#where i was briefly convinced they were going to do the funniest possible thing and make silver draconia canon after all

[egophiliac]

GET LOVED, IDIOT

GET LOVED SO HARD YOUR KIDS HOLD HANDS AND POWER-OF-LOVE YOU BACK TO LIFE

sorry guys, this is just my brain now. this is going to be the only thing I think about for the next week at least.

oh and also this

FIVE YEARS IN AND IT'S FINALLY CANON 🎉🎉🎉

WE DID IT

[rosedive]

I Think He Knows - F.W.

Fred Weasley x Reader

Summary: Y/N gets drunk, and decides there's no better time to tell her boyfriend she loves him than the present.

Word Count: 3.9k

Warnings: Alcohol usage/intoxication!! There’s a make out scene. Also food. Otherwise mainly just fluff!

A/N: This is my first fic I’ve ever posted on here and the inspiration for it was born out of a drunken anon ask to @lumosandnoxwriting​ sooo here it is. I’ll probably end up writing another part about the next day and them recouping, but who knows. Totally open to any critiques/criticism/help anyone has to offer! Pictures are taken from Pinterest.

The flashing lights were bright and the music far too loud, but you didn’t care. You had liquid courage flowing through your veins and it was making it increasingly easier to lose yourself on the dance floor. Typically, you weren’t much of a dancer, but several shots of some pink liquid you had forgotten the name of had you abandoning all traces of your usual self. You swayed your hips to the rhythm of a song you didn’t know, giggling every time you made eye contact with Alicia or Angelina.

As the song playing came to an end, you gripped your best friends’ forearms and dragged them from the dance floor before another could start. You briefly heard their groans of protests but couldn’t find it in yourself to care.

“I want another drink!” You shouted over the music, pulling them towards the bar.

“We don’t need another.” Alicia pointed out, but she was now following you on her own accord, which told you she wouldn’t be protesting too much.

At the bar, you ordered another round of shots for the three of you—asking specifically for ‘whatever the pink one is called.’ The three of you clinked the small glasses together before raising them to your lips and throwing your heads back, allowing the liquid to leave a burning trail down your throat. 

“I’m going to call him.” You announced brightly, slamming your glass down on the bar.

“Y/N, we talked about this!” Angelina whined. “Tonight is supposed to be girl’s night. Plus, Fred’s out with his friends. You should give him his space.”

“Oh please, you act like that boy wouldn’t drop everything to rush over here and be with her.” Alicia rolled her eyes lightly, a knowing smile lighting up her face.

Her words caused you to blush furiously, which you attempted to hide by sliding your cellphone out of your back pocket and bringing it to your face. The screen was too bright, but as you fumbled around with trying to turn it down, you came to realize just how drunk you really were. You quickly gave up on trying to turn down the brightness and instead opened up the call app, clicking at the button that read ‘Recents’ before tapping the name right at the top. You barely registered Angelina’s disappointed groan as you brought the phone to your ear.

“Hello?” 

“Freddie!” You called out, a sweet giggle leaving your lips. You were filled with the most wonderful elation at speaking to your boyfriend, sending a flutter of butterflies alive through your stomach.

“Oh, hello, Y/N.” The voice chuckled. “This isn’t—”

“Where are you?” You interrupted him, rocking slightly on your heels. Angelina was people watching those out on the dance floor, while Alicia had taken up flirting with some bloke next to her.

“We’re still at Lee’s flat.” There was a pause, then he continued. “Y/N, this is George you called. How drunk are you?”

“I don’t think I’m that drunk. Let me ask Angie.” You paused, putting the phone on speaker so your friend could answer for you. “Ang, how drunk am I?”

“Very.” Angelina answered over the music, earning a laugh from George on the other end of the line. “’s that George? Lemme talk to him.”

Angelina took the phone from your hand, ignoring your pout as she did so, and switched it off of speaker mode. At first, you had tried to listen in on the conversation she was having with George, but you quickly got distracted. You hoisted yourself up into one of the bar seats, kicking your legs back and forth as you gazed around. After a few minutes, you were pulled from your drunken thoughts when Angelina nudged you with your phone.

“He hung up?” You pouted as you looked at the black screen. “Are they coming here?”

“No, they’re staying at Lee’s.” Angelina shook her head. “But they said they’d meet us back at your flat when we leave here.”

“Well, let’s go!” You quickly went to jump down from the stool, only for Angelina to place her hands on your shoulders and hold you in place.

“Uh uh, we’re gonna let you sober up a bit first.” She shook her head. “Don’t want you doing something you’ll regret tomorrow.”

“Especially when we know you’ll blame us.” Alicia now joined in, evidently blowing off the guy she had been flirting with only moments before.

Perhaps if you were even a little less drunk, you would have been annoyed by their statements. But currently, you were in a state of almost childlike happiness and wonder. You couldn’t help but let your mind wander to thoughts of your boyfriend, causing a cheesy grin to rise to your face. The past 6 months together had been some of the best of your life, and you often found yourself wondering why you two hadn’t gotten together sooner. You had always been friends during your Hogwarts years, but neither of you ever attempted to take that next step in your relationship until years after graduation. Now, you couldn’t be more thankful with the change.

“I’m going to tell him I love him.” You declared, saying the words out loud as more of a way to convince yourself than to inform them.

“What?” Alicia sputtered, shooting a worried glance to Angelina. “You mean, tonight?”

“I don’t see why not.” You shrugged. “I mean, I do love him. Why shouldn’t I tell him?”

“Y/N/N, don’t you think maybe you should wait until you’re sober?” Angelina looked at you hesitantly. “I mean, that’s kind of a big step.”

“You guys don’t get it,” You sighed, crossing your arms over your chest like a child being scolded. In your drunken mind, you knew that they would never understand the ins and outs of your relationship with Fred. The two of you had never put pressure on things that others deemed ‘the big stuff.’ Everything always had just come so naturally between you two, and you were convinced this should be no different. A small voice in the back of your head told you that the sober version of you would disagree, but you pushed it away. Your decision was made.

“This is like, exactly what we mean by you doing something you’ll regret and blaming us.” Alicia sighed. “So, you better not be mad at us tomorrow.”

“I won’t be, promise.” You affirmed. 

How could this possibly go wrong?

About an hour later, Angelina and Alicia had enough of the club environment and had decided you were sober enough that they could safely walk you back to your flat. The three of you gathered your things and your excitement bubbled inside of you at the prospect of finally getting to see Fred. You nearly skipped out of the club, Alicia and Angelina trailing close behind you, and into the cool night air. Almost immediately, your eyes were drawn to two heads of red hair, backs to you, talking at the edge of the sidewalk. Although they were nearly identical, there was something about one of their postures and energy, and you just knew that it was Fred. Before Angelina or Alicia could stop you, you were running and jumping on your boyfriend’s back, nearly sending him tumbling over.

“Freddie!” You squealed, attaching your arms firmly around his middle as your feet replanted on the ground. He swiveled in your hold, a bout of laughter leaving his lips, as he took in your presence.

“’s good to see you too, love.” He slurred, bending down at a slightly awkward angle to pepper your face with kisses. You giggled at the tickling feeling his lips left behind.

“Thought we were meeting you guys back at her flat?” Angelina questioned as she approached the three of you.

“That was the plan, but Freddie here has had one too many glasses of firewhisky and decided he couldn’t wait that long.” George rolled his eyes. “Said he’d go with or without me to find you guys, so we’ve just been waiting out here.”

“Great, so they’re both drunk off their asses.” Alicia feigned annoyance, but the small smile on her face as she gazed at her two friends public displays of affection showed that she wasn’t truly bothered.

“Alright, love birds, it’s bloody freezing out.” George clapped a hand down on Fred’s shoulder, pulling the older twin’s attention away from you for the first time. “Let’s get going, yeah?”

Fred nodded and held out his hand for you to take, which you happily accepted. The two of you lead the others, swinging your hands between you as you walked down the sidewalk. The entire time, you whispered and giggled back and forth, finding anything and everything to be the funniest thing you ever heard.

“Your hand is so tiny.” Fred giggled, halting your swinging motion to bring your interlaced fingers up and examine them. 

“Is not.” You pouted. You attempted to pull your hand from his, but his grip on you was firm. He used your conjoined hands to pull you closer to him, causing you to stumble slightly, which of course resulted in both of you giggling even more. Fred placed a kiss on each of your knuckles before letting both of your hands fall comfortably between you again.

“It is, but it’s cute.” He looked down at you dreamily, as if you were the most perfect thing he had ever laid his eyes on. In an instant, all of his drunk giddiness seemed to fade and he became uncharacteristically serious. “How did I get so lucky?”

“Hm.” You pretended to ponder the question, bringing your free hand up to tap your chin. “Dunno. I still think you must have me under some spell or potion.”

“Oh, right, how could I forget?” He grinned. “That reminds me, I’ve gotta make another batch of love potion before this one wears off and you leave me.”

“Wouldn’t want that, would we?” You teased back, knocking your shoulder into his.

“Never.” And you could tell, he was serious.

Up ahead you could see the familiar outline of your building. You hadn’t realized just how tired your feet were from walking in your heels, and you longed for nothing more than to slip them off and lie in Fred’s arms for the rest of the night. Nerves began to bubble in your stomach the closer you got, because you knew that meant you were just another step closer to finally telling him. While you hadn’t faltered in your decision, as you began to sober up slightly, you couldn’t help but be anxious for how he would respond. 

“Do we need to help you two get in?” George questioned once you finally were outside your building.

“We’ll be okay.” Fred shook his head. You cuddled into his side for warmth, causing him to raise your entangled hands and wrap his arm around your shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the side of your head, causing a dopey smile to rise onto your face.

“You’re sure?” Angelina looked between the two of you with raised brows. In response, you simply nodded. “Okay, well, call me tomorrow, alright?”

Both Alicia and Angelina sent you one last glance, one that you knew communicated how they didn’t encourage what you had told them earlier, before they all nodded and offered goodbyes, carrying on their way. Fred untangled your hands and removed his arm from your shoulder to open the door, dramatically bowing forward and extending an arm to allow you to enter first.

“After you, m’lady.”

You giggled loudly at his antics, skipping into the building and beginning towards the stairs. Fred  was hot on your heels, causing you to quicken your pace and run ahead of him, his laughter ringing out behind you as he tried to catch up to you.  Just as you turned on the first landing to continue up the steps, Fred’s hands caught your waist and began ticking your sides, causing your laughter to increase. You did your best to wriggle out of his grasp, which was much easier to do in his drunken state, and continued up the steps. Once on your floor, you quickly turned the corner and found the way to your flat, fumbling with your keys to get in before Fred caught up.

Unfortunately for you, you couldn’t seem to find the right key let alone slide it in to unlock the door, so Fred was able to catch up as you fumbled. You forgot your efforts and instead turned around and blocked the door, a drunken smirk on your face as you gazed up at your boyfriend.

“Sorry, you’re not allowed in.” You teased, crossing your arms over your chest.

“You’re really going to leave your sweet, loving boyfriend out in the hall, after he went out of his way to safely walk you back from the club?” 

“Mhm.” You nodded. “That is, unless you can tell me the password.”

Fred pretended to think for a moment, before he swooped his head down and pressed your lips together in a kiss. It was clumsy, both of your mouths seeming just a bit off center, but it was clear that neither of you cared. You tangled your arms around his neck, pulling him as close as possible, as he pressed your back against the door. He pulled back first, leaving you in lovesick bliss.

“Did you kiss the fat lady like that every time you forgot the password?” You teased once you were able to find your voice.

“Only sometimes.” Fred teased back.

You rolled your eyes playfully before unwinding your hands from behind his head and finally, successfully unlocking your front door. You pulled Fred into the flat by his collar, dragging him all the way to your living room before dropping down onto the couch and shuffling to let him cuddle up behind you. 

For a few moments, you both laid tangled in each other’s arms, listening to nothing but his heartbeat. The sound was rhythmic, and you knew if you didn’t speak up soon you’d fall asleep any minute. But, you weren’t ready to fall asleep yet. You wanted to stay up, to talk to him, to tell him exactly what was on your mind. So, you shifted awkwardly and held yourself up on your forearms to gaze at him.

“‘m hungry.” You declared, your bottom lip jutting out into a pout as you put on your best puppy dog eyes.

“’s too late to order something.” Fred sighed. “Lemme go look at what you have in your fridge.”

You sat up to let him get up, resisting the urge to sigh at his absence. From the kitchen, you could hear the familiar clatter as he riffled through your pots and pans and opened and closed various cupboards. Somehow the sound was like the sweetest melody. It was like a soundtrack of pure bliss, a reminder that he was there, with you, and that you were happy. In the simplest terms.

You shifted to lay down on your back and stare up at your ceiling, breathing in what you could only describe as domestic bliss. You were so wrapped up in your thoughts that you didn’t even hear him re-enter the room, your focus only being drawn away when the couch shifted from his weight. He lifted your legs to rest in his lap, his hand lightly rubbing up and down your ankle at a soothing rhythm.

“Got a quesadilla cooking.” He declared, his eyes tracing up and down your figure as you moved to sit up and look at him.

“Couldn’t stay away from me long enough to watch it?” You teased lightly.

“Can you blame me?” Fred grinned at you, giving your ankle a light squeeze.

You giggled at the contact before sitting up further, swinging your legs around to straddle his waist. You let your arms rest around his neck, a dopey smile on your face as you fiddled with the short hairs there. Fred leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against yours, causing you both to giggle further. 

“You’re my favorite person in the world, you know that?” Fred breathed out, bringing your foreheads to rest together. 

His words caused the familiar butterflies to erupt in your stomach, your smile widening even further. Some part of you knew this would be the perfect moment to tell him exactly how you felt. To tell him that your days are just a bit darker when he’s not around, and how he can make you laugh even when you want nothing more than to cry. You wanted to tell him how whenever he was gone on business trips, you could only fall asleep if you were wearing one of the old t-shirts he had left at your flat, or how you always seem to find something that made you think of him no matter where you were. But, your drunken brain was far from articulate, and your nerves seemed to have a firm grasp on your tongue, so instead, you simply pressed your lips to his.

Fred kissed you back passionately, and it was clear that neither of you minded that both of your mouths held the aftertastes of different alcohols. His lip glided along your bottom lip as his hands found your hips, steadying your movements. When you knocked your teeth together in the drunken kiss, you both pulled back for a moment to giggle, before the passion resumed.

Things seemed to carry on like that for several minutes, wanting nothing more than to be close to one another in every way possible, to be tangled up in anyway that you could, but having to pause every little bit to let out drunken giggles at the situation. You were certain no one had ever gotten you the way Fred Weasley got you, that no one could make you feel so comfortable, and that you were irrevocably in love with him.

Your sweet moment together was brought to a halt by the sound of a loud screeching coming from the kitchen. It took a moment for your brain to recognize it as the sound of your smoke alarm, but once it did you both were to your feet and rushing into the kitchen. Fred cursed under his breath at the clouds of smoke rising from the skillet and quickly set to turn off the burner. You grabbed a drying towel from the counter and began to wave it by the alarm, attempting to cease the godawful beeping it was letting out. After a few minutes, the sound did cease and the smoke cleared, allowing you to breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s burnt.” Fred pouted, lifting the skillet to show you the blackened quesadilla. 

You weren’t sure if it was the childlike expression on his face or the fact that you both had entirely forgotten about it in the first place, but you couldn’t help but erupt into a fit of laughter. Fred looked at you for a moment as if he were offended by your giggling, before turning his attention the burnt quesadilla, then back to you, and beginning to laugh as well. It was all so absurd and truthfully far from funny, but in that moment, nothing could make you laugh harder.

Fred slid the quesadilla in the garbage before placing the skillet in the sink, resigning to washing it later. In the meantime, you had grabbed the bag of shredded cheese and hoisted yourself up on the counter, swinging your legs as you scooped out a handful of the cheese and began to eat it.

Fred turned and smiled fondly at your actions, crossing the kitchen to settle himself between your legs. He opened his mouth and you wordlessly registered what he was requesting, leaning forward to drop some of the cheese into his mouth. Both of you continued to giggle lightly, feeling nothing but elation as you remained in each other’s presence. 

You raised your hand to offer Fred a bit more of the cheese, smiling warmly when he opened his mouth to accept some. The two of you weren’t as in sync as you might normally be, considering your varying levels of intoxication, and as you dropped some of the cheese onto his tongue you were too slow to remove your hand and he was too quick to bite down, causing him to nip your finger lightly.

You pulled your hand back hastily and Fred’s eyes widened as if he had just mortally wounded you. He swallowed the remaining cheese in his mouth before speaking up, taking your hand in his to examine it.

“Did I hurt you? Are you okay? Merlin, I am so sorry. Are you bleeding? You must be bleeding.”

You weren’t. 

His rambling and concern for you caused you to tilt your head back and let out a loud bout of laughter. 

“‘m fine, Freddie.” You assured, leaning forward to press your lips to his and squash his worries. 

Fred brought your hand to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to the finger he had just bit, nodding to himself after as if to convince himself that now you were fine. Truly, it was just about the cutest thing you had ever seen.

You spent the next few moments polishing off the bag of shredded cheese, Fred abundantly more careful not to nip your fingers anymore. You chatted lightly, talking about every drunk thing that crossed your mind. Once the cheese was gone Fred poured the both of you a glass of water, sloshing it around slightly as he tried to balance them both in one hand and extend the other to you. You hopped down from the counter and accepted his hand, allowing him to guide you back to your bedroom. He spilled nearly half of each water on the way, mostly on himself, but neither of you could find it in you to care. 

Once inside, you threw yourself down into the center of your bed, extending your hands out in a grabbing motion as Fred set the glasses on your nightstand. Neither of you could be bothered to change into pajamas, so you settled by kicking off your shoes and doing your best to get comfortable in the dress you sported. 

Fred kicked off his shoes as well before crawling over to you and collapsing nearly entirely on you. He laid on his stomach and wound his arms around your waist, his head finding the crook of your neck and pressing a few soft kisses there. You wound your arms around his neck, your legs tangling together. Truthfully, it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but you had him close, and that was all that mattered.

You listened to the sound of his breathing as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Your mind was screaming at you to say the words that had been plaguing you almost all night, before it was too late. Now was your chance.

But, then, you noticed that Fred’s breathing had shallowed significantly and light snores had begun to leave his lips. You breathed out a sigh of disappointment from missing your opportunity, mentally cursing yourself and your nerves.

As if the sleeping boy in your arms could read your thoughts, his grip around you tightened, holding onto you as if his life depended on it. The small action brought a smile to your lips as your eyes fluttered shut.

Perhaps you could wait to tell him that you loved him until the morning. Besides, some part of you was aware that he already knew.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

hi! random question that you’re not obligated to answer (i just love your ka metas): do you think that aang acted like he was entitled to katara’s affection? sorry for the bother if this is a question you’ve gotten before, i’m just curious about your thoughts

Hi anon! It’s always lovely to hear people like my metas 💛 And you’re in luck - I have not gotten this specific question before, though I have answered similar questions, and as such I will probably link those posts throughout.

Forewarning: I use the general you very liberally in this post, so like. It’s not directed at you, anon djhskdjsajs I don’t want you think my sarcasm is in response to your ask (your ask was very lovely!! 💕)

Okay. Let’s get started! The funniest thing about the (nonsensical) claim that Aang acted “entitled” to Katara’s affection is that there is no canon evidence to support it. Opponents more often than not can only bring up one (1) episode as an example of supposed “entitlement” because no other Kataang interactions in the series demonstrate entitlement from either end! Like, wow. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. And I’m sure we all know what episode opponents love to propagate, don’t we?

Yep, you guessed it: “The Ember Island Players.”

From the get-go, the fact that people who vigorously oppose Kataang essentially only appeal to the contents of one episode for Aang’s supposed “entitlement” is a major indicator that, in fact, the entitlement is not truly there, and that those opponents are actually misconstruing the entire episode. I mean, if you are trying to make an argument about something but you only have one piece of “evidence” to support your claim, then a) any half-decent teacher/professor would fail you, rip and b) that’s a sign that maybe your claim doesn’t hold water. If you can’t find evidence to support it, then you’re probably looking at your case from the wrong angle. Analysis 101.

As such, I find the “entitlement” claim particularly ridiculous because opponents repeat the same faulty rhetoric over and over! The only people that might be convinced are those with confirmation bias. I’m sure that’s their audience, of course, but it’s still hilarious dfjaksdasks.

Anyways. Here’s the excerpt from the EIP transcript that opponents l o v e to spotlight with their “entitlement” claims:

Aang: Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?

Katara: In where? What are you talking about?

Aang: On stage, when you said I was just like a… brother to you, and you didn’t have feelings for me.

Katara: I didn’t say that. An actor said that.

Aang: But it’s true, isn’t it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.

Katara: Aang, I don’t know.

Aang: Why don’t you know?

Katara: Because, we’re in the middle of a war, and we have other things to worry about. This isn’t the right time.

Aang: Well, when is the right time?

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

Aang tries to kiss Katara.

Katara: I just said I was confused! I’m going inside. [Exits the balcony.]

Aang: Ugh, I’m such an idiot! [Puts down his head on the balcony railing.]

Opponents claim Aang’s behavior is “entitled” here for two reasons:

1) He asks Katara several questions about their relationship status.

2) He kisses her.

Before I get too far into this, we have to consider the context of the episode. Katara and Aang have this conversation after just watching 95% of “The Boy in the Iceberg,” aka Fire Nation propaganda. I have talked about the specifics of the play being imperialist propaganda here, but the gist of it is that this play is meant to demean the Gaang, to portray them as lesser and weaker than the Fire Nation. The fact that the play ends with Ozai’s victory is a stark reminder of this mentality. So: Katara and Aang have just watched this play that preys upon their insecurities and paints them as awful caricatures of their true selves. It is only natural that they would be more tense than usual. The reason I bring this up is solely to inform their conversation on the balcony, however; I don’t think their frustration solely defines what they say/do, but it’s worth keeping in mind, “Hey, they’re stressed and upset, of course this conversation might not go perfectly.”

Now, I have talked about the infamous EIP kiss before and approached all the rhetoric surrounding it like Snopes Fact Checker in this post, lmao. I did discuss in there why the kiss is wrong, which no one has ever argued against, but also why the kiss is simply a mistake: not sexual assault, not entitlement, not an unforgivable decision. I’ve copied and pasted specifically my notes on the “entitlement” claim below regarding the kiss, but if you have time, I definitely recommend the whole post jksdhjasdka (I’m quite proud of it). Anyways! Here’s the excerpt:

Claim: Aang acted entitled to Katara and her affection.

Status: False.

I’ve briefly addressed this already, but Aang backing off when Katara pushed him away is the exact opposite of entitlement. An impromptu kiss is not always indicative of entitlement. It can be, especially if the person being kissed has never expressed any interest in the person kissing them, but Katara and Aang were mutually interested in each other. They’d mutually kissed twice already by that point: in CoTL and during DoBS. The EIP kiss was inappropriate. NO ONE HAS EVER SUGGESTED OTHERWISE. But when you’re 12 and you’re already kind of in this semi-relationship with a girl you’ve been through hell and high water with (who has kissed you twice on the lips and on the cheek multiple times, not to mention it is only you she ever expresses such affection towards), it is not fucking “entitlement” to make a move on her, even when the timing is off. IT’S JUST A MISTAKE. A POOR DECISION. NOT ENTITLEMENT. NOT MANIPULATION. NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT. Full stop.

Also, these EIP people love to call Aang entitled for this kiss, but there isn’t a single peep heard from them about Zuko’s line in TSR where he demands to know what’s “wrong” with Katara, since she hasn’t forgiven him yet when everyone else has. And look. I think Zuko was just frustrated here, and that he, too, made a mistake and is obviously not irredeemable for it, but. If you’re going to argue that Aang was entitled in EIP, you’d better be ready to acknowledge the argument that Zuko was acting entitled in TSR, too. And hell, let’s take it a step further! Call Aang entitled for EIP. Call Zuko entitled for TSR. Call Sokka entitled for choosing to stay at Boiling Rock on the off chance his father would arrive, thus making Suki and Zuko feel obligated to stay behind with him, effectively putting all of them in danger. What an entitled decision, risking his friends’ lives on the 0.01% chance Hakoda would be one of the many, many possible war prisoners arriving at Boiling Rock!

Damn. That sounds ridiculous as fuck, doesn’t it?

And guess what. That’s exactly how the “Aang was entitled” arguments come across. Hate to break it to you. Trust me when I say to do yourself a favor and stop perpetuating that faulty rhetoric!

So that is what I have already assessed, lol.

To be frank, the most frustrating thing I see perpetuated is that the EIP kiss somehow ruined Aang and Katara’s relationship. But when it comes to assessing weighty issues like the notion of “entitlement” in a relationship, the fact of the matter is that you have to look at both the relationship as a whole and the context in which it is situated. Opponents never want to do that, because doing so debunks their entire (baseless) argument, lmao. Katara and Aang are best friends. And by EIP, they have both expressed romantic interest in each other multiple times. (Here is a post explaining the development of Katara’s feelings for Aang, just to put out that fire before anyone sets it lmao.)

So why, why do opponents think Katara would never find it in herself to forgive Aang for a mistaken kiss? Katara is shown over and over again throughout the series to have one of the biggest hearts. She wants to see the good in people. That’s why she gives Jet a second chance (even though a person could argue he did not “deserve” one); that’s why she helps the Fire Nation village in “The Painted Lady”; that’s why she forgives Pakku (once she sees he’s willing to change); that’s why she is the second person in the entire show (excluding Iroh) to offer Zuko a hand of kindness (in CoD)! That’s why she eventually forgives Zuko, even after all he has done to the Gaang (e.g. sending an assassin after them, being complicit in Aang’s death, attacking her and kidnapping Aang at the NWT, manipulating her with her mother’s necklace, to name a few, lmao. bless his heart, but like Jet, someone could easily argue Zuko doesn’t “deserve” another chance - and yet Katara still gave him [and Jet] one. in fact, she gave Zuko multiple).

In other words, Katara is almost always willing to extend friendship and compassion and forgiveness to others - why would she revoke that privilege from Aang after a single error that is comparatively lesser to all the other horrible things she’s experienced in the war? Again, I’m not downplaying how terrible of a decision Aang made. It’s inexcusable. But it’s not the end of the world, and considering the context of the show (e.g. Aang and Katara liked each other and they both knew it), it’s… not some heinous crime. Compared to, oh, how about attempted murder? lmaoo

Even beyond Katara’s innate kindness, Aang is Katara’s best friend. She loves him. The show portrays it as romantic through the seasons, but even if someone isn’t into shipping (which is super valid), Katara and Aang’s connection is one of the primary lynchpins of the show! (The other being Aang and Zuko, the greatest foils of all time.) Katara and Aang epitomize several of A:TLA’s thematics (and aesthetics) because they are complementary: yin and yang, push and pull, Tui and La, moon and ocean, blue and orange, water and air. This gifset and related commentary beautifully demonstrate how even when Katara and Aang disagree, they respect the other’s the decision. So after 60~ episodes depicting Aang and Katara as having mutual respect and love for each other in every form as well as emphasizing Katara’s natural inclination towards kindness/giving people the benefit of the doubt, opponents still think Katara wouldn’t forgive Aang because of one mistimed, inappropriate kiss? What?? Make it make sense, lmao.

In sum, the kiss was a mistake, not an act of entitlement, and it’s absurd to think Katara would hold that against Aang for the rest of his life.

To backtrack a bit, opponents also love to use the fact that Aang asked Katara several questions about their relationship status as examples of his “entitlement.” Just typing that out highlights the ridiculous nature of this assertion, lmao! Let me rephrase it for maximum hilarity:

“Aang was unsure about where their relationship stood? Well, how dare he ask numerous questions to resolve his confusion!”

Like, what was the alternative jskfajksdas if you are in relationship limbo with someone, it is far better to ask them ‘too many’ questions for clarification than to simply assume one way or the other! Kissing Katara was wrong, flat-out, but asking her questions to better understand where they were in their relationship was like. exactly the right decision, lmao. I genuinely don’t see how that could be indicative of entitlement? Especially because, once again, Aang and Katara both like each other and they both know that by this point in the show. That’s why Aang doesn’t ask if Katara likes him - he knows she does. That’s why Katara doesn’t negate her feelings - she knows she’s interested in him, and the blockade between them is not a lack of reciprocation, but the fact that they’re “in the middle of a war” and consequently it’s not “the right time” for them to begin a relationship. Katara has seen Aang die before! She knows he’s facing a near-impossible victory! I can’t blame her for not wanting to start a relationship with him at that point. It would hurt twice as much to lose him again if they were together in a romantic fashion (amatonormativity, am I right?). Again, Aang’s kiss was entirely inappropriate, but him asking her questions about their relationship is a) an example of fostering healthy communication and b) what any therapist would encourage, lol.

Oh, but I’m “forgetting” something, aren’t I? Right. This line:

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

If we want to talk about parallels, which I know the A:TLA fandom adores, this line sounds suspiciously like:

Yue: … but I like you [Sokka] too much and it’s too confusing to be around you.

Yue and Katara are actually in similar situations here. Outside forces are interfering with their relationships; for Yue, there is her arranged marriage, and for Katara, it’s the life-or-death nature of the war itself. They aren’t confused about their feelings, as Yue knows she likes Sokka and Katara knows she likes Aang, but they are confused about how to reconcile those feelings with their external circumstances. And can you blame them for that? They are facing impossible decisions (the fate of their nation and the fate of the world respectively). I would be confused, too! So Katara’s response isn’t a reaction to any so-called “entitlement” from Aang; she is experiencing genuine confusion about how to approach her own feelings for him in the midst of a war.

In sum, Aang asking questions about their relationship was a logical step to take resolving his confusion and is in no way related to “entitlement.” Katara’s confusion was not “letting Aang down easy” and interpreting it as such requires disregarding every preceding line of the conversation and its context.

As you can see, Aang’s actions in EIP are not at all “entitled.” His questions were understandable. While his kiss was inappropriate and inexcusable, it was also a mistake, and there is no canon evidence to support the conclusion Katara would never be able to forgive him (her literal best friend!) for it.

Before I end, I’ll touch briefly upon the DotBS kiss, because it is also occasionally used as an example of Aang’s “entitlement” towards Katara’s feelings. Whether you like the trope or not, this moment falls under what is called the “Now or Never Kiss.” TV Tropes actually lists Kataang/DotBS as an example under the Western Animation tab:

“Avatar: The Last Airbender: The fact that he’s finally going to face the dreaded Firelord, and possibility that he might not come back alive from that battle, gives Aang enough motivation to kiss Katara.”

Again, whether you like the trope or not, it involves reciprocation from both parties:

“The Not-A-Couple [i.e. both parties] don’t want to go out without revealing how they [i.e. both parties] really feel. It’s now or never. They kiss.”

Katara and Aang both like each other. When Aang initiates the DotBS kiss, Katara kisses him back. Her lips are still puckered when he pulls away. Furthermore, Katara had initiated a kiss with Aang prior to this incident, in CoTL. Katara was also the one to initiate every cheek kiss with Aang (who is the only character she ever demonstrated such affection towards). So Aang kissing Katara during DotBS follows an established precedent of Katara initiating different kisses, romantically inclined, with Aang. It’s not entitlement; it’s him knowing they mutually like each other and him realizing this might be the last time he ever sees her. Again, you can hate the trope, but don’t blatantly misconstrue its meaning. You’ll sound like Fire Nation propaganda, lmao. (For clarification, jic: the general you. not anon!)

Here is a fantastic post by @imreallyhereforkataang explaining the DotBS kiss in more detail as well as discussing why Kataang’s progression in the second half of Book 3 was, in fact, well-developed, and how Katara and Aang are best friends above all else and know that (which was the core of their relationship from the start).

And a bonus fun fact: in the original storyboard (link takes you to storyboarder Giancarlo Volpe’s DeviantArt with said storyboard), it is noted that Katara smiles after Aang kisses her. Why? Because she likes him as much as he likes her! It was changed by a “higher authority,” according to Volpe, probably to add more realism to the romance (i.e. Katara likes Aang, yes, but as she herself points out in EIP - there’s a war going on, and love is always terrifying to reconcile with war).

(Seriously, though, do read Volpe’s description on the storyboard. Takes you a second to scroll down and maybe a minute to read. Short yet informative, discussing how you can see on the storyboard itself that someone revised the image so Katara isn’t smiling after the kiss.)

Anyways! Opponents’ argument that Katara wasn’t interested in Aang therefore is and has always been entirely inapplicable.

To conclude: the entitlement assertion is laughable. There is no canon evidence to support it. As such, I encourage you to laugh whenever you see it! Pull an Azula, for that matter:

[ID: Gif from “The Beach” episode of A:TLA. Ty Lee, mimicking a guy, asks Azula, “Hey there sweet sugar cakes. How ya likin’ this party?” Azula proceeds to burst into exaggerated laughter, earning stares from everyone else at the party. End ID.]

Thank you for the great ask, anon! Hopefully my response was satisfactory 💛

[actinglikethat]

We Can Never Be Friends - MGK Imagine

Plot: Despite you and Colson breaking up a year ago, you still have feelings for him and suspect he might still have some for you. But a wrench is thrown in your thoughts when he brings another girl to a hangout.

A/N: Yay, this is the first writing I’m posting here! It’s loosely based on a dream I had and it’s kinda angsty/full of pining but I have a part two in the works 👀 (also idk how to write these describer things so bear with me lmao)

Warnings: One scene describes the plot of a movie Colson’s starring in (in the story) and it briefly mentions kidnapping.

You and Colson had broken up a year ago, after mutually deciding that his tour schedule and the demands of his career put too much of a strain on your relationship. Despite the way your romance ended, it was an amicable breakup and you stayed friends afterwards. Although you didn’t want to admit it, you were still in love with him. Between his looks, his dedication to his art, and his commitment to being a good father to Casie, you couldn’t help but feel like maybe you should’ve pushed harder to keep him. 

There were a lot of moments at hangouts and house parties where you thought he laughed a little too long at your stories, or maintained eye contact for a few seconds more than he should’ve, that made you think maybe he felt the same way. You tried asking the likes of Pete, Rook, and Slim whether he talked about you often, or if they knew how he felt, but their answers weren’t what you wanted to hear. 

As you got ready for a hangout at Rook’s one night, you found yourself putting on Colson’s favorite dress of yours, along with a necklace he got you two birthdays ago. You wore that outfit on countless dinner dates and to the studio a few times, and you gave yourself a melancholy smile in the mirror as you looked back. Casie thought that dress brought out your eyes well. She also thought you might become her stepmother one day. 

Once you got to Rook’s, you made your rounds around the living room to say hi to everyone, coming to Colson last. His gaze immediately went to the necklace, then the dress, then to your face, his face dropping. He muttered a quick “hey,” gave you an awkward hug, and sat back down. It was clear you had gotten into his head, so you figured you’d sit next to him on the couch.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said as you stepped over. “Jasmine’s sitting there.” 

The smile you had on your face a moment earlier fell, and you looked over your shoulder at the rest of the group, hoping to make eye contact with someone who could tell you who this “Jasmine” was. Pete offered you a sympathetic smile, making room on the other couch next to him. 

“Who the hell is Jasmine?” You quietly asked him as you sat down.

“New girlfriend,” he said. “They met on the set of that new movie he’s filming in Calabasas. She’s a lot like you, you know. I think you’d be good friends if it weren’t for the fact that she’s dating the star-crossed love of your life.”

You elbowed him in the side as a girl you had never met came into the room. Her eyes instantly fell on you, and she smiled as she walked over.

“Hey, you must be Y/N! I’m Jasmine, it’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“Yeah, you too!”

“Everyone’s told me so much about you, Colson and Rook always say you’re one of the sweetest, funniest people they’ve met.”

“Do they?” You felt your heart fall to your stomach.

“All the time! I have a feeling we’ll get along well.”

“Same,” you fibbed. She smiled and took her seat next to Colson, joining in whatever conversation he was having with Slim and Noah. 

You leaned back on the couch, almost regretting showing up. 

“I didn’t wanna tell you he still talks about you,” Pete said. “I figured it’d kinda sting now that he’s taken.” 

“She took him alright,” you muttered, earning a laugh. “I just, I don’t know. I thought maybe there was a chance he’d wanna take me back.” 

“It’s possible, I think. I mean, it’s Colson, how long do we think this will really last?”

“We were together for a year and seven months. Who knows?” 

He sighed, unsure of how to comfort you. 

As the night went on, you made conversation with most people in the room, aside from Colson and Jasmine. You wanted to talk to them, partly so Jasmine didn’t think you were a bitch and partly because talking to Colson was one of your favorite things to do. After some convincing, you got Pete to go over with you, scared that going alone would become an awkward third-wheel situation. 

Pete was right, you and Jasmine had a lot in common. It was easy for you two to find things to discuss, and she seemed like a really genuine, fun person. Pete occasionally chimed in to tell you other things you had in common, but Colson was practically silent the whole time. 

A little while after you started talking, Jasmine excused herself to the kitchen to go get another drink. You turned to Pete, unsure what to do without Jasmine there, and he started asking Colson more about his new movie. 

“It’s a romcom, which I haven’t really done before,” he said. “A guy’s with this girl and they break up over some stupid shit, and the whole movie they’re trying to win each other back without knowing it.”

Your gaze had been alternating between the floor and the rest of the room, but you noticed that Colson was looking directly at you while he described the film. You looked up at him almost mournfully, wondering if there was any real-life connection to the plot. Noah pulled Pete aside to show him something, leaving you and Colson standing alone.

“That sounds like a nice movie,” you commented, hoping to make the situation less awkward. “I know what that’s like.”

“Me too,” he sighed. He bit his lip, looking pensive, like he was trying to find the right words for whatever he wanted to say next. He didn’t get to say it though, since Jasmine returned before he could open his mouth. 

“I was just telling Y/N about the movie,” Colson explained.

“Oh, it’s such a fun one. The whole premise is so disturbing. I mean, what kind of a sicko would hold his daughter-in-law for ransom in a shed?”

You furrowed your brow, contemplating whether Colson was actually describing the movie earlier. “Uh, yeah, that’s so twisted.”

Pete rejoined the group and started rambling about whatever Noah showed him, but you couldn’t pay enough attention to follow what he was saying. Whenever he said something funny, you glanced over at Colson to see if he was laughing. It was exactly what you’d do at these hangouts when you were dating. When he noticed you looking up at him, he’d smile and put his arm around you, if he was next to you. 

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Jasmine asked, noticing your expression drop. Upon hearing this, Colson looked up at you, and Pete turned to look at you too, but he already knew the answer.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“I could drive you home in a little bit if you want, I have work in the morning so I’m not staying too late,” she offered. 

“Thanks, I’d really appreciate that.” As much as you wanted to stay, it was torture to see how happy Colson and Jasmine were together. It didn’t help that the guys and Noah already loved her so much. It frustrated you that no one warned you that she’d be there, but at the same time, they knew how much Colson meant to you and didn’t want to upset you.

After some more awkward small talk, Slim and Baze came over to ask Colson some questions about a song they were working on. Jasmine excitedly chimed in, offering some production ideas. Pete could tell you were uncomfortable, so he put his hand on your back, nudging you towards the kitchen.  

Once it was just the two of you, Pete grabbed you a water bottle from the fridge, then sat down in a barstool next to the counter. 

“Come into my office, kid,” he said, pulling out another stool for you.

“I don’t know what to do,” you sighed, sitting down next to him.

“It’s a tricky situation to be in. But after tonight, I really think he’s still into you.”

“Why would he bring Jasmine here then? Especially knowing I was coming.”

“I dunno. I don’t think he knows, either. But the way he looked at you when you first got here? Then he looked crushed when you couldn’t sit next to him.”

“I dunno, Pete. It’s Colson we’re talking about, he’s not exactly a saint.”

“You’re not wrong, but I think there’s something there.”

Before you could think of something to say, Jasmine came in to tell you she was gonna go warm up the car. You nodded and started saying goodbye to everyone. You couldn’t find Colson, so you wandered around the house to see where he was.

You finally bumped into him in the hallway, after he came out of the bathroom.

“Uh, hey,” he said. “You heading out?”

“Yeah, Jasmine’s warming up the car.”

“Alright. Well, it was nice to see you again.”

He pulled you into a hug much warmer than the one he gave you earlier, and you closed your eyes against his chest, not wanting to have to say goodbye again. His arms lingered a bit longer than they should have, and as you pulled away, he kissed your forehead before sighing.

“Get home safe,” he muttered, returning to the living room and leaving you in the hall.

[sintatae]

camera roll

camera roll // 2984 words (previously on old acc chimtaehyvng)

…in which the lines between being best friends and being in love are blurred and documented.

pairing: taehyung x reader genre: f2l, angst, breakup/makeup, fluff, annoying kids

You and Taehyung had known each other for a long time. You were there for each other’s graduations, and there when he started pursuing music and stardom. It was always a Skype call away between the two of you. You knew everything about each other, could tell what each other wanted in whatever mood you were in.

The love you shared wasn’t one that was predictable, it was a love that blossomed and grew before you even realized what was happening. It was one of those loves that snuck up on you. You promised between the two of you that you wouldn’t become one of those cliché couples, promising to be best friends before anything else.

Being best friends with Taehyung meant that you had a gazillion silly pictures of him saved on your phone. Pictures of screenshotted snapchats he’d sent you, pictures of him sleeping in weird positions from exhaustion, pictures of messy hair in the morning. Any kind of silly picture? You had it.

Being in love with Taehyung meant that the screenshots of snapchats he sent you were ones sent in adoration and longing for you whenever he was away. Being in love with him meant that the pictures of him sleeping in awkward positions were taken after spending hours on the couch together catching up in each other’s presence, even after you were both exhausted from the jobs you led. Being in love with him meant that the messy hair in the morning was created by you and you alone after trying to wake him up.

It shouldn’t have been such a surprise to you when the pictures slowly and gradually stopped being taken and saved. You really thought that you could blame it on the distance and on the constant time differences and travelling, but when even the Skype calls and texts became a commodity to come by, you knew it was something else.

When you broke up, he had said that he just wanted to go back to being best friends. And you had only agreed because you didn’t think you could handle not having Taehyung in your life, after being together for so long. And you both tried, you really did. But for lack of a better word, it was weird.

It had been the first family get-together of the year, and you had reluctantly agreed to go to your mom and dad’s house for dinner. It was also the first family party you’d go to without Taehyung by your side, cracking jokes all night and schmoozing your parents. It had been a few weeks after you had broken up, your calls and texts rare and down to once or twice a week (at most) despite agreeing to keep close.

Your family had known that you both had decided to just stay friends, but even after telling them you were okay with it, you didn’t miss the concerned looks they sent each other when you had kept to yourself during the party.

You see, your parents had always been your biggest critics especially when it came to Taehyung (I mean, they claim to have set you guys up from when you were little, so you should technically owe it all to them), however they had to step aside when it came to your six-year-old niece.

Your niece was always outspoken, taking after your sister, never knowing when to hold back even when the situation presented itself as awkward. She would always say the funniest things, something that Taehyung just loved and ate up. He loved how sassy she could be, always purposely provoking her after winning at one of the board games she had broken out of the closet.

You remember shaking your head at him as your niece would get so riled up and start pouting, Taehyung eventually giving in and poking her on the nose to get her to stop. In which she’d just giggle and hug him tightly. Needless to say, your niece just adored Taehyung. Possibly more than you. (Oh yeah, without a doubt).

Just as you were taking another sip of the wine that your sister had given you (to loosen up, she said), you felt someone tug at the bottom of your skirt.

“Where’s Taehyungie?” Your niece asked you, while holding a box full of Jenga pieces.

“Oh. Um, he’s not coming tonight, sweetie.” You said, setting down the glass of wine. “But I can play with you, if you want.”

“Hmm… That’s okay.” She’d say, pouting. “Can you call him and tell him to come?”

“Um, I think he’s busy tonight.” You said, even though you knew your smart little niece wasn’t buying it.

“You’re not friends anymore, are you?” She’d say, your eyes widening. “I can tell because usually if he couldn’t come, you’d be ignoring Mommy so you could talk to him on the phone.”

You could only scoff in disbelief at the six-year-old, sputtering out a reply.

“Um, no I wouldn’t, he’d be the one messaging me anyway. B-but, that doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is he’s not here and if you don’t want me to play with you, then you can play alone.” You’d say, downing the rest of your wine.

Your niece would only huff and cross her arms, walking away from you, probably going to tattle to your sister that you were being mean. If Taehyung had been there, he’d probably laugh at how grouchy you were being, and team up with your niece against you in a game of Battleship, loser having to kiss the other team and beg for forgiveness. (And of course, you’d lose. Every. Time.)

You rolled your eyes as you thought of Taehyung once again. Annoyed that you had seemingly become one of those girls that couldn’t function without their boyfriend at social events. Except he wasn’t your boyfriend anymore, he was your best friend. Sort of.  Maybe?

You sighed longingly as you briefly checked your last text conversation you had with Taehyung. It was about a week ago, and you both had awkwardly been talking about what he had done for New Year’s Eve with the boys since they were away. The conversation had consisted of a lot of dry texting, nothing like the animated texts you both had received before.

You huffed and downed the rest of your glass of wine, grabbing the bottle for a refill. You continued to do so the rest of the night, talking and mingling (and being a human) with your other family members, all the while sipping on your wine.

You were sitting by the fireplace when your parents came up from the basement, carrying a big three-ringed binder. Something you knew all too well.

Karaoke.

Your relatives clapped their hands and whooped, while your sister and you just groaned. Your family members were big karaoke lovers, thinking it was the best way to liven up any party. Your sister and you had grown up having staple karaoke songs that your parents would make you sing at every party, followed up by your grandmas and aunts pinching your cheeks and slipping you a couple of dollars. (Which you didn’t complain about.)

Oh, but your grandma just LOVED when Taehyung would sing during karaoke. There was one party, where after it had died down a bit, your grandma grabbed Taehyung’s hand and asked him to sing a little song. And of course, he’d say yes, always being the schmoozer.

Taehyung had picked an old, classic love song and upon starting to sing, he had begun to walk towards you. Convincing you to believe that he was just about to embarrassingly serenade you in front of all your family.

But nope, the idiot took a detour and swiped a rose out of the vase on the dining table, to kneel in front of your grandma and sing.

You smiled at the memory before quickly shaking your head and groaning. There you were again, thinking about Taehyung. You decided that you would wallow no more (at least where people can see you) and the next thing you knew, you had abandoned your glass of wine and had taken the bottle itself, trekking up the stairs to your old bedroom.

Walking through your old bedroom door, you scoffed when you had realized your parents had turned your old room into their storage area for their little miscellaneous things. You rolled your eyes and walked past all of their junk to your bathroom, taking a swig of your wine and figuring that laying in the tub will be the next best thing.

Hopping into the tub and leaning your head against a little folded towel, you pulled out your phone and continued on in your self-pity. You opened the folder you had of Taehyung at the height of your masochism. You smiled at the memories the two of you had, laughed at the playful faces he would make to ruin every cute picture you tried to take.

Your mind clouded by all of the wine you had consumed, your finger hovered over the call button below his contact picture.

“What are you doing?” Your niece said, interrupting your thoughts. “Are you trying to call Taehyungie?”

“What? No! I’m not doing anything—Hey! Give that back!” You said, while scrambling in the tub to reach the phone she had snatched away from you, your intoxicated self preventing you from being successful.

You knew you were too late when you heard the familiar ringing, realizing that your little angel of a niece had already pressed the call button. You covered your mouth in shock, and waited for Taehyung’s answer.

“Hello?” Taehyung answered, his deep voice sounding through the receiver of the phone. Your stomach reacting to his voice with the same butterflies as it always did.

“Taehyungie?! It’s me. Why aren’t you here, you big butthead?” Your niece whined into the phone.

“Oh uh, I—“ Taehyung said before your niece interrupted him.

“Were you just afraid that I was going to win against you again? You know, auntie’s been hiding in the bathroom because she’s just as bored as I am since you’re not here! You have to come here and fix this right now!” Your niece yelled into the phone.

You tried to stifle a laugh at how flustered Taehyung sounded on the phone, poor thing. Didn’t know what was coming for him.

“Sweetie, is your auntie there? Can I talk to her?” You heard Taehyung say, your eyes widening and shaking your head at your niece.

You mouthed no, I’m not here, to her before she shrugged and replied to Taehyung, saying “Yup, she’s right here. She’s laying in the bathtub being weird.”

You snorted again, not being able to keep in your laughter at this point—you weren’t sure if it was out of embarrassment or out of astonishment at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

Your niece shoved the phone to your ear, your giggles bubbling up to your throat.

“Hi Tae,” you said, “What’s up?”

“Hey! Um, so what’s all this about? Why’s the munchkin calling me and telling me I’m a butthead?” He said, and you could practically hear the smile behind his voice.

“Oh hahaha,” You replied. “Oh gosh, she’s being so funny right now because you’re not here. She literally came and found me in the tub, and took my phone and—“

“Why are you even in the tub?!” Taehyung said, laughing along with you.

“Well, because I miss you, silly!” You said, laughing again. “I may have drunk a little too much wine, and just wanted to lay down and the tub was my only choice.”

“Haha, okay fair enough.” Taehyung said, and you felt an air of silence because things were still awkward between you two. You sighed.

“Yeah okay. Well, I’ll tell you the truth, tonight was the first family get together after you and I broke up and of course the little one asked me where you were because she just absolutely adores you.” You said, the words tumbling out of your mouth faster before your mind could play catch-up.

“So basically, I’ve sat here in the tub for the past 30 minutes looking at cute, old pictures of you to feel okay, because you’re the only one I can have fun with even if the circumstances are as dry as this family party. And you know, my niece just adores you—“

“Hey, I—“ Taehyung said.

“So I’m sorry she called you and probably disturbed your sleep, or practice or whatever it is that you were doing—“ You spit out before Taehyung finally interrupted you.

“Hey! It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Umm…I’ll see you soon, okay?” Taehyung said, before you heard the phone call beep to an end.

You dropped your phone into your lap, facepalming at the realization that you’ve probably made your already awkward situation ten times worse. You pushed your phone further away from you, opting to close your eyes and forget the situation altogether.

It wasn’t until another twenty minutes of you wallowing in your tub of embarrassment that you heard a familiar voice downstairs, promptly joining your family in on their karaoke singing.

Is that…? It can’t be.

Oh, but it was. Before you knew it, your little niece had come running through the bathroom door.

“Auntie!! He’s here! Taehyungie’s here!!!!!” She shrieked of pure excitement, before running back down the stairs.

Your eyes widened as you jumped out of the tub, taking a quick look at yourself in the mirror (well, you had to make sure) and followed after her.

And there he was, in all his glory, charming your family just as he always had, singing and dancing to the cheesy song on the screen.

You shook your head, bewildered at the scene in front of you. Taehyung at that point had finished singing his song, while your family members applauded him and clapped him on the back. He sent you a small smile, before pointing towards the kitchen for you to follow him.

To which you did, swiping a wipe of lip balm onto your lips while you trailed after him into the kitchen. (Hey, better safe than sorry!)

You both leaned against the counter as he smiled down at you, nudging your arm with your elbow before the two of you broke out into laughter.

“What are you doing here, Tae?” You asked him, finally letting yourself smile back at him.

“Well,” He shrugged. “I missed my best friend.”

“I missed mine, too.” You said, your smile turning into a sad one. Taehyung sighed beside you as an awkward beat of silenced passed between the two of you.

“I messed up, okay? I got scared.” He said, looking forward and avoiding your eyes. “It was getting harder and harder for me to catch up with you and I knew you didn’t deserve it. And it’s such a lame excuse, but I was just being selfish when I said I wanted to go back to being best friends again because I realized I can’t really not have you? In my life? But I was afraid that at the rate I was going that you’d eventually get fed up with me and then I wouldn’t have you at all and—“

“Stop.” You said, covering his mouth with your hand. “First of all, you’re an idiot. Because regardless of what happens, you’re actually stuck with me. You can’t get rid of me, that’s it. Like that’s just how life is.”

Taehyung removed your hand from his mouth and laughed, intertwining your fingers together.

“Second of all, we were always best friends and we still are. So there’s nothing to worry about.” You said, bringing your held hands up to give him a kiss on the knuckle.

“I know, I know. We’re best friends, but now I know we’re even better as a couple and I’m not going to make that same mistake again. Because yeah, you’re stuck with me too.” He said, smiling down at you, before tilting your chin up with his other hand and pulling you in for a sweet kiss.

The two of you pulled apart for what felt like a second before pressing another sweet kiss to one another’s lips. Smiling, you felt your arms wrap around his neck while his wrapped around your waist to lift you up in bliss.

“Blech!!! Okay Taehyungie, I did NOT call you over here for you to do that. Now come play Jenga with me, you butthead!!” Your niece spoke from between you and Taehyung.

You laughed as she grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the dining table where the two of them would commence in playing her long awaited game.

The rest of the night would be spent with you doing what you always did, laughing and singing with Taehyung. Being silly and in love, and all that fun stuff because you were happy and you had your best friend back.

And of course, your camera roll would have a handful of new additions from that night because it wasn’t just a camera roll to save your funny and silly memories. It had become a way for you to document the story of you and Taehyung, a way for you to discover the progression of your relationship.

Yeah sure, you were best friends. Best friends in love, the biggest cliché of them all probably.

But no one had to know that because somewhere along the way, the lines of friendship and being in love had seemed to blur within the story of your camera roll. Because being best friends with Taehyung and being in love with Taehyung had really become one in the same, they went hand in hand.

(Okay and yeah, maybe your niece occasionally played a recurring role in your story too. The little twerp.)

~~

UPDATED AN / feb 10 2020:  hiiiii, this was a cute oneshot i wrote back in 2016.. tbh I don’t know if I can re-write this because it was one of the first ones i ever wrote. but that being said, please be gracious and keep in mind this was written and inspired by 2016 bts. 

i have a lot more ideas coming :) 

[aion-rsa]

The Sopranos’ Funniest Moments

https://ift.tt/32fYYqM

The Sopranos’ genius was in telling structured stories with well-established themes, while still aping life in all its dirty, disorganised, contradictory, open-ended glory. The show wasn’t a drama, or a comedy, or a tragedy, or a farce. It was all of them. It was none of them. It was life.

Creator David Chase and his crack team of writers never lost sight of the essential truth that no matter how cruel, harrowing or horrid life becomes, it’s always laced through with laughs: oftentimes the laughter and the horror rise in tandem.

Here, then, are some of The Sopranos’ funniest moments, most of them enmeshed with the macabre, the monstrous and the melancholy. 

South of the Border

S1, E9 ‘Boca’

In the machismo-drenched world of the mafia, even going down on your girlfriend is seen as a sign of sexual weakness, and quite possibly – in the non-PC words of Uncle Junior himself – ‘a sign that you’re a fanouk.’

Apparently, ‘they’ think ‘if you’ll suck p***y, you’ll suck anything.’

Whoever ‘they’ are.

News of Uncle Junior’s oral talents reaches Tony from a gossip chain, the final link in which is Carmella. Tony’s reaction, and the way in which he baits Uncle Junior with the intel on the golf course (culminating in Tony singing ‘South of the Border, down Mexico way’) is equal parts childish to hilarious – but funniest of all is how this schoolboy teasing serves as the pre-cursor to a Mafia war.

As Tony later tells Carmella: ‘Cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this.’     

Guess Whose Back?

S1, E10 ‘A Hit is a Hit’

Christopher sets Adrianna up in a recording studio to help realise her dream of becoming a music mogul. Things don’t go well. Her new band – the woeful Visiting Day – is ready to walk after a long and soul-sapping session during which they’ve produced nothing of worth. Christopher wastes no time taking up the mantle of manager to convince them that the show must go on. It’s fair to say that being motivational doesn’t come naturally to Christopher. Or, rather, it does, it’s just that his methods of motivation are rather more violent than most. First, Christopher throws the ex-addict lead singer a bag of crystal meth and orders him to take it. When that doesn’t work, he takes the only reasonable course of action left open to him and smashes a guitar over the man’s back.

There’s No Place Like Home

S2,E4 ‘Commendatori’

Paulie is incredibly excited to be visiting the motherland, and arrives full of romantic notions about Italy. All of these are systematically stamped out, mostly by Paulie himself, of whom an Italian gangster remarks at dinner, after Paulie requests tomato ketchup for his spaghetti:  ‘And you thought the Germans were classless pieces of shit.’

Paulie’s beatific little smile as he drinks in the squalor of New Jersey on the ride home from the airport is pitch perfect.

It’s the Jaaaccckkeett!

S2,E8 ‘Full Leather Jacket’

From the moment Richie Aprile is released from prison he’s on a collision course with Tony. In classic Sopranos’ style, though, the torch paper isn’t lit by Richie shacking up with Tony’s sister, or paralysing their mutual friend Beansie, but by the fall-out from a spurned jacket. Not just any jacket, though: ‘the’ jacket; the one Richie took off Rocco di Meo after an adolescent scrap.

‘Cocksucker had the toughest reputation in Essex County, but he never came back after I got through with him,’ Richie tells Tony, as he gifts him the infamous garment.

‘He later died of Alzheimer’s,’ adds Junior.

The look on Tony’s face as he tries to look grateful for ‘the jacket’ is almost as funny as the look Richie later wears in Carmella’s kitchen when he  notices the sainted jacket hanging from the shoulders of the maid’s husband.

I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost

S2, E9 ‘From Where to Eternity’

When Christopher briefly dies on the operating table after an assassination attempt, he returns from the brink of death with visions and dispatches from the afterlife. Paulie takes these reports to heart, divining in them a supernatural threat. Not only does Christopher tell Paulie that the souls of his many victims still follow him everywhere he goes, he also brings back an oblique warning: ‘Three o’clock’.

This cryptic curse has Paulie slamming bolt upright in his bed each night with a scream on his lips. First he visits Tony, who tries to lead Paulie back to sanity.

‘You eat steak?’ Tony asks.

‘What the fuck you talkin’ about?’

‘If you were in India, you would go to hell for that.’ 

‘I’m not in India,’ says Paulie. ‘What do I give a fuck?’

‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you. None of this shit means a goddamn thing.’

Unconvinced, Paulie visits a spiritualist psychic, who ‘confirms’ that Paulie is being stalked by ghosts. ‘That’s satanic black magic!’ rails a terrified Paulie, ‘Sick shit’, before hurling a chair at the ‘ghosts’ and screaming ‘Fuckin’ qu***s!’ at them. Finally, he visits his priest to tell him he’s cutting off his donations to the church on the grounds that he should’ve been protected from hauntings. I defy you not to chuckle at the baleful glare Paulie gives the Virgin Mary on his way out of the church.  

A Very Un-woke Wake

S3, E2 ‘Proshai , Livushka’

Livia Soprano – Tony’s murderously manipulative mother – proved just as divisive in death as she was in life, her demise precipitating a wake that was as awkward and corrosive for the characters experiencing it as it was rich and funny for us schmucks at home.

Tony never wanted any of Janice’s ‘California Bullshit’ at the gathering he and Carmella hosted at their home (or ‘that house, up on that hill’, as Livia would have called it). Janice being Janice, though, vetoes her brother’s ruling. She asks each of the assembled guests to share a thought, a memory of their mother, which – given that Livia was a sharp-tongued, anti-social harridan – doesn’t produce heart-warming results. No wonder the unknown man descending the stairs in the background behind them all decides to about-turn and get the hell out of there.

‘She never minced words,’ says Hesch, trying his hardest to accentuate the positive, ‘Between… brain and mouth… there was no interlocutor.’

Read more

Movies

The Sopranos: saluting the greatest TV drama ever made

By Jamie Andrew

TV

The Sopranos: Explaining the Final Scene

By Jamie Andrew

Christopher’s rambling, drug-fuelled, ad lib on the nature of existence, rebirth and doppelgangers is a treat, the sort of new-age snash David Brent might have conjured up while fully sober. The silence doesn’t last for long, though, not least because Carmella has spent the duration of the tense memorial knocking back booze like a cooze-hound on Spring Break, and is ready to unleash hell. 

Merry Stressmas

S3, E10 ‘…To Save Us All from Satan’s Power’

In the absence of Big Pussy Bonpensiero – taken on a long boat-ride to oblivion – the amply proportioned Bobby Baccala is the natural choice to become the new Satriales’ Santa. Except he doesn’t want to do it. He’s too shy.

‘The fucking boss of this family told you you’re gonna be Santa Claus,’ Paulie tells Bobby menacingly. ‘You’re Santa Claus. So shut the fuck up about it!’

The surly and reluctant Bobby proves a lacklustre substitute, an observation that’s articulated perfectly by Paulie when he says, ‘Fuckin’ ho hum if you ask me.’

It’s not just Bobby’s mafia colleagues that like to drop the F-bomb at Xmas. Even a little boy, unimpressed by Bobby’s schtick, issues a heart-felt: ‘Fuck you, Santa.’

God bless us. Every one. 

Two Assholes Lost in the Woods

S3, E11 ‘Pine Barrens’

The Pine Barrens was the episode that cleaved most closely to all-out comedy, pitting hot-headed anti-survivalists Christopher and Paulie against a runaway Russian they’d failed to kill. The darkly comic shit-show unfolded in the unforgiving, snow-filled foliage of the eponymous Pine Barrens, where Tony and Bobby were eventually summoned to rescue the hapless pair.

It’s hard to pick a comedy highlight from this episode, as it’s chock-full of them, but highlights include Tony losing it at the sight of Bobby Baccala’s hunting attire (if James Gandolfini’s laughter seems particularly genuine here, try googling some behind-the-scenes facts – you won’t be disappointed); Chris and Paulie noshing down on sauce sachets like they were a gourmet meal, and the following misunderstanding between Paulie, Chris and Tony thanks to poor mobile reception:

Tony: (garbled, on phone) It’s a bad connection, so I’m gonna talk fast. The guy you’re looking for is an ex-commando! He killed sixteen Chechen rebels single-handed.

Paulie: Get the fuck outta here.

Tony: Yeah, nice, huh? He was with the Interior Ministry.  Guy’s some kind of Russian green beret. This guy cannot come back to tell this story. You understand?

[line breaks]

Paulie: (to Christopher) You’re not gonna believe this. He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. The guy was an interior decorator.

Chris: His house looked like shit.

You Talkin’ To Me?

S4, E6 ‘Everybody Hurts’

Artie Bucco, Tony’s boyhood best pal, is a regular, hard-working chef. Even so, he’s frequently seduced by the luxurious criminal lifestyle he sees lapping around the fringes of his wonder-bread world. When a business deal to promote ‘the new French vodka’ goes awry and Artie finds himself $50k out of pocket to a swindling huckster he decides to channel his inner Mafioso and get his money back the Soprano way. Unfortunately, his inner Mafioso is no more ferocious than that possessed by any average member of the show’s audience – as much as proximity to Tony might convince us otherwise – and he gets the crap kicked out of him. Before that, though, his little Taxi Driver moment in the mirror, complete with mid-life crisis ear-ring and mobster posturing (‘Fucking shoes you’re wearing. What are they? Designer?’) is at once endearing, pathetic and very, very funny.

The mirror is no accident. He’s looking at us, looking at him, looking at ourselves.     

Telephone Tough Guy

S4, E9 ‘Whoever Did This’

While Ralph Cifaretto is probably most widely remembered as a sort-of gangster Loki – a mirth-wracked trickster with a penchant for mayhem – most of his misdeeds were so loathsome that even the wider mafia disapproved: cheating on his grieving partner, beating a young pregnant girl to death, burning a horse alive (come on, of course that was him). Still, he did make us laugh, though, didn’t he?

No more so than when he pranked Paulie’s dopey-yet-adorable old mother in her nursing home (‘It’s a retirement community!’), announcing himself as Detective Mike Hunt, Beaver Falls, from the Pennsylvania police department. Not only did Ralph claim that Paulie had been caught pleasuring a cub scout in a public bathroom, but also that a small rodent had been discovered in Paulie’s rectal passage. ‘A gerbil, ma’am’.

Ralph laughed his head off.

Tony later removed it.  

A Truth Injection

S4, E10 ‘The Strong, Silent Type’

Drug interventions are worthy and solemn rituals – they certainly aren’t supposed to be funny – but there’s something delicious about a room full of self-involved sociopaths with no impulse control and an insatiable appetite for pleasure assembling to pass judgement on Christopher essentially for having no impulse control and an insatiable appetite for pleasure. Christopher is at least self-aware enough to lobby this back in the faces of his supposed rescuers, pointing out that Silvio likes to sample his sex-workers; that Paulie’s hot-head almost dragged the Newark family into war with the Russian mob, and that Tony’s epicurean compulsions will probably kill him more quickly than Christopher’s drugs.

From the moment a bewildered Christopher emerges from his bedroom to find both families – blood and work – camped out in his living room, the laughs just keep coming, all the way through to the (inevitable) explosion of violence at the scene’s climax.

Christopher instantly recognises the host of the intervention, Dominic Paladino, as ‘the guy who broke into Stew Leonards that time and stole all those pork loins.’

‘Yes,’ replies a sheepish Dominic. ‘But… that’s not why I’m here today.’  

Especial mirth-based mentions must go to Silvio and Paulie (the latter’s reaction to Christopher’s narcotic-related manhood problems is priceless), and their refusal to play along with the ‘care-frontation’. 

‘When I came to open up one morning, there you were with your head half in the toilet. Your hair was in the toilet water. Disgusting,’ says Silvio, reading awkwardly from what is possibly the most unnecessary aide de memoire ever written.

Leave it to Paulie to lay the smackdown on this particular brand of ‘California bullshit’: ‘I don’t write nothing down,’ he says, ‘so I’ll keep this short and sweet. You’re weak. You’re out of control. And you’re becoming an embarrassment to yourself and everybody else.’

Drugs are bad. Mmmkay?

Dead Good Food

S5, E7 ‘In Camelot’

When Junior realises he can get respite from his house arrest through attending family funerals he starts to exaggerate and exploit ever more spurious links to get him out of the house for a few hours. While all around him are wracked with grief, his is the only face with a smile on it, enjoying the change of scenery, enjoying the food, wondering why everyone has to be so maudlin.

In a darkly funny scene he happily extols the virtues of the spread while attending the wake of a teenage boy. ‘Chicken’s nice and spicy, huh?’ he beams at a fellow mourner.

A Grave Error

S5, E9 ‘Unidentified Black Males’

When Tony agrees to pick up the tab for the headstone of a New York soldier who was slain, unbeknownst to him, by his own cousin, his men manage to add insult to injury.

We see the headstone. At the graveside. During the funeral service. And it says:

Peeps.

‘Peeps?’ spits Tony. ‘It’s a fuckin’ nickname! His family name is Pepperelli!’

Silvio hunkers down into full middle-management mode. ‘They’re gonna re-do it. Fuckin’ J.C. He’s dyslexic.’

 ‘What’s that got to do with it?’ asks an incredulous Tony. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

You could fill a book with The Sopranos’ funniest moments – Paulie’s rant about shoelaces, Bobby B botching a publicity shooting, Silvio’s poker-table tantrum, Little Carmine’s malapropisms, to name but a handful – so by necessity we’ve had to leave a lot out. What are some of yours?

The post The Sopranos’ Funniest Moments appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2U1uOTz

[eldritchsurveys]

946.

What do you usually buy when you go to the dollar store? >> I haven’t been to the dollar store in ages.

What do you think of your next door neighbor? >> I try not to think of any of my neighbours, but that backfires when I have to hear them being loud.

Ever peed in the pool? Be honest! >> I have never peed in a pool. Honest.

Have you ever tripped running UP the stairs? >> Yeah.

What's your favorite flavor of Sobe? >> I don’t remember the last time I even saw a Sobe. They still sell those??

Do you listen to any music sung in different languages? >> Sure, quite a bit.

If your mom got her nose pierced, what would you say? >> ---

Which of your sibling's friends is your favorite? >> ---

Did you ever have a crush on the person who lives next door to you? >> No.

When you're older, what kind of house do you want to live in? >> I’m not sure what kind of house I want to live in. I’m less concerned about the kind of house than the community and the size of the land it’s on.

Where do you go when you need a new pair of shoes? >> I don’t have a particular place I go. When I need a new pair of shoes, I complain about it a while until I finally run into a pair I like and can afford (which, let me tell you, is not easy). I hate shoe shopping.

Do you prefer platform shoes or heels? >> Neither, I prefer boots.

Would you say you're good at drawing? >> I wouldn’t say that, because I stopped actively drawing at some point in my early twenties and never really picked it back up again. So I’m long out of practice.

What's your favorite manga? >> I don’t have one. The Girl From the Other Side is real cute, though.

What's one interesting thing you collect? >> I don’t collect anything. Except plushies, I guess, since I do have a lot of those and I can’t resist new ones.

How much homework do you get from your history teacher? >> ---

What's one class you absolutely cannot stand? >> ---

Which is better, white or dark chocolate? >> I prefer dark chocolate.

Funniest video on YouTube? >> ---

MySpace or Facebook? >> ---

Which mall is closest to you? >> I think Rivertown and Woodland are pretty equidistant from me.

What religion are your parents? >> ---

Do you still live in the same house you did when you were five? >> Certainly not, haven’t lived there since I was nine or ten.

How many ear piercings do you have? >> One in each lobe.

Do you use pencils with the huge eraser on the end? >> No.

Most missed childhood memory? >> ---

If you could switch houses with one of your friends, who would it be? >> ---

Did you ever have a tree house in your backyard? >> No.

Did you ever think the opposite sex had cooties? >> I don’t think I ever understood cooties. I just knew all the rhymes because I heard them so often.

Did you ever think your head would turn into a fruit if you ate Gushers? >> Well, no, considering I ate Gushers pretty often as a child and retained my normal human child head.

Do you like books with pictures or just text? >> I like both. Obviously, most of the books I read are picture-less, but I do love a good illustrated text.

In your immediate family, who do you think is the smartest? >> ---

Would you ever get a mohawk? >> I’ve had a mohawk (well, a fro-hawk, I guess). I’m over it.

Worst hair cut you ever had? >> ---

What color are your socks? >> I’m not wearing any.

Do you call any of your teachers by their first name? >> ---

What's your reason for doing this survey? >> The simple desire to take a survey.

What's your font on AIM? >> ---

Do any of your parents have a MySpace? >> ---

How old is your oldest sibling? >> ---

Would you ever, or have you ever gone pool hopping? >> I don’t know what this means. Is it like bar hopping?

Do you think you've gotten more attractive since junior high? >> I am not convinced of my own attractiveness and I never really have been.

Do you call it "junior high" or "middle school"? >> Either. 

How is your hair currently styled? >> It’s not styled.

Did you ever have a stalker? >> No.

How many times have you been dumped? >> I don’t remember.

Did you ever date the same person twice? >> Yes.

How old is your computer? >> This one is about a year old, I think, and Azathoth is three months old.

Are you afraid of rollercoasters? >> No.

Cotton candy, candy apples, or funnel cake? >> Cotton candy. I like funnel cake but only briefly -- I can only take a few bites before I’m sick of it. Cotton candy is light enough that I can probably eat a whole serving unless I just am not at all in the mood for sugar.

Do you wear clothes with logos on them (ex. the Hollister seagull)? >> No. Well, band logos, yeah, but nothing like the Hollister seagull.

What's one country you want to visit before you die? >> Any. I’ve only been to this one.

If you were to die tomorrow, where would you want to be burried? >> Woodlawn Cemetery, I think it’s called, is the only one near me with green burial plots. So, there, I guess. But I’d hope to move to a state with more death-related resources before I start up and dying myself.

Are most of your friends Christian? >> Most of the people I know are not Christian.

What religion are you? >> I’m not.

What newsletters are you subscribed to? >> ---

What about magazines? >> ---

Were you ever in a car accident? >> No.

What do you want your first/next tattoo to be of? >> I have no idea, I’ve made no plans because I can’t afford any new ink.

Would you ever get your favorite band's logo tattooed on you? >> Possibly. Coheed and Cambria, for example, has a really cool logo that I definitely wouldn’t mind having on my body.

Which is your friends is the loudest? >> ---

Do you know anyone with a lip piercing? >> Probably.

What are you excited for? >> I’m not excited.

When does your summer vacation start? >> ---

What's your favorite type of cookie? >> Those thin, crunchy lemon cookies. Also, ginger snaps.

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Title: Will You Be My Valentine?

Fandom: Game of Thrones

Pairing: Jon/Sansa

Summary: Sansa is well equipped to face Valentine's Day alone - she has pizza, ice cream and a rom-com - but when Jon unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep she gets everything she's been dreaming of for years.

Rating: T (this is just fluff, fluff and more fluff.)

Read on AO3

A fleecy blanket, large pizza with extra cheese, tub of Häagen-Dazs and a cheesy rom-com, what better company could a girl ask for on Valentine’s Day? Sansa tries to convince herself of her own lie, but the small mournful sigh that escapes her betrays her. She finds her thoughts turning to a handsome young man with sparkling dark eyes and black curly hair, but reminds herself once more that what she yearns for can never be and that's why she's spending Valentine's Day alone.

The house is empty since all of her friends are out on dates with their partners and although peace is usually something she embraces since it’s hard to come by living with five other students, today it only acts as a reminder that she’s one of the few people she knows that’s without love this Valentines.

Just as Sansa hits play on the DVD she hears the front door open and Jon appears in the doorway.

“Jon,” Sansa exclaims in surprise. “What are you—what are you doing here?” She’s very conscious of her bare face, fluffy PJ’s and scruffy hair that’s scraped on top of her head in a messy bun. Not to mention the obvious loner girl suck fest that she has going on with the pizza, ice cream, rom-com and blanket.

“Oh, Sans, sorry. I didn’t know you’d be here. Robb’s at ours with Talisa so I wanted to get out to give them some privacy and Margaery said everyone would be out here so it would be alright if I hung out. She gave me her key.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. That’s fine,” Sansa says, secretly grateful for the company.

“Are you sure? ‘Cause I can go if you—”

“Really, Jon, it’s fine.”

Jon smiles and takes a seat in the arm chair across from her.

“Want some pizza?” she offers.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Jon flashes her a cheeky grin and wink and Sansa feels her heart somersault in her chest.

Jon was her brother’s best friend, but because of their closeness in age and the fact they were at the same college, Sansa and her friends ran in the same circles as Robb and his friends. She’s gotten to know Jon pretty well over the last couple of years and is incredibly fond of him.

With a slice of pizza in hand Jon sinks back into the arm chair and with his mouth stuffed full he asks, “What’s the film?”

“It’s some cheesy romantic comedy from Margaery’s collection.” Sansa reaches for the DVD case from the coffee table and reads it aloud. “13 Going On 30.”

“Oh, isn’t that Big but with a girl as lead instead of a guy?”

“Pretty much. I can turn it off if you like.”

Jon shakes his head. “I don’t mind.”

Sansa has spent a lot of time with Jon but never like this. They’re usually in a big group and on the occasions where they have been alone they’ve usually been drunk. In fact, there was one drunken night a couple of years ago when they kissed. Because it was only during a game of Spin the Bottle, Sansa has tried her hardest to forget about it since it meant nothing, but she often relives it and finds herself longing for it to happen again under different circumstances. Although she’s always been attracted to Jon she seems to notices it even more so now. She’s acutely aware of his presence and being around him makes her feel giddy. It takes her back to the days when she was thirteen and had such a huge crush on him that whenever she saw him she became a blubbering sweaty mess.

“No plans for Valentine’s then?” he asks. “I thought you’d be out on a date.”

Sansa blushes. “Wasn’t in the mood.”

Jon sighs. “I know what you mean. The whole dating thing gets to be a pain in the arse after a bit. It stops being worth it even to go for dinner and to get pissed.”

They both laugh.

“I know. I haven’t been on one in months.”

“Really? A beautiful girl like you.”

The compliment takes Sansa by surprise and she blushes harder.

“Sorry, that was inappropriate,” he says apologetically.

“No, no, I—I liked it.”

This time Sansa could swear she sees him blush but he seems to recover faster than she managed to.

“Do you mind if I have a drink?”

“No, help yourself. You know where everything is, right?”

Jon nods and gets up to go over to the kitchen. “Do you want one?”

“Yes, please.”

“Wine okay?”

“Wine’s good.”

Jon returns a minute or so later and hands her a glass of red. This time he doesn’t go to the arm chair, he perches himself next to her on the sofa. Her entire body goes tense and she seems to forget how to breathe.

Sansa dislikes feeling so out of her comfort zone so pushes aside her nerves. “Here’s to us and every other single in the world that’s sitting at home drinking wine and eating pizza lone.”

Jon cracks a smile and they clink their glasses briefly before taking a sip. His entire body is twisted towards Sansa and she can feel his eyes boring into her. Sansa pretends to watch the film when all she can think about is Jon being right beside her. For years she’s suppressed and dismissed her attraction and feelings for him because she thought they were unreciprocated but suddenly she feels that there’s a real possibility that something might be happening between them. It’s unsettling and beyond terrifying, but also entirely exhilarating.

Jon sets his glass on the coffee table and clears his throat. “Okay, I have a confession to make.”

Sansa turns to face him. “What?”

“Robb and Talisa aren’t at home.”

Sansa fails to connect the dots and frowns at him in confusion.

“I came round because Margaery convinced me to.”

“Margaery convinced you?”

He nods. “Because apparently she’s sick and tired of the two of us dancing around our feelings for each other. And I quote, we need to give it up and fuck each other’s brains out already.”

Sansa reaction is a mixture between a gasp of shock and giggle of amusement.

“She really said that?”

“Yup.”

“But why would she say that?”

“Because it’s true. At least…I think it’s true.” He lets out a deep breath. “Sansa, I fancy you. A lot.”

Sansa’s breath catches in her throat. “You do?”

“I do.”

Sansa feels as though her heart is soaring.

She hangs her head shyly and says, “You know…I’ve had a crush on you since we were kids.”

“Robb always said you did but I thought he was teasing. The funniest part was that I had a crush on you.”

“What? No way. You’re just saying that.”

Jon holds up his hands. “I swear.”

Sansa smiles and shakes her head.

“The only reason I never said anything is because I thought Robb would kill me.”

Sansa laughs. “Yeah, that’s true. So why are you saying something now?”

“Because I know I can take him now,” he replies jokingly, before returning back to his serious face. “No, the reason I came is because I—I couldn’t get you out of my head. I had a date but I didn’t want to be with her I wanted to be with you because it’s Valentine’s Day and you’re the one I like.”

Sansa is still questioning whether she’s dreaming or this is truly happening.

“You like me even when I look like this?” Sansa laughs.

Jon doesn’t show even a hint of amusement. “I don’t care what you look like. You’re always beautiful to me.”

Throwing caution to the wind and embracing her inner confidence, Sansa leans forward and kisses Jon firmly. She leans back and meets his dark eyes, and feels she’s getting everything she’s dreamed of since she was thirteen.

“So, Sansa Stark, will you be my valentine?”

With a wide joyous smile on her face Sansa says, “Yes, Jon Snow, I will.”

Their lips collide once more, their teeth crashing together due to the unrelenting smiles on their faces, but their happiness soon turns to passion as they collapse back onto the sofa clutched in one another’s embrace.

“We don’t have to,” Jon breathes. “We can take it slow.”

“Slow?” Sansa scoffs. “I’ve waited for this for six bloody years, I’m not waiting any longer.”

Jon laughs and the two begin discarding each other of their clothes, caught up in a frenzy of ardent kisses, the desire and longing they have been suppressing for so long exploding out of them all at once.

[purplesurveys]

1100

[created by: vyvyan86]  

If someone's laughing, do you instantly think they're laughing at you? I mean, not automatically? People can be laughing for many reasons. But if they’re laughing near me and if I even catch them looking at me from time to time, then it can definitely make me feel paranoid.

What is the strangest thing you've been asked? I’ve said this before, but a masseuse who came to the house a couple of years ago once looked at me intently and asked if I’ve gotten pregnant before. When I asked my mom about her, she explained that that particular masseuse has a third eye. Of course I didn’t buy it, but it was a fascinating scenario nonetheless and I still liked the fact that out of everyone in the family, she had only ~sensed something with me.

What’s the weirdest thing about life that people just accept as normal? Homelessness.

What was your favorite game as a child? I liked playing Diner Dash, Insaniquarium, and Cake Mania on my dad’s laptop. Our parents didn’t keep a strict eye on us as well and we were allowed access to Grand Theft Auto games at a young age, which ended up being one of my all-time favorite video game series.

What’s the stupidest thing you've ever heard? There’s a lot of crazy fake news that have come out over the last few years; I can’t really tell which one is stupidest, but they all are to some extent.

What's the most random thing you've done out of boredom? Make spreadsheets about stuff I will never have to refer to. It’s a great way to be distracted/occupied, so I don’t shy away from starting one whenever I feel the need to.

What show did your parents not let you watch as a kid? Mr. Bean. My mom didn’t like the character’s antics and she especially hated how he technically doesn’t talk, since she felt like it would have an effect on how we learned language (we mainly learned English from the TV) and the way we speak.

What is your personal catchphrase? I say, “Awesome!” when I’m pleased with something, which is a habit I picked up from Gabie. I also tend to say “For real?” whenever I’m surprised.

What is the most pleasurable feeling that doesn't involve anything sexual? I like being given lazy scratches on my wrist or leg. It’s also nice when someone plays with my hair, but it depends on who’s doing it; sometimes I’ll find it too invasive.

What was your 'Oops, wrong person' moment? This doesn’t happen a lot to me, fortunately. For the most part, it’s only been instances from childhood when I mistakenly held on to a stranger’s hand instead of either of my parents’.

What do you find attractive that isn't considered 'normal' attraction? I’m not particularly attracted to muscles or fit bodies in general; a little bit of flab or what the internet calls ~dad bod~ has always been more than alright with me.

What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done drunk? Nearly fall asleep in a swimming pool, or go on a loud rant about someone while that someone was still within earshot.

What's your proudest moment in the bathroom? I have no idea what this means, and I don’t want to ask.

What’s something you own that gets you lots of compliments? Some clothes/shoes I have. Also, my car back when I placed reindeer antlers and a red nose on it a few Christmases ago haha.

If money was no object, where would you want to live? If that was the case, I’d be in New York City right now.

Who is your favorite mythological character? I never took a liking to mythology and the creatures associated with it.

What's something that's happened which couldn't happen at a worse time? My breakup. We were also recently informed that my mom has been retrenched sooooooo life isn’t particularly dandy at the moment. I’ve stopped complaining about my heavy daily workload and have instead felt grateful for it, because at least it keeps me occupied enough and not think about the stuff happening at home.

What is the best pickup line you've ever heard? I don’t like pickup lines.

What did aging ruin for you? My back and my eyesight.

What is the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard? Ugh, questions like these are impossible to answer. Off the top of my head, I’ll go with this video.

What is the darkest thing you have seen on the internet? Crime scene photos, beheading videos, and corpses. There have also been other stuff but they’d be too triggering if I tried to describe what they are.

What's something you really enjoy, but can't have? I can’t have milkshakes unless I’m fine with the stomachaches I will inevitably get after.

What Wikipedia article have you recently read? So I watched Royal Rumble yesterday (I haven’t kept up with wrestling in years, but I always come back for the big pay-per-views) and there’s this female wrestlerI think I’ll soon develop a full-blown crush on. I wanted to look her up and I learned that she’s Rhea Ripley, so I briefly read up on her life and career.

What's a book you were made to read in school that you really liked? Without Seeing the Dawn will always be my favorite. Taking it up in English class was never a chore for me. Number the Stars was a great read too, as was Dekada ‘70.

What objective did you fail to complete this week? I haven’t worked out at all this week, which I should’ve been able to do twice already according to the workout plan I’m currently subscribed to. But it’s fine, I’ll just try to catch up.

What could have gotten worse for you but it didn't? Work. I kept making a million mistakes during my first two months and thought I’d never get the hang of it, and I was just waiting to get fired immediately lol. But everything’s going smoothly now - I’m not as lost as I used to be, and I’ve even taken to tutoring some of the newer hires.

What subject should be taught at schools, but isn't? I’d have appreciated it if we had been taught or at least briefed on how to obtain crucial government IDs and documents. I didn’t exactly enjoy walking through everything by myself and being expected to know what to do.

What is the best thing about having a Significant Other? Oh my god, everything. I loved and treasured being in a relationship. I appreciated even the arguments because it made me get better at communicating, know how and when to apologize, and how to be more in tune with another person’s feelings. But my favorite part about it would probably be having a person to share everything about yourself and your life to. I’ve learned to be okay being by myself, but I feel the loneliness the hardest when I’m going through a rough patch and remembering that I no longer having someone to turn to.

What makes you unusually uncomfortable? Injections, blood tests, anaesthesia, anything that’s meant to prick my skin.

What is an upcoming purchase you're excited about? I don’t plan on making any purchases soon. Maybe a couple boxes of macarons with 25 pieces each for my birthday to treat myself?? but that’s the only one I’ve been planning.

What is the worst game you've ever played? When I was still taking PE, I dreaded it every time we had to play basketball or water polo.

What’s the oddest thing you like to do? I really like doing tedious tasks, like inputting things into a spreadsheet or writing out lists. I think I’d be a great secretary. < Yeah same. Literally what I said earlier about the spreadsheets.

What's the funniest news story you've seen in the past few weeks? Some fixers at the LTO who approached the mayor of a nearby city to convince him that they can fast-track whatever business he’s in for there, not knowing he’s the fucking mayor. What a mess lmfao.

What do you really really want right now? For things to go back to normal. My parents are very secretive about finances - probably because they don’t want us to worry - but I hate not knowing if I could even turn on the fan or any of our lights anymore. I also hate that I feel guilty whenever I buy things for myself knowing that both my parents are in sticky situations.

What do you hide from people? Things going on in my personal life. I will refer to my problems in social media posts occasionally, but would never provide enough context for people to know more about my life than I’m comfortable with.

What was the first sign you knew you had a crush on someone? I got increasingly nervous around them and I just wanted to be with them all day and listen to their stories and buy them food and stuff. Also, I knew when I started crying over them. Hahahaha man this just made me feel so nostalgic. I miss that feeling of first falling in love with someone.

What's the best lemonade you've made from the lemons life gave you? The self-love, self-acceptance, and self-validation I gained after my breakup felt and continues to feel wonderful. I never realized how much of myself I sacrificed and gave away. I will never do that again and will always make sure to leave more than enough room for myself in the future.

Who was your cartoon crush while growing up? Sam from Totally Spies and Shego from Kim Possible.

What's the best way to deal with religious door knockers? We don’t have those here. But I imagine just telling them “No thanks” and closing my door.

What’s the most hypocritical thing you’ve ever seen or heard? My mom is a big hypocrite in general; she exhibits some behaviors that she would typically chew me out for. But she would never admit to that; that, or she wouldl use mental gymnastics to convince me that the way I’m doing the thing is wrong and that her version is the acceptable one.

Who’s the most interesting person you’ve ever met? Probably one of the artists at Pinto Museum. Every time I’ve gone there, he’s always standing at the first gallery - he looks like your typical visitor, but I’ve come to realize he actually scans the museum looking for people who are genuinely into the artworks and not just there to shoot photos. I know, because he has always ended up approaching me and whoever I’m with at the time so that he can explain every single painting. He’s done the same thing with me - I think he keeps forgetting me, but it’s fine - 2-3 times, with the same spiels and same interesting explanations and anecdotes. In the end he always reveals that he painted a number of the works in the museum and for his sake I will always try to act surprised, haha. Anyway, he’s brilliant and very talented, and always has great stories to tell.

What just doesn't impress you? Certain movies that are meant to be hailed as one of the greats.

What’s the worst possible way to introduce yourself? By being an ass from the get-go, I suppose.

What makes you wish that you were born in the past or the future? I hate missing out on things when I’m already around, which is why I often wish I could live long enough to see what advancs and developments we could be capable of reaching in the future. Would we find a cure for cancer? Will I get to see my country get richer and more developed like it has always deserved to? Will travel to outer space be a thing? It’s stuff like that I’d love to see happen and the idea of potentially missing out on them because maybe they’re not meant to happen in my lifetime kinda bums me out.

What tragic event was coincidentally beneficial to you? I started loving the shit out of myself from my breakup. I thought I was already comfortable with who I was and where I was in life, but I soon learned that I could be doing so much more for myself, self-esteem-wise.

What's something people are proud of, but it doesn't impress you? Wealth, usually, especially if it’s generational. < True. Also, fucking watches? I’ll never understand the need for watches that cost a million pesos when I could easily stomp on them lmao.

What's the worst possible moment to go and play on a bouncy castle? Doing it with an upset stomach.

Who is the greatest ever comedian? I don’t know about greatest. I certainly don’t watch enough comedians to make such a choice.

What’s your irrational fear? Sometimes I’ll get an irrational urge to do something stupid and/or dangerous. For instance I was in Tagaytay last weekend, on the 20th floor of a condo and to my surprise, the windows could be opened and they didn’t have any bars either. As I opened a window I thought about jumping and it freaked me out, so much so I immediately closed it and never went back to it. I believe there’s a word for this phenomenon in a foreign language; I just can’t remember what it is now.

What's your oldest memory? Waking up inside a Winnie the Pooh tent with my sister when I was 3, she 1. My parents let us go ‘camping,’ even though the tent was simply set up on the floor of our bedroom.

What can you not wake up without? Greeting my dogs.

What did you think was cool when you were younger that you now think isn’t? Side bangs.

What are your favorite or most memorable lines from any movie/show? “I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest.” from The Crown. Holy shit that line was so good. I’ll need to rewatch this showagain.

What's something people love to hate? Mainstream culture. < Very true.

What’s something that is underrated but extremely useful? Car adaptors have saved my ass so many times while driving long distances and needing to constantly use data to have access to Waze.

[theloniuswomb-blog]

So I binged watched the Netflix adaption of GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) over the past two days. If you're unfamiliar with GLOW, GLOW was an all women's wrestling show that began in the 80's. It was the first of it's kind with women in the wrestling world tending to be more of a side show rather than headline material. Being a big wrestling nerd I'd always been aware of GLOW but had never really watched it. I was more content with women's wrestling I saw today, and didn't feel the need to watch 80's wrestling that probably wouldn't be much different to the other standard wrestling of the time. I was very wrong. Alongside the new Netflix drama, Netflix also aired a short documentary about the original show. Again, being a wrestling nerd, I couldn't help but want to learn something about this era in wrestling history, so I went for it. I was very surprised with what I saw. They took the campiest bits of the 80's style of wrestling and amped it up by 10. I was very impressed and instantly knew that I'd be watching the original GLOW very soon in the near future. But before that, I'd be watching the Netflix adaption. Mainly because the first season was out, I was hungover and I couldn't be bothered to try and track down the original GLOW series on the internet. There were good and bad things about this series. Mainly good, in fact, I was pretty damned impressed by this Netflix adaption. Many Netflix Original series suffer from what I consider a pandering attitude to more progressive or SJW type values. Which are often good on paper, but I often feel stifle true creative outlet. Especially when they pride that over delivering good, solid content. There are exceptions, like F is for Family, or that they also import many other comedy series that may not be considered PC or SJW friendly onto the platform. Which I admire. Netflix know not to cater to just one audience. This Netflix Series was different. It toed a line between the two areas. In some ways it was very obviously trying to be PC, in others it was not. But we'll get into that as we go along. Before all that I want to comment on a few things briefly. I have to say, the acting in this series was pretty damned good. There were some awkward actors, but luckily they had bit parts that meant they weren't as integral to the story. Writing was pretty solid, and some actors even gave what I would consider stellar performances. Maybe not Oscar worthy, but bloody good for a show like this. I was honestly taken aback. I didn't know what to expect, but one thing I definitely did NOT expect was to like it as much as I did. Anyway, lets actually review this thing. The show centres around Ruth (Alsion Brie), the lead character who later becomes one of the chief villains of GLOW. She's a struggling actor who has a friend in a fairly successful soap actor named Debbie Eagan. Debbie despite being successful, had quit acting to pursue being a mother, so both women were technically out of work actors in the beginning. The series begins with Ruth looking for acting work and being offered an audition for porn. Ruth would not take the part. I found it ironic that almost a minuet later the actor who plays Ruth was in a sex scene in which her breasts were exposed, and essentially doing soft-core porn. I feel that this was intentional and I honestly liked that they kind of blurred the lines between the characters and reality. Now, this sex scene isn't just for tits and giggles. It's actually really important. As the man in question happens to be Debbies husband who she has just had a child with. I thought it was very risky to begin a series by making the main character extremely unlikeable. I honestly found myself hating her for the first few episodes. Which is hard to do because she's genuinely a very funny character as well. The reason I could hate her was because of Debbies performance. Her reaction and her acting were pretty powerful in my opinion. By the end of the first or second episode (sorry, they kind of blend into one for me) Debbie finds out about Ruth's transgression and confronts her in the newly founded GLOW training gym. I was feeling the heat man, Debbie got me going, Of course I knew it was acting, but it was very convincing, and it was only because of Debbie that I continued to watch the show. Oh and Sam (Marc Maron), the director of GLOW, who is also fantastic in this series. (To clarify, Ruth is also fantastic in terms of her acting and humour. She takes you on a journey, where in the end, you're not sure if you hate her any more. Again, I just found that a risky thing to do, and I give the series credit for taking that path). Now I wanna mention cameos. There are a couple of wrestling cameos I wanna pick out that happen through the series. The first being Johnny Mundo/Nitro or whatever he calls himself today. I got pretty excited. He was essentially to be playing Chavo Guerrero Sr 's part as the wrestling coach for GLOW.  And I thought that was a nice touch. However, Johnny's part was written out of the show. I have no idea why this was. But I boiled it down to two reasons. Either 1) Johnny had other commitments, or he was too expensive to keep for the show. Or 2) they wanted to keep it as All-Woman as possible. Now, I don't mind it being as all woman as possible, I mean, this is GLOW we're talking about. But it felt a little unfair to write such a pivotal person out of the whole thing. It'd be like doing an ABBA movie but cutting the blonde. Chavo trained these women and he's one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. I felt a little respect was being lost there. But it didn't phase me too much, the replacement Cherry, felt a little off, but I also conceded that it may have also been a move to keep her character relevant in the series somehow. Which I applaud because Sydelle Noel is a really good actor and I loved her banter with her husband Keith (Bashir Salahuddin).   Time progresses and we get to know some of the characters more. All of which have fairly distinct personalities and are written really well. As they begin training for GLOW they start picking wrestling personas. This is where the show loses any form of PC direction. They make a character called “The Welfare Queen”, “The Mad Bomber Beirut” (A terrorist), “The Old Biddies”, the list goes on. If you wanted to you could find something to be outraged by by any character. Be it their stereotype or sexualization. But I really liked this essence of realism. The girls took it on without too much complaint, understanding they needed to appeal to audiences with simple concepts and humour. Some of course questioned it, but eventually all of them fit into their personas easily. I have to say The Welfare Queen being one of the funniest things ever. She happily fucks the government, wears a Burgerking crown and throws food stamps around like she's making it rain. It was outrageous, I loved it and gave me some of my biggest laughs from the show. (The other irony of this character being that Tamme (Kia Stevens) was actually a very successful woman who has a child in stanford university). Ruth struggles to pick a persona, and as she struggles Debbie is enlisted by Sam to join the GLOW team as the star of the show “Liberty Bell”, an all American, wholesome apple pie eating country girl. It's disgusting and patriotic and I loved that too. Of course this creates friction for both Ruth and Debbie, as Debbie still hadn't forgiven Ruth for sleeping with her husband. And neither had I. To cut a long story short, the girls band together and eventually put on the first real GLOW show to some minor success. Ruth finally gets a persona, which is also successful (and hilarious), and we see the characters grow and progress. Along the way there are ups and downs, perhaps one of the worst being Ruth's abortion scene. And as a brooding man myself, that scene actually made me tear up a little. Now a lot of people will push this series as a feminist series. But I don't see it that way. Of course it stars a bunch of women doing what men would normally be doing. But that had already been done in the 80's with the original GLOW and so I don't feel that this series is all that special when considering that. Also, when I come into contact with shows that are more “feminist” in nature, they tend to err towards a slightly more idealistic, or Mary-Sue type characters that can do no wrong. Or are just never very introspective, or cast men in a kind of bad light. This is not the case here, many different types of women are portrayed here. Successful women, clueless girls, party girls, responsible girls, weirdo girls, nerdy girls, witty girls. Of course some characters are a combination of these things as well. There are also moments where there is clarity that men and women can't always do the exact same thing, and that respect goes both ways for different strengths. I liked this a lot as this side of life is not often portrayed in current media and is something that should be mentioned and celebrated more. I also feel that this series makes wrestling more appealing to women. And I'm all for that. Anything that gets more women into watching wrestling gets my stamp of approval erry damn day. Oh, the other cameos were Brodus Clay and Christopher Daniels. There were others, but I have no clue who those guys were. They probably worked for TNA, and TNA sucks ass these days, so I never watch it. So what's my totally bias and subjective star rating for this series? 4.2 out of 5. The acting was generally good, sometimes amazing. The humour was excellent, particularly picking up in the last few episodes. The plot never felt stale, each episode felt like it's own story but also added to a bigger story. Each character was fleshed out and felt relevant. The camera work was great. The music/score for the series left a little to be desired, with just flashes of music here and there, and sometimes I thought the choice of song was a little off. The 80's aesthetic was pretty on point. Honestly, I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of wrestling and comedy. This is good stuff and I await the second series with pleasure.