#like????? you said the words but then it clearly does not reflect in their actions

[goatsghost]

i know this old news by now, but the fact that this issue could’ve been so cool if they actually took all the batkids’ strengths seriously and hadn’t taken out the two most op bats out in one punch — they really missed out on some amazing fight scenes

#ggw liveblog #gotham war #bruce wayne #dick grayson #duke thomas #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #tim drake #literally it’s so ridiculous how bruce’s thought process AND execution went like #‘cass is smart and duke is a meta; gotta take them out first’ #and then just DOES IT #like????? you said the words but then it clearly does not reflect in their actions #cass IS smart and perceptive; she would’ve known you’d go for her first and she’d beat the shit out of you #and duke would literally see it coming before it happened!! #they’re both basically precogs and bruce is just like ‘yep got em!’ #but jason and dick are fan favorites so they get to throw a few punches before going down #unfair

[multifandomwhore-003]

Deal? —Scrap

Pairing: Oscar Piastri x female! reader

Genre(s): smut, fluff, a bit angsty if you look closely

Summary: Finding a past love in the bedroom of your best friend's parents can lead to a lot more than just a quick catch-up.

Warnings: smut, fingering, no condoms (wrap it before you tap it), creampie, a bit of breeding link maybe.

Taglist: @dark-night-sky-99 join taglist here

A/N: As much as I wanna be proud of this for being smut and therefore out of my comfort zone, I can't, you see this is what made me realize just how rusty I am in writing,like the fingers are creaking an screeching. Anyways, I tried my best, so... enoy?

Gif credits to whom it belongs

REQUESTS CLOSED

THIS IS NOT FREE USE,YOU CANNOT USE MY WORK

You could say it began right this second, finding yourself wrapped in a perfume that no longer had notes of peach and pear, the hours you had spent wandering around the crowd salted it with cigarettes and perhaps a vodka you shouldn't spending time thinking where it proceeded from. Taking a deep breath to relax was, a bad idea, was it the alcohol or this newfound smell that produced that wooziness? It was just for a couple of seconds at least since you could focus more clearly on the four walls you just stepped in, far too big for it being your old best friend's childhood room.

Reaching the windows to scan the city through the glass, glistening with passing cars every once in a while.

"Julie, you crazy bitch," you chuckled remembering how she had just recently bought the whole place to herself, including everything inside it, wanting to neglect her parents as much as they did her back when she was far too young to thirst revenge.

You could tell she hadn't changed anything, the side tables slightly covered with dust still, and the framed pictures of the "happy" couple on the shelves. She hadn't even dared to pull out her father's Cuban cigars she was always so curious about, the plastic around the rim being intact. Your curiosity peeked remembering her mother this time, the beautiful clothes that adorned her seemingly flawless frame, you paced quite rapidly to the walk-in closet, flicking through the infinite number of shoes and bags, finally reaching the hangers.

You didn't think twice before pulling out the most exquisite structure you ever laid your eyes on, lines curving in all the preferable places, covered in red hand-sewn crystals that matched the rest of the smooth fabric, invisible stitching, it was art. —It could pass as a Mugler— you thought, perhaps it was knowing none of Julie's things were ever cheap. You hesitated for a second contemplating your next actions.

"Fuck it," you began getting rid of the pink that had been covering your body the entire time, "She did say she was gonna gift me some anyway," you murmured. You could jump in excitement seeing how absolutely mesmerizing you looked, reflecting light that could easily be produced by your smile alone.

Before you had time to reach your phone from the bed the door closed, followed by rapid exhaling, you furrowed your brows, worrying more about the posible anxious someone.

"Are you okay?" you stepped out slowly.

The man jumped slightly, "Sorry, I'll leave," he began his exit.

"Don't, it's okay, you can stay here," you lowered your voice placing a hand on his arm carefully, "Do you need anything? Do you wanna leave?"

"No, I'm fine, I'm just-" he tried recovering his breath.

"It's okay take your time," you granted him a slight smile.

"I had to get out of there," he grinned, slightly more relaxed.

"What happened?"

"I was being ambushed,"

"By who?"

"Everyone,"

"Oh shit," you said a bit shocked, "What are you famous or something?" you tried to joke.

"I- I don't like using that word," he finally turned around.

"Okay, we'll use popular then, how's does that sound?"

"Way better," he was fully comfortable now.

"Ok Mr. Popular, do you wanna stay here the whole night? Or I can take you to the stairs and call you and Uber to be more discreet,"

"In that dress?" he pointed out.

"Oh! This isn't mine I kinda just borrowed it for a second, I'll take it off then," you simplified.

"Please don't, I was just messing with you, I'm Oscar by the way," he extended his hand as a motor raced by lighting his face.

You widened your eyes in a very pleasant surprise, "Oh my god, I knew the voice was familiar, fucking Pastry you should've started there asshole!" you pushed his chest.

With no time to ask you where you knew to call him that, his mind also clicked, "Y/N?"

"Yes, bitch! Oh my god!" you hugged him, "It's been so long, what are you doing here?! How did Julie even contact you?" your smile grew wider.

"Instagram!"

"Makes sense," you laughed embracing him again, "Look at you! You're a man!" you grabbed his shoulders, "Still got a baby face I see," you moved your hands to the edges of his face.

"Rude," he playfully pushed you away.

"Who am I kidding, back then I defended you to death whenever anyone pointed that out," you shrugged.

"They did?!" he found a new offense to that statement.

"Of course they did! Especially my parents,"

"Oh yeah, they never liked me did they?"

You just shook your head making him smile more.

"I would aks you how you've been but I already know, Mr. Rookie of the Year," you mocked, flipping your hair.

"I've been great, you? Did you end up marrying Zach Efron in the end?"

"Hilarious, truly," you squinted your eyes.

"You used to cry laughing at my jokes," he passed by you to sit on the bed.

"Yeah, well," you followed making him move to sit by his side, "In my defense a) I was madly in love with you," you rolled your eyes, "and b)My sense of humor was simpler at the precious age of 15"

"You were crazy about me," he nodded.

"Okay," you placed a hand on his face, "At least I didn't dedicate you a race on international TV which let me remind you! You lost," chuckled at the hilarious memory.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that!" he slightly slapped his thigh.

"I sure as hell didn't! It was the last race I ever watched,"

"Really?" his head turned suddenly.

"Yes, really, by the time you were on the next one we were beyond over,"

"That's right," he closed his eyes, "I'm sorry for ruining motorsport for you,"

"It's okay," you slapped the air, "The heartbreak was far worse than never having to watch you again,"

"You broke up with me I was the one who was completely shattered,"

"Hey! So was I,"

He crossed his arms, "For how long exactly?"

You bit the inside of your cheek, "A week," you looked away.

"Ouch, I suffered all summer Christmas thanks to you,"

"I'm sorry," you scrunched up your nose.

"Wanna know something embarrassing?"

"More embarrassing than losing that race? I don't think there is anything that can be better than that,"

"What if there is?" he cocked up his head.

"I'll ..." you thought for a second, "I'll tell you my most embarrassing story, deal?"

"Deal," he accepted, "When I wrote to Santa I told him to gift me the golden locket you saw in your favorite movie, the Nutcracker one with Barbie so I could give it to you because all I wanted was your heart back again. Imagine how much I cried when instead all I got was an Xbox,"

You placed a hand to his heart, "Aw, that's adorable, but yeah it sounds pretty embarrassing considering your parents had to read that,"

"Your turn now,"

"Okay, but after that you can't tease me about it,"

"Alright,"

"After we broke up, the first time I kissed someone else, we were at a gas station, and when he bought me some gummy bears as I thanked him I said 'thank you, Oscar'"

He tried to bite down his laughter.

"He absolutely flipped, and dumped me that night in front of my parents who were waiting by the window,"

"Wow," he gulped clenching his jaw, "That's- That's rough," he cleared his throat.

You nodded slowly, "Humbling experience for sure," you sighed resting your head on him, "So, let me guess, you escaped the people who wanted to take pictures with you," you pointed at the door.

"Don't tell me about it,"

"I thought all you wanted was to be The Great Oscar Piratri," you exaggerated with your hands.

"Not great at all to be harassed all the time,"

"Yeah, sounds awful to have so many fans and money..."

"That part's fun," he admitted, "But everything else is just a bit of a nightmare,"

"I'm sorry, but you know what," you tried to lighten the mood, "What I'm absolutely most sorry about is that we..." you stood up taking his hand, "Never ended up living right... there!" you pointed at the most beautiful building of the view.

"Well for starters, you never married me,"

"I did! Well not legally but we had vows and everything,"

"And my cousin as our officiant, what a mess that was,"

"And all for a wedding night, that we never had,"

"I still can't believe we faked a wedding just so we could have sex,"

"To be fair, back then we were good children who followed God's rules," you whipped your index finger dramatically as you turned to see him.

"Your parents were awful,"

"About us yes, but you have to admit they weren't too bad about everything else,"

"No, they just made you break up with me after three years, nothing big really," he pouted sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, really, I never wanted that to happen, I was just- Young and brainwashed," you cupped his face, "And also, the next three years we spent hating each other didn't help your image so much," you tilted your head.

"Yeah, sorry for egging your house those Halloweens,"

"Don't apologize, me kidnapping your dog for a week was way out of line,"

"Archie is still alive, you know?"

"Really? That's great!"

"He's a bit old, but staying strong,"

"He better be, he tackled me down a couple of times when I visited you,"

"I still have those videos," he said proudly.

"No, you don't,"

"Yes, my mom still has my old phones,"

"Why though?" you complained.

"It's never been easy for her to let go of stuff,"

"Yeah, I remember she always invited me over to yours while you weren't around, but I just couldn't do it, I felt way too guilty,"

"I have to ask," he let out, "If it weren't for your parents, how long do you think we would've lasted?"

"I'm not sure, but I can tell you that back then I wanted you- I- I wanted this," you signaled between the two of you, "Forever," you grinned, nostalgia and regret adorning your entire semblance.

"I can rest peacefully now," he caressed your forearms.

"Why?"

"I had a piggy bank for our future engagement ring,"

You opened your mouth slightly, "I had a savings account for that Rolex you always wanted,"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

He showed you his wrist, "I got it on my own,"

"Show-off," you spat.

"It's better than stealing," he looked down at the garment adorning you, long forgotten under this conversation.

"I wasn't stealing, I was just- trying it on," you defended.

"It looks good,"

"I know,"

"Now who's the show-off?"

"At least you get to keep it,"

"Hurts doesn't it,"

"Fuck off, you can win all the races you want, but I bet you still can't beat me at wrestling," you got close to his face before walking slowly to the other side of the room.

"Is that a dare?"

"I don't know, if you're brave enough it is, if you're a coward then it isn't," you crossed your arms.

"I have muscles now, it wouldn't be fair," he added with cockiness.

"Don't patronize me, I do ballet, my legs are far stronger than your arms,"

"Bet," he stepped closer.

"Yeah, bet!" you clapped your hands before giggling as you began this ridiculous dance.

If you both hadn't been laughing the entire time you probably would've seriously hurt yourselves given how careless you were being, throwing each other on the bed and the floor over and over again. After a couple of minutes, the laughter stopped leaving you as panting messes still struggling for dominance, it wasn't until he laid on top of you that you considered giving up.

"I told you, I had muscles," he paused in between words.

"And I-" you gathered yourself as quickly as you could straddle his legs and with much adrenaline and heat flip him over, pushing his hands down to completely immobilize him, "I told you I did ballet asshole," You grinned devilishly in victory, "Ready to surrender?"

"Yeah, fine, I'm done," he truly wasn't, yet the sight of you in that position alone told him to stand down.

"All that driver training for what? Still, lose to your ex-girlfriend?" you let go of his hands only.

He chuckled under his breath, struggling to stand on his elbows, "Well, when she's the one that goes away, you have to let her win, right?" he confessed.

You licked your lips without knowing how to respond, however, being fully aware that something about you not removing yourself from his body told you that this was no longer part of a friendly conversation, perhaps it never really was.

—The one that got away— he had just described everything that needed to be said in one simple phrase.

"Sorry," he began to realize his words getting  his back to straighten up, "I didn't mean to make it awkward,"

"You didn't," you were incredibly doe-eyed as you met his gaze, "Just shut up before you do," you pulled him by the collar of his shirt kissing him. He knew how to respond, as he immediately hugged your waist with one hand, resting the other one on your thigh right before the hem of the dress.

"Carry me to the bed Oscar," you gasped in between his mouth, to which he obeyed, carefully lying your bodies to fir perfectly, like you always knew they did. Your tounge slipped in between to which he groaned in your mouth, fingers begining to inch closer to where all his teenage wet dreams met.

"Do it, please," you whispered, "Don't wait longer than you already have, just do it,"

As much as a part of him wanted to treasure this moment as much as he could, his more carnal side acted on behalf of your encouragement, circling your clit with his thumb as you moaned into him. You slightly thanked you were fucking him until now, a way more experienced and knowledgable version of the man you'd thought to be the love of your life.

He traveled to the back of your ear right, knowing more than guessing your sweet spot was still there, confirming it by how you lightly arched your back, pulling on his hair as he left a mark you were probably gonna regret so much later, pulling back to allow him access to your neck and jawline.

"You're so fucking wet,"

"Proud of yourself for that?"

"A lot,"

You could feel him grinning against your collarbone, slowly feeling the purple stamps, trailing to the top of your breasts that the dress ever so slightly allowed out, he contemplated his options for a moment, admiring your body in such a piece.

"Rip it off if you want," you mumbled.

"As tempting as it sounds, I want you to wear it for next time, then I'll rip it off, deal?"

—Next time— what twisted grave had you dove yourself into?

"Deal," you nodded.

"Now be a doll, and help yourself out of it,"

"Jesus Oscar, did you always have that under your sleeve?" you unzipped the sides.

"I saved it just for you," he pressed his thumb harder making you moan louder.

You slipped it over your head, tossing it away, "Keep saying stuff like that and maybe I'll marry you for real, deal?"

"Deal," he said against one of the nipples before beginning to suck on it.

"Multitasking motherfucker," you groaned feeling his middle finger pumping slowly into you, he moves his hands around for a living, of course, he was good at fingering, way too fucking good.

All kinds of sounds bounced off the walls and into your ears, sounds you only ever imagined on those lonely nights after the breakup, and so did he. More of your moand as he added his index finger drowned in the vibrations of the music for the outside to never find out how awfully loud you being for him, just for him; especially if his thumb switched to eight circles as he focused on your other tit.

"I'm close- I'm so close Oscar," you begged, "Go faster," you gulped, "Please,"

The most pornographic sound escaped his lips, "Beg again, beg for me," you obeyed without a second thought as he also did as told, keeping his pace as you reached your orgasm, whether you screamed or just raised your voice, no one will ever know, the music from outside and the cars rushing by braiding it in. By the time you realized, his belt clinked on the carpet floor, feeling as if in one motion everything in between you two was now discarded.

"I'm on the pill by the way," you whispered.

"Wasn't planning on having children until that wedding of ours, deal?" his tip rubbed against.

"Deal," you answered without ever crossing your mind how actually terrifying the idea of being pregnant was, just to have him inside you you would've signed a prenup right then and there.

He joined your lips again as he slipped inside, filling you up to the brim, with an unnecessary elevated ego that this whole situation resulted in, he thrusts into you mercilessly, you couldn't complain, his hands supporting his body on your hair, tangling all around the cover and his skin. Now being completely shameless it seemed as if you were competing to see who could make the most noise. You both came undone almost at the same time, Oscar having to battle with himself to get hard again as you followed his lead.

"I wasn't joking about next time," he mindlessly whispered in the crook of your neck.

"Neither was I, my place next time, deal?"

"Deal"

#oscar piastri #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri fanfic #oscar piastri fluff #oscar piastri smut #oscar piastri f1 #oscar piastri angst

[silly-disease]

I'm honestly surprised that even a small part of gnf apologists are finally opening their fucking eyes but the ones who still turn a blind eye and act like its just drama of the week piss me the fuck off.

Because even if he meant literally anything he said in that stream and he really was just a wittle innocent baby who just didn't know🥺 it was a misunderstanding🥺 Have you SEEN Caiti's stream when she was talking about this?

Caiti can't find joy in doing content anymore. There's multiple times where the mere attempt at recalling those memories make her burst into tears. It was soul crushing to watch and see just how much his gross fucking actions have affected and damaged her life.

How is George the victim here? How is Caiti at fault here? And fuck it, even if she was, how does that make anything okay?? "You got drunk and therefore deserve having severe trauma." Hello???

https://www.twitch.tv/caitibugzz/v/2085999722?sr=a&t=4s

watch this. I don't care if you already agree with me if you haven't seen Caiti talking about what happened in her own words please do it now.

I can't fanthom the thought process of anyone who thinks George is innocent here because it doesn't matter if it was intentional or not (it clearly fucking was. she got molested. this is sexual assault. treat it like an actual crime that severely harms people instead of a buzzword.)

Because no matter how you try to spin it in favor of him it doesn't make up for the severe damage it has done to her. If you somehow still try to defend George Davidson's actions then I seriously want you to think about why because there's some insane self reflecting to be done here.

#georgenotfound #caitibugzz #caiti

[snghnlvr]

you love me. | kim sunoo

kim sunoo x fem reader

synopsis: sunoo and you have been dating for many months now and one day when you go out with a male friend, sunoo gets jealous. to prevent you from going out, sunoo manipulates her that you’re a bad girlfriend however you doesn’t see the problem and mistakenly take his toxic side as loving and affectionate. your friend tries to call you and decide to warn you about your boyfriend’s behavior only to receive a silent response from his phone.

includes: 2.1k words | angst | suggestive | yn is dumb. but she doesn’t know that :p | sunoo is manipulative so yikes.. | riize wonbin appearance!! love him xoxo | pet names ¿?

extra: FIRST SUNOO FANFIC??? finally 🫠🫠 | uh this is for my friend dayana … forcing me to make this fanfic because she’s delusional for sunoo🤗🤗 surprise !! | thank you for making me be productive during this BREAK. 😦 | this tiktok video literally gave me inspiration | sunoo villain trope?? yes indeed. | oh yeah, happy new year everyone <3

likes, comments and reblogs are very much appreciated <3

[below the cut]

you sat in a comfortable chair, nervously playing with your crossbody bag as you would sometimes glance at your boyfriend who was across from you, eyes laid and focused on the tv screen.

you questioned yourself as to why you’re nervous about telling your boyfriend that you’re going out somewhere.

there’s multiple thoughts occurring inside your little head of yours - do you lie? do you tell the truth? how are you gonna answer when he questions? will he be mad? why would he be mad? does he even know wonbin?

you heard the tv turned off.

“princess?” you shivered at the voice. your thoughts scrambled away once you looked at your boyfriend, kim sunoo. he had his head tilted to the side making his eyebrow piercing flashed in your eyes from the reflection of the sun.

he looked so ethereal that you were hypnotized from his beauty.

“what’s going on with that pretty head of yours? are you going somewhere?” you’ve always adored seeing his smile.

“uhm..” you started it off, eyes lowering to the floor to help you focus forming a sentence. you pursed your lips before looking back at him, nodding. “yeah i’m going out with a friend of mine.. he said he wanted to talk to me about something..”

sunoo’s face hardened when you mentioned a ‘he’ in your sentence. he kept his gentle smile still but his eyebrows quirked up, making him pay more attention to you.

“is that so?” your eyes followed his actions when he crossed his leg over. “mhmm..” sunoo hummed, thinking of something as he laid back into the cushions with his arms crossed. “do i know this person?” you noticed the tension formed in his words. you panicked internally but you played it off cool.

“oh he’s a friend of mine since high school.. you know wonbin? yeah we’re just meeting up.” you smiled to conceal your nervousness. every since your boyfriend dyed his hair dark red, you’re beginning to be more intimidated by him because of how well he looked gorgeous with it.

sunoo nodded after hearing his words yet he felt dissatisfied about you going out. he suddenly patted his lap.

your eyes bolted up at the sudden gesture. you were confused as to why sunoo wants you in his lap. you looked at him and he perked his eyebrows up, indicating to hurry up.

you visibly gulped and stood up from the chair and walked towards sunoo who seems to be staring at your every move.

you awkwardly placed your legs in between sunoo’s lap very slowly as you wanted to make sunoo felt comfort. your heart was racing when your eyes were placed into his chest, clearly buffed out from going to the gym last night. your eyes didn’t know where to go - definitely did want to look at sunoo’s eyes.

sunoo was impatient of how slow you were so he did you a favor. you heard him sigh which cause you be more panicked.

he pressed his arm against your lower waist, forcing you to be more close to him as you instinctively bring your arms to both of his shoulder. you held back a breath as sunoo’s hand laid in your thigh, pressing down so you can comfortably sit down against his lap. it happened all too fast.

“relax.” he whispered and you immediately obeyed, causing him to chuckle deeply and be amused at how quick you followed his words. you looked at his eyebrow piercing, enchanted by the glow before your eyes were going to his collarbone.

“are you mad at me?” you squeaked, looking down at sunoo with an unreadable expression. sunoo’s hand were a little above your hip to keep you still, slowly gripping like possessive.

“no,” he shook his head but you felt like he’s lying and feeling the opposite. “you don’t like him right?”

you gasped and shook your head multiple times at the accusation. “what!? no never,” you relaxed your shoulders, pouting at him. “i only like you.” which made sunoo lightly smirked at your confession.

“really?” sunoo asked, bringing his hand to put a strand of hair behind your ear. his eyes planted onto your wavy hair. you nodded, “really.” however you were nervous.

you noticed the time as you turned your head to the tv cable where the time was displayed, you needed to meet wonbin in ten minutes yet you’re still home.

“babe,” you started. “i really need to go, i’ll be back before you know it and i’ll text you if anything.” you were urging sunoo as you raised your hips to leave his lap but he nudged, keeping you still and making his grip onto your body only stronger.

you gulped once again. his expression suddenly dropped into a glare. “what’s wrong?” you questioned, your boyfriend’s grip loosening when you sat back to his lap. you were worried, did you say something wrong?

sunoo hummed, only causing you to be more nervous as you flinched at his cold fingers swirling against your warm skin. his fingers locked in your neck and was creeping on your cheeks. he continued humming while staring at your face features. you eyed his every move. you can’t read him greatly and it frustrates you.

“you don’t think i know?” sunoo’s eyes looked up at yours and you swore you almost got a heart attack with that bitter look of his. “you don’t think i know what wonbin has been telling you?” you felt your heart physically dropped to your stomach as you lightly gasped at his comment.

“you don’t think i know the conversations you and wonbin had in the past days? how he tells you how manipulative i am to you? in our bedroom?” sunoo’s lips curved into a smile. you only gave silence, thoughts rushing to figure out what to say.

“you don’t think i’m manipulative, do you princess?” your heart still flutters at that nickname he gives you. “n-no..” you whispered because you were unsure. wonbin told you that he noticed how sunoo acts around you but you can’t never tell because

you love him.

“i do those things to protect you. i’m being like this towards you only because i worship you.” you shivered at those words. you can’t speak at all at the tone of his voice; admiration and affection.

“what did wonbin tell you?” his finger tapped your cheek.

“he told me how manipulative you are .. that our relationship isn’t love…” you kept glancing up and down to read sunoo’s expression in uneasiness. your volume was low, intimidated to speak to your boyfriend.

sunoo slightly scoffed. “what nonsense. he doesn’t know about our relationship. what love bullshit is he on? he’s a lonely bastard.” he glanced back at you after rolling his eyes. you were nibbling on your bottom lip, restlessly sweating at how he will respond.

“do you think i’m manipulating you baby?” sunoo’s eyes dilated while his hand rested on your thigh and hip. you gulped whether or not to speak about the conversation wonbin told you.

“i’m saying y/n, sunoo doesn’t love you! that’s not real love.” wonbin yelled at his phone, trying to make you comprehend his interpretation of your relationship with sunoo.

you had your phone on speaker.

“then..” you trailed off with your body spread like a starfish on the bed. “what’s true love?”

you heard your friend sighed in his phone. “love is not controlling nor possessive. love is not controlling who you’re meeting with people or befriending with people. love is not jealously-“

“sunoo is not a jealous person-“

“there you go defending him!” your lips pouted at your friend’s shouting. you aren’t defending him, you’re only telling the truth. you believe what you believe.

“you know what y/n, let’s meet up tomorrow at the cafe in front of our middle school at 2pm hm?” wonbin suggested which made you worried about telling this to your boyfriend. you agree that sunoo is quite possessive but he replied saying that he loves you and cares about your well being. that’s why he suggested to tell him that every time you go out, you notify him and what you’re gonna do.

“ok!” you confidently replied, keeping up a smile as wonbin hummed before ending the call.

you didn’t know that sunoo was behind the door, listening to every detail of your conversation with wonbin. he crossed his arms as his eyes darkened, leaving to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

“no..” you didn’t sound confident and sunoo can tell. he pressed his lips together, making a sound of dissatisfaction.

“darling,” his lips spread to create a bigger grin. “you know how much i love you, right?” he caresses your cheek so gently and delicate that it only made you lean closer to his touch. “right?” his tone became firm and his face started to look cold from the lack of response.

you only nodded. then his face features relaxed, going back to his smirk.

“even if you break up with me, no one can love you better than me.” sunoo’s eyes showed a hint of venom in them before you were mesmerized in the sea of his beautiful eyes. his eyebrow raised when he spoke those words to you before relaxing them and witnessing your expression becoming sad.

bingo.

“i feel hurt knowing you’re backstabbing me.” you looked down, ashamed at yourself for believing that sunoo is a bad person. sunoo kept his face blank, seeing you fall down and crumbled.

“i’m sorry..” you teared up, feeling embarrassed at your own self. “i’m so pathetic i didn’t mean to backstab you..” you looked at sunoo who nodded along with your words. his hands played with the ends of your hair.

“don’t do it again y/n.” you nodded relentlessly to his words, wiping your tears away along with sniffling.

“you love me right y/n?” the way he just says your name - the way it falls easily from his lips made you feel like you’re on cloud 9. no one has put so much emotion in your own name, not even your friends nor your family. sunoo just says it perfectly like a melody.

“yes sunoo i do- i really love you.” you stutter upon your words. “i only love you.”

sunoo smiled in satisfaction. “then don’t go.” he said next. “don’t go and be manipulated by wonbin’s words. i only love you.” his cheekbones got higher every time his lips curved higher.

sunoo’s hands started to shake lower towards your hip bone, slowly rubbing them to relax yourself.

sunoo only exhaled, an idea that came to his head. to plan out how to get rid of wonbin in your life. for good. “i won’t let anyone come in between us.”

your phone started to ring inside your purse. sunoo’s thoughts were disrupted by the ringtone, his eyes immediately shooting towards your bag.

you slowly opened your purse, heart pulsating when you see the contact name, wonbin. your hand grabbed it, bringing it closer to you.

“don’t answer it. if you love me, then don’t answer it. don’t fall for his tricks, he’s just jealous of us.” sunoo’s voice ringed in your head. you nodded, only pressing the denied button and turning your phone to do not disturb mode on so wonbin doesn’t call back.

sunoo smiled at your actions, “good girl. i’m so proud of you.” he swirled the ends of your hair with his slim fingers.

“let’s take a nap together hm? we can forget about this later.” sunoo gently requested, his fingers touching your chin to make you look at him directly in the eye.

“please..” you really wanted to forget this discussion with sunoo because of your guiltiness. you will never have a thought of making your boyfriend be the bad guy - you feel so mortified for thinking this way.

sunoo pecked your cheek, making you turn back into reality. “alright, let’s go.” sunoo grabbed your phone from your grasp and put it in his pocket while keeping a smile, a distracting one.

you leaned more into your boyfriend’s touch, your head laying on his chest as sunoo strongly gripped your thighs. he immediately carried your body as if you were a feather; light. your arms wrapped around his neck and you started to feel a bit sleepy from your boyfriend’s humming.

he set you down gradually and softly on the cushions of your bed. you felt sunoo’s plush and soft lips onto your forehead, kissing you goodnight as you felt his body right next to yours.

sunoo’s hands wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to him as you were able to smell his signature scent on his chest and neck. “i love you my princess.” he whispered as his lips pressed to your cheeks.

you whispered back, feeling butterflies in your stomach, “i love you for eternity.” those were the last words before falling into dreamland with sunoo’s body close to yours.

thank you for reading!<3

#enhypen drabbles #enhypen imagines #enhypen x reader #enha imagines #enha x reader #enha smau #enha scenarios #enhypen x female reader #enhypen angst #kim sunoo #enhypen sunoo #sunoo angst #sunoo drabbles #sunoo oneshots #kim sunoo angst #enhypen sunoo angst #enhypen sunoo oneshot #enhypen sunoo drabble #sunoo imagines

[littlestfallenangel]

I saw your post about how it's implied Yang has never been in love before during the confession scene. You mentioned how there's a lot of subtext in that scene. Could you make a post explaining all the subtext in it? Or if there already is a post, could you give me the link, please?

Sure, though I suppose upon reflection I meant subtext more in the conversational sense than literary. There's just a lot you can read into what Blake and Yang say and do, most of which calls back to their respective character arcs.

Blake's "you do what you say" is a big one. It's not hard to connect that to Adam, who talked about liberation but his actions were all about lionizing himself.

Blake is also the first one to advance, which has big implications for a character whose main flaw was running away from her problems.

Then there's Yang. Her being more flustered than Blake implies a couple different things. For one, as I said before, it implies that she's probably less experienced with this sort of thing. Could be the first time she fell in love, could be the first time she felt this way about a girl.

Her abandonment issues are almost definitely a factor, but we've never really seen Yang express those issues this way. First, when she was a little girl, it manifested as an obsession. Then, as she got older, she got angrier. One of the first things we ever see her do was grab a guy by the balls for calling her "Blondie" of all things - which don't get me wrong, was kinda awesome, but clearly showed that she had a short temper and started a fight that she really didn't need to get into.

But in this scene, when she's talking about feeling like she's on a cliff, that's the closest we've seen her come out and say "these emotions make me feel vulnerable and that scares the shit out of me." Yang doesn't talk about her feelings a lot. Hell, when she found out her own mother might be a goddamned Grimm, she only let herself break down for a second because she had to be the strong big sister for Ruby. The one who birthed her left, her mother died, her father shut down, and her uncle was a shitty drunk. Yang isn't allowed to break, because who the fuck will take care of Ruby if she does?

But with Blake, Yang is finally allowed to say "my heart is fragile, pieced back together after every adult in my life broke it, and I'm scared it will slip through your fingers and fall." Even if she can't quite bring herself to be that explicit. And Blake's answer is "I'll fall with you."

Yang and Blake becoming lovers is the culmination of their respective arcs. Their unhealthy coping mechanisms triggered each other; Blake setting off Yang's abandonment issues, while Yang's anger posed a threat of potentially pushing Blake away. Blake and Yang had to confront their respective traumas and unhealthy coping mechanisms (Yang being unable to physically fight Raven and thus having to use her words, Blake being forced to finally stand her ground against Adam) to reach this point. So this scene, and the Bumbleby relationship in general, carries so much weight.

Not 100% sure if "subtext" was quite the right word for all that, but it's subtle storytelling bolstered by "the sky is a lesbian flag and there are lilies sprouting around them, in case it wasn't clear how gay this is."

#rwby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #answers #thank you for the ask

[zgvlt]

reflective surfaces jade leech x reader

summary: you've never been scared of him, always looking him straight in the eye. jade likes it more than he initially realizes

tags: gender neutral reader, sfw, fluff/romance, 1,105 words, not beta read

author’s note (see end notes for more): The third fic to my five senses series. fic dedicated to my jade mutuals. they all know who they are, so no need to tag them lol

[you can also read this on AO3]

Sometimes, reflective surfaces are just that—surfaces created to reflect something, created for a sole purpose, a purpose then fulfilled. It is a sad thought to be created for one use alone, discarded when no longer useful.

The most beautiful sources of reflection are those that exist for reasons other—the gemstones of jewelry and the metals of coins—but none can claim to be more beautiful than the sea.

The sea was indeed beautiful, but a word synonymous described it perfectly—beguiling. The sea was a deceiving thing—smaller than the ocean, perceived safer, even desired by the masses; land masses contained it, enclosed it, yet only partially. It would be a mistake to think the sea could be contained, even if it was cast against warm sand and shells of bright and faded colors.

When you, or any soul who forgot what it was to be wary, find yourself entranced by the light reflected against the waves, allow yourself to be welcomed, it is over. Entrapped and ensnared, the sea will become you, and you will become one with the sea.

Those waters formed an abyss, one so easy to fall into if you failed to guard yourself for even a second; perhaps it was that which Jade found most beautiful of all. The beauty of the dangerous unknown, that which excited him.

What laid beneath there? For he who had spent most of his life down below, even he does not completely know. 

And yet he dives deep into the darkness, with no clear destination in sight.

“Aren’t you scared of me?” Jade had asked, some long time ago. In truth he knows how long it has been, but he doesn’t quite see the point in recalling it—he measures not by time, but by appearances and lines uttered, events clearly remembered. He’s not the type to admit to being terrifying, the act of feigning ignorance preferable, but with no audience in sight he supposed it was alright. “Trailing after me like this—could it be that there’s something you require of me?”

You ignored his second question, likely sensing that it had been rhetorical, that he knew you had no real request, no desire from him. 

“Do you want me to be?”

Despite your phrasing it as a question, he knew the answer was a resounding no.

You looked at him expectantly, as though you actually wanted an answer out of him, and Jade contemplated on handing you one. He thought of what you could possibly want to hear from him, whether it be brutally honest, or sickeningly sweet, or stubborn denial. What he had done instead was look you in the eye, not to steal the truth but to speak it.

Jade has always enjoyed the sight of fish and man alike scurrying away from him, frightened by fangs and unnerved by words, but he supposes that—

“This is interesting, too.”

“Huh, this is the first time I’ve seen you smile!” you had exclaimed, some time ago. Other than your tone of excitement you had said it quite plainly, out of nowhere in some occasion or conversation he could not even properly recall. He had not even known he had been smiling, and never would have had you not had your eyes on him, had you not pointed it out.

“You’re mistaken, and frankly I’m quite upset that you failed to notice how often I smile around you,” or around everyone, Jade thought, but that part was irrelevant. “I’m always smiling, am I not?”

“Not like this… or, not like you had been,” you suddenly frowned, an action that unsettled him, if only because he had not meant to cause it. Without the intention of doing so, something he had done had upset you. “I’ve seen this smile before.”

“Is something wrong with this one?”

“No! It’s nice to look at, perhaps even handsome,” you admitted, a surprising amount of nonchalance from the reactive you, “but the other one was… I wanted to look at it more. You changed expressions too quickly.”

At the time, the answer had amused Jade, but looking back at it now, your reasoning had awed him. You wanted to look at him more. He had never taken kindly to being observed so intently, him in all of his hypocrisy, but for a reason then unknown to him, he had smiled without your command, but an indirect demand—inhumanly sharp and frighteningly fine, canines not quite chaotic but undoubtedly precise in its bite. 

“Do you fear me, like this?” he asked, staring you down in anticipation. The way you stare back could have been enough an answer, your wordless yes, and yet without him doing anything you reply with nothing but honesty. He had expected nothing less from you, and nonetheless it had warmed him, the fire he had never been accustomed to in the sea.

“I would be lying if I said I yes,” you began, “but if I said yes, would you smile at me more often? Like how you are now?”

Jade had not realized he had been holding that smile until he felt the ache beginning to form in his cheeks, but at your reply the edges tugged higher, and higher, and higher until he could no longer smile without the accompaniment of a laugh.

“If my smile is your desire, then who am I to deny you of it?”

“I wonder why you’re not afraid,” Jade had said, some few days ago. At some point he had stopped asking, knowing that although there may be things about you that change with time, your perspective of him will always remain as constant as the stars above. You love him, genuinely, and if he were to question his reflection about the extent of his affection, the truth would come out that he loved you, too.

“Well… I think it’s my turn to ask you—are you not afraid?”

Of you? Never, but he knew you meant something else. 

Perhaps it was never him you were scared of, but the feelings that came along with him. 

“I did not know what I was getting into, being with you, but I was never afraid of what I didn’t know.”

Jade looks at you, his new dwelling place, a second abyss he has long been invited to, fallen into. He falls not by accident but by choice, an invitation accepted, and he dives into the depths of the deep, and he feels the waters embracing him, welcoming him home.

The sea reflects the light of the moon, but in his eyes, reflected is none but you.

my other jade fic end notes | masterlist of all my works | series masterlist

[1] shortest fic to date! honestly this plan was not in the works at ALL, i only started it this evening because my jade mutuals... they had cute reactions to his latest birthday card in JP, so i got inspired

[2] this is very "plot what plot" lol, but the vagueness will at least allow you more space to envision what kind of reader/prefect/OC jade gets with

#jade leech x reader #jade leech #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst #twisted wonderland #twst imagines #twst x you #nathya twst writing #disney twst

[hephaestuscrew]

Thoughts on the patterns of who speaks the episode title phrases in Wolf 359

This analysis is based on the data I gathered in this spreadsheet and summarised with graphs in this post. Basically I've been looking at which character first says the episode title phrase (i.e. the exact words which form the name of that particular episode) in every episode of Wolf 359. Go and look at the spreadsheet if you want more context.

I think we can view the episode title phrases as often expressing the key problem or question of that episode. (I might talk about this in relation to individual examples another time.) Through this lens, the consideration of who speaks the title phrase is about which character gets to frame the key issue of the episode for the listener. This doesn't necessarily mean we are meant to share that character's view of the issue, but it's why I think there is some potentially significant analysis to be done on this topic. (See below the cut...)

The proportion of title phrases said by Eiffel reduces with each season. 69.2% of the Season 1 title phrases are (first) spoken by Eiffel, compared to 46.6% in Season 2, 22.2% in Season 3, and 20% in Season 4.

This is perhaps unsurprising. Eiffel is very much the main perspective character and the primary narrative voice at the start of the series. And, as someone with unusual speech patterns, he is excellent at coining a good memorable title phrase. However, while I'd argue that he never stops being the main protagonist, over the course of the series, the narrative focus broadens away from a singular emphasis on Eiffel's perspective. This perspective shift is reflected in episode titles being spoken by a greater range of characters.

I think the decreasing proportion of Eiffel title phrases also reflects the podcast's shift towards a generally more dramatic rather than comedic tone. While Eiffel is capable of being serious at times, I'd argue that his mode of speech is particularly well suited to generating amusing unusual turns of phrase that work well within a more comedic context (e.g. Succulent Rat-Killing Tar, What's Up Doc?, Bach to the Future). As the stakes become higher and the tone becomes less humorous, characters other than Eiffel, who are more often inclined to take things very seriously, are more likely to speak the title phrases.

There's also just the fact that as we get more characters involved in the action on the Hephaestus, the opportunity to speak the title phrase is spread between more characters.

Although Eiffel is by far and away the most common speaker of title phrases in Season 1, in the first three episodes of the whole show, we get all the characters of that season represented in the title phrases. Minkowski speaks the title phrase in the second episode and Hera does in the third episode - but probably quoting a phrase from Hilbert. This gives us a good early indication that, while Eiffel may be the focal point particularly in this season, this is going to be an ensemble show and all of these characters are going to be significant.

Hilbert's only title phrase is in Ep12 Deep Breaths, in the first stage of his mutiny, arguably the only point in the show where he appears to clearly have the upper hand while acting alone.

After the SI-5 are introduced at the beginning of Season 3, we get five Kepler or Jacobi title phrases in a row, which solidifies the SI-5's presence in the show. It also highlights the fact that the SI-5 have taken over the Hephaestus and are now (at least ostensibly) the ones determining the aims of the Hephaestus mission.

In addition, these patterns might be seen to reflect the shift in the show towards a more conflict-focused tone (related but not identical to the movement away from comedy). While Wolf 359 has always been a show full of conflict, the balance of this conflict shifts with the arrival of the SI-5. For the first team, our protagonists are facing a unified team of antagonists. The potential for violence feels higher, as do the stakes. This might explain why, while we only had one antagonist-spoken title phrase across Seasons 1 and 2 (Hilbert in Ep12 - Lovelace doesn't get a title phrase while she's serving as an antagonist), 44.4% of our Season 3 title phrases are first spoken by antagonists.

The only title phrase spoken by Maxwell is spoken by her in a recording that we hear after her death. This isn't even the only posthumous title phrase spoken from the past in Season 4 - we've got one from Commander Zhang of the Tiamat as well. It's an interesting kind of legacy, an interesting way to emphasize the questions characters leave behind after death, recalling similar themes to those explored in Ep46 Boléro.

#Wolf 359 #w359 #There's probably more to say but I'll leave it there #Sorry to end it kind of abruptly #I haven't got an overall conclusion #I don't necessarily think these patterns are conscious decisions by the writers btw #but I think they can be significant anyway #I know I said I was going to put these thoughts in a reblog to the original post #but this is too long for that #and I want to be able to put it in the tag again #Please feel free to add on your thoughts on the spreadsheet or anything #The moment when the episode title phrase is said could be thought of as the 'roll credits' moment #Idk if the significance feels different because they don't say the episode title in introducing the episode #but generally you have to see it when pressing play on the episode so most listeners will probably be vaguely aware of the episode title #the empty man posteth #I'm worried that there might be mistakes in my maths but not enough to check it

[carigm]

Today Millie had a fan panel in which she answered that her ideal ending would be Mike and El getting married and Will being happy and confessing to Mike (lol) and ofc the Stranger Things fandom kicked up the old Byler vs Mlvn war once again, regardless of the fact she doesn’t write the show. But I want to break down some points here about things I’ve been noticing today, but also for a while and that I think need to be discussed. Keep reading if you want.

I’ve seen a lot of hostility towards Byler and Bylers on Twitter lately, saying we’re delusional and don’t know what we’re talking about. This always seems to be the go to argument even tho it’s all in the narrative. Today it got really bad after Millie’s comments and even people that were merely disagreeing with her opinions got called everything from delusional to misogynistic.

IF the Duffers suddenly decided to ignore everything they’ve carefully crafted and put into their narrative that doesn’t make anyone delusional, it just makes them terrible writers. Who would be doing a great disservice to all three characters involved in the love triangle.

There’s been an insurgence (on Twitter) of so called “Will stans” who seem to be completely fine with the idea of mlvn being endgame because “Will can just get another boyfriend” Not only is this insulting to what the writers have already established for Will’s character but it’s also a defense and endorsement of the worst kind of lazy/bad writing that could graze our screens.

The Duffers CHOSE to tie Will’s character arc to Mike’s and El’s.

How do you expect them to undo that and create a well fleshed out character that’s deserving of Will, in 8 episodes that we know are not just gonna be dedicated to Will’s supposed love interest, because there’s a shit ton of stuff to resolve?

If this was the route the Duffers were going for, they could’ve clearly given Will a love interest last season (like with Robin) or two seasons ago (like with Dustin) And yet somehow, people think it would be totally okay for Will to get the most meaningless romance of all time as the writers ignore the same story they’ve created.

Another point I’ve been seeing a lot from these people is “Mike won’t come out. Let it go. He’s just a very unlikable character” What does that say about the quality of the writing and content you’re willing to consume then? You’re okay with characters being poorly written? And please someone explain to me how Mike’s actions, especially in S4, make any sense unless he likes Will.

The more people try to simplify this story the more plot holes and inconsistencies it creates.

The funny thing is that a lot of these “Will stans” used to be Bylers themselves but are so deathly afraid it won’t be endgame that they’ve started to use the same rhetoric mlvns use every day to justify what would be atrocious writing.

And this next thing might be controversial but I think it needs to be said.

So many people on Twitter have hit those who disagree with Millie’s opinion today with “y’all are misinterpreting Millie’s words” and let me tell you, no one has. She’s been saying the same stuff for forever and quite frankly she’s never had a coherent thought about Will. Which is fine, at the end of the day that’s not the character she plays. However, I haven’t forgotten how last year (at another panel) she was asked about Byler and said it was just a reflection of Finn and Noah’s friendship and that was what people were seeing…

Whatever the fuck that means, I guess.

Again, I’m not taking her answer today too seriously cause truth be told she’s been saying some version of this since she was around twelve, and has even at times said she was joking about it. If a wedding were actually happening she wouldn’t be able to say it cause I’d literally be a spoiler, even if she doesn’t have the scripts yet or doesn’t know I’m sure there’s things that would be off limits for any actor to say at this point.

But this defense squad that formed today begging for us to not misconstrue her words because “she really cares about Will’s character” is laughable.

Her answers regarding the topic of the love triangle have been anything but nuanced. If she doesn’t want to get into it or address it, that’s fine. It’s her choice.

But of course, mlvn stans are gonna take her answers seriously, as well as those who are now “Will stans” who basically ship mlvn too.

And to me there’s a fundamental flaw regarding the ship wars in this fandom, which these people don’t seem to grasp. At this point, it isn’t so much about “which ship is better” but “which outcome isn’t violently homophobic”

That’s it.

I don’t care how much you ship mlvn, this is the undisputed truth here.

But when your lead actors act like it’s not a big deal, it’s no surprise the fandom doesn’t give a shit.

I can only hope the Duffers were smart enough to see reason and were able to write the only outcome that won’t set television back around 10 years or so.

And hopefully one day, when S5 is out, we can get a more in depth and honest conversation with the actors about all of this.

As for me, I’m gonna lay low and not give much of a fuck until we start getting those Reddit leaks, which were very much accurate for last season. I’ll take a peak at those, and depending on what they look like, I’ll stay around or dip completely.

If you read all of this, thank you.

#byler #byler theory #byler is real

[hamartia-grander]

Please I’m begging you on my hands and knees please elaborate on Luis and Ada being foils

I am SO happy that someone finally asked me to talk about this I know I asked you to ask me I love you so much thank you because once I had this realisation it made me love both of their characters - and the re4 remake as a whole - so much more than I already did.

Explanation below the cut:

So first lemme define what a foil is when it comes to characters, not because I think you personally don't know Wilfred but in case anyone's reading this and wondering why I'm calling these characters aluminum wrap. I'm not, I promise it's a real narrative device. A literary foil is "a character whose purpose is to accentuate or draw attention to the qualities of another character". Essentially, a foil requires two characters to be identified, and they exist to contrast, reflect, or exist in an opposite way to their co-foil so as to highlight the other character's weaknesses, strengths, and personality. However, they are often also very similar in technical ways, and thus their behaviours and/or quirks that set them apart show the audience how some things just work for one character but not the other. Think of it like an inverted image, how some details look better in negative space but worse in positive space. This is true of narrative foils. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, Luis is written as a literary foil to Ada.

We first meet Ada in re2, and she's introduced as this mysterious woman who claims to be of the FBI but reveals no further details about herself. We as the audience/player behind Leon have to trust her to get to where we need to go, and she proves herself worthy of that trust. Leon doesn't question why she's helping him, because he believes that she really is FBI and that helping people is her job. He doesn't know her goal, but he's willing to help, and receive her help. However, at the end of re2, we find out that she's actually not FBI, that she was using that as a cover and she is actually a mercenary and spy, whose goal was to acquire a sample of the harmful G-virus and bring it to Wesker who was obviously going to use it for nefarious purposes, and she knew that. Leon (the audience) doesn't know this until the very end.

We first meet Luis in re4. Now in the original, he barely had any substance as a character, and his personality was simply an expression of cultural stereotypes and misogyny, masked under "charming flamboyance". In the remake, however, Luis does have substance as a character. We not only get more out of his personality, but we now know his goals, his flaws, and his interests. And just like Ada, he is a mysterious character with a dark past that led to him making bad decisions and aligning himself with bad people. However, the difference between them and the beginning of what sets them up as foils is that Leon (the audience) finds all of this out about Luis almost immediately. Unlike with Ada, where Leon took her word and went the entire game believing what she said, Leon was sceptical of Luis and had Hunnigan look him up - and sure enough, Hunnigan was able to find all sorts of information on Luis, despite Luis actively trying to make that information as well as himself untraceable. So rather than having the audience trust Luis outright like we did with Ada, and then having that trust threatened when we learn who she is later one, we learn who Luis is immediately, setting him up as someone who we should be sceptical of.

With Ada, by giving us a character to trust and see good in for an entire game only to end it with the reveal that she's actually working for the "bad guys", we are led to think that all of her actions up to that point were fake, that she was simply putting on a cover of kindness and care for Leon. And of course that's the wrong idea, as she clearly does care for him, which we see when he stupidly dares her to shoot him. And she refuses. IDK, even if I loved Leon, I would've shot him then just because he was being a cocky shit about it, but Ada is certainly stronger than me. Ada's actions prior to us finding out who she really is now are tainted, and we're led to see her actions as that of a facade. Adversely, with Luis, by giving us a character who's bad past we know outright and repeatedly meet up with throughout the game, we are led to see all of his actions from that point on as acts of redemption.

We first see Ada as a Good character and therefore all of her actions are that of someone just being herself, but with Luis we first see him as a Bad character, and therefore all of his actions are that of someone who must redeem himself. However, they are both very similar characters; but in the way the stories introduced them to us, and in the order they revealed information about these two characters to us, the narrative influences how we see these characters. Imagine if we had gone the entire game not knowing Luis used to work for Umbrella, thinking he was just Some Guy who happened to live in this village. Leon most definitely would have trusted him much quicker. But that 'Umbrella' background being the first real thing we learn about Luis means that his dark past will always be on our minds when we see him next. And it makes sense to us, given the events of re2, that Leon wouldn't trust Luis, even if the audience does. (Same with Ada; the audience could be distrusting of her, but narratively we see why Leon would've trusted her implicitly in re2.)

Both Luis and Ada are mysterious characters whose real moral alignment we are uncertain of for almost the entirety of their games. Both Luis and Ada tell lies to protect themselves or their cover. Both Luis and Ada withhold information they either feel too ashamed to admit or can't admit, again, to protect their cover. Both Luis and Ada - specifically in re4r - have a recurring theme of change. They both speak to Leon about people changing. They both show their own relationships with change. And yet, their endings are vastly different.

Where Ada withholds information and succeeds, Luis withholds information and is found out by Hunnigan. Where Ada can double cross Wesker and escape, Luis attempts to double cross Los Iluminados and gets found out and captured, which is how we meet him. Where Ada gains Leon's trust almost immediately and loses it at the end, Luis doesn't gain Leon's trust until the very end. Even when Leon shows situational trust in him - accepting Luis's help in the safe house, agreeing to partner with him to get the suppressant for the plaga for Ashley - he still doesn't trust Luis's motives, his goal, or even his character. Leon constantly questions Luis throughout their interactions, unwilling to believe this man would help them unless he had some ulterior motive.

That brings back up the theme of change. Luis asks Leon if he thinks people can change, and then Leon asks Ada if she has changed. Luis's death scene could very well be the first time - or at least, the first significant time - Leon has been forced to confront the idea that people change. His confusion regarding Luis's real motives the entire time as a result of learning that Luis used to work for Umbrella seems to be proof enough to Luis that Leon does not see him as someone who has changed, even though Luis desperately wants that to be seen. Adversely, Leon desperately wants to see some proof that Ada has changed, that she's not using him. He's learned from Luis, but he's stumped by his own personal lack of change. Leon doesn't understand how to identify that kind of change in someone; or at the very least, he doesn't know how to voice it. Ada replies "what do you think?", and this could be passed off as her usual way of avoiding the truth, but really she's asking him "Are you even able to know if I've changed? Did you ever pay attention to who I am, or did you lose sight of my character as soon as you learned something bad about me? Have I changed, or has your perception of me changed? Can I change to you if you never really knew me at all? What do you think about how people change?" (And I love this about her.) Luis is Ada's foil because the way Leon perceived Luis's change was so abrupt that now Leon is looking for change in everyone, even himself. And where Luis doubts himself and has to ask Leon - as he's dying - if Leon thinks people can change, Ada is sure of it.

And of course I have to add some serennedy in this. As @thebrokengate kindly mentioned, the dynamics between Leon and Ada, and Leon and Luis, are opposite. Leon trusts Ada and then that trust is broken; Leon doesn't trust Luis, and then that trust is earned, but too late. Luis isn't just a foil for Ada, but his relationship with Leon is also a foil for Ada's. We see where Luis fails in ways that Ada succeeded when it comes to their characters; but when it comes to their relationship with Leon, Luis succeeds where Ada failed. And it makes his death even more devastating as he had the potential to go further with Leon than Ada could, but he was killed, leaving Leon alone regardless. In both instances, Leon lost someone who affected him personally; but where one was lost with trust broken, the other was lost with their life taken.

Again, by giving us Ada's personality first and her background last, we soften up to her as a character before having to question everything we thought we knew about her, as who we find out she is contradicts what her actions have been. However, by giving us Luis's background first and his personality last, we start out sceptical of him, and when his actions contradict what we found out about who he is, we forgive him. I'll also take this opportunity to point out the misogyny in this fandom, as many fans still dislike Ada or believe her to be a bad person, when they love Luis. in many ways, they are the same character. We were just given details about them in a different order that influenced how we perceive their actions.

#this was. really disorganised and all out of my brain so I'm sorry if I failed to convey some things I just have so many feelings ab this #Ada Wong #Luis Serra #Luis Serra Navarro #serennedy #resident evil #resident evil 4 remake #re4 remake #resident evil 2 #resident evil 4 #re4 #re2 #leon kennedy #leon s. kennedy #literary analysis #asks #Thank you sm Wilfred I'm sorry for making you read so many words #resident evil analysis

[bbygirl-aemond]

Can you explain more what you mean about Rhaenyra's kids never learning from the Driftmark incident?

Oh sure! This ask is in reference to this post discussing the way I think the adults should have handled the Driftmark incident. Let me start with the disclaimer that just because I'm talking about Rhaenyra's kids here doesn't mean I don't take issue with Alicent's, too. But this ask is specifically referencing Rhaenyra's kids, so let's go through the dinner scene chronologically and figure out what they objectively did.

First, we have Jace's "toast" to his uncles. He's trying to retaliate to Aegon's gross comments, but Aemond gets caught in the crossfire. I'm sure it feels great to have your childhood, in which you were bullied and then maimed, referred to as "fond" by one of the people complicit in the things that happened to you. There's a reason Aemond looks upset and breaks eye contact as he goes to sit down; it's because Jace's words had their intended effect. Look at his face here:

Does he look happy, or does he look hurt and angry?

Second, we have Luke laughing at the pig being set in front of Aemond:

Again, this is the kid who should hopefully feel bad about maiming and disabling a family member (remember intent vs impact, he can and should feel sorry while still maintaining he was acting in self-defense). And what does he do instead? He laughs at the memory of bullying him.

Third, we have Jace punching Aemond. This means Rhae's kids are 0 for 2 when it comes to escalating a verbal exchange into a physical fight. I also don't see enough people acknowledge the fact that Jace deliberately punches Aemond's injured side:

In a fight with a man he played a role in disabling, Jace immediately goes for the most vulnerable, injured part of him, weaponizing his disability against him.

Fourth, we have Luke in the background striding up to Aemond as Jace punches his bad side. You can see him in the previous GIF walking up to them both. At this point, again, Aemond has not been physically aggressive in any way, and has been struck in a very vulnerable place, and yet Luke is very clearly intent on joining the fight. So he and his brother are also 0 for 2 when it comes to jumping one person together.

It's also interesting to me that Aemond not only refuses to retaliate, but he refuses to escalate the way the Strong boys are doing here. Remember, he's been struck physically right where they permanently injured him, and yet he doesn't strike Jace back. He pushes him casually to the ground and then turns away, indicating he wants the "fight" to be done. This entire exchange is very one-sided.

Now, I'm not saying these two didn't have a right to be angry after Aemond's toast. But I think it's significant both Jace and Luke antagonized Aemond first, especially given that Aegon was the one who actually made the rude comments. They say they remember his trauma "fondly;" they laugh at him for it; and they weaponize the disability they caused against him. These are not the actions of thoughtful or remorseful kids.

To be perfectly clear, I don't really see this as a moral or personal failing of Luke and Jace. If none of the adults around them treated what happened like it had any significance, why would they? I don't blame children for echoing the beliefs of the adults around them. But I think this shows that Rhaenyra actually negatively impacted her children's moral development by leaning so heavily into the idea that they did nothing wrong and were completely blameless. It left no room for nuance, and no room for the idea that even if your intentions were good, the impact still matters when it's as severe as someone losing an eye.

Like I said at the end of my original post: Both sides here are convinced they're 100% in the right, while hypocritically hating the other side for thinking the exact same thing. But Aemond was forced to reflect on his actions at Driftmark; he lives with the consequences of what he did every single day of his life. Even if Alicent tells him he did nothing wrong, he is forever punished for it, and so we only ever see him retaliate in kind, never escalating or instigating. Rhaenyra's kids don't have that physical reminder, and so in the absence of any accountability they had no way to learn from their past mistakes and continue to repeat them all these years later, where Aemond actually shows signs of having learned restraint, if only begrudgingly.

(Jace and Luke are still my boys tho I can never hate them)

#hotd #house of the dragon #show #aemond targaryen #aemond #aemond one eye #jacaerys velaryon #jacaerys strong #jace velaryon #jace strong #lucerys velaryon #lucerys strong #luke velaryon #luke strong #jacaerys #jace #lucerys #luke #aegon targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aegon #aegon ii #aegon the elder #hotd meta #meta

[dreamnants-mis]

An attempt of a character analysis on Andy and Victor which I'll probably miss some details on because I write like a fifth grader essay. (So feel free to tell me things that I probably missed).

Because it's very relevant since Victor appeared in the anime recently and we may be getting the Autumn arc this season.

Spoilers for up to Chapter 134! Proceed with caution!

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Andy and Victor are actually similar despite how Victor in his introduction appears very different from Andy, since it turns out Andy himself is Victor's alter ego created from Undead attempting to get around Remember sealing Victor's consciousness away. In particular, Victor comments that Andy reminds him of himself in the past, so I imagine Andy was influenced by Victor in some ways.

The similarity in particular being both are nihilistic and disconnected from their humanity, even though they express this in very different ways. But I like to think what they also share is both are afraid to openly care for others because of the fear of being hurt since as Undead, they will survive while everyone around them dies.

The latter point comes from a realization Andy has post-Spring battle; Fuuko's battle with Spring proves she can kill beings that aren't human and what might be preventing Fuuko from killing him with Unluck is because it's him who's afraid to love her back the same, leading to him declaring it's his turn to fall in love with her, which could be interpreted as Andy wanting to be someone able to accept and return Fuuko's feelings.

Interestingly, he already technically confessed to her, but he tried to play it off when pressed about it since Fuuko didn't hear it.

Here, Andy clearly seems to pause registering Fuuko noticed he was saying he loved her and then immediately tries to lie to her, which she knows he's lying about. Episode 9 also add a similar moment where he talks to Fuuko about the Longing teacher and the kids and he gets surprisingly introspective on the topic before almost rather abruptly asking Fuuko if that charmed her.

Regardless, it does highlight that Andy is secretly afraid of being emotionally vulnerable and that manifests in his outward actions/words not fully reflecting what he actually thinks.

But where Andy begins to diverge from Victor is being able to believe in others from Fuuko's influence and trying to overcome that fear of being able to care for others openly.

His fight with Billy highlights his gained ability to believe in others. Besides Fuuko, he trusted that the other Union members can handle Under while he tries to retrieve Fuuko from under and this conversation in particular highlights this:

He agrees with Billy that only the strong should face God, but then tells him that together, the Union is strong.

Which is powerful considering we know Andy started the series just as nihilistic and detached as Victor.

In fact, in the context of the scene while these two were fighting, Fuuko was climbing Tokyo Tower and reached Spring in the time for the two to end up in a stalemate.

In particular, Andy's interactions with Lucy are incredibly significant in helping Andy come to understanding himself.

When they're trapped in Seal, Lucy tells him the secret to astral projection is dreaming of something you want, which for her is being able to play with others that her ability made her unable to do. Andy at first states he's already achieved just about everything in his years of living. At least, until Lucy stating that "[he's] got everything" because he can't die makes Andy start to think. And here, we see what might truly be "the greatest death ever" for Andy is actually being able to die of old age after living a fulfilling life, something that Andy had given up on since Undead makes that impossible to achieve.

Of course, he acts surprisingly shy and even tells Lucy to not laugh at him for said dream. And yet, I think that's important to think about because it does show Andy has become more conscious about his feelings and what he actually wants.

But then we get to Victor and find even after 455 billion years, he's never quite been able to describe what exactly Juiz gives him until she's gone, and only then he understands why people keep fighting to protect the warmth others have given them. Victor became someone too afraid to love deeply or consciously because he would always survive and anyone around him would not. Even for Juiz, she was still mortal and could still die in battle, and that over the course of countless loops made Victor afraid to consciously acknowledge what exactly she meant to him, even though she had been the reason he hadn't completely lost his mind having to watch the world get destroyed and reformed 100 times.

In the flashbacks, we also see Victor was rather cynical of the idea of allies, at one point getting into an argument with Juiz after one version of the Spoil quest resulted in most of the Roundtable being wiped out, claiming it was the allies that added to Juiz's burden and nearly got her killed. I think that likely contributed to Victor focusing more and more on individual strength, though it's clear even he can't do much alone against God.

Maybe that's also shown in how Victor is only able to draw power from Rebellion after understanding what Juiz had given him because he's now about to consciously recognize his feelings as they truly were. Before, Victor couldn't really use Rebellion outside of negating the life draining aspects of it because he was too detached from his feelings to power the Artifact or understood the strength and feelings needed to use it. And only after losing the person that mattered to him could finally use it to protect the beacon of hope Juiz had named her successor. But of course, he understands them too late to protect the person he wanted to protect the most.

I think this also shows in their names. As I mentioned in my previous mini-essay on the significance of Andy's name, Andy started out as a nickname Fuuko gave him but it became his name overtime. While Fuuko got the name from the Japanese pronunciation of "Undead" in-universe, the name is actually pretty fitting for Andy in a likely unintentional way since it can be a diminutive of the name "Andreas", which means 'man' aka "human".

As it turned out, it's being human that may very well allow for Fuuko to succeed where Juiz was unable to accomplish and where Andy becomes someone potentially stronger than Victor.

Victor's name meanwhile can translate to "conqueror" and he's called a "God of Victory", someone not quite human. That's also interesting to pay attention to considering he insists to Shen that he's not a god, but a human. Which in some ways could feel hollow since Victor likely is trying to remind himself he is human despite feeling disconnected from it.

Though as we learn from observing Juiz in the beginning of the story, Juiz probably didn't need physical strength but rather heart since that was probably what was missing that kept her from ever succeeding (well, on top of the fact the Gods were clearly screwing her over from the beginning since the one item they needed to kill God would only appear in the last loop).

I think Victor's real tragedy is he became a god of war to protect Juiz, the person he loved, but what he actually needed to protect Juiz from was from herself by being a human and reminding her she is still human. But in becoming stronger and becoming nihilistic, he became someone unable to do that.

#undead unluck #rem rambles #uu spoilers #analysis #ugh i don't like how i wrote some parts of this

[pascaloverx]

Hit The Road

Chapter Eight

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Summary: You are a hunter of supernatural beings who is forced to experience a new reality: being a vampire. The only thing stronger than your thirst for blood is your thirst for revenge.

Author's note: The characters mentioned here were created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name by author L. J. Smith. They don't belong to me. That said, this fanfic will be short. This fanfic may address scenes of violence, inappropriate language and adult content. Minors should not interact with this story. Also some information here is not in the order of the series or the same way it happened in the tv series. I'm changing some things to fit the fanfic story. Hope you like it!

You wake up scared as if you had a nightmare, a soft scream of horror escapes you. You analyze the room you are in, recognizing it as Damon's room. Not seeing him makes you afraid. Did he die while you were fighting to survive? Or maybe you're hallucinating...

"I thought you wouldn't wake up so early. It's strange for a vampire to spend two days unconscious." You hear Stefan's voice as clearly as day. You are extremely happy to see him. Without having much strength, you get up staggering and go to hug Stefan.

"I'm so relieved to be here. I thought I died, I actually thought we both died. Please make sure no one died." You speak with a weak tone in your voice almost like you couldn't find strength to talk.

"No one died Y/N. But you could have died thanks to your stubbornness. If Damon and I hadn't run here and found Caroline with Klaus' blood..." Stefan seems more stressed than usual when he face the reality of your actions. You look at him tenderly and give him a peck on the lips. You want to make it clear that you are grateful for everything and that you are sorry.

"Where is your brother?" You ask, still in Stefan's arms. He seems apprehensive but after a sigh he answers you.

"With Elena, she hasn't left his side since we arrived. After we saved you, Damon finally felt the consequences of the werewolve's torture." Stefan says as he hugs you even tighter. It seems like he knows you're feeling slightly uncomfortable about Elena being with Damon.

"You know that I can't demand any type of monogamous relationship from your brother, right? You don't need to be afraid to tell me that he's with someone." You say trying to stay strong both physically and psychologically. Feelings really are a great weakness.

"You don't need to deceive me, Y/N. I can feel your discomfort from here." Stefan speaks as if you were obvious to him. A puzzle that he has already solved and is used to.

"Now I know why we were in a secret relationship. You're sexy when you think you know something." You say, kissing Stefan right after.

"Sex will not solve our problems. As much as I want to, I don't think it's right for us to do this. Before I thought you were a stranger and now I know that even though I don't remember, I love you." When the words finish coming out of Stefan's mouth, you understand the burden of having returned to the Salvatore's lives.

"I love you too, even if I don't remember it. I would still like to sleep with you today." You speak sincerely looking at Stefan with a needy expression.

Stefan is silent for a while as you reflect on how comfortable you feel with him. Does Stefan know that he is like home to you? Cozy and comfortable, a place you want to belong. You observe him and decide to try to make him stop rationalizing what he is doing.You start by lifting your feet and kissing Stefan's forehead, then kissing his cheeks lightly, kissing near his eyelids. You kiss both sides of the neck softly, as if wanting to show your desire for someone. As soon as you feel Stefan is receptive, you kiss his lips firmly. He returns the kiss, increasing the intensity with which your mouths and his are intertwined.

"Am I interrupting something?" Elena speaks in an extremely serious tone entering Stefan's room. Did she not learn during her life that knocking on the door is the correct thing to do when you're entering someone's else room?

"Yes, you should use good manners and knock on the door before entering. It's okay that you've seen Stefan naked but I could be in a much more compromising situation." You speak being as direct as possible. She had to interrupt her moment with Stefan right when you were almost convincing him to sleep with you.

"Did something happen to Damon?" Stefan says, composing himself, and looking at the two of you.

"He's already much better, I was just going to let him know that I'm going home to take a shower and probably will come back later. Even during Damon's sleep, he kept calling a name. Y/N, to be exact. Maybe you guys should check on him." Elena says a little desapointed, and you somehow understand her. It must be difficult to see that you are no longer the only woman in the lives of the two men she loves. She left quickly after saying that to you and Stefan.

"Let me go see your brother and you can take a shower to calm down. Maybe another time we'll finish what we started here." You say pointing to Stefan's visibly aroused dick. He is embarrassed, but kisses the corner of your mouth. It's almost as if we communicate through looks. Then you head towards Damon's room.

"I heard you need a babysitter until your girlfriend gets back. I hope you don't mind me coming, but after all I'm your wife. I'm supposed to take care of my husband." Do you speak as soon as he enters Damon's room, seeing him half naked trying to find clothes to put on.

"You used to hate it when I called you wife. But I'm fine, don't worry. You should be resting." Damon speaks disinterestedly, as if he doesn't want to talk to you or look at you.

"Did I do something that pissed you off or is there at least a reason why you're avoiding looking at me?" You ask with a little anger on your tone of voice.

"You were irresponsible in putting your life at risk for me. You could have died thanks to your stupidity." Damon speaks completely out of character. You smile without believing the words he is saying.

"If I hadn't choose to go with Stefan, you wouldn't be here, but your ungratefulness is beyond realizing that, right? You question him, looking him in the face. Your fingers are slightly directed close to Damon's bare chest.

"Next time, choose yourself. That's what I would have done." Damon speaks rudely.

"Are you saying you wouldn't try to save me if it could mean your death?" You question, directly getting upset.

"Without even thinking twice." He responds so sharply and directly that you don't even notice when you slap him across the face. There is a limit to how far you can go and Damon has surpassed it. This bastard. It doesn't even take you long to leave the room crying.

#the vampire diaries #spotify #damon x reader #damon salvatore fanfiction #damon salvatore x reader #damon salvatore #stefan x reader #stefan salvatore fanfiction #stefan salvatore x reader #tvd angst #tvd smut #tvd fanfiction #tvd #Spotify

[ritzy-dream-boy]

hello gay people in my phone here is 6061 words of nimona analysis i made over the course of about 4 hours (the film itself is 1hr 42mins i was pausing and rewinding a A LOT)

my other nimona posts are here, here, and here

i will be referring to nimona throughout this analysis/commentary with she/he/they/it

i am also happy to take asks about it

•the obvious classism - ballister being mistreated by the other knights, having to put his armour on by himself while the others have squires to help and only ambrosius helping him, being the first normal person to make it as a knight. and the fact his armour is both a different, darker colour to the rest and clearly of a lower quality.

•the fact ballister INSTANTLY notices that there is something off with his sword because it’s not HIS sword, but he doesn’t mention it (i’m assuming he’s putting it down to nerves)

•the director saying ‘today the people will see you for who you truly are’ is such a good double meaning - to ballister and ambrosius (hearing bc he’s stood right next to him) it’s praise for ballister being able to prove he’s worth the chance and that he’s not what people think, but for the director orchestrating the whole thing it’s got the darker meaning, bc she has never wanted him there and agrees with the knights (pretty much) that he doesn’t deserve anything, and she means that the people will see him as the ‘monster’ he is

•the way ambrosius reacts to the queen’s death/ballister’s apparent actions - instead of disarming him or even just removing his hand, he goes for the whole arm. it’s a testament to his training and the way he’s been raised, despite his relationship with ballister it was instinct/memory to remove the threat, with as much force as possible honestly. as well as it reflecting the knights training, it reflects the overarching message of the kingdom and how they react to threats/perceived monsters with intent to destroy/attack rather than nullify peacefully.

•nimona’s teeth being the first thing we clearly see about their appearance, the fact their teeth are clearly drawn to have sharper canines/fangs to instantly show us that he’s not human. the teeth aren’t actually drawn any sharper in this brief moment, but if you look closely they’re a brighter shade of white than the rest and to me that shows the same thing.

•the very first instance of nimona meeting a human is being called a freak just because they’re THERE - it’s based solely on her appearance because at this point in time no one knows what it is, it instantly shows the message of ‘different = bad’ and in this case rather than classism like with ballister and the knights (though if we were to put them in a class it would be working/peasantry however you wanna put it) it’s just because of his appearance. this also shows her defence mechanism, and how used to it they are, he doesn’t even LOOK at the guy when she sprays him with paint, because it’s a practised motion. some people will probably put that down to ‘oh it’s because she’s focused on the news’ when in reality it’s because they have had so much experience with hate over the many years it’s lived that he doesn’t even need to look anymore.

•the news announcement. yes, nimona’s plan is to dismantle the kingdom and chooses ballister as a boss because of what he supposedly did, all these things being said about how he’s a murderer who should never be trusted, everyone is scared of him and he’s not one of them. that he’s a monster at which point nimona says ‘he’s perfect’. because yes, they chose ballister for the fact he’s an outcast who hates the kingdom like nimona does. but also, nimona chooses him because it sees itself in ballister. they have been called all of those things (the news even name dropped him as ‘the most hated thing since gloreth’s monster’) and more, and that reflection is what matters most.

•THE FACT NIMONA IS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY REFERRED TO AS ‘THE MONSTER’ OR ‘GLORETH’S MONSTER’. THE LEVEL OF POSSESSION THE REVERED HERO AND BY EXTENSION ALL HUMANS HAVE OVER SOMETHING/SOMEONE THEY DEEM LESSER THAN THEMSELVES. TO THE POINT THEY NEVER EVEN GIVE NIMONA/THEIR MONSTER A NAME OF ITS OWN.

•ballister building himself a fully functional prosthetic arm with one hand in a broken tower outside of the kingdom with (presumably) limited supplies (while also listening to banger music)

•the fact that his immediate weapon is a broken bottle, showing the massive downgrade of his circumstances, but also showing how he is still the same man with the same training because his response to a threat is to arm himself and he has that bottle within immediate reach. plus his reflexes to grab the falling tin/can without even looking because that would give away his position. but also, showing that softness we see more clearer later in the film because he is BLASTING that music through (what looks to me like) a speaker system he also presumably built one handed (or stole but i don’t think his morals would allow that)

•nimona’s instant beloved weirdness (and the now clearer sharper than average canines) with the ‘did they let you keep the old one’ and their whole demeanour throughout this meeting scene shows their distinct inhuman-ness while still allowed him to maintain its cover - the casual dismissal of a bottle in their face, the ‘little girls? how old do you think i am?’ with a tone of offence and the sense that the second question is an inside joke with themself, the complete disregard of dangerous objects (grabbing a flamethrower, leaning on a spinning table saw and stopping it with their arm because they know it won’t cause much damage, grabbing a knife by the blade)

•in the same scene, nimona’s childish nature. while they may be centuries old, the spinning on the chair, the wheeling about instead of walking, the drawing style is all so incredibly childlike and it’s a testament to the fact nimona IS still a child despite being older than a human can truly comprehend. for all we know, since nimona is the last/only of his kind, this is how it works, maybe adulthood doesn’t come for centuries more. and that childishness (said positively), the fact it IS a child, is also reflected much later on with the way they react.

•also the fact the drawings are what happen later on (specifically the rhino one)

•the way nimona moves faster than ballister can comprehend - this is what made me realise the first time i watched this film that nimona isn’t human. (i have a talent for predicting twists/outcomes in films very early on with 100% accuracy)

•the way nimona reacts to ballister saying he’s not a villain - initially (to me) their tone when asking if ballister isn’t a villain has a tiny smudge of hope (that someone it sees itself in isn’t like them) but that then moves to disappointment when he confirms. because despite that initial hope, nimona truly believes at this point that it is a monster and is a villain and has leant into it this entire time because if people call you something enough you’ll choose to give them what they want and/or you’ll believe it. (this is then also shown briefly with nimona’s comment to ballister in the cell with ‘once everyone sees you as a villain that’s what you are, no matter how hard you try’, and that vulnerability before the instant click back to her regular way of acting)

•the director’s entire demeanour. cold, calculating, presenting herself as the victim who was done wrong, ignoring the way ballister pleads his innocence knowing full well that he is. it’s chilling.

•’break stuff.’ ‘that’s a hard no.’ followed by ballister sneaking and nimona’s casual destruction of property

•additional comment, i truly believe nimona’s weirdness/gory comments are because they don’t really know what humans consider weird/against norms so they say whatever comes to mind

•’ambrosius.’ ‘gesundheit.’ but also the way that trust between ballister and ambrosius is broken, even though ambrosius still calls him ‘bal’ (show that he doesn’t truly believe it’s true, or at least doesn’t want to) ballister can not trust the man who cut off his arm.

•LIGHT SYMBOLISM - it’s first shown in the armour, but also in that face off. ambrosius is fully in the light, ballister (and nimona) is not. i feel like i shouldn’t have to explain exactly what this means with their place in society and the way they’re perceived.

•nimona trusting ballister enough to show their true nature and making him promise to not freak out, ballister instantly freaking out because nimona is a ‘monster’ - but also the rhino scene from the drawing

•’what are you?’ ‘i’m nimona!’ + ‘i’m a lot of things’ - their identity is very simply nimona, that’s who he is. nothing that can be simplified to what ballister tries to label it as.

•nimona’s eye shines being rounded, ballister’s being squares when at the start they were diamonds, ambrosius’ being diamonds until over halfway through. - it’s about the connection to the kingdom and institute. ambrosius is fully in there under their control, ballister is separated after the queen’s death but still has faith in the people who raised him and took him in, nimona is far from both humans and trust in the rulers.

•similar to the above point, overall character design. nimona is rounded in general, their design is softer despite the way they present themself as a threat, someone to be feared, someone with jagged hair and piercings. it’s the truth of who he is. something soft, something scared, something that is not a threat. the director is smoothed, polished, but it’s not the same. she is still sharp, she is still a threat despite everything about her being clean and poised and someone to be trusted. the knights have rounded armour, to make them appear safe to citizens, to be seen as trustworthy too because they are defenders and monster killers. ambrosius has the same armour but specifically his hair is rounded, and that difference is everything because despite him being the literal golden boy, descendant of gloreth, he is genuinely someone to trust who wants what is right and the only reason he is on the institute’s side is because until later that is what he truly believes is right. ballister is in the same armour (just with the colour theory in play) but at the same time his armour is more jagged, it’s not as smooth as the others. it’s a deliberate choice to make him seem less trustworthy than the others because of his status and where he comes from.

•the similarity between ballister and nimona just in the fact they both blast music when they’re in their element (though nimona’s is through his headphones because to me it is linked to having to be under the radar)

•’i made it more evil lair-y’ but there is clearly fairy lights in the background and l art over the walls. the combination of both nimona’s act and the truth.

•ballister’s instant training response (much like ambrosius’ arm removal service) being to go for a weapon as he remembers nimona isn’t human because they are perceived as a threat, but also backing away when he remembers he doesn’t have a sword because despite everything nimona has done (breaking him out, decorating the lair, cooking him breakfast tacos) he STILL sees her as a threat. - additionally, nimona’s instant defensive nature and clocking that ballister is going for the offence he doesn’t have, but it presents as aggression because that is how they know to defend themself. the only actual aggression is when ballister calls him a monster because who wouldn’t react that way at hearing something that has haunted them their whole life (nimona is traumatised by the way they have been treated by humans, i don’t think y’all are ready for that discussion but i’ll make it happen)

•’what are you?’ ‘i’m. nimona.’ but with massively different undertones this time round. which then shifts into ballister’s first attempt at genuinely trying to understand, the way his posture shifts and his expression changes when nimona backs off and looks defeated and says ‘everyone hates you too’ because he actually understands that feeling. but he still doesn’t get it, with ‘that THING you do, it’s too much’ ‘can you just be YOU please’. but he sees something there and that is the first instance of change in him.

•’can you just be YOU please? girl you.’ ‘but i’m not a girl.’ - ballister still does not get it, but he’s not aggressive anymore. it’s progress.

•the pure joy that is the carless whisper subway saxophone player. this whole subway scene was so joy-sparking to me. the saxophone, ‘was it a sea otter or a river otter?’, nimona shifting into ballister and going all out crazy with the performance and the accent saying anything cartoonishly evil, ‘i hope you like freestyle jazz!’ ‘he hates freestyle jazz.’

•the return to ballister’s acceptance journey with ‘can you just be normal’ ‘it would be easier if you were a girl’ ‘easier for you, a lot of people aren’t as accepting as me’ - we ALL know that while yes, ballister’s very slow and incomplete acceptance of nimona is leagues better than the rest of the people, he is not entirely meaning it’ll be easier for nimona. HE is still uncomfortable with nimona’s existence and would prefer it for his own sake if they were presenting in a way he’s familiar and comfortable with despite knowing the truth. and then directly after comes nimona’s half-truth backstory when ballister asks about where they came from. we see the truth about nimona’s life in the animals, but they are sanitising their story and making it more pleasant for him to hear only to force him to accept that he’s small minded by telling him outright that he isn’t as great as he thinks.

•the whole car thing spliced with demon baby nimona is incredible and comedic genius.

•nimona not knowing how to deal ballister being worried about him and his injury because to her, that not how it works. on both the front of never having someone care about them AND the fact that they don’t experience things the way humans do (see later in the film when acting as ambrosius, in which nimona gets stabbed through and walks it off) and ballister still not getting that. but the clear progress and development of their relationship in the fact ballister DOES care and openly shows concern

•then learning more about how to not ask about how the shifting works because it’s small minded, but nimona answering anyway (in a sense) because they know he’s genuinely curious now and wants to learn rather than suppress them.

•’how would it feel if you didn’t shapeshift?’ ‘i feel worse when i don’t do it. when i shapeshift i’m free. i’d die. i sure wouldn’t be living.’ - this entire dialogue is so obviously trans-coded. it’s essentially a (very accurate) metaphor for dysphoria, and that is only proven true, not even amplified but it’s just TRUE, by the trans flag in the background.

•nimona as a whole is just an extended metaphor for being trans. trans specifically in a way that is more complicated than being binary trans or even agender. those things are what the majority can understand easy enough, like 1 2 3. this is more complex. it’s possible i’m projecting my own life and experiences here but that’s what media is for isn’t it.

•nimona actually saying outright that the institute brainwashed ballister - he defends ambrosius and their training in general saying he ‘disarmed a weapon’ in which he inadvertently refers to himself as a whole, as a person, as being a weapon. nimona is distant enough that he can recognise the institute is wrong.

•nimona knows the truth about the wall, even saying earlier on ‘so there’s nothing behind the wall’ (that needs protecting from) yet still allows ballister to come to that realisation on his own time. despite the fact it would massively speed up their plan, they let him work it out because that’s what he needs to do. nimona helps, but he knows that this kind of acceptance and essentially the shifting of your worldview is something individual

•’when things go south, i’m breaking stuff.’ ‘that won’t be necessary.’ - another step forward. instead of outright shutting down nimona’s behaviour/instincts, he redirects and somewhat reassured himself more than them that it won’t be needed because he has faith in his boyfriend.

•the painting over of the ‘new era of heroes poster’ - return of classism. the institute, the higher classes, only needed one bad example of a commoner to prove that they’re exactly what they’ve always thought - scum. instead of giving anyone else a chance, they remove any connection to people they consider beneath them at all. if you look at the poster closer, you can see that it’s not even actual commoner children, it’s younger versions of the knights that exist now, most notably ballister at the front and ambrosius directly behind him on the left. it’s false advertising in its most blatant form, they didn’t want to get actual commoner children to pose for a new poster to show the real change, because they don’t want a real change. they wanted to be proven right.

•the director’s very subtle manipulation of ‘you can talk to me.’ - it’s near impossible to see it as manipulation because, despite the reveal she planted the fake sword, she is still within the institute and to ambrosius specifically, a person to trust despite his internal conflict. the director undoubtedly knows he’s torn between ballister and the ‘right thing’ and she wants him firmly on her side. the offhand comment of ‘the blood of gloreth runs through your veins’ solidifies this, it’s a subconscious reminder that he has loyalty to the institute, to her, because of this legacy he didn’t ask for and that if he is going to uphold that it’ll be obvious what he should do.

•ambrosius’ internal breakdown - the buildup to yelling along with everything he says shows the depth of his character. he’s so clearly torn between how he was raised to fill the role of a legacy he never wanted and the institute he’s loyal to and the man he loves, who he chose to love, but ultimately betrayed because of the way he was trained. and to him there is no right option, he either betrays the ones he’s been raised to think are the heroes, or he betrays the one person who sees him as just another person. there’s also that similarity to nimona here. ambrosius recognises in this moment that the institute isn’t quite as perfect as it should be because of how he acted based on the training they gave him, and uses the exact same words of ‘arm-chopping is not a love language’ that nimona uses. because nimona has been aware of the flaws of the institute and the trained behaviour of the humans as a whole, while ambrosius is having a much deeper and more dramatic revelation of this because it’s something personal, he hurt the person he cares about most because of the institute. he can’t see a way out of this without anyone getting hurt, he’s trapped.

•the director literally whispering in ambrosius’ ear like the ‘evil advisor’ trope and then turning that back on nimona with ‘says the miscreant whispering in his ear’ because she is doing everything she can to make sure ambrosius listens to HER, while remaining composed, rather than doing what he feels is right because she knows he’ll turn on her if he knows the full truth. proven further by the way she panicked at the mention of proof.

•additional point about the eye shines - the diamonds are the shape of the pattern all over the director’s outfit . is this a stretch? possibly. but anything goes in media analysis, particularly animation because you gotta be deliberate with that. and with a film this personal to me, anything i say is true.

•ballister’s eye shines in this confrontation are circles btw. just saying. i think ambrosius’ are more rounded rather than full diamonds too in this moment but i won’t lie, it’s too small for me to fully see.

•’who is she, bal? what is she?’ - the breaking point for both of them. ballister refuses to answer because he is defending nimona from people he knows hate them, and that gives ambrosius’ suspicions all the proof he needs to pull his sword on a threat again. any trust ballister still had for him is gone, and he is defeated.

•‘let’s break stuff.’ - the final fucking step let’s GO, it’s the full proof that ballister has accepted nimona as both nimona and her behaviours, he’s gone from denial to preventative to encouraging it. and he takes pride in it now, you can tell from his tone that he wants this as much as nimona does. the entire ‘lets break stuff’ fight scene is again such a joy-sparker. from the music, to the confusion of the knights, to nimona’s manic joy at finally being able to fully express itself with all the freedom he expressed to ballister earlier. the return of the otter question.

•’if it isn’t the golden boy’ - THIS. the one-on-one fight between the boyfriends. ballister using the title he knows ambrosius doesn’t like because ambrosius broke the last bit of faith he had in him. questioning whether he ever meant anything to ambrosius and openly defending nimona being called a monster even when they’re not around to hear it because he truly likes her and wants her to feel safe now. throwing the sword down beside ambrosius’ head with the declaration that ambrosius never knew him, and the knowledge that he genuinely believed ballister was the queen killer despite the fact he was ballister’s biggest supporter.

•also ambrosius’ eye shines are triangles. it’s literally a display of the internal conflict. his loyalty to the director/institute/kingdom is literally cut in half by his conflict in who his alignment is to.

•nimona’s shift into bigger and bigger creatures and even breaking through their restrains - and their conscious choice to both breath cereal rather than fire to prevent destruction and the harm of innocents, and the fact they stop a child being crushed by a car without even thinking because they have NEVER been about attacking people. they have always acted out of defence and self preservation.

•the fact nimona turns into her first child form to comfort the girl she saved. - it’s heartbreaking to me. the form he chose as the one to make her first and only friend being the one they come back to in order to comfort the girl they just saved while the ‘monster attack’ alarm blares in the background. he chose the most defenceless unassuming HUMAN form possible, and the girl still picks up a sword. points it at him, and calls her a monster just like the first time. it’s heartbreaking.

•nimona’s breakdown. - the way they sound so helpless after flipping the table because the anger they felt is truly only heartbreak. the way they’re so angry about how even children are being raised to hate anything different yet they’re the one considered a monster for being inhuman, for wanting a friend. the fact they have suicidal thoughts. because that’s what that is. ‘i don’t know what’s scarier. the fact that everyone wants to run a sword through my heart or that sometimes i just wanna let them.’ that is suicidal thoughts. the lighting of this scene with nimona being under a spotlight in their most vulnerable moment and ballister in the background being shown in that same stream of light because they are both not who people think they are. the way ballister looks at nimona’s confession and his immediate declaration upon hearing they want to let people kill them that they should leave together. and nimona’s hope just upon the word ‘together’ because they have not been anywhere with someone.

•the director openly confessing that she hates and that she framed him because of her own beliefs and systems only to kill ‘ambrosius’ because no one can know the truth. - also the dead giveaway for this not being the real ambrosius is his ‘death’ because we know by now that nimona LOVES overdramatic acting.

•this scene being the first (well second actually, the first being the demon baby) proof that nimona’s pink is a choice. - he shifts to be ambrosius for the plan, and there is no streak of pink in his hair like when nimona was playing ballister in the subway. the pink is entirely a choice on nimona’s part because it’s *fun*, it adds character, its basically a styling thing. and i love that.

•’may gloreth forgive you’ is so COLD. how are you gonna say to gloreth’s direct descendant that you hope she forgives him for his actions and his turning away from the institute knowing the truth about things. knowing exactly why the system that you love is in place. what a bitch.

•the way ballister and nimona have lighthearted banter in the director’s face, which then follows into ballister stepping off the balcony first - nimona follows him after the steps off, but ballister stepped off first and that shows just how much faith he has in him now. i love it.

•the fact that it becomes clear when ambrosius sees ballister’s real sword that the one the director planted is fake. - you can see when the queen hands the sword back, the letter above the hilt is a G (presumably for gloreth, it’s another dig that ballister doesn’t have his own sword, it’s just one the institute handed him because he fights for them). when it lingers on ambrosius looking at the sword and realising the truth, you can see very clearly that the G has been scratched into a B for ballister because he wanted the sword to be his own. i love things like this.

•the fact ballister and nimona are playing a very chaotic monopoly and that ballister lets nimona break the rules and have dramatic fun about it - the way his acceptance is fully shown in the way he just says ‘metal.’ when nimona fully expects him to freak out about the fire.

•CAN A SHARK DANCE. - easily on par with ‘let’s break stuff’ as my top joy-sparking scene, the fact ballister prompts the shift, the way they’re having a dance party, taking selfies, going all out with silly dancing and sunglasses, all while the video wreaks havoc on the status quo in the kingdom because they won

•the way nimona feels safe enough to sleep around ballister - the ‘you’re safe. we’re home’ comment that sends her back to sleep instantly because she genuinely trusts him and believes him when he says they’re safe. the fact that softness is sandwiched between the director holding off her arrest and ambrosius asking to meet up. (and the way ballister still cares enough to mention that there shouldn’t be any olives)

•the director’s defence - a dusty old half rotted scroll that has been in a secret room for A THOUSAND YEARS. something that has been long forgotten by pretty much everyone because it wasn’t necessary or relevant until the director needed it to save her own fucking skin. it’s only half about killing nimona, the other half is about maintaining her power.

•the way ballister is ready to make amends with ambrosius until he says they’re taking down nimona, and he still carries that rooted mistrust that came just before dropping the ‘i love you’ and it brings down all of the safety he built with nimona.

•in that same ‘i love you’ scene - the light again. ambrosius is once again in the single light while ballister stares at him from the darkness. they’re still not on the same side, but this time it’s because that’s how they’re both seeing the moment they’re in.

•ballister ripping down the safety because of one scroll from a thousand years ago. - he rips away the trust, he rips away the safety, he rips away his acceptance of them and he rips away home from nimona. because of a scroll from someone he trusted first that was made by the very people he was actively bringing down a few hours ago.

•the way nimona reacts - the way they egg him into finishing the word he started, that he doesn’t want to say but he almost did. the way they want him to say it because it’ll only confirm that they already believe he never fully accepted them. the way they stop, and ballister’s own face looks shocked, at the fact he started to draw his sword on someone he called a friend. the proof that he broke their trust just like ambrosius broke his because he is still under the institute’s control no matter how much he distances himself from it.

•nimona returning to the well - it’s subconscious, as is the way he reverts back to that entirely human child form. and it turns into the true backstory of how they ran with animals but never fit in, and found the wall and wanted to be with that girl. the way there’s no fear at all as they’re brought into the sunlight and even played with in the village - they’re watched fondly by an adult. because there is nothing monstrous about nimona. they’re a little girl, playing with another little girl. the way there’s no speech, it’s peaceful music and emotion and freedom because there is no need for speech. the fact gloreth’s initial response wasn’t fear but shock because she hadn’t seen something like nimona before. that turned into instant acceptance because it’s cool. the fact the first instance of speech is defence from gloreth, but the second is hate. and that one sentence is enough for gloreth to view nimona differently. the fact nimona only acts with any violence because they’re scared, and the fire in the village is because of the humans own actions. the fact that the famed line from gloreth isn’t a magnificent showdown between woman and monster, but a little girl pointing the sword she played with at her best friend and repeating the hate that the adults taught her.

•this scene is what truly shows that nimona is traumatised - the sight of the well on top of ballister, her friend, ready to draw his sword is what breaks him down. it’s even shown clearly on screen that what we see as a backstory is a genuine flashback to the root of her trauma. it shows us what has made nimona this way and drives the point home that nimona is not a monster.

•the way it fades into the statue of gloreth - the statue that depicts gloreth, pointing the sword at ‘gloreth’s monster’, as a grown woman representing what the people have built her and her story into, while nimona remains in that human child form and it shows exactly what is about to happen. nimona, gloreth’s sword pointing directly at them, vulnerable and broken down and determined to act on what they’ve thought about.

•the fact that nimona’s footsteps shaking the ground cause specifically the mini gloreth statue to fall. there’s symbolism here, figure it out yourselves, it’s obvious isn’t it.

•ambrosius saving a citizen and prioritising their safety over attacking a threat and then being mocked for not being a ‘real knight’ - in reality he is doing what a real knight should do, he is protecting the people from actual danger rather than antagonising something they don’t understand and causing more damage in the process.

•i’ve talked about nimona’s ‘true form’ (as i call it) before (first link). the fact it appears as a hulking creature, something conventionally ‘monstrous’, shadowy and dark. it snarls and growls and roars, it has 10 eyes and is taller than the buildings themselves, it is everything that should be feared. if you call something a monster enough, that’s what it’ll become. but the fires in the city aren’t because of nimona. they’re the city’s own attacks. nimona hasn’t attacked once. there’s damage done, but it isn’t deliberate. even when there’s a knight directly in its face, it only roars because that isn’t why it’s here.

•ballister’s guilt at seeing nimona, both in their true form and being attacked, and recognising that it’s his own fault for driving them away.

•nimona’s first and only direct attack on the city is ripping down a billboard that promotes children killing monsters. because that’s personal.

•ambrosius once again questioning his allegiance and finally proving his true loyalty - the forced acknowledgment that the director knows the damage she will cause at the expense of killing the ‘monster’ but doesn’t care, because she doesn’t care about the people, or the true meaning of protecting the city and it’s people. she cares about killing monsters.

•returning to nimona’s true form as being a huge shadowy creature - it’s clear in the transformation and in these scenes of her walking, the darkness is protecting her. all of the shadows are wrapped around a pure bright light. his heart. it comes back to my earlier point about character design, how nimona’s humanoid form is rounded and soft, despite additional spiky parts and the off-putting demeanour because that’s the truth about them. they’ve only ever been protecting themself. that’s all it’s ever been.

•the repeat of nimona’s ‘sword through my heart’ line from the breakdown. - the fact this whole time they entered the city this way specifically to reach gloreth’s sword and finish what the humans started, what they want. the fact the loss of their only friend in the same way they lost their first drove them to suicide. the way she wails as she bares her heart to the sword before it even touches, because that scream isn’t about a sword through the heart. it’s about the emotional pain. it’s about the way they have no one. the way they have nothing left. the way their friend, their safety, their home, was ruined. it’s the way this is their only way out.

•ballister on the sword - he touches nimona’s heart with his prosthetic hand. the hand he lost to the institute like nimona lost everything. the deepest level of connection built by a shared pain and loss. the fact he looks up at nimona in their true form and doesn’t flinch away, doesn’t fear them, but apologises. says he sees them. that they’re not alone. and he means it. and that nimona comes back to humanoid form, body taking on the injuries the shadows didn’t show, and collapses. not into ballister’s arms, but he catches her anyway. because he’s there for nimona.

•the director’s refusal to listen to reason. the way she growls ‘go back to the shadows from whence you came.’ the director’s whole performance is chilling.

•nimona’s return to their ‘normal’ state upon the truest acceptance from ballister, and the fact they specifically became a phoenix (just like he said at the beginning when ‘planning’ with ballister) to end the director’s plan, and in the process breaks the wall to show that the outside is magnificent.

•the way nimona’s sparkle after dying fade out before it can reach ballister’s hand. that in particular is really special to me. something about how ballister feels guilty still even after nimona has forgiven him and now he can’t reach them. almost a ‘too little too late’ thing, except that’s not true in this case. but ballistae’s chance to truly make things right after it’s all over is gone.

•ballister keeping his original, self made arm after the kingdom’s reconstruction and improvement despite the fact he could definitely have a new one.

•the way the city honours nimona’s sacrifice - the huge wall of tributes and gifts, the art, the flowers, the mural. compared to ballister’s quiet grief in how he’s shown returning to their home and seeing the monopoly game, putting the dog piece back in place, hanging the weapons back up and pulling the curtains down because they don’t need to hide in their home. the way he lights up when he hears the banging on the door because even though nimona only knocked once when they first met, he knows that’s how they knock. and the fact it has a happy ending, even if we probably don’t get a sequel, it’s still so comforting to know that nimona’s choice of a phoenix was for a reason. because they rise from the ashes.

#nimona #nimona thoughts #nimona 2023 #nimona the movie #nimona analysis #v rambles #ritz thoughts

[scoobydoodean]

in regards to the john abuse post- for sam there's a scene in season 8 where that crazy hunter says something to the effect of 'I KNOW john would've taken you boys out to the woodshed for this' (which is. slang for a specific thing) and sam immediately explodes on the guy and shoves him into the wall. sure he's stressed about dean in that scene but a friend of his dad's mentioning his dad hitting him was clearly what made him snap in the moment. it was clearly something sam was sensitive about. considering the age and demographics of the characters (and writers) I can't help but wonder if maybe the winchesters are the sort of people who think corporal punishment and physical abuse are somehow two different things. like, it makes more sense than not that an ex marine in the 80s and 90s with a drinking problem who's constantly scared about his kids getting killed while also putting them in dangerous situations would probably spank them. so I wonder if the reason sam and dean had such different reactions to max's abuse in season 1 was because as much as he hated what john did there werent like, broken bones or anything involved, and he could justify that its not like john was beating them for no reason, versus dean who had a lot more responsibility placed on him and clearly went out of his way to hide things from sam. it is interesting to me that as sam gets older he sort of forgives john with a 'he tried his best' mindset and seems to remember him more fondly, while dean eventually settles in a place of 'I love him but I can't forgive him for my childhood'. srry for rambling.

Context

That would be Martin in 8.09 "Citizen Fang".

Glad your dad wasn't around to hear that. He'd have a mind to take you both out the woodshed and show you what's what. Half inclined to do it myself.

I can't say I have the same interpretation of that scene or Sam's reaction. Like I said, I don't begrudge anyone building the physically abusive John interpretation, and I think this can easily fit into that list of suggestive moments. I don't necessarily understand Martin's phrasing in the same way. Maybe it's worth it to translate my view of Martin's wording here into a little plainer terms (as a certified U.S. southerner, I feel qualified to do this 🤭):

"Your father would be very disappointed in you if he heard that conversation between the three of us. It would upset him to the extent that he would wish he could punish you as if you were still children instead of grown men. It is as if you have forgotten the simplest lessons—the ones you learned about the world from your father as you grew to adulthood. If you're going to act like uneducated children, perhaps I should treat you as such and become your new father so that I can re-teach these childhood lessons."

We do hear from Dean at the end of 2.03 "Bloodlust", that John had a very dogmatic stance on monsters, and I think this phrasing from Martin makes sense in this context, whether he does or doesn't also mean to imply specific punishments he knew to be carried out when they were young. (I don't personally feel "taken out to the woodshed" has to be so literal, and my google searches seem to agree?) Martin already actually hit Dean--I don't know that he means he actually wants to go back to literally hit Dean some more, though I suppose that's possible.

To be mindful of the context here and exactly how Sam reacts... this is right after Martin knocks Dean unconscious for opposing them about hunting Benny. Sam was immediately on edge when Martin knocked Dean out. Sam went along with it in the aftermath because it got him closer to what he wanted (Benny dead) but he didn't like it. Martin's actions plainly illustrated that he's a loose canon. Sam, having brought Martin into the hunt, is now seeing shit hit the fan as a result of his choice to involve a hunter he knew to be unstable (with the added sting of Dean having called out Martin's instability earlier in the episode—a reflection on Dean being the better judge of character and his lack of trust in Sam's reasoning being warranted—a thing Sam is sensitive about). Martin is not even a little conflicted or uncertain about the completely unhinged thing he just did to Dean, and he's got a clear sense of seniority, believing HE is the leader, and not just Dean—but Sam also is a dumb little kid who should do as Martin says.

If there are two things Sam Winchester hates, they are 1) His unilateral choices having disastrous outcomes that Dean predicted would happen and 2) being treated like a little kid... and Martin goes double or nothing with this line (and mentioning John also in the mix most certainly invokes, at the very least, the origin of Sam's follower/leader false dichotomy).

Sam's response to Martin is telling—a reminder that HE is the leader, and that Martin is under HIS command and better fall in line:

You listen to me. I brought you into this. I can bring you out just as easy. So the only thing you're gonna be inclined to do is shut up and follow my lead.

Basically, I think for me personally, this one can go in the suggestive evidence pile, but I don't find it any more convincing than the other things that have been mentioned. I'm not trying to tell anyone else how to think. I think your interpretation is reasonable. I think there's two reasonable conclusions here.

#8.09 #season 8 #martin #the flannel business #john #i dont deserve what he put on me #we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone

[momentomori24]

Ok, can I ramble about the Poison remix real quick? Cool, thanks. You're so supportive, I always appreciated that about you.

Anyway, I absolutely loved it. It was awesome. I can't believe they made an entire remix for a character's birthday, but they did and I'm so impressed by that. Adding Valentino to the song was honestly the best decision they could've made. Not only are his lines super addicting to listen to (that "good boy" lives rent-free in my head like DAMN), but the way they're used in the song feels so intentional and fitting it's brilliant.

The "I own you or have you forgotten that?" at the start sets the tone perfectly, hammering down that Angel's his property, that he's unable to get away from him no matter what. Val in the original, despite not actually singing in the song, is the consistent looming threat in every scene, and being reminded of the context of the situation from the beginning helps retain that ominous presence he brought to the table for a remix with no visuals. When Angel sings about how he feels himself disappearing due to acting becoming natural to him, you can hear distorted, small "Action" from Val in the background, as if signalling him to get into character before the cameras start rolling. Angel puts on an act and tries desperately to make it his identity even outside his work because it's how he has to be, especially around Valentino, and hearing Val order him to perform really emphasises that. And my absolute favourite part is when during the "What's the worst part of this hell? I can only blame myself". Despite everything Val has put Angel through, despite being clearly deceived into something he didn't know would get this out of hand, he doesn't blame him-- he still blames himself for the decisions that have lead him to the position he's in now. And that internalised victim-blaming is met with positive reinforcement as Val praises him with a "good boy" (btw seriously that took me out like why does he have to sound so hot goddman). Val revels in control over his workers, even going as far as to use his and Vel's roofies to get them to behave. And should Angel do anything that even slightly appears to challenge his authority, he's not above using more physical means to put him in his place. When Angel agrees to get rid of Charlie and when he places himself between her and Val to stop her from fighting him and gets her to go, his submission and appeasement is rewarded with the temporary satisfaction of his captive, and it's still felt in the remix.

Poison is all in Angel's head. It's him lamenting his acting persona taking over his sense of self, his reflection on his relationship with Valentino and all the self loathing and resignation that comes with the revelation of how it will come to an end. It's a look into his psyche and that darkness he hides so damn well as he plays his part for his audience to a fault. While Val is an overwhelming presence in the song, he's only there visually; the vocals are entirely Angel and Angel alone. But in the Poison remix, Val's voice still lingers in the background. And what I like is that they aren't new lines-- they're things he's said to him before. Even in the safety of his headspace, his abuser's words still echo in his mind. Valentino still taints his thoughts, previous praises, orders or reminders reacting to and influencing his lyrics. Even in his own mind, he's still unable to escape him.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel valentino #hazbin hotel poison #anyway here's my (late) birthday present for angel #happy (late) birthday king i'll draw you one day i promise #i was more inspired to make this post after seeing everyone dunk on the remix like NO it's good and i'll die on that hill #is this just me over analysing a remix? mayhaps. call me a simp. call me a shrimp. i just love it (and val i will never shut up about it) #pardon potential typos

[rifki16]

Living with Him Pilot Episode

Screenshots credit to : https://x.com/youroli0804/status/1778616587941187750?s=46

A very promising balanced meal

The pilot was vanilla. As everyone on twitter has said, even before the show aired, the show setting was going to be vanilla, green flag, heartwarming. They were on the nose about the description of the show, well, at least for the pilot episode.

Of course, SPOILERS AHEAD

Two things that I’d like to highlight from the episode:

Ryo’s receptivity

In the manga, it was very apparent, Ryo sees Kazuhito as a disturbance – an annoyance. This was reflected clearly even in the first chapter. When Ryo was looking over the balcony filled with hope and dreams of finally not being the caretaker of the house, and the readers were then introduced to the contrast of the hope – Kazuhito. Ryo’s expressions were so displeased by the existence of his new roommate, his attitude towards Kazuhito even going into the third chapter has been of “tolerating” this creature in front of me, and hence any kind of good words which Ryo uttered to Kazuhito seemed to be so precious for Kazuhito-kun. Any radiating auras or gallant actions that Kazuhito did, before the 4 chapter, was seen annoying. His demeanor is more of “oh okay, let’s get this over with, we HAVE to spend a room together, so whatever, you know”.

The live-action Ryo seemed to be more open to living with Kazuhito. His demeanor was really more of a “hmmm okay, I need to live with you for the next several years, I’ll make do”. Oh, I think that the reason Ryo was seen more receptive in the LA is because Kazuhito was also less “intense” in showing his fondness of Ryo. Ryo was not that reactive when they talked about their parents’ decision in making them lived together. Ryo was even chill, not dismissive about his old bond with Kazuhito, when he said that Kazuhito and himself are practically strangers by the time that they live together. Ryo was not that surprised when Kazuhito told him that Kazuhito-kun was the one who always got dumped. Ryo did not bang his head against a wall when he saw Kazuhito waiting by his side all night long until Ryo recovered from his cold.

Package it for a TV show!

As I have written on Twitter, I think that the differences between the Live-Action series and the manga are very greatly appreciated, in my opinion. Firstly, the childhood scene when Kazuhito was hanging out in Ryo’s family place with his mother and sisters during summer break, something which does not exist in the manga, added more context in how caring Ryo can be – as pointed out from the flashback that he helped around the house even when he was little. And I think it painted more the phrase of “you and I used to be very close in grade school, but then we parted ways”. I think it also strengthens the baseline of Kazuhito fondness/love to Ryo. “Ryo has always had a crush on Kazuhito”. Oh, by the way, they already blurted out that Kazuhito used to also sleep over at Ryo’s place in the pilot episode, hopefully they still act it out in the LA, it’s such a cute scene. The LA also added the cookie-from-home scene from chapter 7.5 in the pilot too, I mean, of course they would put it in the pilot, where else could they have put it?

Secondly, I think it was very smart that they used the pretend date as a way for them to furniture shop. I mean, that’s what you do when you move into a new place right? The new place is probably empty. The fact that Ryo is more receptive in the LA version made it understandable that Ryo was having a blast during their pretend date.

I need to write very carefully about the next difference between the LA and the manga. In the manga, one of the things which made Ryo questioned Kazuhito’s real intentions or motives in liking/loving him was the fact that it was Haruna who told Ryo about Kazuhito’s life-changing injury. However, in the LA, in the pilot episode, Kazuhito told Ryo outright that he had injured his shoulder(s) which made him unable to play baseball. Side note: in the manga, it was somewhere in the lower limbs where Kazuhito had his injury. I really don’t know what made the script writers or show runners of the LA changed their tune about Kazuhito’s ability to play baseball. I might be connecting the dots where the author should be making them, but it seems like in the manga, baseball has become this sort of scar in Kazuhito’s psyche, that he did not even mention it, in details or ever, to his boyfriend Ryo. But, in the LA, he not only told Ryo about the injury, but he also even took Ryo to a batting cage where Kazuhito could still play perfectly. I don’t know how disabled people should be written in a work, but shouldn’t the inability to perform, well or at all, an activity that you used to be super at become the first noticeable thing when you have an injury relating to that activity? I mean the manga would have made even more sense if it had included the batting cage scene as Kazuhito injury was relating to his lower limbs which will not affect his ball-hitting ability, unlike the LA in which his shoulder IS very much connected to how good you can hit a ball. I’m not saying that the LA is ableist or something by implying that somehow you could still perform an injury-related activity even after the harmful injury, I don’t know how to determine it that well yet, however, I do hope that the LA can be better in telling us the story of how maybe Kazuhito could make it through the injury and what the injury means for him personally.

Lastly, I think that it is super awesome that we get to see Kazuhito as a person more. In the manga, we hardly see him working, only the university, dorm, then to his aunt’s business where he helps. But, it seems that we are going to see more of Kazuhito outside his first and second places in the second episode. As well as the fact that the LA is going to show more of Ryo’s family members!

All in all, I really like the pilot episode, and I can’t wait for the second episode. I really hope that the LA is not going to be bogged down by unnecessary dramas.

#gay #japan bl #bl live action #living with him #kare no iru seikatsu