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omegatheunknown · 3 years

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AEW Double or Nothing 2021

In which the spirit of WCW is alive in confusing and delightful ways and we are left to parse whether overbooking and extracurriculars are offset by having actually very good wrestling happening at the same time.

- Lessons learned from Revolution on the production side? Maybe just cool it on pyro, though the rappelling adventure in the Stadium Stampede showed some of that now-characteristic 'trust us it'll look better on TV' flair. Hot crowd tends to paper over most woes, and the crowd was pretty hot. My one gripe is that the casino theme is hanging around like yesterday's takeout containers. Nothing wrong with clinging to a theme, I just think it's time for season 2. My suggestion? Under the Sea.

*Pre-Card Serena Deeb (C) v Riho for the NWA Women's Championship (***1/2) - Serena Deeb's star has finally risen. She's a remarkably consistent technician and she can get a match out of anyone at this point. She's working at the level of Mercedes Martinez or Madison Eagles at this point, it's amazing that she was overlooked or considered fit only to be a coach for so long. With the NWA belt she has this new swagger, she's basically everything Tessa Blanchard might bring to the table with none of the downsides (Serena has a lot of friends and seems like a lovely person, even!) - Riho's back and here to stay. Her time in Stardom didn't do much for my evaluation of her, which is that there are many better wrestlers that would be better representatives of the joshi style and she's merely pretty good. - The match was very good. Serena showcased a champion's aggression against a sympathetic Riho, they really work well against each other, Deeb's technical prowess against Riho's flexibility led to a very dynamic finish.

*Main Card Hangman Adam Page v Brian Cage (***1/2) - Here the shenanigans start. Brian Cage is on Team Taz, Team Taz has nothing else much to do tonight, so why wouldn't Team Taz flex their muscles, bait us with HOOK, etc? (Because it would be nice to have some variety in the card in terms of a match where one competitor stands across from another competitor?) - Hangman is (checking notes) yeah, still over as fuck, as befits the Anxious Millennial Cowboy. Cage terrifies me, he's a child's drawing of a body builder. He do be very agile for a man of his immense musculature tho. They match up well, Page is biggish for a flyer, Cage loves to play catch. Nothing much to write home about, other than Hangman's beautiful moonsault to the floor and what was overall a very good curtain jerker. - Okay fine, I am curious about Cage's reluctance to lean on the goons, Starks can't come back soon enough.

The Young Bucks v Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (***) - I will not be referring to Mox & Eddie as (The) Wild Things because it gives me 'he calls it the wacky line' flashbacks for some reason. - The Bucks have to cheat and abuse Rick Knox's attention span constantly to be on even footing with Mox & Eddie, which is a clever sort of thing that gets washed out by the appearance of LG and Karl Anderson, which again, is cool in a vacuum but was the story of the evening. - Pace was weird - repetitive in eliminating Eddie, then Mox fights back, failed hope spot, Bucks team up, Eddie saves x2/3 in a row. - Mox, unlike Cody (in so many ways,) will probably actually be taking some time off with Renee, which is the kind of thing I would prefer not to know in terms of booking, but they really uh, put him down on the canvas here, and it felt pretty finale-esque.

Casino Battle Royale (n/r, but on the balance pro) - Any changes to the theme of the PPV would likely include changing up the nonsense suit format of these largely joyless slogs. - Obviously anticipating a NJPW talent, or... I dunno, actually -- Lio Rush was a surprise. Got in a quick demonstration of his otherworldly quickness, and you know what, there's probably a fun place for him in AEW. He'll need some friends, of course, feel like Team Taz might fit his temperament. I wonder if he was aware of the Mark Henry news... - Christian does not need to win this kind of match to get a title shot, obviously, but that said it was super lovely to use him to give Jungle Boy the shine. Jungle Boy would be a license to print money if he was even as big as Hangman. - Could register some continued griping about how Penta is not getting his due in AEW but he also literally was dressed as the Joker so I'm low on sympathy on this one particular night.

Anthony Ogogo v Cody Rhodes (*) - I did not like this. It's hard for me to read jingoism as a face move to begin with, and Cody's was egregiously tone deaf and kinda silly yet delivered without a trace of irony because Cody doesn't do irony on purpose, ridiculous neck tattoo aside. - Great argument to be made that Ogogo just isn't experienced enough to be winning matches against Cody. But like, what are we doing here? Cody needs to take some time off, maybe. I thought that's what was happening when he had his mini feud with Penta that really just ended in quick decisive Cody win. I though maybe Cody was being turned when QT and The Factory snapped-- sure, they're a group of impotent player 2s, but Cody is an out of touch elitist with a callous and manipulative streak. Alas, also no. America #1. - Cody is approximately 8 times as tough as Billy Gunn based on his weathering of the one punch man. Match ran a bit long given how little there was to go on. Cody gigged? Quelle surprise. - Cody had the best match on the card like, 3 out of the first 4 AEW events or something, and that was all booking and storytelling. I do hope Cody follows Moxley's lead into a little sabbatical.

Miro (C) v Lance Archer for the TNT Championship (**1/2) - Card's hossiest hoss match, a quick burst reminiscent of a car wreck. Absolutely hit on what it should've hit on but a little slow moving considering it went all of 10 minutes. - I will not complain about Jake the Snake, who I love. And also the gimmick spot, with Miro very astutely yeeting what was definitely a snake in a bag (surely.) back down the tunnel.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD v Hikaru Shida (C) for the AEW Women's Championship (***) - Picked up a lot of steam toward the end but seemed a little toothless (heh) until the last five. - Shida 'deserved' some more time as champion in front of crowds but also it's time to let heel Britt reach her peak, I can't even imagine how obnoxious she can be as the champ, it's going to be great.

Sting & Darby Allin v Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky (***1/2) - Such is the power of STING that I feel like I might be underrating this match... I mean it was an okay match about very simply getting some revenge and the sixty year old man did a very subdued Code Red and a slightly less subdued dive. He's also Sting. They missed an opportunity in calling it the 'Scorpio' Death Drop, but the main takeaway here is you see something like this where it's The Icon and you start to understand why WWE trots out their legends to come out of incredibly still kick ass without bending their knees. - The difference, I guess, is that Sting is absolutely being used to build up Darby Allin, whereas it's not like the fed brought back Goldberg and his attendant aura to pump up... anyone but Goldberg?

Kenny Omega (C) v PAC v Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Championship (****) - Off the top I have to say I'm very sad that the rest of the Galaxy's Greatest Friends were seen only very briefly, nice of them to bring OC's backpack. - Also have to point out that PAC's promo featured one of my favourite jokes, that Kenny must be short for Kenneth as a sort of legal/birth name belonging to a professional wrestler. (See also: Samoa Joseph) - And Mr Cassidy certainly did try in this match, ragdoll sells and all. Kenneth and PAC are absurd talents who bring aerial, power and technical maneuvers in equal measure and OC is not doing any of those on the same level, but he picked his spots, showed his genre savvy and hung in there to the point that he wasn't just the fall guy. - The extracurriculars continue in a match that was already a little overboard for silliness due to asymmetry... I think if you're the Invisible Hand it would've made sense to save up all your tricks for this match, but who am I to question the golden goose? - Sure, Kenny and Don ran the classic heel manager interference spot and taking out the ref in desperation spot but having to take out the ref because PAC wouldn't break the hold is fun, as is the stupid/inspired sense in running the 'smash opponent with the belt' spot four times so as none of your heavy gold prizes feel left out. (I love that AAA Mega Championship, they weren't on TV so we get to see it?) - "Fuck You, Don," indeed.

The Inner Circle v The Pinnacle in 'Stadium Stampede II' (***1/2) - This one had to grow on me for two reasons, first that it's usually pretty unforgivable to co-opt the main event spot from the championship match, and second to law of diminishing returns on dumb gimmick matches. - But grow it did. There's a full on meat locker? Commentary will refer to a cardboard cut-out of Shahid Khan as Tony Khan's father (that's canon now,) and Jericho will lovingly pat it? Konnan happened to be the DJ at whatever night club there is a Jaguar Stadium? Spears surrounds himself dramatically with chairs and his hoisted by his own petard? - Ultimately it comes down to letting Sammy shine. His involvement with the Inner Circle has sometimes come at the cost of being able to showcase that prior to AEW he was an ascendant talent in PWG, on his way to Ricochet level feats of acrobatic excess. Still feel like Sammy could've/should've been the one tossed off the cage a few weeks ago, but even better is being the guy getting the pin in the ring.

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coffeebeannate · 3 years

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The Old Guard: Vol 2-Force Multiplied (Summary &Overview)

I’d been meaning to make this post for a while, and kept forgetting. Because I know there are those who are curious about the comics and not sure about reading them, or can’t read them, would rather opt out etc. So I’ve put together a basic summary and breakdown of what happens within the issue. I’ll include some information about the characters, some timelines (as I can, we know what Greg thinks of timelines) and mostly keep it uncommented until my own general thoughts at the end.

The movie mostly follows the first comic almost completely, and bits of the second, so I’ve not created a summary of the first volume.

Under a cut, includes images and information. If you want a TL’DR, skip to ‘Final Thoughts’ at the end. Long post.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Mentions of Human Trafficking, Slavery, Torture (This one I need some clarification on, gonna use the word just in case but..basically that’s what it is)

**SPOILERS**

Credits: The Old Guard Vol 2 Force Multiplied is created by writer Greg Rucka and aritst Leandro Fernandez. Colouring by Daniele Miwa. Letters by Jodi Wynne. Publication Design by Eric Trautmann. Edited by Alejandro Arbonna. Published by Image Comics. Graphic Novel Published 2020. USA.

Characters and Settings

Characters are the same from volume one. So we still have Andy, Joe, Nicky, Booker, and Nile. As well as more about Lykon and Noriko (she’s not Quynh in the comics, she’s Noriko). There’s more Copley too.

Additional/new characters are FBI Agent Mustafa King (also called Moose) and people who work for Noriko *none are named*.

Setting is California, USA and historical settings for the flashbacks we have for Andy. Summary and Overview (Basically the story overall, broken down, with my own commentary)

We open here, with a flashback of Andy’s earliest life. It’s a tiny bit vague, but provides the general idea.

I believe Andy is mortal here, but I’m not 100% sure. I believe she’s providing the narration to her first death. Which comes as the result of being betrayed in battle.

(Much of the stories focus is on Andy. I’ve noted it before, but Andy is our narrator, and a lot of the story is told via her flashbacks, over narration and POV. The comics really are Andy’s story, with the cast supporting around her.

We cut to modern day, of Andy, Nile. Nicky and Joe doing a job in California, USA. I believe the whole job revolves around taking down human traffickers, and in a couple parts. The job at the beginning has a shoot-out during the day, a car chase and then a stealth take down on a dock and shipping warehouse at night.

I just thought Andy looked cool here. Moving on.

Nile and Andy have a cool sportscar. Joe and Nicky have this very stylish *coughs* but exceptionally practical large van.

After the four of them take care of their day business, we cut to Booker being confronted in Paris by Noriko. Now the scene presented in the comics here is close to what we see at the end of the movie. Except this time it’s at night, and Noriko essentially kidnaps Booker. Since she wants to know where the others are, and Booker won’t tell her.

I’ll cut right to the chase. She uh. She tends to torture him. She’s got him on a heavy chain with a metal collar, and at one point drowns him over and over again to get him to talk. He never does, but she keeps him around anyway.

Around this time Agent King (Moose) appears, and then manages to come across Nile. Which leads to the infamous ‘stew of romance’ scene.

However. while Nicky and Joe are amused (and making bets on him asking her out).. (I love them)

Andy is not amused at all and loses her goddamned mind over it. To which she threatens to..spank Nile (????????) and Nicky and Joe basically tell her to calm down. (Andy’s worried that Nile befriending a mortal is going to end badly, and Nicky and Joe remind her that even if it does, they can’t just stop her. And that some things, Nile has to learn and adjust to herself. Nile is smart, and she’ll come to her own conclusions in time. Interfering isn’t right.

(They all look so sad in the bottom there, help me)

After this is the night mission at the warehouse docks.

Another shot I just thought was cool. Nicky’s sniping shots are done really well.

After they finish, Noriko comes out of the actual blue to get them. Or well..attack them. Joe’s the first one to greet her, and all she does is comment about how he (Yusuf) hasn’t changed and shoots him. She shoots Nile and Andy as well. After both of them recover, Andy and Noriko start fighting, and Nicky puts a stop to it by shooting them both.

(It’s after Andy see’s Noriko that we get the first flashback from Andy to the ships, the same storm that ended up throwing Noriko overboard all those centuries ago and causing her time at sea).

After Noriko and Andy revive from Nicky’s snipe shot, they split, leading us into the next day where Copley and Agent King (Moose, our new character) are surveying the damage at the warehouse and trying to decide what went down.

Copley already knows it’s the Guard, and is trying to explain this to Moose. I do kind of like this moment, where Copley comments to himself about Nicky being a good shot.

Hey-credit where credit is due and all.

Shortly after this, Copley falls on Nicky and Joe’s radar. And they quickly accost him at night. Which is far more satisfying than I thought it would be. A lot of the outcome with Copley and them does feel pretty good.

(Nicky’s scary face aside, I kind of love this shot, and this moment)

They don’t beat around the bush nor give him much leeway. They let him know-without preamble, that they’re pissed and his continued existence is on their good graces unless he explains himself.

I have actually discussed this before (here-also has extra screencaps) so I won’t go too hard in detail on it. But I do love these scenes a lot. I like that they’re allowed to be as fuming angry as they have every right to be, and that they present Copley with no bullshit. Nicky and Joe are completely on the same page. And Copley is made aware of where he stands very quickly. This is where Copley presents them with the information he’d collected in his little self driven conspiracy adventure about them, and then drops the bomb that he knows Noriko has Booker.

Around this time, Andy has more flashbacks of Lykon and her old life..including participating in slave trading of humans. (Which comes back near the end) she also meets up with Norkio. Noriko’s main belief system at present is that, they are above humans *mortals* and there is no reason to behave otherwise. They have no need to stay on the same level as mortals when they’re not.

Also around this time Nile hooks up with Agent King.

Copley gives the information about how to track Booker and Noriko to a boat that Noriko is keeping him on and Andy and Nile join them up in the nick of time. This is also where Copley informs them about how Noriko has gotten her money-organized crime..and basically whatever she can get her hands on. Which is also how Noriko has her own personal army.

‘Fancy’ Joe please.

And for whatever reason, Copley seems to think ‘undercover/distracting’ means..being as stereotypically British as possible?

Though I’ll be honest, I mostly post this cap for how badass Nicky looks.

So! Everything culminates in the boat battle, and at the end, they get Booker back, and handle Noriko. Everyone goes back to a hotel to celebrate, and things are fine until Nile asks Andy about something Noriko had told her. She’d at one point accosted Nile, and told her to ask Andy about “Law 282″ which Andy reveals is the Code of Hammurabi. Which is how they all find out about Andy’s participation in slave trades. slavery etc. Back in her more..ancient warrior days. Nile, and the others are pretty appalled and Andy has a bit of a mental breakdown and explains that she can’t carry on anymore. She won’t. She can’t keep fighting, she can’t keep doing this. Which is when Nile tells them that they have to go.

They don’t really want to leave her, and ask her repeatedly to come with them-but she won’t. So they leave, even though Andy says she doesn’t want to be alone, they leave. (This is where I say, unless they physically forced Andy to come I don’t personally see what else they could have done without Andy fighting them, and probably figure that she’ll come around).

Next morning:

I’m not sure what ‘others’ Noriko is referring to here, but I personally think she set a lot of this up. She gave Nile that law to give back on purpose. I do wonder if it was part of a larger scheme on her end to alienate Andy from her team and swoop in, but I have no true proof of this beyond theory.

So that’s the basic summary of what happens.

Other Points:

Noriko vs Quynh

Noriko is very very much NOT Quynh, and I don’t believe the movie is going to act as such either. I’ve seen some *legitimate* concerns with having Quynh portrayed within the movie as she is in the comics, but given the complete difference between the tone of the movies, and the comics, I think that they’ve already set it up to be different. Personally, I’m not too concerned. I have a lot of faith in Gina Prince-Bythewood, and I can already sense where they’re probably going to make alterations.

Andy/Being Abandoned

Andy’s story has some issues. It’s not..great. It is legitimately hard to reconcile the Andy we know with her past, but I don’t see the ending as the team ‘abandoning’ her to the degree it’s presented. I think they FULLY intended to give her some time to cool off and get their bearings themselves, then come back for her. She keeps telling them she won’t come, but they absolutely do try. And everyone knows that nobody forces Andy to do anything Andy doesn’t want to do.

I mean, Idk, but these just..don’t look to be the faces of people who willingly want to leave her behind.

Just Because:

Nicky and Joe looking over Copley’s work. It’s sweet. Feat WWII Joe.

Final Thoughts

There are-without a single doubt, issues with the comics. I will never deny that. I do enjoy reading them, and I enjoy the dialogue a lot. (And Miwa’s absolutely incredible colouring). I think that there’s a definite difference in tone to them and that there are places where things could be expanded upon overall.

The comics are, as I’ve said before-Andy’s story. The other characters very much exist in support of her, and do not do a lot separately themselves. The movie is definitely more..family with them? Everyone’s personality in the comics is harsher overall. A little bit more dry and dangerous. There’s definitely less comradery with the team too and way less of a family vibe.

As characters, Nicky and Joe are very very similar to their movie counterparts, and I think they are written quite well. They seem to make decisions about what to do together, always appear on the same page *when we see them* and follow the same wavelength We get the sense that they’re completely in-sync. I also do like *though I did say it before* that they’re allowed to have the appropriate reactions and some resolution of what happened to them in Vol 1.

Nile still doesn’t feel as fleshed-out as she could be, so I’m really glad the movie put way more emphasis on her.

There’s some truly strong points in the dialogue-and I personally think dialogue and writing is one of Rucka’s strong points as a writer. Even if I still want to beg him to hire any type of historian whatsoever..and someone who can do math.

I sympathize with the math bit, this is why a helper would be good.

I’m going to wrap it up here, because holy moley this got LONG. If you’ve made it to the end, hi! Feel free to message me with any questions.

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watch-grok-brainrot · 4 years

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MDZS Novel Translation: Lotus Pod Extra Part 1 (English Only)

So... a while back, I causally mentioned to @merelhyn that i wanted to translate something just to see how I liked it. She asked me if i had something in mind. When I told her no, she basically jumped on this and said I should translate this. Had it not be over the interwebs, she would’ve waved giant rainbow neon flags and signs to guide me towards this. So... yeah. If you like it, thank her. Also, she did a once-over for me and caught some mistakes. so thank her for that too! ^_^

I’ll also be posting the version of the document with the chinese and my commentary as a separate post... because i think that’s probably more valuable/interesting to see where my brain was and where this amateur translator is probably failing?

[edit: the rambling commentary version should be linked in the comments]

Anyway, without further ado...

Yunmeng Lotus Pier.

Outside ShiJianTang (Sword Testing Hall) were the summer cicadas’ noisy calls; inside ShiJianTang was the unbearable sight of bodies strewn across the ground.

Over a dozen youths with bare chests stuck themselves onto ShiJianTang’s hardwood floor, periodically flipping themselves over, as if they were over a dozen sizzling JianBing (Fried Bread), letting out mutterings of the dying.

“Hot……”

“Dead…… ”

Wei Wuxian thought blearily to himself with barely open eyes, “If only it could be as cool here as it is in Cloud Recesses.”

The hardwood flooring under him was once again warmed by his body heat, so he flipped over. Coincidentally, Jiang Cheng also flipped over, the two brushed against each other, arm and leg making contact. Wei Wuxian immediately said, “Jiang Cheng, move your arm, you’re as hot as a coal.”

Jiang Cheng said, “You move your leg.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Arms are lighter than legs, me moving my leg takes more effort. It’s better for you to move your arm.”

Jiang Cheng became angry: “Wei Wuxian, I’m warning you to not go overboard. Shut your mouth and don’t speak. The more you talk, the hotter it gets!”

Sixth-shidi (younger male disciple) said: “Can you two not argue? Just listening to you argue makes me hotter. I’m sweating even more now.”

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian already started fighting -- a palm strike here, a kick there: “Hurry up and piss off!” “You piss off!” “No no no, please, piss off!” “Don’t be so polite, you piss off first.”

All the younger disciples complained in unison: “Take the fight outside!” “You two can both go piss off. We’re begging you!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Did you hear that, everyone is asking you to leave. You… let go of my leg, it’s going to break, Da-ge!”

A vein on Jiang Cheng’s forehead popped up. “Clearly they’re telling you to leave…. Let go of my arm first!”

At this time, from the wooden corridor outside came the sound of a skirt rustling over the floor. The two immediately parted like lightning. Soon, the bamboo curtains parted, Jiang Yanli stuck her head in, glanced around, and said, “Aah, so you’re all hiding here.”

Everyone said in unison: “Shijie!” “Hi Shijie!” The ones who became embarrassed easily couldn't help but cross their arms over their chests and hide into a corner.

Jian Yanli asked: “Why are you all being lazy today and not practicing your swords?”

Wei Wuxian complained, “Such a treacherous day, the sun shining over the practice grounds would kill us, practicing swords would make us shed a layer of skin. Shijie, don’t tell other people.”

Jiang Yanli carefully assessed him and Jiang Cheng and asked, “Did you two get into another fight?”

Wei Wuxian said, “We didn’t!”

Jiang Yanli stepped into the room carrying a plate and asked, “Then who kicked the footprint onto A-Cheng’s chest?”

Wei Wuxian, upon hearing he left evidence, turned to look -- it was really there. But no one cared whether the two of them fought anymore for Jiang Yanli had brought a large plate of watermelon slices. The group of youths swarmed in, quickly divided the melon between them, and sat down on the floor to gnaw on the melon. Not long later, the melon rinds piled into a small hill on the plate.

No matter what Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng did, they would end up competing. Eating watermelon was no exception. Slashing to seize the melon -- an endless volley of moves between the two made others hurry to avoid them and scramble out of the way, leaving an empty space. At first, Wei Wuxian was wholeheartedly eating watermelon, but as he ate, a chuckle suddenly burst from his lips.

Jiang Cheng asked suspiciously: “What are you thinking about doing now?”

Wei Wuxian grabbed another piece of melon and said: “Nothing! Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t think about doing something, I just thought of a person.”

Jiang Cheng asked: “Who?”

Wei Wuxian said: “Lan Zhan”

Jiang Cheng asked: “Why are you thinking about him? Do you miss the feeling of being forced to copy lines as punishment?”

Wei Wuxian spat out some seeds and said, “I’m thinking about how much fun he is. You have know idea, he’s so interesting. I said to him, your family’s food is not delicious at all, I would rather eat sauteed watermelon rind than eat your family’s food, you should come visit Lotus Pier when you have time…... ”

Before the sound of Wei Wuxian’s words ended, Jiang Cheng slapped his watermelon askew: “You’re crazy inviting him to Lotus Pier, are you trying to make yourself suffer?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why are you so anxious, my melon almost went flying! I was just saying that. Obviously he would not come. When have you ever heard of him going somewhere on his own for fun?”

Jiang Cheng spoke sternly, with a sense of righteousness, “Just so we’re clear: I will refuse his visit no matter what, don’t invite him willy nilly.”

Wei Wuxian said, “I couldn’t tell you dislike him so!”

Jiang Cheng responded: “I don’t have an issue with Lan Wangji, but if he were to really come, my mother might have something to say about other people’s children, and then you wouldn’t have a good time.”

Wei Wuxian said, “No biggie, even if he showed up, I’m not scared. IF he really came, you can just tell Uncle Jiang to let him sleep in my room. I promise I’ll drive him insane in less than a week. ”

Jiang Cheng snorted, “You want him to stay with you for a month? I think he’ll stab you to death in less than seven days.”

Wei Wuxian retorted, “Who’s scared of him? If we really fight it’s not certain he would be an even match for me!”

Everyone cheered and hollered at Wei Wuxian’s statement. Jiang Cheng sneered at Wei Wuxian’s thick skin but in his heart, he knew Wei Wuxian’s words were true and not mere boasts. Jiang Yanli sat between and asked, “Who are you talking about? Is it a friend you made at Gusu?”

Wei Wuxian said happily, “It is!”

Jiang Cheng said, “You claim ‘friend’ so easily. You should go ask Lan Wangji, see if he is willing to claim you.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Piss off. If he doesn’t want me, I’ll just cling to him. See if he’s willing or not in the end.” Wei Wuxian then turns to Jiang Yanli, “Shijie, do you know of Lan Wangji?”

Jiang Yanli said, “I do know of him. Isn’t he the young second young master of Lan that everyone says is very handsome and very talented? Is he really so handsome?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Very handsome!”

Jiang Yanli asked, “Compared to you?”

Wei Wuxian pondered for a bit before saying, “Maybe the tiniest bit more handsome than me.”

He held up two fingers separated by the slightest amount. Jiang Yanli smiled as she gathered the plate, “Looks like he must really be handsome. Making new friends is a good thing. When you have time in the future, the two of you can visit each other for fun.”

Hearing that, Jiang Cheng spat out his melon. Wei Wuxian waved his hands defensively in front of his face, “No, no. Their home has disgusting food and too many rules. I don’t want to go there”

Jiang Yanli said, “Then you can bring him here. This time was a good opportunity, why didn’t you invite your friend to Lotus Pier to stay with us for a while?”

Jiang Cheng said, “A-jie, don’t listen to his nonsense. At Gusu he was really detested. How could Lan Wangji be willing to come back with him?”

Wei Wuxian said, “What are you saying! He’s willing.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Wake up. Lan Wangji told you to get lost, did you not hear? Remember?”

Wei Wuxian said, “What do you know! Even though on the surface he told me to get lost, but I know, in his heart, he must have really wished to come visit Yunmeng with me. He must want it a lot.”

Jiang Cheng said, “I think about a question every day: from where do you get so much self confidence?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Don’t think about it. You’ve been asking the same question for years without an answer. If it were me, I would have given up a long time ago.”

Jiang Cheng shook his head and was about to throw his melon, when suddenly there was the sound of overbearing and fast footsteps. A chilling female voice drifted in from the distance: “I was wondering where everyone hid to, I just knew...”

The color drained from all the youths’ faces. They scrambled to leave through the curtains, coincidentally catching Madam Yu turning the corner of the corridor. Her purple clothing fluttered freely but her intimidating aura and blazing eyes were truly terrifying. When she saw the group of youths all bare armed and bare footed -- improper and unsightly -- Madam Yu’s face twitched for quite a while. Furthermore, her two elegant eyebrows rose to the point of almost flying.

Everyone thought “This is bad!”, horrified, they ran. Seeing this, Madam Yu finally came out of her stupor. She was livid. “Jiang Cheng! Put on your clothes! You’re as naked as a wild man! What sort of shit appearance is that? If other people were to see, where would I put my face?”

Jiang Cheng’s clothing was tucked around his waist. Hearing his mother’s reprimand, he quickly covered himself. Madam Yu added angrily, “You guys! A-li is here, did you not see? A group of damn boys stripped bare in front of a girl! Who taught you to do this?!”

Of course, it was without question who was the leader. Thus Madam Yu’s next sentence was, per usual: “Wei Ying! Do you want to die?”

Wei Wuxian said loudly, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know Shijie would come! I will go look for clothing now!”

Madam Yu became even more angry. “You dare run away? Bring your ass back here and kneel!” With those words, her whip flew out. Wei Wuxian felt a searing pain on his back and screamed, almost falling and rolling on the ground. Suddenly someone said faintly by Madam Yu’s year, “A-niang, do you want to eat watermelon...”

Madam Yu was started by Jiang Yanli appearing out of nowhere. The slight interruption allowed the group of rascals to disappear without a trace. Madam Yu angrily turned toward Jiang Yanli and pinched her cheek saying, “Eat. Eat. Eat. All you know is eat.”

Jiang Yanli was pinched so hard by her mother that tears trickled out. She mumbled, “A-niang, A-xian and the others hid here from the heat. I came here on my own looking for them. Don’t blame them. Do… Do you want to eat watermelon? I don't know who sent it to us, but it’s very sweet. Eating watermelon in the summer dispels heat and decreases your inner fire. It’s sweet and juicy. I can cut it for you...”

The more Madam Yu stewed, the angrier she became. The summer heat caused her to be thirsty which made her actually want to eat the watermelon. As such, she became even angrier.

The group of people escaped Lotus Pier with great difficulty, charged towards the docks, and jumped onto a small boat. When, even after a bit, no one chased them, Wei Wuxian relaxed. He rowed the boat a couple times and felt his back was still hurting. Handing the oar to someone else, he sat down to touch the stinging flesh. “I’ve been wronged in broad daylight. Let’s talk about this logically. Clearly no one was clothed, but why am I the only one to get reprimanded? Why am I the only one to get hit?”

Jiang Cheng said, “It’s definitely because the way you look while not wearing clothing burns people’s eyes the most.”

Wei Wuxian glanced at him and suddenly sprang up and plunged into the water. Everyone else, seemingly responding to a signal, also entered the water. In a flash, only Jiang Cheng remained on the boat.

Jiang Cheng noticed the suspicious situation and said, “What are you trying to pull?!”

Wei Wuxian swam up to the side of the boat and unleashed a sharp palm strike. The boat capsized: hull towards the sky and bobbing up and down in the water with vigor. Wei Wuxian laughed heartily, jumped onto the bottom of the boat, and sat down in a lotus position. He yelled towards the water on the side of the boat where Jiang Cheng fell in, “Are your eyes still burning, Jiang Cheng? Give a response! Hey! Hey!”

After yelling twice and getting no response except for a string of gurgling bubbles, Wei Wuxian wiped his face and wondered, “How come he hasn’t popped up after all this time?”

Sixth-shidi also swam over and exclaimed, “He can’t have drowned, can he?”

Wei Wuxian said, “How could he?” He was about to jump into the water to drag Jiang Cheng out when he suddenly heard a loud cry from behind. Wei Wuxian yelped as he was shoved into the water. The boat, dripping wet, was flipped right side up. Turns out, after Wei Wuxian flipped Jiang Cheng into the water, Jiang Cheng swam underwater around the boat and ended up behind Wei Wuxian.

After the two of them each successfully landed a sneak attack, they started cautiously circling the boat. The others splashed and treaded water as they spread out over the lake to watch. Wei Wuxian hollered from the other side of the boat, “Why are you holding a weapon? If you’re skilled, put the oar down and we can fight hand-to-hand.”

Jiang Cheng smirked, “Do you take me for an idiot? As soon as I put it down, you’ll take it!” He wielded the oar with unrelenting ferocity, forcing Wei Wuxian back. All the younger disciples cheered. Wei Wuxian found himself helpless as he dodged left and right. In his frenzy, he made time to plead his innocence, “I am not that shameless!”

From all sides came the hissing response, “Da-shixiong, do you really have enough face to say such a thing?”

Afterwards, everyone became involved in a chaotic water fight. Vicious attacks were used without hesitation. Finally, Wei Wuxian kicked Jiang Cheng and with great effort flopped onto the boat. He spat out a mouthful of lake water, raised his hands and said, “No more fighting. No more fighting! Truce! ”

Everyone’s heads were covered in bright green water weeds. They were fighting to their heart’s content! Thus, they retorted, “Why should we stop? Fight! Fight! Are you begging for mercy because you’re losing?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Who said I’m begging for mercy? We can have another fight later. I’m hungry and don’t have energy for fighting anymore. Let’s get something to eat first.”

Sixth-shidi said, “Are we going back then? We can have a few watermelons before dinner starts.”

Jiang Cheng said, “If we go back now, the only thing we’ll get to have is a whipping.”

Wei Wuxian was ready with a plan. He announced, “We’re not going back! We’re going to go pick lotus pods!”

Jiang Cheng said mockinly, “You meant ‘steal’, right?”

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s not like they don’t get paid later.”

Yunmeng Jiang Sect often watched over the local people, removing water ghouls without asking for anything in return. Within a radius of several tens of lis, the people were happy to let them pick a few lotus pods. In fact, the people would be perfectly happy to designate a section of the lake to grow lotus just for them. Everytime the youths were out and ate people’s melons, caught people’s chickens, drugged people’s dogs, Jiang Fengmian would send someone later to pay the people. As to why they were determined to steal, it wasn’t because they were scoundrels but because they craved the fun experience of someone chasing them and hitting them while laughing and yelling.

Everyone got on the boat, rowed for a while, and ended up by a stretch of lake full of lotus.

What a large stretch of lotus filled lake -- green and fresh! The verdant foliage layered and stacked on top of eachother, some as small as plates and others as large as umbrellas. The ones on the outskirts sat lower in the water and were more sparse, carpeting on the surface of the water. The ones on the inside stood taller and packed tightly together, sufficient to hide a boat carrying people. If one were to see a cluster of lily pads rustling and shaking, then they would know someone was mischievously hiding within.

The small boat from Lotus Pier glided into that verdant world. All around them hung large green lotus pods, round and full. One person rowed the boat and the rest started on the lotus pods. The large lotus heads grew on long, thin stems. The smooth lotus stems were covered with tiny thorns that did not sting. Bending the stems, they snapped with a crisp sound. The boys all broke off the pods with a large segment of stems attached. Once they took the pods home, they would find a vase and stick the pods in water. They heard it would preserve the pods’ freshness for a few more days. Wei Wuxian only heard it would work but didn’t know for sure, but he told the others with confidence anyway.

He broke off a few stems and reflexively removed the lotus seeds out of one. The seeds were full and round. When he popped them in his mouth, they were tender and juicy. As he ate, he started mindlessly humming and singing, “I treat you to eat lotus pods, what will you treat me to eat?” Jiang Cheng heard his singing and asked, “Who are you treating to eat things?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Haha, no matter what it’s not you!” He was about to smack Jiang Cheng’s face with the lotus pod but suddenly made a shushing noise and said, “We’re gonna die. The old man is here today!”

The old man was the old farmer who grew lotus pods in that stretch of water. How old was he, Wei Wuxian didn’t know. From Wei Wuxian’s perspective, Jiang Fengmian was an uncle. Anyone older than Jiang Fengmian could be referred to as an old man. Since Wei Wuxian could remember, he was around this stretch of lotus pond. In the summer, when Wei Wuxian came to steal lotus pods, if he was caught, he would be beaten. Wei Wuxian often suspected the old man was a reincarnated lotus pod spirit because he knew exactly how many lotus pods were missing from his family’s lake. He would beat you once for each missing lotus pod. A bamboo pole was the best tool for maneuvering a boat in a lotus lake. Thump thump thump! The bamboo pole was also exceptionally painful for the people getting hit.

All the youths have experienced a few strikes of the bamboo pole. They all hissed at each other: “Run! Hurry and run!” They grabbed the oars and fled. After they frantically rowed out of the lotus pond, they turned around to look guiltily behind them. The old man’s boat had already exited the thick layers of lily pads and was gliding upon the open waters. Wei Wuxian tilted his head, stared for a bit, and suddenly said, “Weird!”

Jiang Cheng also stood up and said. “Why is that boat moving so quickly?”

Everyone looked over at the old man. His back was turned towards them and was counting the lotus pods on his boat. The bamboo pole was set aside, untouched. The boat, however, moved steadily and swiftly, even faster than the boat with Wei Wuxian and company.

Everyone became cautious. Wei Wuxian urged, “Row over there, row over there.”

The two boats moved close and everyone could clearly see a faint white shadow floating and swimming under the water by the old man’s boat.

Wei Wuxian turned around, his finger against his lip, warning everyone to be careful -- do not startle the old man and the water ghoul under his boat. Jiang Cheng nodded and rowed the boat. The ripples he generated were nearly silent with almost no commotion. When the two boats were about three zhang apart, a wet and dripping pale green hand reached up from beneath the boat. Surreptitiously, the hand took a lotus pod from the old man’s full boat and silently resubmerged itself into the water.

A few moments later, two lotus seed shells floated to the surface of the water.

The group of youths was astounded. “Wow! This water ghoul also steals lotus pods!”

The old man finally noticed someone was behind him. He held a large lotus pod and one hand and turned around while grabbing the bamboo pole with the other. The motion started the water ghoul which slithered away. The white shadow disappeared. Everyone quickly hollered, “Where are you going?”

Wei Wuxian plopped into the water and dropped into the depths. Soon, he resurfaced dragging something. “Caught it!”

In his hand, there was a small water ghoul with pale green skin. It looked like a twelve or thirteen year old child. Terrified, it shrank into a ball under the group’s watchful eyes.

At this time, the old man’s bamboo pole descended as he scolded, “Here again to cause trouble!”

Wei Wuxian had just gotten whipped and was now getting hit by a bamboo pole. “Ow!” he yelped, almost losing his grip. Jiang Cheng angrily said, “Speak reasonably. Why are you hitting people? Misunderstanding our good intentions!”

Wei Wuxian quickly said, “No big deal. Old… old uncle, take a closer look. We are not ghouls. This is the ghoul.”

The old man said, “No shit! I’m just old, not blind. Let him go!”

Wei Wuxian startled. He watched the little water ghoul in his hand bowing with its hands clasped in front of its body. Its black eyes wet with tears, looking rather pathetic. In its hands the water ghoul still clung onto the large lotus pod it just stole. The lotus pod was broken open but the water ghoul clearly did not have time to eat many lotus seeds before Wei Wuxian dragged him to the surface.

Jiang Cheng thought to himself that the old man was impossible to reason with. He said to Wei Wuxian, “Don’t let it go. We should take the water ghoul home.”

Hearing those words, the old man raised the bamboo pole again. Wei Wuxian hurriedly said, “Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! I’ll let it go!”

Jiang Cheng said, “Don’t let go. What would we do if the water ghoul kills people?”

Wei Wuxian said, “This water ghoul doesn’t smell like blood. He’s young and cannot leave this section of the lake. Recently there has been no word that people have died in this area. It doesn’t seem like he’s harmed anyone before.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Even if he hasn’t harmed anyone before, you can’t guarantee that in the future....”

Before his words finished, the bamboo pole landed with a whoosh. Jiang Cheng, getting hit, angrily said, “Old man, do you not have a sense of good and evil?! You know it’s a ghoul and you’re not scared of it doing harm?!”

The old man responded with self assurance, “I already have one foot in my own coffin. Why would I be scared of a ghoul?”

Wei Wuxian figured it would not be able to run far, so he said, “Stop fighting, stop fighting. I’m letting go.”

He really let go. The water ghoul slithered behind the old man’s boat, too timid to come out again.

Wei Wuxian climbed back onto the boat soaking wet. The old man picked a lotus pod from his boat and threw it into the water. The water ghoul ignored it. The old man then picked a large lotus pod and threw it into the water. The lotus pod bobbed on the surface a few times. Suddenly, half a white head popped out of the water and dragged the two lotus pods down with its mouth like a large white fish. After a while longer, something white floated to the surface again. The water ghoul curled up behind the boat with its arms and hands above water and ate with noisy gusto.

Everyone watched, bewildered, as it ate with enthusiasm.

Watching the old man throw another lotus pod into the water, Wei Wuxian rubbed his chin, feeling a little upset. He asked, “Old uncle, why do you let it steal your lotus pods? You even gift them to it. But when we steal your lotus pods, you hit us.”

The old man responded, “It helps push my boat. Giving it a few lotus pods is nothing. You rascals? How many did you steal today?”

Everyone became embarrassed. Wei Wuxian glanced at the inside of their boat -- there were at least a few dozen. He knew the situation was going to take a turn for the worse and said, “Go!”

A few people immediately picked up the oars as the old man charged forward waving his bamboo pole. His boat moved like the wind. The top of the youths’ heads felt a numbness and the foreboding sense of the bamboo pole making impact. They engaged all their limbs and rowed like crazy. The two boats circled the large lotus pond a couple of times, the old man’s boat closing in on the other boat. Wei Wuxian had already been hit a few times and he noticed the bamboo pole was only aimed at him. He hugged his head and yelled, “Too unfair! Why am I the only one getting hit? Why am I the only one getting hit!”

All the younger disciples said, “Hang in there Shixiong! We’re counting on you!”

Jiang Cheng also said, “Yes, you just hang in there.”

Wei Wuxian said angrily, “That’s it. I can’t hang in there anymore.” He grabbed a lotus pod from the boat and tossed it out, “Catch!”

It was a very large lotus pod -- it hit the water with a thud and a large splash. The old man’s boat paused as expected. The water ghoul happily swam over, scooped up the lotus pod, and began eating

Seizing the opportunity, the Lotus Pier boat escaped.

On the way way back, a younger disciple asked, “Da-shixiong, can ghouls taste flavor?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Usually not. But I think this little ghoul is proba… probab… probably.. Ah… achoo!”

The sun had set and the wind picked up, bringing a sense of coolness and chill. Wei Wuxian sneezed, rubbed his face, and continued, “Probably it wanted to eat lotus pods in its past life but could not. When it snuck there to pick some, it fell into the water and drowned. So… ah… ah…”

Jiang Cheng said, “So, eating lotus pods realized its desires, giving it a sense of fulfillment.”

Wei Wuxian agreed, “Uh, right.”

He touched his back that was covered in crisscrossing old and new injuries and couldn’t help but voice his thoughts, “But this is such a strange injustice for the ages. Why is it that whenever something happens, I’m always the only one who gets hit?”

One younger disciple said, “You are the most handsome.”

Another said, “You have the highest cultivation.”

Yet another added, “You look the best naked.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Wei Wuxian said, “Thank you everyone for the praise. Hearing them gives me goosebumps.”

A younger disciple said, “You’re welcome Da-shixiong. Since you’re the one who blocks hits for us each and every time, you deserve more.”

Wei Wuxian said, shocked, “Oh? There’s more. Let’s hear it.”

Jiang Cheng could not bear hearing more. He said, “Everyone shut up. If you don’t say reasonable things, I just might smash through the bottom of the boat so we all die a clean death.”

At this time, they crossed a section of water with farmland on both sides. In the rice paddies, a few small framed farm girls were plowing. When they saw the boys’ small boat pass by, they ran to the water and waved, “Hey -----!”

Everyone responded with a “Hey” and then jabbed Wei Wuxian, “Shixiong, they’re calling you! They’re calling you!”

Wei Wuxian looked over. Indeed they were people he had led the boys in acquainting. His mood immediately brightened. He stood up, waved, and asked, laughing, “What’s up?”

The small boat moved with the water current and the farm girls followed on land. They walked and talked, “Did you guys go steal lotus pods again?”

“Quick! Tell us how many times you were hit!”

“Or did you go drug other people’s dog?”

Jiang Cheng listened for a few sentences and wanted to kick Wei Wuxian off the boat. He said with bitterness, “Your foul reputation has spread so widely. You’ve really lost face for our family.”

Wei Wuxian defended himself, explaining, “They said ‘you guys’. We’re all in this together, ok? If we lose face, we lose face together.”

While the two were fighting, the first farmgirl yelled, “Was it yummy?”

Wei Wuxian paused in the middle of fighting, “What?”

The farm girl said, “The watermelons we sent over. Were they good?”

Wei Wuxian suddenly understood, “The watermelons were from you guys! They were delicious! Why didn’t you come in and visit for a bit? We could have offered you tea!”

The farm girl smiled sweetly. “When we brought it over, you guys weren’t there. We set them down and left. We dared not stay. Glad they were good!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Thank you!” He then scooped up a few large lotus pods and said, “Have some lotus pods on us! Next time, come in and watch me practice swords!”

Jiang Cheng sneered, “Is your practicing swords attractive?”

Wei Wuxian threw the lotus pods towards land. Despite flying a long distance, the lotus pods were light and easy to catch. He grabbed a few more lotus pods and shoved them at Jiang Cheng’s chest, “Why are you doing in a daze? Hurry up!”

Jiang Cheng took the lotus pods against his will after getting them shoved at him. “Hurry up and do what?”

Wei Wuxian said, “You also ate the watermelon. You need to return a gift. Come on, don’t be embarrassed. Everyone, throw! Throw!”

Jiang Cheng sneered, “Funny. What is there to be embarrassed about?” His words were such, but even though all the younger disciples on the boat were gleefully throwing lotus pods, he still had not thrown any. Wei Wuxian said again, “Then throw! If we throw this time, next time we can ask them if the lotus pods were delicious. It’ll be another opportunity for conversation!”

All the younger disciples felt enlightened. “So that’s how it is. We are learning! Shixiong is truly experienced!”

“Clearly you do this a lot!”

“You flatter me, hahahaha….”

Jiang Cheng was originally going to throw the lotus pod, but acquired clarity upon hearing the conversation. He felt the action was severely embarrassing and broke open a lotus pod for himself to eat instead.

The boat moved in the water. The girls scurried along on land, catching the jade green lotus pods tossed over by the youths on the boat, running and laughing all the way. Wei Wuxian’s right hand rested between his brows, watching the scenery pass by. As he smiled, he let out a sigh. Everyone asked, “Da-shixing, what’s wrong?” “Girls are chasing us but you sigh?”

Wei Wuxian lifted an oar onto his shoulders and smirked, “Nothing much. I’m just thinking about how I sincerely invited Lan Zhan to Yunmeng for a visit, but he actually refused me.”

All the younger disciples gave a thumbs up, “Wow. Lan Wangji really deserves his reputation!”

Wei Wuxian declared with vigor, “Shut up! One day I will drag him here. And then I will kick him off the boat, deceive him into stealing lotus pods, get the old man to hit him with the bamboo pole, and make him chase after me as I run off, hahahaha...”

After laughing for a while, he turned his head and looked at the Jiang Cheng who was sitting at the end of the boat grumpily eating lotus pods alone. Wei Wuxian’s smile gradually faded. He sighed and said, “Alas, the child cannot be taught.”

Jiang Cheng was angered. “So what if I want to eat it myself.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Oh, you, Jiang Cheng. Whatever, you’re hopeless. You can just eat them yourself for the rest of your life.”

In short, the small boat that went to steal lotus pods once again returned after a successful journey.

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spaceorphan18 · 4 years

Note

What would you say to people who believe Blaine manipulated Kurt into getting engaged? In the season 6 breakup's deleted script, Kurt said that Blaine did that and that he felt forced to say yes. Of course, it's a deleted scene, and there's no true canonical evidence that Kurt feels that way, but I've always been torn on the subject. Kurt's face throughout the proposal was also a little confusing, he looks very overwhelmed, though I can't tell if it's in a good or bad way.

What would you say to people who believe Blaine manipulated Kurt into getting engaged?

Nonny, I think you’ve been reading too much Kurt meta done by people who don’t like Blaine. ;)

God, this is a total flashback to 2014 when the Better Boyfriend Olympics were alive and well, lol. Oh, Nonny <3

Alright, let’s pull up a chair and have a discussion.

In the season 6 breakup's deleted script, Kurt said that Blaine did that and that he felt forced to say yes. Of course, it's a deleted scene, and there's no true canonical evidence that Kurt feels that way, but I've always been torn on the subject.

Okay, first, let’s talk about this thought. I’ve bolded the part in this comment that matters -- you’ve hit the nail on the head, Nonny.

Talking as a writer, I need to say something about scripts, deleted scenes, and other things not done in canon -- a lot of times, in drafts, people write things that may not work or fit -- that’s why they’re drafts. There’s a reason the scripted break up wasn’t the episode -- because it wasn’t the best way to tell the story they wanted to tell.

In addition, a lot of that speech in the script reeks of the writers listening to what Blaine-hating Kurt fans had to say about the whole thing. Glee had a tendency to over do it when breaking the fourth way to address commentary and criticism. They did this with Brittana fans when Brittany and Sam get together, basically telling the lesbian bloggers to shut up and deal with it. Doing so in the episode went too far (imo) -- and leaving Kurt’s comments in would have felt out of character and too much meta-ish commentary.

That said -- totally wasn’t in the episode, and as you’ve said, there’s not true canonical evidence that Kurt feels that way.

***

Addressing a few more things --

1. Blaine being manipulative.

He’s not. He does like to be in control of things, but that’s not the same thing as manipulation (and there’s a firm argument about how Kurt has far more manipulative tendencies -- see season 1). Putting this particular incident more in context... first of all, keep in mind that from the break up to hooking up in I Do is only six months, most of which, Kurt and Blaine I wouldn’t call fully, 100% broken up -- more so just broken. Then, he’s part of a school shooting, and while it wasn’t a real school shooting, it still has an effect -- he wants to feel security from the love he and Kurt share.

As for the proposal itself -- Blaine knows exactly how Kurt wants his proposal to be -- and is going a bit overboard on the romanticism. It’s not motivated by manipulation though. It’s motivated by the fact that he wants to prove to Kurt that he can meet all of Kurt’s fantasies and demands. (Which he does btw.) Blaine does not have a secret agenda -- his heart is most firmly on his sleeve a majority of the time.

2. The idea that Kurt doesn’t want to be proposed to, married, etc, etc.

This is a little more complex of an issue to get into in a single ask, but let’s see if I can boil this down to its essence:

Kurt has stated multiple times to Finn and Rachel that he doesn’t believe in young marriages -- this belief is already embedded in his psyche before he and Blaine get engaged, and part of that stubborn belief (whether it be right or wrong) seeps into his later issues in his own relationship.

Kurt got very, very hurt by Blaine cheating on him -- and by the time they got back together, Kurt was dipping his toe in the pool while Blaine had already gone into the deep end. Kurt needed some time to work his way back out to the deep end of the pool, and Blaine pulling Kurt out to the deep end before he was ready didn’t mean that he didn’t want to go swimming there, just that he was going faster than he had expected, and wasn’t given enough time to adjust.

A lot of time in media, the proposal/marriage is the end of the story. Here - it’s the middle of the story, and plays a different role in said story. Kurt has doubts - but not doubts about loving Blaine, or wanting to be with Blaine the rest of his life. As said in point 2, he got very hurt, and he isn’t ready yet - that combined with his belief that people shouldn’t get married so young (along with a few other issues) is what leads to the second break up.

That doesn’t mean that Kurt doesn’t love his proposal. Kurt is very romantic minded -- and the proposal was everything he could have ever dreamed of. He’s emotionally overwhelmed during the scene, because it’s more than he could have ever dreamed of. And I’d like to reiterate that this isn’t out of nowhere -- not only have the idea that Kurt and Blaine previously talked about marriage and long term plans for their relationship, but it’s also been set up that Kurt loves surprise proposals, weddings, romantic gestures (see All or Nothing, the episode previous, for high examples.)

The thing that always gets me about the manipulation argument though... Do people really think that Kurt would ever, ever be manipulated into something he didn’t want to do? Kurt’s a very strong-minded character, and is not so easily swayed into (or out of) something. If Kurt didn’t want to get married... if he didn’t want to be proposed to... if he didn’t want the thing, he wouldn’t have let it happen.

3. The idea that relationships need to be perfect

The whole thing about the Better Boyfriend Olympics was the fact that each side of it felt the other wasn’t good enough for their favorite. And it stems from this weird idea that in order to be good enough to be a romantic partner for said favorite -- the romantic partner must bow down at the alter of favorite and not ever do anything wrong. The relationship, to maybe over simplify, must be perfect. When it wasn’t -- people liked to point fingers and blame the other side. And come up with anything they could to help prove their point that their favorite was the better one and/or deserved better.

Man, it was the most annoying thing.

The thing that I always liked, and appreciated about Klaine was the idea that we have two very flawed characters working through their issues. Sometimes they sucked at it. Sometimes one of them wasn’t the greatest. But that made them feel more fleshed out and well rounded as characters. Relationships can be problematic, that doesn’t mean they’re wholly bad. They have issues. People aren’t perfect, and shouldn’t be held to such ridiculous standards.

Look, Nonny, if you don’t feel the scene, you don’t feel it, and I don’t think anything I say or do can change your mind if it doesn’t. And that’s totally fair and fine. But -- all I can say is keep in mind where your biases may lie and/or what kind of filters are overlaying your interpretation of the scene.

If you’d like more reading on Love Love Love, I’d suggest my meta: Finding Kurt Hummel - Love, Love, Love

If you like podcasts, I know we go deeper into the subject on various TDB Podcasts: TDB Podcast List

Tl;dr version - Blaine is not manipulative, the script should not be taken as canonical evidence of anything, and Kurt was emotionally overwhelmed and deeply touched by a very grand romantic gesture that was presented to him.

#there are probably more thoughts but i'm getting tired #always up for discussions #that's how s.o. sees it #Anonymous

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sungchanlele · 3 years

Text

Merman!Sungchan fic

Based on an anon ask and @philosopher-of-fandoms

Philo, I had to do it, that anon ask just activated my writter mode XD

TW: Slightly graffic descriptions, drowning (sort of), gross imagery ig?

Sorry for spelling mistakes, english is not my first language and I first wrote is in my notebook and then here.

His hand trailed at his neck slowly, sensing his wet skin, until he felt something on his neck, like an opening of some sorts, his skin pushed up and a cold, sticky flesh of some sort was there.

Sungchan let out a whimper, a chill running up his spine as he gazed at himself on the mirror; his scared expression glancing back at him, still sitting down on the tube filled with water, everything seemed normal but…

His breath hitched, there on his neck was indeed something strange… his flesh pushed up to give a blue-ish color that with each second it became clear:

Gills…

There were gills appearing on his neck.

The boy was so in shock still, that when he heard the door of the dorm close, he went to grab his towel, but the moment he stood up, he had to bit down his tongue to not let out a yell, as a sharp pain on his legs sent him down to the floor.

He glanced at his legs and he felt himself panic; as he saw beautiful blue scales appearing on his legs, his skin barely visible at this point, the itch he had felt a while ago, before he noticed the gills, now made perfect sense…

That itch was because he was starting to transform, and everytime he scratched, he was tearing his skin open to let the scales and gills appear…

Sungchan gasped when a knock on the door was heard:

“Sungchannie”- He recognized the soft voice of Shotaro- “Are you ok? I heard like a ‘thump!’ did you fall?”

The younger boy took deep breaths, trying to calm himself and his voice down, disguising the alarm in his tone as best as he could, his eyes fixated on his legs, his hand still on his neck, covering the gills.

“I’m alright, I-“- Deep breaths, that’s it- “My bottle of shampoo fell, sorry, I’ll be out in a minute”

“Okay then”- Shotaro said- “Remember to put wear comfortable clothes, we have filming session after lunch”

Sungchan tried once again to stand, his feel still stinging in pain that he covered his mouth to stifle the whimpers and cries, he grabbed his towel and covered the scales of his legs, his mind racing to figure out what to do

“Sungchan?”

“Alright, yes, I know…”- The younger answered, his voice trembling a bit, but then he heard Shotaro walking away.

The 01´liner then started to rub the towel on his legs, and after some minutes, he lifted it, noticing that –thankfully- the scales were starting to disappear.

When there were not traces of scales left, he took note that it didn’t hurt to stand, so he managed to put on his clothes, and grabbed the drier, directing it to his neck, watching the gills disappear as the hot air hit them mercilessly.

-------

From that day on, Sungchan’s showers lasted 5 to 7 minutes, the terror of seeing the gills or scales appearing on his body following him constantly.

Those short times he spend in the water did help diminish the appearance of those things, sometimes not even showing at all; no itching, no blue scales, no gills… nothing.

It made Sungchan question himself, even, if what he had seen and felt that day in the bathroom had even happened or was it a dream.

It wasn’t until they were at a football field to film NCT World, that he knew he hasn’t dream it.

The clouds on the sky were a menacing grey that unnerved Sungchan greatly; so far he had been really careful to not let the rain catch him by surprise since he discovered his… whatever-condition-fish-thing-he-is, and today, the only day he thought it would be safe not to bring his trusty umbrella…

In all honestly, he wasn’t even sure if those things would even appear with rain water, but he didn’t even wanted to find out, but –judging by the weather- it seemed that the universe had other plans for him…

The members were doing penalty shots, and when it was Sungchan’s turn, he managed to score a perfect goal, which earned cheerful screams from his team and he smiled happily…

Until he felt a drop of water on his cheek that made him stop celebrating, glancing at the sky in terror.

No, please no…

He felt the second, and then third… and then, the rain came down fully.

The 01’liner didn’t waited long, he turned around and left, running toward the tents, that by the time he arrived, his shirt and hair completely wet: the itching starting to feel on his chest and cheeks.

A staff member thankfully gave him a small towel and he placed it on his face, covering the mouth and cheeks, as he made way to the bathroom, his face on the mirror:

Scales

Small scales on his cheeks, and as he lifted his shirt, there were also small glimpses of them on his chest, not as flashy as the ones on his cheeks though, which was a relief.

He rested his back on the door and waited, listening to the rain still falling outside, the boy drying his face with the small towel, after a while seeing the scales fading away.

Once Sungchan got out, the rain was just small droplets, and the members were back on the tents, some of them laughing and completely soaking wet, the clear evidence of them having played while it rained.

They didn’t seemed to have noticed that the 01’liner had ran away so it was a relief he didn’t needed to make up an excuse-

“Sungchan, where were you?”- Sungchan froze, while Jisung swung an arm around him- “You missed out a really fun game of chase!”

“I’m sorry, I had to use the bathroom”- He said rapidly with a quick smile- “Who won?”

“Me, of course”- Chenle said with a proud smile- “Jisung almost won the last round, but the rain made the grass so slippery that it gave me advantage”

The boy smiled as the maknaes continued telling him about the game, the manager then telling them that filming would resume once they changed to dry clothing.

As he walked to grab his warm sporty outfit, he glanced at the sky, seeing the grey clouds far away, and letting the blue color give a sense of calm to the young boy, who took a deep breath and walked away to get changed.

-------

Weeks later after the incident at the football field, SM gave Sungchan and the members instructions that they would go to a water park, and the mere mention of that, it made the 01´liner stop walking toward the car, paling in a heartbeat.

Water… with the scales and the gills and god know what else that he had…

He stepped back, and the members that were going to share with him the car ride glanced at him worried and confused:

“Sungchan?”- Mark called him, but the younger didn’t looked at him, the floor was suddenly interesting, he was also scared that they were angry at him, but…

The image of the scales, the gills… the itching… it terrified him to no end.

“I can’t”- He said quietly as he shook his head, as if it would erase the mental image- “I’m sorry, I can’t-“

Sungchan glanced at his manager, his eyes pleading and the panic was slowly crawling:

“I can’t-“

“Sungchannie”- Taeyong seized him gently by the shoulders, making the younger look at him in the eyes- “Why can’t you go? Tell me, please”

“I’m scared”- He whispered, wanting to look away, fearful that the leader would see the truth, almost spilling the truth but:- “I can’t swim, I don’t know how…”

The leader visibly relaxed, flashing the taller boy a warm and reassuring smile, comprehending the situation:

“Oh, it’s ok Sungchan, you don’t have to go to the water”- He said calmly, comforting the younger- “You can stay outside, so then you can come and cheer us, how does that sound?”

At that, the younger looked at him and smiled shyly, nodding as he let himself be pulled to the van, sitting down uneasily beside Shotaro, who placed a comforting hand on Sungchan’s, easing the 01`liner.

At the park, Sungchan sat down safely on the tables where the member’s belongings were, the younger glancing at the others who were doing their respective missions for the filming.

The fact that there was water everywhere it made him feel uneasy but it calmed him down to be looking at the others from where he was standing, besides, it distracted him seeing the action from afar, knowing that his reactions and commentary was being filmed.

It saddened to him somehow the fact that once, he would be jumping around and joining every single mission, participating constantly just to be on those water games, his competitiveness going overboard, trying to win…

But his situation was different now, and he had to be careful, think critically.

He saw Jisung waving at him happily, pleading to him to accompany him and the others of his team- who just finished his part of the filming- to go with them to the main pool.

Sungchan felt his stomach churn, a chill on his spine, but nodded, keeping a close eye on where he was walking, seeing also at the corner of his eye that the camera crews were also following him.

He reached the pool, the enormous body of water sending the 01`liner shivers; he immediately took a seat on the chairs as he watched Jisung, Chenle, Shotaro, and Renjun playing and screaming around.

The sight made Sungchan smile and relaxing, secretly wishing he could also join them, but every time he wished that, memories came crashing in his mind: the football situation, the event on the bathroom…

His torment was interrupted –thankfully- by the director who had called him, an excited –and slightly- forced smile on his face:

“Sungchanssi, we need to take some shots of you in the water”- He said- “The producer wants to also have some material of you beside the commentary and the reactions, just so the fans can also see you have fun with the members”

The 01’liner felt his blood freeze, and just before he could start talking out his panic with excuses and explanations, the director cut him short:

“At least to have your feet on the water, sitting down there outside of the pool”

Sungchan shook his head rapidly, staying put where he was, not moving an inch.

“I’m sorry, I can’t, I-“

“Why not? You won’t be on the pool, just outside, and only your feet in”- The director said pleadingly, a hint of annoyance and frustration on his voice- “Just so your fans can see you together with the members”

“But I-“

“It’s just for a few minutes, yes?”- The man said with a grin, urging Sungchan up, the taller boy stuttering in panic as he started to tremble, walking toward the pool, each step increasing the panic in the younger.

“Sungchan?”

The aforementioned turned, seeing Jaemin walking toward them, he looked at the younger confused.

“Jaeminssi, just perfect! You can also join him on the pool with the others!”- The director clapped excitedly.

“The pool?”- Jaemin asked even more puzzled- “Sungchan is scared of the water, he doesn’t know how to swim”

Jaemin’s expression hardened as he saw Sungchan’s eyes watering, staring terrified at the water that was almost on his feet.

“Why are you pressuring him to do something he doesn’t want to?”

“We need content of him, the reactions and the commentary is not enough”- The older man said with an annoyed tone, his façade now thrown away due to the fury in Jaemin’s voice- “ The fans will get annoyed or will suspect something is wrong if they see that he’s not with-“

“The fans will understand if Sungchan explains later to them his reasons”- Jaemin said coldly- “And if he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have the obligation to do so, his true fans will stay and will understand that it’s a personal situation and will continue to support him”

The director’s anger was as clear as the water in his eyes, yet the fakest of the grins adorned his face, he was clearly getting fed up with Jaemin’s attitude, while Sungchan just stood there, watching the exchange and staying silent.

“The producer ordered me to take shots of this kid”- The man said, pointing at taller, who flinched- “So either you stay with him on the pool, or not, I don’t care, I’m going to follow the orders even if he wants to or not”

The director’s eyes landed on Sungchan and said:

“Sit”

The taller boy nodding nervously, sitting down not putting his feet on the water, but bringing his legs close, he also saw Jaemin next to him, an apologetic smile on his face.

“Feet on the water please”- The director said

“He’s here, at least let him be like this”- Jaemin spat annoyed- “You’ve made him feel uncomfortable enough”

The man rolled his eyes at that:

“Put yours in the water, then”

Jaemin then showed him a fake grin, as he said in a venomous tone:

“Gladly”

Both boys then were left alone, staying there for some minutes, Jaemin distracting Sungchan, who eyed the water nervously, by asking him questions, before the others joined them.

After Jaemin explained what had happened and why Sungchan was there, the others also did their best to distract the really tense boy.

After a while, Sungchan had relaxed a lot, that he was curious on the temperature of the water:

“It’s warm, and really deep too”- Jisung said- “Because of the trampoline”

“It’s a diving pool”- Renjun nodded

“It’s really fun!”- Chenle added smiling, glancing at Sungchan proudly- “I won on the competition of how much can we last on the deep part of the pool, now Shotaro hyung owes us dinner”

Sungchan laughed at that, especially once he saw Shotaro’s regretful expression:

“I’m sure they cheated”- He mouthed

“How can we cheat on a breathing competition?”- Chenle almost yelled completely offended

And a debate had started, a debate that –somehow- the two boys outside of the pool couldn’t determine who would win.

They were so immersed on the discussion that they didn’t noticed the two newcomers that joined them:

“Hey guys!”- Lucas’s voice sounded behind Sungchan, who jumped startled- “Why didn’t you tell us you were going to be here? We’ve been looking for you all”

“Dude, this pool is bigger and deeper than the other one, we should all take pictures here”- Donghyuck said with a big and excited smile, motioning Jaemin to stand up.

“Yeah come on!”- Lucas said excitedly as he pulled up a now terrified Sungchan to stand up, Jaemin trying to stop him:

“No! Stop, he’s scared of the wa-!”

His explaining was cut short as Donghyuck pushed him to the water, laughter filling up the place.

Just before Sungchan could scream in terror, he felt himself being pushed, and the cold, refreshing water hitting his body.

One would say that he would just swim, get out, run and hide on the bathrooms like what happened when he was soaked in the football field, but this time he didn’t feel like it, he just… surrendered.

I’m tired…

The itching started immediately, and he felt his skin just changing, the scales appearing rapidly, perhaps because his whole body was inside the water, and what shocked him was… shouldn’t him be out of air by this point?

No…

His hands went to his neck, the gills being there and allowing him to breathe under water…

He could breathe under water…

Sungchan then tried to move his legs to swim up, but he couldn’t… he glanced down and discovered his… tail…

He had a tail… his legs were gone…

The beautiful blue scales covered his (what once were) legs and his arms, and as he swam up as best as he could, he watched the member’s and the camera crew’s shocked expressions.

He felt a timid hand on his neck, seeing Jisung touching the gills:

“Is this for real?”- He muttered- “Wait-“

“Is this why you were so scared of the water?”- Chenle asked surprised

He nodded, glancing away.

“Since when?”- Renjun asked worried, swimming close to the taller member

“A couple of months”- He answered, as he swam to the edge of the pool, not wanting the camera crew to film him, the other members also shielding him.

He saw another person swimming close to him, Shotaro, who was as surprised as the other members; he lifted his hand close to Sungchan’s, touching the scales.

“Pretty”- He said, with a bright smile on his face- “So cool”

“He’s right”- Jaemin nodded, swimming also close to Sungchan, his eyes on the tail- “Now not only you’re an ace at soccer, but also probably at swimming!”

At that, the others nodded and exclaimed their agreement to what he had said, but Sungchan quickly shook his head:

“No, I don’t know how this even work, or how fast I can go, this is…”- He looked down at his arms and the tail, slightly self conscious and ashamed- “This is the first time I’ve fully transformed”

“What?”

Uproar was then unleashed as the members then urged Sungchan to use his “new body” to see how fast he could be and before they could be stopped, a swimming competition had been planned.

The rest of the NCT members quickly joined, most of them shocked when they saw Sungchan, especially Taeyong, who then connected the dots, but then:

“Who threw you on the water?”

The members then quickly pointed at Lucas, who then apologized to Sungchan for the 2467532 time, earning a shy:

“It’s okay”

After that event, SM had to pay a great amount of money to the camera crew and the rest of the people who saw Sungchan’s merman form in order to keep them silent.

There were times where rumors came here and there, and even if they were truth or not, the fandom supported Sungchan’s decision to not speak about his “fear”.

Although the theory of him being a merman circulated but was not being believed by anyone… some of the fans –the 95% of them- agreed to the fact that if he were, he would be so handsome and cool.

Little did they knew…

There were times where the members would still get surprised to see scales on Sungchan’s arms or the gills on his neck. (Jisung one time walked to see him on the floor with his tail out, trying to reach for the drier) But at the end of the day, Sungchan was still himself, and the important thing is that his members supported him, his fans too, and nothing else mattered, because for once, he felt free.

#My fic #nct: sungchan.fic #nct 2020 #sungchan

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a19yearoldtryinherbest · 5 years

Text

The Maze. [Bill Hader]

Masterlist

Prompt: OFC and Bill meet on the set of IT, they have a connection but Bill may not be ready to start dating so soon after his divorce.

Warning: Swearing, a clown, many mirrors.

A/N: The GIF should say “Well, mark me down as scared and horny soft!” but it still kind of works. idk. Also, this is longer than I expected but tell me if you gals like it like this, prefer shorter or think it would have been better I should’ve split it in two.

Word count: 2637 [I went a bit overboard, maybe?]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

He was sweet, caring and really, really funny, maybe a little awkward but that just made him cuter. At least that was that Amy thought.

The first weeks of shooting she felt a constant a stomach ache from laughing. Bill kept cracking joke after joke and endless impersonations, from Andy to some TV narrator from a true crime show she didn't even know about. Even if she didn't got the references she still found then funny, and quite impressive. He was very talented, she noted.

Sadly all the many distractions he offered made her slightly forget about a few things that were part of her job, like confirm the catering for the fourteenth day of shooting, luckily she could get them to go anyway with a bit more money on top of what was agreed previously. So she made herself put more effort and concentration into her work, and be a little less on set when he was shooting and try to pay him less attention. Luckily the jokes had stopped being so frequent by the second month, he still was a goofball nonetheless.

Andy, the director, and Barbara, his sister and one of the producers, saw that their friend Amy had a think for one of their leads and they decided to play matchmakers by the last weeks of shooting. They knew Bill was fresh out of a divorce so they made sure he was in the dating game, so they sent Jessica and James on a easy mission and they took it, seeing a good match they would make.

— She's cute. — said James, pointing at a skinny blonde girl at the end of the bar. They had been doing that for the past half hour since the rest of the cast had left them alone, Bill would've been gone but since he was the subject of conversation he found it very difficult to find a out. Si Bill did what he'd been doing the last thirty minutes, he looked at the girl and shrugged his shoulders. She was cute but she didn't really catch his eye.

— But she's cutter. — Jessica interrupted before Bill could give a verdict about the other girl. The girl Jessica pointed at was a bit more of Bill's liking, dark headed, wide smile on her face as she celebrated her victory over darts — Oh, she likes her. — he looked at his co-star, a bit confused to what gave that impression and she clarified — You're smiling a bit much sweety. — he rolled his eyes and looked back to the girl and then he realized why she was so much of his liking.

— Oh, shit! — he said, quickly fixing his eye on his drink.

— What? — James asked, looking at Bill confused and a bit worried.

— That's Amy, the production manager. — he took a big chug of his drink, which he didn't do often, or ever.

— No way! — chanted Jessica, accidentally caring the plan nearer to it's fulfillment. They now not only they knew Bill was willing to date but also liked the girl they wanted to set him up with.

— You totally planed this. — he was starting to blush and couldn't help but to hide his face behind his hands and look down.

— I did not! — McAvoy looked at Jessica, asking for a confession — I swear!

— Wait, why would you think it was planned? — James asked.

— Isn't it obvious? — they both looked at him, not understanding what he was talking about — Or at least I thought it was. — he mumbled, baffled they didn't realized — I really like her.

They looked at him a bit surprised, falling into a small silence that Jessica broke by turning around and calling for their work colleagues — Andy, Barbara, Amy! — the three of them turned their attention to the redhead screaming across the bar, stopping their game of darts — Come over! — they did, Andy and Amy throwing the last two darts before grabbing their drinks and starting walking towards the three actors.

— You definitely planned this. — mumbled Bill, finishing his glass of beer.

— I didn't.

Amy, was nervous so she also finished her glass on the way to the bar, however her glass was half full with scotch, so the effect was a bit different — Easy there. — told her Barbara as she softly hissed by the burning on her throat and ordered another one.

She would be a mumbling, blushing, incoherent mess anyway, better blame it on the alcohol, right? — So who won on that game of darts? — Jessica laughed, looking at Amy for an answer.

Amy pointed at Andy, smiling — But only because he cheats.

— Oh! Look who's talking, with the clapping in front of my face when I'm about to throw.

Conversation flowed smoothly but the four matchmakers couldn't make the two talk to each other for other than a side commentary. So they decided to take themselves out of the picture so they would have no option but to talk. The Muschetti siblings decided to go with — Tomorrow we have to start prepping to shoot early. — McAvoy went to take a phone call and never returned, a the same time Chastain revealed she was extremely tired and excused herself. What neither of the cupids realized was the Amy was fairly drunk, except for McAvoy, he realized that and decided that would probably speed up the processes a little.

They both stayed in silence a bit, where Amy sobered up a bit, enough to make a coherent and appropriate comment, maybe even a bit intelligent — I probably shouldn't drive like this.

Bill looked at her, quite surprised to hear her speak, it took him a moment to process what she had just said and when he understood he leaned closer to her, making a "this is very important for us to remember so litsen up" face combined with "I'm a bit drunk and I don't want to fall asleep", which meant eyebrows high up and eyes fighting to stay open — Neither of us should drive like this. We should get an uber. — she nodded and took her phone out — No, I got it. — he said, his phone already on the app — A genta- gentleman should pay for the uber.

She laughed — What a gento- gentel- What a- a you. — she laughed a bit more and laid her head on her arm, suddenly realizing how dizzy she felt — God. — she softly grunted.

— Should be here in a few minutes. — he looked at her, laughing at her scrunched up face — Wanna get some fresh air?

Fresh air helped the dizziness go away and, against all odds, she started to sober up. As they waited for the car she couldn't help but to be almost constantly next him, hugging his arm, looking at his face. It didn't make Bill uncomfortable but it did made really him nervous also a bit guilty, she was drunk, he wouldn't do anything to her in that state, but he enjoyed the way she was touching his arm, looking at his eyes and lips, laughing at his jokes, but he was sure nothing could beat the way her lips felt on his neck when she laid her head on his shoulder on the car. She kept kissing his neck in a slow, soft and intimate way, but he wouldn't take advantage of the inebriated state she seemed to be even if he was a bit drunk, which he was, but he thought he was more conscious than she was.

So he took her to the apartment building they were both renting in. On the elevator she stopped leaning against him so much and looked him dead in the eye — Wh- why aren't you kissing me? — She asked, she was a bit more coherent and sounded less drunk but more tired.

— 'Cause you're drunk. — he answered, looking elsewhere but her eyes.

— You too. — She crossed her arms as if she was about to throw a tantrum but she only pouted slightly. Two stories before her floor she pressed the stop button grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled him into a sloppy (bitch) kiss. He stood almost frozen for the first few seconds until he got a hold of himself and kissed her back. They pushed and pulled for a few seconds, trying to get closer to the other, before she parted away and whispered — I'm not all that drunk. I want this. — she kissed him again and pulled the stop button so the elevator would start again.

Every kiss he laid on her skin that night was sweet and caring and every time she touched him he could feel his chest tingle and burn at the same time.

They stayed up afterwards, talking, joking, laughing and looking into each other's eyes, getting to know each other. The conversation was easy even if it was hard topics they talked about, they seemed to feel the same about almost everything and Bill had thought that scarred him, he wanted to grow old with that woman. He wanted to love and cherish her, and make her laugh until the day he died, but that terrified him.

And even if that night was amazingly sweet the day after was especially bitter. When she woke up he was already dresses, she knew that wasn't a good start.

He told her good morning and when she went in for a kiss he said — I don't think I'm ready to be in a relationship so soon after my divorce. I don't want for this to be a one night thing, and last night was great, but I'm not ready. — and she understood, divorce was a big deal, a nine year long marriage isn't something one would get over just like that. That she could understand, that she could take, what she couldn't understand was the way he kept his distance for the last days of shooting and how he didn't even said goodbye they were at the wrap party and he left earlier.

She tried not to think much about him but he seemed to always have a way to creep back into her mind. Her brain seemed to be decided to find a connection to him and the world to give her one. Surfing through Netflix she seemed to see nothing but his face or the face of someone he was friends with, people keep recommending things to watch were he was in, and then the Emmys came around and he seemed to be everything everyone was talking about. But then she got a break, distracting herself with a new movie she was working on, he still crossed her mind but not in a heart-stopping daydreaming kind of way, it seemed more plausible to move on.

Well, not until the premiere came. The idea of seeing him again kept making her smile in the middle of the day and she felt ridiculous, it had been one night a year ago but his words kept haunting her. Not ready. That implied that maybe he would be later, maybe he would be ready then.

So she tried to look for a great dress but everything seemed too much, too many sequins, too much lace, too bright, too short or way too long. Until she founded the perfect dress a black cocktail dress that left her cleavage and shoulders uncovered and hugged her body perfectly. She felt confident, pretty and comfortable, just like she felt with him.

On the premiere they seemed like to positive sides of different magnets, unable to touch, to find each other and in that time she couldn't think of anything else but that maybe he never reached out because he didn't wanted to,that maybe the "I'm not ready" was just an act or something he said so he wouldn't have to tell her he didn't want to be with her. And, as that idea started to settle in her brain and she wandered by the Derry theme attractions, she started to feel more and more anxious and stupid, thinking of how awkward that encounter would be and how much she had thought about that stupid dress she was wearing.

She looked at her reflection on one of the many mirrors of the mirror house, she contemplated the option of skipping the movie and the party to go home. She didn't feel like watching Bill's face for two hours. As she was about to look for a easy way out she heard a tap on the glass next to her, she turned to see Bill. He was on the other side of the glass, half a smile on his face and one of his hand on his pants' pocket.

Amy looked at him a bit confused as he mouthed "hey" or maybe he said it but she couldn't hear him, and now all she was thinking about was his voice and how much she wanted to hear him talk and laugh. She smiled back with a sweet and soft "hey"

Without saying a word the both started to look for a way to the other, it was a bit difficult, it was a maze full of mirrors and glasses more than once they saw each other but couldn't meet, until a he took a turn and they saw each other, no glass, no impediments.

— Hey. — she said, taking a small step towards him.

— Hey. — he took a bigger step, nearly entering her personal space — Wanna get out of this damned maze before the clown get to us?

Her face changed, now showing her a bit worried — There's a clown?

He laughed softly, nodding — Yeah, and the son of a bitch already got me once.

— Yeah, let's better leave. — she seemed to be in bit more of a rush, gabbing his hand and walking in a bit of an accelerated pace.

She guided him trough the mirrors, checking on every turn for a god damned clown, who's idea was that? Seemed something Andy would think of. But after one turn she was stopped by a mirror, and she stood looking at herself and Bill, how he was standing behind her, still looking out for the clown, her hand holding his, and she turned around, looking at him, waiting for him to look at her. And he did, his blue eyes looking straight into hers, smiling softly as her eyes drifted to his lips, closing in on the distance she then erased.

It felt better than any of them remembered, softer, sweeter, no hesitation or drunkenness. His hands had taken their place on her neck and waist, holding her body close to him, leaving her hands nothing to do but linger over his hips. When the kiss came to an end they moved slowly apart, eyes still closed, as if they were trying to stay in the beautiful dream they had entered together.

He looked at her with a smile that made her blush and look to the side from were they came from, letting her see— Holy shit!— a creepy fucking clown was standing with a evil smile on his face, or at least the reflection of that fucking clown.

Bill, instead of getting scared, busted into laughter as the clown ran to hide, which only made her laugh at herself, leaving them alone with their reflections in a fit of laughter that lasted more than a few minutes.

— That fucking clown. — she muttered, still trying to calm down her laughter, holding her stomach from the belly ache that laughter had gave her.

Bill grabbed her hand, as she had done with his before, and lead her out of that maze, both still laughing ever so often, keeping each other close.

#bill hader #bill hader x reader #bill hader imagines #barry block #barry berkman #bill hader x OFC #bill #barry hbo #IT #it two #it chapter 2

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gascon-en-exil · 3 years

Text

But What If You Want to Come Out on Vers Bottom?: A “Coming Out on Top” Review (Part 4)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

All that’s left now are the ten Brofinder dates. Because there’s so many of these and because they’re all fairly short with only a few variations in how they can go down I’m not going to be spending much time on each - just a quick overview of the stories as well as an evaluation of the inevitable sex. The quality does vary a fair bit, although it’s all subjective as to which are better depending on what kind of story you’re looking for as well as, in some cases, your kinks.

Jake

Comes with a fairly obvious death condition, a sequence in which Mark and Jake get to nerd out over The Legend of Zelda, and another in which Jake lectures Mark/the player on the virtues of polyamory. I’ve always been poly-friendly myself, and the lecture does lead into a - thoroughly random - train scenario, but to say it’s not how you’d logically expect this date to go down is a bit of an understatement. Jake never even takes his shirt off, so in place of a body hair toggle he gets one to dye his hair pink for whatever reason. It’s a shame too, because at the start of the date there’s some discussion over Jake’s weight and how he should be confident in his size and his unusually elaborate buffet eating strategies.

Tommy

Like Jake’s date Tommy’s rapidly goes to some unexpected places, but in his case those places entail getting kidnapped and forced to talk through the failures of the criminal justice system at gunpoint. There are more than a few chances to get a quick game over, some funnier than others, but if Mark survives to make it to Tommy’s place he’s greeted by a brief but hot round of sex with the one man in the cast whose dick size is talked up even more than Brad’s. In this case it may actually be warranted; the girth of that thing looks positively inhuman in the CGs, so, rejoice if you’re into that.

Frankie

This guy talks an outlandishly highbrow game that he very clearly can’t deliver on, and having a successful date with him requires Mark to be as aggressively honest as possible as a means of badgering Frankie into admitting to all his unsubtle deception. The man underneath them may just be a more pathetic prospect than Mark himself, but at least the player gets treated to as good a striptease as this game can deliver with its assets followed by sex on the beach...literally, not the cocktail. This date reserves inexplicably dirty names of that nature for gelato of all things.

Luke

The absurdity only continues to build as Mark is invited to “Streamflix and chill” by an Irish frat bro who doesn’t know what that term means because apparently this universe’s Netflix knockoff doesn’t exist in Ireland. It’s up to the player to smoothly guide Mark through a showing of an inspirational story about a narcoleptic rugby player to get to the grand prize of a chance to quietly blow Luke under the blankets when his housemates could walk in at any second (or provide off-the-cuff commentary on Brokeback Mountain, as it happens). There’s also a dream CG at the end featuring yet more sports roleplay sex, as if Brad’s route didn’t offer enough of that. My favorite part though is Luke complaining about American bars not serving alcohol past 2 AM, as I agree with him that it is utterly barbaric.

Cesar

As should be apparent, this is the one with cop sex. Mark gets caught up in a drug sting, and depending on how the player feels about Ian’s suggestion of bringing along ranch dressing (or rather, ranch dressing mix) to the supposed siesta the specific type of cop sex will either be a fairly standard round of Mark bottoming or one of the only finger-fucking sessions in the game. Either way Mark will be resisting arrest as well as sexually harassing a police officer following what was very obviously a setup targeting cruising gay men, but because this is an erotic dating sim and every man in it wants Mark’s ass let’s all withhold our reservations regarding the ethical ramifications of this entire scenario. I have no trouble doing so, although that’s mostly because cop sex does nothing for me.

Terry

Well, color me surprised - if not terribly aroused - because at long last we have a twink. There seems to be a thinly-veiled pop culture reference here, to something like a younger Justin Bieber or one of those guys from One Direction, but as wild as this date ends up going I find it hangs together rather well even without working as an allusion to any specific celebrity. Mark finds himself billed as the winner of a date with a pop star, and hilarity ensues as he encounters screaming fangirls, a creepy stalker trying to get locks of Terry’s hair, and a karaoke contest in a dive bar where New Orleans gets name-dropped because this city is mentioned in so many songs and where Mark “rocks the hell out of” Schubert’s Ave Maria, somehow. The sex itself is a novelty, with the choice coming down to either Mark giving a rimjob while Terry performs autofellatio or Mark pounding some twink ass. A post-coital hair snipping for the stalker is optional.

Donovan

This man has some hang-ups, and I still can’t decide whether they’re hot or not. At first pass this date is a bite-sized deconstruction of what Dream Daddy could have been had it been interested in actually examining the kinds of relationships it claims to center around - Donovan is a literal father, divorced and new to the dating scene and clearly uncomfortable with many aspects of it up to and including the very sexualized concept of gay daddies. His attempts at flirting and blending in at a gay bar are awkwardly endearing, but as I suggested with Alex I think CooT wants to have it both ways by having Donovan opine about being treated like a daddy...when he looks the way he does and while he’s buying drinks for a guy more than ten years his junior. Even his attempt at more authentically bonding with Mark via an impromptu woodworking tutorial quickly pivots into innuendo and heavier flirting leading up to the inevitable sex scene (although the player should note that in order to get said sex scene you’ll have to know a little about what Donovan is teaching Mark as well as allow him to step away for a heart-to-heart with his teenage son). What follows is shower sex where Mark tops his bull of a date - so if you’re into big hairy bottoms and didn’t get enough from some of Amos’s options this is your story.

Oz and Pete

No Grindr analogue would be complete without a partnered relationship looking for one more, and in truth this date earns some major points for realistically capturing the mix of awkwardness and sensual chaos that comes from jumping in bed with an established couple. This includes crossed wires on who’s using the shared profile, a bit of informal relationship counseling, and the messy but inevitably uneven bonding Mark does with either Oz or Pete. There are two successful paths to this date according to which of them Mark spends more time with at the bar, with each of them building up to a particular type of fetish sex that the two of them haven’t discussed with one another until now. For Oz (on the left) that’s double penetration, while for Pete it’s cuckoldry with some bonus rimming and felching in the scene itself. This is admittedly one of the more physically demanding scenarios Mark can find himself in, especially if he favors Oz, but as I said it’s handled with a surprising amount of realism. Plus there’s a comment before the date that sort of handwaves Mark’s pre-sex stretching that goes along with an utterly ridiculous (mental) image, so I’ll let it slide.

Theo

This one is interesting, to say the least. Mark is paid to pose as Theo’s fiancé at his ten year high school reunion, as part of a ploy to show off how successful Theo has become and rub his former bullies’ noses in it. In addition to the usual wacky humor - and cameos from both Penny and Ian - this is a story with a fair bit of heart to it depending on how Mark deals with the situation. He can either play the perfect partner and earn Theo the recognition he craves...or he can go as absurd and over-the-top as possible but don’t try rickrolling the bullies because that’s a step too far, making a spectacle of himself and teaching Theo a valuable lesson about not caring about the opinions of the people who used to mock him. Provided the date’s a success in one form or another Theo will proffer the above Dom/sub scenario, and Mark can respond either by agreeing to be a sub (either in the comparatively vanilla sense if he was sensible at the reunion or as a pup if he went overboard with it) or by flipping the script and making Theo his sub for the evening. They could have done a lot more with the pup play considering it’s just the sub version with a collar and canine sound effects, but there’s already more logical bang for your buck going on in this date than in around half of the others.

Hugh and Jesse

This is...I can’t even....

Okay, whatever. It’s the last one. It’s not a date, properly speaking, but is accessed if Mark chooses to play with himself on the Brofinder menu. He gets high off some incredibly dubious weed given to him by Ian and proceeds to get intimately acquainted with his goldfish Slurpy in what is CooT’s second-heaviest icthyophilic moment (Google for #1, I already said back in Part 1 I’m not going there). If he calls for an ambulance he’ll be taken under the care of a pair of twin EMTs who make up for what they lack in professionalism with the kind of zany determination you’d expect with a setup like this. At that point it’s the player’s choice of a spit roast or a combo blowjob and rimjob. Adding to the overall disorienting effect of this “date” is the game experimenting with perspective and its visual assets in ways rarely seen elsewhere and that honestly don’t work very well. There’s only so much you can do with such, ahem, stiff portraits.

#Coming Out on Top

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alindakb · 4 years

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Letter to my Parents - Saturday 23 November 1991 - by Alinda

Saturday 23 November 1991

Dear mom and dad,

I’ve been thinking a lot about the package that Hagrid and headmaster Dumbledore are hiding in the castle. I’m sure by now that Snape is after it. When I was dragging myself back towards the dungeon one evening after dinner I passed Snape his office. The door was ajar and I could hear him talking to someone. I decided to listen in and to take a peek through the open door. Filch was with him and Snape was holding his robes above his knees, making it possible to see the bloody and mangled wound on one of his legs. And then he wondered out loud how he was supposed to keep his eyes on all three heads at once. So he had tried to get past the dog again. I told Hermione, Ron and Neville the next day. Hermione is convinced I’m wrong. In her eyes, teachers can do no wrong, but Ron thinks I have a point and Neville agrees too. He’s afraid of Snape, ever since his potions incident during the first week at Hogwarts.

I’ve also been to my first Quidditch match ever. It was Gryffindor against Slytherin and I wasn’t sure who I was supposed to be supporting. I’m a Slytherin, but all my friends are in Gryffindor. And these days I take all my meals at their table. But I decided to wear my green jumper because I do want my house to win. Hermione said that was a good thing, but Ron disagreed. They always seem to disagree about everything, but that doesn’t seem to stop all the sweet smiles they give each other. It’s a bit weird that they are dating now, I’m just glad Hermione still has time to spend with me and that she doesn’t feel like she needs to spend all her free time with Ron.

We took a place in the stands and Ron and Neville brought binoculars so we could see even better. Lee Jordan, a friend of Ron’s brothers was giving commentary for the match and it was clear that he wanted Gryffindor to win. It was a very exciting game and my friends around me cheered when Gryffindor score the first goal. I pretended to be outraged about this and we had a good laugh. Hagrid came to join us and he asked me how I was doing. I told him I was good. I didn’t mention that the bullying is still going on and all the others were too involved in the game to tell Hagrid otherwise. Gryffindor got a penalty and scored again. Dean started shouting that they should hand out a red card, making me and Hermione laugh. Ron, Neville and Seamus didn’t understand which made it even more amusing. And when Slytherin scored I cheered for my team. Ron tried to muffle my screams by placing his hand over my mouth, but I just batted it away. It was good fun. Slytherin scored five more times after that and Ron and Seamus were getting upset that I was still cheering them on. But in the end, the Gryffindor Seeker caught the Snitch and Gryffindor won by one hundred and seventy to sixty.

After the game, I went to have some tea with Hagrid. Hermione, Ron and Neville joined me. Somehow we came on the topic of professor Snape and Ron, Neville and I all agreed that he was evil. Hagrid said that was rubbish. And then I told him that we knew that Snape had tried to get past the three-headed dog and that he was trying to steal whatever it’s guarding. Hagrid defended the dog right away, it’s his and its name is Fluffy. Really, it’s Fluffy. I don’t know what’s cute or fluffy about that dog, but Hagrid seems to think it’s a lovely animal. I tried to find out what the dog is guarding, but Hagrid wouldn’t say. It was top secret, we should forget about it, about the dog and what it’s guarding, because that’s between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. Hagrid was a bit upset that he let that slip, but it gives us something to look into.

I ate dinner that night again with the Gryffindor’s and Hermione stayed in the great hall with me until curfew. She’s been doing that a lot, knowing I don’t really want to go down to the dungeons. And with Gryffindor beating Slytherin in the Quidditch game I was sure I was going to get a beating that night. So I dragged myself to the Slytherin common room as slowly as possible. Nott, Goyle and Crabbe were already waiting for me in our dormitory. Zabini was nowhere to be seen and Malfoy left the room as soon as I came in. He looked worried, or scared, I don’t know really. It’s just, even though he still makes fun of me when everyone is around and everything, he seems to be less willing to be part of the beatings I’m getting.

It was bad that night, my abdomen is still purple and my body hurts everywhere. I think I even might have bruised some ribs. It hurts to breathe. But it will be okay. I’m just glad they hit me where no one else can see. I don’t want to think about what would happen if word got out that I’m weak.

And I don’t want you to worry, mom, I’m really okay. It’s only at night that I have to be careful. During the day I now have my friends around me. I sit with the Gryffindor’s during meals and classes. Hermione, Ron and Neville always save a seat for me now, so Malfoy is unable to mess up my notes. And when they try to make fun of me the Gryffindor’s stand up for me, what makes it easier to talk back to them. I feel a lot braver with my friends around. I’m really starting to enjoy my time here at Hogwarts.

It’s really cool to learn about magic, even though I’m not always that good at everything. Flying is the only thing that comes naturally and I really enjoy it. It’s a shame the lessons will end when Christmas break starts. I will miss sweeping through the air.

Transfiguration is a really difficult subject. I find it hard to remember all the rules of the transformation formula. It has to do with bodyweight, wand power and other things. The wand power is one I most struggle with. I’m still a little afraid of my wand, since its Voldemort's brother wand. But I’m learning how to control the thing and maybe in some time, it won’t scare me as much anymore. We’ve been working on trying to turn a match into a needle and we have started on the theory about switching spells.

History of Magic is all about the Gargoyle Strike and the Soap Blizzard, which are both very boring, so I won’t say too much about that. Hermione loves it and is reading all these extra books about the events. Sometimes she goes a little bit overboard with her studying, but that’s fine, because she does help a lot when it comes to my homework and essays, so I’m not complaining.

In Astronomy, we are learning the different names of the stars and the movements of planets. I like looking at the stars at night, they are fascinating. Ron thinks it’s boring and always says he much rather stay in bed and sleep.

Neville is a big fan of Herbology. He loves plants and I like partnering with him for this class. He knows a lot about the subject. We’ve been working with Wormwood, Mandrake Root and Dittany. We’ve also had theory lessons about the severing charm. I’m not sure what I think of it, I don’t think I have the green fingers necessary for this subject.

And in Defence against the Dark Arts, we are supposed to be learning about Doxies, Gnomes, Snails and Imps at the moments according to our book, but professor Quirrell only talks about vampires and how to fight them off. We are also supposed to learn spells, like shooting green and red sparks and a wand-lighting charm. Ron has shown me how to make the sparks come from my wand when we were reading through our DADA book. It was very easy and I feel like I could be good at DADA if the professor would just stop obsessing about vampires. I’m glad some of the charms are also part of the charms curriculum, like the wand-lighting charm.

I’m not really good at charms. I did manage to finally make my feather fly with the levitation charm. I got it before Malfoy and that was a fun victory. We’ve also been working on the wand-lighting charm and the Lumos Solem. I haven’t managed to make them work, but Hermione promised me she would help me practice them one of these days.

And then there is Potions, where I’m still forced to work with Malfoy. We’ve studied the different types of Cauldrons and Vials that we are supposed to use, but I don’t really get it. Malfoy always makes sure we have the right ones because he loves Potions. He’s really good at it, which makes it hard to keep up with what he’s doing during class. We’ve been making some potions like the cure for boils and the herbicide potion, but like I said Malfoy makes them and I just watch.

So I need to study a lot to get my head around all the theory of magic and the wand movements and everything. And Ron said I should stop being afraid of my wand. He thinks that’s the main reason I’m struggling with it all. Hermione agrees with him on that one (it’s a miracle!) but also thinks I just need to study harder. Studying harder is her answer to all our problems. I wish life was that simple, but I know studying won’t solve everything.

I’m going to sleep now,

Love you both,

Harry James Potter.

#fanfic #Harry Potter #Draco Malfoy #drarry #letters #bullied harry #hermione granger #ron weasley #neville longbottom #AlindasStories #harry in slytherin

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kkruml · 5 years

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407: Down the Rabbit Hole

My thoughts below the cut. Some spoilers ahead, but this isn’t a play by play of the episode.

I’m gonna write about characters I didn’t expect to ever write about again, so ye be warned now if you’d like to wait and watch the episode.

I had a lot of thoughts. For anyone who cares to know, this is where I ended with episode 407 “Down the Rabbit Hole.”

Brianna.

I thought Sophie gave her strongest performance by far in this episode. It was up to her to carry the episode, and by most accounts, I thought she hit all the necessary notes.

Brianna went through a lot this episode, starting at the beginning with her busted ankle (I’ve already seen a few side by side comparisons of Bree falling down the hill with Claire from 101- well done y’all).

Watching her stick her foot in the freezing water made me grateful for my SmartWool socks, and I saw it as a nice little nod to little first aid tricks she likely learned from her mother.

She’s resourceful.

That was a vast landscape she had to navigate- but seeing as she’s both Claire and Jamie’s daughter, I was fully engaged in watching her survive until she found the plume of chimney smoke in the distance.

She just looks RIGHT in this time period. Dinna fight me on this.

I liked seeing her in 18th century garb, I really did. In the books, Claire goes back through the stones in a flimsy dress- not the bat suit. I liked how they kept Bree’s original time-traveling garb. Giving her Marsali’s clothing felt fitting and a nice little sneak peak at future episodes, and the relationships she’s going to be forging in North Carolina.

Also- DEM CURLS. FINALLY we get to see both Jamie and Claire’s genetics come through in her curly red mop.SPEAKING OF WHICH- Considering just how much she’s supposed to look and act like Jamie, I’m a bit flummoxed (yep I said that word) that NO ONE seems to make the connection.

Frank.

To be honest, having flashback with Bree and Frank helped round out her character. To me, she’s been a bit “flat” thus far and this helped flesh out her frame of mind, to make her more three dimensional.

I’m not on the Frank-loving train by any means, but his character is complicated and so was his relationship to not only Claire, but to Brianna as well. Focusing an episode on Bree means we need to know more of her backstory, including the relationship between her and the only dad she knew as she comes to terms with meeting Jamie.

Side note, I did actually like the last scene with Frank and Bree in the car- we get a bit more back-fill as to what happened after his last fight with Claire. If you have any sympathy for Frank, this was a heartbreaking final moment between him and the daughter he loves and raised.

The writers talked about fan commentary on Frank- they knew this was a risk considering literally NO ONE besides RDM really loves seeing that character on screen- especially when the character has already been killed off. If they were going to bring him back, I think they handled it as best they could.

BUT ENOUGH. Dude is gone, please stop bringing him back.

Leg Hair.

Initially waking up and seeing Leg Hair was intriguing for me. Having seen that Laura wasn’t available to play Jenny for these scenes, I had time to prepare that SOMETHING was going to be different. What I quickly found though, is that 5 minutes tops would have been enough for Brianna to have learned about Jamie’s marriage to her and that Leg Hair was the reason Claire almost burned as a witch. I didn’t need half an episode hearing her fantasies about how happy they were together, and how Claire was a whore.

I did, however, rewind the scene in the kitchen where it unfolded and Leg Hair’s true colors came out. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing little bits of Claire come out as Brianna called Leg Hair on her shit.

Ian.

(JENNY I MISSED YOU- IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I NEED YOU BACK IN THIS STORY)

I NEEEEEEEDED more of Brianna and Ian.

There were certain aspects of the story I think they definitely could have given to Ian in place of Jenny. He’s established in the story and fans LOVE him (even if it’s just me- the love is REAL and it’s DEEP, okay?)

I needed more moments of him talking about Ian’s gratitude that Jamie DID get to be a father. To hear about the smaller details of Jamie’s personality and his life’s journey from someone who’s been by his side from the beginning (including fighting by his side in war). To hear stories about Jamie and Claire together, about Gatherings at Lallybroch, about Claire helping Jenny give birth. How she told them to plant potatoes that ended up saving them through the famine.

Ian LOVED Claire, he saw how broken Jamie was after she left (”Claire was your heart”). He just could have.... GIVEN SO MUCH.

His reunion with Claire after 20 years was so heartfelt and awe-inspiring.

He sees both Claire and Jamie in Brianna. He’s literally known about her for all of 30 seconds and he loves her so much already.

I needed MORE of this. I feel really cheated here.

Bonnet

He’s already been established as a sociopath. I personally didn’t need to see him throw a child overboard (note to writers-no need to hit me over the head with his ruthlessness. I GET IT.) I think this was meant to contrast with season 3 and how “Captain Leonard” (ILY LJG) handled an outbreak on a ship. That his leadership is so off kilter for what normal protocol would be. (I might be wrong but this is like the ONLY reasoning I can find).

Roger.

I DID however like to see the shift in Roger’s demeanor and fire in him as he steps out of the “stuffy historian professor” role. He needs to get to NC, and he’s doing it for Brianna. I hate that he’s on Bonnet’s boat. I know this is the start to a REALLY rough ride for his character, and it’s not going to be easy- It’s already gut wrenching to watch.

RIP THAT BEARD THO.

SO...

SO next week, according to the trailer, is more journey for Brianna and Roger. I don’t have high hopes we will see much of Jamie, Claire, or anything on the ridge. I really hope the writers focus more on the important aspects of the story line (get thee to the ridge with yer mam’s ring, Bree!), and ditch the problematic issues both from the source material and the show’s adaptation (ye ken my meaning, aye?).

This episode had little notes of Outlander in it, but I really felt like the risks the writers took with their decisions unfortunately just didn’t serve the story well overall.

#outlander #outlander spoilers #407 #down the rabbit hole #and oh boy down we went

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demigodofhoolemere · 5 years

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Saw Captain Marvel!

Spoiler free version: Amazing. It’s so so good to see Carol in live action, and I’m so happy they did her personality and her power set justice. Brie did an awesome job at bringing her to life, and I loved her journey (and I appreciated the nonlinear storytelling). The story was fantastic, and after a few years in a row of coming out of quite a few movies with various disappointments (largely regarding characterization issues or humor going overboard), it’s such a good feeling to not have my expectations dashed. All of the characters made me so happy, I love how real and human each one of them was. No unnecessary drama between the protagonists (unlike some people *cough*Avengers*cough*), just people who are genuinely friends, including unlikely ones. It’s certainly different from the origin story I’m used to, but I really enjoyed what they did. I’m also glad that adding something so big like this to the backstory of the MCU doesn’t shake things up too much; there are a few changes, but it didn’t come off as a retcon, at least not in the annoying way of most retcons. All in all, wonderful movie that left me crying happily, and also now leaves me looking suspiciously at my cat.

Spoiler filled commentary below

~~~

- CAROL. Just Carol. I can’t overstate how much I loved seeing her. I love watching her fly around and use her powers and beat people up. That’s been my jam since 2012 and I’m still living for it. This has been a long time coming and it feels like newly meeting an old friend. She deserves every ounce of praise she’s been getting. I’m also always grateful when tough female characters have a well-developed personality, because if her entire character is only about being tough, then I have difficulty investing because there’s nothing to connect with - unfortunately that kind of character is a dime a dozen these days because in the effort to prove that women can stand up on the same playing field as men, they often just get injected with masculinity and it ends there, which can be frustrating. For all of Marvel’s other flaws with how it treats some of the female characters, they always manage to churn out a genuine human being who does not come from a cookie cutter. Carol gets to have wonderful human emotions, a balance between positives and flaws, and strength that does not come only from her powers. She is determined, full of spirit and life, she knows anger and empathy in equal measure. Getting to know her and love her as a person is why it’s so much fun watching her kick butt. It wouldn’t be the same if kicking butt was her only defining trait. Because I care so much about her I actually ended up crying just watching her do her thing, since it meant so much to see on the big screen. She is a protector of people, and she has fun doing it.

- I appreciate that they got the mohawk look in there without actually giving her a mohawk. Best of both worlds. Also loved seeing a couple of her other comic costumes when they were playing with the color schemes.

- Between the opening logo and the cameo, many tears were shed over Stan Lee. Thanks for everything, man.

- Thoroughly enjoyed the 90s music, aesthetic, and technology. The soundtrack was great, the outfits were great, and I especially loved that people had to just sit around and wait for something to load. Some 90s realism for you right there.

- Carol’s relationships with Maria and Monica are so so sweet, and so human. I’ll never get enough female friendships. Of course, I really adored them individually as well - Maria is wonderful and Monica is adorable. And the way Monica looks up to Carol is very nice foreshadowing for her future, if that’s the road they go down (I know there are plans for Kamala, so I guess we’ll see where Monica fits in).

- Goose! I’m still getting used to not calling him Chewie, but whatever. Precious alien cat by any other name is just as precious. I loved the special effects for the mouth.

- I liked seeing a younger, less hardened Nick Fury. He was very different, but not so different that you can’t believe it’s what he could have been like a couple of decades ago, and you do see familiar aspects in regard to him being a good spy and being useful in the action. Also, VERY RELATABLE cat enthusiast, which gains him a lot of points. Having Goose be the reason for his eye does detract a bit from the mystery and drama of it, but it’s not something I’m gonna get worked up about (I’ve spent far too much energy getting worked up over other movies, this is minor in comparison). What I AM gonna get worked up about is knowing that he’s going to get progressively more and more hardened by the world and I want to protect him.

- PHIL 💗💗💗 Ugh, it’s been too long since we’ve seen Coulson (in the MCU but also in general since AoS is taking five thousand years to come back). I loved seeing him pre-Iron Man, just the young rookie agent who hasn’t been through the wringer yet (I want to protect him, too). Just as sweet as ever and I love him ignoring orders to do what his gut knew was right - it shows why Fury has always trusted him so much, and it certainly foreshadows many instances in AoS. I’ve missed him.

- Very good call to have the Supreme Intelligence take on someone’s form rather than showcase the ugly giant green head. I also appreciated that they still managed to shoutout to the ugly giant green head with the tendrils wrapping around the person interfacing.

- Jude Law played a very interesting Yon-Rogg. Enjoyable without being particularly likable. All of the Kree were done well, I thought. Definitely nailed it as a warrior race who seem to have little care about the consequences of what they do, and yet simultaneously do look out for their own. Also interesting to see Korath and Ronan pre-GOTG. And it’s an unimportant detail, but I loved when you see soldiers with the sort of fin-like shape on the top of the helmet, since I’m very used to seeing that.

- Did NOT expect to ever in my life care about Skrulls. After EMH I’ve always been anxious about seeing them in live action, because who the heck can you trust? Well, uh, them, apparently. And while it’s a change, I’m definitely not going to complain, since this lowers the chances of having to go through a Secret Invasion arc at some future point (I mean, it could still happen, I’m sure there are still Skrulls who are genuinely awful, but it’s nice not to feel like I have to worry about having trust issues in the future). I’m so happy they didn’t kill Talos or his family. It’s very interesting to see an angle where the ones you view as the bad guys are just victims of a war that they don’t want to be part of, which happens all the time in real life, so why not have good eggs among the Skrulls?

- Okay, my ONE gripe is Mar-Vell. Turning him into a woman really wasn’t necessary. I’d seen a rumor about it, so I went into the movie lowering my expectations on that front, so I’m definitely not as disappointed as I would have been if it had come as a surprise to me, but still. I know why they did it, and it’s the same reason the comics recently retconned Carol’s history to make her mom a Kree so that her powers would be a natural part of her instead of something she gained from Mar-Vell’s DNA - a man isn’t allowed to be significant to a woman’s backstory now. There’s feminism and then there’s doing everything possible to erase men from an equation, and I find that to be over the top. But to Marvel’s credit, they pulled it off well enough that I’m not anywhere close to being as upset as I could be about it (they also pulled it off with the Ancient One and Ghost, but that’s different for me since I really didn’t have any strong knowledge of or connection to those characters beforehand which makes it easier to accept - I’ve known and cared about Mar-Vell for years, so it does sting a bit that now we’ll never get to see him as he was). Overall, kind of annoying and if I could change it I would, but I’m getting used to changes like this (and it’s still not as bad as other things I’ve gotten annoyed with them over), so I’ll accept it and deal.

- Not a gripe but a question - what’s the timeline with the Tesseract now? Howard Stark found it, and then it was in SHIELD custody ever since and right up to The Avengers, so... did Lawson steal it at some point? What’s our in-universe explanation for this one? If they gave one I didn’t catch it.

- THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE. Way to get my waterworks going. It made me so emotional that I’m not really even upset that Jan still doesn’t get to be the one to give the name (at this point, after everything that’s been done to remove her from the narrative of the origins of the team, I really can’t expect anything else and I’ve made my peace). I don’t know if it’s just the nostalgia factor, or the fact that Endgame is coming up, but that part just made me lose it.

- The credits scene, ohhhhh boy. I immediately registered that it was Steve by his posture and I lost my mind even further. I’m gonna miss the crap out of that guy. And then Nat showed up, and Rhodey and Bruce, and I just... agdjshsjsh. I’m NOT prepared for that to be the next movie and I’m definitely not prepared to see it in only a month. Don’t get me started on the pager. CHILLS. And seeing Carol show up in the compound asking about Fury... I’m fragile. Someone please hold me.

#marvel #captain marvel #spoilers #marvel spoilers #captain marvel spoilers #review

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daisybaeks-archive · 6 years

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wise men say | baekhyun

Genre: Fluff

Pairing: Not an idol!Baekhyun x reader (gender neutral)

Hi! Can I request a fluffy Baekhyun, Suho or Jongdae falling in love at first sight after listening to the other person sing?

I really had to think hard about who to pick for this one anon, but I rarely get requests for Baekhyun, so you know I have to do that for my boy. Hope you enjoy!

Jongdae bowed onstage after he was finished with his set, smiling at the applause the cafe’s customers were giving him. No one was louder than Baekhyun and Chanyeol though, who cheered and whooped like they had just witnessed their favorite idol group strip onstage and not their best friend sing some acoustic covers (much to the annoyance of everyone else). Jongdae hopped off the little stage and went to join them.

“You guys are so embarrassing,” he grumbled, taking a sip of his iced macchiato.

“You’re the one that invited us,” Chanyeol snickered into his hot chocolate. “So whaddya say? Head back to my place?”

Baekhyun shrugged, slurping up the last of his frap obnoxiously until Chanyeol hit him over the head. “Sure, I don’t care,” Baekhyun replied, overdramatically rubbing the spot where he had been “hurt.”

“Cool,” Jongdae said, standing up. “We can order a pizza or something.”

“H-Hi,” came a voice from onstage. The next performer was already up. “Sorry, this is my first performance,” you laughed nervously. “But I’m Y/N, and I hope you enjoy.”

“Ah, we should wait,” Jongdae said, sitting back down. “We’ll look like assholes if we leave.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Fine, but you’re buying the pizza,” he said as he clapped along with everyone else.

You cleared your throat and nodded at the pianist, who started playing soft chords. Baekhyun recognized the song, it was the slower version of that Elvis song, the gum commercial one...

All of Baekhyun’s inner commentary screeched to a halt once you opened your mouth and began to sing.

“Wise men say.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Baekhyun saw Chanyeol’s jaw drop. He felt his own eyes widen and he sat forward a little bit, suddenly paying so much more attention.

Your voice was sweet like honey, clear and unashamed despite your shy and nervous disposition earlier. It was a beautiful voice, but that’s not what captured Baekhyun. Your eyes were closed, your hands clasped around the microphone. Your body swayed ever so slightly as you sang. You sang the words like you wrote them, like they had manifested under your skin and were just begging, begging, to be expressed. The pure and raw emotion gave Baekhyun chills.

You sang like you were falling in love.

“Take my hand, take my whole life too.”

Baekhyun felt his heart clench as you opened your eyes and looked straight at him. He knew it was only the performance, but he could have sworn you were looking at him with all the love in the world.

“For I can’t help falling in love with you.”

“That was a good one, wasn’t it?” Jongdae said, five songs and many thunderous rounds of applause later.

“You’re telling me,” Chanyeol replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone sing like that. No offense.”

“None taken. Hey, Baekhyun!” Baekhyun tore his gaze away from you to look towards his friend. “Watch it, you’re drooling.”

“Seriously?!” Baekhyun wiped at his chin, glaring at the other two when they roared in laughter.

“Oh my god, you should have seen your face,” Chanyeol laughed.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, looking back at you. You were talking to your pianist, your body angled in a way that told him you were about to leave. “Hey, uh, maybe we can hang some other time?”

“What, really?” Jongdae asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun replied distractedly. You had just ended your conversation. Now was his chance. “See you guys around,” he said, before bolting as inconspicuously as he could towards you.

“Hey!” he called.

You whirled around, startled. “Hi,” you smiled (beautifully).

Baekhyun stammered, suddenly shy. “I, um, I really liked your performance. It was really good, like wow, you know.”

You laugh, a tint of pink in your cheeks. “Thanks. I was nervous about going up there at first, but I think it went pretty okay.”

“It was more than okay! I was sitting there and you started singing, and I was like whoa, and then you kept going and I just sat there with like my mouth open and my friends kept teasing me because they thought I was drooling, but really I wasn’t, although I might be a little bit in love with you or something.” Oh my god, stop talking.

You stared at him weirdly and Baekhyun mentally kissed any chance with you goodbye. Then you started laughing, but it wasn’t a mean laugh, it was more like if a fairy and a summer breeze had a baby and that baby was your beautiful, beautiful laugh. (Apparently Baekhyun’s ability to be sane and coherent reduces to an absolute 0% when facing someone that he is almost positive he’s in love with.)

“You’re cute,” you practically giggled, as if Baekhyun hadn’t suffered enough tonight. “But before you decide if you’re in love with me or not, we should sit and have a coffee first.”

“You don’t have somewhere to be?” Baekhyun asked.

You shook your head. “I was just heading home, but I’d rather be with you.”

Baekhyun smiled. (Though internally, he was doing front flips, back flips, somersaults, and cartwheels all at the same time.) “Alright. I’m Baekhyun.”

“I’m Y/N,” you replied.

“I’ll buy,” he said, trying to salvage at least some of his charm back. “Meanwhile, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

Oh my god I went so overboard. Don’t look at soft Baekhyun selfies before writing a soft Baekhyun fic, or else this mess happens.

Also I can’t resist writing Beagleline and I will do so until I die, sorry

blog | ask/request | request guidelines | info | my main blog

#baekhyun imagine #exo imagine #baekhyun fluff #exo fluff #baekhyun #byun baekhyun #exo #i made myself soft when writing this one

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albionscastle · 6 years

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Mistletoe Kisses

Just a little imagine based on an anon request for cuddling with Jack on Christmas Eve.

So fluffy I actually want to be sick.

Apart from the anon certain parts of this are specially dedicated to @flowerthroughdisarray you know what you did.

FIC MASTERLIST

MISTLETOE KISSES

It was 8pm on Christmas Eve and the snow was coming down hard. You stood at the window watching, the full moon illuminating the crisp white landscape outside. Behind you, Jack shuffled around in the kitchen, finishing with the dishes from dinner. You could see his reflection in the window where he couldn’t see you watching him.

His flopped over his forehead, soft and fluffy when it wasn’t full of product. He bit his lip in concentration as he stretched to put away a casserole dish in the top cupboard, his t-shirt riding up to bare an inch of skin above the waistband of his sweatpants. In a bit over three years you never got tired of looking at him, though he still apparently couldn’t figure out why.

“Are we watchin the movie, luv?” he called as he slung the tea towel over the dish rack.

You turned from the window, smiling. He stood by the couch, blanket in one hand, dvd in the other.

“Of course we are babe.”

It was tradition, one started your first holiday together, your first in the UK. You had been feeling lonely, missing your family, but also happy to be with Jack. He’d taken it in, sent you shopping in the city with his sister and turned the flat into a Christmas wonderland. He’d held your hand when you teared up Skyping your mom, hung mistletoe in every room so he could kiss you everytime you walked by and made you laugh with his ridiculous commentary on your favorite Christmas movie.

Since then you’d alternated holidays with your families but he’d kept those traditions alive. You walked to the kitchen to make some popcorn, sensing him behind you. Deliberately you passed under the mistletoe he’d hung, smiling to yourself when you felt his hand gently on your hip. You stopped, letting him step up behind you, flush with your back.

Jack brushed your hair aside, pressing his lips to your neck.

“Merry Christmas Mrs Lowden.” he whispered.

You turned, your arms sliding around his slim waist, lifting your face up to grin stupidly at him. You absolutely loved it when he called you that.

“Merry Christmas Mr Lowden.”

He smiled before he kissed you, eyes bright as he pulled away.

“You’re an awfully good looking man, you know.” you grinned.

“Stop tha’.” he muttered, cheeks turning red.

You laughed, grabbing a bowl for the popcorn. Jack might have been a hotshot movie star, but underneath he was still a bit shy, still blushing whenever you made your attraction to him so obvious. So naturally you went overboard, often, just to see him squirm.

Turning from the microwave you giggled as he bent over at the fridge, his sweats pulling tight over his thighs and rear.

“Nice ass.” “Quit!” he was bright red, even his ears which you thought was absolutely adorable.

“Quit what?” you asked innocently, sauntering the few steps to where he stood, placing your hand on his hip as you circled around him. On your tiptoes you nuzzled your nose along the back of his neck, your hand sliding from his hip to his rear as you moved around him, squeezing.”

“Jesus woman, I thought ye were makin popcorn, not grabbin me bum like I’m a piece o meat.”

He was smiling though.

“But it's such a nice bum, babe.” you squeezed again, laughing as you moved off to get the popcorn.

Jack went into the lounge, muttering under his breath and shaking his head. He might act like he was bothered, but he loved it and later, as always, he would show you exactly how much.

“Get a move on lass! Movie’s startin!”

He sat on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, your favourite throw blanket beside him. This was your favourite part and you gleefully flopped yourself down, head in his lap as he pulled the blanket over you. As always, for the most part, the popcorn remained untouched as the movie played. Jack kept one hand playing with your hair, the other you claimed, splaying out his fingers and tracing them with your own. You loved his hands with their long, tapered fingers and large palms. You loved to watch them when he talked, to touch them in these moments, to feel them on you in others.

The movie played through, Jack’s usual commentary causing you to guffaw loudly and roll your eyes. His jokes were always overly corny and bad but you loved them, just as you loved him.

The movie over you sat up, one more part of the yearly ritual completed, the one you were looking forward to most still to come. You sat cross legged on the floor by the tree, lights twinkling and reflecting off the tinsel. Jack joined you, a mug of hot chocolate for each of you and a ridiculous looking santa hat perched on his head.

“Ohhhh sexy Santa!” you giggled when he shot you a dirty look.

“Who open’s first?”

“I do, it was your turn last year, remember?”

You clapped your hands with glee when he reached under the tree for a small package, wrapped in his signature style.

Messy, like a drunken elf had been let loose in the wrapping room.

He tried though, he really did, and it was endearing how proud he was of himself.

You tore into the wrapping, revealing a box made from leather and designed to look like an original edition of Persuasion.

“Oh Jack, it’s gorgeous!” you loved it, and you loved how well he knew you.

“Ye haf tae open it, silly goose.”

Of course. With Jack a gift was never that simple.

Inside the box was a purple velvet pillow on which lay a perfectly preserves stem of heather.

“It’s the same one ah gave ye the first time ah brought ye tae Scotland.”

He looked so damn pleased with himself, so hopeful and eager, like a giant puppy.

Your eyes welled.

“God dammit Jack, how do you even exist?”

Wiping your eyes with the back of your hands you leaned over, smooshing your face against his chest. Your hands rested on his knees, his ran up and down your back soothingly as you sniffled against him.

“I cannae tell if ye like it or hate it.” he murmured.

“I love it, you romantic goob.” you managed to sob, wrapping your arms around his waist and squeezing.

He laughed, extracting you from him and looking at you expectantly.

“My turn.”

That fucking smile of his got you every time. You literally could refuse him nothing or stay mad at him when he smiled at you. And you’d tried, a lot.

This Christmas Eve tradition of one gift had started with a bet the November of your first year together. He’d brought back some cheesy, meaningful gift from his press trip and you’d quipped about it. He’d bet you that you couldn’t out cheese him, that no one was as over-the-top romantic as he was. So far he’d won, all three Christmases, and this was the best yet. You had to hand it to him, the man knew what he was doing.

But you had him this year.

You giggled as he tore into his package like an excited child, wrapping paper flying around him.

He pulled out a small scrapbook, a project you’d been working on in secret for weeks. You watched him over the rim of your mug as he opened it, eyes scanning the pages you’d worked on meticulously.

“Ohhhhh wow.” he whispered, running fingers over pages filled with photos of your story from your first meeting to now. “This is amazin.”

You watched his Adam’s apple bob the way it only did when he was trying not to cry. There were letters from you to him on every page, your memories and feelings about each event, along with little souvenirs. It was as sappy and as cheesy as they came.

He closed it, blinking his suddenly very bright eyes before pulling you over to curl into his lap.

“I love it lass, and I love ye.”

You smiled, knowing what was coming. It was a draw right now, but you were about to take it for the win.

“You should check out the last page Jack, I left something extra special there.”

His brows rose, a smile on his lips as he opened his book again, flipping through to the end. You knew what was there, expected a reaction. Your husband didn’t disappoint. His mouth fell open, hands started shaking, tears welling up in his eyes.

Gotcha babe.

“Really? This is…….really?” he whispered incredulously.

He looked at the page again. It only contained three things that you’d managed to sneak in the already wrapped book the day before, while he was in the shower. There was a picture, black and white, fuzzy and labeled and underneath, two words written while you’d been crying.

“Hi Daddy.”

#jack lowden fanfiction #jack fucking lowden #jack lowden blurb #jack lowden imagine #anon ask #jack lowden fic #jack lowden #jack lowden x reader

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