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#british commentary imagine
hopeinthebox · 3 months
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tagged by the gorgeous and fabulous @cordiallyfuturedwight and @aprylynn for february's roundup:
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tagging the usual music favs: @jiminsproof @thvinyl @jimin-gaon @visionsofgideontheninth @spicyclematis @kimchokejin @jihopesjoint @monismochi plus @kimtaegis for the amy macdonald of it all 💜 and also you, dear reader. MWAH
#heads up! here comes the director's commentary:#16 Carriages - now listen. i love texas hold 'em as much as the next daddy lessons supremacist#but holy shit. it doesn't hold so much as a candle to this track.#just unbelievably stunning. i'm begging you to give it another chance if you skipped over it the first time#Don't Forget Me - me and kayla and apryl all having ms rogers in this month's list... i think we might be better than everyone else actuall#End Of Beginning - good GOD we couldn't gatekeep djo any longer but it's worth it if only for all the bear tiktok edits.#and thus i have fallen for this track all over again. yes CHEF#Showtime - now if you've known me long enough you'll know i'm an absolute sucker for british indie rock bands#especially if their frontman looks like they might not make it through another winter#so you can imagine catfish has had an inexplicable hold on me. anyway their comeback single is actually pretty good#This Is The Life - fantastic tune. 2007 if you can believe it?#what a time to be alive and at the school disco and you're singing the songs and thinking this is the life and so on and so forth#Loving You Will Be The Death Of Me - tom odell can do no wrong in my eyes (ears?) anyway. lovely lovely new album#Never Need Me - been loving rachel for a while now and this single is brilliant. highly recommended.#plus the video features florence pugh and if that doesn't sweeten the deal then christ i don't know what will#Baby Now That I've Found You - i didn't even realise this was a cover of the foundations until hearing it again recently#because alison krauss just has an incredible way of making them her own and thus it's been on repeat.#Deeper Well - okay so now i'm seeing the country thread through this month's picks.#this is another lovely new one. hearing it on the radio and the fact that they have to censor “i used to wake and bake” is hilarious to me#shoutout kayla again because great minds..#Stay For Something - CMAT is phenomenal and if you haven't listened to her yet i can't recommend her entire discography enough.#she had her arsecrack out at the brits last night and well. i would die for her#(speaking of the brits. raye... i literally cried for her. go find the recording of her live at the royal albert hall.#-watch it twice and then come back and thank me)#artists-wise - most of these guys are consistently up there.#katie melua is a new feature this time because all my amy macdonald-ing put me back onto nine million bicycles.#used to get that one mixed up with 99 luftballoons but they're really very different. i'm a fool#so tl;dr: fantastic tunes. do listen#tag#receiptify
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mariocki · 2 years
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Play 20: Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane
First performed: Gate Theatre, London, 1996
Quote: "There's a thing between us, an awesome fucking thing, can you feel it? It burns. Meant to be. We were. Meant to be." (Phaedra)
Stage direction: [Opens her mouth. No sound comes out.]
Notable cast: the original Gate production included Andrew Scott in a minor role. Laurence Penry-Jones starred in a 2005 revival at the Old Vic.
Notes: Only Kane's second play, Phaedra's Love was commissioned by the Gate Theatre, who asked for a drama inspired by a classical text. Reworking Seneca's Phaedra, Kane produced a clipped, precise distillation of tragedy as narrative. A paean to self-destruction which comments on voyeurism, faith and the inadequacies of love; critical reception was muted when compared to the histrionic moralising that greeted her first play, Blasted (1995). Featuring scenes of astonishing violence and horror, contemporary readings often focus on the brutality and nihilism of Kane's dialogue - but they're missing an extraordinary tenderness which unfolds alongside it. A masterful, troubling work from one of the greatest (and most sorely missed) voices of a generation of theatre.
Read: for the first time, but definitely not the last.
#100plays#phaedra's love#sarah kane#modern drama#modern theatre#seneca#phaedra#andrew scott#laurence penry jones#gate theatre#Kane was just 25 when she wrote Phaedra's Love‚ but her work was already both highly regarded by some champions in the established theatre#(Edward Bond was a mentor of sorts‚ Pinter an admirer) whilst simultaneously provoking outrage among critics and audiences#a remarkable work from an extraordinary playwright‚ one of the most significant voices in British theatre and a burning visionary whose#untimely death robbed us of who knows what kind of incendiary work. Sarah's work has been much reevaluated and appraised in the years since#she took her own life‚ and her current critical standing is beyond anything she could have imagined in her own lifetime; but still academic#work on her texts focus on the perceived nihilism and bleakness of her work‚ equating the graphic violence and strong language with her own#struggles with depression. i think there is some truth there‚ certainly‚ but what I think is missed is the flipside: the tenderness in the#scenes between Hippolytus and Strophe is rarely written about with as much zeal as the horrific scenes which close the play. Blasted‚ the#play which both made her name and brought astonishing condemnation from the press and government‚ remains a distressing and#disturbing work; but again‚ it's rarer to find critical commentary on the revolutionary act of kindness which ends the play. Sarah captured#something deep and true about humanity‚ something cloaked in deep ugliness and terror and violence‚ but at its heart something still very#human and capable of kindness and love in even the most grotesque of situations. and in that she found a unique voice that sees her work#still performed and written about and appreciated as something startling and new and different‚ nearly a quarter century after her death.
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samwhump · 2 months
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a (very inexhaustive, wincest-heavy) sam whump reclist
@transfemmesam asked me for Sam whump recs a few days ago, and I've had other requests in the same vein before (I can't imagine why.../s) so I thought I would throw this together, since these authors deserve all of the love and support for their contributions to our li'l fandom corner.
like I mentioned in the title, this is not at all a comprehensive list; I have at least ~200 more fics in my to-read queue that could thematically fit here, but alas, I have stupid shit like a job and a body and a dog to take care of, so. I'm always happy to get recs along these lines, so if you notice anything important missing, hit me UP. (and don't take any omissions as any specific commentary by me -- it's likely I just haven't had the chance to read it yet, haha.)
disclaimers:
some (most, honestly) of these contain potentially triggering and dark content, including but not limited to rape/noncon, torture, and suicidal attempts & ideation. I have tried to note content warnings where applicable, and most of the works are hosted on ao3, so the tags should have most of the information you need to make an informed decision. that being said, tread with caution. all of the summaries provided are from the original author, with warnings added after by me.
the list is in alphabetical order and separated into wincest and gen categories. a lot of the gen is also focused on the sam & dean relationship, because...I am what I am. and what I am a sucker for these two dipshits. there is also a brief section at the end with a few fics that don't fit into either category.
gen
All That Goes Unspoken by amnesiawife:
A case forces Sam to confront something long kept buried. (Set nebulously in season 12.)
CW: discussions of past rape/noncon, victim blaming
Beneath the Trees 'verse by Lise (5 works total, starting with Beneath the Trees, Where Nobody Sees):
Sam doesn't go to Stanford. Everything goes downhill from there.
CW: suicidal ideation
a boy is a cage by ad_castra:
After expelling Gadreel from Sam's body, Dean thinks they're in the clear. If only they were that lucky. // S9 fic wherein Gadreel's grace causes some adverse side-effects in Sam's mind.
CW: past referenced rape/noncon, body horror
body of proof by Askance (doomcountry):
There are things Sam hasn't told his brother. They're all in the envelope laid on Dean's pillow.
CW: heavy discussion of past rape/noncon
break these bones 'til they're better by redskyatmorning:
After Sam’s torture at the hands of the British Men of Letters, the latest in a long string of violations, he is rescued by Dean and Mary – and forced to ponder his broken relationship with his own body. Months later, when Sam is resurrected and tormented by Lucifer yet again, Dean confronts Mary and Sam gets his revenge against the devil.
catching my death (staring out an open window) by ad_castra:
Sam gazes at the window, catches the faint pink hue tinting the sky. It’s so realistic - he could breathe in the fresh air if he were really here. ----- They got Sam out. Sometimes, just knowing that isn't enough.
CW: implied past rape/noncon
Death of Convenience by WilsonTheMoose:
It should have been easy. Wendigos are no joke but daylight slows them. The weather's been unpredictable though and perfect, idyllic hunts don't exactly stay that way where they're concerned. Or Sam has one card to play and never stops to think that Dean would care if he killed himself.
CW: suicidal ideation, references to suicide
Echoes of Hell by The_Nightbreaker:
It wasn't real. He wasn't in Hell anymore. That's what he tried to tell himself over and over. But two centuries of torture don't disappear in a day. Sam struggles with visions of Hell, fighting to maintain his grip on reality. Dean hates that he can't protect his brother from what isn't real—but curse him if he doesn't try. When the boys stumble on a case with ties to the Devil himself, will they be able to pull themselves together in time to stop the sacrifices? Or will the echoes of Hell finally overtake them? Aka, season 7, but the plot is Hell trauma, not leviathans.
CW: suicidal ideation
Evening Shadows by withthekeyisking:
Sam is hallucinating the monster who tortured him for nearly two centuries, Dean feels like he's failing his brother, and a diner waitress bears witness.
CW: past rape/noncon
Everything Dies Given Time by Lise:
AU from 5.03. Sam discovers something wrong with himself, and learns to live with it. Only a lot less functional.
CW: suicide/temporary character death
The Freedom to Be Loud by jribbing:
It hadn’t occurred to Dean that maybe Sam remembered so much about that little nowhere town because something memorable had happened there.
CW: referenced past rape/noncon
golgotha by redskyatmorning:
There’s a vacancy on the throne of hell, and Sam is desperate enough to save Dean from Michael’s possession to give into the abyssal depths of his own darkness.
Head Space by ameliacareful:
A witch curses Sam leaving him blind, deaf, and bedridden. Left with only the inside of his own head and the occasional touch, Sam begins to unravel.
CW: suicidal ideation
Hiraeth by inkandpaperqwerty:
(n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past "Dean... I made a really big mistake." For a second, Dean actually thought things were going okay. He was out of Hell, Sam agreed to stop drinking demon blood, they had just wrapped up a successful hunt... for once, everything was okay. And then it wasn't. "I overdosed." Not at all.
CW: suicide attempts, suicidal ideation
if i could leave (i would've already left) by serendipity0930:
“I have a mission from God for you,” the Angel whispers to the man. “It is time for you to do what you were born to.” The man’s face twists into a smile, delighted over being chosen by Him, a purpose from God digging into his heart, carving out a place to fester. “Hunt.” ... 05x03 AU where Zachariah is even more determined to keep the brothers apart and hunters are all too willing to take Lucifer's True Vessel off the board for good
CW: referenced suicide
It's A River (But Not In Egypt) by Lise:
He's still a liar. Maybe always has been.
CW: toxic Sam/Lucifer dynamics
Kindred Instruments by PinBitch:
They’re in a tug of war and Sam is the rope. He doesn’t need to be alive for that. OR Sam dies in detox, being flung against the walls of a metal box will do that to you. Dean and Ruby pick up the pieces.
CW: temporary main character death, permanent supporting character death
lazarus trick by katsidhe:
Sam's alive, so everything is gonna be okay. 13.22 coda.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence by Lise:
Sam's back. He's in one piece. That's the problem.
CW: self-harm
love is like ghosts by redskyatmorning:
I’m poison, Dean had said instead of I’m sorry. Well, Sam wants to say, what does that make me? What the hell does that make me? (A look into Sam's mind in the aftermath of the Gadreel possession.)
The Other Brother by RadioFriday:
Sam and Adam are pulled from the cage at the same time. Sam is not right, and Adam, stuck as his caretaker, is not pleased.
Oxygen by inkandpaperqwerty:
“Cas! Cas, please! Please, answer me! Cas!” Castiel ignores Dean for several minutes, but then Dean gives him an opening that might help him complete his mission. So, he goes to investigate, and what he finds is a very bloody, nearly dead Sam. Dean tells him where the injuries came from, and Castiel quickly becomes confused. It doesn't make sense, but Dean tries to explain it to him, and slowly... Castiel begins to understand.
CW: suicide attempt
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc by AmberSock:
Sam waits, kneeling, for his execution. What if Dean hadn't missed?
CW: temporary character death
Safety In Distance by GalaxyThreads and SpiritClusters:
The Mark of Cain is a brand of violence. Sam was an idiot to think that he'd be exempt from it, just because he and Dean are siblings.
sometimes a kind of singing by adi_rotynd:
Sam gets cursed. They're dealing with it. Jack can see souls. That one they're not dealing with quite as well.
CW: past referenced rape/noncon
Soul Windows by GalaxyThreads and Spirit Clusters:
A few months after his birth, Jack learns how to see souls. Then he comes to a realization about the Winchester brothers, Sam in particular, and it's not a pleasant one. (gen)
Starry Night by keepcalmsmile:
Sam attempts suicide-by-monster. Dean tries to help. It sort of works...until it doesn't.
CW: suicide attempts, suicidal ideation
such fragile, broken things by The_Bookkeeper:
Sam wishes that Dean would just get it over with already.
The Tale of Sir Galahad by keepcalmsmile:
Sam once said he could never be clean like Sir Galahad. Dean assumed he was just talking about the demon blood. Turns out, Sam was talking about something else too. WARNING: Extended discussions of the aftermath of rape and childhood sexual abuse (but NO description of the actual events). Happy(ish) ending, but potentially very triggering.
CW: past rape/noncon, mentioned CSA
They Hammered in His Teeth by jribbing:
Sam has a secret.
CW: suicidal ideation
today's troubles (are history tomorrow) by a_good_soldier:
"It's not really something I know how to share," Sam had said. In which Dean figures he ought to help Sam out a bit.
Touch and Go by themegalosaurus:
Tag to 9.19 (Alex Annie Alexis Ann) in which Dean realises why, exactly, Sam is so angry about what happened with Gadreel.
trust fall by ad_castra:
“I’m nothing like you,” Sam hisses. Nevermind relating to the anguish of going it alone. Nevermind that he knows what it is to be strapped down and forcibly cleansed against his will. Sam wonders if these trials are purifying Crowley as well. 
Words Like Glass by broken_cinders:
Dean never figured the cage wouldn't leave a mark. He was prepared for memories, flashbacks, and nightmares. He wasn't expecting the words Sam brought back with him or the way they made him seem just a breath beyond Dean's reach.
Wound and Unwound by fascra:
Sam stops eating spring of his freshman year.
CW: eating disorder
wincest (dean/sam)
Brittle by thecapn:
Sam Winchester has an eating disorder.
CW: eating disorder
Don't You Cry No More by sixtysevenlmpala (schittyfic):
The first time Sam gets badly hurt on a hunt, he doesn’t cry. Dean does.
Fall On Your Knees by dollylux:
Sam doesn't quite make it home on the last day of school before winter break.
The Fall Will Probably Kill You by killabeez:
Set between 7.04 and the aftermath of 7.07. Dean is not as okay as he'd like you to think. Neither is Sam.
CW: self-harm
Feels so good to feel again by Trojie:
The pain keeps Lucifer at bay, at least to start with.
Follow In Your Form by withthekeyisking:
Sam is hallucinating Lucifer in the wake of Cas bringing his Hell Wall crashing down. To make matters worse, it seems like this has his dormant powers flaring back to life.
Last Temptation by merle_p:
Sam is running a fever again, the kind of fever no Ibuprofen or cold compress will bring down, the kind of fever that is eating him up alive, eviscerating him from the inside. He is too hot and too cold and too pale, delirious and shaking, resonating with whatever divine energy the trials are subjecting him to, and Dean is not sure how much longer he can stand to see him be in this state. Because Sam is quite possibly dying, and there is nothing Dean can do to stop it. Because Sam is dying, and he just. Won’t. Shut. Up.
CW: mentioned past rape/noncon
leeches by Anonymous:
Sam discovers a spell to make everybody forget him. He’s convinced it’s for the best. Pre-Stanford.
CW: attempted kidnapping/torture
Make Thick My Blood by themegalosaurus:
“You’re going to kill me, Dean,” Sam says, eventually. And all Dean can say is, “I think I am.” A season 10 AU, set after 10x14 ('The Executioner's Song'). Cas finds a solution that might cure the Mark of Cain; but if they're going to go through with it, Sam has a terrible price to pay.
CW: mentioned past rape/noncon
Prophecy of an Abomination by ashitanoyuki:
Sam is kidnapped by fanatically religious hunters and crucified. Coming back from this won't be easy. Canon-divergent from midway through season 2.
Recall by De_Nugis:
Sam's having a hard time telling what's real and what isn't, especially when it comes to some voicemails from Dean.
The Room Upstairs by brokenlittleboy:
Sam comes back from hell, but he’s inside-out and all wrong, and Dean can’t fix him.
CW: mentioned past rape/noncon
Ruin You (and its companion fic Worth) by Mumble_Bee:
Cole fucks Sam with Demon!Dean watching from a devil's trap, snarling that anyone would dare touch what was his. “I told you I don’t care what you do to his face or his blood or his fucking nose,” Dean growled, “but you put your dick anywhere near him and I will end you.” “Better hurry up then, Dean, because I don’t think I can wait much longer.”
CW: explicit rape/noncon
Snowed In by HelloStarlingFics:
When working a case, Sam and Dean get stuck out in a shack in the woods when the snow comes in hard and fast. Trouble is, Sam’s hated the cold ever since the Cage. Time for Dean to step up and look after him.
Wake by minchout:
Gadreel has had Sam for four years, and Dean, lost in guilt and obsessed with finding a way to get his brother back, has isolated himself in a cabin in the Missouri Ozarks with nothing but the woods, a stray dog, some chickens, and all the books the Men of Letters had to offer to keep him company. Then Sam shows up one day without his passenger, and Dean learns quickly that it doesn't matter that Sam is with him again - there is still a lot of work to be done before they can find their way back to each other.
Wanting to Forget by morganaDW (morgana07):
1-shot. S1 fic. After getting Sam freed from the Benders Dean thinks all he has to cope with is some bruises and cuts. He learns quickly just how wrong he is when Sam wakes up with a nightmare, reliving his brief but bad captivity in every detail. Sam just wants to forget & Dean has to try to get him to let him help. Will one night of cruelty and pain ruin what’s been formed between them?
CW: referenced past rape/noncon
when I wake up I'm afraid, somebody else might take my place by quake_quiver:
Sam doesn’t remember the last time he cried for Dean like he did that night. And now it’s been…two weeks. Maybe more. Sam is tired, and in pain, and starting to doubt that Dean’s going to show up. He’s weak and shaking from a combination of constant pain and hunger. Sam longs for Dean. Dean would make it better. Dean would fix it.
CW: rape/noncon, body horror
Wire Inside Me by merle_p:
There are a lot of things Sam hates about his current condition, to the point where he sometimes feels for the gun under his pillow at night, blindly toys with the safety, imagines pressing the muzzle into the underside of his chin and pulling the trigger just to make it stop. But there’s nothing he hates as much as the shadows he sees in Dean’s eyes whenever his brother is looking at him these days. It’s not an expression he remembers ever seeing before, but Sam thinks it’s probably something like revulsion. Horror. Disgust. What else could it be.
CW: referenced past rape/noncon, body horror, forced pregnancy
Worth (and its companion fic Ruin You) by Mumble_Bee:
Episode 10x01 "Black" where Dean is a human, and very, very, pissed off to hear someone has hands on his brother. “It’s nothing personal,” Cole whispered into Sam's ear, too quietly for Dean to hear, “but I need to kill your brother, and I need him off his game when he gets here. I don’t wanna hurt you, kid, but I’m going to, anyway. I’m going to hurt you a lot."
CW: explicit rape/noncon
you'll never see us again by according2thelore:
Then finally, his eyes trail over to Dean. His pupils are pin-point thin, and his hair is straggling in his face so Dean can’t see most of what expression lies there. Sam usually wakes up from nightmares in one of three attitudes: confusion, fear, or calm. A scary, sense-prickling calm that Dean hates more than anything else. Resignation, almost. Or: Sam suffers from nightmares and touch starvation post-Cage. They do their best to deal.
other Sam/Lucifer noncon
Cage Fight (No Way To Do This Right) by Dyed_Red:
Sam’s visit to the cage is already going awry, but Dean’s one-man rescue ends up skidding it sideways into territory neither him or Sam are ready for. (Gratuitous episode scene re-write. If Cas hadn’t come till after, if he hadn’t been there yet when Dean ran down to the 'parole' cage after hearing Sam scream - how bad could it have got for the brothers before he made it?)
CW: graphic rape/noncon
Into Being by withthekeyisking:
When Sam wakes up in the cave on Apocalypse World after having been killed by vamps, it's not just to find Lucifer there with him. It's to find him in him.
CW: graphic rape/noncon, necrophilia, forced pregnancy
Reggie/Tim/Sam noncon
a pointless resistance for you by withthekeyisking:
Sam doesn't know how long he's been with Tim and Reggie by the time Dean shows up and tries to take him out of there. Long enough that's he's already lost one baby and is pregnant with the next. Long enough that this life is starting to feel like all he knows.
CW: graphic rape/noncon, forced pregnancy & miscarriage, victim blaming
screaming birds sound an awful lot like singing by withthekeyisking:
Sam has done his best to move past what Tim and Reggie did to him, pretending it never happened at all. But running into them again makes that very difficult—especially when Dean gets involved.
CW: referenced past rape/noncon
Waste 'Em All by withthekeyisking:
When Tim and Reggie try to force the demon blood down Sam's throat, he spits it back out. He has no interest in being turned into their own personal attack dog. They don't...take it well.
CW: explicit rape/noncon
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mionemymind · 28 days
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Can you plsss do an imagine with Wanda (or whoever u feel is right) where reader is a formula 1 driver? It'd be so cool. But you don't hv to ofc. I'm a new follower and i absolutely adore ur works <3
Getaway Driver (Rewritten)
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Summary: Based off my incorrect quote, Y/n is the getaway driver for Wanda's mission.
Warnings: Shooting, Cursing, Slight Blood, Fluff
A/n: Before y'all comment, I really suck ass at action sequences lmaoo. Please try to imagine something better. But this is for the folks that love F1 and Wanda (@thatdudeusimpfor @canyonyodeler @pikachooo3 @rayisaknight) also gif credits go to Redbull
I had rewritten this the very next day because I was so unhappy with how I did the action scene. Hopefully this is better :)
Word Count: 4.3k
Masterlist
“Lights out and away we go!” The rumble of engines passed by as cars zoomed past the start. The roaring cheers coming from the fans grew louder with each second. 
Starting in pole position, Y/n gets away unscathed from the mess in the back as well as her current teammate, Max Verstappen. They stay side by side through the chicane, protecting the front positions as many drivers behind them try to slip past. 
In between turns two through five, multiple close calls occur as the the Stake F1 team showcase breaking issues this early on in the race. Y/n hardly got out of the chicane without hearing mishaps from the back. 
“Fucking cunt,” George Russel stated to his race engineer, Marcus Dudley. The fans screamed and laughed as the message was played out loud for the whole broadcast to hear. 
To mediate the tensions, a commentator stated, “For this British Grand Prix, we have a total of 52 laps with a forecast of dry conditions.” 
Coming from the paddock, Will Button announces his guesses for the race today, “It will honestly be a close call for first between the young driver of Redbull, Y/n, and her older teammate, Max. I know a Redbull 1 / 2 position will happen but my money is on Y/n as they’ve been on a winning streak for the past three races. As for third position, Lando Norris in the McClaren would be my final guess.”
Will moved closer to the McClaren garage as multiple shots show off the engineers, mechanics, and leaders. “They’ve recently redesigned their floor as well as the front wing. This big upgrade in the middle of the season might be the break that McClaren has been hoping for since the start of the season.” 
Coming up on their first lap, Y/n still leads the race. “51 more to go,” she thinks to herself. Although her head should be in the race, her heart couldn’t help but wish for this race to be already over. A certain red head was all she could think of. 
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Two hours away from Silverstone, Wanda listens closely for enemies. She could sense two of them guarding the very door she needed to be in. “On my signal,” Steve mouthed. 
Just as Steve gave the go ahead, the sound of F1 commentary started to play in Wanda’s ear. “Lights out and away we go!” Wanda walked through the hallway, incapacitating the guards, allowing Natasha and Steve to drag them to an empty room. 
Natasha gave Wanda an ‘are you serious’ look as the commentary also played in her comms. “Why am I hearing about a race right now?” They all stood outside the entrance to the headquarters room. Around five guys and one guard were currently there from the looks of it. 
“Sorry, I had meant to only set it to my comms.” Wanda brought out the hologram and changed the settings before looking at Steve for the next set of instructions. 
“Since when did you care about racing?” Wanda shrugged in response as Steve signaled with his hands on which people to take care of. 
“I’ll tell you later.” 
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“Are you fucking blind?” Y/n yelled to her race engineer. Lance Stroll had almost hit her side at turn seven, almost costing her the race had they actually made contact. “If he keeps racing like that, he’s bound to hurt somebody.”
“Copy that. We’re already in contact with the FIA about that.” Y/n’s grip on the steering wheel hardened. It was only lap 19 of 52 and her nerves were getting the best of her. She knew the race was going to be easy but her excitement to see Wanda again was causing her to lose focus. 
“I hope she’s watching me somehow,” Y/n thought. It was stupid to hope though as the driver knew Wanda was currently on a mission. It would be highly unlikely that she would watch her race, there were more important things than watching cars go round and round. 
Regardless though, winning this race was important to Y/n. This was the first race as an official couple. While the media hasn’t found out yet, she certainly didn’t want to give Wanda a bad impression. After all, if your girlfriend was continuously saving lives, the least she could do was win a race. 
“This ones for you Wanda.” 
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“That should be the last of them.” Steve tied up the last enemy on base and sent the coordinates to backup for retrieval. “Let’s get to the rendezvous point. It’s around 30 minutes west from here on foot.” 
Wanda pulled out her secured phone as they walked out the secured building. She opened up the F1 app and immediately tuned in for the last couple minutes of the race. 
“We have a battle between the two Red Bulls, Max Verstappen and Y/n Y/l/n, for P1.” Steve gave a disapproving nod as they walked through London, trying their best to blend in with the crowd. Wanda could care less of Steve’s approval for her antics. The mission was nearly over and she wanted to at least support her girlfriend from far away. 
“Oh God! There’s a crash at Luffield! It’s a Mercedes!” Wanda watched in horror as the car flipped through the gravel multiple times before hitting the fence, landing in an awkward position. Had the gravel not been there, the car would have surely gone through the fence. A safety car was brought out, allowing people to pit. 
“I believe that was George Russel’s car that had just crashed.” Wanda flipped through the drivers until she found Y/n. Although she knew that wasn’t her car, seeing her safe and sound brought Wanda relief. 
“Jesus, is George okay?” Y/n asked. Wanda smiled at her girlfriend’s natural concern. Although it was one lap away from finishing, it was nice to know that the safety of others was the first thing that Y/n thought of. 
“Wanda.” Looking up, Natasha gave a silent command to put her phone away. “We have people tailing us. When I say go, run as fast as you can. Make sure to stay close.” 
Slyly looking back, Wanda could point out the people that looked out of place. “Fuck me.” 
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“Thank you all for the wonderful race! The car was practically a bullet and everyone did so amazing today.” Y/n slid into first place and did a mini celebration on her car. 
As the camera crew came closer, she jumped in front of them and grabbed the camera. Taking off her helmet and balaclava, Y/n yelled, “This win is for my beautiful girlfriend! Can’t wait to see you babe!” 
Looking at the time on the screen, Y/n rushed past the cameras and went straight into the paddock. She ignored all the weird glances and congratulations she got on the way, the race win still fueling her adrenaline.
“Y/n? What are you doing?” Christian yelled but Y/n ignored it. It wasn’t like Red Bull had the balls to fire her for not celebrating.
Her assistant, Niya, had followed suit as Y/n took off her helmet into her dressing room. “Is my car ready Niya?” She nodded as she typed up a statement on her iPad. The team was going to be unhappy at the lack of answers but she knew they were ultimately happy with the points she scored for the team.
In no time, Y/n was out of her race suit and in an all black attire. She ran out of her room, yelling a thank you to Niya. Up on the screens, it showed Max at P2 while Lando was at P3 just like Will guessed. Several news outlets tried to catch up to Y/n, but she was not having it. 
“For the first time in F1 history, we don’t have the P1 spot filled. It seems our winner of the race had an emergency situation to attend to. Regardless, congratulations to Red Bull for the 1 / 2 positions.” 
Y/n smiled at Will’s comment as she passed the gates. This was going to be all over the news ‘Y/n runs off after P1 victory’. Yet Y/n could care less for all the speculations. She had to see her girl and nothing was stopping her. 
Hopping into her jet black Ferrari, Y/n sped out Silverstone. It was around an hour drive to the rendezvous point, but knowing the country like the back of her hand, she was guaranteed to make it on time.
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“Does anyone know who the getaway driver is today? Fury stated that we’ll know the day of the mission, but I was never briefed about it,” Steve inquired as the team finally got away from the enemies. 
Wanda glanced up from her phone, “It’s my new girlfriend.” Not a lot of things shocked the assassin and the super soldier, but that comment did. 
“Is she qualified?” Natasha quipped. She found it strange that Wanda hadn’t mentioned her new partner. In addition, the lack of information on Wanda’s girlfriend was also alarming. What if she was the enemy? What if she was an assassin? So many questions ran through her head, but kept her anxiety at bay. 
“More than qualified,” Wanda stated with a proud smile, “She’s a driver at her day job. Plus Fury gave the approval for it just for this mission only.” 
Natasha and Steve digested Wanda’s words and continued to walk. However, Natasha wanted to know more, even if Fury did approve of it. “How did you two meet?” 
“Funny story, I was actually running away…” 
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Wanda was surrounded. At every single avenue and exit was a marked enemy and with no back up, she only had herself to rely on. “Shit.” 
Wanda hurried herself out of the hotel, still noticing all the eyes around her. Thank goodness that it was still broad daylight. The enemies weren’t that careless to attract a crowd. 
As if sending a silent prayer, all attention diverted to the red ferrari that pulled up to the hotel. Before the valet could go up, Wanda rushed to and opened the passenger seat. She hopped in and closed the door.
Turning to the driver’s side, Wanda fully expected some old man to occupy the seat, but when her eyes met comforting brown eyes, a pretty smile, and furrowed eyebrows, she was hooked. The red head was distracted for a couple of seconds, before asking, “Do you know how to drive?”
Wanda knew she looked ridiculous. Any sane person would immediately kick her out, heck even call the police. Furthermore, the chances of a rich stranger even offering help was little to none, but when Wanda reached for Y/n’s emotions, she was even more surprised to see that this stranger didn’t feel any of that. 
“I do.” The accent almost made Wanda forget everything, but the sight of enemies getting closer made her focus. 
“Then drive.” 
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“So you hijacked your girlfriend’s car, asked her to get you out of a sticky situation, and then survived?” Steve chuckled at Natasha’s question. The story felt like something out of an action movie, but then again, they were superheroes, so anything could happen. 
“I don’t know how, but she managed to get me out of Spain safely. I even asked her to drop me off at our pickup location. Her car wasn’t bulletproof, but she was so fast, they could hardly get a scratch on her.” Wanda smiled at the memory of their first encounter. 
“At the end, she didn’t even ask why I needed to run away. I think she recognized me from the news and just wanted to help. But before I left, she asked for a date.” How crazy does one need to be to ask the very person that put you in danger on a date? 
“I said yes because why not? I liked her and it was the least I could do after she spent a whole hour driving.” It was Natasha’s turn to laugh at how made up the whole story sounded. But when the assassin could not pick up on a single lie, it made her chuckle more. 
“Well I can’t wait to meet her,” Steve remarked. They were 10 minutes away from the pick up point. 
“And she better knows how to drive,” Natasha added. Wanda nodded quickly, the nerves finally making its way to her head. 
“I promise. She’s good.” 
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“Where is she?” Natasha didn’t mean to sound aggressive, but they were still on a mission, something she ran a tight ship on. The crew were a minute early to the pick up point and Wanda had forgotten to ask Y/n to share her location. Right now, the witch paced back and forth with her phone in hand. 
The assassin didn’t want to add to Wanda’s already nervous state but they needed to leave. Before Wanda could send another message, a loud car screeched to a halt in front of them. Once the smoke settled, Wanda smiled at the sight of the getaway car. 
Opening the car door, Y/n got out, wearing a suit similar to her driver attire but in all black. “Am I late?” The wide cocky smile on Y/n’s face was hard to hide. The driver knew she was on time but didn’t dare to comment. 
Immediately noticing her girlfriend, Y/n closed the door and picked Wanda up by the thighs, spinning her around. The giggle that escaped Wanda’s lips almost made Natasha barf at how love sick the two were. 
As Y/n placed Wanda back down, she pulled her in by the waist and gave her a long kiss. The two almost forgot that they were in front of a crowd as Wanda ran her hands through Y/n’s hair. 
Natasha wanted to grumble at the unprofessionality but Steve’s look stopped her. Wanda was in love. This was something Steve had never seen before, and he was not going to dare to ruin it. This wasn’t to say that the assassin wasn’t happy for Wanda. She really was, but the mission was still the priority. 
Breaking the kiss, Y/n mumbled, “I’m not too late am I babe?” Wanda shook her head no as a large smile was plastered on her face. 
While holding Wanda’s hand, Y/n looked at Steve and Natasha, “Hi. I’m Y/n Y/l/n. It’s nice to meet you.” Letting go of Wanda’s hand, Y/n reached out to shake their hands. 
Steve was the first to shake Y/n’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you. My name is Steve.” 
Natasha bumped Steve out the way and shook Y/n’s hand, immediately liking the firm grip Y/n had. “I’m Natasha. It’s nice to meet you, but I think we should get out of here.” 
Stepping back to Wanda’s side, “You’re right, let’s get y’all out of here.” Y/n stepped around to open Wanda’s door, something both Steve and Natasha mentally noted.
Once everyone was buckled in, it was like a switch flipped inside Y/n’s brain as she zoomed from the meetup location. 
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“Someone is following us.” The rest of the group turned around at Y/n’s comment and noticed the entourage that was heavy on their tail. Y/n had barely driven for 10 minutes before enemies found them.
“I thought we got rid of them,” Wanda grumbled. She wanted her first mission with her girlfriend to have gone a bit smoother, but nothing is ever how she planned. 
The red head looked over her girlfriend’s suit, hoping that Fury had given Y/n a bulletproof suit. Last thing Wanda needed was for Y/n to bleed out. 
Blocking her anxiety away, Wanda focused on the mission at hand. 
“Do you think you can lose them?” Steve asked, ready to fight. Remembering the map she carefully studied, in 10 miles was a mountain with lots of turns. Right before it was a small village. 
“Get rid of the bigger caravans and I’ll take care of the two smaller cars. Do it quickly. There’s a village up ahead.” Y/n steadied the car as Steve nodded in understandment. Slowing the car down, Steve predicted his route as Natasha did the same. 
Once the enemies were close enough, the two hopped out of the car, each on a different caravan. Immediately, Steve used his shield to pierce the front left tire, causing the caravan to veer right into the woods. 
Steve hopped to the next caravan before it crashed. By now, multiple shots were being aimed at Steve, Natasha, and the car. 
“Keep us close. I need to help them,” Wanda stated. Y/n nodded as she tried her best to slow down at a safer speed for Wanda. Crawling to the back of the car, Wanda used her magic to fling a couple of enemies out of the cars. 
This ultimately assisted Natasha as she finally pierced her caravan’s tire. Instantaneously, the car crashed off the road, straight into a large pile of rocks. The assassin hopped off the caravan, aiming for the getaway car. 
Noticing the large gap, Y/n whipped closer to Natasha. Landing harshly on her side, Natasha groaned as Wanda held on to her arm, making sure she doesn’t fall off. “Are you trying to hit me with the car?” 
“It was the car or the ground, you choose,” Y/n quipped back. Had they been in a different situation, Natasha would have laughed but considering that the enemies were still shooting, she simply hustled back into the car. 
“Can Steve jump far?” The last caravan was close enough to continuously hit their back bumper. And with all the debris coming from the crashes, the sides were damaged. 
Before Wanda could answer, Steve jumped on top of the car as the caravan stopped into a halt, crashing into everything along with one of the smaller cars. Only one car remained. 
While Steve crawled back into the car and Wanda back in her spot, the village came passing by just on time. The mountain was right before them. 
Pushing the car into different gears, Y/n kept her eye on the rearview mirror as the car drifted through tight turns. The enemy car screeched behind them as it struggled to keep up through the turns. However, the straights were its friend. 
Up ahead was another set of turns, something Y/n already memorized in the back of her head. “Natasha, keep trying to shoot at them. I need something to distract their driver.” 
Pushing the getaway car to its limits, the turns proved hard for Natasha to hold on to, thankfully, Steve was holding on to her. “Aim for the driver’s view. It may be bulletproof but anything is better than nothing.” 
Natasha did as told, managing to aim perfectly even with all the wind rushing past her and the aimless turns up the hill. 
“We have a quarter mile left! Keep going at it!” Natasha emptied clip after clip as Wanda tended to her slight wound. Bullets came back towards their car, none created a single scratch on the car. 
Rounding the last turn, Y/n drifted perfectly to stall the car in place for a couple more seconds, allowing the enemy to catch up even closer. Keeping a couple seconds between them, Y/n pushed the car into gear, sending it through the last straight. 
“Get back in!” Y/n hardly gave Natahsa time as she pulled the car into the hard right. Before they knew it, Y/n had been driving backwards. In the next second, a grapple launched from the car, landing right on the enemy’s bumper. 
”Hold on!” Everything turned to a blur with how fast Y/n was reacting. Steve almost got whiplash and motion sickness from all the drifting and wild turns. Within the same second, Y/n used the momentum from the car to fling the enemy off towards the cliff. 
As the enemy hit the guard rail, it started to tumble through the air, pressing another button, the grapple released. Pulling up the handbrake, Y/n straighten the car back out onto the road. Driving away with a satisfied smile, Y/n was happy to see an explosion from the mirror. 
With a hand on Wanda’s thigh, the rest was smooth sailing for Y/n as she drove them to safety. 
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The car arrived, smoke trailed from it’s path as Y/n continuously pushed it past its limit. While Steve was thankful to have arrived earlier than expected, the nauseous feeling in his stomach held his compliments back. 
The pair from the back quickly got out of the car, throwing a thankful smile to Y/n as they headed inside, ready to debrief about the meeting. 
Once they were out of sight, Wanda was quick to giggle. Nothing was particularly funny, but the redhead couldn’t help but laugh. Not really understanding what Wanda was laughing about, Y/n merely chuckled a little at how adorable Wanda looked. 
“Do you think your boss will be pissed about the state of the car?” Y/n joked. The driver could probably afford whatever car Fury provided, nonetheless, she wanted a good first impression. 
“I think,” Wanda placed a hand on Y/n’s cheek, a smile still evident on her face, “you did amazing today. I knew you were a great driver but I didn’t expect you to handle all the gunshots like it was nothing.” 
Y/n kissed Wanda’s palm, leaning in closer to her touch. “I think with all the superhero stuff happening, I’ve become immune to things like that.” Y/n shrugged as the pair got closer, faces nearly touching. “Plus it helps that I know my girlfriend would do anything to protect me.” 
Leaning in for a kiss, Y/n nearly groaned at how soft Wanda’s lips were. While this wasn’t their first kiss, the feeling of Wanda’s lips was something Y/n was never going to get used to. All the races, fast speeds, and fame was nothing compared to the feeling of kissing Wanda. Just the privilege alone made Y/n light headed with love. 
As Wanda slowly continued to kiss Y/n, her stomach grew with tightness, her mind numbing with stupid thoughts such as ‘what if I climbed over the console and I made out with her?’. While there would be absolutely no complaints from Y/n, Wanda knew they still had an audience. 
But god, Wanda couldn’t think when it came to kissing Y/n and they were hardly even making out. What was going to happen once they actually did have a heated make out session? Was she going to pass out? 
Regardless, the two pushed their limits on how long they could go without air. Soon, Wanda broke the kiss but she craved to kiss Y/n again. Not wanting to push her luck, Wanda pressed a couple pecks on Y/n’s lips, sealing the deal with one more long kiss. 
Leaning back in her seat, Wanda covered her mouth, enjoying the feeling of how plumped it was. Ultimately, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face as Y/n looked at her with adoration. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you this whole day.” 
Y/n grinned as she leaned over the center console, “We can still kiss all you want babe. Name the time and place and I’ll be there in minutes.” 
Wanda laughed as Y/n puckered her lips, ready to kiss again. Giving in to her girlfriend’s antics, Wanda cupped Y/n’s face and kissed her once more. 
Before it could go any deeper, Wanda broke it, causing Y/n to pout. “You can’t just hold your lips hostage like that.” 
“Well dekta, we’re still on a mission.” Y/n rolled her eyes at Wanda’s response. It was not a good enough reason to stop kissing. 
“Well babe, what if I told you I won my race today?” Y/n licked her lips, hoping it was enough to entice Wanda to kiss her again. 
“You won?! I’m sorry I couldn’t come and I tried watching the end but-”
“-just kiss me babe.” Y/n pulled Wanda for another kiss, not even caring that Wanda was unable to make it to her race. There were still multiple races to come and multiple opportunities for her to watch. But kissing Wanda was enough for Y/n. Everything else was just a bonus. 
By now, Wanda couldn’t hold back her moan as the kisses got deeper. Too busy in their own world, the pair didn’t notice Natasha approaching the car. 
The assassin rolled her eyes at the scene. Regardless, she knocked on the window. The two jumped from the unexpected sound. Their dilated eyes focused back at Natasha as Y/n rolled the window down. 
“Meeting starts in a minute. Say your goodbyes.” Without a response, Natasha walked back into the base. 
“Am I going to see you soon?” Wanda asked, feeling like a teenager asking when she was going to see her girlfriend again. 
“You will. I’ll make sure of it.” The blush on Wanda’s face deepened. She kissed Y/n one last time before exiting the car, knowing that if she stayed any longer, she would have been unable to leave.
Walking backwards to the base, Wanda waved goodbye. In normal Y/n fashion, she made donuts at the front of the base, before leaving. 
Once the dust settled, Natahsa came back out. “She was good.” 
Wanda turned around, giving Natasha a small smile. “Thank you.” 
“It’s gonna be nice working with her again.” The smile on Wanda’s face grew wider at the approval. 
As the two walked to the meeting, all Wanda could think about was her getaway driver.
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izvmimi · 9 days
Text
summer masquerade - yuuta x reader
cw: long-distance relationship. canon-compliant. one mention of underage drinking. reader without cursed technique but can see cursed energy. reader implied to be of african descent. assumption that yuuta speaks limited english. a/n: a masquerade is the act of spiritual performance, often to chase away spirits or for political commentary. this starts in the time yuuta spends overseas in africa traveling the continent
A hot summer afternoon, years now in the past, Yuuta Okkotsu first sets eyes on you through the veneer of dust kicked up by frenzied footsteps, soulful ululations and the beating of drums that seemed to never cease, but you’ve been watching him long before he notices you, or at least demonstrates that he’s noticed you. Out of a clay bowl, you’re sipping on palm wine despite being clearly underage, but your parents are far at the other end of the crowd and will not notice, and once you’re deep in the brush, in the less strictly governed remote village where superstition and ritual reign, you’ve decided those kind of silly rules don’t really apply to you anymore. After all, you never want to come to these events, but you come from a family that honors tradition despite living in an ultra-modern mansion in the capital, and thus your presence at the masquerade is indispensable.
But Yuuta Okkotsu’s is not. 
The two of you find yourself locked in an unspoken standoff of some sort. It’s difficult to read his expression, but his large dark blue eyes are looking straight at you, barely squinting in the hot overhead sun. You try to discern what he’s saying with his look, if it screams Stop looking at me versus I invite you to speak your mind, before deciding your next move, but it’s quickly evident that your only chance to answer the question is to ask. You hope you don’t look hostile because that’s not your intention in any way but he sticks out terribly, like a sore thumb, with his slightly bronzed but still pale skin, straight dark hair and his hoodie despite the sweltering heat. 
He’s clearly a foreigner. It’s not good for foreigners to be at these types of masquerades. Bad juju, you think.
You tut to yourself then sip your drink one more time and decide to approach, wondering if the two languages at your disposal including English, will be sufficient to communicate. Most foreigners understand some English, after all. Yuuta doesn’t learn this from you until years later, but the first time you met him, you’d started wishing you were more worldly, so that you could speak to him in his native tongue, and he would tell you that he wished he was better at yours.
The then-teenager watches you approach with the type of curiosity one offers a person who is not yet a threat but can potentially be. From the way that you’re looking at him, you’re not hostile, and your smile is polite, but it’s not all the way warm, although he can imagine that you do have the capacity to smile warmly, to the right people. 
“Hi,” you start. Your voice is honeyed sweet, and he doesn’t reply immediately but his facial expression goes from disaffected to flustered quickly, as though he didn’t actually expect you to walk up to him despite your visual exchange. You tilt your head slightly, wondering if he doesn’t speak English, but quickly you hear another voice next to you. 
An older man, African but clearly not your countryman, and he raises an eyebrow at you. You’ll learn later that his name is Miguel, despite being from Kenya, and you won’t ask more details past that.
“Can I help you?” He’s also speaking in English, with a slight British lilt to it. You blink, surprised, then look back at your age-mate then back at him.
“Are you two together?” you ask. 
The two of them immediately appear to not be on the same wavelength - one says yes, and the other says no - and you anticipate that it’s like this often. You soon find out that you’re right - Yuuta recounts that those years touring Africa with him were sink or swim, where he was more of an unwitting, hapless intern, rather than a lauded apprentice.
The way Miguel says no at the same time Yuuta says yes makes you giggle loudly, probably due to the warming of your skin from palm wine and your appropriately low tolerance, and Yuuta’s face seems to warm as though empathetically, the blush in his own cheeks less subtle.
Yuuta blushes often, even now, and it will forever be one of your favorite things about him.
“Are you from this village?” Miguel asks. You technically are, but you’re technically not, in some ways as much of a foreigner as they are. He’s information-gathering, clearly, and it intrigues you, but it’s not the only thing that does.
Your eyes draw quickly to the younger person’s hands. 
“Yes, but remotely,” you reply to Miguel, then point to Yuuta’s left ring finger. 
“You have a contract, don’t you? With a spirit.” you ask, and that simple question is where it all begins.
At the time you knew nothing about cursed energy, nothing about the world Yuuta lived in, that Miguel lived in, that you were just on the periphery of, but one thing was true. You could see spirits, ever since you were young and you could see a particularly strong one, emanating from that ring. Formless, but present and unmistakable. Yuuta looks at you with surprise.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lies in accented English. You don’t argue with him, instead turning to the dancers. The masquerade in their elaborate costume has started to whip at people’s feet and many are clearing the compound in fear and laughter. The three of you do not move. There are no real spirits here, aside from the one that is linked to Yuuta Okkotsu. 
“I always knew they were frauds,” you joke as you watch the being that’s supposed to dispel evil spirits not turn one glance in your direction. Yuuta doesn’t understand your joke from the furrow in his eyebrow but when he looks at you now, it’s with curiosity rather than apprehension but you’d rather know more about him. He’s the real deal.
Miguel doesn’t get as much useful information as he can about your clan as he hopes when your family welcomes him like long lost brethren in your compound in the city just a week later. Yuuta listens intently and speaks carefully, and you wonder how much of it is his personality and how much of it is a language barrier. Miguel drinks all of your father’s finest beer and asks you to fetch groundnuts like you’re his own daughter and it annoys you, a joyous reprieve when your parents ask you to take Yuuta out on the city and come back in a couple of hours. Trailing a Japanese boy on the timid end whose heart and soul is impossibly linked with a monster is not what you’d intended on this summer, but it remains one of the most memorable summers of your life. 
He tells you about Rika over skewered suya from the street merchants, and you don’t bat an eyelash as you chew, and tease him about her. 
“Will she eat me if I’m too nice to you?”
“Rika doesn’t eat people,” he defends. The spooky monsters of your country are always hungry - eating adults, kids, children, the like. You nod, popping the cap of a bottle of soda on the edge of a table. You miss and pout, and Yuuta, to your surprise, takes it for you, repeating the motion but successfully. 
You look at the underside of the cap and lament the lack of prizes. Yuuta watches you drink the soda, and neglects his own malt drink.
“You can keep being nice to me,” he mentions before the night ends, as though the reminder is crucial, as if it hasn’t been hours since you made your joke. Miguel doesn’t hear him, drunk and boisterous, thumping your father’s back a little too hard. Yuuta’s attention is back to his companion before he can notice that your cheeks are warming again, and this time not from the alcohol. 
Yuuta leaves your country, then soon your continent and you don’t think you’ll ever see him again, just wisps of him every time you see a vengeful spirit in the distance and pray that it behaves before you call onto your family to dispel them, but months pass and you receive that first email. 
He’s awkward with his words, a few of his phrases don’t make complete sense and you can tell the thesaurus is up in another internet browser as he asks you how you’re doing, but you reply kindly just the same, and he’s better through text, better still through video chat.
Yuuta starts off telling you little, but soon he doesn’t skimp on the details of his frankly terrifying life and in some ways you wish he would, but Rika protects him and he’s strong in his own right. You learn of all his friends, deaths and not; you learn of all his triumphs and his failures. Your heart flutters with every email, mostly because you're glad he's still alive.
That's just part of it.
Yuuta comes to see you again when you’re on the cusp of turning 21, and it’s the second time he’s come to see you, but the first time he’s come alone, without Miguel flanking, without the pretense of dispelling spirits and getting stronger.
He’s there for you, and only you. 
You no longer live in West Africa but instead in Europe, in a small apartment that you’re lucky to afford while furthering your education, and your Japanese is now middling but enough to make him laugh. 
He still speaks to you in English, improved over years of vid and voice chat.
“Happy birthday” is whispered over lit candles and followed by your first real kiss. 
— 
Rika doesn’t eat you, regardless of how kind you are to Yuuta over the next few years. 
The day before your wedding, you press your forehead against hers and thank her for protecting him all this time, you thank her for meeting him first. She doesn’t make a single sound, but as you press your hands against her monstrous face, you can feel the wetness of her tears before she vanishes. You’re unsure if she’s just as thankful for you as you are for her, but you love her just the same.
You touch down to the country where you first met just hours later to begin the traditional portion of the wedding and your father asks Yuuta to bring his ‘village’ - Gojo, Miguel, Maki, Toge, Yuuji, Megumi and Nobara, among others, touch down before the end of the night. 
Yuuta does not like the taste of palm wine but chases it down with the taste of your lips by the end of the ceremony, which he finds much sweeter.
Your wedding band sits in the same spot as Yuuta’s childhood promise ring, one enveloped by the other. You hiss as your ring finger slips and you accidentally drop a box, Yuuta’s faster reflexes catching it before it makes it to the ground. 
“Shit, sorry,” you pout and he smiles, patting your cheek gently.
“Just be careful okay, sweetheart?”
You’ve lived in Japan for three years now, settling in two years before you got married and now moving from your first home to this new one. Housewarming gifts abound and are waiting to be unpacked, and you and Yuuta have been working tirelessly to organize everything before your friends burst into your house and ask you why there are boxes settled as high as the ceiling in one corner of your living room.
You glance at Yuuta as he tries to decide the best position for his katana, holding it in his right hand. Finding your way over to rest your chin on his shoulder, you whisper in his ear,
“Let’s take a break, actually.”
Yuuta turns and looks at you, a gentle tilt of the head appraising how serious you are before he chuckles to himself.
“You know, Maki will literally not let us hear the end of it if this place is messy when she gets here.”
Despite this, he’s following you to the couch which is the only piece of furniture you have set up now. The two of you plop down and Yuuta sighs in relief, and soon you’ve rearranged your positions, and your head now lays in his lap as he pets your hair.
A moment passes where the two of you relax, your breaths synchronized as your pulse slow, and then suddenly Yuuta speaks.
“Thank you.” 
“For what?” you ask. Your eyes flicker up to his, and he leans down to look at you more closely, a soft smile on his face.
“For approaching me first.”
You blink, then laugh.
“It’s been over a decade.”
“Still thankful,” he replies. You stop, your gaze steadying as you look at him, your heart rate picking up in speed, your soul calling out to him again. There’s an unspoken standoff of some sort, once again, but Yuuta moves first this time, his lips pressing to yours.
If you hadn’t approached him that day, the ten years of your life would have been different. Your chin tilts upward as you kiss him more, your hands cupping his face, then wrapping around his neck.
“I love you.”
Neither first nor in any way expected, but true nonetheless.
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flyingcakeee · 1 month
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If formula 1 had endurance racing commentary it would be fucking wild.
Imagine Crofty and Nico talking about their favorite sandwich toppings while Max is 30 seconds ahead and Checo is defending for his life against Lando and Charles and Carlos and Oscar.
"I quite like a sandwich with a fine English cheddar on it."
"That's because your British you don't know what cheese is."
Ypu guys know how much I'd pay for this?
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vidavalor · 22 days
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Thought you might appreciate an odd dream I had recently: Aziraphale (as himself, making no secret of being an angel) going on Great British Bake Off and (without any use of his powers) creating a depiction of the nine circles of Hell from Dante's Inferno in cupcakes and, for Bread Week, making a replica of the Garden of Eden, complete with him and Crowley at the Eastern Gate and a lil' bread Adam and Eve fighting off a bread lion with a bread sword XD (plus the expected adorably enthusiastic wholesomeness and happy wiggling)
What a lovely-sounding dream! I feel like Aziraphale himself has had this dream. He can hear the little voiceover backstory bit now: "Aziraphale Fell lives in the South Downs with his husband, and their car and plants. When he's not busy baking up angelic treats, he keeps himself busy reading and contributing to the democratization of Heaven." I can so see every one of these creations you imagine and they're adorable. Crowley is also very amused by someone knifing up and eating a marzipan-laden Hell.
I'm totally with everyone who fanons that Crowley and Aziraphale are massive GBBO fanatics. I think it's appointment tv in the bookshop. Aziraphale makes hot toddies, Crowley brings treats from the bakery and they curl up on the couch to watch it. Probably spent part of lockdown watching seasons they hadn't seen. (Crowley has miracled Aziraphale's circa-1960-looking television into the streaming era.) They prefer that dirty-joke loving Pru to Mary Berry (who doesn't?) and love Noel, of course. There's a massive joint crush on Paul Hollywood happening and always a running commentary of exactly what they'd bake to try to get a handshake from him... in every possible way you can read that sentence.
I haven't written fic in general in ages but one of the fics I was going to write at some point was actually just going to be the two of them watching Bake Off. There's a started draft somewhere with the line "'those popovers are going to fall, angel" in it. Aziraphale's response was to be something something innuendo along the lines of how the baker would be redeemed by his "performance in the technical." Might have to actually write it at some point.
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bluetomorrows · 11 months
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Clone High: It's About the Contrast
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Something I've seen a lot of is Clone High S2 redesigns. People taking the new characters of S2 of Clone High and changing the designs, usually cause they don't like what we did get. Some of these are neat. I saw one that tries to combine their new designs with their S1 designs from when these characters were incidentals. A lot of them seem to take the personality out of the design. Most of them look hard to animate, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make.
People seem to really dislike these new designs. There are valid design reasons (some are a bit overdesigned, and they definitely clash with the S1 designs) but it just seems people are mad at them in concept. Especially Harriet Tubman. How could they turn Harriet Tubman into... this?
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It's outrageous! And yeah, it is. It's supposed to be. That's the joke. In the 20 years since Season 1, the Clone High Fandom has grown and shipped and gossiped and a lot of people have forgotten that the incongruity of the characters is part of the joke. Joan of Arc was not in fact a goth girl who constantly thirsts over tall men. The same goes for several other characters.
Harriet Tubman isn't Harriet Tubman. She shares her DNA but she is decidedly a different person. That's the point of Clone High, the show is less about historical figures interacting in a high school setting and more about how these people might be if they were raised under different circumstances. Ideologically, Clone High is an argument against great man theory.
Gandhi changed the world. But when he isn't born and raised in British controlled India under very specific circumstances, he's just some guy. The same goes for Cleopatra, JFK, Joan of Arc,, Jesus Christ, and yes, even Confucius, Frida Kahlo, and Harriet Tubman. It's circumstances that create people, not people making the circumstances.
Imagine if you had the chance to have a conversation with the real Harriet Tubman. What do you think she would say? How would she act? I'm sure she'd probably be an interesting and nice person, but she wouldn't be a character fit for a wacky animated sitcom. You don't really expect former slaves to be bubbly like that.
It both literally and metaphorically takes the basic DNA of these figures and subverts and modifies their existence through modern society, or rather the tropes of teen dramas. Not just asking what would happen if these people were in high school but if they were ordinary people. Instead of being a hero whose life is in danger, Harriet Tubman is a girl who gossips and whose biggest worry is becoming a basic bitch.
Look at the S2 finale. The board of shadowy figures have assembled their great men and put them in competition. They'll weed out the best of the best to become the great men of the future. And out of about 100 clones, only one actually makes it to the end. Everyone else fails. The one clone who does make it, Joan, is born again into extreme circumstances. Being left for dead by her friends and suffering a psychic break. There is no such thing as great men, just extraordinary situations.
I think this theme of subverting these legendary figures is something that should be kept in mind when talking about the show. It isn't really a show about historical figures, just historically-themed characters. And that's okay. It's very funny when done well! It's a cartoon and it really acts like it. It was never asking to be taken as a serious drama and definitely wasn't asking to be a commentary on historical figures. It simply parodied its contemporary teen dramas a little too well and we got invested in joke characters and everything changed. The S2 writers were in a very unenviable place, and I applaud them for taking things in bold new directions. If you haven't watched S2 or even just watched a few episodes, I'd recommend giving it another chance. It's not perfect but it gets better as it continues. It has its own distinct feel and style while still understanding what "the point" of the original was.
Also Kahlopatra for life ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜
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overleftdown · 5 months
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saltburn and privilege; an investigative tangent
god, where to begin.
i've seen a lot of people discussing this moving and specifically using the word "privilege," along with power, dominance, desire, control, greed, etc. me included. these are all very essential aspects of this movie. what i want to focus on is emerald fennell's nuanced portrayal of how different types of privilege interact. which one trumps the other? which types of privilege are more visible, while others are more subtle? what differentiates different levels and layers of privilege?
when emerald fennell describes the core of this movie, her inspiration for this script, she talks about desire versus untouchability. she chose the most absurd type of wealth to represent untouchability: the british aristocracy. old wealth, generational wealth, so far removed from the majority of their ancestors' sins that they can arguably ignore that the money they're standing on is dirty. and they live in fucking castles. this is one of the most unbelievable, gaudy, visible types of privilege you can imagine. everyone is entirely aware and feels entirely justified to call attention to this type of privilege.
oliver, being the main character, might be considered the least privileged within this movie. i'd like to take a critical look at this. this movie is not a straightforward class commentary; there is no traditional "the poor eat the rich" dynamic. because although some people perceive oliver as the least privileged character in this movie, he is incredibly privileged. oliver comes from a comfortable upper-middle-class home in the suburbs. oliver has two loving parents and two sisters. oliver is white. oliver is a man. interestingly, from oliver's perspective, he's not privileged at all. he hates the cattons because they are more wealthy, more comfortable, more untouchable. this extends to venetia and farleigh, even though oliver has applicable layers of privilege stacked above even them. he knows he has a certain type of power over them... yet he still hates them because they have one type of power he doesn't have.
that brings me to my next point. the existence of one type of privilege does not negate the effects of another, entirely different, type of privilege (or marginalization) [quote]. this is what venetia and farleigh's characters draw attention to. venetia experiences some of the same struggles as many women; she is ignored in her own household, perpetually existing within her brother's shadow (rosamund pike once lovingly pointed out that venetia does not have a single conversation with elspeth in this movie). she's insecure about her body and her worth, so she takes what little opportunity she has to use felix's friends as a form of self-fulfillment. farleigh is not only half black, but he's also queer, non-immediate family, and unaccustomed to english culture (specifically this type of english culture). farleigh is, in some ways, more financially unstable than oliver's family because his mom was too sheltered to understand money and his dad is, apparently, "a lunatic." (that's not to say farleigh isn't economically privileged because oh boy, he absolutely is).
this movie doesn't intend to incite pity from the viewers for any of these characters, and it generally doesn't. oliver is pathetically greedy, ungrateful, and desperate for a chance to lick the boots (or bathtubs) of those above him. venetia is pathetically bored of the privilege she does have yet is still so entrenched in emotional turmoil due to other areas in which she is marginalized. farleigh is pathetically attached to uninterrupted comfort and arbitrary white-centric expectations, constantly running from or attacking any threat of struggle. none of these people understand, comparatively, what the less fortunate experience. they are so ignorant to the bubble they exist in and just how grateful they should be for what monumental privileges they do have. but... felix.
felix is the epitome of privilege. oliver is specifically obsessed with felix. just like oliver, felix is a white man. but felix is more wealthy, more comfortable, more untouchable than oliver. oliver isn't as infatuated with farleigh and venetia because he's fully aware of the privilege they lack. he's fully aware of the privilege he holds above them, and he enthusiastically uses this power he has against them. to be in the position of oliver is to be consumed by jealousy and greed so bottomless that you will assert your dominance over any group that you're able to. felix doesn't need to do this. he's been handed every privilege under the sun and therefor welcomes the less fortunate with childlike interest and an equally childlike attention span. there's an aspect of farleigh and venetia's marginalization that is so invisible, so quiet and unassuming, that felix doesn't even notice it. he can't possibly be confronted by it. to be in the position of oliver is to understand what power you hold over others, because there is always more power to have.
racism, sexism, wealth, power, control, desire. there are so many facets of this movie that come into play. it may seem overwhelming, but this is... how things work. commentary on wealth is, and should be, equally a commentary on other areas of privilege. to be black and wealthy means different things than to be white and wealthy. to be a wealthy woman means different things than to be a wealthy man. to be rich to some also means you're much less rich than others, unless you're the richest person in the world. and, as this movie so beautifully portrays, to be richer than most doesn't make you less messy. the catton family is an ugly one, but also a complexly human one. each catton (or start) is jealous of someone else for another reason. each catton is emotionally damaged or incompetent for another reason. each catton has a different layer of privilege over the other. and each catton loves everyone in saltburn, because this is still a family, albeit a terrible one.
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buckets-and-trees · 1 year
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Field Guide to Forestry
We just hit another follower milestone, so since there are way too many of you around for me to put this off any longer, how about I officially let everyone know who I am and what you'll find around here...
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CHIEF FORESTER: ASPEN Elder Millennial/upper 30s, she/her
THINGS ASPEN KNOWS WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT Trader Joe's, Disney Parks, the Great British Bake Off, CBS Survivor, Harry Potter, Houseplants
IN THIS FIELD GUIDE YOU WILL FIND:
↠ Maps & Masterlists: my writing ↠ Forest Rules & Regulations: my guidelines and boundaries ↠ Visitors to the Forest: my approach to asks, requests, and tagging ↠ Upcoming Expeditions: projects I'm working on ↠ Tree Classification: my current tags ↠ Tales of the Teller: more about me and my writing
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↠ THE FOREST OF FICS IN UPSTATE NEW YORK The MCU realm of my writing ↠ THE FORBIDDEN FOREST OF FICSThe Harry Potter realm of my writing Statement about me, HP, and she who should not be named/famed any longer
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↠ I do not interact with minors. It's not safe in these woods.
↠ I do not consent to having my works translated or posted to other platforms. If I wanted to, I would.
↠ I will block at my own discretion. This is my forest, and I set the boundaries. Underage? Blocked. Pornbot pigeon? Blocked. Bigotted? Blocked. Rude? Blocked. Just be a reasonable human over the age of 18, and you'll be free to roam the woods.
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↠ ASKS Always open. I adore asks! Send thoughts, thots, questions, gifs, pics... For now I'll take anonymous asks - as long as everyone plays nice, it'll stay that way. Asks are NEVER a bother and you can ask about anything - questions about my existing works, stuff I'm working on, fandom things, my life... I'll answer within reason (no spoilers, I'm semi-open about my life but do keep some things private, etc).
↠ REQUESTS The only thing I'm actively entertaining requests for is my Cedar Trees Royal AU collection - but even these will be fulfilled subjectively and only as I have time and muse cooperation. Periodically I may host a request fest (as I did for my 300 follower celebration or for other occasions in the future).
↠ TAGLIST At this point in the growing season, I'm not maintaining an official taglist. In the future I will probably set up a secondary/library blog as many other authors have done where you can follow and turn on the notifications. There are only so many hours in the day, explorers.
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↠ BUCKY BARNES BINGO: 25-prompt challenge running April 10, 2023 through January 10, 2024 (3/25 complete) ↠ IN THE OPEN AIR: conclusion to Out of These Waters (mer!Bucky AU) ↠ DEVOUR: dark!mob boss Bucky AU (3/4 complete) ↠ THE GREAT BUCKY BAKE OFF: a Bucky x Reader episodic story with a Great British Bake Off format (coming fall 2023) ↠ ASPEN'S DARK FOREST FEST: ten-part spooky celebration with writer commentary highlighting my supernatural stories and a new darkfic (October and November 2023) ↠ ASPEN'S HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA 2023: eight days of fics followed by one day of many, many fics (coming December 2023)
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↠ FOREST NAVIGATION: field guide, masterlists, story collections ↠ AN ASPEN THING: when I post something more to do with me than anything fandom ↠ ASPEN MILESTONES: ONLY YOU CAN CREATE THESE FOREST FIRES ↠ ASPEN ASKS: responses to things from my ask box ↠ ASPEN IS WRITING: any commentary, sneak peaks, progress posts ↠ ASPEN WROTE SOMETHING: new story post ↠ OMG REBLOGGED THANK YOU: responding to or thanking people for reblogging my fics ↠ FIC READING: my reblogs of other people's fics ↠ MY MOOTS: flailing about or responding to one of my mutual friends
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↠ HISTORY OF ASPEN I grew up in a family that was steeped in all things stories: grandparents, aunts and uncles always telling stories at family gatherings; parents read to me before bed; watching too many movies and cartoons; staying up way past my bedtime trying to sneakily keep the light on to read and read and read; playing elaborate imagination games after school with my best friends (house, princesses, orphans, dance coaches, etc). I wrote my first story in my eighth grade English class where one day in the computer lab we were assigned to write a mystery that was at least one page. I loved it. My teacher said it was good...
That summer our family moved - mere days before I started my freshman year of high school - so that fall before I made friend friends, I read a lot and I started writing. I was desperate for the next Harry Potter book to come out, so I started writing my own... the next year I learned about fan fiction on the internet and that it was a thing. I was drawn into Lord of the Rings fanfic, then I wrote a Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic, and then I went back to Harry Potter and actively wrote in that fandom for around six years.
In college I majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing because while I was writing fan fiction, I was also occasionally dabbling with original fiction... the dream was to be a famous writer.
↠ WHY BUCKETS-AND-TREES Buckets because I thought I'd be writing almost exclusively Bucky and Trees because Aspen. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 
↠ ASPEN NOW In summer of 2022 I aggressively reclaimed HAVING hobbies in an effort to re-establish Aspen having a life outside of work. I love my career and I've worked incredibly hard to establish myself in the professional world, but... I needed to be more than just my work again.
So, again I write.
Throughout 2023 I'm participating in A LOT of challenges. In 2024 I plan to DO THE DAMN THING and write a novel. I've always intended to, but 2024 will be the year. ↠ MY WORK Primarily I'm writing MCU fan fiction - typically Bucky Barnes or Steve Rogers; but I have a short series for Namor I need to finish; I have written some pieces with Sam, Natasha, Matt Murdock, and Wanda; I have ideas in the works for Thor, Carol, and M'Baku. I've written/may write more for Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans characters. There may be some occasional Harry Potter.
I write a range of fluff, smut, and dark. Nearly all of my work has mature elements whether that's stronger language, sexual situations, or mature themes. HEED THE WARNINGS FOR EACH WORK AND DO NOT READ IT IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T LIKE. If I miss tagging something properly in the content warnings, please send me a message or an anonymous ask and let me know.
Most of my stories feature a reader insert. Reader is typically female, but when the reader is gender neutral I will designate accordingly! Striving to write an inclusive reader as much as possible, but if I stumble, please send me a message or an anonymous ask and let me know how I can grow.
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aiura-stan · 28 days
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0-6!
(If you’re wondering how I’m getting these done so fast, it’s because I’m doing these ahead of time. I'm running on a queue.) I used dictation and actual keyboard typing for this one, so it’s going to be long. (Side note, I love the ability to dictate things and using split screen mode! Highly useful features and I have no idea why it’s taken me this long to actually use them.) Also, I guess I should say that there will be spoilers in this and probably future posts too, because I’ve already read the manga. Okay! Onto the commentary.
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I love that Saiki outright states he doesn't want to be the "guy you know what he's thinking.” Like, come on Saiki, admit it; you have a little bit in common with Kaidou. (I think he secretly kind of likes freaking people out. He definitely likes the fact that people are a little scared of him.)
He's always the odd one out; He's one of the loner kids. I don't think he really thinks it makes him look normal. I think that's just what he tells himself to feel better about the whole thing.
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I think it's funny that he dislikes Kaidou for the same reasons that he thinks he's so different from everyone else. I mean, Kaidou is always trying to stand out, and Saiki does have a legitimate reason for not wanting to stand out. But even so. He’s just got it in his head that is so much better than Kaidou at the beginning of the series. Like, dude, you're no different from him. You're the same breed of weirdo in a different font. Lol. That font is “really intentionally manipulating others’ perception of you for personal reasons.” It’s just that Kaidou’s version is much flashier than yours. I like seeing it this early on in the comic; it's interesting to see how it all started. Also, Kaidou is a lot more polite than Nendou, apologizing for talking to Saiki out of nowhere. Amusing. He absolutely knows how to behave like a normal person, but chooses not to because his persona gives him confidence.
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I also like that here in the beginning of the comic, we have an unnamed guy who is was basically parroting what Kuuusuke says further on in the comic, and it’s more clearly framed as delusional weirdo behavior.
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Yes, duh, he came to you because you were alone, Saiki. Weirdo behavior attracts weirdos (weirdos attract weirdos.) That's just a basic social law for ya.
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Also, I laughed out loud at “okay, I’m calling you Junpei.” good response, honestly. Saiki’s narrative commentary addressed to no one in particular is always really funny.
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He also seems to be egging him on in the next panel with his sarcastic remarks (wow. Your punch was soooo fast I couldn’t see it at all), though it’s never clear in this manga whether the person being spoken about can actually hear anything he’s saying in all of its dry sarcasm. My headcanon follows the lines that Saiki uses hypnosis when he’s not actively addressing them (sending telepathic messages to them), so people just hear whatever they want to hear from him. Or something like that. I’m guessing that we, the readers, are supposed to assume that they can’t hear him unless Saiki is actively sending them telepathic messages/‘broadcasts’. "I fancy you" is a strangely British way of putting it. Which also means "I like-like you" if memory serves. Translators??? strange. anyways.
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Ah… XD. I forgot that Kaidou saw him teleport in the manga. That’s perfect considering Kaidou’s name joke (shunkaidou = teleportation.) wahh, I wish this one came in the tankobon volumes so I could read them.
You know… since the third chapter of this volume was adapted into the anime, can volume 0 really be called non-canon? Maybe to the manga. Hmmmmmm.
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Oh come on. Why didn’t they put this in the anime??? It would have been hilarious to have Kaidou imagining some kind of green monster-humanoid hybrid and then the screen transitions to Saiki’s expressionless face, with pink limiters and green glasses. There’s an element of color that manga sadly lacks. I get the point with the black arrows, Mr. Asou, but it just isn’t quite the same without actual color.
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XD Asou’s attention to detail is good. We actually see the teacher wondering where the hell he’s going when he runs out of the room, and then following through showing that he won’t be running students down just to make sure they stay in class. It’s a small thing, but it definitely makes a difference, making the Saikiverse seem a bit more realistic.
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Also, look, it’s this guy who appears a bajillion chapters later in that weird gag… What was his name again? Gah… refer back to this later, future me.
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Yes, Kaidou becomes a completely different person outside of his riddiculous chunnibyou persona, which he only uses at school. I do like that Asou sensei writes him this way. It would be easier to have him be in character all the time, but he’s much more realistic like this. I love that Saiki remembers the stupid nickname he gave himself. It makes the contrast even more funny. Okay, I’ll stop analyzing Kaidou and explaining every joke for now.
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XD XD XD
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Things like this make me wonder if Saiki really doesn’t know that’s how his looks might be interpreted at a distance… even though he understood from the verbal description that he could be perceived as having “pink horns” and “green eyes.” And he spaces out in class just thinking about it. Thoroughly neurodivergent behavior.
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I also love things like this, that imply but don’t outright show that Nendou just… openly teleports in front of Nendou because he can get away with it.
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I also enjoy Saiki’s stubbornness in calling Kaidou ‘Junpei.’ Peak comedy.
I love that Kaidou would rather Saiki think he has multiple personalities instead of just being polite to people outside of school. And Saiki says he appreciates the effort… lol. I think he does actually appreciate it, in a way, sarcasm aside. Kaidou is committed to the bit.
“Whether that’s true or not, you need to get to a hospital.” Lollll. But also… makes me wonder if he really believes it, again. That along with the “Kaidou personality chart” further on in this comic. From Saiki’s other confrontations with people who clearly need help (including the one where he talks down a suicidal guy. And of course Terushashi’s brother.) It’s as if it never even occurred to saiki to have a sense of urgency about these kinds of things.
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Mmmm! Once again I wish I had the Japanese version because I’m sure he is using polite speech here, for a minute.
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Well, at least Kaidou acknowledges here that he’s in fact a chunni and therefore doing this on purpose. Which, again, makes me wonder why Saiki would ever believe even for a second that it isn’t an intentional thing. Or maybe it’s just supposed to be taken as sarcasm outright, but the panel where Saiki is confused about the Horns Saiki drawing really is throwing me off. Another thing I should look for raws of, to see if there’s anything to be gleaned from the OG text.
YES! You and saiki are pretty similar. In a way. Yes, he is worrying about his high school debut… in a way.
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Saiki, it is entirely understandable that you think Kaidou is an egomaniac, but given his “other personality,” how did you not guess that he’s just lonely??? He literally had to explain his entire thought process for you to get it??? Yeah, emotional EQ in the single digits.
Earlier, I said Kaidou knew full well how to act like a normal person and just doesn’t do it, but he’s definitely awkward. I mean, of course it’s going to be awkward asking strangers if they’ve seen a guy with green eyes, sharp teeth and horns. (I am not quite sure why Kaidou is so committed to the bit myself.)
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LMAO?!?
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Saiki, that’s your own goddamned fault, lmao. Put your money where your mouth is and shut him down if you’re tired of annoying people “entering your life”… :)
That wraps up 0-6.
There’s a lot going on here, to be sure. In conclusion, I think Saiki works really well here as a character who is technically omniscient, in terms of perspective, but deeply limited in his ability to interpret information.
Alright, the end. Ja mata! 💫
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acesofspadess · 3 months
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The Brits
a/n: aaaaand we're back. thank you for keeping my motifs active with likes, and reblogs, I promise more frequent updates 🙏🏾
little bit of time jump... apologies
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February 2012
Only a month or two had passed since you started the tour and it was beyond magic. You had turned 17 and Louis had turned 20
The first few weeks of the tour were beyond what you could imagine, sharing the stage with the boys and seeing all the fans at the locations you went to, you were beyond thankful that this was your job. Today was the Brits Awards and ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ was nominated for ‘British Single Of The Year’. You were putting your shoes on when the door that connected the rooms the band was staying in opened and you saw Harry and Niall looking at you with wide eyes. 
The thing is, these past two months have been some sort of special. You had all agreed that with tour, even though you would be with each other all the time, that dating on tour would probably get in the way of what you guys could truly have. You still acted as if that talk never happened though. 
You saw their eyes and knew you looked good. You didn't really ‘dress up’ a lot. You had good style and would say it looked good, but dressing up like you were now was special. “Wow Petal, you look so beautiful.” you giggled at the airiness of Niall's voice and immediately got up to give them a big hug. 
“Thank you Ni.” you kissed his lips lightly so as to not get gloss on them. Harry stood there still. “Haz,” you turned to him a little worried, “you ‘right?”  It seemed your voice snapped him out of his daze and he surged forward catching your lips in his hard. You hummed into it before Liam interrupted. “Quit snogging you two, and Niall fix your trousers please.” He groaned walking into the other room to get Louis and Zayn. You pulled away from Harry with a giggle wiping the gloss off his lips. 
You turned to Niall who was adjusting his trousers and saw that his shoe was untied. You walked over squatting down to tie his shoe and you heard his breath hitch. “Sorry.” you realised shyly giving him a kiss in apology, which he happily accepted.
Getting out of the van at the O2 and seeing the fans lined up against the fencing was so strange. This was your guys first award show and -wow- did it live up to your expectations.
The performance and the winners, especially the commentary from James Corden was to die for. It was now time for the category your song was up for.
“It's time for British Single. This one is voted by you the fans. Now to announce the winner, it's a double Brit winning man who…” 
You were so anxious you tuned James out. Niall grabbed your hand from next to you seeing you zone out. You looked at him and your hearing came back as the nominees were being listed.
Hearing the band's name with the song in the background could have made you cry. You all connected your hands as you heard the famous lines.
“And the winner is…” the wait seemed longer than it actually was, “ONE DIRECTION!!” You all jumped up and stayed jumping in joy. You all went around the table hugging those who sat with you before walking up the steps with Niall and Harry escorting you, one hand in each of there's. 
You and Harry already knew ‘as the front runners’ of the band that you two would be handed the mic, but you passed it off to Louis instead. You hugged Tempah as he handed you and Harry the award. 
“Wow, we cannot believe that we are stood here on this stage. I wanna start by first saying this award belongs to the fans. We’d absolutely be nowhere without you. Thank you so much.” Louis thanked humbly while you turned to Harry. 
“A massive thank you to the fans. Everything we do is for you. This is yours,” he thrust the trophy in the air. “So thank you so much.” He handed the mic to you next and before you could even speak the room went up in applause making you smile bashfully, and the boys knowing that those cheers are because you are the only girl, encouraged them.
“I just want to say a quick thank you from the bottom of all our hearts to our family and friends who have stood by us  in these crazy almost 2 years. You mean the world to us, and to our fans…” you let the cheers die down. ‘We couldn't have done it without you, we love you so much, this win is for you.” 
Liam thanked all of our team and Niall thanked the fans one last time before James came up. “One Direction everybody! Thank you so much, you beautiful boys and gorgeous girl. Go and ring your mums, tell them you'll be home late tonight.” You all laughed walking down the stage and heading backstage to wait until the next break to sit back in your seats.
“WE WON!!” You cheered as you were all backstage and the boys jumped around you successfully tackling you into a hug which ended with you all on the floor. “Get off me you smelly boys.” you laughed as they all took offence. “We don't smell.” 
“How's this for smelly.” Niall kissed you hard his hands resting against your jaw, as Harry came behind you and put his hands on your waist moving them softly, while waiting for his turn, which he eagerly took leaving you with no air in your lungs after the heated kiss with Niall. You regretfully broke the kiss when you herd the cue for the break. Niall and Harry quickly kissed each other, before you were wiping lip gloss off their lips. “Don't know why you keep putting it on.” Harry whispered in your ear as you back to your seats and you rolled your eyes at him.
“This is a joke, don't start getting carried away.” You all laughed at James as he was sitting in between you and Louis. “How you feeling, Autumn? Great night right?” you nodded in agreement.
“It's absolutely amazing. I mean being here itself is an honour but being nominated and winning. We’re on top of the world right now.” you summed up briefly as James agreed.
“I mean it's been the most incredible year. Let’s get this right. Now your album is currently number 1 in Thailand, Sweden, The Philippines, Italy, Singapore, it's in another 20 top 10’s, and it's currently number 9 on the U.S. iTunes chart. Like how’d- Harry how did you feel to suddenly have an international album?”
You looked at Harry who was already looking at you. “I think it's just like- it just all kind of blew up so fast for us, it's been a complete whirlwind and it just completely shows how dedicated the fans are and worldwide it shows how good our team is. You know they've worked so hard and we’ve been working hard and having a lot of fun and you know, it's been amazing.”
 “Now Harry can you confirm or deny the rumours that you will be stepping out with denise welsh?” James turned the mic towards him and he paused. “No, I will not. I’ve got my dates right here.”
“You heard it here first folks…” but you couldn't focus on James when Harry was looking at you and Niall like you hung the moon and the stars, a soft smile gracing his face.
You found yourself in the middle, next to Harry on the winners couch after the show. It was just commotion as you all were a bit drunk. “You've got your first Brits. Congratulations!” 
You all screamed and cheered into the mic. “We can’t believe it all. I mean it's amazing to even be here let alone win a Brit, but I mean it hasn't quite sunk in yet. To the fans thank you so much.” Liam spoke first as you leaned over Harry. 
“I assume you're not going straight home tonight?” you all laughed and muttered some excuses. “Well we’ve got work tomorrow so…” you shrugged and the boys added on to that. 
They showed your winning speech and you all cheered after like you had just won again. “So Autumn we had Rihanna on earlier and she commented on your dress. We want to know who it is you are wearing?”
Your jaw dropped at the comment. “Rihanna asked? Oh god, um well my best friend made my dress and she helped put together the boys suits, so a big thank you to Beverly, I love and miss you.”
The boy whooped after you spoke also thanking Beverly. “So who gets the award guys?'' Without hesitation they pointed to you and you smacked your head. “They said this backstage.” you shook your head before continuing.. “But i'm gonna cast it and make-”
“Make jellies?”
“Yes, make jellies.” you laughed. “Right cause then you can just whip out the ole Brits jelly.” you and Harry fell into each other and laughed even harder at Nialls laughter through the mic.
When leaving you walked through the red carpet again and were handed a mic. “We just wanted to say thank you again to the fans, you've been rooting for us ever since it was out that we got nominated. Thank you all so much again.” you spoke in front of you. 
“Hello, well done.” You all looked to your left at the voice and realised the person asking you questions was over there. “Who is getting the award at the end of the night?”
“They keep saying me.” you laughed as they all agreed, “but honestly they might break it if i give it to them so i might be the smartest option.” They all booed at your answer teasingly and you rolled your eyes at them. 
You talked a bit about the continued tour throughout the rest of the U.K and Ireland, and then what was still normal in life. You honestly felt like the answer was everything and nothing. Of course you were still you and the boys were still the boys. You still had all your friends and family, but your life was on screens now, and to you and the boys you knew it was a part of the job, an abnormal job to say the least. 
“Now if you could snog anyone in the room tonight who would it be. You had no idea who to say but you were too shocked when Niall and Harry said you. “What?” you were shocked  considering you all said no dating and thought also meant no outing the fact that you practically were. “Oh yeah im changing my answer.” Zayn looked towards you. “Have you seen Autumn tonight?” Louis added and you just started shaking your head at them. “I believe we all want to snog Autumn.” Liam finalised and you slapped a palm to your face.
“Do you all have a crush on Autumn?” they asked and you looked at the boys with an eyebrow raise. “Who doesn’t have a crush on Autumn, is the question you should be asking.” Niall answered first and you giggled. “Right Niall. Of course we all have crushes on her. You would be an idiot not to.” Harry added and you rested your head on his shoulder in gratitude.
“Hold the trophy up one more time for the fans.” you all cheered as Zayn thrustedthe trophy in the air. “Thank you so much for having us.” you thanked one last time before getting back in the van.
“So you guys have a crush on me?” you asked when you were settled into the van. “Don't let it get to your head.” Liam groaned and you all laughed. Another successful night down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
taglist:
@youcan-nolonger-run @ravenclawdirectioner
@luxiorchive  @superlegend216
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corvidcrybaby · 4 months
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Say, after reading your last commentary on Integra, now I need your POV on something I've been wondering.
What do you think will happen to Hellsing once Integra dies? To Alucard and Seras? Integra has expressed no interest in having children, and since she wants to avoid becoming a vampire, we know she won't be alive forever. Does she have a plan for that?
Hi! Omg so sorry to take so long to get to answering this, life has been insane on my end.
To answer your question, I'd wager there's a plan in place. Whether it pans out according to Integra's expectations or not is what remains to be seen. Integra mentions that the Organization will be passed over to the general military once she passes, and the Crown will thus assume direct control of the agency and its vampires. I'm willing to bet good money that the sigils that bind Alucard and Seras could potentially be transferred. If they are, then they'll keep up their job as the UK's resident vampire pest control until something extreme happens to break that bond of servitude. The nature of these sigils is unfortunately never explored fully, nor how they work, which leaves us with naught but speculation. However, this is my educated guess at how they probably work.
On the other hand, let's entertain the more interesting prospect of if those sigils are less malleable than we think, and it becomes impossible to bend Alucard and Seras to the will of someone else. From there? If the British military effectively has to try to keep these two under control through... What, good will? Threat of force? Both ideas are ultimately laughable. If that is the case, then I think Alucard is going to assess the inheritor's character and convictions. If he finds Integra's replacement to be unworthy, and there are no magic spells forcing him to play nice, then I think he probably peaces out to take a nice long nap. I think he probably goes into hibernation after Integra's passing - which, mind you, I think he'll be destitute following. It would be hard to read from him, but he holds Integra in high esteem, and went out of his way to return to her after Schroödinger-gate. That shows a high degree of loyalty, and I think Alucard would be laying low for a minute. After he wakes up, however, is when I suspect he might piss off into the unknown, wandering around the world - perhaps in search of interesting people to meddle with the lives of, secretly hoping he'll find the next Anderson, the next Integra, et cetera. I suspect he'll probably go right back to eating people, though. I'd put money on him perhaps being a bit more Punisher-esque on the humans he kills for food than before, since he has hinted at the idea of humans rubbing off on him in the series before. So less the kind of guy who devours the most innocent and defenseless people imaginable, and more likely he interferes with mortal affairs that he can justify to himself are morally bankrupt so he has a steady supply of enemies to destroy and humans to feed on. I don't see him turning all of England into a necrotizing wasteland with him at the head. I think that would beneath his interest by now. I think harassing and stalking people he deems unique or entertaining would occupy much of his time post-hibernation.
Seras, however, is interesting. I suspect Seras would stick around at Hellsing of her own volition, and would continue aiding Britain in its cause to protect people and slay undead monsters. That's what she became the person she is while doing, and I think with or without Alucard, she'll keep on generally being a goody two-shoes. But I think even she would grow weary of it eventually. With Integra gone, I think it becomes less and less like the home Seras "grew up" in - and if the new commanders are inept, then I think eventually Seras would reach a breaking point where she too, might go rogue. She might tag along with Alucard for a while, and I'd wager they keep regular contact and check in with one another on a semi-frequent basis (which, for vampires, might mean catching up once a decade or some shit). Seras is her own independent person, especially after accepting her vampirism and drinking blood to become autonomous as Alucard always urged her to be. But just as that's true, I feel their relationship was always one of Seras, despite everything, wanting to remain by Alucard's side. Their relationship would no doubt shift, and I suspect they might grow more reserved with one another, but I think they might find a new kind of emotional intimacy with one another - not romantic (I like Aluseras from time to time but this is my baseline read), to be clear, but I think Seras has the vampire equivalent of her late-twenties-development after Teggy passes. And from there? Anybody's game, but I think she keeps on bumping off rogue vampires - although I think with time, it might become more territorial than altruistic in how she carries herself. Less general heroics talk and more like, a vigilante warden type of dealio. She might come to see Britain as HER TERRITORY which would spell doom for any foreign vampires thinking they can feed on "her" humans. I think time as a vampire makes everybody go a little dark, but this is still pretty tame. It's Seras, after all. She'll flay you to ribbons but only if you really, REALLY press her.
Thanks so much for the ask!!!
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hotdamnitsmoony · 2 months
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fellow british marauders fans, imagine gogglebox but it’s the marauders watching the shows and movies! like i just know the commentary would be brilliant
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jomiddlemarch · 4 months
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You’re responsible for your rose
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“Beltane, sex magic, and a botanical aphrodisiac,” Hermione said.
Someone who knew her less well than Draco did would have thought she was incredulous. 
Though, to be fair, a year ago, Draco himself would have thought she was incredulous.
She was analyzing. He’d been willing to wager the contents of Malfoy Manor’s East Wing that she was developing a runic arithmantic composite set of equations to determine the odds of success.
That was because he’d wisely chosen botanical aphrodisiac for the phrase Neville had used, quoting the blithely unconcerned Luna.
Sex pollen.
If he’d said sex pollen, all bets would be off.
And their chances of having a child would be nil.
Lower than nil. Like a Dementor had got a hold of nil and sucked all its joy in nil-ness of it and left a little nil-husk.
(He’d been up most of the night before trying to figure out the most effective verbal workaround for sex pollen and had still put in a full day at the British legal division of the International Confederation of Wizards trying to reconcile the Tasmanians to the valid claims of the trans-Aeolian merpeople. It had left him a bit punchy.)
“When you consider it, as I know you are, you’ll agree that it makes sense. Synergistically and intuitively. Neville said—”
“You talked to Neville?” she interrupted, her cheeks turning pink, her dark eyes lit up. Someone less familiar with her might imagine she was angry. Well, maybe she was a little angry. 
“Of course I talked to Neville, sweetheart,” Draco said, striving for the calm tone that would engender an answering calm in her and not the one that tipped her over into a seething cauldron of piqued ire. “He’s our closest friend, he’s the most brilliant Herbologist in the British Isles, and no one understands the impact of one of Bellatrix’s curses better than he does.”
“That’s true,” she said.
“And he’s the only one who Luna reliably answers and we agreed she would have an invaluable perspective on our situation,” Draco said. Hermione dropped her shoulders, a sign that she was sufficiently convinced. 
“I hate that we have to ask,” she said. It was rare for her to admit it. She had decided upon a nearly invariable, inviolable determined cheer as her approach, which served her well in the face of the advice tendered, generally unasked for, by various Weasleys (though never Bill or Fleur, who had permanently endeared themselves to Draco therein), both Patils, Minerva McGonagall, and the cadre of “fertility specialists” that St. Mungo’s purported to have, though their expertise had been based on outdated herbals, a faulty grasp of lunar charms, and a misguided belief in the addition of gigglewort to any Potion.
She had not reacted well to the gigglewort. And her insincere gales of laughter had not done much for his stamina. His climax had been due solely to hydraulics that time.
“I know,” he said. He’d learned not to offer any additional commentary that started with But. But our friends don’t mind helping. But it’s what we need to do. But if we don’t, there won’t be a brown-eyed baby with curly blond hair to be carried in one of those Muggle baby-rucksack contraptions. 
“I thought when Riddle died and she was gone, it would be over,” Hermione said. “And it’s not.”
She was Bellatrix, his aunt, the witch who had cursed Hermione under the Malfoy chandelier, a moment which had been the inflection point for Draco, landing him squarely, irretrievably in Hermione’s court, Order of the Phoenix, falling in love with a woman he had never expected to do more than nod civilly at him and hold her tongue. Bellatrix had added something to the Crucio-carving combination she’d unleashed on Hermione, something purely Black, something Voldemort would not have recognized nor approved, a waste of her power on extinguishing an enemy. It had made it well-night impossible for Hermione to conceive with a Pureblood, let alone another member of the Black family.
Andromeda, when consulted, had shut her eyes for a long moment and muttered Toujours pur, before offering a pat on the shoulder and offer of a slice of apple tart. She’d also been the one to point out Hermione would have met the same fate had she married a Longbottom, Weasley, Prewett or Potter.
(It was worse marrying a Black. She might have carried a Squib to term with another Pureblood.)
(It had taken three miscarriages to convince Hermione it wasn’t simply bad luck. Draco had had his suspicions after the first, when she’d jerked away when he touched the arm still scarred with Mudblood in Bellatrix’s jagged script.)
(He hadn’t told her what he suspected. He wished to be colossally wrong. He had a decent track record in that regard.)
“It is and it isn’t. Like the tide on the shore,” Draco said. The visual soothed him and Hermione had a fondness for the ocean, memories of trips to the seaside as a child. It could possibly help.
She took a long breath and harrumphed it out in a way he found endlessly adorable. She also used it when she’d lost her latest match of Wizarding chess to Ron, whom Draco tolerated because what else could he do and at least the man, grown up (so far up, truly, were there Giants somewhere in the Prewett line because the man was a bloody tower), had learned to appreciate Hermione and smiled at Draco, a little secret smile, when she furrowed her brow squinting at the board, moving a piece that was going to put her into check in another two moves.
“Beltane isn’t a problem,” she said. “Unless, do we have to be naked in the woods?”
“No, indoors, you in lingerie works,” Draco said, grinning.
Luna had suggested they couple on a ley-line and not to discount the amplification of earth magic and bad puns. Draco planned to save that suggestion for another time.
“For the sex magic, Coniugalis? Procreo melior? Izorratu?” she said.
Draco reached over and picked up her left hand, the one with the ring he’d given her. He cast windlessly exclusively with his right hand and he let her feel the magic warm across his palm.
“Witch’s choice, I believe,” he said. “I’ve heard tell Izorratu is the most fun.”
“I suppose having fun isn’t a confounding variable,” she said.
“Might even help,” he said.
“Do we really have to use sex pollen, Draco?” she asked.
“I said botanical aphrodisiac,” he replied.
“Right, but I knew you meant sex pollen,” she said. “It’s so…campy.”
“Like, camping? Tents and fishing? Too much like your great Horcrux Hunt?” he said.
“No, like badly written media. Like Celestina Warbeck covering Elton John,” she said. “It’s not like I don’t already want you.”
“I assure you, that’s mutual,” he said. “I can check with Neville. He’d be the one harvesting the pollen for us.”
“I wonder, you said botanical aphrodisiac. Maybe we can just use chocolate?” Hermione said.
Draco considered. Hermione had previously demonstrated some delightfully unrestrained randiness after consuming a chocolate lava cake, a pudding whose name had made him turn up his nose while she insisted it was haute cuisine among Muggles. There had been so much heartbreak and misery in the past several months and if it didn’t work, they could take a break and wait for the next Beltane. Or she might want to try that in-vitro thing her parents had mentioned, even if it was going to require Confunding some Muggles in the NHS to accomplish.
“I don’t see why not,” he said, then paused while an idea occurred to him. “Truffles might split the difference.”
“What?”
“We could see whether Hannah can whip up some chocolate truffles with passionfruit filling and dust the top with the pollen,” Draco said. “Less campy, more romantic?”
“You are terribly clever, aren’t you?” she said.
“I’m clever enough to have married the Brightest Witch of Her Age,” he replied.
*
Later, Draco decided it was relocating to the charming, high-end inn on a ley-line that was responsible for the triplets and that if they’d stayed home and gobbled the truffles in their bedroom, Hermione wearing a pair of woolly socks and nothing else, Scorpius and Leo would not have been accompanied by Roseline. He didn’t mention this to anyone but Luna still caught his eye and winked when she saw him. 
She didn’t have to lobby him to become his daughter’s godmother. They did, however, have a lengthy discussion about the risks of any Fae involvement, with Draco a hard no. Luna only said.
“We’ll see. And I mean, Roseline and me. And perhaps her mother. And Scorpius. Leo is most obviously 100% in agreement with you.”
Leo, at that moment, was fast asleep.
Draco did not argue.
Tagging @ficwip for the Hey Sweetheart 2024
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demani-dusk · 3 months
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I really loved Babel or the Necessity of Violence a lot and I want to get some more of my own thoughts out.
What I liked: I mostly read/listen to/watch scifi/fantasy stories, and while I love scifi/fantasy for allegory and metaphor that can focus in on and provide sharp commentary on the real or how the hyper real can heighten the emotions of a real thing, it turns out it was very grounding to read a story about empire set in the actual British empire about people who would have been its actual victims. And even then, I really do love the fantastical elements of the setting and the way silverwork and translation convey the ideas and themes so well.
I like the way the premise of the story and the positions of the characters so clearly and directly conveys the exploitation and extraction of imperialism, the way educating and shaping Robin into an Oxford student is so deeply and inherently abusive. I love that actual real world translation work from the time fits so neatly into the story. Commentary on everything being translated into English but rarely would something be translated from one colonized language to another. Commentary on the way imperialists treat texts written by cultures they don't respect. It all works together so satisfyingly well.
Translation as a kind of magic, as a central theme is also just such a great tool for a writer to do fun and good writing stuff with. I love the way etymology and translations give weight and new layers of meaning to the text the way other literary devices might. It's a book where the thinness of any single language is part of the conceit of how the magic works and Kuang is like, supplementing the inherent thinness of language by offering the reader translations as supplement, trying to get *us* closer to the "realm of true meaning" as it were.
I love very much Robin's internal turmoil throughout the first 2/3 or so of the story. His love and hatred of Oxford. His inability to choose between his father and his brother. His fear, his wonder, his resentment. The way he feels extremely at home and never at home at Oxford. It's all done extremely well imo.
Things I'm less sure about:
I really wish Victoire were more fleshed out earlier in the book. I think what we get makes sense with the story being Robin's perspective, because Victoire and Letty are pretty much always together and Letty has a way of sucking all the air out of a room. But I still wish more room had been made for us to learn more about Victoire before the last act.
I would like to see a little more about sexism and Letty's relationship to feminism. We know she is very aware of the sexism she faces at Oxford but what does she think of suffragists? I can imagine white feminist Letty supporting women's suffrage and still not taking racism or imperialism seriously, and I can also imagine ivory tower rich girl Letty being entirely skeptical of addressing any social issue in a way that isn't about personally fighting to improve your own position, including sexism. I also think Victoire's experience of misognoir is relatively underexplored and that's too bad.
There's also this thing in the writing I'm not sure how I feel about. That is, there are a couple of intractable arguments characters have repeatedly on and off the page. I found myself not loving this as a reader, but I'm somewhat convinced that the way I didn't like it was that it effectively conveyed the boredom and discomfort of having the same argument over and over without making progress, and isn't that the book doing its job well? I still sort of feel like it would help to get these arguments in ways that highlight different character's perspectives each time or something. Or like, ifl having the same best reappear in a story you want the circumstances to change such that the thing happening feels importantly recontextualized, and I didn't always feel like this was happenijg. idk I'm not sure my instincts about this are good.
Anyway, it's a good book, I liked it a lot.
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