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sugurubabe · 3 months

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Daddy Vibes (part 1)

NSFW! Satoru Gojo x reader • breeding kink • female reader • penetration • Satoru is your husband that has wanted a baby ever since you two got married.

part 2 here

part 3 here

Satoru can’t wait to be a dad. Specifically, a girl dad. He dreams of the day he can hold a tiny baby girl that looks just like you in his arms. He’s tried convincing your relentlessly to finally quit your job and focus on being a mommy and house wife. However, you’re a stubborn woman. You love your career, you love the grind, and you love your freedom as a woman with no kids. You don’t take any birth control to avoid the unpleasant side effects and so, Satoru is forced to wear condoms. He finally decides to put his foot down one day as you’ve left him with no other choice but to implement a…

“SEX BAN?! You want a sex ban?!” You cry out furiously as Satoru smirks at you.

“Mmm… yeah, sweetheart. I do.” Satoru leans against the doorframe of your shared bedroom. He’s smirking at your shocked expression.

“B-but we have sex almost everyday!” You sputter, unable to comprehend why your insatiable husband suddenly wants to enforce a sex ban.

“Well, there is one way out of the sex ban, darling…” Satoru grins smugly. Your stomach drops as you realize that he’s been plotting.

“What?” You sigh, mentally preparing yourself for the absolutely batshit insane condition Satoru is readying himself to spew.

“Aw, don’t pout wifey! It’s simple. I want a baby. I’m tired of wasting my loads in those fucking condoms. They should be inside you, knocking your tight little body up.” He says calmly. You tense at his words, eyes widening and jaw dropping.

“You’re not fucking serious, Gojo.”

“Gojo? What happened to Satoru?” He frowns.

You cross your arms, pacing around the room. You’re not ready for a baby. Not ready to give up your career, everything you’ve worked hard for. You know Satoru wants a baby, that his clan is demanding him to produce an heir for the Gojo line. You knew this when you married him, the strongest sorcerer of the modern age. You just didn’t think the time would come so soon. You turn to Satoru, decided that two can play at this game.

“Fine, sex ban it is.” You grin like a Cheshire cat as you watch Satoru’s face pale when you call out his bluff. He nods curtly and walks away, visibly shaken.

The sex ban is hard. Scratch that, it’s unbearable. You’d grown accustomed to making love with your husband everyday, sometimes twice a day. You didn’t realize how much your body craved him and the sweet release only he could give you. You found yourself hiding in the bathroom at work, rubbing at your clit furiously with a hand over your mouth as you tried to make yourself cum to no avail. Your nights were spent in the shower with the detachable water head between your legs as your tried (and failed) to stifle your moans.

Satoru wasn’t faring much better. He was spending his lunch breaks at Jujutsu Tech stroking one out in his office with the door locked. He fought the urge to call off the sex ban, knowing you’d give in first. His nights were spent by the bathroom door listening to you moan needily as you used the shower head on your aching clit. He would stroke his long and thick cock furiously as he whined at the sounds of your moaning.

Everything came to a head the night you both decided to go out for drinks with your sister and brother in law. It was the first night your sister had gone out since having a baby. Your niece was only a few months old, and your sister spent the majority of the dinner showing you both videos and pictures of her sweet babe.

“She’s gorgeous.” You sighed as your sister showed you yet another beautiful picture of your niece in her crib. You couldn’t deny that something about the sweet baby made you ache for one of your own.

“So, when are you two trying for one, eh?” Your brother in law asked Satoru cheekily. Satoru tensed at the question and laughed bitterly.

“Believe me, brother. I’ve been trying to convince my lady to let me do what I was made for since we married. But no chance.” Satoru licked his teeth as he knocked back his whiskey.

“Jeez. Sorry, man. Your time will come.” Your brother in law smiled sympathetically at your husband before rejoining the conversation between you and his wife.

Gojo eyed the videos and pictures of your niece enviously. He wanted that for himself. A sweet baby of his own, born of the love you two shared. He wanted to see you swell with his seed, to soothe ache of your tender breasts with his mouth, and to hold your belly as you slept. He threw back another glass of whiskey and eyed you curiously when he saw you downing a glass of your own. Perhaps you noticed his irritation that night.

“Don’t you want one of your own?” Your sister asked you excitedly.

You hesitated before answering, your cheeks slightly flushed. “Yes… I think… I do.” You finally said, and you felt your husband grip your thigh under the table.

You turned slightly to Gojo, the look in your eyes conveying a silent message that said ‘you win’.

Gojo grinned radiantly and waved down the waiter.

“Bring a bottle of your finest champagne.”

The walk back to your penthouse apartment was silent as the sexual tension mounted. Satoru had an arm slung around your shoulders as you walked. When you finally arrived at your apartment building and walked into the elevator, Satoru hit the emergency stop button.

“What-“ you began to say but were cut off as Gojo planted his lips against yours harshly. His knee came between your legs as he parted them. He reached his hand under your dress and began rubbing at your weeping pussy through the soaked fabric of your panties.

“So ready for me, sweetheart.” He groaned as he broke the kiss and knelt between your legs. He bunched your dress above your hips and ripped your delicate panties right off.

“Satoruuu! Those were expensive!” You whine over the loss of your favorite La Perla panties.

“Don’t worry, baby. Daddy will replace them, yeah?” He crooned before diving into feast on your sloppy cunt. You cried out as you tangled your fingers into Gojo’s hair, holding him close to your pussy. Your husband knew just how to please you, knowing exactly where to touch you that would have you squirting down his throat. He inserted two thick and long fingers into your wet heat, curling them to stimulate that spongy spot in your walls. You cried out as he fingered you furiously while sucking at your clit.

“Oh fuck baby, gonna cum!” You wailed as you humped his face. Satoru moaned as you used him, loving the way you cried out. Nothing tasted better than his sweet wife’s cunt. Nothing could compare to the pretty sounds you made just for him.

“Come on, baby. Be a good girl, cum for daddy. Let me taste you.” He groaned against your cunt, moving his face side to side as he ate your pussy like a man starved. He felt your tight walls flutter around his fingers as you came with a scream. You held his head in place as he sucked at your clit, desperately trying to prolong your release. Satoru stood up and fixed your dress for you, smirking at the dazed look in your eyes. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. Before you knew it, the elevator was off, going up to your penthouse.

“H-how did you get it to start?” You asked weakly.

“I own the building. I asked my maintenance man to be on standby. Don’t worry, there’s no cameras in here, baby. I’d rather hollow purple anyone before I let them see my wife cumming all over my face.” He winks at you.

You blush furiously as the elevator brings you to the penthouse floor. Satoru bends down and throws you over his shoulder, laughing as you gasp at the sudden action. He slaps your ass as he walks to your shared bedroom.

“That won’t be the only time you’re gasping for me, sweet wife.”

“Fuck baby!”

You were on your knees for Gojo as he sat on the bed. His cock was in your mouth as you sucked him off, your doe eyes looking up at him as you licked the wide mushroom tip of his dick. Gojo whimpered at the sight, resisting the urge to thrust into your soft mouth.

“You were made to suck my cock, baby. So fucking good for me, such a good girl..”

You smiled at his words and licked a long stripe from the base of his length, along the thick vein that ran down the middle, and up to the head. Satoru whined needily as he was reduced to a whimpering mess with his cock leaking.

“Get on my fucking dick, now!” He whined as he lifted you off the floor and placed you on his lap. You smirked as you straddled him. He lined up his cock with your entrance and sheathed himself in your sopping cunt in one go. Your breath caught in your throat as you felt suddenly full.

“Where’s that sassy fuckin’ smirk, huh?” He growled as he gripped your hips and began slamming into you. You could do nothing but moan lewdly and hide your face in his neck as he fucked you like a whore.

“Fuuuuuck! We’re gonna have 10 fucking babies because I promise you we’re never using birth control again.” Gojo gripped your hair with one hand and slapped your ass harshly with the other as he rutted into you.

“Please, daddy! Make me cum, wanna cum for you!” You cried out as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Satoru grinned devilishly as he repositioned you on the bed. He held you in a mating press with your legs on his shoulders and your knees up to your chest.

“Gonna breed this tight little cunt, yeah? Gonna have you so full of my seed, you’ll have to get pregnant, right? Tell daddy how much you wanna carry his baby.”

Gojo groaned as he felt your pussy clench at his dirty words. Your husband knew exactly how much you loved when he talked you through sex. You often joked that he could get you off with his voice alone.

“Y-yes, Satoru! Wanna have your baby, want you to make me a mommy!” You wail as tears stream down your face from the overwhelming sensation of his length bullying it’s way into your cervix. You were so full of Gojo, so in love with the idea of creating a baby with your loving husband, and so aroused by his primal need to breed you that your orgasm hit like a tidal wave.

“Shit!” You moaned as your back arched and your eyes rolled to the back of your head. You squirt all over Satoru’s thighs as your walls clench tightly around his cock.

“Motherfucker! Ah fuck, cumming baby! Daddy’s gonna breed this fucking pussy!” Gojo snarled as he felt his balls tighten and his load was shot into your waiting cunt. He threw his head back as his jaw dropped. His moans were pornographic as your pussy milked him until he was spent. He slid out of you and collapsed next to you on the plush bed. You both had flushed faces and damp hair as you basked in the afterglow.

“We’re not done here tonight, y/n. Daddy needs to make sure his girl is a mommy by the end of the night, sweetheart.”

(A/N: part two?👀)

#gojo satoru #gojou satoru x reader #jjk satoru #jjk gojo #gojo saturo #gojo x reader #gojo smut #gojo x y/n #jujutsu gojo #satorugojo #jujutsu kaisen satoru #satoru smut #gojou satoru x you #gojou satoru x y/n

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kaceythecrunch · 1 month

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·:¨༺ The little things matter.. ·✮· C.S༻¨:·

Summary : Just a bunch of of fluff bc I love Chris<3. No but fr, just like a reg day with your boyfriend.

A/C : my bad for not posting lately. I'm lazy as fuck.

W/C : 1.6k+

Chris always believed he wasn’t a lovey type of guy. He didn’t think he would show much affection to his girlfriend. And even though we’re dating now, he still is in denial that he is an affectionate person. But I always tell him, the little things matter.

Beep Beep Beep.

Our alarm goes off. Practically pleading for us to start our day. I’ve already snoozed it 8 times. *Give me a break.* I turn to my boyfriend, make sure he wakes up. “Chris..It's already 9 am, we’ve got to start today.” He says in his morning voice, “nng…5 more minutes trust me.” He starts to pull on the blanket and snuggles into the sheets more.

I stand up trying to start my day. Until my movement was interrupted by Chris pulling my arm. “Please, just stay in bed with me a little bit more.” Of course I give in and get closer to him. I can tell he is still sleepy, but he’s trying hard not to actually fall asleep again. He brings his hand to my face, gliding one of his fingers on my jawline. Then starting to play with my hair. “Chris..” I say, smiling at him. “Hmmm…” He mumbles. “We for real have to get up now. Today can’t be our lazy day,” I tell him. “Nng..why not.” He says, still sleepy. “Well because yesterday was our lazy day. We can’t be lazy two times in a row.” I explained to him. “Ugh..fine..” He gives in.

He is still playing with my hair. “Like are you sure we can’t have two lazy days?” he looks at me, practically begging for another lazy day. “Yes, we can’t have two lazy days. Cmon, let's get up and do something with our lives, kay’?” I say, smiling at him, urging him to get up. I pull his arm and he moves slightly. “Fine…You’re like I love you. I would have not listened to you If I didn’t” I smile, “Okay cmon lets get ready.”

I start to make my way into our bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush, then he put the toothpaste on both and handed chris’ toothbrush to him. I turn on the buzzer and brush my teeth. I looked in the mirror, but the only thing I could focus on was him. His messy hair, the pjs. I look, and see that his eyes are focused on me. “Hey, you mind?” I told him. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M LITERALLY LOOKING AT MYSELF.” He yells out, slightly embarrassed.

“Shush…you’re gonna wake up everyone else in the house. I was just kidding” I say, patting his back. “Like I've stated, I don’t think I'd do that lovey dovey bullshit.” he explains as he is rolling his eyes. I tell him, “It's the little things that matter.” he smiles. We finish brushing our teeth, and our morning routine.

I decided to drive both of us to a local coffee shop. “You’re like my passenger princess, huh?” I say, laughing at him. He looks at me, grossed out. “Okay, don’t call me your passenger princess. That's just weird.” I continue to laugh, “But you literally are my passenger princess. I have spare pepsi cans for you in the back of my car. I’m legit your sugar daddy, driving you to places. ” I look at him, raising one eyebrow, smirking. “I am seriously not a passenger princess, do not call me that.” He says, trying to act all serious. “Alrighty tough guy.” He scuffs in response.

We finally arrived at the establishment. I turn to him as we are walking in, “What do you want?” He thinks, “Please waffles. The most superior break-y.” “Okay Okay.” I say, as we walk in and wait in line. He turns to be and looks at my hair. “You hair is fucked up.” I cover my head with my hands. “Wait, thats so embarrassing, how fucked up??” I say, kind of worried. “Don’t worry, lemme just help you.” He starts to fix the strands of hair that I missed getting ready this morning, and making sure that my hairline is straight. “Are you sure this is alright?” I double checked, “Yes, I’m sure it’s fixed.” He responds. I smile, knowing that he realizes how affectionate he actually is.

I order, and we grab our food and sit at one of the tables. “Can I have a sip of your drink?” I ask, “fine, only a sip.” he responds. I smile and I start to pour the drink into my mouth, “I said a sip!!” He tried to take away the drink, but it ended up spilling all over my mouth. My hands are up, my jaw is dropped, and I just look at him in shock. “That’s your fault for not listening. You know Pepsi is my roman empire.” He says, though he still decides to grab a napkin and wipe the mess all over me. “You look disgusting right now.”

He cups one of my cheeks with one hand, and with the other hand is cleaning off the wet stuff off my face. “Nng, chris..I’m an adult. I can clean myself up.” I told him. “I know but it's okay. You look like a mess right now.” I frown. “I can tell..” He smiles, “this is kind of funny.” He sits down and brings out his phone. “Say cheeseeee.” My eyes widen, “NOO CHRIS-” He snaps a picture, and turns his phone to me. “I’m keeping this picture forever.” I look, in shock. “That is probably the worst picture you could ever take of me..” he laughs. “I think this shows the real you.” I question, “the real me?”

We finish, and walk out of the place. “So, where to?” He asks. “Can we pleaseee PLEASEEE go to the mall.” I beg. “I really need to buy more clothes. He agrees and we get on our way.

We get to the mall, and of course it's busy. A bunch of teens, families, and other couples. There is one couple making out in the middle of the mall walkway. Chris turns and whisper’s to me, “how the fuck does someone have the confidence to do that?? Imagine I just stare hard, do you think they’d get uncomfortable?” I responded, “well obviously, you’re staring hard at them.” He explains, “but that's like what they want..I love you, but I would never show PDA like that.” I laugh, “well I’m hoping you never show PDA to me like that..”

As we strolled around the store, I of course, picked up things that I wanted. I walked into a plushie store. I’ve been wanting to get a panda plushie for myself. I was roaming around the aisles looking for one, until I got distracted. Something caught my eyes. A deer plushie. “Awww, this plushie reminds me of chris. I’m definitely getting this one.” I pay, and walk out of the store and meet chris. I notice he also has a bag. I ask, . “Hey, what did you get?” he looks at my bag, “nothing special what about you?” I shrug. “Nothing special either.”

We begin to walk around the mall again. He looks down. He noticed that my laces of my shoes are flapping around. “Your shoes are untied, let me tie them for you.” He pulls me to the side and bends down to tie my shoes. “I’m actually so in love with you to the point, everytime your shoes are untied, I will be more than happy to tie your shoes. You know?” He says, “Aww, you’re so sweet!!” I pat his shoulders. “Ew, was that corny or was that good enough?” I smile, “No no no, it was super sweet. Trust me!” He stands up and smiles.

“I can’t take this.” I took out the deer plushie from the baggy, “I saw this, and it reminded me of you.” He smiles, slightly flushed. He takes the plushie. “YESS!! A deer plushie? Are you for real?” I smile, “yeah! For starters, your favorite animal is a deer. Secondly, you just remind me of a deer.” He smiles at me, “thank you so much..” He kissed my cheek. I'm surprised because Chris doesn’t like PDA. In fact, he hates PDA. So a kiss was surprising for him to do. He says, “The little things matter.” he continues, “In fact I also have something here too!” He pulls out a bear plushie. “YOU’RE UNREAL!! A BEAR PLUSHIE. I’m gonna marry you. Gift giving is my Roman empire!.” I give him a big hug. “I love you so much holy shit!!”

After the mall adventures, we get home and plop on the couch. “Chris, I had way too much junk food today…” He turns to me, “me too.” I lay my head back. “I think we should start eating better..ugh.” He kisses the tips of my nose, then my upper lips. “Today was a long day, hm?” He fully turns around, my back is facing him. He grabs my shoulders and gently rubs them. “Hmm..yeah.” I responded. “You know how you’re always saying that you aren’t an affectionate person?” Chris shakes his head. “Well, I think that you are the most affectionate person I know. I appreciate that, Chris. You make me really happy.” He smiles. “I don’t know. There is just something about you that makes me feel all sappy and corny. I mean, I guess that's just what love makes you feel. The little things matter.”

A/N : YOU MADE IT TO THE END?? WOOP WOOP. Anyways, I always make fanfics at 1am. I think that's the time I'm in my feels. Anyways.. If you enjoy my writing, you should totally like flood my inbox with more fanfic ideas. Im cooking up a nick sturniolo x male!reader right now. So yk.... Also, if you wanna be on the taglist, just reply<3!! Glad y'all enjoyed.!!

Taglist : @mayhem-72

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aritany · 23 days

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On Identity: The Truth

Content warnings: homophobia, transphobia, references to self harm and suicide.

I’ve been keeping secrets my whole life.

I’m 10 and I’m listening to my dad at the dinner table, who I know to be the most trustworthy person in the world. He talks about the legalization of marriage between two people of the same sex and asks us to consider the implications. Where do we draw the line in the sand? Legalizing gay marriage paves the way for legalizing pedophilia, after all. If a union between two men or two women isn’t disrespecting the sanctity of marriage, what’s next? Marriage between men and animals?

I’m 11 the first time I hear it: “It doesn’t matter how low I set the bar for you, you still can’t reach it.”

I’m confused and afraid—I’m trying so hard—but I hear it then, and again, and again, spoken low in disappointment, shouted with a vein popping in her forehead, cold like a fact, and it sinks in, bone deep.

I’m 12 with my first crush on a girl. I’m not confused, I know that’s what it is—I want to kiss my friend, and I already know not to talk about it. Never to talk about it. It isn’t safe.

I’m 13 and doubting. I throw myself into fitting in. I pick the right boys to like and I go overboard, and I do like them, I do, I do, I want them to like me, I want to be their friend. I want to be their equal, but that’s not quite how the story goes, so I settle for trying to hold hands with somebody I desperately crave respect from, but that’s wrong too, I learn.

I’m 14 and convicted. How could this be wrong? I brush hands with a girl in choir and we meet eyes and I know. I watch a gay kiss on TV and I sob into my hands and I tell no one, no one, no one.

I’m 15 and I come out to my mom, haltingly, with the terminology that I have, because the thought of hiding forever—keeping quiet through one more dinner—kills me.

She tells me no. She tells me I’m wrong.

I look in her eyes and I understand: it’s not an option, and it never will be.

I’m 15 and I do my best to stop there.

It doesn’t work.

I’m 16 when I first hear my mom say that you can love someone and not approve of their lifestyle. I wonder what kind of love that is. I wonder how that kind of diluted, half-hearted, patronizing love can be enough for anyone. I wonder if she’s thought about how that feels, to be told that who you are—not by choice—is fundamentally wrong.

I’m 16 and a boyfriend is a shield. The right choice, so I make it, and it’s even almost fun. I love being his friend. I’m afraid of anything more.

I’m 17 and my youngest sibling whispers, “So am I.”

My heart breaks for the pain they’ll experience, as they too are taught, painstakingly, how to hate themself. Which parts of themself have to be kept hidden, which parts are shameful. They sit at that dinner table and hear the rhetoric that pushed me to the brink and over it, and I hope they’re stronger than I am.

They aren’t.

I’m 18 and my mom works at a college for the performing arts. I sit and curdle quietly while she talks about her genderqueer students. Misgenders them behind their backs. Deadnames used flippantly. She knows better, after all. She can be the expert on somebody else’s identity. They’re mentally ill, all of them. None of them are happy. They’re searching for something only God can provide.

I’m 19 and I come out as bisexual to the man I’m certain I’m going to marry, tearing the secret out like a bandage fused to skin. He tells me of course it’s fine, that he supports who I am. Of course people like me should have rights, of course. I laugh, relieved. Later, I find out this moment was almost a dealbreaker for him, and I wonder how much was ever real.

I’m 20 and I’m out. I’m 20 and I’m free. I’m 20 and I believe, because I’ve been told, that I am loved for who I am. All of who I am. I still flinch when I hear a car door slam.

I’m 21 and I’m searching for the connection to my womanhood. I’m searching for what makes a woman a woman. I’m reading gender theory and talking to friends around the world and wondering exactly what it is that I’m missing.

What does the rest of the world know that I don’t?

I’m 22 when my marriage ends because my body might not be attractive to my husband one day, and my parents email him in support and solidarity, expressing sympathy, and I’m not surprised.

I’m 22, and standing up for who I am has cost me everything. A spouse, two sets of parents, financial security, a city’s worth of community, more childhood friends than I can count. My parents tell me to go back in the closet so my ex-husband will love me. To them, his frustration is understandable, of course—by presenting androgynously, I’m betraying my marriage vows, after all.

I wonder, stunned into silence, where I promised to look like a woman.

I’m 23 when I come out to my parents for the third time; not as bisexual, not as trans, but as hurt.

I lay out the pain of the last decade as succinctly as I can, hoping they’ll hear. When I assert that yes, to be in relationship with me, use of my name and pronouns is a requirement, my mother jokes, “Well, we don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

It’s not a joke.

I see the flash in her eyes, the instant regret as she laughs it off like it’s funny, but it isn’t.

The kid sitting at the dinner table knows it’s not a joke. The kid who listened to countless lectures on the morality of queerness knows it’s not a joke. The kid who stood with shaking hands and tried to bleed out the bad knows it’s not a joke. Years of casual bigotry taught me how to hate myself, which parts of myself I should cross out and ignore, which parts of myself I should be ashamed of.

I’m 23, and I have finally unlearned shame, and when I ask my parents to see me, the joke is that I’m a terrorist. I’m unreasonable.

The shock of it becomes a balm, later on.

Some jokes aren’t funny.

Some jokes aren’t jokes at all.

I’m 24 and I’m learning that it’s scary to be alone. Bigotry made me an orphan and made us strangers, and knowing that it’s the right choice to stand up for myself doesn’t make it any easier. I’m learning the only way out is through, if you’re not squeamish:

Cut off the part of yourself that’s 7 years old standing outside of their bedroom because the nightmare had teeth and claws and they are the heroes that will hold you close and make it warm again.

Amputate.

Cauterize.

Don’t let them see you bleed.

I’m learning that the wound takes a long, long time to close.

I’m 25 as I write this, and I am proud of who I am, even if I’m still bleeding. All of who I am. It’s taken a long time for me to let that person see the sun, but here we are, basking in the glow. Those wounds are healing. I am visible for everyone else who whispers, “So am I.”

Your sunshine will come. Your sunshine will come.

Your sunshine will come.

#long post #alex talks #tw transphobia #trans day of visibility #international transgender day of visibility #tw homophobia #tw suicide #tw self harm

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itsabouttimex2 · 4 months

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hey 👋 could you please do more of platonic yandere hawks x teenage bartender reader pls ? :)) I love your work

(Aw, thank you! I’ll go back and tag this series as “Teenage Bartender” since I’ve got a few fics for it now)

Patronage

Out of all the people you’ve ever served, Mr. Takami is definitely your favorite patron. The League of Villains ranges from outright bad to somewhat decent when it comes to personality, each causing you trouble in their own way.

Mr. Bubaigawara is also pretty alright, but you have to cut him off after a while so he doesn’t drink himself to sickness. He’ll switch from thanking you for looking out for him to criticizing you for being a “mood-killer” in the same breath. You like to believe that the kinder half of him is the “real” one. It always feels more sincere, in your opinion. You try to see the good in everyone around you, after all. No matter how hard it may be, or how dangerous or depraved the individual is.

Maybe you’re an optimist, Keigo Takami thinks to himself, nursing a non-alcoholic strawberry spritzer. Or maybe you’re simply too naive to see the dangers of the killers and criminals around you. Maybe it’s a case of feeling obligated to love the unloved, to accept the spurned, to try and save those dedicated to hurling themselves headfirst towards irredeemability. Maybe you sympathize with them, with what they’ve been through in their tumultuous and checkered lives.

No matter what the reason is, what really matters is that you, in spite of whatever horrid circumstances have landed you in the middle of these villains, playing caretaker and maid and nanny to drunk, belligerent murderers…

You’re still kind.

That’s why Keigo truly believes that you, more than anyone else here, can be redeemed.

Not only because of the way you treat him, but also the way you treat your “coworkers”.

When Toga gets immediately drunk off of whatever cutesy cocktail she begged you to whip up, you help her get to a couch and make her lay down, leaving a bin by her side. When Shigaraki is having another one of his tantrums, you line up all the broken glasses and worn down equipment you have onto the countertop so he has something to focus his aggression on. You listen close to all of Spinner’s rants about Stain, even if you don’t understand a word he’s saying.

You see something in them, clearly. Keigo isn’t quite sure what it is exactly, but he’d love to know. Do you care about them? Do you think they could redeem themselves? Do you think you can off-put their suffering and bloodthirstiness by being kind? Do you consider them to be family? Do you consider him family?

You’ve been around him long enough to see him as a friend, surely. You treat the winged double-crosser with the same forthcoming kindness that everyone receives when they sit at your counter, ensuring that he’s happy, hydrated, warm, and not-

“-hurt? Mr. Takami, did you get hurt?”

“Sorry, kiddo. Didn’t quite catch that one. Run it by me again?”

“That mission ran a little long, didn’t it? Usually you’re back a lot sooner, so I wanted to make sure that you were alright, Mr. Takami. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Keigo is a well-guarded man. He doesn’t give away too much and he’s good at hiding his feelings and thoughts. Still, he can’t keep himself from smiling right now. With a gloved hand, he reaches out to ruffle your hair.

“Just fine, kiddo. Things got a little troublesome- when don’t things get troublesome, huh? But i got the job done no problem, like always.”

You try to meet his smile evenly, taking his drained glass and giving him a fresh drink in turn. There’s a moment of strange silence, something’s there’s never been between the two of you.

“I’m really glad,” you quietly admit to him, breaking the lull. “I think you’re… you’re the only one who talks to me the way you do. I don’t…”

He leans forward, propping his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his twined fingers. “Talk to me, pint-size. You’ve got my ear. I’ve got some time to kill.” He adds the last line just to make sure that you know he won’t mind if this takes a while. Even if he didn’t have the time… he would make it, for you.

“I really, really do like everyone! Really, I do! But it just feels… it all feels so endless, Mr. Takami. If someone isn’t mad at me, they’re puking on the floor. If they aren’t puking, they’re crying in the corner. If they aren’t crying, they’re picking fights. If they’re not fighting, they’re breaking things. If they aren’t breaking things, they’re mad at me for something. It just goes on and on, and I- I just-“

You pause, your breath hitching inwards sharply as you bury your face into your hands. You put your palms flat on the countertop, staring at your weary reflection on the polished surface.

“I’m so tired, Mr. Takami. And I feel like I’m never gonna get to take a break.”

“Okay, come over here,” Keigo guides, leading you around the counter by your hand and towards where he remembers seeing you head each night. Your personal room, he assumes. “The bar,” you try to argue as he pulls you along, “needs me at the counter. What if someone comes by for a drink?” Your words fall on deaf ears, it seems. “Most of the league is made of grown men, kid. Trust me, they can stomach a few hours without alcohol.”

He opens the door, giving himself the first view of your room he’s ever seen.

Knowing that you can’t see the face he’s making, the undercover hero allows himself to frown at the sight.

This isn’t a bedroom. This is a storage closet with a small bed and a nightstand. It’s barely four feet wide, and just about six feet long. The sort of room you’d put spare brooms and mops in, where you’d hide away a half-used gallon of drain cleaner or spare dish soap bottles you had gotten on sale. A place too claustrophobic and enclosed for anything except supplies.

But instead, this room had been given to you, a literal teenager who was giving their all to support the League in spite of getting nothing out of it.

For just a moment, his blood boils.

The League can pretend to be good. They can pretend to be heroes and freedom fighters. They can pretend that they’re fighting for a fair and just society. They can pretend that they aren’t monsters and murderers.

But this is how they treat their own. He’s always known this. The League of Villains prioritizes powerful, dangerous individuals above all else, prioritizes those who can spread chaos and mayhem in the name of their destructive goal. And you don’t fit into that powerhouse category, so you get shuffled away, tucked out of sight when they don’t have you serving them or playing babysitter to grown drunkards.

Keigo thinks he understands it, at least. But the truth is that some of the League do care for you. Twice, Spinner, Magne, Toga, Mr. Compress… all of them do care about you, as a friend or as family. And in turn, you care for them.

But he doesn’t think of that. As he helps you into the cramped bed, he thinks of “saving” you, and getting you out of here. Of bringing you home and keeping you safe from the harms and horrors of the world around you.

And there will soon come a day that you tumble out of the villain’s claws and into a hero’s talons.

#Platonic Yandere #Yandere MHA #Yandere Keigo Takami #Keigo Takami #Teenage Bartender

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eternallyhyucks · 6 months

Text

hazelnut latte | kim gyuvin (fluff, wc: 640)

gyuvin x barista! reader

𖤐 ྀ

after almost a full year of working at your local cafè, you had become really close with your coworkers and they were some of your best friends, which made talking about your love lives come easy.

“i can’t believe i’ve been working here for 8 months and haven’t encountered even one cute customer” you sighed, wiping down the counter after a small rush.

“hey what about that guy from last week” your coworker, ricky, giggled.

“enough on that” you laughed and rolled your eyes thinking about the random man that was trying to flirt with you in front of his children.

as your shift slowly moved along, the two of you were becoming more tired and ready to clock out.

“i’m gonna run to the bathroom, you can handle being alone for a bit right?” you asked while untying your apron.

“yeah i’ll be fine but what if your soulmate walks in when you leave” ricky said giggling

“well-“ but you trailed off as you saw the prettiest boy you had ever laid your eyes on walk into the store.

quickly putting your apron back on, you slightly pushed ricky to the side. he was confused by your action before looking at the line behind the register and saw the same pretty boy at the end of it.

“the world was listening to your complaints huh”

after a couple minutes, it was finally the boy’s turn to order.

“hi! i’ve never been here before, what’s your favorite thing on the menu?” he said smiling brightly at you.

“i love the hazelnut latte! sometimes i mix it with a little bit of caramel and that always tastes really good as well” you say smiling back

“ooh, i’ll try that then!”

you reply back with a quick ‘okay’ and ring his order up. you hesitate before also adding your discount on his order.

the boy took out his card to pay, but noticed the discount and looked up at you, confused.

“since it’s your first time!” you say smiling.

he smiled back, a slight blush forming on his cheeks.

after he finished paying, you hand him his reciept and say, “your order number is 25, and you can pick up the drink on the left!”

he walks over to the side while you walk over to join ricky in preparing orders.

“so how was flirting with your new obsession”

“flirting?? obsession??”

“well knowing you, you’ll be thinking about him for the next couple months. bro’s gonna become ‘hazelnut latte with caramel boy’” ricky teased you, “and yes, flirting, you just gave that random kid a discount all because you think he’s cute, sorry, because ‘it’s his first time’ my ASS,” he snickered.

before you could reply, hazelnut latte with caramel boy walked up closer to the pick up counter, making eye contact with you. fixing your apron, you went up to him.

“hey i was wondering if you guys are by chance hiring? i’m new to town and have been looking for a job”

you slightly cheer on the inside, feeling ricky smirking next to you, and say, “yeah we are actually! you can just fill out the form through the qr code on the wall over there and you should get a call or text soon after”

ricky passes you the boy’s drink,

“and here’s your drink um …?”

“gyuvin!”

“.. gyuvin. i’m y/n! i hope next time i see you is your first shift!”

“me too, see you y/n!” he says picking up his drink and taking a sip. his eyes widen, “this is so good by the way, thank you!”

“see you and of course!”

you smile and turn to see ricky with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.

“what?”

“hazelnut latte boy just became ‘coworker i’m in love with’”

“and after that, my boyfriend gyuvin”

©eternallyhyucks

— tysm for 500!! <3

TAGLIST!

@izchone , @baekswoons , @jiwon-44 , @junityy , @pr0dbeomgyu , @yyx2 , @wccycc , @koishua , @changminurheart , @rainbowglitteramythyst , @baekhyunstruly , @soobin-chois , @yjwfav , @fairybinie

—send an ask if you would like to be a part of my taglist!!

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jobean12-blog · 2 years

Text

Feed the Flame

Pairing: Eddie Munson x reader

Word Count: 2,869

Summary: You like Eddie. He likes you. You’re both shy and sort of oblivious but thankfully Robin and Steve play matchmaker.

Author’s Note: I don’t even know where I got this idea but I’m so in love with it and how fun and ridiculous Steve and Robin are and it was just so fun to write! And then adding the skating was the best because I love it and thank you so much to my sweet loves @borikenlove and @irisofeden for reassuring me that skating would be an Eddie thing! Hope you all enjoy! Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️Divider by my lovely friend @wannabehamlet thank you sweets! 💕

PS The song I chose for the ending is a fave of mine, and although it didn’t come out until 1987, we are gonna pretend that it is 1987 and EVERYHTING IS FINE! 😁😁💕 Listen HERE

Warnings: lots of fun and fluff, flirting, some tension, sweetness, light teasing, good music!

Gif NOT MINE: Credit goes to @rosetico thank you lovely! 🥰

Eddie Munson Masterlist

“You know he’s got the hots for you right?”

At Robin’s matter of fact statement, you look up with a pinched face, the polish brush motionless between your fingers.

“Nuh uh, he doesn’t talk to me enough!” you shoot back. “And I know he talks because he’s always yapping with Dustin and Mike and Lucas! Shit, he even talks to Steve.”

“That’s only because he thinks you’re like an elf Goddess, princess, warrior faery or something…Steve however…is not.”

You stare at your friend, blinking several times before bursting into a fit of giggles. She joins you after throwing your iron maiden cassette at your head.

“Whatever,” she says through her laughter. “Pay better attention when we all go for ice cream this weekend. You’ll see.”

With an obnoxious blow of a raspberry, you echo her “whatever” and go back to painting your nails but as soon as your teeth dig into your bottom lip Robin let’s out an excited screech.

“I knew it! Tell me everything!” she insists.

You look up at her, unable to stop your growing smile.

“He has the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen!” you gush, giggling and dropping to the bed. “And I love his hair!”

Robin presses a hand to her chest, dropping her head back and squealing louder. “You’ve got it bad girl.”

“You’re gonna actually talk to her Saturday right?” Steve asks as he follows Eddie out of the arcade. “You know more than like ‘hello and what’s up?’”

“Dude. It’s not that easy,” Eddie states before chewing on a piece of his hair. “I can’t just be like ‘hey, I think you’re the most beautiful thing in the world and I want you to be my girl. Let’s play DnD and you can listen to me play guitar and…’”

Steve rolls his eyes. “No. You can’t say that! I mean the guitar stuff is good, chicks love a musician but…”

With an exasperated sigh Steve lays one hand on Eddie’s shoulder, pinching the bridge of his nose with the other.

“Listen Munson. Just…try to say something. Otherwise, you might miss your opportunity and believe me…I know how bad that sucks,” Steve admits.

Eddie’s eyes soften and he nods his head in understanding. “I’ll try. I really like her but I suck at this.”

“Well according to Henderson you’re like the most amazing Dungeon Dude there is,” Steve replies with a theatric wave of his hands. “Can’t you use some of that shit on her?”

“Dungeon Dude?” Eddie scoffs, his eyes wide. “You mean Dungeon Master!”

“Whatever,” Steve grumbles, pushing his flopping hair out of his face. “But apparently you really put on a show so you know…. make it happen!”

“Henderson,” Eddie murmurs. “Love that kid!”

You’re on the line at Scoops Ahoy, staring at the list of flavors when Robin slides up behind you.

“You sure look pretty tonight,” she giggles. “I wonder why???”

“Just for you,” you tell her, winking.

“Well, I really appreciate it and so does someone else,” she teases.

You narrow your eyes and start to turn around toward the table where your friends are sitting.

“Don’t look now!” Robin whisper shouts. “He’s staring again.”

“I don’t believe you!”

And before she can stop you, you spin on your heel and look straight at Eddie, his eyes on you. Your little gasp makes Robin snort and thankfully you have a mind enough to throw him a little wave. His lips part in a smile and he waves back.

“Well, that wasn’t a complete bomb!” Robin says before she groans and adds, “ah shit, here comes Jock Carver.”

You let out an audible groan and set your jaw in hard line, continuing to stare at the ice cream flavors.

“You here all by yourself beautiful?” Jason asks when he walks up next to you.

Robin’s eyes widen and she scoffs. “Obviously not asshole.”

You laugh and give Robin’s hand a squeeze. “No. I’m with my friends,” you answer Jason without glancing his way.

He laughs mockingly and turns his head to glare at your table of friends. “Hanging with the freaks again I see.”

“Mind your business Carver,” you seethe. “No one asked you.”

“But you know I’d show you a better time right?” Jason croons, stepping closer to you.

You back away with a sour look on your face, thankful that the cashier calls for you next to take your order.

“Fucking Carver. He’s such a d bag,” Steve mutters.

“Why is he talking to her?” Eddie asks, his eyes glued to you during the whole interaction with Jason.

“Because he’s been asking her out all year,” Max states with a roll of her eyes. “Duh.”

Eddie swallows hard and his worried eyes turn to Steve.

“She keeps saying no,” Steve informs Eddie, giving him a knowing look.

When Eddie’s eyes swing back to you, you’re about to pay for your ice cream. Robin walks back to the table and sits next to Steve, pushing everyone around the booth until there’s no room left.

“Hey, you guys didn’t leave me a seat, shove over!” you say when you arrive with your cone.

Robin tries to move but Steve stays glued to the seat.

“We can’t,” Steve says, shrugging his shoulders, “no room.”

Robin elbows Steve and pushes him again. Steve just smiles wider at you.

“What the hell Harrington, make room,” Robin grumbles under her breath.

“Will you quit it,” Steve grumbles back. “I’ve got this.”

Before Robin can give him a sassy reply, Steve blurts out. “Just sit with Eddie.”

“There’s no room,” you state with a deadpan look before smiling sweetly at Eddie. “What do you want me to do? Sit in his lap?”

Robin eyes light up in understanding and she knocks her knee into Steve’s under the table, the action making Steve wince.

“YES!” Robin exclaims. “That’s exactly what you have to do. Right Eddie?”

Dustin, Lucas, Max and Mike are lost in their own argument over the best flavor of ice cream at Scoops Ahoy and are oblivious to the mayhem happening at the front of the table.

You shoot Robin a death glare that only hardens when you move to Steve’s agreeable face, his eyebrows nearly meeting his extremely high hairline.

You take a deep breath and turn to Eddie to apologize but when you do he spreads his legs and pats his thigh.

“It’s all yours,” Eddie says, clearing his throat.

Before giving yourself time to have a freak out you sit, your body tingling the moment his arm rests gently around your waist.

“Are you comfortable?” he asks.

“Very,” you answer, trying to keep your voice steady.

Deciding the best thing to do is to eat your rapidly melting ice cream you take a lick and try to look anywhere but at Steve and Robin’s overly excited faces.

“That’s my favorite flavor too,” Eddie says. “It’s the best one.”

Your reply is interrupted by Dustin, still oblivious, when he shouts, “NO WAY EDDIE!”

Max’s squints at you and Eddie, clearly assessing. “Why are you in his lap?”

“NO ROOM!” Robin interjects loudly. “And no way what Henderson! No one likes cherry flavor!”

Max looks less than convinced with a roll of her eyes but doesn’t say more while Dustin shoots back at Robin, “YES THEY DO, right Lucas.”

Lucas just shakes his head, his lip curled up in disgust. “NO. Oreo Cookies and Cream is the best.”

Dustin’s head falls back against the cushioned seat and he covers his eyes. “Can’t go anywhere with you people.”

“Want some?” you ask Eddie, turning slightly so you can see him better.

Eddie wraps his hand around your hand that’s around the cone and pulls the vanilla ice cream to his lips, taking a lick while he keeps his eyes on you.

“Thanks,” he whispers, “definitely the best flavor.”

Dustin scoffs and stares at Eddie in betrayed disbelief while Robin and Steve can barely contain their delight.

“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Mike asks, looking pointedly at Steve and Robin.

“Nothing. Why would anything be wrong. Can’t we enjoy our ice cream with friends,” Robin says quickly and slightly panicked.

“Don’t worry about what’s going on with the adults,” Steve says, his no nonsense look directed at all four kids.

The four kids roll their eyes in unison before Dustin shouts, “hey you guys wanna go to the roller rink tonight?”

“You can’t skate Dustin!” Lucas points out with a smirk.

“Well, I’ll never get better if I don’t practice!” Dustin replies, lifting his brows.

“I love roller skating!” you add, turning to Eddie. “Are you in?”

“You betcha,” he answers.

Eddie offers to drive you to the rink.

“I wanna go with you guys too,” Dustin chimes in.

“Nope Henderson. You’re coming with me,” Steve states, pointing to his car.

“I’ll go with them,” Mike says, walking toward you and Eddie.

“No, you won’t,” Robin says, redirecting Mike toward Steve’s car. “You’re coming with us too.”

“There’s NO ROOM!” Lucas shouts. “Why can’t someone go with them?”

“Just get in the car you nerds,” Max grumbles. “You’re so clueless.”

Lucas, Mike and Dustin all exchange confused looks before huffing and getting in the car. Max glares at Steve and Robin, then at you and Eddie.

“You jerks owe me one,” she grits out before smooshing into the backseat and slamming the door.

You and Eddie exchange a wide-eyed look before he opens the door to the van to let you in and you both miss the silent high five between Robin and Steve.

“How about some Iron Maiden?” Eddie asks you when he starts to drive.

“Sounds great,” you answer, going through his cassettes.

“On no! Wait,” you exclaim. “Put this on.”

You hand him ‘Defenders of the Faith’ by Judas Priest.

“I love this album,” Eddie cheers as he pops it into the cassette player.

Both you and Eddie are still singing when you get out of the car and head into the rink.

“When is he gonna kiss her?” Robin whispers to Steve as they watch you and Eddie walk in.

“At least they’re talking,” Steve says with a nose scrunch.

“Less talking. More kissing,” Robin huffs. “We have to do more.”

“Woah, woah,” Steve says, holding his hands up in front of Robin. “Let’s at least see how they do skating, huh?”

“You’re such a butthead Harrington,” Robin says before walking off to the lockers.

“It’s been a while since I’ve skated,” Eddie admits as he ties his roller skates. “I hope I don’t suck.”

“That’s ok. I’m probably going to suck too,” you giggle.

Dustin shakily skates by and waves, his grin wide as he gives you an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“I can’t wait to see this,” Eddie smiles, shooting Dustin two thumbs up back.

“Me either,” you laugh.

When you stand you’re a little wobbly but make it to the door of the rink without too much trouble.

“So far so good,” Eddie says from behind you.

You step onto the smooth rink, the disco lights dancing off the shiny floor in multiple colors and the music thumping loudly in your ears.

‘Another One Bites the Dust’ by Queen starts to play and you give Eddie a mischievous smile.

“Not foreboding at all!”

Just as you finish saying the words you lose your balance and careen backward straight into Eddie’s arms.

“I gotcha sweetheart,” he whispers, his lips brushing against the shell of your ear.

“Thanks,” you breathe out, exhaling when you’re back upright.

His arm slides from around your waist to your hand and his fingers close tightly around it.

“This way if one of us starts to go down we can go together,” he winks.

“More cushioning,” you answer with a smile.

“You can’t stand here and hang on to the wall the whole time and stare at them! It’s creepy Robin!” Steve hisses. “SKATE!”

“I can’t skate HARRINGTON!” Robin answers back.

Steve rolls his eyes and pushes off the wall, keeping his balance and skating around to check on the kids. Robin catches you and Eddie coming around the rink, your hands entwined and your faces bright with smiles.

Robin waits for you two to pass, oblivious to her presence as she pushes off right behind you, immediately flailing her arms wildly to keep balance. Just before she falls forward she grabs the back of your shirt, tugging hard and making you stumble.

Naturally so does Eddie and in a tangle of arms and legs you all go down.

Eddie breaks most of your fall and you find yourself face to face with him and half lying on top of him while Robin is smiling brightly from beside you and waving.

“Sorry guys! Lost my balance,” Robin says cheerily.

Steve skates over and stops, hands on his hips. “You ok?” he asks, his tone slightly irritated.

“Yup! Great!” Robin chimes, grabbing Steve’s leg until he helps her up. “Let’s go,” she says, pulling him away.

“You sure you’re ok?” Eddie asks you, his arm wrapped tightly around your waist.

“You smell good,” you blurt out, brushing a curl from his face. “And uh, yea…totally fine,” you finish, dropping your head to hide in his chest.

You finally lift your face and look at him, your smile sheepish.

“Thanks,” he starts, his cheeks pink. “So do you.”

He helps you up and keeps a hold of your hand.

“DAMNIT WHY DIDN’T THAT WORK!” Robin complains, shoving Steve in the shoulder.

“Will you calm down! They’re not gonna make out of the floor of the rink!” Steve exclaims, his face pinched with thought. “Wait! I have an idea!”

He waggles his brows before skating off the rink and over to the DJ booth. Robin watches him flirt his way through whatever plan he has and when he returns he’s wearing a triumphant grin.

“Do I wanna know?” Robin asks.

“Just wait for it,” Steve answers.

You and Eddie make your way past Dustin, who is still clinging to the wall but all smiles and you wave to Lucas, Mike and Max when you see them skate by, Max’s eyes sparkling when she zeroes in on your grasped hands.

When you reach the far end of the rink the lights suddenly go down low and the sounds of ‘Double Dutch Bus’ by Frankie Smith fade, leading straight into ‘The Flame’ by Cheap Trick.

“Oh, I love this song!!!” you squeal, squeezing Eddie’s hand.

“There’s some good guitar action in this one,” Eddie adds.

“And that’s our cue to get off the rink,” Robin says, tugging at Steve’s sweatshirt.

“EXACTLY!” Steve answers, looking way too proud of himself. “Couples skate!”

Robin’s mouth falls open and she claps happily. “I have to give it to you Harrington. Well played.”

“Come on let’s go make sure the little buttheads don’t interfere,” Robin continues, gesturing toward Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Max.

“Good idea,” Steve says, “but I have a feeling Max won’t let them.”

"Can you play this on guitar?” you ask Eddie.

“I haven’t tried but I will if you want,” he says sweetly. “Can’t be too hard.”

“Really Eddie!?”

“Of course,” he assures you as he starts to slow down and pull you toward the wall.

The change in speed makes your feet start to slide out from under you and Eddie’s arms shoot out to steady you when your body meets the wall.

You turn to face him and he rolls into you, placing his arms along the railing on either side of you.

“Why did you stop?” you squeak out as he inches closer.

“Just taking a break,” he whispers and you watch as his gaze drops to your lips, his warm breath fanning your cheek.

He bends down, lips lightly brushing the soft skin of your cheek.

“If you want me to stop, tell me now.”

You say nothing, his delicate touch making your entire body tremble and you grab hold of the front of his denim vest. His lips barely graze yours, so soft that your breath hitches in a quiet gasp.

“Or now?” he asks.

Your eyes flutter closed but you make no sound at all and then his lips are on yours.

He gathers you closer, the feel of his body pressed tight to yours making your lips part and he deepens the kiss. The sounds of Cheap Trick grow fainter and even on your skates you feel as if you’re floating, your senses completely overwhelmed by him.

His hand slips under your shirt, warm against your skin and his rings brush along your waist until his fingertips smooth down your spine, pulling you closer and leaving no space between your bodies.

You finally pull away, not for want but rather to take a breath.

“Wow,” he whispers against your lips, his nose gently bumping yours.

His long, dark lashes kiss his cheeks as his eyes fall to your lips again.

“Definitely wow,” you repeat, sliding your hands up his arms and into his hair.

His curls brush your cheek before he dips his head, capturing your lips once more and as you drift away again you’re sure you hear Robin and Steve cheering in celebration.

@dreamlessinparis @beefybuckrrito @buckysdollforlife @blackwidownat2814 @munsonsduchess @hiddles-rose @seitmai @goldylions @justile @loki-laufeyson-1054 @whitewolfey @whippoorwillbarnes @moviequeen51 @nerdypinupcrystal

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x female!reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson imagine #steve harrington #robin buckley #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader

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schrijverr · 2 months

Text

You Don’t Know Me, But I Know You 5

Chapter 5 out of 6

5 times Tim showed he stalked Robin + 1 time Jason did

Inspired by this post of thecrazyleader.

On AO3.

Ships none

Warnings: none

~~~~

5. A Familiar Blackmail Moment

It’s during a chase through Gotham that it happens. Most of them are focused on locating the robber of multiple dangerous weapons when there are suddenly two yells over the coms, before a storm of cursing starts up.

“Nightwing, Red Hood, report,” Bruce demands anxiously.

“We’re fine, Dickface just fucking entangled us on the grapplers, like a fucking Dickhead idiot, stupid asshole,” Jason curses.

Dick immediately defends himself: “This was so not my fault, Little Wing. You’re rusty with yours and being mean about it.”

“Don’t you fucking dare put this on me. You bumped into me,” Jason hisses.

“You didn’t check your six properly,” Dick protests.

“I swear you need to shut the fuck up, right now. I have knives and I’m near all your sensitive parts,” Jason threatens.

“Oh my god, are you two tied to each other with your own grapplers?” Steph asks, sounding delighted at the idea. “O, please say you have a visual on that.”

Barbara chuckles: “Oh, I definitely have a visual on that. They’re properly tangled and stuck. I’m getting a video of them dangling there to use later.”

“You have to show me that,” Steph says.

“Of course.”

“It’s not fucking funny,” Jason complains. “I don’t wanna get blackmailed for shit Dickface did. I refuse.”

“For the last time, it’s your fault we’re in this mess,” Dick shoots back. “I’ve been grappling all over non-stop, you haven’t. It’s okay to be rusty, but don’t start pushing this on me.”

Before Jason can give what would have probably been a scathing reply to that, they’re interrupted by a snort. Tim says: “I find it hard to believe Hood caused that when you got B tangled even in your later Robin years.”

It’s quiet for a second, then there’s chaos on the coms.

“Oh, yeah, I remember that,” Barbara comments, as Steph says: “Wait, you’re saying that Bats and Nightwing as Robin did a fish on a hook impersonation? Please tell me you captured that, stalker boy.”

Dick is whining: “Shut up,” as Damian says: “Yes, I refuse to believe this sort of slander.”

“Slander. Slander?” Jason shrieks. “Golden boy here is pinning his shit on me, that’s fucking slander. I can’t believe you, you know. How fucking dare you.”

“No chatter on the coms,” Bruce tiredly reminds them, something he often forgoes, because they have never listened once in their lives. He has already decided to make a strategic withdrawal when they turn against him, happy to have at least diverted the conversation again.

“Oh, now you’re picking his side, huh? When it’s your dignity on the line as well, I see how it is,” Jason bitches. “Creepy McCreeperson, make sure you find those stalker pics you took so I can defend my honor when this asshole tries pinning it on me again.”

“Not really inclined to help you when you’re calling me a creeper,” Tim deadpans.

“I’ll make you a coffee cake next time they put you on a caffeine ban,” Jason offers, obviously trying to sound enticing.

Dick admonishes: “Don’t bribe Red Robin with coffee. You know it’s for his own good and you know that we’re all above bri-”

“Deal,” Tim cuts him off.

“Hell yeah, you’re my favorite paparazzi stalker,” Jason cheers. “Now shut up, Dickface, and tell me how to get loose without plummeting, since you’ve obviously done this before.”

“I hate you both,” Dick complains, before he starts to explain.

#rr writing #batman #bruce wayne #jason todd #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #tim drake #stalker tim drake #red robin #damian wayne #robin #oracle #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #dc #dc comics #batfamily #batfam

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bebeyeyo · 9 months

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how do u think yandere j line would react when their gf finally realizes their toxic behavior and tries to break up with them?

yandere j-line breakup | misamo

a/n: honestly, do not touch had me to write this out finally. another person sent a request just like this one, as well. sorry it took so long. hope you enjoy <3

synopsis: it was only when you were out with your friends one time that they finally helped you realize the toxicity and dangerous nature of your girlfriend. you didn’t want to believe it, you loved her too much. your eyes were opened from the blind love you felt. it was time to get out of this relationship, but your girlfriend did not take it well…at all.

Hirai Momo

momo only laughs it off thinking you were only joking. but it was only until she saw a packed bag by your feet.

her smile instantly fades.

“w-what do you mean you’re…leaving?” she asks in a slight chuckle but a nervous one as she continues to shake her head.

you explain to momo that her erratic behavior is the reason why you are suggesting this breakup. not even suggesting it, you’re making it known you’re breaking up with her right here, right now.

“y-you can’t leave…i’m the only one who’s been there for you, and this is how you treat me? i’ve given you so much and you…you just want to leave?” momo feels tears in her eyes as she asks these questions, running her hands through her hair.

seeing momo’s near breakdown made you instantly feel bad. you couldn’t bring yourself to leave with your bags. you love her too much.

“please i’ll do whatever! just don’t leave me.” she pleads.

bringing momo into your arms was now leaving you trapped in this relationship forever, as momo hugged you back tightly as she calmed down.

she smirks, her crocodile tears instantly stop falling, her eyes dark as she held you in her arms.

she knew you wouldn’t ever leave her, and now she’s determined to make sure you don’t think of leaving her ever again.

Minatozaki Sana

sana’s smile fades before you even utter the word ‘breakup’. she just knew you were hinting at it with the way you were beating around the bush.

“i just think that we should-”

“no.” is all she said cutting you off.

you were caught off guard by her sudden change in demeanor. she was all smiles then completely and utterly filled with a rage you can’t even describe.

“you’re not leaving me…your friends have no idea what they’re talking about. why would you even listen to them? huh?! you know they make up these damned stories about me! why would you ever suggest breaking up?!” sana was beyond angry at this point. it even scared you than you’d like to admit.

“i love you! why can’t you see that?! i’d do anything for you, y/n! i’d kill for you!” she shouts making you flinch.

a few minutes later, sana approached you calmly before gently grabbing your bag by your feet, and look at you with dark eyes before taking a deep breath and smiling, as if she wasn’t so close to snapping you, or your neck.

it was a scary thing to witness.

“now…let’s get ready for dinner, shall we, my love?” she wasn’t even letting you have an option to leave at this point.

you went to protest, but she already had control now. she grabs your wrist with a tight grip and smiles.

“come now, love, and listen to me. wouldn’t want to have to hurt you~” she giggles.

Myoi Mina

like momo, mina only laughs.

but she doesn’t react with any sadness or anger.

she only laughed….

her reaction made you look at her with such confusion. anyone would be confused, unless you were truly knowing of what kind of person mina really is.

she chuckles, “oh? you want to leave me? after all i’ve done for you?”

you gulp.

“fine. go on. find someone else that can care for you like i do, and deal with your little whining and begging when you mess up and they get mad with you. they’ll for sure want to deal with a begging person like you, but they wouldn’t be able to comfort you after like i would.” she says clearly guilt tripping you into feeling bad and embarrassed for your past moments in the relationship.

truthfully you really started to think if anyone would put up with your antics of being begged to talk to like you do with mina when she gives you silent treatments. and she was right…no one else would put up with it.

not like her.

you sigh and with your head down, you apologize for suggesting something so silly, and that you love mina.

she only chuckles once more before pulling you into her arms.

“i knew you wouldn’t leave me, anyways, darling. you’re too weak, and no one else would ever put up with you. you’re lucky i do.”

#darlinggtwice #mina x reader #hirai momo x reader #sana x reader #yandere!sana #yandere!mina #yandere!momo #misamo #twice j line #twice headcanons

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antialiasis · 4 months

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Chess (2018 Kennedy Center revival)

So I was just going to briefly mention all the other different versions of Chess I have consumed in the big essay post I’ve been writing on and off, but there was just too much to say about this one which made it really awkward to fit it in, so fine, here is another individual chesspost. Nearly 7500 words of rambling under the cut, oh my god.

This production represents the latest official full overhaul of Chess. It sports an all-new book written by Danny Strong, also known as the actor who played Jonathan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is some whiplash (Sarah Michelle Gellar is apparently a big Chess fan, too). It was later staged again as a concert with some further modifications in 2021, but I listened to an audio bootleg of the 2018 version. (There exist some videos of it online, but only scattered bits.)

The Story Changes

This version has London’s basic plot structure with the distinctive two chess tournaments (this time four years apart, which is neither the original number nor the actual number of years between world chess championships), but rearranges Act I, adds a lot more quippy dialogue and swearing, reinterprets the characters, and recenters real-world politics in the whole thing — sort of the exact inverse of what Chess på svenska did with the material. It opens with “Difficult and Dangerous Times” to set the scene in the Cold War and features the Arbiter narrating with sardonic omniscient commentary between songs/scenes throughout, which does feel a bit more consistent than the Arbiter suddenly having a narrator role for the duration of one song in Act II.

All the main characters in this version are reinterpreted with significant new background context, which is a very interesting way to rewrite it that I definitely dig in principle. For example, Florence’s first scene here involves Walter threatening her with deportation from the US unless she can make Freddie behave for the duration of the tournament. Most versions of Chess make the political scheming very symbolic and vague — exchanges of mostly unnamed political prisoners or handwaved concessions — but this version is noticeably specific, with specific nuclear arms treaty negotiations that the CIA believes would be negatively affected if Freddie keeps openly antagonizing the Soviets. She tells Walter to go fuck himself (told you it adds more swearing) and that nobody can control Freddie Trumper, but ultimately she doesn’t have much of a choice but to reluctantly play along. This addition recontextualizes her character and her interactions with Freddie in Act I a fair bit — it’s pretty significant, after all, that she is under threat and may lose her home if she doesn’t somehow control what she really can’t.

Meanwhile, Freddie himself here suffers from a full-on mental illness which he takes medication for. Walter asserts on a phone call early that they’re dealing with a “genuine paranoid schizophrenic”, but then later calls him a “bipolar bitch”; I take the blatant inconsistency combined with the obviously insulting nature of these remarks to mean probably we’re not meant to take either of them at face value, but these two lines from Walter are the only ones suggesting any specific diagnosis. (I unfortunately suspect Danny Strong didn’t have a specific condition in mind and research it so much as just slap him with a Generic Ambiguous Mental Illness for which he takes Pills.) One way or another, Freddie’s ambiguous mental illness gives him bouts of intense paranoia, driving him to do things like trashing his and Florence’s hotel room to look for listening devices at one point. Florence keeps insistently, frustratedly telling him to just take his goddamn pills even as he’s in genuine distress; it’s pretty uncomfortable, and also definitely one of those things that are at least more human when his episodes could cost her the only home she has: she’s desperate and in distress too.

(I do kind of feel as if this whole bit would make more sense if Florence and Freddie had a strictly business relationship here to start with, instead of being explicitly portrayed as a couple — when they have a committed intimate partnership going on, one would think Florence getting deported would also be pretty obviously significant for Freddie, and Florence quietly playing along with the CIA and crossing her fingers that she can indirectly coax him into behaving with seemingly no serious thought given to whether it’d be better to just tell him why he needs to stop feels stranger. The scene with Walter sounds like Walter/the CIA are not aware of their romantic relationship and Florence wants to keep it that way — they both refer to Freddie strictly by his full/last name and as “her player” — so I guess Walter would have assumed she wouldn’t tell him, but surely the calculus would at least look a bit different to Florence herself. Even if it just prompts her to realize Freddie would still be liable to react by becoming even more erratic and vocal about his paranoias, that feels like it’d be significant enough, at least for her feelings on this relationship going forward, that it never actually coming up or being suggested within the story starts to feel marginally odd. Not a major complaint, though, just a bit of overthinking.)

Freddie in general is noticeably portrayed much more sympathetically here than usual throughout. Where other versions of Chess tend to present Freddie as an attention-seeking drama queen who plays up ludicrous arbitrary demands for money and press, here things like his walkout from the first chess game are made to come from a much more genuine place: he has major sensory issues and is intolerably thrown off balance by distracting noise and lights (which really are deliberately arranged to sabotage him). “Florence Quits”, the song with the misogyny verse, usually reads as being triggered by his jealousy and inability to accept that Anatoly’s just playing better than him, but this version makes it feel more about how he feels persistently gaslit about the ways he’s being sabotaged than anything else: he accuses the Soviets of having a hypnotist in the front row to throw him off (which they do, and Freddie literally saw him and recognized him) and Florence of working for the CIA (which she has been, if not by choice) while they deny it and brush it off, and the tense opening notes of the song play under him desperately yelling “You’re lying to me! You’re all lying to me!” (Which doesn’t make the misogyny okay, obviously, but it does make it feel more like a desperate, paranoia-fueled lashout where you don’t know how much he really means all that.)

When he subsequently forfeits the match against Anatoly, he makes a speech that sounds absolutely despairing where he says chess has been taking a toll on his health since he first became champion at eleven years old, and he doesn’t feel he can trust anyone, even himself. In Act II, before “The Interview”, he even actually apologizes to Florence for how he treated her; heck, his motivation for going so hard after Anatoly in “The Interview” itself is portrayed as being that he is genuinely disgusted by Anatoly leaving his family so callously (which is a lot of fun given Freddie’s own issues about his father leaving him and his mother behind) and wants Florence to hear the truth about what a despicable man he is, which is still unpleasant to her but clearly comes from a much more sympathetic place than either simple spite or reluctantly complying with Walter’s orders.

As for Anatoly… he was taken from his parents when he was a small child to be groomed by Molokov and the KGB into becoming a chess champion, and he’s well aware from his very first scene that the state had killed the previous Soviet champion after Freddie unseated him. (Freddie excoriates the press early on for not covering why the former champion disappeared off the face of the Earth because they’re too busy bashing Freddie, which sounds like paranoia, but the narrative has actually told us Freddie is right and they really did execute him but no one but Freddie seems to notice or care — another way in which Freddie is jarringly sympathetic here. In general, Freddie is portrayed as paranoid, and the other characters treat him like he’s just paranoid, but the narrative keeps proving Freddie’s paranoia right.)

Anatoly, though, isn’t afraid of the same fate, because “The state cannot execute a man… that is already dead.” (This general sentiment could press my buttons, but it just feels super corny and melodramatic the way it’s presented and performed, especially with that dramatic pause in there.) He is deeply depressed, thinks his marriage to Svetlana is fake and his kids hate him, and says repeatedly in Act I that he hates chess and just wants to be free of it, though he also describes a particular championship match he watched as the only time he’s felt love. At the end of Act I, he defects to the UK along with Florence as usual (his defection fully blows up the treaty Walter was worrying about despite Anatoly’s victory, so Florence’s refugee visa is indeed revoked, and that’s why they end up in the UK). Theoretically he should be free of chess now, but it bothers him intensely that he only won by forfeit (here they never finished playing a single match), resulting in him returning to defend his world champion title, and win it ‘properly’, four years later in Bangkok against Viigand.

Unknown to Anatoly, by Act II, after the election of Ronald Reagan, the Soviets are extra on edge and believe a planned NATO military exercise is actually the US mobilizing for a full-scale invasion of the Soviet Union. Walter tries to convince Molokov it’s just an exercise; Molokov insists unfortunately the generals are going to believe it’s an invasion and be ready to retaliate unless Viigand wins the championship (if Viigand wins they will take it as a ‘sign of goodwill’ from the US, which will change their minds on the apparent invasion because, uhh, unclear). Throughout Act II, the larger stakes in this version are set up to be that if Anatoly should win the match, the Soviets are liable to start a nuclear war.

Does Walter go to Anatoly to frankly tell him that apparently the Soviets have lost their minds and are basically threatening nuclear war over a chess match and try to convince him to throw on that basis? Does Molokov realize that if he’s telling Walter to go rig the chess match so the generals will call it off, he clearly doesn’t actually believe that the US is about to invade, so probably he should be trying to convince the generals not to go for the nuclear option himself? No, of course not; this is Chess, so we have to have the songs that are in Chess. So instead, Walter and Molokov just go through the same indirect schemes as usual to unbalance Anatoly and convince him to throw the game, with some minor twists. Molokov actually actively threatens Svetlana with being sent to a gulag to die if she doesn’t convince her husband to return — and Svetlana does straight-up tell Anatoly this, only for Anatoly to brush her off and tell her they won’t do that. Florence learns the same from Walter and initially dismisses him, and fully doesn’t believe him about her father being alive, but does ultimately sympathize with Svetlana and worry for her, which I like. But Anatoly is obsessed with winning this championship above all else and fully convinced Molokov is bluffing.

In the end, he plays the game to win, oblivious to the nuclear threat; as he checkmates, Walter makes a desperate phone call to his superiors to call off the training exercise. (Why he didn’t just do that immediately when Molokov told him the Soviets were taking it as an attack, instead of spending all this time playing along with this elaborate chess mind game, is a mystery.) Only… they don’t, and the Soviets watch with their fingers on the nuclear button, but ultimately they don’t fire. The Arbiter’s narration informs us this was the closest the world ever came to destruction, even closer than the Cuban missile crisis, and that this then served as the wake-up call that prompted negotiations about nuclear deescalation.

Anatoly, meanwhile, returns to the Soviet Union as usual, this time successfully exchanging himself for Florence’s imprisoned father, and Walter gives the two of them visas so that they can return to the US together.

Broad thoughts

I feel profoundly weird about the mixing of real-life history and completely fictitious alternate history here — you can’t just assert in narration that the fictional events in your musical were what taught the US and Soviet Union that maybe they should just talk to each other, while making a specific comparison to an actual thing that really happened, after spending the musical asserting that the Soviets murdered chess players for losing the world championship. I think mixing history and fiction can work fine if we can imagine that for all we know this is what really happened, or alternatively that this is what might have happened in some alternate universe similar to but distinct from ours. But here, we’re creating highly significant and publicized events that are obviously fictional, making it absurd to pretend this is what really happened, while also presenting these fictional alternate-universe events in objective hindsight narration alongside real events that happened in the real world and as a supposed cause of them. This ending narration just feels like it’s weirdly trying to have its cake and eat it too.

All in all, though, I think this is definitely one of the most interesting efforts to rewrite Chess. It definitely has something it’s going for, there are several neat ideas in it, and in particular I appreciate that it tries to give extra attention to the characters, more context to their actions, and more messy, humanized depth, inner conflict, and complicated motivators and stressors behind what they do. I genuinely enjoy what it’s doing with Freddie in Act I, in particular, even though it feels somehow both jarringly like it’s woobifying him (I genuinely think he ends up coming across as the most sympathetic of the three mains here, with so much of his erratic, childish and unpleasant behaviour being recontextualized to be more understandable and the way his hatred of the Soviets keeps being validated by the narrative) and like the narrative is weirdly harsh on him (this much more sympathetic Freddie who suffers from an actual mental illness is treated like absolute irredeemable scum by every other character including the fourth-wall-leaning narrator, even more than usual).

I also think the restructuring of Act I was pretty solid for the most part, though there’s definitely some awkwardness, like how Freddie’s expanded encounters with the press sort of clumsily repeat the same beats a bit. On the one hand, I can get what Danny Strong was going for in choosing to introduce everyone first and then go into “Merano” instead of doing several minutes of narrative meaninglessness before the main characters are even introduced; on the other hand, that kind of just half-defeats the sole original purpose of “Merano”, which is to provide a very jaunty more stereotypical musical theater song so that Freddie can be introduced via barging in and interrupting it with his very different vibe, and if I were Danny Strong I would definitely have just removed “Merano” at that point. But the “Difficult and Dangerous Times” opening works great, and it nicely avoids the “almost nothing of note happens for nearly forty minutes” and “several meaningless fluff songs in a row” problems of the London script, introducing conflict and stakes early and keeping the narrative going.

Ultimately, though, a lot of what it’s trying to do doesn’t quite come together to me, and some of it is variously misguided or just strange.

The Politics

To start with, I can definitely get wanting to emphasize the role of Cold War politics in the narrative, and I basically enjoyed the increased political focus and higher stakes in Act I — but I don’t think making Anatoly unwittingly almost start a nuclear war works here, or fits properly into this narrative at all. The Soviet generals have to be holding idiot balls; Molokov has to be holding an idiot ball; Walter has to be holding the biggest idiot ball of all; and most importantly, the ludicrously massive stakes being pasted on top of the match despite none of the main characters even knowing about it means we zoom thoroughly out of the character drama of the situation: “Endgame” just becomes grotesquely trivial with that hanging over it without Anatoly’s knowledge, rendering the actual drama of the climactic song completely irrelevant to what’s really at stake.

I also dislike, in a version that emphasizes the politics, how distinctly slanted it is. One of the things that I like in the London strain of Chess is that Walter and Molokov are both slimy, manipulative bastards in different ways, both sides’ political actors cruelly toying with the lives of the players for their own impersonal ends; the righteousness of each state as a whole doesn’t really matter to this story, only the impact that the whole conflict and the mutual scheming has on the main characters’ lives. But in this version, the Soviets and Molokov are cartoon villains who literally abduct children to force them into chess camp and then murder them if they don’t win the world championship, while Walter may be a condescending asshole who’s willing to threaten Florence but is distinctly the ‘good guy’ in his interactions with Molokov, which comprise most of his screentime, especially in Act II. Walter even gets a humanizing moment where he explains he has a nine-year-old son and has nightmares about him suffering a nuclear winter (Molokov, meanwhile, tells Walter in Act I that Anatoly is like a son to him but could not more obviously not care about Anatoly at all when he proudly presents his new champion material Viigand in Act II). I just find it really detrimental to Chess’s narrative to make it about Soviets Bad, US Good, and more so the more you focus on that — to whatever extent you highlight the politics in this story, it should be done in a way that’s about how the political machinations of the Cold War impact the character drama at the center of it, and it’s distracting when instead you make it into a loosely related B-plot about Walter’s desperate diplomatic efforts to stop the evil Soviets from destroying the world with their shortsightedness.

I think a successful more politically-focused Chess could definitely exist, but I think it’s always going to function best if Walter and Molokov feel at least narratively like just about equal scumbags. It’s not even impossible to imagine nuclear weapons and mutually assured destruction coming up in the course of it — but it needs to be using that to make us enraged at all of this on behalf of Anatoly/Florence/Svetlana/Freddie, not enraged at Molokov on behalf of Walter.

The Character Work

Meanwhile, I do basically like the setup and recontextualization done for all of the main characters in Act I, but unfortunately none of them quite delivered as well as I hoped in the end.

Let’s start with Florence. I actually quite liked the deportation threat, putting Florence herself under personal pressure in a way she usually isn’t. I dig characters being put through the wringer and making decisions under stress. But the story doesn’t quite do anything with that other than using it as silent context behind her early interactions with Freddie and technically as the reason she and Anatoly move to the UK offscreen. We don’t, for instance, ever see Freddie learn that that’s why she moved or that he was unwittingly indirectly responsible for that, or otherwise address that in any way, and as far as Florence in the rest of the story is concerned, it might as well never have happened — we never see her having any kinds of feelings on it, or even confronting Walter about that nasty little part he played in her life when she meets him again (she doesn’t even comment on it when he offers her the chance to go back to the US at the end!). To an extent this is, of course, because Florence being deported was never originally part of the story of Chess, so of course it doesn’t come up in any song or have any significant specific impact on the core series of events — but if you’re going to add it in at all, you really ought to be taking that somewhere in the rest of your additions that isn’t just briefly handwaving that she gets to go back at the end.

Like Long Beach, this version brings Florence’s father back at the end — but unfortunately, it feels really unearned here. Compared to other London variants, it actually ditches the bit of “The Deal” where Florence is tangibly emotional and riled up by Walter’s offer of her father — she fully dismisses the idea of her father being alive as bullshit, and instead it’s Svetlana who moves her to have doubts when she sees her begging Anatoly to return on video and realizes Svetlana still loves him. I do really like that, by itself, and it’s probably my favorite thing about this version’s portrayal of Florence; her empathizing with Svetlana to the point of feeling genuinely guilty for having taken her husband from her, and believing maybe the right thing to do would be if he went back to Svetlana for her sake, is actually very good, serves as a great lead-in to “I Know Him So Well”, and makes Florence’s character feel far more sympathetic in a production where she’s otherwise pretty lacking in that department. But it leaves us with no emotional connection whatsoever to Florence’s father — we’ve only heard her mention him twice before Walter’s offer, very briefly, in Act I, and not really with any sense that she misses or is all that invested in him. Seeing her reunite with him means nothing for her or her arc; it just comes out of left field, and winds up being another thing slanting this version towards Good Guy Walter, Bad Guy Molokov, what with Walter offering her visas back to the US for both of them seemingly out of the goodness of his heart.

It would have been possible to actually build up to this in a way that would make it satisfying. Florence and Anatoly have several conversations; we could have used some of those to have Florence actually talk about her father and how she feels about him being gone, and that could have been part of building up her relationship with Anatoly, made it meaningful that Anatoly’s parting gift to her is to ensure her father’s return. I suppose Danny Strong’s thought process may have been that if he built up Florence’s father too much, that should become her main concern once Walter brings that into it, and he wanted her concern to be about Svetlana instead, which I guess is fair; it also means Anatoly only really has to dismiss the potential harm to one other person in his obsession with the winning the game. But if you do make the decision to not build up her father, then bringing her father back is not an ending that makes any sense, and there was no need to do this — they could have easily cut out all suggestion of her father being alive entirely and it would only have made things smoother. I think the only reason she gets her father back in this one is in some hasty effort to make Florence’s ending less bleak, but because it doesn’t have any emotional resonance, it’s just not the right way to do that here.

Speaking of Florence and Anatoly, the romance here… once again has some neat, interesting things it’s going for but doesn’t quite come together as a whole. The two of them do have some actual conversations where they bond a bit, which is already a marked improvement over the default London script — but their very first conversation features Anatoly asserting out of nowhere that Florence has “a way of brightening his spirit”, despite not even knowing her, which isn’t super convincing and just comes off kind of creepy-awkward. Florence asserts a few times that he’s sweet and kind, but we don’t really see much of him actually coming across as sweet or kind — his lines tend to be either melodramatic or sardonic moping interspersed kind of jarringly with awkward jokes. He’s less charming or sweet and more like a lonely, kicked dog, which is fine if Florence is into that but doesn’t quite make her descriptions of why she likes him ring true.

This production actually goes back to the concept album a bit when it comes to Florence and Anatoly — namely, more than political manipulation and external pressures forcibly tearing them apart from the outside, there’s a more substantial internal tension between them as Anatoly genuinely simply prioritizes winning the chess match over her and dismisses her as she tries to question him about Svetlana. The two approaches can both work but do different things for the narrative; this internal approach puts more focus on the personal conflict and character drama and makes the relationship more interesting, which is definitely good, and in principle I think this is built up to in a pretty solid way here — Anatoly, raised to become a chess champion to the exclusion of all else, being maddened by the notion of not actually beating Freddie in Act I and needing to prove he deserves the championship to himself in Act II before he can feel “free from chess” works as a coherent reason for him to be so strikingly, unhealthily obsessive about it.

But I think the biggest problem is that Florence and Anatoly individually don’t hit well enough as characters to create investment in them. Florence is ultimately not developed enough and mostly just acts kind of unpleasant, especially to Freddie, all the way up until that Svetlana bit in Act II. More importantly, I just can’t like or understand or sympathize with Anatoly at all, beyond recognizing that core of what his arc is going for. Part of it is probably down to the writing of his lines, which I’m just not a fan of in general. I already named one example from his first scene. Here’s how Anatoly and Florence’s very first conversation starts:

ANATOLY: It’s not his fault. This game drives us all crazy. FLORENCE: I’m fine. Aren’t you even a little bit scared? ANATOLY: Of Trumper? FLORENCE: No, that they’ll kill you if you lose. ANATOLY: Oh. To quote the great Leo Tolstoy, “Even in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make six.” FLORENCE: What does that mean? ANATOLY: I don’t know exactly, but it is very Russian.

I just don’t find this dialogue very convincing. Why is he reciting a dramatic irrelevant quote if he doesn’t know what it means and just thinks it’s “very Russian”? It feels like a generic quippy exchange off a snarky TV show. Does Anatoly use humour to cope with his situation? Not really; this is pretty much the only time he says anything that might be taken as that. This feels like a joke that’s there only to get a laugh out of the audience, not because Anatoly would actually tell it — and consequently, it doesn’t tell us anything real about Anatoly. Meanwhile, Florence responds to this with “Oh, you’re funny,” as if that’s one of the reasons she falls for him when I would decidedly not name that as a character trait he has. I feel like most of his dialogue just doesn’t have a great sense of character — in stark contrast to Freddie, who oozes character. I can’t get a good sense of who he is and how he thinks. He’s just there. And this also makes it harder to see what Florence sees in him and believe in the relationship.

Moreover, this Anatoly just comes across as kind of a terrible person, not in the fun coherent intentional way Freddie is a terrible person but in a flat, confusing and kind of unintentional-seeming way. Svetlana here is actually really sympathetic, with lovely little additional bits of dialogue that make her feelings hit harder (her voice as she tells Anatoly that “You left us!” breaks my heart), and this is possibly my favorite version of Svetlana in any Chess. But Anatoly is really, really terrible to her, by which I don’t even mean the cheating on her but the bit where he keeps angrily insisting to her face that she never loved him and she brainwashed their children to hate him and of course they’re not going to kill her (hey, Anatoly, guess who’s already well aware that the Soviet government in this universe is not above executing people over chess?).

And even that could be made understandable, given his situation — he could just be in hard denial about it because the thought of them having been suffering with him gone and being punished for his actions is so horrific he just shuts it down — but there’s never any sense that that’s what’s really going on. We don’t see him privately upset about the possibility later, for instance — he just keeps insisting the same and dismissing Svetlana to Florence, too. We know it’s not that it’s true — we see Svetlana admit to Molokov that even though he ruined her life and she never wants to see him again she still loves him, and we hear her sing “Someone Else’s Story” and “I Know Him So Well”. Nor do we ever get any hint at exactly what Svetlana or his kids did to make him think this of them, if anything (his own kids!). Anatoly just seems to sort of bitterly, adamantly believe this for no reason at all. And that makes it impossible to empathize with. Okay, sure, Anatoly, you were taken from your family as a child, but that really doesn’t even start to explain any of this. There could have been ways of making it feel at least believable, tragic in a deeply fucked-up way, but the story here just doesn’t do the work. And once again, Anatoly being so unpleasant for no reason just makes it harder to feel at all invested in his relationship with Florence or sad when they part.

The best fix here isn’t quite obvious, and I can’t say I envy Danny Strong trying to put all his neat little ideas together and make them work. If Anatoly were to appear substantially conflicted about Svetlana and put any real stock in Molokov’s threat, that would render “Endgame”, where he doubles down anyway, kind of jarring and inexcusable as he’d be not just refusing to return to her but refusing to care if she is killed. So in order for this to properly work with “Endgame”, he probably does need to be very deep in denial about whether they’d really kill her. I think what I would do, if I were writing this plot where groomed-as-a-chess-champion Anatoly knows the Soviets killed Boris Ivanovich and they’ve threatened to kill Svetlana too, is to emphasize better how irrational Anatoly is being and try to show it more as a consequence of growing up among the constantly plotting KGB.

Let him go off on a proper paranoid rant to Florence about the reasons why he thinks Svetlana is just plotting against him, and some innocuous things he saw his kids do once that mean she brainwashed them. When Florence tries to challenge him on how batshit he sounds, he just storms out, saying she’s being taken in by their lies and just wants to sabotage him, and disappears — and she doesn’t see him again until he appears at the final game and plays this manic, desperate match while insisting to himself that Svetlana and Florence both just never understood him and hated his success. Afterwards, we can perhaps see him finally, quietly asking Molokov if they’re really going to kill her, showing that on some level he already knew the threat might be real and had just firmly blocked it out (in the actual ending as it is Molokov simply tells him unprompted that she really will be punished unless he comes back, and he just asks why with no addressing of his previous adamant insistence that that wouldn’t happen). His and Florence’s final conversation could then involve a bit more of a reckoning with that and with what his relationship with Svetlana was really like, through a more honest lens.

I’m actually pretty tickled by this scenario because that would really drive home a pretty fun parallel between Anatoly and Freddie — which in hindsight I think this version must in fact have been trying for, but didn’t quite do in a focused enough way for it to really hit. Anatoly and Freddie are both chess players with deeply abnormal childhoods and bouts of paranoia that cause them to behave in toxic ways, which ultimately drives Florence away from both of them.

This production shows the first chess game as the “Chess Game” instrumental playing under Freddie and Anatoly having alternating inner monologues about the game and their issues, deliberately drawing a comparison between the two of them; they both say they hate chess, that they don’t feel like real human beings. It’s not exactly subtle, but I liked the way this was used to build up their respective brain gremlins and was intrigued by the parallel being set up. I didn’t feel they ultimately did much with the parallel, though, because the story then didn’t really continue leaning into it much from there. By emphasizing this Anatoly’s paranoia as paranoia and not just as him legitimately thinking the marriage was never real and the KGB wouldn’t kill her, we could properly build the story around that parallel, and I would genuinely dig that.

The one place after the chess match where the actual thing does sort of try to get at the Anatoly/Freddie parallel again is in the dialogue scene that precedes “Endgame”. This scene is not sung (though it has the “Chess Game” instrumental in the background, which connects it neatly to that previous bit comparing the two of them), but it’s clearly based on “Talking Chess”: Freddie approaches Anatoly to tell him Viigand’s weakness lies in his King’s Indian Defense, and:

ANATOLY: Why are you helping me? FREDDIE: Jesus Christ! Am I the only one who cares about this game? ANATOLY: It’s more than a game now. There is so much more at stake than who wins or loses. FREDDIE: No! No, winning is everything. Fuck politics! Fuck the KGB, fuck the CIA, fuck them all! We are the ones who have dedicated our lives to chess. We are the ones who have given up everything for greatness — our childhoods, our sanity, our loves. Anatoly, we’ve sacrificed everything. They’ve sacrificed nothing. What’s the number one rule of a chess champion? ANATOLY: Play to win. FREDDIE: As long as you do that you can never lose, even if you do.

Much as I love “Talking Chess”, though, this on the surface similar scene just didn’t feel right in this context when I listened to it. In Anatoly’s last scene here, he told Florence firmly that he just wanted to win and that his marriage with Svetlana was never real and it’s all KGB mind games. Him going “It’s more than a game now, there’s so much more at stake” suddenly now comes out of nowhere — if he believes that now, it could only be if he actively reconsidered something offscreen, but he doesn’t say anything elaborating on what he’s thinking now or what he might have reconsidered or why, just that vague, generic line that contradicts everything he’s expressed up until this point. It’s another example of Anatoly’s dialogue just feeling really flat and meaningless to me — his lines here don’t say anything, just serve as vague filler to prompt Freddie onward. And because unlike London proper the setup leading up to this is all about him already being absolutely determined to win the game at all costs, this just feels redundant, unnecessary, going through the motions of something that’s in London without realizing that with the changed context it doesn’t quite make sense anymore.

I think that’s unfortunately the case with Freddie a bit here too. I enjoyed Act I’s quite different take on Freddie, and his establishing narration for Act II petulantly stating Anatoly won the championship last year “by forfeit, I might add”, and “The Interview” is recontextualized in a very fun way as I mentioned before — but after that it feels like Danny Strong doesn’t quite know what to do with Freddie anymore and just has him sort of arbitrarily go through the motions of London in a way that doesn’t necessarily hang together with everything he’s established of Freddie so far. It made sense that this Freddie, despite being decidedly hostile towards Walter and the CIA, conducted the interview to show Florence what a bastard Anatoly is — he’s not doing it for Walter, he’s got his own reasons to want to do it once Walter’s shown him the Svetlana video. But I find it a lot harder to swallow that this Freddie — whose usual problem seems to be that he’s compulsively blunt about how he really feels — would then be easily persuaded to play his part in “The Deal”, which involves exaggeratedly trying to be all buddy-buddy with Anatoly. Maybe if there was better setup around it, like with “The Interview” — but “The Deal” only has seconds of kind of half-assed leadup here, and from there it moves directly into “Pity the Child” (after a segue featuring the recording of Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita, because nuclear war).

Freddie’s next appearance after that, then, is this “Talking Chess”-esque dialogue where he’s realized the parallel between the two of them, how they’ve both sacrificed everything for chess and the political schemers have sacrificed nothing and that’s why he should play to win. I can appreciate how the low point of “Pity the Child” would trigger that particular realization, contemplating how much he lost and sacrificed to achieve his status in the game and perhaps afterward realizing Anatoly is the only other person here who might understand that. That feels like it basically tracks and is interesting.

But… it also means that fun very specific contempt for Anatoly in particular based on him having left his family like Freddie’s own father did is just kind of… gone, I guess, or at least Freddie doesn’t consider it relevant enough for it to stop him from going out of his way to pep Anatoly up for the game with no mention or hint of it. (At least Freddie probably isn’t aware of the threats made against Svetlana in particular, so he doesn’t know Anatoly winning would shatter his family even further.) And we’ve lost the bit in “Talking Chess” where the notion of the political scheming actually leading to Viigand winning the match just personally offends Freddie because Viigand is not even that good; instead Freddie is just putting forward “Play to win” as some kind of general inviolable chess principle, which is kind of generic and not nearly as characterful, in my opinion. I’m not saying we ought to have had the “Viigand is mediocre” bit here — I don’t think it would quite fit in for this Freddie, whose feelings about chess itself are very conflicted and who is more concerned with showing up these political hacks who have sacrificed nothing while they sacrificed everything — but as a Freddie moment I would really have wanted to end on something stronger there than this vague assertion that “The number one rule of a chess champion is to play to win.”

Like in London, this is Freddie’s last substantial scene, but he does have a part in “Endgame”, and it’s also an interesting one: he gets Sixty-four squares / they’re the reason you know you exist (but not the preceding How straightforward the game…), but also a couple of other verses usually sung by the chorus, and the lines he gets are clearly very purposefully chosen to reinforce that final resolve regarding the sacrifices they’ve made for greatness, which I really appreciate: Listen to them shout / They saw you do it / In their minds no doubt / That you’ve been through it / Suffered for your art and in the end a winner and They’re completely enchanted / But they don’t take your qualities for granted / It isn’t very often / That the critics soften / Nonetheless, you’ve won their hearts / How can we begin to / Appreciate the work that you’ve put into / Your calling through the years / The blood, the sweat, the tears / The late, late, nights, the early starts?

All in all, Freddie is still definitely my favorite part of this Chess, but while the parallel itself is neat it’s too muddled and I find the second half of Act II pretty uneven for him. What would I do if I were writing this bit?

I’m not totally sure how I’d want to tackle “The Deal”, but as for the “Talking Chess”-but-not scene: I would ditch the bit where Freddie is trying to advise Anatoly on strategy and the bit where Anatoly is apparently suddenly not determined to play to win just so Freddie can then tell him he should be again. None of that is contributing anything in what this version has been building up. Instead, they just sort of bump into each other, Anatoly fresh off his paranoid rant to Florence about Svetlana, Freddie fresh off “Pity the Child” and the strange realization Anatoly might be the only person who’d understand him a little bit. At first they just sort of stop and look at each other. Freddie starts, guarded, with some kind of oblique accusatory prod about the leaving his family thing, which he still deeply resents.

Anatoly has calmed down now, but he tells him what he told Florence: that it was always a fake marriage, a fake family, that the video was just a lie set up for him by the KGB, that Svetlana had brainwashed their children to despise him.

This incidentally plays into Freddie’s existing preconceptions pretty well. He’s probably not instantly convinced but it checks out enough he’s willing to reluctantly leave it alone for now. Probably mutters something like, “Fucking Soviets.”

Anatoly says something like, aren’t you going to try to make me a deal to get me to throw the match and go back? Freddie says no, fuck that. Says the whole bit about how we are the ones who have dedicated ourselves to chess, who have sacrificed everything, childhood, sanity, love, and they’ve sacrificed nothing. Why should we listen to those CIA and KGB assholes? Draws out that parallel. The two of them are probably standing in symmetrical positions on the stage.

Anatoly just nods slowly, agreeing. “I would have beaten you.”

Freddie scoffs and says, “Dream on,” but not quite with the spiteful arrogance he would’ve said it in Act I.

Then they part, and we move on to “Endgame”. The scene isn’t about Freddie helping Anatoly, or about Freddie convincing Anatoly to go for the win; it’s about the Freddie/Anatoly parallel, about Freddie realizing it and in his profound loneliness finding a smidge of connection with this guy he hated because he’s the only one who sort of Gets It, and about showing how Anatoly’s conviction has developed since the first chess match where part of his inner monologue went, “I can’t beat him, he’s too good.” Anatoly is so ready to prove that he really is the world’s best chess player.

Conclusion

Man, this version is so interesting. It’s a mess, but it’s a fascinating mess with a bunch of tasty potential and a real sense that Danny Strong had some genuine thoughts on what the show was missing and how to rework it to fix that, even where his attempts were ultimately confused and don’t succeed. In some ways it’s the most me-core version of Chess and in other ways it’s deeply antithetical to me and in most all ways it’s trying to do something neat but does it in a flawed way. Special shoutout to this Freddie, who honestly deserves better than this Florence.

#musicals #chess musical #chess the musical #ramble #review

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fan-a-tink · 1 month

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Young Royals Finale reaction

EP6

Can’t believe the episode is 57 minutes long!!! That is such a blessing!!!! 57 MINUTES!!!

Chucking us right back in there… Simon just left that night? Like…?

„And Simon is right. I have to take responsibility for my own problems. I can’t drag him down with me.“ Pfffuuuuuuhhhhhh that hurts… Like I know he is right.. They are both right…

Love that jumper that Simon is wearing

Seeing Sara and Simon be friends again is so so soooooo healing for my soul.

I love that pep talk that Sara gives Simon about their dad. And maybe the second chance will also apply to Simon’s relationship with Wille?

That poem is by Karin Boye - that’s the one Lisa posted with the trailer....!

Is this the first time Wille and Sara actually spoke to one another? Season 3, episode 6? 😅

So Hillerska is closing down. Even though it shouldn’t be, that is still a shock! But a good one! I love that as a resolution for everything

August having a breakdown in front of everyone after calling them to reason. He is like the only one who can’t stand the discord. And I love him for it

„But everything around here still reminds me of him.“ AAASDIH OIFHAIEFH ASDFV SDF

I’m sorry, but everyone calls their parents or talks to their best friends. Only Wille’s fucking parents don’t bother calling their son. He speaks to fucking Farima again! (Sorry, I love farima, I’m just sooooo over Wille’s parents being shit parents)

Wille looking at Simon through the bookshelves before going up to him… 💜💜💜💜

It breaks my heart that they can’t even say how they feel, they are so broken by this breakup.. But also weirdly, this also feels like one of the first really honest conversations they have

Henry interrupting them is soo funny…. He just has noooo radar :)))

„We could stay here and feel like crap together“ 😂

HE CALLED SIMON THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE!!!!!!!!! I mean, we all knew that, but still - THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE!!!!!!!

Love that Felice called him ‚Party Prince‘ :))) also, it feels like Felice has her personality back :)) Nice to see the real Felice again :)))

Simon lying on the football field and playing with the fake sand…. My heeeaaaaarrrtttt!!!!!

Lol Simon did you really think you got closure? From what?

REVOLUTION IS PLAYING!!!!!

„Erik would’ve loved you no matter what“ - this is the moment where I start crying.

This is such a good apology, August.. And Malte is giving it everything… I love this scene. This is so so so important… Also, I’m crying now, and I probably won’t stop now that I’ve started..

„Yes, I have feelings for August. But I have stronger and more important feelings for you. And for Simon, and for myself.“ As an aroace person, this made my heart sing. FRIENDSHIP!!!!! PREACH!!!

„That was the best day of my life.“ Oh Saraaa….. I love you… I know you and Felice will be fine.. You will be fine, I can feel it!!

Nils officially coming out to Vincent and August 🏳️‍🌈 love it :) even Vincent has a good side, hidden somewhere very deep deep down, but it is there :)

„I see you, but I don’t think you see me. You’re in love with the person you become with me.“ She is soooo right. So right. And it breaks my heart that they won’t be together, but…. She is so right about this

Malte, you are such an incredible actor - how have we all not seen this before?!?!?!?!?!

„It’ll pass“ - that is such an iconic line that I will forgive you for stealing it from fleabag :))

It’s so brave of Simon to go up to Wille.

I cannot even begin to write down my feelings about the next few scenes. I was crying the whole time, shaking, sobbing, all over the place. They are sooo beautiful. The way they look at each other. Cherishing the moment. AND WHEN WILLE STARTED SINGING ‚IT TAKES A FOOL TO REMAIN SANE‘ ökdfn oäwiAFGBNÖOUERBGTÖAOIRBSYDÖFGOXVABN I can’t watch this be the end of them. I can’t.

Also, the song Alice is beautiful for all of this. Poetic cinema.

Frederika & stella :)

WHEN IS THAT SONG GOING TO BE ON SPOTIFY? I WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER.

I love the slight change of the lyrics too.. „Cause we were a revolution“ from „I can be your revolution.“

Wille is looking at August like he has a plan. I SMELL AN ABDICATION :)))

And they sing Simon’s Song? This is toooo much!!!!! I love it!!!! But also why did no one tell Simon about that?

The way they fade that song over the next few scenes… Have I already mentioned that I am crying my eyes out?

So, the queen had a serious health concern. And now she is just fine? She has sought out therapy for like one day and apologizes to her son? Like, how does that work so quickly?

But also, I love it. Wille deserves parents who are there for him.

Wille, what are you thinking? What are you going to doooooo???? Abdication is coming, I can feel it…!!!

Why are they having a conversation about how it was in vain, or not? This is not going in the right direction.

„I never gave up on you. I gave up on the royal family.“ - Wille, your path is clear!!!!! You HAVE to take it!!!

Goodbye? Nooo? Why???? „I hope you have a nice summer.“ What the fuck? That is not the throwback I needed? Hello? Why are you walking away? Noooo, come back!!!! Simooooooon!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHH!!

„They were friends who threw money at the problem instead of listening.“ THANK YOU!!

Just ride off into the sunset together, you two 💜

The Queen saying she’s proud of Wille is such an empty thing.

He is fumbling his collar. He is getting out of that car.

„One day you will be a fantastic king.“ - Say it! Say it, Wille!! SAY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

„What happens if I don’t want to?“ YEEEEEEESSSSS, REVOLUTION BABY!!!!!!

This is the growth that Edvin talked about. Talking about his issues calmly, productively. Putting it simply. Being heard. Understood. He is fucking abdicating here and it is working. I LOVE IT!

„The thing with Simon“ - the disrespect!!!! I am done with this woman. He is the love of his life, ok?

„I don’t want this.“ - The smile when he says this.. 🥰 The first signs of the actual Wille coming out from all that pressure

The harmony theme starting to play as he leaves the car and the monarchy behind This is so freaking good!!!!! I freaking love this show

Haha, Simon waiting a minute before having Sara stop the car… Let him run :))

The music. The sunshine. The full trees. The fucking smiles on both of their faces. Fucking finally.

„For my own sake. … I want to be with you, Simon.“

The cheeky smile on Simon’s face just before he says, „what the hell do you think?“ nsyöljdnföojansAKENF KASJDNF LKJANSD

THEY ARE SMILING!!!! THEY ARE HUGGING!!! THEY ARE BOYFRIENDS!!!! THEY ARE ENDGAME!!!!!

I WILL NEVER EVER RECOVER FROM THIS HAPPINESS - THESE TWOOOOOOOOOO 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

THE MONTAGE…. 💜💜💜💜💜

THE WAY THE CUDDLE IN THE CAR - I AM FALLING IN LOVE WITH THEM ALL OVER AGAIN 💜💜💜💜💜

Also, I am in tears. Sobbing, shaking, laughing, crying. Truly, I have felt all the emotions this episode. I freaking love this show.

#young royals #young royals season 3 #young royals season 3 spoilers #young royals s3 spoilers #yr s3 spoilers #yr season 3 spoilers

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handlebarstiedtothestars · 9 months

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Okay but did anyone else notice the MUSIC???

I’ve just rewatched all of GO season 2 (so I can rant all the fan theories at my other half)

And the music, particularly in the minisodes/flashbacks AND at the end of episode 6 feels….needlessly dramatic at times??

Crowley is always needlessly dramatic but MAH POINT IS dolphins

If we’re going along with this theory of Metatron fucking with storylines, then look at the love confession scene - Aziraphale’s “proposal” has score and accompaniment cos it’s part of The StoryTM - it’s something Metatron wants to happen - he wants Crowley & Aziraphale both where he can keep an eye on them AND both as angels again so they don’t have that pesky combined super-angel-demon power that can raise over two dozen dead, right?

Crowley’s proposal on the other hand, is not something Metatron wants (or foresees?? or has control over??) and the music just stops. Just stops. And it feels heartbreakingly painfully awkwardly real. (I swear Crowley and Nina are the only characters who consistently act and speak like real people in the real world, not characters on a screen, leading me to wonder why they’re outside Metatron’s control?)

The music only starts back up again when Crowley decides to leave, as if Metatron is rewriting as he goes like okay fine well this works too, they’re still separated mwahaha. Crowley even draws attention to both the music and the lack of it with his interrupting the romcom music to say “Listen. Do you hear that? That’s the point.” The big musical swell on the kiss is overwhelming (purposefully to throw Aziraphale ever more off kilter?) and leaning into the rom-com-written-by-a-hack vibe we’ve been feeling this whole season (I love Maggie but every one of her lines makes me want to tear my hair out “I’m not afraid of hard work” “I had brothers, you don’t scare me!” “I've spent my life being scared of things. And I'm done with being scared.”)

Like I can’t be the only one who’s noticed the nutty music this season?? Nothing is accidental with Neil Gaiman and I refuse to believe the music is any different.

PS. If you haven’t read that Metatron theory do yourself a favour and grab a cuppa and read it, it makes a mindblowing amount of sense.

#spot the music major #but seriously #anyone else?#neil gaiman #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #good omens spoilers #writing #michael sheen #david tennant #good omens meta #good omens theory #good omens thoughts #metatron #good omens soundtrack

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whumpdoyoumean · 6 months

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Whumptober #22

Whoops, I missed it by like an hour. It's fine!

My sincerest apologies to any Texans reading this, I have definitely just fudged all of the geography (and we’re just going to pretend that the 126 responds to any call anywhere near Austin) :’)

xxx they never saw us coming, ‘til they hit the floor

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” There isn’t an immediate answer, but Grace thinks she can hear someone breathing. “Hello, can you hear me?”

There’s a short pause and then, “Grace? Thank god, I hoped it’d be you.”

Grace’s stomach drops and she sits up a little straighter. “TK, is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Listen, I--we need help. We got in an accident and Carlos, he--he’s stuck, I tried to get him out but I couldn’t do it and he’s stuck and I--”

“Hey, hey, hey. TK, slow down honey. Where are you?”

“I--I’m not sure, exactly. Uh, we were headed--headed west on 71, maybe fifteen minutes outside of Austin?” His voice is taut, and Grace knows the tone well. It’s the kind of tone that comes when someone is on the verge of panic and trying very hard not to be. “Is that--will they be able to find us? I don’t--”

“That’s good enough, TK,” Grace says, typing quickly. “Help is on the way. Can you tell me what happened?”

“The car rolled. Something darted into the road, just came out of nowhere. Carlos swerved to miss it--oh, god, Grace!”

“Hey, TK. TK, I need you to listen to me. The best thing you can do for you and for Carlos is to stay calm. Take a deep breath for me. Are you still in the vehicle?”

TK takes a deep, shaky breath. “No. I was able to get out.”

“Okay, good. Are you injured?”

“No, Grace, I’m okay. I’ve got a--a burn on my arm, from the airbag I think, but I’m okay.”

“What about Carlos? Is he conscious?”

“Yeah, he, um. He says he’s not hurt but Grace, he’s stuck and I’m--” He lowers his voice. He sounds like he’s on the verge of tears. “People who are trapped in a vehicle have higher rates of critical injury. Broken bones, blood loss…Where are they?”

“The 126 is on their way to you, TK.” Grace speaks calmly, doing her best to sound reassuring. “They’ll be there soon. Can you--TK?”

The line disconnects suddenly, and Grace’s heart jumps. She immediately reaches for her phone, pulling up TK’s number so that she can call him.

It goes straight to voicemail.

xxx

“Grace? Grace, are you there?” TK looks at his phone. No signal. “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong, TK?”

TK takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down a little before he turns to Carlos, walking back to the wrecked car. “Lost signal. How are you doing, you still breathing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Carlos says, and smiles a little. “Ready to be out of this car. What about you, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, babe,” TK says. It’s mostly true. His chest and stomach hurt a little, but it’s probably just from the seatbelt. “Grace said the 126 is on their way, it shouldn’t be long now.”

“Good…Hey, I’m really sorry I totaled your car.”

“Carlos, the car is the least of my worries right now.” TK can’t help the anxious edge to his voice. He looks down, running his fingers nervously through his hair. “It’s replaceable. You’re not. You’re sure you’re not feeling dizzy? No pain?”

“TK, look at me.” TK looks up to see Carlos staring at him, brown eyes wide, brow pinched. “I promise you if anything starts to feel wrong, I’ll tell you.”

TK is about to answer when his attention is drawn by the distant sound of sirens and he lets out a long sigh of relief. “Here they come, thank god. We’re gonna get you out of there.”

The engine has barely stopped before Owen is off of it and running to TK’s side.

“Hey, TK, you okay?”

“I’m fine, Dad,” TK says. “We need to get Carlos out of the car.”

Owen lifts his eyebrows. “We don’t need to do anything.”

“Dad, I can help. I want to help, he’s my husband, I--”

“I know,” Owen interrupts, putting his hands on TK’s shoulders. “I know, believe me. But right now, you are not a first responder, you are a victim. You need to let us work.”

TK feels a surge of frustration. “I am not a victim.”

“Hey, TK.”

TK turns at the sound of Tommy’s voice. She nods at Owen.

“I got ‘im, Cap.”

Owen nods back, then turns to the 126 crew. “Alright, let’s get started on that extraction.”

“Come on, TK,” Tommy says gently. “Let’s get you checked out.”

“I’m fine Captain Vega. I need to be with Carlos, I--”

“Hey, hey. We’ve got ‘im. Nancy is over there making sure he’s alright while they get him out. Now I need to make sure you’re alright, too. Bandaging that arm, for instance.”

TK looks down at the nasty burn on his left forearm and sighs. “Fine.”

It’s with no small share of reluctance that he allows Tommy to lead him to the back of the ambulance, though he keeps his eye on the car and the 126 and Carlos, barely paying attention as Tommy takes his vitals.

“Heart rate’s a little elevated,” Tommy says, “but you’re under a lot of stress, that’s to be expected. I’m gonna wrap that arm up for you now, okay?”

TK hisses a little as she wraps a bandage around his forearm and she looks up at him.

“Sorry about that. All done.”

“Thank you,” TK says, standing, ignoring the pain in his middle as he does so. He can ask about that later. Right now, he just wants to be as close to Carlos as he can. Tommy follows him, bringing a gurney along as they move nearer to the car.

It takes another ten minutes to get Carlos out. He’s got some scrapes and bruises, but as they load him onto the gurney he, miraculously, actually seems fine, smiling and even cracking a joke. The relief is almost too much for TK, and he actually gets lightheaded as they get onto the ambulance.

“You’ll both need to be checked out at the hospital,” Tommy says as they start toward the hospital, “but your vitals look good, Carlos. The two of you are extremely lucky. I’ve seen a lot of car accidents in my time, and not many people are able to just walk away.”

“We’re gonna be okay, baby,” Carlos says, looking over at him as best he can with the neck brace on and reaching over to take TK’s hand in his own. He frowns a little. “Hey, TK, you alright? You’re clammy.”

“Uh…” TK takes a deep breath, then closes his eyes, leaning forward to put his head between his knees. “I’m a little dizzy. It’ll pass…”

He feels a hand on his arm and Tommy says, “TK, I’m gonna take your vitals again.”

He blacks out for a second as the blood pressure cuff tightens on his arm. He’s distantly aware of Carlos’s voice.

“TK? What’s wrong?”

And then Tommy’s, in that professional tone she gets on serious calls. “His pulse is high and his blood pressure is dropping. He might be bleeding internally. TK, you with me?”

And then everything fades.

xxx

#whumptober2023 #no.22 #vehicular accident #911 lone star #fic #car crash #collapse #tk strand #carlos reyes #911 ls fic #whumptober #my writing #my fic #whump #whump fic #tarlos

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myfanfictions · 2 months

Text

Chapter 9

Marc’s POV

I was sitting on the couch when Gavi approached me all of a sudden.

“Marc I need to speak with you”.

“Sure thing”, I replied.

“Let’s go outside,” he said.

I followed him until we were standing in a corner of the garden.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed the tension between you and Y/N” he says.

My heart starts thumping, oh shit.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”.

“Bullshit, you’ve been following her around like a lapdog”.

My hands start to grow clammy and I try to keep my voice from trembling as I say “you’ve got a problem with that?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do”.

I take a gulp of air before I respond “you don’t own her”.

“No, but I’m still her brother and it’s my job to protect her from scum like you”.

“Gavi calm down, I thought we were cool”.

“That’s before you started following my sister around.”

“I assure you, nothing happened between us”.

“You want me to believe that? Why’d it take you guys over an hour to pick up some pizzas?”

Shit, he got me there.

“As I said, there was a line”.

“Bullshit, I frequent that place often and there’s never a line. What are the odds that the one time you go there, with my sister, a massive line has formed out of nowhere?”

I grit my teeth and say “it’s not my problem that you’re impatient”.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me”.

Gavi’s face becomes taut and his eyes flare up.

I chuckle, this must be the infamous temper everyone’s always talking about.

“That’s right, you should know better than to mess with me”.

“I’m not messing with you, I was just trying to help”.

“Help my ass, help yourself to my sister you mean”.

“You can’t expect her to stay single forever”, I counter.

“It’s too early for a boyfriend”.

“Why don’t you let her decide?”

Gavi’s nostrils flare up, he takes a step forward and pricks his finger into my chest.

“What are your intentions with my sister?”

“Tell me”, he exclaims.

“I, we just get along really well”, I stammer.

“As friends?” He prods.

“Yes, as friends”.

“Then why are you always undressing her with your eyes?”, he asks in a low voice.

“I’ve done no such thing”.

“Don’t lie to me”.

“I’ve barely looked her way”.

Gavi throws his head back and laughs “I can practically see your thoughts, every time you look in Y/N’s direction”.

I gulp and take a step backwards.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m in love with Y/N, I really really like her, can’t you see that?”

“A little too much for my liking”, Gavi snorts.

“What do you want me to say?” I sigh.

“That you”ll keep you hands off of my sister and that you”ll keep your distance”.

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I’m gonna make your life a living hell”.

“Oh I’m so scared”.

“You better be”.

“Listen Gavi, I promise I won’t hurt her”, I say, while looking at him intently.

“You better not”.

“I swear on my grandmother’s grave”.

“Fine”, Gavi narrows his eyes, “but the second she comes crying to me, I”ll kill you”. “Comprende?”

“Yes”

“Good”

He makes a heel-face turn and storms off.

I let out a small breath and relax my hands that have balled into fists.

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lunememes · 2 years

Text

🌙 * ― 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐒 ( sentence starters from nathan sharp’s album sandcastle kingdoms. feel free to change pronouns & wording as needed. )

𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃.

❛ I’m hearin’ voices in my head. ❜ ❛ I’ve got a burning in my heart, it’s tearing me apart. ❜ ❛ I think I’m losin’ my mind now. ❜ ❛ I take and don’t know how to give. ❜ ❛ You know I never mean well, I can’t help but help myself. ❜ ❛ The mirror shows somebody else. ❜ ❛ We’re in a special kind of hell. ❜ ❛ Any day I think I’m gonna break now. ❜ ❛ Learning how to sink before I take the dive to swim. ❜ ❛ A map that only shows me where I am, not where I’ve been. ❜ ❛ Having trouble findin’ a way out. ❜ ❛ They don’t take you very far. ❜

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃.

❛ Day and night, my mind is running. ❜ ❛ Reaching out ‘cause I want something more that I’ve never had before. ❜ ❛ I’m scared to chase what I’ve been dreaming. ❜ ❛ Push me by surprise, so I can take the dive. ❜ ❛ My god, I’m the bait and the predator’s my mind. ❜ ❛ It eats at me all the time. ❜ ❛ Can we stop and rewind? ❜ ❛ When’d I become my own enemy? ❜ ❛ I don’t understand what you see in me, ‘cause I’m just another story that’s not worth reading. ❜ ❛ Why aren’t you afraid that I’ll take a fall? ❜ ❛ In this world of white noise, you’re my favourite sound. ❜ ❛ There’s more that came before me. ❜

𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎.

❛ I’m down but you know I’m not out, I’ve got another round. ❜ ❛ Can’t break me, I’m not givin’ up. ❜ ❛ I gotta prove them wrong. ❜ ❛ Take your time ‘cause I’m not taking mine. ❜ ❛ Voice in my head said to keep going on. ❜ ❛ Don’t let ‘em see you bleed, don’t want your weakness showing. ❜ ❛ If you could just believe me. ❜ ❛ Tell me it’ll all be fine, that’s a lie. ❜ ❛ Need you to see me and know what it’s like to be me. ❜ ❛ My whole world was crumbling down but I’ll still mend. ❜ ❛ What doesn’t kill you’s bound to come back for another. ❜ ❛ I’ve found a way to tame my own monster inside. ❜

𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇.

❛ The saturation fades and turns to grey, it’s overcast with envy. ❜ ❛ So follow me to the ends of the earth. ❜ ❛ Now take a minute and revel in it. ❜ ❛ See how much you’re worth. ❜ ❛ I’ll fight and defend, I’ll see this out till the end. ❜ ❛ I’ll see this out till the end. ❜ ❛ I’m making room for something. ❜ ❛ I’ll build it up out of nothing. ❜ ❛ I feel it giving beneath my weight. ❜ ❛ But I’ll survive the fight so stay by my side. ❜ ❛ We’ll own the night and the sun will still rise. ❜ ❛ The rain starts to cease and I can see clearly. ❜

𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐈𝐄.

❛ Pull all the stops, I got a way that we can get in. ❜ ❛ Just say the word, I’ll kick it up to eleven. ❜ ❛ Don’t break it up, break it down. ❜ ❛ We’ll kill the night and we’ll never see the sun. ❜ ❛ And I’ll call the sorts, don’t you tell me when I’m done. ❜ ❛ Won’t you meet me in the middle? ❜ ❛ Don’t need to show no mercy. ❜ ❛ Now listen up, I’m gonna give you a rundown. ❜ ❛ This life was meant for me. ❜ ❛ Step to the plate, you gotta show me what you got. ❜ ❛ ‘cause heroes never die. ❜ ❛ Live it up, this life is amazing. ❜

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍.

❛ I’m running out of time. ❜ ❛ I’m tired of everything that I called mine. ❜ ❛ I’m sick of trying to find a word that works. ❜ ❛ A million strangers walking past and stare. ❜ ❛ I swear I’m running fast but go nowhere. ❜ ❛ I’ll wake you up and let you know it’s done. ❜ ❛ You can hide but you know you can’t run. ❜ ❛ Time and time again we fall in line. ❜ ❛ Everything is perfect by design. ❜ ❛ Patiently awaiting something new. ❜ ❛ Something that won’t remind me of you. ❜ ❛ Open up the door, I’m leaving soon. ❜

𝐈❜𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔.

❛ Directions leads you to who knows where. ❜ ❛ Say you’re doing fine but no one asked and nobody cares. ❜ ❛ Hear all the outcries but no one will lend a hand. ❜ ❛ They’re setting up and you’re the punchline. ❜ ❛ You’re on your own, such a damn shame. ❜ ❛ I’d have to break it to you, you’re all alone. ❜ ❛ You oughta just stay quiet. You can’t do that, can you? ❜ ❛ Parading around like you own the place. ❜ ❛ Give it time, we’ll all forget your face. ❜ ❛ No one’s ever coming for you. ❜ ❛ Staring at the sky, you dream to one day become that star. ❜ ❛ The journey’s do or die but you’re not willing to go that far. ❜ ❛ You’re on the decline and now you’re falling way too fast. ❜

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄.

❛ And it’s so typical of me to be so cynical of you. ❜ ❛ I just keep running ‘round in circles. ❜ ❛ And I don’t know why but I’m mesmerized by your broken eyes. ❜ ❛ But I can’t complain when I go insane as I call your name. ❜ ❛ And all I see is you next to me, a ghost of you tangled up in my sheets. ❜ ❛ I know I’ll drown yet I’m begging for more. ❜ ❛ I could wear this heart out on my sleeve. ❜ ❛ You could break my bones and watch me bleed, I would do it all again. ❜ ❛ I can hear it in the way you speak. ❜ ❛ And that’s what I want, not what I need. ❜ ❛ A shadow of you that’s been haunting my dreams. ❜ ❛ It’s on the tip of my tongue and won’t leave my mouth. ❜

𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐒.

❛ Am I a monster or worse, just a man? ❜ ❛ In the end, we’re all the same. ❜ ❛ To the grave, we only take our name. ❜ ❛ There’s an ocean made of dreams but the current strands you out at sea. ❜ ❛ I wake up to find the passing of time made my mirror show someone I don’t know. ❜ ❛ But all kingdoms drown as tides bring them down. ❜ ❛ The subjects stay loyal but don’t wait their turn. ❜ ❛ Now blindly they follow their king to the fray. ❜ ❛ In the end, we’re bound to change. ❜ ❛ We’re made for more than all of these numbers and names. ❜ ❛ We could all go down in flames. ❜ ❛ Maybe one day you’ll find humanity. ❜ ❛ Until then don’t you dare say that we are the same. ❜

𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃.

❛ She found a way out of this place, it’s a permanent escape. ❜ ❛ And all the while you had your say. ❜ ❛ You ventured off, no turning back, you’ve gone astray. ❜ ❛ Don’t look before you take a fall. ❜ ❛ Who knows when you could lose it all. ❜ ❛ You’re just a kid who lost their own way. ❜ ❛ You’re not a shadow, you won’t fade. ❜ ❛ You’ve got to stand and defend, they’ll push but you can never bend. ❜ ❛ You got a shot so don’t be a fool. ❜ ❛ I see your doubt about your route, don’t give it up. ❜ ❛ Ignite the spark, illuminate the dark and light your way. ❜ ❛ You pray and hope for better days. ❜

#rp meme #rp memes #lyrics memes #lyric meme #sentence starters #starter sentences #askbox meme #inbox meme #writing prompts #dialogue prompts #lyric prompts

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knowlesian · 2 years

Text

i was chatting about this over messages and hadn't seen anyone else post about it, so i figured what the hell: why my fourth favorite joke might be izzy’s pissy little ‘i do this, i do that, you're so erratic’ rant, and the subversion/setup/foreshadowing it provides.

(third: montezuma’s revenge joke via izzy the metaphor colonizer. e5 setup, e9 punchline. now that’s some next level comedy writing.)

anyway! let’s take it line by line.

For years, I’ve followed your every whim. I’ve managed your increasingly erratic moods, I’ve massaged this crew when they were worried about your judgment.

Mmm. Sounds stressful, Izzy.

so! it would be very easy to just take izzy at his word and create scenarios to suit, where izzy is a reliable narrator and actually doing all these things.

(and just as a structure nerd note while i’m at it, since i think that term gets used colloquially so often that much like filler, it needs clarifying sometimes: unreliable narrator doesn't mean never right or always lying. it just means unreliable, and their ultimate narrative purpose is to force an audience to think critically and examine the text as a whole to try to find what is empirical reality and what is not, instead of sorting them into liar or honest and leaving it there, thanks for coming to my tedtalk & etc)

izzy himself is urging an audience to fill in those gaps, to create pre-canon scenarios that support izzy and silence ed. to make us imagine an ed who is out of control and in need of a constant exasperated minder; to implicitly and thematically render him a violent, angry child and not a full man in his own right. an ed who cannot face the world or make his own choices, unless izzy is there to guide him and set boundaries so he does not ruin his own life.

and izzy feels so, so burdened by this. he tells us so!

hmmm. a burdened white man... which would make ed a white man’s burden.

now, where have i heard that before? it’s on the tip of my racist system of genocidal white people of all classes rolling up into places where people are living and dying and making good choices and bad choices alike all on their own just fine thanks and saying, party’s over kids. daddy’s home now, and you better listen up because father knows best tongue.

that’s izzy’s purpose in the narrative, at least when it comes to the specific angle of implicit bias and the stressful and constant unavoidable racial power dynamics that come into all our social interactions whether we like it or not. because if we are honest and genuinely want to dismantle white supremacy, we need to name the beast so we can fight it. that means admitting even when class is figured into the matter, white men of a certain age who act like izzy acts and say the things he says are unconsciously processed as being logical and in control no matter what, and people who are not white get the exact opposite treatment.

it’s the rule of who would the cops believe. (or, in this case, his majesty’s royal navy.)

izzy holds social power ed does not, alongside institutionalized power. this show is playing out very modern racial dynamics with izzy, so he’s blind to this power— we as an audience can’t be, or we’re... izzy.

and to be very blunt, because i feel i need to be: if you think being izzy is a good thing, then oh boy. time to think about why a white man who makes the black crew members do hard labor and none of the white ones is someone you are cool making excuses for.

i do not believe izzy cannot change his ways; i do believe he very, very much needs to change them.

which brings me to the undercover joke.

so, the first line is doing a lot, right out the gate: izzy says he's followed ed’s every whim.

first layer: izzy, hon, this is ed’s ship. he’s captain. his whims are what you literally signed up to follow. if you don’t want to follow them... go find a different captain, or be your own captain! these are very, very easy things to do, especially as the things canon backs izzy up on is that he’s a competent sailor and a fantastic fighter, when he's fighting people who actually play by traditional rules and not stede and his hijinks-heavy style of fighting.

(and just to say it: izzy losing to stede does not make him a bad fighter. it makes him an inflexible one, who is not good at improv’ing solutions outside blunt force ‘uhhhh we could kill things about it????’ type answers, and one who didn't see that cherrywood mast coming when he popped stede’s getting stabbed cherry. skilled people fuck up sometimes even before you get to not being able to predict new factors in situations you think you have thoroughly prepared for; it’s not impossible to lose, even when you are very very good at something and you prepared as well as anybody could. even serena williams has off days, and izzy hands you are no serena.)

second layer: uhhhh, do you follow his whims iz? because we see you push back, all the time forever, several times to the point of just saying fuck you, i won't let you make this choice and i am gonna make it for you.

third layer, crunchiest of all? actually, ed ends up where he's at by the end of the finale because he decides to follow izzy’s whims, and just give that sad little man the blackbeard he asked for: a cartoon legend who cuts off toes for a laugh.

then we get to the next claim: he's managed ed’s ‘increasingly erratic moods’.

now, don't get me wrong— we see ed respond to bad situations with sometimes outsized despondency, he gets real mad at racists and yells at nature/snakes, and when specifically triggered by very literally his worst memory that was also the moment that convinced him he's a bad person he cries in a bathtub and decides he’d rather not repeat that action, especially not when this time he’d be directly killing a man he's starting to love.

so i’m not like, ah yes. edward teach: famously always on an even keel and doing just fine.

but what's actually erratic about those things? erratic means unpredictable, not dramatic. he’s responding to bad situations in ways that indicate he's nearing the end of his desire to keep juggling all the plates he’s got in the air and that weariness combined with a certain amount of arrogance is making him stop double-checking for mistakes, but we see nothing that says he’s losing the ability.

only izzy tells us that. izzy, who is constantly being managed by ed throughout the run of the series. izzy, who seems to exhibit somewhat erratic behavior and mood swings of his own; izzy, who calls down the royal navy upon them all because he's butthurt and jealous and all his cds are in the car, regardless of what he tells himself about protecting ed from ruin.

izzy is shocked ed would sign the act of grace, but if he actually knew ed that would be a somewhat predictable action; anybody can see that ed really fuckin’ likes stede. he tried to stop izzy from the duel, and then when stede won he stuck to his guns and kicked izzy off the ship. ‘i wonder if he’ll just give up on this guy if i track down his crafty frat boy ex and get him to do a reverse parent trap’ is sort of a stupid plan, unless you’re assuming ed is genuinely just longing to go back to the old days and need to be shocked back into reality.

you know what i’d argue is actually fairly erratic, because erratic actually means unpredictable? that fucking plan of his.

how on earth would anyone be like, ah yes. jack was sent by izzy to break them up and lure ed off the ship so the royal navy can come crashing down on all their heads. nobody could have immediately predicted that, right after the sandwich bonked izzy on the noggin.

because izzy expresses horror that ed would lick the king’s boots: the unspoken there is there would be no boots to lick if izzy had not gone and fetched said jackboots and licked them to a shiny gleam first himself.

so when izzy is like, ewwww ed. you'd work with the KING??? we as an audience need to remember: izzy is a textual hypocrite. izzy still has the taste of bootleather on his tongue, and he’s got the gall to get all snotty at ed about the act of grace— a choice ed makes under duress with a literal gun to stede’s head, where izzy made a choice of his own free will out of misplaced emotions and a condescending colonizer mindset that tells him he has the fucking right to look at ed and see a burden to be shouldered and a man who is half-insane, not a fucking genius at the top of his game who keeps telling izzy to please just knock it off and stop being so fuckin rigid.

which brings us to the third part, and the text’s subtle confirmation that everything izzy says he does for ed in that speech, ed actually does for izzy.

he’s massaging the crew when they doubt ed’s judgement, izzy says.

we know that’s not true. fang and ivan don’t respect him for a myriad of reasons, and anytime ed is gone and they can express it they do.

then, once they think ed is gone for good— it's curtains for ol’ izzy. fang and ivan would rather sail under the leadership of one oluwande boodhari, Genuinely Good Captain Material than spend one single more second dealing with izzy’s version of the same.

what saves izzy from meeting the devil at the bottom of the deep blue sea?

ed’s arrival, and ed’s desire to have a familiar face bring him tea. because he'd rather it be stede, but he doesn’t want to be alone; and izzy is still there while stede is gone, potentially forever as far as ed knows.

so, the text tells us: if there was any massaging of the crew going on, it was ed’s legend and the idea of what ed would do if he woke up and somebody had shoved his purse dog overboard keeping izzy afloat.

we know that, because they showed us.

so what the text shows us is ed, keeping him around even though nobody else has faith in him, managing izzy and knowing his mind well enough to do so successfully. we see ed ask izzy for tea once; to make up scenarios where izzy did that for so long he’s just tired of taking care of ed at long last is to ignore what we see, and just listen to what izzy tells us.

because what does ed say? that sounds stressful, izzy. sounds; not is.

i just wanna TALK to these writers, you know? jesus fuck.

he’s mocking izzy, because ed knows what the fuck is going on. he knows everything izzy claims to do and wants to take credit for, ed is actually doing and deserves the credit for. this is what it is, to exist in the world and look like ed: there is always, always a white person ready to take credit for your labor while they devalue you and say it's for your own good.

heartbreaking part loud: most of the time, they fucking believe it is. racism is also an unconscious reflex action, floating along in the cultural bloodstream, popping up in ways people don't often see in themselves, or care to investigate at all when someone points it out to them.

to wit: we know ed asked izzy to bring him lucius. he did not want izzy for comfort; we do not see izzy witness him cry, not once. pointedly: ed cries alone, once lucius is gone.

to ignore that and to assume izzy has been watching that happen, over and over and over because ed is erratic and lacks control and surely could not hide things from izzy, World’s Least Emotionally Intelligent Man, is to ignore ed’s version of events— and the version of events we see play out in front of our eyes— because we heard izzy’s point of view before we got the truth of the matter.

to take izzy at his word at first is understandable; he literally spoke first, and the action then showed his version of history to be untrue afterwards, episode by episode. these are careful writers and subtle ones to boot, so it’s easy to forget this is not a show where the curtains are just blue, leave the matter there and then filter all future action through what izzy told us to see.

and beyond that, we are all trained to see men like izzy as reliable sources and arbiters of empirical reality and history via the dominant culture set by those who most benefit from these assumptions. sadly, most media has at best a surface desire to break that narrative pattern. i very much know that in most shows, izzy would be reliable and ed would be erratic, and it would be a pattern repeated on accident without malicious will or conscious intent ever entering the chat— that’s what makes defeating it so hard to do. people genuinely do not mean to do these things, so they tell themselves they could not be doing it at all.

antonio espera (aka, poke) gives a whole speech about this in generation kill, another piece of media that considers these issues and (due to the subject matter and the real men it portrays) has the approach of presenting us a rainbow of izzys to understand, see them as fellow complicated humans worth empathy who have a specific history that made them what they are, then hold them to narrative account for the horrible things they do, anyway.

white man’s gotta rule the world, says the conventional wisdom via a us marine who combines dark humor and honesty when discussing his lack of ability to be a powerful white man and his job enforcing a broken fucked up power system for them. it’s just a job; and that’s just destiny.

on ofmd, they’re far more interested in building a world where none of that is the case at all.

#our flag means death #i want to be super measured and understanding on this one #but people who take izzy at his word and defend him and ignore canon to create a world where ed is literally a white man's burden?#it's just Not It #and i love the text in part for knowing that #seeing so much of fandom ignore it lowkey breaks my heart #also makes it an unfriendly space for poc fans #which ...sucks! very much sucks #this show is the rare show that knows implicit bias exists in the everyday #and not just in huge outsized monsters #they are engaging with racism and the toll it takes to deal with white people who mean well but don't get it yet #i really wish fandom could do more of the same #my ofmd meta

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