#he was giving melodramatic count vibes

[den-ai-d]

Marble Danish Cookie! I just KNOW he's gonna be some type of drama queen for sure 😌

#art #fan art #cookie run #witch's castle #marble danish cookie #he was giving melodramatic count vibes #so of course #I had to throw in a grand piano #for brooding purposes! #also collateral dead cookie #cuz you bet he's also some kind of jilted lover #death by toxic yaoi LOL #so much jam on the floor though ooof

[skinnypaleangryperson]

I'm convinced that Rick is literally inherently like some sort of deranged spoiled overly sensitive person to the point of borderline dysfunctionality, and because of this extreme sensitivity, he quite literally needed a person with a certain type of personality like Diane to keep him grounded- and without her, he's like an erratic array of nothing but incredibly sensitive emotional neurons and crippled with loneliness and erratic emotion and barely able to keep himself grounded.

After seeing Rick theoretically be an incredibly cocky independent badass it's so endearing (in a really pathetic way) to imagine him being the lazy one in the relationship, which seems to be what was suggested with what he had with Diane. He said he worked with FEDS right before he met Diane but when she dies he is just playing around in his garage and when she comes out and asks him what he's doing he's saying that he might be "giving up on the whole science thing", and now that we know that was Diane smart enough that she was studying her Masters in something science related, she probably had a really good job and was ranking in bank, which probably means that they could switch off every now and then in terms of who was bringing in the money.

Right before Diane was dead, it seemed like Rick was taking a time off from helping other people out with his own intelligence to basically... play around in the garage, while Diane was probably off doing a just as equally important job as much as Rick had before to support the two of them while he explored himself. She probably loved him enough that she allowed him to simply have the time to experiment and to explore his intelligence just for the sake of it. It might be part of the reason why by the time she died, he was aware about how much he was capable of: or at the very least was far more aware of it then he was when he was just working with FEDS and helping fairly averagely intelligent people out.

I know that it's not necessarily real, but I think that it's interesting that Diane had a little pout on her features and told Rick that he didn't deserve her, and considering that it was basically confirmed by the writers that it was as canon as much as it ever could be anyway for a dead character, and that Morty has Rick's brain downloaded with this past, I'm going to assume that it's pretty much all true to fact with what their marriage was like.

Rick to the present day has already been a complete ass in his relationship with Morty-in a really, really pathetic toxic way. It's almost incredibly endearing how drunk and complacent he is; as long as it was with a partner that knows how to deal with it rather than a confused helpless 14-year-old boy. Might have ended up being the same long-term even if he had been with Diane-not because he doesn't love her, but it just seems to be inherent in his "edgy melodramatic drooly hypersensitive princess, spoiled kid in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory" personality that he has going on, which we've seen a lot this season ❤️ (I know he's been depressed but regardless, he's pretty much always been that way). Like Morty has said himself, he's like a spoiled 8-year-old kid. But it's endearing to imagine a independent, smart, but oddly sweet woman like Diane keeping him down from falling too much into that part of himself and keeping him together.

Granted, the only reason why it's so lovable when it comes to Rick is because you know how actually competent he is if it was an actual problem how lazy he is, and ultimately in the ways that count he actually does have a good graceful heart (like with the way that he's constantly cutting Jerry slack); but I get major pillow princess vibes from him and from Diane. He's such a spoiled little wreck ❤️

When he whacked his toe while running around with Summer earlier in the season and then jumped up and down and scream "my ankle", he gave off such spoiled little boy vibes. He definitely needs a good self-respecting strong sense of self woman like Diane to remind him how about being at least someone respectable with that natural little spoiled pillow princess personality he has.

#rick and morty #I'm pretty much just writing fanfiction at this point with my overthinking #but I still find it endearing #I'm pretty sure I'm just creepily projecting in this post because Rick is pretty much everything I've wanted in a partner in all of these #aspects I just described

[korkorali]

Ohhhh yaay ask games! : D

Ok lets see mmmm #2 for fentonxgandra and #7 and #9 for webbyxlena plz :3

SFW

Alrighty! Let's see then...

2: Who's the messiest? The cleanest? (Fenton/Gandra)

Oh they're both extremely messy. You'd think they'd be pretty clean, considering they're both scientists who work with delicate materials on a daily basis, so they really should be able to keep track of where they put what and whether or not they took a dangerous chemical and put it behind the bed. But nope! They embody the vibes of 'young adult couple fresh into adulthood' waaaaaayyy too much to be that responsible. They try a little, but it doesn't end up getting very far most of the time.

The cleanest among them is Gyro. Even though he's not part of the two's whole 'thing that keeps Doctor Intern and The Smart Idiot preoccupied' thing those two have going on, as he puts it, he is constantly cleaning up after the two. It gets tiring.

7: Would they go to the beach? (Webby/Lena)

They would! They go a lot actually, they find that they adore the beach.

For separate reasons, of course. Webby loves digging for buried treasure (she's found a lot more than she should along the beaches of Duckburg) and Lena enjoys staring melodramatically out to the sea, and/or walking into it, also very melodramatically.

9: Is someone multilingual? Do they try to teach another language to the other? How does it go? (Webby/Lena)

They're both multilingual! ...Kind of. Lena can use magic to let herself understand and be understood by any and all languages for a brief time, so that counts, right? (It doesn't but we'll give it to her)

Webby, meanwhile, is a polyglot. I headcanon that all the Duck-McDucks know a bunch of different languages, and Webby (along with Donald) is one of the more serial language learners. Seriously, her record for going from completely unable to speak a language to conversant in it is 21 hours.

She has tried to teach Lena a fair few of the languages she knows. It... never goes well. Lena will always end up giving up and using magic to cheat, because when she doesn't that De Spell frustration starts to boil and she dislikes that. (Eventually Violet manages to teach her some Spanish, but that's a while later)

#ask game #ducktales #dt17 #webby vanderquack #lena sabrewing #weblena #fenton crackshell cabrera #gandra dee #fendra

[gonnacrackaribbb]

i just drove 5 hours back to school alone and thought of this stupid au while listening to all of my liked songs on shuffle. here's my style gen z celebrity au:

-Stan Marsh: 23, cis man, bi

-Kyle Broflovski: 24, trans man, gay

-Stan's music has the same vibe as the neighbourhood, tv girl, alex g, and some front bottoms sprinkled in. his style is super inconsistent and he can never decide what he wants his "sound" to be

-Kyle's music has the same vibe as phoebe bridgers, boygenius, taylor swift's more acoustic stuff, and some gracie abrams. he has a really soft pretty voice but he low-key whisper sings sometimes which causes some people to discredit his vocal talent

-they are the messiest couple. no one can ever tell if they're together or not. there's a twitter account "are stan and kyle broken up rn?" and half of the daily updates are "we have no idea."

-stan hears kyle's voice for the first time when he's featured on some mainstream rapper's song (think lovin me by kid cudi ft phoebe bridgers) and he decides he needs him to sing backup vocals on one of his songs immediately right now

-but stan is a super pretentious and kind of dickish guy and wants him to feature on the track with no credit. kyle is also pretentious but in a different way and values his art too much and he says no

-stan has an ego but is not above begging. kyle comes storming into the studio when he's mixing one day and tells him to please leave he and his manager the fuck alone. stan falls in love right there and asks him to go to dinner with him

-kyle tells him he has a bf, and stan says "ok he can come too." kyle for some reason is super into that, and agrees only if stan will give him credit on the song

-kyle has kind of a taylor swift arc early in his career where people much older than him take advantage of him romantically. he's dating a 36 year old movie star when he first meets stan

-stan is the first one to tell kyle that men in their thirties preying on him when he was 19 was super gross and wrong

-after they hang out for the first time kyle breaks up with said movie star immediately 

-they are so enamored with each other so quick it gives everyone whiplash

-stan fell first but kyle def fell harder

-kyle keeps pretty private on social media but stan loves posting pics of him on his instagram

-stan is sort of grungy (dresses like kurt cobain, pete davidson, kind of looks stupid all the time) and kyle dresses more indie and put together (he also has a septum piercing)

-both of their fanbases hate the fact that they're dating. a lot of stan's fans think kyle is too stuck up for him and kyle's fans think stan is just gross (he is)

-its also this huge debate between the fandoms on who made who famous (it was low-key kyle boosting stan's career)

-they release a lot of duets together. they're all under stan's label and every time they fight and break up stan takes them off of streaming services

-they are both so petty and melodramatic and it makes everything so much more entertaining for the rest of the world

-they will help each other write break up songs about the other

-stan comes from a really broken family and has a lot of mommy AND daddy issues. becoming famous was really a sort of right place at the right time thing. kyle is a nepo baby and stan resents that so much even though he never admits it

-everyone has lost count, but for the record they have broken up and gotten back together 27 times

-they're both just unstable and fucked up people who refuse to go to therapy and when they're together they bond over that, but when they get into a fight they use it against each other

-one of the times they "break up" kyle sleeps with bo burnham. pics come out of bo leaving his apartment. its sort of a ross and rachel debate of whether or not they were actually broken up and single

-stan famously punches bo burnham in the face at a party. kyle takes him back immediately 

-but not before stan drops a song calling kyle a cheater (pretty much this). when he's asked about it in an interview kyle is petty af and says "it's obvious he wrote that one all by himself! :)"

-one time the paparazzi find randy outside of a liquor store and ask what he thinks of kyle. his reply is "who?" and people think he's being petty, but he genuinely forgets who he is. the video goes viral

-kyle thinks this is super funny and posts the video on his instagram feed

-stan isnt that close with either of his parents but he sends them both a check every month so he knows that they're financially stable

-he and his sister grew up in low-income housing (with their mom) and their grandparents house (with their dad)

-because of this stan gets really anxious about money even though he has plenty now. kyle grew up in Beverly Hills and was super wealthy and privileged. he and stan fight about money a lot

-kyle gets stans name tatted on his ass cheek. stan posts a super zoomed-in picture on his instagram story (they break up again 2 days later)

#south park #sp stan #stan marsh #sp kyle #sp style #style headcanon #south park fic #south park au #gen z celeb au

[readingshenaniganss]

Monday Review:

Starting Pride with a bang, I read One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Well, I actually read it the last day of May, but shhhh, I'm counting it.

This book was phenomenal. It was fantastic, and cute, and wonderful, and lovely, and every other word that in any language that could indicate I loved this book. It was just perfect.

The story is about August Landry as she moves to New York after transferring universities and majors. She's not sure about her roommates but it's the cheapest room available. She's not sure about her program but maybe third time's the charm. She doesn't know what she's doing at her new job and hopes she doesn't get fired in the mean time. But she does know one thing.

She has a huge crush on Subway Girl. Like, 'imagine putting Ikea furniture together' levels of crushing.

But a random photo brings August to question just who this girl is and where she comes from. Or more precisely, when.

This book was everything, and I mean everything. August and Jane have such great chemistry together that it was always fabulous to see them interact. In fact, the entire cast had great chemistry with each other and I was never waiting for the story to change which characters we saw.

August, while a little brusque for me at first, I warmed up to pretty quickly. I really appreciated seeing her growth throughout the book because it felt natural and didn't stem 100% from the lover interest. Her friends are a major part of her journey and help her open up to loving trusting others, even if she might get hurt, because they let her know that they'll be there to catch her when she falls.

Jane was great. She's charming, and dashing, and feels so alive she could jump out of the page to start a dance party in your house. But she also has such painful depths, and as we discover with her the ups and downs she's been through, we see the pain she feels knowing she's stuck in some weird time prison while everyone she knew has grown old and and moved on from the point she's trapped at. We see her go from frustrated not knowing who she is, to agonized over the knowledge that those she loved are gone, with complete lives she never got to see.

And for the rest of the cast is just-*Chefs kiss*

So I'm just going to get this out of the way, Niko owns my whole ass heart. He is great, and I love him, and he can do no wrong ever.

Below are several lines from him that live rent free in my head. To those who have read the book already, yes, they are all from the same scene and I make no apologies.

Like, I'm obsessed. There's nothing else I can say but that this non-toxic goth psychic has my heart.

Myla is also wonderful. She's just this positive force that keeps on going and reminds August that times get tough but you have to get through them anyway. I also really appreciated that August and Myla didn't have a whole melodramatic fight just for the sake of one. I had been worried about that with the trust issues August started with and Mylas' insistence upon August being her friend that there would be a blow up, but there wasn't one!!!

Wes is the quiet introverted roommate who has the social skills of a giraffe on ice. He mainly shows up to give vibes of 'why am I here?' and honestly, relatable. I really liked him here because he acts as a mirror to August. Both have issues with letting people in with their backgrounds and can sort of commiserate with each other their struggles. It gave depth to their relationship that could have been overlooked, but instead created a couple of beautiful moments as they both deal with their emotions.

And then Isaiah are just a fucking delight. Isaiah, drag name Annie Depressant, is a brilliant star every time when on page. I want to go to one of his brunches and get drunk with him. And he's so easy goin. 'Hey, we're breaking into a bar to do a séance, want to come?' Sure! 'Hey, going to help cover their asses as they do and Ocean's Eleven style heist to save Jane from her subway time capsule?' Absolutely!

There are a few more characters in the background, like Augusts' mom, her boss and her coworkers. While they don't really play a bigger part in the book, to say they do nothing to the story is just a huge oversight. Casey does a outstanding job of weaving everyone together so that, while the plot of the story doesn't necessarily revolve around their actions, leaving out the interactions leaves a hole where they were. Their relationships to August add the faintest sketch lines to create a more detail painting and in doing so creates a masterpiece.

One thing that I also really enjoyed seeing was just how young everyone was, how young they all sounded. All of the main cast felt so young, it didn't feel like an author trying to figure out how you sound in your early 20's, it was an author who knew how you sounded, and the choices to made, and the humour you have. When Wes was complaining about the trains and said 'But go off I guess' I was startled into laughter. One, cause I forgot about that meme, but two, cause it was so on the nose. It felt like something I would melodramatically deadpan to my fried group. And maybe it will be super dated in a few years because of it, but I rather think of it as preserving what 20 year olds were like in the 2020's.

I also love that everyone in the main cast is queer. It's just a much more realistic aspect of life, especially in a city like New York. Hell, I'm from a small town in the middle of Canada, and my highschool group still ended up being 75% queer, though some of us didn't realise what flavour we were until later. Seeing a group of friends whole, while not all identifying the same way, share the experience of not being heteronormative, and it shows in ways that you just innately recognize when you're a part of that group too.

I also really like how much of the queer activism of Jane's life was interwoven. While it's not the main aspect of her personality, it is an important one, and rightly so. She was a lesbian punk in the 70's, there's no way you can just ignore everything that was going on then, and this book doesn't. It talks about the history, and what it was like. How that colours your view of the world and your reactions to it.

The only thing I found to be slightly annoying was when they tried to explain the science behind Janes' time travelling. Specifically, the theory that she was hopping through several points in time. I see no evidence how they got to that conclusion, it's not like Jane is going 'yeah, today I'm in 2021 but yesterday I was in 1986.' So I didn't love seeing that, 'cause it felt like a completely illogical guess to make for the situation, and only brought in to create more drama at a later plot about her becoming more and more stuck in the present while the subway line is about the get shutdown.

But even with that irritation, I loved this book, this book was almost perfect, and if I tried to describe everything I loved about this story I'd be here forever. Instead I'll just say thatwhen I have disposable income, I'm buying a copy. For now, just going to take it out of my library on repeat. Go read it

10/10

#One Last Stop #Casey McQuiston #book reviews #readingshenanigans #reading shenanigans #pride #pride month #book blog #bookish #booklr #books & libraries #lgbtqia #pride 2022 #queer reads #i loved this book #Niko is supreme

[baddiedaddy7]

𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠🌞💛

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

may come off as cheery, and warm. might also come off as full of themselves. resembles father very much, and may be very attached to him. father may have been quick to anger, childish, or athletic. father may have aries in chart. you probably have great skin, and your hair may be your trademark. average-tall height.you may have aries traits/vibes. people may be able to tell what your sign is with ease. may come off as too strong for some.

celebrities:Scarlett Johansson, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Bruce Lee

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

probably buys expensive things. likes things of high quality. father may have been stable, and spent money a lot. father may have taurus in chart. you may love or hate “healthy” food, pastries or spicy foods. might be great at acting, dancing, or being funny. stingy. you may have taurus traits/vibes. probably loves strong perfumes. sexual. work ethic is great. pragmatic

celebrities:Paris Hilton, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Robert De Niro

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

can probably debate without stuttering/confident during debates.learns rapidly. great conversationalists. attention span is brief. might have more brothers, than sisters. siblings may have sun/leo energy. you may have gemini traits/vibes. voice is full of confidence. father may have been talkative, but emotionally afar. father may have gemini im chart. you probably hate or get annoyed when getting anything below an A at school lmao. probably popular at school.

celebrities:Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, Jim Carrey, Drake

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

may prefer a house of lighter colors(esp yellow or orange). cinnamon candles may lay around the house. popular among the fam. may have had deep pressure from family to be something special. might be the favorite child. may have cancer traits/vibes. taught to be self reliant from a young age. father may be overprotective, and nurturing. father may have cancer in chart. you might’ve been bossy, sassy, and over dramatic as a kid lmao. attention lover, feeling like nobody pays attention to them makes them depressed. affectionate heart fr. very caring.

celebrities:Tina Turner, Megan Fox, Pablo Picasso, Tim Burton

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑓𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

has a variety of music taste/likes multiple genres. first child is most likely gonna be male and/or have leo/sun in chart. kids may love being around you in general. your kids may be in plays at school. you may have leo traits/vibes. may love to party. most likely extroverted. fun lovers. attracts ppl w/leo traits or may have leo traits in the dating scene (confident, melodramatic, etc). father was full of pride, and warm but probably controlling. your hobbies range from shopping, singing, art, etc. has a knack for social events. charismatic

celebrities:Katie Holmes, Dolly Parton, Will Smith, Marilyn Manson

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑥𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

productive. may have a daily routine lol. may have virgo traits/vibes. healthy, and nourishing lifestyle. probably exercises, counts calories, etc. father may be over critical, and have high expectations but also well put. father may have virgo in his chart. you prefer pets that are loving, and loyal, so a dog, or horse are ideal. probably like to dress their pets up, or always make sure they’re clean. may want to work somewhere where they can shine or be generous.

celebrities:Ariana Grande, Rita Hayworth, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

has a love/hate relationship w/leo’s. you’re enchanting. you may be popular. relationships mean a lot to you, romantic or platonic. you attract leos or ppl with leo in their chart. you attract fun loving, demanding, warm, and arrogant ppl. you may have libra traits/vibes. you’re very romantic, and makes lover a priority. may be gullible in love. father may have been the peace maker in the house growing up, but also distant. father may have libra in his chart. you’re rarely single, bc you probably don’t even know how to be single lmao. social.

celebrities:Kendall Jenner, Zendaya, Sylvester Stallone, Dwayne Johnston

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

intensity is a main theme in your life. death may be heart related (heart attack, etc). most likely will live for a long time. you might be scared of doing presentations or anything in front of many ppl. father may have passed or been absent during childhood. father may have been overprotective and sarcastic. father may have scorpio in chart. you crave power, and sex. probably has a lot of stamina in bed. also may get an inheritance. very passionate in the bedroom. might like it rough/dominanting. may like to do taboo things from time to time. emotional. you may have scorpio traits/vibes. secretive/keeps to self.

celebrities:Kylie Jenner, Demi Moore, Matt Damon, Bruno Mars

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑖𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

open minded. traveling is a favorite. might watch videos on other countries on youtube. intelligent. funny. proud of their ancestry. may have sagittarius traits/vibes. real/authentic. father may have been funny, but detached, and not want any responsibilities. father may have sagittarius in chart. you have luck in life. can be inconsiderate sometimes, maybe even selfish. forgetful. gives out advice like it’s candy. full of wisdom and sincerity. cares abt others/humanitarian.

celebrities:Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, MLK, Robin Williams

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

you’re reliable. your reputation might be warm, and sociable. you’re well known, and most likely respected. relationship w/father may have affected your outlook on life. father was hard working, and made plans but also strict, and not affectionate. father may have capricorn in his chart. you won’t let anything get in the way of your goals, full of ambition and focus. loyal, and sensible. may have capricorn traits/vibes. you may look up to ppl with capricorn in their chart including celebrities. you may become/want to be an actor, singer, influencer, comedian, entertainer in general, social worker, lawyer, etc.

celebrities:Drew Barrymore, Dua Lipa, Jeffrey Bezos, Albert Einstein

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

either basic or unique. friendly. may be fake. might be popular. erratic. may have aquarius vibes/traits. attracts leo’s. many leo’s may have a crush on you. many of your friends may also be leo or have leo placements. father may have been an odd ball. father may have been talkative, but distant. he may also had bizarre beliefs. father may have aquarius in his chart. may be a leader of a group of friends, or the center of attention in the friend group. helpful.

celebrities:Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Johnny Depp, Michael Jackson

✨𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒✨

creative. chill, and kind hearted. might prefer alone time. introverted. you need to listen to your own advice that you give out to others. spiritual. may have pisces traits/vibes. you may lack an identity. don’t let others take advantage of you. father may have been lighthearted and sweet, but private. father may have had an addiction to something(alcohol, drugs, etc). father may have pisces in his chart. you’re intuitive, and probably have a heart of gold, but also you might be hard-headed. you’re probably a dreamer.

celebrities:Madonna, Selena Gomez, Keanu Reeves, Hugh Grant

#astrology #zodiac #zodiac signs #astro notes #astro observations #sun in houses #sun in 1st house #sun in 2nd #sun in 3rd house #sun in 4th house #sun in 5th house #sun in 6th house #sun in 7th #sun in 8th #sun in 9th #sun in 10th #sun in the 11th house #sun in the 12th house #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

[daydadahlias]

what are your favorite bottom ashton fics?

Thank you so much for asking.  Please, let me offer you a collection of content I have so carefully constructed and curated for you to consume. Consonance.  

Bottom Ash Fic Rec List

Please Check Your Clothing At The Door by shotforme (wentpostal)

Summary: Ashton is a 20 year old virgin and fed up. Luke offers to help him get it over with.

Word Count: 7750

Notes: Fun fact, this was the first fanfic I ever read in this fandom. Highly recommend it. It’s a sweet lashton first time fic. It’s the kind of fic that, like, makes me want to blush, you know what I mean?

morphine lover, make me numb by swiefts

Summary: Or the one where Luke is maybe more than just Ashton's fuck buddy. And Ashton may be falling for him.

Word Count: 15053

Notes: Okay, this is one of my favorite fics in the fandom. I am in love with this writing style. It’s very lyrical, if you know what I mean, and very melodramatic in a way that I don’t think overplays its hand. Love it. 

let me take care of you by brokenstereotype

Summary: Ashton always takes care of the band. Calum takes care of Ashton.

Word Count: 2384

Notes: A fic I absolutely fucking swear by. So, so immensely gorgeous, with a really lovely overarching theme. And I just really appreciate it as an Ashton fan, lol. If you want some emotional hurt/comfort or emo porn, this is your go-to.

i want you (bless my soul) by jbhmalum

Summary: In which Ashton moves in with a guy named Michael, Michael is in love with Luke and annoyed at Calum, and the guy with shaved blue hair from the elevator is too hot for Ashton to know what to do about it.

Word Count: 21994

Notes: This is a D/s fic. Really good, healthy dynamics. Really fucking fun, flirty interactions and just a total joy to read. One of my favorites. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from Taylor. A simply unreal writer. Highly recommend any and all of their works. 

crawling back to you by whereshiphappens (xiiis16)

Summary: It’s been going on for months, this dance between them that they try to hide from everybody else. It’s like it’s this dirty little thing that needs to be kept in the night. Their dirty little secret they should feel ashamed of – that’s how Ashton acts, anyway.

Word Count: 7443

Notes: This does toe the line into hate sex, to be honest. It’s about jealousy/possession. I think the writing is absolutely insane (so fucking good). I love the way it’s written and if you’re into jealously, this is 100% something you wanna read. 

Silver Ecstasy by lonik

Summary: “Can I just,” Ashton starts. He’s never asked for this before. It always seemed weird, to want something in his mouth with no intention of getting anyone off. It seems almost counterintuitive to what he’s been taught. But the thought of it, of having something in his mouth of Michael’s that he doesn’t have to work to maintain, makes Ashton's head spin. Michael, though, will always give Ashton what he needs.

Word Count: 4881

Notes: This is a good cock warming fic and I think has very good writing. It’s a little close to the D/s dynamic but not fully there. Very nice enthusiastic and explicit consent.  

This Night, This High by @valiantnerdtm 

Summary: Calum and Ashton make the most of the nights at the cabin.

Word Count: 5418

Notes: Cannot talk enough about how much I love Nik’s writing. This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite one-shots I’ve ever read. The vibes/energy are off the fucking charts and it just has the most gorgeous descriptions. Like, seriously. What the fuck.

passionately curious by cliffakitten

Summary: 'Luke Hemmings' At this, he nearly choked for the second time that morning, since he just happened to know someone with that name. That someone being, his next door neighbour, the very hot neighbour, who Ashton may or may not have a huge crush on. Yeah, that Luke Hemmings. Who apparently orders sex toys online...who knew? Definitely not Ashton.

Word Count: 17945

Notes: This fic makes a really good point about the fact that bottoming does not deplete one’s masculinity!! Really great and true message!! It also plays around with sex toys and sensation play, which is really fun to read about!

Pierce My Soul, Take My Heart by elivigar ( @ashtcnirwin )

Summary: In which Ashton acquires a couple of piercings and it comes with a slight change in his way of being, and it throws Calum for a loop.

Word Count: 8701

Notes: If you know me, you’ll know Anna is literally my favorite writer ever. This piece does have emphasis on a D/s dynamic but it’s 100% safe, and very comfortable to read (and, in the sequel to this piece, it’s really nicely touched on). I just adore it. Sexy, Safe, Sane, and Consensual.  

Paint Me by me lmao sorry 

Summary: The one where Luke is an art student practicing realism for a month and Ashton is the nude model in his portrait class.

Word Count: 17370

Notes: Absolutely shameless self-promo because this is a good, artsy bottom Ashton fic and I have an ego the size of Texas.

I hope you like those!

#cadet #these are some incredible fics #most come from my private bookmarks lol #i wish more of these dudes had tumblrs #but yeah this is a pretty good list i think !!! #yes #this is a good list #love all these fics #ok #<3

[st-just]

Semi-coherent Thoughts on the Unspoken Name

So, honestly only picked up the book (or even knew it existed) because @sendme-2hell​ put it in a meme with the Baru Cormorant and Locked Tomb series. Which, like, absolutely isn’t wrong, but I had been mentally preparing myself for waaaay more heartbreak and tragedy to go with the angst. The ending’s downright happy and hopeful! (I also feel like I was promised a dragon that never appeared, but that’s probably on me misreading).

But anyway, yes, just a really fun book. The setting had the fun sort of High Fantasy vibe where the actual inspirations are less specific cultures or historical periods and more outdated D&D lore, prog rock and metal album art, and whatever weirdly specific ideas have been rattling around the author’s head since she was a teenager. To be clear, I mean this as incredibly high praise. If I can’t convince anyone else to read this I’ll probably just steal half the setting when/if I next run a D&D game.

Names I can never pronounce or remember how to spell aside, it also just had an incredibly enjoyable cast of characters. Not, like, likeable – most of them are utter garbage – but aside from the inquisitors everyone was just reliably entertaining to have on screen. I’m sure I mentioned it before, but Csorwe and Tal really did give me strong Baru and Svir vibes. Just, like, 60% less evil. And they deal with their problems with violence instead of convoluted plots involving coups and forced marriages.

Sethennai I’m honestly pretty fond of, just because I kind of like the whole trope of the clearly villainous (villain-coded? Idk, beyond being an emotionally negligent surrogate dad did he really do anything that evil?) father-figures who, like, actually seem like they’re trying their best. Like, giving Csorwe apartments in a palace and a golden prosthetic tusk and praising her as his sharpest sword and trusting her implicitly as his agent, and just legitimately not understanding that she wanted anything more than that. And being like that with everyone. It’s psychologically interesting, if nothing else. Also, I find it kind of funny that given how much Tal thirsts for him he almost certainly got more word count devoted to how hot he is than any other character.

Honestly, it’s not really a complaint, but as far as the book’s sold by it’s central romance, Csorwe’s relationship with Shuthmili never actually felt that, well, central? She’s the last major character introduced, and compared to Csorwe’s dynamics with Tal, Sethennai, even Orrana, the relationship with Shuthmili felt kind of...simple? Like, for most of her time on screen we only get hints of her personality through all the repression, and half of the time Csorwe’s almost consciously acting on behalf of the imagined version of her constructed in her head, and just hoping the real one will feel the same (not a bad thing, when rescuing someone from getting assimilated into a hivemind so her body can spent the rest of its life being a nuclear deterrent, but still).

Admittedly, part of that is that, psychologically, Csorwe is reasonably close to just being, like, a normal person. I mean, relative to everyone else in her life, who are without exception comic book villains. So it makes sense that her interactions with the devoted priestess of the death god which is convinced it owns her soul, and the melodramatic and incredibly insecure assassin, and the archmage/lich/boytoy-of-the-goddess-of-magic all feel more, idk, colourful?  

It’s also kind of interesting how the book doesn’t really have a central villain. Like, Oranna and Sethennai are both too ambiguous in narrative roll to really fit – the former switches sides somewhere in act 2 and the latter never actually lifts a finger to oppose Csorwe until the last like 20 pages, and then instantly cuts a deal. Shuthmili’s aunt, probably, but she’s just not a real narrative presence for big stretches of the book, or even slightly relevant for the whole first act.

But anyway, does this have sequels yet? Because, like, that last scene was the most obvious sequel hook I’ve seen in a long while.

#books #the unspoken name #a. k. larkwood #in this essay I will #book review #this is theoretically a writing blog #sendme-2hell #TRYING to start writing regularly more again

[writing-wrxngs]

Winter Day

(I got the idea for something with wintery vibes very suddenly as I was walking to my math class the other night. It’s only mid November but we got our first little snowstorm cause I live right on Lake Ontario. It was shit to actually walk through bc I was underdressed and not about to take the elevator back up 8 floors and change. Still, I got super excited to see snow! I love winter, or at least the romanticized version of winter. Also this is hella long, enjoy!)

It was the Saturday after a snow day, which meant an extra free weekend for Techno, Wilbur and Tommy. For the older boys, it meant a break from all the work being loaded on their adolescent backs. Tommy was only in his first year of school so he was just excited for a long weekend away from boring teachers.

Phil let the boys sleep in even more than usual. It wasn’t often school closed on a Friday, they deserved a treat. They had spent most of the snow day messing about and had tired themselves out. Instead, he sipped his coffee in the kitchen and waited to see which boy would roll out of bed first. To his surprise, it was Wilbur.

“Mornin’” the boy mumbled, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out a bowl. Setting it down on the table, he went to the pantry and grabbed a random box of cereal from the top shelf. The ease with which he was able to do that still surprised Phil. Wilbur was growing like a weed, and even at his age, was taller than his father already.

Phil watched this ritual silently. Tired teenagers were like wild animals, and agitated easily. Of the two older boys, Wilbur was the one with the worse sleeping habits. Neither of them slept well, as was expected of teenage boys, but Wilbur was definitely the stereotypical tired out insomniac. Phil had no clue what kept him up, and let him for the most part, as it seemed like any attempts to help the boy change his sleep schedule failed.

Once he was done making the cereal, Wilbur sat down to eat. He scowled as he took the first bite. He might not have paid attention to what cereal he got, but he still wanted a particular one. Whatever. He had already poured this bowl. It wasn’t bad, either, just not what he had hoped for. The disappointment already wavering, he continued on eating.

It wasn’t long after that Techno came down the stairs. “Wow,” he said as he entered the kitchen. “Wilbur’s awake before me?”

Wilbur looked up from his cereal. “Don’t,” he replied morosely.

Techno couldn’t help but chuckle at the response. “What, didn’t sleep or something?”

Groaning, Wilbur turned to his brother. “I slept. I slept quite well, thank you very much,” he snapped.

“Doesn’t sound like it,” mumbled Techno.

“Like you would know. You somehow act just fine no matter how much sleep you get. I’m just not a morning person.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll back off,” said Techno. He did indeed back off, leaving to find himself some breakfast.

Phil shook his head at the two of them. Not in any disapproving way, more so a playful acknowledgement of their behavior. Their petty little fights were unstoppable, so he let them happen, waiting in case the fight escalated.

Wilbur finished his cereal as Techno sat down to eat his breakfast. After that, he left to go back to his room.

In his room, he flopped haphazardly onto his bed and relaxed. He wasn’t tired or anything, he just wasn’t awake yet. From his bedside table he picked up the book he was reading last night and continued where he left off. From over the top of his book he saw Tommy leave his room and head downstairs. He was finally alone for a while. Tommy would be a while downstairs, occupying Phil, and knowing Techno, he’d stay down there the whole time, talking about something Wilbur couldn’t care less about.

It was whatever. Wilbur was quite adept at slipping out of familial situations. Tommy and Techno seemed to fill his father’s time plenty anyways.

To his surprise, and perhaps even his chagrin, Techno came in earlier than anticipated. “So like, why’d you lie about not sleeping at breakfast?” He asked as he sat down on his own bed. “You know I know when you’re up.”

Wilbur slapped his book closed. “I lied ‘cause it’s nobody’s business.”

“We literally share a room. Your business is my business. It’s my right as the eldest to bother you about it.”

“Don’t you have things to do besides be a dickhead? A recital to practice for? Strategy books to read?” Asked Wilbur.

Shaking his head, Techno said, “I’m not in the mood for that today. Spent all of yesterday doing things like that ‘cause of the storm.”

Wilbur nodded in agreement. “More than I did. When did snow days become boring?”

“Well, Wilbur,” said Techno, “they got boring for you when you started spending all day waiting for a girl who definitely isn’t gonna call you to call you.”

Wilbur shot a glare at Techno. “At least girls have my number.”

Rolling his eyes, Techno shrugged off the comeback. “Seriously though, Wil. You should do something.”

“I was doing something,” said Wilbur, gesturing to his book.

“I mean actually doing something. Get out of bed. I know, come downstairs and we can do a little sparring.”

“If you just wanted some sword practice, you could’ve just asked me,” said Wilbur dryly. In all honesty, it didn’t sound like a bad idea. “Gimme a sec to get dressed and I’ll meet you down there.”

Techno nodded and left Wilbur alone to change out of pajamas and into something more fitting for a fight.

He walked downstairs and into the practice room. Well, half of it was a practice room. It was still technically a playroom, with half of it still having Tommy’s toys strewn about. In the half dedicated to the older boys, part of it had all their musical instruments in a corner, with sheet music and guitar tabs haphazardly splayed about on stands. The part that mattered was the fighting corner. It had practice weapons, and fighting dummies. Phil had this part put in a year ago, at the boys schools suggestion, after Techno’s third suspension for fighting.

“You ready to lose?” Asked Techno, who was waiting for him in the corner.

“Losing won’t sting too badly, there’s no audience,” replied Wilbur. “Can’t bruise my ego if no one sees it.”

“You’re still gonna lose.”

Smirking, Wilbur said, “I know, but what’s a win if there’s no witnesses?”

Techno tossed a practice sword to Wilbur. “You’re really taking all the satisfaction out of this, you know.”

Catching the sword, Wilbur nodded. “I know. It’s called mind games, Technoblade. I thought you’d know all that, with all the war books you read.”

“I think it’s called ‘delaying the inevitable’. Get over here and fight me.”

And that’s exactly what Wilbur did. Techno was correct. Wilbur did lose, but then again, Wilbur always lost. They weren’t kids anymore, and Techno had long stopped giving his little brother pity wins.

Wilbur got himself up, and turned to leave. As he did that, the good mood he had fell. Tommy was standing in the doorway.

He didn’t even say hello. “How come you always lose?” He asked.

“How come you never let people know you’re watching them?” Retorted Wilbur.

“I just got here,” said Tommy. “I’ve been watching cartoons, but they’re over now. Dad said I could play outside if you and Techno watched me.”

Techno, who had been putting away the swords turned to the other two. “And who says we want to watch you?”

The question made Tommy think. “Me,” he said, stretching his arms out to fill the doorway. “I won’t leave until you say you’ll go.”

“Kid, I can literally pick you up with one hand,” said Techno.

“Didn’t he try to bite you last time you did that?” Asked Wilbur.

Yes. Yes he did. Techno grimaced at the memory. “I think we’ve just been cornered by a five year old.”

Wilbur silently agreed. “Fine. We’ll take you.”

“Yes!” Cheered Tommy, who immediately ran out to get dressed.

The two followed behind, knowing he’d take longer than the two of them, seeing as he was younger and getting dressed more than they were. Still, it was decently cold out, so they threw on some heavy jackets and your usual winter accoutrements. After slipping on some boots, the two older boys followed Tommy out.

With intent, Tommy marched out to the back yard, which was piled high with snow from the storm. “You know, it kinda looks like a fort,” Tommy said, looking at the snowbanks. “Oooo,” he mused. “We could have a snowball fight!”

“We’d pummel you if we did a snowball fight,” said Techno.

“Well, maybe we could do teams?” Tommy suggested.

Wilbur shrugged. “I mean, me and Tommy would be pretty equal to one of you, Techno,” he added.

“Not really but it that’s what you wanna do, go ahead,” Techno said.

“Yes! That’s what I wanna do!” Said Tommy, already dragging Wilbur to one of the snowbanks.

Once there, Wilbur hunkered behind it, not easily hidden the way Tommy was. “Start making snowballs, go!” He whispered, then standing up. He turned to Techno, who was behind his own snowbank. “Now,” he said, putting on an extra dramatic voice for Tommy. “These are the official rules of duelling with snowballs! Number one: you cannot start throwing until the end of the count! Number two! You must announce when you’ve been hit! And number three: first one to hit their opponent ten times is the winner! Understood?” He called out.

“Understood!” Called back Techno.

Melodramatic? Yes. Did it keep most of the other neighborhood children from playing with them? Probably. But was it fun and made Tommy look at Wilbur like he was a god? Absolutely. “Oh-Kay! Three! Two! One! Go!” He shouted, immediately dipping behind the snowbank. A snowball whizzed above his head.

Tommy chucked one, and to everyone’s surprise, landed the first hit of the fight.

“Hit!” Called Techno, who went down to collect more snow.

“Nice one, Tommy!” Said Wilbur, throwing a snowball and missing. As he shook off the loss, was hit square in the chest with a snowball. He made a noise as the impact was made, then called the hit. He left Tommy and moved to another part of the snowbank for a different angle. As he did so, Tommy tried to hit Techno again.

Techno, being Techno, dodged it. He instantly retaliated.

The hit almost knocked Tommy backwards. “Ow!” He cried, before shaking it off. “Hit!” He called out, heading back down and rubbing the shoulder that was hit.

Tommy’s reaction made Techno pause. He wasn’t sure if he actually hurt Tommy or if he was just being a baby. It could be hard to tell. This pause was just long enough for Wilbur to pelt him, hitting him on his cheek.

“Get your head in the game, Techno!” Teased Wilbur.

“It’s not my fault! I was only standing there cause Tommy acted like he got shot!”

“Just call the hit, dude,” Wilbur said.

“Fine,” Techno said, rolling his eyes. “Hit.”

This went on for some time, them calling hits until they were almost tied. Seven to nine, Techno’s favor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tommy, so he turned went to throw a snowball at him, but Tommy jumped out of the way just in time.

While Tommy distracted Techno, Wilbur ambushed him, and got a hit off, as called by Techno.

And then, Tommy pelted another snowball at Techno.

“What the hell?” He asked, dumbfounded by the ambush. “Hit,” he added realizing he hadn’t called it. Both of his younger brothers were on him, and very close. Closer than he knew they were. He was stuck. They would obviously the final blow as soon as he went to make a snowball. They already had snowballs.

“And you said it wouldn’t be an even matchup,” said Wilbur. He tossed the snowball in his hand once, then whipped it.

It hit Techno right in the face. Frowning, he wiped the snow off of his face and called the hit. “You guys won. I hope you’re proud of yourselves.”

“We are,” said Tommy.

Before Wilbur could get in a snarky comment, the back door opened. It was Phil, who had popped his head out now that he saw his sons were done with their game. “You guys have been out for too long!” He called. “Get inside before one of you gets sick!”

“Fine!” Wilbur called back, already heading to the front door.

Techno and Tommy followed behind, and they took off their winter gear together in the foyer. Both Wilbur and Techno wiped their glasses on their shirts to defog them as they walked into the living room, taking in the heat of the house.

“I was gonna call you boys in earlier, but you were having too much fun,” said Phil from the kitchen. “I figured I’d use that time for something else.”

Tommy was the first to notice, and broke out into a run. “Hot chocolate?!” He asked in surprise.

The older two followed behind, the suspicion correct. Wilbur eagerly grabbed a mug and sat down. “Thanks,” he said, taking a sip. The warmth spread through his chest and into his stomach.

“Did you three have a good time out there?” Asked Phil.

Wilbur nodded.

“Me and Wil beat Techno!” Added Tommy.

“I saw,” said Phil. “You wanna tell me about it?”

Tommy’s eyes lit up. The chocolate already giving him a rush, he began to tell Phil the story of how he and Wilbur conquered their older brother.

Watching this, Wilbur couldn’t help but smile into his mug. Today was a good day. He hated to admit it, but Techno was right. Getting out and actually doing something did make him feel better. Now, even though it was still midday, he felt good. As much as he sometimes felt out of place in his family, he still loved good times like these. Yeah, today was a good day.

#wilbur soot #tommyinnit #technoblade #philza #philza minecraft #mcyt #mcyters #mcytumblr #minecraft yt #minecraft youtubers #mcyt fanfic #mcyt fanfiction #sleepy bois inc #sleepy bois inc fanfiction #sleepy bois inc family dynamic

[watchinglikeafangirl]

Unpopular opinion about IPYTM

IPYTM is the second season of ITSAY and once again deals with Teh not knowing exactly what he wants in life. Now, he is with Oh-aew but feels even more far away from him than before because they live different lives and struggle to accept the change of their relationship. It's now about their college years and not about high school any more, which gives their lives a way more serious touch Billkin and PP act out beautifully. But as we all know, acting isn't everything. Directors have a major impact on the endproduct and sadly, they changed the director here which is very visible in the entire season. It is not necessarily a bad thing to switch directors and it wasn't the worst choice in IPYTM but for me personally, Teh and Oh-aew's story lost its lovelyness. It's not as special any more.

Editing

Like I said, what caught my attention right from the start is the different editing of IPYTM and I don't just mean the editing. I mean the way it looks, sounds and feels like.

ITSAY focused a lot on its color scheme and expressed feelings through coloring. Oh-aew's color is red and Teh's color is blue. The background mostly looked very calm. A stonecolored house or the sea were always part of the scenery. But now, they are in crowded places or in front of something colorful. Q's home looks cozy and symmetrical but has nothing more to it. The furniture is as boring as possible to let the characters stand out. It feels like the characters don't fit into the scenery and yet, they somehow do. But I think, the detailed and planned-out concept got lost here and it was a very important aspect of ITSAY. Yes, the colors red and blue sometimes shine through but are not as dominant any more and I believe it was all very thought through, but I just don't feel it. The only thing expressed through color I can remember is Oh-aew's hair. The red stands for his inner conflict if Teh accepts him and what happened to their relationship. Him dying his hair back to brown showed he was coming down to earth again. He walked the long path of self love to be okay with himself again. His dressing style has changed but his hair color is all the same, showing he still is the same old Oh-aew.

As I metioned a few times before, I don't like the way background music is used so frequently to make the emotions easier to understand. When they are sad, the music is sad. When it's awkward, the music is funny. When they are out of line, the music is stressful. This is not a bad thing but I noticed music explaining the emotions of the scenes is used way more often. ITSAY had music moments as well, of course, but if you listen and watch closely, there's always music in IPYTM. In Ep 5, I started laughing every time it happened. It annoys me a lot because ITSAY used a lot of background noises and presented things in silence which made all those scenes feel extremely realistic because reality is silent. It made things more lovely, more memorable and more saddening because there was nothing to seek comfort it. Just blank silence and a lonely face made all emotions stand out way more and made me feel like I was watching a show building up realism. But IPYTM rarely had any silent scenes and when the music is absent, the show doesn't work that well any more. It is designed to be a lot more basic to please the now-very-much-bigger audience. Music makes it easier for the audience to get the vibe but is also a simple tool to use when the scene doesn't work elsewise.

Now, we get to the whole vibe. ITSAY felt very nostalgic and melodramatic whereas IPYTM feels modern and bitter. It's like ITSAY was a dream and IPYTM is the reality behind the sea. This opposite could be great, but instead it feels like a bitter reality. Their relationship meets problems, they struggle finding friends and dreams meet a dead end. It feels like watching the show through the eyes of an old person reminicing. The light-hearted scenes lack and drama takes over way too soon and for way too long. It feels rushed and average. Not as special any more. The special feeling is gone.

Characters

Let's get to my second problem I have with this sequel and it's the most important one because this show only surrounds around Teh and Oh-aew. They are the ones who changed the most. Change isn't bad, don't get me wrong. I sometimes seek change so badly I'm devastated when I go to bed with the feeling everything is the same again. That the world is the same. That others are the same. That I'm still the same. In IPYTM, change is seen as something bad because we still see the world through Teh's eyes and Teh always was and always will be the sort of character who detestes change and feels like he loses bonds if personalities change as they grow. The same happens here. The fear of changing so much, you can't recognize your most loved one, is extremely realistic at that age and I can't say anything against it because I have the same fear. Still, there are choices I can't agree with.

Like I said, Teh hates change and the moment Oh-aew says he wants to transfer, problems start. Him transfering means Teh feels like he doesn't understand Oh-aew any more. It means having a life very different from Teh's and since ITSAY was about them realizing how much they have in common, IPYTM is more about them discovering they are not the same person. They are individuals who have different personalities and seek happiness in their own way. They don't copy each other. IPYTM is more about self-realization. This also means, they spend some time apart and lose each other a little bit.

All of this is fine, all of this is realistic. But what I don't like about Teh and Oh-aew is them not talking. They accept their fate which causes them to break apart even more. Thing is, Teh was always someone not sharing much very easily, but Oh-aew always shared his thoughts. He made the first step, he was serious and he showed how hurt he was. And now, he feels Teh is drifting away and doesn't address it. He doesn't address how lonely he feels, he doesn't say how much he misses Teh, he doesn't mention he's not fine with himself. It is frustrating to watch them just coexisting without sharing stuff.

And then Teh cheats which was never the missing puzzle piece to their story. I know, Teh is sad. His friends change, his boyfriend changes. But why would he throw something away, he worships so much? He doesn't very much open up about himself but he did to Oh-aew, so why does he lose courage to fight for it, let it stay like it and just kisses someone else who is a playboy? He choses to believe in Jai's actions rather than seeing Oh-aew.

Plot

I'm drifting to the next point. The plot. Well, the plot is just ... stupid (I'm sorry). Yes, it is entertaining at some points but it is average, basic. The love triangle, trust issues and jealousy is something I've seen various times before. I'm extremely disappointed when it comes to the story because the thing I loved about ITSAY as well, was the originality. It wasn't clicheish. It wasn't boring. It wasn't like other shows. It was independant. But IPYTM tried very hard to please the now-big audience and fanbase. It's not what I wanted to see.

Even if you give them a love triangle, then please, not such a flat character as Jai. We had Tarn and Bas in ITSAY. They were breathing human beings with their own personalities, their own goals and their own interests. But Jai ... he's just there. He helps Teh to act properly and Teh spends a lot of time with him, apparently, but his personality is not very clear. When he tells Teh, he was just pretending, I can't tell if he really was or if he steps aside for Oh-aew. I still can't tell and I think it's really weak of such an important character with so much screentime, to lack of a personality. Everybody knew, why Bas stepped aside. But with Jai, I can't tell.

I lost it in Ep 5 when Bas showed up to give Oh-aew a tedtalk. Honestly, I laughed. It was stupid and again provse the writing of IPYTM is not nearly as strong and good as the writing of ITSAY. ITSAY contained an inner conflict as well but they managed to let us know about it without the characters actually telling us. When Teh gave Oh-aew the notebook with vocab, he hid outside. When the piano in the cafe was played, both cried far away from each other. When Teh spend time with Tarn, he realized his feelings and told her down. It's the little things. And IPYTM lacks of those. We actually need Bas to tell Oh-aew what to do and honestly, his message wasn't as deep. I can't count how often I heard those "follow you heart" speeches before. It works with everything. Right here, it seems passionless and rushed. Like they couldn't think of another way to solve the problem and come to an end.

So, the story was filled with cliches and the writing was not as good as ITSAY. Not only did we have a cameo of Bas to give Oh-aew a choice everybody knew he had, no, we also had an antagonist who is easy to blame for all the issues. Jai is the antagonist here, playing with Teh's thoughts or something but this show makes its life way too easy. Teh and Oh-aew had problems before. The result of this fading away, is Teh kissing Jai but Jai is not the reason for it. But then, Jai walks out of Teh's life and everything is fine again? They don't talk about the problems ever because Jai is gone now and so are the relationship problems? I'm sorry but this is just a sad plot for a second season of ITSAY.

Conclusion

I can just say, I'm very disappointed. ITSAY affected me personally very much and has a very special place in my heart, so I was afraid IPYTM would ruin this as soon as the OST premiered. It was so cheesy and average, I knew back then I won't enjoy this as much. I watched nevertheless, but my hopes were dropped at an instant and I lost my motivation to continue watching. I kept it on hold for 3 weeks and didn't even miss it. This is a bad sign.

What more can I say? I didn't feel it, I'm sorry. I still think Billkin and PP are amazing and well, this turned out to be longer than intended.

#i promised you the moon #ipytm #teh x oh aew #billkinpp

[everythingoesnk]

Better Late Than Never

summary; john plays cupid (sorta?)

word count; 1 711

request by anon; “heehee i never knew u took requests!! ur writing is so lovely u rlly are talented❤️❤️ i was wondering if u could do smthg ab being georgies neighbour and like him n the quarrymen r rehearsing and they invite u to watch and they flirt w u and he gets jealous”

disclaimers; this sat in my drafts for ages but i finally finished it. glad that i can post it for once and for all. don’t be too hard on me cause i haven’t written shit in so long and i’m super sceptical about my work ty

warnings;

********

A few weeks earlier, Paul and John made the decision that Eric Griffiths had to go. They wanted George to be part of the group, and with Eric on board there were just too many guitars. The Quarrymen, along with Lowe on the piano and Hanton on the drums, had a demo recording scheduled in Kensington in a couple of days, so whenever they had the time, they would invest it in practising and sprucing up their performance.

You were coming back home after babysitting a three-year-old boy when you saw Paul and John’s distinctive jaunty silhouettes down the street.

They were carrying their instruments.

”Reunion of bitches?” you teased, bumping your shoulders with theirs to open a spot for you in between.

They were so used to you being a nosy little bird that they didn’t even flinch when you appeared.

“If what you mean by that is if we’re heading to a rehearsal, yes we are” Paul confirmed looking down at you with a warm smile. He slid his arm around your neck and patted your cheek persistently just to annoy you. “It’s the three of us this time, the others are busy”

You tried to smack his hand away while he spoke, but he had it strongly clamped over your mouth now, playfully sticking to his cat-and-mouse game. John was used to Paul behaving like this around you, you being like a little sister to him even though you shared the same age, so he didn’t move an inch when you began asking for help through the muffled laughter.

What came out of his mouth instead earned puzzled looks from you and Paul, who slowly let his arm drop.

“You can’t come” he had stated, because he knew you and it was only a matter of seconds before you started badgering them to let you stay and watch them play.

“Why not?” you snapped back, forehead puckered up.

John threw his head back to stare at Paul and raised an inquisitive knowing eyebrow at him.

After witnessing the looks they were giving each other, you huffed loudly, tired of the melodramatic secrecy. “Not again with the silent conversations”

“You can’t expect to know everything, (Y/N)” John stated.

“But what is there to know?” you questioned, beyond confused.

You were missing something and it was stressing you out that they knew what it was but wouldn’t tell you because they didn’t feel like it.

Paul felt empathy for you after seeing you so lost.

“We don’t progress much when you’re around because you distract Geo too much” he explained.

“Bravo, Macca” John sighed as the three of you continued to walk towards George’s house.

With their ‘silent conversation’ they agreed not to rat out George, but Paul’s mouth was faster than his brain could ever be.

John should have taken into account his mate’s overspoken nature.        

“I do?” you said, lines forming between your brows, not understanding. “How so?”

John snorted. “Sit and observe”

You turned to Paul. He was staring at John the same way one does when you recognize your friend is about to put on a show and you aren’t very sure if it’s the right time or place, but you know that anything you say will fly into their ear and out of the other.

He fixed his eyes tenderly on you after and shrugged his shoulders with a peculiar cheekiness.

//

George looked every bit the unconcerned man as he sat back and watched John plop down on the couch next to you, splaying his arms along the top of the seat as he asked you how much you get paid for the babysitting.

They were in a break after been playing for two hours.

“Not much” you noted.

“Quit” he interrupted, smirking friskily and brushing a strand of hair behind your ear cautiously. “I’ll double your wage if you join the band. We are missing the attractive factor”

You wheezed. “I’m positive with your talent it’ll be sufficient” you said, laughing still.

You looked over at George. He wasn’t looking in your direction but John’s, mouth compressed and something you couldn’t fathom flitting across his eyes.

“Besides,” you added, “I don’t know how to play any instrument to save my life”

“The piano a little bit” George chimed in, after deliberating whether to speak or not.

You blushed settling your gaze on him one more time, marvelled that he remembered. “It’s been years since I last practised”

“If the piano is too much I’ll give you my harmonica. I’m fucking tired of blowing into that shit” John offered, resting his left hand on your thigh and giving it a firm squeeze.

Everyone laughed except George. He didn’t even smile.

He dipped his eyes and ran a finger over his brow back and forth for a couple of seconds before grabbing his guitar again.

Something was off with him, and it upset you that he was feeling under the weather when Paul, John and you were vibing and having such a wonderful time.

John kissed your cheek and cuddled you after wrapping his leather jacket around you even though you didn’t ask for it. George saw and shook his head gently, forcing himself to continue working on his part so he would nail it in the upcoming session. His mind was elsewhere and the chords didn’t sound as good as he wanted them to be. He brought his brows together and you stifled an affable grin, observing silently while he mumbled under his breath, probably putting himself down for not getting them right.

John smiled seeing you stare at George, but Paul knew what that smile meant, what was really behind it, and he started gesturing at him as subtle as he could not to push his luck with George. He’d keep his conscience clean regardless of what happened from now on.

John’s smile enlarged when he saw his best mate from the corner of his eye trying to catch his attention, but he had it all mapped out in his head.

He leaned forward, elbows on the knees and fingers interlocked.

“(Y/N), is it true that you’ve been seeing Sam?”

You looked over at John, perplexed.

George also raised his gaze, disconcertion lurking in it.

Paul slapped a hand to his forehead.

Clueless as to why he would ask that, you turned pink. “Where have you heard that?”

George interpreted your blush as you being embarrassed because you got caught, and your question as wanting to know who spillt the news. The suave yet pained expression tinted on his face was replaced by a rather sad and fragile one.

Instinctively, you pinned your eyes to George’s when John didn’t answer you. You weren’t dating anyone named Sam and you didn’t want him to believe that you did.

He remained there staring what felt like a lifetime into your eyes, only for his to fall to the floor seconds after. He stood up and paced to the door.

Envy overloaded him, making his jealously evolve into what a romantic would describe as passional delirium.

Hastily, he turned, came up to you and closed his fingers over your arm. John watched with a wry grin.

“Can we talk?” George asked, his tone filled with forced politeness.

You nodded and let him guide you towards his kitchen.

He looked over his shoulder first to confirm that neither of his bandmates had followed you there.

Then, for a few seconds, he froze. You noticed he was agitated and internally saturated with mixed feelings.

Out of the blue, he straightened his spine, a different kind of thickness filling his throat. Determined to overcome his shyness and insecurity, he gave a long exhale. Throwing you off guard, he grabbed your face, fingers gripping tightly your cheeks, and pressed his mouth to yours so enthusiastically that you subtly felt his front teeth.

Excitement and love rushed into your veins.

You kissed him back and wrapped your arms around his waist, knowing from the get go that this wasn’t going to be the last time that you would taste his lips. George couldn’t open his eyes at first after having departed from the kiss, which turned out to be the best and most pleasant, pure and precious kiss he had ever shared.

When he flicked them open, he couldn’t resist the drive to glide his thumb over the soft skin of your sweet fleshy lips.

John suddenly burst into the kitchen pretending to pull off that the obtrusion was casual. The real and obvious reason was that he wanted to see what was going on behind curtains.

George quickly pulled back.

That reaction and the swollen lips from both of you was enough for John.

“Don’t mind me. Just came here for something to drink” he said, but the clownery in his voice was oh so present and solid.

Cheeks burning, George didn’t move.

John, with the glass in his hand, turned to him before leaving.

“I mean, maybe it’s you who needs some water. You look feverish, my friend”

You quickly pushed him out of the kitchen.

George slowly looked up again when he wasn’t around. “There’s no Sam, is there?”

You shook your head no. “John is a crackhead, a good bloke but a crackhead. Never listen to him, listen to me” you smiled. He drew you into his arms, missing your warmth already. “I’m not dating Sam, Geo. He’s blond and I’m not into blondes”

George chuckled. “What are you into, then?” he asked, needing to hear from you that you only wanted him.

“I’m into this guy from The Quarrymen. Not the one who plays the bass, and clearly not the blind one, he’s too much of a ponce sometimes” you smirked. “Into the bushy unibrow guy”

He laughed harder and tightened his embrace.

“Lucky you he’s had his eye and unibrow on you for some time”

“Sweet, cause I’ve been in love with him ever since I met him”

George stared dearly down at you with the brightest smile and captured your lips again.

He didn’t know if John was a genius or a foolish cretin for causing him to feel so enraged before, making him believe you had a boyfriend.

The perfect mix, he conceded.

#george harrison x reader #john lennon #paul mccartney #ringo starr #the beatles #george harrison imagine #george harrison fanfic #george harrison fanfiction #tayloredstarr

[your-angle-of-music]

Anyone want my playlist for my dream cast version of The Phantom of the Opera?

Coming right up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGFe3xKBIJQ&list=PLyXOfYb8cpfkWW_8EO-XHO2MIBFLMevmn

To my knowledge, this has all the songs that count as songs, but as always, I welcome other people’s additions or suggestions!

Check out under the cut for the list of songs and actors, and my notes and explanations for each of them. Enjoy!

1. Prologue/Overture - Barry Clark as the Auctioneer, Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny, Rosemary Ashe as Carlotta (Original Broadway)

To be honest, I was never too fond of this long prologue, which is never relevant again and reveals very little about the characters’ future. Clark’s Auctioneer does create a properly grand feel, and Barton’s Raoul does sound heartbroken, but what I’m really here for is that epic, bombastic, beautiful overture. No matter how many times I hear it, it will never stop being exhilarating. This track also features the Hannibal opera part. Ashe’s Carlotta sounds deliciously dramatic and her high note on “Rome” treads that line between impressive and annoying perfectly.

2. Think of Me - Katie Hall as Christine Daae, Angela Caesar as Carlotta, Simon Bailey as Raoul de Chagny (UK Tour)

God, I love Caesar’s Carlotta. She takes her time with all her lines, to excellent effect, and her “spare a thought for me” is both genuinely pretty and utterly distinct from Hall’s Christine’s. I also adore the alternating weepiness and shoutiness she puts into her “these things do happen” tirade, and you can hear her clapping during “all the time!”. And then her “this thing does not happen!” is gloriously over-the-top. Meanwhile, Hall’s Christine’s voice is so lovely here. I appreciate how quietly she starts out, barely audible, and then how sweet her voice is once she gets more confident on “that oh so distant day.” She sounds pure and innocent but yet still clearly classically trained, and damn, she can project. I love the way she sings “think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned” especially. And then that final “think of me” cadenza is perfect. She makes the high notes seem effortless and they’re buttery smooth. Bailey’s Raoul also makes an excellent first impression.

3. Angel of Music - Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae, Janet Devenish as Meg Giry, Michael Crawford as the Phantom (Original Broadway)

We start of strong with Crawford’s Phantom’s absolutely haunting “bravi, bravi, bravissimi.” And then I adore Devenish’s Meg — she has such a pure, clear, young voice that sounds perfect for her role. Devenish makes this the best version of this song in my opinion, even though I prefer the new lyric ““I watched your face from the shadows / distant through all the applause. / I hear your voice in the darkness, / yet the words aren’t yours” to the one that Devenish’s Meg sings here, “Christine, you must have been dreaming, / stories like this can’t come true. / Christine, you’re talking in riddles, / and it’s not like you” (because come on now, talking in riddles is one of Christine’s defining personality traits). Brightman’s Christine sounds gorgeous on the high notes, especially when she sings softly, and I love her on her “father once spoke of an angel” part.

4. Little Lotte/The Mirror - Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae, Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny, Michael Crawford as the Phantom (Original Broadway)

Barton’s Raoul will always be my favorite. There’s a sweetness and a warmth to his voice that makes him always seem likable, when other musical Raouls seem patronizing or boring or manipulative or dumb. I like the mischievous, flirtatious note in Brightman’s Christine’s “you remember that too.” And most of all, I like Crawford’s Phantom’s powerful “insolent boy!” that manages to sound both scary and strangely far-off and echoey — I’d believe he was an angel too. And then the gentleness in his “flattering child, you shall know me” seems more book accurate and likable to me. Crawford has a unique quality to his voice that makes me love his rendition of the “angel of music” motif the best of any actor’s. I am a little sorry that the end of Barton’s cry of “angel” gets cut off in this recording, though.

5. The Phantom of the Opera - Michael Crawford as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae (Original Broadway)

Brightman’s Christine might not be the strongest, acting-wise, but vocally? She has the range, darlings. She sings the soft, low beginning of this song and the piercing, high end of it with the same facility — I mean, just listen to that last high E. It sounds effortless. And everything in between is good too; her first “the phantom of the opera is there, inside my mind” has a breathtakingly haunting quality. Crawford’s Phantom is also very good with the high notes. I just love the way he sings the words “my power over you grows stronger yet” and “in all your fantasies, you always knew” almost too airily, and of course every time he sings “phantom,” it’s powerful enough to give me chills. And I love how soft he is on his first few rounds of “sing for me.”

6. The Music of the Night - Earl Carpenter as the Phantom (London 2006)

This is one of the few tracks on here that I have video for, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Everything about Carpenter’s Phantom’s body language really makes this song for me, in addition to his positively angelic voice. Carpenter embodies the version of the Phantom that I know from the novel, hesitant and gentle even though he’s...Like That, and he manages to make “The Music of the Night” really seem like a love song. I appreciate that he remains so quiet for so much of the beginning, almost inaudible with your computer’s volume turned up less than a third, and the sweetness he puts into the phrase “night unfurls its splendor.” Also that little hand block he does on “tremulous and tender” and the way he never quite touches Christine during “turn your face away from the garish light of day” makes me Feel Things. The crescendo fakeout he does on “close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams” is masterful, as is his high note on “soar” and the way he turns his masked side away from Christine’s hand on “the darkness of the music of the night” and...oh God, we’re only three minutes in. But he’s not just soft and sweet; his “let your soul take you where you long to be” is strong and powerful. I really, really like how he keeps his distance even when he has his arm around her, and the way he stops her hand during “savor each sensation.” Christine’s faint looks weird, because it always does, because it’s really dumb, but I appreciate that Carpenter actually catches her — and looks a small bit panicked about it. And then when he strokes her hair and sings that last “night” the softest and purest of all...perfection.

7. I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It - John Owen-Jones as the Phantom, Rachel Barrell as Christine Daae (London 2005)

Another one with video! And oh boy, what a video. First of all, Barrell’s Christine has a very cool and interesting voice, and I love the way she sings “on the lake there was a boat, and in the boat there was a man,” delicate and unsure, before you can hear her steeling her courage on “who was that shape in the shadows?” I’m equally happy with the way JOJ’s Phantom snarls out that “you little lying Delilah! you little viper!” while still making it sound good, and that over-the-top, extremely JOJ final “damn you! curse you!” that ends in a sob ‘n growl, because if there’s ever a show to be melodramatic in, it’s Phantom. And then his hissed out “stranger than you dreamt it” and the fact that he keeps his hand over his face the entire time makes it perfect. His wounded-animal-style crawling starting on “fear can turn to love” and the roughness and pain and prettiness in his voice reminds me a lot of Erik’s characterization in the novel, as is his sobbed “oh, Christine!” right afterwards, and his “those two fools who run my theater will be missing you!” is believably scary.

8. Magical Lasso - Janos Kurucz as Joseph Buquet, Mary Millar as Madame Giry (Original Broadway)

It’s such a small song, but I really love the unique quality to Kurucz’s Buquet’s voice, as well as the anxiety in Millar’s Madame Giry’s “heat of his eyes.”

9. Notes/Prima Donna - Rosemary Ashe as Carlotta, John Savident as Monsieur Firmin, David Firth as Monsieur Andre, Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny, Mary Millar as Madame Giry, Janet Devenish as Meg Giry, Michael Crawford as the Phantom (Original Broadway)

This song is way more of a bop than it has any right to be. I absolutely adore Savident’s Firmin and Firth’s Andre, with their humor and their bluster and their old married husbands vibes. I love that overpowering “damnable!” and that long-suffering sigh on “Wrote. Written.” All the indignant drama that Ashe’s Carlotta brings is delightful in every way, especially on her high Italian parts and that “it’s no use trying to appease me, you’re only saying this to please me.” Crawford’s Phantom’s “one last chance” is chilling, and I like how pretty his sound is here — it’s way creepier than growly anger. The “Prima Donna” section is just such a gorgeous melody, really, and Savident and Firth have such rich, lovely voices. And Barton’s Raoul is also amazing; his “is this her angel of music” especially is so gorgeous. I do wish I could hear Millar’s Madame Giry a little bit more clearly, but I love her voice. And Ashe’s last “once more” high note is really quite breathtaking, as is Crawford’s “a disaster beyond your imagination will occur.“ This recording also features a section of Il Muto that will overlap a little bit with the next track — sorry about that.

10. Il Muto - Kim Stengel as Carlotta, Elizabeth Loyacano as Christine Daae, Howard McGillin as the Phantom (Broadway 2008)

There’s some video for this one, which is good, because all the actors are hilarious. This Raoul...sounds like a bit of an asshole, but to be fair, the script shoves him pretty firmly into that role. I can’t find the name of the actor who plays the Count anywhere, but he is perfect. I love the way he holds that “observe her” note, and his hammy self-awareness in doing so. The real MVP here is Stengel’s Carlotta, with all her imperiousness and her high notes and her dramatic nervous laughter and the way she bosses around Christine and the conductor. And her croaking. The croaking is perfect, especially when she does it offstage. Loyacano’s Christine doesn’t have too much to do in this scene, but her kissing in time is amazing. Same for McGillin’s Phantom, although I like how quiet and genuinely amused he is on his “perhaps it is you who are the toad” as well as his maniacal laughter when he kills Buquet. Actually, the whole ballet section is perfectly executed (although I’m not much of an expert on dancing).

11. Why Have You Brought Us Here/All I Ask of You - Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae, Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny, Michael Crawford as the Phantom (Original Broadway)

Brightman’s Christine is wonderful here, sounding properly hysterical on “and in this labyrinth, where night is blind” and “Raoul, I’ve been there” and beautiful and sad on the “yet in his eyes, all the sadness of the world” bit. And did I mention that I love Barton’s Raoul? Because I do. I really, really do. The beginning of this song can make Raoul look. Really bad. But this one manages to pull it off, sounding so concerned and so utterly in love. When he sings “no more talk of darkness” and “let me be your shelter, let me be your light” his voice sounds so soft and warm and gentle and my God, you can hear the smile and the hug, and then his “then say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime” is urgent and soaring and lovely. Brightman matches his energy, and she has a lovely, delicate voice that balances perfectly with his. Her “say the word and I will follow you” sounds so tender and there’s a gorgeous intensity in her “say you love me.” Their last “love me, that’s all I ask of you” is sweet and soft, and I love the lightness in Brightman’s “I must go” and of course the warm solidity in Barton’s “Christine, I love you” that sets up the contrast that will absolutely make me cry later. Crawford’s Phantom is perfect too, right from that first haunting, echoing “Christine” at the beginning. He sounds vulnerable and almost disbelieving and on “I gave you my music” and the last repetitions of “Christine,” and that “Go!” is TERRIFYING.

12. Entr’acte - John Savident as Monsieur Firmin, David Firth as Monsieur Andre (Original Broadway)

I don’t have that many feelings about which orchestra in particular preforms this, but I definitely want to include it. I do adore Webber’s score and the switches between the different melody motifs are pretty awesome. Fair warning, though, that it does include the very beginning of “Masquerade” but cuts off in the middle of “I must say, all the same, that it’s a shame that Phantom fellow isn’t here,” which frustrates me to no end.

13. Masquerade - Anna O’Byrne as Christine Daae, Alexander Lewis(???) as Raoul de Chagny (Australia 2009)

Another song with video! And it’s good quality too, highlighting the colorfulness of this scene. O’Byrne’s Christine and Lewis’ Raoul enter at “who can name the face,” and they’re graceful dancers, and everyone reflects the high energy of the scene, especially on the quiet verse. O’Byrne’s Christine sounds young here, but in a good way, and quite scared on “you promised me,” and Lewis lets his Raoul be exasperated on “it’s an engagement, not a crime” — it feels like they’ve had this argument many times before. The part where Christine and Raoul get separated feels genuinely suspenseful, and I really love the lighting just before the Phantom’s entrance.

14. Why So Silent? - Earl Carpenter as the Phantom (London 2005 - 2007)

I do love Carpenter’s Phantom because he’s sweet, but sometimes I love him because he’s really, really scary. There’s video for this bit so we can all admire his Red Death costume and the lighting to match. He stays creepily quiet for the beginning, so that his “remember there are worse things than a shattered chandelier” and his “your chains are still mine! you will sing for me!” are all the more powerful.

15. Notes/Twisted Every Way - Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae, Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny, John Savident as Monsieur Firmin, David Firth as Monsieur Andre, Mary Millar as Madame Giry, Rosemary Ashe as Carlotta (Original Broadway)

Honestly, Ashe’s Christine is one of the best parts of this song. The way she sings “outrage!” and “ha! here’s our little flower” and the way she absolutely snarls “she’s the one behind this, Christine Daae!” is perfection. She’s also brilliant in the “Don Juan Triumphant” rehearsal. Savident’s Firmin and Firth’s Andre are wonderful as usual, and Barton’s Raoul manages to sound gentle and good in a script that is not kind to the character here — his “you don’t have to, they can’t make you” and “you said yourself, he was nothing but a man” and “every hope and every prayer rests on you now“ are lovely. Millar’s Madame Giry sounds frail and scared and determined (I love her “monsieur, be careful, we have seen him kill”) and she reminds me a lot of her characterization in the novel, and Crawford’s Phantom is deliciously creepy in his letter, and I adore his almost sighing sound on phrases like “an office not the arts” and “her teacher.” His “your obedient friend” gives me chills. Brightman’s Christine also shines here. I actually like the quiet almost-shrillness in her “how dare you” because it sounds like she’s been trying to do what she’s supposed to all along but she’s beginning to snap under the stress, and same goes for her “I’ll go mad!” which sounds genuine and spontaneous. Her “twisted every way” section is haunting and haunted and ethereally beautiful and I could listen to it all day. This recording also includes the beginning of “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” so heads up about that.

16. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - Leila Benn Harris as Christine Daae (London 2008)

There’s some video for this one, but the quality isn’t great — sorry about that. Harris’ Christine, however, is extremely great. Her voice contains sweetness and sadness and trauma and anger all at once and her dynamics are just perfection. The way she sings “that voice which calls to me and speaks my name” provokes instant goosebumps every time, and then the softness in her “Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing” is brilliant. The fierce anger in her “sculpted angels, cold and monumental” is what really made me fall in love with Harris’ rendition. And that strength and power in her “why can’t the past just die” and then the softness and clearness in “help me say goodbye” with the last ringing, gorgeous high note. God, she is perfect, isn’t she.

17. Wandering Child/Bravo, Monsieur - Michael Crawford as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae, Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny (Original Broadway)

Hands down, this song, at least the first half, is my favorite in the show, and these three singers’ voices pull it off perfectly. Brightman’s Christine has such a delicate voice that sounds so lovely with the two lower ones, and she puts so much gentleness and sadness into that “angel or father, friend or phantom, who is it there staring?” and she sounds beautiful and tortured on that “Angel of Music, I denied you, turning from true beauty.” Her acting on “oh, Raoul!” and “Raoul, come back!” is...not the best, but her singing makes it well worth it to me. And Crawford’s Phantom sounds, well, like an angel. There’s such a strangeness and sadness and beauty in his voice. The way he sings “have you forgotten your angel?” is lovely and soft, and I just love how he says “far from my far-reaching gaze” (and I also love the lyric itself; I think it’s really creepy when later Phantoms change it to “fathering gaze”). And his “turning from true beauty” and “come to your strange angel” are powerful and perfect in every way. His “I am your Angel of Music, come to me, Angel of Music” is properly hypnotic, and I like the steadiness of it amidst Christine’s and Raoul’s panic. And speaking of Raoul, Barton kills it with all of his harmonies, and there’s genuine worry in his deliciously soft “once again she is his, once again she returns” and in his loud and long and powerful “luring her back from the grave.” Crawford’s and Barton’s “bravo, monsieur” exchange sounds properly scary, and I almost like how over-the-top Crawford is being compared to Barton’s relative calmness — they are just on such different pages, emotionally, and are assessing the situation in completely different ways. This recording also gets into the beginning of “The Point of No Return,” or rather “Don Juan Triumphant,” and it sounds...demonic is the best word I can think of, honestly, but that is definitely a good thing. I’m not too fond of Brightman’s Christine or Crawford’s Phantom in this part, but I do appreciate their excellent voices as always.

18. The Point of No Return - Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine Daae (25th Anniversary)

Unpopular opinion, perhaps bordering on life-threatening: I’m generally not that into Karimloo’s portrayal of the Phantom. His voice is just a bit too smooth for me, too glamorous and sexy, not an eerie Crawford or an angelic Carpenter or a tortured JOJ, and his acting usually reflects that side of him a bit too much for the Phantom I know. But in this song? It works. Holy everloving fuck, it works. I love the way he says “no backward glances” and “what warm unspoken secrets will we learn” Boggess’ Christine is absolutely mesmerizing here too — her high notes on “you have brought me” and her vibrato on “our passion play has now at last begun” and the huskiness of her “past the point of right or wrong” are brilliant in every way. I’m especially glad that I have video for this song, because these two really make it with their body language. The way Boggess’ Christine springs up and bolts away just before her “you have brought me” line and, of course, Karimloo’s Phantom’s shaking hands on “until we’re one” are perfect. And then, after Boggess’ Christine’s realization that it’s the Phantom she’s singing with at “consume us,” their dynamic is perfect, with Karimloo’s growling determination and Boggess’ anger and fear, both expressed perfectly in their “so stand and watch it burn.” I love the way their “return”s are out of sync after Boggess’ Christine reveals the Phantom’s mask, and the way Karimloo spits out his “-turn” like a challenge. And then the tenor sweetness and intensity of his “say you’ll share with me” can just about break me every time, yet it also sounds properly distinct from Raoul’s earlier version, like with the fiercely desperate edge to his “one lifetime,” and his “anywhere you go let me go too” almost has a different melody. And then I think his snarling and “no”ing when Christine unmasks him at the end is...a little much, but still very on-brand. Oh, and there’s like ten seconds of silence at the end of this recording, just to warn you.

19. Down Once More/The Final Lair - John Owen-Jones as the Phantom, Katie Hall as Christine Daae, Simon Bailey as Raoul de Chagny (UK Tour)

I love this production so, so much, and I wish I had video for it, because nothing exemplifies its understanding of the characters like the staging of The Kiss — instead of the standard staging, in which Christine kisses the Phantom, then hugs him, then kisses him again with more enthusiasm, in this production, Hall’s Christine kisses JOJ’s Phantom once, and then he falls to his knees and she hugs him as he sinks into her and then pushes her away. But I’m here for the audio, too. We start of strong with JOJ’s Phantom’s “into darkness deep as hell!” which he holds for an amazingly long time in this voice of beautiful despair, followed by a properly tortured “why, you ask, was I bound and chained” section. His “a mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing” is heartwrenching, and his “monsieur, I bid you welcome” section is chilling. Despite his awesomeness, I might still need to hand the MVP award to Hall’s Christine, who carries an anger and defiance into this scene that I rarely see in other Christines that you can hear in her “am I now to be prey to your lust for flesh” and her “it’s in your soul that the true distortion lies” and of course her iconic “tears of hate.” And Bailey’s Raoul is compelling, and his “free her!” and “I did it all for you and all for nothing” are wonderfully delivered. In the frantic part where all three characters sing at the same time, their voices are balanced perfectly. I absolutely adore JOJ’s Phantom’s “for either way you choose you cannot win” and Bailey’s Raoul’s “why make her lie to you to save me” and Hall’s Christine’s “Angel of Music, you deceived me.” JOJ’s Phantom’s “you try my patience, make your choice!” is scary but not deafening, and then comes the tender perfection of Hall’s Christine’s “pitiful creature of darkness” (although I wish there was a slightly longer pause before it” and her angelic “alone” and God, I love them all. Hall’s little “no please” when she sees the Phantom approaching Raoul is an excellent detail, and JOJ’s “angel in hell” sounds desperate and almost childlike. I wish his “go now and leave me” wasn’t quite so loud — my throat hurts just thinking about it, but then his “Christine, I love you.” Oh my God, that “Christine, I love you.” I think stabbing me in the heart would be less painful. And I love the lightness and gentleness of Hall’s and Bailey’s final “All I Ask of You” reprise. Yeah. I adore this production, and I adore this show.

Thank you for stopping by! I’d be happy to talk about these choices or Phantom in general with anyone, any time :)

#poto #the phantom of the opera #phantom of the opera #phantom #angle o speak

[lgcwoosung-a]

                                CASTING CALL 007 - HAN WOOSUNG                                                                                              DREAM HIGH MUSICAL AUDITION                                                                  AUDITIONING FOR: ENSEMBLE ROLE                      SCENE USED: [EPISODE 14; JB AND HYESUNG] (00:15-01:14) 

For every opportunity Legacy presented him that Woosung wanted to take, nature itself dictated that he’d also be obliged to at least try and participate in an opportunity he’d never touch if it was up to him. And this trimester’s entire trainee mission is one of those opportunities he’d have happily foregone.

And here he was thinking last trimester’s mission had been a curse.

Woosung couldn’t stand Dream High when it had first come out, having being subjected to watching it when he was confined to his hospital bed during its original airdate, thanks to both a pushy roommate and his mother. Time and a change of environment had done nothing to endear the series to Woosung when he’d tried giving it a second chance a few years later. If anything, it had made him cringe even harder, the melodramatics and bad ‘High School Musical’ vibes only making the whole drama a thing of him to snark at and annoy his mother (who was still a devoted fan) with.

So of course he’s been roped into having to audition for a musical version of the damn thing for the sake of his place in Legacy.

Sighing as his name is called out, Woosung makes his way to the audition room, straightening his shirt and brushing his bangs from his face and pastes a smile on his face. Even if he can’t stand the thought of having to participate in this musical, he should at least present an eager face to the judges and coaches, if only for the sake of his position in the company.

“Good Afternoon! I’m Han Woosung and I’ll be auditioning for a role in the Ensemble cast! My scene is from episode 14 of the second season when JB confronts Hyesung after injuring his leg in the car accident. I’m ready to start when you are!”

Taking his place before the female judge who will play the role of Hyesung, Woosung takes a breath to push away his lingering unhappiness at the whole situation before school his expression into a hurt one.

At least his mood would match the first part of this scene. In this scene, JB has been hospitalized after being hit by a car when Hyesung attempted to end their relationship and is upset that she hadn’t visited him or contacted him in any way since the incident. Woosung does his best to channel that upset and resentment into his performance, drawing on his own annoyance.

“You didn’t even contact me, not once.” he intones, his expression aloof but his voice betraying the pain ‘he’ feels. “And now you wanna sing a duet with me? On this stage?” he doesn’t hesitate to scoff slightly at the end of his line.

To be honest, he can see why JB would have been upset. Not that Woosung is overflowing with sympathy for him, either.

The judge simply nods and replies in a monotonous ‘yeah,’ and Woosung shifts a little. Even though he knew that they weren’t going to be acting alongside him, he can’t help but think the non-performance kills the mood a lot. Still, he plows on, looking incredulous and taking the music sheet from the judge, eyes roaming over it.

After a moment’s pause (in which Woosung wishes he had someone who’d play along, even a little), he raises his eyebrows and nods slightly.

“I won’t do it for free.” He smirks a little. “I am an artist.”

“You have to buy me lots of delicious foods. And apologize to my dad. You have to follow my words.”

Woosung personally thinks this dude could do with having another accident and it’s hard not to let his disgust show. It’s at this point that Hyesung starts to get emotional and cry, so it’s jarring to simply see his partner nodding along, a neutral look on her face.

“...Got it. I’ll do as you asked, so don’t cry anymore. Stop it.”

With a final nod from the judge the scene is over and Woosung can’t be more relieved. His smile is more relieved than it has any right to be as he bows to the panel and thanks them for their time before he’s dismissed. And once the door closes behind him, he lets out a groan of frustration.

He can’t say he was proud of how it went, but at least it was over.

WORD COUNT: 730 (Including script)

#Self Reflection {{ Solo }} #lgc:castingcall007 #wc: 730 #{{ Can you tell how much //I// don't like Dream High either dsjfkhsdljfk }} #{{ This is so bad pls don't look }}

[kob131]

RWBY V8 E4 Thoughts

This one’s gonna be a lot longer.

I REALLY don’t like this episode.

Everything is moving too fucking fast. And I DON’T mean plotwise. First the in medias rez story with Robyn, then the lack of reactions from Qrow and Jacques, to Qrow’s...whatever that was and beyond: there’s so many moments in this episode that lack those split second pauses or little bits of extension that let the audience absorb the info on screen and/or get invested. Without them, it feels like the rhythm of the show is always ticking out of sync and it always annoys me when that happens. Just add some split second pauses and it would smooth things out.

Next there’s Qrow’s...talking. Everything about that was wrong. First, Qrow isn’t the type to use a phrase like ‘made a deal with the darkness.’ He’s not a dramatic kind of guy, he’s the guy with the dry wit and down to earth biting sarcasm. Even when he does get dramatic (like with the reveal with Ozpin) he still doesn’t talk that way, instead talking more somberly but still realistic and direct. Not to mention the line delivery with certain pauses (like the pause between ‘somebody’ and ‘anybody’) combined with his model’s animation gives him a more Shatner vibe, that of a melodramatic drama graduate. Just...edit down the drama aspect: Qrow sounds like a strawman of his character. 

Then there’s a few...weird disconnects between lines. Like take Harriet’s line to Qrow ‘You don’t get to keep that’ (another off line) then Qrow’s ‘I didn’t kill him.’ There’s...not really much of a connecting through line between them. I guess her glare could count but Harriet could be glaring at the opposing side for any number of reasons: she already has. If they had added ‘murderer’ to the end of Harriet’s line then it would have connected the two. But worse is Yang’s ‘Yeah...Ruby’ line near the end. I think it’s suppose to be about Blake...but Blake didn’t have the build up into the scenes with Yang. Ruby did. Blake hasn’t really conflicted with Yang, Ruby did. There’s no real reason why anyone but Ruby would be implied here. They needed to build into the implication of someone other than Ruby, like if it’s Blake then have her wonder about Yang on her own outside of Ruby.

Then we have Weiss acting...negatively AGAIN, this time towards Whitely. I know he’s being stubborn here but Weiss has developed past this attitude. She should be calmer and more mature at this point. Especially with the last Volume talking about Whitely’s point of view.

There’s some good here too. I did like the fight scene (still don’t like the idea of having a fight scene every episode, it’s just been justified so far), Ren references Jaune’s own mistakes in the past like anyone in that moment would (Ren in general is good even if I think Neath needed some practice for this), Salem is being freakily casual with Oscar (which is REALLY unnerving with her) but these little things just keep ticking everywhere or causing problems for extended periods of time.

[incorrect-pokespe-quotes]

I read every single Emerald fic on FFN so you don’t have to

There are 66 fics with Emerald listed in the tags. 

First, I took out any fic that was either not in English or actually gameverse, leaving me with 38 fics-- though I will say, the Spanish fics look like they slap

After filtering out “everyone appears” fics (I skimmed them to make sure) I was left with 26 fics. (While I would like to include “everyone appers” fics, I do not have the time nor motivation to read 30,000 words of derring-do and melodramatic heroics seventeen times in a row for Emerald to show up, deliver 2 lines, shoot something, and leave)

From there, I sorted them into various categories based on whether Emerald was a BG character or not, whether the fic had romance, whether Emerald was actually PART of that romance, etc. Then, finally, I was ready. 

Below the cut are the reviews of all twenty six fanfictions!

Category 1: BG Emerald      Every fic needs side characters, whether to provide extra voices or comedic relief or just a foil for the MCs. These fics don’t feature Emerald in a huge capacity, but he’s there and that’s what matters to me. I came into this site expecting anything: third wheel Rald, wingman Rald, Im-only-here-to-complain-about-your-flirting-Rald... I found everything but! It seems the most cliche writers among us don’t like using the Emerald tag, bc the few Frantic-with-BG-Emerald fics with I did find turned out to be spectacular! I’m pleasantly surprised and impressed. 

1. That Special Someone - Team Cap      Cap is on this list like 30 times so get used to it. This fic is mostly about Ruby refusing to shut up about Sapphire and how much he loves her (and how Emerald finds it infuriating). The details of this fic are super cute and the way Ruby and Emerald interact added 3 years to my lifespan, so I highly recommend this one if you want a nice, relaxing read involving the Hoenn boys (dare I say best boys?). In short, read this fic and all of Cap’s other fics while you’re at it.

2. A Picnic - Team Cap      Oh look. It’s Cap again. This fic, surprise surprise, is also good, and while it’s a little more basic than the others (Emerald runs into Ruby/Sapphire at a park and they mess around), it’s still cute and I still love it! Not really much else to say here... but the fic is good and I recommend if you’re in for some light domestic reads. 

3. High Hopes and Checkered Skies - aromatisse      I’ll be honest: my general opinion of frantic fics with BG Emerald is... low. A lot of them shoehorn my poor boy into whatever the plot requires at the cost of his characterization but this fic really surprised me in the best way! This one features Sapphire bringing Ruby to a “special place” the two of them arguing, and Emerald having to patch things up (mature Emerald? I don’t believe it!!). I found this fic while making this list and immediately bookmarked it bc THIS SHIT GOOD FAM. Please read this. 

4. Alpha and Omega- Ruby and Sapphire's Thoughts - Shadoweevee70     Not much to say about this to be honest. It’s exactly what it says on the tin. No plot, no development, not even 500 words. Emerald has a line. I think two. 

5. Boundaries - Team Cap     This fic hurt my heart. Though it focuses on Wally’s one-sided crush on Sapphire, there’s a touch of Emerald in there acting as Wally’s emotional support buddy, which tells me that either Emerald has matured or Hoenn is just devoid of emotionally stable individuals. Regardless, this fic is heartbreaking and beautiful but contains very little Emerald, so therefore I have very little to review. In short... not a lot of Rald, but you should read it anyway. 

6. Summer Days - eonentity      Crystal and Silver go on a “date” and Gold + Emerald try and stop them. It’s cute, it’s honestly kind of creepy if you think about it, and it involves Emerald. While the premise is kind of sketch, the banter between Gold and Emerald is incredible and I really like the general progression of the plot (especially the ending!) This is a very cute fic if you’re looking for something simple to read. Highly recommend, utilizes Emerald as a character really well!

Category 3: MC Emerald (gen)       This... this is my bread and butter baby. These fics run the gamut from friendship to domestic to drabbles to angst and everything in between, but the gist of it is that it includes Emerald as a focus without pairing him off. Not to say this is my favorite category... but it is. I’m biased, sue me. 

1. Family Inclusion - Team Cap      They say to leave the best for last, but I disagree. You’ll realize pretty quickly that Cap is one of my favorite authors to appear in this tag, and this fic is one of her best! I’m focusing on Chapter 3 (that’s the part with Emerald) where he has to entertain a shiny baby Ralts while Ruby and Sapphire are away (everybody say awwww). The fic is stupid cute, and while it doesn’t really offer much in terms of character development or stakes, it’s the type of domestic fluff you can read over and over and still find just precious each and every time. Also... Emerald takes care of a baby pokemon how can you NOT love that. Seriously. Look at this. 

2. At the Amusement Park - Team Cap       Oh wow, another Cap fic I really like. What a surprise. I’m astounded /s. This fic focuses on Emerald’s dilemma of being short at a place where height restrictions mercilessly mock the vertically challenged and how he deals with it with the “help” of Ruby and Sapphire. Though there is background Frantic (which shouldn’t really come as a surprise), this fic mostly focuses on Emerald’s insecurities and his relationship with the trio. It’s introspective, it’s wholesome, I’ve read it six or seven times (I lost count). Regardless, it’s good, and like every other Cap fic on this list, I demand you read it. That is a threat. 

3. Frantic Fight - Puph17      Any fic that drops a line like “margarine is in vogue” within the first three lines is immediately propelled to my top ten fics of all time list and this is clearly no exception. Despite the name, this isn’t franticshipping, just Ruby and Sapphire bickering and Emerald / Wally being annoyed about it. This fic, hands down, is one of the funniest pieces of fanfiction I’ve ever read on this godforsaken site. I am begging you to read this fic, if not for Emerald with a megaphone for the sheet amount of laughter it will cause. This fic may not be deep but it sure as hell is hysterical. ... Well, what are you waiting for? Why are you still here? Go read the fic, we’re wasting daylight. 

4. Weird War - storm-aurora      This is another fic I think I’ve probably read a dozen times and refuse to get tired of. Emerald and Sapphire are having a paintball fight in Slateport market, and I literally could not ask for a better friendship fic. The writing is high quality, the characters are very accurate (altho bc this is fanfic it doesn’t matter all that much), the friendships feel real, they’re having a paintball war.... everything about this is ideal. This is the quality content I live for. Please PLEASE read this fic, you’ll be happy you did. Close this tab and go read it immediately for your sake and mine. 

5. Skydrop - ayasato      Not a lot of people write about Emerald. The ones that do, for whatever reason, seem to do it very, VERY well. This fic, which is so long it might as well be considered an epic, is probably the piece de resistance of Emerald friendship fics. While not as snappy or funny or domestic as some of the other fics in this list, it more than makes up for it with a beautifully built slowburn friendship between Emerald and Sapphire, my favorite take on his living situation I’ve ever seen, and enough introspection to make your high school English teacher swoon. This fic is a must for any Emerald fan, even if it takes like an hour to read in full. It may be long but it’s magnificent.

6. Croissant Kings - ayasato      The fact that this fic is discontinued is irrefutable proof that this is the timeline god abandoned. Emerald and Pearl running a croissant stand is quite possibly the single most absurd fic concept I’ve ever heard but... it works. Somehow? It works. This fic is perhaps, hands down, one of the most ridiculously entertaining concepts and executions I have ever seen in my life. Everything about it, from the setup to the writing to just Emerald being Emerald is so raw and so ridiculous that I smile fondly when I think of it. I wish there were more than 3 chapters, however...

7. Perfect - Micah Debrink      I’m gonna be straight with y’all: I don’t like this fic. I’m not too sure what the plot is, and it was certainly an interesting read, but not my cup of tea. It’s good, don’t get me wrong; the writing is mature, very well paced, and overall well-written, but something about the characterizations is just not vibing with me. Thus, I’m not gonna pretend I thought this fic was perfect (har har) but I will say it’s something you should give a try. I’m admittedly a very biased party, so maybe you’ll enjoy this fic more than I did. For sure give it a shot, because maybe you’ll like it more than I did. This ain’t my jam, but it’s quality preserves nonetheless.

8. Roost - ayasato      This is short and sweet and may have some Sapphire/Emerald crushing if you squint, but overall a fun read. Very short, very good, give it a shot. This author is very high quality and that’s that on that. 

9. One Day - Jian-Kenkoku      This is short yet again but has a super interesting (if poorly explained) premise: Emerald gets adopted by Gold / his mom! This short oneshot details his first day, and while it is a tad rushed, it gives me the Emerald family content I have been sorely lacking. Not sure if this is one of my “reread until my eyes bleed” fics, but it’s certainly worth the trouble of reading through! It’s very cute and I recommend!

10. Emerald: Lying to Himself - reminiscent-afterthought        Very poetic and extremely well-written, but less than 200 words. This fic took me thirty seconds to read and it feels like time well spent. Please read it, even if for the sole reason that it’s super short. It’s also a super poetic way to talk about the Emerald arc. 

11. Go Away Gold! - jayfeatherelle      Ah yes, the “little brother enlists the help of a prankster to keep apart his sister and her boyfriend” trope... This may be cliche, but it sure as hell was enjoyable! Emerald enlists the help of Meddler Blue (side note: where did this trope come from bc she never does anything in canon that would be qualified as meddling other than just messing with Red at any given opportunity). Anyway, this fic is adorable, has a lesson at the end (that surprised me), had a really mature conclusion, and gave me Blue / Emerald friendship I really didn’t know I needed. In short? This is a cliche done well. It’s predictable, sure, but that’s not a bad thing! If anything, it’s a great nostalgic read. 

12. What if: Emerald never met Crystal - LetEveryoneOveraRip        This fic stole the last little bit of hope I didn’t even know I still had. You thought it couldn’t get more violent or sad? You were wrong. Everyone dies. This fic made me sad for like 45 minutes and I feel emotionally manipulated. I guess I should have seen this coming. Not much else to say except that this fic made me really sad, which, of course it did, but I still feel cheated out of a happy ending regardless. 

13. Emerald Owner’s Guidance and Maintenance Manual - Pokerescue18    Nothing happens in this fic. It’s literally an instruction manual and it’s well written and all but also has no plot. It is quite literally what it says in the title, so perhaps this should have been obvious but even still, I was left confused after reading this. I think I need a nap. 

14. Through My Eyes - Kaith1    Relationship angst that hurt my heart. This is less than 400 words so again, took me only around a minute to leave but the emotional impact scarred me for life. Very well done! This fic details Emerald’s inner turmoil as Gold and Crystal get together and Emerald worries he’ll be abandoned again. While I do feel like Emerald hating the two of them for getting together is a little ehhh, this fic does a great job of showing why Emerald would be so upset about it and his inner motivations for being so hurt by it. While I don’t agree, the author made me “get it” a little more, and for that I say bravo! 

15. At the Fair - IanDonyer      This one is short and focuses on Emerald meeting a security guard at a Halloween fair kinda deal. It’s also one of the first Emerald fics on FFN, released far before the remakes even came out! While obviously it doesn’t contain much in terms of character development, it also was written with only the Emerald arc to go off of-- so I can easily overlook any character inconsistencies. That being said, this fic is really cute and uses the OC pov really well! If you’re looking for a blast from the past, check this fic out! 

Category 4: Emerald shipping fics      On the rare occasion where the blue moon hangs melancholy in the sky, the planets align, and starlight rains down from the heavens... someone ships Emerald with another character. Romantically. Not sure where the aversion to shipping him came from, but for whatever reason everyone prefers him single. These authors, these brave knights, they’re changing that. Hell yeah for romance. 

1. Left Out - RedCharmeleon       Not to be like “this fic is painfully straight...” but yknow. Emerald is upset at Gold/Crystal’s wedding because he’s the only single one and needs a girlfriend. There’s also a “what are you, gay?” joke in here, which soured my mood for the rest of the fic. I’ll be honest, I never really liked the “all male protag / female protag ships and then taking Silver, Pearl, and Emerald and pairing them off with OCs” deal, so I’m heavily biased against this fic, but the writing is decent and the plot is fine. If you enjoy this style of plot (everyone needs to be paired up, blushing galore, love at first sight, everyone acts like they stumbled out of a hallmark movie script) then this is the fic for you!

2. Glances - Diemerald      A collection of drabbles about Emerald and Wally becoming friends and falling in love. I’ve read it seven times now. While the plot is a tad disjointed because of the format, this author really NAILS Emerald’s character. Emerald (and Wally) show a lot of growth between the snippets and god it’s so beautiful I need more of it. Please read this fic. Tell your neighbors about this fic. This fic is fantastic. 

2. Revolvershipping Cuddles - Charmerruby     You’re never gonna guess what this one is about. It’s very cute but it’s literally just fluff. Very cute, like marshmallows. This is kinda short so there isn’t really much to say, but I will am starving for Emeruby content, so though this be but little, it be fierce. And fluffy. Did I mention cute? This fic is so filled with love my heart grew three sizes after reading it. I could keep calling it adorable, but I don’t think that’s productive. Spend the time reading this fic instead. 

3. Misunderstandings - Pokeluv101      Reading this was very weird because I know the person who made the OC the story is centered around. Reading even the names thrust me so violently back into my middle school days I can almost taste the edge. It’s very good, and I suggest giving it a read even if you’re not a huge dexholder/OC fan. Also tsun Emerald is good Emerald. 

4. Unexpected - Diemerald     A fic about Emerald and Yellow falling in love. Not exactly my cup of tea so I skimmed it but this author is really good so it’s a great fic, even if it’s not to my tastes. I suggest giving it at least a once over because this author worked hard and I respect them, even if this isn’t really... my thing. Check it out!

5. Big Changes - Aquatales     You know how I said I would read every Emerald fic? I lied. This one is about Emerald getting genderbent and immediately shipped with Wally against his will by his friends. Reading the summary gave me hives and I could not bring myself to read it in full.

Final Thoughts      While I’ll be honest and say that I did find some of the the cliche fics I was expecting, I was incredibly and happily surprised to discover that more often than not, the people who bother to publish Emerald fics really care about his character and publish some pretty high quality stuff, and that’s pretty damn cool. There are shipping fics, BG Emerald fics, MC Emerald fics, and most of them are pretty fantastic! Way to go spe fandom writers, you did my boy justice, all..... 10 of you.

#trainer emerald #pokespe #not a quote #I read every fic so you don't have to #admin vex

[pitviperofdoom]

Fundraiser Commission #4

Thank you for donating $20!

Prompt: I would like to commission pitviperofdoom to write about more ghost dorm antics taking place in yuts after all might and eraserhead have found out about Izuku's quirk.

----

One crisp day in late winter, Izuku was dragged bodily out of the common room and up to Ashido’s dorm. He probably ought to have complained, but they took the time to bundle him up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, and that was awfully considerate of them, so Izuku decided to wait a while and hear them out.

Sero and Kaminari were doing most of the dragging, which was a little unnecessary by the time they reached the third landing. Eventually he was forcibly sat down on a pile of fluffy pillows on Ashido’s bedroom floor, somewhat peeved but mostly curious. Rei had long since abandoned him.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Glad you asked!” Ashido replied with a manic smile. “See, me and Sero and Kaminari—”

“And me!” a voice called from the bed. Izuku squinted, and realized that Hagakure was sprawled over the pile of clean laundry on Ashido’s bed, blending in perfectly.

“And Hagakure,” Ashido added. “Anyway, we started something that I think a lot of people are gonna like—”

“I mean, I think it’s safe to say people already pretty much like it,” Sero broke in. “We just posted it this morning and we’re up to, like, 2k views.”

“Yeah, and that’s pretty good for a new channel that doesn’t churn out crappy bland videos that still get a lot of views by taking advantage of the algorithms and stuff,” Kaminari added.

“Guys, stop interrupting, I’m trying to pitch our thing!” Ashido put her laptop up on the bed where everyone could see the screen. She has a Youtube video pulled up, paused at the very beginning. “Anyway, I want to show you this thing we started, okay? We want you in on it.”

“You… want me in?” Izuku squinted at her.

“Yeah!”

“That’s not really how it works, is it?” Izuku asked. “I mean, it should be me saying ‘I want in’.”

“Well we’re doing it this way,” Ashido said crossly, and hit play.

On screen, the camera fumbled a bit before steadying, focusing, and eventually showing one of the couches in the common room. Ashido, and Kaminari were sitting side by side

“Hi!” Ashido-on-the-screen greeted with a wave. I’m Mina…”

“And I’m Denki!” Kaminari added.

“And welcome to the first episode of UA Ghostfinders!”

“I still don’t like the name,” Sero said from behind the camera.

Either Ashido pretended not to hear, or she actually didn’t hear, and whoever edited the video had decided to leave it in anyway. “So, pretty recently UA made the change-over to becoming a boarding school,” she went on. “We all packed up and moved into these dorms, which we were pretty stoked about because hey! It’s like a giant slumber party every night, right?”

“Wrong!” Kaminari chimed in.

“Yep! It has come to our attention that the Heights Alliance dorms are not the teenage paradise we thought they’d be!” Ashido gestured wildly. It was hard to tell what kind of effect she was going for.

“The dorms are haunted!” Kaminari cut in before Ashido could finish whatever she was doing.

“Right! And we’re going to set out to prove it!”

Izuku got up from the pile of pillows and turned to leave. “I have homework,” he said.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ashido grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. “This is our first episode and you’re going to like it!”

Izuku sat. He probably could have fought them all off and escaped, if he wanted to. But that would give Ashido a reason to hound him. Maybe, he thought wistfully, if he sat through the whole thing, Ashido would let him go.

He proceeded to sit through fifteen minutes of his three classmates parading around the dorms, catching as many others on camera as they could before finally settling down in the laundry room to observe the mysterious swinging cabinet door.

Throughout it all, Izuku very carefully kept his eyes on Ashido in the video, and hoped none of them would notice him looking at the wrong part of the frame.

The thing about ghosts was that they showed up pretty much everywhere. Izuku had been seeing them on television screens for as long as he’d been seeing them in real life. Luckily, it was rarely a problem with movies. Most movies, especially the big-budget action and horror flicks he liked, had so much post-production work done on them that the ghosts ended up wiped and edited out completely by accident.

The video before him was a lot of things; big-budget was not one of them. That left Rei, Narita, Tensei, and Hino to pull faces, flash rude gestures, call out commentary, and otherwise mug for the camera while Ashido and Kaminari continued with their show unaware.

When the video finally ended, Izuku was left staring at the blank screen, wondering how to move forward with this.

“So what do you think?” Kaminari asked. “Anything? You like analytical stuff, right? Got any analysizing for us?”

“Did you like the video?” Hagakure asked. “I edited it! It was good, right?”

“It looked fine, I guess,” Izuku said. “I don’t know much about making Youtube videos.”

“Do you want to help anyway?” Ashido asked excitedly. “C’mon, it’ll be fun! And since it’s a ghosty horror show, your whole spooky horror vibe is basically perfect!”

“No thanks,” Izuku said.

“Aww, why not?”

“Because…” Izuku wracked his brain for a response. “The dorms… aren’t… haunted?”

Ashido flopped back against her bed with a melodramatic groan. “You’re worse than Bakugou! C’mon, Midoriya, you’ve seen the evidence!”

“We just showed you a video with it,” Sero pointed out. “I mean, that was half the point of this, you know?”

“Plus, you have a cat!” Kaminari said, as if this was all the proof he needed. “Cats are like paranormal activity detectors, man! You have to have noticed something weird.”

Izuku shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. Cats are weird. That’s just how cats are.”

“Please, Midoriya?” Ashido pressed her hands together in a prayer pose. “Come on. For your friends?”

“You know what else is weird?” Izuku said. “Everything I know about improv says that Yes And is how you continue a scenario, and No is the best way to cut it short. And yet this conversation just keeps going.”

Eventually, he was kicked out of Ashido’s room entirely. He counted it as a victory for himself.

---

It was almost four in the afternoon on a Sunday when a flick to the head pulled Izuku out of his study-induced haze. With Present Mic’s upcoming chapter test on his mind, he had lost track of time reviewing until he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since the single fruit snack that Tsuyu had given him around noon.

Gently bullied along by Rei, he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen to hunt for something to eat. It was far too late for lunch but still too early for dinner; were there any ramen cups left? He could go for a ramen cup. They even had vegetables in them.

Luck was with him. While Izuku hunted through the pantry shelves, Rei floated up and grabbed the last one from the very back of the cabinet. With a noise of triumph she handed it to him, and he went to heat up some water in the microwave. A few minutes later, the styrofoam cup was heavy and steaming, and the smell of heavily-processed instant ramen made his stomach gurgle emptily. He hunched over the sink as he ate, balancing the cup in one hand as he shoveled noodles into his mouth with the other.

This was eating. This was healthy. If it wasn’t, he could make up for it by eating Lunch Rush meals for the rest of the week—

“Heads up,” Hino said behind him. Izuku almost spat noodles down the drain.

The kitchen door was flung open with a bang. The cup slipped out of Izuku’s hands, spilling noodles and broth down the drain.

“And in here!” Ashido announced with gusto. Kaminari and Sero spilled into the kitchen behind her, with Sero recording a video. “We find ourselves in the kitchen, where so many spooooky things have happened, in the very same room where we students eat and drink and be merry, every day. It looks bright and cheery, but don’t be fooled!”

Kaminari flung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into the frame. “Hey, Midoriya! Would you like to talk about any supernatural encounters you’ve had?”

He had a little mini-microphone clipped to the collar of his shirt. Izuku reached out, pulled it off, and put it to his lips while staring directly into the camera.

“Buy me a new ramen cup or I’m telling Aizawa-sensei what really happened to the coffee machine.”

Ashido shrieked. “SERO STOP FILMING!”

---

Izuku stretched himself out on the couch, reveling in the relief to his aching muscles. After a hard day of training, a nap was just what he needed. The common room was quiet; most of their classmates were in their rooms or snacking in the kitchen. Uraraka was sitting by his feet and browsing on her phone. On the other couch, Yaoyorozu was curled up with a light novel, unaware of Rei reading over her shoulder. Kouda sat next to her with Mika in his lap, catching up on some of the assigned readings from Midnight.

The room was tranquil and comfortable. It was no hardship to drift off to sleep.

“Midoriya I’m really sorry.”

Tensei’s voice, apologetic but no less loud, jarred him awake so abruptly that he fell off the couch with a thud. Iida’s brother was already crouching over him, hands hovering as if he were looking for the best way to help him up.

“I tried to divert them somewhere else,” Tensei said. “But they chose that moment not to notice a pillow falling on the floor by itself, so they’re on their way down and I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

Before Izuku could ask him what he meant, Ashido, Kaminari, Hagakure, and Sero came rushing into the quiet common room, camera in tow.

“Hey guys!” Hagakure chirped. “Any ghosts in here?”

“No,” Yaoyorozu said without looking up. Rei leaned on her shoulder for a better look at an illustration.

“Seriously, nothing?” Kaminari asked, crestfallen. “Stuff always happens when it’s super quiet.”

“Midoriya!” Ashido said excitedly. “What’re you doing on the floor? Did a ghost push you?”

“I’m really sorry,” Tensei repeated.

Without getting up, Izuku gave her the best glare he could manage. “Coffee machine,” he said venomously.

“You can’t keep holding that over my head!”

“Try me.”

---

Izuku jogged a few extra steps before he finally slowed to a brisk walk, breathing lightly in the early morning air. The burn in his legs and lungs dulled to a comfortable ache, and he kept walking to keep the cramps at bay.

The morning was crisp and clear. The sun was rising through the trees surrounding the campus, sending shafts of cool light across the school grounds. It was early—not too early for Iida, but Izuku doubted most of his classmates were up yet. Dorm living made it so much easier to sleep in, with school literally right outside their doorstep. But Izuku had grown to like the quiet solitude of his early morning runs. No one living was around. The few dead that were paid him little mind. Even Rei knew to let him be when he went jogging at sunrise.

Izuku slowed to a halt, then started his post-jog cooldown stretches. The ache was downright pleasant thanks to the endorphins rushing through his body, and he smiled in spite of the sweat rolling down his neck and sticking his shirt to his back. The best part of a jog, besides the endorphin rush, was the shower afterward.

His hand was inches away from the door handle when it swung open and his four classmates came stampeding out.

“What.”

The sun was barely up. They didn’t have class for another hour! How was this possible?

“Morning, Midoriya,” Sero greeted.

“Glad we caught you,” Kaminari added. “We’re thinking of doing a—”

“Haunted forest episode!” Ashido burst out. “Want to help us scope out the school grounds? I bet there are great places for some atmospheric shots!”

Izuku pushed past the three of them, taking full advantage of his gross, damp body to get past them unhindered. “I need a shower,” he said. “Let me through or you’re each getting a hug.”

Hagakure fled back inside. The rest of them quickly parted to let him pass.

---

“...and he’s trying really hard, and I hate when things don’t quite work out,” Shouto said. “He’s my brother, but I don’t even know how to talk to him.”

“That makes sense,” Izuku remarked. “I mean, how many times have you even been in the same room since you were five?”

“That’s exactly the problem” Shouto huffed out a sigh, lightly thumping the back of his head into Izuku’s thigh. “It’d work better if we could find something we have in common, but… training has been my whole life for years because I wasn’t allowed to have anything else. Natsuo got to grow up like a real person.”

Izuku picked idly at a bit of lint caught on his bedspread. “What happened to your shared hatred for your dad?” he asked. “That should be enough to unite anybody.”

A sour look crossed Shouto’s face. “I’ve tried that, but he gets angry whenever anyone brings up Endeavor.”

“...Ah.”

“It makes Fuyumi upset, too. And I think a relationship based on shared hatred isn’t… good.”

“That’s true,” Izuku conceded. “For what it’s worth, I thought we had nothing in common at the start, too. And look at us now.”

“You’re easier to talk to,” Shouto said plainly. “You have a lot of practice talking down angry ghosts.”

Izuku grinned. “Maybe. They’re not always angry, though. One time I met one that was hungry. Now that was a challenge.”

He looked up when Rei passed through the door, and his cheerful greeting petered out when he saw her frowning. Before he could ask what was wrong, Hino appeared just behind her.

“Incoming,” he said dryly, and this time Izuku knew exactly what he meant, and what was coming, before it arrived.

To Kaminari’s credit, he did knock before opening the door anyway. “Hey Midoriya, we—oh hey Todoroki, didn’t know you guys were jamming.”

“Jamming?” Sero poked his head in after him. “Like with instruments?”

“No, dude, with feelings.”

Ashido nudged them both out of the way. “Hey, Midoriya, sorry to bug you again but do you know where Mika is? We really want to use her for an… episode… and…” Her voice trailed off as he scooted his lap out from under Shouto’s head and crossed the room to them.

“For the last time I’m not interested in being on your Youtube show,” he said.

“I’m not even asking you to—oh come on!” Ashido pouted. “It’ll be fun, I promise. Why are you so against it?”

“Well, first off, ‘No’ is a complete sentence, so write that down,” Izuku answered. “And second, TV psychics run multi-million dollar scams that prey on vulnerable people, manipulating them into pouring their money into false hope and blatant lies. Not that I think that’s what you’re trying to pull, obviously you’re not, but I’m having a hard time separating the two in my head and I’d rather just avoid the discomfort completely.”

The other three exchanged faintly uncomfortable glances. “Oh,” Sero answered eloquently.

Now even Ashido looked faintly uncomfortable. “I mean, we aren’t—”

“I know, but mental association’s a bitch. Have fun, guys, bye.” He shut the door on them.

“Has that been happening a lot?” Shouto asked.

“Yes,” Izuku said, nearly in unison with Hino. Rei blew a loud raspberry. “They’ve been getting persistent lately.”

“Are you going to stop them?” Shouto asked.

“I don’t know how I could,” Izuku said with a helpless shrug.

“You don’t need to,” Hino told him. “They’re a bunch of bored, unsupervised teenagers with way too much energy. Make them less bored.”

Izuku stopped short, eyes wide with epiphany.

---

“The dorms have certainly been lively lately, young Midoriya,” All-Might remarked. “Any new, ah, guests lately?”

“No,” Izuku replied. “They’re all the same. They’ve just been louder.”

“Ah. Any particular reason for it? They’re not, er, restless, are they?”

“Not really. But Ashido, Kaminari, Hagakure, and Sero are doing a Youtube show about the dorms being haunted, so the ghosts are keeping them busy so they’ll stop trying to pressgang me.”

All-Might blinked several times. “Ah. I… see.”

“No you don’t,” Izuku sighed. “But it’s fine, because I don’t either.”

The door to the teacher’s lounge opened. “Midoriya, Power Loader just told me that Ashido commissioned an EMP detector from Hatsume,” Aizawa informed him. “Care to explain?”

Izuku put his face in his hands and sighed again.

#my hero academia #deku sees dead people #commission #fanfiction #tales from the pit