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marimbles · 5 months

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Hope you don’t mind me asking lol, I stumbled upon your blog and I see you are in the throes of Ouran hyperfixation 😅 What are your opinions on each member of the host club?

yes im definitely in the throes thanks for noticing<3 lol. i'd be delighted to share my opinions on each member of the host club !! this will be LONG bc i have a lot to say about these binches (also this will have manga spoilers). so i'll put it under a cut

Haruhi—honestly what's not to love. she's scruffy and apathetic and grumpy and direct and 300% done with everything, including gender conformity. "these damn rich people" yes king go off. also you're so valid for being 90% motivated by food. it's such a perfect and fascinating idea to drop a person like fujioka haruhi into a group of ridiculous dramatic people like the host club and see how they fare. impressively well, actually. she cleans up nice and is surprisingly charming and intuitive underneath the apathy. but this is only what you find out in like the first episode!!! she grows so much over the course of the story, especially in the manga, and it warmed my heart so much and made me so proud of her 😭 how her relationship with the host club members changed her as a person and even enabled her to better pursue her lifelong dreams. ugh. i love how falling in love with tamaki gave haruhi such a beautiful character arc. first her resistance (which was both understandable and hilarious), because he's so STUPID and RIDICULOUS and in her mind is the last kind of person she'd want to be with, but then she realizes how much she has learned from him and how much he's opened her heart, and she's so inspired by him—to experience new things and understand people better and challenge her preconceived notions and grow to be a better, kinder person, which will make her a better lawyer too. she's actually so brave, to step out of her comfort zone, and connect with others, and to learn how to accept help, when she closed herself off as a coping mechanism when she was so young. she has so much patience to deal with the host club theatrics and a lot of patience with her dad, who is also rather theatrical lol. she had to grow up young and mature so fast and i like how through the host club she learned how to have fun and let other people support and admire her too. ugh i just love her! she has such a soft and good heart and she learns to love so deeply even though it initially went against her nature! she's soooo stray italian greyhound coded to me.

Tamaki—my favorite. one of my favorite characters of all time now actually. im just obsessed with him. i already have a weakness for blond boys with sad backstories and i blorbified him so so fast. as a longtime adrien agreste stan it was inevitable, once i learned about his existence. i saw the most pathetic drama queen loser in all of fiction and i went "yeah he's perfect." i loved him as soon as i watched an episode but i think it was this post that really sold me on him and convinced me to read the manga. i mean isn't he just the guy of all time. as a sillyguy myself i can't not adore him, because he is SO silly and SO dramatic and SO larger-than-life ridiculous, and i am just a big fan of that. but at the same time he has a surprising amount of depth, revealed little by little, that just made me fall even more in love with him as i learned more! cause the thing about tamaki is that everything about him is over-the-top and outlandish—including the size of his heart, and the way he cares about other people, and the lengths he will go to to help them. he's like incredibly narcissistic and incredibly selfless, at the same time. such a fascinating contradiction to me. he has such big feelings whether it's overwhelming grief over a stranger's sob story or unbridled excitement over a mcdonald's happy meal toy. i think all in all tamaki's character can be summed up with one word: love. he just loves everything and everyone to an incomprehensible degree, and that love is transformative. he loves his broken family to the point of wholenesss, and his lonely schoolmates the the point of chosen family, and haruhi to the point of courage—because he was just as confused and afraid as she was, and they both learned to be brave enough to love in a way they always thought was impossible for them. he just loves the whole world and it loves him back, because when you put that much love out there it's bound to be reflected back to you. i love how essentially tamaki annoyed all his friends into becoming his found family lol, because as stupid and obnoxious as he is, he cares SO much, and that's how he won each one over individually, to the point that they'd do practically anything for him. despite being pretty obtuse about himself he's very intuitive about other people and he is able to see them as they really are, in a way they couldn't even see themselves yet, and understand them to a degree that allows them to understand themself. anyway im always crying about him, cause. yeah.

Kyoya—man i love him. so calm and cool and collected and lowkey an evil genius. i love how he plays off tamaki so perfectly. they truly are a married couple lmao. but again!!! in signature ouran fashion, there is much more to him than meets the eye! they're all so much more than the "type" they are assigned! because yes kyoya is the "cool one," the genius one, the guy who always has a plan, the one who's constantly strategizing internally and weighing pros and cons and thinking 9 steps ahead, who only does things for his own benefit … but also underneath he is so passionate. he has all the emotions he tends not to show. fear and anger and grief and love. the anime did such a good job of portraying this because sometimes i think about that scene with him painting inside the golden frame and then it zooms out and he's made a giant beautiful work of art outside the frame, with every color, and i just sort of wanna cry about it. the hidden depths of kyoya ootori...i love that, like haruhi, he learned that it's important to have fun, and if your best friend is a complete idiot, it's good for you! (albeit sometimes detrimental to your health and sanity, lol.) again i loved how they handled it in the anime where in the end he shows his father how intelligent and powerful and in control he was, just to let all of that go, because he found what made him happy, and that was more important than any of it. i love a guy who forms unbreakable bonds first against his will but then puts his whole heart into them! who learns to defy expectations and forge his own path! who learns that happiness is its own end! MAN!! ok also the part in the manga where he spends his whole paris vacation searching for tamaki's mom and completely exhausts himself and falls asleep in the street because of it, just because he wanted to be able to report back to tamaki that she was alive and well. i might cry. im a tamaharu shipper but i have a very soft spot for kyotama.

Kaoru—i get emotional about him sometimes. he is sooooo 😭 ok because at first, the twins are identical both in looks and personality. but as the story progresses, their individuality becomes more obvious, and kaoru reveals himself as the more emotionally mature twin. i love the twins for being mischievous and silly and obnoxious and just a tiny bit evil sometimes, and for always making fun of tamaki (i mean SOMEONE has to), but they both have a lot a depth underneath that which makes them so dear to me 🥺 and kaoru. oh. baby boy. he's so intuitive, often seeing what hikaru is unwilling/unable to see, and so self-sacrificial, always willing to put his brother's needs over his own. the way he was developing feelings for haruhi the whole time, just like hikaru was, but he was the first to realize and admit it to himself, and he gave hikaru space to figure it out too. and then how he is honest with haruhi and confesses to her but in the same breath tells her that his relationship with hikaru is too important to jeopardize, so he bows out gracefully even as he speaks up. UGH! sometimes i just think about that part in the manga where he talks with haruhi about how he wouldn't know what to do if he and hikaru wanted the same thing and both couldn't have it, and then later they have a box of cookies and there's not enough for everyone so he saves his for hikaru, and then haruhi points out that he found the answer to his question, didn't he? about what he would do if they wanted the same thing? so then he ends up stepping back to let hikaru pursue haruhi instead of him, promising to support him, and helping him grow and mature into a better person. wahhhh...... he's a sort of tragic character to me honestly. like it makes me a little sad to think about him. but he just has a good heart, and he ends up happy because the change he was afraid would make him lose the relationships that were most important to him actually made them even stronger.

Hikaru—i think i have a slightly softer spot for kaoru, but i really really love hikaru as well, and i think his character arc is one of the best in the series. he's definitely the brasher/less mature twin in the beginning, who tends to let jealousy and anger get the better of him and he lashes out sometimes because of his frustration and confusion about his own feelings. he struggles with self-awareness and kaoru knows that, which is why he gives hikaru opportunities to self-discover and figure himself out. hikaru falling for haruhi and admitting that to himself and others, even haruhi, was so important for him as someone who always defaulted to keeping others out and viewed everyone but kaoru as an outsider. he really didn't trust anyone but kaoru with his thoughts and feelings, but being part of the club made him open up, examine himself, and consciously choose to mature. one of my favorite hikaru moments is when he dyes his hair dark to show that he's an individual who is separate from his twin and wants to be viewed as such, but at the same time he makes it clear to kaoru that being individuals doesn't mean they have to drift apart or be any less important to each other—and he's determined for them to stay just as close even as they pursue separate paths for the first time in their lives. i also love his rivalry with tamaki over haruhi and how that affects him and forces him to grow. another favorite moment is when he demands that tamaki open his eyes and encourages him to not let his trauma get the best of him. instead of letting tamaki stay ignorant of his feelings for haruhi, which would be to his advantage, he makes tamaki realize them so they could have an equal chance to pursue her. he has so many sweet moments where he feels conflicted about tamaki, wishing he was out of the picture but also feeling so much gratitude and affection for him. he just really loves tamaki, and really loves kaoru, and really loves haruhi, and that love that started out with so much hurt and jealously makes him grow into a more selfless and genuine and mature person, when he finally, like kaoru, bows out and chooses to be happy for tamaki and haruhi. ugh he's a good boy even though he acts like a turd sometimes. lol.

Honey—i don't have as strong of feelings for honey as the others i've gone over but he is still a great character! obviously he's adorable, and i just find him very sweet and enjoyable. and of course the fact that the sweets-obsessed boy lolita who carries around a stuffed bunny is actually a genius and also a martial arts master who can take down 50 guys singlehandedly...yeah it's pretty dope lmao. i love how he learned from tamaki the meaning of true inner strength—not pretending to be something your not for someone else's sake, but being unapologetically YOU and embracing what makes you happy! honey learns to comfortably live a seemingly contradictory life, because he openly loves his cake and cutesie stuff but he remains a strong and well-respected leader and master of the haninozuka martial arts. it's funny and but also very fitting to me that in the manga he ends up with the girl from the black magic club—someone who's different from him in what appears to be every way, but honey is not afraid of contradiction and appreciates people being themselves!

Mori—he's the host i least connect with, just because he doesn't get much focus and also barely speaks lol. but i still love mori! i really admire his loyalty—just the truest friend anyone could ever ask for. he and honey are such an iconic duo. his "lovely item" lol. it's really sweet how much of a natural protector he is—not just how he looks out for honey but also haruhi and the whole host club. he's a very compassionate person with strong principle. one of my favorite mori moments is when he demands a fight with honey just so he feels like he has the right to tell him what to do and remind him to brush his teeth when they're apart for college haha. also shout out to the part where tamaki desperately asks "do you ever think about kissing honey-senpai" because he's freaking out about haruhi and mori says no but later is shown worrying that he screwed tamaki up by lying, because he does actually think about kissing honey 😂

ok this concludes my Opinion Of The Hosts soapbox hour, thank you for asking and sorry i answered:) tldr i love them all lol

#ask #starlightbelle #ohshc

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margridarnauds · 5 months

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Hi,

So I finished the novel Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Freemantle and am now extremely angry need to decompress and filter out her garbage I'm shocked that Penguin House published this book and that it is getting made into a movie. To portray young Princess Elizabeth as willingly seeking Seymour out and seducing him is vile. Parr's bitchy handmaid Dot finds them in bed together. What on Earth? No evidence for that. Then Catherine Parr gets angry, blames Elizabeth and they don't reconcile after she leaves. Heartbreaking. Plus, the portrayal of Catherine Parr is horrid there is no evidence she or her stepdaughter Meg were raped during the Pilgrimage of Grace, a devout woman like Catherine wouldn't be contemplating killing either of her husbands, or rejoicing in the prospect of being damned to hell as she puts it after Henry VIII dies. (Maybe with Henry she would think about it but not actually go through with it). I got the impression that this author had an anti-Christian as well as anti-Elizabeth attitude. Tried Sisters of Treason another book of hers but it was also bad. I want to send her an angry letter now calling out her disgusting portrayal of young Elizabeth. Did you send in a review or a note to the author after you read it?

Don't forget Dot's final monologue about Why Elizabeth Is Such A Bitch -- It's Almost Understandable That She's Such a Bitch-Slut.

It's common with historical fiction, really, to not understand the way that religion historically worked. It's very easy to put our feelings on religion, whatever they might be, onto historical figures in an attempt to make them More Like Us, but the simple reality is that they were living in a totally different cultural context. Characters are either religious fanatics so extreme that they make Frollo think "Hm, maybe they're overdoing it a tiny bit", they're Secretly Atheists, or religion just doesn't cross their mind ever (unless, in Tudor media, it's to establish them as a Cool Modern Protestant.)

As for what I did...honestly, put the book aside and thought about every single decision in my life that had led to me both reading and finishing it. As you can see by the fact that I still remember it in vivid detail, it holds a special place in my Hall of Shame. (And it isn't even batshit insane enough to be FUNNY, unfortunately.)

But, my piece of totally unsolicited advice that you are perfectly free to discard at your earliest convenience? ...when you do medieval Irish stuff. Or medieval Celtic stuff in general. You will NEVER see your field faithfully or even sensitively portrayed on page. Every single depiction you get will be based on old stereotypes, colonialist tropes, and outdated information. I've read things about my faves, in particular, that would make most people's hair stand up on end. Things that are truly, deeply vile, that are on par with the depiction of Elizabeth here, or even worse. And it is easy to be angry, it's understandable to be angry, and God knows that my friends have heard me ranting in the DMs. And when I was younger, I was, regularly. And then I got exhausted, because anger is exhausting, especially when it's you and your anger versus a tidal wave of misinformation. I didn't stop getting angry, no. But I started to use it as a tool, not as an explosive -- I let it fuel me, I used it for my scholarship, putting all these different pieces of pop culture about my field in conversation with one another and noting common trends, as well as making comparisons to trends in other areas to figure out what, in our contemporary cultural landscape, is causing us, as a general group, at this point in time, to portray these things in a certain way, as well as how we have portrayed them over time. I have built my career, at least in part, on defending the undefendable, on studying the ink blotches of historiography to see where the historical or literary records meet the popular image, specifically looking at figures who are frequently portrayed as villainous and monstrous. I don't deal in happy endings, I can't when I step in after their final death scenes, after the point where even the possibility of their deaths meaning *something* is gone, because they don't even get the satisfaction of being well remembered. I never expect to see my faves well portrayed -- sometimes, I'm surprised, but it is truly, deeply, RARE.

You send a note to an author, no matter how well-intentioned, and it's easy to write off. The author submitted that work for publication, it's done. They're still getting royalties off of them, whatever that means in the current hellacious publishing landscape, in this case, she even has a movie. They might care, but honestly? They probably won't. They can dismiss you as a crazed, unhinged fan, regardless of how much thought and effort you've put into the critique. You've wasted all that high quality, undiluted anger for something that won't have any tangible effect. My advice, instead? Feel your anger, let the hate flow through you, especially when it reflects biases like sexism, racism, and homophobia, sharpen it, and then use it -- it doesn't have to be in conference presentations or journal articles or any of the trappings of academia, but use it.

Write reviews, absolutely, put it into conversations with other pieces of Tudor and Elizabethan fiction, especially about young Elizabeth (Hell, compare it to, say, Elizabeth R, Becoming Elizabeth, Young Bess, or Lady Bess (Toho 2014/2018), just for examples of the young Elizabeth's life off the top of my head that dramatize the life of Elizabeth), see what other people have said, in journal articles, sure, but also in blog articles or GoodReads reviews online, without necessarily even talking to them, but just to get a survey of what they think and why they think it, and see what you can do. Why do we want to portray Elizabeth this way? Is it a desire to "knock her off her throne?" Portray her as a nymphomaniac bitch slut to contrast with the "Gloriana" image? Is it that we're uncomfortable with the topic of CSA? Or we don't like to think of it as something that historically occurred? (Especially when you compare it to the ongoing bimboification of Katherine Howard, even in allegedly sympathetic biographies.) Is it that we still don't want to believe that it could have happened? That we're willing to give more sympathy to a man than to a child? Some combination of all of them? And are we seeing progressively more nuanced portrayals, or are we seeing more of the same across the board? (I feel like Seymour, at least, has gone from being a romantic hero in Young Bess to being portrayed as genuinely manipulative, even if the execution is still lacking.) On the reverse side, are people more willing to defend, say, Elizabeth I and Catherine Howard than other historical women, specifically because of what they represent and because of their high profile status? Is there a double-edged sword here? Let your anger fuel you.

#csa tw

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damnable-bell · 1 year

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Please, dear friend, write your Minho Manifesto (Minhonifesto)!

Bulb, you are an absolute gem. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about my number one boy (and thank you @shojojidais for encouragement, ilu Maryam).

This post got way out of hand. I'll put the basic text below, but the full version with detailed footnotes and an index of all the YouTube videos I linked is on Google Docs, if anyone would like to see it.

Sorry for my inevitable typos.

Now, without further ado...

Choi Minho: An Appreciation

Who is Choi Minho?

Choi Minho was born on December 9th, 1991. In May 2008, he debuted as a member of the boyband SHINee, meaning that Minho has been in our lives for almost 15 wonderful years now. His official position in SHINee is main rapper and visual (i.e., the face of the group), but these days he sings about as often as he raps. (His voice is especially lovely when he gets to sing in his natural range, which he almost never gets to do with SHINee, sob sob).

Minho originally hoped to become a soccer player, but his father, the soccer coach Choi Yun-kyum, denied him, saying he hoped Minho would pursue a less difficult career. Unfortunately for Coach Choi (but perhaps fortunately for us), Minho was just born too pretty to do something more normal. At age 14, he was scouted by SM Entertainment while visiting a ski resort with his family, and the rest is history.

Why I love him

He is a true genius of hard work

In spite of the fact that he more or less stumbled into being an idol, Minho has always given 100 percent of himself to SHINee—in fact, Minho always gives 100 percent of himself to everything, whether it’s singing, rapping, dancing, acting, speaking English, sports, or drag. He hasn’t always been good at everything he does, but part of what makes Minho such a special person is his endless capacity for growth.

(When will Goddess Choi Minjung return from war? It's been eight years...)

Here’s what he had to say about being criticized for his acting in To the Beautiful You (2012):

Even from my point of view, I more than deserved those criticisms. I struggled a lot in my first lead role in ‘To The Beautiful You,’ but looking back, it is because of that past that I have confidence now, so I definitely don’t consider it a taint on my history … Back then, I just stubbornly thought that I just have to do well. At a young age, I was in a leading role and I needed to lead the drama by paying attention to the people and situation around me, but I wasn’t able to. A lead isn’t someone who just acts well on his own, but leads the entire drama. I should have paid more attention to the other things, but I focused too much on myself, and it resulted in me just awkwardly standing out. But I learned a lot from that, and it was ‘medicine’ for me. To be honest, being criticized so much was a huge lesson for me. It’s a lie if I say that I am not scared of being criticized for doing badly. But I think it’s something that I should put up with. It’s only right to acknowledge what I’m lacking and correct it. Of course, everyone wants to do well from the start. But I don’t think I’m gifted that much so I need a lot of experience.

Similarly, on writing his own raps for SHINee:

At first I was very bad at it. But if I didn't do it then it would be detrimental to me as well as to the members so I thought that I should really try to do it properly. It's true that when you put in effort your skills change. I thought, there isn't anything that can’t be done if a person really tries…

What makes Minho’s growth doubly impressive to me is that he’s not a naturally confident person. On the contrary, he’s painfully self-aware and takes deeply failure to heart:

After filming Dream Team, on days I won I would be in a really good mood, and on days I lost I would keep thinking about it. It's the same as when I make a mistake on stage. When I mess up on one step on stage, I feel hateful towards myself. I grow angry. Wondering why I did that that during that step. I think it's because my competitiveness is so strong. But that doesn't mean I enjoy competing. Instead, if there is a competition I tend to avoid it. Because if one wins, the other loses. Because any person, no matter who it is, dislikes losing.

When Minho first debuted, most people immediately clocked him as the weakest member of SHINee—and he knew it. He couldn’t rap (his infamously terrible rap on “The SHINee World”—which he really wants you to know he did not write—is legendary both in the fandom and beyond), he couldn’t act, and while he was never the worst dancer in the group, he didn’t stand out much either.

It also didn’t help that SM saddled him with the part of the ‘cool, silent type,’ when his real personality is goofy, warm, and sentimental—not to mention teasing, nagging, nurturing, full of natural aegyo, and loud. Variety is usually a place where K-Pop ‘visuals’ get to prove their worth, but in SHINee’s early variety appearances, Minho was just sort of...there.

In his own words,

Looking back, I went through a slump during my early debut days. I first thought, “Why did I debut?” I couldn’t dance or sing, and I couldn’t say anything in variety shows. Before debut, I was good at talking and confident, but standing in front of the public as a celebrity isn’t an easy job. (161208 SHINee’s Choi Minho - Media Interview (3))

Now, it’s never made sense to me that anyone could praise SHINee’s live stages out of one side of their mouth and trash Minho’s performance skills out of the other—there’s just no room in their choreo for any member of the group to be lagging significantly behind the others.

These days, I would be shocked to find anyone who doesn’t see Minho as an integral part of SHINee. But it’s worth taking a minute to acknowledge what a dynamic, well-rounded performer he’s become in his own right. I was so happy when I saw other people calling Minho’s rap in “Atlantis” the best part of the song, 1) because IT FUCKING IS, and 2) it made me realize just how many great rap moments Minho has had going back years. The Story of Light alone is full of them (have you guys listened to “Retro” yet today?), but there are so many older favorites, too (it’s actually pissing me off that the previous video I linked doesn’t include Minho’s part in “One Minute Back,” so here it is).

Minho hasn’t just become a strong idol-rapper (he’s never going to be on the front cover of XXL Magazine or whatever, but that’s fine, because it’s not his job); he’s also grown into a strong vocalist, a damn good dancer, and an excellent variety idol and MC (he is seriously so funny, you guys). As an actor, he’s worked hard to earn genuine praise from audiences and critics while accepting relatively ‘risky’ parts (he played a delinquent in the indie drama Derailed—where he smoked! and swore! and got beaten up by Ma Dong-seok!—as well as a gay character in the drama Yumi’s Cells). He’s also an underrated lyricist, with more than 40 songwriting credits throughout SHINee’s discography.

Last but certainly not least, Minho has (flaming) charisma and stage presence for days, as well as an astonishing ability to ‘commit to the bit’ that’s elevated many a goofy SHINee performance (my current favorite example is this performance of “Girls Girls Girls” at SHINee World III in Seoul—notice how many of the comments mention that Minho was obviously feeling himself in that bathrobe!).

Since he finished his mandatory military service, Minho has been branching out with more of his own solo activities, including a radio show, Best Choice (again: he is so funny, you guys!), and a forthcoming solo album, Chase. He seems to have become comfortable in his own skin in a way that we should all hope to be in our early thirties. As a fan, I consider it a privilege to have watched him blossom into a better, more confident version of himself. He is a true genius of hard work, and I could not be more excited for his solo.

He has the biggest heart

I love Minho because Minho has so much love to give. He’s the kind of person who leaves notes telling his friends he loves them while they’re asleep. He once saved all the SHINee members’ names in his phone under “My Lovely ___.” He writes the longest dedications of anyone in the group. He’s thoughtful and dedicated and has a lot of feelings (though by his own admission, he tends to hide them, so that he can continue to give strength to others). He is, for lack of a better word, all ooey-gooey inside, with a sentimental streak a mile wide.

Minho always goes the extra mile to support the other members of SHINee. SHINee’s leader, Onew, once called him the group’s “heart aid”:

Whatever happens, he is by our side and calls out to us. Minho is really a person who becomes our strength in any situation … It’s not only with me, even with other members, he is our heart aid and is a very important existence to all of us (2014)

When the other members cry onstage, Minho is often the first to comfort them. Who could forget the iconic photo of Minho hugging an inconsolable Jonghyun to his bosom after SHINee’s first music show win for “Juliette,” or all the many times he comforted Jonghyun—always the crybaby of the group—onstage thereafter?

Here are just a few more examples of Minho showing his support for the other members of SHINee:

Hiding away his emergency money to buy a birthday present for Key, even though they hated each other at the time

Surprising Jonghyun on his birthday at Jonghyun’s radio show, Blue Night (150409)

Flying to Japan to attend the second day of Taemin’s Tokyo concert in 2018 (181125), then flying back to Korea to attend Key’s concert showcase the very next day (181126)

Surprising Jonghyun at Jonghyun’s X-Inspiration concert in 2016 (161204, or click through to “…and Minho” on this Omona post for all the cute fan accounts)

Surprising Jonghyun on the last day of Blue Night—and bringing lots of tissues, because he knew Jonghyun would cry (170402). (The part of this video everyone remembers is the part where Minho tells Jonghyun that he brought the softest box tissues “because Jonghyun-hyung’s skin is precious,” but really, every second of it just radiates compassion and care. We should all be so lucky to have a friend like Minho.).

Surprising Jonghyun at Jonghyun’s The Story concert—and bringing throat drops, because he knew Jonghyun’s throat might be sore. Look how happy and proud he was when they left!

Fuck it, here are two whole threads of Minho showing up for Jonghyun’s concerts. Don’t miss the one where he’s showing Jonghyun off to the camera like a work of art.

While he was in the military, he sent food trucks to Taemin to support Taemin’s comeback (200907)

Minho to Onew in 2020: “But I love having you as company. I love your lame jokes. Just keep making your jokes. It’s just that you need moral support” (201116)

On the day he was discharged , Minho went straight from the military to see Taemin backstage at Inkigayo, without even changing out of his marine uniform. I’ve saved the best for last, so if you only click on one link in this post, please, please make it this one: [탬로그6v6📹] TAEMIN 태민 #샤이니isBack 201119

I should add that Minho doesn’t do all this stuff because he’s not booked and busy himself. He’s constantly filming, doing photoshoots, and randomly upstaging Melania Trump. Supporting the other members isn’t something he does just because he has the time; it’s something he works at consciously.

When SHINee went on Blue Night in 2016, Minho described how he transfers his support to the busiest member depending on the season:

Jonghyun: Then Minho-ssi, which member do you feel the most attached to? Minho: Out of the four? I think it changes with the season. Jonghyun: Who is it in the recent season? Minho: In the recent season, it’s Jonghyun-hyung. It’s because he’s the busiest. He needs to prepare for the concert. I think I try to take more care of the member who’s the busiest. Jonghyun: Then Key has been very busy until recently because of Drinking Solo. Key, did you feel that Minho was taking care of you? Did you feel it, Key? Minho’s love? Key: No, not at all. Jonghyun: He must have just thought about it a lot in his mind. (Ha.) Key: But he really is surprising. I think his day is a little longer than other people’s. I don’t know how he can watch them all [referring to the members’ activities]. Jonghyun: It’s a great thing. It means he has a lot of affection. Key: It’s not that I don’t watch it on purpose. When I turn on TV and find that our member is on by chance, I would watch it then. But to watch something intentionally…it means it’s a plan. Jonghyun: Minho watches everything, all the members’ schedules.

I’ve been a fan of SHINee for a long time—long enough to remember a time when the members didn’t all get along as famously as they do now—and I really believe that they wouldn’t have made it nearly this far if not for Minho holding them together.

I thought about saying something here like, “Minho’s strength is giving strength to others,” but I don’t think that would be giving nearly enough credit. What I most admire about Minho isn’t just that he gives strength to others, but that his love for other people becomes his strength—that it enables him to do the impossible and find that extra hour in the day.

This is all very sweet just by itself, but it becomes even more impressive when you consider—and here is where I start to get into a little bit of conjecture—how easily Minho could have given in to jealousy and resentment.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are 16 or 17 years old, you’ve just made your entertainment industry debut, and you’re surrounded by people whom everyone agrees are more talented than you. This isn’t the first time you’ve been overlooked; at home, you have a brother whom everyone agrees is smarter, more popular, and better-looking, and your own parents joke that maybe he should have debuted instead of you. People on the internet write articles calling you “useless” and “a black hole of talent” (I’m not going to link these!).

I think a lot of people in that situation would have grown to resent their peers. Instead, Minho doubled down on his support for the other members. There is something truly egoless, I think, in how hard he works to care for those around him. Whatever his own insecurities are or might have been, he doesn’t seem to have ever let them get in the way of all the love he has to give.

Of course, Minho doesn’t just show his tender heart in his interactions with the other SHINee members. He’s also endlessly kind to fans. Some of my favorite examples:

When he was a guest on My Last 48 Hours in 2018, the three things he chose to do in his hypothetical last 48 hours were: 1) spend time with family, 2) spend time with SHINee, and 3) spend time with fans. Since there was no time to organize a fanmeet, the producers found just one fan for him to surprise. She started to cry, he got kind of choked up at her crying...it was all too cute for words.

From the letter he wrote to Shawols (SHINee fans) while he was in the military: “As part of the engineering battalion, I’ve received air transportation training. You guys might not know much about it, so to put it simply, our training consists of falling from a plane or a helicopter with a parachute! … I was able to get closer to the sky during training. It was really pretty, and it was great, because I felt like I was looking at you guys.”

...OK, one more quote from the same letter: “I’m reading each and every letter from our SHINee world and I’m treasuring them … Giving your hearts to someone is like giving them your everything, receiving the heart of someone is like receiving all of them and sharing everything with them. I’m really happy that that person is you guys.”

Just the sheer number of times it’s been confirmed he actually reads his fan letters

His Kiseki stage. All of it. It’s maybe the purest expression of Minho to date (his solo stages prior to this were all, like, hip-thrusting to Usher with his shirt off—which, like, fine, I’m not complaining, but the baseball uniform is so much more his style). Every time I rewatch it, I’m just blown away by his sincerity. You can hear it in his voice. Also, I’ll say it: better than the original.

Recently he confessed that he watches fan reaction videos when he can’t sleep (Minhooooo!)

He once spent $21,000 to gift the 800 fans who came to his birthday fanmeet with sweatshirts from his endorsement line (171209). Insane thing to do. When the time comes to eat the rich, I will have no choice but to spare him.

If you’ve never been sucked into the K-Pop Vortex, I know what you’re probably thinking: being kind to fans is part of his job, it doesn’t actually mean anything. And you’re right, it is a part of his job—a part he’s very good at! K-Pop is a fantasy, and entering into a space where you feel seen and appreciated as a fan is a part of that fantasy.

But as a veteran K-Pop Enjoyer, I can tell you that just because something is ‘performative’ doesn’t mean it doesn’t also come from the heart. I also feel that SHINee have worked hard throughout their careers to be true to themselves in public—and to create spaces where they could be closer to fans on their own terms. So it would actually be really unfair to them, I think, to continually insist, against all available evidence, that everything they say and do is somehow calculated. I don’t have any trouble understanding that being an idol is a job, and there are no doubt days when they would rather do anything than talk to fans. But if Minho says that hearing from fans is a part of the job he generally enjoys—and that he cares about us, whether on a personal level or solely in the abstract—I’m inclined to believe him?

I’m cynical about many things, especially in K-Pop, but I just don’t have it in me to be cynical about Minho or SHINee.

I mean, just look at this:

I love him to pieces, and he’s improved a ton, but I’m still not sure he’s that good an actor.

Miscellaneous reasons

I’ve always felt that the extent to which Minho is openly adored by his industry juniors and seniors, as well as by his non-celebrity friends, speaks for itself. His friendship with TVXQ’s Changmin is especially cute (they even had a dating scandal together!).

He’s famously close with SNSD (so much so that Korean netizens nicknamed him “A male idol that people don't get suspicious when he's close to female idols”) and was even the first person to congratulate Taeyeon on the release of “I Call You” in 2020.

He is unfailingly gentle with children—one of only, like, two members who had any business taking care of a toddler on SHINee’s Hello Baby in 2010

He majored in film at Konkuk University and recently said that his “favorite Netflix show” is The Irishman. He also apparently liked Hirokazu Kore’eda’s Our Little Sister? With teasers for his solo album leaning in a moody, ‘90s neo-noir direction, many are speculating that a new cinephile Minho era may be upon us (and by “many” I mean “me”).

He knows how to laugh at himself

Never has been Minho been cuter than while walking through the London Underground on SHINee’s One Fine Day in 2013.

In conclusion,

#shinee #minho #if the thought of reading 3000+ words about a pop idol embarrasses you haha DON'T click on this #minho is known for his passion and as his fan i feel it's only right that i should try to match him #ever since i found out about the two weeks during tsol promotions when he didn't get any fan letters before music shows #while onew taemin and key did #i've gone slightly feral #minhoooooo #i should have been there for you!#someone ask about my favorite shinee songs next pleaseee #*

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gogysvisa · 2 years

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no I've never sent an anon to blair nor do I plan to all my interactions with her were semi pleasant till they weren't and she went off the deep end

Forget anything else, this has me curious. What unpleasant interactions did you have with Blair?

Uh, lets see

tldr; just said some batshit insane stuff about dream and George which isn't bad because I enjoy that stuff, but it just got weirder and weirder until it got DEEPLY concerning, and it felt like I was looking at a young teenagers mental spiral through dream and George puppets? and it didn't help that the adults around her goaded her and fed into it to degrees that made me personally uncomfortable Ill post most of the stuff under a readmore because I've been sitting on it for a while, this isn't a critique of blair because she's already been critiqued to hell and back but mostly just my POV about how dangerous and batshit internet cults can be

I think I was around since almost the start right after she posted the dream and George chart analysis, I wasn't particularly in her inner group or anything, but like I said I enjoy batshit, she is actually quiet knowledgeable about astrology at such a young age and I was impressed and interested so I kept an eye out astrology wasn't where her interests in esotericism ended she was pretty much a standard internet young esoteric, enjoyed tarot and pendulums and of course if you followed her you'd know all about this mystical "rock" that her friend owned that she got answers from, I am still not certain if it was a pendulum or just a very strong LSD tablet so she'd use all these avenues along with all the other people in her server to divine certain futures for DNF basically, au's that they -me included- treated as reality because why not, its fun exploring stupid scenarios -vis a vis dream gay- but a lot of these scenarios were stupid and not really based on anything in reality or analysis just literally someone draws a card and suddenly everyone is mourning DNF's death or whatever, which, upon asking some of my friends who are into divining and tarot is not how this should be done anyways so I guess they just enjoyed projecting their shitty feelings and having people mourn with them just as a start to this paragraph, she was 16 at this point, with every coincidence she got right people went insane over her, I still vividly remember in 404cord where she put out a couple of dates based on transits that were interesting and she said something will happen in one of this dates, and one of those dates happened to be the Quiz Night and suddenly everyone was holding on to EVERY word she will ever say from that point, a huge sizable chunk of her cult basically came from 404cord. I don't use the word cult lightly btw, seeing how people interacted with her, the only correct word is her word, every other divination that Blair didn't agree with was cast aside even if people were once agreeing with it, the people around her either were mocking her or hooked onto every word hook line and sinker and some of the AU's she explored as if they were reality were very concerning starting with, the suicide fic, which she co wrote with an adult friend of hers, I sadly don't have an archive of it specifically but I do have screenshots of the day she started going insane about it

I am not critiquing the weirdness of this so much so as the ENVIROMENT that birthed the fact that they were talking about dream committing suicide as if it were a reality and blair was encouraged to continue? so much so to fully write it out?

the outline of the fic goes something along the lines of, dream compulsive straight, george is in love with him, they aren't together, dream gets married and has kids, kills himself because of straight pressures and george has to raise the kids which is hilarious out of context but concerning seeing it being treated as a feasible very possible alternate reality. She tends to hide behind "its not real" as a defense, and likes to illustrate they are "just talking as if its real" but that's just a common tactic in communities like these ones to try and appear more normal, trust me I am very sure she along with the people closest to her truly believed, genuinely, that there was an alternate universe where this is possible

they'd say shit like this all the time, and call themselves delusional and crazy, but just like people in this fandom tend to go "haha dnf dating haha im so crazy and delusional" yet still 100% believe it? these guys were the same, its partially why I stopped calling myself delusional, because I was faced with true delusion. they explored multiple scenarios like the suicide fic one but this one was the one that made me go Oh No... next up! all the insane adults around in her inner circle! messiah, van and iceglade come to mind immediately but I remember a couple others including obaba the 40 year old nice lady in the fandom, obaba I think genuinely thought they knew it was all fanfic so I don't think Ill go too hard on her and I have a feeling she felt bad for blair because of all the bullying she got from the fandom but the other adults were as insane as blair or even more blair would explore multiple nsfw scenarios with them and start hinting at them in the server, she would never say any of that stuff in the server because you know...16 year old... talking to 18,23,21 year olds about nsfw scenarios and then coming to this server which is mostly adults to also hint at that crazy shit

nothing was more surreal than seeing all these grown ass people literally believe the words of a 16yr old kid when she tells them that dream and george are into scat the whole adult thing was the biggest ick to me, seeing how she interacted with her inner circle and how they like, took advantage of her popularity to talk insane sexual scenarios about dnf with her was just....ew on so many levels I sadly don't have an archive of this because blair made sure to delete the nsfw stuff she said precisely for this reason, she'd also censor herself and such and I am personally not going to moral panic pander over a 16yr old being horny because who wasn't, at that age, but I am going to harshly judge all the adults around her who take advantage of that this thing is already long by itself, and honestly a lot of this stand alone big picture isn't the worse thing there is out on the internet or in this fandom, I know a lot of these people have moved on from the fandom or such but seeing all that in front of me an experiencing it just made me go "oh god I feel like I'm in a wild zoo documentary" and I wanted to share my POV/documentation of that wild ride because I am also a certain level of mentally ill

edited: removed the screenshots

#ask #god I wrote a lot #anyways dont harass people etc etc #if you want something fun to read enjoy this I guess #I named dropped some people around her because I always see her take the brunt of the heat in mockery #when some of the people around her were equally bad or worse

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tiffinsgirl · 5 months

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you know with someone when the vibe is so off you can feel it? like you can feel that person not wanting to talk to you, not wanting to look at you. not wanting to engage. just acknowledging you, that you're there and it's not an empty space.

I'll never be confident. someimes I feel like I'm not afraid to speak what I think , however, I'm taken for a young girl with hardly any credibility still.

or I don't want to speak or most of all, I don't want to play the game. like I really, really, really don't want to play the game. the pretending game, the fake interest game, the politeness game, the bros are bros game, the lack of women game... we were 3 women today for 15? people.

you can feel the fakiness. you can feel the fake bonhomie that the person is exuding. you can feel they're ruthless when they need to be. you can feel they're maybe not an asshole, but maybe not a nice person neither. I don't know. whether anyone is really ever nice.

is anyone really ever nice? that' such a sad thought though.

it takes a confident person to remain yourself and be unbothered with not being liked. with not being accepted as part of the group, part of the gang, part of the culture. with just saying "I am what I am. I'm here but I'm not trying to be your friend".

The thing is I can see deeply in people. I can see fakiness in people. I can smell it. I can smell when they're putting on a show. I can just get a drift of it in the air. Also not all people are that good actors. Most aren't prenomenal at pretending they like someone. They're bound to slip somewhere.

And also the more grown up I am, the less I pretend. There's this directness in me, this nakedness, which comes out of me sometimes and I don't care to stop it. It comes down to values at the end. It comes down to beliefs.

Also this week felt a bit like I've been extracted out of my shell. I'm being extracted of what I've built for myself. I'm extracting myself, in a certain sense. Like I cry more, I'm emotional, I think bizarre thoughts. I meet different people whom I've never met before, I talk to people until I'm hoarse, I don't know. I feel like I'm out of my own head a lot, and this is unusual. And it feels like time whizzes by, but also stretches. And I can't help thinking - was this because I was too in my head for too long? Was it because I kept being stuck in there? Is this the origin of the problem? That I was simply in my head too much?

Was I lost in that world, and lost track of the real one ? Like it is necessary just more people, more events, more meeting someone, more listening. more everything - to get myself on a happier path in life? Then again, wtf is the happier path in life.

but I don't know. there's something about this week that is highly./. I don't know. unnerving. which gets people on their sides, on their toes, on their edges. on their pressure points. like it's not routine. but also I'm getting tired of looking up at people. I don't wanna look up at anyone. I don't. and I don't want to be looked at like that as well.

I wanna be looked at like an equal. not like a minion and not like a boss. this game is just not for me, I'm realizing. the game of trying to please, to impress, to whatever.

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awrldalone · 7 months

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15th sept 5.27pm

I met a lot of new people, and I went out with a few I already knew. I realize that, for only the second real time in my life, I am in a position of complete anonymity: I know no one, and no one knows me. It should have been the same last year, but I was not alone in the Netherlands. I had my friends. Here too I already know a few people, but it's not the same. They all already have a friend group, they know the lines of the metro by heart, the bars to go to at night, the restaurants to avoid. i am nothing but an old acquaintance to them, not a companion.

Then, there are the people from my faculty. The first day I saw them I was surprised by how young they were, and even now that I am trying to get to know them better I feel the two years between us. I used to think two years was nothing; I still do, in reality. The people in my classes are like a bag of cheap peaches, with the skin bruised, rough, and all at different stages of maturity. I feel like a completely different fruit, though, and I wonder if I will find my place among them.

The other night I was petrified at the thought of not being able to. I did not want to blend in, to become a peach too, I just desired to be bought by the same person and thrown in the same bag. We went to a bar, a very dorky place themed around different movies and books and video games, a place in which I would have never stepped foot into alone. I overpaid for a very sweet drink. It was pink, served in a martini glass, and it did not give me the boost I needed. I usually never let myself substitute courage with alcohol, as what's there once you've taken a few sips was already there to begin with, but it usually does help me speak a foreign language. The night was disastrous. We were too many people, and I wished to get to know each and every one – but we just played various boards games. A French version of Cards Against Humanity, Loup-Garou, which is essentially what in Italy we call lupus in fabula, and a game in which everyone but one person had a card with multiple words written on it, each corresponding to a number, and once chosen a number we had to say words linked to the word on the card, and the one without any words in the card had to be smart enough to blend in, to make up words that would make sense. All these games could have been fun, but the awkwardness in the air was so thick you could choke on it if you breathed too deeply. A girl spilled all of her drink on the table, the playing cards were all sticky.

The place closed early, and we all went home. One of the guys, who lives in front of the bar, asked me if, by chance, I, or somebody else, would like to go up to his apartment. He was awkward too, but he could not mask it well. He has a beard but the face of a child, and I politely declined before heading to the metro.

I woke up early yesterday. I rolled over in my bed and spent half an hour on twitter, before my phone told me I had ran out of time for the day, and so I got up. At around ten I met up with J. We met last year, it must've already been May or so. I was having lunch with my colleagues from the marketing team, and they were having lunch with their colleagues of the student's newspaper. My first impression of them was terrible, they put up a detestable mean girl façade. M. told me that, to make new friends, it's sometimes easier to just act as if you two have known each other for years and already know everything about your respective pasts. I think that's what they were trying to do, but they just felt rude, bitter for no reason. I ignored them after a bit, I stopped responding and turned to my friends while eating an eggplant sandwich. We bonded in the following days. I was running around the MUN taking pictures, filling in for the odd job here and there, I even took up the role of a delegate for half an hour, with no preparation, and they were interviewing people, reporting on what was being discussed. We talked a lot during the boat party; we shared a few cigarettes and talked, talked, talked as the boat flew on the surface of the Maas.

This time they were lovely; we are even planning to move in together, if we find a good apartment. I think we could become very good friends, perhaps their strategy of treating me like an old friend from the start worked well. I owe them a coffee.

When we left the café we went to the Marais, where they work in some sort of art gallery. It's such a pretty neighborhood, but I still struggle to reconcile all of its contradictions: its queerness with its hatred of poverty, its forwardness with its gentrification.

I took the metro home, and had lunch quickly. Everything is so far apart here, and although the metro is fast it's not fast enough. Nothing ever is.

In the afternoon I met up again with some people from my university. We went thrifting, and at first I felt the same uneasiness I had felt the night before. I think I am heavily influenced by the people around me, by their behavior: if they're more introverted, it gets harder for me to talk. Being in a smaller group of people makes it easier, but I always worry that my personality does not shine through when I speak in french.

I ended up buying a Pierre Cardin sweater for fifteen euros, a dirty ashtray I've been trying to make shine all morning, and Jean Cocteau's Les Parents terribles. It was around six something when, in front of a ressourcerie, we said goodbye to each other, with the plan to hang out after dinner at A.'s place. I bought some ginger beer and limes; T. - a very beautiful boy with thin features and a curly head of dark chocolate hair - bought some vodka and violet syrup.

At home I did the laundry as I cooked. Multi-tasking has become my specialty. I freshened up as the tofu cooked; I put on my leather pants and a psychedelic brown t-shirt, and after eating I left the house with a heavy bag.

A. lives far away from my place, close to the university, in an apartment smaller than mine but better furnished. Everything in it is new, polished. The space is well used, and I was so surprised by the amount of stocked-up food in her pantry. Mine is always empty, I only buy what I'll eat during the week. I ended up knocking on her door at ten p.m., already thinking about how to manage to get home before the metro closes at one a.m.

I was not the last to arrive, Li. was still not there, but I saw Le. sitting on the couch, wearing the sweater vest he had bought earlier, and T. on the carpet, his legs crossed and his back to the wall.

[cont. on the 17th September 2023, 8.37pm]

That night we ended up staying awake till dawn, drinking moscow mules and violet vodka sodas, sitting on the carpet and laughing at nothing and everything.

We always talked in french, and I was surprised I could understand everything they said. Because we were not a lot of people, I could talk, cautiously. I still have to walk on the eggshells of grammar whenever I make up a phrase in my head, even at a store or at a café. It's terrifying to order a coffee and have the barista not realize what you want. Maybe it's because of the noise, maybe because of the low voice and whispered wish, maybe it's because I just, simply, said it wrong, pronounced it with too thick of an accent.

T. told me that my accent is foreign, but not necessarily Italian, or English like another guy said I sound like at times.

At 5.30am T. and I decided we would leave. Le. and Li. stayed, asleep in A.'s bed, next to her among the green pillows and the soft comforter.

We took the first metro. The entrance was open despite it being too early for the first train, so we walked down the stairs and sat alone on the green plastic chair of the stop. We had sobered up by then, but we were so tired that it did not feel like it. The metro was full, silent workers commuting to work filling up all of the seats.

-c.

#diary

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emilovestheatre · 2 years

Text

into the woods (the movie)

i have to start this by saying that i do like this movie! it has gorgeous cinematography and exciting costuming! it’s a nice watch!

however….

in comparison to the work of art that is the original stage version,,, it is just simply not as good! the source material of the film is one of my favourite pieces of theatre, so of course i am going to be critical!

firstly, into the woods is a musical with dark themes and symbolism that deeply reflect the world we live in,,, and it is also absolutely hilarious!! so many of the really funny jokes in the musical, were played straight and seriously in the movie. for example, when rapunzel’s tears cure her prince of his blindness, she jerks forward comically. but in the movie, she dramatically cries and the scene moves on, but its so much heavier than the musical. all of these moments make the movie would make the second half of the movie not feel like its dragging the rest of the show. these moments keep the show from just being dark and dreary. into the woods is so much more than just the serious parts.

secondly, they cut out so many songs!!! all of these cut songs (though some are short songs) add so much to the show!! i understand having to change and adapt it for the screen, with overall movie length, but as an avid lover of the musical, it was disappointing. even if they did have to cut all of those songs for time, i wish they could have saved no more from being cut. no more is such a powerful song. the baker finds (the spirit of??) his father in the woods as he has abandoned the group and his newborn son, just like his father did to him, and convinces him that its wrong and he needs to go back to them. this number is so emotional and cutting it takes away so much. and having james corden cry while the instrumental version of it plays was just a disappointing tease and i wish they just used to song instead.

thirdly, i actually really loved the costumes! all of them! but cinderella’s ball dress. i know it could be to make it easier for anna kendrick to run around the woods in but they do the same running in the musical and the dress is infinitely more gorgeous and dreamy.

fourthly, i think jack should have been played by a teenager/young man. with jack being played by a child, most of the comedy and his character is gone. this made his mother seem borderline abusive rather than tired of his childish behaviours. the whole point of jack’s character is to be this man-child who needs to grow up (like many other characters), and with him being played by a child, it leaves his character dull. jack in the musical is so hilariously oblivious to the world outside of just him and his cow, but now his character only seems needed for the plot lines to occur. this is not to take away from daniel huttlestone’s incredible talent!

fifthly, the singing! sondheim writes the most complex and beautiful music, full of unexpected intervals, and unusual and difficult timing. and i will be the first to say how hard it is! but i fear that because the actors were so focussed on the actual music and getting each note, it started to sound very rigid. it lost a bit of expression and vulnerability. while i think they all did a great job singing this (VERY) difficult score (though many songs had the keys altered to lower),, i wish they had just a bit more training or something! i also wish they kept ‘your fault’ the original speed, though its hard, with it slowed down, this impressive song becomes, very annoying and i know so many non-theatre people who hate it because of this!

sixthly, into the woods has a comic-like brightness in its set,, on stage that is. this was not carried though. the movie has a consistent misty blue hue to represent the mysteriousness of the woods. but while this darker, deeper, more mysterious side is very apparent in into the woods (the stage musical),,, it has more depth, and its dark themes are presented in a subtler way. a huge part of into the woods is the evolution between acts, from bright fairytale-like to dark and real. i wish the movie had more lighter moments, other than the occasional remark or trying to get laughs through getting hurt (i did not find the prince crashing into the tower that funny,, sorry).

seventhly, one scene that i really loved (possibly even more than the musical) was little red’s song, i know things now. the sequence of her being inside the wolf going down his throat was both fantastical and incredible! it was very theatrical and i loved it! very cleverly done!

eighthly, i wish the narrator was not the baker, and, like the stage production, played by the mysterious man. i understand that while changing mediums (from stage to film) its not as easy to transfer this kind of thing,, but they could have had him narrate from like in front of what the camera was showing (does that make sense, maybe not.). having him played by the mysterious man (and more importantly, NOT the baker) would change the show so much. at the end of the show, there is a beautiful moment where the baker starts telling his son “the story of how it all happened” and it is such an emotional, tender moment. this is the first time he has had to step up and be the father figure in his son’s life that he did not have growing up. his wife is dead, he has no other choice. but with the narration being done by the baker the entire way though, this moment at the end loses its charm.

ninthly, the witch. now listen, i LOVE meryl streep and her interpretation of the witch was like no other. however…. the witch is cheeky, funny, sarcastic, and all around a troublemaker. meryl’s witch is *sometimes* like this, but overall far too scary. but i do not think this was her fault at all,, the direction of this movie was taking it in a darker more literal sense, and in that case, she delivered! the witch can change the entire show. she is the core, she is the driving force, and she is the power in the show. her emotional arc is so significant and her presence is electrifying! into the woods’ witch IS scary, mean, and horrible BUT she is also all of those funny and silly things from before! again, i don’t think this is a meryl streep problem, but more of a general movie thing.

tenthly, the changes to the plot, though necessary with it being a disney movie, makes it sometimes confusing and less impactful. jack’s mother’s death is probably the weirdest. but the changes from rapunzel being squashed by the giant to just running away with her prince, is nowhere near as impactful in terms of the witch’s response. the witch’s “child”, the only person she (seems to) has ever loved, a person she put her entire heart and soul into (which, ended up being overprotective and making rapunzel crazy, so,, you know,, thats not good),, has been crushed right in front of her. this moment, followed by the witch singing her lament, is one of the most heartbreaking in the show,, it makes us (as the audience) sympathise with this person who has cause such terror! this is not the case in the movie. and the bakers wife falling off a cliff???? weird, but i guess needed for disney? i don’t know.

eleventhly, maybe i am biased because i have played the bakers wife myself, but emily blunt as the bakers wife is perfection! she is the perfect mix of determined, kind, morally grey, motherly, stubborn and everything the bakers wife should be! her chemistry and natural connection with james corden as the baker is so beautiful and absolutely one of my favourite parts of the movie!

to conclude, while this seems heavily negative (and biased towards the musical), i do really like this movie! it did a lot of things right! but you will always be biased to the original you know and love, right? it is rare the movie version of a musical is better or even equal to the musical (other than, in my opinion, chicago)! this is one of my all time favourite shows and i’m glad it got to be shared to a wide demographic of people, even if it was quite the best version in my opinion!

#intothewoods #thebakerswife #intothewoodsmusical #intothewoodsmovie #emilyblunt #broadway #musical theatre #musicals #stephen sondheim

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pefa-blog · 2 years

Text

Chapter 3: Swindler’s Swamp, part 1

Examinees steadily funneled out, some of them so exhausted, that they kneeled to catch their breath as soon as they moved a couple meters away from the exit. She watched as HeeJin almost literally fell down on the damp grass, the backpack dropped close. Chuu felt somewhat torn - on one side, she was glad that the girl was able to run all this way. On the other - they weren’t finished running. If she was so exhausted, it was better for her to fail in a tunnel.

When she looked at Choerry, Chuu met a contemplative gaze. She held it for a couple of seconds, before moving on to check how HyunJin was, neither surprised that the girl was fine, nor unashamed of her decision in the tunnel. If someone was failing on the first phase in a clearly non-lethal environment, she wasn’t about to hold their hand through it. Even if she thought that that specific someone was nice. She wasn’t sure if Choerry was shaming her for it, but there were certainly cogs turning in her head.

HyunJin almost immediately began doing slow stretches, looking barely bothered. She was sweating, and a bit out of breath, but nothing close to exhaustion HeeJin was experiencing. Chuu was somewhat impressed - it was a great result for a first timer on the exam.

As soon as Choerry got closer, she also sat on the ground and enthusiastically engaged the boys in a conversation. Chuu was catching snippets of it as she was digging through her bag, searching for some candies. Or chocolate. Something, she always had something in her bag and Chuu was absolutely, one hundred percent sure she bought some before boarding that crashed airship!

"Wow! You two ended first? That is amazing!” gushed Choerry. “How old are you two?"

“Twelve,” laughed Gon. “I guess I have never noticed how active I am usually in the forests. It must have helped.”

"Still inhuman," murmured quietly HyunJin, shaking her head, but waved Choerry’s quirked eyebrow off. Finished with her stretches, she sat close to HeeJin, fishing out a bottle of water from the girl’s backpack. Unscrewing the cap, she turned to Killua, smiling faintly. "What about you? I am HyunJin, by the way, eighteen.”

"Same as Gon. Killua," he said nonchalantly, not really looking at any of them, expression so distant, it was clear he was annoyed by the sudden group of people dragging him into a conversation.

Finished drinking, HeeJin tiredly thanked HyunJin and laid back on the ground, closing eyes. She exhaled once, introducing herself, but stopped midway, understanding she was too quiet. “HeeJin, Eighteen,” she repeated.

Eyes turned to Kurapika.

“Sixteen, Kurapika,” he said, then pointed with his chin at Leorio, whose hands were propped on the knees, breathing deeply. “Leorio is nineteen.”

“And I’m nineteen too,” finished the introductory circle Chuu, finally finding what she looked for. The timing was good, as there were quite a few glances sent from her to Leorio. With victorious cheer, she raised a bag of chocolate candies. She passed them around, allowing herself a slight smirk, when offering them to Killua. Staring her dead in her eyes, he took several of them. Chuu fought off a grin threatening to stretch on her face, deeply amused with his reaction. She wasn’t the type to use poisons!

Everyone but Kurapika accepted some. Wise, but also his loss.

"You do seem capable too, Killua,” said Choerry, facing him. “Still, it is weird to see someone so young take it.”

He shrugged. “You say it like it is challenging. So far nothing I saw was all that special."

Leorio angrily protested, backed by HeeJin’s death glare from the ground.

After twenty more minutes their brief rest ended. The door closed with a clang, cutting off an exhausted man, despite his panicked begging as he crawled the last couple stair steps.

In a silence descended on the hill, the examinees stood upright, ready to tackle the next obstacle. HeeJin cringed at a few dirt stains on her jeans and sleeveless shirt, but wasn’t as miffed about it as she would be if she was fully rested. She only hoped it would be not as noticeable after it dried and fell off. She secured the tag back on her coat, putting it back on, and tugged the beanie, lowering it. With her backpack on, she stood next to Choerry, waiting for further instructions. HyunJin was a couple steps to her left, close to Chuu.

Behind her, Leorio, her brother in sensible human capabilities and limitations, also was standing straight, no longer swaying. The break greatly benefited them both, although he decided to keep his shirt off. She hoped the glue on the tag was a serious one, to hold on even through a jog in such humid air, as it would be a miserable way to fail.

Everybody was looking at Monsieur Satotz, who was overlooking the forest, partially obscured by a light low fog.

“Treacherous wetlands, also known as the Swindler’s Swamp. It comprises the next leg of the first phase,” he announced. “Please note that there are many crafty and voracious creatures unique to these wetlands. They’ll trick you in a blink and eat you with relish.This is not their whim, but the basis of their entire ecosystem and the reason for the swamp’s name.” He turned around to face the examinees with a serious mien. “If you get lost, you are as good as dead. So take care of following me closely.”

“Nice of him to warn us,” she overheard Leorio confidently mutter to Kurapika. “Can't dupe someone who’s on the lookout for tricks.”

“He’s lying!”

Loud shriek cut through the air and the examinees whipped around. A beat-up man in dirty clothes turned the corner of the tunnel exit, one arm clutching his stomach.

“He’s an impostor, don’t let him deceive you! He’s not the examiner. I’m the real one!”

“Yeah, sure as we would believe...” started some applicants while others stuttered out questions and disbelief: “Impostor?! But…!”

Others had their heads whipped back at Satotz. “Then who - or what - is he?!”

The majority remained silent.

HeeJin frowned. She sent glances to her left, gauging reaction from the girls. HyunJin and Chuu were both looking at the direction of the man, the former's chin lifted a bit, a barely noticeable twitching of nostrils present for some reason, and the latter's facade completely disinterested. She threw a glance to her right, where Choerry was - HeeJin did a double-take - still looking at the forest, ignoring the commotion.

She moved closer, tugging at the girl’s sleeve, motioning at the situation at hand. Choerry looked behind her, at the roughed-up man, then huffed and turned back to the swamp, dismissively waving her hand.

“I’ll show you!” The man moved a couple steps away from the exit, giving a clear view at something he was clutching in his other hand. Distressed murmuring rose through the front. HeeJin hurriedly stood on her tiptoes to see the proof, just as the man raised it. A lean human-sized monkey, both eyes blankly staring at the sky, tongue lolling out. Its fur was covered in mud and few spots of blood, tangled in whatever struggle killed it. The man accusatory pointed at Satotz. “He’s one of the wetland creatures - the man-faced ape!”

She felt her face morph into a polite disinterest, as she dug through her thoughts (there was something wrong but she just couldn’t point a finger at it, was it about their examiner’s composure and this man’s lack of one or the endurance, but animals had great stamina, she thought)

A wave of hushed whispers washed over the crowd, half of the people outwardly reacting, while the other stood still, tensely observing the situation. A blur of white moved in a corner of her eye, but HeeJin habitually ignored it, her head clearing a bit, letting her focus better.

The man continued explaining the situation. “They lust after fresh human flesh, but are too weak to capture prey on their own. So they disguise themselves and lead a crowd of humans to the wetlands where, in cooperation with other creatures, they capture them alive!” She heard HyunJin huff. “This time they’re out to sweep up the entire hunter applicant pool!..”

Her heart froze, when with a short whistle three cards buried halfway in the man’s face. She almost jumped, startled, choking on her breath.

A more noticeable blur of white flashed close to her feet, bringing her back to the ground, jolting her out of her stupor and to the threat.

HeeJin snapped her head towards the source before the body hit the ground. Hisoka stood there, grinning to himself, shuffling cards, the rustle swallowing the hill.

In a corner of her eyes she saw Choerry, who was suddenly facing the situation, turning around at some point, stepping closer to her. She ignored that, out of instincts that were screaming at her to not turn away from the predator in the room.

Something palpably hopped on her foot and a small memory of comfort soothed her tension.

Choerry quietly hummed and gently took her by the elbow, for some reason almost startling her with that. HeeJin tore her gaze away from Hisoka, and Choerry sent her a quick supportive smile, before pointedly looking to HeeJin’s left, where the other two girls stood. HeeJin followed her lead and saw Chuu, surprisingly tense. Not in an openly aggressive way, but having that subtle focused alertness, that happens when in a room full of people somebody, who is likely to be armed, starts reaching towards a gun.

While her face projected a mild indifference, her eyes were burrowing in Hisoka. Chuu was leaning forward, her hands by her side, one half-step made forward, almost shielding HyunJin, her shoulder an inch in the way between the two. HyunJin herself was still standing as she was, eyes wide open, transfixed by the performance.

The sound of shuffling cards haunted the hill for a few very long, tense seconds.

Hisoka chuckled. “He-heh. I see. That is the real one,” the man threw a slow gaze at their examiner.

Another three cards were held in Satotz’s hands, the man looking both unimpressed and annoyed by the attack. The combination made the man look borderline grim for a brief second, before he flicked the cards away, closing his eyes. When he opened them, they were tranquil once again.

She heard rustling and monkey yapping. HeeJin looked there, just in time to see another card connect with what was previously presented as a dead monkey.

“Now we all know,” singsonged Hisoka, not breaking eye contact with Satotz.

To her left she noticed the motion. Chuu forcefully blinked once, momentarily grimacing as she averted her eyes from the scene, stepping back the half-step she made previously. She snapped her eyes up, making contact with her’s, and HeeJin noticed the fleeting mix of confusion and something else, before it was replaced with a smile. She smiled back at Chuu, before turning back to the scene.

“Examiners,” drawled Hisoka, still shuffling his cards, ”are Hunters who do this, without pay, by the request of the Judging Committee. A simple Hunter, which we ourselves aspire to become, would have no trouble dodging my attack.”

“I shall take that as a compliment,” said Satotz. “But,” he sent an empathizing stare, “the next attack on me, for any reason, will be grounds for immediate disqualification. Understood?”

“Sure,” placidly agreed Hisoka, smiling and putting away the deck.

In a heavy pause, HeeJin sighed - silence was suffocating, compared to the one that was before Satotz’s speech.

Loud wing flapping turned her head back to the fake examiner. Flock of birds gathers around the dead monkey and the monkey that was deceiving them, unbothered by the proximity of the examinees. HeeJin felt a heavy pang in her heart. That monkey still looked way too human-like for her liking.

As the birds began fiesting, Satotz made a slow walk halfway towards them. “As you see, losing isn’t pretty,” he said dispassionately, leaving the underlying implication hanging in the air.

“The law of the jungle is disgusting!” grumbled Leorio behind her and, with a jolt, HeeJin remembered of the other applicants.

“Nice ruse, saying I'm an impostor in order to confuse the examinees into taking the wrong path - right into their clutches. That's the sort of life-or-death deception that makes the swamp the perilous and fascinating place it is,” overt passion surged through his voice. “I’m sure many of you were swayed, and started having doubts about me.”

Several figures shifted and a couple let out a nervous laughter.

Satotz sighed and began walking out of the crowd and down the hill. “Well, so much for that. To the second phase.”

Running through mud was far, far more challenging compared to the concrete of the tunnel, slurping sounds of kneaded marsh filling the air, rendering any outside noise inaudible.

It didn’t take long for the flora and fauna of the swamp to start showing its predatory nature, but only caught some stragglers on the sides, prompting everyone to group closer.

Twenty or so minutes later, fog thickened again and screams filled the air.

She was used to nature, having spent hours upon hours each day outside the town, roaming the mountains. She had experienced it damp and was used to that - for a few months that it poured nonstop, rains made the slopes slippery and forests hard to navigate, all smells washing away quickly. Rivers rose to the brims of high banks, usually looking like dried streams that were once roaring with water.

But it was not this dump - fog was so dense, it was hard to see three meters ahead in some areas. Air was clogging her nose and moist clang uncomfortably on her skin. If she had her mother’s hair, it would’ve started curling by now, that’s how humid it was.

Air was no longer filled with human screams. In the past few minutes HyunJin only heard occasional faraway yelps, but they were nowhere close to them. When the last distant scream ended and an unusual silence descended, HyunJin had stopped in her tracks. She strained her hearing, but heard only nature. Leaves barely rustling, water dripping. A lot of feasting noises of tearing flesh and cracking bones, but none of the footfalls she wanted to hear.

They were unapologetically lost, neither guide nor the crowd to be sensed.

Footprints had been of no help either, even if they weren’t following any of them. They twisted and went in all directions, the applicants who were lagging behind lost and trying to navigate through the deadly swamp. Most of them ended up preyed on by local fauna. She didn’t know how many were lucky to avoid any of the traps.

If they at least had a trail, she could’ve tracked others, since the examinees were just here. Some of them had very strong chemical scents or were using strong cologne, like Leorio, for example. HyunJin could have tried to follow one oh the stronger-looking ones. But there was none and they weren’t following any small couple-people tracks - they were more likely to get out if they didn’t follow likely dead end paths.

She was ready to take the lead, both more used to nature and in better shape than HeeJin. If someone were to react to the danger first, it should’ve been her.

But that didn’t turn out to be the case.

"How do you know where to go?" she pondered aloud. The determined run HeeJin had was too purposeful to be from someone as lost as they were. She weaved between the trees and kept heading in an overall straight direction despite some obstacles she had to circle around. For the first ten minutes, HyunJin followed her silently, trusting that HeeJin knew what she was doing.

When she stopped in silence, the girl had to physically drag the redhead behind her, pleading to follow her. A confident and semi-collected HeeJin was a sudden enough change from the previously almost giving up girl. Her expression was stiff, but not troubled. HyunJin decided to trust her on this one.

"Intuition," said HeeJin with her eyes glued to the trees, before sharply changing direction again, opting to go through an area with more water and less solid ground. HyunJin followed.

"Choerry, I cannot see the girls," interrupted her rant Chuu. "I think they got lost."

Choerry’s first knee-jerk reaction was a thoughtless dismissal of her words, continuing her pursuit until Chuu gave up a hint. It was her turn to poke, as there was something tangible she could aim her interest at. After all, the display on the hill was an fascinating action, coming from a girl, who didn’t slow down even for a second when HeeJin fell behind.

Choerry was not holding that up against Chuu - some people didn’t like to help others, or those they just met! And that is okay! She met plenty of those and had such among her friends.

But she would be damned if she doesn’t get at least a hint to work with, a needle to thread for the course of the exam. However, Chuu was not cooperating, clamming up and acting as if she only dispassionately watched the confrontation. Choerry felt her curiosity swell inside her this whole time, almost unbearably interested in her new friends and a potential-friend.

But it once again clouded her focus, dammit! Choerry reprimanded herself for getting tunnel-visioned with Chuu’s oddity and leaving HeeJin and HyunJin behind. A nasty habit, her friends liked to poke at it in good humor. Sadly, she doubted she would ever stop that entirely.

She worried her lip. HeeJin and HyunJin getting lost was unfortunate. The swamp proved to be extremely dangerous for those who lagged behind, the background of sporadic screams a constant presence, even if they became sparser in the past few minutes.

"We are going back," she stated, meeting the puzzled look Chuu gave her.

That made her pause for a split second. Was Chuu not interested in the girls’ continued survival? Choerry thought she was fond of them too. Did she read that wrong? Or was Chuu of the calculating type? It didn’t seem right, but what did she know about the redhead? Nothing.

Going back would probably seem unreasonable from the perspective of a coldly calculative person - it would benefit to ignore others on this exam by being selfish. After all, what if the order of arrival to the next site was important? It was not uncommon for the first arrivals to have a benefit, Kim Lip told her. But that was in the latter phases, not the first. Was Chuu interested in possible benefits or just uninterested in searching for the girls?

Musing over that, Choerry absentmindedly grabbed Chuu’s forearm, fingers firmly curled around her knitted glove (in the back of her mind a surprised thought flashed about a solid surface underneath it), startling the girl, and dived to the side, away from the Satotz’s guidance, forcing them to do a sharp u-turn.

Chuu liked lush old forests, sturdy layered branches spaced just enough to feel the air between them but with decades(or even centuries)-old trunks too frequent to have too wide of a field of view. It was much easier to move through them, jumping from branch to branch on top speed, ignoring whether it was raining the other day or any natural debris there might have been. Only rushing at top speed through the canopy, not having to worry about any mission or people, trusting herself to be agile enough to not kill herself, squashing against one of the trees like a bug against a windshield.

In similar ways, fields and rocky mountains were enjoyable to run through, vast open spaces to flow through without a care in the world. While she was not a nature-dedicated person, Chuu liked it!

However, swamp forests were very much opposite of those, and an addition of unknown purple-haired variables wasn’t making this any better. While she was still running relatively fast, she was nowhere up to her usual speed. Worse, she could not use En, not with Choerry and moreso not with Hisoka fallen back, who, she knew, was lurking somewhere, bloodlusting.

Chuu would very much prefer to not face Hisoka right now. Not ever and not with the impulse she had earlier.

It was unfortunate HyunJin was just looking too much like and her subconscious acted before she did. Chuu acknowledged that she should address this later with Yves and Go Won.

She wouldn’t.

Alas, her mistake made Choerry focused on her, pointedly nagging even while running so close to others, they risked to be tripped. She wasn’t asking any direct questions, but her reminiscence of some likely made-up events in her life had a conspicuous amount of “subconscious moves” and “jumping in front of someone”. She wasn’t overly loud but that was not the point.

When the girls appeared to be lagging behind, she said so, hoping to send Choerry off, as the girl seemed to be pretty invested in them for some reason. Not that she couldn’t care less about them, her situation was just… Different.

But, in alerting the girl, Chuu was dragged along, since, apparently, she missed the memo that she was now glued to Choerry.

After the girl just grabbed her, almost begging to be attacked, turning both of them around, she thought of just going back to follow Satotz again and pretending she never had any business in that.

However, that would burn any possible bridges for friendship between her and any of them and Yves told her to at least try. “Not alienating” was high on the list of basic rules for that.

She sighed internally.

This whole situation was exactly the reason why she thought it was better for two of them to fall behind in the tunnel if they were underqualified. At least that way they could turn back safely and she could ignore the order without feeling guilty. They were nice and sweet and a perfect match for that hypocritical advice - they were girls, her age, skilled enough to get to the starting site of the Hunter exam on their first try, but not too skilled to be suspicious or pose danger to her or her friends.

And now they were lost in Swindler's Swamp.

With Hisoka lurking around.

Which looped her thought process back into her mistake near the exit. At the start, before the marathon, she had to check if she was seeing things or if HyunJin just had a similar face, but it turned out to be just a morbid coincidence. It still was unsettling, looking at her. Back in the tunnel, she also had a catching up thought that the redhead and Choerry had somewhat similar faces. Luckily, it seemed the latter was too different overall to trigger any sort of reaction in her.

The girls described the exam almost as a vacation, but, so far, it was building up to be anything but. She also had a sneaking suspicion that Go Won was gleeful over the fact that Hisoka moved from taking the exam in her year to Chuu’s. Of course it became a vacation for her after he left!

She undoubtedly had that in mind when Chuu left for the exam. No wonder the girl was smirking! To think Chuu forgot that warning! Even if it was made a year ago, Hisoka was one of their more or less constant clients, for God’s sake, it resurfaced in their conversations!..

A distant explosion of killing intent made her tense up, instantly dropping into Zetsu. The source was now behind them, not far enough, never far enough.

Chuu prayed this wasn’t his reaction to HyunJin or HeeJin.

Both she and Choerry sped up at the same time, focused on the search.

HyunJin made an audible sound of bewilderment. Over her shoulder, in the center of the clearing that they just made a wide arch around, she saw a mossy boulder uncoil. It shifted and, with a grumble, settled back, in a rock of a different shape.

“You are really good at survival in the wilderness,” mused HyunJin.

HeeJin laughed bitterly. “Worse than you think. Only navigating around and even that works one time out of five,” she groaned. “You have no idea what kind of places I wounded up in by accident!”

They were no longer running at the pace of the crowd, settling in a more patient tempo. It left them with plenty of breath to talk. Thankfully, the fog was also slowly thinning, letting her ponder about the possibility of them finally getting out of the swamp. It was an uplifting line of thought.

“Well, you don’t seem to be dead, so it must’ve worked out.”

“It did. Places were weird, but none of them was deadly dangerous.” HeeJin took a pause, before adding in a quiter, more confused tone: “Some were borderline creepy but that might be just me.”

HyunJin chewed her cheek, thinking of that. “Creepy how?”

HeeJin kept silent for a while and when HyunJin thought of moving on, blackhaired girl said: “I do not know how to properly explain. There was a feeling like something didn’t belong to those places, like… Ah, I really don’t know how to explain. Like. You know the feeling when coincidences are too suspicious or timing that makes you paranoid? A blanket of awareness? It wasn’t anything solid, just a vague feeling...” HeeJin looked back, meeting her gaze for a second. Sighing, she turned back to the road. “I don’t know how to convey that in words. Just forget that.”

She wouldn't forget that. “Was that creepiness linked to something that happened to you?” If so, contrary to what HeeJin was thinking, HyunJin could empathize.

“No?” HeeJin was sounding confused, bending under a low-hanging branch, large leaves covered in brown dots. She kept moving through a copse, ignoring the clearer path three meters to the left. “I don’t think so?”

“You don’t sound so sure,” she pointed out, following.

HeeJin made an unintelligible noise at that.

After it was clear she won’t elaborate, HyunJin returned to a previous question she had. “You look like a city girl. Where did you get to learn how to navigate?”

“I didn’t,” HeeJin shook her head, “it is just an intuition.”

They lapsed into silence once again.

She herself was often praised for her instincts and intuition. It failed her here, to her slight disappointment. It stung a little that she had to be guided in nature and not the other way around, but it wasn’t hitting her pride too badly. She rarely got to be in a completely new environment. Especially in so hostile. Was this even a situation she could’ve gone through just by herself? Following her own instincts?

No. There were places where intuition worked and where it didn’t. This wasn’t one she would risk it in, at least, not on her own volition. Currently, the only thing that could be named “a mistake”, was letting the crowd out of sight, but that meant leaving HeeJin behind by herself.

And that wasn't a mistake.

Content, she laid that line of thought aside.

HyunJin couldn’t help but ask: “If your instinct is so unstable, how do you rely on it now?”

“I just believe in it,” dropped HeeJin dismissively.

HyunJin shrugged. This did not seem like a topic HeeJin wanted to talk about. HyunJin was content to drop the conversation and focus on the road ahead.

A couple minutes later HeeJin spoke up quietly. Not expecting continuation, HyunJin had to make an effort to discern her words.

“My experiences taught me that it is better to believe in myself and die due to my own mistakes than it is to sit in indecision and die because of someone else’s,” said HeeJin, by the tone of it, carefully mouthing each word.

The conversation died there.

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#hxh x loona #hxh #loona #loona au #wabrw #chapter

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angelamajiki · 3 years

Text

[ peace treaty - kiribaku ]

AN: this is a fantasy au piece, enjoy! :)

CW: yandere, dubcon, arranged marriage, stalking, coercion, dragon/animal anatomy, fantasy au, afab terms, predator/prey dynamics, size difference, facesitting

“A mate, huh?” Katsuki chuckled as he stroked his companion’s horns, looking into the horizon thoughtfully.

“Think about it! We need hatchlings to lead the future generations of the Bakugo clan.” Eijirou pleaded with his mate. “Don't you ever miss the company of a woman? I know I do.”

Adding a woman to their pack would certainly bring its advantages. It would undoubtedly strengthen their positions as clan rulers if they were to have a wife and children to carry on both men’s legacy.

“Fine,” Katsuki conceded. “Let’s go find a mate then.”

The pair returned to their respective forms, wolf and dragon, as they began their hunt through the wild countryside for their new mate. Days of running down the mountainous forests away from their clan, they settled on resting at the edge of the woods, looking at a clearing just over a shimmering river that separated the two territories. Beyond the meadow was a small fortress surrounded by the community that they presumably controlled—a perfect place to start their search after some well-needed sleep.

Katsuki was the first to awaken from his slumber at the sound of a woman’s voice. And a heavenly voice it was, signing an alluring melody. Peaking his head over the bushes, the young prince saw the enchanting woman bathing alone in the stream. The other man had awoken as well, just as equally entranced by the naked dancing woman.

“A vixen...” Katsuki murmured, twisting to look at his mate. It was clear to both men that she was the mate they were looking for. Independent, vexing, sweet. She was perfect.

“Let’s snatch her up now while she’s distracted, ” Eijirou grumbled impatiently, eager to take her back to their den at once.

“Patience, Ei. I want her too, but now is not the moment to strike. Let's watch her a bit more; she needs to be more than a pretty face, you know that.”

Katsuki did not doubt that she wasn’t their perfect match, but he is a predator to her before he’s a man to her at this moment.

The blissfully unaware maiden that you were, you went on with bathing peacefully in the warm, summer day. Your attendants had followed you from the castle, watching from afar as they knew you valued your time alone in the stream. After some time, one of them called for you back to the castle for supper. Dried and dressed, the group of you departed from the meadow by horse as the sunset.

“So, she’s a princess, Katsuki.” Eijirou’s tail trashed with excitement. “If we marry her, we’ll get this territory too! Oh, I wonder if she likes to travel..” The red-haired man went off on a tangent about his many fantasies for you while the blonde thought deeply. This was almost too perfect; he had just the plan to corner and ensnare their lovely little prey.

The men stayed at the edge of their territory, for the time being, glad to notice that you had returned to the riverbank almost daily. Sometimes you took your handmaidens; sometimes, you came alone while they trailed back.

They learned that you liked to flip through many a book while basking in the sunlight. A library would be a perfect wedding present for you-they intended to spoil you thoroughly with the dragon’s hoard.

Five days had proven to be enough time for the men to watch you and returned to their clan to make the necessary preparations for your place as their lovely spoiled mate.

---

A fortnight later, a letter from the young prince arrived at your doorstep, addressed to your father, the king.

“An alliance? With the barbarian tribe, that’s unheard of, father. Are you sure it’s not some trick?” You doubted, finding it difficult to understand his request. The barbarian clan was...mysterious, to say the least. Living up in the mountains beyond the river, they were a solitary bunch who were ruthless and never exhibited mercy towards their foes. Not much was know about them because they simply never made alliances or held diplomacy with other clans or kingdoms.

“Perhaps they wish to make allies with the next closest kingdom, my dear.” Your father spoke quietly, his voice wavering as he avoided your eyes. “You’ll go up the mountains to discuss the terms with young Bakugo. An older gentleman like me is not suited for those kinds of traveling conditions.”

Nodding solemnly, preparations were made for your immediate departure. All of your belongings were brought to your carriage, something that struck you as rather odd. Although father did say something about the uncertainty of the amount of time you would spend with the barbarians for the sake of discussion.

With that in mind, you set off into the forest just as the sunset.

---

The journey had taken nearly five days through the rain and snow, your small carriage trudging up the mountainside to the den of the barbarians. As your carriage came to a stop, two men helped you out and down, both possessing a tenderness that didn’t seem possible for them. The blond was bare-chested, even in the snow! He stood at about six feet and had a body that seemed the gods themselves sculpted it.

“Welcome to my clan, your majesty.”

His smirk was wolf-like, eyes bearing down on you like a predator who has caught his unwitting prey. “Come, let’s get you inside to warmth and comfort. I'm sure you’ve had a long journey. Eijirou here will help with your belongings and join us after you rest.”

The prince held out his arm for you to take as the red-head beside you gave a toothy grin before setting off to work. He...he was something more than a man, he had to be! Standing at well over six and a half feet, he was much more muscular than the blonde; Eijirou airs about him more than human. It was inexplicable.

Katsuki gave a gentle tug to your arm before ushering you to the massive tent that stood in the middle of the community of barbarians who looked onto you with glowing pride. What an odd bunch of people, but you couldn't very well judge them now, could you? They simply had a different culture, another way of life.

The tent seemed larger than life on the inside and was impossibly warm. It had had a large bed adorned with piles of pelts and furs near a roaring fireplace. Many bookshelves lined the walls, as well as prized kills and weaponry were displayed. Katsuki led you to a table near the warmth of the fire. How-

“Magic, princess. I am fortunate enough to possess it, as well as many of my clansmen.” Katsuki boasted, clearly prideful of his abilities. He could only hope it impressed you, which it certainly did. “It keeps us warm up here in the dead of winter, which is soon approaching. It protects us, provides for us, all of which it will do for you too.”

Your smile could hardly be contained as you gazed upon the handsome man with wonder. For you, too? Would this he be so kind as to lend you its strength while you struck a deal with them? The barbarians were indeed nothing like the fairytales you had heard about them.

“I thank you for your hospitality, Sir Bakugo. I am truly humbled to be here with you.”

“Call me Katsuki, little one. We should grow familiar with each other before our wedding.”

His wolfish smirk grew wider as he saw the look on your face. Ah, he so loved that look of feeble innocence and confusion on your expression.

“Oh, did your father not tell you?” he chuckled, taking a sip from his cup. “This is an alliance through our union. Suppose you’ll have us, of course. Otherwise, we might have to resort to other means down the mountain.”

Us? Oh, he means-

“Ei, don’t be shy and stand in the doorway. Come greet your bride properly.”

Thundering footsteps came from behind your seated form as Eijirou towered over your much smaller frame.

“Please, tell me you agree to us, my love. We've waited so long for your arrival, won't you let us have you?” A scarred but gentle hand enveloped yours as the dragon shifter kissed it tenderly. “There’s no need to be frightened; we intend to treat you like our queen and spoil you rotten with all the world’s riches. Grant us your blessing.”

How could you deny them? Your kingdom was in danger, yet these men, they lulled you into such a state of comfort and safety. Perhaps it was the magic at work?

“Please, may I think on it?” Your heart battered against your ribcage with fear and excitement. Two men, both for husbands. What a strange culture indeed.

“Only if you let us have you tonight. Give us a chance to prove our worth as not only husbands but as men to you.”

Blood rushed to your face, heating your cheeks as you felt aflame with shame, and to your horror, arousal. They are seasoned men. Indeed they’ll treat you as gently as they have been the whole time?

“O-Only if you are gentle with me. I am...inexperienced.”

That was all the approval they needed. Eijirou, still behind you, swept you up in his arms and onto the bed. Wanting to show some display of his true strength, he ripped your gown clean off your body. Whimpering, your hand flew to grip his forearm fearfully. “Gentle, please, gentle.”

Eijirou shushed you softly, placing a sweet kiss on your trembling lips, hands beginning to wander to down your sides and to your sex. Stroking your clit in small circles, the men relished in your little whines and moans.

“I think I should give you a taste, huh? I haven't eaten all day.” He purred as he dipped down to press kisses to your lips before diving in with his hot tongue, lapping your clit.

Katsuki’s searing kiss swallowed wanton moans and cries. Eijriou’s hands kept your squirming hips firmly in place, positioning you to sit on his face while the blond continued to lay passionate kisses on your lips, neck, and chest.

Teeth sunk into your neck as the prince wasted no time in marking up his newfound territory. Your cries heightened in pitch as you gripped red hair, calling out Eijirou’s name as you came from his overwhelming sucking and slurping of your juices.

“N-no more! Please, that's enough!” Whining, you began to shake when his tongue barely came to half after your cries. Panting and writhing, you peeled off his tongue and laid on the furs next to Katsuki.

“I think that’s enough for this evening; poor thing is already exhausted.” Katsuki chuckled as he dabbed the sweat off your brow and cleaned in between your legs.

“We’ll build up your stamina and be sure to stretch you gently daily.” Eijirou quipped as he took his place next to your side. Up close, you could see how different he really was. Red iridescent scales trailed on his sideburns and h

shoulders. Absentmindedly, you stroke them and wondered if there were more.

“After all, it’s customary to lose your virginity on the wedding night, so need to rush you in right now. Have you made your decision, given Ei’s stellar performance?”

Letting sleep overtake you, your head nodded gently as he rested on Eijirou’s shoulder. The hunt was over and the men could not be more happy with their choice.

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brawltogethernow · 3 years

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@mirrorfalls submitted: Came across this while searching for James Bond’s scrambled-eggs recipe (long story). Your thoughts?

But did you find James Bond’s scrambled eggs recipe?

In this article, Scocca laments his inability to find accessible, lighthearted superhero comics suitable to read with his young son, while also demonstrating a mysterious aversion to looking at DC and Marvel’s lines of comics for children, which is where the accessible, lighthearted superhero comics suitable for reading with young children are. He wants his elementary schooler to be able to safely have the run of all superhero media so he doesn’t have to touch the yucky baby books.

This is not an industry-wide crisis. This is just one dude who got paid to write an article where he accidentally exposed one of his personal hangups.

The child headed toward the trade paperbacks of Marvel and D.C. superhero titles on the side wall […] a few steps in front of me. […] Is he with you? a clerk asked me. I said he was. You know, the clerk said, we have a kids’ section. The clerk gestured backward, at a few shelves near the entrance. I said, Thanks, we know and tried throwing in a little shrug, as the kid kept going.

You can’t just turn a seven-year-old child loose in a comic-book store to look at the superhero comic books. […] My seven-year-old really wanted to see that last Avengers movie […] that is, he wished it were a movie he could see, but he understood that it was, instead, a movie designed to scare and sadden him—a movie actively hostile to people like him.

They have a children’s section. Because comics are a medium suitable for stories for everybody, and they are sold in comic book shops, which have sections, like bookstores. You can use this organization to find books that you know in advance are suitable for children. What goes in that category is determined by industry professionals. This area will be bigger the bigger the shop is. These comics are not lower quality that titles from the main lines. They are actually slightly better-written on average.

Your local comic book shop has considerately wrapped Empowered in a plastic bag, so your child will not be drawn in by a colorful superhero and accidentally read a graphic scene. If you think your kid might find a memoir about internment camps upsetting, it is your job to notice them picking up They Called Us Enemy and read the blurb on the back before you let them have it. This comic adults are meant to read is in a comic book shop because that is where comics are sold. Not every public place is supposed to be Disneyland.

Movies have ratings systems. If you do not want your child to watch a PG-13 movie, you will find that most superhero cartoons are for children. They are about the same characters. Some are quite good! I really enjoyed Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Your child may like Avengers Assemble. At least I think that’s right. I’m always mixing those titles around.

This is a deeply weird bias for Scocca to casually demonstrate, because he identifies in the article that real childishness is striving for empty maturity.

He compares an old comic,

[…]a 1966 Spider-Man comic in which Spider-Man meets, fights, and defeats the Rhino; participates in a running argument between John Jameson and J. Jonah Jameson about his heroism; buys a motorcycle; breaks up with his first girlfriend, Betty Brant; flirts with Gwen Stacy; and reluctantly agrees to let Aunt May take him to meet her friend Mrs. Watson’s niece, Mary Jane.

and a new comic,

[…]a 21st century comic book in which Thor, brooding in a Katrina-destroyed New Orleans, beats up Iron Man. He also yells at Iron Man a lot about some incomprehensibly convoluted set of grievances, including involuntary cloning, that he believes Iron Man perpetrated against him while he was dead(?), and then summons some other Norse god from the beyond somehow for reasons having something to do with real estate. I think. Where the 1966 comic is zippy and fun and complete, the whole contemporary one is muddled and lugubrious and seems to constitute a tiny piece of a seemingly endless plot arc—simultaneously apocalyptic and inert.

and concludes that the edgier comic is actually less mature. This is true. (This is not news about mediocre comics.)

It also has nothing to do with either comic being child-friendly, the article’s nominal thesis, except in the sense that ASM #41 (yes, I eyeballed that from that summary, yes I am just showing off now) is better written, making it more everyone-friendly. It also has practically more space dedicated to word balloons than art and is about a college student juggling girl problems and a part-time job with a tyrannical boss. But the immature one, as Scocca points out, is dour.

These are both teenagery issues, separated only by quality. It’s true that lots of new comics published by the big 2 are bad in the specific way Scocca describes here, taking themselves too seriously and hauled down by associated stories instead of buoyed by them. Some are not! Some titles from these companies’ main continuities are zippy, contained, and child friendly. Give your child The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Or if you like vintage comics so much better, why don’t you…buy some?

The books on the kid’s rack are good and fun and totally suitable for parents to read with their children without wanting to scoop their eyeballs out. Scocca cites the Batman ‘66 comics as the brightly colored, tightly written all ages solution to his problem about sharing superhero stories with his son. My local comic shop stores this title in the kid’s section. I am glad that Scocca’s does not, as he seems to have a peculiar aversion to looking for comics to read with his son there.

Scocca cites Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as a superhero movie he could watch with his kids. (I was surprised when this line made it sound like he has several. I don’t want to assume the other one isn’t in this article because they’re a girl, but I very much am assuming that.) Great! Go to the kid’s section and look for Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man. It’s a fun, zippy title directly inspired by ITSV where Miles, Gwen, and Peter superhero together. It’s much more tightly written than most of the various Spider-Verse comics, which are ambitiously messy ubercrossovers. You may not want to give those to children because they include murder and so on, but also you just have the choice between the two as an adult reader deciding how much continuity you want to deal with. Adventures is one of the only titles I would buy on sight before corona. The kid comic rack is a reliable place to take a break from How Comics Get Sometimes regardless of how old you are.

This article makes me feel quarrelsome. Maybe it’s that it doesn’t seem like exploration of a single idea so much as a loosely grouped bundle of things to kvetch about. Maybe it’s that the experience of getting into superheroes that Scocca describes experiencing, projects his seven-year-old son will experience, and from which he extrapolates a metaphorical microcosm of the history of the genre is completely alien to me.

Comic books [and] comic-book movies—are […] trapped in their imagined audience’s own awful passage from childhood to adolescence. A seven-year-old has a clean […] appreciation of superheroes. They like hero comics because the comics have heroes: bold, strong, vividly colored good guys to fight off the bad guys and make the world safe.

But seven-year-olds stop being seven. […] They become 13-year-olds, defensively trying to learn how to develop tastes about tastes.

The 13-year-old wants many things from comics, but the overarching one is that they want to prove that they’re not some seven-year-old baby anymore. They want gloomy heroes, miserable heroes, heroes who would make a seven-year-old feel bad. (Also boobs. They want boobs.)

Not because of the boobs line, although that does illicit an eyeroll that this gloomy thinkpiece is fretting over preserving the superhero experience of little boys who resemble the little boy the writer was while casually dismissing everyone else. I was one of those unlikable little seven-year-olds with a college reading level and the impression that maintaining it was the crux of my worth. I only read Books - distinguished media you could club someone with. I have a formative memory of pausing, enraptured, in front of a poster for Spider-Man 3, preparing to say that it looked pretty cool, and being beaten to the punch by my mother making a disparaging comment about how the movie was trash. It wasn’t out yet, but it was a superhero movie. That meant it was for loud, brainless children.

That was the total of my childhood experience with superheroes, excluding being the unwilling audience to incessant renditions of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” that left me wondering why in god’s name Batman’s sidekick was named Robin. I certainly never visited a comic book shop. I got into TvTropes, which got me into webcomics, which got me following David Willis, who got me into Ask Chris at ComicsAlliance, which led to me rewarding myself for studying like a demon for the AP tests with three volumes of Waid’s Daredevil, pitched as a return to the character being colorful and swashbuckling. I was seven…teen.

This is of the same thread as Scocca’s point that immaturity is running from childish things. It leaves me baffled that he doesn’t follow that maturity is embracing them.

I will disclose here that while I think it was dumb I had to overcome my upbringing’s deeply embedded shame associated with enjoying arbitrarily defined lowbrow media and children being childish, I think it’s fine that I was allowed largely unchecked access to technically age-inappropriate content. In my limited experience, content small children are too young for is also content they’re too young to understand, so it kind of just bounces off of them, and what actually ends up terrorizing them is unpredictable collages of impressions that strike out at them from content deemed perfectly child-friendly. I would not forbid a seven-year-old I was in charge of from seeing an MCU movie unless I had a reason to believe that specific child would not take it well. These are emotionally low-stakes bubblegum films. It will probably be easier to socialize with other kids if they have seen them.

But then, when I picture being in charge of a hypothetical child, I usually imagine this being the case because they are related to me, and the pupal stage in my family strongly resembles Wednesday Addams. ALL children love death and violence, though, right?? This isn’t a joke point. I know it looks like a joke point.

The MCU thing seems especially weird in light of the article’s particular focus on Spider-Man, which is the kiddie line of the MCU, even if they refused to waver from their usual formula enough to get a lower rating. Though I am more inclined to describe it as “preying on the young” than “child-friendly”.

(MCU movies are increasingly dubious propaganda, but I would not judge them in front of a child who wanted to watch them for that reason, just in case this led to them partaking of them without me the second they were old enough to and then they grew up to run a blog about them while our relationship suffered because they didn’t feel like it was safe to talk to me about their interests…Mom.)

I tried to overcome the philosophy of letting anyone read anything while compiling this handful of mostly-newish superhero recs for the road that anyone can read. (Handily, I have been in spitting distance of being hired as a comic shop clerk enough to have thought about it before):

For actual children:

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (the new one is reminiscent of ITSV, the old one is more like 616) any DC/Archie crossover, Archie’s Superteens The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (for bookish children who think they’re too good for comics and adults afraid of the kid’s section) Teen Titans Go (even if you hate the show) Superman Smashes the Klan

For teens:

Ms. Marvel Young Avengers (volume 2) Unbelievable Gwenpool Batman: Gotham Adventures Teen Titans Go (the tie-in comic based off the old show was also called this)

Here are a bunch of relevant C. S. Lewis quotes.

#me every time i read a comic book article by a rag not exclusively about comic books: i know more than you.#marvel #spidey #DCU #MCU critical #mirrorfalls #asks answered #submission #unearthed this and bashed it out in one sitting ... i have not been working on it since you sent it last year XD

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fulltimemoaner · 3 years

Text

Zhongli is prosecuted for giving his Gnosis to the Tsaritsa, leaving him and Childe no choice than to flee to Snezhnaya.

Basically, some thieves cut Zhongli’s hair and Childe slaughters them because he really liked his hair.

Childe’s warm hand had felt comforting on his waist, even if he was hidden in a cloak under the warm sun of Liyue, being sneaked out of his homeland like the fugitive that he had become, like the land below him had forgotten the gentle rumbling of his energy and the security of his spears. He had fought back the urge to cry, thousands of years of protecting his safe harbour pointing their treacherous fingers at him. Yet, unlike Azhdaha, there was no bitterness, no disgust towards his beloved humans that had so willingly shunned him after news of his contract with the Tsaritsa had surfaced. In fact, the adoring citizens of Liyue had issued a warrant for him, for the Archon’s head that had wished to sign with the Fatui and sell out their safety.

Zhongli did not wish for the dominion of his beliefs, nor for acceptance, because mortal life was too brief and brittle to understand the gamble of him keeping his Gnosis when he could feel the claws of erosion leeching into his sanity. To their eyes, he had been their loving and protective God, who couldn’t be wrong, who would continue to reign for the millennia to come. The rusty floorboards had creaked underneath his feet, and he had caught the last traces of his homeland’s sun before he had been ushered to the basement of the ship for the first few hours, until they had been a safe distance from Liyue.

The adepti had weeped for this outcome, yet he had begged them not to rain down their vengeance on the mortals, to be gentle and understanding. He had entrusted them with the continuous protection of their harbour.

And the next air he breathed was that of Snezhnaya, the first light he saw was cold and fragile. He had emerged from his murky cabin in the early morning and had approached the railing that separated them from the freezing ocean. The rippling wind whipped back the hood of the heavy coat Ajax had provided him with, and now his hair waved in the wind, his eyes staring emptily into the distance as his skin itched from the cold. The Tsaritsa had accepted him as a fugitive asking for protection, and now, as his hands gripped the railing, he realised he hadn’t been that far away from home since the Archon War.

He looked up, feeling the soft tears that clung to his eyelashes freezing over, the sun obscured by a thick layer of clouds. How he missed the gentle breeze already.

The same went for Snezhnaya itself, it was cold enough to make his breath catch in his throat and his lungs ache. Ajax had taken his scarf off and wrapped it around his neck at the sound of his laboured breathing, then adjusted it to make sure it was covering his mouth and nose. Zhongli’s eyes had been curious as to why the ginger had been so gentle the past couple days, even the snark and edge having left his voice. Perhaps he felt for him. At least the gaze of the locals was gentle and welcoming, for the most part, offering him local delicacies and flowers before he and Childe could even reach his home. The Harbinger had been welcomed back like a hero, with huge bouquets and a massive meal prepared by his family.

Zhongli had been catatonic, at best, but at least, he had found some comfort in talking to the children, who were, as always, excited and easily impressed by his stories of dragons and extinct creatures.

He had stayed indoors for the first couple of days, too reluctant to go exploring on these foreign lands, but eventually, his confidence started building up again, so he picked up the small bag of money that Childe left for him every morning. -Zhongli had given his allowance of the two previous days to the little kids, since he hadn’t gone outside and concepts such as saving were nonexistent in his brain-

The attire, that he was getting used to. He wasn’t a huge fan of wearing boots, but he could say their smooth leather sealed him from the snow pretty well, and that the heavy coat felt strangely comforting around his shoulders. More than once, he had overheard people calling him the golden devil, which he considered to be quite endearing in its own, clueless way.

He stepped by a merchant’s booth with imported stones, including what they described as Liyuen Cor Lapis and Noctilucous Jades. He leaned in a bit closer for observation, and the merchant seemed to shift uncomfortably, which pretty much told Zhongli that these were, in fact, fake. He straightened up again, unable to resist teasing the merchant. “Are these imported straight from the chasm?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes seemed to go wide, and he quickly tried to dodge the question. Thankfully, for him, a whistle tore through their ears and made the young foreigner turn, his eyes narrowed.

“Lovely accessory you have there, good sir.” A young man smiled, accompanied by three others. “Looks like the real thing too.” The Snezhnayan man caressed the piece of jewellery that held Zhongli’s hair into a neat ponytail in a leery way. The ex archon didn’t move, only observed with caution, his piercing gaze saying more than words ever could. “Say, you aren’t, by any chance, the Tsaritsa’s guest from Liyue harbour?”

The other men chuckled and Zhongli glanced at the merchant, who started packing up his items hurriedly, seemingly intimidated by the gang. “Why, yes, I am.” He said neutrally, his voice a notch lower than friendly.

“Huh, you have nerve, saying that so openly.” The Snezhnayan’s fist twisted around the half-golden ponytail and pulled Zhongli’s head back. “You owe us, since we so willingly welcomed you here.” The stranger smirked, reaching behind his back for a folded knife. “I’m sure we could sell Morax’s hair for quite a fortune.” Another yank to the head and Zhongli blinked apathetically. “Aren’t you fighting back?”

“I have no interest in fighting mortals.” Zhongli shrugged. “My hair is my hair. Three years to grow them back is like the blink of an eye to me.”

The man’s eyes flickered with fury at the stranger, and he brought that dagger into his coal hair, severing the strands roughly. Zhongli’s eyes stayed unmoving, hostile, hateful, in a way. The lump of hair fell into the snow unceremoniously, and one of the others scurried to grab it.

“Yo,”

Zhongli’s eyes flickered from the thief to the source of the familiar voice. Relief washed over him at the sight of ginger hair and ocean blue eyes, that slender figure hugged in his winter attire that Zhongli rarely saw him in. A primal sense of grounding gripped him, almost like the essence of his home, which he had eternally bound to Childe’s smiling face. Unorthodox, he knew, but he was like an oasis of familiarity that the weather hadn’t manage to freeze over yet.

“Where is your Snezhnayan upbringing, picking on the Tsaritsa’s guests?” Ajax sighed, walking leisurely towards Zhongli. “I have eyes and ears where my hands can’t reach, and right now, mr. Zhongli is under my supervision.” His hand found its familiar spot on the God’s waist, his eyes scanning for any traces of harm’s way on him. His hand reached the back of his head before his eyes did, and they narrowed dangerously. “Ah, is that what you were going for? It’s a shame.” Zhongli felt uncertainty creep up his spine at the shift in the Harbinger’s tone, still wishing for no harm towards the mortals.

“Ajax,”

“It’s a shame,” Childe continued, cracking his neck to the left, then to the right with a relieved smile. “Because I happened to love his hair, and I don’t take kindly to things being taken away from me.”

“Ajax, let’s go home.” Zhongli grabbed his wrist, the whole group of thieves frozen in fear at the sight of the Fatui.

“No, no. We can’t do that. When someone kisses you, they expect a kiss back, no?” Ajax stepped forward and stretched his arm out, his hydro dagger appearing into his hand. “You might not want to shift the tides here, mr. Zhongli, but these rascals are my own.”

“Run!” The leader of the thieves screamed, but they didn’t stand a chance. Childe threw the dagger first, hitting the middle one between his shoulder blades. Blood gushed out in waves and Ajax laughed joyfully, running to the gurgling body to pull his weapon out, then join it into a larger pole-arm. A jump and a couple of spins and heads went flying, legs were severed, and the snow was painted an abysmal red. Childe leaned his head back, feeling the wind swipe his hair back and freeze his smile in place. The weapons vaporised in his hands, and he slowly lowered his gaze to Zhongli, stood meekly by the scene of the slaughter. Childe wrestled the hair out of the dead man’s grip, for the sake of retreating the luxurious clip that his lover favoured since he first met him. “Measly thieves. Someone has to be the sacrificial lamb, the subject to teach the others a lesson,”

Zhongli’s eyes eased shut when Ajax closed in on his space, leaning close to his face and pushing the small accessory into his gloved hand. “I love you.” Ajax whispered, pressing a gentle kiss into the corner of Zhongli’s brow. “And I intend to keep you safe here.”

“They wouldn’t kill me, Ajax.” Zhongli sighed deeply, leaning into Childe’s neck. “They wouldn’t be able to.”

“No one will dare to try anymore.” The Harbinger’s hand nestled to the small of the ex archon’s back, pulling him close to his body. He started to caress the back of his head with his free hand, trying to feel the roughly cut strands through the fabric of his gloves. “I’m sorry they touched you.”

“You’re more sad about that than I am.” Zhongli smiled gently and pulled the Harbinger’s head down to press their foreheads together. “It will grow back in no time.”

“I’m a mortal like they are.” Ajax whispered sadly, his eyes easing shut. Zhongli pressed a fleeting kiss to his lips in response, trying to ease the pain in his lover’s voice.

“And I’m eroding, so let’s try to outlive each other.” Zhongli chuckled, making Childe squeeze him close, a neediness evident in his touch. “I want to live like mortals do, with you, Ajax. That’s why I’m here.”

“Please, don’t say such things to me.” The Harbinger breathed deeply, trying to choke down a few stray tears. “I promise I will make your stay worthwhile.”

“I know.” Zhongli kissed his jaw quickly. “You can start by taking me somewhere, I’m freezing.”

“Right.” Childe laughed, reaching out to grasp the ex archon’s hand and pull him away from the bloodied grounds. “I’m taking you for lunch. I will tell some underlings to clean up the mess.”

“You could had been more clean about it.”

#zhongchi #tartali #genshin impact #tartaglia x zhongli #childe x zhongli #zhongli #childe #childe genshin impact #zhongli genshin impact #chili

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inhuman-obey-me · 3 years

Text

Jewel

Word Count: 1.9k

Description:

Lust - an uncontrolled or illicit desire or appetite.

The Avatar of Lust wants what he wants, and what he wants, he will bloody take.

[cw: violence, body horror]

"Oh, Lilu, you are just too much!" Asmodeus giggled, his hand brushing just subtly across the shoulder of the incubus across from him as he waved away the compliment he'd just received. "But please, don't let me stop you, go on."

"No, but really, it's unfair how pretty you are," one of his favorite succubi whined playfully back. "I mean, humans are so easy to seduce it's boring, but you can just walk right up to anyone you like and they'll fall for you! To have such power...oh, it's so sexy, Asmodeus." The ring of admirers around him hummed with agreement.

"A toast! To our beautiful jewel of a leader!" one cried, raising their glass.

Out of the corner of his eye, Asmo checked his reflection in one of the dark glossy tiles on the wall, making sure to position himself just so under the VIP table's lights to perfectly accent his features before responding. "Aww, thank you all. I mean, my skin does shimmer like a jewel, thanks to that rare new lotion Nevan got for me last week, but you don't have to point it out like that - after all, everyone can see that already for themselves."

And speaking of jewels, he thought, as a sparkle caught his eye from across the room, I think I see a gorgeous one right now...

Quickly, Asmo gave one of his usual flimsy excuses to flit away from the group and approached the demon who had just walked in - and, more importantly, the brooch on the demon's coat, which glimmered softly with the shine of a powerful magical gem. It was one of the most interesting things he'd seen in a long time, and he decided right then that he just had to have it.

Staring up coyly through his long eyelashes, he purred, "Well, hello there. Today's your lucky day - wouldn't you like to come join the table of the most gorgeous person here? Who are you, sweetie?"

"No thank you."

The response was curt, without even a name, as the demon declined to meet his eyes.

Asmo resisted a pout. He didn't often get such cold treatment from a stranger, and he did not like it. After all, he was the Avatar of Lust, the most beautiful demon in all the three realms. Not to mention, this lesser demon was utterly repulsive-looking! Who did this guy think he was, ignoring him this way?

But, he had a goal here and he wasn't going to give it up so easily, even if it did mean he'd have to do a bit of flirting with an absolute horror of a face.

"Oh, come on now. Why don't I get you a drink?" Determined, Asmo took the other demon's hand in his, placing a ghost of a kiss on his fingertips as he led him towards the bar.

At that moment, he noticed the ring on the demon's finger - bronze and iron, etched with intricate symbols. Very familiar intricate symbols.

Solomon. He knew about this ring, and by extension, this demon; his sorcerer friend had told him the story a long time ago. It was Solomon's very first pact, and one he regretted deeply, as he'd only made it to save a kid he'd been fond of. A lowly demon who craved the bodies and energies of effeminate young boys, targeting only weak prey, and who had once even tried to pull Beelzebub into a pact to save his own sorry skin, though thankfully Beel was smarter than to fall for the tricks of such a low-ranking demon.

Truly, Asmo's disgust for this guy just kept increasing. And the jewel kept enticing him in, glittering with magic power in the club's flashing lights. Didn't something so beautiful belong with him, rather than with this miserable rube?

For the lesser demon's part, he just sputtered a bit in surprise at Asmodeus's boldness, finding himself pulled along before he could even give a response. "Well, I guess I don't mind a free drink..."

The Avatar of Lust waved to the bartender as he nabbed a pair of seats, signaling to get them his usual "I'm flirting, don't interrupt us please" order before turning back to his new companion. "So, what's your name, handsome?" he asked with his most charming smile, suppressing the urge to vomit at having called that appalling visage handsome.

"...Ornias," the opposing demon responded carefully. "Aren't you...Asmodeus?"

"Heehee! Why, yes I am! Isn't it your lucky night?"

"...I guess." He seemed more wary than excited, to Asmo's annoyance.

Just then, the bartender slid two glasses of glowing orange drinks towards them, saving him from having to respond to the demon's lack of enthusiasm directly. "Oh, our drinks are here - the house special, Hellfirefly Sunset Demonus!" he chirped, thrusting the glass cheerfully towards the other. "Come on, let's drink!"

He quickly downed the whole glass, urging the lesser demon to do the same. "So, Ornias, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

Whether it was the alcohol, or simply because people always like to talk about themselves, Ornias started to relax a bit. "Well," he began proudly, "I'm an Officer of the constellation of Aquarius, and..."

He was soon on a very long monologue about himself - a monologue to which Asmodeus quickly found himself zoning out. "Oh, that's so interesting," he nodded along with feigned fascination, catching a mention of...something about strangling Aquarius men for liking Virgo women...?

Seriously, how does this guy just keep getting creepier and creepier? No wonder Solomon can't stand him, Asmo thought to himself. I thought it'd be a good idea to get him talking about himself, but this is even worse than how cold he was being earlier.

Deciding he was more than done with listening to this, Asmodeus grabbed the other demon's hands again and whisked him to the dance floor, this time saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sure you didn't come to the club just to chat all night, did you? Of course you didn't! Come, dance with me!"

Unfortunately, that didn't stop Ornias at all. "Sure," he said, making some awkward steps around while trying to continue his rambling. "Anyway, so as I was saying -"

Asmo placed a finger over the annoying demon's lips and a hand on his shoulder. "Shh, hush there cutie, let's just enjoy the music and each other, shall we?" He shimmied up against his dance partner, letting his body do the work of entrancing the lesser demon so he could give his ears a break.

His peace was short-lived, though. As Ornias got more into dancing with the Avatar of Lust, it seemed some new need to try to impress him welled up inside. He blurted out, "Hey, so actually, you've heard of Solomon, right? Greatest sorcerer in the three realms, Michael's favorite, yadda yadda? He's actually a close friend of mine. I'm sure he'd make some time to meet you if I told him about you."

It took every last bit of restraint Asmodeus had to keep his eyes from rolling right out of his skull at that. He needed to speed this up fast, or he was going to lose his mind.

"Oh, would you? That's so amazing, I didn't know Solomon was friends with such an impressive demon," he replied, voice dripping with saccharine charm to hide how far he was lying through his teeth. "And you're not a bad dance partner, either. You know, you just keep getting more and more attractive...what's an Avatar of Lust to do with himself?"

Satisfied that his little name-drop seemed to have done its job, Ornias smirked and took a slight step back. "Well, thank you. You're, uh, not bad yourself."

"Oh, come on now, I live for praise. Feel free to flatter me as much as you'd like," Asmo crooned, placing his partner's hands on his waist to draw him closer again.

The lesser demon managed just a couple more compliments as his lusty companion's hands started traveling more aggressively with his dancing, tracing his lower back and shoulder blades from beneath his coat. "Mm, y-your hands are kind of cold," he stammered out as he felt the lithe fingers brushing up against his neck.

"Oh, my bad! Want to help me warm them up then?" Asmodeus giggled mischievously, resting his hands now on the ugly face in front of him instead. He drew him into eye contact, not letting the demon shy away, and continued, "Come on, you're dancing with me after all - the Avatar of Lust. It's quite the honor, you know."

He placed a light, intimate brush of his lips along his neck, and the lesser demon practically melted in his arms. "W-well...if t-that's what you want..."

"It is," he answered breathily, voice imbued with magic to carry the sensual sound to his target over the loud music of the club. "I'm all yours for tonight, just the two of us, here on this dance floor. So focus on me, okay?"

"Yes, of course..."

He leaned in close to Ornias's ear and whispered alluringly, "Now tell me, what is it that you desire?"

At last, the words he'd been waiting for fell from the annoying demon's mouth, as he could no longer resist the Avatar of Lust's charms: "Asmodeus...I want you."

Asmodeus smirked, drawing Ornias into a dark corner at the edge of the room as he batted his eyelashes with a faux sweetness.

"Why, Ornias, did you fall in love with me?"

Ornias nodded through heavy-lidded eyes, hardly able to form words as desire rapidly clouded his mind. "Yes, I...I want you..."

"Am I just to die for?" Asmo whispered into the lesser demon's ear, caressing his cheek with one hand while entwining the other around the small of his back. This close, he could feel the pounding of Ornias's heart against his own chest, like sweet music to his ears.

"Y-yes...I...would die for you...."

"Am I just to die in writhing agony for?"

"Yes, Asmodeus..."

"Good. Then die for me, darling."

Ornias gasped as suddenly a wracking pain started in his groin, which traveled quickly like venom up through his veins across his torso and throughout his whole body. Blood dripped from his eyes and mouth as Asmodeus walked clawed fingers up into his back, tearing the skin beneath his coat to ragged ribbons. With the other hand still on the lesser demon's cheek, Asmo yanked his face towards him to meet his gaze. His charm powers quickly overtook the demon's control, and before he could stop himself, he thrusted his hand deep into his own chest, pulling out the still-beating heart to hold out like a present. The Avatar of Lust let the blood run down from his lips as he sank his fangs in for a bite.

"You really are too unsightly for something this beautiful," Asmo said with a sneer.

With that, he snatched the gem off of the demon's chest and sashayed away with a cheerful hum, not sparing another glance at the convulsing form left in the corner.

"Oof! Solomon, please! I told you to be more gentle with me when you summon me! What if you bruise my beautiful body?!"

"Great, okay, it's not you," Solomon sighed with relief. "I suddenly felt one of my pacts brea-- Asmodeus, what is that you're wearing?" There was something oddly familiar about the red heart newly adorning the top of the golden scorpion that encircled the demon's torso.

"Ahahaha! Isn't it pretty?" the demon crowed happily, blood still dripping from his lips. "And it has so much power stored inside, too! It's just perfect for me, isn't it?"

"Oh, by the way," he added with a mischievous glint in his eyes, pulling a ring off his finger to toss at the sorcerer, "I took care of your Ornias problem for you."

#obey me #obey me!#obey me swd #obey me fics #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmo #om! asmodeus #demons being demons #writings #mod chaos in the devildom #had fun doing demonology research for this one

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valhallasubstitute · 3 years

Text

Pleasure

Edward x F Reader

The reader teaches Edward a thing or two about pleasure

REQUEST: Can i request a *smut* with Edward from TLK?

Maybe a dane reader that absolute rock his shit like nobody before 😂 she can be Finan Or Sihtric sister maybe?! Thank you!

A/N: Evidently, I don’t think much of the English as lovers lol, I blame my first bf – Tom if you find this, thank you for the inspo. Also, if anyone’s interested in a dom reader then please let me know, I think there’s a real lack and that makes the switch in me v sad

WARNINGS: SMUT 18+. Unprotected sex – it’s the ninth century they have an excuse, you don’t. M!Sub/F!dom undertones, brief female masturbation, male receiving oral

WC: 1654

Tags: @flowers-in-your-hayr @geekandbooknerd @mariaenchanted @solinarimoon

You could honestly say you never expected things to turn out this way.

How many Danes could say they had discussed the boy King’s sex life with him? If you counted yourself then it would be three. Sihtric, your brother, and Uhtred sitting either side of you. Add in the Irishman that started it all, the baby monk and a vaguely uncomfortable looking Lady of Mercia and the number of people looking unimpressed rises to six.

You sat around the fire; ale pouch being passed between you after another successful battle, but your good spirits were beginning to dwindle as you listen to Edward describe his other conquests.

There were more than you had expected, but you supposed his title and pretty face made it hard for young maidens to deny him. You hadn’t denied yourself the pleasure of admiring him either, long blond curls that grazed his broad shoulders, and light blue eyes, usually set in a frown. You found yourself believing his words before battle, letting his passion seep through you as you lost yourself in the sight of him, arm outstretched with a sword in hand, strong thighs gripping the saddle and a ferocity that one might overlook upon first meeting Edward.

It had the foundations of a fantasy that would have kept you warm.

The conversation moved slowly, Edward relaxing and his words becoming freer. You forced yourself back to the present, preparing yourself to hear another depressing confession.

‘The last was a girl from the camp just outside of Lundon. She was wild.’

‘Wild? Now this I can get behind.’ Finan leaned forward, a new sense of interest washing over him as Edward nodded. You had already heard of the ‘daring’ places Edward had fucked, the palace guest room, the stable, and who could forget his royal tent! Wild, you decided, was something Edward had never come across.

‘She took me out to the woods and laid herself bare before me.’ You watched the interest of the group peak, even your brother raised a brow. ‘She started touching herself.’ He motioned to his chest. ‘I’ve never seen a woman so bold. How is a man meant to control himself?’ Uhtred nodded lightly, taking the ale from a grinning Finan. ‘I laid her on the ground and had my way with her.’

Finan’s face fell. ‘That’s what you call wild? Christ have mercy.’

That was when it hit you. It wasn’t that the King was a bad lover necessarily, it was that none of what he had experience had anything to do with pleasure. Not real pleasure.

‘With respect my Lord, none of your exploits deserve the praise in which you speak of them.’

Aethelflaed’s eyes snapped to you as your words settled over the group. You watched as Edward straightened himself, his hands dusting his thighs before he looked at you. The ease was gone from his denier and for the first time that night you felt like you were speaking to the King of Wessex.

‘How so?’ His voice was calm, interest peeking out from behind his pride.

‘What you have described is the way all Saxon men are. You lie a woman on her back, slip inside – she’ll make a few noises, to hurry you up.’ You shrugged sympathetically. ‘Maybe she is feeling particularly generous, or bored, and will wrap her legs around you, pull you deeper so that she might feel something and coo in your ear a sweet encouragement. It’ll last all of five minutes before you’re lying on your back, satisfied, and she’ll tell how good you were before slipping away. Am I wrong, Aethelflaed?’

All eyes snapped to the Lady of Mercia, the way she looked down and the uncharacteristic blush on her cheeks told everyone everything they needed to know.

‘The thing is, Edward, is that you never had sex for pleasure.’ The King opened his mouth, but you kept going, ignoring the baffled looks from Saxons around you. ‘Only for release and they are not the same.’

Finan was the first to agree. ‘I like the way you think Y/N.’

‘Many men do.’ You stood as you spoke, smiling at your friends but staring pointedly at Edward before retiring to your tent.

It was around an hour later when you sense that you were not alone. In just your tunic you glanced at the dagger at your side before addressing the presence.

‘It’s not very kingly to lurk in the shadows, my lord.’

‘Your words have left an impression.’ The candlelight danced on Edwards features, and you almost missed the reservation in his steps for the soft curve of his mouth. You stood, walking towards him slowly, a small smile encouraging him. ‘After you left, I thought about the things you described, and myself in relation to them. You were right and … and I would like to experience it.’

You could sense his nerves despite the way Edward held your gaze, it was unwavering but as you circled him you noted the way his hands fidgeted behind his back.

‘Experience what my king?’ You stopped in front of him, your chest nearly brushing against his.

‘Pleasure.’

His lips crashed into yours, demanding but soft. You let yourself melt into it, tasting the ale on his tongue before pulling back completely. You laughed as Edward frowned, as a prince he was spoiled, it was clear to see, but you intended to ruin him as a king.

You lead him to the furs of your bed, telling him to sit with a light push on his chest. His eyes were already trained on you but darkened as you removed your clothing, leaving your body exposed. You took delight in how he didn’t know where to look, his eyes darting from your face to your sex with his bottom lip tugged tightly between his teeth.

You let your hands roam around your body, swaying gently till you palmed at your breast, rolling your nipple between your fingers. Your eyes fixated on the growing strain in Edwards breeches as your other hand travelled south, your index finger slipping between your thighs with a gasp.

‘Y/n…’ The sound of your name on his tongue made your stomach flutter, he sounded demanding.

‘Pleasure is the pleasure of your partner.’ You moaned quietly as you slipped another finger into your heat, keeping the pace steady.

‘Show me.’ He sounded desperate.

You took your fingers from between your thighs and brought them to your lips, smiling as Edwards own lips parted in want. You moved towards him slowly, enjoying the growing sweat forming on his forehead and the way he licked his lips.

He reached for you, but you knelt before him, your hands running up his thighs before you began untying his trousers. He lifted his hips and you focused on ridding him of the fabric before turning your attention to his erection.

It stood proudly before you, the tip red and already leaking precum. You breathed in deeply before pursing your lips and blowing cold air directly onto his member. Edward inhaled deeply, a smile coming to your lips when it jumped in response.

‘You are teasing me.’

‘I am pleasuring you.’ Edward opened his mouth to argue but the words died in his throat. Your lips wrapped around as much of him as you could fit, your hands finding the rest. You bobbed your head once, twice, flattening your tongue as you went down then curling it as you came up. Edward’s left hand bunched in the sheets, grounding himself while his right tangled itself in your hair, his grip creating a delicious burn.

Breathing through your nose you took him as deeply as you could, your throat contracting around him as your vision blurred. The way Edward moaned kept you there for longer than you had any man, quickly finding yourself obsessed with the way his eyes fluttered and his throat bobbed as he tried to hold back the noises. You only stopped when your lungs demanded it.

‘God … Please, Y/n.’

You kissed your way from his balls to his tip, giving it one last lick before kissing up the rest of his body, undoing his shirt as you went. You let your hands roam around the tight muscles of his thighs and abdomen, your tongue following your fingers until you were sat in his lap, your hands tangled in his hair and your lips branding his neck.

‘I want you Y/n.’ You pulled back, lips tingling and bruised, your core brushing against his erection.

‘You want me Edward, but do you desire me?’

‘Yes.’

You smiled at him, the darkness in his eyes and his grip on your hips making you ache. You sunk down on him slowly, enjoying the way he stretched you. You stilled as your hips met his, grinding your clit against his body. The tiny jolts of movement began to pick up speed, Edwards lips discovering the slope of your neck and your hands digging into his shoulders. You wanted it to last forever, to feel the hot ache of him between your legs but you knew he was close. His hips jutted up to meet yours, one of his hands finding its way to your clit as his breath grew heavy in your ear.

His fingers were skilled, rubbing in time to his thrusts while you clawed at his back, your knees beginning to give from beneath you. You came with a call of his name, the tightness in your stomach snapping into white pleasure that washed over your body, wave after wave. Edwards’s pace didn’t slow, and your walls gripped him tightly, convulsing around him until he came with a deep moan. His fingers slowed and both his hands come to rest on your hips. He was smiling.

‘From now on, I think I will always choose pleasure.’

‘A wise choice my lord, I’ll always be happy to comply.’

#tlk fanfic #tlk #The Last Kingdom #tlk Edward #tlk edward x reader #tlk edward smut #tlk edward x reader smut #edward the elder #inga writes

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