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katebeckets · 27 days ago

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TRIED & TRUE: An MSR Playlist ⤷ Part Three: All Things

Oh, love, let me see inside your heart. All the cracks and broken parts, the shadows in the light... there's no need to hide.

playlist / songs ↘

FALLING SLOWLY by Steve Kazee & Cristin Milioti / It's probably no surprise that this song is on here since it's one of my all-time favorite songs, but I'm putting it here anyway because it's just SO GOOD. It has one of my all-time favorite lyrics—"you have suffered enough and warred with yourself; it's time that you won"—which is so good to think about in the context of your favorite OTP. I know Mulder and Scully would feel that about each other (and, let's be real, we all feel that about them). And even though they fell for each other the minute they met, it was also a reeeeal slow burn.

CRASHING DOWN by Elyse Myers / I'm way too delighted by the juxtaposition of "falling slowly" in love with love coming "crashing down" on them, but it's somehow both things at once so I stand by it. This was an immediate MSR song for me, it just felt so fitting. "The very first time I heard your voice, it was lightning to my soul / You said my name and looked me in the eye / that was all I needed to know about your love / It came crashing down on me" felt perfect for their first meeting, and THEN!!!! Immediately after that: "I didn't know then what I know now, but even if I did, I wouldn't change a single thing / I would do it all again for your love / to feel it crashing over me." My mind immediately went to "even if I knew for certain, I wouldn't change a day." And then this part?? "The very first time we disagreed"—cough, the very first meeting—"I was learning about you still / Your head is strong and your heart is fierce / You don't give up, you never will on your love / It still crashes down on me." Anyway this song is MSR and nothing will ever change my mind.

HUNGER by Ross Copperman / First I must shout out one of my favorite x-files tweets because the horniness is definitely a piece of associating "hunger" with MSR (lol) but beyond that... this song! MSR! AH!! The verses especially make me think of them: "one look and I can't catch my breath / two souls into one flesh / when you're not next to me, I'm incomplete" and "oh, love, let me see inside your heart / all the cracks and broken parts / the shadows in the light / there's no need to hide." And then there's the palpable want between them—"I'm on fire like a thousand suns / I couldn't put it out even if I wanted to."

ARMS by Christina Perri / I know this was so overplayed, but again, hear me out—this is soooo them. The lyrics are so beautiful and fit them both so well: "I can't decide if I'll let you save my life or if I'll drown" and "I hope that you see right through my walls / I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling / I'll never let a love get so close / you put your arms around me and I'm home" and "the world is coming down on me and I can't find a reason to be loved / I never wanna leave you, but I can't make you bleed if I'm alone" and again, "you put your arms around me and I'm home." And just thinking about the way Scully feels safe enough to let Mulder hold her and how Mulder collapse into Scully and lets her hold him even though she's so little! The fact that she can be his home!! AND and and when she says "can you hold me?" I AM SCREAMING!!!!

CEILINGS by Lizzy McAlpine / This is entirely because of this beautiful video that I watched and could never get out of my head. I will never not think of them and these scenes that fit so beautifully (rain in the pilot, the parallel between them in hotel rooms). Also, even though "touch me like nobody else does" implies sex in the song, I love thinking about how it goes beyond that for Scully and Mulder—they truly touch each other in so many ways that nobody else does, literally and metaphorically.

WONDERFUL UNKNOWN by Ingrid Michaelson / This song is a long time favorite of mine, but I love finding new reasons to cry about it... and MSR certainly did that! I think this can be applied at most stages of their relationship, but it especially makes me think of the unremarkable house. This song speaks to so much of the simplicity of love ("we make bread on Sundays and the little ones are climbing up the walls / nothing last forever but the sound of love astounds me every time that it calls") and it just makes me think of MSR living a totally unremarkable life basking in each other's love (which is exactly what happens, right?). Also... "in the best way, you'll be the death of me."

RANGERS by A Fine Frenzy / This is a song that has inexplicably been one of my favorites for a long time (inexplicably because usually I relate more to the lyrics if it's a favorite), so perhaps it was just meant to be on an Emily MSR playlist. This is another song that reminds me of the unremarkable house, especially in I Want to Believe. "They'll keep seeking but they won't find us / Let's keep living our quiet lives, you and I." I'm also going to cheat and say I consider this song to be a bit of a companion to "Come On, Come Out" and "You Picked Me" (from the same album which I think I could argue is itself an MSR album) and perhaps you should listen to those too... but I was trying to keep this a reasonable length lmao. "Come On, Come Out" reminds me of a couple comments in the show (specifically, settling for a life on this planet and looking for life elsewhere) and feels like what Mulder and Scully do for each other throughout the show in both a literal and metaphorical sense. "You Picked Me" is one of my favorite love songs (platonic and romantic) and also very MSR.

TRUE BLUE by boygenius / I must give credit where credit is due: @emmiebea and @scullysconstant each sent this song to me, both about MSR but independently of one another... which I decided is a sign. And it is suuuch an MSR song!! Plus I find it delightful that there's a lyric about being born in July because that's when I was born. But back to the MSR of it all: "and it feels good to be known so well / I can't hide from you like I hide from myself" is soooo them and reminds me of the the fourth gif in this set—the idea that they know each other better than anyone else and can decode each other in a way that's just so specific to them. And then it goes on: "I remember who I am when I'm with you / your love is tough, your love is tried and true blue." My constant, my touchstone, my friend, my one in five billion... they are so fully themselves when they're together!!!! I also am forever screaming about Mulder using the phrase "true blue" in "Kitsunegari." I have no idea what to do with that information, but it matters to me.

YOU WILL FIND ME by Alex & Sierra / I liked the idea of putting "I can't hide from you like I hide from myself" before a song called "You Will Find Me." They always find each other when they're missing, whether they're physically missing or searching for some part of themselves. "You leave me room for my imperfections / when I'm a mess and you jump right in / if I drift in the wrong direction / you turn the tide and you calm the wind / anytime, everytime I get lost / you will find me."

TIMELESS by Taylor Swift / Speaking of finding each other... "I believe that we were supposed to find this / so even in a different life / you still would've been mine / we would've been timeless" and "sometimes there's no proof, you just know / you're always gonna be mine." I will never ever get over the "even if I knew for certain, I wouldn't change a day" and "we'd been friends together, in other lifetimes, always" of it all.

SATELLITE CALL by Sara Bareilles / A few weeks ago during an ask game I said this is a song I would want to put on a playlist for both Scully and Mulder, so here we are. It's one of my personal favorite songs and one that means a lot to me and it's a message I would want to give them, but I also think this is a message they would want to give each other. And if you really want to hurt, think about it during an abduction arc or literally just any time they don't know where the other is, even for a minute (because these two are insane and it doesn't even need to be a full-on abduction arc). "This was written for the one to blame / one who believes they are the cause of chaos in everything" and "this is so you'll know the sound of someone who loves you from the ground / tonight you're not alone at all / this is me sending out my satellite call." I have always loved this song because of the imagery—the idea that no matter where you are, how alone you feel, how dark the night, I am here for you, I am sending out my satellite call to you so you know I am here and you are not alone. So take that and add it to Scully and Mulder thinking of each other when they can't physically be together and trying to be the other person's source of strength and comfort aaaand yeah. (I am also going to cheat with this song and say "I Choose You" is another Sara Bareilles song that should be on here and only isn't because I was trying to be reasonable with length, but the reason I chose this song "Satellite Call" is because it feels more unique to them—the idea of a satellite call is just especially fitting for MSR in a way that it might not be for other couples, at least to me, because satellites, little green men, all that. But this is me saying that "I Choose You" is unofficially on this list as well because I love that song and it fits them so well.)

NO BIG DEAL (I LOVE YOU) by dodie / Another @emmiebea choice that I just had to include. There are two very different ways I think of this song, but I think they both make sense for MSR. I paired it with "Satellite Call" because of the wordlessness of both songs. "You hold me like it's already said / I don't mind, I will do this dance for the rest of my life / for as long as you want." Even though it is a big deal (especially for MSR), I feel like this song fits them so well because it also isn't a big deal—their love for one another is so obvious, so matter-of-fact, that in many ways it doesn't feel like it needs to be said. It's just there. So they act like it's already been said and like it's okay. But there's the other side of this song as well (the one that I think is how most people would read it/what it more clearly is about), the part that's acknowledging why it hasn't been said (and that it needs to be explicitly said)—they're acting like it's no big deal because they both know it is. They're afraid and telling themselves it's no big deal, they just love each other. Which is soooo much of their relationship. But I think the paradox adds to the depth of this song—they're kidding themselves that it's no big deal, but it also is no big deal. It's so natural that to make it a big deal feels almost disingenuous, in a way. It's both. I could get caught in this forever because this song lives so beautifully in the grey.

TWO by Sleeping at Last / I will never ever get over this song. It might go on every OTP playlist ever, I don't care, it still fits so well and is so them! "You know I'll take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat" and "No, I don't want to talk about myself / tell me where it hurts / I just want to build you up, build you up / 'til you're good as new / and maybe one day I will get around to fixing myself too" and "I just want to love you, love you, love you well / I just want to learn how, somehow, to be loved myself" and "like a force to be reckoned with / a mighty ocean or a gentle kiss / I will love you without any strings attached / and what a privilege it is to love / a great honor to hold you up."

I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER by Kate Vogel / I love the sweet simplicity of this song and the simple desire to love you forever. I think the whole song fits them so well, but there are also specific lyrics that make me think of them, in particular: "my head fits right on your shoulder, my palm fits right in your hand." Because it's true! They fit together so well!!!!

YOU ARE IN LOVE by Taylor Swift / I loved this song to begin with, of course, but I remember the first time I thought about it after seeing Scully and Mulder and feeling like I was going to combust. It's SOOOO them. "You can hear it in the silence, you can feel it on the way home, you can see it with the lights out—you're in love, true love." And even though I need to remake this, there's a reason I couldn't stop myself from trying! The part that I think about so often, though, is this verse: "one night he wakes / strange look on his face / pauses, then says: you're my best friend / and you knew what it was / he is in love." Because that's what makes me crazy!! They are each other's best friend!!!! They constantly want to be with each other!! They make each other laugh and they love each other so much and I just!! I can't even be normal about this song and explain why I love it for them, I'm just over here crying and becoming more and more incoherent about it!!!! It's fine, I'm fine. I ended on this song because it means the playlist ends with "you're in love, true love. You're in love." And at the end of the day... that's just it. They're in love, true love. [cries forever]

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rose-tea-and-strawberries · 10 days ago

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Ok Ok since you listen to Epic the Musical hear me out-

What if Epic is a thing in Yuu's world? Like she's a huge fan and decided for a movie night she first introduces all the boys to it and eventually shows it to everyone at the House of Mouse,

There will be gasps, There will be tears shed, etc.

Everyone in the Hercules cast especially will be intrigued by seeing their own selves in a different light. But once they get to the thunder saga (and also gods games), Zeus is sweating bullets meanwhile hades is laughing his butt off from his brother's face,

But at the same time poor Hercules is like "....Dad???" as Meg and Yuu comfort him.

...also for the Vengeance saga everyone (NRC and HoM) especially the couples, Will def cheer after Odysseus says next to my wife.

Okay so first of all, if you want to read a fic where NRC reacts to Epic I highly recommend this because it is truly top tier:

I mean, for the past month I was thinking of a twst reacts to Epic fic (where Yuu acted in EPIC back in her world and the school/RSA reacted to it through some type of magic - it was kind of set in this universe where Yuu was a theatre actress before entering twst. I mentioned once that I had a theatre!Yuu that is friends with RSA and once played Christine Daaé back home. This is that AU) and then I just stumbled across this two days ago and my mind was literally blown! The saying that that there are no original experiences is really true!

Basically Yuu (who's female in this fic) is doing some extra credit work so she asks her friends to act in one of her favourite musicals and NRC reacts to this. Ace plays Ody and Deuce is Telemachus and Yuu plays practically every female character (I'm not going to spoil who plays the other characters). Also this has Aceyuu which is practically my OTP.

I'm also a huge fan of the Disney Princess React series where the Disney Princess, Princes and practically all the good characters from before their movies react to their future so I have been thinking of a Disney characters + Epic cast reacts to Epic fic.

Okay so according to Google, Hercules comes before the Odyssey so none of the Hercules cast would know anything about the Trojan War or Odysseus which would make this even cooler!

Hades: And you guys thought I was bad? Just look at my younger brothers!

Hercules: Dad! (īī ^ īī)

I've never watched the Hercules tv show except for that one crossover it did with Aladdin so I don't really know how the gods/goddesses are portrayed but I do know that the movie took a lot of ... creative liberty to say the least.

But can you imagine the cast of The Little Mermaid/Octavinelle reacting to Suffering/Different Beasts where the sirens come to kill the crew only to get slaughtered. Also, I have a feeling that Triton would be leaving his trident back home in the palace for the next few weeks.

But imagine every sailors' (e.g. Eric, the pirates,ka etc) reaction to Ruthlessness and the absolute carnage that follows. They'd be gripping onto the tables with white knuckles.

Hades would be having the time of his life (except for the parts where Yuu cheers for the other gods: read Hermes/Athena), especially during the Underworld saga. Like everyone would be looking at river styx in horror and he'd just be like 'ah home :)'. I bet he'd enjoy God Games as well. He'd definitely be munching on popcorn during Ody's and Athena's argument in My Goodbye.

The muses would be watching everything like WRITE THAT DOWN!

I don't think Hercules wants to talk to anyone at this moment :/

Thanks for the ask ‎♡

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst yuu #fem yuu #house of mouse au #asks

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runespoor7 · 10 months ago

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I mean obviously I’m am going to ask you about chengxian, for the ask meme

What made you ship it?

It was the most interesting relationship in the book. I'm a sucker for childhood friends with broken promises, for grief, for misunderstandings over loyalty and love, and for relationships whose resolution in canon is bittersweet.

It still took some time and effort before I started really shipping it. I was theoretically open to shipping it but I hadn't yet read fics that really sold me on it (this was in 2019, I think). Then as an experiment I put a WWX-inspired character in the setting I was GMing for the JC and JYL NPC stand-ins to have him to play off of. Turned out I did ship them.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

😬

*wide, helpless, expansive gesture*

It's never simple with them. It's always fraught. They love one another but they also resent one another. Hunting demonic cultivators is about WWX still maybe being alive. Maybe JC can bring himself to kill WWX this time, or maybe he can find a way to bring WWX back home and forgive him. WWX promises to be with JC but he ends up promising that he won't stay ("like my father served your father") but he didn't mean it with an end. the mess that is the fraughtness of WWX's liminal space when it comes to his social rank.

love hurts, what hurts is love.

the fact that the one 'leading' is WWX, not JC, going against the accepted social order. (tbh, if that wasn't the case, I probably wouldn't be into the ship.) it paints such a picture of WWX being so charismatic, and JC being so taken with him, that JC falls into being WWX's sidekick. no wonder YZY was awful about it.

JC keeping Chenqing like a mad dog and keeping Lotus Pier WWX-safe. I. god. JC rating WWX's attention >>>>>>>>>>>>> JC's self-respect every time, in every way. Amazing.

it's incredible to me how WWX asks JYL about love in a scene framed in a manner to make it subtextually point in the direction of LWJ (it's mdzs; the canon pair in mdzs is wgxn; there are no - explicit - love triangles in mdzs; and yet even WWX's original crush on LWJ is, uh. informed by JC and how WWX is with JC and the fact that LWJ is New and Not The Son of WWX's Benefactor. this is normal.), where it's apparent that WWX is scared of being in love because it changes how you act, it's a limit, it's a cage, you're limiting yourself for someone else - and then WWX does something for JC that is everything he was scared of.

and it does ruin him! it's terrible! so his romance with LWJ is everything his feelings for JC weren't. He's not the one doing the protecting. LWJ doesn't question him. There are no expectations of anything, no discussions of the future, no thoughts of society. LWJ is just such a comfort, just a good thing WWX gets because he wants it. Also LWJ isn't emotionally taxing af (this is a big one). (WWX kinda ends up YZY-ing himself at the end of the book but I'm not thinking about that.)

WWX's utter toxicity toward JC. not a iota of respect for either JC or JC's boundaries to be found, except when convenient for WWX.

they both really, really believe that WWX is better than JC in every way. it's very cool

look. i'm a simple person. arrogant genius jerk/grumpy dutiful tsundere otp.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I love the joke that chengxian isn't incest but both of them wish it were, but I think the only time one of them wished they were brothers was JC when he decided to sacrifice himself for WWX and he was lying in bed making morbid jokes. At least sacrificing yourself for your brother who is the better cultivator and can lead the sect would be simple. Forgivable. Good.

I also think they might grow to think of one another as brothers at some point post-canon, that's a sort of reconciliation that might happen, but to me it's key that during canon they don't know what they are to one another, they just know they're scarily, terrifyingly important, and there's no word for what they are to one another.

JC refused shixiong-shidi (in a shocking reversal of their normal dynamic, I think he forgot he did that and spent roughly two decades feeling insecure and weird that WWX doesn't call him shidi) and they can be nothing else, socially speaking. The love that dare not speak its name, if you would. And at that same time post-canon they could also decide that what they're to each other is that WWX used to be in love with JC, and maybe JC still is, and they're not brothers. Or maybe both! The point is, the definition of their relationship is uncharted waters and they never thought of each other as 'brothers' (much less called each other that).

2) WWX is incredibly bitter and resentful of giving his core to JC and that colors everything he thinks and says about JC afterwards, including after he's returned to life. Basically, he gave, and gave, and gave, and felt there was no gratitude, and he's unable to live the life he wanted, unable to reap the promises life made him, and JC isn't any more agreeable or tractable than before (less so, in fact!). It's not fair.

#chengxian #ask meme

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storiesofsvu · 3 months ago

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Rita Calhoun 50 OTP Q's Pt 1

Rita Calhoun x fem!reader warnings: none really, some language, minor mentions of sass, mentions of Rita's work, smut barely even thought of. Thanks for the request! I'm gonna love doing these! Because they are super long, I will be splitting them into 2 parts though! :)

Who is the early bird/ Who is the night owl?

Rita is somehow both, but she is much more the morning person out of the two of you. She likes to be up early, especially on work days. She enjoys the silence, birds chirping as the city wakes up as her coffee starts to brew. She’ll take the time before you have to be up to review over any open cases she has, what her agenda is for the day and make sure she’s ready to go for any court appearances. You’re up a little later than she is, happily pressing a kiss to her cheek and heading into the kitchen to make breakfast for the both of you (cause lord knows she can’t do it without setting off the smoke alarm).

When it comes to evenings, she’s likely to catch up on a show or two, do some reading, maybe a light workout, shower and then bed. It’s when she gets wrapped up doing work stuff at home that she’s up way too late, you tiptoeing into her home office to pepper her face with kisses and drag her to bed.

2. Who is the big spoon/ Who is the little spoon? It switches off pretty regularly and can also depend on who gets into bed first. Rita likes curling herself around you, pressing kisses to the back of your neck but she also doers really like being the little spoon too, feeling loved and protected.

3. Who hogs the cover/ Who loves to cuddle? Rita hogs the covers FOR SURE. She runs cold, even in the hottest days of summer her feet and hands are FREEZING. Doesn’t matter if you’re sweltering, she still has to keep the duvet on the bed, you’ll just kick it around your feet and sleep without it. Because of this, she obviously loves cuddling, especially in the winter and despite you hating waking up to her freezing toes pressed against yours, you still love her.

4. Who wakes the other one up with kisses? A combo, but it’s usually Rita. She’s awake first, and will always leave a featherlight kiss on your head before she starts getting ready for the day. Before she’s about to leave for the day, she’ll always come back to the bedroom (unless you’ve asked her to let you sleep) and she’ll perch on the edge of the bed, smoothing back your hair as she gently wakes you up and kisses you tenderly.

5. Who usually has nightmares? You tend to get them more often, not necessarily nightmares, but weird dreams, ones that you roll over with a grumble when you wake up, trying to hold onto your sleep without falling right back into it. It usually doesn’t wake Rita, but she can sometimes feel you nuzzling deeper against her in her sleep. She will sometimes get bad nightmares when she’s in the middle of a really bad case. Somehow it’s not as bad anymore now that she’s on defence, but when she was still prosecution and had to heavily lean into the brutality of the case, embellishing it for the jury that she’d wake up in a sweat, unable to go back to sleep for an hour.

6. Who would have really deep emotional thoughts at the middle of the night/ Who would have them in the middle of the day? Rita gets them in the middle of the night, she regularly keeps a notepad/book on the nightstand for anything she suddenly remembers about work/a case and she frequently does have a separate notebook for little sentimental things, a reflection of her day with you, little moments that she simply loves. When she can’t sleep during the night she thinks about what she’s grateful for, what keeps the positivity going in her life especially in times of darkness. She can’t help the way her hand softly plays with your hair as she thinks about how much she loves sharing her life with you. She spends her days being this super bad ass, collected, well put together attorney, surrounded by her firm members, assistants and the like, she’s rarely alone. It’s once she’s home, alone in a chilly, empty apartment that she starts to feel the vulnerability, her sharp edges reduced as the emotions start to come out.

You get sappy during the day, its when your brain is on best. Whether you’re at work and get that special little I love you text from Rita, or you’re padding around the apartment by yourself and see the little post it notes, the hoodie you stole from her strewn over the back of the couch, her favourite book left open in an arm chair. It’s the little pieces of her that have weaseled their way into your life and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

7. Who sweats the small stuff? You. Rita doesn’t stress about things like that, she simply shrugs and says that you’ll find a way around it, she has faith in both of you/the situation to come out on top. And a lot of that is thanks to her line of work. She almost always has an excuse for why something could have been found in possession of her client and they’re always reasonable, that way of thinking just translates over to all aspects of her life.

8. Who sleeps in their underwear (or naked)/ Who sleeps in their pajamas? You’re normally in a pair of shorts or pj pants and a stolen worn tee from Rita’s college days. Rita however has the gorgeous, sometimes silky, satiny, lacy, super cute pyjama sets. Sleeping naked definitely occurs, but it’s normally after a night of sex, or when it’s not just hot over summer, but the humidity has made everything sticky, no matter high how the a/c is cranked (but don’t worry, Rita’s hands and feet are still freezing)

9. Who makes the coffee (or tea)? Rita is a coffee fiend. The machine brews automatically every single morning (that machine being a regular drip kind). But don’t fret, because she has every coffee machine variety available. She enjoys different kinds for different days/hours/whichever. And she almost always has it going so she can offer to anyone who shows up at her apartment or office. If she doesn’t, she’ll move to the kitchen to start a fresh batch without breaking conversation.

Tea is more a you thing, and it’s the “honey you should really stop the caffeine consumption this late” and offer her a mug of tea while she’s reading/trying to finish work before bed. At first Rita never understood tea, but she’s come to enjoy it on those chilly winter nights as you introduced her to a wide variety of more fun flavours.

10. Who likes sweet/ Who likes sour? Sour candies are your jam; you keep them readily stocked around the house and Rita can’t understand how you can stomach them so much. The only time she even thinks about raiding your stash is when her mind is racing so fast she’s starting to feel anxious and needs her body and brain to focus on something different so she’ll pop the most extreme sour one she can find into her mouth and try not to wince as everything focuses on that instead. She is a HUGE sweets lover though, baked goods are a weakness, but she only indulges on the weekends, and usually just with brunch. Her stash in the apartment is normally dark chocolate, sometimes with a hint of sea salt, mint or orange, a nice little treat you don’t need much of. Similarly, she *loves* Tru Fru and picks a bag up every time she’s in a store that sells them. You’ve reminded her that the cost of them is truly insane and said she should just make them herself. You were quickly reminded of why that was a terrible idea when you came home to find the kitchen smelling like burnt peanut butter and a dish towel ruined with streaks of chocolate.

11. Who likes horror movies/ Who likes romance movies? Rita’s a sucker for romance, she loves the classics, loves old movies, enjoys an actually funny rom-com, none of the stupid stuff. She doesn’t really like horror, anything too gory is definitely not up her alley, she can’t even handle the bloody scenes of medical shows. She’ll enjoy a good thriller or mystery though!

12. Who is smol/ Who is tol? It depends on the relationship, but she’s normally right in the middle at around 5’6’’ herself. Esp in wlw situation, there isn’t too much of a dramatic difference. She does get more tol points once she’s in heels. But when it comes to like, Calvak.. she v smol.

13. Who is considered the scaredy cat? Depends on the situation. While you’re the one more nervous about like, being outside after dark, or having to go through a sketchy area of town, more concerned about always locking doors and windows and the like. Rita lives in a high security building with a doorman and two fobs to just get to her floor, she doesn’t stress about that. Her job has her spending time with (alleged) criminals, sometimes one on one and that doesn’t worry her at all. She is pretty jumpy though, another reason she doesn’t like horror movies, absolutely hates jump scares. If you pop up out of nowhere and she didn’t see you coming, she’s definitely jumping and swearing at you, telling you not to do it again.

14. Who kills the spiders? You. Rita is the one to see a single ant in the apartment and want to call the exterminator. You have to remind her that the balcony door has been open all day and it’s the middle of summer, she should expect more bugs inside. You also take this time to remind her why it would be such a good investment to get a cat. (and yes, she absolutely makes you *kill* the bugs, there is no taking them back outside to be rehomed. She needs to know they’re dead)

15. Who is scared of the dark? Neither of you. Though there’s always a light on at home waiting for you to return, a soft light over the stove overnight so you can find your way through the darkness without having to turn on overhead lights and risk waking the other.

16. Who is scared of thunderstorms? You love the rain, adore curling up as close to the window as possible to watch the storms. Rita used to hate it, but figured out it mainly came from having to go out in it, get wet and risk ruining a very expensive pair of shoes. Now she’s fallen in love with it and made sure to repurpose one of the large windows in the living room into a bay window with an extended, padded ledge for the two of you to curl up on during storms and read.

17. Who works/ Who stays at home? If one of you is going to stay home, it’s you. Rita’s got the money to support another person and has no qualms doing so. She is however, very likely to get bored and needs to be stimulated, so she’s going to want to work until she doesn’t want to anymore. She enjoys it, and really loves the career she’s ended up in. She can work from home and if you’re a stay at home wife she likely will as much as she can.

18. Who is a cat person/ Who is a dog person? You’ve been begging for a dog for YEARS now and every single time Rita has a new reason as to why it’s a terrible idea. And no matter what counterargument you come up with, she will *always* win. It’s not something that truly bothers you though, as you know you’re both a little too busy for a dog. There’s a chance that the cat was a plea deal Rita came up with and there’s a chance that she already had one and that was another “we can’t have a dog” excuse. I 1000% see her with a black cat, something more chill it vibes by itself most of the time, but does love a good Sunday curl up on the couch. Rita absolutely has to have one of those self cleaning litterboxes or she has someone else in the building that she pays to do it cause you cannot tell me she would be okay with doing it herself lol.

19. Who loves to call the other one cute names? You. And you love to come up with the most ridiculous ones that make her laugh, or other times groan, saying just how terrible they are. She regularly sticks with darling, sweetheart, and occasionally honey.

20. Who is dominant/ Who is submissive? Rita is a dominant leaning switch. She’s flexible and regularly changes things up depending on her partner or the situation. While she likes to be in control and normally is, she’s got a high stress job where she always has to be the dominant one and really enjoys the times she gets to give that up in her personal life.

21. Who has an obsession (over anything)? I’m leaning you. But not sure what. Rita’s obsession is coffee and a particular brand of pen that she loves and will gut anyone who steals them from her. (Barba has three and he has the bruises to prove it.)

22. Who goes all out for Valentine’s Day? Rita. While she does think it’s a stupid holiday and you should show your love every day, she still loves to spoil. It’s likely something slightly cheesy and at your apartment. Roses, flower petals, a very pricey delivered dinner, chocolates, diamonds and a night spent together surrounded by candles.

23. Who asks who out on the first date? I think Rita is almost always the one who makes the first move. She’s confident, almost a little cocky when it comes to flirtation. She sees something she wants and she knows she wants it so she goes to get it. And she does get it like 99% of the time.

24. Who is the talker/ Who is the listener? A combination of both. Rita’s an incredible listener, she has to be for work. She can’t tune things out or zone out, she has to pay strict attention to every word, every mannerism, every linguist queue there could be from the moment she meets her client to the moment the verdict is read. She’s always going to let you get everything out until you’re sure you’re done and then check if you just wanted to vent/talk/get it off your chest or if you wanted advice. If you wanted her advice, then she’ll take her turn as the talker. Her major more talking days are the days that she just needs to hear things out loud for work, or get things off her chest, she rarely needs your actual advice, she just needs to yell about an incompetent attorney for a bit until she feels better. She was hesitant at first asking if you’d be okay listening to her opening or closing arguments, but she caught the way your eyes lit up and followed her as she paced through the kitchen, discovering how much you loved listening to her parade her way through the legal world. You made a joke that you loved her “big brain ted talks” and that joke stuck.

25. Who wears the other ones clothes? You’re not a huge fan of Rita’s designer stuff, and even her more casual stuff is almost a little too fancy for your liking. You have to dig through to the back of her closet to find the old sweats, tee’s, hoodies or the like that are from her college days, her debate team days or the like and you like wearing those. She on the other hand, ends up stealing half your wardrobe after realizing how comfortable something from a cheap store can be.

________________________

@hbkpop @mickey-gomez @red1culous @imlike-so-gaydude @altsvu @svulife-rl rl @svushots @wannabe-fic-reader @bumblebear30 @alexbllake @australiancarisi @cerberus-spectre @emskisworld @ex-uallyactive @dead-of-niight @multifandomlesbianic @dxtery @momlifebehard @poisonedcrowns @when-wolves-howl @godard-muse @itisdoctortoyousir @httpjupiterbby @somethingimaginative17 @alexxavicry @daddy-heather-dunbar @evilregal2002 @dextur @disneyfan624 @svushots @happenstnces @onmykneesformarvel @kmc1989 @irishavengersassemble @valentinesfrog @noahrex @wittygutsy @chimnlex @i-lovefandom @ralla-ralla @chestnutninny @gamma-rae-bursts

**reminder if you're not interacting you will be removed from the taglist as there are over 50 people who currently want to be involved in the Rita fun** (if you're bored of my writing or out of the SVU fandom currently and no longer want to be tagged, feel free to comment or send me a dm to do so!)

#rita calhoun #rita calhoun x reader #law and order svu #svu #law and order #rita calhoun headcanons #rita calhoun fanfic

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beefrobeefcal · 4 months ago

Text

... And Nowhere to Hide feat. Frankie Morales & f!reader

Summary: An alternate ending to All Pent Up & No Where to Go in which Frankie really blows it. To find out where this all started, start with that fic.

Pairing: Frankie & Mouse | Rating: Explicit 18+ (MDNI) | Word Count: 3,190

PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING Content Warnings: could be viewed as DDDNE, toxic relationship, alcoholism, broken relationship, domestic violence [not overt but could be viewed as such], hurt, drunk driving [don't do it!], ending of a relationship, body insecurity, adultery, cheating, there are no happy endings in real life bub.

Author's Notes: Even though this is an AU ending to All Pent Up & Nowhere to Go, I'm seeing this as the end of Frankie & Mouse. The original ending to that fic always felt like it didn't fit right and now that I am moving on from writing weight fics, this seemed like the right OTP to torpedo. I'm not sorry but I hope you'll forgive this beef anyway.

Thank you to @strang3lov3 for brainstorming this with me, and to @bitchesuntitled, @mothandpidgeon and @neverwheremoonchildfor their eyes and love.

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“That’s why you had to hide it then, huh?”, he yelled again, this time, sadness and hurt clearly in his voice. He didn’t know how to tell you the deep hurt he felt, thinking you were hiding seeking pleasure on your own from him; thinking you didn't want him anymore and could replace him with a fucking vibrator, “Wait till I’m not home and then fuck yourself? Don’t need me anymore?”

You saw his body language show more than his words could say. He was hurting and had been hurting for a while. You had no clue that he was making this whole big change for you, and now you’d basically told him that after all that hard work, you’d replaced him. No, you had no idea what was running through his head. All you knew was that you were tired of being rebuffed and ignored and wanted to give yourself some much needed pleasure and release and he was mad at you for it.

“How fucking dare you! You barely even look at me anymore – let alone touch me – and you want to give me shit for wanting to - to feel good?”, you yelled back, standing up from the bed. His face fell and his big brown eyes widened. Your emotions were getting the better of you, and you could feel the hot tears begin to flood your eyes. Your voice cracked. “What is happening, Frankie? Talk to me!”

He said nothing. He just turned and hurried out of the room, and you heard the back door slam shut and the garage door open. You waited to hear the truck start, but nothing came. You grabbed your things from the bathroom and bedroom and settled into the guest room.

*****

Frankie stormed out of the house, slamming the door as hard as he could on the way out. He ripped the door to his truck open and got in, choosing to forgo buckling his seatbelt as he pulled out of the driveway.

How could you? How could you just lay on your shared bed, looking so beautiful and untouchable while you made yourself feel so good. Without him. He tried to forget how sad your eyes were as you pulled back your hand after his rejection. His pride wouldn’t let him linger on that because his pride was not going to let him turn the truck around and throw himself at your feet, begging for forgiveness.

He pulled up to the regular bar the group would all hang out at, and sat for a moment. Frankie pulled out his phone, expecting to see missed calls, but all that showed up on his screen was the alert from their doorbell cam, announcing his departure.

His heart ached. He was getting healthier and back in shape and he should be happier. But he wasn’t. He was feeling worse about everything and drinking more to offset it, and even if he didn’t want to acknowledge it, a small part of him knew that this was all on him, not on you.

He wanted so badly for you to give him a sign, anything, to come back to the house and make it right. He told himself he didn’t want to go to the bar again and drink until his broken soul was numb and he knew by being here again, he was putting another nail in your relationship’s coffin. His fingers twitched on the steering wheel, as if to let him know the bar was just right there - all he had to do was go in and he could forget all of this, at least for the night. Frankie didn’t know how long he’d sat there, but he was brought back to reality as a loud group of people exited the bar to smoke. He sighed, biting back the sick feeling making his skin feel wrong, and went into the bar.

****

Frankie was downing his third beer when a hand came onto his shoulder.

“No Mouse?”

Frankie looked up and saw Natalie, one of Santi’s previous conquests, looking back at him. He cleared his throat and shook his head, looking back down at his beer. “No.”

He heard her pull the stool next to his out and moved it closer to him. “Trouble at home?”, she asked, sitting down. He could feel how warm her body was against his, making the ache in his chest feel deeper, reminding him that he was here and you weren’t.

“I-uh..”, he cleared his throat again. “It’s not been great.”

Her hand came up and sympathetically rubbed on his. “I’m sorry to hear that, Frankie.”

He nodded, eyeing her, then took another sip of beer.

“Well, you look great.”, she says a little too enthusiastically for Frankie, and he only sighed in response.

“Look, Natalie. I’m not gonna be great company. I just wanna cool down before I go back home and… and…”, he dropped his head in his hands. “I don’t fucking know what I’m gonna do. I don’t know how to-”

“Frankie.”, Natalie interjected. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s pretty clear what’s going on.”

He looked up at her, brows furrowed in confusion. “You’re doing something for yourself, to make yourself feel better, and Mouse isn’t happy.”

Frankie wanted to correct her. He wanted to tell her that it was on him, that he was doing this for you and he felt like shit, and he wanted nothing more than to go home and hold the most important person in the world to him - you.

But he didn’t. Instead, he accepted the shots Natalie ordered, and let her say horrible, untrue things about you, all because he was getting his ego stroked.

So he said nothing, just nodded along. He didn’t put his barriers up and tell her to move her chair away. He didn’t stop her hands from touching him. He didn’t stop her from crawling on his lap, and he didn’t stop her when she kissed him.

Worst of all, he didn’t stop himself from taking her to his truck and doing everything he’d wanted to do with you to Natalie in the backseat.

*****

Natalie was still in the backseat of his truck, pulling her bra back on and Frankie was drinking down the two day old, open bottle of Gatorade to wash the taste of her out of his mouth.

Frankie’s head was swimming. The alcohol was working its way through his system.

The dread that washed over him was sobering for a moment as he put the lid back on the bottle and caught a glimpse of Natalie in a rearview mirror, warm soft light from the street lamps illuminating her silhouette. She smiled up at him and crawled into the front seat.

“I was thinking-”

“No.”, Frankie said, sharper than he intended, shaking his head and feeling the alcohol swirl his vision. His tone softened, “This shouldn’t have happened.”

There was silence from the seat next to him. He couldn’t bring himself to face her, so he slurred in a harsh whisper again, “This shouldn’t have happened.”

There was the sound of a sharp breath followed by, “Are you fucking serious?”

“Natalie, I-”

“Are you fucking serious, Morales?” Natalie’s words were accentuated with a slightly drunken lilt and cold laughter. “Oh my god!”

He growled and looked up at her angrily. “What did you fucking expect?”

“That you’d be done with that little fuckwit and wake up!”

Frankie stared at Natalie, aghast and trying to fight the alcohol in his system and find the right words to shut her down, but she was quicker.

“Look what she did to you! Your little feeder is mad you won’t eat and kicks you out!”

Frankie sat with his mouth slightly agape. He knew that was not what happened but he couldn’t spit it out.

“Oh come on, Frankie!”, she scoffed in a laugh. “I’ve known you for how long? And since you’ve been with her, you got fat. Like fucking fat! She made you fat because she’s a freak and who fucking knows why you put up with it!”

“Get the fuck out.” His soft tone was menacing.

“Or what?”, she challenged him, her drunkenness emboldening her. “You can’t go back to that. I won’t let you, Frankie. She doesn’t deserve you! I can’t just let you go back to someone who asks to be called ‘Mouse’ over her real name! There’s something wrong with her and she needs help, acting like this is healthy to do this to you. You have to see-”

“I am doing this for her!”, Frankie shouted, cutting Natalie off. His eyes had softened and were now pleading and his voice dropped to a lower volume. “I’m doing this for her.”

“Frankie, I ca - you don’t have to defend her. I get it, and I want to help -”

“Just get out.”

Frankie’s drive from the bar was - in short - chaotic. He’d stopped at a corner store and picked up a case of beer, then drove out to a quiet look out, downing one right another the other.

He tried to drown the heavy lump of dread as he watched the sky lighten. Something told him could find a way to fix this if he could think of the right words to say to you, and if he could get the water in the shower hot enough, he could scrub Natalie from his skin like it never happened.

The drive to your shared house was confusing. The street signs were unreadable through his tears and beer fueled haze and his stomach felt nauseous from the smell of Natalie permeating the truck cab. He couldn’t remember what colour meant stop or go, so he just drove by muscle memory alone.

*****

You’d tossed and turned all night long, unable to get comfortable. Any time you found yourself finally drifting off to sleep, the pangs of anxiety reverberated in your body, making your limbs ache and your skin feel too hot and too cold simultaneously.

The light coming in from the window told you it was very early in the morning. The dredges of sleeplessness made your body feel heavy, making getting out of bed that much harder when you heard Frankie’s truck pull up.

As you padded down the hallway, you heard the back door open and Frankie’s heavy footsteps on the mudroom floor. You turned the corner into the kitchen and watch as he toed his boots off, looking slightly unsteady on his feet. The hair popping out from around his hat seemed more mussed and his clothing looked like he’d slept in them. He was clearly drunk and you were furious with him for driving home like that. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it as of late, and it wasn’t the first time he’d come home with his tail between his legs, drunk and pleading.

“Are you drunk?”

Your harshly spoken words cut through the heavy silence and Frankie looked up at you, eyes weary and desperate.

“Mouse - baby…”

His words were slurred and desperate, and his voice was rough and sounded like he was in pain. He turned his body facing you and you saw that his lips looked reddened and worried and something on his neck. It was a hickey or bite mark, framed with a hint of red lipstick. Realization washed over you and you felt sick.

Frankie reached out a hand to you, watching your face fall and pull away from him. “Baby, no, please!”

“What did you do…” Your words came out in a broken whisper and Frankie lumbered towards you, reaching out. Instead of falling into his hold, you shook your head and turned away towards your bedroom.

“MOUSE!”

The volume at which he yelled your name made you stop in your tracks and turn around, and what you saw made your stomach churn. Frankie’s fists were clenched by his sides and he was breathing hard. His whole body seemed to be tense, like a snake would coil up before it striked, and his face was twisted in anguish and rage.

You froze. This was not your Frankie - it was just Frankie, drunk and looking the way he’d described his dad. You watched in abject horror as he moved towards you, and both of you stared into the other’s eyes.

Frankie broke the connection first with a sharp sob followed by his voice cracking with his slurred words. “Don’t look at me like that! Please, Mouse - I can explain, baby!”

You shook your head, face twisting in hurt, confusion and anger. You couldn’t keep going through the cycle of fighting, Frankie getting drunk and having to bear the brunt of it. You stood your ground, yelling back at him, “You’re fucking drunk again - I don’t want to hear it -”

Frankie shook his head. “Just fucking listen to me!”

You couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and sobbed, “Get out!”

Natalie’s words about how you were the villain were leaching into his mind, peeling back the rational thought and fueling the insecurities he carried. You were the one who did this to him. You were the one who was forcing him to change. Everyone else could see it - why couldn’t you? You deserved what he did because now you knew how he felt every time you went out in public and other men’s eyes danced over your body and he just had to sit back like a cuck and let it happen.

His breathing was growing rapid, and his eyes were fixed on you like a bull seeing red. As you turned to go into your room, Frankie lunged forward and reached out, grabbing your arm. He yanked you away from the bedroom door.

“Don’t you EVER walk away from me when I am talking to you!”

“Let go! You’re hurting m - “

“You don’t get to to tell me when to leave my house!”

“Frankie! Stop it!”

You pushed him back and turned around, but his arms came around your waist, pulling you back into him. His hot, beer soaked breath painted the side of your neck and face.

“Mouse! I just-I just wanna talk… that’s all, baby.. I love you and i don’t wanna let you go-.”

He was cut off by your elbowing his abdomen, and it gave you a chance to get away from him. You ran into your room and slammed the door and locked, then stood back and watched the door shake from Frankie’s fists pounding on the other side.

Grabbing your phone, you dialed the only number your trembling hands could.

Will answered his phone groggily and all he heard was your panicked crying and Frankie screaming in the background.

*****

The morning was a blur. Will arrived with Benny quicker than you could have hoped for. Will and Benny had finally managed to drag Frankie from the house and out into the detached garage, but just barely. Based on the damage he’s inflicted on his friends who were trying to help, Benny was scared shitless as to what he would find on the other side of your bedroom door.

You’d finally opened the bedroom door when you’d made Benny promise that Will would keep Frankie out of the house. As soon as he was in the room with you, Benny’s concern had him kneeling on the floor in front of you, asking over and over if you were okay… if Frankie had hit you… if you were hurt… and each question, you could only shake your head. The reality of the situation was settling in, knowing this was not something you could just come back from easily and Benny held you as you cried.

Will had called Santi over to keep Frankie in place in the garage. The last thing he wanted was for him to get back into the house and see that Benny was helping you pack enough of your stuff to tie you over for a few days.

Santi went into the house to get some water and found you standing at the kitchen table, wiping your eyes as you packed some important paperwork you weren’t sure you wanted to leave behind. He had no idea what to say, so Santi said nothing.

He grabbed a cup from the cupboard and the pitcher of water from the fridge, leaving you in silence.

*****

You’d left that day and moved in with Benny and his two cats - Butter and Bagels. Frankie’s infidelity had come fully to light with Natalie laying it all out for Santi and then Frankie confirmed it all, solidifying your choice to leave.

The break up had affected every part of the group, and while you assumed that you were in the right for walking away, Will shocked you when he told you to forgive and get back with Frankie.

“You don’t get it. Honey, I know he fucked up, but you’re better than that. You want loyalty, you have to be loyal, Mouse.”, he’d said sternly to you from across the table at a Denny’s. “You don’t leave a man when he’s down, and Frankie has seen some shit. You belong together, Mouse. You know that!”

It was a given that when you told Benny what Will had said, he drove straight to his house, barged in and punched Will square in the face, breaking his nose.

Santi had sent you a bullshit text telling you that while he was sorry for what happened, Frankie was his brother and he needed to stand with him. He wished you well and said he’d be around if you needed anything. You angrily toyed with the idea of sending a curse-laden response, but instead just blocked his number and deleted the message.

It had taken six months for you to begin to feel like yourself again. You’d joined a social group in the apartment complex and made a few acquaintances in the laundry room. You’d even switched to a new department at the accounting firm, allowing you to work from home.

Home. You had a home again. Benny’s apartment was finally home for you and you were cautiously optimistic for your future.

The bar you’d frequented with the group was now considered non-existent to you. Benny even vowed to not darken its doorway in solidarity, so the two of you had found a new dive to hang out in.

It was a little further out of the way, but it was quieter, and less of a bar and more of an all-night bistro. It didn’t hurt that the bartender there was easy on the eyes, what with his shorter hair, the small offset blonde patch in the front and his jewel-toned southern drawl crackling light lightning across the bar.

You hadn’t gotten the courage to speak to him, let alone hold eye contact. At least not until one evening, you’d bravely wandered in - sand Benny - and sat at the bar instead of the booth you normally did.

The bartender turned around and put his weight on the counter, leaning slightly towards you, and with his cheshire grin, he asked,

“And what can I get for you, little bird?”

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#pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal tummy #frankie morales #triple frontier #you ask beefro answers #francisco catfish morales #frankie morales fanfiction #chubby frankie rights !!!!!#🥩#the catfish & the mouse one shot #thot tank

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xserpx · 6 days ago

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morse for the ask game?

How I feel about this character?

(Caveating this with the fact I haven't yet watched Inspector Morse, so this is only about Endeavour.)

Normally I'm not at all a fan of whump and I don't like feeling sad for well-meaning characters who are hurt repeatedly through (mostly) no fault of their own, but I really love Morse's brand of melancholia. The way he struggles to deal with change is too damn real, I'm a sucker for characters who struggle to voice their feelings and whose anxiety causes them to say nothing, because bitch me too. I also like that he's shy but it's kind of a selective shyness? Like if you catch him at the right moment or say a certain thing, he can be very snappish and outspoken and even funny, but then in those (incredibly important!) moments where he feels truly vulnerable, he just clams up, and it's heartbreaking and delicious to watch.

It's also undeniable that he is a massive prick sometimes. His treatment of women, his pretentiousness, there are moments when I want to slap him upside the head and I'm like you deserve this shit buddy! Monica my beloved, she deserved so much better from him. As much as he craves deeper connections with people and as much as I really want him to find a place to belong and settle down, it's so clear why he can't, why he shouldn't, and it's so deep rooted that in a way if he actually made a more concerted to change and do better he'd pretty much be a different person. And I like that the show never compromises on providing answers or catharsis for his struggles. Change happens, that's life, and there's often no way to deal with it that doesn't hurt.

I also love his dark academia style and the way it's grounded in finding meaning/belonging. It's not that it doesn't give him a sense of superiority at times, but like... that was his rebellion in the face of anti-intellectualism and abuse at home, and in a way I feel like he's earned the right to that pretentiousness. I think it dilutes some of the intimidating effect that opera and classics and poetry can have - some people listen to the Beatles, he listens to Wagner, one thing isn't "better" than another - but without binning it off entirely so that we still get to enjoy the commentary on classism. Plus watching him school the Oxford dons is always fun :P.

All the people I ship romantically with this character?

Romantically, hmm... The trouble is I end up feeling sorry for either Morse himself or whatever woman he's got his eye on at the time!

I love Joan and Morse, and I'd love for them to work things out, but the more time passes the less and less suited they seem to be. It's one of those relationships that's more about yearning than it is about getting together. They struggle to communicate and they're constantly miserable. He puts her on a pedestal because of her family, and Joan likes him because he's an enigma, and they can't move past that. But at the same time, fanfic exists for a reason, and I still love the yearning despite it all.

I'm not sure if I ship it romantically per se, but Max is another one where I feel like they could be more than friends, they're very Sherlock and Watson (and this fic by gaytobymeres is so good I love it). That scene with Morse and Max having tea in Max's garden is one of my favourites in the series, and I want that life for Morse so badly! Literalllyyy at the end of Exeunt I was like dude just move in with Max!! He'll never leave Oxford! He'll come along to your choral recitals! You have way more interests in common than any of your girlfriends have thus far! And he's lonely too, bless him ;w;.

My non-romantic OTP for this character?

I don't think there's a single character I don't ship Morse with platonically?? All I want in the world is a pub quiz fic featuring all of Cowley CID (and Trewlove) but I'm not clever or patient enough to write it. I wish we had more teamwork episodes tbh, and I think that's the best thing about seasons 5 & 6 (as dissipated as CID is at the start, that just makes them coming back together all the more heartwarming).

Morse & Thursday are of course the freaking bedrock of the show, they're just insanely good and I genuinely want them to be together forever. As much as he misses Joan at the end, I really want a happy ending where Thursday and Morse can stay together. At the same time, what with the whole men in the 60s reinforcing one another's emotional repression, I kind of wonder what would've happened if Thursday had been able to steer Morse in a different direction, and if it would have had a knock-on effect with helping Morse express his feelings for Joan and maybe end up somewhere better. But their characters are so intertwined it's hard to separate out the what-ifs. I do think Thursday had more of an impact on Morse than Morse did on Thursday, but you could maybe chalk that up to age. Leopards don't change their spots, etc. Still... lamenting lost potential is what grief is.

I'm also a huge fan of Morse & Trewlove tbh, he's so relaxed around her?? He tells her stuff he never tells anyone else?? They fake marry?? Ridiculously sweet. They share the trait of being incredibly dedicated and detailed in their work, and it bleeds over into a genuine appreciation for one another that they don't really have with any of their other colleagues (save for maybe Trewlove & Bright, another fantastic platonic OTP in my book). I also can see them being friends w bennies but I def don't ship them romantically.

My unpopular opinion about this character?

Not sure if I have one tbh. I haven't been here long but I generally think the wider fandom has it right about most things. Maybe not including Jakes as some brand of OTP? I feel bad because I love Peter, I just don't see him and Morse being particular friends any more than Morse and Jim are tbh.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Um, happiness. Just, all the happiness. I wish he could communicate better. I wish he'd had a better childhood. I wish his house hadn't been burgled and that he could still listen to Rosalind Calloway without taking emotional damage. I wish he hadn't been beaten down and that he could feel secure and safe, and have a fulfilled life outside of work. Great tragedies always keep the happy ending in sight, and Endeavour does that incredibly, painfully, well.

If I had to choose something specific to have happened in the show, I guess I would have liked to see more of Joyce. I'm fascinated by their relationship and I really loved every cameo from Morse's past that we saw, plus episodes like Cartouche with cousin Carol. Tbf I have heard that Joyce shows up more in Inspector Morse, so... ��

#endeavour #itv endeavour #endeavour morse #oop this got long

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musette22 · 2 years ago

Text

For the nonnie who asked: here are some of my all time favourite lengthy Stucky fics (30-200k, mostly multi chapter):

Not Easily Conquered by dropdeaddream, WhatAreFears

This, You Protect by owlet

Home Is Wherever I'm With You by cydonic

Lucky Seven by BetteNoire

Political Animals by @spacerenegades, Deisderium

Wishes and Words by wearing_tearing

A Company Man by @whtaft

Push It Real Good by spoffyumi

The Size of Perfection by @phoenike

Like Real People Do by 2bestfriends

Easy Work For Easy Pay by AustinB

Prince Charming by Brenda

What's in a Name? by levi_cas_tho, maichan

Critical Feline Mass by Kryptaria, zooeyscigar

Ipseity by SkyisGray

Circling Back by chaya

Ain't No Grave (Can Keep My Body Down) by spitandvinegar

The Necrofloranomicon by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)

with all my skin and bone by unicornpoe

He's All That by @spacerenegades

Monoclonius by Zenaidamacrouras1

oh meet me, my darling, where the sun sets over the barley by charlesdk @trancowboy

Coming Home by charlesdk @trancowboy

The Settler by charlesdk @trancowboy

Waking Up Slow by odetteandodile

Family Placement by notlucy

I Held You in Gloved Hands (And I’m Not Letting Go) by @voylitscope

then a small thing happened by BeaArthurPendragon

North Fork by BeaArthurPendragon

Itsy Bitsy Yoga by wearing_tearing

All Those Little Pieces by Ellessey

Bucky Barnes Gets His Groove Back & Other International Incidents @silentwalrus1

Scents and Sensibility: The Working Assassin's Guide to Supersoldier Seduction by galwednesday, silentwalrus, skellerbvvt

Coming Home For Christmas by Chiyume

Chase the Lightning From the Sky by SilverSlashes

These next ones I haven't had a chance to read yet, but I love these authors' other fics so I'm sure these are brilliant too!

lane lines by @sparkagrace

Till It Bleeds Daylight by @cable-knit-sweater

Backhoe by @zenaidamacrouras1

hey now, you're an all star (get your game on, go play) (WIP) by @buckyismybicycle

I was alone, I took a ride (I didn't know what I would find there) by @otp-holic

Till there were no more wolves in the West by @dharmasharks

better to speak or die (WIP) by @between-a-ship-and-a-hard-place

Atoms by @andrea1717

I'm sure I'm forgetting some brilliant ones, so feel free to add to this! Also, please check out these authors' other works too, they're all brilliant <3

#in no particular order except for the first two lol #stucky #steve rogers x bucky barnes #steve rogers #bucky barnes #stevebucky #fic recs #I tried putting half of this under the cut but tumblr is being so difficult today for some reason #so sorry #long post

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uceyliyahh · 25 days ago

Text

UNDER YOUR TOUCH

Summary: After her difficult breakup, Tiana wanted to start anew with her life. That's when she realized her life would be better when she met him.

This fanfic is 18+! NO MINORS ALLOWED

word count: 3434

smut warning; it’ll come in the story randomly so PLEASE PLEASE look out for it I’m not really good at writing ✍🏽 smuts but I’m improving at the moment.

Jey Uso x Tiana

AWFUL GRAMMAR IM GETTING BETTER I SWEAR LOL.

comments, likes, repost are appreciated I would love the constructive feedback in what area I need to approve in. 🤍

ALSO! I don’t not want nobody stealing my fanfics or take it as theirs that will be an issue fasho so keep it cute respectfully.

I only own my OC along with the make up scenarios

But I’ll be writing along the way since this story is in my drafts on Wattpad right now so yuh. 💁🏽‍♀️

TAGS ⬇️ lmk if you wanna be tag 🏷️@pinkwithhearts @420days @jstarr86 @empressdede @angiedawn02 @biancasreign

@punksyeet @bebesobrielo @aikosilo @hunnidmilly @zillasvilla @fearlesschimera @xbriexx

@charmed-dreamssss @yana3sworld @partypoison00 @magnificentbouquetmusic @mselenalovebug @skyesthebomb

19.

TIANA

I'd been feeling ill for the last two weeks and had no idea what was going on, so I headed to the shop to purchase a pregnancy test. When I got home from the store, I walked into the bathroom and opened the box while pulling out two of the pregnancy tests. I peed on both sticks while flushing the toilet, nervously walking back and forth, chewing my fingernails. When I flipped them over, I was taken aback since both of them said nice things. I could not believe I was pregnant.

I grabbed my phone and texted Trinity, Bianca, and Emma because we were all in a group chat together.

IMESSAGE GC 💬 Tiana: guys...I have some news... Breezy: bestie what happened?? Trin🤭🫶🏽: yeah, what happened T? Em♥️: what's wrong?

Breezy: BITCH YOURE PREGNANT?????? Trin🤭🫶🏽: TIANA ARE YOU DEADASS RN JOSH GOT YOU KNOCKED UP? Em♥️: omg....😳😳 Tiana: yeah...I am pregnant I haven't been feeling good for the past two weeks so I had to figure out what the hell was wrong with me I couldn't eat anything. Breezy: I'm going to be an auntie!!! 🥹🥹 Tiana: oh my goodness here you go 😭 Trin🤭🫶🏽: I gotta tell Jon about this Em♥️: does that mean we get to take turns taking care of the little one? Tiana: wait don't tell Jon yet because yk he'll go run his mouth to Josh so lemme tell him Trin🤭🫶🏽: fineeee tiana 🙄🙄 Breezy: we finna be aunties yall like omg can't believe this is happening Tiana: lawd but im going to keep these hidden until I see Josh so yall don't say anything to him Trin🤭🫶🏽: alrighty babygirl Breezy: my lips are sealed Em♥️: kk girly. Tiana: thank you I'll ttly

I emerged from the restroom with both pregnancy tests in my hand, still stunned that I was carrying this man's baby. I placed both of them inside my drawer and concealed them behind my clothing as I approached the mirror on my wall.

Lifting up my shirt and massaging my tummy, I imagined myself becoming a fine-ass mom. As I was rubbing my belly, I heard my phone ring and halted my motions to retrieve it off the dresser.

It was Jey calling me. God, I hope the girls didn't tell him; that would just ruin the surprise.

OTP ZaddyJey🤍: hey mamas what you doing? Mamas🩷: I'm at home alone right now chilling since I've haven't been feeling good lately and my hormones has been making me feel emotional too. ZaddyJey🤍: you want me to come over later? Mamas🩷: yesss baby I miss yo' fine ass anyways ZaddyJey🤍: hm, I miss yo' cute ass too love imma slide through later after work I'll make sure to bring some clothes then. Mamas🩷: yayyy my hubby is spending the nighhht ZaddyJey🤍: you're so goofy baby ight then mama I'll see you later I love you Mamas🩷: I love you tooo

CALL ENDED

I laid down on my bed and instructed Alexia to crank up the chilly air. I curled up under my nice blanket, grabbed the remote, and turned on Baddies Caribbean, my favorite program.

While watching my TV, I became tired for a second. I attempted to open my eyes, but it didn't work, so I fell asleep, allowing my show to play itself.

✧.*

I awoke to my phone buzzing. As I managed to open my eyes, I noticed Jey beckoning me. I sat up and peered out the window, noticing his car in my driveway. I dashed downstairs, opened the door, and discovered him waiting there with food in his hand.

"Damn girl, you didn't hear me calling you?" He questioned me while I scratched the crust out of my eyes. "I'm so sorry, Bubba. I was in a deep slumber and had forgotten you were even coming," I said.

"It's alright, Mama. Please let me know next time. C'mon, so we can eat because I know you haven't eaten yet." I nodded affirmatively as I let him inside the home and slammed the door behind him.

He set the food and beverages on the table in the living room. This man bought some Waffle House for dinner since he adored the establishment.

He bought me a grilled chicken sandwich with fries and a lemonade, and he grabbed himself a BLT. I grabbed the remote from the table and turned on Twilight, as it was the time of year when the leaves dropped.

I hope I don't throw up the food he brought for us to eat since I've been feeling terrible all day and haven't eaten anything. While watching the movie, I felt my mouth turn sour, so I jumped up from the couch and hurried to the toilet, vomiting up.

'Goddamnit, this is getting ridiculous.'

I heard Jey's footsteps enter the bathroom as he pulled my hair up and patted my back while I vomited.

After throwing up, I flushed the toilet, wiped my face with a towel, and looked at Jey. I could interpret his facial expression; he appeared worried and perplexed.

"You good mama?" Jey asked.

"Y-yeah, I just need some water to help with all of this." I said, knowing damn well that my pregnancy is causing all of this.

"I'll go grab it for you. Why don't you go lie down on the couch? I'll come meet you." I did what I was told to do, lying down on the couch and rubbing my tummy.

'Hopefully, after this, I could surprise him with the pregnancy test.'

I saw Jey walking towards me with a cold water bottle in his hand. As he gave it to me, I grabbed it from his hand, opened it up, and drank it.

After drinking the water, I placed my head on Jey's lap, continuing to watch Twilight and feeling him play with my hair.

His touch felt calming and comfortable. I looked up at him while his eyes were fixed on the movie, but he could see I was admiring him.

He looked down at me with deep, hooded eyes, seized my chin, and pressed his soft lips against mine, kissing me a few times in the process.

He backed away as he grinned at me. God, he was so beautiful it wasn't funny. I sat straight on his lap, straddling him as I felt him grab my hips.

"I have a surprise for you that you might like," I added, toying with his mullet.

He arched an eyebrow at me, "What kind of surprise?" I chucked at him before jumping off his lap and rushing upstairs to my room. I proceeded to the drawer, grabbed both pregnancy tests, and tucked them behind my back as I headed downstairs. He was sitting there on his phone, waiting for me to reveal his surprise.

When I walked in front of him, his gaze fixed on me. I told him to close his eyes while pulling his hand out and placing both of the pregnancy tests in his hand.

He opened his eyes, seeing them both in his hand. As I watched, his face went into complete shock. He looked up at me, then back down at the tests.

"Tiana, don't play with me right now. Are you actually pregnant?" Jey questioned me.

"Yes, Josh, I'm really pregnant." I said.

"This gotta be a prank. Tink, yo' ass must be pranking me." I shook my head while coming towards him to sit on his lap, playing with his mullet, saying, "It's not a prank, baby. I'm serious."

He scooped me up by the thighs, giving me a few kisses on the lips while spinning me around in the process, causing me to feel dizzy.

Jey smiled at me happily. We are actually going' to become parents like actual parents.

"I am so happy, baby; I'm going to be a father, " he said softly, with excitement in his voice.

"Me too, Josh. I can't believe this is happening," I said before yawning.

Jey took note of this as he grabbed the remote control and turned off the TV before taking his phone and pregnancy tests as he carried me upstairs to my room.

He shut the door behind him with his foot and placed me on my lovely covers while I watched him remove his clothing. His toned skin, strong frame, and gorgeous Samoan tattoos were so exquisite that I couldn't help but approach up to him and stand in front of him as he seized me with his gaze.

Feeling all over his chest and face, he had such beautiful features I couldn't keep my hands to myself as I felt his hand around my waist.

"What's up, mamas?" he said as his gaze shifted to mine. I looked up at him with innocent eyes and placed my lips on his neck, kissing it wetly. I felt his hands slither down to my ass, gripping it tightly as I proceeded to give him wet kisses on his neck, marking him up in the process.

He grabbed my thighs and went backward towards the bed, where he sat down with me, straddling his lap.

He grabbed me forcefully by the throat, stopping me in my tracks. "you know you drive me crazy tink?" He spoke with a heavy tone of voice.

"I know I do so how about you let me take control of the situation and you." I replied with a smile.

I moved off his lap as he shuffled back towards the headboard, slipping his sweatpants and PSD boxers off. Seeing his long and curved dick rise up and strike his stomach.

My mouth watered at the sight of it, and his black stare was fixed on me and my motions as I slid my hair to the side.

SMUT WARNING

I started stroking his dick up and down, seeing the pre-cum pouring out of it and watching him relax via my touch.

I kissed his gorgeous mushroom tip, teasing him slightly as I heard his breathing tremble; he never allowed me to do this to him; generally, he would take charge of the situation or demonstrate his power.

"B-baby, stop teasing me, girl.." he rasped as I chuckled at him before going down on him.

I swirled my tongue around his tip, going all the way down until his tip was hitting the back of my throat.

I bopped my head up and down on his dick, hearing his sweet moans escaping from his lips, gazing up at him. He had his head thrown back on the headboard, clenching his legs in the process.

He opened his eyes, staring deeply into my soul as I continued to suck the soul out of him. Feeling his hand caressing my face.

"Fuckkk, baby, just like that, keep goin'." I loved the way he was sounding right now; it was turning me on even more.

"Mhmm, keep talking to me, love," I mutter softly while continuing to circle my tongue around the tip.

I felt him move his hips, pushing his dick deeper inside of my mouth, grabbing a whole load of my hair, and began to face fuck me. I maintained my breathing as I let him face fuck me hearing his heavy breathing.

"Shit, mama, your mouth feels so good wrapped around my dick, letting me fuck this pretty face of yours." Jey grunted as he continued to thrust his hips.

All you could hear were wet noises coming from my lips as all of my saliva was dripping down all over his dick and my hands.

He abused my throat every chance he got while my eyes fluttered and my throat spasmed. With every single thrust he would just go deeper and deeper I started to form tears into my eyes.

"Ouuu fuck mami...taking me so well...make me nut mama..." his breathing became more shaky and heavy, knowing that he was almost close to his climax.

Feeling his dick twitching inside of my mouth along with his legs twitching too, as his tip was deep inside of my throat.

Rolling his eyes in the back of his head, thrusting his hips in the process, I used both of my hands, stroking him up and down while he did that, driving him insane.

After abusing my throat some more, I heard a loud groan escaping from his lips while his warm seeds spilled down my throat, eating that shit up.

I felt him shaking violently, seeing him pull out his dick away from my mouth, hearing that pop as my face felt flushed, seeing his chest heaving up and down.

I stick my tongue out at him, showing him that I swallow all of his nut, smiling at him as he chuckles at me, trying to catch his breath.

"Yo' ass is nasty baby but c'mere and ride this dick tho mama." Jey said while curling up his fingers.

I did what I was told to do, removing my booty shorts along with my cheeky panties and crawling towards his way before climbing on top of him.

I grabbed his dick rubbing his tip on my now wet folds before sticking it in, I sat down on it as a gasp escaped my lips feeling his hands on my hips as I began to ride him cowgirl style.

I was bouncing up and down on his dick as he was guiding me with my hips we maintained eye contact with each other while he racked his hand onto my ass cheeks as I whined.

"Fuck daddy, this dick feels so good..." I moaned, holding onto his shoulders.

"Yeah? Keep ridin' yo' dick, mama. This is all yours, baby." He replied in a raspy tone.

I had my eyes rolling in the back of my head while throwing my head back in the process as he continued to give my ass a few smacks.

He grabbed me up by the throat, placing his soft lips on mine, slipping his tongue in the process as we tongue kissed each other.

He guided my hips up and down his dick as my walls were clenching around him, causing him to groan between the kiss. Removing his lips from mine, replacing them with my neck, marking me up just like how I did him.

"You're so fucking pretty, you that mama?" He whispered softly in my ear.

"Uhn Huh, daddy fuck..."

I circled my hips on his dick, feeling myself breaking underneath him every single time, spelling my name on his dick.

His tip was hitting my spot as I continued to circle my hips like crazy, causing him to throw his head back in pleasure.

"Keep goin' fo' me baby fuck...this my shit?"

"Yess daddy this is all yours I'm yours forever baby.."

"Damn, right, ma yo' ass better know you belong to." I felt a pit go down my stomach as my facial expressions turned up, which caught his attention, knowing that I was going to cum all over him.

He got some control, firmly grabbing my hips and pushing his hips to meet my motions. Skins were clapping against each other as I screamed his name across the entire bedroom.

He was beating my shit up while I placed my face into his neck, moaning in his ear.

"Mhm, take this dick like a big girl. This shit is making you go stupid." Jey grunted as he continued to hammer into my gummy walls.

I love it when he talks nasty to me; it makes me want to smear his dick with my essence. I clutched his shoulders hard, knowing that I was getting near to my climax. I let out a loud groan as my body began to tremble beneath him, covering his dick with my cream. I wanted to get off of him right now, but he gripped my waist tightly, his powerful arms hammering into my wet creamy cunt deeply.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck Josh please...I can't take it..." I mewled weakly.

"Nah baby take this fucking dick and be a good girl fo' me baby." I did what I was told to do as I let him continue to beat my pussy in.

He was giving me these harsh strokes, kissing me all over my neck while I held his shoulders for dear life, sensing another orgasm approaching. I felt his dick quiver inside of me, knowing he was about to cum in my shit.

I was so overwhelmed that tears welled up in my eyes as I swallowed my saliva and threw my head back. I couldn't even fathom what was going on.

Making me feel as if my brain needed to be rebooted, he shoved his hips farther into my gushy insides, causing me to gasp loudly as he smirked. Seeing how I trembled beneath his touch.

"Fuck baby, I'm finna nut all in yo' shit stuffing yo' ass like a turkey." After a few more thrusts, he and I came together as a groan escaped from our lips.

I felt his warm seeds inside of me filling me up well as he and I were panting heavily. He pulled his dick out from me, and his seeds were dripping out from my pussy and onto his stomach.

SMUT OVER.

We didn't move an inch from each other as I laid on his chest hearing his breathing going steady while his hands were still wrapped around my waist hugging me.

His lips gently kissed me on the neck and chest before we could finally pull away from each other. We looked into each other's eyes, smiling at each other, and I saw sweat dripping down his body.

"Damn that shit felt so good mama." Jey said.

"Y-yeah it did..ion' think I can move my body at the moment." I replied earning a chuckle from him.

"I can tell c'mon I'll carry you into the bathroom so we can take a bath together ight?" He scooped me up by my legs carrying me inside my bathroom placing me on top of the sink.

Turning on the faucet, he checked the temperature of the bath water, making sure that it wasn't hot or anything.

✧.* After we took a bath together, I was cuddled up on his chest, hearing his heartbeat while he was on his phone, scrolling through his social media.

Meanwhile, I was watching my show, gasping as I watched the girls fight each other, taking each other's wigs off while knocking their heads in.

"Why do you even watch this shit Tiana?" Jey questioned me, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Because bae it's interesting to me and funny don't be hater now." I said sarcastically.

"Mane, I ain't no hater. I'm just saying," he earned a hum from me as my eyes were focused on the show.

I felt his hand on my tummy, pulling me closer to him as he began to rub it before placing a soft kiss on my neck.

I turned my head to look at his features, and he was already admiring me. I kissed him on the lips as he responded.

"I'm so nervous love." I said.

"Why mama?"

"Because what if I'm not a good mom to our little one?" He raised his eyebrow, looking at me.

"Baby, I think you'll be a great mother. Don't doubt yourself, okay? I'll be right there with you," Jey said as he reassured me.

I gave him one last kiss before turning off the TV and getting comfortable in the bed. He wrapped his arms around my waist, whispering in my ear.

"I love you mama"

"I love you too papa."

Under Your Touch.

biancabelairwwe replied to your story: IM FINNA BE AN AUNTIEEE zillafatu replied to your story: I'm an uncle? uceyjucey replied to your story: we finna be the best parents in the world baby 🤍 jonathanfatu replied to your story: ong bro I can't wait trinity_fatu replied to your story: tete babyyyy auntie is goin to spoil you rotten. 😭😭 rikishi replied to your story: ♥️ shelovesemma replied to your story: yesssss I am so happy for you!! theylovelani replied to your story: are you fucking kidding me?

tianasworld, romanreigns, solosikoa, and others liked your post.

uceyjucey: a father to be 🤍 tianasworld: I am so happy to experience this with you love. uceyjucey: @ tianasworld me too baby ♥️ romanreigns: lemme' know when the due date is so I can see the little bundle of joy solosikoa: I'm proud of you big bro biancabelairwwe: THANK JOSH NOW MY WISHES OF BECOMING A AUNTIE IS NOW TRUE! 🥹🥹 uceyjucey: @ biancabelairwwe 😭😭 no problem jonathanfatu: yo' ass really did knock her up I thought it was joke 😭 trinity_fatu: yessss brotherrrr finna be a daddy! theylovelani: wtf Jey like wtf uceyjucey: @ theylovelani gtfo please.

Read all Comments.

A/n: I have some sad news this book is coming to a close soon only four more chapters to go I really did enjoy writing this book but I am so happy for Tiana and Jey fr fr.

But I hope yall enjoy this chapter lmk in the comments below.

Stay Ucey.

#jey uso #black writers #black fanfic writer #black oc #jey x oc black #wwelove #black reader #wwe fanfiction #jey uso fanfiction #jey uso smut

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lesbiangabriellle · 2 years ago

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are you flirting with me?

#thelwordedit #the l word #the l word generation q #tibette #jennifer beals #laurel holloman #bette porter #tina kennard #otp: it feels like i'm coming home #bymycandyshop

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lonelyroommp3 · 6 months ago

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*please read the explanations below the poll options before voting*

was thinking about this on my coach home and naturally had to make it into an overcomplicated poll

explanations, disclaimers, etc. under the cut:

until tumblr enables polls with infinite options there is no way for me to account for the entire breadth of human experience here. the categories provided and the examples thereof will not be, and are not intended to be, exhaustive. if you can't find the exact thing you do listed here or you think it falls into more than one category then please use your best judgement to select whatever answer is closest. only choose "something else not covered here" if there is actually nothing even close to what you do listed in the poll (and please elaborate in the tags if this is the case! i'm curious)

i really wanted to include "guy running alongside the moving vehicle you are in" but ran out of options. sorry

if you feel you do two or more of these things in equal measure just pick whatever one answer you want based on vibes

music video: anything you imagine as a standalone, prerecorded visual to accompany the music. this may feature musical performance elements, dance, a narrative, or any combination of the above. if you're imagining your little scene as if it's intended to be viewed on MTV, youtube, etc as the official visual complement to the music, it probably comes under this category

a music video mainly featuring somebody else: this could be you, your blorbos, your self insert OC, another artist you'd like to see cover the song, random actors/celebrities you would cast in the video, etc. whether they are performing the song within the video or not. if the bulk of the "running time" of your daydream is taken up by people who aren't the artist who originally performs the version of the song you're listening to, pick this one

a live performance: this could be in concert (whether a concert version that already exists e.g. imagining taylor swift's eras tour staging when you hear cruel summer, or a version you would like to see), at karaoke, at an open mic night, your acoustic cover that goes viral when you post it on youtube, busking on the street, performing to the other passengers on the bus, etc. could apply to dance as well as singing/music!

a diegetic use in narrative context: imagining the song being performed as a musical number by people in a story that exists beyond the scope of this one song in order to accompany or advance said story. this might be imagining the song being performed as one of many musical numbers in a stage or movie musical, or it could be a performance that takes place in universe (like the performances in glee, or scott pilgrim vs the world)

non diegetic narrative use: imagining the song as the soundtrack to a scene in a story that exists beyond the scope of this one song, but it is not being played/performed/heard by the people within the scene. for example, you imagine a fight scene in a movie taking place to this song, or perhaps it would play in the background during your OTP's first kiss if your favourite fanfiction was adapted into a netflix original tv series.

AMV/edit: a video compilation of existing* scenes from a piece of media, put together by a fan and set to music. (*existing might be taken loosely; e.g. you might be imagining an AMV of scenes from a book with no actual visual media adaptation. the main distinction is that here you are imagining the actual editing process of splicing scenes together as a fan project, as opposed to the music accompanying one continuous scene or sequence of scenes - which would come under "non diegetic narrative use" - or the clips being intended as the official visual accompaniment to a song, which would come under "music video".)

an abstract or lyric based visualiser: 2000s core windows media player visuals, a lyric video, anything that focuses more on objects, scenery, abstract patterns, words moreso than People/Fictional Characters/Animals/etc Doing Things To Music

#for me i'd say it is music video feat. other people very closely followed by diegetic use. i love imagining my blorbos Doing A Musical

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leynaeithnea · 3 months ago

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I didnt get an ask for this BUT WE'RE BACK

my Wisdom saga reaction/analysis!!!!!

26. Legendary

TELEMACHUS MY BOYYYY

THE MELODY AT THE BEGINNING OF LEGENDARY IS SO COOL

the instruments aaah, lowkey obssessed

"its jus tme myself and i" perimedes would like u

"living in this world you left behind".........this song makes oyu think so much about what life has been in Ithica in those years since Odysseus had to leave, he was loved, he is *King*, AH

"dreaming of all these monster, that ill never to get to fight" better this way, u dont wanna end up like your daddy

"but boy i wish i could so i could bring the world some light" BABY BOY

"Cause I'm stuck with your stories, but no clue who you are And no idea if you're dead or just too far" his mother wouldve told him so many stories :aniTears:

"Somebody tell me, come and give me a sign if I fight those monsters, is it you I'll find?" PLS HE jusT WANTS TO FIND HIS DAD GIVE THIS MAN HIS FATHER

"If so, then give me sirens and a cyclops Give me giants and a hydra" hes just naming every monster he can think of of the myths he grew up with

"I know life and fate are scary but I wanna be legendary" U GO BOY; I LOVE YOU, also such a mood

"I'll fight the harpies and chimeras, the Minotaur, even Cerberus I know life and fate are scary but I wanna be l-l-l-l-legendary"....yea same like the two parts before, any monster he can think of, he gotta be one of us kids who read a lot

THEN The droppp in his voice, HE SOUNDS SO SCARED

"There are strangers in our halls" That must be TERRIFYING, just imagine that, dozens of men in your home just prying on your mother and youre too young to do anything rly

"Trying to win the heart of my mom, but she is standing tall" THAT VOCAL PERFORMANCE, W FOR PENELOPE; GIRLBOSS

"108 old faces of men who call me small" EW; 108 IS SO MANY BRO; SO MANY????? Also "old faces" ISJGSEIGJ "who call me small" boy, i feel so bad for you

"They keep taking space and it's not much longer we can stall" !!!! HES WORKING WITH HIS MOTHER TRYING TO HOLD THEM OFF; AH AAAAH, also fuck them, leave their home alone, god he must feel so unsafe in his own home :screams:

"'Cause they're getting impatient, dangerous too" oh no :( so scared lil boy

"And I would fight them if I was half as strong as you" HE LOOKS UP TO HIM SO MUCH AH

"Somebody help me, come and give me the strength Can I do whatever it takes to keep my mom safe?" HES ALSO A MOMMY BOY; AND HONESTLY GOOD FOR HIM; STAND BY HER SIDE; U GO BOY, 🥹

Chrous SLAPs

"Where is he? Where is the man who'll have you to wife? " bitch stay away (also cut song reference!)

"Where is he? Where is the man with whom you'll spend your life?" HE IS ON His WAY HOme SO STAY THE FUCK AWAYYYYYYYY ARGG ILL FIGHT U

"Cause it's been 20 years, 20 years" 20 FUCKING YEARS??? THATS AS OLD AS I AM (and telemachus for that measure, same age, yay!) BUT BRO IMAGINE WAITING FOR YOUR HUSBAND TO COME HOME FOR 20 YEARS; PENELOPE X ODY OTP; PENELOPE FIGHTING OFF 108 SUITORS FOR 20 YEARS AND ODY FIGHTING OF *GODS* Trying TO TRAP AND USE AND KEEP HIM, THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER

"And we still have no king" >:) >:) imagine an island without leader for 20 years oh boy h boy, the power vacuum, 108 people who want to take his place

"Give me a chance, a single opportunity and I'll overcome these obstacles and scrutiny and-" HE WANTS TO SO BADLY he juST DOESNT KNOW HOW AND WHEre TO START BC AH, also the music sounds like he just tries to sneak around his palace, to not get caught by the suitors, dodging and on guard, i can just imagine him ducking his head and looking at every corner for smth danger-

"Boy".......that slapped hard, FUCK YOU ANTINOUS (hi perimedes :) )

"When's your tramp of a mother gonna choose a new husband?" FUCK YOU STAY AWAY (the dELIVERY)

"OoooOOoh" we have a new choir! the crew is ded but we have the suitors now hah, ill take it, love me some choir responses

"Why don't you open her room so we can have fun with her?" THE AUDACITY? WHORE FUCKING BASTARD STAY THE FUCK AWAY

"Dont you dare, call my mother a tramp" U GO BOY; TELL HIM (be careful, dont get hurt) THE VOCAL DELIVERY OF THAT LINE IS SO gOOD

"OoooOOoh" chiorr

" I just did, Whatchu gonna do about it, champ?" FUCK OFF ANTINOUS, DONT BE SO SMUG FUCK U

"Somebody tell me, Come and give me a sign, If I fight this monster, Is it you I'll find?" u desrve your dad so much, he'll come home, promise...promise....hold on, be stronk, u got this boy, also "this monster" its none from your stories, no this is real, its worse its right infront of you AH

Sorry for the swearing :") AH I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH, ONE OF MY FAVS FOR SURE (...we'll come back after recency bias but i dont think itll change)

EDIT: DANGER MOTIF WHEN ANTINOUNS JOINS IN!!!!! (are there more? im new to this PLS TELL ME)

@lorethebookworm

#epic the musical #epic the wisdom saga #legendary #We'rE BACK

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velvet-vox · 7 months ago

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My Top 10 Favourite Male Villains of all time.

"How arrogant of you to think that any of us are anything but irrelevant". -John Greer, Person of Interest (2011-2016).

There comes a moment in a blog's life where some things are just long overdue, and while the argument could be made that this happened way too early, I'd say that as long as this helps me to find my groove, I am free to experiment as much as I want.

So..... Villains.

Gotta love them. As long as I do not meet them in real life. This post is in particular about male villains since I have one dedicated to their female counterparts in the pipeline so expect that to come soon enough and for this part to be rewritten. By the way, "villain" is a generalisation, I can totally put antivillains, antagonists or more general antiheroes in this list; your definition of "Bad Guy" can vary greatly and so can mine, someone like Walter White from Breaking Bad could have made it in here. My taste is very unusual, so prepare yourself for some unexpected picks.

Also, since these are meant to be some big celebratory posts, for the occasion I'll reveal my Italian heritage and translate every line of dialogue in Italian and publish it separately with a link, so that English readers who are learning Italian can exercise.

Here's also a follow up to this post, the first part of my top 30 favourite female antagonists of all time. Check it out, if you are curious to see more.

The bad girls

But first, some honourable mentions:

Oropo (Wakfu): Once you see the number 2 spot for both this list and the female villains list you might notice that I tend to gravitate towards characters with wasted potential more often than not, but while we're just talking about this guy, I cannot stress enough the amount of unceremonious mishandling that lies within his concepts and execution. Really needed two seasons of 25 episodes each to explore it to their maximum.

Tai Lung (Kung Fu Panda): I love him, but not as much as others, it's a matter of personal preference. He's an amazing antagonist, so even if he is just an honourable mention, I wouldn't call him a lesser villain by any stretch of the imagination; I once felt like he was too sympathetic for his movie's sake, but looking back at it again, he's actually moderately evil for a lot of reasons, even if Shifu is the main one.

Bill Chyper (Gravity Falls): It's been way too long since I watched Gravity Falls, I really can't give you an accurate opinion on this guy anymore.

Flintheart Glomgold (DuckTales 2017): That season 2 episode. If you know what I'm talking about, you KNOW. Also the music for that whole sequence was a banger, really driving home the deranged nature of that twist reveal.

Big Jack Horner (Puss in Boots The Last Wish): I feel like when people praise Jack for being a breath of fresh air in a stale environment, they often forget just how good of a villain he was in his own right without the larger industry wide void of truly devious antagonists that act out of pure malice.

The Wolf (Puss in Boots The Last Wish): Two villain entries from one movie? Of course it was gonna be The Last Wish, what else could it be? Honestly I don't even wanna talk about this guy, you need to experience the movie for yourself.

Rob (The Amazing World of Gumball): Everything I have to say about this guy gets talked about much better by the number 6 Spot on this list, but as it stands Rob was my first villain OTP and the guy who opened the box of Pandora for me on what an antagonist could and should be, since then my perception of villainy only widened and now I enjoy their role in a story in much different way.

And now, with that out of the way, let's finally start with the ranking of my personal favourite male villains of all time.

Major spoilers down below:

Number 10: Silco (Arcane)

This guy is the reason that brought me to specify who or what counted for this list as trying to simplify Silco into one specific group of characters is a challenge that can only end in a misunderstanding of what makes Silco such a complex and fascinating character with an amazing character arc, that ends with him not being redeemed, mind you, but allows the audience to grieve in such a way that would make a side character death jealous.

When writing an antagonistic character, Silco is my goal and high standard, and just for that he deserves all of my respect and endless praise.

Now, admittedly, Silco's arc takes a while to kick in, but it works out to his advantage by the end of it since you don't realise just how much you've grown to care for him until he's dead and you're left with the surprise.

10 out 10, the nation of Zaun would have been much better (worse) with him than with Vander.

Number 9: The Riddler (DC)

The Riddler is literally my ride or die villain, when I'm in the mood for him, he's literally my favourite antagonist ever; when I am not in the mood for him, I completely forget about his existence.

When compared to many other entries on this list, Riddler is definitely more on the pop culture side of antagonism, and when you've been around for almost a century, you tend to have many different versions of the same character written by different writers, so I wanted to highlight here my favourite versions of him:

Arkham Games: He's hilarious. He's not my ideal Riddler, but whenever he comes on screen, his whiny rat's ass voice stimulates my pheromones.

Batman The Animated Series: I've heard somewhere that this version of him is disappointing, and to that I'll say... yeah, but only when he wasn't on screen, because otherwise, he kind of slayed.

Matt Reeves The Batman: This is the version that rekindled my love for him after so long. Out of every interpretation of The Riddler throughout the years, this is the one version that treated Edward more as a character rather than an obstacle for Batman to overcome, and for that I'll be eternally grateful.

LEGO Batman The Videogame: My very first introduction to The Riddler and the Batman universe as a whole, this version has a permanent place in my heart , I love how much information and emotion you can get out of him by just looking at his mannerisms and quirks alone; unironically, being silent helps him reach that quote on quote idealised version of Riddler that I was talking about earlier.

Number 8: The Snatcher (A Hat In Time)

There are many things that can carry on a villain in a story, their evolution, stage presence, complexity, thematic contrast to their counterpart, and so on and so forth. While an antagonist can check off many of these boxes simultaneously (like the one pictured), there's one box that is almost impossible to truly nail perfectly: comedy.

You see, comedy is subjective, and when your main antagonist is also the funniest part of a given story, it becomes hard to also match a sense of gravity and menace that allows them to also be an imposing threat, even harder is to give said antagonist depth and a tragic backstory.

But somehow, out of nowhere, The Snatcher from A Hat In Time manages to simultaneously be the funniest character in his section of the game, carrie said energy throughout the whole experience even down to the DLC, simultaneously strikes the balance between being scary, wholesome, sympathetic and tragic, exude an insane amount of charisma, all while having a deeply disturbing backstory that touches on some heavy themes and re contextualises his actions into something more complicated and out of a broken man, everything I just said + he's the biggest bastard in his videogame and never repents nor does he have his actions called out.

Snatcher really has all the right cards that make a stationary character work and uses them to his maximum potential, and it works because his character arc throughout the game is more about becoming affectionate to Hat Kid than it is about redeeming himself.

Lastly, his voice actor, Luke Sizemore, aka Yungtown, really sells the performance of this devious soul eating worm and burns his catchphrases into your brain for the rest of eternity, much like his boss theme,

Your Contract Has Expired

A song that switches around being scary, epic, energetic and desperate in a short, yet perfectly paced amount of time. You need to listen to it regardless of if you've played the game or not.

Fool.

Number 7: Judge Claude Frollo (Hunchback of Notre Dame)

You can never say no to a classic.

There's nothing that I could say that hasn't already been said by thousands of videos on YouTube, but I'll try anyway: you see, Frollo is the reason why we need a new term to identify certain villains that aren't "sympathetic" but still make you feel some sort of human emotion and a form of "I wish someone could give you the care you need to fix your life", I guess the term empathetic exists, but when do you really see it used?

Now, don't get me wrong, Frollo is absolutely not sympathetic in the slightest, he wants to r##e a Romani woman that's way younger than him, but you can still feel that he's very troubled about it in the Hellfire scene and has definitely a lot of unidentified issues and internalised bigotry that could be worked through, even if it's too late to work through them right now.

In general, I feel like people forget that the main reason why past Disney villains worked had to do more with their human traits juxtaposed to their malice rather than just their plain wickedness, otherwise the Horned King from the Black Cauldron would be top of the Disney villains league and that couldn't be further from the truth.

We should really strive towards writing more villains like Frollo, less omnipotent beings that end up falling flat because they don't have much thematic relevance aside from being a threat (Bill Chyper works because he represents Ego and he's used sparingly) and more average vicious individuals who use their power and influence to get what they want.

All in all, if you've seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame, then you know why this guy is here, but just to cite a couple of repeated points, the Hellfire scene is perfect. It's immaculate. It's unreproducible; there will never be another scene like this coming out of the House of Mouse or animation ever again, the excessive amount of stars and elements that came together to create this gothic classic is so vast that it's literally a miracle.

Frollo is truly the personification of the dark, twisted side of humanity peaking through the door and into your mind, from which he shall never escape as his performance still remains perfect to this very day.

Number 6: The Spot (Spider-man across the Spiderverse)

"You've hit me with a bagel!" It's still the greatest villain origin story of all time. There's truly something maniacal about this reveal, like the entire universe was shattered and reality was shocked at the mere realization that while Miles was having his coming of age moment back in the first film, this guy was having his normal life completely and utterly shattered by a combination of both our heroes stepping up to do the right thing and our doofus lack of foresight and self reflection; all of this stuff is hilarious and completely made up for the film but good god they did such an amazing job tying all the elements together in an unexpected way that makes sense and parallels the journey that our protagonist faced in the first movie.

Like with Rob from The Amazing World of Gumball, and a little bit like number 2 on this list, I just really enjoy the concept of turning background characters who had no relevance whatsoever into the big bad of the story who's been there all along and the heroes (and the audience) just couldn't notice.

With The Spot in particular, there's that sense of satisfaction of turning the wasted potential of a villain who has been underestimated for literal decades and treated as a "villain of the week" (God do I love the meta narrative of this movie) into an actual competent, well written antagonist that is aware of his reputation and strives towards bettering himself and his powers.

He's also the funniest character of his movie too and the voice acting of Jason Schwartzman only accentuates his mannerisms and pettyness.

He also has the coolest usage of portals I have ever seen and his whole "There's a hole inside all of us" metaphor is simultaneously hilarious and very deep personal information that can only be understood if you put yourself into his shoes.

I can't wait for Beyond the Spiderverse to come out and see how his arc resolves, more importantly, I wonder if he's going to rank higher in the future.

Number 5: Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda)

"Happiness must be taken. And I'll take mine"

.....

What a character.

What a movie.

You cause so much pain and suffering, because you don't understand the people around you, and then those people banish you, and you can't understand why, so you start to believe that they hated you.

They never loved you, so you keep causing pain and suffering but it's not that easy anymore; the guilt starts to resurface, all those bodies keep piling up, but you can't stop because then it would have all been for nothing; so you keep chasing those dreams of grandeur because that's all you have left; the emptiness in your heart can no longer be filled by love, so you try to fill it with something else.

You try to fill it with power. You try to fill it with glory. You try to take everything else for yourself so that you can fill that cup, but it doesn't work, because that cup has no bottom.

And so you're left... with yourself.

And the damage you've done. But now it's different; you've failed. You are left with nothing. Nothing.

And so you outrage, for the last time... And then it all ends. Forever. And you've finally come to accept this, after all....... Who could ever love you?

Number 4: Spamton G Spamton (Deltarune)

You know, in retrospect, it's kind of insane what Toby Fox managed to achieve when creating Spamton.

Not only because Spamton feels like the most insane combination of ideas ever conceived, but also because Toby Fox created such a complex character with such a complicated language and personality and then not only shafted it all aside for the players to go out of their way to interact, but also made all of this in what are officially 2 or 3 cutscenes at most (4 if you consider his shop encounter as one) and only one of them being truly mandatory.

You spend so little time with Spamton, and most of that time is spent fighting him, and yet by the end of it you've become enlightened by the knowledge of him, that after a while... you forget how scary it all was.

All the memes comparing Spamton with Turbo are 100% correct and justified, Spamton truly is Turbo but better; you go through an insane rollercoaster of emotions with this character that you are left absolutely dumbfounded when it all comes to a stop and you go back to play the rest of chapter 2 normally.

His insane mannerisms and mood swings are pretty funny at first, but once you peel back the layers a bit they reveal a pretty realistic and sad portrayal of mental illness, mania and hysteria coupled with an unhealthy amount of social distancing, loneliness, and abandonment issues, that reinforce into your brain the idea of someone lacking proper healthcare and needing to be locked away from society for their (society) own good, simulating the vicious cycle that Spamton lives by: nobody wants to help him but he's still expected to act like a regular individual despite the amount of hardships he's facing and the lack of a support system keeping him from falling back into his bad habits.

I'll admit, I've considered putting Spamton in place of the Number 3 spot on this list; but then I've realised that on an objective level, the next entry totally deserves to be ranked above Spamton; plus, with at least 5 more chapters of Deltarune on our way, whose to say that one of the next gremlins won't be able to dethrone even the number 1 spot?

Drumroll for our top 3:

Nox, the Watchmaker (Wakfu)

There will never be another experience in my life as cathartic as watching the first season of Wakfu for the first time ever again.

On a later rewatch, the initial problems that you've noticed throughout the first half of the season and a little bit in the second half become too apparent to ignore, but the first time everything that goes from the ball tournament to the finale is one of the best paced arcs of television, and everything that happens when the team reaches the Sadida kingdom is just peak Wakfu.

And the king, the culprit, the crown jewel of properly paced stories and arcs is no other than the sad clockwork dilf himself: Noximilliem Coxen the Watchmaker.

Arguably, the greatest sympathetic villain of all time. There has never been another case of a character who has committed such vile, unspeakable crimes, and yet still managed to make me root for them while simultaneously not putting down the heroes.

And let's not be mistaken here, Nox is pretty evil:

Aside from the generic murder, Nox also defiled and stitched together the corpses of multiple victims and turned them into his obedient puppets in order to commit even more murder and genocide in order to achieve his goals.

Also, this is one of the funniest crimes Nox has committed: he abused his dog. It's really not that hilarious nor is it that important in the context of the show, but if you look back at it from an outside perspective then it's really like: Oh yeah. That happened too. Lol.

One of the best parts of his entire arc is his defeat. The "20 minutes" scene deserves a "One Villainous Scene" coverage video to forever immortalise it amongst the greatest. Everything from the music, the subversiveness, the cinematography, the voice acting and just the general art direction of it is worthy of an Eminem award at the Oscars, there's genuinely nothing wrong with this scene, it's truly immaculate.

Words alone cannot do justice to the treacherous, gut wrenching emotional rollercoaster that is experiencing his story for the first time. An hour long video essay would only serve to cover the basics and fundamentals, while for the real deal you need to watch the first season of Wakfu for yourself.

Number 2:

Bradford Buzzard (DuckTales 2017)

And now it's the perfect time to pull out my final wild card, the hole of the sink of my autism, the masterpiece of wasted potential that is Bradford Buzzard from the DuckTales remake of 2017.

When you'll also see the number 2 spot on my villainesses list, you'll come to realise that this spot is more of the "I really wish I could put this at number one but I can't because objectively he doesn't deserve it and the majority of things I love about him in canon were probably an afterthought and in fanon were never plausible to begin with."

And that's how I feel about Bradford Buzzard, an antagonist I spent more time thinking about than probably anybody else on the Earth.

The show runners were so genius for this: we are going to create an original character that will probably struggle to maintain a foot print on the franchise due to the way the Duck verse works, we'll give him an insanely cool backstory and motivation, all coupled with interesting character traits and ideology, we'll make him the ultimate foil to Scrooge McDuck that has been working with him for literal decades, we'll make him the one who has got the closest to isolating Scrooge and destroying his family, and THEN we'll turn him into a generic anime villain that shoots lasers and fumbles his own plan and loses because of insane plot armour and contrivance. Good job writers.

Anyway, I should probably make the case for why this guy ranks so highly in my mind to the point of almost taking the podium for my most liked villain of all time, especially when compared to the stiff competition that we just went through.

Now, part of it is just because this is a personal top 10 and so I can put whoever I want in whatever order I want. But also, with Bradford in particular, there's a personal aspect of relatability, various interests, and passions all coming together to make him stand out in my brain.

The thing is, I've had a pretty strong connection to Disney's Duck's comic books my entire life, even if my love for them came dwindling over time, so when I finally started watching the Reboot and it was amazing, all of that buried passion and love finally re emerged back to the surface, turning me into an annoying super fan. But while season 1 and 2 were great, season 3 actually gave me something to latch on for the rest of time even after the show had ended: the character of Bradford Buzzard.

You see, DuckTales, both in the shows and comics, always had a plethora of villains; from the crazy, megalomaniacal millionaires, to witches, demons, and other mythological creatures, to power hungry aliens, to straight up super-villains. But while all of that is true, there has never been another villain, aside from Magica, Glomgold and Rockerduck at traits, that was built specifically as the anti Scrooge McDuck, and even further, there has never been another antagonist who challenged the very core ideas and concepts of the entire franchise.

Bradford is like the Frank Grimes of DuckTales: just a regular, average, real world guy who's fed up with the nonsensical constant state at which their fictional universe operates and seeks to correct it in the most logical way possible. And while Frank was ultimately a victim of a world in which he couldn't conform, Bradford's outrageous and extreme plans and methods put him on everybody's hit list until he was left all alone, but not before indirectly causing every major disaster throughout the reboot's runtime.

A cold, calculating, machiavellian mastermind whose impact and presence secretly permeates the show, right till the very end.

Shame he wasn't written better.

And now, for the one and only,

Number 1:

Qilby (Wakfu)

Qilby is the biggest example of an anomaly that you could ever observe in a work of fiction. The first time experiencing a story is the most important and impactful moment of that story, as every future rewatch won't be as good as the first. In particular, this is an important aspect of twist villains, as they can only surprise you the first time, since at future rewatches the twist becomes predictable.

Furthermore, if the twist ends up ruining the character that was established up to this point, or it doesn't make any sense, then the story is kind of ruined and it only gets worse on future rewatches, since now you know that everything that you are seeing right now is ultimately worthless and doesn't provide any value.

So why do we love twist villains and keep churning them out? Well, you see, it's a matter of execution. A bad guy introduced in an unconventional manner is much more memorable than one introduced in a straightforward way; the twist can also serve to showcase different aspects of the character before becoming an obvious obstacle, be it quirks, interests, personality in casual settings, or cunning.

Let's not beat around the bush.

If Nox is the single greatest sympathetic villain of all time, then Qilby is by far the greatest twist villain of all time, and the crazy thing is, that he surprises you two times in a row, at first by revealing himself as more evil than you could ever imagine, and then, by outing himself as more complex than you could have ever anticipated.

Let me paint you the picture: you just finished the first season of Wakfu, and you are still pretty fresh of the hype surrounding Nox, so you think to yourself "Oh, now every future antagonist is ruined because nothing could ever top the emotional gut punch that I just went through. Whatever, I'm going to stick around just to see if the story gets worse" and you start the second season.

So far, everything is normal, even better of the first season in terms of engagement value, but you can't help but feel the lack of a Nox like figure inside of the story, but at this point, you just accept it.

Then the final six episodes roll around and OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING, HAS THE WHOLE SHOW JUST GONE INSANE?

Somehow, in some mystical, french, magical way, the season 2 finale is arguably even better than the ending of season 1 despite the fight having less buildup and introducing a lot of brand new characters and an entirely irrelevant faction into his conflict.

The entirety of the scene in Emrumb is some of the best writing I have ever experienced in any work of fiction, and the music accompanying it only accentuates the repressed dopamine being released after various episodes of filler, all of them important for this moment to be as impactful as it is.

Qilby is also just a great, tragic character, that is simultaneously an unforgivable bastard that tried to kill his family and doomed his entire race for a family trip, and a sad, nihilistic man still trying to reconcile his love for his family and his need for knowledge and discovery; his curse never truly allows him to move on or relate to others but his ego and need for his forgetful brothers attention just pushes him even further into resentment, ending up damaging himself and those around him, until he's finally isolated again by the vary people he harmed and showed his love towards.

He's as good as the evil secret sibling trope can get and I never get tired of watching him on screen. His reveal scene to Adamai still gives me the chills to this very day and demonstrated me just how good the surprise villain concept can get when it's executed correctly.

Just an all around great show.

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