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roseharpermaxwell · 8 months ago

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RWRB FirstPrince AU Recs - Part Three

I'm back with more! Dive into some recently-read AUs with me below.

pixel perfect by rizcriz. G, 1k. Alex is looking over the directions with barely contained glee, and Henry—Henry’s looking at Alex. He’s pushed into the wall of the Photo Booth when Alex suddenly leans forward and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket.

“We are so doing this,” Alex says excitedly.

The corner of Henry’s mouth twitches. “Oh?” He asks, watching Alex pull a ten dollar bill from his wallet. “And here I thought you’d only pulled us in here to make out a bit.”

Or, Alex and Henry are in love in a photo booth.

Total Eclipse by @myheartalivewrites. T, 1.2k. Alex is not sure what the fuck is happening here.

“And if you only hold me tight…”

A man—probably the most beautiful man he has ever seen—is up on stage in this karaoke bar, absolutely murdering Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart and he’s pretty sure the guy is crying and it’s one of the most horrifying things he’s ever seen and Alex cannot. Look. Away.

all we are is skin and bones by @indestructibleheart. T, 1.3k. Alex didn't plan to push Henry Fox into oncoming traffic.

it might be worth it for once by blueberriesandcream. G, 1.6k. quick little alternate scene. what if alex's protective streak had made an appearance when zahra found he and henry in their hotel room?

We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This by @everwitch-magiks. M, 1.9k. Alex books an Airbnb studio with a shared bathroom. The other studio is occupied by a man with lush pink lips and impressive personal hygiene — really, he’s super diligent about lathering and rinsing. Alex would know, seeing as the lock to the bathroom is seriously unreliable.

Or: the Airbnb romp you didn’t know you needed.

exclusive member deal by stutteringpeach. T, 2k.

Alex: "Let me take you on a date."

The date: Costco.

beyond measure by T, 2.1k. alex and henry host nora, june and pez for weekly fellow travelers watch parties.

tonight, they're watching the series finale. it comes crashing down on henry, and alex is there to catch him.

Couture of the Juicy Variety by ronans. G, 2.1k. It's Henry's birthday and his work crush has what some may call a wardrobe malfunction.

Adrift by TuppingLiberty. T, 2.2k. Alex works in the Texas Department of Justice as a research attorney. He's been low-key flirting with his downstairs neighbor Henry for the past few months. Unfortunately, he works himself sick and ends up at Henry's doorstep accidentally.

you all over me by @dumbpeachjuice. E, 2.3k. When Henry organises an evening of group sex, he never expects to meet a gorgeous man he wants to marry and have children with.

Or, a meet-cute at a sex club.

something more, something right by rizcriz. T, 2.7k. Alex blinks at him, seemingly entirely unimpressed. “So, you’re just going to pretend we’re not in love with each other?”

Let the flickering flame of your soul play all about me. by barthelme. E, 2.8k. Around them, there is the rustle of trees and the crisp whip of wind against nylon. An owl hooting. Faint whispers of campers still lingering around the dying campfire that Henry would like to block out entirely because, “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“I’m aware,” Alex says, but his mouth clearly says he doesn’t care.

Or, the one where Alex and Henry are camp counselors who lead overnight hikes and fuck around at night.

please report to HR by @smc-27. G, 3.2k. Alex frowns at his inbox.

The only reason he knows Henry’s name is that people keep calling him “hot HR Henry” as if there’s anyone else in this office named Henry. Alex hasn’t met the guy yet. He’s been avoiding it mostly out of pettiness.

Henry and the Charisma Vortex by ronans. NR, 3.7k. ‘How’s about I take you to a bookstore and treat you to a trashy romance novel to say sorry for interrupting your first date with the love of your life?’

‘I fear the longer I spend time with you, the longer I will be unable to live this spectacular failure down.’

He warms at the thought of spending more time with Henry. ‘Solid deduction, you are absolutely right.’ He takes a punt and grabs Henry’s free hand. ‘C’mon.’

Or, Alex is sat next to a tragic date and has the urge to intervene.

A Sin Better Than Heaven by @anchoredarchangel. E, 3.9k.

“Show me,” the king says, a demand. He sets the vial back down, careless to where it lands compared to where it originated. He leans back against the table, crosses his arms over his chest; chin raised, jaw set- a picture of regality. Henry’s heart is pounding in his chest, the unstable beat of too many horse hooves overlapping, like the canter through the woods that very afternoon before he was shoved from his saddle. For the first time, he considers the possibility that perhaps he had hit his head harder than he realized- against the ground or against the tree, because certainly his hope is misplaced; certainly he is not following this conversation as well as he presumed. “Show you what, Your Majesty?” The king only deigns to move a hand, untucking it from his elbow in order to wave it vaguely. “How your body responds to men.”

Or: A criminally loose reimagining of the tent scene from Mary & George, only Alex is a sexually confused king, and Henry's the one who has been sent to seduce him.

Don’t You Dare Look Away by @emmalostinwonderland. E, 3.9k. “Jesus, Fox, if you wanna fuck me so goddamn bad, you could just say so.”

Alex fully expects to be dropped to the floor, but Henry just tightens his grip on Alex’s waist. “You… you’re not serious.”

And really, what could go wrong? “Serious as a heart attack, baby.”

// Alex and Henry are paired up for a pro dance on DWTS one week, but they just can’t seem to get along… until something clicks.

a feeling like this (could it be bliss?) by rizcriz. E, 4k. There’s a blonde woman plastered to Alex’s front. Ten minutes ago, he’d been grinding up against a brunette man half a foot shorter than him. Ten minutes before that, he’d been laughing with a red head at the bar. And ten minutes before that?

Ten minutes before that, he’d had that megawatt smile directed at Henry, laughing at something June said. And then he’d wandered off to get them more drinks, and now he’s off, giving his attention to people who are, quite frankly, not good enough for him, and Henry? Henry’s — christ, okay, Henry’s jealous.

Henry’s fucking fuming.

Or, Henry wants his boyfriend back.

Another Door Opens by @14carrotghoul. T, 4.1k. Henry takes a long drink. “If it makes you feel any better, my dad's dead. He and my mum had the type of love straight from the storybooks and it got cut tragically short, so what is the point in finding something real if it's just going to hurt you?”

Alex bites back a smile and shakes his head. “How in the fuck was that supposed to make me feel better?”

He waves his hand awkwardly. “Oh, I just thought we were both sharing the trauma that impacted our romantic relationships.”

Henry and Alex first meet when Henry reveals their partners are cheating on them with each other.

north star by sharkfins. T, 4.9k. “God, you know, I could stare at you all day,” he says finally. “I want to get this tattooed on the inside of my eyelids.”

“Ugh, gross,” Henry says while scrunching up his nose. Even still, his cheeks flush.

“Seriously, Hen, you look pretty.” Alex runs his fingers through Henry’s hair and places another kiss on his forehead.

Henry bites back a slightly embarrassing excited noise and shoves his face into Alex’s neck and smiles into his skin. Hen. Alex calls him that all the time, but for some reason now it’s making something stir inside his chest.

“I can’t believe I get to call you mine,” he adds, running his hand down the back of Henry’s head and settles his arm around his shoulders again.

Henry moves impossibly closer to him and looks up to meet his eyes. “Pretty, huh?”

“Absolutely gorgeous.”

or: Henry experiments with gender <3

Best Practice in Sexual Favours by everwitch. E, 5.1k. They meet at a bar. Alex is young; fresh out of law school, sharp and charismatic and oh-so attractive. The sex is absolutely incredible, and Henry has no regrets. At least not until the morning after when he finds himself opposite Alex in a meeting — equipped with the painful knowledge that Alex’s boss thinks Alex’s only function in said meeting is to sit there and look all pretty. Somebody ought to call HR right about now.

Or: when sexual relationships mix with professional ones, Alex and Henry make the most of it.

We met in the Park by TuppingLiberty. E, 5.3k. Henry is absolutely obsessed with the runner he sees in the park every day at lunch.

cause you're classic, and i'm reckless by @firenati0n. T, 5.4k. “I've, actually, uh. I've never done this before.”

At this, Henry stops short, takes a second as his gaze moves up and to the left, trying to recall something. “I've seen your films. You most certainly have done intimate scenes.”

Alex clears his throat. He hopes his nerves aren't completely obvious, the slight waver in his voice about to give him away. “Yeah, well. Never with a man, so. Not at this scale, anyway.”

“Would it help to, er, practice?" Henry winces a little as he says it, which does not inspire confidence. But Alex is shocked nonetheless. What the fuck?

Diving In Dick-First by quill_and_ink. E, 5.5k. "So... we're doing an intimate piercing today?"

Alex promptly crawls under a rock to die.

Trying My Patience (Try Pink Carnations) by @cha-melodius. E, 5.6k. Unfortunately for him, the only things more beautiful than Alex himself are Alex’s cakes. He’s the most in-demand cake artist in the city, and as such he books a lot of weddings. Many of the very same weddings that simply must also have Fox Florals arrangements for their centrepieces. Weddings like, apparently, this one.

(Or, Henry the florist and Alex the cake artist are forced to collaborate last minute at a wedding job, make a mess, and learn some things about each other in the process.)

A thousand dreams that would awake me by @kiwiana-writes. E, 5.9k.

“It’s not about punishment.” Alex just nods; Henry had been very clear on the form that he wasn’t looking to be dominated or put in his place, so that won’t be new information. “And it’s not the pain as such.” He runs his fingers along the edge of the mug. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like to feel it, but I’m not looking for pain for the sake of pain. It’s more about… control, I think.” There’s a long silence. “Taking it?” Alex prompts finally. “Or giving it up?” “Does it sound ridiculous if I say both?”

Or, Henry visits a sex club to get spanked the way he's craving.

Want Me by @orchidscript. E, 6.1k. Henry had always been weak for a nice smile, but his was impossible to ignore.

Blame it on summer heat and a fresh flush in his cheeks. Blame it on sunset painting the outdoor bar sweltering, romantic colors. Blame it on two healthy glasses of albariño thrumming in his bloodstream, or the good music floating on the air.

Henry could blame it on anything liked if he thought long and hard about it, but that didn’t change much at the end. The core remained the same: he had been gone from the jump.

Henry and Alex hook up on a vacation in Spain. Henry falls a bit deeper.

i think about jumping (just to see you come running) by @coffeecatsme. T, 6.1k. Henry Fox likes to think he’s led a good life.

He’s been a good son to his parents, though his grandmother would probably disagree with him being a good grandson—although, if he’s honest with himself, he’d rather take that as a compliment. He’s used the family money for good, built a life for himself. He’s saved the sweetest beagle from a shelter and paid an arm and a leg bringing him to the States from England. He doesn’t think killing a few mosquitos in his lifetime and the select words he had for the homophobic part of his family should curse him for years of torture.

Alas, that’s the only explanation as to why the public library he’s worked for for years would move him to a branch right next to a goddamn fire station.

Or, 5 times Henry embarrasses himself in front of Alex and 1 time Alex embarrasses himself in front of Henry.

Five letter word for 'unobservant' by @clottedcreamfudge. E, 6.9k. And podfic by @thirdeye1234. “He's so annoying,” Alex says, the words spilling out of his mouth before he can stop them as he sits down at his desk opposite Nora. Nora – colleague, semi-sister-in-law, and unfortunately his best friend – is used to this by now, and continues eating a croissant over her keyboard in the manner of someone who has the only ergonomic, crumb-resistant keyboard in the office, and wants everyone to know it.

“Please,” she says, not even looking at him as she presumably whizzes through accounts or something, mouth full of buttery pastry. “Elucidate. I have no idea who you're talking about and there is no precedent for you interrupting my morning with those words at all.”

Alex scowls at her. “Wordle Guy.”

Cloudy With a Chance of Fuckery & Sunny With a Touch of Drama (Every Weather series)by @hillerskas. M, 6.9k. ‘Henry’s here with us for the weather.’ He pivots in his seat and grins over to the other corner of the studio. ‘Now, is it hot in here, or is it just you?’

Without missing a beat, Henry smiles cordially and gestures to the green screen behind him. ‘We’re actually in the middle of a cold snap.’

Or, an ode to Alex fucking with Henry live on air.

in this home series by riversdeep. T, 7.5k. At that, Alex looks him straight in the eye. “I'm sorry I fell in love with you years ago and never said a single thing about it.”

A self indulgent childhood best friends to lovers AU, exploring the transition from best friends to boyfriends

me and you and awkward silence by @kill8a. M, 7.5k. Alex has a bit of a predicament. The new librarian, Henry Fox, has proved to be a little too attractive to go un-noticed, and he might be harboring a bit of a crush.

make it five by @anincompletelist. M, 8k. “Fifty bucks says I can get that guy’s number.”

Popping the bubble of cinnamon-flavored gum Alex had just blown, he glances up from his phone to look at where Nora’s pointing. Just over the soles of his shoes, crossed at the ankles and propped on the flaking black wood of the shop’s front desk, there’s a man with broad shoulders lingering by the far wall. Alex hadn’t even heard the guy come in.

“Nora. He’s literally looking at one of the biggest dildos I’ve ever seen,” he deadpans quietly.

alex works at a sex toy shop. it's usually a pretty easy job — if he could just stop daydreaming about the blonde guy that keeps coming in to buy literally all of alex's favorite sex toys.

pour some sugar on me by @sunnysideprince. M, 8.2k. Alex makes not-so-safe-for-work baking videos on Instagram for a living, and Henry, unsurprisingly, goes through a crisis because of it.

An Amateur’s Guide to Professional Gift-Giving by anincompletelist (soldouthaz). T, 8.9k. Alex, a former-law-student-taking-some-time-off turned professional part-time gift giver, is tasked with finding a gift for the most high profile client he's ever worked with, both in and out of the world of law.

It turns out finding the perfect gift for the Prince of Wales might be easier than he'd anticipated.

secret admirer by rizcriz. T, 9.5k. Today, though, he’s watching in delight as a massive bouquet of roses makes its way through the office, the delivery guy carefully weaving between cubicles as he heads for Nora’s desk. Last week, Nora had revealed to the office one of his embarrassing college hook up stories that involved a thong and sitting cold and shivering in a police station while he waited to be picked up. Today—today he’s sicking Nadine and Alberta on Nora as payback.

His gaze flicks over to Nora where she’s sitting at her desk oblivious to her incoming doom, and then back to the delivery guy. Anticipation, hot and excited, bundles up in Alex’s gut as he clears the final turn of cubicles, and just as Alex is about to grin, wicked and delighted at Nora, the delivery guy makes another turns and comes to a stop at the completely wrong desk.

And then he sets the flowers down and leaves.

or, an accidental flower delivery.

my little dove by dearestalez. M, 9.8k.

“Kinda cliché,” Alex says, looking up at the mural.

“It’s Bea’s favourite piece,” Henry says.

Alex looks at him, “that makes sense.”

They travel through a plethora of shops. Henry picks up a hat, Alex holds a jumper to his chest and twirls until Henry is giggling into his fingers.

“Why do they never have my size?” Alex laments, holding a nice pair of shoes that don’t come in seven and a half. Only seven or eight. Henry doesn’t mean to laugh, he didn’t really think that was something he did. Laugh at people’s expense. But he isn’t doing that. Alex is pouting over a pair of shoes, with wide brown eyes and slumped shoulders, and Henry is laughing at the absurdity of it all.

He never thought that the man across the building cradling a beer to his chest was the type to pout and whine when a shop didn’t carry his size. He never thought he’d find that out. He never thought that stranger from that bar would turn into someone he knows.

“You’re a dick,” Alex says, but he’s grinning and Henry is weak.

i want to mark my skin (it is paper thin) by @violetbaudelaire-quagmire. M, 10k.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subj: Tattoo Reference

Attached: 1 file (orionsketch.jpg)

Hello,

Attached you’ll find a line art drawing of the constellation Orion. The shoulder blade is the intended location.

Best,

H.J. Fox

OR: It's a Tattoo Shop AU!

i dream of our odyssey by violetbaudelairequagmire. E, 10k. Alex rests his elbows on the counter of the small cafe attached to Bankston’s Books, enjoying the quiet period in between the morning stay-at-home-mom-crying-toddler storytime crowd and the rush of college students that appear in the afternoon. It’s only a couple hours, but it’s nice to have that time with just a few black coffees in between the rush of “pumpkin spice latte and a cakepop” and “quad shot espressos and keep them coming” that dominate the busy periods at the bookstore. He’s not complaining though- he loves this job. He gets a discount on books, no one cares how much coffee he drinks in a shift, and, in the last couple of weeks, he’s had a great view of the new guy quietly shelving books.

A Tapestry of Intimacy Unfolded by hqwhna. M, 10k. It's a case of textbook serendipity when Senator Alex Claremont-Diaz and Dr. Henry Fox first meet at a fundraiser in D.C. Now, Alex just has to think of an excuse to see him again...

no drug like me by stutteringpeach. E, 10k. “I’d like to pay for your schooling,” Henry says casually. “Move you into a better apartment. You’ll get an allowance, of course, but that will be for you to do with what you will. Your expenses will be covered outside of that.”

Alex blinks. He’s drunk off expensive wine and Henry’s attention. His brain isn’t functioning. “What?”

Henry’s expression hasn’t changed. “Do you need me to repeat myself?”

XOXO Gossip Girl by alyaasca. T, 11k. Diazes love gossiping. And Henry, well, he wants to be a part of Alex's family. Thanks to his therapist, he has a number of breathing exercises up his sleeve, and also a dream. Watch him take his rightful place by learning the art of family gossip.

i don't know how not to by smc_27. M, 11k. “Here’s what we’re gonna do,” he tells Martha in their next meeting, which takes place two hours outside of London at her parents’ ‘cottage’. To think they talk of her family as commoners when they have this much money is fucking insane. It just goes to illustrate how out of touch the whole monarchy machine is.

“Tea?” she offers, and he nods just to be polite. A literal, honest to god butler comes over to pour for him. “Carry on.”

“You’re gonna disappear,” he tells her, and her whole face lights up. Her shoulders relax. She looks straight at him. He can hear the kids playing with their grandmother in the next room.

“Tell me more.”

Or, Alex is Martha's divorce attorney

cut by @havanasroses. E, 12k.

Holy fucking eyelashes. He’s all tan skin and bright eyes and charming smile— everything that makes Henry weak in the knees. Pretty brown eyes dart between the lineup and his clipboard, trying to put two and two together, but all Henry can focus on are those arms. Those hands. That arse. “Can I call you up, handsome?” Henry almost blacks out.

or, the five times alex and henry shoot a video together as (not so) strangers, and the one time they do as a couple.

into temptation by stutteringpeach. E, 13k. When Henry wakes, there’s an ache in his arse and a wet patch on the sheets.

He tries to imagine how it happened. Whether he was on his side or his front already, whether he had to be rolled over. Whether they took their time or couldn’t wait, so turned on by the sight of him lying there.

It shouldn’t turn him on this much—the not knowing. But that was the point.

You've Been My Muse for a Long Time by @affectionatelyrs. E, 13k. There aren’t many instances in which Henry would claim he exhibits a colorful vocabulary. In fact, he could likely list them on one hand: when wretched people say the most bigoted things, when the local grocer has run out of their Jaffa Cake stock in the minuscule international aisle, when he gets bored and resorts to writing homoerotic poetry in his moleskin journal with a fountain pen like some lovelorn literary scholar from the eighteenth century.

And now, when he’s assigned to a gig he doesn’t want to be at. As in, he would rather publish said poetry to the unrelenting, merciless masses of the internet than be at this gig.

“You must be bloody fucking kidding me.”

Or, When Rolling Stone names Alex Claremont-Diaz as the number one rising star to look out for, Henry is tasked with the sole responsibility of photographing him for their cover shot. Which, truly, wouldn’t be an issue—it’s an incredible opportunity—except Henry doesn’t trust that miscreant to be within ten feet of him ever since The Incident™

Star-Crossed by schmulte. T, 17k. Alex is a principal ballerino with a hatred for Henry Fox. What happens when they're paired up and forced to dance together as star-crossed lovers? Will their partnership crash and burn, or will they cross uncharted territory and make ballet history?

Not An Act by quill_and_ink. E, 20k. It was bound to happen at some point. Alex and Henry had both started modeling within three months of each other and they'd both become known for dramatic, high fashion shoots, editorials, and runways, so it had just been a matter of time before they would be hired to work together. He could have handled it if they'd just been on the same set at the same time without actually having to shoot together, but no - the premise of the campaign is sensuality, intimacy. He has to pretend to be in love with Henry.

getting good now by Standinginmoonlight. M, 20k. Alex sighs and balls his hands up into fists, digging them into his eye sockets until he sees stars, and then he’s speaking without his brain giving his mouth permission.

“I can’t believe I’m going to marry someone British.”

Or: the Love is Blind AU that no-one asked for.

we should get married by smc_27. E, 25k. He’d spent most of the week sitting on the floor with his laptop open on the table, typing away about absolute nonsense in between sessions and phone calls with immigration and a lawyer trying to see if it’s possible there’s any way in the world he can stay in America while this gets sorted. The good news is this doesn’t bar him from trying again and just returning when it all gets sorted. Not that that will be easy, but still. It’s a possibility.

He makes the absolutely foolish mistake, after pouring his second drink, of googling ‘marriage visa’ as if that will be the answer to any or all of his problems. Allows himself a brief, excruciating moment to imagine he has someone to marry and make that a reality.

But then…he does, does he not?

OR, a greencard marriage AU

Clean Slate by smc_27. E, 25k. “Henry.” Pez comes over, puts both hands on Henry’s cheeks and looks him dead in the eye. “You are not a sad man who’s gotten dumped. You’re in the prime of your life, and I quite desperately need you to act like it.”

“The prime of my life,” Henry scoffs, more incredulous than questioning. “I’ve just gotten out of a 15 year relationship, endured a divorce, am suffering an almost impressive case of writer’s block, and your hands are like bloody icicles.” Pez grins, doesn’t take his hands away. “Explain to me how this is my prime. Please.”

Pez tilts his head, and sounds entirely serious when he says, “Literally anything can happen from here.”

In Accord by @absoluteaudacitywrites. E, 27k. Pursuant to the establishment of an ongoing relationship between The Crown and the Office of the President of the United States, the representatives of the The Queen and Her interests are authorised to establish a contract of marriage between His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Alexander Claremont-Diaz.

Claremont 2008 by @happinessofthepursuit. M, 28k. What if Ellen Claremont had gotten elected in 2008 instead of Obama? An alternate timeline story of FirstPrince.

2009 at Buckingham Palace for tea. A sleepover after a quinceañera in 2010. The 2012 London Olympics. A 2014 Model UN Conference. A funeral in 2015. College and another campaign trail.

And the texts, facetimes, and chain emails in between.

By All Means, Rome by @iboatedhere. T, 29k. During a goodwill tour of Europe, Prince Henry rebels against his tedious schedule and disappears into the heart of Rome, seeking reprieve from a life of relentless royal obligations...

Alex Claremont-Diaz, an American journalist living in Rome with a British Monarchy-sized chip on his shoulder, stumbles upon a young man…

Each man keeps a secret to benefit themselves, not thinking how it would affect the other until love gets in the way.

seven fallen angels in atonemеnt by riversdeep. E, 31k. Bea takes the diary from him and snaps it shut. "Well, love, that's because I'm meeting Alex. We'll be at the studio in an hour, so if you're coming with, you should probably wear some nicer trousers."

Henry looks down at his shorts. He thinks they belonged to Pez at one point since they have the words juicy written over the arse in fancy script. "That," He says, "Is completely beside the point."

She shrugs, "Alright. If you want to see the man you've crushed on for two years in those shorts, be my guest."

Well. That only covers part of the problem. The part where Alex infuriates him, that he has to put in an unreasonable amount of effort not to drop things around him because of how beautiful he is. That he is, admittedly, a little bit in love with him.

Or, Alex is a singer collaborating with Bea and Henry is dragged along for the ride, much to his reluctant delight.

would you be my love, my love? (would you be mine?) by ohprongs. M, 32k. When Henry Fox’s fourth series as a professional dancer on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing rolls around, he’s got a good feeling. He knows what he’s doing — he’s a two-time semi-finalist — and this year he wants to win. That is, until he’s knocked off-kilter by two revelations: they’re allowing same gender contestant/pro pairings for the first time in the show’s history, and Alex Claremont-Díaz is joining as the newest pro dancer.

He is, to put it mildly, absolutely screwed.

(aka, the pro dancers rivals-to-friends-to-lovers au that no one asked for)

Baby (Let Me Put On a Show) by SatinBirds. E, 37k. It’s been five months, and still Alex is never completely prepared for Henry’s performances. Private or otherwise.

Or,

Henry is a night dancer, and he’s everything Alex wants.

Platinum Record series by @cricketnationrise. E, 39k. Email: [email protected]

Channel Name: AustinBoy

Age Restricted?: 18+

Chat enabled?: Yes

Subscriptions: Monthly

Tiers: 2

Tier 1:

> Name: Standard

> Description: Access to chat room, 1 weekly video

Tier 2:

> Name: Bonus

> Description: Access to chat room, 1 weekly video, 1 weekly livestream

Or, a Camboy!Alex AU

A Cloud on Fire Makes its Own Rain by foux_dogue. M, 40k. Henry ends his relationship with Alex in Texas at twenty-one years old.

At forty, Alex's heartbreak is just another relic from the past that he left behind. He's made a name for himself, steadily dismantling the system that never truly welcomed him from the foxhole of a critically-acclaimed late night news show. He's not living his happily-ever-after, maybe, but he's doing work that matters, and he's content with what he's got.

At forty-one, Henry finally decides to abdicate. There's only one person who he trusts to break the story.

February, I'm In Love by IBoatedHere. E, 40k. February themed FirstPrince Prompts

(you got me) cursing the daylight by @waterloolovers. E, 40k.

But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms

And if you like having secret little rendezvous

If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn't do

Then baby, I'm perfect

Baby, I'm perfect for you

“ALEX CLAREMONT-DIAZ TAKES ON EUROPE!

America’s darling, ACD, is setting off on his first international tour of Europe and The UK next month. His first stop is in London at the sold out O2 arena.”

Alex is a singer. Henry is a podcast host. They should know that secret relationships don’t usually pan out, but they’re willing to give it a try.

What could possibly go wrong?

(Strangers to friends to besties to lovers)

It's Nice to Have a Friend by mainstreamelectricalparade. T, 59k. Two boys meet on a beach, build a sand castle, write letters, and fall in love.

Someday We'll Know If Love Can Move a Mountain by @three-drink-amy. E, 60k. The emails were never leaked, but the Queen has forced Alex and Henry apart. Alex believes they're biding their time until they can be together for real. One day at work, he's forced to confront how wrong he is when Henry's engagement is announced. With both of them miserable and neither wanting the wedding to happen, they grapple with how or if they could even stop it. Or even if they should.

False Dichotomy by chamel. E, 61k. One of the world’s largest retailers is opening a store on his street. A bookstore. He looks down at the article in his hand again and catches sight of a phrase: “We hope that people will see this as more than a bookstore, and hope to foster a sense of community.” As if Henry Fox-Mountchristen has any concept of what community means.

Alex very narrowly does not break something.

(When global mega-retailer Mountchristen opens a new location—led by the infuriatingly attractive and insufferable Henry Fox-Mountchristen—near his LGBTQ-focused bookshop in Soho, Alex's comfortable life is turned upsided down. Luckily, he has one of his best friends to turn to: a guy he met online and knows only as H. Meanwhile, Henry is battling against his family to make a positive difference in the world and falling further in love with a man he's never met. But... what if they changed that?

(make me) misbehave by @onward--upward. E, 65k. Alex Claremont-Diaz has done it again. The Texas-born singer-songwriter released his fourth studio album second skin Thursday at midnight. Full of Claremont-Diaz’s signature lyricism, critics are praising the album for the cohesive image it paints. second skin is the result of a young writer at the top of his game, and every lyric depicts for the listener a picture of a sun-drenched secret romance. Fans are clamoring to be the first to uncover the mystery girl at the center of it all, although Claremont-Diaz remains tight-lipped on the subject…

Or: Alex Claremont-Diaz is a singer-songwriter rising up in the music industry. Henry Fox is the shining star of an acting empire.

This is a love story.

All our Sweetest Hours Fly Fastest by @ahistoricdistraction. T, 69k. It has been three years since they were outted and Henry and Alex have finally settled into a groove that works well for them, except for the fact that it feels like they're always having to steal time together. Queen Mary constantly coming up with excuses to get Henry out of public events with Alex isn't helping, and Alex is done with it. After a long conference in Tokyo that Henry couldn't attend, Alex's flight home being delayed is the last straw and he calls Henry to say they need to figure out a better way to do this, to which Henry agrees. But fate has other ideas. Alex's flight goes missing somewhere over the Pacific, no trace of it to be found, leaving Henry and Alex's family struggling to not lose hope while unable to do anything.

Such a Burden, This Flame on My Chest by allmylovesatonce. E, 76k. Alex Claremont-Diaz is relocating back to Austin to join his dad's firehouse. His days as a firefighter in Washington D.C. ended badly, but no one knows that, or knows why. And he plans to keep that close to his chest. He has to shove it back down if he wants to seem like a normal person, if he wants to do the job, if he wants to get along with his new crew, and most of all, if he wants to get to know the hot British firefighter on the squad.

No one can know what really happened.

It takes a lot to know a man by dazedandconfused. E, 86k. Alex is doing good. Life is good. Work is good. There's just one tiny problem. He can't get out of his head enough to enjoy sex. Nora has a solution in the form of a not-quite-sex-club called Sweet Encounters where he meets Henry, an attentive dom who shows him the joys of BDSM and sex with a man.

Alex gets a new problem when he starts falling for the man, and it turns out Henry might know more about the case Alex is working on than he lets on.

And then it all stacks up from there.

Heavy Weighs the Crown series by @dwell-the-brave. M, 88k. “I’ll be back by Thursday,” Philip promises, giving Martha a hand up the jet’s steps. She gives them a brief wave from the top of the stairs before disappearing.

“Make sure you don’t ski off a cliff!” Bea calls after him as he follows his wife into the jet. He waves a hand dismissively at her and then withdraws into the darkness of the cabin.

That’s the last thing any of them say to him.

Philip dies, and Henry becomes heir.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue by anincompletelist. E, 116k. When June gets engaged, Alex, her brother, and Henry, her best friend, are asked to be the official Guys Of Honor. There’s a month to plan the whole thing, which would be near impossible anyway, only made worse by the fact that being around each other the last several years has only ever led to petty fights and useless competition. Unfortunately, as the two most important men in her life - aside from her fiancé - they don’t really have much of a choice.

Alex has a lot of feelings about this. As it turns out, Henry does too.

Trust Your Heart If The Seas Catch Fire by Light_of_Bane. E, 171k.

Alex had a plan.

And then his life got thrown upside down after finding out President Claremont is his mother.

Now his plan is shot to hell and he's stuck navigating a world he never expected to be in - one of privilege and the spotlight and a family that's far cry from the abusive one he had grown up with. How's he supposed to do this?

And why is Prince Henry so much prettier in person?

This was not the plan.

I only tag an author once per post, but I'm still figuring out firstprince author handles. If you see one I may not know or find a broken link, please give me a heads up!

RWRB FirstPrince AU Recs Part One

RWRB FirstPrince AU Recs Part Two

Master List of RWRB FirstPrince Recs

Master List of Recommendations

#firstprince #rwrb fic recs #rwrb #alex x henry #red white & royal blue

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apocalypseornaw · 1 year ago

Text

Wanna be Yours (Pt 5/5)

(A/N: I hate the scene this gif is from don't get me wrong but dayum is Sam gorgeous af in it)

Sam Winchester x Reader

Feelings are finally admitted and acted upon

@lacilou s idea that she graciously let me run with

NSFW things ahead

"Are we going to talk about whatever happened the other night when we were at the bar with Ronnie?" Dean cut his eyes up at Sam when he sat down across from him at the table and shrugged "Don't know what you mean?"

Sam leveled his brother with a look "I mean we were all getting along just fine, me and Ronnie were dancing then all of a sudden we needed to hit the road? And the twins never did show up" Dean shrugged again "Maybe they decided to stop off at a hotel, who knows with those two"

Sam shook his head, he wasn't ever going to get a straight answer out of Dean and since that night you would hardly be in the same room as him. He felt like he was being left out of a big secret and didn't like it. "I think there's more than that" Sam pushed and Dean let out a hard breath of air "You want the honest truth?" Sam nodded "Yeah, I do"

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

Dean glanced towards the hall then back at Sam "I see how you look at her Sammy. I've known you your entire life" Sam felt his eyes widen, so Dean knew. Shit, he hadn't ever wanted his older brother to know he had feelings for his girl.

"Dean, you got to know I never meant to develop feelings for her" he didn't miss the look of confusion that flashed across Dean's face "What do you mean never meant to.." but he cut him off "I know you and her are close and I wouldn't want to step on your toes with anything but she's just well she's her... she's beautiful and smart. She's as sarcastic as you are but the sweetest person you've ever wanted to meet at times. She's one of the most amazing hunters I've ever met, she'll stand toe to toe with a demon and not blink an eye but she'll tear up at some movie she's watched a thousand times or get into a book she's read a hundred times to the extent she'll throw it into the wall. She's a force of nature, she's got this pull to her.. I'm sorry man but yeah I've fallen for her. I hope you can forgive me"

Sam expected a lot in that moment. Yelling, Dean to walk out hell anything except for Dean to start laughing. "What?" He questioned and Dean shook his head, laughing harder "You've been thinking all these years that me and Y/N what exactly...keep quiet and mess around behind your back? You've seen me go home with women!"

Sam shrugged, feeling like he was missing out on a lot "I figured it may be an open relationship? I mean you two move on hunts like you share one mind. You have unspoken conversations, she likes a lot of the stuff you like and she's been a steady in your life since you were nineteen"

Dean shook his head again before wiping a hand down his face "Yeah, Sammy she's my best friend. She means a lot to me but we've never crossed any lines like that. Jesus I thought you two were smart"

Sam shrugged one shoulder "Yeah well...wait us two?" Dean's face was nearly comical when he caught his slip up "Shit she's gonna kill me. Don't tell her I said that ok?" A smile slipped onto Sam's face "Are you saying she feels the same?" Dean rolled his eyes at that "For fucks sake, you're a grown man she's a grown woman, go talk to her. I'm not getting in the middle of it"

Dean stood to walk out the kitchen leaving Sam to wonder what his next move should be.

You were standing in the laundry room, waiting for your load to get done when Dean popped his head into the door "Hey sweetheart, I'm headed to meet Donna and Garth. I'll be back in a few hours. You need anything?"

You shook your head "No i think im good. Might want to grab more detergent and dryer sheets. Is Sam going with you?" He held your gaze for a moment before saying "Nope. He'll be here" you rolled your eyes "Does Donna and Garth even need your help?" He simply grinned "I'll see you tonight" "Yeah. Be safe so I can kick your ass when you get back" he laughed "You got it"

You watched him walk out and shook your head. He was trying to force your hand, damn him. You felt a chill and regretted running around the bunker in just sleep shorts and a tshirt but most of your clothes had been dirty. You looked around and found a stack of folded shirts on a shelf, you grabbed a flannel out of the bunch and slipped it over your shoulders. You weren't surprised when it fell to your thighs considering how short you were compared to both Winchesters.

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

You waited until both of your loads were done and folded then grabbed your basket to head to your room and put them away.

You clicked your radio on to play music and started humming along to the song as you moved around the room, replacing what clothes went into drawers and repacking your go-bag.

The thought of Sam being somewhere in the bunker kept flicking through your mind. Dean was right, you needed to tell Sam. Neither of you were blushing virgins here. You shook your head and finished putting your laundry away.

Once you were done you turned the radio off then headed out of your room. The floor was cold under your bare feet but you were headed for Dean's tv room. The thought was to hide from Sam but you needed something to drink first.

You stepped into the kitchen and nearly ran back out when you spotted Sam pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge but froze when he looked up at you and smiled "Y/N"

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

Sam had gone on an early run then grabbed a shower after Dean left. He needed to clear his head and think about what to do.

He walked into the kitchen to grab some water and the moment he leaned into the fridge he heard a noise behind him and looked up to see you standing in the doorway. You were wearing black sleep shorts and one of Dean's old Led Zeppelin shirts but what struck out to him was the fact that you were wearing his flannel as well. The image of you only wearing his flannel flashed his mind and he cursed himself for it. He didn't even really know how you felt or what you wanted.

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

He felt a smile slip onto his face "Y/N" you smiled back at him "Hey Sam. Um pass me a bottle of water?" He held the one out that was in his hand "Here, I haven't opened it" you took it with a nod "Thanks"

You stood there for a moment then motioned towards the hall "Want to watch a movie?" He didn't hesitate to say yes. He grabbed another bottle of water and followed you down the hall.

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

You were acutely aware of Sam at your back as you walked down the hall trying to think of a good movie you could watch with him but all you could think about was how those black joggers fit him and how tight that shirt looked across his shoulders.

You walked into the TV room and flicked the string lights on instead of the overhead then grabbed the remote. You sat down on one side of the couch and Sam sat on the other. You finally decided on a slasher flic you and Dean had watched a thousand times.

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

You settled back into the cushions and tried to concentrate on the screen but you felt Sam's eyes on you. After a minute you paused the movie and turned to face him, tucking one leg under your body "Yes Samuel"

He grinned slightly "That's my flannel" you raised an eyebrow "Oh, I'm sorry. I can take it off" You moved to pull it off your shoulders but he grabbed your arms gently "Looks better on you" you were a bit too aware of how close the two of you were in that moment and he quickly dropped your arms muttering an apology.

You stared at each other for a moment before you both tried to speak. He smiled "Ladies first" you nodded moving a bit closer to him "Cards on the table here Winchester. I have feelings for you. It's developed over times and just gotten worse. It's awkward because you're my best friend's brother and younger than me but it happened"

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

He was silent for a moment and you were mentally kicking Dean's ass when Sam suddenly reached across pulling you into his lap. You gasped at the sudden movement, bracing your hands against his chest.

He smiled up at you and your breath caught "Thank God because if I had to go much longer without doing this I don't know what I'd do" you were about to question him when he pulled you down to him.

The moment your lips met his you melted against him. His lips moved against yours like he was a drowning man pulling in his last breath of air. Your hands found his hair, tangling in it and he groaned lightly as he tightened his grip on you, rolling his hips up to meet yours as his tongue flicked into your mouth.

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

When you were forced to pull away to catch your breath he rested his head in the bend of your neck, both of your chests were heaving slightly. You felt his lips teasing the skin of your neck and fought against the moan that wanted to escape you "Sam" He stilled his movements "I like you saying my name like that"

You smiled but pulled back further to force him to look at you "Are we both wanting the same thing?" He bought up one hand to push your hair back out of your face "I want you Y/N, not just for a couple hours or a couple days. I haven't felt like this about someone in a long time. It's been absolute torture thinking you were with Dean" you laughed at that "You thought me and Dean?" He groaned lightly "I did"

You shook your head "You beautiful, idiotic man. I've had eyes for you for so long it's kind of pathetic" he grinned "like having a crush on my brothers best friend isn't?" You shrugged then smiled at him "Where were we?"

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

He pulled you back into a kiss. He started at your lips then kissed down your jaw and when he made it to your neck you didn't try to stop the light moans that escaped you. You rolled your hips against his and he groaned again, grabbing your hips "Babygirl, tell me what you want here" you felt your stomach flip at his words and the way he said them "I want you to take me to your room and show me just how much you want me" "I can do that"

You stumbled into Sam's bedroom, lips never breaking fully from each other. Once the door was shut he pushed your back against it then leaned down to slip his hands under your thighs and lift you up. You gasped as you wrapped your legs around his waist, feeling how his body was reacting to you.

His hips rutted against yours as he swallowed every little sound he pulled from you. "Wanted you for so damn long....so fucking beautiful..." the praises falling from his lips for you had a fire growing in the pit of your stomach "Bed Sam. Please the bed" you mumbled against his lips and he nodded "I got you baby, I got you"

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

He carried you across the room to the bed and laid you down gently, holding himself up on his arms as he looked down at you. You couldn't help yourself, you reached up to let your fingertips trace the light stubble gracing his jawline "You are so fucking gorgeous Sam" the smile he gave you in return was warm enough to put the sun to shame "Y/N, you're everything"

His lips found yours again and you wrapped your legs around his waist pulling him down to you. His hips rolled down against yours and the feeling of his hard cock even through his joggers and your shorts was enough to make a moan of his name leave your lips "I want you Sam" He nodded "You got me"

You leaned up to shed the flannel and the shirt you were wearing and Sam pulled his shirt over his head as well tossing it behind him. The look in his eyes as he took in the sight of your bared chest had you clenching around nothing "So damn perfect" he whispered leaning down to catch one of your breasts between his lips.

"Fuck Sam" you moaned and felt one of his hands on your left leg, trailing up under the shorts you wore. His fingers got just shy of where you wanted them "Take em off Sam. Please" he chuckled against your skin before moving to the other breast giving it the same attention he had the other one.

He moved back up to your lips and time his mouth met yours you felt one of his fingers teasing at your entrance. You gasped into his mouth when it slipped past your folds. He added another after a moment, curling them upwards until he found that spot that had your back arching off the bed "You're so wet baby. Is this for me?" He teased working at your clit with his thumb while his fingers worked that spot deep inside of you.

You could feel that knot in your lower stomach building and when Sam moved his fingers just slightly to change the angle you felt it burst. You came with a scream of his name as he continued to finger you through your orgasm. When you pushed his hand away he slipped his fingers into his mouth, holding your gaze as he sucked them cleaned. "Taste so damn sweet"

You moaned "Fuck me Sam. Please" he grinned "Damn where is that smart mouthed woman that's always putting me and Dean in our place?" He reached for the hem of your shorts and pulled them down your legs before tossing them behind him "Sam Winchester I swear.." you started but was cut off by him laughing "Teasing babygirl. Just teasing"

He stood up to slip his joggers off and you felt your mouth drop open slightly. He was thick and long "Y/N, you good?" He asked, fisting his hard cock as a smirk slipped onto his face "I'm perfect baby, now C'mere" he climbed onto the bed, holding his weight up off of you.

When he got up to your face you pulled him down into a kiss and felt him push into you. A moan escaped you both at the feeling. He stilled once he was inside of you completely to give you time to adjust. His eyes fluttered shut just for a moment before he opened them "Fuck you feel fucking amazing" you laughed lightly considering the stretch of him had given way to pleasure "Good, move then"

He rolled his hips down into yours and you moaned "Just like that Sam" He buried his face in your neck, nipping and kissing the skin there as he worked his hips into yours, every thrust he was hitting that spot inside of you that had you seeing stars.

You were so damn close to coming again and he must have realized it because one hand slid between your bodies to play with your clit while his movements never slowed. You felt that knot burst again and your vision went fuzzy around the edges as he fucked you through your orgasm.

His thrusts started to get sloppy and more erratic and you knew he was close so you started to roll your hips up to meet his. "Come for me Sam. Let me feel how much you want me....you're so damn gorgeous and strong and fucking perfect for me..."

Your words pushed him over the edge and he buried himself inside of you with one final thrust and you felt when he came, filling you up.

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

You could feel your legs shaking gently around him as he smiled down at you breathlessly "You are absolutely amazing you know that right?" You smiled "So my boyfriend tells me"

He gave you one of those heart stopping smiles again "Smart man, that boyfriend of yours" you nodded "He really is" He pulled out of you gently, apologizing when you whimpered a bit from the loss of contact.

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

He reached down and found his discarded shirt to wipe you up a bit before laying down next to you and pulling you over on his chest. He traced the antipossesion tattoo on your shoulder as you traced the one on his chest "Wanna grab another shower, with me this time?" You asked and he laughed "Never feel the need to ask me just say cmon we're gonna go shower"

You looked up at him with a laugh "I think I love you Sam Winchester" He smiled brightly "Good because I think I love you too"

@foxyjwls007

@lacilou

@nelachu2423

@nix-rose

#sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x female reader #sam winchester fanfiction #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #wanna be yours mini series

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kevin-the-bruyne · 1 year ago

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The 25th hour and the kindness Boston unwittingly pays forward to Sand

The 25th hour is such a neat yet complex concept. The fact that Sand's episode is called 'The Extra Hour' and that this extremely rigid, disciplined man's 25th hour is Ray is at once heartwarming and gut wrenching. I've seen multiple people discuss what the 25th hour is and most interpretations were to my surprise very positive! In fact, when I think back to my reaction to the start of the episode I thought it was delightful! What a delightfully irrational way for Sand to think of Ray's role in his life, for a delightfully irrational man who really needs a little bit of magic and fairy tale in his life. And yet by the end no matter how you slice it, the only thing about the 25th hour that stays absolute till the end is that it's not real. There's no such thing as a 25th hour. Whatever was happening between them was happening entirely within the 24 hours of their lives and neither were able admit to it. There is a separate meta to be written about how there are elements of healing in their relationship - definitely for Ray and maybe even for Sand who benefits from being near someone who prescribes to whatever the opposite of his 'The Grind and Hustle' lifestyle is. But there are two sides to every coin and the side that Sand had completely blinded himself to even thought it was all right there - long before Boston showed up - is that Ray is an addict. And the way Ray chases the pleasure impulse of Sand's company is - more than just a little mildly concerning. Both times that they engage in anything sexual is Sand giving and Ray receiving, but more importantly Ray talking Sand into it - not in any way that is even remotely close to coercive but doesn't it niggle at the back of your head a little - just how good Ray is at getting Sand to do things for him? I could let the list run from protecting him, cooking for him, driving him, putting on his helmet for him, dressing him, taking him to concerts all such wonderful beautiful, heartwarming, wounded inner child healing things and yet...there are patterns. 'Thank you for saving my life' once is beautiful, sexy, gut wrenchingly vulnerable. But twice?

The guy did have a bottle so it could have been dangerous and his target could have been Ray's head but he also could have smashed it on a table to scare him, on his back, heck he could have been going for Sand too. Doesn't Ray have a tendency to slightly embellish situations to make himself more sympathetic?

My boy Sand has literally been on the receiving end of it adjfkldshjf. Further, when Sand is aiming to bash the guy's head in turn Ray makes zero moves to stop him. Sand could get into a lot of trouble for intervening here and injuring a random customer while he's not bar security and P'Yo and her boyfriend are the only ones actually concerned about Sand here.

Ray is so turned on by his man going all psycho to protect him (understandable) that his only thought is to fuck him (also very very understandable) but he's just gotten so good at asking for it

Incredibly, incredibly good

And he knows how much Sand eats it up

He knows it turns Sand on, uses it repeatedly in the context of sex. In fact it's the only way we've watched him initiate sex this episode

And worst of all, in the times that Sand doesn't quite take the bait Ray knows how to frame it so that it somehow still becomes Sand's idea, Sand's initiative:

And this scene is so mind bogglingly sexy that I was legit SCREAMING because Ray is being SO sneaky and he's an addict and you can see it from a mile away and imagine being Sand and horny and turned on by how much people need you and then having the cutest puppy of a man constantly wagging his tail at you and needing you and being so generous about how much he appreciates you and constantly telling you how big and strong you are and how you're such a great protector like help this man he is so entirely caught in the web that Ray is spinning. I was so into it but I was also like alarm bells ringing like 'Fire! Fire! Fire!' Sand this is exactly the fire that you were once conscious of playing with but he's totally been blinded to it - how could he not be??? Ray is an addict but he's also a creature made entirely of love, what defenses can Sand possibly have against Ray's innocence and sincerity? This has already gotten so long that I need to stop here or my mind will explode but there's more to be said here about how that scene where Boston outs Ray's crush plays out and Ray's complete inability to reach out and comfort Sand. What I can end this part with is that - Sand really, really needed to hear it. Boston's whole 'Sand deserves to know' thing might have been the shittiest cover to his real motivations of just totally fucking up Ray's life but he's not wrong about this. Boston is not wrong about the farce of Sand and Ray's relationship that he so mercilessly calls out. The 25th hour isn't real and Sand knows it. The show is very heavy handed about it and it fits so goddamn well with my Sand and Mew don't exist on the same paradigm of Ray's life idea that I have been peddling since Ep2

#ofts meta #sandray meta #only friends the series #ofts #sandray #nani's hot takes #god i have more meta inside me than i have time #i might write some of them anyway #but also feel free to ask about things too if you're curious

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bird-inacage · 1 year ago

Text

Only Friends: Sand's First Display of 'Messy' Behaviour

I'll preface this by saying I adore this man, and he's probably been the least problematic individual out of the Self-Proclaimed Friendship Circus. However, what left me with a chill was how Sand behaved when he revealed the affair to Ray.

Since we've been introduced to Sand, I think many of us have been pretty relieved by his largely green flag behaviour (in the midst of a very low bar being set in this group). This has often had me wondering what Sand's wider arc is going to be. The writers are not going to keep his storyline on one setting the whole way through. Therefore it's natural to anticipate we will be given another side to Sand - perhaps a less sympathetic or irrational part of his character. And maybe this was our first inkling into Sand's imperfections. He's also prone to vengeance and acting with an ulterior motive in mind.

Why it left me feeling so uncomfortable is because we haven't seen Sand in this light before. His score card has been pretty blemish-free.

Fuelled by a Vendetta

Nick shared this knowledge with Sand a while ago. However what triggered Sand to do something about it now was his confrontation with Top. We don't yet know what the circumstances were behind Top stealing Sand's ex from him, and how that played out. But it's evidently a sore grudge that Sand still very much holds against him.

Seeing Top again reminded Sand of the information he has at his disposal which could be used to teach Top a lesson. Sand is a very righteous person, and he doesn't think it's fair that someone should ruin his previous relationship, and now get what he wants with Mew as well. He wants Top to be punished. 'You're going to get what's coming to you, just wait'. It's possible that Sand didn't have the resources or means to get back at Top back then. But now he sees an opportunity to do so.

Combined with the fact that Sand has recently discovered that Ray loves Mew, this provides him with the perfect excuse for passing this information on. One, because as an outsider of their group, this can't come directly from him. Two, he knows based on Ray's temperament and his feelings for Mew, he'll be guaranteed to act.

Motivated by Selflessness or Selfishness?

I was originally going to post a deep dive on the scene between Ray and Sand at the bar, but I found myself constantly yo-yoing and ultimately undecided as to whether Sand's intentions were good or bad.

On the one hand, he's sharing this because he knows Ray will reveal the affair and Top will suffer the consequences. Thus, satisfying an act of indirect revenge.

On the other hand, he could also be doing this (as he so claims) due to his sense of righteousness. He just can't bear bad people getting away with bad things. And perhaps he does genuinely see Mew as a innocent victim here, and wants him to expose Top for who he is.

What also had me conflicted is that 'breaking' up Mew and Top doesn't play to Sand's interests. If Sand is romantically invested in Ray, and Mew becomes single again, this would allow Ray to continue pursuing Mew, which means Sand loses out. This is plausible if you're fuelled by unconditional love and a desire to see the person you love be happy. But I'm not entirely convinced that is the case here either.

You can also argue that Sand is 'using' Ray in this instance to achieve his objective, which is very questionable. He knows what a loose cannon Ray can be. Either he didn't think too much about the possible repercussions of how Ray would react, or he didn't care as long as Top got what he deserved. I don't think by any means Sand wishes to cause Ray any harm, but something really primal seemed to drive Sand to do this regardless of how Ray may be affected as the messenger.

So I don't know if I've decided yet. It could be a mix of all the above. This did seem to veer more on petty vengeance under the guise of righteousness. Mainly due to how Sand looks at Ray in that entire scene, which felt slightly manipulative and cold compared to how he usually has been with Ray. Especially when he says, "Mew is lucky though to have you by his side." It's almost with pinpoint precision that Sand triggers an image in Ray, to be the saviour swooping in to protect Mew.

All in all, I found Sand's behaviour this episode to be highly intriguing and unexpected. I saw a clip of First talking at an event recently, where he says something along the lines of 'when you see Sand do this, please forgive him', which implies there will be some further questionable or inexplicable behaviour later on potentially. Hmn.

#only friends #only friends the series #ofts #only friends meta #ray x sand #sand x ray #raysan #sanray #khaofirst #firstkhao #first kanaphan #is sand harbouring some demons too?#this is one where i really want to get a sense of everyone else's thoughts on this because this had me really stumped #i guess we won't know until we see more of sand revealing this side of himself to gauge if it's out of good will or bad intent #that whole scene where he speaks to ray just gave me the heebies jeebies for some reason - i was like where's my sweet Sand?

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plusultraetc · 5 days ago

Note

for the dvd commentary meme: show me where to find the silver lining, from:

“It could be broken,” Aizawa says.

to:

“Recovery Girl,” he says. “Now.”

Tysm for sending an ask!! You are so good at picking out like. the FIRST scene I wrote in a fic omg (I went back to at least Draft 2 and this scene remained almost entirely unchanged for the 14-ish months I was making tiny, picky edits to this fic!)

also I am stealing your & @blinkeasy's format for these, whoops <3

“It could be broken,” Aizawa says. Because you landed on it like an idiot, he doesn’t need to point out. “You’re not doing yourself any favors waiting for it to start swelling.” He tilts his head a little more and Hitoshi fights the juvenile urge to hold the injury away from him. “Scratch that. It is swelling. We’re going to see Recovery Girl.” “What?” Hitoshi gapes as Aizawa stands. “I don’t need to see Recovery Girl.” When his mentor only looks at him, one eyebrow raised, he says, “I don’t. I just leaned on it too hard, but it doesn’t even hurt now.”

First thing that comes to mind here is that I worried a lot about Shinsou's characterization in this fic being inconsistent with the rest of the expansion pack--too outwardly expressive, and somewhat childish. We've seen Shinsou in pain & beating himself up before, and most of the time he gets quiet, which is... kind of the opposite of what he does in this section, and more in line with his behavior later in the fic. But in the end, I let him have a moment because 1) he did just literally break his wrist, and the surprise is both somewhat masking the pain and making him act out a little; and 2) he is sixteen lol. He's also a lot harsher on himself in this one than he is in almost* any other fic I've written from his POV, for reasons I will inevitably yap about in a moment.

*I say almost because I have another all-but-finished Shinsou fic hanging out in my docs in which he confronts the relationship between his quirk and other people more directly and 😬

This lie very clearly doesn’t go over as smoothly. “It’s swelling,” Aizawa repeats flatly. “Sprains swell.” “It’s red.” Hitoshi looks back at his wrist, which is actually inflating kind of fast and is most definitely a specific shade of early-bruising red. There is a chance, however slim, that Recovery Girl should look at it. But—

Skip this little paragraph to avoid a kind of gross fact!! I chose the word "inflating" here based very much on a real injury I witnessed (everyone was ultimately okay, obv, it was just kind of freaky to see in real time)

"There is a chance, however slim, that Recovery Girl should look at it" makes me laugh every time I read it. I love referencing memes in Shinsou's internal monologue specifically, although I do sometimes fear the ones I choose are too dated for someone his age. Then again, MHA is set in sci-fi superhero future Japan, so I try not to worry too much about whether or not my memes are accurate lol

“I can go after training.” Aizawa’s expression flattens with one of those hard-to-read emotions, but in this case it might be a close neighbor of exasperation. “I’m letting you go early today,” he says, and Hitoshi’s heart sinks. “Therefore it is now after training. Get up.” “I can keep working,” he insists. He casts around for an argument that isn’t I bet you don’t send people like Midoriya to Recovery Girl in the middle of class because they fell down, even though what he wants to say is I bet you don’t send people like Midoriya to Recovery Girl in the middle of class because they fell down, or maybe I’m not made of glass just because I’m not in the Hero Course yet and I thought that’s why you agreed to train me, so what gives? “I can still move my fingers. It’s not broken.”

Okay I actually love the Midoriya comparison in this paragraph so much. I've talked about this before, but I really enjoy his & Shinsou's dynamic--as mirror characters, as occasional rivals, and eventually, as friends. At this point, Midoriya is very much the bar Shinsou measures his Hero Course aspirations against after Midoriya knocked him out of the Sports Festival tournament, which is ironic, because they have more in common than Shinsou could possibly know. (This is another reason that I find it incredibly funny when they see each other again at the joint training exercise and are both immediately like REMATCH REMATCH REMATCH.)

I also love the Midoriya mention bc like. Early on in the series, Aizawa spent a lot of time telling Midoriya to stop breaking his own bones and trying to discourage him from relying on that 'strategy.' Shinsou says 'why can Midoriya break his arm and keep training >:(' and Aizawa replies 'my quirk was literally introduced in a scene in which I stopped him from doing that, try again'

(I feel like Aizawa has strong but complicated opinions about training with, or to the point of, physical injury. For no reason. Something something experience, something something necessity.)

Aizawa eyes Hitoshi’s wrist skeptically. “If it’s hurting you, it doesn’t matter if it’s not broken.” “I can still train.” Even to his own ears, he’s sounding a little hysterical. Logical, he reminds himself. Aizawa likes logical. He tamps down on his rising panic and a surprising, irrational flare of anger, and tries a different tack. “What if I get hurt on patrol when I’m a pro? Or in a fight? I’m going to need to learn to work around it.”

The key word for me in this section is 'surprising.' Shinsou doesn't really know why he's lashing out at Aizawa right now; he's aware, of course, that tensions have been running high at UA and beyond since the training camp disaster, the Kamino Incident, and All Might's retirement, but it's really hard in the moment to realize just how much that background anxiety is influencing his day-to-day thoughts and feelings. I talked about this a little in the end notes, but I really wanted to touch on that subtle, end-of-an-era anxiety in this fic, although I go back and forth on how effective I was at doing so.

It also feels relevant to mention that, in the wake of the All Might vs AFO fight & in spite of Aizawa's later comment about pain and injury being more temporary than ever due to quirks like Recovery Girl's, Shinsou's mind immediately goes to the idea of getting hurt and having no choice but to keep going, keep fighting, anyway.

Aizawa’s eyes narrow, his mouth a thin line. “You’re not a pro hero right now,” he says, a note of steel in his voice. “You’re a student—my student.” “Yeah, well,” Hitoshi says, clipped. “Your students get hurt all the time.” The words surprise him almost as much as they surprise Aizawa. Unnervingly, Hitoshi sees his surprise—a flicker across his face, fleeting but obvious in a way that’s almost uncomfortable. The regret hits him like a bus, flattens his own anger beneath its metaphorical tires, but it��s too late. Aizawa’s expression closes down faster than UA’s security wall when someone trips the alarm.

I REALLY LOVE THE UA SECURITY WALL METAPHOR. It's one of those things that I think both sets the tone & utilizes the setting at once--like, the first 'very fast thing' that this teenager would think of is the big metal wall that can spring up around his school at any given moment, just in case villains attack them. Again.

Also: surprised Pikachu Aizawa. I actually reblogged a post a couple days ago that featured surprised Aizawa dot gif, which is like. Kinda close to the expression I was picturing here lol. I feel like the key word 'surprising' thing applies here as well--Aizawa and Shinsou have settled into a certain rapport since they started training together, and this is definitely an out-of-character outburst that just so happens to relate to the thing Aizawa has definitely been beating himself up over for weeks, if not months. Fortunately, as Aizawa teaches teenagers, he's also pretty used to their outbursts.

“I didn’t mean—” he starts, but Aizawa cuts him off. “Recovery Girl,” he says. “Now.”

Shinsou very much interprets Aizawa's shortness here as anger, but really, this is the Let Aizawa Rest fic. We've talked before about how USJ and the training camp are like, Aizawa's worst fears made real, and now this man is just a big ball of exhaustion and validated paranoia dragging himself from life-and-death responsibility to life-and-death responsibility. Not only do I not really see him taking offense to what Shinsou said, but even if he did, he just. Doesn't have the energy to. The kid is right, after all :(

#ty again <3 #this was a very welcome decompression moment #although i somehow underestimated just how much i love to blab #forgot about the blather in liza blather 😔#liza writes #ask

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delopsia · 7 months ago

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Hello and welcome to "Del wants to ramble about the Outer Range season 2 trailer." I hope you're ready for a whole lot of nothing...

The CGI continues to remind us that it is, in fact, CGI. What the hell is this?

Flash scene of Wayne burning his damn house down. I'd know that bald spot anywhere.

Y'all already heard me ramble about this, but there's something wrong with this dinner scene. Aside from us knowing that the family is not together, there's one major oddity in the background.

Rhett's truck is an entirely different color.

That's his lightbar with the iconic four lights. Still a single-cab GMC Sierra. But Rhett's truck is blue. Not tan.

Wilder, we see Rhett's truck a few scenes later! You can even see how the hood is bent from hitting the billboard.

We finally confirm that Amy is 8. Even though the writer said she was 9...😑Brian Watkins, I had faith in you being correct. If you squint, you'll notice that Rhett's right hand is wounded. I doubt this stems from the rodeo because he always uses his left hand to hang on to the bull. The only injury we saw was to his left shoulder.

I'm taking the guess that up until now, Rhett likely didn't know that Amy went missing during the rodeo. Which may cause him to realize that Cecelia never abandoned him; she was just looking for Amy.

In the official Season 2 press notes, the following is mentioned: "After Amy's disappearance, Rhett is torn between his dreams of starting over somewhere new with Maria and being a dutiful son to Royal and Cecelia." So, I can assume that this might be what sets that into motion?

Offhanded, but this is SUCH a good look on her

MY TOUCH THEORY IS DOING THINGS. Look at Autumn's hand. Royal's touching the back of it, and as soon as he pulls away, the cute cosmic lights stop.

I'm so happy to see this random side character make a return. I was so nervous that she was one of those characters that appear for two minutes and that's it.

...this is a wild way for Joy to get in touch with her roots. But unfortunately for her, talking about it will more than likely get her a one-way trip to a psychiatrist.

Clyde is alive and well; bless him.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. How the hell did Billy survive being shot through the neck??

and also

WAYNE? All it took was Billy feeding him a little bit of time powder and he's back to his old menacing ways. Meanwhile Luke looks like he lost part of his soul when that herd of buffalo ran him over.

Luke, what does this gesture mean. Strangle? Punch? My jaw hurts? And I assume this is Autumn we're seeing on the corner? Patricia maybe? I dunno.

Edit: I'm 99% sure that's Patricia.

PERRY YOU DAMN IDIOT. HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING FROM YOUR LAST BAR FIGHT?? I don't know who this other dude is but I hope he gets Perry square in the mouth <3 please I need to see Perry get his ass handed to him

This gives me so many thoughts. Rhett's shorter hair. He's a hand holder, your honor! Sentence him to a lifetime of snuggles and interlaced fingers!

So we know that for sure, Joy will somehow return to the present timeline. I don't know who could be driving this vehicle, but it looks a lot like the one that was sitting in the Tillerson's driveway in S1. We know Billy drives the older red vehicle, so this can either belong to Luke or Trevor.

Hear me out, hear me out. We can assume that the blonde woman is Autumn, considering the whole...cult thing. We've seen a handful of scenes of her with Luke in this trailer, so what if that's him holding her hand? That hat silhouette looks an awful lot like the one we saw in S1.

Alternatively, It can also be Rebecca and Perry, but I have no evidence to back this other than the blonde hair.

*in my best patrick star voice* WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?

I cannot be convinced that this is a real scene. It's gotta be some kind of dream that Royal is having, especially when you take note of the little white things floating around. It gives a sort of dreamy effect.

THIS IS SHERRIF JOY! Not only is the outfit the same in the following scene (not the one of her running lmao, that's just to show you what the gun looks like), but you can see the gun on her hip.

The hand on Rhett's throat is smaller than his is. Look how thick his fingers are compared to the mystery ones. I'm betting my left foot that this is a female character doing this to him. Autumn and Rebecca are on my list of suspects.

But also, what the hell is he looking at? Never once is he looking at the person doing this to him; he's looking at something behind the camera. Baby, what did they do to you this season?? 😭

I hit my picture limit, but Wayne (I think) diving into the hole made me giggle. He picked such an iconic pose.

Someone says quote "Time reveals all." But I don't think we've heard this voice before?? Who the hell is speaking?

This final shot is insane. Don't know who is coming out, presumably Perry or Wayne, but you could ABSOLUTELY spin Outer Range as a horror if you really wanted to. The elements are all there; they just need a little reworking!

#outer range #outer range spoilers #del's tin hat thoughts

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my-writings-and-musings · 2 years ago

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Who's ready for some more Earthspark appreciation and Bumblebee simping?

Here's a favorite moment of mine regarding Bee being an absolute badass in episode 18, because I adore how his capacity to be a dork is only matched by his ability to take names.

Spoilers under the cut below, plus a criminal amount of Bumblebee thirst!

So we get RIGHT into it with Bee in the arena, looking pretty worn down already but possibly more determined than we've ever seen him. It's a pretty big shock after his absence for the past few episodes to say the least!!

He takes a nasty hit to the jaw, yet recovers swiftly, putting his defenses back up even when it's clear he's not doing so good. You can see him forcing himself to focus through the pain and it breaks my heart every time because MY BOY

But then you get a look at who he's fighting, and everything gets so much worse. Brawl is easily a third taller and at least twice as heavily built, complete with some built in weapons that would only take one solid hit to end the entire fight. It very quickly becomes apparent this is a fight of strength versus speed, but neither side is especially lacking in either.

Bumblebee dodges effectively, narrowly missing some MAJOR hits while getting in a few of his own, and actually proves strong enough to hold both of Brawl's fists at bay. You can see he's struggling, but if not for a well aimed headbutt from the bigger bot he might have held him off!

They exchange more hits, with Bee landing quite a few out of sheer athleticism (if someone could GIF these scenes I'd be eternally grateful because pics do NOT do them justice) before he's hurled to the ground and Brawl makes it VERY clear this is a fight to the finish. Bee reacts accordingly.

After dodging a number of near stabbings, he transforms and utilizes his altmode, taking out one of Brawl's legs before transforming back and trying to make use of his Stinger... which he remembers (and we learn) far too late has been disabled. This gives Brawl enough of an opening to grab Bee and CRACK HIM OVER HIS KNEE LIKE HE'S FREAKING BANE. But does that stop our boy?! Not for more than a few seconds, and he picks himself up JUST in time to stop what would have been a possibly fatal hit.

Then, after enduring all that damage and exhaustion, he manages to end the fight by HURLING BRAWL OVER HIS HEAD AND CRACKING HIM DOWN ON THE CEMENT LIKE HOW???!?!!

There's no sense of victory though, just Brawl getting hauled away and Bee looking utterly exhausted, his frame seizing up before he collapses from it all... You can tell he's had a rough go of it after having to leave, and the expression he makes when Brawl is hauled off just hammers in the tragedy. He doesn't want to fight any of these bots! Which sucks even more, because his only immediate reward for surviving this fight is to endure another.

Look at him I know he's three times my height but I need to COMFORT HIM

Thankfully he's reunited with the Maltos, and after enduring even MORE suffering, complete with a shattered arm and nearly having the literal life drained out of him, what does our Scout need more than anything?

A nap.

Sleep tight my beautiful prince.

I think of this scene frequently, can you tell? I definitely didn't have a great time watching Bee display a ridiculous amount of athletic prowess or anything, just, you know, appreciating a good character on a good show... Because this may be my favorite Bee and my favorite piece of Transformers media, and the bar is HIGH.

Please feel free to share your Bee thoughts, I have accepted I simply can't get enough, and my inbox is fully open for Earthspark requests.

#transformers #maccadam #earthspark #transformers earthspark #transformers: earthspark #tf earthspark #tfe #tfes #earthspark bumblebee #bumblebee #tf earthspark spoilers #tfe spoilers #es spoilers #earthspark spoilers #spoilers #bumblebee thirst

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themostineptthateverstepped · 1 year ago

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Obviously, I am very tense about the Loki finale tonight, so this post may not age well, but I just have to say this.

The kiss in the season 1 finale was super weird. Not just because it was some strange version of selfcest, but because there was no real chemistry there. It genuinely felt like Sylvie's last-ditch effort to distract/confuse Loki enough to achieve her goal of killing He Who Remains. And that is exactly what that was. She kissed him, he looked completely defeated during said kiss, and then she kicked him through a time door, killed Kang, and then went about her life.

She did not look at all pleased to see Loki again, and there has been no spark of anything between them the entire season. Even when they join hands to use their magic, it looks like siblings. THEY READ LIKE SIBLINGS. There really hasn't been any effort put into developing their chemistry or connection romantically. Even in their most recent interaction at the bar, Sylvie is playing the detached therapist, trying to guide Loki into admitting what he already knows, the true "why" behind his mission, and it isn't her. She even explicitly defines that she has her own story and path and advises him to write his own. Separately.

Now all of this is a long way of saying that, if they move forward and push Sylkie on us at the eleventh hour, I won't be angry because it's not my ship, I will be angry because they did absolutely nothing to grow it, to nurture it, to have it make any real narrative sense.

Yes, this is Tumblr, and we all love a good gay ship (because we are sad and gay and starved for representation), but Loki and Mobius actually make narrative sense. Not only do they each represent the other's turning point and catalyst for growth and change, but they are also two characters that have developed into something together. Their evolution is incredible, and we have been given scenes all season that parallel their growth, in the way Mobius doesn't hesitate to trust Loki, how he embraces Loki's mischief, how Loki comes back to Mobius again and again, defends him, comforts him. They have actively built the framework for Lokius, even heavily implying that Mobius is the "who" that guides Loki's time slipping.

However they choose to manifest Loki and Mobius' relationship, if they leave it ambiguous, if it's queer-platonic, if it's whatever, they at the very least need to make it abundantly clear that THIS is the fundamental relationship. Their bond is the heart of the show.

Loki needs to love Sylvie because he needs to be able to love and embrace himself as he is, all of his strengths, and all of his weaknesses. Sylvie, who is still so impulsive and bent on revenge, is an excellent opportunity for him to see where he came from and love her anyway. But we've seen him face her impulsive violence, and instead of him meeting her there and joining in, we saw him become calm and compassionate - we saw how Mobius had helped him to grow. We need Loki and Sylvie to love each other, because that is how they are going to heal, it's how they aren't going to lose. But it's self-acceptance, it's the love you have to have before you can truly love someone else, and I think given Loki's long arc as a character, we need to see him beak out of his narcissism, move beyond just loving himself, and truly love someone else.

They more than paved the way for Mobius and Loki, and if they through that away for Sylkie, it won't just be sinking a perfectly good ship, it would be horrifically ignorant, wasteful storytelling. And this is the God of Stories, so if you fuck this up... I mean. Just don't okay?

#loki #pre loki finale #lokius #loki season 2 #long meta post #i really just went for it #loki laufeyson #mobius m mobius #sylvie laufeydottir #sylvie #loki series #get ready clowns

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accidentally-in-fictional-love · 2 months ago

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Things I Noticed While Writing Light The Fuse: Part 3, Episode 1

Phew okay time to wrap this one up for real this time!

This shot is interesting, we've got Ethan staring at Meredith, who's again looking at him, although probably because he's new and an easy target lol and then Johnson is watching Ethan, probably because he's looking at Meredith, while Matty has his eye on the bar

This is as far back as this shot gets, but Avron is nowhere in sight, so he had to have seen Matty walk over and purposefully approach him, what an asshole

Found him, weasel was waiting over there on the other side of the bar. Also I still can't get over Agnes calling him Prince it's so cute I just had to make it his actual title, the Prince of the Phoenixes 🥰 but I know it's probably got a bitter side to it too as a reminder that he is still a Phoenix, my deep dive on Matty could go on forever do not get me started

Okay I needed to point out this entire scene cause these two have such a fascinating not even relationship or rivalry but SOMETHING going on that I need to sit down with the creator and Rhys to know exactly what happened. I can theorize and write up Avron being horrible all day long but my desire to know what went on outside of 'Avron becomes a Brawler and Matty is jealous' because every single acting choice they chose for this scene is so fucking on purpose.

The way he just freezes and stares when he hears his voice isn't jealousy, that's a reaction. He was already tired from the run so he seems to be in a more serious mood here, but something switches as soon as Avron shows up. This is no longer fun on the river Matty, or initiation 'tell me why you wanna be a Phoenix' Matty, this is him upset over something, and Avron brushing him off is only making it worse like look at his face change once he touches him

That feels like such a deeper hatred than just jealousy. The way Avron is holding onto him and brushed him so roughly, the need to do full eye contact between them, and Matty's mouth twitches again before he says no problem. He was about to start something and I really need to know what happened you guys it's scenes like this that makes this show my Roman Empire

I looked up dandelion boys specifically for this fic and it turns out it means something along the lines of someone who has lived through great hardship and came out resilient and strong and I'm sobbing again

I don't want just this scene to be another post on its own so I'll save the rest of this for my eventual Matty deep dive but oh my god. Oh my god. The way he plays all of this. He wants to be a Brawler so bad but we all saw how happy he was on the river. I'm gunna cry again and I'm not joking this time. Oh my god.

Here it is, the moment that made me wanna do this series in the first place because I definitely didn't notice this the first time since Johnson was too hot. While Matty is getting the drinks, Johnson and Ethan grab some seats and sit down. Johnson is lighting a cigarette. Matty sits down with the drinks, Johnson is smoking throughout the whole scene, Meredith leaves, and then talks to Joel. Matty then talks to Ethan about her, now smoking, and Johnson is lighting another cigarette. Matty stole it from him instead of getting his own. They're married guys I'm not even kidding with this one.

Also I just love the insinuation of Johnson falling for all of them with no example from Matty, yet he's the only one who actually talks to a Pinup (cough Angel cough) at any point in the show. Gunna be a little full of myself for a second and say out of all the stuff I've written for the fic series so far, I feel like their talk on the car about love might be the closest to canon out of everything, it just feels right.

Okay first of all I love the little smile Ethan gives at their warning, what a sweet pea. Second there's Avron staring entirely at Matty again, just completely locked on. My god I need to know what their deal is you guys this is getting serious

He's not straight. This isn't a theory. I also think I was dead on with Matty only starting this conversation because he didn't like how he was talking to Ethan. Best way to get his attention away is to make him focused on Matty again after all

I really love the detail of Ethan trying really hard not to engage after getting involved with the asshole at the restaurant and him going so still the second he looks at Avron

His mouth was twitching again, he reached his breaking point with that one, he's not even looking at Ethan. Also lmao at Johnson looking like me the second I don't have my phone, and the cute lil spin in his chair I love him so damn much

This is another interesting shot to me, Matty is the one saying all this, and Johnson does a fake impressed whistle to go along with it, but Avron says 'that's right' to Johnson out of everyone there, like he should be impressed or something, you can see him look his way specifically, away from Matty and not to Ethan, I wanna know why they choose that direction (it's because I'm right and he's jealous)

This is so evil of Matty to reveal the Aunt V secret, look at how Avron's smile just falls because it's getting out, which is why I am constantly insisting that this runs deeper than jealousy because this is so incredibly personal, this one was made to hurt. Also in the og script they actually caught Avron getting a bj from a guy when they were on the river!

I'm crying again ;w; wonder why they went from this to something even worse? Probably because of all the violence everyone is about to lay out on this man heh me included

What did Avron do to make Matty say this??? What did he repeat that Matty must've told him??? Johnson is staring him down and agreeing with him too I'm gunna lose my mind!!!

Ethan coming in hot with the misdirection so he doesn't hurt Matty, Avron successfully reaching for him only for Matty to take it back, and those punches are not just jealousy again guys he's so fuckin mad here! He hurt him and Matty is hurting him back THIS IS KILLING ME

Once again Johnson is just sitting and watching back there. I mentioned it the first time I posted this scene a while back but I firmly believe he wasn't gunna let Joel throw him out, or maybe he knows that Joel actually wouldn't do that to begin with and this is just to scare him after acting out? The man really does have a soft spot for him so this wouldn't have been the end, he just needs to be grounded for the night and Johnson is aware of that. Obviously I wrote him right there trying to get Joel off cause the thought makes me cry, but I can just as easily picture them sitting outside afterward, Johnson just hands Matty a drink and they hang around all silent GAH I wanna write now but I can't until the weekend OTL

This isn't an observation. I do love how Ethan stands his ground cause we all know he isn't fragile, but jesus christ if anyone grabbed me like that I'd fold so fuckin fast 😳 On another note, it's probably intentional but I really thought Joel was Meredith's dad by this point lol so I had to make Ethan say just that in the fic

This is another interesting shot because Meredith comes into focus and waves of course, but that's also when Matty and Johnson come into focus as well ;w; he could very much be looking at them and then notice that she was there too (which is how I wrote it) just as much as him looking at her while they happen to be walking by, but of course my bet's on the former cause I love them. I'm also madly in love with the track that plays during this scene it's so damn good

They're looking at each other in the mirror 😭 and Matty was already looking before Ethan I can't take thiiiis

It's the end of the first episode are they trying to kill everyone watching?? Cause that certainly nearly happened to me when I saw Johnson looking like this godDAMN also Matty in a tie is the cutest thing I've ever seen I love how all three of them dress so much 🥰

And that's it for episode 1! I used up almost/all my pics/gifs in all three of these and I could've used so many more just on those Matty scenes, thankfully not as much happens in the future so I should be good sans probably the finale which might need two or more depending on how much I cry over the big reveal ;w; ❤️💛💙

#david dastmalchian #ethan reprisal #johnson reprisal #matty reprisal #Phoenix Details Series

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verynormalaboutkinnporsche · 1 month ago

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E6 Scene 5 - Lost Day 2: Cooperation

Oh shit this one got long.

Having solved the water problem, the boys need food. Also, Kinn needs to fucking unbend a little, but on that note I need to take a moment to admire what is literally a single second of screen time here because Mile is such a gift.

You're in love, you sap, just get used to it.

One theme I keep coming back to in these notes is the need to get on a similar level. They start out from wildly different places. They're attracted to each other, they want a relationship, but outside of that night at Hum Bar, they haven't gotten to see much of each other as their real selves. They need this set-apart time to negotiate an equitable way to relate.

Kinn has spent his entire life in what is essentially a prison, but it's a prison that comes with a lot of money, status, and guns. The purpose of Hum Bar and the purpose of this forest interlude is to remove those weights from the balance, so the two of them are on an equal footing for connection-building moments. Once the connection is in place, it can withstand life in the Panopticon (where the plot happens), but it has to be created outside of it.

Given the damage done to that connection in the previous episode, they need to do some work before they can move forward. They have to be free to bicker, shove, and call each other a moron without risk of consequences, to trust each other when it's just the two of them before they can do it surrounded by enemies.

They manage to catch some fish.

"Why do you keep your smiles to yourself?" (Oh no, my heart.) He's right, though; up to this point we've hardly ever seen Kinn smile. It's a largely teasing exchange, but it acknowledges how deeply unhappy Kinn is with his life, how much of a facade he maintains. Porsche is finally getting to see more of the real Kinn here, and he's clearly liking that.

(Porsche is a much less guarded character than Kinn; to the extent that he maintains a facade of his own, he uses humor. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have things he keeps back, though.)

A bracing stream bath is in order, which rapidly turns into stream cuddling and then stream kissing. They might not have actually invented onscreen chemistry but they do a damn fine job of it. Very interesting how Kinn breaks off then; they've made progress, but there's still a lot that needs to be said.

Really with the dick size thing, you two literally had sex, were you not paying attention? Back to connection-building with personal information.

This exchange is so, so interesting to me. Porsche's dream is all about personal freedom--to do what he wants, when he wants. This makes sense given both his character themes and his actual history, a life spent in the dual constraints of poverty and responsibility. (Plus one of his frequent minor themes, food. You will never convince me that he hasn't skipped a lot of meals so that Chay wouldn't lack something.)

Porsche's dream has sad implications about the material circumstances of his life; Kinn's side of the conversation does the same for his emotional circumstances.

(This scene is where my love-to-hate-him of Korn achieved self-sustaining fusion for the degree of calculation involved. We see this from him long before we see Gun's more obvious kind of abuse. Given the sliding scale of morality employed by the show, I find it interesting that this is underlined as the worst type of evil.)

Love Porsche here, by the way, for not letting Kinn dodge the question. "If you don't tell me yours, it's not fair"; we are back to the need for equity, for balance.

(They have a pattern of doing things wrong, figuring that out and trying over again. Probably why I find them a compelling ship; they're so stubborn about not giving each other up.)

After the lightening musical interlude, the conversation takes a turn for the truly serious, with Kinn talking about Khun, and then Porsche the accident. We are deep in the connection-building zone now, a layer below dreams and into things that neither of them shares with... maybe anyone, ever.

And then:

"If I could, I would want to erase the things I did you wrong."

(Now that I think about it, Kinn does this more than once. They'll have an exchange that's 50/50 teasing/serious, there's a pause, and then he takes it up a level. Kind of astonishing, given his lack of healthy communication models.)

It's not a complete apology, but it's the first essential step, the acknowledgement of harm. Porsche is so not prepared for this; his body language is all over the place, barely any eye contact, wants to just skate past the whole thing for the moment.

Still; a big step forward.

What we learned:

Porsche is marginally better equipped for this situation than Kinn. Marginally.

Porsche is afraid of ghosts.

Sometimes Kinn wonders if Khun is faking his mental instability

Porsche has a period of amnesia around the car accident that killed his parents, and spent months in the hospital (since there was no car accident, we are left to speculate as to what actually caused his memory loss and also who was taking care of baby Chay? Thee? Ugh.)

#kinnporsche episode notes #actual menaces #not so menacing with each other now

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femurs-vectivus · 4 months ago

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---incoherent ramble about new star wars media and critiques and what i think about it -----

Tbh i thought during andor, ahsoka and kenobi the YouTube situation was already bad, but by now listening to star wars critiques and podcasts has become so predictable that it is just plain funny.

I get that people are sharing their personal analysis and opinions, but at this point you can make a predictive bingo card out of flaws every single YouTuber is going to come up with for every new episode and you'd get like 80% correct as a star wars viewer with a little above average knowledge.

This isn't necessarily because "the show is bad and see, everyone agrees on it".

It's because millions of viewers means millions of slightly differing views, opinions and expectations, every one only vaguely thought out because people usually don't write and produce every detail of a show in their own head before they watch it., they just know what they want it to be like, what feelings they want it to evoke.

but everyone gets the same show that can show the narrative in only one way with a predetermined set of scenes and visuals a few people agreed on beforehand.

This HAS TO lead to details that don't entirely agree with you.

Note: that DON'T ENTIRELY AGREE WITH YOU.

But if you go into something with a bar raised higher than heaven because you have idolized previous media in your head and in the community, of course every single detail that doesnt reach that bar becomes a massive problem.

If you watched something without the goal to actively find bad things and noticed some of these dissonances by yourself, you normally do so mostly unconsciously and linger only on some of them. You are also aware that you are watching something someone else made for a wider audience that isn't a perfect carbon copy of the vision in your head.

But if you then open YouTube and find 100 videos telling you they had noticed this detail too and explaining to you why exactly this is a major problem affecting the entire show and therefore the writers failed and the show is ruined, you'll naturally gravitate towards this opinion because it DOES present itself as an objective and reasonable explanation. It doesn't know it's actually still a subjective one.

Most reasonable people have agreed by now that the problem of the star wars community is that it has raised the bar for its future media so high it can't be reached anymore because no man can build a tower as high as the one in a dreamers head.

The real problem with this is that people don't realise how unatainable their demands are for someone who makes ONE show for all and not one for every person on earth.

As soon as some peoples expectations are met they will be immediately villyfied by everyone for who that wasn't the case, as we've seen happen perfectly during the sequels phase.

On a side note, what I've seen in some older (meaning age) star wars fans that really annoys me. Them not realising that their interpretations are subjective and can be turned on their head most of the time.

Combined with a sense of superiority because of their age and them having a quite well established quite vocal YouTube base with some public credibility because of it.

Can lead to them totally discrediting younger new star wars fans simply because they never grew up with the same pieces of media as them and therefore "don't understand them as i do".

Yeah no shit Sherlock, that's the entire problem, you're stuck in the past and because the past is rock solid you can carve yourself whatever throne you want out of it and then judge the still forming present and future from it and occasionally throw stones without acknowledging the distance and circumstances that may have lead to this present, or the fact that your reality was once formed the exact same way.

Media creation evolves on and nothing will ever come back. Get a life.

As usual, unhappiness unites.

When i watch critiques that came out right after an episode aired, i mainly notice this:

Many negative points of critique can be turned on their head and be interpreted positively as well, and without any more "reaching" for arguments than it takes for the negative interpretations.

Many irrational character actions have a totally reasonable explanation (sigh really not all. Really not.). Many narrative choices are really just that: choices because the story has to go SOME way and there are just as many reasons for it to go THAT way as there are reasons against it.

But because it isn't giving you the unobtainable feeling you are chasing and you want to keep your old media on a pedestral you can't see that and immediately start to back up your negative feeling with a reasonable analysis to then frame that as fact.

These negative analysises are very persuasive because as previously stated, everyone experiences dissonances while consuming media and more importantly every single aspect of a piece of media can be interpreted and criticized differently by different people.

There is a reason we write a million class tests on book interpretations.

And there is also a reason why 90% of the class will write the same interpretation.

Because people decided before that this is probably what the author meant, there's an official blueprint interpretation you read before, specific passages have been discussed in class regarding this interpretation. It's the easy, save and analytically sound way to go during the test.

But the 10% that don't do this interpretation most of the time pick an almost exactly opposing analysis.

Because as with all aspects of human life there are always two sides to the same coin.

In some cases the coin falls definitely on one side, but even then there are people who see it differently.

When someone creates something for an audience they craft their own coin and roll it in the arena of public judgement in hopes that their audience is looking forward to it and will form an opinion on it from a relatively unbiased starting point.

But if enough people are already determined to flip the coin on one side from the beginning they will and from then on everyone who comes into contact with it will see the the side that's up first.

Human opinions get subconsciously influenced heavily by two things: the first contact with someone elses opinion on something and whoever screams the loudest.

I forgot where I was going with those flowery metaphors but anyway. Hoes are staying mad and can't be argued with on a reasonable level.

#the acolyte #star wars #star wars fandom #what am i even talking about #ahsoka series #kenobi series #sw sequels #sw prequels #sw original trilogy

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chidoroki · 1 year ago

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182 Days of TPN - Day 159

Chapter 159: "Thank You"

C'mon now, which one of you three idiots asked if this child was in pain? Did y'all not see him get smacked hard across the room a couple chapters ago? The trio is lucky they're all cute so I'll forgive them especially since their smiles are precious.

They are pretty incredible, as one would imagine from a couple fullscore kids, though this kinda makes me wish Ray had a big moment like the other two. Don't get me wrong, I love him and my boy definitely put in a lotta work back at GF, even way before the series began, not to mention all the assistance he provided to Emma & their family after the escape, but destroying the entire demon nobility and making a promise with the demon god are pretty huge, ya know?

To be honest, I thought Sonju was on the verge of snapping here. We've known for about hundred chapters that he still craves human meat and was waiting patiently for his chance to eat it once again and now he's coming to the realization that wish of his won't be fulfilled. Due to his beliefs, he of course wouldn't eat our trio since they aren't wild humans, but just imagining the possibility of him turning on them here would've been kinda exciting to witness. Surely the conflict would be solved by talk-no-jutsu from both Emma & Mujika and I could just feel the tension of having him & Ray pointing their weapons at each other which would be so good since they sorta have that teacher-student relationship yet still respect one another. Norman would kinda be a little clueless in the middle, though definitely fearing for his life since he originally had the intention to kill Sonju & Mujika.

I understand why it would be hard for Sonju to be accepted as the next king, but ya could've still tried, dude. Even if he didn't want the position in the first place, he literally could not have been any worse than Legravalima. She set the bar pretty low.

Pfftt I like how we see Norman react a bit to Mujika's words here. The dude took several fans to create a whole inferno with that extermination plan of his.

I honestly would've been so sad if this was their true last goodbye but thankfully they make a last minute appearance in ch178.

Just let it happen, Sonju. You can't fight a protagonist's affection.

When Emma brings up all the demons she's met over the years and how they take lives to eat just as humans do, she eventually brings up death and I always loved the different reactions we see between Norman and Ray, with the former being far more surprised than the latter to even hear our optimistic sunshine child think about something so depressing, as Norman tends to always see Emma in a positive light. It could also be the short amount off time Norman's seen Emma since their initial reunion back at the paradise hideout so they didn't really get the chance to indulge in their own personal struggles with everything else going on, which could also explain Ray's expression. He seems far more understanding since he's been at Emma's side ever since the escape (minus the three weeks after GP) so it's safe to say he knows her worries firsthand and can even empathize about the similar thoughts, even if we as readers never saw such a conversation happen between them regarding death before. (also really love that group shot of their whole family. a nice attempt to lighten the mood here.)

Okay, now this scene of Emma imagining her death has fascinated me for the longest time. The main reason being because it's uncertain when and where it takes place, but as I had rambled on about three years ago, I still believe this moment happens right after Emma made the promise with the demon god. To give as brief summary of that post as possible, I started off by wondering how Emma seemed relatively fine upon her return from the Seven Walls in ch144, despite learning that she was gonna lose her memories and be separated from her family, even going as far as to say "Oh. That was okay too. I'll tell you later!" when Ray had asked the requirements of the reward. Of course her response is sorta deflecting, but in all fairness, they did have to rush to capital to stop Norman's plan. It's also understandable that she kept the reward a secret to prevent her family from worrying about her, since no matter what they would say, the reward couldn't be refused. Demon god was cunning with his choice and wouldn't change His mind, so Emma had no choice but to accept it, so how was it that our girl, who is known for having such a huge heart of gold, seemed "okay" with the fact that she would lose everything that's so important to her? Well, for one, she's a brilliant actor, as this series has demonstrated several times in the past, so chalk up that quick conversation as another successful performance by her. I think another reason behind her "good' mood is that Emma had already taken time to herself to grieve about her future loses and it's this flashback right where I think that moment of reflection takes place. Once again in ch144, Ray informs Emma (& us) that it's been three hours since he first returned from the Seven Walls, which leads me to believe that Emma gave herself that much time (though probably a bit less, depending on how long the conversation with demon god actually took) thinking over the price of the reward, what would happen to her afterwards, if she could've worded the promise differently to prevent all that, etc. This girl adores her family and would do absolutely anything for them, but to live a life without them has gotta be the worst kind of punishment for her that she'd rather die than to experience it, so she eventually wonders what could be the best possible way to make that happen, if it truly had to, and remembers Sonju & Mujika.

Now, obviously, I could be completely wrong about that panel (& im splitting up these thoughts in half because i know long blocks of text are intimidating), but as I brought up in that same post from 2020, I'm still certain it happens sometime after GP, if her hair in the braid is anything to go by at least. The way she's laying down is also similar to how Ray shows up at paradise hideout once he was kicked out of the Seven Walls, though one could argue why did Emma appear somewhere outside instead of inside the base as well. Maybe she asked demon god to transport her there, I dunno, He works in weird ways. Anyways, another detail to take note of is the full moon, which is kinda important since she & Ray left for the Seven Walls during a full moon, as shown in ch130/131 since the ritual to arrive at the entrance requires one. The only nitpick about the moon however is that Anna mentions in ch144 that it's the afternoon when Emma returns, so it might not have been dark enough to see the moon that clearly in the first place, unless the demon world works differently. Who knows. (& random, but in that old post of mine, i wondered if the kids were in the southern hemisphere due to how moon phases work, but Ray literally confirms in ch5 they're in the northern hemisphere due to the way the sun rises, so just ignore that little bit on nonsense if ya choose to read that original post back.) To this day I'm not entirely sure about when & where that panel of Emma contemplating death happens in the story, but I like holding onto this little headcanon regardless. Also, I didn't mention this in that old post since I only thought of it recently, but the shadows on her neck cover her number, so if this moment does take place after Emma learned the reward, then I say keeping her number hidden is a nice, little foreshadowing moment.

...Anyways, sorry not sorry about all that. I'll keep the rest short, like how Mujika finds Sonju's brief freak out over his lost meat amusing and how discouraged he becomes when she admits she has no idea how to fix their broken demon society situation.

Favorite panel/moment:

I mean.. I would hope my favorite moment was obvious enough with all the nonsense I rambled on about it, but aside from that and Sonju's silly, little breakdown, here's some cheerful kiddos. Look at how happy they are that I'm finally shutting up.

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

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