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channieskies · 1 year ago

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Don't Save Me

Pairing: (Actor)Bang Chan/Chris, Female Reader (AFAB)

Synopsis: What was with the hype behind your handsome roommate? You wanted to know, but you didn't have plans on becoming one of his damsels in distress.

Genre: Smut, Friend to ? , Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Warnings: MINORS DNI! This post contains nsfw material. Please do not interact with it if you are under the age of 18. Do not translate or repost to other sites. Mentions of alcohol, a slight hint of body image issues (if you squint), protected sex [piv] (wrap it before you tap it, folks. Safety first), oral [fem receiving], adult themes, adult language, please let me know if I missed any

Author's Note: Truthfully, this is a little angsty at the end, so reader discretion is advised. It's not too bad in my opinion, but to each his own.

Special thanks: @therhythmafterthesummer, @edanzgarden, @infamouskem For reading over this and giving me feedback, so I could post this confidently. I really appreciate the support you give me.

Word Count: 3,000+ [13 minute read time]

Disclaimer: This story does not reflect the real lives or personalities of Stray Kids. I do not know them personally. This is purely a work of fiction.

AGELESS BLOGS & MINORS DNI

There was just something cathartic about doing absolutely nothing on a Sunday morning. Lots of people referred to them as lazy Sundays for a reason, right? Yours started earlier than expected, but the early start worked in your favor. You treated you and your best friend to breakfast from this little hole in the wall restaurant, and now you are currently in the middle of a mani-pedi and face mask session. Relaxing.

"You know what she told me?" You bestie Jodie waved her freshly painted nails around dramatically as you listened intently. "She said that my mouth was way too pretty to be so fucking foul. Then she had the audacity to try and neg me" she huffed, "If I stopped talking I'd be exactly her type." She scoffed, "Well excuse-fucking-me. That bitch can kick rocks, her and her seven figure bank account.." She pretended to cry towards the end. "The verbal abuse was almost worth it. She could have funded our girls' trips. Why'd she have to be so pretentious?" Jodie had a tendency to be a little over dramatic to say the least.

"To be fair, babe, you do have a foul mouth. She wasn't wrong there. But, if she liked you for you, she'd accept that, no questions asked." You dipped your wand back in your bottle to add another layer of polish to your toes. "But it's her loss if you ask me. You're a prize, a jewel." She gasped, putting a hand to her chest.

"Aww babes, that's the sweetest thing I've heard all year. Maybe I should've tried to date you in -" she paused as a door in the apartment opened. There were faint voices and footsteps that gradually became louder the closer they got.

Your roommate emerged from the hall, hand on the small of some random girls back. "You were wonderful last night, Chris. Thanks for taking care of me." She smiled all dreamily at him as you and Jodie watched from the couch.

"It was nothing, baby girl, I'd do anything to help." She leaned in to try and peck his lips, but he turned, letting her kiss his cheek instead. You watched with a smirk on your face. These girls never had any clue what they were getting themselves into. But you enjoyed watching them crash and burn nonetheless. You were a bit of a sadist in that way.

He saw her out and only noticed the presence of other people on his way back to his room. "Good morning, ladies."

You and Jodie shared a look before you spoke, "Brought home another stray, I see, Chris. What was it this time? Her boyfriend stood her up, so you made sure to fuck her till she felt loved?" Jodie snickered while you genuinely waited for an answer.

"Cute." He smirked at you, leaving you answerless as he returned to his room with a soft click of his door closing.

"Look, you know I only swing that way on occasion. But I have to say, your roommate is fucking hot. Like the sun colliding with the rest of the stars in the universe. A fucking Supernova."

You laughed at her antics. She was jumping on the couch to get her point across. "I mean… yeah, he is. But he's also a fuck boy with a savior complex. There is a new face in this apartment every other day it seems, and trust and believe, all of them have issues. His life isn't complete without saving some hapless bimbo and dumping her off on our doorstep the next morning."

Jodie's nose wrinkled at your words, but you continued anyway. "I'm surprised he doesn't wear capes out every night."

She chuckled at you. "Someone sounds bitter." She pursed her lips after singing her words.

"As if." You threw a pillow at her, but she dodged it.

"Missed me." She stuck her tongue out at you, then laughed.

It wasn't that you had something against Chris and his need to help out anyone in need. That was actually a good trait to have. No, your problem lies with his projects constantly invading your space. Though a shared bathroom was the least of your problems when you let him move in, your thoughts never went to him bringing strays home every other night.

Not when he seemed to be the boy next door who was wholesome upon first meeting. What made things worse for you was when these technical one night stands would have the audacity to ask why you were in your own apartment. Or ask what your intentions for their man of one night was.

One girl even went as far as to contact you at work to tell you to back off. Unhinged behavior, if anyone asked you. What was he doing to the girls to make them act this way? It couldn't have been the kindness. He was genuinely nice to everyone. And you meant, everyone. Even people who you would've considered less than deserving, he gave them a chance and, for some, multiple chances. And while he is very handsome, handsomeness isn't something that would make someone go batshit crazy. At least you hoped that was the case. It had to be the dick. There was no other possible explanation.

Chris was one of your closest friends. Even though you started off as just roommates, you quickly became close. Finding that you had a lot of common interests in music, movies, and fashion.

Truthfully, you'd never been so close to a man who wasn't your boyfriend before. He was honestly different from anyone you'd met before, and you absolutely adored that about him.

"Are you completely sure that I should be your plus one for this?"

You were in a fitting room, trying on a dress that he was buying for you to be his date to a premiere. "Who else would I take? You're the only person I considered beautiful enough to be on my arm." He spoke jokingly, even if he was being completely honest.

"Christopher, stop lying to yourself. We both know how hot that girl you picked up at the bar last week was. Hell, if you hadn’t hit on her, I might have." To you, she was absolutely his style. Beautiful and damaged.

"I mean, she was okay. But she's not you." You poked your head out the curtain, making sure to keep your lack of clothing hidden.

"Seriously, Chris…" You deadpanned. "Stop it. We both know she'd look far better in the dress than I do." You closed the curtain to finish adjusting your dress, making sure no bits were showing.

He'd been frowning at his phone since you brought the girl up, but his face softened when you stepped out. You adjusted the beading on the shoulders and smoothed your hands over the black, silky fabric on the hips.

"I mean, heels are necessary…" You lifted up on your tiptoes. "But I think I like it." You turned a little, showing off just how the fabric fit your body.

Chris was speechless. All the words he had previously thought to say had all died on his tongue.

"Is it bad?" You immediately started to panic due to his lack of verbal confirmation. "I can find another one if this doesn't look good." You started for the dressing room, hand on the curtain when he stopped you.

He could have sworn he had never moved that fast in his life. One second he was sitting. The next he was up, pulling you back, flush to him, hand on your hip to stop you from leaving. You made eye contact in the mirror.

"It's perfect. You… you're perfect." His words melted your anxiety. "I don't think any other dress will do you justice. This is the one.." He smiled, causing you to reciprocate.

"All you had to say was 'It's fine, Y/n.' That would have sufficed." He chuckled, then leaned in to peck your temple.

"No, I think my response was just fine." That dress was by far one of the most expensive things he had ever purchased for a woman that wasn't his mother. But with the way it looked on you and the smile on your face while you wore it? It was worth it. He'd give anything to keep that smile on your face.

Work was kicking your ass. Long days of staring at a computer screen, answering customers' questions about high-speed internet options, wouldn't have been your first pick. But it paid your portion of the rent and kept food in your refrigerator.

After a particularly long day, you kicked off your heels at the front door and grabbed a beer out the fridge. Leaning against the counter as you took your first refreshing swig. "Long day?" You nearly choked hearing your roommates voice. You must have been so out of it you didn't see or hear him come out of the bathroom.

You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, "That obvious?" Your eyes landed on him as he slotted himself in the space next to you, towel around his waist, fresh from the shower. You quickly averted your eyes, suddenly finding the countertop very fascinating.

"I mean, you don't usually come in and drink without taking off your work clothes first. So, yeah." Chuckling, he continued, "Everything alright?" He asked.

You hummed. "Just burnt out, I guess. I got an email about retirement benefits today, and it just kind of made me realize that selling internet packages might not be what I want to be doing in twenty or thirty years."

He puffed out a small laugh. "That's what made you realize that?"

You playfully nudged him. "Oh, shut up. We can't all do what we love and be kind of successful at it. It just doesn't happen for everyone like that." Chris had been acting since childhood. He had a string of successful commercials and short films.

He had recently gotten the call to be the second male lead in a Netflix drama. He'd be flying out soon to start filming. "It could. If you want it, that is."

You tilted your head, face scrunched in confusion. "We can't always get what we want, Chris." You scoffed, just now noticing how close he was to you.

"I think we can if we put in the effort." He shrugged, “Knowing what you want and going after it wholeheartedly is key.” he leaned in closer, his warm, peppery scent invading your senses.

You gulped but covered it with a chuckle. “I don’t know what I want.” You picked at the label on the beer bottle. “Can’t chase after something when you don’t know what that something is.”

He softly grabbed your chin to make you look at him, "We can figure it out together." The way his eyes sparkled as he talked seemed to pull you in. The next thing you know, your lips are on his. It felt like longing. Like both of you had wanted this forever.

He cupped your face, thumbs rubbing over your cheekbones. His touches and kisses were both very soft, lulling you into this cocoon of safety. He lifted you on the countertop and slotted himself between your legs. There was something comforting about his presence, something that made you feel like you were wrapped in the warmest of blankets.

You both pulled away from the kiss, trying desperately to catch your breath. He stripped you out of your shirt, tossing it somewhere between the kitchen and entrance. His lips were soon back on yours before migrating down to your neck to your chest. He left light bites on your skin, making it down to your breasts where nibbles soon became full of bite marks.

He didn't even bother getting rid of your bra. He just pulled the cups down enough to free them to have his fill. He took his time, plush lips circling over your bud, tongue swirling around it before teeth sunk into it. He was soft, then rough, just to be soft once more, and you were loving every bit of it.

You worked your fingers into his hair, lightly tugging the strands. He groaned. Did he like having his hair pulled? You tested the waters again, tugging a little harder this time. He pulled away from your breasts, but not without dragging his teeth over your nipple. "Unless you like it really rough, I suggest you stop." Your brow rose, intrigued.

He pinched your nipple, his eyes boring right into yours. "We can try that some other time." What made him think you'd be crazy enough to do this again? But then again, all the girls eventually came back. So he must be doing something right. Curiosity got the better of you, and you tugged the towel, watching it fall. Your mouth might as well have dropped to the floor with it.

"Well, I'll be damned." No wonder these girls were absolutely obsessed with this man. He was huge. "All this time?" You questioned, more so to yourself than him.

"Eyes up here." He grabbed your face again, making you look him in the eyes. "Keep your eyes on me." You didn't know what it was about his voice that made a shiver run down your spine, but it did. You nodded, complying almost immediately.

He pulled you off the edge a little before lightly pushing your shoulder to lie back. Off went your slacks and panties, probably landing wherever your shirt was. He continued his trail down your stomach to your mound, where he placed an open-mouthed kiss there. He made his descent, and the first lick felt like a shock of lightning. It felt like his tongue covered your whole pussy.

Your head fell back as you moaned. His breath danced along your lips as he moved from your cunt to your clit, seemingly savoring the taste. He moaned around your bud, sending chills through you. It really felt like you'd ascend from the way he used his mouth.

Like your soul would just leave your body, just to watch the sensual things that man could do with his tongue. When he dipped his thick tongue inside of you, you could help but cum for him. The way he wiggled it, lapping up every drop of you, you had no choice but to give in.

Your toes curled, your hands gripped at the edge of the countertop, moans ringing out and bouncing off the way. The sound of a starved man came from between your legs as he cleaned you up. He lapped you up while you rode out your climax, legs finally closing around his head. He chuckled and effortlessly pulled them apart. He placed kisses on his way back up to your lips. Leaving a peck on every little bite mark he had left on the way down.

He let you taste yourself as he leaned in for a heated kiss. His hand roamed your body before settling on your waist. He pulled back and looked you in the eyes, seemingly searching for consent. You nodded. With one keep swoop, he picked you up and carried you over to the couch, laying you back on the plush surface.

Your head lightly hits the armrest, making you laugh. "Sorry. Are you okay?" He looked over at you before pressing a kiss to the crown of your head.

"I'm fine, Chris. You don't have to try and save me from every little inconvenience, I promise I'll be alright." He chewed on his bottom lip, looking as if he wanted to retort, but he didn’t.

He silently reached past you and dug into the side table drawer, pulling out a condom. "You just have random condom hidey holes?" You looked around to see if he could be hiding them anywhere else.

"Not really." You gave him a suspicious look as he tore the packaging and rolled the condom on. He lined himself up to your entrance and pushed in. The stretch was something you hadn't felt before. How in the hell were people taking this? You bit down on your bottom lip to suppress any strange noises you might have made. He noticed

Chris was kind and hated to see people in pain or upset. He always seemed to try and help, no matter what. So seeing you, his roommate, a friend in pain, pulled on his heartstrings like no other. He leaned in, pressing kisses to the side of your mouth, your jaw, and then your neck. The soft, open-mouthed kisses had you melting. You relaxed. Making it easier for him to slip in. Once he bottomed out, you draped your arms around his neck. Fingers playing with the duck tail of hair at the back of his head.

He kept his eyes on you, focused. His thrusts started slow. Building up a pace to where you could feel every single last vein and inch of skin. Despite the initial struggle, he was like a perfect fit. Your walls wrapped around him like a tight glove. He pecked your lips, then your cheek. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

You chuckled, not buying into his words. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls you have the pleasure of being balls deep in." He shook his head but didn't bother replying.

It felt like his thrust got a little deeper, like he had something to prove. You could feel your wetness being drawn out with each push of his hips. Your eyes rolled back, walls quivering around his length. You stuttered out a curse, trying your best to stay composed. But this man was hitting something so deep in you that you felt you could see stars. You clawed at his forearms desperately. "Faster… please.." You begged. If he made you cum like this there was no telling how your body would react.

He changed his position, putting one of his feet on the floor and pushing your legs in towards your chest. If you wanted him to go faster, he'd oblige. But you didn't specify how much faster. He sped up just a little, but the way he started pounding into you made everything worse.

"Oh.. God…" you groaned out, legs starting to shake for how good it felt. How good he felt. He hadn't taken his eyes off you. Sweat was beginning to pool at his brows, some curls sticking to his forehead.

Your walls clenched around him involuntarily, causing him to whine. He had kept up the façade that this was doing nothing to him. But that couldn't have been far from the truth. The way your walls gripped him, the sounds you were making, the look on your face, how wet you were, and how this was all because of him.

He wanted to make you feel good. Because it was you. Only because it was you. He licked his thumb and started rubbing your clit in harsh circles. You grabbed the armrest, attempting to run away. But he wasn't having that.

He leaned in, pushing your legs even further towards your chest. He felt impossibly deep now. Now, you couldn’t run or hide from him even if you wanted. You were trapped. Forced to stare him in the eye as he rearranged your atoms just to put them back together again. There was just something in the way he looked at you that you couldn't shake. It once again felt like longing. Like he wanted to tell you something that you wouldn't believe. Like he loved you.

You quickly shut your eyes. There was no way you wanted to get caught up in whatever spell he was putting on all the other girls he was fucking. You didn't want to become a crazy girl statistic right here in your own house, on your own couch.

"Look at me… please." He sounded so soft, so sweet, but yet, so sad. Against your better judgment, you did as asked, looking him right in the eyes. Things seemed to go on like this for an eternity until he hit a spot that made your toes curl. He leaned in, kissing you passionately as you came around him.

Your nails dug into his neck and shoulder, making him groan through gritted teeth. He wanted to make it last, and he honestly tried his best. He didn't want the moment to end. He fucked you through your orgasm, just to pull out and cum on your mound and lower stomach. He caught himself before he collapsed on top of you. "W-was that okay....?" It seemed as if his confidence and charisma were at an all-time low.

The air became awkward after you both caught your breath and came to the realization of what you had done. "We.. we shouldn't have done this." You sat up, pulling away from him completely. "I don't know what got into me." You now understood how he could be with so many different women. He felt like comfort personified.

You got up from the couch and started to pace. "Oh my gosh, Y/n, what have you done?" You mumbled to yourself. How could you have let this happen? Regret washed over you immediately. Chris was supposed to be your friend, not someone you found this type of comfort in.

Chris was quiet. He wanted to hug you, comfort you, but you were going through emotions because he couldn't keep his to himself. See, he was in love with you, always had been. But despite him trying his best to show you how he felt, he always went unnoticed. When you started to casually date other people, he fell into the cycle he's in now. Finding comfort in whatever woman that needed the same thing. That's how he got the reputation he has now.

The crazy part was, that most of the time he didn't even sleep with them. He was just a shoulder to cry on, someone that gave great advice from a male's perspective. But the damage to his reputation, being know as a sweet playboy had already stuck. There was nothing he could do about it.

"I know we can't take it back… but let's pretend this never happened? Okay?" You were pleading with him. Asking for a clean slate. Begging for what had been done to be undone. He nodded, eyes shifting to the spot where you were just under him in the throws of passion. His heart clenched. It was breaking.

"I'm so sorry, Chris.." With nothing left to say, you ran off to the bathroom to clean yourself of your indiscretions. You left him there. Alone. You didn't dare look back. Your heart wouldn't be able to take it. Because you did indeed have a heart that you were trying to protect. Even if you might have just broken his.

Chris sat on the couch for what seemed like hours. Truth be told, he really did like you, and he really hoped that maybe something could come out of this. Maybe you'd realize that he had been pining after you this whole time. That he really only had eyes for you. But it seemed that his feelings would stay unnoticed. You'd never reach out a hand and pull him from the abyss he had fallen in. That he would continue to fall at high speeds with no parachute. That you'd never save him.

Fin

A.N: Please reblog, leave a like, or comment to let me know how you feel. I'd love a little feedback. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.

[Rewrites, Reposts, and Translations are Prohibited]

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chibigissy · 1 year ago

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This is gon' be a long post, yo. It's about Super Mario RPG (+ the remake) and Another Crusade. (with SGtWS being the bonus point, lol)

Now, I should probably say this:

I have not heard about Another Crusade until just a couple of days ago so I've known about this until AFTER I got super hyped about the SMRPG Remake. ^^; That said, I would like to talk about it in a fair standpoint. :0

I'm also going to bring up my own project, Seven Guidances to Wishful Safety, as an example of how I took inspiration from Super Mario RPG as well.

But yeah, let's get around to it. ^^

As everyone and their grandmother knows, Super Mario RPG is getting a remake that will release in November and all of us that had been waiting for what felt like eons got super hyped about that! The fan artists raised up like there was no tomorrow (Not to say there was a shortage of fan art but it surely HAS increased since the announcement)

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In fact the only think I am sorta missing is the overly long subtitle "Legend of the Seven Stars". Like I get it, it was a thing the west added when the original was ported over to the states back in the mid '90s and they are not doing that for the remake but still! ;w; Ah well, that's just one thing I'll miss but other then that...HYPE!! :D

But there is a indie game I heard about that has been in development for a couple of years and that game is Another Crusade:

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Now, I will say that the game does look cute! And from who I'm seeing for far, it seems to capture elements of the gameplay that SMRPG has.

With that said... boy do I feel a lil sorry for it. Like, it probably would had a little more hype surrounding it, had it finished a little earlier. (That said, I get that the devs wanted to take their time with this game and a month ago is probably the best earliest announcement time they could do. ;;;;.)

And in all fairness, it was in development for a couple of years and during the beginning, we didn't know SMRPG was coming back. We just assumed that it would have been a faded memory until June of THIS YEAR. ^^;

Hell, to put myself out there, I've literally made a fanime that has basically similar plot elements to SMRPG and that is Seven Guidances to Wishful Safety!!

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This was made back in 2019!!!!! Granted, there were many factors the fell in place for this series existence:

This was for the 2019 Fanime Weekly Challenge, and what I initially planned for said challenge didn't go as well as I hope and had to make changes. I had to think of a story QUICK

TBH, I was a lil' petty towards Nintendo and Square Enix for not giving SMRPG much attention during that point (again, before the remake was announced.)

And the key differences between SGtWS and SMRPG is the fact that the former is sort of an isekai/multi-ream type of story, whereas the latter had most of the characters be the locals in the world itself (minus Geno and especially the Smithy Gang)

So really, even if I was a little more critical of Another Crusade, I know I am not one to criticize because... well, just look at Seven Guidances.

So yeah, even though I very much really want the SMRPG Remake (as well as my own Switch for that matter!!!!), I would also like to give Another Crusade a chance! :0 Since it is on Stream (as well as other platforms), I'll add it to my Steam.

Seems tho that AC is going to release around a couple of days (September 15th) so I could probably give this a chance early while I wait for the SMRPG remake.

I know there are probably going to be some folks being a little more critical of it than I am and I can understand but for me, I want to give it a fair chance. (Again, I am certainly now one to criticize, FDSGOJFDBOTR)

So, yeah, that is my essay like weird take, lol. Hope you enjoy reading and have a good one. ^^

#super mario rpg #another crusade #seven guidances to wishful safety #SMRPG #SGtWS #text post #long post

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incorrectlumityquotes · 4 years ago

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FULL REVIEWS: “Enchanting Grom Fright”

The hype for this episode was unreal. We got the crew telling us that we weren’t ready on social media. It was a madhouse. To think that the little ship that could would have this big a leap in canon is unreal. Let’s just get to it.

The cold open starts with Luz trying to find more glyphs in her off time. I thinks it really shows her development so far. Now she’s willing to do the work to figure out her kind of magic, as oppose to say episode two where she just wanted to be great because she was “chosen.”

“My glyph skills are blossoming”

But then reality ensues...

Using the portal to let the wifi signal into The Owl House is not the dumbest reason I’ve heard to open an interdimensional portal between worlds but it is one of the most mundane. SOMEHOW, Luz can still receive texts from her mom FROM ANOTHER WORLD. Not that it makes too much of a difference since Luz barely answers them.

As much fun as it is to focus on the magic and the shipping and the friendship and the curse, Luz still knows that she’s still lying to her mom. The guilt is there, but luckily being a main character keeps her too busy to think about it.

“Luz, time to fill that darling head of yours with...huuh huuh huuh HAKKK, mmm, mmm, mmh, delicious knowledge.”

Never change, Hooty.

It’s that time of year again that Luz doesn’t know about yet, Grom: The Boiling Isles’ weird version of prom. Every fantasy world has one.

*hiss*

Amity bumps into Luz, and I know this is going to sound weird, but I really like Amity’s “Watch it, nitwit.” Amity’s character has changed and developed from our perspective which is the perspective of Luz and The Owl House fam. But she’s not a completely different character. Amity still has a bit of a temper and gets agitated easily. It makes sense to me and I’m glad I haven’t found anyone be like “Hey if Amity is nicer, why did she get mad when she bumped into someone?”

Amity is nicer to Luz and co. because she’s gotten to know Luz and co. You don’t treat everyone in your life the same. Amity is one of those people that you need to defrost with first. Belief is backed up by experience and so are people’s personas. (Not that persona. I’m being serious here.) Because of Amity’s experiences, she’s believed that in order to survive she has to put people at arm’s length, then when she gets to know you, she’ll decide if she wants to let you in or not. So I guess that means that based on her interactions with Luz, Amity has decided...

You know what? I’ll save that for my Lumity meta.

The popular theory is that Amity was going to put her note in Luz’s locker, hence why she bumped into them. But actually seeing Luz and being announced as grom queen probably made her lose her nerve.

“Embrace your dreams...”

Amity is announced to be this year’s grom queen. Luz is happy for her before Amity runs in shock and embarrassment. Okay.

Luz discovers the gym’s weapons cache (not a thing I thought I would ever type) and Amity explains grom. Since Luz is from the human world and all that.

Grom is a monster that lives under the school and needs to be defeated every year so it doesn’t invade the town. It’s a classic shape-shifting fear monster. Odd are I have (and so have you) at least seen three or four of these in our lives already. Amity doesn’t want to show the entire school her greatest fear, especially since she already knows what it is. Luz suggest talking to Bump and Amity says she’ll try.

Another scene of Eda and King laughing and mocking Luz. Because I liked it so much the first time.

Eda gets dressed up herself because she’s volunteered to chaperone grom. Luz tells her that Amity is grom queen but wishes that she could take her place. We get...you know and Luz walks off.

“I think we should kiss to ease the tension.”

Luz randomly meets up with Amity in the woods because I guess Amity had the same idea to take a walk to clear her head. Whatever. Amity tells Luz that Bump wasn’t going to change his mind unless Amity found a replacement. Luz volunteers because...she’s Luz, friend to all.

Except maybe that spider.

Top 10 Anime Betrayals

The Blight Siblings try to help Luz train against grom only for Eda to find out about their little plan. Here’s where we find out why Eda volunteered to chaperone a Hexside event even though she hates that place:

“What’s the fun in watching a kid get eaten by a monster if it’s my kid?”

That’s hilarious. To me.

Luz and Amity have a moment before Luz’s debut and Amity thanks Luz for everything she’s done. They have more adorable banter before Luz takes the stage.

“Wish me luck.”

“Luck.”

I’m guessing that’s not an expression in The Boiling Isles.

Luz faces Grom and it seems to be going better than everyone predicted until...you know

“Mija, this would be such a good shot for the trailer.”

Yup, we all predicted this. Luz’s greatest fear is her mom finding out that she’s been lying to her. Luz panics and takes off with Eda and Amity to chase after her.

Eda comes in for the save when Amity bursts in the scene saying “Boy let me tell you what.” She doesn’t really I just like saying that. You know, in my head. I mean, if you heard the way I was saying it out loud you’d probably think it was funny too but you know...text.

Grom gets a hold of Amity and transforms into her greatest fear. And we see why Amity didn’t want to face Grom in front of the whole school. She didn’t want everyone to see that Amity’s fear is very...emotional. Not physical. She’s not afraid of a giant spider or anything. It’s a little closer to the heart.

Amity clutching at her dress like a little kid is both the cutest and the saddest thing. This fear of hers is so bad it makes this fourteen year old feel like she’s four. I’m so sure she was about to cry right there. Or maybe that’s me. Could be both.

Luz picks up the note and discovers that Amity was trying to ask somebody out before she was announced as grom queen. Amity was afraid of being rejected. Luz tries to ease her fears by asking her out to grom.

Trying seeing it from Luz’s point of view. She has no idea who Amity wants to ask out. Luz doesn’t even consider that it could be her because again, belief is backed by experience. Luz was considered a weirdo with no friends in the human world. She even said earlier in the episode that she got kicked out of her last school dance for dressing like an otter. Luz has no reason to believe that someone would like her romantically. She would like to. It is a fantasy of hers, but her experience tells her that other people don’t see her that way so she doesn’t consider that Amity wanted to ask Luz out.

I’ll save the rest for another blog post, although I did talk about this last year too.

But since Amity did want to ask Luz out and Luz asked her out instead, Amity’s fears are eased. Grom does what every fear monster does when their target overcomes their fears and says “Screw it, I’m just going to kick your ass!”

And then this happens:

As a Star vs the Forces of Evil fan, let me just say this is our Blood Moon Ball moment. The moment that the show tells the audience in John Oliver’s voice, “Yup this is the ship we’re doing so strap in folks.”

Luz and Amity work together to combine magic to take down Grom. It also helps that they eased each others’ fears. Luz can’t think about her mom if she’s focused on helping Amity.

Luz and Amity defeat Grom in a blaze of glory. Luz being Luz, decides to ask Amity who she wanted to ask out just to see if she would tell you. Amity brushes it off.

“It doesn’t matter. After all, I already got to dance with the girl I like.”

Everyone celebrates but when Luz gets home she’s more tired than anything.

Maybe it was Grom, but Luz decides to give her mom a real answer. It’s been tough but it’s also been fun. There are good and bad days. Sometimes she feels like she doesn’t belong. But she has friends. They care about her, she cares about them, and that’s more than enough reason to stay.

THEN THIS SHIT HAPPENS!

Yeah, the Meteora moment in Star vs the Forces of Evil. The moment where the show went “Never mind that shit. Here comes a complete change in the status quo.”

Someone or something is sending Luz’s mom letters. It’s Luz’s handwriting, but it’s clearly not Luz since she can’t spell her name right. Season one already finished and we still have no idea what this is.

I was all happy a second ago. Now I’m nervous as all hell. It’s a madhouse I tells ya. A madhouse!

FINAL SCORE: 5 - LOVED IT!

Wow. Just wow. This episode had everything. Jokes, plot, romance, character development, cameos, dancing, girls, MOM(?), crashing on your couch because technically I’m homeless.

I shipped Lumity before this, but this was the episode that told me that yes it was going to happen. We’re all in.

But it’s not perfect.

Yeah, did any of you noticed that I didn’t even mention the B-plot? I’m going to be honest. The reason is...

I hate it.

I hate the B-plot so much that I skip it every time I watch this episode. I still don’t think Gus is that funny or interesting. Hell, Skara’s mini plot with her date and/or boyfriend was funnier.

But everything else about the episode more than outshines the B-plot so I still give it a five.

Next time we finish up the lumity trilogy next time.

Dammit I said next time twice.

#the owl house #my works #full review #full reviews

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pangolin-404 · 4 years ago

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pokemon rejuvenation liveblog pt. 2: electric boogaloo

(spoilers up to 2nd gym badge)

Someone from the previous post suggested I trade my Rockruff for another Rockruff that would evolve into Dusk Form Lycanroc so I did that! And he ended up being very powerful! Thank u

I end up staying at route 2 and putting off Shinx acquisition because I don’t want to spend 300 dollars for one trip. Some guy ran into me and stole 2000 off me and I’m prepared to commit a war crime

At some point I do go back to East Gearen and finish all the side quests and get the Shinx (replacing the Nidorina). Including the jerk who sicked circus lions on me. I also get the Zygarde Cube and start collecting them which is cool

Some others and MC go into Amethyst Cave looking for another person who went missing, and some Team Xen grunts tell us they pushed her off a bridge and she’s definitely dead. One of the higher ups even shows one of her items to prove it. At this point I’m doubtful she’s dead because we’ve all heard the trope of someone-dies-but-surprise!-they-just-lost-that-item

Once we get out I end up talking to the village sensei and he asks me to get this Soul Stone. He tries contacting her spirit with it but fails so he says she’s definitely moved on (I am still suspicious)

I eventually go do some of the side quests for THIS town and explore this ancient library. I get swarmed by 500 million Unown. The woman who speared a boat through, killed someone, and possible enslaved some others was there and stole a mega ring, which was interesting. I feel like she projected some childhood trauma while mocking me

I collect some books and awkwardly sidestep what I thought was the ghost of some lost victorian era child to put the books back in the shelf. apparently that was in fact the overworld sprite of an Elgyem, which got so hyped I filled a bookshelf they threw themself at me so now I have one of those now. i exit the library and don’t give the guy who hired me a book that translates an ancient language. I note this because I’m not sure if that’ll be relevant later

I completed a quest but when I went to tell the woman her boyfriend is safe, she proceeded to reveal her true form as a Ditto, as the real person walked in (very confused). The Ditto transforms to mimic a Jirachi plush and runs off. i feel like i’ll see them again some day

The Sherian gym leader, who is also the sensei who suffers from lots of family issues and depression, confirms

I lost 2 too many times to the Sheridan gym leader so I go to the clown tent thing and set game mode to casual. I gently ignore the mess that is the family drama of this town and beat the gym leader

but i do not get the badge. i am sitting there with my maxed out team looking for the badge where is it i want to see more numbers go up

I forgot when but at some point MC finds out the Sensei ripped his own emotions out, and his emotion-soul-thing is just kinda lurking in this cave oasis like that’s not eerie at all

There’s a funny little AI named SEC who gets very angry and I just think he’s neat. he keeps blowing himself up. There’s another AI named CLARA and she’s cool too

While running around I find a Mime. Jr and get flashbacks to a Tumblr post like “I found this guy and of course I saved him! Apparently he’s MISSABLE because this place BLOWS UP” and I go “OH” and snatch the baby

I also see a couple of grunts from earlier. They bickered but they seemed chill. One of them was in a test tube alongside Pokemon and I’m just like “oh no im sure that won’t hurt my heart later” and awkwardly leave the other grunt to her scheming

I’m not entirely sure what series of events went down but the Sensei was underneath a mountain perhaps working for Team Xen, after giving them ownership of the village in his younger years which is?? something dude you need help

MEWTWO WWOWOWO

Keta (the Sensei) Actually Dies by Mewtwo’s hand to buy MC and a couple others time to Not Die and shut off the generator

The Rift Pokemon is a Volcanion infant fused to machinery to function as a power generator that I have to destroy (read: kill) so it can be set free. I am canonically a child I feel like MC will not go through this without some trauma

Mewtwo and Evil Person Who Made Him appear and Mewtwo goes rogue and strangles her and everything starts going downhill

So we’re teleported away by this lady and her Gothitelle and the facility has a meltdown. I’m not sure what Crescent’s deal is but she seems to know what’s going on and other folks seem scared of her?

(Note I’m not sure if the grunt and her friend-in-a-test-tube-being-tortured are alive but if they are I can’t wait to see what tragedy that turns out to be)

Apparently MC was missing for a week before falling from the sky

The village Eldest shows me a place where I can purify shadow Pokemon which is neat

I take two steps and the emotion-soul-Keta from earlier appears and demands to battle me so I can put his soul to rest. Finally, after I win, he hands over the 2nd badge and dissolves like a bath bomb

His statue explodes into existence and I realize I’m probably going to face off 4 more ghosts because why else would there be 4 more pedestals exactly like the one Keta’s on

FINALLY I CAN HIT LEVEL 30 but nobody on my team will evolve until then unless I find a leaf stone for Wigglethorn the Weepinbell BUT I’M GETTING THERE

+The Lads

#thoughts #pokemon rejuvenation #pokemon rejuvenation liveblog #pokemon #pokemon posting

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fromzerotoeuphoria · 4 years ago

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Addressing Haru’s Emotions Towards Makoto vs Rin (Season 1, Ep 11 & 12)

(ft. my low quality first attempt at gifmaking)

So I was innocently looking up Rin and Haru meta on Google (I’m addicted to RinHaru meta plz send help) when I came across this little thread that tried to discredit RinHaru by comparing Haru’s emotional confrontation with Rin in S01E12 vs Haru’s emotional “thank you” to Makoto in S1E11.

Oh give me a break.

{gif from google}

Disclaimer before we dive in:

Now, I know this was posted by antis back when the shipwars within the fandom were at their worst, but I still wanted to address this because I myself am new to Free! and the fandom (I discovered Free! a couple of months ago in mid-July), and being so new to the fandom, these kinds of comments hit like they’re fresh, ya know? I know for me, finding posts of people defending both Rin and RinHaru against the hate really brought me comfort as a baby in the fandom, and I know there are new people coming into the fandom who may feel the same way.

Also, although many of these tumblr posts were written years ago, I still see this kind of stuff active on the internet: on youtube, anime forums, and even kpop forums, believe it or not. So there are still people out there who think these kinds of ways and say these kinds of things, and hopefully addressing posts like these will help highlight the inaccuracies in this kind of thinking...while, again, bringing a sense of consolation to other RinHaru shippers out there.

Makoto is my lil-big squish and I appreciate the MakoHaru friendship, so in no way am I trying to undermine their relationship because it is important (and there’s no way you can deny that Haru does love Makoto at least platonically). So though I may come off strong towards these types of MH shippers, it doesn’t mean I’m talking about all MH shippers and it’s certainly not towards Makoto. I will, however, place things in a proper perspective because I see a lot of exaggerating and misrepresenting going on in order to undermine just how much Rin means to Haru (which is baffling to me because it’s so obvious and CANON just how strongly Haru cares about Rin and wants him in his life).

And YES, I’m a RinHaru shipper. There is a possibility of ship-bias, but I do my best to be fair. Plus, I love these boys.

Well, let’s get into it.

(tl;dr in bold & at end of post)

...but telling Makoto “thank you” and that he “appreciates him being here for him” is overwhelming to the point that he can’t even look at Makoto while talking and feels the need to run out of his room in the middle of the night, the night before their super important relay.

So the scene with Makoto being referenced by OP is the MakoHaru scene in S01E11 in which both Makoto and Haru are in their hotel room the night before the big tournament. They’re in their respective beds, and Haru opens up to Makoto and thanks him for always being there for him. Feeling embarrassed as well as being unable to sleep, Haru leaves and goes for a run.

Then of course, the climactic scene of the whole season: Rin and Haru’s final confrontation. No need for me to summarize it because we ALL know what goes down:

last gif brought to you straight out of a shoujo manga ;D

Comparing Haru's reactions between these two counters is erroneous because so much about them is different, and thus Haru is coming from totally different places emotionally.

These are two different situations under completely different circumstances (with two different people who hold different places in Haru's heart. Again, different). With Makoto, you had a sweet, heartfelt moment in which Haru opens up his heart to his best friend and thanks Makoto deeply (in his Haru-like way) for always being there for him, for being someone he can always depend on and lean upon for all these years. With Rin, you had a culmination of so much raw emotion and misunderstanding between two friends who cared about each other—but thought the other person didn’t reciprocate—finally coming to a head-on collision. This has Haru in a completely different mental and emotional state when he confronted Rin than when he was with Makoto in their hotel room.

Haru went through a whole freakin' lot over the years, even just in Season 1 alone. He just experienced an "existential crisis" of sorts in eps 8 and 9 after Rin told him he was never going to swim with him again, and Makoto was a big part of why Haru was able to overcome that feeling of blackness and discover his enjoyment in swimming relay (Rei and Nagisa and their team-manship being the other part of the reason). Makoto has been THE constant support in Haru's life, always supporting him from the shadows and taking care of him without ever asking for anything in return. I believe that in the excitement, anticipation and emotions of the entire team's journey thus far that brought them to that hotel room for their big tournament, Haru began thinking about everything that led up to such a big moment in their lives. And he knew that the major support in his life right there in the hotel room with him, and in this poignant moment, Haru expresses his gratitude.

(Sidenote: a confession of gratitude =/= a love confession, folks. I've seen people hype up that Shimizaki called it a “confession” from Haru to Makoto, and that Utsumi agreed, and so they somehow equate it to a "confession of love" when…sorry luvs, but no. In the same statement Utsumi says, "…it is a confession to his best friend.[…] this is the first time he openly expresses his feelings of gratitude for that consistent support." It’s a confession of gratitude, not non-platonic “love.”) [x]

And Haru being Haru, he doesn’t often express himself emotionally. The hotel scene was one of the few times Haru ever verbally expressed to Makoto how deeply he appreciates him, and of course, as someone who doesn’t express their emotions or feelings on the regular, he was embarrassed. I agree that it’s totally sweet and makes you uwu because Haru expressing his emotions is uwu, and the fact that he did it to his best friend Makoto who's BEEN deserving it makes it even more UWU. I totally understand how this scene is precious to MakoHaru shippers, and it should be for it was a very sweet and heartwarming scene between the two best friends (and it was about time Haruka expressed his appreciation to Makoto).

That being said, trying to use an exaggeration of what actually happened in that scene as ammo against Haru’s feelings for Rin is just...not it. Haru didn’t leave the hotel room solely because he was embarrassed about thanking Makoto, and certainly not because:

...telling Makoto “thank you” and that he “appreciates him being here for him” is overwhelming to the point that he can’t even look at Makoto while talking and feels the need to run out of his room in the middle of the night, the night before their super important relay.

...as OP claims. There were other factors that played a much more significant part in Haru feeling “overwhelmed” and causing him to “feel the need to run out of his room in the middle of the night before their super important relay”—one of those factors being said super important relay.

We know Haru is nervous about the tournament and can’t sleep because of it—Makoto even calls him out on this. Then shortly after, when Haru runs into Nagisa out in the town, Nagisa and Haru go to a nearby playground and Nagisa also asks Haru if he’s can't sleep because he's nervous. Haru tries to dodge the question (he doesn’t want to admit it, very on brand for Haru), but when Nagisa admits that even he’s nervous—and has been so since they got onto the bus—Haru is shocked and asks, “You are??!” He’s surprised that he wasn’t the only one feeling nervous about the tournament, which confirms Makoto’s observation from earlier: that Haru is nervous about the tournament and can’t sleep because of it. This along with him being embarrassed are why he goes out for the run. (But honestly, it makes way more sense to the story that it was primarily because of his nervousness about the tournament that he left the hotel room, not because he was embarrassed thanking Makoto).

Also, just pointing out: Nagisa reveals one of the reasons why Haru is nervous about the tournament (and therefore one of the reasons he can’t sleep):

Nagisa: “We’ll be racing Rin-chan tomorrow. That’s probably why you’re nervous.”

I know that some shippers out there (*eyes OPs*) would love to tell themselves that it was all just Haru feeling so overwhelmed with emotion from merely telling Makoto that he appreciates him, and that Haru just couldn’t handle sharing these emotions with the one he luvvvs so he runs out into the middle of the night because it’s all just TOO OVERWHELMING...

...but, that’s just not how it actually was.

YES Haru was embarrassed from expressing his appreciation to Makoto, but he was also nervous and anxious about the tournament—and about racing against Rin. Remember, the last time he raced Rin in ep 7/8, Rin won and told Haru he’d never have to swim with him again. That left Haru in a black hole; yet on the flip side, when he had raced Rin in middle school and won, Rin said that he was quitting swimming and in turn, Haru also quit competitive swimming because he thought he hurt Rin. So in Haru's mind: "beating Rin = losing Rin, which means I get hurt BUT ALSO Rin winning = never swimming with him again/losing Rin, which still means I get hurt." So you can imagine the apprehension, anxiety and nervousness Haru is dealing with from all these different uncertainties. (@skania explains Haru’s internal dilemma regarding beating Rin very well in this post; seriously you guys her Free! Meta is everything I'm in love with her posts, please go check her stuff out.)

Haru being embarrassed with Makoto does NOT mean that, as the mh shippers in the OP are insinuating, Haru doesn’t actually care about Rin because he wasn’t “overwhelmed” with emotion enough to run from the situation, but instead was “just fine” during his confrontation with Rin.

i still can’t get over the fact that Haru gets through the entire end scene with Rin face-to-face just fine (where they’re yelling about feelings and Rin’s crying on him and everything’s so amped up between them)

Umm…did you guys just skip over this entire scene that was legitimately the most emotionally-charged scene in the entire season?

youtube

Haru literally has tears in his eyes as he finally [and “desperately”] reveals to Rin how he really feels [x]:

Did you not hear how just seconds earlier, Haru was literally shouting his feelings to Rin, and how before that he momentarily fell back into a black hole at the thought of never being able to swim with Rin again?

Did you totally miss how even Nagisa pointed out that Haru wasn’t in the condition to swim their relay at their "super important tournament" because he was so devastated about Rin? Did you not watch as Haru risked his relay race at said "super important tournament" to go look for Rin—”running with abandon”—and reconcile with him?

Did y’all not watch the same anime as the rest of us in which the whole resolution is Haru and the rest of the guys willingly getting disqualified at the super important tournament just so they could have a chance to swim relay with Rin again?

Are you guys so obsessed with your ship that you willingly blind yourselves to what’s actually going on in the anime outside of your otp?

Like I said above, Haru was in different emotional states in these two scenes:

With Makoto, Haru is embarrassed from emotionally opening up and expressing his appreciation for Makoto—something he does not usually do—coupled with his anxiety and nervousness about the relay.

With Rin, Haru is in pure relief that after all of this time, after all of these years, Rin feels the same as him and that he’s finally able to reconcile with his friend.

What did the OPs expect, for Haru to run away from Rin in that scene because he’s so overwhelmed with emotion? Haru ran after Rin—he was DONE running away from Rin, and with Rin running away from him. This entire episode was about their reconcilement, not them running away from each other yet again. Haru is finally free from the emotional weights of his unresolved conflict with Rin, and what OPs claim to be Haru being “just fine” is in actuality Haru being utterly relieved and happy. Throughout the season, Haru had been wanting to feel free, but it wasn't until he and Rin reconciled that he actually achieved that freedom.Can you really deny the emotion in Haru’s eyes and smile during this scene? I mean, just look at him:

Do you really think KyoAni is going to have Haru be “jUsT fInE” after he finally made things right with the friend who had been haunting him ever since elementary school?

BOTH scenes were emotional for Haru. BOTH scenes were important for Haru, and for his friends involved. BOTH interactions evoked strong emotions within Haru because he loves and cares about BOTH Makoto and Rin.

Tl;dr: Haru was much more (expressively) emotional in the entirety of ep12—let alone in the confrontation scene with Rin—than he was in the hotel room with Makoto. No one can honestly deny that, it's all over the animation and soundtrack and directing of the entire episode. This isn't a knock to Makoto and doesn't mean Haru cares about him any less than he actually does. However, the entire season was about Haru and Rin reconciling + the power of friendship, so of course their reconcilement would be the climax of the show. In addition, throughout the whole season Haru had such powerful emotions when it came to Rin, so it makes sense that their reconcilement scene would be one of the most, dare I say the most emotional scene in the show. That's not bias, that's just merely how it is.

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makeste · 5 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 255: "Hospital”

Previously on BnHA: Aizawa and Present Mic found out their dead best friend Shirakumo was necromanced by All for One and Ujiko and turned into everyone’s favorite villain mom bartender M.D., Kurogiri! Gran Torino and Naomasa were all “hey you guys should talk to him and see if you can restore his memories through the power of friendship” and so they all sat down together to do that. Kurogiri was all “so tell me how is my son Shigaraki Tomura, I love him so much, he is so emo and I must protect him” and Aizawa and Mic were all “THIS GUY HASN’T CHANGED ONE IOTA” and Aizawa started crying and was all “SHIRAKUMO LET’S GET MARRIED AGAIN AND BE HEROES TOGETHER LIKE WE ALWAYS WANTED.” Oh and also we found out Aizawa only fake expelled his previous students and it was just so that he could PREPARE THEM FOR LIFE!! and afterwards they got to go back to U.A. again and live happily ever after. And so basically I’ve lost track of how many hugs Aizawa needs here now but it’s a lot.

Today on BnHA: Shiraguri’s brainwaves start going all wonky and everyone is like “OH SHIT IT’S WORKING” and Aizawa and Mic decide it’s time to shift this drama into overdrive, so they get right up against the glass and start shouting “YOU’RE OUR FRIEND!!” and stuff over and over until IT FINALLY WORKS!! and Kurogiri’s face shifts into Shirakumo’s. Somehow the effect is incredibly sad and moving rather than terrifying as fuck, but unfortunately all Kumo can manage to get out is “hospital” before his mind overloads and he passes out. Fortunately for our heroes, “hospital” is actually an awesome clue which can totally lead them to Tomura and Ujiko’s location if they play their cards right, probably! Or at least Hawks seems really psyched about it, idk. Anyway so the chapter ends with Ujiko going FULL MAD SCIENTIST and wreaking havoc on Tomura’s body in order to -- I’m pretty sure, anyway -- turn him into some kind of fully sentient ultimate high end Noumu. Welllllll shit.

so that sure was a fun little wrinkle last week, huh. the two biggest scanlators deciding that in the spirit of the holidays, they were going to stop translating WSJ series and instead support the official releases out of the goodness of their hearts and definitely not at all because Shueisha was eyeing them threateningly and making little throat-slitting gestures. that was a ride. these are interesting times lol

but at any rate, if this is how it’s going to be for now then I’ll adjust! it is nice to have everyone support the official release, and obviously the image quality is way better, and Caleb’s translations are by and large pretty good. and obviously we’ll get used to reading the chapter on Sundays instead of Fridays (hell, I remember when the SJ leaks still came out on Wednesdays, so it’s not like we haven’t done this same old song and dance before lol). but Friday did happen to be a more convenient day for my schedule personally, so it might take a bit of adjusting for me to figure out what my posting schedule is going to be moving forward

anyways so I’m sorry this recap is so ridiculously late, but here we go at last!

so the Tartarus guard, who by the way is very clearly Seiji’s dad (WHEN ARE THE SHIKETSU KIDS COMING BACK), is tapping frantically at his touch screen even though it’s not doing anything, and he says he’s detecting unusual brainwaves. omg

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK IT MEANS, OBVIOUSLY THEY UNLOCKED THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, MAN! THEY DID IT

omfg. the guard just says “he’s agitated.” I’m going to need you to have more hype than that my good sir. please

holy shit Nao

attention everyone, HAS ANYONE SEEN NAOMASA’S FUCKING CHILL, BECAUSE HE SEEMS TO HAVE FUCKING MISPLACED THAT SHIT. someone please explain to this man that there is a time and a place to play good cop bad cop and this is not it. “oh, Shirakumo is starting to recover his memories? well then [busts into the prison cell and grabs him by the collar and slams him against the wall] WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR!?”

(ETA: so apparently Nao’s detective instincts are cleverer than mine. he saw that Kumo was potentially going to emerge, but probably not for long, so he gave him the most important question so he could focus on answering that. good job! still not a lot of chill but hey.)

meanwhile Aizawa is all “if what they said is true I’m looking at my friend’s corpse”, while still crying by the way, and yeah, so MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE. this year Santa decided to change it up and just make everyone real sad. happy holidays

lord he’s leaping to his feet and shouting “WHO DID THIS TO YOU”

meanwhile I can’t stop staring at Present Mic with his tongue sticking out. why are you sticking your tongue out. why are anime characters like this. you know, Stain also used to stick his tongue out. Present Mic U.A. traitor confirmed

also!! so many people have beef with Ujiko, though! pretty soon they will have to take a number and get in line

oh no Kumogiri is malfunctioning

Aizawa’s all “ANSWER ME SHIRAKUMO” and OH MY GOD LOOK AT THIS

I HAVE NEVER SEEN AIZAWA SHOUTA SO INTENSE AND I CAN’T TEAR MY EYES AWAY FROM THE SCREEN AHHHHH

so there’s some more of “WE WANTED TO BE HEROES TOGETHER” and “YOUR NAME IS SHIRAKUMO OBORO” and all of that other “SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY” stuff, and you’re damn right I am eating ALL THAT SHIT right up, hell yes. IT’S A TROPE FOR A REASON PEOPLE

oh my god

bwo...hh...?

(ETA: I feel like I should explain that although I have a subscription to Viz, I really hate how their chapter viewer is set up, so I read the chapter on one of the vertical scroll-to-read sites instead. I prefer scroll-to-read for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is so that I can read the chapter slowly (since I’m writing as I go) without spoiling what’s in the next panel. that being said, this next page is one of the few where Viz obviously got it right, so I’ll be posting the full image.)

SDFLSDLFKHSDLKJGOISDJFOSK

（┐° o ° ┐） ( ｣｡╹o╹｡)｣

feelingsfeelingsfeelingsFEELINGS

(ETA: on a reread I am fascinated by the fact that that bandage on his nose actually seems to be A PERMANENT PART OF HIS FACE APPARENTLY lol what.)

READ THE FUCKING ROOM, DUDE. also look how tiny Gran Torino is. he thought we wouldn’t notice through all of our tears. but we did. would you like me to fetch you a box

ha ha ha so now back to the drama

heh so anyway, the fact that this smoke Shirakumo face still looks like a child is straight up destroying me. how are you guys. how is everyone. feliz navidad

FKSLDJSLK HOLD UP

IS HE TRYING TO SAY “SHOUTA”, I CAN’T, I’M?!?!!!!

ADSLFKJALSKDJW

(ETA: I think you can see Shirakumo’s eye rolling back here as he fights against the brainwashing omg. this chapter’s fucking art, though.)

YESSSSSS you keep on ticking off that checklist of clichés, Horikoshi!! I’m so weak for this shit it’s not even funny. actually that’s not true, this plotline is usually hit or miss with me, but I’ll tell you what though, if there’s one guaranteed way to have me freaking the fuck out rather than sighing and rolling my eyes, it’s to have AIZAWA FUCKING SHOUTA be the one pounding on the wall of glass and screaming at his former lover to fight the layers of conditioning waging war on his mind. ohhhhhh god

lol the brainwave detecting screen is losing its fucking shit also and beeping like crazy. this tension is so thick you could plant a flag in it yeesh

is this Kumo remembering stuff??!

(ETA: thank you to the anon who pointed out I posted the wrong image earlier lol.)

why do shounen characters always recall events from a third-person camera view. curse this ambiguous flashback

AHHHHH

HOSPITALLLL ahh what??? “SHOUTA, HOSPITAL.” oh my god. Shirakumo I commend you for not having your first words after dying and being brought back to life and brainwashed for 15 years and then waking up in a straitjacket in a prison cell be, “FUCK ME OH FUCKING SHIT WHAT THE FUCK.” you and I are very different people but I respect that

HOLY SHIT HIS HEAD EXPLODED

so now everyone’s freaking out and we’re zooming in on Kumo’s eye again. by the way this is going to kill me when it’s animated oh god

OH NO THE PANEL WENT BLACK AND IT GOT ALL SILENT

(ETA: hmm I don’t think Caleb Cook knows what “whump” means nowadays. whump is what I wish we had here. instead it’s just lots of hurt but very little comfort. JUST LOTS OF PAIN AND SADNESS.)

Horikoshi please have mercy oh lord. also I see their hands touching, you. they honestly should be gripping each other fucking white-knuckled, this is all very traumatic. I think that if Shouta was holding Mic’s hand while his other hand was pressed against the glass I would probably start sobbing for real

what the fuck

did they knock him back out?? they seem really calm and optimistic about all this lol

oh godddddd

HE’S NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING SHUT UP. GOD, MIC, WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST GIVE HIM A HUG ALREADY??

so now they’re bidding farewell to Nao and Gran -- and HOLY SHIT --

okay hold up -- I just realized -- Kumo was trying to give them a hint about Ujiko’s location. holy shiiiiit. PLEASE START INVESTIGATING HOSPITALS, NAO AND GRAN. holy shit the Noumu arc is heating uppppp

Aizawa’s asking what’s happening with Kurogiri now, and I feel like he maybe should have asked that immediately after the fact rather than as an afterthought while they were getting ready to leave but okay

Nao says he kind of “short-circuited or something” and yeah that tracks with what we saw. though it sure does make that “THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY FOLKS, GOOD JOB BOYS, YOU GET A GOLD STAR” business just SUPER WEIRD though, but let’s be real, Nao has been swinging and missing with striking the right tone all day today

and now Gran is apologizing to Mic and Aizawa for the exquisite emotional torture he just put them through, but he says something is bound to come from it. WELL YEAH NO SHIT IT HAD GODDAMN BETTER

Aizawa apparently hasn’t run out of sad/tired/haunted expressions yet, if you can believe it

pretty soon everyone is going to be sad, tired, and traumatized! heh. it’s going to be so fucked up hahaha crying smiling emojiiiii

oh hey and we’re cutting to another flashback of AFO doing what he does best, being callously dismissive of human lives!

this guy. right here. is a rat bastard. for real. also Horikoshi sure picked a hell of a chapter to go all out on the art again, jesus. this is probably the first time I’ve looked at AFO’s fucked up face and actually thought “yep, that’s a mutilated human man” rather than “shouldn’t you be out floating in space with your asteroid friends trying to smash the Millennium Falcon?” so anyways yeah this panel is a big NOPE from me, thank you

but on the other hand, when Horikoshi uses those art powers for good, such as carefully penciling in every last individual hair of Aizawa’s perpetual five o’clock shadow, that I don’t mind so much!

yes. yes good

so now they’re vrooming off, and we’re hanging back with Gran and Nao for a minute

YESSSSS GOOD JOB NAO!!

looooool it’s ringing up the head of the HPSC and her phone’s buzzing and she’s giving it this hella dramatic look. like this is some patented Todoroki-level dramatic whooshing right here

that’s just how dramatic this entire arc is going to be, hopefully

WAIT WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

IS THAT A CODED MESSAGE FOR HIM TO GO CHECK OUT THE HOSPITAL. AND HOW BUSY ARE YOU, HAWKS. ARE YOU THE “I AM IN SOME DEEP, DEEP TROUBLE” KIND OF BUSY, OR JUST THE STAYING-IN-CHARACTER KIND OF BUSY. YOU CASUAL BASTARD, WHO CAN EVEN TELL WITH YOU, I’LL JUST HAVE TO SCROLL DOWN TO SEE

oh hh my go

“LITTLE LATE TO ASK ABOUT THIS STUFF” so he comes from the Bakugou Katsuki school of tutoring, eh

I love that he actually followed through on explaining the PLF’s philosophy to Twice. and Twice is such a good boy. he’s studying so diligently. look, he didn’t ask to join a doomsday cult, it just kind of happened so now he’s just doing his best to figure it all out

and it definitely was a coded message, then. smoooooth, HPSC lady, smooth. so I wonder if the fact that she gave him a specific hospital implies a time jump. because I don’t think she’d have him investigate just any old hospital until they had a better lead and/or a more solid idea of what they were looking for

lol what the fuck

well I sure do not have any idea what this man is talking about

-- HOSDFLKJDLY SHIT WE’RE CUTTING TO UJIKO WE ARE CUTTING TO FUCKING UJIKO RED FUCKING ALERT!!!

HE’S TALKING ABOUT TOMURA I’M NOT CALMMMMMMMM AHHHHHH

FUCCKLKL FUCK THE WHAT HOLY SHIT WHAT DID HE DO

oh my god oh my god oh m

he made Tomura a Noumu. holy fucking shit that’s what he did. of course. so he’ll be able to possess multiple quirks, but because he benefits from Ujiko’s years of high end Noumu research, his sense of self will remain intact

AND DOESN’T THIS PROCESS JUST LOOK EVER SO PLEASANT. jesus christ. he’s not even allowed to lie down, for some reason this procedure can only be done while he’s hovering over the bed Exorcist-style with his mouth locked open in a silent scream (ETA: or is that actually his laughter we’re seeing?? because this panel wasn’t raw enough already I guess??) while random spurts of blood come chucking out all over the place. well that’s just

and Tomura fucking volunteered for this. how many scores of others didn’t?? holy fucking shit Ujiko. it’s not easy to be the most evil man in a chapter where a foil-wrapped potato with eye holes started waxing poetic about all the children he harvested and killed like some kind of bloodthirsty sommelier, but YOU FOUND A WAY. dancing a fucking jig while your so-called masterpiece is being gruesomely tortured in the foreground. man if there’s any justice in the world, we’ll find out in this arc that Ujiko used science to make himself immortal so that once he’s finally captured they can just keep killing him over and over again. I do not like him!!

so that’s it! we really are doing this thing, holy shit. Noumu arc here we come. see you guys next decade har dee har

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alywats · 4 years ago

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February 2021 Reading Wrap-Up

It’s that time again, folks. What I read in February, the month of love: Romance, poetry and... math? And in the last book of the month, all 3!

1. The Female Persuasion -Meg Wolitzer (480 pgs) 3

The first third of this book, I was trying to figure out if it was supposed to be ironic or not, then the second third, I was deeply invested in it *not* being ironic, then in the last third? Let's just say the ending was the worst part.

A commentary on feminism that tried to be self aware, but ultimately ended up as un-intersectional, lacking in plot, and predictable. My favorite character was Cory, I felt like he had the best moments of struggle and growth, and it seems underwhelming that in a book so focused on feminism and female empowerment, it was a man's story that stood out. This book seems like a valiant swing but total miss. Sorry bout it.

2. Shipped -Angie Hockman (336 pgs) 3

I needed some escapism and that is exactly what this Romance On A Galapagos Cruise novel did for me. Winter and the pandemic are both hitting me hard so it was nice to think about the sun and travel and falling in love. The actual plot and writing here did fall into pretty predictable and mediocre tropes, so I can't say that this novel had a lot of depth.

3. Dearly: New Poems -Margaret Atwood (124 pgs) 3.5

Margaret Atwood has a distinct voice that carries throughout all her writing. This was the first poetry I had ever consumed by her, and I was happy to hear that voice in her poetry. With themes of womanhood, climate change, and slug sex, I found myself fully engaged throughout. My criticism is only that some of it seemed overly wordy, making it hard to keep track of Atwood's actual point. I listened to Atwood read it herself, making sure that I wasn't missing the pacing or tone, and every poem fell into the same rhythm, which made it hard for anything to stand out against the rest.

4. Station Eleven -Emily St. John Mandel (333 pgs) 4.5

This was a masterpiece of pandemic fiction: it was very reminiscent of The Stand, but 800 pages lighter, and was still able to capture the humanity and nuance of The End Of The World. After I read Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, I had a lot to say about Shakespeare and the plague, and Station Eleven reinforces it: Shakespeare wrote in a time where the Black Death couldn't be ignored, and yet plague is not a central theme of his work. Instead he wrote about corruption, the hunger for power, the grief of losing loved ones. The Traveling Symphony in Station Eleven perform Shakespeare to the small camps of people who survived a pandemic:

"They'd performed more modern plays sometimes in the first few years, but what was startling, what no one would have anticipated, was that audiences seemed to prefer Shakespeare to their other theatrical offerings."

Whether during the Black Death, the fictional Georgia Flu, or Covid-19, Shakespeare transcends.

5. X + Y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto on Gender -Eugenia Cheng (272 pgs) 2.5

*see previous post*

6. Leave The World Behind -Rumaan Alam (241 pgs) 4

Is this a thriller? No, but it is certainly anxiety-inducing. Reading this in 2021 is hard, because the plot and the emotions it evokes are very near to reality. I loved the claustrophobia of this book, I loved seeing into the thought processes of the characters, and how relatable each person's priorities and analysis of the situation was. Nothing was known for certain, not everyone cooperated, hard decisions did have to be made. It was well done.

7. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -Stieg Larsson (465 pgs) 3.5

I am always a little bit skeptical when I go back and read major bestsellers, because I never think they are going to live up to their hype. And for the first 150-200 pages of this book, I was definitely feeling like this was going to be a major disappointment. But then, shit started going down. Yes, there are issues with this being just another thriller about how violently women are treated, yes there are some issues with the way Lisbeth's character is communicated to the reader, but overall I was impressed by the depth this novel was able to capture. I was on the edge of my seat, I kept reading because I wanted to know how it would all end. And I think that is the mark of a good mystery or thriller. I am going to be continuing this series, and I am hopeful that the depth will continue.

I think I also give this series a little bit more lenience, because the author died after only writing the manuscripts for this series, he was not around for the edits or translations, or to take criticism or change anything in later books after public consumption or reaction to this first one.

8. I Love My Love -Reyna Biddy (116 pgs) 1.5

This poetry collection is very much of the "Rupi Kaur" genre of poetry, which is not for me. I hate to be a pretentious poetry person, but "instagram poetry" where you hit them with a one liner that is obviously trying to be sooooo deep, feels so disingenuous to me. I just lose any authenticity that I may have found in the writing. Some of the themes here were great starts, but Biddy didn't develop them enough poetically for my tastes.

9. The Unhoneymooners -Christina Lauren (400 pgs) 3

Earlier this month I read Shipped by Angie Hockman, which claims to be inspired by or reminiscent of this book. And I found some great escapism in Shipped, reading about love and travel and warm weather was what I needed during this Washington winter, so I decided to treat myself to another. The Unhoneymooners was very similar, I read about love and travel and warm weather while I was in a snowstorm during a pandemic. It did it's job, but I wouldn't say it was revolutionary to the genre or to literature as a whole.

10. Beyond Infinity -Eugenia Cheng (304 pgs) 3.5

This is a fun book if you want a broad guide to thinking about infinity. I think the level of depth is great for both people with a lot of mathy background knowledge, and for people who are just starting to get their feet wet. My major setback with Eugenia Cheng's writing is this: she uses non-math metaphors to make math "relatable" to people who may not have had experience with the content she is explaining. But she doesn't use metaphors that work! I found it so frustrating that she was making the math she was explaining MORE vague and MORE confusing, like by comparing the natural numbers to a Great Dane puppy (??). I just found that those choices in communication made it less effective at it's goal of communicating cool maths!

11. The Feather Thief -Kirk Wallace Johnson (336 pgs) 4

I found this work of nonfiction to be so interesting. At every stage I was shocked that I had never heard about any of this. Science, museums, birds, fly fishing, crime, lying, eBay investigations, the moral implications of feigning mental illness, and what it even means to have a mental illness, this book has explorations of it all.

12. 84, Charing Cross Road -Helene Hanff (97 pgs) 4

What a sweet collection of letters. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the ending was so sad yet so beautiful. Simply warmed my heart and I think you should read this too.

13. Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics -Sarah Glaz, Joanne Growney (255 pgs) 5

More on this to come…. But basically this book is everything to me.

#February Reads #reading wrap up #reads #booklr #books

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kmp78 · 5 years ago

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Once upon a time in Letoland

“And I think we all know who he wants to keep secrets from… 😏😉”

Lol, worst kept secret ever xD VK has been around JL for eight years now. She was sweet seventeen when she first met him, young and naive. We know how she loved to take selfies with celebs at the beginning of her career. She was probably starstruck when she met JL and very easy to control by a control freak like him. She def was enjoying all the “attention” he was giving her. She spent time in LA with him, they went on private hikes, vacation etc. He kept her well hidden for a while, she even went to MARS shows with no one noticing, because she was still a no one at that time. Her model career took off well, she was first really noticed by the press/media together and linked to JL officially in May 2015 which made quite the gossip headlines for a while. The only ever public statement JL made at that time was a snap by JL stating „Don‘t believe the hype“ if I recall correctly. Not one word ever mentioning of VK ever again in public. She followed him basically everywhere in his shadow, always on step behind, one seat in the back. That alone speaks volumes for her. What kind of woman/girl would be willing to play hide and seek for this many years. Being with a man who is that „famous“ and has his place in the entertainment industry, but not standing up to her, instead always claiming he is „single“ in every interview he gives and flirting and enjoying the company of oh so many other girls as well. She is in no position to say no to Jared because she would then risk being replaced by someone more willing than her to follow all his rules. All she knows in her life is how to look pretty and how to please people around her. Blowing kisses to the camera and making awkward sexy poses is 90% of the content you find of her posted online when she is with her other friends. We can only assume that her IQ level is not on the higher shelf, but that‘s just an opinion ofc. She thinks of herself as the next Einstein probably with all the clever quotes she keeps posting 😏

Being with someone like VK can only boost the ego of a JL. Ofc she has all the body features he desires, yes she is the prettiest thing he can afford tagging along as he wishes. It is still beyond my understanding how they could ever have an actual conversation/discussion about anything somewhat relevant, but that is probably not the point here. JL was always very focused on his work and career goals, he would NEVER get a girl in the way of it. Thats another pro point for VK, cuz if he ever gets too „busy“ or bored of her, he could just send her away for a while doing her thing while JL gets all is shit done. Also sth. most girls wouldn‘t want to accept, would they?

He‘s been out and about with VK a couple of times in NYC and LA throughout the years. He is definitely not ashamed to be „SEEN“ with her together, models always make good armcandy, any man would be proud and smug to be seen with a pretty girl that young at his side, proving to the world, he „still has it“.

It is right that VK managed to be puzzled into the strange connections of JL‘s circle over the years. Cutting her off would require some rearrangements and why change sth. that is working out so well for him?

Anyone claiming JL and VK have been „in love“ for all these years is such a cringeworthy imagination. I really hope for both of them they are not. Not because I don‘t want to see JL in love with someone, I actually do, but just in the best way possible. This is not. It does make sense tho. They have been „in bed“ together, that counts for some feelings I guess, otherwise you don‘t stick to the same partner for such a long period of time. Their both characters somehow match together, as I mentioned in the beginning, in a way that both get out of that relationship exactly what they desire. That is probably the reason why they have been sticking to each other for so many years already and are keeping to it. Because they serve each others needs. And that to some extent makes also a functioning relationship.

As long as they will be getting out of this exactly what they think they want, there is no reason to split ways or ending it.

And remember, you can always be in love with yourself, if everyone is following this rule, everyone is loved, right? :)

***

midnight4moon - Well, technically it´s still a BIG secret for a large portion of the fandom.

WE may know aaaall kinds of tidbits about him and his little crumpet, but there are heaps of echies out there who either choose to ignore the fact he might not be as available as he claims to be and as they NEED him to be, or they simply are clueless as hell about this topic.

For example, just earlier today I chatted with someone on Twitter who is apparently a newcomer to this Mars nonsense, and she was pretty much floored when I revealed some VK-related infos to her.

The echies who she had been talking with had convinced her that VK was loooooong gone, so you can imagine her surprise when I introduced some Hawaii news to her.

And there are plenty of her kinds out there in Marsland, folks.

(Which is why I do my best to spread the gospel of #Jalery to just about anyone who will listen HA!)

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alrightinbed-betterwithapen · 6 years ago

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Busted — David x Natalie

A/N: a loverly anon asked me for Natalie and David realizing their feelings. I basically can’t not write smut at this point in my life so here you go! Smutty, smut smut folks!

Summary: Four times they almost get caught. And the fifth time? The fifth time is really their own fault.

Send me requests here!

XxxX

There are four terrifying moments in David and Natalie’s lives where they almost get caught fucking.

Well, technically there are five. During the fifth time... well, let’s just say the word almost doesn’t really apply.

XxxX

The first time is mid April of last year.

David’s 420 vlog is looming and he’s so on edge without posting tri-weekly, he might burst. They all said it would be good for him, he needed a break, but Natalie knew better. David’s life was entirely encompassed by the vlogs. It made him stressed, crazy and exhausted, and he loved every moment of it.

He’s stir crazy, coming up with one idea after the other, the next one as good as the last, yet he’s pulling at his hair and bent over in frustration on the couch. Natalie can’t bear it, he’s so wound up he can’t think straight. She doesn’t like seeing him like this, so unlike himself.

That’s why she drops to her knees in front of him and stares until he mets her gaze. Her hands go to start unbuttoning his black jeans, unwavering from their intense shared look. He lifts his hips to help her push them down to his ankles. And he really can’t help grabbing her ponytail and pulling her face towards his lap. Natalie takes him fully into her mouth, sucking him to full hardness, allowing saliva to dribble out and around him.

The sticky, wet mess sounds obscene as David takes over control of the pace she had set, guiding her mouth over his dick in quick, rough strokes. She starts to gag when his cock hits the back of her throat, but that makes him speed up. He’s groaning openly into the room, fucking Natalie’s face with force behind each thrust. She’s bracing his thighs and opening her throat when David’s grip tightens in her hair and pulls her completely off.

“C’mere,” he murmurs while releasing her hair, yanking her black Clickbait shorts and underwear to the side as he maneuvers her onto his lap. Her arms wrap around his neck, hands curling to grip the hair at the base of his neck when he lines his cock up with her slit, leaking slick just from blowing him.

Their haggard groans bounce off the walls as she sinks down onto him, David’s hands biting into her hips. Fully seated, Natalie leans forward to press her lips to his, pushing her tongue in to find his. He pulls her forward sharply to bottom out, starting slow, deep thrusts that have her moaning into his mouth. She’s rocking her hips with his guidance, doing her best to not pull away from their sloppy kiss, but he’s making her whole body jerk with each rough pound into her cunt. Natalie has to break their kiss and rest her forehead on his shoulder when scoots both their bodies to the edge of the couch, hands bruising her hips, and starts fucking her properly.

That’s when they both hear the garage opening from down the hallway to their bedrooms. Natalie is stunned, still in David’s arms and eyes wide with terror. Then he’s yanking her off his dick and lap in one go, throwing her on to the couch next to him. There’s not a moment for either of them to groan from the loss before he’s standing and pulling his pants back on. Natalie just adjusts her panties and shorts while grabbing the white blanket on the back of the couch to cover her lap.

David’s running a hand through his hair, trying to calm down as the door to the garage squeaks open. He looks at the brunette for a brief moment while moving towards the kitchen, a slight grin on his lips. Natalie grabs for her phone she sat on the coffee table earlier, opening Twitter to distract herself from whoever was making their way towards them.

“Alright, what the hell are we filming today, Dave?” Jason announces as he rounds the hallway into the living space. “Hey, Nat,” he says, giving her a nod as he continues to David in the kitchen. Natalie steals a glance back once Jason had passed her, watching David take a long drag from a water bottle.

He smirks at her.

She rolls her eyes.

XxxX

The second time is in June, and they’re in Chicago.

The club they’re at is packed and Ilya is getting seriously fucked up. So are all the other Vernon Hill boys, but Ilya was really making it his mission to not be able to remember this evening come tomorrow. David is pumped for the footage, but can’t stop looking over at Natalie. She’s wearing a short skirt and translucent blouse that shows off her chest beautifully.

She knows she’s distracting him, so she actively tries to make herself sparse, getting slightly drunk and meandering around the club. He’s not deterred though, moving the group wherever she goes. At least she’s a pleasant distraction for him.

David drops his camera on Mike’s lap and tells him he’ll be back when he sees Natalie skirt away and down the hall of the club towards the restrooms. Having been here before, David is aware that there are single bathrooms down this way, the kind that are perfect for pushing Natalie into and getting his hands on her as he slams and locks the door behind him.

She’s laughing turning in his arms to fall into a kiss they’d been avoiding all night. He’s fast though, knowing what he wants when he lifts her onto the sink and pushes her skirt up.

“You’re not wearing underwear?” David groans, kissing her neck and feeling her wet folds. “Fuuuuck, you’re gonna kill me, Nat.”

“Yeah, probably, but fuck me first,” she replies, pulling at the button of his jeans and dragging down his zipper. He’s hard, he’s been hard since he saw Natalie’s outfit for the night. He’s pulling himself out of his boxer briefs as he turns her around, making her stand and face the mirror, gripping the edge of the sink.

“I want you to watch your slutty little self get fucked,” he says, hand in her hair, stare boring into her through the mirror. She nods and spreads her legs while leaning most of her weight on the sink. He rubs some of the wetness from her on his dick before spitting crudely in his palm and pumping himself. Natalie’s hips impatiently twitch back, watching him with bated breath. David’s smirk should be illegal, she thinks when he pushes all the way in with one fluid roll of his hips.

Natalie’s jaw drops in the mirror, a drunken little uh coming out of her. Davids eye snap shut at that, hips stuttering out a few sharp thrusts without his permission.

“How are you so fucking tight, huh? Little whores that walk around nightclubs without panties shouldn’t be this tight,” he tells her, fucking into her roughly. She’s still staring at him, mouth open, body jerking with his brutal pace. She can’t take it anymore.

“David, fuck! Yeah, please, faster,” she begs, watching him look down to where he’s slipping in and out of her, a look of great concentration on his face.

“Pleeeease Dave, please. Fuck me, fuuuuck me,” she’s crying when he shoves in at just the right angle to hit her g-spot. His head jerks up, peering into Natalie’s desperate eyes, his lips red from biting them as he fucked her. In that moment, he could come just from how slutty and wanton she’s acting, cunt gripping around him.

The moment is interrupted though, by a loud banging on the door.

“Natalie! Are you in there?!” Dima is yelling from the other side of the door, going to wiggle the handle but finding it locked. “Hey, I saw you come this way and I don’t know if you’re in there, but if you are, you should know we’re being kicked out- hey, don’t fuckin’ touch me dude, gimme a second!” they both hear him cut himself off to yell at someone in the hallway, probably security.

“Ilya puked on a bottle girl and they want us out! You need to find David and meet us outside!” He’s hollering, voice growing quieter as he’s most likely being dragged away by the bouncers.

David’s still inside of Natalie, both of them sporting a panicked and mortified face. They just stare at each other, punch drunk with adrenaline, before separating and pulling their clothes back on.

David peeks his head out the door to find the hallway empty, turning to tell Natalie to leave first and he’ll wait a couple minutes. She’s blushes the whole walk outside, ass stinging from the slap David gave her as she trudged out of the dirty bathroom.

XxxX

The third time is in September, when David and Alex have the brilliant idea to pop boner pills.

They’re driving home after dropping Alex off at the apartment. David’s giggly, hyped up and talking a million miles an hour, every once and while reaching down to push on his crotch, desperately trying to relieve pressure.

Natalie’s just drunk enough from her night out with friends, that she doesn’t hesitate to kneel up on the passenger seat and reach over the console to David’s lap. Her hand massages him through his jeans, looking towards him with bitten lips.

“Are you gonna help me out, baby girl,” he mewls, reaching out to turn on self driving, pushing his seat back a bit. Natalie’s nodding as she frees his cock from the confines of his dark, skinny jeans. He is hard, like, a scary shade of red and the head turning purple, hard. She salivates while dropping to lick at the tip, gripping the base. His hands dig into his own scalp while letting Natalie settles into a rhythm, bobbing on his cock and then pausing to lick the vein underneath.

Davids hands flail outwards, hitting his steering wheel hard a couple times when Natalie takes one of his balls into her mouth to suck on while still stroking his shaft. He’s letting out a long, desperate Fuuuuck, when a voice sounds loudly around the Tesla through the speakers.

“David?” Alex’s confused voice asks through the Bluetooth call that he somehow made without realizing, “Hey, are you okay dude?”

Natalie stills, glancing up at David, her glassy, drunk eyes wide. He’s shocked as she is and tries to collect himself before sputtering, “Yeah dude, sorry. Just starting to feel really weird from those pills. I didn’t realize I called you. My bad.”

Natalie pulls away from David and back to her side of the car, wiping her mouth, giving him the most evil little smile he’s ever seen.

“Yeah, I know, me too. Just fucking put it on self drive and get the fuck home. I don’t need you killing yourself and taking Nat with you,” Alex says around a huffed out laugh, none the wiser to what had been happening in the car when he picked up the call.

“For sure, I’ll call you in the morning. Talk to ya later,” David reassures, before swiftly ending the call.

Natalie’s laugh is outrageous and she’s doubled over for a good couple minutes. David just grips his cock, throwing his head back, cursing those stupid fucking pills when Natalie says she’ll finish him off when they get home.

XxxX

The fourth time is during Halloween.

Natalie is dressed up as a devil and David has to really concentrate to not focus his camera on her cleavage while vlogging. She looks so good and David just wants to leave bite marks and hickies on her chest.

She’s dancing around all night, taking advantage of her near bare body being on display. Every once in a while throwing him a flirty, sultry look, each gaze piling up until he snaps. The squad and their friends are now back at David’s, continuing the party well into the night, when he sends her a text that simply says,

I need you to take care of something in the garage.

She doesn’t run, she walks briskly, politely leaving a conversation with Corinna and Kristen to head out to David. When she opens the door, he’s leaning on the back end of his Tesla, the garage door open, staring out into the night. He turns to her, smiling, and jerks his head, motioning follow me. He’s pushing off the car, walking out of the open room and rounding the corner that leads to the five foot wide run along the side of the garage.

Natalie’s smile is bright and sober. She wanted to stay clear headed to remember how David fucks her after a whole night of teasing. There’s a tall, wide shrub that obscures the opening of the run that she has to maneuver around. David is leaning against the rough stucco of his home, palming himself.

Stepping forward, she tells him quietly, “I’m not kneeling on the ground in this to blow you. Just so you know.” He just looks her up and down, a fucking sex demon with lingerie to match.

Grabbing her hip and spinning them so he’s shoving her against the wall, he barricades her in with his right arm, the left running down her chest. He briefly tweaks a nipple through the thin lace and continues his way down to her stomach. She likes this demeanor he has on and stays still on the wall, arms hanging limp at her sides. She lets him massage her mound through the thin fabric, making her throb and start to leak through her clothing. She tilts her head when he leans into her neck, allowing him space to leave kisses.

David pulls back and presses his forehead gently to Natalie’s, a sweet moment juxtaposed by the way he slips his hands into her panties and starts collecting her slick on his first two fingers.

“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The only way you could look better right now is if you were coming around me,” he purrs, eyes searching hers feverishly. He’s pushing into her cunt when he says, “I guess I’ll have to settle for around my fingers.”

Natalie bits her lip, bringing her hands to David’s face and pulling him into a dirty open mouthed kiss. He’s stroking her insides in search of that one spot that makes her scream. As he finds it, loud voices come pouring out of the garage, the sound of the door opening and shutting. She bites his lip hard to stifle a moan.

Zane, Todd and Ilya are laughing about something and they can hear bottles clinking as David keeps caressing her sweet spot and sucking on her tongue. Natalie doesn’t know why she’s not stopping their kiss, but he isn’t putting an end to it either. It’s getting harder and harder to not make noises, and she has to pull away from his lips and bite his shoulder to stop the whimpers when his thumb finds her clit, still working his fingers inside her.

Footsteps grow closer and then stop at the edge of the garage where it meets the run. They pause simultaneously then, almost busted if not for the shrub. And then there’s the tell tale sounds of puking and vomit splattering on the ground. Zane and Todd whoop and try to rally Ilya as David and Natalie cringe. Then the boys are trudging back inside, Ilya yelling about another round of shots. David’s fingers are unmoving inside her when he asks, “Moment killed, huh?”

Natalie knocks her head back on the wall letting out a huge groan of frustration.

Yeah, yeah it was.

XxxX

The fifth time is during Christmas.

Natalie and David never learn from their close calls. They never actually figure out what it is they’re doing. They just keep longing and looking and breaking and then fucking in the closest possible semi-private location they can find.

That bites them in the ass back home in Chicago.

There’s a party at Ilya’s and David has Natalie’s legs wrapped around his waist, perched on the edge of the desk in the office. He’s kissing her breathless and pounding into her soaked pussy, the sound of wet squelching and skin slapping fills the abandoned room. They don’t notice the door crack open or the random girl pull her phone out and start recording.

No, neither even realize what’s happened until the next morning when David’s phone starts blowing up. They watch the video in bed together, cringing the entire way through. When it ends they sit silently.

“So, what do we do now?” She asks.

“I don’t know, do we do like an explanation video?”

“Saying what?” She presses, “Oh, yeah. We just fuck every once in a while, no big!”

David laughs at the thought. No, they can’t do that. He’s turning to sit towards her on the bed and sighs, “So, we stop fucking and never acknowledge it?”

“I don’t want that.”

“Yeah, me either Natalie,” he stresses, rolling his eyes, “People will be commenting about it, literally, forever if we don’t address it.”

“No, I mean I don’t want to stop... us.” Her words feel like a confession.

“Me either,” David mumbles softly, taking in her nervous form, picking at her nails and foot twitching rhythmically. Waking up with Natalie made his whole day amazing. When she kisses him, he forgets every problem in his life. He wants to make her feel good and writhe under him forever. He wants her.

“I think I might be in love with you,” he admits, the words coming out for the first time, while the feeling is a familiar ache inside him. He waits for her to speak and wants to die. She doesn’t say anything for several long moments.

“I think I might be in love with you too,” she finally confesses.

He smiles and pulls her into a kiss that leads to making out that leads to fucking in the early morning sun on his hotel bed.

When they’re showered and dressed, David pulls out his phone, Natalie firm on his lap and tells Snapchat all about his new girlfriend.

If he spends over half the story ranting about how shitty Ilya’s friends are, well, that’s his prerogative.

Natalie laughs the whole way through.

XxxX

#david dobrik fanfiction #david x natalie #natalie mariduena imagine #david dobrik smut #david dobrik #natalie mariduena #vlog squad imagine #smut #david dobrik imagine

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pepperstrawberry · 6 years ago

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Pepper Rambles...

Okay, because of the vibes of tonight, I kinda wanted to get some feelings out in the open. Sorry that this gets a bit long...

First, this post isn’t about calling anyone out or trying to make them feel bad. this is not about making them think or forcing them to respond. The exact opposite actually. This is a post less about ‘friend x should respond more’ and more ‘I need to chill and step back and know that they got their own stuff to deal with’. And no, this isn’t about a particular friend or two. It’s something that hits me any time I’m chatting with really every friend I have.

I’m sure a lot of my mutuals can totally grok this feeling: Anxiety. I never thought about it much till the last couple of years. It’s kinda funny, the more you think about it, the more it seems to have strength, but ignoring it can cause the very thing you are worried about. It’s kinda a pain. Like, there are times where I worry about overstepping bounds with friends, not being there enough, causing them too much stress, being too corny, or coming across as fake. Stuff like that.

It’s also why I worry every time I post a rant. Did I think it through enough. Am I in the right? Am I in my ‘lane’? Am I even keeping on topic. Last year’s mess with the announcement of things like the first Mythic Edition and the novel as well as things having to do with my job really really put me into a bit of a spiral, as well as feeling like I somehow missed my artistic chances.

It’s one thing to worry, but when you start getting anxious, you start to pester others more and then less, way less. It warps your senses, sometimes a little sometimes a lot. I have friends I don’t talk with much partly cause I don’t have much to say (which is fine) and other times because I worry that I don’t want to annoy them or piss them off, or bring back memories of things I did do or things I thought I did, or things I did do but I’m blowing out of proportion.

The bottom line is that it can mess you up.

The most important part though is that your friends are still your friends. it’s just sometimes harder to tell because they are on the net rather then right in front of you (not that this can’t happen ‘irl’, cause it does, but the element of being text only adds a layer to the whole issue).

And this post isn’t looking for sympathy. Again, it’s the opposite. This is a thank you post. I’m so glad I have the friends I do. That despite my worry, despite being anxious, they are still my friends. They still laugh with me, they are still happy to see my posts, they are still there, even when we don’t talk much.

I just have to remember that sometimes when I get extra anxious that it might smoother or stress some folks out and I need to take a step back and breath. I need to remember that just because I get no response when I send a message doesn’t mean they don’t like me or something. Hell, half my friends have issues of their own. Some are similar, others are dealing with irl stuffs, some just aren’t sure how to respond.

I know that I have a hard time responding myself to some things. A friend relayed earlier today that their pup was going to be passing away soon. And at the time, I didn’t have any good words or anything. Partly as I was super tired, and partly cause I worry about how to approach subjects of death and memory. Sometimes it comes to me like second nature, other times just thinking of the well wishes I send feels hallow, like I”m just making a token effort or something, even though I really mean the words and want to help.

Having the issues I have gives me insight (at least some) on the issues others have, and while it causes my anxiety to flare up a little, it helps to quell it just as much if not more. Some friends got things to do and so many other folks chatting with them. Some have food to eat and messages get forgotten. Some are just as anxious as me in interacting. And yes, sometimes they -are- annoyed by me, but that isn’t hate and sometimes they need space to breath.

Today it’s feeling like both the community and myself are getting back in the swing of things (not connected directly mind. just coincidence). Hell, not one, but TWO of my posts here and on twitter have gotten huge attention. Friends I haven’t chatted with in a while I’ve chatted with (even if just a little) again. The community is a buzz with hype for the new magic set, but also a wave of creativity and the spreading of good vibes feels stronger then before. It feels closer to the excitement when Kaladesh was on it’s way then it was when we were in last summer into the fall.

But in that, some of my old anxieties have either come back or were brought into sharp focus for me. I worry like I sated above, and even worry with my art and opportunities. I got a big hit from my posts, both in followers and attention... but I feel like I am -not- in a position that makes it matter in a way that I can turn it into something I could do for a living. And I want to do just that. Yes, I do art for fun, but I also want art to be what I do. With folks like Doug Beyer even seeing my silly comic, I feel at once that I have a shot at doing something with my work and like I might miss the window cause I’m totally unprepared... When I just need to stop worrying and keep going. Getting known for a silly comic doesn’t necessarily pigeon hole me and not posting constantly doesn’t mean I missed my chance.

And so I make this post.

For myself, for others like me.

I don’t make this post for sympathy. Basically its to remind myself: My friends are still my friends. And yes, sometimes you can worry too much. That my opportunities are still my opportunities. Again, if you worry too much, you could lock yourself in a loop and get nothing done.

And more then a reminder, it’s a look forward. I have always had potential to go far with my art. It’s always been there. Silly art, serious art, I know I have my fans... Oh god, I do have fans, don’t I? Like that just hit me. And in this time, while I have a moment between jobs, I need to take a deep breath, see my anxiousness, pat it on the head, and put it too the side, roll up my sleeves and get stuff done.

Sure, some levels of anxiety can need actual therapy and medicine to conquer, and the second I get my benefits back, I’m getting in there to get the help I need. But right now, between the joy and warmth I got from the posts the last two days and all my wonderful friends, I am in the eye of the storm right now, and I am going to keep pressing on while I have the moment. While my Anxiety and depression is small and manageable.

Don’t ignore your anxiety, but don’t let it rule you either. remember that even when it’s right, it tends not to be -as- right as you think it is.

I want to thank all my friends for being there for me, for sticking around even when I’m annoying, and for being the wonderful folk they are. And I want to thank my followers too. For those that have stuck around over the years. Through times of inactivity and through times when I kinda went of the rails.

I love you all.

And to my new followers, I hope I can continue to provide you with the amusement, awesome, and good vibes you came here for.

#Pepper Rambles #anxitey #hope #i love all my friends and mutuals

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bigfrozenfan · 6 years ago

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Untitled

First of all, since i'm here on Tumblr for about four weeks now, i would like to thank all of my followers, re-bloggers, the people who had contact with me, and all of you, who liked my postings. Many, many thanks folks! You make me feel, to be an active and accepted part of the Frozen fandom here, and that means a lot to me! I've always had the wish to be part of it. One thing in advance: to tell the following here publicly has cost me a lot of overcoming and I hope you can understand that and feel with me. At this point I would like to thank @melody-fox for her encouraging words to believe in myself and to share my love and opinion, when I did not dare yet and hesitated to post something about myself here on tumblr.

Some days ago the idea came to me during a train ride, I can put my feelings for the film into a satirical text and posted it here in the evening ("The Frozen Syndrome"). But now, after the few initial reactions, I decided to be more honest and publish my long-prepared original text now...so it's for me like a come out?

I feel exactly the same as @no-escape-from-the-storm-inside (http://no-escape-from-the-storm-inside.tumblr.com/post/173013113297/i-was-just-sitting-here-staring-at-a-picture-of), but with Anna instead. I couldn't find better words! Thank you. I'm still think from me, if it can be normal, having such feelings for an animated unreal character like Anna. I even dreamt to live in Arendelle as a citizen and sometimes i can see Anna walking by to get some chocolate at the store in town. If i only could see all of them there, to talk to them, to help when they need some help. It does not have to be an adventure like in the movie, only just to be part of the normal life in the middle of Arendelle. If i remember correctly there's a special term for people who are in love with something or someone unreal and i found a forum on the net 2 years ago, where it has been discussed. Can't remember where. I'm still hesitating to talk about with friends who know me. Only here on Tumblr, thousand miles away from me, i can open up myself and share my thoughts with you, the fandom. THANK YOU ALL ! By the way...that's my first blog at all and I finally feel free to share my ideas!

Okay, how had it started, my Frozen Mania? The first time I saw Frozen was on Christmas 2016 on TV, so three years later, when all the hype started. It was pure coincidence! I can't really explain to myself up today, what the movie has triggered in me and why. That never happened to me with any other film before, and i've seen a lot of movies of any kind. Movies are my hobby, so of course I grew up with Disney movies since my youth and I'm now part of the older generation.

But now with Frozen? What suddenly happened to me, that even the tears came into my eyes ... regularly, after 20 times watching Frozen? In my age? I've never felt that before. And what makes it even worse, are my feelings about Anna. I realized, that i have fallen in love to her. I follow each of her movements, each smile, how she is surprised and how she laughs, her facial expressions and how she interacts with the children of Arendelle (FF & OFA). I even love to see her waking up in the morning, still half asleep. The scene on the rooftop in OFA was so beautiful as she shows something about her youth time to Elsa, this wonderful little private moment of her. I'm always thinking of her, even while on work. Of course, I couldn't share this with anyone around me, only two people close to me know about my Frozen mania, but not what Anna means to me. A dilemma if you want to share your thoughts on it and cannot, because you do not dare. At some point I asked myself, if something was wrong with me. Am I diseased? Crazy? Addicted? Surely the last one. Why i can't get it out of my brain every single day since 2016? And why am i still talking to the picture of Anna on my wall? What would have happened to me if i watched Frozen in 2013, three years earlier? Would it be worse today?

I've also prepared a longer text about Frozen, scene by scene, and my thoughts and feelings about it. Maybe i will post it here some day, don't know yet. Should I? Let me know if you want to...

Well, it did not take long for me to start buying Frozen stuff shortly after i watched the movie the first time. Then came the day i discovered the Disney Enesco figures, and once again it was pure coincidence. From that moment on my brain seemed to have been switched off and collecting in big style started, all to satisfy my needs.

I realized very fast, that it's a real expensive hobby, but i can't let my fingers off, so...

In one of my previous postings i asked for showing me your Frozen collections, and some of you sent me back some pictures of it. Thanks for your trust in me. Now it's time, i think, to give you something back and i will start to show my own collection to you.

I will need some time to take pictures of it, and will post them in my blog soon.

PS: If you like, you can also send me a PM, if it's a sensitive question or comment, i'll answer private. PPS: as mentioned in my very first entry, most of my longer texts i've published here are translated from German, therefore you'll encounter some transcription- and spelling mistakes. So have understanding for me :-)

#frozen #fandom #anna

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miss-musings · 6 years ago

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The Good & Bad of NBC: or, Why “The Blacklist” is everything that’s wrong with TV, and “The Good Place” is everything that’s right (SPOILER EDITION)

(Written Oct. 2018… pre-S6 of TBL and mid-S3 of the Good Place.)

NOTE: THERE WILL BE MAJOR SPOILERS OF BOTH SHOWS. DO NOT PROCEED UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN THEM BOTH!!!!!!!

In case you haven’t, there is a spoiler-free version of this post here.

(Author’s note: So, if you’re reading this you may or may not have read the other version first. If you have, I’m basically going to be going over the same material with the same structure, with some of the text basically copy/pasted from the first version. But, where I held back on the spoiler-y details before, I’m now going to be going all out. I’ll reiterate: PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS VERSION UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN BOTH SHOWS!!! Thank you.)

For any of you unfamiliar with my content, I’ve been analyzing different aspects of The Blacklist for the past few years, including calling attention to what I believe are flaws in its plotlines and characterizations.

This April, I happened upon The Good Place on Netflix and absolutely gobbled it up. I watched all of S1 in pretty much a single day; S2, in a similarly short time frame. Now, I’ve probably seen every S1 and S2 episode at least four times, and I’m watching the S3 episodes as they air on NBC before The Blacklist returns in January for its sixth season.

Now, it’s definitely not fair to compare The Blacklist and The Good Place. The former is an hour-long (44 minutes/episode) crime drama procedural that has had 22 or 23 episodes per season in five seasons. The latter is a half-hour (22 minutes/episode) ‘genre’ comedy set in the afterlife that has 13 episodes per season in three (ongoing) seasons.

So, TBL has an approximate 4,840 minute run-time, and TGP’s is approximately 858 minutes (including all of S3).

That means that The Blacklist’s overall runtime is almost SIX times the length of The Good Place.

Even so, both of these feature prominent TV actors, including Emmy Award winners James Spader and Ted Danson, respectively; both center on a relationship between a 30-something white woman and an older white man(whether that relationship is romantic, platonic or pseudo-familial is debated by fandoms of both shows); and both of these are NBC shows.

So, while it might not be exactly fair to compare these two shows, I’m going to do so anyway, because I feel like where the Blacklist struggles, The Good Place shines as a quality television program.

Now, don’t think for an instant that The Blacklist is a completely worthless show or that The Good Place doesn’t have its flaws. There are good and bad aspects of both shows, but I’m going to be comparing the two by focusing on three key things that make a TV show compelling:

Plot Progression

Character Interactions

Character Development

1. PLOT PROGRESSION

I think anyone who’s seen the Blacklist will tell you that this show’s plot is convoluted AF. In S1, it seemed like the show was setting Berlin up to be the show’s overarching Big Bad. But, then he gets killed off in S2 while the Cabal takes the forefront. The Cabal kinda hangs out until the end of S3, really, and then gets mostly forgotten until Ressler kills Hitchen in S4. And, Mr. Kaplan becomes Red’s enemy because she was once Liz’s nanny????

This show is so fucking weird.

It continues to frustrate me that all of the show’s major plot developments/revelations come during a mid-season or season finale, or a season or mid-season premiere. The Blacklist’s plot structure continually revolves around the idea of ‘sweeps week,’ when the network tries to boost its ratings by promising major reveals and developments during certain time frames.

Why not space some of these things out more instead of giving us what is essentially filler? We go along for the ride week after week, hoping to get clues or developments to the overarching story, only to be frustrated at the world’s slowest drip ever.

I feel like the first part of S5b really fell into this trap. It reveals to the audience shortly after Keen’s return that Ian Garvey is a dirty cop. And then we wait like 4-6 episodes (I don’t remember exactly how long) until Liz realizes this too. Jeez. Why drag it out so long?!?!

Now, I will say that the decision to kill Garvey in 5x19, rather than the season finale was a good idea. As it breaks the mold of having to wait until the (mid)season finale for the Arc’s Big Bad to finally bite it.

But, while that might’ve been a small victory, it still doesn’t make up for all the times this show has thought it was pulling the rug out when all it was doing was being predictable AF.

Between Liz “dying,” Kaplan helping her, Kirk being her stepdad, Mr. Kaplan being the one coming after Red, Tom dying, Liz trying to trick Red into revealing his secret by playing like she’s in danger and needs him to rescue her, the bones being the Real Reddington, etc... it continually frustrates me that folks here on Tumblr predict everything that’s going to happen with pinpoint accuracy. It makes the show boring and rote. (Not the folks on Tumblr; more the fact that this show’s plots are so predictable.)

Conversely, the Good Place – per the show’s creator Mike Schur – centers on the idea of subverting expectations. Based on the pilot’s premise, you might assume that the finale will be Eleanor revealing that she doesn’t belong in the neighborhood. But, Schur and his writing team have said multiple times that they focus on trying to make each episode end with a cliffhanger, and doing those big reveals or developments earlier in the season than the audience expects.

As Schur (or maybe some other writer or exec) recently said on the Good Place podcast, 2x09 “Best Self – where the crew leaves the Good Place to head to Bad Place HQ – feels a little like a season finale, despite the fact that there were three more episodes left in S2.

The Blacklist, IMO, also suffers from overdramatic promotions that sometimes make it seem like each episode is going to have some shocking development, when in fact, you could probably skip it and not really miss much (unless it’s a premiere or finale).

I feel like I remember the S2a promos about Liz hiding Tom in the boat, which of course, everyone predicted, really hyped up that reveal so that it was a real let-down whenever we finally got the truth.

TGP, on the other hand, doesn’t really have episodic promos like The Blacklist does, which might work in its favor. (Although, I will say that I was pissed the NBC Thursday night comedy line-up promos ruined the 3x01 Trevor reveal before the actual episode ended.)

I mean, compare how TBL handled the Boat Door Reveal in S2 versus how TGP handled the Michael-sacrifices-himself-to-save-Eleanor development. If TGP had done it like TBL’s, we would’ve known a week or two in advance that someone was going to sacrifice themselves to save Eleanor. It would’ve been these dramatic promos going like “Who! Will! It! Be?!?!!” with like pictures of all the cast members flashing by. And, of course, everyone would predict it would be Michael and/or Chidi, we would all be right and subsequently disappointed.

Also, while I feel like TBL tends to play things safe – very rarely breaking away from the crime drama procedural vibe – TGP doesn’t mind taking chances, so long as whatever they’re taking a chance on fits within the ‘world’ of the show.

If you haven’t seen my rant about TBL’s S5b, I was so excited after Liz woke from a coma to see how the show might tackle that plotline. Would Liz be traumatized? Would she be reluctant to rejoin the Task Force? What if she decided to give up her life with the FBI altogether and raise Agnes? What if she had PTSD? etc.

And, the show went the very predictable route of not showing much, if any, of Liz’s physical therapy or psychological trauma, and having her get back ‘out in the field’ (proverbially speaking) pretty much right away. She pawned Agnes off to Scottie and then kicked it in the woods for an episode.

Whereas, with The Good Place, we got to see major glimpses of Eleanor’s year after her near-death experience in 2x12. Granted, not much of it, but given the show’s time constraints and break-neck speed (in terms of plot development as opposed to TBL), it was nice that we got to see Eleanor become a better person, backslide, and then make a decision on whether she wanted to try to make progress again or whether she was going to stay in her rut forever.

Clearly, you can seen how one’s plot progression is preferable – as a viewer – to the other. It’s also helpful, I imagine, as a writer, to let the plots unfold organically, as fast or as slow as they need to… instead of having to either rush them or drag them out to reach a certain point in the season’s schedule.

2. CHARACTER INTERACTIONS

As said above, both shows focus on the connections between its male protagonist and female protagonists. While ultimately it’s the female protagonist’s journey, the male protagonist is a guiding force in her journey, helping her along and pushing her to make decisions (whether good or bad).

(Although, I guess you could argue that Chidi is really TGP’s male protagonist, but considering that Ted Danson is more heavily promoted, I’d argue Michael is really TGP’s male protagonist.)

And, for both shows, its two main protagonists are part of a six-person main cast.

For The Good Place, the cast is Eleanor and Chidi, Tahani and Jason (two other residents in Eleanor’s neighborhood), Janet (the neighborhood’s anthropomorphized mainframe/help desk), and Michael.

The Blacklist’s cast, as of the end of S5, is Reddington and Keen, her fellow agents Donald Ressler, Samar Navabi and Aram Mojtabai, and their task force director Harold Cooper.

Now, the Blacklist primarily focuses on the relationship between Reddington and Keen; he doesn’t interact with the other cast members very frequently and Keen’s interactions with them are pretty basic and often work-focused. There aren’t very many crucial interactions between non-Reddington/Keen pairings, especially in more recent seasons of the show. While S1 and S2 tried its best to have Keen interact with Ressler, Ressler interact with Reddington, Cooper interact with Reddington, Keen interact with Navabi, etc., S3-5 have more focused on the Reddington/Keen dynamic at the expense of everyone else.

Granted, I like the Reddington/Keen dynamic (in some respects), but giving it more weight in the runtime unfortunately means that the remainder of the cast has to tackle the more procedural aspects by trying to track down the Bad Guy of the Week while Reddington and Keen get to have more of the character-driven serialized moments and developments.

Compare this, though, with TGP and its interactions outside of the Eleanor/Michael dynamic.

Throughout different points in S1 and S2, we got significant interaction between almost every single possible pairing of characters on this show. (And I mean pairing in a non-romantic sense.)

We see Eleanor fall in love with Chidi, become ‘mates’ with Tahani, become bros with Jason, and try to kill Janet and then later give her relationship advice. Meanwhile, Michael has his falling out with and subsequent heartfelt apology to Chidi; he admits to Janet that she’s his most loyal friend; in S1, he seeks out Tahani’s help; and in S2, he seeks out Jason’s feedback. Tahani and Jason’s romantic connection is explored, as is Jason and Janet’s. Chidi and Tahani have an important bonding moment in S1, and even the dynamic between Chidi and Jason is touched on some.

So, while TBL’s cast feels a little separated and almost cliquish, TGP’s six castmembers feel like a cohesive team where any two or three characters can be trusted to carry a scene and have an emotional connection/interaction. The former comes off as weak writing and show structuring, while the other is far preferable to watch.

3. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

As I’ve said in several other TBL posts, THIS is probably my biggest grievance with the show … even more so than the weird-ass plot structure.

Despite supposedly being major characters, Ressler, Cooper, Samar and Aram get very little in the way of growth or development. I can barely describe them, their personalities, their desires, their moral codes, etc. in maybe a paragraph for each character. And these are people who have been on this show for FIVE FUCKING YEARS!!! How is that possible that they’ve gotten so little development in so much screentime?

Again, remember, TBL’s runtime is SIX TIMES that of TGP. And yet, I feel like any and all of The Good Place’s major characters get way more development simply in the first season than TBL’s peeps do in five.

I could definitely describe Jason, Tahani, Chidi and Janet’s personalities, desires, moral codes, etc. in like a page for each character.

Now, granted, I suppose the show’s structure lends itself better to that. The characters have to do a lot of soul-searching, so to speak, in almost every episode. Whereas, the Blacklist’s cast has to chase down the week’s bad guys, which takes up at least 20-30 minutes per episode.

Okay, okay. Maybe it’s not fair, considering that TBL clearly doesn’t care about its non-Reddington/non-Keen characters. So, let’s focus on both shows’ two leads and their character arcs.

Let’s look at Reddington’s character development versus Michael’s.

Despite having much more screentime and weight within the show, Reddington’s arc PALES in comparison to Michael’s. Granted, Michael started out as a literal demon whose entire purpose was to torture people. But, over time, we saw his genuine curiosity about humans transform into a genuine desire to understand them and want to be one of them. Yes, he only seeks them out after 802 reboots because he feels he has no other options (thanks to Vicky threatening to blackmail him). But, as he learns ethics alongside the humans, he realizes he needs to become a better ‘person’ (read: demon) to better care of them. Because he OWES IT TO THEM.

Reddington’s character development, meanwhile, seemed to come more in the latter half of S4 when he was trying to deal with Mr. Kaplan coming after him and he was trying to confront this spectre of death that seemed to be looming over him.

Yet, even after all that bullshit with Mr. Kaplan, where he called him out for keeping secrets from Elizabeth that she had the right to know, he still held all the cards and kept his secrets to himself and killed anyone who got in the way.

If Red had really grown, the way Michael did in S2, he would’ve confessed to Elizabeth at some point that he wasn’t the real Reddington, that he stole her father’s identity, and he’d been keeping it from her all this time because of “x.”

While Michael has learned and grown as an individual, Reddington has stayed relatively static in terms of personal growth. Not to say we haven’t seen different sides of him, what he would do when he faced difficult scenarios, like Liz’s death or losing his criminal empire… but the Reddington in the S5 finale is too much like Reddington in the pilot episode. Which is absolutely ridiculous, given how much screentime and emphasis he’s gotten over FIVE SEASONS!!!

Michael has learned to admit when he’s been wrong, apologize and become a better friend to his humans, while Red still has yet to do Liz (a woman he loves immensely in some capacity or other) the basic kindness of telling her that he stole her dad’s identity.

Alright. Now let’s look at Elizabeth Keen versus Eleanor Shellstrop.

Both characters have suffered from character regression, where they start at Point A, then develop and grow over time to reach Point B, and then – for whatever reason – regress to Point A again.

Elizabeth Keen started out happy and bubbly in S1a, went to dark and gritty in S1b-3a, then went back to happy and bubbly in S3b to S5a, then back to dark and gritty again in S5b.

Eleanor started off as an Arizona dirtbag, then became a good person to the point where she decided to sacrifice herself by going to the Bad Place... then got rebooted 802 times... then started as an Arizona dirtbag again, progressed to the point where she was the only one of the four humans who passed her test from The Judge ... then was sent back to earth and was saved from death, so she decided to change her life, backslided and now is AGAIN trying to become a better person.

Now, while Eleanor’s character regression fits within the confines of the show, Keen’s makes no sense. She’s confronted and overcome so many challenges over the show’s the five seasons… so, why hasn’t she learned from them? Why is she still relatively the same, especially considering that x-number of seasons ago, she was so completely different?

Why is she back to being all angry and hateful and dark, etc., when it’s like... she has a young daughter who’s lost her father, she lost 10 months with her after being in a coma.... and she just wants to go beat up dirty cops??? I feel like if they wanted us to see an Elizabeth Keen that had learned from her experience, she would’ve given up her life with the FBI, saying that it’s put her in danger, severed ties with Red (or tried to) because he’s also endangered her (via the bones), and spent time with her daughter, whom she claims is more important than anything else in the world.

And, whereas Eleanor was not a very likable protagonist at the outset but she becomes more likable over time, Keen started out as somewhat likable but has become more annoying as her character continually regresses.

All in all, to quote (or at least paraphrase) some other Tumblr user, “I can’t believe The Good Place literally invented character development.”

TL;DR

Again, just to reiterate, I think there’s good and bad in both shows. But, there’s a reason why I’ve seen every episode of the Good Place at least four times and why TGP S1-2 is currently #4 on my list of All-Time Favorite TV Shows.

The Good Place pushes the envelope by subverting expectations and having major developments earlier in the season than expected; it makes sure that almost every character has significant moments with every other character; and it ensures that each of them has a major character arc that works within the confines of the show.

The Blacklist, in comparison, does what too many other shows on TV do: it treads water plot-wise; it focuses too much on some characters at the expense of others; and even the characters it focuses on don’t show any significant or organic growth.

And, that’s why, IMO, The Blacklist represents everything that’s wrong with television now; and The Good Place represents everything that’s right.

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thewaysoundtravels · 6 years ago

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Triumph of Underdogs: The Plight of Beat-Makers

There are artists who once produced a seminal album and have since not managed to create another anywhere near as influential. In some cases they spawned whole new genres through the blueprint they provided with a groundbreaking sound. Newer generations of artists sometimes even fail to realise that the tracks they are making owe a massive debt to these older artists, pioneers in innovative ways of conceptualising music.

Invariably these ‘legacy’ artists often get dropped by the major record labels who in some cases might only have signed them after the acclaim of their forward thinking album. So it’s to smaller independent labels they ultimately land on, producing albums with relatively little cultural significance. The artists in question frequently go on to rely on their core audience for whatever reduced fan-base they end up with. Examples in beat-based music are Prefuse 73 and DJ Shadow, an assessment that admittedly might be deemed controversial. Please don’t misunderstand; there is no denying the skill that went into creating their critically acclaimed albums, respectively the glitchy chopped-up hip-hop of One Word Extinguisher and the sample-heavy hip-hop of Endtroducing. Even if that impressiveness equates to an awareness of combining conventional beats and vocals in an innovative manner, it’s skilfulness nonetheless.

How do such artists reconcile the reality of no longer being top billing at big festivals with the attention they once received? With every new release are they hoping for the mass kind of connection they once had? How do they see themselves? Is it even possible to capture the zeitgeist on multiple occasions? Most importantly though, to what extent can beat-makers as electronic musicians carve out a career where they genuinely create music continually breaking new ground?

Not everyone can be Radiohead or Bjork, artists who constantly adapt in sync with underground musical ‘trends’, but even with those artists it could be legitimately argued that the later offerings of their catalogue are not as culturally relevant to younger audiences as to original fans, who belong to similar life stages as the artists themselves. Perhaps thus has it ever been, each generation being best served by artists who emerge out of that age and are better positioned to channel and translate the feel of that present. When artists produce work that resonates with contemporary audiences, it could be said to be because they are somehow managing to read the energy of the reality they are immersed in.

Other artists change tack entirely from where they began, shedding swathes of their fans to become adopted by a different audience. The duo Goldfrapp belongs in this category. Many fans of the atmospheric cinematic first album Felt Mountain, found themselves wrong-footed by the startling change in style of the second album to a more dance floor orientated direction. It would seem that the change resulted in the band’s transformation from one with a slightly niche appeal to mainstream attention resulting in a top ten hit. It could be argued though that this switch is rather an expansion of their capabilities and an embrace of an aural seam they had previously been unable to mine.

However there are those artists who exist outside of contemporary trends. For example Aphex Twin plows his own path crafting his own version of experimental techno and IDM that seem to remain eternally popular. As an artist he walks a path few electronic artists have been capable of emulating. In his case, how much does the period of years between releases account for the great demand for his new releases? Also, how much of his continued success stems from hype and the media label of genius that is associated with him in some quarters? Can his critical acclaim be ‘objectively’ evaluated when there is a near-universal consensus regarding his musical output’s quality? This is in no way meant to denigrate his achievements; he’s being cited merely to illustrate a point about the difficulty of appraising the continued veneration of certain artists in electronic music.

Whilst some artists are to forever refine a particular sound, variations on a signature style, others give an impression of an evolution of sorts. Four Tet is one such artist. Considering his beginnings in the post-rock band Fridge, his music has developed to encompass variations and tempos that many would have struggled to predict. His tracks show a growth in technique to expertly tackle varied emotional moods and styles, and according to the website AllMusic.com he is associated with the following types of music; Indie Electronic, Alternative/Indie Rock, Ambient Techno, Downtempo, Club/Dance, IDM, Left-Field House, Experimental Techno, Left-Field Hip-Hop. As someone who works as a producer on other artists’ albums in wildly different genres like folk music, and as a musical collaborator with peers from diverse genres, is Four Tet’s consciousness more responsive to other ways of making music than many other electronic musicians? Or is it just about a mentality and willingness to delve into fresh ground? It’s possible that many artists, Four Tet included, may not even fully realise what it is they are doing, and only the hindsight of time can grant them true recognition of their musical sound across their career. Whatever the explanation, maybe more so than many modern electronic musicians, Four Tet seems to demonstrate an ability to consistently create different kinds of well-received beat-based music.

Basically, based on the limited exploration above, it would seem that artists who achieve success with a critically revered album generally tend to broadly fall into two groups; those who continue trying to producing new music resembling earlier offerings in style or vibe, and those who attempt to alter direction to explore new sonic territory. Neither approach has any guarantee of success, and there doesn’t seem to be any way either to identify what will be lapped up by audiences. Indeed, for every much loved artist who once produced an album revered by their peers and audiences, with each announcement of a new release, whilst goodwill exists, fans pray for a return to form. Music lovers can but hope that as electronic beat-based music changes over time, an innovator on par with the likes of the jazz musician Miles Davis will become identifiable.

#Prefuse 73 #Four Tet #DJ Shadow #Miles Davis #Radiohead #Bjork #Goldfrapp #beats #writing #downtempo

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happymetalgirl · 6 years ago

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Dead to a Dying World - Elegy

We were happy and in agreement for a few days when the new Inter Arma album came out, but after the underwhelming Sunn O))) album and now this Dead to a Dying World debut, I'm glad I'm not dating metal Twitter because would be getting in disagreements over everything all the time. It's fine for couples to disagree and shit, though, that's not the point I'm getting at. The point I'm trying to make with this dumb, jokey intro is that once again metal Twitter (or at least the section of it that follows underground labels) is hyped up and excited about an album that I'm just not seeing what the big deal is about it. In this case, it's the new Dead to a Dying World album, Elegy, released a couple weeks ago on Profound Lore, which I have been repeated trying to get into, but honestly has just not been wowing me. And this mainly comes from its compositional lack of imagination.

The band seems to substitute superficial shifts in tone and/or style for well-thought-out, fleshed out dynamics to shortcut their way to a sense of emotional diversity across their album. But it seems like the band just stuck with the very first and most instictual writing choices they made and never looked back or questioned if they could do something better to sequence their ideas (which aren't themselves very special either). And that can work just fine for albums like Rob Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe or Rammstein's Sehnsucht, whose simplicity and directness is part of the appeal. But Dead to a Dying World are trying to conjure some deeply woeful atmosphere here, and the ideas they incorporate do so little to actually draw one into that atmosphere, which ends up being more of a faint, distant melancholy than anything else. And this is due to the shortage of uniquely creative ideas on the album.

While it's easy to misconstrue ambient music and even its metallic cousins as not needing to generate intriguing motifs or ideas, the best ambient albums and atmospheric black metal albums out there reveal that to not be the case at all. Ambience is not an excuse to skimp on inventive musical ideas or at least memorable ideas, and Dead to a Dying World seem to have fallen into the trap of thinking that unique musical ideas at the small scale aren't important, hopefully unconsciously.

By no means is Elegy as painful or grating of a listen as, say, the collaborative trainwreck that was the Mark Morton solo album, or Lil Pump's joyless sophomore flop earlier this year, or Black Veil Brides' Vale last year. Elegy is just a disappointingly uneventful listen, and one whose compositional choices suggest it was trying to be a more dynamic and immersive album than what it ended up being.

I can credit the band for at least branching out from ambient black metal's and post-metal's usual sources of stylistic inspiration. I appreciate the melancholic ambient folk of the intro track, "Syzygy", the subtly tantalizing wavering female vocal line on "Vernal Equinox" that builds the song's tension to its intentionally minimally resolved end, and at least the connecting thread to the band's more ambient tendencies that the string sections placed throughout the closing track provide. And I say that because the band truly is at their strongest when they're trying to build the album's ambiance with actual ambient musical elements; they honestly don't seem to have the wherewithal to elevate the loudness of their ambience with the bombast of the more metallic elements they utilize so clumsily, which the various shifts from soft ambiance to black metallic ambiance in the closing track illustrate vividly enough (as even the thin strings that I enjoyed in early sections of the song wear out their welcome through serious overuse).

I certainly don't enjoy being the guy that doesn't like the album everyone else is into, but I feel like the adoration for this thing has been so premature and has potentially come from an initial mesmerization by the few unusual ambient stylistic choices and the thin sense of atmospheric dynamic the band is able to drum up through the shifts from bland musical ideas.

I have been giving my absurd scores out of 10 at the end of these this year and I've liked how it's given me a chance to sum it all up in one phrase, and when I was thinking about what "score" to give this one, my first, attempting-to-be-gracious thought was "competent", but on second thought I wondered why I was trying to just give them points for being able to play post-metal at a technical level. The band essentially only do half of the compositional work to flesh out the musical ideas they seem to have had going in (many of which seem like they had more potential than the end product), and it seems most of the ideas were rooted entirely in aesthetic. And I'm not asking for a dense packing of riffs in my ambient metal, but when it comes to the styles the band incorporated, aesthetic alone does not an album make, and the band (in my opinion) need to put more focus on that side of their work going forward. Again, I don't like being the party pooper, but I'm not going to hide how I feel, because healthy couples communicate openly and honestly about their feelings.

Half-competent/10

#dead to a dying world #elegy #black metal #doom metal #blackened doom metal #post-metal #metal #heavy metal #new music #new album #album review

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sobasically · 7 years ago

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Hey hey heyyyy. It’s that time again!! Let’s see how it goes!

So remember, Henry VIII is married to Catherine of Aragon and is unable to have any male heirs with her, only their daughter Mary is alive. So Henry is a little stressed about this fact. Cut to like, god idk the year so you want years? Tell me if you want years and I’ll google them bc I’m bad with them. Okay anyway cut to a little later and Anne Boleyn comes back from her time in the French court to her very influential family. She was raised there since a child and is very French in her ways.

So like, basically she becomes a lady of the court, and Henry has his eyes set on her! Well, more like his penis has its eyes set on her vagina. So this boy starts to be like “will you be my mistress? Will you PLEASE BE MY MISTRESS?” (Like the waffle vine in McDonalds) and she’s like “ha! No bitch, make me your queen then I’ll think about it ;)” and so she starts to make false promises of finally giving him a son, and oh my goodness if you marry me you can both have sex and have a S O N!!! And Henry is like “hmmmm…. ok where do I sign up???” Henry… you have to ask the church? Remember? We are Catholics rn? “YO CHURCH CAN I GET A DIVORCE?” “No.” Well fuck you too then, time to EXCOMMUNICATE ALL OF ENGLAND GODDAMN CANT GET NO DIVORCE HAVE TO START MY OWN FUCKING CHURCH WAY TO MAKE LIKE HARD, MR. POPE. FUCK OFF.

So Henry, does literally that. He just- starts his own church. He’s literally the definition of “what- like it’s hard?” So he creates the Church of England which, surprise surprise, he’s the head of! He now says who he can and cannot divorce! This religion is also known as Protestant to them (when I talk about Bloody Mary and Elizabeth I this will be important!!) so he divorces Katherine of Aragon and sends her to a like, Abbey? If I remember? A place with nuns. She’s really sad and disgraced. Anne Boleyn becomes Queen of England!!! Yayyyyy!!!! Henry can finally have sec with her! Which he does. Lots.

Queen Anne becomes pregnant!!! Everyone is super hyped, all the doctors and seers predict a boy!!! A prince! Before their son is born they send out tablets with Prince of England on them to welcome him! Yay a boy! A so- oh. What’s that? Is that a- *gasp* is that a vagina on that baby? No sir! No sir this will not do! We have to squeeze in those extra ss’s after Prince. Fuck. Anne you bitch, how dare. Elizabeth is born! Ta-da!!! Listen, for the first like two years of Elizabeth’s life, she’s very loved by her father, really and truly. Anyway Mary her older sister? Katherine’s child? She doesn’t love Elizabeth very much. She had to be her maid. Literally. Anne was very cruel to poor Mary.

Flash forward like, a year, Anne isn’t pregnant again (and she had a miscarriage!), and is getting desperate! Henry is already interested in another girl, Jane Seymour, and Anne is very upset about this. Now, these next few words of mine are Henry’s account. They are not proven. It is just assumed. Believe what you will. Now,

Anne got so desperate they say she fucked her brother, George, in hope they would create the son everyone had been lusting after for so long. They get caught. And get sentenced to death for treason. Now, for my LGTBQIA+ folk out there (I am the B and A IS FOR ASEXUAL.) George was one of us. His final speech before being beheaded was, in far more fancy words, “the only sin I have every committed, is that of loving a man.” This is recorded and proven. So like, yay?

Anyway Anne… gets beheaded. She is the first beheading of Henry’s wives. Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived. Her treason is not proven, she might have gone to the block for nothing. She wasn’t a beloved Queen. Most of the court hated her and the people were tolerant at best, they thought her a witch. Her story is wild, a rollercoaster from start to finish, but very important all the same.

Next time we will talk about Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves! Both together bc they aren’t that long of stories tbh.

So like, story from my personal life because it’s great. I went to Barnes and Noble the other day with a $20 gift card right? So that’s like one book, depending on which book. And I went straight to the history section and was thumbing the Tudor books bc even though I have a dozen, I could always do with more! And I saw these two beautiful lovelies! Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir and The War of the Roses by Alison Weir (canNOT WAIT to tell you that story btw, war of the Roses? My shit.) and they were both $18 so that’s an ISSUE RIGHT!?! Because I literally could not decide so I took them both off the shelf, set them on the floor in front of me, and sat down on the floor. And cried. I literally sat and cried about which book to pick. In the end I went with Elizabeth of York (it’s so good!) but I thought it was a funny story.

Okay, I’ll see you guys like next week. I’m currently working The Hunchback of Notre Dame at my local theatre, so I might post earlier than 2 am from here on out.

¡Buenas noches! ~ The Scribe

#The Scribe #📜#Henry VIII #henry viii of england #anne boleyn #funny history #history

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