#him in the beginning not being overly convinced of needing to take a pic and as son as he notices it’s a video new energy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-mad-starker · 2 years

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Starker Smut: A Little Stress Relief

Having a rough morning so here I am, posting this fic I wrote for @itfeelssogoodmrstark ages ago for a boost in happy feels. Based off a discord convo over me yelling about bottom Tony due to the above pic 😱 also felt like a good time for some bottom tony posting 🎉

Notes: daddy kink, lingerie, plugs, oral sex, bottom Tony

WC: 4541

(Ao3 link)

💗💗💗

Peter made his way back to his apartment with his laptop tucked under his arm. His last final was tomorrow afternoon and after spending most of the morning swimming in equations and theories, he was ready to call it quits for the day.

He was as prepared as he was going to be.

An incoming text diverted his attention and even though he felt exhausted, Peter paused just outside his door. By the tone alone, he knew who it was and the thought of talking to Tony energized him. He opened up the message right then and there, too impatient to take the time to go inside.

Still studying?

One handed, Peter replied.

Just finished. Can't wait to fly home.

Home… They had spent days looking for this perfectly good apartment when Peter finally settled on the tough decision to go to college out of state. It was in the best location, only a few minutes away from the campus and within easy reach of fast food places that were perfect for college students.

It still wasn't home, not when home was a pair of warm brown eyes with just the slightest creases in the corners. A touch of silver in otherwise dark hair. Comforting arms that were always ready to hold him. And a body that was just as receptive despite their age difference, Peter being an overly hormonal young adult and Tony, a more experienced but settled lover.

Home was a person and for Peter, that person was Tony. But he still had an exam to do and a bed waiting for him to pass out in before he could fly back.

He fumbled with his keys. Two days until he flew back to New York. Two days until he can see Tony again. It couldn't come sooner.

You're gonna ace it, kid.

Peter smiled, warmed by Tony's encouragement.

I don't even know why I'm so stressed. I know this stuff.

Key in the lock, a soft click, and Peter walked in. Maybe he'll have some ramen.

Maybe you just need a little stress relief, babe. Something to help you sleep tonight.

Peter flushed at the words.

He had picked up Tony's bad habit of pulling all nighters, whether it was school or Spiderman business. Funny enough, even though Tony refused to see the irony in it, the older man often made sure Peter went to bed at a reasonable time.

Oftentimes, he bribed Peter with the promise of cuddles which usually had the younger boy easily complying. But when Peter was particularly stubborn, a little bare skin was enough to have him following the older man into the bedroom like an eager puppy.

Peter sighed, pouting a bit. He was stressed. He knew that but now that he was paying attention, his body was sore from sitting at the library, hunched over his textbooks and notes.

Subconsciously, he bit his lip as he considered convincing Tony to get on webcam for him. Even miles apart, they could still have a little fun together. That would surely help relieve some of the stress.

Just the very thought had his body heating up, yearning for his older lover.

Stress relief, huh? Maybe you can help with that.

He walked into the small living room, so focused on how to word his request that he didn't notice the lights were already on.

"I'd be glad to help," came Tony's voice, right there in front of him.

That, Peter did notice. His head snapped up away from the screen, eyes wide and mouth dropping open just the slightest.

"Tony?"

It wasn't his imagination nor was the stress taking a toll on him. Tony, who should've been back in New York, was there in his apartment, lounging carefree on the plush little armchair tucked away in the corner of the room.

He looked good. Well, he always looked good but to Peter who hadn't seen him in person since the beginning of term, the sight of his lover took his breath away.

Tony's lips ticked up into a smirk, so achingly familiar that Peter's heart stopped then rebooted in overtime. Confidence was always an attractive trait to Peter and with Tony looking like he did now, he was the very embodiment of it.

His legs were casually spread apart, one leg thrown over the armchair in such a cocky manner. It paired well with Tony's smug little smile. He knew exactly what dirty thoughts entered Peter's mind at the very sight of him.

"Hey, kid," he greeted warmly.

"You're… You're here!" Peter exclaimed, a smile lighting up his entire face.

Those warm brown eyes scanned him from head to toe, no doubt taking in his disheveled state, his ruffled hair, and his shining eyes. For a brief moment, Peter felt all too self-conscious of his bedraggled state but he recognized the look in Tony's eyes. It was one that he was very familiar with.

It wasn't just Peter that had been affected by their separation.

"Wanted to surprise you," Tony said and a hint of mischievousness edged the corner of his smile, turning it even more captivating than usual. "So, still need some help with getting rid of all that stress?"

He watched as Tony casually plucked at his top button, teasing Peter with just that one tiny movement before putting him out of his misery. A little bit of flesh peeked through and just like that, Peter was gone.

"God, yes," he breathed out, rushing forward to where Tony remained waiting for him.

Eager hands reached for the rest of the buttons and in his haste, he may have popped off a button or two. Tony laughed when they clattered to the floor, uncaring and maybe even a little amused at how Peter's control seemed to fray around him.

"It's been months, okay," Peter muttered, cheeks warming.

"I know, baby," Tony murmured reassuringly, that knowing smile still on his lips.

A warm hand gently clasped the back of Peter's neck and Peter's eyes skipped back up from where his fingers were working. Their eyes met and Peter was naturally drawn in. With the slightest bit of pressure, Peter leaned down to hungrily kiss his lover.

Their lips met in a soft kiss but it didn't remain that way. A moment of tenderness, a reaffirmation of their feelings, before the hunger in them both became too pressing of a need to ignore.

A low groan escaped him, muffled by Tony's mouth and he pressed even closer. God, he'd miss this. Missed Tony.

When Tony made to pull away, Peter wasn't done with him yet. He chased after him, one knee settling on the cushion between the older man's legs.

His fingers sprawled over Tony's skin, wandering and re-memorizing the familiar toned muscle of his chest. Then, in retaliation or maybe just because he wanted to, he pinched Tony's nipple. That little nub hardened right between his fingers even as Tony groaned at the slight pain. Not one to waste an opportunity, Peter deepened the kiss and slipped his tongue into the soft, wet heat of his mouth.

The kiss conveyed everything that he'd been missing the past few months. Hunger. Passion. Love.

When they pulled apart, Tony's eyes were dark and Peter's trailed down his exposed chest and even further to where Tony's pants looked to be tighter than they should be around his groin.

"Bedroom?" Peter suggested eagerly. He was already considering just picking Tony up bridal style when the older man hummed in thought.

"Why wait?" Tony tempted him with a soft murmur. That knowing look in his eye grew even more sly, more provocative. "Besides, I have another little surprise for you."

Peter's heart thumped hard in his chest. It was so obvious he was on board. Bedroom or living room, what did it matter?

"Yeah?" Peter said with a breathy exhale. Tony always gave him the best surprises. "Did you wear something nice for me?"

"Maybe..." Tony teased.

That one word invoked so many possibilities that it made his head spin. All the blood rushed south and Peter was suddenly aware of just how painfully hard he was.

It was just so easy for Tony to do this to him. One look, one word…

"Oh, fuck," Peter breathed, just thinking about it.

Posessively, Peter's hands wandered further down. He couldn't feel it through Tony's suit but he could imagine it. Something lacey, maybe? Would it be black or red? Any color would look gorgeous against Tony's skin.

His hands, greedy little things that moved without his permission, settled on the older man's belt.

"Let me see?" Peter nearly begged. Despite asking, he was already unbuckling Tony's pants and tugging impatiently at the belt. At least this time, he didn't rip or break anything.

Tony's sexy smirk made him do it. Practically taunted him to strip the older man bare and see what was waiting for him, Tony's little surprise just for him. A huffed out little laugh from the older man only made Peter's cheeks grow warmer. Even still, Tony's hips lifted to help Peter with his task.

"I'll do you one better," Tony said with a contented sigh as his pants slid off in a rushed tug. "You can even touch me."

The retort was on the tip of Peter's tongue but it died off as soon as he saw what he was working with.

Tony had arrived impeccably dressed. Anyone with eyeballs could see how sexy Tony was, so confident and irresistible in his perfectly fitted suits. They were each custom tailored to show off all the flattering lines of his body but Peter knew that he was the only one to see what was beneath all that expensive designer.

He was right. He loved being right and he loved that Tony was Tony, someone who didn't give a damn about what other people would think.

Because there, wrapping so nicely around his hips, were lace panties. The shock of color, a brilliant red, was a beautiful contrast to the sleek black and grey suit Tony had worn. And through the delicate strip of lace between his legs, Tony's cock was starting to lengthen and push up against the panties.

"Oh, God," Peter breathed, voice full of reverence and above all, hunger. "I love it, Tony. It looks so good on you, so pretty and then there's your cock..."

His mouth watered just looking at it, hidden away in pretty lace but still so obviously male and beautiful.

Tony just knew everything possible that would make Peter's body want to combust out of sheer lust alone.

"Yeah?" Tony encouraged as he reached down and skimmed his fingers over the bulge of his erection through the lace. "I'm glad you like it, sweetheart. Wore it just for you, after all."

For me…

Tony was so perfect for him and Peter loved him. He was also going to suck his cock. How could he not? Tony's cock was right there in all its glory, so long and thick, and yet, he wasn't even fully hard.

Being older, it sometimes took a bit of time to get there but Peter didn't mind. He loved feeling his efforts rewarded by hard flesh, Tony's cock filling out completely in his mouth until he struggled to take it.

Peter slipped down to his knees to get into a better position.

"Gonna suck you off," Peter barely warned before he was lowering his head.

His lips brushed against the lace and he lapped at it with an eager tongue. The spit turned the red darker so that it was maroon.

Above him, Tony's gave a hiss of pleasure, hips twitching towards the wet warmth of Peter's mouth.

A taste of salt, Tony's precum seeping through, had Peter mouthing over the covered tip. He suckled lightly, not intending to tease Tony but just hungry for a taste of him.

His tongue traced over the outline of Tony's cock, licking eagerly while one of Tony's hands carded through his hair, gently and yet urging him for more.

"Ah- fuck, baby… Your mouth..." Tony breathed above him. Some of that cocky attitude had bled out now that Peter had his mouth on him. Peter could almost purr at how the tables have turned. A choked-off chuckle and then a breathless request, "Don't make me come."

Peter's eyes flicked up to him, a smug little smile on his lips when he found Tony looking at him, riveted.

"No guarantee," Peter murmured, lips caressing against hard flesh. "You'd still let me fuck you though, won't you, daddy?"

Another lick, another suck, harder and more pressure which meant more pleasure. The older man let out a soft "Fuck–" which, although it wasn't an answer to Peter's question, it was enough to let him know Tony would.

Just this brief little play and the older man already flushed and panting, though Tony tried to hide it. Peter loved taking him apart, whether it was with his mouth or his cock.

"Brat," Tony gasped when Peter peeled away his underwear.

Peter, being the brat Tony claimed he was, only pulled it down far enough that he could get Tony's cock in his mouth. He did exactly that, slipping the older man's erection into his mouth and playing with it just how Tony liked.

He watched with hooded eyes as Tony's mouth trembled before pressing together hard. It was an attempt to stop the moans from spilling out but Peter knew exactly what to do.

He didn't even need to hold Tony's cock in place, the bunched up panties were doing a perfectly good job holding him captive. It gave him the opportunity to gently caress the insides of Tony's inner thighs, another sensitive point that added to the older man's pleasure.

He had Tony ditching his reservations in no time. He loved the sound of the older man's moans. He also had the added benefit of living alone so really, what reason did Tony have to hide those sounds from him? There was no excuse.

He was tempted to get Tony off just like this. With his hands on Tony's trembling legs, the older man's cock twitching in his mouth… Not to mention, Peter loved swallowing him down.

But he had other plans. As corny as it was, he wanted Tony to come while being fucked. He wanted to feel the tight squeeze of his lover's body as he pushed inside, stirring up his insides with his cock and cum.

He could tell Tony was close so as much as he wanted to keep going, he stopped.

With a soft smack of his lips, he let Tony's cock slip from his mouth. Tony's grip tightened for just a moment, his hips twitching towards Peter's face before he fell back against the armchair with a harsh "Tease–"

To make up for it, he gave the older man slow, lazy jerks with his hand, just to take off the edge.

"You said not to make you come," Peter said, trying his best to sound innocent even while jerking the older man off.

"Didn't think you'd actually listen," Tony panted, voice tight even as his cock strained in Peter's grip. It was almost a whine. "Fuck, baby, think you need to get on with it before I just jerk off on your face."

Peter licked his lips at the thought. It was so tempting… Everything about Tony wanting him was tempting him to just give in and do what he wanted.

"I had to do something when you mentioned a surprise…" Peter said, "You know I love it when you dress up for me."

Then, to Peter's surprise, Tony actually chuckled and shifted so that his lower body was closer to the edge.

"Oh, sweetheart… You thought that was your surprise?" Tony almost crooned out the words, "Yeah, no, baby boy. The panties were just a nice bonus."

Then he wiggled a bit, thumbs hooking over where the panties were bunched around his thighs. Taking the hint, Peter helped remove it but while doing so, he figured out what his surprise actually was.

"Wait–" Peter breathed, rock hard and desperate to confirm, "are you wearing a…?"

Tony smirked. He was too cocky for someone that was just moaning Peter's name a minute ago but Peter didn't care.

"Knew you were a smart cookie," he hummed and spread his legs even further apart in invitation.

Tony was wearing a plug.

Peter couldn't help how he tugged the older man even closer to the edge nor could he help himself from pushing Tony's knees towards his chest.

His lover grumbled at the stretch but not a word of complaint was actually voiced. He was clearly enjoying the power he had to render Peter speechless. That was fine– Peter was gonna make him moan enough for the both of them.

His surprise was perfect.

There, situated between the perfect round cheeks of Tony's ass was the flared base of a plug, keeping him all nice and ready for Peter to fuck.

"When did you even…?" Peter breathed as he reached out and touched the base with eager fingers. "Didn't you just come off a plane?" Peter's words continued to rush out, as chaotic as his thoughts. "Did you really…?" Touch yourself thinking about me…?

Above him, Tony chuckled once more though this time, it had a more breathy quality to it.

"Who do you think I am?" Tony said, "I know exactly what you need, kid, and I know better than to show up anywhere near you without prep."

That was it. That was the last straw.

Peter rose to his knees and shuddered when Tony's legs circled around his waist. He leaned forward desperate to kiss the older man. His hard cock, still damningly clothed in his jeans, rubbed against Tony's erection. He gave a dirty preview of what he wanted, hips rutting harshly as he nibbled Tony's bottom lip.

Tony was just so good to him and they've been together long enough that Peter had become utterly shameless in his desires.

Even so… The thought of Tony prepping himself, either while waiting for Peter to return or fucking himself open on the plane just for him… It sent such a dirty thrill shooting through Peter's overeager body.

"I gotta…" Peter groaned, blindly reaching for the end table by the armchair. It was a long shot that there was lube in there since he hadn't been expecting Tony at all but he was getting desperate.

"Yeah," Tony groaned against his mouth, "I know, kid, I know– That's why I'm ready for you. Know just how much you need it..."

There wasn't any lube there but before Peter could curse or pull away, Tony was already pressing a small bottle into his hands.

"Oh, thank fuck," Peter groaned. He didn't waste any time popping the cap and squeezing out a good amount into his hands.

Meanwhile, Tony didn't waste any time and had efficiently unbuttoned and unzipped Peter's pants. A warm hand reached into his boxers and wrapped around him.

Peter's breath stuttered in his lungs, his body eagerly shoving forward into Tony's familiar touch. Tony's fingers curved around the length of his cock, tugging and squeezing with just the right amount of pressure.

"Look at you, Pete… Already so hard, your cock's practically ready to blow just from this…" Tony said as he jerked Peter off, basically getting all the precum smeared on his cock. "Hurry up, baby, I'm all ready for you."

With a harsh exhale, Peter hastily spread the lube along his cock, even getting some of it on Tony's hand when he retreated. It was messy and some dropped onto his boxers but he was thorough.

"Take it out, Tony," Peter groaned when he was ready, "Take it out so I can put it in…"

So close… They were so close and yet, Tony still teased him.

"Put what in, baby?" Tony's voice trembled as he reached between his legs and started to tug the plug out.

"My c-cock…" Peter said, eyes fixated on Tony's fingers.

He was teasing Peter so much, easing the plug out so slowly and torturing Peter with the sight of his tight little hole stretching over the girth of the toy.

"Wanna put my cock in you, daddy," Peter said. No sooner were the words out, the plug was finally free and Peter surged forward, pressing the tip of his eager cock against that wet, loosened hole.

He barely heard Tony's words, "Go on, baby boy, fuck daddy– I can take it, sweet boy…"

And just like that, he was inside Tony. He could almost swear that he saw stars or his vision went white or maybe just that his mind blanked out from the sheer pleasure he felt entering his lover.

He just knew that his body moved instinctively. Even a little half crazed, he was still careful with his strength. He only used as much as he needed to drag Tony's body towards the very edge of the armchair so that he could fuck into him, nice and easy.

Tony's body welcomed him, that tight heat encompassing Peter's cock perfectly. Peter could scarcely stand it.

"You okay…?" Peter managed to stutter even as his hips continued to move.

Beneath him, Tony's face was flushed, eyes hooded and his wet mouth gasping open. He was taking every inch of Peter's cock from the get go and neither of them would have it any other way.

Peter knew that the stretch must be almost uncomfortable but then again, he trusted Tony to prepare himself well. If he said he could take it, Peter was going to give it to him.

"Yeah, I'm f-fine– I'm good, just…" Tony groaned when Peter's cock rubbed right into his sweet spot. with how hard and fast Peter was going, he didn't really expect the boy to last. "Jesus Christ, kid, don't you use the toy I got you? Got it for a reason–"

The sex toy that Tony had snuck into Peter's luggage months ago had been put to use but with Tony right there… His body was so warm and so tight around him… How could a bit of plastic compare to this?

"I tried, daddy, I tried…" Peter gasped wetly, as his hips moved almost without his say so. "But it feels nothing like this… Even when I'm thinking about you, it just feels like it's not enough. Feels nothing like–"

"Ugh, good thing I came to get you, huh?" Tony breathed, a hint of smugness in his voice. "Bet you would've ended up fucking me in the bathroom on the plane."

"Probably still gonna," Peter groaned harshly at the thought, "gotta make up for lost time."

Tony huffed a laugh even while he braced himself against the armchair. "Wasn't that long ago, you're just a sex fiend."

"And your ass is to blame…" Peter grunted as he looked down at the perfect little hole spread wide apart on his cock.. "This perfect… fuckable ass… Hugs my cock just right… Nng… Mr. Stark… Can I come inside this time? Wanna come inside… Make it all wet and messy inside you…"

Tony groaned and tossed his head back. He panted, cock jerking on his belly. "This time? How many times you planning on going…"

"I'll let you know," Peter licked his lips.

He felt ravenous and too focused on this time to think about the next. He just knew that it wouldn't be the only round. He needed this too much. Tony's ass was heaven and Peter wasn't leaving the older man alone until he had his fill. "I'm like… really, really stressed, Tones…"

"Ugh, fuck… Fine– I said I'd help, didn't I…?" Tony relented, "Just try not to get it everywhere…"

Peter let loose, fucking Tony's perfectly fuckable ass with abandon. It was exactly as he said. The expensive pocket pussy that Tony got him couldn't compare to the older man's tight warm hole. He'd tried it, he really had, but it couldn't compare to the way Tony writhed beneath him. Couldn't compare the satisfying slap of their bodies coming together, almost painful but entirely worth it.

He gripped and held tight, fingers digging into the meat of Tony's thighs. The older man was at his mercy, legs hooked over Peter's elbows as his hips flexed and pounded away.

Amid their combined groans and soft curses, Peter's eyes had drifted closed. The heat of Tony's body gripped him tight, squeezing, massaging, provoking him to take what he wanted, what he needed.

For all of Tony's hard lines, the muscles he built over hard work and time, his insides felt so soft and warm. Wet and intense, a perfect little hole for Peter to fuck and use as he wanted. Because Tony would let him and more than that, he got off on Peter being the horny little shit that he was, unable to resist a man that could very well be his father.

It was an ego boost to them both, just how hungry and desperate they were for each other. Tony was just better at hiding it.

He wanted to hold on. He didn't want to stop.

He had Tony right where he wanted him, impaled on his cock and gasping Peter's name.

His muscles were tight and tense, his cock being milked by Tony's hole…

"Ah– f-fuck…!" Peter groaned as his balls drew tight.

His grip tightened, some of that super strength leaking through as he sought to get as deep as possible. At the same time, he shoved forward, hips slotting perfectly in place, getting every single inch into Tony's receptive body.

He gave everything he had and then some. It felt like a small eternity and yet, it was only seconds as his cock pumped load after load into the hole milking him dry.

His heart was going a mile a minute and sweat dripped down his neck. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Tony wasn't any better.

Cum painted white strips over his unbuttoned shirt. He had an arm thrown over his eyes, chest rising and falling rapidly but starting to stabilize as they both started to calm down.

Peter's cock was going soft and he could feel his cum squish around him as he pulled out.

"So messy," Tony murmured as he peeked at Peter. "You still wanna go for more?"

Peter looked down at his softening cock but his gaze gravitated to Tony's freshly creamed hole. His cum was oozing out and his cock twitched with interest. He'd be ready again in no time.

"God, yeah," Peter breathed as he leaned down. "I'll clean you up first, daddy."

"Clean me up just so you can mess me up again?" Tony clarified.

"Mhmm…" Peter didn't need to say anything more. He just slipped back down to his knees, pulled Tony's legs over his shoulders, and set his hungry mouth to work.

His body might be a bit sore tomorrow but it wouldn't be from stress. He was intent on getting every bit of stress siphoned out of his body and he had the perfect partner to help him.

#starker #madstarker writes #nff #lingerie #bottom tony stark

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stevenbasic · 4 years

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I know there are guys like this, Melissa thought to herself, guys like this all over the place. Guys that collect pictures of girls, built girls, save them all on their computers to do...ewww...whatever it is they do with them. She had some guys like that, still, she knew, as Instagram followers, even on her new, now-private profile. There was a smattering of guys, she knew, who basically stalked her, perved over her every post. She tended to indulge them, from time-to-time, throw them a little bone here or there, some cleavage, whatever. It was fun, for a while, she’d get a kick out of it, casually teasing these guys who simped for her. But it had kinda gotten old. Now it was more her friends who seemed to love it, love seeing it, love laughing at the guys. It was harmless enough fun, and these men were just sorta silly and pathetic. I just didn’t think Dr J was one of them…

She had needed to see for herself, have some time to process. It was eight AM but she’d needed to see for herself, all these pictures of her that Randi and Marisela told her he’d supposedly been hoarding on his office computer. On a Tuesday like this one she’d have plenty of time; he’d be doing his rounds at the hospital until mid-morning, when he’d return to the office. She’d closed his door so she’d be undisturbed as the other girls drifted into work. Melissa knew she needed to come to terms with this, and see what was on his computer for herself, especially after what Marisela had told her about what was going on….that kinda made her mad, too.

Okay, there it is, right where Marisela said it’d be, she thought. On his hard drive, the folder labeled “Protected”. Let’s see if this password works...

oh, my…

For some reason Melissa had found herself earlier this morning, while getting ready, almost unconsciously putting on heavier makeup, applying more layers of gloss and lipstick than she knew she should. She’d found herself pulling out a striped red dress, one that cinched too tight to her waist which - despite everything else getting bigger these days - seemed to be, if anything, slowly disappearing. This dress clung too tightly to her torso, she realized, its horizontal stripes only emphasizing the size of the bust she’d packed tightly this morning into her new, bigger bra. This dress was also wayyy too short, she knew, revealing too much of the long, flawless legs that she’d tanned to a deep olive in her week in the sun, sculpted in the gym to heavily-muscled perfection. It covered her overly-shapely rear, she also knew, but left little to the imagination as to its full size; her ass had grown huge, recently, and this dress surely did nothing to hide that. The heels she chose - yellow and too tall, really, to be appropriate for the office - would only highlight the muscle tone of her already large calves, make her glutes look even fuller, shift her weight to pull her shoulders back, further emphasizing her bust and exaggerating the already unmistakeably feminine aspects of her gait. Her hair, as well, she’d fluffed out more than usual this morning...why? The one thing she found herself foregoing, though, was perfume. I’ve been making enough of that myself, already, she’d thought, I don’t need it.

Oh, no, look at all this, Melissa lamented, finally opening the folder labeled “Melissa” and then audibly gasping at its contents...countless pictures of her. Where did he find it all? How much time has he spent collecting these?? She began to scroll through the thumbnails, everything from current images grabbed from her Instagram to old modeling pics he must have found in the internet to...where did he ever find these ones from Hooters?!?

Suddenly she was overcome when an image of him - sitting in this very chair, looking at these pictures and rubbing himself, sliding his hand into his pants - flashed into her head.

Is that what you do with these? Why else would you be...collecting them? Oh, Dr. J...not you, too?

As she marveled, wide-eyed, beginning to grasp the enormity of his collection, of just how many pictures of her he’d accumulated, it dawned on her: he also has dozens upon dozens of pictures of her in a bikini, from the past week - on his ph-..oh, wait. Oh god. He’s downloaded them all into here already...there’s a whole folder, a new one, called “conference”.

Part of me wishes they never told me...

She flashed back, for the moment, to early yesterday morning, Monday in her new office with Randi and Marisela…

“...we got in last week, finally, Marisela cracked it,” Randi had said, “I just knew he’d have a porn stash. But that there’s so much of YOU in it…?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Melissa,” Marisela had added, “The guy’s a total perv. We’ve known that for years…”

If nothing else she marveled, as she scrolled through the thumbnails, at his diligence, I haven’t seen some of these in ages.

Another image flashed into her head, again him sitting at this desk with these pictures - god, he’s much smaller than me, isn’t he? He wouldn’t fill up this chair nearly as much as I do - with his pants unzipped, pulled down his hips, he’s groaning. Looking at these pictures, zooming in on that one.

His legs are so skinny compared to mine, she thought, as she felt her own body unconsciously flexing, his arms and shoulders so thin and weak.

Why...why did this make her shiver a bit? Why did her mind keep picturing him...wanting to see him when he’d opened up this folder and started to-

But he shouldn’t be doing this! It’s like cheating on his wife. No matter what’s going on between him and Sheryl, he’s still a married man. Melissa could understand why Sheryl’d be mad. Yes, but…

Melissa flashed back again...

“Why are you so shocked?” Randi had asked her, “They’re all like this, every single one. Every single boss you’d ever had.”

At first, she admits, she was shocked. She couldn’t believe what they’d told her, shown her with the screen caps from his desktop - it can’t be!! this is the honorable, upstanding, respectable Dr J!! He’s not like the rest of them, all those other guys, is he?? Obsessive, fixated...

After the initial shock, the disbelief, she got kinda angry - she took this job thinking she was going to be valued for her brains, education, skills. She thought this job would allow her to develop in ways that other jobs, with other bosses, hadn’t. She’d always been a special girl, different from the rest. She had a unique way, she knew, of “growing into the job” - it’s what her mother called it. “Rising to the challenge of a new endeavor” she’d said, become what would allow her the greatest success. Problem had always been, though, that the best way to succeed at her old jobs had turned out to be the same. At Hooters it made sense, even in high school. But with frustration she’d found the same thing happened to her at Nordstrom’s, at the DMV, and at the Dealership. Instead of getting smarter, learning more, becoming more able and capable, she’d just gotten...curvier. Added cup sizes, inches to her hips. This job, after finally getting her degree, was supposed to be different. But now, seeing this screenshot of dozens of pictures of her from her boss’ porn stash, she was finally convinced that, once again she was hired just for her tits. She knew, of course, that he’d found her attractive. That he, being just a guy, could be pretty easily manipulated if she set her mind - and hourglass figure - to it. That she could get what she wanted at the office, be successful in her new position, because of her appearance. That would explain the two - no, three - new sets of bras. Why she’d torn through her yoga pants last week. His tastes were for curves upon curves...lots of guys’ were. And she figured she was growing faster here than at the old jobs because, well...she had become his friend. She’d spent more time with him. She’d grown to, well...really like him, more than she’d ever really admit. So maybe there were other things fueling her, uh, developments. But, again - he was married!

It was so confusing!

She could help it, another image came to her. This time he was still here alone in his office, maybe after hours, doors locked, knowing he’s alone - but now he was blatantly jerking off, pants down, around his ankles. Jerking off and leering at these pictures of her, this time looking - ohh why is this doing this to me?? Making my heart race?? - even smaller. He seemed to be shrunken, a small, small man, wide-eyed and staring, unblinking, at his screen. He was grunting, like a little animal, and shaking back and forth with his efforts.

She flashed back again...

”I know, I know,” Melissa had said, bemoaning this new situation, as if she was grieving some loss, “I know I had him up on a pedestal. I know it was maybe unreasonable. But now….now what am I supposed to do?”

“Missy, relax,” Randi had replied, “Just think- who was able to take him down off of that pedestal? Who did he have pictures of on his computer in a folder that he’s accessed...look at this...more than -four hundred- times? You! You! Face it You got where you are not just through hard work at school. You did hard work at the gym, building yourself in other ways. Despite everything you rose up at Hooters, at the DMV, at the dealership. You are YOU, and that’s what’s bringing you all this success. You as a person, your mind and your body.”

”I guess you’re right…” Melissa had said.

“Of course I am,” Randi had replied, “Use it all, use all you got. Not just your degree-“ At that she’d reached out and grabbed Melissa’s huge breasts, hands sinking into her pliancy, “but these too! Women have to use everything they have to take what they can get.”

The next image, in her mind, was one where he’s dramatically smaller still: How did he even get into the chair? He’s so little... His feet, dangling above the ground, hovered over his pants, now in a pile. He’s naked, in fact, and he’s so small he can barely see over the desk to the monitor, can barely reach his mouse to scroll, to click, to open picture after picture after picture of her. His groans and grunts have changed to whines and he sounds so needy as he’s trying and trying and trying to-

Groaning herself, Melissa was nearly overcome with the thought, and had to catch herself from sliding her hand between her own thick, bare thighs. What was this warmth? What was this subtle swelling in her chest? Why is this doing this to me?!?

She flashes back again

“I guess it can't be helped, looking the way I do...” Melissa said, still in half-pout.

“Don't feel bad, Missy, this is good,” Randi said, as Marisela just watched, observing these two, trying not to judge, learning, “Look at these folders he has - it’s not all of you. Look at all these pictures, these videos. It’s...worshipful. He’s in sheer awe of these women, and you’re one of them.”

Melissa nodded, new wheels, gears in the machinery of her inner self that she didn’t know existed, cranking to life, beginning to turn.

“You can use this to your advantage - to our advantage,” Randi added, encouraging her friend. Though remaining quiet, Marisela’s own pulse had begun to race, listening, hearing the subtext, thinking back on the conversations she and Randi had had. For her own part, Melissa’s feelings were still conflicted. Petulant anger and outright female outrage were at odds with the genuine affection she felt for him, an affection that more and more had been turning into...something deeper. A tugging at her belly. Something rich and wonderful she saw blossoming, when she closed her eyes and thought of him...thought of holding, thought of-

“If he honesty gets off to this sort of thing,” Randi pressed on, pointing at folders in the screenshot image from his desktop, folders labeled “Breast Expansion” or “Amazons” - “if that’s what he really wants....well, Missy. You could make him the happiest man on earth...”

=========================================================================

Original morph in the first image by Migsanch, and help with some of the dialogue by Antares.

#Growing Into the Job

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captainhysunstuff · 4 years

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Lawlight Week: First Friend

I have a tiny—if unoriginal—AU where the age gap is smaller (L’s a year or two older than Light, but still a little smaller) meet as kids. For an investigation, L temporarily moves to Light’s neighborhood, and Light insists on being his friend.

(More context under the cut)

Actually, their first meeting involves L getting lost while trying to scope the area (fumbling with a map, it blows away, leaving him disoriented and reluctant to seek help...). Light spots him, gets a little too close and invasive, and L instinctively throws him over his shoulder, knocking him out. However, he knows he can’t just leave this overly friendly kid in this area where he knows a string of crimes have been happening (kidnappings?). So, he starts dragging Light along in his wandering until he wakes up and directs them to his house which just so happens to be next door to L’s “base.” So L, in an attempt at appearing normal, doesn’t fully push Light away since this family is now aware of him and his proximity. This picture takes place way further on when they’re fully comfortable around each other, and L is eager to hang out with Light (here, they’re making a late night convenience store run).

Light’s characterization might seem strange, but this is just him trying overly hard to be friendly to make L like him when he doesn’t need to. Eventually L questions his behavior since it does seem unnatural to him, thus an additional reason why he was so unnerved by him in the beginning as well with his own personal paranoia. Light eventually tones it down after being convinced that he doesn’t have to wear a mask around L. Despite Light’s normally quieter and somber/serious disposition when not acting, he’s still prone to excitedly talking to L without “dumbing it down”, and L enjoys listening and interjecting when the “flow” allows it (when this pic takes place).

#drawn by me #lawlightweek2020 #my fanart #Death Note #L #Light Yagami #lawlight #kid!L #kid!Light #my au #picture and context!#I'm not really a writer #eheheh

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the-whole-long-stupid-story · 4 years

Photo

Okay, hear me out

So I really wanted to do a Michael x Maria with Kids AU / Future pic, and this glowy/sunny picspam is what I came up with.

Let’s revise.

Majandra has said previously she thinks that M&M would have 3 or 4 alien babies, so that basically makes it canon, okay? She also said Maria would be keepin’ it high n tight (I mean obviously, because she’s the queen of f*cking everything).

Click below to read my in depth rant about their life, their kids, their kids’ names and what m&m are like as parents. I was 3 coffees deep at the time okay, arrest me 💁🏽

So these pics show what loving 3 little Guerin-Delucas is like - exhausting (see top middle), but happiness personified. They live in a modest country-style home on the outskirts of a nondescript city, just the way Michael likes it in order to keep a cover of anonymity. Maria’s okay with their set up because the kids have heaps of space outdoors to play, and she’s close enough to town to get her “city fix” (Michael’s words, not hers) when she needs to.

Michael is absolutely besotted with his kids and would walk through fire for them. He is the best dad, all of his fears of being a terrible parent because of Hank melted away when he realised he felt nothing but pure love for his kids. He also has a deepened love for Maria that he never knew was possible, and he’s literally in awe of her most days (but would never admit to it - apart from special occasions or when he wants her to cook Italian without using half’n’half).

Maria is one of those relaxed, serene motherly types, where nothing seems to overly phase her and she spends most of her time just having fun with her kids as opposed to enforcing heavy routines upon them. She had 3 home-births (because you can’t exactly rock up to a hospital when you’re giving birth to an alien’s offspring), and she was calm and determined throughout. In comparison, Michael lost the plot with stress - pacing about their house, making the lights flicker and the cupboards in the kitchen rattle, until Maria growled at him for “throwing off her flow” and demanding he go top up the aromatherapy burner with more lavender oil. Max and Liz were there to help, and Isabel and Kyle arrived later to welcome the baby too.

When their first baby was born, Michael was absolutely gobsmacked and a little bit terrified of the baby. He’d never seen something so small, fragile and new. From that moment when he first held his first daughter, with tears brimming in his eyes, he vowed that he would protect every single cell of her being. He couldn’t even fathom what he would do if anyone ever tried to hurt his family. No, that was a lie - he could fathom it. He would blow the world to kingdom come if anyone so much as touched a hair on their heads.

They take photos of their kids every so often and send them anonymously back to Amy. To begin with, Michael refused - explaining it was too risky to have photos of their kids out there in the world for anyone to find - but they came to an agreement when Maria, with tears in her eyes, mumbled that she couldn’t bare the idea that her mom would never get to know that she had grandchildren. So they compromised - they don’t take any close up pics of their children’s faces to keep them safe and relatively anonymous.

Michael was scared sh*tless the first time Maria was pregnant (obviously it’d be a bit nerve wracking being pregnant with a hybrid baby, right?) but it was also the best thing that he could have ever dreamed of happening in his life. Like remember in S1 when he and Isabel had that dream about having a baby? Remember he was so into it in a weirded out kinda way - like determined to be there for Isabel and be part of that dream baby’s life regardless. She had even said to him, “I’ve never seen you that happy”, to which he replied, “Yeah well, I’ve never been that happy.”

Guess what - now he is.

They had 2 girls followed by a boy. The girls are close in age, about 4.5 and 6 yrs old - their son has just turned 1. One of their girls has fair hair and the other is darker, but they both have Michael’s deep brown eyes. Their son was born with blonde spiky hair, but it’s starting to darken up. It’s still too early to tell what colour his eyes will be, but Michael’s hedged his bets on them being a greenish colour like Maria’s.

Michael would be quite happy to continue having an entire tribe of kids, creating his own little hybrid alien baby army, but Maria is pretty certain she’s done. Especially when he uses the term, “hybrid alien baby army” when trying to convince her they should have one more. Okay, maybe two more. She told him she’s really happy that he’s finally found some minions that find his armpit farts actually funny, but that he’ll just have to get his kicks from seeing all his new nephews and nieces that are due soon.

Okay, and lastly - baby names. So I have a suspicion one of the girls would be Amelia. And then that made me think that their other kids would need to have some significance with their names too, but Michael didn’t really have a female figure in his life that meant much to him. And then I thought, what about Hal? He saved Michael et al’s lives when they were in the pods, but I can’t see Maria agreeing to name their son Hal. So THEN I realised that the girl-version of the name Hal would be Hallie.

So yeah, we have Amelia and Hallie for their daughters, and their son would have obviously been Alex James. Alex because Alex, James for 2 reasons - if you know you know, and if you don’t know I can tell you in the comments 😘✌🏼

And yes, just to kill my fragile heart a little further, that is supposed to be one of their kids with Alex’s guitar (Jim got it sent to a safety deposit box held under the name of a Brandy Wallbanger, and Michael surprised Maria with it one Christmas - The Christmas Nazi strikes again). 😭

#Michael x Maria #Michael x Maria Picspam #Michael x Maria with kids #Michael x Maria Future pic #Michael x Maria au #Candy #Michael x Maria kids #Roswell #Roswell OG #Roswell 1999 #m&m #OTP: he stayed for her / she left for him

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ohprettyweeper-moved · 5 years

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Have Faith in Me

Summary: After horrible rumors end your relationship with Tyler, it will take a grand gesture and a leap of faith to fix things. Pairing: Tyler x Reader Word Count: 2735 (without lyrics) Warnings: Few curse words, angst, implications of alcoholism. Request: I always love a good fic where a rumor appears that the boy is having a relationship with someone else (despite the fact that he is very public with his relationship with the reader), reader thinks he’s cheating, boy does grand romantic gesture or is just super affectionate to show the reader he loves them and only them. Super cliche, but still has lots of flangst potential! Your choice of boy! Thank you very much in advance :) - @takenvysleep It’s been a while, I think, since I’ve written a one-shot of this length! I hope it doesn’t disappoint! Song in the Fic: Have Faith in Me - A Day to Remember

Wanna request a fic?

GIF Source

The smile on your face wouldn’t stop. Tyler had indulged you in an iPhone photo session of the two of you the previous night, before he had to re-join the current leg of touring, and now you were trying to decide which ones to post on social media. You finally decided on one of the two of you smiling together, and one of the two of you kissing, tops of your cheeks scrunched with smiles as you pressed your lips together.

“Those are so cute!” your best friend, Ava, assured, double-tapping the post as she scrolled through her Instagram feed. “I really thought Josh and I were the cutest, but you guys give us a run for our money.”

You simply smiled and kept your eyes on the road. There wasn’t much you could say without sounding overly-confident or biased, although you were one-hundred-and-ten percent certain that you and Tyler were, in fact, the cutest couple.

Ava continued scrolling on her phone screen as you navigated the way towards your apartment. The two of you had a lazy afternoon planned, complete with junk food, movies. There was a good chance naps would be involved, too.

“Uh-oh,” Ava muttered after a few minutes, her brow pulling into a worried frown.

“What’s wrong?”

Quickly, Ava stowed her phone in her pocket. “Just keep driving. I’ll show you back at your apartment.”

“Ava! How am I supposed to concentrate on the road when you clearly have bad news for me?”

“Nobody is dead or dying.”

You huffed. Clearly you weren’t going to get any more than that out of her, so you did your best to concentrate on the road and not speed.

Back at your apartment, the two of you hauled up the snacks you had gone out to purchase, settled on the couch, and Ava turned on the TV.

“Oh no you don’t,” you warned, snagging the remote from her hand and muting the sound. “That ‘uh-oh’ in the car wasn’t innocent, A. Tell me what’s up.”

The pleading look she sent your way told you she would rather swim with hungry sharks than show you whatever she had seen on her phone. Still, she handed it over to you, and you looked at the new article on the screen.

“Tyler Joseph’s girlfriend, Y/N, posts cozy pictures shortly after new pics of the frontman and ex-girlfriend-slash-actress Alexis Richmond are released,” you read aloud. Scrolling down quickly, you saw copies of your recently posted pictures alongside pictures of Tyler with his girlfriend. They didn’t look as cozy as the two of you, but with his arm around her in that protective way, they certainly didn’t look like exes. “What the hell? When would he have even seen Alexis? Maybe this is an old picture.”

“I hate to be the one to point this out, but check out his tattoos, Y/N. A couple of those he’s gotten since you two have been together.”

Shaking your head in disbelief, you tried to justify what you were seeing. “Tyler is super open about his relationship with me. He posts about us, talks about us in interviews. He wrote a song for me and put it on his damn album!”

Ava held her hand out to slow you down. “I know, I know. This is the industry, okay? Lord knows Josh and I have been here more than once. The first time is always the most difficult. There’s probably a perfectly good explanation. Call Tyler.”

But you were too entranced by the picture of Tyler and Alexis. When did he even have time to see her? Between touring and interviews and sleeping when he could, the two of you had some days when you didn’t even have time for a phone call. But he had time for his ex-girlfriend. Yeah. That made sense.

“What are you going to do?” Ava asked just above a whisper.

Swallowing down the lump in your throat, you turned to her with as much of a smile as you could muster. “I’m going to do exactly what I planned and spend the afternoon with my best friend. When Tyler calls later — if he calls — I’ll deal with all of this. I’m sure it’s just some crazy media thing anyway.”

Ava didn’t look convinced, and you had to admit, you weren’t doing a very good job of convincing yourself that you believed any of what you had just told her.

Tyler wasn’t able to call until a couple of days later. You kept things light until then, not willing to hash out the whole thing in a text thread. You needed to hear his voice and see his face to know whether or not he was lying to you.

“Hey, beautiful,” Tyler greeted when you answered. The bags under his eyes told you he was tired, but you couldn’t let that stop you. You needed to know.

“Hey,” you returned. “How’s tour?”

Tyler yawned. “Busy. Shows are going great, but I’m looking forward to being back home with you. I really miss you, Y/N.”

For whatever reason, all rational thought fled your mind with that statement. Instead of feeling insecure and nervous, you were now angry and confused.

“Right,” you scoffed. “You missed me so much you went to Alexis to fix it.”

“What?”

You rolled your eyes. “I saw the article, Tyler. Ava found it right after I posted those pictures of us from when you were home last. Said I posted those pictures right as the pictures of you and Alexis came out. Not only have you been lying to me, obviously, but you made me look like an idiot! Like I was posting the pictures of us as some insecure girlfriend who needed to defend our relationship!”

“That sure as hell is what you’re acting like right now!” Tyler snapped back.

You nodded. “Okay. So you didn’t see Alexis? Those are old pictures or what?”

He rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not holding the phone. “I did see Alexis, when we were in New York. But it’s not —”

“Not what I think it is, right?” you interrupted. “I cannot fucking believe you! You saw your ex-girlfriend, got cozy with her, and I had to find out like some nobody. I’m your girlfriend! We’ve been planning for a future and now — you know what. Forget it. I don’t matter enough for you to tell me what’s going on when it’s happening, then you’re not worth the effort to hear what I have to say.”

You hit the red circle with the little white x in the middle, effectively ending the conversation. You texted Ava, asking her to come over, then set up all of Tyler’s calls to go to voicemail and all of his message alerts to stay hidden. You needed to cry and maybe drink, and definitely to never think about Tyler Joseph again.

Two months passed. You kept up with your day to day schedule, went to work, put on a happy face. No one from the outside looking in would have known that you had broken up with the love of your life just eight or so weeks before.

Ava could see it, though. She saw it in your weight dwindling just enough to make the change in your figure noticeable. She saw it in the quiet nights you two spent in your apartment, not talking, just being silent in the same place while you stared at the television or your laptop, pretending to be occupied by anything except how much your heart hurt.

As the tour came to an end, the boys inevitably circled back around to Columbus. Through Josh, Ava of course had tickets and passes for the two of you. She promised that Tyler was just as much of a mess as you were, but you refused to believe it.

“Just come with me,” she pleaded. “Hear him out.”

But you shook your head. You didn’t want to see Tyler; it would be like ripping the bandaid off of a bullet-wound. Too little help to begin with, but still missed when it’s gone.

“Fine. I’ll leave your ticket and pass here, then.” She dropped the items on the coffee table in the living room. “I really hope you change your mind, Y/N.”

After Ava left, you slumped onto the couch. The remote was in your hand, but you didn’t want to do anything with it. You held onto it because, at that moment, you needed to something to hold onto. You wanted to stop dwelling, desperately wanted that, but your heart was hurting so much, you didn’t know how to let go of the pain.

“Maybe going to the concert will give me closure.”

You tested the thought out loud, to see how you felt about it. There was some hesitation, some nerves. Some emotion resembling fear. Finally, you shook your head.

“This is ridiculous. I’m just going to go. If it’s really that bad, I can always leave.”

With a new determination — and, if you were honest with yourself, a deeply buried desire to see Tyler at least once more — you got up from the couch and rushed through a shower. You didn’t need to look perfect, so you kept your appearance casual but cute, shoved the ticket in your pocket and slipped the lanyard with the pass over your neck.

“Keys, phone, wallet … I think that’s everything,” you mumbled to yourself as you headed for the front door. You swung it open, taking one last look around the apartment to see if you had forgotten anything, and when you turned back around, Alexis Richmond was standing in the hall outside of your apartment. Immediately, you were on the offensive. “What are you doing here?”

Alexis held her hands up. “I’m not here to — I just want to talk to you, Y/N. On Tyler’s behalf.”

“I’m going to see Tyler right now, actually. Whatever he needs to say to me, I’ll hear it from him.”

You tried to push past her, but she stepped in your path. “Please. I really want you to hear this from me. Those pictures were my fault to begin with.”

You really didn’t want to hear anything from her, but maybe you could give her a couple minutes to explain.

“But only a couple,” you warned, motioning for her to join you. You stood by the door, arms crossed of your chest. “So?”

Alexis nodded and took a deep breath. “Tyler and I were friends first, Y/N, same as you and Tyler. When we were together — he left me because of my drinking problem.”

“He may have mentioned that once,” you admitted. “Go on.”

She chewed on her bottom lip for several seconds before working up the courage to continue. “I finally decided to go to rehab. I had no one left. My parents and my sister cut off contact with me after I made a drunken idiot of myself at the last family event I was invited to attend. All of my friends are in the industry, and they certainly don’t want to be associated with anyone who has to be admitted to a facility. When Tyler left, he told me that when I was ready to get better, I could call him. So I did. Those picture you saw, Y/N, that wasn’t Tyler and I being cozy. That was a million paparazzi trying to follow us, get exactly the story you saw, and Tyler trying to stop them from following us all the way to the detox center. I’m trying to keep my stint as under wraps as possible, and he was just trying to protect an old friend. I’m ninety-two days sober, and I swear, there’s nothing left between me and Tyler. There hasn’t been, for a long time.”

So it really hadn’t been what you thought, but you had let your emotions and fears get the best of you. Your insecurities had taken over and caused you to push Tyler away.

“I should have heard him out when he first tried to explain. It was easier to push him away than have my insecurities be confirmed — that someone out there was better for him than I am.”

Alexis shook her head adamantly. “That’s not true, at all. Tyler talked about you the whole time he was helping me — which was only a few hours, by the way. He came in to New York, got me to the facility, and went to do his shows. He checked on me once, that was it. That was when I found out what had happened with the two of you. I promised that as soon as I was okay to leave rehab, I would come talk to you. I’m going back because being in the real world has shown me maybe I’m not as ready to leave as I thought, but I had to come talk to you first.”

Once again unable to control your emotions, you crossed the room and hugged Alexis Richmond. “Thank you. This means a lot.”

“Tyler’s a good man. He deserves someone good like you,” she returned. “Now. I should let you get going. You’re going to be late.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at that. The two of you walked down to the parking lot where Alexis caught a cab to take her back to the airport. You got in your own car, prepared to fight traffic all the way to the venue.

The show was half over before you joined Ava in the usual spot towards the side of the stage where the two of you stood to watch your boys play. She hugged you tightly.

“I’m really glad you came!” she shouted into your ear over the music.

You nodded. “I was going to come anyway, but Alexis came and talked to me. That kind of sealed the deal!”

Ava smiled. You suspected she had known the whole story for a while, but she was always one to mind her own business. Anxious to enjoy being in Tyler’s presence now that you were aware of what had happened and that the misunderstanding had been all your own, you turned toward the stage to enjoy the music.

When the portion of the show came for the boys to do covers, the opening band didn’t come out as usual. You frowned and looked to Ava, who simply shrugged, despite the knowing smile tugging at her lips.

“I’ve got someone special here tonight,” Tyler spoke into the microphone. “I wasn’t sure she would show, but I’m glad she did. This one’s for her.”

Josh’s sticks rolled over the drums in a rhythm you recognized in a song that had to be at least ten years old. You still knew every word, though coming from Tyler, and with the situation at hand, they meant something different, something more, now.

Have faith in me ‘Cause there are things that I’ve seen I don’t believe So cling to what you know And never let go You should know things aren’t always what they seem

I said I’d never let you go and I never did I said I’d never let you fall and I always meant it If you didn’t have this chance, then I never did You’ll always find me right there, again

By the end of the chorus, you were, inevitably, crying happy tears. Despite the really dumb thing you had done and allowed to drag on, all Tyler was asking was for you to have some faith in him.

I’m going crazy ‘Cause there are things in the streets I just don’t believe So we’ll pretend it’s all right Stay in for the night What a world I’ll keep you safe here with me

I said I’d never let you go and I never did I said I’d never let you fall and I always meant it If you didn’t have this chance, then I never did You’ll always find me right there, again

When the song wrapped up, Tyler came to the edge of the stage and reached down for your hand. You reached up to grip his hand, and he pulled you on to the stage with him, near the piano.

“I’m so sorry,” you said, hoping he could at least read your lips over the sound of the crowd. He leaned in so you could hear him more clearly.

“I never meant to do anything for you to think I would hurt you,” Tyler returned. “Can we go back?”

You shook your head. “No going back, only forward. I just wanna go forward with you.”

Tyler grinned, cupped your face with one hand, and kissed you. The fans went even more wild; you couldn’t help but giggle. After a few more kisses, Tyler pulled back to look at you again.

“Obviously, I need to finish this show, but will you wait for me?”

You nodded before hopping down from the stage. Ava put an arm around your shoulders and squeezed. Your heart was racing from the events of the evening, but that didn’t stop you from dancing along to every song for the rest of the show.

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seriouslyblacklikemysoul · 7 years

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Forget Me Not - Regulus Black x Reader

Request: @earthleigh Hello, since your requests are open could you do a maurauder imagine where the reader is Remus' sister and all the marauders are overly protective of her and she gets into a relationship with a slytherin (regulus or rabastan lestrange) and they like freak out. And they're like worried bc she's like the most caring person and basically their child. Thanx! I'm such trash for the nice/sweet girl x bad boy trope and slytherin x hufflepuff pairings. Warnings: My English, Language, gif and pic aren’t mine-credits to their original owners. [With Douglas Booth as Regulus] Word Count~ 2.1k MASTERLIST Pending Requests You had always had a thing for him. His dark hair, his hazel eyes -that sometimes were green and other times blue- his pouty lips, his perfectly shaped face and that Adam’s apple of his. He did look like his brother, yet he looked nothing like him. How was that possible? You couldn’t help yourself. He gave the bad boy, troubled young man vibe that you just couldn’t resist. You had to get closer. There were a few problems, though. You were Gryffindor; he was a Slytherin. You were a half-blood; he was a pure-blood. Your brother was Remus Lupin; his brother was Sirius Black. Yes, there were some issues you had to take care of before you could say that the coast was clear. You had found yourself wondering why did the Hat place you in Gryffindor when everyone told you that you were a true Hufflepuff-maybe because you didn’t want to leave your brother alone. He wasn’t alone, he had made friends but you would never leave him. You were a year younger than them but you were considered a Marauder since the moment they met you. They were amazing people; funny, clever, mischievous and above all, they truly liked your brother-they were truly great friends. You knew that Remus would never tell them that he was a werewolf and honestly, you couldn’t understand why. It didn’t matter- he didn’t choose this. You were more worried that he will get hurt by it than anything else. Over the years, you bonded even more and you were inseparable; they were your overprotective parents. Something that could be too sweet or too annoying. It was both most of the time. You weren’t eleven anymore. You were good on your own, you could handle things without them interfering. Something that hadn’t change was that you were still the same ‘Little Lupin’ as they called you. You were too kind and sweet for your own good. You didn’t believe that. You were simply being human, helping those in need any way you could. The house elves loved you, the professors adored you not only because you were that nice, sweet little girl, but because you were one of the smartest and hardworking students, much like your brother. Although you tend not to pull so many pranks- you were the mastermind behind them, and that was why you never served detention. It was pretty sneaky if you think about it. Something that had changed was your relationship status. You weren’t single anymore, even though no one else knew but the two of you. You were with him and you could never ask for more. You didn’t really like the whole ‘let’s pretend that we don’t even know each other’ thing that was going on but you did know why it was going on. You were jealous of all the happy couples that didn’t care about PDA when you couldn’t even hold your own boyfriend’s hand. You had to pretend that it didn’t hurt a tad when you saw him in the Great Hall sitting with his friends, away from you. You had to hold your tongue when Sirius was being bitter about him. You had to force yourself not to slap the hell out of your brother when he was always agreeing with Pads and Prongs about him when no one truly knew him. To be honest, you would never believe that your brother of all people would criticize someone just because he had heard something about him. You were mad and sad at the same time. Not to mention that every time that you had tried to go out on a date, they had just tagged along like you were a five-year-old. Especially Remus. He was a pain in the ass. And that little shit enjoyed ruining your dated because the boys you liked weren’t good enough as he told you every single time. The others would nod in agreement saying that you deserved more. Well, they weren’t wrong about that. You had found more. Before you could understand what happened, a pair of full, soft lips was on yours, gentle hands cupped your face, long eyelashes rested on your face. Your eyes fluttered shut and your hands flew to his soft, slightly tousled hair, fingertips getting lost. Reluctantly, he pulled away as you both caught your breaths. He was ravishing in the dim moonlight but his big, hazel eyes were teary. You grew worried and anxious. “What’s wrong Reg? What happened?” you asked him while your eyes were searching his face for any sign of indignation or pain or anything, really. He just collapsed, letting you hold him tightly as you both sunk down, your back against the stone wall of the Astronomy Tower, his head in the crook of your neck. “Just hold me. Hold me” he was whispering over and over again. Your heart broke. His mother. That bitch was tormenting both of her sons. You weren’t the one to call someone names but that poor excuse of a mother deserved it. Sirius had run away, which meant that Regulus was on his own. You couldn’t begin to imagine how hard must that be. Seeing him like that made you capable of murder. Her murder. He was so broken-he felt so empty and you could tell. “Don’t leave me, angel, please” he murmured against your neck. You could feel the tears-his tears-on your skin. You held him tighter and closer; your hands tried to soothe his pain as they roamed his back and his arms making their way to his face. Your touch was light as a feather because you didn’t want to cause him any more pain or discomfort. You softly caressed his cheek with the back of your palm and your fingers went to his chin, slowly making him face you. You took his face in your hands and looked at him straight in the eyes. “What did she do?” you simply yet fiercely asked him. You were kind and sweet but Merlin help the one who will get on your bad side. You would anything to protect your loved ones. “She made me a monster”. His voice cracked and more tears left his beautiful eyes. It hurt your soul. Your eyebrows were furrowed, you were biting your lip and your eyes were almost teary as well. You had heard those words before. You knew them all too well. Your brother used to say them too often-he still did. But Walburga would never turn her child into a werewolf. Wait. No. Nononono. Gently, you took his arm in your hands and tugged the sleeve. You saw the hesitation in his eyes, you saw the pain, the remorse, the guilt and the fear. You saw how vulnerable he was. You knew that he hadn’t his brother’s self-esteem but you had never seen him like this. He rolled up his sleeve, purposefully slow just to reveal what you had already guessed. The Dark Mark was tattooed on his flesh, forever imprinted there as a constant reminder of all the things he hated but couldn’t run away from. You momentarily closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You wished to be able to turn back time and help him. He misinterpreted your brief silence for rejection, fear- maybe you were disgusted by him, he sure was. His heart broke but he could never judge you or not understand you. “You are not a monster, Regulus” you told him, emphasizing each word. Your fingers were drawing patterns on his arm, forming words of comfort, shapes of tenderness. He was taken aback because he really believed that you wouldn’t forgive something like that. He couldn’t forgive himself for letting his parents convince him that it was right. He wasn’t convinced but threatened. It didn’t matter to them. He was just another Death Eater and he was absolutely sick of it. All of it. “I love you” he confessed almost too scared, as his eyes found yours. He had never said those words before. He felt them, deeply, passionately, completely. You pressed a tender kiss to his forehead but moved your lips to his forearm and covered the mark with your lipstick. “There. All set” you informed him as you tried to smile. It was too painful to last. “I love you, Arc” you whispered. It was a habit of yours, to call him by his middle name when things got more intimate. You stayed there, wrapped in each other’s embraces all night long. You didn’t know that four boys had been spying on you using that preposterous map of theirs- and they had questions, but mostly accusations.

“Are you INSANE?”. “What were you thinking?”. “Of all people, you are with him?”. “Hey, watch it. He is my brother”. “But he is a Death Eater”. “I was adopted”. “But, yes. Of all people, him?”. “No. No. And let me think, NO” “How could you do this to us? To me? I am your brother!”. “He is going to hurt you”. “He is like his mother”. “He is bad news, trouble”. It had been like that all morning. You hadn’t gone to any of your classes because you were getting lectured and reprimanded by four boys. But enough was enough. “SHUT UP. ALL OF YOU” you kind of yelled at them, your voice firm and cold. You couldn’t stand this parody. They were clearly bewildered and bamboozled. They did not expect you to raise your voice like that. “Can’t you see? I love him” you admitted, looking at them as they were losing their coolness. “But you deserve more, little Lupin. You are so sweet and he is so cold” James tried to talk you out of it but he didn’t know that you were together almost a year. “Listen, you are my sister and I love you and I want nothing less than your happiness but he is not the person to give you what you need” your brother interrupted. You were growing sadder and sadder by the second. You couldn’t understand why they hated him so much. “He is no good, little one. You know him, what? A week? I know him my whole life” Sirius added. He thought he was helping but he wasn’t. “We’ve been together for over a year. And I am not letting you four, destroy that. I love him” you finally told them, leaving them speechless. “He is a Death Eater, love” Sirius spoke in a small voice. That was enough. “Do you know how difficult it became for him when you ran away? Do you have any idea what your mother did to him? Do you know that he is broken? That, he was harming himself? That he tried to end… this? That he misses you like crazy? That he thinks he is a monster?” you fired back all those things you have been keeping quiet the past year. Sirius paled and Remus finally understood. He knew what it felt like to believe that you were a monster. Everyone seemed to get it, slowly but steadily. You wanted nothing more than to just hold Reg and kiss him and hug him, not caring one bit about what people think. He wasn’t evil, he was broken, misunderstood and pressured. All his life. “Does he feel the same about you?” Remus asked carefully. He didn’t need an answer once he saw the look on your face. He smiled faintly. He couldn’t change that; as much as he didn’t like the idea of Regulus and you, he had to step back. “How did you-you know?” James asked, or tried to. You smiled at the memory. It hadn’t been that easy. But it was the most wonderful thing. “A story for another time” you answered casually but he rolled his eyes. “Just… Just be good to him. Take care of him, please. He deserves that much” Sirius said in a small voice. Regulus was his brother and he loved him so much that hurt. But they had chosen different paths. “I do?” a new voice questioned a bit puzzled. You quickly turned around to see a confused Regulus standing – a bit awkward – next to the door. Sirius was even paler than before. You thought of the possibilities. Their bond meant everything to them and they needed time alone. You went over to him and kissed him lovingly, not giving a flying fuck about your friends’ reactions. “We should leave them to it” you kindly said and the three stunned boys, moved, getting your message. Regulus looked at you, thankful for everything. “You are my light, angel” he whispered, his voice thick from Merlin knows how many feelings. You smiled and left the room along with the other, leaving the Black brothers to finally talk like civilized people. And all you could do was wish for the best.

Tags: @orionsirivsblack @kapolisradomthoughts @nadinissavage

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acsversace-news · 6 years

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June 1995, Milan. Gianni Versace "casually" informs Donatella that he's "arranged an interview" with The Advocate. When she doesn't react, he mumbles, "For gay readers." "To say what?", she asks challengingly. "That the built-ins on this season of ACS are as envy-making as your stereotypically Versace pink butterfly blazer is hideous," Gianni does not say, although he could,

because these floor-to-ceiling jobs make me want to book a ticket to Italy like now. Mystifyingly, there is no sideways-rolling ladder with which to reach tomes on the higher shelves, but of course this isn't the point of the scene; the point is that Gianni has never said in so many words that he's gay, and that Donatella doesn't think he should do so "to print, to publish." Antonio D'Amico smirks as Donatella picks up her cigarettes and crisply points out that she handles publicity for the company. Gianni shrugs disingenuously that it's not about her, but Donatella isn't going for it: it's about more than him. She's annoyed that he didn't consult her, and now he's annoyed, clanking down his espresso cup and snarking, "What would you advise?" Yes, Antonio echoes, "What would you advise?" Donatella side-eyes him and theorizes aloud that it's Antonio's idea, that he wants to "be famous" as "Versace's lover." For 13 years everyone's mistaken him for Gianni's assistant, he grumbles, and Donatella snorts that apparently his pride is more important than the company. The sniping continues, Antonio saying he's not trying to become a public figure: "I know my place. Unlike you." Donatella cocks her head and asks at four degrees Kelvin, "And what is my place," at which time Gianni bangs a chair and snaps, "Enough!" No more fighting over this: it was his idea.

He asks Donatella to walk with him, and she stalks after him with that weird colicky gait women get who wear too-high heels every day. He wants her support, but she notes that his company supports all the people working around them -- and they have stores opening in countries where homosexuality is illegal. What if he's denied a visa? What if the stores can't open? Gianni is momentarily taken aback, and asks what she really thinks could happen. She says the rock stars, the actors, "the royalty whose endorsements we cherish" might not want to associate with the brand. Gianni shrugs, "Unless we keep Elton," but Donatella doesn't see the humor; he lives "in isolation," and has forgotten what the real world is like. He tries to argue that the women they design for are "fearless," and when Donatella says it's not the same, he asks, "Is the brand Versace braver than the man?" She doesn't have an answer for that, but when he stalks to the other side of the atelier, she follows, asking if he's angry at her, or the world. She goes on to wonder what his "admission" will cost when they take the company public. Gianni says, not terribly forcefully, that she's exaggerating, but she reminds him of Perry Ellis's final show, Ellis dying of AIDS, too weak to walk on his own. "His most important show" in many ways, Gianni murmurs, and certainly it is as far as its value as a reference in this season of ACS -- Ellis, who died in 1986, remained in resolute denial about his illness and that of his longtime lover, whom he had seen into the ground earlier that year; at that point in the life of both the epidemic and the culture, that approach was probably the default, at least for public consumption -- but Donatella's point is that, after that, people stopped buying Ellis's clothes. "Some people," Gianni says. Many people, Donatella retorts. Some, Gianni insists, and walks away from her again.

Why now, she wants to know. "Because I was sick. And I didn't die," Gianni says. It's a miracle. He has a second chance now. Why is he alive -- to be afraid? No. He's here, and he "must use it."

After the title card, we return to 1997 -- four days before Jeffrey Trail's murder. In a crappish motel in San Diego, Andrew Cunanan is seated in grimy underpants on a nubby chair surrounded by trash bags, prepping a needle full of drugs and grandly reassuring an American Express account representative that he just needs enough money to get to Minneapolis.

He's going to visit his "two best friends," one of whom owes him more than ten grand; then he can go back to being the best customer ever. As the Amex rep skeptically repeats that he's asking them to extend his credit so that he can…repair his credit, the camera lingers pointedly on an expensive watch on the floor. Cunanan distractedly taps the needle to rid it of bubbles as the rep verbally eye-rolls that she has to consult her supervisor. Cunanan chirps that he'll hold, and injects himself between his toes. I assume this is included to show both his alleged drug involvement and his much-ballyhooed ability to charm all and sundry, but I ran into some American Express credit trouble in college and was on the line with their reps almost daily, assuring them that my latest low-double-digit payment from my pizza-delivery job was winging its way towards them and please don't make me declare bankruptcy as a 20-year-old. Like, if I convinced them to let me chip down my balance 13 bucks at a time? I'm...not that charming. This is eminently doable by civilians.

Cunanan gets up, surveys his closet, and starts taking down armfuls of suits and shirts, still on their hangers. Do people actually do this? It seems like an only-onscreen thing. In any case, the removal of the last armload of blazers reveals a mini-crazy wall consisting of the very Advocate article the Versaces were arguing about before.

That pic at the top left, that looks like IRL Cunanan, should maybe have been cut, no?

In a warehouse, Jeff Trail is hoisting heavy canisters onto shelves. Later, he's not laughing alone without salad at a picnic table above the work floor when a co-worker joins him. Jeff notices the guy's tattoo as an armed-forces design; the guy notices him noticing and asks if he served. He did, in the navy, and kind of overshares about the USS Gridley and how he's sort of sad she got decommissioned. So he misses it? Every day. Why'd he leave? "I dunno," Jeff grits, and admits he regrets it, but when the guy begins to say he was never going to become an officer, it gets awk in a hurry with Jeff interrupting that he was an officer, and adding that his brother and sister are both in the armed forces. "You married?", the guy asks, probably concluding that it was Jeff's spouse who wanted him to leave the service, then. Jeff parries that, but the guy asks again why he left, especially to work "in a place like this." This place is okay, Jeff glares, but the guy's like, but for an Annapolis grad?

Jeff, icily: "I made the decision." The guy tries to smooth it over by saying his wife always tells him he asks too many questions, but Jeff just repeats over him, "I made the decision -- okay?" The guy apologizes for offending him and offers to "leave it there," but Jeff can't, leaping to his feet and shouting again that he made the decision, loud enough for other co-workers to look up from their lunches.

After lunch, Jeff is loading canisters, zoned out, when he's told "an Andrew called" -- he says he'll see Jeff at the airport.

That's where we see him next, as he greets David Madson with a fond arm-squeeze. David didn't think Jeff would come. Neither did Jeff, Jeff says disgustedly. David doesn't get why Cunanan's coming there, but Jeff's like, he has nothing and no one and everything he's told you is a lie. David gets that, right? David: "Do you even like him?"

Jeff sighs that Cunanan was "there for" him once, and he owes Cunanan, but it's not the same. David feels "kinda sorry" for him. "Don't." He's lonely. "For a reason," Jeff says, adding that after this "for old times' sake" weekend, he's done with Cunanan. David's like, he's here for three nights, ugh, and Jeff says Cunanan can have his apartment, Jeff will stay with his sister, and not to victim-blame here, but if you don't want to deal with Cunanan because he's a grifter, you put him up in a hotel, not at your house when you can't keep an eye on him and/or your belongings. Cut to Cunanan emerging from the crowd with a step almost Michigan J. Frog in its peppiness as Jeff asks David not to tell Cunanan where he is: "He's so crazy, he might just show up."

Asterisking this point is Cunanan's desperately cheerful sing-songing of "The three amigooooos!" and overly handsy hug of David. He hugs Jeff next, choosing to ignore Jeff's stiff reaction, and burbles about how much fun they'll have this weekend: "It'll be just like old times." Jeff's all, nah, and says he can't hang out with them. Cunanan asks why not. "Aside from everything you've done?" David looks down as Cunanan feigns ignorance.

Jeff says he's away 'til Sunday at a sales conference, but he'll be sure to send Cunanan a postcard. Cunanan lamely asks if Jeff's "still annoyed" about the postcard he "accidentally" sent to Jeff's dad signed "Drew, kiss kiss." "I made a mistake!" David rolls not just his eyes but his entire head as Jeff brings out his keys, saying Cunanan can stay there tomorrow night. Cunanan doesn't get why he's not staying with David; David says without much conviction that he's busy "seeing a friend." "Wh-who, what friend?" Cunanan presses, but despite this inability or unwillingness to take a hint re: David wanting to get it in with, y'know, not him -- or, more to the point, David's obvious trepidation at drawing that line brightly, or at all -- Jeff still hands Cunanan his keys, then walks off without another word. Again, I don't mean to cast aspersions on Jeff Trail; nothing he did either doomed him or could have saved him, or any of the others. I've found myself in similar situations, feeling like it's easier to just go along this one last time and then get down to the ghosting once s/he's left town -- especially when s/he's presenting as a dishonest but not noticeably dangerous asshole. I have the benefit of a hindsight of which Jeff was deprived by Cunanan, as well. That's the frustration: that it can't be undone, couldn't have been undone. Or that maybe it could have gone differently -- if Cunanan weren't so easily able to leverage the doors of the closet against his targets.

Sometimes they swing back and hit him, though, as we're about to see when he and David return to David's loft. David snuggles with Prints for a minute, and Cunanan takes the opportunity to fish that expensive watch out of the top of his duffel and make a big show of having "gotten" (read: stolen, we'll no doubt see in a future ep) David something. "Open it!" he says with an antsy body twitch that is almost endearing, except that he's horrid. David seems to know that it contains an emotional bomb as well as whatever's literally inside, and is initially speechless at the sight of the watch. Cunanan has assumed that awkward stiff-armed stance again

as David struggles for words. I'll note here Orth's Vanity Fair piece's assertion that, "though Madson was at least two boyfriends away from Cunanan by the end of April, he continued to accept gifts from" Cunanan. I still haven't read Orth's book, and perhaps she's more nuanced therein, but I'm finding implied judgment in that locution, to the effect that David "shouldn't" have taken gifts from a man he wasn't involved with, because it sent mixed signals -- or meant that David wasn't a quote-unquote perfect victim, the saint the newsmagazines are always looking for. Well, it probably did send mixed signals, and David probably wasn't perfect, because none of us is -- but here again we see Cunanan's victims a) not knowing what we know, because it's not what anyone tends to assume, and/or b) accepting overly generous gestures from Cunanan because it's less uncomfortable than rejecting him or questioning the gifts' provenance. The scene we're watching/cringing at here perfectly illuminates not only why Cunanan's victims might have had over-the-top "presents" from the killer among their possessions, but why Cunanan for the most part continued to skate on outrageous behavior.

Behavior like…refusing to read the room, because when David snaps the watch box closed and pulls a nauseated face, then goes to refill Prints's water bowl, Cunanan bustles over, picks up the box, and goes into cheesy-proposal mode. David's response is a glorious "ehh-whennnnhhhh?!" look from Cody Fern

at which Cunanan has the presence of mind to stammer that he doesn't have to answer right now, he can think about it "for the next few days." David's like, it's against the law, so. Cunanan shrugs: "Who cares about that?" "Everyone," David exasps. "Well, I…don't!" Cunanan says, and Darren Criss throws in a tiny shoulder shimmy here that is so eloquent vis-à-vis Cunanan thinking this damn-the-homophobia-torpedeos declaration will win him his case. David's like, again: no, "it's insane," and Fern's unwittingly Australian inflection of "in-sein" is rather winning. Cunanan is hell-bent on ordering a sweet roll, however, and babbles that they can call it a commitment ceremony, then. David tries to explain that "it's not -- the term" as Cunanan Manson-lampses at him and blares, "Then what is it." "The idea of you and me," David finally is able to say. His expression unchanging, Cunanan pauses, then tells David to keep thinking about it over the weekend, and then "if for whatever reason it's a no," he can keep the watch as a thanks. ..."Whatever reason," indeed. Thanks for what, David asks, exhausted. For turning Cunanan's life around, Cunanan duhs, then shares that he got a new job, a claim David doesn't believe; as Cunanan keeps lying about his new condo in San Francisco, David wearily closes his eyes and nods to himself. "I'm a whole new person!" Cunanan desperates, fastening the watch onto David's wrist. "And all I need -- is someone to be a new person for."

At his sister Laura's gorgeously porched house, Jeff surveys the family pictures (including one of Laura in uniform) in the hall, then takes the linens he'll be sleeping on from his pregnant sister; he doesn't want to be any trouble. "It's no trouble, I love that you're here. Why are you here?" his sister asks, easing herself onto a sofa. Jeff admits he's avoiding Cunanan. She snarks on Cunanan's postcard "mistake" trying to out Jeff to their dad. Jeff says grimly that he's not going to hang out with Cunanan, but Laura has Cunanan's number and Jeff's, telling Jeff he shouldn't let Cunanan have "that kind of control" over him and that Cunanan "was threatening" Jeff with the postcard. Why doesn't Jeff just tell their parents he's gay himself? Jeff knows what they're going to think. "They love you," Laura snorts, which, no doubt, but also: easy for the het sibling who's furnished grandchildren to say, even if she's correct. Jeff changes tacks, saying it's not the right time: they're so happy about the baby. It's her baby, Laura says, so as his superior officer she's ordering him to do it. "I'll think about it," Jeff says. "You've thought about it enough," Laura grumbles. Again: yeah, probably, and she's not a bad guy here, but…you know. Your loved ones' coming out is not about you. Jeff rolls his eyes, then tells Laura's belly, "I'm looking forward to being an uncle, so. Much." He smooches the belly -- aw -- and rests his head on it, listening…

…which makes the overlapping cut to the polka palace in the next scene pretty hilare and cuts the sadness nicely. Too bad we're about to be marinating in uncomf. David and Cunanan climb the stairs into the joint, Cunanan babbling that it's such an original idea, and it feels "special -- memorable." David quashes that line of thinking ASAP, saying it wasn't his choice -- his friend picked it. Said friend is his co-worker Melinda, who appears out of the crowd to greet David, and he introduces Cunanan as his "friend, Andrew." "'Friend,'" Cunanan repeats with a full "this guy, amirite" head-and-shoulders eye-roll, and says he's more than a friend. Everyone's "…k" faces do not deter him from grabbing David's wrist, still with the watch on it, and raising it to eye level to brag that he got it for David "to show how much he means to me." He adds quote casually, "It's worth ten thousand dollars." Melinda says, "Wow," and shoots David a quick, merry "by which I mean 'wow, you're gauche'" look. The silence in which nobody knows how to respond to Cunanan goes on for quite some time…

…and then we mercifully cut to David and Melinda polka-ing amateurishly and laughing a lot. Then it's into slo-mo, and the distorting of the soundtrack, as Cunanan tries to arrange his face into a "isn't this a hoot" shape but ends up Starmanning, as usual.

Later, David orders more beer and speculatively watches Cunanan from the bar as Melinda heroically tries to make conversation: "So what do you do?" Almost daring her to call him on it, Cunanan lies that he makes movie sets; he's working on Titanic down in Mexico. "And you're here for David?" "There's no one I love more," Cunanan confides, which at least is in the same area code as true. David returns with three steins, and Melinda fills him in, giving gorgeous "pfft" tone to "We were just talking about movie sets in Mexico!" "Mexico?" David says, glaring at Cunanan, who thinks for a second before grabbing David's hands: "Let's go dance!" Melinda watches them carefully as David gets free of Cunanan's grasp and says he doesn't need the whole weekend to think about it. "I can't hear you, the music's too loud!" Cunanan says through a desperately fake chuckle. David tries to repeat himself, but Cunanan's sticking with the can't-hear-you bit, bobbing frantically and shouting, "Let's just dance!" They can't get married, David says. "Even if we could -- we can't." The smile drains off Cunanan's face as David says he's really sorry, he doesn't know what else to say. He leaves Cunanan standing on the dance floor, other couples whirling around him. Oof.

At the loft the next morning, Cunanan is sitting, staring into space, still wearing the same clothes from the previous night. David comes out in a tee and boxers and asks if he couldn't sleep. "No." David half-rolls his eyes and goes into the bedroom to fish the watch out of his top drawer; the camera pans up to find Cunanan in the doorway, having Nosferatu'd his way into frame once again. David startles, then murmurs that "there's something great" about Cunanan; he's always thought that. He's generous. But it's not right to keep the watch, he says, handing the box to Cunanan. "I know money is tight." Cunanan badly lies that it isn't. David says it's okay to ask for help instead of telling "all these crazy stories," but Cunanan isn't going to admit to anything, asking through another super-fake chuckle, "What crazy stories?" David girds his loins and runs down the list: he's not making movie sets, he doesn't have a condo in San Fran…he's unhappy. He should let David help him the way Cunanan has helped other people. Cunanan looks genuinely baffled and fearful at this idea as David clarifies that he doesn't mean by marrying Cunanan -- that's not possible, it's not real. It's not what, Cunanan prompts, giving him the Manson lamps. "Another crazy story," David says reluctantly, and holds the box out for Cunanan to take.

Cut to both men heading for the elevator. As the door is closing on Cunanan, David stops it with his arm and guiltily says he can cancel on his "friend" for that night, if Cunanan needs to talk, "about anything." Cunanan tries for cheery, but ends up sounding robotic as he says again that he's starting a new life in San Francisco. "I need someone to share it with." David pulls a "yeah, still a hard pass" face and says he'll see Cunanan Sunday. Now it's Cunanan's turn to stop the door with his arm, and his face has darkened to one of Dawsonian accusation: "Is it Jeff? That friend you're seeing?" David waits a beat too long before denying it. Andrew releases the door silently. David turns away from the elevator all "Fuuuuuu."

It isn't Jeff, but whoever it is, he's cozy with David That Way when they return to David's building -- as Cunanan can see from his creeper stakeout spot across the street. When the other two head inside, he marches robotically across the street for a closer view.

From there, he heads to Jeff's apartment. It takes him a second to get the lights working, but alas, almost no time after that to come across the photo of Jeff and David, Prints nestled between them, tucked into the frame of another photo on Jeff's bureau.

The picture looks merely friendly, to my eye, but Cunanan is already paranoid about the possibility of a…"Tradson," I guess, and starts rifling through Jeff's drawers. It's not totally clear what he's looking for -- proof of a relationship; blackmail fodder a la what he unearthed at David's in the previous episode -- but when he pulls out Jeff's Navy uniform box from the closet, it seems like it's maybe both. Disrespectfully donning Jeff's hat, he digs under the dress whites and finds an unmarked VHS cassette. It's a news broadcast, interviewing active-duty servicemen about gays in the military, and the interviewee onscreen drops a few f-bombs as Cunanan keeps going through Jeff's stuff, eventually finding the gun. He's quite expertly loading a clip into the gun when he hears Jeff's voice coming from the TV; it's Jeff, in an identity-masking shadow, telling an interviewer that any gays in the military must serve in the closet. Cunanan kneels in front of the set and strokes Jeff's darkened face as Jeff says his career is probably over anyway, because he saved a gay fellow sailor from getting beaten to death by his peers, which tipped off said peers that Jeff too is gay. Cunanan sights the gun at the TV. Jeff, near tears, confesses that he's dreamt of taking that "good thing" he did back, letting the other guy die, so that the others wouldn't "suspect" him. (This interview did take place, around the time Jeff met Cunanan; the segment of it I found doesn't contain any mention of this incident.)

After the break, we're in 1995 in San Diego, aboard the Gridley. Jeff heads below decks, and comes upon a fight, or rather one seaman punching another repeatedly in the face. Jeff pulls the puncher off, and the puncher says that "that f***** brushed against" him. Jeff helps the punchee, Williams, to his feet, and as the puncher is threatening Williams if he ever touches the puncher again, Williams knocks him down with a right cross and sneers, "I'm sorry -- did I touch you?" Jeff scatters the combatants and their audience.

That night, a hand puts a bar of soap in a sock (we don't see the item, but per my father, this is how barracks justice was handed down as of the sixties, so let's assume), and Jeff awakens to hear the sounds of a blanket partyalready in progress. It's Williams, no surprise, and the gag they've put on him is no match for his wails of agony. Jeff rushes over to break this up too, telling the participants to scatter or they'll get written up, and helps Williams into the shower to clean up -- and to convince him to go to a doctor, which Williams doesn't want, because he'll have to write a report and make a complaint. "You're hurt, you need a doctor," Jeff says patiently, but Williams hollers, "I need out! …Get me out. Get me reassigned. Please!" He's near tears, and panting from the pain. Jeff cups his cheek. Williams meets his eye, then grabs his arm and pulls Jeff down onto the shower bench with him and cries on Jeff's shoulder. Jeff nurturingly busses Williams's head, and the generous comfort Jeff offers Williams is painful to watch, because you know no good deed goes unpunished, on earth as it is in American Crime Story, so of course Jeff glances up to see a NASCAR-looking dude giving them a disgusted glare from the doorway, then flip-flopping away.

The next day, Jeff goes through the lunch line and into the mess, and the shot follows him as he looks for a spot to sit, then locks eyes with NASCAR mustache guy from the night before. (The actor's name is Ric Maddox, and I'd like to note that he has also played the Joker in a short film called Gay Batman. The sort of dialogue he has here can't be an enjoyable day at the office, and Maddox is good, doesn't sell it out with ham like he might want to.) Finn Wittrock gives us a flicker of "let's get this over with" as he walks over and sits firmly down at the last empty seat at Mustache's table. Mustache can't wait to launch into a story about a guy getting caught at a "hook-up place for f**s," asking if Jeff knows it. Jeff's like, um, no, and Mustache goes on that the MPs went in undercover and busted the spot. Great use of your budget there, y'all. Jeff asks if the guy got discharged; Mustache says no, not if he agrees to name "every f** he's ever blown," but the guy doesn't know names -- so he's going to provide a list of tattoos. Cut to a super-tight close-up on Mustache's beady eyes as he asks with subtle relish, "Got any tattoos, Jeff?" Jeff glances around the table and chuckles all "FOH with that," but…

…the next scene is Jeff in the showers again, this time with an exacto knife, his issued Zippo, bandages, and a Costco bottle of rubbing alcohol. This is painful to watch, but I have to wonder what kind of clandestine blowjobs everyone else is giving that they'd see, much less take note of, a tattoo on the calf. I mean, don't the pants stay pretty far up in that instance? -- unless that's the point, that Jeff's paranoia is that far-reaching (and perhaps justified). Anyway, he takes the blade to the Martian and starts carving, but only gets about a third of the way around before he has to stop.

The next day, we're in a handheld shot of Jeff supervising other seamen, including the puncher from earlier, who glares at him. He's told the captain wants to see him, and as he's heading for the captain's quarters through a warren of hallways, it seems like everyone he passes -- and needs must nearly brush up against in these tight quarters -- along the way is eyeing him suspiciously. He takes a quick breath and reports in to the captain, and maybe this got fixed for the air version, but we probably shouldn't see what looks like a Studio City parking lot out the porthole.

Jeff is told to have a seat, and does, at which time he spots blood seeping through his pantleg from the tattoo wound -- also apparently added in post, as it doesn't move when Jeff's leg does, so I assume they fixed that too. He tries not to freak out, but then the captain hands him a booklet entitled Dignity & Respect: A Training Guide On Homosexual Conduct Policy.

This comic book -- yes, "comic book" -- also existed, which might seem hard to believe if you haven't served or don't have family members in the service but is all too credible if you have/do. Like, the parachutist at the top right…"irony-free up-fuckery," is what my vet uncle would call this. Jeff too-quickly asks if there's some reason the captain's giving it to him. It's being circulated to all officers; does Jeff not think it's important? Jeff's like, of…course, sure. Does Jeff have any questions? "No sir!" Jeff gulps. "You haven't looked at it." Jeff then grimly recites the section of the…Uniform Code? Not sure if that applies here, actually, but it's the regulation that prohibits engaging in or even admitting to "homosexual acts." The captain stares at Jeff, then asks if he knows all the regulations by heart. "Most, sir," Jeff says, which tracks. "Open the book," he's told, so he does, staring dully at a page that overexplains what "Don't Ask" means. The captain asks again if he has questions, and when Jeff answers again that he doesn't, the captain goes on about a code of conduct, without which they're "nothing." "Nothing," Jeff repeats. So they're understood? "Yes, sir."

Nighttime. Jeff's in the shower again, this time poring over the comic. He pauses when he thinks he hears footsteps, then resumes, this time at the Don't Tell portion of the book.

Daytime. He's dressing in his whites, buffing his cap, shining his white shoes. I didn't even write a note about the visual reference to Lt. Col. Markinson in A Few Good Men, because that character's about to shoot himself, but maybe I was onto something, because then we're back in the shower, Jeff standing in his whites on the bench and contemplating the belt he's looped over a ceiling pipe.

Wittrock looks about twelve years old in this shot and it is buh-rutal. Jeff puts his head through and leans on the belt, but he can't go through with this either, although it's a harrowing couple minutes, and the mood isn't lifted by his despair as he sags, crying, onto the shower bench.

He's only slightly happier about the prospect of visiting a gay bar called Flicks, but he does it, albeit with baseball hat pulled fairly far down and a body language suggesting deep conflict. Company B's "Fascination" blares in the bar as he hesitantly orders a beer and looks around at the men smiling, the men smoking, the go-go boy with the American-flag briefs smizing at him. Beside him is Cunanan, who spots him as a rookie immediately. "Was it that obvious?" "There were a few clues," Cunanan smirks, and introduces himself.

Later, they're yukking it up at a table with a few empties as Jeff reveals that he's never gone to any gay bar before. Cunanan's shaggy-dog joke about the bartender setting off fireworks that make the shape of Jeff's name to mark the occasion wigs Jeff out momentarily, but Jeff sincerely thanks him for making the night un-humiliating. Cunanan preens that it's his honor, and he feels like he's part of Jeff's history. He asks if Jeff is military, and murmurs that it must be hard. Jeff agrees that it is. Cunanan switches gears, saying rules require him to buy Jeff drinks for the rest of the night and insisting Jeff put his money away. Jeff smiles to himself. At the bar, Cunanan watches him fondly.

Another time, at the same bar, Cunanan asks how it happens that CBS wants to interview Jeff. They came to the base and canvassed the straight soldiers, Jeff says; his part is sharing "the other side." Cunanan sputters that Jeff is crazy, they'll kick him out, but Jeff says they'll keep him in shadow so he can't be identified. "How humiliating," Cunanan breathes. Jeff doesn't get it, so Cunanan notes that the bigots get to stand in the light, uniforms on, proudly; Jeff gets to stay in the shadows with his voice distorted, "like a criminal." "Yep," Jeff says grimly. Of course this is how Cunanan thinks of it, and that the Navy will witch-hunt Jeff, that nobody cares what he has to say and it's not worth it, but it's something Jeff needs to do. He can't explain it.

He pulls up to a motel in his Jeep and gathers himself, then approaches one of the rooms.

Gianni and Antonio do the same, at a different hotel.

Jeff listens at the hotel-room door.

Gianni breathes, "My heart," and puts Antonio's hand on his chest to feel the hammering. "Mine too," Antonio laughs. Gianni wonders how many interviews he's done. Antonio puts Gianni's hand over his heart and says he can't count. "None like this," Gianni says. They kiss. Gianni knocks.

Jeff shakes hands with his interviewer.

Gianni shakes hands with his interviewer. As he's posing for pictures, Antonio stares into the middle distance; he's snapped out of the reverie by Gianni coming over for help zhuzhing his shirt.

Jeff's reassured that viewers will only see his silhouette, and that the MPs can't make the interviewer reveal his sources.

Gianni's interviewer confirms that Gianni understands he's on the record.

Jeff explains that the military is his life; it's all he ever wanted to do. Asked if anyone serving is out, Jeff says the majority are closeted, "and will always be closeted."

Gianni interrupts his interview to introduce Antonio in so many words as his partner, and to ask if they can do the interview together. The interviewer smiles warmly, knowing what he's witnessing, and says absolutely.

Jeff, meanwhile, isn't so optimistic, saying that he thinks talking to CBS is probably the end of his career. But at the same time, his career probably died a long time ago, he says, choking up. They know. They've never promoted him, even though he's a good sailor. "How do they know?" Jeff tells the story of saving Williams's life. It's slightly different from what we heard before in the phrasing, but we're still seeing these two men, both struggling to do the right thing, and the hopeful version of the right thing. Both killed by a guy who couldn't see any way to get love except to never tell the truth and to trade in shame instead of pride.

The day of Jeff's death. He comes home to find his apartment in bad-guest disarray and Cunanan performatively eating Froot Loops, four of which he probably left in the box, because: dickhead. Jeff sees his uniform hat on the table, stares at Cunanan, and heads into the bedroom without a word as Cunanan scrambles to his feet. Jeff finds his uniform on the bed and stalks back into the living room: "You went through my stuff?" Cunanan non-answers that he was going to tidy up, but Jeff interrupts that he touched Jeff's uniform. Cunanan was going to put it back: "So what?" "'So what'?" Jeff snarls. Cunanan's eyes narrow as he says he doesn't get why Jeff keeps it. Cunanan didn't serve his country; he'll never get it. No, Cunanan doesn't, not after how the Navy treated him. "You've never believed in anything except yourself," Jeff says, but Cunanan protests that he believed in Jeff, "didn't I," when the Navy didn't? "Everything you gave me, the bars, the meals, the men, it means nothing -- I want my life back!" Jeff says. He means his real life, as a soldier. Cunanan croons in an oh-honey tone that they never wanted him -- Cunanan wanted him! Jeff's like, pass, and says he doesn't know who Cunanan is; he doesn't stand for anything. He isn't anything, he's just a liar. "You have no honor," Jeff finishes, heading back into the bedroom.

Now Cunanan's pissed, and tries to take control of the situation/Jeff, sneering that Jeff's not in the Navy anymore, "sweetie" -- he's a washed-up [slur] with a shitty job, in a shitty condo, "bitching about how you could have been someone." This is Cunanan, really, not Jeff, but Jeff says he's right about that. Cunanan attempts to pull rank by announcing grandly that, when Jeff walked into "that bar," he saved Jeff. Jeff: "You destroyed me!" He wishes he'd never gone into that bar; he wishes he'd never met Cunanan. Cunanan switches gears, saying Jeff's confused and can't see it, but Jeff can see it: "I see it, I feel it, I hate it." I think he means that what he sees and feels keep him from what he truly loves, serving in the Navy, but I'd hear arguments. In any case, Cunanan is still trying to work the tractor beam, putting his hands up to Jeff's face and starting to say he loved Jeff so much, but Jeff swats Cunanan's hands away, knocking him back a step: "No one! Wants! Your love!"

Cunanan Starmans out of the room, gathering his bag (with Jeff's gun on top) and leaving without a word.

David is opening the door to let his "friend" out and finds Cunanan just standing there. Cunanan brushes in, in between David and the friend, without being invited in. "Andrew!" Cunanan parks it on the coffee table: "Yes?" David didn't hear the buzzer. Cunanan didn't want to bother (read: alert) David, so he "just slipped in behind someone else." The friend's like, yikes, and David has to whisper that he'll call. He fastens his bathrobe tightly, and is about to get into it when Cunanan fake-haltingly mentions what David said "about needing help." Can they talk tonight? "Sure," David this-fucking-guys, and goes into the bedroom. Cunanan schemes.

Jeff irons his uniform and folds it neatly away.

While David showers, Cunanan calls Jeff to neener that he has Jeff's gun; he borrowed it to protect David from a stalker who's back in town. As Jeff is bitching at him about having a license and how the gun never leaves the apartment, Cunanan smiles smugly at the trap he's going to spring. Jeff says he'll come over and retrieve it, but he's done with Cunanan -- done. Cunanan tries to grade-school that Jeff said that already, but Jeff hangs up on him. Cunanan wanders into the area of David's loft that's under construction and eyes the hammer.

Jeff's downstairs now, banging on the broken buzzer. Cunanan asks if David's going to get the door, but this time, David asks if he's joking, and Cunanan grumps that Jeff is "very hostile at the moment" and he'd rather not get into it with him in the foyer. As David's letting Jeff in, Cunanan is selecting the hammer and taking up his lurking post. We see him hear Jeff say he never wants to see Cunanan again, and again here the dialogue is somewhat shuffled from what we saw last week, but it may air differently -- or be a "what Cunanan 'hears' and what's actually happening aren't the same" thing. It doesn't change the ending, unfortunately, and we cut from the door swinging shut and Cunanan rushing Jeff…

…to Jeff's sister getting wheeled into labor, hollering in pain. Slow pan across Jeff's empty apartment as his parents leave various messages about the labor and delivery; fade out on Jeff's hat, neatly atop the uniform box, as Jeff's parents inform him that he has a niece, and everyone's healthy.

#acs versace #previously tv #epic old school recaps #2.05 #recap #review #article #february 2018

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she-walked-away · 7 years

Note

day 7: kc+ "we’ve been engaged to be married since we were five but this is the first time we’ve met and your portraits really don’t do you justice” AU royalty x matchmaking tropes

day 7: kc+“we’ve been engaged to be married since we were five but this is the firsttime we’ve met and your portraits really don’t do you justice” AU royalty xmatchmaking tropes

Hey guys! Happy last day of AU Week! Big thanks to Laine for organizing it all, SHE IS AMAZING, and also a big thanks to Sara for all the prompts! She knows how to get me inspired ;)

Enjoy!

HRH Caroline Forbes let out a sigh asshe finished powdering her nose, pressing her lips together as she surveyed herimage in the extravagant mirror. Her overly made up face stared back at herwith concern as the young royal meticulously went over every detail of herelaborate blonde hairstyle and outfit.

Tonight was the night of her“coming-out” ball, a tradition that the royals of her country upheld for theirchildren when they hit 18 years of age. To her parents chagrin, Caroline managedto convince them to hold off on her celebration until she finished college andwas ready to partake in royal duties. So now her "coming out ball”was more of a graduation party, and the beginning of the sure-to-be-boring restof her life.

“What do you think?” she called over hershoulder to her best friend, Katherine. “More powder?”

The brunette wrinkled her nose as shewalked over. “Geez Care, one more puff of powder and the court might mistakeyou for a walking corpse.”

The blonde looked at her reflection inalarm. “Is it really that bad?”

Katherine rolled her eyes. “I don’t knowwhy you’re so concerned. This ball is just a formality for your family toofficially introduce you as a member of the royal family. Half of these peoplesee you walking around in sweatpants on the weekends.”

“Yeah, well this is the first time I’mmeeting Niklaus and his family,” Caroline murmured, reaching for her makeupremover and began to strategically take off the excess coverage.

“Ah yes,” Katherine grinned. “Theelusive fiancé. I wish my parents were so thoughtful as yours to arrangemy future marriage at age five. It sure beats the hell out of the 21st datingcentury.”

By far one of the worst things about being an Mystic State princess, was thesacrifice of her future. Caroline’s parents arranged for their daughter tomarry into a Orleans State royal family back when she was just startingelementary school. It was a carefully constructed deal that would help bringthe two nations closer, continually unifying them even more as partners in theworld stage.

Caroline rolled her eyes, reaching forher eyeliner and began to expertly line her waterline. “Oh yes, so thoughtfulof them. Taking away my basic human right to marry before I even knew what aboy was. It’s so archaic. I thought this was 2017, not the 1400s.”

Katherine hummed, lining her lips with abold red lipstick. “You’ve never been in the current dating scene. I’d take anarranged marriage to any of the Mikaelson clan members over dealing with TylerLockwood’s dick pics he sends on snapchat.”

Caroline and Katherine met in college,rooming together their freshman year. To Caroline’s joy, the brunette barelykept up with the royal families around the world and had no clue who theprincess was until people started coming up to her in the cafeteria duringbreakfast one morning.

Caroline wrinkled her nose. “Ew. And notme. I’d rather take my chances in the dating pool.”

“But Niklaus is totally hot in hisportraits and those pictures of the charity appearances that the Orleans royalsdo just makes him look more delicious.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Please.It’s basic royal procedure for all court commissioned portraits and pictures toexaggerate the features. Every single one of mine are ridiculous.”

“What? You mean you don’t have porelessskin?” Katherine teased.

“Hah,” Caroline said sarcastically. “Ifthere is anybody who is less excited about tonight, it’s Niklaus.”

“But you don’t even know him.”

“True, but I know how guys work. Meetingyour future wife against your will, a year before the supposed wedding issupposed to happen? Talk about a death sentence.”

Katherine just grinned. “Who knows?Maybe you’ll fall madly in love at first sight.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “I highlydoubt that.”

Katherine just hummed playfully. “Younever know.”

“Since when are you the optimistic one?”Caroline teased.

Her best friend grinned, shrugging. “Call it ahunch. Plus, once you get properly wed maybe Niklaus has some friends that area bit more refined than Dick Pic Lockwood.”

Caroline snorted. “I doubt it. The last thingyoung male royals in betrothals actually want, is their wives.”

Katherine pursed her lips together and gave herfriend a skeptical look. “Something tells me Niklaus may be a bit moremature than that.”

Caroline touched Katherine’s forehead, glancing overher concernedly. “Did you bump your head?”

The brunette pushed her away with a giggle.“Shut up.”

The blonde chuckled and went back to checking herreflection in the mirror. “Promise me that you’ll at least try to rescue me if he’s as sleazy as JohnGilbert from the last ball.”

Katherine made a face. “Oh definitely. But Ithink the only thing you will need isa party pack of condoms.”

Caroline only response was to throw her lipstick atthe door as Katherine ducked out with laugh.

*******************************

Caroline forgot how boring royal ballswere. She held back a yawn as she nodded politely to the diplomat and his wifein front of her as they chattered nonsensically about some national dinner thatthey were holding. Katherine ditched her hours ago, talking up some stifflooking dark-haired man in the corner. He looked a little boring for Caroline’staste, but Katherine seemed smitten as she tossed her chestnut curls over hershoulder and giggled.

She had yet to run into Niklaus, havingbeen whisked away in multiple directions by her parents to meet people.

“So, will we be seeing you at ourdinner?” the diplomat’s wife, Elena, asked.

Caroline snapped her attention back tothe brunette and struggled to remember the details of the dinner that her andDiplomat Saltzman were discussing.

“Um- I,” she stammered, racking herbrain for excuses.

“I’m afraid we will have to decline,” adeep, lilting accent spoke from behind her. “My fiancée and I will bevacationing that week.”

Caroline whirled around, seeing the manthat the accent was attached to.

Holy. Hell.

Niklaus Mikaelson stood behind her, hisred crimson lips transfixed into a small smirk. His sandy blonde curls,normally slicked back in pictures, were stylishly tousled. He had a slight fiveo’clock shadow that left Caroline vaguely wondering how it would feel againsther cheeks.

Caroline let out a soft gasp as she tookhim in. The black tuxedo was crisply tailored to his lean, strong build thathad her fingers itching to explore. She was wrong and unfortunately (well,actually it was quite fortunate for her honestly), her betrothed’s palaceportraits and pictures definitely did not do him justice.

“There you are, love, I’ve been lookingfor you,” he said easily, walking up and placing a hand at the small of herback.

His blue-green eyes were crinkled inamusement as Caroline continued to gape at him as he offered his hand toDiplomat Saltzman.

“Apologies for not introducing myselfearlier,” he said smoothly. “My family was getting me acquainted with some ofthe other attendants tonight and it’s taken me forever to find my fiancée.”

The diplomat and his wife waved off hisapology with smiles and excused themselves, nodding knowingly in Caroline’sdirection. Caroline smiled at them weakly as her brain tried to wrap around thefact that her apparent fiancé seemed to looked like Michelangelo’s Davidin human form.

Caroline shot a quick look up to theceiling. Well done sir.

Niklaus chuckled lightly under hisbreath as he turned to her. “You okay?”

She nodded numbly, swallowing heavilybefore offering him her hand as she did a quick curtsy. “Nice to finally meetyou Niklaus.”

He made a face. “Call me Klaus. Niklausis reserved for being reprimanded by my teachers in school and my parents.”

Caroline smiled slightly. “Okay, Klaus.I’m Caroline, obviously.”

He gave her a brilliant smile and herstomach lurched pleasantly. She shyly tucked a curl behind her ear, knowing hermother was most likely watching the exchange and positively internallyscreaming at her for messing up her perfect hairstyle.

“It’s nice to like officially meetyou,” she said, cursing herself for how lame she sounded to her ears.

“I must say, you are stunning incomparison to your beautiful portraits,” he complimented, taking her hand andpressing a kiss to the back of it.

Caroline couldn’t help but roll her eyesbecause, seriously? Was this what she was missing in the dating scene?

“It’s a good thing you’re stuck marryingme because that was a terrible pick up line,” sheremarked, enjoying the little flash of surprise in his eyes. “Think of how manygirls will be saved from your lame plays.”

“I was just being honest,” he tried, buthis lips quirked up into a smirk.

Caroline held back a smile and justshook her head. There was no way she was going to admit that she felt the exactsame about all of the pictures and portraits of him that she’d seen throughoutthe years.

“So, what does a betrothed couple dowhen they meet for the first time?” Klaus mused as he looked around the room.“Care for a dance?”

Caroline shrugged, forgoing allpropriety. “I actually kind of hate these things. I’m so bored-”

“-and hungry,” Klaus finished, nodding.

She shot him a small smile, pleasantlysurprised to see someone else agreeing with how dumb the royal balls are.

“Literally it’s just an excuse for allthe old royals to get together and show off how rich they are,” she continued.“This ball is supposed to be for me, but I’m pretty sure my “coming out” cakewas cut by some teenager and nobody noticed.”

Klaus dipped his head sheepishly. “Thatwould be my brother, Kol, who did that. Forgive him, love, he knows not what hedoes.”

Caroline giggled. “How many siblings doyou have?”

“Too many,” he groaned. “And one of themhas been in the corner talking to that girl all night.”

Caroline followed Klaus’ gesture,surprised to see him pointing at Katherine and the dark haired man who werestill talking.

“That’s your brother?”

Klaus hummed, nodding.

“He’s talking to my best friend,”Caroline said, watching with a soft smile.

“She must really be bored with as dullas Elijah is,” Klaus remarked and Caroline pressed her lips together to holdback a laugh.

“Oh please, she will eat him alive,” sheresponded, nodding towards them. “Katherine doesn’t back down from achallenge.”

“Hopefully he won’t put her to sleepfirst,” he cracked and Caroline giggled.

He turned to look at her, a grinblossoming across his face. “You have a beautiful laugh, Caroline.”

She nudged him playfully. “What did Isay about those lame come-ons? They still suck.”

Klaus just shrugged. “At least you knowI’ll always be honest with you, no matter how lame I may be.”

Caroline’s cheeks heated as she duckedher head, biting her lip. Klaus just continued to smile at her, his browsarched challengingly.

“How about a glass of champagne?” heoffered.

Caroline studied him, very aware of howher pulse leapt every time he smiled at her. Part of her wanted to walk away,to defy her parents’ wishes with this stupid antiquated arranged marriage crap.But, the other part of her craved to learn more about the elusive Klaus. Hisquick wit, the way he rolled with her biting remarks with a grin, and how hekept looking at her like she was the biggest mystery of the world that helonged to discover.

She pressed her lips together, watchingas Klaus’ eyes briefly followed the motion before lifting back up to hers. Athrill of excitement went down her back, building her up as she met his eyesconfidently.

“I think that sounds great,” she agreed,smiling at him brilliantly.

His smirk grew, deepening his dimples ashe stepped closer and Caroline’s stomach twisted. Oh, they were going to have funtogether.

“Allow me.”

Review Here :)

#klaroline #klarolineauweek #klaroline drabbles #klaroline fanfiction #loving klaroline #my writing

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rainbowamory · 6 years

Text

A piece of my writing (OCs)

The photos are pics I found online of dolls from two different sources. I do not own these images. I put these images side by side only as reference pics for how I imagine my characters’ facial features. The guy sometimes changes in my head but this comes close... except my male character is blond and green-eyed and his hair style is a little different.

[For more images, see artwork:

OC Commission Review 1, and OC Commission Review 2]

Ages for this scene: Syden (16), Cela (16), Sia (12), Kate (17 going on 18)

My Characters: Syden, Sia and Kate are siblings. Cela is their cousin.

Point-of-view: Cela

Written by: Rainbowamory

These are placeholder names because I don’t want to put my characters’ names here. This is a piece I wrote for practice.

Brief Background:

[My Note: At this time in their lives, Cela and Syden would mostly see each other at school since they went to the same highschool since Gr. 10, and during the couple of times a month Cela stayed at his house… otherwise, she needed to go home after school and he needed to go to his home or to the Castle (his other home). Syden’s house was the middle ground for the two of them—the neutral space untouched by the disagreements of war. While they did see each other more than when they were kids, they still were not always together as often as they wanted to be. And they didn’t have all the same classes either, only some. I’m still deciding on how their setting/world looks but I may go for a mixture of modern and traditional fantasy elements… If so, there would be two ‘realms’… one where there is magic and old style fighting, and the other where there is modern technology. I’m still working on how to properly structure everything.

This scene takes place at a high-end clothing store, in the more modern part of the same world OR realm # 2]

[The prompt for this scene was one I made up specifically for their kind of relationship. I wanted to show how they express platonic vs romantic love when around other family members. This scene is told wholly from Cela’s point-of-view.]

Actual Scene:

Cela sat on one side of the circular sofa chair. The whiteness of the cushions matched her outfit—a pair of white denim pants and a cream-coloured silk blouse. Her shoes and handbag were more of the same shades. Only her long dark hair and dark eyes stood out against the monochrome surroundings.

Syden’s outfit was not too bad looking either. In his smoothly pressed dress pants and shirt, with blond hair swept gracefully across his forehead and a thoughtful look on his face, he could’ve made a pretty persuasive mannequin for the store.

“You look good in black and white,” she said as an aside, keeping her eyes on the little game she was playing on her portable console.

She saw him look her way from the corner of her eye.

“You too,” he said.

He was seated between Cela on one side and his little sister Sia on the other. Sia’s hair tumbled in golden waves down to her shoulders, kissing the thin straps of her summer dress, a lovely canary yellow thing that ended just at her knees. She had on makeup, though she hardly needed any; like others in her family, Sia had a natural beauty about her. Cela remembered how excited the girl had been at the idea of accompanying them. But the three of them knew that this was really Kate’s day.

Kate’s last year in highschool was rapidly coming to an end, which meant looking for the perfect dress for her prom. Syden had agreed to accompany her for the sake of keeping an eye on Sia, while Cela had been invited to help her choose her outfit. If anyone could be counted on to tell Kate what color went best with her skin tone or whether the dress was not too slutty—without a hint of competition or self-serving intentions—it was Cela.

They had requested a set of private dressing rooms on one of the upper floors of the building. The cubicles were arranged in a semi-circle, their white doors decorated with ornate silver and gold patterns. The round sofa was placed in front so that those in the waiting area were facing the cubicles. Underneath one of them, Cela could see the lower part of Kate’s legs as she tried on different dresses.

They had been there for nearly two and a half hours, during which Kate had tried on various different styles—ranging from flattering to plain to impractical. To entertain themselves, Syden and Sia had gone off to have a tour of the mall. When they returned, Cela and Syden had passed the remaining time by sharing the gaming console between each other. It had been Cela’s turn and she was nearly done with her round when one of the cubical doors swung open.

Cela put down her console to see Kate as she stepped out in a sparkling orange and gold dress that brought out the glow in her copper blond hair. It was covered in large disks that looked like shimmering scales flowing down the length of her slim body. There was a v-shaped opening on the front that curved around her breasts just right without being overly revealing.

Syden and Sia went up to her for a closer look. Cela followed momentarily.

“So sparkly!” Sia chittered, reaching out and running her hands all over the fabric.

“You look like a goldfish,” Syden stated in his usual toneless way. Sia giggled in spite of herself.

Cela shot him a reproachful look but the remark did not seem to faze Kate.

“It’s very elegant,” said Cela. “I’d rate it a ten.” Sia echoed her judgment.

Kate beamed, her soft brown eyes brimming with warmth.

“What about you, Syden?” she asked.

Syden pretended to take his time thinking. “Eight.” That was the best she could expect from him.

“Thank you” she said. There was a mirror placed in the middle of the line of cubicles. Kate lingered in front of it for a moment, looking at her reflection from different angles, then swiftly disappeared back into her little room.

A few minutes before, Sia had asked for some dresses to try on. They arrived just then on a wheeled clothes rack, delivered to her by a store employee. Sia grabbed an armful of the most colorful ones and disappeared into the middle cubicle.

This left Cela and Syden to themselves. They went back to the couch, and back to their waiting game. Cela picked her console back up and was about to continue her round when a flash of red caught her eye. It was a dress that had been left on the rack since it was not the right size for Sia. When she went up to have a closer look, she saw that the dress was scarlet, with no shoulder straps. It looked simple enough and seemed to be about her size.

On a whim, she took it off its hook and went inside one of the empty dressing rooms on the opposite end from Kate’s. A few minutes later, she came back outside to look at herself in the mirror, noticing briefly that Syden had picked up her console while she was gone. She heard tiny shooting sounds coming from it as she stood in front of the mirror. A few seconds later the sounds stopped and she heard the crude electronic voice say, “End of Round 5—You Have 3 Casualties and 2 Kills.”

She turned to look at him just as he looked up from the game screen.

Cela thought the dress was ok-looking but one glance at Syden’s face convinced her it was better than that.

He wasn’t typically the most expressive person. But occasionally, she could tell when he was feeling something by looking into his eyes, as she did now.

“What do you think?” she asked anyway.

He stared a little longer.

Cela was disappointed.

“Is that all you have to say?” she asked, tossing her hair so that it fell lustrously around her bare shoulders.

Syden still looked dazed.

Cela’s lips curved into a subtle smile in spite of herself. Syden didn’t seem amused.

“Tease,” he said sardonically.

She walked up to him to allow for a closer look, turning slowly in front of him so he could see her from all sides. When she came around to face him again, he reached up to brush his fingertips lightly across the curve of her waist. She took his hand in her own and held it for a second, thinking.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, standing and cupping her face with his free hand.

“Nothing,” she said. He was so sweet when he wanted to be. She thought for a moment then started walking towards her cubicle, leading him along behind her.

“What are you—” he began in a confused voice, but before he could object, she had pulled him inside the dressing room and shut the door.

It didn’t take him long to get her meaning, as if beneath his apparent confusion he was only just waiting for the right signs. He waited all but two seconds, then walked up close to her, pushed her gently against the cubicle wall and began kissing her. First on the neck, then on the lips.

There were three ways Syden communicated best: art, swordplay and touch. This was probably a good thing. As her mother liked to say, people who were seldom good with words should use them sparingly.

Cela gently tangled her fingers in his hair as she kissed him back. They were so involved in the moment that they didn’t think anyone would be wondering where they had gone.

The awakening came with a knock on the cubicle door.

Syden pulled back from her with a wide-eyed look on his face. Cela was less concerned. She recognized the feet on the other side before she opened the door. Even Syden didn’t seem that shocked once he saw who it was. He was a bit flustered, but in no hurry to hide anything.

Kate stared at the two of them for a few seconds. She stood with her orange dress over one arm and her handbag slung over her shoulder. She was back in her usual clothes—a knee-length navy blue skirt and long sleeved white top. The look on her face was mild irritation rather than surprise. This was nothing new to her.

His whole family knew by now the nature of Cela and Syden’s relationship and had gotten over the shock a long time ago... Not that it was much of a shock to begin with. Though they had never even kissed until they were fifteen, and despite not seeing each other for almost eight years, Cela and Syden had been close as children. Some saw their current relationship as a kind of extension of that early bond.

Kate appeared more bothered by the fact that they were making out in a public place.

She finally spoke up.

“Do you know where Sia is?” she asked patiently enough.

Cela looked at Syden. Syden shook his head.

“She was trying on dresses…” he said.

“Well, she’s not anymore,” said Kate, somewhat more sternly.

“Oh,” said Syden. “Where did she go?”

Kate shook her head and began walking away, leaving them no option but to follow.

Syden helped Cela change back into her clothes, then they both went looking for his older sister.

“You were supposed to watch her,” Kate said to Syden as the two of them caught up with her. Cela could tell that Syden wasn’t exactly proud of his negligence. It wasn’t like him to take his little sister’s safety lightly. Neither of them blamed Cela.

They left the private dressing area by taking some stairs down to the 1st floor and there began meandering in the maze of stalls that covered much of the space. Kate stressed the importance of sticking together, so that no one else would get lost.

As they walked past rows of many colors and styles of clothing, Cela scanned the room for a sign of a little blond head among the lanes. Twice she thought she found her little cousin but both times it turned out to be some other girl with sun-streaked hair.

“How are we supposed to find her in a place this big? She could be anywhere,” Syden complained.

“Well, we’re not going home without her, so try a little harder,” Kate replied.

The three of them continued winding down the aisles, with Kate leading the way, peaking over the stalls every now and then to see if they could catch a sign of Sia.

The building was one large white tower made up of three levels, each with a domed ceiling. There were windows high up on the walls, with sunlight streaming through them. All around them were other fashionable people moving about on their business, picking out dresses or suits for special occasions. Some of them worked for the store. Beautiful people helping beautiful people. Cela felt somewhat out of place among all the glamor.

There were several stores, each leading into another through connecting arches. They passed from store to store, following the curve of the walls. They even asked a few people if they’d seen the girl, all with no luck. Once they arrived back where they started, Syden and Kate were both starting to get moody.

They got into an argument over whether to check the 2nd floor children’s playground or the adult-only stores on the 3rd floor. Syden seemed to think Sia’s curiosity would take her places she shouldn’t go… Kate insisted the girl was too young to attempt that kind of behaviour.

Cela vaguely recalled Sia saying something about how she was tired of trying on “kiddy clothes” and wanted something different.

The debate ended with the two of them deciding to go separate ways. Cela, not wanting to offend either of them, decided not to choose sides. She told them she would wait by the lounge area near the entrance, and would keep a look out for anyone who resembled Sia leaving the store.

When she reached the spot, she found herself a couch chair and put her feet up, pulled out her console and began playing. From where she was sitting, she had a clear view of the inside of the first store as well as the outside lobby. If she failed to catch Sia pass by, she was still in a position where Sia could see her clearly.

In the meantime, Cela chose to continue with the game she had been playing, picking up on Round 6. It was called “Witch-Hunter”. One side consisted of an army made up of angels and guardians of the world while the other was made up of ghouls, demons and witches. You had to set up your army with the right equipment and roles at the end of every round. If you failed to do this properly, the other player would have an advantage. Each player was represented by one lead commander. In this round, one of her main targets was the ghost of the previous player, who tried hard yet ineffectively to evade the shots she sent his way, all the while throwing unearthly curses at her army. When at last she managed to take him down, and heard his angry little howls echo off the screen, she giggled with intense self-satisfaction.

She played on until the army of darkness was in tatters, then ordered herself a hotdog. Glancing at the time on a nearby clock, she realized that 20 minutes had passed since she first sat down. The meal had made her somewhat sleepy, so she lay back into the cushions and closed her eyes.

Her thoughts went to home—not his home, hers—and what awaited her there. Her family had been busily preparing for a major upcoming event. There was to be a council of sorts, with others from her father’s line of work: skilled fighters and investigators and sorcerers. There would be some people her own age as well, the children of her father’s peers. Some of them would no doubt be curious about her fighting abilities.

She’d discuss with them the importance of their cause; to be a deterrent to dark magic users around the world. She’d talk about some of their main targets, including Sorcerers like the one Syden was working for… She wasn’t sure if anyone would mention Syden himself, since he wasn’t their main focus, but he was still one of the best soldiers the enemy had, and the Sorcerer’s personal Shield. If his name was brought up, she would need to talk of him with contempt, like everyone else at the meeting.

This would’ve been easy enough to do once upon a time before they had started dating. She was still getting used to how much he’s changed since they were kids. Sometimes she thought she caught a glimmer of the boy he used to be in a gesture or a word. But other times she wondered if that sweet boy ever existed in the first place…

She reflected on how detached he had been when she visited his house again after years of being away. He seemed keen on avoiding her, like he couldn’t stand being around her. It took her months to realize he had actually been watching her closely all along, trying hard to reconcile the mental image he had of her in childhood with the young woman she was becoming.

In her musings, she had fallen into a light slumber. She saw a vision of herself standing at the edge of a cliff, in bloodstained battle clothes, with dead men strewn over the ground for a mile behind her. Syden stared back at her, expressionless, from the other side—against a similar background of carnage. There was a chasm between them.

Someone was touching her shoulder. She awoke to find that she was staring into a pair of green eyes, the same ones from her vision. Syden was leaning over her with little amused smile on his face.

“What were you dreaming of, I wonder…?�� he said.

Cela sat up, rubbing her temple.

“None of your business,” she replied, stretching and looking up at him. She tried her best to appear clear-headed. “So, did you find her?”

He stepped away from the chair and made a sweeping motion with his arm towards Sia, who had been standing behind him with Kate the whole time.

Cela was relieved to see her.

“Which one of you found her?” she asked out of curiosity.

Kate glanced down at the floor.

“Me of course,” said Syden. “I know my sister better than anyone else…”

Cela looked at Sia and saw her blush.

“What were you looking at on the 3rd floor?” she asked the girl.

“Lingerie,” Syden answered for her.

Cela felt discomfited. A 12-year-old girl should not be looking at such things.

“But she learned her lesson. Didn’t you, Sia?” Syden asked her.

The blush on Sia’s face seemed to deepen.

“Y-yes.”

“It’s no fun being followed by creeps that are twice your age,” he added candidly.

Kate grimaced and took Sia by the hand.

“It’s ok now,” she said to the girl. “We’re going home.” She looked at Syden.

“Can I trust you to look after her while I go pay for my dress?” she asked. Syden nodded, and Kate left them.

Syden found a seat for Sia and sat in a chair beside her. Cela could tell that the girl was still shaken.

“Sia,” she heard Syden say. “Someday you’ll get to do whatever you want, wear what you like… date a guy close to your own age maybe. But growing up isn’t as fun as you think. Highshool drama, heart break, teachers that just don’t get you, bullies… and more shit I’d rather not talk about. You should make the most of being a kid, and don’t rush it. You’ll regret it if you do.”

How cute, thought Cela. He left out the part about being trained since the age of 7 to be a killing machine.

Sia stared at him longingly.

“I promise I won’t tell mom,” he said. “And Kate won’t either.”

At those words, the girl’s anxiety seemed to lift a little. She smiled an angelic smile, then threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

Syden returned the embrace.

…

When they pulled apart, he stood up and walked over to Cela. He asked her if she wanted to buy the dress she had been looking at. She said she’d call the store and reserve it for later.

He showed her a necklace that he had bought for Kate, shortly after he found Sia. It was a simple gold chain with a blazing sun pendant at the centre, to go with her ‘goldfish’ outfit. He asked Cela to keep it a secret until closer to Kate’s graduation.

By the time Kate returned to them, Sia was her carefree self again and they were set to go. Sia and Syden walked on ahead, arm-in-arm, while Kate and Cela walked behind, side by side.

Kate seemed pleased with how the day had gone, but Cela could tell she was nervous about something. As they left the building and were walking to the spot where the chauffeur was waiting for them, Kate finally spoke up.

“I have everything I need for my prom,” she said. “All except a date.”

Kate never talked about guys nearly as much as she did about her studies, but there was one she often brought up in conversation: a classmate whose work she admired. He enjoyed the Sciences as much as she did, and, according to Syden, the boy was as much a “hopeless nerd” as his sister was—a boy who “ate books for breakfast, lunch and dinner”.

“Have you tried asking someone?” said Cela.

Kate shook her head.

“You should try. Sometimes you have to take a chance to know what is possible.”

As she watched Syden and Sia walking before them, talking and laughing together, she took comfort in the knowledge that, whoever he had in his life, he would always be hers first.

…

ADDITIONAL NOTES for SELF:

[Syden doesn’t bother offering to buy Cela her dress because they have an understanding that she can take care of her own material needs with her own money. She is not with him for his money and he knows that. She would take it as an insult if he were to buy a lot of pointless stuff for her, so he doesn’t. He only buys her stuff for her birthday or holidays and occasionally for spontaneous reasons.]

[Though Syden and Cela have been trained to fight since they were very young, neither of them entered the actual battle field until they were 14. But by then they had developed many skills already]

#cousins #fiction #original characters #rainbowamory #writing

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chasingparamasturbatoryillusions · 6 years

Note

MSR for the ship meme

ULTIMATE SHIP MEME!

General:

How long will they last? Scully’s immortal, so probably until Mulder dies.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? HM. I feel like that’s debatable based on character and who you ask and your definition of love. You can make the argument that Mulder was in love by Scully’s abduction, but I don’t buy into that. But he definitely was by the time she almost died from cancer so. I think he knew sometime during s4, during the latter half, and I think that’s definitely - you can make arguments about the beginning of Memento Mori, and I think those are correct, and it was definitely a mutual thing by the first movie, so I would say the end of s4 at the latest for both of them. Not that they did anything about it. For another two years.

How was their first kiss? –gonna start by assuming that Millennium was not the first kiss because that. didn’t. feel like. a first kiss? And so much of that aspect of their relationship happens where we, as viewers, don’t see it, that I feel it was likely for that, too, and I think. I think the first time would’ve been. Not an accident, but. Smaller? Like that moment where you’re not quite sure that what you’re about to do is a good idea, but you do it anyway? And the thing is that, like, in writing people build up these really slow and sensual and romantic first kisses, and the thing is, they’re not all like that. And I think, maybe, this was one of those moments where it wasn’t…it wasn’t big at first, it was small and a taste and Mulder’d probably had something with onions or too much garlic so he had to go brush that taste out and then they tried again, and it was awkward because they knew but then the third time was right and they settled.

Wedding:

Who proposed? I think proposals are probably far too overly romantic for either of them and it was more of a discussion that ended with marriage not as a conclusion but as something they realized they both wanted from each other (as opposed to other conclusions where they individually realized it was something they wanted but thought the other didn’t).

Who is the best man/men? Skinner. Maybe Doggett if they can find him. But, honestly, this is Mulder. Who else would he ask? Who else does he know? But this also assumes that, like,they had a big wedding where they did that sort of thing, and I’m not sure that’s the case. WILLIAM. Because they totally aren’t married yet and since they’re not I can assume big happy family and YO HAVE WILLIAM.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? …gut instinct says Reyes but right now she’s off with CSM which is kind of a betrayal, so I. don’t know. If Melissa were still alive, it would’ve been her, but. I still think it should’ve been Reyes, and if that problem gets fixed, I still think it would be. But then you run into that same question of - these two are really secluded in what they do, so there’s not really a large swath of people they know and trust for this sort of thing.

Who did the most planning? Scully. Don’t let Mulder plan a wedding. It would not go well.

Who stressed the most? Mulder. Because he’s bad about dates and events and being on time and this is one of those things where it’s kind of important you be on time, Mulder but also his guilt complex would have him think that there are better options for Scully out there and. I think Scully would stress more about the general ceremony, but Mulder would stress more about the marriage aspect.

How fancy was the ceremony? Not very. I think it was small. And informal. And I know there’s a sliding scale but let me do a general answer, too. Because, for me, the number is more indicative of size than anything.Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? …CSM. Krycek, if he were still alive. But mostly CSM.

Sex:

Who is on top? Mulder.

Who is the one to instigate things? Scully.

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7, if five is once every couple of weeks | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they?Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? The question is not how long but how frequent. Plus One suggests that a couple of hours is more than enough time but also suggests that they can go once and then be good to go again a few hours later. So– I’d say it depends on who needs what. They go longer if Mulder has the opportunity for oral. Just saying.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? No, because sometimes a man wants to please his wife but doesn’t really need an orgasm himself, yo.

How rough are they in bed? And gonna give a general on this in relation to the sliding scale because. I don’t think Mulder does rough. I really don’t think that’s in his sexual vocabulary. But also I don’t know why really dirty talk constitutes as super rough, so. -shrugs-Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 but only in comparison to four, because I don’t think every time is a thing. | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? –I don’t think this is an in public sort of number, though, and honestly, if I remember correctly, Scully very much wants touch, and Mulder’s typically going to be open to it, even if it’s just small things.No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children: you didn’t.

How many children will they have naturally? One.

How many children will they adopt? None.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? Scully. Because Mulder wasn’t around. (Otherwise Mulder because Scully would have an actual job and Mulder would totally be a stay-at-home conspiracy theory crazy dad.)

Who is the stricter parent? Given the opportunity, Mulder, because he knows how to find shit on a computer and get the kid in trouble for it.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? Neither because they didn’t raise him. Scully. But only if she got to him before Mulder convinced him to pull the dangerous stunt.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? Neither because they didn’t raise him. Scully. Because if she let Mulder do it, half of the food would be inedible. (Mulder would give him cash to buy a school lunch.)

Who is the more loved parent? Scully because she gets visions and Mulder got nothing. Still Scully. I mean. Mulder’s the kind of dad who wants to be cool dad which is nice, but let’s be real, everyone loves Scully more.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Neither because they didn’t raise him. Scully would want to be there, but Mulder was the one who actually showed up because the hospital needed her for whatever reason and if you don’t think Mulder is one of the stereotypical PTA moms.

Who cried the most at graduation? Scully.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? MULDER.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? If anyone in this family cooks, it’s William, because Scully’s at the hospital and Mulder burns water.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? Scully. With her diets. And salads. And low-fat food.

Who does the grocery shopping? Mulder and William, which causes problems, because they want junk food and microwave dinners and hamburgers and conveniently forget to get salads and healthy things and Scully gives them the look and then they have to go back except it’s during the week so Mulder has to go by himself and it’s nowhere near as much fun.

How often do they bake desserts? They don’t. William is not a baker, Scully’s at work, and Mulder…could maybe make brownies from a box. But he’d add a bunch of sugar and they’d be inedible except with a TON of milk. Skim milk.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? Mulder is a meat eater, but as a whole they probably eat more salads because when they eat as a family, William caters to what his mom wants (and let’s be real, so would Mulder).

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? Neither. Well. Mulder would try, but it would be a disaster, so he’d think about it and…try again under the impression he’d do better this time, and it still wouldn’t work out. Eventually it would, but by the time it did, Scully would have learned not to trust his anniversary cooking attempts.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? Scully. Because that is significantly safer.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? Mulder wants to let all of you know that he can cook basic meals and he is not helpless in the kitchen. But also he would totally be the one more likely to burn the house down because he experiments with food in ways that he really, really shouldn’t.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? Scully.

Who is really against chores? Mulder.

Who cleans up after the pets? Scully.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? Mulder.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? Mulder.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? William.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? Scully.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? They do this together.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? Not very. It’s something they would do more for William than as a general rule.

What are their goals for the relationship? Not dying. This sounds like a joke. But it’s true - not dying. Being able to have a full, long life together. Even if it’s not always happy and even if there are moments of darkness. Being together and a source of light despite all of that.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? Mulder, despite his insomnia, is definitely the one who would sleep until noon. (Unless Scully had a graveyard shift, at which point it would be more logical to get however many hours of sleep she needed, and then - and probably only then - would she sleep until noon.)

Who plays the most pranks? Mulder, but I think there’s definitely an air of fun when it comes to the family. I can see all three of them playing pranks, and I think, in a happier world, it’s something they definitely both would, when they’re both in a good place. But Mulder would take the cake on this.

#spoiledendngs #[ meme response ]#[ ordinary deviation from external reality ]#[ thanks for sending this in!! ]#[ <3 ]#spoiledendings #[ hope in the darkness that i will see the light; promise me we'll be alright ]

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verllaine-blog · 7 years

Text

A guide to the fandom of French politics/lolitics

I found something similar going around in the Spanish lolitics fandom (I think?) and thought it was kind of funny, and what with French politics going world-wide since the elections in May and Macron making himself heard around the globe (and before you come at me, he’s also got his flaws too, I’ll fully agree with you there), I thought it would be cool to open up the wonderful fandom of French politics (and our ships!) to our international friends. So sit tight, this is probably going to be long!

First off, who are the big names you’re likely to find the most often?

Emmanuel Macron

° Not surprising since he’s our new president.

° He’s actually pretty smol. Especially when standing next to other taller world leaders.

° He’s a lot younger than the other members of the French politics fandom. (He’s 39).

° Can’t take selfies.

° POUDRE DE PERLIMPIMPIN.

° (It’s even a song).

° He looks like a pretty cool guy but does have some shitty policies he wants to put into effect (*cough* doesn't necessarily plan to stop nuclear energy jobs even though they are polluting *cough*).

° Literally seems to think that he’s some kind of king/God.

° Loves Europe & the European Union (like, Emmanuel Macron x the EU is as canon as Emmanuel x Brigitte).

° Likes cordons bleus (and I get him, cordons bleus are amazing), chocolates and eating off the kid’s menu and is essentially a child in an adult’s body.

° Apparently even the official cook at the Elysée palace makes him little cordons bleus. (And he loves them).

° Is probably going to be annoying in the upcoming five years but we currently kind of like him. Or at the very least, he hasn’t fucked up too bad yet. (But please don’t cozy up to Trump too much).

° Is far better at speaking English than most French politicians (and possibly even the current US president) and uses expressions that are probably twice his age and that nobody uses anymore.

Manuel Valls

° He’s from Spain Catalonia but he’s French.

° Our former Prime Minister. Apparently he tried to join Macron’s party after the elections?

° The scapegoat who gets blamed for everything, even stuff he isn't fully responsible for.

° Had flour thrown on him that one time.

° Often angry, but he does smile sometimes. (They’re actually rays of sunshine)

° Really did try to save the Parti Socialiste but didn’t manage and ended up quitting it. Is more of a center-left candidate??

° Dealt with a wide variety of shit ranging from terrorist attacks to being slapped across the face.

° The VEINY HANDS ™.

° King of the style game and sometimes wears see-through shirts. (cf La Rochelle, 2015).

° Was kind of friends with Macron (he was the one who convinced Hollande to hire him before they started to work together).

° People are beginning to realize that their hatred towards him was misdirected, which is nice. Hell, some are even beginning to appreciate him, which is even better.

° Gave that one really amazing speech at the Assemblée Nationale on January 13 2015 and got a standing ovation for it.

° Probably chilling off somewhere now? Or is he still trying to join En Marche?

° Has a cute Cairn Terrier called Homère. He even used to bring him to his meetings at the Elysée palace.

Benoît Hamon

° Former member of the Socialist party. He tried hard to save it, he really did.

° Is basically a Hobbit.

° Has lots of cute pairs of glasses.

° Good with kids.

° REGION BRETAGNE EN FORCE!

° His real name is Baenoît Hamon.

° Even shared a picture of his kebab once and it was way more popular than President Macron’s official portrait.

° Deserved so much better.

° Is an actual cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure.

Arnaud Montebourg

° Toll ™.

° Often seen hanging out with Hamon.

° A rebel, he resigned from his post as economy minister from Hollande’s government.

° Is a drama queen.

° Loves everything with the label “Made in France”.

° Has fluffy looking hair.

Phillipe Poutou

° Far-left anticapitalist.

° He literally has no chill and will destroy you if you give him the opportunity.

° Popular among the young voters (I think???).

° Can also be really cute and adorable when he doesn’t vent about the evils of capitalism.

° Too cool to wear an actual suit.

Jean-François Copé

° Sometimes wonder whether he’s an actual politician or not.

° Is sometimes problematic ™

° Says chocolatine instead of pain au chocolat (which is downright wrong >:(( ) (Question à part: ça se dit où "chocolatine" exactement?? Ca va bientôt faire quinze ans que j'habite en France et je suis jamais tombée dessus?? Ca a toujours été "pain au chocolat" chez moi???)

° Never really scores any higher than 0.5%.

° Always enthusiastic and up for a good laugh.

° Memes.

° One of the rare right-wing politicians to actually be part of the fandom since everybody else ranges from the center (Macron & maybe even Valls) to the far-left (Poutou & Mélenchon).

Jean Lassalle

° He’s not really a big name, kind of a centrist?

° Has a heavy accent and loves his region very much.

° Lives a down-to-earth-appreciate-everything kind of life.

° Is probably one of the only politicians to actually be a really adorable person in real life.

° Appreciated by both his fellow politician colleagues and the general public. (Which is a real feat here).

Christiane Taubira

° The Queen ™

° She's from French Guyana.

° Everybody loves her.

° She’s amazing, that’s all you need to know.

° She won’t let you mess with her: she might be smoll but she’s always ready to brawl (and clash you in the Assemblée Nationale).

° Has the law legalizing gay marriage named after her, like how cool is that???

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

° He's on the far-left.

° He's the hologram guy, loves modern technology.

° Has developed a legit game called "Fiscal Kombat", where the Mélenchon character fights other French politicians to make them give back money, counter frauds and earn as much cash as possible to implement his program.

° He's actually from Morocco.

° Is either angry or will take a great satisfaction in publicly clashing you.

° He has no chill and will call you out to your face.

° Always up for a fight and lives off drama.

° Is a sore looser tho.

Our international players:

Justin Trudeau

° The French speaking cousin ™ (with a slight accent)

° He’s not French but he’s basically considered as part of the fandom.

° Like Macron would say, he’s “part of the club” (yes, he really did use that expression).

° He got on well enough with the previous government,and currently has a thriving bromance with Macron.

° They probably diss Trump together in French.

° We’re all looking forward to anything more they can give us.

° Can also be spotted on photos with François Hollande and Manuel Valls.

Theresa May

° The annoying friend from across the Channel.

° Brexit with Benefits ™

° Likes football.

° Speaks English only.

° Probably a source of conflict over Europe and the EU.

° Still the English member of our Franco-British (or soon to be English-only?) bromance.

° Hopefully introduced Manu to the wonders that are Fish & Chips.

Barack Obama

° He may no longer be president but we still love him.

° Had a soft spot for Hollande’s poor English.

Angela Merkel

° Proud member of the pro-EU squad.

° Holds the flag for the Franco-German bromance.

° Was bros with Sarkozy and seems to like Macron a lot.

° Also an avid football supporter.

As for our ships, well here’s what we’ve got to offer :))

The French only ships

Vallande: François Hollande and Manuel Valls

° I don’t know, it’s the first of the political ships I really heard of.

° Apparently it was a thing??

° Basically the president and his Prime Minister.

° There is legit real fanart out there if you look hard.

° They seemed to be happy when they were together sometimes, so I guess there’s that??

° Unfortunately they then broke up when Valls left Hollande’s government to run for the left wing primaries. I guess not every pairing can have a happy ending :(

° **Edit: I just happen to have found an entire blog dedicated to the ship (Vallande is real les amis), and it's the most unlikely thing ever but also fucking hilarious! (Je ne sais pas qui est derrière ce Tumblr, mais... Merci, pour le coup, ça m'a bien fait rire ^^).

° **Edit 2: Guys, just... Check the “Vallande“ tag, I promise it’s worth it. ^^

M&M’s/Vacron: Manuel Valls and Emmanuel Macron

° Probably the most popular/biggest ship in the fandom for now.

° They have a complicated ™ relationship.

° They used to be kind of friends??? But Macron essentially stabbed Valls in the back by using Valls’ declining popularity and problems to push himself forward. ° I’m not even sure where they stand at now. Probably former colleagues?

° Although Valls did immediately back Macron after losing the socialist primary final to Hamon (whether that is to be taken as a sense of affection/friendship/something else towards Macron, I’ll let you decide for yourself).

° We still ship them though.

° All the more so because there are lots of pics (and non-photoshopped ones I might add) that are out there.

° (Perhaps they even ship themselves, who knows?)

° Oh and Vall's official nickname for Macron when they were in the same government was "Microbe", which basically means germ (if you translate it literally) or squirt.

° We also have AO3 fics and fanart. (Seriously, the M&M's fandom is amazing :)).

(Add Myriam El Khomri and you get an OT3).

(But Valls and El Khomri look more like embarrassed parents and Macron their overly-enthusiastic five year-old).

(Or you can add Najat Vallaud-Bellkacem if you’d prefer).

Cinnhamonbourge: Benoît Hamon and Arnaud Montebourg

° The Cuties ™.

° Also quite popular in the fics and fanart territory.

° Fluff, fluff and more fluff. (And possibly the occasional angst, but it's mostly fluff).

° Team “Looks like a cinnamon roll and actually is a cinnamon roll”.

° Well Hamon is, Montebourg can get a little more angry at times.

° But they like each other, that’s the most important part.

° Both are now former members of the PS, Montebourg quit in 2014 and Hamon only a month ago.

° Used to hang out together a lot.

° Probably diss Hollande (and Macron’s) government together.

° Organize cool-looking parties.

° Like flowers.

° Probably drowning their sorrows and crying over the state of French politics together. (With a bottle of fine champagne).

(You can even add Valls if you want an OT3, not sure they’d get along tho).

(Is Macrontebourg also a thing? Just askin’) (Although we all know Arnaud and Benoît belong together).

Along with Montebourg, apparently Hamon and Taubira were also good friends :)

Marine Le Pen x Florian Philippot

° I think this is also a thing?

° They’re basically the Evil Power Couple of French politics.

° Probably want to dominate France and are secretly building a “Grand Villain Manifesto” for the 2022 elections.

° They can stay together as long as they don’t bother us.

° Apparently people also ship Le Pen and Mélenchon???

° Is it a hate-ship??

° (Je n'en sais rien vraiment, mais je suis tombée dessus une ou deux fois… Je ne sais toujours pas trop quoi en penser ^^).

Team Destroy Capitalism: Nathalie Arthaud and Philippe Poutou

° Like the ship name suggests, they hate capitalism.

° The far-left bros.

° They’re full of bitterness and full of salt.

° Arthaud is Angry ™, elle est là pour NIQUER SES MERES.

° Often angry. Just a reminder.

° Poutou has no chill and will fight you even though he’s only a factory worker for Ford, who works REALLY HARD.

° (But he’s cool). (He can also be really nice and really cute).

° Arthaud will also fight you, especially on capitalism. Arthaud x Capitalism is probably her biggest NOTP.

° Team Tiny Candidates.

The international ships

Merkozy: Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy (aka President Bling Bling ™).

° I wasn’t really following politics all that much back in 2007.

° Apparently they were like BFF’s, and are one of the early bro-ships in French politics??

° The Oldie but Goldie, I guess that’s what we could roll with?

° The Smol bros.

° I don’t know whether they are still in touch or not but let’s hope so, because Merkel’s huge smiles are literal rays of sunshine.

Don't ask me, but there was also something with Hollande.

And Valls.

And she seems to be climbing up the new BFF scale with Macron too.

Hobama: François Hollande and Barack Obama

° Obama seemed to get along well with Macron’s clumsy predecessor, maybe his poor English even grew on him after a while.

° “Ah na wol spriking in French because ay oblairge ay oblaïge to do that.”

° President Classy ™ and President Awkward ™.

° They both exited the world stage at the same time at the end of 2016, right before shit got real.

° Might be keeping in touch and maybe even mounting a scheme to take out the Crazy Orange Cheeto (okay probably not, but let’s just imagine for a second that they are really doing this?)

(Obama was also friends with Sarkozy, if you were wondering).

Macdeau: Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron

(C'est bien Macdeau le "nom officiel"? Parce que j'ai vu des choses du style Macreau, Trudon et Trudō également)

° Highly anticipated bromance that came about shortly after Macron won the election.

° Basically became canon in Taormina when they met for the G7 Summit, and we got the pics of them strolling along in the flowery gardens. (Looking extremely similar to that one scene in Game of Thrones between Margaery and Sansa)

° Trudeau is Toll ™ and Macron is Smoll ™.

° Always smiling.

° New pics and Twitter posts are always welcomed and widely shared. ° They’re always happy together and as long as their bromance is thriving, so are we.

(( But if you’d rather ship him with Valls, then there’s also canon photos you can use too :) ))

Then we've also got this but:

Does it

Really warrant

An explanation?

(There aren't any pictures, but just in case you were wondering, our friend Mister Donald the Crazy Orange Cheeto also rooted for her during the elections).

Maycron: Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron

° Also a G7 baby.

° Speak English together.

° Trying to mend bridges between the UK and France. (Because from what I’ve gathered, neither Sarkozy or Hollande were apparently great friends with David Cameron).

° Give affectionate hugs.

° Probably butt heads over topics like Europe and Brexit since May wants out of the EU and Macron is arguably one of the EU leader who loves the EU the most (like I said, Macron x EU is as canon as Emmanuel x Brigitte).

° Share a passion and enthusiasm for football. May can even be a little bit too enthusiastic sometimes ;)

° Probably also vent about the Orange Cheeto to one another.

And as a Franco-Irish member of the French lolitics fandom, I'm also really happy to be able to say that

French politicians

Seem to have an ongoing bromance

With their Irish counterparts

That doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon :)

And if you really want to go deep down, here are the over-the-top-not-really-serious-recurring-pairings you can also find:

Benoît Hamon x Kebabs (It’s pure, it’s lovely, and believe it or not, it’s way more popular than you’d think more popular than Macron at any rate).

François Fillon & "Rends l'argent" (we basically want him to give back the public money he stole).

Eva Joly x The Green Glasses

° Kind of an older pairing, since it goes back to the 2012 elections (she didn't run this year).

° Joly usually wore red glasses, but to represent her Green Party (EELV), she campaigned with a pair of green ones.

° Basically what she was remembered for.

° Maybe she still wears them?

Emmanuel Macron x Cordons bleus (the truest OTP of this 2017 presidential campaign and we understand him, those things taste like heaven).

François Hollande x Being Akward (pretty much what you can resume his five-year presidency as).

Benoît Hamon x His glasses (they even have their own Twitter account apparently at LunettesBenoit).

Apparently he loves them so much he went and bought a bunch of them right before the presidential race began.

Marine Le Pen & Being a scary arsehole (basically she hates anything non 100% French, was high on drugs or something during her debate with Macron and couldn’t make coherent arguments. Blames immigrants, non French citizens and Muslims for everything wrong in the country).

She’s basically our equivalent of the horrors known as Donald Trump, Geert Wilders, Frauke Petry and Nigel Farage.

(Unsurprisingly, she's also friends with all of them).

French politicians in general x Being assaulted with food ingredients: whether it’s flour, eggs or the hand that whisks them up in the form of a slap, Valls, Macron, Le Pen, Sarkozy, Fillon and Hollande have all had it thrown at them. ^^

Après, si j'en ai oublié d'autres, n'hésitez pas à les rajouter, histoire de faire répandre nos ships et la fandom politique française à l'international! C'est ma toute première contribution, donc je n'ai probablement pas donné une liste exhaustive :))

#Hello je suis un peu nouvelle dans la fandom #et je découvre encore tous les blogs de lolitique super sympa :)#shipping politicians is also a *thing* over here #and you're all welcome to join us #French lolitics #upthebaguette #(c'est bien ça le tag pour tout ce qui est politique française?)#(j'aime trop le M&M's d'ailleurs :))#('faut vraiment que je tente la fic aussi)#lolitics

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bellabooks · 7 years

Text

Imagine If They Had Just Made Them Gay: SuperHero Edition

Out of all the numerous movie categories out there, the superhero genre has always struck me as insanely queer. Maybe it’s all the tight, spandex outfits. Or the overly common “outsider / sociality reject” theme that can be found in almost every superhero movie known to man. But, regardless of the reason, most superhero movies tend to be one good, sweaty grappling fight scene away from being dubbed an LGBTQ+ instant classic. So then why aren’t there more queer superhero movies? Simple. Superheroes, by our antiquated societal definition, are supposed to be the epitome of hyper masculinity. They are super muscular, insanely good looking, and always manage to not only save the day, but also win over the affection of the damsel in distress while doing so. And of course, this naturally means, they can’t be associated to anything that remotely goes against those stereotype. Like being female. Or queer… Or, god forbid, being a queer female. Yes, there have been some great strides made over the past few years to fix this general disparity and we are finally starting to see more of an overall variety when it comes to types of superheroes on the big screen *cough* Wonder Woman *cough*, but there’s still a long, long way to go. So, while I sit and wait for Hollywood to finally make my dreams come true and produce a honest to god queer female superhero movie, I pass the time by playing a few rounds of “Imagine If they Had Just Made Them Gay” with some of my all-time favorite superhero movies. Power Rangers (2017) Now, I know what you’re thinking… Power Rangers? Seriously? Out of all of the one to choose from in the vast lexicon of superhero movies, why Power Rangers? Isn’t it just a cheesy, big-screen version of the painfully bad 90’s kids TV show? Well, three reasons. One, the Power Rangers Movie is actually good… like surprisingly good, in an modern day Breakfast Club, extra angsty sorta way. Don’t believe me? Go on and watch it for yourself. Don’t worry. I can wait… Done watching? Good. Now, let’s continue. Secondly, the Power Rangers is one of the rare examples of an ensemble superhero movie that features more than one female lead. Crazy, right? But, sadly, it’s the truth. The Avengers? Black Widow. Fantastic Four? Sue Storm. The Justice League? Wonder Woman. You get the point. And lastly, it’s the first superhero movie to feature a queer character. Granted, I use the word “queer” loosely because this is only hinted at in one scene where Trini (aka the Yellow Ranger) gives an indirect “coming out” speech after being asked if her problems were “girl problems.” But, at the same time, though, given her steady wardrobe of flannels and beanies, and faux shaved side of the head hairstyle, little to no verbal confirmation is actually needed. Trini, in short, is one rainbow flag away from a one woman pride parade. So, given all of the above, plus the overwhelming amount of Trini / Kimberly (aka the Pink Ranger) “getting to know you” deleted scenes, why on earth didn’t they just take it one step further and make it a full-fledged queer falling in love story? Absolute head scratcher, right? Well, I still hold out hope for there being one in the next movie (that’s if Lionsgate comes to their senses and finally green lights a sequel), but in the meantime, imagine if Power Rangers went a little something like this… Kimberly Hart. Once head cheerleader and ex-teen royalty of Angel Grove High, falls from grace after leaking a nude pic of her ex-best friend to her then boyfriend. (side note: still have sooo many questions as to why she had this pic to begin with. Is this a straight girl thing? Cause, if not, it so screams gay in a “I have memorized every Tegan and Sara song known to man” sorta way.) After giving herself an impromptu bob in the high school bathroom during Saturday detention, Kimberly happens to stumble upon four other high school social rejects late one night at the local quarry and they proceed to make a life changing discovery in the way of five oddly colored, intergalactic gems. Quickly coming to the realization that they suddenly now all possess superpowers thanks to the mysteriously gems, the group returns to the quarry the next day in an attempt to figure out what the hell is going on. And it’s at that very moment, that Kimberly’s whole life changes… Cue Trini. Angel Grove’s very own death metal loving, yoga practicing, resident pocket-sized queer. She’s feisty, sarcastic, and knows just how to impress a girl with her climbing up the side of a rock face and then leaping over an enormous cavern skills. Unable to hide her gay, Kimberly stumbles her way through a painfully awkward conversation where she tries to turn on the charm and convince Trini to come with them. And when that doesn’t work, she decides to just bite the bullet make a move (literally) but grabbing hold of Trini, throwing them right over the side of a cliff. And so begins the all too familiar “is it or isn’t it a date” montage. It’s all fun and games, until a gold obsessed villain named Rita shows up and decides to pay a late night visit to Trini. Rita proceeds to rough Trini up as a warning to the rest of the rangers and in the process fully ticks off Kimberly. Out for blood, Kimberly convinces the rest of the rangers to go after Rita. But, like most novice superheroes, the are beyond ill prepared and not only do they get their asses handed to them but the run also results in Billy ( aka the Blue Ranger) getting temporarily killed. After a quick regroup back at the ship for a prep talk and a minor supernatural resurrection, the rangers go after Rita once again, this time sporting brand spanking new suits and prehistoric themed vehicles. An epic battle ensues and in a sudden life and death moment, the light bulb finally clicks for both Trini and Kimberly. They want to be together… No, scratch that. They NEED to be together. And right now. With the burst of extra motivation, Kimberly and Trini lead the charge and help the boys send Rita on a one way trip to deep space and then sneak off to celebrate with one another… again… and again… and again… Hancock (2008) Again, I know what you’re thinking… Power Rangers is one thing, but Hancock? Not only is it a mediocre movie at best, it’s not even based off of a pre-existing comic franchise. I whole-heartily agree that Hancock has its fair share of problems. For starters, the main one being the casting of Will Smith as Hancock himself. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Will Smith. There are roles that are just good fits for him and then there are the other ones–the ones like Hancock. And then there’s Jason Bateman. Jason Bateman always plays one type of character and one type of character only… Michael Bluth. And Michael Bluth should never ever exist within a superhero movie. But, looking beyond its problems, Hancock does have something going for it that most superhero movies, more often than not, tend to severely lack–an original and unique story. Hancock’s plot at its core is an unrequited love story. Two superheroes, who are destined to find one another time and time again regardless of the situation, yet the mere presence of one another is so toxic that being together will eventually lead to their deaths. Sound vaguely familiar? Like something you might’ve seen in real life once or twice? That’s because this plot could also double as a description for roughly 65% of all queer relationships. Who hasn’t had a friend (or ten) break up with the same girl time and time again only to get back together with her a few months later because “they can’t help themselves”? So, given that it’s plot is insanely queer to begin with, imagine if Hancock went something like this… (Sidenote: My photoshop skills are good, but not THAT good. So, every time you see Will Smith, just imagine an amazing actress instead… Like Samira Wiley) Hancock, a rough around the edges queer superhero, is known for two things. Protecting the citizens of greater Los Angeles from a wide array of criminal activity and creating an insane amount of collateral damage while doing so. In short, Hancock has a MAJOR perception problem. But does she care? Chalk it up to years of being dubbed an “outsider” or a superhuman sized chip on her shoulder, but Hancock just doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks about her. She’s a superhero and that means show up, kick some ass, and save the day. End of story. There’s just no need for anything (or anyone) else. But, then one day, Hancock’s world is turned upside down when she happens to save the life of a lovable but super generic PR specialist named Ray. Beyond grateful, Ray makes it his personal mission, not only to befriend Hancock, but also to help her turn her public image around. New clothes. New attitude. And of course, new social circles. Hancock begrudging goes along with it all, including agreeing to attend a family dinner, where she happens to discover that Ray’s wife Mary looks oddly familiar. And suddenly… BAM! Hancock finds herself inexplicably drawn to Mary. She simply can’t get enough of the woman and needs to be around her 24/7. Mary, though, wants nothing to do with Hancock. She’s not only strangely standoffish, but seems to make up an excuse to leave the room whenever Hancock appears. Dying to win Mary over, Hancock attempts to learn more about her and in the process discovers that Mary, in fact, is a superhero as well. But before Hancock can confront Mary on this unique shared similarity, Mary falls deathly ill and is hospitalized. No one seems to know what the problem is and to make matters worse, Hancock is affected as well, but only when she’s in proximity to Mary. Hancock is pushed to the brink of insanity while trying to unearth what is causing Mary’s illness. Unable to handle her feelings, she goes on a crime-fighting bender and after being hit on the head by a flying piece of debris, suddenly remembers who exactly Mary is. Mary is Hancock’s eternal soulmate and, in a cruel twist of fate, also her ultimate kryptonite. Lifetime after lifetime, they are destined to find one another, only to inadvertently poison each other to death by their mere presence. Not wanting to put Mary through anymore unnecessary pain and suffering, Hancock decides that the only sane and logical thing to do is for her to disappear forever and live out the rest of her life in utter isolation. She goes to see Mary one last time to say her goodbyes, but for she can carry out her plan, Mary stops her. Thanks to modern technology, there’s a way they can be together and yet be apart at all at the same time… So, what do you think? What other superhero movies do you think would be better if they had just made it gay? http://dlvr.it/PjNdz1

#Movies #Hancock #Imagine If They Had Just Made Them Gay

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vocaotome · 7 years

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A META ON THE CRAZINESS THAT IS KATSUKI YUURI AND HIS STUBBORN ASS SET ON RETIRING

I’ve seen a lot of people write metas on wtf actually happened during the last 2 episodes of Yuri!!! on ICE and Yuuri’s frustrating decision to retire, but so far I haven’t managed to 100% agree with any of them so I wrote my own!

In this meta I’ll try to answer the following questions (and no, “anxiety made him do it!!!” isn’t a magic answer), discussing almost everything solely from Yuuri’s POV:

-When exactly did Yuuri start seriously considering retirement? And why? Why didn’t he consider the option of working under another coach?

-Why did he decide to tell Victor only the day before the final, even though Victor deserved to know it much earlier as his coach and boyfriend?

-Why did he buy pair rings and exchange them in a location that clearly expressed his romantic intentions towards Victor when on the next day he was planning to ask Victor to go back to Russia, ending their professional relationship and severely straining the personal one?

Okay, so you guys remember the first episode?

Yuuri is NOT a quitter. Boy is actually competitive as fuck, and he actually gets annoyed when people automatically assume that he’s weak enough to freak out and retire over one failure. He isn't thinking of retirement here yet, but still he’s grieving for Vicchan and is highly upset over his performance. At this point he didn’t have any solid plans about the exact path to take., and after he fucks up and fails to qualify for worlds, he severs his bonds with Celestino but he still doesn’t completely given up.

For the next few months Yuuri is frustrated intensely by the fact that he finally got be on the same playing field as his idol and made a complete mess of that chance, and it’s not possible for him to think of stopping at such a low point. He fights his depressed feelings by skating Stammi Viccino with a thought process that was probably something like “if I can skate Victor’s routine I probably still am worth something, right?” When he skates the routine in front of Yuko he still is trying to be positive, and if left alone he probably would’ve chosen to continue skating even without any outside intervention, though it would’ve taken him some time to finish his soul-searching. We’ll never know, because soon after that Victor appears, dick out in the onsen and all, and offers to be his coach and he's like fkhdgsfkdfj!!!

Before I continue further let me classify three facets of Victor that we see in this show:

Victor the skater, Victor the coach, and Victor the person.

When Yuuri interacts with Victor in ep2 he’s mostly treating Victor as the first one, the idol he has always looked up to, and his initial reaction is glee and joy because Victor! Freaking! Nikiforov! says I inspired him! He's so close to me!!! I get to see him skate at my childhood rink!!! What a time to be alive!

But with Victor here, new problems arise. Yuuri actually has to pick concrete, timed goals now instead of just “someday”, and as one of my friends at the yoi discord server pointed out, Yuuri tends to get nervous when shit gets real, and having your lifelong idol as your coach is as real as things get. To make things worse, Victor starts to appear inconsistent in his offer to help. Mid ep2 he proposes the Onsen on Ice event that would decide which Yuri’s request he prioritizes. Considering how Yuuri treated him kinda distantly after he dropped everything to answer Yuuri's request to coach him, this might be him trying to see if Yuuri really wants him here (something like “Was he not serious when he asked me to be his coach? I’m not forcing into his life without his consent, am I?”), and/or him being salty, and/or him trying to rouse Yuuri’s competitive spirit. But let’s ignore that since Victor isn’t the focus here.

Look at Yuuri’s face when Victor says “Sure” to Yurio’s declaration about what he wants if he wins (Victor going back to Russia with him and becoming his coach). Him agreeing to return to Russia if Yurio wins really shook Yuuri up, I think. Making Yuuri compete for Victor even though Victor had declared that he's gonna be Yuuri’s coach just in the last episode made Victor appear to be an amazingly flighty guy who changes his mind very easily, from Yuuri’s perspective. (I thought the same back then, ngl. I know he had faith that Yuuri would win and the Nishigoris’ comments had also convinced him that using Yuuri’s competitiveness is a good idea, but why even put that up to chance??? Can you imagine the mess it would’ve turned into if Yurio won?)

It made him think that amazing as Victor may be, he can disappear at any point if Yuuri makes a mistake (way to convince the poor guy of your sincerity, Victor =.=), and he shouldn’t expect Victor to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary- which, he assumes, would be the Grand Prix Final.

The earliest he mentions retirement is mid ep2, then he confirms it again in ep3 at the end of Onsen on Ice (thoroughly confusing because dude you just won??? why???), and towards the end of ep4 he talks about this season being his last again. He's still bitter over Sochi, he desperately wants to properly utilize the short time Victor will be by his side to redeem himself this season since our boy is hella competitive. He refuses to go down as the skater who qualified for the final only once and retired after fucking up. He doesn’t begrudge Victor for not promising a long-term commitment because Victor’s the living legend, of course he needs to go back eventually. But while he’s here Yuuri wants to learn all he can from Victor, and express that through his own skating, so that he can both regain his own pride and prove to the world that Victor's precious time wasn’t wasted.

Now one may ask, why not continue even longer then??? He’s 23 at this point and doesn’t have any injuries holding him back, so he can still go for several years.

Because continuing means there's another chance of messing up. He might be able to do well this season, he knows that it’s very unlikely to do as bad as Sochi. But if he continues for a longer time without Victor by his side he might do worse than this season and he doesn't want that. He wants to leave on a high note. He tries to convince himself winning a gold with Victor's help is the most he can do, setting a bigger goal is like setting himself up for failure, LET'S PLAY IT SAFE.

A part of him probably must be pissed by this because Yuuri hates compromises, just look at his face in the above pic when he’s told to downgrade his free skate, no wonder he doesn’t obey Victor in the end. But his low self-esteem and anxiety manage to convince him somehow that no matter how much he hones his skills, there’s no telling when his nerves will betray him, so he shouldn’t bite off more than he can chew.

Over the course of the series his confidence grows and he begins to regain his love for skating, but it's still not enough to make him rethink his plans to retire. He now views Victor with an exasperated fondness as the latter takes baby steps towards being a good coach and they manage to be a good team, and he no longer thinks Victor is flighty enough to randomly leave (as proven in his “I know!” during the garage scene when Victor tries to convince that he wasn’t serious in his threat to resign), but they never had a proper conversation about their future plans after the GPF and he has no reason to think Victor, the living legend, will completely give up his chance to go back to skating.

(This pic is here simply because it’s too pure for this world and needs to be included in every meta post.)

Yuuri also gets to know Victor as a person during this period and after the cup of China their relationship takes a more intimate turn, but while that bolsters his confidence in some ways, it also gives him a new reason to panic. He had always been ready to let go of Victor the coach at the end of GPF, but when the Makkachin thing happens and they're forced to stay apart, he's hit full force by the extent of his yearning for Victor and and is torn by the idea of losing both Victor the coach and Victor the person in near future.

When they were reuniting in ep9, Yuuri’s request to take care of him until he retires kinda confused me tbh because Yuuri knows that Victor definitely is staying until GPF at least??? I saw the scene as him being kinda desperate and not thinking very clearly at that moment. I think he was actually planning to explain his reasoning for retirement and then ask Victor to be his coach until he retired, but he ended up doing the second part first, resulting in a case of word vomit that from Victor’s POV sounds very much like a request "please say that you want to stay forever" (and is probably the true wish in Yuuri’s heart that he will not allow himself to want). He doesn’t backtrack on his words, which probably is because he probably thinks that Victor also expects him to retire at the end of this season (after worlds), Chris did say there were rumors of Yuuri’s retirement circling around. Otherwise this seems like an overly aggressive demand like "please give up your skating career for mine", since he hasn't told Victor about how soon he plans to retire yet? I don’t think Yuuri would do that on purpose, and probably doesn’t realize how Victor took his words until the next moment.

Note that when Victor wishes that Yuuri never retires before Yuuri has a chance to bring up his plans of early retirement and makes him lose the chance to explain himself by showing giddiness at the prospect of being able to coach him indefinitely, Yuuri gets teary. This is him realizing that yes, Victor is indeed willing to give up his career for Yuuri ("killing" Victor the skater), Victor is willing to make such a sacrifice because of the personal connection they've developed. That's why he's so bold and downright cheeky in ep10, because he's convinced that Victor the person is willing to be by side for a long time.

But he also doesn't want Victor to do it like that, Victor the skater was the one who brought them together in the first place and Yuuri loves him. Yuuri is also unaware of Victor's internal troubles, lack of L&L and everything, and has no idea just how much Victor has been enjoying teaching him compared to the time he was competing. A selfish part of Yuuri simply wants to see Victor on the ice regardless of all circumstances, so I think he might have tried to convince Victor even if he did know. (I personally don’t think his decision to let Victor go is influenced by outside influences, as it’s been proven in ep6 Yuuri can be selfish in a good way and he doesn’t give a shit about unrelated people’s opinion at all. Yuuri himself wants to see Victor skate again, and he’s under the belief that Victor wants the same but is making an emotional decision to do otherwise.)

Yuuri also suffers from imposter syndrome often, and it’s possible that he is convinced that retiring for the sake of "someone like Yuuri" is a massive sacrifice Victor would regret later, and he doesn't want to fuck up their personal relationship if Victor looks back at this decision in the future and feels that Yuuri forced him to retire. So Yuuri cuts off the possibility of that happening by finalizing (almost) his decision to retire, despite how much he still wants to skate and wants to do it by Victor's side. This way even if Victor decides to retire for some reason (Yuuri probably can’t imagine any except age), at least it won’t be Yuuri’s fault.

I was confused why he went for "Victor should stop coaching me and go back to skating, I'm gonna retire" instead of "Victor should stop coaching me and go back to skating, I'm gonna continue with a different coach since I don't wanna hold you back". After some brainstorming, I think letting Victor go and continuing under another coach is a very unappealing option to him for multiple reasons: he’s simply too attached to Victor the coach, even with his flawed ways Victor was still the best thing specifically for Yuuri. Both of them have a co-dependency problem, and Yuuri is aware of his own issues though doesn’t realize how it’s equally bad for both him and Victor. Russia cup proved to him that he can still survive without Victor and isn’t helpless, but he still isn’t confident that he won’t do worse in the next season if he becomes cut off from Victor’s constant, intimate support. Competing under a different coach would definitely do that, with the only possible exception being maybe Yakov...But that’s still too much of a long shot and depends on a bunch of different things (Will Yakov accept a skater from a rival country? Will Victor be allowed to be with Yuuri to give him mental support when he has no official reason to?). If you accept my theory that he wants to go out with a bang, continuing for another season under such unsure and less ideal environment than his current one is too big of a risk for Yuuri without enough reward. EDIT: This meta offers one other plausible reason, which is the possible financial issues Yuuri would have to face if he doesn’t do well enough during his post-Victor years and ends up only damaging his image and losing sponsors. It makes sense considering Yuuri’s tendency to not realize his own potential, it’s possible that sponsors are more than ready to look past his previous season’s failure and totally want to support Japan’s Ace who represented Japan in the GPF two years in a row, but Yuuri would fail to realize that and be much more nervous about being dropped.

Let’s mess up the ep order for a bit to talk about Yuuri and his standards. These are his thoughts during his FS on ep9.

Since he doesn’t believe in himself enough to think he has that much more to offer, he just wants to reach the highest possible goal he thinks is possible for him and stop. This is kinda hilarious yet sad, because Yuuri’s true aim is actually much, much higher. Throughout the whole series it’s clear that ever since the time he used to copy routines together with Yuko, his standards for skating have all been based on Victor. Yuuri has always wanted to be on the same level as Victor, and it doesn’t even end at that.

He wanted to surpass Victor, and even last year (when Victor was still competing!) he had actually aimed for the gold even though he never declared it. But it truly is such a high goal that he can’t say that to anyone, and is mocked by Nishigori when it slips out. This probably why Yuuri admires Yurio, who is a tiny bean but has the guts to declare what Yuuri can’t bring himself to.

There’s one thing that my thoughts are still unclear about. Yuuri’s original goal wasn’t actually just the gold medal itself (the physical item and the status that comes with it), but the idea of facing Victor, his inspiration, as a true equal. When Yuuri said that he wanted to have Victor step down as a coach in ep9, I first thought that he wanted it because he wanted to go against Victor next season, and was surprised when it turned out to not be the case. This skating season will always be lowkey unsatisfying for Yuuri because Victor is not in it, despite how much he respects his other competitors. In Yuuri’s mind Victor >>>>everyone, so I would expect him to be super frustrated if he retires right before Victor returns, allowing the opportunity to face Victor again slip away. The only reason I can think is deep rooted Sochi trauma that whispers to him that he won’t ever be able to surpass Victor no matter how much struggles for it, and this season is the only time he’ll be able to get the gold. (EDIT: as mentioned above, financial uncertainty might also play a role.)

The two dominating traits that make up Yuuri are so strangely contradictory, but they work together to mess him up: his pride as a hard worker makes him aim for the very best and refuse to do anything half-assedly, and his low self-esteem punishes him if he slips even just a little bit from the extremely high standards he has set for himself. Yuuri has too many conflicting desires as well-he loves Victor the person, Victor the coach, and Victor the skater. He needs all of them but he knows he can't (he's not Victor level extra™ yet), so he chooses to let go of Victor the coach which he thinks will distress Victor the least. (ding ding! WRONG CHOICE)

Before he does this, he gets the rings which confused me at first because dude, you're planning to practically FIRE Victor tomorrow, is this the right time??? Then I realized that it's possible that the rings both serve their original purpose of being good luck charms and also a statement to Victor that although Yuuri is breaking off their professional relationship, he doesn't want to let go of Victor completely, they are connected by more than just their bond as a coach and a skater. If we look at it like that this was the perfect time to make the statement Yuuri did, nothing softens the blow of huge decision bombs more than trading wedding rings in front of a chapel with a choir singing in the background. XD Also it might not be very clear at first glance, but Yuuri is SHIT at being empathetic. He definitely doesn’t realize how distressing it would be for Victor to be suddenly told “go back to Russia and compete” and the amount of emotional pain he’d experience from being forced into a long-distance relationship without prior notice. Yuuri becomes so caught up in his head that he often fails (remember poor Minami in ep5?) to realize how his decisions can impact others. He’s just satisfied that he has made his intentions clear, and is being lowkey arrogant (even though he doesn’t mean to) that he knows what Victor wants. He probably does know that it would at least ruin the lovey-dovey atmosphere they have going at this moment, so he delays delivering the bad news as much as he can.

However, I think the revelation that he had gotten drunk and danced in the Sochi banquet might have had something to do with his performance the next day. Victor had told him to “Skate the way you like best” just earlier, but instead of doing that he ended up being so obsessed with technical points that he lost points in presentation (just a touch down in the flip won’t lower his score that much). His anxiety might have made him interpret things badly, like “omg I thought Victor came to coach me because he found me inspiring, but in truth it was something else”. Depending on whether he saw all the pics or not/whether he learned about “Be my coach, Victor~”, the “something else” he suspects can be a bunch of things, like Victor found him comical/Victor just wanted sex etc. Anyhow, it might be possible that at the start of ep11 he is afraid that Victor doesn’t think of him seriously as a skater despite Victor’s fondness for him as an individual. Being a skater is a part of Yuuri’s identity that won’t go away even if he retires, his efforts and his accomplishments are a reflection of the person he has been until this point, of his hard-working personality and his dedication. The idea of just being regarded as the funny drunk who made Victor curious would crush him. (This whole paragraph is just my speculation though, I don’t have any evidence for this part.)

I don't think his failure in his SP did much in regards to his plan to retire, the only thing it did was make him more upset than normal because he knows that this is his very last chance to redeem himself and any small mistake is unrecoverable. There’s no “next time”.

However, a bunch of other things did happen to convince him that sending Victor back to the ice was the right choice. Victor kept observing the skaters with far more interest than we’ve ever seen him do, and Yuuri interprets that as Victor longing to go back to competing himself. This is a hasty judgement on Yuuri’s part because Victor never said anything about that. Even after the anime has ended we don’t really know what he was truly thinking then. Even the story writer Kubo has mentioned that she hadn’t decided on what Victor’s thoughts really were, but from the way it was presented (look at his smile! wide, bright eyes!), personally I felt like Victor was less jealous of the other skaters and more appreciative of their unique strengths, the way a coach would be. I do think Victor is being innocently insensitive here, because he really should’ve realized that his gushing might be interpreted differently by Yuuri (even Sara, who was sitting beside them, stared at Victor at this).

I'm kinda glad JJ fucked up his SP (sorry JJ! You're still the king!) because that actually helped Yuuri regain his self-esteem a bit, he couldn't look down on himself from past year without also looking down on JJ, and Yuuri has always been kinder to others than he has been on himself.

But that still doesn't change his plans to retire, rather it makes him sort of complacent. "I've done well enough, this is as far as I can go, I'll do my best tomorrow and hopefully get the gold now that JJ is a lesser threat, so that I can redeem myself and prove to everyone that Victor didn't waste his time on me". The part of him that hates to compromise must be screaming but the stress from the competition and his anxiety is working together to push it down.

He shares his plans with Victor that night and is confused at Victor being upset enough to cry, because isn't this the best choice? Doesn’t Victor also want the same thing?? Because of his imposter syndrome issue and his blindness to his own potential he doesn't understand why Victor feels Yuuri quitting is such a shame.

Like I mentioned before, Yuuri is convinced that Victor was originally planning to stay only until the end of GPF and later changed his mind to stay longer for emotional reasons that Yuuri doesn’t support. Victor is right when he says Yuuri is selfish, he never took Victor’s perspective into account when making his decisions, his focus was on doing what he needed to do to protect his own glass heart. (I find it fascinating how Yuuri doesn't MEAN to be mean -pun, haha- but he ends up doing just that very often because he doesn't have the mental space to care about other people's feelings. Also if my hypothesis on Yuuri taking the Sochi banquet revelation as a negative thing is true, he probably feels like that Victor doesn’t really respect Yuuri’s abilities as a skater as much Yuuri would like him to despite how close they are personally, so he might be lowkey bitter.“You came to Hasetsu to date me and you still can do that, y u so mad”. Also if he knows about the ‘be my coach Victor’ thing, he probably thinks that his drunken appeal was the main reason behind Victor’s decision, not his talent like he had hoped.)

I do think Victor is also to blame for the fact that Yuuri was able to hide his intentions for this long. If Victor was planning to stay with Yuuri for a long time, he should’ve sat together with Yuuri and discussed their plans for the next season waaay before this. Too bad we don’t see the details of their argument afterwards.

Right before his FS Victor tries to be nice and supportive despite how frustrated he is (bless you Victor baby you’re so in love), and Yuuri calls him out on it. He knows Victor is not a conventional coach. He’s savage in his taunts but overly adoring in his praise, and the safe, predictable encouragement he first tried didn’t feel genuine enough to Yuuri, so he complains.

I don’t want to discuss Victor’s POV because that’s not this post’s focus, but I believe Victor was trying to play it safe until this moment because he didn’t want a repeat of China cup and freak Yuuri out. Here Victor is starting to realize that when Yuuri says he wants Victor to be himself, he wants the whole package deal- Victor the person, Victor the coach, and Victor the skater.

Remember this scene from ep10? See the similarity? Here Yuuri is being all “let me have my dorky boyfriend, you don’t need to act professional just because you’re also my coach”.

Similarly, in ep12, I think the message he’s trying to give is, “Victor the coach has crazy-ass standards because Victor the skater is OP as fuck, don’t stop being your unreasonable self just on my account, I’m not that weak”. Let’s go back to ep5 for a bit to see just how unreasonable Victor really is.

(I’ll let you know that the subs missed the word “at least”. Victor wanted Yuuri to “score in the hundreds at least”. CRAZY MAN.)

Back to ep12. Here Victor sees that Yuuri is actually ready for criticism, that he’s feeling lonely and out of his element because of Victor’s gentleness instead of seeking comfort in it. Yuuri hates being seen as weak (as evidenced in his refusal to heed Victor’s advice to downgrade his jumps in ep5), and Victor decides to take a leap of faith and give Yuuri exactly what Yuuri wanted- a friendly taunt accompanied by positive reinforcement (win and I’ll kiss your gold medal) instead of negative like his failed attempt in china (fail and I’ll resign). It was his way of showing Yuuri the believes in Yuuri even more than Yuuri believes in himself, just how Yuuri asked him to back in ep7.

He uses the word “break”, hinting to Yuuri that he might return (thus giving Yuuri a hint that regardless of how he does in the FS, he won’t need to feel responsible for Victor’s decision), and also the phrase “warm-up mode” (implying that he still believes that everything Yuuri has done so far still isn’t his best, and he can do more). His tone throughout the speech is teasing, not like “why do you suck so bad”, rather “I can’t believe someone so damn good that I, THE LIVING LEGEND, chose him hasn’t won yet, this is ridiculous, give me your 100%”. Yuuri notices that and cracks up, look at him so happy. ;;

“Oh my god my boyfriend/coach/idol is so ridiculous in his demands, I love this man”

And Yuuri goes and skates a flawless program, and gives Victor that 100% he had asked for. There are a couple things to note in his monologue during his routine, many of which are the basis for the earlier parts of this post. Although he tweaked his routine for a higher difficulty, he doesn’t obsess over the points this time, he just clears his mind and focuses on presenting his tribute to all the love in his life, Victor being featured in a considerable portion of it.

During this last chance, he finally once again chases the goal he had given up since Sochi, to be on equal standing as Victor. He also admits that he doesn’t truly want to stop, and wants to continue skating with Victor and his loving support.

But he can’t keep Victor the coach without killing Victor the skater, so he chooses to let the former go.

However, he does greatly love and appreciate Victor the coach, so he’s determined to display the results of Victor’s efforts through his skating, to all the people who have kept mocking Victor about him not being serious enough.

Once his performance is over, Yuuri is glad that he managed to give his 100% and didn’t let his nerves get the better of him, but it distraught because this is the end. (Still no explanation why he has to retire himself, though)

Or so he thinks. Yuuri is forced to rethink his life choices when he ends up breaking Victor’s world record.

Look at his expression here. Like “HOLY SHIT, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GIVE MY 100%?!” Even Yuuri, with his massive self-esteem issues, can’t help but see his own potential at this point. Undermining himself after he has broken Victor’s world record is basically undermining Victor himself, and Yuuri would rather jump off a cliff before that. The only thing that could make him happier was being able to truly be on the same playing field as Victor which becomes a possibility when Victor hints to a desire to return to skating competitively.

Victor’s body language in these frames is so important here. I think Victor has realized by this point that unless he gets the chance to face Victor as an equal, Yuuri will never get complete closure and get past his perceived failure from the previous year. Victor doesn’t just glomp Yuuri, he first shakes Yuuri's hand and then pulls him into a one-armed hug. Yuuri’s being shown that he’s being taken seriously as a fellow skater, congratulated with a formal handshake by Victor the skater, not just his coach+ boyfriend. Even when he does hug Yuuri, he’s still holding onto Yuuri’s hand. Look how ecstatic Yuuri is when Victor claims that Yuuri breaking his record was "ultimate diss as a competitor". Just look at that smile. "I MANAGED TO GET VICTOR TO CONSIDER RETURNING" is so much more important to him than "I MIGHT GET A GPF GOLD". My guess is that until now he simply didn't think he could accomplish anything special by continuing, but not only does he feel more hopeful about what he can do, but Victor appreciates him as a competitor! Hurrah! Since he’s Katsuki Yuuri the king of lowkey assholes, I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought something like “Victor is feeling frustrated because of me! I want to frustrate him more by breaking his world record again if he manages to take it back!”

Note how Yuuri doesn't worry about the score of the skaters who skated after him at all, no "oh crap if skater X gets more than this specific number of points I won't get the gold medal" which is odd since the gold medal was a real possibility at that moment, normally people would worry (like how JJ did about Otabek). It was like the gold medal itself mattered less to Yuuri than being on the same level as Victor. He managed to successfully skate a flawless program on the same difficulty level as Victor with a perfect quad flip as the cherry on top, and that was enough to calm him down for the moment.

The happenings of ep12 chip at his plan to retire bit by bit. Recognition from Victor as a worthy competitor convinces him that there might be worth in returning after all. Seeing abandoned Makkachin tissue box hits him with the reality that Victor won't be his coach anymore, it simultaneously breaks his heart and reminds him that he can make his dream to skate against again Victor a reality if he just fights against his self-deprecating notions a bit harder.

And of course Yurio's performance-during the later half of which we didn’t get Yuuri POV so I can't say exactly how, but it inspired him enough even before the results got announced. Each of the pics above have Yuuri's eyes sparkling indicating strong emotions (though you can't tell from the still screenshots).

I think the main two things Yurio manages to do are this:

1. Yuuri put his 100% into Yuri on ICE, but Yurio put his 120% in the way he added an extra quad and did many jumps with his hands raised. Remember, Yurio’s stamina is pretty meh, boy almost broke down after he was done. He shows Yuuri that his “I can’t do any better than this” thinking is BS, and Yuuri becomes curious what he himself can do if he continues and puts his 120% next time.

2. Yurio also showed to Yuuri in a shounen manga style that there are still many worthy opponents™ for him on the ice and he couldn’t afford to become complacent just because he had established a world record. Also Yurio changing up his jumps and overexerting himself to match Yuuri’s FS also shows him that he is also being regarded as a worthy opponent™ in Yurio’s eyes and gives him even more of a confidence boost. EDIT: This point is covered in more detail in this lovely meta also about Yuuri’s motivation behind not retiring!

2. Yurio gets the gold, and the loss of the gold medal by such a small margin simply lights a fire on Yuuri’s ass. XD 0.10 point is such a cursed amount, it’s so small that Yuuri can’t hate on himself for not performing well enough, but still it made him lose the gold. Though during the opening ceremony Yuuri looks more or less satisfied, the way he had been soooo close must have been vexing.

TBH Yuuri’s main problem (at least imo) still hasn’t been solved at this point. If he continues, he will have to take on the challenge of competing without Victor’s constant support. But for the first time in a long time, he’s feeling confident enough to do it, and trying to at least do his part to lessen the co-dependency thing he and Victor have going on.

I’ve seen people interpret this as Yuuri asking Victor to be his coach for one more year and I’m super confused, is it a dubbing issue? Because the sub shows it clearly that he asked Victor to continue skating, not coaching Yuuri. The Japanese sentence he says is “僕と一緒にあと一年競技生活続けてください=Please continue skating competitively (overly literal translation-‘competitive life’) together with me for one more year”.

(Look at my baby. So confident. So beautiful. T^T)

He’s literally issuing Victor a challenge here, from one skater to another. Yuuri does still plan to let go of Victor the coach, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love him, and plans to use what he learned from him to beat Victor the skater! Ironic and hilarious =D Victor is like YES GOOD I’m proud of you! Then he drops the bomb:

Yuuri is shook because this is more than he ever expected. Until now he was only confident about their personal relationship which was bound to become a least a bit strained when Victor returned to Russia, but now he’s getting everything he wants. Normally people would be worried that that’s too much for a person, but I guess Yuuri has such a high opinion of Victor that he immediately accepts that Victor can pull it off. This is one case where Yuuri’s hero-worshipping and lack of ability to see things from other people’s perspective is useful, lol. One other reason he isn’t blaming himself is that this is totally coming from Victor. Unlike last time where Victor agreed to drop his career in favor of Yuuri’s thanks to Yuuri’s poorly timed request, here Victor is taking on the extra load purely out of his own will. Competing separately would’ve definitely been better than just Yuuri retiring and Victor continuing, but the amount of time they could spend together on a personal level would’ve decreased either way ( depending on what Yuuri would’ve done after retiring/how his new coach would’ve managed his time). Victor is being selfish here, refusing to give up his pupil to another coach and not willing to end up in a long distance relationship with his boyfriend.

Victor makes it even easier for him by issuing his own challenge: I’ll work hard to keep your request but get me 5 gold medals from Worlds in return! While utterly ridiculous and halfway likely to not come true (there are so many possible unknowns-injuries,illnesses,family issues), the demand shows Yuuri the level of faith Victor has in him, and he agrees.

With that, Yuuri finally is assured that he will be able to physically stay by the side of his idol/coach/boyfriend for a long, long time, which is something they BOTH want, and that’s why he’s so calm and happy when they’re being lovey-dovey on the ice later at the exhibition. “Stay close to me”, indeed!

And with that I’m officially out of juice, phew. I’ll see if I can edit this later to make it more compact and improve the flow, I think I stated many points more than once because I tried to stay mostly chronological.

ALL HAIL VICTUURI!!!

#yuri on ice #yoi #yuri!!! on ice #yoi meta #meta #Katsuki Yuuri

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saythename7889-blog · 6 years

Text

The two Piece Mess

TUESDAY At School Continued*

I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I was actually asking my long term crush out! Though I’m mortified but there’s some comfort knowing that I can go back if I screw this up. “Um SCoups? I was wondering if anyone had asked you to the dance yet?”

“Well yeah, quite a few girls have.” He chuckled. My heart instantly drops. Of course someone had already asked him he’s the hottest guy in school. Why would I ask a question like that, it was so stupid. I should’ve asked if he was going with anyone instead. I guess he could see the embarrassment on my face. “Oh! But I haven’t said yet to anyone yet.” He reassures me. “Why do you ask?” He begins to smile. Here goes nothing, “I was wondering if you would want to go to the dance with me?” He lifts his brows at me, “You serious?” he asks. I shrug timidly in response. He stands there a moment then begins to nod, “Well sure, I don’t see why not.” He says. “G-great!” I stuttered out. “Well I’ll probably need your number so that we can talk about it more later.” He says pulling his phone from his back pocket. “Uh yeah you’re right.” I fumbled with my backpack for my phone. After we exchanged numbers Scoups looks at me with a smile. “See you later then Lex.” He winks then turns away. I nod and wave then realize I can’t even walk away because my feet are glued to the floor in shock

After School*

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Amber screeches out across the restaurant table. We were again getting smoothies at our favorite spot after school. “I asked Scoups to the dance!” I screech back at her. Namjoon looks uncomfortably between us. “AND HE SAID WHAT??!!?!?!?” She pounds her fist on the table in excitement. “HE SAID YES!” We both look at each other for a moment then burst out into noisy girlish sceams. Namjoon sips his coke and rolls his eyes. “OMG Lex I knew you could do it! Didn’t I tell ya? It can pay off to put yourself out there.”

“Yes and now Im going to the dance with the guy of my DREAMS!” I squeal loudly. Though in the back of my mind I know there was probably some help from Dr. Bang. Amber and I burst out into happy dances and amber accidentally nudges Namjoon’s arm while he was holding his drink causing him to almost spill it. “Gosh you guys; would you just CALM DOWN!” He huffs. “You’re not happy for me Joonie?” I pout. “It’s just I don’t get why you guys are all hung up on Scoups he’s kinda a jerk. Amber fake gasps and puts her hands over her heart “Namjoon! How can you say that? You guys are like best friends.” He rolls his eyes again, “That’s not the point.” He crosses his arms. “Lex… I think oppa is jealous.” Namjoon instantly cringes at the word oppa. He and Amber are both Korean American but he hates when Amber and I abuse the word. So we do it particularly to annoy him. “Oppa! Be happy for me!” I whine. “Yeah cheer her on oppa she’s wanted this forever!” Amber grabs his arm and whines with me. “No QUIT WITH THAT WORD!” He cringes. I grab onto his other arm and we begin to whine together. “Oppa!”

“Oppa!!”

“OPPA!”

“oPaPaAaAaA!!!”

“UGH PLEASE SHUT UP! OKAY YOU WIN! I DON’T CARE!” Namjoon shakes us off his arms and covers his ears in annoyance. Amber and I giggle.

“So you know what this means right?!” Amber looks back to me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “We get to shop for dresses now!” She screams. We both erupt in more squeals. Namjoon fiddles with his coke bottle avoiding eye contact.

LATER THAT Friday*

Amber and I had shopped all day looking for the right dress. I ended up choosing something that was a bit Se*ier that I was used to. Amber convinced me that I should shock everyone at the dance including Scoups. It was low cut in the front and kinda short. She advised me to wear my hair down and try a smokier makeup look since I was getting better with doing my eyeshadow. But something was making me nervous. Something was just not sitting right. I felt like I needed another guy’s opinion. So I texted Namjoon considering he was Scoup’s best friend.

I texted him a picture of the dress and asked him if this was too much then not even 5 minutes later he called me.

“What is that hand towel you’re calling a dress?!” He blares as soon as I pick up. “What do you mean? it’s just a two piece! Its stretchy so it looks smaller in the pic.” I argued. “It looks small enough to fit on Barbie, take it back!”

I roll my eyes, “Namjoon you’re not my dad. All I asked was do you think Scoups would like this? You know the kinds of girls he dates, so you should know what he’ll think.” I sigh.

“He’ll think you look like a hooker.”

I’m so taken aback that I think I gasped into the phone. That was probably the rudest thing I’ve heard him say to me. “So as soon as I dress up for a change you call me a hooker!? Since when do you disrespect women like that?!!” I said. “I-I Didn’t mean it like that.” He stutters. “Than what did you mean it as Namjoon!?”

“I just don’t like the way he treats girls and I know the way he’s going to come onto you in that dress. I’m Sorry this crush thing you and amber are on may seem innocent but he’s not the kind of guy that you think he is.”

“Namjoon in all honesty, you know that I trust you. But you’ve known I liked this guy for years now. Why is it all of a sudden he’s evil as soon as I get a date with him? Are you calling that coincidental?!”

“No I just never thought he’d actually say yes to someone like you.” He sighs.

“Someone like me? SOME ONE LIKE ME?!” I feel my face begin to burn with anger. “WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN NAMJOON? You didn’t think I could be attractive to someone like him?”

“No… No Lex that’s not what I meant! It came out wrong!” Namjoon struggled.

“Then make it come out right!” I shout. I stayed quiet waiting for him to answer, but he couldn’t come up with a reply.

“Lex, if you go out with Scoups that’s the end of our friendship.”

“WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN NAMJOON! You’re being so OVERLY DRAMATIC! You’re acting Like youre the only guy I can have in my life.”

“Well I mean what I said, I don’t care if I’m being dramatic.”

“Well you weren’t like this when Amber and Eric started dating, Youre never like this!”

“THAT’S BECAUSE THIS IS DIFFERENT!”

“How is this DIFFERENT?!”

“Because youre different than amber, and eric is different than scoups.”

“That’s still not a good enough reason to act like this Namjoon”

“Well I meant what I said and you can test me if you want but you’ll fail.”

“You’re being so controlling and you won’t get my respect by being so unreasonable.”

“Well make your decision and we’ll see how much more unreasonable I can get!”

“Stop being like this Namjoon.” I waited for him to reply but there was so response. “Namjoon?!?!” I say into the phone. He still doesn’t reply. I look at the screen and the call has ended. I call him back twice and he sends me to voicemail. Hot angry tears begin to fill my eyes and I take a moment to cry and let out my frustration before figuring out what to do next.

After laying on the bed for a while I begin to regret even texting him more and more. I should just go back in time and not even text him. I sit up in my bed a shout into the ceiling “GO BACK!”

The panels appear. One is during the call when I’m shouting at Namjoon. Two is when I realized he hung up on me. Three is when I was crying. And four is when I was laying in the bed for a while. I look between the boards in panic. What about all this morning?! What about when I was shopping with amber or when I woke up. There was no options from before I texted him. I laid back on the bed in frustration. This never happened before. The argument or not having far enough panel options. I can’t go back far enough to change what I wanted to change. So Now I was forced to make a choice because the dance was tomorrow. Scoups seemed to excited to go with me, and I’ve never seen him being a bad person like Namjoon suggested. In fact though he was popular, no one ever has said he was a bad person like Namjoon described. But I’m personally closer to Namjoon and I cherish our friendship, I couldn’t let him go over my crush on a boy. But I can’t deny that this could all just be him being overly protective because I’ve never dated before and If that is the case, he’ll eventually get over the temporary jealousy, right? If he really cared about me, He’d want me to be happy. So what do I do?

MAKE YOUR CHOICE:

Go to the dance with Scoups

Obey Namjoon’s Request

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