#villains of valley view angst

[slasher-fucker-and-sucker]

What would Amy/Havoc from villabs of valley view be like if her sibling, when everyone was asleep, was a hero as well?

YES FINALLY A VOVV REQUEST!!!

Amy/Havoc from *Villains of Valley View* discovering her sibling secretly being a hero would create a dynamic filled with conflict, emotional depth, and potential growth for both characters. Here are some headcanons for how this might unfold:

Amy’s Reaction to Discovering Her Sibling’s Heroic Secret

1. Amy initially feels betrayed when she discovers her sibling sneaking out at night in a hero costume. To her, being a villain is not just a family legacy but a bond, so this revelation feels like a personal slight.

“You’re one of them? After everything we’ve been through?”

2. Amy doesn’t let this slide and confronts her sibling immediately, likely waking the family in the process. The argument would be emotional and heated, with Amy struggling to understand their perspective.

"Why would you do this? Do you know what they’d do to us if they found out?"

3. The sibling explains their reasons for wanting to be a hero—helping people, saving lives, and standing up for what’s right. This puts Amy in a difficult position, as she’s been taught to prioritize her family’s survival above all else.

[putonmyfavoriteshow]

putonmyfavoriteshow's master fic writing post on-going ~ Violetta the heart of pretending (future franletta/leonetta reverse fake-dating au dramedy; my passion project) Soy Luna ...and they were roommates (post show jazmilia/delfma; self-indulgent rom-com chaos for side-characters who deserved more) BIA the celestial goat & her cosmic fish (platonic-for-now chiarleste's great astrology debate; a dynamic exploration between my favorite kind of bickering sidekicks) finished multi-chaps ~ Violetta a perfectly perfect gift (luty ft. franletta - my first official dcla multi-chap!) luty month (daily prompts from @iristhedeadflower) franletta month (daily prompts from @weirdthoughtsandideas) finished one-shots/two-shots ~ Violetta no boys, no problems (right?) (franletta s2 alternate ending to italy arc) an unexpected evening (jadangie fix-it fic - dcla gift exchange 2022 + bonus dcla pride month chap) midnights (a ludmila pov luty fic + bonus luty month chap) playing murder (and all that jazz) (violetta gang halloween fic - canon pairings) go figure (a naty pov luty fic) the mistletoe experiment (a natila story based on a dcla advent calendar prompt from @countessofravenclaw) welcome to new york (christmas version) (violetta gang xmas fic - canon pairings) it is what it is (luty - angsty ficlet) the deadfast club (violetta gang horror two-shot - luty focus ft leonetta/camcesca)

Soy Luna elevator goes up, elevator come down (simbar s3 missing scene - tumblr soy luna fic week 2021) unlock my heart (when lutteo got locked in the dressing room, except it's jazmilia aka the best non-canon ship ever made by a random wheel) there's a great big beautiful tomorrow (lutteo/gastina tomorrowland adventure - dcla gift exchange 2023) BIA losin' sleep (thiana s2 missing scene inspired by @assim-eu-sou) dream date (romantic chiarleste debut to ao3) non dcla ~ my sorta friend's sister's funeral (victorious - jori - angst/fluff one-shot) even crows have wings (six of crows - kanej - sl/roller skating au one-shot) page 55 (the villains of valley view - hartmy - missing scene drabble) if we were a horror movie (the villains of valley view - hartmy - hartmy watch jennifer's body)

other fan content: my tumblr edits tag my tumblr gifs tag

[leavememorieshere]

Help, I need fanfic recommendations or ideas to write one.

I write in Ao3 and Wattpad.

The Fandoms I write and read about;

-Henry Danger (I mainly write about Hart siblings fluff?)

-The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. (Same as the harts but with the martins dudes 🥳).

-Suite Life on deck. (I write about Cody x Barbara, don’t come at me, and Max Russo X Zack because I read this really awesome fanfic about them that I fell in love with 🤭).

-Wizards of waverly place. (You guessed it, Max angst).

-The Villains of Valley View. (So what if I write about the younger siblings needing attention from their older siblings??? Is that such a crime⁉️🤨).

-Bunk’d (with the old cast from S1-S2). (Griffin needed more screen time anyways 🙄).

-Liv and Maddie (mainly about Parker Rooney because he needs some justice, Ao3 tags, are doing him dirty, literally).

Bye I don’t know if this is a cry for help or what 🤡.

I also read about IT 2017 and I’m a Stenbrough believer, all. the. way.

Never wrote anything about them tho 🤔.

And I also read about Alvin and the chipmunks (because I recently just started rewatching the 2019 show). And let’s just say, the Fanfics on Ao3 sure are something..

Some of these fandoms I read about and others, I write about but I will write a one fanfic for at least all of them.

I already have some planned! Others not so much because I don’t really have an idea for them.

But if you have one let me know!!! 😁

[total-drama-brainrot]

Exactly what I'm talking about!

José having to balance his own innate need to be accepted by his family - since he's assumedly the middle child and therefore needs to accomplish more to stand out amongst his brothers (middle child syndrome hits hard) - and the detrimental effect his chronic overachievement has on Alejandro is a super interesting and, as far as I'm aware, unexplored valley of possibility to take his character down.

Which can be made even more heartbreaking if you portray José as being unaware of just how deeply Alejandro takes each outshining. He's an oblivious antagonist in Alejandro's life who only ever intended to be a good role model for his younger brother. What's more tragic than someone who unintentionally and unknowingly becomes a villain in the eyes of the person they care most about?

Having their personalities clash in such a way that they both end up inadvertantly hurting each other through the lack of mutual understanding, exaserbated by the conditions of their homelife and, as you mentioned, the impact of a "traditional masculinity" on their behaviour, is a much more realistic and interesting dynamic to write for the two than just having José act as a one-dimensional bad guy.

Because we see the impact of José's behaviour on Alejandro in canon; his inherent need to prove his worth by winning, his aversion to the nickname "Al" or other variations of his name, his poor reaction to losing (when he isn't throwing on purpose). But we don't see how José is impacted by Alejandro.

Imagine this. You're José. You try your best to be a good big brother to Alejandro, even if he doesn't seem to share your joking nature since he always ignores your teasing and generally meets your attempts to bond with a glower, but that's fine because you love him anyway and you're sure he loves you too. Sure, it hurts when your baby brother constantly rebuffs your affection, but you know that Al tends to be a lot more serious than you, so you try your best not to be sour over it. The only thing you two seem to really bond over is your shared competitiveness, which is something your parents (stern as they are) encourage between you two. So you engage in as many challenges with Alejandro as you can, spurring on a full-blown rivalry between the two of you, which - at least on your end - is mainly an excuse to spend time together. There's nothing more to it, just a friendly rivalry between brothers. But then you find out that Al doesn't see it that way. In fact, he hates you, and thinks you're dead-set on causing him as much pain and hardship as possible by consistantly outperforming him. Now, all of a sudden, every cold shoulder he's turned your way that you initially shrugged off as a standoffish temperament take on a new meaning. Every vitriolic insult he'd spat at you during whatever competition of the week you two engaged in is no longer just him getting lost in the heat of the moment, it's genuine resentment. A realisation like that has to hurt. What do you even do in that situation?

So now you have a José who's being faced with the consequences of his actions, despite how good his intentions were. Because from an objectve point of view, he was kind of an asshole to Alejandro, he just didn't realise or intend to be.

Does he struggle with a sudden bout of self-doubt... and perhaps even self-loathing, for inadvertantly hurting someone he cares about so deeply it made them hate him? Does he refuse to believe the reality of the situation and lash out against the idea of him being the "problem"? Does he try to apologise to Alejandro, only to be met with disbelief and scrutiny and (potentially) outright hostility?

I'm just saying there's a lot of angst potential there in what is essentially just a massive miscommunication plot. And it's the perfect excuse to explore José and Alejandro as characters and their toxic homelife.

I think it'd be a lot more tragic if José wasn't the antagonistic asshole we all assume him to be. At least, not from his point of view.

Could you imagine a José who is genuinely trying to be friendly with his baby brother in his own weird way; initiating meaningless competitions between them because he can see how excited Alejandro gets when his competitive fire is nurtured, playfully roughhousing with him as a form of bonding, trying to set a good example for his baby brother by meeting their parents impossibly high standards and encouraging him to do the same, so on so forth.

A José who's completely oblivious to Alejandro's hostility towards him, who perhaps makes himself too present in his younger brother's life because of how vacant his older brother Carlos had been to him. Who genuinely thinks that Alejandro shares the same perspective on their relationship - since their parents have all but banned healthy communication in their household, and the Burromuertos at large are in the habit of masking their true feelings/thoughts.

I just think it'd be interesting to explore things from José's point of view without making him some irredeemable villain. Plus, learning how Alejandro really views him from a reality television show of all things would beprime angst material.

[nights-legacy]

Between the Two - TodoBaku x Reader

Main Masterlist MHA Masterlist

TodoBaku x Reader (meaning Poly Relationship. Don’t like? Don’t Read. 😋)

Fluff and little Angst

Warnings: Nothing but Soft-ish Bakugo ahead 🥰

3300 words

+Two amazing men and one hard decision. Or is it? On a training mission, things go awry, leaving you and Todoroki badly injured. Bakugo is beside himself even if he won’t admit it. You have had a crush on these boy practically since the Sport’s Festival but never had the courage to speak up…or pick one. Turns out that isn’t the case at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having feelings for two people at the same time is hard. Especially when one is an aloof, cold personality and the other is loud and short-tempered. Yet, I couldn’t help but fall head over heels with both. I didn’t have the guts to even thinking about confessing to them. Plus I wouldn’t be able to choose between the two. It didn’t help either that they didn’t get along with each other. Plus Bakugo and Todoroki wouldn’t go for a simple girl like me and I don’t think I could handle the rejection.

“Well fuck.” I heard Bakugo groan as we got off the bus. The three of us walked away and the bus drove off. I gulped as I watched it drive away, now alone with the two boys.

“How many places does UA have for training?” I asked out loud.

“Quite a few it would seem.” Todoroki answered. Bakugo scoffed as we walked for a few minutes. We had been taken outside the city limits to a river valley area for survival and reconnaissance training.

“Come on, we’re not here for small talk.” Bakugo growled. Todoroki looked at me and shook his head. We traveled in silence as we ventured towards the coordinates. I looked down at the GPS as we took a short break in a little grove. Bakugo was leaning back against a tree, foot propped up and Todoroki was kneeling, looking off in the distance.

“According to this, the mark is about…” The GPS in my hand glitches out. I tried to get it to work before it short circuited in my hand. “Ah!” I dropped the device and pulled my hand to my chest. It was stinging and numb in places.

“What happened?” Bakugo was in front of me in less than a second. He grabbed my wrist and brought my hand into view. I hissed as he touch a particular tender spot.

“The GPS short circuited in my hand.” I said. Todoroki came up and looked over my shoulder at my hand. “I did see that the mark was a few miles that way.” I pointed and took in big breath. I looked down at the GPS and toed at it. A cold sensation came across my injured palm. I gasped and saw Todoroki’s right hand over mine.

“Hopefully this helps.” He said. I nodded. Bakugo had picked up the device in the meantime. As we started walking again, a chill went up my spine. As if we was being watched. I stopped and scanned the woods around us.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Bakugo called back to me.

“I feel like we are being watched.” I said glancing at the two. I could see their guards go up. I went back to scanning the area. I froze when I saw a figure half hidden behind a tree. I met their eyes and saw a sadistic smile creep onto his face. “Shit!”

“Hope you’ve lived a full life because I’m about to end it.” The figure stepped out and I saw a sword grow from the wrist down. I got into stance as he got closer.

“Heh! You think you can take us down?” Bakugo yelled. I looked over my shoulder at the two boys. Todoroki was in fighting stance while Bakugo was just standing there un-phased. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Come at me, child!” The man said and broke into a run towards us. The sound of popping and the drastic changes in temperatures behind me told they ready. I activated my quirk and we charged forward.

~Time Skip~

Turns out there was more than the one man out here with us. There was at least a dozen other low level villains that accompanied him. We came out on top but not without a few injuries. I stumbled as we came to a small beach grove. I fell to the ground when my leg gave out.

“Shit, L/N are you alright?” Bakugo asked strained as he helped (carried) an unconscious Todoroki into the grove. He had a bad wound on his left side that was bleeding profusely while I just had a significant cut running down my right leg. Bakugo was relatively unharmed save for a few small cuts and bruises.

“Yeah, worry about Todoroki.” I motioned to the boy before I pulled myself across the ground to lean back against a tree. I maneuvered my leg carefully to set it down straight out. I watched as Bakugo set Todoroki down to lean back on a rock. He then pulled at the top of his hero costume to get to the wound.

“Crap.” Bakugo said under his breath. He pulled out his transmitter to try and contact the teachers but it was busted. All of ours were. He threw it to the side in annoyance.

“They were thorough, weren’t they?” I said with labored breath. He looked over at me and his eyes darted to my leg before meeting my eyes. I could see worry and near panic in his. A gasp drew both our attentions. Todoroki was coming too.

“What happened? Where are we?” He mumbled, trying to sit up.

“Stay down, Icyhot.” Bakugo lightly pushed him back down. They shared what looked to me a tender look. I cocked my head to the side in wonder and shock took over me when Bakugo reached up and cupped Todoroki’s cheek. He then ran a thumb across his cheek.

“Guys?” I said tentatively. Bakugo pulled away and cleared his throat, going back to Todoroki’s wound. Todoroki’s eyes landed on me with relief and concern.

“Are you alright, L/N?” He flinched but didn’t look away from me. I saw his gaze look over me and linger on my leg. I moved my other to interrupt his sight. He looked up at me disapprovingly before cringing as Bakugo removed pieces of debris from his wound. I flinched at the sound he made, biting my lip and looking away.

“Damn villains.” Bakugo growled. I closed my eyes as the pain in my leg got worse. I zoned out as the other two conversed quietly and Bakugo tended to the wound. I don’t know how much time passed until a hand on my shoulder pulled me out of my daze.

“Hey…” I greeted. He reached up and held my face in his hands. He looked over me. Concern was laced with his features.

“Anywhere else but your leg?” He asked. I shook my head. He nodded, taking one hand off my face to move the torn fabric around me leg. I cringed as the fabric drug over the wound, letting out a broken cry. “Shh. I know.” I felt his thumb trace my cheek. He was looking over the wound carefully when the last of my adrenaline drained from my body. I closed my eyes.

“Y/N?” I heard Todoroki but it sounded like he was far away. It got to the point where I couldn’t hold my head up, so I let it drop into Bakugo’s hand. “Y/N!”

“Hey, hey, hey. Stay with me, L/N.” I heard Bakugo beg and bring his hand back up. “Stay awake. Please.” His voice cracked.

“Bakugo, what’s going on? Is she alright?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” He was trying to get me to respond but I didn’t have the energy. “Come on, stay awake for me baby, please! Come on baby!” I think my mind was playing tricks on me because I swear I heard him say baby.

“Baku…Todo…” I passed out to the sound of them yelling for me.

I woke up with a groan and a throb in my leg. I tried to move but only flinched in the process. There was also a weight across my back that seem to keep my in place. I forced my eyes open but thought I hadn’t for a moment, it was so dark. My eyes adjusted to the dark, picking up on the moonlight that lit the area. The weight move across my back and I looked over to see Todoroki asleep and holding me into his right side.

“Huh…” I looked around and saw Bakugo sitting on a rock a few yards away. He was staring out over the river and gently tossing rock into the water. “Bakugo.” His head shot my way before he was up in a flash and running over.

“How are feeling? I know there isn’t much we can do for the pain but is there anything I can do?” He asked in a whirlwind. I reached out for him and he grabbed my hand tightly, bringing it up to his face. “I feel so useless right now. Both of you are hurt pretty bad and all I can do is…is sit here.” He sat down hard.

“You’re not useless, Baku…” I shifted and tried to sit up. He reached forward and helped me. “You’ll never be useless to me.”

“Me either.” Todoroki said quietly behind me. We turned to look at him. He reached his hand out and Bakugo gripped it tight. I looked between them and saw that tenderness again. A pang went through my chest. I pulled my hand away from Bakugo and looked away from them. In the corner of my eye, I saw his head whip towards me.

“Baby?” I stopped breathing for a second before slowly looking at him. I thought my ears were playing tricks on me earlier but now, I’m not so sure.

“Baby?” I whispered, looking at the two. They shared a look before those tender eyes I saw earlier were turned on me. The breath caught in my throat again.

“Yes, baby.” Todoroki said. He reached up and cupped my cheek. “We’re both in love with you. We have been for a long time.”

“It was a problem at first since we both wanted you. We fought more than usual and tried to do anything to put the other down.” Bakugo explained. He looked down ashamed. “But then we realized it was getting us nowhere. We also realized our feelings for each other.”

“So we coupled while also tried to think of a way to confess to you.” Todoroki said. I had seen Bakugo give a face of confusion before rolling his eyes at Todo’s terminology. “We knew it was a long shot that you would accept us both.”

“Since it’s not normal. Three people together?” Bakugo picked up where Todoroki left off. He tsked before looking down at our hands. “A long shot. More like impossible. We just wanted you to know…”

“Hey, hey.” I interjected when I realized where he was going. They looked at me surprised and expectantly. “Don’t go deciding what I think on your own.” I took a breath, looking out over the water. “I have been in love with you too. Both of you. For so long but I… I never said anything because I thought there was no chance that either of you would go for me.” It was silent for a minute.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Bakugo chuckled. I looked up at him. I saw nothing but love and admiration in his eyes. I turned to see the same in Todoroki’s. I bit my lip trying to hide a smile but couldn’t. I smiled wide while laughing a little.

“We wasted a lot of time didn’t we?” I looked up sheepishly. They smiled and looked at each other.

“Nothing we cannot make up.” Todoroki said running a thumb over my cheek. I nuzzled into his hand. Baku’s grip tightened on my hand. I looked over at him. He was looking at us with a soft smile.

“I like the soft side of you.” I whispered. He chuckled before giving me a playful look.

“Yeah? Well it’s only for you two.” He said. He reached up and cupped the back of my neck. He leant forward and kissed my forehead. I felt a kiss on my hand as well. I looked at my two boys before I noticed Todoroki flinching.

“How is your wound?” I asked. He looked down at his side.

“Could be better but I’ll live. Bakugo did the best with what he had, for the both of us.” I nodded and reached to push hair off his forehead. Baku got up and walked away. I finally looked around us. Only now did I realize that we were lounging against some sort of cabana. I looked at it before looking at Bakugo.

“What?” He was walking back with our water canisters we had. “I wasn’t going to leave you out in the open. Looked like it was going to rain and I didn’t want to deal with you being sick on top of injured.” He retorted. He handed us our water bottles and went to look at Todo’s wound.

“Definitely not useless.” I said. He glanced up at me before looking away bashful. Todo lifted Baku’s head by the chin before giving him a sweet kiss. I giggled at the blush that went across Baku’s cheek. His eyes darted between us.

“Shut up.” He growled under his breath. We both bit back a laugh. I shifted to get more comfortable. A tug on my leg caused me to freeze in pain.

“Ah.” I squeaked, gripping onto my knee. A hand immediately found purchase on my back as I heard shuffling.

“Careful, don’t move to much darling.” Todo said softly. Baku knelt in front of me. He helped me move back to where I was leaning on Todo’s uninjured side. I set my head back on his shoulder and he pressed a kiss to my temple.

“You’re hurt worse than me yet you’re comforting me as if you weren’t.” I felt his chest rumble with a chuckle.

“You’re leg is worse than you realize darling. Bakugo thinks they nicked your Achilles tendon.” My eyes widen in realization.

“Shit.” I said.

“Yep.” Bakugo said. He sighed before looking behind him. “I need to go and get Aizawa. There isn’t anything more I can do then make sure you’re comfortable. Damn. But I don’t want to leave you two here on your own with those shit head still out there.”

“Bakugo. I can still use my quirk and so can L/N. We are not entirely defenseless. Plus we don’t have to build a fire. I can keep us both warm. We’ll be okay for a time.” Todo assured him. Baku wasn’t completely convinced. “We’ll be okay. We are well hidden. Now go, just be quick and quiet.” Baku rolled his eyes at the last part.

“Fine. If I come back and find you two worse, I’ll maim you myself.” We laughed but agreed. He pressed a kiss to both of our heads before he was gone.

“Be safe.” I whispered.

“Don’t worry, darling. It’s Bakugo. You know how he gets. No matter reckless he is, gets the job done.” I shook my head in agreement before relaxing into him. He tightened his arm around me. “Rest now. He’ll be back before you know it.”

“Alright.” I slipped into an uneasy slumber.

The next time I woke up, I was in a bed. I groaned at the pulse that went through my head. I reached up and rubbing my temple. A hand gently pushing mine aside before taking over and also carding their fingers through my hair. I opened my eyes slowly to adjust.

“Good morning, darling.” I heard Todoroki whisper. I looked up at him. He was sitting next to the bed, leaning on his forearm. He was smiling down at me.

“Morning.” I said before nuzzling into my blanket. A soft groan caught my attention. I looked down the bed to see Bakugo asleep in what looked to be the most uncomfortable position ever. I giggled.

“Ridiculous, isn’t he?” Todo said chuckling. I nodded before turning on my back to sit up. A small pain came from my leg. I whimpered. “Careful. You’re leg still isn’t healed. You were to worn out for Recovery Girl to heal it properly.”

“How about you?” He leant back and lifted his shirt without hesitation. I blanched at his brazen act.

“Same situation but she was able to heal it to a better point.” I nodded, eyes lingering on his abs. I looked away as he let go of his shirt. Bakugo moved as he seemed to be waking up. He stretched, arms extending to full length as he looked around. His eyes landed on me.

“Hey baby. How are you feeling?” His raspy, morning voice sent a chill down my spine. He scooted closer and set a gently hand on my right leg.

“Better but my head is killing me.” I said, closing my eyes.

“I’ll go get Recovery Girl.” Todo said. He stood and leaned over to kiss my head. He walked behind Baku and gave him a peck too. Baku smiled and stood to switch seats. He pulled Todo’s chair even closer and leant on his forearms. He looked at me tenderly. He reached up and began rubbing my temple.

“I’m glad you’re okay. That you’re both okay.”

“Thanks to you.” I sighed and closed my eyes again. He started humming as I dozed. After a few minutes of this, two sets of footsteps walked back towards us. I lazily turned my head and saw Todo with Recovery Girl in tow.

“Hello there sweetie. How are you feeling?”

“My leg is throbbing lightly and I have a headache.” I shifted a bit and groaned. “Other than that I am sore.”

“As to be expected.” She hopped up on a chair and leant over the bed. She looked over me before activating her quirk. I cringed as her lips pulled away from my head but I felt better. She ran a few more test on both Todoroki and I before she let the three of us leave.

“Well that was an experience.” Baku said exasperated. I chuckle but agreed. I saw Todoroki nod. After another few minutes of walking, I stopped in my tracks. It only took a few seconds for them to notice and look back at me.

“Where do we go from here?” I said, looking at the pavement.

“What do you mean? We are heading back to the…”

“Not that Icy Hot!” Baku interrupted. It was silent for a moment.

“Oh.” I smiled at the boy’s coyness. He could be clueless sometimes. “Darling. I thought we made it clear by now. We both want you, very much.”

“I know that but…” I looked up at them. “Where do we do with that? Are we just friends? Are we more? Like a poly? Or are we…”

“Babe, babe.” Baku came up and held my face. “We can be whatever you want us to be. If you’re not ready right now to a take a step into a relationship with us, we can wait. If you want to take this so and start out with little stuff, we’ll do that to. If you want to jump right in, we’ll catch you.”

“It up to you.” Todo stood next to Baku. He replaced one of Bakugo’s hands so they were both holding my face. I smiled and reached up to hold their wrists. I thought about it for a moment before I launched myself at them, wrapping my arms around their necks in a hug.

“I don’t want to go slow but I don’t want to jump right in either. So something along the lines of a medium speed? All I know is I want to call both of you mine.” I felt their arms wrap around me and hold me tight. Todo rested his chin on top of my head and Baku nuzzled my hair. I relaxed into their arms, delighted I didn’t have to choose between the two.

Tags: @spicy-therapist-mom @dxnaii-rxse

[devilrainbunnie]

DATING SHIGARAKI HEADCANNONS

shigaraki x fem!reader 

(can post a male or gn one but due to the nature of what i wanted to cover, i decided to do a fem!reader)

cw: slight angst, sexual themes 18+, and soft tomu baby (slight mommy kink i literally can’t help it bye)

a/n: don’t feel bad! i love seeing your messages on here, and my requests are dry as heck. i don’t mind at all, thank you for being so kind all the time. i appreciate you! @milkyywavee

-

Tomura Shigaraki is a hard man to read. While he isn’t just straight up mean to people, he might come across as apathetic or aloof just due to his sometimes socially inept nature. While he isn’t totally shut out from the world, and understands most things, the nature of any sort of relationship is completely new to him. He’s never really understood the want, or need for it. He doesn’t really seek out affection in anyone, but he doesn’t mind when Kurogiri pats his head from time to time, or Twice forces him into a hug-- after all they’re his family.

But romance is something completely new to the boy, he doesn’t get it in the slightest. Even more so less than friendships, the thought of loving someone seems fake to him, how can someone be so unconditional? He’s very pessimistic in his view of romance and love.

In all honesty, I can’t see him caring much about people who aren’t already villains. What would he have to gain from chasing after someone who’s probably terrified of him? He doesn’t have the time or want to try to teach someone he’s worthy of love.

But one day, as he’s interviewing new recruits for the League of Villains, he sees someone mindlessly tailing behind Giran, looking a bit lost. A bit too innocent to be here. Tomura freezes as he watches you nervously look around the room, not saying a word and letting Giran do the talking to Kurogiri. He’s found countless people attractive, but there’s something just so alluring about the way you are. He can’t tell if you have some sort of quirk, or he’s really physically attracted to you. You notice his stare, but out of respect you keep your eyes elsewhere. 

After you introduce yourself, show them your quirk and get to talking about why you want to be there, you’re stunned at how quickly Shigaraki is like “okay, you’re in then”.

Once you’re settled in, you notice Tomura doing the smallest amount of things for you that he doesn’t do for anyone else. He’ll acknowledge you more than anyone else, he’ll offer a spare controller to you if you say you’re bored, he listens to advice you give (even if he doesn’t agree with it), once he even was out to get himself food, and remembered what kind of snack you liked most, when he gave you the snack, you lit up. You were smiling ear to ear as he handed you the little package, you thanked him, and for a second you thought you saw him blushing, he mumbled something incoherent before awkwardly speed walking away. Ever since that day especially, your crush really developed.

One time, after a bit of banter and some light drinking, you were given a confidence boost. 

You were talking with Twice, and Spinner at the bar. Cracking jokes, and telling stories. It was great to bond with them, and they really seemed to like you. After a bit more of laughter, the two gradually decided to end their night. Leaving you to sit alone at the bar by yourself. Not even Kurogiri was around. But suddenly, you noticed the faint sound of clicking, similar to that of a controller. You look at the couch you assumed to be empty, noticing Tomura deep within his game. You feel guilty that you didn’t even see him sitting there this entire time. Deciding to say fuck it and finally converse with him, you chug the rest of your bitter tasting drink. Letting it burn down your throat and chest, the feeling going straight to your head. 

You walk over to the couch, plopping right next to Tomura. His nose in his handheld console, he took a second before realizing who was sitting next to him. You couldn’t really grasp his reaction as he was wearing father like usual. With the help of your liquid courage, you put your head on his shoulder. “What’re you playing?”

“I’m uhhh, I’m p-playing Breath of the Wild, i-it’s a Legend of Zelda game.” he stuttered, shocked by the sudden closeness of the two of you. “Can I help you or something?” he managed to spit out without stuttering, he was nervous.

“Mm, just watching. You’re so cute when you’re nervous.” you giggled at him, you couldn’t tell but his face was bright red. He was becoming even more flustered than usual around you. His legs felt weak and wobbly, his game console losing hold in his grasp.

“Whatever.”

“Do I make you nervous?”

“Why?”

“Just wondering.” you smiled at him. 

“I-I don’t know.” he tried to brush you off, trying to shrug you off his shoulder but you just leaned into him more. There you sat for around ten minutes in silence watching his little game, it was interesting even though you had no idea what was going on. After a while, you realized how sleepy the alcohol was making you. You covered your face with your palms as you yawned, and shifted your body, not realizing you gradually had been against his chest. Oh my god, you thought internally, listening to how fast and hard his heart was beating. 

“M’tired. Good night Shiggy.” you slurred, not moving.

“Night.” he replied, it sounded a bit standoffish, but even when you were half awake and intoxicated, you understood he was nervous. You sat up on the couch, putting a hand on the side of his face you weren’t next to, and kissing the top of his head.

“Night-night, good night.” You said as you crawled off of him, and walked your way back to your room. Failing to know that you left your boss in a shambled, confused and nervous wreck. He was beet red the entire night, and now because of you he was horny upset. Were you just drunk and messing with him? Were you actually interested in him? Was he reading into this too much? You couldn’t possibly like him, could you? I mean look at him, he has messed up skin, too much scars, and a mop for hair. He thinks he’s disgusting but, he’s a monster. Monsters are supposed to look scary.

Over the next few days after, you were embarrassed with yourself. You felt like a terrible person for stressing out Tomura the way you did. You tried your hardest to avoid him out of embarrassment, any time you ran into him you’d smile and make up an excuse to leave. You were planning internally a way to tell him how you felt, without making him feel weird. Your avoidance of him however, made him feel like you didn’t want anything to do with him. Tomura was more closed off, and passive than usual to everyone. He felt so embarrassed and ashamed.

That was until you stood in front of him as he was on the couch. Like usual, it took him a bit before he was able to recognize someone was there. You handed him a little letter, on the back was his name, with a little heart. Before he could ask you what it was, you disappeared as quickly as you came. His heart was stammering in his chest again. 

He stared at the envelope, curious as to what it was.

He opened the envelope, noticing how your writing was nice. He read the words carefully, wanting to be able to grasp every single sentence. Your kind words, and confession made his entire body feel light. There, again, he though internally;

She called me cute, again.

After reading so, he quickly go to his feet. Making his way to your room. Knocking on the door and waiting for you to answer. You were nervous behind the door, nervous he was going to be upset with you. So you peeked through the door with only your eyes, and quickly he began.

“Did-did you mean all of that? Everything?” he seemed a bit different to you, his tone was unusual to you.

“Yeah.. I-I did.”

“Can I come in?” he sheepishly asked. 

You opened the door, and Tomura took off father rather quickly, his face was dusted red and he was stammering, which was highly unlike him. He hoped you understood what he was meaning by taking off father and showing you his face. You both talked about what happened. It was mostly you talking, and Tomura answering. After you began to question him, he got very closed off. Like he didn’t want to answer you. 

“Hey, can I tell you something?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“You’re so cute when you’re nervous.”

You loomed to his side, brushing his hair from his face. His eyes were watching you intently. What the hell are you--

You kissed him.

You-- kissed him.

Your hands were nestled in his hair, as you kiss his rough lips softly. Tomura began to feel a familiar dull ache in his stomach, looking up at you with lidded eyes. He wanted more, more and more and more. He wanted to kiss you until his lips fell off.

“God, you’re so cute Shigaraki.”

“Tomura. Call me that. Tomura.”

“Tomura.” you smiled at him, kissing him once more.

After that, things gradually progress into a relationship.

Now things have progressed, and you both have grown together.

Tomura really likes kissing you, and being kissed by you. Nothing picks him up better when he’s sad than you kissing his cheek, and telling him to come to you when he’s ready.

He’s like a cat though, sometimes he really needs his space. He’s touch starved, and touch can overwhelm him. He won’t always let you know, but over time you learn a sixth sense with him. You’re able to know without having him voice it to you.

He likes cuddling you when he wants to relax, he’ll snuggle up to your chest and lay his face between the valley of your breasts. Inhaling your sweet perfume scent, and he immediately relaxes. He also likes to kiss and suckle on your breasts as a way to show affection. He might slobber all over your chest, but he does that only because he’s comfortable with you.

He likes to sleep with you, but it took him a long time to get there. He was so worried he’d wake up and you’d turn into a pile of dust. But now he’ll sleep with gloves on, but not all of the time.

You two don’t really go on dates, I mean you both are wanted criminals. So where could you even exactly go?

Well, that didn’t stop the two of you from having at home dates.

You’d just order some take out to eat together, sometimes you’d cook him food so he’d eat something good. You’d watch a movie and snuggle, or play some games. Whatever the mood for the night was.

Sometimes he’d take you out for sight seeing, he really liked going to a specific meadow. He just likes to relax around you.

Tomura doesn’t like to fight with you, despite how sour his attitude can be from time to time. Neither of you fight much to be honest, when you do, if you get sad he might not notice right away and only will if he sees you sulking or crying. Then he’ll get sad. Feeling guilty, and asking for forgiveness. He might seem rough around the edges, but you dove right into his soft spot. He loves you too much now.

Tomura likes bathing with you, not in a sexual way. Sometimes he enjoys having you massage his shoulders and scratch at his scalp. He likes the hot water against his skin as you lay on his chest. The mix of the heat, your comfort, and the rich smell of soap in the air, makes him feel like nothing will ever be wrong in the world. He can forget for a period of time.

He also will usually make you stay home during missions, he’s worried about your safety. If he lost you, he’d lose himself. He’d rather die a million deaths than lose you to anyone or anything.

He also likes when you do things for him to show you care. Like when you clean up his room, make his bed and do his laundry. He gets ecstatic, it makes the feeling of your love feel so much more real.

Tomura shows his love in different ways, however.

He thinks leaving you with bike marks and hickies means that he’s showing his affection. He’s always been a bit aggressive in the love department, he just can’t help it. He loves covering you in affection.

He likes to buy you food whenever he thinks you’ve earned it. It’s his way of showing you that he thought of you, and he went out of his way to do something for you.

Tomura also enjoys being gifted clothes of yours. He’s not gonna wear it, but the scent soothes him turns him on. You’re his favorite person, everything about you is perfect to him.

Nicknames are also a way of showing you how fond he is of you, no one else is called player two, or mommy baby than you.

This might be weird, but Tomura loves to nuzzle into your cheek and neck. Your soft skin is perfect, he can’t get enough of it. He’ll act like a clingy kitten the way he’ll rub his entire body in you to when he wants to be loving.

Tomura overall really likes being babied by you, he’s never had that and you’re perfect for making it up. He might be more dominant in other areas of his life with you, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t enjoy you brushing his hair, making him healthy meals and humming him tunes when he needs to drown out the voices in his head.

If you read to him, he will melt. He loves when you tell him stories or read one of his favorite books. It makes him feel at home, it makes him feel safe.

Tomura also willingly leaves his clothes with you, he thinks it’s cute when you walk into his room ready to cuddle and sleep wearing a shirt of his he ‘forgot’ about a few weeks ago. It makes him feel proud. He’ll never admit to that though.

Sometimes Tomura will compliment you by comparing you or things you do/wear to anime girls he likes. He doesn’t understated that it might be offensive or hurtful by others, but you understand that if he’s willing to compare you to characters he adores, he thinks you are beyond beautiful. Don’t worry, he does think you’re prettier than them anyways.

Whenever you’re on your period, he’ll be there helping you through it. He doesn’t know exactly what to do, but he knows that you get a lot more hungry and want to be comfortable. If you get cramps, he’ll get confused and be like “just drink water, you’re probably dehydrated” like no baby that’s— you’re so sweet, but just... no.

And whenever you’re sad, he’ll be sad too, but he’ll try his best to kiss it better. He likes to hold you to him, and distract you from your sadness. Sometimes he’ll offer doing something he usually doesn’t like doing, like putting on facemasks or letting you paint his nails. Or if you’re up for it, maybe even cooking with him or having a little dance party. He just wants to do anything to make you happy.

Tomura doesn’t always tell you how perfect you are, or how much he loves you but he tries to do that in other ways. He’s not good using his words, it’s foreign to him.

Tomura is also dangerously horny, and loves pleasuring you. Which is another way to show you that he loves you, making you cum.

[phillipdiffy]

Villains of Valley View is so good so far! I want to write Jake angst on my ao3. There's only like 4 fics rn😭😂

I'm glad to see so many people enjoying the show so far! I feel like most times when there's a new Disney channel show almost no one is talking about it, so this is fun!

I honestly don't read fic very much but I hope there's more as the show goes on!

[between-two-fandoms]

Hi I'm Ren!

I do not interact with fandom toxicity on this blog. Ship and let ship/DLDR are words I live by.

Don't spread hate or start drama and we're good. My blog space is my space. I create the fandom content I want to see, and am happy to help people brainstorm.

I do not give permission for my fanfics to be reposted anywhere other than my ao3 account, which can be found here. I do not give permission for my fics to be sold for profit of any kind.

Ask before using my fanfics for any form of creative project. This includes translating to another language, fanfic binding for personal use, podfic, etc. I want to make sure you are using my best quality writing for your projects. Fan artists can go wild, just tag me so I can see your awesome artwork!

This Blog Is NOT Spoiler Free!

Q&A

Current Favorite Show: 911

Favorite Character(s): Evan Buckley, Tommy Kinard & Eddie Diaz

Favorite Ship(s): Riaz, Buddie, Tevan, Polyfire

Previous Favorite Show: Lockwood and Co

I RP via discord. If you're interested in becoming RP partners let me know.

If anyone has a good show rec feel free to send it my way and I might check it out! I always like discovering new content.

Genres I write on this blog:

Angst

Whump

Hurt/comfort

Soft and Fluff

Smut/NSFW

I do not write: RPF, x-readers, y/n, mpreg, a/b/o, or any other form of reader inserts.

I take requests! Feel free to leave prompts in my ask box. Or to just ask me things in general. I love headcanons.

Link to my Ao3 dashboard

Masterlist of Shows I Like:

Lockwood and Co

Shows listed below are written in no specific order.

9-1-1

The Recruit (2022)

Owl House

Gravity Falls

MCU (Infinity Saga/pre-endgame)

Stranger Things

The Hardy Boys (2020 Hulu)

Brooklyn 99

HSMTMTS

Villains of Valley View

Julie and The Phantoms

Henry Danger

Lab Rats

The Thundermans

The Bat Family (DC Universe)

Tales of Arcadia

The Dragon Prince

Power Rangers (tv shows)

The Witcher

Criminal Minds

Leverage

Leverage Redemption

The Librarians

Locke & Key

Heartland

Blue Bloods

Supernatural

The Winchesters

Teen Wolf

Scooby Doo (various shows/movies)

Glee

[chipswithfanfics]

❝Wicked kiss❞ Lee Donghyuck

Genre: smut, angst, fwb!au, bittersweet, betrayal Pairing: Haechan x You Rating: 18+ Summary: One year and two months, your best friend is dating this girl for a year and two months. And you keep this secret deep inside your gut. An addiction. A poison. A monster that hides in sheepskin. A secret no one dares to speak out loud.  What you may not realize is that maybe you share with Donghyuck something much bigger than a strange friendship. And it all starts with a wicked kiss.

Word count: 5724 Requested? Yes!

This night, you decided you were going to forget about your diet. At least for tonight. So you took the biggest chip package you saw on the shelf and stuffed the basket, which was already full.

When you get to the cashier, you look at the boy with brown hair and caramel skin. He sighs. His expression does not look good.

“Is everything okay, Hyuck?” You ask.

He looks at you, as if realizing that he is there now. Right now. Not anywhere else, buying the equivalent of half a wage in food.

“Yeah, sure I am,” he smiles, but it’s not the same smile as usual.

You are right on top of the wall, and wherever you look, it is impossible to make a decision; get down and go your own way, or break into your neighbor’s lawn — that’s what’s been in your heart since your best friend started dating. Lee Donghyuck however never suspected things to go so hard for you. And, you always expected it to stay that way; away from his eyes so that the mask never falls off your face.

But it’s not easy, is it?

When the automatic door opens you’re the first to step out, swinging one of the two bags in your hand. The cool breeze pass through your hair, it’s a cold night when you and your best friend return in silence, all the way into the night.

“What movie are we going to watch?” You ask, part of your vision busy with the way forward, another part seeing Donghyuck right next to you.

“The one about that,” he says, emotionless

You feel that something is wrong with your best friend.

“What happened?”

Donghyuck sighs, right now he’s flashing a smile across the side of his cheeks: one of his smiles that you know means nothing but the opposite of happiness. But you can not see it. You do not want to see.

“Same as always,” he answers and you feel your heart sink deeper. Again, you see yourself on top of that wall. Paralyzed and unable to make a decision while watching your best friend sink “in the same as always.” Same as always who also answers for girlfriend. A year and two months, you found yourself on that wall. Being friends with both sides is not the easiest job, not when there is always that side that raises its nose and proclaims itself the center of the universe.

Things are not easy for people like you. Not at this moment when you hear him speak:

“She traveled, and doesn’t answer my messages.”

Things don’t seem to work right, not when you know that right now who should be making him happy is hurting him on purpose.

“I’m sure she must be busy,” you lie. You lie because deep down you can’t judge it. You are much worse. You’re as bad as a fairytale villain, aren’t you?

The truth is that you have been thinking about this for a while. This idea has been on your mind since the day your best friend’s girlfriend confessed to you that she “liked to make him sad sometimes; because boys like bad girls. ” And that stuck on your head.

First step.

The thought came up as, “Yes, Hyuck likes mean girls, you’re not wrong, girl…”

You entered Donghyuck’s apartment, placing the bags on the kitchen counter. He held your waist to push you out of the way. You winced. The kitchen was very tight.

Second step.

The thought that followed was, “but you have no idea how wicked I can be, do you?”

Donghyuck sits on the carpet, turning on the television, the control is always his. The living room lights are off, and the only light source that illuminates both faces is from the kitchen and the television.

“Are you sure you want to watch this movie?”

“Are you afraid?” He smiles.

“Maybe,” you say, you’re not lying that much.

“So let’s go with this one.”

You get off the couch. Sits on the carpet. You can feel his warmth right beside you. Which makes you wonder how hot Donghyuck can naturally be.

“Hey,” he calls, causing your body to shake, “what would you do if you found a clown on the street coming home?”

“Let’s not start, Hyuck,” you counter.

“Well,” he shrugs. “It’s just a hypothesis.”

“You won’t be able to scare me like that” you smile, opening the first chip pack, the movie is starting, and soon your attention should drift to the dark world of a horror movie.

You feel his hand touch yours, briefly, a contact that lasted seconds. It is weird. He is acting strange. And you look weird too.

“I’m still waiting for the answer.”

You and Donghyuck have always had this connection. What does he think. What goes through his pupils. It is as if all of this could be transmitted through the air that separates his body from you, at this moment, when you realize that he is looking at you.

“Do you want to hear the true truth or do you want the cool answer?”

“You’re never cool,” he teases.

You do not smile.

“I would run back to your apartment” answering, you turn your attention to the movie, because that’s the way it has to be; without thinking too much, without thinking of those ideas that gradually take shape “and then I would offer you as a sacrifice in place of my soul.”

A pinch and you suppress an “ouch!” Before you hit him with your best look of “at least once in a lifetime don’t behave like a child.“ 

Normally, Donghyuck would continue to tease you. He would keep pinching you. Probably a pinching war would settle in that apartment. And would soon become a pillow fight. And then you both would forget about the movie…

This was what a movie night with Donghyuck should be like.

But not this time.

There was something strange about your best friend. Something even stranger than the time a pillow fight ended with an almost kiss. But that was so long ago. For so long that; When you notice this though, it is like a stranger entering your home.

A long-time you are no longer on the top of that wall. A long time ago, you already decided which way you wanted to go. And somehow, when Donghyuck got up to get the soda when the movie was paused and you watched him turn his back, you realized you had made that decision a long time ago…

It made you look mean. Terribly mean. Just like a fairytale witch. You had already decided to steal Donghyuck for yourself.

“Coke or…”

“Coke” you answer, to your surprise, everything happens too fast; he sits back next to you and it escapes from your mouth. "Are you hiding something?”

Which catches the boy off guard.

You can see through his eyes as he holds the soda can in hand, extended to you. The damp drops slide between the fingers.

“You know…” Hyuck sighs through his teeth; the voice sounds hoarser than usual “I haven’t had sex in a while.”

Your body shudders. You choke. It is a shock. It runs straight between your legs, which are pressed hard.

“Really?” There is nothing better to answer.

“Yep.” But Hyuck seems too comfortable with the subject, so comfortable that soon his chatty self begins to show his claws again. “I’ve tried a few times, but it doesn’t seem to work, not with her, and she says I must have an erection problem… this old people thing”

“You’re acting like an old man, Hyuck.” 

A thread of despair seems to form in your friend’s expression.

You laugh, before blinking slowly, cheeks flushing, eyes gleaming in the dim light; Donghyuck notes all these details.

“But, Hyuck, maybe the problem is not with you.” This boldness that suddenly arises surprises you much more than surprises your friend, who gives you a slightly lost look. This lost look that seems to sink in an unknown direction.

“It’s what two people do when they like each other, isn’t it?” he asks. For a second. One-thousandth of a second. You feel Donghyuck’s eyes slide through your body. Through the way your blouse picks up shape around your breasts through the fabric. The way your denim shorts squeeze your soft thighs. For a second you feel that there is something behind this look that you cannot read.

It’s not the same boy who fights with you every day. Not the same boy you have known for so many years. Maybe you are wondering too much. And then you feel it’s not the same you as before. There is something really evil about it that doesn’t stop you. Not even a little.

“That’s what you want to do when you like someone,” you whisper, almost like a truth too frightening to say out loud.

His eyes remain connected with yours for too long. Then Donghyuck takes a deep breath, shakes his head as if shaking a thought. You wonder if, at the end of the day, he also has these same thoughts as you, at that particular moment, when your hand moves through those few inches that separate him from you. You pull the fabric of his shirt, your fingers sink, and his eyes slightly widen.

“Can I tell you a secret, Hyuck?”

“Yes?” He seems to hesitate. “Sure…”

You take courage. The heart speeds up. The fabric of her shirt sinks against the valley between your breasts. You want to show how wicked you can be. And then your good-friend mask is already on the floor… 

“I think my panties are wet.” When the words slip from your mouth.

A little joke could come from his mouth. A laugh might follow. A mockery. But again… This is not the same Donghyuck, just as this is not the same you. When that little distance has narrowed between you two. 

When he leaned toward you. When you felt the touch of his hand against the skin of your thigh.

“Do you want this?” He asked, low voice, hoarse.

The truth is that he can have that perfect view in his mind: of your wet panties. But that was so wrong.

So wrong that you nodded. A dumb yes. One of those you never really considered to say. Maybe because of the fear of the sentence imposed on you. But what sentence would be worse than the sentence of feeling the touch of your best friend’s hand sliding across your leg, rising toward your hip. Toward this dangerous region where the fabric of your shorts delimits what cannot be seen by anyone.

Donghyuck was never an “anyone”. You know this the moment your hand fits perfectly as if his fingers were made especially for you, especially to be there. The rough fabric of the jeans soon bothered you. And as if he could read your mind, with his free hand Donghyuck found the zipper of your shorts.

When his hand slipped inside your shorts, first there was the strangeness of the touch, you gasped, your body shuddered, and then; When he slipped his fingers inside your panties, you moaned.

“You’re soaking wet,” Hyuck whispered, moving his body closer, pulling your hips closer to his lap, you knew where this was going; dangerously, going where you wanted it most.

“Hyuck,” you called, a few seconds before he connected lips. The taste of that kiss was pure evil. When the saliva mixed, and deeply, with his fingers inside your pussy; it all tasted like the purest wicked kiss.

With his free hand, Donghyuck got rid of your shorts, and soon your panties were gone too. And while lips were still connected, he spread your legs, letting the cold hit your intimacy. You gasped as lips parted, when you felt his heavy breath against your neck, leaving a kiss along the way.

Slowly, Donghyuck found his way, until he was holding your legs open, until you are in this situation, back against the carpet, the long-forgotten movie and your best friend’s hot breath against your sensitive pussy. 

The first touch made you close your eyes. Your heart rate quickened and you realized what you were doing, what was happening. When Donghyuck leaves a long lick on your pussy. And this feels so fucking good. That moment you feel his tongue. His saliva mingled with your moisture. You moan, and it sounds like music to his ears, because he looks up at you, admiring your expression, and those eyes are pure sin. Filled with lust. Just like you.

When you feel Donghyuck’s finger threatening to enter once more, you think you can’t stand it. That latent pleasure is already there, almost palpable, and you moan louder, your fingers grasp his hair strands, and slowly, his fingers slide, taking space, while you feel his tongue on your clit, fingers slide in, reach deeper inside you and contract.

“Shit! Hyuck! ”You moan.

He smiles, cocky.

“Like it?” His laugh is devilish.

You nod, unable to contain yourself when he reaches that particular point deep inside.

“You know… I never imagined you were so dirty.” So devilish as the way his fingers contract inside your pussy, before slipping out again, before reentering again; picking pace. "But I like it that way.”

Feel like you’re almost there. It’s almost here. Donghyuck’s free hand slides just below the fabric of your shirt, sneaks under your bra, reaching for your breasts and squeezing. You are about to have your orgasm when…

He stops.

“Hyuck!” You complain, when suddenly you no longer feel any of his touch against your body, looking up only to feel that sweet little scare: with the low pants, Donghyuck already has his rigid member in his hands, a harsh hiss escapes his lips and he looks at you with lust as he touches himself. You want it so bad.

Fitting between your legs. He kisses you again. Sloppy. In such a hurry that it messes up his thoughts. Your senses drift when you feel him place his member against your wet entrance. Your back arches as he whispers:

“Be a good girl for me, ok?”

He does not wait. There is no time for that. There is no time for you to waste preparing to receive the first thrust. First; it hurts, he’s so thick. Secondly; it turns you on even more. And Hyuck is so hot when he sinks his dick deep inside you. Sliding. Making way through your tight walls. This is another kind of kiss. When his dick hits the bottom of your pussy and you can feel it throb inside.

"Great,” he sighs, the sigh of deepest relief; soaked in lust. “So fucking good” And when his hip starts to move, you moan like a slut, loud and clear, he likes it, so when he thrust his dick, he does it harder, delighting himself when you moan louder. “You’re a good bitch, aren’t you?”

You cannot stop yourself; you like it when he thrusts his dick even deeper, in and out, harder, faster, and your legs wrap around his hip as he lifts your shirt and bra, leaving your breasts free; moving with every hard thrust of his hip. Just as Hyuck can’t stop himself from fucking you so well, because your moans sound like melting butter, like caramel, so sweet it makes his dick melt against the walls of your pussy.

The room is full of these sinful noises; of skin slapping, of your gradually louder, breathless moans. It doesn’t take long, though, until Hyuck is moaning against your ear too, because you feel so good around his cock. So good that sounds like a lie, a dream, a dream of the most depraved boy: one of those dreams of fucking your best friend in the middle of the living room of your apartment.

Something he has dreamed and fantasized about so many times in secret.

“Hyuck! I-” you moan and the rhythm of his hips doesn’t seem to be even close to exhaustion. “Hyuck! I’m coming!”

Somewhere in your mind, you think about how bad this is; how you and he should have stopped before you were in this mess now, sweaty bodies, the smell of sex and wet moans sounding everywhere.

“Yes,” Hyuck grunts under his breath. The thrusts becoming erratic. “Come for me, my dirty slut.”

Your eyes close tightly as your hands clutch against Hyuck’s back. As you feel the walls of your pussy contract in cruel spasms. Your mind colors in shades of white. You scream. But do not listen. Your senses drift when you have the best orgasm of your life.

It’s too late when Hyuck comes inside you. Making this mess inside you, which ends up leaking; and for a moment he seems to admire the good work he has done. Admiring how tight your pussy is even for his semen.

And then, out of the chaos, silence fell. As you tried to catch your breath. Meanwhile, reality had not yet reached your mind. What you had just done. What you had done with your best friend.

Ten minutes. It was the time that this heavy silence lasted. Long enough for the two of you to mop up silently, flushed cheeks and a certain shame that didn’t match anything with all the dirt you two had done.

Ten minutes.

It was the time it took until Hyuck thought it would be good if he said something.

“You know…”

"We can forget that,” you said, quickly. Looking at him with huge eyes, heart thundering in your ears.

“Yes,” he said, “if that’s what you want …” annoyed at what he heard from himself.

That’s when you had this moment of clarity: I can have him for myself. And it was like having made the third greatest discovery of modern science. Right there in that little apartment, looking into the face of your best friend. You realize that; this was already your territory. And she was the real intruder.

So…

It wouldn’t be all bad if you take back what was already yours, right?

It was with this thought, that you continued to visit Donghyuck’s apartment and, more movies were dropped in the midway.

Soon these malicious kisses were becoming the new inside joke of your incredible friendship. Something that could only be understood when your and his eyes met, when the movie was too boring, and perhaps it was the fault of the distorted attention; from the lack of attention created when you and your best friend were in the same environment.

These casual encounters kept happening until it became pointless to use the old “let’s watch a movie” excuse, because it soon became a straightforward “I want to fuck you today”, you wouldn’t complain, you love this new thing about him; and he loves when you tease saying you’re busy.

It turns out that when your best friend’s girlfriend returned from her travel, a shred of guilt still crossed your mind, the icy fear piling deep in your throat: the fear that this was the end of your adventures with Donghyuck.

To your surprise: This is not how it ended. But it became quieter. It became more delicious. When in the dead of night your apartment doorbell rang through the walls and on your cellphone there was a message saying “I need you right now.”

Delightfully mischievous when the next day you heard her talk about giving his beloved boyfriend ice treatment. You are terrible. You know it; when pretends to be worried, asking what happened.

“Well,” and she says, like it’s nothing “he’s been a jerk with me so I think he deserves it.”

Basically, it is like the purest satisfaction to your ears. As Donghyuck’s relationship with her cools, things gradually heat up as Hyuck seeks shelter in your arms.

As the fights seem to escalate between them, you decide to provoke more, decide to wear this more prominent cleavage over and over, watching as Hyuck nervously realizes he can’t take his eyes off you, even if his girlfriend is right there.

“Y/n…” One day she approaches you. “Do you think something is going on that I don’t know?”

That’s when the adrenaline rush, the euphoria, and your inverted fairytale world come down: “I’m a monster” is what you think to yourself as you look into the face of the girl who is officially regarded as Donghyuck’s girlfriend. That taste is bitter, and it rests on your tongue, the taste of a wicked kiss, feels like a double-edged sword that is used to cut someone, and cuts you halfway.

Officially, she’s his girlfriend, not you.

And the weight of being an affair now cuts you to pieces.

But it’s not like you can escape him, escape his touch, his words that melt into your skin.

“Y/n” one day, Donghyuck is surprised by his lack of response to his messages “did something happen?”

And this lack of attention to the between lines irritates you deeply; but he was always like that, completely unaware of your feelings.

“It’s nothing” you, however, push away the idea, bury the bitter taste and fake a smile. “What is the schedule for today?”

It’s not like sex is now the only thing you two do; you and he were still friends, good friends. Best friends. While she was still his girlfriend.

The first revelation that there is a great deal of distance between “realizing someone is invading my territory” and actually “driving out the invader” divides you in half. You become a paradox by itself.

And again, you are on that mental wall. When you are alone, you think about the stupidity you are doing. And when you’re with Donghyuck, all you think about is how much better a girlfriend you would be than her. But you have no idea what happens between them, do you? It hurts you even more.

However, this paradox, as well as the bittersweet taste in your mouth: does not last long.

It’s a night when you get Hyuck’s message, “I need to see you,” you quickly dismiss the proposal, say you’re busy even though you’re actually thinking about going to sleep. That’s when you give in, when you see the message that says “please, it’s urgent…”

“Oh, yes, Hyuck, your hard cock is certainly an urgent matter,” you think to yourself, but still put on an acceptable outfit and go. When Donghyuck opens the door; He is a mess. A mess you’ve never seen before. And he displays a tired smile when he sees your face:

“Ah, it’s you, Y/n,” he says, sounding as if he’s relieved.

You don’t have any time to respond, because as soon as you open your mouth, it’s as if the addiction itself takes shape. The right word is an addiction. The same addiction that makes you a slave to pure destructive pleasure. The same addiction that intoxicates you when you’re so close to a man named Donghyuck.

He holds your face. And kiss you. So directly, that at first you do not know what is going on. You never knew. And at that moment, when you once again get carried away, you know much less. The moment you walk through that door and it closes right behind you. At that moment his lips look more erratic and lost than usual when you feel him pulling your clothes out of the way.

You are lost.

You never had any chance to take him.

Because Donghyuck already had you. Right in the palm of his hands, those hands that are so good at handling your body.

It is on the couch in his living room that you see yourself completely naked. When he holds you by the waist, putting you in such an unprotected position, hands and arms supporting your ass in the air. His hand glides over your body, as if his fingers delight at each curve, sliding down to your ass, squeezing. He keeps you that way for a while, gasping at the feel of his long fingers threatening his way to your intimacy. But this time, Donghyuck is really good with you, he doesn’t tease you as much as he usually does. Not this time. Not this time when all he wanted to do was just lower his pants and once again make you completely his own.

It was thus, naked and raw, that he took another little part of your body and soul for him. When he pushed his hard cock. You moaned like never before, holding tight to the couch, feeling each thrust reach a new level of pleasure against your womb.

“Fuck, y/n” Hyuck growled, hands holding tight in your ass as he continued to fuck you. “I want you so bad…” His words melted against your skin as the room filled with a snap, the red mark on your ass burned but you liked it. “Ah, fuck” he growled, the rhythm of his hips rising, going deeper, the slapping of skin filling your ears and the climax was right there “you’re so fucking hot.”

It is at this turning point when you can feel that you are almost there, when his right-hand meets your throat, squeezing lightly, while you felt his cock fucking you so well. At that particular moment, when he bends to let a kiss on your shoulder and you moan louder, because you can feel it deep within yourself.

This is when the door is wide open.

“Hyuck, I forgot to-” And both of you are caught in the act. 

In this scene where there is no explanation. 

Because Donghyuck is clearly fucking his best friend on the couch in his living room. At such a time, this is when the end of the world seems like a plausible hypothesis.

“I knew… you two?! I knew fucking it!” And those were the words that were the beginning of the end of the world.

In other cases, you would never believe that a person could wear their clothes so quickly. Days ago you would be surprised by how quickly you put your clothes back, just as you would not believe you would ever be in a situation like this.

Reality took a long time to settle.

But the shouting didn’t take long to begin.

"You’re not going to talk, Donghyuck?!” And no one could blame her for screaming. No one could blame her for anything there. The villain of the story is you, right? “Won’t you even give me an excuse?”

Hyuck is silent, sitting on the couch, arms resting on his knees and hands rubbing the strands of hair.

“Answer me, Donghyuck!” And his girlfriend is screaming these loose phrases, smudged makeup, the accusations against you are the worst part when she looks at you with those disgusted eyes. “You fucking little bitch!” When she is about to fly right in your face.

“Leave her out of it” the only time Donghyuck said anything.

You felt your world sink. But it was ironic. That was the end of the world anyway, when she turned to him, sarcastic laughter coming from her lips.

“But what’s the joke?” She asks. For a moment you think she’ll fly to his neck. “Are you going to tell me you like her, Hyuck?”

That shadow hangs on his face. Donghyuck doesn’t answer, instead, he looks up and stares at you, stares at you with those confused eyes. Your throat freezes. You can not swallow. But tears are already welling in your eyes.

You do not want to know the answer.

“Honey, I’ll understand if that was just a side thing,” she says, with this poisonous voice.

That’s enough. You go as soon as the opportunity arises. You run toward the door that is already wide open. Tears come, they fall down like a waterfall, and there is a piece of ice in your throat, your fingers are cold, vision is blurred, legs wobble, and you have to stay sane, sane until you get to your own home. 

Instead of waiting for the elevator you go down the stairs. Instead of taking the subway, you walk all the way back.

No one came after you.

Or better…

Donghyuck didn’t came after you.

But what were you waiting for to happen?

“This is not a fairy tale,” you tell yourself as soon as your apartment door opens and you let yourself sink that dark cold room that accommodates your body so well that you break. “It’s not a damn fairy tale… not for me.”

The next day, your eyes are swollen, nose stuffy and ears throbbing with pain. There is a limit to how much a human being can cry; and this limit is when you feel like a piece of trash, when it hurts so much that out of pure survival instinct your brain numbs your heart. It is when you cry so much that the world seems to revolve around a wound that you no longer remember the reason for being there.

The numbness lasts a few hours.

For you, it is not enough time for the headaches to pass. Then you cry again. And it hurts even more.

You do not leave home. On the second day. You just stare at your door and wait for something. Wait for days to come back. Expect that this dark side of you to walk toward the sunlight outside and disappear. You want to kick yourself out like a parasite. The non-possibility of this happening makes you cry even more.

And at times like this, when you cry so hard, Donghyuck would probably say something stupid, and it would make you smile… But Donghyuck didn’t come after you and you decide to put an end to it.

“You two deserve each other. You are her prince after all.

Please forget me, Donghyuck.”

Seven days, the total amount of time this depressed slowness settled in Donghyuck’s apartment room. Seven days. It was the time when it finally took him to decide to get out of his bed, stop being a complete failure, get up, make coffee and… give his best not to collapse.

What you don’t know is that it hurts him too. It hurts to realize something that should be so simple, but the situation is almost lost. It hurts, even more, to be an asshole when the truth is as harsh as your own decisions.

There are a total of seventy messages on his phone that hasn’t been unlocked since seven days ago. He already knew where this would handle. He just didn’t expect it to hurt so much to be the asshole. But as his friend Mark Lee says; “One day the consequences come, and they hurt twice as much as you ever hurt anyone, man.”

The theory proved true when the phone vibrated and your message arrived. That was when his heart tore. The dry swallow slipped through his throat and he knew that being a complete failure as a person was no longer an option.

So when he knocked for the fourth time on your door, he was not very willing to give up. Because if he were going to be a complete asshole, at least he would go all the way. Then he hit your door again. And you ignored him.

The truth is that Donghyuck has always been an amateur about this thing called feelings. True feelings. So it is only natural that he will misstep there, break something here, and start a fire in the process. He knows now. And he hates himself more than anyone.

Then he hits another sixth time.

You do not answer.

He wonders if you moved in those seven days. But he knows that you are broke.

He also considers the possibility that you died. This thought startles him. He rings the bell. In fact, he presses and leaves his finger there, causing the rustling noise to extend into an infernal choir that can even lift any deceased from the grave.

“Go away!” You shout.

It seems to work.

“Y/n, please open the door,” Hyuck replies, leaning his face against the wood.

You remain silent, and he cannot blame you. But after all, he wasn’t determined to go back now.

“I’ll ring the bell again.”

“If you respect at least your own life” and you respond “don’t push that button again.”

“I’ll stay here until you decide to open it.”

“Then you can die there.”

“That hurts.”

“Great!” He can hear your voice rise a tone.

And that sudden silence comes from the other side of the door. This silence that worries you. But when you fear he’s finally gone, you can see the shadow of his shoes spread across the carpet at the entrance.

“I’m so sorry,” Donghyuck says from the other side of the door. That is not enough. Not to take that weight off your chest. “I think…” And you don’t trust yourself to open that door again. “I think I have these feelings for a while. So I did what I did. ”

Hyuck swallows, waiting for an answer; he takes a deep breath when he realizes that you are listening in silence.

“I’m not a prince, Y/n, I’m human.” And he says it, word for word. “And I love you…” Swallowing hard, feeling his hands shake, consciousness drowning in insecurity, Donghyuck has never been as self-conscious in his life as now. “I must be an asshole for not giving up but I’m an asshole that loves you so… How about we start over?”

At that moment, when there was no answer to his question, he stepped away from the door, and let his heart sink in his chest. He looked down. But before turning around, he can hear the sound of keys turning and the door opening.

When he saw your face. When he saw his own mess reflected in a fragile and suspicious you; he felt like the most complete asshole. A daring asshole, in fact:

“May I come in?” He asks, his eyes as teary as yours.

And then, you are the only one who can choose; go your own way, or surrender completely.

[kemonododo]

Decided to rewatch the whole series after seeing the finale, here's my thoughts as they come along part 2

This fight between Catra and Adora is where it all comes to a head. Adora begging Catra to follow her, Catra begging her to stay. Catra denying Adora the satisfaction of saving her, then pulling herself out of the portal as a corrupted monster. Adora seeing her true friends put their trust in her, then immediately see a horrific monster in the form of her love take their place. Catra lets everything out here, how she hates Adora's hero complex and how she blames Adora for everything. It's just so raw.

Of course, the best part is the punch. Adora is no longer going to take Catra's hate, she is done. In her own words, she made her choice and she has to live with it. That final death glare is everything. This is the lowest point Catradora will ever face, and it takes Catra proving that she is willing to change for Adora to see the good in her again.

Angella's sacrifice hits a lot harder now that we know she's dead for good, something about the "trapped between portals stuff" convinced me she wasn't when I first saw this. She died still believing her husband was dead, and the last true conversation she had with Glimmer was an argument. Hug your mom kids, you never know when you'll have that opportunity again.

This finale has a lot of parallels to the series finale, especially with Adora being convinced her destiny means she needs to be a martyr. That's Shadow Weaver talking through her, something we see in full force in season 5. While Angella here stops her from sacrificing herself, she still has that warped view of what her destiny is, and it takes Catra to finally show her the real way.

That spin is when I started shipping Glimbow.

This final speech by Queen Glimmer is another great example of how the show hides sinister meanings behind normal dialog. Any other show and we'd be cheering when Glimmer focuses on defeating the Horde, but we know the blind devotion to that goal has so many consequences in waiting.

Both Catra and Glimmer look great in their new clothes, it's a fantastic way to show how much they've grown.

The Valley of the Lost is another one of those great more episodic episodes, it's still connected to the whole story but we also get to take a little break and enjoy some a new local with a Star Wars feel with fun antics with Perfuma, Huntara, and Double Trouble. I wasn't sure about DT when I first heard about them, seemed too late to add a new major character, but they're an absolute blast and help give season 4 it's own identity.

Catra's nightmares are just the start of this season's take on her character, this is where we really dive into how unhappy her actions are making her.

Mayor of Elberon got the biggest glow up of the show

I love how, just, done Adora is with Catra. No more playful teasing, Adora is here to defeat Catra and save the town, nothing else.

Double Trouble is a really fun character, but I'll be the first to admit they aren't good representation. It's bad enough they're the "only nonhumans can be non-binary" architype, but also that they're a creepy masculine trans person who pretends to be a cute girl to get on people's good sides... Yikes. It's a genuine complaint, and one of those criticsms you just have to accept.

We finally get to see some character for Spinnerella and Netossa! They're relationship is one of the big keystones of the season 5 conflict, so it's really important that we had this episode to get to know their chemistry.

Oh Shadow Weaver, how I love you. She's decided Catra and Adora don't have anything left to give her anymore, so she's switched to the vulnerable and easily manipulated new orphaned queen. Glimmer's one track mind on defeating the Horde makes her an ideal target, and Shadow Weaver is again successful in bending a child to her will.

The Glimmer and Catra fight! Glimmer's arc parallels Catra's, especially in this season. Of course she never falls as far as Catra, but I do love that we get just a taste of how this war can sour even the cute sparkle girl.

This final moment with Catra and Double Trouble, amazing. Catra has been mowing through friends, she's already pushed away all the genuine ones, and she's realizing that it sucks to be with people who aren't.

Best way to set up a sympathetic villain, give them a girlfriend lol. Light Hope is tragic, her programming tells her to protect and serve She-Ra, but also to follow her directive. It's something that conflicts in her psyche, and is another strong-suit of this show and it's masterfully written villains.

Princess Scorpia is one of the best episode of the series. Sure the Glimmer drama is nice, but Scorpia... Wow. The remnant of genocide raised in the most toxic place on the planet is the most kind, loving, loyal person to have ever lived. And yet she still chooses to leave. Catra was her crush, someone she saw herself with and promised to be by forever, but even she knows when there isn't anything left she can do. It's a wonderful message and a fantastic episode for one of the best characters in the show.

Mer-Mysteries is actually really well crafted, up until this point all the funny joke episodes have been self contained, but here that's subverted. It's shocking to see Mermista joking around throughout the episode only for it to end with her in utter shock and fear at seeing her home destroyed. Plus the reveal of Double Trouble is great.

Neither Hordak nor Angella was fully invested in winning the war in the first two seasons. It's a good way to escalate tension, as now the Horde's victories make a lot of sense because Hordak is suddenly extremely motivated to win thanks to Horde Prime. It makes the war the first season made such a big deal out of seem paultry in comparison to the slaughter we see now.

I love Sea Hawk so much, he's genuinely funny and endearing.

Bow singing to himself may be one of the most depressing moments is the show. This whole arc of Glimmer and Adora falling out is mostly set-up for Glimmer's choice to activate the heart alone, but it's still really well done and something I really enjoy watching. Something about two friends blowing up at each other, ripping each other apart while the third is left in the ruins is just the angst I can't resist. Catra realizing winning the war isn't giving her the closure she craves and finding out about Scorpia leaving is also a perfect parallel.

Mara is revealed to be a hero all along, what Light Hope painted as a crazed lunatic turned out to be a woman who saved the universe from her own people. It's a beautiful message, and the emotional attachment we feel with her and Razz causes the tears to well up again for what feels like the hundredth time.

The three cadets are great this season, not only do they get some time to shine but they also show how Catra's tyrannical rule is hurting the soldiers beneath her.

I love the moment where Glimmer pulls out the queen card. It's culmination of her arc since the second season, she is finally letting her hatred of the Horde consume her. That shot, the slow piano as it zooms in on her backlit by the fire. Probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire show.

This episode is a monster on my heart, the juxtaposition of Scorpia finally finding the support and kindness she deserves while Catra is suffering the consequences of her own actions. That one shot, a Catra smiling at the news of winning the war only to zoom out at a destroyed room where she collapses on the floor choking on her own tears is a masterpiece.

Even Beast Island gets a glow up

Beast Island is beautifully Eldritch. A place that sucks away your fortitude and will until you're absorbed into it like a digesting stomach. The show does have a lot of moments where it really messes with the character's heads and I love it.

When the signal begins to take over, Bow feeling like he failed Glimmer, Micah realizing his wife is dead, Adora giving into her insecurities, Entrapta being overcome by the betrayal she's faced, all their eyes going gray and dead. It's emotional and terrifying, something this show excels at.

Shadow Weaver spends so much time manipulating children you'd think she'd have it down to a science, but it doesn't seem to ever work out for her in the end, does it?

Entrapta is a great character because every time she exposits she just sounds so enthusiastic, even when she's revealing terrifying truths, like how Adora's "noble destiny" is to exist as the universe's most dangerous gun.

I love how Double Trouble only had to tell Catra that She-Ra wasn't at Brightmoon, their scenes with Hordak and Catra was just for the drama. We got a great fight and Catra finally getting vibe checked, so I have to say DT well done. Their methods are cruel, but hearing someone say to her face that it's her fault people leave her, mixed with the dissatisfaction of winning while alone is the catalyst for Catra's redemption.

Light Hope is revealed to be the one who stole away Adora, the one who forced her destiny on her. Horde Prime may have been the final big bad, but Light Hope was the one responsible for everything. And Adora breaks the sword, ending her destiny as the First One's intended and saving Light Hope from her programming.

What an ominous ending! Hordak, the big bad from season 1, is left a squabbling mess defeated in seconds, and we are faced with a huge and terrifying new universe with seemingly no hope of going against. The stakes are the highest they've ever been, and even already knowing what happened it makes me excited for what comes next.

[brynwrites]

Filling in the gaps.

When you struggle to connect the main plot points.

Anonymous asked:

Hi, I have a big problem with details and little events, like I know the main events that will happen, but I struggle to write between them, do you have any tips on that? Thank you so much for everything you are doing on this blog and I wish you the best of luck with your writing!

Fore word: This is how I do the thing. It’s not the only way to do the thing, nor the “right way,” just one way, which happens to work really well for me. I hope it helps you too, but if it doesn’t, there’s still a good method out there for you. Don’t give up; keep searching and trying new techniques!

Coming out of a main event (plot point) you should have a mix of these things:

A protagonist who made choices they were unsure about, and now carries an emotional burden of some kind.

Multiple primary and secondary characters who are emotionally and/or physically effected by the event.

Characters whose actions and choices during the event conflicted and who are now at odds in some way.

Unresolved plot details.

You also likely have new plot information to set up prior to the next main plot point, which might include anything from the main characters sitting down and physically deciding what to do next, to traveling long distances, to the reveal of information which will lead the characters to the next main plot point.

Usually this connective segment, which can range anywhere from one short scene to many chapters, creates a sense of “downtime,” or a lower point of tension which lets your reader relax after the trauma of the last plot point. 

Not all of them will actually be low in tension. That’s good! We don’t want to drop all tension at any point in the story. We want to let the reader breathe without losing their interest.

How do we actually create these “downtime” sections?

I had to write two of these exact sections to connect a plot point in AFS last week, and this is the progressions it went through:

STYLE ONE: In which I have limited room for creativity because I know the scene must take place during a border crossing, and my goal is to make the border crossing more than just a boring description of four characters worrying about things while they walk across the border.

1. Write down any leftover tension (emotional, physical, mental).

I knew the character had to go from one plot point to the next in order to recruit another main character and have a run in with the secondary villains. These characters come out of the previous plot point with five specific emotional ordeals:

The protagonist and Pine Head were very close once but are now so badly at odds that they can’t seen to work together.

The protagonist has been working with Fairy Child but doesn’t really know her as a person.

Pine Head’s sort-of-boyfriend Teddy Bear has been experiencing health issues that Teddy Bear doesn’t want to talk about.

The antagonist wants something from Pine Head and the protagonist is paranoid they’ll show up at any point.

The protagonist is realizing he’s not the amazing person he thought he was.

2. Make use of the tension to carry the reader through.

The protagonist fears the antagonist appearing, so that’s just what’s going to happen, and I’ll structure the segment around it. On the way to the main event I’ll add a scene where:

The antagonist show up. (Fulfils #4)

Pine Head and the protagonist are forced to work together in a small way, even though they’re still angry. (Fulfils #1)

The protagonist forgets about Fairy Child and subsequently realizes he doesn’t actually know or think about her and feels guilty over that. (Sets up #2).

Teddy Bear gets hurt. (Reinforces #4)

The antagonist implies that the protagonist is a hypocrite. (Reinforces #5)

With these components, I create a full scene (which has a lot of spoilers in it, so I won’t outline it.) This scene is still a fairly high tension scene though. After the protagonist recruits the new character during the next plot point, I want a low tension scene that will lead into the next major plot segment. 

STYLE TWO: In which I can do literally anything I want, as long as it’s good and connective. 

1. Where does this take place?

Setting is important. A good setting provides unique opportunities for the character to interact with each other and their world in a way they wouldn’t in any other setting. 

For this section, the characters are traveling through a rural part of the protagonist’s homeland, in which there are towns build in valleys. I could have them talk while they walk through tree, which would be the epitome of an uninteresting setting. They could enter a town and have some nice little discussions while buying goods at the store, which might give more room for interesting things to happen but is still lower on the interest scale.

I’m choosing to have them enter a town which is having an evening lights festival. The town is built in steps along a valley side, there are traditional games and food abounding, fireworks planned for after sunset, and a spring storm is approaching. This gives the characters a chance to interact with the culture, and a variety of activities and people, and provides a nice aesthetic.

2. Leftover tension and future setups.

During this segment, I have a few points which I need to hit:

The protagonist gets to know Fairy Child.

The protagonist and Pine Head laugh together like old times.

The protagonist can’t tell if Pine Head and Teddy Bear are really dating and approaches Teddy Bear about it.

Addition things I know I want to show:

Fairy Child and the New Character are obvious foils for each other.

Set up New Character’s developmental arc for this book.

Foreshadow a reveal from much later in the book.

Have Teddy Bear get his injuries looked at.

Reveal a piece of information vital to the next plot arc.

Let the New Character and Fairy Child train together in some way.

Let the protagonist angst a bit over one aspect of his character development.

3. Combined to create a fluid scene.

Maybe the protagonist goes to see Teddy Bear while Teddy Bear is getting his injuries looked at, while he’s there they talk about Teddy Bear’s relationship with Pine Head. Teddy Bear’s softness toward Pine Head mutes some of the protagonist’s anger and allows him to have a moment of light-hearted fun with Pine Head when Pine Head appears to check on Teddy Bear. Because of this light-heartedness, they decide to grab Fairy Child and New Character and go enjoy the festival for a bit...

4. Don’t glue yourself in place.

I wrote the above process a week ago and have since finished the scene I outlined during it, and while a lot of what I had originally outlined created a fantastic base, there were also things which happened while writing it which I hadn’t expected (but were great none-the-less), so don’t worry if you start writing and realize you have more you want to include or things you want to flat out change. That’s what outlines are for. They give you a foundation on which you can rebuild things without having to rewrite.

For more writing tips from Bryn, view the archive catalog or the complete tag. Pro-order Bryn’s debut novel, Our Bloody Pearl, today!

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Golden Girls and Lost Boys

Shimmin considers a Disney film much too seriously for anyone's good.~

Spoiler warning for Tangled.

Recently, I went to watch Tangled (in 3D! not that it matters, and because there wasn't an alternative, but there you are), the new Disney Rapunzel film. I'm not planning to do yer'actual review of it, and I'm not that interested in getting into heavy analysis of the plot or logic or of a Disney film based on a fairy tale, because that would be silly. It was fun, it was more-or-less for children, it was funny, it was sweet if a bit saccharine, it had an awesome horse. Their version also seemed quite original, which is something I tend to forget about Disney films. Anyway, this article is not about that. It brought up some vaguely interesting issues that I thought might be worth waffling about in case anyone else also found them interesting.

Synopsis

The Disney plot is rather different, and people might not be over-familiar with the details of Rapunzel anyway, so here's the gist. A drop of sunlight falls to earth and grows into a magical flower (just go with it, okay?). An old woman finds the flower, and discovers that if she sings a particular magical song to it, it glows with healing light that temporarily restores her youth (ditto). She hides it and uses it to stay young and beautiful for an unspecified but long time. The Queen becomes ill while pregnant, so they send the army to find the fabled flower. They make a healing potion from it, which works, and the child is born as a beautiful golden-haired daughter (it wasn't entirely clear when the mop of hair appeared, but stick with me here). One night, the old woman sneaks into the palace to steal a lock of hair, believing it'll have the same healing properties. But when she cuts it, the hair loses its power. In desperation, she steals the baby. Nobody knows what happened to the princess, and they never find her. Every year on her birthday, they release Chinese lanterns to remember her.

Eighteen years later, thieves break in and steal the princess' crown (presumably a traditional item from the treasury) which is handily kept on a cushion beneath a skylight with all the guards facing away. They're pursued, and one (Flynn) splits off from the others with the crown, escaping the guards but still followed by an angry horse. He finds a tower in a hidden valley, which seems like an ideal hiding place. Sadly, he's beaten unconscious by an 18-year-old Rapunzel with a pan, and stuffed in a cupboard. Rapunzel wants to go and see the floating lights she's spotted every year on her birthday, but her mother won't let her. After yet another argument, which dissuades her from revealing her prisoner to her mother, she decides to make the man take her instead while her mother's away. Wacky adventures and angst and excitement ensue. The two fall in love, and are followed by the old woman, who uses Flynn's betrayed partners to set an ambush, and sets it up to look like he's abandoned Rapunzel so she'll accept her mother's advice and won't try to leave the tower again. He escapes, comes to see her, is mortally wounded, and has a pointless heroic moment of sacrifice that is negated by Lurve. Old woman crumbles to dust, Rapunzel is reunited with her family, and all live happily ever after. Except the old woman, and presumably the now-imprisoned Stabbington Brothers.

Family Matters

One of the things that was vaguely interesting about the film was the family issues it brought up. The thing that really got my attention was right at the end, during the reuinion, when the narrator (i.e. Flynn) says something like: "...Rapunzel finally had a real family..."

Let's leave aside the likely problems for a girl brought up by a single parent in humble surroundings in a small tower, who's barely met a handful of people in her life, joining two unknown biological parents of immense wealth and power who live in a massive castle and incidentally becoming the biggest celebrity of all time. I'm sure there will be no issues whatsoever getting accustomed to that. Or long-term trauma associated with the violent death of the woman who brought her up and whom she sincerely loved. This is a fairy tale. However, it does get me thinking about families.

The old woman is never named in the story. I do wonder why; perhaps to stop us having any sympathy with her, though villains in other stories are named, or perhaps they simply couldn't be bothered inventing a name. It does dehumanize her a bit. Anyway, I'm going to call her Agnes. So Agnes has, indeed, kidnapped Rapunzel to use her supernatural power so she can live forever. This is Not Okay. And she keeps her trapped in the tower so she won't either leave her, or be found by anyone. The thing is, apart from that, she treats her as a daughter.

Now, I am not going to claim she's a great mother. She's controlling and emotionally manipulative, which I suppose isn't that surprising when she's keeping Rapunzel there basically by force of will. She's only tepidly affectionate. On the other hand, Rapunzel's very comfortable and, apart from a desire to see the outside world, she's pretty happy. She has nice furniture and playthings, nice clothes, and an apparently endless supply of hobby materials. They don't seem to have a luxurious diet, but neither do most peasants; and Agnes makes a point of cooking Rapunzel's favourite food when she visits. She's also educated her brilliantly: although a tad naive, she knows everything an ordinary, non-imprisoned girl would know. She recognises Flynn as a man, knows what birthdays mean, how drowning works, and when she's in danger. The outside world doesn't really phase her, so she must know about nature and geography, and she seems to have a decent grasp of society and normal behaviour too. She's articulate, intelligent and very pleasant. In fact, given the difficulties of the situation, Agnes is one of the most successful child-raisers I've ever heard of. It's very clear that, right until the end, Rapunzel is very fond of her mother. Regardless of Agnes' ultimate feelings towards the girl, she treats her extremely well so far as the situation allows. Compare, say, Cinderella or Snow White. Agnes may not be a great mother, but she's actually not a terrible one.

I was talking about this to Dan, and he summed up my argument here as basically: "Apart from kidnapping a baby, pretending to be her mother, bringing her up alone in a tower for eighteen years and deceiving her for her own selfish ends, she's not a particularly bad mother". The thing is, ridiculous as it sounds, I think that's about right. The things she's done wrong aren't really about how she raised Rapunzel, but more general wrongs that intertwine with that. The problem is that Agnes' dual status as adoptive mother and kidnapper rather complicates the issue.

As far as Rapunzel is concerned, at least, Agnes is her family. The thing that changes that is not really a shift in their relationship, or anything Agnes does; it's seeing a picture of the baby princess and then seeing herself in the mirror wearing the crown. It's a revelation of Objective Truth ('you are Really the Princess, the Queen and King are your Real Family'), rather than anything about the family itself - right until that moment, Rapunzel thinks of Agnes as her mother and loves her.

There's a decent argument that it's not a good family, because it's built on a tissue of lies. It's also possible that Agnes has no real affection for Rapunzel - she doesn't show any active affection in the film. On the other hand, she's brought the girl up for 18 years, and in that time, I'd have expected things to crystallise one way or the other. The first option is to view and treat her as a useful tool or a pet, in which case I wouldn't expect Rapunzel to be so well educated or comfortable; that's extra effort and liable to encourage further trouble, when you could bring her up cowed and ignorant so she won't get ideas. If, on the other hand, Agnes brings her up as though she was her daughter and treats her kindly, you'd expect some affection to arise on both sides.

Now, I don't think Disney thought much about this one throwaway line and I'm not that interested in decrying them. A fairly normative and slightly old-fashioned way of thinking is par for the course. I suppose the "real family" reference means one with honesty and love, rather than manipulation, deceit and using your daughter selfishly. It means the parents who wanted you and loved you unconditionally, rather than someone who stole you for selfish reasons, whether or not they've got fond of you. In context, though, it had a faint whiff of narrow-mindedness: that what really matters isn't who brought you up or how you felt about them, but your genes (and incidentally having two parents, not just one). The fact is though, Rapunzel actually had a pretty happy family life before all this kicked off.

From My Point of View, the Jedi are Arguably Morally Ambiguous

Although the story glosses over her, I was also quite interested in Agnes and her actions. We don't ever find out anything about her, other than her use of the flower and her relationship with Rapunzel. We don't know her background, her history, or what she does when she's not visiting Rapunzel. Why should we? Rapunzel doesn't either. She's presented pretty much exclusively as a manipulative, selfish woman, whose use of the flower is immoral, and who commits a string of selfish acts to keep herself young and live forever. I'm not sure how convinced I am by that portrayal, or the way morality is defined in this story as a whole.

Agnes is lucky enough to find the flower and discover its powers. She keeps it hidden and uses it to stay young (and therefore alive) for, well, a long time. She chooses to keep it to herself, which is selfish, but I wonder how long she'd get to keep it if people found out about it? She could legitimately have all kinds of worries about that, so keeping it hidden isn't that unreasonable. As it turns out, the first thing that happens when the flower's discovered is it gets taken - so her hypothetical suspicions are vindicated.

Now for a look at the Castle. When the Queen is ill, the Castle mount a frantic last-chance search for the rumoured magical flower, and due to carelessness on Agnes' part, find it. Under her very eyes, they carefully dig it up and take it away to the castle. Someone makes it into a magic potion, which heals the Queen and (probably) saves her daughter's life too.

The issue here is the magic flower. Who has the right to use it, and what uses are acceptable?

The flower just appears. There's no reason it belongs to anyone, but Agnes has as much claim to it as anyone. Agnes uses it to save her own life; the Castle use it to save the Queen's life (and her unborn daughter). While Agnes keeps the flower to herself, nobody else benefits; once the Castle destroy the flower, nobody else can ever benefit. There's a touch of criticism in the film's portrayal of Agnes' actions, as though it were a crime to seek immortality. I don't know much about ethics, but I suspect issues like immortality are much more complicated than "it's bad to try and live forever". The Castle's actions are presented straightforwardly as a good thing. To be honest, I can't really see much difference. From a purely practical perspective, the first is a much more efficient use of the flower. The only real difference I can see between them is that Agnes chooses to save herself, whereas someone else (the King?) chooses to save the Queen. The first is more obviously selfish; but the second involves destroying an item of fantastic potential benefit to the world, which doesn't actually belong to the King any more than it does to anyone else, to extend the life of his wife. Not entirely unselfish.

Once the flower is destroyed, Agnes is doomed. Having and then losing immortality is more of a blow than never having it. She works out that Rapunzel's hair could do the same job, and plans to steal a lock. It's a bit skeevy, and involves burglary; on the other hand, the Castle are responsible for her plight, and taking a lock of hair shouldn't actually harm anyone. I can't really see the Castle giving her one, so theft or death is pretty much the choice. It all goes downhill from there.

In a sense, the story is a series of choices that Agnes has to make, each one more morally questionable. Initially, she chooses to keep the flower's benefits for herself, rather than risk sharing it. Then she chooses to try and steal a lock of hair to regain her lost immortality, rather than dying to avoid a relatively minor crime that harms nobody. She's cheated of that option by the way the magic works. The real problem starts when, panicking, she chooses to steal the baby rather than die. Then she chooses to deceive and manipulate her stolen daughter rather than risk her running away. Then she chooses to genuinely betray her (by acting against Rapunzel's interests) to get Rapunzel and her own immortality back. Finally, when the truth comes out, she chooses to resort to force rather than lose Rapunzel and die. Agnes is stuck on a slippery slope, where each decision makes it harder to give up the immortality for which she's done so much, and makes it easier to take the next and wronger step. What she ends up doing, and her treatment of Rapunzel, is clearly wrong, but it's not nearly as simple as her being a wicked old woman.

One of my friends suggested that one reason why Agnes and the Queen are portrayed differently is that people find it creepy for old people to want to be young and live forever; but saving and extending the lives of young, beautiful people is fine. There might be something in that.

A Bit of a Lad

The other thing I found a bit off about Tangled was its hero. Aladdin had a thief hero, but it was a little different. He was clearly a destitute beggar who stole food to live. Flynn Rider, the hero of Tangled, is also from a humble background, but he's more of a professional thief - all we know is that he's conspiring to steal a crown from the palace.

Now, thieves as heroes are a well-established trope in literature. However, Flynn is clearly not only a thief, but an untrustworthy thief. In the film, he's sort of contrasted against the Stabbington Brothers, his partners, in a way that is clearly supposed to show him in a good light. However, if you look at the details, it's rather murkier. He is willingly engaged in the robbery at the palace, and makes it very clear that it's a chance to live in luxury rather than a matter of need. All three are chased by the soldiers and trapped in a dead-end gully. Flynn offers to climb up and help them after him; they don't trust him and insist he leaves the bag with the crown with them. However, once he gets to the top they clearly believe he'll help them escape too. Instead, he reveals the bag he's somehow managed to steal back, mocks them, and runs off to save his own hide. In other words, he betrays his partners and leaves them trapped in a gully to die at the hands of the soldiers. That is not the act of a hero, not even a thief. That is not being a rough diamond, or a rogue. That is being a treacherous backstabbing git. As it happens, the soldiers spot him and chase after him instead, but that's clearly not the intention.

Rather surprisingly, he does behave mostly honourably towards Rapunzel. He does try to deter her from going through with the plan, but since he's a wanted outlaw liable to be killed if he gets spotted in the kingdom, it's not that unreasonable. He's not doing it just to get the crown back. When she does offer him the crown later, he's in love with her and tries to give it to the Stabbington Brothers. To be honest, though, that came across more as a way to weasel out of any comeuppance for his betrayal and get them off his back, rather than a genuine attempt to face up to his actions or any real remorse. Unsurprisingly, they prefer to exact some revenge.

There's also a scene in the middle where they visit a dive. As part of his attempt to persuade Rapunzel to give up the excursion, he takes her to a wretched hive of etc. This being Disney, a bit of eyelid fluttering and a song show up all the murderous thugs as sweethearts deep down. The fact is, though, if it's even remotely as bad at it appears, he has no business taking her there. All the men there are clearly villainous and criminal, and there are no women there at all. Taking a naive 18-year old girl there, while (as we soon find out) not having the ability to protect either of you if there's trouble, is not only utterly stupid but an unforgivable failure of responsibility.

Despite all this, it's the Stabbingtons who are treated as the real criminals, who deserve only to be locked up. They're also the only characters, other than Agnes, who don't get a happy ending: the last we see of them, they're locked in the castle dungeon. Given that Flynn was about to be hanged for stealing the crown, I don't fancy their chances much.

In a way, neither the Stabbingtons or Agnes are villains, any more than Flynn is really a hero. They're all people who are faced with decisions, and sometimes choose the wrong ones. Agnes does wrong to avoid dying, the Stabbingtons and Flynn do wrong for profit, and the Queen does no obvious wrong. The reason they come across differently is that everyone has different choices to make. Agnes has to choose between crime and death; the Queen doesn't have to make that choice. The Stabbingtons and Flynn all choose to steal the crown, but Flynn's the one who chooses to betray them to death. The Stabbingtons choose to seek revenge when it's offered, but Flynn doesn't have any revenge to seek. Flynn is kind to Rapunzel and falls in love with her, but the Stabbingtons don't get the opportunity. The Stabbingtons plan to capture Rapunzel and profit from her powers; Flynn doesn't find out about them until he's already her friend, she's saved his life and they're well on their way to falling in love. It's not that surprising that, treacherous git as he is, he doesn't take that option. Whether he would have or not, we don't know. But while falling in love might redeem people to one another, simply falling in love with Rapunzel doesn't turn Flynn from a thieving, untrustworthy scoundrel into a noble hero.

Fundamentally, though, I'm thinking far too much about a very fun and nicely-executed children's film that I really enjoyed watching. Let's not take it too seriously.

[cripplinganxietyflix]

I saw Ghost in the Shell.

Last year, news came out that we lucky Americans were getting a live action adaptation of the 1995 anime classic Ghost in the Shell. Cue an eyeroll from me. Not long after, it was revealed that Scarlett Johansson would be taking the lead role, playing Major Matoko Kusanagi. That’s when I really started to panic. 

You might be wondering why! As of writing this review, I have seen two (technically one) Scarjo performances that stand out as being unique and worthy of adulation, one of which features only her voice. I thought she was the right fit for the voice of the computer that Joaquin Phoenix falls for in Her. But far more consequential was her performance in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, which featured one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever seen from a character who essentially operates with no recognizably human affect. Johansson played an alien come to Earth, who, through her mission-oriented interactions with human beings, starts to emote human behaviors and feelings in a way that makes the viewer experience alien perception. And by interactions, I mean luring men into a shithole in the outskirts of Scotland with the presumption of sex so that they may be trapped in a suspended state before being fucking liquified, presumably “for science.” Under the Skin topped my best of 2014 list, and instilled within me the strong belief that Johansson requires near-masterclass direction to truly shine. You can imagine the concern cultivated when I noticed that director Rupert Sanders’ only major directing credit was Snow White and the Huntsman. Yikes. 

Before I go any further, I should mention that for a period of time in my life between 1999 and about 2007, I fit the description of the type of people you see at anime conventions. I taught a popular elective on the history of Japanese animation at a charter school. This is my shit. I believe that there are two camps of anime viewers- those who view Akira as the pinnacle of adult Japanese animation, and those who believe Ghost in the Shell takes that title. I happen to fall in the former category; my SO falls into the latter. I had a bit less invested in this movie being great, so I believe that my take on the live action adaptation is, all things considered, fairly removed from any passionate bias. Then again, I have hated every iteration of the Ghost in the Shell franchise outside of the 1995 film, so make of that what you will. For what it’s worth, my SO enjoyed it for what it was, having likely gone in with tempered expectations. For him, I think it was a throwback popcorn flick; kind of like how kids who grew up on the Transformers cartoon tolerate and find enjoyment in the Michael Bay films despite an objective understanding that they’re utterly ludicrous movies.

To my SO: Don’t worry, I think you’re better than the Transformers crowd. 

Having said all of that... this movie was borderline mortifying for me. I was so overwhelmed and inundated with shifting stages of outrage, confusion and stupefaction, I’m not even sure where to start. 

This new live-action “reimagining” of the original Ghost in the Shell film suffers most from a muddled screenplay, in my opinion. At least as far as general audiences are concerned. That is to say, viewers who aren’t familiar with this story are probably going to be lost. Why does Takeshi Kitano speak Japanese to the other characters, but yet they all respond in English? What is the explanation behind any of the villain’s actions? What exactly is going on here? For those familiar with the source material, I suspect an entirely different reaction will happen: indignity. Where an adaptation like The Departed took a scalpel to the original Japanese film Infernal Affairs, carefully lifting the skeleton of the story and basic themes and meticulously implanting them in a story about corrupt cops and sadistic criminals in Boston- Ghost in the Shell employs a meat cleaver and chainsaw. It inexplicably incorporates pieces from additional areas of the franchise. It outrageously omits some of the best material from the 1995 film. It adds things that are unnecessary and ridiculous in the context of the story. I couldn’t explain to you why or how they made these decisions if I tried. The writing is unfathomable. The direction is capricious. If you’re a purist, I think you have a very good chance of coming out of this experience with rage in your heart. I particularly had my sensibilities offended by the absolute bastardization of the final scene with the Puppet Master. What was an eerie and disturbing end to the original film was an absolute remodel devoid of meaningfulness or gravity in the new film. In fact, the only things these two scenes have in common are visual throwbacks; the storyline has been changed to the point of being unrecognizable. It’s enough to leave you feeling marooned in the uncanny valley. Many characters who had some basic depth in the film are just names and faces in this one. We get a callback to the garbage truck scene without the humor and wit of the “... I love my wife” line. This movie is full of callbacks misappropriated to otherwise distorted and unfamiliar scenes. 

The acting in this film was frustrating, to say the least. Johansson channels Lucy when she really needed to tap into her Under the Skin zen mode. This Major is full of fear and sadness and angst, where 1995′s Major was measured and fittingly robotic. One might wonder if she made time to watch the original film with the apparent wholesale misunderstanding of the character she is playing. Lines are delivered miserably. Juliette Binoche doesn’t belong in this movie. Michael Pitt seems like his indie spirit doesn’t suit this blockbuster shell. Our villain, the existence of whom I am not entirely sure the purpose of, is embarrassingly cartoonish and evil for the sake of being a salty bastard. Pilou Asbæk and Takeshi Kitano seem fairly suited to their roles and do their best considering the circumstances, and for their sakes I really wish this film had been managed better. 

If you’re losing your patience with me because I haven’t addressed the elephant in the room, here it is. The aspect of whitewashing in this film is the absolute least of Ghost in the Shell’s problems. In an almost ironic act of self-preservation, the Japanese brain of Matoko Kusanagi is implanted into a white woman who is now called Mira Killian, which in and of itself helps knock this film off kilter for the remainder of the runtime. Other than a seemingly haphazard approach to choosing which pieces of Japanese culture to incorporate and which to toss, these are the only things that stood out. Trust me when I say that if whitewashing was the film’s only issue, it would probably be a fine film. 

I will admit that the strength of this movie lies in its visuals. While it isn’t quite the approach I would have taken, it works- and it works beautifully. Ghost in the Shell is full of clear, beautiful colors and stark industrial towers and complexes. The visual effects are impressive and competent. While the action sequences are stereotypically American- fucking impossible to see what’s going on- I think most audiences aren’t going to notice or care. The aesthetic is carefully engineered and maintained throughout the movie. While I was sitting there puzzled by everything else imploding in this film, I was nonetheless satisfied with the impressive smorgasbord of visuals. In this sense, it really utilized its budget well. 

There are many things I would have changed had I orchestrated this project. Using Mike Erhmantraut terms, this movie took many half-measures where it should have taken full measures. First, this absolutely should have been an R-rated film. There was no gore. There were no breasts or nudity, something that was made iconic in the original film. It seems so stripped down for a cheap grab at teenager appeal. Despite the resounding outrage from the internet, I wouldn’t have changed names; the Major deserves to be Matoko Kusanagi. I never would have cast Johansson. Because of the new film’s mythos, I say this not because she is a white woman. I say this because she projected completely unfit ranges of emotion on a character that simply doesn’t line up with them. I would have remained faithful to the basic premise of the original film, rather than altering it until it was unfamiliar. I absolutely would have kept that pivotal, second-to-final scene I mentioned earlier. I would have kept the Puppet Master himself, rather than adhering a completely new character onto him with the subtlety of a nailgun. I would have taken an Ex Machina approach instead of trying for a dumbed-down, hammed-up blockbuster. I would have made a conscious effort to ensure that the characters on screen had enough depth to make them consequential. I’m not entirely sure who this film is made for. I don’t know why it exists. If you’re a fan of the anime, all I can advise is to approach this movie with tempered expectations and a readiness to be disappointed. It is possible to enjoy this film, and I do have a history of being unfair to this franchise, so I welcome you to see for yourself if I’m being hyperbolic and unreasonable. If you are unfamiliar with Ghost in the Shell, I have a feeling you’re going to leave this film with your eyes permanently rolled into the back of your head. Approach with caution and low prospects.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆