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keigelsss · 4 years

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A Super Sweet Secret - Gojo Satoru

Merry late Christmas ya filthy animals ;)

Mega thirst moment based on this post and I think it just fits this fucker so well. I wrote part of this at 3am and I hate it so much ... fellow Gojo fuckers come get ya food.

Warnings: 18+, my shitty writing, language, mentions of alcohol, Gojo using infinity (had to do it on em), smut, DIRTY TALK, fingering, oral *fem receiving, overstim, squirting, uh… the pet names are super self-indulgent too oops, literally every grammatical error you can think of (please let me know if I missed any warnings I don’t wanna upset anyone or make anyone uncomfy. That being said minors pls DNI!! I don't feel like blocking anyone today)

Word count: 2.25k (i do be getting carried away)

How do you go about explaining your current situation to the higher-ups if you get caught with him? Do you tell them that, instead of getting pointers on how to guide students down the right path, you’ve been indulging in some very explicit acts with the man who is supposed to show you the ropes? No. That’s not right either but in all honesty, it would have been a lost cause from the get-go. Gojo Satoru is the least traditional in his teaching methods and is without a doubt a troublemaker but his antics are a part of what makes him so charming. It’s that same charm that finally made you cave and accept a coffee date with him on the next day you both had off.

You don’t know exactly when it happened but little by little those morning coffee dates turned into mid-day snack runs, then dinner and overindulging in desserts at the other’s house. Everything took an unexpected turn when you went a bit overboard on the sake one night. The next morning you woke up naked on your couch, the sun in your face, a pounding headache and a large man clinging to your body like a koala. As much as you wanted to maintain a professional relationship between the two of you, it was so hard to not crave another taste of him. He couldn’t resist you either, one bite and he kept coming back for more.

You two are definitely going to get into some serious trouble for this.

After stressful days of exorcising curses Gojo likes to unwind with a sweet treat from his local bakery and you by his side. He’ll find it ridiculously adorable if you have a bigger sweet tooth than he does. On the walk back to his house, you both snag a pastry from the bag of goodies and laugh at the other for not being able to wait until you reached your destination. The two of you arrive shortly after but Gojo decided he wasn’t entirely satisfied...

“Hey, sugar?” he asked while removing his sunglasses, his eyes entirely focused on your movements. You started to place what was left of the little cakes in a dish that was used specifically for the sweet treats of the day, he quickly recalled how you made fun of him for the fancy crystal platter but he admitted to being a bit extra like that. “What’s up trouble?” He let out a soft chuckle and got closer, wrapping his arms around your shoulders leaning down to rest his chin on top of your head. “Trouble? That couldn’t be me.” you placed the cover back on the platter and put your hands on his arms settling back into him slightly. “You only call me ‘sugar’ when you want something from me, so what is it?”

Now that was true, he had a list of pet names for you that he liked to pull out for certain occasions and you caught onto that quickly. It’s really not fair at all how he can make innocent words sound so damn sinful when he wanted to tease you. You turned to face him now, his hands resting on either side of you. He leans down and places a feather-soft kiss on your lips, so soft it’s almost like he’s not making full contact with you.

“I thought we didn't do those things when it was just us together like this?” Your eyes fluttered open and he came back in for a real kiss, his hot tongue lingering lazily on your bottom lip but not enough to excite you. He does that on purpose. “I know but it’s just the thought of it, I can tell you're thinking about it too.” He reached for the dessert dish and picked up a small cream filled pastry, he took a bite and offered you the other half. You knew it wasn’t an accident when he got the filling on your lip and chin. He used his thumb to clean up the mess he made then licked it clean, he is actually evil but even if you do hate him sometimes you can’t find it in you to resist him.

“C’mon Y/n, don't you think it would be interesting to try while I go down on you? Just a little bit?” You bit your lip at the thought and he was already excited for your answer. He was right, the idea of him between your legs, devouring you but not quite. Being able to feel everything between the two of you but not making an actual connection. it ignited a small fire within you.

“We can try it once but I can’t promise that I'll like it.”

Truthfully that was all he needed to hear before he began to strip you of your clothes, leaving you completely naked. His large hands began exploring your body, grabbing onto any dip and curve he can find while placing sloppy kisses on your neck. He used both hands to get a firm grip of your ass, lifting you onto the cold marble countertop, you let a small moan escape you at the feeling and he placed a wet kiss on your lips. Tugging on the fabric of his long sleeve you brought it up and off revealing his defined upper body, you could drool if you didn't have some self control. “Satoru not too much okay? It’ll drive me crazy when all I want is to feel you.” The whimper that fell from your pretty mouth was almost enough to make Gojo cum in his pants, you swore you saw hearts glowing in his bright blue eyes. “Don't worry princess only a little bit. Besides you know my sweet girl always gets what she wants.”

If there was anything that came close to what you picture heaven was like, it would definitely be the equivalent to Gojo’s strong, slender fingers expertly rubbing your folds. He always found every sweet spot and applied the perfect amount of pressure without you having to say a word.

“Baby, did I make you this wet?” He used his thumb to spread your slick around, creating a delightful rhythm on your clit. Hips trembling when he grazed that one spot that practically had you gushing for him.

“Yes! It was yo- oh fuck that feels so good!” you leaned forward, resting your head on his chest, admiring the way his fingers looked so mesmerizing covered in the pretty shine of your juices. “You know you're the sweetest thing ever right? So damn delicious. I can spend hours between these sexy thighs of yours.” His breath is hot on the tip of your ear and that smooth voice sends shockwaves throughout your entire body. His free hand wrapped around your thigh and gripped below your knee, shifting the angle at which his fingers were exploring your overly sensitive hole.

“Are you gonna let me make you cum with my mouth? Let me taste how sweet you are?” his lips started to trail the sides of your neck down to your chest. He left a series of kisses on each breast, sucking lightly on your stiff and sensitive nipples. “Ah Satoru please! I want- Ooh want your tongue.” He licked a stripe across your tummy then placed a soft kiss on your belly button, he moved your thighs once more and found a position comfortable for the two of you. Your legs resting nicely on his shoulders while he rubbed circles on your hips and waist. “Look at this gorgeous pussy,” a soft kiss on your inner thigh. “So pretty.” another kiss on your swollen clit, you couldn't help but arch your back off the counter, grabbing a handful of his soft hair. He nibbled on your thigh and a sharp whine fell from you. “Remember to behave sweetheart, I'm supposed to be going easy on you.” His chuckle vibrated against your hot mound and you let out a sigh, releasing some tension from your hands on his head, allowing him to do what he wanted with your body.

Gojo’s tongue seemed to have a mind of its own, curling and sucking at the special spot that only he knew about with perfect accuracy. The buzzing sensation that you normally felt when he's down there was reduced to an incomplete static, like your nerves weren’t fully receiving the information of his movements. Now that? That was different. It really was infinity… a barrier he controlled entirely, the rolling of his tongue feeling more like a whisper of pleasure that was everything and nothing at the same time. You were right to think it would drive you crazy but in the most euphoric way possible. “Oh my god it feels s-so good! P-please don’t stop baby I’m so fucking close.”

The large kitchen was filled with desperate sounds of pleasure and the soft squelching of Gojo’s fingers inside your quivering cunt. This feeling was new but you were instantly hooked. It didn't take long for you to fall over that glorious edge with a broken moan of his name and a string of curses, making little to no sense at all. A deep groan erupts from his chest as he takes in every drop of your release in satisfaction. His gaze found your blissed out expression and he decided to ease up on that invisible veil between you, fingers slipping from your tight whole. You clenched around nothing and the loss of his fingers filling you was enough to nearly make you cry.

“That‘s my favorite flavor right there sweetheart.” he spent some time admiring the way you looked coming down from your high. The rise and fall of your breasts with every breath paired alongside the slight shaking in your limbs from how intense the orgasm was. You're a work of art to him, truly, especially like this. Opening your eyes you find his stupid gorgeous face resting on your thigh, licking his lips simply enjoying your taste. You ran your fingers through his hair one more time before softly squishing his face with your legs, letting out a breathless giggle while regaining some grasp on reality. “I w-want more, but let me feel all of you for fucks sake!”

He instantly obliged, diving right back in, using only his tongue, setting a languid pace. His animalistic groans against your over sensitive pussy were a telling sign that he was enjoying himself, probably ridiculously hard in the confines of his jeans. The thought of his cock deep inside of you was enough to get you shamelessly turned on all over again. If it weren't for his hands on your hips, rubbing easing circles into your soft skin, you would be a convulsing mess on the hard marble beneath you. A dull ache was beginning to form in your lower back, but you could care less. Gojo's tongue was working wonders on that delectable bundle of nerves of yours. His hands started trailing upwards and fondling your breasts, your spine arching under his touch as he pinched your nipples. You both made eye contact and he could tell that you were close to another release, your entire body was starting to shake. “Ye-yeah baby I’m gonna f-fucking cum.” his tongue never relenting on you. You were on the verge of screaming, your thighs were probably strangling him at this point.

“Mhm my little honeypot. Are you gonna make a mess?” he growled delicately against you.

That was also new but holy shit it had your brain short circuiting. Honeypot?! Damn you really could make a mess and that was exactly what you did. His relentless attack on your clit was blinding but so fucking delicious you didn't want it to end. You squirted all over his face, covering his neck and chest with a stream of your juices. The added stimulation of his abilities, and the shock of this new pet name clearly having an impact on your intense orgasm. it could possibly be the best you've experienced. He was aware of that fact as well. “I love when you do that.” honestly you did too. The aftershock of it all had you both mesmerized, your body just a quaking mess, panting and moaning. You struggled a bit to get air back into your lungs but Gojo's hands squeezed on your waist reassuringly. Your hips were beginning to relax and he once again found a place to momentarily rest his head on your thighs.

He huffed a small howl of amusement. You could instantly tell what he was so giddy about. “So? Honeypot?” you questioned him, not in a judging manner but out of curiosity and excitement. “It kind of just came out of me in the moment.” You couldn't help but laugh at his answer, a fitting response. You took a second to relish in the sight of your cum and his sweat tracing his brow. It will forever remain a mystery on how you managed to get so addicted to the world’s biggest pain in the ass, but here you were.

That evil little smirk made another appearance on his face while he brought himself up to kiss you, the taste of yourself was very much present on his tongue and soft lips, you screeched in excitement. He swiftly lifted you off the counter and began his trek towards his bedroom.

“Are you maybe just a bit more curious on what else I can do to that pretty body of yours?”

yeah this is trash uh if you read this sorry for the lack of seasoning in your food

tags: @bobabybo @ibukiirisha

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cutegirlmayra · 4 years

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Hotsprings - Sonamy

Rated SE, for Shipping for Everyone ;)

prompt:

It was starting to take its small tolls on Amy.

One day, it was “Sorry, Amy! Eggman’s not playing nice today. Really wasn’t expecting this to come up so soon... but hey! There’s always next time!” ...Always, next time.

She didn’t think much of it until he started sprucing up the words every now and then, “Wow! Is it that time, already? You’re probably not gonna like this... but Tails just discovered-” or, “Dang, this bites, but hey! Listen to this!”, and, “Woohoo! I finally found Shadow! Tough job looking for a literal government secret, but I finally think we’re about to hit a breakthrough!”

It was never, “How ya doing?” or, “Let’s reschedule to about this day and time?” and, “Man, really miss ya though!”

So Amy’s heart began to pang, although she did love his goofy messages, knowing they were sincerely sorry... it just felt like he never had the time to be with her.

So, she took the lead and headed out in the dead of night. However, it was chilly, and she found herself hugging her arms close to herself and shivering as she made it over the hill, which was the last location he had mentioned to her.

“Ohh...” she whined, looking around but finding no trace of anyone there. It was full of crevices left from a battle though, craters and carved up rock cliffs... the ground was extremely uneven, but where Amy had trekked up the hill, it was relatively alright.

Realizing she was just too slow, she stomped her foot down on the wet grass, “Hmph! This is the last time I’m being left behind! ...W-whaaa!!!” She had scarcely moved her arms to her sides to bundle up her fists tightly in her frustrations when a sudden sharp and piecing wind rocked her back, and staggering against it, she found her awkward footsteps causing her to slip up over the flattened surface of fresh, sprinkled, and slushie-like snow to slide down the wet grass.

“Ahhh!!!!” she tumbled and slid until hitting the ground harshly with her chin, making her eyes close and their lids quiver at the pain. “Ah-ah-ouch...” she slowly got up, looking back at the field and through the sprinkled, cold wind could imagine Sonic and the gang’s epic showdown... the last adventure still evident in the landscape.

“...They...” she felt her bottom lip quivering, as though the pain was already forming tears, but her heart now wanted to join the pity party as well. “They must have had so much fun.” The struggle of not feeling somewhat envious of the boys was a bit too much on her poor heart.

She laid back down and softly let herself feel the sorrow of always being blown off to go on some--although important, and she knew it--fantastical adventure that they may or may not write her about.

She pulled out the Miles-Electric Tails had gifted her while tensing against the bitter cold.

She turned on her tracker, just in case anyone was wondering... in case... anyone would notice.

“If I stay out here...” she told herself aloud, desiring to hear something besides the quiet of her lonely, softly falling tears... though they were freezing against her cheeks and making her even colder. “I’ll catch a cold for sure.” She looked up at the foggy white sky... wondering if Sonic and her friends were cold too, or celebrating somewhere far away from her... far away from their devices... that would alert them to her beacon being sent out.

She pulled her legs closer to her, letting her head fall back to the stinging cold of the grass... but at least she couldn’t feel dirt or ground.

She’d have to wash up anyway, it’s not like she’d freeze to death...

She felt a sniffle come from her nose as her eyes were beginning to burn.

“Sonic hates crying...” she told herself, but continued to let little tears fall. “Maybe... he’ll just know... and come find me.”

Her hopes pushed through her mind as she continued to call his name, wondering if somewhere, somehow... he’d take a moment to think of her...

Then her Miles-Electric blinked on and she held it closer, desperate to see what was on it.

Another beacon... but not Sonic’s.

“Ohh...” Amy sat up and wiped some of the frosty tears off her cheeks, feeling the wind pick up and trying to face her back towards it, hoping to brace against the cruelty of the seasons of nature just a few more minutes.

She had traveled pretty far, but seeing the beacon, she responded with a message. “I’m out right now, and it’s freezing cold! Who’s out here too?”

The message she received looked a lot like Knuckles’s awful key-pressing, and trying to decode his bad usage of spelling and grammar, she tilted the Miles-Electric to get a better look... when the reflection showed a on-coming blizzard or avalanche sweeping through the forest.

She gasped and looked behind her, seeing the rolling cloud of snow like a large, trumpeting wave that was crashing over everything in sight.

Something so big... would easily cover her in seconds.

Gasping, she got up immediately and clicked on the video, sending the message out with her beacon active. “Help!!!” she cried out, slipping up the hill as she tried to find some traction.

Looking back at the on-coming snow storm, stampeding upon the ground and leaping in a rushed frenzy to spray out at the air, she abandoned the video and simply tried to run.

Finally making it up the slippery slope she gasped as she was covered immediately in pounding cold punches that seemed to topple over one another.

Afraid, she sucked in a breath, knowing she could suffocate if she didn’t.

It was hard though, with all the weight, she could barely feel her stomach want to move.

When the sounds turned muffled and she knew she was buried under feets of snow, she kicked and tried to waved about to loosen the snow but she was pinned...

The next best thing... was to...

Feeling she needed air, she curled up into a ball and spun as best she could. Making her body smaller was the perfect solution, the snow was easily manipulated by her spinning and she created a small hole for herself.

She uncurled and tried to breathe, pushing upwards but the snow only bumped slightly up. “No..!” she felt her breath freeze as though with each breath, icicles formed in her lungs, but she knew that was exaggerating.

It was so cold... she couldn’t feel her feet or hands anymore.

Realizing if she summoned her hammer, she could have the snow compact instead of remaining like flurries, and she knew she couldn’t risk it.

She instead started to burrow, but the snow quickly collapsed over her, “Ah!” and she had to curl and spin again.

Exhausted, not having enough oxygen, and feeling the snow would turn to slush soon and ice over... leaving her in an unpleasant prison or worse... tomb... she patted the edges to find the most grainy or soft falling snow pile she could, and dived.

“Rragh!” she kicked her legs through and started to tunnel, feeling it collapse on her, she held her breath. It already stung to breathe anyway, being extremely uncomfortable and somewhat painful to suck in.

She felt the weight keeping her from moving anywhere and then felt the snow under her collapse as well.

“Ahh!!” she was now with her legs above her and uncomfortably arching her back. Freezing... she wasn’t in her little crude igloo anymore...

As she tried to shift around, more snow fell, and she struggled to even get up.

Her hands were just moving through piles and piles of snow that dropped her further down... she had made a small tunnel pocket and then fell through more of the snow...

She began to panic, curling and spinning but the snow wasn’t strong here, so it just dug her down deeper and she uncurled again, back in an even more uncomfortable position with no way to push herself further up and out.

However... pushing the snow that had compiled at her face, she saw there was a yellow beam of light on the top.

“Ah..!” she knew she couldn’t make it, but at least the exit was somewhat closer than she thought. “Help..! Ah..” More snow tumbled the more noise she made...

Pulling out the Miles-Electric and brushing out the snow from it, she moved her arms to her center and tried to balance her weight on her head and shoulders, using her elbows to give somewhat a stability to her predicament.

If she had a neck, it’d be hurting twice as much too.

The Miles-Electric was still recording... “Someone get over here! I’m trapped!” she had just enough breath and strength to whisper a cry out for help again. The Miles-Electric then read- ‘Succeeded file limit, your recording has ended. Sending the first half.’

She groaned, “Tails...” she was about to complain but put that aside and didn’t record anymore, “Knuckles...” she clicked his beacon and found that it had ended. “...Sonic...” she felt more warm tears threatening, and just to feel the warmth, was tempted to cry. But knowing it would only freeze her faster, she didn’t. Shaking her head, she felt more wet snow fall on her head, and brushing it off, began to be afraid as breathing was harder in this position, her body heat was melting the snow... she would be in a icy prison sooner than she anticipated.

“I just wanted to find you...” she admitted, looking up at the top where she thought the exit was. “I... I’m so lonely... without you.” she hugged the Miles-Electric, a light as the yellow beam began to fade and it turned white with foggy light.

She was breathing irregularly, in shallow breaths due to the cold, her upside-down position, and her panic setting in as her body wanted to struggle but she forced some trained breathing that kept her somewhat warm.

She tried to close her eyes and figure out how to keep herself warm. The more spread out she was, the less she’d fall, but the colder she’d get.

“What’s taking them so long!” she finally blurted out, as more snow sounded out her vibrated echoes and then her vision was taken from her as the tunnel collapsed.

“Ah-!”

She didn’t know how long it had been... since she shut her eyes.

She wondered if when they found her, what would they react like? She didn’t want them to be sad... before coming out, she had thought about wearing something, but figured she’d arrive at the end of their adventure so they’d take her back with them regardless. She thought the worst she’d receive, at most, was a cold.

And then with a cold... at least Sonic wouldn’t feel guilty about canceling so much... she would have a plausible excuse... other than feeling it was making him feel a negative way by constantly having to write her apology texts.

It was so cold... she almost felt herself stop breathing just to avoid more melted snow she was swallowing ice over her insides... when muffled thumping came from above.

She squinted her eyes through the white snow, melting over her bangs... dripping down to her eyes as though she was submerged over water.

She tilted her head and shook it slightly, moving some of the snow as she still hugged the activated Miles-Electric.

More scuffling through the snow as she saw it start being scooped away in fast piles, just vanishing as more and more light came through.

She smiled, ‘Always... in the nick of time.’

She saw a familiar white glove reach down and continue digging.

‘Sonic...’ she felt her consciousness weakening at the growing light. ‘Couldn’t make an excuse this time... could you?’ she morbidly joked to herself as she felt his glove hit against her raised boot.

She could hear her name through the snow, muffled and seeming distant, she shivered and tried to move her foot to show she was alright.

But it was so numb, not even tingles anymore.

She could barely feel the pressure of Sonic’s hands gripping her boot and pulling. However, the snow had compacted, and pulling her out wasn’t much of an option without first cracking through it.

She shivered again, hoping the action served to prove she was alive.

She was too cold to speak out loud, but was so happy to be found.

More scooping through the snow, before finally, Sonic’s head could be seen through the small tunnel that she was looking up from.

“Amy!” she could hear him... she could see him through the blurry white of her vision.

She mumbled, trying to speak but he reached down, putting his whole arm through the snow and into the tunnel till he could feel the resting snow on her. He patted as though making sure he could reach her, before brushing off the snow and seeing her blink. “Can you move?” he called, but she could only shiver, her hands frozen in spot and shaking as she couldn’t even feel if she was gripping the Miles-Electric still or not.

She kept trying to form the words ‘help’ but couldn’t.

It just sounded like sniffling stifles, and Sonic moved out his arm to look in with his eye, seeing her predicament. “Wow, it tumbled you good, didn’t it? Hang on!” he spun through the snow. She wanted to warn him that by doing so, he’d slip into a nasty tomb as well, but it was too late.

She felt herself falling further and Sonic spread himself out after uncurling and realizing why Amy couldn’t move.

His gritted teeth now parted to show his amazement at how bad the situation really was, but she saw his expression change from a ‘rescue’ to a ‘life-threatening predicament’.

As his face turned serious, she was glad to see he was finally absorbing the true depth of the sad tale she was writing.

He bent down and wrapped an arm around her head, “Push me down and get yourself up, I can burrow through the snow.”

He couldn’t even swim...

When his glove touched her, she let out a painful cry, and he flinched away.

“What’s..?” he didn’t finish his question, her skin felt ice. He realized her back was probably frostbitten and that his immediate warmth and pulling on her probably just cracked skin. Now he was glaring at the top of the snow, “...Shoot.” it was like a cuss for him.

“Well, we’ve certainly gotten ourselves into an adventure... huh, Amy?” She knew why he wasn’t showing her his face... he was trying not to frighten her.

She didn’t want to feel anything anymore, but simply watch him, already comforted by the fact that she was found.

He’d get them both out of this... and maybe... when it didn’t hurt so much... give her a warm hug that never parted his arms from around her again.

Her lip trembled as she wanted to also comfort him but couldn’t speak, her lungs already severely damaged from the cold and her breathing even more appalling.

His ears flicked as he tested the snow’s durability and noticed how it became more solid above him and less so below. “Strange.” he look back at Amy, “Ready for a bit of a rushed exit?”

She knew what he was saying.

‘Brace yourself.’.

This was going to hurt a lot.

She mustered a nod, but slipped her balance and he grabbed her.

“AHH!!” she let out a cry and as his fast moving feet piled snow under them, and finally, he was able to manage to tumble the powdery snow away and get to the more crystal blue kind, and gripped the walling of the tunnel.

“Hang on!” he spin dashed her out with a throw. His supersonic feet made their usual sound effect as he got himself out as well, and saw Amy crash into the snow, sinking down. “No..!” he tried to move through the snow like he did last time to reach her and grabbed her before she could be sunken beneath the snow again.

His gloves were sprinkled with pink, flakey particles of skin and he winced at how badly her condition was. “Come on, endure it just a bit longer, I’ve got you.” he picked her up and moved her over his back as he tried to find a way to not touch her exposed back so much, not wanting to cause further damage.

Trekking through the snow, he had to go a lot slower than he liked too, but was continuing to move towards less and less snowbanks, more and more compacted, solid footing and sighed when he finally reached a tree, knowing he was somewhere near the mountain’s forest valley now.

“Phew, how we doing back there?” he looked over his shoulder and froze when he saw her out cold...

He bit his mouth shut and studied her unconscious face, feeling her shallow breathing from her stomach now.

It was a sunny day, but...

He looked to see the mountain had some caves, and knew a good spot for her recovery.

Thinking quickly, he didn’t want her back exposed to the sun if it really was frostbitten, and moved swiftly against the snowy terrain.

The rocks were cold and slippery, but he kept Amy on his shoulders tried to only grab at her arms and legs, keeping her from falling off.

When reaching the cave he had remembered, he was glad to see some fireflies also took shelter here, and watched them glow and descend in their sleep.

There were huge, leafy plants and other large ferns and then... a duel pool with two large mouths that had one wide waterfall from the top of a slit in the mountain.

It was misty... and he was glad he had found it in time.

Lightly setting Amy down near the mounded rocks by the waterfall’s slit, he looked to try and find anything that could warm her up safely.

Taking some of the leaves, he stripped them off the low, fatted tree sprouts and drapped them over her, rubbing her arms first and then her head.

She was wet and hardly breathing... he needed to dry her first.

Working swiftly, he had her dry but dared not to address her back yet.

He closed his eyes, getting a bit upset at the state she was in and trying to remember the locations where herbs for healing were.

Once calmed down enough to focus, he washed his gloves, luckily not stained, in the spring and then waited for them to dry before charging out of the mountain again.

Skidding down the peak with nothing but his red, golden buckled shoes to act as skis, he wobbled his arms for balance a moment and then expertly rode down the mountain. Normally, he’d be doing tricks, but in this case, he just bent his head down and made himself more angular, allowing the icy wind to move right over him.

He rolled into a spinball on his way down and then quickly went to gather the herbs. Each item wasn’t too far away... some for blood clots, disinfecting, encouraging skin healing, and others for the inner-use like to contrast the bitter cold and warm her up a bit.

He kept collecting whatever was useful but close by, and for him, that could be miles and miles away, but it was nothing to what he could do if he had solid ground to dash across.

Arriving back at the cave, he moved over and noticed Amy was finally breathing a bit more normal, the fireflies were attracting around her and a dragonfly went to sit on her ear but Sonic flicked his hand and it flew off.

He tsk’ed at the curious insects and also batted them lightly away, before sitting down beside her and getting the ingredients prepared.

“..Ah..! Ughh... S...Sonic?” Amy slowly came to, and he smiled.

“For a snowy retreat, you sure picked the worst place to be.” he kid, applying the second layer to her back.

“AH!” she tightened against the pain, “W-what is that? Moss?!”

“It’s chewed herbal medicine, for your information.” he lightly rubbed it over the cracking of her skin, and as he pulled his hand away, Amy noticed the red on his gloves...

“...Chewed?” she looked away, disgusted.

Sonic shrugged, half-heartedly pouting his lips a moment as though excusing her distaste. “Had to mix the medicines somehow. Don’t complain if it’s shoddy. I didn’t want to waste any time looking for proper applications at the grocery store.” he teased, and continued to work on her.

She endured, making less noise then before. Squinting her eyes, she moved her hands up to her chin, laying on her stomach and just trying to breath in the warm mist that was around her. “Where... emm... are we?”

“Welcome to Sonic Hotsprings!” he gestured, just playing around and keeping the mood light. “After all the times I couldn’t make it, I tend to pick the lousiest times to take you out, huh, Amy?”

It actually did make her smile, even through the yucky gunk he was putting on her back. It smelled... but she had the right to think it was moss, it was extremely dark green, and looked as though lumps of wetted goop.

“Did you find me..?”

“Through your tracker? Yeah. Didn’t expect the video though. That scared the living daylights out of Knuckles.” He seemed to grow more somber after saying that. “You... didn’t hold back on that shock effect.”

She realized she must have scared him too, but he didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m sorry...” she lightly spoke through the side of her muzzle, looking away as she felt the warm goop start stinging... but at least that meant it was working... somewhat.

“Don’t be,” Sonic’s voice turned tender, and she blushed slightly under hearing it, her ears curling back slightly to secretly hear him better. “I’m glad you made it. Seriously, if it weren’t for that video, we’d just have figured you were cold...”

“Would... would you have still come for me?” she didn’t know if he would really answer that, and with the sudden silence, she figured the video was what saved her life.

“Of course, I would have.” Sonic finally spoke out, but it was quiet... too quiet. “Why would you ask something like that..?”

She didn’t respond right away, but waited a moment. His hands on her back made her feel some form of a peace, and she finally did close her eyes and state, “I don’t know. Nevermind me. I’m just tired... that snow really bites.”

Sonic smiled a moment, his eyes bending as though knowing that was an understatement. “You can rest here, Amy. It’s warm. Though kinda damp, that ‘moss’ on your back will stay a bit wet and heal the better.” She heard him wiping his hands in a clap against each other and getting up.

She turned her head, “Where are you-Ah..!” she moved back into the position she was and felt Sonic kneel by her head, lightly placing a hand on it.

“Don’t move... you’ll crack more if you do.” His touch was more just precaution, and she didn’t feel any real pressure from it. “Your body is still like crumbling ice, give it a bit to thaw out. You’ll be fine overnight.”

“Overnight?” her eyes widened, “Wait-!” she saw him out of the corner of her eye descending the rocks to the hot spring.

He stopped, looking over his shoulder again to show he was listening.

“You’re not leaving me here... all alone... are you, Sonic The Hedgehog!?”

He laughed, “Didn’t realize you were scared of the dark.” He gave her a playful wink, “No, Amy. I’m not going anywhere.” he reassured her, and then pointed to the two pools. “I’m kinda cold myself. You can join me when you feel moving doesn’t bother you anymore.” he went down to the hotsprings as she sighed and grumbled at his inconsiderateness.

“So he heals my back but goes to warm up... typical.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” Amy cried out, but continued to grumble off to the side.

“This wouldn’t have even happened if you had just kept your appointments with me..?”

“What?”

“Must be the waterfall!” Amy continued to fib.

“Oh, cause it sounded like the waterfall wasn’t grateful.” Sonic joked, snickering from below as he dipped his hands into the water and washed up. “I was just about to tell the inconsiderate waterfall to quiet down so you could sleep, should I still scold it for being so splashy and loud?” he smirked and leaned his head up, hoping she could hear him over the naturally pleasant sounds of the falling, rushing water.

She remained silent, then he heard fake snoring and nodded his head.

“Okay! Nevermind.” he then moved to the mouth of the cave, “Mr. Waterfall, I expect you to tell Amy upon her next momentary spur of consciousness, that I have momentarily left you to host her as I forage for some food. Now, if she tells me you even so much as grumbled a complaint against me-” He turned back with a lazy point, “I’ll write you a bad review.” he then chuckled to himself and sped off.

When he was gone, Amy attempted to sit up, and trying hard not to bend or angle her back in anyway, finally got herself up to spread out her knees and sit on the rock and look out after him.

Longing... it was the only way to describe the expression on her face.

“He’s got a lot of nerve...” she puffed out, seeing the mist part at her breath. “But that’s my Sonic for you... always trying to brighten a dark cave.” She was amused over her analogy but digressed, moving to try and stretch out her sore limps and rubbed against her cold arms.

“Brr... he could have come sooner.” she argued, then looked to the waterfall. “...You wouldn’t rat me out... a guest... right?” she smiled to it, and then tried to get up. “Ah!” she fell to a knee as the goop was firmly attached to her back, but definitely holding back her bleeding back.

She shook her head, “No good... I really should rest... but... I don’t want to close my eyes again.” She admitted and crawled as well and slowly as she could down the rocks.

She dipped her hand into the water and immediately felt herself relaxing at the warmth it gave. “Awwh~... Now this is the only state of water I’ll ever accept.” she looked over to the large, almost stunted palm trees that were ginormous by the entrance and around the cave. “...Wow, they look prehistoric.” She cautiously stood up, wincing a time or two at her haste to move, but too stubborn to just sleep and wait for food.

She carefully removed her wet and still cold clothes, and tugged the palm tree leaf down.

It was perfect, it wrapped around her and even fell down longer than any towel she ever had, and tucked and tied it securely around her.

“Well, Sonic did say it was a hot springs...” She looked to see the two pools and quickly went to work making a curtain.

“Hmm... didn’t think this through.” she realized there wasn’t anything to hold up the long blanket she was trying to construct, and knowing if Sonic returned, the blanket would only cover the view from the two adjacent pools, not the entrance.

She lifted her head back and sighed, “Ahhh... he’s gonna think badly of me!” she let her head flop down to her chest and groaned at the stretching of her skin that she knew could only mean she was making her condition worse.

“Okay, we’ll cover the waterfall then.”

She tied the large palms to create a self-standing curtain, arching the waterfall, before realizing this trapped her within.

“Augh!” she kicked the curtain down, “Some hotsprings if it doesn’t even allow some form of privacy!”

She froze when the curtain fell and Sonic stared from having sped through the entrance of the cave, blinking as though not expecting Amy to be wrapped in a leaf sitting under the waterfall.

He averted his eyes slowly as they just so happen to come across her clothes sprawled against a branch of a leaf.

Amy, embarrassed, withdrew behind the waterfall and covered her face. “MMMMMMMM...” she groaned, “Nothing’s going my way today, is it?”

It’s not like Sonic could see anything, she was just wearing a long dress almost, but still...

She kicked her feet out from the waterfall, “Don’t just stand there! R-roll me the fruit!”

He thought to himself, ‘If I were a lesser man... this would be pretty bad for her.’ but then jokingly let the idea slide and walked to side, laying down the fruits and rolling them through the waterfall while avoiding looking at her.

“Any reason why you’re not sound asleep and trying to heal yourself?” he kept his eyes averted, but then sat down and began his own plans... taking his shoes and socks off to soak in one of the pools anyway.

She pulled her feet in and caught the fruit, chewing quickly on them.

“Hey! You’ll choke if you don’t-” he leaned his head back, looking over to her now as he heard her start coughing with a mouth full of food.

He sighed, dipping his head back down and walking over to the curtain, shaking his head.

“Not like I couldn’t have done this for you, you know?” he looked back at the blurred pink behind the waterfall, and smiled sweetly at her shyness. “You look like you belong in Hawaii with that dress on.”

She wouldn’t dare call it a towel now.

“I... I really wanted to be in the water...” she pushed her two pointer fingers together, taking more polite, lady-like bites now.

He moved to the water’s edge and dunked his feet in up to his knees, sitting down and sighing at the warmth.

“Yeah, well... I did say we’d be here a while.”

She could hear him judging her and spat out at the falling water.

His ear twitched, and he quietly chuckled at her growing frustration as he lifted one leg out of the water. “Want me to turn away while you get in?”

“No!” she barked, too embarrassed now to even move.

“Ah...” Sonic figured it was something like that, and lowered the raised leg back into the water. “...How’s the back?”

“...It hurts...”

“I told you to sleep it off. Did all the medicine I apply stay on?” he looked over his shoulder, but wasn’t actually looking at anything, just addressing her.

“...Yeah, it’s still on.”

“...I should check to make you an honest guest.” he muttered to himself, leaning over the water and scratching his nose.

“...What?”

“Hmm?” he leaned towards her direction.

“D-did you say something? I couldn’t hear you...”

“Oh, just Mr. Waterfall and me. He just informed me this is a co-ed hotspring. Guess we didn’t need this.” he kicked the blanket and she about had a tissy-fit, throwing some fruit at his head as he ducked and laughed. “Amy, since when have I ever disrespected you?”

“Don’t even joke about that!” she hid herself more behind the waterfall, but shivered since she couldn’t feel the warmth of the water anymore...

Sonic grew a bit bashful then too, realizing she was making this awkward when he was hoping it wouldn’t be.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

She heard the splashing of him leaving and immediately moved through the waterfall, “Wait!” she held a hand to the top of her leaf to make sure the waterfall didn’t sag the covering down, and then sat under the waterfall, blushing and looking away. “Geez, you really have no idea about social norms, do you?”

He didn’t look at her, but smiled and closed his eyes, turning to walk to the waterfall and sat a distance away from her, letting it massage his tired shoulders from digging them out of the snow. “Ahh~ I know the norms. But I didn’t exactly break any rules, now did I?”

“Are you blaming me then!?” Amy puffed up her cheek and he turned his head away, showing her even more so that he was respecting not to stare.

“You’re covered, anyway, but I’m not interested in anything than making sure the medicine stays on your back.” he stretched, showing he was relaxed, although she didn’t realize how uncomfortable he really was.

She blushed and looked away from him, but sighed and agreed that she should trust he only was interested in her recovery...

But that made her somewhat disappointed too...

“You... You saved me. Thank you.” she ducked her head down.

“Anytime!” he let the water slide off his back and kept his eyes closed for her, just so she didn’t have to worry or fret.

Amy watched the pools as Sonic and her’s splashes from the water hitting against them created rippling symphonies out of them...

“...Do you ... Do you know why I was there?”

“Last known location that I sent you.. yeah?”

She dipped her head further down, but moved her legs to let them sink into the warm water of the other pool.

She smiled at finally feeling warm and closed her eyes, looking up and no longer being self-conscious anymore.

“It’s been so long... since I had even heard your voice. For some time now, I wondered if you were just avoiding me again...”

“Again?” Sonic’s voice sounded surprised, but she continued.

“I just... I didn’t know why you would plan something and then let something else come up so frequently... a girl can only accept being told to wait so many times...” she gave a humorous grumble, but with her eyes closed, was glad she didn’t have to look to see Sonic’s reaction.

She tilted her head and bent to let the water flow more directly, and that’s when Sonic piped up.

“Hey, the medicine...”

“This ‘dress’ is locked so tightly that it’s not even touching it.” she argued, “Just trust me on that.”

Silence for a moment...

“Then trust me that I never planned to need to cancel on you so many times...”

She felt her heart, still slightly frosted, begin to melt with a few gentle thumps at his kind words.

She couldn’t help but giggle a second, lifting a leg up from the pool and letting it down again, hearing it’s gentle movement in the spring.

“Why did you cancel? Couldn’t you have rested from your big adventure with me?”

“Heh, guess you have a point.”

“I do, don’t I? Why didn’t you ever suggest alternative days? Or times? Why didn’t ask how I was feeling or how I felt about you canceling all the time... did you... did you just not think about how that might have affected me? After so many times..?”

He could tell by her voice she was getting upset, and took a big breath in.

“No, Amy.” He admitted, “I honestly didn’t think about it.”

She felt her lips tighten, but accepted his ignorance. “You’ve got a one-track mind, alright... But when you’re with Tails or Knuckles..? Compared to me..? Is it... is it somewhat different?”

“The solutions?” Sonic questioned.

“No, no... not their reactions to being blown off-”

“Hey! I never blew you off!” Sonic countered, “I just couldn’t make it! At least give me that.”

Amy rolled her head, stretching it out, “I don’t want to explain it to you...” she admitted, weakly sighing it out in an escalating trill. “Ahh~ You’re so annoying!!!~”

Sonic actually laughed at that, quietly, but she was glad he at least thought her complaining cute.

“...Give it a try?”

His words made her grow weaker... and not being able to resist his charms, she conceded.

“When I see you look at Tails... or Knuckles... it’s like you’re really looking at them.”

The waters sounds seemed to become ambiance as she spoke.

“I can’t remember the last time... you really looked at me. Seeing who I really am.., by looking down into the depths of my soul... and accepting every part of it. You always say how you see the best in people before the worst. You also say you just have this sense of knowing if someone is in the right or the wrong... I’ve been wondering... thinking a lot about it... have you... found something you can’t stand to see in me? That’s why you... you don’t mind being taken away on some amazing adventures with Tails and Knuckles... but you’re perfectly fine leaving me behind?”

When she opened her eyes, she wondered if the warmth was from the waterfall trailing down her form or from her own tears.

She hadn’t been this honest, even with herself for a long time...

“Being in that icy snow... was like being away from your gaze forever...”

When she looked over to see him, she was shocked to see his eyes were opened, staring into her soul, and not looking away.

With red all over her face at his intense but kind eyes, she summoned her hammer and walloped him into the water.

“W-ah-wah-wahhh!!” he fell instantly into the pool.

“Ah! Sonic!” She immediately regretted her action, and getting up, felt the sting in her back but still dived into the water.

Seeing him struggle, his cheeks were puffed with air and he kept trying to ‘run’ through the water, but couldn’t.

Giving up, he folded his arms and let himself sink, but looked up to see Amy wrapping her arms around his head, and getting to the bottom of the pool, kicking off and pulling him up too.

“Pah!” the two took a breath in together and Amy moved his flailing arms around her shoulders, kicking to guide him back to the edge.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t expecting you to be that close!”

He coughed and hacked before looking back to her, “I just... wanted to see your eyes... real badly.” he panted, and then coughed some more.

She couldn’t help but smile, then push him back further onto the land. “Get the curtain, already!”

“Fine... fine...” He hacked at the end and then raced to get his bearings and do as he was told.

The two sat, back to back with the leafy curtain finally strung up between them.

She could feel his heart though, rapidly pacing and scrunched her body inward, hoping it meant something romantic and not just the fact that he was drowning moments before.

“...What did you see?”

“Nothing. Just you in a leaf dress.”

“No! Not that!” she batted the leaf curtain, “Sonic! I meant in my eyes!”

“O-oh, that...” he paused a moment...

In his mind, he had seen her descend through the water with the ends of her leaf dress spread out like miniature wings... Her quills had spread out around her head to flow effortlessly through the water as she reached him.

Her arms wrapped around him and he was pulled up to her, and it was the first time he had felt her so close to him...

He had a goofy grin and kept rubbing his muzzle, knowing his feelings might be all over it by now...

“I saw a girl.” he stated, thinking his words carefully. “Reaching out to me in the only way she knew how.”

Amy blushed and smacked her hands to the side of her cheeks, “A-and? W-wh-what else did you see... was that it?” she puckered her lips as though disappointed again, but he continued.

“Nah, there was more. So much more, in fact, that I couldn’t peel my eyes away... There’s so much more there than I ever knew... Even if it was a brief moment...”

His mind moved to seeing her eyes under the water, the warm heat and her arms around him, her eyes opened wide as she dipped down to embrace him and pull him up out of the depths of the pool.

He suddenly sneezed.

“Sonic!”

He rubbed his nose, “Guess I’ll have to make another appointment to finish, huh?”

“That’s-! Ah...” she was about to complain again before realizing what this meant...

He wanted to spend time with her. He wasn’t trying to push her away or pull himself away with his adventures.

She gripped her leafy towel closer to her and nodded, “Okay... but you better not be late this time! And you better tell me the end of that sentence, you hear me!? Sonic,..! Sonic The Hedgehog!”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you, I hear you!” Sonic waved his hand about in the air, and looking back to the curtain, Amy could see his shadow doing the action. “But now, I’m pretty sure that medicine might have polluted the pool a bit...”

“It’s fine. I still feel it. You applied it well.” She looked towards where her clothes were. “S-Son-Sonic?”

“Hmm?” he was finally relaxing, enjoying the warmth, the company... even Amy’s rapidly beating heart.

He lifted a leg up and leaned slightly back against the curtain, hoping beforehand he wouldn’t hurt her by leaning against her back, but seeing as she was recovering well, decided to test it.

She didn’t wince, but instead, fidgeted and decided it was best to not ask for it quite yet.

“Nevermind... Thank you, for everything...”

“Nah, thank you.”

“For what?”

He patted the curtain, “For making this, without it, I might have actually tried to hold your hand.” he teased.

“Ah! Stop teasing me!” she pushed against the curtain, “Don’t you know how much I-! Ah! Sonic!” she realized she pushed him back into the pool, but instead of struggling this time, he waited for her to come in and rescue him.

“Sonnnniicc!!!” she pushed up the leafy curtain and dived in after him.

He was laying on the bottom of the pool’s floor again, eyes closed, hands behind his head and legs crossed slightly.

He looked up to see that same image, and smiled as her form met his at the bottom of the hotspring...

Wrapping an arm around her to pull her closer as she raced to save him, he never took his eyes... off of hers.

#sonamy #sonicxamy #sonic prompt #sonic au #sonic au prompt #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #cutegirlmayra

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dauntingdarling · 4 years

Text

Reviewing Cursed (Netflix)

So I finally jumped on the bandwagon for this show and I’ve got some thoughts: (spoilers)

Bad Stuff:

For all the hype I’ve read about the show, I was expecting the main lead to be at least more than she was. Nimue was a disappointment and honestly is one of the weaker parts of the show.

The 2nd weakest part being Nimue x Arthur relationship

And I’m not going to even start on the effects in this show, JESUS

While I don’t necessarily blame the hollowness of Nimue’s character on the actress Katherine, (I will say the reason it took me a while to get into this show was because Katherine has 13 reasons why stamped all over her still in my head) I do think she handled some of Nimue’s scenes a bit... awkwardly.

Case in point: Her first interaction with Arthur

^But honestly, this wasn’t that horrible when you look to the effects the show used to make this show “graphic”

All the bloody gore they showed was done so badly that I scoffed more than grimaced.

^Also can we just point out that when Nimue strung up that red paladin in vines, they made it seem like it was horrible and prime gore material when in reality it looked like a cheap set piece... what a let down

Now lets chat this up a moment:

We all know how the King Arthur tale goes. He marries Gwenevere who then G cheats with Lancelot (more of him in a moment) etc. I feel for Nimue from the get go when I noticed how quick they were to use her to glow up Arthur... like seriously?

What girl would start a relationship with Mr. Goody (to the point where he is boring) when her life is literally turning to shatters in all directions? All male writers red flag

And while we are on the topic, Arthur-sir, you are the most annoying and basic good guy I’ve watched in some time. Not only does he seem to be too good to the point that its unrealistic, they seriously played off him stealing Nimue’s sword as an okay thing to do... Sir no.

Devon portrays all the characteristics of King Arthur perfectly, but I feel like if Arthur is to progress into becoming a king, we should be seeing him making mistakes and learning so as to become the great ruler he will one day be. (writers take notes please)

We need some dirt in that perfect persona he carries

Also known as Weeping Monk

Good Stuff:

Let me just start by putting this magnificent thirst trap right here:

I’ve got to hand it to Daniel Sharman, he has a very loyal fanbase that seems able to carry THIS ENTIRE SHOW on their shoulders.

Like honestly, I looked through plenty of content on various apps and the Weeping Monk is blowing through social media like wild fire.

And for good reason too:

-he’s an attractive dude playing the gothic misguided character (serious cliche but highly effective)

-he’s one of the few characters with an interesting character arch (so far)

-he’s Lancelot (hello ladies man)

-he’s great with kids *swoon*

-and don’t get me started on that entrance in ep1 (the writers knew what they were doing)

I’m going to write another post at some point to address why I don’t think he is a toxic, manipulative character that just so happens to be romanticized because of looks (as is seen so far). So watch for that if that interests you. Post in Question

But to tie this off, Daniel Sharman is a fantastic actor and I hope we get more of him next season.

And, no, it’s not just because he is visually pleasing to the eye (but god bless guy liner)

I feel like the writers have suspended his meeting with Nimue to the point were we are all shipping the pair of them together, when it’s possible that they may have a different bond, closer to that of Lancelot and the Lady of the Lake in classic lore

But if they hook up I will still be very pleased ngl

Other things I really loved in this show:

-Pym (her time in the viking ship as a healer was prime humor) but I’m pissed she doesn’t end up with the hot viking because unlike our main couple of the show, these two had chemistry for the short scenes they shared together.

-Merlin (The moment I saw Gustaf Skarsgård in the trailer, I started the first ep. I loved him as Floki in Vikings and wanted to see him in other things) I was pissed that the writers made him seem... boring.

-I was happy with how Merlin opened up to us as a father to Nimue. Nimue just needs to get her shit together and learn from him because we all know she’s powerful, she just needs to work on it.

Watch the writers get lazy and just magically having her cast all sorts of powerful magic just because once upon a time she manipulated an apple tree

-SQUIRELL (I loved him from his first scene)

-the Widow! She was the perfect middle ground for a character and her voice was strangely motherly (and I LOVED IT!) While I know Morgana becoming the widow was a great power play and all that, I miss the original widow.

-Morgana’s general storyline was great considering what happens in the lore. I expected her to go evil the moment her sweet love (that poor nun!) came from the dead with burn marks and talked about being powerful. I’m glad they didn’t push that on her so quickly. They should let that storyline fester a bit more. She’s too great a character to turn to the dark yet (unless they pull a complete 180 of the Weeping Monk)

-Awesome baddies- And by that I mean Iris and the head monk that came to a very satisfactory end in ep 10. Also, props to the show for making the Pope a quick to anger tyrant and his second in command being a literal weasel. 10/10 villain act right there. With these villains in play, it’s easy for Weeping Monk fans to see the light in him, thus driving his character arch.

-The Christian themes. This may be surprising to some, especially if you are like me, a christian (I’m catholic). But honestly, I loved how they took snippets of Christian history and flipped it to create a complicated power in this show. By this I mean, the red monks act a lot like the holy orders in Catholicism back during the Crusades and the nuns act as healers and helpers to those that ask for sanctuary (the Abbess kept her mouth shut about Nimue, even when she was at risk) - thats what the core of Christianity is supposed to be, and I’m glad they made religion complicated through the monks and nuns.

-Red Spear/ vikings- cool concept to add vikings to the story and the red spear is a bad ass. I hope we dive further into her storyline next season (I expect so given the rumors I’m hearing about how she is supposedly Gwenevere)- If that’s true, I’m worried the writers are going to ruin the relationship G is supposed to have with Lancelot, solely because both characters are more Alpha energy than Beta, and we all know how that goes...

Maybe that’s why Red Spear’s interaction with Arthur was so great. He screams beta and I’m all for it.

#weeping monk #merlin #review #tv show #king arthur #lancelot #nimue #daniel sharman #katherine langford #cursed netflix

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miss-kittys-magical-library · 4 years

Note

In honor of Rob's birthday, can you write a Rob character of your choice with reader or an OC of your choice celebrating his birthday? Fluffy and maybe some light smut? Go wild. ;)

Your Song

Words: 1760

Warnings: Fluff turned smut

A/N: Just inserting Honey and Leon into random awesome points in music history. Cribbed from a scene in "Rocketman," directed by Nathan's freakishly short dad (Dexter Fletcher)

Leon and Honey stumbled and giggled down a path in the woods behind a house in the Canyon. They stopped to kiss under a Laurel tree, laughing when Leon’s hair got tangled up in some branches. Sometimes he seemed to forget how tall he was.

It was unusually warm for early January, but after a show at the Troubadour a party at Mama Cass’s bungalow felt like a serendipitous idea. They held tight to one another’s hands a bit drunk on elderberry wine. Maybe a brownie or two, their first since coming back to the States.

The couple hadn't been alone in several years, not really. Not since Selina was born. They had left her behind in Manhattan with Honey’s parents with an invite from Johnny (who somehow found himself doing far better in LA than he ever did in London.) Away from the snow and slush and post-holiday angry New Yorkers. The Bartucci’s back in their comedy club that Honey bought back and reopened at the start of a new decade. They really could use a vacation. Who turns down Elton John?

Suddenly, today, Leon found himself thirty years old. The 70s weren't much different than the 60s. Rock music got better, the clothes stayed almost the same. Still the same causes for Honey to throw herself into, Leon by her side but with a toddler strapped to his back. Maybe he would never actually be on the moon, but Honey certainly brought it down to him in their little girl.

“We've gotta get back to the house,” Honey lifted Leon’s hand up and brushed her mouth against his knuckles. “I worked a little something out with Elton.” She started to tug him along.

Leon dug his heels into the dirt, and his girlfriend’s arm nearly came out of its socket. “Honnn eeeyyy,” that sexy whine. “You've gone and brought Mr Elton John into it? Oh I'm not big on my birthday, you know that.”

Honey planted her hands on her hips, “Not everyone in our generation is gonna get to turn thirty. There's a piano in the house, and he thinks it's far out. Now c'mon, don't be a spoil sport.” She mimicked Leon's accent.

“Only if he says it's alright. Know how I am ‘bout doing things that aren't my bag.” Still he followed her down to the house, hands in his pockets as Honey literally skipped ahead, bits of bark in her hair.

It all felt unearthly, being surrounded by musicians whose records they had back in The Village. Or how short they all were. Save for John Phillips, the only person who towered slightly over Leon that night. Everyone called him Kubrick in jest, but his cheeks flushed all the same. He perked up straight away when Cass tugged on his vest. The one Honey made. He wore it now over a long sleeved thermal shirt and tight jeans that boot-legged instead of belled.

“Say this is pretty groovy. This is almost flashy enough for Elton to wear.” Her hands ran over the fabric.

“Honey made it. Our first Christmas together back in ‘67. London. Where I'm from. Well no I'm from Greece but,” Leon stammered.

“Relax man. We don't bite! That's Michelle’s job. Your old lady said you've got a kid back East. Me too. Owen, she's around here somewhere.”

You could tell she was whacked out on something. Everyone here was except Leon and Honey. Not really tipsy anymore both down from the brownie earlier. Looking around, the party goers were at the various stages of undress and sex. It was like the couple got rid of Renatis and replaced him with Mama Cass. Except she was so much cooler, her vibe felt truer and at ease.

“Yeah Selina. She's four I think?”

Leon scratched his head before noticing Honey sitting on the piano bench with a guitar. Topless. Elton beside her, also topless but still in his jeans. What a strange fucking life he and Johnny got into after coming here in 1970.

“Like the moon! I get it, Kubrick! Honey said you really love her. Cherish it man, they'll be us soon enough,” she winked. Then Cass affectionately pat his cheek like a mother would.

Leon’s heart would break a year later when she died. Everyone’s heart would. Always touching his face anytime he heard her sing.

For now she was alive and sat down in a chair. Leon leaned against the doorframe as Honey and Elton started to play. Lost in his own world, everyone else in the bungalow faded away except her. He wrapped a finger up in a stray curl that fell from his ponytail, smiling in her direction.

It took him a moment to realize these two people were singing TO Leon and not everyone else. He was so caught up in the way Honey’s fingers moved expertly over the strings. Was this why she asked for lessons? How he always fell in love just by looking at her.

So excuse me forgetting

But these things I do

You see I've forgotten, if they're green or they're blue

Anyway the thing is, what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

And you can tell everybody

This is the song

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done

I hope you don't mind

That I put down in the words

Later in a loft, Honey and Leon naked on the floor. Leon's lips making their way down Honey’s chest where he stops to take a nipple in his mouth. Sucking hungrily before teasing it with his teeth. Biting somewhere between playful and rough. Alternating between each of her breasts before continuing down over her stomach. Tongue dipping into her navel.

Honey’s back arches into Leon and she moans softly. Her hand lost in his hair as sexual instinct makes her urge him further down. But her brain says through her mouth,

“Wait, it's your birthday. Let me give you head.” The words breathless.

Leon is already diving into her. His tongue snaking deep inside like his fingers often do before going for her clit. Flicking at it a few times, circling it quicker. His hands spread her thighs so he has better access as he works her faster. His head moving up and down the whole time.

Then: “If I wanna go down on you for MY birthday, the only way you're gonna stop me is by saying no.” Leon paused, large eyes gazing up at Honey. His mouth glistening. “Are you saying no, then?”

“Fuck no, I love when you do this. I just figured you wanted to lay back and let me suck you off.”

He smiled and went back to it. Burying his face into Honey further. Then switching from his quick pace, Leon ran his tongue agonizingly slow along her cunt. The entire length of one side, sucking on it, plunging it in to work around Honeys clit then up the other side. Repeating this a few times, tongue manipulating her clit longer and faster.

Honey felt that heat build in her sex. That throb and the contraction. She cried out with that sudden swell of wetness before she came. She was so close but her mouth opened:

“Leon stop!”

Leon sat up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “What? What's wrong? Too much, love?”

“No no it was the perfect amount of too much. I don't wanna cum before we fuck.”

“Now THAT'S a bleeding birthday present. Time for me to get a toss over?” Leon's eyes shone with excitement. “Can we shag where someone might catch us?”

He stood up and helped Honey to her feet. Walking her to the railing that exposed the loft to the living room below where everyone had played their music before. A couple was already going at it on the couch not very silently.

Leon put his hand on the thick wood and yanked a few times to check its strength. It was perfect.

Honey situated herself in front of him, back pressing into his chest. She lifted her foot up on the bottom part and jutted her hips back into her partner’s erection. She anchored herself with her arms spread along the length of railing where he had just tested it.

Leon covered only one of Honey’s hands, his arm parallel to hers. The other hand taking the head of his cock teasing her with it. Then clutching the thick of her hip, he buries himself up to the hilt inside of her.

In his excitement, Leon began pounding into Honey madly. His hips hitting her ass every time created a rhythmic slapping sound. No longer needing to brace himself on her waist, he covered Honey’s mouth instead as her mewls of pleasure began.

Honey cried out into Leon's hand. Her body twisting slightly to give him better access. They had rutted this way enough that she knew angling her cunt downwards allowed him to hit her G spot. Something it took them both several years to figure out. Now that they had..

Leon lost himself in slamming into Honey with a speed he hadn’t felt since he did cocaine. The sweat created a shean across his cheeks, neck and chest from the heat they were building. Gut told him it would start forming on her forehead and stomach. What little he was grasping also told him Honey’s tits and ribs were crashing into the railing.

“Steady on, love.” Whispering huskily in her ear. “Yeah. I love being inside you. Never gonna get fucking sick of it. Your twat drives me barking.”

Honey kept on and kept up. That cataclysm in her walls, they flexed around Leon's cock suddenly. She squealed loudly into his hand as she came so hard her stomach muscles cramped. Her body still took to being rammed.

But not long, spurred on by the constriction of Honey’s orgasm, Leon exploded inside of her. Releasing completely but biting down on her shoulder to prevent from yelling out into the stillness.

Honey winced, but her gasp came out closer to another cry of pleasure. Her body cumming again unexpectedly. Leon would use that against her happily in the future.

They untangled themselves and were kissing in the dark. Then from downstairs came a humming. It soon turned into singing. The voice belonged to a tiny Englishman with diamond studded glasses.

“How wonderful life is while you’re in the world."

Tag: @robertsheehanownsmyass @badsext @joz-stankovich @elliethesuperfruitlover @nightmonsters

#robert sheehan #robert sheehan character fic #request #neuroticpuppy #leon x honey

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macaroni-rascal · 5 years

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Wax poetry about their lifts please

On the very long, long, long list of things that vm do exceptionally well and better than anyone else, their lifts sit easily among the top three. I definitely think it’s part of the reason that they were/are set apart from the rest of the competition. For me, there are a few things that stand out which contribute to why their lifts are so iconic and so far above anyone else’s

Tessa and Scott’s lifts:

Get integrated seamlessly into the program

Are incredibly musical

Acrobatic, yet precise

Explore varying levels, positions, and shapes

Always in the character of the program

Have equal participation

Hardly ever get reused

Are constantly improving and pushing boundaries

In fact, for that second to last bullet point, the wonderful Tina (@bartowskis) made an entire gifset of different lifts that vm only every used once.

For the purposes of time and gif space, I’m only going to focus on their senior career, because that is when their lifts really began to emerge as something distinct and unique onto them.

Get integrated seamlessly into the program

One thing that has always bothered me about lifts in ice dance is that they are just used as tricks to make the audience gasp. Far too often I find they also get telegraphed, more pre-Gadbois days/pre-Canton days, it was very much skatingskating – and here’s a lift – and more skatingskatingskating and there was no rhyme or reason for the lift to be placed where it was, it just needed to be in the program. I think Tessa and Scott were really the first team to utilize lifts in a completely new and interesting way – they made their lifts part of the story of their programs, not just an element to be completed, and I think Valse Triste is one of the best examples of this.

I love the lifts in Valse Triste because they help so much to build the program; the music in this free program starts very slow and sweeping with the violin and the entire beginning of the free dance their movements are very purposeful, drawn out, extended, and sweeping, to match that music. When we get to the first lift, its almost the end of that first part and so they have this wonderful little straight line lift that you do not see coming, Tessa’s arm are lovely, the arch in her back, and the strong base from Scott creates such a lovely picture and creates with sort of “swooning” picture that fits the story they are trying to tell. It is just placed so perfectly, as soon as the lift ends, the music changes and it feels like the next part of the story is about to be told.

Incorporating lifts always ties in with musicality, because they are using the music to add little accents to the lifts. The combination lift is so quick in with Tessa just popping up, grabbing her leg and Scott holding that lovely edge before they go into the rotational aspect. Their rotational lift builds speed and momentum just as the music swells, and their final lift fits the theme so perfectly! They gain speed around the corner as the music becomes frenzied, Tessa lifts her arms into the air right when their is a small break in the music, she changes position, and Scott’s arm comes out as Tessa uses her core to balance right when the music stops and they get back on the ice as the music starts up again. So, as the music starts sweeping and simple, their lift matches, and as the music swells into a flurry, their lift matches, which helps to integrate the lifts and make the program seem like one complete movement and story, not a series of starts and stops and vignettes.

I think Valse Triste was a perfect little appetizer to what they were working towards and what was in store for their skating careers.

Are incredibly musical

Umbrellas was a whole different story – and their short dance that year had one of their one off lifts and a reused an old rotational lifts, and every. single. lift. in their free dance that year, was new. New and wonderfully musical.

The first lift I think especially is so unbelievably gorgeous. I have talked and ranted at length about how boring I find around the shoulder lifts because they always look labored, the man’s posture is terrible, and the lady’s position is awful…then there are these two, hitting this stunning lift right when the music swells triumphantly, they wait until the singer stops singing, and they hit this lift so quickly and so on time, it feels like the music was composed for the lift, not the other way around.

They are so fast into the first position, Tessa’s legs are extended, there is toe point and Scott is so strong to glide on one foot! And that is all only the first part of the lift, the rest of it is just as lovely and just as musical. The shapes they are creating and how seamlessly it is integrated into the program is just beautiful. This was the year they really started working with acrobats and cirque du soleil as well. And it certainly shows.

Once more, with their straight line lift – it comes right at the end of a piece of singing as the music swells so they are not only creating interesting shapes and adding to the story, they are using the music to make the story come alive and make the flow of the program match the flow of the music, as soon as the lift ends, the singing begins again. Just brilliant.

The last two lifts back to back at the end of the program during the din of the music are so wonderfully effective: how after a stunning step sequence where the singer is crooning “je t’aime je t’aime je t’aime” over and over again to have them choreograph to hug desperately, let go of each other then go into the lift that picks up right when the music does creates a wonderful moment that is only then compounded by the serpentine lift of Tessa standing on Scott’s leg and hitting her position right on the boom of the music and hitting her second position right when the music is beginning to soften – so the exultant position of Tessa standing tall fits the music just as the second position of Tessa upside down and lower fits the music just as well.

It is no wonder this was their breakout year, the lifts just contributed to the overall impression.

Acrobatic, yet precise

Now the next year, post surgery, Tessa and Scott still decided to put nothing but new lifts in the free dance yet again, like the legends they truly are. Must give a shoutout to the first iteration of the goose with Scott’s arms on his knees, that some honest to god ridiculousness and such a cool moment, such an interesting balance point. Of course the serpentine lift, The Serpentine Lift, is such an amazing moment, with Tessa literally just diving head first towards the ice as Scott catches her, the changes of position without getting messy, and the last part where they create of a sort of guitar looking shape to match their rock anthem free dance. That curve lift as well, is so interesting, the entrance and Tessa’s position along with Scott’s posture make such a wonderful impression on the ice.

What I especially love is that even though their lifts became more and more acrobatic, they didn’t loose any of their speed or precision, rather they worked to improve is constantly to the lifts would have even more of an impact.

Explore varying levels, positions, and shapes

What has always bothered me about lifts in ice dance is when they man holds a base and the lady just flips and flies into all these different positions without ever created a nice picture. To me, it points to a lack of core strength or a desire to hide a lack of extension and posture.

Tessa and Scott cannot relate.

I love that they always maintain a position, even in lifts with changes of positions, they are held long enough to create a gorgeous picture and wonderful effect on the ice. Special shout out to the Farrucas lift for being a perfect example of everything they do well in lifts: the quick, interesting, and acrobatic entrance, the gorgeous position and extension, Scott’s posture and strong base, in the character of the program with the Flamenco hands, right on the music and perfectly integrated. It’s just a masterclass in everything lifts can and should be. I love that Tessa has the core strength to get out of the lift by herself, her free leg doesn’t lose the extension and she just drops her leg and glides smoothly back to the ice.

I couldn’t make a waxing poetic post about their lifts without mentioning The Lift, the VM Lift: the Goose. I’m trying to think of any other team that has an official name of their lift, you have elements in singles named after skaters: the (brian boi)tano, the (adam) rippon, the (nancy) kerrigan spiral, etc. etc. But what other team has a lift so iconic, so recognizable, so unbelievable, as vm?

No one, that’s who.

As an aside, the fact that they learned the most iconic lift in ice dance post Tessa’s first surgery, when they weren’t on the best terms, and then continued to improve it constantly and consistently up until the olympics, makes me feel very soft and tender towards two young Canadian ice dancers. I remember reading, I think it was from their book, that they only started to really get back on terms and work together when they had to figure out a new exit of this lift, because lets not forget, originally, Tessa does a motherfucking half loop jump off of Scott’s thigh to land one footed on the ice, only to change it to maybe the only equally difficult and dangerous exit of Tessa just falling forward into Scott’s arms. I also love the little music lick that happens right when Tessa gets into and holds position, its just radiant ice dance.

The position they create is gorgeous, the parallel arms, the view for the judges where Tessa’s leg is hidden and she looks like she’s floating magically above Scott. Not the mention the exit itself creates a gorgeous position even though it lasts a half a second. I wish I had the words for the emotion this program gives me, but its completely ineffable.

Across all the lifts vm do in this free dance, they create wonderful shapes and move into varying levels perfectly. Whether Tessa is reaching her hands up to the heavens only to go upside down and right side up again in the rotational lift, or the expansive nature of the goose, the shapes are just gorgeous.

I especially love the stationary lift! This was during a time when stationary lifts were far more rare in ice dance than they are now, and this lift doesn’t even look like a lift, it just looks like a stunning and interesting transition until you realize the balance point. They get into it so seamlessly, Tessa’s extension and toe point is beautiful, her arm reaching up only to come down and wrap around Scott’s neck as if they aren’t defying gravity and physics, but are just in their own little world.

Always in the character of the program

Then we have the second surgery, and vm come back with, you guessed, all new lifts(-ish) in both their short dance (a one off lift) and their free dance – their straight line had the same position as the curve in Farrucas, but a different entry. I love the curve lift in Hip Hip Chin Chin, how it lasts for the entirety of the singer singing “temptaa-a-tion”, the lift itself fits the dance and the music change so well – Scott holds an amazing edge as Tessa winds herself around his body. The debut of the rotational lift that would serve them well in the olympics also appears here and the baby twist Tessa does into the lift is right out of Latin ballroom.

Shout out to Funny Face for having the most in character lifts, each one feels like it came out of an old movie. I especially love the curve lift and the combination lift, the curve lift is so in character, Scott is giving Fred Astaire face and Tessa’s positions are so interesting. The rotational lift, the entrance and the arch in Tessa’s back with her arms thrown out backwards is so triumphant and glorious. Not only are the lift positions in character, but vm stay in character during the lift itself. It’s always awkward to see ice dancers thinking in the middle of a lift, it takes you right out of the program. I love that Scott pulls Fred face in the middle of a lift, it makes the program come alive.

I also love that they will change and workshop lifts if they aren’t working, during the 2011-2012 season, they changed their short dance lift a couple times before settling, they don’t let a program or a lift become stagnant or rote, rather the lifts stay alive and engaging as the skaters themselves.

Have equal participation

Chaotic shoutout to Carmen for having the most sexual and gravity defying lifts. I’ve mentioned it before but I’m always annoyed by lifts that are clearly just the lady being dragged and thrown into different positions while she either hangs on for dear life or does the absolute least. With Tessa’s ballerina training and dancing experience, she knows how to hold herself, she is getting herself into position before Scott puts her there.

To be totally honest Scott and Tessa’s lifts are not really lifts because Tessa isn’t getting lifted, she is just already there. Their lifts would not be possible if were not for Tessa and her core. It supports her, it supports me, it supports us all.

(tiny shoutout to the seasons for being both their most underwhelming program with the most underwhelming lifts – underwhelming for vm, that is to say amazing for any other team, the first part of the rotational lift is stunning and the curve lift at the end is gorgeous, but they had the same exit for multiple lifts and because of the music cuts in the music the program didn’t feel harmonious and that feeling bled into their lifts as well)

Hardly ever get reused

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir said if we are going to do a comeback, we are going to comeback with new lifts.

And we are going to come back in style.

And did they ever.

God bless this curve lift, Scott’s strong squat and amazing edge quality giving them an amazing lean, Tessa’s core and strength letting her abandon herself into the lift, her arms gesturing expansively and expressively with the swell of the music and the tension in Prince’s voice during Purple Rain…I love the entrance because they get into it quick, Tessa’s leg kicks up SO high, the position and speed are wonderful, then the exit, so ridiculous if you realize the millisecond Tessa is in the air and completely flipping her body, Scott gets out of the squat and has to catch her, while she turns again and exits in a cool and amazing lunge right into their end pose.

Iconic.

Latch, just like with several others of their programs, they came in with all new lifts. The first position in the stationary lift is similar to the mahler stationary lift but Tessa’s leg is bent underneath her and her arms are around Scott’s neck, and the other positions create such amazing shapes, and they’ve done a similar position in the second part of the rotational lift as well, though they altered it. Let’s take a moment to appreciate that vm book ended Latch with similar yet different lifts, because I love it and it makes me happy inside.

I love the rotational lift so much, I love how musical it is, how Scott does a small jump right before the entrance, how quickly Tessa flips up into position, then she slides down Scott’s body just as the music cascades to match her. It’s just a lovely moment.

My favourite lift in Latch is without a doubt the straight line lift, for a few reasons: I love that they changed it from what it was originally, a lift that worked better in theory than in practice. So rather than keeping the lift they did at ACI and SC, they came up with a completely new lift between their first and second grand prix.

I love the entrance (similar to the entrance into the choreo lift from carmen, but so different as well). Tessa’s free leg does a complete circle from the entrance into the position she holds all while Scott changes direction and gets into a squat. The position she hits is so stunning, I see her make a full moon with her free leg then holding the position of a half moon during the lift. The arch in her back, her arms, her posture is gorgeous. The exit is just breathtaking, Tessa glides down Scott’s body so effortlessly she looks weightless, and to top it all off, Scott changes position again, turns on one foot (!!) and sets Tessa back on the ice.

It is just perfection.

Are constantly improving and pushing boundaries

Just as with everything else in their skating, they never remain stagnant and are always working to improve and sharpen their craft, which I appreciate so much. There is no complacency here.

Watching The Rotational lift from Carmen versus Moulin Rouge is so amazing, how much more speed they have into the lift, how much faster Tessa gets up and into position and the much more difficult position change. It is truly such a mark of greatness to be constantly and consistently wanting to grow and learn and improve. Let’s also not forget that they changed this lift for the team event only to change it back for the free dance. Just because they could. In the same vein, going from the rotational lift in 2011 Hip Hip Chin Chin to 2018 Sympathy for the Devil, the lift improved so much! The entrance was quicker, the position is better, they are much faster, and the exit is far more seamless. It’s wonderful and fascinating.

I love that for their curve lift, as they changed the music they also changed the lift in certain specific ways, Tessa’s arm movements changed to her powerful thrust up into the air and the exit became far more intense with Tessa jumping and twisting into Scott’s arms rather than gliding down his body, they shifted and improved the lift when they changed the program.

Like, let us never forget that this is what is happening mid lift: she is flying.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir invented stationary lifts.

As this gif set shows, one of these things is not like the others.

No one has entrances and exits like that, Tessa vaulting herself backwards blindly knowing Scott will stop at the right time in the right spot, going from a full stop to the momentum to turn, switch positions twice, all the while maintaining speed, staying centered, holding positions and even holding eye contact. It was the perfect beginning of the free dance and set the tone for the next four minutes.

Lifts can so easily be just an element to check off where ice dancers look into their repertoire and chose what fits best, I appreciate so much that Tessa and Scott refused to be complacent when it came to their lifts, that at the beginning of their senior career they were completely committed to making their lifts more difficult, more interesting, just more more more.

Their lifts go above and beyond what we think is possible, literally and figuratively.

#tisaqueen #konner talks skating #konner waxes poetic #okay #did i not say this ended up long #a bitch busted out the thesaurus for this okay?#djhfkasjdf #maria i hope you enjoy #im not gonna put anything under the cut #its just gonna be a long fucking psot #<3 #anywho #:D #this was fun #there may be typos but i cant look at it anymore so im posting #i rewrote and reworked it like 3 times #hahahahah

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popculturebuffet · 5 years

Text

Analysis of X: X-Men 2k19 #1: Little Scotty, Happy at Last

Dawn of X Begins with an average day for Grand Captain of Krakoa, Scott Summers: Racist Science Gorillas, sexual tension with his former arch enemy’s daughter, and family dinner where his former insane god emperor brother burns the steak while his dad’s space family drops in to his house on the moon. We’ve all been there. Join me under the cut, it’s bang zoom straight to the moon.

I’ve been a huge X-Men fan since my teens, gobbling up various books, enjoying the hell out of them, and genuinely loving this team, the love only growing with each book I read. Some better than others, we’ll get there, but I have a huge amount of love for the team and i’ts offshoots, so marvel basically taking a bat to the franchise’s nuts for the last 5 years or so, the final embarrassment being the filler stories used to buy time for House and Powers of X. But said series have lifted the clouds: Writers are finally allowed to actually write again, the landscape has shifted and the x-men are truly interesting again. I waited feverishly for House of X #1 to come out. It did not disapoint and while i’ll certainly dive into that series at some point, i’d rather catch the dawn of x as it comes, and thus being a week behind, we come to X-Men # 1. For those of you who didn’t keep up with hosue and powers... Previously on...

While humans slept, the world change. Professor Xavier and Magneto founded Krakoa, an island soley for mutants, though humans can visit it’s various embassys. in exchange for Nationhood and Amnesty for it’s less desirable members, mutantkind sells them flowers from Krakoa, the island that walked like a man and is fully sentient, that can cure all manner of diseases. The nationhood is approved by the end of the series and mutants at last have a safe paradise to enjoy life in.

It turns out this power play was in part thanks to Moira Mactaggert, longtime X-Men ally.. and as the series reveals secret mutant who lives a new life every time she dies.. and after 9 failures decides to break the wheel, tell xavier and magneto they always loose and set up a long game. After setbacks due to charles optimism and Erik turning against her, she suceeds. Said longgame turns out to not only be the nation but using 5 mutants in concert to cheat death. Just about every notable mutant that we’re aware of is alive and well. Death is no consequence for mutants.. as proven when an assault on anti-mutant groups Orichis, made up of agents from various secret agencies across Marvel past and present, big satiltie head results in the whole team dying but the mission being accomplished.. but at the cost of a ton of humans, and with a sacrifice from Erasamus, wife of top scientist Dr. Gregor

Good. With that in hand, let’s start the showwww. We open on...

Sadly, it’s not Garnet but Charles Xavier, urging a young Cyclops to open his eyes. As it will turn out he’s given Scott his first pair of ruby quartz sunglasses, the red peepers that allow Scotty to open his eyes without killing everything he sees, but Scott is scared to open them, afraid of hurting him. Charles gently tells Scott that he understands Scott not wanting to hurt someone, but keeping his eyes shut because of fear? That’s what they do. And he doesn’t have to go through life stumbling around afraid like humanity is of mutantkind. He can be better. So scott opens his eyes, opens his eyes.

They work, and Charles closes out this great opener promising “Oh the things i’ll show you.”. You know god like aliens that look like your grandpa, far more aliens than you’d expect for a comic about mutants, whatever the fuck vanisher’s wearing, a weirdo calling himsel fthe living monolith that turns into a giant man, and whatever the hell a demi-man is. Seriously look at him.

What IS that? I truly don’t know. And that’s just before you turn 18. With that and the title for our issue, “Pax Krakoa” and Hickman’s standard cast chart thing out of the way we get into the story proper. Our heroes have been busy since the rager at the end of House of X and once the island’s hangover wore off, set to work dismantling Orichis, something I like as sometimes the X-Men tend to sit on their hands a while with these genocidal assholes. Well it’s a new day and Cyclops and storm are tearing shit up, though Storm almost misses a sentinel because she’s tired.

Scott, at least it’s human sized. You’ve missed far bigger targets.

I wonder if they knew it was Christmas Time at all? Or maybe simply having a wonderful Christmas Time for a sentinel is roasting mutants over an open fire.

Regardless, Scott soon figures the fact their stupidly trying to hold the omega level mutant and experinced trained badass off means their hiding something and have Magneto literally tear the roof off this place, before he has his daughter Polaris clears the humans away.

Cyke clears off the lock and Magneto gently tells him to step aside so he can finish it off, showing clear respect for Scott, something that makes perfect sense to me. He’s fought beside him in two teams, trained his time lost younger self whose memories scott has, and even fighting against him always respected Scott’s strength and conviction. It’s a subtle touch but it’s there and shows that, hickman really gets these two and why they’ve been one of the strongest parts of his run. Some panicked Orichis Scientests decide the datacore, and whatever their guarding, is too important and decide to stab themselves with science.. and the result.. is sublimely ridiculous.

I fucking love this book and Hickman’s wilingnesss to remind you “yeah the marvel universe is fucking weird and I love it that way. “ me too man, me too. And it somehow gets weirder. But Mags agrees to hold them off while Cyke goes after whatever they were guarding.. which turns out to be stasis tubes full of mutant children. Cyclopes and Lorna prepare to open them the fuck up while Storm makes a gateway back to Krakoa. only one of the tubes.. dosen’t contain a mutant but something diffrent...

A post-human who’s desyched with time and quickly vanishes, who storm hypotheises is from the Vault, which I don’t know enough about to go into at this time, and she soon vanishes. Magneto and daughter want to peruse her like a hunted animal but Scott, having some empathy, declares they have more important things to do and he’ll track her down if the Council asks. But for now...

This is what I love of HIckman’s Scott Summers: He’s a nice blend of past and future. He has the badass dedication of Claremont, the snark of Whedon and the leadership qualities he’s always had, without falling into being a massive dick as he would sometimes due to poor writing post decimation. He’s no longer the man who has to make the hard choices to survivie or fight against his own friends because they still blame him for a death he was hopped up on unstable emotinally enhancing space god during, he’s a man who wants to keep his people safe, enjoy his life, as we’ll see, and fight as hard as he has to for the innocent wether their his species or not. This is peak Scott Summers and after years of mistreatment i’m sure i’ll get to eventually, this is a GLORIOUS change.

Our heroes return to Krakoa where Dr. Ceilia Reyes is looking after the rescued children. Since she’s kind of a minor character, Celia is a doctor that can create force fields and never really WANTED to be an X-Man but was essentially fired for being a mutant and had nowhere else to go. She was one of three additions to the X-Men at the time and the only one I really liked the other two being Maggot (who’s power is gross but throughly intresting but whose personality at the time is throughly obnoxious and stereotypical) and Marrow, who at least in her intial apperances is just gross, agressive and annoying. Ceilia was a victim of circumstance, engaging and i’m happy to see her back. Dr. Reyes assures, as seen above, that the kids are fine and that Krakoa is more than equiped to help them. IT’s part of what sells this as a mutant refuge: traumatized Mutants are no longer forced to stew in their trauma but have decent help and genetics to help with the worse aspects of their powers. We then get a nice character bit with storm as she decides to stay with two of the young mutants, a pair of silent blue and gold mutants radiating energy.

Speaking of returns to form. Ororo is back from being a plot ping pong ball for various writers and is once again the soul of the X-Men and this is a reminder why: She will never stop fighting for her people but she’ll take equal time caring for them and was likely an excellent queen as rushed as that relationship is and as messy as her reconciliation with t’challa is likely to be now she’s living in a country opposed to his. Yet another of the 80 or so intriguing plot threads this era has set up for other books, X or Not , to pickup. We then get a sight that clearly unsettles Scott.

No no nothing THAT bad. No what he gets... is this.

Magneto, his old arch enemy, being treated like a celebrity and hero among the children. Their Tom Hanks if you will, another great character scene as Magneto, being seated as hero and savior of his kind as he always felt he should be.

Naturally Scott is unnerved by this but for the sake of diplomacy keeps his mouth shut and instead makes time with Magneto’s daughter, inviting her back with him for family dinner. While he does mention her ex and his brother Alex will be there.. it’s subtly hinted there may be more here. And I like it and her refusal as she needs time for the past to be the past and for her to adjust, feels like Lorna when previously she’d been a rather out of character obdient daughter, something I hope Hickman explores and is not just a sudden change for the free spirited, strong willed, snarky daughter of the big M. Also as you can tell i’m not a huge fan of Scott’s brother alex who is barely in this. He’s just never been utilized well and she deserves better. When asked his thoughts, Scott gives a nice speech about how scared he was having his son and the horrors his son would face.. and given his son was infected with a virus, shunted to the future, became mother fucking cable, and has died twice and has now been replaced by his teenage self who murdered him, yeah, he was right to be scared. but now his son is in a place of peace, and he feels he’s finally achived his dreams and all the fighting and bloodshed has been worth something.

But family dinner will have to wait and we get back to Orichis meeting their leader, Director Devo, who tells them to whip it .. whip it good. Okay obligatory joke aside, we do see a funeral for the soldiers that were killed during House of X.

Devo and Karima talk over the disaster, how while their location around the sun, in the solar satlite thing reed richards and tony star built, and before you assume the worst they were both thought dead at the time it was stolen, is good for keeping humans from raiding them, it’s not really enough to stop MUTANTS, and Devo wishes he’d been there to stop the slaughter. Really nothing of HUGE consequence, just some plot movement and huminzation of the racist malitia.. which works. While their still not necearily good people: Karima took up with the very kind of people who turned her into what she is, and they kidnapped children just for being diffrent, they are still more than carboard cutout characteratures of racist. These are scared, frightned people wanting to halt what should be inevitible. However it also, like some of mutantkind’s shakier actions recently, dosen’t excuse it either: their still plotting genocide to save themselves instead of trying to find a peaceful solution, and while yes the X-Men strongarmed their way to peace, it was after a good decade and a half of racist slaughter and trying to be a good example while mankind did hardly anything to help. The mutants, at least to me, end up coming off as more sympathetic simply because they’ve suffered while mankind, even the superhumans, did nothing. While Orichis is more understandable than most anti-mutant militia’s they are NOT heroes. While some of the krakoans may not qualify either and some are outright monsters, Orichis are trying to do a genocide out of fear instead of doing what the X-Men did for years: find peace even though it’s not the easy option. Show you DESERVE to live side by side instead of shunning them so much their forced to make their own home and keep you out this time. Their taking the easy way out, as did so many other superheroes in turning away, as did so many civliains in giving into fear, and that’s why their the bad guys. Krakoa is far from perfect, but Orichis is not even close.

One diatribe later, we find ourselves at Scott Summer’s house....

On the fucking moon! As scott says above, he figured why settle and always loving space as a kid, and having lived there in one of his two teen lives, he figured why not. It also explains how Krakoa can be there: while humans can’t live on Krakoa, they can visit the embassies, and given my rant above, you can see why maybe their being a bit paranoid. But yes scott’s pirate dad is visiting. Which is awkard given that his son who killed him is currently grilling steaks int he kitchen.

Yeah for those of you only casually aware of X-Men, or even just recent fans who wisely skipped Deadly Genisis, he might take some explaning: This is Gabriel Summers. He was born from his dying mother and made a slave, got back to earth, and then charles foolishly used him as the dry run for the all new all diffrent x-men, who all got killed by Krakoa. Double awkard given he now lives in part of him. Two surivived, the other being Darwin who went on to great things in Peter David’s X-Factor and I hope comes back here, and Gabriel later came back pissed as hell, killed a lot of people and became emperor of the shiar then died saving the universe after going crazy town banana pants. Oh and he also killed empress lilandra, Xavier’s long time lady love and empress of the shiar.

I shoudln’t of been able to make that joke twice, but the X-Men are insanely complicated and Gabe wasn’t a favorite of mine due to being a one dimensional psychopath and making Charles into kinda huge dick for getting some people killed and then never telling the rest of the X-Men. But here.. he’s fucking hilarious, going on long rants about fire and generally coming off as an entertaining nutjob. Other family activities include kid cable, another character I wasn’t crazy about, trading guns with Corsair’s buddy Raza. Just treating him like a normal teen made him instantly more likable than he has been as a know it all dickhead what killed the original vastly more likable Cable, and giving him a chance at a happy child and adulthood instead of years of misery and war. In one issue Hickman actually made me like two characters I previously couldn't stand... props to him and his hard work. We also get a touching scene where Scott gives his dad a krakoan flower to plant on the Starjammer, his ship, so he can visit anytime, a really touching gesture and a really nice moment. Now that’s out of the way, as the summers have dinner and gabe presumibly rants about fire off screen... it’s time for the elephant in the room.

If you look closely.. you’ll notice Scott, Jean and Logan all have interconnected rooms. No one has shut up about this since the comic was released and understandably so, as it means that their either both in a relationship with jean or, and I doubt this is true but I can hope, all three are dating each other. Me.. I like it especially if it’s the latter. After all the romantic bullshit i’ve had to deal with, it’s nice to have either possible polyamory, treated as safe and normal, or more likely an open relationship treated the same without it being a farce. Logan finally gets a shot with Jean, Scott still gets her but is free to explore other avenues given he’s been in only two relationships in his lifetime, but still be together and raise their son together. I like it a lot and i’m sure future X-Men issues will fill this out a bit. I also wouldn’t mind a Scott/Logan relationship, as it relay woudln’t hurt to have two of marvel’s biggest heroes be either bi or pansexual. With dinner finished Corsair offers to help Scott with dishes, only for him to only turn him down because Krakoa uses goo to both wash and dry.. and this was a COMPROMISE over edible plates that just.. no. No thank you. Corsair takes this chance to have a heart to heart over his misgivings at mutantkind’s new mission, especially as a human, and we get one of the best scenes of the issue, if not the best.

And we see how Hickman, rather than just paper over Scott’s shadier moments over the last decade, instead has Scott evolve past them. He’s done trying to just survive. He wants more than that. Without the terrifying brain computer that sometimes comes with that, but he wants to enjoy his life. He’ll never stop having to fight.. but instead of focusing on the fight every day.. he’s focusing on those he loves and cares about. And we see now WHY he belivies in Krakoa. he may have his doubts, his misgivings.. but after about 15 years of fighting just to make it out alive.. he gets to live. To have fun, to have somewhere where he can be safe, where he dosen’t have to worry about some psychotic jackass sending robots to blow up the kids in his care in the middle of the night. He’ll still give mutantkind every ounce of fight he has, but he can switch it off now... he’s letting himself be happy and it’s just wonderful to see. But of course, this wouldn’t make much of an ending that entices the reader to buy next issue would it... so we check back in on Orichis one last time.

Devo checks in on Dr.Gregor, finding she wasn’t at the funeral and while he’s fine with rage fueling her work, he’s not so crazy about her using it to sublimate her grief. In truth she knows they didn't have enough to bury.. and more importantly... it may be moot for you see....

And just in case you missed it like I did, said crystal with his memory... looks just like Nimrod’s.. aka the badly named turbo sentinel that has always been key in snuffing out mutant kind. Ruh-Roh.

Final Thoughts: This issue kept the momentum and story from Powers and House going, but rooted it more in character, continuing Hickman’s cleanup job on Scott Summers, while doing some on his family, and creating a truly great start to the new era. My only complaint is sometimes Yu’s art looks a bit off when it comes to faces and as with his previous teamup with hickman on avengers, sometimes takes me out of the story.. but the story is so riviting and the better moments of art so stunning that it can’t bring this book down. The future continues to be bright for the x-men. If you liked this review, reblog or follow, feel free to request an issue for me to review for 3 bucks a pop, or vote in the poll I have going for what dawn of x related issue i’m going to review that closes this friday. And until next time, farewell my x-people.

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bbjobo · 5 years

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in which i accidentally ramble about schitt’s creek and tarot

It’s been literal years since I’ve made an original tumblr post, but this week’s episode of schitt’s creek got me.

Yes, yes, all the emotions etc etc everyone else is saying it more eloquently than I am, so instead I’m gonna ramble about Twyla’s tarot reading, which was an intersection of my interests I was NOT expecting.

First off, her first reading? Lovably ridiculous, as everything Twyla does is. You’re not gonna see catastrophes and drownings and funerals in the cards. Or like, if you do, it’s not that literal. She’s right that you have to interpret the cards. And I can’t quite tell what the other cards she pulled are or what deck she’s working from, so this is about as far as I can dive into the initial reading: that’s not how you read tarot.

But!! Her Ten of Cups explanation at the end? SPOT FUCKIN ON. Let’s talk about the Ten of Cups. So like a deck of playing cards, a tarot deck has suits. Cups is the suit that’s tied to connection, relationships, love, feelings, etc. It’s a pretty happy suit overall, though there are a couple of negative cards. Its associated element is water (which I think is interesting given all of Twyla’s islands and boats and drowning). And when you’re comparing tarot to a deck of playing cards, the Cups suit corresponds with (you guessed it!) hearts. And what’s the overarching theme of this beautiful wonderful show? LOVE. RELATIONSHIPS. FAMILY. CONNECTION. Also given the like intense presence of water in Twyla’s reading, I’m gonna guess with literally nothing to back me up that she pulled a fuckton of Cups (maybe the Five? I digress).

Now let’s talk about the Ten of Cups. Actually, first, let’s look at two different versions.

Rider Waite (probs the most well-known deck)

Look at that idyllic pastoral setting, embracing couple, frolicking children (beep boop, father, mother, son, and daughter, not unlike the Roses), golden cups arching over them in a LITERAL RAINBOW. This is a good goddamned card. Wild Unknown (this is the deck I have)

Not as literal in its meaning, but all the symbolism is still there. This time the cups are, like, feeding into each other. There’s obviously the connection meaning and the rainbow is there, but it’s not as clean, not as “perfect.” The rainbow is honestly pretty messy. It’s imperfect, but there’s still beauty in its imperfection. The cups are joined together to create this perfect glowing ring of light and beauty to ward off the darkness. The Ten of Cups is literally what this entire show is about. It’s family, both blood and found. It’s connection with and supporting the people around you. It’s love without the fear of hate. It’s beauty, peace, harmony; it’s fulfillment.

#schitts creek #schitt's creek #spoilers #s5 spoilers #tarot #now i'm gonna go try to figure out the other cards in twyla's reading #if anyone wants to help me out with hq screengrabs #i would not say no #I JUST REALLY LOVED THIS MOMENT #long post

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ladywinchester1967 · 6 years

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Double the Fun: Part 3

Title: Double the Fun: Part 3

Links: AO3 & WattPad

Square Filled: Dom/ sub

Rating: E for Explicit

Tags: choking, SMUT, oral (male and female receiving) dom/ sub dynamics, polyamory, threesome(ish) no J2 action, Dom!Jensen, Sub!OFC. This is all porn, damn near no plot. Unbeta’d, all mistakes are mine, pics are not. This is a work of FICTION and doesn’t mean any disrespect to Gen or Danneel.

Created for: @spnkinkbingo

Jensen opened the door for me and followed behind me, placing his hand on the small of my back.

“Why thank you.” I said with a smile as he kissed my temple.

With beers in had, we walked over the fire pit where Jared was waiting for us. It was a balmy night in Texas, perfect weather for a cookout and a fire, which is exactly what we had decided to do. I handed Jared his drink as he thanked me and kissed me.

It had been more than four months since we'd started our relationship and it felt like a dream since everything had been going so smoothly. It felt like we had fallen into an easy routine after the guys had asked me to move in two weeks ago.

“You're here more often than you're at your apartment anyway.” Jensen had pointed out.

In the present, I sat back down in my seat between the two men, my back against Jensen's shoulder and my legs in Jared's lap as we talked. One thin I felt that we had as our advantage was that we all genuinely enjoyed each other's company. It didn't matter if we were out and about or at home, we just liked to be around one another.

“What’s something you’ve always wanted to try?” Jared asked me.

“In general or in the bedroom?” I asked and they both laughed.

“Yes.” Jared answered.

Jensen playfully raised his hand and said

“I know this one.”

“Let her answer.” Jared said.

I blushed hard and said

“Outside the bedroom, scuba diving, inside the bedroom it's the dom thing.”

“You two never did that?” Jared asked, looking surprised.

Jensen shook his head

“I’ve dominated her plenty of times,” he said “she wants to try being the dominate one.”

Jared raised his eyebrows and smiled.

“So she’s a sub?” Jared asked and Jensen nodded.

“She’s a good girl,” he said, smiling at me fondly “aren’t you?”

His words shot straight to my core and I eagerly nodded.

“Yes sir.” I answered, practically rattling with anticipation.

He raised his eyebrow and a wicked grin crossed his face.

“You wanna show Jared what a good girl you are?” He asked.

It took everything I had in me not to come in my pants right then and there.

“Would that make you happy sir?” I asked.

Jared was watching our exchange with fascination.

“Yes,” Jensen said “it would. Get changed, you have five minutes.”

“Yes sir.” I answered and went into the house, up the stairs and to my room. I opened my drawer where I kept all of my naughty lingerie and changed into a black bra with a wine colored ribbon and panties that matched. I tied my hair back into a ponytail and then sat on the bed, waiting. When the door finally opened, Jared walked in first his eyes going wide when he saw my get up and made room for Jensen who was in total Dom mode. The way his shoulders were squared so he was drawn up to his full height and the way his jaw clenched had me nearly in a puddle on the bed.

“Good girl.” he commented as he shut the door behind him. Jared sat himself in the corner and I sat up on my knees. Jensen was smiling, but he was in his element. I crawled to the edge of the bed where he drank me in. “I like these,” he said as he tugged at the waistband of my panties as I sat up on my knees again “these are keepers.”

“I’m glad you like them.” I told him “May I touch you?”

“You may.” He said.

I slid my hands up his wide forearms as the tension seemed to leave his body. He placed his hands on my hips and I moved my hands up his arms to his shoulders.

“You’re gonna be a good girl for me aren’t you?” He asked.

“Yes sir,” I answered automatically “I will.”

He seared a kiss on to my lips and then tilted my face up to meet his gaze, his eyes were full of adoration and control.

“Up off the bed,” he told me and took my hand to help me down “walk over to Jared.”

I did as he told me to and I walked over to Jared, who was unabashedly staring. I stood in front of him as Jensen walked up behind me and then said to Jared

“She does whatever I ask, unless she uses her safe word. Tell him your safe word.”

“Red.” I answered as Jensen placed his hands on my hips. He kissed my shoulder as he gripped me tightly.

“Whatever you ask?” Jared questioned as he shifted in his seat.

“Yep,” Jensen said with pride in his voice “I could tell her to ride you and she’d do it.”

I froze, Jensen usually didn’t share when he was in his dominate head space. He let his fingers curl around the base of my spine and said in my ear. “I’m showing you off baby,” he reminded me “the only cock you’re about to ride is mine. Don’t worry about him.”

“Yes sir.” I told him as he took my hand and spun me slowly around so Jared could get a good, long look at me. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he drank me in. I could tell he was uncomfortable, sitting with a raging boner as Jensen ran his hands all over my body.

“What should I do with you?” Jensen asked “I could bend you any which way I want.” He kissed along my jawline and pulled me close to him. “Or I could be generous.” I looked up at him and he seemed to have made up his mind. “Be a good girl and go suck Jared’s cock.”

“Yes sir.” I said as I got on my knees in front of Jared, who looked surprised.

“You’re gonna share this sweet little toy with me?” Jared asked, slipping into his role easily, I slid my hands up and down his thighs and looked up at Jensen.

To this, I watched Jensen shrug.

“She sucks dick like a champ,” he said with a gleam in his eye “that I’ll share.”

I bit my lip and unbuckled Jared’s belt.

“You ready for me handsome?” I asked as I eased his pants and underwear down to his ankles. He eagerly nodded as I freed his erection, proud and long, against his belly. I licked my lips and took him into my hand first. I licked him from root to tip, flattening my tongue as I moved it along his length. He groaned deeply as a gripped the arms rests of the chair. I watched as Jensen inhaled sharply as he watched me.

“Take him in your mouth sweetheart,” Jensen told me “show him how good you are.”

I nodded and took Jared bit by bit, my hand compensating for what my mouth couldn’t hold. He slid his hands over my ponytail and jerked my head upwards.

“No hands.” He told me.

I looked at Dean, who crossed his arms over his chest.

“Be a good girl and listen to Jared.” He told me. I nodded

“Yes sir.” I answered and put my hands behind my back, taking as much of Jared as I could in my mouth, he thrust up into my throat, making me gag and tears pool in my eyes.

“Fuck,” Jared moaned as he made his thrusts a little more shallow, I sucked harder on him and he groaned louder “oh you are a good girl.”

“I told you.” Jensen said as he came up behind me. This bra hooked in the front so when he undid the hooks, my chest was immediately on display for both of them. Jensen took my breasts in his hands, teasing my nipples with his fingers while I sucked hard on Jared’s cock. His fingers snarled in my hair as he bucked up into my mouth and I let out a moan. Jensen tweaked my nipples just right, making an electric feeling shoot straight to my core.

“You liking this sweetheart?” Jensen asked in my ear “Jared’s cock in your mouth while I play with you?”

I popped off Jared and said

“Yes sir, I love it.”

“Let him fuck your mouth until he comes,” he told me “and you’ll get a reward.”

“Yes sir.” I told him and took Jared back into my mouth, my tongue swirling around his shaft as I sucked on him. He held my throat and thrust into my mouth. I swear he could feel himself buried deep in my throat as tears pooled in my eyes and drool leaked out of the corners of my mouth. Jared squeezed my throat and groaned.

“Ah fuck, fuck that feels-FUCK!-fucking good!” Jared shouted and moved a little faster.

Jensen slipped his hand down into my panties and growled.

“Oh baby, you LIKE Jared throat fucking you and choking you?” He asked in surprise.

With my mouth otherwise occupied, I nodded as best as I could.

“Fuck, I’m close, shit!” Jared yelled.

“Mh, you’re doing so good baby girl,” Jensen purred in my ear “such a good girl.”

He parted my lower lips and let one finger glide through my soaking folds. I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head and Jared let out a sharp cry as he spilled into my mouth and I swallowed everything he gave me. He was literally shaking as I looked up. He looked wrecked but he was smiling.

“Fuck, that was intense.” He said as he breathed heavily. I gave him a cheeky grin as Jensen added another finger and I used my tongue to clean up the corners of my mouth as best as I could.

“Go get cleaned up for your reward.” Jensen told me.

“Yes sir.” I answered.

He took his hand out of my panties and helped me stand up. I made my way to the bathroom and swished some mouthwash in my mouth, then cleaned up Jared’s remnants with a tissue. When I was finished, I sauntered out of the bathroom and over to Jensen, who kissed me.

“Take your bra off and lay on the bed for me.” He told me.

“Yes sir.” I answered with a smile. I did as he told me and laid back against the pillows, discarding my bra. Jared joined me on the bed while Jensen took his shirt off and crawled across the bed to me, like a predator stalking its prey. He flattened his hands down my sides, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of my panties. He dragged them down and off my legs, then spread them wide. He looked up, smirked and then licked me from hole to clit with his flattened tongue. Jared kissed me and I whined into his mouth, my back arching.

“Jensen was right,” Jared said as he took my face into his hands “you ARE a good girl.”

“I-ah fuck!-try to be.” I struggled to say as Jensen’s tongue wound through my folds. He lapped over my clit as I squirmed in Jared’s arms, making him chuckle. He kissed down my jaw and throat.

“What the hell?” Jensen asked and Jared and I looked up. “You put a hickey on her thigh?!” He asked, looking perturbed.

“Yeah,” Jared said with pride “I sure did.”

I shrugged as Jensen shook his head and sucked a darker mark into my opposite thigh.

“Fuck!” I whined as he did this.

“Much better.” Jensen said and went back to flicking his tongue over my clit. Jared kissed the hollow of my throat and down to my breasts where he cupped them in his hands, tweaking my nipples. I bucked my hips into Jensen’s mouth and my toes curled as I tried to hold out.

“Oh my god,” I breathed “I wanna come, please!”

“Little bit longer.” Jensen said as he devoured me, using his lips and tongue to drive me insane as Jared lapped his tongue over my nipples. Whatever was beyond incoherent, that’s where I was as they lavished my body with their attention. I was a screaming, writhing mess when Jensen finally said

“Come. Now.”

It felt like something broke in my mind as I let go; my vision went white and it felt like heat and ice went down my spine at the same time. For half a second, I was convinced that I’d died and gone to heaven because of how blissful I felt. When I finally came down from my high, both men were smiling at me.

“Good girl.” They said at nearly the same time. Jared got up as Jensen took his place on top of me.

“You two have the fun.” Jared said as he headed for the door.

“Jared,” I said as I watched him go “no.”

He smiled and walked back to the bed as he kissed me.

“It’s okay baby,” he assured me as he pushed some of my hair off my forehead “I had my fun, we have to share.”

I looked at Jensen who went from apprehensive to happy seemingly in a second.

I nodded and he said

“I’ll make you a snack for after and who knows? Maybe I'll let you dominate me.”

I nodded and he gave me another quick kiss before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Jensen hovered over me, kissing me deeply as he wrapped me up in his arms. We didn’t talk as we removed his clothes; under his intense gaze, soft touches and sensual kisses, we didn’t have to. He buried himself deep in me as we both cried out. He kissed me hard as he started to move, my rhythm matched his as we moaned into each other’s mouths.

“Fuck,” he breathed “oh fuck me Lorelei, fuck me.”

I hooked my leg around his waist and pinned him under me as I started to ride him. He buried his fingers into my hips as he bit his lip to keep from crying out too loudly. I placed my hands on his chest, feeling his heart hammering under my hand. He snapped up and wrapped his arms around me as he moved with me. I slid my hands through his hair, kissing him hard.

“I love you,” I murmured to him “I love you Jensen.”

“I love you too.” He said.

My eyes fluttered open and he was looking at me with such adoration that it nearly had me in tears. We kissed again as I held his head in place.

“I’m gonna-“ I started

“I know,” he said “I’m close, fuck I’m so close. Bend over for me baby.”

I untangled my limbs from his as I got on all fours. He quickly slammed inside me, both of us groaning as he slid home. He fucked me harder as his rhythm faltered. With a moan of my name, he came deep inside me as I tightly gripped the sheets.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hope you guys enjoyed that!! Like I said in the tags, this was just gratuitous smut......but I figured what the hell? It was begging to be written!

As always, your kind feedback is appreciated more than you know! Don’t forget to like and share with your friends; smash that “follow” button if this is your first time here and you wanna see more content from me. I can’t believe I’m nearly at 700 followers!! like WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!? Also, my tag lists and boxes are open so if you wanna be tagged or just want to chat, feel free!

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#lady winchester writes #spnkinkbingo #single!jensen #single!jared #Jensen Ackles #jared padalecki #jensen ackles smut #jared padalecki smut #supernatural #Supernatural smut

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ireflectaut · 3 years

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Post One

I read several children's books over the last few weeks and picked my two favourites to deep dive into in order to learn as much as I can about why I liked them, what made them effective and what I can take from them to start creating my book.

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak is an iconic children's book for ages 3+. Sendak introduces us to a little boy, Max, and takes us through his journey to ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. Max has a fight with him mum for being unruly and wild and is sent to bed without dinner. He is angry and upset and escapes across an ocean to the world of wild things, where he can exert energy and play and be wild freely. Once he has worked through his energy, he realises he wants the comfort of home again and so he returns, across the ocean once more, and finds a peace offering from his mother; hot supper in his bedroom.

I loved this book as a whole; it has such a beautiful child-like simplicity that is nostalgic and magical to read as an adult. The themes felt thought out, fully realised and relatable, which included Love, forgiveness, childhood anger, independence, and imagination.

Love: Max leaves out of anger and forgets his home for a while; a home with a loving mother and a dog and a comfy bed, and he gets swept up in another world. Even when you are unconditionally loved, sometimes you need a break and to have space to miss it and realise how beautiful, safe, and important the people that love you are. He realises how necessary that is in being happy; he can survive on his own and have fun, go wild, do what he wants with no rules and regulations, but overall- Max chooses home.

His mother also offers a symbol of love to him, without even exchanging words; she leaves her son a hot homemade supper. This is such a great universally understood motif, that hits home for everyone – excuse the pun. In unconditional love, sometimes you don't have to verbally say you're sorry; the other person knows, because they know who you are and love you no matter what.

Overall, in the arch of the story, Max chooses his mum, and her love over everything else.

Independence: Max left home because he wanted to, he created a whole world by himself, he became king of the wild things, he tamed them; and then he realised that he didn't want that, he wanted what he had all along. The fact that Max figured all of this out himself is so important to creating such a vivid character; he makes decisions and has character growth because of his exploration of independence.

Childhood anger: Sendak doesn't ignore it, he portrays it in a natural and non-judgemental way. We don't see max apologise for shouting at his mum, and instead he works through his anger by himself on his own terms. Sendak breaks the taboo of anger – it is a normal emotion for both kids and adults, and we need to learn to accept it in order to deal with it. Max literally tames his wild things.

Imagination: Sendak writes about Max’s imaginary world as if it is the obvious truth; he doesn’t say “and then Max imagined...” he says “That very night in Max’s room a forest grew” (Sendak, 1963, p.10)

“And grew -” (Sendak, 1963, p.12)

“And grew until his ceiling hung with vines

And the walls became the world all around” (Sendak, 1963, p.14) Sendak respects the concept of imagination as reality and in doing that creates a vivid and truthful world. Max’s imagination plays a crucial part in working out his anger; he is in a world with no boundaries, no rules, no parental guidance; he can do anything he want, and only with this power could he express his independence and feelings in order to work towards a healthy mental state in which he can happily return home.

Sendak uses a plethora of language techniques to make the book dynamic and beautiful. There is a real rhythm in the way the story is written; it starts off softy in the first two sentences, leads you in, and then amps up the drama suddenly on the third page, like the chorus of a song. Maurice uses similar amounts of words and structure in the sentences on the third page to make a lyrical and fast paced flow.

Language techniques

There is a real rhythm in the way the story is written; it starts off softy in the first two sentences, leads you in, and then amps up the drama suddenly on the third page, like the chorus of a song. Maurice uses similar amounts of words and structure in the sentences on the third page to make a lyrical and fast paced flow; when you lay it out on one page it looks and reads similar to poetry, great poetry; this is where the lyricality comes from. The similar sentence structure carry's you through easily, and the repetition of “And” makes it sing-songy.

A few techniques that Sendak uses that I liked:

“His mother called him “WILD THING!”

And Max said “ILL EAT YOU UP!”” (Thompson, 1957, p.1)

I like that Maurice uses all capitals for the dialogue here, it puts such emphasis and excitement, and makes it more dynamic to look at. It also emphasises Max’s intense energy that obviously can be hard for his mum to deal with. It shadows a reality of angry fights between parents and children- something that almost everyone has experienced and can be extremely hard to work through; we can't blame our parents for being stressed and affected by the intensity of raising children with so many other stresses in their life, and we can’t blame children for being unaware of the strain they are placing, or for expressing themselves.

“That very night in Max’s room a forest grew” (Thompson, 1957, p.10)

I really like the lack of punctuation; no full stop, no comma after room, it makes it feel very childlike and sure of itself. Maurice has written the story as fact; there's no need for more context either.

Sendak uses alliteration with A sounds consistently, and uses other alliteration throughout, for example

“... a forest grew” (Thompson, 1957, p.10)

“and grew” (Thompson, 1957, p.12)

“And grew until his ceiling hung with vines” (Thompson, 1957, p.14)

“...a forest grew

And grew -

And grew until his ceiling hung with vines

And the walls became the world all around” (Thompson, 1957, p.14)

And then later:

“And in and out of weeks

And almost over a year

To where the wild things are” (Thompson, 1957, p.18)

There are many more examples through the book. He is a beautiful poet; a great skill for writing children's books.

“They roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth” (Thompson, 1957, p.20)

“And rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws” (Thompson, 1957, p.21)

The repetition of terrible makes it fun and easy to read; children or tired parents aren't getting lost in a sea of describing words (although there are plenty in the book, just not an overuse), we don't need four words for terrible, its unnecessary; we get the picture through the other describing words of claws and teeth and eyes and roars. It's not convoluted and still provokes an image, and when paired with the illustration, it's a perfect team.

Then, Max smells dinner for far across the world and wants to go home.

“But the wild things cried, “Oh, please don't go -

We'll eat you up – we love you so!”

And Max said “No!”” (Thompson, 1957, p.34)

The rhyming of go, so, and no is so simple but so effective. It drives the cadence of the page.

“we’ll eat you up – we love you so!” (Thompson, 1957, p.34) is such a beautiful idea and comes from a letter Maurice got from a child's mother saying that their child ate Maurices letter back to them because they loved it so much. It's such a childlike notion, it's incredibly charming and odd. I like that Sendak isn't afraid to be weird.

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.” (Sendak, 2012)

“and it was still hot” (Thompson, 1957, p.40) Is the last sentence of the book, a sweet detail about Max’s dinner that his mother left him. This small but beautiful image; a hot meal, provokes many childhood images of my own, and is something that is a universal signal of home and love.

The things I want to take away from Where the Wild Things Are to incorporate into my book are Sendak’s confidence in writing about themes that aren’t common or are thought of as taboo; themes such as anger in children's books, and the complexities of parent and child relationships, I also love the slightly abstract nature of Sendak’s writing and how he really explores imagination. I am very impressed with how active and assertive Max’s character is; I find that when I write, I can easily fall into having a passive protagonist, so this is something I will definitely work on and learn from.

I want to write my story as poetically as Sendak writes, I think it's a great way to create a rhythm and enjoyable reading experience that doesn’t rely on an abundance of unnecessary words; I think this is an important difference in writing an adult or YA novel and children's books; you need to get your point across concisely and vividly in a lot less words. In making my book poetic I will also use alliteration and make my sentences similar sizes. I also want to have a dynamic visual effect of the words in my book; Sendak uses capitals, and I will investigate other ways to do this too.

BOOK TWO:

Eloise in Paris by Kay Thompson

Eloise in Paris is a longer form book than where the wild things are and is for a slightly older market (aged 7 and up). This is clear from the more varied vocabulary and clear indication that the writer trusted the audience more with figuring out the context of what Eloise was saying and understanding the humour; “I always travel incognito” (Thompson, 1957, p.11) Eloise says with big celebrity sunglasses on.

Eloise in Paris is about a 6-year-old upper class girl who travels with her mother, nanny and dog to Paris. The book is an exploration of Eloise as a character; written in the 1950’s, Eloise is an unconventional female protagonist for the time; she is boisterous, confident, eccentric and unforgivingly herself.

I love this book for its incredible depth of character and playful writing techniques. It still feels contemporary and relevant 70 years from its creation, knocking down boundaries of how girls should behave and the idea of the four unit family (mother, father, and two kids) with its unconventional mother / daughter / nanny relationship.

Thompson initially wrote the first book in the franchise for an adult audience, which can explain its uncommon point of reference; the books don't have an obvious lesson or message as most kids books do, we just watch in awe as Eloise moves through the world moulding it to her own wants and needs, having a hell of a time doing it.

Themes:

Growing up/wanting to be grown up:

Eloise has a strikingly individual point of view; and she seems to know a lot about everything, or at least is so confident that we believe that she can do anything. She mimics the grown-ups in her life, from language to behaviour, saying “And oh my lord” (Thompson, 1957, p.12) and pronouncing rather as “rawther” (Thompson, 1957, p.4). She says things like “well by all means send it up right away”; (Thompson, 1957, p.1) an unusually mature tone with a sense of adult urgency that is rare in children unless mimicking the dialect of adults.

Unconventional family dynamics:

We don’t hear from Eloises mother almost at all in the whole book, we see her in the illustrations; but Eloise is never actually with her mum, but instead at a different table with her nanny, or watching her with others from afar.

Independence:

Eloise does what she wants, when she wants. If she wants to cross the road at the Arc De Triomphe without a care in the world, she will, and if she wants to loudly explore the hotel by herself in the middle of the night, she will. She is perfectly autonomous, something that many kids don't have and can only fantasise about. The book serves as a fantastic break from the rule abiding reality that many kids exist in.

Womens liberation:

Eloise was born in the 50’s; a time where women were expected to be pretty and quiet, cook clean and pop out babies. Eloise rebels from the notion of the silent woman; she is funny, clever (she learns french!), charming and self-assured, and she isn't afraid of anything. She is a fantastic role model for children, especially young girls who are still being told to this day that their value is in being passive. I also like that that wasn’t even necessarily a thought over ‘lesson’ or point in the book, or it wasn’t spelled out; Thompson just let Eloise be whoever she wanted to be.

“Life magazine said Eloise was "the most controversial literary heroine of the year. She charms and terrifies like a snake." (Goodman, 2017)

Language techniques:

Thompson has so much fun playing with the language in this book, and there is an incredibly strong sense of character that we can hear from her careful techniques.

Onomatopoeia:

“zibbity zap clink clank” (Thompson, 1957, p.1)

“zambo sting sting stinger” (Thompson, 1957, p.7)

“clink clank pick up that phone” (Thompson, 1957, p.8)

“ne quittez pas and zuk zuk zuk zwhocky zuk zuk swgock zuk zucky zuk zuk zwock nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn” (Thompson, 1957, p.22)

These are just some examples of the onomatopoeia that Thompson uses in Eloise in Paris. This technique makes reading it so amusing and strange and puts you right into the silly and unembarrassed mind of a child.

Phonetic spelling:

“Nanny is rawther long-sighted” (Thompson, 1957, p. 4), and “I am rawther photogenic” (Thompson, 1957, p. 80) the use of phonetic spelling to signal accent; this book has a high chance of being read out as well, so this forces the reader to say rather the way Thompson imagines Eloise would say it, making for a more interesting and silly listening experience, also enriching the upper class character of Eloise.

Once Eloise is in Paris she starts saying “Nahnee”(Thompson, 1957, p.19) instead of nanny, which again conjures such a great image in the reader’s head of the slightly snobby and extremely flamboyant Eloise.

Listing:

Listing is a great technique to break up the structure of a text; and in Thompsons case it’s always funny:

“Here’s what you have to pack if you’re going to Paris France

Mary Jane button hook

Pliers

Consomme container

Hotel kit

Here’s what else you have to take

Everything” (Thompson, 1957, p. 9)

and a lovely little insight into the details of her world; Mary Jane button hook shoes matched with pliers and a soup container? It's clear that Eloise has big plans, and a million thoughts running through her mind. The lists Eloise writes are though it was written by an eccentric rushing around causing chaos.

Repetition:

“Get out get out get out” (Thompson, 1957, p.11)

“Regardes which means look look look” (Thompson, 1957, p.14)

The repetition creates a fast paced reading experience, it rushes you through the sentence and throws you onto the next.

What I want to take from Eloise in Paris is the remarkable sense of character that we feel through the language that Thompson used, the silliness and the boundlessness of the capabilities of the character. I love the idea that a child can do anything they want without any real consequences; they should leave the reading journey feeling like they can be whoever they want to be, and achieve whatever they want to achieve.

I loved the engaging elements that make the book fun to read; from listing to onomatopoeia, these techniques are exciting for children to read and make sure that the book isn't boring or one dimensional.

I also want to take inspiration from the craziness of the world around Eloise; yes she is a little girl, but she is not normal in any way. She is unique; just like everybody else. I love the flamboyance of the crazy hotel she lives in, and that she creates mayhem wherever she goes.

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takaraphoenix · 7 years

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Fuck. This is going to be really very long. And I am saying that knowing how long my previous rants were. Those were short compared to what’s about to come.

I absolutely, completely and unconditionally love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is the singular most perfect TV show in existence. Nothing I have ever seen has lived up to it and I doubt anything I will ever see will live up to this show in its whole. This is my second favorite show on my top five list and it’s held that spot for the past fifteen years (which mind sound strange that I put the “most perfect TV show in existence” on spot two, but… I’m fully aware of all the flaws in my most favorite show and that I love that one with my nostalgia goggles on, but it will still always be my number one and not even Buffy’s perfection can kick it off the throne).

Now, just because I love something doesn’t mean I perceive it as flawless. I am fully aware of its flaws. But nothing is a hundred percent perfect.

I don’t even know where to start, but I think the beginning is the best.

What I hate about most supernatural shows is how “They are now thrown into this strange, new world with monsters… and immediately forget all about their non-supernatural friends” that literally every other show with supernatural elements does.

Not Buffy. When she first meets Willow and Xander, the two kind of only had each other and their buffy who gets killed off right at the start. And even then, Willow and Xander were the non-supernatural normal friends. And they became so important.

The fact that Buffy has this group of ordinary people behind her and really just human characters and that they back her up, that alone is awesome.

The Scooby Gang in general is awesome.

That is my favorite thing about the show. The relationships between the characters and how important they are. That the friendship never takes second place to the romance, like how many other shows like to write it. Because regardless of who was added to the plot and who left again, in the very end, it always came down to Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles and I will always cry at the show’s finale when it is just the four of them, parting ways to go into their very last battle, I mean fuck I’m crying right now just writing this because it was just so heavy with the emotions and the importance of their friendship.

They are the heart and backbone of this show and the show never forgot it.

Many shows forget themselves, they forget the values and beauty they once represented, the longer the show goes on. And Buffy never did. Sure, it lost itself in the middle - but we’ll get to that when we get to that - but it caught itself and never declined fully.

Buffy Summers is an amazing character. She’s a girly-girl who loves lollipops and talking about boys and whining. She’s the most badass female character ever written in TV who saves the world repeatedly and comes back from the dead just to do it again, who has been beaten down by life in the cruelest ways possible and still kept on surviving but never without the scars. Her struggles were never just shrugged off. They became themes that were being dealt with realistically. For fuck’s sake, we had a plotline about her working at a burger shop because yes, this is a show taking place in reality and bills are something that needs to be paid even if you save the world. She is not a perfect character, she made a lot of bad decisions along the way, but that is what makes her human. She is not some character created for an agenda to show that “girls can do anything boys can” and is thus forbidden from doing anything overly girls, as many writers mistakenly do when trying to write strong female characters, because a female is not powerful and strong just because she belittles women who like wearing pink and dressing prettily and who see “girl” as an insult. That is not how strong women work.

Women are complex characters, just like every character should be. They don’t have to solemnly be one way so they aren’t the other way. And Buffy is a beautiful example of the complexity of it all.

Willow Rosenberg is an amazing character. She’s one of the characters in TV that had the biggest character development. This shy, demure girl that became the most badass bitch around who could kick your ass into a parallel dimension with the blink of an eye. The fact that she was literally the first lesbian I ever saw only made her more amazing for me. You see, I started watching Buffy with season 4, which first premiered in Germany in 2001, because, well, I was 10 when I started watching that show since earlier was kind of a little too young in my mom’s eyes, but she’s been watching it for years at that point and I kept lingering in the doorway with pleading eyes because vampires and witches and werewolves, mom, please, until I got to watch it. Right in the season where Willow and Tara fell in love. And I was legitimately in awe, because the concept of two women falling in love was new to me. I never met a real life lesbian before and on TV, the highest of their feelings were Will & Grace with the gays, but lesbians? Never seen that before. It was amazing for me.

And I will forever be grateful that Willow and Tara were my first representation of lesbians that I met.

Xander Harris is an amazing characer. I mean, seriously, I could do this for nearly every character but I’ll only be doing it for the Big Three for the sake of time, okay? He was this fearful, dorky, kinda useless normal dude in the beginning, but he had such a strong backbone, he always knew he’d be there for his friends. And he always was. What made him so special was that he wasn’t special. He was just A Guy. Where Buffy was the Slayer and Willow became the most powerful witch in existence, he was just a normal guy. The original Matt Donovan and Stiles Stilinski and Simon Lewis (despite him turning into a vampire later on, I will still count him for this category). The quippy human best friend to the supernatural. But he adapted. He found his own place among the supernatural and his own way of prodicing for them, helping them.

It amuses me that actually, I kind of started watching this show with its weakest season. Season 4. But let’s start with the other seasons first (I mean, I warned you guys that this is gonna be long).

Buffy was my first high school TV show. All shows I had watched up to that point were family comedies like Married with Children and Full House. But this was the first real look into how American high schools work and I loved it. The first three seasons in itself are the best of Buffy. I’m not even able to pick one season as the best because I like the whole stretch of it.

The dynamics, the characters, the villains, the plots.

Cordelia Chase is - argh, I didn’t want to do this for every character, so I’ll keep it short - another amazing example at character development. From the shallow, air-headed Barbie to a strong ally and friend who fought with her head held high and I will never forget Angel for ruining her.

And okay, if I take a sentence for Cordelia, I can really, truly not skip Giles. Giles, who will forever be The Mentor. When I hear “mentor figure” or “father figure”, I will always first and foremost think of Giles. He was the father and guide to them all, but he was not the one strong pillar, he too had his struggles. It’s one of the things that made me love the second Percy Jackson movie because Anthony Stewart Head is who I pictured as Chiron when reading the books and it is the most perfect casting they could have made.

The first three seasons arched beautifully together, tying the struggles of the high school students turned demon hunters, the funny elements and self-awareness, the serious undertones.

The scene at graduation when the class gave Buffy an award for being Class Protector is one of my favorite TV moments, because this… this acknowledgment of “Yeah, we weren’t always there for you and we didn’t bother getting to know you, but we know you’re there and we know what you did for us” and honestly, I’m crying again, this is ridiculous.

They graduate from high school and then… life continues. Like. Life continues in a realistic way. They go to college, or not in Xander’s case. They struggle with what to do with their lives, they try to find their own paths in what I consider the most realistic portrait in TV. In others, it’s not just “Yup, they college. We’ll mention college every now and again, but it never interferes with the demon hunting” like with most others. Buffy struggles with college work and demon killing, Willow soaks it all up because it’s exactly her world, Xander doesn’t know what to do with it, Giles struggles with what to do with his life in general.

Still, I consider season 4 the weakest season because the Initiative was… It wasn’t used well enough. It appeared and then it kind of disappeared again and in this show where the lore and world-building are so rich and on-point, the Initiative was the one hit and miss they did. Not to mention, I don’t like zombies and Adam creeped me out and was the weirdest major Big Bad that they ever had in that show.

But it brought back Spike and made him a more complex character than just “Bad guy with bad attitude and insane girlfriend”.

Which is a good cue-in for the ships and love-stories, actually.

Buffy is and perhaps will always be the only franchise where the love-triangle clicks for me. Angel/Buffy? Yes. Oh god, what a beautiful, tragic love-story, please give me more of them, OTP all the way. Spike/Buffy? Oh, the pain but they are so good for them and when he’s good, he’s the best, please give me more of them, OTP all the way.

I literally can not decide on who to ship her with. With most love-triangles, I either do not care about both options, or I want to cross the badly written female out of the equation and want to dive right into the slash fiction, or there’s only one good pairing in the options anyway.

The tragicly ironic thing is that for Willow, I have and always will ship her most with Oz though. Willow and Oz were that perfect soft warm ship for me, when I got to finally watch the first three seasons as the reruns hit Germany.

Willow and Tara, while beautiful at times, were also very tragic. The way Willow lied to Tara and manipulated her was just so unhealthy. I do love them together, I just think that I love Oz and Willow a bit more.

Xander is a mess. Like. Seriously. Him and Cordelia. Him and Anya. I can not decide which one I like more in the end, but think that, at this point, it really does become clear that I can cut this show into two parts. The first three seasons of high school where Angel/Buffy, Xander/Cordelia and Oz/Willow are just all the yes, as well as the post graduation seasons where Spike/Buffy, Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara are just all the yes. Which really, truly fascinates me.

Because it’s really rare for a show to get me on board with its canon couples in general. This show does an amazing job on that too.

So, season 4 was kind of flawed in the way the Initiative wasn’t grounded enough in this world and how weak its endgame villain came off.

Season 5 brought the legit only thing about this show that I hate. Dawn Summers.

Urgh. It makes me shudder to just think about her. She’s such an awful and useless and stupid person. And yes, I’m saying person here, because “character” would blame it on the writing and make it sound like she’s a badly written character, which she is not. She was intended to be the annoying, dumb, useless little sister. Not every character can or has to be flawless or lovable. She’s just that… one that isn’t.

And she just becomes worse in season 6, honestly. She is such a self-centered brat that has no concept of the struggles of others. Like. Yes, I understand that she has problems and that she suffers too, but so does everyone and if someone doesn’t have time for her, she acts out. They just… They do have a lot on their plates, trying to save the world and keep you from being homeless, you know? Which, okay, was a solid portrayal of an angsty, bratty teen, I suppose, because teenagers, as I recall from my own time as one, are fascinatingly blind for the struggles of adults. Doesn’t make her less annoying though.

I take back what I said earlier, about not being able to pick a favorite season. Season 6 is my favorite season, which in itself is baffling. Normally, I pick one of the very early seasons of a show because they keep declining afterward until they crash and burn.

Season 6 did the exact opposite of what other shows do. Where other shows feel the need to top it all off, go wilder and broader and more brutal and bigger enemies until it becomes an unrealistic mess, this one just…

Three human boys.

That’s the enemy of the season. Just three stupid idiots who play pranks on the good guys, for the most part. And it was the perfect choice, because instead of having to deal with those major Big Bads, we get the chance to deal with the characters. The one thing I keep complaining about in other shows, how they’re too overcrowded with plot to even give the characters any time to deal with stuff or interact.

Buffy did it.

They stepped back from the Big Bad in favor of dealing with the bigger issues. Dawn being not a real human and not dealing well with that. Buffy having died and being brought back. Willow becoming addicted to magic. Xander… completely fucking up the best thing in his life.

We have character plots in this season.

Character plots that still end in a big battle of epic proportions when Willow literally becomes a Dark Witch powerful enough to destroy the world. But instead of it being some epic battle, it’s one of the… quietest fights ever and it’s brought home in such a beautiful way because it’s about grief and loss and pain and love.

And those. Those are the moments that make Buffy the most perfect TV show to me. It never loses its humanity. Maybe the most emotional scene in all of this show happened in season 5, when Joyce Summers died and Anya talked about her death, about the concept of death. That will never cease to make me cry.

And season 7 was the perfect ending. The way it rounded things up, it brought every single thing full circle, all the way to that above mentioned scene of Giles, Buffy, Willow and Xander parting ways before the very final battle, among all the loudness of everyone, it is brought to the forefront one last time that it is them.

The way they solved the whole Slayer thing, the Big Bad they chose for their final season, the development. Nathan Fillion as one of the creepiest bad guys ever. The fact that, even after all those seasons already, Buffy still had a struggle, had to prove herself.

I have one or two major bones to pick with it, because I hated when the group decided “Lol, nope, we don’t need you, Buffy”… that broke my heart. It breaks my heart every single time I watch it because even her friends tell her they need a break from her. I mean, I love how she found safety and support in Spike’s arms after that scene, but that it happened at all and that after things of course go wrong without Buffy, they all come crawling back… it makes me angry. It was important to bring them all as a team together, but to me it will always feel OoC coming from those she had fought alongside with for seven years, those who should always have her back who always did have her back.

And, when talking about bones to pick, aside from weak season 4 and Dawn Summers, there’s just one more major thing that I have a problem with.

Hank Summers. For those who forgot because he’s literally only been in two episodes, that’s Buffy’s dad. Because Buffy has a father. The “(half-)orphan”-trope is very overused, but I genuinely think this show would have benefitted from it.

Hank Summers does nothing. Not even when his ex-wife dies and his teenage daughter and barely-above-twenty daughter are left all on their own. He doesn’t pitch in with money, he doesn’t visit, he doesn’t even think about taking Dawn in and taking care of her himself.

I mean. Same as with Dawn, it can just be said that he is a Bad Person and a Seriously Bad Dad, but… Give me a break, Buffy deserved better than that. Having him be dead would really have been better, especially when Joyce dies and he just… “Nope, no interest in those kids”.

And on that note, let me add Faith (who I accidentally forgot about before). She’s... probably the most complex character, because it’s easy to hate her, but it’s also kind of easy to love her. She’s definitely the most flawed character and that’s what makes her good. Because she’s bad. She gets the same powers as Buffy, but unlike other Slayers, she gets morally corrupted. But she also finds her way again. She’s a badass bitch and she definitely brought something new to the table. I loved how flawed she was, because she was not a good person, but when needed, she was one of the good guys. They never pretended to turn her around into a good person though, she always stayed true to herself.

The reason I’m adding her here is because I feel like she messes up the mythology a little. Part of me really loved how they brought in Kendra after Buffy died, because “When the Slayer dies, another Slayer awakens” and that they remembered to keep with that when Kendra died. But after that, this kind of really fell apart and is one of the biggest plot-holes to the show, in my eyes.

Buffy died three times. But only her first death awakened a new Slayer. Now, you can argue that with that, the mantle was passed on, but... When Buffy came back from the dead, she still had her Slayer abilities. She was still the Slayer, she wasn’t suddenly back to being the normal girl she was before she turned sixteen and became the Slayer. So technically, considering she was still the Slayer, her other deaths should have also passed on the mantle and thus awoken two more Slayers.

Not to mention... in the history of Slayers, Buffy was the first one to be brought back to life? I always found that hard to believe. No one ever used CPR or magic on a Slayer before? I doubt it.

So in this very rich and grounded lore and mythology, I have a problem with “We got Kendra and then we got Faith and... we don’t bother explaining why we never got any additional Slayers”.

Now, as we conclude this, let me wrap up what exactly makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer the most perfect TV show to me.

1.) The superb writing.

Not just the plot as I laid it out above, the way they knew when to step back and when to give character plotlines instead of big and loud action plots. Simply the dialogues alone. This show holds up. It’s a time-capsule of the 90s, sure, but its writing and dialogues are still funny, emotional, heavy, with exactly the right words chosen. The writing on this show is in every aspect overwhelmingly brilliant.

2.) The characters.

They’re individual, they’re well-developed, they have their own plots and relationships and they are all important, not just the titular character. It inverted tropes with its characters, it managed to put strong female characters out there without having “being a strong female character” be their only and defining character trades.

3.) The story.

Okay, this is technically part of the writing too, but I think it deserves its special shout-out. Because this show has a consistent lore where not all of a sudden all the time something new is shoehorned in and retconned in and where it comes apart by the seams the more seasons it has because you notice the writers didn’t think ahead so far. No, this world is fleshed out, its lore is established and as it is. It’s consistent.

Yes, it’s not flawless, but damn it’s the closest to flawless that I’ve ever seen.

#ask me a show and I shall rant #TV Rants #Fandom Rants #Buffy the Vampire Slayer #Buffy is basically perfect #Joss Whedon is essentially a genius #We need more strong female characters like Buffy #mystoryandotherrandomthoughts

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thingsireflecaut · 3 years

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Post One

I read several children’s books over the last few weeks and picked my two favourites to deep dive into in order to learn as much as I can about why I liked them, what made them effective and what I can take from them to start creating my book.

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak is an iconic children’s book for ages 3+. Sendak introduces us to a little boy, Max, and takes us through his journey to ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. Max has a fight with him mum for being unruly and wild and is sent to bed without dinner. He is angry and upset and escapes across an ocean to the world of wild things, where he can exert energy and play and be wild freely. Once he has worked through his energy, he realises he wants the comfort of home again and so he returns, across the ocean once more, and finds a peace offering from his mother; hot supper in his bedroom.

His mother also offers a symbol of love to him, without even exchanging words; she leaves her son a hot homemade supper. This is such a great universally understood motif, that hits home for everyone – excuse the pun. In unconditional love, sometimes you don’t have to verbally say you’re sorry; the other person knows, because they know who you are and love you no matter what.

Overall, in the arch of the story, Max chooses his mum, and her love over everything else.

Independence: Max left home because he wanted to, he created a whole world by himself, he became king of the wild things, he tamed them; and then he realised that he didn’t want that, he wanted what he had all along. The fact that Max figured all of this out himself is so important to creating such a vivid character; he makes decisions and has character growth because of his exploration of independence.

Childhood anger: Sendak doesn’t ignore it, he portrays it in a natural and non-judgemental way. We don’t see max apologise for shouting at his mum, and instead he works through his anger by himself on his own terms. Sendak breaks the taboo of anger – it is a normal emotion for both kids and adults, and we need to learn to accept it in order to deal with it. Max literally tames his wild things.

Imagination: Sendak writes about Max’s imaginary world as if it is the obvious truth; he doesn’t say “and then Max imagined…” he says “That very night in Max’s room a forest grew” (Sendak, 1963, p.10)

“And grew -” (Sendak, 1963, p.12)

“And grew until his ceiling hung with vines

Language techniques

There is a real rhythm in the way the story is written; it starts off softy in the first two sentences, leads you in, and then amps up the drama suddenly on the third page, like the chorus of a song. Maurice uses similar amounts of words and structure in the sentences on the third page to make a lyrical and fast paced flow; when you lay it out on one page it looks and reads similar to poetry, great poetry; this is where the lyricality comes from. The similar sentence structure carry’s you through easily, and the repetition of “And” makes it sing-songy.

A few techniques that Sendak uses that I liked:

“His mother called him “WILD THING!”

And Max said “ILL EAT YOU UP!”” (Thompson, 1957, p.1)

I like that Maurice uses all capitals for the dialogue here, it puts such emphasis and excitement, and makes it more dynamic to look at. It also emphasises Max’s intense energy that obviously can be hard for his mum to deal with. It shadows a reality of angry fights between parents and children- something that almost everyone has experienced and can be extremely hard to work through; we can’t blame our parents for being stressed and affected by the intensity of raising children with so many other stresses in their life, and we can’t blame children for being unaware of the strain they are placing, or for expressing themselves.

“That very night in Max’s room a forest grew” (Thompson, 1957, p.10)

I really like the lack of punctuation; no full stop, no comma after room, it makes it feel very childlike and sure of itself. Maurice has written the story as fact; there’s no need for more context either.

Sendak uses alliteration with A sounds consistently, and uses other alliteration throughout, for example

“… a forest grew” (Thompson, 1957, p.10)

“and grew” (Thompson, 1957, p.12)

“And grew until his ceiling hung with vines” (Thompson, 1957, p.14)

“…a forest grew

And grew -

And grew until his ceiling hung with vines

And the walls became the world all around” (Thompson, 1957, p.14)

And then later:

“And in and out of weeks

And almost over a year

To where the wild things are” (Thompson, 1957, p.18)

There are many more examples through the book. He is a beautiful poet; a great skill for writing children’s books.

“They roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth” (Thompson, 1957, p.20)

“And rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws” (Thompson, 1957, p.21)

The repetition of terrible makes it fun and easy to read; children or tired parents aren’t getting lost in a sea of describing words (although there are plenty in the book, just not an overuse), we don’t need four words for terrible, its unnecessary; we get the picture through the other describing words of claws and teeth and eyes and roars. It’s not convoluted and still provokes an image, and when paired with the illustration, it’s a perfect team.

Then, Max smells dinner for far across the world and wants to go home.

“But the wild things cried, “Oh, please don’t go -

We’ll eat you up – we love you so!”

And Max said “No!”” (Thompson, 1957, p.34)

The rhyming of go, so, and no is so simple but so effective. It drives the cadence of the page.

“we’ll eat you up – we love you so!” (Thompson, 1957, p.34) is such a beautiful idea and comes from a letter Maurice got from a child’s mother saying that their child ate Maurices letter back to them because they loved it so much. It’s such a childlike notion, it’s incredibly charming and odd. I like that Sendak isn’t afraid to be weird.

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim: I loved your card.’ Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.’ That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.” (Sendak, 2012)

The things I want to take away from Where the Wild Things Are to incorporate into my book are Sendak’s confidence in writing about themes that aren’t common or are thought of as taboo; themes such as anger in children’s books, and the complexities of parent and child relationships, I also love the slightly abstract nature of Sendak’s writing and how he really explores imagination. I am very impressed with how active and assertive Max’s character is; I find that when I write, I can easily fall into having a passive protagonist, so this is something I will definitely work on and learn from.

I want to write my story as poetically as Sendak writes, I think it’s a great way to create a rhythm and enjoyable reading experience that doesn’t rely on an abundance of unnecessary words; I think this is an important difference in writing an adult or YA novel and children’s books; you need to get your point across concisely and vividly in a lot less words. In making my book poetic I will also use alliteration and make my sentences similar sizes. I also want to have a dynamic visual effect of the words in my book; Sendak uses capitals, and I will investigate other ways to do this too.

BOOK TWO:

Eloise in Paris by Kay Thompson

Thompson initially wrote the first book in the franchise for an adult audience, which can explain its uncommon point of reference; the books don’t have an obvious lesson or message as most kids books do, we just watch in awe as Eloise moves through the world moulding it to her own wants and needs, having a hell of a time doing it.

Themes:

Growing up/wanting to be grown up:

Unconventional family dynamics:

Independence:

Eloise does what she wants, when she wants. If she wants to cross the road at the Arc De Triomphe without a care in the world, she will, and if she wants to loudly explore the hotel by herself in the middle of the night, she will. She is perfectly autonomous, something that many kids don’t have and can only fantasise about. The book serves as a fantastic break from the rule abiding reality that many kids exist in.

Womens liberation:

Eloise was born in the 50’s; a time where women were expected to be pretty and quiet, cook clean and pop out babies. Eloise rebels from the notion of the silent woman; she is funny, clever (she learns french!), charming and self-assured, and she isn’t afraid of anything. She is a fantastic role model for children, especially young girls who are still being told to this day that their value is in being passive. I also like that that wasn’t even necessarily a thought over ‘lesson’ or point in the book, or it wasn’t spelled out; Thompson just let Eloise be whoever she wanted to be.

“Life magazine said Eloise was “the most controversial literary heroine of the year. She charms and terrifies like a snake." (Goodman, 2017)

Language techniques:

Thompson has so much fun playing with the language in this book, and there is an incredibly strong sense of character that we can hear from her careful techniques.

Onomatopoeia:

“zibbity zap clink clank” (Thompson, 1957, p.1)

“zambo sting sting stinger” (Thompson, 1957, p.7)

“clink clank pick up that phone” (Thompson, 1957, p.8)

“ne quittez pas and zuk zuk zuk zwhocky zuk zuk swgock zuk zucky zuk zuk zwock nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn” (Thompson, 1957, p.22)

Phonetic spelling:

Listing:

Listing is a great technique to break up the structure of a text; and in Thompsons case it’s always funny:

“Here’s what you have to pack if you’re going to Paris France

Mary Jane button hook

Pliers

Consomme container

Hotel kit

Here’s what else you have to take

Everything” (Thompson, 1957, p. 9)

and a lovely little insight into the details of her world; Mary Jane button hook shoes matched with pliers and a soup container? It’s clear that Eloise has big plans, and a million thoughts running through her mind. The lists Eloise writes are though it was written by an eccentric rushing around causing chaos.

Repetition:

“Get out get out get out” (Thompson, 1957, p.11)

“Regardes which means look look look” (Thompson, 1957, p.14)

The repetition creates a fast paced reading experience, it rushes you through the sentence and throws you onto the next.

I loved the engaging elements that make the book fun to read; from listing to onomatopoeia, these techniques are exciting for children to read and make sure that the book isn’t boring or one dimensional.

Bibliography

Sendak, M. (1963). Where The Wild Things Are,

Thompson, K. (1957). Eloise In Paris.

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jeremystrele · 6 years

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Modern Mediterranean Is Having A Moment

Interiors

Lauren Li

Byron Bay retreat, Rae’s on Wategos, designed by Tamsin Johnson. Photo – Sean Fennessy.

Finally (in Melbourne at least), we’re beginning to get a taste of hot sunny days and balmy nights, and we’re dreaming about what the summer may hold. Summer is the sound of crickets, the feel of hot sand beneath our feet, and the taste of sangria. We begin to wonder how we can translate these summer feels to the home.

With its terracotta tiles and white washed walls, the interiors of the Mediterranean have been hugely influential throughout history, more recently in the 80s, and are having quite a moment right now. It’s easy to see why.

These interiors are both sumptuous and minimalist, there is a focus on tactile combinations of materials in terracotta, stone, brick, glass and concrete. There is a noticeable absence of timber, which is a departure from the Scandinavian influence we’ve seen dominate our interiors. Rather than timber floors, we see stone and tiled floors, whilst furniture in cane and rattan is prominent. There is also an emphasis on strong geometric forms (yep, more arches!) along with organic, curved walls, which soften the minimalist aesthetic.

Let’s dive into it, shall we?

Willow Urban Retreat, Melbourne. Photo – Sharyn Cairns.

You can bring this Modern Mediterranean feel to your place with decor pieces like these gorgeous terrazzo objects by Addition Studio. Neue Void Incense Burner from Addition Studio. Photo – courtesy of Addition Studio.

The Les Roches Rouges, lobby. A flagstone floor gives this minimal space loads of interest and warmth. The interior furnishings are all derived from the natural colour of the stone to create a serene tonal space. Photo – Nicole Franzen.

Stone

The Mediterranean look is all about hard materials and an abundance of gorgeous stone. Travertine is one of the softer stones, both literally and aesthetically. It has a delicious creamy colour and when honed and unfilled the texture full of little holes can be appreciated. It’s an ideal stone for outdoor paving (as it doesn’t get too hot) and makes a striking wall cladding or around a fireplace. Travertine is tactile so it’s a lovely stone for décor pieces or plates. The warmer colours in stone are a welcome change from they cool grey of Carrara and Elba marble we’ve seen dominate interiors.

Inside the Freshwater Apartment by John Wardle Architects. Photo –Sharyn Cairns, courtesy of the Australian Interior Design Awards.

From NGV’s Rigg Interior Design Awards and exhibition, The Table Is The Base by Hecker Guthrie. Photo – Shannon McGrath.

An interior for the 2019 Dulux Colour Forecast. Wall (rear) in Dulux Shepherd’s Warning, console in Federation Brown, wall (right) in Pink Linen Half, ceiling and trims in Lexicon Half. Photo – Lisa Cohen. Styling – Bree Leech.

Colour

I don’t need to tell you that the colour terracotta has been a huge trend across fashion and interiors. I think we’re drawn to terracotta because of its warmth, familiarity and honesty. For me, it also holds nostalgia of growing up in the 80/90s (anyone else have a Tuscan terracotta vase with a raffia bow, or a terracotta cherub?).

The entire spectrum of terracotta has been seen in interiors from pinkish tones through to dark brown clay. There are combinations of beige, ochre, sienna through to burgundy and freshened up with white. The colour combinations are tonal rather than contrasting. The smallest amount of blue looks great, just don’t get carried away.

The incredible Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Marrakech. Photo – courtesy of the museum.

Bentwood Cafe, Melbourne, by Ritz & Ghougassian. Photo – Tom Blachford.

The North Melbourne cottage of Josh and Jenna Densten – this absolute gem of a house may be small in size, but it’s enormous when it comes to materiality. Brick floors by Brickworks, tiles by Artedomus, joinery by Joel Elliot. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Bentwood Cafe, Melbourne, by Ritz & Ghougassian. Photo – Tom Blachford.

Brick

The humble brick continues to be reimagined in new ways, from appearing as patterned lacework in building exteriors, to being integrated into joinery and everything in between.

The incredible Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech, designed by French firm Studio KO is EVERYTHING. The façade of the museum is clad in a delicate use of brick, inspired by woven textiles.

What does a museum have to do with the interiors of our homes I hear you ask? A design like this museum causes a ripple effect is so far-reaching that it influences us when we’re making a decision about tiles for our bathroom renovation (you know that blue sweater scene in The Devil Wears Prada?).

We’ve recently seen bricks used for flooring (mid-century vibes) and more interesting than the usual timber. Ritz & Ghougassian used brick floors in their Fitzroy café Bentwood combined with deep terracotta coloured ceiling. It feels warm and familiar, yet effortlessly cool.

Willow Urban Retreat, Melbourne. The polished plaster material on all of the walls gives this retreat a wonderfully zen and harmonious feel. Photo – Sharyn Cairns.

Willow Urban Retreat, Melbourne. Photo – Sharyn Cairns.

Plaster Finish

New Melbourne wellness centre Willow Urban Retreat channels sophisticated modern Mediterranean vibes. The look is minimal, it’s defiantly not cold, thanks to the soft effect created by a polished plaster known as Tadelakt. The beautiful texture continues around curved walls seamlessly, and allows for the smooth elements to flow into another. This finish is very hardwearing and can be used on the walls and benchtops for wet areas. Tadelakt shows evidence of the human hands that have applied it – another ‘perfect imperfection’ that adds warmth to a space.

The seamless nature of this polished plaster is most effective when singularly applied throughout an entire space. It can be applied everywhere: walls, ceiling and even shelving, bench seats and niches.

The texture is allowed to be the hero of the space, which creates a quiet and sumptuous effect.

Tigmi Trading‘s design in the new Habitat Byron Bay showroom. Photo – Alicia Taylor Photography.

Tigmi Trading shot their latest campaign for their traditional, vintage rugs at Villa E in Morocco! Photo – Alicia Taylor Photography.

A hard stone floor is softened by gorgeous plush wool rugs. The Tigmi Trading‘s range in Villa E by Studio KO, Morocco. Photo – Alicia Taylor Photography.

Villa E is both sumptuous and minimalist. Renowned Studio KO designed this property, pictured with a beautiful Moroccan rug from Tigmi Trading. Photo – Alicia Taylor Photography.

The Moroccan Rug

A great rug is the essential ingredient to contrast with the hard materials in this modern Mediterranean look.

We’re already familiar with the gorgeous Moroccan rug that has been an anchor in interior design for years now, again again, part of its charm is the handmade, slightly imperfect feel. There is a lot more to Moroccan rugs than the diamond lines on a white background – we’re loving colours that are muted and earthy, bringing richness to a pared-back interior.

Boutique Byron Bay retreat Rae’s on Wategos, designed by Tamsin Johnson. The living space in Penthouse 2. Photo – Sean Fennessy.

Brisbane-based architectural practice Richards & Spence employ the arch in many of their projects with The Calile Hotel no exception. The repetition of the arch and curved forms paired with a stong materials palette results in an identifiable aesthetic. Photo – Sean Fennessy.

The Calile Hotel by Richards & Spence in Brisbane. Photo – Sean Fennessy.

Curved Forms and Arches

Of course, it was the Ancient Romans that learned to refine the arch in architecture, which lead to the vault and dome. They probably never imagined that their solution to span wide openings would become a contemporary design trend, but here we are.

Whilst Mediterranean interiors may be sparse of decoration, the focus is firmly on the forms. The arch is employed for windows, doors, niches, whilst curved walls soften hard edges, and light falls softly on vaulted ceilings.

I can’t wait to get my hands on pieces from Sarah Ellison Golden range. Can she do no wrong? The ‘Halston‘ table. Photo Dave Wheeler. Styling – Sarah Ellison.

Golden collection. Sarah references a ‘strong sense of 70s and 80s nostalgia’. Photo – Dave Wheeler. Styling – Sarah Ellison.

Golden collection. The Icon chair. Photo – Dave Wheeler. Styling – Sarah Ellison.

The interiors of The Les Roches Rouges are simultaneously rustic and chic. Photo – Nicole Franzen.

Rattan

This Modern Mediterranean look is noticeably lacking in one key material: timber. Instead, we see rattan used in furniture, décor, lighting and even as a ceiling material. Rattan adds the warmth and the organic element that softens the hard materials. The rattan furniture looks great on a stone or tiled floor and suits the warmer climates. It may look a bit out of context in a carpeted room!

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royreadingco · 7 years

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Book Review #2: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

This post is a long time coming. Let me give you a little run down of what's happening in this book review. I want to start by saying why I started reading this series, and what happened to me when I did. It wasn't pretty. And then I want to talk about my general overview of the series as a whole, and I want to end by doing a review of each individual book. There's a lot going on here.

As a senior in AP Literature, come the beginning of May, you don't want to look at a text written in Victorian English for at least thirty years. I think my teacher figured this out pretty quickly, because for our final project, she assigned us a simple task: "Pick any book that's not 'Hop on Pop' and come up with why you chose to read it, and something that stuck with you, whether it be a theme, character, symbol etc." Now, personally as someone who loves fun reading, this project was a dream. I had books on books on books that I had been wanting to read, that had just been waiting for me to tear through their covers and delve into all of their glory. But unfortunately, there are only twenty four hours a day, eight of which devoted to school, six devoted to work, three to homework, at least two for sustaining life and whatever is leftover for sleeping, there was no time for fun reading in my life. UNTIL NOW. So I sat on the edge of my bed, stared at my shelves and waited for something to call to me.

And then I looked at it. Nestled in my second to last shelf right next to Game of Thrones just waiting, perfect and pristine. Now I had purchased this book because I had suggested that my local Young Adult Literary Guild read it during the month of February, but if you see above you'll understand why I never read it. So I decided. The rest of my class could read profound works of literary merit. I would torture myself no more. This was the beginning of my liberation as a reader.

Let me first just say, that I loved this series. I started reading, and I thought to myself "Alas, this is another one of those series that you fall in love with so hard that it hurts to keep reading because you know has to end." As I read, I became...obsessed...unhealthily obsessed. Sarah J. Maas did something to me. I took this book with me everywhere, and when I finished the first one I was WORSE with the second. I brought the book to my sister's college graduation for Christ's sake. I was a starved, ravenous reader who could not be satiated no matter who many chapters she read each day. I stayed up until 3 am for days in a row reading by phone flashlight because I simply could not go to sleep

without knowing what was going to happen. Long story short, some kind of spirit took over me and left me obsessed with this series.

All in all, I think this series was spectacular. A smash hit in every right. Maas had such a unique and interesting concept, and really brought it to life. Written with such incredible detail, and intricate world building, this series took my breath away. My general rule of thumb is that any book with a map in the front, has to be good. My rule still stands. And for once in my life, I actually USED the map spread across those two pages at the beginning of each book. I looked and saw how far Feyre traveled between Courts. Not only did the first two books take classics stories and twist them slightly, but they were also in the world of Fae, with still another over-arching conflict spread throughout the series to create a truly epic tale.

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES: *Warning: this review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk*Let's set the mood with a little summary shall we...So one cold winters night, Feyre Archeron is hunting to save her starving, destitute family, and kills a wolf in the process. One problem: this wolf is actually a really good friend of Fae Lord, Tamlin who comes a-stormin' into her house saying that since she took his soldier's life, he's come to take hers, but instead of killing her, offers to let her live at his estate in Fae land, known as Prythian. Overtime, Feyre makes friends with the Fae she lives with, and falls in love with Tamlin, the handsome High Lord of the Spring Court. Though she falls in love with him, Tamlin's land is plagued by a spreading darkness due to him being cursed by an evil fae, Amarantha. But Feyre decides she is not going to sit by and let her loved ones be abused and oppressed and decides that she will challenge Amarantha herself, a mere mortal, even sacrificing her soul to save her beloved and his people.

What originally drew me to this series was I was told that it was a twisted telling of Beauty and the Beast, and it was. But I've read a lot of twisted tellings of fairytales, and I have never loved one as much as this series. The A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy was so unique in its telling. The allusions to Beauty and the Beast were so subtle, but they stood out because they were different. The beauty wasn't a bookworm this time, hell she couldn't even read. Instead painting was her passion (and as someone who has zero artistic talent, Maas descriptions of Feyre's ideas for paintings were exquisite). Yes, Tamlin could physically shift into a beast, but also his personality was beastly, and instead of being hidden away in a crumbling tower, this beast was forced to live out his life behind a cursed mask. Maas's use of Beauty and the Beast as the basis for the story made it a hit with BATB fans, but her unique and original spin on the tale are what makes this book truly spectacular.

I hated Nesta (in this book). She was an actual demon. To treat Feyre so terribly, to hate her so intensely, when Feyre is literally keeping her and the rest of their family alive is mind boggling, but then it may have been another of Maas's sneaky traps. By hating Nesta in the beginning (like Feyre intensely disliked her sister, but still fought to keep her alive) I would grow to truly appreciate her in later books.

I said it before, but I really want to emphasize how much care Maas took in building this world. She created a new universe with a history, laws, politics, a new language, an entire culture. I really and truly felt like I stepped through the pages into an entirely different world. The holidays that they celebrated were some of my favorite parts of this book. Though, when I was told what Calanmai was, I was little thrown but I recovered. That holiday stuck with me, despite its odd origins, because it was the first time she met Rhys. But really Summer Solstice was my favorite. At that time, she and I still loved Tamlin and Feyre drunk on faerie wine and smoldering Tamlin was highly enjoyable right down to them watching the sunrise on a hill in the valley together. And don't even get me started on that lake of starlight.

Another thing about this series, but also this book in particular, is that Maas throws all of the stereotypical Fae tropes to the wind and writes her own unique tale set in the world of Fae. For instance Tam and Lucien outright tease Feyre when she says that they can't lie to her, because that myth simply isn't true. Or the classic, the idea iron burns faeries isn't true, its really ash wood that is deadly. Maas finds way to be original in faerie fiction, and creates her own myths and legends from the start.

And though I loved Tamlin for much of the book, there were still parts of him that I didn't like. For example, he was pretty cowardly. When he realized that he was pretty much screwed and that Amarantha was coming for him, instead of rallying forces (like another High Lord we know) he sends her away and lets his estate get ransacked and himself kidnapped. Even as Feyre is getting tortured by Amarantha, Tamlin doesn't really do anything to help her but just kind of watches as it happens. At times Tamlin really could not control his anger, which really bud you can't whip out your claws every time something doesn't go your way. I really hated that when Tamlin and Feyre had a minute alone Under the Mountain, that Tam's only concern is having sex with Feyre not, I don't know, helping her escape? Even though Rhys was the "enemy" at this point he still had his redeeming moments Under the Mountain.

Why is sex slavery such a big thing? Honestly, as far as YA book go, sex slavery is pretty rare. But Maas proves she doesn't write a typical YA fic, because she tries to take not one but two sex slaves in a single book. First we have good old, Rhysand who actually agrees, and then we have Tam who refuses and opts to be cursed for fifty years instead. Amarantha, get it together.

But one thing that really killed me was Feyre's guilt at Tamlin being taken away because she didn't break the curse in time. I could understand feeling bad, but Feyre really beats herself up for not freeing him and his people because she didn't say "I love you" fast enough. First of all, that phrase should never be said just to be said. If Feyre wasn't ready to say it, then she shouldn't have said it. Secondly NO ONE told her about the curse. How was she supposed to know that they were all waiting on her to free them. Feyre darling, it's not your fault I promise.

I fell for it. I fell hopelessly into every trap Maas set up for me. Well played Maas, well played. Throughout this book I shipped Tamlin and Feyre with a vengeance, and hated Rhys with a...fury (get it?). Which is EXACTLY what she wanted to happen. As you progress through the series, you'll understand why and you'll feel just as silly as I did. But I think that in falling for every trap she laid out for me, I went through the story with Feyre, thinking along the same vein as her. She didn't see that Tamlin may not have been such a good guy, and neither did I, but we eventually learned together.

All in all, this book was an impressive introduction to an amazing series! This was the first Sarah J. Maas book I had ever ready and honestly I can't wait to dive into the Throne of Glass series! Overall this book was wonderfully written and a really good, mature YA read.

Overall, I rate this book 📚📚📚📚 out of 5! What did you think of A Court of Thorns and Roses? Let me know in the comments!

If you enjoyed this please subscribe to get email updates for new blog posts! And feel free to follow our instagram and tumblr both can be found at @royreadingco If you have any suggestions for books you think I should read or bookish products I should try please leave a comment below or shoot me an email at [email protected]! Thanks for reading along with me! Happy reading!

Kayla

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