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toalltheficsivelovedbefore · 3 years

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FOLLOWING - chapter fourteen

model!jaehyun x youtuber!reader • social media au

Jaehyun drops his phone into his lap, eyes taking the room in around him.

Soft, billowy curtains blow from the force of a table fan set up on the desk in the corner. It’s small, filled up with folders and loose papers, a couple books set up with spines facing out, a tiny teacup set on top spilling over with the leaves of some succulent. Above the desk are a couple shelves, holding even more books, a few picture frames, and another droopy leafed plant. Besides the shelves, and a few more photos, the walls are basically bare.

On the chair across from the bed, his pants are folded on top. As he rushes out of the bed, his leg slams into the nightstand, causing a photo to fall over. After struggling into his jeans (which he knows from experience he probably kicked off as soon as he landed on the bed and Johnny must’ve folded), he sets the frame back up properly.

Mark and you press your cheeks together, laughing all squinty-eyed into the camera. It’s a sweet picture. Jaehyun sighs at the familiar tug in his heart, a quiet curse following.

Voices draw him down a short hallway, and from the edge of the threshold into the rest of the apartment, he can see Johnny in the small kitchen, laughing while he cooks on a stovetop. On the other side of the kitchen sits a small table, three chairs around it. A dainty table cloth covers the top, a vase of big flowers in the middle. In the furthest chair from where Jaehyun is peeking into the room, you sit, laptop open in front of you, talking to Johnny in a mocking voice.

Your head turns toward the hallway, catching the shadow of Jaehyun as he rocks in place.

His eyes are focused on the living room, taking in your small home, so he doesn’t notice you watching him. You didn’t really understand this man. The very first time you met him, you thought he seemed sweet, harmless for sure. But after meeting him at that lunch, you were sure he was anything but. Johnny and Doyoung had tried to reassure you he wasn’t always such a dick, but even during the party he seemed to almost always have a scowl on his face. It wasn’t until he’d got properly wasted that you saw him smile.

Stalking through his Instagram feed told you he was much more popular than you’d been expecting. He really was handsome, gorgeous even. But looks meant nothing if someone’s personality didn’t measure up.

Jae whips his head back around, catching you staring. You both still, neither willing to break the tense moment first.

Then Johnny coughs, laughing when you jump in your seat. You send a glare before motioning Jaehyun into the room, pointing at the chairs around your table.

“Are you hungry? There’s coffee if you want any.”

Jae smiles softly, breathing out a sigh of relief as he heads over to the counter. “Thank you.”

Johnny smirks, enjoying how awkward the two of you are together. “How ya feelin’, Jae? Any headache this morning?”

He shoves Johnny’s shoulder, glowering at the back of his head. “Shut up. And no, I’m fine. Just really tired mostly.”

“That makes sense.” You take a sip of your own coffee, watching from the corner of your eye as Jaehyun takes a seat. “You were at the party until 3 am and Johnny said once you got here, you refused to sleep for about an hour.”

Jaehyun sighs, taking a rather large drink of his coffee. “Yeah, sounds about right.” He hesitates, letting the mug hover at the edge of his lips, before finally setting it down and clearing his throat. “So, um, I’m sure Johnny already did, but thank you for letting us stay. I know we were probably an inconvenience but it was nice of you anyway.”

You chuckle softly, looking toward Johnny whose shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. “It honestly wasn’t a problem at all. My couch is plenty comfortable and I’d rather you guys be somewhere safe than trying to navigate home that late at night.” You turn your eyes back down to your laptop and the thumbnail you’ve been editing for just over an hour.

The kitchen is quiet for a few moments, just the sound of you clicking around photoshop, Jaehyun setting his mug down, and Johnny beginning to plate the food he’s been cooking.

A peaceful atmosphere that gets interrupted by Johnny before even three minutes can pass.

“So, YN, what are you working on?”

You look up at your friend. Normally, you’d show him right away, but from the corner of your eye, you can see Jaehyun is also interested, and he’s the one person in the room that you don’t want to see.

“Uh, it’s just a thumbnail, but I won’t even be posting the video it goes to. So I guess it’s just practice.” You wave your hand around, trying to dispel the tension you’ve accidentally brought into the air.

“Why not?” Johnny sets the food down on the table, pulling out the last chair so he can drop himself on to it.

“Oh, um, well,” you take a deep breath. “There are just some people in the video that I don’t think would like it being posted. And I don’t wanna upset anyone or compromise their privacy, ya know?”

Johnny shrugs, reaching out to grab a piece of bacon from the big plate in the center of the table. “Ask them.”

You almost laugh. At this point, you’re completely avoiding Jaehyun’s eyes, choosing instead to stare at the software loaded on your computer. “I don’t want to bother them, Johnny.”

It’s quiet again, for all of 30 seconds before he scoots his chair closer to you and asks, “Can I see it at least?”

Before you can even get a response out, he turns your laptop toward him, looking over the thumbnail for a second, then bursts into laughter. “This is so good. Cmon, you have to use it! Jae, look.”

As you’re shaking your head, a panicked look on your face, Johnny moves your computer, showing the one person you really, really didn’t want to see.

You’re completely taken aback when Jaehyun actually lets out a laugh. Your eyes snap to his face, and as he looks over the picture loaded on your screen, he continues to laugh, pointing at little things that apparently he thinks are “so funny.” You almost jump out of your skin when he looks your way.

“What all happens in the video?”

“Oh, well, it’s the beer pong tournament. I was planning on editing out anything too crazy or inappropriate. But yeah, I just didn’t want to bother you or Yuta by asking if I could use the footage of you.”

Jaehyun leans back in the chair, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “I think you should post it.”

Your eyes bug out of your head, and you think Johnny may be doing the same, both completely baffled by his response. “Really? You’re sure?”

Jaehyun shrugs, leaning forward to grab bacon, a slightly smug set to his features. “Yeah. And Yuta would love it.”

Johnny watches his friend, confused and mystified, but for the moment, he doesn’t say anything. He lets you celebrate your small victory, and he lets Jaehyun eat contentedly.

|| Jaehyun hates youtubers, and you, a youtuber, have no idea why. ||

AU MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

chap thirteen.2 || chap fifteen

TAGLIST !! @jaeshatshop @yuchansbaby @http-mewchuu @regular-everyday-normal-mf @anotherfullsun @smarkling @heyitsbreeeeee @jih-xn @chasingmarkles @ncvltrtchnlgy @stopitvpls @flowerbin131 @loeyplaylist @lokideadontheinside

#jaehyun #toalltheficsivelovedbefore #jaehyun social media au #nct social media au #nct jaehyun #jaehyun sns au #nct sns au #nct au #jung jaehyun #nct #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x you #jaehyun x reader #fluff #jaehyun fluff #nct fluff

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laurawritesandgames · 4 years

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Title: The Children We Never Had

Fandom: Beetlejuice (Musical)

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Beetlejuice/Barbara/Adam

Prompt: Hurt/Comfort

Content Warning: References to miscarriages and abortion

Summary: As Delia and Charles prepare to start their family together, Barbara reflects on her chance to have her own children. What once seemed so simple can become much more complicated when you’re a ghost....

Delia and Charles had just completed the first round of IVF treatments. Delia was fanatic about getting all toxins out of the house, so one Saturday the Maitlands, Beetlejuice and Lydia were helping Delia get rid of any plastic containers in the kitchen, to be replaced with glass containers.

“Why is there so much Tupperware?” Delia exclaimed.

“One of Mom’s friends sold Tupperware, and we had a few parties,” Lydia said. “Mom was sick for years. If she’d been able to keep up with the science, I doubt she would’ve kept them. She was nuts about the environment.” Lydia frowned thoughtfully. “Say, Delia, what exactly are your thoughts on vaccines?”

Barbara and Adam shared a look. They knew from the Maitland-Deetz’s biweekly parenting meetings that Delia had anti-vaxxer tendencies. She was, at least, open to a respectful discussion about vaccines. Give Charles a few conversations and she’d probably give in to science and reason—the newlyweds were crazy for each other.

Not that Lydia had any of that context.

“I’m just not convinced vaccines are necessary. I have some very interesting websites I can show you later, Lydia. There’s a lot of doubt about the so-called ‘science’ that Big Pharma doesn’t want you to see.”

Lydia’s lip curled in the disgust.

“Are you an idiot?!” Beetlejuice said. “I lived in a world without vaccines. It was shit!”

“I just don’t know if I’m willing to take that risk,” Delia said, with her polite, argument-deflecting smile. Adam’s parents had been masters at avoiding conflict, so Barbara knew what would happen next. She’d say something light or silly and try to get everyone focused on the kitchen again.

“I should draw a door and bring you to the Netherworld, Delia. Give you a tour of Diaper Town so you can see all the dead babies that’re there from before childhood vaccines were a thing.”

“Diaper Town?” Lydia asked.

“Eh, that’s not the real name—just what we called it. Where the dead babies go. Ugh! I had a shift in Diaper Town for a few decades. It was the worst.”

“I imagine they look like they did when they died,” Lydia said, thoughtfully.

“And they never age! That’s the only reason people hang around babies—because they eventually become not-babies.”

“What about miscarriages? Mom had a few before me. Is there going to be a clump of Deetz cells in the Netherworld?”

Barbara reached out for Adam’s hand and found it within seconds. (He’d been across the room a second ago. He must have teleported.) She clenched it. Hard.

Beetlejuice didn’t notice.

As a ghost, you were always cold. Barbara couldn’t get colder. She also couldn’t swallow to try to wet a dry mouth. Her hands wouldn’t grow cold and prickly with shock. Her emotions were completely disconnected from bodily sensations. She could feel Adam behind her and leaned back into him slightly. Not that he made her feel warmer. Nothing ever would.

If she’d been alive, she might’ve looked like Delia: her face pale as she forced a too-wide smile onto her face. “Let’s all talk about something else, shall we? I don’t want any bad vibes.” Her hand rested on her stomach. During one of their parenting meetings, she’d mentioned she only had a few eggs left. “Not—not right now.”

Lydia glared at her. “Seriously? Hearing about a dead woman’s fertility issues isn’t going to hurt your fetus.”

“The Deetus,” Beetlejuice added. “Deetz fetus. Get it?”

Lydia ignored him. “Bad vibes aren’t a thing!”

“We’ll agree to disagree on that one.” Delia hurried out of the kitchen. “Would anyone mind a smudging ceremony? Just to clear the air and usher in tranquility?”

Lydia followed with a shriek of rage. “’Smudging ceremony’? Are you from an Indigenous tribe, Delia? Because if you’re not, that’s major cultural appropriation!”

“Ooo, cultural appropriation! I know that one!” Beetlejuice said, delighted. When he’d first come back from the Netherworld, the Maitlands had held a few sensitivity seminars for him so he could stop getting into arguments with Lydia. Beetlejuice’s views were a weird mix of surprisingly progressive and incredibly archaic. “It’s a culture, not a costume!” He floated over to Barbara and Adam. “Did I do that right? Do I get a kiss?”

It took a lot of effort to focus on Beetlejuice right now. “Sorry,” Barbara said. “We’re not going to reward you for being a decent person. But thank you for trying.”

Beetlejuice huffed in disappointment.

Adam cleared his throat. Barbara glanced at him. Adam tilted his head slightly at Beetlejuice, raising his eyebrows questioningly. He was asking her for permission to tell Beetlejuice. After a moment’s thought, Barbara nodded. Beetlejuice liked to keep things light, but he was their boyfriend, after all. He should learn a bit more about Barbara and Adam.

“What happens to children who died before they were born?” Adam asked quietly.

Beetlejuice shrugged. “I dunno. I was born dead in one of the original versions of the musical, but it ain’t canon. There aren’t any fetuses floating around the Netherworld. Maybe they go someplace else?” He shrugged, spreading his hands. “I got nothing.”

Out of habit (not because she actually needed to breathe), Barbara sighed in relief. Thank God, was her first thought, despite having a pretty good idea that God didn’t exist. She let of of Adam’s hand, giving him a small smile.

“Why do you wanna know?” Beetlejuice asked.

Barbara shared another look with Adam before saying, “When I was 22, I got pregnant.” She cleared her throat. She hadn’t talked about this in years.

Beetlejuice didn’t like silences. Immediately, he said, “Quit pulling my leg. If you were pregnant, then where’s your—”

It took a few moments, but his eyes finally widened and his jaw dropped. “Oh. Ohhhh. I didn’t think…” His hands began flapping, then running up and down his sleeves and fiddling with his cuffs. “So we’re bringing in some of the movie backstory. Okay. Okay. Sure.”

“The what?” Adam asked.

“Nevermind. So you guys had a miscarriage.”

“An abortion, actually,” Barbara said.

Beetlejuice stopped bobbing faintly, freezing in mid-air. His voice rose in pitch as he said, “I saw the tags on this fic and I assumed you’d be hurt/comforting me! I’m the one with all the issues! Who the hell told you that you guys could have issues?!”

“What now?” Barbara said, forcing her tone to stay even.

“And also, our lives weren’t perfect,” Adam said. “I just want to remind you that both of my parents are dead. So…yeah. When we were alive, we had struggles and challenges like everybody else.”

Beetlejuice began coughing. He stuck his fingers in his mouth, eventually pulling out a foot and tossing it on the ground. (Barbara had learned not to ask whose foot.) “Um. Can I try again?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Feel free.”

Beetlejuice opened and closed his mouth a few times, but didn’t say anything.

Adam said, “Just so you know, Bug, this isn’t something to share.” Beetlejuice was a compulsive oversharer; they’d learned to explicitly tell him what was appropriate and what wasn’t.

“It’s not because we’re ashamed,” Barbara said quickly. “It’s just our story to tell, that’s all.”

“Right! I can do that.” He focused on something in the middle distance. “Although maybe some people could really examine their need to inject complicated real-world issues into a stupid five-page fic for Beetlelands Week. Not every fandom and every fic can bear that weight! And some characters definitely aren’t designed to deal with shit like this! They’re awesome Deadpool-style badasses and not…not…whatever this needs!”

Barbara loved Beetlejuce, but he was getting on her last nerve. I didn’t think he’d completely disassociate like this. It’s only a goddamn abortion. He didn’t even have to deal with anything! “Well, I’m sorry my and Adam’s history is such an inconvenience for you. I’m going to go find something to do. If you want to talk when you’re not spiraling and doing whatever this is, come find me.”

Barbara teleported to their bedroom, the Deetzes’ former guest room, upstairs, and Adam teleported with her.

Tears wavered in his eyes. Startled, she held him, stroking his back.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

“No, don’t be.”

He sniffled a few times, wiping his tears away. Their ghostly bodies still remembered how to produce tears, and if Beetlejuice was any indication, that memory would stick with them for centuries. He whispered, “We would’ve had a child. If it weren’t for me—”

Adam had always felt needless guilt about mentioning the abortion first. She’d thought he’d gotten over it. “You didn’t force me. We had student loans, the recession had just hit the year before, we couldn’t find work, and most importantly? We weren’t ready. We were barely ready 10 years later, when we had a house and good jobs.”

He smiled sadly, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Sorry. I don’t know where this is coming from.” He stroked her cheek. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

She blinked. “I’m…fine? I’ve been fine for 10 years.” She hadn’t been fine immediately before and after the abortion. There’d been lots of crying, praying, and long conversations, but that had been a long time ago. Gently, she asked, “I thought you were, too. Was I wrong?”

When did we really talk about it except immediately after? Barbara couldn’t recall.

Adam gave her that same distracted smile he used to give her after his parents’ funeral. He was a brave little soldier, marching forward. “You weren’t wrong. I’m fine.”

You didn’t push when you saw that smile. “I think I’m going to read something. Want to join me?”

“I wouldn’t mind working on the model a bit more. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will.” She kissed his cheek, and he went up to the attic to work on his model of Winter River.

She was choosing between Michelle Obama’s biography a polyamory how-to guide when a spider skittered underneath the door. The spider climbed up the wall then began spinning a web in the corner of the room at unnatural speed. Letters appeared in the web.

SORRY

I WAS A BAD BOYFRIEND

It’s a Charlotte’s Web homage, Barbara realized. She’d loved that book as a child. He remembered. “Apology accepted, Beetlejuice.”

He knocked on the door. Opening it revealed him reading from index cards. Delia, who was using her life coach skills to help Beetlejuice adjust to being part of the family, had encouraged him to write down important things.

“I should have reacted a lot better than I did,” Beetlejuice read. “You and Adam trusted me with with a part of your lives, and I should have liz—lizden? Shit, I’m bad at spelling.” He looked up from the cards, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Anyway, thanks for trusting me, baby. Sorry I was being a dick about it. You and Adam having an—an abortion had nothing to do with me or my feelings.”

Beetlejuice could talk about the filthiest sex acts and talk about rotting corpses without flinching, but now he was stumbling. Interesting. “Well, ‘we had an abortion’ might’ve been a lot to throw at you. We could’ve prepared you better.” She nodded him inside, and he floated in. She closed the door behind her. “I imagine abortions weren’t really talked about in your day.”

“Well, we thought ladies’ wombs wandered around their bodies, so…no.”

“Do you have any questions?”

“Um…are you okay?” He fidgeted. “You’re all…y’know, motherly and shit. Are you sad about having an abortion?”

“No. I mean, I don’t love that I needed it. Adam and I were a lot more careful making love after that, believe me. But Adam and my family had my back, and luckily I live in a state where I can access an abortion easily. I also found some forums, and chatting with people who’d also had abortions helped me feel less alone. Honestly, until Lydia brought up miscarriages today, I hadn’t thought about my abortion in years.” Feeling awkward, she chuckled. “Um, really glad I won’t have to deal with a clump of cells following me around in the Netherworld, though.”

She felt a twinge of guilt for not feeling guiltier. Her Good Christian Girl upbringing still reared its head now and then. But I did what was best for my family at the time. That’s all anyone can do. If I’d known Adam and I were going to die 10 years later, we might’ve done things differently, but how could we have known that?

“So, that’s my story. I was supported and very lucky. I’m not sad or guilty or anything.” She frowned. “Adam might be, though. He was strangely upset.” Did I do something wrong? Has he been suffering for years without me noticing? “He’s upstairs working on the model again.”

“I’ll cheer him up!” Beetlejuice said. He clapped his hands together. “It’s hurt/comfort. Time to be goddamn comforted, Adam.”

“I’d give him a few hours.” Adam was a brooder. There was a certain point where he just wouldn’t engage.

Beetlejuice chuckled, patting her smarmily on the head. “Your boring, married-couple rules don’t apply to me, Babs. I’mma shake things up and heal his wounded heart. You can come up and watch, if you want. Watch me win.”

Barbara made herself laugh as she tried to ignore her jealousy. Beetlejuice was just being his usual low-grade dickish self, but what if he was right? Maybe Adam will respond better to Beetlejuice than to me. I didn’t expect Adam to be this sad, after all. What else have I missed? “If you succeed, feel free to come back and give me a play-by-play of your victory.”

Beetlejuice poofed away, and Barbara picked up the how-to guide to polyamory. It couldn’t help to get a refresher.

If Beetlejuice made Adam feel better, then that was a win for everyone. She could ask him how he’d done it and learn from him. The entire point of dating Beetlejuice was to break out of their old patterns and add a little excitement to their afterlives.

Barbara was lying down on their bed, reading the first chapter when Beetlejuice teleported back in.

“You mighta been right,” he grumbled.

“It’s almost like I’ve been dating him since I was 16.”

“Of course you were high school sweethearts. You two are so cliché, I blocked that out.” Beetlejuice floated closer, whining, “Sexy raised his voice to me, Barbara!”

Barbara set the book down. “Oh, I’m sorry, Bug.” That was the Adam equivalent of full-blown shouting. (Adam had shouted at Beetlejuice before, of course, but that was when Beetlejuice had been a villain.)

“Me! The favourite!”

Barbara raised her eyebrows. “Maybe you should read this chapter with me about egalitarian polyamorous relationships—and how terms like ‘favourite’ are toxic.”

Beetlejuice floated away from her. “Mmm, nope, too many things to do.”

She’d expected that. It wasn’t clear when Beetlejuice had died, but it was definitely before therapy and couple’s counselling had become more mainstream. He didn’t have the same ability to talk about and reflect on his and other’s feelings that Barbara and Adam had. Usually, he just reacted to his own. Barbara wouldn’t have gotten into a relationship with Beetlejuice if she’d been unwilling to teach him.

“Lemme know when he’s ready to talk, okay?” the demon continued.

“Well, I don’t have a psychic link to him, but I’ll try…if you read this chapter with me.”

Beetlejuice crossed his arms over his chest, harrumphing. After a few moments, he shrugged, floated over to the bed, and curled up beside her.

If her eyes could water, they might have at the smell of rotting flesh. But Barbara quickly got used to the smell. “Let me guess—your clones poked around and didn’t find anything else interesting happening right now?”

“Ha! Busted! Delia, Lydia and Charles are still arguing about vaccines. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. Making out with you is way more fun.”

“We’re learning how to have a more equitable, communicative relationship. Not making out.”

“We’ll see, baby.”

They approached Adam later that afternoon.

He looked up from a figurine he was painting, expression guilty. “I’ll come down when it’s time for dinner, okay?” he said quietly. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Is there anything we can do for you now?” Barbara asked.

He looked between Barbara and Beetlejuice. His eyes were so haunted…. Barbara took a few steps forward.

“Adam?” she said softly.

“You said we weren’t ready,” he murmured roughly. “What if we would’ve been? We never even gave ourselves the chance….”

He showed her what he’d been working on: a little child figurine with her blonde hair. “There would’ve been part of you and me living now. Someone with your hair and my eyes, or your smile….”

Okay. We haven’t talked about the abortion in years, and now he’s making a model of what would have become our child. So, this is new. But I can handle this. I know him. I’ve got this.

Nevertheless, a tiny part of her really wanted to tag out and let Beetlejuice handle this one. Not that he would’ve done well—he was frozen except for his eyes, frantically flicking between her and Adam.

While Barbara thought of the most empathetic, respectful way to respond, Beetlejuice blurted out, “Someone’s got a case of the Shouldas.”

“Hmm?” Adam grunted, looking uninterested.

“You know, shoulda done this when I was alive. Shoulda done that. Every newlydead goes through it. Of course, usually they’re stuck in an endless void and not chilling in the living world with their sexy boyfriend.” Beetlejuice nodded to Barbara. “And your sexy wife.”

So he had learned something from that chapter they’d read together. Barbara gave him a small smile. “How do newlydeads usually get through it?” she asked.

“‘Get through’ is real optimistic, Babs. They just get crushed by overwhelming despair and hopelessness. It’s the Netherworld. Everything sucks there.”

Adam grunted again.

Beetlejuice rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I can’t really talk about ‘healing’ and shit….” He gestured frantically for Barbara to do something.

One thing about spending so much time with Beetlejuice was that you got used to out-of-the box thinking. It was time for a little experiment. Barbara didn’t give herself time to think, and dove right in.

“Congratulations, Maitlands.” She made air horn noises. The words ‘The Life We Never Had’ appeared in bright text above the model town. “Welcome to your life where you had your child!”

Adam and Beetlejuice both stared at her in stunned silence.

“This got so dark, so fast, but I kinda love it,” Beetlejuice commented.

“Well,” she said, “first of all, forget this house. We’d probably be living with your parents. They don’t even live in town.” She took a few moments to create a mental map, then gestured at the model. It grew larger, to the surrounding counties. Adam’s family farm was on the outskirts of this new map.

“And forget the CPA degree. No way we can afford that now. But your uncle Eddy has that plumbing business. He’d probably give you a job.” She manifested Eddy’s truck, making it drive through town. “I’d probably knit and sell things on Etsy…. Wait, it’s 2010. Does Etsy even exist?” Barbara couldn’t remember. “Or I’d sell them at the local farmer’s market. We probably still love our projects, even if we don’t have as much time for them now.”

Barbara could’ve gone darker. In this future, she would’ve been stuck in Adam’s parents’ home with no career prospects and a baby she wasn’t sure she wanted. If anything was a recipe for postpartum depression, that would’ve been. But she kept it light.

“Oh, jeez,” she realized, “I forgot all about names! What do you think of Aspen?” Barbara had always wanted a nature-themed name.

“It has the word ‘Ass’ in it,” Beetlejuice complained. “Do you want bullies to give your kid swirlies?”

“You’re not here, mister. You don’t get a say.”

“Hey, that’s right! We never meet if you don’t move into the house.” Beetlejuice frowned. “Truly, this is the darkest timeline.”

“What about River?” Adam said. “For our child.”

“River. That’s beautiful. Okay, so little River goes to school here.” She gestured to the school in town. “What do you think? Good grades?”

“Of course.”

“And then you guys commit crimes!” Beetlejuice interrupted.

Barbara raised her eyebrows.

“What? Boring people commit crimes all the time and become awesome. Weeds? Breaking Bad?”

“I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t.”

“Argh, fine, I was just getting bored of all this slice-of-life shit. Let’s spice things up!”

“Ooo, maybe we solve crimes? Like a cozy mystery set in rural Connecticut.”

“Committing them is way more fun, but I’ll take anything at this point. Your ideal lives are so boring! River’s gonna do meth just to feel alive!”

“They might fall in with a bad crowd in high school,” Barbara said.

“Thank you! A little conflict, please. It’s the essence of drama!”

“But we’d be there for them,” Adam said. “Hmm. Mom and Dad would still die, I suppose. I’d probably disappoint my Maitland ancestors and sell the farm.”

Barbara watched him intently. He wasn’t smiling, but he seemed a bit more engaged than he had been.

“We could move into one of the homes here,” she suggested, nodding to one of the small houses on the outside of town.

“That’s gonna really suck for you when the zombies attack,” Beetlejuice said.

Barbara kept making up their fake life, with Adam chiming in every now and then, both of them trying to ignore Beetlejuice’s input. They tried to give River a nice life, with a full-ride scholarship to NYU (which was, coincidentally, Lydia’s dream school), lots of friends, and a home that may not be full of money but was full of love.

Eventually, Adam smiled and shook his head. “Thanks for playing dolls with me, guys.”

Barbara hugged him from behind. “If you need time to mourn, take all the time you need. Beetlejuice and I are here for you.”

Adam wiped some tears from his eyes. “I think I do. Sorry, sweetie. Sometimes all the things we never got to do…they just hit me, hard. Even things I’d made peace with long ago. I spent so much of my life worrying….”

Barbara moved to stand beside him, kissing his cheek. If she could’ve made him feel warm, she would have.

Beetlejuice was spaced out, staring into the middle distance. Thinking of his own Shouldas, maybe? Nah. He never looks back unless he’s trapped in a traumatic memory about his mother. Probably wondering when we can make out again.

She nodded him over, and he blinked, coming back to the present. Hesitantly, he floated over and rested his chin on Adam’s head.

They were both still and silent, two things Beetlejuice hated, so it wasn’t surprising when a horde of centipedes skittered across the model, or a tiny King Kong grabbed a figurine and climbed up to the top of the town bell tower, roaring.

Lydia interrupted them when she she poked her head into the attic and told them dinner was ready. “And the leftovers will be stored in glass containers—if you leave us any leftovers, Beej. Delia cleared the cupboard of all plastics. Don’t worry about the baby, either. If Delia continues to believe tea tree oil can cure pneumonia or whatever, Dad and I will get the kid vaccinated when she’s not around.”

Barbara smiled at her chosen daughter. Beetlejuice was right; they weren’t stuck in the lonely void of the Netherworld. There was life and family just downstairs. “I’m glad. But I’m sure we’ll be able to convince her otherwise. We have nine months.”

“You’re more optimistic than I am, Barbara.”

Adam put the River figurine with the smattering of other children outside the grade school. “Let’s go,” he said quietly.

The three of them followed Lydia to the dinner table.

#beetlelandsweek2020 #beetlelands #goldenbeetle #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice #adam maitland #barbara maitland #beetlejuice x adam x barbara

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avlillustrations · 3 years

Photo

Last but not least here's my redesign of Yandere-Chan herself! (quick note: Maybe It's just the way the character artist draws faces but doesn't Ayano and Taro look like they could be siblings?) So anyway, For now I tried not to stray too far away from the store bought model because let's face it, her character model is no longer just a placeholder and Yandere-dev is most likely going to continue using it throughout production of this game even though it's not an original design and he really should at least let the character artist make an original design for her. Sigh. Anyway for the redesign, besides changing the uniform to the one I designed, I've altered her ponytail slightly and added a ribbon into her hair. I also changed her eye color from that boring black color (also probably one of the reasons she looks like she could be related to Taro) to a reddish brown color. I thought it would be a fun little detail if the more the player eliminated rivals via violent means that her eyes would become more and more red as the game goes on.

But like Taro, the problems with Ayano isn't really her design but her personality. Or lack thereof. But unlike Senpai whose lack of personality comes from minimal character development. Ayano's not really given a chance to shine because another character is the one driving the narrative: Info-chan. Think about it. While we as players may play as Ayano throughout the game it's Info-chan who moves the plot forward. In fact the game wouldn't even happen if Info-chan hadn't of set it in motion. Which doesn't make sense to me? I thought Ayano was the main character not Info-chan. Of course, part of this is that Yandere-dev keeps taking game-play features and idea's from that Hitman game instead of trying to be creative and original. I don't think Info-chan belongs in this game. She's a detriment to gameplay(meaning she's too op) and to Ayano's character in general. You probably could make her work in the narrative if she was more like an actual student and not some omnipresent figure. Like, what if she was Ayano's childhood friend? No, seriously I have an idea for this. It's not what I'm actually gonna go for in a rewrite of the game I'm currently working on but I really want to get this idea out of my head.

So Ayano is hollow and emotionless and she's probably been taught from an early age to hide all this. She's been explicitly told the importance of "fitting in" with society and to make herself seem as normal as possible. So when she first goes to school her mother encourages making friends because that's what "normal" kids do. She's not very good at it at first, but luckily the other kids haven't really built up their own social skills and don't notice. Except for one: Info-chan(and I'm tired of calling her that. I'll be calling her Ai from now on.) Ai sees right through Ayano but still befriends her. Ai doesn't really care that Ayano isn't "normal" and so Ayano has someone she can be herself around and still blend in well enough. Their friendship carries all the way to high school when Ayano meets Taro for the first time and finally starts to feel something. She literally can't stop talking about him and Ai listens to her as she gushes and raves about a boy she really doesn't know too well. But Ai is just happy her friend is happy. And this could be how Ayano finds out about Osana. Like, maybe during weekends and school vacations Ayano and Ai meet up at say, a local café or something. Maybe Ai is the who insists on this as it's what "normal" friends do. Anyway the girls are sitting at their favorite table drinking their tea, or coffee, or whatever. Ayano's gushing about Senpai that she had been stalking all day and Ai just blurts out, "I heard that Osana girls got a crush on him too. Rumor has it she's gonna ask him out on a Friday. You know like that stupid rumor."

That's it. No ulterior motives, she doesn't care about Osana, or have some vendetta against her. Just a blunt statement of a rumor she heard. Ai had no idea of how Ayano would take that statement. No clue of what she's now caused to happen. Ayano insists she help her put a stop to Osana's confession and Ai just goes Ok (like in the Saitama meme). When it comes to gameplay Ai is just a normal student. Neutral school reputation, goes to all her classes, most likely has the top grades in school, is probably harassed by the smart kid clubs that are trying to get her to join but she's not interested at all. But she does like helping Ayano. She'll do things like copy the answer sheet so Ayano can frame Osana for cheating, and hacking the school system, and editing footage. No more of that panty-shot crap or bugging the school, no schemes or item drops. Just a friend helping Ayano because she cares about her. Maybe has a bit of a crush? Maybe she really loves Ayano but as long as she's happy Ai is willing to do whatever it takes even if it means giving Ayano to someone else. Sorry this devolved into making Info-chan a better character than Ayano. But I really do believe Ayano could be a much better Character if she's the one to set things in motion herself and not just because someone else told her to. Which is kinda what Info-chan does in this game. Anyway tell me what you think and a I guess keep a lookout for the rewrite I'm working on?

#Animevamps art #yandere simulator #yandere chan #ayano aishi #character redesign

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artzystarlight · 4 years

Text

((Reposting cause there was something in the drawing I had to fix that was bugging me for a while,,,perfectionist things-))

_____

Preston why?!

Nikki internally cursed while burying her face into her hands, her palms feeling the heat emitting from her cheeks. She felt like she was stuck in one of those trashy TV love dramas that Gwen was INFATUATED with. She could distinctly hear her heartbeat rampant as she began to tremble from embarrassment and fear.

She knew telling Preston was a mistake, but she was desperate! She never had a crush before, especially on Max of all people. He was her best friend and she didn’t even notice she was feeling something NOT platonic until she voiced her feelings out to Nerris and Dolph.

...

“It’s weird...” Nikki wrapped up her rambling as her fingers played with the soft grass beneath her legs. “It feels like the period except worse and this happens only around him! It’s like a bunch of bugs are crawling around in my stomach and maybe even my lungs? My heart is being mauled by a wolf and NOT in a good way.”

Her view was so fixated on the buttons on her overalls that when she finally looked up, she was met with an expression of pure awe and happiness from Dolph, and the biggest smirk that Nerris could wear.

“It sounds like to me that Nikki the brave is harboring romantic feelings for Max the cynical.” Nerris’ voice was dripping with smugness as she turned to look at Dolph waiting for an agreement from him.

“Oh definitely! I am so happy for you Nikki!” Dolph’s eyes were shining and his smile beamed bright.

“Oh jeez...I was hoping it was just a bug I ate...” Nikki felt her cheeks heat up, and it wasn’t from the sun shining down on them. “So what do I do now?! Can I just ignore this and wait for it to die?! That sounds easy.”

“Trust me it’s not. I do know of a person whose intellect in this field ranges far superior to ours...but...” Nerris looked at Nikki with a look of uncertainty now. “He can’t exactly keep quiet about it.”

Dolph immediately knew who Nerris was referring to.

“Preston does know a lot with romantic feelings...but if we tell him, he’s going to go all out with it!” Dolph exclaimed with a bit of concern in his voice. Preston has always been known to blow things out of proportion...

“...why couldn’t it just be a wolf going at my heart? That would have been so much better...”

Nikki sighed as they all reluctantly agreed to go and ask Preston on what to do about the matter. Once they told him, he put every fangirl reading this to shame. He was practically jumping with vigor and spinning around the stage, reciting Nikki’s newfound feelings for Max like poetry. Eventually, Preston calmed down and decided on a way to help Nikki.

“A musical! One about a love story similar to yours! I’ll perform it tonight and as everybody is watching my award winning performance, Max should realize how similar the story is to his relationship with you! It’s the perfect way to encourage that ruffian to confess his undying love for you.” Preston’s pupils almost popped off his face, and Nikki swore she could see stars in them. Nerris and Dolph agreed with Preston, but not without a bit of hesitation.

“Don’t use their real names Preston!” Nerris reminded him of something that should have already been obvious.

“I will help with the backdrop!” Dolph smiled as his fists shook with excitement.

“....fine. As long as you don’t make it obvious...and please don’t go all out...” Nikki gave a light command to Preston.

“Yeah yeah of course! Now all of you off the stage! I have a musical to write!”

....

Needless to say, Preston went all out.

Nikki was brought back to reality, and felt frozen in her spot. She refused to look to her side where of course, the cynical best friend she has feelings for, was standing.

Max has absolutely NO idea how to respond to this.

He felt frozen as well, his eyes fixated on the backdrop with Preston’s singing becoming simple background noise. To say his face was dark red was an understatement, and he knew that he was rivaling the color of David’s hair at that point. His mouth was slightly agape and his pupils became dots, but he didn’t care at all to try and conceal his expression. Why was that?

He was still in shock that Nikki actually liked him back.

And of fucking course, Neil had the exact same revelation as him.

“HOLY SHIT SHE ACTUALLY LIKES YOU BACK?!”

Neil was flabbergasted at that point. Max would constantly rant to Neil on a nightly basis about his confusion regarding the teal-haired girl, and Neil always thought it was one sided. He secretly thought that Nikki was too sweet to like someone like Max, and that she was probably just being nice. That didn’t mean he didn’t want them to get together however, cause he REALLY wanted them to get together. It was frustrating watching them act the way that Gwen and David did except in their own Max and Nikki way.

Neil covered his mouth in regret, realizing that he more or less confessed for Max out loud...in front of everybody.

“NEIL WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Max was sweating like hell underneath his hoodie now, and he felt his heart about to leap out his throat. Meanwhile, Nikki was ready to pass out at this point. All hell broke loose now, and a pandemonium of mixed reactions started.

“Holy shit!”

“I knew it! I fucking knew it!”

“Alright which one of you owes me ten bucks?!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“

“Wow Neil and Preston...confessing their feelings for them? Not cool.” Ered looked at the both of them in disapproval, although she was secretly content that the feelings finally got out into the open.

“Dolph! I thought we agreed to keep their identities secret! Why did you draw them like that on the backdrop!” Nerris questioned Dolph in bewilderment, Dolph responding with nothing more than “Preston ordered me to!”

“The love they have for each other almost rivals the magic I perform! Only almost.” Harrison pulled out his hat and allowed a mixture of doves and butterflies to take to the sky.

“Damn I really thought Max would tell her himself...not Neil.” Nurf mumbled to himself as he reluctantly handed ten dollars over to none other than their female counselor.

“Gwen! Making bets with the campers is very unprofessional, especially during a heartwarming moment like this!” David wiped the tears of joy from his eyes as Gwen placed the crumpled paper into her pocket. “I should probably stop this.”

“Don’t even try it David!” Gwen was brainstorming countless fanfic ideas at this point, and if there was a bigger fangirl than Preston, it was definitely her. “I missed the series premiere of the newest Bachelor, and this was completely worth it!”

“Oh my stars...look at them! They look like they’re about to pass out!” Space Kid smiled in innocence, merely pointing at the newly proclaimed couple.

Max and Nikki finally looked to their sides, and locked eyes.

In a matter of seconds, Nikki did just what Space Kid said, cause the next thing she knew was that she woke up in the middle of the night in her cot.

And she was wearing Max’s hoodie?

__________

And y e s this was based of T H A T ICONIC SVTFOE moment-

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msindrad · 4 years

Text

an insanely long crazy-ass post about the dollars trilogy, I’m so sorry y’all

I FOUND THIS POST. I DID IT. I FOUND IT. JESUS. I spent the entirety of my yesterday searching for it.

I’m going to tag everybody who participated in this discussion and whose posts I‘ve found while searching for this discussion on the off-chance that they still might be interested in, yeah, discussing these films.

@clinteastwood-blog @geekboots-blog @istadris @sybilius @bleak-nomads @thenotsobad-thebad-andtheugly @bloncos @mcicioni-blog @unrealthings @stephantom @colonelmortimer

Also, please feel free to ignore me and my analytical outburst if you don’t feel like talking about the films or talking about them with my crazy hyperfixated ass specifically, lol. I didn’t mean to be rude by calling you out of nowhere, it’s just that sometimes people get excited when there is an enthusiastic newbie in the fandom and gladly return to their beloved canons.

Anyway. The dollars trilogy.

I’ll start with The Good, the Band and the Ugly (and will probably make myself instantly unlikable by nitpicking things, (sigh)).

As stupid as it might sound – the film being an absolute masterpiece, a cultural milestone that is timeless, epic, work of genius, love it, will write and draw about it with pleasure etc. – I’m kind of inclined to find the GBU the weakest film in the trilogy storywise. Don’t get me wrong: the plot is interesting and strong, every scene is entertaining, smart, and instantly quotable… But.

There are a few things that make the story, taken holistically, weak to a degree, especially in contrast to the other two films. Now, let me explain my bold-ass claim.

The first reason I couldn’t even pinpoint for myself until my best friend asked me: yeah, it’s all cool and fun, but what has really changed at the end of the film? They stopped the battle/blew up the bridge (kudos for the pacifist message), they killed a few folks on the way including Angel Eyes, but what did the story amount to in the end? Was their relationship changed? Have they themselves learned something about life, universe and everything? Tuco is still on the rope, Blondie still shoots the rope. They both got their money, split it 50/50. Sure, now it’s an insane amount of money but will it make them reconsider their ways of life? I don’t know, and I don’t necessarily think so. They’re really back to square one. If you consider the graphic novel The Man With No Name canon, then (spoiler) Blondie gives his money away to help rebuild the monastery of Tuco’s brother, and Tuco himself doesn’t really invest his share in anything other than booze, and sex, and troubles, so. Then, Angel Eyes got killed off, but he had even less backstory/character arc than, for instance, Captain Clinton, not to mention that his image, as memorable as it was, kind of lacked certain complexity, so, does it really matter storywise (although he is a great, stylish character, but I hope that you get what I mean)? (Note: Angel Eyes should have been the film’s ultimate personification of the war (inhumanely ruthless, only interested in money, extremely goal-oriented etc.), which, the war, kind of is the main antagonist of the film if you think about it; but the way he was used in the plot, the way he acted, and was generally presented, communicated it only in a limited way, imo).

Everything about the adventure was fun, smart, entertaining, one of the best films ever made, I agree 100%, and I rewatched it with pleasure many times. But I believe that stories have to bring about some palpable change in their world in order for them to be successful and finished. The GBU, in my opinion, doesn’t do it because it doesn’t want to be a story-story, and it’s fine with just letting its characters exist in a magic Western/a cowboy fantasy/a fairy tale. And I guess it’s also one of the reasons why the story didn’t go anywhere from the GBU – there is nothing to add to a basis like that. And I can’t help noting that it’s super ironic that the only film in the trilogy that truly seems to be all about money-money-money has no “dollars” in its title.

Another thing that I think is super important: there is almost no female energy or presence in the film. And it’s not even a matter of representation that bugs me, although I think it’s very important. It just feels like there is a deficit of something vital that renders everything even sort of unrealistic. In AFOD we have Marisol and we have Consuelo Baxter, and they’re relevant for the plot, and they have goals, motivations… lines. In FAFDM we have Mary, who has only a few brief moments, but she’s memorable, endearing, and she has a small story/motivation of her own, and we also have Mortimer’s sister, who is EXTREMELY important, and who also isn’t just symbolic, she herself makes a plot-relevant decision on screen, although a really horrible one from my personal moral standpoint. In the GBU we have what? A prostitute that’s beaten up by Angel Eyes (I never watch this scene), another woman at the hotel where Blondie stays in that is shut up and called an old hag or something like it, and another woman that makes a comment about Tuco’s hanging. None of them are memorable or have motivations on their own, and to me it makes the film lacking some really important counterpoint in terms of dynamics etc.

And nobody needs me to describe all the things that the film is awesome at because everybody knows that the film is one of the best films ever made, so painfully gorgeous that it’s difficult to praise it. So, I’ll move on to the other two films but will briefly talk about Tuco and Eli Wallach.

Eli Wallach is considered one of the best actors ever to appear on film for reason, so, I’ll just say about my personal impressions from his performance: he really made me emphasize with Tuco. His acting is incredibly rich, nuanced, concentrated, and, imo, just leaves you no choice but to think of Tuco as a real complex human being, not a film character. And Tuco is a superb character. Over the course of the story he gets to be loathsome, humane, funny, silly, terrifying, and cunning, - often all those at the same time. That’s one hell of a captivating character who’s just very, very interesting to watch and to analyze, regardless whether you like him or not.

Then, we have A Fistful of Dollars. I’m a huge fan of classic adventure stories that are gen, plot-driven, and have smart main characters figuring out a way to get what they want without being destroyed by other characters for wanting or trying to get it in the first place. I think it’s very difficult and very rewarding to write a good story in this genre. AFOD is exactly this kind of story, and this kind of stories is only as good as their protagonists’ maneuvers are. And Joe is, like, a tactical genius (the barrel! the fire!). And it’s much better to rewatch the film to remind yourself of how smart he is than have me talking about it, so.

But apart from that he is also humanized by his deeply personal motivations that appear completely irrational especially in contrast to his clever manipulations of the Baxters and the Rojos. And he doesn’t do it egotistically, to “get the girl,” which wouldn’t make him particularly sympathetic one way or another. Sure, he makes a good buck at the end, but his primary motivation still is justice for Marisol and her family (and then protection of his friend). Additionally, Joe gets his fair share of punishment for providing said justice, which further humanizes him and kind of makes you worry about him. And Silvanito with his scolding, humor, and skepticism helps with it a lot, too.

And then, there is the fact that the film wants the audience to either want to be Joe or want to be with him, sometimes both at the same time. Everybody on screen is a single Joe’s wink away from swooning because how he practically oozes charisma (only Silvanito is immune to his charms). I can’t blame them, though.

And I also want to point out the last lines of the film: Joe says that he doesn’t want to get involved into politics because that would be too much for him, and I think that it’s very fitting. The film just showed how cool he is, but he knows his limits, and he knows that he operates on a different plane.

So, all in all, it’s a masterfully done story.

Finally, we have For a Few Dollars more. I love all three films, but FAFDM is my favorite, there’s no doubt about that. I’ll start with the fact that it’s perfectly structured and perfectly balanced. We have three big players, Mortimer, Manco, and Indio, and the film shows how dangerous and how smart each of them is, so that the conflict between them ends up being very, very suspenseful. Not to mention the fact that it takes Manco and Mortimer almost 40 minutes, I think, to finally properly meet – by that time we are already speculating who will be the winner in the end, how will they react to each other, how will they interact, how will they work together etc. We get to know them quite well first, and then their relationship allows us to explore their characters even deeper through their interactions, their differences, and their similarities. For some time, storywise they become a single unit. While the story of Indio’s assault on Mortimer’s sister is revealed parallel to the plot.

Indio himself is terrifying as hell without being cartoonish. He is a really dangerous, broken man that is also methodical, smart, and ruthless. He is so bad that he kills the opponent’s family just to make him bitter enough to draw on him. And he is so bad that he is okay with killing off his own gang.

Speaking of which, Indio’s gang is colorful. He has interesting interactions with them at the beginning, in that church. And Klaus Kinski made his Wild stand out to me. I swear, the moment he almost cries in that saloon when Mortimer takes away his cigar, I feel bad for him every single time. And when he recognized Mortimer, it was tense. He even had a cool witty one-liner after Mortimer said that he should come to him in ten minutes to help him light that match and smoke: “In ten minutes, you’ll be smoking in hell!”

By the way, Indio’s tendency to get unnecessarily physical with his gang looks even more unnerving when he touches Manco to check his wound/shares a smoke him with some clearly visible eroticized subtext, which gets even creepier when you realize that he is a rapist. I swear, I was worried about Mortimer when I saw the film for the second time – that is even though I knew the plot – because Manco brought up that family resemblance between Mortimer and his sister, and we all know what Indio did to her.

What else? I could bring up all sorts of things, the action, the final duel, the small smart details that allow the plot to happen the way it happens (e.g. how Manco manages to hide the bag with all the money on that tree before Indio’s gang capture him and Mortimer – only to re-collect that bag at the end of the film), the humor, the street kids and all the other cool-cool secondary characters (Joseph Egger’s informer probably is my favorite), the opening sequence and the title card (oops, already rambled about this one) really, anything and everything including the perfect chemistry between Manco and Mortimer.

But I’ll just say that the music in this film is special to me. Every single composition by Ennio Morricone is special, unique, memorable, and intriguing, it’s true, and so it feels redundant and banal to say something like this. The Ecstasy of Gold is almost extraterrestrial, the main theme of Two Mules For Sister Sara imitates actual mule sounds, how genius is that, etc., and you must be dead to not be enticed and mesmerized beyond words by the main theme of the GBU, which is a hymn of all spaghetti Westerns now, a universal call for adventure (I feel like a bad person saying this, but I’ve always wanted to joke that Ennio put sexy back into the “waah-waah”… no, I regret nothing).

BUT. To me personally, the music in FAFDM is as personal as the film itself, and dare I say even more important to the story than in the GBU, despite the theme of the GBU being a kind of Greek choir throughout the film. The personalized sounds for Manco and Mortimer accentuate their personalities to the point where they almost create a reflex in you. The pocket watch chime is literally part of the story and plays a huge, crucial role in the plot! And it’s decidedly one of the saddest musical scores I’ve ever heard. It’s minimalist, mournful, and yet also nostalgically bittersweet. It feels like a reminder that there’s no going back whatever that might mean in the actuality. And the famous moment where Manco asks Mortimer whether his question was indiscreet and Mortimer says that the answer could be… I feel personally touched whenever I watch the scene. For me, it doesn’t feel like just an amazing scene, it triggers some deep emotion that is hard to express and almost gives me the urge to cry. Something along the lines of respectful and compassionate “I’m sorry that it happened to you,” “I’m sorry that I can’t help you.” The feeling of personal tragedy is conveyed infinitely better than a three-volume backstory ever could.

And then, there is this huge potential for all the stories about Manco, and Mortimer, and Blondie, and Tuco, and Angel Eyes, and even Joe to explore... Well, I better stop here.

So, yeah. It turned out to be a crazy long post, and I‘m grateful to anybody who reads it till the end. And if you haven’t watched these movies please do. Cheers.

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theoriginalladya · 4 years

Text

WIP Wednesday

Since I know there are a few people out there interested, and since the first draft ended up turning out remarkably good for a first draft (or so I think), have a bit of fluffier Caleb Shepard and Kaidan post-war, post adventure (this comes at the end of my planned story for them) after the Reaper War. (last night’s Reaper War angst is still bugging me so I’m feeling generous. Under the cut for length)

This goes with my previous post about them.

~~~

(setting: Western Irish coast)

“Do you ever think we might have missed our calling?” Caleb asks.

Kaidan’s eyebrow arches. Taking a knee, he picks up a stone, bounces it in his hand for a moment then hefts it into the air, throwing it toward the sea. The winds are strong, however, and before Caleb can blink, just a hint of bluish dark energy envelops it, guiding it out to the waves beyond. “What are you thinking?” he counters after a moment. “That we should have become prothean experts like a certain asari friend of ours?”

It’s difficult not to laugh, and Caleb doesn’t even try. “Something like that. Maybe,” he agrees. He stares out to the horizon, nothing but churning waves and water as far as the eye can see. The height of the cliffs offer a bit of drama to the scene. It’s a much better setting than he could ever have hoped for; if only he could find the words.

Kaidan moves up next to him, his eyes as sharp and searching as Caleb’s. “Not English Bay,” he admits with a hint of a smile and a quick grin, “but a beautiful view nonetheless.”

Caleb sighs and nods. Pulling his gaze from the Atlantic, he glances just to their north. These days, the ruins are barely discernible from the cliffs, but he knows they’re there. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

They walk for a while in silence, carefully navigating the craggy landscape. It’s strange to see; there’s barely any sign that the Reapers made it out this far. Finally, they reach the spot. Here, the ruins are a bit more noticeable, but still blend in if you aren’t looking for them. Caleb leans on the cane, thankful for it in these past few minutes. Lifting his right hand, he traces the outline in the air. “See it?”

Kaidan is beside him again. “Yeah,” he breathes, astonishment clear. “Wow. How old is that?”

Caleb shrugs. “Built in the 1400s, so the stories say,” he explains. “To protect us from invasion by the sea.” Silence falls again; Caleb’s thoughts fall to the past.

“Nothing could have stopped the Reapers,” Kaidan says after a moment.

Caleb stirs from his thoughts. “Hmm? Oh, I wasn’t thinking of them, but the Greystones.” Which, he knows, is just as ironic as their background was filled with repelling enemies from the sea as well. Ireland never had the same luck.

The wind gusts in off the sea and toys with his hair, mussing it up and casting it about wildly to tickle along his cheek and forehead. It reminds him of his younger years, too. “Anyway, my point is, despite everything that’s happened – time, war, Reapers – it still lives on, in some shape or form.”

Kaidan gives him a skeptical side-glance. “You’ve been talking to Liara again, haven’t you?”

“What?” With a half laugh, Caleb pushes his hair out of his eyes. “No. I’ve told you before, we Irish are sentimental bastards at best.” A grin turns upward at the right corner of his lips.

Kaidan’s smile matches it. “That you have.”

His eyes drifting back to the ruins, Caleb asks, “You ever wonder about leaving some kind of legacy of your own behind?”

Kaidan is silent for a minute, and it’s enough to drive Caleb to distraction so he hobbles forward a few steps. As he does, he notices something wedged in between some rocks. Crouching carefully, he retrieves it … a flutter in his chest leaving him speechless. Rising once more, he half turns to look over at Kaidan.

“If you’re asking if I’m as determined as Henry Lawson was, the answer is no,” Kaidan finally replies.

“No,” Caleb insists with a grimace, “not like that.” The loss of Miranda at the hands of her father is still surprisingly sharp after all these weeks and months. While they had never been close, she had been a friend, of a sort.

Another gust of wind kicks up, this time leaving Kaidan shivering slightly. “I guess I never really thought about it,” he admits as he walks over to join Caleb. “Ever since Eden Prime, everything’s been focused on the Reapers …”

Their eyes meet, but as usual, Caleb cannot decipher what he sees there. “And now that they’re gone?”

“A lot more possibilities are available.”

Possibilities. Caleb swallows convulsively. Possibilities he can work with, but he needs to be sure … “Look,” he says quietly, his left hand gesturing with the cane as a reminder, “if I’m just going to hold you back –.”

Kaidan moves with a speed Caleb has seen rarely outside of battle, and when he has, it’s been focused on far more pleasanter things. Before Caleb can even catch his breath, Kaidan’s hand wraps around his good wrist and tugs gently, pulling him close. The kiss that follows is fierce, possessive, and leaves Caleb’s belly flipping more wildly than before, if that’s even possible. “You don’t,” he insists when he pulls back a pace; but his hand remains securely around Caleb’s. “Don’t ever think that.”

It takes Caleb a long minute to catch his thoughts and refocus, but the vehemence in the order helps. “Right.” With effort, he pulls his gaze from Kaidan’s – he has to or he isn’t going to be able to go through with this – and stares back at the ruins again. The vaguest hint of pressure around his hand as he draws in a deep breath is the deciding factor. Tucking the cane under his left arm, he uses his now free hand to fish out the small box from his jacket pocket. At the same time, a silent prayer of thanks to his friends who were able to make this happen is sent forth; to Liara whose connections cut through red tape like a hot knife through butter, to Coats whose unending, if teasing, support had him sneaking off on his own a couple of days ago to retrieve them, to Athair whose faith in him never wavered from the moment he helped rescue the small child who wandered into St. Senan’s so many years ago.

When he pulls his hand from the pocket, he looks back over at Kaidan. The chilling bite of metal against the skin of his palm helps provide clarity for the moment; the winds off the Atlantic slow, the sun peeks through fluffy white clouds and shines down upon them, and in Kaidan’s eyes he sees … curiosity. Caleb laughs softly. Always curious. “So,” he starts, then pauses to clear his throat. “So, if you really mean that –.”

“I do.”

The smile widens a fraction. The wind teases at the edges of Kaidan’s hair now, a testament to just how strong it blows in off the coast, and Caleb reaches over to push it out of his eyes. The hint of exasperation in Kaidan’s eyes pulls yet another chuckle out of Caleb. But, as he lowers his hand, his forefinger caressing down Kaidan’s temple to his jaw, he brings it to rest between them, open, palm up. The sun flickers brightly, glancing off the mixture of gold and silver resting there, woven together in a pattern as familiar to Caleb as breathing. In silence, he watches Kaidan’s gaze shift down, notes the surprise that follows … and morphs into shock before darting back to his.

“Is this …?” he chokes, eyes wide and unable to hide anything from Caleb now.

A sudden moment of peace and calm fills Caleb, and the nerves that have plagued him for days now settle. “I’ve told you the story,” he says. “I was thinking, if you are agreeable –.”

“Agreeable?”

The amount of disbelief in Kaidan’s exclamation chases away the last of the lingering concerns. With a twist of his wrist, he moves the rings between his fingers, holding them a bit higher for Kaidan to see. “Friendship,” he murmurs, his eyes locked onto Kaidan’s now. “Loyalty. Love. I’d say that describes us, wouldn’t you?”

Kaidan opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out; all Caleb sees is a few convulsive swallows. Leaning in, he rests his forehead against Kaidan’s. “I didn’t want to say anything until the Reapers were dealt with,” he whispers, eyes closing to hide momentary grief and pain at the loss all that entailed. “But, now that they’re gone, I can’t imagine going back to a life where you aren’t a part of it.”

Kaidan’s free hand slides up Caleb’s back, coming to rest at the back of his head. He shifts just a bit, enough to tilt his head to the side so their lips can meet, and the moment their lips connect, Caleb knows he has his answer. It’s rare he can catch Kaidan off guard to the point of speechlessness, but it seems he’s succeeded; a moment he’ll always remember.

When they break apart, gasping for air as the wind buffers gently around them, Kaidan manages, “How … did you even …?”

Caleb laughs softly, releasing some of the nervous energy. “I’m Commander Fucking Shepard, according to James, remember? I can get anything done.” He concludes with a wink as his lips slide back into a grin.

Kaidan, finally, joins in. “Well, he’s sure got you figured out.”

Taking one of the rings, Caleb holds it between his thumb and forefinger. He eyes Kaidan with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I can’t wear both of these, you know.”

There is still the tiniest tremor in Kaidan’s hand as he lifts his hand. Caleb slides the ring onto his finger; perfect fit. Then he offers the other and the process is repeated. Caleb isn’t unaffected, and by the time they exchange another kiss, he drops the cane back into place and leans heavily upon it.

“So,” Kaidan says after a while, his eyes focused on the ring on his hand, “should I assume if you figured this part out you have something else in mind for what follows?”

Caleb nods. “I don’t want to steal any thunder from your mother,” he explains, “but I thought before we left … something small and private.”

For just a moment, Kaidan stills and stares at Caleb. “That’s why you snuck off to the church the other day, isn’t it?”

One brow arches and Caleb gives his best, Who, me? look which only draws a laugh. “Maybe,” he agrees. “I guess he thought if we aren’t staying here, we might as well have something better to remember my home by.”

Kaidan’s laughter is refreshing. “I’m not likely to forget,” he replies. “With you and the kids, I’ll be the odd one out, remember?”

Caleb reaches over to run his thumb along Kaidan’s stubbled cheek. “You’ll sound like one of us soon enough.”

“God help us all.”

#ladya writes #when the muses attack #mshenko #Caleb Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #post war #mass effect fanfiction #marriage proposal #I'm such a sap when I go fluffy #but dammit they need it!

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ardentmuse · 5 years

Note

Hi, Lovely! May I request #41 with a Mr. Remus Lupin, please? Low-key feel like he's a Chidi.

Tiny Miracles

Harry Potter (Marauders Era) - Remus Lupin x fem!Reader

41. What’s the secret? Is the secret more books? How many more books do I need?

Wordcount: 1.6k

Warnings: talk of death, talk of pregnancy, angst, lots of angst, but comfort too, also AU where James and Lily live and Sirius doesn’t go to prison. Post first war

Masterlist

A/N: Remus is totally a Chidi! And while this quote is fun and light, my brain went a little heavier with it. I love this turned out and I hope you do too.

Remus searched the indexes of each book piled before him, basically every one on his condition that this and a few neighboring libraries had, desperate for a sentence that might guide him just a little. A few times, he was able to flip to a chapter or passage, but even then, the words that popped out to him proved useless:

No known cases…

Blood and saliva…

Lycanthropy…

Lupine wolf cubs…

Kill mother from the inside…

Remus slammed closed the book and pressed his palms into his eyes to hold down the tears. He hadn’t slept in nearly 30 hours. His head was pounding with hunger and dehydration and, more than anything, fear. The pile of books around him was nearly obscuring his vision but there had to be an answer somewhere.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was infertile, or at least that was what the doctors at St. Mungo’s had told him parents when he was five.

“Werewolves are incapable of procreating with uninfected humans,” they had said. “And mating together can only happen during the full moon and will produce wolves, not humans.”

His mother had cried a lot, he remembered, mourning the loss of her future grandchildren since she was no longer capable of having more babies of her own. Remus remembered those muffled cries a little too well. He had mourned too for the life he couldn’t provide his parents and the life he couldn’t provide himself. But over time, he had grown to accept it. To be willing to watch Harry and whatever other little ones his friends would have grow would be enough for him.

But then you came into his life, his perfect angel of care and kindness and silliness and he mourned all over again. He knew it was selfish to date you. You deserved a home full of mini ones with your eyes and your smile, so much joy surrounding you all. You would be a fabulous mother — of that he had no doubt — but you chose him and everything that entailed, empty nest and all.

He never in a million years anticipated this.

Maybe that time he bit you by accident during sex and you suddenly could smell very clearly had made your womb open to his seed. Maybe when your patrons changed, you grew a little more wolfish as a result. Or maybe werewolves can only mate when they find true love.

Whatever it was, the answer had to be in a book somewhere.

A soft knock on the top of his book fort woke him from his tearful daze.

“Hey, Remy,” Lily said, “How you doin’ in there?”

Remus looked up to meet her face. Lily’s cheeks were full and flush, her hands gently supporting the large swell of her belly, carrying the second child to join the Potter clan. The war had ended less than a year ago and Lily and James immediately decided to continue their family. “No more death, only life,” they had said. This one was a girl to join little Harry, one they had agreed to name Alice in honor of Longbottoms whose untimely end had left a baby alone in the world but also stopped Voldemort for good. Lily and James knew too well how, if they had had less loyal friends, it could have been Harry orphaned and alone.

“I feel like death.”

Lily laughed, “And you look like it, too,” before taking a seat beside him a pushing the books far out of reach.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen, Lil. In fact, it has never happened in known medical history if these books are to be believed.”

“Miracles happen every day, Remus. Shouldn’t this baby be something we celebrate?”

Lily reached out to grab Remus’s hand but he jerked it away. He pulled himself to standing on his wobbly, sleep-deprived feet.

“No, we shouldn’t!” Remus shouted, “And that thing inside my wife is not a baby. If it is anything like me, it is a cold-blooded killed controlled only by the waning of the moon and its desire for flesh. And it lives inside my wife, just waiting to grow enough strength to murder her!”

Lily persisted despite Remus’s ranting, grabbing him by the shoulders and leading him back to his chair. Remus was tired and his breathing swallow. He followed her guided movements with ease. Soon, Lilly was kneeling before Remus, her belly brushing against his knees.

“Or inside your wife resides a beautiful, precious little baby, just waiting to grow so she can meet her daddy, drink some milk, learn some magic and make all of our lives better just by being here. If that baby is anything like you, it is kind, smart, sharp and human.”

Remus was crying again, and his palms couldn’t hold back the flood gates this time.

“I’m just so scared, Lil.”

“And what do you think Y/N is feeling? You left her all alone these past two days. She told you something very scary, something about which she needs you both to be brave, and you ran away.”

The soft circles Lily was drawing into his knee were juxtaposed to the harsh way those last three words spit from her mouth. Lilly wasn’t here to comfort him, he now understood. Lily was here to force him to toughen up for your sake. Lily’d probably spent the past two days listening to you cry about how your husband left you pregnant and alone and Lily simply couldn’t take it anymore.

He felt like utter shit just picturing it.

“What do I do, Lily? What’s the secret?… Is the secret more books? How many more books do I need?”

Lily pushed away the few books that were still in Remus’s reach.

“No more books. There isn’t a book to learn how to talk to your wife,” Lily’s voice was heavy but then she laughed. “But if you find one, send it to James, yeah? Boy’s an idiot.”

Remus laughed a little, too, and with it, Remus looked up from his hovel for the first time since Lily arrived. James, Sirius, and Harry were standing in the alcove leading to the stacks, giving Lily space to talk to you but providing support regardless. Harry was holding a stuffed niffler and bounding it off the archway.

“Think he heard you,” Remus said.

“Twas the intention.” Lily smiled at Remus and with it he felt some life returning to his limbs. Though, seeing Lily like this, full and jovial with her rounded belly, made him miss you all the more. He wondered if you’d look as striking and radiant as Lily seemed to during her pregnancies, just beauty and grace flowing from her. He ventured you’d be even more so. You were far more striking already in his eyes. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t ever imagined such a thing.

“She could die,” Remus whispered like a secret, as if saying it out loud made it real.

Lily’s eyes had drifted to the place where her family resided just a ways off. At Remus’s words, her gaze snapped back and she frowned deeply.

“You’re right, she could,” Lily said, not trying to soften the blow, “But so could I. All women put their lives on the line to bring life into this world. That’s our burden. But we’ll get the best healers and we’ll keep her on bedrest as needed and we’ll make sure there is a lot of red meat in her diet just in case.”

Remus nodded, not because he felt any better, but because he knew there was nothing else to do. You had already said you were keeping the baby, the miracle life inside you, and you weren’t willing to hear arguments against it. You had spoken with the healers and while no one knew for sure what was going to happen, they knew you and baby were currently in good health.

You definitely were being much braver than he was. He felt like he should give back his house robes.

“I just love her so much,” Remus said into his hands.

“I love you, too.”

Remus’s eyes popped up again and behind Lily you stood. You were bundled up in your robes, the weather growing chillier with each day, and while Remus couldn’t see the tiny protrusion of your uterus that had just started pushing past your hip bones, the knowledge that it was there made him burn with protective love for you.

His gaze continued up to your face. Your eyes were puffy with crying, their rims red and angry. Your hair could use some attention and your smile wasn’t reaching the corners of your mouth.

Immediately, Remus stood and ran to you. His arms crashed around you as his lips showered your cheeks with kisses.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into your ear as he held you close, squeezing as hard as he dared given your state.

“I understand,” you whispered to him, “I can’t imagine how scary this is for you.”

Remus grabbed your shoulders and pulled away to see your face. You were smiling at him somehow. Somehow, you were seeing his pain beyond all your own.

“Our baby needs a father who’ll be strong for him. The world is a cruel, cold place for their kind and I promise you I’m ready to step up. I love you.”

Your gaze stayed trained on his face as your eyebrows scrunched in what Remus thought was fear.

“Their kind?” you asked.

“Babies,” Remus assured you. “It’s a difficult world for babies.”

You laughed and Remus did too. And as he straightened his back and pulled you tight to his chest, Remus felt like himself for the first time since you had shared the news. Only now, he felt like one thing more — a father.

All tags: @fangirlandnerd, @aerdnandreaa, @thisisbullshytt, @cancerousjojian, @whovianayesha, @themarauderstheoutsidersandpeggy, @luna-xxxxx, @sleepylunarwolf, @starryrevelations, @potter-thinking, @all-by-myself98, @bananafosters-and-books, @cutie-bug, @igotmadskills, @hazelandcoconuts, @yallgotkik

Harry Potter tags: @tessimagines, @0-lost-in-stereo-0, @whysoseriouspadfoot, @eldritchscreech, @luckyvirgo, @hellizhelusive2, @lexrius, @sapphireorchid

#harry potter #harry potter imagine #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin #remus lupin imagine #remus x reader #hp #hp imagine #harry potter imagines #hp imagines #remus #marauders era #marauders imagine #justducky0423 #lia talks #ardentmuse almost 2k celebration

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cherryrogers · 4 years

Text

bittersweet {3}

pairing: boxer!bucky x rogers!reader

warnings: swearing, things get a bit saucy oop, mostly fluff.

synopsis: The world of boxing wasn’t something you knew much about, but after a certain boxer with blue eyes and an irresistible charm wove his way into your heart, you soon learned that it went far deeper than red gloves and gold medals — you thought that the boxer happening to be your brother’s best friend was bad enough, but darker affairs had only yet to come to light.

a/n: so i was gonna completely leave this until i finished FFY, but this chapter has been sitting unfinished in my drafts for ages and it was bugging me lmao,,, but after this part things are gonna get interesting :)) please enjoy, and any feedback is appreciated!

Series Masterlist

There was something different about Bucky after his match, Steve noticed it slowly but surely. Usually, the guy would get a high for a couple of days after his win, and then he’d be too focused on training for the next match to even crack a smile.

However, it’d been two weeks since his match. Two weeks since he won, and Steve was beginning to get suspicious at how long Bucky’s high had been strung out.

The blond eyed his friend questioningly from the mat on the gym floor across from his, watching as he’d complete a set of bicep curls, take a sip of water, smirk as he checked his phone, tapped away at the screen, and repeated that exact routine again. Training wasn’t a game to Bucky — nothing could ever normally cause him a distraction, but there was something that kept drawing him to his phone, and Steve was curious to know what.

That’s when something popped into Steve’s mind; something he’d completely forgotten about.

“Hey, Buck. I forgot to ask last week — how was your date after the match?”

Of course it was the date, right? His friend must’ve really taken a liking to the girl he went out with.

Bucky kept his gaze locked in front of him, pulling the heavy weights towards and away from his chest. “Good.”

“Just good?” Steve pressed, laying against the mat and beginning a set of sit-ups. “You haven’t stopped checkin’ your phone since you got in here.”

The boxer knew his date was better than good, but he wasn’t sure how much he should tell Steve. He was his best friend, Bucky was supposed to tell him everything about the date - he didn’t waste any time persuading Steve to tell him about Peggy when they first started dating.

“I like her, Steve,” He stated. “When we went out after the match, it didn’t feel like a first date with her -- it felt like I’d known her forever.”

It was true. Bucky had been out with his fair share of women, and not once had he felt so comfortable around someone so fast than with you.

“That’s good, Buck,” Steve nodded, smiling genuinely at his best friend. “I’m glad things are goin’ well. It’s about time you found a girl who can put up with your ass.”

Bucky let out a laugh at the joke, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt in his chest. Of course he felt bad about persuing you, especially while Steve was completely unaware of it. If he thought you were just another pretty girl, he probably wouldn’t have dragged you into the locker room on the first day you’d met him. But you weren’t just another pretty girl; you were the pretty girl. The pretty girl whose eyes twinkled when you laughed and whose smile could light up a whole boxing stadium.

Maybe you and him were doomed from the start, and you were just waiting for Steve to inevitably find out and disown the both of you. But Bucky didn’t want to think like that. He wouldn’t know where you and him were heading if he didn’t at least try. Bucky wanted to give whatever you and him had a shot, what was so wrong about that?

After finishing his final set, Bucky placed the weights back on the rack, grinning to himself as he saw his phone screen light up again. He’d just asked you if you were free any time soon. It was hard to meet up without Steve knowing, as you assumed he’d get suspicious if the both of you were constantly going out at the same time.

How about you come over to mine later today? I get off work at 5?

Bucky’s breath hitched. He hadn’t been to your apartment before, obviously since you’d only been talking for nearly three weeks, but still.

Sure, sounds good.

Awesome! See you then, James.

See you later, gorgeous.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face for so long, Buck.” The blond in front of him joked, earning himself the middle finger from Bucky.

The teasing grin was soon wiped from Steve’s mouth when a figure approached the weight rack, grabbing two weights and placing himself on a mat next to him and Bucky.

Feeling Steve’s eyes piercing into his skull, the man sighed heavily. “Are you gonna be mad at me forever, Steve?”

Lifting himself up from the blue mat, the blond only hardened his look. “What do you think, Quill?”

Picking up his water bottle, Steve mumbled something about ‘going to take a shower’ before heading to the exit of the gym.

“Jesus, what’d you do to piss him off?” Bucky took a seat on the nearest bench before taking a large gulp of his water.

Peter shook his head and chuckled, beginning his own set of bicep curls. “I go to college with his sister, (Y/N), and he found out that I made out with her at a party last year.”

Luckily, Peter was too focused on the strain in his muscles to notice how Bucky’s hand clenched around his water bottle. That wasn’t an image he needed in his mind.

“I mean, I didn’t even know she was his sister. Honestly, even if I did, I probably would’ve still-”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” The boxer warned, causing Peter to furrow his brows. “Just cause Steve ain’t here, doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass for talking about his sister like that.”

Bucky would’ve said that even if you and him weren’t secretly a thing, but he didn’t exactly like that fact the Peter was talking about the girl he liked like that either.

Peter sighed. “Damn, you and Rogers seriously need to chill out. It was once when we were both wasted — doesn’t mean I can’t still be friends with her.”

“Well, it’s your funeral if he catches you near her again.”

Bucky always knew how protective Steve was of you. Even after leaving high school, he still thought of you as his baby sister who needed to be hidden from the outside world. Of course, Steve was aware of when you’d sneak around with boys and out to parties when you were sixteen — he didn’t think you were a little girl who knew nothing about the world around her. But if there was any way he could protect you from getting your heart broken, he’d go to lengths to make sure you didn’t get hurt.

That included keeping you away from dumb, party-animal college boys like Peter Quill. And perhaps that also included older, charming, cocky boxers like Bucky Barnes.

Not that he was ever planning on breaking your heart.

While there was a small part of his mind that thought Steve maybe wouldn’t kill him if he found out about him and you, Bucky soon came to the conclusion that Peter’s funeral wouldn’t be the only one happening if the boxer wasn’t careful.

And that was something Bucky was really hoping to avoid.

* * *

A pleasant smile graced your lips as your eyes landed on the clock on the far side of the room. 4:55pm.

Bucky would be showing up at your place in just over an hour, and you were excited.

Things had been going good between the two of you. You texted back and forth most days, met him after his training sessions at the gym, let him pick you up from college despite trying to tell him you were perfectly capable of getting the bus back. It was still pretty casual, but not in ‘friends with benefits’ way, more in a ‘we like each other and we make out a lot but we’re not anything serious yet’ way.

Steve also hadn’t caught on that you were seeing anyone yet, and you wanted to keep it that way. While everything was well with you and Bucky, you didn’t want your brother to freak out about something which might not even last. Even if he didn’t know it was Bucky you were seeing, he’d definitely be eager to find out. He was still your stupidly protective big brother — he’d only want the reassurance that you were being treated right, which you couldn’t blame him for. You’d never had a proper boyfriend before, but you’d surely had your fair share of experiences with shitty guys who were far from what Steve approved of for you.

Bucky was different, though. If he wasn’t his best friend, you’d actually be confident in thinking that Steve would approve of him. Maybe one day. Maybe he’d be able to understand.

“Is there a reason that you’re grinning from ear to ear?” Your boss stepped out of his office, raising his brow at you.

“That’s for me to know, Sam, and for you to not know.” You pushed yourself away from the desk, standing from your chair.

The man scoffed, crossing his inked arms over his chest. “Hm, alright. Turn over the sign on your way out, will you?”

“Will do, boss.”

“You got someone pickin’ you up? It’s startin’ to get dark out pretty early this time of year.”

You opened your mouth to tell him that you’d just get the bus like always, but the ringing of the bell at the door and a sudden voice breaking the silence interrupted you.

“She sure does.” The redhead that had just entered responded for you, walking up to your desk and leaning her elbows on the light wood. Your brows knitted together in surprise.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” You asked her, picking up your handbag from under the desk and slinging the strap over your shoulder.

“Picking you up?” She answered, as if you were supposed to be aware that she was going to show up randomly. “You’re having your boyfriend over tonight, right? It’ll take too long for you to get home on the bus, and I know for a fact that your apartment needs cleaned up. Plus, you’ll wanna get ready, paint your nails, put on a little makeup—”

“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend,” You confirmed, more to Sam than to Natasha, who only liked to tease. “Second of all, you know me way too well, it’s kinda freaky. And thirdly, thanks for saying all of that in front of Sam, because now I’m never gonna hear the end of it from him.”

Sam scoffed. “I’m a grown ass man, (Y/N). I’m not gonna tease you about havin’ a special someone in your life... but you should get outta here. Wouldn’t wanna keep your boyfriend waiting.”

Making your way around the desk to your friend, you rolled your eyes at your childish boss. Who allowed him to have his own business? “You know, if you weren’t the one giving me my rent money every month, I’d be calling you a pretty mean name for that comment right now.”

“Alright, alright,” The man held up his hands in defence. “But seriously, I’m closing up once you leave, so you should hurry it up.”

With a playful glare, you motioned for Natasha to follow you out of the shop, making sure to turn over the sign on the door. “Thanks, Sam. I’m feeling really appreciated as an employee right now.”

“I’m glad; see you tomorrow, (Y/N).”

“Unfortunately so, Samuel.”

Natasha chuckled once the door clicked shut, walking you over to her car. “I really think you have the most laid back boss in New York. If I told Fury I wanted to call him a mean name, I’d only get a death stare and probably an extra pile of work to do.”

You smiled at the girl’s words. Sam and you had known each other for years, way before he opened up his tattoo shop. Him and Steve used to be friends in high school, but sort of drifted apart when Steve got more into boxing and Sam wanted to focus on his shop. He had told your brother about opening up the shop a year prior, and how he was looking for someone to work at the desk, and as a freshman in college who was in desperate need of cash, you thought you’d be perfect for the job. Since then, you worked there whenever you weren’t in class on weekdays.

Of course, he was your boss, but you didn’t see him as some big, scary authority figure. He was Sam, the dude that used to play video games with your brother in the basement for hours on end. In a way, he was like your second older brother. Not that you needed another big brother, Steve had the protectiveness and stubbornness of about three brothers combined.

“So,” Natasha smirked, climbing into the car at the same time as you. “You have to tell me more about this dude, (Y/N). Did you say he was a boxer? As in a boxer at your brother’s gym?”

Nodding reluctantly, you tugged your seatbelt over your body. You weren’t sure whether it was a good idea to tell Natasha that it was in fact your brother’s best friend you were having over that night. She was friends with Steve, not as close to him as she was to you, but you were sure she’d think it was a bad idea for you to be hiding this from him.

Maybe it’d better to keep Bucky a secret for now.

“Yes, he goes to the gym. Steve knows him, he just doesn’t know that I’ve been seeing him.”

“(Y/N)...” The woman shook her head, beginning to pull the car out of the parking space. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to hide this from Steve?”

“I’m not hiding anything, Nat. It’s only been just under a month since we started seeing each other. He doesn’t need to know anything yet.”

Natasha eyed you cautiously. It didn’t seem right to her that you were completely against telling your brother about the new guy you’d been seeing. Sure, he was protective, but he wasn’t an utter asshole. You and Steve were all each other had for a while; it just seemed odd that you weren’t yet planning on telling him anything, even if the guy went to his gym.

Despite wanting to question you further, the redhead decided to stop for the time being, giving you the pleasure of a stress-free car ride back to your apartment. When you were ready, she was sure you’d tell her more about your mysterious new man.

After dropping you off outside your building, you blew an appreciative kiss to your friend before essentially skipping into the lobby, thinking about how you’d finally be able to see Bucky again properly after the quick meet-ups and short phone calls you’d dealt with all week.

While you and him weren’t serious yet, you always got a warm feeling when you knew you were going to see him. Being around him was just nice, to put it simply. Nice was good.

Since you weren’t going out, you decided to keep your look natural for the night. A light layer of makeup topped off with your signature cherry lip-gloss was applied to your face after you took a quick shower, and soon enough, you were ready to see your man.

Well, he wasn’t technically your man, but the thought of him taking other girls into the locker room at the boxing gym and making out with them wasn’t so appealing to you.

The apartment wasn’t a complete mess, yet you still practically zoomed around the place picking up odd items of clothes and putting away textbooks you’d left in the kitchen. After spending so much of your free time with Bucky, it was becoming to difficult to find time to just sit down and study. Between him hanging out with Steve at the gym and you hanging out with Steve on the weekends and you trying to find the time between work and classes to hang out with Bucky without Steve getting suspicious? You really needed to make a timetable or something.

When a sudden knock sounded against the front door, you felt your heart pang with excitement, and after rushing to open the front door and seeing Bucky Barnes standing in front of you, your heart completely melted.

As always, he looked like a three course meal. Screw that, a five course meal. Hair neatly tucked behind his ears, dark jeans covering his toned thighs, a boyish smirk sat on his lips. A large bouquet of classic red roses were enclasped in his hand, and your eyes were immediately drawn towards them.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He greeted you, his eyes wondering up and down your figure. Not in a way that made you uncomfortable, but like he was taking in your appearance, which he was. How could he not when you always looked so pretty?

“Hi, James,” You smiled, eyes flicking between his face and the roses in his hand. “That’s a lot of roses you’ve got there.”

The man let out a laugh. “I hope you like ‘em, cause they’re all yours.”

You took the flowers from his grasp slowly, tracing your eyes over every petal on every rose, trying to ignore the way your stomach was doing flips at the gesture. You leaned up, placing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, James. They’re beautiful.”

“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl.” Bucky winked as you pulled away, and you were sure that your face was probably as hot as the cinnamon-scented tea lights you’d lit around the place.

A flattered smile set on your lips. “Did you come up with that line on the way here?”

“Came up with it just now, actually.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

“Does that mean I’m allowed inside now?”

“I guess so.” You chuckled, stepping aside so Bucky could walk through the doorway. As you closed the door behind him, his eyes wandered around the area.

It was a pretty small place; the only rooms being your bedroom, the bathroom and the conjoined kitchen and living room. It’s not like you needed anything bigger, though. Not when the majority of your time in the apartment was spent watching Netflix and writing assignments way too close to their deadlines. Natasha stayed over every now and then, making herself at home on the couch or sleeping next to you in your bed if you’d had a night in with a bit too much alcohol. Bucky was the first guy you’d ever taken to your apartment, though. You didn’t like the idea of bringing guys you’d likely never see again into a place you thought of as your safe space, but Bucky wasn’t one of those guys.

“So, you live here by yourself?” He asked, his head turning to you as you placed the bouquet of roses gently on the kitchen counter.

“Yeah, I moved here a little while after graduating high school. It’s a lot closer to campus than where I used to live with Steve,” You explained, opening the fridge and picking out a cool bottle of red wine before grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. “Do you want a drink?”

Bucky made his way over to where you were stood at the kitchen counter, already pouring out the wine before he could answer the question. The man thanked you as you slid a glass across the counter to him, bringing the drink to his lips for a small sip. “God, I don’t think I can even remember the last time I had a drink.”

“Seriously?” You raised your brow, tapping your nails against your own glass.

“I spend more time in that damn gym than at my own house,” Bucky let out a laugh, a sound you weren’t sure you’d ever get tired of hearing. “Doesn’t leave a lot of time to sit down and have a drink. I’ve never been much of a drinker, anyway. It’s nice every once in a while, though — with the right company.”

A smirk had unsurprisingly made its way back into his lips, and you shook your head at him. “And what company is that? Women you’ve made out with at the gym?”

He scoffed. “I’ve told you, (Y/N); you’re the only girl that’s ever happened with.”

“It’s okay, James,” You mirrored his teasing expression. “I believe you, and I’m honoured, truly. I mean, being the only girl that James Barnes has made out with in the sweaty guy’s locker room...”

“You say that as if it wasn’t the best makeout of your life.”

“Best makeout of my life?” You almost choked on your wine. Well, that wasn’t exactly untrue. That man was one good kisser, but you wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of hearing that from you. “I don’t know about that one.”

“Well, I can’t imagine your one with Peter Quill was any better.” Though he murmured the words into his glass, Bucky could tell you’d heard him by the way your eyes widened in surprise.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the defeated expression on your face. “Oh, god. How do you even know about that?”

“Gossip travels fast at the gym, babydoll.” He shrugged with a smug grin, earning himself an eye roll from you.

“And why are a group of grown men at the gym discussing my personal life? Aren’t you guys meant to be, I don’t know, working out?” You asked playfully, pushing yourself away from the counter and making your way over to the couch, Bucky following you without a second thought.

You plopped yourself in the corner of your couch, crossing your legs underneath you as Bucky sat on the other side, placing his glass on the glass coffee table. “It’s your brother that’s makin’ a big deal out of the whole thing. Can’t even be in the same room as Quill without shooting daggers at the guy.”

“I didn’t think he’d be that pissed off about it,” You shook your head with a chuckle. “Peter’s harmless, everyone knows that. I know that Steve’s only protective because he cares, but losing his shit over Peter Quill? Come on.”

Bucky let a laugh slip through his lips. “I can’t imagine how he’s acted with your actual boyfriends, never mind just a guy you’ve made out with.”

Your gaze dropped to you skirt at the man’s statement, fingers playing with the hem of the material. “Well, I guess I’m lucky that I’ve never had one.”

Nervously flicking your eyes up to the man in front of you, your brows furrowed at his surprised expression. “You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

“Is that weird to you?”

“No, not weird,” Bucky shook his head, shuffling a little closer to you on the couch so that your knees were touching. “Just surprising, since you’re, well... you.”

Your quirked a brow, a smirk forming on your glossy lips, indicating for Bucky to carry on talking.

Catching onto what you were hinting at, Bucky rolled his eyes, but gave you what you wanted. “Well, you’re smart, beautiful, good at carnival games...”

“Ah, yes,” You chuckled. “The quality that makes or breaks a woman. I mean, I am pretty good at carnival games.”

“Not as good as me, though,” He winked, earning himself a playful glare and a nudge to the knee. “But seriously, has no guy ever been lucky enough to call you theirs?”

The phrasing of the question brought heat to your cheeks, but you tried your best to act nonchalant. “I’ve went out with guys from time to time, but never been with them long enough to be, well, dating them. They’ve all been frat boys, though. Each one of them as immature and self-centred as the other. I made a vow to myself after the last one that I’d stop going for college guys. And well... I met you.”

A satisfied grin formed on Bucky’s lips as one of his hands picked up yours, causing your heart rate to pick up. “I’ll admit, you did get pretty lucky with that one.”

“Never mind; I take that back. You’re probably more self-centred than the frat boys,” You squeezed the hand holding yours, as Bucky shot you another eye roll. “I can’t lie, though. I was kinda surprised that you weren’t already spoken for when we met.”

“Like I said, I’m at the gym training more than anywhere else. I don’t have a lot of time on my hands to go out and meet people.”

“Well,” You took your bottom lip between your teeth, untucking your legs from under yourself and shuffling forward to lay them over the boxer’s lap. “That’s where you met me, James. Who said you couldn’t meet a girl at the gym?”

One of his hands went to your exposed calf, gently running his fingers along the soft skin there. “I guess luck was just really on my side that day, gorgeous.”

A quiet hum sounded from your mouth as you leaned in, unable to resist his perfect lips any longer. Both of your arms snakes around his neck as you felt him immediately kiss back, the bittersweet taste of wine evident on his tongue. The hand on your calf was slowly trailing up to reach your thigh as the other gripped your waist tightly. His touch was scarily addictive; every time your lips met his, it was like electricity shooting through your veins, the adrenaline making you only crave more of him.

You forced yourself to pull away for a couple of seconds, allowing you to kneel on the couch before swinging a leg over his clothed thighs to straddle him. His hands instinctively fell to your waist again, pulling your body to press against his as gentle kisses dotted along your jaw. A whimper fell from your swollen lips as Bucky’s mouth latched onto a sensitive spot on your neck, sucking a deep purple mark onto the skin before softly kissing the delicate area.

There was a gentle tug on the hem of your top, making you pull back slightly. Bucky’s voice was deeper than before as he spoke. “You wanna take this off, beautiful?”

Fuck it, you thought to yourself, reaching for the bottom of the cotton and pulling it up and off your body. The boxer’s eyes ran across your exposed chest, your lacy pink bra not leaving much to the imagination. He continued his line of kisses from the crook of your neck across your collarbone, savouring the taste of your skin and your moans of pleasure as he left another pretty mark on your body.

It was just so easy with Bucky. You could laugh with him and talk to him about anything without difficulty, and that would easily flow into a heated makeout session with you straddling his lap or being pressed against the wall. Nothing felt forced or unnatural, everything was just how the two of you wanted it to be. That had been the first time you’d taken your shirt off in front of him, and you’d never gone further than making out in the three weeks you’d been seeing each other. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to go any further, because boy, did the thought alone make heat rush to your face. It just didn’t feel like the right time yet, which was fine. As long as everything stayed swell between you and Bucky, you’d happily wait until that time eventually came.

The two of you stayed like that for twenty minutes, hungrily locking lips and running your hands over each other’s bodies until you were both panting for breath. It was you who suggested stopping for the time being, and Bucky agreed, knowing that continuing would only make the two of you crave more, which you weren’t yet ready to carry out. After finding your discarded top from the floor and pulling it back over your torso, you positioned yourself again so that your legs were thrown over his thighs, head resting on his shoulder as his hand fell to your hip. You turned the television on, some old movie playing quietly in the background as you started up another conversation with Bucky about God knows what for another hour or so, only getting up to refill your glasses wine before quickly sitting comfortably against Bucky again and falling right back into conversation.

Laughter occasionally filled the room when Bucky uttered a sarcastic comment, and when you replied with just as much sarcasm as him. The conversation remained completely uninterrupted, until your eyes caught a glimpse of the dark sky scattered with stars through the window. As much as you wanted to stay curled up against Bucky forever, the boxer had training to do early the next morning, and he didn’t want to risk a questioning from Steve if he showed up late to the gym.

After reluctantly swinging your legs off the edge of the couch and downing the remainder of wine in your glass, you were soon seeing Bucky out of your apartment.

He stood in your doorway just as he had done when he’d first arrived, and it amazed you how quickly the night had flown by. It seemed like only minutes prior that the man was handing you a gorgeous bouquet of roses and asking if he was allowed inside.

There was a different look in his eyes, though. The nerves that were evident in his slightly widened eyes were long gone, replaced by a fond, affectionate glint that made your heart swell as he looked down at you.

“Thanks for tonight, babydoll,” Bucky smiled softly, tucking a strand of hair begin your ear, exposing the dark mark he’d left on your neck and letting his eyes linger on it for a few short moments. “We should do this more often.”

“Make out and drink wine? That’s something I could get used to,” You rested your hands on his chest, biting back the grin that threatened to spread from ear to ear. You leaned up to press a final kiss to his cheek, but were satisfied to feel Bucky’s lips on yours instead when he lightly tilted your chin to the side.

The kiss was long, neither of you wanting to be the one to pull away. You just couldn’t get enough of him; his touch, his lips, his sweet pet names and teasing comments. How the hell someone so perfect happened to walk into your life, you weren’t sure.

If Bucky was a stranger to Steve, he might’ve been the only guy that you weren’t afraid of your brother not approving of. Sure, he’d get the stupid lecture and the cold shoulder in the beginning, but you were positive that he’d think that Bucky was good for you. Things unfortunately were that simple, though. Because Bucky was Steve’s best friend, and the two of you were sneaking around behind his back. It bothered you, and it bothered Bucky too. However, things were still relatively new, even when you felt like Bucky was a guy you never wanted to let slip through your fingers, your brother wouldn’t be able to understand that just yet.

Reluctantly, you pulled away from the longing kiss and gently shoved at Bucky’s chest. “If we stand here any longer, there’s no way you’re gonna be up for training tomorrow. Get yourself home, James.”

The boxer sighed, trailing his fingers down your arm to your hand, giving it a final squeeze before stepping out into the hallway. “Drop by the gym some time soon?”

You crinkled your brows. “I would, but what about Ste-”

“Steve doesn’t train on Thursdays.” Bucky reassured you quickly, making a smile crawl onto your lips.

“Thursdays... I’ll see what I can do.” You didn’t have classes on Thursdays, and you only worked the morning shift at the tattoo shop that day, so you knew you’d have time to see Bucky at the gym — you just liked to see the stupid grin on the boxer’s face when you teased him. “Now, seriously; go home. And be safe.”

“I’m always safe, (Y/N).” He affirmed with one last wink before he finally began to walk away from your apartment, and you slowly shut the front door, leaning your back against it once you heard the click of the lock.

Fuck, he was just so perfect. Everything was perfect with him, and if everything stayed that way, then maybe breaking the news to Steve wouldn’t be so far from perfect too.

However, it was probably foolish of you to get so wrapped up in how smooth things with Bucky were going. It was unfortunately never going to last, the ease of it all.

Unknowingly to you, things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

Series Taglist:

@littledarlinhavefaithinme

#bucky barnes #bucky #bucky barnes x reader #boxer!bucky #boxer!bucky x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes reader insert

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ocularose · 3 years

Note

Hey! I hope that you're having a wonderful day (≧∇≦)! List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box of the last 10 people who reblogged/liked something from you

Oh wow i wasn’t expecting this, thank you ✌️!! This is always fun to do and to get!

1- Drawing! Sometimes because of depression etc it can be hard to do, but it’s always THE thing that makes me happy. The act of drawing is truly what makes me happy, but having others like what i do is always such a good feeling! The main reason i share art in public is in hope that my self-indulgent things (which is all of them) can inspire and/motivate people to do their OWN things. And to give content to those who like the same content as me.

2- METTATON. Him. The. Man. Of. My. Life. I may be aro but this? Man? Creature? With literally NO brain or braincells? My husband. Whether it’s think about him, drawing him, making AUs versions of him x1000 or seeing art of him (made by good people), it makes me very happy. The only reason i put it ‘below’ drawing is because the latter feels... Productive. I make so much MTT content (that i rarely share ngl... it’s too personal) that it’s like almost natural to me. I pratically make AUs weekly. Do i remember all of them? Not really. But it’s the thought that counts, and i may not be able to remember everything i did at once, but tend to recall things at SOME point. And of course i try to note/draw it as often as i can so i don’t forget.

3- Kinda ties to drawing? But character design. Definitely. I’ll probably never get tired of drawing disgusting looking creatures/monsters that are actually are straight up not meant to be taken seriously/meant personality and/or concept wise to be funny, or beautiful men whose personality is as the repulsive as the monsters mentioned above, and who- accessorily- are beyond stupid, and not to be taken seriously as well. There’s many more ‘tropes’ i enjoy drawing and designing, but. Yeah. It’s funny. I don’t even know what else to say. Makes me very happy.

4- Weird bugs. I just... Adore those animals, who- instead of developing simple ‘abilities’ like mammals (ex: a cheetah’s ability to be really fast, stuff like that) just kind of DECIDED to have actual super powers. With colorful, weird and varied appearances to top it all off. I say ‘bugs’ but that includes arachnids, crustaceans and much more. And it’s so utterly varied and a big world that i learn/find out about a species i didn’t know of practically monthly. And i still have to ‘dig’ (ha) through prehistoric species and THEIR super powers. Or weird appearance. Or both. In any case though i admire them from a safe distance, i don’t pick them up etc mostly because i know that it CAN be dangerous- both for me and potentially for the animal itself- and because... maybe it’s a weird reason, but because i want this small animal to be unaware of me- a creature so utterly big compared to it that it can never hope to understand me fully. Maybe ive read too much ocean/cosmic horror, but idk man maybe it’s better for this little animal to not interact with... fleshy mountains, whose ground vaguely pulses with a heartbeat. Like put that exact concept with a human instead of a bug and suddenly THAT’S terrifying- as it should be. Anyway bugs are great and my faves are mantis (any tbh but especially devil’s flower mantis) and centipedes (again any but especially feathertail centipedes)

5- big shocker that one- truly something that’s never been seen or heard of before, but my frieNDS? And famiLY (pets are part of the family)... they make me happy, and i do my best to make them happy too. There’s of course mutuals too! Im just shyer (is that a word?) with them... no idea why. I guess i just dont want to ‘get the wrong idea’ and accidentally break boundaries? Stuff like that.

#asks #i’ll send the things tomorrow because rn it’s past midnight for me im falling asleep as i write this lol #also i need courage to message people lollllllllll #6th would be good genuine art made by other people #like i follow MANY artists but legit all of their art makes ne happy- whether it’s original content or fanart #and ‘only’ in 7th would come general media. i have media special interests (touhou; and more) but idk. there’s more important things to me.#and in 8th... no idea. fictional men? sleeping? dreaming? 🤷‍♂️#maybe fictional horror and/or monsters. but it heavily ties with art made by others. so uh yeah #hope mobile tumble won’t mess my paragraphs ._. ...

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lilywoood · 4 years

Text

Prompt 53

I posted it before but somehow tumblr managed to delete it so here it is prompt 53 for my dearest @felicitous-one

Also tagging : @diazbuckleysworld @translucent-bisexual @cherishingstydia @gxtop @impossiblealice

Word count : 2001

Song : Kiss Me - Jason Walker

It had been a rough year for the 118, between the accidents, the lawsuit, the fight club and unresolved sexual tension the 118 had it share of problems that’s why they welcomed the Christmas period with a bit of reserve...

They knew people, they knew how they were more accident prone during that period of the year, that’s why this year Bobby with some help from Athena decided to make this Christmas a memorable one, in a good way of course.

The plan was simple, with the approval of his chief he decided to organize a Christmas special event, this year it’ll be secret Santa...

Well secret for everyone minus two of his best firefighters who’ve been dancing around one another for too long and whose sexual tension was getting a bit uncomfortable to say the least...

Nobody would blame him for forcing destiny a bit, quite the opposite he deserved to Captain of the year just for that.

The plan was to be set on motion the next day, he’ll make the daily announcement and then he’ll present them with the Christmas event, thanks to his wonderful wife he already have a plan to make sure Buck and Eddie would be each other’s secret Santa.

———————————————————-

Buck wondered if the universe heard his prayer or if his friends were just tricking him once again, it couldn’t be possible, of all the team he’d picked the one he secretly wanted, he secretly dreaded.

Don’t get him wrong he was happy, ecstatic to get his best-friend slash secret crush, slash love of his life’s name, he couldn’t wait going gift hunting with Maddie and hopefully (finger crossed) Christopher but at the same time he couldn’t stop the stress and the knots in his stomach.

He was stressed not about what to get Eddie, he knew him pretty well, knew that it was easy to please the man, no he was stressed because this time he wanted his gift to be meaningful, he was ready now, he’d made peace with himself and accepted his feelings, he couldn’t says them out-loud for fear of rejection so he hopped to find something that would transcript it for him, find something that’ll make Eddie understand..

Eddie knew something was up with his team, he could’ve swore he saw Hen high five Bobby and Chim had been recording the all pick your Santa moment, he knew he didn’t got Buck’s name by chance and he was pretty persuaded that the other man had picked his name.

He didn’t mind it, quite the opposite it was the perfect opportunity for him to repay Buck for all he’d done for Chris and him, it was also a good excuse to get the man something more personal, something that maybe make his clueless friend understand that he wanted more, that their friendship wasn’t enough for him, that he wanted him in the picture forever ?

His teammates were nagging him one after the other trying to make him reveal if he did pick Evan’s name, he managed to dodge the ball every time pretending that it’ll ruin the surprise if he did say who he’d get.

He couldn’t wait getting home and sharing his day with both Chris and Carla maybe they could help him plan the perfect surprise for Buck, they probably had better idea than a proposal on Christmas Eve.

———————————————————-

When Eddie got home he almost forgot about his day, forgot about secret Santa, forgot about the paper with Buck’s name in his back pocket.

It wasn’t until Chris started to talk about his day at school and how his teacher made them write their letter to Santa that he remembered.

-Seems like you had a really good day at school buddy, he smiled ruffling his son’s hair,

-What’s about yours daddy, he quizzed meeting his father’s tired gaze.

-It was a good day, he grinned softly, say, he started taking a deep breath, this year we decided to play secret Santa at work and now I have to found a gift for Buck want to help me, he questioned

-Yes, Chris beamed leaving his drawing to rejoin his father on the sofa, what do you want to give him, he wondered.

-Something that’ll show Buck how much we love him, he sighed.

-He already know that, Chris smarted, he’s family right, he added confused.

-Yes buddy he’s family, Eddie reassured holding him in his arm, it’s another kind of love I want to show him though, he quietly revealed

-You love-love him, he stated joyfully, I knew it, he exclaimed when Eddie nodded,

Eddie smiles relaxed by his son’s reaction, he knew of course he knew how much Chris loved Buck and didn’t mind having him around but it was different now and having his son support really was the push he needed to set his plan in motion.

-So I can count on you to help me, Eddie asked playfully....

———————————————————-

Buck was getting desperate, he spend most of his and Maddie’s day off gift hunting...

He searched for everything everywhere, he wanted to find the perfect gift for Eddie, one who’ll make the other man think of him, one that’ll make him understand how important he was, how loved he was.

They were exiting the fifth store when Maddie decided to take matters in her own hands, she knew how important this gift was, how much significance it needed to hold, she knew that this gift was the perfect opportunity and he couldn’t miss it...

-Evan, she called tenderly grabbing his forearm, we can’t continue like this, she tried, you need to know what you want to get because going into stores hopping you’ll find it isn’t working, she explained to a dejected Buck

-I know, he sighed passing a hand on his face, it’s just... he tried, it had to be perfect, he frowned, I..I want him to know, to understand, I can’t... he was playing with the hem of his coat, I love him so much Mads, he chucked his eyes getting teary.

-Maybe we should ask Christopher for help, she smiled patting his cheeks, he knows his father better than us, she hummed, tangling their arms.

-He’s with Carla now, he remarked, do you think I should call them, he demanded bitting his lips.

-Want me to do it, she replied, I could call Carla and explain it to her if you don’t feel up to it, she added, I’ll give you the phone when Chris is on the line, she proposed

-Okay, he nodded giving her his phone.

She quickly found Carla’s number and called her, she spent exactly five minutes with her explaining her brother’s trouble and dilemma before tending him the phone and letting him talk with Christopher.

-Hi Buck, Chris cheered on the other side, how are you, he asked.

-Hey buddy I’m good, he responded, I’m calling you cause I need a special favor from you think you could help, he wondered cringing at how unsure he sounded.

-What do you need Bucky, the little boy inquired genuinely.

-I’m trying to find a gift for your dad, he croaked, I need to know what would be good for him, he muttered.

-Everything would be good Bucky if it’s from you, Chris reassured him.

-I know buddy but it’s different this time, he trailed not sure if it was right to reveal his real intention to him.

-It’s different because you’re in love with daddy, he stated, don’t worry kid it’ll be fine if it’s from you daddy would be happy cause he loves-love you, he giggled

-I love-love him too, Buck chuckled reassured, still I need something perfect buds, he hummed...

———————————————————-

The call had been brief but it was what he needed shortly after hanging up with Chris he found Maddie in front of Victoria’s Secret gazing at their Christmas special collection.

-Do you think I should buy some sexy outfit to surprise Chim, she joked pointing at the Santa lingeries

-Gross Maddie, he irked, I don’t need that picture in my head, he barfed.

Maddie chuckled tangling their arms, forcing him to join her in her lingerie hunt, they spent the afternoon together, going from shops to shops until he found it the perfect gift....

———————————————————-

Christmas Eve came faster than what Bobby imagined, all the stations had been decorated for the occasion, they were giving away gift for those in needs and a small diner had been served.

After people were nourished and all the gifts distributed, the 118 retreated upstairs to finally reveal who have been whose Santa.

Everyone got its gift except Hen, Bobby, Eddie and Buck, the first two knew they were each other’s not so secret Santa and couldn’t wait to see the two men’s reaction. Hen rose first à bug smile on her face she pretended to go to Buck who was sat next to Bobby, she suppressed a laugh at Eddie’s confused look and Buck’s dejected expression.

-Seems I’m your secret Santa Cap, she smiled tending him a flamboyant red gift bag.

-Thank you Hen, he frowned confused by the vibrant color, who’s next, he clapped, Buck, he called.

-If you don’t mind Cap my gift is a bit too personal, he mumbled cheeks reddening, I’d like to give it to Eddie privately, he blurted,

-That’s fine, Bobby assured squeezing his shoulder, Eddie, he asked nodding to the other man.

-Uhm, he coughed trying to avoid his teammates pointed stares, I...can you guys give us some space, he mumbled gaze fixed on the floor.

———————————————————-

They were alone now, everyone left the room shortly after Eddie asked for space, it had been ten minutes ago and none of the two men were willing to start the conversation...

-So, Buck coughed getting sick of the tense silence, do you want to get your gift first or we could exchange them at the same time or I don’t know, he rambled

-Evan, Eddie called getting up from his place to sit next to him, don’t panic whatever you give me would be fine, he smiled, if it’s from you even a simple card is enough, he assured him patting his knee, here’s mine, he smiled giving him a small packet.

-Here, Buck croaked tending him and slightly larger box, I...I hope you’ll like it, he coughed turning his attention back to his own gift.

Eddie was the first to open his present, he carefully teared the paper while Buck was more brutal, Buck got him a framed map of stars, with a date at the bottom, he frowned confused turning back to Buck.

-It’s beautiful, he smiled, passing his hand over it, tracing the stars, it was from the day we went to see Santa with Chris, he asked.

-Yeah, Buck mumbled, it was an important day and I was happy you invited me, he chuckled, it felt like I was part of your family, he hummed.

-You’re family Evan, he affirmed taking his hand in his, never doubt that, he added softly making circle on his skin with his thumb.

-I...thank you, he smiled back interlacing their hands, it wasn’t the only reason I choose this particular day, he admitted biting his lips

-Before you tell me what I think you’re going to tell, Eddie smiled, open my gift please, he pleaded, I need to know we are on the same page, he prayed.

Buck grinned letting go of Eddie’s hand to open the little wood box on his laps, tears were flowing down his face when he saw what it was.

-Is that, he sputtered drying his tears with the back of his hand...

-I know it’s a little childish, Eddie mumbles, I know we aren’t seventeen, he pursued before getting cut of Buck’s lips on his.

- I love it, Buck smiled putting the prompt ring on his left finger, I love you, he giggled.

-I love you too, Eddie breathed surging for an other kiss, I love-love you, he laughed quoting his son.

#buddie fic #buck x eddie #buddie prompt #911 prompts #prompt list #evan buckley #eddie diaz #hen wilson #bobby nash #maddie buckley #maddie x chim #9-1-1 on fox #9-1-1 fanfiction #911 fox

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years

Text

Survey #278

“they will seduce you, get through the door; then they bite you in the neck, leave you bleeding on the floor.”

Do you believe in dream symbolism? If so, do you ever look up what certain things in your dreams may mean? Some, yes, others, no. A lot just seem way too random to have stories behind them, but just as well, some dreams are obviously stemmed from our experiences, fears, desires, etc. Who was the last person who exploded on you? What was the reason? I have no idea, but probably Mom. Is there a certain name that keeps popping up in your life, like a name that many people you know have? No. What is something you have a "love/hate relationship" with? What do you hate about it, and what do you love about it? The first thing that comes to mind is technology. I grew up way too dependent on in despite my mom being a good mother that really tried to limit my time of it. It just never worked. Almost everything I do involves a computer. Through the Internet though, I’ve made spectacular friends, discovered great things (coughcoughmark), it helps me through depression and stuff… but I nevertheless hate how attached I am to it. Sometimes I feel like I’m so disconnected from the “real” world, “real” experiences, but then again, I also believe tech is a part of the “real” world. Idk how to really explain it; I have such mixed feelings. Do you like things that are cliché or not? What kinds of things that are regarded as "cliché" do you like? Sure, especially romantic cliches. I’m just such a sucker for that kind of stuff. What was the last quote you read somewhere, and who said it? “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes,” Ruth Ginsburg. We truly lost a hero. Have you heard any song mash-ups (when they put two or more different songs together) that you like? If so, which? Oh, quite a lot, I love those! The first one that comes to mind is “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy and “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had in 2014? Well, this is old. But anyway, I had one. How often do you say ‘lol’ in a computer or text conversation? Quite a bit. Idk, it just changes the tone of what you’re speaking. Whose hoodie did you wear last? My own. Have you ever listened to music you hated just to fit in? Ha ha… not devoutly, but I’d explore “cool” metal bands to try to get into. I didn’t make myself listen to them if I didn’t like ‘em, though. What’s an interesting fact about you that not many people know? Hm. Well, I don’t consider it “interesting,” but very few people (besides the Internet lmao) know that I essentially stole my then-best friend’s boyfriend by mutual flirting to the point he broke up with her and wanted me instead. I cut that shit the fuck out once he told me he loved me. It’s one of the things I’m most ashamed of. What do you want to do after high school? I’m long past high school, and let’s just say things are NOT going as planned lmao. At all. I had such, such a different vision. Do you do anything embarrassing when no one is home? No. If you had the chance to move to a completely different state/country, would you? I deadass want to move to Canada but am unwilling to move so far from my family. How old were you when you stopped believing in Santa? I don’t know age; it’s funny, I tend to remember things by school grades versus my age. Even in this situation, though, I’m not positive. Towards the end of elementary school, maybe? Do you have any saved texts? Yes, from Sara and Ashley. Do you ever play online games with your friends? Which one(s)? Once upon a time, my friend/”big brother” Sam and I would play WoW together every day and just chill out over Skype. He helped keep me company during my worst depression. We haven’t played together in quite a long time, though. I should message him. Which emoji did you use most recently? The upside-down smiley face on Facebook. Who was the last person to cry in your presence? Mom, probably. Or one of my nieces or nephew. Do any of your friends have small children? Yes. One of my closest friends had her son not even two weeks ago. Do you ever wear accessories in your hair? Which ones? No. What kind of fruit do you like? A good chunk of it. Strawberries, apples, grapes, pineapple, bananas, peaches… Is there anything you've always wanted to do that you've never told anyone? *shrugs* Maybe. Do you flush the toilet with your hand or your foot? ”I use my hand at home and in other people’s bathrooms, but I use my foot in public washrooms.” <<<< Same. What is your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator? (Ex: ENTP): INFP. Do you read any blogs? If so, which ones? No. Would you rather have curvy legs or skinny legs? I’d prefer to have an in-between. What is your favorite game show? Family Feud with Steve Harvey. How many times a day do you use the restroom? Hm. Depends on how much I drink. What was the last thing that made you cringe? Idr. What is your favorite ‘80s movie? I’m not sure, given how I don’t tend to recognize movies by decades. Do you have your own car? No. I don’t drive. Who was the last person who drew you a picture? I commissioned someone on deviantART to draw My Child Jaw and it is so FUCKING beautiful. Would you rather hold a scorpion or a snake? I love snakes, so guess. How do you usually get your exercise? I don’t, but that’s going to change when we FINALLY fuckin move. I’m going to walk as much as I possibly can because we have a sidewalk. Who are your godparents? Idk if I even have any. Are any of your siblings married? Three are and one is engaged. What does your phone case look like, if you have one? It came with a plain purple one. What is something you can draw really well? I think I’m pretty good at meerkats. Best field trip experience? The zoo in the 5th grade. One and only time I’ve seen meerkats irl. What is the most amount of money you’ve spent on a meal before? Idr. It’s very rare I can pay for anything because I don’t have an income, but with gifted money and stuff, it was probably when I paid for my mom and I to eat at Olive Garden. I don’t recall how much it was, but OG isn’t cheap, so. Who was (or is) the teacher that gave you the hardest time in school? Idk. I had good teachers. What is the strangest thing you’ve ever seen outside of your house? I don’t know. Nothing exciting. Do you ever feel self-conscious when you eat around other people? Not really, no. There are cases where I do, like if I take too big a bite or something, but generally I don’t. Everyone has to eat. What is the worst thunderstorm you’ve experienced? I recall one in particular during my era of being terrified of them when we were on the way home from a friend’s house and there was INSANE lightning. I was crying so much in the back seat. I think I have experienced worse ones, that’s just the one I remember because of how much it terrified me. How quickly can you write an essay? Pretty damn quickly once I get into the groove of it. Have you ever had problems falling asleep in class? No. What bug frightens you most? Oh yikes, idk. A lot of bugs scare me, honestly, particularly if they surprise me. Probably rhinoceros beetles. Are your parents supportive of you? Very. Have you ever participated in a mock trial, or a real trial? No. Have you ever had sex in someone else’s bed/bedroom? lol oops Have you ever had sex on your bedroom floor? How about your living room floor? YIKES this survey getting frisky but anyway idk. When you kiss someone, do you like to play with their hair? Yeah. Do you regret sleeping with anyone? No. Do you ever brush your hair before you go to bed? No…? Your hair is just gonna get messy while sleeping. Have you ever asked anyone out? Do you prefer to do the asking out, or wait to see if the other person will ask? Yes. I don’t really have a preference. Have your parents ever disapproved of anyone you had a relationship with? Not to my knowledge. When’s the last time you ran? HUNNY Brittany doesn’t RUN. Have you ever stayed online for a long time waiting for someone? Oh yes, I did that A LOT with Mini back when we were younger and RPed together like every day. Who or what sleeps with you? Roman, my cat. Would you wear a boy/girlfriend’s clothes? I somehow wound up with quite a few of Jason’s pj pants?????? But anyway yeah sure, I would. If it fit, anyway. Do you return your cart? I am a lazy person. But not that lazy. Do it. What noise do you hear? I’m currently listening to NateWantsToBattle’s cover of “Feel Good Inc.” Would you survive in prison? No. No. I know I’d try to commit suicide. Do you remember the last movie you saw while on a date? The IT remake with Girt. Have you ever cheated on someone? No sir. Do you kiss on the first date? I never have, but not saying I wouldn’t. BUT I most likely would not just because I reserve kisses for someone I really, really like. Usually by the first date I wouldn’t know that yet. Are you into sports? Nope. Have you ever used your bra to hold things like you would a pocket? HAHA I don’t think so. Who knows a secret about you that no one else does? My ex-therapist. What is your longest relationship to date? 3 ½ years. Who ended the last relationship you were in? It was brought up by her, but it came to be a mutual decision. Have you ever gotten back with an ex? No. Who was your first prom date? Jason. Have you ever dated someone more than three years older than you? For less than a day. Have you ever been used? I don’t think so. Do you like when I guy takes you by surprise and kisses you? This is making quite a few assumptions, but anyway, if we’re in a stable relationship, generally yes. It’s cute. Would you be more likely to date a redneck or a goth? My dream partner would be a goth, hnnnnnnnnGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Has anyone ever sung to you? Yes. Do you like massages? EW don’t touch me like that unless you’re my s/o. Have you ever been skinny dipping? No. When was the last time you spent the night at someone else's house? The last time I was at Sara’s. What scares you more, spiders or snakes? Spiders. Does it matter if a guy has a sense of humor? If he’s a romantic interest, yeah. Would you ever get implants? No. Have you ever had a crush on a sibling's friend? No. Have you ever dated someone with a child? No. I’m quite sure I wouldn’t. Have you ever dated someone of another race? For less than a day. Have you kissed anyone today? No. What was the last topic you read about? I beliiieeeve… Metallica’s new album. Have you ever participated in a fundraising campaign? I think? Again, I don’t have an income though so I’m unsure. Do you know how to knit? No. What’s your go-to order from KFC? I don’t go there. What was the last album you listened to in full? Oh man, there’s no telling. I generally don’t do that. Do you use pepper to season your food? Sure, that’s a common enhancement. Do you know anyone who has an unusual pet? Probably somebody. Have you ever known anyone who was homeless? My mother, Nicole, and I technically were at one point, we just had spectacular people let us live with them until we got a new place. Did you have a treehouse when you were younger? No. One does not simply build a treehouse in pine trees. Have you ever played Magic: The Gathering? Guys. Guys. For many many months now I’ve been dying to and idk why. That game was one of Jason’s favorite things in the world and so he taught me it how to play, though I never fully got it because there are a LOT of rules. When I had my PS3, I had one of the Duels of the Planeswalkers games, and I miss that shit. What are your thoughts on role playing games? Fun fun. What is a band you can't stop listening to right now? I’ve been seriously into 3TEETH lately, as well as Solence. Have you ever had a panic attack? LOTS!!!!!!!! Have you ever entered a talent competition? Naw, I don’t have an exceptional talent. Are you indecisive? Ridiculously so. Are you smiling in your Facebook profile picture? It’s actually one of my brightest smiles I’ve ever taken a selfie with. I look way happier than I am lmaooo. Describe your hometown. What's it like there? Small, notoriously dangerous. Do you have any expensive hobbies? You could say photography given the various lenses and other materials available, plus editing software subscriptions. What is the oldest online account that you still use? My email, probably. What was the last video game you beat? I wanna say it was the last time I replayed Silent Hill 2. Long time ago. What's your favorite Studio Ghibli film? I actually haven’t seen any. Have you ever been really passionate about something but then lost interest? If so, what was it? Yeah, sure, like various entertainers/bands/musicians, TV shows…

#survey #surveys #quiz #questions #questionnaire

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dafukdidiwatch · 4 years

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Cool Cat Saves The Kids

I watched this movie and I still can’t believe this is the actual cover art for it.

God I wrote so many notes about this that even my flipping Bullet Points were basically an essay. I don’t even know how to begin just thinking about it hurts my head.

Overview: Cool Cat is Cool. Things happen to him, and he has to deal with bullying.

That’s it. That’s the thing I watched. Because there is no Real Flipping Plot to this movie.

This is a kid’s show. Or at the very minimum, a movie that is intended for children. It was based on a kid’s book series I’ve never heard of whose author Derek Savage decided to turn it into a movie. Though movie isn’t exactly what I would call it. When you watch it, it honestly feels like there are six 15 minute shorts that they just mashed together to a feature film, but even then that is a Generous Description.

Basically, the film tries to be a children’s program (and I guess has beef with Barney?). And you can see intent behind it being informative child-friendly psa. But the execution was so bad.

First, there is no plot. Sure the cover says that this is “an anti-bullying kid gun safety movie,” but it really give you nothing. What would happen is that Cool Cat has a problem, like someone bullying him or his friends. It would either A) be addressed immediately and solved so that’s great, or B) it is dropped immediately and never really addressed throughout the rest of the film.

And example of A is that the bully kid Butch just starts stealing candy just to be “evil,” Cool Cat sees that and chases him, and the kid gets arrested twenty seconds later. The End.

For B, Cool Cat gets a mean email. And...that’s about it. He responds to the email, but doesn’t actually address the issue and the subplot drops entirely until that VERY Last wrap up scene.

I think the reason for this lack of plot is that there was just WAY too many messages in here. Like, take a shot every time you see a psa announcement. It ranges from don’t bully, how to deal with bullies, being creative, crossing the street safely, to fricking GUN?! Like, the gun thing that I Guess was promoted in the movie tagline, only shows up the last 10 minutes. It caught me so off guard. You cannot call this a Gun Safety movie when guns aren’t even prevalent!!

And the lack of plot is counterproductive when you want to make a Kid’s Movie like this. If you want to tackle each issue as a show or a short, the messages would come across better. There would be more time to develop each message for kids to really understand. But because there is So Much to cover, a lot of the things are gonna fall to the wayside. There is no way a kid would pay attention to this, and if they do I doubt they are gonna learn everything that Derek Savage is trying to teach. There just isn’t any real focus.

The acting, god like they Tried to go with the kid friendly vibe, but was not working. At All. It was like they thought that to add emotion is to just enunciate your words as loudly as you can. Cool Cat was way too yelly. Every line he was just screaming, has no change whatsoever. Even Elmo can sound sad when need be (fucking love Elmo, but he does has a similar voice vibe to Cool Cat, just better).

Then the kids....I don’t want to be mean but I’ll be blunt. They are just reading lines, this is a middle school stage play basically. I’m not blaming the kids, Butch look like he had a hell of a time doing his villain laugh. It’s just that some of the scenes felt like it was taken in one shot and they didn’t bother to retry. Example: One kid got too excited and jumped his line, but they couldn’t just retake that??

And the lines, man. OOF. Some of it was bad. Like, really really bad placement.They should have had someone proof-read this.

Cool Cat: “Why Are You Painting That Wall?”

Random Kid: “Because Nobody Loves Us”

lol what?

Maria: “I bet those kids have never been shown love before.”

Cool Cat: “Thanks, and it’s all true”

LOL What??

There are just a LOT of lines like that that should have been rephrased.

THEN there are the freaking technical issues.

The audio kept fluctuating in sound quality, which honestly started to hurt with Cool Cat’s constant yelling. Some scenes it sounds like they recorded in a studio, sometimes it sounded like the actors had to yell in order for the camera to capture it. There were echos, there were layers, you can’t hear the lines over the song, you can’t hear the song over the cheers. There was one point whispers overlaid on top of the lines where I thought that Cool Cat just got haunted now. And the fun side of having headphones on means I heard the phone button noises in only One Ear. LOUDLY.

Blocking could have been better. There were a lot of backs to the camera, shots of characters walking away from camera not just off screen. This didn’t bother me as much, because I know this isn’t professionally made. But it didn’t feel like they really tried as much as just half-assed it. Example:

Cool Cat was drawing a picture with different colors, but the actor only used one marker and just said different colors. Or Cool Cat is working on a poster but really just rubs the already completed poster on a clean table as him “working.” Like, how hard is it to just film on a table with a bunch of craft supplies around you?

Then there are the questionable camera shots. LOTS of lingering shots to I assume fill up run time. These are shots of just showing Cool Cat walking round without having any real purpose. It shows Cool Catwalk all the way Up Stairs. Walked all the way Down Stairs. Walking into the House, walking into the Car. Even just shots of the parents doing things with no real motivation or impact to whatever Cool Cat is doing. It’s just there. If you want to say stuff like "oh well its to show the parents relationship" no it doesn’t. You can’t really add nuance to characters when the rest of the film is just one chaotic shot after the other. It just gets lost in translation.

The music number is probably what hurts me the most. You see Cool Cat WRITE the song. Then he SINGS the song. Then he DANCES to a DIFFERENT song. And that was it. He just needed the song for the parade, but there wasn’t any explanation or anything. I don’t even know WHY he needs the song for the parade! There was no explanation. It was just an excuse to have two back-to-back bad music video of poor choreography that again, NO POINT to whatever plot/message/psa thing he is trying to do.

I get that there should be some leeway since it looked like this was shot at Derek Savage’s house/neighborhood, so there really isn’t much they could do with their setting. But they could at least tried more with what they had. Cool Cat’s room doesn’t look exactly child friendly. There are only blank drab walls with two, maybe three posters of just Cool Cat himself. There is a reason the settings in other children shows have vibrant colors to engage them. Along with that, another half-assing moment was Butch graffiting Cool Cat’s poster, but it was one of those political posters you stuck on the lawn so it was like a foot tall outside. 1) You can’t really see that shit that small. 2) You couldn’t put the poster on a wall to film that scene at, to give a better view to the audience? It’s just a bunch of little things like that all over this film that really adds up.

Also, what’s with the posters only being about Cool Cat in his own room? A bit narcissistic if you ask me.

I'm also like 70%,sure they made this movie around the footage of them being in the Hollywood parade twice. They were at the parade, got the film, and wanted to use it so they made a movie for it. And I know it was twice because the announcers that were there to announce the arrival of Cool Cat had a costume change after switching scenes.

And after ALL of this, there is just so many random shit that really don’t do anything. Elements are randomly introduced and just as randomly dropped. We get a “next day” transition in the middle of the movie when days have already passed before them. Cool Cat breaks the 4th wall a couple of times with no real reason why. There is this joke where the camera was following Cool Cat into the bathroom for Cool Cat to ask for privacy, only to just ignore that bit every time he goes to the bathroom afterwards. Cool Cat just makes random ass noises when doing things, not important stuff. Just Doing Things. And he does this weird thing where I think he is trying to do Air Guitar, but it just looks like he is just shaking his leg a lot. I don’t really get it.

(Oh Shit, it is only after like the 3rd proof-read of this review I notice that in the gif you can clearly see the dude’s actual leg. I don’t know how mascot suits actually work, but I’m pretty sure that you’re not supposed to let kids actually see that there’s a person underneath in a kid’s show.)

There is also this....lowkey humblebrag going on? Which does not do the movie favors. After the first dumb song number, Derek shows off that he has a signed guitar by Van Halen. Like not just him playing it (which after the 15th zoom in on the guitar how could you NOT notice it thank you Derek), but pointing out to the audience that, Yes it was Indeed signed by Van Halen. Then there is the footage from the Hollywood Parade about the cars there. Sure, I get showing off like the Ghostbusters car, or Jurassic Park car, or the Batmobile. But Hurby the Love Bug? Night Rider?? Starsky and Hutch??? Magnum P.I.?????? The target audience is elementary kids, they aren’t going to know these old shows. So who is this for exactly?

Kudos to the cop for actually doing this, seriously. That cop probably had a hell of a lot of better things to do than arrest children for a bad after-school special.

And this is just SOME of the main problems of this film. There’s so much going on it would be impossible for me to go over everything without

The thing is, there is good material here. Maybe not great results, but there are a lot of ideas here that you can work with to make a decent kid’s movie. I actually loved the part where Cool Cat is dreaming and trying to figure out how he should handle bullies. I thought that was a good scene and a good way to show kids how to think through different options. There are good ideas here, but it was just way to much going on at once the movie basically shoots itself in the foot.

So here is My Version of what Cool Cat should have done.

Cool Cat is running for School President. That’s the main story line. Early in the movie he learns of a writing contest where the winner gets their own float at the hollywood parade (stretch but roll with it). But Cool Cat has no idea what to write, and talks to it with his friends who offers ideas. So he is juggling that along with running for Student President.

However, the Butch the Bully doesn’t like that. He doesn’t want Cool Cat to win. So he vandalizes his posters. Cool cat still runs and makes better posters. Butch tries to frame Cool Cat for vandalizing the playground, but instead his cronies get caught and convinced that it was a bad idea. So Butch decides to cyberbully Cool Cat and his friends to scare them off. He works with the other kid running for President to make a hate ad against Cool Cat, telling everyone how terrible and bad Cool Cat is. Cool Cat tries to go against this my making his music video song over how cool he is to swing the votes, making Butch more angry and vindictive to his bullying scheme.

Cool Cat doesn’t know how to get Butch to stop, but after getting advice from his friends, parents, teachers, and some hard thinking, he decides to confront Butch about his bullying issue, tell someone, and thus solves the problem. Later on after talking to Butch, maybe manages to convince him to start being friends.

Finally, Cool Cat uses this scenario to write his story about how to deal with bullying and make new friends. Which wins and we end with the Hollywood Parade.

Is this perfect? No. But it focuses the idea to one main plot (running for president) with the other issues naturally coming off of it, instead of making each issue it’s own separate thing. There is no random shifts in narrative, no GUN moments (or GUN in general we kick that shit out) and just focus on the main bullying theme.

Overall: This was a weird and bad children’s show. You have to put in a lot of effort into making a movie, but there was just too much going on for this to be a Good Children’s Movie, least of all a Good Movie in general. But it isn’t to say that it wasn’t morbidly enjoyable. It’s was like playing Spot The Difference to find all the Wrong Things in here. It was fun in a bad way.

So will I show this to children? No. But will I play a drinking game with my friends where we take a shot every time someone says the phrase “Cool Cat”? Yeah that sounds enjoyable.

Take a shot for every time you read “Cool Cat” in my review.

Side Note:

You had this as a GUN PSA, wtf are you doing holding a gun!? Given how the only 3 videos this channel has is only Cool Cat Trailers, I’m assuming this is official Cool Cat. Soooo.....what the hell?

#dafukblog #dafuking films #cool cat #cool cat saves the kids #week 8 movie #derek savage

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