#I love seeing more and more of blatant consent in books | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

veilchenjaeger · 2 years

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(I'm going to talk about non-consensual sex in media below, obviously. Just a head up.)

@stripedroseandsketchpads I’m not super knowledgeable about these tropes either, so I’m definitely not the right person to do a detailed analysis of the trope subversions here (or trope subversions in Scum Villain in general). I don’t read a lot of danmei, though I do have a background in old 2010s BL manga, and a lot of tropes do seem familiar to me. I have looked at a few stallion novels, but those are so incredibly misogynistic that they’re impossible for me, a person without access to copious amounts of alcohol, to read without taking permanent damage. But like… What bothers me about the Maigu Ridge takes I see isn't a lack of understanding of the trope subversions (which I don't fully understand either) but how many people miss the basics of what's happening in this scene? I don't think it's necessary to do, like, a close analysis of the text to recognise that Maigu Ridge is not supposed to be sexy?? Maybe I'm wrong and it is hard to tell, but?

I am genuinely baffled by the amount of misinterpretations I see about Maigu Ridge mostly bc I don't think it’s subtle about what it is! I, too, think that MXTX's sexy scenes are sort of odd and not very sexy [Edit: @stripedroseandsketchpads pointed out that this is likely a translation bias, and I agree 100%], but the difference between e.g. the wine enema extra and Maigu Ridge is blatant? Shen Qingqiu is in so much fucking pain at Maigu Ridge that he can barely think! He's hurting in the other sex scenes, too, but not nearly as much, and the tone of those is light-hearted and Shen Qingqiu's narration is funny. There's nothing funny about Maigu Ridge! Shen Qingqiu doesn't very nearly black out from pain in the You Understand extra, because that one's supposed to be cute and awkward and not absolutely horrifying!

And even if we ignore the actual sex (I hesitate to use the term!), the entire way Maigu Ridge is framed makes it obvious that this is very much intended to be read as a traumatic event. First of all, they stop. It’s so important to me that they stop. It would have been so easy to transition into a good, pleasurable sex scene as soon as they're both able to consent, but it doesn't. They stop the second Luo Binghe comes to, because none of what just happened was arousing or made them want to continue having sex. This shouldn't be special, but it is, because this is a romance novel and romance novels don’t do bad sex, but I’ll get into the trope subversion later.

More stuff about the way Maigu Ridge is framed: My favourite thing about it is not the sex scene itself or the build-up to it - I'm not that hardcore - but the conversation they have afterwards, after Luo Binghe regains consciousness. They stop having sex, and they immediately start taking care of each other. This is a scene where they just went through a very traumatic thing together, and they support each other in the aftermath. This is one of the ultimate Bingqiu conversations for me, which cemented my love for them and imo proves how much they care about each other.

Within that conversation, it becomes obvious how shaken Luo Binghe is by what happened. He fucking asks why Shen Qingqiu didn't kill him instead of letting him do this! It's. Just. It's so much. It shows how horrified Luo Binghe is by what "he" (in quotation marks bc he wasn't conscious) just did. He's hurt Shen Qingqiu a lot in this book, in various ways, but here, we see him break down after doing so and pretty much say outright that he'd rather have died. Bingy.

There’s also the fact that Shen Qingqiu tries to calm him down by pointing out that he "was willing". No you weren't, king, but I appreciate you reassuring Luo Binghe that he didn't just outright rape you. It's such a weak reassurance in this moment, when Shen Qingqiu is literally dying, but it still means the world. Everything is so horrible, but Shen Qingqiu successfully pinpoints the thing that makes it slightly less horrible.

Later developments support this reading, too! Luo Binghe, Mr Pushy himself, doesn't dare initiate anything sexual for the first weeks of their relationship! Maigu Ridge is the catalyst for him letting Shen Qingqiu go and not being there when he wakes up (despite having waited five years for Shen Qingqiu to wake up before), because he doesn't believe they can come back from this! In the interview extra, Luo Binghe refuses to name Maigu Ridge as their first time, preferring to pretend it never happened! Shen Qingqiu mostly refers to it as a failure, something that’s tragic bc Luo Binghe as a stallion protagonist should have had a better first time, but his tone in those moments of narration is seriously mismatched with his narration during Maigu Ridge, and ignoring his own feelings about the matter completely and re-framing it as a plot point in a novel instead of a real thing that happened to him is precisely how Shen Qingqiu deals with trauma all the time. Maigu Ridge is so obviously written as a traumatic event, so I really cannot understand people who are either mad that the sex scene wasn't hot (It's not meant to be!) or complain about this scene being super problematic and Bingqiu thus being horrible. (This was very intentionally written that way and Bingqiu themselves acknowledge that it was awful!)

And that isn’t even getting into the trope subversion yet. As I said, I’m not super knowledgeable about that, but I read a post recently that pointed out that a lot of danmei tropes are just romance/erotica novel tropes, and… yes. That’s true. What happens a lot in these stories is the “It starts out non-consensual but the main character (the woman in straight romance, lbr) ends up liking it anyways!” trope. Afaik, this is a staple of stallion novel sex, too. I hate this trope with the fire of a thousand burning suns, and when I first read Scum Villain, I was afraid that Maigu Ridge would turn into that. And then it didn’t. Which blew my mind a little, because main couples in romance or erotica novels don’t have bad sex. Bingqiu are an obvious subversion of that bc they suck at sex even if it is consensual, but Maigu Ridge is that subversion times 100. Scum Villain talks a lot about satisfaction points, so let’s think about reader satisfaction here: For this entire novel, we’ve been waiting for Bingqiu to kiss and get together and fuck. And a romance story isn’t always over with the first time, but usually, such a scene is satisfying because it shows them finally coming together after chapters upon chapters of build-up. Usually, it’s good sex. It shows us that the main couple is meant to be together. (Wangxian's first time is a pretty good example of a sex scene that is more of a problem than a solution but is still good.) Apparently, the “Fuck or Die” trope is a lot more prevalent in the genres MXTX is commenting on than in stuff I know about, so that plays into it, too: It’s the kind of scene that’s meant to be satisfying, and Maigu Ridge absolutely fucking isn’t. This book, which is very much a romance novel, looked the “Fuck or Die” trope in the eye, said, “This would fucking suck irl”, and ran with that. And I think that owns.

Non-consensual romantic or sexual actions are a fucking staple of romance media, and while there can obviously be kinky reasons for that, the fact that it's so prevalent is awful imo. The amount of completely innocuous prime time movies targeted at girls and young women that I've seen where straight-up stalking and sexual harrassment are played as a romantic ideal is horrifying. Not to mention that Scum Villain is commentary on stallion novels, too, and the way non-consensual sex is portrayed in those – books targeted at an audience that is meant to identify with the rapist – is terrifying imo. It genuinely scares me that there are men out there who read these books uncritically and buy into that portrayal of women and consent. I could talk a lot about the nuances of this topic (bc it is nuanced), but let’s just say that it's so important to me to see a scene like this portrayed as the horrible, traumatic even it would be in a realistic setting (while still being a scene in a romance novel that doesn’t end the main couple’s relationship). Maigu Ridge is one of the main reasons why I trust MXTX to address and play with consent issues (as she does with Wangxian).

I don’t think that the message of Maigu Ridge is “The Fuck or Die trope/non-consensual sex in romance novels is horrible and shouldn’t happen ever” – MXTX does include a whole parody of super tropey danmei novels full of noncon with Resentment of Chunshan, which is portrayed as silly but harmless, kinky fun – but it invites us to think about these tropes and the implications they have. There’s a lot of nuance here that I appreciate, especially with the distinction made between the Scum Villain plot, which is situated in “reality”, and Resentment of Chunshan, which is very firmly fantasy. I’d love to read an analysis on this by someone who really knows their shit when it comes to danmei, stallion novels, and Chinese media tropes in general (My perspective on this is obviously very Western!) bc this is all I really have to say about this, but like. Bottom line is that it’s fucking baffling to me why Maigu Ridge is so often treated as the Big Problematic Scene of Scum Villain when it’s literally commentary on noncon tropes in media. If anything, this is the single least problematic Bingqiu scene! What the fuck are y’all talking about!

#rape cw #[epistulae ad atticum]#/everyone always lists maigu ridge as the main thing that makes bingqiu ~problematic~ bc it's noncon and i'm like.#/you're talking about the house arrest scene. please tell me you're talking about the house arrest scene.#/of course warning new readers about maigu ridge is valid and important bc it's a horrifying scene but it's not ~problematic~.#/i hope this post doesn't sound rude or condescending? it's not meant that way i'm just very confused by the discourse around this scene #/i also don't currently have my books with me so if i got anything wrong pls point it out to me!#svsss

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doberbutts · 1 year

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Your post abt how male victim sa is treated as a joke in media really resonates w/ me. like i dont watch drama tv shows, i watch like sitcom/comedy stuff and so its extra apparent to me in a way?

Because while in a drama tv show you can have both male and female sa victims, sitcoms will rarely if ever try to make jokes about female sa (or at least now anyway, i dont watch older sitcoms) they absolutely do make male sa jokes.

For example, in Parks and Rec theres this episode where April and Andy make a lot of doctors appointments in one day and in one part Andy is listing out all the doctors they've seen and Andy says like "One guy looked at my weiner, touched it, that was weird" and April says "And that guy wasn't even a doctor" and Andy says "...What" with an uncomfortable look on his face and then it just moves on.

And its supposed to be a funny haha moment but everytime I see that clip I get really uncomfortable bc like its never clarified if she was kidding or not but also why would you joke abt your husband being sa'd???

And thats just one example, theres plenty of others. (The whole thing with Barney and Rhonda French in HIMYM makes me super uncomfortable even tho its played as consensual, it gives me bad vibes)

But it feels like no one ever really cares to talk abt it, so it was nice to see someone bring it up. Sorry for the long ask 😅

The comedy I watch is normally yes about equal to Parks and Rec or Brooklyn 99 and yes, there's a lot of jokes that fly under the radar because they victimize one group or another that isn't seen as "in danger". The amount of prison rape and prostate exam (hinthint wink wink not performed by a doctor though teehee) jokes really stand out the more you pay attention to it. And maybe it IS time to pay attention to it, because clearly this is a symptom of a bigger issue, one that endangers everyone.

Going back to stuff I watch more of because I haven't seen more than a clip or two of HIMYM, but I remember when I was watching Buffy with my ex [then boyfriend] and he pointed out that Xander had a really good reason not to like Faith and it's because Faith rapes him (forced to penetrate) and how Xander really... never seemed to forgive her for it and always seemed uncomfortable around her after. And while I was not part of the fandom during the show's heyday, being that I am a relatively recent watcher only maybe about 6 or 7 years ago, he told me it was very frustrating to him that the fandom seemed to focus more on the wrongdoing of Spike's *attempt* to rape Buffy, than the *actual rape* Faith did to Xander.

Even with my Witcher example, I'm seeing people shipping Yennefer and Jaskier because they had a moderately improved friendship in season two, while not at ALL touching on the fact that Jaskier's first memory of her is a blatant sexual assault and maybe that's why he's increasingly aggressive to her every time they see each other for the remainder of season one and when seeing her again in season two. It's more than "he's somewhat jealous of her closeness with Geralt" when I know for a fact she pinned and grabbed him by the penis and I wouldn't fault anyone for not liking someone who grabbed their genitals without consent. I'm not yucking anyone's yum but it's really frustrating to me to see people skate right by that.

(again, books/games fans who follow/reblog, your faves are not immune, I present to you one Triss Merigold who rapes *Geralt himself* by means of a love potion in the books and who does it *again* in the games if you let her manipulate Geralt into sleeping with her when he has amnesia, do not even start with 'wehweh this is why the show sucks' when your favorite adaption did it too and Triss/Geralt is a possible romance path in the third game, AND Yennefer is mad at Geralt for... letting Triss rape him while they were together, because she considers it cheating, if you talk to her about it in the third game she dumps you in the lake to punish you for defending yourself)

Big sigh.

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wondereads · 5 months

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Weekly Reading Update (11/06/23)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (6/10)

This book has very little space for the kind of story it tries to tell, and it does its best. For an almost space opera-like plot, with intergalactic academies, alien conflict, and ancient tech, less than 80 pages is ridiculously small. As such, a lot of this book feels really rushed. A lot of worldbuilding stuff, such as the history between the Meduse and humans, what Binti’s edan is, and how otjize is so special, is just never explained. I definitely found this book interesting; there’s a major tone shift a third of the way through, and I loved the message of understanding differences and peaceful conflict resolution. However, everything is wrapped up too neatly, especially concerning Binti’s emotional state. Trying not to spoil too much, Binti goes through an incredibly traumatic event and has a very important aspect of her changed without her knowledge or consent, but she seems just fine at the end. I appreciate the attempt to wrap up such an ambitious story for a novella, but I would’ve much preferred a more open ending concerning that.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid (6/10)

This book started out very strong. The writing style really has that drifting, surreal style that fits a book trying to emulate gothic horror, and I really liked where the plot is going. I love books where the main character can't figure out if they can trust themselves or not, and the whole idea of discovering the secrets behind a truly impactful novel was so interesting. It was a little slow, but I was fine with that. Unfortunately, the ending is all kinds of rushed. The main antagonist is defeated very easily with virtually no explanation as to how, and although there's a character that the entire story practically revolves around, she only shows up at the end once everything is said and done to fill in the holes. Then there are multiple issues, plot and character wise, that are just never resolved. Unfortunately, the ending kind of ruined it for me, otherwise this could've been a 4 star read.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (9/10)

After over a year, I'm continuing the Wayward Children series, and I'm loving it so far. This book functions as a prequel, telling the story of Jack and Jill in The Moors. I loved the very obvious classic literature influences, namely Frankenstein and Dracula, and Jack and Jill are both amazingly complex characters with an incredibly interesting relationship. I will always have a soft spot for Jack, and her unexpected romance was one of my favorite parts of the book. I'd say the only thing I didn't like was that Jill is so unlikable to me. I really wanted her to face some consequences after what she did, and while I can see how she became this way, it doesn't mean she should get away with it, especially considering the context of the first book. However, the series is unfinished and has multiple books I haven't read yet, so perhaps we'll see them yet again!

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (CR, 43%)

I'm really enjoying this one so far! After so much intense fantasy and sci-fi, it's like a little palate cleanser. I love how this book takes tropes usually used in contemporary romcoms and repurposes them for the historical setting. There's also a fair amount of worldbuilding, since this is a very different history from what we know. I'm glad it's established to be that way, because there is some pretty blatant messing with the timeline, but I appreciate it since it brings more diversity than historical romances typically have.

Lodestar by Shannon Messenger (CR, 43%)

There are things happening in this book, and I don't like it! I've grown fairly attached to these characters, and I'm constantly stressed about them. I feel like stakes are rising rather quickly in this installment, like more is happening than in the others. One thing I noticed during this segment of reading was that I quite like the addition of Tam. Linh is still sort of a half-formed character to me, but I really like how blunt Tam is and how he still has the perspective of an outsider on Sophie's group and their dynamics. He seems to say things none of them think of, and I like how he shakes things up.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (CR, 42%)

I know, I know, I've been working on this one for a while, but it's a very dense book! I've put it aside for now in exchange for Gwen & Art, since I have to review that one, but I'm hoping to finish this before the November halfway mark.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (CR, 16%)

I’m finishing up my reread of The Infernal Devices, and this one is not that great so far. While I love the smaller interactions between Jem, Tessa, and Will, virtually everything so far has been interpersonal conflict despite the fact that a madman with a clockwork army is just out there somewhere. Like, did they forget they have like actual jobs to do? It’s mentioned that a good amount of time has passed since the last book…and you’ve done nothing? I know you’re all in the most complicated romantic relationships teenagers can be in, but please, think of the world.

#books #reading update #binti #nnedi okorafor #a study in drowning #ava reid #down among the sticks and bones #seanan mcguire #gwen and art are not in love #lex croucher #lodestar #shannon messenger #a day of fallen night #samantha shannon #clockwork princess #cassandra clare #tid

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bitacrytic · 2 years

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Kinn and Vegas, samsies?

Putting this under the line to reduce communal stress. 😩 😪 😫

Check out this post by @kinnporschelover

In that bathroom, Kinn was just as pushy with Porsche as Vegas was when he dragged Porsche back and put him against the mirror.

I don't have a vendetta against Kinn, (maybe a little bit. I have a love/hate relationship with that character) but Kinn isn't doing much to be a better person than Vegas. In fact, he has been told that his affection for Porsche will put Porsche in danger and yet, he's even more blatant, all the while leaving Porsche out there to be targeted. Yeah, Vegas is scum. We know. But Kinn isn't prime rib either.

What we had in that scene was that Vegas tried to kiss Porsche and Porsche refused. Porsche tried to walk away and Kinn dragged him back until Porsche relented.

Now you might say that they're in a relationship and that people do that during fights. But again, I ask, how many people would have spread their legs for a man who just called them a whore? Porsche was happy to see Kinn... until he wasn't. And Kinn didn't like that, so he held him down till he obeyed.

And let's not forget, Porsche was drunk. (I now some people think he was faking, but I don't know. I hope the next episode sheds light) But Porsche, as the show has shown us, has been bested by Kinn on more than one occasion. While sober, Kinn has choked Porsche out and beaten him back till Porsche had to resort to dirty tactics.

Porsche succumbing to Kinn could be seen as coercion. He coiled in on himself because he wasn't feeling safe. Chances are that Porsche couldn't have gotten out of there if he wanted.

(Which also hurts my spirit that the show has made it seem like Porsche is less physically powerful than Kinn, but that's another problem for another day)

In this scene, just like Vegas, Kinn has shown us that he won't take no for an answer. When he was only Porsche's boss, he didn't take no for an answer. "Stand up, take your shirt off or I will take it off for you." That wasn't a work command. That was Kinn trying to be nice to Porsche. Trying to do something good and he couldn't even meet Porsche half way. He had to drag him, taking away his consent. (Yeah, that word has shown up here) It was fine when they were being cute in the hotel room, but in a moment of real conflict, what does Kinn do? He screams at Porsche, smacks him in he face and calls him a whore. Honey, I would have punched you. A slap wasn't enough.

But when you look at the whole scene, just like last time, Kinn came to save Porsche and ended doing what Vegas would have done to Porsche.

Now, both scenes were beautiful and Kinn is obviously an INCREDIBLE LOVER. But what we're seeing is that makings of a very unsafe environment. We have no evidence that Porsche is alright with this type of relationship. What we have is that Kinn is slowly beating down Porsche's resistance, causing him to accept things that Porsche would never have wanted for himself.

This was already happening when they were strictly employer/employee. But now, we have the added bonus of sex, feelings and a bullet to the chest.

So, in my book, Kinn isn't better Vegas. He just got lucky and ran into the right bar, the right night.

#kinnporsche

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dorireads · 9 months

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The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun || Book Review

Star Review: 3.5/5⭐

Tropes: Dating Show ????

This was another read I got from booktok! I wish I would learn my lesson, for real. This book was, like, some people's #1 read ever, and very very highly praised, so I set my expectations high and began to read it.

Honestly, it didn't meet my expectations. Not from a this-is-literally-a-piece-of-shit standpoint, but from the way that the story was told and the way the plot developed. If you like a very easy and very blunt read with characters that have blatant nuance rather than subtle and developing nuance, this book is for you. It's not a bad book by any means, it just felt kind of amateur in the way it was written. Which isn't a criminal offense.

To put positives first, this book is an amazing gay romance with a diverse cast of characters, commentary on misogyny and biphobia, a very fun setting of a dating show (this was probably my favorite part of the book! it was so fun to see these characters having to work on a set as someone with no experience in doing that!), and a generally sweet love story.

This book also includes self discovery and talks about finding their genuine passions, meeting other's expectations, and finding parts of themselves that they didn't know existed or had repressed. There is representation of anxiety, OCD, panic attacks, and destigmatizing therapy.

Honestly a very sweet and lovely book, definitely recommend for an easy read romance! I'll talk about parts I disliked under the cut, spoiler warning!

When I talk about reading being a very solitary and personal experience, this is what I mean. This book has been super widely liked, but it just didn't hit all the marks for me.

When we talk about the diversity of this book, it kind of fell flat in the way that everything was written so blatantly instead of developing over the span of the story.

This started when Skylar was introduced, the paragraph describing her reads: "As a queer black woman, Skylar Jones did not become the lead director of a reality television juggernaut by having chill. When she developed early female pattern baldness before forty from the stress of this job, she simply began shaving all her hair off."

I genuinely love and understand the sentiment of wanting to have representation in your writing, but I do feel like these points could have been expressed in better ways rather than just one paragraph in the beginning of the story telling you everything about this character. Because of this, it feels like it was added specifically and only for diversity, which isn't the coolest.

Another point in the book is Charlie having anxiety and OCD. I don't have OCD nor have I researched it very thoroughly, so I can't comment on the way it's been shown here, but I do have anxiety so I feel like I can talk about it.

It felt like Charlie's anxiety was kind of just an excuse in the beginning to push him away from interacting with the show. He signed a contract and consented to the show, but when he got there he consistently walks off set and refuses to participate in the beginning. Later in the book, he is able to participate and talk to the girls almost completely okay, but this is only after he realizes his feelings for Dev. This bothers me because his anxiety isn't dealt with or expanded upon much later in the book, and is only really used as a plot point in order for him not to have to get close with anyone on the show.

Also, Maureen's entire character was an L. I have nothing more to say about her. Cochrun succeeded at making a genuinely unlikeable antagonist, and she didn't even have that major of a role.

The last point that I specifically didn't like very much was the ending. The time skip fell flat because we didn't see anything that happened in between, we just jumped to when Dev's issues had already been mostly solved and when Charlie had already figured out what to do. I wish it had been talked about more so that we felt as though we were looking at a character that had developed and shown development, rather than just being told that he worked on himself and is over it now.

That's all from me!

#bookblr #book rec #book recommendation #the charm offensive #alison cochrun #book review #reading tumblr #book tumblr

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trashcherry · 3 years

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✨ Consent ✨

#I love seeing more and more of blatant consent in books #It's the hottest thing yall #acosf teaser #acosf spoilers #Acosf

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 3 years

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Little Bones 1

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series); harassment, general creepiness

This is dark! (biker) Thor x chubby!reader and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Series Synopsis: You’re a city girl stuck in a small town, but Birch isn’t as sleepy as it seems.

Sister series to Smalltown Bringdown and When the Weight Comes Down

Note: So, I’ve made some positive changes in my life. I am working away at original work, I’m drinking more water, I’m taking my dog on big walks and being more active, and I’m doing my best. So, I was struck with an old yearning to return to Birch. I’ll be updating here and there as I feel and won’t be pushing myself like I did before because I realise how unhealthy and stressful it was on me.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Chapter 1: It gets so sticky down here

A city girl in a small town. What could be sadder than that?

In the city, life went fast. In a place like Birch, the days dragged by as if to remind you of how helpless you were beneath the unyielding and inevitable tick of the clock. The hand wound around and around as you waited for what would never happen. The dreams of your childhood eroded beneath the rolling years leaving trail of crumbs you could not follow back to the beginning.

A woman just beyond her prime trapped in an antiquated career. The empty aisles between the shelves full of books bespoke of a bygone era. The forgotten library at the far end of the main street rarely saw a new face and those familiar were fewer by the day. The staff had thinned to three of you; Melissa was older than you with a daughter nearly your age and Colin was close to retirement if not well past.

You got on well enough, as well as you could given Colin’s faulty hearing aid, and Melissa’s wandering mind. They meant well but they shared the lethargy of the old small town.

You weren’t nostalgic for the smog or the flashing lights of the city, but there was no life to this place. Only the impending reach of death rattling closer in the roar of the motorcycles and the rumble of the old railroad that ran through the middle of town.

The air nipped at your cheeks as you approached the library. A morning of yawning had you craving a latte from the bakery and the quiet girl behind the counter cheerfully steamed the foam before handing it over. Everyone in this town was familiar, everyone knew everyone else, and yet, you still felt like an outsider.

You felt the heat of the cup through your glove and you looked up as you sensed two figures by one of the thick columns of the library façade. Melissa stood chatting with her daughter, hugging her sweater around her as she’d left her coat inside. You peeked up at the grey sky as snow threatened at any moment with the mid-November bite.

As you thought to pass them and leave their conversation uninterrupted, your name drew you back.

“I was just telling my daughter,” Mel began as she waved you over with a chatter of her teeth. “About that podcast you mentioned. She loves those old Hollywood stars.”

“Oh,” you blew the steam away from the lid of your drink as you neared, “It’s alright. The stories are worth the narrator’s schtick.”

“Yeah? I’ve been closing at the bar and I like to listen to something once it clears out.” Mel’s daughter said. “You wouldn’t mind giving me the name?”

You told her the title of the podcast and helped her find it on Spotify to follow for later. Mel shivered and stood closer to her daughter who was bundled up against the onslaught of Birch’s blustering winter. You knew about her too.

She was friendly but you saw in her a cynicism more common to city folk. You got along but you were weary of her associations. The local club of crass bikers were neither subtle nor savoury. In the city, it was easy enough to ignore the patch and all that came along with it. The seedy figures were distilled by the broader population but not in Birch. There, the club was the town.

“Mom, you can’t stay out here.” She poked her mother’s arm. “It’s too cold.”

“Little better in the library.” You grumbled and sipped your latte. “The radiator’s broken again.”

“You mean Colin broke it trying to fix what wasn’t broken,” Melissa shook her head, “and I’m fine, dear. I’ve spent more than fifty winters in Birch and been through worse than this.”

“Yes, but you were younger then--” Her voice dwindled as she turned her head to listen to the distant roar of exhaust.

You followed her gaze and noted the way her forehead creased at the noise. She swallowed and turned to watch as a dark rider turned onto the main road from the highway. It was the man who kept her entwined with the club, the one who marked her latent authority over all others. The only one who outranked her.

She swore and looked over her shoulder at her mother. Her mother touched her arm. It was a telling and surprising moment. Her expression read of all the disgust you felt for the bikers.

At least a dozen bikes followed the first and Bucky raised his glove hand to signal the others to slow as he pulled up to the curb just before the library steps. You backed away as his breath clouded around him and he waved Mel’s daughter closer. He craned to kiss her as she bent, her fingers picking at her jeans as she did, then he nodded his greeting to Mel.

“What are you doing?” He asked tersely.

“Can’t I see my mother?” The daughter challenged and the biker scoffed.

“Of course,” he killed his engine and the others mimicked him in fine order. “I wouldn’t keep ya from her but you didn’t tell me you were going downtown.”

“You were gone.”

You listened to the conversation as you stayed close to the column, thinking of sneaking up the steps into the library before you heard too much. Your curiosity had you searching the crowd of leather jackets as their wearers tried to conceal their impatience with their boss’ impromptu halt.

Among them, a large man sat casually in his seat, his feet planted on the cold pavement as he rolled slightly back and forth. Strands of his thick blond hair were drawn back beneath his helmet into a thick braid as the rest hung around his shoulders. His patch was different from the rest, an old Norse symbol you didn’t know the meaning of. There were several others who wore the same cut, including a dark-haired woman who chatted with another golden-haired rider.

You tasted your latte again, it cooled quickly as the cold air battered the cardboard. As you sipped and sidled around the column, your eyes were caught by another pair. The very man you’d just been watching was now focused on you. You stopped, hoping like some frightened animal that your stillness would ward off his attention.

“Barnes,” the broad blonde man spoke as he finally looked away. “You’ve not even introduced me to your woman. I assume that’s why we’ve stopped.”

Bucky shifted on his bike and sighed. You hadn’t expected the man to have an accent. His voice was deep but the subtle lilt defined his tone as unforgettable. The dark-haired biker of Birch rolled his eyes before he pointed to his girl and gave her name, then to Melissa as he explained their relation.

You sidestepped around the column to the stairs of the library and turned away. You were stopped again by the same voice.

“And that one? The quiet one?”

You spun back slowly and looked at each biker, many unconcerned with conversation, as a few stared back at you or at the viking-like rider. Bucky shook his head and furrowed his brow at Melissa’s daughter. She hesitated before she gave your name coolly referred to you as just another librarian. She was trying to deflect the focus and you were thankful for it. You wondered at her own blatant spite for that breed of man.

“No one important,” Bucky grabbed his keys. “Come on, honey. I’ll give you a ride back.”

“I can walk.”

“Get on.” He said gruffly and turned the keys.

The motorcycles thrummed back to life in a cacophony. You flinched and turned back to the library doors. Your lunch was almost over as it was and the cold was starting to make your head hurt. You heard the bikes tear off as you reached the door and you turned back to watch as Melissa ran up after you.

You held the door for her and paused as you watched riders tear away. The blonde remained and watched you with a smirk. He winked as he slowly rolled after the others and pushed off. You followed Melissa inside and pulled the door shut tightly behind you.

“I’ll finish the returns,” you slipped past her, “you should try to warm up.”

“Thanks, dear,” she rubbed her hands together as she neared the curve desk you all shared, “God, that man makes my skin crawl.”

“But your daughter--”

“She handles him as well as she can,” Melissa sat and logged onto her boxy PC, “she’s stronger than me, that’s for sure.”

You sat and chewed on the thought. You just assumed her daughter leaped at the opportunity to date the most powerful man in town. What else could a girl from Birch hope for?

“She doesn’t…”

“He keeps her safe, I guess,” Melissa muttered, “I don’t say nothing against it. I won’t, for her sake as much as mine.”

You lowered your lashes and turned to the stack of unscanned books. You took the first and opened the cover.

“I didn’t mean to-- I don’t really know anything about the… bikers.”

“Hope you never do, dear,” she said listlessly. “Those men, if you can call them that, are the lowest form of humanity.”

💀

You always took the same route home. It wasn’t very far. You lived in the studio apartment above Tammy’s, the clothes shop where all the local seniors got their outdated outfits. The store itself smelled like a retirement home but you were not often disturbed by the activity below. Like everything in Birch, it wasn’t very exciting.

Your walk took you past the diner and along the stretch across the street from the town’s sentinel, The Asp. The bar was the only place in town which always seemed to be bursting with life. You had an old Chevrolet parked behind the building but you never drove to work, only on your odd trip to the city to get away from the suffocation malaise of main street.

That day as you fumbled to get your earbud back in, you heard a whistle. You got a few comments now and again about your habit of blocking out the townsfolk and the town itself with your music. In the city, you didn’t just say hi to every person you walked by and you had little inclination to change that habit.

You kept going and the whistle came louder. You heard boots hammer across the street and you stopped as the earbud once more fell out of your ear.

“Eh, kitten,” you turned to the long-haired biker. A golden hammer hung from a chain and peaked out from the open collar of his jacket. He tucked his hands in his pockets as you faced him with blatant irritation. “We didn’t get to meet properly, did we?”

You stared at him and let out a foggy breath. You leaned on your left heel and shook your head with a scoff.

“No.” You said and turned back along your path.

“No?” He repeated and his footsteps followed closely. “I’m only being friendly, kitten. I’m not from around here and I’m just tryn’ ta make a few friends.”

“I’m not interested,” you march onward and stop short.

You realised if you went any further, you’d lead him straight to your door. You didn’t need him knowing where you lived. You veered off and crossed the street, he stayed close just like your shadow. You’d stop by the liquor store and wait him out there.

“Where are you going, kitten?”

“Can’t you take a hint?” You nearly tangled your own legs as you pivoted sharply. “I’m sorry for your luck that you’ve ended up in Birch but I don’t know you and I don’t want to know you.” You grasped the handle of the liquor store door. “Oh, and my name isn’t kitten.”

“I know your name. I remember it.” He grinned and you swung open the door. He caught it behind you and you let out a frustrated sigh as he trailed you inside. “It’s almost as gorgeous as you.”

“Do those work on the women where you’re from?”

You stared at the shelf of fruit wines and tried to ignore him. You were starting to build a real thirst for the bottles.

“I don’t meet a lot of women like you, kitten.”

“Would you stop it--” You blinked and stomped further down the aisle.

“Thor. My name’s Thor.” He offered gallantly. “But you can call me whatever you wish.”

“I could think of a few things.” You bent down to read the label of a wine from the Maritimes.

“Mmm, my thoughts run wild, kitten.” He purred and you looked up at him in confusion.

You swiped the bottle from the shelf and stood straight. His eyes clung to your ass and as you turned, they swiftly found your chest. Neither were well-hidden by your jacket, even as thick as it was. Your weight often deterred the whistles and the leers, but not this time.

“How many ways can I tell you to go away?” You hissed and move to step around him. He turned and watched you pass. He shivered as you brushed against him unwillingly in the narrow aisle.

“So, you got a man?” He questioned as again he tailed you to the counter. You grabbed a small bottle of Vodka from the rack beside it and dug out your wallet.

“Does it matter?”

He bent and leaned on the counter beside you and you ignored his attempt to look you in the face. You paid and took your change as the clerk bagged your purchase.

“To me, everything about you matters, kitten.”

You shot him a sharp look and took your paper bag. You hugged it close and glared at him as he straightened. “Stop calling me that.”

“Here,” he gripped the top of the bag, “I’ll help.”

“I’ll smash this bottle over your head,” you threatened. “Now I’ve told you to leave me alone.”

He chuckled and dipped his head. His hair slid down the leather and he scratched his thick beard.

“Don’t worry, kitten, I like to play.”

He looked at you again, his blue eyes twinkling. You were startled as suddenly he ‘woofed’’ at you. You backed away and he kept close as is to chase you, ready to salivate like the dog he mimicked.

“Get away!” You shouted and raced for the door.

His barks turned to laughter and the bell announced your stagger out onto the street. You didn’t look back as you charged across the street and narrowly missed being mowed down by Linda Karling. You reached the other side as you heard the liquor store door clatter a second time. You sensed his shadow as you turned down a side street.

You walked until you were certain he wasn’t following. The cold blew up your jacket as you mapped out your way back. You could sneak around the back of the clothes shop and sneak up the metal escape. You peered back and forth, the old house just at the town limits nearly faded into the dimming sky and main street shrouded by brick walls.

“Hey,” a small voice surprised you as a woman neared, walking the same route as you. “Whatcha doing all the way up here?”

You stared at her dumbly. It was the woman who worked at the bakery. She hung out with the club too.

“Nothing, I…” You grabbed your earbuds and put them back in your ears. “I was listening to my music and got carried away.”

“Oh?” she chittered like a mouse. “No one comes this way. Only me to see my ma.”

You nodded at her and gave an awkward smile. “Mmhmm. Well, thanks. I probably would’ve wandered right out of town.”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” she said forlornly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“For your latte. And you always get the banana loaf when it’s on special and tomorrow’s Tuesday.”

You sniffed and rubbed your neck. You hated that. You hated that everyone knew you, that everyone knew what you did, and that they assumed they knew everything else. But she was sweet and you couldn’t hate her for never being freed from the prison of Birch.

“Oh yeah,” you squeezed the paper bag so it crinkled and pulled out your phone with your free hand, “tomorrow.”

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possiblyimbiassed · 3 years

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The lying liars who lie

Years and years late to the party, I’ve finally gotten my hands on all the DVDs of BBC Sherlock, and I thought it would be fun to watch the extra material carefully, one piece after another, and also listen to at least some of the show makers’ commentary of the episodes. But at this point, after S4 where DVDs seemed to be a constant lying device in general, I tend to look at them with a bit more suspicious eyes...

I still love the show of course, but now that I’ve taken this deep dive into all the special features, I find them a truly hard thing to try to wrap my head around. Even this long after the fact, I’m amazed by the amount of shameless, self-congratulatory BS in the DVDs, where the people involved can’t have enough of complimenting each other and their show, while they skillfully avoid to discuss anything actually meaningful about the plot line. ;) For example, Moffat claims in the S2 DVD that “In fact, you’ll never see a more obsessively authentic version of Sherlock Holmes than this one”. But if we follow their light-hearted commentary, which basically takes the show at face value, I’d call that not just hyperbole, but an outright lie. If you want to see the ‘authentic’ stories from ACD’s work in this show, you’ll definitely need to go much deeper into the subtext and meta levels - neither of which are mentioned on these DVDs of course. Here’s my own (rather subjective) ‘review’ of the whole thing, trying to pinpoint why I view most of the commentary of the show from its own makers as an advanced art of deception.

(My musings under the cut)

Series 1 - a wealth of extra material

First of all - as many of you probably knew already - the whole of the Unaired Pilot is added to the DVD of S1. In the extra material about the making of the series, they (Sue Vertue, Mofftiss and others) talk about what things they changed between the Pilot and ASiP, claiming that many changes were necessary improvements once they knew that they had a whole series and a lot more time at their disposal.

Which I can perfectly understand and agree with in general. But I think what’s missing in their discussions is more interesting than what’s actually there (”Mind the gap” ;) ). Things that I would expect from the show makers when they go to the trouble of comparing the pilot version with the aired product. There’s not a word, for example, about the fact that they added both Mycroft and Moriarty to the story in ASiP - two characters who later turn out to play major roles and appear in almost every other episode until the end of TFP. Or about the choice that one of the screenwriters would play Mycroft.

Neither do they discuss why they chose to relocate the place where Sherlock was challenged by the cabbie from 221B to Roland Kerr’s School of Further Education. Instead they focus on the details, like for example the new design of the interior of 221B.

Not to mention the fact that almost every scene in the Pilot is mirrored in ASiP (as pointed out long ago by @kateis-cakeis X), but at Angelo’s in the Pilot Sherlock follows the events with the cabbie while looking in an actual mirror. I even noticed that in the Pilot the cabbie is offering Sherlock dark-coloured bottles with the pills in them, while in ASiP those bottles are transparent, as if the cabbie is offering Sherlock to play Black or White in the chess game that he is simulating. What’s with all these mirrors, though? Not a word on the DVD... ;)

Now, even though these rather remarkable choices are neglected together with a great bunch of minor ones, I still think that the most interesting fact about all this is that they actually included the whole pilot version within this DVD, which is sold by the franchise. Why even do this, when it raises far more questions than it answers? The only logical reason I can come up with is that they’re laying out a track of little hints that anyone with a deep enough interest in the show to actually buy the DVDs can try to follow. And it seems to me that lying by omission is one of the first steps in the long line of cryptic and misleading author comments on this show. But at the same time, they clearly want the fans to have access to it all, even the abandoned version.

Moving on to Series 2, time for bigger lies

In the extra material of this DVD Benedict himself describes how his character "faces one of his deadliest enemies in the shape of Love, and it comes in the form of Irene Adler, who is this extraordinary dominatrix [insert here a bunch of superlatives regarding Adler]...”. And then we see how Adler whips Sherlock with a riding crop (without any kind of consent, I have to add) while he’s lying on the floor, and we have Lara Pulver telling us how it was to have a go at Benedict on set. So Holmes whips dead bodies and Adler whips living; seems like a match made in hell! :))

Gatiss claims, grinning with his whole face, that “they’re clearly, absolutely made for each other”. OK, so I think we can see Sherlock being intellectually impressed by Adler, and even trying to protect her from Mycroft, and we can see John acting jealously. We can also see her being dressed and styled as a perfect, female mirror of Sherlock. But I’m still at a loss what all this has to do with love on Sherlock’s part? Especially since he’s not even responding in any fashion to her various attempts at seducing him.

And there’s more: Paul McGuigan, the director of ASiB, claims that the scene where Sherlock has a conversation with Adler inside his Mind Palace about the crime case with the car that backfires "is a part of a kind of love story, if you like...” No, I don’t. Maybe it’s just me, but if their aim really was to convey to their audience a love story between Sherlock and The Woman, I think they failed miserably. All I see is a guy ’mansplaining’ to a clever woman how to use her brain, while she’s trying to flirt with him by expressing her admiration (to no avail, though) and make deductions at the same time. Nothing new under the sun, really. John did the same thing repeatedly in ASiP (without making own deductions) and got far more attention from Sherlock, but I’ve never heard any of the show makers call that ”a love story”. But by ’lie-splaining’ the scene with Irene to the audience, they try to manipulate us all to see it as such...

In all the direct commentary of this episode, where Steven, Mark, Sue, Benedict and Lara are present, I get the impression that every time they even touch on the relationship between Sherlock and John, they hurry to add the term “friendship” or “man love” or similar words in case they forgot them at first, avoiding even the tiniest possibility that there could be anything more going on between them. They even explain that when Irene calls them “a couple” she does not mean anything romantic. This whole approach feels almost paranoic in the midst of all the laid-back jokes and light-hearted talk about the filming. It’s as if a sort of restrictive, heteronormative filter or blanket is being constantly applied, to teach the audience the ‘no homo’ lesson of it all. And the more I listen to this, the more tiresome it becomes.

In the commentary Moffat does reveal an interesting detail, though: that the ‘Flight of the Dead’ in ASiB was inspired by a cut out scene in the Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. To me this is just one more reason to question the ‘authentic’ quality of this scene, as opposed to possibly taking place in Sherlock’s Mind Palace. But I digress...

Listening to the commentary in general, it’s like it’s aimed to distract the attention from what’s going on at the screen rather than highlight it and try to explain their intentions. They do mention that Irene didn’t actually ‘beat’ Sherlock in the end of ASiB, but there’s no explanation of this obvious deviation from canon, where Adler does indeed fool Holmes, taking advantage of his prejudices.

The rest of the extra material of S2 is mostly about technical stuff, special effects and such, and also about filming techniques and Benedict’s delivery of fast deductions. But the part I really do love is the one where Andrew Scott talks about how much he enjoyed playing the scene where Moriarty dances before breaking into the Crown Jewels. That’s one of my favorite scenes of he whole show. :) Also, the takeaway message from this DVD is Moffat’s words at the end:

“These are still the formative years of Sherlock Holmes, and the most important thing about this series is not that it’s updated; it’s the fact that those two men are still young and they’re still at the beginning of what they don’t yet know is gonna be a lifelong partnership”.

And then comes Series 3...

...and its extra material, with the most blatant attempts at deception so far, I believe. At this point Sherlock is called a “psychopath” by both the show’s characters, John’s blog, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as if it were true, which is a big deviation from ACD canon. That simply doesn’t happen there; while Holmes is sometimes described as eccentric, no one in the books is ever claiming that Sherlock Holmes has some kind of mental illness leaning towards cruelty and egotism - not even his enemies say this about him. In the show, however, they begin in ASiP with making him torture a dying man for information (something that is not included in the Pilot). And in S3, where they avoid discussing the reason why they turned Mary Morstan into a ruthless assassin, this major shift is glossed over by the fact that in the same episode (HLV) they also turn Sherlock into a murderer, who cold-bloodedly blows the brains out of a blackmailer for threatening to make said assassin’s crimes public.

But without ever getting into the “why” of it all, the cast and crew seem overly happy and smiling describing these rather morbid choices as something positive; “fantastic”, "fresh and new” and "amazing” are their choice of words. Benedict claims that Mary, who has literally shot and almost killed Sherlock in HLV, is now "a new best friend of Sherlock’s”. Amanda claims that Mary “is protecting John” when she shoots Sherlock in the chest. Now they’re both psychopaths, and poor little John is forced to stomach them both because he’s addicted to danger. In Amanda’s words, Mary also “kind of gets in between the two of them, but she wants them to be together as well”. Which is a load of BS considering that Mary tries to kill the protagonist of the story.

Lars Mikkelsen thinks it’s “such a good script” because “you’re mislead as an audience”. But he never gets the chance to expand on what the misleading actually contains, because then Mofftiss cut in to express how much they love playing with “what ifs”. As if this whole mega-budget project of a show were just a big experimental playground without any actual story to tell.

Benedict repeats his line from HLV that Magnussen “preys on people who are different” and Moffat also says he “exploits people who are different”. Which is really confusing, considering what we can see Magnussen actually do in the show. Lady Smallwood and John Garvie are two well-established, powerful governmental politicians whom Magnussen blackmails by finding their respective pressure points. In Garvie’s case his pressure point seems to be alcohol problems in his past, but according to media he’s later arrested on charges of corruption. Lady Smallwood is blackmailed on the basis of her husband having sent compromising letters to a minor many years ago, in spite of later claiming that he thought she was older and stopped when he found out the truth. And then Magnussen is blackmailing an assassin who recently threatened to execute him but shot Sherlock Holmes instead, in order to try to get at Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, another powerful governmental figure.

But what does media seeking out dirt on certain people in power and their families have to do with “people who are different”? Despicable as the method may be, isn’t this unfortunately how political power play usually works in our society? Or are TPTB somehow a repressed minority group now? Unless this whole “people who are different” accusation is actually about something entirely different, something that none of the show makers even cares to mention... ;)

In these DVDs, none of the involved persons is ever discussing the change of roles with regards to canon, though, or the (lack of) logics in this turn of events, or even a hint about the narrative motivation behind them. It’s all about the great Drama, the extraordinary visual effects and the aim to endlessly “surprise the audience”. Which is fine by me to a certain extent, but when this is all that’s being said, it feels extremely superficial, as if the audience is merely seen as a bunch of consumers that have to be triggered more and more by horror, special effects and cliff hangers to be able to appreciate the show. (“Warm paste” indeed, like Gatiss has later criticized some viewers of wanting...) While the "why”; the idea behind this surrealistic adaptation, made by self-proclaimed fanboys of ACD, is not even touched upon. Around this, the silence is total and therefore totally confusing.

Maybe I shouldn’t even go into Series 4...

...but why not, since I’ve already started? :)

First of all, there’s a lot of extra material on this DVD and I particularly love the parts about the music and composing and Arwel Wyn Jones’ work with the design and build-up of John’s and Mary’s flat and the interior of 221B. Those bits are truly enjoyable. What I could live without, though, is the leading commentary that kind of instructs us, the audience, how we should interpret the show.

Benedict is on it again on this DVD, telling us that in TST they picked up where they left off in S3 and “It’s a very happy unit of three people that then become four.” Why does he feel the need to make this statement, considering how S3 ended? Actually, if there’s anything I totally fail to see in S4, it’s happiness. The banter between the three of them may seem entertaining for a while, but who could have a relaxed, warm relationship with someone who tried and almost succeeded to kill you less than a year ago? Without any sign of remorse? Now there’s a dark tone of discomfort and mean jokes that feels forced and not even a bit happy to me.

But Martin tells us how excited John and Mary are about starting a family and Amanda mentions how much they’re looking forward to the baby. Again and again it’s repeated, as though trying to rub it in: “they’re in a good place, they’re a loving, married couple”. Yeah, right - a child that (judging by TSoT) wasn’t at all planned and now with an assassin for a mother... Twice we see the new parents complain that their daughter has the mark of Satan on her forehead and debate which horror movie she’s from. The clichéd hypocrisy of it all is sickening, and I’m willing to bet that it’s really meant to be. ;)

But Gatiss chimes in, deciding for us all that the christening of Rosie is “a funny scene” and “they’re enjoying each other, enjoying being on adventures as a three”.

An interesting detail is that Gatiss also tells us that the working name of this episode was “The Adventure of the Melting power Ranger”. So this little blue guy was that important? :) And - even more interesting - is when he says: “Cake is now the code for violent death”. So how should we interpret Sherlock, John and Molly going out to have cake in TLD then, on Sherlock’s (supposed) birthday?

These might be jokes, though, but when they tell us that Sue cries every time she sees Mary’s death I strongly believe they must be joking. How could anyone feel truly moved by this overly sentimental long monologue where far more efforts are put into reacting to Mary’s speech than saving her life? And John’s mooing like a cow, is that also moving? :)

One thing Martin says about TLD that actually disgusts me is regarding the morgue scene where John assaults Sherlock and Sherlock lets it happen: “From there, really, their relationship can only sort of rebuild, that’s the absolute worst it can get”. As if outright physical abuse would be something that makes you want to rebuild a relationship? Wow - just wow... How far can they go with this crap?

Anyway, when we finally arrive at the absurdity of TFP and Sherlock’s ‘secret sister’, everything is of course discussed as if she actually does exist on the given premises, and everything she does is ‘real’, no matter how impossible it would be in real life. The abandonment of any attempt to have the story line make logical sense is skillfully covered up by more distraction with fascinating technicalities of the film making process. This is where Gatiss makes his now almost classic statement that after Sherlock and John jump out of the window at 221B when a grenade explodes there, it’s just “Boop! And they’re fine.”

Of course there’s no serious attempt at explaining this logically. Except perhaps Gatiss claiming that they both landed on Speedy’s awning - whatever good that would do to them, since the awning is leaning downwards, but never mind... But we never even saw that happen, did we? A great deal of time is then dedicated to show all the precautions to have Martin and Ben jumping safely at low level onto a madras supported by empty cardboard boxes.

Sian Brooke did say something interesting about Sherrinford, however, that got me thinking. She said that Eurus “wants revenge for the years and years that she has been held captive” there, isolated, and that in TFP the Holmes children are now “lab rats” and “it’s an experiment”. On a meta level, I think we can indeed see this episode - and maybe the whole show - as a kind of experiment, but maybe we, the audience, are also lab rats? Since Sherrinford is slightly shaped like a film camera (not commented in the extra material, of course), it leads my thought to all the adaptations through the years and years where Holmes and Watson have not been allowed to be together. A whole century when Sherlock Holmes has been held captive, restricted by the very same sort of heteronormative filter that all this extra material imposes; it’s like Sherrinford, isn’t it? Which gives all the more meaning to Moriarty’s arrival to the island, accompanied by Freddy Mercury’s “I want to break free”...

I think I’ll let the final words in this little exposé come from Mark Gatiss in The Writers’ Chat (my bolding):

“Moriarty is a fascinating thing in that in our sea of ongoing lies, one thing we’ve genuinely been completely consistent about is telling people he’s dead. But no-one believes it! And it’s a rather brilliant thing.” Again - self-congratulatory statements. But instead of providing some actual evidence of the death of this character, who has kept popping up in almost every episode since his supposed demise, they think that the more a confirmed liar repeats something, the truer it gets? And the more we’re supposed to believe them? Well, all we can do is wait and see. :)

Tagging some people who might be interested:

@raggedyblue @ebaeschnbliah @sarahthecoat @gosherlocked @lukessense @sagestreet @thepersianslipper

My earlier meta on a similar topic (X)

#bbc sherlock dvds #Deception in BBC Sherlock

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mccoyyy · 3 years

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moving this to my new blog so I can pin it again lol

@stregoni-benefici you are completely correct but I just wanted to expand on this a little bit - also i’m putting this under a read more cause this got a lot longer than i originally thought it would be

sexism: smeyers treatment of female characters throughout the entire series is extremely problematic. like you don’t even need to read deep into the books to see that. the backstories of all her female characters all involve some form of trauma and are significantly more violent than the male vampires (Rosalie and Esme enduring physical/sexual assault meanwhile Edward dies of the flu and Emmett gets vibe checked by a bear).

she also creates the idea that a woman isn’t complete without children/being a mother. every female vampire in the series is desperate for children yet can’t, its mentioned in pretty much every book and extreme emphasis is placed on how tragic this is. a female character wanting children isn’t wrong or sexist at all but the way its written in twilight makes it seem like its something a woman has to do in order to be happy and smeyer pretty much cements this idea by making Bella suddenly desperate to have Renesmee despite showing no interest in children/audibly voicing her thoughts against having children in eclipse and the start of breaking dawn (i’m pretty sure Bella has a line of dialogue in the books where she says something like she didn’t realise it was something she wanted/needed until it happened bit I’m not sure I try not to read/think about breaking dawn)

there’s also the way she writes female characters, specifically Rosalie. its mentioned throughout the series that Rosalie has extreme mechanical skills and multiple degrees in STEM fields but its barely ever shown, and instead her characterisation focuses on being obsessed with her looks (first couple pages of this, written by smeyer for new moon), and being a ‘stereotypical bitch’. for the first three books most of her character/dialogue is based on being cold and rude to Bella. She is unnecessarily painted as the villain for having different views on Bella (quite literally) giving up her life and future to be with a man (which is a whole other can of worms). the same is done to the character of Leah in eclipse/breaking dawn. Leah is a woman in the Quileute Tribe, she has been severely affected by the Cullen’s presence in the area and is painted as a character that the reader is supposed to dislike simply because she doesn’t like Bella/the Cullen’s despite having extremely valid reasons not to

anti-Native - smeyers treatment of native tribes is horrendous. she has profited fr years off of of native american culture for years and has done so without any acknowledgements. furthermore, she also demonises native american teens (especially in new moon) by calling them wild, violent, dangerous and out of control and then uses these stereotypes to create a contrast between the self control and patience of the Cullen’s and make them seem more like the good guys, and the wolf pack being lesser. She does this again with the treatment of Jacobs character in new moon and especially eclipse.

Jacob starts off in new moon as Bella’s best friend. he helps Bella come out of a severe depression caused when Edward left at the start of the book. however in eclipse his character makes a complete flip and he becomes moody, temperamental, argumentative and disrespectful of Bella’s boundaries. his character becomes unrecognisable and despite smeyers claims of a love triangle, it is obvious what the outcome will be. I have seen countless instances of people on this site claiming they hate Jacob because he is a dick/disrespectful/just as unhealthy as Edward. this was done on purpose by smeyer as she uses Jacob to make Edward seem like the obvious and correct choice for Bella. if you need more proof of this, take the scene where Jacob kisses Bella without her consent and she breaks her hand when punching him, Edward swoops in and almost gets into a fight with Jacob for touching Bella without her consent. this is an obvious attempt to make Jacob seem like the villain and Edward the white saviour

there’s also the treatment of the native characters by the white characters in the books. multiple times in the series, the native characters are called/compared to dogs/brutes and have a distinct unpleasant smell. I don’t think I need to explain how this is racist. the pack also helps the Cullen’s/saves Bella’s lives and never receive any acknowledgement/are treated any better by the Cullen’s/anyone really. the pack are only ever used as a way to make the Cullen’s look better.

there’s also some pretty obvious similarities to colonisation with the Cullen’s entering Quiluete lands which then forces them to start phasing into wolves (and I’m pretty sure none of the pack actually want to start phasing). also, remember Leah? the only female member of the wolf pack? because of the change she effectively can’t have children? that has implications.

and to top it all off, after doing all that, smeyer has never once addressed this or even acknowledged the Quileute Tribe.

pedophilic - I mean even without mentioning breaking dawn its pretty awful. first of all you’ve got the blatant sexualisation of minors throughout the entire series. Edward is 17 throughout the series and smeyer is writing literal paragraphs about his chiselled abs. Jacob is 16/17 when she has him running about forks topless with a 6 pack. this is way more apparent in the movies but its still a huge issue in the books and lead to Taylor Lautner being confronted by adult fans trying to get him to sign their underwear, and being forced into being shirtless for most of the movies which made him extremely uncomfortable (Elizabeth Reaser (Esme) briefly talks about this in the ID10T podcast on spotify). and just as a reminder, Taylor was 16 when the first one was filmed and 17 for the second.

Breaking Dawn is a whole other can of worms. the glaringly obvious issue is Jacob imprinting on a literal newborn baby. now the concept of imprinting itself has racist elements to it, but its heavily implied in the series that imprinting will inevitably lead to a romantic relationship. Jacob imprinting on Renesmee and waiting until she is old enough to enter into a romantic relationship (never mind the fact that shes ‘old enough’ she will still technically be 5) is pretty much grooming. The same happens with Quil and his imprint, Claire (a two year old) where I’m pretty sure there’s a scene in breaking dawn where Jacob and Leah are watching Quil play with Claire and talking about how Quil isn’t going to date anyone because he and Claire are ‘pretty much inevitable’ (i might be wrong though, like I said I try not to read/think about breaking dawn)

smeyer has also written a spin off book (its like 250 odd pages) called the short second life of Bree Tanner (Bree is that newborn vampire killed after the battle in eclipse by the Volturi btw). In this book, Bree is 15 almost 16, and another character Diego is 18 which is definitely pushing the boundaries of ok. (also as a side note, funny how Bree and Jacob are literally the same age and smeyer states multiple times how Bree deserved better and is only a child (who straight up kills people), yet when it comes to Jacob he has to be a responsible adult and is vilified for every mistake he makes)

racist - smeyer refused to let Catherine Hardwicke (director of the first twilight) have a diverse cast because she ‘imagined them a certain way’ (white) and it was a fight to get Edi Gathegi cast as Laurent and had to compromise with smeyer to make Bella’s friend group more diverse. this woman straight up refused to hire more diverse actors and only agreed to when they were side characters/villains.

Also in the official companion book/guide to twilight, smeyer literally writes that vampire venom makes you white

‘the venom leeches all pigmentation from the skin into a more indestructable vampire form…regardless of original ethnicity a vampires skin will be exceptionally pale’ (official illustrated guide pg.69)

this is a whole lot of bullshit cause she is literally whitewashing characters, but when you pair this with the idea that vampires possess inhuman levels of beauty it becomes extremely problematic and implies that being pale/white is more beautiful than darker skin tones.

also, if we go back to Laurent’s character for a second. so Laurent is one of the only characters who isn’t described as white (in the books he is described as having a pale olive skin tone) and in the first book he comes across as pretty reasonable (warning carlisle about James/Victoria, travels up to Denali and tries out the veggie lifestyle) but in new moon, his characterisation pulls a 180° (sensing a theme here) and is suddenly trying to kill Bella as a favour to Victoria and is Evil™ despite in the first book he literally says to Carlisle he didn’t particularly like travelling with James/Victoria and was only really doing it for convenience. where did this undying loyalty come from? yet again, smeyer is completely disregarding established characterisation in POC characters specifically to villainise them.

and finally, we have Jasper. for some reason (that reason being that she is racist) smeyer decides to make Jasper a confederate soldier in his human life. if you don’t have a lot of knowledge on the american civil war, the confederacy were the side of the US that seceded from the union in order to keep their slaves. Jasper was a confederate soldier, and not just any soldier, but a major. Jasper was a major in an army that fought for 4 years to keep the existence of slavery (and don’t even try to say that slavery wasn’t the root cause of the civil war. states rights aye? states rights to do what). now there’s an argument out there made by certain fans that a lot of people joined the confederate army out of pride/were forced into it cause of conscription to try and head canon the racism away but like that doesn’t matter. there was literally no need to make jasper a confederate in the first place. if she was so desperate to have a civil war vampire then she could have made him a member of the union. its been common knowledge that the confederacy was racist for a long time now, smeyer has absolutely no excuses here.

a lot of these issues overlap and I have probably missed heaps of issues (so feel free to add on) but hope this helps explain why smeyer can *ahem* get tae absolute fuck

#smeyer deserves jail #writing this pissed me off so much brb im off to buy a dartboard and a coloured printer #twilight #anti-smeyer #twilight renaissance #twilight resurgance #twilight revival #dont fucking buy midnight sun #edward cullen #jacob black #bella swan #the cullens #wolf pack #jasper whitlock #jasper hale

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serpenteve · 3 years

Note

Are you still taking hotcakes? If so, here's one:

The Darkling and Alina's character dynamic and relationship writing are actually not that good to explore/convey abusive relationships. Not only would it be just the first book, because the rest of the series treats him as an enemy, but even in the first book they barely got it going. Yes he lies and manipulates her but, at least in the beginning when finding her out, she's not exactly special in regard. He does it to everyone to some extent. You can say this makes the Darkling toxic. Yeah. Dark daddy literally can't trust anyone. But when specifically talking about Darkling being abusive, I can't really... I can't really think of any quiet emotional beats that made me horrified and want to hold Alina? She never had a hard time leaving the Darkling. Darkling never really broke her down to be completely dependent on him, literally only the letters and I guess the Stag were indications of it. Besides that, he only does the bare minimum and affirms her worth to a serverly self deprecating Alina. Dark daddy is not even an effective cult leader. Leigh just wrote a charismatic intelligent man that dedicates himself to the little palace and put a sidenote like "and he kicks puppies so.."

Do you know what would of been good to explore abusive dynamic/relationship with? Who puts her down? Does little digs into her self worth? Makes her completely dependent on him? Who she has a difficult time leaving? Who has these very drastic unpredictable mood changes that put me, as a reader, on edge? 👀👀👀

Yes, we are always open for hotcakes here! 🔥🎂

If Bardugo really wanted to convey an abusive relationship, it would have been more effective to put Alina in an actual relationship with the Darkling. Even with Shadow & Bone being the book with the most amount of their interactions, he's barely even at the Little Palace.

I also don't understand this critique of "he isolated her" because he only isolated her from Mal. She was still a student with free rein at the Little Palace, free to make friends, did make friends, and was constantly surrounded by people. It's Alina who chooses to hide in her room and avoid everyone and sticks up her nose at the other Grisha girls. Alina herself even admits that had the Darkling not sabotaged her letters with Mal, she never would have unlocked her powers. And the only reason this is framed as being evil is because Mal is supposed to be the chosen love interest. If Mal was just another dumb fuckboy who ghosted her while Alina went on to make new friends and build a social circle at the Little Palace, literally no one would care.

(Also, as an interesting tangent, in the short story The Tailor, the Darkling leaves it up to Genya whether to give Mal's letters to Alina or not. Genya is conflicted for a while but ends up burning them.)

I think the problem is that while the Darkling is manipulating Alina, Leigh is also manipulating the reader through the way she frames and tells the story. And Leigh's manipulation falls flat and ultimately backfires because:

If she wanted Alina to be disarmed by the Darkling's encouragement, why is he literally the only positive mentor figure she has? Why make Baghra so abusive and antagonistic? Why connect Alina's journey to claiming her powers to the villain?

If she wanted us to believe everything he does is pure manipulation and cold calculation, why does he mess up when he corners her at the Winter Fete? He straight up admits that he hates that he's attracted to her because she's distracting him from his ~evil plans~

If she wanted us to see the Darkling as an abuser, why let him give Alina the most powerful amplifier ever made and ultimately end up empowering her???? He wanted to use her power for himself, yes, but she really should have milked that exploitation for a lot longer because 2 seconds later, Alina gains control back and now she's got the legendary power of the stag on her side and makes the Darkling look like an idiot.

Why did she let Baghra warn Alina on the night of the Winter Fete? This is particularly interesting point in the story because a lot of fanfics like to explore the direction the story could have taken had the Darkling himself eventually told Alina about his past as the Black Heretic. Or if Alina had joined him in hunting for the stag and taken the collar with consent, like she was originally planning to.

What makes Alina easy to manipulate is how desperate she is for validation and approval from other people, especially men. Compare that to show!Alina where the ""manipulation"" is a goddamn joke ☠️If anything, the show!Darkling played himself by simping so hard. If the Darkling manipulates Alina, so does Baghra, so does Genya, so does Mal, and so does even Nikolai.

This isn't to say this ship isn't trash, because it 100% is 😂But if the Darkling is abusive to Alina, it's not abusive in the same way as a toxic boyfriend is. It's an abuse of power, a control of information, emotional manipulation, mind games, intimidation, blatant lies, threats to loved ones, and some light negging because Aleks really can't understand Alina's cottagecore dreams ☠️and neither can i tbh

At the same time, I'm not sure how useful it is to frame this in the same way as relationship abuse when Alina and the Darkling are enemies in a civil war.

This might be why many more readers mapped their own abusive relationship history to the way Mal treated Alina in Siege & Storm, an unintended consequence of Bardugo's poor writing choices that has been fueling book!M*l hate to this very day.

#viv answers #cw: abuse #cw: manipulation #anti mal

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doberbutts · 3 years

Note

do you think mlm fanfiction and fiction should only written by other nblm and mlm?

No, I don't.

I think back to how Lee Pace was forcibly outed, without his consent, and in part because he played a trans woman in a movie when he is absolutely not publicly living as one. I think about how he mentions that he discovered some things about himself while playing her character, things that made him wonder how his family would react if they knew she made him question his identity. I think about how that's as blatant as you can get for a 'this character made me discover that I have some Gender Feelings that I'll meed to resolve on my own time in my private life' as you can get for a notoriously private celebrity.

I don't think it's right that he was backed into a corner and forced to publicly out himself years later in part to avoid backlash for accepting the role when he was presumed to be a cis man.

And I don't think it's right to force authors to out themselves in order to write what comes to them. I wish the research was a bit more vigerous for some things. I wish that authors writing about experiences outside of their own would talk to a vast array of people who fall under that experience they're trying to write. I recall Tamora Pierce saying she hesitated writing male characters for a long time because she didn't know how to write a coming of age story for a boy, and she didn't know how to be a man, but she had several male readers of her female-centric books write in that they loved her work, and she thought... if they can read her girls coming of age and be okay with the disconnect, then she can write a boy's story she can't connect to, for them.

But I do think it should be, hmm, prioritized, I suppose, when we talk about good representation vs bad. I can always tell, when something is written or heavily influenced by mlm vs not. It's kind like how I've always been attracted to other mlm, even before the men or boys in question had figured themselves out. There is something very unique about the experience and it doesn't always translate well when filtered through the mind of someone who cannot relate on that personal of a level.

It's why I don't write wlw often, and especially not wlw sex scenes. It makes me SUPER DYSPHORIC but it also is... really not something I can relate to. Are boobs nice? Idk I don't really see them as attractive or unattractive. What do girls actually like about other girls? I like. Barely know how boys like girls. I can't imagine myself being speechless in the face of a beautiful woman. I've been speechless in the face of a beautiful man. But I think it's different, I don't think what blew me away about him would blow a woman away about her. So I do my best and I'm sure I fumble through it and it's obvious that there's a big disconnect there and that's *okay* because I still make sure it's not offensive and it should be obvious that I'm *trying*.

Briar and Numair are good attempts, but sometimes miss the mark on what it is to be a boy in some of these scenarios. And that's okay, because they're not *offensive* attempts, and it's obvious that she's *trying* and that she's researching and consulting and making sure that she does her best even if she can't connect to them on the same level as Kel and Diane and Aly.

Just like how she tried very hard with Daja, and sure maybe missed the mark on some things, but she heard that her readers wanted LGBT representation and so she tried her best to give them that.

Pace DID connect with his character, on a far more personal level than he expected, and whether he considered himself queer before or after... the fact is that he does now, and that we have proof that maybe things are not so black and white.

So I think people should write what they will write, and the voices of those with the experience we're trying to convey should be prioritized, but artists should not fear stepping out of their comfort zone because they might offend someone so long as they are doing their best to re-create an authentic representation of what they're trying to include.

#it should go without saying that I like BOTH lee pace AND tamora pierce #this is not a knock on their abilities at all #in fact their stuff is some of my favorite

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juleswolverton-hyde · 3 years

Text

Not by the Moon | 06

Genre: Smut, Romance, Strangers to Lovers, Drama, Tragedy, Werewolf AU, Supernatural AU, Bookshop AU

Pairing: Bookshop keeper!/Werewolf!JB x Reader

Warnings: Growly and a wee bit possessive Dom!/Werewolf!JB, dirty talk, cunnilingus with a creamy finish, consensual protected vaginal sex, multiple rounds, biting, mild cussing/swearing, love making bordering on fucking, talk of consent and limits (IMPORTANT!), panty sniffing (look, he’s a wolf, okay?), implied baby/puppy fever, first time sex/loss of virginity, a sprinkle of angst, Werewolf!Jaebeom being confused about what it means to be human

Summary: Every story has a purpose or goal it is dedicated to, their authors at times going to great lengths to see the project they once started to completion. Nevertheless, the things the writers swore on to see their latest art piece to completion are static.

Unchanging.

None of them swore by the Moon nor Love because they can solely genuinely swear on all that changes like themselves.

And yet, a wolf in love foolishly swore by the moon.

That is when Time truly started ticking.

Author’s Note: This chapter is from Y/N’s POV.

Also, I may have gone a bit overboard in the adjectives describing JB as a big lad, but he is. Have you seen the picture of his back?

HE’S A BIG LAD!

Anyway, if that’s a point of critique for this chapter aside from my implied love for his body hair, so be it. However, I said what I said and what I said is a fact.

Previous Chapter / Next chapter

Masterlist

Will you have me?

The question hangs heavy in the little space between us. I’m not used to being left in control like this, so my mind short circuits at the mere thought of it. The anticipation of my answer weighs heavy on our shoulders, my tongue tied with not knowing how to say what it wants and his with the worry of denial.

Jaebeom gives my hip an assuring squeeze, a signal that he might be disappointed yet won’t push my boundaries.

“It’s okay if you don’t-’’ he starts, speech rushed as he averts his gaze from my lips to the pillow in the corner of the sofa.

“Yes,” I interrupt him, the interference blurted out with his touch. I run my fingers through the light dusting of dark hairs on his arms. “I will have you.”

Because I want and need him as much as he does me.

Visibly holding back, he tenderly presses his lips against mine. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I’ll treat you right, love you like a wolf loves his she-wolf.”

“I’m a she-wolf?” I raise an eyebrow at his comparison, thus hopefully hiding the flush which makes it feel as if it’s still summer instead of November.

His answer isn’t helpful in calming the storm of butterflies which rises from my stomach to my chest, where they rest on my ribs and tie it tightly. Neither is the mysteriously strengthened scent of musty books in the woods.

“Bunny, most of the time. Now, she-wolf,” he drawls, panting as he presses his chest against mine, our hearts beating in unison beneath our clothes. “Mine.”

Hearing the claim adds fuel to the flames, further spreading the warmth between my thighs. Feeding the hunger of his skin on mine and truly be his she-wolf.

So, I reach out to pull his shirt off. Nonetheless, just as I touch the underside of it, he already pulls away to do it himself and toss it aside afterwards. Bottom lip caught between my teeth, perversely fascinated, I trace a path from his solar plexus to the little trail of fuzz leading into his pants.

Jaebeom runs his tongue over my lower lip, distracting me with the silent question of being allowed more as his hand wraps around my mine and firmly presses it against his crotch. Without hesitation, I palm him through his jeans, immorally glad with the sensation of his hard throbbing bulge, the control over his blatant wanting.

The feeling of wetness below develops when his tongue cheekily dips between my lips and licks the roof of my mouth.

However, it worsens when he flips us around and crouches between my legs, intent to take my jeans off. His fingers hook over the rim, softly tugging it with a tender look asking for consent.

I nod, helping him by undoing the button and zipper to easier worm out of them.

He tosses the piece of clothing in the same corner as his shirt.

A shudder goes through me when the rough skin of his palm glides from my calves to my thighs. His moustache leaves a pleasant burning sensation in its wake as the wolf man kisses his way up.

And deprives me of all the air in my lungs, gone in a single involuntary gasp, when he presses his nose against my crotch. He inhales deeply, the breath he lets out one of intoxicated delight. The low vibration in his purred praise is almost enough to prematurely send me over the edge. “Fuck, you smell good.”

JB doesn’t make the effort to take off the white cotton panty. Instead, he curls his finger around the fabric, pulls it aside and runs his tongue in between my folds. I clasp a hand over my mouth to muffle the embarrassing moan that erupts from my throat. No need to let the neighbours know what we’re doing.

The licks slowly chip away at my sanity, but the tremors of his sonorous hums strike my core like thunder and leave me tethering on the cliff of ecstasy. Withal, it’s when he starts drawing tight circles around my clit and starts on it that I absolutely go feral.

I lose control over my hips, the controlled rocking transforming into desperate bucking. A satisfied growl erupts from his throat when I weave my fingers through his long black manes, tugging at them while I throw my head back as his tongue dips into me. The undercut he got while I was away has already gone, the short strands almost grown back to the length they had when we met. While it looked good, his long hair has supremacy.

Partially because it makes for a mouth watering sight when it falls over his left eye, obscuring the ocean in it, and his full lips are glossy with my arousal. The predatory expression on his face doesn’t do me any favours either, especially since he now fully resembles the animal he likens himself to.

A wolf entranced by its prey, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

The similarity sends a pleasant chill down my spine, which culminates in fire as he easily dips two fingers into me and sets a steady rhythm. Fireworks explode before my eyes with every thrust, leaving me a whimpering mess needing more than the still too little fulfillment his fingers give me. Nevertheless, they give me enough to steadily push me towards my orgasm.

My stomach clenches as he speeds up. Automatically, I strengthen the grip on his hair, earning myself another pleased grunt as I hold on for dear life. “Jae- JB, please, I’m gonna- Baby, you’re gonna make me cum!”

“Good. Cum for me. Need you nice and wet.” Despite basically having forbidden biting, he sinks his teeth into the inside of my thigh to purposefully place his mark there. I hiss at the sting, though resort back to keening again when he laps the sore spot with his tongue. “Might not fit, otherwise.”

Not... Not fit? How big is he?

Barely have I formed this first coherent thought in the past two minutes when the knot in my stomach unravels. The world falls away, melted like the words in the scream of relieved pleasure.

Gone as I float in bliss, oblivious and limp.

The ignorant peace is short-lived, every exhausted nerve painfully set on edge again after a brief reprieve.

Like Icarus fell, I fall from my high.

Such is pleasure.

The throbbing pain of overstimulation guides me back to reality. Blinking in drunk-like confusion, uncomprehending of where the agitation comes from, I look down. Slowly the living room sharpens like the image of the lover on the floor, carefully licking up the mess between my legs. With a smug though adorably satisfied chuckle, he kisses my clit once he’s done.

“Let me-’’ To catch his attention, let him know I’ve returned, sort of, I scratch him under the jaw. Notwithstanding, my voice sounds as if it’s still stuck in the delirious limbo. “Let me suck you off.”

“You don’t have to. Believe me, I’m already about to lose it as is and,” he nuzzles my palm, panting more than before, “I will if we don’t make it to the bed right now.”

“You can fuck me on the couch. Or the floor,” I suggest, half-dazed by the orgasm and aroused by the primality of being fucked on the ground.

“Bed. I want to make love to you. Not mount you.” His features contort as if he’s struggling with the same untamable beast he fought with earlier, the strain audible in his voice when he continues. It sounds more as if he’s talking to himself than to me. “Not yet.”

“If you want my consent-’’

“I’m not mounting you,” he growls, making the argument sound as if it is uttered by a beast instead of a human.

I flinch at the ferocious outburst, my muscles tense and the hairs on the back of my neck raised in alarm.

“Oh God, no. No, no, no.” Jaebeom sits up, the feral agitation replaced by genuine concern, and cups my face. Foreheads rested against each other, he stammers an apology while barely keeping it together. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lash out like that. It’s just- It’s just that- I don’t want to because I don’t want to be who I was. The old me would’ve mounted you, but I can’t. I won’t do it because I want to be good for you and not treat you as cruelly as I once used to treat others. I’m human now, your boyfriend. I’m not-’’ he takes in an unsteady breath, conflicted as he tries to think of the right thing to say, “I’m still a wolf, but not the beast in the forest. Not anymore. That time’s behind me.”

“Beast in the forest?” I tug lightly on his ear, confused by the cryptic phrase.

Thus far I could understand you, but now… I don’t. I can’t. What do you mean? What happened that makes you explain yourself like this?

“It’s a long story I’ll tell you someday. But,” he nips my nose and steals a kiss, “not now. Just don’t ask me to mount you or anything that involves getting really rough, okay? That’s my... hard limit? Is that how humans say it?”

“They do. But,’’ I lean back, smile and nod in acknowledgement of his boundaries, ‘’I’ll be mindful of it going forward.”

“Thank you. Really, it means a lot to me.” A wave of relief visibly washes over him. “Do you have one?”

“Well, biting remains a no-go.” I look at the inside of my thigh, where the bite mark has already started to turn a fiery pink mixed with plum purple. “I’ll let that one slide.”

Like a puppy being denied its toy, he looks at me. “But… But I like biting you. It’s how I show you I care. How I let others know you’re mine.”

“We’ve talked about this. What am I supposed to tell my colleagues and supervisors if they see the hickeys? Yes, plural, because I know you won’t leave it at one.” I tap him on the nose, barely repressing a chuckle at his sulky pout.

“Just tell them I’m the one who gave them to you.” Broad shoulders slightly slumped, he whines his protest. Evidently, he doesn’t see the implications nor the consequences of his love language.

“Okay, let’s say my colleagues don’t mind. However, those higher on the corporate ladder will. It’s not professional.”

“But what if I place them in in- incon- inconvenient... no, uhm, places you can’t see them?”

“Did you mean inconspicuous?”

“That’s the word, yes!” He snaps his fingers, glad with the vocabulary reminder.

“It’s still a no, though.’’ I shake my head, relenting as I add, ‘’For now.”

He perks up, encouraged by an idea that’s popped into his head rather than the nuance to my response. “Can I bite your wrist again, though? You can cover it up with your sleeve.”

“No.”

“Biceps?”

“No.”

“Ankle?”

“I wear ankle socks all-year round, so no.”

“Legs? You don’t strike me as the type to wear a skirt.”

“True, but no.”

“Stomach?”

“My God, Im Jaebeom! No means no. No biting and that’s the end of it.”

He’s not one to quit, is he?

The wolfish lover huffs, displeased and not afraid to show it. “Fine, no biting. For now.”

He mutters something else under his breath, but it’s too convoluted to make sense of it.

Just as I’m about to ask him about what he said, a boyish giddiness overtakes him. “But I can do this, right?”

He takes my blue and green checkered blouse off, not bothering with undoing the buttons but pulling it straight over my head and tossing it onto the small heap of clothes next to the sofa. Fortunately, it’s an oversized piece of clothing. Otherwise, I fear JB might have ripped it apart to get his way.

Clueless about his plan, I stare at him as he takes off his pants. It goes smoothly until the fabric has to be pulled over his bulge, his cock noticeably pulsating in his black boxers. Awkwardly wriggling with a sheepish smile on his face, he struggles with the remainder of his outfit as I avert my gaze to the side, turned into a flushed mess thanks to the outline of his size.

He’s packing.

A noise that’s a mixture of relief and triumph pulls my attention, but I haven’t even turned my head or I’m met by a pair of devilish mismatched eyes. Not a word can be uttered before the wolfish lover massages my breasts through my white lace bra and squeezes them together to bury his face in them. His hands feel sturdy and safe, his moustache pleasantly scratching against the skin and setting it aflame with the same burn that warmed my thighs.

A fire that threatens to get out of hand when he sits up a bit to press his erection against my folds, my core throbbing in harmony with his own desire.

“Just to be sure,” he pants, voice low, “you really want this. You want me?”

“Yes.” To assure him I’m all in, I kiss him while fumbling with the shell of his ear. “I want this. I want you, Jaebeom.”

“Yay,” he adorably mutters against my lips before tenderly kissing them.

Then, he pulls away and leans over to the pile formed by our clothes in the corner. From the back pocket of his discarded jeans, he pulls a small packet which he presents to me with an uncomprehending expression. “Jinyoung told me to use these, but I- uhm, I don’t know h-how to...”

“Give me that.” I take the packet from his hands and rip it open.

His eyes go wide when I reach for him, lips parted with animalistic pants as I pump him a few times before rolling on the condom.

He bows his head, eyebrows squished together as he tries to understand the function and merit of birth control. “So now you won’t pup?”

It takes a bit of thinking to decipher his words, though it doesn’t take a lot of brainpower. “I won’t get pregnant like this, no.”

“Hm, would’ve liked to whelp pups on you.” He sighs and looks up, face full of affection. “But if this is right, if this is how you want me and it’s good to you, then I’ll go with it.”

He wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me off of the sofa, hoisting me up so he can support me by the thighs. Thus, clinging to him like a koala, I let him carry me to the bedroom. Unfortunately, it’s a short trip of about three seconds that ends by being carefully laid down on the floral sheets.

It’s even more of a crying shame he pulls away, his imposing frame illuminated from behind by the lights of the old harbour as he sits on his knees at the foot of the bed. Just the mere implication of being smaller than him, of having a big guy like him at my side who loves yet could also easily manhandle me, has me squirming with anticipation.

He situates himself at my entrance, but doesn’t slide in immediately. Instead, he searches my face for any sign he no longer has my consent.

A smile flashes over his lips when I nod to assure him I haven’t gotten cold feet at the last second.

Slowly, Jaebeom pushes the tip in, bottom lip caught between his teeth as he keeps watching me, looking out for signals of pain.

It would be a lie to say it doesn’t hurt, the stretch of his cock burning me from the inside out. Nevertheless, regardless of the discomfort, a wonderful sensation of fulfillment also overtakes me with every inch he adds.

“Fuck!” Head thrown back, the wolf man lets out a drawn-out moan. It flows over into a possessive growl when he directs his gaze down at me, eyes half-lidded and his breath shallow. “So tight.”

“It’s- It’s my first time,” I shyly admit between gasps, embarrassed of the fact.

“You- You’ve never-’’ He flinches as something shoots through him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Withal, before I can ask if he’s alright, he clears his throat and shakes his head. “I’m glad you let me be your first. Also, I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s said that once you’ve had a wolf...” Bit by bit, he bottoms out only to thrust into me hard enough for my eyes to roll back as within ecstacy starts to bloom like a flower in spring. “You never go back.”

His gaze darkens, the hazelnut forest and ocean in his eyes gleaming with predatory delight, as he adds. “Maybe because I won’t let you.”

I know I chastised him for being possessive during our last call, but the suggestion of the claim he has on me adds to the wetness between my thighs. An involuntary whimper rises from my throat.

He chuckles darkly at the meek noise, his voice bordering on animalistic. “You’re mine.”

I hold his hand in place as he cups my cheek, relishing the warmth and roughness of palm. “My bunny.”

His hand falls away, only the imprint of it on muscle memory left to cherish. He grabs me by the ankles, keeping my legs spread as he ruts his hips into mine at a beastly pace.

None of us is able to speak, all reason lost to sensuality. Not that we need to since we thrive on action and gestures rather than words in our frenzied state. Yet, even though he fills me up all the way up to my head, he’s still too far away. So, I curl my finger, beckoning him closer, keening for his touch. “C’mere.”

He perks up at seeing the gesture and lets go of my ankles to cover my body with his. The weight of it presses me further down into the mattress, his arms on the sides of my head the pillars on which he balances himself to not accidentally crush me. The touch of his dewy skin on mine gives me an odd sense of safety and unity, makes it feel as if we’re one and the same, our minds connected. Although, perhaps it’s his scent, the scent of a forest underlined by the sweetness of fruits mixed with dusty books, that truly drives me dizzy.

“Better?” He nudges my nose with his, a concerned noise following the question.

“Yeah, I like this better,” I confirm.

I press my lips against him as I glide my hand down his wide back, digging my nails into the flesh of his ass as I draw him in further. “Like that. Want- Want it like this. Need you close. Deep.”

JB entwines his fingers with those of my unoccupied hand, the knot kept together by his steady grip resting on the pillow as he adjusts his movements to heed my wishes. The pace remains steady, enough to drive us into sensual hypnosis, but not relenting to the instinct to chase our highs. It’s slow.

Like Love.

Face buried in the side of my neck, he clenches the edge of the mattress as he tries to say something but only succeeds to form a coherent flattering sentence after a few tries. “You smell so good.”

Perhaps it’s because I’m in a state of delirium, unable to function as a human, but the compliment stirs up a storm of images in a corner of my mind I didn’t even know existed. It turns him into a real wolf as his teeth scrape my throat when he takes a whiff of my scent, his tongue licking the skin to get a sliver of the taste without biting. In spite of being dazed by him, my body and mind pick up on the wilder tones in his being and put it forward as extra proof it’s not a man I’m lying with.

It’s an utterly disgusting thought. Yet, the fantasy is what lies at the heart of the shot of relief and freedom that makes me arch into him. I rush my hand from the small of his back to his hair, weaving my fingers through his dark locks and gripping them to have some sort of anchor in a world of blinding light.

A soft purring sounds vaguely to my right, faint as if the sound is light years away. Notwithstanding, when I open my eyes again, blinking to sharpen my sight, I discover Jaebeom is the source of it.

Tiny droplets of sweat trickle down his skin. His bangs are matted and sticking to his forehead. His chest rises and falls fast as he breathes shallowly.

He’s beautiful.

A beautiful mess.

My perfect ruin

Jaebeom leans in and kisses my forehead before he searches for my eyes, a look of tender adoration in his when our gazes lock.

I don’t know whether it’s because I’m floating on the aftershocks of my orgasm, but whatever it is he asks gets warped into a questioning sound akin to a dog’s whine when it wonders about something. Notwithstand, I strangely seem to understand him. “Yes, it felt really good. You make me feel good. Incredible.”

I scratch him behind the ear in the way that makes him putty in my hands. “Does it feel good for you too?”

A frantic nod substitutes a proper answer.

Unsure at first, he starts rocking into me again as if he’s aware of how easily he can drive me into overstimulation. Withal, the careful movements rapidly grow sloppy as he picks up the pace, relinquishing his loving carefulness.

Mouths brush past each other, chasing the ghosts of kisses. My stomach clenches in the delicious way it did before despite exhausted nerves begging for mercy although they are still as powerless as my speechless tongue. Our tangle of fingers come undone, his gripping the mattress again whereas mine cling to the wolfish lover by his broad shoulders.

A drawn-out growl vibrates against my lips when I clench around his cock and dig my nails into his flesh. The ferocity of the sounds sends a shiver through me, a wonderful mixture of pleasure and fear.

The anxiety of a bunny hunted down by a wolf.

A helpless thing to be devoured by a beast.

About to be ravished by him.

A loud bang makes me flinch, but the tension melts the moment I notice it’s his hand gripping the headboard instead of the mattress.

I tighten around him, spurred on by the rash action. “I’m close, Jaebeom. Make me cum. Please,” I drawl, deliriously panting, “please make me cum.”

He whispers an uncomprehending distortion of his name, but doesn’t pay much more attention to it than I. Instead, my focus shifts to something that knocks the breath out of me, panic sharpening my senses.

An unmistakable ripple goes through his skin, flowing beneath my fingers like a wave caused by a violent force that tries to rise from the depths of the ocean, impatient to disrupt the calm surface.

To interrupt him and show the world what truly lies beneath the lovable exterior.

To destroy him as I know him.

A gentle though weird bookworm.

A man.

My man.

I shriek his name, dismayed about what’s going on. Immediately, he stops thrusting and checks my expression for any clue as to what has come over me. Maybe it’s because of his instinct, lost in lust, that he can’t talk, but a puzzled animalistic low purr substitutes the question.

“I- I’m sorry,” I stammer, not quite there myself, “but it felt as if something was moving under your skin and it felt so real that I- I-’’ I swallow down the sob that rises in my throat, threatening to erupt. ‘’I just had to check if you’re alright.”

“Fine,” he responds softly in between pants, though the uncomprehending undertone only adds to my concern. He nuzzles my nose with his, a lick and peck on the tip meant to add credibility to his answer. He shifts his weight, letting go of the headboard to brush my hair with his fingers in an attempt to calm me down.

“Fine,” the lover murmurs again, although the word can be an imagination, made up out of the sonorous hum rising from his throat.

‘’Stay close. Please,’’ I dig my nails further into his shoulders, afraid to lose him to some unknown force that’ll rip him away from me, ‘’please stay close to me. Stay with me.’’

Regardless of not being given an answer directly, he starts moving again with no distance between us so we can pick up on every change in each other. Nevertheless, whereas he easily is lost to the primal drive for release, I remain as wary as I can be despite my dazed state. All the same, after a few more thrusts, his cock snugly situated inside and heavily twisting, we both come undone.

Long black manes thrown back like a wolf howling to the moon, JB lets out a moan that holds the middle between an exclamation of relief and a howl. I cry to the heavens before going limp, muscles melted now that I don’t have to worry about the thing roaming beneath his flesh or anticipate the moment the tight leash on reality finally breaks.

A noise like a wild animal clawing through a piece of wood resonates in the background as the world is obliterated by white light. Then again, it might be my imagination informed by my fantastical perception of him.

I’m the one to first come down, not as out of my mind like I was during the first orgasms. I don’t allow myself to be nor can I thanks to the lingering shock of what happened. Or, rather, by what I think happened.

I place my hand on his cheek to guide Jaebeom towards me as he drunkenly tries to follow my voice, swaying as if waking up from an anesthetic in his still heightened state. Clumsily, he bumps his head into mine, although I immediately forgive him for it when he chuckles sheepishly in apology after a pained whine.

Holding him by his biceps, I flip us onto our sides and shuffle back a bit to slip him out of me. I suck in a breath to combat the whimper at the discomfort of emptiness that follows in the wake of the loss of contact. He hisses in response, also affected.

But Jaebeom has a splendid idea to make up for the lack of the intimacy, replacing it with its casual yet equally as affectionate counterpart.

He wraps his arms around me, unbothered by the sweat covering my skin and I not minding his sticking to mine when he tucks me under his chin. I place my hand on his chest, bury my face in it, and close my eyes.

The strange rippling beneath his skin keeps haunting my mind, the vivid memory sketching a realistic image of what it must have looked like from another point of view. I know I felt something, that I’m not imagining things even though I was influenced by overstimulation and a newly building orgasm.

However, now is not the time to discuss my worries. Not that he’d listen anyway, knocked out cold and softly snoring in the twilight hush. So, I curl up further into his sturdy form, hiding myself in the protection of his strong arms and deciding to leave the matter alone like I did the comparison to a beast in the woods.

For now.

Tomorrow is a new day.

And mornings are for coffee and contemplations.

#GOT7 #Jaebeom #Jaebeom x Reader #Jaebeom smut #JB smut #Im Jaebeom #GOT7 smut #GOT7 Werewolf AU #Werewolf!Jaebeom

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jvwhyte · 3 years

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The Elriel stans confuse me. And if that offends you kindly fuck off.

My first issue. Azriel still had feelings for Mor in ACOFAS:

' Azriel chocked on what i could have sworn was a laugh, his normally shadowed face lighting up as Mor bustled in, pink with cold and puffing air into her hands. '

' I had to look away to keep from laughing. Az, to his credit, gave Mor a smile of thanks, a blush creeping over his cheeks, his hazel eyes fixed on her. I looked away at the heat, the yearning that filled them. '

This is roughly 9 months or so before ACOSF. In this time Azriel and Elain would have both formed feelings for eachother however even Az says:

' They'd exchanged look, the occasional brush of fingers, but never this. Never blatant, unrestricted touching. '

So we know that they've never actually made a move on each other but why now? Why in a bonus chapter that not everyone is going to see? Why not in 'their' book huh?

' Wrong—it was so wrong. He didn't care.

RED FUCKING FLAG. He knows it's wrong but he's letting his desires take control of him. Also where the fuck did either of them ask consent?? Bitch i thought you lot had more respect huh 🤔 You better not treat my Gwynnie this way stud.

' he hadn't gotten that far in his plannings, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to. '

With this final quote all imma say is WHAT THE SHITTING HELL. When i read his bonus chapter i was confused as fuck. They went from friends in which i believe he felt guilt towards for being unable to save her from becoming fae to all of a sudden sexual desires?? Their whole relationship has progressed off page. A novel in which they're canon seems daft because they already have feelings. We don't know if they have the same interests, do we know whether they see themselves spending the rest of their lives together? do they even love each other? does she know he can sing? Do they make each other laugh? Does he feel the rawest form of himself around her? There's just so much empty spaces between the progression of their relationship that it would be stupid for SJM to give them their own book. They'd end up like Nessian and have 700 pages of smut. Which leads me to another subject.

Azriel is looking for a mate. A bond. He feels as though because his two brothers had two sisters he's entitled to the third. He has been indirectly rejected by the same girl for the past 500 years. This man is a little touch starved. He's trying to start a relationship with sexy times which will not work for two reasons:

1. Elain is still healing, she wants real love too. She doesn't want to have a relationship based off sex. She's an emotional person, she feels a lot and i highly doubt she'll enjoy having a relationship based off sex. (This worked with Cassian and Nesta because that's the type of people they are. Nesta enjoyed sex as did Cassian so they let out their frustrations on one another. It was also Nestas coping mechanism but that's a whole other post)

2. Az needs to learn to not think with his dick. I get that's he has needs but he also needs to learn that when love comes along he'll find it. He can not force that sort of relationship because he thinks it makes sense. I do not doubt they have feelings for each other, they definitely arouse each other, but it's not LOVE.

Also Gwynriel makes so much more sense. He's looking for someone to love, turns out she's been there all along. Also i want an overprotective female for once (whats with all these men thinking they can growl and shit, get that the fuck away from me). Anyways stan lesbians. (Not Mor tho cause that coming out scene was atrocious. SJM: yeah i'll give you representation, *proceeds to give us a lesbian who has only has male love interests and sleeps with men regularly just so that her friend who's madly in love with her can back off*) *sighs* This book series will literally be the death of me.

Anyways,,,,stan Gwynriel. Also stan Elain (Execpt for ACOSF cause 😒😒). And most importantly stan my King: suriel.

#elain x azriel #elain archeron #anti elain #pro gwyn #azriel #azriel berdara

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nafeary · 4 years

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“Midnight Lovers”

⚬ Pairing: Arthur/Reader

⚬ Characters: Arthur; mentions of Isaac, Sebas, and Comte

⚬ Word count: ca. 1K

⚬ Warnings: very mild mention of a drug ...and goat testicles don’t ask

✧✎ Synopsis: You are plagued by the guilt of being unable to help your friend overcome his fever, thus working yourself through book after book. Arthur would rather want you to rest and appreciate yourself more— and to stop looking at obscure medical books, while you’re at it.

✧✎ A/N: So, a sweet sweet anon requested some Arthur fluff with an overthinking MC/Reader, with a moodboard (but my dumbass deleted the request because I’m utterly inept), so here it is. I took inspiration from this tumblr @foxes-in-love who makes the most adorable little comics I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. Also, thank you @juminly for slapping my doubts away! I love you so so so much!

Also, yes, they did indeed use heroine back in the day to treat coughs... make sure to drink water y’all!!!

“Luv? Are you still in here?”

A suave voice rang throughout the library you had holed yourself up in, its familiar rhythm soothing your nerves like the sweetest of honeys.

It was unreasonably late. The entire mansion had fallen still like an unperturbed pond, completely hushed. Ever so often, the storm outside would make itself noticeable, threatening some lonely souls daring enough to venture outside. Its distress was not unlike your mood, thoughts spurning multiple worst-case scenarios in an effort to keep you awake, to gather solutions.

Overthinking had always been troubling for you, relentlessly trickling poison into your ears, contrary to all dictates of common sense.

“I’m over here, Arthur,” you called out to your lover, grateful, albeit apprehensive, for the distraction.

You tilted your head in the direction of the echoing steps, alabaster rays serving as nothing but an enhancer for his already devilish handsome looks. Cool ocean waves illuminated by the moon’s ivory blush crashed upon you as he fully came into view, carrying the salty breeze alongside him. This magnificent view made you halt for a split second, simply marveling at the sight of the handsome man.

Your handsome man.

“Shouldn’t you be beside me by now? It’s quite lonely in bed, I’ll have you know.” His arms cocooned you gently, contrasting his words of ambiguous comfort.

He yelped slightly as you caught some of his skin between your nails, eliciting a soft giggle from you at his histrionic antics, effectively vanishing any sleepy stupor you were falling prey to. Nonetheless, you fell into his embrace, moulding together like long lost puzzle pieces. This instance of tenderness and care engulfed your heart, the warmth of his dexterous hands imbuing through your own skin and reminding you starkly that you were very much alive.

“What are you reading, anyway?”, he inquired with a pout, kissing your ear gingerly from behind, “You can’t possibly be still strung up on ‘ol Newt.”

At the mention of the physicist, your brows pinched together, and the all so wonted stagnation of fear squeezed uncomfortably around your lungs, forcing a sigh ridden with the distress of helplessness from you.

Earlier this week, Isaac had fallen prey to a bout of fever once again, and both Arthur and Sebastian had been busy running their respective errands. While le Comte had requested for a doctor, the weather made it far to dangerous for any mortal to venture to their mansion. Cold rags were only able to aid inadequately, leaving you with no volition but to watch his battle; volatile series of wretched coughs prompted your tears to flow, unable to lend your dead friend a helping hand.

While Arthur had long since taken care of him, you wanted to be prepared to not be contingent on the modern medicine you grew up with. Should any misfortune befall onto the residents, the people who had welcomed you with open arms, you couldn’t keep clinging to other’s white coats— you had to become one yourself.

“Just some rather... obscure medical books,” you replied to his previous question, “I’m trying to find some different ways to treat a cough that does not involve the use of drugs.”

“Ah, you’ve mentioned your distaste of heroine.”

You snorted, amused by the mind of the 19th century doctor. “Distaste is one word for an addictive poison. You do know th—“

Abruptly, the author launched himself on top the desk you were occupying, covering your sight from the book you had been reading. “Arthur... what in the world...?” He laid vixen-like befor you, despite the apparent discomfort of the hard tabletop. You knew that you should be tucked into bed, listening to the gentle lullaby of drizzling rain; and yet, the necessity to further consume knowledge was weighing your shoulders deeper down the pit. And it was rather out of character for him to react so sudden...

“I’m shielding you with my body,” he said, a nervous simper flitting across his features as he tapped the mahogany surface in a tenebrous tempo, the gauche position working in favour to portray his charming awkwardness.

“And why would you have to do that? I still have to finish the book, you know.”

“It’s not just that... I doubt you’d enjoy learning—and seeing—of contraceptive methods involving the testicles of a goat, luv.” He reached beneath him to snatch the book, nonchalantly throwing it into nirvana, nescient to your drained protests. “Besides, you’re positively knackered, my dear.”

“But—“

“No buts. I do not doubt your abilities, but you won’t become a doctor overnight. Especially if you work yourself close to your grave,” he interrupted you, intertwining your hands, “You already do enough... I rely on you more than you could ever begin to comprehend. So please allow me to relieve you of some troubles, at least.”

That was all it took for him to steal away your oxygen, sending your systems into panic, waking you up like you’ve never been awake, consequently forcing you into unsure stillness. You were overcome with such raw emotion, such pure love, that you just couldn’t reign your body’s response. Your breaths pinioned in an ethereal waltz of two souls, neither of you too concerned of the wood denting your arms, the sore sensation nothing compared to the sensual spark as you lightly tugged his hair.

His quiet moan against your bruised lips made you halt, choosing to rest your head on his chest.

“Are you alright?” you heard him ask, reaching out to trace the smooth curve of your jaw with an almost chimerical gentleness. He asked not because he wanted to push you to continue where you’ve left off, but due to the genuine concern gleaming within his ocean eyes. As much as he fought for the role of their resident Casanova, you knew he’d never do anything without your consent, and that he was a lot more timid than he’d like to admit. Indeed, he deserved the credit he would never even think to give himself.

“It’s nothing much. It’s just this.” You gestured. “Us... I feel so lucky to have you. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt so connected to someone.” And it was the truth. Arthur understood you more than anyone else ever had, making you happy like no one else ever had, and helping you in overcoming your fears like no one else ever had.

Your words seemed to linger tangibly, your lover’s face vulnerable to the blatant exposure of sentiment. He could only hold you closer, carrying you to your room. Humming a soft tune, he accompanied you not only to rest, but to a future brighter than the sun could ever hope to be.

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