#like I don’t really want to rewatch the show at this point but if it all goes down the gutter in the end ?

[hobbitkiller]

Actually, criticizing you for needing things spelled out is the opposite of saying you need a high IQ to enjoy the show. What I’m saying is this show is very easy to understand; uses very basic storytelling techniques, tropes, and visual cues; and shouldn’t require the characters to engage in lengthy dialogue about every theme and message for you to be able to get it. I don’t think I’m particularly clever for understanding these things; I just think arguments like yours are particularly obtuse.

Your current point about Cait and Vi has nothing to do with your original erroneous claim that “oil and water” was just about them and not the greater conflict—something that you should have understood given it was the literal dialogue of the scene. Even when it was spelled out as clearly as it possibly could be, you seem to have missed the greater point.

You are similarly stubborn in your decision that Heinerdinger’s warnings about magic and hextech were only meant to be isolated to Viktor’s story and not have greater implications. You seem to want to have it both ways where the story is primarily about the class conflict seen through these characters, while simultaneously denying that their conflicts foreshadow or otherwise symbolize the the parts of the story you don’t like. The difference seems to be that you like the class conflict idea but you don’t like the arcane apocalypse or the fighting a common enemy, so you deny that the latter two were set up, even if the show was doing everything but having a flashing sign in the corner.

Yes, obviously Vi and Cait clash. Nowhere did I say they didn’t. That would be the conflict they continue to have to overcome as characters. In that scene, however, they are on the same page. They are as on the same page as they are at about any other time in the show. So, what Vi is saying, in very plain text that requires no understanding of literary devices or ability to understand visual language, is that the problem is topside and bottom not being able to mix and she very clearly sets herself and Caitlyn up as proxies for the two cities. Again, a very common literary device.

Again, you really seem to not understand foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is supposed to be a passing seed of an idea that doesn’t call overt attention to itself, and, while some can spot it in the moment, it is most often something you catch when you rewatch/read the material. Something doesn’t have to repeatedly beat you over the head to be foreshadowing.

That said, the mention of the two cities coming together to fight a common foe was not exactly subtle and certainly screams like it had a bullhorn on a rewatch. Yes, the actual scene wasn’t about coming together against a common enemy. That doesn’t mean that line wasn’t deliberately planting the seed of future events.

The line serves to let the viewer know, “hey, these were the circumstances where these two cities came together before,” the unspoken part being “and that might be how they are able to come together again.” Again, I cannot express enough how basic this is as a storytelling device. It’s practically Chekov’s gun. There is nothing high IQ (also, IQ is a made-up racist concept, so bragging about it would be pointless anyway) about it.

Arcane is brilliant, but it’s not doing anything particularly groundbreaking when it comes to its use of literary devices and tropes. What seems to be tripping you up is the use of them at all. If something isn’t said as explicitly as possible, you deny it. Then again, as with VI’s oil and water speech, you seem to deny things even when they are explicitly stated.

I’m not going to call you a patronizing pet name here. If I did in a previous post I apologize, but I, personally don’t want to do that here. What I will say is that I’m challenging your poor reading of the text, and thus your skills at analysis, not attacking you as a person. I say you don’t seem to understand storytelling conventions because you seem to have trouble with basic ideas like foreshadowing, planting and payoff, and metaphor. It’s either that, or you’re being deliberately obtuse because it doesn’t suit your argument. There are plenty of people on this site who would be more than happy to just call you an idiot. I don’t think you are. I just think you are one of many people who fall into a very common issue with media criticism today where you mistake what you would have liked to happen with what objectively was going to happen or with what can be considered good writing.

My point about Ambessa is that she wasn’t a mustache-twirling villain. What I was saying was you seem to have needed her to be that to understand she was going to be one of the major threats of the second season. The only way you seem like you would be able to accept that is if she showed up with a T-shirt that said “I’m the threat.”

Again, shows that are planning ahead usually plant the next season’s threat in the previous season. Sometimes it’s a passing reference; sometimes it’s a dramatic stinger; and sometimes it’s actually “one of the good guys.” With the exception of the dramatic stinger or a character being the shadowy mastermind that has to come forward and do it themselves Thanos style, most of these future antagonists don’t come into the story with a town crier announcing their future intent.

However, those familiar with common television storytelling are not going to be surprised that the powerful warmongering imperialist that comes in in the third act to start meddling with things ends up being the major threat in the next season. You also see this in book series. Characters who start off as more peripheral when introduced become more relevant and dangerous as the story progresses. Sometimes it’s because events in the story push them that direction. Sometimes it’s was always their plan. Sometimes, as I would argue with Ambessa, it’s a little of both. Our heroes are so caught up in dealing with their current problems that they often don’t realize this is happening until it’s too late.

The place where I think you are somewhat correct is that I don’t think Ambessa planned to be as direct in her actions when she first showed up. I think her plan was to do what she initially did, which is manipulate the conflict so she could get hextech. When Jinx attacked the council, she seized an opportunity. Again, this is how many imperial powers operate. They meddle in the background until an opportunity presents itself to take a much more active hand.

Now, notice I said “Ambessa didn’t plan”—Ambessa is not the semi-omniscient viewer. Ambess is not the show runner. Ambessa is not aware she’s in a fictional story with things like tropes and foreshadowing. So, just because Ambessa doesn’t go into the show thinking or knowing she’s going to take over Piltover doesn’t mean it wasn’t set up or the writers’ plan.

I also hate to break it to you, but Silco was the main antagonist in the first season. Was he well written and nuanced? Absolutely. Most good antagonists are. While there can be fun, interesting antagonists that are just plain evil, many of the best are ones that have a point but their methods, disregard for those caught in their crossfire, and personal entanglements are their downfall.

Good storytellers are very aware of the concept that “every villain is the hero of his own story.”Silco is not absolved because he claims to want independence for Zaun (something he didn’t lift a finger to do after the first act until Jinx forced his hand.) In fact, he was the person causing the most suffering in Zaun in acts two and three, including the actions of the enforcers whom he paid and controlled through Marcus.

Jayce trying to make a deal with him doesn’t make him not the antagonist. That was just the best way Jayce could see to end the conflict. This point doesn’t at all argue against Ambessa becoming the antagonist in season two nor the idea that the two sides would team up to fight her. Shows are allowed to approach treating their different antagonists in different ways. Usually, the early season’s villain is a more localized threat, and they can often be sympathetic, which is why it’s not uncommon for an early villain to become a friend or ally. Also, two sides that were previously at odds joining forces to fight a greater threat to them all is, again, a very classic trope. You may find it cheap, but that doesn’t make it something that came out of nowhere. If anything, it makes it more predictable.

Regarding hextech, you can’t call it contrived when the characters in the show with the most understanding of magic immediately said, “hey, this stuff is dangerous,” and it turns out they were right. Like, there cannot be more straightforward unambiguous storytelling than that.

Now, I’m not going to pretend I was able to predict the end form it would take, but the threat posed by rushing through and overusing hextech was established from the moment it was introduced and reinforced by Heimerdinger’s horror at the hex core—which was about much more than just Viktor’s story. Jayce also understood this initially in act two, but his desires to save Viktor and protect Piltover won out over his initial instinct to listen to Heimerdinger.

No, the anomaly and the hex core aren’t the same thing, but there are two things to keep in mind about the hex core: 1) Even if Jayce hadn’t shot Viktor, there was something deliberately unsettling about the cult. Yes, it seemed nice, but the overexposed, unsettling lighting, personality changes, and Viktor’s ability to take over his followers’ bodies were pretty bright red flags that something wasn’t quite right. We don’t know how each time loop played out. We don’t know if, in an earlier version, Jayce hadn’t shot Viktor, and the commune still went terribly wrong. Even in its most utopian state, the question of how much free will these people have was tingling in the background. 2) Arguably, the hex core showing how the arcane can adapt and become alive was yet more set up that this could happen on a greater scale—again setting up the potential for something like the anomaly.

(A side note: something I did wonder was whether Viktor’s blood dropping into the shaft at the Hex Gates had something to do with it. That’s what I thought when I first saw that oddly colored blob before the anomaly was revealed. It was never established in the text to my satisfaction, though, so it’s just a headcanon. If that was the intent, I will say that was a case where it wasn’t well executed. Even if someone like Amanda decided to use “word of god” to say so, it doesn’t really count, though that certainly would answer your question “why now?” question. Another answer could be the fact that the experiments with the hex core are what woke it up. Given the arcane is shown to be somewhat sentient, maybe it sensed the growing conflict, but I digress.

I think the blood being the catalyst would have pros or cons. Pros being a really nice case of planting and payoff; cons being that it sort of makes it seem like a freak accident—which still could go to the point. Many technological advancements have been prone to terrible accidents before we properly understood their risks and put in safe guards. It also would have been a bit of nice consequences in action that the illness Piltover inflicted on Zaun is what brought their hextech empire down. See? it’s not like I don’t have a version of the story that I would prefer in some ways. I’m just not going to act like the version we got wasn’t set up.)

On the civil war idea, I was responding to the ending you said you wanted, and I phrased my response as such, so please don’t act like I was putting words in your mouth. Also, based on what we know of the Black Rose in the show, while that’s an interesting idea, it’s seems unlikely they would openly or even covertly support Zaun. There was nothing stopping them from doing that in the story we got. I think they preferred to keep their exposure as limited as possible, and it made sense to focus their efforts on Mel who had a much more direct line to Ambessa.

Also, I will admit that plot line seemed much more about setting up the next LoL season/next show than this one. I will give you that. There was the little bit of set up with Mel’s magic shining when the bomb hit, and Ambessa’s vague references to her problems at home, but I won’t deny that story had the least relevance to the first season.

Didn’t make me enjoy Mel taking out Maddie any less, (doesn’t make me look forward to whatever future appearances we get of Mel the Mage any less), but it did give off some weird “natural abilities are better than using technology” vibes reminiscent of the somewhat problematic theme of The Incredibles. I don’t necessarily think they meant to do that, but it certainly can be read into the text. I never said Arcane is above criticism, just pointing out the common flaws I see in the criticism.

I think, in a civil war, with all bets off and hextech at their disposal, Piltover would win. Yes, the chem tanks were a threat, but the Noxians took them out with spears. Spears. Vi plowed through several of them with just the gauntlets and took one out with her bare hands with a little help from Cait and a normal rifle. Also, Piltover literally has the high ground. The reason they wanted to invade was to get Jinx. If the mission is changed to war, there’s no need to send people down there. They could just drop bombs, flood the streets, and cut off supply lines. Potentially, the tide could be turned with some of the Piltover folks we love supporting Zaun, but now we’ve lost track of the arcane threat that they would not shut up about in the first season.

You know you admitted that the problem is you didn’t like the ending, right? You not liking it doesn’t mean it wasn’t set up. I have outlined again and again that it was set up. Does that mean the ending exactly beat for beat was explicitly laid out? No.

When I say the ending was set up, that doesn’t mean every single interaction or moment could have been predicted. What could be predicted is that hextech would end up becoming a major problem—something we were explicitly warned about multiple times—Ambessa would become a major problem—something we should have picked up on given her meddling and Mel’s backstory and interactions with her—and that there would be either a détente or form of reconciliation between the two cities—because, that’s how stories about groups in conflict with each other in shows that go out of their way to show the humanity and good and bad on both sides usually end unless they want to be a complete downer, which, given Arcane pulled that move in the first season, was unlikely to happen in the second.

None of your points about the dark future invalidate anything I said. First, we don’t know what Viktor would be capable of if Jayce hadn’t shot him. Maybe Singed would have succeeded with his plan—they did have a whole army. As I said earlier, we also don’t know what happened in every loop. Yes, the one Jayce saw was almost exactly like the one he returns to, but maybe that one was actually closer to success than any of the others. We don’t know, and I’m fine with that.

That said, none of your ramblings here have anything to do with whether or not the plan was to have the cities team up against a common enemy. You can argue the plan wasn’t executed well, and that’s your choice. You can argue you didn’t like that this was the plan. That is also your choice. But not executing a plan well or having a plan you don’t like and not having a plan are different things.

Honestly, sometimes sticking to the plan is a bad idea for storytelling—that’s what really leads to contrived writing. So, arguably, your problem is much less that they betrayed their plan, but rather that you felt they had to contort the narrative to fit their original plan and goals because they wanted a certain ending. That’s definitely something that happens a lot in narratives. The author goes in having an ending in mind, and they rigidly stick to it, even if the way they develop the story might mean there are better possible endings. I honestly think your arguments much better support that idea than the idea that there was no set up. i wouldn’t necessarily agree with you on all points, but it would be a much stronger case.

You should not need a scene of exposition explaining Sevika’s council seat. I refuse to believe any intellectually honest person would be confused by what was going on. When people get annoyed that some viewers seem to not get “show don’t tell.”

And look, I get wanting certain scenes. I will always argue I wish Ekko or Jinx had really put into words why VI’s their hero at some point, because, even though the show arguably showed that, I think that would have really helped solidly her arc. But I think you still get the gist of that from context.

That said, we do get Caitlyn’s whole monologue about suffering the consequences of their actions but there still being hope and light worth fighting for in the epilogue that should help with interpretation that things are bad but they can get better and here are the first tentative steps in that direction. She literally says the story isn’t over.

Arcane is not a political drama. Not sure why I need to say that about the League of Legends cartoon, but it’s not. Class and politics inform the story. They are not what the story is about. The writers didn’t go in with the intention of writing about class warfare and then develop the characters to match like a movie like Crash did. They went in wanting to tell the stories of these characters and further developed the existing background themes to help create conflict and character arcs.

“A lot of people joined the fight” is an interesting way to interpret a handful before Jinx came in to save the day—you know in that dramatic scene that drastically turned the tide of the fight because, while we as the audience knew it was going to happen, the characters didn’t? Again, we have the benefit of knowing this is a fictional story with a plot. They don’t. There have been plenty of people who refuse to fight with an enemy, even if it’s in their own self interest.

And, yes, season two is the find out to season one’s fuck around. Viktor and Jayce chose to ignore the warnings about Hextech. They then proceeded to overuse it, weaponize it, and do dangerous experiments with it, partially at the behest of unrepentant capitalism—there’s some class and politics for you. As stated earlier, the anomaly can very much be a stand in for the unforeseen consequences of certain technologies. How often do we find out years later what harm we’ve caused? Given that the first obvious victim is a tree, one could make an easy connection to global warming. Jayce would never be able to give Viktor’s the hex core if Viktor hadn’t made it in the first place. So yes, what happened with the arcane was indeed, their chickens coming home to roost and, no, you don’t need it explicitly stated what form the consequences are going to take—just that there will be consequences.

Likewise, as I alluded to earlier, Ambessa was most likely not planning to take over Piltover from the start. Jinx blowing up the council gave her the in to essentially have a bloodless coup. (Bloodless meaning she didn’t have to kill the leaders herself). Even prior to that, though, the reason she was able to meddle at all were the tensions between topside and bottom. If those hadn’t been ramping up, thanks mostly to the actions of our characters, she wouldn’t have been able to push for the creation of weapons. Internal conflict is a breeding ground for outside bad actors.

As for a common enemy making the story no longer nuanced, (which, again, has nothing to do with whether it was planned or not) in life there always comes a time when there is no room for moral ambiguity. Some things are a matter of survival. There are times where people do, in fact, have to set aside their differences or everyone will suffer. And in a show that is going out of its way to show the humanity of both sides in a conflict, this is where the story goes more often than not. Because, in a moment of true crisis, there is can be more that unites us than not (though, even in the moment, decision can still tear its head).

The tragedy, of course, is that it doesn’t last. I can say that as someone who remembers 9/11 (yes, I’m old). That’s why we had Cait’s ending monologue and the “dirt under your nails” discussion. Because they have to keep fighting.

I’m not going to go through every point because this has taken me hours and I’m going to just broadly say most of your issues have nothing to do with whether or not this was the plan for the sorry and your personal qualms about execution, and I really have no desire to go through any more of that right now as I have both a job and a life.

What I will address is your inability to understand the point I was making in my prior post. First—many people do, indeed want the show to have been a black and white poor beats rich story. (Honestly, understandable given the current hellscape. I don’t begrudge wanting more stories where rich people get the comeuppance—this just wasn’t the one). I know because they refuse to acknowledge or accept any nuance, motive, or understanding of why Cait did what she did and frequently use her wealth as an excuse for Jinx to have been allowed to kidnap, abuse, and almost murder her and murder her mother without consequence. They further decide Silco’s actions are all justified because he’s from the oppressed side. So yes, actually, a lot of people want rich=bad, poor=good.

Further, all of those themes I mentioned in that post can certainly be tied to class. They can also be tied to race. Or sexuality. Or gender. Or disability. As an obese neurodivergent queer cis woman, I can confirm. You could have easily exchanged the class themes for any of those and not had to change much. And while class is tied up in all of those divisions, I reject the argument that it is the sole cause. Rather economic oppression and other forms of oppression feed each other. That’s why leftist groups that only want to talk about economics tend to not be great at intersectionality.

Now, I’m going to guess right now you’re saying something like “but, in Arcane those themes were related to class, not those other things, except for disability, which was also tied to class!” And you’re right! Arcane decided to explore those themes through the lens of a class conflict. That does not make it what the show is about. It makes it a major theme, of course. It makes it the lens through which we understand our characters and the events of the plot. It does not mean the show was written in service of resolving the class conflict, nor that it should take time out of the character moments to exposit about treaties, nor does it make a fantasy action show where one of the characters punches people with giant gloves and another has a giant hammer that shoots things into a political drama.

I think one question the show is trying to answer in a lot of ways (though, again, not the only one) is, if class breaks is apart , what brings us together? Why would Piltover want to give Zaun rights? Because they were forced to at the end of a gun? Because of a crisis of conscience? To avoid a bigger conflict? Because Zaun was there for them in a time of need? Because the power of 24 year-old star-crossed lovers compels them? All of the above?

As I said, this is definitely a big question, but not the only question. “What does ‘progress’ mean?” “Do people change who they are for good?” “How do you leave the cycles you were born into and raised in?” “How does one find themselves losing their ideals?” “Who decides who gets a second chance anyway?” “What happened to Heimerdinger’s dog?” “Imperialism sure sucks, doesn’t it?” “Were we too hard on Maddie?”

All questions certainly viewed through the lens of class conflict. But the lens, though necessary to see the picture, is not the subject.

“What happened to rebel Vi? Season 2 destroyed her character!”

“What happened to rebel Vi” is that Vander took her to the bridge where her parents died in his revolution and asked her what she was willing to lose. Then she meets Cait who is gentle and kind while still being tough and it makes her rethink how she sees topside. When Jinx tells her she changed too, that’s what she’s talking about.

I’m sorry if you thought Vi was going to be a topside-hating revolutionary in Season 2, but that’s clearly not where her character arc was going. Remember how she forced her way between Ekko and Cait? It seemed very straightforward that was the role her character was taking on.

I feel similar about people who act like the show was betraying its premise because it ended with reconciliation/Zaun and Piltover working together. Again, the fact that two of the most important relationships were between characters from both sides and that they made a point of talking about Zaun and Piltover first coming together against a common enemy was a pretty clear indicator that was the plan.

Now, I get being annoyed that that was what they chose to do. You don’t have to love the creative decisions of media, just like media doesn’t have to compromise its creative direction to satisfy you. But not liking that they went that direction is not the same as the show having bad writing or engaging in character assassination.

Everything Vi did in season 2 was very much in character with how she changed and who she became throughout Season 1. Hell, she used enforcers and Hextech to raid Shimmer facilities before Commander Kiramman ever threw on a beret. So, yes, actually wearing the uniform was a huge and complicated decision that she was definitely not happy about, but it also fell in line with what she had been doing.

There’s meat for another post at some point about the three different Zaun/enforcer partnerships we see in the show: Vander/Greyson, Silco/Marcus, and Cait/Vi; but I’m not going to go into that now.

TLDR: “Rebel Vi” who wants to fight all of topside hasn’t existed since the end of the second episode of the show.

Editing to add that Vi doesn’t see attacking Chem Barons as attacking Zaun; she’s taking down the people who are destroying Zaun.

[chibi-scone]

So that new Rhys Darby interview about s3 ….💀

[mingis-orangejuice]

Using Reverse Psychology On The Demon Bros

Warnings/Genres: manipulation(in a cute way, kinda?), mentions of diets (only in Beel’s part) fluff, crack

I feel like all the Brothers would fall for reverse psychology so easily. I don’t think MC would purposely try to manipulate them (at least not all the time), they would just say things that happen to make the brothers suddenly want to help them lol

Lucifer

-He’s literally the avatar of pride, if you wound his pride he’d be quick to try and prove you wrong

-MC: Lucifer can you help me with my potions homework?

-Lucifer: MC, can’t you see I'm extremely busy with paperwork for Lord Diavolo so that will have to wait for now

-MC: Fine, I guess I'll just go ask Satan, he’s the smart one anyway… *turns to leave *

-Lucifer: *is instantly standing in front of you within half a second looking all flustered and grabs your notebook from you* Let me take a look at that for you 

Mammon:

-Even tho he’s a Simp for you he’s also a bit lazy so you’ll need to ask him multiple times for help when it comes to any type of hard work.

-MC: Mammon, can you help me carry some boxes from the attic Lucifer says we need to start getting rid of some of the useless junk up there.

-Mammon: Nah I got better things to do than menial labour for Lucifer

-MC: ok I guess I‘ll ask Beel to help, He can probably carry all the boxes in one trip, we’d get it done so quickly ☺️ 

-cue Mammon zooming up to the attic trying to stack all the boxes to prove that he can lift way more than his little brother.

Levi:

-Levi would definitely be the easiest to trick with this since he’s already constantly jealous of his brothers anytime they spend time with you.

-MC: Levi it’s my day to cook dinner do you want to come shopping for the ingredients with me?

-Levi: Sorry MC I’m on hour 9 of rewatching TSL, plus it's too bright outside. Why don’t you pull up a cushion and we can watch it together?

-MC: Oh that's ok I guess I'll go ask as Asmo, he’s been wanting to take me out on a date anyway *You close his door and start walking down the hall to Asmo’s room

-Levi: D..D..D.. Date! Wait MC no I’ll take you, I didn’t realize you were asking me out on a date, wait please come back!

Satan:

-I feel like he would also get jealous really quickly. Especially if you bring up Lucifer he would go full-on rage mode. Basically, anything that works on Lucifer will work on him too.

-MC: *pointing to one of the many books in his room* can I read that one? it looks cool.

-Satan: No MC it's cursed you could get hurt

-MC: ok *walks away*

-later MC is on the couch reading a book they borrowed from Lucifer

-Satan: *sees you reading the book Lucifer recommended, runs to his room to get the cursed book you wanted to read earlier* wait MC read this instead !!!!

-MC: but you said it was cursed

-Satan: it's fine I’ll figure out how to cure you just drop that other book NOW!

Asmo:

-Asmo would definitely get upset if you complimented someone else

-he wants to be the only one MC goes to for beauty advice 

-MC: Asmo can you share your skincare routine with me?

-Asmo: My dear MC I can't just give away my secrets to looking this gorgeous *walks away*

-later at RAD

-MC talking to Simeon: Wow Simeon your skin is positively glowing what products do you use, you’re so beautiful!

-Simeon: *blushing* oh, let me show you, I use…

-Asmo who had been eavesdropping: *Grabs MC’s arm* MC why don’t we head home I have to show you how gorgeous I look when I’m doing my skincare routine! 

Beel:

-I don’t wanna be cliche but reverse psychology would only work on Beel if it was about food

-Beel is always ready to help so there wouldn’t be too many situations where you’d get to use reverse psychology on him. Like if you asked him to help carry something he would do it, no questions asked. 

- but if you wanted some of his food, especially if it was something special that he’s been looking forward to it might be a bit difficult.

-MC forgot their lunch and saw Beel eating in the cafeteria: Beel can I have some of your food it looks really good!

-Beel: *looks at MC and then looks at his food* uh this is the limited edition Goliath Hellfire pizza from Hell’s Kitchen each customer is only allowed to purchase 1 in their entire lifetime. 

-MC: oh it's okay I just hadn’t had lunch today, I guess I can just go ask Asmo for some of his lunch

-Beel: *Grabs MC’s wrist to stop them from leaving* Asmo is on a diet again so there’s no way he has enough for both of you to get enough, here MC have some of mine *sits MC down and  hands them a slice of pizza that's almost double the size of their body

(this one was a stretch cuz I feel like Beel would have given MC some food anyway but I couldn’t think of anything for him, but I also didn't want to leave him out)

Belphie:

-He is the definition of unbothered he doesn’t care if you go out with the others cuz he’s too lazy to go out but also he knows the moment you sit down he can just fall asleep on you and now you’re stuck with him 

-but other than that I think he’d be just a little possessive of his nap stuff tho like blankets pillows etc… 

-you know he has the best stuff so if you want to have a great sleep you’ll need to ask to borrow them.

-MC: Belphie can I use your fancy sleep pillow I can’t sleep

-Belpihe: *pretends to sleep on the couch so he doesn't have to give MC his favourite pillow*

-Mammon: Don’t worry MC come sleep on my bed it's crazy comfy you'll definitely fall asleep right away.

-Belphie: *Throws the pillow at MC and pulls them onto the couch to take a nap with him-Mammon: Hey they were gonna sleep in my room tonight!

[miumura]

LIPSTICK TREND WITH ENHYPEN !

💄 — the tiktok lipstick trend with enhypen

PAIRING bf!enhypen x gn!reader

GENRE fluff, established relationship

WARNINGS kisses obviously, ummm nothing else possibly??

( ‘💌’ ) note : tysm anon for requesting !! i was planning to write this so i’m glad i got this ask <3 so i hope you enjoy 🤍

💋 — HEESEUNG

— this guy will probably laughing his nervousness off ngl LMAOOO 😭 but then he realizes, he's been dating you for a while so why should he be nervous for ??

— he's probably going to be super flirty as you're kissing him ... like giving you a gaze that's gonna make you nervous 😵‍💫

— but then after all that he gets shy as you continue to kiss his face LMAO . like let’s talk about the duality 😪😪😪

— "you love kissing me that much?" LIKE IF U DONT SHUT UP RIGHT NOWWW .

— he would shower you with compliments as you're doing the trend yk 🤗 like his man cannot make you start recording bc he’s giving you literal BUTTERFLIES .

— goes back to the tiktok you both made just to rewatch the vid about five times before looking at some comments 😊 but he forgets honestly and just ends up watching ur tiktoks cause ure so 🫣🫣🤗🤗🤭🤭😍😍🥰🥰😘😘 u get it LMAO

💋 — JAY

— when you show him a tiktok of someone doing the trend, he's chill about it at first.

— "you wanna try this?" "yep!" "okay then."

— he tries to act calm but he's actually not 😊 like he looks "okay" on the outside but he's panicking in the inside

— like you only figure out how he's actually feeling because of his red face or the heat of his face when you kiss him

— probably tells you which lipstick to pick out and probably even offers to apply on for you. like he gives a bunch of compliments so you’re the one who turns up red next

— looks at you with such LOVING eyes like he can't keep his eyes off you as your planting kisses all over his face...im giggling like why are you still maintaining eye contact

— even when recording, hes gonna look at you lovingly that people comment under your tiktok wishing for a man like that ... but yeah hes all yours 😊 (im feeding into ur deluluness and mines)

💋 — JAKE

— he's both shy and excited when you bring up wanting to do this trend. like this guy cannot stand still BUT ITS CUTE like just imagine him waiting excitedly as you go to get your lipstick 😪

— he's looking at you with such adoration as you're putting on the lipstick :(

— your kisses on his face is ticklish for him despite how often you kiss him on his cheeks 😭 he's just probably nervous but lets not talk about that

— you might have to tell him to stop moving though CAUSE ITS SMUDGING THE KISSES ON HIS FACE 😭 like he’s not even doing it on purpose, he just can’t do it

— like it smudges so bad you have to reapply it on his face (basically redo) but who said you both were complaining about that ?

— so at one point he just closes his eyes and let you do his thing bc if he looks at you, hes gonna move 😭

— everyone would be commenting on how cute your bf is </3 and he would def be reading through the comments, giggling and showing them to you i love jake

💋 — SUNGHOON

— showing him the tiktok trend, this guy will just be SOOO quiet like he can’t process it really … like is he really going to be doing this trend with you ??$ sounds like a dream come true to him

— you might have to poke him to start speaking cause he’s just letting the video replay and just staring at it LMAO its funny to imagine but its so hoon

— “hey…hey!” “huh?” “are we going to do the trend?” “oh uh, sure”

— he may not seem to be excited but trust me, he is. he’s just nervous for no reason … he’s letting you doing your thing and is giving such a wide smile :( LIKE JUST IMAGINE IT ugh his smile is actually perfect.

— i think he would be ticklish too ngl … like he thinks about it too much so he kinda gets ticklish as you’re planting kisses on his face … as if you don’t give him pecks on his cheeks daily

— would get so immerse at looking at you that he forgets about the tiktok … you probably would scold him bc of the amount of times you have to recreate the video .. but he just finds you pretty okay let him be 😢

— gets shy when he sees the comments under your video like he turns RED okay… and he giggles at them LORD it would be really cute seeing him like that 🙁

💋 — SUNOO

— you and sunoo are so down to do any kind of tiktok trend! whenever you both have any time together, you guys would attempt any trend you see on the fyp LMAO

— so he’s super down for anything!!! it doesn’t take that much convincing for him because he would automatically say yes.

— matter fact, sunoo might find the trend sooner than you do. we know how updated he is with trends, i mean, have we seen his tiktoks?? so yes, he would show you the trend first.

— he would be really excited!! like imagine that wide smile and him being like “isn’t this such a good idea?” with that voice tone IF YKYK.

— once you agree it doesn’t take much for you to agree either, he’s already rushing into the room to get a lipstick for you LMAO he’s just so excited to do anything for you really.

— you both would probably create multiple drafts, not because you guys mess up or anything. you guys could do it perfectly on the first try, but you both wanted to create more to keep in drafts for only both of your eyes :( <3

— he would probably help you pick out which one to post, and he picks out the best one im telling you. and the tiktok would be such a hit like sunoo has an eye for this okay 🙏 LMAOO

💋 — JUNGWON

— still living the shy jungwon type LET ME LIVE

— like u can’t tell me he wouldn’t be super red as you bring up the tiktok idea AND IMAGINING HIS SMILE TOO im dead.

— he would say it would be great and would anxiously wait as you get everything.

— he’d smile so hard that you would end up kissing his dimples as well HAISNS

— he would like hold his breath as you leave pecks on him. like you get closer, inhale. LIKE its so funny to you because its sooo noticeable that he is holding his breath 😭 so you just laugh at him instead of pointing it out.

— but he would REALLY enjoy it and would get sad once you finish kissing all over his face….he may or may not try to mess up the tiktok multiple times….

— once you both decide on the perfect video, he WILL blush when he watches it on his own time.

— he’s just the sweetest . how many times have i said that on any jwon related work

💋 — NIKI

— this guy was WAITING for this day to come and let me explain

— usually niki would find trends for you both to do first, so you really never looked for any. so obviously, niki found this trend way before you did! but this trend…he couldn’t bring it up to you THAT EASILY. why??

— 1) you two always do the silly kind of trends 2) he would be shy 3) and you would tease the hell out of him.

— so what does he do?? MAKE IT SUPER OBV 😭 . like he would attempt to have the trend playing on his phone, throw it closer to you, and just walks away HOPING you would see it. HES SO SILLY BUT ITS CUTE

— after you not noticing his attempts, he just gives up thinking he would never ever do this trend in his lifetime and would die thinking about this hes so dramatic UNTIL a miracle happened…you brought up the trend idea 😱

— this guy cannot contain himself like he would say yes immediately and not even tease you by saying no at first.

— he’s in his little own happy world as you kiss him LIKE u think its so sweet when he acts like this </3 !!!

— “we should do more trends like these,” he would say after you both finish filming and you agreed. and once you did…niki finally brings up another trend to do — something that isn’t so silly this time 😊

ENHA PERM TAGLIST 1 — @flwoie @ixomiyu @haruavrse @shinsou-rii @bearseulgs @ilovewonyo @yenqa @dimplewonie @bubblytaetae @wtfhyuck @ineedaherosavemeenow @ml8dy @starikizs @wonioml @chirokookie @xiaoderrrr @neozon3nha @en-chantedtomeetyou @millksea @enhaz1 @eundiarys @dioroits @ja4hyvn @judeduartewannabe @j-wyoung @thia-aep @vampcharxter @softpia @officiallyjaehyuns @itsactuallylina @hsheart @sweetjaemss @ahnneyong @hanienie @jwnghyuns @kpoplover718 @jiawji @rikizm @haknom @yeokii @wvnkoi @whoschr @teddywonss @shinunoga-iie-wa @flwrshee @skzenhalove @misokei @s00buwu @ox1-lovesick @miercerise @litttlestars @enhapocketz

[freedelusionshere]

Totally agree about S4 needing to be Syd’s POV, her thought processes in particular. About what has happened to her and what is happening now to inform the choices she will make going forward.

I had just rewatched that scene as well! (For different reasons, trying to figure out what she was making and if Carmy was trying to draw it in Aplolgies.)

But, to your previous point about slowing things down. Tina and Syd are up past 1:00 AM working on this dish and it took several steps for Syd to not be wasteful which meant slowing it down. Tina is having fun but is tired and wants to wrap it up. Syd goes all in to her own detriment! (Her dad brings this up as well about “the thing”).

After the S2 finale, Carmy tells her he left her alone and it will never happen again. Syd was out throwing up in the alley and having flashbacks of the tickets coming out. It was massively stressful (it also mirrors Carmy telling Sug he threw up before service but “kinda liked it”. I don’t think Syd does at all.)

She did it without him. He makes good on not leaving her alone in S3, but speeds everything up even more. He even yells things aren’t happening fast enough. Because he’s known for being the fastest at this kind of stuff, it shows him in flashback and how Luca admired it and Shapiro couldn’t keep up. He ends up breaking himself and Syd plays it cool but we know on the inside she’s not okay, either.

Carmy couldn’t be Chef David, thankfully. But what is he without being “the best” and having people look to him? I don’t think he knows yet.

Syd is obviously “the one “, and he needs to come through on the commitment he made to her in S1 and collaborate with her.

We really need to know why Syd is putting up with this. And while Carmy fucks up, that can’t all go on him, she knows what she’s doing and calls herself his accomplice.

We know she’s drawn to the idea of a bigger family and that Carmy inspired her, but I know they’re going to make Syd prioritize what she wants from this in S4. Syd takes care of her dad. Syd takes care of everyone but Syd.

What my shipper heart wants of course is for Carmy to wake the fuck up and realize that taking care of Syd will give him a different kind of meaningful purpose, and that taking care of people and community together will heal them both.

Self-care in community and what that looks like versus individualism? Marcus and Tina are showing growing and able to take on more. Do Carmy or Syd have to do it all? The restaurant Elske featured on the show is closed for a Winter break right now.

When the mentor is a lesson: we all deserve respect

Prior to season 3 of The Bear, I wrote Lessons from a mentor: every second counts about the parallels between Sydney and Chef Andrea Terry. While we don't spend much time with Chef Terry in The Bear, its clear that she is presented as a foil to Chef David Fields who appears throughout seasons 1-3 as one of Carmy's main abusers and an antagonist on the show.

Given Sydney's clear parallels with Fields' foil, Chef Terry, I've been thinking about contrasts made by the show between Sydney and Chef Fields and how these serve to highlight the path that Carmy should be choosing as EC of The Bear.

For me, the primary differences between Syd and Fields have to do with respect, namely who and what is worthy of it. Below are some specific contrasts made in the course of seasons 1 to 3 between the two of them in this regard:

Wasting food, time and labour

The wasting of food encouraged by Chef David Fields is seen most starkly in season 3.

Above: Chef Fields getting Carmy to bin exorbitant amounts of food he deems not perfect (screenshots from 3x01 Tomorrow).

Sydney knows that you shouldn’t waste food. In season 1, we saw her refusing to throw out her cola-braised short ribs even though Carmy’s view was that the dish wasn’t ready for service. Instead, Sydney gives her extra plate to a patron at The Beef, so that her food does not go to waste.

Above: Carmy cock-blocking Syd's dish from service and Sydney not letting it go to waste (screenshots from 1x06 Ceres). Below: Syd explaining to Carmy why her spare dish ended up with a patron.

So what does avoiding food waste have to do with respect? In giving the extra plate of her ribs to a patron, Sydney showed respect for the time and labour she invested in developing and cooking her dish. She is also showing respect for the labour and resources that went into growing its ingredients: the cow that would ultimately become the beef short rib (a single cow can take approximately 17,520 pounds of feed, 33,160 litres of water and 1-2 years to raise before its fit for slaughter), the rice that had to be sewn, grown and harvested before it turned into risotto, the aromatics like garlic, onion and carrot that make up the base of the sauce and stock, which take months to grow in the first place. I know the phrase "do you think X just grows on trees?" is meant to indicate something that is freely available, but any person who's successfully grown anything edible will tell you that it takes time, effort and work for that fruit to grow.

Below: picking cucumbers and strawberries at my in-laws' place. My father-in-law is a resolute gardener and tends to his fruit and veggie beds everyday: weeding, applying his own homemade compost, fending off pests, harvesting, irrigating... growing food is no joke!

When Fields and Carmy insist on throwing out dishes that aren’t “perfect”, they devalue all of the above. In an instant, they erase the months - in some cases years - that were given to create ingredients. They make invisible the creative energy, time and even love that went into developing the dishes in the first place. They also contribute to a work culture where the jump between devaluation of labour and time, to devaluation of workers themselves is small and ever-shrinking.

Devaluation of people

Once you start devaluing workers - the people themselves - you are well on your way to cementing a fascist work culture.

A precise definition of fascism is hard to pin down and its meaning differs slightly depending on who you speak to. Generally speaking, fascism is marked by dictatorial or autocratic control by a single leader, suppression of opposition, vehement fear and policing of difference (which makes fascist regimes almost always racist ones), and subsequent glorification of the nation over the individual (this nationalism is also almost always tied up with race). Does this all sound familiar? It should. There's a certain orange cheeto and his horde of ghouls that have recently done this fascist dance right into a second term at the White House.

But I digress. Back to The Bear.

Chef David's kitchen at Empire was a fascist one. He ran it like a dictator. He did not allow his staff to share any views on the food that differed from his own (recall him mocking Carmy for even taking the time to silently think about Fields' completely changing his paupiette of hamachi dish in 3x01 Tomorrow: "Just take your time thinking about that. Just wait longer for that to process."). He had such disregard and disdain for his staff that he did not hesitate to kick a chef out of his kitchen over a broken sauce (recall 1x02 Hands) or tell Carmy that he "should be dead" in the same episode. You can't get much more dehumanising than this shit.

Below: Chef Fields being a heinous, abusive POS (screenshot from 1x02 Hands)

Given the close relationship between fascism and racism, its no wonder that aspects of white supremacy culture also leech into Chef David's kitchen. I've written here about the role of whiteness in Carmy’s racialisation as an Italian-American man. That meta also discusses Tema Okun’s work on white supremacy culture and how it manifests in organisations and workplaces. Okun noted the below identifying characteristics of organisational, white supremacist culture, including (but not limited to):

perfectionism;

either/or & binary thinking; and

a sense of urgency.

In The Bear, these characteristics are on full display at Empire (as well as in Carmy's kitchen in The Bear during season 3). This is so much the case that Carmy has sense of urgency tattooed across his knuckles (in the form of "SOU").

In contrast, Sydney was the first to advocate for a change in how they run things at The Beef. She wanted to break from the abusive patterns she had experienced in the past working at fine dining establishments and she asserts this all the way back in 1x03 Brigade during that alley chat between her and Carmy (which is still my favourite scene between the two of them - yes even more than them screwing under that wonky table with nothing wrong with it lmao).

Unlike Fields, Sydney recognises the humanity in her coworkers. She does not devalue them. She encourages them to take their time and get things right.

Below left: Fields terrorising Carmy to "go faster motherfucker" (screenshot from 1x02 Hands). Below right: Sydney gently reassuring Tina as she adjusts to working as a sous chef "Take your time, chef" (screenshot from 3x03 Doors).

Where Chef Fields refuses to compromise on a dish, Sydney provides suggestions to help her team improve on ideas that they've come up with themselves. Recall how Fields dismisses Carmy's hamachi, zucchini and blood orange dish (before stealing it himself) in 3x01 Tomorrow. In 3x05 Children, Sydney spots Tina working on a cauliflower and brussel sprout dish and instead of berating her about the dish or her technique, she listens to Tina's thoughts about wanting to support a local grower and offers a suggestion for how she might change her plating. In short, where Chef Fields dictates, Sydney collaborates. The former refuses to recognise - to respect - the people he works with and their ideas while the latter does the opposite: she recognises her coworkers as whole human beings worthy of respect and encourages them to think independently, nurturing the ideas they bring with them to work.

Below left: Fields turning Carmys' dish three shades of beige in 3x01 Tomorrow. Below right: Sydney mentoring Tina (your honour, I love them) in 3x05 Children.

Sydney's deep care for her team is never more apparent than in her concern for Marcus, particularly after his mother's death. She takes the time after a supremely chaotic Friends and Family night to not only support Carmy but to also call Marcus and check in on him. Sydney is the only one on the team to enquire after Marcus' welfare the following morning (when everyone else was too busy asking about fucking Claire /vom) and she takes the time to help Marcus when it comes time for him to sort through his mother's belongings.

Below left: Sydney calling Marcus to let him know he has The Bear's support (screenshot from 3x01 Tomorrow). Below middle: Sydney asking the only question I actually wanted the crew to answer following Friends and Family (screenshot from 3x02 Next). Below right: Sydney and Marcus watch on as removalists take his mother's furniture out of his home (screenshot from 3x05 Children)

Contrast the above with Carmy's experience of grief while at work at Empire under Chef Fields. Fields had created such a culture of fear in his kitchen that when Carmy finds out about Mikey's death at work, it appears that he tells no one and continues cooking. He even apparently burns his hand but continues to work through it (he has no gloves on before the call from Natalie in 3x01 Tomorrow but is seen wearing a glove on one hand as he plates Sydney's favourite dish following the call).

Below left: Carmy's hands, plating hamachi with fennel soubise before he finds out Mikey has died. Below right: A grief-stricken Carmy continues to work with a gloved right hand as he deviates from Chef Field's orders and retakes his hamachi dish (screenshots from 3x01 Tomorrow).

No one should have to work under the conditions that Carmy did at Empire. They were abusive, toxic and ultimately, in Carmy's words, "made [him] very, probably mentally ill." This is fascism: where people are treated as cogs in service of the machine - replicants (as Richie likes to call them - see @freedelusionshere reblog of Chaos and Consistency for more on this) that serve no other function than churning out products for consumption: their grief, their love, their humanity be damned.

In You love taking care of people: Fine Dining in the Time of Late Stage Capitalism, I wrote about how colonialism and the wealth it generated gave colonising nation-states the time and resources to develop food cultures that they would then proclaim as the epitome of global "fine dining." Colonialism itself was (and continues to be) driven by racist dehumanisation: the devaluing of Indigenous and Global South peoples to the point that they could be used as slave labour and their resources stolen. Colonialism's dehumanisation also necessarily involved devaluation of the cultures of the colonised, including their foodways. This is another point of difference between Chef Fields and Sydney.

Devaluation of foodways

I don't think its a coincidence that the writers of this show had Chef FIelds turn Carmy's hamachi dish into literally the whitest plate I've seen on The Bear. I've noted here that originally, the plate featured the colours of the Italian flag (green, white and red) - indicative of Carmy's culinary ancestry - but that gets wiped and replaced by whiteness once Fields swoops in and steals the dish. I think this was a deliberate choice by the writers to indicate Fields' allegiance to the old guard of fine dining - where the food cultures of white Europeans are valorised above all else (and before you say anything, yes Italians are racialised as white but that hasn't always been the case - see my meta here on this).

The show then makes purposeful distinctions between Fields' preferences and views as compared to Sydney's when it comes to food. Some notable examples are below:

Chef Fields hates black pepper - the spice that Christopher Columbus was trying to find in India and which ended up sending him to the Americas instead. Sydney loves pepper. It features in her cola-braised short ribs as well as in a recipe she was workshopping during 1x08 Braciole.

Above left: Sydney's recipe for cola-braised short ribs includes 1tsp of black pepper. (screenshot from 1x08 Braciole). Above middle: Carmen on Fields’ hatred of the most commonly traded spice in the world: “He hates black pepper for some reason I'll never understand.” (Screenshot from 3x10 Forever). Above right: Sydney's notebook as she workshops a recipe at home in 1x08 Braciole: “more…pepper?”

We also see Fields berating Carmy for the number of components he has in an early version of the hamachi dish in 3x01 Tomorrow. He dismissively compares the dish to nachos. This bullshit rubbed me so furiously the wrong way because of its racism and classism. Nachos were created in the 1940s in northern Mexico, near the border and are now ubiquitous in America as an affordable and much loved snack. The original dish featured fried corn tortilla chips, Colby cheese and pickled jalapenos - a mix of ingredients that have their origins in Indigenous food cultures, as well as Mexico and the United States, reflecting the nature of cultural exchange at the border (there is also the fact that that border was imposed on communities that were already established in the region. i.e. they didn't cross the border, the border crossed them). The original nacho dish also uses ingredients that were economically affordable. This remains the case today.

So when Fields compares Carmy's dish to nachos, what he's implying is that the food is "common" and not elevated or refined enough to be served by Empire. This sentiment has its roots in a history of racism and classism. In Colonization, Food and the Practice of Eating, Dr Linda Alvarez notes that when the Spanish colonised the Americas, they considered Indigenous foods - like tortillas - "famine food" - to only be consumed if European food was not available to eat.

Above: Chef David Fields being a racist and classist sack of shit (screenshot from 3x01 Tomorrow).

In stark contrast to Fields' bullshit is Sydney who loves and respects food, period: whether its being served at Empire or Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. Recall her chat with Marcus in 1x08 Braciole and her wish to open a spot that would make the second-best bacon on Earth (because, well, how could she unseat Jordan? lol).

Below: Sydney and Marcus chatting about her dream spot (screenshots from 1x08 Braciole)

So, in conclusion:

Chef Fields is a fascist, regarded with no love by anyone (as far as we've been shown on The Bear anyway). Sydney is not a fascist. She gives grace and respect wherever she can. She honours people in their wholeness. So be like Sydney and resist fascism: in your homes, in your workplaces and in your government. Now, more than ever.

[stinkysam]

Choi Subong “Thanos” - One heart.

Warning : suicidal thoughts, drug use

Genre : fluff

Synopsis : “Please do another part of the 'one-sided' love with Choi su-bong” - anon

Reader : male (you/yours)

A/N : pt.1 TWO HEARTS // English is in bold // I think Thanos mostly won the ddakji game because we didn’t see him get slapped, unlike all the other characters (?)

Thanos was having a bad night, staying up late, rewatching MG Coin’s latest video.

He had lost 500 million won in crypto currency because of that asshole.

“Put it all in, trust me.” He said, repeating what the YouTuber had said. “Fucking bitch.” He was now indebted to a total of 1.19 billion won. How was he supposed to repay all that ?

He wanted to call you. He had grabbed his phone and typed in your name, but as you popped up, he decided against it, throwing it back on the bed.

It was really late and he knew you struggled with sleep, not wanting to stop you from resting.

So he walked out with his vape and his subway card in his pockets, his cross around his neck.

The more he walked, and the more he felt his sanity lose him, agonizing over all the lost money, failed love attempt and his failed rap career.

He didn’t know how to get rid of his debt, and he couldn’t even ask you, you just had enough money to live somewhat comfortably thanks to your part time job.

Thanos took a hit of his vape as he walked, frustration growing heavier and heavier to the point of hitting his head several times with the small device, not caring about the weird stare from the people around.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why did he say to go all in ? Did he do that on purpose ?!” He yelled, angry at both the YouTuber and himself for trusting him.

“What are you looking at ?” He asked angrily at someone passing nearby who side eyed him.

When he stopped walking, he was in the middle of a bridge. He looked to the side, watching the dark water. He could still see the waves, reflecting the moonlight.

For a moment he considered jumping. What’s stopping him ?

You’d probably cry over him a bit, like his other friends, but then you’d all move on. And then you’d forget about him.

He won’t even have a funeral worth remembering, whether they find his body in the water or not. Maybe with his greenish/yellowish shirt people would find him ? Maybe he should’ve put on a darker shirt ?

He took another drag of his vape, letting the smoke out with a sigh. He leaned closer to the border, looking at how high the bridge was.

Would it hurt if he jumped, would he really die ? Would his bones just break at the contact of the water ?

He opened his cross, taking a pill and swallowing it before letting out another sigh and pulling away, walking back. The drug quickly relaxing him.

As he waited for the subway, a man approached him.

“Excuse me, sir.” A voice called from behind. Thanos barely turned around, waving him away.

“Don’t need your help.” He said quietly.

“I must insist, I want to talk to you about a great opportunity.”

Thanos finally turned around, barely giving the guy a glance.

“What do you want ?”

“I’m sure it will interest you.” The man said, showing his suitcase before opening it. It had two pieces of paper, folded into squares, one red, one blue, and a large amount of cash.

Thanos looked at him then at the money and at him once more with raised eyebrows, pointing at it.

“What if I told you you could win money by playing a game with me ?” The man said with a gentle smile. Thanos looked at him, interested.

“What ?”

“A game of ddakji. I flip the card, you give me 100 000 won. You flip the card, I give you 100 000 won. Okay ?”

Thanos looked at him for a second before nodding.

“So which color do you want to play as ?” The man asked, taking the two pieces of paper.

“Red.” Thanos replied, pointing at it before taking a hit of his vape.

The man gave it to him, placing the blue one on the floor and placing himself a few feet to the side, giving Thanos space.

Thanos looked at the red card, quickly trying to study it to know how to throw it to win, nothing came to him. He approached the blue one, glanced at the man once before focusing back on the game, and then threw it right on the blue card who was sent in the air before falling on its other side.

Wide eyed, Thanos looked at the man, holding one hand out, ready to get the money.

“The round is not over.” The man said with a smile, before signaling Thanos to move to the side. He took the blue card, leaving the red one on the ground before powerfully and confidently throwing it down, the red card successfully flipping over.

Thanos groaned, cursing under his breath. He had no money on himself, but he could still pay back with the money earned in the game, right ?

They played a total of 10 rounds, 6 of which Thanos won. Winning him 600 000 won, but having lost four rounds made him lose 400 000, so a total of 200 000 won earned in the end.

The man took a large sum of money, counting it before giving it to Thanos who took a drag of his vape before taking the money.

“Sir.” The man said, closing his suitcase as Thanos counted the money before giving it a kiss. “You can make big money playing games like this for a few days. Would you like to give it a try ?”

Thanos looked at him, confused. This had to be a scam.

That’s when the man called him by his real name, taking him off guard as he said his age, the schools he went to, what year he left, to whom he owes money and how much, the small jobs he had and when he started his rap career and how he failed it. Finishing by mentioning his dad and his failed relationship attempt with you.

“What is it ? Who are you ?” Thanos asked, approaching the man, ready to fight. “You stalking me ?”

But the man didn’t answer, instead taking out a small card, unbothered.

“We have a few spots left.” He smiled as Thanos took the card, briefly looking at it. “Give me a call.”

Then he walked away with his suitcase, disappearing into the subway as Thanos stayed there, considering ripping off the small piece of paper.

“What the fuck ?” He looked around, trying to see if there really was someone following him.

“A few games like this, huh ?” Thanos said, finally looking back at the card, placing it in his pocket with the money.

Thinking, he began to move his lower jaw repeatedly along with his fingers, waiting for the next train.

When it finally arrived, he sat down inside, jaw still in action, head moving up and down to the rhythm of some song, hands flying in the air.

Not a lot of people were on the train at this hour, though he earned a few stares from the most sober ones. The drunks were barely conscious or too focused on themselves and their friends, talking and laughing loudly.

He almost missed his stop, listening too intently to a discussion nearby. His jaw moved faster the more he focused on them.

Walking out of the subway, Thanos thought about getting his phone out to send you a picture of the money but he remembered he had left it on his bed.

“Shit.” His head dropped down.

He continued his way back home, soon noticing a man sitting on the stairs by his door, face down.

“Is that bastard sleeping ?” He asked quietly. He wanted to give them a kick but moved past him to unlock his door instead, hearing a faint music coming from him. Thanos guessed he wasn’t asleep as the man began to hum quietly. “Fucking bitch, taking my stairs for a public bench.”

As he searched for his keys, he recognized the song. ‘Ego’ by BigBang, the song you kept listening to recently. And it was also your voice humming it.

“Fucking… [Name] ?” He asked, turning around. You didn’t respond, still humming. He gave you a kick to the side, making you jump and rip off your earphones.

“What the- Oh ! T !” You smiled, standing up. “What the fuck did you hit me for ?” You added with a frown, pausing your music.

“I thought you were some drunkard ! Why were you waiting like that !” He pointed at you, angry, stomping.

“How did you want me to wait ?!” You pointed at him in return. “I called your phone but you didn’t answer, so I knocked at your door but nothing ! Who sleeps like a fucking log, huh ?! So I thought you were out and I could wait for you.”

He stared at you, before squeezing the bridge of his nose, calming down. He didn’t know why you were here but it would be a lie to say he wasn’t happy to see you.

“How are you not asleep ?”

“You’re… not either ?” You pointed out.

“Yeah but you have sleeping troubles.”

“Yeah, exactly, that’s why I’m up, dumbass.” You said with a laugh. “Are you letting us in or do you prefer to have this conversation outside ?”

He stared at you before rolling his eyes and unlocking the door, keeping it open for you to get in.

“Why did you go through all the trouble to get here ?” He asked with a smile as you walked past him.

“I have something to tell you.” You replied, looking away.

“Me too, you’ll never believe what happened.” He said, closing the door behind himself and following you to his room.

“What ?”

“I got 200 000 won just by playing a children’s game.”

“Nice. Are you sure this wasn’t a scam ?” You asked, laying on his bed, grabbing his phone and giving it to him. He unlocked it, seeing all the texts you had sent him. He would freak out about them, but you’re here, so he can’t.

He sat next to you, grabbing his pillow and giving it to you. You took it, giving a quick ‘thanks’ as you rested your head on it.

“The guy even gave me his card to play more games. Said I could win a lot more.” He took out the card and the cash, showing them to you.

You said nothing, studying the money. Was it stolen ? Was there a way to know ? You took out your phone and asked Naver.

“He uh- he also knew a shit tons of things about me. Like, crazy level.” He grimaced, lips in a pout.

“Huh ?!” You raised your head, letting your phone drop from your hands. “Throw that card away, don’t call them !”

“I won’t !”

“Yeah you’re just thinking about it ! I know you.” You sat up, placing a hand on his. He looked at it. “There’s no such thing as easy money, unless you’re already rich. This is so obviously a trap.”

He sighed, slightly upset you weren’t as excited about it as he was.

“I could pay my debts !”

“Or die ? Maybe they’re gonna take all your organs, your fucking eyes ?” You squeezed his hand, trying to make your point across. His heart skipped a beat.

“He said they were games, like the one we played.”

“And you trust him because he gave you 200 000 won ?”

“It was ddakji.”

You pulled your hand away with a sigh, feeling defeated, but he grabbed it back.

“Nothing bad is going to happen. Trust me.”

“No, I’m not gonna trust him for you. Throw that card away, don’t call them.” You pulled away, grabbing the card and throwing it to the floor. “I don’t want to find you dead, or have you disappear and never see your body because some asshole got you with money.”

He looked at you, he knew you cared about him, you had made that clear before, but he didn’t know you worried like that. He could feel his heart flutter in his chest.

“I… lost 500 million won more...” He said quietly, looking away, biting his lips.

“During the ddakji game ?!” You looked at him, wide eyed.

“No, earlier. Because of fucking MG Coin. That’s why I was out.”

You sighed, placing your head in your hands. You had like, 9% of what he just lost on your account. That wouldn’t even help him. Fuck.

“If I play the games-”

“Oh my god you’re so fucking stubborn ! No !”

“10 rounds, I won 6 of them !” He said, trying to make you understand.

“And what ? That makes you lucky ? Then why weren’t you lucky earlier and not lose 500 billion won ?”

“It doesn’t rely on luck.”

“Yes it does ? Not entirely but it does, I watch his videos too.” You looked at him again. “If you lose one of their games, whatever that is, what do you think is gonna happen ? Which organ are they gonna harvest from you first ? How many organs are you gonna lose for you to understand it’s a stupid idea ?”

“Alright, alright, calm down.” He got off the bed, grabbing the card and throwing it in the trash before regaining his place next to you. “You’re stressing me out with your organ talk.”

“I fucking hope so ? This whole situation is stressful. You said he knew shit about you ? How ?” You laid back down, searching Thanos on Naver to see how much information about him would pop up.

“I don’t know.” He replied, his back resting against the headboard as he slowly slid down, now laying next to you.

You were lost in your thoughts, eyes moving quickly on the screen, as Thanos observed you, knowing you were probably already thinking about how to help or what you could tell the cops.

God, he really wanted to kiss you, watching as your fingers pulled nervously at the skin of your lips.

“What did you want to tell me ?” He finally asked, hands waving between you and your phone.

“I don’t think it’s the right time for that.” You replied still lost in your own head, grabbing his hands to stop them from interfering with your thoughts.

He stayed like this, his hands in yours for a few seconds before talking again.

“I almost ended it.”

Your eyes slowly looked at him, thinking about his words, not understanding.

“I was on a bridge. Looked so damn fine.” He said before looking at you, seeing you slowly realize. The more your eyes grew in size, the more anxiety he felt.

“What ?!” You pulled on his hands, leaning closer.

“Stop freaking out, I didn’t jump.” He said with a nervous laugh.

“Why didn’t you call me ?”

“Because I wanted you to sleep.”

“Oh fuck you.” You hit his shoulder. “Since when do you care about my sleep ? You’re always…” You let out a frustrated groan, planting your face in the sheets.

“What ?” He laughed. “I’m always what ? I don’t send you texts at night so you can sleep, remember ?”

“Well, maybe you should, because it’s fucking boring.” You said, glaring at him.

“Text me, I’ll text you back !”

“But you’re the one with a rather not shitty sleep schedule, I’m the one who doesn't want to wake you up.”

“How many times will I have to tell you ? Mh ?” He placed his index under your chin.

You looked at him, confused.

“I” He pointed at himself, “Love” making a heart with his fingers, “You.” and then pointing at you, tapping your chest. “So I don’t care if you wake me up at 3-”

You planted your lips on his, one hand gently holding his face while the other held the one still pointing at your chest. Your eyes were closed shut as he looked at you in surprise, lips following you when you pulled away.

He didn’t wait for an explanation, instantly kissing you again, a kiss less restrained than yours. Hands crawling to your face, holding you close. Kissing you again and again.

Thanos had no idea what was going on, did you change your mind ? But he wasn’t going to drop any crumbs.

He felt you climb on top of him, your lips kissing all his face. His heart could explode, but not before he made a thousand raps about it.

“What’s- happening ? I’m so fucking confused, man.” He said with a smile, chuckling once you two had calmed down.

You hugged him tightly, resting against him, face hidden in the crook of his neck.

“Your plan to be fucking annoying and win me over worked.” You said quietly, embarrassed.

“Hah ! When did you know ?” He asked, his hand caressing your back.

“I realized a long time ago. But I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to be right.”

“Asshole ! And I’m the one who’s stubborn ?” He pinched your sides, making you squirm.

“Exactly- Stop it- Why do you think we’re in this situation ?” You sighed.

He smiled, before letting out a small scream, shaking you violently.

“I’m so fucking happy !” He said, kissing you again, looking at you with a huge smile, tightly holding you. You laughed, kissing his neck. You stayed like this for a moment, enjoying each other’s warmth as you slowly felt sleep creep on you. But before it could arrive you moved.

“Promise me you won’t call them.” You said, pulling away, sitting on him with a yawn.

“Alright, I promise. Anything.” He smiled, raising his hand to make a pinky promise.

“Good !” You said with a big voice, quickly closing the distance to plant another kiss on his lips. Before moving down slightly and planting your face against his chest.

You frowned, feeling his cross against you, so with one hand you reached under his shirt through his collar to grab it and pushed it away, making him chuckle.

“If you wanted to put your hands in my shirt so bad you could just do it.”

“Shut up.” You closed your eyes, before actually taking him up on the offer, gliding your hands under his shirt and resting them on his sides.

You could hear his heart pound faster as he wrapped his arms around you, letting out a pleased sigh.

“I love you.” You said quietly, smiling to yourself when his heart picked up speed again. “Good night.”

[sansaorgana]

— THE SERPENT QUEEN

PAIRING — Sauron x fem!Maia!Reader

SUMMARY — The Queen of The Southlands is Adar's prisoner in Mordor but her husband comes back to set her free. At least that is what they want other people to believe. In fact, they seek their revenge on the Lord Father of the Uruks and they certainly are up to no good.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — The idea for this story started quite simple – Halbrand looks so hot in this episode that while rewatching I thought... what if he was like "set my wife free" instead of "let my people go"...? 🥵 And in the end the story grew much bigger plot-wise and it's quite long but I didn't want to split it in two parts because I feel like more interesting things are happening later in the story. 🙈🤣 The Reader is a Maia and she changes her forms but I did not describe how any of them look like except for a little detail that is a scar and I needed it for the plot. She is also a shape-shifter like her husband but she is known for being a serpent and she is referred to as (Y/N), which is her "Maia name" but I also gave her three other names, which are for her disguises and their meanings are explained in the fic. BTW there might be a second part to my Chrysalis fanfic! But I wanted to write something else first! 🦋

WARNINGS — Reader is not a good person, mentions of Morgoth's past abuse (towards her, Mairon and Adar), Reader is being beaten by the Orcs as their prisoner (she is a Maia, though, so it doesn't really damage her or anything... but still!), brief mentions of other prisoners dying (including children), Reader has a scar on her chest/breast, shape-shifting into a snake (can it be a tw?)

WORD COUNT — 8,500 (🙈)

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

THE SERPENT QUEEN

“Where did Halbrand’s wife ever learn how to use a sword?” Galadriel wondered after watching your little performance to show her that you indeed could pick the freshly forged weapon up and wield it.

You panicked at first, not knowing what to say, therefore you laid your eyes on your husband who was leaning on the wall with a smirk as he watched you. His tanned muscles, dirty from the forge’s grease, flexed in a very appealing manner as he smirked. After all, he was the master of deception, therefore you hoped he would come up with a good lie.

“That is how I fell in love with her, don’t you know?” He chuckled and shook his head, winking at you. “I started a tavern brawl once and there she was, showed up out of nowhere and pressed a knife to my throat, telling me to get out of her father’s tavern. She kicked my arse although I admit, I let her,” he added and you rolled your eyes.

“Bollocks,” you snorted at that. “Keep lying to yourself, Hal.”

Galadriel smiled at the story, however she remained vigilant.

“That does not answer my question,” she pointed out but you already felt more comfortable with lying since your husband had prepared the soil for it.

“My grandfather was a knight,” you told her. “A poor one that had been given some of his own land but he lost nearly all of his humble fortune because of gambling. He kept his sword, though, and I was his only grandchild. My old man never learnt how to wield it nor was interested in it but I picked it up quite fast. My grandfather was hesitant at first since I was a girl but he eventually gave in and taught me,” you added to make the story more believable. Galadriel, however, looked a little stunned while you grew frustrated. “Listen here, Elf, human women are stronger and more independent than you think. In the village not so far away from ours, there is this woman… Annie’s her name, am I right, Hal?” You looked at your husband with another made up lie.

“Aye, hard–headed Annie,” he nodded and Galadriel raised an eyebrow.

“She is a carpenter’s widow and when ol’ John died, Annie was left with nothing. She learnt the craft in a year and re-opened the workshop,” you told her and Galadriel seemed to be a little surprised but did not comment any further.

“Well, alright then, knight’s granddaughter,” she challenged you as she raised her own sword slightly to point its sharp tip at you. “Show me how you fight now. Holding the sword and waving it around is one thing but dueling with me is another,” she walked out of your house and you swallowed thickly, squeezing the sword’s hilt.

“Don’t overdo it,” Mairon squeezed your arm when you were on your way out. He leaned in to hiss it into your ear as he shot you a warning glance. “(Y/N), I mean it. Let her win in the end.”

You looked deep into his eyes without hiding your frustration and anger. 

“Oh? You think I would defeat her? Have you forgotten already?!” You snapped at him, lowering aggressively your white blouse from underneath your corset with your free hand to show him a scar on your breast.

The scar Lady Galadriel had left there the very last time you had duelled with her back in the First Age during the battle where she had known you under a different name and profession, which was one of Morgoth’s Lieutenants. The wound had been inflicted with a steel from Valinor and its pure light had damaged your physical form forever – no matter what shape you took, your form always had a scar in the very same spot.

Your husband looked at the scar and chuckled at the sight of it, which annoyed you further.

“Just go and do your thing but don’t make her suspicious,” he said and you fixed your blouse before following Galadriel outside but not without giving him a scolding look.

Mairon walked out of the building as well and leaned on another wall now but this time in the shadow of the building’s roof where he was able to watch your duel with the Lady of Light.

“Do not fret, it is but a friendly sparring,” she smiled at you.

“I don’t fret,” you emphasised and charged at her.

You were trying to keep your rage at bay and despite the centuries since your previous fight, you quickly found your rhythm again that resembled a gracious dance of two fierce ladies. Feeling your husband’s gaze upon you, not without feeling frustrated and humiliated, you stumbled a few times and let out a few groans of effort to look more human and less experienced than you truly were, hesitating here and there before making the next move even though it had been calculated and planned already.

The Númenorian commoners living on the same street as you and your husband these days froze in the middle of the pavement and abandoned their daily errands to watch the sparring between two foreigner women and what fascinated them the most was how this extraordinary duel was between a human and an Elf. But what they did not know was the fact that the fight in front of their eyes was even more special than they realised.

It was a fight between two old enemies and none of them was mortal. A duel between the Lady of Light, Commander of the Northern Armies of High King Gil-Galad and the Serpent Queen – the only female Lieutenant of Morgoth and then Sauron’s right hand and wife. You had been enemies with her for long centuries now and even in the songs and legends you had always been put against one another. However, that was something even she did not know of at the moment.

You finally landed on the ground, your shoulder blades hitting the pavement as you dropped your sword. She would probably win either way, which was something you had to admit to your own self bitterly, however this time you allowed it to happen much quicker than usual. The way you fell down on the ground hurt your human flesh, therefore you let out a whine and Galadriel’s eyes widened slightly. She visibly felt bad about the fierceness in which she had defeated you despite assuring you of the friendly nature of this sparring.

But throughout the fight you could feel her frustration growing when she had realised you were better than she had been expecting.

“Are you quite alright?” She asked, reaching out towards you with his hand. “You fought well. Your style reminds me of someone very powerful I had once known… Your grandfather must have been a grand knight.”

“I am fine,” you drawled out through your gritted teeth and grabbed her hand, allowing her to help you stand up while you picked up the sword from the ground. The people watching on the pavement were slowly going back to running their daily errands. “Do you think my skills are enough to fight the Orcs?” You asked, innocently.

“Yes, I think so,” Galadriel nodded with a furrowed brow and looked behind you to meet your husband’s gaze. “If your husband allows it, that is.”

“I don’t need his permission for anything,” you shrugged your arms.

“Of course,” Galadriel smiled softly. “But I’m sure Halbrand here would not want to lose you, Maira.”

“I’m not worried about that,” he approached you two and stood behind you before wrapping his strong arm around your waist. “She’s invincible, that woman,” he leaned in to kiss your cheek and you giggled. “My woman,” he added and you patted his arm playfully.

Galadriel kept smiling gently at the two of you. She was very glad her plan was working out and of course you had been making sure it would. Your husband had been playing the role of a man who wanted to have nothing to do with his heritage and you played the role of an insisting wife, motivating her man to do the right thing. A classic, old tale.

“The Southlands will prosper under your rule, of that I am sure,” Galadriel whispered with hope in her voice. “King Halbrand and Queen Maira. Your bloodline will be the bloodline of the great and righteous kings.”

“And queens,” you winked at her with a chuckle.

About that one thing you agreed with her, actually – The Southlands would prosper under your rule.

You would heal it, after all. And then you would be moving along to heal more realms and lands. Until all of Middle-earth would be nothing but perfect.

You were not sure if the volcano exploding was part of your husband’s plan. It probably was but as usual he had not told you everything and it frustrated you greatly. Either way, you had no time to discuss it with him as the dust and fire began to cause chaos and destruction. As the (self-proclaimed) Queen of The Southlands, you busied yourself with pretending to be a protector of your subjects, helping women and children to seek shelter.

The darkness and disarray made it possible for all the Orcs to break free and begin their slaughter as well. And somewhere amongst the messy battle, you were suddenly thrown on the ground with all force and attacked by the filthy creatures you had once led to the battlefield yourself.

Therefore, you knew perfectly well everything about how they were fighting and how they were thinking. Surrounded by darkness and chaos you could show the true potential of your abilities since Galadriel could not see you and find them suspicious. This way, you slayed quite a few Orcs but there were too many of them charging at you and, eventually, they kicked the sword out of your hand and held you by your hair, throwing your head back to expose your neck for the dirty blade of the biggest one amongst them.

“Mairon,” you called for him with your mind. You needed a rescue – you did not want to lose this flesh, which would separate you from your husband for another few centuries.

You had been patiently waiting for his return, hiding away from the Valar who wanted to find and judge you. If you lost your flesh now like he had once lost his, you would have to be away from him for a few more centuries. What a cruel fate it would be but perhaps that was the way for the gods to punish you from afar.

And how ironic it would be if you lost your wife because of the Orcs like your husband had once lost his as well. 

“Mairon!” You called for him again when the Orc’s blade moved closer to your neck.

Your husband, however, was busy fighting and perhaps he didn’t even sense your calling. There was only one thing you could do to save your flesh now, although it risked losing your disguise.

The human colour of your eyes subdued slowly and you allowed your pupils to narrow unnaturally as if you were a snake while one side of your human face swelled with thick, black blood flowing in your veins. The Orcs took a step back and looked at each other, confused. You quickly went back to your ordinary and innocent look, though, making them believe they had just experienced some sort of mirage.

They were only descendants of the ones who had been fighting by your side all the centuries ago before your army had turned their backs on you, leaving you in the middle of the battlefield to die from the wound Galadriel had inflicted upon you. Therefore, they could not remember you.

But, perhaps, the legend of the Serpent Queen was still being told between a father and a son amongst the Orcs. Amongst the Elves you were known as Lókë, too, just like your husband was known as Sauron. The Serpent and The Abhorred.

“I am Maira, Queen of The Southlands,” you breathed out the name of your human disguise to the Orcs, pretending to be as desperate as proud. “I am more valuable to you alive,” you added.

They were grunting between each other some things in the Black Speech, which you could understand perfectly but you pretended you could not. Finally, they agreed to let Adar decide your fate and you clenched your jaw at the mention of his name.

The one who had betrayed you and your husband. The one who had ordered the Orcs to leave you out to die in the battlefield where you had been fighting at the same time Mairon had been coronating himself. The war with the Elves had kept you apart on the day so important but you had been trying to remain hopeful – to win him a battle as his coronation gift and get your own coronation ceremony shortly after.

In fact, your husband had promised you that yours would be much grander and more beautiful if you had to have two separate ones. His had been supposed to be a humble one but yours would be the most breathtaking and splendid.

And after nearly coughing your lungs out after being wounded and naively left alone to die as if you were an ordinary mortal, you had crawled out of the battlefield, leaving a bloody trail behind you. And when you had arrived at your fortress, all you had found was Mairon’s dead body.

Knowing he would eventually come back to you, you focused on healing yourself and hiding from the outside world since now you had no army and no husband by your side, meanwhile the Valar had been searching for you. And all this time, you had been tempted to find Adar and seek your revenge but you knew your husband would not be happy that you had taken this from him. He had been the one personally slain by Adar, therefore the vengeance was his to take.

The Orcs put the shackles around your wrists and dragged you behind them to some shed where you were supposed to wait. And while you were on your way there, you finally heard him.

“(Y/N)?” You sensed a panic in his tone. “We are leaving, I am faking an injury. Where are you?”

“Go, Mairon,” you answered. “I am their prisoner and I am sure you can make an advantage of it,” you assured your husband with your mind. He was not replying for a while as if he was thinking about a new scheme.

“I will be back,” he only assured you after a while and you smirked to yourself.

“I know.”

Beaten and bruised, hair full of mud and dried out blood, you were dragged in shackles alongside other human prisoners and you were given no special treatment due to your status. Of course, despite the unpleasant experience of your human form, none of that could truly affect you because you were not bound to your flesh. 

If you truly were who you were claiming to be – a human common woman Maira – you would be long dead now, of that you were sure. In fact, you could see some of the humans dying out of exhaustion or injuries and they were mostly women and children.

Each time they were feeling worse, like the true Queen of The Southlands, you were begging for mercy and for help. And each time you were punished for that but of course nothing could damage your flesh permanently – except for pure Elven steel that represented the light of Valinor… but the Orcs did not possess such weapons, naturally.

They worked on some sort of a primitive settlement for themselves and the humans were required to help them. As a woman you were given a bit lighter jobs around and you were performing them although you wondered when would Adar finally grace you with an audience as you were gritting your teeth and wondering where your husband was and what was he doing.

And, finally, one day, while working alongside others, you spotted Lord Father taking a walk around the camp. He was talking to a few Orcs and nodding his head at their reports. 

You lifted your head up and Adar turned around this very moment as if he felt some sort of a connection between you two. Your eyes met and he tilted his head slightly when you were giving him a hateful look before going back to work.

After a short while, you were being beckoned over by the Orcs to approach them and Adar.

“You!” One of them called in his filthy, raspy voice. “Queen of The Southlands,” he addressed you with irony. “Come ‘ere, Your Majesty,” he emphasised the title as the rest laughed.

You straightened your back and walked up to them as much as the collar around your neck attached to a chain allowed you to. It was not enough, so Adar took a few steps ahead to stand closer to you and examine your face. You could feel your hatred for him growing and making your fists clench around nothing.

“What do they call you, Your Majesty? I believe your name has escaped me,” he started.

“Maira, my Lord,” you remained polite to pose as a person full of dignity no matter what circumstances were.

“Maira…” Adar hummed to himself and furrowed his brows. “The name sounds oddly familiar to me.”

Of course it did, what an idiot, you thought. You named your human disguise after your husband’s true name. And perhaps it had been a mistake, you had just realised.

“Named after my great-grandmother, I was,” you nodded at him. “I wanted to talk to you for a while now, actually. About the way you treat my people here. They need more food and water, better shelters at night, especially children,” you continued your play-pretend. “But I don’t think you want to talk to me about that, am I right?” You sighed.

“My children work as hard as your people. We all start with nothing here,” Adar pointed out and you clenched your jaw at his words.

“Yet your children walk freely and we have collars around our necks,” you told him.

“There is a price one must pay for being defeated,” he pointed out and lowered his gaze at the place where your blouse was torn, revealing a small part of your scar.

Adar furrowed his brows and lowered your blouse down with his cold finger as a shiver travelled down your spine and your heart began to pounder.

“My husband would kill you for that, my Lord,” you threatened but he ignored you.

“Where did you get a scar like this? I’ve seen you back there on the battlefield and you fought well, my Queen,” he addressed you with sarcasm, of course, “and you seemed to be experienced in combat.”

“The scar is not from any combat and I’ve been taught how to fight by my grandfather, he was a knight,” you answered his question but he kept staring at your scar and tilting his head. Was it possible that he could sense the source of the old wound? He was an Elf after all and what had poisoned you forever now was made out of Valinor’s light. “Aye, my Lord, the scar is from my past when I was a very young maiden and didn’t listen to my mama as I wandered around the woods on my own. Don’t worry, I defended myself and you should see the other guy,” you chuckled nervously and Adar finally raised his eyes to meet your gaze but he still looked unconvinced.

One of the Orcs approached him as he kept staring at you suspiciously. He whispered something into Adar’s ear and you could hear the word serpent as you realised that the same Orc had been one of those who had captured you before.

Adar nodded at him and laid his eyes upon you once more, this time even more intrigued than a moment earlier.

“My children claim you pulled a magic trick on them,” he pointed out and you had a feeling that denying it would only make it look worse for you, so you came up with another excuse.

Actually, you realised that lying was not such a difficult craft. So far, you had been mostly relying on your husband to prepare the soil for your deceptions but now, when he was not around to help, you found out it was not that hard to do it on your own.

“My grandmother was a witch, they say,” you remarked.

“You seem to be coming from a very interesting bloodline,” Adar smirked and you sighed.

“You want to talk about my ancestors, my Lord? Sure, why not. I feel myself invited for dinner then, but is it not rude to keep your guests in shackles?” You raised an eyebrow and his facial expression hardened immediately.

“Where is your husband, I wanted to ask?” He finally inquired what he had called you for in the first place.

“The hell would I know?” You shrugged your arms. “What do you need him for?”

“To send him a message that I have you,” Adar explained. “What other use are you to me if not a bargaining chip?” He pointed out. “If he doesn’t come for you, I can kill you easily and get rid of the burden.”

“He will come back,” you assured him with a head nod as your eyes became serious in an instant. “I don’t know where he is but he will not forsake me. You can expect him any day,” you added. “Not only I was left behind, my Lord, but his subjects, too.”

Adar nodded at you and dismissed you before walking away. You, however, stood still and kept staring at his back with nothing but pure hatred.

“What are you staring at?!” One of the Orcs barked at you. “Go back to work, whore!”

“You have no idea who you have just called a whore,” you only told him before turning around and going back to other prisoners. The Orc laughed at you. “Scum,” you muttered under your breath.

The day was windy and dark – like all days nowadays in the land that Adar had renamed to be Mordor. Mairon quite liked the sound of it and he thought he would not change it. Unless his wife would insist, of course. You hated everything that came from Adar, therefore you could want to change the name and he would not blame you.

If you two did not need the army of the Orcs so badly, you would probably insist on getting rid of them, too. That was how much you hated Adar and his children.

A few weeks you had suffered at the Orcs’ camp while your husband worked in Eregion with Lord Celebrimbor – pretending to be worried and heartbroken about his wife’s imprisonment, of course – but now he was finally back to free you and to continue his plan.

He had not been actually heartbroken – he knew his Serpent Queen was strong and truly invincible but he had been worried indeed. Worried that your impulsive nature had given your disguise away somehow during that time.

After turning himself in he was led in chains, with a collar around his neck, to see Adar alongside other humans captured on the way. He witnessed some people being killed for refusing to kneel in front of their new Lord and some being marked with burning iron for choosing to follow the new leader. As a man posing to be their King and protector, Mairon had to pretend to be sympathetic towards their fate.

“The King of The Southlands turned himself in, Lord Father,” one of the Orcs pushed him to stand closer to Adar who had been squinting his eyes at the man in front of him. “Says he wants to negotiate.”

“Is she alive?” Mairon asked as his voice broke a little although he knew perfectly well that you were – his sweet (Y/N), he could sense your presence from miles away now.

Adar hesitated before giving him an answer, visibly debating with himself inside of his mind.

“Worried about the witch, are you?” Adar finally asked and Mairon gritted his teeth.

What looked like him being angry at Adar for calling his wife a witch, was nothing but his anger towards you for being impulsive enough to earn such a title amongst them now.

“What are you talking about?” Mairon asked.

“Nothing,” Adar shook his head and chuckled. “She is alive and a burden to us all. Her wicked tongue and her big mouth surely are. If you want to take her, I am not going to ask for much in return. I will gladly get rid of your Queen,” Adar remarked and the Orcs laughed. 

Mairon moved uncomfortably. It was all a game, of course, but he felt real rage now at the disrespect these filthy creatures were showing to their rightful Queen.

“That is good to hear but I am here not only as her husband. I am here as the King of my people, too,” Mairon pointed out. “Let them go.”

The Orcs laughed again, which was something he had been expecting. Adar remained serious, though, and so did Mairon.

“...or yours will die,” he threatened, although as a human he was posing to be he could not do anything, of course.

Perhaps he shouldn’t be so angry with you for making too many hints about your real nature because he was giving in to the temptation himself now. It was simply impossible for creatures as proud as you two not to hint at your real greatness when you were forced to be humiliated by the circumstances.

Adar finally shook his head and snorted at Mairon’s threat.

“My people defeated the Men of these lands,” he said. “We defeated the Elves who came to their aid. We even defeated the allies, the Men from beyond the sea,” he stood up from his throne to walk up to Mairon. “There is no one left for us to fear.”

“There is one,” Mairon said to that, pretending to look hopeless and defeated. “Since Galadriel’s defeat, she sought out new allies,” he continued as Adar kept staring at him angrily but not without a hint of fear on his scarred face. “An ancient sorcerer and a Lady of Darkness, to instruct the Elves in forging a new weapon.”

The Orcs were visibly upset about the news as they looked at each other, worried.

“One you first told her about,” Mairon kept teasing to plant an idea inside Adar’s mind that he could be a source of his children’s demise. “A power over flesh,” he explained. “Do you remember those words? A power that will allow them to use your children as slaves in their army once more,” he finished his teasing. “I fled from them after finding out with whom the Elves wanted to forge an alliance,” he continued with the lie.

“Galadriel would never have anything to do with them. She spent long centuries fighting them and their evil,” Adar shook his head.

“Nothing brings people together as much as a common enemy. Perhaps she hates your children more than she hates them,” Mairon answered.

“Besides, they are both slain,” Adar chuckled nervously, trying to convince others as much as himself, therefore Mairon ignored that accusation.

“Set my wife free, let my people go, and I will tell you where they can be found, so you can destroy them and rid us both of their endless evil,” he made sure to sound a little frightened as well.

“No, Your Majesty,” Adar addressed him with irony as he moved even closer. “You will tell me everything you think you know of this sorcerer and his serpent whore now. Or I will spill the words from your throat.”

“If I die, all that I know dies with me,” Mairon pointed out. “You can’t kill me.”

“We’ll see for how long you keep that attitude,” Adar smirked before looking at one of the Orcs. “Bring her.”

You knew that your husband was back already, you could sense him for long hours now. However, you kept working as usual and pretending that you could not sense anything. The Orcs were already calling you a witch and you wanted them to think of you as an innocent village folk healer instead of a real sorceress with any grand powers because that would be too suspicious.

“You,” you felt a dirty hand grabbing you and turning you around as you nearly bumped into an Orc standing there.

“What is it?” You furrowed your brows, expecting him to inform you that you were free to go after your husband’s negotiations.

This, however, did not happen. Of course. Life would be too beautiful then.

You were dragged by the chain towards one of the wooden huts and thrown inside on the hard floor. You scratched your hands when you landed on it with your arms extended to avoid bumping your head.

“She is no part of this,” you heard a familiar voice and you raised your head as your eyes sparkled and a smile appeared on your face at the sight of your husband. 

He had a collar around his neck as well and he was as dirty and bruised as you were, chained to a wooden pillar. You wanted to run up to him but the chain around your neck was too short to be able to reach him as the Orcs laughed and they chained you to another pillar. This way you could face your husband but you could not touch him and what a great torment it truly was.

It was surely a torment much greater than the physical pain they were inflicting upon you to make him talk. And while they kicked and punched you, you dissociated – staring blankly at the wall and being grateful for the fact you were a creature powerful enough to be able to mentally leave your body like this.

“Stop it!” Mairon begged in a raspy voice as one of the Orcs kept his head still, forcing him to watch. When you laid your eyes on him once, you swore, he even faked a tear streaming down his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” you heard his voice inside your head and it made you realise that the tear was not a play-pretend. Watching you being in pain was not something he enjoyed unless it was in your intimate moments – something rooted in love and mutual consent.

“I can handle that,” you answered. “What is your plan?”

“I will tell you when we are left alone by them. Can you endure a bit more, my love?” He asked, worryingly.

“I would endure centuries of that for you, Mairon,” you assured him. “I will, however, lose consciousness now,” you warned him so he would not be scared before you pulled the trick on the Orcs and forced your flesh to shut down, pretending to faint out of pain.

Enduring the pain they were causing you was easy. Watching them hurt your husband was worse even though you knew that his case was exactly like yours and none of the damage could truly take him down or become too unbearable. Watching his pain was still making your heart ache as you sobbed and begged them to stop while your head was being kept still and forced to observe like his head had been held earlier by them as well.

The Orcs were taking turns in tormenting you both and you already knew all of Mairon’s plan, which he had revealed to you when they had left you for the night, thinking you would sleep the injuries off, not knowing that rest was not something any of you needed.

One evening the Orcs brought a growling and snarling warg with a collar around his neck like yours and chained him to yet another pillar. He could not hurt any of you because of the length of his chain but they assumed his presence would make you more scared as they walked out laughing and wishing you a good night ironically.

“Aww, poor baby,” you sighed and leaned your head back on the wooden pillar behind you. “Look, my love, they keep him on such a short chain. It should be a crime,” you pointed out. “Shh, shh, sweetheart, it’s fine now,” you cooed to the warg and he barked at you angrily. “Oh, don’t be cross with me, it was not me putting you here!” You chuckled at him and took a look at your husband from the corner of your eye.

He was sitting up as well, leaning on his pillar and staring at you lovingly from between his ruffled brown hair with a soft smile.

“You’ve always liked them,” he whispered.

“What is there not to like about those big, hairy beasts that tend to bite?” You teased him with a wicked smile and he chuckled while shaking his head.

“Do you remember witnessing me like that for the first time?” He asked and you smiled at the memory.

“You stepped on me, my love,” you said and he laughed, therefore you pouted, “and I do not find it funny!”

“You were easy to overlook, my darling. You were a snake then,” he reminded you

“First of all, I was the most beautiful snake in the woods, so you should have spotted me immediately,” you teased. “Second of all, I was terrified, remember? It was the first time I transformed and I could not repeat it. I truly thought I would never go back into my old shape…”

“But then, a big werewolf stepped on you and you suddenly changed into the fair maiden that you are to scold him,” he finished the story. “My wife.”

“Your wife,” you nodded with a smile. “I recognised you immediately, my husband. I recognised you by your eyes alone even though they were yellow orbs of the beast but something about them told me it was my Mairon.”

“And you hopped on me and I took you back to the fortress and our master laughed at that, remember? He called me your dog then,” he chuckled as he shook his head but you frowned at the mention of Morgoth.

“I never liked how he would humiliate you,” you admitted.

“This humiliation I did not mind,” he said.

“This whole thing,” you looked around, “reminds me of the past. Adar treats us like our master once did – making me watch you being hurt and forcing you to witness my torment. Do you think he is inspired by what our master was doing to us? And now he is inflicting it upon… well, us?” You chuckled sadly.

“I… don’t want to remember that,” your husband winced as he leaned his head back on the pillar behind him.

“Forgive me,” you looked down.

“Do you know what pains me the most?” He asked and you raised an eyebrow at him. “That we will forever be known and remembered as his subjects. His followers and his successors. His shadows.”

“There is nothing else we can do. In Valinor we are no longer welcome,” you shrugged your arms, however the old scar nearby your heart burnt at the mention of your home where, deep down, you longed to come back.

But not without Mairon.

“They wanted to give us a chance,” your husband reminded you in a whisper.

“And you really think they would allow us back in on the same terms? Don’t be foolish,” you snorted. “We would forever be outcasts amongst them and they would never trust us. And we would have to bow our heads for the rest of our lives – bow them lower than others to remain in their good graces. I’d rather be known as our master’s shadow and forever wear the stain of being his property once than to bow down in front of anyone ever again!” You drawled out through gritted teeth with determination and Mairon met your gaze, a little taken aback by your outburst. “You are the only one I can bow my head to.”

“You do not have to bow your head to anyone, my love,” he assured you.

At that very moment you were interrupted by a filthy human working for Adar and the Orcs – he was the worst amongst all of these creatures because he was doing all these things not because he had to or out of his nature but simply because he wanted to remain in their good favours no matter what.

He laughed with contempt at the sight of you and your husband and by the stink alone you recognised that he was carrying food for you.

“Am I interrupting’ somethin’, lovebirds?” He asked, to which you and your husband said nothing. “Come on, Your Majesties,” he teased. “Not even kings and queens can go without food,” he reminded you and he had lots of reasons to because you both had been refusing to eat for days now.

He crouched down next to you, probably too scared to tease your husband or perhaps you were more pleasant for his eye. Either way, you wanted to make him regret that.

You did not enjoy being perceived as weaker than your husband only because you were a woman. One thing you had to admit about your master – he had never treated you any different because of your gender. The pain, the torture, the punishments, the responsibilities – you had been gifted the very same ones as any other.

“Why doesn’t he want to open up?” Waldreg whispered into your ear as you kept staring at your husband only, ignoring him completely. “Mayhaps he doesn’t care about you so much, does he? Mayhaps it doesn’t bother him to see you in pain, Your Majesty.”

You clenched your jaw at his words. He had absolutely no idea how much Mairon cared. How much he had been caring for centuries now. How many times he had taken your master’s anger on himself to protect you.

“Mayhaps he told you what he knew, huh?” Waldreg continued. “I’m sure he did. You tell old Waldreg everything you know about Sauron and Lókë…”

Suddenly, you turned your head around to hiss at him, letting out a sound the very same as any real serpent would. Waldreg got startled and jumped back before stumbling down and falling as you chuckled with contempt.

“Pain must be something you enjoy!” He exclaimed at you and threw the food on the floor as two Orcs hurried to his side to help him stand up.

“Oh, mayhaps I do,” you mocked the word he had been teasing you with before and you gained a kick in the face in return from one of the Orcs. Blood filled your mouth as you laughed and the warg next to you began to snarl.

“After Lord Father releases us, I’m going to kill you,” your husband told Waldreg when you were spitting the blood out of your mouth.

“Adar doesn’t even remember you two are here,” Waldreg laughed.

But you knew it was not true – you would never forget the look in Adar’s eyes at the sight of your scar. You were sure he was intrigued by you and your husband and you even had that unsettling feeling that he simply… knew who you truly were.

The Orc, still standing above you, raised his hand to strike another blow and you tensed your muscles, preparing your flesh to endure it.

“I’ll take it,” Mairon interrupted him. “Leave her, I’ll take it,” he pleaded. “She is my wife and I am responsible for her big mouth and her stunts,” he insisted.

Tears filled your eyes at that because he had begged your master the same way once after the battle you had lost – she is my wife and I am responsible for her failure. I’ll take the punishment, leave her, I beg of you.

The Orc looked at Waldreg, a little confused. But Waldreg shrugged his arms in return because it did not matter to him which one of you would be beaten – he simply enjoyed the act. Therefore, the Orc only growled at you before he approached your husband to beat him instead.

What you did not sense in all that mess was the fact Adar was standing nearby and overhearing the last few sentences, which had reminded him of the twisted couple he had known in time long gone now, yet still fresh in his memory.

Your flesh was of a human, therefore it regenerated quicker when asleep. So, some nights you and your husband allowed yourselves to drift off to the land of dreams. You had done that on the previous evening but you quickly regretted that choice because the dream you had was far from pleasant.

It was not a dream, really. It was more of a memory that you found yourself inside of once more – the long and endless road you had crawled with a bleeding wound in your chest, only to find your husband’s dead body abandoned in the fortress in the puddle of his thick, black blood.

You had sobbed and taken his cold hand into yours as you had laid upon his still chest, burying your face in the red fabric of his robe, stained with his blood now, still sensing his weak presence somewhere around the fortress but it had been ungraspable, therefore hugging his dead flesh had been all you could do. You had brushed his ginger hair one last time with a sad smile and had fallen asleep there, on top of him, sobbing and defeated. Alone.

When you opened your eyes, though, you were back to reality. And there was Adar standing above you, staring intensely. You furrowed your brows at him but he did not say anything and crouched down to remove the collar from your neck and set your hands free from the shackles before standing up again without a word. He walked over you to stand above Mairon now, waiting for him to wake up as well.

You sat up lazily, wondering what would happen now and your husband woke up as well not long after you. 

“I was in your place once,” Adar said as you watched, intrigued. Mairon was still laying on the floor and staring at the ceiling. “In the eldest of the Elder Days,” Adar continued. “Thirteen of us were chosen to be blessed of Morgoth’s hand with the promise of power,” he crouched down to be closer to your husband’s face.

You looked up to exchange a confused look with Waldreg and one of the Orcs standing by the door to the hut. That small string of connection between the three of you in that moment was nearly funny if the situation was not so serious.

“A new birth. I was led up to a dark and nameless peak. Chained and left with nobody to keep me company except for a vicious serpent coming to visit me sometimes,” Adar confessed and the pain in his voice was raw and authentic.

You saw something glistening in the dim light and, to your surprise, that was your husband’s tear streaming down his cheek. You understood why – the first Uruks had not been the only ones that Morgoth had been torturing. Despite being enemies with Adar, you had a strong connection with him through the suffering you all had endured back in the day from the hands of the one you all had been calling your master.

“And after what seemed endless thirst and hunger…” Adar continued his story. “I saw them. His servants’ faces. Sauron’s face… It was beautiful. And Lókë’s, too, for she followed him everywhere. Her eyes… Those were the very same eyes as of the serpent that had been keeping me company in those endless days and I realised she had been the one to join me in my misery. And until this day I do not know if it was her mercy, her sympathy or her wicked passion for witnessing somebody else’s pain.”

You swallowed a lump in your throat, stopping yourself with every fibre of your being from telling him that it had been sympathy – it had been nothing but pure sympathy and what had been his repayment? Betrayal.

Although some part of you understood his reasons, too. It had all been for his children. Perhaps one day you would understand this kind of love as well but it would require you to forever bind yourself to your physical form and you were not sure if it was a sacrifice you would ever be ready to make.

“Lókë wiped the dirt, sweat and blood off of my face. Sauron offered me wine, red as a blood moon,” Adar went on with his story. “He offered me wine and on that dark and nameless peak, I drank it. I drank it all.”

You saw your husband glancing at you with his teary eyes and now your own eyes were wet, too, after being reminded of that day.

“Your wife is no longer in chains. Your people have been set free,” Adar announced. “Now, tell me what you know of Sauron and Lókë,” he demanded and your husband moved his head up slightly as his blood-covered lips curved into a smile.

“Sauron has returned in a new form and his lover forged herself a new flesh as well,” your husband revealed. “I am not yet sure what shape they have taken.”

“Then of what use are you to me?” Adar asked, angrily, while standing up.

“I have something you don’t,” your husband teased him. “The trust of the Elves. Release me, release my wife,” he continued, “and we’ll go to them and I’ll seek Sauron out, so you can marshal your legions to destroy him.”

Long silence occurred, in which you assumed Adar was overthinking the proposition.

“We want the same thing you do, Lord Father,” you whispered, your voice nothing but a shaky breath. Adar turned around to look at you intensely and you pretended to startle a little. “We want Middle-earth to be free of evil.”

It was no lie – you wanted nothing else. You wanted this world to be a good and happy place. Healed.

Adar took a deep breath in and eventually nodded at Waldreg, who walked up to Mairon hesitantly.

“Do you vow allegiance to Adar, Lord Father of the Uruks?” He asked, giving you a quick glance before looking back at your husband.

You waited for Mairon’s decision first and you could see how much it costed him to say that word even though it was only a game you two were playing.

“Yes,” he said.

“Yes,” you followed.

“Then kneel,” Waldreg ordered. “Both of you,” he turned his head around to look at you.

You moved yourself up on trembling legs, pretending to be moved and scared. Your husband was still in shackles, therefore he struggled to get onto his knees and it pained you to watch him so humiliated. You approached him to help him but Adar extended his hand to stop you from any further movement. You froze and waited for your husband to get on his knees first before you would join him.

And when he was on his knees, you felt Waldreg hitting your back and making you fall down upon yours as well even though it was unnecessary because you planned on doing that anyway. You looked up at him with hatred.

“Now, swear it,” he ordered.

It was all a play-pretend, you had to remind yourself. Being on your knees in front of a man who had betrayed you once was so humiliating, though, that you wanted to cry for real. And something about Adar’s proud and intense gaze was telling you he truly knew who you were.

“I vow–” your husband began.

“With your head at my feet,” Adar interrupted him and you looked up at him with anger before you began to follow his order before your husband even moved, still taken aback by such a request.

“Not you,” Adar stopped you. “Him.”

You swallowed thickly and exchanged a look with your husband before he eventually gave in and laid his face on the ground in front of Adar’s boots.

“I vow to serve the Lord of Mordor,” your husband whispered. To the end of my days… and his,” he finished.

Adar laid his eyes on you now, still kneeling as your thighs trembled slightly.

“I vow to serve the Lord of Mordor,” you bowed your head, humbly. “Till death removes me from the responsibility,” you added.

Adar nodded and walked away. Waldreg freed your husband from his collar and his shackles although he did not look happy about it. When Mairon was finally free, you cupped his face and leaned in to press your forehead to his before kissing him briefly with a big smile to be able to hold him again.

You were given one black horse you had to share but you did not mind it at all as you hopped on it to sit behind your husband and wrap your arms around his waist before pressing your cheek to his shoulder blade.

Very slowly he was leading the horse out of the camp and when you were on the hill above it, you heard a scream of pain from the distance. Your husband stopped the horse as you both chuckled because it was the scream of Waldreg being eaten by the warg left behind in the hut. The one you had tamed during your stay there and now you had your revenge on the filthy human.

And soon, on all of them.

“You know,” you mumbled out.

“Hm?”

“I quite enjoy our adventures as Halbrand and Maira,” you admitted and squeezed your husband tighter.

“We have been tortured for weeks now, my love,” he pointed out with a laugh.

“I know but apart from that… There is a certain charm to it,” you explained.

“Yes, I am aware,” he admitted with a head nod and ordered the horse to move again. “However, we have a work to finish in Eregion.”

“Do you have a new name already?” You asked him, teasingly.

“Annatar, Lord of Gifts,” your husband answered. “You?”

“Fëanár,” you revealed and waited for his response. “The patron saint of the fire… to spark a brand new inspiration within Lord Celebrimbor’s forge,” you explained your choice.

“Soul of fire,” your husband hummed to himself. “Bold one. I like it,” he admitted and you smiled to yourself, hugging him tighter, proud of yourself.

Proud and happy to be with him. Wherever the road would take you two.

MASTERLIST

[totallynotobsessedwithfandoms]

the fact that the love triangle was orchestrated by the Overlord to sow chaos in the team

the fact that Harumi never actually loved lloyd

the fact that the Misako is actually a pretty good mom after her first introduction and none of the other characters harbor any resentment towards her and it seems to be a fandom-created thing that she’s a terrible parent. I don’t know why she left Lloyd at Darkley’s, but she’s proved time and time again after that she does care for Lloyd and has been an otherwise good mother (sorry I can ramble about Misako’s moral-ness for a while cause it’s interesting to me)

the fact that all the team members are important and they all have their own characters flaws and while I fully agree on making fun of them (cause jays an idiot and I love him dearly), they’re still smart? And kind? And important?

Anyways what are y'alls "show don't tell" moments you noticed in Ninjago that you thought were obvious but for some reason caused a lot of confusion and complaining (the some reason in question being shitass media comprehension)

[hayleythesugarbowl]

I was really inspired by smoshs most recent video where they go back and rewatch their first video appearances so here is a request!!

this does not have to be based on a specific video but just more of an idea.

I would love an ian x reader who is on the crew but makes appearances here and there like spencer. where they react to a compilation of them basically being in love because they are a really huge ship in the fandom, and it makes them realize feelings, and you know how it goes from there!!

Shipped || Ian Hecox x reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist  ⋆˚｡⋆୨୧⋆

summary: when you and ian watch fan compilations of yourselves for a video, you realize how much you actually like each other

word count: 2.4k

warnings: swearing

a/n: ahh this is such a cute idea! i’m so sorry it took me so long to get to love, hope you enjoy 💌

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     “Hey guys, today (Y/n) and I are going to be getting married!”

     There was a chorus of laughter from the crew as Ian went off-script. 

     “That is not what’s happening,” you said, in your best news anchor voice. 

     “She said no, cut the video,” Ian joked, spiking the camera.

     You laughed, rolling your eyes at him as he continued the intro.

     “But seriously, it is Valentine’s Day and to show you all how much we love and appreciate you, we’re going to be reacting to some fan compilations. Specifically compilations of us, because apparently, and Erin would be so proud of me for using this phrase, you ship it.”

     Ian gestured between the two of you. It was true. You’d started out at Smosh as an editor but after appearing in a TNTL Crew episode, the audience loved you and you kept making more and more appearances on camera.

     You were almost a regular cast member at this point. The new Tommy, people called you. And ever since you had begun appearing more regularly, fans had started shipping you with Ian immediately.

     It helped that you two were good friends and that most of the videos you were in, he was in as well. You and Ian had been close for a while now, ever since you’d started at Smosh a few years back.  

     You’d never thought of you guys as anything more than that though. Friends. But it was fun imagining the fans analyzing your interactions and making more of them. You couldn’t wait to watch the compilations.

     “We have compiled some edits and videos that you guys have made that are apparently about me and Ian,” you said. “I guess now that Shayne and Courtney are married and there aren’t enough clips of Angela and Mater, we’re ‘the ship’.”

     Ian nodded, laughing. “We haven’t watched these yet but I can’t wait to get started so let’s jump right in, shall we?”

     “We shall. This first one is called ‘ian and (y/n) being endgame for 17 minutes straight’ by rogertheredditor. Do we need to give a definition of endgame for Daddy Ian?”

     “Hey!” Ian protested. “I watched avengers.”

     That got a laugh from the crew and you put a hand on Ian’s shoulder.

     “Ok,” you said. “Let’s dive in.”

     You pressed play on the video and watched as clips of you and Ian came on the screen. Most of them were from videos you were in together, Reddit stories and TNTLs and challenge pit. You leaned your elbow on the table, giving the laptop all of your attention. 

 ───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     “Oh my gosh, Ian you can’t say that on camera!” You exclaimed as Shayne laughed, the iPad almost falling out of his hands. 

     “Well if James Charles didn’t want me talking about it, then he shouldn’t have done it,” Ian defended. 

     You smacked Ian on the shoulder as you laughed and he shoved your hand away yelling ‘cooties!’

     This only made you giggle more and you threw a pillow at him. He caught it, pretending to repeatedly hit you with it.

 ───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     You pressed pause. “I don’t even remember what you said. I just know we had to bleep it out.”

     “Oh I do,” Ian said, laughing. “It was—”

     “Next clip!” You interrupted him, pressing play.

 ───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     “Watch this” you told the camera, glancing at Ian in the stool. “This is about to be the fastest bit in TNTL history.”

     Ian looked at you with confusion in his eyes as you walked towards him, leaning in to whisper something in his ear.

     He immediately spit his water and you clapped, feeling triumphant. Ian choked on water as he lost it. 

     “Wait, now we have to know what you said!” Courtney exclaimed, coming out from behind the divider.

     “Inside joke,” you informed her. 

     “Wait, (Y/n),” Ian said, gesturing to you to come closer, a mischievous smile on his face. “Remember…”

     He leaned in and whispered something in your ear and you both started laughing again.

    “Get a room!” Angela called from off camera. 

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     “Dude, I remember that,” Ian said, stopping the video. 

     “And we did get a room after that,” you joked. You remembered that moment too, you and Ian laughing over something no one else would’ve understood. You didn’t realize there were so many of these kinds of clips of you and Ian. 

     “(Y/n) stop! They’re gonna believe you and then this clip is going to be put in edits.”

     “You’re welcome Ian and (Y/n) shippers,” you winked at the camera.

     “Wait, we need a ship name,” Ian announced.

     “Put our ship name on the comments,” you said, starting the video again.

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     “Oh my gosh, I’m gonna puke.”

     You waved your hand in front of your face as you tried to swallow—whatever was in your mouth.

     “What you are eating—or, drinking—is called ‘The Birthday Smoothie’,” Courtney read from the card. “Anchovies, birthday sprinkles, spice drops, and cream of wheat.”

     You gagged and Ian put a hand on your back, laughing. 

     “Can we fly in the puke bucket for (Y/n)?” He asked, looking at you in amusement as you grabbed on to the table, covering your mouth. 

     Courtney handed it to you and you turned, emptying the contents of your mouth into the bucket. Ian rubbed your back as everyone reacted. 

     “You’re ok,” he chuckled.

     You came up a moment later, wiping under your eyes and fixing your hair.

     “That was disgusting.”

     “You’re so dramatic,” Ian rolled his eyes. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

     “Oh yeah, tough guy? Care to try it then.” You gestured to the smoothie still sitting on the table.

     “I would but—I’m on a diet so…”

     You giggled, rolling your eyes. 

    “Oh, you have a—” Ian trailed off, reaching to carefully pull a strand of hair off of your mic, tucking it behind your ear. “There.”

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     And that was the end of the video. You sat there for a moment. You of course remembered that Eat it or Yeet it—in fact it was only filmed a couple weeks ago.

But you hadn’t realized how sweet Ian had been.

     You couldn’t get the image of him rubbing your back out of your head. Of him tucking your hair behind your ears.

     You turned to Ian now, only to find he was already looking at you. 

     “Um—well that was the first compilation. What did you think Ian?”

     “I think I looked good in all those clips so I’m not complaining.” Ian shrugged.

     “Ok Buddy,” you teased. “On to the next one. This one’s called ‘more ian and (y/n) clips that make anthony jealous’ by amangelalover9. Let’s jump in.”

     This video had some of the same clips from the first one but others were ones you hadn’t seen yet. A lot were times you and Ian shared the screen but others were simply moments where one of you mentioned or talked about the other one. 

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

    “I was with Ian the other day…”

     “You know who would think this was so funny? (Y/n).”

     “Wait let me text Ian and settle this.”

     “Bro, (Y/n) said the most wild shit last night…”

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     You watched with Ian, laughing and remembering each part that came on.

     A clip appeared that was older than many of the others—one of your earlier videos, judging by your hairstyle.

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     “Hey guys, welcome back to challenge pit!” Keith announced. “Today we’re going to be competing to see who can win at doing household chores—but with a twist. I’m talking swords and shit.”

     “Swords and shit? Title of your sex tape.” Ian leaned over and mumbled to you.

     You busted up laughing and everyone else turned to see what was so funny.

     “Sorry Keith,” you wheezed. “Keep going with the intro. Please finish.”

     “Also the title of your sex tape.”

───────↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺───────

     Ian reached forward pausing the video on the laptop. “I remember that day.”

     “It was at the end of a shoot week, right?” You asked.

     Ian nodded, looking wistful. “Yeah. I remember it was the first time I made you laugh.”

     “Must have been the very end of a shoot week and I was delirious,” you teased, but your mind was on his words.

     Ian clutched his chest in mock offense. You giggled, nudging his shoulder as you pressed play again.

     As you watched more of the video and laughed with Ian, you couldn’t get his words out of your head. 

     I remember it was the first time I made you laugh

     He kept track of that?

     Eventually, the video ended and you moved on to the final one. 

     “That was so good,” Ian chuckled. “We are so Shourtney coded. Like I feel like if we announced that we were secretly married, no one would be shocked.”

     “Again with the marriage? Is this whole video a secret proposal or something?”

     “Only if you’d say yes,” Ian countered. 

     You knew he was joking, but something about his eyes—about the way he was looking at you—made your heart beat faster. It was probably just the effects of being in a video about you and Ian being in a ‘relationship’, but you found yourself imagining what it would be like if it was real.

     You had a sudden image of leaning across the table and bringing your lips to his. 

     You shook it off. “The jury’s out on that one. Meanwhile, our final video is titled ‘ian and (y/n) putting kelce and taylor to shame and giving us more feels than that one scene from marley and me’ and this one was posted by pandalover717.”

     The crew laughed at the long title and you kept talking. 

     “This is a shorter one—”

     “Shayne,” Ian coughed. A loud ‘hey!’ came from off-camera. You ignored them.

     “—so we’ll see what it entails. Let’s go.”

     You started the video and a Taylor Swift song started playing, dramatizing shots of you and Ian talking or hugging or falling on each other as you laughed.

     I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings

    Darling, you’re the one I want 

     Was this how everyone saw you and Ian? You had always been close but—had you been missing something.

    I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this 

    Darling you’re the one I want 

     How did you see you and Ian? How did he? You tried to think of your relationship from the perspective of these edits and fan videos.

     I want to drive away with you 

     I want your complications too.

     You tried to stop your heart from racing. You were starting to see Ian in a whole new light. 

     I want to drive away with you. 

     I want your complications too.

     Seeing all of these moments that you’d had with Ian—you were beginning to form a clearer picture that you hadn’t been able to see before. 

     I want your dreary Mondays 

     Wrap your arms around me, baby boy 

     Maybe one you hadn’t let yourself see before.

     Because you and Ian were friends. Best friends. 

     But what if you could be more than that. 

     You were lost in your thoughts as the video ended and Ian tapped a button on the laptop.

     “That song slaps every time,” Ian announced, turning to you. “What’d you think of that one?”

     You shook yourself out of it, answering Ian. “I love a good edit. These were all so good and it’s so much fun to see how you guys interpret interactions and find little hidden meanings in things.”

     “Or not-so-hidden meanings,” Ian said. He sounded so sincere that it threw you off.

     “What?”

     “Nothing. What—what was your favorite moment from all of those clips? Personally mine is when you lost your lunch after that smoothie.”

     You smacked his arm and he ducked away from you, holding up his arms in surrender. 

     “Not funny Ian, my stomach wasn’t right for a week. And I don’t know if I have a favorite, there were a lot of good ones. By some crazy coincidence basically all of the videos I’ve been in have been with this guy.”

      Ian was silent a moment.

     “And—and what if it wasn’t?” He finally said. “A coincidence, I mean.”

     “What?”

     “It was at the beginning but then I, um, might’ve asked to be put in every video you were going to be in,” Ian admitted, running a hand along the back of his neck nervously. 

     “Why?” Your voice came out breathless. “Why would you—”

      “Well,” Ian started, crossing his arms over his chest. “For starters, how else would people have enough content to make edits about us?”

     “Ian.”

     “Fine. At first it was just to hang out with you more,” Ian said, “We were such good friends and—and then it was more than that. Y’know, once I, kind of, fell in love with you.”

     You could’ve sworn your heart stopped. The room was silent. As far as you were concerned it was just you and Ian.  

     “Is this some bit for the video or—”

     “It’s not a bit,” Ian confessed, smiling ruefully. “I wish it was, because that I’d be good at. I’m not good at this. At emotions and feelings and—”

     But he never got to finish that sentence because you leaned over and kissed him. He kissed you back, his lips crashing into yours with an intensity you’d never seen from him. 

     When you broke apart, the entire room erupted into applause and shouts of ‘oh my god’ and ‘guys!’ and ‘pay up shayne, where’s my 30 bucks?’. That last one was Chanse.

     But you hardly heard any of it. You could only smile at Ian as he smiled back at you. 

     “Wow,” you said. “That was not how I imagined this video ending.”

     “Me neither,” Ian said. “But a guy can dream.”

     You smiled, thinking about how Ian had felt about you all this time. How you felt about him now. It would be a miracle if you could stop smiling.

      You looked away from Ian and towards the camera as Spencer spoke from behind it. “I think I speak for all the fans when I say we are going to have a field day with this video in our next edits. This is straight out of a Lynn Painter book”

     “We?” You asked, intertwining your fingers with Ian’s at the same time as Ian said,

“You read Lynn Painter books? 

     “Yeah,” Spencer shrugged “They’re dope as hell.”

     You giggled as he continued, a small smirk on his face. “And as for the edits…

Who do you think pandalover717 is?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope you enjoyed babes, lots more smosh fics coming soon!! also if you caught my b99 reference ilysm 💋

[musicalslugs]

Grace and the Lords in Black: an analysis.

Okay, so, this may be obvious; although I haven’t seen anyone mention this as of yet. The link between Grace Chastity and the Lords in Black is clear, I mean we’ve all agreed that she seems to be like that, and Dirty Dudes must Die highlights her “corruption” plainly.

That being said! I think there may be more.

Firstly, the Lords in Black mention/talk to Grace first, before Peter and Stephanie (the arguable proper protagonists of this story).

Sure, Blinky’s motif is obvious, it’s of eyes, of watching and of observation. But to speak to Grace first, even if it seems (on the surface level) that it’s just to flex their omniscience and make her uncomfortable, is a little strange. Especially since they then speak mostly (only) to Steph for the rest of the song [The Summoning].

Secondly, because if that were all this wouldn’t be a very good analysis, we have her (Grace) and Nibbly being echoes of eachother.

“Swallow” and “devour” are synonymous. Both fit into Nibbly’s motif of consumption. Now, Grace could’ve said anything. Absorb, harness, control etc. I think the wording here is particular. Not exactly the same, but clearly within the same ball park.

What is exactly the same though, is Grace Chastity and Wiggly.

This may seem a bit out of left field at first, but hear me out.

In The Summoning, it is said that “Wiggly wants his Wrath”, Wrath is a vice, a sin. It may not be the exact opposite of Chastity, however Chastity is to do with restraint, whereas Wrath is very much, not so. Moreover, Wrath can be defined as ‘a great anger that expresses itself in a desire to punish someone’. Now… who else could be described as wrathful? Obviously Max. And Grace. I mean, her song is called Dirty Dudes must Die. As well as being a direct reflection of Max, it implies that she wants to harm someone. Punish someone though? Well, yes. Grace says “This is the consequence of what you’ve done!” - she must believe that death is a worthy punishment for their actions (being ‘pervs’). Thus, Wrath.

Lastly, and this is where the exactly comes in, Grace and Wiggly both say the same things. (Again, of course, I could write another analysis on how Grace and Max reflect each other beautifully by also saying the same/extremely similar things) The difference between Grace saying similar things to Max, is that she and Wiggly aren’t similar. It’s the same.

Example A) Stephy / Stephie.

Upon rewatching Nerdy Prudes Must Die and listening to the album on repeat, I noticed that no one bar these two call Stephanie: Stephie. I know Grace calls Ruth, Ruthy and Peter, Petey- so her calling Stephanie, Stephie, makes sense linguistically. That doesn’t take from the fact that Wiggly is the only other ‘person’ to use that particular moniker.

Example B) “bloody bits”

A particularly strange phrase that these two say. However, not really. The point of this analysis is to point out the links between the Lords in Black and Grace Chastity, specifically Wiggly and Grace. By pointing out the parallels in their idiolects, I have come to the conclusion that they are not only linked but INCREDIBLY similar.

Both are characters that use cutesy, almost childish language (“mommy spot” / “belly-well”) to disguise the violence, the wrath that lays beneath the surface. Wiggly (as shown in Black Friday) uses it as a facade. Throughout Black Friday and throughout The Summoning, he expresses himself as non-threatening (“We’re all pally-wals.” etc) before eventually showing what’s beneath the surface (“..deck the fucking halls!” / “We don’t give a shit about your phone!”). Both times are as abrupt as each other, showing that Wiggly has a fairly short temper. Grace doesn’t necessarily have a short temper, instead she has periods of ‘sin’, when stressed: Dirty Girl, calling “God a son of a B-Word”, smoking (after), having sex with Max, the scene of her ordering hot water etc etc. The visage, her carefully constructed facade, slips. Wether it’s because deep down she doesn’t believe in God (possibly shown in her “are you religious?” conversation with Shapiro), or that due to her upbringing she’s being confined, restrained, controlled, and this is when her ‘true self’ begins to peer through the cracks.

Either way, these are two characters who use similar themes (one of childishness, the other of purity/innocence (which can also be linked to childishness)) to cover their violence, their real selves.

Uhhh- anyway, watch Nerdy Prudes must Die on Youtube- it gave me brain worms.

[idolomantises]

Have you watched Murder Drones, and if so what’s your opinion on it?

Also your art is great, keep it up.

Thank you!

And uh. Man. I may make an enemy out of another indie fandom because I don’t really like this show.

I actually loved the pilot and thought episodes 1-3 were incredible, if a bit too fast paced. But episode 4 was kind of a breaking point for me and I dropped off after that.

I don’t think it’s very funny. I think it relies too much on Bathos and it makes it hard to take its cast seriously. As a black comedy it mostly worked for episodes 1-3, but 4? No.

It does this thing I really despise in media where it has themes of genocide but like… heavily deprioritizes it and often portrays it like a comedy. It’s supposed to be funny when innocent characters are murdered because they’re just goofy side characters but when it’s a major character suddenly we have to care, and I don’t like that at all. The main character has a meltdown over finding out that murder drones are sent to kill her people at the end of the pilot, and then in episode 4 she’s murdering her classmates and crying because a boy she likes might think she’s weird. I actually find it pretty frustrating that the robots are portrayed as incredibly cowardly because they’re slowly dying off and scared to die and then they’re hanging out with V who casually murders random children and nobody reacts to it.

I actually do like the idea of a character who’s not reformed but is kind of forced to stick around but when I see her murder characters, traumatize children and then go “haha I just have mental problems” and everyone just… moves on, I just cannot bring myself to care. It causes such a massive dissonance and not in a fun way.

I think it’s very frustrating and unengaging when a story about people doing the right thing and trying to help others has no interest in helping those they’re trying to save.

I think the female cast is solid but I did kind of raise my eye a bit when the only major female character that was killed off was a victim of genocide while the other genocidal characters, two of which gleefully murdered her fucking parents, are just allowed to hang out with the rest of the cast. Uzi especially lost a lot of sympathy for me when she was more emotional about freaking out N than murdering her classmates. Like yeah, they weren’t the nicest to her but it’s weird to establish a character wants to end genocide and then… barely reacts when they also indulge in that genocide.

I don’t really like the characters at all. I don’t like Uzi, I found N irritating and boring (and gives me anime harem protagonist vibes), I thought V was a tryhard and I couldn’t really care for the rest of the cast. I liked Doll but lol, you know how that turned out.

It also has this problem of having an overloaded cast with very little breathing room. I really wish the show just had one, low stakes episode, so we can actually get to know these characters and collect their thoughts. It’s actually one of my concerns for TADC, because as much as I do like that show, I think “no filler” with constant story is going to make or break the show for me. It’s too fast paced and no, I don’t think it’s good that you have to rewatch an episode 4 times to understand what’s going on. I don’t watch indie shows to play where’s Waldo, information should be explained to the audience in a way that feels digestible and natural.

The animation is incredible and the stuff that came out from the finale was insane, but at times it just felt like jangling keys in my face. Like don’t pay attention to rushed story, underdeveloped characters and bizarre tonal whiplash, look at the cool fights. I dont think it does horror well either. In fact I kind of cringe a bit when characters a big wide grins and giggle evilly and it’s mean to be intimidating and it just. Doesn’t work. Feels a bit juvenile honestly.

And. This is a very personal thing. I don’t like the robot designs.

[ineffableteeth]

So I was rewatching Good omens and I realized something.

Season 2 brings up Memory. A lot

Specifically Crowleys memory

In every episode something is said about it and I find this really interesting

I’m only going to bring up what I think are major, I want to note there are more instances than this. This is gonna be messy and a little disorganized since I’m just throwing my words on this post as I think of them and read the episode transcripts but I had to write it out.

In Episode 1 we see pre-fall Crowley and are introduced to our amnesiac archangel. This will be important later

We don’t see much of Crowleys memory loss in this episode but the biggest example I could find was the way Beelzebub had said Extreme Sanctions after Crowley misunderstood

It was as if they were expecting him to remember

In Episode 2 we get the first blatant hint of Crowleys memory loss

When Gabriel said he couldn’t remember, Crowley doesn’t say “Well try anyway”

He says “Yes you can.”

Crowley knew Gabriel could remember, he knew he could make himself remember. As if he knew it from experience.

Also in this episode we get Crowleys “I’m a demon, I lied.” As well as several other instances where he lies in this episode.

I also feel like his “Lonliness” is important to point out, because I feel like that goes much much deeper than “[I’m on] my side”

In Episode 3 we get Crowley and Gabriel’s Conversation about “Gravity”

Crowley knows what gravity is on a base level. But he says “I don’t remember” when asked why gravity exists and proceeds to give a very nondescript explanation

Now for Episode 4. This episode is actually what triggered me to start looking for these instances.

Because of Furfur

Near the end of the episode when Furfur enters the dressing room he mentions that him and Crowley were directly next to eachother during the Great War, as well as the fact Crowley used to jump on his back “Like a little monkey in a waistcoat”

And Crowley didn’t remember

All he remembered was going to war

Why does Furfur — A demon — remember but Crowley doesn’t?

In Episode 5 we get one of the most crucial ‘memory’ scenes imo

The aftermath of Crowley threatening Gabriel

When Gabriel tells Crowley “It hurts to remember, my head isn’t built for that” Crowley replies with “I know, do it anyway”

Again it sounds like Crowley is speaking from experience

The most important quote to me though is when Crowley says “I know, looking at where the furniture isn’t.”

Because after the fact he proceeds to ask Gabriel if he wants a hot chocolate

This wasn’t a sympathetic action. It was Empathetic.

He feels for Gabriel, he knows what it’s like to not know

Finally in Episode 6 we get context.

This is where the whole amnesiac archangel comes into play.

Before I get into that though I want to bring up Crowleys meeting with Saraquael. Because something interesting stood out to me while reading her voicelines. After Crowley asks “Do we know eachother?” Saraquael says “When you were an Angel” and pauses before she says the following voiceline “We worked together on the horsehead nebula”

Those were two different sentences. I’m definitely looking too far into this but to me it sounded like she knew he wouldn’t remember so she gave unnecessary context. This as well as the fact she didn’t respond when Crowley essentially said he didn’t remember her.

Back to my original point though, during this episode we finally learn how (and why) Gabriel lost his memories. Angels can remove their own memories as well as have their memories removed by other angels.

But clearly Furfur still has his memories, as well as Shax, Dagon, and Beelzebub

And anytime Crowley mentions “remembering” something it’s post-fall

Adding on Neil’s post about “Crowley not being a reliable narrator on his fall” as well as showing Crowley pre-fall in episode one leads me to believe there’s some foreshadowing in there and something happened to Crowleys memory.

But What?

Why doesn’t he remember?

What did they do to him?

[donutdisturblivball]

after rewatching nimona four times since its release (because yes, this movie is just that good), i caught a few little details that just make the whole experience so much better. so, incoming SPOILER ALERT, don’t read this if you haven’t watched the movie yet. speaking of, why the fuck haven’t you?? go watch the movie (and read the comic while you’re at it, some sites offer it for free), then come back and enjoy.

1. When the Squire gives Ballister his sword, he clearly realizes something’s wrong with it. He’s trained with it for so long that he knew that something was off just by holding it. This detail is something you wouldn’t pay much attention to when you first watch the film, but it’s there to make you realize something is a little off, especially when the Squire attempts to show him the video, but it also has plausible deniability so you could chalk it up to being something else (ie. the Squire wanting a picture with Ballister).

2. This sneaky line from this sneaky bitch.

3. Nimona tells us exactly how the movie ends. (Sorta. In a sense. The phoenix rises from the ashes and overthrows the government.)

4. You can see Nimona sneaking into the jail where Ballister is being kept.

5. Mini Ballister and Ambrosius! I think a few others have pointed this out before, but I only noticed it upon my second rewatch. (A little surprised younger Ambrosius didn’t have the Asian bob. That’s like a right of passage.)

6. Nimona’s train backstory versus her flashback.

7. During Nimona’s nightmare on the couch, she turns into a wolf, and then a cat. In her flashback, as the villagers attack her, she turns into a cat and then a wolf. It could be because having her turn into anything else would be too big for the couch, but if this is intentional, then it means Nimona was having a nightmare of that day.

8. This. Visually, the sparks are sorta similar, and in both instances, Ballister has lost something irreplaceable. I think this one might be a reach and may not be intentional, but my mind connected the two scenes and wouldn’t let go, so.

Honorable mention: the gay and trans flags above Ballister and Nimona respectively in that one scene. iykyk. I didn’t add it because 1. I think many other people have brought it up and 2. the mobile app is limiting me to 10 images. Anyway, I love this movie and its comic SO much and I’m so glad that it made it to our screens from the box of scrapped movies that could have been great if people (namely, executives) gave them a chance. There is so much love, care, and passion put into this movie, and you can really sense that this was made for its audience and its author, for its story and not only for the money it could make. This movie is metal as fuck, so GO STREAM IT!!

[electrofolk]

A genderqueer reading of Coffee Prince

I wanted to examine why I keep coming back to a show I first watched 12 years ago and why it seemed to mean so much to me. I think it's because I saw in this show an extremely raw portrayal of the struggles I have felt as a genderqueer person, which is wild for a Korean show from 2007. While I rewatched, it was so clear to me that Eun Chan is genderqueer and many of her struggles are not only about her relationship with the love interest, but her relationship with her own gender.

A brief synopsis: Eun Chan is mistaken for a man, and ends up going along with it and getting a job under these pretenses in coffee shop. She ends up falling in love with her boss, Han Gyul, who still thinks she is a man. Han Gyul is also falling in love, but really struggles with the fact that this would make him gay. He eventually decides he is willing to face homophobia to be with Eun Chan. She then decides to reveal to him the truth, but it is Eun Chan’s struggle with having to confess this which feels so familiar and painful to a genderqueer person.

Eun chan has forgotten shes in a lie, she is not in disguise like other gender bending shows, she is just being herself, wearing what she wants to wear, acting how she wants to act It is others who place her in a binary, and assume she is a man. She says right out, “I'm not a guy nor a girl", and she is terrified of what that means.

So when Han Gyul says “Whether you’re a man or an alien, I don’t care anymore”, how can she not run with that? All she is feeling in that moment is relief, you can see it in the way she hugs him.

She does feel like an alien, that much is clear from how she describes herself, and the soundtrack brilliantly confirms this – “I feel like an alien, not part of the human race...it should be such a simple thing” (Alien, by Arco). This song plays when both of them are in the car together, it could refer to Han Gyul, coming to terms with being attracted to who he thinks is a man, or to Eun Chan, who feels she exists outside of the binary.

When Han Gyul finally asks her if she really is a woman, she is reluctant to answer. Some might interpret this hesitation as fear of his anger, but it could also be that she doesn’t want to admit to and be punished for something she doesn’t even feel to be true. He has to ask multiple times because she doesn’t answer, and finally she only slightly nods her head, looking sad and scared.

Later, he begs her to say its not true, that she isn’t a woman. Again, she cant answer to confirm or deny, all she can say is “I’m sorry”, and she breaks down. He is so angry at her for being something she doesn’t even feel herself to be. He said he’d love her if she was a man or alien, but he doesn’t want her to be a woman. The one thing she never felt like she was she’s now being punished for.

When Han Gyul finally comes around and says he’s actually glad she’s a girl, her face says it all.

There are many more hints that she doesn’t feel that she conforms to femininity. She said right from the beginning, that he would never like “someone like me”, showing she had a preexisting view of herself before she ever got involved in this whole thing.

You can see she has internalized this failure to conform, saying its her fault for looking the way she does. She is not shocked when his grandmother called her a thing, She has become used to being treated poorly as she has not conformed her whole life. But Han Gyul gets angry having to grapple for this first time with non-conformity.

Although Han Gyul has a lot of issues, he does have to get some credit for eventually coming out of the woman-man binary thinking he fell into earlier. He realizes she was born this way, and when he shops for a ring for her, he tells the shopkeeper “she is not feminine” and buys her a simple band.

One final thing I’ll mention is the music choice, again. The song that keeps returning at different points is a beautifully sad song with the lyrics “And now I’ve travelled across the ocean, with the same shoes, just longer hair”. At the end she does come back from overseas with longer hair, making her seem more feminine. But she remains the same, and you have to hope Han Gyul realizes she is still the same person, existing outside of a binary, and he is at peace with that.

[ohnopeh]

i was rewatching gallavich scenes (no one’s surprised) and to be honest, i think the whole monogamy thing is pretty clear from the beginning ( to us, cause they’re dumb )

neither of them want the other to fuck other people but they share one braincell thinking the other wants to mess around. ian talks about monogamy saying its about not having sex with others and mickey expression changes

he’s clearly panicking wondering if ian mentioned it because his husband wants to fuck around. he doesn’t want to lose ian and is afraid that saying yes to monogamy could be a deal breaker (im pretty sure mickey was feeling insecure as fuck about not being a good husband since they fought about the money, job etc.)

when ian sees mickey’s reaction, he mistakes it as disappointment/disagreement with being monogamous. you can totally see he’s regretting mentioning it and wondering how the hell he’s going to get out of that situation.

he’s like ‘what the fuck what is this reaction what is going on why isn’t he saying he wants to have sex with me only?’ (cause again, one braincell shared)

so they’re just dumb fuckers who want the other to be happy but they just confuse each other, not realising they want the same thing. mickey asks ian what exactly is counted as having sex : blowjobs, proper fucking? because he wants to know what ian would want from others and if he can handle that, but of course ian thinks that’s mickey asking because he is the one who wants to fuck around!

none of them want to just disappoint the other so mickey plays it cool saying ‘you don’t want to fuck other people?!’ (reminds me of ‘you don’t want to fuck angie? everybody fucks angie’) and of course ian’s defensive too saying ‘me fucking you only? no… so difficult… no… i could never… not like ive been doing so for 10 years… going back to you all the time… saying sex with you is fucking fantastic… no….’

but then ian says

that’s his way of trying to let mickey know he’s actually not into the whole open relationship thing. but considering they just keep saying they want to do it, mickey simply thinks ian is being hypocrite, not being able to see what he truly meant by that. when ian writes down that he wants monogamy, he’s being honest and i suppose he kept on thinking mickey wanted to fuck around cause he didn’t show his answer (which was mickey’s way of trying to do what ian wanted cause he always want ian to be happy and will do anything for him)

they just keep being dumb as hell until the episode where they have sex with other people. you can see mickey has realised ian isn’t into it but doesn’t want to admit it, to keep mickey happy— because mickey is taking the piss out of ian by pretending he’s having the time of his life trying to find new friends to fuck around with.

( again, ian is forcing them to find gay friends just because he thinks that’s what they’re supposed to do to archive their new happy life )

mickey staying with the other gay couples for drinks he doesn’t like, company he dislikes. he waits for ian to call it a night and even then he took the piss out of ian asking if he really wanted to leave. they end up having sex with the others but once they’re home ian says it was a waste of time and mickey points out they did want ian wanted so badly, making gay friends and having sex with other people. so how is that a waste of time if ian wanted this all along?

mickey asks

(are you still going to pretend we want to fuck other people?) and ian admits that, no, he doesn’t want that. he doesn’t want gay friends to talk about their sex life or friends to bang just because. explaining he’s okay to have lip ( and mickey ) as their only friends cause they’re alike and that’s what he needs. he doesn’t have to force himself to be different or fit somewhere.

i know people also discuss the scene where ian is at the gym in their new apartment, where he smiles at the guy flirting with him. to me that scene was just ian being taken by surprise ( as he didn’t really expect the guy to hear him ) and maybe even glad that there are gay and accepting people around them (not like southside) so it only proved more and more that their life in the north side could do good to mickey too. it makes sense because in the same episode mickey freaks out about the new place, it shows how they react to changes and ‘safeness’ as mickey says it makes him feel uncomfortable to have a better life, something new that he has no control over (like him saying he has no idea how to escape safely from the northside/their new house— if needed)

long story short : they are dumb and always want the other to be happy but scared to communicate properly and mess things up. they only want each other in all the way and that’s what it is and will be forever! shameless writers for s10-11 were something else tho, im sure there were better ways to write this plot but still lol

[scribbly-artist]

Are You Smiling?

Summary: Jax doesn’t want to talk about what happened at his employee evaluation… but at least he can make sure Pomni doesn’t suffer the same fate. Kind of.

Author’s Notes: I haven’t written for TADC so this was exciting! I hope the characters aren’t OOC. I feel like as the show goes on, Jax will either become more mean or nicer (or not really caring) so I wrote him to be a little kinder… I had to rewatch the episode to see when Pomni and Jax interacted in the episode to make this one, and I feel like this would make the most sense. A ‘What If?’ situation if Gangle didn’t interrupt Pomni and Jax talking.

Thanks to the anon for requesting this one!! If you would also like to request something, my ask box is open! :)

Words: ~900 | AO3 Link

This new adventure wasn't how Pomni thought it'd turn out to be. 

At least it was better than the last one… that one was really scary. But she didn't like taking orders at a front desk, being abused by customers. They either weren't the nicest people, or they spoke too much about their personal lives (she didn't need to know all of that, thanks, Gloink Queen…) 

But she was really disappointed that she saw Gummigoo, but came to realise that he didn't recognise her. It made her feel awkward - made her feel sad. But with Gummigoo being an NPC, she didn't really know what she expected, honestly. It must be a ‘different’ Gummigoo, she supposed. 

Her elbows rested against the serving counter as her head plopped down into her hands with a heaping sigh. She frowned at all the mixed emotions inside her. The adventure today, the previous ones… being stuck in the circus. 

However, when someone came to the counter beside her, it pulled her from her spiraling thoughts. 

It was Jax, and he seemed worse for wear, too. He practically collapsed onto the cold counter. He looked like he was sick of this as well. 

“How’re you doin’?” He asked with a sigh. 

“Everything's been…” her eyes darted around at first. Why would Jax care how she'd feel? He bullies her a lot whenever he's around. She squinted her eyes at him in suspicion as she reached up to rub the back of her neck. “I'm doing… fine…” 

Jax let out another sigh as he pushed himself up from the counter, adjusting his uniform hat. “Wish I could say the same…”

Pomni frowned at him. “Why? What happened?” She turned herself to face him. 

Jax gazed over her, a frown of his own. But thinking about what happened earlier… in the room with the chair… he visibly shuttered. “I… don't think you want to know. And I don’t really want to talk about it…”

“Why not? I'm sure Gangle wouldn't do anything bad to us. I know she's a little… manic at the moment, but that's just for this adventure, right?”

“It’s got something to do with that mask Zooble gave her… she actually kind of scares me a little now.” As he spoke, Jax reached out his hands and placed them on Pomni’s shoulders.

Pomni jumped at the touch. He's never really touched her without malicious intent before. “Jax, what are you–”

“Look; just follow Gangle’s rules until this stupid adventure’s over. Zooble doesn't care, and Ragatha’s… really out of it. If you don't want Gangle to do anything to you, you need to make sure you're following her expectations. And whatever you do, you need to smile.” Jax released one of her shoulders to point his finger into her cheek to make his point clear. 

Pomni’s eyes darted to his finger on her face, and then to Jax’s eyes. “J… Jax, I don't underst–”

“Promise me, Pomni. You don't want to know what happens when Gangle notices you're not smiling.” Jax warned.

Pomni raised an eyebrow. “It's not like I can just smile on command, Jax. Especially after a day like today.” Pomni sighed and shook her head as she spoke. 

“Well then, I'll help you out.”

“What? How– pfft, hahaha!”

Pomni didn't have a moment to think or even ask what he meant. Jax’s hand slipped from her other shoulder down her arm to grab her wrist. He grabbed on and pulled her arm high above her head, then he started poking into her side with his opposite hand. 

Jax has tickled her a few times previously since her arrival at the circus - mainly to mess with her and push her buttons. At least this time, he wasn’t doing it purely for his own amusement. 

“Hahaha, J-Jax?! Why?? Ahahaha!!” she couldn't stop herself from giggling and squirming about. “She… hehehe!! She'll hear!”

“I know. But at least you won't be able to wipe the ticklish smile off of your face.” He had to smile too - he always did whenever he messed with Pomni. Though, this time, he was doing this to look out for her. 

Jax switched to squeezing Pomni’s upper ribs, which he knew drove her absolutely insane. Pomni squealed, tugging on her arm to try to move away. But Jax had a pretty good grip on her. 

“I-I'm smiLING! JAX, I'M SMIHIHILING!!” Her voice rose as the ticklish feeling overwhelmed her. She didn't think Jax would let up, until… 

“Jax, stop messing around at the front counter! What if a customer comes in?” Gangle’s voice could be heard from the other end of the restaurant. “I pay you to serve customers and clean the store!”

Jax slowed to a stop, Pomni could finally catch her breath. “...She doesn't pay us at all…” he groaned, letting go of Pomni’s wrist. “Look, just remember what I told you, okay?” Jax eyed Pomni, she nodded in understanding. Jax turned to leave. 

“Jax? ...thanks for looking out for me. For once.”

Jax turned her head as she uttered those words. He gave a small smile as he walked off into the back, letting his smile do all the talking.

“Alright, Gangle. What do you need me to do now?” Jax’s voice faded out as he moved to the back of the establishment. 

Pomni placed her hands on the counter, easing her breathing. The smile was indeed still on her face after all of that. 

It was nice that Jax was looking out for her.