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pedroscurls · 5 months

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Dirty Little Secret (Part 1).

Character(s): no-outbreak, age-gap!Joel Miller x fem!Reader Summary: You meet Joel Miller, the father of the bride. Word count: 1.9k A/N: Lol, I said I was gonna post this tomorrow, but I couldn't wait. I hope you guys enjoy this first part and thank you to anyone who reads this! As mentioned, idk what to call this, best friend’s fiancée’s dad!Joel x fem!reader? Lol, I feel like that's a bit complicated, but there's an age gap in this story. This is also pulled from my own experience (only the sexual tension... unfortunately nothin' happened lol🫣) Warning: age-gap (Joel is in his 50s, reader is in her early-30s) SERIES MASTERLIST

“So… Can you make it?”

“I wouldn’t miss it, Drew.” you tell your best friend, gently nudging his shoulder. “I just still can’t believe you’re finally settling down. I never thought I’d see the day.”

He laughs. Andrew - or Drew - has been your best friend since you were kids. You had moved into the neighborhood with your mom after she and your dad divorced and you remember how Drew and his family had welcomed you with open arms whenever your mom was too inebriated to take care of you.

Living next door to Drew and his family was a godsend to you, especially at the young age of eight. They protected you. They made you feel safe, made you feel loved. It was always a stark contrast between your home and his. Drew’s house, from the moment you stepped foot inside, always gave you the warm feeling in your belly and you always found yourself never wanting to leave, not wanting to go back home to the empty and lonely feeling that you experienced every night.

And now, over twenty years later, Drew and his family have maintained that unspoken promise to keep you safe, to protect you, and to always make sure that you were loved.

“Yeah, yeah,” Drew rolls his eyes. “What about you? When are you gonna settle down?”

Now it was your turn to laugh. You grab your wine glass and finish the last remaining liquid. “I’m not the marrying type,” you respond.

“You won’t turn out like your parents,” he says softly.

“Drew, I know,” you sigh. “I just– I don’t want to open myself up like that. It’s too scary.”

“You never know,” Drew smiles. “I thought I liked being single, being with a different woman every week or so, but Sarah…” he lets out a sigh of contentment. “She’s just– It’s been four years since we’ve been together and I think I fall more in love with her every day.”

“Okay, lover boy,” you chuckle. “We get it. You’re in love. You’re about to get married… But I agree with you. She’s the best, and she’s the only one of your girlfriends where she didn’t feel intimidated by me or our friendship.”

Drew sighs, “I know. It’s the curse of having a woman as a best friend.”

“Whatever,” you roll your eyes. “The women before Sarah were just jealous and not confident or secure in their relationship with you.”

Drew nods. “That’s true. Besides, you’re like a sister to me.” He smiles, wrapping his arm around your shoulders.

“Like a big sister?” You tease. “Just kidding, we’re only a year apart.”

“Yeah, and I’m the older one.”

Just as you were going to say something, Sarah steps out into the backyard and walks in your direction. You look over at Drew and smile to yourself, seeing the way his eyes light up when he sees her and how he immediately stands up to meet her half way, enveloping her in a tight embrace.

“Hi, baby,” he whispers, gently kissing her temple. “How’d dinner with your dad go?”

“It was good. He was asking about you. Same with Uncle Tommy.”

“Ah,” he chuckles. “They’re gonna give me shit the next time I see them, aren’t they?”

Sarah grins and you swear that you see Drew fall in love all over again with the sight of her smile. You can see her deep dimples on her cheeks and how her eyes soften and also seem to smile. It was one of the first things you noticed about her: the kind and warm look she gave you – it was the same look that Drew and his family looked at you.

“You know it. Now, let me go say hi to my girl. Can you go inside and pour me a glass of wine?”

Drew nods and kisses her cheek before he disappears inside the house. Sarah takes his seat and looks over at you, arching her brow.

“What?” you ask.

“I might have someone that is interested…” she grins.

“Sarah,” you chuckle. “You and Drew need to stop playing matchmaker. The past two blind dates I have been on have been terrible.”

“You didn’t even give it a chance,” Sarah sighs.

“You know I like older guys,” you smile. “I just don’t want to settle down. Getting married and all that doesn’t have to happen for everyone.”

“I know,” she leans against you. “I just want you to be happy.”

“And a man isn’t gonna be the answer.” You look over at her. You can see the concern on her features – that was another thing that you learned about Sarah. She wears her heart on her sleeve and whenever she gets worried about the people she cares about, her face and expressions tell it all. “I’m fine,” you reassure her. “I got you and I got Drew. That’s all I need.”

“Maybe I should set you up with my Uncle Tommy,” she teases, letting out a quiet laugh. “He’s older. Single. He needs a good woman to anchor him down.”

“And why’s that?” you smile. “Is he trouble, Sarah?”

She laughs, shaking her head. “No, he just hasn’t found someone yet.”

“Like me,” you point out.

“He’s older,” she chuckles.

“Well, your engagement party is this weekend. I’m assuming he’s gonna be there?” you tease.

“Oh my god, are you serious?” You see the light in her eyes, the excitement across her features.

“No! He’s your uncle, how weird would that be?”

“Not weird,” she laughs. “It’d be weird if it was my dad you were interested in.”

“Isn’t he like fifty?”

“More than that, fifty-six.”

Drew steps out into the backyard with two glasses of wine, one for Sarah and another refill for you.

“Is this an early celebration?” you tease.

“We just wanna celebrate with you one-on-one before the pre-wedding festivities begin. It’s gonna be a lot,” Drew replies, sitting next to Sarah and wrapping his arm around her shoulders instantly.

“Well, whatever you both need, just let me know. After all, I am your best woman,” you tell Drew.

Sarah smiles and leans against Drew, bringing the glass of wine to her lips. “It’s gonna be fun,” she adds. “But Drew’s right. It will be a lot, so this is kind of like the calm before the storm.”

“Well, cheers to that then,” you laugh, raising your glass. “Cheers to you both and cheers for what’s to come.”

You’re running late and by the time you reach Sarah dad’s house, there are so many cars that you have to park at the end of the street. You’re practically sprinting to the house, hearing the music and laughter coming from the backyard. You’re wearing a sleeveless navy blue satin dress that stops just past your knees, the thin spaghetti straps resting on your shoulders with a cowl neckline. Their engagement party is semi-formal and you can feel your feet begin to ache from the heels you’re wearing.

Your hair is in loose curls and you’re about to knock on the door when it swings open. You look up at the man, feeling your breath immediately escape you. His hair is slicked back, tinges of gray in the dark brown. You notice his beard, patchy in some areas, his plump lips begging to be kissed, but as you obviously ogle this man, you don’t realize that he’s actually speaking to you.

“Are ya lost?” his voice is deep, rough, and you just want to hear it against your ear as he’s thrusting– “Are ya here for the party?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m late. I’m Drew’s best woman–”

“Ah,” he interrupts. “You are late.”

You can’t think. The sounds of the music and laughter drown out as you stare up at this man. He’s wearing black slacks and a dark green button up with the sleeves folded to his elbows. He’s staring at you too, though, hand remaining on the doorknob as he looks at you in amusement.

“You gonna let me in or stand guard all day?” you say, trying to snap yourself out of this trance. For a split second, you forget why you’re here and all you can think about is talking to this man and having him take you up to his–

“That depends,” he smirks, the dimple on his right cheek appearing. “You gonna be polite and say please?”

You blush. You’re sure he didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did, but you can’t help but notice the way his eyes linger on your frame. It gives you a bit of confidence as you step up to him, inches now separating your bodies.

“Please,” you whisper.

You see his smirk falter, his jaw tighten and instead of responding, he nods and steps aside to give some space between the both of you.

“They’re in the backyard,” he adds. You step past him, looking over your shoulder at him to see that his eyes had fallen on your backside. When he looks up at you and realizes that you had caught him staring, he immediately clears his throat and points towards the driveway. “I’m just gonna–”

“Wait,” you interrupt, reaching out to rest a hand on his forearm. “I didn’t get your name.”

“Joel,” he responds. “Sarah’s dad.”

Then, he removes himself from your grasp and walks out, shutting the door behind him. You clear your throat, biting the inside of your cheek.

“Shit,” you whisper to yourself. “He does not look fifty-six.” You turn on your heel, following the sound of chatter and music as you try to rid yourself of the lingering thoughts of Joel.

Joel isn’t expecting Drew’s best woman to look like you. When he opens the door and you’re standing on his doorstep in that dress, it takes every ounce of him not to look at you from top to bottom. It helps, though, that he notices you staring at him like you want him. It actually gives him confidence that a pretty thing like you is finding him attractive enough that you’re distracted enough not to hear what he’s actually saying.

But then he hears you say that you’re Drew’s best woman. It all but crushes him, crushes any ounce of hope he was holding onto that maybe at the end of the night he’d take you to his bed. You’re off limits and you’re certainly too young for him, but he can’t help himself.

He can’t help but ask you to beg and say please to come in.

And when you do, without any hesitation, he feels the blood immediately rush towards the center of his pants. When you step closer to him, Joel has to tighten his jaw and tighten the grip he has on the doorknob. It anchors him, gives him something to ground himself or else he is going to lose his resolve… quick.

When you finally step inside and walk past him, he turns just slightly to glance at your backside. The dress you’re wearing accentuates every curve while remaining modest enough, but he can’t help himself. Though, when Joel does look up, he feels embarrassed that you’ve caught him staring.

He has to step outside, has to create some distance between him and you, but then he feels your soft touch on his forearm and it causes a shiver to run down his back. After he tells you that he’s Sarah’s dad, Joel doesn’t bother to wait to see your reaction. Instead, he leaves you standing there while he steps out of his house, shutting the door behind him and shutting the door to the inappropriate thoughts that fill his mind.

next.

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal character #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal character fanfic #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us fanfic #tlou #tlou fanfiction #tlou fanfic #joel miller au #joel miller #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fanfic #joel miller age gap fanfic #joel miller x fem!reader #joel miller x f!reader #story: dirty little secret

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fractualized · 7 months

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Three Jokers Are Not Better Than One

(or, cheap twists don't make a good story)

Would you look at that? It's time to bitch about Three Jokers!

(spoilers for a 3-year-old comic ahead)

Gotham War got me into hater mode, so I figured it was time to take a second look at Three Jokers, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jason Fabok. I first read it when the issues came out, and I thought it was possible that the story isn't as bad as I remembered. I don't know why, since for the past three years I've been haunted by the possibility of it being deemed canon.

Of course, at the time of conception, Three Jokers was intended to be canon. Johns set up the premise in the Darkseid War storyline of the 2011 Justice League run, in issues published in 2015/2016. Batman takes control of the omniscient Mobius Chair, and he tests it by asking who killed his parents. Then he asks a second question, which Hal Jordan presses him on several issues later.

[Justice League (2011) #42 & Justice League (2011) #50]

Four years later, when Three Jokers was set to be released towards the end of 2020, Johns did at first confirm it would be canon despite being released via Black Label, where books are not meant to be part of the larger continuity. In later interviews, however, this assertion got walked back in favor of saying the canonicity is up to each reader, which is kind of a wild thing to say. "Look, this story merely proposes that one of our most popular characters has actually been three different dudes the whole time, which totally has a negligible impact on how that character should be seen and has interacted with the world. Take it or leave it!"

But then, DC's idea of canon has been pretty squiggly of late, especially with the increasing multiverse shenanigans. In the final issue of Dark Knights: Death Metal in 2021, the reader is told, "with our past finally set, myriad new futures are opening up. And as hypertime heals, we'll likely experience flashes of them– and even alternate pasts– in pretty epic fashion." Infinite Frontier followed, with a press release declaring, "When our heroes saved the Multiverse from Perpetua in Dark Nights: Death Metal, everything was put back where it belonged… and we do mean everything. All the damage from all the Crises was undone [....]"

I have a lot of thoughts about this, revolving around what the heck does it mean for storytelling and how we should understand characters that apparently, somehow, everything is canon? How are we supposed to take this as anything other than the omniverse being an excuse for DC Editorial to wave off responsibility for a legible timeline? "Batman can be in two places at once because, uh, the Monitor sneezed?"

But this too-long essay is about Three Jokers, so I'll narrow my concern: if character histories can simply change with a multiversal glitch, in whatever overwrought way those are usually explained to us, then it sure feels like it doesn't matter that Three Jokers was published under Black Label. It sure seems like, at whoever's whim, Three Jokers can still get locked into the main storyline. I mean, Zdarsky still hasn't explained what that three Jokers shit in Batman #135 is about. On the other hand, we know that the explanation for the two Jokers in The Man Who Stopped Laughing does not involve the multiverse, and Joker is supposed to reunite with Batman over in Zdarsky's story when that story closes out, so… I actually have no reason to be confident that means anything.

"But why would Three Jokers getting canonized be so bad?" you may ask if you've never read Three Jokers (or if you fully enjoyed it).

Speaking for myself, it starts with the premise: taking a character and saying, "actually, this is not one complex guy but three different guys, which fractures the character's motivations and relationships over the last several decades." When that character is one you enjoy very much, this twist is not fun. It's a fundamental change to who they are.

Then five months before the release of Three Jokers #1, Johns and Fabok did an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Some things the pair said raised red flags:

1) Three Jokers' story would focus on the trauma that Barbara, Jason, and Bruce suffered at Joker's hands, per Johns. "If you suffer some trauma, you don’t just get over with it and move on with your life, it changes who you are. Sometimes it changes you for the better, sometimes it changes you for the worse. You can heal right, and you can heal wrong. That’s really what the book’s about: Healing right, healing wrong, and surviving."

2) Johns also said of the story: “It goes back to the beginning when Batman first encountered the Joker, but it’s also The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family that speak to the book and that we’re building off emotionally." And Fabok mentioned that the book's look would be based on the aesthetics of The Killing Joke: "I really want it to feel like it could be a spiritual sequel, at least artistically."

These remarks foreshadowed a disconnect. A key part of The Killing Joke itself is that both Joker and Bruce experienced terrible trauma ("one bad day"), but in responding to it, they made different choices: broadly, Joker choosing to hurt people versus Bruce choosing to help people. Johns excluding Joker from his comments about trauma felt like a sign that he ignored a key part of the character, despite Joker being a core part of a new tale "emotionally" inspired by TKJ.

(We're setting aside "you can heal right and you can heal wrong" for now. Ohhh, we'll get back to that.)

Johns' blind spot was confirmed a few months later when he was quoted by the DC Nation Twitter account: "There are very few characters that are, to me, as irredeemable as The Joker. There is nothing in him that is good."

Wow, what close analysis from Mr. Emotional Build.

Look, I don't need Joker to be redeemed or woobified. (Ask me about the "Pushback" storyline from 2004 and hear my gnashing teeth crack a filling.) But I would like the full breadth of his character acknowledged, especially when you're claiming you're writing about trauma, especially when you're creating a "spiritual sequel" to one of best known Joker stories (if not the best known one).

Then Three Jokers finally came out, and over three months it proved to be neither an examination of healing nor very interesting, at least not in an enjoyable way. What it has to "say" about trauma, for any of the characters, is no different than the limited conclusion made in previous Batman books: mainly the drumbeat of fighting off the darkness by being a bigger person— or at least not killing your enemy. Making Joker into a role played by three different people adds nothing; it amounts to little more than a gimmick.

Hell, even as a gimmick, it's flawed. Theoretically, the three Jokers represent phases of personality the Joker has embodied over the years— but the representations we get don't make sense. Here they are summed up in Book 3:

Sorry, what? The Criminal is less interested in theatrics? In what time period was the Joker ever not interested in making a big show of things in one way or another? Maybe this is supposed to be an "early" Joker in terms of the Rebirth/InfiniCrisisDarkCarnateTier/whatever more recent conception of him, but I'll wager that's not what people think about when they think of Joker at his start. They think about Golden Age Joker doing goofy shit and laughing maniacally. They're not expecting this morose man.

The other thing is that, in Book 1, the narrative "assigns" each of our three protagonists to a Joker: Bruce to the Criminal, who appeared at the start; Barbara to the Comedian, who shot her; and Jason to the Clown, who killed him. Now at first I thought Johns was saying one Joker took over after another, but since Barbara's attack and Jason's death happened 9 months apart in 1988, which are not different Joker eras, I think we're supposed to see them as sort of… cycling on and off depending on the needs of the scheme? Maybe? But the descriptions above are still confusing. Why am I supposed to see the Joker who got carried away with the fun of beating Jason with a crowbar and successfully blew him up as less sadistic than the other one?

Johns does appear to lampshade this confusion in the middle of Book 1, when we get all three Jokers in a cabin in the woods. The Clown and the Comedian have this exchange:

This and a later panel with the Comedian actually imply that he and the Clown are interchangeable, even though they're supposed to be different. So are they or not? Is there an actual reason we need three Jokers, or did Johns just think it was a neato idea and then spend four years trying to figure out a "layered" justification for it?

The other thing about this cabin scene, and about the Joker trio largely, is that it should be fun and it's not. There should be chaos! Zaniness! At the very least, all the narcissism in the room should generate a competitive friction, make their interactions more dynamic. (Really it should generate bloodshed and end with one man standing within like ten minutes, but I'll grant the choice to save that for Book 3.) Instead it's almost mundane. The cabin isn't even decorated! It's dark and dreary, like the Jokers are dark and dreary. If we're gonna have three Jokers, can't they at least be Jokering with each other?

The same thought comes when I consider the very beginning of Book 1. It all starts out like a typical Batman story: three deadly crimes are committed in one night, the Joker seemingly responsible for all of them, and Bruce, Barbara, and Jason are drawn together as they try to figure out what's up. Of course, thanks to the Magic Chair, Bruce already knows there are three clowns, but Barbara and Jason are thinking that Joker is working with two look-alikes to create confusion. And considering the basics of what happens in this story, what the Comedian's larger plan is meant to accomplish, why couldn't this have been written with just two look-alikes? I mean, yeah, it would require Johns to forget about his continuity bomb, but maybe the story would have been better (and shorter). Again, the creation of other Jokers isn't doing much for what the plot is getting at. The three crimes that start us off would still serve the function of reminding Bruce of how Joker's been a constant in his life. The taunting of a convincing Joker look-alike is enough to set off Jason's anger and sadness about what happened to him, and his fears of what he could become. The climax with Joe Chill would have to be redone, but the threat of him being Jokerized isn't the crucial plot point; the Comedian's film of him is. Bruce doesn't even have any substantial thoughts about there being three of his nemesis.

But, alas, the story goes how it goes. And as it goes, we also see that Jason behaves more cruelly in his search for Joker than Barbara and Bruce. For example, Jason attacks and threatens one of Joker's victims to get information, feeling justified because the guy has a rap sheet, while Barbara scolds him and Bruce tells the victim, "I'm sorry this happened." What I find notable about this is that while comics regularly present Jason as hot-headed and Barbara as reasonable, Bruce… uh… If you gather a random selection of Batman comics, you'll find that his level of violence is all over the place. This story, however, requires a more somber Bruce, whose violence is more reactive, because Jason and Barbara serve Johns' dichotomy of "heal right" versus "heal wrong." We can't have Bruce on the sadistic side of the scale fucking that up, and besides, Jason's long been the posterboy for healing "wrong."

That notion comes to a head at the end of the issue. The heroes have encountered and subdued the Clown at the aquarium when Jim Gordon calls. The GCPD found another Joker, and Bruce leaves Jason and Barbara alone with the Clown to assist.

Goodness me, who could have predicted Jason might kill a restrained Joker? Not Bruce, who absolutely should have. Barbara is there to talk Jason down, sure, but what else is the Clown gonna do but needle Jason to kill him?

The Clown cackles then, declaring that Red Hood is his Robin, for the very reason of his violent impulses and how much he upsets the Bat, and of course Jason shoots him in the head, because oof.

Honestly, on this second read I found this scene a smidge too oof. Jason was a determined little Robin, dedicated to saving his awful mother to the very end, and him cracking and declaring that he'll work for a criminal… I don't know. I don't think it's impossible, but it feels superfluous. I don't think such a reveal is necessary to get Jason to fire. I think the Clown focusing on how the new Red Hood is actually quite similar to the old, as well as how Jason matters less than the neverending battle between Batman and Joker, is enough emotional stress to get to the same end result.

But that's a minor quibble; we've got bigger fish to fry! Such as the specter of the "healed right/healed wrong" dynamic that reappears as Barbara and Jason argue over the Clown's corpse.

Barbara leaves angrily after this, but man. I wish the story overall took more cues from this scene, that in a Black Label story we could stray from the simplistic idea of how a Good One would save Joker and a Bad One wouldn't. I want to explore Jason's assertion that Barbara didn't do her best to uphold Bruce's one rule. I want to know if maybe she's tired of being the fucking Good One.

Hell, let's go further: what if we were surprised by Barbara killing the Clown before Jason could? The Clown's taunting about Jason could have gotten to her too. We could have a story about how being put on a pedestal as a Good Victim is a cage, about Barbara struggling with falling from that position, about Jason feeling unsure if he should commend her for an act that obviously hurts her or comfort her for something he would have done himself. That's an actual examination of the struggle to process violent trauma— that you don't need three Jokers for!

But the story we have never gets back to Jason's suggestion that Barbara let the murder happen, not in this issue or the following two. This issue just ends with Jason hoping that the Clown was the actual Joker and that he didn't kill the wrong guy, which is a pretty "LOL oh yeah" line when you remember that he and Barbara don't know there are three Jokers yet.

Book 1, truth be told, isn't that bad. On my reread, I started to wonder if my only real issue with the story is that it's not as engaging as all the hype insisted it would be.

Then Book 2 starts, and goddammit. GODDAMMIT.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: why can we not have more DC writers having fun with Joker's multiple-choice backstory? Why did Johns read The Killing Joke and decide his interpretation would be this?:

Ugh. UGGGHHH.

I don't recall the issue, but there's these panels that circulate sometimes of Harley Quinn encountering Joker in Arkham or prison, in which they exchange words about their relationship and he's a creep and she kicks his ass. I have no problem with Harley kicking Joker's ass. He deserves it. My problem is that those panels play out like an empowerment scene in a generic Lifetime movie. My problem is that it doesn't have the flavor of Harley and Joker. My problem is that it's lazy.

And that's my problem with what Johns does with Joker's backstory in TKJ. He could take it anywhere, and he goes gritty without an ounce of nuance. Because hey, this is Joker, and "there is nothing in him that is good," right? We'll just ignore that one of DC's all-time classics, the one this garbage is ✨inspired by✨, has Joker reflecting on a past for which he is an unreliable narrator, but in which he laments how his comedy dream put his growing family in a bad spot, in which he desperately aligns with shady people so his family can be secure, in which he's devastated by losing the only person he has in the world and their growing baby. And these memories could be distorted or entirely fake, but what's interesting in TKJ is that Joker never tells anyone else about them, even in his big speech to Batman. The flashbacks are not part of an attempt to manipulate anyone or convince them his world view is correct. It's a tale in Joker's head that, regardless of the truth, deeply affects him. It's what drove him to go to horrendous lengths to prove his point, even if the point is wrong.

But fuck that, right? We're going lazy! We're going cheap! We're going with the Jeannie backstory, but actually Joker was only terrible to her. The Comedian fondly fantasizes about terrorizing her and their son, because he's 100% an abuser, because he must have always been that way, with not a single appealing quality that we need to reckon with as we so often do with toxic people in real life. Even the freaking stutter Joker had as he struggled with stand-up comedy is given to Jeannie. Seriously?

I cannot emphasize enough: fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this "take."

On the other hand, when the Comedian is brought out of his stupor, we do finally get something super funny:

At least we'll always have this panel of Joker eating cat food.

The Criminal only interrupted the daydream because he's mad the Clown is dead, and the Clown was so eager to be dead I thought it was part of their plan buuuuuuut I guess not. Then we jump to Bruce figuring out that the "Joker" that Gordon cornered is just another victim, a dead judge. Barbara appears to tell Bruce what Jason did, and they discuss it over comms on the road.

Bruce, shockingly, says that they can't really do anything about what Jason did.

Pretty sure the guy who batarang'd Jason's throat rather than let him kill Joker would have a more intense reaction than this?? Or any reaction other than sober understanding? Maybe Bruce is still coping with finally dealing with three Jokers at once and will flip his shit when this all resolves. Or maybe he's just thinking, "it's okay, I still have two emotional support clowns left!" I don't know. He's so weirdly passive in this story.

What's more aggravating, though, is the other aspect of this conversation, that Jason "healed wrong." It would be one thing as a pat judgment Bruce is making, but we know from that interview that Johns positioned "healed right versus healed wrong" as the story's theme. It's not good. It's way too glib a framing for evaluating how people who've gone through trauma are dealing with it, in any context. Sure, there are better and worse coping mechanisms, better and worse outcomes, but healing is an ongoing process that can be so individualized. Reducing it to "right" and "wrong," saying that one is "strong" and implying that the other comes from some sort of deficiency… I hope Johns just spoke poorly and he does understand that it's not that simple.

Now, is it a stretch to apply that critique to Jason killing criminals at his whim? Sure, deciding that you personally should play the role of judge, jury, and executioner is not a good way to deal with trauma. But that's not exactly what's happening here. This "healed right versus healed wrong" framing is being applied to Jason Todd going after the Joker. Obviously, I like Joker, but can we be real about this? Can we be real in a Black Label book, the imprint where comic books (allegedly) have room to take things more seriously? Can we take the question of, "In this fictional world where Joker is an unstoppable fatal mayhem machine— now THREE machines— is it completely out of bounds for someone to finally kill him?" and be like, "Errr…not really?" When this story explicitly denies Joker even one teeny redeeming human quality, are we seriously still going to say, "Well, you know, if Jason takes the life of the man who murdered him and millions other people, because he doesn't want him to kill more people, which Joker will absolutely do and we all know it, doesn't that say something awful about Jason?" Are we really??

Plus the judgment about healing is put into the mouth of a man who— say it with me!— regularly dresses as a bat and beats the ever-loving shit out of people because his parents were murdered. Toning Bruce down in this particular story doesn't hide that.

Although, what I think is intended as a flawed assumption on Bruce's part is his other line, "Jason's suffering." It implies that Barbara still isn't, but we are shown Barbara reflecting on her paralyzation, even now when she's "strong" and has healed "right." And the story will get into this a bit later, but it absolutely does not let Barbara and Jason escape the dichotomy. To the story's detriment, their interactions go in a wild direction, but we'll get to that.

First, Bruce and Barbara's investigation leads them to Blackgate, because the fingerprints on the murder weapon for the dead judge belong to none other than Joe Chill. However, we learn that Chill has been in the medical wing for two months because he's sick with cancer.

Meanwhile, Jason's investigation leads him to a closed athletic center. The pool inside is filled with the chemicals stolen from Ace at the start of the story, as well as dozens of pale naked bodies with green hair. Jason's attempt to contact Barbara is interrupted when one of said bodies bursts to life and grabs his ankle, asking for help. Jason reacts with hostility, kicking the poor guy, and I'm not sure if it's because he's unnerved by a room of floating Jokers or if it's pretty normal for him to not keep his cool even for the sake of an obvious victim of a horrible crime. A Gotham City vigilante can't be that shocked by one guy being alive in a pile of bodies, can they?

But that's all setup. When the guy falls unconscious, the Criminal and the Comedian ambush Jason and drag him away, one saying, "He'll be perfect."

It's a line that meanly gets your hopes up, poking at a subject that could make all this more interesting.

Jason awakes, strapped to a chair and as naked as the bodies in the pool. The Criminal says he and his pals have spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect candidate for a new Joker, and he repeats the question of what's up with Jason taking on the Red Hood moniker.

It seems that, like DCAU Tim Drake in Batman Beyond before him, Jason Todd will be transformed into a fourth Joker! But it won't only be because it will wreck the Batman. It'll be because Joker already sees himself in Jason. This is something new to explore! There are places to go here; other comics hinting at Joker's past point to him having a childhood not dissimilar to Jason's, of growing up on the street, experiencing abuse, and learning unpalatable ways to survive. We could see Jason struggling with the possibility that he has more in common with Joker than he wants to think about!

But we won't. Inexplicably, the Criminal turns around and says that despite their similarities, despite Jason hating Batman as much as he does, despite the Comedian (presumably) saying Jason is perfect, and despite getting Jason ready for the pool, Jason actually isn't good enough, not "bright" enough. (Because all the Jokers we have in this dour story are so bright?)

And then the Comedian just beats the hell out of Jason (saying it's more fun than the first time, in another annoying nod to how he and the Clown are the same damn Joker) and says they're leaving Jason alive because maybe he'll prove them wrong and he'll become a new Joker after all? But the current Jokers aren't really going to go for it. Their interest is just abandoned.

The point is only to freak Jason out, so when Bruce and Barbara arrive, fight a horde of Jokerized victims, and find Jason alone and naked and vulnerable, he does not react well when Bruce tries to ask if he's okay. Jason turns on him and blames him for setting him on this path, for leaving him in the dirt, for replacing him easily. He lashes out at Barbara too, asking if she's going to lock him away, but ultimately it's easier to take comfort from her.

A direct reference to Return of the Joker here, focusing on the shadow Batman casts over the lives of his partners, the responsibility he bears in how Joker targeted them to hurt the Bat, and how poorly he offers comfort himself.

It does segue nicely into the next scene, when Bruce and Barbara get Jason to her apartment to rest. Bruce leaves to keep investigating, and Barbara is pissed because this is the exact lack of support that contributed to Jason going his own way. Support is highlighted again when Jason wakes in Barbara's room and looks around.

Aside from Barbara seeking out books to deal with her physical and mental struggles after Joker's attack, the old calendars show the help she received from her father and health professionals.

And this scene does get into something that's missing from TKJ, in which Bruce tells Joker that no, not everyone will retreat to madness like he did. How we react to trauma is greatly affected by the resources available to us.

This scene is nice. It's nice to come from the action to some place quiet and for someone to say this Jason, something he's wanted to hear. It's late in coming, but it's pain validated.

And then Johns fucking ruins it.

Man. Just. Ugh. Yeah, I know people seek comfort in moments of vulnerability, but… the reader knows. The reader knows moments like this aren't included to be like "oh, this was an isolated blip of human behavior! The story won't call back to it later!" Johns apparently wants Barbara/Jason to be a thing. And if you want a solid reason for that… well, we don't get any good ones.

Meanwhile, Bruce is in the cave, and I'm only mentioning that because these folder labels are incredibly funny:

Then the issue ends with Joe Chill kidnapped from Blackgate by the Comedian, who has a video camera and asks him to talk about why he really killed the Waynes. Dun dun dunnnnnnnn! Is that a twist on the way?! Well, yeah, but not really the one you think and it's incredibly stupid.

Finally we are at Book 3. Jason is suited back up, and he and Barbara have met up with Bruce in the cave to figure out how the Jokers plan to create another, better Joker.

Soooooo Jason and Barbara had that whole conversation. Jason was shaken by what the Jokers said to him. But now he's completely back on track. Allllllrighty.

Jason and Bruce then have an argument rehashing everything that Barbara said she was sorry Jason experienced, with Bruce saying of course he'd love to kill the Joker, and Jason pointing out that he obviously hasn't. Jason also says he thinks the only reason Bruce isn't turning Jason in for killing the Clown is to protect Batman's identity. Barbara just tries to de-escalate with her doe eyes. They're back to the status quo, and it sucks, which is the point. When they try to get back to the investigation at hand, Bruce pauses and attempts to apologize.

And again, with this blatant TKJ reference, it feels like we need to dig into the parallels between Jason and Joker! They both insist it's too late! They won't take help! But surely Jason isn't as far gone! There's something to chew on here.

But nah, this story is heading toward a big ol' revelation, foreshadowed here:

🎶 Why the fuck you lyin'? 🎶

Finally they get the alert that Joe Chill was kidnapped, and on investigating his cell, Bruce finds a bunch of letters addressed to… himself, Bruce Wayne. He seeks out the prison reverend.

Which is unintentionally hilarious, because in the storyline that started this whole three Jokers nonsense, there's a Batman Darkseid War one-shot where Joe Chill's behavior does not remotely align with this.

Lol comics are fun.

In the middle of Bruce investigating the letters, we get Jason being all repentant with Babs again.

You just said? You totally were?? Gonna kill more clowns??? How is this supposed to come off as genuine? Granted, Jason doesn't try to kill the other Jokers after this, but the apparently impetus for reversing course is... uh... we'll get there.

Anyway, among Chill's letters are tickets to the Monarch Theater, so the heroes all head over for whatever the Jokers have set up for them, which of course includes another horde of failed Joker zombies. During the fight, the Comedian's interview of Joe Chill plays on the screen, and the Criminal reveals they have Chill tied up in a chair suspended over a vat of green chemicals.

As Chill on screen explains that he killed the Waynes out of hatred and envy for how much they had, and how much he regrets his actions, the Criminal explains that he considered both Jason and Barbara as strong candidates for the new Joker. And wait. WAIT. Mr. Johns, sir, are you telling me it crossed your mind to write a story in which Barbara becomes the new Joker? That's so much more interesting than the bullshit we're getting! Imagine it: Barbara dealing with the dissatisfaction of being the "good, strong victim" and just losing her shit. You could combine that with how uneasy Jason is with his similarities to Joker, and maybe Jason is the one who convinces Barbara to turn back. This is Black Label! This could've been anything! Anything!

But we've got Chill. And the Criminal goes on to say the reason he wanted to make a new Joker at all:

Are… are you? I'm pretty sure Joker is pretty well fucking defined. He's a murderer with a very dark sense of humor who is obsessed with Batman. That's been a pretty good through-line.

Also, Joker pretty clearly means a lot to Batman, as that middle panel with Jason seems intended to remind us, but the Criminal does clarify that he wants to be "everything" to him, which is why he's pulling Bruce's parents' murderer into all this. I guess I can't blame him for reaching for the stars?

Cue big fight scene. The Chill recording continues to explain his regret, and soon the theater is on fire. Batman saves Chill and knocks the Criminal unconscious. Chill thinks Batman is going to kill him, but Bruce saves him from a falling brick wall instead— before the Criminal revives and tries to set off a bomb to kill them all, maybe. There's a BOOM flag sticking out of the dynamite a few panels later, after the Comedian shows up and shoots the Criminal in the head. TWIST!

The Comedian surrenders, and after a scene with Jason picking the most awkward time to suggest he and Barbara try being a couple and Barbara looking pissed she has to tell him no, we jump to Bruce and the Comedian in the armored police car.

As a batjokes shipper, looking at these pages is weird, because they are good food for the brainworms. The Criminal wanted to engineer a Joker who meant the most to Batman, but the Comedian wanted to be that Joker. It's a weird plan, considering that Joker prefers Batman over Bruce Wayne, so he would be more likely to not want to heal Bruce's wound lest the healing lead to less Batmanning, but still. This crazy plan is all about maintaining Batman's attention.

But I can only enjoy these panels out of context, not just because I'm pretty weary of insanely elaborate plans that manage to work out, but also because there's just so much to hate in the rest of the story, especially the real twist that closes it out.

Before we get to that, though, we're thrown back into the Jason/Barbara nonsense with a very gross letter he writes to her.

"Dear Barbara, I want to make a change. But I can't do that without you. I know I've come across cold and distant…"

1) Look, love can help people heal. Barbara could be a good friend advising Jason on what might help him. She could help bring him back into the batfam fold. This letter is not that. This letter is pushing someone to be in a romantic relationship with you for the explicit purpose of getting them to heal you. That's not how love works. That's using someone as a tool. It's supposed to be sad that Barbara never sees the letter but it's good, actually. Don't put that shit on her!

2) This romance came out of freaking nowhere and now we get Jason insisting he can simply stop being Red Hood for the sake of it— but only for the sake of it, apparently! Does Jason think his worldview as Red Hood is an impediment to healing or not? This is just surface-level melodramatic nonsense. And I wish that was the point, but no. Again, the letter getting swept away is presented as sad.

3) Speaking of which, who tapes a confessional letter that exposes your vigilante identity to a door where anyone can see it? You'd slip it under the door at least. Johns couldn't figure out any other way for the letter to vanish? Get out of here with this contrived nonsense. There should've been panels of Jason rereading the letter, realizing how unhinged it is, and throwing it away himself.

4) Is the "Funtime Cleaners" guy in his purple uniform supposed to be Joker? Or representative of Joker's influence on their lives? If yes and it's him, he's a goddamn hero. If it's symbolic, what does that mean, that even when you reach out to others… elements out of your control will keep you alone? 'Cause that sure is bleak for a book allegedly about healing.

With all that done with, now we get to the big twist, the dumbest fucking part of this story, the end, the takeaway. Of course it involves more crimes against The Killing Joke, which I'm increasingly convinced no one at DC has actually read in the past thirty years.

Bruce drives up to Alaska, and we get this reveal.

Do the kids still *headdesk* nowadays? That's what I'm doing. There will be a blood stain.

1) So Bruce has known the Joker's identity, or at least the Comedian's, basically the whole time. We're just retconning that the Joker question he asked the Magic Chair wasn't for information; it was a second test question. And all this is in the face of Bruce lamenting many times over the years that he doesn't know who Joker really is, of him lamenting it in The Killing goddamn Joke. "I don't know him, Alfred. All these years and I don't know who he is any more than he knows who I am. How can two people hate so much without knowing each other?" We're just. Fucking excising that. A line alluding to Bruce's motivation for visiting Joker in TKJ's opening scene.

2) We're rounding out the lazy revisions to the TKJ backstory with some copaganda! Geoff Johns doesn't think it's possible for Joker to have been anything but a horror to his family, but he does think it's possible that random officers in the friggin' Gotham City Police Department— in early Batman lore no less, when they were at their most corrupt— would fundraise for a "lady" they clearly don't know to get her out of the city to safety. Also, what was the plan for when Joker asked to see his wife's dead body?? Congrats, you've come up with something dumber than "Pushback."

3) This scrawls more highlighter on how bad the premise of there being three Jokers is, because the flashback in TKJ happens before Joker starts out. Like that's how Bruce always recalls it; he didn't meet the Joker until after what happened at Ace Chemicals. So isn't Jeannie then actually the Criminal's wife? Because the Criminal is the one who behaves as Bruce remembers Joker was at the start. So is the Comedian obsessed with the Criminal's wife for some reason? Or is the Comedian actually the first Joker, and the Criminal came later and used to be more wacky? What is going on here?

Under all these questions, per the final page, the point of Three Jokers is still visible: ultimately, his victims matter more than he does. But that's a hilarious point to a story that revolves around three of the guy, with very little payoff to the gimmick, and when part of the plot is that the heroes still shouldn't kill him.

And again, just because a story makes reference to healing, it doesn't mean it's "about" healing. The most we get is the knowledge that Barbara and Jeannie received support from other people. There's no discussion of how long it took either of them, of why Barbara came out the other side not wanting to kill Joker, of anything Jeannie has done since she left Gotham. The possibility that Jason could find connection is promptly throttled by a forced romance. It's implied that the Comedian's plan worked for Bruce, as we see Bruce at Chill's deathbed, holding his hand, and at Chill's grave. You might be interested in Bruce's thoughts as he juxtaposes Chill's repentance against the fact that his parents are still dead, so you can assess if this really would affect the feeling of loss that drove him to his lifelong mission, but you won't get them. The "how" of healing is up to the reader— who is never asked to extend the same thought process to the Joker. And you personally do not have to give a crap about Joker, but again, if this book is supposed to be about responses to healing, about Jason's response versus Barbara's, then taking an actual look at Joker feels relevant!

So there we are: fourteen pages of me venting my little heart out, hoping the premise of Three Jokers never gets looped into canon. I'm well aware that my personal attachment to a character means nothing against DC's incentives to promote stories with Big Twists (and endless events and multiverse bullshit), but then again, those incentives are based on what people will buy. So if I can add to the voices saying that Three Jokers is bad, and you should not spend your money on it or books like it, maybe I can be one vibe of many that keeps the Joker as one single bat-obsessed murderclown...

Though if not, I can always retreat to older comics. I still have plenty of those to get through.

#three jokers #the killing joke #batjokes #batman #joker #bruce wayne #barbara gordon #jason todd #analysis #my jibber-jabber #tl;dr three jokers is just usual batman stuff with a dumb gimmick #and jaybabs thrown in for the lulz

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dragon-business · 7 months

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Y0 antagonists ratings/opinions

Mister(s) Shakedown(s) + Amon

Didn't get to Amon in Y0, because we didn't finish these quests. One of the few that we didn't do in full, actually. Didn't seem as fun at the moment. Amon gets a pass, because he gets more screen time in later games.

Evilness: 4/10 robbing people is bad, I heard Forgetability: 7/10 hard to forget, when Amons are in each game Iconic level: friend of a mutual tells me they’re cool/10 memes Free slot: ????too hard to get through to the good parts

2. Helicopter-car chases

These sequences was pure torture. My hands were cramped even when I wasn't holding the controller. Every minute lasted an hour. The fucking bazookas? Infuriating. Worst survival horror game.

Evilness: 9/10 fuck this shit, let me out of the car Forgetability: 1/10 still feel the cramps .__, Iconic level: 0.5/10 “look, just like in the movies, right?” Free slot: 1,5/10 on enjoyment scale

3. Cult leader from the substory

Pretty funny scam artist, all the later games character development got him on the list. We love us a lil fucked up reoccurring character.

Evilness: 8/10 doing terrible things to vulnerable people Forgetability: 4/10 forgot about him each time until the next appearance Iconic level: 4/10 will never forget that dance Free slot: retirement home for one million years for the grandpa

4. Dojima captain guy 1

????????

Evilness: 7/10 he’s a yakuza, after all, he’s done some bad stuff, probably Forgetability: 10/10 who? Iconic level: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Free slot: forgot he existed

5. Dojima captain guy 2

Purple suit guy with the boxing/dancing ring in the basement was pretty fab. He gets extra points for the drip. Otherwise idk what he- wait he saved Majima that one time? Huh. You keep learning things.

Evilness: 7/10 normal yakuza guy doing yakuza things Forgetability: 9/10 I know he was there, I guess Iconic level: 3/10 purple suit points Free slot: purple suit, that’s all I remember

6. Kuze

First fight with him was pretty tough. And then he just kept coming back, again and again. With desperate determination. And Kiryu got stronger and stronger between each encounter. And Kuze stayed on the same level, just looking more and more beat up. And that's amazing storytelling through game mechanics, but also really iconic, ngl.

I mean, man rode a dang motorbike in the sewers. He got the motorbike in the sewers, positioned it in the right spot to start the chase (did he get help for that?), and then rode it down there, through the nasty Kamurocho pipes, hunting down an annoying twunk like a medieval baron chasing a boar. All this while already beat up by said twunk. And he gets beaten again. Rolling in that sweet sewage water in his bandages.

Evilness: 6/10 he’s out there vibing to his own tunes Forgetability: 1/10 he Will Not Let You Forget about him, even if you’d want to Iconic level: 8/10 meme icon Free slot: he seemed like real threat at the start, but by the chase in the sewers he was our pal, our failmate bro, all the respect to his dedication o7; 4/10 on actual fights and smartness

7. Kashiwagi

He's on the list for what he did to Nishiki. Just sent the brother of his son to kill, uhh, his son. Just like that. Like, I get that he had his reasons, he really thought he was doing good, he thought he's saving Kiryu from suffering. Because of course it is all about Kiryu and what he supposedly (probably) (maybe) needs.

Evilness: 7/10 good intentions on the way down Forgetability: 0.5/50 look at him slurping cold noodles in his first scene, he’s stealing the show Iconic level: 7.5/10, again, look at the man eating noodles like a dad Free slot: 2/10 top tier dad, bless.

8. Sagawa

He's such a masterfully done abuser. Partially because he acts so nice. But there's always an unnerving feeling underneath it.

He only resorts to violence when everything's gone to shit. But it always feels like he's capable of it at any moment. It's like a rock constantly looming over, waiting to drop.

Evilness: 8.5/10 on the creep scale, very good for the story Forgetability: 2/10 he’s in your walls, he owns your walls, your balls, and your paycheck Iconic level: 6/10 smartly dressed Free slot: 1/10 as a person, would deck him on sight; thank g-d Majima's away from him now

9. Shimano

Smart, playing the long game, but really, in Y0 he seemed smarter than he is.

Long distance threat to Majima's safety, the threat he has trouble seeing as one. And that's the real kicker, that's the horror of it all – Majima striving to get back in the family, back under Shimano's thumb in his self-destructive last mission quest. Majima deciding to come back/stay even after the Hole, after y0, Majima getting so close to freedom but not being able to grasp it, and rationalising staying near Shimano for years, rebelling, but never separating in full.

And Shimano perfectly understands the power he has over Majima, and is always ready to use it. To break him at a moment's notice, if it will be useful for his plans. And this is way more uncomfortable and terrifying than Sagawa's brand of underlying threat.

Evilness: 12/10 made us start the “save Majima” movement Forgetability: 0/100 burned into my brain in the worst way possible Iconic level: 3/7 fashion sense is kinda bland, but he does have a presence Free slot: again, would deck on sight, but still – amazing character writing, very cool points for Majima’s story

10. Oda

Big oof moment, amaright?..

Such a fascinating character. He's not stereotypical, and has a compelling, layered personality, which is amazing for a gay man in the big hit game. But also. Ooof. Such a big oooof.

But, surprisingly in this day and age, it's not being gay that made him a piece of trash awful man who died. He was all that on his own, it was just his shit finally catching up to him in the end. And the love for Tachibana was actually his saving grace in life, a point of growth as a person (albeit small). So not denying him that, no. Even one-sided, it made him more human.

Idk if writers did all that on purpose, but these points felt very distinct in the story.

It's fascinating how Oda's character is a (terrible) person first, and he just happens to be gay. But also, him being gay is ultimately important. We played y0 before all the gay shows took over the screens, and this storyline hit us like a train. Can tell you a lot about the state of queer media at the time.

– Me, after we've met Oda: hehe, he totally has it for the boss The plot:

– Me, after seeing them interact on screen: hehe, Tachibana is making him suffer :3c Me, when plot: .___.

Evilness: 9.5/10 the 0.5 is from his love for Tachibana Forgetability: -100/10 I lay awake at night thinking about this bitch Iconic level: 1000/5 look at him, man’s shining Free slot: Bidoof

11. Nishitani

Hated him at the start, because he's a creepy cat, because of the noises, and also because of that one slide on the ground with the knife wiggle, you know the one. Unironically love him now, because the world out there is full of far worse people, and he sure did his attempt at surviving it.

(He totally crawled away at the end, no body no finale, I stan by this)

Evilness: 7/10 he's pretty fucked up, ngl, bringing corpses to Majima like a stray cat Forgetability: -10/10 lives rent free in everyone's head Iconic level: 9/10 man's been on the screen the least but made an impression of a lifetime (on all of us, and on Majima) Free slot: yet another normal cat that everyone think is a "mad dog"; honorary Knife Guy

12. Dojima

Organized a wholeass hunt for Kiryu, got Makoto shot, planned a big power grab, put it all on the table… and lost it all. To Sera.

Respecting him for the effort, he didn't let us rest once. Not respecting what his drinking (and other life choices) made him into later, but even before that I struggle to see what Yayoi saw in him. Apart from maybe her being a young girl from a yakuza family that arranged a political marriage for her when she wasn't even 20 yet. And there is a story here that can be very interesting, like, did you know that (according to rggo) at this exact time Sera was a student that was often arrested on protests? In this essay I will-

Evilness: solid 8/10 he do be scheming Forgetability: 1/10 dragon of who, you say? (Kiryu is very much the dragon of Daigo by this point, but yeah) Iconic level: 5/10 dressed good and has big presence, but derails down the line to a total (not hot) mess, so no respect Free slot: you know, right? Daigo is totally Seras' so- *gets gutted by Yayoi*

13. Knife guy

When Kiryu went through his (and ours) first Long Building™️ to get to the (first) fight with Kuze, we encountered Him. The guy with the knife.

It was already tough going through room after room of generic enemies when Kiryu wasn't that strong yet, and we weren't that skilled with the controls. And the Knife Guy was the first recurring enemy, a small mini-boss with a stabby knife that would bleed us dry and leave us savescumming. And he kept coming back. Again, and again, and again, and-

Before Kuze. Before Majima Everywhere. Before everything. There was an unkillable lil freak with a knife that just wouldn't quit until you literally threw him out of the 2nd floor window.

And I think it's beautiful.

Evilness: 5/10 man’s just doing his yakuza job, and doing it well Forgettability: -10000000000/10 who could ever forget this man the- *checks notes on the hand* Tomoda Iconic level: ∞-1/10 there is a knife guy shape forever imprinted in our hearts but there is still free room left, because Free slot: in this world only Majima surpasses him, because Majima is, of course, The Ultimate Knife Guy

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sgstories123 · 1 year

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Wong’s Blue Adventure

“Look, Wong. She is looking at you again.” The bartender, who was in his fifties with white hair visible on the sides, whispered. “I think you are going to get lucky tonight.”

Wong looked at the woman standing at the far end of the hotel bar counter. She looked to be in her thirties. She was in a red dress with only two sashes of cloth barely covering her breasts. Wong could clearly see the curves of the perfect mounds of flesh. They were not large but perfect for the slender, tall body. She had a slender waist that expanded into a sexy waist and a perky ass. The dress was long but had a long slit on the sides like a cheongsam, showing off the long, slender legs.

She smiled at Wong. Shit. Hope she does not complain to the hotel manager that I was staring at her. Wong thought to himself. He had only started this job as a part-time waiter for about a week and he did not want to be fired so quickly.

A group of men in business suits approached the bar and the bartender moved near them to prepare their orders. Wong was still at his end of the bar, cleaning up when the woman walked up to him.

She took his hand and slipped a $50 note into it. It was warm and soft, her skin smooth to the touch. “Thanks for the service.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Wong mumbled in surprise. It was the largest tip he ever got and he only helped to clear her glass once. Two days ago, when someone retched all over his clothes, he only got a $10 tip.

“When do you get off work?” The woman smiled at Wong, her hands caressing his hands gently. Wong’s manhood surged to attention.

“Erm. In about 10 minutes or so.” Wong replied looking at the clock.

“I thought so. Shift work timing is so predictable.” The woman looked up to the ceiling, with almost an air of disdain. She leaned forward slightly. Wong could smell the sweet, floral perfume emanating from her. “Come up to my room when you are done. I need some more service from you.” She whispered, squeezing his hands gently. She pressed another piece of paper into his hands before walking away with a seductive smile.

Wong’s mind was in a confused state. He is not a virgin but at 22 years old, he did not have much experience with women. He only had 2 previously girlfriends and been to Geylang once with his army mates. He was pensive on the thought of having sex with a stranger. But on the other hand, he felt proud that someone had wanted to hook him up, especially with such a woman who is older, pretty, and obviously rich and successful.

“Thanks, Wong. Your shift is up and you can go off now. Remember to put away those boxes before you leave.” The bartender came up beside him, after serving the group of businessmen. “You okay? What’s that in your hands?”

Wong looked at his hands. He was still holding onto the piece of paper that the woman had passed him. He unfolded it and on it was a room number.

“Wait. Did the woman give that to you?” The bartender smiled knowingly. “You lucky bastard. What are you waiting for? Go. I will take care of the boxes.”

“Is it okay?” Wong asked. “I mean, she is a guest at this hotel right?”

“You are so innocent.” The bartender laughed. “This happens all the time. But of course, for me, I am too old to be of anyone’s interest. It has been a long time since any one approached me.”

Wong was not sure whether the bartender was joking. He seemed so serious.

The bartender pushed Wong out of the counter. “Go now. You are only young once.” The bartender gave Wong a friendly pat on his ass. “Just remember to put on a raincoat.”

Minutes later, Wong was knocking on the door of the hotel room. He waited but there did not seem to be any answer. He looked along the empty corridor, worried that he may be seen by someone he knows. It all seemed so wrong.

He knocked again. He checked the room number on the slip of paper. It was correct. Did the woman play a prank on him? Just when he was about to give up and walk away, the door opened.

“Sorry. I was in the shower as I was not expecting you to turn up so quickly.” The woman was dressed loosely in the hotel bathrobe, her cleavage clearly visible. Wong’s manhood was rigid all over again.

The woman pulled Wong into her room and closed the door after him. The room was dimly lit with the curtains drawn closed. Without saying anything, the woman pressed Wong against the wall, kissing him aggressively, her mouth sucking his breath out of him. She groped his manhood, squeezing his balls hard.

“Not bad. Take off your clothes and get on the bed.” The woman commanded.

Wong hesitated but seeing that the woman did not seem likely to take no for an answer, he complied. He took off his clothes, folding them neatly on the dressing table. When he was left only in his underwear, he hesitated again, looking at the woman for confirmation. The woman did not say anything but merely stared at his manhood beneath his underwear.

“Do I take this off as well?” Wong mumbled shyly.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. What did I say?” The woman replied softly but Wong could feel that it was edged with danger.

Without another word, he peeled off his underwear, exposing his erect manhood to the cold air in the room. He got on the bed nervously, with his manhood hard and erect, pointing towards the ceiling at an angle.

The woman took off her bathrobe, revealing the perfect globes of breasts and ass. She straddled Wong, her legs pinning his hands. She pushed her vagina against his mouth while her hand held on to his head, forcing him to kiss her lower body lips. She grinned herself hard against Wong’s mouth, moaning softly as pleasure starts to rise within her.

Wong did not have much experience with cunnilingus. He licked the insides of her vagina as hard as he could, probing deep within the folds before finally finding the mound of her pleasure. He prodded and licked, trying hard to give the woman pleasure. He must be doing something right as the woman moaned louder and grind herself harder against Wong. She leaned backwards, grabbing Wong’s hard cock in her hands. Wong was surprised at the warm, soft touch of her hands, that he cummed in her hands immediately. He wanted to stop for while to enjoy the orgasmic pleasure but the woman continued to push herself against his head, caring only for her pleasure. She grabbed Wong’s head in her cum-drenched hands, refusing to let him stop pleasuring her. Wong continued to attack her vagina with his tongue but already he was tired and he could his tongue getting numb. He was about to give up when the woman shuddered, pushing herself even harder against him, her pubic hair almost shoving into his nose, as streams of love juice splattered across his face.

The woman collapsed on Wong, panting. Wong tried to push himself from under the woman but he was pinned too tightly.

“You came already. You are so useless.” The woman panted. She looked at the limp manhood, stroking it again with one hand, trying to revive it.

After several strokes, she got up from the bed. “Turn over and get on all fours.”

Wong complied, his ass sticking out as he got into a doggie position.

He heard rustling and turned his head to look. The woman had on a strap-on dildo and a whip in her hand. Shit. Is she into SM? Wong was afraid of the pain from the whip and dildo, yet at the same time, he was excited with trying something new. He felt his manhood coming alive again. Looks like his body has decided that it was worth the pain.

The woman stepped up and whipped Wong. It was not that painful, just a small shock. But then, the whips became harder and more frequent. While it was getting more painful, Wong could feel his manhood getting harder and thicker. It was as if the blood was escaping from his ass to his manhood. He groaned but he was not sure whether from pain or pleasure. It was all very confusing to him.

Without warning, the woman shoved a lubricated finger into his asshole. He gasped in shock. Initially, he was abhorred by the thought of something being stuck in his asshole. But as the woman started fingering him, a weird sense of pleasure filled him. He was not used to this feeling. Then a second finger was shoved into him and a third. He clenched the bedsheets tightly, feeling weak with the weird pleasure coming from his asshole.

The woman replaced her fingers with the dildo, pushing it deep within Wong. Wong groaned in pleasure as the dildo penetrated within him. As the woman fucked him with the dildo, she slapped his ass cheeks. Wong groaned louder and louder as the pleasure overtook him. His manhood was now harder than he had ever experienced, quivering in pain and pleasure, his pre-cum dripping continuously. The woman laughed as she fucked Wong. She leaned over and bit Wong’s ear. He gasped in pain but was soon overcome in orgasmic pleasure as the woman grabbed his manhood and stroked him till his dam broke and his cum spilled over.

Weak with pleasure, Wong collapsed on the bed, now drenched with sweat and other bodily fluids. Wong was so tired that he did not resist when the woman turned him over. He vaguely had the sensation that the woman was stroking his manhood, trying to get it hard again. He did not think he could go another round as he was feeling so weak and tired. But again, his body seemed to have other ideas. His manhood grew painfully rigid. It was pain and pleasure all over again.

“Good boy.” The woman purred softly. She straddled him again but this time, she held on to his manhood, slowly guiding it into her vagina. Wong gasped in pleasure as his manhood pushed open the tight, warm vaginal walls. As his manhood inched past each fold of the vaginal walls, his pleasure deepened. The walls closed in on his manhood, squeezing it tightly. If he had not already cummed twice, he would have already ejaculated. He could now feel the woman’s lower body rubbing against his skin. His manhood is fully engorged, pulsating deep within into the woman. It was so tight that he felt his manhood was being suffocated, with no room to manoeuvre. He took a deep breath on behalf of his manhood. He needed air.

The woman did not appear to be aware of him or his needs. Her head tilted towards the ceiling, she was only focused on her own pleasure. She moaned softly, slowly grinding herself against Wong’s body. She leaned backwards, rubbing her clitoris against Wong’s manhood, enjoying the warmth against her lower body.

“Fuck you, asshole. I don’t need you.” She whispered under her breath, seemingly lost in her own world. “What do I care? You fuck around, I can also do the same. Asshole.”

She leaned forward, squeezing the base of Wong’s manhood with her fingers. That surprised Wong. It felt so good that he almost ejaculated. With her fingers tightly squeezing his manhood, it seemed to grow even longer and thicker, pushing hard against the enclosed walls.

“I am going to cum.” Wong panted.

The woman looked down at Wong and gave him a slap on his cheeks. “Don’t you dare. You cum when I give you the order.” With that, the woman squeezed his manhood even harder, twisting his balls. Wong winced in pain as his need to ejaculate subsided.

The woman rode Wong hard, cursing sporadically. Every time Wong felt that he was cumming, the woman did the same thing, squeezing his manhood and twisting his balls. After several rounds, the woman finally reached her orgasmic climax, arching her body backwards, shuddering in pleasure as she sprayed her love juice all over Wong. Satisfied, she got off Wong and walked to the dressing table where she picked up her handbag. She took several pieces of blue $50 notes and threw it over Wong’s body.

“Get dressed and get out of here. I don’t want to see you when I am out of the shower.” She said curtly before turning towards the bathroom.

Wong wanted to protest. He was so close to cumming that he needed a release. He watched the woman with the perfect perky ass walked into the bathroom. Fuck. He knew there was no point in kicking up a fuss. He dressed himself quickly and picked up the blue notes. They were the same colour as his balls, he mused to himself. Well, at least with this money, he could go to Geylang and cure his blue balls.

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andromerot · 4 months

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my pedro almodóvar marathon. thoughts, feelings, tier list

or, i spent like 50 hours on this so i better get to post about it

well, i'd be lying if i said i set out to do this with any clear goals in mind. i sort of just wanted to watch movies. this year i set out to watch through a couple of directors entire works, but ran into complications or got bored. so anyway when i finished my term i decided id try a third time with my best friend pedro. i had watched five of his films already but was mostly unaware of other things he had made. on the 22nd of november i started with matador, then went on and in exactly a month i had watched all of his feature films yayyy

so this is how i ranked them on letterboxd and this is a tier list. this doesnt really sum up my thoughts though so im leaving a little review for each below the cut, in the order i watched them in this month hope someone cares :) thank you

matador (1986): ohhhhhh my god. absolutely unexpected how insane this movie made me. many people say its not very good, i dont think that's true. transgressive, erotic, camp, necrosexual, implicit faggot tension, beautiful costuming, insanely talented cast of so many characters sick in the head. watching this one first really hyped me up to keep at it and to close out the month i rewatched it the other day and though it was less surprising than the first time i watched it its maybe my favorite now :) it has structural flaws i suppose. but i love it

¿que he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984): pretty funny! not bad at all, i remember enjoying it as i watched it, it just wasnt very memorable. i enjoy every performance by carmen maura, chus was stellar as always and forqué was really sweet in this one too, i liked it. i literally forgot half of the plot though. did anyone remember the telepathic child or the faked hitler diaries? i didnt until i looked it up.

la ley del deseo (1987) (rewatched): showed this one to my friend, god its iconic. some of my favorite chiques almodovar. so fun to watch and so silly even though its not quite a comedy. the fact that antonio is just called antonio in this one makes me unwarrantedly happy. MAURA THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE!! very hot all around. i think i liked it better this time than the other two i had watched it.

pepi, luci, bom y otras chicas del montón (1980): everyone talks about how sexually transgressive 80s almodovar is and i was like yeah whatever until i watched this one. straight up trilogy of trash shit. so beautiful. i wish every movie was like this. no one likes it but i adored it. erecciones generales will stay in my mind forever and i loved the musical numbers. and the piss, of course.

entre tinieblas (1983): also somewhat forgettable, though i watched it while pretty worried about something else so maybe i didnt give it the attention it deserved. its not a bad time but i wouldn't rewatch it. based on the premise you think it'd be better.

la flor de mi secreto (1995) (rewatched): OH GOD. until last month my favorite almodóvar, its been outdone but it still destroys me. its terribly underrated. i dont even know what i can say about it... marisa paredes is stunning at doing desperation. the boots, the scene at the protest, the initial meeting with ángel, the poem in the car, that moment in the hall. it's beautiful and breathtaking. lesbian film history, i promise.

todo sobre mi madre (1999): like, its good, but i dont get what people see in it that makes it so acclaimed. again paredes is great in this, but penélope is somewhat tame compared to what she does later, and this is the point in the list where i have to admit cecilia roth is not very good to me and all my compatriots start throwing rocks at me. listen i just wish she'd stop doing that stupid accent its so fucking bad cecilia sincerate seguro sos de villa crespo. anyway its fine if a bit weird about trans women, but hes always a hit or miss w that

átame (1989): took a big break between the last one and this one for some reason. anyway, pretty funny, except it really drags in the middle. shouldnt have been that long, but victoria abril always slays and the last scene is wonderful.

tacones lejanos (1991): WOAHHHHH! really cool i liked it. i love a mother daughter thing especially this mother and this daughter. really fun doppelganger story and i love how it was told, i found it both melodramatic and subtle? miguel bosé makes a really pretty girl, this will inform my every subsequent rewatch of suspiria. big fan of his gender. dance number fucked obvs

kika (1993) (rewatch): ok, i know why people don't like this one, but its so silly... cmon. it sillay. once again incredible abril performance, the costuming my god.... her character makes the whole movie i wish i was her. lesbian rossy de palma was wonderful and every forqué performance is a delight. pedro getting hitchcockian with it to slightly trick the audience is a staple of his 90s filmography, fucks.

carne trémula (1997): the title made me think it would be better! there was barely any carne. i didn't really see the point of most of it tbh, though based on how the movie starts and ends there might be some spanish historical context that im missing that makes it more interesting. strangely reminiscing of the buenos aires affair to me, but puig is better. yeah it was just pretty boring.

laberinto de pasiones (1982): YAYYYYYY i had some trouble torrenting so i watched it really out of order this but its SO FUN. obviously in the same vein as pepi luci bom but i liked it slightly more just for how unnecessarily elaborate it was. the one major role i dont mind roth being in and im a big fan of antonios gay terrorist with an ultradeveloped sense of smell character and arias is really into his very silly character too – he works well in secreto as well, i wish hed been on more almodovares, i should finally watch camila. liné was hilarious too. the problematic incest storyline was really funny to me sorryyyyy and i got a lot of gender out of the musical performances. hey can you believe that beautiful fag covered in blood is a franquista now. i can

hable con ella (2002): ehhhhhhh. some people really hate this one for the couple scenes i found most interesting, others love it for reasons i cant parse. its got parts that caught my attention a lot, but mostly it was eerie in an unenjoyable and uninteresting way and the backstories dragged on too long, especially grandinetti's. like i just don't care sorry. THE scene is quite disturbing though. i appreciated he decided to show rape in a more subtle light for once, it made it a lot more cruel and a lot more interesting.

la mala educación (2004) (rewatch): sighhhh. i really wish i liked this one. its got so many elements i am into – the colours are obviously spectacular, the unreliable multiple narrations and the disassembled timelines are always enjoyable to me, the attempt at social commentary is appreciated, some scenes are stunning (fictional ignacios head split in half is unforgettable) but quite honestly the characterization is so bad it bores me. i liked it more the first time i watched it just because of how confused i was, once i wasnt it lost its magic. maybe the worst in what is considered the "somewhat autobiographical movies about directors" trilogy (i think there's four of them but we'll discuss that later) probably because the character of enrique is so bland. i know its more but it feels that you only spend like five minutes with him. ángel/juan's motivations for anything are so puzzling, ignacio is just a caricature at this point and probably the character with the most depth is berenguer, which is ironic, i guess

volver (2006): WAHHH. its hard to talk about it honestly. it was so unexpectedly beautiful. the acting is so on point – penélope cruz and that beautiful carmen maura comeback are self evident, but blanca portillo is also stellar. it was fascinating from minute one and i couldnt keep my eyes off it. its written with such care and love. i suppose the plot itself is nothing out of this world, but the way it is handled is explosive. i really adored it.

los abrazos rotos (2009): the fourth bastard on the self insert series! cmon, its way more about himself than la mala educación. anyway, its good at some points, not very in others. the strong point is obviously the relationship between mateo, judit and diego, their refusal to be tied as a family and their desire to be tied by love is reaaaally interesting. the scene at the sea... but penélope and her millionaire and her millionaires son do nothing interesting at any point, im afraid to say. sad! surprisingly not very memorable, even though i didnt dislike it as i watched it. like i remember i liked some things but if a couple weeks later i dont remember what they were its probably the movies fault

la piel que habito (2011): AUGHHH OK. fuck. THIS ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. it wasnt it was really mid. when it started i was like oh is pedro trying out his hand at cronenberg and i was really excited because im SURE he can do cronenberg better than cronenberg but he didnt. it was worse. how are you giving your women less agency than that guy??? honestly probably the first ever film of his where this is a noticeable problem, though penélope in the last one should give us a hint. ughh it should have been good. im mad about that. no desire to question gender or power and the unchronological storytelling does nothing for me. BAD! if anything i recognized its sexual power for if banderas character was a woman i would be throwing up and convulsing on the floor. i hope vicente and his lesbian coworker had a beautiful romance i guess. i cant believe some people call this one one of the most controversial of his work....

los amantes pasajeros (2013): hm well everyone was like THIS is the bad one and i was like i bet you guys are just being mean but no yeah this is the bad one. its not funny and it drags on so long...i can usually defend the rape scenes in his movies, even in kika or hable con ella, but this one just sucks so bad. i was prepared to defend this movie but i cant. as soon as the movie started i was trying to guess where all the threads would connect, how all the characters would be linked and they mostly... weren't? also the reference to the gazpacho scene in mujeres made me groan out loud.

julieta (2016): well i dont really know what this was supposed to be....it feels on the surface it could have been really good but something about it felt so emotionless. it was an odd experience, watching it, because i expected to be moved by so many scenes and i never was. i dont know what the point of it was.

dolor y gloria (2019): ok yeah this one was sweet! didn't blow my mind or anything but it was very cleverly made...a really more beautiful way to do the childhood-as-movie thing than in mala educación, i really enjoyed it. nostalgia bores me sometimes but i feel hes not being annoying about it. long live old man yaoi (and finally an argentinian actor i DONT hate...) and that beautiful beautiful cave and that mind gripping apartment bringing in the characteristic insane set design but in a new way...i had a good time

madres paralelas (2021): oh this could have been so good! it wasnt but honestly i dont remember exactly why i disliked it. i suppose i didnt connect to the characters and that it is a story that requires that to engage you – their motivations were really out of place and unlike other movies that bothered me. really interesting premise, didnt work out. im sad about it. could have been cool.

yeah so that's it i only realized while writing this that i forgot to rewatch mujeres but obvs that ones very good, proper classic, quote it every time i eat gazpacho and such. also extraña forma de vida is a snore i refuse to watch it again. i hope this works as a rec list for someone. and i am ready to be stoned by my wrong opinions by the rest of you

#lol ive had this on my drafts for like a week. i forgor

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princess-of-the-corner · 3 months

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Wait what did you think was going to happen with the Dragon Slayers? That they were actual dragons? (I personally hate the whole END plot point like wtf was that)

I mean yeah kinda!! like. I'm trying to remember all my logic because this was thought of MANY years ago when I was more into the show and I haven't watched shit past the Tenrou Island Arc but like. my thought process was:

1.) Dragon Slayer Magic is something incredibly fucking rare and the only people who know it were taught it by Dragons while they were small children, with these Dragons being the only family they had(no humans or anything else around). The only exceptions being people who had a Lacrima with the Magic shoved into their body.

2.) Natsu was searching for Igneel in normal ass places like towns and cities. Places that would have a hard time hiding a giant ass dragon. But like. Remember the first episode where he's like "Oh there's some fancy fire mage showing off in town?! Might be Igneel!' and doesn't question the logic. Now this could just be 'Natsu is a moron(affectionate) and doesn't realize that a 50-foot Dragon is probably not hanging out in the middle of town'. But it could also be 'Natsu is a moron(affectionate) who never bothered to mention that Dragons could shapeshift into Humans and go into town for things'.

3.) The whole first hint that something is Up is the age restriction magic thing used during the Battle of Fairy Tail Arc which banned both Natsu and Gajeel despite them seeming to not hit the limit. Which while it eventually led into the Time Travel plot Canon went with, could also just be a thing of Dragon ages being fucky(an incredibly common trope in fantasy, whether you just make them long-lived or age slower or any number of things)

4.) While I can buy their Magic giving them passive immunity to their own element, and I can even buy the more questionable thing of their Magic allowing them to consume their respective element even though the Human digestive system should not be able to do that. HOWEVER: we swing over to the Edolas arc, where Natsu is still fireproof and able to consume fire even if he can't blast anything due to Edolas fucking with everyone's Magic. Which implies that these traits are /natural to him/ rather than part of his active abilities.

So yeah I just kinda. Expected that to be the fucking twist on the thing? That the Dragon Slayers were actually Dragons and just stuck in Human Form. And then I fell out of the show and came back years later and went 'hey what was that about' and looked it up and like. Time Travel? Really?

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ragsy · 3 months

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47-60, and 66-70 for Beloved Dogmark, Beloved Dillion and Agent Hill because I think she’s hot

AUGH LIGHTNING ROUND. okay. rapid fire.

47. favorite type of cheese?

Mark: lactose intolerant :( Dillion: doesn't know what cheese is. WAIT, unless his people traditionally milked whales?? and made cheese from whale milk??? those are the only mammals that he would conceivably encounter. oh no. now i have thoughts. Hill: pepper jack. but like. the painfully hot kind

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

Mark: don't call him a fruit, he'll cry. but also-- peach. fragile and easily bruised, but has a hard center if you dig for it. Dillion: some sort of near-extinct heirloom apple variety that was only grown on some rich guy's lawn for a single generation before he went bankrupt and the variety disappeared Hill: beefsteak tomato. spiteful and acidic, but robust and tender.

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

Mark: oh fuck what a horrible night to have a curse. what a complete dogshit ass night for a curse. god what a fucking night, my dude. for a curse i mean. fuck this. Dillion: MY BOY, THIS PEACE IS WHAT ALL TRUE WARRIORS STRIVE FOR-- Hill: act first. apologize later.

The rest under the cut 👇👇

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

Mark: probably one of those things where he had just gotten out of a potentially very dangerous situation (a mugging, a car crash, a fire, etc) and, once he realized he was safe and everything was fine, all he could do was laugh. and laugh. and he doesn't laugh a lot. so people get very concerned. Dillion: over a meal with his party members. someone's just said something clever. he can't remember the last time he shared a moment like this with someone who cares for him just as much as he does for them. Hill: she just told someone to fuck around and find out. they just found out. she didn't even have to lift a finger.

51. current stresses?

Mark: has no job. has no money. has an anxiety disorder. is a dogman. doesn't know where he's sleeping tonight. Dillion: on a self-destructing planet with the distinct possibility that he can't save everyone Hill: has a malignant curse that is slowly turning her body into a mass of tentacles with minds of their own. also probably under investigation by the IRS

52. favorite font?

i'm gonna be real with you here, i don't think any of these three people have one. i don't even know if dillion knows what a font is

53. what is the current state of your hands?

Mark: nicked and scraped, dirt under his nails/claws. currently shoved in his pockets. Dillion: as manicured as he can manage, given his circumstances. currently gripping the hilt of his sword. Hill: scarred, knuckly, bruised. she keeps her nails as short as they'll go. currently only one of them-- lost the other one to the aforementioned curse.

54. what did you learn from your first job?

Mark: you are a peon whose only purpose is to keep your head down and do what you're told. Dillion: you are the specialest boy in the whole kingdom because you paid us a lot of money for this job title Hill: if you see someone shoplifting no you didn't

55. favorite fairy tale?

Mark: beauty and the beast Dillion: the little mermaid (or, rather, the undersea perspective version of it) Hill: little red riding hood

56. favorite tradition?

Mark: going camping in june for his birthday (which is actually in december) Dillion: traditional dishes from home. you KNOW cooking in a culture that spends 100% of its time submerged in water has gotta be some wild delicious shit Hill: new year's. it's the only holiday she ever really gets off, anyway

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Mark: escaping a toxic relationship, surviving on his own, accepting himself for what he is Dillion: overly high self esteem, survivor's guilt (kinda still working on this one but he's made a lot of progress), speaking openly about his feelings to another person Hill: mostly extremely large monsters trying to eat her. there's been a lot of those

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

Mark: pretty good at making a campfire, has some sort of 6th sense for knowing if there's poison ivy nearby, has a bite force of 330 PSI and can run at about 30mph on all fours (idk if he's actually proud of those last two but he deserves to be) Dillion: big arm muscles. big abdominal muscles. big leg muscles. big heart. which is also a muscle. Hill: can keep a cool head in a dangerous situation, really good at arm wrestling, is a pretty good shot (was better when she had two hands, but she's still pretty good), encyclopedic knowledge of american sitcoms from between 1980 and 2005

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

Mark: "uh. uh-oh. oh no." Dillion: [clipping the microphone] "ONWARD, MY FRIEND!" Hill: "Alright, shitheads. Get on with it."

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

Mark: slice of life romance (but with monsters) Dillion: i mean he was literally isekai'd, so, Hill: some sort of dark, mature, traditional cel-animated seinen

66. favorite flower(s)?

Mark: he doesn't think he has one, but it's totally magnolia blossom Dillion: anemones. but not the animal, the actual flower anemone Hill: sunflower

67. good luck charms?

Mark: his wristwatch. he's not sentimental with a lot of his belongings, but he will never, ever part with that watch. Dillion: the halberd cozy that Midas made for him Hill: the front door key to her house, from before her home town was destroyed by a monster attack

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

Mark: he has NO spice tolerance. so literally anything remotely spicy Dillion: candles, before he learned that you're not supposed to eat them (even though they are on the table) (they don't have tables OR candles underwater) Hill: she's not one to waste a drink, but she tried an IPA at a bar once that was so gross she took one sip, stood up, and drove to the next state over.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Mark: the fastest way to hook up with someone is to go to some sort of queer meetup and yawn just enough for someone to notice his sharp teeth Dillion: he can swim with full plate armor on. don't worry about it Hill: vampires and draculas are two separate, convergently evolved species

70. left or right handed?

Mark: lefty Dillion: righty Hill: was a lefty, but that arm's the bad one. she trained herself well enough to be a righty though

#ragsycon exclusive #entropyking #WHEW good questions thank u #sir dillion #dogmark #agent hill #(who is also called sloane but i never made that publicly official)

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sarahivess · 11 months

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WARNING: LONG RANT AND EXPLANATION

I feel like I have to stand up for myself now when I’ve seen the way some of the people in this fandom have been spreading rumors about me on Twitter.

I’m going to take this from the beginning.

In November, I was kinda new on Twitter. I remember seeing a tweet in my feed, it said “Let Robin say lesbian in season 5” and to me, who lives in Sweden, the word lesbian isn’t a very “bad” word. It’s actually a very common and normal word here, and we have a bunch of movies and tv-shows when lesbian girls and women simply say: I’m lesbian! So to me, I had NO IDEA that in the US, it’s seen as a “bad” word and that’s why the fans wanted her to verbally say it. I totally get that now, but I wasn’t aware back then. Silly me then made a comment, because a very cute and funny little moment popped up in my head and I felt like: AH I need to write this. It was something along with:

“Or gay, because imagine how cute it would be if Will came out as gay, and Robin would say “I’m gay too”, and then a stunned Dustin (or someone) would say “Okay, so while we’re at it - does anyone else want to come out of the closet?” And then Mike slowly raises his hand.”

I didn’t think much more about it, and the next time I logged into Twitter I had gotten like 50 qrts with: LOADS of death threats, gifs with people murdering people, people calling me lesbophobe, people mocking my grammar, my age, people saying weird things to me about Will etc. I was in such shock, I deleted the tweet right away and had a panic attack. What the hell just happened? How did that made me a lesbophobe? I’m bisexual myself, and I LOVE lesbians. I have also a bunch of wlw ships that I love. But all that shit just because I didn’t know that the word lesbian was very uncommon for americans to say in American media and how they wanted to change that.

Anyways, I deactivated my Twitter because all these horrible rumors about me triggered my suicidal thoughts (I suffer from depression), I made a new one and people figured me out right away so I changed alias and pfp/header but people still figured out it was me.

I blocked every single toxic person I came across, a few months passed and one day I was on Twitter again. This time, it was about an analysis of a scene in Stranger Things. Me and an iconic Byler here on tumblr were analysing the scene when everyone says goodbye at the end of season 3. First, Mike looked uncomfortable af when El kissed him, and later on he looked uncomfortable when she was close to him, hugging and touching and making a forehead touch. In one of the gifs, to ME it looked like the hand movement from El was kinda harsh when they made that forehead touch and I just couldn’t understand how people thought it was cute. It was a personal opinion and just a harmless analysis. Both me and this other person were also saying “Nothing against El though, she’s a kid, but I guess if the roles were reversed - if Mike would be the one to kiss El with her not kissing back, with open eyes, looking uncomfortable and shocked, I guess people would have accused him for SA or something. Not that we did, but we know that it would look a lot more bad if Mike was the one who kissed her and not vice versa simply because of the statistics. WE NEVER ACCUSED EL FOR SA. We both love her and she’s my favorite female character in the show. I just don’t like the SHIP Mlvn and I didn’t get how people thought that scene was cute. It was simply an analysis, nothing more. Not an accusation. Not a hate post. That post had over 200 likes and LOADS of reblogs with people who thought the same. But still only me and my friend were attacked. That also lead to ANOTHER accusation: of me being antisemitic. Why?

In year 2006, I first started my YouTube channel. I was very interested in learning how to edit, so thanks to tutorials I learned by myself how to edit. I was 14 years old when I read Anne Frank’s diary for the first time and I saw so much of myself in her. I also loved the way she described her relationship with Peter in the diary, so I watched “Anne Frank: The Whole Story” from 2001 and thanks to my family I could get that movie on my computer so I could make tribute videos of her since she inspired me so much, to never give up on my dreams and to ALWAYS follow my heart and believe that every person is truly good at heart. I made my own trailer for the movie, because there was none to be found on YouTube. My edits became very popular for being back in 2007, and soon loads of people found them. 90% was so happy I made these tributes, that I let the memory of her and all the people who tragically was murdered by the nazi’s back in the 30/40’s live on. But there was also a bunch of REAL antisemitics who called Anne a bunch of horrible stuff in the comments, people who claimed the holocaust never happened etc and I was defending her and the other victims for dear life. I was so proud of my edits, like I said: I was 14 years old and she was my biggest inspiration. My parents also watched these and they didn’t think they were problematic in any way so of course I trusted them and their moral.

And yes, I also made two tribute edits of her and Peter (I didn’t even knew about the term “shipping” back then) but this person on Twitter said I was making “ship edits” about Anne Frank. I have made all of my old videos private now, mostly because of the bad quality but also because of this person who now made me embarrassed of them instead. I wouldn’t make these edits today. Here’s a glimpse of one of them:

Is this antisemitic in any way?

Anyways, because of this person + a lot of others, this made me and my friend to eventually deactivate our tumblr accounts. I hade SO much going on in my personal life back then too, so this was just too much. They found out things about my family situation and that made me freak out, I was threatening them with the cops just because they were attacking and stalking me and my family on a personal level. They were harassing me on TikTok. On DM. On Twitter. People were leaving me and I felt like shit. Luckily there was a bunch who still were standing by my side through all of this and I am SO grateful for you all. Never forget that, you guys made me come back here.

Also, now when one of my tweets became popular on Twitter, of COURSE these people found me and started spreading these rumors again. I found that out from some of my friends here, sending me ss.

I just can’t fucking believe these people. All because of a silly little tweet which ended up in a total DISASTER.

End of rant. I hope at lease some of you understand.

#angelwithnightmares #byler blog #priv rants

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nosafeharbour · 4 months

Text

Encyclopedia Eorzea III: Werlyt thoughts

How is this the second Werlyt thoughts/reactions post I've written in 2023. The Sorrow of Werlyt ended over 2 years ago

This is literally just Werlyt (so also Gaius and Raen) musings, I'll actually finish reading the rest of the book later...

It's beautiful. I've looked at this for 24 hours now

Holy shit, all this Werlyt lore… Gaius was viceroy of Werlyt for TWENTY YEARS?? In-game it sounded like he led the invasion during the epidemic 10 years ago, when you see him adopt the Raen kids, but otherwise wasn’t too deeply involved... but it was under Garlean control since the very start of the Empire? Gaius came into the picture midway through, after it briefly rebelled.

"A young Gaius van Baelsar" capturing Werlyt when he was 30... I guess him being legatus in his thirties makes complete sense with the timeframe of Ala Mhigo, but having it spelled out so plainly… wow

Thinking about the memory of Gaius in the Emerald Weapon trial being a 30 year old is so funny. You jumped-up little shit

It’s hard to pin down dates because everything is measured in years after Werlyt was taken, without it ever giving a starting date, but you can work backwards… the rebellion 30 years post conquering + 20 years of Gaius as viceroy + 5 years before ARR when Gaius begins advance on Eorzea in 1.0 = 55 years ago. The Empire is also 55 years old, which lines up:

Between 55 and 455 years ago: Werlyt is founded (happens after Gyr Abania is unified, but Werlyt is still described as “newly formed” when it was conquered, so definitely closer on the scale to 55)

55 years ago: Werlyt falls under the Empire

25 years ago: While the Empire is stretched thin conquering the Far East, the Werlytians stage a revolt and retake the province. Gaius comes in to quell it, and becomes viceroy after the previous one is killed (Gaius is 31 yrs old) (This is also the year Doma is conquered, so that also lines up)

20 years ago: Ala Mhigo is conquered, Gaius is also made viceroy there

15 years ago: Gaius’s fuckup at the Battle of Silvertear, and when he starts to lose favour in Garlemald

10 years ago: The epidemic, when the Raen kids are orphaned

5 years ago: Gaius leaves for the invasion of Eorzea (1.0), which eventually leaves Valens as viceroy after the events at the Praetorium

Did the epidemic happen under his watch? The flashback of him first reaching out to Allie and Alfonse makes sense to be 10 years ago, but the energy of that scene was very much “arriving to a situation” and not that… it was already under his jurisdiction…

I don’t know how I feel about the change of context here, at least in my understanding of it. It honestly feels a bit of a shock that Werlyt has been under the Empire for 50 years? They never stated any specific years, but I always read it as a decade or so? Long enough for it to become their new lives, short enough that people still remember life before. Gaius coming in to “save” Werlyt from the epidemic by way of conquering it was this mixed bag that ultimately did build towards his character thesis of “good intentions stuck in a bad system”. To think the epidemic technically happened under his watch is new and strange, I dunno. I need to replay it with this in mind to see if it checks out

Especially with that one post-Emerald scene where Gaius is all “Things were shit in MY legion? But I ran a tight ship” lmao… I know a lot of people take the piss out of that scene thinking that he was only discovering racism for the first time in his life (he literally has scenes in ARR about stamping out discrimination in his Legion), but I always read it as his ego meaning he believed that his influence and word over his Legion was immovable, that nobody would behave that way because he told them not to. It complements his view that he always thought he was doing good, but not yet having had the blinders of being a cog in the fascist system removed. These things will always still happen. It would be good to see that scene again, with all this context of the epidemic happening during his time as viceroy... If the times are all correct, I feel like him being stretched thin between Ala Mhigo and Werlyt is a part of this

The “all the good Gaius had achieved” line in regards to him building up Werlyt as viceroy makes me wince, while I do like engaging with Gaius having good intentions, just talking about all the good he did and not the fact it was still a conquered territory + the epidemic? Even I’m balking at that, and I’m a Gaius enjoyer. Slow down here. I’m looking at the artwork of destroyed Werlyt from when he re-conquered it right below this paragraph LOL

The Raen of Werlyt migrating there directly from Corvos, to the point that their religion and food is still Corvosi-inspired... seeing it spelled out so plainly after this incredibly fleeting and brief image from FanFest... wow. I get to feel even more insane over Corvos, now

Really curious about the timeframes, still. If Raen only arrived in Werlyt a little over 50 years ago, in one fell swoop they have turned Albi's Welytian grandmother into a Corvosi grandmother

Werlyt religion being polytheistic, seemingly a fusion of the Twelve and Corvosi religion… I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORVOS…

I love the kind of demographics you get from these books:

Werlyt currently undergoing negotiations with Ul’dah for ceruleum, so they can continue mining… Gaius overseeing said negotiations in Ul’dah, Ul’dah is Albi’s turf... Thinking about them in Ul’dah together. It’s actually so fun thinking about Gaius visiting so many Eorzean city states as an envoy. He’s helping, but also he’s keeping his god damn head down (or in a chicken suit)

Werlyt’s main food being stewed dishes is just another thing that lines up with what I imagined, mostly just because it’s what I figured Albi and Gaius would eat a lot (both from cold places, they both know how to cook simple stuff but aren’t master culinarians)

Cheese being a major export to Garlemald, and there being a major cheese presence in Garlemald already (via Ovibos milk, so native to Garlemald itself and not all imported)... cheese lore

There’s way too much dairy talk in here, “dairy enthusiasts” pleeeeasseeee stop making my favourite place like this when I’m lactose intolerent

After The Sorrow of Werlyt says that Terncliff is too high above the ocean to fish, but then Tataru’s Grand Endeavour had orphans collecting seashells, I was so confused on whether or not Werlyt has beaches or not. I’m glad they clarified that there are a few harbours amongst the cliffs.

All of this geography and agriculture lore is neat just in that it’s showing that Werlyt is really quite big. You never really get a full sense of scale in-game, between Terncliff and what we see of the main Werlyt town (?) during Emerald trial/post-Diamond

We have three Werlytian surnames – Hunte, Souther, and Horne!

Severa Souther and Valdeaulin Ganathain… I care them. Severa is only 23, bless her heart. Valdeaulin being 48 is just exactly what I’d assumed/hoped.

The leader of the interim government is Talbot Hunte. Have we seen him..? I’m picturing the Revolutionary Commander in my mind when I read that, but I don't think he was ever named

All of these Werlytian names (surnames, and Hyur first names) have a Germanic feel, while Severa and the Raen kids have Latin-based names. The Raen in Werlyt originate from Corvos, so I am hoping it’s because they are sticking to Corvos being the root of the Latin-based Garlean language, as it should be? Severa had a Garlean parent? Hmm

Bereft at the casual mention of “the bravery of the Baelsars and the Warrior of Light”… THE BAELSARS

Kind of sad they straight-coded Milisandia by giving her a crush on Alfonse. That lizard was one of the gay ones :/

I think Gaius is possibly the first character to get a second Encyclopedia Eorzea entry. I was hoping he would, but had low expectations bc they've never given any other recurring characters new entries... but they did this, for me

“... and though his quest for vengeance would claim the masks of Altima and Deudalaphon, the hunt for Ascians was quickly set aside when he learned of the Empire’s plans to produce the noxious weapon Black Rose” – Black Rose is important and thematic, but seeing the Ascian plot dropped so abruptly even in this book is breaking my heart all over again LMAO

So extremely cool that there are 6 pages just about the Ultima Weapons!! Including the Allagan iterations, the original ARR project, and the second project during Werlyt

I do like the line “According to the testimony of Gaius Baelsar…” in the section about the Ultima Weapon, about how Lahabrea guided them to it. Gaius sat and gave testimony to the Alliance about a lot of things, huh!

I also like the confirmation that Proto-Ultima is the last iteration the Allagans made, and that all the visuals of the Ultima Weapon are magitek and Garlean-made. It’s hard to tell, since the earlier Ultima Warrior has them too, but the fact that Ultima Weapon’s horns look like Gaius’s helmet means it was done on purpose… kinda moe. Nero trying to impress his legatus

Interesting that the Heart of Sabik is mentioned so clearly, and that Valens knew he couldn’t recreate it… but still acquired a piece of Ivalician auracite to base the Oversoul system on. Reading this all post-Pandaemonium is enlightening

Seems that the “third eye” looking chestpiece on the cuirass of legatus armour is the synthetic auracite they used for the same purpose as soul crystals! Having a visual on that is neat

Another extremely obvious hint that Nero made the second (red) G-Savior, which only makes Gaius not finding out he was still alive until Tataru’s Grand Endeavour so funny/weird. Nero literally must have been in Werlyt!! The Ironworks were talking about him constantly! Gaius, are you stupid! (yeah)

#lore #the sorrow of werlyt #reactions

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i-me-mine · 1 year

Text

As time goes by | Chapter 5: The gift

Pairings: Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | AO3

“Shit, shit, shit!” Eddie whispers.

It’s almost 8:50 am, and Eddie is supposed to be at Gareth’s place for band practice by 9 am, so he knows he will be late.

When he enters the kitchen, he looks at you with widened eyes. “Jesus, you scared the hell out of me! Give me a goddamn warning!” he screams, his voice high-pitched.

“Wow, I know I’m scary-looking, Eds, but thanks for the reminder,” you chuckle, and Wayne, who is also there, laughs a bit.

“Idiot,” he says, rolling his eyes. “What’s for breakfast?” he asks.

“Pancakes”

“Smells good! I’d love to eat, but I’m late” he seems disappointed.

“I know; I packed some so you can eat later.”

His hip bumps against yours. “You’re the best, sweetheart! I have to go, band practice now; a couple of deals later, I’ll stop by Reefer Rick; my stock is getting dangerously low… you two take care, ok?”

He kisses you on the cheek before going out, and you hope he has not seen you blush while Wayne says, “Take care, son.”

You take your pancakes and sit in front of Wayne, who is still eating his. “Now that he is gone, we can talk…”

“What happened, kiddo?” Wayne’s voice was suddenly urgent; he was worried something terrible had happened.

“You know our graduation gift idea? We may have a problem… Eddie doesn’t think he is graduating at all this year” you wait to see if Wayne will react or say something, but he is still looking at you, waiting for you to complete your line of thought, with no interruptions or judgments.

“And I know we are not exactly in our best behavior mode, and I’d understand if you change your mind… but I really want to do this.”

“I want the best for you two, and I know you are just trying to have fun… but people here don’t see it like that. I just want you to be safe and happy, try not to get in more trouble for now, will ya?

“We’ll try not to get caught.”

“That’s not what I said, kiddo,” he replies, trying to sound serious, but you can see the hint of a smile there.

You dodge his comment, changing the focus of the conversation again. “But what about the gift? Will you still help me with it? I can use my flirting skills and get us a discount…”

“No way, I’ll handle it! But don’t you wanna wait for next year then? I know that you are not getting many shifts lately.”

“My money for that is already saved up…, and it’s just because Ben is leaving for college after this summer, so they are training Keith to work at the arcade and can’t pay us all at the same time… but I’ll get my shifts back later, so no worries.”

“I wish I could help more; It doesn’t feel right to let you spend all that money…”

You smile warmly while reaching out to rub Wayne’s arm gently. It’s ironic to think that he wants to help more when he has already done much more than expected, not only for Eddie but for you as well. He saved you both and is the best caretaker you could have asked for. It seems that both Wayne and Eddie need to learn to recognize how incredible they really are. Better than most of the closed-minded people living in Hawkins, having to deal with being misunderstood by them.

“I would not be able to do this without you; you are already helping a lot. You always help. You do a lot for us, and I appreciate that.”

“You are so kind to us.” He gets up and pets your head. “Fine, I’ll speak with Miller again soon.”

“Thank you, uncle Wayne! Once you get it, remember to keep it out of sight… we don’t want to spoil the surprise!” you say in a cheerful voice.

“I just don’t know what she sees in him.” Jonathan shrugs.

“Bob is nice; give him a chance…”

You and Jonathan are spending the afternoon at one of the picnic tables at the trailer park, he occasionally taking pictures and you scribbling in your notebook when the subject of the conversation changed to his mother’s new boyfriend, Bob Newby.

“There is something wrong with him… that whole over-friendly attitude is not normal.”

“He is just a bit different than us; that’s not exactly a problem. It’s easy to see how devoted to her he is. I think that’s cute.”

Jonathan had seen firsthand how his father, Lonnie, was different from Bob, how he mistreated the whole family. He had worked extra hard to shield Will from it. And now Bob is much healthier to Joyce, but he also absolutely adores Will - which is not hard, as Will is such a sweet boy. You are the one that doesn’t get why Jonathan is so against Bob.

“If you think about it, it just doesn’t make sense; how did they become a couple?”

“Jonathan, love just doesn’t make any sense, and you have no control over it… but they love each other, which means they are luckier than most of us; let them enjoy it.”

You can’t help but think that you would like Eddie to love you as intensely as Bob seems to love Joyce. And speaking of the devil, you see Eddie passing in the back; he smiles and waves at you, making you wave and smile back, and right after it, you are startled by the flash of Jonathan’s camera.

“What’s wrong with you? You almost scared me to death!” you scolded.

“You’re in love with him.” It wasn’t a question, and his voice sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you say, throwing your pencil at him.

“Hey bunny, I know you, and I recognize that facial expression. Will I need the photo to show you concrete proof?”

He knows that using the pet name warms you; he is not playing fair. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” you murmur.

“Really? C’mon, you know you can tell me. You know I’ll understand.”

And he is right. If there is someone that you could trust that would understand how you are feeling and the conflicts that fill your mind, that someone would be Jonathan. But neither of you is good at talking about feelings.

“I didn’t want it to happen. It wasn’t exactly planned, Jonathan…”

“Love never is… so you do love him, right?”

“I love everything about him… except that he is not mine.”

“Yet! When are you telling him?” he throws the pencil back at you.

You catch it before replying, “Never, of course. I fell in love knowing there was never any chance of being with him, so no need to bring more misery into my life.”

“Knowing that something won’t happen doesn’t make you want it less.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

There was a bag of nuts on the table. You start eating them absently, staring out the trailer park. The idea of you telling how you feel to Eddie crossed your mind a couple of times, and the tiny hope that he would be willing to give you a chance burns in the corner of your heart, but the risk of rejection is too imminent. He sees you as his best friend only, maybe as a sister. You already have so many great moments together; you are afraid of being too greedy by making a move and losing everything.

So no, you will wait patiently, and maybe someday you’ll learn how to live in peace with your feelings, or they will simply vanish. Then, as if he could read your mind, Jonathan says:

“The feelings, the yearning, that connection you have with him… it won’t just go away like magic just because you don’t want it to be there… it will only grow. Trust me, I know. So you should tell him if you want to save yourself from suffering.”

“The same way you are telling Nance?”

He stares blankly at nothing, but you see the glimpse of pain crossing his eyes, which makes you regret saying that - because you know it hurts, and it’s not fair to push him like that. It’s not even the same scenario - Eddie is still single, while Jonathan has to see Nancy being happy with Steve every day and live with that. The guilt goes into a spiral mode within you. “I’m sorry, let’s call it a stalemate and drop the subject, shall we?”

Being pros at the art of hiding feelings, you engage in conversation without touching on this topic again.

Time is flying by. Everything seemed to be happening faster than usual, and before you knew it, it was the last day of your school year. You were exhausted by all the exams and happy when the end of the day finally came. Standing at your locker, you grab your things and notice Eddie approaching you with a smile and wave.

“Hi.” You say wearily, a soft smile on your face.

“So… did you pass?” he asks cheerfully.

“Yes, sir! Senior year, here I come.”

“That’s my girl!” he pulls you into a bear hug, and without warning, he throws you over his shoulders and runs to the exit door. “So long, fuckers!! We are getting out of here. We are freeee!” Just another loud and theatrical glory demonstration of despise for Hawkins High School by Eddie Munson.

“P-put me d-do-wn, Eds!” You try to tell him, but you are laughing so hard that you are unsure if he understands it. When you are at the parking lot, he finally puts you down, patiently waiting for you to stop laughing and start breathing again.

“You can thank me for the ride now, M’lady,” he says with a soft, enchanting laugh.

“Not very comfortable, you know.”

He hesitates a bit but then says: “Well, I can offer you a very comfortable movie session tonight at Munson’s trailer as compensation. Would that be enough?” He looks at you with hopeful eyes.

You usually have an end-of-school-year celebratory bonfire by the lake, and as some of the boys from Hellfire are graduating this will be their last one, and they will be probably overly excited about it. But Eddie is asking you to stay at home with him, watching movies. By looking into his eyes, you think that maybe he has not yet settled his issues related to not graduating this year and is not yet ready to face his friends celebrating graduation while he is not.

“That’s an irresistible offer, I take it!”

“Awesome! Wanna come with me to choose the movie?”

“I better make sure chores are all done back home to ensure my father won’t spoil our night. But I’ll see you later!”

“See ya!” he stroked your cheek gently before leaving, making you feel like your blood was on fire.

Doing laundry, cleaning, and tidying up the house took quite some time, but you additionally prepared dinner - you weren’t sure if your father was coming back home that night but wanted to ensure that he would have something to eat if he came. Once everything was ready, you showered and chose something cozy to wear.

You are brushing your hair, lost in thought. While you are still within the safety of your bedroom, you allow yourself to daydream how a movie night with Eddie could be if you were together, imagining the warmth of his embrace, his lips molding into yours, his firm touch and the contrast of his cold rings against your warm body, he sighing your name, you tangled together while the movie is playing in the background, forgotten as you both are too into each other to pay attention to it. You can’t help but smile before bottling up this feeling and getting ready to face reality.

Eddie opens the door as soon as you knock with a wide smile, making your heart flutter when you see him.

“I’m so glad you came, sweetheart!”

As you enter, you notice the clean trailer, and there are snacks, candy, orange juice, and beer at the table.

“I wouldn’t miss the chance of getting free food!”

He happily serves you, and you start chatting, updating each other on your whereabouts that afternoon. He reaches out to give your shoulder a nudge in the middle of the conversation, but due to his clumsiness, he spills his beer over your shirt.

He immediately apologizes and rushes to pick a dishcloth, and in an attempt to clean your shirt, he starts scrubbing it, touching your boobs while doing it, making your face scarlet. It takes him 2 seconds to realize what he is doing, and he drops the dishcloth.

“Ow, I’m so, SO sorry!” his eyes are wide, and he looks embarrassed.

“That’s ok, Eds. It’s just a T-shirt… mind if I borrow one?”

He seems so relieved that you are not angry.

“Go ahead, what’s mine is yours, remember?” he replies. Of course, you are both trying to laugh it off.

You are hyperventilating when you arrive in his bedroom, trying to bury the memories of what happened and how you felt when he touched you by accident in the back of your mind. “Not now, save it for later.” you think. You take deep breaths to calm yourself. When you return to the living room, now wearing one of his shirts, you see that he is waiting for you on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his hand.

“So, what are we watching?” you say, climbing up the sofa and eating some of the popcorn.

“Graduation day. A slasher movie of a masked killer murdering senior students,” he replied playfully, seeming proud of the ironic movie choice.

Here is the thing, you don’t hate horror movies, you usually like them, but they could also scare the shit out of you, making you tense or sitting on the edge of the couch expecting a jump scare or something else to happen.

The movie starts, and soon you both eat all the popcorn. Finally, Eddie puts the bowl aside and picks up the blanket, wrapping it around you both. This would be something for you to think of as cute, just the two of you curled up on the couch, sharing a blanket, but right now, you notice your knuckles turning white due to how hard you are gripping the blanket due to tension while watching the movie.

“What the fuuuuuuuck!” you mumble in disgust as you see one of the characters being stabbed through the neck with a sword. Meanwhile, Eddie is just laughing and having the time of his life.

Later in the movie, you are not that afraid anymore, so each time you get scared or see something disgusting, you take the opportunity to squeeze Eddie tighter or hide your face in the crook of his neck. Just because he is not yours does not mean you won’t take the chances you have to get closer to him.

Wayne arrives home in the morning after a long night shift at the plant. The TV is still on, and you both are laying on the couch, you half-dozing, Eddie fast asleep. He gently speaks with you:

“Hey, kiddo, sorry to wake you up, but it’s important,” he hands you a small package. “Keep this. It’s here, at the end of the trailer park. You can show him today if you want.”

This makes you go fully awake mode, jumping out of the couch. “You’re the best!!” you say, hugging Wayne. Eddie opens his eyes, still sleepy and looking confused.

“Give me 30 min; I’ll be right back… be ready; we’ll take a walk,” you say, giving him a kiss on the forehead before storming out of the trailer, returning home to shower and change clothes.

Eddie is already waiting for you at his door when you come back.

“What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“I want to show you something,” you say, fighting the urge to give small jumps of excitement.

“Cool, let’s go.”

You come closer, wanting to clap your hand over his eyes to cover his sight before taking him but quickly notice that it would not work as you intended.

“Do you trust me?” you ask, your lips curling up mischievously.

“Absolutely not. Look at that face.”

“C’mon, Eddie… would you please borrow me your bandana?”

“What for?” the arc of his brow rising in suspicion.

“So I can cover your eyes with it.”

“No. Nope,” he says, raising his hand and moving it widely to demonstrate his dissatisfaction clearly.

So you put on your best puppy eyes and smile, hoping this helps. “Pleeease?”. It works; he takes out the bandana from his back pocket. You use it to blindfold him, thinking how much more attractive his lips are now, and a crazy thought of stealing a kiss from him comes to your mind.

“Is this really necessary?” he asks, interrupting your thoughts.

“Yes! Now come,” you say, taking his hand and leading him down the path, taking care not to let him stumble upon anything. He is curious, and a little confused but is going along with it.

After a quick walk, you stop and put the key from the package Wayne gave you this morning in Eddie’s hand. “Here we are,” you say, moving behind him to remove the bandana, revealing the surprise. “It’s yours. I hope you like it.”

“Are you shitting me?” he replies, but without moving a muscle, no other words are spoken after that.

You expected a more energetic and vibrant reaction from Eddie upon seeing the 1971 Chevrolet Van parked in from of you. But, on the other hand, he might not understand what was happening.

“Wayne and I thought you would like your own car, so we decided to give you one.”

Silence.

“I know it’s not black; we can work on that.”

You pause. Eddie was still frozen. You were afraid that maybe he thought that it was a gift too expensive.

“You know, this Van is going to need a lot of help before it runs again,” you warn him. “Miller would charge more to fix it than we paid for it; that’s exactly why he sold us so cheap... But I believe you can get it running again.”

The lack of reaction from Eddie’s side is making you nervous. You are on the verge of crying, but you try to say something funny to see if he says something.

“Don’t think I’m doing it for a selfless reason; you’ll drive me to school every day during our senior year.”

You are starting to freak out, wondering if this was a terrible mistake.

“I thought a Van would be a good idea because you could transport the band instruments and equipment, you would have the freedom to move around, do the band practices somewhere else, and even take them to play somewhere someday…”

You are sure you heard him gulp before he starts to turn to you slowly.

“This car is so…” he starts.

You sigh deeply. “Boring?”

“Perfect. The car is perfect. And so are you.” His voice is beautiful, high, clear, and filled with life, like melting honey and washing your worries away.

He gives you a massive, heartfelt hug. “You can’t keep giving me things. I don’t have anything to give you back.”

You roll your eyes in annoyance, but he can’t see it. Of course, being only friends with him causes you pain, but having him in your life, no matter how, gives you infinitely more joy, and that he should know. You would do anything for him because he would do the same for you. You treasure him more than anything.

“Now don’t you dare say you never gave me anything, Eds… because you have. You’ve given me an amazing life, reasons to smile, and good times to laugh about… you’ve given me memories I will never forget. You help make my life easier to deal with, and that’s something I’ll never be able to repay.”

You pet his hair, running your fingers through his curls, and he clings to you tightly. You can feel his heartbeat and breath on your skin; it feels so good. The sense of warmth and safety you feel is almost inebriating, making you feel protected and loved, wishing you could stay in that embrace forever.

“I never thought I deserved something like this. Dammit, I don’t deserve you,” he whispers.

“Eds,” you sigh, “you deserve all the good things in the world.”

“Don’t be melodramatic, sweetheart,” he replies

“Don’t you be so ridiculous, then,” you say jokingly.

Laughing softly, he lifts you off your feet and put you back on the ground before letting go of the hug, which almost makes you sad because you were in such bliss right there. Then, he runs to the van, checking every inch of it.

“Do you really think you can fix it?” you ask.

His face glows when he replies, “You’ll see, M’lady. All it needs is a little love and attention… and it will become our pride and joy. We’ll have such a fun summer!”

He seems genuinely pleased by the challenge, overjoyed and excited even. That is the reaction you were hoping for. He looks like a child that just received his favorite gift from Santa Claus.

You smile with high hopes that you’ll have a fun summer indeed.

Read next chapter

Notes: As promised, a chapter with a happier tone :) Thank you for reading; feedback is always appreciated! Please bear with me, as English is not my first language, and this had no proofreading - feel free to let me know if you find any major errors.

@sidthedollface2 @bimbobaggins69 @roxy9295 @aftermidnightwriting @ghosttownwherenoonegoes

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bondunlocked · 1 year

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Beware - Interview with the Vampire thoughts (and spoilers)!

I am not going to lie, I have found the interview part of this show so much more interesting than the flashback parts (not to say the flashbacks/story isn’t interesting but there is so much going on in the present time scenes) So in my musing, I was wondering why they were doing the Interview again almost 50 years later and I think I have figured it out. I don’t think it is because Louis wanted to set the narrative right (we all know his story is full of holes and he is being controlled. Even he was confused by parts of the story he supposedly ‘lived’) I think it is because Armand wanted to see Daniel.

Its been years since I read the books but I remember that Armand and Daniel had a seriously toxic and obsessive relationship which drove Daniel to almost die before Armand turned him. In this reality, Daniel was clearly not turned *coughyetcough* but I think the relationship still happened.

I think at the end of the relationship, Armand was faced with the choice to either kill Daniel, turn him or let him go and in this reality, he chose the last option. He wiped the relationship from Daniel’s mind and tried to set up shop with Louis to forget about him but on learning of Daniel’s diagnosis, Armand decided he needed to see Daniel one last time.

He manipulated Louis into thinking about the interview again so there was a reason for Daniel to return and he hid out as a servent so he could see Daniel but still have the option to walk away while Daniel didn’t remember him.

He saw how sick Daniel is getting and knows Daniel doesn’t have long to live so he was trying to spend as much time with Daniel as possible (the prayer scene, the dinner scene etc) and help him by getting him the best medical care.

I think this reveal has shown Armand’s hand. He has decided he wants Daniel back and is going to allow Daniel to remember him now. (Also, I think he is now remembering how much of a little shit Daniel can be when he is going after something he wants, be it the truth from Louis or being turned because that reveal was insane)

I hope season 2 will go into their past relationship (and not just because of the amazing casting for young Daniel. Seriously, I thought HOD was good casting but young Daniel and old Daniel are spooky in how much alike they are) and I think Armand’s end game is now going to be Daniel. Daniel doesn’t realise it yet but he is no longer in control of his own life (but we know that he is not going to take that laying down.)

Armand has gotten his claws in Daniel again and I think its gonna be a wild ride from here. Bring on Season 2.

#amc interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #interview with the vampire 2022 #I have so many theories but this is the big one #the interview was just the hook to reel daniel back into the bullshit #armand/daniel #daniel molloy #armand #the vampire chronicles #the vampire armand #armand x daniel

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 1 year

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Little Things I Dig About STRANGE WORLD

Much like the one I did for PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, this post will be a list of unorganized thoughts on STRANGE WORLD. And as usual, if you haven't seen STRANGE WORLD and were planning on doing so but haven't really had the chance nor gumption to fire up Disney+ and watch it, there be spoilers ahead!

'They're The Clades'. This is a hit the ground running opening right here. An all-too-brief cel-shaded depiction of Jaeger Clade's adventures and exploits, and how his son Searcher was by his side but was never really the rough-and-tumble explorer type. The song would do the Mello Men proud, as it recalls the songs of various live-action adventure movies that Disney had made throughout the '50s. This whole movie, if it wasn't clear before, is a massive homage to that era of adventure stories. The scene alone is evoking an early-to-mid 20th century pulp comic. Also during this sequence, we see these really lovely paintings of the Clades on their adventures. Particularly the visuals of them encountering birds of prey and a bear. It hits all those classic wilderness aesthetics in mere seconds flat.

Avalonia itself is actually quite a cool-looking world. It being on the back of a giant turtle-like beast swimming around on an all-water planet is very much Terry Pratchett's DISCWORLD, but being someone who lived the early 2000s as a kid, it also struck me as very BIONICLE. Hey, did you know Walt Disney Animation Studios was looking to option DISCWORLD for an adaptation of MORT? That was to be Ron Clements and John Musker's movie after THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, but due to rights issues, that fell through, and they ended up pitching other ideas that would later morph into MOANA.

Continued, Avalonia in the post-Pando era: The retrofuture setting, the sortakinda steampunk-like aesthetic, very TREASURE PLANET in some ways. The graphic design recalled various decades of aesthetics of the 20th century, too. Some '30s and '50s touches on Callisto Mal's ship, the Venture, subtle and neat stuff. Loved the architecture, technology, and cruisers. The cruisers, especially the one the Clade family uses to dust the crops, in particular reminded me of the hovercraft vehicles in the JAK & DAXTER series. That was another action-adventure franchise from the early 2000s that I was very much big on back in the day (and still am!).

Legend. Just Legend. He's literally one of my dogs, but in Disney animated form. Plus he's a tripod. Disabled rep, even for a doggie! It was also nice to see a shot of a disabled Avalonian, too.

Primal Outpost reminds me of game called Heroscape, which I remember being advertised a lot circa 2004... Though my 12-year-old self never played it or got invested in it, I thought it always looked cool. The hexagon pieces and such... But yes, I liked that a role-playing/strategy game played a part in this world, it just added a depth to it: This is a game that the kids/teens play. Today I learned that Heroscape ran from 2004 to 2010, and there was a failed revival somewhere down the line. I kinda wish STRANGE WORLD came out in 2004, this would've been my *shit*. Big time.

The lighting choices are what really make the "strange world" pop. The subtle sunset-like oranges and pinks, the misty-like layers, really brings out a lovely look to everything.

There's a particular shot when the Venture is crash-landing while careening into the insides of the Avalonia turtle-beast-creature... Searcher and Legend drop off as the ship is still speeding, it's a particularly well-done shot.

What little there is of the vibe - both good and bad - between Callisto Mal and Meridian Clade, particularly when it shows up during their confrontation in the Venture cockpit.

Right before Ethan meets Splat in that cave of bioluminescent creatures, some of them are apparent in a few frames: They look kind of like glass vases with fireflies inside of them. A small but cool detail, and the framerate on them is much slower.

Splat slapping Ethan when you think they're going to do the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON-esque connect-with-each-other moment, a well-timed send-up of those kinds of person-and-creature scenes.

The Clade men playing Primal Outpost is a standout scene to me, and I absolutely love the jab at the well-repeated "criticism" that Disney animated movies don't work without traditional bad guy villains in them.

How Searcher and Jaeger can't get the handshake/gestures right, they're preemptively doing a different one. It's a fun little character beat for both of them.

Everything about the much healthier insides of the beast after the heart is restored. A colorful, near-psychedelic set of images.

#strange world #disney animation #walt disney animation studios #wdas #unorganized thoughts #opinions

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hwangyeonjun · 2 years

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DEADLY FLOWERS

summary: you loved working at the flower shop, especially when you had han jisung as your frequent customer who came to buy custom-made flowers from you every week, as you assumed, for his girlfriend. but later you found the same flowers in a place you least expected.

pairing: han jisung x fem!reader

genres: fluff, angst, acquaintances to possible lovers, comfort, non idol au

warnings: mentions of death, some swearing

word count: 3,2k

working in a flower shop was not ideal but it was something that you loved and genuinely enjoyed doing. the shop is small and not very popular, although it was the only one in the small town that you live in. you loved flowers ever since you were a little girl, they represented love and warmth to you; your dad used to bring them every day for your mom and the memory is very dear to you.

what you noticed though, is that bringing flowers to your loved ones is not as popular now as it used to be before. your usual customers are either old people who are still keeping the tradition or people who buy flowers only for occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries.

except for one frequent customer, that you grew fond of over time. han jisung came into your shop eight months ago, asking for a custom-made bouquet with red, white, and blue flowers. after that day, he started coming in every week, around the same time. friday, 6 pm.

you never knew whom he was buying them for but you also never wanted to bribe. assuming it was for his girlfriend, you moved on with your life.

after some time, you found yourself waiting for his arrival. that skip of a beat your heart makes whenever he walks in, the smile that your face holds while you make small conversation, the heat on your cheeks whenever he smiles or laughs.

you’re not dumb, it wasn’t hard to realize after a while that you have a small crush on jisung and although you’re happy to see him every friday, the little sting in your heart whenever he says “thank you, she will love it” doesn’t go unnoticed by you.

it was already 5:30 pm. unconsciously, you started fixing your hair and makeup, cleaning the shop a bit, and waiting for jisung with your heart beating faster than usual. it was stupid, really, waiting to see a guy that could never be yours, trying to look good in front of him, trying to make him smile or laugh. you just can’t help yourself but to hope that the small portion of his attention will make you feel better and spoiler alert - it only makes you feel worse.

you would never actually make a move on a taken guy, that’s why all of this is just harder for you and your feelings. unrequited love… you read about it in books, saw it movies and it was not the love story you thought you would have.

with all your thoughts running through your head, you didn’t hear the bell above the door ring, announcing that someone came in. you only realized when jisung waved his hand in front of your face with a little chuckle escaping his lips.

“oh shit, hi. i’m sorry” your cheeks were burning from embarrassment as you looked at him.

“hi, y/n” the way your name rolled out his tongue made you want to scream and stomp your feet. “daydreaming?”

“yeah, you could say that” giggling, you brushed your hair back, closed your eyes, and sighed.

by doing that, you failed to notice the little sparkle in jisung’s eyes as he admired you.

“the usual, right?” you asked him, making sure.

“yup”

and with that, you got to work. while you were arranging flowers, jisung walked around the shop, inspecting every single flower. “anything fun happened today?”

ah yes, the small talk you always have are also one of the reasons why you’re stuck on him.

“do you know mr. kim? he lives a block from here, he used to be a chemistry teacher” you quickly looked at him and he nodded. “so he came in, apparently it’s his and his wife’s 50th year anniversary. can you believe it? 50 years!” you exclaimed, excitement bubbling through you as you remembered his story.

and once again, while you were looking at your flowers, he was looking at you, smiling wide; not because of mr. kim’s 50th year anniversary but because of you.

“apparently they got married when they were both 20. high school sweethearts, still going strong” you continued. “the power of love, am i right?” you smiled and raised your head to glance at jisung, only to meet his eyes.

for a moment, you froze in your spot. you saw something that you have never seen before in his eyes, but you can’t wrap your finger around it what it was exactly. you were never good at reading peoples face.

clearing your throat, you continued your task which was almost done. “you’re right. i’ve seen him and his wife a few days back, came over to my work” ah yes. the coffee shop that you’ve been avoiding like a plague. “they were both sitting in a corner, drinking tea, laughing at something, he even fed her cake. i thought that only happens in movies” jisung shared.

“they have been side by side for 50 years. i never thought that love could last so long, usually, after a while it becomes just a habit to be together, to kiss each other, to hug or even talk, you know?”

“i know what you mean. but if the love you have for each other is pure, it’ll last until the day we die”

his words made you look up again. we?

“i-i mean. they. until they die but let’s not talk about death, shall we?” jisung laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

pushing his words aside, you nodded and handed him the bouquet. “there you go, i hope she’ll like it” you tried to smile generously.

“thank you, y/n. she definitely will. you amaze me every time, i don’t know how you manage to create different and yet beautiful bouquets every single time even though you have a limit of the flower choices” his words made your heart clench in your chest. how does he jump from talking about his girlfriend to complimenting you.

“thank you, jisung. i just want my customers to be satisfied”

and with an exchange of goodbyes, jisung left again, taking your heart with him.

thursday. the day you hate the most. the reason is very silly actually - knowing that you’ll see jisung tomorrow, you can’t help but anticipate.

and usually, not a lot of people come in the middle of the week so it’s boring. you found yourself pacing around the shop, trying to find at least something to do and trying to take your mind off. rearranging flowers was something you definitely didn’t need to do and yet, that was exactly how you were spending your time.

when the bell above the door rang, you jumped from your spot, excited that finally someone came but confusion plastered all over your face when the person standing in front of you was jisung.

“did i mess up the days? is it friday?” you asked him, tilting your head to the side.

“no, you didn’t mess up your days” he giggled softly. “it’s thursday but i can’t come tomorrow and i really need the flowers so…”

“sure. the usual, right?”

“actually” he trailed off, looking around the shop. “can you make it all white?”

the request made your eyebrows furrow. white is not a common colour to bring to your loved ones but it’s not like you have a say in this, so you just gave him a little nod and got to work.

“so…i won’t be coming tomorrow” jisung commented while watching you work, his hands were buried in the front pockets of his jeans as he swayed back and forth on his heels.

“figured” you chuckled softly, trying to hide the disappointment in your voice.

“ah, don’t be sad” he joked. “i’ll see you next week, on friday” he continued before adding. “probably”

you gulped and glanced at him. this was the first in the whole year when he actually doubted his arrival. a million thoughts started to run through your head.

why? did they break up? are these are his break-up flowers? did he get tired of you?

“y/n” jisung pulled you out of your thoughts like he did a hundred times before. “i think i can see the gears shifting in your head, stop overthinking everything” he laughed, trying to ease you. “i just think…i need to minimize my visits” he explained. “but not because of you or anything. don’t even dare to think that. i just think it would be better…for myself”

you smiled. “you don’t need to explain yourself to me, jisung. it’s not my business, i’m just a flower girl”

this made jisung frown as he took a step forward. “you’re not just a flower girl. you are my friend”

the feeling in your chest confused you. you felt relieved and happy that he thought of you as a friend but it also hurt that it’s the only thing you ever gonna be for him.

you felt so pathetic. the situation was pathetic.

as you handed him the flowers, your fingers brushed with his as you nodded. “see you when i see you”

and with that, he’s gone. again.

you didn’t realize how much jisung affected your work until friday came and you closed up early because there’s no customers. you usually just waited for jisung.

going home sounded very depressing so you decided to visit your parents. at the cemetery. which is definitely more depressing.

but it’s better than wallow in self pity, eat junk food and watch the same show that you’ve already seen ten times before.

the cemetery was surprisingly a calming place for you. since it was friday night, there were only a few people here and there, which made the atmosphere even calmer.

you had a hard time moving on from your parent’s death, you used to come here every single day; talk to them, cry and sometimes even smile. after a while, your minimized your visits and now, you come few times a year.

the visit is short and sweet. just how much you needed. you placed the flowers that you took from the shop, said hello, i love you, sat down for a few minutes with a smile on your face and decided to walk back.

just as you were coming near the exit, you spotted a familiar head of fluffy hair kneeling on the ground, which brought a smile to your face.

“jisung hey, not the best place to meet rig-“ words cought up in your throat as your eyes fell on the gravestone in front of him, and next to it was the bouquet of white flowers that you made for him yesterday. “is that…” you trailed off.

“my sister” he answered and finally looked at you with a faint smile.

you gulped, a question lingering at the tip of your tongue.

“i know what you want to ask” jisung grabbed your attention. “and yes, all this time i bought flowers from you for my sister”

“so…”

“no, i don’t have a girlfriend”

you felt bad for many reasons. but the fact that you were talking about his relationships at the cemetery, in front of his sister’s grave was the worst.

“i-i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have- i’ll go” you stumbled on your words, face hot from embarrassment. you turned around, ready to take a run, maybe leave the city, change your name and never see him again but jisung grabbed you by your wrist before you could even take a step.

“no wait. can you… stay with me?”

the question surprised you more than it should have. his voice was soft and dare you to say, desperate. without words, you nodded and sat down next to him. only then did you notice the date written on the gravestone. it was one year ago today.

jisung noticed your lingering gaze and decided to speak up. “that’s why i came yesterday and not today” he started explaining. “i excused myself earlier from work so i can spend my time here longer”

“so you come here every friday?” you finally found your voice as you questioned him.

“yes, every single friday i get off work, go to you and then straight here”

“does it help?” you blurted out and looked at him.

the corner of his mouth twitched as he tried to smile before lowering his head down to look at his feet.

“it did, at first. but the more i came here the more i realized that i’m not letting go but i liked seeing you every friday so i continued. although, since today is one year anniversary, i decided that it’s time to come here less” he turned his head to you before continuing. “maybe you won’t have to avoid the coffee shop now” he smirked when he saw your eyes go wide at the statement.

“i wasn’t i-“ jisung raised his eyebrows, clearly not believing your lies which made you roll your eyes and sigh. “okay, yeah. i was avoiding it a bit. but can you blame me? i thought you had a girlfriend and i didn’t want you to get tired of me”

“i could never get tired of you” he smiled. “if it wasn’t for your cute face, i would have stopped coming to the flower shop after the first time because the bouquet you made was a disaster”

gasping, you lightly smacked his arm. “yah, even if it is true, no need to bash me like that. it was my second week since i started” you chuckled, ignoring the blush creeping on your cheeks.

“at least i called you cute” jisung shrugged. his smile was bright. if you recall correctly, you probably have never seen him smile so wide before.

the atmosphere in the cemetery supposed to be gloomy but something about being here with jisung eases both of you. having a conversation with him was easy, when he asked who are you visiting it somehow ended up with you sharing fun and cute stories from the past. you don’t know how much time has passed but long enough for you to get cold when the sun started setting.

jisung noticed the goosebumps on your skin and the way you shivered unconsciously. without any word, he took off the jacket that he had on and placed it on your shoulders.

“wha- no, jisung. you’ll get cold” you protested, trying to take off the jacket so you could give it back but he stopped you, placing his hands on your shoulders.

“but you are already cold. don’t worry about me” he argued.

rolling your eyes, you removed one of his hands from your shoulder so you could drop one side of the jacket over him. “stop pretending to be a gentleman”

he gasped dramatically before pulling you closer to his side by your waist as you tried hard to ignore the butterflies that erupted in your stomach from such a simple act. “what do you mean pretend? i am a gentleman”

you were so close to him that you could feel his hot breath against your hair. gaining more courage, you leaned your head against his shoulder. “i wish i could have met her” you sighed, referring to his sister.

a sad smile plastered on jisung’s face as he nodded slightly. “me too. she would have loved you” he agreed and rested his head on top of yours. “but thank you for staying here with me”

your heart almost burst through your chest. “it’s my pleasure”

“you know, we kinda met because of my sister” jisung giggled from the thought. “i like to think that since she can’t be here with me anymore, she sent me you”

his words made your head shoot up from his shoulder, bumping into his own head at the process. ignoring his whine, you looked straight into his eyes, trying to find any kind of lie in it.

“do you mean it?”

“of course. i looked forward every friday to seeing you again. you have no idea how many times i get off work irritated and tired but as soon as i see you i feel better. and even now, from all the days you could have visited your parents you decided that today is the day and you meet me”

you decided to keep to yourself the fact that the flower shop you work at is the only one in this small town you both live in and since you’re the only one working there it was inevitable that you two met as well as you being here today was a coincidence.

the more you talked the more you felt mesmerized by the way his mind works. in a way, he looked like another person now. jisung looked more relaxed and free as he talked about his hobbies, about his family, sister and even dog. every little thing was so interesting to you that you felt like you could listen to him forever.

“are those from last week?” you asked, noticing a bouquet of flowers placed further away.

“yeah”

“wow, they survived quite well” you reached out to take the bouquet and pulled out a small red flower. “especially this one” you said smiling, it looked like it was freshly picked even though a week has passed.

“i guess you did put a lot of love while making them, even though you were jealous that i was bringing them to my imaginary girlfriend”

“yaah” you whined. “you know, for a guy who hasn’t even heard a confession yet, you’re quite confident in yourself”

he didn’t answer, but the way the tip of his ears turned red, it was quite obvious that he was embarrassed by your sudden confrontation. jisung gently took the flower out of your hands and turned his head to you. your breath hitched in the back of your throat, when his hand brushed through your hair and tucked a strand behind your ear. he inserted the flower in your hair and smiled, looking straight into your eyes with adoration.

“sometimes eyes tell more than words could ever say”

and with that, you both leaned your foreheads against each other. jisung was right, there was no need for words.

“i can’t believe i thought you had a girlfriend instead of asking, i’m such a dumbass” you laughed at yourself.

“yes you are, but you are my dumbass”

ignoring the butterflies in your stomach, you giggled. “confident again, huh?”

“if i’m being honest you have no idea how much courage i needed to even say that and i feel like i’m about to explode so please say something” his voice was whiny, which was another new thing you learned about him. he sometimes whines.

“you’re so cute”

“are you trying to kill me, woman? this is not helping, i’m supposed to look cool” jisung groaned and threw his head back.

“you are the coolest person i know, jisung”

“because you don’t know a lot of people” he shot back. another new thing - he’s a brat.

“i take back my words”

“nooo, please love me”

#han jisung #han jisung x reader #han jisung imagine #han jisung fluff #stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagine #stray kids fluff

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musette22 · 1 year

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Hellooo, it's me, I'm alive! Sorry for disappearing again this weekend, I hope everyone had a great one! 💛 Mine was really really wonderful, so, time to overshare because I'm feeling all mushy and tired but happy. These past few days made me realize once again how lucky I am to have so many incredible people in my life 💕 I love them SO much and I'm so grateful they love me too, which sounds cheesy but it's true 😅

I don't think anyone particularly needs these, but I still want to share some of the stuff my friends and family have said and done this weekend just because they're pretty amazing and I kind of wanted to write it down to remember it (I'll put most of it under the cut though, because it got longer than I anticipated. whoops, who's surprised, not me either)

So my friend's little boy, who is three, got a little confused about pronouns while he was chatting away, and accidentally called me a 'he'. His mom gently corrected him like, "No honey, auntie Minnie is a she." And when he asked why, she said "Because Minnie feels like a she. What do you feel like?" And he gave it some thought and said "I think I feel like a he", so she said, "Well, there you go, we'll call you a he then! But if you feel like a she later on, or auntie Minnie feels like a he, then that's also okay. Does that make sense?" And he looked thoughtful for a second, said "Yep", and carried on playing.

Later that day my other friend picked up her almost one year old, looked at his little face and said "I'm pretty sure he's either going to be a construction worker or a drag queen. Maybe both." And then kissed his nose and told him she'd love him regardless of what he'd become.

I was talking to the husband of one of my friends (who is my friend too, but I knew her first), and out of the blue he asked me, "What kind of music do you like to listen to? I know you like Arctic Monkeys, but what else do you like?" So I told him I listen to a lot of 40s and 50s music, among other things, and then the conversation carried on. And then later that night, Billie Holiday suddenly came on, followed by Chet Baker, and it turned out he'd actually made a whole playlist of 40s music because he realised he'd been playing a lot of recent popular music during the getaway so far, and he wanted me to hear something I liked too

At some point I was talking to the husband of my other friend, and when he asked me whether I'd been seeing anyone lately, I kind of shrugged and told him that it isn't really a priority for me right now, that I'm not excluding the possiblity of dating or starting a family, but I'm not actively looking for it either. He just clinked his beer bottle with mine and said, "Cool, that makes a lot of sense. We don't all have to follow the same path in life to be happy, right?" And I was already grateful that he got it, but then he was quiet for a minute and said, "Shit, I'm sorry, I bet you're fed up with people asking you about dating and kids. It's literally no one's business but yours and I'm sure that if you ever want to talk about it, you'll let us know. I won't ask again."

At some point, my friend suddenly dropped down onto the couch next to me, put her arm around me and said "My god, I feel like we've only talked about kids all weekend, sorry about that." So I assured her I didn't mind at all (I adore those kids, I really do), and she was like, "Still, tell me about what you're reading right now, and while you're at it, please show me the cutest picture of Chris you saw this week," and then she spent a while cooing over my boys with me in return.

I was sitting next to my other friends' three year old little girl in the car on put way back from visiting a nearby castle, and she was super impressed and a little overwhelmed in that way kids have sometimes. She kept wondering aloud whether 'the princess' had been at home, and whether, if she'd ever meet her, the princess would want to be her friend. So I told her that of course the princess would want to be her friend, probably even best friends, and then she laughed and said "No silly, you're my best friend" and hugged me, and I kind of melted into a puddle

During brunch today, I was telling a story about how when I was jogging recently, I thought I was being followed by a guy on a scooter, and that I'd stopped to send my mom my location because I was genuinely a little scared. As it turned out, the guy just wanted directions, so I laughed it off and told the story as a joke, but then my brother frowned and said, "No, but it's not okay that you can't even go on a run without feeling scared just because you're a woman", and then told me he read an article recently about the precautions many women necessarily have to take whenever they go out or go on a date, like location sharing, or faking phonecalls, or bringing pepper spray, because we often fear for our safety in a way that men rarely have to. And then he said he'd never realised that before, apologised to me, his girlfriend and my mom on behalf of men in general, and said he wished we'd never have to deal with any of that

I was talking to my mom while we were on a walk, and she told me about an old friend she'd run into recently. So I asked her how they knew each other, and she proceeded to tell me a story about how in the 80s, they used to do sit-ins together to demonstrate for immigrants' and unemployed people's rights. When I asked her if she'd never been worried about getting arrested or anything like that, she just shrugged and said "Not really, because I knew that we were doing it for the right reasons and that was what mattered most."

Anyway, I know they're all little things and they should all be normal things, but I'm aware that they aren't always, or everywhere, or for everyone. And they just made me stop and marvel at how wonderful these people all are, big and small, how comfortable and at ease I feel around all of them, and how amazing it is that they not only exist and work to make the world a better place, but they also care about me in return. Like, not to sound like a hippie, but whoa, I'm feeling a lot of love and gratitude right now ❤️

#I've known some of my friends for over 20 years #so it's no wonder we have similar opinions and values #but it's still wonderful to see them as parents now and watch them do their best to impart those values onto their kids #and I just love and admire my family a lot #even if they drive me up the wall sometimes 😅#anwyays sorry for oversharing #hippie minnie out ✌🏻#minnie talks

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melishade · 1 year

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Hello.

I feel bad for Megatron in the timeline with Elite One. Megs must be currently consumed by guilt

Previous Episode of the Beloved Timeline

That and he's 100% sure she is going to fucking kill him.

There is a reason she is a high ranking Autobot in the first place. Sure, Elita was a social butterfly, but she is extremely clever and a down right menace. According to the Covenant of Primus, she helped conspire to overthrow the Quintessons and helped with colonial expansion of Cybertron. I also like other iterations of her being a badass fighter. I like to picture that she took down 50 Decepticons by herself as she tried to escape before Megatron had to intervene and subdue her himself. And the reason why she was in her situation in the first place was because of Megatron, so the minute Elita sees Megatron again, those Kill Bill sirens are going off. Megatron is doing everything he possibly can to avoid her.

But we'll deal with that later.

For now, after Optimus has to answer those questions from the Survey Corps, dodging as many inappropriate ones as he can. Historia and Ymir decide to make their demands while everyone else is here and announce that surprise moment of Historia wanting to marry Ymir. Ymir agrees and they do the wedding in secret. Hanji adds to Optimus that he can invite Elita as his plus one. Optimus is a little irritated at the notion, because he knows for a fact some of the Survey Corps are going to be treating him differently for a little while. But the thought of spending time with Elita again does make him feel happy.

He does return to her and being to explain what is happening with Historia and Ymir, which Elita is confused by because being sparkbonded is a private matter. But Optimus has to explain that there are differences in human culture and Cybertron. Optimus explains the logistics of it and Elita respectfully declines. Elita explains that she would probably just hog all the attention. She does remember when she was last here and the commotion she caused. Also, she hasn't exactly talked to anyone in 20 years, so her social skills are practically shot. And the humans look dangerously similar to the titans and it's not something she's comfortable with. She only feels easy around Optimus because of familiarity.

Optimus is slightly disappointed, but respects her decision none the less. He's just happy that she's back, and tells her to take the time that she needs. Elita does ask about the difference between the humans and titans and ultimately what has been going on with him and Megatron since being on this world. Optimus decides to explain it piece by piece as to not overwhelm her in one go, because learning this shit himself has definitely taken its toll.

"How is it that bad that you're fazed by it?" Elita questioned.

So, day by day, in preparation for the wedding, Optimus helps out there and later explains what's been going on. And the more information she receives, the more mortified that she is. Like this is some messed up shit!!!! But it's fine. It's fine! Totally fine!

"Elita, you do not have to-!"

"It's completely fine, Optimus!" Elita forced a smile, "Not only is my beloved forced to fight again, this world is more backwards than I thought!"

The Survey Corps are disappointed that Elita won't be attending the wedding, and they try to capture sneak peeks at her, because some of them didn't get a good look at her. Eren was really the only one. Hanji is very persistent, and Elita swears she can feel eyes burning into her back. But they do notice that since Elita has been around, Optimus' mood has significantly improved. Like he is definitely more sociable and talkative, and she's not even around!

Day of the wedding, Optimus bids her farewell, and Elita...decides to take a look around this place. This is the most relaxed that she's been in ages. She still hasn't seen Megatron yet. She wants to kick his ass. As she's walking around, she does mind her step and avoid the humans, but they do notice her and can't help but stare. They are aware that people like Optimus don't eat humans, but to see a titan in the walls walking around without a single alarm going off and a shot being fired is odd.

Elita is curious about the top of the walls. She's always wanted to know what was up there. Elita took few steps back, got into a starting position and bolted towards the wall. She managed to jump up and get some good distance before climbing it with ease and little damage. When she reached the top, she could hear cheering and clapping and looked down to see the humans that had been following her just praising her. Elita can only wave sheepishly before walking along the top of the wall and taking in the view from so high up. And it was breathtaking.

As she's walking along the walls, she comes across military men in uniforms with roses on them. They are a little tense when they see her, and Elita is just as tense, but Commander Pixis greets her to ease the tension (with Anka and Gustav keeping a very close eye on him). The two talk and Elita does learn more about the humans in the wall through the Commander. With what Elita knows; however, there is one burning question she has in her spark:

"Do you intend to continue the ways of your ancestors?" Elita demanded.

Pixis paused and looked up at her.

"I understand that your memories have been wiped of this knowledge, and you have only now just learned about it. I also understand that the sins of your ancestors should not reflect the innocent here and now," Elita explained, "But knowledge is power, and power can corrupt. Optimus has the habit of seeing the good and potential in everything, willing to grant opportunities for change."

Elita raised a servo to her spark. "Despite how I feel about Optimus, it is not a principle I can always agree with in such strenuous times. I need to know if Optimus' faith in you is well placed and you will not default to the carnage of your ancestors."

Pixis noticed the rather emotional look in Elita's optics at the name of Optimus, and how fond it looked. And suddenly, everything clicked. Why Optimus was in such a better mood, why the Survey Corps have been acting rather mischievous, why Megatron wasn't even here right now and avoid this place like the plague.

"I see," Pixis smiled before looking on ahead, "I wish I could speak on behalf of all who live within these walls, but we humans are fickle beings. Self preservation and greed is in our nature. When pushed to the brink of annihilations, there are those who would tear each other apart to survive, and those who choose to fight for those who cannot. Personally, I would like to continue fighting for a better and peaceful and free world. Only for the sole reason that my comrades who fought for that same dream, did not die in vain."

Elita is quite moved by the answer and laughs. "Well, at the very least, your answer is an honest one."

Elita thanks Pixis before jumping off the wall and landing on her feet with grace before returning to her temporary home. Pixis can only say 'well done Optimus' to himself.

The next day, Elita decides to introduce herself to the Survey Corps, thinking it would be best way to go considering she's decided to stay and help. And the Survey Corps couldn't help but notice the way Optimus beamed at the sight of Elita.

Side note: Anka threatened Pixis when Optimus informed them about Elita and she immediately pulled him aside.

"If you so much as look at her wrong I will castrate you and throw you over the walls, you drunken bastard," Anka seethed.

"Eh, not the worst way I've imagined going out," Pixis shrugged.

(Interactions between Elita and the Survey Corps will definitely be for the next ask)

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