#all of this is meant as a compliment to the series btw
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"I'm listening to The Magnus Archives for the first time and I just finished season four" moodboard
#all of this is meant as a compliment to the series btw#anyways i need to go read at least ten chapters of the 74k wordcount s1 polycule fluff ficlet collection i'm in the middle of#for my health#peri talks#the magnus archives#tma#reaction images#also tumblr's method of cropping images makes this look so weird but i do not care to fix it
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Some language and translation trivia from episode nagi
So, I recently reread episode nagi 1-3 in japanese, and since I enjoy translation trivia a lot, I thought I would compile all my observations in a post. Please don’t take this too seriously! While I do have a language degree, I’m not a professional translator. In no way this is meant as a dig towards the professionals working on the official release! These are just some fun facts I thought I’d share.
without further ado, let’s delve into it!
On top of his already limited (kinda childish) vocabulary, Nagi’s speech bubbles often forgo complex kanji and favor writing the words out in hiragana. He sometimes does the same with (foreign) words that should be written out in katakana (example: Barou’s beloved “king”). We know this is a quirk of Nagi’s because he sometimes uses kanji for the same words. The most notable example is his favorite one, mendoukusai, “hassle”—mostly written in hiragana, sometimes shortened, sometimes elongated for dramatic, whiny emphasis, and rarely written out in kanji.
Since kanji are taught by grade in japanese schools, the foregoing them in a certain character’s lines can hint that the guy doesn’t have a higher education. However, in Nagi’s case, I think it’s meant to make him come across as unsophisticated or a bit childish. Or maybe just lazy. I think the former, though, considering how all his compliments always circle back to the same, like, 4 juvenile variations of "amazing".
(more under a cut for length):
Still on the topic of speech patterns, Nagi talks in plain form. For those who don't know what that means, it's an informal register, very common between teens. Nagi seems to use it with his elders, too, though, and that's a bit less common. You're supposed to talk in polite form to strangers and to your elders. Then again, pretty much everyone in blue lock talks that way. There's not a lot of respect for your elders in this series. Or for your peers, lol
As for Reo, he talks in male speech! Still very much informal and common, particularly between rowdy teens, but if plain form can still be acceptable in a lot of social situations, male speech is distinctly cocky, self-confident and impolite, so not what you'd expect from the distinguished heir of a billionaire who prides himself as a businessman in the making, ahah. He talks that way to Ego as well, btw.
Both of them tend not to use honorifics. Reo more so. In all three volumes, Reo used them once, to calm Nagi down while he was angry at Barou. Nagi mostly goes without too, but he sometimes uses them, when the situation calls for it, or a bit ironically. If you're curious, here's what I noticed: he uses "san" for Baa-ya when talking to her (when he leaves Choki in her care), but not when he's talking to Reo about her. He calls Zantetsu "dentist-san" when the latter drops his backstory, and "Zantetsu-kun" when the guy scores after listening to Reo's advice. And when all three finally link up, Nagi tacks on a "sama" to Reo's name while calling him a king (in the chess sense. Fun fact, it might or might not have been a pun, since Reo's name contains the kanji for king btw). That's pretty much it for epinagi so far. He just uses surnames without honorifics (or nicknames) for everyone else normally. Same for Reo.
When talking to Nagi, Reo refers to his mother as 母親 (hahaoya, "mom") and to his father as 親父 (oyaji, "old man, pops") and クソ親父 (kuso oyaji, "shitty old man") respectively. Idk if that changes when he's talking to them tho, as he hasn't yet in epinagi. But so far his contempt seems to be only directed at his father.
Upon seeing Kira, Reo describes him as "Japan's gem", but the word he uses for "gem" is 宝 (takara), treasure, pretty much the same he uses for Nagi (= 宝物 takaramono, or treasured thing, prized possession). Hence Nagi looking up, unimpressed:
To check out what the fuss was about. His face dhsvbdhdhdhsbs When Nagi thinks Reo's talking about Isagi, then, Reo corrects him by pointing his face toward Kira and saying not the dark-haired one, but that "really good looking guy". He calls him an ikemen btw, lmao.
I'm not sure if this was in the eng version too, but Reo calls Nagi and Zantetsu's team up the "neet combo". It's pretty self-explanatory how this relates to Nagi, but I wonder what about Zantetsu screamed "neet" to him.
When Zantetsu adamantly refuses to take Reo's advice, Reo gets super mad and calls him "obaka-sama", which. I can't with his pettiness ahah. Okay, let me explain. He's tacking on an honorific prefix ("o") and the highest honorific suffix ("sama") to an insult. 😂😂 Normally, you use honorifics to pay respect to and elevate the status of whatever or whoever you're tacking them on to. In this case, Reo's using them sarcastically, but he goes extra out of the way to be scathing. Zantetsu hates being called an idiot, but Reo feels he's acting unreasonable with his holier-than-thou attitude, so he upgrades his regular insult to mock that, basically. He's more or less saying, "oh great, revered moron".
Not a linguistic trivia, but. Nagi has a weekly planner for his bread eating habits. The day Reo joins his class to spy on him was a tuesday, cause tuesdays are melon bread days.
When he's making a confident remark, Reo occasionally speaks with a sing-song in his voice.
During the match against team X, Barou mocks Reo and Nagi's coordination and mutual dependence with a jab. He calls them a couple who wear matching outfits. Still laughing about this one tbh
now onto my favorite one
Ever wondered why Nagi’s response here doesn’t come across as reassuring to Reo? Well, I think I have finally figured it out!
While the translation above is 100% correct, I feel like the miscommunication lies in a matter of contextual ambiguity. When Reo says, quote, “You were supposed to team up with me,” in japanese it’s more like, “But teaming up with me is a must!” To which Nagi replies, “You and I are going to be the best in the world. That’s a must.”
The theme (=what is being talked about) of Reo’s sentence is the “must” (zettai) part. Meaning, something that is absolute, unconditional. Reo is making a conjecture, the assumption that they’ll work with each other as they promised, but he’s also implicitly expecting Nagi to agree. He’s saying our combo is the unchangeable condition here. You know this.
Nagi responds with something he means as reassuring, as a confirmation that he has their promise in mind. But since he echoes Reo’s word choice (zettai), and applies it to something else, it comes across wrong, more like he’s correcting Reo on what the “must” actually is. Not teaming up with each other until the end like Reo posits, but the simple agreement that they’ll be world class one day. With or without each other.
This miscommunication is made worse by the fact that Reo’s declared ego is making Nagi the best striker in the world. So when Nagi follows this with a remark about how their team up wasn’t the strongest, Reo of course takes the “correction” to mean “someone else can better help me become the best instead of you. bye. nice hanging out with you till now. see you at the world cup, xoxo”
Simply put, Nagi thought he was explaining himself, but what he got across was that he was rejecting Reo’s ego altogether and moving on. That’s why the art then shows Reo’s ego chains falling apart.
When Bachira asks Nagi if he’s secretly the “super cold type” right after leaving for the 3v3, in japanese it’s a neat, direct callback to the scene in chapter 2 where Nagi tells Reo he's okay with him teaming up with someone stronger than himself, and Reo calls that “heartless.” Both times the word used is the same, 薄情 (hakujou), cold-hearted, heartless, though iirc it was translated differently in english
They both say they feel lonely after their split up. Nagi in response to Bachira’s line as per the previous point (here’s a post I made about it a while back). And Reo when he thinks about Nagi’s change in chapter 13 and says he feels lonely, scared and weak. I will go down with the idea that they’re each other’s first friend.
Ending this on a less sad note, when Rin calls Bachira “bowlcut”, the original phrasing reads okappa, from the mythical creature’s hairstyle. Now please google what an okappa looks like, lmao
__
More epinagi language and translation trivia you might enjoy:
notes on Nagi’s line “I’m gonna say something selfish”
notes (and misconceptions) about Nagi and Reo calling each other “partner”
#Blue lock#Nagi seishirou#Mikage reo#Seishiro nagi#Reo mikage#Episode nagi#Epinagi#Bllk thoughts#I hope this is as fun to read as it was for me to compile!
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"Two different worlds" Part 5
Genre: fluff
Warnings: none
A/N: My fingers are slipping from the sweat, omggggggggg I'm surprised I can still type anything lol. Btw I'm sorry for the slow updates on the series, my loves. But at least it's here now! I hope you enjoy!🎀🎀🎀 (I have a feeling I had something else to say as well, but I can't remember for the life of me. Anyway!—Oh! Yeah! I remembered! The headcanon that Tauxy Tauxy is a very light sleeper is from an anon! So credit goes to them😚❤️❤️)
You sneezed. You sneezed again.
"Here." Tauxolouve said softly, offering you a napkin.
"Thank you." You said, just as another sneeze came forth. How did you come to this point? Gods weren't supposed to get sick. But at least now you knew that the rumours of gods getting exceptionally tired on Earth was true.
Tauxolouve sighed and patted your head softly, before walking to his own chair in his art studio. "You shouldn't have walked in the rain like this."
"It was so warm and sunny just a day before, how should I have known it'd suddenly start pouring?" You said, your memories taking you back to your dance, beneath the rich fabrics of the golden hour and the melody of the birds. The mental images made you smile, even though, your head felt foggy and was aching for the first time in your very long life.
"Well, I can't force you to pose for me like this." He said and you looked down at your dress in guilt.
"I'm sorry." You said and your shoulders jumped as he walked up to you and curled his fingers beneath your chin, tilting your head upwards.
He smiled sweetly at you as he spoke. "I don't want to see my muse sad. So smile for me?"
'His muse'. You... Didn't hate that. A soft smile spread across your lips the more you repeated that word in your head, your stomach feeling a ticklish sensation, one that made you feel like a teenager again. How come a human man could tell you exactly the things that made your heart beat this way and gods—with supposedly more experience in the field of compliments and women—never could.
"Now that's what I like." His hand fell away from your chin and he offered you another napkin. "But..." His eyebrows furrowed a little in skepticism, as he looked into your face, which had lost most of its colour, due to the cold. "Being sick in a hotel room... I can't imagine worse."
You smiled at him, gently waving your hand at his direction, with the intent to ease his worries. "I'll be alright. Thank you so much for caring, though." After all, you were still not human. Therefore, your limits and needs were not the same.
And yet, he still didn't feel content with the situation. "You can come over to my house."
"Excuse me?" You asked, your eyelashes standing up in surprise.
"Oh!" Tauxolouve's face cracked into one of shock for a moment as well. "I didn't mean it in a weird way!" He rushed to explain himself, raising his hands before his chest defensively. "I just thought I could take care of you for the time being. Since you don't have any friends or family in Paris that is. Spending an illness inside a hotel room? Sounds a bit lonely."
Your lips parted a little, your reaction to his thoughtfulness, wordless. Tauxolouve never meant you harm or any ill intent, you knew that much. He only proposed the idea with your best interest at heart. "No, I'd be too much of a burden." You gently shook your head, declining.
"I beg to differ." He said. "I proposed the idea, because I can handle it and... I think it's a good way to thank you for modeling for me all those days... But I won't push it further! The decision is up to you and what you feel comfortable with!" Tauxolouve got up from his chair and pushed the packet with the napkins closer to you, across the table—which was now much more organised than the first time you came here—and reached for the pitcher, pouring tea into his cup. "Would you like some as well?" He offered, with a smile.
You didn't reply for a few moments, flipping around the potential decisions in your head. You trusted him. And looking at it from another perspective as well, you had no clue of human colds. How were you supposed to care for yourself at this rate? "Can I... Accept your offer?"
The two of you made your way to his house. He unlocked the door and stepped aside to open the way for you. "Ladies first." He said, his slanted eyes narrowing and bringing out his mature charm, through the dark gems he had for irises.
You smiled to yourself as you made your way inside. Physically, you weren't feeling at your best, but mentally, you felt so beautiful by his gentle treatment.
The atmosphere in the tiny house was warm and a welcoming aura filled the thin hallway. It wasn't just a house... It was a home. A true home, unlike most big and luxurious houses in the Heavens. You were always intrigued by humans' simplicity and getting this close to them made you love their way of living even more. You had relaxed so much into this peaceful house, that for a split second, you swore you could give up godhood to experience this warmth forever.
"Let me show you inside." Tauxolouve's voice snapped you out of your trance and you followed him inside, your eyes never growing tired from taking in all the things the faces of your world would call classless, pitiful or cheap.
Tauxolouve opened a door to a bedroom, with a single bed and a table beside the window, which overlooked into a street full of people walking off to their different lives. "Make yourself at home." Tauxolouve said and placed the keys on the beside table. "I'll leave the keys to this room's door and the outside door here, so you can feel safer. Anything you'd like to eat? Or anything you'd like to drink?"
You thought his question through, as you slipped into bed. "Do you have something warm? Anything."
"Of course, should I leave it a surprise?"
You nodded chuckling softly at his idea of a little game, as you soaked into the softness of the blanket.
Tauxolouve left the bedroom and you listened to his footsteps walking away, as you laid back onto the big pillow, looking up at the ceiling.
It all started as a vacation merely for sightseeing. And you ended up meeting Tauxolouve. Your heart raced a little at the memories of his thoughtful actions. He never made you uncomfortable nor feel unwelcomed. He always had manners towards you and treated you with gentleness and respect.
And thinking further back into the past, you've never been treated this way by a man before. You knew these feelings were wrong. You shouldn't have gotten so close, but what could you do? You couldn't possibly shut your heart even if you tried.
"And behold..." Tauxolouve's voice emerged from down the hallway and he entered the room, holding something, hidden beneath a towel. He placed it on the beside table and pulled the towel off. "Voila!"
Your eyes widened and you smiled with great interest at the chocolate steaming in the mug.
"What a cute face." He commented, chuckling a little, affectionately.
"This looks delicious." You said in awe, taking notice of the marshmallows placed on the plate beneath the mug. You remember Aigonorus telling you about these, but you never actually had the chance to try some, since he always let you know he got himself some after he had eaten all of them. You laughed at the thought of him.
"What is it?"
You took a marshmallow between your fingers and looked up at Tauxolouve. "I have a friend who really likes these." You took the soft, tiny pillow into your mouth and its sugary taste coated your tongue, making your eyes practically light up at the delicious taste. "Where had these been all my life?" You said to yourself, looking down at the rest of the marshmallows.
"Wait, you've never had marshmallows before?" Tauxolouve said, a little surprised.
"No, it's thanks to you I'm trying some for the first time." You said with a big grin, as you ate another one.
"Thanks to me?" Tauxolouve's smile became mature and you found yourself swallowing thickly at the sight of it. "I'm flattered by the way you worded that."
Your cheeks warmed up and not knowing what else to do under Tauxolouve's sensual gaze, you pulled the blanket higher, covering your cheeks with it. "I didn't mean it like that."
He laughed and approached you, stroking your beautiful hair gently. "I know. I was only joking. Now now..." He said, clasping his hands in front of him. "I will give you some peace and alone time. Feel free to do as you please."
It didn't take long after you finished your hot chocolate for your eyes to close, your eyelashes resting on top of your cheeks. Sleepiness was an odd feeling, but you didn't mind it and allowed it to overtake you, cradling you in its cloudy arms.
The sleepy veil, Hypnos draped across your eyelids fell after a few hours and you shifted around the bed, until you could process your surroundings again.
You sat up and rubbed your eyelids, your eyebrows rising, still a little sleepily, at the man kneeling beside the bed and sleeping onto his folded arms, which held him up on the bed.
The room was dipped in silence, giving you enough peace to listen to Tauxolouve's slow beaths. His lips were parted slightly and his sleeping face seemed so calm, that you couldn't help finding it cute and precious.
A single strand of hair had fallen from its slicked back state and into his face, which seemed too porcelain in your eyes to belong to a human.
Quietly and gently, you reached out a hand towards him and tucked the dark strand behind his hair.
Tauxolouve's eyelids squinted and opened slowly, revealing his deep eyes, still unfocused from their slumber.
"Oh, Heav—my... My god!" You said, fixing your little slip, which wasn't too big, but you still wanted to be sure your identity was completely hidden. "I'm so sorry for waking you up. I was trying to be as gentle as I could."
"Don't fret. I'm just a very light sleeper." He smiled softly at you and rose to his full height, before taking a seat on the bed.
"Also... Why were you sleeping on the floor?" You asked, confused. Did humans enjoy floors so much? And why have you never heard of that before? What is Karno hiding from you?
"I came to check on you and I noticed you had a fever, so I stayed by your side, waiting for your temperature to cool down again, but... Uhm..." He looked down at his hands, a terribly faint hint of embarrassment showing on his face. "It seems to me that I fell asleep."
You laughed softly and looking into his beautiful face as he yawned, you identified something in your heart, that was both a gift and a curse in your case.
You were in love with the very person you weren't supposed to fall in love with...
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I'm crying at some of these titles - but also Lemon Demon is making more sense now knowing you know Homestuck (this is a compliment btw, I'm adding some of their songs to my list (Knife Fight))
ANYWAY - pls tell me more about howie dies dot jpeg and 999 999 laughing for real right now-
On a more serious note - we're doing it man, we're making this happen
You've been updated to Warheads cause my face currently resembles sucking on one I'm losing my fuckin mind rn
Yes, YES, I highly recommend pretty much everything Lemon Demon has every done. Listen to Bustin', it's hilarious. (As far as I know, Lemon Demon/Neil Cicierega has nothing to do with Homestuck, but they do have a similar vibe lmao. Also I'm honored to be upgraded.)
OKAY WRITING THINGS YEEHAW.
howie dies dot jpeg
Snippet:
President Howard Goodman sat at his desk in the Oval Office, alone. The orange light of the setting sun filled the room, silhouetting him with his back to the window.
He was alone.
He kept telling himself that.
There was no one else in the room, hadn't been for hours as he demanded to be left alone for the rest of the day, but he could not convince himself that he was actually alone. He felt watched. Every shadow out of the corner of his eye looked to be a person, or a beast, or some horrific fusion of the two.
It was worth mentioning that Howard hadn't been sleeping well lately.
About: The other (joke) working title for this was "Howie's Hot Girl Summer." The real title was "I'll Find You In The Next Timeline." It was meant to be for the 2023 Hatchetfield Big Bang (which I host!), but I got swamped and wasn't able to work on it for long. It's a timeloop story about the (fictional) President of the United States, Howard Goodman. And also he's in love with the mysterious military man, General John McNamara. I'll probably eventually get around to finishing and publishing it. Someday.
999 999 laughing for real right now
Snippet:
"When I meet my soulmate, I'll tell you about all the colors, okay?"
Light teased her about how she'd be able to describe colors without using examples, but she was stubborn. She swore she'd tell him what colors were like.
"Alright," Light ruffled her hair, "you better keep your promise, then."
"I will!" She grinned, though he didn't see it. He didn't have too, though. He just knew.
About: This fic is from [claps] 2017! I always meant to get around to finishing it... It's called "Prism of Light," and its a Zero Escape soulmate AU, the one where you start seeing color when you touch your soulmate for the first time. It's Light/Aoi (Snake/Santa) and I only got about two chapters in, but it is on AO3 for the curious. (It's not very good.)
we're doing it man, we're making it happen
Snippet:
At age nine, Max saw a picture of Mothman and decided that was what they wanted to be when they grew up, and they've been working towards it ever since. Their desire to discover the bizarre often led to them believing too easily — luckily for them, Lizzie was always there to balance the scales. While she also had a keen interest in the weird, she was more skeptical, thinking things through more thoroughly before deciding whether or not to believe them.
Together, the two had spent their years of friendship exploring the island town of Saint Hazel, following every possible lead in hopes of finding any scrap of strangeness in the sanitized town. They'd had their fair share of successes, even if it was never anything as grand-scale as Max hoped.
About: The actual title of this one is "The Conspiracy Gang," and it almost belongs in the "mix of both" category. It's an original work that is based on a roleplay of Starkid's Hatchetfield series done by me and my friends; the main characters are/were our OCs for the universe, but I love them so much I wanted to write a version of their story on my own (with my friend's permission, of course!) Max is my character, and Lizzie belongs to my good friend @cosmic--static! I haven't gotten that far into writing it, sadly, because I've been so heavily focused on Auberon. But someday!!!!!! OH ALSO ITS A COSMIC HORROR STORY FORGOT TO MENTION LMAO
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To be fair when stans reread they almost never reread the first book, just like when new readers get into the series, they either don’t read the first book, skim through it, or only read the rhys scenes.
Btw, I was a hardcore Feysand girlie, but every time I reread the books either just because or for the newest release, I’d love them less and then WAR came out and I was like… um what? And then rereading the books again for FAS, that was the nail in the coffin for me. And I thought I was alone because i after FAS, I started liking Tamlin out of spite and thought I was the only one who did for such a long, lonely time until I found you and others. <3 None of my friends like Tamlin, and when I was attacked for saying I did, they didn’t even bother to defend me despite all the death threats I got and they didn’t even bother to check in until I stopped responding to people. I’ve since distanced myself from them so I’m so glad I found you and others. <3
Hi nonny! I can't believe you made a heel-turn from hardcore Feysand to a Tamlin stan lmao but I'm sorry you faced death threats and abuse for it :(
I'm not a Tamlin stan myself, but I like him as a compliment to Feyre because they just work so well ahhhhhhh
But yes it's way more chill over here, and I'm glad you've found a place free from harassment because goodness knows we all need one. :)
But yes, I'm starting to gather that, unfortunately. I've seen a few people cherrypick moments and remove them from context and I'm like... you'd know what that meant if you read the previous chapter... so they're clearly skimming and it's crazy how that is considered "rereading" in this fandom. These books are way to large.
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You can say tsats has bad writing but you are purposely being obtuse when you say nothing from will’s narration shows how much he cares for nico. first of all why are you limiting attraction to just physical features? (and will does compliment on Nico’s features btw 🙄). will mainly compliments Nico by who he is as a person but is horrible because he didnt talk about nicos hair? And how was will there to “baby” and “heal” nico when the majority of the time they were in the underworld will was weak/suffering and NICO was the one having to help him?? Nico LITERALLY took care of Will more than vice versa. And when did Will ever say he is not comfortable around nico di Angelo?? WHAT?
1) I haven’t personally finished the book yet, so most of my interpretation on Will’s narration is from the people around me who have finished the book/made it further than I have. I’ve only made it through 1 of Will’s POV chapters. Could come out of this agreeing with you, though I don’t think I will.
2) I didn’t mean to say that Will’s narration makes it sound as if he doesn’t care about Nico AT ALL (if that is actually something I said). From what I’m hearing from those around me who have finished the book however, it often feels as if Will is insensitive to a lot of things about Nico, which is strange considering they’re a couple meant to be a year into their relationship. I didn’t say Will was horrible for not talking about Nico’s hair, I meant it’s strange that Will seems to constantly step on Nico’s toes and doesn’t seem to have a lot of care for Nico’s feelings with some of the things he says (which, I’d the book was going for that, then fine, but I don’t think it was)
3) Nico di Angelo should not be struggling this hard in the environments this book puts him in, even in the context of him struggling with his mental health and reliving his traumas. A specific example of this is how the demon who was cursing him and Will with nightmares when they first enter the underworld somehow manages to COMPLETELY render Nico useless during their fight, meanwhile Will randomly unlocks an ULTRA POWERFUL new ability that lowkey doesn’t make sense. Nico is an extraordinarily strong demigod who has proven time and time again he can hold his own against gods and titans, a demigod who doesn’t run away from a battle, and yet in TSATS, as far as I’ve seen, he’s not had that same Vibe.
4) the PJO series is based around the characters and their disabilities. For Nico’s powers and trauma to have been dialed ALL the way back to what it was in TSATS, it starts to feel like the narrative is purposely weakening Nico to make him seem more “damaged” and traumatized. That’s infantalizing.
Also - Will babying Nico can be seen in his reluctance to let Nico use his powers, as if he knows what’s better for Nico than Nico knows himself. When I say babying, I don’t mean “who is taking care of the other more”, I mean who is treating the other more like that person can’t take care of THEMSELF. And, from what I’m hearing from those I trust, Will (and largely the narrative itself) is CONSTANTLY making it seem as if Nico can’t take care of himself.
5) isn’t the literal whole premise of the book Will coming to terms with being uncomfortable in the underworld, which is a MASSIVE part of who Nico is? Isn’t the whole thing based around the idea of Will having to come to terms with the fact Nico has “darkness” in him, and that Will has some of that darkness too? Will is explicitly uncomfortable with parts of Nico that make up a big chunk of who he is. Like that’s a HUGE part of the book.
(Apologies if this is incoherent, I just woke up and am writing this on my phone. If I get further in the book and realize I’m wrong, 🤷 cool. However, from what I’m hearing, I don’t think I will be)
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I just read something about a princess who did something that everybody considered “Sinful” and she was sent to a witch who is basically a wild card troublemaker.
And I kinda want to write something about this.
Maybe staying here isn't so bad.
Yes, the dark, misty environment isn't exactly for the princess' likings. Especially not the mansion, but because of her.
The witch.
The witch at first, was nothing but a nuisance, a harlot meant to teach her a lesson for being “sinful”.
But, as time went on, she couldn't help but be ensnared by this, strong, beautiful, and wise lady who may be a tease but in a good way.
The witch's clever nature is one way she felt attracted to the woman.
Her strange intelligence that fascinated the sheltered girl. Her wise advice that proved useful on many occasions is one of her envy. She wants to learn and be independent, she wants to break free from the binds and chains that are the responsibility of being a royal. Be free like the witch is, travel with her around the world.
Maybe another quality of her that the princess liked is her magical capabilities.
Though she may not realize it, she is naturally attracted to the unknown, the dangerous and the dark. And the witch is one mysterious being indeed.
Born with strange, incredible abilities that rival the ones of a god hergoddess, how could she not be enticed by such an enigma?
Being able to fly higher than the birds on an item as simple as a broom, being able to levitate the leaves that cover the courtyard, even lift a tree once! The ability to morph and change any object or even living being into another thing.
Another lovable quality of her beloved is...
Wait... Lovable..? Beloved..? Beautiful..?
The girl paused her writing. Why did she write such words that imply so much into her diary about her?
She shook off the suspicion of being captivated by someone like her.
Her mocking, lying nature paired with her crooked teeth and rough, messy hair and skin littered with flaws, she could not possibly be a subject of a royals affections!
But...
Then why did she feel so happy when the witch compliments her cooking, why does she feel so content when she makes the witch laugh at her silly thoughts, why did she begin to feel less bitter about Victor and start to think more and more about the witch and nothing more...
She must've cursed me! The witch cast a hex, a spell to completely and utterly captivate her heart and mind to the witch.
Denying all possibilities of her loving an evil being like the witch, she kept herself steady and angry as she went to confront her about this.
This is on quote btw, I forgot what the name was but I'll credit the author in the comments.
I think this will be a pretty good series in my opinion but it also probably will be a ‘will they won't they’ bullshit.
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JY ; almost lovers
almost lovers answers questions with the choice of drinking instead of answering
pairings: sim jaeyun x gn!reader
genre: fluff, angst if you squint
words: roughly 1.4k
masterlist ⸺ series masterlist
~guides and warnings~
italics - reader speaking
bold - jake speaking
[enclosed] - interviewer speaking
italicized bold - both reader and jake speaking
[enclosed bold or italics] - question (depends on who's speaking)
heavily inspired by: rec.create lie detector games, cut truth or drink
warning: contains and mentions of !!! drinking and swearing
i don't promote underage drinking, save your livers
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
hello~ my name is jake!
and i'm (y/n)
and we're almost lovers
[you guys were invited here today as almost lovers for a fun little drinking game, you guys aware of that right?]
yes we were
[okay, for this game, questions will be asked and if you refuse to answer, you drink, it's that simple. should we start?]
yup!
i'll be drinking regardless if i answer or not btw
why?
it's free alcohol
[how long have you guys known each other?]
since middle school ??
yup, so like 6 or 7 years ?
[wouldn't you be childhood friends then?]
oh no, jake and i weren't friends
*jake laughs and (y/n) grins
we really weren't, we were just somehow always put in the same classes
classmates, that's literally just what we were
ah i got it, we just knew of each other's existence
yup that
*both laugh
[how did you guys became almost lovers then?]
oh it's the classic project partners thing
we became seatmates, and like for that whole school year almost every teacher assigned seatmates as partners
it's like they all collectively agreed to it
yeah so we just eventually got close and ,,,
chaos ?
chaos.
*both giggle because jake's giggle is contagious
[why didn't you guys get together?]
we were both cowards and dumb with feelings
and jake had to move back to australia
and i had to move back to australia
[so if jake didn't move, you guys could've been together?]
,,,, i honestly do not know
yeah same
jake was the popular dream guy, i wasn't even dating him back then but so many rumors spread
i'm sorry about that really
don't worry, it wasn't your fault
*you pat him on the head making him smile widely
[how about we start the q&a between you guys?]
yeah, let's go~
*both nod and played rock paper and scissors to determine who gets to ask first, jake wins
okay! first question
*jake picks up a card and laughs in disbelief
why?
[do you still find me attractive?]
*(y/n) bursts out laughing
i don't know if i should be offended that you're laughing or what
no, because it's ridiculous!
whY?
jake i literally compliment and hype you up whenever we meet
*jake blushes
so yes i still do find you attractive because you ARE attractive.
*(y/n) smiles teasingly
*jake rolls his eyes
*(y/n) picks up a card
oh wow
[did you see ever yourself loving me?]
*jake takes a shot
you know that just makes you sus
it's not like you don't know the answer?!!
that's the point! i do know so you could've just answered instead of drinking
shut up *jake grumbles
*you take a shot to make him feel better
the answer is yes btw, i did see myself loving them
*(y/n) almost chokes
*jake laughs
it's different hearing it out loud
*jake g i g g l e s
just read the next question
[do you think it's my fault that we didn't become a couple?]
pffft-
i mean
yeah yeah, but for me i'm blaming australia
sure buddy.
*jake :O
but no i don't think it was your fault, like we said a while ago, even if you didn't move, we were still dumb with feelings and we probably would've prioritized our future than a relationship. it wasn't the right time i guess??
*jake nods in agreement
[sorry, was it ever clarified between you guys that you had feelings for each other?]
oh yeah! we knew about it
yeah bUT AFTER I CAME BACK FROM AUSTRALIA ???
*(y/n) laughs
we met up when he came back and i just went "oh did you know i liked you back then?" and then jake just -
*(y/n) can't finish the sentence because (y/n) remembers the scene perfectly and is laughing hard
*jake groans
thAT! he groaned like that and basically slammed his head on the table.
yeah and you gaped like a fish after i told you i liked you back then too!
*jake :P
*(y/n) :O
i did not
yes you did! you went *jake imitates a gaping fish
yah! *(y/n) hits jake's arm lightly
*both laugh
*(y/n) reads the card and takes a shot after
why are you drinking? i'm the one answering
i know, i just needed that shot to prepare myself
[do you still have feelings for me?]
*jake turns red and reaches for a shot
moving on-
i'm answering
*(y/n) error404 please restart
*both cannot look each other in the eye
i don't know honestly? i still am kind of dumb with feelings but the reason why i say i don't know is because i'm trying to make sure that what i'm feeling for (y/n) is real?? like i actually do like them and not with the feeling ??
*(y/n) nods understanding what he meant
because wouldn't that be unfair to (y/n) ? saying you have feelings for them when you aren't really sure? i don't want that, i don't want to hurt (y/n) in any way or form
*(y/n) downs a shot and covers their face in embarrassment
why~ ?
*(y/n) narrows their eyes at jake and just hands him the card to read
*jake laughs
okay let's go,
[do you still think about what could've been?]
goddammit
*(y/n) takes a shot
*jake is basically just laughing at everything at this point, but that's okay he's cute when he laughs
yes, i do. i think what plagued me the most were 'what if?' questions. when i see my friends getting into relationships or hearing them talk about someone they've been seeing. i would often ask like "what if we just had confessed earlier?" "what if you never moved?" "what if we actually got together?" things like that
but i think my hardest 'what if' was "what if we just tried?"
*please put jake in rice he is not working
*he raises his glass to do a cheers
here's to painful confusion !
and dumb feelings~
*both take a shot
[question for both: do you regret that you guys didn't get together?]
honestly, no? i feel like if we did, we would be two completely different people right now?
yeah, i like who i am and who you are right now, so i don't think i regret it either.
and we were shit at romantic feelings
we aren't kidding, we really were
i feel bad for everyone who had to witness that phase in our lives
rip
*both laugh
[freestyle! ask any question you want]
hmm,,
don't think too much
no <3
*(y/n) rolls their eyes
okay, okay, i have one
this better be good sim.
[you said a while ago that it wasn't the right time for us before. how about now? do you think we're finally at the right time?]
.........
*(y/n) is speechless
*(y/n) downs a shot
jake don't ask me out on television
*jake bursts out laughing
i don't know jake, you tell me, you're the one confused with feelings.
... .. ... .
*(y/n) realizes what they said
*jake literally 👁👄👁
,,,, what?
*(y/n) clears their throat
huh?
nu uh, what did you just say ??
i haven't said anything yet?? are you okay?
*(y/n) looks at the crew around them that were covering their mouths preventing laughs and squeals
you definitely said something that meant you have feelings for me!
i did not! you need to get your ears checked
*(y/n) is blushing and is avoiding jake's intense look
[that's one way to end, huh?]
oh yay! we're done, good job everybody!
*(y/n) is hurrying to escape like a pokemon
*jake is still dumbfounded, poor guy
[is he okay?]
don't worry about him, he's rebooting
*jake glares adorably at (y/n)
we are talking after this
sorry i have plans, i need to water my dog
*(y/n) teases jake making him facepalm
[i think i smell another feature, but maybe as couples next time?]
*both blushes at the statement
that's all up to jake, director :D
*jake :O
honey, close your mouth, you'll catch flies
*jake wakes up at the term of endearment and his blush deepens
yah~ !
*(y/n) grins widely and waves to the camera
bye~
»————- ♡ ————-«
bonus: youtube comments (peep last one)
masterlist ⸺ series masterlist
a/n: AAAA ENHA CB !! the enhypen dimension opens owo <3 anyways, i made jake's lighter since i couldn't make it angsty, he's too precious, i must protect him. also, my jake timestamp (oh worm?) received a lot of love, thank you !!! i hope you like this one as well~ sunoo's will be uploaded next !! please look forward to it <33
#enhypen#enhypen imagines#enhypen scenarios#enhypen x reader#enhypen fluff#speak or shot#enhypen series#enhypen x gender neutral reader#sim jaeyun scenarios#sim jaeyun imagines#sim jake#sim jaeyun#enhypen jake#jake x reader#sim jaeyun x reader#enhypen jake imagines#enhypen jake scenarios#jake scenarios
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Coming Down | myg
Okay, so here's the second installment of my BADLANDS Series. This is loosely based around Coming Down by Halsey. I realise I haven't really done them in a specific order, just the one I am pulled to next to write.
Warnings: Dom!Yoongi, Sub!Reader, mentions of slight work stress and societal pressures of being a woman, you know. All that good stuff.
Reader is a F E M I N I S T and proudly so. Loose mention of not wanting kids (which is fine btw) this is just a whole load of smut, not much fluff as it's FWB but.
Okay so, oral, f & m receiving, face fucking, fingering, multiple orgasms, rough sex, light spanking, choking (for like a milisecond) use of ties, slight sensory deprivation, slight body worship, overstimulation. Slight name-calling?? Yoongs says kitten ironically. Use of safe word/safe signal. Yoongles has a Sir Kink. (I can only apologise) Reader has a hand kink (obvs) just wants to get off and relieve stress, Yoongi is happy to be their relief.
word count: 9.8k 👀🐸☕ don't @ me
'I found God, I found him in a lover'
It was a normal Thursday evening, you'd finished work at 6pm on the dot and took the bus home. Fishing for your keys as you approached the front door of your apartment. Key in the lock, turn. Open. Silence. Walking into your hallway, slippers not quite on the rack by the front door as you rushed out of them into your heels this morning. Just where you left them. Sliding off your heels with a sigh as you trudged into your slippers, immediately comforted by the soft memory foam that supported your tiresome toes. Returning your heels to the rack. Shrugging off your bag and long coat, reaching nearly 2 feet above you on your tiptoes to hang your bag and coat on the coat rack. Muttering to yourself like you did every day. 'Coat and bag, then heels. Won't have to stretch so much.' Venturing into the living room. Magazine on the coffee table infront of the sofa where you had left it last night.
Empty. Not that you expected anyone to be home. No one making you dinner you didn't want, or taking up the whole sofa, or hogging the remote. You lived alone, and you liked it. Sure, for a pretty young girl in her mid twenties you often had looks and questions.
'When are you going to find the one?'
'When will you settle down and have a family?'
And truth be told, you didn't want to settle down. You had told your mother from a young age that you didn't want children, whether that would change over time or not you weren't sure. It hadn't changed. You still wanted your independence and that was okay. Women were not put on this earth just to bear children and you were the firmest believer in that. You liked your life just the way it was. A job you loved that you worked hard for, an apartment you were proud of and nearly every night you got to sleep in your own bed, alone, no one to whine at when they snored or your body being used as a warmer for their cold feet. The few nights you were away from your bed came from your once in a while rendezvous with an acquaintance of yours. Although you knew eachother more than mere acquaintances should.
You met at a bar some time ago. Lights flashed, sure to give you a migraine and music so loud your eardrums could burst at any given moment. You were dragged out to this stingy bar by your bestfriend in her attempt to finally get noticed by that one guy. Even in her twenties she was still as smitten as when you were both back at school. You wore a simple black dress with a low cut front, skirt just above the knee and plain black heels. Hair not much different to your everyday, maybe a few waves here and there and some more mascara than your normal work volume. Trying your best to blend in but still having the ornate ability to have eyes on you in any setting.
You spent a lot of time on the dance floor until your friend had found her prey and you circled around the bar. Much rather wanting to stay at home with a tub of ice cream and your cat watching some terrible reality show about Cabin Crew on a cruise ship. Shouting at the TV to throw the nasty woman overboard; waving your spoon at the screen as your cat looked on in understanding almost. But here you were, slumped against a sticky varnished oak bar, propped up on an old velvet stool, twisting your straw in your glass, nonchalantly spinning the steadily melting ice as you listened to your friend talking to her guy. Suddenly feeling a hot hand against your lower back and someone lean over the bar between you and your otherwise occupied friend. Looking up at a pale man to your left.
" Whiskey on the rocks. " came his order to the bar tender; sharp, leaving no room for anything blasé.
Catching his eye, he looked you over once with a subtle bite of his lip and the flick of his tongue at the seam of his mouth; eyebrow raised with a lingering smirk before he vanished into the sea of people again with his drink.
Dumbfounded, you sat there, staring at the now empty spot where he had been mere seconds ago, the now cool expanse of your lower back where his large hand once was, fizzing. Swinging round on your stool, propping your elbow on the bar behind you, your eyes scanned the room. It wasn't the biggest bar. It wouldn't take long to find him.
Soon you caught eyes with him across the dance floor, stood with his taller, tanned friends as he held the whiskey glass firm in his hand; talking amongst themselves. Dark Brown, almost black hair feathered across his forehead, just above his twinkling chocolate eyes. Thin upper lip pressing to his plumper bottom lip before perfect white teeth graced your vision in an endearing gummy smile. Eyes still not catching you between the bodies of people dancing. Several silver hoop earrings in each ear. He wore a long black sweatshirt, black ripped jeans and boots. A couple of silver rings adorned his strong fingers.
You took a sip of your drink, gaze intermittently fluttering in his direction as you scanned the room, your friend had left to go and dance. Eyes found her and you nodded, knowing she was fine. As your stare focused back on the man before you he finally looked up, catching your eye with his, dark and mysterious. His lips pulling into a smirk again as he gazed at you. Heat bubbling in your chest from his wandering eyes on your body through the gap in people on the dance floor. He eventually made his way over to you and whispered a few words into your ear. Cool and calm.
" Come back to my hotel. "
And so you did. One slightly drunk, intense one night stand later and here you were, 6 months down the line sleeping with eachother whenever he was in town. A classic Friends With Benefits situation, although you weren't really friends.
You walked into your kitchen, greeting your ginger tabby cat with a kiss as she meowed at you in greeting. Grabbing yourself a glass for water and pouring kibble into her bowl on the floor, your routine monotonous but you didn't mind. Your cat tucking into her dinner as you filled up your glass, taking a sip. Looking at delivery menus on your fridge under old magnets from previous travels, deciding on Chinese; plucking the menu from the fridge, you had a training day for other colleagues at work tomorrow which meant a day off for you. No needing to cook dinner and get an early night tonight. Placing your glass and the menu on the coffee table in the living room, you switched on the tv, chucking any random show on then bumbling along to your room, opening the door. Greeted by quiet and serenity. No dirty pants on the floor or unmade bed. You smiled with contentment, unzipping your dress to pool at your feet before tossing it into your wash basket. You looked at yourself in the mirror, your most dependable black bra and panty set glaring back at you as you fixed your hair into a ponytail and wiped off your makeup. Throwing on a sweatshirt and some leggings. A short while later you plopped yourself down on the sofa and switched on the tv, greeting your cat with a scratch under her chin as she sauntered into the room, hopping up on the sofa with you.
Zoning out to the world around you as a terrible drama played on in the background as you glanced over the menu, not really paying attention to anything in particular. You had been a little stressed over the past couple of weeks, mounting pressures of a new senior in your department threatening to change everything you had sculpted into a balanced working environment over the last 3 years. Societal pressures and backhanded compliments from your mother's 'garden party' friends concerning whether or not you were defective in choosing a man. Or having one choose you. But in reality, the truth is, you had a stable relationship previously, unfortunately he was a dick and you're not stupid. So the single life had been your rather quiet reality for the last 18 months. No one to answer to or to worry about. Just you and your cat.
Your mothers friends never seemed to understand that, always too engrossed in whether or not you had a man on top of you every night to see that their husbands had found other, much younger women to be on top of. All of this filtering through the crack in your hardened shell, filling your mind with alternate realities until you got a text coming through. Cutting through all the fuzz that piqued in your brain. Picking up your phone, you saw who it was. Him.
'I'm in town, come over?'
Your reply was short and sweet.
'Sure, be over in 20.'
Snapping out of your previous thoughts and placing the menu back on the coffee table you sat and pondered for a minute. This was fine. This was what you needed. To let off some steam, in a judgement free setting. No cold glances your way, or harsh words uttered, unless it was you being tied to the headboard again like you had been convinced to try last time with his unadulterated gaze looking down at you writhing underneath him. The thought alone had your hair standing on end and a shiver running through you as you stood from the sofa, heading to your room.
Sifting through your wardrobe to pull on some old trainers, checking yourself in the mirror not really knowing why. In your hallway you made sure the lights in the apartment were off and your cat was happy, tucked up in the corner of the sofa snoozing away. Making sure you had your keys and phone in your bag, you left, key in the lock, turn. Locked. Walking down the hallway and down to the ground floor, heading out of the building to head right. The hotel he always stayed at was only a block or so away so the walk was relatively short. The sun was setting now as it hid behind the skyscrapers that canopied the city. Passers by making their way home or even to work. Still lots of cars on the road and bicycles that weaved in and out of traffic. The breeze was light and cherry blossoms danced in the air, separating from a tree as you passed a nearby park. The air was cool, as it would be in early May. Not too hot. Reminded of your journey, that first night.
'When his hair falls in his face and his hands so cold they shake'
You had left swiftly after his original proposition, making up some story about your cat or an early work meeting or something. Anything to get you out of there and with him. His hand returned to the small of your back as you left the bar, being ushered into an awaiting taxi outside. Shuffling all the way over to the other side, he slid in next to you blurting out the address to the hotel at the driver. Hair falling in his face. Eyes wild as they sparkled from the reflection of the dim streetlights. Smirking at you as the same powerful hand you had grown accustomed to on your back, made a home on your knee, slightly tucked under the skirt of your dress. It was now cold to the touch. Strong and intimidating as the taxi started to drive away. Not being able to take his eyes off you he leant forward and whispered in your ear.
" You look so delicious. " His voice low that reverberated through you, straight to your core as he squeezed your knee. Uttering the last syllable with a kitten lock to the shell of your ear.
To this you bit your lip and shifted uncomfortably in your seat. His hand, in turn sliding further up under your dress to the wider expanse of your thigh. The material of your dress pressing his hand taught against your skin.
He swooped down to your ear again, pressing an open mouthed kiss under your ear before he whispered " can't wait to taste you. "
You keened away from his grasp to no avail. He knew what he was doing to you, breath shallow and flighty in your chest as his teeth tugged at your earlobe.
"Please " You breathed, the first word you uttered to him.
Not really sure what you were pleading him for but the fire in your chest and the dampness of your panties flourished an urgency within you that was incorrigible. He smirked again at this, eyes dancing like Fireflies in the night. The hand that was to his side while the other hid between your thighs came up to cup your cheek, turning your face towards him.
"Soon. " He chuckled before biting your lip.
Drawn back to reality, passing people and cars. Your trainers pulling you towards your destination as your head had an argument with your feet. Was this a good idea? You didn't want to get yourself into a situation where either of you caught feelings. You were a pro at being a cold hearted bitch now but the odd sincere glance your way, especially from him seemed to melt your resolve, even just a little. Recounting the previous times you had taken this walk and what it would lead to.
After your first night with him, it was like a drug. You always wanted more. To say he was good in the bedroom was a complete cop out. He was...He was something. Made you feel things you'd never felt before and noises you'd never in your wildest dreams imagine yourself making. At decibels only a dog could hear. So once the addiction started, you started seeing one another everytime he was in town. Sometimes a couple of times in a week. That went on for a solid 4 months and as work pressures mounted, you fell distant. Always busy catching up with work or having some alone time with your thoughts and your cat. He also got busy, having to travel more for work. You didn't really know much about except it was important and you felt based on the guitar he always packed with him, propped up against the wall in the corner of the room, it was something to do with music.
'I found a devil, I found him in a lover'
The last time you had seen eachother had been a little over 2 weeks ago. That night you'd stayed, which didn't come easily. You were adamant you would leave as soon as you'd cleaned up, even telling him so as he helped you wash in the bathroom, almost requesting a second round when he looked at you through the mirror with those sparkling brown eyes like the devil, but you had been so wound up and pushed to your limits that you felt sleep take you as soon as your body hit the mattress again. Memories of restraints, dark water colours that created the murky palette of his hotel room and the low thumping of your heart, even as you entered the apartment, seeing him there, a tie in hand and a coy smirk. That night he had called you. He never called.
" You busy? " He sounded gruff like he'd just finished working out - which you knew not to be the case.
"When am I ever busy? " You rebuttled with a laugh.
He joined you, then you could hear him grin down the phone. A different sort of grin. A devious one.
"I wanted to try something. "
There was quiet, you wished him to continue silently.
"Something I can't stop thinking about doing to you. " He whispered lowly.
Your ears on fire and furiously red in the face you hung up. Chucking a quick 'omw' text to him in return. That night had been the best sex you'd ever had. That's why you'd stayed. For fear of walking into oncoming traffic at 2am because of your disorientated state.
Your heart skipped a beat at the anticipation of what was to come once you knocked on the door and it sent a thrill through you. Rounding the corner you were met with a bleak grey concrete block of apartments that made up the hotel with a black sign. Crossing the street after looking both ways you jogged up the steps as you saw the door beginning to close after a couple just exited. Sliding in you headed straight for the elevator.
He always had the same hotel room which avoided any confusion. You ran to the elevator that had just opened and pressed the 7th floor. Alone again your mind wandered to your first night here, in this lift.
You'd both stumbled out of the taxi and shuffled over to the lift, he pressed the elevator button furiously as he got impatient; leaning against eachother. As soon as the lift doors were closed he pressed you against the wall, face millimetres from yours as his nose skimmed over yours. Both of your breathing, laboured and slow. His large hands roamed your body; your waist, up and down your thighs. Gripping at the flesh as if he owned it. You wanted him to. God you wanted him to own all of you in that moment. Gaze intense and unwavering as the mysterious glint in his eye grew. His hands slid around the curve of your ass which made you stutter, giving it a harsh squeeze that made you lose your breath.
"I'm gonna ruin you." He whispered devilishly in your ear as he bit the shell.
Pulled out of your reverie as the elevator doors dinged open, signalling you had reached your floor, face burning as you stepped out of the lift, cold fingers pressed to your cheeks to try and cool them. Preparing yourself for what man would greet you at the door. You never knew which one you would get. Sometimes he was ravenous and you never made it to the bed, lipstick smeared and tights ripped as he never had time to waste when he felt such a desperate need for you. Or you would get the cool calm and collected man that caught your eye that night all those months ago. That was, until he got you here. Alone with him.
Walking down the corridor to his room now, counting the doors as they seemed to go on for miles, dark in wood with numbers etched in gold with golden handles. Your breath starting to slip away from you as you imagined as soon as you opened that door you wouldn't be able to breathe steadily again for a while. Room 93. (Shoutout to Halsey's first EP) There it was. You slowed to a stop, almost nervous to knock. 'Just knock' You muttered to yourself. Rolling your eyes as you fidgeted on the spot, sighing as you raised your hand to knock on the door. Knock. Wait. Silence.
You were waiting for a little while which was unlike any other time. Checking your watch and the door number. You waited a little longer and you were just about to walk away when the door opened slowly. You turned; met with the same dancing brown eyes you caught in yours all those months ago, although slightly sunken, maybe he hadn't been sleeping well? His lean frame propped up against the door. Arms folded over his broader chest. Hair fluffed over his forehead, slightly damp. Pale skin flawless and glowing against the dark background of his hotel room and the darkness of his simple black tee and sweatpants. Silver hoops still adorned his ears and rings still glistened on his beautiful hands. Eyes unwavering as they honed in on you. Smirk playing on his thin lips.
"You're early." He mumbled all knowingly, looking at the rings that adorned his knuckles, as if he were about to connect them with a wall.
You stuttered, heart in your mouth as you gawked at the man. Feeling like a naughty school girl that was about to get a ruler spanked across her a-. You stopped the thought for fear of collapsing in the hallway. His eyes still on you, looking you up and down. You mentally slapped yourself for your attire. Sweatshirt and leggings. Not sexy in the slightest. Anyway. Why did you care? Not like you wanted to impress him, right? After another beat his strong arm pulled you in the room by the collar of your sweatshirt, closing the door swiftly behind you and pinning you up against it.
"Just means I have more time." He whispered against your lips.
Sweeping strands of hair out of your face delicately, tucking his fingers behind your ears. He smiled at you, his gummy smile. You never thought that smile would be directed at you. Let alone in this setting.
'With his lips like tangerines, and his colour-coded speak'
His lips moulded to yours with a sudden urgency. Teeth and tongue caressing your lips with power and want. Heavy breaths exchanged as you dropped your bag; hands trying to find purchase somewhere sturdy and stable. Deciding upon the strength of his arms. Eyes closing as you were swept away in the moment of teeth and tongue and pent up tension and wanton need for eachother. His fingers pulling out your hairband so your hair pooled around your face. His fingers lacing through the soft locks as he grinned against your lips. Always having an ornate infatuation with how silky your hair was. How good it felt wrapped around his fist as he fucked you into the mattress. How it spread out behind you like waves across the crisp white bedsheets, framing your face perfectly as you slept.
He missed this. Maybe he missed you. Jolted back from his sweet thoughts, hearing you start to mumble against his lips as he continued to pin you up against the door, your head firmly in his hands.
"Yoongi." You murmured again, slurring the word slightly; drunk off the potent lust he cradled you with.
He never let up from your lips, intent on breathing you in. Hands untangling themselves from your hair as his cool calm hands landed on your shoulders, moving you away from the door to pin you to a wall, nearer to the bed. An eventual destination set in his mind. He couldn't get enough of you. Your hands travelled to cup his cheeks. His lips dry against yours gaining moisture from the saliva rolling around in your mouths as your tongues fought. Small whimpers beginning to swim their way into the air. Music to his ears. Of all the music he'd ever had a hand in creating, he wished he could emulate your tiny whimpers. Your cries for more of him. All of him. Wanting to devour him whole.
"Fuck" He exclaimed, finally pulling away from you, heavy breathing as his forehead was against yours.
Not even giving you time to breath he reached for the hem of your sweatshirt, pulling it over your head to reveal your gorgeous body to his hungry eyes. Knowing now that hiding from his gaze would be futile. An attempt at covering up would leave your ass raw and marks all over every single inch of your body. God's above. He made you feel like the only girl in the world, to him you practically were. He never sought out for any other attention or company from other women. The taste of you as often as he could have you was more than enough to satiate his heart.
He made quick work of your bra before throwing his own shirt off onto the growing pile on the floor. His hands, rough against your soft, plush breasts as his thumbs circled around your pebbling nipples. His teeth latching onto your bottom lip, humming as he looked into your steadily closing eyes. Teeth venturing south along your jaw to your neck and collarbone as he began to grab at the skin of your waist after he finished moulding your breasts; as if trying to memorise the feeling of them in his hands. The weighted comfort he had grown to adore about your chest. Teeth sinking in, enticing low gasps and the tiniest of squeaks as he would bite too hard on already sensitive flesh, intent on getting every inch of your skin covered in small indentations from his teeth. Tongue lascivious against the contours of your neck and collarbones, sickly sweet taste of your skin that drove him wild.
'Now we're lost somewhere in outer space, in a hotel room where demons play'
All you could do was pant and mule against him, your hands in his steadily drying locks. Suddenly pulling away as he untied the drawstring of his pants.
"Knees, now." He whispered authoritively and you happily obeyed.
Flicking your hair off your shoulder you sank down onto your knees. Eyes ignited with a fire he practically stoked out of you. You admired his body on the journey down. Body lithe and pale, defined arms and chest with a flat stomach, no six pack or defined v lines that led to the promising tent that you saw in your line of sight. Just a small happy trail of hair from below his belly button sneaking into the hem of his sweatpants. Swiftly taking them down and off you were greeted with black boxers, looking tight around his cock cased within. You licked your lips in anticipation as his fingers forked through the hair on your scalp. Looking up to his face as he gazed down at you with a stern look in his own eyes; burning into your already flushed skin.
"Someone looks like they've missed this." He smirked as your hand rose to palm him through his boxers.
He released a low hum at the feeling of your hand cupping his balls. You knew that he was very sensitive there, from past experiences.
"Does the slut want my cock?" He asked, a feather of a chuckle rumbled in his chest at your immediate nod as you ran your tongue over the seem of your lips.
Your fingers delved underneath the fabric as you began to pull them down. Sudden slap to your hands had you shying away from him.
"Hungry sluts have to wait don't they, kitten?" His eyes zeroing in on your reaction to the pet name.
You gritted your teeth in vague annoyance at the name, after the first night, you told him you had to be home for your cat. Finding it oddly adorable you were a cat lady he called you kitten ironically, now it's stuck. Your eyes looking away from him, turning your head slightly towards the large window that showed the rest of the city. Twinkling lights now shining in the moonlight. His hand gripped your chin, pulling your attention back to him, forcing you to look up into his devious eyes.
"I don't think you answered me, slut." He snarled; releasing your chin from his grasp.
Your heart jumped in your chest. "Y-yes, sir."
He smirked again, feeling triumphant he patted your head, thumb smoothing over your hair line with ghost like touches before running it along the seem of your mouth, popping his thumb in, flat against your tongue. Closing your lips around him, beginning to suck, big eyes gazing up at him.
"Good girl." He whispered before removing his thumb from your mouth and yanking his boxers down and stepping out of them.
His fingers danced through his damp hair as his cock sprung up against his stomach, a muted groan as the cool air touched his reddened and straining cock. Your eyes widened, never getting used to the sight of his cock, inches away from your salivating mouth, making your panties pool with a carnal need for him to be inside you. Your hands began to rub up and down your jeans clad thighs, waiting with baited breath for him to give you the command. This man and the things you'd do for him would have others question if you were a feminist or not. How a strong single woman with a steady career and bustling social life could want to be so utterly defiled by a man and be at his every whim really flipped your ideology on its head. But a drug was a drug, and you were high on him like cocaine.
"Alright, stop giving me those bedroom eyes." He gushed, dominating voice faltering as he gazed down at you, waiting and ready for him to let you begin.
You fluttered your eyelashes at him, big and bold. Biting your lip as your hands rubbed along your thighs again.
"Fuck, just get over here." He laughed, holding the base of his cock in his hand as your hands slunk up his sturdy pale thighs.
Fingertips sending sparks through his body. Your lips reaching his tip, you looked up at him again as you kitten licked his bulbous tip, testing it. Like testing a car. He hissed to which you smirked. You took your tongue to lick the underside of his cock lightly, teasing his frenulum before swirling your tongue round his tip several times. He puffed out a harsh breath but never said a word, fingers beginning to weave into your hair with a softness you were unfamiliar with. Surrounding the tip with your lips as you slowly sunk the head into your waiting mouth. Giving kitten links to the underside again as you sucked on his tip for a moment. Yoongis breath was heavy, you could tell by his chest moving, half lidded eyes looking down at you as you took more of him in slowly. Tongue still licking everywhere you could. Your other hand still positioned on his thigh as you rubbed small circles in it with your thumb.
Starting to take him deeper in your mouth and pulling him back out for breath had him seeing double. His vision was blurred as he could feel your heavenly lips wrap around his strained cock, precum and spit starting to pool at the corners of your mouth; threatening to spill as you bobbed your head back and forth on his dick. Setting up a rhythm you plunged him in deep so your nose touched his abdomen and he threw his head back with a grunt; gritting his teeth.
"Uh, fuck. Your mouth is so good" He whispered into the air.
'I've got a lover and I'm unforgiven, I'm such a fool to pay this price'
Your mouth worked on him as well as it could. You would take a lot of him in and proceed to gag which made him grunt. As your hand began to work at the base of his shaft. Giving him your all. Making up for lost time.
"Fuck, I'm not gonna last." He hissed. His hands in spearing through your hair as his thumbs rubbed at your scalp.
"I should've kept my hands to myself... Always impatient." He chuckled menacingly to himself; shaking his head.
Your breath was heaving as you pulled back from him. Hands gripping his thighs tight as you looked up at the man towering above you.
"What do you say, will you let me fuck your mouth like a good pet?" He asked, hands still in your hair.
"Make me cum, then it's your turn? How about it, kitten?"
No hesitation in your eyes as you gazed up at him as if he had hand painted all of the stars in the sky. You nodded profusely and he grinned at you; swiping the spit away from the corner of your mouth with his thumb.
"Good girl, remember your safe signal?" He asked, almost sweet in his tone.
You tapped the back of his thigh 3 times with your finger and he nodded. Feathering his fingers through your hair again, your hand still at the base of his dick lining him up to your waiting mouth. You gave him the go ahead as he thrusted shallowly into your mouth at first. Finally in your mouth his hands speared through your hair behind your ears to hold you still as he began to move his hips back and forth. You had done this before. Let him do this. But this time was so raw and so needy you honestly couldn't fathom how much you needed this. And it wasn't even your turn. He began to set up a rhythm working his length deeper with every thrust; starting to make you gag as you tried your best to relax. He breathed in sharply, his head thrown back as he pumped in and out. His shaft gliding smoothly across your tongue and beginning to slip down your throat as you sputtered around him. Hands firmly gripping the back of his thighs, the same way he was gripping your hair.
"Fuck, fuck. Your mouth. Kills me." He mumbled to himself; thinking you couldn't hear.
You looked up at him, a picture of bliss. Arms locked in place, keeping you still as he slid in and out of your mouth, picking up speed now. The veins in his neck; protruding under a velvet blanket of Frosted skin. Teeth gritted and brows furrowed. He looked down to see you already watching him. To this he groaned deep within his chest at the sight of you so willing and ready for him. Setting his nerves alight he could feel his orgasm approaching. Gripping your hair even tighter as he gave you a moment to breath before jackhammering into your mouth with a low whine.
"Fuck. Holy shit." He whispered before you felt his cock twitch deep in your throat and thick ropes of cum travel down it as he came; hips jerking at weird angles as you noticed sweat beading across his neck and collarbones; reaching up to his hairline.
After he had composed himself he pulled out of your mouth and you swallowed everything still left in your mouth before opening your mouth to show it was empty. He ran a solid hand through his own hair before he pulled you to your feet; planting a heavy kiss to your lips as he walked you back towards the bed. Practically pushing you back on it with a soft bounce. He suddenly rounded to the other side of the hotel room rummaging through a suitcase. Soon returning with several black ties in hand. Giving you a knowing smirk. You felt your stomach sink at the memory of your last adventure with this man. In this hotel room. With those ties. But judging by the look on his face and the fact his previously lifeless cock had begun to spring to life again; you knew it was different.
'I found a martyr, he told me that I'd never'
He began to move you up the bed to where he saw fit. Nodding when he had got you where he wanted. Straddling your waist he grabbed an arm tying the tie around your wrist to then loop it around the headboard. He soon did the same to the other one. Then finally you saw him gazing down at you from above before he slipped a soft silk tie over your eyes fastening it behind your head. Everything went black, but you could hear him; feel him. All around you. Feeling weight either side of your head you suddenly felt breath over your nipple; squirming at the sensation and your clothed pussy clenching around nothing. You felt him kitten lock his way along your breast before landing an unexpected bite against your neck, causing you to pull against the restraints with a sharp intake of breath.
"Remember your safe word, kitten?" He whispered in your ear.
You nodded. "Seesaw."
He sat back on his heels; still straddling you. Crossing his arms with a nod.
"Why is it Seesaw, again?" You ask, a grin sliding onto your face.
He chuckled at this before you felt weight lifted from the bed. You skin crawling with goosebumps as you waited with anticipation. Suddenly feeling deft fingers pulling your leggings and panties down in one swift movement. A beat of silence. Feeling like forever until you felt the same fingers, calloused but oh so soft against the skin of your collarbone.
"You don't remember?" He whispered into the darkness.
You shook your head no as your body began to squirm. Feeling his finger trail delicately down to your chest, followed by his other pointer finger on his left. Circling your nipples in precise motions. You sucked in a breath and your back arched as you felt him blow cool air onto the perking bud.
"Oh kitten, it was the bar where we first met" You could hear the smirk evident in his voice as his fingers trailed underneath the curve of your breasts.
"The night I took you home and ate you so good you nearly passed out." A dry chuckle left his lips at the gasp that left your own.
He began to drag his sturdy fingers slowly; tantalisingly, in soft motions towards your belly button where he would branch out with delicate touch; placing more fingers on your skin as they circled your hipbones. Finally sloping down to your thighs where his grip became firm and he pryed your legs apart to expose you to him. Heat flashing across your face as you whimpered at the action. Oh god. The things he made you feel. You felt electricity surge through your body, bouncing off your bones as you heard him hum.
"Mmmm. So wet, just from sucking my cock, kitten?"
You bit your lip with a whine; nodding profusely. Blush creeping across your cheeks. He seemed to like this as you heard a deep rumbled in his chest in approval. You could feel the bed dip slightly due to transferred weight. Right between your legs. Shit. If only you could see him. What was he doing? Was he pleased? Oh fuck, you didn't shave your le- your thoughts were far removed as you felt lips across the inside of your thigh; just above your knee.
"Shit, I can't wait to taste you." He whispered; sending cool air rushing up to your core.
Feeling his lips drag effortlessly along your thigh to where you wanted him most; needed him. He was tender; savouring the moment. He had missed this, giving you what you wanted. Watching you underneath him. Tasting you; devouring you. That's why he was so quick to cum the first time around. Too excited by the thought of having you again he had started to touch himself in the shower. Thinking of your soft, sweet body; Bending to his every whim. Your mouth stuffed full of his cock. Your enticing wet pussy that always made you blush at the sounds it would make, as he would fuck you. Hard and rough. He groaned at the thought before his face was level with your heat. Soft breaths that made your body wriggle; desperate to escape and want more; all at once. He hooked your knees over his elbows as he held your legs down. blowing against your exposed clit and watching your pussy clench around nothing; glistening with your essence he hungered for.
'With his educated eyes, and his head between my thighs'
"Mmmm. Sweet pussy baby girl." He kissed the apex of your thigh watching you writhe against the restraints. He hadn't even started yet. You were in for a long night.
You didn't seem to notice the name at first. It wasn't what he had called you any of the times before. But as the air thinned out around you; feeling the silence weighted around the room like a thick curtain and nothing was corrected, it almost felt affectionate; coming from his sinful lips that had just attached themselves to your-
"Fuck." Your breath caught as you threw your head back against the mattress.
Feeling lips suckling against your clit with vigor. He knew what you liked and knew how to get you where he wanted you. His tongue began lapping at your clit as his lips sucked where they could. Your breathing was heavy and you tried to pull against the restraints; your legs restless as the odd whimper left parted lips. His eyes although you couldn't see him, were focused on you. Watching every bite of your lip, every salacious moan or whimper; every gasp. You began rocking your hips in a rhythm against his tongue and he moaned at the pressure you posed against him. Trying to feel some friction as his throbbing cock had sprung to life from your first whimper; sandwiched between his abdomen and the mattress.
"God, this pussy is so good." He moaned; muffled by your legs trying so hard to clamp around his head as he continued his ministrations.
Soon enough you could feel the familiar rope spread throughout your body, begin to coil; tight as a spring before you felt a nip to your clit and you unravelled underneath him. Feeling weightless and weighted all at once. Stars beneath the blanket of the silk tie; delicate against your eyes. Head thrashing around as arms pulled with all their might against the restraints. Your back arched as you moaned loudly; legs starting to shake at the force of your orgasm. But that wasn't the end. He flicked his tongue against your swollen clit with more intent. Determined to push you through another orgasm before he even started using his fingers. God his fingers. Your lower body began to lift off the bed as his grip on your legs only got tighter.
"Fuck, fuck Yoongi. Oh my fucking g-"
You heard an animalistic growl as you felt another nip to your clit; yelping at the sudden spark of pain amongst your pleasure.
"Sir. Stick to the rules." He punctuated with a slap to your clit. Back arching for a moment as you felt a pulse throughout your body.
"Or I'll keep biting." He mumbled the last part.
You pouted. "Yes sir." You could feel your orgasm beginning to ebb away as he took longer to return to your clit.
You whined and you felt breath on your clit again as he chuckled. Although your predicament was purely casual. Wanting to get off essentially was your main goal. Neither of you ever rushed. Enjoying one another's company. Feeling his slick, swift tongue dancing along your clit again you moaned; trying so hard to keep quiet out of respect for neighbours as you tried resting your mouth against your arm to muffle your high pitched moans. His tongue retracted until you felt the tip of his tongue tease the edge of your entrance before dipping his tonulgue in for a moment. Your hips bolted you forward at the intrusion before settling back down on the bed. His tongue running up and down from your entrance to your clit in long strokes. Quickly settling his tongue back against your throbbing clit. You yelped as he applied more pressure.
"Fuck, I love this cunt."
Slurping noises ensued as he dove in deeper. You orgasm building again and again, holding on for dear life. Holding onto your sanity. His tongue swirling around the pulsing bud as you continued your previous rhythm rocking against his face. Your knuckles were turning white at the sheer grip you had on the ties; feeling yourself drift away.
"Fuck, please, yoo-"
He pressed his face even further into your heat as you cried out in pleasure. Tongue flicking mercilessly over your engorged clit. Reaching the summit again to fall all the way down into the abyss. He never let up from you as his tongue lapped at your juices spilling from your entrance. Nerves alight and pulsing throughout your body. A thin layer of sweat was evident against your face, collarbones; the whole of your body. Sweat beaded from his own forehead and he wiped the back of his hand over his mouth as he watched you regain your breath. Stilted in the silence. Only your chest rising and falling as your lungs gasped for air.
He loosened his right arms hold around your leg and brought his fingers forward to your sensitive pussy. Humming to himself as he gathered the Juices on the tip of his fingers and spreading it all over your pussy as it glistened in the dim hotel light. Knowing how much you lost your collective shit over his hands he couldn't help but watch his hands tip toe up to your breast; squeezing the flesh roughly in his hand before slinking it over to massage your neck for a second. Only to grab it a moment later. Your breath caught quite literally as you could feel the bed move from where he was sitting up. He could feel the pressure against your soft skin and the way your breath constricted; only for a moment as he loosened his grip. His fingers still flush against the skin. His veined hand looked like it belonged around your neck. He thought to himself before sliding his thumb into your mouth again; which you accepted with enthusiasm.
'I found a saviour, I don't think he remembers'
"One more from you, kitten. Then I'll fuck you. Okay?" He hummed.
Your reply was noncommittal as you nodded vehemently; still sucking on his thumb. He looked down at you with a certain adoration. Laying there, naked for him. Tied up and blindfolded. If he'd have thought this would be the case after that first night, he would have laughed. But here you both were.
His fingers began to trace the outline of your entrance; whisper like touches that made you clench around nothing. He began experimentally pushing his long slender middle finger inside you a little; chuckling lowly as you let out a whine. Your pussy trying to suck him in further. Wanting to feel him. All of him.
"Sir. Please." You murmured, legs that were now free from his grasp allowing you to rotate your hips.
He wanted to tease. God. He wanted to tease you until the sun came up. But he was desperate and so were you. He removed his finger earning a cry from you. Until he slid in two fingers to your shock and set a brutal pace. Feeling those godly fingers of his curl into you. Moulding you perfectly to him. Tapping against that sweet spot inside. He used his other hand to press your hips to the bed; preventing movement as you felt a touch of sensitivity kicking in. But you put it to the back of your mind; focussing on the way his fingers were drilling into you at an inhuman pace now.
Your senses heightened due to his silk tie that blocked your view. Oh how you wished you could watch his fingers sliding in and out of you like you had done countless times before. Acquiring quite the affinity with the mans hands. Pale, veiny; strong in their ability to hold you but soft when he caressed your cheek, wiping the spit away from the corner of your mouth or the pad of his thumb sweeping away tears from overstimulation. God you loved them.
"Fuck. I'm so close." You cried out, to someone. Anyone who could hear you as he continued his ministrations.
"Yeah? The slut loves my fingers doesn't she?" Yoongi spat; his voice laced with venom.
"Loves my fingers fucking her, huh?"
All you could do was mewl as you could feel your body going into overdrive. Your head slamming against the pillow as you could feel yourself near the edge. Just needing one final push.
"But you love it best when my hand's around your throat. Isn't that right? Slut?"
You hadn't felt his hand move. Too lost in the pleasure he was giving you. Until you felt it grip your throat. Not hard. But just enough. Squeezing when he said slut. Sparks flew and your fingers and toes felt as if they were set to a light simmer. Your body going numb at the feeling and your pussy throbbing as you came. A high pitched moan of his name left your bitten lips as he continued thrusting his fingers in and out of you. Body moving in time with your spasming cunt as you began to feel the overstimulation kicking in, rearing its ugly head once more. The pain was excruciating as he continued but the pleasure washed over you again as your entrance continued to clench around his fingers. Silence as a moan caught in your throat. This had to be the biggest orgasm you had ever had. Nerves set alight with matches and turning into a forest fire that exploded like gasoline until it set to a simmer when Yoongi slowed his fingers down ever so slightly. Enamoured by your head thrown back and your mouth in the perfect shape of an O. He would've cum right there, just at the sight of you convulsing beneath him.
"Cause he's off to pay his crimes, and he's got no time for mine'
"Fuck, me." He breathed, shaky breaths too.
Quickly flipping you onto your front, your still tied arms now crossed over one another. Propping your legs up so you were on your knees. A sharp smack to your ass sent you reeling into another sobbing mess. Beginning to plead with him. For something; anything.
Soon enough you felt his hands returning to your hips and ass, caressing them carefully. Your ass flinching at the contact of his lips on your lower back, you could hear a slight slapping sound behind you, assuming he had started to touch himself again. You whimpered at the thought of not being able to watch his veiny hand slide up and down his equally veiny cock. Fuck.
His lips still against your skin as he whispered "I nearly came just like that, watching you cum all over my fingers baby."
There it was again. Baby. Nothing more nothing less. There was a pregnant pause before he sighed, beginning to speak again.
"You're so fucking hot" a groan sounded as the pace of his hand quickened against his length. The slapping sound intensified.
You whimpered, beginning to move your ass up and down, wiggling it at him to invite him in.
"Yoongi, just fuck me already." You whined.
A sharp slap sounded against your ass, reverberating through the room. You winced at the pain, taking in a quick breath before a hand returned to your ass kneading it in his palm.
"Slut is so impatient today. I'll fuck you, don't worry." His words were menacing.
'Now we're lost somewhere in outer space, in a hotel room where demons play'
His hand continued to knead at your reddening cheek before pulling it aside with his thumb, showing your dripping, waiting entrance for him. He almost lost it. Almost. Deciding that you had both waited long enough he lined his throbbing condom clad cock up with your entrance and pushed in with great speed. Hissing at the feeling of your tight wet walls surrounding him.
"Oh god." You managed a strangled whimper into the mattress.
Breath caught in your throat as you could feel his dick beginning to move swiftly inside you. His hips slapping against your ass that was sure to bruise tomorrow, your wrists were aching, your body going numb to every other feeling apart from the feeling of him ploughing into you. Your vision was starry eyed and you hated it. But you loved it. Sobs began to rack through your body as he spanked you once again, sending waves of pain and pleasure through you.
His pace continued as all you could do was lie there with your hands tied, begging for anything he was willing to give you. But also feeling the familiar sting of too much. But it was never too much. You willed your body to continue on. To not give up the ghost yet. You prayed for your body to fight on. To take every thrust he battered into your throbbing, weeping pussy.
The coil you had almost forgotten existed now in the plains of numb, vacant ability to even string a sentence together, began to tighten again, expecting a fraying spent body, not one this eager for your umpteenth orgasm this evening. Your pussy clenched as he continued, hollow groans you imagine him with his head back as he thrusted into you, licking his perfect lips with that sinful tongue. God, he made you crazy.
"Yoongiiiiii, fuck I'm gonna cum, I'm gonna cum, please" your tone indescribable as you panted for breath that escaped you with every thrust as his skin continued to slap against yours.
Suddenly feeling him pull out which almost made you weep but being turned back over onto your back, the tie being ripped from off your head. You were greeted by a furiously sweating Yoongi. Sweat dripping from his dark chocolatey hair just above his eyes. His lips swollen pink from where he had probably been biting on them so much, not to mention when he had used the same lips to devour you not 20 minutes prior. His chest was heaving and lips parted as he gazed at you for a moment.
"I'm seeing that gorgeous face when you cum, no way I'm missing that." He stifled a laugh as he lined himself up with your entrance again after wrapping your legs around his torso.
'They run around beneath our feet, we roll around beneath these sheets'
Sliding in once more you rattled your wrists against the silk tie restraints as you cocked your head back in pleasure. You let out a high pitch moan, almost exasperated in tone, your back arching up into him before slumping back on the bed in defeat. Yoongi almost reading your mind whilst still thrusting inside of you began to untie the ties that bound your wrists. You thanked heaven for your saving grace. You could run your hands through his hair now, feel his sweaty skin beneath your fingertips. And soon after your hands were free he laced them in his own. This also being new to you. You knew the drill when having sex with him. He laid down the ground rules early on. No kissing. No cuddling. No hand holding. So what he did next really sent you through a loop.
"Fuck I'm close." He sighed before leaning down to kiss you.
His lips were salty, battered and bruised much like your own but you didn't care, you kissed back with all your might as he continued to thrust away inside you. Feeling his cock hit that sweet spot again you mewled, breaking the kiss with your head thrown back.
"Here kitten?" He asked, smirk evident in his voice.
You whimpered with a nod as he continued to thrust in the right place, hitting your spot so deliciously you couldn't help cry out when his pace turned rampant and he held your hips in his bone crushing hands, sure to bruise tomorrow. The punishing pace was set as his hips bucked into you and you tried to grab at anything you could, finding no sturdy comfort in the crisp white hotel sheets beneath you. Your breathing was erratic, you hadn't realised you'd been sweating until now, although not as much as the man above you. You watched in distracted awe at the sweat running down his broad chest, along his stomach and down to where his cock was pummelling into you.
You could feel it again, serious this time. Your orgasm creeping up on you faster than any bullet. Your legs tingled and your toes curled. Your knees felt like they would break and your arms felt detached from the rest of your body. In the last moments you saw him gazing down at you, exasperated, fucked out beyond belief. But smiling. You reached up at the nape of his neck and pulled him down to you, pressing your lips against his as you succumbed to the pleasure that wreaked havoc throughout your body. A heart wrenching shout came from your lips. In every moment, a glitch of your body as it spasmed with unruly disregard and poor timing. Your pussy clenched repeatedly on his cock while he continued to thrust inside of you.
"Oh fuuuck, I'm coming." He groaned into your neck as he used hard, purposeful thrusts as he came in the condom.
'He's coming down, coming down'
The sweat that accumulated on both your bodies cemented you together for moments after. All pretence and notions suspended as you both caught your breath back. Heaving. Breathing one another in. Soon Yoongi peeled himself off of you and went to remove the condom. You lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Stars still there. You weren't imagining it in the end. Scraping your hair from off your face as you wiped the sweat from your brow. Soon he returned, bouncing onto the bed next to you, looking up at you in adoration almost. A nervous smile present on his lips as if he didn't just drag you to the 7th layer of hell with him. Or was it heaven? You could never be sure.
You looked over at him with heavy lids, inquisitive look on your face as he swept hair from your shoulder. Looking down at you with that same smile. Before -
"You fancy going on a date, some time?"
© sunnysidejoon - 2021 - do not repost on any site, or translate without express permission from author.
NOW Mr Min is usually not my main man but i can't help it, just, shit okay Min Yoongi.
I realise I'm probably going to hell for this but we joon
Hope you guys enjoyed, working on the next installment as we speak 🤪 if you want to be added to a taglist let me know 🥴
Love Always
Mac 🧡💜
#BADLANDS x BTS#smut series#myg x reader#non idol au#min yoongi smut#this is intense#i can only apologise#bts#bangtan#bts smut
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1/3 Ever since I had a recent rewatch of the show, theres been something on my mind that I cant stop thinking about. When it comes to my ships I pay attention to every little detail, like lighting in a scene in this case. Theres been 3 major core 4 confession scenes in s1 and s2. Rini in 1x10, Rina in 2x06, and Portwell in 2x12. Since the lighting was overall much brighter in s1, I can understand why Rinis scene was bright with colorful/yellow tones.
2/3 The contrast b/t Rina and PW conf scenes is night and day. Rina flashback has white stark lighting, signifying a cold and distant feel. PW has yellow lighting thruout, symbolizing warmth and hope. Rina FB takes place in the exact same room as the Rini scene so it could have been edited w/ more yellow tone lighting if they wanted to show some hope romantically for them. But they dont. Definitely think that was on purpose. I mean, PW conf takes place at night in a parking lot but they still...
3/3 ...have yellow tone thruout and its a really happy moment for them b/. One could argue that the Rina scene was a FB to excuse the choice in lighting, but they've done FBs before w/ much better color saturation. Just s/t that I had to point out. And this is coming from someone who used to be a former Rina stan who now wants that Portwell series endgame. LOL. I know Im thinking too much, but I was just interested on your thoughts on this if you have any. You have the best theories/metas btw!
First of all, thank you for the compliment! It means a lot that you enjoy reading my thoughts ❤️🥺
You're not overthinking this, anon! In fact, you made an excellent point! Cinematography, lighting and colour grading choices matter in storytelling and can tell us a lot about the intention of a scene. To back up all the points you made, I took some screenshots of all the confession scenes.
Ricky and Nini in 1x10:
Ricky and Gina in 2x06:
EJ & Gina in 2x12:
It's understandable that they changed the colour grading of the 2x06 flashback to match the darker grading of season 2. The scene would stand out too much if it were still as bright and saturated as it would've been in 1x10. Just to make the difference between the two scenes clearer, take a look at the same shot in both 1x10 and 2x06:
Look at how different the two scenes are. Not only is the S2 version less bright and saturated, it also has a more green tone and a bit of a vignette (the darker edges). I think the vignette was added for the sake of it being a flashback, but I think the red tone being replaced with a more green tone supports your argument that the scene was meant to have a more distant and cold feeling. Especially when contrasted with the yellow and red tones in the Portwell scene. They didn't have to town down the red tones in the 2x06 scene, but they did. That's a deliberate colour grading choice and makes the scene look colder. And as you said, the Portwell confession took place outside and at night. It could've resembled the dark and cold grading 2x04 (The Storm). But it didn't, because that's not the feeling we're supposed to get when watching the scene. We're supposed to feel Gina and EJ's happiness.
So I totally agree with you, anon. The 2x06 confession wasn't a happy moment for Gina, but a sad and hopeless one, and ultimately served as a (unspoken) rejection, whereas the 2x12 confession was a happy and hopeful moment and the climax of both Gina and EJ's arcs in S2. The stark difference in lighting and grading in both scenes shows us how the 2x06 scene was a low point for Gina, while 2x12 showed her at her happiest.
#hsmtmts#ej caswell#gina porter#portwell#otp: risotto#portwell meta#i even went and tried to match the grading on the 2x06 scene to the 1x10 scene in my editing software#came pretty close but didn't get there all the way#but it helped me confirm that they did tone down on the red and upped the green#love it when you guys pay attention to these filmmaking choices!#i live for this stuff so it makes me really happy when you bring up excellent points like this one#ask
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I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone draw parallels between Feyre leaving Tamlin for her Mate to Elain leaving Azriel for her Mate. (Ignoring the fact I hate Rhysand, the books obviously want me to think he's the best person ever so I'll just pretend). Because that's what I see happening.
Elain and Azriel are so clearly rebounds for one another. Elain's still grieving her human love and life, and Azriel is still hung up on Mor. They're both quiet and available, so they jump to each other. That's it. The Azriel POV was purely about what he wants. How he wants to fuck her and taste her. He's just sex to her.
Even if E/riels had a more convincing case, it's not like SJM hasn't pulled a SIKE on us before. If she goes anywhere with E/riel, she'll undoubtedly pull it back. SJM doesn't take Mating bonds lightly, and she's stated that she loves Lucien. And if anyone deserves the happiness of a bond, it's him.
Feyre and Rhys, and Cassian and Nesta, all had relationships/lovers before Mating. Elain "liking" Az now, (which we're not even clear on), doesn't really mean much.
I'd like to hear your thoughts! You're so good at this, and you always explain my thoughts so perfectly. Love and light 💕💕💕
honestly there are quite a few feysand/elucien parallels that people either don't see or choose to ignore.
rhysand was first presented as a villain to feyre, the same could be applied to lucien just bc of his envolvement with tamlin (that he wrongfully gets blamed for btw idk why e/riels love blaming tamlin's mistakes on lucien). feyre was engaged before she went to rhys, elain was engaged before she met lucien. both were/are? still hung up on their former fiances. feysand as a couple represents the night, elucien would represent (at least in part) day. it's literally night and day with them. they're similar but also wholly their own pairing, it's fascinating to me.
anyway i think i will use this ask to spill some of my e/riel opinions sorry about that! alright let's start off with this controversial statement: i don't think e/riel was ever meant to be endgame.
i've seen it said a few times over the years that sarah changed her mind about elucien and while that's possible bc she also previously changed her mind on lucien and nesta one has to ask themselves..... if she wanted to write a mate bond rejection why didn't she stick with her original plan of lucien and nesta being mates? she's said herself that they wouldn't work but she chose to change lucien's mate to someone who compliments him better, and it's to feyre's other sister no less. that tells me lucien is important and powerful, he's mated to one of the sisters, one of the key players of the entire series.
another point is we can assume (and we could be wrong, let me put this here before someone yells at me or vague blogs about it) that sjm had an elucien endgame in mind when writing acowar, right? and when she was touring for that book hadn't she already started work on acofas? and we know that she's never on social media, so if she had an elucien endgame in mind when she wrote all of the supposed e/riel "evidence" where does that leave us?
drama. tension. conflict. angst.
i think that's what it all comes down to. people will say that elucien was a front while e/riel is the true endgame but... it all seems a bit easy, doesn't it? e/riel is right in your face while elucien is silently brewing in the background. what if the bait and switch isn't elucien, but e/riel?
sarah has shown us before that she likes to use her characters as ways for her other characters to end up with their endgame matches. for example, without tamlin, feyre wouldn't have met rhys. and moving over to throne of glass for a second, if not for chaol, aelin wouldn't have met rowan. and in turn, if aelin hadn't given yrene the money she needed in tab, chaol wouldn't have met her.
are the e/riel scenes romantically coded? yes, probably. i'm not saying they aren't, some people picked up on it but i personally didn't get that vibe myself, especially in acowar, but acofas kinda blurred the lines a bit. but even then, i didn't think they'd work out and i still don't understand the arguments that are supposed to be in their favor from that book. elain says she doesn't want a male so that excludes lucien but not azriel somehow? that line means she doesn't want any fae, she wants a human man, she wants graysen. then we have lucien saying he can't even stand to be in the same room as elain which i never read as a "oh i hate this person" kinda way. no, it's bc the whole situation between them is awkward and it obviously makes both of them uncomfortable. it doesn't help when literally all of the inner circle is constantly around them, and being in the night court in general doesn't give them the privacy to get to know each other.
some people like to ask why build e/riel up at all if they're not going to be together? one thing i've always loved about sjm's books is how she can write relationships. now, let's say you meet someone irl and you like them, eventually maybe fall in love with them, and fail to notice how they're not good for you. maybe everyone around you can see it, but you don't. you want a relationship and you're in a decent one, it should work out. like they're not a bad person, this relationship just isn't right for you in the long run. why waste your time? it's life. sometimes things are good for you at a certain point in time but not later on. sometimes you just end up in a relationship that was never good for you. sometimes you fall out of love with someone. you're constantly learning and adapting to things and that's my stance on e/riel. i think they're both looking for companionship and they're the "safest" and most available option.
taking it back to acofas, azriel was relived to not have to get elain a gift and was still gazing longingly at mor. now in acosf he's avoiding talking about her while wanting to fuck elain and getting defensive when helion mentions mor. he's not over her. he's not going to just completely forget 500 years of pining bc elain showed up, especially when they haven't even helped one another to move on. if they had, we would have seen the proof of that. not just "oh she's hot we both want sex", that doesn't make a healthy relationship.
as for elain, she's been taught she has to act a certain way her entire life. she has to downplay her trauma and emotions to appease others so they don't worry about her. maybe she's even had visions involving lucien that upset/scare her somehow and she's reaching out for something else. i think they're both lonely and desperate (at least on az's end) for someone that they ultimately are drawn to the wrong people.
as for the lack of elucien development... this is how i see it. if they're endgame, why would sarah have all of their big moments happen off screen or as a throwaway line in acosf? elain is getting a book, we know this, and with how much of the story is tied to lucien and how much is left unresolved with him, we can also assume he'd get a pov at some point. so imo it makes sense for the fact we got little to no development for them in acosf. no, she wants a huge wedge between them so we can watch them come together. the payoff will be that much sweeter. kinda similar to how she put a wedge between nessian before acosf, sure they had more development in acowar than elucien but i think that's bc sarah knew they'd get the first spinoff. she had to give them that development whereas elucien can wait, a bit longer. it's frustrating yes but i do think we'll get something in acotar 5.
maybe i'm an optimistic fool, maybe sarah did at one point have an endgame in mind for them, but i find it hard to believe she wouldn't see how wrong they are for each other in the long run. she's very good at showing us how well characters fit together with just a few lines.
#sorry this envolved into my rambling lol#i swear i was going to talk more about the feysand/elucien parallels bc i made a list awhile ago#but i forgot some of it so here we are 😬#BUT YOU'RE SO SWEET!! im glad someone enjoys my random thoughts lol#thank you i truly appreciate it 🥺💕#acosf spoilers#a court of silver flames spoilers#asks#aquafaith
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Lycoris Radiata -Izuku Midoriya x Reader-
Inspired by the piano piece, "Lycoris Radiata," Written by Spikes, played by MusicalBasics.
Highly recommend listening to it whilst reading.
[1] [2] [3]
Word Count: 1.6k
When a childhood love shows up after being lost to time, it's unnerving to be presented by something so familiar yet different. Deku, lost to his own love and presented with the stresses of life and unrequited love, it isn't easy to see the world with an unbiased gaze.
!WARNING!
(This is for the entire series and not just this part)
BIG TW for death, suicide, abuse,
Minor TW for death imagery, toxic relationship, toxic friendship, toxic shit all around
A/n: The summary sucks ass I really don't know how to summarize this ahahaha, btw this is going to be a 3 parter and I hope all of you follow me for the ride cause its a bumpy AND angsty one. Like heavily angsty. The first part doesn't have that many triggering topics, but the second and third do, so read with caution.
Imagery used
Red camelia flowers
Deku felt his entire body freeze at the sight. Like seeing a piece of his past that was lost to time. He yelled your name and without looking back to see you already knew who it was.
His very voice brings warmth in your entire being, a soft chuckle left your lips. You could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer, he was running to greet you. To greet the girl who left so long ago. The girl who disappeared from his life the moment he went in UA.
He never knew what happened or why it did happen. Though all of his questions bubbled into non-existence when you stood and closed your arms around his torso. He wanted to lift you up to the air, hug you even tighter. After all, it wasn’t everyday he would find his childhood friend sitting in a park bench all alone.
“You know him?”
A lone voice interrupted Deku’s complete bliss. He felt you quickly release your hold on him, though the beautiful smile he admired never leaving your face.
He watched in curiosity as the lone voice wrapped his hand around your waist. A bitter feeling etched its way in his throat. He pushed it down as far as it would go, afraid by his own jealousy he would push you away from his life once more.
“We were friends back in Grade School and Middle School, we stopped talking in Highschool though.” “Izuku, this is my boyfriend.”
Deku smiled and held his hand out for your boyfriend to shake. Which he does so with a big smile, “I didn’t know you were friends with the number one hero, that’s incredible.”
His intimidating tone at the beginning turned to almost fascination. Deku simply chuckled to himself and scratched the back of his neck in nervousness.
Your boyfriend leaned down to give you a small peck on your lips and Deku couldn’t help but shift in his place. Feeling rather displaced at watching a shameless display of affection. He slightly looked away to watch the rose bushes not very far from where he was, missing the grip that tightened around your waist. The flowers were beautiful, bright red and imposing. He thought to himself how hard it must’ve been to take care of such a delicate flower.
“Why don’t we all head out to lunch?”
Your boyfriend suggested.
To which you quickly agreed and your eyes locked with Deku’s green ones. A gaze almost as if you were begging him to come along. He, of course, would never deny an offer like that, not when you seemed so desperate to get him to go along. A feeling of gratitude bubbled in his chest, he felt as if you were looking at him like that as a sign to reconcile. Maybe even apologize for your sudden disappearance.
He followed the both of you to a nearby restaurant, getting stopped here and there for photos or signatures by passers-by. Every time he’d glance over to you and your boyfriend with an apologetic gaze, only to be met with the warm smile of your boyfriend and slight chuckles here and there.
He was extremely thankful you were able to find yourself such a considerate and patient lover. It quelled the jealousy in his heart a tiny bit. He would never jeopardize your happiness just because of his selfishness to have you as his.
Finally arriving at the restaurant, he watched your boyfriend closely the entire meal. It wasn’t he was scared of him being terrible or a bad company, he was simply making sure your boyfriend was the right person for you.
His suspicion would soon disappear though, the moment both of you went in, he greeted the waiters. Even apologized when one of them bumped into him. He was kind to give up the table he reserved for a family with hungry children. And he patiently waited for another table to open up for him.
When the waiter messed up his order, he simply smiled at your request of getting a waiter to correct his order and ate it without complaints.
Deku watched in front of him as he always kept his hand slung around your shoulder. He watched as your boyfriend complimented you, flick away a piece of food that fell on your clothing. Deku observed him with a keen eye and yet could do nothing but smile.
He truly did seem like a good person.
Despite his keenness and thorough nature, he missed the way you’d often shift in your seat when your boyfriend’s body nudges yours. Or how you’d flinch when a waiter dropped a plate rather far from the table.
The entire meal Deku along with you and your boyfriend made small talk here and there. Deku grew to like your boyfriend more and more.
At the same time, he felt his romantic feelings for you lightly watering down. He knew it was still there, but once again he’d rather it completely dissipates than ruin your relationship with a good person.
After all, he was a hero, he would always care for you and give you the best of the best. Even if it meant letting you love another.
~
“Izuku!!!” At the call of his name, Deku ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him through the forest and to you.
Both of you still children laughing and exploring the forest with Bakugou and his gang of miscreants.
He finally found you crouching, watching intently at something he could not yet see from his distance.
Deku stopped for a moment trying to catch his breath, he thinks you haven’t heard him yet since you weren’t turning your back to him. Still intent on watching whatever you were looking at on the ground.
Just as he started to walk to you, Bakugou jumped out of his hiding spot and landed right in front of you. Causing you to scream from the scare.
Bakugou laughed out loud, prideful that his little prank worked. “I got you!!!”
Yet, no laughter followed from your side. You didn’t laugh like you usually did, both Bakugou and Deku who was now already behind you grew slightly anxious. What if you had gotten hurt from Bakugou’s landing?
What they didn’t expect was for you to cry ever so loudly.
Fat tears rolled down your cheeks as you stood and pushed Bakugou to the ground, still wailing.
“You dummy!!! You stepped on it! It's dead now!!!” You wailed and cried, before turning your heel and running back to your home.
Bakugou looked at Deku for clarification, as he was still dazed from the harsh shove. Deku looked to whatever you were staring at before Bakugou’s scare and saw a crushed red camellia flower. Bakugou finally realizing what he had done still didn’t want to admit he was in the wrong.
So just like the child he was, crossed his arm on his chest and huffed.
“It wasn’t my fault the flower was in my way!!”
He too soon left Deku to his own devices, looking for his previously left behind gang.
Deku feeling incredibly bad took the crushed flower in his hands and brought it home with him.
The next day he got his mom to bring him to your place since for some reason you didn’t come over today to play with him like you usually do every day.
“Oh Inko, please come in. They’ve been crying since they came home yesterday, something about something red dying. It was probably another flower.”
Your mother welcomed both Deku and his mother in, explaining why you had been absent from your usual playdates. Deku got the green light from your mother to meet you upstairs, and so just like a little kid excited to show his friend a new toy. He ran up the stairs holding a tiny box in his hands.
He barely bothered to knock on your door and barged in, causing you to lightly flinch at surprise.
“Izuku?” He swiftly apologized when he saw he interrupted you whilst you were reading.
Waddling his way over to sit next to you, he smiled and asked what you were reading about. You explained it was an English book called The Very Busy Spider, in which the main character was a red spider with a green head. A character you enjoyed so very much.
Deku listened to you retelling the children’s book to him, all whilst gripping the box extremely tight. Ecstatic to see your reaction when you opened his little gift.
“What did you bring Izuku?” Your little fingers pointed at the box tied neatly by Deku’s mother in a red ribbon.
Deku grinned and gave the box to you, “I’m sorry about Kaachan yesterday.” He sincerely or as sincere as a child could, apologized for his best friend’s actions.
You nodded at him and opened the tiny box. Inside was a dried version of the red camellia flower you had thought died after being crushed by Bakugou.
You held it close to your heart and almost cried tears of joy before enveloping Deku in a bone-crushing hug. “You’re my hero!!!” Your words made a flicker of flame igniting in his chest. He didn’t realize your words impacted him so much until he went back home and couldn’t get it out of his mind. He was extremely proud of himself to bring a smile back on your face.
After all, if he was going to be a hero, he would need to ability to make people smile all the time. Even if it meant racking his brain to find new solutions to odd problems.
#deku angst#izuku midoriya#deku x reader#izuku x reader#midoriya angst#deku fluff#my hero academia#mha#bnha#boku no hero academia#mha x reader#deku x you#izuku midoriya x you#bnha x reader#izuku fanfic#deku fanfiction
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TGF Thoughts: 5x02-- Once there was a court...
Season five is off to a great start. I’m feeling more energized about TGF than I have in ages, maybe since the beginning of season three. After the mostly standalone premiere, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rest of the season. Episode two introduced a lot of new elements that I’m intrigued by and excited about, so here’s hoping the rest of the season can sustain that energy. (Many) more thoughts under the cut.
And, again, since the most consistent thing about Tumblr is its inability to roll out new features that are actually helpful, here is a link to view the post so you don’t have to read it all on your dash. (Omg, Tumblr, not only do you force people to keep reading on their dashes but you also jump down to the middle of the post when the full version opens? Do you have ANYONE beta test these features?)
Reddick/Lockhart is bustling when the episode opens. The fact they’re calling it Reddick/Lockhart seems like an indication that Liz chose to partner with Diane—it's not. The firm just needs a name, and it can’t have Boseman in it. (The signage still says RBL... for now.)
Everyone in reception is talking animatedly, except for Carmen Moyo, who’s just taking it all in. You might be tempted to read her as nervous. You would be very, very wrong. But we don’t know that now. Right now, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume she’s Maia 2.0. This scene strongly parallels Maia’s first day at the firm (opening with the reception saying “Good morning” and the firm name, then showing new associates waiting for an orientation by David Lee). And in that scene, Maia is absolutely nervous, like you’d expect a new hire might be.
Carmen focuses on another associate’s hand. I assume this is meant to be a parallel to how Maia fidgets with her rosary ring in that initial scene. Carmen then peels a price tag off her portfolio—possibly another Maia parallel, since the portfolio Diane gives Maia is such an important symbol in Maia’s arc.
I also see shades of Alicia and her first scene here—Alicia's silent and focuses on small details (the thread on Peter’s jacket) too.
I don’t say any of this in hopes of comparing Carmen directly to either of those characters. Carmen is not like any other character this show has had before. But these parallels are quite good at establishing character, building intrigue, and showing contrast (even if you don’t see them as parallels, we’re still getting a lot about Carmen just from watching her reactions, even if we don’t yet have the context to understand how to read Carmen). Since I’m now thinking about Maia and Alicia, I’m also now thinking about how Carmen is different from them and triangulating her spot in this universe—that's a good thing. She’s not a copy of either character, but I understand a little more about what the writers are telling me about her from the parallels.
The RBL sign in the background is being taken off the wall. It falls and adds even more chaos to reception.
David Lee walks in and screams, “Stand up! Those seats are for clients.” This is the exact same language he uses in the 1x01 scene; this is definitely an intentional parallel.
Btw Carmen already has more personality than Maia and she’s been in one episode so far! I didn’t hate 1x01 Maia, but I will say that nearly everything that intrigued me about early Maia was that I could project more about Alicia (whom I, obviously, care a lot about) onto her. I can and will compare Carmen to Alicia, but when I do, it won’t be because Carmen is an interesting lens through which to analyze Alicia... it will be because Alicia is interesting precedent to use to understand Carmen.
I still hate Maia, yep.
David Lee accidentally instructs a client to stand and then has to save face, heh.
In David’s tour of the office, we see the partners squabbling. Sounds about right. And STR Laurie is still a thing, which explains why David is there (though not why he is giving a tour).
Throughout the tour, we get a lot of shots of Carmen. Again, she’s silent and looks like she could be nervous. (Spoiler: this is a fakeout and when you rewatch this scene, you can see what new cast member Charmaine Bingwa is doing here—expertly putting on a face that looks like anxiety in one context, but is actually just Carmen calmly sizing things up.)
Marissa eagerly joins the tour. “That’s right. They’re letting you play lawyer, Marissa. How nice,” David says. Carmen takes this in, too. “Fucking prick,” Marissa mutters. Carmen hears.
David Lee introduces “someone from HR” which is a great sign that HR is very effective at this firm.
In the conference room, the partners are still arguing about who should replace Adrian. Diane tries the “all options are open to us and we plan to decide in the next 48 hours” strategy, but this audience is too smart for that. Madeline asks about the new leadership structure. (I am kind of hoping that one nice side effect of having to kind of shoot the season in a COVID bubble will be that we’ll get more small recurring characters. Madeline’s been around for a little while but we’re already seeing her get to do more this year.)
“Diane and I are going to run the firm together. For now,” Liz says. Oh, no, Liz, do not open the door to change. Letting the partners know you’re not sure is probably the worst strategy. You’ve gotta decide or they’ll sense weakness.
“Just the two of you? A black firm being run by a white woman?” a partner asks. “Well, I’m not running it alone. I’m here to assist Liz,” Diane says, trying to deflect. “Really? Because she needs assistance?” he counters. Diane doesn’t know what to say, but she and Liz both know these questions aren’t going to go away.
HR is running an orientation for the new hires and it involves having them all take pieces of toilet paper. Man, I hate ice breakers. Carmen takes a moderate amount and then passes it to Marissa, who takes only one square. Carmen notes this and makes eye contact with Marissa. And this is where it starts to become obvious that Carmen is not nervous—just observant and not chatty. Carmen knows Marissa is one to watch from how David reacted to her presence. She gives Marissa a look that’s meant to be noticed and start a conversation. It works, and Marissa explains that for each square you take, you have to share a fact about yourself. Carmen hates this and hides the rest of the toilet paper so she only has one square.
Liz tries to say there will be a discussion about the partnership, and Daniel (that’s what the captions call him, though they do reference him as “Barry” at one point but I'm like 99% sure I know which actor is Barry and it’s not him) says it feels like they’re just being told what the new state of things is. Liz says she hears him but right now they need a senior associate to backfill Lucca.
Daniel doesn’t think they need one. I don’t get why, unless it has to do with the budget cuts.
“We need someone with real experience to take on her caseload,” Liz notes. Hell yeah you do!
Liz asks if any of the partners want to take over family law. None do.
After the meeting, Liz asks Diane if she can call a head hunter. Diane approves. David Lee pops up to ask which one of them is taking Boseman’s office and they haven’t discussed it yet. I love that they managed to order a sign with their names on it before they’ve talked about how being partners will actually work.
(Also, Adrian’s office is quite obviously going to end up with Liz. And it would be weird if it were Diane, anyway, because it’s Diane’s old office from Lockhart/Gardner and it would look it if she sat there again lol)
David notes that an empty corner office looks like failure. He is correct. He gives them until Friday to decide.
Marissa does not like the ice breaker at all and pointedly notes she only has one secret, and it is that she used to be married to a mime. She makes a whole bit out of it and then whispers to Carmen, “I usually just make things up.”
Carmen’s next and she finally gets to speak her first words of the series. You know who else didn’t speak at all in her first scene? Alicia Florrick. Very different scenes, but I can’t help but think this is intentional. From what I’ve seen of Carmen, both she and Alicia use silence strategically and are comfortable with quiet. Alicia’s first scene is silent because she doesn’t need to use words to be expressive, but it does establish that she’s going to be a character with a lot of internal thoughts she won’t vocalize and that she’s observant and tries to maintain composure. Sure, you can watch the first scene of Pilot and just see a woman who’s stunned into silence, but when you watch it knowing Alicia and realize how much of the essential parts of her character are in her totally silent intro sequence that kicks off the show... it’s kind of amazing.
So comparing Carmen’s introduction to that? I mean this as a huge compliment. Carmen deploys silence for reasons both similar and different to Alicia. While Alicia uses silence to maintain some kind of boundary between her inner thoughts and the outside world, Carmen uses it to get a chance to observe and take things in without showing her cards. (We do see Alicia do that as well, especially at work, but I would call this a side-effect of Alicia being a quiet person rather than her intention; Carmen seems to be more conscious of how she uses her silence.)
Carmen is from Victorville, California. That means nothing to me but I’m sure there’s some significance. Carmen mimics Marissa’s response when asked for her secrets—she also responds with, “secret,” emphasizing she only has one. But what she says next also shows her in contrast to Marissa. She says her secret is she hates games. We already know so much about her and she’s said like ten words!
I think it’s smart to set Carmen up as a contrast to other characters. I know who Carmen is not because of how she differs from more familiar presences like Alicia, Maia, and Marissa. Marissa hates ice breakers, but her reaction to them is to use them as an opportunity to say something funny and over the top. Many others (including probably both Alicia and Maia) would likely resent the activity but play along and say something unremarkable (I could see Alicia overthinking it and sharing something surprisingly quirky though!). Carmen just does not give a fuck, and in a different way than Marissa doesn’t give a fuck. Marissa insinuates that she thinks the whole activity is stupid... Carmen just flat out says it. I would not pull this move on my first day of a new job! And that is the point—who is this person who is so self-assured she’s willing to insult HR on her very first day of her very first job as a lawyer?
ALL OF THIS FROM A FEW WORDS AND SOME WELL-ACTED GLANCES! As I said, I’m very intrigued by Carmen. I have some questions about the logistics of this plot, her endgame, and how she’ll function when brought into the firm drama/debate plots, but for now, I only have good things to say.
Liz interrupts the ice breaker to announce that everyone will be assigned a mentor. She then pauses to greet Marissa, which Carmen, again, notices. Liz is really there to say that they’ll be working on client maintenance that day, and each new hire will get to help with one of their clients. When she reads off their top clients, all the hands shoot up—except Carmen’s.
Madeline’s last name is Gilford. Noted. John’s last name is Wilson.
No one raises their hand to assist with Oscar Rivi, who is in a maximum-security prison. Carmen confidently raises her hand.
Barry’s last name is Poe. Noted.
Marissa and Carmen exchange glances. Super curious to see how this evolves. There are too many Marissa/Carmen exchanges in this episode for the writers to not plan to have them interact more in the future.
I’m kind of loving that it seems like the show’s leads are now Diane, Liz, Marissa, and Carmen. Diane’s obviously great, Liz is someone who’s been deserving of leading material for ages, Carmen seems interesting, and I’m so impressed they have managed to make Marissa, usually good in small doses, into a character who can handle larger plots without wearing on my patience (like that awful Elsbeth centric episode of Wife).
Diane has a client who received a summons directly, which Diane finds strange. But, since she is already working with this client on the same case (teaching kids during COVID) in another court, Diane is optimistic about this second suit. She thinks it could set a good precedent.
Diane introduces Phoebe, an associate who will help out on the case. Diane says she’s not personally going because it’s a formality and Diane needs to work on the brief. I’m like 99% sure Diane isn’t personally going because Diane’s role here is to convince the client she’s getting senior-level attention while having junior people do the work, but nice story!
Diane asks Marissa to go along with Phoebe. Marissa thinks she’s going to get to argue in court... Diane says no, Marissa gets to hand hold a client.
Oscar Rivi is basically Lemond Bishop, which is the only explanation I have for why RL would represent him. And, you’ll recall, I didn’t understand why RL would represent Bishop either. But we’ll just have to go with it.
(I think representing multiple drug lords is probably a bigger PR issue for RL than having a white partner! How come no one ever talks about this! Actually, new complaint: wasn’t Liz, who now has more power than before, the one who was most against representing Bishop?)
(I guess it may make sense that she’d be more okay with this Rivi dude than Bishop. Whatever Rivi’s done, I don’t think he’s threatened Liz’s kid like Bishop did!)
(Also, I’m fine with them switching it up and suddenly having this new drug kingpin. Mike Colter is obviously unavailable since he’s a lead on Evil, and I was tired of Bishop anyway. If the writers stop using Bishop and Sweeney as shorthands for corruption I will be very happy; I don’t think there’s much more mileage left there. Speaking of, Dylan Baker popped up in 2x02 of Evil!)
“I don’t want you to be intimidated,” Barry tells Carmen as they arrive at Rivi’s prison. Carmen reads articles about Rivi on her phone, saying she’s taking notes. Barry tells Carmen to “sit, listen, leave.” But then he discovers his ID is expired (he didn’t get it renewed during the pandemic) and he can’t go visit Rivi as a result. Carmen says she’s fine alone—she'll sit, listen, leave. She’s calm and not at all cocky as she says it, and it really takes until she’s actually talking with Rivi to realize that she’s not (just?) a hypercompetent law school grad trying to impress. She doesn’t seem to care at all what people, no matter how powerful, think of her, as long as she’s able to find security of any sort. (Tbh, it is kind of amazing she doesn’t get fired in this episode.)
(I’m getting ahead of myself but in Alicia’s first ep, she also changes up strategies on the partners. Alicia does it almost without realizing she’s gone against their wishes—she's just sure of the right strategy—and Carmen does it much more intentionally.)
Marissa and Phoebe can’t locate Judge Wackner’s court. Marissa asks a security guard she’s friendly with (of course she is) for help. He says there’s no Judge Wackner there, and the security guard notices that it’s a summon for a “9 ¾ Circuit.” The guard laughs at the Harry Potter reference; Marissa is not amused. They leave the courthouse when Marissa spots a sign for “9 ¾". She follows the sighs down an alley. Phoebe wants nothing to do with this; Marissa and the client are intrigued. They end up in a store called Copy Coop and are directed to a warehouse.
In the warehouse, an argument is resolved through Rock, Paper, Scissors. Then it’s Marissa’s turn. She asks for a continuance just like she was supposed to, but she uses the wrong phrasing. Judge Wackner notices. That’s when Marissa notes she’s not a lawyer, and Wackner responds that he’s not a licensed judge. So it’s fine that Marissa isn’t a lawyer.
Marissa tries to protest again that she’s not a lawyer, and Wackner basically tells her to proceed anyway. The client wants to stay, weird as this fake court seems.
Carmen reads with Rivi. She stares at him, getting him to speak first. His translator asks if there’s another lawyer with her; she just introduces herself. The translator does a terrible job of translating Rivi’s complaints, sharing very little of what Rivi said with Carmen.
Unsurprisingly (to me at least, because scenes like this ALWAYS have the twist where a character doesn’t let on that they speak the language until the exact right moment), Carmen speaks Spanish.
She lets Rivi know she speaks Spanish AND insults the translator in one go. Pretty big move. That gets Rivi’s attention and he kicks out the translator. He asks who she is and she repeats her name again (characters reacting like this will never not remind me of “Who are you?” “Kalinda.”).
Carmen notes that she’s just out of law school, explaining that’s why she’s eager to help. She doesn’t reveal that by mistake—she's using it to her advantage.
Credits! As I predicted, things are blowing up again this week like normal. No more kittens and puppies. There’s a new couch that blows up in the credits. Wackner’s desk also makes it in. I can’t remember if the purses were in this position before; they might be new. All the exploding TVs show footage of January 6th (which I hear is going to be a major theme of the season, though it’s not heavily featured in this episode). And the zoomed in shot of the closet (that I’ve never really liked) is gone, as is the falling curtain!
I still hate the font of the logo for this show. I also don’t understand why the show seems to have three logos—the one that’s the TGW logo but with “fight”, the one in the credits, and whatever the one they’ve come up with for this season’s marketing materials is. I like that they’re trying with the marketing of this season but I don’t get why the show has three logos.
While I’m talking about the marketing, can we just talk about the “Goodbye Lucca” graphic the official social media account posted? It had a fucking crown drawn over her head like this is a 2013 Tumblr shitpost!!! Who are they targeting with this?! WHO ARE THEY MARKETING TO? DOES THIS WORK ON ANYONE??? It literally says, “Chi-Town” on it. I cringed so hard. Sometimes I feel like the marketing of this show is meant to cater to the people who would, like, watch the credits of last week’s episode and be like, “Yes! It IS all now puppies and kittens! Everything bad in the world has been resolved!”
But hey, at least it’s better than the absolute trash they used to post for TGW. Remember when there’d be episodes about Alicia making career moves and they’d be like, “#TeamPeter or #TeamWill????”
OR, OR OR OR, the fucking time they tried to crosspromote TGW and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show (yes) with a tweet that read, “All ‘Saint Alicia’ needs is a pair of wings&she practically turns into an Angel.” I... have no words.
Hey, Caleb is back! I was not expecting them to actually wrap up his arc with Liz. I think I’m actually pretty thankful it’s ending like this—he comes back for what I assume is one last episode and I don’t actually have to deal with the Liz/Caleb plot. Apparently the writers were setting that up so they could do some plots about power dynamics and interracial couples and who is seen as having power. Caleb and Liz were going to have an encounter with the police, who were going to listen to Caleb instead of Liz even though this encounter would’ve taken place in Liz’s house and Liz is the name partner and Caleb the employee. Interesting enough, but anything boss/employee just squicks me out and I don’t need it around and Liz deserves better.
But I did like Caleb as a character, so I’m glad he gets an exit, unlike past characters who have just disappeared. (Remember Robyn Burdine? Or that time Taye Diggs was a major character for two seconds?)
Liz was NOT expecting to see Caleb as a candidate for Lucca’s old role. Things are instantly awkward. I guess Caleb left STR Laurie?
Diane immediately senses that things are awkward with Liz and Caleb. Caleb is very professional throughout all this. Diane gets an important call and leaves the room, so Caleb and Liz can chat privately.
Caleb says he thought Liz was reaching out; Liz says she should’ve reached out but things ended abruptly. Love that Caleb checks that no one else is in the room with Liz before getting even more personal. He says they should just act like nothing ever happened between them and Liz asks if he can do that. “I’m the employee. Of course I can,” he says. This is why you don’t sleep with employees.
He says he really does want the job and he liked the firm. Liz says she’ll talk to Diane. Caleb says if it doesn’t work out he’ll be fine.
Phoebe tells Diane about 9 ¾ and Diane does not understand... at all. “If it has no power, and it doesn’t have jurisdiction, what does it have?” Diane wonders.
A little more on the case: RL is representing a woman who taught a small group of students during the pandemic, and some parents are suing her for preaching socialism at the children.
The woman suing did NOT like being called a Karen by her daughter or being compared to the family from Parasite. She wants a refund.
Marissa objects and makes up her own grounds, realizing that since it’s not a real court, she can object for any reasons she wants—as long as they follow common sense.
These scenes could so easily feel ridiculous, like a gag that goes on for too long. They do not. There’s just enough zany humor and theatrics to make the 9 ¾ court feel surreal. And, most helpfully, Wackner is a GREAT judge. He is engaged with the work and only concerned with the facts and arguments rather than politics. He’s tough but fair. He’s direct and he maintains control over his court. He’d be one of the best judges in a normal court. His sincerity is enough to make you wonder why courts DON’T operate like this. It’s easy to see why the characters are sold on this BS-free, rational, and effective system, even if it makes no sense that it would exist and it has no power. It’s simultaneously idealistic (if only things were resolved fairly) and threatening (how can something like this exist?! What does it mean that the real courts are so ineffective that there’s a need for something like this?! What happens if this goes beyond what are basically mediations for simple issues?).
This type of thought experiment is where TGF excels. I think they were going for something like this with Memo 618 (which hasn’t gone away!), but that arc always felt like it was on the verge of going off the rails. Mandy Patinkin’s performance and the writing for the 9 ¾ court already have me more invested in this than I was in Memo 618.
Marissa tries yet again to wait for help to arrive, but Wackner insists that they keep things moving. She tries to stall and ends up referencing George Clooney. Wackner cuts through that, too—he hates speeches “unless I'm giving them, and even then I’m just trying to stall.” Then he holds up a sign that reads, “CUT THE SHIT” and the audience laughs. He says this isn’t the kind of court where you can just run out the clock. Kind of ridiculous that real court IS that kind of court, no? (And that’s why this is an effective device so far.) (I say so far because I have watched content from these writers for long enough to know that things that work in small doses or initially can go wildly off the rails.)
Marissa changes strategies and does what she does best: she goes on instinct and adjusts her strategy as she goes. She eventually catches the woman accusing her client of teaching socialism in a lie about Parasite. It’s very Legally Blonde and very smart of Marissa. And I’m rather proud of myself for seeing what Marissa was doing (getting the woman to commit to a time frame and then baiting her to talk about a moment that proved the time frame fake) before she revealed what she was doing.
Sarah Steele is so good in this scene. I love her smile when she realizes the woman took the bait, and that she reacts with “AHA!” instead of something more proper. This is pretty much the perfect court for Marissa.
Diane and Jay arrive; are confused.
Carmen leaves Rivi after quite a bit of time has passed, making Barry nervous. Carmen tells him very little and repeats that she sat, listened, and left. She told the translator to go fuck himself (almost in those words) so she’s gotta know that Barry will hear what happened from someone. She does not care. She lies to Barry like it’s nothing.
Diane does not understand the 9 ¾ court, nor does she understand why a non-lawyer like Marissa is arguing. She does not understand why losing in this venue would matter or why a lawyer she knows (ha, I looked him up to see if he’d been on Wife or Fight before, and he has... as a totally different character!) is there.
“Okay, I’m losing my mind. Look, this is not legal. We have got to get out of here,” Diane says. Toni, the client, wants to stay.
I don’t actually know the answer to this—would there be repercussions to someone who is a member of the bar participating in something like this? Everyone knows it’s not real or binding, so nothing is being misrepresented, but this FEELS illegal?
Toni notes that a lot of people suing her are there watching, so walking out or losing would look bad. She also likes Judge Wackner because he is “better than the judges in real court.”
“Diane, what is real?” the client asks when Diane points out again that this court is fake. The client’s spent 8 months on this case in limbo, so this feels like reality to her. Fair point.
Diane chats with the other lawyer and asks what he’s doing here. He says he’s getting paid—with business down and court dockets backlogged (how much would that affect a large firm that settles most cases out of court? I’m actually curious about this), it’s a good source of money.
Diane realizes it’s basically arbitration. Then says she doesn’t understand anything anymore. The other lawyer replies, “Sure you do. That’s why this is throwing you. Welcome to 2021.” Yup.
Diane goes with it. A former teacher is on the stand. He’s got a grudge and wants money, so he’s helping out. He tries to say something that is the most obvious hearsay ever... and Wackner has no problem with it. Marissa likes that.
Wackner basically says he’s fine with hearsay because he can use his brain to figure out what’s real and what’s fake, just like we all do every day. Crosstalk is also allowed.
Wackner also doesn’t allow for bullshit breaks where lawyers tell clients what to say, because he “likes the truths found in sudden utterances.” All his rules make a lot of sense. They are all also counter to every single sneaky legal strategy these characters tend to use.
Toni made a comment that she “couldn’t fall in love with anyone who voted for Trump.” That gives a point to the plaintiff. Diane notes that this belief is shared with most of the country, and Wackner asks her if she shares it. “I’m not the question,” Diane replies, because she definitely doesn’t want to talk about her husband who worked in the Trump administration.
Wackner flat out tells Diane that Marissa should argue instead of her. “Marissa is not a lawyer,” Diane tries to say. “Well, I’m not a judge!” Wackner responds. And that’s it for the day.
Diane asks Jay for intel, and then we get one of the most effective Jay scenes in a while—he bonds with the Copy Coop security guard, who only has good things to say about Wackner. I like how the writers use COVID in this episode—they treat it like it’s recent past (fingers crossed) and reference it when it makes sense, like how the courts are backlogged, or this guard was laid off.
The security guard notes that he thinks Wackner is building something good in his spare time. He also notes that Wackner is a big Grateful Dead fan.
Carmen takes it upon herself to visit someone else in prison to help Rivi. She points out they’re under surveillance and convinces this other dude to take the fall for Rivi so he can go free. It’s very smart. I assume this is all her own strategy, as we see her look up this other dude before she’s even met with Rivi, though it’s possible Rivi came up with some of it.
There is something about Carmen’s demeanor when she deals with clients that is very Alicia-like in interesting ways. She’s very direct and unflappable in a way that people seem to take to (remember how all the creeps loved Alicia?), and she only shows emotion when she decides to. The similarities stop there. Carmen doesn’t seem remorseful or conflicted (Alicia always did). Sociopathic definitely isn’t the right word for her, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it didn’t cross my mind. Carmen knows that her clients are bad guys. That doesn’t trouble her. And she doesn’t try to take the easy way out—she does more than she needs to. I don’t know what she’s really trying to do here, but I suspect she does.
Carmen is 28, just fyi.
Liz gets a call from Charles Lester. Obviously, Lester now works for Rivi, because Rivi is New Bishop. (Usually I’m a bit against saying any character is the new version of an old one, like how Lucca was not the new Kalinda (even if she was brought in to bring new energy to the space Kalidna occupied) or how Carmen is not the new Lucca (same), but I’m pretty comfortable saying Rivi is New Bishop. He’s not the same personality, but he... is New Bishop.)
Lester notes that Rivi only wants to meet with Carmen from now on. Liz does not understand this and she’s not thrilled with it. She notes that Carmen is a first year who has been there for two days, but she doesn’t want to lose Rivi’s business so she goes along with it. Was that Carmen’s endgame? Job security? Does she not care about the RL job and see a good opportunity to... just represent Rivi without a firm behind her? I can’t tell.
(This is where I could see this arc faltering. I get why Liz keeps Carmen on—she doesn’t want to lose the client—but I don’t really understand why Liz wants Rivi as a client. Losing Carmen who’s been there for two days and Rivi who she probably doesn’t want to represent seems like a fine outcome to me. And, beyond that, if Carmen doesn’t care about the firm and also doesn’t need them, what’s in it for her to stay? I don’t think she really cares that the firm would have more resources to use in defending Rivi. Like, why isn’t the outcome here just that Carmen teams up with Lester and leaves RL behind?)
Diane listens to the Grateful Dead and writes down lyrics she can use in court. Kurt gets home from work. Diane asks him if he thinks she should give up her name partnership since it’s a black firm. Kurt asks if she’s the best lawyer there. She says no, but she’s one of the best, and besides, it’s a bad look and she wants to do what’s right for the firm. “You and I disagree on so much. You obviously ask my opinion because you know that I will argue something you know you won’t,” Kurt says. This is a very good, and very accurate, response.
Diane keeps going, though. Kurt plays along and starts talking about identity politics. Diane starts debating back, ignoring that Kurt is not really wanting to play devil’s advocate. Kurt doesn’t give Diane an easy out and tells her she’s right—she should step aside. That’s not what she wanted to hear. Kurt laughs and then goes to take a shower.
Liz is eyeing Adrian’s office when Carmen walks up. She’s invited Carmen to talk to her. She asks her how things are going. Carmen just wants to know if she did something wrong. Carmen says she likes the firm and it’s great to be out of the legal clinics.
Liz shares the news that Rivi only wants Carmen going forward. Carmen is pleased and says that’s surprising... though she looks more pleased than surprised.
Liz suggests maintaining a professional distance, to which Carmen replies “I’m very professional.” “Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Liz tries to backtrack. “Is the firm dissatisfied with my work?” Carmen asks bluntly. Liz says no. “It’s my intention to treat all my clients like humans. Even the ones who might be murderers, or definitely are murderers. And I think Mr. Rivi might be responding to that because it’s something that he hasn’t received at this firm previously,” Carmen notes. This is QUITE the tone to take with your boss.
One question I have—and this is mostly inspired by the recap at I think Vulture?-- is to what extent Carmen knows what she’s doing. It seems like a lot. I can’t tell how much Carmen knows vs how much Carmen THINKS she knows. She’s definitely smart, and I don’t think she is an idealist (when she says her intention is to treat her clients like humans, she means that’s her strategy), but she is young and new to the law and only out for herself, which makes her vulnerable.
Liz does not take well to Carmen’s talk and notes she’s talking about her personal safety. Carmen thanks her and says she’d understand if Liz doesn’t want her on the case.
There is something a little unnerving about Carmen. She keeps saying things that are boldly inappropriate but masked by how professional and correct her arguments sound (like the line about treating clients like humans). And she has a way of gaining power over a conversation. Liz squirms way too much in that conversation and loses some of her control as a result.
I just need to know more about her!!! The fact that I can’t understand her makes her immediately interesting.
Diane and Liz interview Julius for Lucca’s position. They all know it would be a demotion for him, but they’re seriously considering it. I feel like this would look awful for the firm and they are going to handwave it anyway after a few lines about how bad it would look.
Diane quotes the Grateful Dead in court and it works. The other lawyer tries to quote songs too... it does not work.
Carmen gets Rivi a bunch of candy bars from the court vending machine so he can have a snack he enjoys. The security guard doesn’t want to let Rivi eat them, but Carmen is right that this is permissible. The guard smashes the bars in defeat. Carmen opens one for Rivi.
It is a little distracting to see the main characters pretend that COVID is in the past when the extras have masks, but honestly, that’s kind of what life is like right now?
Carmen zones out a little in court—not sure if she just does that or if she is trying to look unfamiliar with the rules so people will go easy on her/have low expectations. I think it’s a combination of both, considering that we’ve seen her laser-focus on things elsewhere in the episode AND she tells the judge it is her first day in court.
Court stuff happens; Carmen’s strategy works.
The judge tries to give Carmen advice and a warning. Liz is also there, watching, which is good because I was shocked anyone would let Carmen do this unsupervised.
Carmen is also kind of like if you removed all of Maia’s worst traits (her selfishness, her spoiled brat attitude, her sense of entitlement) and skipped right to her willingness to partner with Blum.
Liz and Carmen talk again, this time about the reputation of the firm. Liz notes that Carmen is clearly capable and reminds her sternly that she needs to conduct herself in a manner that does not put the firm at risk and that’s the only reminder she’s going to get. Carmen twirls a pen and stares at it instead of listening to Liz. She says she’s just listening like she’s perfectly innocent. It’s the right thing to say and, again, it’s SUPER UNNERVING.
“Wow. You really don’t give a shit what people think about you, do you?” Liz says in frustration. “I’m here to do a good job for my clients,” Carmen notes. Is she??? Does she just not care who she’s representing and want to do a good job, and that’s her whole motivation?? I would find that interesting but I need more to believe it. She’s so perplexing.
(Again, I don’t really get why Liz hasn’t fired her, because if she and Carmen keep having these interactions, Liz IS going to end up ceding all of her power and looking weak. But maybe Liz is as intrigued as I am.)
Liz also tells Carmen she’s going to be her mentor. Carmen says thanks and that she respected Liz’s father. Liz does NOT take that well. Audra’s reaction—a mix of shock, irritation, and confusion—is perfect here. I think Carmen is trying to say that she respected Carl Reddick—but she has no such respect for Liz. (It could also be about the sexual harassment, but I don’t think that’s public knowledge.)
I noticed earlier that the courtroom was #305 and was wondering why they chose that number (it’s similar to Courtroom 302, the book that inspired the bond court arc, which is why 305 stuck in my mind). I see now that the Copy Coop’s address is 305. Heh.
Turns out that the woman suing Toni is someone who would break COVID protocol and be generally terrible. I’m shocked.
Wackner decides to skip closing arguments and rule. He sides with Toni.
See, this is where this kind of thing is dangerous. Wackner is great and fair. But you can’t really replicate a system like this (though I also think this system would fail if replicated on too large of a scale; the reason it works is that everyone involved is buying into it and if it were to be corrupted no one would buy into it unless forced to—and if people are forced to buy into an extrajudicial system then that’s its own problem). What if some other judge were to just decide to skip closing arguments or decide suddenly a trial was over? That could be unfair in so many different ways.
After the resolution of the case there’s clapping and even Diane is surprised at how reasonable the verdict was.
Wackner then insists that everyone shake hands because “the thing we all crave most is respect and acknowledgement.” They also have to say, “I respect and I love you.” And they do! And no one even seems that unhappy with it Marissa and Toni are super into it.
And, someone in the gallery wants to get Marissa’s number because she did such a good job. Yep, sounds about right.
Diane fills Liz in, and Liz can’t believe it. Liz wants to hire Wackner (jokingly). Then she says she wants Julius since they know and trust him. Diane’s good with that, but she also chooses this moment to playfully let on that she knows Liz slept with Caleb. We’ve seen Diane observe Liz’s reaction to Caleb/mentions of Caleb all episode, and I don’t think it’s coincidental that Diane brings this up now, and in a friendly way. Diane doesn’t need to bring it up. I don’t think Diane needs the answer. I think she just wants to throw Liz off without making it obvious that’s what she’s doing.
I really, really hate to say it, because my whole thing about this season is wanting to see Liz be a great manager, but I don’t... actually think... Liz is a great manager? She’s second-guessing herself far too much. She’s more thrown in this scene than Carmen, who has like two days of experience, is by anything she encounters. And worse, she doesn’t hide it when she’s thrown. I think Liz is very smart and capable, but this episode is a pretty good case for why she might not be able to manage alone.
I know I’ve said that I want to see Liz manage and think she’d be good at it. I still think she could be. But I’ve also tended to think that Liz is a good manager and Adrian talks down at her, and I’ve dismissed some of her less strategic ideas as the fault of the Adrian/Liz dynamic. But nothing in this episode seems out of character, so now I’m less sure. (And to be clear, Liz not being a great manager isn’t a problem with the show, it’s actually pretty interesting to me.)
(Here are some of the things Liz has done in this episode alone that she needs to stop doing to be more effective: 1) Everything about her reaction to Caleb (and the fact she slept with him-- and yes I would, and did, say this about Will too so this is not a double standard!) 2) Not having a clear plan when meeting with the partners, even though she—and not Diane—is the one who is seen as having power. 3) Not being able to hold her own nearly as well as she should be able to with Carmen. I’m curious to see how the other partners hold up, and in fairness to Liz, I may be able to make this criticism of any character who doesn’t just immediately fire Carmen.)
And, I say all of this now because Diane in this scene is SO smart and SO strategic. She mentions Caleb to disarm Liz, then casually notes that she thinks Liz should take the corner office since it’s a black firm.
Liz isn’t sure if she should thank Diane for that (it is a little patronizing) but she does anyway.
Diane has another “last thing” to say, and it’s that she wants to bring on another partner, a black one. She wants to be in the discussion and to retain a name partner position. Liz says yes, as long as she has any power over the decision. This is a very smart move for Diane. It’s a compromise that’s to her benefit, and she makes the request of Liz at exactly the right time. I think Diane likes Liz as a person and wants to work with her, but she’s definitely buttering her up. This is kind of like an audition to show Liz that she should stick with Diane—Diane will be friendly with her! Diane won’t judge (but definitely knows about!) her indiscretions. Diane is reasonable and not power-hungry! Diane is understanding!
(And again, to be clear, I don’t think Liz is falling for Diane’s trap or anything. If Diane is smart enough to plan all this out, Diane is absolutely someone you’d want to keep on as a name partner. It’s just that Diane showing how smart she is, is a pretty stark contrast to Liz getting disrespected by a first-year associate.)
(And, because I feel like I'm being quite harsh on Liz, I don’t think Liz has handled the Carmen situation badly... yet. I just see signs that Carmen is able to shift the balance of power in her favor without really trying, and that Liz is getting flustered. I think Liz mentioning the mentorship is a way of Liz asserting power, and I think/hope that now that Liz knows the situation, she will try to regain control. And, I could very easily see this same plot happening but with Diane—it's just that there are a few other plots where Liz seems flustered in this episode alone, so it feels like a pattern. I’ll be looking out for more of this.)
Marissa and Carmen, both with large folders of casework, get in an elevator together. “So. I guess it begins,” Marissa says as the episode ends. I very much want to see more of Marissa and Carmen interacting. Mostly, I just want to see what Carmen does when she’s in situations that aren’t about representing a client or defending her work. I know what type of lawyer and employee she is, but who is she as a person?
Wow, this might be the most I’ve written about characters on TGF—as opposed to plots—in quite a while. I think that’s what has me so excited about this season. Carmen is interesting as a character because she’s so unique (or, perhaps, because she feels so much like a part of this universe yet so little like any other character—that's why I keep trying to compare her to others and find out where to place her). The 9 ¾ court is interesting because Wackner is so grounded, because it challenges Diane’s sense of reality in a way that’s new and interesting (this whole series is about making reality seem like it’s shifting under your feet; this is a new take on a familiar theme), and because it is a great match for Marissa’s personality and will give her a lot of opportunities for growth. It seems like we’re heading for some interesting material with Diane and Kurt, and there’s been a little bit of a tense undercurrent in their interactions in these first two episodes—I truly can’t tell if it’s supposed to be part of their banter or if there are mounting frustrations; I think the former but could see it being the latter. And, as I’d hoped, Liz is getting a lot more material.
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oh no... i heard that there would be a new the man who fell to earth movie or series (can't remember which it was) and got really excited because i love the novel as well and it would be so cool to see an accurate adaption. i haven't seen the trailer but i take your word for it not looking great in terms of sticking to the original plot.
don't get me wrong tho i do appreciate the 1976 movie. i mean i guess it has some artistic value (and bowie) 😅 but like i said i'd love to see an accurate adaption because the novel is so great and because it is quite short there would be no need to leave things out like in most book to movie adaptions.
btw have you heard of the man who fell to earth series they did in the 80's? the entire pilot episode is on youtube and i tried to watch it but didn't get too far because it was so bad. i'm still planning to watch the whole thing some day but i need to gather some strength first. 😂😂
It is so nice to finally find someone who's read the book. Also, this is gonna be like an essay length response because I can talk forever on this topic
I think the new movie/series/whatever definitely has a lot of potential but only if you view it without trying to compare it to the original movie and/or novel and just see it as a piece of stand alone media (which is impossible for me to do so I probably won't watch it cause it'll just make me mad ). I thought the design for the Antheans looked really cool, even though it wasn't totally accurate. And I'm sure the visuals will be rad the actors will probably do a decent job. For the plot it seems like it's going to be more about saving Earth from political drama and less about building a spacecraft to save the remaining Antheans (that might not be right but it's the impression I got from the trailer). And it seemed like they combined Nathan Bryce and Betty-Jo's characters into one... like why? And she has a daughter for some reason... also why? I know you can't really judge anything based off of two minutes of clips but from what I saw I don't have a high hopes for it.
Now when it comes to the Bowie version, the thing that disappoints me most about it is that they literally got The David Bowie - the best possible role for Thomas Jerome Newton (other than the hair color and height, the descriptions of him in the book fit Bowie EXACTLY) - and yet they STILL managed to ruin it. If the script had been decent it could have been an excellent film but no they had to change the story line up, add a pointless romance (despite the fact that Newton literally has a wife), and like five unnecessary sex scenes that add absolutely nothing. They made Nathan Bryce into an asshole perv, they made Betty Jo into Mary Lou, who is arguably the most insufferable character I've ever had the displeasure of encountering in a movie. However, that being said there are quite a few good parts. The scene where Newton smacks the tray of cookies is hilarious even though it's probably not meant to be. The Anthean costume design is absolutely rad as fuck. The scene where Newton reveals his alien form to Mary Lou is great and the one time where I can compliment Candy Clark's acting. The scene where the song Try To Remember plays is my favorite part of the whole thing. But all in all I honestly hate that movie.
And I have heard of the 80s one! But I didn't know it was a series, I thought it was a film. When I looked for it a few years ago I could never find anything but I looked up the plot on wikipedia, saw that they changed all of the characters names for no reason, and decided it probably wasn't worth finding to watch.
I could go on forever about this but I'll stop. Thank you for giving me an excuse to rant about it though 😂
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So, I initially had a post apologizing for any misunderstandings involved in the @swearyshera “drama.” Trying to allow for some benefit of the doubt that - well, not Anon, but anyone else mighty have taken our discussion as “bullying,” and to compliment the Sweary She Ra creator on being mature enough to immediately recognize our actual intentions.
I definitely stand by the last point; their reply to the Anon ask is one if the funniest things I read all yesterday. 😊
As I was reading through the posts, however, I realized that no, there is no benefit of the doubt, reading “bullying” in takes deliberate effort.
So, instead, I’ll share the snarkier remarks I was initially going to hide under a cut.
Identifying us as “Entrapdaks” is hilarious on observation. Because none of us brought the ship up??? You’d have to either be lurking our discussions, actively search the posters to discover the mutual link, or assume every “Catra Anti” is an Entrapdak. And the last is pure Glitradora etc Catra exhausted fans erasure! (last point only for humor, only disrespect meant is directed specifically to people that assume liking Hordaks means you have to hate Catra, and that both points make you a bad person)
Gotta also love how completely misleading the Anon ask was as well, focusing on “The Entrapdaks are bullies” without what we were actually discussing - to the point where @lisshstuff assuming we were complaining about the portrayal of the ship in the strip was the most logical assumption. Instead of, you know, any form of actual reality.
With one exception, most discussions specific to the Sweary She Ra strip were in relation to the level of toxicity Catra was displaying. So, saying the creator writes Catra as toxic means we’re “bullying”? Not only is that hilarious at every point given the facts (as @lisshstuff pointed out they are definitely exploring Catra’s toxic traits), but given the above shouldn’t that mean we like the creator for hating on Catra?? (btw, the one exception did a good job, I think, of clarifying “if they’re going in this direction, I don’t like it, but neh” and not aggressive against the creator)
So, the reason most of us on this side of the fandom would be burnt out on Catra is a direct result of specific fans (the small but very vocal minority) attacking us over not having Catra as our favorite using the exact toxic behaviors Catra showed on screen in the series. It really forced us into associating “Catra” with “toxic personal attacks.” In that light, Anon taking our discussion of Catra projecting her own negative viewpoints on to Adora and turning that into “bully behind [someone’s] back” by “tattling” on us instead of actually confronting any of us hateful people - is utterly hilarious.
#anti drama#yeah i can be roasted for this#but anyone sane?#find any lies#i triple dog dare you#the pot calling out the kettle#is my absolute fav#just ‘fiftieth nine verse same as the first’
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Tagged by @ongreenergrasses, thank you!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
Way over 300! Tho it feels like it's been at 300sth so long by now, it'll be weird to look at once it hits 400 :D
Btw, funny how this tag meme asks for so much stuff that can be looked up by just... looking at my Ao3... without asking for any commentary by me? Lol
Anyhow, rest under the readmore bc this is 20 questions and Long!
Personal post - do not reblog
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
995596 - just a few more ficlets or 1 longer fic, and I've got a Million! Hey, maybe I should try to write one with... 4404? (I'd need to ask a calculator xD) words exactly... not rly a hardship with how many drabble exercises (exact wordcounts, 100 is the most used, I also do 200, 500, longest was 10000 exactly lol) I've already done... we'll see!
Over 400k for this year alone, and over half of that is my actual writing (not translations etc), I'm so proud! Last year I only barely hit 200k and that included a lot of translating work
3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Again, one could look this up in my works filtered - sorted by kudos? But all three of my incubus!jaskier witcher series are in it, part 2 of the series is highest with 1091 kudos, then a Venom halloween oneshot, and 'Belonging', a fluffy snake-crowley piece from my ineffable spouses series (yes, sth with under 1k words - 666 to be exact - is in the top 5... my poor longfics lol)
4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
...I try to? But atm I have 202 unanswered (and I always click 'mark read' on replies so these are all comments on my own fic) even tho I told myself I'd not let it get past 200, and now I'm doing a tag meme instead of replying to anything so ummmm
Edit: 203 unread now
But I do love love love all the comments I get! And while atm it's still semi-manageable, if it ever gets to the point where I really can't manage to reply to everyone cause it's too much, i'd rly take that as a compliment lol :D I'd still try to reply to the longer and/or more thought through comments tho :)
5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
*thinks* I have an MCD fic? But not only is that very much a case of ~posting a draft version that's barely in complete sentences insgead of taking the time to turn it into a real longfic~, I also just killed off the mlm couple I only semi care about and left the wlw couple with a happy/hopeful (rly don't remember) ending, so... hm idk whether that counts for angsty ending
Apart from that... I dunno, I just prefer my babies to be happy and fluffy? *.* i remember a mirror milippa in the mirrorverse one where in the end Michael is worried about lying to Philippa about her identity... there are some angsty TOG and Gomens ones but I think they end happy-ish (my memory is. Bad. but looking through my 'angst' tag I just saw a lot of h/c and 'angst with a happy ending')
6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?
They're all happy???!?
7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?
Ahahahahahhahahaahaha
Check this out
I need you to know that all the works in that collection take part in the same universe (or rather, multiverse), and are alltogether just scratching the surface of my gigantic headcanon multiverse that I've been building in my mind since I was like 10
Actual crossovers other than that I don't remember writing
8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Yeh but I only remember clicking 'delete comment', as it should be
Recently I've just gotten a bunch of 'you Need to continue this' and 'omg why isn't there more' or 'this shouldn't end' type comments, not hate, probably not meant maliciously, but So Annoying (maybe espesh bc I don't want to just hit delete on these, but I also don't want to pretend it's fine, but I also don't have the energy for a fight, and trying to explain why that behaviour is entitled and annoying and that I write what I want to write and nice comments should praise what I actually have written, and hoping that they understand and don't get mad is... hard.)
9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?
Check out my rated E and rated M in my works
Mostly femslash lately, but I did also write other smut in the past
Most is a bit dominant/submissive play, but I do also like good fluffy smut with feelings! Best in combo, really :D
10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not in the sense of pretending someone else wrote it (that i know of), but posted to other sites without my permission - writing 'don't repost to other sites' etc did Not help, they even copied those tags lol, so I just let it be, choosing my battles wisely etcetc, I'd prefer for my fic not to be cross-posted by others bc then I can't edit or otherwise influence the fic anymore and don't see everyone's reactions to it, but as long as it's not someone pretending they wrote it, I only semi care, not enough to fight it tbh
PSA: I Only post fics to Ao3 (and WIPs/prompt fills to tumblr&discord at times), if you see them somewhere else that's Not Me and you'd do me a favour by checking them out on ao3 and kudosing&commenting there instead :)
11. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Yup, one to Russian a while back, a floreleine (Gunpowder Milkshake) one to Korean just today actually, and I translated a bunch to German myself
12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
I made a TOG fic together with @cinnamonplums, well mostly I wrote and she made the art :D
Trying to remember whether I ever actually co-wrote anything... don't think so?
13. What’s your all time favorite ship?
Don't make me choose!!!
Atm Milippa is OTP bc I'm busy writing them for @discoveryfemslashfortnight (this is not a post to reblog for the fortnight), but I'm also still rly into Floreleine, Bering&Wells and Andromaquynh and Andronilynh, and I read a lot of Mirandy lately
All-time favs I'm not rly active in atm but will always be dear to me are the ineffable spouses, clintcoulson, heistwives, gosh so many more I'll stop here tho xD
14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
A Heistwives Kinda Job immediately comes to mind
I also rly want to finish at least one cohesive original-ish storyline for the lverse that I already linked for the crossover question above, but I just have so much backstory (it's been over 10 years!!!) and it's... hard...
And everything else that's still WIP and untouched for more than a few months will probably have the same fate lol
Also have a few that haven't even seen the light of day at all, most recent a Mirandy ~what if Andy had been pregnant when Miranda hired her and how would it change the entire storyline~ bit - I wrote it in bulletpoints in one go as quickly as I could, I know I had the finished product in my mind, I don't remember anything now and don't feel like going through the bulletpoints painstakenly filling in the blanks
15. What are your writing strengths?
Writing one-shots quickly in one go
16. What are your writing weaknesses?
Forgetting everything about a fic if I leave it in a draft for a second too long
17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
There are many ways to go about it, and I think they all work (depending on the fic and the length and relevance of the dialogue)
I tend to leave single sentences as is, and for longer and important sequences use cursive and 'they said in xylanguage'.
18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?
The Hobbit apparently? I remember thinking that fic was so long lol, it's 3k
19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?
Kat/Ana from Reef Break, they have Such Shippable Chemistry, and it would totally fit Kat's player personality to bang both siblings (she's canonically friends with benefits with Ana's half-brother)... but the ship has one (1!) fic on Ao3 *cries*
20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
TOG Andromaquynh longfic In Your Stead has had the title since last year and probably for a while to come! I loved the story idea so much I really worked with several drafts and only! worked on that fic until it was finished so I wouldn't get distracted & forget about it, and the result was wonderful.
Tagging, if you want to do it, @sarah-fiers @purlturtle @cookie-sheet-toboggan @ussjellyfish @onaperduamedee @startrekgeorgiouery @rosalie-starfall @lonely-night @banashee @xvnot15 and everyone else who sees this
Questions to copy:
1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? 5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? 6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? 7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written? 8. Have you ever received hate on a fic? 9. Do you write smut? If so what kind? 10. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 11. Have you ever had a fic translated? 12. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 13. What’s your all time favorite ship? 14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? 15. What are your writing strengths? 16. What are your writing weaknesses? 17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? 18. What was the first fandom you wrote for? 19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? 20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
#tagging meme#tagged#mine#ongreenergrasses#ao3 tag#ao3 link#lilolilyrae#sept'21#personal#Personal 2021#28.09.21
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