#our lovable little human fucker

[barn-anon]

His human pulls him into his quarters. If it were any other human he would be furious, insulted, probably doled out some form of punishment for even daring to hold such an item in his presence. Yet it is his human that's holding it and it makes all the difference.

He croons to her at the click of metal, a firm tug and he moves closer. His eyes stay on her, devoted and reverent, obeying the tug as she pulls the leash. Let him please her, he knows her best. No man or astartes can compare to him when it comes to her.

The leash falls from her hand but he's still, every fiber in his being wanting to simply pounce and take the reins instead. The want evaporates the moment her soft dainty unscarred hands touch his cheek. She pulls him down for a sweet kiss, he whines when it ends. Biting back whimpers when she laughs at him.

Soft mattress, smooth fabric and plush pillows. She gets him on his bed. He can't do anything but lie down. Be a good boy. Letting her take her time undoing his clothes and pulling it all off. Good boy, just lie there and let me do the work.

He shivers and tries to touch his human, wanting to do the same for her only for her to slap his hand away. Naughty, what did I just say?

Grey eyes drink in the sight of her in the dark room, illuminated only by the streetlights that filter in through the blinds. It isn't the first time she had seen him nude, but it's the first time she's taken charge.

And he loves it.

Finger tips gently trace along his cock, he shifts, only for her to lean over him and push him back down onto the bed. Apologetic coos get cut short by needy whines as she wraps her hand around his cock. Oh she can't even wrap around it completely.

Her hand feels so soft, nothing like his own rough calloused and scarred hands. You're truly more than a handful in everyway aren't you? He nods, not really registering her words as each stroke scrambles his mind even more.

Wet warmth envelops him and he groans, petite hands push his thighs in a gentle reminder. He can only reach down to grip her ponytail. More please, I'm so good to you. Only to growl to himself in frustration when she doesn't understand his words, she moves up and straddles his waist. Huh? W-when did she strip?

Instinctively moving to grip her thighs, soft warm and yielding. So different, so fragile, so his. His hearts racing as she reaches down to align his cock, sinking down with a whimper of her own.

Ripping his hands from her thighs to grip the sheets instead as his cock is surrounded by a different type of heat. He can't help himself, bucking up and pushing himself deeper into his human's tight heat. She gasps as her hand braces on his abdomen, nails digging into his flesh. Vaguely noticing that she had them painted today.

His human shudders and he watches with some worry, cooing softly to her. Did he push too much too fast? Sitting up he kisses her, purring when she loops her arms around his neck. She starts moving, he nuzzles against her neck, pressing kisses to that area where he can feel her pulse race, rolling his hips to match her pace.

Slower than what he likes but all the more arousing because she's on top. Kisses are pressed along his jaw and throat, her soft whimpers and moans fill the air. He can't help it anymore, gripping her waist as he thrusts into her hard, faster than her original pace. Soft whispered apologies in gothic and broken English into her ear as he clutches her to him, so deliciously hot and tight.

He purrs when she tenses and trembles, clenching around him. So perfect and beautiful, made only prettier with his own release within her.

Tagged: @kit-williams • @egrets-not-regrets • @bleedingichorhearts

Tried to stay on topic but Oop

[astaroth1357]

The MC Accidentally Kisses the Brothers

Due to incredibly popular demand (and because it’s a cute prompt).

Lucifer

It was just a childish prank, but pretty much all of Satan’s pranks were childish at their core (even the more homicidal ones).

This one wasn’t even that bad in the grand scheme of things. The angry boi was just trying to see if he could get Lucifer to fall down the stairs...

...admittedly, saying it out loud makes it sound much more cruel than intended. But this is Lucifer we’re talking about. A tumble down a flight or two wouldn’t leave him too injured… Unfortunately for Satan, he wasn’t the only one who took a tumbling.

The plan was pretty simple, put an enchantment on the stairs to the Conference Hall, lay in wait, and trigger it right as Lucifer was leaving a meeting. He’s always the last to go, so it should have been foolproof.

But the MC hung back to leave with Lucifer that day and just so happened to jump forward right as Satan was timing his step… getting themselves thrown down along with him.

Fortunately for them both, the firstborn’s reflexes were astounding. He was already holding the MC in his demon form and cushioning their fall before they could even hit the first stair. And it was quite a long way down…

By the time they hit the bottom, Lucifer had them fully wrapped up in his wings and Satan couldn’t what had happened until they unfolded… whereupon he saw the MC laying on top of Lucifer with their lips far FAR too close together for his liking…

Yeah, that backfired pretty hard and Satan was left fuming over it for days… Not that Lucifer minded in the slightest.

Mammon

Sometimes when Mammon does his photoshoots he brings the MC along as one part cheerleader, one part pit crew. It’ll be their job to hold onto his stuff, make sure he has enough to drink, and generally stand there and be impressed by his awesomeness until they leave.

Well that day things had been going well… until a particularly nosy worker started hovering around the MC too much for Mammon’s liking.

He tried to put it past him, since he had a shoot to do and all, but he snapped about halfway through when the guy kept trying to force a conversation with the very not interested MC.

Oh, he was ready to tell him off. He made the photographer stop mid-shoot just so he could march over there himself and give that asshole a piece of his mind! He was going to absolutely tear him to shreds and then-!!

Okay, that didn’t exactly happen because right as he got up to the MC, ready to start shouting, our lovable moron tripped… again…

But unlike the first time, where he more or less face-planted the floor, this time he smacked lips first into a surprised MC in front of the jerk he was trying to scare off.

… Yeah. He meant to do that.

And that’s exactly how he played it off, keeping his lips right where they were and flipping the other guy off so he���d leave them alone (which, thankfully, he did).

Totally what he intended to do and he'll swear so to this day.

Leviathan

… how in the world do you mess up the Kabedon?

Levi had seen the move done hundreds of times before in anime. It’s a very simple concept: put someone up against a wall, put one of your hands by their head, and just lean. That’s it. Not rocket science.

Levi had been mentally preparing himself for this moment for days… He may or may not have even practiced this (very simple) move in his room countless times. He genuinely thought he was ready to try it on the MC.

So, on one of those rare days he went to RAD, he gave it a shot. He waited until he and the MC were walking alone together, got them up against the wall, annnnd…

...rather than touching the wall next to them, his hand completely missed any sort of hard surface because in his panic he stopped them right next to a blind corner…

Naturally, his body fell forward some but since there wasn’t that much space between them by that point he uh… he… well he now knows their preferred Chapstick.

No matter what the MC’s reaction ultimately was, he leapt away from them like he just licked an electric fence and bolted.

His embarrassment genuinely cannot be overstated... He practically broke a window in his attempt to get the hell out of there and back to his room, where he didn’t leave for three days straight… Poor Levi...

Satan

It started out as easily one of the best days of his life. 

The MC, the exchange students, and the Royal Court had all decided to surprise him on his birthday with a Devildom-style cat cafe… Kitties were on practically every surface around him! 

Admittedly, Satan had been pretty distracted throughout most of his time there. There were just so many kitties for him to see that he sort of forgot about the MC in the process…

So in order to get his attention a little, the MC thought it would be cute to pick up one of the furry bundles and hold it in front of their face, doing that little thing where you pretended to “talk” for the cat and even waved one of its little paws at him.

They hadn’t predicted that Satan would find the display utterly, heart-meltingly adorable...

He attempted to plant a kiss on top of the furry critter’s head at the exact time that the MC brought the cat down their face entirely.

It took Satan a second or two to register that his lips were not, in fact, on a cat. And when he pulled back to see the MC’s shocked expression, the full gravity of his actions smacked him in the face like a falling log…

Cue a flustered rush to apologize while the MC hid their face back behind the confused kitty… Getting an accidental kiss in front of the prince of Hell and literal angels was pretty dang embarrassing...

At least the incident was taken in good spirits by most of the people in attendance (minus Luke, who was desperately trying to give MC his bottle of holy water like it was pepper spray by that point). 

Though after that point, Satan noticed that his “guests” kept passive-aggressively giving him cats until he was literally so buried in fluff he could barely move… probably not related, though. Probably.

Asmodeus 

It was another party night with Asmo and the MC at the Fall having a good time.

Now, Asmo was no stranger to Demonus and other assorted demonic beverages. You could say his tolerance is decent enough, but get a few too many in him and he does start to get a little off…

And a drunk Asmo is a very troublesome Asmo. 

The MC, bless their heart, was pretty much playing the sober babysitter to their demon friend when Asmo decided that he HAD to leave the club and get cupcakes right then. Being the good person they were, MC agreed to go with him, as long as he promised to stay with them and not wander off…

But they somehow managed to lose him within three blocks from the club. All they did was check their phone for directions and the guy bailed!!

Little did the MC know, while they were frantically searching for him Asmo hadn’t run away completely… He had just decided it was a great idea to play hide-and-seek at 2am and hid behind a nearby building.

It was his drunken giggling that eventually gave away his position, but he jumped out from behind the corner right as the MC was rounding it. Naturally, they both to collided. If hugging hadn’t been an instinctual action to Asmo by they point, they would have fallen down…

All they did ended up doing instead was getting caught in lip-lock due to Asmo’s sudden vice-grip.

Apparently he laughed and laughed all the way back to the House but his memory of it is pretty hazy… He’ll just have to get the MC to reenact it with him a few dozen times, that ought to jog his memory!

Beelzebub 

The MC was helping Beel out with his workout yet again and things had been going well.

Since Beel is pretty much a one-man army, his weights and routine are usually waaay too advanced for any human to be able to handle. So the MC is less his spotter and more a casual supporter/motivator than anything else.

And motivation was just what they were trying to provide with a fun little experiment of theirs… 

Ever heard of the “carrot-on-the-stick”? Well they decided to try something like that… literally. Just replace the carrot with a roast ham!

They put ham on a fishing pole, set Beel up on a treadmill, and dangled it closer or farther away based on his speed. In theory, it wasn’t the worst idea in the world... but in practice…? 

Well. Someone should have told them not to stand in front of him during this little trial...

Their motivation experiment did work for a few minutes… But soon enough Beel’s stomach got the better of his (marginal) self-control. They just weren’t expecting him to leap over the top of the treadmill...!

The smart thing to do would have been to drop the fishing pole or to just keep it still so Beel could grab the meat, but the MC reflexively drew the pole back behind them… thus putting them right in Beel’s path instead.

And that’s how they ended up caged under lord knows how many pounds of Beelzebub, thankfully kissing their lips rather than trying to chew them off…

Needless to say, Beel climbed off of them, red as a cherry, and the MC let him have that ham before the two agreed to never try this again. Whoopsie!

Belphegor 

Belphie likes sleep. 

Belphie likes cuddles. 

Belphie likes cuddling in his sleep.

Really this was bound to happen eventually…

The MC and Belphie were having a nice nap together in the attic and there wasn’t anything nefarious about it. Just two people snuggled up together in the same bed.

...snuggled up very close together in the same bed.

So close, in fact, that when the MC finally woke up and rolled over some to reposition themselves, they felt the soft lips of their companion brush up against their own.

They, of course, had the appropriate reaction of shock and embarrassment to this… but this cheeky fucker just smirked at them and let one eye slip open.

“What…? Is that it? It’ll take more than that to wake me up…”

Never mind the fact he was awake the whole time...

He really should have expected that pillow to the head, but after they struck the first blow, it was on now.

Don't worry. As it would turn out, an impromptu pillow fight also wakes him up just fine. Who'd have guessed?

[everythingharrypotterblog]

charmed [7]: ‘night changes’ (remus lupin x reader)

a/n: i got rejected from my top choice university program today so if im gonna be unhappy, might as well make u guys happy and release parts 5 and 7

brief summary: y/n and remus are both teachers at hogwarts and this is his first transformation where he is under wolfsbane. y/n remains in human form as he transforms. werewolf or not, all y/n ever feels is him.

series summary: set in the prisoner of azkaban, including its major plot points. remus and y/n get hired by dumbledore last minute to teach at hogwarts, defense against the dark arts and charms respectively. not wanting the students to know they are married, they navigate the challenging year through hidden glances, hand holds underneath the table and loving moments in their offices. even with all their efforts to conceal their relationship, their chemistry does not go unnoticed by the student population of hogwarts, who grow fond of the pair as they offer them some of the best classes they’ve had in a while. their relationship as newlyweds is strengthened as teaching the next generation of wizards unlocks a sea of memories of their love story. for the second time in his life, remus holds hogwarts responsible for some of his happiest memories. he’s given the chance to create them with the love of his life, y/n, who has taught and continues to teach him that every part of him is lovable, remaining forever under her charm.

series masterlist here

join taglist here

7.

previously, in part 1:

“No, you don’t understand, it’s incredibly, extremely dangerous for a human to be around a were-“ Remus had tried to say, before Y/N had stood up and with a crack, disappeared. A single white dove hovered where she had stood, its wings flapping slowly to stay afloat.

“Y/N?”

With a crack, Y/N had appeared again.

“I didn’t know you were an Animagus.”

Y/N grinned. 

“What, you thought James, Sirius and Peter were the only ones to ever succeed at it?”

Remus still grimaced, shaking his head and looking down.

“It’s still too dangerous, I won’t risk it. I couldn’t possibly think of hurting you, I’m too dangerous-“

“Remus, stop it. You didn’t hurt Peter as a rat back in the day, you wouldn’t hurt a flinging bird either. Plus, I got a serious height advantage on you anyway.” Y/N raised her eyebrows at him teasingly, transforming back again into the dove and flying up to the ceiling. Lupin wasn’t convinced.

“Y/N, you shouldn’t-“

The dove reappeared as Y/N and kneeled between Lupin’s legs, taking his face into her hands carefully. 

“Please? Let me be there for you. Let me try-“

“I-“ Remus winced in his crippling self-doubt.

“I promise, if I ever feel unsafe, I’ll fly away. I promise.”

Remus nodded. “I love you.”

Y/N was taken aback, but surged forward to press her lips against his.

“I love you too.”

It was the first time they had said that to each other.

+

The first full moon of the Hogwarts term was now but a day away. As it drew nearer, Remus got paler and grew more irritable, as it always was. 

The students never noticed, as he remained their kind Professor Lupin to them. Remus valued the staff and Dumbledore in extremely high regard, so he mainly kept to himself to avoid conflict.

However, his short temper was not 100% appeasable. 

He was presently in his office, leg anxiously bouncing. He couldn’t help but jitter as restless energy coursed through him. The door opened, and he  jerked his head in its direction, to see Y/N walk in, slightly anxious as well.

“Hi, love.” She said, making her way to him.

“He’s late.” Remus muttered.

“It’s Albus Dumbledore, what do you expect- maybe he had a Wizarding War in Luxembourg to stop before this or something.” Y/N joked, dragging a chair beside her and taking Remus’ hand.

His leg stopped bouncing. 

+

1980.

Remus sat in an armchair in the House of Black’s library, attempting to distract himself before the night would come, a transformation night.

Loud voices reverberated across the walls, and he usually wouldn’t have minded, but the full moon made him more irritable.

“Will you guys stop yelling!” He called out across the hallway to the room where James, Sirius and a couple other Order members were talking over each other.

Sirius shared a look with James and they shrugged, making a motion with their hand asking the others to lower their voices.

“Hi, guys!” In came Y/N’s voice, as she walked through the door after a day of work, setting down her jacket. She joined the table for a few snacks, before inquiring, “Where’s Remus?”

“Ah, in the library.” James said mindlessly, shuffling the pack of cards they were playing with. He spotted Y/N head for that direction, and attempted to add, “But I wouldn’t disturb him if I were-“

But Y/N already walked in the library, wanting to see her boyfriend. She found him buried in a book, sitting slightly uncomfortably in his clothes, as if his body was having pre-transformation aches.

“Hi, love.” She said gently.

Remus peered up from his book and instantly smiled, uncrossing his legs and patting at his lap. Y/N took a seat on him, and he wrapped his arms around her comfortably.

“How was work?” He grumbled, mouth kissing up her arm and shoulder.

“Oh, just the usual.”

He listened to her talk about her day, hugging her as she sat in his lap.

James heard faint sounds of their light voices from the other room, and laughed. Sirius shook his head, both of them amused by their friend’s drastic change in demeanor.

“Little fucker.”

+

Dumbledore appeared in Remus’ office not long after Y/N joined, with a goblet of familiar-looking blue smoke.

“Remus, Y/N. I took the liberty of bringing you your last dose myself, Severus has already done so much. So, you wanted to talk about the logistics of your upcoming transformation.”

Remus nodded, leaning forward and taking the potion.

“This is your first time with Wolfsbane, so we cannot be sure on how it will affect you. However, I trust that it has been brewed properly, so it should do its function, which is to maintain your mental state when you transform.”

“So technically, he could just stay and hide here in his office and wait for the night to be over?” Y/N asked Dumbledore, thumb rubbing over Remus’ hand.

“Yes. If the potion has been brewed correctly, which I am sure it has, Remus should transform into nothing but a harmless wolf. Of course, because this is your first time, if you still wish to go outside and-“

“Yes.” Remus interjected, once he finished the last of the potion. “I wish to still use the Whomping Willow, just to avoid all potential risk.”

“Very well.” Dumbledore smiled, bowing his head. “I have complete trust in you, so you do as you please.”

“And I should… I won’t forget who I am, I won’t lose my mind?” Remus asked.

“No.” Dumbledore confirmed. “Your mental state will stay intact.”

“Then, I can technically be in human form with him.” Y/N gasped as the idea jumped into her head. She was immediately met with startled looks from both Dumbledore and Remus, Dumbledore merely intrigued and Remus looking downright terrified. “I mean, I could be with him. Me, a human.” She added hastily.

Glancing at Remus’ fervently opposed look, Dumbledore merely stood up.

“I will leave that between you two to discuss. Goodnight, and good luck.” He said. “Oh! And one more thing.”

His eyes twinkled. “I hear talk amongst the students since the start of term. About you two.”

Remus and Y/N looked at each other nervously.

“Something about spotting their Charms and Defence teachers always being present in each other’s offices…”

Y/N mouth dropped in shock, trying to figure out how students could even know where they spent their nights, before Dumbledore laughed heartily, shaking his head.

“I kid, I kid, I have heard nothing of the sort. All that has reached my ears are the raving comments about your classes and subjects. Keep up the good work, Professors.” Dumbledore chuckled, and vanished into the fireplace.

Y/N stared dumbfounded at the spot he disappeared, before letting out a laugh.

“I-“ She blinked. “He is so weird, and can you believe, I almost let slip that I’m an Animagus-“

She stopped once she looked at her husband, whose expression was grave.

“Wha-“

“You cannot stay in human form with me.” He shook his head.

Y/N stayed silent for a second. “Why not? If this potion works, and we know it will, your-“

“We can’t be too sure!” Remus sighed. “Werewolves, we hunt for humans. We look for victims to bite, to… to-“

“If the potion doesn’t work, then I’ll just transform into a dove, like always.”

Remus met her eyes in a worried gaze.

“I’ve been a bird countless of times on your transformations, you’re still gonna let me do that, are you?” Y/N raised her eyebrows. “You even said, werewolves look for humans, animal companions are harmless-“

“Which is exactly why you can’t be in human form, darling! The extreme danger that would put you in, you have no idea.”

“I have no idea?” Y/N pursed her lips, instinctively reaching out to her bicep, on which lay a tiny white scar.

Remus glanced at it too, with almost hatred and remorse in his eyes, as he sighed, hand tracing over it and kissing it.

+

“Maybe you should transform right now, my love.” Remus said anxiously as he, Y/N, James, Sirius and Peter walked through an abandoned part of the woods.

The sky was dark, and the clouds radiated a faint shimmer indicating the full moon would appear soon.

“I won’t transform until I absolutely need to.” Y/N said firmly, hand holding onto Remus’ tightly.

“She’ll follow our lead, Moony, don’t worry.” Sirius said.

Unintentionally, they stopped at a small hill, deeming the timing to be right.

“Y/N, it’s not too late, you could just Disapparate away, I-“ Remus said to Y/N.

“Remus. Stop. I’m not scared.” Y/N smiled at him, cupping his cheek. “You’re still you. And I love you, all parts of you. Nothing will change that, or you and me.”

Remus nodded, breathing quickly and pulled her in for a kiss, before the other Marauders beckoned Y/N to back away slightly as the moon started to peak.

The night changed in an instant.

The opal orb shone in the sky and in the moonlight, Y/N watched as Remus’ tall silhouette trembled, his body morphing into a werewolf.

Y/N was in awe. His body lengthened. His shoulders were hunching. Hair sprouted visibly from his head and neck and his hands curled into clawed paws. Straightening up, he howled to the sky, the sound echoing into the rest of the night.

Y/N’s mind went blank. The Marauders had transformed as she kept her eye on Remus. For a second, the werewolf’s eyes met hers, but before she could do anything, he lunged for her.

Adrenaline shot through her body as the werewolf made a swipe towards her, a big black dog jumping in between them just in time for Remus’ sharp claw to slightly graze her shoulder before she transformed with a crack, into a dove and flew up, batting her wings.

+

“I’ll never be able to forgive myself for that.” Remus whispered painfully, finger tracing over the small permanent scratch near Y/N’s shoulder.

“But I’m fine.” Y/N pursed her lips, eyes looking into Remus’ face imploringly. “Because I knew that it wasn’t you. And after the night ended, you cared for me so tenderly and lovingly. Gently. Because that is the real you.”

+

Remus soaked a warm towel for the millionth time as he sat Y/N on the toilet next to the sink to tend the small scratch she had acquired from him.

“Rem, it’s okay, do you realize that I’ve broken literal bones before! This is nothing.” Y/N said, letting him clean the patch of skin before taking both of his hands in hers. He kneeled in between her legs.

“I could never forgive myself for this, I’m so sorry-“

“Please. In the best way possible, shut up.” Y/N smiled, eyes welling up at the unnecessary look of remorse plaguing Remus’ face. “That wasn’t you. And nothing that I saw or felt last night changes who you are to me now.”

“You don’t…see me as a monster? You don’t even feel a tiny bit scared being with me right now?” Remus teared up.

Y/N smiled, eyes crinkling and letting tears fall down her cheeks. “I just feel you.”

+

Y/N woke up from her nap the night of the full moon to find Remus’ side of the bed empty. Eventually, she had gotten Remus to agree to let her accompany him as she always did, but in human form this time.

Getting up, she spotted Remus already at the door. She crossed her arms.

“Are you running away?” Y/N frowned, her husband jumping at getting caught.

“No, I-I figured I’d head out earlier.”

Y/N walked towards him, squeezing his shoulders.

“We talked about this. It’ll be okay.” Y/N reassured him. She saw the fear still in his eyes but he nodded, blinking some away and reaching to get Y/N’s coat for her.

They walked in the chilly night air, making their way to the Forest. Although this felt completely new, they had never done this at Hogwarts and they were expecting new results tonight, there was also a sense of déjà-vu present in the air.

Y/N had been helping Remus with every one of his transformations during their entire marriage and before, ever since she was 18. It’s been almost 13 years that they were in this together.

We're only gettin' older, baby

And I've been thinkin' about it lately

“Thank you for being here.” Remus said, squeezing her hand. “And I don’t just mean tonight.”

Y/N squeezed it back tightly, beaming at him. The moon was close to being fully out, and they stopped on a small hill overlooking Hagrid’s Hut where it would appear in full view.

Does it ever drive you crazy

Just how fast the night changes?

“Remember, if I make any sudden moves, you transform on the spot, okay?” Remus looked down at her, eyes full of conviction. Y/N nodded.

They both stood there, waiting, anticipation through the roof. They felt nauseous, from nervousness. The clouds began to fade, and more moonlight shined onto them. Slowly, they let go of each other’s hands and took a couple steps back from each other.

Everything that you've ever dreamed of

Disappearing when you wake up

The first beam of light hit Remus as the full moon emerged.

But there's nothing to be afraid of

Even when the night changes

His neck began elongating, thick hair growing from his head and covering his back. His shoulders hunched as he grew taller, breaking through the material of his clothes. 

It will never change, baby

Y/N watched from a short distance as Remus morphed into a towering creature. Her incantation was ready in her head, just in case she had to transform into the dove.

It will never change, baby

Slowly, the full-fledge werewolf straightened up from its hunched over position. His eyes met Y/N’s and her body tensed, remembering. Instead of lunging at her, he sat down, his human-like eyes expressing gentleness. Y/N took a tiny step towards him.

“Remus?” She said, voice trembling.

The werewolf nodded.

Taking steps closer, she shakily got down onto her knees to join him on the ground. She lifted a hand, tentatively, and inch by inch, approached it to cup his cheek. At the contact, they both breathed out in relief.

“I just feel you.” Y/N smiled, tears flowing from her eyes.

It will never change me and you.

to be continued

a/n: as always i’d love to hear what u thought or what ud like to see of the series:)

tags @bicyhot1  @pink-hufflepuff  @legitlaughingflamingo @brod16  @gerardonmyway  @blueleonor  @suranne-doesstuff  @rxmusblxck  @spxllcxstxr  @littleemo477  @just12randomfandoms  @svnkissdd  @norrreee  @m4r13l3y  @jess6578  @rorysreallyrandom  @the-nightingale-not-the-lark  @archeve19  @wolfstarslovechild  @pan-pride-12  @x4kai4x  @chrrybmb-mp3  @reggieluna  @happyslittlekitten  @missemilygilmore  @all-things-fictional @strangefirething  @abitofeverythinggg  @yeahshewayout  @imfreeeeeee123  @harold-pothead  @lunnybunny12  @ellieblack11  @tugabooos  @joyfulbiscuit  @justonemorechapter07 @wonderwoman292  @skateb0red  @secretsthathauntus  @siriusblackswhoree  @sabonbonn  @untraveled-road  @annabeljareau  @valiantobservationkitty @diffbeanofbrand  @theeicedamericano​  @spencerreidlove  @flannellover67  @wishiwasdeadric  @becks7401​  @katsav17  @emmy-kitty13  @purritoqueen  @girl22334  @monicafebyana​  @talsiaa​  @sierrax023​  @axva03  @uhh-dk  @nataliahgrace​  

[becomehaikyuu]

Haikyuu Chapter 30: A Way To Fly

REFLECTION:

What happened the last chapter wasn't a fluke. The other player has gotten used to Hinata's movements. It took one blocker from the other team to ground our little Superman. Hinata's response to this? "Kageyama...one more time."

Fuck yeah.

The match goes on and Tsukishima looks at Ukai. Ukai reads him and answers his look-question of "Why don't we switch him out?". Ukai points out that this is a practice game and a good opportunity for Hinata to overcome a significant flaw in his style. Now if it was official, he would have been gone like---

Stop. Stop.

I wanna talk about something first while my mutuals are forced to read this "review".

When I was younger, I saw a Simon Pegg comedy called "Run Fatboy Run". It was about a shithead who couldn't commit to anything which beautifully exemplified by him running away from his wedding, leaving his pregnant wife at the altar (What a lovable protagonist!). I'm not going to bore you with the rest of the synopsis or the summary or the boil scene but I will tell you about the climax of the marathon. Simon Pegg hits a wall. Not a real wall, mind you, an artsy-fartsy mental wall. The wall that runners apparently hit during a long one where their body tells them they won't go any further due to fear of permanent damage. Simon naturally smashes through that shit Superman style but something in that scene stuck with me well into my adult years for whatever reason. Not to go "There's a Secret Garden in all of us" but everyone who's able to read this should be able to tell by now that there is a wall for everything. A wall for cooking, a wall for writing, a wall for parenthood...there's a point where if you can't pass by here, you can't expect to get serious in the thing that you've chosen to take seriously. While you're all held hostage, let me show you a cutesy painting:

That beauty is called "That Which I Should Have Done, I Did Not Do (The Door)" by Ivan Albright. Weird ass looking door, right? Ain't no fucking way you're walking through that. Not even if you have to? Not even if going through that door, into that musty ass house, with that wreath out at March 23rd, would get you somewhere, or get you something that you've wanted all your life? Ivan intentionally made the door freaky as all hell because he wanted to show what important decisions are like: it's walking through a door that is foreboding as fuck knowing that a person could be waiting to stab you on the other side. Ukai could take Hinata out, and in an official match he would have, but this is a practice match and a perfect opportunity to put our little gremlin in front of that door: what will Hinata do if he's blocked? What will he do when his main advantage to the team is negated?

Well, from Ukai's point of view, it looks like Hinata's will is being sapped out of his body like a vampire broke up with him and got custody of the kids. The match continues, the "human wall" is breaking his spirit...oh wait, no it isn't...

The little Kanabo is smiling.

This crazy fucker has the gall to be actually excited during a sports match.

Hinata explains that yeah, he was afraid of being blocked before but now? It's thrilling. He asks Kageyama to serve to him again and Kageyama says "Fuck yeah dude, don't leave me waiting next time.". Guys, something fucked up happens. When Hinata is served the ball, he looks at the ball before he spikes it. Seeing that, Ukai tells Kageyama to give Hinata an Indirect Delivery. That...apparently does jack all because the game gets a time out with Nekoma at 10 and Karasuno at 5. Still, the team has their spirit back and the team manages a 15-12 later on. Ukai's grandpa (Grandaddy Ukai) had a saying: Humans have no wings so they search for a way to fly...we apparently see this with an out of bounds shot. Oi...we're in for a long match.

More art history hopefully down the road.

Chapter Rating: 11/10

[jargedcoffee]

Hello there. I’m happy to share that I decided to add another chapter to this fic. I realized I didn’t close off a few emotional loose ends, so I wanted to make a properly satisfying ending for this one.

I won’t be adding anymore, I promise.

Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Connor/Gavin Reed, Hank Anderson & Connor, Hank Anderson & Gavin Reed, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed, Background Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human) Characters: Gavin Reed, Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson, Tina Chen (Detroit: Become Human), North (Detroit: Become Human), Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Original Characters Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Angst, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Banter, Lots of Angst, no beta we die like men, Christmas, Canon-Typical Violence, dear god i haven't updated in a year, Amnesia, Okay I really warn you this gets extremely angsty, like chapter 2?? angst vomit Summary:

Connor gets hurt on a case with Gavin right before Christmas. Gavin has to deal with the consequences.

---------------

Excerpt:

On a week where Connor's staying at Gavin's house, they try out paintball at an arena somewhere in Detroit. Connor makes a big deal out of it, insisting they rent the entire arena for three games just between the two of them. When Gavin disagrees, Connor insists on paying for it himself.

They don their gear at the preparation rooms above. Connor sees a window looking down at the arena and surveys it, scanning the entire location to figure out a strategy. Gavin approaches and asks him what he's doing.

"I'm determining the optimal strategy in order to achieve victory," Connor tells him, cocking his gun and shooting it at the wall to test it.

"Okay. I think you're taking this a little too seriously."

"Absolutely not, detective. My mission is simple: achieve victory at all costs...within reason."

"Tin can, it's not about winning. It's called having fun. Ever tried that before?"

"There is no fun when firearms are involved! This competition must be given the respect it deserves," says Connor, aiming the gun straight at the floor, then directly at Gavin's helmet.

Gavin grabs the tip of the gun and lowers it to the side, saying, "Okay dipshit, maybe you need to hakuna your tatas for a moment? It's just paintball."

"You're simply afraid that your arms training is below my own capabilities."

"Whoah. Okay, fucker, is that a challenge? Because all I heard was, 'bla bla bla I'm gonna lose to my dear handsome, lovable Gavin.'"

Connor simply smiles and lowers his gun. "I will allow you to say that last part for now, but perhaps it's my turn to suggest a bet then."

"Oh, you're on, tin can. Easy money for me."

"Yes, and if you lose, which you certainly will, you have to sleep on the floor for a week."

Gavin loses spectacularly.

[ruskapi]

Sangwoo, Sex, and Sadism

Please note: This meta heavily references the theory I put forth in this other meta I wrote about Sangwoo (x). If you have not yet read it, I strongly recommend doing so before continuing, because a lot of my thoughts on what’s going on with Sangwoo here are built on that theory.

You know, I’m gonna be honest. I always just assumed one of the main reasons Sangwoo kept his victims alive for a while was because, in addition to torturing them, he was using them sexually. This is kind of a gold standard for the horror genera as well as R-18 BL stories that deal with control dynamics, and let’s face it: Sangwoo enjoys hurting people. It’s not a far leap to make. However, when I started to really look at things…believe it or not, it got harder and harder for me to build a case.

Let’s consider the first couple of scenes that set up our expectations for Sangwoo as a killer and a character:

The first thing we’re exposed to, regarding Sangwoo as a Serial Killer, is the woman Bum finds in his basement. She’s bound and gagged and broken legged, but she’s definitely wearing underwear. We know this is not because Koogi is shy about drawing nudity, and it’s sure as hell not because Sangwoo thinks his victims deserve dignity. As far as Sangwoo is concerned, she’s never going to see the light of day again, so if he’s using her in that way, why not just leave her fully undressed?

(That’s a no on dignity.) 

Koogi’s pretty great when it comes to storytelling and showing us relevant details, like Sangwoo’s dashcam recording, or the fact that everyone who goes into the upstairs bedroom looks at that one section of the wall with concern.

In this scene she shows us the victim’s rope burns, a red-stained water pipe handle, and an open tool box containing dangerous objects and restraining tape, yet we really don’t see any evidence of Sangwoo having raped the woman. There’s no bruising or blood on her inner thighs, there’re no condoms or torn wrappers anywhere (and we know Sangwoo cares), and here’s the kicker: the opening of chapter three shows a series of images that lead the reader to believe Sangwoo is raping Bum…and then, low and behold, he isn’t.

Although Bum lives in constant fear of Sangwoo’s physical and emotional violence, I can’t remember a single time when he threatened Bum with sexual violence. In fact, the one time Bum offers him sex when he’s angry, rather than taking him up on it and incorporating sex into his punishment, he punches Bum in the face and acts insulted.

That is not the behavior of someone who’s into punishing his victims sexually. In fact, he seems almost disgusted that Bum would suggest blurring the two activities.

Initially, I thought Sangwoo got off on causing pain primarily because of two scenes: the one where he jerks off on Bum’s feet while he’s choking him, and the one when he’s thinking about killing Bum while choking the telephone poll, and gets a hard on. Add in the fact that his idea of consent is pretty dubious, and that he’s not exactly gentle when he fucks Bum—with the dildo or his dick—and it’s easy to simply apply the label of ‘sadist’ and move on. However, when I looked closer, all these cases had alternate explanations that actually made more sense given his character.

Though he doesn’t look like it on the surface due to his intense overcompensation, Sangwoo is actually very needy for praise and approval.

In the scene in which Sangwoo is punishing Bum for trying to run away, he’s angry and in full-on killer mode when he hangs Bum. Although at first he’s all, “A lot of things are gonna happen where you’re lying down,” while stripping, again Koogi is just messing with us. He immediately clarifies his intent: “In case you’re wondering, I took my clothes off because they’re wet,” a.k.a. “not because you and I are about to have sexy times.”

He doesn’t have a hard on in any of the shots of his pants until Bum is in the air. In fact, as previously mentioned, he just gets angrier when Bum offers him sex. While he’s clearly enjoying the power high of punishing him, there’s actually no evidence that he’s getting off sexually until Bum starts calling his name over and over.

Observe his scowl in the last panel. Sangwoo actually looks irritated that he has to switch gears. If he enjoyed pairing sex with violence, he’d expect to get hard—not seem surprised and inconvenienced by it. He’d also probably attempt to amp up Bum’s pain level the closer he got to climax, where he actually seems compelled to dissipate it. He hurriedly lifts Bum to kneel on his chest, so as to take the pressure off his throat until he’s finished.

Honestly, I think what we’re seeing here is that…though he clearly enjoys having power over Bum, that’s not what he’s getting off on. What turns him on is actually Bum’s appeal to him as a human being. 

Compare it against the scene before it, where Bum treated him like the psycho he is, and Sangwoo got increasingly agitated:

Remember, there’s a reason why Stockholm Syndrome is a thing—it occurs when victims are forced to empathize with their captors in order to survive. And the reason it happens is because it does, in fact, up a victim’s chances of survival. This is because bad people don’t usually see themselves as bad—they see themselves as victims, forced to do “bad” things in order to survive, or to obtain justice for perceived mistreatment, or whatever their rationales are.

Like Sangwoo says:

While Sangwoo might have been angry at Bum for trying to run, he couldn’t change the fact that what he wants, more than anything else, is to be seen for who he is rather than the violent things he does. He’s desperate to be seen as a better person than he is (as someone who isn’t “like his father”), so when Bum begs Sangwoo for mercy by name, Sangwoo’s need for validation temporarily overrides his desire for vengeance.

I can only speculate, but I think Sangwoo’s response might have been something like, ‘He doesn’t view me as a psycho --> he likes me even more than my mom did --> holy shit that’s hot.’ Because it looks like even he’s caught off guard by the intensity of it.

Despite having almost zero self control, and always being at the mercy of his uncontrollable rage, I think a small part of him is aware enough to understand assault and love aren’t supposed to go together. And eeevery once in a while, he manages to keep his head above water long enough to make a rational decision.

Although he follows up by drowning and cutting Bum, he doesn’t kill him—which is a step forward from all his previous victims.

This statement reinforces that: he knows he’s dangerously close to killing Bum, but that he’ll regret it if he does--unlike with any of his previous victims (aside from his mother), whom he exhibits absolutely no remorse for. 

I think that, rather than evidence of Sangwoo being a sadist, this scene tells us just how desperate he is for someone to emotionally validate him.

If you consider that Sangwoo might be looking for someone who won’t “betray him” like his mother did, each victim was probably an attempt to find someone who would love all of him, including the insane parts. Except they all resulted in failure until Bum, which is why he looked so astonished when he kept calling to him.

Moreover, I think this exchange is actually the one that ultimately differentiates Bum from all his previous victims, as the one capable of “loving” him despite knowing he’s a killer. And this is important because, I’m pretty sure, this is why Sangwoo started killing people in the first place. 

Note that even after he started keeping Bum, Sangwoo continued sharking for victims prior to this event. In chapter 5, as soon as Bum was out of the basement someone else took his place:

And in chapter 8, Sangwoo was seeing yet another woman:

However, Koogi never showed him killing her. 

After this event with Bum, with the exception of the victims Sangwoo brings in as part of his plan to entrap Bum, there’s no evidence that he continued killing. I think this is probably because the need that was driving his psychosis was finally met.

I think the same dynamic is also in play when he gets hard while punching the telephone poll:

If we look at the sequence of pictures in chapter 13, though he’s yelling about killing Bum, he’s thinking of the times Bum’s been sexually sweet and vulnerable with him—the times Sangwoo considers as “proof” that Bum loves him.

This scene is hard to pull apart because it throws a lot of information about Sangwoo’s state of mind at us, all at once. But ultimately, it shows us that he’s terrified Bum escaping--not because he could go to the police (because that’s never mentioned or even referenced), but because it would mean that Bum had lied about loving him. 

And if Bum had lied about that, it would confirm that Bum viewed him as a violent monster (someone like his father), rather than someone genuinely lovable—which is exactly what his mother thought, hence that flash of her.

In his mind, she’s laughing at him from beyond the grave because she’s been proven right.

I don’t think he’s getting hard because he’s thinking of his mother here. If anything, he’s getting increasingly frightened and enraged at the prospect of her being right. That’s why he impulsively punches the pole—because he’s trying to stop her from laughing at him.

I’m pretty sure the thing that made him hard was, once again, Bum’s having been vulnerable with him.

How can we tell? Because of the choice of images: rather than Bum sliced open or nearly choking to death, Sangwoo’s remembering Bum saying he wants to be with him, and cooing his name while blowing him.

Rather than fantasizing about what Bum’s gonna look like when he strangles him, he’s angrily reviewing the evidence he thought proved Bum loved him. And the reason he starts laughing and makes such a weird expression is probably because even though he’s absolutely furious, he’s still turned on just thinking of the little fucker.

(Love is such an inconvenience.)

I think this is why, when he finds Bum sitting on the kitchen floor, he’s so relieved that he can’t even be angry at him for having scared him in the first place (which is what I expected honestly, since dealing with emotional discomfort is not Sangwoo’s strong suit). It’s why the beast of a man wraps his arms and legs around Bum and tells him, “Let’s stay together forever,” while shaking like a leaf.

Rather than him getting off on the idea of hurting Bum, or choking his mom or something weird, I think what we’re actually seeing here is the extent to which Sangwoo has fallen for Bum—hard enough that what little sanity he’s got now hinges on Bum staying with him.

This is a dangerously double-edged sword for Bum because on one hand it greatly reduces his chances of being killed, but on the other, Sangwoo will never let him leave.

Anyway.

Returning to the subject, as for his rough treatment of Bum when he’s using the dildo and fucking him on the porch I think, weak as it sounds, rather than any particular desire to hurt Bum, it comes down to Sangwoo not having any idea that anal sex needs to be handled differently from vaginal sex.

Judging from his passiveness, and the surprise on his face after coming in his initial encounter with Bum, as well as his confusion about Bum’s having to get dressed laying down, Sangwoo probably doesn’t have any prior experience of having sex with men.

Additionally, if we look at the hallmark symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder (x), it makes sense that Sangwoo wouldn’t have considered that he was hurting Bum while fucking him. 

Though it’s never explicitly stated that he has APD, it’s pretty clear that Koogi writes him with these traits in mind because he exhibits every one of them at some point in the series. Accordingly, Sangwoo would not excel at predicting the painful consequences of his poor sexual treatment of Bum, nor would he excel at learning from them.

If you look at the scene leading up to it, it seems like the thing with the dildo was a weird, misguided way of trying to cheer Bum up. It’s the exact same thing he does later in the bath, after Bum slices his wrist open. “I can tell you’re upset and I want to make you feel better --> sex feels good --> sex will fix it.”

I think he really wants to make Bum happy, he just has no idea how to do so. It’s not like his parents gave him many emotional tools to work with in this area.

As a general overview, if we do a quick run-down of situations where Sangwoo’s behaving violently, there are very few instances where he seems to be enjoying it sexually:

He frequently beats the crap out of Bum at the start of the story, but there’s no evidence that he’s getting off on it. He snuggles with Bum after he uses him to stab the old guy, but he doesn’t have sex with him to our knowledge. Though he assaults Bum with the dildo after he kills Jieun, there’s no evidence that Sangwoo was turned on during the killing—in fact, he loses his erection as soon as she kicks him in the stomach. He definitely doesn’t get off after drowning Bum in the bath. And though he slaps Bum when they get back from the police station, he straight up tells Bum that he’s fucking him as a token of appreciation for his loyalty.

Again, in that situation, you see his arousal linked with Bum’s prioritizing his relationship with Person!Sangwoo over Killer!Sangwoo (this idea of there being two Sangwoos is highlighted by Bum’s line about him living with twins with completely different personalities). And although he’s definitely too rough, the fact is…the dudes a beast. He can one-handedly bench press the combined weight of Seungbae and himself. If he wanted to damage Bum, he could do much more than he does. Always.

Likewise, if you come at it from the other side and look for evidence of Sangwoo craving violence when already aroused, most of the time he’s actually downright uncharacteristic in his avoidance of it. When Bum first jerks him off, he’s passive and quiet throughout the whole experience, then ends making this expression:

The first time Bum sucks him off and isn’t very good at it, Sangwoo teaches him not by mocking or forcing him to do something uncomfortable, but by fuckin’ fellating Bum’s fingers. Then, the thing that pushes him over the edge is Bum saying his fucking name in an informal register. Seriously, if Sangwoo is a sexual sadist, this was a very embarrassing night for him.

When Bum’s blowing him in the bathroom after the concert, it would’ve been super easy for him to face fuck Bum until he finished. That would’ve have been awful for Bum, and a ton of fun for a sadist—but it’s like it didn’t even occur to him. He used a tissue, like some kind of fuckin’ gentleman. And I already mentioned above that he lost his erection when Jieun started fighting to leave.

In fact, the only time he ever seems to get off while Bum is in pain is at the end of chapter 35 where, I’m pretty sure, he was getting off anyway and Bum’s pain was just coincidental to his piss poor handling.

Now, you could definitely make a case for him enjoying the sexual degradation of his partners/victims, particularly emotionally. But he seems to draw the line at physically hurting them, for whatever reason.

So, this just leaves us with the inherent sadism involved in rape...

...except Sangwoo doesn’t think of himself as a rapist.

To us as readers, it’s never really up for debate. He makes this statement while continuing to assault Bum, despite being repeatedly asked to stop, which is the literal definition of rape. But this is by design. Koogi is using the dissonance between Sangwoo’s words and actions to make it clear just how un-self-aware Sangwoo really is, and how little we can trust his ability to make sound moral judgments or take care of his loved ones.

Going by his rape qualifier, “listening to a guy scream,” my guess is that his idea of rape is the exact thing he’s always avoiding—mixing sex with violence. Of course, he’s still a rapist even if you go by that standard, because he never stops to consider how his rough handling hurts his partners. But I think he figures so long as he’s not raging on them, it’s not the same. It’s a kind of, “I know how to hurt people and I’m not doing that to you, therefore I’m not hurting you and you’re overracting,” kind of logic. Idk, he’s not exactly a rational dude.

He also seems to rationalize not being a rapist with the mindset that, once he’s got consent up front, he’s got a permanent all-access pass to the person’s body.

This is not a view held by Koogi (we know because she uses imagery and subtext to highlight how much he hurts his partners by doing this), but by Sangwoo himself.

Bum showed interest in the past and therefore Sangwoo feels entitled to do whatever he wants forever, and my assumption is he would treat his female victims this same way. 

In the two instances we see of him seducing women, they seem pretty into it. It’s likely that things were indeed consensual, at least initially.

Whether or not he continues to fuck them after he’s kidnapped them is not known to us, but based on the evidence we’ve seen to date, it seems unlikely.

If he were to do so, he’d likely mock them with something along the lines of, “You said you wanted me, why are you resisting now?” just as he did with Bum, then he would use their change of heart as more evidence that women are liars who deserve to be punished (see the other meta for more detail). However, as I said, we can only speculate on that.

But, all this said…can we really call Sangwoo a sexual sadist? The kind of person who would torture or kill his victims while fucking them?

My feeling is, not really.

Going on what we know from the series to date, there’s no clear evidence that he gets off sexually on the pain he inflicts, or that he’s ever attempted to hurt his victims while having sex with them. Because Sangwoo is not known for his ability to control himself, if he had any desire to mix the two, I’m sure we’d have seen him do so by now. 

My conclusion is that while he clearly feels emotionally fulfilled, exhilarated, even intoxicated by punishing others...he doesn’t actually get sexually aroused by it. 

Lucky you, right Bum?

[theridge-rp]

Izzy! We found your take on Salix very refreshing and can’t wait to see what you do with our lovable trickster! Please follow the steps on the acceptance checklist and welcome to The Ridge!

O U T  O F  C H A R A C T E R -

Name/Alias: izzy

Age: 22

Preferred Pronouns: he/him

Timezone: est

Triggers: ed talk/disordered eating mentions + sexual assault mentions/talk

How did you find us: through the skeleton rp tag ! i was browsing and found y’all !!

Please describe your activity: with quarantine i have nothing but time. i try to be on at least once a day so i don’t get behind on replies !

Anything else you need us to know:

D E T A I L S -

Character: salix willowbark

What drew you to this character: i usually tend to play very meek characters but something about salix’s ‘fuck everything im just gonna do me bc rules are oppressive in any regard no matter who is in charge’ attitude really just connects to how i actually feel normally in the world. obviously i don’t thieve ( for legal reasons of course ) but that constant need to mess with people, especially people who are all about politics, is something i have so much muse for. i can just see salix now always coming in extremely late to the council meetings on purpose just so he can make as loud as an entrance as he can even though he knows he literally has no value to them really, its just fun to watch them snap their heads expecting someone important but nope, its salix slamming the doors again. he’s that type of guy who is always around but you never see him leave or arrive anywhere, he’s just there and then gone along with your wallet if you’re lucky. salix would call himself an enigma but he’s just really good at sneaking in and out of places ( i wonder why huh? ). authority means absolutely nothing to him, anyone who tries to police him just gets greeted with nonstop laughter because he can’t even take them seriously and he was quite slippery, too hard to grab and arrest. salix has no schedule and he doesn’t make plans. if he gets invited to a party the times are optional so he shows up when he wants to or doesn’t. he’s a very fickle individual who likes to seek out adventure without falsifying with prior intentions. he’s a purest when it comes to adventures and nature, both should always be presented to you not picked by you.

Faceclaims ( Please list at least two ): hero fiennes-tiffin & seo kang joon

ik they’re very different objectively looks wise but honestly when it comes to vibes they’re very similar. the reason i picked up hero & kangjoon was because they both kind of radiate this smugness while also being extremely charming looking. both are very attractive men who just have that look, that severe beauty that is just approachable enough with his charismatic personality. he’s definitely the type of guy to know people think he’s hot and doesn’t like to show that he likes it but he secretly loves it especially coming from people he’s tricked so both of these face claims to me just scream that type of energy. smug but not arrogant, attractive but not too attractive to where you can’t talk to him, just charismatic enough that you look past any red flags because that smile is just too genuine looking to be coming from a trickster, right?

I N  C H A R A C T E R -

Please list at least two headcanons for your character:

1. it is not uncommon for salix to disappear in the woods for a couple days only to come back to the ridge with no explanation. no one knows where he goes or why but sometimes he just needs peace and quiet from the constant reminders that their societies were close to a war. it’s like his own little meditative retreat.

2. salix likes to pretend he’s a human sometimes by covering his ears with a hat or scarf while going out on the town to see who he can fool and mess with. it’s very amusing to him and he’s learned humans are kinda dumb but then again so are all of the other races to him as well so it wasn’t a huge surprise. 3. salix is the type of guy who doesn’t believe in settling down and not in a ‘no one will ever love me so im too afraid to try’ way. the entire concept of a relationship just seems archaic to him and the amount of work that goes into that is too much work for him so he just puts it out into the universe that he is single but not looking to settle down.

4. salix’s charm is really easy to fall under because he’s an attractive sweet talker who knows how to work a person based on body language alone so he’s really not to be messed with. he is 80% non-violent and honestly mostly neutral when it comes to almost every topic because he could care less but that 20% left over is from situations where someone forces his hand to be used. he doesn’t use force unless someone is really bothering the shit out of him and that’s a hard feat to do since he’s such a fucker its hard to fuck with him back.

5. salix is constantly barefoot and prefers to never wear shoes but he is known to make the exception for special occasions ( but not always ! ). he doesn’t tell people his reasoning mostly because he doesn’t really want their input on what he does with his life because its his life but its simple, he feels more connected to the earth without shoes. shoes to him rob every species of the true experience of nature.

6. it is no secret that salix likes to use the five finger discount a lot but what people don’t know is that the stuff he steals that isnt for profit ( stuff he cant resell or barter with that he steals ) he always keeps. his home is just full of random shit everywhere in piles and there is absolutely no organization in his home but he doesn’t care, the chaos calms him because all those stolen things are his now, his little trinkets and random stolen things that he likes to just look at when he is home. ( which isnt super often, he likes to go out and not come home for a few days )

Please include a list of potential plots for your character:

1. i can’t stop thinking of salix annoying the hell out the council members just for shits and giggles. so i can just imagine him showing up somewhere a council member is and just acting like a moron until they leave. 2. anything to do with him stealing/pick-pocketing + messing w/ppl and running into the ‘law’ and just having to try to keep a straight face when he’s being questioned because he doesn’t take any authority seriously. i’d love to see how an angel responds to his ‘charm’ 3. i’d also love to delve into his neutrality, like how deep does it go and how far do his morals go with it ? he isn’t a true neutral but he’s close so to really go in-depth with his character to see what kind of person he turns out to be in the end of this, still neutral or will he bend and choose a side?

Please include an in-character sample. This can be as long as you’d like with a minimum of 400 words:

[Retained]

[occupyvenus]

Yes, I hope we get a shot of those burnt lannister army that just destroyed the Tyrell army. I wonder if any of those Tyrell army men were expecting a child too? Probably

You know I’ve been thinking about numerous ways to answer this … maybe make a statement about how you are completely (and I believe deliberately) missing the point, maybe go on a long rant about how not a single one of Dany’s enemies so far has been sufficiently humanized for us to actually care (compared to many antagonists our other heroes faced), and some more blah blah blah, but it I think you actually put an interesting thought in my head … so thank you 😘 

I think that having one of the ed-sheeran-squad soldiers turn up dead at the Field of Fire would be far more emotionally involving, if not challenging, than having a equally “developed” Tyrell-soldier show up dead at after Jaime sacked high garden. It would make way more sense for the narrative and let’s call it “viewer-engagement” as well.  

War is an ugly affair. The books show this much better than the show, but even though GoT loves it’s bloodshed in an almost perverse degree and I’m pretty sure D&D get off good to gruesome revenge and violence, it has depicted the horrible realities of war several times. War is ugly. Really ugly.

But Grrm is not making the point that war is always wrong, no matter how ugly. There are things worth fighting and dying for, maybe, probably, even sending other men to their death for.

The important question is what are those things? How do we know?

Fiction and especially visual mediums have a rather easy solution for this: Show us the consequences after we know about the motives and intentions and let our gut decide. Those feelings can sometimes be hard to articulate, but you can and should try (I mean we are on tumblr here after all). But war-battle-sequences are a bit tricky: We get lost in all the spectacle and the amazing visual effects. At some point you just don’t see “people” anymore. We really need a “human face” to produce a real emotional connection. I think that the best way to achieve this is the pov-battle-sequence. You follow one character through the chaos, the bloodshed, the killing, a la Jon Snow in the botb. Draws you right into the horror that is war, you don’t even need tragic backstories for it. They tried to replicate this with Jaime and/or Bronn but it didn’t feel quite as “intimate” as it did with Jon. I am not exactly sure why, maybe it’s just me, but the botb is still the BEST FUCKING BATTLE SEQUENCE IN THIS GODDAMN SHOW ! I WILL FIGHT YOU ON THIS! THE FUCKING EMOTION BEHIND IT! THE FUCKING CAMERA-WORK! LIKE FUCK IT WAS … but I digress. 

War is especially ugly if the party we are rooting for is in the offensive. We tend to be far more forgiving towards people in the defensive, after all they didn’t “choose” to fight. So far, we have already witnessed two wars in which our hero could be seen as the “aggressor”, sort of. One of them certainly more than the other, but bear with me for a minute. In this case we really have to be down with this issue, we really need to agree with what “we are going to war for”. 

1. Robb’s Northern Campaign

I don’t know if it’s really fair to call him the “aggressor” (it isn’t, btw), considering everything that lead to his decision, but I hope you get the parallels I’m trying to draw here. He took his army south - into “foreign territory” - and went in for the attack on people that wronged his family. The show did not shy away from showing how ugly it was. We got this nice little scene of a Lannisters soldiers foot being cut off. A poor lad from a fishing-village near Lannisport who had no choice in any of this. In the beginning Talisa’s entire character more or less resolved around throwing shade at Robb (and de facto the audience) for being YASSSS KING IN THE NORTH! FIGHT THOSE FUCKERS! DEATH TO JOFFREY! DEATH TO THE LANNISTERS! As much as criticism Talisa’s character received, she did serve one important role. She put on her best disappointed mom-face, looked us straight in the eyes and asked “Now look at the mess you’ve made, was that worth it?” In this case both the narrative and most, if not the entire audience agreed: Yes. It failed, but Robb was right for trying. Our conscious was tested by an “innocent” enemy soldier being crippled, but Robb’s “honor” came out of it intact. We understood his motives and intuitively decided that this war might be ugly (as all of them are), but not necessarily “wrong”.

2. Dany’s Invasion 

Side-note: About the dead Tyrell soldier: There is no reason to put in a dead lovable Tyrell soldier, because we already know that Cersei is driven by nothing but powerhunger. How would that influence the audience? Hah, Cersei evil doing evil shit, what else is new. We know that she (on the whole) is bringing death and destruction to the Seven Kingdoms for completely selfish reasons. The only thing that would accomplish would be to flash out Cersei as “tha villain™” and that really isn’t necessary at this point… We are not rooting for her, we do not have to ask ourselves whether her motives “justify” all this. We already know the answer to this: No. (Though I suppose there are some weirdos who are genuinely rooting for her, most are just fucking cynical … I hope, I neither want her nor Dany anywhere near a Throne). 

It feels like until this point, both D&D, Dany and the audience have been “selling” her invasion as a glorious endeavour, quite similar in many aspects to Robb’s Rebellion actually. They are both trying to avenge their father, they are trying to overthrow an illegitimate ruler, both have armies at their backs that fiercely believe in them, both said that they do not want the blood of innocence on their hands. Among the differences is that Dany clearly is the main aggressor of this war and that her motives might not be as “pure”. She is not trying to save her siblings, her father was rightfully disposed and most importantly: She is a conquerer. She is fighting to gain power over others. She is waging war for her “birthright”.

I would simply love for one of those ed-sheeran-squad lannister soldiers to show up dead because it would put Dany’s ideals and her crusade to the same ultimate test: How are we feeling about the mess Dany is causing? Is that worth it? Do we start to question her after being faced with an innocent real human victim we are at least a bit familiar with? Someone we can actually empathize with instead of the anonymous mass of soldiers she sets on fire? This is less about the poor soldier himself and more about our reaction to it. And how it does or does not change our perception of the person responsible for it. 

Also Dany does not have her own personal Talisa right now. Varys and/or Tyrion might involve into something similar, but since they are still on Dany’s side … let’s just wait and see.

I know that my original post was a bit snarky, but why do you even assume that we would automatically blame Dany for his death and not Cersei for sending him to the Reach in the first place or simply the universe for “the world” being such an awful, awful place. I’m sure after giving on of her inspiring speeches, all would be forgotten. Maybe the reason that you, anon, and so many others are that sensible and defensive to this suggestion (you are not the first ask and I doubt you’ll be the last), is that you yourself are not sure if Dany’s “purpose” justifies this? Is that it? Maybe? 

If Dany’s conquest is only worth fighting for if no lives are lost (or at least none that we care about) … is it really worth it at all? Should we cheer for her to win if one dead father leaves a bitter taste in our mouths? Have you lost faith in Dany’s cause and can’t stomach the consequences once they have a human face? In that case, welcome to the club. I can’t neither. Come to the dark!dany-side! We appreciate and love her character as the interesting, multi-faceted “villain” she really is and we have cookies. 

[filmfanatic82]

Anything (Chapter 3)

Link to AO3 (HERE)

“Hey Billy. You’ve got a minute?” Trini drops her backpack next to Billy on the library table and takes a seat.

Billy glances down at his watch and then back up at Trini with a smile. “I’ve got 36 minutes. Well, technically 41 if I choose not to go to my locker before Calculus. I don’t have my textbook with me, but Ms. Rivers only references it on days when she hasn’t gotten enough sleep. Which are usually Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today’s a Wednesday, so I should be--”

“Billy.”

“Right. Sorry. Yes, I have a minute.” Billy goes about adjusting and readjusting his colored pencils in order of height while actively avoiding eye contact with Trini.

Most people would take this act as being anti-social, but Trini knows better. This is just how Billy operates. 

Normal, every day social interactions, like a friendly pat on the shoulder or maintain eye contact while talking to someone, are painfully difficult for Billy to comprehend, let alone act upon.

And on some, deep-seeded level, Trini can relate. Not because she’s on the spectrum herself, but because she knows first hand how hard it can be to constantly try and “fit in”.  

“I saw something. Last night at the quarry. A strange flash of green light. Right near the entrance of the ship.”

Billy abruptly stops adjusting his pencils and glances up at Trini with slight confusion. “What type of light?”

“Huh?”

“You said flash of light. But what type was it? Was it like a firework? Or more like a laser beam? Or a neon--”

“A green mist cloud, maybe? Kinda like something you’d see at a concert,” Trini responds, cutting Billy off.

Billy nods and takes a moment, seemingly lost in thought. “That’s really peculiar.”

“Right. Check. Freakin’ strange. So, what could it be?”

“It could be a multitude of things. I can’t say for certain, though, until I investigate.” Billy takes another pause as his brain navigates through his train of thought. “I can go early before training today. I’m supposed to meet up with Jason at Krispy Kreme at 3pm but can tell him to meet me at the quarry instead. Oh wait… That means we won’t be able to get our usual--”

“I’ll pick up yours and Jason’s usuals and bring them with me.”

A genuine smile spreads across Billy’s face. “That will work, then. Thanks Trini.”

“No prob, man.”

Trini goes to get up from the table, but as she does, she notices Billy staring at her with a somewhat conflicted look upon his face. There’s something more… Something he wants to ask but can’t seem to bring himself to willing do so.

“Billy, do you want to ask me somethin’? 

Billy manages to nod his head, but still doesn’t say a word. He picks up the pace on his compulsive pencil adjusting, as his internal debate wages on

“It’s all good. You can ask me whatever.” Trini offers up with a warm smile. She sits back down and waits for Billy to respond.

Trini usually isn’t one for patience, but with Billy, she’s more than happy to wait all day if needed. She has a permanent soft spot in her heart for him. 

Finally--

“Are you and Kimberly in a fight?”

“No. Why would you--”

“Because I was over at Jason’s house last night for our weekly 80’s horror movie night and Kimberly showed up unannounced. She wouldn’t say what was wrong but then her and Jason went into the kitchen to talk. I wasn’t trying to listen in on their conversation but I really needed to get more popcorn. Jason makes this really amazing popcorn with truffle oil. I always try not to eat the entire bowl, but I can’t help it and--”

“Billy.” 

“Right. Sorry. Kimberly. She was in the kitchen crying and I heard her mention your name a few times. Jason tried to comfort her but she did seem to calm down. Not even when he hugged her.”

“I’m an idiot,” Trini mutters to herself. She runs her hands through her hair and lets out heavy sigh.

Trini knows exactly why Kimberly was crying last night in Jason Scott’s kitchen.

Because, once again, she has let her two most hated friends -- Self-doubt and Fear -- dictate her actions.

“No your not. We have Calculus together and you’re extremely smart. Mr. Brick even said so last Thursday when he handed back our tests.”

Trini can’t help but chuckle at Billy’s beyond honest reply. “Thanks Billy.” 

“You’re welcome.”

“Catch ya, later.” Trini once again gets up from the table, slings her backpack over her shoulder, and with a new found resolution, takes off out of the library.

Trini knows what she needs to do… She needs to talk to talk to Kimberly.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Trini moves against the flow of students with a fierce determination like none other.

Most days, she tends to take her time, enjoying every last second of freedom before enduring yet another 45 minute snooze fest. But today is different. Today she needs to get to Bio and fast. 

“Get to Bio. Grab seat near Kimberly. Apologize for being such an idiot.” Trini’s internal voice runs through her gameplan… and again… and again. 

Sure, it wouldn’t be enough time to truly talk things out -- there’s never seems to be enough time when it comes Kimberly -- But at least this would be a step in the right direction. 

Trini picks up her pace, playing human frogger between the pockets of students.

She knows she’s pushing the fine line between moving at a human vs superhuman like pace, but doesn’t care. The quicker she moves, the more time she has to make things right with Kimberly. 

Trini rounds the corner to a connecting hallways, and suddenly comes to a crashing halt. 

There, only fifteen feet away, stands Kimberly, back up against the lockers with some ponytail clad, neanderthal looking, man-child leaning next to her, encroaching in on her personal space. The two are deeply engaged in a conversation, completely oblivious to the world around them. 

And then, like a second punch to the gut, Trini realizes that she knows exactly who the man-child is. It’s Tommy Oliver. The one who practically took Jason’s shoulder off in the hallway a few days earlier. The rude ass jerk, who didn’t even bother to stop, let alone apologize. 

An overwhelming sense of disappointment washes over Trini as she stands there frozen in her tracks, just watching Tommy and Kimberly talk.

Change of plans.

Who’s she kidding? There’s no need to “talk” to Kimberly. Clearly, Kimberly is 100% fine.

Sure, Kimberly might have been a little bit upset last night, but now she’s chatting away with Tommy like she doesn’t have a one single freakin’ care in the entire world. 

Not wanting to stay there another moment longer, Trini backtracks her way down the other hallway and straight through the double doors leading to the courtyard. 

Fuck Bio.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

“Hey Crazy Girl. Room for one more?” Zack calls up to Trini from the bottom of the bleachers.

Trini straightens up a bit, slides her headphones off of her ears and gives a half-hearted shrug. “Free country.”

Busted.

Trini knows that camping out at the top of the bleachers isn’t the most stealthy of places to hide out, but at least it’s better than being confined to a classroom.

Zack bounds up the bleachers steps, taking them two at once, reaching Trini in a record time. He plops himself down next to her and stretches out his lengthy limbs in every direction.

“No Bio?” 

“Nope.”

They sit side by side in silence for a few moments, just taking in the football field and track below them. Neither one making any sort of effort to talk at all. 

Then, out of nowhere, Zack swiftly reaches across Trini and snatches up her cell phone from the nearby bench.

“Hey!” Trini lunges after her phone, but it’s of little use. Zack’s already two steps ahead of her.

Zack holds Trini at bay with one of his arms, while using his other to unlock the phone.

“Ha! Knew it. Not broken. Jason so owes me $20.”

“Give it back, fucker,” Trini growls with a burst of sudden anger. She grabs hold of his arm and in one fell swoop twists it behind his back, bending it at a painfully awkward angle.

“Owe. Jesus. No need to get your tiny ass, boxer briefs in bunch. Here.” Zack hands the phone back over to Trini.

Trini instantly releases her death grip on Zack and then shoves her phone into her pocket. “Ass.”

“What? Me? Never.” Zack mocks a stunned expression mixed with his cheesy yet lovable smile.

The comfortable silence creeps back in between the two of them again and for a moment, they both embrace it. Just co-existing with each other in the same space. 

“You oughta talk to her. Before you seriously fuck it up.”

“What if I can’t?” Trini quietly replies in a voice barely above a whisper. She compulsively fidgets with a few stray strands on the rip knee of her jeans while avoiding eye contact with Zack. “What if she doesn’t feel--”

“Stop over thinkin’ it. I told ya already. That girl’s head of heels for you.”

 “But--”

“No butts. Talk to her. Or I’m gonna do it for ya.”

“You wouldn’t…” Trini searches Zack’s face, trying to call his bluff, but deep down she knows that he’s telling the truth. “I’ll rip your fuckin’ arms off and use them to beat your ass to death. 

Zack just laughs in response. He reaches over and playfully ruffles Trini’s hair in an annoying big brother sorta way. “Talk to your girl.”

With that, Zack gets up from the bleachers, shoves his hands into his pockets, and starts to make his way back on down the steps.

“She’s not my girl,” Trini yells back at him with a noticeable level of uncertainty to her voice. Almost, as if, the comment is more to remind herself than anything else. 

“Not yet,” Zack simply replies with an all knowing smirk.

God, Trini loves and hates that boy.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Trini has been wandering around Angel Grove, somewhat aimlessly, ever since Zack left her on the bleachers a few hours ago. She knows that she should’ve just gone back inside and finished out the rest of the day after the end of Bio, but something deep down inside, prevented her from doing so.

The neighborhood park next to the school. The movie theater on main street. The woods by the quarry. And even the local Krispy Kreme not once, but twice.

From the dull but steady throbbing in her feet, Trini is sure that she’s managed to walk at least a good ten or so mile by now. More than she’s ever willingly walked before and yet, it still doesn’t feel like enough.

Trini comes to an intersection and takes a momentary pause, trying to figure out which direction to go in next. She fishes her phone out of her pocket and checks the time. 

4:45pm. 

Roughly a little over an hour until Trini has to be home for dinner. She could push it to later if she gives her mom a heads up… but that would mean engaging with her mom… Which would only open the question floodgates… Which would lead to multiple Kimberly related ones…

Kimberly.

“What am I doing?” Trini mutters under her breath to herself. Without another moment’s hesitation, she unlocks her phone and starts rapid-fire texting.

SaberToothTrini: Hey. You home?

Trini hits send and holds her breath. Within a matter of milliseconds, seconds the texting dots appear.

PinkPrincess: Yeah. Y?

SaberToothTrini: Can I come over?  

Trini holds her breath again and this time, closes her eyes as well for good measure. She has no reason to believe that Kimberly won’t respond, and yet, there’s still a lingering doubt that she just can’t shake.

BUZZ.

Trini’s eyes snap back open and look at the screen. 

PinkPrincess: I’d really like that.

A small smile crawls across Trini’s lips as she re-reads the text.

It’s just four words…

But, regardless, it’s reassurance.    

SaberToothTrini: Be there in five. 

Trini puts her phone back into her pocket and starts to take off down the sidewalk, at a breakneck speed. She keeps this up for a few seconds, but then suddenly slows down, once again coming to a halt. 

Something isn’t right.

Trini cautiously does a quick 360, scanning her surroundings. Not a single soul in sight.

But that doesn’t matter…

Someone is watching her. Someone that doesn’t want to be seen.

And this singular realization sends a slight chill down Trini’s spine. She shoves her hands into the pockets of her bomber jacket wraps it tighter around her body, in a half-ditch attempt to create a shield between herself and whoever is out there and then continues on at an even faster pace. 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

“Hey.” Trini finishes hoisting herself through Kimberly’s bedroom window, landing on the coral carpeting with a not so graceful thud.

Kimberly puts down her textbook and sits up a bit on her bed. She greets Trini with a hesitant smile but it doesn’t seem to fully reach her eyes. There’s an underlying sadness there that’s downright heartbreaking at best.

Shit.

That look hits Trini like a ton of bricks. She’s really fucked it up this time. And not in just a “I’m in a shitty mood and am being a major prick for no good reason” sorta way.

“You could’ve used the front door. My parents won’t be home for another three hours.” 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Trini shrugs with a bit of a forced smirk.

Trini’s heart screams out to move closer to Kimberly but her feet are glued to the floor. She’s absolutely paralyzed. All Trini can manage to do is breathe.

“You weren’t in Bio today.”

“I skipped,” Trini huffs with a nervous exhale of breath. “Just kinda needed to clear my head.”

“Oh,” Kimberly replies in a voice barely above a whisper.

Trini’s head and heart engage an impromptu war with each other.

It’s killing her not to just go and wrap her arms around Kimberly. Just to hold her close and…

And what? Go deeper into that ever so familiar “are we friends or are we more” territory?

Trini’s been there before. Hell, she even has the t-shirt. Crushes on straight girls never work. It’s an undeniable fact.

“Look, I’m sorry. I--”

“Did I do something?” Kimberly blurts out, cutting Trini off. 

“Huh?”

“Did I do something? You know... to upset you? I mean, I don’t think I did. At least, not anything that I’m aware of. But you suddenly won’t return my texts or calls and then you didn’t show up to bio and… I dunno. It feels like I’ve done something wrong.” Kimberly picks at the edge of her pink and white comforter, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.

Trini’s heart starts to crumble. She can feel it physically breaking open more and more with each and every beat. It’s beyond excruciating. Who would’ve known that this -- just standing here watching Kimberly second guess herself -- would be more painful than practically being burned alive in the cockpit of her Zord.

“You didn’t do anything.”

“Then why won’t you talk to me?” Kimberly’s voice quivers on these words.

Fuck it. 

And just like that, Trini suddenly finds herself moving across the room. She takes a seat down on the edge of bed and before she has time to fully process what she’s doing, she leans in and kisses Kimberly.

Every last ounce of insecurity and doubt instantly melts away as Trini feels Kimberly relax into her lips and kiss her back.

It’s raw. And yet gentle. Laced with passionate. It’s so much more than just a kiss… no, it’s a prelude to what’s to come.

And god, Trini doesn’t want it to ever stop.

After what feels like an eternity, Kimberly pulls back out of the kiss, allowing the two of them to catch their breath. A slow, seductive smile crawls across her cherry lips as she locks eyes with Trini.

“Took you long enough.”

[i-am-gaylocked]

You know what makes me really pissed right now?

On platforms other than tumblr there are loads of people joking about how the fandom is going crazy now because The Kiss™ didn’t happen.

NO.

Fuck you. That’s not why we’re angry.

Of course a kiss would have been awesome, but personally I never believed it to happen anyway, and I would have even lived happily ever after with less Johnlock scenes than we got in the end, even though I ship them like crazy - if only the rest of the plot would have made some sort of sense.

You wanna know what’s bothering me about the (supposedly) final problem?

1. Moriarty was hyped up as the ultimate villain for three seasons and frankly, almost everyone loved him. The creators themselves made such a big fuss about him - only to have him replaced by another supervillain out of nowhere. Moriarty was the ultimate mystery and his reveal was basically “actually he’s just a maniac sidekick executing Eurus’ plans who was kinda bored with living anyway so he killed himself just for the fun of it”. I know they made it hard for themselves to have a truly mind-blowing plot twist with Moriarty since they’ve been stirring his story up for more than two years and expectations were high, but this was anticlimactic and disappointing on a new level.

2. I don’t know much about storytelling, but I do sense that this was bad. For the last three seasons, there have always been subtle and not-so-subtle hints as towards what is going to happen next. Everything was connected and logical to follow and quite frankly, this unique way of building up a plot was one of the things that made me fall in love with this show. Compared to what we have experienced in former episodes, this whole fourth season was utter bullshit. Sure, the basic storyline was connected with the other seasons, but only superficially; most of the “"plot twists”“ happened out of nowhere and made the whole series feel very estranged all of a sudden. E.g., in TRF Moriarty said “Have you worked out what it is yet? The final problem? I did tell you… But did you listen?” - Typical Mofftiss style would have been that some very inconspicious Moriarty line somehow hinted at him pairing up with Sherlock’s unknown sister to “play a game” or destroy Sherlock or seek revenge or whatever. But nothing, NOTHING prepared us for this, although this subtle preparation was what made the show so amazing, which is why this season feels like total nonsense.

3. Eurus’ hyper intelligence was over the top. At the beginning, Sherlock was introduced to us as the ultimate mastermind and we all admired his genius. Then Moriarty entered with a similar, though very psychotic level of genius and we were like “ah, two masterminds battling each other, that’s cool”. Then it turned out that Mycroft is actually even smarter and quicker than Sherlock and everyone was like “well… He’s the older brother, there’s rivalry, he’s gotta feel superior in some way, that’s fine, still kinda fun” and it showed us the borders of Sherlock’s intelligence and made him appear more human, all fine and good. I also get that Eurus kind of reflected that even Mycroft is not the all-knowing, stone-faced, flawless, mature older brother and the ultimate version of smart. But continuously adding more characters to the “flawed mastermind” stack where every new one outsmarts the others feels very cheap and uninnovative. First Moriarty was said to be one of those minds that happens once every few centuries, then Mycroft supposedly straight up Fucked Him Over™ (although he actually didn’t in the end, i know), and then there’s suddenly Eurus out of nowhere and wait she’s even smarter than the rest of them?? Sorry sirs, I’m not buying this.

4. In S3, everything was hinting at Mary having some sort of connection with Moriarty (and we still don’t know how she got into Magnussen’s office that easily because I don’t think she proposed to Janine as well). When Mary’s A.G.R.A background was revealed, I thought it was kinda fucky and far-fetched; I’ve been waiting for the big Mary reveal in TFP. Instead, her conflict apparently counted as solved in T6T and she was turned into a lovable goofball who just so happens to posthumously send old DVD recordings of herself over to Baker Street to whisper sweet nothings to both John an Sherlock so that everyone forgets that she shot Sherlock with the intention to kill him, then drugged him again and overall just manipulated John an Sherlock all the time? Mary is a great, twisted character and I do believe that she’s able to feel love for both boys, but that ending was not her. They were trying to find poetic final words and they didn’t have anyone to give them to but the ex-assassin who murdered her husband’s best friend and lied and lied to her oh-so-beloved John? I don’t think so fuckers.

5. Normally, at the end of a movie (/episode) the viewer should be able to distinguish between such things as imagined/hallucinated locations, events and conversations and what happened in the ‘real world’ of that world. Now, this might have something to do with the fact that English isn’t my first language, but after TFP I’m still a bit clueless about how some scenes were connected and what was actually happening and what wasn’t. (I never had problems like that during the old episodes though, including TAB, which was also really fucky and inception-y.)

6. The Molly scene was hurtful as fuck, and not in a movie-typical, good way. There’s a grown woman who just can’t and can’t get over her crush: Mofftiss’ level of extending this idea always appeared a bit forced to me anyway, but that is neither here nor there now. This scene was emotional abuse, heartbreaking and humiliating and most of all, it was so, so useless. Wow, Sherlock was a dick to Molly once again and this time it broke her completely. This doesn’t help us understand Sherlock’s troubled mind any further nor does it advance the plot in any way, it just crashes another character straight into a brick wall because why the fuck not. (Loo did a great job in this scene tho, probz for that.)

7. I’m still not over how fucking cheap Eurus’ little horror game was. “Let’s lock a few people in one room and make them shoot each other, nonono listen to me this has never been done before because in our show the villain and his victims are related isn’t this awesome?” Wow yeah, truly groundbreaking. What a witty, unique idea. The only good thing about this was that Sian truly was great at pulling of four different roles in a very convincing fashion, credit where credit is due.

8. You don’t say stuff like “It’s making a funny face… I think I’ll put a hole in it” and then reveal that the so-called hole was nothing but a tranquilizer, seriously, where’s the classic Mofftiss genius style in that?

9. The plot and the plot twists of this episode (and the whole season 4 for that matter) were lazy and mainstream compared to BBC Sherlock’s usual standards. I used to love this series for its many-layered stories and characters, but here we have classic Hollywood horror and classic Hollywood psycho villain well beyond any boundaries of normality. Of course I’m not opposed to this kind of stories, but it’s common, you can find stuff like that everywhere. BBC Sherlock used to have a really special, unique way of storytelling and most of it got killed for the sake of cheap ass mistery overload and mainstream horror games.

10. Personally, I can begrudgingly accept the ending that we got, aka “open for interpretation”. If you still want to ignore the gayness that is screaming you in the face, go ahead and call it bro!parentlock, I don’t care. But what I do care about is the line “It doesn’t matter who you are”. I believe that it was never meant to be offensive or hurtful, but this version of Sherlock was introduced to us as gay (or bi or pan or whatever, but at least in some way sexually interested in the same sex). If Mofftiss were too scared to actually pull through with it or simply didn’t want to, that’s fine, I understand. But then don’t just go ahead and tell us that it doesn’t matter anyway. Because it does matter. I feel like these men fail to grasp the power they have over us and therefore didn’t see how hurtful this line was, but it did hurt people. Lots of people. Many of us had actual mental breakdowns because of this line. I know it was never meant to mean that much (or it wasn’t meant to be understood differently), but if you have a general understanding of the concept of fandom (Mofftiss sure have it), then you usually understand that there are sensitive topics that can be triggering and should be expressed with caution.

11. Where’s the big Mycroft reveal? All these adressings towards his physical health. How the hell were they implying that he fucked up in dealing with his psychotic sister?

12. I still don’t get the point of Irene if they were neither letting them meet again nor cutting her out permanently. She’s been a recurring thought of Sherlock since ASIB, but in TFP it was just like “Nah it’s not her she’s married idgaf about her anymore anyway bye” Like?? Dramatic flow? is where exactly here??

13. We still don’t know how Sherlock survived the fall. Just sayin’.

14. Yeah john totally cut his metal chains that forced him onto the bottom of the well with a fucking rope and he didn’t even need help for that matter he just pulled himself out of the water by his own hair Munchhausen style I THINK THE FUCK NOT FOLKS

15. No one will ever convince me that they actually jumped out of an upstairs window to escape an explosion and got away without a single scratch. That’s just bullshit.

16. An umbrella that’s also a sword that’s also a gun that’s also not functioning? Yeah, kinda funny, but also really stupid and not at all up to the standards of the usual witty humour of BBC Sherlock.

17. “Sherlock’s in love but who with?” in combination with the “i love you” scene were used to bait us all to start another war between straight!Sherlock and gay!Sherlock supporters in order to make sure as many people as possible would turn in, but the reveal behind this line was utterly disappointing. This was a humiliating and just not cool™ move.

18. They’re not seriously trying to tell us that Eurus, while having an extreme mental and emotional breakdown, built a fake cell in the garden of her old childhood house because Drama™?

19. General conclusion: This whole story of everything being connected and leading back to Moriarty and Sherlock’s childhood just deflated like a big gay balloon full of anticipation. They’ve been talking about this story forever, but the great opportunities it offered were not only ignored, but stuffed into a fucking meat grinder and mashed up into cheap boring mainstream moviemaking.

Also, I still think everything about this season is shady as fuck and I don’t accept a word of it and from now on I’m just gonna mark it down as another victim of 2016. Thank and bye

[orpelia]

Air: “The Revelation”

Our new favorite earthbender gets kidnapped and we meet a new furry friend!

Keep reading for my reaction to Book I, Chapter 3.

Scroll to the end for my favs.

Broz 4 Lyfe

I’m so glad we have another set of siblings on the show.

While no one could ever replace our Water Tribe siblings,

I’m loving the dynamic of our fire-earthbending duo.

On the one hand, you have the lovable and well-intending little brother,

whose hobbies often include getting caught in some sticky situations.

On the other, you have the more sensible older brother, who can’t seem to go anywhere without his scarf and a headache---a common side effect from saving his little bro’s butt one too many times. 

But it’s like Mako said: all they have is each other. 

After that firebender mugged and killed their parents, the two brothers were orphaned and left to fend for themselves. Mako was only eight and Bolin, even younger; two kids forced to learn how to live---no, survive---all on their own.

So they look out for one another and love the crap out of each other.

They remember to bring home their brother’s favorite dumplings, too:

So... about that scarf, Mako.

It’s just---it’s not the most practical accessory, is it? 

I would think with all the punching and dodging and firebending he does in this episode it would’ve fallen off already??

I’ll keep the rest of my snide comments to myself because I have a feeling that scarf belonged to one of his parents, as we Mako cradling himself into it when he tells Korra that his brother is the only family he has left.

Actually, nope, sorry. I can’t help myself:

Okay. I’m done.

Red Alert: New Relationship

You probably think I’m talking about these two,

and how this scene reminded me of these two,

but I’m more interested in THESE TWO:

Bless ‘em!

If bumping noses is the animal equivalent to saying hello, then humans really ought to rethink the whole “humans are the more advanced species” or whatever.

Take Korra and Mako, for example. Dork #1 and Dork #2 flinch, jump, and scramble away from each other after their completely unintentional moment of physical touching.

[Rolls eyes.] 

Come on now, people. Platonic intimacy is a beautiful thing---get with it. 

“The Savior”

Of course, the real highlight of this episode is our newest enemy:

He’s still a little creepy, but now we have a backstory!

Amon, Leader of the Equalists, is on a quest for equality after his family suffered at the hands of an extorting firebender, murdering his family and all but destroying Amon’s face.

He says some pretty interesting stuff, so let’s break it down:

“The only thing bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era.” 

I’m not too sure about the “every war in every era” bit, but the Hundred Year War is hard to ignore. First, the War was started by a bender, who wanted to spread the wealth and prosperity of his nation with the rest of the world, which, how typical, turned into straight up world domination. Then, the Avatar, another bender---the ultimate bender, if you will---was supposed to end the war, but then he disappeared and all hope seemed to vanish with him. 

So if benders were the cause of the war, and benders were also the solution to the war (but then failed to deliver), what of the non-benders? 

Well, naturally, they’re caught in the middle; now, we’re seeing a glimpse of just how many got caught in the cross fire:

“Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end.”

Amon targeted this guy:

Lightning Bolt Zolt, Leader of the Triple Threat Triad, and “one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City.” 

Extortion and abuse is something we were briefly exposed to in the very first episode of LOK (see: those hooligans Korra beat up... then got arrested for beating up, lol). So, in a weird, twisted way, Amon should get points for taking out people who are abusing their powers. I may not condone his actions, but I see what he’s trying to do.

“[The Spirits] say the Avatar has failed humanity.”

It’s easy to write this guy off as delusional, which is pretty much what Korra and Mako do, but then he actually energy bends. 

Well, shit.

You’ve got to wonder: who the hell is he? And how is he---a non-bender---capable of wielding such power, a power exclusively reserved for the Avatar, or so we believed?

Ironic though, isn’t it? That energy bending---the non-violent solution that Aang utilized to put an end to a violent war---is now being used for very violent means. Clever, writers, very clever. 

However, Amon can easily get misguided by his revenge, personal vendetta, etc. and make the mistake of ridding the world of all benders. Just as all firebenders should not have been condemned for the actions of the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation elites, we can’t blame all benders when only select individuals are committing treasonous acts. 

Parting Thoughts

Wishful thinking, I guess:

You know, if they hadn’t killed off Jet’s character, I think the Anti-Bending Revolution would be right up his alley. Just think, if Jet had decided to keep his band of merry men the Freedom Fighters together, then maybe one of Jet’s followers could be the leader of the Equalists.

Or perhaps Jet gives up the Freedom Fighter lifestyle and starts a new life for himself---a small, albeit struggling life on a farm. Jet could be the father that was extorted then killed by the firebender, and Jet’s son could be the man behind the mask. Tacky, I know, but Amon’s backstory doesn’t sound all that different from Jet’s, minus the burned face.

I just hope Amon doesn’t have the same eyebrow situation as our main Freedom Fighter because that boy’s brows were not cute:

Then again, A:TLA came out in 2005, and the world was still recovering from the disastrous eyebrow trend of the entire 90s, so what do I know. 

   Favorites

Surprise, surprise: the kids stole the show.

We have these two chismosas (or nosy, gossiping troublemakers):

Though, to be fair, I’d react the same way if I saw Mako in real life. Ain’t no shame in the truth, girls. 

We also meet Skoochy, who’s too slick for his own good:

This lil fucker knows exactly how to play ‘em, and you know what, I respect that.

Damn, Korra. Chill.

Exhibit A

Korra, Mako just said that you need to be cautious. How is knocking a door off its hinges being cautious?

Exhibit B

Can you believe this bitch actually earthbended at two kids, hahaha.

Animals Are Food Friends

Another moment of appreciation for these two pals.

They work hard

and party harder.

Side note: as if we didn’t already know, it’s officially established that Naga and Korra are best friends and that melts my heart.

Quote of the Episode

Bolin: [Bouncing along with Naga’s strides.] Hah... Oh... Yah... Stop... I want... to be... on... your... back... please!

Bo, honey, you’ve got to stop making yourself such an easy target.

Wear Your Scars:

Amon: “I've been forced to hide behind a mask.”

Amon’s face was decimated by the firebender who murdered his family. In my head, which is not filtered by Nickelodeon and restricted by a TV parental guide, I’m imagining something very gruesome under that mask. Villain or not, Amon’s suffering was cruel.

So here’s to the ones who’ve been burned and scarred; here’s hoping Amon makes it out on the other side. 

Luckily, he’s got someone like Zuko to look up to:

credits

[writingcommons-blog1]

“Is That Bad? I Feel Like That’s Bad.” by Pertussis S.

I don’t care about dogs. I know I’m supposed to, but I don’t. Not as much as everyone else anyway. People fill their Facebook feeds with videos of puppies. They whole-heartedly hold the belief that dogs are too good for people. They let dogs lick their faces and sleep in their beds. They let them get hair on everything in their homes. People pick up their shit. They use the hands attached to their body to pick up still-warm turds from the ground every single day. And don’t misunderstand, I’m not a cat person. I believe that if apathy were an animal it would be a cat. Also, and I don’t know why this isn’t the headliner for all cat related arguments, cats eat people. 

If I die tomorrow, a cat would not hesitate to eat my face off. That aside, I don’t light up the same way other people do when they see a dog. I don’t know what it is to have my day become exponentially better by passing a dog on the street.

I think dogs are dirty. They roll in shit and all manner of disgusting things. They eat their own vomit. I was once babysitting the neighbors and after coming back from changing the infant’s diaper, I walked into the living room to find their golden retriever cumming on the back of the eight year old. The kid didn’t know what happened, he thought his dog just wanted to wrestle. I didn’t want to explain. I can still see the white sludge on the back of this kid’s Star Wars shirt.  I want a dog that showers daily and knows how to use a toilet. I would not deny him his instincts, but I would kindly ask that he masterbate privately, and not on people. Ideally, he would also get help for Timmy every time that little fucker gets himself down a well.

I didn’t cry at the Sarah McLachlan commercials. “In the arms of the angels” playing over the most depressing screen saver of all time. The exposed ribs of the emaciated dogs without homes through the kennel bars. The pleading eyes of abused dogs that make you feel the righteous anger of people hurting those who can’t fight back. And then the Lorax herself gives the impassioned plea to save all these little guys whose only crime was existing. And you want to be on board, but then you start thinking about the people of Venezuela starving to death and any and all dissidents being abused and imprisoned and they don’t get a commercial. Nobody gave them a song. Your afternoon weekday viewing of Rizzoli and Isles or some shit isn’t brought to you by Untold Violence and Human Suffering in Venezuela with a theme from Enya. It’s dogs. And I don’t get how people care more about dogs than people. It feels like there there is a permanent divide between me and everyone else and it’s over dogs.

I also take issue with people who claim to love dogs, but keep a Doberman in their matchbox apartment. You’re leaving a social creature alone for nine hours everyday, so you have someone there when you get home. They can’t run. It’s not like they can seek out intellectual stimulation or put on a record to pass the time. Dogs aren’t working through their podcast subscriptions or calling their parents while they do laundry.  It’s pretty much one note with dogs. Food. People. Other dogs. Noises. Smells. It’s a selfish practice and the people who do it must know that on some level, but they do it anyway. It feels like people are reducing dogs to some sort of tchotchke. Something pretty to look at in their homes. Taking away all that makes them a living being  aside from a lovable face. If you claim to love something, care for it properly. Anything less is a lie.  

When people show me pictures of dogs on their phones, I have to fake an “Awww” about four out of five times. I don't know what it is exactly. I don’t have that visceral emotional reaction to seeing a picture of a dog that I see other people having. To be polite, I imitate their level of excitement toward the subject of the photo. This is what sociopaths do so people won’t be able to tell that they are sociopaths! Am I broken? Was I born without the ability to see canines as I’m supposed to? Is there a “supposed to” when it comes to dogs? Am I the only one? There must be someone else out there who feels the same. Come find me. I am so lonely on this island I created. This is my smoke signal. Come find me and maybe we can get to the bottom of this. We’ll talk about all the things that aren’t broken inside us. We’ll tell each other things about ourselves we’re proud of. We both probably love kids. Maybe you cry when you read the news too. Maybe you give people all of your emotions and you just don’t have any left for man’s best friend. You can tell me that you volunteer at a furniture bank and I can tell that I volunteered at a food bank. And then, because we’re being honest with each other, I’ll have to confess that I only volunteer because I feel guilty all the time. That I don’t know if I give for the right reasons or if it’s to placate my own ego or conscious. Then I’ll have nothing else but to hope that you’re even a little bit the same. That someone else is this broken too. You can tell me it’s okay, or you can tell me it’s not okay, but that maybe I don’t have to be broken forever.  

Maybe, despite all the things that truly repulse you about dogs, you still want one. Maybe I want one too. Maybe we could get a dog and call him Normal. Norm for short. We’ll rescue him. We can feel guilty about feeling proud of this. We’ll learn to love him and treat him right every second of the day. We’ll buy lint rollers in bulk at Costco and bathe him regularly. He’ll never smell and when we show pictures of our dog to each other we will never have to lie about how we feel.