#originally i was just going to gif this scene normally
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PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS APPRECIATION WEEK DAY FOUR | favourite scene â 1.08, The Prophecy Comes True
#pjoweek24#pjoedit#percyjacksonedit#pjo#percy jackson and the olympians#percy jackson#pjosource#userstream#usergif#userrajan#userneptune#userneve#userjustine#userbecca#usersadie#*#re: gfx#originally i was just going to gif this scene normally#but literally why would i take the easy route ever ?? when i can do this instead ??#joke's on me though bc i adore this hsjshjsh#i'm so proud of him that's my son !!
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#elena of avalor#beauty and the beast#batbedit#disneyedit#eoa edit#belle x beast#estebalena#kinda but also not kinda#I think a lot about the fact that it's been confirmed that this is an intentional homage#like EoA series supervising director Elliot M. Bour was just like casually bringing BATB into things as an Easter egg#since it was his first job in animation#and like don't get me wrong; I LOVE that he did this. I just don't know how he expected anyone (i.e. me) to be normal about it afterwards#once you've introduced BATB; it ceases to be a fun and casual reference and just makes the literature major girlies go feral#i thought this was gonna be a quick and easy little project but it wasn't#the parallels are all there but they're in slightly different order in EoA than the original and the pacing for each reference is differen#so i had to determine which ones I needed to skip frames for and which ones to use all the frames#and then try to figure out the speed from there#the coronation day scenes were very hard to color because the grey skies and muted filter kind of whitewash the characters#like you don't even understand i added so MUCH vibrance and saturation to the 4th and 5th gifs but elena's skin still is just gray#and the coloring is still just a very very mixed bag#also i've realized that while I don't think it was an intentional reference in the same way BATB was#anna's sacrifice and resurrection from frozen is perhaps just as --if not more-- a clear parallel to the coronation day scene than BATB#so maybe I will do that one someday too?#once i psych myself up again to try coloring coronation day again#which i imagine will be awhile#these do not look like the same scene and pretty much the same scene at all even if i tried to use the same psd when i could#and edit them to make the coloring as close as i could
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in further neopets discord news, oh boy is there drama in my awful virtual pet game website today. strap in if you want way too much information on neopetsâ broken economy
for some context, an event has just launched called the faerie festival. this is the first event to be run by the ânewâ TNT (aka. the neopets team aka. the staff) since the leadership change, and they've said in recent editorials that this yearâs faerie festival is going to be a combo of two previous popular events:
the faerie quest event, wherein people can get a free quest from a faerie every day in exchange for a reward (something thatâs normally limited to random special events and therefore quite rare)
the charity corner, a highly requested event that hasnât run since 2020, where you can donate random items to get points that can then be exchanged in a prize shop
thereâs a LOT of ultimately worthless items on neopets that people gather from doing dailies and things, but charity corner actually gave a use to hoarding all of these, so people have wanted it back for ages. people have been going out of their way to hoard extra junk items for like 2 months now, after TNT teased the event in an editorial
this event was originally meant to start on 20th august, but got delayed 2 weeks, presumably because of issues behind the scenes. people were generally a bit disappointed but relieved if this meant they were going to get a proper, well prepared event without bugs
flash forward to 2nd october, the actual start of the event. nothing actually opens up for several hours on the day- thatâs somewhat waved off by the fact that staff presumably need to be in the office to launch everything, a midnight launch isnât expected
but, eventually, it opens!
well⌠kinda. thereâs one page with one dialogue scene available and a link to an event page for spending neocash (the premium currency that costs irl money). the faerie quest page is giving out free daily quests, which is nice, but literally just the same as they did back in 2020. whereâs the item recycling part? did this really need 2 weeks of delay?
the next day, the FAQ page for the event is published neopets support site (but not announced via news). still no sign of the actual event starting- seems like that might not be until moday?
as well as multiple grammatical errors, the FAQ had a few⌠concerning elements. most notably:
only 10 items could be donated per day
points would be awarded based on the rarity of the item, with the maximum rarity being r200-500, worth 15 points each
this meant people's hoarding of junk items for months was... essentially useless
r200-500 items basically means either hidden tower items (rare, expensive items that can only be bought in an account age locked shop with a purchase limit of 1 per day) orrrrâŚ.. neocash items. In other words, players could either spend an exorbinate amount of their in-game currency to buy up items to donate, or they could just hand over their credit card and pay to win
people were Not Happy about this
not long after info spread and the outcry started (and a sizeable number of people cancelled their premium membership in protest), the FAQ was quietly updated to remove mention of donating neocash items. that took away to pay to win element at least
however, now there was a new problem. a tombola man problem.
i mentioned already that the highest rarity items are pretty rare and expensive. one of the least expensive of these is an item called the Squeezy Tombola Guy Toy. you can probably see where this is going already
because you can only buy a maximum of one tombola guy per day from the hidden tower, your only option if you want to buy more than that in a day is to go to user shops. however, in light of the event, people had already started buying and hoarding tombola guy toys. equally, others were buying them purely to sell at a profit. this made the perfect storm and caused the price of the tombola guy toy, which was normally 110k NP, to explode up to 500k, 600k, even 700k within just one day
BUT THEN THE FAQ GOT UPDATED AGAIN. surprise, you can now donate 30 items per day! also they just got rid of the highest rarity tier altogether. the maximum you can get for an item is now 8 points, for rarity r102-r179.
this has now made the squeezy tombola guy toys useless. unless youâre a collector they donât serve any function beyond that of a normal neopets toy (of which thereâs thousands of much cheaper options). the price has now plummeted down to BELOW what it originally was and many users now have piles and piles of the dolls sitting in their inventory, mocking them
so what now? well, because no one ever learns, everyone is now flocking to what is now the cheapest high-rarity item eligible for donation. most are going for omelettes, which have a few different options at r102+. these have also inflated by like 400% from before the event, but unlike the squeeze tombola guys, these are only worth a few thousand neopoints, so not as bad a potential loss in comparison
itâs worth noting that while all this is going on in preparation for the recycling event, neopets is also experiencing insane inflation in a lot of other items right now, including those required for people to complete faerie quests. for example, a Griefer, which cost 5000 np just last week, is now worth selling for 1 MILLION
So yeah. 3 days into the event and thatâs where we are so far. who knows what tomorrow might bring
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Iâll wait for your love (jjk)
Pairing: babydaddy!jk x fm!reader
Sypnosis: co-parenting with Jungkook was easy until it wasnât
âYou cling to your papers and pens. Wait until you like me again. Wait for your love. Love, I'll wait for your love.â
Note: âWe Canât Be Friendsâ by Ariana Grande inspired me. This fic was also inspired by the original 1961 âThe Parent Trapâ for a certain scene.
Warnings: 18+ content, smut, mentioned drinking, angst, unprotected sex, etc
Co-parenting with with Jungkook after your recent split needed better improvement in the future.
Since he worked in the early mornings he would take your daughter Eunbi to school. Passing by your house to pick her up. Such as today, when arriving to your home it wasnât required for him to ring the doorbell or for you to get up and open the door for him.
You once lived together, there was a spare key kept underneath the welcome mat in front of your doorstep. He made way into your home seeing that you both were still asleep. Heading over to eunbiâs room to awaken the sleeping child up for school.
âBug, itâs time to get up, youâll be late for school.â awakening his child
âdaddyyyy!â, the child excitingly mumbled as she awoke to see the presence of her father.
âMissed you bug, now go on now potty and brush your teeth while I go wake up mommy, mâkay?â Jungkook said while laying out eunbiâs clothes for today. Itâs been snowing lately, so layers were needed.
âokayâ, the child could only follow the instructions he father had given while rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Jungkook made way to your bedroom where heâd seen the sight of you softly in bed still in deep slumber. You looked so beautiful in tranquility. His gaze softened at your appearance.
The night of your split wasnât expected. You had garnered up the courage to make apparent how you didnât approve of him overworking. You understood as he was in the middle of forming his business meaning it required time. But you worked too, you had everything youâd wanted right with you. Tilâ his absences led to rescheduled plans and no show dinners.
And that night he had returned late as usual you could no longer keep it to yourself. He had returned home clearly drunk and reeking of alcohol.
Jungkook had blabbered nonsense which led up to this coparenting arrangement. Blabbering some more while intoxicated, he had no filter in what he said which he sure was going to regret once sobered up. Like they always say âdrunk thoughts are sober thoughtsâ.
He made you feel belittled as if you and your daughter were a burden to him, a nuisance. Almost as if his business was worth prioritizing more than his family.
âneeded a breakâ or âget off my backâ holding you little to no regard.
Jungkook could not live without you and once sober he realized the gravity of his mistake. There was no making amends to what he had caused.
Now you werenât sure how long this punishment of pushing him away was going to last. Unsure, but just for as long as you deem suitable for the amount of unease he caused you that night.
You loved him equally as much but you kept it reserved unlike Jungkook. He demonstrated in many ways him making up of his actions and words. By always being there when calling upon him, bringing you takeout when youâre too lazy to cook something for dinner, bringing you pads and any other necessities to make your cramps lessen and ease away.
So when jungkook stared at you in adoration at your peaceful figure he felt his heart swell. He inches closer to you siting on the edge of your bedside while leaning forward to caress your hair.
âSweetheart, itâs 6:47am eunbiâs almost ready she has yet to eatâ he said in attempt at awaking you to fix your daughterâs breakfast like you normally do every mornings.
âToo tiredâŚâ you lightly mumbled as you turned in sleep and hugging the covers.
âIs that so? Too tired? I can take care of her breakfast sweetheart, you just stay in bedâ, jungkook said as he fondly looked at you and landed a peck on your cheek.
As he stood up from the bed about to leave the room your hand met his wrist stopping him. âJungkook, thank youâ
âDonât worry, sweetheartâ, then he was off.
Jungkook had just arrived back home after work. Coming back to a silent home like every other day since your split.
The emptiness, the lights were off, the heater was off, it was disturbingly clean. He didnât like to return home to this.
He had showered and rid himself of his usual suit and tie, about to prepare himself dinner til the sound of his phone ringing broke his focus.
It was strange to recieve a call as late as 8:40pm if it was not regarding eunbi, she slept at 8:00, so what could you have been calling him about?
âwhatâs up yn? Is there something wrong? Is Eunbi okay?â He voiced concerned
âNo, thereâs nothing wrong with eunbi, I actually let her stay with my parents todayâ
âOhâŚâ there was a moment of silence
âHey Jungkook?â You said on your side of the call
âMhm?â responding
âCould you come over? Please?â
He raced on over to your place then after.
Shutting the door to prevent the chilly air due to the snow enter your home, jungkook makes way.
The heater was on, it smelled of fall due to the scented candles you kept in certain places, the lights were on, family pictures hung on the walls, Eunbiâs toys scattered on the carpet. This was what home is. The nostalgia running back to him. Endearingly gazing upon the area, how he missed this sight.
Drastic difference of how life at his home was currently like.
âHey sweetheart, it smells good in here. What yaâ making?â removing his padded jacket, scarf and gloves. Taking in the aroma of what you were currently cooking.
âSteak and roasted asparagus, sit down. Are you hungry?â
âIâm famishedâ jungkook truly was, upon your incoming phone call he had just gotten off work and hadnât had the time to eat dinner yet.
âSit yourself down then, Iâll set your plateâ
He missed domestic moments like these. Overall any quality moments where it was just the two of you shutting out any thoughts of crossed boundaries.
âIâll get us some glasses to drink our wine, give me a secâ you voiced
Jungkookâs eyes followed your figure as you had your back facing him stepping foot onto the stool, reaching for the wine glasses kept in the cupboard with tippy toes. He drank in your appearance, how angelic you looked in your simple slip dress and shawl. Even though you dressed comfortably for home you were indeed breathtaking.
Setting the glasses onto the dining table while jungkook popped the cork of the wine and poured the liquid into both glasses, with that the table was set.
Digging into the home cooked meal with wine Jungkook couldnât help but stare at you in admiration. You catching onto his pupil enlarged stare made a questioning eye contact with him.
âoh yn, youâre so beautifulâ puppy eyed jungkook muttered
Sarcastically scoffing at his compliment. You were never one for compliments, never knowing how to acknowledge them or return them.
âOh please, jungkookâ trying to steer away from the conversation knowing youâd get emotional, jungkook continued.
âI mean it ynâŚI know I donât say things like you wanna hear them and I know Iâve acted like a complete asshole too but I have to get it off my chest when I say Iâve been thinking about you a lot latelyâŚand us, and the way things used to be.â
You felt irritation in your eyes and lip quivering, your waterline beginning to dampen hearing Jungkookâs heartfelt statement.
Not wanting him to see you break down you turn your head away. Using your soft hair to your advantage hiding away your face.
Jungkook took note of your exterior breaking down, hearing your resisted sniffling, extending his hand reaching for yours.
âI miss it all, especially the silliest thingsâ getting up from his seat heading over to your side where you remained seated, he crouched while placing his hand on your thigh.
Upon hearing that, curious you turned your head towards jungkook where he took in your rosy tinted wet cheeks by your fallen tears and glistening eyes.
âWhat silly things?â, curiously asking
âI miss your braâs youâd leave hanging on the doorknob of the restroom, I miss how youâd store my tools with your sewing supplies together, I miss my razor being dull because youâd use it to shave your legs with, I donât like having a closet all to myself, and yâknow itâs no fun swearing because youâre not there to make believe youâre shocked by it.â
âNothings any good with you yn, I miss a lot of things.â
Gathering the courage to speak you finally voiced out, âwhyâd you take so long to say these things Jungkook?â
âI guess itâs because I was kinda hoping youâd come back to me upon your own will, I know I messed it all up for us. I wanted it to be up to you to decide whether youâd forgive me. I was just scared that youâd get irritated by me and never want me againâŚâ with that Jungkook began struggling to voice his words, eyes brimming with tears as well.
No words had to be exchanged. You knew with all certainty you could not live without this man.
Pulling him into a desperate kiss, connecting both lips together he hugged your smaller frame, âoh Jungkook, I canât take this anymoreâ.
Wrapping his arms around your waist while having one hand then reach towards your nape to push both lips in closer proximity, âThen donât, I want this as much as you do, sweetheart.â
Eagerly responding the intimate kiss jungkook could not grasp the reality of this, feeling that at any moment heâd awaken from a dream.
âmmhpm, fuckâŚmissed this, missed youâ
His lips trailed onto your neck. Smothering wet kisses and bruises all around. Your manicured hands trailed to his neck followed to his hair where you gripped the roots as he continued to abuse and litter purplish marks on your neck.
âmhff ggukâŚneed you so badâ, you panted
âNeed you just as bad, baby. Waited like a horny dog for this moment.â
âgguk?â
âYea, baby?â
âNeed your cock in meâŚâ
âFuck, youâre gonna make me cum in my pants.â
Leading Jungkook to your bedroom where you laid on your elbows to watch Jungkook as he undressed. Removing his hoodie head first then getting rid of his shirt after leaving you with a view of his sculpted upper body and a bitten lip.
From the athlete of sculpted greek god abs to the happy trail and waistband of his Calvin Klein briefs. Your eyes trailed over every tensed muscle to inked sleeve catching the tattoo heâd gotten of your initials in cursive many years ago.
You couldnât resist the temptation the beef cake standing in front of you. Adoring his abs with wet kisses leading up to pecks where your wet muscle teased his nipple.
He couldnât resist himself either. How you looked under him had the tip of his cock leaking of precum.
Your slip had been sliding off your shoulders. Dangerously almost exposing your full breasts to him. Heâd noted how hardened your nipples were as they poked through the thin fabric.
âGod, yn⌠I need to have you now.â
âWhat are you waiting for? Get to it then.â
He missed this bratty side of yours. The sharp tongue thatâd always have you ass up on his lap.
âKeep doing that nd Iâll find other ways to use that mouth of yours.â
You had missed this side of jungkook just as much. His domineering aura had you coating your panties in wetness. He was naturally a softie at heart but when it came to tussling in the bedsheets he was somethjng different.
Itâs been months since you last had dick. Whenever you were ovulating it been hard to suppress yourself whenever jungkook was present. He had made it hard especially cause for some damn reason he always looked good. That angered you more.
âOh fuck! Gguk!â He had you on all fours as he thrusted balls deep into you at a relentless speed.
âSâ too good, baby. Fucking hell, cuntâs too tight. Been neglecting this pussy. Real clear it misses me.â Jungkook said in ragged pants.
Eyes remaining on the way his hips slammed against your plump ass, recoiling at the movement.
âFuck ggukie, donât stopâŚmhhff jus like that..â your head facing toward his direction. You looked like a goddess to him. The way he was taking you from behind to the way your face carried a pleasurable expression with frowned brows and strands of hair falling.
âDidnât think of it, baby. Let go for me hun, coat this dick.â
âmm..yes! Oh fuck!â You yelped as he lifted your body against his sculpted chest. This angle creating more ecstasy to your arriving orgasm.
Face close proximity to yours where he hid his face in your neck lathering it in bruises. Inching closer to your ear lightly nibbling on the edge of your ear.
âShit, baby⌠never get enough of you. Missed having you in my bed like this all for me.â
His words had you on the edge. Hips meeting his own in greed of chasing your high.
He felt your walls clenching upon his length. As well as his own high coming as well.
âOh fuck.. where do you want me, hun?â
âInside please, want it inside.â You were quick to respond.
Final thrust and both came in unison. Jungkook rode both highs out as he slowly thrusted. Sliding his now softened dick out of your cum filled cunt.
Arms now wrapping around your figure, both laying in each otherâs embrace.
âLove you, baby.â
âI love you more.â
end
#jungkook smut#bts smut#jungkook x female reader#jungkook x reader#bts imagine#bts imagines#bts jungkook#jungkook#jungkook fanfic#jeon jungkook#smut#jjk x reader#jjk smut#slut4jeon
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Strength
Rise Ramblings #565
While watching the show, I realized that we donât really get to see the boysâ true strength very often. Yes, we see their Ninpo at work, especially towards the end of the series, but I believe that outside of their Ninpo there is so much more to these boys than meets the eye. Â
When thinking about raw strength, itâs easy to say something like âYeah, Raph is the strongest.â And for good reason...
He is the one that works out the most.
His build is the largest and the most intimidating.
Often times we see him picking up, carrying, or tossing his brothers around, no problem.
And thatâs why this big guy gives the best hugs.
But the main reason why he's seen as the strongest is because heâs the one generally seen picking up the most impossibly heavy objects.
Although, he does have his limits.
Yes, Raph is the strongest, but that does not negate the strength of the rest of the bros.
The physical abilities of the other three are nothing to sneeze at, especially since they were all originally created to be weapons. (See âWhat Was Meant To Beâ for more on that subject.)
Take Mikey for instance.
Of all of the boys, you wouldnât think of Mikey as particularly strong, but here he is shoulder pressing one of his brothers for fun.
And flinging the boy in plum.
What about Leo? Sure, we never really see him exert himself, especially when it comes to weightlifting or exercise, but I canât help but notice how much he tends to carry his little brother.
Furthermore, Leo doesn't just carry Mikey, but throws him around as well.
But I believe the one that low key shows off his strength the most is Purple.
(It might have something to do with his overall lack of restraint, but I digress.)
He easily carries his brother when he needs to.
And more impressively, he throws Mikey like nobodyâs business using his bow staff and his own brawn.
Speaking of his staff, if this is true:
Then what do we make of this instance?
Yes, the staff was already semi-broken, but does he go on to completely demolish the titanium staff in frustration with his bare hands? (Kudos to @theaphaeon for pointing this out!)
You be the judge.
Nonetheless, for me, what really proves Donatelloâs strength are these scenes:
Donnie doesnât just carry out this feat once, but twice!
Not only does Donnie hold up the combined weight of ALL of his brothers, but he does it via one leg. For a normal person, if all of that weight was put on one leg they would be severely injured. But for Donnie, this is just a silly mode of travel with his beloved bros. Meanwhile, his jet pack is struggling under the combined weight of all four turtles...
All-in-all, I just wanted to really highlight the turtles' physical strength and remind myself that strength is not just a Raphie thing, but something that stems across all of the turtle teens.
Do you guys have any more examples of the boys being the powerful weapons they were created to be without using their Hamato Ninpo?
All comments and reblogs are welcome! đ
#starkiss ramblings#rise analysis#rottmnt analysis#character analysis#rise leonardo#rise leo#rise raph#rise raphael#rise mikey#rise michelangelo#rise donnie#rise donatello#donatello#michelangelo#leonardo#raphael#rottmnt leonardo#rottmnt raphael#leonardo hamato#raphael hamato#michelangelo hamato#donatello hamato#rottmnt#tmnt#teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the tmnt#tmnt2018#tmnt 2k18
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MEDDLE ABOUT
SYN. Being co-stars with your ex-boyfriend of three months is basically hell; or at least, that's what you think. AKA: Sukuna wants you back, whether he's acting or not.
TAGS. actor AU, fem!Reader, mean!Sukuna, exes to lovers, forced proximity, sharing a cigarette, smoking, arguing, eventual smut, Sukuna likes to shut you up with his dick, cockwarming, answering the phone during sĂŠx, orgasm denial, dacryphilia, porn w/o plot, use of pet names: baby, sweetheart, pretty girl, my dear (mockingly)
WC. 5.4k (please read anyway đ)
AN. requested by anon (you didn't specify any genre, so i just freestyled đ¤ˇââď¸), animated dividers by @/cafekitsune; i'm a sucker for actor AUs; available on ao3; MDNI
âI know you wanna kiss me,â you smiled, leaning closer to Sukunaâs face. Your noses were barely apart, and you couldnât tell where his breath ended, and where yours started. To be honest, this was far more intimate than any other kiss scene you ever had to film.
âYeah?â Sukuna grinned, getting equally as close. âAnd whatâre you going to do about that, pretty girl?â
â. . .Fucking slap you, thatâs what.âÂ
âCUT!â The director yelled, groaning in exasperation. âCâmon, people. I know itâs been a long day, but put your differences aside for the sake of one movie, will ya? When you receive your paycheck, youâll regret all of this âhuffing and puffingâ you two are both doing right now.â
You exhaled, pulling away from Sukuna. Itâs not that you couldnât remember your correct lines, itâs just. . . You couldnât take it anymore. Being in the same room as him, breathing in the same air as him, starring in the same movie with him. Fuck, you hated this.
You and Sukuna had broken up exactly three months ago despite having what seemed like a pretty healthy relationship. Seemed is the key word.
Of course, you two had your ups and downs, like an ordinary couple, but what differentiated you two from a normal couple was the fact that you guys both juggled busy careers as an actor and actress. Being booked with interviews, PR stunts, and in general, movies, you and Sukuna didnât have the ability to spend much time together. And, as if that wasnât enough, there was constantly a multitude of women on his arm during movie premieres. Yeah, you knew those were all for PR, but still, it hurt to see your boyfriend standing with a woman that wasnât you every day.
At first, you thought you could take it. Being an actress yourself, you had your fair share of rumors and made up scandals. But it came to a point where you couldnât take it anymore. You and Sukuna broke up, consequently, and fans immediately voiced their opinions and concerns, bombarding Twitter with trending tags, and posting videos on several apps. The internet had been obsessed with you guys as a couple since the first movie you two co-starred inâwhich was years agoâso their complaints definitely werenât for naught.
Originally, you thought that your relationship with Sukuna would end on good terms, but boy, oh boy, were you wrong. Sukuna, just mere days after your breakup, was spotted by paparazzi walking around the city with his arm around a girl you definitely did not recognize as one of his current co-stars. And to make matters worse, he had the audacity to hit you up and ask if he could come over to your penthouse right after.
Men, am I right?
You two may or may not have slept together as exes a few times after your inevitable argument about him and that new girl, but rest assured, you did eventually break things off permanently. Well, you thought you did. As if by fate, you and Sukuna were casted as co-stars in an up-and-coming romance movie that had your fans just dying in anticipation of finally being able to see their favorite (broken up) couple together on screen again.
To be frank, you were originally going to pass up the role as the female leadâseeing as your luck had landed you as co-stars with Sukunaâbut your manager apparently really, really wanted you to work on the film, saying things like Think of how elated your fans will be and Itâs an adaptation from a book that made millions and Just imagine all of the PR and promoting you could do. It took a while of convincingâand coercingâto get you to finally agree to the role since, after all, PR was the main reason for your and Sukunaâs breakup. But, honestly, you would be lying if you said there werenât any feelings left for your ex-boyfriend, Sukuna.
âI think we should all take a breather,â Sukuna began, jeering, âbefore someone gets all hot and bothered by just being on the same set as me. Wouldnât you agree?â Sukuna turned to you, an expression on his face that just made you want to punch him in the nose.
ââHot and botheredâ, seriously? Donât make me laugh.â You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest.
Sukuna tilted his head to the side, grinning. âDo you think Iâm joking? I could feel the way your heart was racing earlier, when we had to shoot that hugging in the rain scene. Just admit it, this isnât acting for you.â
He was definitely self-projecting, you scowled just by the thought of it.
âOh, donât give me that look, sweetheart. We all know how you really feel,â Sukuna teased, leaning down to your eye-level. His breath fanned your reddening ear as he whispered, âYou want me so bad it makes you look fucking stupid.â
And when he pulled away, Sukuna added one last remark, âI know itâs been a long three months for you. Say, howâs that blondie treating you, hm? I bet his dick is as small as his future in acting.â
âRyomen, just stop.â You shook your head. âItâs not like that with him, and you know that. Just leave me alone.â
You shoved at his chest as you walked off set, your assistants following you promptly with water bottles and towels.
In all honesty, you remembered it like it happened yesterday. Before you and Sukuna became boyfriend and girlfriend, your first meeting was in a movie that you both starred in as the female and male lead. It was a romance movie, of course, that was about a couple meeting on an island while both on individual vacations. You two spent most of your days on set in swimsuits and bikinis, consuming fake alcoholic beverages, and, consequently, sleeping togetherâafter the tension just grew unbearable.
On and off camera, Sukuna had been growing an attraction towards you. I mean, who could blame him? You two had to be near each other while being basically half-naked. And, if your pretty face wasnât enough to beguile Sukuna, your ass definitely was. From the moment he shook hands with you at your first meeting as co-stars, he knew he had to have youâacting or not.
That movie was the start of the skyrocketing of both your and Sukunaâs career in acting. Fans quickly noted how much chemistry the two of you had together, and how well you two could act out emotions and intimate scenes. What the audience didnât know, though, was that you and Sukuna had started seeing each other a few weeks after shooting together.
Sukuna had invited over the whole cast and team for drinks after a successful movie premiere, and you two ended up talking and conversing in his kitchen whilst a little under the influence. You two hit it off, and learned that being an aspiring actor wasnât the only thing you two had in common. One glass turned into two, and two turned into stumbling into Sukunaâs bedroom after everyone had responsibly ordered a cab home.
Waking up the morning after, and deciding it wasnât just going to be a one night stand, you and Sukuna thus began your new relationship. At first, you two avoided being spotted in public together, but it came to a point where your relationship just couldnât be hidden anymore and you both decided to go public. The internet responded almost immediately with cheers, enthusiasm, and occasionally, expressions showing how un-surprised they were. I mean, you two had been shipped together almost constantly; making it official was almost expected.Â
Years passed, the honeymoon stage was over, your careers were more demanding and busy than they had ever been, and, well, you know the rest.
â
âFancy seeing you here.âÂ
A grimace immediately made its way onto your face at the sound of Sukunaâs voice calling out to you from behind.Â
âHilarious,â you deadpanned, turning to face Sukuna as he sat down beside you and slung an arm around the back of the couch, âI was hoping the next time I saw you would be at your funeral.â
âA little harsh, donât you think?â chided Sukuna, as he brought out a cigarette and lit it.
You crossed your arms over your chest, leaning back against the couch. âWhat do you want?â
âIsnât it obvious?â Sukuna leaned his face closer to yours, his eyes running down your face and naturally drifting to your lips.
âUnless youâre being your usual asshole-self, and here to annoy me in my dressing room, Iâm afraid not.â
After you stormed off set, the director decided it was best to just call it a day and continue filming tomorrow. You went outside for a bit to get some fresh air, before deciding to return to your dressing room and get unready. Stripping down and putting on nothing but your robe, you had sat yourself down on the couch and picked up a magazine, planning on spending a few minutes relaxing before making your way home. Sukuna barging in, despite being off the clock, was something you definitely werenât expecting. He wasnât supposed to be here, and if someone found out. . .
âYouâll be in a lot of trouble if my makeup artist comes in here and sees you,â you commented. âGo smoke somewhere else.â
At this, Sukunaâs eyes flickered up to your own, and he removed the cigarette from his lips before blowing out the smoke right in front of your face. Your nose scrunched up, as if on instinct, and Sukuna booped your nose with a shit-eating grin on his face.
âI swear,â you began, snatching the cigarette out of Sukunaâs hands, âif I donât kill you, I hope these will.â Now was your turn to put the cigarette between your lips. You inhaled, and took a deep breath. But, only moments after, the cigarette was out of your hands and abruptly stubbed on a nearby ashtray.
Sukuna looked at you with an intent look on his face. âAs much as I find that hot, Iâd rather I be the one damaging my lungs. Not you.â
âLooking out for little old me? How cute,â you smiled, your tone sarcastic. âI see youâre not over us, yet, hm? Did that new girl change your mind?â
You leaned closer to Sukuna, your shoulders brushing ever so slightly.
As soon as you mentioned that other chick, Sukuna rolled his eyes. âOh, please. It was nothing, we didnât even hold hands. Câmon, all we did was sit next to each other at a party, and now youâre on my ass about her?â
You shrugged, picking up the magazine you had previously discarded and flipping through the pages with faux interest. âOh, really? Didnât look that way to me. You two sure seemed buddy-buddy.â
âLike hell we did. Fuck, do you want me to bring up that twig you were with last week? Kidâs got no meat on his arms. Canât even call him a man. Is that seriously how low youâre willing to go, babe?â Sukuna scoffed at your lack of attention to him. âShitâs even worse than a downgrade.â
âYou can think that all you want. But I definitely disagree.â You struggled to stifle a giggle.
Sukuna, furrowing his brows, narrowed his eyes at you. âThe fuck do you mean by that? Donât tell me youâve seen his dick.â
âI dunno, have I?â You turned to Sukuna, meeting his gaze with an equal amount of irritation.
âMustâve been pretty small, though, if you canât even remember it,â Sukuna pressed, leaning closer to you, your noses touching, before pulling away. âWhatever, this is boring. Say, how about we get back to where we left off, and practice that kissing scene, hm? I think itâs a great idea.â
âRyomen, letâs not. You know weâre done. Been done. Weâre through.â
âYou donât really mean that.â
âOh, is it not obvious? I think it was pretty obvious when you had the nerve to get with a new girl just days after we broke up. And then you have the balls to call me right after the paparazzi catches you two. Really, Sukuna? I donât mind the idea of us ending on neutral terms, but . . . 48 hours? Two days after we broke up, and youâre already fucking some girl? Way to go, Sukuna.â
âDonât get ahead of yourself there, baby. We didnât even kiss, did you see any pictures of us kissing? No. And, besides, itâs called provocation. Honestly, you should be praising me, because it worked in the end, didnât it? I came âcrawling backâ like one of your little bitch boys, and what happened? Oh, I remember; you let me right the fuck in to your apartment.â
As much as you hated to admit it, you couldnât deny Sukuna. He was right. And, just the mere thought of what you two did after he hit you up brought heat to your cheeks.
The very same night after pictures of Sukuna and that new girl started circulating around the internet, Sukuna decided to text you:
hey pretty girl,
you up?
You were drying yourself off with a towel when you received two notifications on your phone, and when you saw the contact name, you frowned and turned off your phone without giving a response. Minutes after, there was a ring on your doorbell, and when you checked the camera, lo and behold, stood none other than the last pink-haired man you wanted to see that evening.
When you opened the door, wearing nothing other than a towel around your still dripping body, Sukuna couldnât help but shamelessly check you out, deciding then and there that this definitely wasnât going to be the end of your relationship. Of course, an argument ensued soon after, because thatâs what life was like dating a dick like Sukuna. Luckily for you, however, Sukunaâs bulge in his pants was bigger than his ego, and so it made up for all of the playful bullying and teasing remarks that he frequently gave.
Sukunaâbecause he wasnât born yesterdayâknew his looks and charms fairly well, and often used them as a weapon or bargaining chip. Thatâs why, after you spent a minute or two berating and yelling at Sukuna near your front door, it only took the man one look into your eyes and one sultry comment to have you both stumbling into the . . . bedroom? No, you two had been apart for two days too long, and just decided to utilize your expensive kitchen counters for purposes completely unrelated to cooking.
The next morning, you two woke upâafter getting just half an hour of sleepâand didnât untangle from each otherâs limbs until your manager called you nearly a hundred times, and forced you to get up and attend some interview or something. That, however, was not your last night with Sukuna. You two met upâintentionally or notâwithin the same week, whether it be at interviews or just random outings, and meddled with the other until one of you would fold (usually Sukuna) and consequently do something you would end up not fully regretting the next morning.
This affair continued until you finally came to your senses and blocked Sukuna out from your life in all ways possible. But, due to his bank account, Sukuna did end up purchasing multiple different phones just to be able to contact you. You may or may not have given in a few times, but in the end, you did end up leaving Sukuna for good.
âReminiscing, are you? Itâs okay, Iâve been doing that every night since you left the penthouse,â Sukuna laughed, noticing the way you went silent. You hated the way he referred to his place as The penthouse, and not, simply, his penthouse because, to be frank, for the years you both spent as a couple, you practically lived together despite having individual residences.
âWhat the hell, Sukuna. JustâWhy are you evenâ?â
Sukuna cut you off, rolling his eyes. âI find it pretty hard to believe that not a single part of you misses me. Donât lie; lying is a sin, yâknow.â
âSukunaâExcuse me? Donât give me that shit. âLying is a sinâ my ass. You must have to ask for Godâs forgiveness pretty often, then. I canât believe you want to call me a sinner, I mean, justâjust look at you! Youâre no saint, either, and you know that damn well.â
Sukuna raised his hands in defense, humoring you. âWoah, looks like Iâve been caught,â he laughed, before getting a little more serious. âBut, donât try to avoid the fact that youâre not innocent. Okay, we broke up due to not being able to make time for each other, and because of how much women I had to be around. Yeah, I get that. But itâs not like I was the only one taking up PR stunts. You did the same, too, didnât you? So donât try and paint me out to be the bad guy, when, at the end of the day, we did the same fucking thing.â
Irritated, you pinched the space between your brows. âI barely have any energy to say something to your stupid face right now. We broke up because of that, but also because of how much of a fucking dick you were and are. I knew you werenât a total angel when we got together butââ
âLook. Do you want a nice guy?â
â. . .â
âDonât feel pressured to answer, baby. We all know how you really feel.â
âGo. to. Hell. Sukuna. Seriously. This? Again? Do you even know how much of an ass you are? I should deserve an award for putting up with your shit for so long, Godââ
âYeahh, just keep talking,â said Sukuna in a teasing manner, as he leaned back against the couch, spreading his legs apart. You had never wanted to sit somewhere so bad.
âAre you fucking kidding meâmmph!â
You wouldâve continued yelling and cursing Sukuna out for being such a dick had he not roughly pressed his lips against yours, immediately shutting you up. Because you still had some self-respect left, you fought back, throwing weak punches at his chest; but when Sukuna caught your wrists in his hands, you knew it was game over. Your muffled complaints soon turned to whimpers and sighs, as you shut your eyes and let your body do the talking.
Minute after minute, you gradually turned to putty in Sukunaâs hands. Fuck, as much as you hated to admit it, you had truly missed this. The feeling of his large, coarse hands roaming your body, tracing your curves, the feeling of his soft, but unruly hair under your fingertips, but most importantly, the feeling of his lips on yours.
At this point, you couldnât even remember why the two of you broke up.
âSukuna,â you murmured, pulling away for a moment to breathe. âWeâre not together anymore. We shouldnâtââ
âShouldnât?â repeated Sukuna, eager to get back to where you left off. âAre you in a relationship with someone else? Am I in a relationship with someone else? No, and no. So enlighten me, my dear, why should we stop?â
â. . .â It was like he was challenging you, except, this time, it was a battle you could afford to lose. You wanted Sukuna, you really did. But admitting it was the hard part. You chewed on your bottom lip, contemplating every outcome, as Sukuna continued to stare at you with so much desire you could practically feel it.
âAre you hesitating because,â Sukuna paused, ââbecause you fucked someone else while I was gone?â
You sighed, swallowing the lump in your throat; you had never been more conflicted in your life. Placing your hands on Sukunaâs shoulders, you pushed back until Sukuna was sitting on the couch, and you were sitting on top of himâseated on his lap. As if on instinct, his hands made their way from your hips to the curve of your ass.
Sukuna gripped the globes of fat and muscle with a purpose, and let out an exaggerated groan at the missed feeling of you practically sitting on his dick. You were wearing nothing but a dainty, silky robe, and you clearly didnât cross it over your chest too well, as Sukuna could see almost everything he had been missing out on during the past few months.
âDonât even think about lying to me. I can feel you throbbing on my thigh, yâknow.â
â. . .And?â You raised a brow; whispering in Sukunaâs ear, âWhat about it?â
Biting your lip, you let your hands wander up and down Sukunaâs neck, the spot you knew he liked you touching. When you broke things off with Sukuna, you didnât know you could miss being able to trace his tattoos as bad as you did.
âOh?â asked Sukuna. But when his fingers wandered up your robe, there was a sudden change in Sukunaâs demeanor, and he sucked in a breath.
âAdorable,â you laughed. âCat got your tongue?â
âShit, baby,â Sukuna groaned, âI bet you were expecting me to come and visit your little dressing room, huh. Even planned ahead and gave me a little surprise. Cheeky thing.â
Just seconds earlier, Sukunaâs fingers had been teasingly ghosting where you wanted him most, but when he noticed the lack of underwear you had on, he nearly lost it. You clearly werenât making it easy for Sukuna to stay composed, he was sure of that much. Despite all of his belittling and teasing remarks, he definitely wasnât as unaffected as he let himself seem to be.
âWeâve just been apart for so, so long.â You looked into Sukunaâs eyes, a faux pout on your lips as you looped your arms around his neck and pressed your tits up against his chest. âCan you blame me?â
âFuck, girl,â Sukuna kissed his teeth. âYouâre dripping wet. All for me?â
âWho the fuck else?â
Sukunaâs fingers danced around your entrance, collecting your slick as you pressed your thighs together, trapping his hand between your legs (not like he was complaining, though; that was probably the closest to Heaven Sukuna would ever get in his lifetime). âMmm, thatâs what I like to hear.â
It wasnât a surprise when you pressed your lips against Sukunaâs, bringing him in for another zealous kiss. In an effort to get impossibly closer, your body curved into his, like you were puzzle pieces molded and created just for each other. You two moved in sync, as if you had both rehearsed this before; but, in truth, you two had just made out too many times to count, so kissing Sukuna was basically like breathing air. You needed it to survive, and, it was light work. What more could you say?
The tension and lust between you two grew, and your dressing room soon filled with the sound of sensual desire, moans and quiet gasps, and the creaking of the framework of your unfortunate couch, which had the misfortune of being beneath the two of you.
From the moment you had begun straddling his lap, you had pretended not to notice the growing erection below you; but, by now, it was pretty hard to ignore the bulge pressing against your ass. It was like, during the months you two spent apart, Sukunaâs dick was growing even larger than before. You didnât remember it being so big. And, just the sight of it was enough to make you lick your lips in fear? Anticipation? . . .Definitely a mix of both.
As Sukuna made a show of removing his belt and pants, he grinned at the evident look of unfamiliarity on your face. âScared?â
âOf course not,â you quipped, trying to put up a front, but your body betrayed you, displaying otherwise.
âNaturally,â Sukuna mocked, âthatâs why I can practically feel your arousal, right?â
You bit your lip, âShut up.â
Sukuna laughed, pushing the ends of your robe up to rest on your hips, and sliding his hands to your ass, squeezing each cheek with an equal amount of force. Damn, thought Sukuna, he had missed his favorite girls.
âJust because we havenât done this in a while doesnât mean you have to be afraid of it. Câmon,â Sukuna slowly repositioned and lowered your hips and spread your legs apart, easing his dick through your cunt, âthereâs nothing to be shy about. I know youâve been missing this.â
It was true, you and Sukuna hadnât fucked in three whole months, and your body was definitely starting to forget how he felt. The feeling of your walls stretching to accommodate Sukunaâs length and size burned pleasurably, and you bit your lip to stifle a moan, which, in turn, just came out as a whimper instead.
Bracing yourself, you planted both palms on Sukunaâs broad shoulders as your lashes fluttered and your eyes shut tight. âSoânnghâSo big, Sukuna. God.â
âBet youâre real glad you decided to accept this role, after all, huh.â
Your eyes snapped open, and you glared at Sukuna. âWill you just shutâoh!â
Just as you were about to yell at Sukuna, he decided it was the absolute perfect time to give a rough thrust; and you couldâve sworn you felt him in your womb. Throughout all the years you two had been together, you rarely had the opportunity to actually sit on his dick, and, now that you had the chance, you realized how full you felt in this position compared to how you two usually fucked. Sukuna knew you liked it rough, but this . . . was like nothing you had experienced before.
Sukunaâlaughingâleaned down just enough to whisper in your ear, âYou were saying?â
âFuck,â you gritted your teeth. âJust move, Sukuna, goddamnit. Whatâs the holdup? Donât tell me the late twenties are catching up to your libido.â
âHa! in your dreams. I was just thinking of a new way we could have fun. Letâs see, just how long can you go without moving, hm?â
You gulped. âW-What? Why would youâ?â
âBecause itâs exciting, and spices up things. Donât you think so?â
â. . .â
As the minutes idly passed by, you grew hot and bothered, and exasperated. You couldnât believe Sukuna was making you do this. Nearly ninety days you two spent apart, and now that you had gotten back together, he had the audacity to leave you high and dry? In a final attempt at getting any satisfaction, you moved to roll your hips, desperate to create any amount of friction to free you from this everlasting state between Heaven and Hell; but two rough hands abruptly caught you in motion, and swiftly held you down.
âAh, ah, ah,â tutted Sukuna, in a mocking tone. âDid I say you could move?â
Clearly frustrated, you let out a whine; but as your hands move to give punches against Sukunaâs chest, he catches your wrists in his hands with ease, an evil smile on his face, like a predator that had successfully cornered their prey and was just seconds away from latching their teeth in.
The belt was already pretty loose, so when one of the sleeves on your robe slipped down your shoulder, revealing your bare chest, no one was that surprised.
âOh?â Sukuna began. âWhat have we here?â His scarlet eyes roamed up and down your figure, as his grip on your wrists turned almost deathly.
âYou . . . bastard,â youâsuddenly feeling a bit shyâtried to tug your wrists out of his grasps, in order to cover yourself up, but your attempts were futile. âLet go of meâhnngh, shit.â
Your back arched, body curving closer to Sukunaâs as his lips abruptly wrapped around one of your already hard nipples, catching you off guard. You had never felt so overwhelmed; the feeling of Sukuna sucking on a tit while his dick was buried inside of youâunmovingâwas nearly enough to make you cum, despite the lack of movement that Sukuna allowed.
Bringing you out of your dazed state was the sudden ringing of your phone on the table beside the ashtray. Your eyes widened in surprise, as you softly pushed Sukuna off of you. âJustâJust ignore it. Itâs not important.â
âRight. But whereâs the fun in that, huh?â
âYou donât mean. . .â
âYou know what I mean. Answer it, on speaker,â Sukuna pressed. His tone told you he wasnât going to repeat himself.
With shaky fingers, you reached for the phone, answered the caller, and put it on speaker. âH-Hello? Katayama?â
Katayama was the name of one of your co-stars. Or, in other words, the blonde dude, which Sukuna kept mentioning earlier.
âHey, you! Itâs pretty late right now, perfect time for us to go out and get some drinks, yâknow? Iâm a bit bored, as of lately.â
You were about to respond with an apologetic declination to his offer, but Sukuna cut you off as he roughly lifted up your hips and abruptly slammed them back down, causing you to choke back a moan, and cover it up with a faux series of coughs. âIâm, ah, a little . . . busy,â you whimpered, wincing at the tight grip on your hipsâwhich was sure to leave a bruise in the morning, âright now.â
âAre you sick?â
âUhm, noâI mean, yes!â You let out another fake cough just to seal the deal. âYup, just a little under the weather.â
You bit your lip, trying to suppress a string of moans and curses as Sukuna continued slamming your hips up and down onto his.
âWell, if youâre ever in need of an extra warm blanket, donât be afraid toââ
âHahh.â A breathy moan slipped past your lips, and you could practically see the surprised look that was probably on Katayamaâs face right now.
ââcall . . . me. Uhm, are you sure youâre sick? You sound like youâre in the middle of . . . something. Is everything okayâ?â
âYup! Yeah, everything is totally okay,â you forced out, with an enthusiastic tone. Gripping Sukunaâs shoulder with your free hand for leverage, you shut your eyes tight as you quickly ended the call. âIâm a little occupied at the moment, Iâll call you baâIâm gonna go. Bye!â
As swiftly as you hung up the call, you threw your phone across the couch, and let out all of the noises you had been previously bottling up.
âIâm so c-close.â You mewled, now even more desperate than you were before.
âIf you dare cum,â Sukuna began, his voice low, âIâll stop.â
âSukuna!â You whined, scratching at his back and leaving little crescent shaped marks from your nails on his tricep. âI need toâahnn!â
Squeezing your eyes shut, you held onto Sukunaâs shoulders for dear life as he quickened his pace. Lifting your hips up with ease, and slamming them back down with equal force. Fucked out of your mind was not enough to describe your current state, as your eyes rolled back into your head, and your lipstick was smudged across your mouth.
Sukuna leaned down to whisper into your ear, never stopping his movements. âBet the little blondie didnât fuck you like this, huh?â
It was obvious that Sukuna wasnât an insecure guy; I mean, he had no reason to be. He had nice muscles, a good body, overall, sharp features, tempting eyes, and tattoos for days. But, you had to admit, the spark of jealousy was definitely a good look on Sukuna, one that you wouldnât mind seeing every once in a while, if it meant seeing him like . . . this.
â. . .S-Sukuna, we neverâwe never even fucked in the first place.â
âOh, yeah? How long you been without cock, then, huh? Must be why youâve been acting like such a bitch. I almost feel bad; all this time, my babyâs just been depraved.â
â. . .F-fuck you,â you shivered, body practically shaking with need.
âNo need to state the obvious, sweetheart. Fuck, even your tears taste sweet,â Sukuna groaned, licking a stripe up your cheek. âItâs as if you were literally made for me to devour.â
âPlease, please let me cum! Iâm soâhnnghâclose.â
âYeah, no. Câmon, I know my girl can last just a little longer, canât you?â Sukuna grinned, biting his lip as he admired your dazed state. He hadnât been able to touch you in three months, ninety days, 504 hours. If anyone was going to get their fill, it was him.
â
âOh!â Your stylist exclaimed, after walking into your dressing room and noticing you lying asleep on the couch. âYouâre already here. And, Sukunaâs here, too. Wait. . . SUKUNAâS HERE, TOO!?â
#sukuna x reader#ryomen x reader#sukuna x you#jjk x reader#jjk x you#jjk smut#sukuna smut#sukuna ryomen x reader#sukuna x y/n#em writes ËËË
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Much Ado About Nothing (Act III, Scene I: The Fake Dating)
It doesnât occur to you how serious the situation has become until you're forced to sign your fake relationship on paper.
Part warning: none, this might be the slowest burn I have ever written Words: 2.4k A/n: The original plan was to update this series twice a week, but I overestimated myself, so I will be posting each Thursday around this time. I hope you understand <3
SERIES MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST
Spencer wasnât sure how he would go through with this. The idea seemed simple enough on the surfaceâpretend to date, fool everyone, and finally find peace. Yet, the more he thought about it, the more complex it became, and the more complicated it was, the more crazy it seemed.
This was not what he had signed up for when he joined the BAU. Chasing criminals? Sure. Analyzing behavioral patterns? Absolutely. But pretending to date you to avoid the relentless meddling from his friends? Insane wasn't a strong enough word for it. It was ludicrous.
And even that word wasnât enough. It was downright preposterous. How had rational, analytical work turned into this bizarre social experiment? Yet, here he was, ready to play his part even when he couldnât ignore the absurdity of it all.
âWell, well, well.â Spencer looked up to see you walking from the opposite direction, both of you stopping right at the entrance of the bureauâs expansive building. âIf it isnât my new boyfriend.â
He narrowed his eyes. Why did you seem⌠so normal about this? Werenât you the one who hated his guts? Werenât you the one who avoided him every time you had the chance? Were you really that desperate to get the team off your back?
âWhat? Youâre not going to greet your girlfriend?â
He forced a smile, trying to hide his irritation. âGood morning,â he replied curtly, opening the door for you.
You walked past him, and Spencer tried not to stare at you, but it was impossible to ignore the way your hair shone under the morning sun or how your perfume subtly filled the air as you brushed by him. He cleared his throat and followed you inside, wondering how long he could keep up this act without losing his sanity.
âWe need some ground rules,â he muttered, nodding towards security as you both passed through the entrance.
You raised an eyebrow. âGround rules? You mean besides pretending to be madly in love?â
âWe are not in love. We just started dating,â Spencer said, pressing the elevator button. âSo no spontaneous public displays of affection. We donât want to overdo it.â
âWhatâs your definition of overdoing it?â
Spencer waited until the elevator doors slid shut, giving you a little privacy. "No touching. Especially no hand-holding," he stated firmly.
You scoffed. "Who on earth wouldn't want to hold their girlfriend's hand?"
He replied without missing a beat. "Do you know how many germs are transferred when you hold hands? An average of 3,000 bacteria from 150 different species, not to mention the potential viruses.â
âWow, remind me to never shake hands with you during flu season.â
He shrugged. âIâm just stating the facts.â
âOkay, germaphobe,â you deadpanned, leaning back against the elevator wall. âWhatâs acceptable then? A nod from across the room? Morse code blinking?â
He considered for a moment, then offered a compromise, âHow about an arm around your shoulder when weâre sitting? Or a quick side hug?â
âSide hug,â you echoed, mockingly horrified. âHow romantic. Our friends will believe weâre madly in love for sure.â
âWe are not in love.â
âSo youâve mentioned,â you replied dryly, standing straight again and turning toward him. âCan we at least try to look like a couple who actually like each other?â
That was the problem. You both didnât like each other. âFine,â he sighed. âWhat do you suggest?â
You paused, considering the best way to make this look believable. âHow about you hold onto my waist from behind as we walk? Itâs a common gesture, and it looks natural.â
Spencer blinked, taken aback by the suggestion. âHold your waist? As in, really close?â
âYes, Reid, thatâs generally where the waist is located.â
He frowned at you. âThat sounds a bit too⌠personal, donât you think?â
âIsnât that the whole point? To convince them weâre a couple?â
He hesitated, the image of his hands on your waist flashing through his mind. He suddenly imagined the warmth of your body against his, the subtle, pleasant scent of your perfume enveloping him. He could almost feel the way youâd be tucked right to his side, your height fitting perfectly against him, your head nestled just below his chin.
His heart unexpectedly started to race. The idea of holding you that close, feeling the rise and fall of your breath, the slight brush of your hair against his cheekâit was almost too intimate, too real. And he didnât want to acknowledge that. He wasnât sure if he could trust himself to play the role convincingly without his emotions betraying him.
âReid?â
Spencer snapped out of his thoughts, realizing he had been silent for too long. You were watching him impatiently.
âYou know what? Do whatever you want.â You turned away, facing the elevator door, clearly frustrated by his hesitation. âJust stand there like a statue for all I care.â
His eyes slowly fell to your waist, considering his options... Maybe it wasnât that bad. The idea of his hand resting there, guiding you, didnât seem as unbearable as he initially imagined. The gesture seemed innocent enough. Not too much, not too little. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything, apparently. Because it happened all at once.
One, he reached his hand toward you.
Two, the elevator door swung open.
And three, as you started to move forward, his hand managed to slip before it landed onto your ass.
You shrieked at the top of your lungs.
"Reid!"Â
Spencer's face turned red as he quickly retrieved his hand, stammering, "I-I'm sorry! That wasn'tâ"
But he wasnât fast enough, because standing on the other side of the elevator door was Derek, witnessing the whole thing. His eyebrows shot up, and a slow grin spread across his face.
"What do we have here?â Derek drawled, crossing his arms. "Spencer Reid, getting a little too friendly?"
Spencer's mortification deepened as he tried to explain, "It's not what it looks like, I swear!"
Derek chuckled, shaking his head. "Sure, pretty boy. Whatever you say." He stepped to the side. âWell, arenât you two lovebirds going to get to work?â
Trying to recover from the embarrassment, Spencer nodded quickly, his face still burning. He guided you out of the elevator with a brief, cautious touch on your back that stayed strictly in the safe zone.
You both hurried toward the glass doors, leaving Derek laughing behind you. You slightly leaned closer to him. âI could sue you for sexual harassment, you know.â
âIt was an accident! You moved too quickly.â
âSure, blame it on me,â you retorted, your voice dripping with sarcasm as you pushed through the glass doors ahead of him.
Spencer quickened his pace to keep up, matching your brisk walk. âI am blaming it on you. This wouldnât have happened if you hadnât suddenly decided to move forward.â
âRight, because clearly, I should have anticipated your clumsiness.â
He shot you a sideways glance. âMy clumsiness? Youâre the one whoââ
âThere you are!â
You both turned to see JJ walking toward you, a knowing smile playing on her lips. âHotch is looking for you.â
You started to walk away. âSure, Iâll go see himââ
JJ shook her head, her smile widening. âNo, you donât understand. Heâs looking for you,â she pointed a finger at Spencer, then swung it back to you, âAnd you. Both of you, together.â
Spencer raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. âBoth of us? Why?"
âSomething about filling in paperwork?â
He frowned, but as the implication of Hotch calling you both at the same time for paperwork sank in, he snapped his head toward you, his eyes wide with realization. You turned toward him at the same moment, and the gravity of your seemingly innocent lie spiraled down on him, making the whole situation feel alarmingly real.Â
The weight of it pressed on Spencerâs chest. How could he possibly forget about the most important thing in all of this? He had an eidetic memory, he was good at recalling even the smallest details, but how could he not remember the need to officially disclose workplace relationships?
The reality of potentially signing official documents to confirm this fake relationship made his palms sweat.
âThis is stupid,â you whispered when JJ finally left the two of you. âMaybe we should think this through.â
Spencer looked down at you. You were right, this was stupid. It was getting out of hand. But as he noticed the way you stared up at him, with your wide, doe-like eyes sparkling under the light, something shifted. This whole lie had started as a means to an end, a way to fend off the relentless teasing. But now, standing there with you, it felt like more than just a plan. Maybe it was the thrill of the unknown, or the strange comfort of the lie. Maybe it wasnât just about fooling the team.
Maybe he was starting to fool himself too.
Spencer took a deep breath. âNo,â he said softly, more to himself than to you. âWe started this, we should go through with it.â
Before you could respond, he placed his hand on your lower back, feeling the warmth of your body through the thin fabric of your blouse before his palm slid over to your waist. Your eyes widened in surprise at the sudden gesture, but you didn't pull away.
What have you done?
You couldnât believe you had actually signed the papers. The weight of the pen felt so heavy in your hand, the ink seeming to dry slower than usual as you scrawled your name on the dotted line. This was supposed to be a simple, harmless plan, but now it was documented. Official.
How did it come to this?
You watched as Spencer took the pen from you, his hand brushing yours momentarily. He glanced at you before turning his attention back to the document. The hesitation was brief, but you saw itâthe flicker of doubt before he pressed the pen on to the paper and signed his name next to yours.
What the hell are we doing?
âAlright,â Hotch said, taking the papers and giving you both a nod. âThis is a bit formal, but itâs necessary under bureau policy. If there are any changes in your relationship status, you should report immediately.â
You nodded, barely hearing his words over the pounding of your heart.
âAgain, congratulations.â
Your stomach churned. You were going to be sick.
âThank you,â Spencer responded. Hotch then dismissed you both, and as you turned to leave, Spencer's hand gently touched your back. You were the one who urged him to act his part, but it felt too intimate, too real at that moment. You quickly increased your pace, putting some distance between you as you walked down into the bullpen.
Penelope was sitting on your chair, chatting animatedly with the rest of the team in the open space. She looked up when you both arrived. âWell, look whoâs back!â Penelope called out. âHow did it go?"
You weren't surprised everyone understood what being called in, together at that, by Hotch implied.
âIt went⌠as expected,â you replied, forcing a smile. Spencer stood a bit awkwardly beside you, his usual composure slightly ruffled.
"This is amazing,â Penelope sighed. "Oh! you know what we should do?"
You eyed her warily. "What?"
"This totally calls for a celebration!"
Your eyes widened. "Let's notâ"
"Are you guys free this weekend?" Penelope turned toward the rest of the team.
Derek leaned back in his chair with a wide grin. "You know I'm always up for a party."
Spencer looked between you and the rest of the team, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't think thatâs necessaryâ"
"He's right, Spencer isn't much of a party freak," JJ chimed in, joining in the conversation from her desk. "We should do something more relaxing."
"No, that's not what I meantâ"
"You know what we haven't done in a while?" Emily asked, walking closer with a thoughtful look before she settled onto your desk, leaning slightly against it. "We haven't gone to the pool lately."
Penelope perked up at the idea. "Rossi's villa?"
Emily confirmed her with a nod. "Rossi's villa. Heâs always saying we should use it more anyway.â
At any given chance, you would jump at the idea. You loved relaxing by the pool. You loved basking under the sun with a cool drink in your hand, the smell of chlorine in the air, and the refreshing splash of water on your skin. And Rossiâs pool was the perfect place for that.
It was a villa located an hourâs drive away that seemed more suited to a resort than a private residence. It was far from the city, mostly unoccupied, but always welcoming. You had been there before, stayed overnight there too, and all those fun memories were still vivid in your mind. You even recalled the time Emily was caught skinny dipping at night. Or the time Derek kicked Spencer out of the pool after realizing he had been hustling him at basketball the week before.
It had been fun then, but the more you reflected on those memories, the deeper your frown became. They had happened way before everything fell apart, before the tension had strained your friendship. It was a time when everything felt simpler, when Spencer was one of your closest friends. And now, ironically, he was your boyfriend.
Fake boyfriend.
"So it's settled, then?" Penelopeâs voice broke through your thoughts, snapping you back to the present.
Honestly, you didnât want to go. How were you even going to pull this off? A weekend by the pool, while usually the perfect highlight for your summer, now felt like walking into a scripted play where your every gesture would be scrutinized. Not just by anyone, but by skilled profilers who could sniff out a lie like a shark smells blood in the water.
The fear of being exposed, of embarrassing yourselfâor worse, damaging your careerâwas gnawing at you. It made you increasingly anxious. Yet backing out wasnât an option either. It would raise too many questions and invite too much speculation.
So you closed the distance between you and Spencer and linked your arm through his, ignoring the slight panic in his eyes. âSure,â you said, turning to Penelope as you mustered a smile. âSounds fun.â
Penelope beamed at you. Spencer, on the other hand, felt the exact opposite. The idea of spending an entire weekend pretending to be in a relationship filled him with dread.
And he couldnât shake the feeling that everything was bound to go wrong.
#much ado about nothing#gifwriting#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid series#spencer reid fanfic#spencer reid x you#spencer reid fic#spencer reid x fem!reader smut#spencer reid x fem!reader#spencer reid x female reader#spencer reid x fanfiction#criminal minds fanfic#spencer reid x self insert#spencer reid smut#spencer reid fluff#spencer reid angst#spencer reid fanfiction
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A is for About Time
july 07, 2008
summary: Youâre paired up with Spencer on a mostly physiological case⌠Heâs impressed with how many of his obscure references you understand and how youâre able to carry on conversations with him unlike anyone else.
word count: 1.3k
warnings: details of a case: strangulation, blood writing
ây/n and Reid, I need you to stay here at the station while the rest of us go search the area.â Hotch said, handing you and Spencer each a file. âThereâs information about the case in here. The PD thinks weâre dealing with someone who is able to outsmart that of the normal man. We need both of your heads on this. Got it?â
You and Spencer both nodded. You were smart, no denying it, but you know he knows everything you know times two.
Youâve only been in the BAU six months, but youâd only need to know Spencer two minutes to know just how intelligent he is. You donât quite understand why Hotch wants you to stay back on this case with him, but who are you to deny the man.
You and Spencer take the Manila folders and make your ways to the conference room. He does a little jog to catch up with you. âYou know, Iâve never had anyone else stay back with me on cases like these.â He says as he slows his step to match yours.
âYeah, weâll maybe youâve never had anyone quite on your level Dr. Reid.â you joke as you pull the glass door open. Thereâs a bulletin board with photos from the case. You see Spencer grimace at them out of your peripheral. No matter how many cases you go on, this is one thing that will never be easy for anyone in this job.
Spencer sprawls out his folder on the half-circle-shaped wooden table in the center of the small office. The first image is a photo from the crime scene. Itâs a white brick wall with blood writing, it reads:
âin this moment, she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and goodâ
âItâs a poem.â He says. âPorphyriaâs Lover.â
You interrupt him, âa mid 1800âs poem written by Robert Browning.â
âYouâve heard of it?â
âA poem in which a beautiful womanâs lover strangles her with her own hair? Yeah Iâve heard of it.â
He flips through a few more pages in the folder. Theyâre all just copies of whatâs on the bulletin. Youâre not too sure why you were each given folders containing the same pictures, but I guess consistency is key in this job.
âI never took you as an 1800s poem freak, y/n.â He says with a smile that you canât quite tell the intention behind.
âMaybe youâre not as many levels ahead of me as you thought, Dr. Reid.â
_____
Itâs only day two of the case, but between stupid jokes and bonding over old literature, thereâs only one thing you cannot seem to pinpoint the reasoning for. And probably the only way youâll be able to directly connect to the unsub.
Heâs working off a dating app. He searches for women who meet his physical criteria, then stalks them until heâs able to pounce. Smart guy. Very smart guy.
âThe one thing I just cannot understand is why if the poem heâs working off of is so keen on blonde hair, why have only half of our victims been blondes?â Spencer says, reading through a print-out of the original poem.
âMaybe the women with brown hair were just more available?â You say, not sure if you believe it.
Spencer takes a sip of his coffee. âNo, a man like this would want blondes. Heâs working of the exact motive of the poem.â
âAnd he must have a lot of time with his victims to be able to strangle them with their hair.â
You and Spencer spend hours reading over the poem and investigating that photos. Hotch comes back to the station to bring photos from yet another crime scene. Another blonde. If anything, that takes you further from figuring him out, messing up the blonde-brown-blonde-brown victim order.
âThereâs no way heâs picking these victims at random. Heâd have to spend far too long watching them to know their work schedule to be able to get into their apartments.â Hotch says. âI need you guys to further analyze the poem. It could have the key and hopefully we can find him before he strikes again.â
You and Spencer spend a further hour and a half looking over and annotating the poem. Youâre both about to give up on the poem when you notice something: the rhyme scheme.
âA-B-A-B-B,â you think outloud.
âWhat?â Spencer is confused.
âThe rhyme scheme, Spencer. Itâs A-B-A-B-B. Auburn-Blonde-Auburn-Blonde-Blonde. That has to be it!â
âSo heâll go back to the beginning. Heâs looking for his next victim with auburn hair, just like Julia Dempsey and Katie Flanagan. Nice catch, y/n. Weâve gotta call Hotch.â
He pulls out his phone and dials the eight digits quickly. He fills in Hotch on the info you find as you email over to Garcia. Itâs only a matter of time before Morgan and Hotch move in on the man, Garcia finding him from a simple categorical search of dating profile preferences.
_____
Youâre sat on the jet next to Spencer on your way home. Youâre going on about old literature and artifacts pertaining to them. No one else understands a word either of you are saying, but theyâre rather in awe of how the two of you are able to bounce off each other and carry on about, what to them, is utter nonsense.
Itâs late. Early. Well, both. 2:47 AM. Youâre leaned with your elbow on the table and your head in your hand looking at Spencer as he recites an old poem from memory. His voice is calm and warm. JJ and Emily are asleep in the booths next to you, Hotch minding his own in the back, and Rossi and Morgan make small talk a little closer to the front.
ây/n?â You hear your name being whispered.
You hum in response, opening your eyes to see a wide-eyed Spencer looking at you.
âSorry, I didnât mean to wake you up.â He says.
âItâs okay. Iâm kinda glad you did, my neck would be sore when we land.â
âWeâre still three hours from Virginia. Think you can make it that long?â
âHell no, Iâm exhausted.â You cross your arms on the table, laying your head in them as you try to get comfortable.
âThat position may feel better on your neck, but itâll do a number on your back in record time.â
âWell, Spencer, thereâs only so much room to work with on this jet.â
âI can move so you can lay in the seat if youâd like. But that could also hurt your neck considering youâll be lying flat and have no incline.â
âWell then why donât you tell me the most comfortable position and let me sleep in peace.â
âStudies show the best position for sleeping without a pillow is leaning against a wall or something of an upright nature. But there are no walls to lean up against, so youâre pretty much out of luck there y/n.â
He shifts in his seat, reaching for the blanket behind him. He tosses it at you and settles back down. He sips from his coffee. No wonder heâs not going to sleep, he drinks coffee 15 out of the 24 hours in a day.
You scoot a bit closer to him, wrapping the blanket around yourself. You tip your head forward, groaning. Tiredness overcomes you more than it already has, making it near impossible to even keep your eyes open.
âHey, SpenceâŚâ You look up at him. His head tilts down to meet your gaze, flattening his lips in form of a response. âCan IâŚâ You let your sentence fade out, pushing yourself closer to him.
He softens his voice. âHmm?â
Before he can even finish his hum your head has slumped on his shoulder and youâre already falling unconscious on him. You feel him reach his arm around you- pulling the blanket up- you assume. He does that, but his arm never leaves. His head flops gently on top of yours, his one unruly waft of hair falling over his face. You could stay like this forever.
âItâs about time those two realize how similar they are.â You hear Rossiâs gravely voice say.
And just like that, youâre asleep, in what is probably the most comfortable youâve ever been in your life.
_____
next chapter: b is for Boy Genius
other parts: Spencer Reid A-Z Masterlist
view the masterlist in a calendar version!Â
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a/n: hiii! i really hope you enjoyed the first chapter! chapter 2 will be released tomorrow! sorry if this one was a little boring, i promise the next chapter is more interesting. i'm just trying to set up the story a little before we get into it!
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Have Recommendations? visit my recommendations page to submit your suggestion, no matter how big or small!
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#spencer reid#spencer reid fluff#spencer reid x y/n#spencer reid x fem!reader#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid imagine#spencer reid fanfiction#spencer reid x bau!reader#spencer reid x you#spencer reid fic#criminal minds#criminal minds fanfiction#criminal minds x reader#spencereidluver#spencer reid a-z
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first of all i am loooooving hockey peter and i knew deep down that man is a loverboy!!!
so i just wanted to throw in the idea that one of the turning points in the relationship being aunt may??? like peter could try and pretend all he wants in front of aunt may but she'd be so happy to call him out right there in front of his girl
Awkward
â° college!hockey!peter parker x f!reader
â° word count: 0.9k
â° summary: aunt may's question about the two of you makes you spiral, so when is peter going to finally talk about it?
â° warnings: fluff, kinda angst, a kiss, confusion from both the reader and peter.
âââ ââ
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â âââ
main m.list â peter parker m.list â college!hockey!peter parker m.list
gif by @aliceblisss
Running errands with Peter wasnât outside of the usual activities you two would share. Grabbing a few groceries, dropping off items at the post office, and even helping Aunt May with household chores were completely normal.Â
You and Peter were in bed when Aunt May called him, asking for him to help move out some boxes from the basement. He was half awake, his mind and body still recovering from his playoff game last night, âYeah, I can be there in a few hoursâŚMhm, yep. Okay, I love you too. Bye.â A groan left his lips as he stretched before planting a kiss on your forehead and heading toward the bathroom to get ready for the day.Â
He wasnât originally planning on getting out of the house today, but if his Aunt May needed his help, he was always there. Especially after his Uncle died. You had no idea about his family life, you never needed to; but when a picture of a young Peter next to an older man appeared on his laptopâs background, he couldnât keep it quiet anymore.Â
You knew quite a lot about his Aunt, whether or not Peter intended to talk about her often or not, it just happened naturally. Peter would always ramble about his Auntâs Thanksgiving dinner, or her obnoxiously sizable collection of fabric to make new blankets. You could never forget Peterâs smile when he talks about her, it was contagious.Â
So as youâre laughing in the kitchen with Aunt May as Peter is breaking his back carrying boxes up the stairs, you canât help but feel warm. You two met each other for the first time, but itâs quickly made clear that Peter has talked about you to his Aunt as much as heâs talked about her to you.Â
Heâs told her about âthe girlâ that shows up at every one of his games, wearing his last name on her back. Or the girl that carried such spitfire, as he relived the story of how you two first met to May. Still, a stupidly sweet smile plastered on his face as he described each scene in detail.Â
Aunt May telling you this made your heart clench. The thought of Peter telling his closest family member about you, and describing you in such a way that made Mayâs heart soar, was exhilarating but also sent your mind into a spiral.Â
There was no time to dwell as Peter brought up the final box with a sigh of relief. âI really appreciate you guys helping, thank you so much,â a sarcastic tone to his voice, causing you to smile.Â
Looking over your shoulder, you make eye contact with the sweaty brunette, âHow could I help you when coffee was calling my name?â
âSorry, honey,â Aunt May smiles, âthe coffee part was my fault.âÂ
Peter wipes the sweat off his brow as he makes his way towards you and May before reaching for the refrigerator handle and pulling out a water bottle. A few beats of silence pass between the three of you when you feel Aunt Mayâs gaze glance between you and Peter as you take a sip of your coffee. âSo when are you guys making it official?â She questions, making you choke on the dark liquid.Â
Your face heats up as you instinctively look towards Peter who seems to be in the same boat as you. He slowly lowers the plastic bottle and caps it when he clears his throat, âUmm, we havenât really talked about it. Right, bug?âÂ
Now that the attention was turned to you, itâs your turn to clear your throat. âYeah, yeah,â you laugh nervously, âlife has been a little busy. For both of us.âÂ
May canât help but laugh into her mug as she watches the both of you squirm in embarrassment, especially Peter. Heâs fidgeting at the stitching in his jacket, awkward silence hanging over the two of you as Aunt May is thoroughly enjoying this. âWell, thank you honey for helping me with the boxes. I definitely wouldnât be able to do it by myself, thatâs for sure,â she laughs as she stands up to guide the both of you out.Â
You quickly say goodbye to Aunt May before heading out the door, Peter grabbing his keys behind you. You havenât even noticed that he wasnât directly behind you as you made your way to the car, heâs still in the house, May talking to him with a pretty stern look on his face. You couldnât hear what she was saying, but from the way Peter looked, it wasnât a light conversation.Â
He jogs his way down to you, a half-fake smile appearing on his face as he opens the car door for you. Before fully stepping into the car, you look at him, studying his face. Peter looks back at you when you ask, âIs everything okay?âÂ
âOf course,â he nods, placing a peck to your lips befor walking around the car You take his half-assed response before planting yourself in the seat.Â
The car ride back to your apartment is silent, but Peterâs hand is resting on your thigh, as usual. You place your hand on top of his, lightly squeezing it, grasping his attention. He smiles at you, and you smile back. Maybe youâll talk about this later.Â
â° author's note: LOVED THIS ASK OMGG!! i love it when aunt may makes an appearence and completely embarrasses her nephew. if you want to send in a request like this one, you can! my ask box is open!!! don't forget to like, comment, and reblog if you enjoyed. ok, ily bye!!
#peter parker x reader#tasm!peter x reader#andrew garfield peter parker#peter parker#tasm!peter parker#hockey!peter parker#fluff
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That time Heisenberg stabbed Ethan with a rusty fencepost
Thanks to this one fic project that needed a pornographically detailed list of Ethanâs most memorable injuries, I've spent some time trying to figure out exactly what Heisenberg stabs him with when they first met. Working mostly from a free-camera version from youtube, I settled on calling a metal pipe with a square profile.
Tumblr: I was wrong. The reality is so much worse.
Having cracked the game files and installed my own free-camera mod, I tracked down the original asset for this thing, and, well...
No, really, this is it! Check out those matching cross-bars if you doubt me.
FWIW, it isnât actually a spear. Those semi-mangled crossbars flag it instead as a spear-headed fence-post. (This may not be a distinction that Ethan would find very comforting after being stabbed with the thing, but there it is, regardless.)
In fact, if you poke around the cemetery area just outside the castle gate, you can even find the fence it presumably came from.
Look in on the cemetery near the church from the lane leading up to the Duke's shop beside it, and this is what you'll see.
It's not a perfect match (in fact, it's even worse viewed from the opposite side, because someone has clearly stuffed up the textures on different sides of the same asset). I'll also note that if you go back to this fence again after meeting Heisenberg, you wonât find any suspicious gaps in it where a post was recently ripped out. So Iâm going to just go ahead and assume this particular piece was lying in a pile of surplus scrap in the cellar somewhere, and Heisenberg did not, in fact, drag the thing all the way there from well outside the whole damn building. I mean, at that point, youâre just showing off.
The fence post is, admittedly, pretty hard to get a good look at in the actual game. Unlike all the other crap Heisenberg already has levitating around him in this scene, the fencepost doesnât appear at all until Heisenberg stabs Ethan with it. It actually seems to emerge at speed from between a couple of barrels at the back. But if youâre enough of a lunatic to play around with the various slow motion/rewind settings that came with the free camera mod, you can get a decent shot of it in flight, cleaning up any remaining doubt that this is the same asset that was used in game.
It even freaking spins in the air as it moves. FTR, yes, it does go in pointy-end first. And the whole fucking spearhead ends up buried in poor Ethan. (Please feel free to insert your own dick-joke here.) Those paying really close attention might even note that the blood on Ethan's shirt is present even before the spear hits him, but that's just going to be virtual-stunt-coordination having a normal one.
I can offer you no similarly definitive insight into why Heisenberg would think stabbing Ethan with this thing was a good idea. I canât even tell you if he knew for sure that it was Ethan Winters he was talking to at this point (maybe he's just playing dumb, pretending not to recognise him. Or maybe he legit didn't know that Ethan himself had made an appearance until Miranda told him. Sure, he's already got that whole conspiracy board, but finding real pictures of this Ethan-guy is surprisingly hard.) But whether Heis was already testing out Ethanâs âinteresting bodyâ, or whether heâd just generally assumed that anyone who could survive a full lycan assault on the village wouldnât be too seriously inconvenienced by a little stabbing, hoo boy was this one way to make a first impression.
Iâm not even sure which of these losers is the bigger idiot here: the one who imagined Ethan might still agree to work with him even after inserting a very convincing imitation-spearhead into his intestines, or the one who never thought to seriously question how he keeps shrugging off injuries just as exciting as this one.
They probably deserve each other.
#Karl Heisenberg#Ethan Winters#RE meta#winterberg#Resident Evil Village#Resident Evil#RE assets#not to soapbox but that's also why the popularity of AO3's 'soft' Heisenberg tag makes me roll my eyes so hard#this dude is 'soft' like a fencepost to the gut
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Supergirl the show poses a question: Who is the real Kara?
Kara Zor-El, Kara Danvers, Supergirl. Who's the mask?
In the beginning, Kara doesn't even know. In the aftermath of Krypton's and Kenny's deaths, she did everything she could to appear as normal as possible - there was little room for her own innate traits to shine through when she was being as nondescript and people-pleasing as possible.
But that's not who Kara is.
We get the first glimpse of who Kara really is during Flight 237.
This is not about her being Supergirl or her powers (though both are relevant). Kara has suppressed herself for over a decade. She's not going to make waves - until she has to. Our first real insight into who Kara is now is as a devoted sister. It wasn't until Alex's life was at risk that Kara started breaking out of her shell (and then there was no holding back).
Our protagonist is a mid-20s adult - this isn't a coming-of-age story in the traditional sense. But it is a story of finding oneself and what it takes to get there.
And it starts with defending found family after a lifetime of loss.
So Kara creates the Supergirl persona. I think the cape is a crutch.
People say "a crutch" like it's a bad thing. But crutches are actually pretty fucking useful. They support you when you need it, whether it be short-term or long-term. They help you get around when you otherwise may not be able to.
Kara was deeply traumatized by losing everyone and everything she ever knew, being thrown into a world that overwhelmed her senses and made even her most casual movements into dangerous ones, and was told she needed to suppress everything - who she used to be, what she was going through now - to survive.
To find herself again, maybe she'd need a tool to get past what she had been through! The cape became that tool. She was able to unbury the heritage she had been hiding, she was able to embrace the powers that had burdened her, she was able to find her own bravery (and reactivity, she's got flaws in there too).
Keep in mind, in the scene above, Kara isn't "human for a day". Kara is powerless... just like she spent the first 13 years of her life. Her bravery isn't about her powers or Supergirl; they just help her get started.
That's not where her growth ends.
Kara's instincts for helping people start getting unburied in season 1, and she is excited to tag along someone else's quest to figure out where future threats may lie, or figure out how she can use her powers in service to the DEO.
But it's not until this moment that she realizes that Kara Danvers can be more, too. Lena unintentionally launches Kara's career - a second pathway for Kara's desire to help people, growing into a passion she is going to pursue (even if she gets fired). Her worth is no longer just about her sun-granted powers or being Superman's "younger" cousin.
In season 4, we even see her realization that Kara Danvers can be more powerful than Supergirl, because some fights can't be won by fists. That's a real discovery for herself.
Which I think, looking back, might becoming especially baffling for her... because Kara Danvers was originally an identity imposed on her when she needed to hide.
It's important to note that, while Kara Danvers was originally a facade that Kara gets at thirteen, she doesn't stay a facade - even in the suppression era.
We don't see enough of who Kara is when she's on Earth, left to her own devices. But we see glimpses - we know she likes baking (and we know we shouldn't try what she makes), we know she paints, we know she listens to NSync and Britney Spears. She's a goofball (even when she puts on the cape). Kara Danvers starts as a facade, but becomes a vehicle for Kara to continue developing her personality, now in her new context.
Would she have the same interests on Krypton? Maybe some and not others, maybe some new ones that don't exist on Earth. We're all products of our environments, after all. Her interests as Kara Danvers aren't necessarily fake just because they're different than what she expected.
Though she'll never know who she would've become on Krypton.
Which brings us to Kara Zor-El - the identity that is frozen.
Most people aren't the same person as an adult that they were as a child. Interests, tastes, personality, world outlook, philosophy - all of these shift over time, sometimes dramatically.
Parts of her are going to be deeply rooted in Krypton, and she's going to have ties to a culture that no one else on Earth has. It's not an aspect of herself that she can erase. But it's also not an aspect of herself that was able to develop for the remainder of her childhood and early adulthood.
She, like all of us, was destined to lose pieces of herself. But some of her loss was very sudden, and the pieces she lost probably weren't going to be the same on Krypton. Of course, she has no way to know.
And I think that frustrates her.
I guess my answer to "Who is Kara?" is that the three personalities clash with and harmonize with each other. None of them are truly her. All of them inform who she is.
There's a young Kara Zor-El as her root that was torn from the ground before she could ever grow.
There's a Kara Danvers who formed the bulk of her life - a mask that was given to her, the only vehicle for her personality, who ultimately became someone she could embrace as worthwhile in her own right.
There's a Supergirl who distinctly separates from those around her, but lets her move past her numbness and reclaim her heritage.
And it's that clash that makes her a particularly compelling character.
Maybe that's a cheating answer to the original question.
But there's still a missing piece to the puzzle - because it's not just about Who is Kara? but also about Who does Kara want to be?
I think Supergirl is something that could fade if needed. If Kara lost her powers, she would find a new normal, so long as she was able to pursue her desire to help the world in some capacity.
But the truth of her is somewhere between Kara Danvers and Kara Zor-El. The truth of her is in what Supergirl allowed her to unbury, even if not directly tied to Supergirl herself. But Danvers and Zor-El are burdens, in a way. Lena is one of the few people who sees the person in between, who understands Kara on her own terms. Which is why Kara is terrified of Lena's rejection.
I think it's one of the most telling lines in the show - to be just Kara is to be free of her own baggage, to be able to embrace herself despite the pain in her history. Something I think we all want, that is never entirely possible.
But the pursuit is still a worthwhile one.
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Sun Wukong Knew About MK the Whole Time: A Theory
I am currently hyped up on leftovers and iced coffee, so let's do this!
I've talked about this before, here and here, but I think it's finally time I wrote an official post. You can go and read those posts if you want to (I definitely hit the nail on the head with some of this stuff), but I will be compiling a lot of what I said on those posts here!
So. Let's get the Mr. Elephant out of the room first: The David Breen Tweets. (thread here).
I see this tweet mentioned a lot whenever I bring up SWK knowing about MK, and honestly, this is a far cry from the "it's been confirmed that SWK didn't know" definite answer everyone's been implying.
So let's break it down!
#1: "Monkey King ain't the father"/"Monkey King isn't his dad." Well of course! Being born from a stone means you don't have any parents. I see it like this: Wukong isn't MK's dad, but he's also not NOT MK's dad, it's a secret third thing (creator and creation). Or, perhaps Wukong didn't help create MK at all, but he at the very least was involved in the circumstances that lead to MK being created/being born from the stone. (Aka eldritch abomination MK theory. My Beloved. Okay sorry.)
#2: "Monkey King was ripping his way through memories looking for MK, but kept coming back to the stone. He doesn't know why." So, while Wukong was ripping through memories, he didn't know why the scroll kept spitting him out by the stone. This is not a confirmation that Wukong didn't know about MK and his origins. It also begs the question: how did Wukong know MK was in the scroll to begin with? There's also some speculation to be had about why Wukong was so desperate to find MK to begin with:
MK: "Monkey King did this?" Macaque: "It looks like he's been tearing his way through his pastâtrying to find his way to.." MK: "Me."
(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)
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What was he so afraid of MK finding? Or, what was he afraid the scroll would force MK to experience? I think these are questions worth asking.
#3: "Wukong's trying real hard to leave the 'not being open with MK' days behind after s3. Problem is he's got lifetimes of info to catch them up on." Well, this one is a DOOZIE. One: we already know MK doesn't know everything about Wukong and his choices because he doesn't know Wukong killed Macaque (thank you 4x11). Two: "trying real hard" and "successfully doing" are very different things. And three: YOU DON'T JUST DROP INFO LIKE "Hey, did you know you're a Monkey Demon?" ON TOP OF SOMEONE RANDOMLY. Especially not MK. You have to prepare them for it.
Wukong is trying to do better and be better for everyone around him, but that still takes work. That still isn't easy. He's still going to make mistakes, which means he's not going to always go about being open with MK in the best way.
Sun Wukong: âPoint is, mistakes happen, but so long as you leave the world in better shape than you found it, then itâs all good. Right?â
(4x01 Familiar Tales)
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This sceneâto meâfeels like Wukong is trying prepare MK for his eventual "Hey did you know you're a Monkey Demon?" conversation he wants (and needs) to have down the line. Yes, SWK is trying to be more open with MK, but he's also just not going to be given that chance before the truth comes out.
MK: "Yeah right, if Monkey King really was my dad don't you think he would have said something by now?" Mei: "Yeah...because he's normally SOOOOO forth coming with information." MK: "Well uh, whateverâwhen we find Monkey King's stone, then we'll just ask him!"
(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robbed Demon)
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Notice how they never asked Monkey King that question? From a writing standpoint, why bring this up at all if it wasn't to imply that (even if Monkey King isn't MK's dad) he wasn't involved with MK's creation in some way?
ANYWAYS.
NOW THAT THE BREEN TWEET THAT HAS RUINED MY LIFE IS OUT OF THE WAY, let's get into the evidence given to us throughout the entirety of the show. Starting with this:
This isn't a scene that takes place during the "A Hero is Born" special, as I'm sure plenty of people have noticed before now. Of course, this could have just been Monkey King "scouting out a successor", but with everything we know now doesn't that...feel kinda weird?
We were told at the beginning of the show that Monkey King gave MK his powers, but now we know that's not true. MK has had his own powers this whole timeâand that's something Wukong, at the very least, knew:
Sun Wukong: "Listen kid: You fought demons, and you didn't die, and you made it here! Not just anyone can lift my staff, but you did." (1x00 A Hero is Born)
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MK: "This whole time, I thought my powers came from the staff! Sun Wukong: "The staff's just a big 'ol stick bud! It takes someone special to lift it." (3x03 Smartie Kid)
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There's also 1x09 Macaque, which I have mentioned before:
Macaque: "Ohohoh no, can't you hold the magic staff anymore? Well, you know what that meansâthere really isn't anything special about you. You're just a kid with a heavy stick."
This scene is then followed by MK lifting the staff, which only happens because Wukong encourages him.
MK: "Ugh, I can't! I'm not strong enough." Sun Wukong: "Kid! We're definitely going to have words later, but it's time for the Hero Stuff!"
(1x09 Macaque)
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Ultimately, Wukong knows MK can lift the staff again even after Macaque supposedly stole all of MK's powers. He knows MK can beat DBK (more on that later). He does something similar to all this in 3x14, being the one to let MK face the Lady Bone Demon, powered by the Samadhi fire, alone (even after Pigsy tries to stop MK):
Wukong want's to protect MK. That's why he went to face the Lady Bone Demon alone in the first placeâbut here, he let's MK stop the end of the world all by himself. Why would he let his beloved student face not only LBD, but a reality ending flame alone?
Because he knows how much power MK has. Because he knows MK is capable of doing it.
This all brings me to my main point: If before now we were supposed to believe that Monkey King gave MK his powers, and he so clearly didn't, how would Wukong not know he didn't give MK powers. And because he clearly knew he didn't give MK any powers, why would he not question where this kid's insane level of power came from? He had to have "chosen" MK to be his successor for a reason right?
ESPECIALLY because Wukong never planned on being a mentor in the first place:
Sun Wukong: "I know I can never make it up to you. Honestly, I- I never thought I'd live as long as I have let alone be someone's mentorâturns out I'm not very good at it. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry MK. For all of it."
(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)
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This was also alluded to in 3x05 Amnesia Rules:
Pigsy: "Of COURSE you don't remember the kidâone day you are going to grow up to be a terrible mentor!" Sun Wukong: "Ha! Zhu Bajie, can you imagine me teaching someone? HA!"
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So, Wukong clearly didn't ever want to become a mentor, and this directly contradicts what Wukong says to MK in "A Hero is Born":
Sun Wukong: "You're perfect!" MK: "Perfect for what?" Sun Wukong: "To be...my successor!"
Honestly, think about it: has Wukong ever once actually needed a successor? When given the opportunity, he goes off and tries to handle things on his own anyways (Leaving in s2, wanting to go and reforge the Samadhi Fire on his own, going to stop LBD alone). It's the classic "we're being told one thing and shown another" trick.
Sun Wukong: "No no no- in case you forgot I'M retired, you're the one supposed to be taking care of the bad guys." (1x01 Bad Weather)
Even in 2x01 he's lying:
Sun Wukong: "Aw, come on bud! I promised myself that when I found a successor I'd go see some friends, take a tour of my old stomping grounds, just cut loose you know?" (2x01 Sleep bug)
It's proven in the next episode, and by the fact that all of his friends are dead/gone, that literally nothing he said here is true.
And, it's also note worthy to point out, that by this point Wukong had already disappeared for hundreds of years. Why step in again at all? Why put the effort into getting a successor you definitely were never prepared to have?
MK: "*sigh* You think Monkey King ever felt like this? Maybe that's why he stayed up on this mountain, just having a good time with you guys. You know cause- cause he knew he'd be out of the way where he couldn't hurt anyone he cared about." Macaque: "Or, he was doing his usual Wukong thing and being a lazy peach eating idiot. Ignoring all the worlds problems.
(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)
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So, I don't know about you, but I'm going to trust Macaque's insight on this. I'm not sure Wukong ever planned on coming back. Sealing DBK, he effectively cut off one of his last ties to the world (please go read wlw-wukong's thoughts, they are delightful), and he had already left the world alone for a long time. Why did he feel the need to train a successor now?
The simple answer is this: because he knew he needed to train MK and teach him to control his powers, and DBK's return was the perfect way to do it.
NOW. THE S4 MK VISIONS.
So, the visions MK see's all through out s4 (4x03, 4x04, 4x05, 4x06) are of Wukong ripping through the scroll and going to the stoneâDavid Breen confirmed that himself in the above tweets.
Here's a list of what we see:
(4x03 The Great Tang Man)
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(4x04 Pig Napped)
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(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robbed Demon)
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These are what I would say are the visions of Sun Wukong trying to find MK in the scroll. Yet, they are distinctly different from what Subodhi presses MK to remember ("Tell me of your childhood, your parents." "You do not remember?" "And what else?"):
(4x06 Show Me the Monster)
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Look at that difference!
Every vision MK has includes the same scenes, except this one. That's why I think it's a memory; that and the way it's framed, with MK closing his eyes in focus. The other visions from 4x03, 4x04, and 4x05 all are unprompted, being forced upon MK. Why make this last "vision" so different from the others? Why show our mystery lady making the stone monkey? That would be because it's a memoryâbe it MK's, something from the scroll, or a mix of both.
There's also the matter of like, why Wukong going to the stone would trigger any sort of vision in MK to begin with. Overall, it just seems like there something more to those visions.
This would be how I imagine the general timeline playing out:
MK is created (through help of Sun Wukong), a beautiful baby boy pops out of the stone, and Sun Wukong "loses" that beautiful boy (if Wukong knew he was born to begin with) with MK finding his way to Pigsy's.
Then it's later Sun Wukong finds MK again, coming up with a plan to make MK his "successor" (still leaving MK with Pigsy, which I think was the right call lol). As Wukong says in 4x01, "You make ONE mistake, and no one ever let's you live it down! Looks like the ghosts of my past have finally caught up with me." That's what I think this parallel in particular is really trying to show offâin some way, MK is part of his past mistakes, just like Macaque is.
AND SO. I WILL CLOSE OFF THIS THEORY POST WITH EVERYTHING WE LEARNED IN THE SPECIAL.
Sun Wukong: "Heh, nothing gets under his skin more than a monkey. Leave Azure to MK and me."
(4x12 The Plan Man)
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Sun Wukong: "Kinda embarrassing for the Jade Emperor to have two little cheeky monkeys running circles around him the first day on the job." MK: "Well, one monkey and one unconfirmed, but *laughs* yeah! I'd be embarrassed for sure!"
(4x13 Rip and Tear)
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Wukong sounds suspiciously confident that MK is a monkey.
Not even MK is sure what he is (which he's probably just in denial, but also "Until I know what I am, what my destiny is?" from 4x08 anyone?), but Sun Wukong is extremely certain about what MK is.
Sun Wukong: "We got this bud. Would have liked to give you some new training with your monkey form, but-" MK: "Oh yeah yeah yeah- uh um- about thatâ um. I- I was thinking, I've never really needed a scary new monkey form before, so, I just thought maybe I'd use it next time." Sun Wukong: "Next time? Kid, there might not be a next time! This is the time."
MK: "It's be fine! Mei and I have got this awesome new armor and everything! You know, when we look this good? Ain't nothing gonna beat us." Sun Wukong: "Kid. New armor isn't going to cut it! We have to hit Azure with everything we've got! You can't just ignore this whole part of your power because it scares you!"
(4x12 The Plan Man)
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If the writers were trying to highlight the fact that Wukong didn't know, this scene would have gone very differently. Instead of "You can't just ignore this whole part of your power because it scares you!" I think it would have been more along the lines of "I know this is new for all of us, but you've got to accept this part of your power!".
Even this exchange at the end of the special raises some alarm bells for me:
Pigsy: "Heh, don't bother. I've been telling him that for years but he LITERALLY never listens." Sun Wukong: "Yep! That's how we roll."
(4x14 Better Than We Found It)
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That's how "we" roll? As in him and MK, as two monkeys? Again, Wukong is surprisingly chill and okay with this new form for someone whose first interaction with it was supposedly this:
MK, writhing on the ground in pain, completely destroying the world around him, and unable to control his powers.
Sun Wukong: "Yeah! Go MK, go! Just try not to totally wreck up my stuff would ya-"
(4x13 Rip and Tear)
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Overall, it gives me the impression that Wukong already knew what MK was before 4x07. This new form didn't scare him because he always knew that's what MK was. MK, to Wukong, is MK! And MK has always been a Monkey Demon. He has unshakeable faith in his protege, and even while MK is absolutely tearing up the world around flower fruit mountain he can't help but cheer for him.
After all, Wukong knows MK is the only one who could defeat Azure:
MK: "Ne Zha's rightâwhile Azure has the Jade Emperor's power and the scroll, there's NO way we could beat him head on!" Sun Wukong: "I mean, some of us could beat him! *ahem* One of us, specifically-" MK: "Nope! None of us at all."
(4x12 The Plan Man)
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"But Imp!" I hear you say, "Wukong was talking about himself here!". To which I would reply, that's not true! This scene is right after Wukong has already said he only almost beat the Jade Emperor:
Sun Wukong: "But don't worryâI almost beat the Jade Emperor single handed once! Between both of us, Azure doesn't stand a chance." (4x12 The Plan Man)
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Between this and Wukong's pre-fight convo with MK ("We have to hit Azure with everything we've got!"), he's clearly banking on MK using the full extent of his powers to win this fight. Wukong isn't banking on his ownâif he were, he would never have left MK to go and collect the scroll pieces during their fight with Azure.
Conclusion
Sun Wukong knew MK was a monkey the whole time, lolâand fate has plans for MK. Great plans, or foul? Time will tell.
And Wukong has done his best to ensure that those plans are great.
#I am very open for having a discussion about this!#Prove me wrong!#But it is getting disheartening to see so many people just go ''Naw they confirmed he didn't know lol'' when they very much didn't.#Anyways!#This took a while to write asdfadsf#enjoy!#lmk theory#lego monkie kid#lmk#lmk MK#lmk SWK#lmk Sun Wukong
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For those still in doubt that Will flayed/influenced Hopper in ST3âŚ
So when someone flays another basically what happens is, as Mike states they â[take] over their mindâ and âbasically become himâ.
Now, itâs very interesting how in ST3 we see Hopper act childish- but exclusively in ST3. The very same season Will desperately holds onto his childhood.
Itâs suspiciously very meta for him to say lines like this. Itâs intentional. The writers didnât just forget how to write Hopper. We are supposed to notice this abrupt shift in his persona and overall demeanour.
As Will says, he likes to hide. Interestingly enough Will and him share that in common. Note the âonly used me when he needed meâ. Same is true for Will using Hopper. Hopper still has moments where he is his ânormalâ self.
Whenever Hopper is âseriousâ, itâs really him. Whenever heâs emotional and kid-like, heâs under Willâs influence.
The Clues
So, letâs start by going over some of the major clues, shall we?
Him saying this to a Byers of course. Interesting writing choice.
The original script tells us that Will wears colourful clothes. Thatâs his style and he stands out because of it. Now it seems to be Hopperâs style all of a sudden too. Itâs even noted by officer Powell here that itâs surprising to see Hopper dress this way.
Play these transition scenes. The first one has Lucas asking Will for permission to take a shower, then we are shown Hopper showering. I suppose Will granted Hopper said permission. Then of course we have El asking âhow can you tell when someoneâs a host?â afterwards the first person we see is Hopper himself. A perfect example of a host. They answered her question!
We are often shown Hopper acting childish. Look at how heâs holding his pillow! We never saw him doing this in seasons prior. Then we have Murray outright calling him a âmanbabyâ and âchildrenâ.
When âHopperâ orders an alcoholic beverage he struggles with the pronunciation. Reminiscent of a young person attempting (but failing) to appear older and more mature.
We even are shown him being fed lines that came from a Byers.
Now for the major clue. Why oh why did they show Will while Mike explained that Hopper threatened him? Not just Will, but Will moving pieces on a board. Heâs essentially controlling things! Bending to his will, if you will. I mean it makes sense. We know Will was very jealous of Mike and El and complained about them! Just like Hopper, he wants them to break up. Perhaps even more than Hopper actually does.
Then we have Mike referring to him as crazy! Thatâs their special word, so naturally âHopperâ/Will does not take this well. Look at his face! He looks betrayed.
The References
Itâs extremely subtle, but we have another Byler/Jopper parallel here. Earlier in 3x01, we see Joyce holding Hopperâs left hand, very reminiscent of Mike holding Willâs right hand last season. Then we have Hopper communicating in Morse Code as he and Mike fight to lock/unlock the car door several times. Notice how we have a shot of his left hand doing the locking of the door? Same one Joyce held. Iâve tried to work out what heâs communicating but Iâm falling short. If anyone wants to take a stab at it please let me know your findings!
Then we have the Back to the Future references. Again very subtle, but there nonetheless. As we know, Will is compared to Marty Mcfly a fair bit, ever since his very first appearance!
Do you recall the plot of Back to the Future? Marty travels to the past, accidentally changes some things, then has to bring his parents back together! Will does the same thing⌠through Hopper!
And just like Marty⌠things get a tad bit awkwardâŚ
Now keep in mind⌠these scenes all occur within the same episode. While trying to set up his mother and Hopper together through âflayingâ Hopper, Will accidentally gets his mom interested in him (as Hopper). That is why he refers to Murray as âFreudâ aka the Psychologist who created the theory of âthe Oedipus Complexâ. This is also why Robin drops that line about of the movie.
So⌠How?
If you recall back in ST2, Hopper is spat on by something and was trapped in the UD. Will is able to sense him and thus is connected to him. Hopper is a part of Willâs hive mind. I also believe they may be biologically father and son⌠but thatâs for another post.
The Implications of All of ThisâŚ
So what does this mean? Iâm not fully sure, but it seems like Will has some abilities here. I have no idea if itâs future Will manipulating things, or present Will and Iâm not so sure how aware he is of all of this.
But in regards to Mike⌠here are some funny implicationsâŚ
ST3 shows us a Mike with a peculiar fascination with bears. Bears seem to be associated with Will and âbearâ has a specific other definitionâŚ
Now the icing on the cake with this is the fact that Mike has made comments regarding Hopperâs weight multiple times! So, heâs well aware of Hopperâs âbearâ status. Mike shows interest in bears because heâs interested in Will. Will essentially is a âbearâ while he is puppeteering Hopper.
Itâs also nice to know that Will actually did get that hug he yearned for from Mike. We just didnât realize it. Mike and âHopperâ hugged a tad longer than normal too while Will was facing them of course.
To conclude, I know this theory sounds so silly and I sound insane, but I swear to you⌠this is real. I may be wrong about some aspects of this but I know Will influenced Hopper in some way. Remember though, itâs not a constant thing. Will only âused him when he needed toâ. Will experienced being flayed in ST2, then he became the âflayerâ in ST3.
If you have any questions or comments about this theory feel free to send me an ask! These things are fun to think and talk about.
#There you go guys#more byler scenes you just didnât realize it#Stranger things#stranger things theory#flayed hopper#byler#will Byers#Jim hopper#back to the future
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Traveling is my thing too...
I'm still marinating in my Are You Sure?! afterglow. I just loved every part of it, every minute of the episodes and behinds. There is one thing that's been on my mind and I know it might ruffle some people because of how it sounds at first.
Jimin and Jungkook spontaneously created "scenes" for Are You Sure?!. Prompted each other for the sake of making content. Another facet of being good entertainers...
They were trying to be content creators and not rely on others to tell them what to say or do. The total opposite of "scripted" which, of course, means the shows were unscripted and made up as the days' activities unfolded.
They both actively initiated moments they could play off each other. This is part of that now-becoming-over-used word we say to describe their dynamic... chemistry.
Was it fake? No. The moments they created were genuine interactions whether it was an inside joke of theirs or just talking about topics like cosmic horror or origins of slang words. Not any different than how we behave with our own close friends and significant others. We initiate conversation topics, we poke at each other, we talk about stupid shit, we sometimes have heartfelt and meaningful conversations.
In other words, we are authentic with our closest people. That's what humans do. And as we also are so comfortable with our friends and significant others, we can also have quiet time just being in the presence of the other. IT'S ALL NORMAL AND NOT FAKE.
Was it fan service? No. Again, they were being content creators, trying to create something that was purely them, purely normal interactions only they could have with each other.
Do they have off moments? Of course they do. When one or the other was not active in the interaction, the other was just being themselves, no faking, no fan service, just Jimin and Jungkook behaving as themselves, the only way they know to behave, in the presence of the other, nothing negative about it, just "being."
But they were on a mission to create content that they knew Army would enjoy while they were away. With a big smile, Jungkook said we'll really enjoy it. He said this before he got in that Jeep and drove away to Connecticut. He already knew before it started that he and Jimin were going to have fun. They trust us, their fans, to enjoy the things they give us. Those who do not enjoy it are not their fans.
I've seen people say they only watched a few clips and not the entire series of AYS and then conclude "its obvious (insert fave name) feels this or that." No Boo, you can't deduce those things from a 5 second slo-mo clip or a screen cap from a split second moment from an 8 episode series (9 hours of interactions between the members). What IS obvious is these people don't want to know the truth.
If you don't watch original content in its entirety, how could you possibly "know" your fave/bias? Especially this particular series. If you are a fan of Jimin, Jungkook or even Taehyung, if you did not watch the entire episodes, your opinion is meaningless. If you based your opinions on select snippets or screenshots with no context, your opinion is meaningless because you don't have the entire story. You have every right to say you don't like it and won't watch it because it doesn't align with your (false) idea of who Jimin, Jungkook and even Tae are. But in doing that, you should also remind yourself you are clinging to your own fantasies of who they are.
If you had access and were able to watch all of the episodes on Disney+, many thanks for helping to make this project of Jungkook and Jimin's a resounding success. Ranked #5 worldwide for 2024 TV shows on Disney+. This chart is sorted by popularity:
In his last live the day before enlisting, Jimin told us he was sick with the flu for a week after returning from Sapporo and only had another week before their enlistment. Maybe he was starting to feel the symptoms on that last day in Sapporo and it contributed to feeling so down.
The behind footage for Sapporo shows at some point the cameras were turned off in the car when they were driving to the airport to return to Korea.
It would have been easy for the show's producers to just edit the footage and write captions that totally ignore the fact the cameras were ever turned off at all. We would have never known. Them including that information helps us put everything in context. Jungkook and Jimin purposely turned the cameras off and they purposely informed us of that so we could understand that there was a lot of time without any recording whatsoever. Maybe they talked about stuff they didn't want recorded. Maybe Jimin took a nap because he wasn't feeling good. No matter, most would call that PRIVATE TIME. They had an abundance of PRIVATE TIME during ALL of these trips.
I feel strongly they will do a few more trips. They loved this so much, and they have a foundation to build on, they will do more.
And now, its been a few weeks after the last episode and we've got the behind scenes. It still sort of feels like a dream that these two produced this project for us. Yet it only made sense didn't it? Who else out of the 7 would do something like this? It's genius level thinking to create this, doing something they both have said they love doing, doing it with each other, the people they connect with the best, and giving us something at the same time. Brilliant.
And I want to say thank you to Jimin and Jungkook. Personally, this was the best of the best.
It is truly the work of the Universe that they have each other, to support each other during this period of time. In recent pics I've seen, they look well. I miss them so much.
And now we're just over 8 months away from having them back. Eight months and 15 days before all 7 are discharged and we look forward to the first group live and an ocean of tears of relief pouring from all over the world for them. 10 days until our Hobi is back. I'm so excited!
My Are You Sure?! photobook arrived the other day, I wasn't expecting it so suddenly because Weverse Shop still had it marked as "shipping soon" and then all of a sudden it was here. YAY!
I am going to scan a lot of it but the big postcard sized photos that were part of the early pre-order gifts are on my refrigerator. I also ordered the Are You Sure?! magnets but those won't be here until December. As you can see, I'm a collector of fridge magnets when I travel so it was a no-brainer to get the Are You Sure magnets.
Also, shout out to anyone in North Carolina trying to recover from Hurricane Helene. The Nantahala area was one of my most favorite vacations. I hope to go back someday. I know it's hard to rebuild, I've experienced the aftermath of too many hurricanes. Take it one day at a time and never lose hope. Normal will come back again.
#are you sure?!#jimin#jungkook#jikook#love traveling#jungji#jimkook content creators#they need to do 12 seasons of are you sure#i vote for busan lets manifest#totally unscripted
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I come bearing a brainrot of a relatively normal s/o for the Lin Quei bois except s/o can see dead spirits and always keep a straight face. Sometimes they act weird bc they're avoiding a really nasty looking ghost and have grown numb to it. But when the bois finally catch a glimpse at the 'ghosts' their beloved mentioned all they see is some kind of eldritch horror. (This came from my recent fascination with the manga/anime series Mieruko-Chan)
Rate my really shitty attempt at creating eldritch creatures. (Actually donât cuz Iâm mega sensitive) đŚŚ
Tomas Vrbada
Ever since being forced by Johnny to watch horror movies, Tomas had been scared shitless when it comes to paranormal activity.
Ghosts, poltergeists, you name it, Tomas is scared of them all.
So when you -his seemingly normal but beloved partner- have been intentionally avoiding a certain spot in the Lin Kuei, shifting your gaze over in itâs direction now and then before ignoring it completely with a straight face, he didnât think much do it at frisky but the more and more it has became the more Tomas started to feel an indescribable feeling within his chest.
It was the same feeling that he would often get when having been forced to watch a horror movie with Johny, that feeling where he knew something scary was about about to happen, which only worsened the longer the scene continued to build and ramp up the tension and to have him too scared to even look over his own shoulder; only to near enough be scared shitless a second later and loose hold of his popcorn.
Needless to say Tomas had been forced to watch one too many movie where the protagonist was somewhat clairvoyant to known that when you were giving a very specific area, out of the entire Lin Kuei no less, an cautious look. He knew better then to ever indulge in any amount of curiosity that he may have, even if it was a smidge, he would pretended that he saw nothing and would go about his day like normal. He wasnât about to become one of those stupid characters whoâd willingly go into a house that was very clearly haunted by visage alone!
Heâs following your example right down to a T! He honestly doesnât want to know what was lurking in that corner and he wasnât particularly all that eager to find out either. Tomas would rather life the rest of his life in ignorant bliss if he could, but unfortunately for him that wasnât going to be the case, for he had found himself having to go to that very room to get something for his brothers. However as soon as he opened the door, Tomas caught a glimpse of the thing in the corner that youâve ominously warned him about.
It was hideous, so hideous in fact the sight of it made Tomas want to gag but he knew he couldnât, so he slapped a hand over his mouth. The creature had bore the appearance of a pure bred Russian bear dog, but unfortunately for Tomas, thatâs pretty much where the similarities started and stopped; For it had clusters of small, almost peddle sized eyes that were black as night taking up itâs entire face.
That wasnât all, when the creature opened itâs mouth -if Tomas could even call it that- itâs stomach would rip open just as a thousand pair of what could only be described as human hands emerged out from said stomach, palms laying flat on the floor, as they began to shuffle across the floor in search of something. One particular pair of hands almost came into contact with Tomasâ foot, almost making him scream, but upon realising that their search efforts bore no fruit, the hands then retracted back into the creatures stomach, where it would then close itself up as though someone had just zipped it shut from the inside, before moving towards a different part of the room.
Scared out of his wits, Tomas bolted out of the room, completely forgetting what he had originally went there for, and just ran as fast as he could. He ran even when his legs began to hurt, he ran even when his lungs were begging for breath and he ran even when he had all but forgotten why he was even running in the first place. Tomas didnât stop running until he saw you heading towards him, his brothers probably sent you to see what was taking him so long, and without a second thought; Tomas held you in his arms tightly, burying his head deep into your neck as he whispered.
âHow can you bare to seeing these things on a daily basis.â The image of that thing was forcefully seared into Tomasâ mind, haunting him forever.
You didnât have to ask further details as to what it was that he saw and instead reciprocated his hug, stroking the hairs at the back of his neck reassuringly, whilst pressing kisses into the side of his head where your would then rest your cheek against. âI donât.â You replied, looking straight ahead at the creature just as it poked itâs head out of the door, staring at you with all of their small beady black eyes before slinking off into the room across through the wall.
Kuai Liang
Concerned was a word that was often used to describe what Kuai Liang felt whenever you would shuffle closer towards his back, you might as well have been hiding, when passing down a particular hallway as your eyes were focused forward. Almost as though you were avoiding looking at something you didnât like by pretending it didnât exist.
Kuai Liang was aware of your uncanny ability to see the dead as you did the living, it was one of the things you disclosed to him upon first meeting, and even recalled the stories youâd tell him regarding the kinds of ghosts youâve come across. Upon further questioning as to what they looked like you told Kuai Liang that most were human or humanoid in figure, but others went beyond the realm of human comprehension.
The latter of the two kinds were the ones you tended to avoid having direct contact with the most and this most recent one was no different.
âIs it them, my love?â Kuai Liang asked, looking over his shoulder at you worriedly.
You hummed. âTheyâre always with us, following but they most like to stay here and watch everyone who passes by.â
Kuai Liang pursed his lips at this new tidbit of information, whilst concerning learning this was, he was concerned about was getting you out of this hallway a lot more. Just as he was reaching back to grab your hand, Kuai Liang caught slight movement from out of the corner of his eye but before you could say anything, his eyes were already locked onto the other side of the hallway; more specifically the area you purposefully avoid looking towards every time you have to come down this hallway.
Kuai Liang remembered you telling him that It shouldnât be possible for him see what you see, but it wasnât uncommon for ghost to become temporarily visible. So with that in mind Kuai Liang could only deduct that what he was seeing before him what you regarded as a type two ghost; In all honesty the word ghost didnât quite seem to match what he was currently seeing.
The creature in question was about his height, maybe a little shorter, then again he wasnât quite sure considering it was sort of slouched. It appeared human enough in its physique, but something deep inside Kuai Liang told him that what was standing before him was far from human. He just couldnât escape this deeply unsettling feeling that continued to grown within his chest the longer he continued to look. A sharp snapping sort of sound caught his ear, and in an instant his senses sharpened as Kuai Liang watched to see the creature viciously attempting in tearing itâs own face off with itâs hands that were infused with needles, as though desperate to get it off, to revealâŚa smooth porcelain like mask beneath shredded and stringy bits of itâs former face.
As if watching that wasnât enough the lower half of the smooth porcelain mask began to crack, a jagged fissure spread from one end to another like it was forming itself a mouth but once it had finished, the crack like mouth then began to open to reveal an endlessly dark void beneath and just before it could even think to speak; you quickly grabbed Kuai Liangâs hand and pulled him down the hallway until you were a safe distance from the creature. You could tell that seeing something like that had gotten to Kuai Liang, even if it was by a little margin.
âAre you okay?â You asked, squeezing his hand.
âI fear for you little flame.â Kuai Liang admitted. âYour gift for seeing these things, I worry that it will plunge you into the darkest depth that not even my fire would be nearly enough to guide you out safely.â You smiled sympathetically at his concern. âAs long as I donât acknowledge them or give them a line of communication, then thereâs nothing to worry about.â You reassured him but you could tell that it wasnât enough with the way his brows furrowed deeper with worry. âDoesnât mean that I wont still worry about you.â He utters, tightening his grip on your hand, afraid to let go.
âIâm not expecting you to because no matter what I know youâll always worry about me but I promise when I tell you that no harm can come to me if I donât incite it. Iâve lived with this my entire life, all I ask of you is to trust me.â You practically begged as you stared Kuai Liang deep into his eyes and watched as he sighed before pressing his head against your own. âI trust you with my life, little flame.â He says in a hushed whisper. âHowever itâs within my duty to protect you from all harm, living or not.â You smiled at his warm words, closing your eyes as you learnt in towards his natural warmth.
âThen at least let me protect you from time to time.â You cheeked, causing Kuai Liang to let out a deep chuckle as he pressed a little kiss to your lips. âI wonât make any promises.â He cheeked.
Bi-Han
Now Bi-Han wouldnât say he whether he did or didnât believe in ghosts, but even if he did he wouldnât be one to actively try to prove their existence. He was the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, he had no time for such childish ridiculousness, not when there were more pressing matters that were more worthy of his time and effort anyway.
However when you first told him that you could see ghosts, Bi-Han didnât know what to make of it, heâs not one to discredit your abilities in anyway shape or form. Heâs not like Tomas who watches one too many horror movies and starts flinching at every subtle creak or groan of the floorboards. Yet that doesnât mean he didnât find your power intriguing because after all Bi-Han is a man who strives to know more, he strives for knowledge and so he would take this opportunity to fully understand how exactly your power works.
He even takes note how you purposefully ignore an area with everything you had, keeping your head down or eyes facing forward whenever you had to go anywhere near it, coming out of the room with a straight face as though you werenât fazed but Bi-Han was well trained in knowing when his intended target was lying and or on edge. Upon asking why you were avoiding that specific part of the Lin Kuei, he took in everything you told him about the ghost that you encountered, engraving every last detail it into his head as to paint himself a picture, but even then Bi-Han doesnât think it remotely resembles the creature that you saw.
Never did he think that he would ever see it for himself but one day he did indeed find himself staring into the unsettlingly large, bulging eyes of the creature as it breathed heavily, as though it was severely out of breath and was just now recovering. It was about half his size and had hair covering everywhereâŚwell except its midsection, which was all just leathery skin that rose and fell with its breathing pattern. Itâs hands were human but everything else about it wasnât, it had lost itâs lower mouth, leaving only itâs top row of sharp teeth; making the question of how it could possibly eat or consume anything to Bi-Hanâs morbid curiosity.
The creature then proceeded to close the distance between the two of them and all Bi-Han could smell was death, blood and rotting flesh but he wasnât fazed. He was aware of what the creature was doing and wasnât about to give it the reaction it so desperately wanted, he was above these childish attempts of intimidation; So in retaliation Bi-Han only narrowed his eyes, presenting himself in a way that told the creature that he could see what it was doing and that he was above such tactics. He could see why youâd avoid looking upon these things, they could send a weaker minded person to the brink of insanity upon first glance, but Bi-Han was made of much tougher material to succumb to such.
The creature backed of, finding no enjoyment in this at all, and left the room through the wall on all fours for much weaker prey, looking like some dog with a sever case of mange.
Later that day where you and Bi-Han were settling down for the night, Bi-Han then decided to admit to what he saw prior, not liking to keep such things from you especially when itâs in regards to your powers. âI saw it.â He said point blank as he stroked your back and it took you a moment to realise what he had meant by that before a look of realisation spread across your face. âYou did? I thought that wasnât possible.â You replied.
âIt was only a glimpse but what I saw, I saw it as clear as I see anything else.â Bi-Han told you, wondering how it was that you could keep your psyche intact when seeing such vile creatures on a daily basis. He even wondered if youâve seen some that were even more grotesque then the one he had encountered earlier.
âNot exactly a pleasant sight are they?â You joked, looking at him with a small smile, knowing firsthand how unnerving it was to know that such things could possibly exist, even though you did finally mange to find a routine you had followed religiously in the events where you did happen to encounter them. Unfortunately It never truly gets rid of your first experience with seeing them for the first time, firmly believing that you were going to die due to how horrific and fear inducing they were.
âNo, Iâm guessing that Iâm right in assuming that this one pales in comparison to others youâve had the misfortune of seeing?â Bi-Han asked, watching your every expression like a that of a hawk. âWay worse.â You responded as you snuggle yourself deeper into his chest, closing your eyes to avoid looking at the glowing pair of eyes that peered into yours and Bi-Hanâs room.
#mk1#mk1 x reader#mk x y/n#mk x reader#mk imagine#mortal kombat imagines#mortal kombat x reader#mortal kombat x you#mortal kombat imagine#mortal kombat x y/n#mortal kombat 1 x reader#bi han imagine#bi han imagines#bi han x you#bi han x y/n#bi han x reader#sub zero x reader#kuai liang imagine#kuai liang x you#kuai liang x reader#kuai liang x y/n#kuai liang imagines#scorpion x reader#tomas vrbada x reader#tomas vrbada imagine#tomas vrbada x you#tomas vrbada x y/n#smoke x reader
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Pleeease, write your thoughts about the musical lol. I really like your Dio meta posts <3
Just a disclaimer: this is really opinionated but I don't like to drag media for its own sake. There were lots of things to like in the Phantom Blood musical, just ... Dio wasn't one of them. Also, Mamoru Miyano threw himself into the performance he was asked for, so it's hardly his fault. It's just always amazing to me that people feel the need to rewrite Dio into someone else when the way Araki's written him is already perfect, complete and a lot of fun.
So, where to start? Basically, the Phantom Blood musical re-writes Dio, giving him a different personality and different motivations through OOC stage direction along with a bunch of original dialog and scenes. What results is a version of Phantom Blood where "Dio" is just a normal guy without charisma who had a bad childhood and spends most of the story being miserable. Dio as he's written in canon has an uncommon charisma and appeal that's allowed him to remain relevant as one of those 'all-time great' villains. Scene after scene in the musical prove that its creative team either didn't read the manga or just really didn't like Dio.
fwiw Araki wrote Dio as thoroughly fleshed-out, with consistent traits and behaviors and consistent motivations behind his actions. He also left a paper trail of interviews and author's commentaries that develop Dio even more fully beyond the manga. So there's really no excuse for media that treat Dio as some sort of empty vessel waiting to be filled by narrative cliches we already know and expect.
It's annoying too, because, along with its OOC content, the musical is peppered with occasional manga-consistent moments. It's like the musical is camouflaging its Very Bad Take on Dio by having Mamoru Miyano periodically re-enact the canon character's most famous panels. The musical wants simultaneously to take credit for bringing Araki's vision to life on the stage, while at the same time completely undermining its most important element: a capital V "Villain" who, according to Araki, "accepts and embraces his evil nature, and follows his dark path without hesitation." This is the biggest change the musical makes to Dio: musical!Dio has none of the confidence that allows canon Dio him to move so decisively and destructively through the narrative.
Musical Dio is introduced by a scene where he's bullied on his way home, before breaking into a song about how terrible his life is, where "everything is always taken from [him]" ("it's hell âŚI feel nauseated âŚ[I'm] under a cloudy sky.") The song is alternately tearful and hopeful. "I'm going crazy from being robbed!" he laments and then pollyannaishly muses, "hey, Joestar, can you turn my [cloudy] skies to blue?"
If Dio being introduced as a sad sap and self-described perennial loser hoping for any break sounds attitudinally unfamiliar that's because it is. Araki went in the opposite direction: he started his story by subverting the cliche - wide-eyed poor boy victimized by circumstance leaves his sorrow-filled life hoping for a new start - and instead gave us a kid with surprising, even sinister agency. Dio is not just given a hero's upward narrative arc (something Araki crafted very deliberately), he's introduced improbably in his first scene from a position of control. This fact is important because in the manga it's a position he won't lose until four chapters and nearly 100 pages in, when Jonathan finally fights back. From the time young Dio is introduced - reading a book with his back turned to his bed-ridden father who he's secretly poisoning -
- to the time he's systematically broken down his adoptive brother's spirit by alienating him from his friends, taking Erina's first kiss, and of course kicking his dog, Dio is shown as being in control and on top (Erina drinking the muddy water is the only exception). It's OOC to imagine 12-year old Dio feeling sorry for himself because at the time he's introduced, he's already made a habit of getting what he wants. By the time he sets off for the Joestars after killing his first dad, he's already developed full confidence in his abilities and the inevitability of his rise to riches (something Araki has him explicitly state and then underscores with a panel illustration of a steam train signaling the rise of Modernity).
But the writers and director of the musical don't find this characterization interesting enough or something. So they lose the canon entirely and in its place they invent a version of Dio who's despondent. And they didn't get Araki's steam train memo so they miss the Modernity theme (even though Araki's tied Dio so tightly conceptually to the idea of the Modern that he has him "use a 20th century boxing technique in the 19th century"); instead they double down on class difference being determinative. It never occurs to them that Dio is written specifically by Araki with the freedom to move outside of his social status because he sees it as artificial (the "evil elite" monologue later reveals Dio thinks of the whole social contract thing is arbitrary and voluntary).
Throughout the musical, Dio (although it's not fair to Mamoru Miyano since he isn't responsible for writing this mess, let's use mamoDio from now on because it's easier) seems to idolize the Joestars for what he calls their "beautiful blood." Not "beautiful" because usable calories for the vampire he will become but "beautiful" because noble. The Joestars' noble status and the honor that's apparently behind that status become the shining "star" toward which mud-bound mamoDio flailingly, failingly reaches. I don't need to tell you that in canon Dio doesn't have respect for nobility.
"Mud and stars" is heavy-handedly introduced as a dominant theme of the musical. According to the play, Jonathan, noble and bright, looks to the stars while human Dio, pathetic, conflicted and even confused, can only see life as a mud-soaked prison.
Now, the mud and stars thing was only used in Part 1 as a single text element on a Volume 1 illustration but, in spite of its marginality, it's becomes a liturgical text for some fans looking for an explanation for Dio's actions beyond what Araki gives them in the actual narrative. To this sort of fan, a guy who embraces his inner talent for evil and never had the misfortune of developing a moral compass isn't the right type of villain because he's unapologetic. If the villain doesn't have excuses how can you apologize for him? So they need Dio and by extension Araki to give them a "good enough" reason to accept Dio's ever-escalating atrocities. If the reasons Dio has for doing the things he does lie outside of what's considered good or acceptable, they are simply rejected and new reasons are invented in the hope of making Dio much less objectionable.
Now, like I said earlier, Araki's repeatedly told us in his writings that Dio has an upward narrative trajectory, not a downward, "mud"-bound one. The mud and stars duality fails to describe the narrative journey of the two main characters: both look upward to transcend their circumstances and travel along a shonen manga hero's rising path. (In fact, it's Jonathan who needs a good push to realize his potential, something Dio happily provides). And it's Jonathan, not Dio, who Araki first gives a downward arc, being handed defeat after defeat for those first four chapters before gaining his footing and progressively rising to Dio's challenges. "Mud and stars" isn't just a bad choice of metaphor, it's a misleading one.
Back to the musical, mamoDio is the exact opposite. An air of sadness and insecurity haunts his performance. An original scene where George presents the mud and stars dilemma as a lesson highlights Dio's lack of confidence and the depression that lurks behind it, as Dio bemoans how people doomed to "struggle and die" cannot possibly summon the hope it takes to look up to the stars (he's talking of course about himself).
Likewise, and here's where mamoDio's failure as a character really comes into full relief, seven years after this, when Dio's machinations are revealed and he's about to be arrested, before he uses the stone mask, mamoDio drops to the floor and spends the better part of a musical number in tears, bemoaning his sorry life ("I'm trapped in a prison covered in mud⌠no matter how hard I struggle I'm crushedâŚ") and his lack of noble blood.
(btw this is after the manga scene where Dio fake cries; here, mamoDio is genuinely distraught).
Contrast this to the actual scene in the manga. His expressions in these panels are memorable because of how assured Araki draws him. Dio's entire world - his poisoning scheme, his grab at what one can assume would have been the entirety of the Joestar estate - is about to end but instead of despairing, he launches into a philosophical soliloquy. His body language is haughty: this isn't mamoDio crawling on the ground and decrying his upbringing and lack of noble blood, instead this is a man who apparently, almost irrationally, perceives himself as noble. When he uses the mask, Dio is smiling widely. Metaphorically speaking, he's looking at the stars.
When mamoDio uses the mask? He's on his knees. He's in tears. On one night he interjects, "MotherâŚ" In short, he's conflicted.
One of these depicts Dio. The other does not.
Now obviously the writers and director of the musical must think making these seismic changes adds something to Dio's character. But (and I feel like this is a theme whenever I write these things) I'd argue it only makes him more basic. It makes him predictable and formulaic, someone we've seen in countless other stories.
(Oh! and did I mention mamoDio repeatedly calls himself "useless"!! Because he does this.)
Now, because mamoDio has no confidence and as a human acts out of desperation, when he becomes a vampire he still isn't Dio. Mamoru tries to make his vampire Dio evil and scary by expending a lot of energy, running about the stage and sticking out his tongue ad nauseum. When you look at how Araki has Dio move physically throughout the manga, it's the opposite of kinetic. Dio is a point of fixity who's charisma draws others toward him (ask me for more on this if you want because there's enough here for its own post).
Now for the worst of the worst: at the very end of the production, after the manga ending that features Jonathan's death and Dio's (presumed) defeat as a head imprisoned in Jonathan's arms, the musical takes an original twist in which, following a finale number featuring most of the cast, mamoDio is lead offstage by Jonathan. You read that right. mamoDio is hunched over, resigned, and Jonathan seems to take on a paternal role. Although the lyrics would have you believe this has something to do with "two fates becoming one," it's clear from the stage direction that any embers of Dio's ambition are being tamed and extinguished as Jonathan takes Dio's grasping hand, subdues him, and leads him docilely into the darkness.
It turns out Dio's vampire arc was just a phase, a hurt and lonely child lashing out and making a mess for attention.
His body language here is obscenely out of character. Consider the following because, as I said in the opening, in spite of what all these re-writes of Dio would have you believe, Araki crafted Dio with specificity and consistency: Araki only draws Dio (with very few exceptions) 1) standing tall, looking down at you; 2) back turned, looking back and down at you; or simply 3) back turned, (performatively?) ignoring you. Dio is never on the ground except when he's knocked down (think, young Jonathan finally fighting back in the Joestar home or, much later, Jotaro stopping time and landing those punches). By constrast, mamoDio has spent an incessant amount of time of the ground, crouching, kneeling,, bowing, hunched down. Who is this guy? So his hunched-down exit in the final moments of the production, literally being led by Jonathan (controlled??), is so amazingly stupid that if I didn't have a gif as proof, you might think I'm just making this stuff up:
There's plenty more to unpack that I won't address here: ghost Dario. The lack of grave-spitting. The complete absence of true joy or leisure expressed by Dio especially during his vampire era: no woman eating her baby, no owlcats, no Poco's sister. No chaise lounge. No roses(!). No fun. Not for Dio. That would be too manga-consistent. That might mean Araki wasn't giving us the appropriate message that bad guys are actually just sad guys.
tl;dr Dio isn't in the Phantom Blood musical. He's replaced by a normal guy who's motivated by a lack of self-esteem and despair that he wasn't born into an upper-class household, or something. He's boring. The result? There can be no Part 3 in this musical's world (and presumably no Parts 4, 5 or 6, no Giorno, no Jolyne, ⌠you get the picture) because mamoDio just gives up. It's a nicely produced little tale about Jonathan Joestar and some random other guy who at some point gets a funny green coat.
#Anonymous#replies tag#jjba#jojo's bizarre adventure#dio brando#mp#dioposts#jojo no kimyou na bouken#jojo#phantom blood#phantom blood musical#dio talk#long post#the fact that media that's otherwise faithful to the text goes out of its way to rewrite Dio and only Dio consistently sends me
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