#why the writers have to do coco dirty? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

silverlightqueen · 4 years ago

Text

21 Things To Do This Summer PJM

y/n has a week left to live and 21 things she wanted to do this summer. Jimin vows to help her do them all before she dies and give her the summer of a lifetime.

jimin x reader - angst, fluff, comedy, non-idol!au

Part of BangtanHQ’s ‘Bangtan Boardwalk’ at the ‘Summertime Sadness’ booth!

Rating: Mature (heavy themes and strong language - read with caution)

Word Count: 7.2k+

Warnings: death and illness, discussion of death and illness, jokes about death and illness, brain tumour, I think that’s it but please let me know if I missed anything

a/n: here’s part two guys !! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long but I’ve just been so busy and tumblr’s been an absolute bitch by not letting me upload smh. if you enjoy this fic, make sure to check out the other fics in the Summertime Sadness booth, and the other booths on the Bangtan Boardwalk! a huge thank you to @silverlightprincess for proofreading this massive fic, I love you so damn much, and thank you so much to @brinnalaine and @strxwberri-milk for giving me such lovely feedback on the first part, I really appreciate it xx

silverlightqueen masterlist

I wake up to the sound of knocking, followed by Jimin’s voice; ‘y/n?’ ‘Come in,’ I call groggily, throat dry and voice thick with sleep, and I blink in the light that streams in when Jimin opens the door. ‘Morning!’ he says cheerfully as I rub at my eyes, forcing myself to sit up in bed. He throws up the curtains, and I squint, my eyes stinging from how bright it is. ‘Do you mind?’ I ask tiredly, the boy sitting down on the end of the bed. ‘Well, you have been asleep for 9 hours. I would’ve thought that’s plenty of time,’ he says mildly, and the words don’t register for a few moments.

‘9? It’s already 11? I thought we were getting an early start on the road trip today!’ I demand, and he grins. ‘Well, that was the plan, but the plan didn’t take into consideration that the boys would all be so enthusiastic about helping us tick off the list. So we’re gonna go on the road trip tomorrow instead,’ he says, and I blink at him for a few moments. ‘How are we gonna get everything done?’ I ask, and he waves my concerns off. ‘Don’t worry about it. Just leave it to me, y/n, I’ve got it all planned out,’ he says, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘That’s what I’m worried about.’

‘Stop being so negative and get your ass up because we’ve got a bucket list to tick off!’ he says excitedly, grabbing my arm and dragging me out of bed. ‘Hold on, hold on. Let me go to the toilet, and wash my face before we go downstairs. I look a mess,’ I say, rubbing my eyes and yawning as I shuffle towards the bathroom. ‘You don’t. You’re a vision of beauty,’ he calls after me, and I roll my eyes, shutting the door as I say, ‘suck-up.’

Once I’ve done a wee and washed my face (I completely forgot about the tattoos until I saw the one on my finger whilst washing my hands – I thought it was a bug at first before I realised, and I had to quickly move my hand away from the water before I washed away the wrapping that JK put on last night), I venture back into the bedroom, Jimin sat on the bed with his phone in his hand. He jumps up with a grin, grabbing my hand and pulling me along behind him, all the way downstairs and into the kitchen. Taehyung, Jungkook and Hobi are sat around the island, sipping from Starbucks cups, and Coco and Tan are both lying in Tan’s huge bed, chewing on dog toys. ‘Morning,’ the boys chorus when they see me. ‘Morning. Isn’t it a betrayal to Yoongi for you to be getting drinks from Starbucks?’ I ask, all of them laughing as Tae holds out a cup to me. ‘He prefers Starbucks himself. This one’s for you,’ he says, and I raise an eyebrow.

‘How did you know I like caramel frappes?’ I ask, and the three of them look to Jimin. ‘I did some insta highlights stalking, and saw that you had one of these on a date with Nayeon a few months ago,’ he says shamelessly, and my eyes widen. ‘That is so weird.’ ‘Not as weird as you going on a date with Nayeon,’ he says with a shrug, and I shoot him a look. ‘Why is that weird?’ ‘As far as I remember, she’s straight. Unless Jungkook put her off boys,’ Jimin says, everyone laughing as Jungkook gives him a dirty look. ‘She is straight. It’s just a thing girls say, I guess. You can go on dates with your friends too,’ I explain as I take the empty seat beside Hobi.

‘How is Nayeon, y/n? I haven’t seen her since school ended. I haven’t seen any of the girls, now that I think about it,’ Taehyung asks, and I smile at the thought of them. ‘She’s good – they all are. Nayeon’s writing – she actually got a book deal a few months ago and had her first book published. It’s really good,’ I say, the boys all nodding. ‘We all read it and we loved it. She’s a good writer,’ Hobi says, and I can’t help but notice that Jungkook’s awfully quiet.

‘Why don’t you guys set up some kind of reunion with the girls? They’d like to see you again,’ I say, and they all exchange a look. ‘I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing them soon anyway. At your funeral,’ Jimin says, and then it just hits me all over again. I’m dying. I’m really dying. The next time all of my high school friends see each other again will be once I’m dead.

My eyes instantly fill with tears, and I can see the panic in Jimin’s face. ‘Sorry, y/n, I shouldn’t have s-’ ‘No, don’t apologise. It’s easy to forget that I’m dying, and then it hurts when it hits me again. But it’s not your fault, don’t apologise,’ I say, sniffling, as Hobi puts an arm around me. ‘y/n, you’re breaking my heart,’ Jungkook says with a small smile, his eyes shining with tears, and I can’t help but laugh, the others joining in. ‘Right, enough, before Jimin starts crying too,’ Taehyung says, and I look at Jimin with surprise. ‘Don’t tell me you’re a crier too,’ I say, Jimin looking a little embarrassed. ‘It used to be really easy to make me cry, but Jungkook’s worse than me these days,’ he says, Jungkook sticking his tongue out at him.

‘Okay, what are we doing first?’ I ask, and Tae jumps up with a grin. He goes to the fridge (I’m pretty sure it’s a smart fridge, which is so boujee – I always wanted a smart fridge) and gets out a tray covered with a tea towel. He puts the tray down on the marble island in front of me and pulls the tea towel away with a flourish, revealing a load of different ingredients. Sugar, flour, vanilla, milk, butter, cream, condensed milk and chocolate chips. ‘Are we baking?’ I ask, trying to remember if I put any baking on the list. ‘Nope. We’re making cookie dough ice cream!’ Taehyung announces, and I gasp excitedly. ‘Cookie dough ice cream’s my favourite!’ I exclaim, and they all look to Jimin before Jungkook says, ‘we know.’ ‘Listen, if I hadn’t have done any insta stalking, you wouldn’t be having your favourite drink or your favourite ice cream, so don’t give me that look!’

‘Anyway, I found the recipe on Tasty, and there’s a video with it, so we should just copy that because none of us are good at cooking,’ Tae says, and I hold back a laugh. ‘Not one of you?’ I ask, all of them shaking their heads. ‘Jin and Yoongi are the best, but they’re at work. Just be thankful Namjoon isn’t here – he’d probably find a way to set something on fire,’ Hobi says dryly, and I can’t say I’m surprised – I remember when our Spanish teacher booked us into the school kitchen to cook some Spanish dishes. Let’s just say, we had to use the fire extinguisher in Namjoon’s area. Twice.

We decide as a group that I’ll take the lead on the cooking (though it’s hardly cooking – no heat is involved at all) and Jimin will be my sous chef (Tae puts up a fight, but Jimin points out that he’s my ‘fabulously beautiful assistant’ so he gets to be the sous chef by default). We start by weighing out butter and sugar into a bowl, and getting Jungkook to cream them together (Tae doesn’t have an electric mixer and Jungkook’s stronger than the rest of us so he’s the obvious choice). Then we add milk and vanilla extract, Jungkook mixing that in as well, before we get him to mix in the flour, and then the chocolate chips too. Then Jimin scoops out the cookie dough with a spoon and I shape them into tiny little balls before laying them out on a tray. And then we put them in the freezer, where they need to stay for an hour.

‘What can we do for an hour?’ Hobi asks, Jimin having a look at the list whilst sipping on his drink – he obviously didn’t realise we’d have an hour in the middle of making the ice cream. ‘Ooh, we can cloud watch,’ he says excitedly, and I turn to look out of the kitchen window. The sky’s a beautiful blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds, and a soft breeze ruffles the leaves on the trees. ‘Okay, let me get changed before we go outside,’ I say, heading towards the stairs, and Jimin grabs my arm. ‘Today can be your pyjama day!’ he exclaims, and I sigh, wondering why I put that on the list. ‘At least let me put a bra and socks on. And if I have to wear pyjamas, you all do too,’ I say with a grin, and the other boys looking reluctant but Jimin nods, obviously not one to back down. ‘Fine,’ he grins, ‘we will.’

‘That one looks like a dinosaur.’ ‘That one’s like a duck.’ ‘Don’t you think that one looks like a heart?’ ‘Yeah, it does. And that one looks like a plane.’ ‘Which one?’ ‘That little one, by the duck.’ ‘That’s not a plane-shaped cloud, Taehyung, that’s an actual plane.’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yes, I’m sure. You need to start wearing your glasses again.’ ‘That one looks like Jimin.’ ‘I swear to God, can you stop saying all the ugly ones look like me?’

‘What are you idiots doing?’ Yoongi’s voice comes from behind us, and we all sit up, turning to look at him. ‘Cloud watching. It’s on y/n’s list,’ Jimin says, Yoongi nodding, before he frowns. ‘Why are you all in pyjamas?’ ‘Pyjama day. That’s on y/n’s list too. You gotta go put on some pyjamas,’ Jungkook says, Yoongi sighing as turns to go back into the house. ‘Aren’t you in the studio tonight, Yoongi?’ Hobi calls after him, the other boy not bothering to turn around, just shouting, ‘I took the day off!’

When I came back downstairs from putting my bra and some socks on, Taehyung was sat in the kitchen with the dogs, in his pyjamas (a stripy dark blue and white, shirt and trousers set with that alien-heart cartoon character on it – he literally looks adorable). I asked him where the others were and he said they’d gone to their house to get their pyjamas – they’d slept over last night but in their day clothes, and went back home this morning to get changed (boys are weird – I could never sleep in my day clothes). Then the other boys arrived, the three of them in matching pyjamas to Taehyung’s (Jungkook’s in pink and white with a little pink bunny cartoon character on it, Hobi’s in baby blue and white with a purple and blue horse cartoon character on it, and Jimin’s in a slightly darker blue and white with a yellow dog cartoon character on it). Apparently, the seven of them have these matching pyjamas but different characters, all of them from this cartoon thing they’ve been watching since they were kids called BT21 (when I told them I’d never heard of it, I was told I’m tasteless and uncultured).

Now, we’re laid out on a load of picnic blankets, looking up at the clouds and picking out shapes (that aren’t really there, but I don’t mind). The air’s deliciously warm, the sun beating down, making up for the slight breeze that rushes past every few minutes. The sky’s a vibrant blue and the clouds are all white and fluffy, not one grey cloud in sight. The leaves on the trees that line that garden are rich and dark, the flowers bright and facing up to the sun. The soft music that plays from Tae’s speaker is only disrupted by the singing of birds, and I can’t even find it in me to get annoyed by their chirping like I always do. Summer was never my favourite season, but it’s moments like these that make me feel like if life was an eternal summer, I would have no complaints.

‘Has it been an hour yet?’ Jungkook asks, Hobi checking his watch. ‘Um, yeah, it has actually. An hour and twenty-two minutes,’ he says sheepishly. ‘Hobi, you were supposed to keep an eye on the time!’ Tae exclaims as we all get up, slipping our shoes on from where they’re all lying around the picnic blankets. Tae practically sprints up to the house, the rest of us following slowly behind, and he has the condensed milk and cream out ready for us when we get in.

Jimin and I measure them out into a bowl, and we get Jungkook to whip it up until it thickens into soft peaks (as the recipe says) before we mix in the frozen cookie dough balls. We spoon the mixture out into a glass tray and put it into the freezer. And that’s our ice cream done. ‘I should put chef on my CV now,’ Jimin says, leaning back against the counter and wiping his forehead of sweat that isn’t there. ‘Are you kidding me? I’m the one that did all the actual work! You two just measured everything out!’ Jungkook exclaims incredulously, and Jimin puts a hand on his chest as though he’s offended. ‘The measuring out is the hardest part! Do you know how difficult it is to be precise?’ he asks defensively, Jungkook rolling his eyes as Jimin shoots me a grin.

‘Okay, now that the ice cream’s done, what next?’ I ask, Jimin looking thoughtful for a moment before he smiles mischievously. ‘I know.’ ‘Oh, God,’ I say, Jimin pretending to look hurt again. ‘What do you mean, ‘Oh, God’? I hope you’re not saying that about my idea,’ he says, eyes sparkling, and I side-eye him. ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying it about.’ ‘Well, I was going to suggest that we go and sit back outside and relax after all that cooking, but if you don’t want to, that’s fine,’ he says, Jungkook looking like he wants to punch him.

‘Don’t we need to get on with the list?’ I ask, and Jimin rolls his eyes. ‘It’s been just over a day – 25 hours to be precise – meaning I have two days and 23 hours left, which is plenty of time. We’ve already ticked eight things off, and are in the process of ticking two more off. And anyway, stop worrying your pretty little head about the list. That’s for me to worry about, not you,’ he says, holding an arm out to me which I take, and I let him lead me back out into the garden. ‘Have some faith in me, y/n,’ he says gently, looking at me with warm eyes, ‘I won’t disappoint you. I’ll give you the summer you deserve.’

‘y/n? y/nie? y/n, wake up,’ Jimin’s gentle voice breaks through my slumber, and I blink in the bright sunlight. ‘Ooh, she’s up,’ Jimin says lightly, grinning down at me, and I blink again, rubbing my eyes and sitting up, Coco and Tan both fast asleep beside me. ‘How long have I been asleep?’ I ask, voice slightly deeper from sleep, and Jimin grins. ‘About an hour and a half. Tae was speaking to you for, like, a minute, before he realised you were asleep. But it’s fine. I’ve been setting up the next thing on the list,’ he says, eyes sparkling, making me eye him suspiciously. ‘I hate that you do that face every time I tell you I’ve got the next thing set up. Can’t you just trust me?’ he grins, holding a hand out to me and I take it, letting him pull me up.

‘Leave the blanket, I’ll sort it out afterwards. The others are waiting for us,’ he says, pulling me up towards the house and I hold back a laugh. ‘Why aren’t they at work?’ I ask, Jimin laughing. ‘Hobi sent out a mass text to all our students to say that all dance classes would be cancelled for today, and all my classes would be cancelled for the next few days. Jin had a lecture this morning and he swapped his shift at the restaurant for one tomorrow night instead. Joon and Yoongi both took the day off at the record label. They’re all really into this,’ he laughs, and my heart warms a little. It’s really sweet, how enthusiastic they are about the list, and I really appreciate how much effort they’re all putting in to help.

Jimin leads me through the house and takes a hoodie from the coat-hooks beside the front door, handing it to me. ‘What for? It’s hot,’ I say, and he grins. ‘Just put it on,’ he says, and I shoot him another suspicious look before pulling it over my head. It’s big and warm, black with ‘Good For You’ written on it several times in different colours, the toggles a bright orange. And then he hands me a pair of gloves. ‘Wha- are we going to a snow dome or something? What the hell?’ I ask, holding back laughter as I pull them on. ‘Jungkook gave you the tattoo aftercare speech, right?’ he asks, and I narrow my eyes at him. ‘So you know you can’t get water on them,’ he says with a mischievous grin, and before I can even register his words, he’s yanking the door open and pushing me out of it.

As soon as I step onto the concrete slabs of Tae and Joon’s front doorstep, a water balloon explodes at my feet. It’s a fat one, too, and the water covers me, leaving me drenched. I blink a few times before looking up to see the other six boys (in their matching pyjamas) stood dotted around the garden, all of them with water guns and a small bucket full of water balloons, grinning stupidly. I wipe my face, the gloves coming in handy with soaking all the water up before I hear Jimin shutting the door behind me. When I turn to look at him, he’s got two guns in his hands, and he hands me one. And it isn’t just any old water gun – it’s a proper super soaker. ‘Every man for himself. We go until we’ve all run out of water,’ Jimin says slowly as he moves away from me so that we’re all stood in a circle, equal distance between each of us. ‘Ready.’ I feel myself tense a little, excitement filling me as I grin. ‘Set.’ I hold the gun up, ready to aim. ‘Go!’

The second he says the word, I feel water hit me from all directions, before I can even shoot anyone, and I let out a shriek. ‘You can’t all go for me!’ I shout, laughter echoing around me. The water fight properly begins, everyone turning on the people next to them, and I take the moment that they’re all using their water guns to grab a water balloon from the bucket at my feet. I hurl it at Jimin, bursting into laughter when it explodes at his feet, covering him in water. That seems to remind them all that they have water balloons and they all begin throwing them too.

Laughter fills the air as we soak each other, tossing water balloons and shooting streams of water with our super soakers. We run around the sopping wet grass and the splash through the colourful chalk stained puddles on the driveway to avoid each other, all of us slipping and sliding several times, and I actually double over in laughter when Namjoon falls to the floor after running to try and avoid a water balloon from Yoongi, the water balloon exploding in his face and making him blink several times.

Jimin drops his gun at one point, and Jungkook slides across the floor action-movie style, scooping it up before soaking Jimin with a gun in each hand. Jimin jumps onto his back in an attempt to grab his gun back, before giving up, opting to burst a water balloon over Jungkook’s head instead.

Jin runs out of water in his gun first, shouting out when he does, and Taehyung and Hoseok take the opportunity to drench him with their guns. All Jin can do is run, unable to defend himself, and they chase him. Until their guns run out too, and they’re all throwing water balloons instead.

It seems they’ve all forgotten about me (or are deciding not to target me), and I use it to my advantage, managing to spray them all with water and throw water balloons at them without any of them realising it’s me, too preoccupied with each other. Until Jimin notices, pointing me out to Jungkook, and he comes charging towards me, Jimin still on his back, and I scream before sprinting away, laughing when I feel the water from his guns hit me.

Soon, we all run out of water in our guns, and just throw water balloons at each other instead. It’s hilarious when the balloons explode in our hands, soaking us before we can even throw them at anyone else, and we all burst into laughter several times, waiting until we get our breath back to resume the fight. By far the funniest moment is when Taehyung and Yoongi both throw water balloons at Jungkook at the same time, and they hit either side of his head, the boy blinking in shock, his face dripping with water as we all literally howl with laughter. The neighbours are watching us through their windows, but none of us care; we’re having the time of our lives, every single one of us drenched.

But the fun ends when a water balloon hits me in the head, and it really hurts, searing pain shooting through my head. I go dizzy, losing my footing, and I trip to floor. The laughter stops abruptly, and I try to get myself back up, vision blurry, before I feel a pair of hands on my waist. ‘y/n, stop, just sit down,’ Jimin says soothingly, helping me to sit on the soaking wet grass. I put my head in my hands, keeping my eyes closed until I feel the dizziness ebb away. ‘I told you guys not to aim for her head!’ Jimin says angrily, but I shake my head, blinking as I move my hands from my face. ‘It’s fine, Jimin, it was an accident,’ I say quietly, the boy nodding as he looks at me with concern.

He really looks… gorgeous. His wet blond hair is slicked back, water droplets dripping from his tan skin, and his pyjamas are clinging to his body, the top a little see-through, the lines of his muscles faint through the material. ‘You okay?’ he asks, and I nod, blinking as I try to shake off the thirsty thoughts. If I can ogle him, then I’m fine. ‘You sure?’ ‘I’m okay, honestly. It just… took me by surprise. I’m completely fine now,’ I say with a little force, and he nods, still looking slightly concerned. ‘Right, I think we should stop now then,’ Taehyung says, the boys all nodding sombrely, and I just want to cry. We were having so much fun – I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much – and I fucking ruined it with my stupid tumour.

My eyes fill with tears, and Jimin notices instantly. ‘y/n, if it hurts, we can take you to the hosp-’ ‘It doesn’t. It doesn’t hurt. I’m just annoyed,’ I say sullenly, and he seems to understand, looking a little amused. ‘Don’t sulk. We were nearly finished with the water balloons anyway,’ he says, and I nod, but I still feel angry with myself. ‘How about… y/n oversees you guys cleaning up whilst I get us some ice cream?’ Taehyung says with a grin, not waiting to hear the boys’ protests about having to clean up before darting up to the house. They all start grumbling, and I hold back laughter as I watch them trudge around the garden, picking up all the rubber bits of the water balloons.

‘y/n,’ Jungkook hisses, and I turn to look at him, biting back a laugh when he puts a finger to his lips, an unburst water balloon in his hand. He motions at Jimin, who’s crouched down, collecting up rubbish, before he throws it, the balloon landing square on his left ass cheek. He lets out a loud shriek of pain, and I burst into laughter, actual tears coming to my eyes as he chases Jungkook around the garden, until he trips on a water gun, falling to the floor with a thud. I laugh even harder, the other boys watching with amusement as Jungkook goes to help him up. And then he trips on Jimin’s foot, falling and landing on top of the other boy, and now I’m laughing so hard that no noise is coming out, tears streaming down my face as Jimin and Jungkook shout at each other, the boys all laughing too.

When Taehyung comes out with a tray in his hands, we’ve all calmed down, though I can’t help but let out giggles every now and then when the moment replays in my head. Taehyung hands out bowls of ice cream, giving me the one with the most in it, and we sit in a circle on the wet grass as we eat, silent save for a few appreciative noises. The ice cream’s really good – it tastes the same as the ice cream you get from those parlours at the seaside, like actual scoops of summer, and I’m happy again, my annoyance from earlier completely gone, though there’s a slight ache in my head where the balloon hit me.

‘What now?’ Jungkook asks once we’ve all finished, and all of us look to Jimin. ‘Um… we’ve got a couple hours to kill. Well, y/n has. I’ve got to set the next thing up,’ he says, looking at me, and I sigh. ‘I think I might have another nap. I think it’s the tumour or something, because I’ve been so tired all the time the past couple months,’ I say, deciding not to say that I want to sleep off my headache – I don’t want any of them to feel guilty. ‘Well, that works out perfectly. Off you go, then,’ Jimin says, pulling me up from the floor, and leading me to the front door, making me laugh at his hastiness.

‘If you wake up and none of us are here, just text or call me,’ he says as we reach the door, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘I don’t have your number.’ ‘You do, actually. I left it on a slip of paper in your phone case, in case you woke up and none of us were home, whilst you were in the garden. We had to go and get some supplies for the water fight,’ he says, and I stare at him incredulously. ‘You left me alone fast asleep in Taehyung’s back garden?’ I demand, and he opens his mouth to speak before stopping. ‘Okay, I just realised that that probably wasn’t a good idea. But nothing happened, so let’s not get annoyed,’ he says, and I roll my eyes, holding back a laugh. ‘What if something had happened to me?’ I challenge, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘As I said yesterday, you’re going to die anyway,’ he says carefully, sounding tentative, and when I let out a strangled laugh, surprised at the suddenness of his words, he relaxes, laughing along with me. ‘Right, go, upstairs to bed,’ he says, pulling the door open and pushing me in, ‘I’ve got work to do, woman.’

‘Okay, are you ready to go?’ Jimin asks, and I nod, slipping my shoes on and trying not to step on Yeontan in the process. I slept for a couple hours and then I just sat in bed, scrolling through tiktok for a while, until Jimin burst into my room with Coco and Tan (they’re inseparable, already the best of friends – maybe I will ask Tae to adopt Coco for me). He had some chicken nuggets and fries for me from McDonalds, and said that I’d have to eat them in the car, because we had somewhere to go. He was still in his (now dry) pyjamas, so he said I had to wear mine too – I hope to god he’s not taking me somewhere public. I’ll feel like an idiot walking around in my satin Victoria’s Secret pyjamas.

Now, we’re stood at the front door, shoes on and a big bag in Jimin’s hand – my curiosity has been piqued, but he won’t let me see what’s inside it, its contents hidden beneath the big fluffy blanket he’s just about managed to fit in. ‘I’m ready,’ I reply, and he looks up from the door to me, eyes sparkling with amusement before he says, ‘I wasn’t speaking to you, I was speaking to the dogs.’ I shove him gently, ignoring his low chuckles as I pull the front door open, sticking out a leg to hold the dogs back. I reach down to lift up Tan, leaving my own bigger dog for Jimin to lift up, holding back a laugh when he sticks his tongue out at me. We head towards his car, the dogs jumping into the back, and I get into the passenger seat as Jimin puts the bag into the boot. When he climbs in beside me, he hands me his phone. ‘The passcode’s 131095. Can you put on a Spotify playlist?’ His phone automatically connects to car when he starts it up, and I put in the passcode, opening his Spotify. ‘Which playlist?’ ‘The one named ’21 Things To Do This Summer’. Duh,’ he says with a grin as he reverses out of Tae’s drive, and I let out a little laugh, endeared that he’s made us a playlist. I click shuffle play, the soft piano notes and low trap beat of Mabel’s ‘Finders Keepers’ floating out from the speakers as Jimin rolls down the windows, the cool air seeping into the warmth inside the car. ‘Okay, so… why is this song in the playlist?’ I ask, curious, and he grins as he reverses out of Tae and Joon’s drive. I try to stop myself from getting flustered about him putting his hand on the back of my seat as he looks behind him – it’s so hot when guys do that, and it’s even hotter when the guy is as hot as Jimin. ‘It’s not really that relevant to our situation but it’s a good song to drive to – easy, chill… just nice. Oh, and one of the lyrics is ‘make use of the timing’, and that’s what we’re doing.’ ‘You make it sound like we decided to make use of the timing.’ ‘We did.’ ‘No. You did. If it were up to me, I’d probably be at home, crying and cuddling Coco.’ ‘So, in that case… I guess you should thank me,’ he says with an amused grin, eyes ahead of him on the road, and I roll my eyes, holding back a smile. ‘Thank you,’ I say with a grin, and he lets out a low chuckle. ‘You’re more than welcome.’

We fall into a comfortable silence as Jimin drives, my eyes flitting around our surroundings, Jimin gently singing along to the music as I eat my McDonalds. We’re driving through a residential area and it’s so interesting to look at each house. We pass a young couple sat on their front garden, playing with a toddler who runs around the grass on chubby little legs, and an elderly woman knitting on her porch, a serene smile on her face. We pass a man cutting the grass in nothing but shorts (even his feet are bare, which I find kinda disturbing), and a big group of people, kids, adults and elderly, having a barbecue, laughter and music filling the air around them, the smoky smell of the cooking meat floating through the open window and making my mouth water for more flavoursome food than McDonalds. There’s a group of teens on skateboards and scooters racing down the wide pavement, their laughter echoing behind them, and two teen girls sat on a picnic blanket, one fast asleep with her head in the other girl’s lap. And it really hits me that everyone has their own lives. For me, my world is falling apart, and Jimin and I are desperately trying to hold it together. For all these other people, their lives are just normal. They’re all with their friends and family, making the most of the nice weather and enjoying the simple things in life. Things that I may never be able to enjoy again.

The song changes to Brockhampton’s ‘Sugar’ as Jimin joins the motorway, and I gasp, instantly singing along as he lets out a gentle laugh, turning up the volume with a small smile. This song is just perfect for a summer evening drive and, even though my death is looming near, I’m inexplicably happy, and at peace. We’re the only people on the motorway, and in this moment, it feels like we’re the only people on Earth. It’s just me and Jimin under the sun.

‘So,’ I begin once the song’s finished, ‘where are we going?’ ‘It’s a surprise,’ he says neutrally – for, like, the fifth time – and I let out a long sigh. ‘Well… is it far away?’ I ask, and he shakes his head. ‘We’re about… ten minutes away. So stop being so impatient. And finish your nuggets,’ he says mildly, and I let out a little huff, pretending to be more annoyed than I am. I do as he says, finishing off my food, and it’s not long before he’s exiting the motorway, turning off the roundabout onto small country roads. ‘Oh God, I hate country roads. I’m gonna be sick if we’re on them for too long.’ ‘What? Seriously?’ he asks, sounding alarmed as he looks over at me with wide eyes, the car nearly swerving into a hedge. ‘Eyes on the road!’ I shriek as he quickly turns the wheel, looking sheepish. ‘The twists and turns make my stomach turn.’ ‘We shouldn’t be on them for much longer – maybe… three minutes,’ he says, speeding up slightly.

The roads are on grassy fields and hills, and it feels like we’re just driving up and down, which doesn’t help my car sickness at all. I try to keep my eyes on the sky, which usually helps, but I’m also curious as to where we’re going so I keep looking around, but all I can see is miles of fields. ‘Where the hell are you taking me?’ I ask, and he laughs as the car slows down, an even smaller road to the right. He turns onto it, making me look at him with wide eyes, and he laughs even more. ’30 seconds, and all will be revealed. Just relax,’ he says, and I nod, still slightly sceptical. I count down the thirty seconds, itching with curiosity as I crane my neck trying to see where we could be going. And then I spot it.

‘Oh, my God,’ I whisper, holding a hand over my mouth, and Jimin grins as he swerves off the road onto the field, driving towards where a grey truck is parked, the other six boys waving at us. But my focus is on the giant sheet stretched out behind them, the two sides of the sheet attached to two long poles, fairy lights hung across the top of the sheet and down the poles. And the word ‘Movie Night’ is projected onto the sheet, making me squeal in excitement. ‘A drive-in movie?’ I shriek, Jimin nodding with a laugh as he pulls up beside the truck. ‘It’s not quite a drive-in movie, but it’s the best I could do on such short notice.’ ‘No, no, it’s perfect!,’ I say happily, Jimin grinning, proud of himself. ‘Come on, let’s get out – they’re itching to hear if you like it,’ Jimin says drily, and it makes me laugh when I look up to see the anticipation on all of their faces.

‘This is amazing, guys!’ I exclaim as I climb out of the car, the boys looking relieved to hear it. ‘He might be an idiot, but he has good ideas every now and then,’ Jin says fondly, Jimin sticking his tongue out at him as he opens the back door of his car, the dogs bounding out and chasing each other across the grass. ‘Whose is the truck?’ I ask as I head over to where they’re stood, and they all look to Yoongi. ‘My parents bought her for me when I moved out. She’s a little battered, but she gets the job done. You and Jimin are taking her on your road trip,’ Yoongi says, and I look to Jimin with a raised eyebrow.

‘Are you insured on the truck?’ I ask seriously, the boys all laughing as Jimin nods with a grin. ‘Funnily enough, yes. We needed it to move a lot of equipment when Hobi opened the studio, so I got insured on it, and now Yoongi and I kinda share it,’ Jimin says, Yoongi rolling his eyes. ‘She’s 80% mine, 20% yours,’ he says, all of us laughing. I move closer to the truck, curious to see how they’ve set it up. The cargo bed is full of blankets and snacks, and I spot a projector on the floor, aimed at the white sheet. ‘D’you like it?’ Jimin asks from behind me, big bag in his hand, and I nod, turning to look at him, seeing the other boys watching us over his shoulder. ‘I love it. Thank you,’ I say softly, and he grins. ‘You’re most welcome. Now, would you like to take your seat, madam?’ ‘I would love to, kind Sir,’ I say, mimicking his tone. ‘Do you mind if I…?’ he trails off, hands hovering around my waist, and I realise he’s asking if I mind him lifting me up. ‘Um, no, I don’t mind,’ I reply as calmly as possible, and he nods, strong hands gripping onto my waist. He lifts me up effortlessly and my pyjama top rides up, his fingers touching my bare skin as he puts me down in the cargo bed, before climbing up to join me, my skin still tingling where he touched it.

The others join us then, Yoongi messing with the back of the cargo bed for a few seconds, before it completely comes down, allowing them to just step into the truck. ‘Are you kidding? I didn’t know it did that!’ Jimin exclaims, Yoongi rolling his eyes. ‘How can you claim to share her with me if you didn’t even know she was a drop-side?’ Yoongi asks, Jimin sulking. I’m assuming it would’ve saved him a lot of effort over the years if he’d know that.

I move to sit with my back leaning against the cab, Yoongi and Namjoon squeezing in either side of me, whilst Jungkook climbs up to sit on top of the cab, legs crossed so his feet don’t dangle down onto us. Jimin and Hoseok sprawl out across the bottom of the bed whilst Tae lays a picnic blanket onto the floor, he and Jin sitting atop it with their backs against the truck. Jimin gets the blanket out of his bag before pulling out four buckets of popcorn. ‘Is that actual cinema popcorn?’ I ask and he nods proudly, handing out the buckets. ‘I got some weird looks when I got four buckets and then walked straight back out,’ he says, all of us laughing, the boys already beginning to stuff the popcorn into their mouths as Tan and Coco jump up into the cargo bed to join us.

‘Shall we get a picture?’ I ask, Jimin looking at me with a grin. ‘The boys already took some pictures.’ ‘But I want some with you guys,’ I say, the words coming out a little whiny, and Jimin rolls his eyes with a little grin. ‘Fine, I’ll take it.’ ‘No, you have to be in it.’ ‘So, who’s gonna take it then?’ ‘I… don’t know.’ And another argument breaks out, but I insist that we’re all in it, so Namjoon (with his long arms) holds the camera up and takes a selfie. It takes a few tries to get one with all of us in it, but when we get it, it’s really nice, and I decide it’s going on the front page on the scrapbook.

‘What are we watching?’ I ask as Yoongi types and clicks at his laptop, the screen angled away from me. ‘We’ve got two different choices. There’s Dirty Dancing, and Grown Ups,’ Jin says, and I laugh at how different the two films are. ‘Shall we do a vote or…?’ ‘No, you choose,’ Hoseok says, and I hesitate. I love Dirty Dancing, but… I don’t think I have it in me to watch a romantic film. Grown Ups? It’s perfect. It’s stupid and childish and the humour is so ridiculous; it’s just what I need to get my mind off things. ‘Let’s watch Grown Ups,’ I say, all of them looking at me in shock. Except for Jimin. ‘Seriously?’ Taehyung asks, and I nod, confused. ‘We can watch the other one if you w-’ ‘No, we would’ve voted for Grown Ups. Well, Jungkook would’ve liked Dirty Dancing, but we just thought…’ ‘I’d wanna watch the romantic film?’ I say with a roll of my eyes, Jimin grinning even wider.

‘I hate to say ‘I told you so’ but…’ he says, trailing off, and I look at him in confusion. ‘How did you know?’ ‘Because why would you wanna watch a romantic film when you’ve never been in love and you’re about to die?’ he asks matter-of-factly, voicing my thoughts, and I smile softly at him, nodding. ‘Well. Maybe he isn’t as stupid as we always thought,’ Jungkook jokes, Jimin punching his leg gently. And then Yoongi puts on the film, and I share a bucket of popcorn with Namjoon, and we laugh in all the right places, and the setting sun casts a glow onto us, streaking the sky with beautiful vibrant colours, and all of my sadness disappears. I’m just a girl with her friends watching a movie while the sun sets.

We don’t know which moments in our lives will become memories, and nearly all of our memories were just insignificant moments that became significant. Those memories that you never knew would become memories because, in the moment, everything is so simple and happy and warm and light, but it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal, but it is and life will never be that simple or happy or warm or light again.

This isn’t one of those moments. This is one of those moments when you know you’ll remember it forever. And maybe my forever isn’t that long, but the thought still makes me smile.

10 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

Text

The Casagrandes Reviews: Croaked!

Halloween Havoc rolls on as we shine a light on the other beloved holiday on October 31st, Day of the Dead! Sid and Ronnie Anne’s well meaning plan to help Sid’s sister Adelaide move on from her frog’s death ends up convincincing the small child she has power over life and death. I’m sure all big sisters do that at some point. More about the whole being dead thing under the cut.

I’ve hyped this one up in both previous Casgrandes reviews, so as you can tell i’m excited for this one. As i’ve mentioned before but will repeat for anyone new here, I absolutley love this episode and when I did a binge a month ago for labor day of this show, it was one of the standouts by a wide margin. I only held off so long because why should Halloween be the only holiday I cover during spooky season huh? I mean yes it’s in my halloween coverage’s title but there’s always room for incusivlity. Like jello or Wolverine.

As for if i’m covering this show’s paired episode, the show’s episode for halloween itself...

Yeah I have nothing against the episode ITSELF, it’s just.. eh. I mean we do get bobby as a dracula and sid as a lobster, a cute dance sequence and Stanley griping about not getting to wear his costume at work, which is valid, and then wearing said taco costume at the end... it’s just wrapped around your standard “character blows off a family engagment for something that turns out to suck” plot, the only diffrence being Bobby being the best brother ever is supportive of Ronnie Anne going to a 6th grade party and gladly helps salvage the night at the end. And it wasn’t a plot I liked to begin with, so it had that going against it. And I Know, I tend to zero in on i’ve seen it before a lot.. but that’s because .. it’s OKAY to do a tried and true plot tha’ts been done a million times as long as you can do something entertaining with it. Both She Ra and Avatar the Last Airbender are about a world tha’ts long been conquered whose long lost savior comes to turn the tide of the war.. but that’s about as much as they share in direct comparison and both are fucking fantastic for diffrent reasons entirely. But as rehashes go that episode wasn’t BAD , just eh, and i’d rather focus on things I can write more about frankly.

Speaking of which, yeah I love this episode, and like “Mexican Makeover” it comes from Lalo Alcaraz of La Cucharacha fame, a comic strip writer whose also the show’s consultant for mexican culture, and is part of why the former episode disapointed me: because this one was REALLY fucking good. So enough hype , pitter patter let’s get at er. The episode opens with Rosa setting up a day of the dead altar for her Father, with Sid and Ronnie Anne wondering what’s up, with Sid out and out wondering if Day of the Dead is mexican halloween something i’m ashamed to admit I thought of it as for years and years, because i’m as white as I am dumb, and most cartoons didn’t go much beyond “the dead come back for a day” and get into the more metaphorhical aspects we get to here. I assume Coco is the exception, as is the book of life I just still need to watch both. And yes you may boo me over this, I certainly deserve this. I do however like this line as it’s a common misconception, and gives a lot of kids likely thinking the same about the holiday in the audience a surrogate.

Ronnie Anne also wonders what the altar’s for. Rosa, while minorly annoyed at the two is happy to edcuate explaning it’s a day for honoring your loved ones and inviting them back, metaphorically though the metaphor was lost on young me since both Mucha Lucha and El Tigre had the dead literally come back, via an altar with offerings of their favorite things. It’s a nice bit that not only explains the holiday for those in the audience who either forgot a lot of that (raises hand) or didn’t know any of that, and also helps explain how the holiday is metaphoircal, something I didn’t think about before because as we’ve established i’m kinda dumb. The point is I like it. Sid however gets an idea: Her sister Adelaide has been down in the dumps since her Frog, Froggy died, likely named after Big the Cat’s frog but this Froggy’s penchant for running off probably just got him ran over since Adelaide lives in the city and Frogger is sadly inaccurate, as George Costanza leanred the hard way.

So our ambigiously gay duo visit Addy, who being a 6 year old who just lost her pet is bawling her eyes out. So our duo tells her about day of the dead and they set out to get froggy’s faviorite things: From shoelaces to the hoppit, a frog themed version of the hobbit I both wish is real and belives is probably better than the second two hobbit movies, flies (with help from a dirty diaper because this show and it’s sister can’t resist poop jokes.. go with your audience I guess), and a lilypad. The result is this.

I”m.. not going to ask why a 6 year old’s frog has the frog equilvent of a naked burt renoylds on a bearskin rug photo, froggy’s sexy secrets died with him. But unfortuntely nuance is lost on a 6 year old, so Addy assumed Froggy was actually coming back and just grieves harder now. So Sid comes up with Plan B B: bring froggy back from the dead at the old pet semetary. Though since they don’t want to defile his body they try a dead ally cat first instead.

One Zombie Test Cat later, they decide sometimes dead is better and just go with plan b: Sid once had a goldfish that died and her parents got her a replacement, and since it worked on her, and apparently still works on Bobby, they decide to pull that. They rent a frog from the pet store. And if your asking “wait pet stores , even fictional ones, do that” and suprisingly.. no they do not, but Pete, the guy at the pet shop which is also named after him, likes Sid’s mom’s tour. Okay two questions: one is that little pete from the adventures of pete and pete all grown up? I mean I know what happend to his actor...

youtube

But in universe we have no idea. And Brendon Small, the character and the actor, showed up on Clarence so it’s plausable. And secondly where can I get the job as owner of my own pet store near melissa joan hart doing a gator show. I may have a career goal now.

So they sneak in subsittue froggy, and we get an adorable montage of Addy hanging out with Froggy the Second: Getting some son, eating flies (though Addy spits her’s out. She’s not Lana.), and watching the Hoppit.. as I wish to one day. I mean we see a trippy bit of it but not the actual thing.. I guess I can add seeing a full version to my small list of things related to this franchise that I only I want along with my a diffrent world-esque spinoff show following Lori and Bobby.

Addy happily sleeps after that giant ball of adorable, and Sid and Ronnie Anne take Froggy 2 back to Creepy Guy at the Pet Store.. I mean Pete.. I mean Future Me. So Sid pats herself on the back metaphoircally for the plan.. which this being a sitcom, naturally has kinda snowballed. Now Addy thinks she has power over life and death. Guess she has the same Christmas LIst as Crow

As not to break a small child’s heart for the second time in two days, our heroines decide they have to bring back her wish list: Great Aunt Milly, Old Mr Woodburn, and Abraham Lincoln.

Since they don’t have a time traveling phone booth, they’ll have to go with the next best thing, my boy Tio Carlos. Seriously why they don’t use this adorable nerd more is beyond me. But Carols being an adorable history nerd gladly agrees to play LIncoln for what he thinks is a play.. I mean greanted they could just tell him the truth. He’s a dad, he gets this kinda thing. Meanwhile our girls dress up like said aunt milly and shenanigans insue. It’s a really funny scene.. until it falls apart with the mr. woodburn impersination, revealing it was all a hoax, and sending Addleaide crying to her room understandably not wanting to talk to either of them. Still we got Carolos as lincoln. That’s not nothing.

But yeah having made things worse by accident, the girls go to Rosa for help who while understandably annoyed at the mess they made, is more than willing to come with and help. Because Rosa is fucking amazing ,that’s why. She sucessfully coaxes Addy out and then takes her down to the Casagrande’s place to show off her altar and explain the true meaning of day of the dead: Thinking about your loved ones.. keeps the memories alive. Thinking about who they were, what they loved, what they meant to you.. it’s not raising the dead.. but honring them. It not only made the real value of the holiday sink in for me but i’ts a good message for kids, and a good way to teach them about a holiday most probably didn’ know how it worked if they even knew at all. It’s a really sweet powerful moment, and the combination of alcaraz’s writing and Sonia Manzano really brings it to this scene. It’s easily the show’s best. Good stuff.

Froggy II interupts the scene.. turns out a trail of bacon bits, that we saw left earlier, lead him back, and Pete’s been following him the whole way and is winded because of course he is. We’re in the same blobby shape I get it man your fine. So with Addy already liking the second froggy, and having fully come to terms with the first’s death, Sid offers Pete tickets to her mom’s show in exchange for Froggy II, whose named that in this scene and who we saw in uptown funk. As long as it’s the splash zone he’s fine with it and Sid knows her mom enough well enough to know Becca would probably gladly trade a ticket for her daughter’s hapiness. Plus it’s easier to get someone to willingnly sign the wavers about getting gator blood on them when they already want that so win win. We end on a Day of the Dead party with the whole cast in day of the dead makeup, eveyrone happy.. except Carl who’se subplot of spreading marigolds everywhere I missed and he ended up at the Loud House. Why this didn’t lead to a crossover I dunno. I mean if Steve Urkel can jetpack into the family from step by step’s yard, why not? I know the 90′s were a diffrent time but this was a missed opportunity. Funny gag anyway. And scene.

Final Thoughts: I was pretty transparent with this one: I think it’s a wonderful, heartfelt, and well done look at day of the dead tha’ts educational without cramming the education part down your throat, like any good cartoon that teachs you something should do, and it’s also really funny and endearing.Not much else to say, it’s just really good and I was glad to highlight it and if you haven’t seen it, please do it’s perfect viewing for the season. If you want more Casagrandes I have two reviews under the nick tab on my blog, and will be covering the second batch of Halloween/Day of the Dead episodes later this month, along with the new loud house halloween special Ghosted. And if you can’t wait for either of those, monday i’ll be covering the new ducktales halloween special. Until we meet again, viva la muretos. Play us out Nimoy...

youtube

#the casagrandes #croaked #Adelaide Chang #sid chang #ronnie anne santiago #rosa casagrande #carl casagrande #froggy ii #nickeodeon #day of the dead #halloween #halloween havoc

8 notes · View notes

hecohansen31 · 5 years ago

Text

A Little Gain Of Her

(Hawthorne! Michael Langdon+Virgin! Reader (+Succubus)

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

We finally made it!

I finally managed to publish the last part of “A Liittle Loss of Innocence” (Part One, Part Two) and I am very nervous about it, because I hope it will be a worth finale to this series, which is one of my first finieshed series (MIRACLES DO HAPPEN).

As always: want to give me some feedback, heart, comments and reblog help me a lot (alongside DMs about what you liked or asks about what you didn’t, just remeber to be nice and kind!).

Feedback means the WORLD to us, fanfics writers and we will love you for ever if you do!

So I hope you will enjoy it, and let me know if you have any asks that might turn up in spin-offs for this series, love you, lovelies!

(also guys there is a little disclaimer at the end, please read it, also I put it in the end so it wouldn’t spoil the ending, love you!)

SUMMARY: Your broken heart is reayd for more heartbreak when Michael reveals a painful discovery about how their relationship started...

Will you be able to forgive me or is he gone too far?

WORDS: 9,2 K (Yeah... I might have written a bit...)

WARNINGS: Loss of Virginity (So there will be a bit of blood), Sex, Oral Sex (Male-Female receiving) A Bit of Dirty Talk, Heartbreak (Angst), Relationship Starting With Dub-Con, Teasing and Edging (also Demonic Infestetation and Succubus).

One of the true facts that had made her laugh was the one which said that you could die from heartbreak.

She found it so stupid, mostly when she honestly believed that a break-up, something which usual provoked heartbreak, wasn’t something so heavy and horrible to make your heart stop pumping blood.

But she didn’t laugh now, that her own heart was beating so slowly.

Almost as slowly her entire life, which had become unmoving, stuck in a hellish limbo, between routine and the will to do nothing but stay on her bed and cry there, hiding herself under the fluffy blankets, meanwhile she held her pillow to her chest, trying to suppress its shudders, but they still shook her body till late at night, when exhaustion took over.

She honestly felt on the brink of death and laughed at her own stupid heart for being this frail.

Even more disappointed in herself because what had happened to her wasn’t a break-up, but a straight up rejection.

(She honestly didn’t know how else to describe Michael’s words, so arrogant and light, but they still broke her heart in its deepest place).

She had, at first, felt so ridiculously stupid for having believed that he might have wanted something else from her, other than her body.

Her first reaction had been anger, throwing things in each way she could, her magic acting out randomly snapping doors closed and open continuously meanwhile books opened and glass shattered.

She had calmed down after all the energy had been lost and there had been left nothing but her emptiness.

There she asked herself why he couldn’t love her, till it heartbreakingly broke her heart to see herself in her worst state for a man.

(A man she had trusted and somehow might have loved).

But it hurt her too much and since then any distraction had been good for her, but at night, when distractions couldn’t help her, her bed ate her and exhaustion soothed her broken heart, mended roughly with a band-aid, meanwhile she hoped for her brain would just forget about him.

But it didn’t.

She had good reasons to believe that it would never forget him.

That night her bed had seemed extremely tempting, but her friends, sad and bored of seeing her moping around and moving as fast as she could, had made her take part to the annual “Witch Ball”.

In the mortal world she had never cared for these things, usually not having a knight, but right now she felt even less interested, tired and sad, definitely not in the best shape to be pushed into a pretty dress and high heels.

But she hadn’t been able to say no to her friends, when she knew they were the saddest to see her waste away, but they didn’t dare to ask for any details (although from the growls Madison had mumbled when Michael had walked in the library, one day, while they were there, she knew that they had some general ideas on what might have caused her sickness) not wanting to bring bad memories on her mind.

She knew they just wanted to make her feel better, but she didn’t know if it might have been possible, anymore.

She had no will and hope for happiness, no matter the sweet daily enjoyment she tried to find, to avoid that black hole that was in her heart.

So, she had agreed to slip herself in an elegant pink dress, the colors bringing a bit of softness in her sad sad smile, meanwhile a few good touches of make-up and to her hair had brought her back from the village of the dead, bringing a bit of colors to her face, meanwhile the hair finally out of her face were elegant and not in a messy or silly bun.

She had talked with her friends and laughed, meanwhile it all went on, meanwhile it all happened, feeling her heart soar a bit during the silly conversations; she definitely felt grateful for her friends, she was lucky to have them, but she didn’t want her sadness to be contagious for her friends.

She felt the like the only one who stuck out: single, a virgin and sad.

But she tried to keep that thought out of her head.

But it all came back as she was alone, waiting for Coco and Mallory to get ready, although from the noise she could hear behind their door, they weren’t using make-up, but definitely making out, which made her roll her eyes, a sarcastic laugh escaping her lips, meanwhile she played with her dress, dusting it off and raising it to avoid it getting caught in her nude heels.

And as if the universe heard her complain, the source of it appeared in front of her eyes.

She mistook him for a vision, much better than any water in a desert.

He wore an elegant tuxedo, but not the typical one she had seen each Hawthorne boy wore.

No, he just couldn’t avoid being a peacock even in this event, going for an elegant black tuxedo but with red designs over it, beautiful but also clearly not something everyone could pull off, unlike him, who looked completely at ease in the assemble.

His elegant dark red loafers made no sound as he moved closer to her, looking at the floor, till he raised his head to meet her eyes, which had been waiting for his azure ones and when they met she immediately saw the change in them.

The arrogant look softened.

He seemed almost happy to see her.

And she couldn’t believe he could lie so well.

She immediately lowered her eyes to the ground, her legs twisting under her, pushing her as far away from him as she could, her back hitting the soft plush velvet of the walls, her naked shoulder brushing against it, and she felt nothing but pure coldness.

He seemed to take in all her reaction, saddened by it, biting his lips slowly, pushing his bottom between his teeth, tormenting it as if he wanted to torture himself almost as she did, making himself feel like her; but she just couldn’t believe that he felt any kind of emotion different from lust or arrogance.

He still moved closer, but stopped close enough for them to have a relatively big space between them, and leaving her a little piece of air to breathe in peace.

But all the air she was taking in to avoid a mental breakdown was immediately taken away from what he said her.

-I know it doesn’t matter… but you look gorgeous, tonight-.

Of course, it didn’t matter.

But she still couldn’t help but release the first honest and genuine smile in weeks, on her lips.

-… you don’t look so bad yourself- she mumbled, immediately looking away: he didn’t deserve her love and he didn’t deserve her pity.

He let out an embarrassed laugh, his hair being thrown back, catching the light in a perfect arch of golden she wanted to touch and mess, but she just pushed her nails further in the weak skin of her palms.

She half-expected him to walk away as he had done before, almost challenged him to do it, minding him no attention, hoping for Mallory and Coco to finish their make-out session in order to finally be able to go to the ball together.

But the universe had somehow declared she couldn’t have a moment of peace.

-… (Y/N)…- she wanted to tell him not to say her name with those plump lips of his, the most sensual sound came out of them, a prayer of a fool in the throes of pleasure and they hadn’t even touched -…I think we need to talk-.

-What for? – her hysterics were shown through her tone, full of derision and annoyance, a mask to keep him from knowing how much she had wished for those words, praying that one day he would barge in her bedroom, and ask for her forgiveness on his knees.

She would cruelly deny him on most nights she dreamed it, but during her most feverish dreams… what they hadn’t been able to conclude happened, with her hands in his hair, pulling and his mouth latched on her nipples, exactly just like last time.

-… I think that you know that last time I sent you away, rather unkindly…- his tone matched hers, clearly not wanting to appear a lesser opponent, but softness shone in his eyes, asking and begging for her to give him a chance to talk, as if he was speaking to a wounded animal.

She was a wounded deer in his eyes, but the truth was that she was much worse, a broken woman, with him having destroyed the thing that held her entire heart together.

-You say “unpolitely” I say “you are an asshole, and I don’t need to encourage your assholish views”- she honestly wanted to take that step further, the one that would hurt him as he had hurt her, but she just couldn’t turn around and leave him there.

She had been always too sweet for this game of love.

-… I know that I am indeed even worse than what you believe me to be, but explanations might bring some kind of relief to your aching soul, because if you feel even a miniscule amount of the pain I have in my heart, I feel nothing but respect for you for walking around with your head high, you are much stronger than what I believed-.

She honestly didn’t want to give up just because of his silver-tongue, each word delivered perfectly with a troubled expression, as if he found it difficult to discover she had missed him almost as much as he had missed her.

Suddenly his eye bags seemed more evident and the frown on her mouth was laced with wrinkles made from worry and not enough sleep: she had been too focused on his outfit, to notice he was a broken man as well.

But she hadn’t been the one to close the door in his face, last time.

-… you might speak, but in English and I don’t want silly words to cover up the major fuck-up you did- she couldn’t hide the fact that she had been infected by the little laughter of relief he left out and he took a step closer, almost coming closer enough to touch her, eyeing her arms, naked because of the sleeveless dress.

He wanted to touch her so badly, but her dark eyes sought nothing but a reason to run away and disappear under his touch warned him.

-I promise I will do my best not to take any of your precious time- he promised, charmingly and she just rolled her eyes and almost went back to remind him about the “no pretty words policy” -… but I just couldn’t take you, last time-.

She blushed at the mention of the natural act they had almost committed to, last time.

-I was more than willing to go on- she pointed out, trying to lessen the warmth on her cheeks, she just hoped that it might not be too evident.

-And so was I- she honestly felt like she could breathe.

For the entire time, she had almost been worried that he might have seriously not wanted her, horrified by her appearance, her willingness or just because she wasn’t enough, this had sent her even farther down the self-pity road, her self-esteem completely buried under her own ugliness.

-… then why? – she breathed out, coming closer, meanwhile his eyes eyed the ground extremely carefully,

-I couldn’t… when you don’t know the truth, the entire truth- she looked at him confused, but he kept his eyes away from her -… I was the one who summoned the succubus and linked it to you-.

Her heart missed a beat and she was sure she had heard it in the wrong away: he didn’t mean what he meant, he just couldn’t.

-… you didn’t seem interested in me, or better… I thought you were too shy to… I know it was a very bad idea, but I thought you might need to lower your inhibitions for us to have a conversation-.

-We didn’t have a conversation- her tone was rough, pure stone against metal and he knew he had said the exact worst thing ever -… and it wasn’t my inhibitions you lowered: they were the barriers I put up so people like you don’t hurt me-.

Not to talk about the fact that she felt so dirty at the thought the he just manipulated her.

-…. I know! I know, I did wrong… and pushed you into something you didn’t want to, but… I need you, desperately…-.

-You can beg all you want, things will never change- she finally had the strength to do what she had been supposed to do since the start of this conversation -I hate you even more-.

She turned around, not sparing a single look for him: anger and shame burned on her cheeks and in her chest, meanwhile sadness screamed in her head, enough that she barely heard what Michael had to say, before she left him and his life.

Forever.

For good.

It was barely a whisper but…

“It’s all too bad, because my heart can only love you”.

She had been trying to clear her mind, but halfway through the ball she had been unable to do anything to stop the tremors in her hands due to her conflicting emotions, which had made her unable to focus, and knowing that her friends would get worried she did her best in order to hide every sign of discomfort, before taking advantage of the opening of the dances to jump herself in the bathroom.

There she had brushed calmly her hair out of her face, before dipping without much gentleness her face under it, knowing it would ruin the masterpiece that her friends had created, but she felt it prick at her skin annoyingly, meanwhile with her hands she pulled on the zipper on the side of her dress, finally let breathing again.

She knew she must have looked pathetic, halfway through a panic attack, Michael’s words circling in her mind mixing together.

“I was the one who summoned the succubus” and then “It’s all too bad, because my heart can only love you”.

It was all an all too sick game he liked to play, toying with her as a cat did with a mouse, which he wanted to eat.

But his voice sounded so genuine and his expression was so hurt.

But what he had done with the succubus was something she couldn’t forgive.

He had not only violated her trust but also he had violated her in a way that made her feel sick.

Clearly, she had had some kind of attraction on him, enough for the incubus spell to work on her, but it still didn’t allow him to take advantage of it in that way.

It was as if she had been dosed with aphrodisiacs and, although it wasn’t legal, it wasn’t the ideal start of a relationship she had to say.

How could she trust him, again?

She was checking herself out in the mirror, collecting the mascara under her eyes, when slowly she saw a black stain appear on the mirror; at first she thought it was just a little bit of mascara which had ended in her eyes, but slowly she realized that it was on the mirror.

And it was becoming more and more larger.

Till it completely shadowed her, as if she there was a shadow in the mirror, completely mimicking her body.

And when she had a “shadow twin”, it finally escaped the mirror, dividing itself from it and slowly gaining new features, till she had again her succubus twin in front of her.

-What the hell?! Weren’t you supposed to be gone? – she honestly didn’t know what to say, mostly after she had discovered that it was Michael the puppeteer behind her; maybe he had had wanted to try again to make her succumb to his wishes, using the succubus and its power.

But she wouldn’t fall again, immediately invoking a protection spell.

-… let’s just say that I am not here on my count- she replied, meanwhile twirling her ponytail and checking out her new outfit -… by the way… I like this outfit, brings out the little virgin you are-.

She tried not to blush but, apparently, her idea that it was Michael who was behind all of this was true… she honestly should have gone straight up to Cordelia…

-Your lover is in danger- she almost chocked on air, looking at her confused, who just shoot back at her a direct and annoyed glance as if to say “oh you didn’t know” -… I am here, because my previous master left the gate open and I have heard that some creatures might want to escape their realities-.

Which would explain her presence here, even if she and Michael had sent her away.

The gate, which linked the demonic world and human world, was still open, allowing many other demons to walk in comfortably, if they found the right road.

… which could be a total coverage for the succubus to get her to go to Michael, with a fake excuse.

-… you don’t believe me- it clearly shown in her eyes and the incubus saw it -… and I honestly know that we started with the wrong foot…-.

-Michael used you to make me fuck me, doesn’t it bother you? – it honestly bothered her, mostly when the succubus sported her matching face.

-Sweetie, I thrive on sexual energy- explained the succubus, checking herself out in the mirror, popping her lips to let the lip-gloss touch her lips in order to expand more the glossy substance -… I honestly am happy as long as that boy fucks something and satisfies is darkest desires-.

She seemed honestly enough for being an agent of chaos and a demon.

-… so I should trust you-.

-… or you couldn’t and your boyfriend will be eaten by a sloth demon… I don’t make the rules …I…- she just looked down, something almost human shining in her bottomless eyes -… I just came here to warn you so that you can save your lover boy-.

-First of all, he isn’t my boyfriend, second of all I hate him so I might as well leave him to been eaten by a sloth demon…- she could have laughed at the absurdity of the entire situation -… he betrayed me and used a succubus on me! -.

-And he told you he did it! – the succubus exclaimed almost too personally as if the thing personally shook her: he had been truthful with her, so he got a free ticked to exit the “you are an asshole” prison -… what I am trying to say is that his life would have been easier whether he hadn’t told you anything about the entire thing… he would have gotten the girl, but he chose to go down the harder path, knowing you would hate him for this-.

She was speechless, because she hadn’t thought about that in that perspective and although it wasn’t exactly a point in favor of Michael, she could see that he could have completely gotten the girl without much effort, hiding for ever that secret: it would have worked and it was a plan that would have perfectly suited arrogant Michael.

But why hadn’t he chosen it?

-You are miserable without him, and he is miserable without you… so… - the succubus batted her eyelashes as if this was the easiest of logics -… you should be together so you can be happy together-.

She didn’t need to word the question out, because the succubus answered it immediately:

-I might have this… call it prevision… that he might like you, more than as a fuckbuddy-.

-He is still an asshole- she replied, because even if she excused him, this would take a long time to be solved.

-It wouldn’t be funny if he wasn’t- replied the succubus, before offering her hand -… we better hurry up, those sloth demons can be very different from their names-.

The succubus followed her staying invisible to her and her friends, meanwhile she questioned Michael’s asking for his whereabouts and she alerted John Henry.

“Is it necessary?” had mumbled the succubus, in her ear, after she had alerted the older warlock, with the excuse of “Langdon probably has some bug in his stomach, he retreated early”.

“Do you have any knowledge on how to kill a demon more than me and him?” the succubus had stayed silent “Then professor Moore comes with us”.

“Wouldn’t you be enough?”.

It depended on whether Michael had opened a gate of hell or just a small door, and it was always good to have back up.

And also, if this was a ploy made by Michael to get her to fall in his arms, she would have been saved by John Henry.

Play me once, shame on you.

Play me twice, shame on me.

She rushed through the stairs, meanwhile the warlock tried to keep her pace behind her, screaming to go slower “or she would break a leg and there would two wounded in the infirmary”.

-… I honestly don’t think that I am the most appropriate person for this…-mumbled the warlock, clearly missing the punch he had previously spiked -… you have much better healers-.

She had chosen John Henry because she knew that he could keep a secret and knew reservation better than Hawthorne’s rules, whereas alerting Cordelia would have gotten both her and Michael in trouble.

-… I just thought it would be appropriate to make Michael be visited by a male- she honestly knew it sounded as a lie, but they were five minutes from Michael’s room and she just needed for the warlock to open the door, mostly because she already could smell the stench of rotten eggs.

“What the heck did you do, Michael?” she mumbled, mentally, thinking that if she ever thought about a relationship with him, she would have burned all his demonology books.

They immediately rushed feeling inhuman screams and when they opened the door the succubus mumbled an “oh shit” in her ear, meanwhile John Henry straight up went:

-… you said it was a bug, (L/N)? – and looked at the demons who were covering Michael’s furniture, in the form of bugs, indeed -… because there are many more and those aren’t normal bugs…-.

“… those are Damnation Beasts” murmured the succubus in her ear, before retreating slowly when a bug crawled towards her “… they eat human skin, I would stay away from them”.

-Thank you for your suggestion- she said between gritted teeth, looking around the room for any sign of Michael, but there were none and this made her heart sunk.

It hadn’t been a ploy to get her to go back to him and…

… what if she had been a minute too late and Michael had already been eaten by the Damnation Beasts and whatever had exited the door he had left open?

-(L/N) might you think about lending me a hand to kill all those insects- mumbled John Henry, meanwhile he shielded them with a protection spell.

-Yes, of course…- but she was halfway through and overthinking attack “where the hell was Michael?!” -… I am just…-.

-… panicking? – humored her the man, meanwhile he joined their hands -… just follow me, (L/N)-.

She nodded, knowing that she would try her best to at least avoid those beasts going around her school, and then she could think about Michael… she hoped.

The succubus’ hand went around her protectively, hissing badly at the flesh-easting bastards, meanwhile she repeated each Latin word John Henry uttered, till a strong blow of energy emerged from both of them, making her close her eyes for the intensity of it and when she opened them, there was nothing left of the insects, but it wasn’t done.

John immediately moved toward Michael’s bed, immediately grabbing an open book, from where a bat shaped demon was trying to escape just to get pushed back in by John, meanwhile the man muttered curses and enchantments, she honestly couldn’t tell the difference.

Bu she also couldn’t tell where Michael had been: there was no trace of him… and she was seriously starting to panic…

… and that made her hurt more than the thought of him rejecting her or tricking her.

She looked around, anxiety taking over till she finally saw Michael on the threshold looking at them confused.

-Just a demonic infestation, nothing out of the ordinary, Langdon- mumbled John Henry adjusting his hair, but Michael hadn’t seen the most surprising thing ever yet, with the way she basically threw herself at him, too worried about the fact that she had almost lost him.

He immediately tightened the hold, immerging himself in the crook of her neck, meanwhile she could feel the succubus snicker.

-You are alive- she mumbled, caressing his face as if to make sure he was real, meanwhile he grabbed her hand to bring it to his lips.

-… and you are not pissed with me anymore? – he seemed surprised again, as if he hadn’t realized she just thought he was lost forever, but before she could answer properly, John spoke up.

-… I am, you get detention, Mr Langdon, and you will have to pass me every demonology book you own- he affirmed meanwhile Michael tried to protest, saying that those books were his and nobody…

-…I will personally bring them to you, Mr Moore- she replied to John, meanwhile sending a look to Michael which clearly said “it’s either this or I set fire to them and you together”, which made him relent.

-… and you are also in detention, Mrs (L/N), I honestly don’t know what you have to do with this, but a lot of amazing spiked punch was wasted to solve this…- he mumbled, rolling his eyes, before eyeing the succubus as if he could see her, which he was actually doing -… and if the lady wants to join me, I can assure her the best night of her life-.

She honestly didn’t need to see her teacher smirking at the succubus who had her appearance (although she was sure it had a different appearance to John Henry, since it usually mimicked the appearance of the beloved by its beholder), and the succubus smirked back.

-Are they flirting? -Michael asked meanwhile she just tried to erase this memory from the night.

“Just give me a minute, handsome” replied the succubus softly and purring, sending a kiss on his way and turning around towards her and Michael “Have fun, lovelies! And be safe, he is a manchild so remember con…!”.

She petrified the succubus in her place, sending her an annoyed huff, before the succubus disappeared with a light laugh and in a twirl of smoke.

-… that was traumatizing…-.

-You weren’t here five minutes ago witnessing the literal demonic bug infestation in your room, so you can’t talk- she replied, meanwhile turning around to avoid being so close to him, her skin already tingling at the memory of how they had been embraced early -… next time, close whatever you are doing before starting to jerk off-.

He erupted in laughter and she did the same a few second back, grabbing her aching belly, clearly proved by what had happened that night: a confession, a demonic infestation and her teacher flirting with a succubus version of herself…

Well, at least life with Michael was always interesting.

-I will keep it mind, next time- he mumbled, meanwhile strolling in his room and starting to collect books, old leather and pentagrams on them told her they were the famous demonology books -… thank you for saving my life, although I do not deserve it-.

-You are an asshole not a waste of time, don’t misunderstand me- because no matter what he did, she couldn’t hate, she couldn’t stay away, it would hurt too much, so the best way was to clear things up and start again, start over and not forget about anything but try to move past it -… I would have honestly preferred that you came up to me and asked me out, but you went for the succubus method, which is… a bit fucked up… but we can work around it if you promise two things…-.

He stopped whatever he was doing, moving closer and kneeling down on the soft carpeted floor, in a worshipping attitude, his hands half a touch from setting down on her hips, but they kept to themselves for which she was grateful; she wasn’t sure she could handle his touch.

-Ask me the sun and the moon, and they shall be yours- he proclaimed reverently, getting an amused glare from her.

-… ok, now it’s three things: stop being melodramatic for the love of God, it’s annoying- she mumbled, throwing her hands in the air and rolling her eyes.

-C’mon, it’s making you laugh! – he replied, protesting weakly, too blinded by her smile, the intensity of him was suddenly too much for her and warmth came to her chilled bones.

-… let me talk in peace, ok? – she pleaded, knowing a look at his azure eyes would get her forgetting about all this -… first thing: you promise not to use magic on me, no matter what, because if you do, we are done and I will let Madison castrate you, got me? -.

He immediately nodded, not even slightly smiling at the Madison’s mention, but he honestly looked ready to take an oath and she couldn’t help but feel like he was indeed making an oath to her.

-… second: no matter what, we talk things, we don’t hide them between each other’s back, got me? – she knew honesty and faith in the other were the only thing that might have made this relationship work out… maybe… -… and even these things might make me not want to forgive you, understood? -.

Because she had been worried for him, but now that her mind was again cold and down to Earth, she was still wounded for his little “trick”.

But she also felt comforted that, in the end, he had chosen not to take the hoax too far.

-What I want to do right now is get to know you, like real people do, with no succubus or magic- he seemed the most sincere she had ever seen him -… I swear on whatever I might hold dear to my heart, that I will respect your rules and you-.

She just nodded, feeling that it had been enough adventurous and heartbreaking for her to retire to her chamber, but just as she was moving out of his room, she heard a whine of protest, turning around to see a disgruntled Michael:

-What is it? – she asked curious and wondering if there were still some of those flesh-eating assholes.

-We just made a deal, and it’s always good to seal it with a kiss- he mumbled cockily, looking very intensively to her pink lips, a bit swollen from the time she had spent biting them and from which a loud laugh erupted, at his affirmation.

-Have a good night with your right hand, Langdon- she replied, turning again around and flicking him her middle finger -… don’t let the flesh-eating demons bite your ass-.

Three months in a relationship with Langdon was something she had never thought of having.

And honestly it had been much easier than what she had suspected.

Not that it had been without any difficulties (one being the fact that Michael was a manchild and would constantly insist on cuddle even in the middle of a studying session) but Michael had never ever broken the rules she had given him (except the one against him being a drama queen, but she couldn’t actually say nothing when it got her one of the best dates ever, under the stars, music playing form the speakers they had set…).

So, it was only natural it all came down to that night.

Her and Michael had joined her friends in the common room, to chat a bit in a comfortable atmosphere, since they had all finished their final exams, which prompted them to let loose, embracing each other’s partners in the chaise-longue or on the sofa.

Soft conversations went on till they became pure nonsense and soon everybody went back to their respective room, except her and Michael: she had slowly made her way onto his lap, meanwhile he gently caressed her back, tracing mindless patterns and he gently traced his lips across her neck, a sweet caress which promised much more, igniting her core.

No matter the physical closeness they had slowly reached through their nights together, in her bed (because his held much more painful memories) mumbling nonsense and philosophical conversations or falling asleep at first as far as they could, not trusting their bodies, just to find themselves tangled in each other’s arms, the following morning.

But nothing sexual had been going on, and she almost regretted that her personal succubus had disappeared.

Still, she was happy of the new relationship which had grown between her and Michael a more genuine one, based on the mutual respect of each other and a tiny (huge) dose of trust.

He loved her and, slowly, she had started feeling the exact same for him, not scared of being hurt anymore.

And because of that she was finally ready to take the last step.

She slowly brought her hand to link it with his, but she went even farther bringing his hand slowly closer and closer to her center, slipping it under her skirt, making him feel her throbbing core, slightly wet due to the attraction and sexual frustration mixed with the stress of exams.

-… what is the meaning of this? – Michael asked, surprised, but his hand made no signs to move away, meanwhile his eyes became pitch black because of lust, and she gently brushed his hand on her, feeling herself became wetter under his soft ministrations, the blue of her thong slowly becoming darker because of the wet patch on it.

-Sweetie, I thought you were smarter than that- she replied, giggling to hide her embarrassment, although she had done the first move, she still didn’t know if Michael would like that approach or if he would be scared from it: boys were always intimidated by strong women.

And she half wanted to pull her hand away, when he took control, his fingers brushing away the silky feelings of her panties to brush the real thing, much softer than the fabric.

But he was a very well-developed man…

… when he wanted to…

She brought her hands down, taken by surprise at that gesture and not knowing how to react: she had been touch-starved for so long, only fulfilling her desires through her small fingers (which were nothing compared to Michael’s skilled ones) and the sudden touch scared her and excited her at the same time.

-… I think you are trying to seduce me, Mrs (L/N)- he mumbled, before he again dived into her neck, but this time he bit it, without any gentleness, he wanted to mark her down, meanwhile his fingers pushed themselves further, not inside of her but they started taking in her most sacred place, collecting sticky wetness which was quick to form, under Michael’s ministrations -… aren’t you, sweetheart? -.

She just nodded, shyly, a bit at trouble with speaking due to his expert hands working her gently but with enough perseverance that she felt something grow in her stomach, small waves of pleasure, still too little to make her lose her mind, but enough to keep her distracted, even more when he stared at her expectantly, those pool of azure eyes looking at any sign of discomfort.

-Words, (Y/N)- he insisted, knowing that she was speechless -… I need those in order to know what you want-.

-Which is you, by the way- he had relented his grasp on her, his fingers stilling, but right on her clit, provoking small and constant waves of pleasure, and she spoke in sarcasm something she was very fluent in -… I wanted you for so long and I have had enough of dancing around this-.

He laughed, gentleness shining in his eyes, before he leaned down to kiss her, retreating their mixed hands from her skin, which prompted her protest to be slowly brought up from her mouth to his and it made him smirk in the kiss.

They separated slowly, after they had sealed their path.

-… if we are going to do this…- his word let out her time to go back and reject this situation, but she didn’t -… I would like a bed, where to take you gently, as in your worst romance novel-.

-I am still ashamed that you found my stack of erotica- she blushed, and he leaned down to kiss the blush from both her cheeks, just resulting in her cheeks becoming far more warmer, meanwhile he gently brushed his excitement coated fingers against her thighs, cleaning them in her mouth, which she opened for him, sucking on them sensually or at least she tried.

She knew she had succeeded when Michael raised her up alongside him, his bulge pressing against her front, the evidence that she hadn’t been the only one affected by this.

-… I am not- he replied, giggling, meanwhile she grasped his neck to keep herself steady on him, her legs tangling automatically against his sides -… now I know what you like in bed: a very bad stall…-.

-Finish that phrase and they will never find your body- she replied, blushing at her horrible taste in books, but Michael just hugged her tighter, showing support no matter what.

-I love you, even if you have a terrible taste in bookish genres- he just confessed, nuzzling his nose against hers, before another butterfly kiss which left her wanting more.

-I love you, even though you are the biggest tease- she replied, before trying to piston her feet against him to make him go faster as indeed… a “stallion”.

He just kissed her forehead, before setting her down, their hands moved closer, linking themselves together immediately, before they moved off to his chamber, hers wouldn’t be proper, since she shared it with Madison and if with tonight she wished to delete anything that occurred in the past, she could stay in his room and avoid the thought that this is where he rejected her.

He felt her insecurity, strolling through her veins and shining in her eyes, and as soon as they were behind closed door: he pushed her against the door, shielding her head gently and kissing her passionately.

Her legs were pulled against his side, meanwhile he grinned himself against her, making the kiss become more sloppy and lazy, open mouthed with his tongue lazily exploring hers, trailing his teeth against her bottom lips, pulling on it, and meeting her eyes in the darkest of expression, his desire coursing through their mouths, meanwhile he pushed himself with such a savage fierceness, as if he wanted to penetrate her in that moment.

She was the first one to pull away, in desperate need of air.

He allowed it, but his hands started to occupy themselves with more important matters: her clothes.

He disrobed her gently, but each piece of skin meant new excitement shining in his eyes, like a child, finally allowed to eat candies… and he laced to one of her nipples immediately, without even properly unlacing her bra, just letting it hang out around her waist, with her shirt thrown off somewhere, not that she had followed its course, when she had the beautiful masterpiece of Michael Langdon sucking her nipples as if his life depended on it under her eyes.

His golden curls, obscuring the view, but they only caressed her skin, heightening her sensations.

-… you taste like the sweetest of honey- he mumbled, finally retreating himself, in the pause before he latched himself to her other nipple -…and you look like the proudest goddess-.

-What did I say about pretty words? – she just huffed, meanwhile a moan was brought out of herself.

-… they excite you- mumbled the bastard, smirking, meanwhile flicking roughly a nipple with his tongue, his hand going under her skirt again, skimming gently over her wetness as if to make her even more aware of what he had just said.

-I have a praise kink- she mumbled pushing herself closer against him -… what can I do babe? -.

He kissed her forehead, giggling gently, before he moved with her towards his plush bed, pushing her down on it, meanwhile he joined her so they could keep doing what they were doing before, with much more ease.

There, time felt so slow, no rushed touches anymore, no matter the fact that they were aching for each other.

And she had a chance to have her own turn with Michael, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, kissing every new inch of piece of skin, meanwhile her fingers tangled with his hair, him becoming mildly calm under her soft ministration, meanwhile he finally unclasped her bran and unzipped skirt, pushing it away, leaving her just in her blue panties.

And him in his dark briefs.

They met halfway again, this time the kiss was hungry and filled with pure gluttony of the other, searching for their most intimate taste, meanwhile their teeth clashed together.

And when they separated he tasted off her from her entire body, licking a big stripe of her skin with his tongue, from her collarbones to her ear, remaining there to suck a little hickey in her skin, before branding a few others on her skin, till she had enough to be mistaken for a unfortunate creature meeting a nest of mosquitos.

But she would deal with it in the morning, she had something more important in her mind.

She moved her hand in search of his length and when she met it, over the fabric, she stroked him gently stealing a breath from his mouth, which was swiftly pulled in a surprised expression, one that made her giggle, meanwhile she dosed his neck of kisses, tracing with her other hand his collarbones.

Her ministrations didn’t stop.

She remembered still the way he had teased her when she had been on his lap.

She wasn’t even in the slightest merciful: she slipped her hand in his boxer but just a few moments, enough to spread the pre-cum forming on its tip on her palm, but pulling it away swiftly, much to Michael’s protests.

And he decided to take the situation in his hands, switching their positions.

-… my little virgin wants to play- he mumbled, his hands trapping hers, much littler than his -… well I shall not neglect her desires anymore-.

And he moved down on her, till he came in contact with her little panties, pushing them back with the hand that wasn’t holding her down.

She helped him get them out her legs twisting to accompany his movement but as soon as his face was the closest to her mound she pulled him up, protesting.

-I want to taste you- her voice seemed so wanton that she even surprised herself at her own affirmation, but Michael just sweetly smiled at her.

-You did, last time, we were together- he remembered her, meanwhile gently pushing her hair out of her face, to look at her face without it being in the way, the softness in his face, brought her to want another little kiss, her lips pouting a bit -… and I miss your taste-.

She blushed, meanwhile he just smirked, his hands moving against her front, gently cupping one of her breasts and then an idea hit her.

-I might have had an idea that might make both of us happy- she’d have to thank all the erotica books if it worked, if it didn’t, she could blame it all on them -… but I need to switch our positions-.

And jokingly she switched their positions, rolling on him, and being on top, swiftly moving till she was facing his bulge, meanwhile she carefully positioned her mound over his face, waiting for him to approve her idea, which came faster than she thought, when he reached up to lick a long strip of her, from the skin that linked her rosy hole to her clit.

She moaned out, almost losing her grip on him, but she quickly recovered, slipping him out of his briefs, hearing a trembling moan leaving his lips, but he suffocated it in her center, pushing his tongue into her most sacred area, just to retrieve more slick and suck on her little pearl.

And this started a challenge between them, not for their own pleasures but for the other’s.

She started teasing him at first with just her hand, caressing him with regard for his most sensitive areas, before her mouth gently engulfed him.

She did it slowly at first, only tasting the tip, trying to focus her best on his pleasure, but waves of pleasure were soon building in her stomach, because of Michael’s careful attention, meanwhile he was trying to imprint every piece of skin of her most sacred center.

And drink her as if she was spilling ambrosia.

She took much more, a bit annoyed by her hair, falling on her face, but she tried her best, feeling Michael moan in her mound, even take a moment, when she licked the tip, before swiftly pushing herself down the entirety of it, her hands massaging his balls.

They knew they had been bringing each other’s to their relative peaks, but they didn’t dare to give up, as if it was seriously a competition.

And she won it, although she didn’t make Michael cum, but he let go the self-imposed calm he had chosen to tease her to devour her.

And she came.

A rough scream in her mouth and her entire body trembling, enough that she fell on his body, unable to resist, meanwhile her entire body shut down due to pleasure coursing through the entirety of it.

And when she regained consciousness, Michael gently guided her through it, his fingers gently caressing her arms, meanwhile he breathed slowly to make her mimic the pace.

-… that was intense- much more intense than last time, with a freaking succubus.

-I want to say that it is because we love each other, but if I so much as try to be romantic you will knock all my teeth out- he mumbled sweetly, meanwhile he cradled her close and, still feeling boneless due to the mind shattering orgasm.

She giggled, blindly reaching out for him, to kiss him gently, meanwhile she tangled her fingers in his hair, swapping a bit of her taste with her.

-You can say “I love you”, I won’t punch you for that- she mumbled, on his lips feeling the laugh on it and there she opened her eyes, finding him looking at her enamored, meanwhile he whispered softly:

-I love you- and with his eyes completely azure for his honesty she couldn’t deny him the matching and heartfelt reply.

-I love you too- she kissed him again, feeling him against her thigh (which ruined a bit the mood, but… she had also accepted that with that relationship) still hard and she remembered what they were there for -… and I am ready-.

He kissed her for what felt ages, as if he wanted this to last forever.

And she honestly felt like the moment before it all happened was much more intense then the what followed, when Michael distanced himself from her, just a bit and she could still wrap her hands around him, to steady herself.

-… it might hurt a bit, so if you want to back out at any given moment, all you have to do is tell me- he caressed her thighs gently, and under his hands, goosebumps appeared, meanwhile she nodded slowly.

-I know it- she replied shyly, meanwhile kissing his cheek moving closer to his ear -… I trust you so much Michael-.

With other guys she had never felt ready, because she was scared that it might disappoint her, that it might tarnish her but worst of all she just felt like it might just not be that special, not worth the wait and after it was done, there would be nothing more.

But she lived for Michael, the sweet touches they shared, the laughs which erupted because of their dumb thoughts, and she knew that no matter what, this wasn’t the end… it was just a natural step, the most natural… and even if her and Michael ended up not being a thing… she wouldn’t have wanted to lose her virginity to anyone else.

-… I won’t betray it- he mumbled, meanwhile he gently kissed the back of her hand, tenderly nuzzling his nose against it -… you are the most precious thing that ever happened to me-.

-No silly words, remember? – she laughed shyly, but answered -… you are the best thing that happened to me-.

And with that… their paths was sealed and he kissed her one last time, meanwhile his hands checked her wetness, only enticed by their soft moment, before gently breaching her entrance with the smooth tip of him, and she immediately tensed, meanwhile Michael guided her through it.

-… calm down, sweetie, you need to relax- and didn’t do anything till she indeed relaxed, pushing with much more gentleness, meanwhile he caressed her head and kneaded her breast to distract her which worked perfectly and he was able to push halfway in, touching her barrier.

Before proceeding, he took a last look at her face, no show of pain and no tension, just a relaxed and curious expression and before shredding her last inch of innocence he kissed her, feeling her bite his bottom lip to suppress the pain.

-Do I …? – he felt the need to stop, she knew it, no matter that his face was distorted in pleasure.

-Just give me a few minutes- she mumbled, meanwhile she tried her best to slowly adjust herself, to Michael’s length, scared by the fact that it wasn’t all in and it was already overwhelming her -… please don’t move-.

-All the time in the world- he replied, meanwhile he gently kissed her forehead.

Slowly, much more slowly than the actual time that passed, she started not feeling the pain anymore, stuck in a limbo of “not-yet-pleasure” but “neither-still-in-pain”, but all she had to wait was for Michael to slowly move and something was struck inside her, the thrill of a little excitement.

-Move- she mumbled, even going as far as to push a bit Michael with the legs that had wrapped themselves around him -… for the love of God-.

-Got it! – he giggled, but she felt the clearly aroused bit in it and he actually started moving, slowly and then as she encouraged him with moans and her nails pushing themselves in her skin faster, her eyes finding his, finding him under a strange spell, hers.

He started groaning with much more impatience and his manhood throbbed inside of her and she knew he was close, and although she was excited and not in pain, she was so far away from that state of true ecstasy.

Not for long, at least, because Michael decided to take the matters in his hand, quite literally: gently caressing her clit, meanwhile he gently moved her legs up his shoulder hitting her further inside her, a spot that made her gasp at its sudden finding, meanwhile his peace also increased.

-… you don’t understand how beautiful you look- he whispered in her ear and she just nodded; the intensity of the new sudden sensation made her feel teary.

-Please please… keep going- she quivered, under him, meanwhile her legs tried to find a better way to adjust themselves on his shoulder, her muscles aching a bit, meanwhile she met him for a kiss, before pushing one down on his chest -Don’t stop-.

-You are so close, I can feel you clenching around me- and she could feel him throbbing, his pace becoming more erratic -… that’s the best feeling in the world-.

-… even better than my mouth around it? - she didn’t know where the dirty talk came from and she could see the surprise from Michael, but her dignity was long gone.

-A thousand times better- he replied, smirking, meanwhile she finally felt so close…-… I am close-.

-I am close too- she repeated, meanwhile her nails sink themselves in him, and she felt herself let go, no preparations needed, totally lost in the moment, just feeling warmth in her, meanwhile he groaned deeply in her ears, bringing her back to reality.

He fell ungracefully on top of her and she groaned loudly, before breathing out a breathy laugh.

-… that was…- he tried to breath, completely out of breath.

-… say it with your words honey- she made fun of him, but gently cuddled closer, feeling like as if she wasn’t attached to him anymore as she was before, although he was still in her, soft but in her.

-… we are going to have a second round, if you still have the energy to joke around- he joked, kissing her forehead, lovingly; there wasn’t even a bit of bite in his tone.

-Oh, you love when I am smarter than you- she fought back, meanwhile he gently exited her, making her leave out a grunt of pain at being empty.

-I love you, in general- he giggled -… a bit less when you are a smartass-.

And then he got up, on his knees, to collect the covers to shield her body, finally self-consciousness appearing so she was grateful to hide under them, also because she was honestly feeling more and more sleepy, both for the emotional stress and the physical one.

Michael immediately moved closer laying a kiss before he gently whispered that he would be getting in the bathroom to collect a few things in order to clean up, which he did gently, meanwhile cooing at her, throwing the towels in the laundry chest, avoiding make her take a look at the blood on it, but she could see it on the mattress.

She didn’t regret it.

Because in the end they were together in this, she knew it when he cuddled closer to her, bringing them together again, sleep slowly taking over.

In the end…

… with a little loss of her innocence.

… with a little loss of his dignity.

… he finally had a little gain of her.

---

Little disclaimer: the relationship between Reader and Michael started as dub-con, so I just wanted you to know that I don’t support or condone in any way, in real life, dyb-con or non-con; consent is important, never forget about it!

I really hope you will like it, lovelies!

Let me know what you thought about it, with DMs or asks or hearts or reblogs, I honestly love hearing all your thoughts!

@ccodyfern @so-langdon @sojournmichael @rocketgirl2410 @langdonsplaytoy @dyns33 @blakewaterxx @crispygiantsaladgarden @counterculture-aesthetic @ace-fiction @langdons-little-girl @hadeslittlewhore @justabadwitch @ahstatejameskai @soph3218 @uinen-ulmiel @mega-combusken @hplotrfan @kleineshaschen @langdonsinferno @nightsblackroses @tcc-gizmachine @msfandomblog @grim-adventures58 @littlepsychos-world @sister-langdon @grungyfeministhoe

#Michael Langdon #AHS #American Horror Story #Michael Langdon Writing #Michael Langdon Story #Michael Langdon imagine #Michael Langdon fan fic #Michael Langdon fanfic #Michael Langdon one shot #Michael langdon oneshot #michael langdon x reader #Michael Langdon x fem reader #Duncan SHepherd #Duncan SHepherd imagine #michael langdon smut #a little loss of innocence #michael langdon edit #ahs imagine

172 notes · View notes

rwbyconversations · 6 years ago

Text

Why Oscar’s writing has been disappointing

Stories rely on their characters. You can tell a grand, sweeping narrative that spans continents and timelines but if you don’t give a rats ass about the people at the center of these events, viewers won’t care. Stories with high kill-counts like Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Attack on Titan rely on audiences forming an attachment with characters very quickly, so that the possibility of their sudden death is all the more painful for the viewer. Long story short, if you can’t make an audience care about your character, it can be hard to keep them interested.

RWBY has overall done a fantastic job at getting people to fall for its cast; I’m a case in point with how hard I’ll go to bat for Emerald and Mercury. But be it the obvious choices in the main cast, the wide array of villains to obsess over. The fandom even has a few eccentric folk who stan for people not seen in years! (shoutout to CFVY fans, who knew you’d get rewarded over the whole Coco in Chibi thing by getting a book?) But rather unfortunately, while one character has managed to earn a fanbase happy to see them get content, the writing has consistently failed one particular character, through constant refusals to allow them the screentime they deserve and often putting it in the wrong places when they do get morsels of time to shine each year.

Oh no, not you. I’ll get back to you before this hiatus is out.

... actually why are his gloves orange of all colors? And what’s with the banages, is he planning on cosplaying Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs at an Atlas convention during the off-season?

Yeah, no, I’m talking about Oscar Pine. First introduced in Volume 4, Oscar has now been a part of the main cast for half of the show’s runtime. In that time Oscar has developed psychosis, met a ticket-punching man, got stuck in a house for a month, fought a teleporting staircase man, was involved in a train crash, bought new clothes, and stole military property.

Notice something? Nothing in there mentioned Oscar getting character development. Or rather he does... but it’s always offscreen. Oscar is infuriating in the sense that he has a lot of wasted character potential to be one of the best characters in the show- a simple but efficient design, great voice work from Aaron Dismuke and a charming personality that makes him a likable hero. But in spite of that all, Oscar constantly get the shaft when it comes to his screentime showing him developing from his problems, and each volume so far has had Oscar be faced with a trial that would make for a truly fascinating character arc, only for him to get over it while the camera’s focused elsewhere. And that’s what I’m going to focus on in this essay- I’m going to go over why I think Oscar’s writing has been consistently mishandled, and my hopes for the character in Volume 7.

God damn I don’t like doing this, I want to like the farm boi most of the time

1) Volume 4: All these voices running through my head, I’m on fire, face burning red

Oscar is introduced very early in Volume 4- as in, he’s in the first episode and is the eighth character we see onscreen after the villains. Oscar is in fact, if you don’t count Ruby’s character short, present in Volume 4 before the title characters. His first episode is... a lot of nothing, mostly just Oscar doing some farming. Oscar’s introduction does a good job telling us a bit about his character without him saying much- he’s prone to daydreaming while working on the farm, clearly not enjoying himself and his work. It matches up with what we learn later, that Oscar dreams of becoming a hero. It’s a stock motivation, and a stock background, but a simple and effective way of setting up a hero who desires the chance to prove himself in the wider world. His intro scene is a nice, quiet beat between the dark opening of Evernight and Salem, and the more frantic action of RNJR fighting the Geist. But overall the time the fandom was wondering what was up with Oscar- he wasn’t in the OP and nothing had set him up before now and yet here he was, getting focus before the main girls.

It takes until Oscar’s second appearance, three episodes later in Family, that we get the real reason for his importance- Ozpin’s in his head, but it would take another three episodes, in Punished, for this to be elaborated on in an unintentional Christmas gift from Rooster Teeth; Ozpin’s in his head due to their Auras and souls merging thanks to Ozma’s pact with the Archangel Asshole a few centuries back, and now Oscar is starting to act like an Assassin’s Creed character with all the memories that are in his head that he didn’t create. It’s a cruel irony for Oscar- Ozpin plays on how Oscar wants to be more than just a farmhand to try and get him to go to Mistral, but Oscar’s body language and face make it clear that this wasn’t how he saw himself getting some new life choices. Rather tragically, Oscar finally gets the chance to be part of something bigger but the manner in which it’s offered to him is anathema, as it’s coming from a literal voice in his head who claims to be a dead headmaster, and more importantly, he was never offered a choice- this was thrust upon him, a young 14 year old child who never asked for this burden of responsibility. And the last shot of Oscar in this episode already has him cracking under that burden, stuck on his knees and unsure what to do.

(also btw Oscar’s Aunt tells him to clean his hands but Oscar’s model has gloves on all the time, so... how would he clean his hands? Or does he read books with dirty gloves? Eww)

It’s an interesting place to leave Oscar, at the metaphorical and and spiritual crossroads, and means the viewer wants to see Oscar’s next actions and the deliberation between the easy, boring life he knows or risking everything on a voice in his head telling him to try his chances in the big city. Sounds pretty interesting, right?

Not to the writers, unfortunately. Because when we next check in with Oscar three episodes later during Kuroyuri, Oscar’s already on the road to Mistral with his backpack all ready to go. That deliberation, the consideration, Oscar eventually choosing to trust Ozpin and go along with his plan? All done offscreen. Similarly, Oscar goes from treating Ozpin’s voice as an irritating thing to be annoyed has been chucked out a window- now out on the open road, it doesn’t “feel crazy” anymore. It just feels like such a cheap way to handle Oscar’s writing- rather than show his development naturally, it just fast-forwards until it reaches a point where it skips all that. And unfortunately, this isn’t the first or last time Oscar is victim to the writers fast-forwarding through his development moments. Given how much of Oscar’s arc hinges on this crucial first step, it just seems inane to me that of all of the potential Oscar scenes to cut... him coming around on Ozpin and making the call to leave was what got the cutting room floor. Especially since nothing in his Kuroyuri scene was all that essential for Oscar in contrast, barring setting up the the mystery Hazel and Ozpin’s past.

Oscar doesn’t appear again after his encounter with Hazel until the finale, when during the montage of Ruby’s letter (that consists of half her dialogue this season) we see Oscar on the train to Mistral, which really only caused a problem thanks to all the people who used it to ask why RNJR didn’t take a train. He also appears in the post-credits scene, meeting Qrow at a bar and asking for his cane back, the volume ending on Oscar extending the cane experimentally.

Being blunt, I feel like Oscar should have been cut from Volume 4 and just introduced in Volume 5 with the bar scene. Volume 4 already had to juggle far too much in RWBY and Cinder’s plots, and adding Oscar to the mix unfortunately meant the screentime for some characters had to suffer- especially Yang. His time this season ultimately goes nowhere and only gives him a basic background that most fans would have already guessed from his character design, and the already wobbly Jenga Tower that was Volume 4′s screentime didn’t need more blocks thrown on top. I like a fair few things in Oscar’s arc, but it’s content that ultimately I’d have been fine having left on the cutting room floor. Hell, if nothing else, Oscar’s first scene should have ended with Ozpin’s reappearance, that these are two separate scenes is mind-boggling and left the fans wondering what the hell was Oscar’s purpose for weeks.

Oscar’s debut arc has its ups and downs, much like the volume itself. His intro scene and argument with Ozpin are both well-executed and show the viewer the vocal dynamite of Dismuke’s performance or just set up his base character, but for every good thing to come of Oscar’s arc, it’s fraught with issues- most notably, his scene of choosing to leave his home being omitted and beginning the unfortunate tendency for Oscar to get the short end of the stick when it came to development and agency, which undermine his choice to leave. But overall, Oscar built himself a small but dedicated fanbase with his debut volume, even immediately shooting up to become a potential target for Ruby’s affections in the fandom shipping wars. It was a rocky start, but surely now that Oscar was going to have his plot merged with RNJR, he’d be able to handle his screen-time more effectively, right?

Right?

Volume 5- Two for one on meatsacks

Volume 5 is Oscar’s worst volume so far, being blunt. It’s a lot of people’s worst volumes though (Cinder, Ruby, Weiss, Mercury, Adam, mine) that at least he can share the load. It doesn’t help that he’s not in half the damn thing because his body is being used by Ozpin to regale the audience with expositon that makes them actively yearn for the sweet embrace of death... or just the return of the World of Remnant shorts. Oscar’s first scene in Volume 5 is just a recycling of the Volume 4 post-credits scene, which raises the question of why the scene was used in Volume 4. I don’t think it’s even touched up, they literally just copy-pasted it. Much like his first scene in Volume 4, his intro scene this volume is intercepted by comedy relief- last time it was Jaune’s miserable attempts at being a strategist, this time it’s Drunkle Qrow.

... You know, this scene ages poorly in hindsight given how just one volume later Qrow’s alcoholism is treated with ice-cold severity.

Episode 3 follows up on this and gives us Ozcar’s first major scene of the volume, and unfortunately also sets up their dynamic this volume. Oscar gets some awkwardly charming moments with Ruby but overall the scene is dominated by Ozpin taking over for the first time and explaining his reincarnation powers alongside setitng up RNJR’s plot for the season- “training.” An episode later sees the entirety of this training, with Oscar and Ruby engaging in hand-to-hand combat and Oscar getting a lore dump from Ren (in hindsight this is novel not just because they’re outside during it but Ren’s the one delivering the infodump and not Ozpin). Ozpin barely even factors into the episode barring some fisticuffs and a generic speech at the end. But the scene is overall just pointless to the narrative beyond loosely setting up Jaune’s own Semblance unlocking, and this is the last we hear of RNJR “training” for the upcoming trials at Haven. Hell, even though the story makes a point of noting Oscar still hasn’t unlocked his Semblance, that still hasn’t come up two years later. This scene really only pays off in one immediate way:

This is Ruby’s sole contribution to the Battle of Haven after getting KO’d by Emerald outside of just yelling orders for offscreen fights, and all this helped do was begin to convince people that “MERC’S A BAD FIGHTER WITHOUT EMERALD.”

Lighting the Fire’s training scene is one of Oscar’s only major scenes where he interacts with RNJR to boot for the entirety of Volume 5, and it’s quite sad that nothing really comes of it. It just serves to highlight how little Oscar interacts with the other kids, as most of his dialogue this season is just as Ozcar.

Necessary Sacrifice then, should be great on paper. It’s an entirely Oscar and Ruby scene with Ozpin only chiming in at the end. It has Oscar confronting Ruby and himself on his fears and how Ruby can put up a brace face, and Ruby finally gets to open up a little about losing Penny and Pyrrha at Beacon. But the scene just falls flat on its face and botches the execution. Putting aside Ruby’s own problems in this scene (her speech feels incredibly pre-rehearsed, as if she spent hours practicing it in the mirror to ward off anyone actually prying into her life). Oscar’s anger and fear come out of left field with nothing setting this up in his prior scenes this volume. Ruby needed a scene where she talked about losing Penny and Pyrrha, but it should have been during Volume 4, with Jaune. Having it now with Oscar feels like the writers apologizing for having Ruby get shafted for screenitme during Volume 4... during the volume where she gets shafted by literally everyone else. The scene is frustrating to me, it could and should have been a lot better (musically at least I love the reprises of When It Falls and Lets Just Live), but it just feels like a hasty patch note. Oscar doesn’t really develop from the situation and his fears are just forgotten for the rest of the volume.

Oscar then proceeds to basically sit out Volume 5 barring Chapters 11 and 12. I still don’t get why he wasn’t part of the dinner scene with RWBJNR, since it would have been so very easy for him to be part of the dinner and get the chance to interact with the rest of the kids. Oscar wants to be a hero, so let him... actually interact with heroes his age. Have him brought up to speed on the crazy adventures the team have, let them get to interact with Oscar without having to deal with his backseat driver. You could even make something tragic of the scene where Oscar is forced to go away so Ozpin can take over, and the team’s faces fall flat when Ozpin gets right to talking shop which leads to the YOU TURNED THEM INTO BIRDS exchange. But otherwise, the rest of the House scenes revolve around Ozpin talking. The kids talk past Oscar, and again, you can very easily make something tragic of that as Oscar could grow to resent Ozpin because none of the others see him as himself, just a puppet on strings. But again... Oscar’s just not allowed to develop onscreen in this show.

And perhaps the worst thing about all this is that whenever Ozpin actually is called out on his tactics, one of the most pressings ones in his possession of Oscar,a 14 year old boy, is never used as fuel. Granted, yes, Ozpin has no control over who’s his next host but surely someone, somewhere is going to opine how morally bankrupt it is that Ozpin essentially conscripted a child not even old enough to get a learner’s permit into his eternal shadow war. It’s times like this that my theory that Jaune was going to be Ozpin’s original replacement before the backlash to Jaundice made them backtrack looks more and more possible.

The Haven Battle episodes quickly have Ozpin force control away from Oscar, but it’s not like Oscar did much before then anyway other than serve as the conduit for another lore dump on Hazel’s backstory. He doesn’t try and learn why Leo defected and manages to trounce the headmaster so well one wonders how the hell Leo got put in charge of a combat school. After that, Ozpin takes over (and we admittedly get some of the coolest fighting in the actual Battle of Haven in Ozcar vs Hazel) and Oscar only briefly returns in the last seconds of the finale to drop the sequel hook that they need to get the lamp to Atlas.

Volume 5 is just a bad season for Oscar- this is the one time we don’t get his eternal phantom of offscreen character development because it’s not fair to say Oscar has any development in Volume 5. He’s immediately forced to the back to serve as a projector through which Ozpin can put the audience to sleep, most of his actual scenes are irrelevant or just feel like a waste of time and he basically sits out the entire finale. It’s just infuriatingly incompetent writing- we’ve gone from Oscar being a waste of time in Volume 4 to just being a waste of a character in Volume 5 who barely gets to express himself. Little is done with Oscar that could not be achieved by putting a tape recorder beside a lampshade and calling that Ozpin’s new host. Volume 5′s bad for a lot of characters, but at least most of the rest of the cast had good seasons beforehand to show how well they could be handled or written. Oscar didn’t have that, and while ultimately the blame was placed more on Ozpin for hogging the time, Oscar’s critics began to grow and he was derisively seen as just a plot device to let the writers bring Ozpin back and serve as a mission marker for the heroes. One more bad season for Oscar could spell the end to his character ever having a warm reception among the fans and critics. Drastic action would need to be undertaken in order to regain trust in Oscar.

3) Volume 6- Tossing out the baby with the water

So the big plan to give Oscar some screentime... was basically cut Ozpin out of the story entirely. Oscar is almost entirely himself after the fourth episode, it’s the longest run of episodes with Oscar as himself that we’ve gotten in the show to date and Ozpin doesn’t even surface until the finale. There’s a lovely line of Oscar’s in episode 4 that finally lets him address some of the fears and concerns he should be rightfully worried about- “I’m just going to be another one of his lives, aren’t I?” Oscar’s tone is just so bleak there, it works super well and it was nice to finally see Oscar expressing human emotions. It even my cynical heart hope that Volume 6 would finally see Oscar get the limelight he had been denied for two years running.

But then the ball is just dropped hard. Oscar’s left in a background role for the Brunswick episodes, stuck working on a tire while RWBY encounter the Apathy. What’s already a somewhat rushed resolution to the whole plot of “RWBY express concerns about going onward to Atlas in light of Jinn’s revelations” now leaves Oscar, the guy carrying Ozma’s soul in him, out of the moment. He just gets to be tired and tell Blake to make food if she’s hungry.

Argus at least alludes to putting Oscar in the driver’s seat for his own solo arc where he explores the city alone after Jaune physically assults him (why didn’t anyone stop Jaune from hurting Oscar two people saying Jaune’s name with all the concern of someone stubbing their toe just feels cheap). Even though I was cold on the episode as a whole, Dead End did set up the wonderful idea of an Oscar episode, one where he maybe forces Ozpin to come out so they can talk frankly for the first time in two volumes. Maybe they could even rip off Avatar (some more) and have Oscar meet Ozma himself, using his conversation with the two as his own chance to rally onwards and decide to bring the fight to Salem. It could have been a really sweet moment of him backing Ruby up in her desire to keep going, the two forming a mutual bond of bolstering each other’s hopes as they carry the burden for their team.

But no. Because I can’t have nice things, in an otherwise near-perfect episode where I actually got Mercury and Emerald screentime and the lovely Pyrrha statue scene (which I low-key feel like Oscar should have been a part of but that’s a subject for another day), Oscar just gets over his issues, buys a new outfit and dodges past his problems, getting to develop past them, off-screen, for the third time in a row.

As far as I care, Oscar stole the money for this costume from either Qrow or Jaune and I don’t care if Miles says to my face he earned the money legit, I’m keeping that headcanon. Also, why are his gloves still orange? They don’t fit the rest of his costume.

If there was anything that got cut from Volume 6′s final half, I’d bet money on it being Oscar’s solo arc. Kerry himself has admitted during the RWBY Rewind for the finale that stuff got cut, and it’s very likely (going off comments from Miles that The Lost Fable was a huge resource drain) that this content was going to be part of the entire episode that was cut (Volume 6 initially had 14 episodes but around Christmastime this was remedied down to 13). It’s actually downright insulting and infuriating that Oscar got the shaft again, especially when Volume 6 finally seemed to be addressing the issue of Oscar never getting growth or focus. He was free of Ozpin, and with Ozma’s history revealed it was the perfect time for him to embrace the past forced upon him and resolve to become a hero. But no, the episode count went down so we had to wave goodbye to Oscar’s agency again.

Just think of how beneficial it would be for Oscar to actually confront his sorta-not-really ancestor, who may have had to watch as soul after soul gets consumed for him. Has Ozma ever had someone tell him none of this was his fault? I feel he needs it.

If I was a more suspicious person I’d say it almost feels deliberate, that someone on the writing team doesn’t like Oscar and is purposefully keeping his growth offscreen out of childish spite. But three volumes in a row now, Oscar’s growth has felt artificial and fake, and leaves him feeling like an afterthought. I know it’s not a problem of RWBY not being able to write new characters well, just look at how fleshed out and beloved Maria was after just her debut season. But Oscar just can’t catch a break and it’s frustrating to watch. In a volume that otherwise made huge strides in solving many of the pre-existing issues in Volumes 4 and 5, that 6 still refuses to treat Oscar with anything other than mild apathy is just mind-boggling.

Like, what was even the point of having Jaune say Ozpin was just pretending to be Oscar? To make Jaune look irrational? To plant the red herring in the viewer’s minds? The rest of the volume itself shoots the idea down hard, and it feels like it was going to be used during Oscar’s potential cut scene, but again... it was cut. I can only go off what’s in the volume and unfortunately, Oscar in Volume 6 is only marginally better than he was in past Volumes. Bless his heart, Aaron is trying to save this character but the writing itself is dragging Oscar down every chance it can get.

4) Volume 7- The potential breaking point

Oscar’s character is currently in a make or break spot, and Volume 7 will either finally solve his growth issues or this will be it and his fandom will reach a boiling point. The worst thing is, it’s a very easy solution to fix Oscar.

Just put his character development onscreen.

That’s it, the golden answer to all of Oscar’s problems is to just stop cutting his development and agency short. Oscar has potential to be the most tragic character in RWBY- someone who wanted to be a hero, only for the responsibilities to be forced on him without his consent. He’s someone who the rest of his companions oftentimes don’t see as a person, just a walking telephone to their boss. Imagine how dehumanizing it would be, especially after Qrow’s “Don’t lie to him, we’re better than that” line? Imagine being someone effectively living on borrowed time because sooner or later, your consciousness will be absorbed what makes you you will be but a distant memory? Oscar could easily be a shining example of character growth, he could easily have a great arc of learning to deal with the burdens of Ozma’s struggle, of being the target of Hazel and Salem’s ire when he did nothing to earn it. But it needs to be soon, or all the potential in the world won’t be able to save Oscar.

Perhaps Volume 7 will have a flashback to Oscar in Argus having that confrontation with Ozpin and getting his new outfit. Perhaps Ironwood will be mistrusting of Oscar claiming to be Oz, and Oscar will have to step up and prove he is who he says he is. Qrow never apologized to Oscar for punching him, so an apology would serve both Qrow and Oscar’s arcs as Qrow reignites his spark to fight. A potential confrontation with Salem where Oscar may try something the previous Oz lives didn’t could work wonders for Oscar. Volume 7 could still easily have Oscar get spotlight, but with how many plates the season is already planning to spin (Tyrian and Wattts going to Atlas, Cinder and Neo going after Ruby, Weiss dealing with her family, Ruby learning about the Silver Eyes with Maria, a likely return of Faunus racism for Blake and Yang, Atlas class warfare, the token reminder that Pyrrha died so Jaune, Ren and Nora can be sad, etc.) I’m already accepting that Oscar is the most likely candidate to get the boot again. It’s happened before, and I try to avoid being a sucker who falls for the same thing over and over. Definition of insanity and all that.

5) Conclusion

Oscar is... I hate to say this again, but infuriating to me writing wise. He has so much potential as a character in terms of his growth but despite having had main character status for half the show’s runtime now, it’s hard to really care. Oscar keeps getting the short end of the stick, and if it turns out that the whole reason he got shafted for years was because of M&K’s mystery fetish, I might actually throw a chair out a window.

What makes it worse is that Oscar is not a character with no hopes of being salvaged! There is a very easy way to remedy the problem and it’s just to let him have his time to shine and develop offscreen. Flashbacks covering the lost events such as his leaving his farm or gaining confidence in Argus (or even giving Oscar a character short specifically to address these issues) might be belated and feel like damage control- let’s be fair, after Adam’s short this wouldn’t be the first time they resorted to doing damage control in their shorts- but it would be a step in the right direction and show the team are committed to working to salvage Oscar. But they want to do it, it has to be now. If Oscar leaves Volume 7 suffering from the same problems, he might as well get killed off in Volume 8 because that will be it for his character, no one will defend him and Oscar will fully become the heroic Cinder in that no matter what, you can rest assured they won’t get onscreen development from anything that happens. In the meantime, all I can do is hope that this time, things will work out for the farm boi. There’s a goldmine of a character here guys, someone’s just gotta put the work into finding the first nugget.

In short, Oscar can be a great character, if the writing lets him become it onscreen. But until then, it’s going to be a frankly depressing journey to get there.

Thank you for reading.

#rwby #oscar pine #ozpin #ruby rose #rwde #rwby analysis #ozma #salem #james ironwood #hazel rainart #aaron dismuke #rwby4 #rwby5 #rwby6 #rwby7 #jaune arc #qrow branwen

154 notes · View notes

sunshinemossboy · 6 years ago

Note

which is your fav ahs season

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME I CAN'T DECIDE????!!

I'm just gonna be extra as hell and list my pros and cons... get ready for a long ass answer sorrynotsorry you're dealing with a writer here:

Murder House

just gonna say it - overrated

I do appreciate it because it sparked the rest of AHS

created some iconic characters

in hindsight, at least Tate is better than Kai

still a really good concept

a bit boring at times though

Jessica Lange is fucking superb

lowkey started trend of Lily Rabe's characters either dying or already being dead and me no likey that so much

Francis Conroy talking about men is always great but I liked the more subtle hints to her speeches this time

Asylum

LANA BANA BO BANA BANANA FANA FO FANA FE FI MO MANA, LANA

Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe were ICONIC in this season holy fckin christ

so was Jessica Lange

and Zachary Quinto

basically the characters had really good like writing and rounding out and such

but wtf was with the alien subplot??

some damn good writing

while I do not approve of Sister Mary Satan raping the monsignor I can never get "There was a priest, the dirty beast, his name was Alexander. His mighty dick was inches thick, he called it Salamander" out of my head

Jude and Kit at the end was so sweet

Coven

honestly at times bit off more than they could chew with the subplots, not all of those were really resolved

Jessica Lange somehow even more iconic

same with Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett, what QUEENS

Foxxay

seriously both Misty and Cordelia are adorable on their own, and together I just can't handle it

STEVIE NICKS

the music in this season provokes an emotional response from me

"Can we please not move things? Some of us are blind!"

*stuffs bagels into bag* "Who's takin me home?"

Myrtle Snow calmly playing that instrument while Cordelia had a breakdown

those all black looks were good shit

Freak Show

this shit was SAD AS HELL

like literally how they killed all the characters was fucking gut wrenching

also Pepper? at Briarcliff?? seeing that magazine with Elsa on it??? I cry every time

once again proved the crazy talent of Sarah Paulson

at least Lily Rabe was kinda there

despite being a little shit Dandy was a great character

last time they had some really long episodes, or at least varied between 45 min and longer, which I liked bc I think it let them do quite a bit

I want Sarah Paulson's cover of Criminal to play at my funeral or my wedding or goddamn something ugh

"We might not be on a farm but something sure smells like bullshit to me" (paraphrased)

I can't believe they made me feel so damn bad for a scary clown dude, he didn't deserve that

Hotel

the fucking style? and music? SUPERB

"I FUCKING LIVE HERE"

when Iris was gonna off herself and made that video

I have a love/hate relationship with John Lowe 'cause he kinda stupid

Evan Peters looking like Spongebob as a fancy waiter

Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer drenched in blood

everything about Liz Taylor was like beautiful

somehow the vampire thing worked

could (should) have used literally any song other than hotline bling

Devil's Night was great but then they made an inconsistency with the zodiac killer in Cult

aT lEaSt LiLy RaBe WaS kInDa ThErE

loved it when Billie came back

Roanoke

enjoyed the documentary style and kudos to Ryan for doing something different

with that being said it was pretty predictable and cliche

so damn happy to see Lily Rabe back

favorite fan promo thing I saw: "Lily Rabe is back and she has a gluten allergy and questionable judgement" (paraphrased but hilarious and accurate)

wish they had time to round out the actor characters (Audrey, Monet, etc)

RIP an accent 2016-2016

still though, it brought some good people back into the cast

good call with Adina Porter, she's amazing

"I'm not American, I'm not used to all this carnage!"

honestly a lot of Audrey's lines were great

and her reaction to Shelby's death holy fuck that honestly startled me

Cricket Marlowe looking like Danny Devito in that one episode of Always Sunny

Cult

I liked how they worked phobias into it

a good deal of the sexual stuff just made me really uncomfortable, like especially when it was directed at Ally (or Ivy I guess), idk I think as a lesbian myself it felt like they were pushing all this phallic shit on her and challenging her sexuality which just really rubbed me the wrong way (my take on it, anyway)

Ally's character development though goddamn

Ally in general, she was so fckin cute ugh

I feel like they made Ivy too dislikable? like she could've had SOME redeeming qualities but nah

Kai was fucking awful

people shit on Winter as a character but I still think Billie Lourd acted wonderfully

why do all of Emma Roberts' characters have to be such bitches? lol

still don't know how I feel about it ending with Ally supposedly like becoming leader of the SCUM group or whatever

loved that they used extreme stereotypes of both conservatives and liberals

Apocalypse

they killed Venable too soon

she and Mead were so extra together I loved it

MISTY IS BAAAAACK

again, Foxxay (they better kiss and be happy by the end of this season I stg)

Cordelia's vision was terrifying, like she got her throat torn out jfc

if Cordelia (or, hell, even Billie) die too I'm going to be 2-3 times more heartbroken than I already am about Venable

especially excited to see Mallory's character develop

I both love and hate Michael Langdon

Leslie Grossman still getting all the wack, iconic one-liners

BD Wong being in it was lowkey hilarious to me bc I've only ever seen him in SVU before

"Because I'm the FUCKING Supreme"

can't wait to get more Billie Dean Howard

Jessica Lange! it's been so long, how ya been?

where the hell did Brock go after he broke in to kill Coco? did he just fuck off back into the wastelands?

Ryan, USE LILY RABE'S TALENT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD even if she doesn't stay for long this season (plz let Misty be okay and while I don't quite think it'll happen I'm still hoping to see Nora) bring her back sometime with another major character I miss her so much

I'm excited to see more!

158 notes · View notes

rwdestuffs · 6 years ago

Text

Done dirty: The Grimm

I think I speak for everyone when I say “What’s wrong with this scene?”

The inherent problem with the grimm stands as follows:

1. They are hyped up to be a major threat, but come off as underwhelming.

2. The conflicting lore on how long they have been around.

3. The lack of power that the grimm have.

4. The lack of societal and cultural adaptations to the grimm.

5. The existence of Silver Eyes.

The first problem has to do with the fact that (as seen in the heading gif), the grimm were taken down by a dog.

But not just any dog, a dog that was owned by the Xiao-Long-Rose family!

But, there’s a catch. See, when a fan pointed out that it was logical that Zwei had his aura unlocked by Tai, it was a theory that held water. It explained why he was able to survive being stuffed into packages, and being shot out of Oobleck’s weapon.

Then the writers come in and say “Actually, there’s this thing called ‘anime.’“- And that literally shut down the whole “Zwei has aura” theory.

Which leads into the problem of the gif.

Zwei was auraless. And he beat a grimm.

This undermines the entire threat if a Corgi, without aura, could beat one. This means that I could beat one with a kitchen knife.

The second problem, is how they’ve been explained.

See, the grimm are attracted to negative emotion. This means they were attracted to something that had not truly existed yet.

Not to mention, that this contradicts other things we know about them. As mentioned in the WoR episode…

There is no real knowledge about them. And considering that it’s Salem’s VA that is giving this monologue, it makes no sense that she mentions that “Very little is known of their origin.”- Maybe this is because she’s trying to troll the audience, or maybe this is because even she didn’t know, but it makes little sense for this to be there.

Word choice is important. Maybe that’ll be the subject of it’s own “done dirty” post, but regardless, the grimm make no sense. This is a minor thing in comparison to everything else, so let’s move on.

The next problem with the grimm is their power level. Now, say it with me:

(Yep. Now it’s in GIF format!)

See, because of the aforementioned Corgi beating them, the grimm don’t really display a level of power that would be considered intimidating.

Coco managed to decimate an entire horde on her own in Volume 2. Then that level of firepower disappears by Volume 3.

That’s not the grimm getting stronger, that’s Coco being nerfed. Coco went from being able to decimate an entire grimm horde in Volume 2, to barely being able to hold one off in Volume 3.

There’s not even a story reason for this sudden drop in power. Unless there’s mention of Coco using special bullets during the breach, that drop in power doesn’t make the grimm look powerful, it makes Coco look incompetent (follow up: If it was because of special bullets, why aren’t those more widely distributed?- Those things would make people safer thanks to the prowess that they displayed).

The next problem is the lack of societal and cultural adaptations to the grimm.

By the feel of it, the writers just took our world, slapped aura, semblances, dust, and grimm onto it, and then didn’t make any other changes (done dirty: Remnant Society anyone?).

This creates a problem. The way society acts and is portrayed, it feels as if grimm are a more recent discovery. That they only showed up maybe a hundred to a hundred-fifty years ago, and that the need for hunters is also new.

But this contradicts the story of the two brothers and the WoR on grimm. In a world where negative emotion attracts grimm, racism is still a thing. Therapists aren’t more common. Bullying is still a thing. Homelessness is a thing.

None of those things should logically exist in a world where negativity brings grimm. This isn’t like the Heartless, where the threat was never a concern due to them coming from a different world altogether; this is like not having a basic defense against moblins despite them being prominent in the world.

Hell! Even a freaking wall would be a good defense against the grimm. Have numerous checkpoints so that people from villages or trade routes can come in easily and get in quickly.

Racists are literally waving a sign that says “Free grimm food here” by being racists.

Society as a whole should have learned not to hate anymore. Like, have those pills from We Happy Few around so that people who are feeling negative aren’t a threat.

It just feels like society as a whole decided that the war between the hunters and the grimm were in their own world, and that society as a whole could live in theirs.- But there is no mention of this being a thing.

There are schools dedicated to training hunters. Logically, hunters should also be well-integrated into society.

Where are the asshole hunters who exploit towns in exchange for protection? Where are the hunters who are celebrities?- We only see one. Where are the talks and interviews with famous hunters?

Because of this, it really feels as if society was just an afterthought.

At the very least, Stands have the benefit of not being able to be seen by normal people, so they can excuse the lack of societal adaptations to them on that.

And Silver Eyes…

Sigh…

Look, in a world where Silver Eyes were planned from the start, the writers would have had special training given to Ruby in an attempt to unlock their power.

In a world where Silver Eyes were planned from the start, the writers would have had Cinder react with fear when she met Ruby, then plan accordingly to make Ruby a non-threat from the start.

In a world where Silver Eyes were planned from the start, the writers would have had these legends around as a fairy tale as a means to foreshadow their power alongside the maidens.

In a world where Silver Eyes were planned from the start, the writers would have had Ruby ask about them when she confronted Ozpin in Volume 5.

We don’t live in that world. There is no lore behind Silver Eyes.

They aren’t interesting.

They’re just an eye color.

#rwde #done dirty #grimm crit

16 notes · View notes

knightofbalance-13 · 6 years ago

Text

https://rwdestuffs.tumblr.com/post/178357985392/done-dirty-the-white-fang

Too bad both are technically terrorists because both use fear to achieve their political goals and both ultimately are failures because both are just inferior versions of Ghira’s philosophy who, mind you, is the only ACTUAL civil rights leader the White Fang had.

Yeah, I maybe getting into my own political beliefs here but at least I can explain myself better.

Y’know, finding interesting ways to showcase the subject at hand is getting difficult…

How, you’ve just used common as fuck memes. These aren’t even your ideas, they’re the ideas of others you’re using.

You want to know something?- I’d say that the humans were pretty damn fortunate that all the faunus wanted was equality. They could have easily had enslaved their would-be-racist asses after they had won that war (actually, this sounds like a kickass ‘what-if’ story, if someone wants to make that, send a link my way please).

1. That is racist Dudeblade. Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Coco, Yatashuri, Neptune, Ozpin, Oobleck, Glynda, Port and so many more have not display racism at all. Hell, most of these have actually displayed the EXACT OPPOSITE by just treating as normal people. Anything else would be racist.

For fuck’s sake, weve seen four racist characters in RWBY. One of which is reformed, one of which is a jackass bully, one of which was an attempted TERRORIST and the last is Snowy Satan.

2. Dudeblade, mind explaining to me how the people of Remnant today are responsible for the actions of PEOPLE THEY’VE NEVER MET? Especially since, by your logic, every single Fanaus is responsible for the actions of the WF. Meaning they have more blood on their hands due to the Fall Of Beacon than humanity as a whole.

And 3. Goes to show your mindset for this doesn’t it? Goes to show you have a political bias to make things look bad.

But really, the narrative seems to be really split on how we’re supposed to treat the WF. If we’re supposed to sympathize with them, then making them a terrorist group that Blake has to reform makes that hard. If we’re supposed to hate them, then making it so that they were retaliating against oppression and racists was a poor choice.

Yeah-

You know you can sympathize with people while also condemning their actions right? I mean, that is literally the only thing that stops me from feeling completely detached from you people. After everything you’ve done with LESS justification, I can still see you all have your issues.

Or can you only see the world in monochrome?

To clarify before I go any further: I side with the White Fang. Not with Adam. The WF is a civil rights group made to ensure the equality of Faunus (And is for some reason the only civil rights group to do so), and defend them. Adam, on the other hand, is a white kid who kills people in schools because he got rejected by a girl he liked (arguably the most accurate thing about the racism plot). This is the main point of the image used.

Too bad Dudeblade, that’s not how that works.

When you side with one side, you side with everyone in control of that side. That includes Adam. And thing is: you just displayed the exact same thought process as Adam with your opening paragraph.

That’s like if a Nazi said “Oh, I just side with the idea of rebuilding Germany. I don’t with the Furher.” The people charge DEFINE the meaning of the group. And the last two were terrorists.

Also, as BLM shows, you can’t get equality through fear. You just devolve yourself to your enemies’ point.

On it’s own, the idea of Faunus isn’t necessarily a bad one. Taking inspiration from racism in America isn’t a stupid choice. But they didn’t take inspiration from racism in America, they based it on the struggle of African Americans in the US. And when you just copy/paste that onto your fantasy minorities that are supposed to be a stand-in for all racial minorities, it creates a problem.

A. The Fanaus were never enslaved. That alone disproves the ‘copy paste’ bullshit.

And B. You’re using American sensibilities to argue about the Fanaus so by your own logic, your arguments don’t work.

See, there are reasons as to why people would be afraid of faunus outside of them looking different. They hold inherent advantages like superior hearing, and night vision.

An easy fix for this would be to make it so that different faunus types are treated differently.

Dudeblade-

Name me one advantage an African man has over a Caucasian man.

The moment you make this about genetics, the moment the racists have a point.

Racism is petty, nonsensical, destructive and superficial. Your way would just justify that.

For example: Velvet. She’s got bunny ears. That means that she’s one of the “non-feared (Read: ‘good’)” faunus because all her trait does is give her better hearing. She’s ‘cool’ because she poses very little threat. Blake could also be in this category because she also only gets better hearing, but she might be trusted a little bit less because she gets better night vision thanks to her feline heritage. She is also ‘cool’ because she poses very little threat.

Except ALL fanaus have those traits. So there’s no difference.

Also people are racist against Asian people despite being genetically shorter than Cauasians. How are you gonna justify that? Easy answer: there is no justification. You just don’t understand racism.

Now we go to the other side of the spectrum and go to Tyrian. He would be one of the “Feared” faunus. Scorpions on their own already freak me out, so making one human-sized and still letting him keep his venom is terrifying to me. Tyrian is ‘uncool’ because he poses a very clear and dangerous threat.

Again, no one cares about ‘safety’ or whatever. Doing that would JUSTIFY the racism as natural paranoia. It’s the same reason why the X-Men don’t work as racism standins-because the bias against the mutants is JUSTIFIED since mutants have abilities that grant them a distinct advantage over normal people AND they can kill so many people so easily.

Faunus could have been used to showcase multiple forms of fear. In fact, these natural weapons and abilities would be an easy reason to justify humans hating them (again: Jealousy is right there).

THAT. IS NOT. THE POINT.

How do you NOT understand that doesn’t work because it sends the message of ‘racism is okay so long as the race is a threat to you!’ God, are you TRYING to make RT look racist? Or are you THAT blind?

See, if it were jealousy that fueled the hatred, then a lot of things would make sense. Humans are mad that they can’t have the advantages that faunus have, so they attack and belittle them. Not only would this make sense, but it would be a far better idea than what’s going on right now (though, to be fair, it’s not that hard to be better than the canon story for faunus discrimination).

And yet somehow, you made a plotline where Jacques Schnee’s abuse of the Fanaus and Cardin’s racism would be JUSTIFIED and make THEM the good guys.

People in the real world do not fear races because of genetics. That implies an idea like racism could exist in an intelligent world. People are racist because they were either taught that and never taught that was bad, they have a fear of what is different (an irrational holdover from our primitive days) or they had a bad experience and irrationally connect that to all people of that race. Racism is NOT justified. It is completely and utterly IRRATIONAL.

And this would miss the entire point of the WF plotline and just make Remnant so far removed from our world that no one could relate or care about the characters. You bitch about the fucking plotline and yet make the WORST POSSIBLE VERSION of it.

But it’s not just the Fang as a whole that’s been done dirty, there are also several members that have been dirtied too. Like Sienna Khan.

Oh goody, we can watch Dudeblade fail to understand individual character purposes as well as entire fictional race purposes.

The woman is a skilled fighter, has an interesting motivation, and managed to take over the White Fang.

And then she goes down like a bitch.

The writers tried to fix this by showing her off in the trailer, but that makes the situation far far worse.

- Sienna fights like that, and she gets defeated so easily?

Speaking of the trailer, it shows exactly WHY Sienna went down so easily.

Namely, Sienna TRUSTED Adam. Adam was her golden hero, her shinning example, her prepared successor/second in command in waiting. Adam was suppose to be the pinnacle of what Sienna’s ideals were. So even when he was within killing range, she never thought Adam would harm her.

Same thing with Batman and Miranda Tate in The Dark Knight Rises. Batman never considered the idea that Miranda was a threat to him because he trusted her.

Look, it’s possible to have a character show off how badass they are even if they’re already dead. Take a look at Episode of Bardok from Dragonball. We, as the audience, know that Bardok is going to die, but seeing Freeza using his deadly technique after Bardok gives it his all in one final attack against the tyrant is one hell of a way to go out.

But Sienna just gets stabbed after less than five minutes of screentime.

A. That’s Bardock, Father Of Goku you idiot. Episode of Bardock is the one with time travel and him becoming the Super Saiyan that Freeza’s family feared.

And B. So are we gonna just ignore how Freeza negated that attack by simply POWERING UP an attack of his own, in his first form no less, thus suffering from the same issues that you bitch about here?

For a show that got known for it’s fight scenes, it really lacked in the fighting to justify why Adam managed to beat her.

And to preemptively shut down any argument that “Sienna didn’t have her aura up,” I have to ask you why you wouldn’t have your own guard up if the people around you were pointing their weapons at you, and had very clearly betrayed you.

Because Adam was still a trusted lieutenant in her eyes as well as the reason why Sienna was able to become High Leader in the first place.

Do yourself a favor and never play a Danganronpa game. You wouldn’t make it past the first trial.

Sienna not having her aura up seems a lot more stupid now, doesn’t it?

Maybe if I smoked a bunch of weed, drank a bunch of beer and smashed each bottle against my forehead.

Adam is also a character that was ruined. Not because he’s a terrorist, mind you (see comment about him being rejected above), but because they decided to make him a bitter ex.

A. So was Sienna. She literally said she wanted respect through fear, which is the same as being feared.

And B. He was always gonna be an abusive lover. The evidence was always there. The disconnect between what Blake described and Adam’s actions, her irrational fear of Adam, the worry and fear she has of people becoming like Adam. Not the show’s fault you reject reality.

Adam being a mentor figure and only a mentor figure should be enough to justify his relationship with Blake. There’s more relationships out there other than romantic and friendships. There’s student-teacher relationships, familial relationships, co-worker relationships, etc.

Except it always had romantic undertones and it makes the pain of Blake leaving even more poignant-

Oh wait, you don’t understand writing. What was I thinking?

Adam being Blake’s mentor that fell from grace is really the only relationship we need for those two. It establishes a real fear, and it doesn’t add……… the problematic complications of an 18-year-old dating a 13-year-old.

Adam is a mass murdering, genocidal, racial supremist douchebag.

Adding Edhepophila isn’t even worth discussing.

Not only could this be a means of mirroring the relationship that Jaune had with his dead prop Pyrrha dead prop, but it would serve as a really cool moment of Blake surpassing her teacher when she inevitably defeats him. While I will acknowledge the fact that standing up to an abuser takes a lot of courage, it also takes courage to stand up to a mentor that you looked up to and admired- and finally tell them off or defeat them. That abuse story could have gone to Weiss, and her standing up to her abusive father- which she did. That was an awesome moment for Weiss.

A. That’s sexist dudeblade. You never call Jaune a prop to Ruby.

B. But it DOES seal the idea of fear and Adam’s sheer madness and evil. Just because a character wasn’t what you thought doesn’t make them bad.

But I guess Blake dodging into Adam’s sword and Adam somehow forgetting about Blake’s semblance was a higher priority. As was a priority for the writers to make sure that Adam goes down like a bitch.

You know, kind of like how Yang forgot ‘Gee, swords are kind of a bad thing for me?’

Not like Adam and Yang have direct paralells to each oth-

Oh wait, they do.

... Don’t you look stupid?

I’d like to reiterate that as a surface-level idea, faunus racism isn’t a bad one.

Well your version is.

I’m sure that when we were younger, we all slapped animal parts onto a human, called it a new race, then called it a day. But it’s the poor implementation that makes it hard to sympathize with either side.

Despite the fact that you don’t argue against the Fanaus side AT ALL and in fact side with them (well, superficially since you side with the terrorist group that uses them as a shield.)

Yeah I call bullshit.

Apparently, when fighting against the grimm, you can only resort to violence. And the grimm are a force with no mercy.

But when fighting against inequality, you can’t use violence at all. Because the racists will obviously learn the error of their way if they see their targets sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya.

Dudeblade-

The Grimm DO NOT have the intelligence for discussion. They have animalistic intelligence AT BEST. You cannot reason with a wild animal, you can only run. But even worse, the Grimm DON’T WANT to stop. They WANT to kill. They WANT to destroy. You cannot reason with something that not only cannot understand you but doesn’t want to stop.

Let me give you an example of this. In Persona 3-5 games, there is an entity called the Reaper. Under certain circumstances, the Reaper will seek out and attempt to fight you. In Persona 5, you can actually communicate with the Reaper. You can ask it for an item, or for money or even to join you. But no matter what you try, it will always say this:

This is the Grimm.

You are trying to compare the complexities of racism in individuals to this, a creature with no desires other than your demise.

That is how stupid you look.

Also: I don’t wanna here this shit from a guy who, in this same post, tried to portray racism as something that could be rational.

And the fact that there are no humans pushing for equality is also a historical mistake. For a bunch of writers who basically copy/pasted the struggle of minorities in America onto their animal people, they seemed to have missed the part where even people in the majority were on the side of the minorities.

Proof?

Because no shit no human would join the White Fang, they’d probably just kill him. They’re racists.

As for actual equality: Ozpin, Ironwood and Leo all accept Fanaus without question, even former White Fang members. That is a push for equality.

Sympathy is a great start, but that has yet to go anywhere.

Aside from Vale letting fanaus own stores and not showing an ounce of racism aside from one asshole who could be from mistral for all we know and a convicted criminal?

There was no mention of any humans at the protests siding with the Faunus, there were no mentions of humans boycotting restaurants alongside them- It’s just the faunus struggle.

Maybe that’s because the only protest we’ve ever seen was interrupted by the White Fang, meaning that if humans DID try to protest they’d actually be at MORE risk than anyone else because they run the risk of being murdered by the White Fang AND human racists unlike the Fanaus. Kind of like you usually don’t see BLM members who are white.

And it would be great if the writers would think this through a lot more than they have

A. Excet you know, anytime they do you just ignore it so why even bother,

And B. *throws him a shovel* the guy you want to talk to is over there, six feet under. You had your chance, you never said it. Now you get to pay for it.

Because all a lot of us want, is some freaking nuance for the racism arc.

Except you know:

Not only have most of the people who bitch about it shown they don't want nuance, they want their side to be seen as absolute good and everyone else as absolute evil.

Not only have you suggested a version that would make the racists JUSTIFIED in their actions, thus making the fanaus the bad guys here.

But there is nuance. You just ignore it.

I would say that I want you assholes to acknowledge your bullshit but-

Yeah we all know how you’d react...

#dudeblade

23 notes · View notes

hobiscoffee3-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Paper Cuts, Paper Burns

Chenbaek Fanfiction - 1 Chapter: Chen is a Journalist but wants to be a writer. He is dealing with a long depression after his mothers passing and have lost his will to live

I woke up to the sound of the train that passed by outside my apartment. My head was aching from the wine I had last night. I could barely think straight, it was almost killing me but it wasn’t my first hangover. Shouldn’t I be used to it by now? Was I expecting something else? I don’t know what I was expecting. I knew I would feel like shit today.

I sat up on the edge of my bed and looked around my uncleaned apartment. It was small. A room with a big bookshelf of my many collections of book that couldn’t fit so most of them was stacked on top of each other. There was my TV, a table with an old bowls with unfinished cereals and my couch that I got from my beloved mother. I looked over at my desk with my unfinished books and scrips I’ve been working on that’s been turned down more than once. The smell of an cold half empty coffee cup made me realize that I probably should clean my apartment but I tell myself that every morning but every morning it’s the same story. An uncleaned apartment and every stack of books, papers and cereal bowls just get bigger and bigger. I was sleeping on a bed in the corner of the room. I had a separate kitchen and a bathroom in another room.

Fuck, my head hurts so bad. I needed an aspirin.

I stood up and nearly fell because of the headache. It eased down quickly but I still needed to control my balance. There is books everywhere I go but I survived. I picked a glass I had used from yesterday to fill up with water and took the aspirin.

There is only one left in the capsule. Better get new ones. I barely have any food either. I literally live on coco pops and captain crunch. I am soon out of milk too. Maybe I’ll go to the store later. I turned on the coffee machine and made my way to the bathroom to wash my face. I still have dark circles around my eyes, I look skinnier. I look like a character from a Tim Burton movie. I don’t know what character this is though, I don’t know him. I realized that I don’t like him. No, I hate him. What’s the point? We live alone, we die alone. Everything else is just an illusion.

I poured up the coffee, grabbed my cigarette and went outside to the balcony. My lighter is almost empty but I still got enough gas in it. I forced out the flame to light my cigarette and let the smoke fill my lungs.

Ah, the feeling of the first smoke in the morning. There is nothing like it. I grabbed my cup and took a sip. The taste reminds me of how my mother used to do it. If she was here she would probably nag, why is my apartment dirty and how I need to clean it but then she would do it herself right away.

I smiled at that thought and looked down in the cup. This cup was my mother’s. I remember the day me and my sister was cleaning her house and packed up the last things.

”Take what ever you would like”, my uncle said. I took some things like her cups, the couch and a few books. My sister wanted the old clock from the living room and her necklace that mother always used, it was in her will. She also took some photo albums of us.

”Are you sure you don’t want any albums?”

”No, it’s okay. You can keep them.”

My sister took out one of the pictures from the album and gave it to me. It was a picture of my mom and my dad on the beach with my sister who was 8, hugging the 5 year old me. My beautiful mother who was so happy and healthy back then. I couldn’t hold back my tears and my sister comforted me. She was always the stronger one. After we got home from the hospital that day she already booked a date for the funeral so everything would be ready and just as mom would’ve wanted it. She is just like our father. He always had control, he knew the solutions to all our problems and he always told us, ”After rain, there’s sunshine.” We where lucky to have both of them. I am lucky to have my sister. She’ve done so much for me. I wish I could do something back but I’m afraid what she would say if she’ll see me like this.

I then felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and as I could’ve guessed, it’s my sister.

”Hello?”

”Hi, why haven’t you return to any of my calls?”

”I’ve been busy.”

”Really? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for two weeks and you can’t return one single call or text?”

”Okay, I’m sorry.”

”I’m worried about you, Jongdae. Do you want me to come over?”

”No it’s fine. I gotta go to work” I said while rubbing my eyes as I felt the anxiety. I start in 30 minutes and I’m not sober. My fucking boss and that boring desk. All the ass kissing employers and gossipers. The money is enough to pay rent at least.

”Okay. Just tell me know if you’ll need anything. I love you.”

”I love you too, bye.”

#EXO #Kim Jongdae #Jongdae #Chen #Byun Baekhyun #Baekhyun #chenbaek fanfiction #Chenbaek #chanchen grunge

9 notes · View notes

techouspeaks · 8 years ago

Text

Precuruary: Yes! Prucure Five And Sequel Go! Go!

Starting Precuruary again and starting off from where I left off, Yes Precure Five and it’s Sequel. Go Go!

Well this time I’m just going to just review the series as is, as in I’m not going to just go through all the characters and story plot. You can pretty much watch it yourself or look it up on the wikia. I’m just gonna give out my basic thoughts on each series as a whole, since I have a lot of series to cover.

So when this series came out, it was my graduation year and I didn’t have much time or interest to check it out fully due to well...getting ready for graduation. I saw a few clips and thought it was pretty interesting. The transformations were cool and the characters seemed decent.

Most people who have watched this series either love it or just think it’s okay and yeah....I’m one of the latter. How are the characters? I think they’re okay. How is the story? The story is okay. What about the villains? They’re okay. What about the animation? It’s okay and that’s what this series is. It’s just okay. Not spectacular but not bad either. It delivers what you expect a Precure series to deliver. Which is good but nothing great either. I mean kudos for them to try to go a little farther and little more mature than the previous series.

This series gets a lot of hype too. It’s one of the most well known Precure series, since it did a lot better than the previous two. Out of all the earlier series, YP5 is the one that gets most mentioned. Probably because first off, we have two couples that are considered canon and another is, it’s the first series that started the “more than three in the team” thing, that Precure started doing more. Because the previous precures had just two or three cures, we got all the first time colors, such as a full pink cure, blue, orange, green, yellow and purple eventually. The trend that would follow other cure series. Shoot, it’s so popular for setting out examples that the new series, Kira Kira Precure was made just to celebrate YP5′s anniversary. That’s impressive!

It’s a shame because I actually wish I could get into the characters more than just okay. I like Kimochi and I can relate to her being I want to be a writer too and write novels and yet I’m also pretty shy about it too, but something just kinda keeps me from connecting with them fully as I want to. Maybe it is because they are kinda a product of their time. I mean, you have the happy go lucky screw up leader, the shy girl, the strict no nonsense girl, the tomboy and the cute one that’s a little eccentric. The purple cure that’s full of themselves. They’re not bad but they don’t ever seem to act fully out of those trends except for Karen and Rin, who do show a softer side, especially in the second season, but everyone else acts a bit in their character type and yeah, they’re not bad, you just seen these characters before.

And you’re probably wondering, what do I think about the couples? To be honest, I kinda like em. A lot of people seem to have an issue with Nozomi being with Coco and Kimochi being with Nutts who look to be an adult but honestly, the series does a pretty good job of not stating the actual age of them. We dunno for sure if they are adults. We can assume that because they can work and Coco is a teacher, but again, that could be a disguise thing and they just look older so people don’t suspect anything. I mean, that would make sense, since Kurumi/Milk is their care taker and yet she acts more immature. It makes me wonder, why would they need a care taker that is younger than them? It would make more sense if Milk was actually older but since she’s immature, she just looks like a middle school kid.

Shoot, the way Coco and Nutts act in their regular forms, it kinda makes me wonder if they’re really an adult. I mean, an adult does have insecurities but the way Coco and Nutts faces it, it seems more like they’re younger in spirit and just again, takes the form of an adult because they’re also very mature. Either way, I didn’t mind it so much. You know Toei doesn’t mean anything dirty in terms of relationships in Sailor Moon and Precure, so if the writers are fine with it, I’m good with it too. I think they’re actually great together and I’m happy they get to be together as well.

Now some people also wonder if Milk and Karen are a thing and to be fair, I would be lying if I said I didn’t see that but, I dunno. Unless they actually kiss or something, I just think of them as good friends. I’m kinda iffy about doing homosexual ships because the way people treat homosexual relationships as a trend and the way some people are like ass holes if someone dares like a hetro couple, it kinda discourages me from ever shipping a homosexual couple. I’m not against it completely, but I’m kinda discouraging of it because of how people treat such ships. It’s sorta like Frozen. Some people want to get into it but the hype just kills it for some folks, especially how fans treat it. Hey, it’s okay to like something or dislike something. Just don’t be a jerk about it.

So, yeah over all, it’s a decent series. There’s decent fights, there’s decent characters and even decent coupling.

I rate Yes Precure 5 and it’s sequel, 5 out of 10 stars! Gather a team of fellow Precure fans and check it out!

*****

Good Series!

#precure #yes! precure 5 #yes! pretty cure 5 go go #precuruary

7 notes · View notes

totalrockfiend · 6 years ago

Text

Once Upon a Time, Kim Gordon Was a “Girl in a Band”

I’ve always had a suspicion about Sonic Youth...

And Kim Gordon’s recent Autobiography, Girl in a Band, confirmed this inkling that’s long nibbled at my edges of my consciousness.

And what would this be you ask?

Well, to put it bluntly, that Sonic Youth is (or was I guess is the correct tense?) an art project far more than a band.

Sure, they made music. Wrote and recorded songs. Released albums. And toured behind those albums. All band-type stuff.

Big Fan, Big Fan ;---)

Don’t get me wrong here, I have endless respect for for the band’s “noise-rock standard-setting” releases, including Daydream Nation, Sister, and Evol. Not to mention that Goo will forever remain a part of my “permanent collection” (with it’s Chuck D guest rap on Kool Thing, and the gorgeously inexplicable noise-freak out, Mildred Pierce).

But the Youths, and Gordon in particular, were all about the “art” of their particular brand of “art rock” for “art’s sake.” A fact further underscored by Gordon’s heavy focus on visual art before, during and after splitting with the band and former husband, and Sonic Youth co-founder, Thurston Moore.

Now, I ain’t necessarily mad at art (rock) for art (rock’s) sake. But I often find that I don’t fully appreciate music crafted from this perspective. And this is likely why I have, over the years, dropped in an out on Sonic Youth.

A look Behind the Veil (into the World of Kim Gordon + Sonic Youth)

Anyway, delving into Girl in a Band, what’s perhaps most enthralling about the book is the veil it lifts on on Gordon, and by extension, Sonic Youth in total. And this is notable because unlike many in the rock (and even indie rock) world, I don’t know much about the members of Sonic Youth.

While I wouldn’t say Sonic Youth has avoided the media -- they were always critical darlings and, whether consciously or not, reveled in that status -- but nor were they a heavily-PR’ed outfit.

In other words, interviews, profiles and the like have been few and far between across the spectrum of the band’s 30 year career.

And in that regard, I realized I knew very little about the band member’s backgrounds. And guess what? Turns out Kim Gordon is a California Gurl!

And not a hip, NoCal San Franciscan. Nope! She a sun-kissed SoCal lass. Hailing from Los Angeles, to be exact.

A Left Coast Gal?

Though minted in update New York, and forever associated with the “Downtown Avant Garde NYC art scene,” Gordon migrated to Los Angeles when she was quite young following her father accepting a professorship at UCLA. And she remind in LA’s sunny environs until escaping back to the East Coast following high school and a stint at LA’s Otis Art Institute.

I gather this struck me as such an odd revelation because Gordon, in my mind, epitomizes the arty NYC underground. And nothing seems more antithetical to this that scene then SoCal.

But Cali was only a blip on Gordon’s timeline. At least in the early days. Gordon decamped to NYC, ostensibly to pursue a career in visual art, and got swept up into the early ‘80s “no wave” music scene. Through a mutual friend, she met and began dating Thurston Moore. The two hooked up with fellow Sonic Youth co-founder, Lee Ranaldo. And from there, the rest is, for the band anyway, more or less history.

The Picture Perfect Indie Rock Couple Crumbles

That is until the seemingly “perfect indie rock couple” separated in 2011, and eventually divorced in 2013. A move which, unsurprisingly, precipitated the end of Sonic Youth.

And the root of the couple’s split after 27 years of matrimony? Moore’s infidelity with a younger women -- Eva Prinz, and art book editor and aspiring artist of sorts -- that, according to Gordon, Moore “refused to give up.”

Now of course, this happening is integral to Gordon’s tale. I mean, it was the impetus for Sonic Youth’s split up as much anything. So, I can’t imagine her not address the issue. And she doesn’t “throw [Moore] “under the bus” in any fashion. In fact, if anything, he gets off with an exceptionally light reproach.

But that said, it always feels off-putting when people publicly air this sort of dirty laundry. Moreover, much of the memoir’s considerable references, dating back to their earliest association, Gordon seem to present Moore in a “what was his ulterior motive” sort of light. Which doesn’t seem entirely fair. And conveys unsettling feeling of a looming specter. A move that Gordon may have intended. But detracts from the narrative far more than it supports it.

Plus, we’re only getting Gordon’s side of the story. And with most infidelity, it takes two to tango. And I mean this in the sense that while the “cheater” is “doing wrong,” it’s generally far from a cut-and-dried situation. Something is usually amiss with both parties to the relationship. One party just happens to choose the worst possible avenue to express the collective’s growing relational dysfunction.

Disconnected + Dispassionate

This also brings me to another salient point, or more specifically, a long held criticism I have of Sonic Youth’s musical approach. The band has a disconnected, dispassionate feel to their music. Which sometimes works, definitely in the context of their post-punk sonic reduction-ism. And other times just feels blah. Which is when the band loses me (and is likely why I’ve lost touch with the group off-and-on over the years).

Meanwhile, Moore + Gordon, the band’s co-founders, leaders, and cold, dead “heart and soul” have always struck me as disconnected and dispassionate folks themselves. Maybe not quite “above it all.” But certainly a bit “too kool for school” at times.

And if I’ve taken away any lessons from my 14 year marriage, it’s that a bit of Yin and Yang are requisite for enduring success any relationship. So, Moore’s dispassionate-self may have been seeking more of a connection. And Gordon, disconnected herself, might have missed these cues.

No Excuses

This, of course, in no way excuses Moore’s behavior. Though he paid the ultimate price for his indiscretion. No more wife (and despite his poor behavior, he’d didn’t appear to be angling for a break up) No more daughter (except in the part-time, weekends and summers sense, which I can tell you from experience isn’t the same thing as the legit full-time dad gig). And no more band (which was his livelihood for 30 years).

But despite this midlife acrimony, Gordon forging on, and fairing well. She’s even returned to SoCal! She back to doing visual art, hosting a major respective show entitled “The Show Is Over” in 2013. Continues to make music, recently with the Body/Head, and under her own name in the form of the 2016 single Murdered Out. And has settled, with her daughter, Coco, in LA’s Franklin Canyon neighborhood.

All in all, I genuinely enjoyed Girl in a Band. Gordon’s clearly a talented writer and penned an engaging memoir. And I admit this in full acknowledgement that reading the book actually made me like Sonic Youth less, largely due to Girl confirming of suspicions about the band’s “art project intentions.” And it made me like Gordon less, also for confirming that her cool, withdrawn veneer isn’t really a veneer. But rather, she is exactly who she appears to be.

And as the say, meeting your idols is often disappointing.

#totalrockfiend sonicyouth kimgordon thurstonmore girlinaband

0 notes

reluming · 7 years ago

Text

Dear Yuletide author

Hi! I’m so happy that you’re writing for me! I’m mapped on AO3, and I’m very excited to read whatever you come up with – please don’t feel like you have to adhere to any of this letter, as long as you avoid my DNWs!

To start with, here are some of my general likes and dislikes!

I read slash, femslash, het, and gen. I love poly relationships. I love fluff, I love angst, I love porn – porn without plot and porn with plot. I love slice of life, and fics with heaps of domesticity. I love character studies.

I prefer happy endings, but bittersweet/sad ones are okay too.

Things I love in porn:

Pegging

D/s

Femdom

Bondage

Spanking/caning/corporal punishment

Dirty talk

Praise kink

Exhibitionism/public sex

Humiliation

Knifeplay

Double penetration

Choking

Crossdressing

Characters being super into giving oral sex

DNWs:

Rape/non-con (dub con is okay!)

A/B/O

Non-canon character death

Onto fandom-specific stuff!

The Bold Type

Requested characters: Any

What’s the canon about? A contemporary TV show featuring three young women who are best friends, working for a fashion magazine in New York and being there for each other through various career and relationship ups and downs. There’s one season with 10 episodes out so far, and it’s been renewed for two more seasons!

What I love about the canon: I love every character on this show! I love the fun and upbeat vibe, the awesome, flawed, beautifully strong women who are so supportive of each other. The focus on the friendship between the three main characters is the best thing! Every time they say “I love you” to each other my heart grows three sizes. 💞 I love how we see them being ambitious and going for their dreams, taking risks and fucking up and having to learn how to deal with their mistakes. I find it very comforting and inspiring at the same time, watching them being confident and amazing and human. People who don’t always get things right and who don’t always know what they’re doing. I enjoy watching them figure things out: Kat especially, who keeps changing her mind and doubting her choices and not really understanding what it is she wants.

Prompts:

Gen friendship fic with Sutton, Kat, and Jane! I could happily read about them doing something mundane and silly together (like getting froyo, or just hanging out in the apartment on a typical night). What were their first impressions of each other? How did they become friends? When did they agree to move in together and what was apartment-hunting like? What was it like the first night they moved in, did they all end up sleeping in the same bed talking till late? Did it take them some time to get used to living together, and was there a bit of friction at the beginning?

I would also be overjoyed to read anything sexual and/or romantic between Sutton, Kat, and Jane, in any combination! I’d be particularly interested in some kind of scenario where Kat is trying to figure out whether she’s really into women and she sleeps with both of her friends. At the same time. :’) Maybe during that brief time in the show when they’re all single?

Anything that explores what a wonderful woman and mentor and boss Jacqueline Carlyle is. How did she get here? Tell me about her moments of failure and heartbreak, her mistakes and regrets, her moments of triumph and breakthroughs! What does she think when she looks at Jane, especially, who she must see so much of herself in? That MOMENT at the end of S1 when Jane and Jacqueline are staring at each other while they go through their revolving doors and they’re both dressed in red and they’re mirrors of each other!! I’M SO HERE FOR MORE OF THAT CONTENT.

Sutton!! MY PURE RAY OF SUNSHINE. Five fashion moments in Sutton’s life she’ll remember forever? Memories she associates with a particular blouse, or scarf, or bracelet, or coat? (Btw, I prefer Sutton/Alex to Sutton/Richard, although I don’t mind Sutton/Richard. I really love Sutton and Alex’s dynamic and would even appreciate a friendship fic about them!)

One thing I feel like the show didn’t really give me was how JANE got here. Like, clearly writing for Scarlet was always her dream, but I just wanna know more about her motivations and her journey as a writer growing up!

I’d also be happy with a Jane/Ryan fic, they're super cute together! I would love to read about Jane exploring more kinky things with Ryan tbh? Like when Jane was SO OUTRAGED about the wax play thing I just thought maybe she should have the opportunity to try something similar with him! But I’d prefer if Jane/Ryan wasn’t the sole focus of the fic; if there was some focus on Jane & Sutton & Kat’s friendship as well, that would be fab.

Kat/Adena: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I would be extremely happy to read fic about them, post-series, during the series, whatever. Missing scenes, conversations and kisses and dreams. What happens in Peru? Future!fic! ANYTHING

Actually future!fic about where any of these characters are in five or ten or twenty years’ time would be very welcome!

Introspective fic about how Kat feels about her identity and how that’s evolved over the course of S1

Backstory about Adena and the countries she’s travelled to and the women she’s fallen in love with. What’s the story with Coco? Why isn’t it working out? What was it like, back when it did work?

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Requested characters: Kikuhiko, Miyokichi, Sukeroku

What’s the canon about? An anime (complete, two seasons, 25 episodes in total). Focuses on the art of rakugo, a centuries-old tradition of comic storytelling in Japan. A gangster, fresh out of prison, wants to become the apprentice of an old rakugo master after seeing the master perform in prison. From this, the story of the old rakugo master unfolds, and we learn about two boys who become rakugo apprentices when they’re little, and the friendship that grows between them.

What I love about the canon: This anime!! I was not expecting it to make me feel SO MANY FEELINGS. I love the historical setting, I love the STUNNING use of the unreliable narrator, I love the careful and slow development of Kikuhiko and Sukeroku’s friendship from childhood to adulthood; the way they’re such striking opposites at first glance, but there’s something at the core of them that’s the same. The heady mix of envy and love and bitterness that pulls Kikuhiko to Sukeroku always; the things left unsaid. How Miyokichi’s presence in their lives disrupts some things and catalyses others. The way Miyokichi’s choices have been limited because she’s a woman, and Kikuhiko and Sukeroku are both such terrible assholes in their own ways, but she can’t help being pulled into their orbit. I love the feeling of transience in this anime, of something always slipping away from your grasp, of history crumbling away beneath your fingertips; but there’s a gorgeous sense of continuity too. Beautiful things are fleeting and immortal at the same time. They are preserved – diluted, sometimes; changing and evolving. But still preserved, in some way.

Prompts:

I want fic that explores their complicated and tangled relationship in all its glory. My dearest wish is for them to be all reunited properly in the afterlife, for them to finally sort out their feelings, and to be a happy OT3.

Or a canon AU where events went differently and they lived and raised Konatsu together and were messy but happy, somehow.

I could see Kikuhiko as gay or bi, but no matter what, I feel like his feelings for Miyokichi are fascinating and would be interesting to explore in fic either way; if it’s not that he’s sexually attracted to her, what is it?

I would love something that deals with Kikuhiko’s repression of his sexuality, a fic where he was never able to let himself acknowledge his feelings for Sukeroku while he was alive. But equally I’d love a fic where he did acknowledge those feelings and those feelings were requited and they did something about it, once or twice or many times. But please don’t sideline Miyokichi, whatever you do!

If you want to make me really sad, that’s okay too! Give me Kikuhiko mourning the two people he cared about most in his life and struggling always with their ghosts. I’d be very interested to see something that just falls on the side of horror, or is at least spooky and supernatural in some way, based on the shinigami stuff and those S2 OPs where they coloured Sukeroku’s eyes red. I loved the eerie vibe of all that, so please feel free to run with it! Weird AUs featuring undead!Sukeroku and Miyokichi would be fantastic.

I am particularly into Kikuhiko crossdressing, and I’d love to read about a Kikuhiko whose relationship with gender is complex and hard to define. That scene where he’s in drag and Miyokichi does his makeup is absolutely gorgeous and one of my favourite scenes in the show and if you could do something with that I’d be eternally grateful. I’d be really happy with nb/genderqueer/trans interpretations of Kikuhiko! And if he could talk about his gender feelings with Miyokichi that would be A+++

OR if you just want to write me a Miyokichi-centric fic exploring ANYTHING about her whatsoever I would be ecstatic, I love her to pieces and would dearly love to read some backstory, introspection, character study, anything.

Killjoys

Requested characters: Aneela, Delle Seyah Kendry

What’s the canon about? Sci-fi TV show with three seasons (10 episodes each). Follows a trio of bounty hunters through hijinks and mysteries.

What I love about the canon: I love how fun this show is and how despite the gritty sci-fi settings and the dark look of the show it’s pretty much the OPPOSITE of grimdark? It’s such a joyful and optimistic show and it’s bursting with humour. It doesn’t take itself seriously but it loves its characters and it loves its audience; all the character interactions are just wonderful and the arcs are all fantastic and it always manages to give me exactly what I want. It’s SO satisfying! And SO many people of colour in the foreground and the background!! That’s such a rare and beautiful thing in this genre and I’m so grateful. Plus, so many of those characters of colour are queer too!!

Prompts:

So I shipped Dutch/Delle Seyah DESPERATELY in the first two seasons, and I still do! But oh man, I love Aneela/Delle Seyah, how they’re SO PERFECTLY MATCHED and on equal footing. EVIL SPACE LESBIAN QUEENS!! I love the united front they present, I love how quickly they get into each other’s heads and hearts and develop this fierce and steadfast loyalty towards each other.

So, while I didn’t request Dutch as one of my characters, I’d love a fic that compares Delle Seyah’s feelings for Dutch and for Aneela. Like, obviously Delle Seyah was physically attracted to Dutch and since Dutch and Aneela look the same, there’s that element there from the beginning. Is that weird for Delle Seyah, considering how different Dutch and Aneela are otherwise? What differences between Dutch and Aneela are the most significant to Delle Seyah, and what similarities does she notice, beside the physical? What is it that makes Delle Seyah fall in love with Aneela, as opposed to whatever it was she felt for Dutch? Is she still attracted to Dutch at the end of S3?

It seems like neither Aneela or Delle Seyah have ever felt like this about anybody, so I’d just love any sort of fic dealing with how either/both of them process these emotions!! Is it scary for them? Exciting? How anxious does it make them? What are they most worried about?

I wouldn’t mind a fic about Aneela and Delle Seyah just being evil queens and unleashing themselves on the universe together while luxuriating in their power and having the most passionate, wild sex as they think/talk about all the evil deeds they’ve accomplished!

Honestly uhhh any sort of porn about them would be SO welcome, I’m shallow and they’re beautiful and they clearly seem like they have a lot of fun in bed!

Maybe there’s something you can play with about the green and mind-melding here? I don’t know, just an idea I’m throwing out there! :D

“Be careful” / “Be brutal” might just one of my favourite dialogue exchanges in any piece of fiction ever 💖 I just love their dynamic and I need more of it, so I’d be interested to read anything you’d like to write about them!

The Handmaiden

Requested characters: Sook-hee, Hideko

(I’m basically copy & pasting from my letter last year because I still want the same things!)

What’s the canon about? A 3-hour long movie; Korean adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith. A conwoman falls in love with her female mark!

What I love about the canon: It’s such a beautiful gay romance with brilliant twists and the two female leads are SO endearing in their own ways; the triumph of the women over the horrible men in their lives, and in particular the triumph of Hideko over the trauma she’s experienced, is really moving and buoyant to watch. The movie is also just lush with careful detail and a dazzling experience from start to finish.

Prompts:

I’d love anything about Hideko and Sook-hee, set during or after the film.

If it’s set during the film, I’d really love something from Hideko’s POV, because I feel like her thoughts are much more opaque in the film. I’d like to read about how she feels about her life before Sook-hee appears, what her first impressions of Sook-hee are, and the journey of her falling in love with Sook-hee. (I don’t want explicit detail about the abuse that Hideko has suffered: the level of detail that the film goes into is fine, but nothing beyond that, please!)

Missing scenes from the movie would be SO welcome! I can’t get enough of their precious interactions and how they always feel so honest somehow, even if they’re both hiding behind secrets and lies at first?

After the movie: where do they go, what do they do? Something that takes place immediately afterwards, or something that takes place years in the future – even something that looks at them being old and grey together, omg, that would make my heart melt!

I could totally be into a more plotty kind of fic that shows them running more cons together! Equally, I would be SO here for simple, slice-of-life stuff.

Something that explores Hideko and Sook-hee’s relationship with kink after the movie would be WONDERFUL. How does Hideko feel about kink after the abuse she’s suffered? Does she want to be kinky with Sook-hee, but have really complicated feelings about it? The mutuality and symmetry of their sex scenes in the movie is what strikes me, how the focus is on mirroring each other, doing the same acts together. But I could see them trying out different things as they become more comfortable and settle into their relationship. Like, the ending scene with Hideko reclaiming for her own pleasure the bells that were once used to abuse her – that scene is so lovely and anything in this vein would be great!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Yuletide, and I can’t wait to read your creation! <3

#yuletide 2017 #yuletide #dear author

0 notes