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neil-gaiman · 3 years

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How Did you come up with the first eve in the story about adams wives? I haven’t been able to find anything about her after I read it and I want to know if she’s an actual biblical character or just someone you made

She's from the Midrash. I learned about her as a 12 year old, from my barmitzvah teacher. There was a point in there, long after I'd put her into Sandman, where I was starting to think I'd imagined her, when I ran across her in Robert Graves's Hebrew Myths....

Excerpt from: The Hebrew Myths by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai (New York: Doubleday, 1964), pp 65-69

Chapter 10: Adam's Helpmeets

(a) Having decided to give Adam a helpmeet lest he should be alone of his kind, God put him into a deep sleep, removed one of his ribs, formed it into a woman, and closed up the wound, Adam awoke and said: 'This being shall be named "Woman", because she has been taken out of man. A man and a woman shall be one flesh.' The title he gave her was Eve, 'the Mother of All Living''. [1]

(b) Some say that God created man and woman in His own image on the Sixth Day, giving them charge over the world; [2] but that Eve did not yet exist. Now, God had set Adam to name every beast, bird and other living thing. When they passed before him in pairs, male and female, Adam-being already like a twenty-year-old man-felt jealous of their loves, and though he tried coupling with each female in turn, found no satisfaction in the act. He therefore cried: 'Every creature but I has a proper mate', and prayed God would remedy this injustice. [3]

(c) God then formed Lilith, the first woman, just as He had formed Adam, except that He used filth and sediment instead of pure dust. From Adam's union with this demoness, and with another like her named Naamah, Tubal Cain's sister, sprang Asmodeus and innumerable demons that still plague mankind. Many generations later, Lilith and Naamah came to Solomon's judgement seat, disguised as harlots of Jerusalem'. [4]

(d) Adam and Lilith never found peace together; for when he wished to lie with her, she took offence at the recumbent posture he demanded. 'Why must I lie beneath you?' she asked. 'I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal.' Because Adam tried to compel her obedience by force, Lilith, in a rage, uttered the magic name of God, rose into the air and left him.

Adam complained to God: 'I have been deserted by my helpmeet' God at once sent the angels Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof to fetch Lilith back. They found her beside the Red Sea, a region abounding in lascivious demons, to whom she bore lilim at the rate of more than one hundred a day. 'Return to Adam without delay,' the angels said, `or we will drown you!' Lilith asked: `How can I return to Adam and live like an honest housewife, after my stay beside the Red Sea?? 'It will be death to refuse!' they answered. `How can I die,' Lilith asked again, `when God has ordered me to take charge of all newborn children: boys up to the eighth day of life, that of circumcision; girls up to the twentieth day. None the less, if ever I see your three names or likenesses displayed in an amulet above a newborn child, I promise to spare it.' To this they agreed; but God punished Lilith by making one hundred of her demon children perish daily; [5] and if she could not destroy a human infant, because of the angelic amulet, she would spitefully turn against her own. [6]

(e) Some say that Lilith ruled as queen in Zmargad, and again in Sheba; and was the demoness who destroyed job's sons. [7] Yet she escaped the curse of death which overtook Adam, since they had parted long before the Fall. Lilith and Naamah not only strangle infants but also seduce dreaming men, any one of whom, sleeping alone, may become their victim. [8]

(f) Undismayed by His failure to give Adam a suitable helpmeet, God tried again, and let him watch while he built up a woman's anatomy: using bones, tissues, muscles, blood and glandular secretions, then covering the whole with skin and adding tufts of hair in places. The sight caused Adam such disgust that even when this woman, the First Eve, stood there in her full beauty, he felt an invincible repugnance. God knew that He had failed once more, and took the First Eve away. Where she went, nobody knows for certain. [9]

(g) God tried a third time, and acted more circumspectly. Having taken a rib from Adam's side in his sleep, He formed it into a woman; then plaited her hair and adorned her, like a bride, with twenty-four pieces of jewellery, before waking him. Adam was entranced. [10]

(h) Some say that God created Eve not from Adam's rib, but from a tail ending in a sting which had been part of his body. God cut this off, and the stump-now a useless coccyx-is still carried by Adam's descendants. [11]

(i) Others say that God's original thought had been to create two human beings, male and female; but instead He designed a single one with a male face looking forward, and a female face looking back. Again He changed His mind, removed Adam's backward-looking face, and built a woman's body for it. [12]

(j) Still others hold that Adam was originally created as an androgyne of male and female bodies joined back to back. Since this posture made locomotion difficult, and conversation awkward, God divided the androgyne and gave each half a new rear. These separate beings He placed in Eden, forbidding them to couple. [13]

Notes on sources:

1. Genesis II. 18-25; III. 20.

2. Genesis I. 26-28.

3. Gen. Rab. 17.4; B. Yebamot 632.

4. Yalqut Reubeni ad. Gen. II. 21; IV. 8.

5. Alpha Beta diBen Sira, 47; Gaster, MGWJ, 29 (1880), 553 ff.

6. Num. Rab. 16.25.

7. Targum ad job 1. 15.

8. B. Shabbat 151b; Ginzberg, LJ, V. 147-48.

9. Gen. Rab. 158, 163-64; Mid. Abkir 133, 135; Abot diR. Nathan 24; B. Sanhedrin 39a.

10. Gen. II. 21-22; Gen. Rab. 161.

11. Gen. Rab. 134; B. Erubin 18a.

12. B. Erubin 18a.

13. Gen. Rab. 55; Lev. Rab. 14.1: Abot diR. Nathan 1.8; B. Berakhot 61a; B. Erubin 18a; Tanhuma Tazri'a 1; Yalchut Gen. 20; Tanh. Buber iii.33; Mid. Tehillim 139, 529.

Authors’ Comments on the Myth:

1. The tradition that man's first sexual intercourse was with animals, not women, may be due to the widely spread practice of bestiality among herdsmen of the Middle East, which is still condoned by custom, although figuring three times in the Pentateuch as a capital crime. In the Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic, Enkidu is said to have lived with gazelles and jostled other wild beasts at the watering place, until civilized by Aruru's priestess. Having enjoyed her embraces for six days and seven nights, he wished to rejoin the wild beasts but, to his surprise, they fled from him. Enkidu then knew that he had gained understanding, and the priestess said: 'Thou art wise, Enkidu, like unto a godl'

2. Primeval man was held by the Babylonians to have been androgynous. Thus the Gilgamesh Epic gives Enkidu androgynous features: `the hair of his head like a woman's, with locks that sprout like those of Nisaba, the Grain-goddess.' The Hebrew tradition evidently derives from Greek sources, because both terms used in a Tannaitic midrash to describe the bisexual Adam are Greek: androgynos, 'man-woman', and diprosopon, 'twofaced'. Philo of Alexandria, the Hellenistic philosopher and commentator on the Bible, contemporary with Jesus, held that man was at first bisexual; so did the Gnostics. This belief is clearly borrowed from Plato. Yet the myth of two bodies placed back to back may well have been founded on observation of Siamese twins, which are sometimes joined in this awkward manner. The two-faced Adam appears to be a fancy derived from coins or statues of Janus, the Roman New Year god.

3. Divergences between the Creation myths of Genesis r and n, which allow Lilith to be presumed as Adam's first mate, result from a careless weaving together of an early Judaean and a late priestly tradition. The older version contains the rib incident. Lilith typifies the Anath-worshipping Canaanite women, who were permitted pre-nuptial promiscuity. Time after time the prophets denounced Israelite women for following Canaanite practices; at first, apparently, with the priests' approval-since their habit of dedicating to God the fees thus earned is expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy xxIII. I8. Lilith's flight to the Red Sea recalls the ancient Hebrew view that water attracts demons. 'Tortured and rebellious demons' also found safe harbourage in Egypt. Thus Asmodeus, who had strangled Sarah's first six husbands, fled 'to the uttermost parts of Egypt' (Tobit viii. 3), when Tobias burned the heart and liver of a fish on their wedding night.

4. Lilith's bargain with the angels has its ritual counterpart in an apotropaic rite once performed in many Jewish communities. To protect the newborn child against Lilith-and especially a male, until he could be permanently safeguarded by circumcision-a ring was drawn with natron, or charcoal, on the wall of the birthroom, and inside it were written the words: 'Adam and Eve. Out, Lilith!' Also the names Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof (meanings uncertain) were inscribed on the door. If Lilith nevertheless succeeded in approaching the child and fondling him, he would laugh in his sleep. To avert danger, it was held wise to strike the sleeping child's lips with one finger-whereupon Lilith would vanish.

5. 'Lilith' is usually derived from the Babylonian-Assyrian word lilitu, ,a female demon, or wind-spirit'-one of a triad mentioned in Babylonian spells. But she appears earlier as 'Lillake' on a 2000 B.G. Sumerian tablet from Ur containing the tale of Gilgamesh and the Willow Tree. There she is a demoness dwelling in the trunk of a willow-tree tended by the Goddess Inanna (Anath) on the banks of the Euphrates. Popular Hebrew etymology seems to have derived 'Lilith' from layil, 'night'; and she therefore often appears as a hairy night-monster, as she also does in Arabian folklore. Solomon suspected the Queen of Sheba of being Lilith, because she had hairy legs. His judgement on the two harlots is recorded in I Kings III. 16 ff. According to Isaiah xxxiv. I4-I5, Lilith dwells among the desolate ruins in the Edomite Desert where satyrs (se'ir), reems, pelicans, owls, jackals, ostriches, arrow-snakes and kites keep her company.

6. Lilith's children are called lilim. In the Targum Yerushalmi, the priestly blessing of Numbers vi. 26 becomes: 'The Lord bless thee in all thy doings, and preserve thee from the Lilim!' The fourth-century A.D. commentator Hieronymus identified Lilith with the Greek Lamia, a Libyan queen deserted by Zeus, whom his wife Hera robbed of her children. She took revenge by robbing other women of theirs.

7. The Lamiae, who seduced sleeping men, sucked their blood and ate their flesh, as Lilith and her fellow-demonesses did, were also known as Empusae, 'forcers-in'; or Mormolyceia, 'frightening wolves'; and described as 'Children of Hecate'. A Hellenistic relief shows a naked Lamia straddling a traveller asleep on his back. It is characteristic of civilizations where women are treated as chattels that they must adopt the recumbent posture during intercourse, which Lilith refused. That Greek witches who worshipped Hecate favoured the superior posture, we know from Apuleius; and it occurs in early Sumerian representations of the sexual act, though not in the Hittite. Malinowski writes that Melanesian girls ridicule what they call `the missionary position', which demands that they should lie passive and recumbent.

8. Naamah, 'pleasant', is explained as meaning that 'the demoness sang pleasant songs to idols'. Zmargad suggest smaragdos, the semi-precious aquamarine; and may therefore be her submarine dwelling. A demon named Smaragos occurs in the Homeric Epigrams.

9. Eve's creation by God from Adam's rib-a myth establishing male supremacy and disguising Eve's divinity-lacks parallels in Mediterranean or early Middle-Eastern myth. The story perhaps derives iconotropically from an ancient relief, or painting, which showed the naked Goddess Anath poised in the air, watching her lover Mot murder his twin Aliyan; Mot (mistaken by the mythographer for Yahweh) was driving a curved dagger under Aliyan's fifth rib, not removing a sixth one. The familiar story is helped by a hidden pun on tsela, the Hebrew for 'rib': Eve, though designed to be Adam's helpmeet, proved to be a tsela, a 'stumbling', or 'misfortune'. Eve's formation from Adam's tail is an even more damaging myth; perhaps suggested by the birth of a child with a vestigial tail instead of a coccyx-a not infrequent occurrence.

10. The story of Lilith's escape to the East and of Adam's subsequent marriage to Eve may, however, record an early historical incident: nomad herdsmen, admitted into Lilith's Canaanite queendom as guests (see 16. 1), suddenly seize power and, when the royal household thereupon flees, occupy a second queendom which owes allegiance to the Hittite Goddess Heba.

The meaning of 'Eve' is disputed. Hawwah is explained in Genesis III. 20 as 'mother of all living'; but this may well be a Hebraicized form of the divine name Heba, Hebat, Khebat or Khiba. This goddess, wife of the Hittite Storm-god, is shown riding a lion in a rock-sculpture at Hattusaswhich equates her with Anath-and appears as a form of Ishtar in Hurrian texts. She was worshipped at Jerusalem (see 27. 6). Her Greek name was Hebe, Heracles's goddess-wife.

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lestwritewhilewaitingforajobcall · 3 years

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The Spark That Split the Seas - Poseidon x Reader x Thor

(A/N)

Hey guys I’m back! I’ve been grinding hard for a new character that I’d gotten in this game, Genshin Impact, so I’m sorry for the absence! Anyways, as always, I want to thank you all for the support on my past two stories and on my account, I truly appreciate every one of you! On a story-related note, since I’d mentioned on my previous post that I had a lot of Poseidon x Reader x Thor fics written in my drafts, I decided to post one so you guys could also join me in the feels! Any feedback would be appreciated! This was originally shorter than the final story you’re seeing now, as I’d first only written their dialogues, but as usual, I excitedly itched into making a story out of it!

This is for entertainment only. Record of Ragnarok belongs to Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui and Ajichika. I also do not own you, the reader.

The Spark That Split the Seas

Poseidon x Reader x Thor

For more than all the millennia the gods and other species alike had known the lonely kingdom of Atlantis, never once did the crashing waves gave way to the chirping of the largest Albatrosses until now. Otherworldly flying creatures joined with the familiar exclusively earthly ones in enjoying the ebb and flow of the ocean, albeit this time, the hungry ocean appeared more satiated and seemed to follow a regular pattern ‘from sudden crash to a long calm, to crash again then back to another lengthy calm;’ life in the sea rejoiced in this odd occurrence.

Beautiful yellow sun rays poured through the stained-glass windows, casting a kaleidoscope pattern on the large interiors of the kingdom ruled by the god of the seas, and catching the reflection of his nonchalant visage. The long, elegant dining table filled with every kind of seafood delectable imaginable also fell victim to the light, along with a figure that sat down opposite, whose invitation was clear.

Hidden from this heavenly atmosphere were the prying eyes of a little messenger bird who stood unobtrusively behind one of the tall pillars near the far end of the room, halting his slide just in time to witness this miracle:

The living bearer of the most fearsome title, the ruler of both this grandiose palace of the most precious gems and coral and all the oceans and waters, the almighty Poseidon, though against all reason and self-proved authority whatsoever, against the epics of Greek poets, was indulged, seemingly willingly, in the pleasure of having another’s company. In the shadows, Hermes’ red eyes shot wide open in shock.

Poseidon, the ever abrupt and rude god who had deemed most beings to be below him, received a guest, a still breathing one at that.

What in the gods’ name?

In a tone of haughty contempt, a grunt escaped from Poseidon’s lips. Finishing chewing the last bite of delicious food in your mouth, you nodded your head in earnest agreement with his point. Your next words were uttered with the firmness of an old sage who had all the answers, your beliefs shaped by the countless lifetimes you had lived.

“Existing is painful.” Your shoulders bobbed with your chuckle.

Although Poseidon felt a small measure of relief−a feeling that by habit had always been easy to brush-off with a condescending thought, his face betrayed nothing as his stoic features remained still. “If you agree, then why not allow me to kill you this instant?” As if to emphasize his strength, the crashing sound of dreadful combat between waves and rocks rang in the air, and you almost wished that a low rumble of thunder accompanied it, finding beauty in its loud peals, and additionally giving a volume of inspiration to Michelangelo below.

Despite your gaze being unrequited, you were sure you had the god’s attention. Since arriving here, Poseidon noted that your expression had always been smoothed into a calm, smiling one. “If you had intended to kill me, we would not be having this conversation right now.”

Poseidon sat rigid and silent.

“It’s a comfortingly tragic drama, my circle of life. I may not have been lucky to acquire a life as long as that of the gods, but I have definitely lived more times than you have.” Your words were so nonchalant, for a second there Poseidon thought you were kidding.

“That is for the simple fact that you mortals are weak, pathetic.” Lips as pink as young petunias touched the clear edge of the wine glass as Poseidon’s eyes closed, content to give over to listen.

“Yes, we are.” You paused. “But because of this frailty, we learned to adapt, evolve.”

“There is no need for evolution if you are perfect from the moment of conception. Hence why gods such as I, will always be above you.”

“You’re correct. Humans will never become gods after all,” Again, Poseidon found himself absorbing your words like a sponge. At the same time, he experienced an occasional sharp prick at the edge of his emotions, as if signaling him to pull back. “The same as gods will never become like humans.”

“Extremely foolish of you to think that trash is worthy of the shiniest Orichalcum. Your race has been created by us, for us, and will therefore always be inferior.”

“Humans are inferior in all aspects, this, is a fact. It is hence no accident that there is a history of rebellion and consequently, a false notion of superiority. But to be able to look beyond this, is to understand that we never truly intended to surpass animals nor the gods themselves. The nature of our desire: everything was meant for either survival or man’s search for meaning.

“We are by nature flawed and inconsistent creatures. And as you have no doubt seen for yourself as well, despite reaching all our goals, achieving our wildest dreams, we have never reached a position where satisfaction is achieved.” Keenness made your words sound almost heroic. There was a twinkle in your eye and a lilt in your voice, and Poseidon found that now he had a much clearer picture of your reputation for an irrepressible desire to see what is beyond your reach as you questioned: “If I may ask, as I have seen the gods share this sentiment of looking for meaning, do you feel an inkling of the same?”

When Poseidon had put the wine glass down, he hesitated a moment, his supposedly closed mind wavering between doubt and certainty. He would never come to understand this, nor admit to feeling this dissonance, but at last, he shook his head at his consideration, trying to reduce the unpleasantness he felt by the same way he had always used to get out of extremely rare difficulties.

“Do not disrespect me, mortal.” He knew himself that it was an empty threat.

“Those were never my intentions.” You bowed with great respect, but there was at the same time apparent in your manner the consciousness that while Poseidon would never in any way confirm your statement, he did not necessarily refute it. Your heart rose in gratitude as you regarded him with a look of affection, believing in your intellectual companionship.

“Lord Poseidon, as the fearsome god of the seas, what is the meaning of life for you?” The god surveyed your reflection in one of the golden plates, and maybe it was because he had acted in a charitable way towards you, but he saw brightness, a refreshing difference, as if there were no heavy shackles to weigh you down.

“My husband has always been in search of a worthy opponent. What about you?”

It was like a pin came dangerously close to the rational bubble of Poseidon’s beliefs. But then your words penetrated his mind, and he berated himself for almost falling prey, yet…

“Perfection.” Poseidon blurted out loud, full of self-indulgence, but uncomfortable with the thought of pity reeking from his pores, a role that was clearly uncharacteristic of him.

Tilting your head, your brows meshed inquisitively upon hearing this. “This presents the conundrum; you are already perfect, as should all the gods. Since you have explained, gods have always been pristine, perfect, the moment you all were born.

“So, if you have already achieved the meaning and purpose of your life, what is there left to live for?” There was something entrancing in your guileless form, and Poseidon was displeased that another should feel such an interest in your wise, unguarded character. “And if gods have already reached perfection, why is there an endeavor still for the dross of earth?”

For the first time in Poseidon’s life, he was receptive of contraries. Not one single time, had he ever been in the position where he listened, much more considered the act of interpretation. What he said goes, but for some frustrating reason, he was coming to terms of mutual respect; whenever he was sitting opposite you, chin in hand, the more he caught the flame.

Quickly, he stopped that train of thought and he seamed his mouth, stoic. Only his eyes betrayed a spark of defiance. “Stop asking ridiculous questions.”

Again, you bowed. “I apologize if I have overstepped such boundaries.”

“You better be.” With a look of eager inquiry, Poseidon asked, “Why are you not afraid of me? Is it because you are confident Thor would protect you?” One thing that distressed him was that the more he was alone with you, the more he saw your hands, always ungloved, noticed the wedding-ring on your finger. That closed circle excluded him, his face registering the insult. “As expected from a repulsive weakling,”

“No. I know he would be there for me whenever I should need him, and also the times when I don’t.” You said still a smile on your mouth.

Although you were unaware of the eagle eyes that were watching your every move, you had the instinct. You did not need all the information, and you had nothing to hide. Your shoulders were loose, back wasn’t ramrod straight and you exuded a carefree attitude. “The sole reason why my fears have dissipated is because perhaps, I enjoy your conversation.”

To say this whole exchange took Hermes by surprise would be an understatement. After the initial expression of shock, he laughed lowly.

You continued, “I have already accepted your beliefs. No one is entitled to those except yourself.

“If I were to die from imparting what my beliefs are, that is simply fate, a tragedy, but nonetheless, fate. Of course, I would try my best to avoid disappearing from this lifetime, seeing as I have made a promise with my husband, to continue to fight for my life, shall needed, until the very end.” Poseidon’s grip tightened the slightest bit.

“I believe that despite our obvious differences, we are simply two being who each have our own unique experiences that shape our views and beliefs. For hundreds of millennia, I’d seen calamity from all angles; mainly conflicts over a universal truth,

“But so long as there are questions, there will never be one solid concrete truth. And I’m okay with that.” You concluded.

Compliments never rolled off Poseidon’s tongue easily, since in his view they were nothing but hollow words. But this time, he could hardly slip a word in bad taste. He thought it pleasant to hear you, but it could not distract him from the uninvited presence in his throne room.

“You’re a heretic.” His usual strong voice beckoned your attention, discerning the sternness on the table of his expression to be forced. No matter, you had just enough of a last glimpse to see his face looking younger in repose.

“I have been labeled as such.” You noticed the unique rhythm of the crashing waves seemed to have settled along the sand grains, and you admitted it was so beautiful and timeless.

“You’re dismissed.” Poseidon believed in being straightforward with affairs. Since the conversation has ended, the final interchange of words was not likely to be a substantive one. Though this was his original reason, the face at the forefront of his mind right now was not yours but Hermes’.

You stood up and curtsied to show your gratitude. “Very well. It was splendid to be in your company this afternoon.”

Blue eyes followed you as you began walking away, and he watched you until you went out of sight when you began to ascend the Skíðblaðnir, a ship so completely reserved only for you by the Kingdom of the Norse. Then Poseidon’s ears turned toward the messenger’s direction.

Hermes quickly dashed to Poseidon and knelt to greet him with such a great respect akin to the expectations all elderly gods have always expected of their younger ones.

“We gods are perfect beings from the very start; therefore, we do not plot schemes nor engage in disagreements.” The implication registered with a jolt, and Hermes felt his mouth open as the real reason for your invitation became clear. He fought the urge to look at where Adamas had died brutally as a lowlife, not failing to recognize that this was the exact opposite of that faded history.

Finding quiet when Hermes immediately left, the god of the seas stared at his dominion, taking deep breaths of the air, not feeling the normal icy sting carried by the ocean. Over again he dwelt upon in his conversations with you, interested to find out if the Norse god of thunder had been able to sustain a similar type of conversation.

The very first quiver of interest sparked through Poseidon and though he did not recognize it nor perceived it, he understood the most important things, the only ones he ever needed to:

You did not seek validation nor attention. You had no fear of death, neither of the hardships of life.

Your depths of wisdom were unparalleled throughout the realms, which he would comment on its wasted potential, however, he knew Hermes already understood that part of it.

And the god of messenger did, as the word got around slowly but surely:

“There would always be those who dare to brave the ocean’s roar, but there was only one who withstood it.”

#poseidon x reader #thor x reader #snv x reader #snv poseidon #snv thor #shuumatsu no valkyrie #snv poseidon x reader #snv thor x reader #record of ragnarok poseidon x reader #record of ragnarok x reader #record of ragnarok #record of ragnarok thor x reader #poseidon x reader x thor #snv poseidon x reader x snv thor

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spidernerdsblog · 3 years

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Into You

I have a idea for a smutty story with Peter Parker :D maybe Y/N is a new Avenger, Peter see her at her "welcome" Party but they know each other from a few months ago where they had very great sex (maybe a few details in the story, both love hard sex. Peter is the dom :D). Y/N had a great night with all, the girls love her but peter is a bit shy because he doesn't know if she reminds him. So time after time they repeat the night (please mention it) and fell in love. That would be great haha thaaanks :)) maybe a bit Action, where Y/N looks great in her suit and Peter is surprised what she is able to

Requested by : @fabienneweasley

A/N : Reader's character is inspired by Susan Storm of the fantastic four she basically weilds the power of invisibility and creating forcefields. Hope you like this. Feedbacks and suggestions are always welcome.

Pairing : Peter Parker x Avenger! Reader

Warnings : 18+, SMUT, mature content, unprotected sex (not a wise choice to indulge), dom! peter, fwb -> lovers.

The Avengers are fighting against madame Hydra and her troops

"Parker! Status?" Tony's voice crackles through the intercom whilst Peter fights against a group of Hydra soldiers which seems to just keep on increasing in number.

"Uh Mr Stark things are getting a little crowded over here a little back up would be nice" Peter replies back struggling to keep up the fight as he successfully webs up a bunch of the soldiers. But to his surprise a whole new troop emerges from nowhere.

"Oh no! Karen activate instant kill!" Karen activates the instant kill mode but it still wasn't enough to tackle the whole army as Peter was soon outnumbered. One of the soldiers threw a gamma ray infused bomb which if detonated can be catastrophic to anyone who is hit by its radiation. The bomb detonates with a huge blast but to Peter’s surprise a forcefield forms around it containing the blast inside it, soon the forcefield disintegrates, sucking in the deadly radiation with it like a black hole sucks in everything into it.

"Woah! what the hell was that?!" Peter was awestruck at what just happened.

Suddenly a feminine figure appeared out of the thin air in front of Peter. She was wearing a blue suit which hugged her curves perfectly, hair cascading down her shoulders. And as she turned to face him Peter felt like he was hit by a truck, it was you. He stood there like a statue still processing what he was seeing.

"You're welcome by the way" you quipped, breaking him out of his daze.

"Who are you?" Peter asks though he knew very well who you're but seeing you like this was a huge shock to him.

"Y/N Y/L/N aka storm and you're the famous spiderman"

"Yeah I'm indeed" he chuckles nervously, he was grateful that he was wearing his mask so you couldn’t see his face. You were about to say something when you got interrupted.

"Great work, Y/N" Tony's voice buzzed.

"Thank you Mr Stark" you and Peter fought side by side forcing the Hydra to retreat accepting their defeat.

After the city clean up was done a welcome cum victory party was arranged for you in the evening at the compound. Peter was shuffling on his feet in anticipation of meeting you face to face. The huge spacious hall was feeling stuffy for him. Everyone was enjoying themselves as you walked in a shimmery electric blue number looking stunning as always hair styled into loose waves a dazzling smile adorned your face, eyes scanning through the crowd and momentarily you lock eyes with Peter from across the room but you were soon to look away as if you didn't recognize him.

Peter's mind was a mess, never did he imagine he would run into you again and in a circumstance like this. He had so much to say to you. But you acted so oblivious. Don't you remember him at all? Moreover he was feeling way too shy to approach you what if you actually don't remember him. Tony clinked his champagne glass to draw everyone's attention standing at the center of the room with you beside him

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to introduce you to our newest addition to the team’’ He introduced you ‘‘The very young and talented Y/N Y/L/N!" everyone clapped and cheered for you.

"Hello everyone honored to be a part of this incredible team and looking forward to working with you guys" For a fraction of second your eyes met Peter’s and memories rushed back in. You never expected to see him again not at a place like this. What is he even doing here?

"Y/N come let me introduce you to the rest of the team" Tony offered you happily followed him as he introduced you to Steve, Sam, Bucky, Rhodes, Dr Banner and then the other ladies of the team.

"Welcome to the circus girl" Natasha joked patting your shoulder "we girls always stick together, you'll love it here"

"Yeah and any problem feel free to come to us" Wanda insisted.

"Sure" you gave a broad smile as you engaged in a hearty conversation with them, your eyes occasionally fleeting towards Peter who was standing at a corner.

"Hey kid, why are you standing there all alone? Come here" Tony called out to him. Peter hesitantly made his way towards where you were standing as you watched him intently.

"And last but not the least my young and promising protégé, kid this is Y/N and Y/N this is-" you cut him off

"Peter" Peter looked at you wide eyed you indeed remember him.

"You know him?" Tony asks amused

"Yeah we met last year at Uni. I was an exchange student there before you know I got hit by some weird cosmic rays"

"Well then great! Peter can show you around won't you kid?"

"Yeah would love to Mr Stark" he smiled.

"Looking forward to working with you, Parker or may I say spiderman" you smirked with a playful glint in your eyes strutting past him to mingle with the other guests.

The summer of last year will always be memorable for you. Firstly because you accidentally got hit by cosmic radiation and got your powers and the epic one night stand that you will never forget. You were an exchange student for the Biophysics programme at the Empire State University though you actually never fitted the perfect description of a nerd because you were never a bookworm, very much outspoken, loved to go out and yet managed to score a perfect A during exams one could say you were the best of both worlds. You were a burst of energy in a classroom full of a bunch of nerds and none of them interest you. But in that classroom full of geeks one particular brunette in glasses caught your eyes. The cute awkward guy of the class Peter Parker. He had this boyish charm that you tried but couldn’t resist. You have often caught him stealing glances at you but every time he used to turn away flustered.

Peter himself couldn't deny the fact that he was attracted to you since the day you walked into the class, you were beautiful as well as witty but he knew it very well that you were out of his league and then you started to hang out with Harry Osborn and he started dating Gwen so nothing really happened between you two. And since none of you took the initiative to make a move both of you continued to secretly have a crush on each other though it was just a matter of time.

The club was crazy packed. It was a Friday night so you weren’t exactly sure why it surprised you. You were standing near the bar deciding your drink for tonight when your eyes caught a rather unusual visitor, Peter Parker. He was sulking at the corner of the counter looking a bit tired. You ordered two drinks and took them in your hands making your way towards him. You slid a glass to him, breaking him from his thoughts as he looked up to you.

"Rough day?" you ask nonchalantly. He smiles letting out a long sigh.

"Is it that obvious?" you chuckle lightly.

"Oh no, just never took you as a club going person"

"Well you’re kind of right, I was actually thinking of getting out of here"

"So where's blondie?" you ask while taking a sip of your drink.

"Uh we're taking a break" He answers nervously.

"Oh I see" you "Then let’s drink to that" you raised his glass in front of him

"No it’s fine, I’m not a drinker actually"

"C'mon for one night, now drink up" you insisted. He gulped down the drink, slightly wincing at the burning taste down his throat.

"Let’s go" you grabbed his hand pulling him off his seat.

"Where?"

"To dance! We are in a club Peter" You exclaim.

"I-I can't dance" He stutters nervously.

"Rubbish! Everyone can dance" you dragged him with you. Peter stood in the middle of the dancefloor feeling a little uncomfortable as well as nervous after all he had a crush on you and the last thing he wants is to disappoint you. He watched you intently as you swayed to the music. You took his hands and placed them on your hips placing your own around his neck making him sway with you. He slowly began to loosen up and dance with you enjoying the vibe. After sometime you went to have a couple of shots together and you were nevertheless drunk.

"So you and Harry, huh?" Peter asked, downing another shot.

"Nah we're just messing around" you shrug

"So no one in our class interests you either?"

"Good boys aren't my type. I mean they're real softies and that's cute" you scrunch your nose "But I prefer a little hardcore" You gave a subtle wink.

"Maybe you're wrong to judge just by the looks"

"Well I would be happy if you prove me otherwise" You practically challenged him.

"With all my pleasure if you want" he smirks. His eyes had a mischievous glint that you have never seen before. Things escalated pretty quickly as you found yourself back in your apartment in your bedroom. Your back arched up, face buried in the pillows as Peter took you from the back.

"Fuck!" Your grip tightened on the sheets as he rammed into your throbbing cunt. His grip tight on your ass, as he pulls you back to meet with his thrusts. Your elbows felt weak nearly in the state of giving out as you jolted forward everytime he snapped his hips going deep inside you hitting your sweet spot. He places a slap on your ass as you yelp in shock. You couldn't think straight the only thing you could focus on how well he was fucking you.

His hand goes to grab your hair pulling you back, flush against his strong and sturdy chest.

"You like it don't you? To be fucked hard like the slut you’re" he growled pressing his lips roughly to yours swallowing your moans one hand snaking down to rub your sensitive bud as he fucks you hard and fast. You felt delirious as you felt the knot build inside you. You screamed out his name as your orgasm washed over he was quick to follow suit.

Though it was a one night thing but it was worth it. After that night he had truly left you wondering how a nerd like him was so fit and strong and now you know why and if you had to put it quite plainly you were properly railed by spiderman last summer.

..........

"Sparring with you on my first day is it really necessary?" you quip

"You need to start from day one now C'mon give me your best shot" Nat stood defensively as you lunged towards her throwing a punch that she dodged without any effort before tripping you and causing you to fall on the ground. You groan in pain before pulling yourself back on your feet.

"Ow! that hurt"

"You really need to build up your lower body strength, start with some leg exercise today, do squats 3 sets 10 reps"

"Yes mam"

Peter was sparring with Sam, the moment you walked in that sports bra and skin tight pants he knew he was gone, his eyes frequently drifting away to you as he watched you work out squatting in those skin tight yoga pants which just perfectly defined your plump round ass.

"Yo Parker! Eyes here"

"Yeah, yeah sorry" Peter stutters as he feels his face heating up.

After you finished your set of workout you went to grab your water bottle. Peter's eyes were transfixed on you the whole time as he noticed a little bit of the water drizzled down the corner of your mouth trailing down to your chest just between your perfect cleavage. The only thing he could think of right now was to rip that sports bra off you and suck on to those perfect tits. You noticed your secret admirer through the glass as you sent a playful wink his way. Peter choked on his spit, turning away flustered as if a deer caught in the headlights. You turned around lazily walking towards him.

"You know I'm not a psychic so if you got something to say just say instead of staring at me like a creep" you quip.

"Wha-what do I have to say to you?" He stutters.

"I don't know, maybe hey how are you? It's been a long time" you half shrug.

"Uhh…''

"OK my bad" you turn to leave Peter scrunches his face at how stupid it was of him.

''Umm Y/N!" he called you as you turned to face him again.

"Yeah?"

"It's good to see you again"

"Good to see you too Parker" you smiled.

A few days went by like this, both stealing glances at each other from time to time when you were present in the same room or during your missions a lot of unspoken words and emotions bubbling inside of you trying to come out. Peter couldn’t help but admire this new and powerful you. He never got the chance to talk to you after that night because you just vanished from his life and now he knows why.

..........

A new threat arrived from madame Hydra again when she seized the cube and shielded it in a dome of lethal gamma radiation. The team had already sorted out a plan to defeat her malicious plans and you were to play a big part in it.

"May I come in?" You knocked at Peter’s door. He was busy on his computer as he turned to see you outside his room.

"Huh,yea-yeah sure" He says nervously. You smiled in return and walked into his room, eyes looking around.

"Umm so Tony asked me to discuss with you the plan of how we are going to execute the whole infiltration thing to retrieve the cube which is shielded with gamma radiation’’ you showed him a holographic structure of the dome. ‘‘Anybody entering the dome will become an abomination. So you guys will distract them and I in the meantime will disintegrate the gamma dome so you can retrieve the cube" You looked up from the hologram to find Peter staring at you intently.

"What? Is anything wrong?"

"No-no, it’s absolutely fine" Peter fumbles

"Then what is it?"

"Jus-just still can’t believe that you are here and-and-"

"have super powers just like you which by the way was shocking for me too given that we knew each other for a while" You snicker, Peter smiles shaking his head.

"So how did this all happen?"

"Well a little misadventure with the quantum tunnel in the lab I got exposed to its energy and ta da! Now I make force fields as well as can go invisible"

"But now you can save the world"

"Yeah that's true" you chuckle "So how's blondie?" Peter stiffens at your question.

"Don't know, haven't been in contact for a while" He shrugs.

"Why what happened?"

"There were some differences so we parted ways"

"Oh I'm sorry" you place a hand on his gently

"Don't be" he smiles, eyes soft, gazing at you longingly as you gazed in his eyes too for how long you didn't know before you shook yourself from the daze clearing your throat.

"Uh I think I should go to my room now"

"Yeah-yeah sure" He stutters.

The tension between you was thickening at each passing day and soon it reached its breaking point. The other team members were out on a mission in which you weren’t required so you were now in the kitchen leaning on the counter with a nutella jar in your hand and a spoon in your mouth savoring on the delicacy when Peter walked in unannounced making you jump in fright.

"Oh god!" you gasped, surprising him even.

"Woah! relax it's just me"

"I thought you were Nat, jeez" you blew out your cheeks as he chuckles.

"Please don't tell her I'm not allowed to have this as per her new diet plan"

"My lips are sealed" He assures you with a playful smile as he goes to open the fridge and takes out the juice carton to drink. You poked your finger to swipe the nutella from the edges of the jar as you lick on to your fingers. Peter was following each and every movement of yours the way your eyes fluttered closed whilst you licked and sucked your fingers clean. He gulped as he felt heat rising in his body at your teasing gestures. Your fingers fell short to scoop the leftover at the bottom of the jar as you huffed in defeat. Peter stood in front of you as he gave out his hand

"May I?" You gave him the jar his long slender fingers easily reached the bottom of the jar as he scooped the cream on his two fingers and brought it to your lips. You stick out your tongue giving a kitten lick before wrapping your lips around his fingers. You hummed sucking his fingers a little deeper as you looked at him with big doe eyes. Peter groaned feeling himself harden at the mere sight of you sucking his fingers, a little moan escaped from your own mouth as you continued sucking, swirling your tongue around his fingers coating them with your saliva. You release his fingers with a pop, a trail of your saliva connecting your lips with his fingers.

He swiped his thumb on your plump lower lip eyes flickering between your eyes and lips. Your vision was clouded with lust and so was his as his lips came down to brush against yours. Both of you were breathing heavily as you grabbed his face and sealed your lips together. He slipped his tongue in your mouth, prying it open exploring it. Your hands go to grab on to his soft curls making him groan into the kiss. His hands trail down to your ass giving it a light squeeze through your shorts

"Oh missed this so much" He gasped, pulling away for some air.

"Does Mr Stark know that his young protégé isn't that innocent he looks like?" You bite your lip as one hand goes to palm his growing bulge through his sweatpants. He grips on to your wrist a cocky grin forming on his face.

"Maybe you need a little reminder of whose name you were screaming last summer"

"Then remind me Parker" your voice is challenging yet sultry. His eyes darkened as he threw you over his shoulder like a sack of potato and carried you to his room. He dropped you on the mattress whilst climbing on top of you whilst taking of his tshirt revealing his toned torso. You ran your hands through his muscular chest encircling them around his neck as you pulled him down, your lips meeting fervently as he grinded his hips to your clothed core.

"Mmmph Peter" you pull away after sometime

"What? Is something wrong?" He asks with concern in his eyes.

"No just lock the door, don't want others to come back and know about us do you?"

"Oh, yeah OK" he went to lock the door when a mischievous idea crossed your mind. You quickly stripped out of your clothes and got off the bed. Peter turned to see your clothes lying on the floor with no sign of you in the room.

"Y/N this is not funny!" He whined as your giggles could be heard in the room.

"Find me if you can spider boy" you giggled. Peter smirked accepting your challenge as he closed his eyes and focused his senses. He was able to hear you breathing and he swiftly moved to the direction pinning you against the wall. You squeal as your whole body slowly becomes visible to Peter.

"Gotcha!" he says pining both of your wrists against the wall.

"I’ll give you that spider boy" you smirk as you went to hold on to his face but were unable to move your hands when you noticed he had webbed your wrists to the wall.

"Parker!" You glared at him.

"Who's laughing now?" he chuckles as he brushes lips on the sensitive spot behind your ears making you shudder. He parts your legs placing his knee between them whilst he drags his lips down the column of your neck to your collar bones as you whimper at his touch. He trails further down to your exposed tits attacking your soft mounds with wet kisses before latching on to your hardened bud, rolling the other with his nimble fingers. He sucked and nipped on it as you moaned loudly. He pulled away gasping eyes dripping with lust as he went to kiss you passionately meanwhile his fingers brushed against your wet heat as you arch into his touch, making him smirk as he dips a finger and brings it to his mouth.

"Mmm tastes perfect just as I remember" He sucks his finger before continuing his journey further south slowly kneeling down. He hitches your leg over his shoulder as he looks at your soaking cunt hungrily. Two of his fingers spreads your slick folds as he licks a bold stripe drawing a loud moan out of you.

"Oh fuck!" he smirks before his thin lips wrap around your sensitive bud as he dips a finger inside your heat. He thrusted in and out of you with a steady pace swirling his tongue exploring more of your pussy. He added another digit pumping them in and out of your core as you squirmed above him. One of his hands held your thigh, keeping you in place. You wanted to touch him, tug on to his hair so badly as you struggled to free yourself from the restraints biting your lips hard as jolts of pleasure coursed through your body.

You felt a tight knot building inside you and as you were about to tip over the edge to your shock he pulled away.

"What the hell Peter!" you snapped at him with frustration at your ruined orgasm.

"With that attitude did you think I would let you cum?" He chuckles darkly, you whined in anguish and desperation as you rubbed your thighs to get yourself some relief. He stands up face glistening with your arousal, his hand reaches to cup your face.

"What happened pretty girl? You want to cum?"

"Yes please Peter" you gave him your best puppy eyes.

"Such a needy little thing aren't you?" He chuckles seeing you at his mercy.

"Only for you Peter"

"Well if you be a good girl maybe I’ll let you cum on my cock" saying so he quickly got rid of his sweatpants and boxers and lined himself to your dripping entrance. He kisses you roughly before slowly sliding inside you, stretching your walls deliciously.

"Ungh shit so tight!" He grunts lifting you up from the floor with his strong arms as you lock your ankles around his waist pulling him closer to you. He begins to pound into you making you see stars hitting your spot every time he bottomed out.

"Oh feels so good Peter" you moan.

"I know baby. You feel so snug and warm around me, so perfect, my beautiful angel" he showered praises whilst sucking the nape of your neck marking you up.

"Peter please let me touch you!" you begged him desperately. He finally complied to your request as his hand went up to your wrists and ripped off the webs. Once free your hands greedily go to grab on to his face and kiss him hungrily while he keeps on with his punishing pace.

He halts for a moment still inside you as he pulls you away from the wall and carries you to the bed and lays you down gently with him on top of you. He draws back his hips and slams back right in picking up the pace from where he just left.

"Peter…" you breathed out as you felt the knot growing inside you.

"Yes baby, you going to cum? I can feel you squeezing me real hard" Your back arched when he brought his thumb to your clit drawing tight circles around it coaxing you to fall over the edge. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you gripped on to his biceps nails digging into his skin. You were a moaning mess by now, the fire burning in the pit of your stomach made you feel like you would combust any minute

"That's it baby, give it to me" Peter encouraged you.

Your body convulsed as your orgasm came crashing down on you. Peter continued with his thrusts fucking you through your high as he chased his own. His movements grew sloppier and with a few more labored thrusts you felt him twitch as he came inside you his warm release coating your pulsating walls. Your body trembled with the aftershocks as Peter collapsed on top of you panting head buried in the crook of your neck as you both gasped for air completely exhausted. He pulled out after sometime, placing a gentle kiss on your shoulder he rolled over to your side. Peter gazed at your figure as he watched your bare chest rise up and down when his eyes went to the bruises on your skin courtesy of him as concern clouded his face.

"You okay?" he asks, rubbing soothing circles on the bruised areas. You turned to him gazing into his soft brown eyes.

"I'm more than okay" you breathed out smiling with content.

Though you thought once this sexual tension between you subsidized you would be able to think clearly. But you were wrong as now you couldn't keep your hands off each other for a second. From lingering teasing touches to sneaking away from the eyes of the senior avengers in the lab or a quickie while on the quinjet during a mission. You had become addicted to each other making you come back for more after each time. Still you guys never acknowledged the course of your relationship. It scared you both what if the other didn’t feel the same way so you were content with this current arrangement of yours.

"Oh shit we’re late!" you shrieked checking the time as you turned to meet with a sleeping Peter you took your time to admire him. He looks so sweet and peaceful you really wished you could wake up to this sight everyday. You nudged Peter to wake him from his sleep.

"Peter! Peter, wake up!"

"Ungh what is it?" he groaned pulling the covers over him.

"We are late for our training" he forced his eyes open

"Huh what? What’s the time?"

"It’s ten past seven already"

"Oh shit! Cap's gonna kill me" Peter hurries out of the bed stumbling as he got tangled in the bed sheets before running to the bathroom. You laugh at his antics as you sneaked out of his room to go back to your room.

You were busy sweating it out in the gym after getting an earful from both Cap and Nat for your lack of punctuality you heard Bucky saying

"Hey queens what's with all these red marks on your neck?" you swallowed hard as Peter’s eyes bulged out in fear of getting caught.

"Umm nothing-nothing it-it was a cat, that-that I saved yesterday" he spluttered. "that darn cat, heh" he chuckles nervously.

"Wait let me see" Sam joins in too "Looks like some really big cat" he laughs

"Seems like the kid here is getting some, who is this unlucky girl who fell for you" Bucky teased

"Shut up man! It's nothing like that" Peter shoved him with his elbow.

"Oh c'mon leave my young adult alone he's way too innocent for this" Tony intervened meanwhile heat rose to your face listening to their conversation. Natasha noticed you standing all flustered.

"So is something going on between you two?" she asks you directly

"Between who?" you frowned at her question.

"You and Peter"

"Nothing! we're just good friends" you shrug "He's not even my type" you clarified totally flustered with the whole ordeal. Natasha decided to let you go though she was still suspicious with you two.

.........

You were at the Hydra base the other avengers were busy fighting their whole army making it easier for you to reach the shielded dome. Tony and Banner had devised a plan to blast the shield off which will release a tremendous amount of energy that you will contain inside your forcefield. And as per the plan Tony blasted off the dome you created a forcefield immediately shielding everyone Peter noticed the discomfort you were facing to hold it.

"Y/N no! It's dangerous for you don't force yourself" concern laced in his voice

"I can do it, trust me" You gave all of your strength you had in your body creating a massive forcefield to contain the radiation from the blast but it was true you never did this on such a large scale and it was taking a toll on you. Your ears and nose started to bleed. Peter noticed that as he grabs you by your shoulders and tries to stop you from using more of your powers.

"Y/N stop it, you're getting weak" he was scared of losing you.

"No I can do this!" You assured him as you managed to diffuse the radiation inside the field, finally letting go. Your body was completely drained out, your vision blurring out as you collapsed unconscious.

"Y/N!" Peter was quick to catch you. You were immediately rushed to the med bay in the compound. Banner checked your vitals and everyone was relieved that you were fine but you needed a long bed rest to recover.

You woke up after how long you don't know but your body felt rejuvenated. You sit up to find Peter sitting beside you dozing in his sleep. Your slight movement woke him up.

"Oh Y/N! thank god you're finally awake" he sprung up to his feet "How are you feeling?"

"Refreshed to be honest"

"Never ever do something like that again or I swear I'll web your hands" he scolds you

"Hey it's okay, I'm OK. Come sit beside me" he sat beside you as you looped your fingers to his "See? I'm absolutely fine"

"You know how scared I was? You have been unconscious for twelve hours"

"You don't need to be so worried about me Pete"

"Yes I have to because-because.." he fumbled

"Because what Peter?"

"Because I love you Y/N!"

"What?" you couldn't believe your ears.

"Yes Y/N I love you and if anything happens to you I will be not able to forgive myself ever"

"Peter… " you cupped his face.

"I know you never had feelings for me but this the truth I love you…"

"Hey who said I never felt anything for you? You were all I could think of since last summer"

"For real?" Peter was finding it hard to believe that you actually liked him too.

"Yes you idiot, I love you too!" You pressed your lips to his. It was all soft and gentle at the beginning which pretty soon escalated into a more passionate one with teeth and tongue involved in it you got on his lap as his hands kneaded the soft skin of your ass.

"Hey Y/N! We heard you are awake-" all the older avengers were stunned at the scene in front of them as you jumped away from each other in embarrassment. Steve was shaking his head in dismissal, Sam and Bucky had a huge grin plastered on their face while Tony was utterly shocked and amused. Nat was the first to speak up.

"Umm you seem to be doing quite well, we'll leave you two alone" she says clearing her throat.

"Aww I'm so happy for guys!" Wanda chirped before Nat dragged her away.

"Be safe kid" Tony added before leaving, adding more to your embarrassment. After everyone left you were the first one to speak up

"So how long have you been into me?"

"Since forever my love" he smirks tackling you down on your back, you squeal as he smothers you with kisses.

.....................................................................

Requests are open.

Taglist : @peaches-parker @hollanddolanfangirl @starcoadrienette2 @spideyth @allthisfortommy @thenoddingbunny-blog @larrystylinson-sus @bloodyscarlet @itstaskeen @dummiesshort @tutuabby28 @dramaholic18 @thehumanistsdiary @majo240820 @lokibuckylove6 @sarcasticallywitty15 @parkerpeterparker2004

#tom holland #peter parker #peter parker smut #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker fluff #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #tom holland smut

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mollymauktealeef · 3 years

Note

uhm, for your prompts: geraskier, with jaskier hiding geralt (and maybe ciri) from nilfgaard in plain sight, like. without magic, he manages to make the soldiers go away with empty hands? thank you!

sorry this took longer than expected! i haven’t been feeling very well recently so it got left alone for a while. hope you like it though!

warning/s: none

(ao3)

“You there!”

“Oh fuck,” Jaskier mutters sharply recognising the no nonsense tone of a solider and feeling the dread settle in his gut like a block of ice.

Geralt’s fingers twitch at his side, his swords are sadly tucked away under Roach’s blanket just under Ciri’s leg for safekeeping as she sits astride the saddle.

They’d been reluctantly placed there - at Jaskier’s suggestion - so they could move through town unhindered by locals looking for a Witcher’s aid or at least so the trio could draw a little less attention than they normally would. Something they might have gotten away with if Geralt hadn’t been sour about hiding his swords so much he’d childishly left down his hood. Revealing his rather distinctive and famous white hair for all the land to see.

And now there are soldiers.

So the idea of going incognito had clearly failed in it’s execution and now Geralt is without his weapons in easy reach as the squelch of many heavy boots marching through the mud approach them from behind.

Jaskier watches out of the corner of his eye as Geralt’s hand releases the reins for Roach’s bridle and skims along her flank to the hidden pommel slowly. Jaskier shakes his head in warning and thankfully the Witcher listens, stilling his hand.

The last thing they need is more attention and Geralt beheading the local guardsmen would be like sending up a flare for Nilfgaard.

Jaskier chews on his lip, racking his brain for a way out of their predicament. He see’s Geralt’s hand move again, not for the swords this time but to rest on Ciri’s shaking knee in comfort. The princess huddles under her cloak, shrinking away from the danger approaching them and Jaskier’s heart aches for her. The lingering trauma of being hunted has left a stain on the once happy princess that Jaskier and Geralt have tried their best to erase. But situations like these always undo that hard work in moments.

Jaskier sighs at the loss of progress shrinking deeper into the folds of her cloak and decides on a course of action, one that might just avoid darkening that stain on Ciri’s heart.

“Oi! You deaf?” Another voice yells and Jaskier straightens his spine and prepares to dazzle his audience into submission.

He spins round dramatically, plastering a wide happy grin across his face. It’s not his most eye-catching outfit but he should be able to draw attention away from the Witcher and his child surprise well enough. Presentation is key for misdirection after all.

Jaskier glances over the small patrol quickly, filing away the small details that he can use to his advantage. Just like any other ballroom or tavern he’s stepped foot in. Reading the room is how you own it and Jaskier wouldn’t be a famous bard if he couldn’t quickly and effectively discern the lay of the land. A loud tavern full of boisterous laughter needs dance music and bawdy songs, a noble wedding with dignified guests needs jaunty jigs with easy beats to dance to and when enough wine has been drunk, a few romantic epics to get everyone in the mood. The stage is a little different but the details are the same.

He silently curses as he recognises the dark armour and golden sun stretching across it and prays to whatever deity likes Geralt in one piece in the vain hope that things will go smoothly. But for now, it's up to him and every skill he’s honed at every banquet and party he’s ever been to, to get them through this peacefully.

“Fine gentlemen, what can I aid such noble soldiers with today?” he greets loudly as he skips forward putting himself between the approaching soldiers and Geralt. A few of the men flinch at his volume. Jaskier notes the overly red cheeks and bloodshot eyes, the slight sway in their stance. Too much patrolling the tavern rather than the streets and very recently too.

He has to play this right. Be loud and obnoxious and they’ll want to get rid of him quickly to ease their aching heads. Too much though and he runs the risk of raising questions. It’ll be a fine line to tread, a thin tightrope between freedom and a noose but it’s something he’s managed before and for far lesser stakes.

“Your friend, where does he hail from?” The Captain asks shrewdly, eyeing Geralt’s exposed white hair with narrowed eyes. Jaskier rocks on his heels full of nervous energy.

“My cousin you mean? Well he and his daughter come from Lettenhove of course! As do I,” Jaskier bows deeply, throwing as much theatricality into his performance as possible, “Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount de Lettenhove. A pleasure to meet you, good sir!”

He doesn’t often drag out his nobility but the situation calls for it. Perhaps enough for the men to back off, in fear of upsetting nobility.

“And your...cousin’s white hair? A familial trait?” The captain asks skeptically. His title isn’t enough to brush away their questions but there is a touch more hesitancy than before so Jaskier counts it in his favour. He still grimaces a little and racks his brain for a plausible lie to help them escape the situation with as little screaming and entrails as possible. Tiny streams in deep forests are not ideal for removing Nilfgaardian guts from a Witcher’s hair after all and after this fiasco getting Geralt to agree to enter any form of civilisation will be a nightmare.

So Jaskier does what he does best.

He tells a story.

He lets his face drop into a more serious expression and sidles up closer, a little too close for comfort, for a not so much conspiratorial whisper, “No, no, my good sir. Not at all. You see, it's such a terrible thing. Truly terrible. A curse.”

At least two of the men take an involuntary step back as though such a thing could be catching. Good, Jaskier thinks snidely, superstitious morons swallow a lie father easier than a wise man.

“Twas laid upon him by a spiteful sorceress. He’s quite sensitive over the whole thing as I’m sure you can imagine,” Jaskier placed a hand over his heart as he hammed up the performance a degree or two, “My poor dear sweet cousin spurned the witches advances you see, his heart already belonged to another. Fiona’s mother, she hailed from Nilfgaard, such a sweet woman. Not that it mattered to the spiteful witch! The sorceress was quite enraged by it all and so cursed my poor cousin to bear the likeness of the ugliest creature she knew, a Witcher.”

Jaskier winces internally and sends a silent apology to Geralt and hopes the man won’t take too much offence but there’s no other option for them.

“How unfortunate,” one of the men comments in a heartfelt manner and Jaskier dabs at his dry eye in agreement.

“Yes it is and such happenstance that we should be looking for a Witcher,” the Captain says, unconvinced. But Jaskier has the rest of his audience on tenterhooks and a crowd can sway a single mind.

He scoff’s loudly and slams his hands onto his hips.

“Nothing but trouble I say, for we’ve been stopped by every knight and good soldier from here to the Pontar! It’s made our journey to Oxenfurt doubly long and I’m due to begin teaching next week! The delay!” Jaskier wails dramatically and the men collectively wince at his volume and shrillness, “Thankfully with my tenured position the faculty will be most forgiving of my lateness! But truly it has been nothing but trouble!”

“Hmm,” the Captain wavers and Jaskier pushes his advantage, leaning in a touch too far again.

“I shall tell you good sir the best way to tell a Witcher from my unfortunate cousin is the swords, for Witcher’s carry two on their backs and my dear sweet cousin can only swing a pitchfork!”

“Viscount’s right Captain, no swords,” one of the men speaks up and they all turn to look at Geralt’s back, covered in a muddy cape but bereft of the notable twin swords.

“He could have thrown them,” the Captain suggests but quietly, not fully believing his own words and Jaskier tries not to let his relief show.

“Thrown them?! Why my dear Captain, that would be a waste of fine silver and steel! Who in their right mind would throw away a silver sword! Pah! A fool, that’s who!”

The Captain ruminates for a few moments and then nods, “Right you are, carry on m’lord.”

Jaskier’s knees feel a little weak as the men shuffle round and begin their march back up the street they came. He waves them off jauntily despite the nausea swirling in his gut.

“Many blessings to you and safe journey my good men!”

As soon as the men are out of sight Jaskier stumbles as the relief falls on him like a ton of bricks. Geralt grips his bicep, pulling him back up as he stares down the street after the patrol.

“Gone?” Jaskier asks and Geralt nods.

“Thank Melitele,” Jaskier exhales and drops his head against Geralt’s shoulder heavily.

“Ugliest creatures?” Geralt asks and Jaskier groans.

“Darling I apologise wholeheartedly for such a lie but how else was I to excuse your appearance?”

Geralt snorts, thankfully with more amusement than anger, “Good thinking.”

“Thank you love but might I suggest putting several fields between us and them before more questions are asked?” Jaskier points out and Geralt wraps an arm around Jaskier’s shoulders, squeezing him close for a moment before letting him stand on his own steadying legs.

Geralt takes Roach’s reins once more as Jaskier falls into step next to him, he spares a glance over his shoulder at the near empty street behind them and hopes they can put enough road between the patrol and them before nightfall to breathe a little easier.

“Are you really a viscount Jaskier?” Ciri questions quietly, hunched over under her heavy cape atop Roach. Jaskier startles at the sudden question but settles into a sardonic smile.

“Unfortunately so my darling, though the title does have its uses here and there.”

Ciri thankfully doesn’t press the issue as she flicks her gaze over her shoulder worridily. More concerned with the soldiers than his checkered past.

“I didn’t think they’d leave so easily,” she mumbles and Jaskier reaches over to pat her leg softly.

“Fear not my dear, they were easy to fool and won’t be following us anytime soon.”

“How can you be so sure?” Ciri asks, her tone skeptical and a little sharp. A princess on the run yes, but still a princess and one growing from a child into a woman and not shy about demanding she be treated as such. Jaskier chuckles.

“Simple. I saw all I needed to, to lead them astray. I’ll teach you how to read men like open books soon enough darling,” Jaskier winks and Ciri worried at her bottom lip for a few quiet moments.

“Teach me now?”

Jaskier shares a glance with Geralt, raising an eyebrow up in question and Geralt simply nods his permission. Well if his Witcher is okay with it then who is he to argue giving the young exiled princess another knife in her growing arsenal.

“Very well, what did you notice about them?”

She ponders for a moment, “There weren’t that many?” Ciri offers hesitantly. Jaskier beams encouragingly.

“Well spotted! A small patrol left in an unremarkable town. Tells us quite a bit. These fools aren’t high on the pecking order. They aren’t given more responsibility or better yet aren’t trusted with more,” Jaskier explains and Ciri leans forward in rapt attention. “What else could you see?”

“They hesitated,” Geralt says and Jaskier turns his attention on the Witcher’s soft smile.

“Very good my love,” Jaskier pecks Geralt’s cheek in reward, earning a giggle from Ciri.

“That matters?” she asks.

“Indeed, a lack of confidence speaks to their inexperience or perhaps they’ve acted hastily in the past and been reprimanded making them hesitant to act similarly again,” Jaskier explains, falling into his old teaching habits easily.

“What else did you see,” Ciri questions curiously and Jaskier hums thoughtfully.

“Dented armour that hasn’t yet been fixed, means coin is tight or flowing elsewhere. Mud caked into clothes and bulging chest plates. These men have become lazy and spend more nights in a tavern than marching around town. Ruddy cheeks and bloodshot eyes tell me they enjoy their drink, a bit too much most likely. Given the hour it was either a heavy night of drinking with a spectacular hangover or they’ve just come from the tavern. Whichever it is, their minds and body long for beds not battle and that my fair girl is where you can take advantage,” Jaskier lists and Ciri looks suitably impressed with his observations.

“Enough to confuse them?”

“Perhaps enough to lose them in a winding tale with dramatic flair,” Jaskier shrugs, remembering many a glazed drunken gaze and how he used it to his advantage in the past.

“The loudness helped too,” Geralt offers slyly and Ciri laughs as Jaskier pretends to take offence though he preens at the small but fond smile on his Witcher’s face and the ease settling around Ciri’s shoulders once more.

“Nothing makes a drunken soldier recoil quicker than a loud bright bard,” Jaskier winks.

#the witcher #geraskier #geralt x jaskier #jaskier x geralt #geraskier fanfic #jask writes #nessie

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retroyousei · 3 years

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Female characters in retro shojo [70s edition, part 1]

Ah, the 1970s (and early 80s), where a majority of the shojo manga stories took place in a distant European country or in America, surrounding either orphan girls from the 19th or early 20th century, who remain cheerful and have adventures, trying to find out who they are, making friends and falling in love, or epic historical stories filled with war, scandals and larger than life characters. If the manga was taking place in Japan, the plot was somehow more down to earth -though most of the time it restrained the same amount of unrealism- and it was either about following the journey of a girl who pursues the career of her dreams and evolves into a notable person, or a high school story filled either with melodrama and angst or a more heartwarming romantic comedy. But in this two-part article I won’t talk about plot tropes of the shojo manga of that era -as this topic deserves an exclusive article-, but about the female characters (I will dedicate an article on male characters some other time). Those characters are very important, as they set the standards of today’s manga and anime. But it should be noted that back then the formula of their design and characteristics are different from today’s. Those are the categories that I’ve noticed, regarding the appearance and personality.

The “average” protagonists

They are the most common category. Usually, they come from middle class and they are presented either as cheerful and a little dense schoolgirls, or plain looking and unrefined, as oppose to their antagonists or rivals who are well educated, beautiful and more talented, but this may serve as a determination for them to improve. Other times they are presented as headstrong heroines, ahead of their time, who refuse to compromise and for this they are a pain to their old-fashion society. Either way, they are kind, good, well-intentioned and want to help the others, that’s why they make friends easily. The thing that really works with these characters and makes them much more interesting than they may seem, is that they are independent and built their future on their own and they never give up, no matter what happens and what someone might say about them. Even when they are not sure of themselves, they always keep trying, until they reach to their dream. They use their obstacles as strength and determination to go on, proving that they are not average at all.

Maya, the protagonist of “Glass Mask” is a great example of this. She starts as a good-for-nothing daughter of a poor family, who isn’t particularly accomplished, but has a hidden passion for acting which she hadn’t realise it herself at that point. But when she is discovered by Tsukigake, a former legendary actress, she realises how much she wants to be an actress to a point that she lied saying that her mother allowed her to study to sensei’s acting school and ran away from home. Not even when her mother told her that she doesn’t consider her as her daughter anymore, she didn’t gave up, in spite of being very hurt by this. Her path towards acting wasn’t easy. Many times she has to face many who say that she doesn’t belong to that industry, or who are jealous of her talent and means her harm, but with her faith in herself, she always overcomes those obstacles. An admirable thing about her is that she dislikes fame, being shy, as she just wants to act and that she does not gives up, no matter what and even when she does, she quickly stands up. The most interesting dynamic of the story is her worthy rivalry with Ayumi, that is clearly a case of the trope “technician vs performer”, with Maya as the performer, as her standard method to learn how to play a character is to become that character. As the story progresses, Maya evolves from a girl with a hidden talent, to a young actress who portraits an original take to classic characters, but who still had much to learn, to one of the greatest actresses of her generation.

In “Yokohama Monogatari”, Uno starts as a plain, poor, orphan girl, who is ignorant about the world, as she hasn’t even seen the sea before and she believed that westerners were vampires who could drink people’s blood, that’s why they had blonde hair and blue eyes. She starts to work as a companion in a rich family to their daughter Mariko, who is the same age as her. Besides their differences, they become quickly best friends. While Mariko is a little spoiled, Uno, despite of her ignorance of world, can be more considerate and responsible in some matters. She also has a lust for learning and soon her and Mariko pursuade her family to go to school. There, she meets many people, among them there are a few foreigners too, she makes a lot of friends, and she excels at all of her studies, being hardworking. As the years passed by, Japan changes and allows exchange of ideas from many cultures -it’s Meiji era we are taking about, that means the last quarter of the 19th century- and Uno evolves from a poor, -many would say- hopeless for her situation, clueless of the world girl, to an open minded, educated and refined woman, surrounded by many people she loves.

In “Tokimeki Tonight”, Ranze -well except of being the daughter of Dracula and warewolf and having her own vampire powers as well- is an average girl who is friendly, sweet and little quirky girl who goes to school and falls in love with Shuun. Some may say that she is pretty basic, but in fact, she knows her self worth well, so even when her parents were disappointed with her not having any power yet, at the beginning of the story, she wasn’t particularly bothered by it. Also she is very headstrong that she falls in love with a human boy, while she knows well that a creature from the demon world and a human cannot be together. But in spite of all of that, she decides to stay true to her own feelings and even though she’s not so sure about Shuun’s feelings for her either, she doesn’t give up and waits for him, because she hopes and deep down knows that he likes her too and she is right. And even when her parents want her to marry prince Aaron of the demon world and even the king- learn that she likes a human, in spite of that being against the rules, she isn’t afraid to stand up for her beliefs. Later though, we learn that Shuun is the lost prince of the demon world, so he is not a human after all, but that’s another story.

In “Aim For The Ace”, Hiromi is a typical schoolgirl who struggles to get better in tennis, when she gets selected as one of the club’s main players in school by the new coach, as he saw potential in her. Some of her seniors are jealous of her because of that and at first she thinks that she is not worth such a discrimination, but soon she improves and realises how much she loves tennis. There’s also a very similar rivalry dynamic with “glass mask” between Hiromi and Reika who grow to be worthy opponents.

In “Haikara San Ga Toru”, Benio is a headstrong young woman who studies Kendo, drinks sake and prefers reading literature and feminist ideas, rather than being interested in housework. She also likes to dress in western clothes, rather than the traditional kimono and strongly believes that women should have the right to decide for their future on their own and they should marry for love. But her world turns upside down when her father announces that he has arranged a marriage for her. The one that he indends for her is someone she knew before, very briefly and accidentally, a lieutenant named Shinobu. Of course, she refuses, being loyal to her ideals and she goes out of her way to avoid him, just to satisfy her pride, in spite of actually starting developing feelings for him. When she moves to his grandparents’ house to get prepared as his wife, she purposely fails in all of her duties as a housewife and constantly argues with his grandparents, but all of that only makes Shinobu fall for her even more. It’s only when he leaves to go to the war, when she realises her feelings for him and during at that time when everyone thought that he was dead, she matured and became even stronger, remaining loyal to him and determined to work as a journalist to support his family, but also tracking him down, hoping that he’s still alive. Of course, at the very end, they live happily ever after together. Benio’s character development is admirable; starting as a clever, but headstrong girl, to an independent and wise woman, proving that you don’t have to disagree with everyone in order to prove that you are the one who chooses how to live your own life.

The villains

Their extreme pride and vain is their common nature. Most of the times they come from a wealthy family, so they are either oujo-sans who are always dressed elegantly, are seemingly refined and they tend to have curly, blonde hair -as blonde hair seem to be associated with wealth and sophistication in Japan-, or they are just spoiled brats that demand that everyone will do as they say. They are the main antagonist of the story for different reasons. The most common one is that they are jealous of the heroine, either because they are their love rivals and they are jealous of the heroine’s relationship with the love interest of the story, or because they are just pathologically jealous of the heroine because of her looks, her happiness, her luck and her loving nature. Another reason they act the way they do is because they want power and success, or they just want to secure all of that. The worse and least complex reason of all is that they are just mean for no particular reason.

Eliza, from “Candy Candy” is the typical alpha b*tch who is pathologically jealous of Candy. At first, she along with her brother, makes her life miserable, by blaming her for the bad things they do, such as hurting the horses in the stables, provoking her and then telling to their mother that she’s wild and leaving her alone in a town she doesn’t know and locking her in dark rooms. After that, during their time in London, Eliza says to everyone that Candy is an orphan who made her life miserable, even blaming her for Antony’s death. Later, having the habit of falling in love with the one that Candy likes too, school, she falls for Terry and constantly tries to turn him against her, failing miserably. She also writes a fake letter to her that it was supposedly from Terry and to Terry too, to meet each other in the stables at night and with this, she blabs them to the teachers and Candy, having no choice, leaves school. Later, when Candy was pursuing a career as a nurse, she continues her cruel ways and her mother also threats the director of the hospital where she was working, that if they won’t fire her, the Leagan family will withdraw their funds for the hospital and she also made sure that no hospital from Chicago will hire her, leaving Candy in a difficult situation. Those are only of few of the things that Leagan family did to Candy. The worst part is that they don’t pay for what they did at the end.

Fukiko from “Oniisama e” fits well this image; She is a refined lady from a rich family, the president of the sorority and very educated, that’s why she is admired by everyone. However, in reality she is manipulative, proud and very possessive. She wants to control everyone and she’s even willing to go out of her way to achieve what she wants. For instanse, she’s jealous of Nanako because she is close to Henmi Takehito, the one that she (Fukiko) is in love with, so to control her, she chooses her to be a member of the sorority and demands that she will stay away from him, even by pulling her into the lake and attempt to drown her . She also makes Rei’s life miserable, by stepping into her weakness, refuse to accept her as a member of their family and constantly manipulating her with the cruelest of ways. Also, it’s revealed that her friends from the sorority are feeling pressured because of her. Later, with the death of Rei, along with her realisation that Henmi and Kaoru No Kimi are truly in love, surprisingly, she regrets, gives up on her cruel ways and matures, growing even more beautiful for all of that.

Yoko from “Tokimeki Tonight” is a different case. She is the love rival of the story and the have loved Shuun ever since they were little. Being the only daughter of a rich businessman, she is spoiled and when something doesn’t go as she wants, she is is angry and demands that everything will go the way she wants. She envies Ranze for her close relationship with Makabe and ever since she accidentally saw her transforming, she tried desperately to prove others that she (Ranze) is a vampire. Her character is less dramatic and more comedic, as she is often grumpy and clumsy. But she isn’t really a bad person and she doesn’t really cause an awful lot of trouble.

In “The Rose of Versailles”, Madam Du Barry, the king’s mistress, wants to sustain her place in the court and demands that Marie Antoinette, who was at that time the dauphine, will speak to her. She also have tried to poison one of the court ladies. Countess De polignag becomes the queen’s best friend, for her own benefits and manipulates her without her (Marie Antoinette) knowing, like telling her to lie about being pregnant and also persuade her to start gambling in the court, which was illegal. She’s also Rosalie’s biological mother and accidentally kills the woman which raised her daughter and she’s the reason that her other daughter suicides, because she cannot handle the marriage the she arranged for her. Besides of her daughter’s death, she doesn’t seem to regret for any of her actions as she tries to make Rosalie merry the same man. Luckily Rosalie escapes. Also, she tried to sabotage Oscar many times and all this was just for the sake of power and money.

In “Glass Mask”, Norie Otobe, befriends Maya and she is supposedly her assistant, but in reality she just waits for the right moment to strike and steal Maya’s role and career. Unfortunately, she succeeds and it costs a lot for Maya, for a while. Luckily Ayumi discovers this and punishes her with the best way ever.

The tomboys

They are either mysterious, or lively, but one thing is for sure; they are dressed in clothes that are considered to be “manly”, they are handsome and they are constantly mistaken for a boy. They are also very elegant and educated and their image is that of a prince. That’s why they are admired by both women and men. Some may say that even though they are trying to be like a man, they are still weak, but they point out that just because they dress more “tomboyish”, doesn’t mean that it makes them less of a woman. After all, when they want to, they can transform into the most feminine girl of all. They also prove that their sexuality is not associated with their looks, as a “masculine” girl has the same possibilities of being heterosexual or homosexual, with a more “feminine” one. So, they break all the stereotypes regarding women. Many times, they are portrayed as headstrong heroines who stand up for their beliefs and their friends.

The most famous character that supports this image is Oscar from “the Rose of Versailles”. Oscar is one of the daughters of the Jerjeyes household. Not having any son, her father decided to raise her as a boy so that one day she will succeed him. Oscar dresses in boys’ clothes and learns activities like fencing and archery. When she was fourteen, she was tasked to serve as Marie Antoinette’s bodyguard. The manga often pointed out how different those two were regarding appearance and character, even if they were in the same age. Oscar has a strong sense of justice and she always protects the weak and is not afraid to challenge someone that she believes that isn’t right. Of course, she is admired by men and women alike and she is also a great and loyal friend. At one point she falls in love with Fersen, who loves Marie Antoinette. But because of her respect for the queen and her love of Fersen, she helps them, despite being heartbroken. At the end, she realises that she loves her childhood friend, Andre. She loves medieval combat, drinking heavy drinks, talking about politics and playing violin. Many pointed out that being a woman she was weaker but she always proved them wrong, pointing out that women can do anything and that it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, only how skilful you are. She was hiding her femininity not because she wanted to be a man, but because that if she acted like a woman, the society might think that she was weak and she wouldn’t be able to have the access and the freedom to do what women normally wouldn’t do back then, because women were alowed to limited things. In the early 1970s, by the time this manga was ongoing, the second wave of feminism had already started and women started fighting for equal legal and social rights, so Oscar’s character was influenced by all this.

Rei from “Oniisama e”, is admired by her fellow classmates and is also called “saint Juste”, named after one of the leaders from French Revolution, due to her physical resemblance to him. She is very charismatic, excelling to sports, piano, guitar and theatre, she is very elegant and dresses often in a black suit. Unfortunately she is drug-addict, she smokes and can be suicidal, carrying always pills and a sharp object with her. She is also obsessed with Fukiko, the sorority’s president, for many reasons, causing her to be controlled and abused by her. She also lives alone in a depressing house filled with mirrors and this also causes to be depressed. Her best friend is Kaoru no Kimi, who’s also a tomboy, but they are entirely different and she befriends Nanako and her friends. In the end she suicides, taking too many sleeping pills, having everyone, especially Nanako, left devastated.

Also from “Oniisama e”, Kaoru, is a tomboy who is strong and energetic. She is athletic and excels at basketball, but she is also very cool and doesn’t seem to care that she is the best at something that she’s doing, that’s why she is admired by her fellow classmates who gave her the nickname “Kaoru no Kimi”, from a Japanese classical novel; “the tale of Genji”. She also has a great sense of justice, as when she sees classmates being bullied, she defends them and put the bullies on their place. She is also very loyal and supportive and cares deeply about her friends, helping them when they are in need, especially her best friend, Rei, for whom she is very concerned. But in spite of her energetic appearance, she suffers from breast cancer and tries to keep it a secret, pretending that she is healthy and that everything is under control. But in fact, she pushes away her beloved, Henmi Takehito, concealing her true feelings, in order for him to be happy without her and not suffer anymore, showing how selfless she is and how much she loves him to a point of sacrificing her own feelings. At the end, it pays off and they end up together, living happily.

Another honourable mention is Rei, from “Glass Mask”. Rei is the older student of Tsukikage sensei’s company and one of Maya’s best friends. She is a tomboy who wears those characteristic 70s jeans and for some reason is mistaken by a boy -much to her dislike-, despite of being obvious that she is a girl. Being an actress, she can transform into a beautiful princess in no time, but she also portraits very well a prince. In the first volumes, she portrayed Jo, from “little women” which was a role very suited for her. As a sister figure for Maya, she is loyal, friendly and the responsible one who helps the theatre company stay organised and is a very strict teacher to Maya, helping her because she knows her potential. Also from “Glass Mask”, Keiko from the “Ikkakuju group” is also mistaken as boy, but she can transform into a pretty princess in no time.

Note: At the first half of the 20th century “Little Women” were very popular in Japan, particularly Jo, who was tomboyish and outspoken and her character had inspired the first female mangakas of the 60s for their stories and characters.

#retro shojo #shojo manga #70s manga #80s manga #glass mask #Tokimeki tonight #haikara san ga tooru #Oniisama e #the Rose of Versailles #Candy Candy #Yokohama monogatari #aim for the ace #character types #Shojo

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sweet-sammy-kisses · 3 years

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I Can Feel the Magic Floating In the Air

For @tropetember day 7: mutual pining Fandom: 911 Pairing: Buck x Eddie, other canon relationships Word Count for this chapter: 1,810 Notes: This is a three part chapter story with each chapter a different prompt for tropetember each chapter will be posted on the other dates and the rating will rise in the third chapter. Also there is minor Eddie/Ana. Summary: With a distance growing between him and Eddie since Eddie started dating Ana Buck finds himself growing closer to Josh. When Josh admits to him that he hasn't tried dating since that horrible night Buck decides to introduce Josh to an ex that he remained friends with. Buck just would like to know why Eddie is acting like a jealous and possessive ex-husband when he talks about Henry. You can also read it on AO3

There was a distance between him and Eddie ever since Eddie had begun dating Ana. Most of the time Buck didn't recognize the man his best friend was. It was like Eddie was playing the part of Edmundo, Ana's perfect version of what she wants Eddie to be. He missed his Eddie. Not that Eddie was his and he had any claim to him but he still didn't like Ana's Edmundo.

Buck was doing his best to put aside and enjoying the time that he did have with Eddie and Christopher, which had dwindled down, even their movie nights which were once every Friday were now once a month. And sure it hurt when Eddie would call him to babysit Christopher, not that he didn't love spending time with his favourite Diaz, he just wishes that Eddie would call him for other reasons, even if it was just to hang out.

Then Ana started showing up on the few times that Buck had with Eddie and Christopher. He hadn't been the only one who had been disappointed in Ana's "surprise" visit as Christopher looked so downhearted before excusing himself to go play Legos in his room.

"You want to come Buck?" Christopher asked him with a soft smile on his face.

Buck's heart melted at that smile, "I will join you in a moment bud, why don't you get them picked out for us first and we will make something so epic that Karen and Michael will be so impressed that they will once again fight over who you take after more Karen or Michael." Buck suggested.

A series of giggles escaped Christopher as he recalled the science project that Buck had helped him create that wowed everyone that Karen and Michael had ended up in a heated debt about, Hen and David both informed them all that they were still arguing over whose footsteps Christopher should follow.

Watching Christopher leave the living room Buck didn't know why he stayed behind he didn't need to watch Ana drape herself all over Eddie, laying her claim that Eddie is hers.

"So Buck, do you think you can watch Christopher for Eddie and me this weekend? We wanted to have some grown-up alone time together." Ana asked in a sickeningly sweet voice as she stared at Buck with an expected look in her eyes like all she saw was an on-call babysitter and not someone who was woven so deeply into the Diaz family that he was considered family.

Glancing at Eddie he saw a surprised look in his best friend's eyes but Eddie made no move to correct her. Buck could understand Ana was perfect, his parents would love her and finally show him the approval he craves, the same that Buck craves from his parents only he would never get it while Eddie would as long as he twisted and turned himself into Edmundo.

Buck couldn't do this, he loves Christopher and he loves Eddie but he can't be downgraded to just a babysitter for them. He wouldn't survive it. With a heavy heart he put on a mask, "I'm so sorry Ana. I can't. I have plans with Josh this weekend. I'm sure that you can find someone else on short notice to babysit or did you ask me because you think I have no life and no one waiting for me at home that I am always free?" Buck asked in a pleasant tone.

Something unpleasant grew in Eddie's chest at Buck's response to Ana's question. He had asked not to say anything to Buck. He hadn't even agreed to go away this weekend with her. It was the first one he had off in a while and he had hoped to spend it with his son, who had been a champ about letting Ana spend more time with them when it was clear that he was missing Buck. As he was. He wanted to spend this weekend with Christopher and Buck, his boys, he hadn't made any plans with Ana and he hated how she seemed to disregard his feelings and thoughts and go ahead with what she wanted.

"Your spending the weekend with Josh?" Eddie didn't like that. What he has heard from Buck, Chimney and Maddie Josh is a nice guy but the idea of Buck spending time with another guy rubbed him the wrong way.

"Yep, Josh got a dog and he wanted to get her settled before introducing her to people. She is a rescue and came from an abusive owner. I can't wait to meet her." Buck's eyes were sparkling. Pulling out his phone he pulled up a picture of a sweet-looking brown with white on her underbelly pitbull smiling as happily wearing a flower crown. "Isn't she the sweetest thing? To think that anyone could hurt her, people can be monsters."

The sudden urge to hug Buck over took Eddie and the only reason he couldn't was the hold Ana had on him. "She looks adorable what is her name?"

"Adora." Buck happily told Eddie, "Named after the Princess of Power herself. Given everything she has gone through Josh thought she needed a strong and beautiful name."

Eddie didn't know why he found himself so jealous over Buck acting like a co-parent with Josh over Josh's dog. "Maybe Christopher can meet her someday." Eddie knew that Christopher would be over the moon at that, he had been begging him to get him a dog for months now.

"Sure. I think we can arrange for Adora to meet Christopher as well as Henry and Denny." Buck looks excited at that idea.

"I don't think that is wise. Pitbulls as a dangerous breed of dogs. I don't think a child as sensitive as Christopher should be around something so dangerous." Ana spoke up, she was tired of being ignored.

A dark look appeared in Buck's eyes, "There are no dangerous dogs they are just who they are because of how people treated them. Pitbulls get a bad reputation because of humans not because of them. They are hurt and beaten until they are turned into what their so-called owners want them to be. Adora is a sweetheart and Josh has shown her the love and kindness she has been denied all her life. Now if you excuse me I have a Lego time to get to with Christopher."

"Well, that was rude and uncalled for," Ana muttered under her breath once Buck was gone.

"Yes, what you said to Buck was uncalled for. I hope you apologize to him. And what is this about going away for an adult weekend? I don't recall being asked or agreeing to it." Eddie wasn't happy with his girlfriend.

A pout appeared on Ana's face as she attempted to snuggle close to him only for Eddie to pull away from her. "I thought it would be nice for the two of us to have some adult time. We have been dating for months I think it is time that we spend the nights together."

Eddie froze, he should be saying yes. Ana is his girlfriend, she is sweet, smart and sexy, he should be thrilled at the idea of them finally crossing that line but he isn't. He doesn't want to sleep with her. "I think that you should go. Today was the day that I was meant to spend with my son and Buck, just the three of us, a boy's day. You knew that but still invited yourself over. Now I am asking you to leave so I can salvage this day."

Stung Ana reared back a hurt look that gave way to anger appeared on her face, "Are you choosing Buck over me?" She demanded.

Looking at Ana Eddie realized that if she left and walked out of his life today he wouldn't miss her as much as he did miss spending time with Buck. "I am."

Climbing to her feet Ana grabbed her bag, "Call me Eddie when you come to your senses."

When he didn't feel the terror griping him like he did when Bobby had informed them that they couldn't talk to Buck during that horrible time of the lawsuit Eddie knew that he and Ana just weren't meant to be.

But right now it didn't matter what matter was spending time with his boys.

+******+

"So wait Eddie chose you over his girlfriend and you still came to visit me today? I'm touched, Buck." Josh grinned at his friend.

"Actually I came to spend time with Adora, you are just extra," Buck informed him from where he was kneeling beside Adora giving her belly rubs.

"Fair." Josh would choose to spend time with Adora over others, his sweet girl was the best. Studying his friend Josh felt his heart break for him, it was no secret - except to Eddie - that Buck was deeply in love with his best friend. Everything had been certain that those two were heading towards a relationship when Ana appeared and suddenly Eddie was head over heels for her. Josh had heard many rants about pod person Edmundo Ana was turning him into from Chimney and Maddie. Josh admired how Buck was able to put his heartbreak aside and still put on a happy smile for Eddie. "Come on let's show Adora off." Today was going to be an Eddie-free day Josh was going to make sure of it.

Buck smiled as he gave Adora one final belly rub, "How about that girl, ready to show off your amazing self."

Adora let out a happy bark.

+*****+

Eddie wasn't miserable or jealous over the fact that Buck had chosen to spend the day with Josh. He was perfectly happy hanging out with Hen and Karen as Denny and Christopher played in the Wilson's backyard.

"If you look any greener I think the trees are going to get jealous." Hen commented as she took a sip of her drink.

Refusing to look his friend in the eyes Eddie studied the label on his bottle. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Right," Hen drawled out, "You are not sulking and drowning your sorrows in a pack of beer over the fact that Buck is out having a guy's day with Josh and not attached to your side." Hen wasn't afraid to call out his bullshit.

Clenching his jaw Eddie refused to admit that he was jealous.

Hen and Karen exchanged a look, they both knew that if Buck kept spending time with Josh then Eddie's jealous and possessive side was only going to get worse and that just might be what finally pushes the boys to act on their feelings.

Hen hoped it was soon, she couldn't take much more of this pining between her two idiotic boys before she asked Athena for a pair of handcuffs.

#buddie #buck x eddie #otp: you can have my back anytime #tropetember #not ana flores friendly #sherri writes #my fics

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pascalsky · 3 years

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Pedro Pascal is flying high on The Mandalorian, but defining success by his earthly bonds

The Wonder Woman 1984 and The Mandalorian star is one of EW's Entertainers of the Year.

Human connection. It’s vital. Especially in a year like 2020. Especially for Pedro Pascal. So it’s ironic that the 45-year-old’s highest-profile success to date is working with an adorable animatronic puppet, inside a chrome helmet he famously can’t take off. "It is why I wanted to do this show. Selfishly, I knew [the Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda] was likely to make people fall in love with the show," says Pascal of tackling the title role on The Mandalorian, the Emmy-nominated hit Star Wars series, which returned for its second season on Disney+ in October.

The Chilean-American actor has an eye for choosing projects where he’ll stand out, from popular network procedurals including The Good Wife, The Mentalist, and Law & Order to his breakout roles as the charming — and horny — Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones and, soon after, DEA agent Javier Peña on Netflix’s Narcos. But it’s the stoic bounty hunter safeguarding a frog-egg-eating 50-year-old toddler that’s made him a household name. The new season of The Mandalorian followed Pascal’s galaxy-traveling warrior as he searched for the home of the Child, generating countless memes in the process.

Playing the Mandalorian has been one of the hardest and most unique experiences of Pascal's career to date. At this point, it's no secret that he wasn't physically under the helmet as much as he would've liked in season 1 and recorded his dialogue in post-production to match what his doubles, stunt actors Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, did on set in the armor. Giving a largely vocal performance was a challenge for a physical actor like Pascal, who is almost unrecognizable when you compare his turns on The Good Wife and Game of Thrones, for example, because of how he carries himself. Yet, being on set way more in The Mandalorian season 2 didn't make his job any easier because he still had to figure how to make Mando compelling while also being as economical as possible in his physical movements and vocal performance.

"I'm not even sure if I would be able to do it if it weren't for the amount of direct experience that I've had with being on stage to understand how to posture yourself, how to physically frame yourself into something and to tell a story with a gesture, with a stance, or with very, very specific vocal intonation," says Pascal, who believes his collaborative relationship with creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, a.k.a. his "Mandalorian papas," also helped him inhabit the role in season 2.

Speaking of collaboration: Working with comedian Amy Sedaris, who plays gruff Tatooine mechanic Peli Motto, was one of the highlights of The Mandalorian’s sophomore season. “I followed Amy Sedaris around like a puppy. [I was] like, ‘Hey again. I’m not leaving your side until you wrap,’ and she’s like, ‘Cool,’” Pascal says. “I love the Child — it really is adorable — and it is so fascinating to see it work, but somebody who makes you spit-laugh right into your helmet will always be my favorite thing."

Pascal longed for those kinds of interactions during quarantine, which proved difficult for the actor who was living alone in Los Angeles. But he lights up, is even giddy at times, when the conversation turns to bonding with the Community cast right before a charity table read back in May (he filled in for Walton Goggins), or FaceTiming his friends to celebrate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' election victory on Nov. 7. "Ahhhh! Ahhhh!" Pascal exclaims, reenacting the joyous calls with buddies like Oscar Isaac that Saturday morning. "It was screaming and jumping and dancing and crying…. I very arrogantly took screenshots of everything and [shared them], like, 'I am a part of this!'”

"I'd be less nervous playing tennis in front of the Obamas than I was seeing a reunion of these people that I think are brilliant and have this incredible chemistry with each other and stepping in and having really, really, bad technology in this new space that I had moved into. I really resented having to actually participate acting-wise because there were instances where it was way too much fun to watch."

- PEDRO PASCAL ON SHOOTING THE COMMUNITY TABLE READ.

His appreciation for those around him has only grown during the pandemic. Before flying to Budapest to film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicholas Cage, Pascal leaned on his bubble for support. Community's Gillian Jacobs, for example, hosted him for an outdoor socially distanced pizza night every Saturday in the early weeks of lockdown. (He suspects that's why he was recruited for the sitcom's table read when Goggins couldn't participate.) "The friends that got me through it are absolutely everything to me and very beautifully marked in my head. I've got old friends and new friends that literally did nothing short of parent me through the experience," says Pascal, who has "survivor's remorse" for being in Europe right now. "I feel guilty not being [in the States] with my friends through [this tumultuous time] but also grateful that, individually, I was able to gain a little bit of separation from the stress of it."

Those tight bonds helped redefine, or at least clarify, what success means to him. "I want to make sure that my relationships are right, and I want to make sure I'm nurturing meaning in a sustaining way, and that won't necessarily be related to getting good jobs and making lots of money," he says. But he'll take them — as he did for both of his 2020 projects, about which he's thrilled. And how could he not be, starring in two of the year's most feverishly anticipated properties?

Besides The Mandalorian, Pascal appears in Patty Jenkins' superhero epic Wonder Woman 1984, which has endured a Homeric journey to its release (read: several pandemic-related delays). Thankfully, the odyssey is almost over because Warner Bros. recently confirmed that it will open in both theaters and on HBO Max on Dec. 25. Pascal is stoked audiences will finally see his turn as the villainous Maxwell Lord because playing the greedy dream-seller pushed him out of his post-Game of Thrones action role comfort zone.

"With Wonder Woman, [Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig] are doing the action, baby, and I'm doing the schm-acting!" he says, hilariously elongating that final syllable. "I am hamming it up!" (Indeed, Pascal reveals Cage inspired his performance in one particular scene.)

But Pascal felt he was up to the challenge because everything he needed was right there in the screenplay, which Jenkins co-wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. "I didn't have to take something and figure out how to put more flesh onto it. I had to achieve getting into the skin of what was being presented to me," he says, contrasting the experience with playing a DEA agent for three seasons on Narcos. "For me, Colombia was almost the central character, and then I was allowed to make him depressive and to tonally interpret what the character was. And in this case [on Wonder Woman 1984], there was just so much for me to meet rather than to invent."

He continues: "That was an incredible delight and challenge because Patty Jenkins is a director who loves actors and when she sees she can ask for more, she does. And there isn't anyone better, in my experience, to give more to."

In 2021, he rejoins the good guys as an aging superhero and father in Robert Rodriguez's kid-friendly Netflix drama We Can Be Heroes. The inherent optimism of the Netflix film's title also complements Pascal's hope for the new year. Says Pascal, ”If [fear] can take a little bit of a backseat and not be the main character in everybody’s life, that would be great.”

SOURCE

#omg he looks so damn good #entertainment weekly #pedro pascal #the mandalorian #din djarin #max lord #maxwell lord #wonder women 1984 #ww1984 #oberyn martell #prince oberyn #the unbearable weight of massive talent #javier pena #narcos #javi gutierrez #we can be heroes #marcus moreno

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sinceileftyoublog · 3 years

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30 (Technically 34) Albums We Loved That Happened To Come Out in 2020

So much has already been said and written about this cursed past year, but a few good things came out of it, including the music. Album-wise, like many before it and many to come, it was an embarrassment of riches. But even with so much time on our hands to devour new tunes, it was often old favorites, songs of comfort or familiarity that garnered the heaviest rotation. For many artists, too, it was a year ripe for revisiting or reissues of old material, looking at existing songs with fresh and new perspectives. Simply put, with so much to listen to, new and old, the prospect of ranking a finite number of albums felt not only daunting, but frankly a bit stupid. Maybe we were late to the game, but 2020 taught us that music should and can be appreciated in multiple contexts, not limited to but including when it first came out and when it was heard again and again, even if years later. The records below--listed in alphabetical order--happened to be released in some form in 2020, whether never-before-heard or heard before but in a different format. And the only thing I know is that we’ll be listening to them in 2021 and beyond.

Autechre - SIGN & PLUS (Warp)

The legendary British electronic music duo surprise released SIGN a mere month and a half after its announcement and then PLUS 12 days later. The former was a beatific collection of soundscapes that belied the band’s usual harsh noise, while PLUS embraced that noise right back, drawing you in with the clattering chaotic burbles of opener “DekDre Scap B” and lurching forward. -Jordan Mainzer

Against All Logic - 2017-2019 (Other People)

The perennially chill ambient house artist Nicolas Jaar had a busy 2020, as usual, releasing two albums under his name, Cenizas and Telas. But it was 2017-2019, the follow-up to the debut album from his Against All Logic moniker, that came first and throughout the year helped to illustrate Jaar’s penchant for combining inspired samples with club beats and tape hiss. Take the way the lovelorn vocals of “Fantasy” or soulful coos of “If Loving You Is Wrong” war skittering, scratchy percussion and cool arpeggios, respectively: Jaar is coming into his own as a masterful producer almost a decade after he released his first full-length. Oh, and bonus points for including none other than Lydia Lunch on a banger so blunt it would make Death Grips blush. - JM

Bartees Strange - Live Forever (Memory Music)

Like many, my introduction to Bartees Strange was through Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, his EP of The National covers. Creativity and shifting perspectives shine through each song’s reimaging, like flipping the coarse, almost manic “Mr. November” into something softer, more meditative. It felt like a mere peek into what was to come on Live Forever. Bartees Strange is a world-builder. Each track on his debut unfolds and welcomes you to a wildly engaging tableau, a fully constructed vision. “Jealousy” opens with soft vocals and birdsong. “In a Cab” is the slick soundtrack to racing through a cityscape in the rain, seeing the blurred lights of the high-rises above as you pass by. “Kelly Rowland” warps wistful pop song feelings. “Flagey God” takes you into a dark, pulsing club while only a few songs later, “Fallen For You” wraps you in echoed vocals and romantic, raw acoustic guitar.

It’s an accomplishment to craft an album of individual songs that stand strongly on their own but still feel cohesive. 2020 wasn’t all bad. It gave us Live Forever, a declaration of an artist’s arrival. - Lauren Lederman

Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now (Atlantic)

Back in the spring, many of us wondered who would put out something great in 2020’s quarantine. It was hard to imagine that the intensity of a global pandemic would really allow for artists to embrace creativity. That thought carries the same eye-roll inducing feeling of “We’ll get some great punk music out of a Trump presidency,” but of course, Charli XCX delivered. Through live workshops with fans and longstanding collaborators, she delivered songs to dance alone to in your bubble. Charli embraces the unknown of the moment but clutches onto what’s familiar. Under the glitch-pop veneer of the album, she digs into the anxieties of not just this moment of time but of the bigger questions we all confront: trajectories of relationships with friends, romantic partners, ourselves. Album standouts “forever” and “i finally understand” embrace that feeling of both looking for control and accepting the lack of it. Charli is a master at balancing this. - LL

Christine and the Queens - La Vita Nuova (Because Music)

Named after a Latin text by Dante Alighieri about missing a woman who has died, Chris’ La Vita Nuova is not about mourning a death but instead about loneliness and isolation, post-relationship or otherwise. It doesn’t bang quite like her previous two albums, but it hits harder than ever.

Read our full review here.

Dogleg - Melee (Triple Crown)

Released on March 13th, right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Melee was supposed to be supported by three cancelled tours–SXSW, an opening slot for Microwave, and an opening slot for Joyce Manor–and an appearance at this year’s cancelled Pitchfork Music Festival. Listening to the songs on the record, you can only imagine how they translate: the jerky momentum of “Bueno”, build-up of “Prom Hell”, gang vocals of “Fox”, clear-vocal anthem of “Wrist”, and odd groove of “Ender”.

Read “Buckle Up, Motherfucker”, our interview with Dogleg.

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia & Dua Lipa/The Blessed Madonna: Club Future Nostalgia (Warner)

Where Dua Lipa’s much-anticipated second album Future Nostalgia succeeded was in its disco anthems and retro, club-ready beats, so who better to bring out the best of the record than The Blessed Madonna? The turntablist masterfully curates a mix of heavy hitters of the charts and the underground that not only offers an essential complement to Future Nostalgia but transcends it. Sending the tracks out to various producers and singers for features and then adding her own samples on top, she invites you to peel back the layers, enter a YouTube rabbit hole of sample searching as much as bopping along.

Read our full review here.

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full (Sacred Bones)

Roadburn Festival has long been on my bucket list, and since the pandemic showed me how much live music can be taken away in a flash, when it’s safe again to travel and go to a festival, I may just pull the trigger and go--especially considering it’s the springboard for such fruitful and inspired collaborations as the one between Louisville singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle and Baton Rouge sludge dwellers Thou. Rundle embraces the heavier opportunities on the follow-up to her incredible 2018 record On Dark Horses with the ever-flexible Thou backing her up vocally and instrumentally. Slow-burning opener “Killing Floor” offers a familiar introduction to fans of both--sort of what a Rundle/Thou song would sound like--before grunge chugger “Monolith” introduces huge, catchy riffs and “Out of Existence” a True Widow-esque dirge, newfound inspirations for both artists bringing the best out of each other. - JM

Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Epic)

What makes Fetch the Bolt Cutters stand out among Apple’s catalog and music in general is the clarity with which Apple seethes at those who have wronged her, whether ex-boyfriends or patriarchal oppressors, and looks to her relationships with other women for peace of mind.

Read our full review here.

HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III (Columbia)

For HAIM, the title Women in Music Pt. III is suggestive that, more than their previous two records, their third centers around the experiences of being an all-female band in a historically white cis male-dominated scene, at least one that wouldn’t call catchy riffs written by a man “simple” or call attention to the faces a man makes while playing. What it doesn’t let on to is how deeply personal the record is, how, by unabashedly embracing genres and styles of music that they love, HAIM have made far and away their best album. Co-produced by the usual suspects, Danielle Haim, Ariel Rechtshaid, and ex-Vampire Weekender Rostam Batmanglij, it’s instrumentally and aesthetically dynamic and diverse, consistently earnest without devolving into cheese.

Read our full review here.

Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You? (International Anthem)

I’ve been captivated by Irreversible Entanglements ever since I first saw them at Pitchfork Music Festival 2018. The radical poetry of Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother) is the perfect front for a ramshackle mix of Luke Stewart’s spidery bass, Tcheser Holmes’ weighty drums, and a horn section that concocts tones that range from hopeful to desperate. At their best, Who Sent You? is a shining example of celebratory Afrofuturism and metaphysics that makes the urgency of Ayewa’s more concrete and political words all the more necessary. “No Más”, composed by Panamanian-born trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, is a declaration against imperialist oppression, while the stunning title track flips the switch like a Kara Walker painting, as Ayewa’s the one interrogating the police officer terrorizing her community. “Who sent you?” she repeats, never spiraling, grabbing a hold of the power and never letting go. - JM

Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown (International Anthem/Nonesuch)

It’s Jeff Parker’s mom’s turn. After 2016′s The New Breed ended up being a tribute to the guitarist’s father, who passed away during the making of it, Parker decided to pay tribute to Maxine while she was still alive. Suite for Max Brown (Brown is his mother’s maiden name; Max is what people call her) is a genre-bending collection of tracks inspired by Parker’s DJing, juxtapositions of sequenced beats with improvisation that certainly sound like the brainchild of one individual. Indeed, Parker plays the majority of the instruments on it and engineered most of it at home or during his 2018 Headlands Center residency in Sausalito, CA; though all of the players and the vocalist (Jeff’s daughter Ruby Parker) on The New Breed show up, plus a couple trumpeters (piccolo player Rob Mazurek and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes) and cellist Katinka Kleijn, Suite for Max Brown is a distinctly Jeff Parker record.

Read our preview of Jeff Parker & The New Breed’s set at Dorian’s last year.

Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM (Polyvinyl)

Jeff Rosenstock throws us right into the spinning, manic energy of NO DREAM, his latest release from a seemingly endless well of music that never lacks urgency. It’s a reminder that though it’s been a strange year, the issues Rosenstock tackles here aren’t new. There’s no interest in making you feel comfortable here. On the album’s title track, Rosenstock sings, lulling you into a false sense of security, “They were separating families carelessly / Under the guise of protecting you and me.” But reality sets in, and the hazy guitars spin out as he spits, “It’s not a dream!” and, “Fuck violence!”

My image of Jeff Rosenstock in the year 2020 is masked up with “Black Lives Matter” scrawled across the fabric of his mask in Sharpie, performing album highlight “Scram!” on Late Night with Seth Meyers as high energy as ever. It felt like watching someone send out a beacon, both a distress signal and a call to arms. - LL

Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure? (PMR/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope)

I am not someone who goes to clubs. I don’t “go out dancing,” preferring to let loose in the privacy of my own home or a trusted friend’s house party. But Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure? makes me think I could embrace a night out like that, once the world opens up again, of course. The album is filled with syncopated disco beats that feel fresh and classic all at once. The abundant horns and strings on “Step Into My Life” are decadent, like light bouncing off sequins in a dark room. Ware’s voice is slinky and velvety one moment, windswept like her album cover the next. It’s songs like “Save a Kiss” that embrace both, allowing her to show off her range. - LL

Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter (Partisan)

With sparse production, mostly from her but with additions from Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Marling foregoes the comparative maximalism of the Blake Mills-produced Semper Femina, her last proper full-length, and 2018′s LUMP collaboration. The songs aren’t simple, but they’re succinct, and every element, from Marling’s finger-picked guitars, the occasional slide guitar, and that unmistakably calm voice, sometimes alone and sometimes layered, fits. It’s her most universal set of songs yet, centering around the times when we’re apart from one another but reflecting on when we were together and when we might be together again, with no guarantees.

Read the rest of our review here.

Les Amazones d’Afrique - Amazones Power (Real World Records)

The groovy pan-African collective expands upon their debut Republique Amazone and then some with Amazones Power, a tour-de-force statement of female empowerment in the face of oppression against women throughout the African diaspora. Indeed, the album is more than just songs boldly decrying FGM, though those demands ring heavily. Instead, the group goes further, delving into gender power structures in marriage on “Queens” and selectively finding strength in tradition on “Dreams”. And this time, they include men to stand alongside with them. “Together we must stand / Together we must end this,” sings Guinean musician/dancer/artist Niariu on opener “Heavy” in solidarity with features Douranne (Boy) Fall and Magueye Diouk (Jon Grace) of Paris band Nyoko Bokbae. But perhaps it’s her kiss-off on “Smile” that hits hardest: “I shut up for no one.” - JM

Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas (Nonesuch)

The British singer-songwriter’s much anticipated follow-up to 2015′s Blood was better than I could have ever imagined. A song cycle about life cycles--of nature, of lives, of a relationship--inspired by an actual breakup, Lianne La Havas is a contemporary neo soul masterpiece. Overview opener “Bittersweet” is an instant earworm, La Havas’ coo-turned-belt filling the space between classic and increasingly emotive slabs of piano and guitar. Funky, lovestruck strut “Read My Mind” is the soundtrack for the unbridled confidence of finding new love. Yes, the doubts begin to sow on the fingerpicked melancholy of “Green Papaya” and “Can’t Fight”, and where the album goes from a simple narrative perspective may be predictable: They break up, they don’t get back together, La Havas enjoys her independence. But the depth of the arrangements and assuredness of La Havas’ singing is a product of an artist starting to really show us what she can do. And how many people can pull off a Radiohead cover like that? - JM

Lomelda - Hannah (Double Double Whammy)

What does it mean to title an album after yourself? Lomelda’s latest album is centered around discovering more about yourself while not always having the answers. Despite the lyrical content, the album is self-assured. Hannah Read’s voice feels as steady as ever as it navigates these twisting questions, like the way the world can shift after a kiss. She finds power in softness and reflection throughout the album, like when she explores the mantra-like words of “Wonder” or through a reminder to do no harm in “Hannah Sun”. In a year that allowed for perhaps more reflection than usual, Hannah makes space for the questions that arise out of figuring yourself out, of making sense of the messiness of it all, wrapped in warm guitar, balanced vocals, and steady drums. - LL

Moses Sumney - Grae (Jagjaguwar)

“Am I vital / If my heart is idle? / Am I doomed?” Moses Sumney famously sang on his stunning 2017 debut Aromanticism, an album that saw him developing his acceptance of being alone. grae, his two-part 2nd full-length, and his first since officially moving from L.A. to the Appalachian Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, doubles down on themes of heartbreak, but instead of being sure in his seclusion, he embraces the unknown. The album teeters between interludes of platitudes about isolation and ruminations on failed human connection, and maximally arranged clutches of uncertainty. “When my mind’s clouded and filled with doubt / That’s when I feel the most alive,” Sumney coos over horns and piano on slinky soul song “Cut Me”; it’s an effective mantra for the album.

Read the rest of our review here.

Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor (Blue Note)

At the time we previewed Norah Jones’ 7th studio album, she had only released a few tracks from it. Turns out the rest was just as powerful. From the blues stomp of “Flame Twin” to the rolling piano stylings of “Hurts to Be Alone”, Pick Me Up Off The Floor is an album full of jazzy orchestrations and soul and gospel-indebted arrangements, Jones’ silky, yearning voice tying together the simple, yet lush and deep instrumentation. And that other Tweedy feature, that closes the album? It’s a heartbreaking portrait of loneliness, one of many on a record that still manages to celebrate being alive all the while. - JM

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (Dead Oceans)

Phoebe Bridgers is a master of details. Her lyrics shine when they get specific. They range from the mundane to morbid: A superfan’s ghost-like wandering under a drugstore’s fluorescent lights, a skinhead likely buried under a blooming garden, reckoning with the you in “Moon Song”’s lines, “You are sick, and you’re married / And you might be dying.” Bridgers has always been able to set a scene meticulously, and Punisher arrived with 11 songs that expanded that skill, both lyrically and musically, with her dark humor intact and a fuller sound that includes her boygenuis collaborators’ harmonies. - LL

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love: The Demos & Dry - The Demos (Island)

Yes, revisiting Dry’s demos as a separate entity is still worthwhile. Harvey’s powerhouse vocal performance carries the acoustic strummed “Oh My Lover”, while the comparatively minimal arrangement of “Victory” highlights bluesy riffing, call-and-response harmonies, and layered guitar and vocals. The singles, the slinky and sharp “Dress” and propulsive anthem “Sheela-Na-Gig”, hold up to their ultimate studio versions, too. But it’s the To Bring You My Love material that provides novelty because it’s never been released and more so because it encompasses the greatest aesthetic contrast from the album. From the warbling hues and guitar lines of the title track to the tremolo haze of “Teclo” to the crisp snares of “Working With The Man”, the demos show a continuity and level of cohesiveness with the diversity of Dry and Rid of Me not shown on the studio version of Harvey’s more accessible commercial breakout. (Predictably, the album’s most well-known song, “Down by the Water”, is the closest to its eventual version.) “Long Snake Moan” is simultaneously more spacious and more noisy, its garage blues a total contrast to the lurking “I Think I’m A Mother” and swaying shanty “Send His Love To Me”. And “The Dancer” fully embraces its flamenco influences, hand claps and all.

Porridge Radio - Every Bad (Secretly Canadian)

Is there a better opening line than “I’m bored to death, let’s argue”? That kind of duality is found across all of Every Bad as it grapples with the frustrations and anxiety of trying to figure it all out, whatever that might mean for you. “Maybe I was born confused, but I’m not,” vocalist Dana Margolin repeats throughout the opening track, roping in listeners with the dizzying feeling of trying to make sense of yourself. The band’s guitar and synth sound coupled with Margolin’s howl makes for a dance party filled with dread, rendering Margolin’s already strong, repetitive lyrics even more spiraling. And yet, by the time we get to “Lilacs”, a glimmer of something else shines through as the music gets more manic and Margolin’s voice begins to soar: “I don’t want to get bitter / I want us to get better / I want us to be kinder / To ourselves and to each other.” - LL

Sault - Untitled (Rise) & Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)

Yes, Black Is still pulls plenty of devastating punches. “Eternal Life”, a segue from the gospel boost of “US”, juxtaposes a deliberate drum beat with zooming synths, both ascending like a chorus of angels, as they sing, “I see sadness in your eye / ‘Cause I know you don’t wanna die,” presenting the oppression of Black life at the hands of white supremacy in inarguable terms. Ultimately, though, it’s the anthemic nature of the songs, resistant of platitudes, that shines through. “Nobody cared / This generation cares,” says Laurette Josiah on “This Generation”. Whether she’s talking about young people in general or the latest generation of young Black leaders, the sentiment is reflected on songs like “Black”, wherein over dynamic, sinewy instrumentation, the singers alternate between encouragement, support, and love of the self and others.

Read our full review here.

Shamir - Shamir (self-released)

Shamir’s voice is a bright beacon in a sea of conventional singers. Shamir captures the effervescence of pop music and weaves it together with elements of country, alt rock, and diary confessional lyrics all supported by the emotion and range of his vocals. There’s something for everyone across the album’s 11 shimmering tracks. Lead single and opener “On My Own” feels like a declaration of self and self-sufficiency, an anthem of a breakup song. The almost pop-punk bounce of “Pretty When I’m Sad”, paired perfectly with lines like the angst-ridden, “Let’s fuck around inside each other’s heads,” feels impossible to not bop along to. The twang of “Other Side” would put a country crooner to shame. That’s the power of Shamir. His voice has the ability to smoothly convey joy, resilience, and humor. He uses elements of several genres, not just the dance-pop of his debut, to build a unique album that gives listeners so much to sift through and, of course, dance to. - LL

Songhoy Blues - Optimisme (Fat Possum)

If Songhoy Blues’ second album Resistance lacked “the grit of its predecessor,” it’s clear from the hard rock stomp of the opening track of Malian band’s third album Optimisme that they rediscovered their mojo. More importantly, they couple this maximal brashness with tributes to those who make their world a better place: fighters for freedom, women, the young. It’s perhaps the first Songhoy Blues record to truly combine the celebratory nature of their desert blues with a balanced mixture of idealism and vigor. - JM

Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone (Pure Noise)

How can you find hope in hopelessness, or optimism when every news story points to cruelty? Is it naïve to keep searching for light in the dark? I don’t think so, and I don’t think Spanish Love Songs does, either. I’d like to think we both believe that’s not naivety, but power. It’s the embers you need to really ignite a flame. After all, this is the band with a song titled “Optimism (As a Radical Life Choice)”. It’s a band whose crunching guitars and earnestness insist that despite death and depression and addiction, the instinct to survive shines brightly above all. That relentless hope resurfaces across Brave Faces Everyone’s 10 tracks even as it works through the bleakness of everyday life. - LL

Tashi Dorji - Stateless (Drag City)

The magnum opus from the Asheville-based picker is a group of evocatively titled, disorderly songs about the desolate hellscape of America for outsiders and immigrants. Enigmatic in its nature, not exactly narrative, Stateless combines Dorji’s urgent strumming with moody motifs, captured beautifully in a studio setting for maximum emotional wallop. - JM

Touche Amore - Lament (Epitaph)

Is this what an almost uplifting Touche Amore album sounds like? It’s cathartic in a newer way for the band, especially after the beautifully rendered grief of Stage Four. Lament loses none of the band’s aggression or urgency. “Come Heroine” thrusts listeners into that urgency and introduces a moment of warmth, Jeremy Bolm’s vocals still rasping and insistent: “You brought me in / You took to me / And reversed the atrophy.” The bounciness of “Reminders” may seem close to optimism, but a sharper look at the lyrics uncovers more than blindly looking to the things that bring joy. “I’ll Be Your Host” is reflective, a few years removed from Touche Amore’s previous album and the immediacy of loss, self-aware and growing, but still raw. The album closer, “A Forecast”, takes a turn, a lone voice and piano acting as a confessional before giving way to thrashing guitars and the realization that growth and reckoning with trauma doesn’t mean minimizing it. It means learning to keep moving forward and to stop for help when you may need it. - LL

Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud (Merge)

The best album yet from Katie Crutchfield is inspired by positive personal change (getting sober, dealing with codependency issues, her blossoming love with singer-songwriter Kevin Morby) and reflections on family and friends. Named after the suburb of Orlando where her father’s from, Saint Cloud is a genre-hopping collection of stories and feelings that doesn’t necessarily follow any semblance of narrative. On opener “Oxbow” and country-tinged ditty “Can’t Do Much”, Crutchfield’s increasingly aware of the need to pick your side and your battles, whether in the relationship between two people or between the allure of the bottle and the next-day hangover. Some of the best songs on the album see her finding commonalities with others as a means towards self-love. Gentle strummer “The Eye” refers to her natural creative relationships with Morby and her sister Allison. “War” she wrote for herself and best friend, who is also sober, the title a metaphor for one’s fight to remain substance-free. “Witches” is an ode to her best friends, including Allison and Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan, all equally frustrated by the toxic nature of the music industry and the world at large, ultimately lifting each other up because they simply have each other.

Read our full review here.

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365days365movies · 3 years

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March 12, 2021: Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (Part One)

I am so goddamn excited for this one.

Back to Greek mythology, my first mythological love! And not just Greek mythology, because this...THIS...this is the first true Avengers story. Oh, yeah, like The Avengers.

After all, mythology produced the first equivalent of our modern superheroes, with demigods and legends that wield fantastic abilities and powerful items to fight the forces of evil. I mean, it’s the most superhero thing I can think of, and it’s literally a story as old as time. Fact of the matter is, I love superheroes, and I love mythology. Which is why I’m excited to finally see an adaptation of one of the biggest superhero team-up stories ever: Jason and the Argonauts!

See, it all starts with Hera, queen of the Olympians and petty as FUCK.

See, the newly (and wrongfully) ascended king of Iolcus, Pelias, honored the gods after stealing the throne from his brother. Well, all of the gods except Hera. So, Hera, rightfully pissed off, decides to fuck Pelias over by recruiting his nephew, Jason. Jason’s a naturally hot blonde kid who was raised by the centaur Chiron, also making him wise...theoretically.

Hera tests this kid, and he passes, so she gives him her favor, and tells him to fuck up his uncle. Jason arrives in Iolcus, and demands the throne from Pelias. His uncle agrees, IF he can bring back the Golden Fleece, a legendary treasure that is guarded by a vicious monster and a zealous king. Pelias didn’t think Jason had any chance, but Jason had the gods on his side. They sent their best subjects to his aid, and Jason procured an awesome ship, the Argo. So, who’s coming to help? Oh, you ready for this? ARGONAUTS ASSEMBLE

Now there are anywhere between 46-85 heroes that are assembled in the Argonauts, with different members in different iterations of the myth. But the big members are:

Heracles, son of Zeus, with the strength of a thousand men

Orpheus, son of the muse Calliope, and master musician

Calais and Zetes, sons of the North Wind, with the ability to fly upon it

Atalanta, the swift-footed huntress, and only female member

Castor and Pollux, twin half-brothers (yeah, really) and horse-riders

Theseus, son of Poseidon, and slayer of the Minotaur

Tip of the iceberg there, but you get the point: we’ve got a superhero team on our hands! And these heroes would perform MANY great deeds on their journey to the Fleece. They fought the Harpies to defend an oracle, they passed the dangerous Clashing Rocks, they battled the Stymphalian Birds, with feathers of metal. Sirens, fire-breathing bulls, and a giant bronze man named Talos.

Different one. Eventually, they procured the Golden Fleece on the island of Colchis, where they fought a dragon with a help of the young sorceress (and niece of Circe), Medea. She fell in love with Jason, and the two fled the island, married, and had twins. Only for Medea to reveal herself as a stone-cold sociopath, and only for Jason to ditch her for another woman. That goes...VERY badly for Jason. Breaking off his marriage pisses off Hera, THE GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, and he dies sad and alone after Medea does...Medea does a lot, I’ll just leave it at that. Jason, completely fucked at that point, takes a nap at the foot of the now rotting Argo, which collapses on top of him and kills him.

For the record, I truncated that story A LOT. There’s a lot to it, but I have a movie to watch, goddamit! And I’m really excited because this is my first Harryhausen movie! You know, Ray Harryhausen, one of the early greats of practical special effects in film? A specialist in stop-motion from its earliest days, he revolutionizes the art throughout films in the 1950s and 1960s, with this one being one of the most successful. You’ve definitely seen his influence, from stuff that he’s done directly...

...to those inspired by him and his methodology...

...to the arts that were descended indirectly from his groundbreaking effects.

Oh yeah, I’m fucking GOING THERE. Fun fact: Ray Winston Studios, a stop-motion group active during the ‘80s and ‘90s, and a descendant of Harryhausen’s works, were originally going to do the animation for the dinosaurs in this movie, in Claymation. However, the recent advent of advanced animatronics, alongside ILM’s founding, caused them to take some of those principles, and apply them to CGI and animatronics. So, yeah, I’m claiming an indirect connection here!

Anyway, enough being a nerd, LET’S WATCH THE GODDAMN MOVIE! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

As the bombastic and epic score plays, the credits role of a Greek-style fresco, detailing the various adventures of the Argonauts. And before the movie starts, I come to a realization: there is a high chance that I’m going to hate this movie’s inaccuracies to Greek mythology. It’s not impossible. I’m real persnickety about my mythology adaptations, just warning you all now. I’ll probably get into it in this Recap, too. Full goddamn warning.

We begin with a seer, reading the future for the treacherous Pelias (Douglas Witmer). He sees first a Golden Fleece at the end of the world, but Pelias ignores this, and asks of his upcoming conquest of the kingdom of...Thessaly. Not, uh...not Iolcus. Mmmkay.

The seer fortells that Pelias will seize the throne, by force, from his brother and the king of Thessaly...Aristo...not Aeson. OK then. The seer says that he will be successful, but will eventually fall to one of Aristo’s kids, who will take his throne. He has two daughters, Philomena and Briseis, and one son, Jason. Looks like they’re gonna die, too.

The invasion begins! Amongst the chaos, Briseis (Davina Taylor) takes her baby sister, Philomena, into the temple of Hera, and pleads to her for her protection. However, they’re found by Pelias, who asks who she is. He’s interrupted by a priestess of Hera, who claims that the Queen Goddess has answered the girl’s prayer for protection.

Pelias responds in kind.

Well...I’m sure that’s gonna piss off Hera. He claims it to be the will of Zeus, but she states that it is his will, not Zeus’. The gods have abandoned him, and he will one day fall to a one-sandaled man, Jason. And as the woman reveals this...she disappears. Nice. FUCKIN’ NICE.

This “priestess” is Hera (Honor Blackman), of course. She goes to her husband, Zeus (Niall MacGinnis), and asks if he ordered Pelias to destroy and profane her temple. He says no, as that was Pelias’ attempt to stave off his inevitable fall by Jason. However, Jason has escaped Pelias’ wrath, as has his sister Philomena. Hera decided, however, that she wants to take down Pelias, and Jason is the best was for that to happen. Hence, she wishes to sponsor Jason.

However, Zeus, being the classic misogynist, says that he will allow it, but she may only help Jason 5 times, once for each time that the fallen Briseis prayed to her. She agrees, and waits 20 years to start fuckin’ with Pelias. Pelias, meanwhile, is growing more paranoid over the one-sandaled man prophecy that Hera gave him.

One day, on the bank of a river, Hera appears to make Pelias fall off of his horse into the river. He’s saved from drowning by a young man, who loses his sandal in the process. This is, of course, Jason (Todd Armstrong), who was already on his way to see Pelias for some reason.

For the record, this is an adaptation of the original story, in which Hera disguises herself as an old beggar-woman, and Jason proves himself to her by helping her across the river, after which she gives him her favor. To be honest, I like this a bit more, or at least as much.

Pelias brings Jason back to a camp for a celebration, with him as an honored guest. Jason reveals exactly who he is, and that he was raised outside of the city by one of his father’s loyal soldiers. He has come to reclaim his right place as king of Thessaly, and to restore it to it’s rightful glory. However, Pelias hasn’t revealed himself as king, and asks Jason how he plans to accomplish these feats. Jason replies with his ultimate plan: obtain the Golden Fleece.

Here’s the deal about the Golden Fleece. One of the most legendary items in Greek mythology, the fleece is essentially a symbol of royalty, and is the coat of a ram with wings found on the island of Colchis. Now, the meaning of the fleece has long been debated, with the main consensus stating that it’s a symbol of royalty. However, some claim that it’s a symbol of prosperous farming (golden grains of wheat), the forgiveness of the gods for some unknown deed, Zeus in the form of a ram, or simply the promise of the unknown at the edge of the world.

What it DEFINITELY ISN’T is a magical healing garment, as Jason claims it to be. But OK, whatever, we need a good reason to get the Fleece, sure. Pelias, not revealing himself, says that Jason should try to get the Fleece, with a boat and a crew, and bring it back to Thessaly, returning and killing Pelias in order to take the throne. Of course, Pelias thinks that this is impossible, which he says to his son Acastus (Gary Raymond). He also knows that if he kills Jason, he it will mean his own destruction, as Hera told him.

Jason goes to ponder this journey, only to encounter the seer. The seer asks if he has come to pray to the gods, to which Jason states that he doesn’t believe in them, nor does he have cause to. The seer offers to give him that cause, and reveals himself as Hermes (Michael Gwynn), the swift-footed messenger god, god of medicine, and trickster god of the Olympians.

Hermes isn’t usually directly involved in the myths of Jason, but that’s OK. He also does something particularly unusual, and brings Jason TO Olympus to meet the Gods themselves. Which, uh...yeah, hot damn. Zeus and the rest arranged for Hermes to bring Jason to them. They ask how they can help him on his quest. Zeus offers him a ship and crew, but Jason refuses, much to the gall of EVERYBODY.

Hera helps him by telling him where to find the Golden Fleece: the island of Colchis, at the other end of the world. To get there, though, Jason’ll DEFINITELY need a ship. He decides to go to the shipbuilders of Greece, and tell them that great treasure lies on Colchis, and they may receive some for their aid. As for the crew, he’s got a similar tactic. Offer the reward to the athletes and heroes of Greece, who will compete in games to determine their eligibility.

Not from the original myths...but it actually makes a lot of sense. Goddamn, is this going to be a good adaptation? I’m excited! The games are held, and many athletes win their place on the journey. They include: Castor and Pollux (Ferdinando Poggi and John Crawford), Acastus, and of course, Heracles (Nigel Green). And yeah, he’s called Hercules here, but I don’t care.

When Hercules arrives, this grabs the attention of the young Hylas (John Caimey), who arrived to late to compete in the games. He challenges Heracles to something, believing that beating Heracles in something will guarantee him a place on the ship.

While everyone mocks this, Heracles agrees to go up against him in a discus-throwing contest. They must hit or pass a rock in the ocean by throwing their discus. Heracles hits it easily, of course. And the frail Hylas...

...Nice. Did not see that coming, and that’s actually very smart. Also takes a lot of skill, because I could NOT do that. Hylas wins his place in the ship, to the delight of both the crowd and the Olympians. And yes, Hylas actually is a companion of Heracles in the original stories, so that’s neat!

Now for the boat, being built by master builder Argus (Laurence Naismith), who is coming on the ship with them. He notes that something appears to have guided his hand during the ship’s construction. In the original myth, that would be Athena. However, here, it’s probably Hera, as the figurehead is specifically carved in her image. And is also...alive?

Well...to be fair, in many myths, the ship contains wood built from a magical tree that could speak, and see the future. So, OK, magic ship, fair enough. Well, hopefully, that ship’s guidance will happen soon, as the voyage immediately proves difficult. No water, no rest, and frustrated men.

Jason asks the figurehead for help (which would be help #3) and Hera speaks through it to tell Jason to head to the Isle of Bronze, where Hephaestus once had his forge. However, the island is lorded over by a powerful something called Talos. I know what Talos is, but the movie hasn’t revealed him yet.

The Argo makes its way to the island, and the men head ashore to get food and water. They see goats there, which will provide them both food and drink, and Heracles and Hylas chase after them for just that aim. And that’s when they blunder into a giant bronze statuary, lorded over by the statue of Talos.

The two enter a chamber in the statue’s base, which is filled to the brim with gold and treasure. However, Jason warned the men of the Argo not to take anything from the island but food and water. Hylas remembers this, but Heracles doesn’t care, and takes a golden staff from the chamber. And Talos...Talos doesn’t appreciate that.

Oh, that’s a great place to take a break! See you in Part Two!

#Jason and the Argonauts #don chaffey #ray harryhausen #todd armstrong #nancy kovack #honor blackman #gary raymond #laurence naismith #greek mythology #argonauts #argonautica #apollonius rhodius #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #movie recap

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atiny-exol · 4 years

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Innocent! Straykids their Yandere s/o punishes them

Warning: this is a yandere reaction, this contains a toxic relationship, abuse, torture, blood and some dark topics if you are uncomfortable with that please don't read it.

Chan

He is the nicest and loveliest person you know

Always nice to you and everyone around him

And that's the problem

You hate it when he talks with other people

Epically girls

So it isn't a surprise that you had enough one day

Chan really was just nice to the young lady and helped her with some heavy stuff but of course you got jealous

As soon as you arrived home later, you locked the door and told him that you hate it when he is flirting with other people

He didn't really understand what you mean.. He was just nice wasn't he?

You cried infront of him and told him how horrible and terrible you felt while he flirted with this girl

How insecure you are and how much it scares you that he might leave you for someone better

It wasn't the first time that you manipulated him and it isn't the last time

Let's say that he won't talk that nicely to others anymore because he doesn't want to hurt you and just wants the best for you

So his punishment is more psychological

,,B.. Babygirl/Babyboy? W.. Why why are you crying? Did I do something wrong again? I'm sorry I'm. Really sorry." Chans wrapped his strong arm around you waist and pets you head with the other hand. ,,N.. No no..its fine c.. Chan it's fine." you cried out under fake sobs, and behind his back a smirk appeared on your face. He is so easy to manipulate.

Minho

You kidnapped the poor guy, but at least you took your cats with him

You know how much he loves his cats

But he he gives them more attention when you. You will take them away

Lock him up and just let him out if he gives you the attention you need

You aren't physically

You just know that the cats are the only interaction he will have with something what breaths beside you

And he wouldn't stand it if you hurt his precious cats

He never breaks the limit so he isn't sure if you really hurt his cats or not

But to be honest he doesn't want to find it out

,,No Minho you don't understand that! You won't give me attention while you pet this stupid things!" Minho looked at you with big eyes and carefully put the cat down his lap and on the ground, before he looked away. ,,Y/N s.. See I.. I'm sorry.. I" ,,A sorry won't fix that Minho~" with a soft voice you continued. ,,Never do that again or I have to lock you in the basement again without your cats."

Changbin

Changbin is a very feisty one

He doesn't want to play by your rules and he will do everything to break them

He tries to run away multiple times

And you are getting tired of it

Yes it is funny to see the climpse of happiness in his eyes then he steps outside for a second

And yes it's sadistically satisfying to see how his happiness turns into fear and anger as soon as he realizes that it was a trap

It is funny and yes you loved it

But that doesn't mean that you will let him do that over and over again

Killing for Changbin? No problem for you

You will drag some friends from him one by one in the basement let him watch how you torture them and then he can decide witch one dies first

If he doesn't give in you will break him into submission

Loud and painful screams echo through the silent and dark basement as you stabbed the knive inside the thigh of your newest victim. A satisfied and sadistic giggle left your mouth as you smudged the blood other the face of them, before you turned around to your tied up boyfriend. ,,Come on binnie which one should si kill first? Choose wisely because the other one will get more pain for the next hour."

Hyunjin

Let me make one thing clear this one isn't that easy to break

You are his best friend for some time

You love him

You are possessive over him

He is the one who gives you the will to live and he

He is just so ignorant

One day he told you that he has a girlfriend now

And you would not only hate her bur also hyunjin

But you love him too and you want to make Jim yours

Breaking hyunjin is one goal you tried not to do but after this you aren't that nice anymore

You tied him on a chair and pulled out a knive

Your initials now over his collarbone

After that you brought his girlfriend in the room and killed her infront of him

Let's say he won't break your heart again

The black haired girl layed on the floor, infront of Hyunjins feet, shaking in fear as she saw how you stepped near to her. The inner sadist came out and your once so lovely face is twisted into a psychotic smile to her, before you stepped on her hand, letting her scream another time in pain. ,,Hyunjin is mind just mine and you-" you squatted infront of her and with a rough pull on her hair you brought her face near yours. ,,You will never change that."

Jisung

Best boy

He is a whole sunshine does everything to make you happy and would never betray you

At least you thought that

One time you came home and Jisung wasn't around

His clothes are gone and you couldn't track his mobile phone anymore

You cried a lot but then you got angry

He did the only thing you asked him not to do

He left you

And he will regret it

It wasn't impossible to find him

And once you though him

He tried to tell people that you are going to hurt whim that you are sick

But you made the lie that he is mentally not stable and that he is confused

No one believed him

And now you have him back again

His punishment is easy

He won't go out anymore, you take the affection you gave him away and you treat him like a doll

Nothing and I mean nothing is done by himself anymore

If you don't need him right now he is tied to the bed, gagged and unable to do anything

You love him and you don't want to lose him ever again

,,My precious little doll." you said while you are deep down in your own happy mindset, where everything is good and Jisung is living a happy life with you together. The reality is far away from that. Jisung is laying on the bed, eyes closed, mouth filled with a gag and a few tears running down his cheek while he wished that he never made the mistake to try to leave you.

Felix

He was your best friend for such a long time

And you loved him since your childhood

As you confessed to him and he returned the feeling you were so happy

But Felix soon realized that the relationship isn't going like he wanted it to be

You are jealous very easily no one can come near him without you throwing a tantrum

He can't talk to anyone anymore because you would get angry at him

But you can't understand why he doesn't like it

It just showy that you love him so much and that you won't let someone steal him away

But as he tries to break up with you

You lost everything

Of course you would let him go at first

But after this night no one and I mean no one saw him again

Because he is sitting in the house you made just for you and him

He can't leave it

And you still need to remind him that he can never break up with you again

That's why you should show him how much he hurted you with that

,,Come on lixie. It isn't that worse."you said while you rolled your eyes and layed the teaser on the table beside you. ,,You didn't understand yet how much it hurt me when you tried to break up with me. You don't know it yet." Another deep sigh left your mouth and you looked at your other tools laying on the table, placing the hammer inside your hand, and as soon as your fingers wrapped around the cruel tool you can see the fear in his eyes. ,,That's it. That's what I want to see." Incomprehensible words left his gagged mouth and another giggle is heard from you. ,,Don't worry soon you understand the pain I felt.

Seungmin

You stalked him for so long and he didn't even know that you existed

You took photos of him at every activity he did

A whole room just with photos from him

Let's say some of them aren't that innocent

Punishing Seungmin?

Yes because one day you decided to take him

You want him to fall in love with you

So you texted him

But he was so rude towards you

Lling you that he doesn't know who you are and that you are probably a psycho

So you blackmailed him with some photos

And if he didn't believe you and block you

The photos are on all social media platforms till he apologizes

Disbelieving what he just saw, eungmin shakes his head and thinks that all of this is just a big bad nightmare, but as he opened Instagram again and saw the same pictures over and over again, tears collected in his eyes and he quickly unblocked the person who threatened him yesterday.

,,I'm sorry please I won't do it again. Please... D.. Dont post pictures of me like that again. "

Jeongin

He is the easiest to manipulate

Soon in your relationship you arrange it that he has no one beside you

All his friends disappeared one by one and no one wants to talk to him anymore

If he doesn't behave well you will threat him that you will leave him

That no one will ever love him the same way you love him

That everyone will hurt him

And Jeongin believes you. Especially if you are older he will believe you

Everything you say is true in his mind and he doesn't think twice about it

You have him wrapped around your little finger and if he still acts like a brat you will treat him like a child

Early bedtime, no sweet, not going outside and no affection

So.. Let's say he won't do it that often

,,What did I say Jeongin baby? " ,,N.. No sweets after 9pm N.. Noona/H.. Hyung."the younger said while his head hand low and his look shows that he is sorry that he disappointed you. ,,And what did you do Baby?" ,,I a.. Ate sweets after 9pm without asking." ,,That's right. Now go to the separate room. You sleep alone today." His eyes widden in shock and he looked at you with teary eyes. ,,N.. Noona/Hyung p. Please n." ,,I won't repeat that Jeongin. Go."

#straykids #stray kids changbin #straykids felix #stray kids felix #stray kids male reader #stray kids reaction #stray kids reactions #stray kids yandere #stray kids #stray kids hyunjin #stray kids han #stray kids jisung #stray kids chan #stray kids minho #stray kids seungmin #stray kids scenarios #stray kids jeongin

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genablack96 · 3 years

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About the ofa vestiges

So... we all saw this coming, ever since the vestiges appeared we all deep down inside knew, Me personally I kept turning a blind eye to to it because I just didn’t want it to happen.

Story wise it would be amazing, truely epic and unquestionably heroic, Because no matter what? fact is we all know bakugo is going to be a great if not the greatest hero, (and I don’t mean to undermine Deku at all, he without a doubt is going to be the greatest hero of his time and he is great MC and I love him to bits) him and kirishima both if the theory turns out to be true and more more it’s has become apparent that it would be.

But to people who love Bakugo and Kirishima this is excruciating, for them to leave everything behind their friends and family and futures they dreamed of to go to the past, and nobody and I mean nobody is going to to know because it has to be a secret so no one would try to sabotage the (saving the world mission) because they are going to save the world and also to protect Eri from being targeted and thus they are the silent heroes, just thinking about all of this makes want to cry all over again and once more I say they are going to be great heroes but for it to be off screen it just rips me apart I can see it, they go back and we get some sort of documents they’ve written and we get flash backs of their lives we will not see how everything turned out for them how much growth for both of them that we are not going to witness, Bakugo taming his personality so he won’t be recognized or rememberd because all dynamite stans know he would have been a hall of famer, Kirishima hardening himself not quirk wise but him laid back always a smile on his face Kiri when he finally relises that there is no going backand has a complete break down after, and their adventure because it would be an adventure, and the fact that kiri is the 3rd user breaks my heart even more ,WHAT HAPPENED TO BAKUGO FOR HIM TO GIVE OFA TO KIRI ?, AND IF BAKUGO DIED THEN KIRI IS ALL ALONE IN THE PAST (sobs), and from what we understand about OFA that they will die young and I’m literally having a break down this is so sad but so heroic and they would KNOW they would go back knowing this, unless they pull a terminator move and send them back just to tell the first user how his quirk works and that he has to pass it along for it to be stronger (without telling them they are the 2ed and 3rd users) and then something happens (destiny) and OFA is passed to Bakugo, because it is destiny, from the moment Eri stumbled on none other than OFA’s 9th and last user our sweet Izuku and he noticed she was in trouble and eventually saved her the wheels of destiny started turning

#mha #bnha #my hero academia #buko no hero academia #katsuki bakugou #midoriya izuku #one for all #ofa #yagi toshinori #mha deku #mha dynamight #all might #kirishima #bnha eijirou #bnha eijiro kirishima #time travel

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limerental · 4 years

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for the anonymous prompt: First time Yennefer smiles at him, Jaskier walk full-on into a tree because his brain stops working and his heart takes over and his heart is stupid and only focusing on her

link on ao3 because this got away from me

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It is academic coincidence that draws the two of them together. The Oxenfurt professor is drafting a historical epic to be performed at spring commencement and requires the knowledge of an expert on ancient, arcane artifacts. Said expert is a bright-eyed sorcerer fresh from a dig in the south.

The man is dangerously handsome and so enthused to have someone to chatter on about his work with that he pays for a whole pitcher of ale at one of the swankier taverns in town, maps and diagrams and documents and dusty old books spread all over their corner table. The pair laugh and bluster and hotly debate together well into the evening, until work gives way to enjoying a delectable platter of dried fruits and hard cheeses paired with yet more ale.

It is halfway through their second pitcher that both of them go still, blinking at one another, stunned by the realization that they have an unexpected mutual acquaintance.

“You know Yennefer?” asks Istredd, his head tipped in fresh appraisal of the strange professor.

“Of course, I do,” says Jaskier. “I’ve known her for years and years. Mind you, many of those years I wished very dearly not to have known her, but we have reached a truce now. Some may even call us friendly. I’ll have to see about getting us all together the next time she’s in town.”

“No, no,” says the sorcerer, smiling somewhat sadly. “I’m afraid we parted last in less than ideal circumstances.”

“Oh dear, none of that,” Jaskier says and stands to gesture for the barkeep to bring more dried figs and fresh-baked bread and tender slivers of sausage. A bottle of wine for good measure.

“We were in love once,” says Istredd, sighing. “I think so at least. We were very young. And foolish.”

“Mmmm,” hums the poet in understanding as he pours the sorcerer a brimming cup of dark wine.

“I loved her eyes the most,” he says wistfully. “Such bright, clever eyes, despite such darkness in them.”

Jaskier nods in agreement. He can’t say that he has spent long hours peering into Yennefer’s eyes, but he has still seen that flare of hurt that lurks in their violet depths. He has spun that detail into more than one composition. He wonders if Istredd has heard them.

“Oh but her smile. I’ve never known something quite so beautiful. So timid and soft and tender. Full of warmth and light. So genuine and sweet and stunning.”

“That doesn’t sound much like the Yennefer I know,” says Jaskier. Yennefer does not smile. She smirks sometimes or grimaces, but her default state tends to be one of barely-contained irritation. Or maybe that state is only due to his presence. He thinks she surely must smile at the Witcher. Or at Ciri, maybe. But he can’t imagine it.

“If you should ever witness that smile turned your way,” Istredd says, cross-eyed with drunkenness, pointing a sharp finger into Jaskier’s chest. “You will feel like the luckiest man alive. I promise you this. You will be half-ruined for any other. You will wish you could inspire that smile a dozen times over and then some. That she would look at you like that until the end of your days.”

“I will take your word for it,” says Jaskier with a laugh, and they spend the rest of the night in drunken revelry until they stumble back to Jaskier’s rooms together and collapse into sleep.

He half-forgets about the conversation.

Until, that is, the impossible happens.

Yennefer smiles at him.

---

The circumstances that inspire it are not so unusual.

Jaskier has been traveling with Geralt through the summer, and their path crosses with Yennefer in some well-to-do town north of Vizima. She invites them to her well-furnished rooms for drinks and some catching up.

Usually, nights like this end with Jaskier booted from her rooms so that the Witcher and the mage can become reacquainted, but this night, Geralt plans to head out for a contract before the crack of dawn and retires to his own room early, leaving Yennefer and Jaskier alone together well into their cups.

Once upon a time to be left alone with the sorceress would have inspired deep terror in him, but now very little of that unease remains. He still hangs on to some of it, just in case, but beyond some casual bickering with no real edge to the insults flung back and forth, Yennefer has been very tolerant of him recently.

Jaskier is telling her about his last meeting with Ciri, grown into a young woman now and as much a terror as she always has been. She had attended one of his lectures and afterward, strolled at his side through the university grounds and down through the bustling markets of Oxenfurt. On a side street that dipped along a canal, they had encountered a gaggle of rowdy gentlemen who felt the need to whistle and coo at Ciri.

And soon discovered what a horrible, horrible mistake they had made.

“I’ve never seen grown men that size run so fast,” says Jaskier with a bark of laughter. “One of them leapt right into the canal and swam for it!”

Yennefer chuckles into her goblet. “That certainly sounds like Ciri,” she says.

“Oh, you can’t help but love her dearly, our little Ciri. Not so little anymore though, I suppose, but I can’t help but think of her as that wild-eyed young girl still. Oh and remember her hair? What a rat’s nest it would become so easily. So windblown and knotted I could hardly brush it out to braid it. Twigs and burrs caught in it and all.”

“I remember, bard,” says Yennefer.

And.

She smiles.

At him.

Despite the gulp of wine he just swallowed, his mouth goes suddenly dry. It is a small thing, the edges of her mouth quirking upward, her stained lips thinning with it. Her round cheeks dimple slightly, and the faintest breath of wrinkles appear at the corners of her violet eyes. And her eyes echo that tenderness, filled with something that he would describe as affectionate warmth if he did not know who she was looking at.

The smile is for Ciri, he thinks but finds that he doesn’t care. It is warming and wonderful and like nothing he has ever seen on her face. He does not mind that it is not for him. He simply feels awed to have inspired it.

“By the gods,” says Jaskier, foolishly unable to stop the words from falling from his lips. “You have the most beautiful smile.”

And her face shutters at once, that smile forced into a grimace.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” she says. “I’m not one of your comely maidens.”

“I’m not-- Sorry, sorry, didn’t mean to blurt that out.” Jaskier flounders, struck by the flood of desperate longing to somehow, some way see her smile like that again. “It’s not nonsense. It’s brutal honesty. I’d never risk lying to you, Yennefer. Or risk flirting with you, for that matter. My bits are much too precious to me.”

“A wise man,” says Yennefer, downing the rest of her drink in one go, and the night ends not long after that, Jaskier passing out in the living area of her rooms rather than risk waking the Witcher.

In the morning, the memory of her smile is crisp and clear in his mind even as the rest of the night blurs into a fog.

Just as Istredd had promised, he aches to inspire it again.

---

The second time it happens, he is so overjoyed and thrilled and relieved to see it again that, looking helplessly back at her as he is, he does not notice his feet stray off the edge of the path as he bodily connects with the solid trunk of a tree.

Geralt is escorting him to Oxenfurt before heading on to Kaer Morhen for the winter, and they encounter Yennefer on the maid road on her way to Novigrad.

Jaskier had been surprised to see her travelling by horse rather than by portal and had made some quip implying laziness, and she had remarked back that she was not surprised at all to see him traveling by foot. Couldn’t he afford a pony after all these years of tenure at the Academy?

He had allowed the back and forth to subside quicker than usual.

Since that night in her rooms, anytime that he happened to encounter her, Jaskier had poured ceaseless energy into attempts to bring that smile once more to her lips. So far, no luck.

He has tried compliments and gifts and more stories of fond memories and self-deprecating humor and commentary on her prestige and power and offerings of food and wine and all manner of things he is sure would have inspired at least a faint smile in anyone else.

But this time, it’s one of his newer compositions that does it. To his surprise, it’s not even a song in her honor but a silly one he wrote at his own expense, the jaunty tale of one of his many ill-advised romantic endeavors that went horribly wrong in potentially exaggerated ways. Sometimes leaning into the role of bumbling fool earns more coin than otherwise.

He has begun the third verse, his voice rising over the dusty road, half dancing a jig alongside the horses, when he looks back and sees Yennefer’s eyes on him.

She’s smiling.

Her dark curls fall loose around her shoulders, and the slanting autumn sunlight gleams on the jewels studded along the bodice of her dress, and there it is, the curve of a soft smile edged with laughter.

A fondness at the edge of it, a gentleness in her eyes.

It’s stunning.

It’s everything he remembers it being.

It’s incredibly, disastrously distracting.

“Oof,” Jaskier says as he bounces off the tree trunk and collapses back on his bottom on the side of the road. Geralt doesn’t even bother pulling up, cursing his clumsiness under his breath, but Yennefer?

Yennefer has collapsed into a fit of helpless laughter as she draws her grey mare to a halt, breathless and wheezing. And she’s still smiling, light and airy, and her laughter is not tainted by cruelty, simply genuine humor at what a sight he must look sprawled on the ground.

Jaskier can’t help laughing along with her, stretching out flat on his back to groan and roll in the dirt. The revelry ends when the Witcher shouts at them from down the road to get a move on, that if they dawdle any longer he’ll never make it to Kaer Morhen before the snows, and Jaskier gets up and wipes the tears from his eyes and pats the dust from his clothing and that’s the end of that.

But now?

Well, now, Jaskier aches to hear Yennefer’s laughter just as terribly as he has ached for her smile.

---

She cottons on to his scheming after a while, because of course she does. Because she’s Yennefer, and Jaskier has never known a woman more astute.

He used to fear that cleverness, tremble under her sharp perception, worry what she would perceive of him. But no longer.

“Jaskier,” she says, as he offers her the slender stem of a rose, its petals so dark burgundy as to appear black. She is visiting Oxenfurt on business. When Jaskier had heard of her presence in town, he had sought out his favorite local florist before stopping by her rooms. “Are you courting me?”

He sputters.

“No! I wouldn’t dare! Simply saw this in the market and thought of you. Simply thought you would admire it,” he says. She quirks a slender brow and reaches to accept the gift in curled fingers.

“No ulterior motives, then?” she asks.

“Ah,” he says. “Well, perhaps there is one.”

“Oh?”

“It’s only--” He knows there is no way to say such a thing without outing himself as an utter imbecile, but she already thinks that of him anyway so no harm done. “Well, I’m quite fond of your smile, is all. I had hoped to inspire more of them.”

She looks at him for a long moment, standing in her doorway. She twirls the stem of the rose in her hand, its dark, upturned petals brushing against her cheek as she lifts it to her nose to catch its fragrance.

And then.

She smiles at him with all the beauty and gentle softness he has come to crave, and he finds his lungs have forgotten how to draw air, standing in perfect rapt stillness before her. Something warm and soaring rises in his breast. His cheeks begin to burn, flushing with the pride and awe at having inspired such a thing and when he thinks on it, when he looks closer, when he examines that swelling warmth in his breast--

His eyes jerk up to meet hers with the sudden realization that he has been staring at her lips for longer than is probably strictly proper, but she hasn’t stopped smiling. She does not jump to chastise him or react in scandalized horror at his blatant ogling.

Instead, she laughs, a bright bubble of a laugh that is almost a giggle, and it thrills through him like a shock of lightning, tightening in his belly.

And she says, “come here, you idiot.”

And pulls him by the front of his doublet into a heated kiss.

And he discovers yet one more gesture of hers that he suddenly aches for.

#and formatting messed up in the ask so #had to repost #yennskier #yenskier #yennefer x jaskier #prompt fills

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