each trying to prove a point to society - and really to us, the readers. The Joker wants Batman to kill him because he perfectly embodies chaos and anarchy and wants to prove a point to everyone that people are basically more chaotic than orderly. This is why he is so scary: we are worried he may be right. If the Joker is right, then civilization is a ruse and we are all truly monsters inside. If the Joker can prove that Batman - the most orderly and logical and self-controlled of all of us - is a monster inside, then we are all monsters inside, and that is terrifying. The Joker is terrifying because we fear that we are like him deep down - that he is us. Batman is what we (any average person) could be at our absolute best, and the Joker is what we could be at our absolute worst. The Joker’s claim is that we are all terrible deep down, and it is only the law and our misplaced sense of justice that keeps us in line. Since Batman isn’t confined by the law, he is a perfect test case to try to get him to "break.” The Joker wants Batman to kill a person, any person, but knows that the only person Batman might ever even remotely consider killing would have to be a terrible monster, so is willing to do this himself and sacrifice himself to prove this macabre point. Batman needs to prove that it is not just laws that keep us in line, but basic human decency and our natural instinct NOT to kill. If Batman can prove this, then others will be inspired by his example (the citizens of Gotham, but again, also the readers), just as we are all inspired every day to keep civilization running smoothly and not descend into violence, anarchy, and chaos. This ability to be decent in the face of the horrors and temptations present all around us is humanity’s superpower, the superpower of each of us. The struggle of Batman and the Joker is the internal struggle of each of us. But we are inspired by Batman’s example, not the Joker’s, because Batman always wins the argument, because he has not killed the Joker.

Batman not killing matters. Batman stories to me are the ultimate tale of turning pain and suffering into something positive. That is a story that everyone can relate to because let's be honest here. The world can suck. I've experienced and probably will always experience feelings of fear of depression of anger of angst. It's in my nature as a human being to experience those things. It's in all our nature it is what we choose to do with that pain that we all feel that defines us. Batman chose to turn all those negative emotions, he feels into a symbol that can bring people. Hope that Batman will save us from pain but more importantly hope that we can all be Batman. Why do we fall? And Batman Begins explains this best “Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

Yes, Bruce Wayne is a flawed crazy person. He is at times mean stubborn and even abusive but he is still good. He is still someone we can aspire to be. We can try our hardest to be Superman but no human being can fly, but we can still try to be Batman We can all try to turn our pain into something good when I see Batman killing people or fans saying he killed before and he should kill The Joker, It pains me. It actually hurts my soul. Batman is not about finding a way to kill evil. But try to redeem it. His mission is an impossible task. Maybe he should kill people. Maybe he should kill The Joker, but what makes him fascinating what makes him a hero Is the fact that he has that moral code and stopped himself from crossing that line That's why I always looked up to Batman even as a kid despite all the adult subtext or mature themes superheroes are for kids. And killing is not Batman and it is not Bruce Wayne. This is why I hated the portrayal in the DCEU and the Burtonverse and why I really hated the implication that Batman killed The Joker in Batwoman. A Batman who kills is certainly not Bruce Wayne, that is an interpretation of Bruce Wayne that completely misses the point of Batman. It's easy to kill. Batman does not make the easy choice… Batman does not kill.

[smalltownrobin]

I'm actually so tired of these surface level readings and interpretations of Vickie.

I'm not about to argue Vickie has been developed well so far, okay? We barely saw her, and we still haven't been told much explicitly about her, and I hate that, I wish they payed more attention to her since she's their only canonically bi character (so far) and she's going to be partnered with one of the main cast, not to mention she's half of their only sapphic relationship. It SUCKS.

HOWEVER.

Calling her just a carbon copy and saying Robin "deserves" a better romantic plot is ridiculous??

How can she deserve a better romantic storyline when we haven't even seen all of it yet? We are at the beginning of their plot, we know there's more to come and we can be pretty certain they're going to progress into a proper relationship, or at least admit feelings for each other. I wish we saw more of them in s4, but we can mostly gather where they're going with the next season based on circumstance and how the characters have interacted with each other so far. That kind of Joyce/Bob dynamic of one of them not knowing anything about the upside down I think is such a sweet concept for Robin? It could bring out new sides of her if she's the one guiding Vickie through all of it, or even trying to keep her away from it. Obviously if you don't like that you don't have to, but saying she should have something "better" really sounds like you've not even thought about it.

Then saying she deserves better because Vickie is just a carbon copy of her is actually so silly to me, she deserves better than someone who understands the way her brain works and can relate to her? Robin's friends love her and care about her, but ultimately they don't know how to handle her sometimes. Vickie sharing one trait with her that will make both of them feel seen and understood is not lazy or boring, it's normal and even beneficial for partners to share traits like that.

The "carbon copy" thing really needs to stop because you sound five years old I'm sorry. They both ramble and they're both in band. Yet they dress totally differently, have different taste in movies (or are we all forgetting Robin likes classic black and white movies while Vickie watches raunchy movies about teenage sex), even speak and act differently despite sharing the rambling thing.

Most of Vickie's character is in the subtext (which I hope will be expanded on s5), but from what we've seen of her she does have some traits that don't seem to be in Robin's character (some things Robin does or the way she acts being a direct result of upside down monster hunting capers, whereas Vickie just does it on her own). To me they're pretty distinct from each other while sharing some essential traits they can connect on.

If that's just not what you like, that's okay! Ship what you want to ship, like who you want to like, but just put a bit more thought into it if you're going to tell people why you hate rovickie for the millionth time. It's okay to have a preference, but don't speak as if you're making a profound point about sapphic representation when you yourself aren't looking that much into it.

[koiiiji]

author's note ; based on 🪷 anonie reposts in tiktok

author's note ; what we celebrate here today is 533 followers!!! thank you guys so much! love you all… and sometimes stalk u… anyway sooo, um. special thanks to all my mutuals and other authors in wb and lookism fandoms! always motivate to write more💌🌷💞🧺🎀🫧🩰🫶🏻😵‍💫

tw ; f!reader, fluff

it was one of those days where everything felt a bit off.

you were curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, nursing a heating pad on your lower abdomen. the cramps were relentless, but your boyfriend had insisted on keeping you company.

he sat next to you, pretending to be engrossed in the movie playing on the tv, but you could tell by the way he kept glancing at you that he was far more interested in how you were feeling.

“how are you holding up, babe?” he asked, reaching over to brush a strand of hair from your face.

“surviving,” you sighed, leaning into his touch. “just the usual.”

he flashed a grin, the kind that was equal parts cocky and endearing. “you know, if there’s anything i can do to make you feel better…”

you gave him a side-eye. “you’ve already brought me snacks, set up a marathon of my favorite shows, and massaged my back. you’re doing more than enough.”

but he wasn’t satisfied. he scooted closer to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. before you could protest, he pulled you into his lap, your back pressed against his chest. “what are you —”

you didn’t get to finish your sentence. he buried his face in your hair, planting soft kisses along the curve of your neck. you couldn’t help but melt a little at the warmth of his embrace. he was so good at this — making you feel loved and cherished, even when you felt like absolute crap.

“who’s my little ketchup bottle, hmm?” he murmured against your skin, his voice dripping with playful mischief. you froze for a second before bursting into laughter. “what did you just call me?”

he grinned wider, tightening his arms around you. “you heard me. my little ketchup bottle.” his fingers began to tickle your sides, and you squirmed, trying to break free from his grip, but he was too strong.

“babe, stooop! i’m gonna —”

but he didn’t stop. he just kept tickling you, his laughter mingling with yours, his lips brushing over your ear as he repeated the silly nickname. “who is it? who’s my little ketchup bottle?”

you were laughing so hard tears were starting to form in your eyes. you tried to wriggle out of his hold, but he only squeezed you tighter. it was almost too much — the tickling, the ridiculous nickname, the warmth of his body wrapped around yours. and then, suddenly, you felt it.

the sensation was unmistakable. you froze, mid-laugh, your entire body going stiff.

“let me go,” you said, your voice suddenly serious.

he, still grinning, didn’t catch on at first. “what’s wrong, babe? can’t handle being my ketchup bottle?”

“i’m serious. let me go. now.”

his grip loosened immediately, the playful light in his eyes fading as he registered your tone. “why? what’s wrong?”

you hesitated, feeling the panic rise in your chest. but there was no point in sugarcoating it. “i think i just gave birth.”

his eyes went wide, all the color draining from his face. “what?!”

you rolled your eyes at his dramatics, though you couldn’t help the nervous laugh that escaped you. “not like that. i mean… one of my organs is dying right now, if you forget babe, and a big clot of it just… came out.”

it took a second for your words to sink in, but when they did, his face turned a pale shade of green. “oh… oh!”

you scrambled out of his lap, making a beeline for the bathroom. he jumped up, hovering nervously by the door. “do you need help? should i call someone? do i need to —?”

“no!” you called out, already halfway down the hallway. “i just need to… handle this.”

as you reached the bathroom, you heard him muttering something under his breath, “never calling her a ketchup bottle again.”

you couldn’t help but smile, despite the discomfort. he might be a little over the top sometimes, but he was yours.

and that made everything just a little bit better.

JAKE KIM | ZACK LEE | GOO KIM | na jaegyeon | samuel seo | RYOHEI KURODA | hwangyeon choi | CHRIS D’CHAR | MAHON JO | DOM KANG | OWEN KNIGHT | kuroo tetsuro | BOKUTO KOUTARO | ATSUMU MIYA | oikawa tooru | tendou satoru

bonus ;

[blazehedgehog]

After watching SAGE's 2024 trailer, you ever get the feeling that most people want to be making indie games instead of fan games nowadays,? Every year there's been less and less fan works there.

This is the first year I've really felt it in any meaningful way.

There have been attempts for more than a decade to rename SAGE to drop the "Sonic" part. I've always pushed back against that and at this point the branding is too strong to give up, I think. People know about and come to SAGE because the brand is strong. Renaming it would be a death sentence.

Taking off my business hat, it's a bummer to see fangames in the minority here. Everybody wants to hop on that indie game gravy train and chase the success of Pizza Tower (seriously, count how many Pizza Tower clones are in the trailer this year) or Freedom Planet or Spark the Electric Jester or whatever.

And it's easy to congratulate people for striking out on their own and making original games. I was one of the many voices urging Sabrina to divorce Freedom Planet from the Sonic franchise and make it into an original game she could sell. So she ran a crowdfunding campaign (multiple, actually), was successful, and now we have two Freedom Planet games. And that's great!

But... does that mean all fangames should go away forever?

The example I lean on the hardest is comic books.

A lot of the guys who created the biggest super heroes aren't around anymore. They gave up control long ago or are straight up dead now. These books are effectively officialized fanfiction now, as are the $300,000,000 movies based on them. An ever-increasing number of people writing, drawing and directing these characters today were not alive when they were originally created.

But people still keep writing Batman stories, officially or otherwise. Because there are some stories you can only tell with Batman. Now, you could break off and make your own character that's similar to Batman, build up this history for him, and then finally tell your original story with that character. And maybe that's satisfying, to have built something of your own like that.

But for one: that's a lot of work. Batman is interesting because he has decades (almost a century now) of history behind him to play off of and work with. There are people out there who will tell you to just start writing your dream story and forget about building up to it first, but that's more about motivation and confidence than the idea that stories don't need historical context.

And two: that's already been done.

There's a good chance you know who Rob Liefeld is from his, uh, "distinctive" art style. He also created Deadpool, a katana-wielding mercenary assassin that dresses in red and black, whose real name is Wade Wilson. But before Deadpool, he created Deathstroke, a katana-wielding mercenary assassin that dresses in orange and black, whose real name is Slade Wilson.

Here is a guy who has built a career on copying his own work (and the work of others) over and over and over again.

Did it make Rob Liefeld rich and famous? Technically yes, but he kind of got rich because other people made better work using his characters, and he's famous for being kind of a hack.

So which is better?

Creative output you can do right here, right now, today, but is considered "fanfiction" or "fanart" or a "fangame", which may or may not lead to you being the person handling the official thing at some point down the road...

Or spending years of your life toiling to bring an original concept to life, and even if you struggle through all of the boredom and hardship of getting your original product out the door, it gets lost in the noise of now-million other creators trying to do the exact same thing. And then, at the end of your launch, after 2, 3, even 5 years of working and working and working, you've only made enough money to cover rent on your apartment for a month and a half.

Or, to put it another way:

Are you ditching fangame development because you have a legitimately great story you want to tell, or are you just doing it because you can't make money on a fangame?

Are you just creating another Bloodstrike?

As someone who has struggled to justify putting lots of hard work into a fangame myself, and have both made very popular fangames and some not-so-great original games, I don't know if I have a definitive answer for you. But I do wish there were more fangames at the fangaming event, and I will say, as always, if I could get paid a livable wage for making fangames, I would drop everything and do it in a heartbeat.

[wannabanauthor]

BuckTommy Headcanons where Buck does things for Tommy

I've been loving the Tommy POV content we've been getting from fellow shippers, and I agree with some that we should also focus on what Buck can provide for Tommy, so I have a list:

Buck invites Tommy to every 118 BBQ or get together because he remembers how Tommy wanted to be part of the family.

He schedules play/double dates with other 118 couples: Madney, Henren, Bathena, etc. (can't remember all the names)

He visits Tommy at work and brings him home cooked meals when Tommy has long shifts, maybe he brings flowers and chocolates too on occasion. Hell, he could even bring everyone in the Harbor station coffee.

For Tommy's birthday, he orders food from Tommy's favorite restaurant, his favorite beer, and they watch Tommy's favorite movie "Love, Actually" while cuddling on a sofa.

Buck compliments him constantly. Whether it's based on appearance or actions, Buck will not hesitate to compliment and praise his boyfriend.

Buck is clingy when it comes to Tommy. He always wants to touch him, be near him, or talk about him. He makes Tommy feel completely desired and wanted, especially when he gives Tommy that dazzling smile.

Sometimes Buck is so transfixed with how hot his boyfriend looks that he forgets to pay attention to the conversation, but then he snaps back to attention and listens to Tommy's words attentively.

He sends a good morning and good night text every single day with some cute emoji.

Buck gets involved with Tommy's hobbies to the point where he understands them well enough. Then he uses those hobbies to surprise Tommy with romantic dates.

Buck buys them tickets to every pride parade and turns into Clipboard Buck each time an event nears closer. Tommy is more than happy to watch Buck plan every detail out because Buck is an excited baby bisexual, and it's adorable.

Buck audits a Gay and Lesbian history in the US class and excitedly tells Tommy about all the things he learned. "Hey, I just read this story about a guy who had a crush on a cop, and he was so overwhelmed by it that he told the guy and they agreed to take some space because the guy with the crush was so into him that he couldn't function throughout the rest of the week." (true story) And Tommy just looks at him with a raised eyebrow as if Buck hadn't done something similar.

I could think of so many more, but I am tired, so enjoy these.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

So if Amy isn’t in the movie, who do you think would give the speech to Shadow?

Okay. I’m going to say something very, very controversial. Please understand that this isn’t hate against the character at all. This is based on my knowledge with the characters from SCU and the story that it’s trying to tell.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been an advocate in saying that Amy Rose is an important character. And she is! She’s very important to Sonic and his friends. I’ve never denied that whenever answering questions about her appearing in the films. I’ve also made it a point in saying that I’d be okay if she didn’t appear in the third movie at all. As I’ve said in my recent post, it’s not the end of the world if she isn’t in the third film. I wouldn’t want her there just for fan service. If that makes sense.

In regards to your question, I feel that the humanity speech would have a stronger meaning to it if it came from Sonic. Now that I think about it, this conversation should be spoken from Sonic’s perspective. And this isn’t a foreign idea for me to have at all. I remember sharing this idea back in 2023. This earned some… criticism. And that’s okay!

Sonic Wachowski would have a better understanding of the humans on Earth, as well as understanding what it’s like being compared to as something “dangerous.” This was mentioned in the first film and the movie’s book. I think many of us forget about that because we see in a healthy relationship with himself, as well as his newly found family. Longclaw knew about his power. She was a mentor to Sonic because A). She’s definitely seen chaos powers before when unchecked and B). She didn’t want Sonic’s powers to fall into the wrong hands. The power was described as dangerous and instructed him to self-isolate when fleeing to earth. It wasn’t until recently that Sonic Wachowski learned that his powers were more than what he thought it was. Having Sonic relate to Shadow would be much more meaningful. That is something that the two would relate on without a doubt.

Yes, the conversation that Shadow and Amy had was important for GAME CANON. Absolutely! I’ve never once denied that. The films, however, are its OWN canon. It’s not 100% the games. And the third film isn’t meant to be a 100% adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. This was even said by Pat Casey and Josh Miller in 2022.

I’ve interpreted these questions as her appearing in the film altogether, not her appearing solely to give a humanity speech. Understand that I want her in the films. I think that she’s important to Sonic, his brothers, and to Shadow. But if you really only want her there for the sake of giving the humanity speech, then I will have to politely disagree. I want her to have a bigger role. She’s so much more than the humanity speech. Having her there to only give the humanity speech wouldn’t be using the character to her full potential.

[teddywesworl]

ok y'all said you want director's commentary so I'm gonna start by saying a couple things about 🪑 since it recently celebrated 2k kudos

🪑DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY LET'S GO

1.

A fun fact about the poems at the beginning of each chapter is that I took two of the poet's classes in college, and she might be solely responsible for convincing me I was a good writer and should pursue the skill. I don't know how she'd feel about me using her poetry to thematically frame an explicit fanfic, but that's neither here nor there.

As a poet, she (I'm not naming her here in case she might possibly name search on tumblr, lol) is obsessed with transformation and with the discord between the material and spiritual self. Blackberries, Brambles in its entirety goes as follows:

Akhmatova wrote, "O look!—that fresh dark elderberry branch is like a letter from Marina…" And she was right, branches criss- cross, words sharpen. We lop them down, fit them into envelopes. But I forget: you don't do letters: Too much tangled in thickets and desperation. Did I say envelopes? I meant elevators. See, I've snagged favourite sweaters in high rises, snarled hair in hedges, given up skin scrapings for blackberries, tongueburst, the sweet stain, explosion under light canine pressure. Don't you just wish you were a dog sometimes? No panic. Romping through brambles. Even in delirium, near death, Akhmatova remembered. Her bitter friend had been dead a long time. Love. Don't think I'm thinking about you. Anything but you.

Akhmatova here being Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, and the Marina in question is Marina Tsvetaeva. You can go on as much or as little of a research spiral about them as you like; many of the layers of this poem are in the reference to Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva, but I was mostly interested in the commentary on the cost of pleasure. I've snagged favourite sweaters in high rises, snarled hair in hedges, given up skin scrapings for blackberries. What are you willing to pay for happiness? Wouldn't it be nice not to think about it? Wouldn't it be nice not to be afraid to pay?

2.

Obviously the other major literary framing device is A Room With A View. The movie, specifically, but obviously the Forster novel as well. A Room With A View is about the clash between tradition and modernity, familial duty vs. adventure and romance, etc. etc. etc. And like, listen, the Duffers have not put this much thought into Steve Harrington, but his arc, despite them, is that of the ultimate privileged 80s all-American masculine symbol taking a slow, deliberate turn toward Otherness. He was supposed to die a static character. He did not, and now we're all writing fic about it.

I probably didn't need to have Eddie literally whack the point home with a hammer with the you're Lucy line in chapter 2, but here we are.

3.

The other bits of ~Art~ in the Steve chapter are Elton John's The Fox and Bruce Springsteen's The River. As follows:

But if you’re wily, you will leave them lying, snared up in the traps that they set for you, Elton sings. And it’s an evergreen affair— Steve lifts the record out and replaces it with The River. Springsteen sings, you're walkin' tough, baby, but you're walkin' blind and that’s not really better.

The Elton John record, you may recall, was a compromise between Eddie and Nancy. The inclusion of these lines in particular was very vibes-based, but hopefully the vibes are semi-coherent. Snares. Traps. The hunter, the fox. Btw the next lines after these are:

As temptation taunts the fox Into the hunter's waiting lair

Which, okay. Teasing out the vibes just a little. Argyle interprets Nancy as Lucy (and implies, without meaning to, that Steve is Cecil--a character that represents old money and tradition and duty and, like. Being trapped). Nancy would probably also view herself as the titular Fox. And Steve has bought into this line of thinking! He sees himself as the snare! He has internalized the idea of life with him being a trap! He is Bullshit, etc.

Eddie complicates this self-concept. Through him, Steve becomes the Fox and Lucy. Temptation taunts the fox into the hunter's waiting lair, after all. And, you know: 🪑🪢

(The Springsteen lines are just. All Steve.)

Ok I have to go feed some horses. More.... later. eventually.

[ghosttrolls]

I mean with all the talk about who should be cast for Danny Phantom, we know literally nothing about the movie so far. All we know is a guy who has previously been blocked from making new official content with the IP in the past is telling people what he would do, which doesn't guarantee anything. For all we know they could completely rewrite Danny's backstory, or set it in the future after the show where he's an adult, or base the story off the comics they've been making. We could actually see a thought out exploration of the accident on screen. I know a lot of people are reluctant to expect good things to come from a live action movie which is understandable, but but before we get pessimistic let's remember all we know for sure is "there will be a Danny phantom movie, at some point in the future, probably"

Now I'm just spending time thinking about what you could do with a Danny phantom movie. Forget what bad choices you expect them to make, let's think about the fun stuff that could happen

[birdsareblooming]

im so tired of having to defend myself on both sides

like. ok. i'm queer right. bi, demigender, aro, etc. also you know a girl, demi or not. all the time i have to defend myself from american christians who via mistranslations and misinterpretations spread by horrible leaders for generations have been led into a cult-like hierarchy that tells them to hate me when hate for us isn't in their book or supposed to be in their ways.

i'm also "christian". i hesitate to use the full term because of how bad american christianity has gotten. but i believe in the same god nontheless. every day i feel i have to defend myself from queer people as well

like. i so get it. as i have just established american and european christianity has gotten so fucked up and literally off-script that i'm shocked we haven't gotten another 95 thesis and a completely new branch. it's awful horrible and people who believe in such ideas should not be in power. to the point where calling myself a christian feels wrong. at least in america.

i need ya'll to have some nuance.

firstly the understanding that those who hate queer people, non-white people in any form, women, whatever else. isn't even in the text they follow. people have misused it since it was written. preaching just the verse saying wives should care for their husbands and not the one right after saying husbands should love their wives. taking out verses referring to god's "womb." about adam might not even being a man, as in, more likely nonbinary, the verse about david getting an errection when hugging johnathan. changing verses about cleanliness into women and men not wearing the same cloths. changing verses about cultural codes and allowing a world where people have to resort to prositution into verses condemning homosexuality. [X]

like. you know the matrix. was written as a trans metaphor. then a bunch of alpha sigma grindset rich white boys took it and appropriated it, misinterpreted it, used it to boost themselves and hurt women. it's like that. those people don't make the matrix a bad movie, they just don't know it's a trans metaphor. and trans people who enjoy the matrix are like. normal and cool.

as you can see i am passionate about this. i have all this stuff memorized not only to defend my queerness but my christianity as im doing now.

there are queer christians. there are certainly poc christians as right now, south america and south africa have the highest christian populations, to the point where they're sending missionaries to america.

again i'm asking for some nuance. when i see posts basically saying "the christian god is dumb" or "satan was right actually" and blantent misinformation about what the bible says. like those kind of posts hurt my heart. my god made me queer and loves me for it, i believe in a kind god, most good christians do. i feel like other religions don't get this treatment and it's just to spiritually piss off your catholic parents.

speaking of, in doing so you seem to forget about other abrahamic religions.

i once saw a post criticizing something directly from the old testament, out of context of course. saying god was cruel and the belives were flawed and all this due to one verse. people tend to forget, or not know, that the "old testament" is the tenoch. slightly different book order, same writings.

christians, muslims, jewish people, worship the same god. different names for god, some god, same base. if you make jokes about christianty willy-nilly, you're going to accidentally hit someone else. and even if you don't, you may hurt someone still.

it doesn't hurt because i think it's "sacrilegious" or i think you're going to hell. it hurts because my community doesn't care. my community doesn't see the nuance in people and decided a specific religion is the enemy. a specific group of people is the enemy. ive been marked as the enemy

it's casual jokes to you, to me it's making fun of my god

listen, by all means make fun of the assholes. i make fun of them every day. millionaires who use privet jets than preach and love to overlook the many verses condemning the rich and saying rich people don't go to heaven. people saying that as a woman of god you shouldn't enjoy sex. weirdos online and irl that seem to think patorizing random people will get them to church. dumb white people. it's great. fuckn. mormons and jehovah's witness leaders who are straight up running a cult based on a thread of the original intention. and it's funny because they're the assholes.

but don't attack the base religion itself. understand that the religion isn't inherently harmful, certain branches, beliefs, misinterpretations, and leaders certainly are. but please be kind to the people who are normal

before you make a post saying you're gonna. i dont know 'kill the uncaring god' that you're hurting people like me, any abrahamic religion, anyone who believes in a god possibly. also that's basically my parent, it's like you're insulting my awesome mom to my face bc my older sibling sucks. like thats just mean to her for no reason.

i'm just. tired. im stuck in the middle and i hate that i have to make this post because like. this is my home and my people and im tired of seeing this shit from my peers and family. just. have nuance. care about people. don't just say shit about a religion if you don't know its true.

im tired.

[anakinsafterlife]

Thoughts on Dune Part 2

All right, friends. Dune Part 2. I absolutely picked the wrong time to start wanting to return to Tumblr, since I'm currently in the thick of Ramadan, but c'est la vie. I'm a bit worried that if I don't review now that I might forget my specific impressions of the movie, though I have to say that if this weren't Ramadan that I absolutely would be going back to see it again in the cinema, which says a lot considering that it's been at least ten years since I've actually wanted to go back and repeat a film instead of just waiting for it to come out on streaming/DVD.

So the movie is good. It is in fact very, very good. It's the Empire Strikes Back of the Dune duology (possibly trilogy), and (much like Empire) in terms of cinematography, music, scripting and acting it's nearly flawless. There are, however, issues, things that might not occur to a majority-Western audience but which are immediately clear to anyone who either comes from an Arab or Muslim background.

What follows here is a deep dive into some of the historical and cultural sources of Dune and some of the ways in which the movie producers, and in some cases fans, have failed to acknowledge those sources.

First of all, it's obvious that the Fremen are meant to be based on the Arabs, but of the the entire main cast there is only ONE actor with an Arab background, and that is Souhaila Yacoub, the half-Tunisian actress who plays Shishakli, the female Fremen warrior who is executed by the Harkonnens. Now, I have to say that this woman was fantastic. Her attitude is completely on point for an Arab, especially a North African Arab: forceful, loud, a bit brash and mocking even under fire. Nicely done. Points to the producers there, but I have to take that point away again because she is literally the only Space Arab who is actually Arab. Javier Bardem, the Spanish actor who plays Stilgard, does have some interesting moments and one of the reasons why I feel that the screenwriters were advised on Arabic traditions/culture. The incident during which he warns Paul about the Jinn in the desert like it's a joke but then immediately turns extremely serious when Paul starts smiling is so in character for an Arab and honestly just a brilliant bit of scripting, but much of the time he also acted more or less like what people *think* a fanatical religious Arab acts like--loud, frantic and unstable.

Not only this, but the "Muslim" behaviour/traditions in the film are at best...vague. People are praying, but in any direction at all. I do realize that this would be a complicated issue on another planet, where the Ka'aba couldn't be pointed to, but there are Islamic rulings for EVERYTHING. Check out the one about praying in space:

Even if they had as a society simply picked a random direction for prayer, they should all be praying at the same time and in the same direction (they seem to do this in larger crowds, but not in the smaller group where we first see people praying). They also definitely shouldn't be talking during prayer or trying to make other people talk to them during prayer (as Chani does), since talking breaks your prayer and you have to start over all over again (during obligatory prayers).

Language, too, is an issue, and a big one, because while I do understand that a conlang was developed for use in this movie, the linguists consulted did know that the language was meant to be heavily influenced by Arabic. Consequently, they've included a lot of fragmentary Arabic in their work. Unfortunately this Arabic is poorly pronounced at best, to the point where I was looking words up and laughing at what they're meant to be based on. For example, "Shai Hulud," the word for the Worms, is based on the Arabicشيء خلود, which means "immortal thing," and should be pronounced with "shai" rhyming with "say" followed by a glottal stop, and the 'h' in "Hulood" is actually a guttural sound like the infamous "ch" in Bach, followed by a long U. Another example is Mua'dib مهذب , a real word in Arabic that means "teacher," but is is actually pronounced with a "th" sound instead of a d and emphasis on the second syllable, not on the last as in French. (Note: I made an error here. There is a word مؤدب , pronounced mostly the same in the movie, but with a glottal stop after the 'u' sound and a short 'i' after the d sound rather than a long vowel, that is usually used to mean polite, urbane, gentlemanly, etc. but which can also mean teacher, although I have never heard it used in this context) "Usul", أصول, Paul's other Fremen name, was likely not, as I had previously guessed, based on the word "Rasool," meaning Prophet, but on أصول الفقه the Principles of islamic Jurisprudence, which also ties directly into a religious/prophetic them. Again, this is pronounced on the long vowel, so with a short first U and a long second U.

I've included the Arabic spellings in here, by the way, so that you can drop them into Google translator and hear how they actually sound.

Now, I do realize that the story itself is set 8000 years in the future and that spoken Arabic as a language would have changed considerably in that time, if it existed still at all, but Arabic is a liturgical language as well as a vehicle for conversation, and Muslims all across the world today use it as a tool for worship. Muslims who have no cultural connection with Arabic often still learn it in order to connect more deeply with religious traditions and simply to perform prayers and other religious duties. Religious scholars consider it to be a necessary duty of the Muslim to learn at least some Arabic:

And keep in mind that the Arabic spoken today across the MENA region is very different (and different in different places) to the Arabic spoken 1400 years ago by the Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him). Given Islamic traditions, the chances of the Fremen using liturgical/classical Arabic for their worship would be quite high, even if their spoken language had evolved past the point of being recognizably Arabic.

Keep in mind, also, that Dune as a whole is an allegory for colonialism, economic exploitation of poorer nations (or making rival nations poor through the same), as well as dehumanization of the views and needs of native peoples in order to make that exploitation palatable to the occupying forces (I thought that this was done quite smartly in Jessica's part of the story; although she is sympathetic to the Fremen, she feels that manipulating their religious traditions is the best way to protect her son, and in doing so she allows herself to dehumanize the people who come to rely on her).

It is, therefore, incumbent upon us not to distance ourselves too much from the intended message by claiming that Dune is fiction and need not too accurately reflect the culture and religion of the people that the Fremen are so clearly based on. The fact that the producers have done little to hire Arab actors or induced any real effort to accurately pronounce the Arabic words or accurately portrayal Islamic practices seems to indicate that they are concerned about identifying too closely with the economic and cultural struggle between East and West, properly because they fear the potential economic backlash, and this despite the fact that Frank Herbert clearly wrote his book to illustrate the fallout of that struggle.

Here is a wonderful article written by a culturally Arab woman:

There are numerous other articles addressing the same issues, but I like this one because it's written by a Muslim woman, who also addresses the "hijab cosplaying" in the movie. I didn't get into that much, but I definitely recognize that it's a problem when Muslim women worry about potential violence while wearing hijab in the streets of Western nations, but the same article of clothing is fetishized in movies and fashion.

I've also seen some comment about the Mahdi mention in particular. This is a saviour-figure in Islam who will come near the end of the world. There is no emphasis on this figure in Sunni Islam, but Shias seem to have a significant body of literature concerning this figure and, from what I understand, believe that he may perhaps have already come, and so there has been some poor reception in that community to applying the label of Mahdi to Paul. Criticisms ranging from insensitivity to outright blasphemy have been levelled regarding this usage. Now, there was some tip-toeing around the prophetic theme in Dune, and rightly so, I believe, since the Prophet Mohamed is the "seal of the prophets" in Islam, meaning the last and final. The fact that Paul was essentially set up as a false prophet by the Bene Gesserit does avoid some of the potential fallout from this, and also makes sense of Chani's rejection at the end of the film, since she felt strongly about Paul acting as a false Prophet.

Again, I am aware that there is internal cosmology within the series itself, and that some fans object to the religion of the Fremen being referred to as Islam, but when the inspiration for the entire ethnicity, religion, and the natural resources at stake are as clear as they are in this series, it's also futile to expect that people will not draw those associations, nor that people belonging to the religion or ethnic group in question may not acknowledge the beauty of the movie, the gorgeous cinematography, rousing music, and tightly plotted story, but still take exception to what is clearly Orientalism.

And it is frankly such a shame that we have to place this movie under that header, because the story of Dune is so sympathetic to the Middle East and its peoples, and as I said in the beginning I actually loved the film and found it very beautiful. It was also exciting to see Islamic themes used creatively in mainstream media, but while Frank Herbert clearly wrote the story as an exposition on the exploitation of natural resources, particularly oil, in the MENA region, the truth is that the racism and exploitation that he was protesting are very much alive today and contribute to the oppression of millions. It's particularly disappointing to see the message of the movie sail over the heads of people watching it when Arab Muslims in Palestine are being dehumanized and obliterated at this very moment, and while Libya was one of the latest Arab nations to be targeted for its oil resources, only a decade ago, with European oil companies moving in directly after the downfall of Ghadafi (which makes the timing extremely suspicious, one might say):

And even after the US finished their occupation of Iraq, Western oil companies remained en mass to continued drilling:

Egypt to this day remains economically destabilized while Western nations exploit its oil stocks, to no benefit at all of its peoples:

I'm sure I could cite dozens of other cases, but it's clear that there is a one-on-one parallel between spice melange and oil, making any protests of apoliticism in an inherently political story utterly vain.

I could go on, but I needn't. In short, this beautiful movie could have done so much good even beyond its obvious artistic merits, but instead it is still towing the political line. Much as was the case for Jessica and Paul, sometimes you can be a Harkonnen and not know it.

[sonkitty]

Trickery Post #0 - Introduction

Hello world.

I'm Cathy.

This series of posts I'm going to do was originally planned as a YouTube series, but for various reasons, that idea has not worked out.

I watched Good Omens season 1 and season 2 roughly in late October 2023. While I left the season 2 ending unsatisfied, I still managed to become quite obsessed with David Tennant as Crowley.

I love his portrayal of Crowley so much.

And, through this obsession, I found these very interesting-to-me and very silly puzzle games that exist in Good Omens 2. These games give me a way to keep the obsession going and busy.

This series is going to be about me playing those games, especially the earlier stages.

So, here are a few things I think you might want to consider before you decide if it's worth the trouble of reading these posts.

There are multiple reasons I'm doing this series but a really big one is the situation with season 3. Due to the allegations against Neil Gaiman, season 3 was changed from planned as a six-episode series into a 90-minute movie. I was very upset to learn that news myself because I was really looking forward to season 3 as 6 episodes.

Now a part of me is thinking that's why I should let go of this idea. The games can be null and void. They can be cancelled in this process. They can be retconned out of existence since they are hidden games to begin with. They can be undone. Another part of me is, "Actually, that's all the more reason to do it."

That is to say, the games could very easily be lost and left without being found beyond what work I've already put into them and posted already here on Tumblr.

So, that's something, right? I can just leave those Tumblr posts intact, and the work is there, even if season 3 leaves whatever was originally intended for the games behind. They're already here.

That's all true.

But...in the process of how I've found it is best for me to do things on Tumblr, something ends up lost in the progression of my play. I have found it best to just post some thoughts and ideas, think on them, and then a lot of times, go back and edit those posts to something I hope is more coherent and presentable for my overall point. By doing that, the actual sense of play is lost in translation because the mistakes and realizations as they happen are not left intact.

So, this series is a way for me to commemorate that play because it meant a lot to me as it happened.

I want to store these memories sooner, rather than later, before time helps them slip away from me that much more quickly. I think YouTube would have been more suited to do such a thing, but the work involved is more than I can give at this time in my life.

I am not making season 3 predictions. Conclusions I made are now all the more available to be ignored in season 3 for the sake of simplifying the story or just making it new and different from what it was going to be anyway.

All of that is to say that, I'm making this series for me, even if I'm inviting you into see what it meant to me in these posts.

So, if you don't like the series or feel like it has nothing of any value to you, please move onto other things as soon as you realize that's how you feel about the posts.

Even though this series is focused on my own personal experience, I will be talking frequently in the second person or as "we" and "us" because I like describing the play as a shared experience. It's more fun for me that way.

...

We are going to be playing a long game. These puzzles took months to find and solve.

Don't expect to get things right away. If that happens, great. If it doesn't, please keep in mind that many solutions I found took time to sink in as I found them.

Alright, so I'm going to talk about me because even I forget that I had these parts of my life leading into how I am able to play the games the way that I do. Based on general observation, no one else seems able to play quite like I do because I have a knack for finding certain important names, phrases, and ideas.

I am not someone who has ever worked on a movie or TV show or any entertainment field really as a professional. It's something I used to want to do, especially as an actress. I took drama in high school. I wasn't very good, but my teacher saw potential in me, so I was still invited to go from Drama 1 to Drama 4, instead of Drama 2 after my first year in the class. In my senior year, I was assistant director for a student-directed play at my high school. I was also in charge of lighting. In addition to that, I was assistant to my drama teacher for his first two periods. My acting did improve finally by my senior year, and my teacher said as much. I had a Technical Theater class as well.

I took honors English in high school.

I declined a theater scholarship to USC when I realized I was too scared to move from home.

I ended up not pursuing a career in the entertainment industry at all.

Instead, I ended up in Information Systems as a major while remaining in my hometown. I won't give my actual title, but it might be easiest to understand that I'm a programmer and a bit of a low-rank programmer at that. So far as my IT experience goes, no one has ever worked under me, and I don't mind that in the least. Even so, I have nearly 20 years of experience in what amounts to problem-solving.

When I'm not working at my job, I've had hobbies that go along the lines of playing video games, watching anime, writing fanfiction, and reading books. I don't watch movies nearly as much as I used to and the same goes for TV though my obsession before this one with David Tennant as Crowley was for Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

I've also worked on audiobook readings of fanfic, both some of one I wrote and some of my favorite overall series, Austraeoh, by Imploding Colon aka shortskirtsandexplosions.

All of these traits inadvertently amount to someone who can put together some pieces of a puzzle to recognize a game, ask some of the right questions, and then actually find some of the right answers.

Now another thing about me is that I go through obsession phases. I used to be really obsessed with Devil Jin from Tekken. He used to be my favorite fictional character for many years. That changed in 2018 when Rainbow Dash suddenly became my new favorite.

Crowley's a bit of an odd situation because my favoritism for him strongly stems from the actor, David Tennant. It's not just Crowley, and it's not just David Tennant. It's the combination of these two that I love so deeply. David Tennant is perfect for Crowley.

Plus, these games help keep the obsession going.

So, a few things about my approach to the storyline and the characters.

In October 2018, I saw a promotional image for Good Omens that featured David Tennant with black-feathered wings. You do that, and you have my attention.

I decided to read the book. I had mixed feelings about Neil Gaiman's writing but had heard nothing but good things about Terry Pratchett's work.

I left the book with mixed feelings too. Some of it was funny. Some of it was really racist and took homophobia rather lightly, I thought. I was a bit bored with the kids (The Them) and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I thought Crowley and Aziraphale were a lot more interesting than everyone else. I was already fond of the idea of David Tennant playing Crowley, and thought oh yes, he will be perfect for this character.

I wasn't sure if I would watch the show because it might be too gross for my liking.

Five years passed, generally.

In October 2023, I finally decided to watch the first season of Good Omens. I was satisfied.

After that, I hesitated on watching the second season since I was at least aware the story was incomplete.

I read up on spoilers and decided to give it a go.

The ending didn't really sit right with me. I was annoyed and confused.

But, annoyed and confused as I was, I could not get enough of David Tennant as Crowley. So, I went to Tumblr to get some pictures and could at least read about what other people thought.

Here are my own thoughts on the types of fan interpretations I like of Crowley as a character.

I highly prefer to think of Crowley as clever, creative, resourceful, and imaginative. I do not think using the term "idiot" is cute or funny. I have no affection for it myself. I accept that it's part of the show and that Crowley uses it the way he does, but I don't like it. Over the years, I've read that "idiot" is an ableist slur. While I've tried to get better about my avoiding use of the term, I haven't quite reached a point where I find it my business to tell other people they shouldn't. Sometimes, in context, I get it. Even if the word weren't considered ableist, I generally don't like to affectionately insult characters I like anyway.

For me, these games show that Crowley is a more active and strategic participant in his own story than an initial viewing of season 2 might lead one to believe.

I don't really like Aziraphale much in general, so I'm perfectly good with reading posts that are more critical of him as a character. I don't seek them out, and I actually don't see them much to begin with.

My bias is rather obvious and plain so that I don't like to read those posts on Crowley. I don't say, even on my blog, that people shouldn't. I just don't want to read them. It's really not hard to criticize Crowley. I'm happy to rise to the challenge these games bring in seeing something more to him instead.

Even though I don't like Aziraphale, I appreciate the pairing itself. I also think it's important that the characters have some difference, some separation from each other as people, and I do think season 2 provides that.

If you want spoilers on the games, you'll find them all over my blog. A good central place to find them is my Good Omens 2 Compendium post. And if you don't want those spoilers on the games, they're hard to avoid, but we will be moving forward through this series of posts while trying to minimize or avoid them all the same. As noted earlier, that's to help show the journey itself, to get a sense of the play that's been lost from me just shoving so many answers up front in my collection of GO2 meta posts.

The series is planned to be 10 posts long (0-9).

...

We're going to be using our imaginations and playing with words to progress through the puzzles. (For reference: Trickery)