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#and I already could tell the bat would end up a romantic rival based on his description
lunamond · 7 months
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While I'm not at all a fan of Sjm (I only read Tog, Acotar and dnf'ed Acomaf) and overall strongly dislike almost everything I know about her and her writing, I do have a strange fascination about the Acotar series in particular, partly because despite the bad writing there is so much untapped potential in this series.
One of the things I've been thinking about recently is how easily Sjm could have fixed a lot of the issues with Feysand, while still indulging in her super fucked up SA kink with one simple tweak in book 1.
Instead of having Ratman Sa Feyre "for her own good" Utm, just have Amarantha order him to do this as a way to further punish and humiliate Feyre. This immediately shifts the coupability onto Amarantha (the actual villian) while giving the opportunity to explore Rhys' guilt and the ways in which his actions under duress Utm impact his reputation as a bad guy.
It would also give us sth more concrete to explore as far as Rhys sexual trauma goes compared to canon where Sjm only uses his trauma to shield his character from any sort of criticism.
It would also change the very problematic "romantic" dynamic between Feyre and Rhys from victim/abuser to 2 people with shared traumatic experience (Yeah trauma bond).
It would also make the switch between love interests much more compelling and allow for actual nuance.
But instead we got Feyre being handed off from one hot immortal fey highlord who kidnapped, gaslight, and locked her up to a totally different hot immortal fey highlord who kidnapped, gaslight and locked her up but it's ok because this time he has dark hair and batwings.
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Honey Bat Cafe
Ok, so in my story, there’s this cafe located in Dawnsview run by Poppet. This, as you can probably tell, is the Honey Bat Cafe.
I started thinking about what some of the main cast in this side of the story could be doing when they’re not rebelling against the system. Do they stay hidden 24/7? How do they get food?
Poppet here (the tired, rightmost character) is a smoll ball of stress who is stuck running the cafe by herself despite being 15 years old. Since Poppet is a smoll that must be protected at all costs, some characters decide to help out.
Syrellis and Nymph end up helping Poppet since they’re just the best suited for the job. Ifrit tries to use science and inventions, and he may have blown something up. Wasp doesn’t want to risk socializing, and Cafe work isn’t really something Chess finds appealing. Nymph helps with the baking while Syrellis takes over cleaning duty. He kinda had to after Nymph attempted to put dishes away by throwing them into the cupboards.
Already working at the cafe is Locket, a member of the secret service and Nymph’s rival character. She works as a waitress when she off work, and yes, things do get awkward when she’s in the same building as Nymph and Syrellis. Technically, she should be arresting them, but not only is she off duty, arresting them would upset Poppet. And anyone who upsets Poppet any further is objectively a monster. So Locket begrudgingly tries to ignore the entire situation.
Except hold up folks! I heard how y’all love your coffee shop romance AUs, well guess what binch? I beat you all to the punch! That’s right! We’ve got a coffee shop romance thing here bc fuck it, gays.
Basically, on top of everything else, Nymph and Locket start having weird romantic tension, Poppet is trying her best, and Syrellis is just looking for something to do because he doesn’t want to get involved with whatever drama’s going on between Nymph and Locket. Those two will just be glaring at each other across the room while also thinking “damn I could kiss you”, Syrellis is just building a mountain of stacked chairs bc no he’s not getting in the middle of this, and Poppet’s just trying her best while thinking about how she’s probably going to cry herself to sleep again.
So... yeah. It’s chaos. Up above is a general idea of what the cafe would look like. It’s based off Steampunk -aesthetic architecture. Below, left to right are Nymph, Syrellis, Locket and Poppet.
Art and characters belong to me
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Karma, Kayano, Nagisa and Sugino were excited. Well. Kayano, Nagisa and Sugino were exited.
“Are we really going to spend our Friday night looking at bones?” Wines Karma.
“Come on, they got a new exhibit! It’s the fourth largest bone found ever!” Said Sugino.
“”I heard it’s a dinosaur hip.” Chimed in Kayano.
“Plus,” said Nagisa “Koro-sesei said it would be a learning experience”
“Fine whatever”
Kayano leapt to her feet “Forget the bones!”
Exclamations of dismay ensued. Karma had just gotten on bored.
“No, no! Apples releasing a new iPad! And giving away free ones as a promotion! All we have to do is make a video about apples to win!”
“Come on, I want to see the museum.” Said Nagisa.
“I’ll help” said Sugino. “We’ll get Okajima to film.”
“Yes! Get ready. I feel a brainstorm coming on”
They grabbed a napkin and started drawing their heart stopping Apple based videos. This would be epic. Tales of Apple drama, costumes, lighting. This would be bigger than the Titanic!
“Didn’t that sink?”
“Shut up Karma!”
Karma laughed at their antics. Nagisa on the other hand frowned. “I wanted to go to the museum. It’s closed for repairs for a week starting Saturday.”
“We can still go”
“Um....” Nagisa mumbled vaguely. Things had been a tad... awkward since Karma had come back. They hadn’t really hung out together for long since the whole.... friendship break up. He didn’t want to be stressed all evening.
“Look, it’s fine. It’s not like... a big deal.” Pointed out Karma.
“It’s just hanging out.”
“”I guess. Sure”
Kayano popped up smiling. “Aww, like a date?”
Nagisa nearly fell off his chair. Oh God. Mortified.
“No, not a date” hissed Karma. “Just. Hanging out.”
“Have fun on your .not. date.” She cooed before running for dear life. Sugino looked at Karmas face and made a swift exit. Nagisa’s was trying to fight his blush. Oh God he was all red. Idiot!
“It’s not a date.” Karma said again, rather forcefully.
“Just. Hanging. Out”
“Got it.”
“See you at 7”
Karma casually walked away praying his face didn’t rival the colour of his hair. He was not going on a date with Nagisa. And his heart certainly wasn’t beating any harder than normal. Nagisa buried his head in his school bag. It wasn’t a date. Stop panicking! What should he wear?
It took Kayano took zero seconds to convince Okajima to film their video. The thought of an IPad with high zoom camera filled him with glee. Disturbing glee but glee all the same. Nakamura’s blackmail sences were tingling. A date? Between the two most oblivious boys in the class? She new what she was doing this evening. She grabbed Hinano. Now her sights were set on the boys she needed a new accomplice. The girl was easy to convince.
“Finally!! My OTP!!”
“Whatever, bring your binoculars.”
“Trust me. We won’t miss a single second of this legendary meet up”
After school Kayano, Sugino and Okajima asked/begged/bribed Koro-Sensei to fetch them costumes. Their grand idea? An interpretation of apples through ballet. The competition would never see it coming. Kayano wore a green tutu, Sugino a red ballet jacket and shorts. Okajima stood by with the camera. The only problem? None of them knew anything about ballet.
“Don’t you like.... stand on your toes? And sort of spin?”
“I think I can do an arabesque.”
“Jumping is involved?”
The bone museum was just as eventful as one could expect. By which it wasn’t eventful at all and Karma was going insane.
“Are we done yet? It’s a rock! It’s not like it can move”
“It’s a fossil and I want to look at it a little longer”
“It’s a grey rock. I’ll find you 20 outside, can we go now?”
“Don’t you think it’s lovely?”
“It’s almost as picturesque as you my darling little bon...”
“I will hit you with the bone if you finish that sentence”
The Apple ballet plot line was fabulous. Stupendous. Electronic. But the skills? Less so.
“Just twirl. Twirl. Kayano for the love of God TWIRL!”
“I’m basically standing on my big toe do you think this is easy!”
“Sugino, you twirl then!”
No response came from the pile of body that used to be Sugino. Arabesque’s were harder than you’d imagine. Okajima dumped the camera and leapt onto the podium they were using as a stage.
“Just go on one leg and spin like this!”
Kayano didn’t know exactly what happened. After blacking out for a moment she came to under a desk, Sugino’s knee on her head and Okajima stuck in a broken floor board. Time for the good old YouTube tutorial.
Karma kicked himself internally. What was he doing? Why did he say that? This was supposed to be a causal meet up between friends and he was ... flirting? Could you even call that flirting? What ever it was it certainly wasn’t casual. Nagisa was staring straight ahead at the bone. Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing. Karma was just teasing. This was not. A. Date. He didn’t really mean it. Blushing harder under Karma’s grin, he fought off any unacceptable emotion. But.
He had called him lovely.
Hinano and Nakamura lurked behind a display of elderly bow ties. They came armed with a romance magazine including a stage by stage guide to love. Stage one. The Compliments. Already a solid start. Hinano screamed internally.
“Lovely?” Thought Nakumura. Interesting choice. He’d have to up the anti if he wanted to get anywhere with Nagisa. The boy was completely oblivious. Get down on one knee and he’d ask if your shoelaces were untied.
“I’m hungry.” Announced Karma, formally ending their bone viewing.
Since it wasn’t a date they didn’t plan on getting dinner anywhere fancy. What they were getting was barbaque food. From a literal hole in a brick wall. The smell alone was enough to throw romance out the window.
“It smells like..”
“Best not to think about it.”
“My leg is broken”
“Your leg is not broken”
“It’s broken!”
“Sugino your fine! Do the jump!”
“I swear to God Kayano I quit!”
“If you quit I’ll make you wish you’d never been born!”
All in all, thought Okajima to himself, letting the camera roll through out the afternoon showed scenes more entertaining than traditional ballet ever could.
“That is the most disgusting food I’ve ever seen” hissed Hinano.
This couldn’t be right. Even Karma couldn’t be idiotic enough to bring a date to this mess of a restaurant. They were sitting on the side walk for goodness sake. And the guy running the place looked like he was considering a murder. Come to think of it that’s probably where the meat came from.
“This tastes terrible Karma. Amazing job!”
“Karma laughed and took another bite of the thing that resembled a burger. See? They could hangout. No feelings. Just good friends. Nagisa was just a good friend who was illuminated by the white street light like an angel. Who’s eyes almost glowed and who was sitting close enough to Kiss...”
“OTP for life!!!” Hissed Hinano as Nakamura punched the air. 10 more inches. 5! 4, 3, 2
Nagisa’s phone made all 4 of them jump.
He answered to hear Kayano’s frantic whispers.
“We need help. Susan needs a hospital!”
“Hospital? Who’s Susan?”
“We were pirouetteing” explained Kayano as she dodged a thrown plate, “and Sugino accidentally threw me into a tree, the branch broke and I fell on a deer. Her antler broke! Her names Susan and she’s trying to kill us!”
“I don’t think girl deers have antlers”
“THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD BE TAKING FROM THIS CONVERSATION!”
“Alright I’m on my way. Karma, we need to go save Kayano and Sugino from a distressed deer.”
“Sure” he muttered. “Why not”
Nakamura comforted Hinano. She would kill that deer with her own bare hands. Or maybe with a baseball bat.
It took a long time to get the deer into an animal hospital. He (or she) was a biter. The nurses criticised Karma’s method of transportation. In fairness it did look pretty odd when they arrived dragging a basket full of deer tied up with fairylights. But, as Karma argued, they did arrive at their destination. All they had to do now what wait as the nurses got the animal painkillers and possibly anger management therapy. Now Nagisa, Kayano, Sugino and Karma were in the waiting room recovering.
Exhausted Nagisa rested his head on Karma’s shoulder. Not in a romantic way or anything.
“Awww” cooed one lady.”Your such a cute couple”
“Oh! No.” Said Nagisa quickly lifting his head.
“We’re just friends.”
“Why?”
“Ummm”
“You’d be great together” man joined in.
Karma shook his head “no, all the dating stuff wouldn’t work out”
“If I may chime in,” Said another guy in a hat.
“Are you avoiding romance because of your fear of separation?”
“My what?” Karma looked personally insulted. “I don’t have a fear of separation”
“Listen young man” said a women behind Nagisa.
“You need to reassure that red headed fellow you will always be there for him.”
“I don’t want to talk about this” said Nagisa, mortification flooding through him.
“Perhaps that’s what’s driving you apart” said hat guy. “Your worried he won’t appreciate and except your efforts”
Sugino and Kayano took turns holding vending machine popcorn.
“No, I just don’t want to date him. Karma’s my friend”
“Is he. Or is he just putting up with you” asked some girl to the left.
“Excuse me?”
“Hey, I’m just telling you what you tell yourself buddy”
Karma stood up angrily. “Let’s stop this right there, our love life is none of your business”
“So you do have a love life?”
Two nurses restrainted Karma from attacking the hat guy.
Nakumura crashed through the door with Hinano at her heels.
“Everyone shut up! It’s time for your moment! Stage 3 happens 4 hours into the date! You have 86 seconds!”
“The hell are you talking about?” Yelled Karma as Nagisa buried his head in his hands.
“Oh God!” Screamed one women, “It’s about to get real!”
“Lady you need to chill” hissed Sugino through his popcorn. “Karma! This is your time! Tell him how you feel!” Wailed Hinata.
“What is going on?” Whispers Nagisa.
“It might be too late soon!” Called hat guy.
“Am I dead?” Whispered Nagisa.
“Do it! We support you!” Yelled the nurse.
“Am I in hell?” Nagisa asked himself.
“Take the initiative Karma! Kiss him!”
Kamra threw himself at Nakamura with the sole intent to kill.Nagisa tackled him.
“No killing Nakumura. Or me after this”
The audience gasped. Hinata cheered. Kayano clapped. Nagisa kissed. And kissed. And kissed.Silence. Staring down at Karma Nagisa waited for his fist. It never came.
“I can’t believe this was our first date. Do-over?”
The whole room cheered.
The next day Karma and Nagisa headed out for first date round two. Nakumura and Hinata spread the news. Kayano and Sugino met to discuss their aid to the Karmagisa cause. It was worth it, even though they never got an iPad.
Then Sugino frowned
“Hey, what happened to Okajima?”
Okajima bowed as he received his prize. His short film “What two mental ballerinas would do for an iPad” won him first place. Life was good.
@darlingimawitch
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hazelandglasz · 4 years
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OMG They Were Zoommates
Based on this post 
I really couldn’t resist, and like @tchrgleek said, “Everything is a Klaine prompt”!
On AO3
All things considered, yes, this quarantine is a huge hassle.
Kurt doesn’t particularly like to be forced into confinement, and while he can put on a professional face like pretty much any thirty year-old, he doesn’t like being forced into social interactions through video conferences.
He may be an introvert, but even he needs more than this second-best choice to get in touch with his colleagues and partners.
Speaking of which.
“Mrooow?”
“Oh, stop being judgmental, Wildcat Jackson,” Kurt tells his cat, who is sitting on his bed and looking at him with what is, truly, a judging look. “At least I put on pants.”
The cat looks down at his legs before rolling herself into a ball, away from him. 
“They’re pants,” Kurt mumbles. Yoga pants, sure, but they are still pants.
And Kurt put on his pristine pink shirt and his brooch.
From the camera’s point of view, he’s every bit the professional he needs to project for this meeting with their new partners.
The Zoom meeting is not planned before 2pm, but it’s 1:50pm when Kurt logs in, because that’s just the kind of person he is. And yet, he’s not the first one in the Zoom.
“Um, hello? I just logged in.”
The person was away from his computer, and Kurt had just enough time to see a bookshelf filled to the brim with books, manuals and several Funko Pops. 
Nothing unusual from a company specialized in developing educational apps for teenagers and young adults.
But then the man slides back in place, and wow, that is not how Kurt pictures Dalton's CEO.
“Hi. I’m Blaine Anderson.”
The man looks like a lot of things—a model from the 1950s, a romantic male lead, a wet dream in the flesh, your pick—but not like the man who sent several emails regarding the intellectual property of both parties and who was a stickler for proper language.
Kurt waves. “I’m Kurt, Pavarro’s founder and CFO.”
Mr. Anderson smiles, waving back at Kurt. “Looks like we’re the early birds.”
“I always prefer to be early. Fashionably late is too 1990s.”
Blaine nods, waving his hand toward Kurt. “Though you seem to know a thing or two about fashion.”
Kurt looks down at his (visible) outfit and cocks one eyebrow at Blaine. “So do you,” he replies appreciatively, swallowing whatever flirtatious sentence was about to follow when other participants join in the conference room.
Blaine straightens up, his hand smoothing down his tie, before smiling to the camera.
Kurt can’t help but notice it is a very different, tighter smile than the one he had before.
“Now, I want to begin this unusual meeting by thanking all of you for agreeing to the accommodations we all had to make…”
---
They are at the very beginning of the negotiations to include Pavarro’s music sheets and vocal coaching videos to Dalton’s latest app, designed for high school students wanting to focus on the Arts.
After a dozen or so Zoom meetings involving different members, it quickly comes down to only Kurt and Blaine meeting through Zoom, either to explain the technicalities ...
“No, Kurt, I’m not saying this coaching lesson is wrong, all I’m saying is that maybe the coach shouldn’t look …”
“What.”
“Constipated.”
...  or to compare their business models and projected numbers.
“Blaine, if I may …”
“Of course, Kurt.”
“You seem overly enthusiastic about the potential breakthrough we would have in the Midwest.”
Through the meetings, both Kurt and Blaine have relaxed, both in outfits and composure.
Kurt is this close to say that they’re friends (for want of anything closer).
Blaine sighs and leans back in his chair, his yellow polo slightly stretched over his chest causing a hitch in Kurt’s heartbeat. “It’s where I’m from, Kurt. I need to be optimistic about my home state. I need for it to grow to become a place of origins for artists.”
“Midwest, uh?”
“Ohio.”
Kurt sits up, leaning toward the screen. “Ohi--no way! Me too!”
Blaine looks startled. “Really?”
“Lima!”
“Westerville!”
They both start laughing, before Blaine returns his attention to his notes. Kurt takes advantage of the moment to admire Blaine’s face so close, his eyelashes casting a shadow over his cheeks in the soft glow of his screen.
“We may have been just a teensy weensy bit enthusiastic, though,” Blaine finally says, looking up and surprising Kurt who can feel his face heating up immediately. “I’ll get over it with Wes and we’ll have to meet again in a couple of days.”
“Ah, the hardship.”
“Ha, ha.”
Blaine has mastered the art of talking with his eyebrows, and his cocked one clearly says “I see through your bullshit, Hummel”.
“I’ll let you set up the next meeting, then,” Kurt rushes to conclude the meeting before he lets himself blurt something totally unprofessional and embarrassing. “In the meantime, Tina will send David the singing coaching videos we developed while in confinement, so please disregard the poor quality and focus on the subject, ‘kay?”
“Will do. Take care, Kurt.”
“You too. Good evening, Blaine.”
As soon as the conference window is shut, Kurt picks up Wildcat and screams into her soft belly.
This crush has to stop.
It won’t stop, will it?
---
Kurt knows that he’s in the right conference Zoom, because he clicked on the link Blaine sent.
That’s the only element he has to know that he didn’t get “lost”.
Because right now, filling his screen, is not Blaine’s gorgeous mug.
An adorable mug it is, sure, but not the one he was expecting.
“Blaine?”
“Oh shit, ‘Gana, move!”
Blaine rushes into the screen, picking up the smiling corgi and unceremoniously pushing her away. His shirt is opened and Kurt wants to thank whichever deity is having fun right now for the sight, both of Blaine’s chest and of his blushing cheeks.
“I am so, so sorry for that, Kurt,” he whines softly. “I don’t even know how my dog came up here.”
“That’s a cute corgi you got here.”
Blaine runs his fingers through his hair and smiles, obviously relaxing. “She is very cute. And very stubborn.”
“What’s her name?”
Blaine’s blush is back at full force. “Um …”
“Come on, I promise I will level the field.”
Blaine cocks his head to the side and shrugs. “Fine.” He moves away before returning with his dog in his lap. “Kurt, meet General Pupgana Anderson, leader of the Resistance.”
On the Corgi’s collar, Kurt does notice a couple of buttons that give clues about Blaine’s political leaning. 
Particularly, a rainbow one.
Interesting.
“Your turn.”
Luckily, Kurt’s cat was just out of frame, lying on his desk to catch the afternoon Sun. He picks Wildcat and presents her like an offering. “Here is Wildcat Jackson Hummel,” he says, and Blaine frowns, resting his chin on top on his dog’s head before snapping his fingers.
“Hey look me over, lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover, mortgage up to here
Don't pass the plate folks, don't pass the cup …,” he sings, not even off-key.
Wildcat opens one eye and bats the camera, interrupting Blaine’s singing in favor of laughter.
Kurt really doesn’t know which sound he prefers. All he knows is that he should have recorded it.
“I didn’t know you were a singer too,” he comments, letting Wildcat walk away in a huff.
“Oh, yeah,” Blaine says, absentmindedly fluffing up his dog’s already fluffy ears. “I was the leader of my school’s choir, back then.”
“Choir?”
“Ok, Glee club. Happy?”
Kurt beams at the camera. “Would be if you had proof.”
“No.”
“So you tell me if I search Blaine Anderson choir on YouTube, nothing will come up?”
Blaine mumbles something.
“Beg your pardon?”
“It. Better.”
Kurt bursts out laughing. “Okay, fine. I won’t look it up.”
Blaine cocks one eyebrow.
“Okay, maybe I will look it up, but I won’t bring it up.”
“Hm-hm.”
“I won’t make it a big deal.”
“Right.”
“Pinky swear.”
Blaine smiles crookedly at the camera, a look of disbelief on his face, before he does hold up his pinky in front of him.
Kurt mirrors him, all while quietly and internally losing his shit over how cute Blaine is.
That level of cuteness and geekiness and just gorgeousness should be illegal.
“Now, back on the matter at hand. Let me show you the new numbers we cranked up for our Midwest penetration …”
Oh Lord, Kurt thinks while putting his glasses on, do not let me focus on the idea of penetration for the next hour.
Try again.
---
“I’m sorry, Kurt, but the files have been compromised in the transfer.”
Tina looks like on the verge of tears, and Kurt himself is this close to cry.
“How did it happen?” he simply asks.
“Artie is looking into the tech of it, but in the meantime, we, um …”
“What?”
Tina glares at him. “Don’t bite my head off, Hummel, I can smack you down via video and we both know it.”
Kurt takes a deep breath. “What?” he repeats, softer this time and with a smile plastered to his face.
“We need to re-record the songs we planned to send to Dalton.”
“You know what we could do, instead?”
“Fling ourselves through the window because nothing matters?”
Kurt blinks. “Err, no. No. We’re not going to do that. What we are going to do, is mirror what the musicians from the National French Orchestra did.”
“Play Ravel’s Bolero?”
Kurt shakes his head. “No, but we can have a Zoom conference with Blaine and David--”
“Blaine, uh?”
“Yes, Blaine.” Tina’s smile could rival the Cheshire’s. “What?”
“Nothing. I’m glad you and Blaine managed to build such a good relationship while apart.”
It’s Kurt’s turn to glare. “I see what you’re trying to imply, Cohen-Chang, and it’s not--it’s not that.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I may wish it was that, but it’s not, so can you please drop it and brainstorm something with me for a good …”
“Audition?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
Tina’s smile is softer as she ends the call, promising to come up with a list of songs they wanted to add to their catalogue anyway.
As the call ends, Kurt swirls around in his chair, worrying his lower lip.
Has he been so obvious?
Does every participant into their Zoom meetings see how he feels about Blaine?
Does Blaine know?!
Blaine must know, oh shit.
“Goddammit,” he mutters, pushing himself off his chair to get a well deserved homemade pumpkin spice coffee because he needs it and he’ll be a cliché in his own damn home if he so chooses it.
--
“Blaine?”
For once, Blaine seems very unfocused today on their meeting. He frowns into space, asks Kurt to repeat what he just said and just seems … upset.
“Yes, sorry. I’m here.”
“Wanna talk about it?” Kurt asks, pulling Wildcat into the frame.
Somehow, along the weeks, adding their respective pets to the discussion has become a signal that the meeting is about to take a turn for the more personal.
Blaine hesitates, before leaning down and picking up Pupgana, who seems delighted to see Kurt.
“So, what’s going on in that cute head of yours?” Kurt continues, throwing caution to the wind, mostly because Blaine doesn’t react one way or another to his little flirting.
Which is both a blessing and a curse for Kurt’s mental well being.
“I had tickets for a play for tonight,” Blaine says softly. “And I understand the lockdown, I understand the quarantine, I understand the necessity and the safety of it …”
“But.”
“But,” he repeats, smiling sadly at Kurt. “There is no way to be sure that the play will be reprogrammed for a later date. I have been reimbursed and everything, but still.” He sighs. “I was looking forward to it, and it may make me sound like an entitled white man, but …”
“But,” Kurt echoes. “I had tickets for an opening last week, too. One of my best friends plays in it, so I had first row tickets too.”
“Oh? Which show?”
“Six.”
Blaine straightens up immediately. “No. Way.”
Kurt can feel his jaw clicking open. “No.”
“Yes!”
“You--”
“And you!”
Kurt leans back in his chair, a startled, breathless laugh escaping him. “Wow.”
“Took the word out of my mouth.” Blaine chuckles. “Which part was your friend supposed to play?”
“Ah, Mercedes was supposed to be Queen Catherine of Aragon herself.”
“Mer--your best friend is Mercedes Jones?!”
Kurt preens a little. “Yep. Since high school.”
“Wow. You keep getting more and more interesting, Kurt.”
His face heats up enough to make him worried about getting a fever, but Kurt knows it shouldn’t have anything to do with the pandemic. “...Oh.”
Blaine’s cheeks do pink up too, but he doesn’t lose his composure. “I mean it, Kurt. You’re probably--no, without a doubt, the most interesting man I have ever met.”
“And we haven’t even met yet.”
Blaine leans his head against his closed fist and stares into Kurt’s soul--that is, into his camera. “Do you really feel that way?” 
Blaine’s voice is soft and low. Intimate, in a way Kurt cannot comprehend or translate or interpret in his emotional state.
“I …” he starts, ready to deny whatever Blaine is imply, but he can’t.
Kurt can’t lie to those golden green eyes.
“No, I don’t. Feels like we have known each other forever.”
“It does.”
Kurt sighs, and Blaine follows.
When Pupgana imitates them, they chuckle and look away, focusing once again on arranging Pavarro’s demonstration for Blaine’s board.
---
It goes pretty well, if Kurt may say so himself.
Adding the Beatles has always been a goal of his, if only because his dad loved the British band so much, and performing “Blackbird” to the camera, while Tina provides backup and Artie plays the guitar, along with their teaching methods, was a stroke of genius.
Everybody agrees that the demo is a success. Wes, David and Trent leave the Zoom chat first, having another appointment with investors, and Artie spends some time talking to Blaine about how their codes could be more compatible--a conversation that flies over Kurt’s head--but after a while, it’s just the two of them, alone again in their Zoom meeting.
Blaine seems thoughtful as he looks at Kurt every two seconds, his eyes and fingers otherwise busy typing away.
“I could get used to this,” Kurt says to break the heavy silence.
“Hm?”
“You, me, working together. It feels right.”
Blaine bites his lip as he nods before pushing his keyboard away. “Kurt, I have to tell you …”
This is it, Kurt thinks. He’s going to tell me that I have been inappropriate, that we’re barely friends, that we need to stop talking to each other every day…
“... I didn’t expect to feel so emotional about your performance.”
Ah.
Ah?
“I mean, I heard recordings of you singing before, but that was … You moved me, Kurt.”
“Oh, really?”
“I had to restrain myself from clapping when you were finished.”
“Blaine …” Kurt takes a deep breath. “You know that a lot of the subjects we talked about during our meetings were not my forte.” Blaine cocks his head to the side with a frown. “Why did you decide to have them with me anyway?”
“Oh.”
“Not that I mind, but it just feels …,” Kurt hesitates and lets his silence fill in for him.
It just feels … odd.
Abnormal.
Surprising.
Like it’s leading to something else, please tell me if there is something else, because I am feeling that “else” too.
“You know, Kurt, since we’ve been in lock down, I didn’t think I would--,” Blaine pauses, looking away and muttering something Kurt doesn’t catch. And then, Blaine looks back up, jaw squared as if getting ready to enter battle. “Kurt.”
Kurt has never been more focused on the sound coming from his speakers.
“There are some people you meet along your Life’s journey, and it doesn’t feel like a meeting but like a reunion with someone you already know. When we first met, I thought “oh, there you are”, like I had been looking for you forever, like all my decisions ever since Ohio were meant to bring us back together.”
Ho. Ly. Shit.
“And I know it may sound like a rehearsed speech, and yeah, I did, a little,” Blaine continues, running his fingers through his curls and chuckling self-deprecatingly, “but I didn’t have to look for the words. I had to rehearse to be able to say it all without stuttering over my own heart. Because he’s in charge here, and he told me to do anything necessary to spend more time with you.”
Kurt is about to faint, and he doesn’t even care.
“I know we met in an unconventional way, but I can tell you that all I want right now is to kiss you, if you’d let me.”
“I would.”
“Oh,” Blaine blushes, looking surprised (and, really? Surprised? So he didn’t know?), relieved and, well, ecstatic, really. “I guess we both know what we’ll do the first time we meet without cameras between us.”
“Oh, I do. Describe it.”
Kurt knows he’s pushing his luck, but a cute, intelligent guy just made him the most romantic love declaration, he is high on feels.
Blaine cocks one eyebrow, his smile turns into a slightly cocky one and he leans closer, describing in excruciating details all the micro-actions that would lead to their kiss.
Truth be told, Kurt is no longer a blushing virgin, but it still leaves him blushing fiercely and hot all over.
And that was just a virtual first kiss.
They don’t know how long this confinement is going to last, but Kurt knows one thing.
It won’t be boring with his new boyfriend.
*
Wildcat Jackson Hummel
General Pupgana Anderson : https://www.reddit.com/r/corgi/comments/b11ngx/pancake_would_like_to_facetime/
57 notes · View notes
wordswithkittywitch · 5 years
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Barbie: A Fairy Secret
Well, it’s finally happening. I’ve lowered my standards enough to start posting my thoughts on Barbie movies. Well, my in-depth analysis so I can give all 37 (I’m counting both Barbie and the Rockers half-hour shorts as one movie. It was a continuing plot.) Barbie movies a rank based on my own arbitrary standards. And because it’s arbitrary, they are being scored out of 110 and I starting more or less randomly with the one I watched earlier this afternoon.
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Barbie A Fairy Secret: Overall Score: 54/110 Why is it a score out of 110 instead of 100? Because Barbie gives 110%. Also because there are twelve categories, and only one of them is negative. Why is this score so low? Simply put, I’ve seen all the Barbie films and this isn’t the best one. I still enjoy it, and let’s find out why that is...
High points: 6/10      This is a genuinely funny movie, even if sometimes the jokes are so stupid you’re a little ashamed of laughing at them. Even if you’re watching as an adult, you have to accept this is fundamentally a kids’ movie and it’s going to be silly.      Now, of course there are some kids’ movies that don’t have this problem, and some of them are even in the Barbie series. But this is a film where Ken Matrix-dodges a puff of glitter.
     The architecture of Gloss Angeles and in particular the palace really steals the show; even if a lot of the floating platforms look like gold chocolate kisses hovering upside down. Beyond the gleaming gold and jewel-bright colours, we see a streaked pastel sky extending forever in all directions. Really. All directions. Raquelle asks how far away the ground is, and is quickly informed there is no ground.
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Low points: -4/-10 The animation style wasn’t as polished as some of the later Barbie movies, and usually I can just ignore that, but it also lacked the pastel charm of some of the earlier ones. It was kind of in an awkward middle ground. The faces are a little stiffer than other films, and a lot of the emoting needs to be done with the body language.
And on a far more petty note, I don’t think that the name “Zane” sounds as much like a fairy as “Graciellla”. Or “Graylen”. Or even “Crystal”. “Taylor” is on about the same level of sounding like a fairy as “Zane” though.
WLW appeal: 6/10
I’m not saying that two women admitting that they both wanted to be closer but thought that the other one didn’t like them, hugging and then a rainbow of light transforms into fairies, shattering the cage they were in is necessarily lesbian subtext, but it’s really easy to read it that way. Especially since right after it happens Taylor says love is more powerful than a Passion Fairy’s anger.
However, Barbie and Raquelle’s moment of understanding each other pales in comparison to Taylor and Carrie’s relationship. The two are unquestionably close, never out of the other’s sight. However, the thing that made them read as most romantically involved to me wasn’t anything they did on screen: it was Princess Gracellia’s past history with them. When three people are close friends and two of them become so close they cut the third person out without realising they’ve upset them at all, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dating, but any time I personally can say that I really lost a friend, it was a variation on that story. I’ve seen it in other people, and much to my disgust almost any time someone brings up that this is a problem, the blame falls on the “third wheel” for not realising that romantic love is obviously more important than any of their previous friendships, and suggesting that if they were emotionally mature they would just go off and fine someone to snog themselves, thus becoming a fully realised romantic being.
Okay, none of the romantic part of the last paragraph was textual, and I am definitely projecting at least a little bit; but this is a recurring theme across media, and it sucks, and I enjoy the fact I can avoid it. Yet another reason I have watched all the Barbie movies.
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Ace Appeal:  4/10 I suppose this needs to be said at least once, and since this one is getting posted first, it’s a natural choice to get this disclaimer out of the way. No, I don’t think that anyone in Mattel offices ever stops and says, “Hang on. Does the plot of this children’s movie appeal to the sensibilities of adult asexuals?” However, I’m pretty sure there is some variation on “Not all kids like romance, and most parents want to keep the romance their kids see in media to be on the tame side, so we’ll have to pay attention to how much romance we put in and how it’s handled.” However, as an adult asexual, it is always freaking refreshing to have characters interested in something besides The Sex™, and the best place I have found to seek that is in children’s media.
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In a movie aimed at adults, one would usually establish the main romantic couple with kissing, steamy stares, and other things that make your friends not want your partner hang out with the rest of the group. Or, in the case of The Airzone Solution, goosing your partner while she’s having a conversation with someone else, making her voice go up so high I finally recognise Nicola Bryant without her fake American accent. (by the way, if you’re looking for movies with asexual appeal, The Airzone Solution is not one of them.)
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This is the face of a man who cannot unwatch The Airzone Solution.
Also, in a movie aimed at adults, no one can end in the same romantic relationship that they started in, which Barbie can avoid because the character of Ken cannot exist in a vacuum: Ken is Barbie’s boyfriend (the Barbie Vlogs/Dreamhouse Adventures timeline notwithstanding; especially given that there really is no question that in that particular timeline “Karbie is endgame” as the kids say.), all personality traits are related to this. If Ken appears in a Barbie movie, we know he already is Barbie’s boyfriend because Barbie is a wish fulfilment fantasy for young girls: As many rewarding careers as they like, a steady relationship with someone who adores them, a large group of friends, pretty much any material goods they can think of at their fingertips, and of course, magical powers. This, quite frankly, is why Barbie works as a woman somewhere in her twenties or thirties and why she doesn’t make as much sense when people try to age her down into a teenager. Seriously. That’s what Skipper is for. How can Barbie have a sixteen-year-old little sister if she herself is sixteen? It doesn’t make sense. But I’m getting off-topic.
This is a kids’ movie, so we establish that Ken and Barbie are dating by having them being adorable duelling with spoons over ice cream sundaes. And that’s why I’ve watched every Barbie movie ever made.
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As I mentioned before, the subplot with Gracellia feeling cut out of Taylor and Carrie’s relationship feels very familiar to anyone whose friends distanced themselves for their all-important romance. And while this could happen to anyone, being dropped out of your alloromantic/allosexual friends’ lives when they discover dating is one of the most recognisable and most terrible parts of the asexual/aromantic experience. Does this mean that any of the characters present as asexual or aromantic? As usual, not necessarily. Gracellia clearly isn’t aromantic. But, also as usual, “I’ve been there! It sucks!” is a common step in headcanoning a character as ace. And even if they aren’t, it’s still relatable. We also see a happily married middle-aged couple, Reena and Graylen. Narratively, they exist to show that a marriage between a fairy and a human can work, but I could have seen way more of them being cute. But I like cute old married couples. Which may be weird for someone desperately looking for characters in any form of media who actually like their love interests and stay with them through the entire story instead of breaking up to add more drama. Anyone who has had their friends start dating knows that couples do not need to be breaking up to cause drama.
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Graylen’s character design is almost exactly like the advisor in the Fairytopia series. You might not expect “older black fairy with gray muttonchops and friendly advice” to be a stock character in Barbie films, but there he is. Often, Barbie movies do not have a full mouth kiss in them. If there is, that is often because there’s a wedding ceremony. This is an example of the latter. The couple who isn’t married at the end, however, express their love by trying not to be married against their will. Still, no matter how relatable all of this is to an asexual, it does end in a very Midsummer Night’s Dream everyone paired off sort of way.
Entourage:  6/10
Raquelle- Those familiar with Life in the Dreamhouse already know Raquelle as Barbie’s self-proclaimed rival and a twisty bitch who lives for drama, making her one of the most enjoyable characters to watch. She has a different voice actress here, which can throw you a little. Especially if you’re trying to remember which My Little Pony voice actress has replaced her Life in the Dreamhouse voice actress.
Taylor- Ginger shoe fairy with a pink dress and a posh accent. Mostly responsible for the “tell Barbie the truth, go to Gloss Angeles, and rescue Ken” plan. 
Carrie- Brunette purse fairy with a purple dress. Probably the slower of the two. That said, even though she supplies much of the comic relief, it doesn’t stem from her being stupid, it stems from her never-emptying purse of visual gags. By the end, Carrie’s jokes have started to grate on Raquelle:
“I think this time I’ve got a home run!”
“Enough! It’s going to be a baseball bat, right?”
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Art Style: 5/10 I’ll admit this isn’t my favourite era of Barbie movies as far as animation is concerned. The faces aren’t as emotive as some of the other styles of animation. Raquelle for one makes up for this with full-body sarcasm. The architecture in Gloss Angeles is really the highlight of the film’s visuals: with large amounts of sparkling crystal and gold curlicues putting one in mind of a jewellery box with it’s contents spilling out. Particularly in the fight scene between Ken and Zane, where they recreate the “Duel” bit from that 90s Gladiators show where the contenders sand on an elevated platform and hit each other with what appear to be large fancy cotton buds. The only difference is that the contenders have wings. The architecture is shown off nicely in the “welcome to Gloss Angeles” montage. Unlike films like a Mermaid Tale, they did not feel the need to put dozens of puns in this sequence, they just put wings on everything they could think of—dogs, cats, handbags, coffee cups, shopping bags…
Plot: 7/10 The plot takes place within the “Life in the Dreamhouse” continuity: Barbara Roberts is a highly successful celebrity who lives in Malibu with her three younger sisters, is dating her longtime boyfriend Kenneth Carson, and has a close group of friends, including Rochelle who openly hates all of them (barring Ken) but remains part of the social circle.
A jealous fairy named Crystal feeds Princess Graciella, ruler of the fairies, a love potion which makes he fall in love with Ken. Graciella kidnaps Ken and declares she will marry him that very day. Zane, Graciella’s previous boyfriend and also a fairy, challenges Ken to three successive duels as Ken tries to back out of this. Barbie and Rochelle, rival film stars, come to Ken’s rescue, aided by two fairies who have been living in the human world disguised as humans and working as Barbie’s personal stylists.
The whole thing feels a lot like Barbie does Comedia del Arte, which I love. A love square that is resolved with two couples at the end, a love potion, over the top comedic figures, a lovesick woman declaring she will marry someone she just met, the upper class characters being saved by the complex planning of their clever servants; if you accept personal stylists as the modern equivalent of a tiring maid.
Zane is probably the main reason I keep thinking Comedia del Arte when I’m watching this. And it’s not just that he has the same accent as el Captaino (a stock figure in Comedia del Arte. The foreign captain who is usually a comedic rival for the young lover). In his first scene, he challenges Ken to three successive duels: “So, you think I am not bold enough for two duels? For that, I challenge you to a third duel!” “Why not? I wasn’t doing anything after the second one anyway.”
I can’t help but think about how the plot would have been different if princess Graciella had drunk the love potion three seconds earlier and fallen in love with Rochelle instead of Ken. “I have to save my frienemy who has just graduated from pain in the ass to total bitch.” would have been a very different story to “I need to save my boyfriend.”  
The whole thing is a mess of consent and lack thereof. Crystal puts a spell on Graciella so she becomes obsessed with Ken, Graciella puts a spell on Ken so that a marriage proposal comes out of his mouth, much to his horror. And, if the whole “Comedia del Arte” thing hadn’t been running through my head the entire time, the fact that it pretty much starts and ends like A Midsummer Night’s Dream would have done it: Someone gives the queen of the fairies a love potion. She falls in love with the worst possible option. Humans get involved. The two romantic couples are sorted back into their ideal combination, the fairies convince the humans it was all really a dream. Even Carrie and Taylor reminding the audience of the secret at the end puts me in mind of Puck’s final speech.
The plot would have gotten a higher score if it hadn’t been for one plothole that seems to grow and shrink the more I examine it: Crystal was in love with Zane, but he was in love with Graciella. So she gets her hands on a love potion and uses it on… not Zane. I guess thought if he wasn’t in a relationship he would pick her on his own. Perhaps she wanted “real love” and was prepared to give her princess a chemically assisted version. We will never know.
Character design:  6/10
It’s not unusual for the cast to be wearing their best costumes in the final act of a Barbie film, but in this case this was achieved by putting most of them in fairly ugly outfits for most of the action.
The costuming was quite up to standards in the last fifteen minutes, but that leaves us with fifty seven minutes of unnecessary peplum to account for. 
Raquelle and Barbie appear in formal gowns for the red carpet premiere:
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Raquelle wears a one-shoulder purple and blue gown with a lettuce edged wrap skirt with a high-low hem, simple blue teardrop earrings, and some excellent shoes.
As usual, Raquelle is quickly upstaged by Barbie, who wears a ruby pink bodice with a peplum hem over a bright violet mermaid skirt. These are accessorised with rhinestone rose jewellery and silver pumps, although the shoes are only revealed when Raquelle rips the back of her dress up to her thighs.
While these gowns only show up in the first scene, they are easily the best looks they wear in the film, which is understandable as they are the dresses worn by the dolls. The doll look sort of reappears at the start of the final act, where Barbie and Raquelle transform into their winged form from the dolls, which is the tops from their red carpet gowns on cocktail dresses.
Barbie’s rose peplum top melts much more pleasingly into the three flounces of her miniskirt, while Raquelle has a flounced A-line miniskirt with the slightest edge of silver and pink petticoats peeking out the bottom. A silver ruffle accents her neckline and compliments her wide silver belt. The looks are finished in both cases with those curling vine heels that Mattel was putting on all the fairy dolls in the early aughts. This is such a breath of good taste after their “normal” outfits from the main part of the film. 
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After the premiere, the human characters really get the short end of the stick as far as costumes are concerned, and while I can see how it was important to make the humans visually distinct from the fairies, even when everyone is wearing “clip on” wings.
Raquelle spends most the movie in cobalt blue knee-length trumpet dress and a pink polka dot mini sweatshirt; which frankly should never have happened. The effect is completed with strappy silver heels which barely do not reach the end of leatherette black leggings. Sadly, the effect is “I dressed Barbie first and these are all the doll clothes I have left over”.
Barbie’s main look seems to be doing everything it can to keep a knee-length jean trumpet skirt with pink stitching from ruining the rest of the outfit. This is done with a pink and white striped tee and a half-sleeve black jacket. I don’t want to be too hard on this look, I’ll admit, because I can see my sister wearing something like that, but hopefully a more flattering cut of skirt.
But then again, I’ve always hated trumpet miniskirts; I hated them when they were in style, I hate  them now that they aren’t, and I hate the fact I owned two because that’s what was for sale at Walmart in the mid 2000s and I hadn’t taken to making most of my own clothing yet. I called them “crotch ruffle skirts”. I was a bitch in high school.
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 Miss Roxelle appears very briefly in a tasteful white and gold two piece pencil skirt suit. As a fashion designer and the older fairy who they come to for help, it makes sense that she has a classy, mature vibe.  
For the wedding, Ken gets a fashion upgrade from “we put him in a plaid shirt to make him look more heterosexual” (which was kind of ruined by the teal and metallic gold palette) to “one of those really tacky heterosexual wedding toppers” for the wedding scene. The horror of someone tied up and being forced to marry someone they barely know is somewhat diminished by the image of groomsmen elbowing each other and chuckling, “As usual, am I right, men?” That said, matching the pattern on his lapels to the pattern on his wings was a nice touch.
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Crystal takes the purple/green slightly alternative route in villain costume design: fingerless gloves, cropped vest, stripy skirt, asymmetrical bob, purple leggings and black ankle boots.
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And interestingly, she is the only fairy who presents as a girl who has dragonfly wings. I’m not going to say that this means Crystal is transgender, but I am definitely going to be thinking about that for a while. Part of me thinks, “Sure, why not, that’s probably going to happen in fairy society as much as human”, and part of me thinks, “Usually it’s the heroes or sidekicks in Barbie movies that get queercoded.” So let’s just move past Crystal’s boyish wings.
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I spend a lot of time Graciellla is on screen trying to figure out how her hair is accomplished. Like most Barbie characters, it looks physically possible so that it can be recreated on a doll. It looks as if two French braids were started on her head, then the loose hair was tucked under itself, a little bit like a rolled chingon.
It probably is related to the fact her standard outfit is pretty basic: a petal pink strapless cocktail dress with a rose pink sash. It’s accessorised with a mess of pink rhinestone jewellery to set off her tiara.
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Zane starts off in a fantasy style purple vest and striped jeans in a desaturated purple palette: The gold trim and collar pushes it towards the high fantasy fairies were meant to be, but it appears that halfway down the design they realised that they wanted it to be reflective of modern fashion and gave him pinstriped jeans. Don’t get me wrong, I love purple pinstriped jeans, I own purple pinstripe jeans, but they don’t go with his top. High fantasy and mid-2000s fashion are hard looks to marry, and I’m objecting to this example. Now, I could have forgiven him for wearing knee-high boots and cuffing his trousers to show them off, if they weren’t striped jeans and black combat boots. He’s half pirate and a half “I just came from a Green Day concert”. And he tries so hard to make it work. Wearing the exact same outfit in white and gold to his wedding was a choice. Once of several stupid choices made by Zane over the course of this movie.
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Zane goes full Star Trek Next Gen for his combat jumpsuit: And honestly, I kind of love it. The gold and cobalt blue set each other off beautifully, the wide gold stripes down Zane’s legs, the elegantly tooled golden breastplate, the spirals of gold coming up his boots to the wide gold edging.
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We actually see the slits the back of Zane’s jacket when he gets on his knees to propose to Graciella, and all of the feminine fairies (except for Crystal, as mentioned before) are wearing tube tops and off-the shoulder dresses so that they can dress without damaging their wings. But it appears that his wings are emerging from narrow slits in the back of his vest. Which might account for why the masculine fairies have smaller, narrower wings; more like a dragonfly than a butterfly. And it might also account for why Crystal has dragonfly wings and a cropped vest.
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Finally, we have Taylor and Carrie, who ride the line between fantasy fashion and human fashion by wearing some fairly simple, “this looks like a doll” dresses. They also look far more like a “set” than any other characters because while their outfits look different, they are comprised out of the same basic elements: A dress with a fitted satin bodice, capped sleeves, and a flounced circle skirt accessorised with a short bead necklace, simple earrings, a headband and a side ponytail. The only real difference between them is their magical focuses:
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Carrie, being a purse fairy, has a glittery doctor-style handbag; so called because the frame opens out like an old doctor’s visiting bag, not because like the Tardis it is bigger on the inside. Though both are true. Taylor has magenta glitter peek-toe platforms with knee-high laces with wings on the heel and rosettes on the toe. Raquelle admits, “If I had to trust my life to one pair of shoes, it would be those.” as Taylor chirps: “The more fabulous my shoes, the stronger my magic!” Me too, buddy, me too.
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Music:  3/10
There is really only the main theme, Can You Keep a Secret? which plays over the opening and closing credits. It’s peppy, it’s happy, it’s not so stupid you’re grating your teeth, but ultimately it’s pretty forgettable. It serves its purpose and allows the story to move on. It plays again during the “welcome to Gloss Angeles” montage.
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Animal companion:  4/10 Halfway through the movie, Pegaponies show up and help the humans with their difficulty in flying with clip-on wings. The pegaponies show up, transport the main characters to the palace, and are never heard from again. They do not talk or exhibit greater than animal intelligence, but however they do greatly advance the Rochelle and Barbie friendship plot by allowing the two of them to discuss how their relationship, and their animosity, formed. All pegaponies are recolours of the same mesh: a stocky, small horse with a striped mane and sparkly lace-like wings. The heroes all ride sidesaddle, partially because they’re all in dresses and partially because they all have wings themselves. While I usually subscribe to the less-is-more approach to pets in Barbie movies, in this case more might have been more.
Antagonists:  7/10 Zane- Since Barbie has Raquelle, it only makes sense that Ken gets someone who declares himself his rival as Ken protests that they aren’t actually pursuing the same goal. And like Raquelle, Zane is over the top and hilarious. He’s probably my favourite part of the movie. Graciellla – Crown Princess of Gloss Angeles, because “queen” sounds evil unless you’ve got a kid. While she isn’t exactly a bad person, she spends most of the film trying to force someone who isn’t in love with her to marry her. Actually, that is in fact pretty bad, but it is slightly mitigated by the fact she’s under a love spell. Remember kids, love spells aren’t consent! She spreads the awful cycle of “fairies don’t need no consent” by magicing a proposal out of Ken’s mouth inbetween his protestations to let him go. So, even though she changes her plan as soon as she’s not under a spell, she still has the whole “I’m an immoral fairy who really doesn’t care how much I mess up human lives” thing going on, which I also enjoy. Kids have to learn to fear the fey sooner or later. Crystal- From her arm-warmers to her stripes, here’s the soft grunge girl here to punish the preps for existing. Well, to punish everyone around her for the sorry state of her love life. Unrequited love stinks. Of course, what makes her a villain instead a tragic hero is that she is perfect content to ruin as many lives as it takes to get what she wants. Again, fairies tend to be amoral. Raquelle- Only an antagonist in that she remains Barbie’s self-proclaimed rival, and pain in the rear, even as she joins her quest to save Ken. To be fair, at no point does Raquelle stop thinking of herself as Ken’s friend. Partnering with a rival to save a mutual friend is probably Raquelle’s most antihero moment across all media she appears in. So while there’s a lot of antagonists, ranging from rivals to villains to “manic force of nature” I would have a difficult time saying, “You know what movie has some great antagonists? A Fairy Secret.” Although it definitely gets points for variety.
Doll Tie-in:  4/10
Comparing the doll commercial to the movie, I get the feeling that the people making the commercial hadn’t been given the plot to the movie before writing the script for the advertisement.
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Personally, as someone who just genuinely likes dolls, I don’t like the moulded on bodices, since they limit the number of dresses you can put over them. I get the idea that the moulded on swimsuits are to give the dolls some vestige of dignity when the girls are leaving them undressed.
As for “transforming dresses”, the Fairy Secret dolls all have variations on the “skirt folds out into wings” gimmick.
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This was also the period where the doll designers decided that plastic moulded curlicue laces going all up a doll’s shins said “fairy fashion”, and that, I’ll admit, I like.
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At least the faces have better moulds than the characters in the films.
17 notes · View notes
cardansolo · 5 years
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My Favorite Reylo Fanfics
We all need something to hold us over until December, right? Here are all of my absolute favorite Reylo fics. They’re all amazing - well-written, mostly slow-burn (because I’m a sucker for those), and all T, M, or E rated. I’ll be updating this list as I find more that I love. Happy reading!
*Fic is incomplete.
In the Star Wars universe:
In My Blood Stream by EllieCarina (x)
Rey knows Kylo by now. And she knows Ben and almost everything in between. But when Poe Dameron kisses her, she learns something she hadn't known before. They are bound by the Force and this alone would be difficult enough - with love of all things added to the mix, the universe could as well come apart under the weight of their minds.
(Formerly “I Know,” now a multi-chapter fic.)
Landscape With a Blur of Conquerors by diasterisms (x)
"While I share your contempt for this situation in which we find ourselves, do not mistake it as apathy," he hissed through gritted teeth, dark eyes burning. "I hardly expect your disposition to sweeten, but I will be damned if I allow my future Empress to behave in a manner that reflects poorly on me and on the First Order!"
"If you allow?" She wrenched her arm out of his viselike grasp, batting his hand away for good measure. "I don't belong to you. I don't belong to anyone."
"That might have been the case back when you were a scavenger on that pitiful scrap heap of a planet, but now?" His sardonic gaze flickered over her silk robes and the jewels woven through her elaborate braids. "Now you are the Chume'da, and the Chume'da belongs to her people. Their fate is entirely in your hands. Should you cross the line, it is they who will suffer for it. Am I making myself clear?"
"I hate you," she said bitterly.
He sneered at her. "See? Already you are acclimatizing so well to married life.”
Tactical Surrender by destinies (x)
“It was foolish of you to come here,” he says. “You won’t escape this time.”
Rey looks at him, at the Stormtroopers, at the combat walkers. She gives the illusion of thinking it over, and then says, “You’re right."
She presents her wrists to him. “I surrender myself to the authority of the First Order.”
--
Three years after the Battle of Crait, Rey, Resistance hero and teacher to a budding new Jedi Order, once again delivers herself into the hands of the enemy. To provide cover for a maneuver that could deal a serious blow to the First Order, she must gamble with the thing she knows its Supreme Leader wants most: herself.
In The Gathering Dark by grecianviolets (x)
Post-TLJ. In the aftermath, from the chaos and the carnage, rises a new vision for the galaxy.
You’ll Be the One to Turn by postedbygaslight (x)
Several months have passed since the Battle of Crait, and Rey of Jakku and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren have continued to haunt each other, appearing at random to each other throughout their days and nights. But the connection is unstable, and longing and loneliness start to overwhelm other concerns.
Jedi Academy AU:
Like Young Gods by diasterisms (x)
“What do you think?” Luke asks his nephew. “She has potential.”
“She bit me, Master,” is Ben’s stiff response. “Any opinion I give would be biased.”
Or: Everyone is connected, even if, sometimes, it's just by the skin of our teeth. Even in the midst of darkness, still, luminous beings are we.
To Kingdom Come by diasterisms (x)
[Sequel to Like Young Gods]
"I remember everything!" he snarls, loud enough to make her flinch. "How you move— the way you breathe—" His words hitch on a strangled half-sob; he stares at her like a man caught in a waking dream as he skims the line of her jaw with his knuckles, stopping to touch the pad of his thumb to her bottom lip. "How your eyes met mine in the starlight," he continues through a broken, haunted rasp of a voice, "and I felt like the look on your face."
Or: What is alive must heal. What cannot heal must endure.
*In My Ten Years by brittlelimbs (x)
There's a piece of Jedi mythology, passed down from ancient times, that tells of a peculiarly nasty phenomenon: one singular, intact soul split in two by the Force. It's a story of a schism in the stars, a constellation cracked in half, a lifetime spent scouring the Universe in search of that elusive whole.
But the Force is cruel and kind in turns; it gave Ben only one piece of his soul, but left the other, swaddled, at his feet.
AKA [the author’s] take on the "Ben and Rey grow up together!" trope with a soulmate/soulbond twist. Pretty much pure teeth-rotting fluff, lots of Ben being a lil mother hen etc. before they grow into a romantic relationship. Luke POV.
Modern AU:
A Proposal By Any Other Name by Lucidlucy (x)
Rey and Finn have been A Thing for a long time now. Since she was eighteen, to be exact. When Finn leaves on a trip to Europe for six months for work, Rey finally chases after him to Dublin to do what he seems to be putting off: propose.
She wants a family, after all.
The universe has different ideas. Her flights are delayed, storms hit, she loses her tickets and everything seems to be going horribly. To top it off, she ends up stranded around a rather irritating man by the name of Kylo Ren. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
-----
A Leap Year AU.
Unexpected by pontmercy44 (x)
What to expect when you're expecting the child of an rich, womanizing, alcoholic, unredeemable asshole? And what to do when the unexpected, improbable, irrational happens?
Play to Win by Enterprisingly (x)
Ben Solo – aka KyloRen – is a professional gamer, playing the first-person-shooter StarKiller for the internationally ranked eSports team, The First Order. He’s made a name for himself as a ruthless competitor with a ferocious temper and top-notch skills that can’t be beat. That is, until a mystery player named ReyOfLight begins thoroughly trouncing him whenever they cross paths.
What follows is the unlikely story of a rivalry that turns into a friendship that turns into… something else entirely. All while the eSports community watches with bated breath and popcorn in hand.
Ghostwalks (Gin and Fog) by diasterisms (x)
[Actors AU]
"I don't like your manners," she sniffed.
"And I'm not crazy about yours," he retorted.
(So they were apparently Bogie and Bacall now, and maybe she could blame the alcohol in the morning, like all the good girls did.)
A Royal Mistake by reyofdarkness (mitslits) (x)
Ben Solo (aka The Playboy Prince): Prince of Alderaan and tabloid sensation, never seen with the same girl twice.
Rey: Mechanic, blissfully unaware of Ben Solo's very existence.
Until Paige recruits her for a night servicing the Met Gala, host to a diverse class of guests, including royalty. It is there that a chance encounter gets Rey caught up in a pair of pretty eyes and a charming personality that she knows she should stay far, far away from. The universe, however, seems to have other plans.
Doing the Unstuck by slipgoingunder (x)
A rom com inspired by When Harry Met Sally. (No, you do not need to have seen the movie to read this.) Modernized, gender swapped, angsty and funny.
Rey is Harry. Ben is Sally.
--
In 2010, Rey and Ben share a contentious car ride from Chicago to New York, during which they argue about everything. Including sex.
Four years and another chance meeting later, both their lives have taken unexpected twists. And they're still arguing about sex.
In 2018, Rey and Ben meet for a third time, each at a crossroads in their lives. They continue to argue, but in a nice way. So nice, in fact, that they become good friends. Complicated friends. Complicated friends who definitely do not want to have sex.
Olive and an Arrow by sadboykylo (x)
Rey might be in love with Ben Solo. If only he wasn't her cautious bodyguard, and she wasn't the president's daughter.
A/B/O:
Suits and Stilettos by Aimz777 (x)
Ben Solo, protégé to James Snoke at the prestigious Kenobi-Snoke-Organa law firm, is tasked with employing a male Alpha Associate from one of the Trinity law schools. Why then, he hires Rey Jensen – a female Omega from Jakku Law with a photographic memory and a stubborn streak to rival any Alpha – is anyone’s guess.
Luckily no one knows she's an Omega except him.
Unfortunately for Ben, her intoxicating scent is messing with his head and he is increasingly growing to resent the fact that he isn’t like every other person on the planet that simply can’t smell her.
–The A/B/O modern day lawyers fic kind of (but not really) based off the show Suits
Your Pretty Little Heart by Ever-so-reylo (x)
“Good. Good little Omega.” He says the words against her gland, almost sweetly, and Rey—Rey is going to die. A wonderful, delicious death. Depraved, all of this. Filthy. Beautiful.
Modern day AU in which Ben is an Alpha, Rey is an Omega, and they are way better at having sex than at communicating with each other.
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kookienomster3 · 7 years
Text
I Want The Headline (Pt. 4)
Written By: suga-of-daegu BTS Fanfiction Angst WARNING: MATURE CONTENT Mafia/Gang
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He had brought you to his room and bemusedly watched you nervously pace around, eyes darting to every corner. Were you looking for anything particular, he wondered, or were you trying to get some insight into his personality from his decorating choices? Hopefully not, or else you'd think he was the most boring man alive. There was a full sized bed pushed into the corner with a fitted sheet and thin blanket crumpled atop it; he only had one pillow. Jungkook's eyes passed over your head and back to the bed; he'd have to get another pillow he mused silently.
On the other side of the room was a dresser where he kept his clothes. He made a mental note to remind you to be careful of the second drawer; that's where he kept his spare guns. The closet would have to be reminded to you as well. Other than that, there was nothing else.
His room wasn't anything special, he rarely ever spent and time in it anyway. He at least wanted you to see it since after this you'd probably spend all your time back in the room with the girls. The women weren't allowed to leave the 'Waiting Room' (as they called it) unless they were accompanied by their...partner. And Jungkook was rarely at base for longer than a few hours and that was just to sleep. You wouldn't be seeing the walls of his room often. Unlike some of the other girls who knew their partner's rooms inside out. And then there were some of them who rarely ever left the Waiting Room. They were women who had chosen their partner, but their partner didn't exactly want them. So they were free to be used by anyone who happened to wander in. It was a bit fair, Jungkook had justified. Sure, the women were stuck here indefinitely, but at least they got to choose what one man was going to be groping them up at odd hours. No one had ever chosen him anyway, so he wasn't too sure about the inner workings of the whole thing. Taehyung ran that portion of the organization, perhaps he should ask him about it sometime.
Jungkook's eyes scanned over you as you turned your back to him to study the wall. Why had you picked him out of every other man in the book? No one ever chose him. It seemed that the general consensus was that Jungkook would treat his girl exactly like he treated his targets. Which may or may not be true; he didn't really know how he'd treat a girl...romantically that is. It didn't bother him, though, it was just one less thing to think about..until now. "You can sit on my bed if you want," He murmured with a hint of a laugh, "Ah...well, I guess it's our bed now..?" He chuckled as you pressed yourself into the farthest corner of the bed and curled up into a ball. You warily watched as he stepped further into the room, perching himself on the edge of the bed. His hand, still covered in dry blood, gripped your ankle, sliding you right beside him.
Jungkook leaned his head in closer to yours and you jerked back reflexively. In one swift motion, his bloody hand was holding your jaw still as he placed a firm kiss on your lips, "There." He pulled away pensively, releasing you. "Not so bad, right?" His gaze drifted down to his bloody fingerprints painted along your jaw. "That washes off." he murmured dumbly. He turned his head towards the plain dresser in the corner of the room, "I don't have much, but what do you want?" Jungkook chuckled at your confused look, "You're...mine, so you need something of mine on you at all times to prove it. I think most girls wear a necklace or earrings or something." Standing up, he crossed the room to his dresser, leaving bloody handprints as he rummaged through drawers. "Ah..I have less than I initially thought.." He grumbled lowly.
After several moments, he pulled out a flannel shirt and brought it over to you. The large shirt was draped over your shoulders as he stood by the edge of the bed. Did he really expect you to wear that shirt every day? "What happens if I don't wear it one day?" you asked, pulling your arms through the sleeves. Jungkook gently touched a lock of your hair, observing the strands between his bloodied fingers.
"Then any guy can have his way with you until I intervene." He murmured, "And I'm not here that often." His hand trailed up to your ponytail, fingers curling around the back of your head. The stickiness of the blood on his hands tugged at your hair. His dark eyes steadily watched your face as he drew you in closer to him until your cheek was practically pressed against his stomach. "What's your name?"
"..Y/N" you breathed timidly. His hand dropped away and he stepped back, plopping back down to sit beside you. Jungkook smiled brightly, giggling softly under his breath. Your whole body felt stiff as you gaped at him. How could he act so normal? He was drenched in someone else's blood! Choosing him was starting to seem like a bad choice. "Why..why are you covered in blood?"
He stopped laughing and thought for a moment," Choi Hachyeon. 26. Selling on our turf."
"What?"
"I killed him." He elaborated slowly, "With the same bat he swung at me with." How could he so easily state such a thing? As if it was a normal occurrence. You thought back to you loving brother, strapped to a chair and beaten. This was probably normal for these people. How they could live a life like this, you'd never understand.
You shook your head in disbelief, "You killed him for selling something on your property? That's when you're supposed to call the police for."
He gave you a funny look, nose crinkling in a smiley grin. "You're cute~" he conceded, pressing another firm kiss to the corner of your lips. "We're gonna have fun together." You pulled away once more, but he didn't seem to be affected by it; instead easily letting you pull your jaw away from his hands.
"You're the third person to tell me that in the past two days." You frowned. His head tilted to the side in confusion,
"Who else said that?"
"Taehyung said it and so did Jimin.." You paused. He probably didn't know who Jimin was, "He works for Yoon-"
His nose wrinkled in disgust, "I know who Jimin is." Jungkook huffed poutily. His eyes lifted to yours, "He always gives girls little pet names, what was yours?" Jungkook cracked his knuckles absently, crossing his legs at the ankle. It was nearing midnight and he had to get going soon. After this, he was thinking, he'd clean up a bit and drop you back off at the Waiting Room. Lips pursing in thought, he wondered if it would matter if he came back for you immediately after patrol or in the morning after he'd had some sleep... But then, he remembered, he had volunteered for morning patrol as well. He simply gave up, deciding to just wing it. He'd just met you, planning out what times he could see you were the least important thing to him. You had his flannel- it was actually his favorite one that he wore all the time- the other guys knew who you belonged to. He wouldn't have to worry about someone snatching you up while he was gone...and he wasn't sure if he'd really care.
Thinking back you couldn't remember an instance where Jimin has explicitly stated that he had a pet name for you, "Umm..He called me baby a few times." Jungkook raised a brow, mumbling something under his breath. You watched his eyes dart around his room, brows drawn down softly. Did he not like Jimin? They were rivals...so it made sense if they knew each other. Staring intently, you noticed the weary look in his eyes as he stared down at his lap. "Jungkook?" his eyes lifted to yours and you found yourself suddenly shy at how close he was to you. "How...how long have you been here? In this group?" His expression flattened,
"Since I was 10." He murmured, "How long have you been here?"
You frowned at him, was this a trick question? "I..five hours." He seemed taken aback, even shifting away from you. Scratching at his leg, he frowned at the sticky feeling coating his fingers. Then he remembered that he had yet to wash off the blood. "I'll be back, don't run off..it'll only end badly for you."
You watched him walk out the door, leaving it wide open behind him. As soon as his footsteps had died out somewhere down the hall, you jumped up, rummaging through drawers for a cell phone. The top draw was full of boxers and socks, shutting it you opened the second only to flinch.
It was full of small guns, knives, brass knuckles, ammunition and several other weapons you didn't even know the name to. You quietly shut that drawer, reaching down for the third one. He had to have a cell phone somewhere in here. You needed to call the police. Maybe they could help you and Jin.
"He doesn't keep a phone in his room~" A rumbling voice teased. You slammed the dresser drawer and whipped around to the amused grin of Tae. He glanced around the room as he stepped inside, "You know, I'm a bit offended." He admitted, shrugging, "Why'd you pick Jungkook of all people? I'm much nicer than him, you know. I know how to treat girls when they're good." Staring blankly at him, you stepped back when he moved closer.
You didn't pick him because your brother had told you to avoid him at all costs.
Tae smiled knowingly, "Jin told you to, right?" His large hands gently grasped at yours, "Well, let me tell you a little secret. Jungkook's going to get attached to you, I already know it. He's got that look on his face... He thinks you picked him on pure instinct instead of just listening to your big brother." Tae backed you against the dresser," And he's gonna start doing some questionable things for you...He's going to devote himself to you, and protect you from the big bad Tae~" His fingers curled a little tighter, "Unless the big bad Taehyungie tells him the real reason you chose him.." He smiled,"If I do that...then he's not going to be so nice to you and Taehyungie and all the guys will be free to gobble you up; just like the rest of those girls." Taehyung released you, taking a large step back. You sucked in a gulp of air, hands shaking at your sides. Why did he seem so menacing? "You see, Jungkook doesn't like to share, but the rest of us don't mind it. I tell you, your protection will be gone. So, if you want to keep your bodyguard, I suggest you listen really well when I tell you to do something, okay~?"
"Hyung?" Jungkook stepped into the room, his brows slightly furrowing at the sight of your utter relief at his reappearance. "Is everything okay?"
Tae grinned easily, "Everything is-"
"I was asking Y/N." the younger man clarified softly. You blanched, feeling Taehyung's eyes cut to you,
"I..I'm fine...He just surprised me." You lied softly.
Yoongi stared thoughtfully at the ring perched on top of his desk. It glistened dully under the desk lamp he had positioned above it. Namjoon had taken good care of it, it seemed. Jimin who had been seated across him for that last half hour had been ignored in favor of just staring at the ring. But Jimin was patient. He was good at waiting.
After what seemed like forever, Yoongi looked up at him, "You went anyway." His blank stare hardened when Jimin opened his mouth, a look of protest on his face. "You beat the shit out of their informants for information on her and you left him alive, Jimin. He's going to go back Namjoon and Namjoon's going to want some sort of revenge. You know this already...so why did you do it?" Yoongi growled, "She's just some girl, the world is full of thousands of girls like her-"
Jimin sighed heavily,"We wronged her. She didn't deserve that...We gave her up for a dead traitor's ring-" He cut himself off, licking his lips irritably when Yoongi's gun was suddenly leveled between his eyes.
"Don't..." Yoongi gripped the gun harder, his hand shaking violently, "Don't you ever talk about her like that. Don't ever talk about her you piece of shit!" Jimin nodded, but still added,
"You wronged her." Yoongi didn't know which 'her' he was referring to but still nodded slowly. Whether it was his fiancee or you, he had indeed done wrong.
There was the dull clatter of metal on wood and Yoongi's soft voice, "I know."
"You know? Then why haven't you done anything? They gave her to Jungkook!" Jimin growled, "That bastard has her all to himself-" Jimin felt his head pounding, "You know what he did to my..." He shook the thought away, "You know what he's  like and you handed her over into the palm of his hand."
"I'll do something." Yoongi promised, "Namjoon will be contacting me any day now for a meeting about the stupid stunt you pulled." He stood up slowly, pushing in his chair, "Speaking of that... How good was the guy you fought?" He pulled out a small notepad from his desk drawer. "Jungkook's rotation is by the docks tonight. You're going to leave your weapons here and go there, taunt him a little, goad him. He's going to swing at you, and you're going to swing back once and then take whatever beating he dishes out." Yoongi glared at him, obviously still pissed at Jimin's little stunt from earlier. "You're only swinging once, got it? Consider this your punishment for causing this unnecessary trouble with Namjoon." He passively ignored Jimin's disbelieving look, "Hoseok will go with you to make sure you listen and that Jungkook doesn't decide to kill you. His patrol starts at midnight, the cops patrol around 1:30, be there around 2 and out of there by 4; there's a shipment coming to the docks around then." Yoongi lifted the ring, holding it delicately in his hands. Soft footsteps retreated from the office.
Jimin apathetically stared at where Yoongi had been sitting, his hands tightly clenched into fists. He had taken the initiative to make sure you were still alive and this was how he was repaid? He angrily stood up, shoving over the chair he had been in as he stomped out the office, ignoring Hoseok and Jin's curious stares as he stormed from the warehouse. He needed somewhere to think.
Still tied to the chair, Jin lowered his gaze when Yoongi came into view. The leader quietly dismissed Hoseok, whispering his orders for later as he passed by. Taking the chair Hoseok had previously sat in, Yoongi crossed his arms over his chest. "Jimin's broken quite a few rules, but he did get some information on your sister." He began, mildly disgusted at Jin's look of hope, "She's under Jungkook's jurisdiction now." Jin's smile wavered,
"Which Jungkook?"
Yoongi raised a brow, "There's more than one?" This was news to him. Jin's hands began to sweat,
"There's the one stationed in downtown covering as a busboy at Yuu's and there's the one who's the head of operations besides Namjoon and Taehyung." He clarified. Yoongi looked thoughtful for a moment,
"The one working at Yuu's is hospitalized...Jimin's doing. I just didn't know his name, only that he was a busboy actually working for Namjoon. He's been that way all day." He tilted his head, scrutinizing Jin, "He must also be your partner on the inside of Namjoon's organization with that look you're giving. You told her to choose him, didn't you? Thinking he'd help get her out safely and all that?" Yoongi grinned eagerly,"Well, seeing as he's hospitalized... I'm a bit sorry to tell you that the Jungkook she chose was the Head of Operations, that little murdering maknae." Yoongi laughed, wiping at his eyes, "Ahh, you really are a bad brother, aren't you? I hope she doesn't make him too mad, he's pretty good at making bodies hard to find. Remember that one guy he got with acid? Ah, at first I didn't even think it was a real person." Standing up and dusting off his pants, the green haired man patted Jin's head, "This was a nice chat. You sit tight for a bit, I've got a busboy to pay a visit to."
Jin's heart dropped at the realization that you were in the hands of the wrong man.
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