#The film in question was entirely made up. Though I'm sure some little boy has tried to keep a pet bee a time or two in the past

[amethystpath-writes]

Frozen (but not the Disney musical version)

NOT A PR0MPT

******

Hero had never been to a drive-in movie theatre. She didn’t expect much. It was a movie, on a big screen, viewed from behind a windshield- or the bed of a truck for those who could afford that. Some might have preferred the truck bed- but not tonight.

The movie started nicely. Hero sat in the passenger seat while Lover sat in the driver’s. Lover bought the two of them snacks, and for a time, the two monched whilst watching the film- something about a kid running away from home because he couldn’t keep a pet bee (spoiler alert- the kid came home after a series of falls in puddles. The problem became that he then wanted a pet bird).

“I’m getting a little cold. Is it okay if we turn the air conditioning off?” Hero asked.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. It wasn’t supposed to get beneath seventy degrees outside, even through the night,” Lover explained. “It’s the middle of summer.” He shrugged, then began unzipping the jacket he wore. “Take this.”

“You’re cold, too. Keep it.”

Lover gave her that look, the one that reminded her that if Lover wanted to give her his jacket, she was wearing the jacket. She took it.

“Well? Put it on.” Lover rose a brow at her before reaching for the dial on the console and turning it to the left. The air turned off. Still, it was cold. “Weird,” he whispered, and he squinted at the window. “Is your side cold?”

Yes, her window was cold- freezing to the touch, actually. She looked through her window and into the windows of other cars. Many of the trucks were now full of people too cold to stay outside.

“What is going on with the w- can you check your weather app?”

The app was already opened on Hero’s phone, as she, too, became worried. It was the middle of summer and the temperature was falling to forty degrees Fahrenheit. This was not normal by any means.

“There’s a freeze warning,” Hero said.

It was in the very next moment that Hero and Lover’s phones went off with an urgent alert.

GET INDOORS IMMEDIATELY.

“Does the car count?”

Well, Hero would have liked to say yes, but the fact of the matter was this: the car was nearly as cold as the outdoors. “We need to get home.”

“It says immediately, Hero. We’re already in a sealed space.”

Before Hero could argue, the sound of spinning tires screeched by. A car was gripping the pavement occasionally as a family of four was attempting to leave. Soon after them, another car followed- a truck, another car, another car, another truck, until Hero and Lover’s car tailed behind.

“Lover, oh my-” Hero’s scream was cut off by a vehicle crashing into the concession building of the theatre. Hero tried to stay calm as she asked, “Do we help?” but her voice was a full pitch higher than usual and she felt heart heart beating against the front of her chest. If she looked down, she bet she’d see the full form of her heart trying to escape.

Lover didn’t say a word as he stared straight ahead, taking a path different than every other car- which was no path at all. He drove straight through a field, praying to whoever would listen to his conscious mind, that he and Hero wouldn’t slide into the nearby forest. Already, he could see frost forming, glistening against each blade of grass. The world, little by little, was becoming less and less saturated.

“I’m scared, Lover.”

“I know,” he said, “I know. We’re going home.”

Home was where Lover’s family was. His mother and father, brothers and pets. Hero’s family was far away and unheard from, even as Hero continued to call and text with shaking hands and a growing desperation.

***

Never had Lover, nor Hero, witnessed so many crashes. They’d never seen so many pale bodies either.

One car along the way had one of those BABY ON BOARD stickers, and sure enough, as Lover drove past, Hero barely noticed a car seat in the back, all crushed plastic and ripped blankets.

“Here, take this back.”

It was the jacket that Lover gave Hero. Naturally, he wouldn’t take it, saying that it was Hero who needed the warmth.

“What use are you in the driver’s seat if you freeze to death?” Hero reasoned. “You’ll kill us both. Put the damn jacket on. We’ll take turns.”

Lover nodded. “It’s impossible,” he said, “for this to happen. For the love of everything, it’s June in the Mid-East!”

Shocked by the outburst, Hero could only say, “Let’s get back. I have no signal on my phone so I’m not getting the alerts or updates.”

And so the two drove until finding home. The driveway, usually empty of a car or two, was now full of strangers’ vehicles. Who were they?

#not a pr0mpt #Frozen #but not disney #or a musical #I feel like Disney would try to copyright the literal word 'frozen' at this point #The film in question was entirely made up. Though I'm sure some little boy has tried to keep a pet bee a time or two in the past #maybe even in this moment. #hero x villain #hero x villain story #hero x villain snippet #hero x villain drabble #fantasy #fantasy writing #fun fact- like many other things I write this was a dream I had once. it was quite terrifying so of course I wrote it down #hero x lover #this started out as hero x villain but then I realized villain wasn’t the term I was looking for so whoopsie daisy #also apologizing for the lack of editing. I started this written dream a while ago- got busy- then started working on it on a bad night #There was more to the dream than this but this felt like a good place to stop. Let your minds wander and wonder

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

Undiagnosed Autism-spectrum disorder in The Michells Vs The Machines

I'm sure that more well educated people have put two and two together in this film but I really, really want to put my own spin on it from my experience. For me, as an aspie, film is one of my biggest interests. I love studying and more than anything I love watching and rewatching films. My latest favorite movie was one that I just watched last night for my family movie night, The Michells Vs The Machines. I also went 17 years of my life asking myself the same question that both Rick and his daughter ask each other, what is wrong with him/her?

Well, I'll tell you, in my firmly undiagnosed autistic opinion for far too long, that this family is full of people with undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder. When I was watching it with my parents my mom made the comment that "the dad was a jerk" and maybe "he just didn't love his daughter enough to let her be her own person." I thought that was so not seeing the bigger picture even though it was only fifteen minutes into the film. I have felt like Katie so much with my own dad. My dad is a computer nerd and a physics major for those of you that don't talk to me very often. That means in laminas terms that he's extremely smart. Way smarter than I will ever be in my entire life. Both of my parents are insanely smart in their own rights. My mom is a CPA accountant. But that isn't what I wanted to talk about here. I want to discuss the effect of undiagnosed autism and what it can do to a whole family when they all have it and just don't know that they do. This will probably go on for quite some time so you may stop here or read below the cut because this also has the probablity of getting super, duper personal.

We'll start with Katie! To me, Katie is one of the most relatable characters that I have ever come across. She's a film nerd, which alone has made her supremely relatable as somebody who is thinking about going into a degree in film studies. I am more of a critic of film than somebody who wants to make her own film but nonetheless, there were SO many little moments that I related to. The first thing that I personally noticed and related to was the stimming technique that Katie has. She chews on her hoodie strings. As somebody who has chewed on the drawstrings of hoodies far too often long before I was officially put into the Aspergers box. Aspies are also known to stick with one "special interest" for the rest of their lives if it's one that is wide enough and varied enough to make it applicable. For Katie, that's film. For me that's animation. I appreciated that little detail of most of her dialogue being references to other films because as a lover of films and movies in general I could go for days on just fumes and movie references that nobody else understands. The little things from her hair being perpetually messy (same that's a whole ass mood like I just learned over quarantine how to tye my own hair back), only having one earring in her ear at all times, the way that she dresses and draws on her own hands, this was just me when I was first in high school. I was one of the few people that wore shorts underneath all my skirts/dresses. Everyone who knew about looked at me like I had grown a third eyeball.

Aaron, the younger brother, also just oozes spectrum lil buddy out of his every pore from his being. I do think that they should have picked somebody capable of doing a bit of a younger sounding voice (I know what they were going for, but like Ben Schwartz has become a huge deal in both voice acting and live action before switching mediums.) His special interest is actually quite a common one, he loves dinosaurs. I've met a bunch of people on the spectrum that are fascinated by dinos and what they meant for the world as well as the universe as a whole. To me, there was one scene specifically that was the scene where Katie was lightly teasing him when they were going to the half assed dinosaur extravaganza. For me, this was SO relatable because both of my parents will mess with me about my interests most of the time it's when we go to Disneyland, they'll tell me that we actually aren't going to land of magic but to Timbuckto (hopefully one day they'll say some place else just to switch things up.) I related so hard to Aaron's protesting and whining in this scene since that is always my reaction to doing something that I want to do but get told that I can't do that thing.

Linda is more of your traditional mom but I think that she's on the spectrum as well. Just a more... normalized version as opposed to her family. She's able to be a teacher, she's able to interact somewhat normally around her neighbors. If anything, she reminded me of my own mom. This independent, takes nobody's trash (especially not her husband's), strong minded, and amazing mother who is completely in control of everything. She knows the special interests of her children and is constantly thinking of what will make them happy. Whether it be taking a detour for something dinosaur related, reminding her daughter that her dad loves her no matter what, and even something as simple as watching something that her daughter made and put her heart and soul into. I can't tell you how many times my mom has watched something with me. She watched my first anime Soul Eater with me when I was 12 and ever since then has been trying to get me to watch other shows with her. She's a lot like Linda, your loving, but firm mother who just wants her family to work things out.

Whew boy. This one is going to be probably where I cry. Comparing my dad to Rick is... something that I did consistently when I was watching the film. He's the strong but silent type usually, unless your me and he's just this constant annoyance when I'm trying to do something. He could be seen as just a "Jerk" but I think that is the undiagnosed aspie talking. Rick and Katie just struggle so hard to see eye to eye because their special interests can't intersect to save their lives. This, this hurt me because so often I struggle to relate to my dad. Especially when he talks to me about computers or physics. Now I took physics but without having been in quarantine and having him as my live in tutor I would have failed, not gotten an A. This has resulted me in saying things that I don't mean in the heat of the moment when we do argue. It doesn't happen nearly as much as it used to back when I was in middle school but when it happened it was because of one thing. I lied. I used to lie a lot because I felt so unworthy of being his daughter because on my best days I am not technically smart. You want to know how many nations of the world there were in 1991 when the original Animaniacs was airing? You want to hear my Dot Warner impression? Did you ever wonder how to recognize a specific voice when your watching anime? Have you ever had to watch a panel of your favorite anime voice actor just to laugh at something? No, well I did. But ever since I have started taking a quarter off from community college I have realized something. I am not technically smart. I struggle at learning the rules for math. My dad can do this with his eyes closed but me, I struggle and look like a complete moron. It took years for my dad and I to see eye to eye. Sometimes I still wonder if I was the product of some laboratory experiment of what would happen if two intelligent people came together, fell in love, and expecting that the daughter was smart I was the reject. Watching this movie with my dad I saw so much of my relationship with him on the screen. Struggling to relate to one another, fighting and getting into arguments about petty things, and not being able to be in the same room as one another without heated words because I didn't get him.

The scene that I related to the most when it was in terms of how much Katie just doesn't understand her dad was after he was nabbed by the machines. When Aaron asked her why she said those things to their dad and her simple answer was "I don't know." This. This right here was when I saw me. So many times I've gotten into heated arguments with my dad when he has simply annoyed me at the wrong time and I've just blown up in his face. Then I regret my actions and not know how to apologize for losing my temper with him because "I don't know" just doesn't seem like a nearly acceptable answer. I felt this in my soul because it happened especially often before I was diagnosed.

When I was diagnosed, things started to get better with my dad and I. We haven't had a fight in nearly four years now. He watches cartoons with me now to try and relate to me, it's mostly Pinky and The Brain but it's more than I could have ever asked for. I love my dad so much, more than anything in the entire world. This movie is so, so good at telling a story about how a family of undiagnosed aspie's and people on the spectrum struggle to relate to one another because their special interests are different.

Special interests and family's are especially difficult and I applaud this movie so loud because of the way that it was able to treat the subject matter with integrity and honesty. I'm sorry if this analysis got a little bit long in the toof but thank you for sticking with me! I really hope that if you watched the film you loved my analysis.

#the mitchells vs the machines #aspergers #movie analysis #denki shut up #nobody cares about your emotional backstory #long post #this took me over an hour because I kept crying

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎! 𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐

Disclaimer: In no way am I condoning, promoting, encouraging, justifying nor romanticizing yandere behavior or lifestyle. This is all a work of fiction and not meant to represent real life scenarios.

Warnings: Mentions of toxic relationships, yandere behavior, bullying, harassment, blackmail, sexual scenes, abusive relationship, manipulation, verbal abuse, abortion, attempted murder.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐

𝙳.𝙾.𝙱: 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟼𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿

𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝟷𝟽𝟹 𝙲𝙼/ 𝟻'𝟾 𝙵𝚝.

𝙰𝚐𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: ■■■■■100%

𝙾𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: ■■■■□90%

𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢: ■■■■□80%

𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑

𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚃𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚛

𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚜:

𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜/𝚘.

𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 .

𝚄𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜.

𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚢.

𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You had known him for the longest time, probably since you were both learning the alphabet.

Even back then he was a troublesome boy.

Loved to dip your hair in paint, pour glue inside your backpack.

Or always pushed you off the swings cause he wanted to play in it.

This didn't really faze you back then.

Most of the boys that age played such tricks on almost all the girls.

They all had a specific target and you were Wooyoung's.

You remember telling this one day to your mom, who simply chuckled.

"Honey, boys tend to tease the girls they have a crush on."

You remember looking at her with confusion.

How could they treat someone they like with such utter disrespect and rudeness?

"Because they don't know how to express their feelings."

Like an idiot you believed that, and being the naive little girl you were, you kinda started developing a crush on him.

You remember the first time you talked back to him, it's engraved in your head because it was the first time of many to come where his words, and actions, hurt you.

"Just admit you like me Wooyoung! You only tease me cause you're in love with me."

You remember the rage and disgust in his eyes as he shoved you to the ground, making you scrape your knee on the pavement.

"Get this through that dumb brain of yours Y/N....

No one will ever love a dirty little rat like you."

You came home crying that day. Hurt physically and emotionally at his words.

And the years to come weren't better, as you grew up, Wooyoung's bullying towards you escalated.

You hoped that after you graduated high school and started going to university, you'd be free from him, never see him again.

You could finally be happy for once in your life. Focus on your goals and career.

Everything was going great for you!.......

Until you walked into class and found out not only had Wooyoung been accepted to the same university...

He was majoring in the same field as you!

"Hey dirty little rat. Missed me?"

His cocky smile sent shivers down your spine, you were already fearing what he had in store for you.

If you thought high school was hell, it was nowhere near as awful as the torment Wooyoung was now putting on you.

Tripping you down the stairs to the point you had severe injuries.

Writing nasty and derogatory names on your desk that now wouldn't come off and you'd be forced to look at every time you went to class.

One time he went as far as stealing your assignments, ultimately leading to failing an entire semester.

You were so heartbroken and just done with his shit. You felt no more motivation to even continue studying.

Until a cute boy named Yeonjun transferred and took an interest in you.

He was super nice, friendly and not to mention good looking and hella tall.

It was more than obvious too that he wanted establish a relationship with you, anyone and everyone could see that.

Especially Wooyoung and he did not look the way someone else was making you happy.

So he devised a plan, not caring how messed up it was.

He made sure someone convinced you to go to a party he'd be at.

You found it odd that he was suddenly acting super nice to you, not even calling you those mild nicknames he called you in front of others.

And it shocked you even more when he suddenly apologized to you for everything he'd done to you, even offering to talk to your professor about your assignment.

His eyes seemed so sincere, you actually believed him.

Perhaps he finally decided to change, realized his behavior was unnecessary and immature and of course, like an idiot you accepted his apology.

You got wasted for the first time in your life that night and could not remember anything at all.

Until Wooyoung was 'kind' enough to brief you in on what happened.

He pulled out his phone and made you watch a video he had filmed of you two that night.

Your stomach hurled over as you realized it was a fucking sex tape, you and Wooyoung had actually fucked that night.

"What! No no! This couldn't have happened! There's no way!" You refused to believe it.

Wooyoung just smirked at you.

"Oh but it did happen kitten. You were so eager too as the video displays, you kept asking me to go harder, begging me for another round and wanting my cum all over you..."

"I wonder what would the whole school say if I posted it online....especially Yeonjun."

Now you realized what his game was. He was never sorry. It was just another form of him to torture you, and this tipped the scale.

You were so shaken up, you got down on your knees and begged him not to show anyone the video.

"Please Wooyoung! I'll do anything! Anything!"

"Anything?......really? How about becoming mine then?"

And now you were forever tied to your worst nightmare.

Wooyoung especially enjoyed seeing Yeonjun's disappointed and heartbroken look when he announced that you two were now dating.

Now he couldn't even look at you anymore, feeling somewhat betrayed by your actions.

You wanted to tell him you were sorry and explain to him what was going on, but Wooyoung had eyes on you 24/7.

He even made you move in with him and now even your free time had to be spent with him.

You hated living with him.

He not only made sure to verbally abuse you, but actually seemed to have fun causing tiny accidents to happen around you.

His favorite was when he'd peer over your shoulder as you tried to study.

He scoffed. "Why even bother if all you'll ever be good at is spreading your legs?"

Those were his favorite insults: "whore" "slut" "bitch".

One time you were just so fed up with him, that you ended up snapping back.

"Shut the fuck up Wooyoung! You're such an insufferable piece of shit, no wonder your mom left you and your dad back in middle school."

As soon as the words came out, you wanted to swallow them back in.

Wooyoung was livid at your words.

He not only yanked you up by your hair, but he actually threw you to the floor and started kicking you harshly.

He didn't kick you for too long though, he did not want to risk anyone questioning when he told them you fell down the stairs.

And especially not take you to the hospital.

You had no choice but to stay home as you tried to recuperate.

You remember one of those days, you came home from a quick trip to the convenience store and found some girl blowing Wooyoung on the couch.

You weren't fazed. He often brought girls home and fucked them right in front of you.

You just sighed and decided to ignore the shit eating grin he'd give you whenever you caught him.

You decided long ago it wasn't worth it.

You two weren't even dating cause you wanted to.

He just loved controlling you, having power over you, holding something over your head.

He had this obsessive need to make you miserable.

And you hated that you had no choice but to allow it.

Even when there were things you didn't want to do, you had to or he'd once again blackmail you.

The one time you adamantly refused to was when you found out you were pregnant.

Wooyoung was just as shocked as you.

"And you're telling me I'm the father?"

"Uh......I can't have sex with anyone who isn't you, obviously you're the father."

Wooyoung couldn't let you go through with the pregnancy.

"Get rid of it." He told you.

You wrapped a protective hand around your bump.

"No! This is my baby and I won't allow you to harm it!"

You weren't going to budge though.

"Show the tape to everyone! I don't give a fuck anymore! But I'm not killing an innocent child who has done nothing wrong. "

Realizing he was losing control of you, Wooyoung knocked you out unconscious, deciding to take matters into your own hands.

You woke up a day later, feeling sore and aching in your inner thighs and lower abdomen.

You immediately panicked and sensed something was wrong.

You didn't need Wooyoung to tell you, you knew he had taken you to a clinic and had the baby removed.

You were so shaken up, cried your eyes out and no longer had any will to fight against Wooyoung.

You felt like it all all your fault, the death of your baby was your fault.

You weren't strong enough to save it and it was killing you inside.

You no longer trusted anyone, and you didn't have the heart to talk about it to anyone. Not like they'd believe you or care about you.

But someone did notice, Yeonjun never stopped caring about you and although he was hurt you went with someone else, he still had feelings for you.

And he was very observant and noticed that ever since you started dating Wooyoung, you were skipping a lot of classes....

And you were having a lot of accidents...too many in fact.

And now he just saw you completely lost and like a walking dead.

"Hey Y/N, are you ok?" He asked you one day.

You were going to respond, but the devil made an appearance by your side.

"She's fine and was just coming home with me. Weren't you baby?"

To everyone, it looked like a sweet and caring smile from your doting boyfriend, but you knew it was all fake.

Nonetheless you just kept your head low and went home with him.

Yeonjun noticed the way you trembled when he put his arm around you, noticed the frightened look in your eyes and he knew something was wrong in your relationship.

When you got home, Wooyoung was pissed off at you and immediately struck your face.

"I thought I told you not to talk to him! Can't you obey a simple order you fucking bitch?!"

When he pulled out a knife from the kitchen, you were now scared for your life.

You tried to fight back, but Wooyoung was stronger than you and you were still in pain after the abortion.

He knocked you to the floor and managed to land 2 stab wounds into your right side.

You could never forget the wrath and hate in his eyes as he told you:

"I'm going to fucking kill you."

By some miracle, someone taller and stronger than Wooyoung got him off you, that someone being none other than Yeonjun.

He felt glad about following his hunch and followed you both back home, otherwise he'd end up reading about you in the newspaper.

He had no trouble in subduing Wooyoung and calling the police.

The only thing on his mind was getting you to the hospital as soon as possible.

"It's ok Y/N. You're going to be fine." He assured you

Your physical injuries were easy to recover from, but the emotional trauma and abuse Wooyoung put you through was not.

Yet Yeonjun was there every step of the way, going with you to therapy and just listening to you and your terrifying story.

For the first time in your life, you felt truly loved and happy....

And safe.

A year after the ordeal, you were doing much better and were nearly fully recuperated.

Yeonjun and you rented a place together and were completely in love with each other.

Everything seemed to be going perfect....

And then one day your phone rang.

Picking up, you asked "Hello?"

"Don't think it's over yet you dirty little rat."

#ateez #ateez wooyoung #ateez reactions #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez headcanons #ateez fluff #ateez angst #ateez smut #jung wooyoung #ateez yandere #yandere!ateez #yandere!au #ateez yandere au #yandere!wooyoung #ateez wooyoung fluff #ateez wooyoung angst #ateez wooyoung smut #ateez wooyoung scenarios #ateez wooyoung imagines #ateez wooyoung headcanons #jung wooyoung angst #jung wooyoung scenarios #jung wooyoung fluff #jung wooyoung imagines #jung wooyoung smut #ateez wooyoung fanfiction #jung wooyoung fanfiction

[keanuquotes]

It's quite disconcerting meeting Keanu Reeves in the flesh. The 44-year-old looks at least a decade younger than his age, with his prominent cheekbones, flowing locks and smooth, other-worldly complexion. Deflecting questions with a mysterious gleam in his eye, there's something of the teenager about him.So it's not entirely surprising that his next role is playing Robin Wright Penn's toy-boy in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a film adapted by Rebecca Miller from her own novel, though the actors are only a year apart in age. "The cougar complex [younger men with older women] is something that happens all the time," shrugs Reeves, who stars as Chris Nadeau, a free spirit, Pippa's neighbour and her eventual love interest. "It's definitely something that needs to be explored in film. In terms of older women and younger men, at the end of the day it really doesn't make a difference to whether a relationship will work." In person, Reeves has a gentle manner that makes him immediately likeable but on paper, he remains one of cinema's greatest enigmas. It's too easy, never mind wrong, to typecast him simply as a pretty-boy actor who happened to be in the right place at the right time – the living embodiment of the dumb, feckless character he played in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, the film that first charmed a predominantly teenage fanbase back in 1989. In one daft thrash of an air guitar, his performances in Stephen Frears's well-received adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons and the 1986 independent hit River's Edge were quickly forgotten. Ever since then, his career has been one long battle to be taken seriously. It doesn't help that, even in his mid-40s, he still looks like a slacker, dressing as if the clothes on his back were the first things that he found on his bedroom floor that morning.I wonder if Reeves feels that people sometimes have a false impression of him because of the roles he has taken and how he looks. "I feel that once in a while, that's for sure," he says, slowly.Of course, the main reason for this misguided perception of the actor is that Reeves is so very, very good at playing dumb. His career highs in terms of box-office hits and critical acclaim arrived in the shape of Speed and The Matrix, both of them roles in which an ordinary American surpasses and surprises himself by showing guile, intuition and fleet-footedness. The impact made by both these films on popular culture was such that it's easy to forget some of the more eclectic choices Reeves made in the 1990s. In 1991, he played the Prince Hal role in My Own Private Idaho, Gus van Sant's loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I, which is principally remembered for the performance of his co-star and great friend River Phoenix, who died soon after the film was released. Van Sant then cast Reeves again in his disappointing adaptation of Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Reeves also played Don John in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing, while Bernardo Bertolucci, recognising Reeves' unusual complexion and looks, cast him as the Indian Prince Siddhartha in the disappointing Little Buddha.Since then, he's made some surprising choices, none more so than his decision to disappear and play Hamlet in a production in Winnipeg at the height of his fame. Critics travelled across the world with their poison pens at the ready, but Reeves came away with mostly positive reviews. His desperation not to be typecast as an action hero saw him turn down a huge paycheck to reprise his role of Officer Jack Traven in the sequel to Speed (Jason Patric stepped into the breach). "I don't really have a preference between making independent films and blockbusters," says Reeves. "All I hope is that I can continue making these choices. I'm just glad that I've worked on so many different kinds of genres and popular films in the past. He's also worked on some truly unpopular films. He had several career lows between 1995 and 1998, a period during which it looked like Reeves' career was quickly heading towards oblivion.

The woeful choices included A Walk in the Clouds, Chain Reaction, Feeling Minnesota, The Last Time I Committed Suicide and The Devil's The feeling that Reeves was becoming a laughing stock was compounded by his decision to form a rock band under the name of Dogstar, with the band-mates Bret Domrose and Robert Mailhouse. Reeves played the bass guitar and sang backing vocals. Largely on the back of the actor's fame, Dogstar soon found themselves opening for Bon Jovi in Australia and sharing a stage with David Bowie. They also performed at Glastonbury in 1999 but their debut album, Our Little Visionary, was only released in Japan, the country where they played their last concert in 2002. Today, Reeves seems almost embarrassed by his musical escapades. "The band broke up. I haven't been playing bass recently. I sometimes play with some friends and do some jamming. I'm interested in different sounds, country. I play a lot of Neil Young." But, just when you feel that Reeves is cornered, like a tiger he comes out fighting and tips the balance back his way. Ewan McGregor, Nicolas Cage and Will Smith were all offered and turned down the lead role in the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix. Reeves' decision to take the role propelled the actor to the top of the A-list. This time, he didn't turn down the sequels and picked up a huge cheque that reportedly also included a percentage of the gross.Post-Matrix, Reeves could get films greenlit simply by agreeing to star in them. His power was such that he could even decide who directed films. When James Ellroy's The Night Watchman was adapted into Street Kings, it was Reeves who had a major say in David Ayer being the director. His only recent success has been Constantine, in which he starred opposite Tilda Swinton. He has also become more choosy. In the last three years he's appeared in three films: Street Kings, The Day the Earth Stood Still and now, Pippa Lee.Of this latest role, he asserts firmly that "nothing about my character Chris comes from my own life, everything is taken from the novel." He continues: "I think that films end up becoming short stories when you do adaptations of novels. You have to condense and the film-maker just picks whatever part of the story that they want to tell. It's a process of cutting, editing and censoring. All that has to be the same is that you capture the essence of the characters and the story."Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964. His mother, Patricia, was a costume designer and his father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves, was a geologist. The name Keanu means "Cool Breeze in the Mountains" in Hawaiian. After his parents divorced, his mother resettled the family first in New York and then in Toronto. It's an eclectic background that has made him appreciate stories from all walks of life. "It's what stories are, they are reflections of the environment. Stories are told so that we can survive and learn from experiences, pass on and share knowledge."He's famously guarded of his private life. The actor has not been in a long-term relationship since the death of his girlfriend Jennifer Syme in a car accident in 2001. Her death came after she gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, in December 1999. He was recently linked to the fashion guru Trinny Woodall, around the time of the break-up of her marriage, and has since been photographed with the actress Parker Posey.In his spare time he has been busy learning to cook. He reveals that he's been reading Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavour by the popular French television chef Hervé This. "I'm dabbling in it and looking at becoming a chef. He is fantastic. I didn't really cook before but this book may be changing my life." It's hard to tell if he's joking or researching a role. He also admits to being a bit of a wine connoisseur. Recently he got his first computer and started using email; in the past he'd made a point of being something of a luddite. "My friend finally bought me one," he admits. "And of course I use it."This is as far as it goes, though. When a question

becomes more personal he replies by making the sound of the sea. Ask him about poor reviews and he breaks into song, crooning, "One drop of water does not make an ocean, baby."Finally, he relents. "I want to see what they [the critics] write, for sure. You know it's going to be whatever it's going to be and you have to take a review as it is. I mean, whatever they write is whatever they write, and I'm not going to be able to change it. The review is part of why you want to entertain. You want to know what your audience thinks about the film and the performance. I'm interested in what people think, even if it's just one person." And with that he's gone, back to his kitchen.'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' is released on 10 July

Saturday 22 October 2011

#keanu reeves

[bunny-wk-fanfic]

This Is Brought To You By

The door opened to a rustic cabin, the natural wood glowing amber thanks to a roaring fire. Worn dark leather seating seemed hazy thanks to said fire light, each piled with plush pillows and draped with cozy throws or blankets. A low table had been laid out with candles, a bottle of wine was being kept chilled in a classy and slightly modern ice bucket with two glasses just off to the side. The only splash of color amongst the glow of the fire, the natural wood and stone textures were a small handful of red roses, loose petals just lightly scattered about. With the help of the slow jazz playing softly in the background, it made for a very romantic atmosphere.

"Well, hello there." the male voice was a slightly low purring drawl, drawing attention to the male figure sprawled across an almost stereotypical bear rug. "Deadpool here. Hopefully, while reading this, you're hearing the voice of a certain sexy male Canadian. I'm sure you know the one. And I don't mean the short, hairy one with anger issues and kitty claws and a fondness for cigars. Unless of course said angry man is being represented by a beautiful, beautiful wild Australian man. Because if then, well, lather me in hot sauce and spank my Chimichanga. But I'm getting off track here."

Fingers drummed against a knee, drawing the attention to the missing and familiar red and black outfit, and more importantly, to the lack of proper attire.

"Yes, my current outfit has to do with the reason we are here today. It's come to my attention, that it's been some time since we last met, or that our beloved writer has written anything involving our favorite woman. And more importantly, our favorite woman when involved with me." a single white rose was plucked from behind, waved about as if a magic wand, and dragged across a scarcely clad male thigh that was pocked with fresh wounds that were instantly scaring. "As such, I decided to… encourage our beloved writer into bringing us all together once again."

With a dramatic wave of limbs, he moved from reclining on his side, that screamed 'Paint my like your French women', to leaning back on his elbows. The pale pink satin nighty, the atmosphere, and the pose would have been more than alluring were the one in said pose a woman. With the male, the nighty was rather comically stretched across his frame, though covering everything important, the sheer robe with fluffy cuffs only adding to the oddity of the entire situation. It clashed with the fact that he still wore his iconic red and black full head cowl.

"Now, our lovely writer might say otherwise about my encouragement, calling it nagging, whining or say I simply began to annoy her until she finally relented. Ignore those words and continue to read mine with the amazing drawl of a voice provided by the Canadian sex symbol; my pal, my bosom buddy, Ryan Reynolds." the white rose bobbed to the beat of the low music, tapping against a hip every so often.

"Now, back unto the reason why we're here. Honestly? I was lonely and wanted some cuddles with my lovely, lovely Kagome." noticing that it was just the male lounging in the open living space, he was quick to wave a hand. "Don't worry, don't worry! My girl is currently enjoying a much-needed hot bubble bath. One, I wish I was taking part of, but felt this little conversation was, at the time, more prudent. How could I feel that? Simple. I had the desire that everyone read this in Reynolds voice, nothing more and nothing less. Though if we are asking for more, and I know what you all want, I on the other hand, wouldn't mind lathering my girl in rich and real Canadian maple syrup and eating my midnight pancake snacks off of her, but maybe later. So while Kagome is taking this time to prepare for a very adventurous night right here on this vegan friendly-faux-bear fur rug, I'll fill that time with hanging out with you lovely little readers. Because without you, though more so my unannounced arrival and delayed departure, we wouldn't be here right now."

Happy humming could now be heard from behind a closed door just off to the side, the male giving a little jiggle in his spot in excitement. The rose momentarily used to fan himself, though just how useful it was as such, needed to be questioned at a later time.

"Now I'm sure there are a few things you all wish to talk about; my last movie with the fridge trope, which I myself can only say thanks to the writers for that one. Thanks guys, I've always wanted more trauma and torture to sprinkled in my life." a finger was wagged, tongue tisking against his teeth, though the sound was slightly muffled due to his mask.

"Or when my next film will come out, and if so, will it be part of the Marvel Universe. This is where you show your true love and devotion. I ask you, lovely readers, to go out and use the internet, haul out the trolls if need be, and ask, beg, and cry for me to be part of Marvel. Not that I want to, not really, it's just principle. What with their large budgets, CGI teams, writers, directors and a full cast. Honestly, a whole school of mutants gone save for three at a single extended time? For what purpose, 'cause I doubt they all went on some sort of field trip or vacation, but what do I know, I failed out of 5th grade. But, not really." his head tipped to the side, possibly staring in the direction of where the bathroom was, it was hard to tell with his face actually covered to know for sure.

"I mean, who wants to be part of that depressing team? All that self-sacrificing for the greater good?" he gave a few bobs of the rose in his hand as his head tipped back, almost as if in contemplation. "Though let's be honest, we all know I would survive an alien with a California Raisin on steroids for a chin, snapping their fingers. And then I'd introduce said alien to my Desert Eagles Mark XIX while recruiting Ant-Man to tickle where the sun never shines before becoming… Anti-Ant-Man? I honestly don't know what to call him in his Ultraman form, wait, does that make him a magical-boy or a science-boy? Right, Ant-Man shrinking to tickle where sun don't shine for hurting my favorite Web-Head super bro." the rose now tapped where his mouth was, though again, it was hidden by his mask. "And it would be super hot to watch Kagome kick his ass. I wonder what she would wear… Something skin tight? Revealing? Her old school uniform?"

A door opening, even though quiet, drowned out his muttering, the candles flickered as steam billowed out of the bathroom before quickly dissipating the further it billowed into the open space. "Are you talking to White and Yellow again?" a female figure left the dark bathroom, her form covered with a short semi sheer dark pink bathrobe of her own. Her hands were raised just enough to free her hair from beneath the robe, though she paused when she really took a look at the sprawled out male. "...I thought that was supposed to be a gift for me?"

Snickering, he trailed the rose down from his mouth, his neck, down his chest stopping just above his stomach. "Don't you think I look sexy in this?" it was always so amusing to tease and rile her when he wore risqué outfits, namely hers.

Finishing in freeing her hair, she eyed his form. Yes, his skin was pocked and disfigured from him constantly getting open sores and his abilities nearly immediately healing them. But beyond that, his form was all carved muscle, no doubt from years of being a mercenary. While yes, he was larger with the shoulders strong, he had a slight swimmer's build. It didn't lack-

"Ah, sorry for the intermission. Our writer took a few days to… deal with life I guess. How boring." shoulders shrugged, waving off the confused expression from his fairer companion. "Of course, it would happen when describing my awesome and amazingly sexy self." an actual pout could be seen through his mask.

"I will admit, you are sexy." the purring drawl from Kagome drew his attention again, her words and tone revealing she either decided she was going to ignore him going off tangent or just that she was used to it at this point, body freezing when her hands began with removing the sash that kept her own coverings secure. "I'm just not sure that shade of pink is quite your color. Maybe you should stick to your usual colors?"

The moment, the robe dropped and pooled around her feet, revealed a feminine figure dripping in curves with subtle musculature that showed she kept up with her own training, he froze. She wore a set of red and black satin and lace that covered pale skin. It covered a little more than what most would normally deem sexy lingerie, with slightly wider straps, but they accentuated her curves, drawing attention to them. And the thin ribbons that accompanied and mimicked, as well as help the lace that helped cover stiffening peeks, made her look more like a present just waiting to be unwrapped.

"Well, what do you think of my gift to you?" legs crossed slightly as hands once again rose to lift her hair to both reveal her neck and shoulders as well as lift her chest, she stood posed before him, basking in the golden glow of the fireplace behind him.

The white rose that had been resting near his hip instantly perked up, a white petal flying off at the somewhat harsh and sudden movement. Despite it being a mask, the white 'eyes' widened as the mask shifted to show that his jaw dropped.

"I'll take your silence as a, 'I likey'?" she giggled as she dropped her hands, they followed the curves of her body, no doubt drawing his gaze from behind the mask to follow with. Slowly, with a slight predator grace, she lowered to her knees and began to crawl up his form, leaving a trail of kisses behind her that glittered from both the fire light as well as her own abilities to help heal him.

Tossing the rose without a care, he reached forward to trace her curves for himself, not stopping as her own hands reached forward to lift and remove his mask. Lips curved up when she reached forward to kiss him. It was sweet, a simple press of her lips against his own. His smile grew when he quickly ended the sweetness by reaching for that delightful curve of her ass that shook playfully in his grasp.

The gasp that was let out was easily and eagerly swallowed, tongue dipping between lush lips to tangle with her own. With where his grip was, he pulled her closer to settle in his lap. Trailing lips away from her own to nip down her jaw and neck, he smirked against her warm skin.

Pausing, brown eyes narrowed as he turned away from the purring woman in his lap. "Oi, what are you still doing here? This ain't no peep-show! Go away. Read a book, play a game, watch a movie. I hear that new one about a guy named Guy wanting to be free or something, is worth the watch. And if my pal Ryan is in it, ya know it's good. Now," a hand reluctantly left the span of leg it had been caressing with a waving motion. "Shoo."

Turning away, leaving behind the couple and the sounds of giggles and kissing echoed loudly over the crackles and pops from the fireplace. A quick squeal that turned into laughter that was followed by a masculine whine at the sound of fabric tearing just set the pace of what was to come. And who was in charge of this nights shenanigans. A door closing muffled the sounds as the cool evening draped across the forest, leaving only the crickets in the distance and even further off cries of wolves the only sounds to echo.

Message delivered, though the exacts of what the message actually was seemed to have been lost. But it had been shared, and that seemed to be all that had been important. It did leave questions of what the future held, and if there would be any further important messages that would need to be shared. Who knows. Guess the game of 'wait and see' was going to have to be played.

AN: Don't ask. Please don't. I will say this, I was at work when I literally/figuratively heard Deadpool/Ryan Reynold's voice pop out from no where and bug me until I started writing this down. And when I lost the flow for a few days, it came back until I managed to finish it. So now I'm posting it here and cleaning my hands of it. I hope you can find some enjoyment in, I know I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet.

As always; read, enjoy, and please review! - BunnyWK

#fanfiction #crossover #Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairytale #Deadpool #Wade Wilson #Kagome Higurashi #anime #marvel #comics #movies

[chaos-writes]

The Lost Boys: Road Trip

Based on one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had. Word count: 2,255. Implied romance with the boys and Star. Tw: none.

“I’ve always wanted to travel and go sight-seeing without any real objective, like moving,” said Lucy, in a dream-like tone. I chimed in, “I’ve had a cross-country road trip planned out for quite a while, but I’ve never had anyone to do it with.” “Oh really?” Lucy asked, “Where to?” “Well, it’ll be a round trip with touring both going and coming back. I'm hoping to go through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, then we’ll go north, through Ohio, and Michigan, then come back home through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, then through the top of California all the way back home.” “Oh my goodness! That sounds like a dream, but also a lot of gas money,” Lucy exclaimed. We laughed.

 

“It really would be, but I have the money saved up in a debit account, so hopefully it'll cover it. There’s also hotels, toll bridges, food, water, all that fun stuff,” I giggled. “But it would be worth it, I have tons of film for my instax camera, and a couple journals to write down my experiences.”

I gestured to her, “I have a couple extras for people that want to tag along,” Lucy smiled but quickly frowned, “Oh, I would love to go, I really would, but I have to work and look after the boys and their grandfather,” she mused. I chimed in, “It doesn't just have to be you, you know, I’ve got quite a few people in mind who could benefit from traveling.” “Well, I'll have to check with my boys and my boss. I’ll let you know if I can or can’t as soon as possible,” lucy said, with a look of disappointment in her eyes. I nodded in understanding and smiled, “Well, whenever you do let me know, I wouldn’t be upset if it was a no. I would be sure to share every detail with you, though.” “Oh, thank you for understanding, it means a lot to me!” “No problem. Well, I guess I'll be on my way then,” I said as I opened the front door.

We said our goodbyes and I headed out on my motorcycle to go and see the boys. It’s getting dark enough out where they should be slowly getting up by now. I wonder if Laddie and Star are there, too. They usually are, but sometimes they’re out and about, since they can handle sunlight a bit better than the rest. I park my bike and I can hear distant yawning and mumbling from where I'm standing at the cave entrance. They all start to float out and stretch one by one, Dwayne being first, Marko being second, David being third, and Paul being last. Of course Paul is last, he’s the heaviest sleeper. This road trip would be nothing to him, if they all agreed, that is. I just have to do some convincing.

Marko slipped his jacket and boots on, and the rest followed suit. They’re all quiet when they first wake, that’s why I don't ‘show up’ until I start hearing conversation and laughing. However, I’ve got to wait for the perfect time to come in, when they’ve been talking for a while and can actually think. “I wonder what Michael’s been doin’” I hear Paul say. “I don’t know Paul,” David sighed. “Maybe he’s been avoiding us…” He paused for a minute, then said, “Anyone hungry yet?” a wave of “not me’s” and “mm-mm’s” spread across the cave. I hear Dwayne grab a torch, light it, and begin lighting the cans all around the cave. The -now illuminated- boys begin bantering about who they should target next and what they plan to do for the day- well, night.

As a result, I put on my big-kid pants and stepped into the cave. They all turned to me, Marko exclaimed, “Hey! There you are!” “Hey guys,” I said, waving. Laddie ran up to me and hugged me from the side. I patted his back and ruffled his hair. Star smiled at me as she greeted me with a wave. I smiled back. Marko and Paul ran to me and squished me in their arms.

“I have something to share with you guys. An idea, really,” I said. All the boys looked at me in curiosity until David spoke up, “Well, what is this… idea of yours?” I beamed at all of them and said, “You all know how much I like going on adventures…” they looked even more puzzled now. “So, how about I take everyone on a really big adventure? A road trip!” They looked contemplative, as if they were considering going or not. “I could go alone…” Paul's and Marko's eyes widened, “But I much prefer having company with me, especially on trips like these.” Dwayne piped up, “So... where would we be going?” I smiled and pulled out a map, “How about I show you guys?”

The boys, Laddie, and Star crowd around behind me as I point around a U.S. map and explain where we’re going and what I'm planning on doing. I point all over the map and across the northern states. "We can add on a couple more destinations if you'd like… this is just more of the baseline plan." "Are we going to any big cities?" Marko asked. "Hell yea! And we're gonna go touring at night and see all the pretty lights and stuff. It'll be so fun!" "I'm down!" Paul says. "Me too!" Dwayne chimed in. "I wanna go!" Laddie exclaimed. Star smiled, and turned to David. The rest of us followed suit. This… is it.

I smiled at David and asked, "So, leader of the pack, are you in?" He paused. We cautiously awaited his answer. Laddie's eyes met David’s as he silently pleaded to go. David finally broke, smiled, and said, "alright. When are we leaving?" The cave uproared in a fit of whooping and hollering, mainly thanks to Marko and Paul, and Star picked Laddie up and twirled him around. "You won't regret this!" I said to David over the noise. "Well, I'm actually looking forward to it." He said. 

We left to go grab a bite to eat, the boys did their thing and I took Laddie and Star to a little Italian place on the boardwalk to eat. I told the boys to meet us there when they were done. “You sure about all this?” Star asked. “Absolutely! I like having an adventure crew. I'll admit though, it's gonna be a little different with a youngin' on board,” I laughed.

After a while, Lucy finally agreed to go with our party and told her boys to look after one another. We all packed our clothes and bought some more for the boys. They needed clothes that were fit for the amount of walking. I also couldn’t let anyone see my boys in blood-stained clothes in public, we’ll look like we got in some freak accident. I rode my motorcycle and directed the boys to my place, where we have a big Volkswagen bus parked out front, fit for a party of eight. Lucy is already there after a phone call telling us she would meet us at my place. We packed our bags into the trunk, all 4 boys could fit their bags into one suitcase with vacuum seal bags, Star and Laddie share a backpack, Lucy has her own suitcase and I have my own backpack. There's a box of toiletries for us all, except for Lucy, who decided on keeping everything of hers separate from the others, which is fair enough. 

It was 9pm, and we made sure everyone went to the bathroom and was all taken care of before we took off. The first drive is twelve-and-a-half hours, from Santa Carla to Salt Lake City, Utah. We toured the entire city on foot for a few hours, and decided on the next driver to take us to our next destination. Before we left Salt Lake, I put all the pictures I took into a scrapbook and wrote down the notes of what happened that day. “Hey, guys? If you want a journal to write anything down about the trip, I have a few extras here! And we can go over everyone’s journals and keep them in a safe space after the trip!” I said, as we all piled into the bus. David, sitting in the same row as me, turned to me and said, “I’d like to document what i’m experiencing. It’s a good idea, considering we’ve got a lot of…time left” he paused. I gave an understanding nod and handed him a journal. Star, from the third row, said, “i’ll take one!” 

We continued across the country and journaled, and took as many pictures as possible. I will never forget how genuinely happy all the boys were, they were so used to the boardwalk and now they get to go places. Laddie would bounce around happily when we toured around on foot. Star and Lucy spent their time quietly admiring land and cityscapes. The boys would get rowdy and restless at night, desperate to get in a fight or two. I've had to intervene more than I want to admit. But overall, they were well-behaved and did great throughout the trip.

The most precious memory to me, though, is when Dwayne, Paul, and Laddie grabbed me to go for a walk. At this point we were in Cincinnati, we checked in a hotel for a couple days, just on the water. A few of us wanted to go walk on the Purple People Bridge before we left. It was getting dark out, so we held close together. We walked across the bridge, Dwayne carried Laddie piggyback style and Paul and I were walking close by. We got down far enough on the bridge that we were close to the water. The sound of the river was calming, less rapid than the water outside the cave. I pointed out all the boats on the water to Laddie and we watched the water and the city in front of us.

What the boys didn't know was there was an event going on in the city. Some sort of charity event, I was never really sure about that part, but what I did know was the boys were really gonna like it.

"Hey, let's stay here for a bit. We're not in a hurry!" I said. "Umm… alright then," Dwayne said. Paul looked at me in confusion, but didn't say anything. Laddie was falling asleep on Dwayne's back, but Dwayne didn't seem to mind.

Soon, lights flicker on, one by one, lighting the whole city in blue. "Look Laddie!" I said while tapping his arm. He hopped off of Dwayne's back and stared at the illuminated city. All of Cincinnati was now an icy blue, and I will never forget the look of wonder in Laddie's eyes. Paul and Dwayne shared the same look as well. We were all starstruck as the night sky before us lit up in a beautiful blue. Paul's smile slowly grew and he giggled. I looked at him with a questioning look.

He turned to me, and said,"Thank you. This is… was, amazing. I don't think you know how much I appreciate you. This…" I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. We held each other close as the city behind us twinkled and glowed. Footsteps came alongside us, the rest of the party decided to try and find us. "Looks like you and Paul are having fun," David said. I wasn't even mad at the joke this time. "We really are, why don't you join us?" I asked. David smiled and ran his fingers through my hair. He wrapped his arms around me from behind as I was hugging Paul, so I was sandwiched between them. Marko stood beside us all. David saw and invited him into the middle with me. I turned around and squeezed Marko as the others adjusted.

Laddie was excitedly pointing out every detail to Star, Dwayne and Lucy and bouncing in pure joy. "Laddie seems to be enjoying this the most. I'm so happy I get to show him these beautiful places." I said. "I will never forget the look on his face for as long as I live."

The rest of the trip went smoothly. We stopped in big cities, small towns, natural parks, and got to see part of Canada from the upper peninsula of Michigan. I wrote down two journals' worth of notes and had to buy another scrapbook to fit all the pictures I took. 

Surprisingly, the whole party responded well to the really long drives we did. When we made it home and said our goodbyes to Lucy as she drove to her own home, it was like this weight was lifted off of us as we stepped into the cave. No more stress of travel, a place to stretch your legs, a place to just be... in peace. Laddie hugged me as Dwayne went around and lit the cave up. "Thank you so much," he said. "You're welcome, little dude!" I said. "Yeah, thank you!" Marko and Paul chimed in. Star walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Thank you for doing all of that for us," she said. "You really didn't have to." "I know, but I love you guys. The least I can do for you is take you on one of my adventures." 

#slash-writes #the lost boys #tlb #fic #tlb marko #tlb dwayne #tlb david #tlb paul #tlb star #tlb laddie #lucy emerson #tlb x reader

[brideofcthulhu10]

The Lost Boys Find Out Their Fem!S/O is Pregnant [3/4]

Guh, this one has taken the longest so far. Dwayne is such a strong silent type, and unfortunately got the least lines in the film so I had to really push myself to get into the right mindset. I think it came out fantastic, I hope you guys love it too. Now it's time for:

DWAYNE

Rays of light were beginning to crack through the little nooks of the ceiling, a slow sunrise ushering the vampiric quartet into the depths of the hotel ruins for a long anticipated rest after another wild night. The last to go was your night bird, Dwayne. Calloused hands dragged on your cheek, stealing away any kisses he could. You savored the smokey scent his hair carried and nearly giggled at how his stubble tickled your neck.

"Dwaaayne, I'll still be here tonight," you insisted, gently nudging him off. "Go inside before you burst into flames."

He chuckled with a wide grin, taking one last kiss. "Alright, I'll be back. 6 o'clock on the dot, as soon as the sun goes down."

"It's a date."

You watched him scurry into the cove, pushing past collapsed beams and cobwebs. How they could sleep in that you would never know. Still, that meant you had an entire day to kill before they would be up again. A long, boring day.

You had stopped verbally complaining long ago, every time you did David would insist if you just let Dwayne bite you, this wouldn't be a problem. But you just weren't ready. At least, not yet. The night was so alluring, and every day you felt yourself wanting to be beside them more. However, you still had some final days to cling to. Maybe it was just the fear of making such a massive change. Cowardice.

Just waiting around the cave quickly grew boring, laying atop the bed that once housed Star and Laddie now eerily vacant. You tried to pass the early morning hours by flipping through magazines, listening to your portable cassette player- yeah, you knew it was going out of fashion, but CDs were so expensive, and you were not about to let the boys steal a $200+ player just to listen to Mötley Crüe on a slightly different player. You'd brought your own entertainment after so many visits, but you soon groaned when you realized it was only 10 am. There were still 7 and a half hours of waiting to go, and you were nowhere near tired enough for a nap!

Maybe a quick walk would kill your boredom, a quick snack on the boardwalk, pick up the guys something to munch on before they go out hunting. Yeah, that should be good.

With a soft grunt you scooted off the bed, wedging your feet into your boots with your backpack slung over your shoulder. "I'll be back soon," you whisper out loud, looking over at the dusty hole they'd disappeared into. Dwayne definitely couldn't hear you, but it still felt nice to give a little goodbye every time you went out. This time you'd use the cave entrance that led up those old wooden stairs. The walkway was a gorgeous deck barely over the water. On high tide it could wash over and hit your feet. Part of you was amazed it was still standing after so many decades of wear and tear.

However, the moment you looked outside it made your eyes squint, weighing heavy on your brow. Was it always this bright during the day? 

It got significantly worse once you were fully outside shuffling around the debris littered across the rocks. It wasn't just your average tired eye sting. That was pretty common after spending all night out, and half the day in a dimly lit cave. But you'd never experienced it like this. It was a splitting, throbbing headache that almost made you lose your footing. You had to close your eyes just to feel any kind of relief. Noise was amplified- Oh god, those stupid seagulls made your ears ache! 

Walking just made it hurt more. It was taxing on your body, like wading in molasses in August. Now, you weren't a stranger to the heat. After all you grew up on California sunshine. Almost thrived in it. Now you barely made it up the stairs atop the cliffside, until you just had to sit down. Wedged tightly against the banister you reveled in the tiny slivers of shadow that cascaded from the wooden railing. When your jacket became to much you peeled it off to use for cover, and eventually you forced yourself to continue walking. What was happening?? Those few steps were enough to make your stomach wretch and twist with starvation. Truthfully you hadn't been eating well lately, everything just made you nauseous. Stomach flu, maybe. Why was the ground spinning..?

And that was it. The next time your eyes opened the last bits of sun were long gone. Something- no, someone, was shaking you, trying to snap you out of that fog. They yelled out, nearly swinging you around like a ragdoll in a panic. It was muffled, you could hear another voice, then another.

"Y/N! Y/N!"

"Dude, you keep shaking her like that, she's gonna break something."

"What is she doing out here in the first place anyway, man?" 

A huge breath of life reanimated your body, almost screaming as you sat up crashing into the chilled chest of Dwayne who still had you in his arms. "Hey, easy, easy. You're okay, it's just us."

Quickly your eyes darted around. Dwayne's arm was hooked under your back elevating you off the ground, Marko was knelt on your other side with Paul leaning on the smaller vampire's back. David was just behind Dwayne with arms crossed, looking down at you. 

"You know, Y/N, if your bed was uncomfortable we woulda gotten you another," Paul teased. 

"Dude," Marko questioned, lightly elbowing him in the ribs. 

"Ow. Aw, c'mon I'm just kiddin'."

Dwayne still wouldn't set you down, pushing sweaty locks of H/C from your face. "What happened," you managed to ask in a raspy voice, carefully shifting your weight onto your butt. 

"We found you out here, I was hoping you could tell us," David answered with a cigarette clenched between his teeth, a small flame roasting the end into ashy cinders. 

"I honestly couldn't tell you. I only wanted to head over to the boardwalk for an hour or two. I thought I could pick you guys something up on the way back but..," you held the side of your head, the remains of your headache still lingering from earlier. "My stomach hurt all over and.. I just fell."

Something just wasn't adding up, enough that David paused, looking at you. Your heart beat was calm but… every other beat an entirely new rhythm would chime in. Rapid, quiet, stirring. "You sure you hadn't been with anyone else, Y/N?"

"What," You questioned, immediately offended by the implications of that question. Unsurprisingly, Dwayne was equally outraged as he helped you onto your feet. 

"Y/N isn't like that, you know this David," he snapped. Dwayne always had that sulking gaze but it wasn't often he was legitimately upset. With his arms still around your waist you could feel his muscles tighten into cement. The atmosphere was so thick you could cuz it with a knife, and after a few minutes of intense glares… Dwayne's eyes widened. 

He heard it too. Faster than your own heart beat, buried deep below it was almost too soft to hear. A pulse submerged in water.

He had been so busy worrying about your fainting, he never realized why. It made sense the more he thought about it. Grabbing you, he spun you around to face him. He hadn't intended to be so rough that even Marko was telling him to ease up. "You swear.. you swear you haven't..." The suggestion was cruel. He didn't want to even say it out loud, and your face twisted into one of disgust, slapping his hands off your shoulders.

"Alright that's enough," you snapped, stepping away from all of them. "What is with all of you?! Is this just how you guys check up on people who faint, accuse them of adultery? What the fuck?!"

You could feel tears forming in your eyes and you immediately had to look away. You were not about to show weakness while angry. Dwayne gently took your wrist before you could storm off, looking deep into your eyes. Why did he look so afraid, even in the inky night you could see something haunted those chocolate orbs. "Dwayne...What's going on…," you asked again, this time softening your tone. David, easily sensing the building tension, cleared his throat. 

"Marko, Paul, let's wait inside."

"Aw what," Paul chimed in, arms up in the air. "No way man, I wanna know what's going on! What's with all the crazy??"

Marko looked at David, then back and for between you and Dwayne. Oh. He got it. While Paul still protested, Marko slung his arm over his shoulder and yanked him down to whisper in his ear. At first he looked utterly confused, but then his face went wide. The realization of the century. "Ohhhhhhh," he finally said, looking over at you. "Gotcha. Good luck babes, we'll give you guys a little alone time." Both blondes had these odd smirks on their face, no doubt clued in on the inside joke you were definitely a part of yet left completely clueless. David followed them down the steps with a smug grin, giving a small wave. 

Alright, now you were confused. Dwayne didn't speak though. He just clasped your hand tightly in his. All he said was "c'mon" while lightly pulling you along. The moon was so huge tonight in lit up the ocean, a sea of stars dipped in black. There you both sat, legs just barely hanging off the edge in utter silence. Whatever it was must have been weighing heavy on his mind because he never turned to look at you. Instead he kept your hand firmly clutched in his own, staring straight off into the unknown. His sigh broke the silence, fingers tightening around your hand again. "There's more than one heart beat… coming from inside you."

It took a moment for what he said to sink in. Another..? What did that-...

Oh. That's why they were being so weird. It was hard to breath, like someone was sitting on top of your chest. And now what haunted Dwayne's thoughts now crept into your own. Their suspicions were reasonable. No one figured that.. well considering the boys were undead it wasn't exactly expected for you to..

"Dwayne I…," you started, looking at him. "I've never been with anyone else. You know that, right?"

This time he couldn't speak, just nod in agreement. Of course he knew you were loyal. Honestly he never doubted it, but the shock of what that meant was a bit much for him to handle. He'd taken care of Laddie alongside Star for years, even before he turned, he was great with kids. But the thought of fatherhood never really crossed his mind. Were he human it'd be common sense, he'd be at the proper age. Maybe even already have a family.

But he was 19. He just… happened to be 19 for a very long time. Quietly he pulled you by your waist so you were beside him, then nudged your head onto his shoulder. You weren't scared, just in awe. For a moment you brushed your hand over your abdomen. It was warm, already firm to the touch. In the months to come you knew it would grow, your baby would grow. But in that moment, as Dwayne's calloused hand placed over yours feeling that little life stir inside you, you felt at peace. That was that. You two sat there for what felt like hours, watching the waves, watching the moon rise high above. It really was a beautiful night. A perfect night. The first night of many more to come.

#lost boys imagine #lost boys 1987 #lost boys #lost boys dwayne #billy wirth #the lost boys #lost boys fanfiction #fanfiction writing #fanfiction #pregnancy #pregnant #vampire pregnancy #pregnancy imagine #lost boys vampires

[revchainsaw]

Bumblebee (2018)

Good Evening worshippers, and welcome! Today the Cult of Cult goes a little more mainstream than usual. It's been a while since i've tackled a big Hollywood superhero film. But I do believe that these sorts of films will be remembered fondly my small groups of people in the future, especially the smaller films that are being overshadowed by the big bad MCU, films like 2018s Bumblebee.

The Messsage

Bumblebee was originally released as a prequel to the Transformers franchise that had started all the way back in 2007. However, reboots had really hit the market as a way to breath new life into struggling franchises, and the Transformers series had already gone to just about every absurd extreme you could imagine. No changes were made to the movie as it was released, but with it's more childish and heartfelt tone, and a new aesthetic that was softer, smoother, and all around just generally more pleasing to the eye, I think it was a wise choice to rebrand Bumblebee as a new beginning.

Our story is of two friends from two very different worlds and how they came together. Our first character is Bumblebee, then known as B- number sign/it doesn't really matter. Not yet Bumblebee is a soldier set with securing a safe location for the Autobots to regroup and make their home as they suffer a pretty serious defeat on cybertron at the hands of the tyrannical Decepticons. Optimus Prime, here again voiced by Peter Cullen and looking so much more like himself, assigns this task to Bumblebee promising him that they will meet him there when the time comes. Then Optimus fucks off for the rest of the run time making way for our little hero.

Bumblebee lands on Earth and is immediately set upon by John Cena and his military goon squad. It probably would have been wise for Bumblebee to avoid John Cena but in his defense, he couldn't see him. Hardy har har. In his attempt to flee his voice box is damaged, he seeks sanctuary by taking the form of a run down little VW bug, and suffers from amnesia.

Then we have Charlie. Charlie is not like other girls. She likes cars, all the retro music, which wasn't retro when the movie takes place, so I'm supposed to just think she's a rocker but it kinda seems like she'll listen to just about anything. I think in 2018 liking Motorhead and The Smiths (who are used ad nauseum in this movie) is perfectly common, but I feel like in the 80s that was a much different and much older attitude to take.

Anyway Charlie's poor family lives in a super fucking nice house and are poor because the dialogue keeps insisting they are so it must be true despite all the shit they have that actually poor people would sell blood and teeth to attain, but hell, this is Hollywood and Hollywood poor is like regular people upper middle class. Charlies family is so poor that instead of giving her a one time graduation/birthday present to buy a part for a car she already has, they just give her a moped, She also spends all her time at a pull apart where the manager (who might be her uncle that wasn't super clear) is willing to just give her a Volkswagen so I don't understand why she didn't already have the project car up and running. Whatever, it's a plot contrivance. All you need to know is that Charlie is tenacious and hard around the edges cuz her dad is dead and she's not yet mature enough to process that in a healthy way. Maybe her character arch will teach her to let others in, we'll have to find out.

There's also a wacky nerd named Memo, and some bad guys, and John Cena. They are all also pretty archetypal and contrived and don't really do anything of note that isn't just filling a beat that this kind of movie needs to walk. Charlie starts Bumblebee up, discovers he's a robot and the two begin to bond. Charlie learns to make a friend, and bumblebee is learning about himself. They get into hijinks and get revenge on a bully girl who makes Regina George look like a saint, she pretty much only picks on Charlie exclusively for having a dead dad.

The moment Bumblebee is woken back up, some technology goof em up that both he and Charlie are unaware of brings two Decepticon baddies into the picture. I don't remember their names, but since I love The Venture Brothers let's say they can be "Jet Boy and Jet Girl". Jet Boy and Jet Girl are sometimes cars, sometimes various flying military vehicles, and they make friends with the deep state and plan to get all the adrenochrome from all the orphans, or just to go find Bumblebee and beat his ass good cuz their bad guys. Let me tell y'all though, Jet Boy and Jet Girl are so bad that they don't even care that the government is listening when they reveal that they are planning on bringing a Decepticon Invasion and after they rough up Bumblebee real good they are going to destroy all life on this planet. So they start by killing a military scientist.

John Cena is after Bumblebee and he's homies with Jet Boy and Jet Girl until the military scientist butt dials him and he hears the evil plan. John Cena goes from heel to face and helps Bumblebee and Charlie save the day. It's a giant CG clusterfuck climax a la any superhero film in the last 10 years and I basically stopped watching. BumbleBee pulls a Hellraiser on Jet Boy, and then he hits Jet Girl with a freaking boat. Charlie uses her diving skills do dive down and save him, but he's a Giant Robot and he was okay and it was literally pointless for her to to except as a way to show that her character has completed her arch by doing the thing that was representative of her connection with her lost father.

Bumblebee turns into the Camaro from the first movie, meets up with Optimus prime, and the stage is set for this prequel to squeeze more prequels out. So it wasn't very creative, but was it bad? Let's find out.

Please Stand to receive the Benediction.

Best Aspect: Transform the Franchise

Bumblebee was directed by Travis Knight of Laika fame and it shows. This movie marks a stylistic change in the transformers franchise, as in it doesn't look like utter dog shit, but it also represents in many ways a tonal shift. It does hold on to a lot of gross sleaze that has unfortunately been forcibly jammed into the DNA of the franchise but it also attempts to be a more heartfelt entry. The characters of Bumblebee might all be sort of a waste of time, but at least they are doing something with emotions, even if the emotions of the characters are only explored as deeply as a children's cartoon I'm glad they are there. In the previous installments the only thing the characters did between running from action piece to seizure inducing action piece was drool over underage girls like a bunch of chimpanzees at the facility where they test experimental E.D. meds. It was nice to see that at least somewhat tampered. This transformers movie feels more like it's for kids and young teenagers, and strangely that more friendly tone makes for a much less juvenile product.

Worst Aspect: Remember I Love the 80s from the 2000s

I hope you really like Stranger Things. I do, but because Stranger Things was so successful it' s going to be everywhere. Not true Stranger Things just 80s nostalgia porn. This 80s nostalgia is going to be forced on you whether you like it or not, and it's not going to be fun. It's gonna be in your shows, in your music, in your Sunday like Bacon in 2010. It's that or Marvel Franchise Brand Whedonisms. Bumblebee is that brave movie that says, "Why not both?" It would seem fitting that a property as quintessentially 80s as Transformers should feel completely comfortable doing a period piece set in the 80's but it's so fucking half hearted it's depressing. It wasn't done to appreciate the roots of the IP, it was done to cash in on a trend and it feels it. All they did was throw up a date and insufferably force an 80s soundtrack down your throat as if that was enough to convince you that this movie needed to be set during this time. Other than that you could have told me this film was set in 2007 and I couldn't tell you any different.

Best Character: Charlie's an Angel

I liked Charlie. Sure her Arc is predictable, her taste is dumb, and she isn't exactly a master of her own destiny to any degree. But at least she is a woman in a transformers movie who's got something going on. Sure she's defined entirely by grief, but that sure is better than pretending that being able to work on cars is a feminist character trait instead of a weird fetish thing. They certainly do that thing with Charlie, but at least it's not the only thing they throw at the wall. Bumblebee is by no means out of the woods in this department, but it garners a lot of goodwill for trying. Like a racist uncle who just started his journey out of ignorance, but hasn't yet realized he has to stop asking mortifying questions to the barista at Starbucks. Okay, maybe that's an extreme metaphor. I'm saying that perhaps Charlie is not a great character but she's a great character for a Transfomers movie.

Worst Character: It's JOOOOHHHNNNN CEEEENA!!!!

Why is John Cena in this movie? I don't hate the guy, but his character seems pointless. You could remove him from the movie completely and replace him with any one of the random military goons at any point and it changes nothing. What was with that dumb salute at the end? It seems like they put him in this movie in post and it was just to pump up cast list. I wish he was given anything to work with. I can't remember his characters name, and it's not like John Cena did a bad job, I was just annoyed every time they kept giving him hero shots. I felt like I was watching a trailer for a different movie.

Best Actor: Optimal Primo!

Every time Peter Cullen speaks I want to listen. There's a reason they haven't had Chris Pratt or somebody with a bigger name come in and take over the role at this point. He's why the audience keep coming back. Peter Cullen IS Optimus Prime, and there's no changing that. He also wins twice. He's the best actor in the movie AND he's barely in the movie. Good call Peter.

Worst Actor: Mean Girls 2, Meaner and Girlier

I don't want to be cruel so I'm not going to go into to much detail, but there's an actress in this film who's performance is so mustache twirlingly evil and stupid that it ruined my suspension of disbelief when i knew going in that i was about to endure a 2 hour toy commercial about robots that turn into cars. Beldar Conehead was a more convincing human being than Tina.

Best Effect: Goo Be Gone

I really appreciated when the bad guys shot the government nerd into a blast of snot. That was pretty fun for me. Best part of the movie hands down.

Worst Effect: Live Action?

Bumblebee is a cartoon. It's a great looking cartoon but it doesn't sell itself that way. If we were doing a Roger Rabbit thing I'd have no gripes. However, I think CG is just getting worse. I'm criticizing this and it's still lightyears better than the previous entry's on the franchise. No transformation or fight sequence in Bumble Bee had me straining to make sense of what I was looking at. I think it was a great idea to start using some basic shapes and outlines to these characters, and return somewhat to their 80s designs. But at certain points, especially when there were no humans in the shot, i was pretty convinced I was watching Clone Wars. There may not be anyway around this, as the Transformers concept might not be able to be pulled off in any more effective manner. It's a minor gripe, but I just didn't think it looked like anything other than a very expensive cartoon, and in this franchise that's a compliment, because it least it looked like SOMETHING!

Best Scene: Space Opera

I am not a Transformers fan. I missed the boat on the cartoon as a kid. I would sometimes catch it at friends houses but I was more into Batman, Star Wars, and Ninja Turtles. By the time I came onto the scene the world had moved on to Beast Wars. I did one day arbitrarily decide that my favorite Transformer was Sound Wave. He looked great in this. I am a big fan of the return to form with a lot of the character designs in this. They really did keep the things that worked from the other adaptations, and they are steadily removing the things that didn't. For this reason, the scenes on Cybertron, particularly the battle with Soundwave (i prefer for personal reasons) looked great and were exciting to watch. I remember thinking Cybertron used to look like a Marilyn Manson shot a music video from inside to dumpster. This is so much better.

Worst Scene: Blocking the Box

There's a scene in Bumblebee where Charlie's family decides the best way to save their daughter was to cause a pile up of vehicles in an intersection, and it's pure contrived writing that saved any character in that sequence from being killed in a horrific traffic accident. It was stupid, played for laughs, and it wasn't exciting as much as it was anxiety inducing. I also thought that there was no reason the covert military group covering up extraterrestrial life wouldn't just disappear this family of fucking morons in their little piece of shit car. The logic of the scene was just so childish like, "No they won't hit me, I'm a good person."

Summary

Bumblebee may be remembered fondly in a decade. I think especially if the Transformers franchise were to end here. It didn't get the publicity of the other films, and that really is a shame. For my money, this was the best Transformers movie so far. I was very tempted to give Bumblebee a C, it does just enough to right what was wrong from the other movies to make me appreciate all that work. This movie has heart, and if you are at all into Transformers then l think you should see it. It's still pretty stupid, and pretty basic. It's not offering anything new to the genre, and it feels like a commercial for more movies. I really wish we could just get movies that want to tell a story. I thought it over and decided that it wasn't fair not to grade Bumblebee on it's own merits. Bumblebee is substantially better than the films that preceded it, but that's not saying a lot, when the films that preceded it are joyless exercises in self abuse.

Overall Grade: D

#Transformers #Bumblebee #Optimus Prime #Action #Adventure #Car #Super Hero #Robot #Scifi #Grade D #D #Grade: D #2018 #2010s #(D)

[coinofstone]

3x12 The Coming of Arthur pt 1

The title is such low hanging fruit I feel bad cracking a joke about it.

It's a quest episode! I love a quest episode. Srsly feel free to send me any and all Merthur quest fics. I can't get enough 😂

This is the episode responsible for the lovely Leon fanon headcanon that he's immortal. Always handy in an Arthur Returns fic.

Uther: you must go on this mission alone

Arthur: *brings Merlin*

I do love Merlin being being a smart alec and nagging Arthur while packing. Excellent banter.

Arthur said

Arthur threatening a young boy like this is such an ugly and uncharacteristic action it makes me angry.

Merlin tending to Arthur while he's sick and injured 🥺

Also I'm sorry but Merlin shows fuckin Gilli his magic but he's hiding it from fuckin Gwaine while Arthur is suffering? Silly.

Cenred's massive army makes me wonder if it's a result of his tolerance of magic or lower standards than the knights of Camelot, or some combination of both.

Poor Leon, though. He's just got back from near death in that forest and Uther sends him right fuckin back in 😂

Looks like they snuck in to Camelot via the dragon's cave. I doubt that was the intention but I still approve 😂

Knowing he's on a suicide mission, Arthur gives Merlin an out, knowing he'll never take it, knowing he doesn't even want him to: he still presents him with the choice.

How come literally everyone else gets a crown that fits them but Arthur walks around looking like he's wearing hand-me-downs?

Morgana might be evil but she looks damn good on a throne.

3x13 The Coming of Arthur pt 2

There's a post going around Twitter about ppl who nitpick at TV shows... this comment falls into exactly that category 100% but I'm sorry, I cannot just ignore the fact that Morgana's got these massive banners and an entire army's worth of uniforms, I mean look:

Every guard with the sigil on his uniform and half a dozen banners in the council chambers alone. That's to say nothing of the ones outside. I mean look at the sheer fuckin size of these things:

Look how tiny the ppl are next to em! They've gotta be at least 15 feet long, at least. Where did they come from? Were they all magicked into existence? Who designed that sigil? What does it represent? Is it Gorlois' banner? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

Leon isn't someone I've ever been particularly attracted to, personally, but his defiant shout of "Long Live the King" in the face of Morgana's threats, is sexy as hell.

Depressed Arthur is such a mood.

So. Gwen. Originally in 3x12 when Morgana essentially invited Gwen into the fold (insofar as a Queen's servant can be), it seems to be a set up, because Morgana has been treating Gwen like shit for ages, why would she suddenly want her friend back? Especially since Morgana knows something is going on between Gwen and Arthur - there's no way she believes that they were actually under the spell of some random sorcerer, that just doesn't make any sense. So you kind of assume - or at least I did - that Morgana is keeping Gwen close knowing that she'll be useful as bait or a hostage, just essentially as a person of value to Arthur. She's known Gwen for too long to actually believe she'd cross Arthur, there's just no way someone as machiavellian as Morgana doesn't see Gwen's 'loyalty' as a simple survival tactic. All of this is to say, when Morgana and Morgause eavesdrop on Gwen's conversation with Sir Leon, Morgana is just like, 'welp, she's betrayed me. Guess I'll kill her in the morning.' as though she was actually expecting Gwen to do anything else?!?! Like, why? It would've made so much more sense to just cut that line entirely and go straight to something like

Morgana: it's as we suspected, she's betrayed me

Morgause: yes, now she can lead us straight to Arthur

And it would've made so much more sense than the weird sort of purgatory they've implied where Morgana changed her mind about Gwen very suddenly the night before she took the throne. It's not a super important detail in the overarching story but it's another example of how carelessly their story has been handled.

Me rn:

I do love that they made Freya the Lady of the Lake, and that she kept her promise by telling Merlin how to defeat the army of the dead.

How Merlin really sees Kilgharrah:

Gwen really is the smartest of all of them.

I do love that Merlin's first undead kill with excalibur is entirely an accident lol

The subtext between Morgana and Morgause is really gross. I haven't said anything before because I generally don't approve of ship shaming but the not so subtle subtext gives me the heebies.

This is such a great shot

Everything about it, his woman at his left and his man at his right, his romantic rival opposite him on his wife's side, as directly opposite her as possible at a round table with an uneven number of placements. It's a really beautiful shot, fitting for an equally beautiful scene. It's a very moving scene, the music really adds the exact emotion you'd expect for this moment we all recognize... and I feel like the knights' oaths are very well matched. The snarky part of me wanted to make a 'call me maybe' joke about Percival, but he's so sincere I just can't do it. The moment of levity added by Merlin's banter with Arthur is really, really well paced. Honestly I think it's probably the next perfect, iconic scene since Gwen and Arthur's first kiss. Hats off to this crew.

(Don't worry dear reader, I'm sure I'll get back to complaining shortly)

Santiago is so dreamy. I'd share his bedroll any day.

I like that despite all the talk of equality and doing the thing Uther wouldn't approve of, Gwen still worries about the company seeing her and Arthur kiss. Like, he's planning an insurrection with a bunch of commoners and two dudes who've been officially banished from Camelot, but she's internalized the classism and the rules of royalty so deeply that even amongst friends she instinctively keeps their relationship hidden. I'm not sure how intentional that was but it's brilliant.

The fight big fight scene with Merlin just barely missing the cup while the knights are cornered, and Gaius showing up like the brilliant deus ex machina that he is, honestly makes the previous budget-slashed episodes more bearable. Because this really is great, even knowing it's great at the expense of those others.

Morgana's screeching is eerily similar to Aithusa's.

I wonder if they knew they were getting renewed for a fourth season when they wrote this. Because you know, it really could've worked as a series finale as well. An open-ended series finale, but a series finale all the same.

As a Queens kid, I cannot explain to you the joy it gives me to watch Arthur and Merlin just chillin on the steps to the castle as tho it were a stoop, which I suppose, in a sense... it kind of is. Ahhh youthful days.

Commentary is Jeremy Webb and Julian Murphy.

And this kids, is why we're watching with commentary! They've just explained that Morgana's sigil is supposed to symbolize the Rowan tree that's supposed to be at the heart of the Isle of the Blessed. That suggests she designed it herself, so there's at least one of my earlier questions answered.

They talk a lot about how Emila Fox was very pregnant when they were filming her in this season, and they shot entirely around it - and I can't help but feel anger toward Joss Whedon and his 'handling' of Charisma Carpenter's pregnancy during S4 of Angel.

One of them called the round table scene 'curiously moving' and I think that is really fitting. They'd had this in mind for about two years, which is probably why it's so extraordinary. That's a great gestation period for a scene as iconic as this.

One final tidbit: the sword in the stone was filmed in France, and made it back to Wales intact. I guess nobody wanted to take it out. That's kind of an interesting thought, like a little set superstition or something. It's kind of cute.

The DVD extras/special features will get a separate post if I feel I have comments worth sharing.

#bbc merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin #merlin spoilers #merthur #3x12 #bbc merlin 3x12 #merlin 3x12 #3x13 #bbc merlin 3x13 #merlin 3x13 #the coming of Arthur #the coming of Arthur part one #the coming of Arthur part two #the coming of Arthur pt 1 #the coming of Arthur pt 2 #i cannot believe that's the actual title of this episode #onceandfuturerewatch

[bagels-and-seagulls]

Sorry, you brought it upon yourself, but Mob David and witness protection!?! It's so cool! Now I'm desperate to know how they made Matteo testify against David and what he felt after all this time? Please 🙏

i really did, didn’t i? ah well, i’m suffering through my third football game of the day and two pieces of pie in, so what the hell. let’s do it. 

-matteo meets a boy in an alley beside a cafe when he’s 16 and running from some kids that he pissed off in school. he ducked into the tight side street, his chest heaving and his heart pounding, and hides behind a dumpster, holding onto his chest and hoping he isn’t breathing too loud. he sees a guy, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette next to what looks like an employee entrance. florenzi! someone screams from behind them, and matteo’s eyes widen as the boy looks down to him and back up to the entrance of the alley. matteo shakes his head, hoping that this guy wasn’t feeling malicious. florenzi, we know you’re down here! he hears, and matteo closes his eyes and scoots closer to the wall. hey, the guy yells back at them, throwing his cigarette on the ground. there’s no one down here, and you’re scarin’ my customers. so why don’t you get lost? 

-matteo meets david when he’s 16 after david saves his neck and doesn’t ask for anything in return, even though matteo insists on it anyways. 

-they start hanging out. matteo comes by the cafe, just for the coffee, he swears. it’s good, and so is the company, he supposed. and they’re friends, just friends. at least for a while, a couple of weeks maybe, before david asks matteo if he maybe wants to go with him to a movie after he gets off his shift, and matteo knows it’s a date and says yes because of it. and they end up making out in the back of the theater for at least half of the film- one that david said he had already seen anyways.

-matteo realizes that david isn’t telling him everything the same time he notices that david has more than one phone and that when certain people walk into the cafe, david always talks to the quietly, quickly, tells them to go into the back, that he’ll meet them there to talk. he asks about it, only once. you’re into some bad shit, aren’t you? matteo asks him one night when david said they had to cut their date short because of some emergency with a friend he had to take care of. and david levels him with a look, a look that was pleading and threatening all at once, that looked like it was begging for matteo to take the question back. would it matter if i was? david asks and leans in closer. matteo shakes his head and pulls his pack out of pocket. just want you to be straight with me, matteo responds around a smoke. and david laughs, because there was an easy joke to be made, and it cuts the tension in half as he drops matteo off at his door with a kiss to the neck and a promise to his lips to see him tomorrow. 

-david admits a few weeks later in a roundabout sort of way that he was involved in something or other that was less than legal, but he didn’t plan on changing it any time soon. so if matteo had a problem with that, maybe they should just end this thing now, before it really starts. and matteo tells him that no, there was no problem. he didn’t care, not really. 

-david never says the word mob, or mafia, or gang, or anything like that, but matteo figures it’s one in the same anyways. 

-matteo doesn’t really think about it, not really, except for when david occasionally comes to his door bloodied and bruised in a way that didn’t come from an ordinary street fight, except for when he really notices david’s odd hours after they move in together when they’re 18. he just doesn’t think about it. david keeps him out of it, and matteo was never one to poke his nose into places it didn’t belong. david always spent the night in their bed, and matteo figures that’s what mattered, when you were with a man like that. 

-ten years pass, and matteo doesn’t know where the time goes. 

-mr. florenzi? someone asks as he’s taking out the restaurant’s trash midway through the day and two people in ill-fitting suits come up to him, wearing shades that looked like they belonged in the last decade and attitudes that for sure did. who’s asking? he responds back and starts his smoke break, feeling like he earned it after the lunch rush. the police, one of the two says, we have some questions about your friend, david schreibner. and matteo immediately feels a little bit prickly about the way they threw the word friend out there like that. i don’t have to talk to you, matteo says and walks back inside. 

-they don’t leave him alone. he sees them three more times at work before he gets fed up with it. just leave me alone. i’m not talking to you, he says. only guilty people have something to hide, one of the cops says back. bullshit. everyone’s got something to hide, matteo responds. he murdered someone, the other one says, getting in matteo’s face like he was tired of matteo avoiding them, just like matteo was tired of them harassing him. did he tell you that? that he killed a man last week. a father, the cop adds when matteo doesn’t say anything. and matteo looks at them for a moment, just a moment, looking at the fury in their eyes and the tension in their jaws. where were you last tuesday? the first cop asks. work, matteo says, and then home. the cops look at each other. what time did you get home? and matteo rubs at the back of his neck, left work after the dinner rush, so nine, maybe ten. i didn’t check. they look at each other again. and was david there? one asks. yes, matteo says, of course. 

-david gets arrested the next morning for murder and a couple of other charges, and matteo is so out of sorts at the whole thing that he ends up sitting on his kitchen floor for an hour, wondering if he should call david’s sister, if he should call jonas. he thought about how he didn’t even know a lawyer, if he was supposed to call one for david, that he didn’t know how to get bail money. he didn’t have more than a couple of hundred dollars to his name. he had no idea how much david had, never bothered to ask. he ends up sitting there until his phone rings, and he has to get up to go look at it, just in case it was david. 

-matteo gets subpoenaed the next day to testify on the state’s behalf, and he rushes to the police station, to those two cops that wouldn’t leave him alone, throws the papers down on the table. i don’t know anything. i can’t help you, he says quickly. you’ve already helped more than enough, mr. florenzi, one says, the mean one, and the nicer one- at least the one who keeps out of his space- says, matteo, if you’re afraid of him, we can protect you. and matteo shakes his head, you don’t know anything, do you? 

-the days leading up to the trial, matteo isn’t afraid. he knows david would never hurt him, knows none of his friends would either, but the police still put him up in a hotel anyways, saying that david’s group is known for taking witnesses out, for ruining cases anyway they can. and the entire time, matteo keeps saying, keeps insisting, that he doesn’t know anything, but no one believes him. 

-matteo goes to the trial, not like he had much choice with his ice cold police escort everywhere, and tries not to look over to where david is sitting, wearing a suit matteo has never seen, sitting next to a lawyer with a watch that looked more expensive than their house. the people’s lawyer asks him all sorts of questions about where he was, was david there, does he remember when this happened, is it true david came home with blood on his shoes that night, did you see him burning anything, are you sure, mr. florenzi, where were you the night of the seventh, where were you the night of the seventh, where were you the night of the seventh, and matteo just tries to keep it all straight, keep it all together because he can’t even tell if he’s lying himself at this point, just trying to answer all the questions the lawyers are yelling at him, the ones that the judge was yelling at him to answer. 

-he gets ushered out after his testimony, even though he’s trying to get one last look at david to tell him he’s sorry, that he didn’t mean any of this, that he told them to get lost but they kept coming at him, that he didn’t know what he was doing, that he never meant to hurt david, never ever. but they pull him out too quick, and he doesn’t get to look. he doesn’t know if david tried to look back, doesn’t know if that would make him feel better or worse if he did. 

-matteo gets put into witness protection the next day. for his safety, they said, because the group david was affiliated with wouldn’t stop until he was dead, and he tried to tell them that wasn’t true, that david wouldn’t do that. but they didn’t believe him. lot of that seemed to be happening these days. 

#i know absolutely nothing about the legal system #or the police system #and especially not in any country other than my own #so there's that #davenzi #davenzi fic #my writing #other aus

[ajokeformur-ray]

Hiiii! I'm very sorry for bothering you with this but may I send a selfship with Joker and Arthur? You're the only one who could understand, I need to share my love for the character ^^ Um, I'm a 27 years old hetero girl. 158 cm, long dark brown hair, black eyes, a bit chubby - and I don't like my looks at all. I'm a PhD student in Media Discourse, I also led seminars in Journalistic Genres last semester and there's a high chance that I'll be doing it again in a several months, I love every

aspect, if I’m being honest. I dream of having an academic career and becoming a professor one day. I’m good with books and studying but a failure when it comes to intimate things, I’m truly clueless in these and am oblivious to flirting and advances. I also would never admit my feelings to anyone, I prefer acting as there’s nothing. I’m an extremely kind and friendly person though I’m still a bit shy so prefer for other people to make the first step. I’m very loyal, gentle and caring and love

helping my friends. I still need my personal time though. Huge perfectionist. I love books, movies, metal and rock music, long walks. I have a huge phobia of snakes, I couldn’t even look at a picture of one. I also hate crowds and ignorant people. Ironically, I’m a Slytherin (but am very proud of my house). Nerd. Could be a bit clumsy. I usually act as the toughest girl around but get scared easily. Tomboy-ish, I don’t like wearing dresses, heels and makeup. Thank you! 💖

Hello!!! You’re no bother at all skskskk I got’chu!!! I just wanted to take a minute real quick to thank you personally for sticking by me with all the blog changes that I made. You’re one of my longest-standing followers and it truly means the world to me, so thank you so very much. I wish you all the very best and I hope you like this @rafaelina-casillas

Arthur // wc: 780.

There is an age gap between you which Arthur finds intimidating, so he would be incredibly hesitant to even start talking to you, let alone get into anything with you. He would also be intimidated by your intellect and your academic achievements. Why would you want to spend your time with him or even acknowledge him? He doesn’t understand your attraction to him, but he’s not about to question it too much. He really does love you, he finds you beautiful inside and out, and you think and feel much the same for him. He only got a little of the way through tenth grade and he was never given a choice about that or any other academic path, so he’s ridiculously proud of you for going all the way through to a PhD, and he tells you every chance he gets (for more on this, refer to your headcanon set here - I don’t want to repeat myself skskksk).  He just really is so, so proud of you, always, and he would help you to practice or prepare for seminars in any way you asked him to, even though he barely understands the material you’re required to cover.

You want to become a professor one day, and again, Arthur is super proud of you. He’s almost always bragging about you to his therapist, the chemist at Helms’, his boss and co-workers (though they bully him about it and on his worst days he comes home doubting your existence, but with patience and persistence and maybe one or two angry phone calls to Hoyt do you manage to stop this)… anyone who will listen to him about you. You’re super good at academics and anything which comes out of a textbook, but you’re not so hot with intimate aspects, and that’s the same for Arthur. The two of you are painfully oblivious to the others’ attention, and I really can’t see either of you even coming together without a third party to help you out. Picture this: Gary walks into the changing room at Ha-Ha’s and asks Arthur if he’s managed to ask you out yet. “No,” Arthur hums, “She doesn’t see me that way.” Gary would sigh, genuinely confused as to how two people so emotionally intelligent can be so stupid, and he’d pat Arthur’s hand as he says, “Just try it out, mate, you never know.” Gary does know, though, and a few weeks after that when Arthur comes in to work blushing, he’s only proven right. You prefer to act as if there’s nothing there, but Arthur would slowly start to realise thanks to Gary’s careful prodding that there is something there, and he would have to somehow overcome his own insecurities and doubts. Otherwise, you two will just dance around the large elephant in the room forever.

I feel like, inevitably, Arthur would get so anxious but also so annoyed that he loves you and he knows you love him, he knows, that he’d go along with you on a walk when the grey sky darkens and bleeds out into purple and blue hues, to add some atmospheric intimacy to an emotional conversation, and he’d shyly reach out and take your hand in his, his palm sweating slightly and his throat convulsing and jumping in nerves. You look at him, shocked but also slightly relieved that he had been the one to make the first move, and you squeeze his fingers. Arthur gasps lightly, almost inaudibly, and he slides his fingers more securely into yours, and you both understand that the decision has been made. You’re together now and in the end, no words were needed. You both just… knew. 

You love films but you’re super scared of snakes, and sweet, sweet Arthur would make sure to watch films which are coming out before you watch them, just to make sure that there are no snakes or anything else which scares you. He is incredibly protective, and if there was anything even slightly snake like in a film, like an eel or a water dragon or something, he’d tell you not to watch it. You hate crowds so when you go out for walks together or when either of you collects the other from work or university, Arthur would keep his hand securely in yours while you duck into back alleys, short cuts… He keeps you out of the crowds. You hate ignorant people so living in Gotham, you’re constantly irritated and on edge, but coming home to Arthur really calms you down and keeps you sane. He loves you, all of you, and come rain or shine, you’re all he needs, wants and lives for.

Joker // wc: 780 (what are the chances that these are the same word count, accidentally? skskskskk)

You had Arthur’s heart before you even really met, so immediately taken was he with you, and you stayed with him through it all until bent and broken was he forced to stand tall, or he’d die continuing as he was. As Joker, therefore, he is incredibly loyal to you. You’re literally his entire life. Without you, he really would have nothing left to lose. So no pressure, but you are the only thing, the only person, who keeps him sane and safe even from himself. He is still incredibly proud of you, super supportive and he does anything and everything that he can to let you know that no matter who he is or what he does, he still loves you so, so much. He’s completely and entirely devoted to you. It’s not unusual for him to let himself in to sit on your seminars, cheering loudly from the crowd and causing a bit of a disturbance; he’d stand up and tug on the sides of his crimson red blazer proudly as he waves at you; causing you some embarrassment. He really is just so proud of you and sometimes he literally shouts it from the rooftop, climbing out onto the fire escape and screeching out his feelings for you, laughing all the while. He wants everyone in Gotham to know that he’s “Not such a loser now, am I?”, and he’d definitely want for you to do the same, though he’d understand if you don’t. So long as he knows you love him, it’s all good.

Joker gets quite tense whenever you start talking about and making plans for your future, as stated in the headcanon set I did for you forever ago, but he would largely understand that you can be together as a couple while you lead very different separate lives. He’s still so supportive but he’s also not above using his fame, his connections with his followers, to help you to forward your career. And if an assignment doesn’t get the target grade? You might find a typo riddled email from your lecturer the day, saying that there was some kind of mistake and please don’t kill me, please. You understand immediately what happened and though you scold Joker, you find yourself unable to really tell him off because he’s shifting his weight around, his hands clasped in front of him, looking for all the world like a little boy getting told off. He just wants to help you in the best way he can. He never had any choice or chance in the life he was forced to lead, but he wants you to have all the choices available to you, no matter what. He loves you dearly. At this point in your relationship, you’ve learned how to read each other’s love languages, so you know when Joker is being affectionate with you, but if anyone else tried to do the same, you’d be completely oblivious, though Joker’s clenching jaw and savage comments will soon clue you in.

Arthur was attracted to you initially because of how kind you are, and though you’re shy, you’re also friendly so people just gravitate towards you. In a city as cruel and as shitty as Gotham, kindness is a treat so rare that people don’t even recognise it for what it is when they experience it, so the fact that you’re so kind makes Joker practically stick to you like glue. He loves you so much and he’d do anything for you; you’re endlessly loyal to each other, irrevocably in love with the other, and what you have carefully cultivated and built together is a treasure that you both cherish and protect with all that you are. You both respect each other’s privacy but you make sure to have allotted time each day which is only yours; Joker may wreak havoc all over the city but dear, sweet Arthur is never recognised in the streets; people’s eyes pass over him, so you can still go for long walks together if you want to.

You scare easily and Joker is Arthur x 1000000 so he’s even more protective of you now than he used to be, because he feels safer to be himself now. He’s almost always touching you, especially when you’re both out on the streets together, because you hate crowds and he’s very quick on his feet, so he can get you away from them effortlessly. Overall, it’s a wild ride to be in love with and to be loved by Arthur Fleck, but it’s a ride which pays off again and again and again, and once you’re together, that’s it. Ride or die, sweetheart, remember?

#rafaelina-casillas #Requests closed #arthur fleck #joker #arthur fleck matchup #joker matchup #matchup

[lemonayyyyyde]

Party Like the Dead

Chapter One

I apologize for it all being one big chunk without any "read more" areas- sadly I am confined to mobile at the moment. Either way, here it is! The first chapter of my exclusive writeblr WIP Party Like the Dead! I hope you enjoy it. :)

---

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Chilled October air filled Alexandra’s lungs as she asked the same question she had been repeating all week. The one she always seemed to ask when Nick was involved.

She shrugged her jacket up closer to hide her skin from the wind that picked up and whipped past them, turning her gaze over to Nick as he laughed.

“I’m sure, Alex. You’re starting to sound like my mom’s old Beatles record- you really gotta stop repeatin’ yourself.” Despite his teasing words, there’s a smile pulling at Nick’s lips as he spoke. “It’s just a party- a Halloween party in the most boring town on earth for Christ’s sake!” 

Alexandra forced a laugh at that, high-strung with the remnant of nerves. Nick's voice dropped to a more sincere tone as he reached over to give her hand a light squeeze of reassurance.

“We’ll be fine. It means a lot that you would do this for me.”

Alexandra couldn’t help but give a true smile at that, pulling him into a side-hug only to have to pick off some toilet paper that stuck to her skin from his costume when she pulled away. She made a face as Nick dissolved into a fit of giggles, scrunching up her nose as she glared.

“What are you laughing at, mummy boy? You’re the one who looks like a mom’s DIY project gone wrong.”

Nick gave a scoff of faux offense, holding a hand to his chest. “How dare you make fun of my costume! For your information, this is brand name toilet paper! No DIY mom would spend the money on that!”

Alexandra laughed again, for real this time,  trying her best to ignore the stares of the kids that were beginning to trick-or-treat. The sun was setting fast, peeking from behind the two-story houses of the neighborhood. It painted everything in a soft orange light, beautiful and eerie at the same time- which was exactly the same feeling that stopped Alexandra dead in her tracks, joy melting out of her and replaced by nothing but a cold pit of fear in her stomach.

It wasn’t as if Alexandra was a stranger to this area. Quite the opposite, in fact. She had driven this road many times, spent many sunsets and nights playing on these streets. Yet that never seemed to change the feeling of unease that would wash over her when her eyes landed on the Walker country house.

Menacing and decrepit, the Walker house had been there for as long as Alexandra could remember. Perhaps even longer than it was possible for her to. Back in it’s day, the house could have been beautiful. Its bricks may have once been spotless, column’s standing tall in brilliant gleaming white. The windows would have had curtains, not moth-torn fabric hiding the broken panes of glass from kids looking to have a little fun.

Now, however, the house was something out of a horror film: overgrown with vines and weeds that twisted up the walk to the house as if they were claiming back what was rightfully theirs. Everything about it screamed ‘Danger’, including the signs that were posted out front reading ‘DANGER: KEEP OUT!’.

The press of Nick’s hand jolted Alex out of her thoughts, forcing her eyes away from the house. His eyes were full of concern, brows knitting together as he spoke. 

“You alright, Alex?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, it’s just…” Alexandra trailed off, glancing back at the mansion-esque house lurking in the distance. “You know the rumors about this place.” Nick raised a brow, causing Alexandra to elbow him lightly before continuing. “I’m serious! That shit’s terrifying.”

“I do know the rumors, Alex. But that’s just the thing!” He let go of her shoulder, his face returning to the smile that so often graced his face. “They're just rumors! Come on, do you really think they’d leave an old cult’s stomping ground just sitting in the middle of town?”

Alexandra bit her lip, thinking over what he said. It truly would have been weird if the town would keep something as sinister as that as a centerpiece. “I suppose not. Though you have to admit, that place is fuckin’ creepy. Just look at it!”

Nick laughed, beginning to walk again as he shook his head.

“Everything will be fine. I promise. I wouldn’t take you here if it was dangerous.” He paused for a moment before continuing, a nearly sinister smirk spreading across his face as he turned to face her once more. “Unless of course, this was all a ruse and I…” He jumped towards her, arms raised in a childish recreation of claws,  “was a ruthless cult leader leading you to your doom all along! Five years of friendship, all leading up to this whole moment! The whole town's in on it!”

Alexandra couldn’t help but startle a bit at his sudden movement, glaring at him as he began to laugh and she settled back down. Her anger didn’t last long though- how could it when he was working so hard to calm her nerves with a bit of fun- and she pushed past him with a laugh of her own.

“Don’t even joke about that! I don’t even want to imagine the hell my life would be if I went into Forensics in a cult town.”

Nick had to jog to catch back up to her, a small smile on his face as he slowed down to a normal walk when she waited for him. “I mean, it would be good for business!”

Alexandra simply rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Nick.”

Nick laughed and pointedly did not shut up. “You love me. Don't even try to hide it.”

The two joked in a similar manner the entire time they made the trek down the road to the Walker House;, Nick doing his best to keep their spirits light in order to distract Alexandra from her initial fear. All of that hard work was quickly unraveled, however, when they were standing at the edge of the walkway to the house.

Being closer certainly didn't do the house any favors, especially since the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, as if on cue.

Alexandra hesitated as Nick began to start up the steps, only beginning to move again when he turned to give her a reassuring smile and extended his hand. He squeezed lightly when she took it, voice gentle as he spoke. “You'll be fine, Alexandra. I promise.”

Taking a deep breath and forcing it out slowly, Alexandra nodded and tried to imagine all of her previous anxiety melting away. Normally these things wouldn't have been so scary for her; in her high school days, she'd loved anything abandoned and creepy with the chance of paranormal encounters. Now, however, she was not quite as fond, and it certainly didn't help she had not been in this area since…

Alexandra was disrupted from her thoughts once more as Nick gently elbowed her side, obviously trying to shift her mind in a different direction, as though he could tell the dark path her train of thought was taking.

“Are you excited for your first college Halloween party? I'm sure there's going to be plenty of beautiful ladies looking for someone strong to protect them…” He winked at the last part, causing Alexandra to snort and hit his arm lightly.

“Gross, Nick. Just because I like girls too doesn't mean I'm as weird about it as you are! Besides, I thought you told me this get-together was with just a few friends and friends of friends.”

Nick opened his mouth to answer but before he could, the double doors they had wandered up to swung wide open, revealing a messy-haired and grinning Gavin - Nick's best friend.  He was wearing a cheesy cape and pointed fangs he had haphazardly glued on. Fake blood dribbling down the side of his mouth, the stark red of obvious face paint.

“‘Velcome to ve house of horrors, my friends!”

He greeted, pleased when Alexandra covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Nick merely shook his head, stepping inside and making a big show of doing a flourishing bow.

“I am honored to be welcomed into your home, Count Gavin.” He said, purposely dropping his voice a few octaves to sound more manly. “Thank you for inviting us on this wonderful All Hallows' Eve night.”

Gavin couldn't help but cheer, clapping Nick on the back when he returned to full height before pulling him into a hug.

“Nick, my man! I can always trust on you to liven up the party- you're the first one to actually bite the bait!” 

Nick shrugged, though he was obviously gleaming at the compliment. It took him a moment before he noticed he had yet to introduce Alexandra, who was awkwardly standing off to the side as she watched the two friends.

“Ah! Gavin, this is my friend Alexandra. Alexandra, this is Gavin.” 

Alexandra waved before indicating Gavin's costume with one of her hands. “Love the fangs!”

Gavin grinned, doing an over-exaggerated bow of his own before bouncing back up. “Thank you! I love the…” He trailed off, and Alexandra  grinned as she realized that he was trying to find a way to compliment her on her own ‘costume’.

Digging her hand into the pocket of her khakis, Alexandra pulled out an (admittedly hastily done) fake badge. “FBI agent Alexandra Strike on the case. Undercover agents aren't as flashy as you may think.” 

Gavin nodded, though he was obviously a bit thrown off by the casual attire. Which, to be fair, was what Alexandra has figured would happen. She didn't have the time to hit a Halloween store between studying and working.

He recovered swiftly to her under-dress though, turning his attention back to Nick as he began to walk into the home. The entire foyer was vacant of furniture and the lightbulbs hanging above on the fragile chandelier only offered a soft, dim glow of light.

Black and orange streamers were thrown wherever people could reach, weaving around the staircase railings like the vines that claimed the home outside. Overall it was dark, grimy, and pathetically covered in harmless decor to mask it's true identity- the perfect place for a Halloween party.

“Come on in! The party's just getting started.” Gavin said before waving down a girl who was resting against the wall, scrolling through something on her phone. When she caught sight of Gavin she smiled, pocketing it and coming over.

"Hey Gav- and new party peeps!" The girl gave a quick smile to both Alexandra and Nick respectively. 

"Hey Celine! This is Nick and his friend Alexandra." Gavin said, motioning to the two of them but continuing talking before they could get a word out themselves. "Where is everyone? I thought we were getting the Ouija board ready."  

“Ouija board?” Alexandra looked from Gavin to Nick, glaring at him when he shot her a grin. He knew she didn't like the whole 'talking with spirits' thing; she may not truly believe in them, but something about her mother's stern words again poking fun at something you don't understand had stuck with her. You don't fuck with Ouija Boards. 

"What, are you scared?" Nick asked teasingly, jumping away from her attempt to hit him on the arm in response. He raised both hands in defense. "Ah, okay, okay! I'm sorry I didn't warn you sooner! I didn't think you'd care!"

"Like hell you thought I wouldn't care! You know my mom doesn't like me messing with spirit stuff!" Alexandra huffed, turning to look at Gavin as he laughed.

“It's nothing to be worried about, Alex. Just an old hunk of wood we picked up from Andy's- a toy meant to make kids scared of the dark." 

Alexandra bit her lip at the mention of Andy's name, the owner of a small antique shop in the center of downtown. How old was this thing?

Celine interjected before Alex could put much thought into the question, rolling her eyes before her gaze focused on Gavin. "Be a bit more respectful of the dead, Gavin. You never know who might be listening, and I, for one, don't feel like pissing them off." She gave Alex a small wink, who despite the small flutter of butterflies in her stomach gave a nervous laugh. She then turned her attention back to the original question afterwards. "Everyone's off exploring the house- Sure you could find them if you look."

She twisted a strand of the green half of her hair around her finger before pointing up towards the stairs. "See! I think that's Lucas and Brittany right there. I'll go ask if they've seen the others."

"Alright, thank you, Celine." Gavin said, sighing once she was gone. There was the faintest hint of a comfortable grin on his face.

Even with the friendly aura, Alexandra couldn't help the low sinking feeling that settled in her gut. What was she thinking, agreeing to go to something like this with Nick?

She didn't know anyone here, she was in a house she had hated since she was young, and celebrating a holiday she hadn't enjoyed since 9th grade with Lillian.

Her heart dropped as the thought crossed her mind.

Lilly…

That was a name she hadn't thought about in a while, but she should have known the bittersweet memories would reappear.  Being in this part of town always brought them back.

She really, really didn't want to be here.

Clearing her throat to get Nick and Gavin's attention since they had been having a conversation during her silent musing, Alexandra forced a smile. "Hey, uh, does there happen to be any drinks? We walked here, and I'm a dumbass who forgot to bring a water."

Gavin laughed, shaking his head as he indicated up the stairs, the opposite direction Celine had gone. "Refreshments and snacks are in the room up there; want me to walk you up?"

"I should be good finding it myself, thanks." Alex said, her fake smile shifting to real. "Not as helpless as I look."

Gavin raised both of his hands, backing up a bit. "Wasn't saying you were." He said, though his voice still had a teasing tone to it.

Alexandra merely laughed and walked towards the stairs after muttering a quick 'I'll be back' to Nick. The moment she got up the stairs and veered to the room to the left, her body sagged in relief. No one else seemed to be in here, and a moment alone was exactly what she needed. 

Grabbing a solo cup from the table, Alex dipped it into the punch, watching as red liquid filled it.

It only took one sip for Alex to know what it was, grimacing at the taste of the alcohol that wasn't drowned out by sugary sweet syrup.

"Wow. Hawaiian punch and vodka. Classy." She chuckled to herself before taking another sip. Their dedication to the Halloween aesthetic was... admirable, to say the least.

She let herself relax as she took the seat that was in front of a desk, setting the cup down and taking in the area around her. There was a musty smell to the place, and just like everything else about the house this room seemed to give off a strange feeling of...foreboding. As though she were trespassing in a home that very much was not her own, one where she was an unwelcome guest. Even the paintings that hung upon the wall seemed to be glaring at her, gazes prickling her skin as her eyes skimmed over one after the other until it landed upon one she simply couldn't look away from.

It was a family portrait painted by a fine hand, artistry so transfixing that Alex couldn't help but admire it. A woman was standing in the middle of the frame, hands resting on the shoulders of what seemed to be two twin boys. Her face was stern, anger lines set as deep wrinkles and a small frown upon her face as she fixed her gaze on what would have been a camera in the perspective it was painted. 

Alex hadn't really noticed that she had been inching up out of her chair until she was fully standing, making her way towards the painting to get an even closer look. Unlike who she assumed was the mother, the two boys' faces weren't nearly as clear. It looked almost as if the paint that once depicted their faces was worn. Like someone had taken their nails to it and scratched out all of their features. The thought of that sent a chill down Alexandra's spine, and just as she went to look back into the woman's eyes a loud thud caught her attention, a small scream breaking from her as she spun around to see what had caused it.

A small book that had been resting on one of the shelves on the wall laid upon the floor, the pages it had opened to full of faded ink. She looked back up at the shelf to see a large rat staring at her, which quickly scampered away once they made eye contact.

Alex exhaled in relief, the fear that had been clutching at her moments before quickly melting away into embarrassment. It was a rat. Of course it was a rat. What kind of abandoned building would it be if it didn't have some sort of animal calling the place its home? 

She laughed to herself as she went back to the desk, shaking her head and downing the rest of the punch in one chug. 

"Easy now, Alex. Don't go getting too into that brain of yours. You'll just freak yourself out." She chided softly to herself as she wiped her mouth, tossing the now-empty solo cup into the waste bin beside the desk. 

Walking over to the book still laying discarded upon the ground, Alex leaned down to pick it up, surprised to find that its case had the coarseness of genuine leather. She thumbed loosely through the pages that seemed to be stained with time. Most were covered in faint penmanship, messily scrawled cursive that Alex perhaps could've deciphered if it weren't so old. 

It wasn't until she got to the last pages of writing that it became more legible, dark and confident pen strokes a stark contrast to the ones before it. It was almost familiar, the handwriting, and Alex found herself tracing it absentmindedly with her finger. Who had she known that wrote like…?

"Alexandra."

Alex jumped as she heard a faint whisper of her name, nearly dropping the book in her panic as she looked around. "Hello?" She asked, voice wavering nervously as she found that no one was in the room, the entrance still mostly shut. "Who said that?"

A terrifying beat of silence, and inexplicably Alex's eyes were drawn to the painting once again. If she didn't know it was crazy, she could have swore the woman was staring right at her. Creeping closer, Alex kept eye contact with her as she took one hesitant step after another. 

She was almost close enough to reach out and touch the painting when the door behind her swung open. "Alex!"

Another scream ripped free from her throat as she turned around, wielding the book as though she were about ready to chuck it at whatever assailant had barged into the room. She let it fall back down harmlessly to her side when she saw it was just Nick, brow raised and lips upturned slightly in amusement. 

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you, you were just taking a while- We've almost got the board all set up. Figured you'd want to be with us while we played." He leaned against the doorframe as he spoke, so completely at ease despite the stuffy feeling that Alex felt was suddenly flooding the room. 

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, sorry. There was a rat, and I was looking around the room…" Alex trailed off, biting her tongue at the urge to spill about the odd painting and whisper of her name. No need to make more of a fool of herself in front of him than she already did.

"No worries, I totally get it. This place has so many cool little nooks and crannies that I could get lost for hours just checkin' it out." Pushing off of the doorframe and instead moving to grab the doorknob and open the door wider for her, Nick flourished his arm towards the exit with a grin. "Ladies first."

Alex forced a small smile for him, sending back one last nervous glance at the painting before walking out of the room.

She could've almost sworn she saw that the women's frown had turned into a smirk before the door clicked shut behind them.

#writeblr #lemonaydestand #my writing #chapter one #horror #writers on tumblr #writers #creative writing #writing

[angellesword]

Contrast

Summary: Yoongi doesn’t know how to finish writing his song.

Pairing: Idol!Yoongi x Idol!Hoseok

Genre: Fluff, minor angst

Word Count: 2.8k (One-shot)

Warnings: discussion of insecurities

Yoongi glared at the intersecting lines in his strikingly white paper. The heavy red inked pen he used to draw those lines was enough to make his head hurt.

Sigh.

He just crossed out an entire stanza of the lyrics he wrote for three hours.

Three. Fucking. Hours.

The lyrics just didn’t fit on the beat of the song he produced. What the hell was wrong with him? He was usually satisfied with his works. In most cases, he could actually finish producing and writing a song in a short period of time.

So why couldn’t he do it now?

Was it the wine?  Yoongi absentmindedly ran his finger through his lower lip while thinking.

Was he too dependent on that bittersweet liquor so now that he stopped drinking it, he felt as though he couldn’t function well?

Was that it?

Or was it his pride?

Namjoon offered to help, but Yoongi just brushed him off. He knew Joon had a lot on his plate right now. With his upcoming mixtape, dance practices, meaningful speeches for their love yourself and speak yourself campaign, Yoongi didn’t want to become one their leader's responsibilities.

But the main reason was probably his pride. Namjoon could balance both his personal and work life. So why couldn’t Yoongi?

"Hyung?"

Yoongi felt a hand resting on his shoulder. For some reason, his body began to relax. He was wearing an extra layer of clothes, but he could still feel the comfort and warmth in this person's hand.

He looked back only to see the uneasiness in Hoseok's eyes, his hand was still on Yoongi's shoulder.

"Hobi...you're here...." Yoongi said. His voice was betraying him, though. It's like his system was still processing the fact that Hoseok was really here.

Inside his studio.

And it was just the two of them.

"Yeah. I knocked exactly twenty times." Hoseok replied meticulously, worry was still visible in his eyes.

Yoongi had this rule for the rest of the Bangtan members. They should knock twenty times before entering his studio. But the members, especially the maknae line, didn’t seem to understand the concept of knocking. The boys just barged into his studio whenever they wanted.

"You didn't answer, so I just pressed the magic numbers and went in." Hoseok shrugged his shoulders.

Since the Bangtan boys kept on invading Yoongi's studio, he decided to exercise the use of password lock, but Yoongi was bad when it came to remembering some stuff. There was this one night when he slept outside of his studio because he forgot his passcode.

So when he finally remembered, he immediately told Hoseok about it. He was the only person Yoongi could trust who wouldn’t invade his privacy.

"I brought some food, hyung..." Hoseok smiled brightly as he raised his other hand to show the paper bag containing take-out food.

"Hmm...thanks." Yoongi smiled a little. It's past midnight and he still hadn’t eaten dinner. He barely left his studio.

"Jimin asked me to have dinner with him, but I figured you're the one who needs someone to eat with so..." Hoseok finally removed his hand on Yoongi's shoulder, he then walked straight to the table.

"It's Chinese food. I hope you like it,” Hoseok turned to face Yoongi who was still seated on his swivel chair.

"I eat anything..." Yoongi kept on playing with his lower lip while looking at Hoseok intently. He was watching his every move carefully.

"Good! I brought a lot!" Hoseok smiled. It's the kind of smile that showed his little dimples. The one Yoongi liked the most.

"So...you're going to...eat with me...?" Yoongi asked even though he already knew the answer. Hoseok literally told him a few breaths ago.

"Yes. I just went out with Jimin so I can buy our food. And..." Hoseok stopped speaking momentarily to open the sachet of sauce using his mouth. "I didn't want Jimin to eat alone, so I waited for him to finish."

"I see..." Yoongi nodded.

Hoseok was really that type of person. He always made sure everyone was happy—that everyone was safe. He was always so full of love, especially when it came to his family, friends, and ARMYs, their fans.

Sometimes Hoseok's personality was too much for Yoongi. The former knew how to break almost everyone's wall. He knew exactly what to do or say to a person. He could make anyone feel so special—like you're the only person who matterred. He made everyone feel as though even their pettiest reason should never be ignored.

It scared Yoongi.

Because what if....

What if...he got the wrong idea? What if he thought that he was special, but then Hoseok did this 'special' thing to everyone?

Yoongi was not the smartest person, though he knew that vulnerability and oblivion were the greatest downfall of a human being.

Oblivion. Growing up, Yoongi didn't experience the warmth and kindness of this world. In fact, fate was a little cruel to him. He learned things the hard way. He grew up thinking that everything was not for free.

You wanted food? Okay. Suffer by walking from school to your home in exchange of using your transportation fee to buy a cheap cup of instant noodles instead.

You wanted money? Then let me buy your hard produced music beat for a few bucks.

You wanted to be famous? Spend your life as a teenager full of worries and questions. Will I even debut? How many more songs should I write and produce just to be rejected again?

Isn't leaving Daegu and going to a strange and cruel town enough? What more do I need to do?

You see, these things were some of the reasons why Yoongi could not accept the love and care Hoseok gave for free. Yoongi’s oblivion about unconditional love turned him vulnerable.

He didn't know that someone was capable of doing such things because he grew up in the absence of it. The little affection shown by Hobi made Yoongi feel a lot of things...to the point that he couldn’t control and distinguish it.

Was it love? Or was he just thankful to Hoseok?

"Let's eat, hyung~" Hoseok called, but Yoongi didn't move.

Hoseok pouted and went straight to Yoongi's back. He pushed his hyung's swivel chair until it reached the corner of the table.

Yoongi groaned when his upper abdomen hit the table's corner.

"That's what you get for being lazy." Hoseok stuck his tongue out at him.

Yoongi just shook his head—trying to ignore the fact that his heartbeat just doubled because of Hoseok's silly expression.

Both of them ate in peace. Yoongi wasn’t talking much because he was still worried about his unfinished lyrics. Hoseok, on the other hand, was busy with his food. Yoongi didn't mind. Hoseok's presence was enough to ease the tension he was feeling.

"By the way, Hyung. How's the song you've been writing?"

Yoongi froze the second he heard the question. He remembered promising Hoseok that he would let the younger boy hear it today. It's actually a song that would be rapped by the two of them this upcoming Festa.

Bighit decided to divide the Bangtan Boys into subunits for this year's anniversary. Seokjin, the best vocalist, and Namjoon, the band’s leader, would release a music video. It would be under the production of Golden Closet Film.

Jimin, Taehyung, and Jeongguk were phenomenal dancers so they chose to choreograph dance steps.

Hoseok knew that their members were doing their best. This made him a little anxious and pressured. He wanted to show his best abilities to the ARMYs so kept on pestering Yoongi about their performance. But now that he could see how stressful it was for Yoongi to finish the song, he suddenly just wanted to do something else.

"I'll let you listen to it by tomorrow..." Yoongi stood up and started cleaning the table. Both of them were done eating.

Hoseok noticed the change in Yoongi's mood. Did he say something wrong? Was he too demanding?

Uneasiness washed all over Hoseok again. He studied Yoongi's face. His hyung's lips were protruded into a small but sulky pout. His eyebrows were furrowed too.

Hoseok cleared his throat. He didn't want to upset Yoongi.

"Listen, Hyung..." He started. "Uh, you don't really have to do this...I mean, it's going to be an unofficial song, so....you should not...uhm...." Hoseok tried to find the right thing to say but he couldn’t. So instead, he just helped clean the table.

Yoongi stopped him, though.

"I'll clean up here, Hope. Just do something else..."

Hoseok pouted and sighed in defeat. Yoongi must have been really upset.

Hoseok was dying of curiousity now so he went to his hyung's working table to know what had gotten him so unmotivated.

He raised his brow when he saw five crumpled papers on the table. There were also at least ten scattered white papers here. What really caught his attention was the paper with a big X mark on it.

Hoseok read the words on that paper. A small smile formed in his lips when he realized that Min Yoongi was genius.

This sounds so cliché

but believe me when I say

your smile completes my day

we're contrast, just like what they say

i'm monochrome and you're a rainbow

my dark picture has been colored by you, oh you.

Baby you're my muse. (and my only hope)

"Hyung, why did you remove this? It's brilliant!" Hoseok went near Yoongi just to shoved the paper on his face.

Yoongi immediately snatched the paper away from Hoseok. Damn. He should've thrown this stupid paper in the trash bin!

"I-It's stupid, Hope...." Yoongi avoided Hoseok's shinning eyes.

Did he notice that the song was for him?

"It's not! ARMYs will like it! I like it! No—I love it!" Hoseok grabbed Yoongi frail shoulders, causing him to groan. Yoongi's body felt weak. He had been sitting on his swivel chairs for hours.

"Hyung, you might think I'm only saying this out of guilt for not helping you..." Hoseok bit the inside of his cheek. Sure, he was really guilty but... "You know I don't lie. When I say it's beautiful, it is really beautiful..."

Beautiful. He said that word as if he wasn’t just pertaining to the lyrics but also to the person in front of him.

"So what if it's cheesy? I've always admired your talent for conveying feelings into meaningful words, Yoongi-hyung."

Yoongi blushed. Here we go again. Why did Hoseok always know the right thing to say? Or did he? Maybe those weren’t really the right words. It's just what Yoongi wanted to hear.

Maybe it's never about the right words but the right person.

And maybe it's the way Hoseok spoke or the way he looked at someone as if that person was the sole reason why the sun rises, and why the moon illuminates the heavy, dark night.

"Why are you doing this to me, Jung Hoseok?" Yoongi glared at Hobi. His eyes were slightly red because of unshed tears and frustration.

"W-What do you mean, Hyung?" Hoseok stammered.

Yoongi blinked and then he took a step backward when he noticed how Hoseok's eyes quivered in trepidation.

"I'll finish the song before the anniversary, Hope. Just trust me..."

Hoseok sighed in relief when Yoongi smiled. Nothing else mattered when he saw that gummy smile.

Hoseok’s phone suddenly vibrated.

"Oh! Hyung! Look! Our company just posted the concept photos for the Festa!" Hoseok enthusiastically visited their page to see the photos in his phone.

Hoseok couldn't be happier to see that his favorite photo of him was the album's cover. It took him and the rest of the members two days to finish the photo shoot.

It turned out really well.

But his happiness was short-lived because after several minutes, his photo's likes didn't increase at all.

25,010 likes. 3,056 comments. 743 shares.

He checked the photos of other members.

107,346 likes. 8,222 comments. 4023 shares.

Hoseok couldn't keep track on the numbers on his co-members' photos because it was increasing rapidly.

He was delighted since his members were well-loved and respected by the fans. However, he couldn’t deny the fact that he felt insecure.

It had always been like this. People liked the other members more than Hoseok. He was also often the target of mean and baseless comments on social media platforms. As much as he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t. Some words were too painful. He couldn’t stop thinking that perhaps, they were right.

"Hope..."

"Yeah?" Hoseok flinched when Yoongi touched his shaky hand.

"Are you okay?" Yoongi questioned with furrowed brow. Hoseok's face was really, really pale.

"Huh? Uh...yes. I'm just...." He trailed off. Hoseok didn’t want to lie but he also did not want Yoongi to think he was being petty.

But Yoongi wasn’t having any of his bullshit.

"I know that face so don't you dare lie to me." Yoongi’s voice was low and full of authority. "What's wrong?"

Hoseok swallowed. Hard. He didn't dare to speak.

"Hope, I am asking you..." Yoongi warned. He took a step forward while Hoseok took a step backward.

This annoyed Yoongi. He took another step forward but Hoseok repeated his annoying move. Though, this time, he hadn't done it successfully since his ankle hit the front leg of the swivel chair.

And because Yoongi wouldn’t stop invading Hoseok's personal space, Hobi just decided to take a seat on that swivel chair.

Hoping Yoongi would stop, Hoseok released another sigh of relief.

Yoongi had finally stopped walking towards his direction.

But it's not because he was done with Hoseok. It's just that Yoongi was now standing at most three feet away from Hoseok's swivel chair.

"I asked you what's wrong, Hope. You. Did. Not. Answer. Me." Yoongi said firmly. He even snatched the phone away from Hoseok's grip.

Yoongi's forehead creased because of confusion. What's with these pictures and why was it making Hoseok sad?

Yoongi scrolled down to see all the pictures, trying to understand what's wrong with it. Not a minute passed but Yoongi already knew what this was all about.

"We talked about this, didn't we?" The look on Yoongi's face screamed “I am disappointed.”

That's the problem with Yoongi. When he offered a solution to a problem, he instantly believed that it was the best and it should be followed.

Like when he told Hoseok to ignore the people who didn’t appreciate him, he thought Hoseok's insecurity would just magically go away. Because in Yoongi's case, it had always been like that. Whatever Hoseok did or said,Yoongi believed and followed it.

"You really think the damn numbers matter? Hope, you're..." Yoongi could not finish his sentence. What was the perfect word to describe Hoseok? Did that word even exist?

"This is the reason why I don't want to say anything to you, hyung. You won't understand." It took Hoseok everything not to let his voice crack.

Perhaps Hoseok's greatest downfall was fear. Fear of not being enough. Fear of not being able to show the role he himself wanted to portray. Fear. Fear of not attaining the security he wanted to reach.

It's not about the money. It's not about him getting tired from going extra mile for other people.

It was fear. Fear of not being loved. Fear of leaving this world and not being able to justify the importance of his existence.

Because, why did it have to be him? There were so many people who deserved to live. To be in his position. But why him? What's so special about him?

"It's not that I won't understand, Hope. I can't understand..."

But Hoseok didn't say anything again. He was just trying so hard to purse his lips together and God, Yoongi's patience was being tested.

"You're so fucking insecure. Do you know that?”Yoongi leaned forward so his face leveled Hoseok's.

Yoongi titled Hoseok's chin as he examined his face.

"We should do something about that..." Yoongi whispered. His eyes were still busy scrutinizing Hoseok's face.

"Y-Yoongi..." Hoseok's voice was soft.

Yoongi smirked. His stomach twisted when Hoseok dropped honorifics.

"Yes, Hope?" Yoongi bit his lower lip, trying to catch Hoseok's eyes.

"You go around making other people feel loved when you can't even..."

Hoseok's breathing hitched when he noticed that Yoongi's face was just a few inches away from his probably flushed face.

"Love yourself..." Hoseok closed his eyes when Yoongi left a light as a feather kiss on his lips.

It's just a peck but his body reacted differently.

He knew wanted more.

But Yoongi did not have a plan to repeat that move again.

Yoongi walked towards his working table and immediately stopped the camera from recording.

Hoseok's eyes widen.

Fuck.

They are being recorded.

"I'm not gonna finish this song, Hope. I know what to show to our ARMYs. I’ll let them know who loves you.” Yoongi slightly raised the camera.

He just smirked when Hoseok still remained quiet.

So much for writing a song.

#bts suga #bts jhope #yoonseok #yoonseok fic #sope #bts sope #bangtan #fluff #bts angst #bangtan angst #yoongi x hoseok

[gerryconway]

Burton's Revenge.

After a miserable time at the movies last night, I've come to the conclusion that Tim Burton's grim and joyless "Dumbo" is an auteur triumph.

SPOILERS AHEAD. (Though for this movie, "spoiler" is descriptive as well as a warning label.)

I don't recommend "Dumbo," but I admire it. Burton has accomplished something almost startling with this film: he's made a movie that is about as unsubtle a "f**k you" to both his corporate sponsors and the audience as one could get without actually superimposing "F*CK YOU!" on every frame. Contempt for Disney and for the audience that gobble up the company's live action remakes of classic animated films oozes from every shot, every scene, and in particular, from the entire second half of the movie. If some films are a love letter, this is hate mail. Tim Burton clearly hates how Disney is exploiting the animated films he cherished as a child, and "Dumbo" is his bitter revenge.

Why am I sure "Dumbo" is the angry vision of a furious auteur and not a well-meaning misfire? Because I respect Tim Burton as a filmmaker too much to believe this movie isn't exactly what he wanted it to be.

Burton has been making films for thirty-five years, and though the films he's made lately haven't been quite as quirky and strange as his earlier movies, they still display the control of a man who knows what he wants to achieve, and how to achieve it. You might not like where he goes, but he knows how to get you there. So, "Dumbo," with all of the issues I'll mention below, is exactly the movie Burton wanted it to be.

The question is, why? Why would Burton want to make a movie so driven by rage against audience and corporate sponsors both?

And why "Dumbo"?

If you've seen Burton's interview with Ray Harryhausen, available on some of the Blu-ray reissues of Harryhausen's films, you're reminded of how much of Burton's vision of filmmaking is informed by his still-childlike appreciation for simple wonder. As he sits with Harryhausen and plays with the saucer models from "Earth vs the Flying Saucers," Burton looks and sounds like a five year old kid gawping in awe at a shopping mall Santa Claus. He still loves the things he loved as a child, and he becomes a child again in their presence. His joy is sincere.

The man who felt joy and wonder in the presence of Ray Harryhausen could never have produced the grim, joyless, misery-soaked downer that is "Dumbo" unless he was trying to say something about the destruction of his own childhood sense of joy and wonder.

I think "Dumbo," in its not-so-thinly veiled critique of the cruelty of corporate exploitation of children and nostalgia, is Burton's attempt to tear down the structure he helped to build.

It was Burton's own remake of "Alice in Wonderland" that set the current live-action remake frenzy in motion, remember. Whatever you may think of that movie (I like it for its weird and subversive charm), there's no question it was enormously successful and clearly inspired the corporate minds at Disney to authorize a wholesale ransacking of Disney animated classics as fodder for subsequent live-action redos.

As a loving fan of those original classics, I think Burton must have been horrified by what he'd unleashed. He couldn't have felt otherwise. Again, look at his interview with Harryhausen. The kid in him cherishes joy and wonder. Whatever virtues the Disney live-action remakes have, with the exception, I'd say, of Burton's own "Alice," joy and wonder aren't an apparent high priority for the filmmakers involved. If anything, most of the remakes are drained of wonder by the translation from the imagined to the tangible.

Which brings us to "Dumbo."

The original "Dumbo" is a slight, one-hour fairy tale, centered entirely on a baby elephant with big ears who can fly, and cast almost completely with talking and singing animals. With the exception of a thoughtless racist element, it is a film of charming childlike innocence with a simple message about the strength of mother and child love and the power we gain when we let go of emotional crutches. ("I need a feather to fly.")

This is not a movie that demands a live-action remake, or even, in its story elements, supports the possibility of one.

And, in fact, Burton's "Dumbo" isn't a live-action remake-- it's an angry, passionate argument *against* such a remake. The baby flying elephant is a MacGuffin in Burton's "Dumbo"--not the emotional core of the story. There are no talking or singing animals, no other fantasy elements, not even a hint of fairy tale atmosphere. From a character point of view, I'd argue, there is no emotional core: none of the "live" characters in Dumbo have any emotional resonance at all. They are all bleak and joyless and broken, emotionally dead, barely responsive to the world and the story supposedly taking place around them. One of them, a little boy, has no character existence at all-- I'm not sure he's even named, and he could be removed completely from the film without any discernable impact. For a filmmaker with Burton's skill set such a failure to develop even marginally interesting characters with a vital stake in the story is inexplicable-- unless it was intentional.

I think it was intentional.

I think "Dumbo" is an act of auteur subversion, one of the most breathtaking acts of creative defiance since "Citizen Kane," though certainly far less successful as a piece of entertainment. In fact that may well be the movie's most defining artistic characteristic-- its complete unwillingness to entertain.

It really is a remarkable achievement. To trick Disney into financing and releasing a major motion picture which savages everything about the company's approach to its classic films, and, in addition, to its entire corporate raison d'etre, is a stunning accomplishment. What a trick. I imagine the script reads very different from what Burton shot-- it's possible to describe something one way, shoot it another, and edit it all together to produce the opposite effect from what the screenplay suggests. Because there's so much CGI involved, Disney executives probably never realized what Burton was doing until final cut. And that, in itself, is part of Burton's savage attack on Disney's corporate methodology. The further film executives get from true hands-on creative involvement in the films they make-- through increasing dependency on CGI and post-production manipulation-- the less they really know about the movies they're making. The very power to ham-handedly rework a mediocre director's work in post allows a master director to hide his intentions until it's too late to reverse them. By the time Disney executives possibly realized what Burton was up to, if they ever did, they'd sunk too much money and time into his version of the film-- and had no choice but to either scrap the movie entirely or release it as it is. Given the exigencies of corporate finance, and the apparent belief on the part of Disney executives that the appetite for live-action versions of beloved animated classics is insatiable, releasing Burton's hate mail movie was ultimately the only logical thing to do.

In the end, "Dumbo" isn't a good movie. It probably was not intended to be. It's Tim Burton's angry rant against making movies like itself. It's a slap in the face to the people who financed it and the audience who shows up for it. As a work of protest it's kind of admirable. As a film-going experience, as I stated above, it's a miserable two hours.

You've been warned. At least now, if you see it, you can "enjoy" the movie for what it is-- a scream of contempt, an artist setting fire to the gallery displaying his work. Personally, now that I've defined it... I think I like it.

YMMV.

#dumbo 2019 #Dumbo

[kassandra-lorelei]

"You know when your phone buzzes, it means I'm trying to talk to you, right?" Niles - cc

Here we are, my friend! Again, apologies for all of these prompts taking so long, but my uni film festival is next week and I’ll also be going on holiday so I’ve had things to prepare for. I should hopefully have the ones I have left to do done by then, though! Enjoy!

@missbabcocks1 @holomoriarty

She didn’t know where he’d been, and quite frankly at thatpoint she didn’t care. What she really wanted to know was why Niles had felt itappropriate to apparently leave the house and go off by himself for what could’vebeen hours for all she knew, without leaving her a note of where he was goingand why.

He’d never not done that before, and the longer time wenton that she stayed indoors without any word or sign of his car, the more it had started to gnaw at her. Had he been hurt, and had to go tothe hospital? No, someone would’ve told her if that had happened. She toldherself not to be so ridiculous when her mind gave her an image of such a badaccident that he couldn’t be identified. He didn’t have to pick up the kidsfrom anywhere – she’d made sure the Sheffields were looking after their girlsthat night.

It happened to be a rather important day, the romantic inher had said. She’d spent ages setting it all up, and he was ruining it by notbeing there!

She’d called his cell phone, and he hadn’t picked up. She’dtried again, and still nothing. She’d ended up leaving him five missed callsand at least twice as many messages!

And yet the first she’d heard of him since she’d kissed himgoodbye that morning was as he made his sorry way up from the driveway, ontothe path up towards the front door, where she was leaning with her arms folded.

Part of her was relieved, but the rest of her was angry.

“You know when your phone buzzes, it means I’m trying totalk to you, right?” she demanded as he got close. “I’ve been trying to getthrough to you, where’ve you been?!”

“I was driving, Babs!” he answered back, coming to a halt infront of her. “The roads were packed but it kept moving so much, I didn’t havetime to reach over and answer your message. Now, what was so important that Ishould have disregarded the law, and potentially crashed and totalled the car?”

“What was so important”! Apart from knowing whether or nothe was alive, she’d show him what was so important!

Taking him by the wrist to pull him into the house, she slammedthe door behind him and pulled him through into the kitchen and dining area.

She’d never done it by herself in her entire life, but she’dmanaged to set the table correctly – all the knives and forks were in theirright places, she’d dimmed the overhead lighting and lit their intimate mealfor two with a single candle. She’d even made sure it was scented!

And then there were the two covered plates, underneath ofwhich their two meals sat waiting to be eaten.

She gestured at the scene in frustration.

“There. Happyanniversary!” she shouted. “On this day, thirty years ago, I took thesecretarial position at Maxwell B. Sheffield Productions. I walked up thosesteps, rung the bell, and the door was opened by the biggest irritation my lifehas known ever since. The same irritation who can’t even pull over to answerthe phone when it’s clear that his wife wants to talk to him!”

She expected him to say something after that, but when shelooked at him, he was just staring with his mouth hanging open.

“Sweetheart, I…I don’t know quite what to say…!”

He was clearly more than surprised by it all. Maybe he’dforgotten it was even today? They hadn’t made a big thing out of it before(other occasions, like birthdays and marriage anniversaries, had always rankedhigher) but knowing each other for thirty years deserved remembering, in hermind.

Maybe it didn’t really matter, and she was making too muchof a fuss. It was probably becoming a bigger deal in her head because she’d beenso worried about where he was.

Well, that and she’d made an effort for nothing.

She turned away towards the table, letting go of his wrist.She didn’t feel angry anymore, just disappointed and a little sad.

“You don’t have to say anything, Niles,” she shook her headsoftly, and ran a finger over the edge of her cutlery. “It’s not really an anniversary,I just thought it might be nice to commemorate it, that’s all. But you got homelate, I was wondering where you were, starting to panic a little bit, and now…”

Now, he’d gotten home late, she’d yelled at him, and thewhole evening was spoiled. It had to be, didn’t it?

Niles didn’t say anything to fill the silence, but C.C.heard the rustling of the fabric of his jacket.

She peered over her shoulder, to see him taking a little boxout of the inside pocket.

A box designed for jewellery.

“What’s that?” she asked quietly, turning more so that shewas properly looking.

“It’s the reason I’m later than I thought I’d be,” Nilescame up behind her. “You’re not the only one who considers this a specialoccasion, Babs.”

He held out the box to press it gently into her hands.

“Happy anniversary, C.C..”

C.C. felt a shaky smile coming and tears starting to form asa warmth spread in her chest, “You remembered?”

“Of course I remembered, sweetheart!” Niles seemed almostoffended that she thought he’d forgotten. He held her upper arms, squeezingthem as he began to smile as well. “I know we haven’t made much of it before,but you didn’t honestly think I was going to let our thirty-year milestone passus by, did you?”

“No, I…I guess not…!” she actually couldn’t believe she’dbeen that much of an idiot to think he’d forget, but she wasn’t about to argue overthat.

Her husband rubbed his hands up and down her arms, “Why don’tyou open your gift?”

C.C. did so eagerly, gasping in surprise and delight at thedelicate necklace inside. The chain was white gold, and the pendant was a single,cream-coloured pearl – the traditional symbol of thirty years together.

“Niles…! It’s beautiful!” she nearly cried, turning aroundto face him properly. “Where did you get it?!”

“I’d ordered it from a place downtown, but there’d been anissue and it had accidentally been sent elsewhere,” Niles explained. “I’dintended on being back before you got home from work, but I had to make a quicktrip to Long Beach in order to rectify the mistake.”

All the way to Long Beach?! At that time of day, the traffichad probably been terrible down that end of the metropolis. No wonder he’d beengone so long! And if it had really been the fault of the jewellers, sending hergift off somewhere else, then he’d had no choice but to go after it!

“Some mistake…!” she chuckled. She then reached up to cuphis cheek in one hand. “I love you.”

Niles responded by pulling her into his arms and huggingher.

“I love you, too,” he murmured, kissing a patch of skin closeto her ear. “I’m sorry for not leaving a note, telling you that I was goingout.”

C.C. wound her arms around his neck, “And I’m sorry forgiving you the third degree when you got back.”

“You’re more than forgiven,” she could hear the smile in hisvoice as he spoke, and they held each other for a few more seconds before he pulledaway. “Now, let’s get this on you. I’d ask if the gold was so shiny you couldsee your face in it, but then I remembered that you don’t have a reflection.”

C.C. raised an eyebrow, but turned around anyway and lifted upher hair.

“Careful, Butler Boy. Sex was almost off the table oncetonight,” she warned him playfully.

Niles slipped the necklace onto her, and clipped it togetherat the back.

“Apologies, my dearest darling wife,” he kissed her cheek, andthen walked around in front of her to admire the view. “It looks as wonderfulon you as I imagined it would.”

She smirked back at him, “That’s more like it.”

She leaned into him to peck him on the lips, and when theypulled away Niles glanced at the table.

“What have youordered for dinner?”

C.C. blinked at him, “Why’d you say ‘ordered’? I might’vecooked it myself!”

There was a pause at that, during which Niles gave her aquestioning look. It made her crumble before she could keep up the pretence.

“Alright, even I didn’t believe that one,” she said,starting to smile again. “It’s from the little Italian place that we like.”

“Oh,” Niles sounded interested, and he took her hands inhis. “Do you need me to open up the wine?”

“Already uncorked and breathing. It’s on the counter,” sheindicated to the bottle and two glasses with her head.

Niles let go of her hands, and staged a small bow, “I willbring it over presently.”

With a low laugh, she patted him on the behind as he went inthat direction, “Atta boy – let those serving instincts kick in, Hazel.”

He raised an eyebrow at her in return as he walked by, “Careful,Babs – you’re not the only one who gets to decide if sex is off the tabletonight.”

C.C. rolled her eyes, seating herself at the table, “Oh,please; the only time the words “sex” and “off the table” have been in the samesentence for you is that one time we started on top of a table and fell off!”

“You’re worth every bump and bruise that it caused,” he croonedover his shoulder at her.

“Sap,” she leaned against her chair, biting back a grin. “Getthe wine – if you’re gonna be like this during dinner, I’m gonna need alcohol.”

“Right away, dear,” Niles blew her a kiss. “And in a littlewhile, perhaps we can see just how “off the table” we can get…?”

She knew that a dirty laugh was the only reply he needed. Afterthirty years of knowing each other, ten years of marriage, and three children, sometimeswordless replies were enough.

They’d certainly be so later, when they’d show each otherjust how much each decade had meant, and how much they were looking forward tothe ones still to come.

#anon asks #the nanny #niles and cc #niles the butler #cc babcock #otp: always been bitter together #otp: butler bitch