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katelynnwrites · 5 months

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You Look So Pretty (Pretty Like The Sun) | Sydney Lohmann

warnings: not proof read

word count: 2557

summary: after making your own name, you realise it's not enough because you are still missing your sunshine

a/n: i wasn't going to post this but i'm on a mission to leave all my bad writing behind in 2023 so here's part two of this fic

It’s with a certain amount of trepidation that you walk onto the Bayern Munich training pitch.

Both you and the facility have undergone a major change in the years that you have been away but one thing is the same.

You know when the love of your life is near.

It seems that the blonde can still sense your presence too because she looks up and visibly pales the second she sees you.

‘Sydney.’ You breathe but she shakes her head.

The German player’s eyes are wide and panicked.

You are torn between staying where you are, on the very edge of the pitch or making your way to her.

This is the closest you have been to her since the day she broke up with you.

Luckily or unluckily, your new manager spares you and calls your new teammates over so that you can meet them.

Seeing Magda and Pernille again is a welcome distraction.

The older women had practically adopted you as their own when you were at Chelsea and you sigh contentedly as they wrap you up in a hug.

‘I missed you two so much.’ You mumble.

‘I hope you’re prepared for dinner at our place tonight. You can tell us all about why you didn’t tell us you were coming to Munich.’ The Swede says.

Pernille gives her a fond swat, ‘Oh don’t sound so serious love.’

Conspiratorially, she turns to you and loudly whispers, ‘Magda just wants the chance to mom you again.’

You giggle at the defender’s immediate protests.

******

Meeting the rest of your new club teammates goes smoothly.

All except for one.

Magda and Pernille help with the introductions, easing you back into the Bavarian team.

For all your fame, you’re still shy so you are grateful for the help.

They’re not all new faces, most are familiar.

You grew up playing for the youth teams with Klara and Lea. Some others you know from international games or as opponents that you once played against in the Frauen Bundesliga.

It’s with laughter that you reunite with Lea, the older woman teasing you that you’re still shorter than her.

Your introduction does not last long but by the time you have properly met all of your new teammates, Sydney is nowhere to be seen.

And you hate how awful that makes you feel.

Maybe you didn’t make the right decision in coming back to Munich.

******

Sydney is still Sydney. That much you have come to realise. The blonde has grown up but at her core, she’s still who you fell in love with.

You are content to watch forever as she shines on everyone. There is never going to be anyone else like her. Sydney Lohmann is a singularity.

She shows up to training sessions just a fraction of a second early and drinks far too many coffees for her own good.

Her fancy footwork on the pitch puts everyone else to shame.

The sound of her laugh still makes you happy and her smile brightens up every room that she is in.

Unlike before, none of that is directed towards you.

These days, all she has for you is indifference and silence.

She doesn’t even look at you and from the only interaction you have had so far, the one from your introduction, the midfielder has made it clear that she doesn’t want you back at her club.

You try not to let it affect you or your performance.

The faking it till you make it must be working because you are all set to be a starter just two weeks after rejoining the Bavarian club.

******

Syd doesn’t start that particular game and it gives you an overwhelming sense of relief.

It’s already stressful enough to have to prove yourself good enough to start without adding on your standing with your former girlfriend.

You’re doing well against Köln and you’re proud of how you are adapting back to the German style of play, if you do say so yourself.

There is only about a half hour left of playing time when the blonde is subbed on.

She doesn’t look at you and you keep your gaze down.

Unfortunately, for her, her playing time is cut short. It is like a bad deja vu of her previous injury against Köln, a few years ago.

One second she’s jumping down for a header and the next she is on the ground, holding her ankle.

You hear her cry out and then you are sprinting.

Lina is already at her side and just before you reach her, you freeze.

Sydney doesn’t want you anymore.

So you stay away from her but just far enough that you can still see how she is.

It doesn’t look good.

The medics come on and it is agonising for you to have to listen to Syd’s pained whimpers and do nothing about it.

You are trying your hardest not to flinch when Lea comes up to you.

‘Go to her. She needs you even if she doesn’t know it yet.’ She quietly says.

‘Schülli…’

‘Go. I know you want to.’

Hesitantly, you approach the injured midfielder.

Sydney’s eyes are tear filled and when she sees you, she immediately stretches out her hand.

It is instinct for you to put your hand in hers.

‘You’re gonna be okay.’ You murmur soothingly and she closes her fingers around yours.

The blonde shuts her eyes, more tears escaping despite her best efforts.

You keep holding her hand until the medics signal that she needs to come off.

Your ex girlfriend cries even harder at that and you help her get to her feet.

The German woman stifles a whimper as she does so and you worriedly ask, ‘Do you want a stretcher?’

‘No! Please no.’

‘Okay. Lean on me then.’ You whisper and Syd nods.

She puts her arm around your shoulders and you wrap your arm around her waist, supporting her weight.

‘I got you.’ You assure her, as she limps towards the sidelines.

Once there, it is with great reluctance that you let her go, the medics taking over.

You look over at the bench where your manager is preparing the subs and you signal for you to be replaced.

‘I’m coming off too.’

‘No.’ The blonde snaps.

‘Syd this is not up for debate.’ You insist.

Your meaning and intentions are clear, making Sydney let out a frustrated noise.

‘No. You are going to stay on and be a star. Okay? Go be a star and play for us both.’

She squeezes your hand tightly, wanting you to know how much she means her words.

‘Are you sure?’

Your ex nods, ‘Go.’

‘Okay.’

Syd’s hazel eyes are filled with tears and she looks so vulnerable that you can’t help touching your lips to the side of her head.

‘I’ll score a goal for you. Promise sonnenschein.’

In running back onto the field, you miss the way she lets out a soft sob.

She doesn’t know if she cries harder because of the old nickname, the feel of your lips back on her skin or because of the way the pain in her ankle practically doubles once you are gone.

******

You keep your promise to the German midfielder.

Scoring not just one goal but two before the referee blows the whistle for full time.

Then you rush straight to the medical room where you had been told Sydney is.

You slow down, the clicking of your studs becoming quieter as you approach. Tentatively, you knock on the door before you open it.

Syd’s all alone, sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Her injured ankle has been fitted with a moon boot and her face is pale.

‘Sydney?’ You ask softly.

‘Why did you come back?’

‘Because I wanted to check on you.’ You answer immediately.

The blonde scoffs, ‘Not here here but Munich.’

‘I don’t understand.’ You murmur even though your stomach drops because you understand perfectly.

Sydney’s eyes narrow with anger.

‘Don’t give me some bullshit answer. You were doing so well for yourself over in Barcelona so why come back? You left before so why return now?’

Her words are clipped, filled with more than just resentment.

You sigh. She still knows you too well.

‘You. I came back for you.’

Sydney’s face goes blank.

‘No. You came here to win the league. You have won the English and Spanish leagues. The Champions’ League and Euros too. This is just one more thing on your list.’

Wincing audibly, you take a step forward.

‘I came back for you. You and you alone Sydney.’

‘No.’ The blonde adamantly says, even as her bottom lip starts to wobble.

‘Syd…I came back for you. I promise I came back for you.’

You are pleading with her now, almost begging for her to believe you.

The midfielder searches your face for traces of lies, tears spilling down her cheeks as she does so.

‘No. No. You chose to leave and I wasn’t enough to make you stay before. Why would I be enough for you now?’

‘Sydney I never wanted to leave you. It broke my heart to leave Germany with how things ended between us.’

Raw pain is evident in your admission and now it is your ex’s turn to flinch.

‘Why didn’t you come back earlier? You could have played for Germany. We could have played together just as we promised to all those years ago.’

You shrug.

‘I was eligible to play for England too and you made it clear that you didn’t want to see me anymore. I know me being here is the last thing you want but I just couldn’t stay away from you anymore. Not when I never stopped loving you.’

Sydney loses the little composure she has left.

Harsh sobs wrack her body and she covers her face with her hands.

‘I’m sorry. I-I’ll go now.’

You turn to leave but the blonde chokes out your name and a plea for you to stay.

‘What?’

‘I never meant for us to break up. I never meant to push you away. Fuck I am so sorry. S-So sorry.’ Syd stammers.

‘Sydney what are you talking about?’

Your words aren’t unkind, just genuinely lost. The German player’s actions have been plain and constant ever since you left. They have been nothing short of obvious in recent times.

Sydney doesn’t want you.

The midfielder wrings her hands, her voice barely a whisper as she says, ‘I love you too. There’s not been a fraction of a second where I haven’t.’

You are floored.

Literally because you have to sit down.

You stare at her silently and the only sound in the room is your ex’s quiet cries.

Eventually her tears slow and she sniffles, looking up at you.

‘Say something.’ She breathes after the painful silence continues.

You don’t know what to say so you go over to her and sit down beside her on the physio bed.

Sydney is trembling but she tentatively wraps an arm around you, getting you to lean your head against her shoulder.

After a few minutes, you curl completely into her side and the blonde sighs in relief.

It is how the rest of the team finds you later, Lea smiling a secret smile to herself.

******

You end up going with Syd back to her apartment. She gives you her address and you drive her there in your car since she can’t do it herself due to her injury.

The blonde keeps stealing glances at you as you drive, wondering if she is dreaming.

She thinks it would be too much if she puts her hand on your knee the way she used to, when you were hers and she yours.

Sydney is so busy overthinking it when you slip your hand onto her knee.

You keep your eyes on the road the entire time but a smile forms on both your faces as Syd covers your hand with hers.

Neither of you have said a word to each other but that’s okay cause there will be time for that.

******

It’s after you have helped the blonde onto her couch and brought her a mug of tea that you realise whose jersey is framed on the wall of her living room.

The three lions crest is familiar, the last name and autograph even more so.

‘Sonnenschein that’s mine.’ You murmur.

Your former girlfriend sets her tea down and nods.

With growing curiosity, you inspect the match worn jersey.

‘From the Euro final in 2022.’ Syd confirms when glance at her.

‘How?’

‘I bought it at an auction. I think it’s the one you wore during the first half.’

You remember now, the England staff had got the team to sign the jerseys before sending them off to some charity organisation.

‘Why do you have it? I would have given it to you for free if you’d asked.’ You question.

You have so many of them that this is as good a place to start as any.

‘Because I was so proud of your achievement. Even if you had to beat me to win that gold medal.’ She explains, picking up her mug again just so that she has something to fiddle with.

‘And I didn’t ask you because I was afraid.’

‘Of me?’

You try not to sound hurt but it bleeds through anyway.

Syd’s hazel eyes gloss over.

‘Not of you. Never of you. J-Just how you would react I guess. Nothing like your ex girlfriend coming up to you after you’ve won your first piece of silverware for your country to spoil the mood.’

The midfielder lets out a strained laugh.

You frown, ‘You wouldn’t have. I wanted to approach you that day too but I didn’t know how. I thought you hated me.’

‘I could never.’

‘It felt like it.’ You softly say. She's, after all, been point blank ignoring and avoiding you ever since you resigned for Bayern Munich.

The blonde grimaces, ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘You said that I made you feel like you weren’t enough when I left for Chelsea. I’m sorry for that.’

‘You needed to leave. I get that now. Leaving Munich was the best thing for your career. Bayern might be my home but it wasn’t yours. I couldn’t see that at nineteen and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for letting my selfishness ruin us. I treated you the way I did all these years because of how guilty I felt.’

‘Sydney…you didn’t ruin us.’

‘Didn’t I?’ She hopelessly asks.

‘I played a part too. It wasn’t entirely your fault.’

The German woman looks defeated and sad. Her hazel eyes are downcast and her usually healthily pink cheeks are pale.

You sit down next to Sydney and take her hand in yours, ‘We’re not ruined. You are still here and I am still here.’

She squeezes your hand in hers, ‘A-Are you saying that you want to give us a second chance?’

‘Only if you want to.’

Your former girlfriend doesn’t need a second to consider it. Her mind is made up.

******

Sydney is pretty like the sun. You’ve always thought so.

Now that you have your sunshine back, you’re not leaving her again. She’s not letting you go again either.

German Translation:

sonnenschein- sunshine

#sydney lohmann #sydney lohmann imagine #sydney lohmann x reader #fcb frauen #gerwnt #woso #woso x reader #woso imagine #dfb frauen x reader #dfb frauen imagine #dfb frauen #woso fanfics #katelynnwrites #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine

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cutielando · 4 months

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mercedes ~ george russell

Summary: You've been with George since his Formula 2 days, and now, after an awful season with Williams, he is finally given the opportunity to drive for Mercedes and you were beyond proud of him.

Words: 1.2k+

Other works: my masterlist

♡♡♡♡♡

Being with Williams had been a great period for George.

He had the opportunity to learn everything about Formula 1, adapt to the new more challenging lifestyle, see so many more new places all around the globe, it was the dream.

At the beginning, at least.

It had been a known fact for years that Williams had been struggling, both on-track and off-track. Even though George had placed his faith in the team, giving them multiple chances when they would constantly disappoint him, he was nearing the end of the line.

His contract was about to expire at the end of the season, and he was seriously considering not re-signing with Williams.

You and him would have multiple talks about this, brainstorming and trying to see what the best course of action would be for George's future.

"I just know things won't get better in the future and I am tired of always being at the back of the grid" he told you one night as he was helping you prepare dinner for the two of you.

"Georgie, you have to do what's best for you, my love. You don't have to stay with the team if you don't see your future there" you explained, approaching him and rubbing his back.

He sighed, leaning into your touch.

"You've followed the season, Williams isn't gonna get better anytime soon, I'm wasting my talent if I stick with them any longer"

You pursed your lips, nodding in agreement.

George had so much potential, so much talent that was being wasted in bad strategies and with an awful car. The highlight of the whole season had been the race where Mercedes requested that George drive for them because Lewis was sick and couldn't make it.

You vividly remembered how excited George had been when he told you he had been chosen, how alive he felt when he got out of the car after the race and with how much excitement he told you all the details about it in your hotel room that very same night.

You had never before seen him so happy, his eyes sparkling so brightly they could outshine any star in the sky.

His dream had always been to drive for Mercedes, to be a proud driver of such a legendary team. He figured he would start small, build up his reputation and then make the transition.

That, however, proved to be a very tough thing to do while driving the Williams car.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked you, his eyes boring into yours.

You always had a way with words, but your eyes would have conversations of their own when you'd look at each other.

"I think you should follow your dream and listen to your gut. You're such a talented driver, my love, but you're wasting it away by sticking with a team you can't win with" you said, a small encouraging smile on your face as you caressed his cheek with the pad of your thumb.

He sighed but nodded, smiling before leaning down to peck your lips.

His mind had been made up from that moment. He knew what he needed to do.

He needed to leave Williams.

♡♡♡♡♡

Planning to leave a Formula 1 team while having no guarantee about your future with any other was incredibly and stupidly risky.

But George had done it anyway.

After the second-to-last race of the season had ended and the team was debriefing, he had made it clear to everyone that he would not be returning as a driver for the next season.

Everyone, of course, was not very surprised by that. They could feel it coming, they knew they weren't strong enough to keep George as their driver for much longer.

"How did it go?" you had asked him when he came back to the hotel, anxious to hear about the meeting.

The relief on his face was enough of an answer for you.

"I'm free of the contract after Abu Dhabi" he announced, slumping into your arms and nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck.

You laughed, happy that George had finally made the decision that had been plaguing his mind for months on end.

"What are you going to do after?" you asked once you slowly backed away from the hug.

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know, but I have faith that everything will work itself out"

You nodded, kissing his cheek before bringing him into another hug.

"We're going to be okay" you whispered, one of your hands caressing his soft hair while the other rubbed soothing circles on his back.

Whatever the future might bring on, you would face it together.

♡♡♡♡♡

Having some time off had proved to be exactly what George had needed.

For once, in many many years, he didn't have to worry about when the next race would be, he didn't have to worry about cheating his diet, about working out as constantly as he had had to during the previous years. He could finally just relax and take a breath of fresh air.

The two of you had been on holiday, traveling all around the world to the most beautiful places, taking in the quality time you got to spend together, uninterrupted by anything.

Sadly, your fun had been cut short while you were skiing in the beautiful Alpes, deep into the south of France.

You had been lounging in the cabin George had rented for your stay, drinking some hot chocolate while cuddled up next to your boyfriend in front of the burning fireplace. Your phones long forgotten somewhere in the bedroom, the only sound disturbing the peace being the crackling coming from the fire.

Just as you were about to doze off, George's phone suddenly started ringing from the bedroom, making him apologize before quickly getting up to grab it.

"Hello?" his voice drowned out as he closed the door behind him, not wanting to disturb you.

You didn't know how long he had been talking on the phone, losing track of time while looking out the window at the beautiful scenery around you. You only noticed he had returned when he wrapped his arms around your waist and rested his chin against your shoulder.

"Who was it?" you mumbled, leaning back against his chest.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" he chuckled, making your curiosity peak even more.

You raised your eyebrows, turning around in his arms.

"Now you've made me curious. Who was it?"

"Toto Wolff"

Your eyes widened when you heard the name, your heart starting to beat more quickly inside of your chest. You knew what that meant, there was only one option.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" your voice was merely a whisper, afraid you would jinx it and then it wouldn't be real anymore.

He smiled and nodded, making you squeal and jump into his arms.

The both of you laughed, basking in the happiness that the good news had brought you.

There had been rumors that Valtteri would be leaving Mercedes and they wanted to bring in a younger driver, someone to balance out Lewis. For months on end, speculation circled around George being the driver Toto had been eyeing, but there hadn't been any official communication from the team whatsoever.

Until now.

George Russell, your boyfriend, the Mercedes F1 driver.

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nonokoko13 · 5 months

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SPOILERS SXF CHAPTER 93 ❗❗❗

So, chapter 93. Starting with Anya scores...

THAT'S MY GIRL!!!! CONGRATULATIONS BABY!!! 🎉🎊🥳

(Let's take a moment to appreciate what a good and supportive friend Becky is too 💖)

As I expected Anya passed classical language (with a huge improvement!) but in the large, tedious walk on Hell that is school not everyone can get exceptional grades in every subject unless you're a Desmond apparently and Anya, as many people who preceded her and will come after her, failed math.

I have seen many people make theories about how certain older student who we shall discuss next could be her tutor. However, my theory is that she will receive help from Bill in the future

It makes more sense: both already know each other, Anya has more chances of Bill accepting or suggesting to help her than the-one-I-shall-name-later and overall Bill seems more communicative and better at socialising and explaining himself. Let's not forget he received a stella in math after all. So for me Bill seems like the most plausible option (maybe we will get jealous Damian with this friendship?)

Back at the Forgers residence the Authens pay a visit to congratulate Anya as well. When I read Sigmund's sentence about how rewarding is to have a payment for your hard work my mind automatically thought "But sometimes no matter how hard you try you don't get a reward. Sometimes the result is just not worth the effort" (I think many people has a canon event that reveals them that, specially when you're in highschool, middle school or college)

And right after thinking that he agreed with me lol. My mind really anticipates things before finishing a panel

Speaking of hard work and grades, I'm taking this chance to give my opinion: a system based on giving stars to those who have the highest grades while those who fail face the possibility of being expelled is awful. Not getting a star and comparing yourself to your peers already make horrors to your self esteem, imagine a child getting expelled for repeatedly fail a exam that may not be adapted to their needs (or getting many tonitrus for things your teachers disapprove of you but you didn't know it was wrong or for something about yourself you cannot control. For example a kid with ADHD unintentionally interrupting someone, disconnecting in the middle of a conversation or making noise with their leg when they stay still for too long. No need to go as far as talking about neurodivergent kids, look at that chapter where Anya got a tonitrus for not having a handkerchief. Who the fuck is punished for that when you're an adult anyway)

Enough of that, back to the chapter. Let's talk about what hyped me the most: Demetrius finally appearing on screen!

We already had crumbs of him before. Given Damian inferiority complex when comparing himself to him when he had talked about school and Twilight noticing his exams barely had any mistakes back in the chapter where Daybreak was welcomed to this world, him being a exceptional student when it comes to academics isn't surprising in the least.

Many say he's ugly and exactly like his father but I disagree. Donovan looks like a goddamn Frankenstein if Frankenstein was ugly, Demetrius take after his dead eyes look but he's pretty like Melinda. Not conventionally pretty like Damian or Melinda but kinda pretty. Like a zombie with sleep deprivation but in an endearing way. It's not his fault he's built like a Tim Burton or Don't Starve Together character... anyway I'm sure his appearance can grow up on you, hopefully (;´ ▾ `)

About the theories regarding this panel

It may be true something's going on, maybe he was really experimented on... But I can't stop thinking he was in that very moment "No thoughts, head empty" mode

I mean, he looks like a walking corpse in dire need of a proper nap, can you blame him if his thoughts are mainly focused on studies when Donovan probably spent time with him only for the sake of producing a good grades, not independent thinking machine as his heir? "He watch him study all the time."

I don't think it was necessary for a tragic incident to change Donovan and made him distant from his family. I suspect he has always been like that, perhaps even before having Demetrius, so it was less a traumatic big event and more the exhausting everyday life Demetrius has been having as far as he remembers of being supervised by his father in order to be the best at school and everything that turned him into the probably burnt out teenager he is.

Same with Melinda, being married to somebody you might not have even loved when you first got together, a man who doesn't try to understand others or seem capable of caring for anyone, a man who is not precisely publicly known for his kindness (remember Millie and Yor's boss when Donovan was brought up?)... Being married to that kind of person for years and then having kids with that person and have to keep being related to them for at least until your kids graduate sound like a miserable life indeed

The Desmond have a common theme going around that is understanding the world around them, or rather the lack of it. I can say for sure that Demetrius feeling overwhelmed simply with a bunch of kids and thinking he can't understand people have its roots in Donovan

• For Donovan is his narrow minded belief that nobody can't understand — therefore neither trust — each other because people is different; and as long as that phrase of "two people can't think the same" lives to the reality it finds itself in reaching a common ground is impossible.

• Donovan influenced Demetrius. Perhaps Demetrius doesn't share his father belief and that's not why he can't understand others, maybe it is because he was possibly deprived of a normal childhood where he could socialise with others of his age without his father expectations onto him.

Many academic gifted children reach a part of their lives where their habit is to think inside the box of "Good grades is all I'm good at or all I should care about; good grades = doing fine; it's all about what you can prove to those who expect something from you, not what you can prove to yourself to make you feel satisfied and happy".

When people who raised you condition you to act, live and think the way they wanted you to do is difficult to break and separate yourself from that. Plus he's going through the middle school phase, from personal experience that makes you x10 times angsty and complicated to understand yourself, much less everyone else.

• With Damian it is less discussed and pointed out because he's been able to have a relatively normal —if anything very neglected — childhood up to this point. He has friends, he acts like a kid of his age, his life doesn't revolve around his grades all the time... But that's the bare minimum of what a good childhood should be like.

It may be because of his age, but he doesn't see the bigger picture of his family. He can't see what is wrong with them (yet) because in his eyes nothing is wrong. Sure, he feels lonely and works hard for his dad to notice him, but that happens in many families right? He's not even in denial, he doesn't phantom the idea that what his family is, how they behave towards each other or towards him, isn't normal.

Don't make me start with how his future plans is following Donovan's footsteps in politics because he's trying that hard to approach him. He works hard at school because in his mind being like Demetrius or how he believes Donovan wants him to be would bring them closer, receive an understanding relationship from his dad when we know there might not be genuine affection between them from Donovan's side to start with.

He's teaching himself that love is conditioned by your "worth" or by whether you get to the expectations your loved ones have. That reminds me of what Sigmund told Anya because it sounds like a foretelling of Damian's life: [...] And one day you'll experience the frustration of realizing that hard work is not always rewarded. He doesn't many things and his age may explain it but it doesn't justify, if he continues thinking like that he'll have his hopes crushed and may turn out like Demetrius.

• As for Melinda, is difficult to talk about the point she stands in the understanding theme. Unlike her family she does seem able to understand people, perhaps because she wasn't raised like her kids have been. She's aware that her husband party made a lot of damage to their country, she seems aware and attentive to what surrounds her.

I don't think she cannot be understanding or perceptive, I think it's the other way around: the people she's surrounded by cannot understand her. Neither Yor, Anya, Damian, surely Demetrius and Donovan neither, her "friends" of the association she's in... Not even us can't understand the reason why she's so conflictive about Damian yet.

In just one appearance Donovan made his belief clear, thus giving us an idea of what type of feelings he has towards Damian. We can get so much of his character as a person with one chapter, but Melinda has appeared more than him and her true self is unknown. Donovan is reserved in a physical way, he isolates himself by not going outside and socialising, but he's not against the idea of explaining a stranger his stance in life. Melinda surrounds herself of people and listens to them but she keeps to herself.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to see more of Demetrius and the Desmonds. Hope we get more screen time of them, unless Endo has decided to drop such episode only to give us a one-shot chapter next and not elaborate further before introducing a complete different arc 💦

Although with what we have I'm already bought and entertained enough. Our favorite family is great but hooray for secondary characters being given depth and spotlight in this manga 🥳

See you next chapter reaction! If I made another one after other 25 full moons. I'm probably forgetting to talk about something...Oh well

#spy x family #sxf #manga spoilers #sxf chapter 93 #sxf spoilers #spy x family spoilers #chapter analysis #anya forger #bill watkins #donovan desmond #demetrius desmond #damian desmond #melinda desmond #becky blackbell #emile elman #ewen egeburg #GOD YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS EMO KID TO ARRIVE #my speculation of his looks was completely wrong and I'm glad it was. He looks prettier with not having a ikemen face #maybe it's just me and my liking for unconventional faces or faces different from the normal face an artist give to their ocs tho #idk. he looks neat to me #reminds me of owls and lemurs ✨#Maybe that's not the compliment I think it is given I also like George face because he gives me Frankenstein vibes #(not the same as Donovan's Frankenstein vibes btw)#♡ — shut up noko #Dementrius does sound like he would listen to MCR if there was MCR equivalent in sxf world. Look what parent issues and 0 naps do to a mf #Donovan let your family have a life without physical or spiritual presence or the consequences of it leaving a mark on them challenge #(impossible)#sigmund authen #almost forgot to tag Einstein looking grandpa #demetrius probably have 0 friends too. poor guy

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sanjisblackasswife · 1 year

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okay but the thought of sanji receiving body worship has me foaming at the mouth

“ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘”

𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕛𝕚 𝕩 𝔽𝕖𝕞! ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

thats………ok ….i gatta make a drabble out of that😭Hope you enjoy!<3

Black Fem Reader in Mind

CW: Kissing, Praise, Sanji is Reluctant, Oral, Riding

He is a giver. That’s all he sees himself as for you. So tonight when you kiss him gently on his lips to whisper to just relax he immediately tenses up instead

It’s not that he doesn’t trust you, it’s not that he won’t like it, it’s just something he hasn’t adapted to .

“Let me—“

“No. I want the focus to be about you.”

Sanji has been around tons of women, some nicer than others, plenty that have used him, few that have liked him, but you were something he just could never figure out.

But it was simple.

You were the woman that loved him.

“I love you, Ji…” Your kisses as sweet and passionate as the day he first asked to kiss you.

Sanji holds your cheeks, from below, you place one hand over his to melt into his colder hands to peck his palm.

He got emotional, then way you looked at his bare body in awe, “You’re so handsome…and all mine.”

Your words pierced him, whimpers of your name, gripping of your sheets, it was so much for him to swallow, this kind of love he wasn’t used to and you both knew it.

“Thank you…” He managed to croak out, he didn’t want to see your face, in fear you may look at him confused. You didn’t. You knew what that thank you meant, and why he said it.

Going back up to kiss his lips, he shutters, almost as if he were holding back crying, you hold his cheeks, feeling him subtly grinding into you, his shaft in between your lower lips now causing some friction for you both to moan out.

“You are so good to me, Ji…” You whisper against his lips, heavy breathing building between you both as you move against each other. That crave you both seek for ones touch never seems to fail as he wraps his arms around your back, “I…love you…”

“I love…I love you too.”

Both of your became breathless, just from the grinding alone you both felt each other close to a blissful orgasm.

It was one of many that night. Sanji could never forget.

The way you held his hands as you kissed his lightly scared body, the way you kissed his delicate hands, the way you never looked away from him to the point he had too from how ethereal you looked staring back at him.

You were a goddess in his eyes, an Angel.

Sweaty Skin against sweaty skin you lower yourself, Sanji always protested from you going down him, not because it didn’t feel good, but it didn’t seem fair and you seen that conflict in his eyes.

“It’s okay.” you rub his thighs before taking a long lick to his shaft, “Let me clean you up, like how you have for me.”

His cock twitched, remembering all the times he has, the way you clenched around his tongue, came inside his mouth, he loved it, it was something he could do forever and now.

seeing you like this was

Something completely different.

“Mmm.” You hum against his cock, marveling at his taste, giving his pink blushing tip a kiss he whines your name, barely holding him self up with his elbow to push your hair back to see you take him all in with your mouth as you lay on your stomach between his legs.

He was a good boy, not resisting anymore to your touch but now allowing his body at his complete disposal to you. Your body weight felt incredible on top of him. Sanji just couldn’t stop fighting the urge to cum.

“Let ….” You pant, bouncing atop of him while holding his hands, “It go baby!”

In an instant Sanji wraps his arms around you, face in your breast, thrusting up inside you, the quickened pace of him snapping his hips against you made your eyes roll back to hold him as well.

“S-so good! so good! so good!” Sanji cried out, moving your legs to be wrapped around him in a lotus potion. “I love you i love you i love you i love you.”

The heat in the room made it stuffy, you both moaning into each others mouths as the bed kept creaking below you.

Looking at his hot face so worn out and tired you lick up the drool from his mouth to kiss him. Moving your hips back and fourth riding out each others high.

Once you both calmed down you sat there for a moment holding each other, your blonde boyfriend in your neck, his fingers rubbing against your back, you whisper sweet nothings and reassurance in his ear.

“You did so good baby…I love you….love you so much, Sanji..”

Sanji cried that night with you. Right there in your arms, you gave him way too much love, he said, but your argued back that there is never too much love for him to receive.

He laid you both down, still teary eyed on your chest you keep him close against you on the bed,

“I love you, Y/n. So much.”

You smile, kissing his damp hair, you were happy to hear it.

He was yours to embrace.

#one piece #TimikosSanji #black reader #one piece headcanons #one piece x female reader #sanji #one piece smut #sanjionepiece #one piece x black!reader #sanji imagine #sanji x black reader #sanji x reader #x female reader #female reader #black foot sanji #one piece scenario #sanji smut

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ageingfangirl2 · 9 months

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A Reason To Come Back! Shanks (OPLA) Part 2

Reader is a mermaid who washed up close to death in Luffy's village and made a home for themselves. Shanks comes back and tries to convince y/n to join his crew. Shanks x Female Reader.

Part 1

Y/N

'Then join my crew!' Shanks said in a carefree manner.

That was four months ago, you didn't quite believe Shanks would go through with his promise, so you said yes.

After that first meeting, you went back to the tavern with Shanks to meet the rest of his crew, after stopping at your house to get some dry clothes. Shanks had so many questions about mermaids just like Luffy did and you tried to answer all of them. Maybe Luffy was right about him being a good guy, he gave off the vibe of someone you could trust but wouldn't want to cross.

You were nervous meeting the rest of his crew since pirates were primarily male, but they quickly put you at ease and were amazed at just how much booze you could put away, turns out that was a pro of being a mermaid. One of the newer crew tried to hit on you and it was then you revealed apparently what Shanks suspected when he heard you laugh, and that was your ability to compel. Let's just say the rest of the crew would never let the guy live down the humiliation you put him through.

Before he went to bed Shanks told Luffy of the promise he'd made to you. At first, the boy was upset that you wouldn't be joining his crew but was happy you'd both be pirates one day.

It did feel nice to let loose, laugh and have fun around others. And Shanks kept his eye on you the whole night. Maybe returning to the sea one day might just happen for you. You sketched a rough drawing of the jolly roger you'd seen during your escape, and it turned out Shanks and his crew didn't like that crew already so were all on board to help you.

During those four months, you kept yourself busy, fishing, helping around the village and keeping an eye on Luffy. You also had started putting things aside in case Shanks kept his promise and you had to join his crew which didn't seem that bad.

Today you'd just finished swimming and were returning to your house when you saw a familiar red-haired pirate sitting on your porch.

'SHANKS!' you call out.

SHANKS

I should have known y/n wouldn't be at home. They weren't in town when we arrived so I assumed they were swimming in the cove. Other than Luffy and myself no one else had been to the cove to see her mermaid form, it was her private space.

'SHANKS!' y/n calls out.

I look up to see the red-haired girl walking up the path towards me smiling and dripping wet. It was very unusual to see someone with the same hair colour as myself but y/n explained mermaids either got the colour from their mother or father or could get a mixture of both but y/n got her mother's red hair and tail.

I stand up and embrace y/n, who hugs me back. She was a lot smaller than me, but that didn't mean you should underestimate her, 'I told you I'd come back. You get younger each time I see you.'

y/n blushes at the compliment and playfully shoves me back, 'How old do you think I am Shanks?'

My face drops, this was a trap women liked to set to trip men up, 'err I don't know maybe early twenties.'

y/n grins, 'Such a charmer, we're the same age Shanks, mermaids just age slower and appear more youthful.'

I was shocked by her answer but also relieved. I said the early twenties to not sound awful when y/n could easily pass for eighteen or nineteen. At least we wouldn't have a kid on the crew with us.

'I didn't come to ask your age y/n, I came because I have something for you.'

y/n tilts their head and their eyes widen, 'what do you have for me? How's the arm by the way? Still getting used to only having one?'

Before leaving last time I'd lost my arm rescuing Luffy. I had no regrets and would do it again. It was tough but I was slowly adapting.

'Some days are harder than others but it will take time,' I reply honestly.

I reach behind me and under my cloak pull a wrapped-up piece of black fabric before handing it to y/n. y/n slowly unwraps the fabric and gasps loudly.

'You did it Shanks...this is the jolly roger I saw...thank you...' y/n stumbles over their words, tears pricking their eyes, 'what happened?'

It warmed my heart to see her get happy and emotional staring at the flag belonging to the ship that killed her family, 'they had a lot of enemies, and my crew simply pinned them against each other until they were no more. You're free to return to the sea y/n.'

y/n puts the flag down and throws themselves at me, causing me to grunt at the sudden impact but y/n wasn't that heavy so I was able to catch her as she hugged and clung onto me, 'you kept your end up so I'll keep mine, looks like I'm joining your crew Shanks.'

I laugh and put y/n down, 'Welcome to The Red Hair Pirates. I think you'll fit in nicely.'

It turned out that y/n was already packed, ready for the day to arrive. The rest of the crew and Luffy were waiting at the tavern, so we headed down there with y/n's belongings.

'I'M GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH Y/N!' Luffy shouts in y/n's face as soon as we enter the tavern, but y/n simply smiles and ruffles his hair not fazed by the loudness.

'I'm going to miss you more,' y/n replies and squeezes his cheek.

I clear my throat behind them and they both look up at me, 'What about me Luffy, won't you miss me?'

Luffy grins like an idiot, 'Of course, I'll miss you Shanks, you made me want to become a pirate but how many mermaids am I going to meet in my life?'

y/n sniggers, 'and since I'm now a pirate mermaid I guess you're number two in his eyes Shanks or should I say, captain.'

I roll my eyes but embrace the situation. Things were going to be a lot more interesting with y/n on the crew.

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o-uncle-newt · 4 months

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We don't talk enough about the Petherbridge/Walter adaptations of the Wimsey/Vane novels.

(Well, we probably talk EXACTLY enough about Gaudy Night, which is really pretty bad, but besides for that...)

(Sorry, just a warning, Richard Morant as Bunter is fine but I won't have much to say about him here. I just really like this picture.)

The casting is basically perfect, especially Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. I no longer see the book character in any other way- the only notable difference is that in the book she's noted as having a deep voice, but Walter's has a distinctive enough tone that I think it works regardless. She is just so, so, so good- captures the character beautifully, sells everything she does whether mundane or ridiculous (probably the best/most realistic reaction of someone finding a body I have EVER seen in Have His Carcase), makes the most of every limited minute she's on screen in Strong Poison and leaves her mark every minute that she isn't... and she looks AMAZING doing all of it. Just perfect, could not imagine better casting.

Edward Petherbridge I don't hold up to that level of perfection- I think that, try as he might, he's not really able to capture Wimsey's dynamism (possibly because he's a bit too old for the role) and is a bit overly caricatured in many of his mannerisms. But overall he does a pretty good job, in addition to looking quite a lot like how I'd imagined Wimsey- but in particular, I think he does a really lovely job of selling a lot of the emotion that he has to convey in some scenes that feel like they SHOULDN'T be adaptable from the book- specifically the scenes of him and Harriet. Him proposing to Harriet, him being disappointed when she (completely reasonably) turns him down... those shouldn't work on screen with real humans rather than in Sayers's calculated prose, but it DOES work and in no small part because he's great at selling Wimsey's feelings as being genuine even when his actions seem over the top. And, of course, Harriet Walter sells her end of the scenes right back. All in all, I think I have mixed feelings about Petherbridge as Lord Peter Wimsey the detective, but I'm a fan of him as Peter, the man who has feelings for Harriet.

Overall, though, both are, I think, very successful in capturing these characters- the fact that they take these people who even in the book can sometimes push the boundaries of likeability (which to be clear, is part of what I love about reading them) and make them eminently watchable is a great achievement. And also, in addition to their really looking like their characters individually, they're very well matched as a pair in the way that one pictures them from the book. They're even of very similar height and build, which we know is canonically true from Gaudy Night, and thus at least a somewhat relevant element of their dynamic.

Now, the adaptations are very uneven, and that's even without talking about Gaudy Night because, while it has about as good a rendition of the punting scene as I think we were ever going to get, most of the rest of it is crap and massively expands on what I think are serious problems to Peter and Harriet's relationship that the series as a whole had (not to mention cutting the character of St George, which is a travesty). None of the adaptations are perfect, and mess with aspects of their relationship in negative ways- for example, the ending of Strong Poison is exactly backward in a really awful way. I'll get back to this.

But when the show gets the two of them right, it gets them RIGHT, even when it's adapting Sayers's text/creating new dialogue. There are scenes in this one that I love almost as much as the canon text, like this one:

I don't think any of this is in the book, and there are things that happen here that I don't think Sayers would have ever written. But at the same time, a combination of the dialogue and the actors makes it COMPLETELY believable as these two people, and it captures a moment that is just really key for Peter as he faces his limitations and his feelings- something that in the book is conveyed through a lot of internal narrative on Peter's part that would be impossible to adapt as is, but that in the world of the show needed to happen in a much more visual and narrative way. Not all of the dialogue that this series chooses to fill in those gaps works, but even when it doesn't the actors do their best to sell the heck out of it, and when the dialogue DOES work it is seriously brilliant.

Probably my favorite of the adaptations is Have His Carcase, and scenes like this one are a big part of the reason why:

They change the location, but otherwise it's EXTRAORDINARILY faithful to the equivalent scene in the book, and honestly it shouldn't have worked with real people doing it and yet it does. It's just acted perfectly, given just enough arch and silly humor (particularly with the spinning door) that we don't attempt to take it too seriously, while also conveying the relevant emotions so well. The actors in the scene through only their faces and ways of speaking convey subtext that Sayers, in the book, conveyed a lot later on as actual text in the characters' thoughts, and there's something pretty great about that.

Other Have His Carcase scenes are less good (the dance scene is mediocre at best, I think), but if there's another Have His Carcase scene that I think illustrates how great Walter and Petherbridge are at selling the human sides of their characters, it's That Argument- seen here:

The Argument is a pale imitation of that in the book- the one in the book is, in fact, probably unadaptable as is- but it is still just so good because the actors are so good at selling it. Walter is just brilliant in the role and utterly inhabits it while also imbuing it with her own spin, and makes us feel Harriet's pain- and Petherbridge, through some relatively subtle facial expressions and reactions, is able just as well to make US understand what all of this means to him and how he feels. It's actually really remarkable that, just like how Sayers writes a relationship dynamic that only feels like it works because she's the one who wrote it that very specific way, this scene feels like it only works because these two actors play it in this specific way. Could two other actors do it? Very possibly, but it would feel super different and I wonder if it would feel this authentic. (I do want to note though that this scene made me really wish that we'd seen a Frasier-era David Hyde Pierce in the role of a younger and spryer, but equally posh, witty, and vulnerable, Wimsey. It just gave me vibes of something that he'd do beautifully.)

Now, as I said above, this doesn't get EVERYTHING right. In fact, quite a lot of their relationship ends up going pretty wrong- as I think a major mistake is their throughline which emphasizes Peter's continued pursuit of Harriet as not just reiterating his interest to make it clear that he hasn't changed his mind, but actively taking advantage of moments and situations in a romantic sense, taking a much more specific role in engaging with her physically, commenting on her appearance, saying how difficult it is for him to NOT pursue her more, etc. It makes the whole thing feel a lot more cat-and-mouse rather than a budding relationship of equals, and one where Peter acknowledges the whole time that they HAVE to be equals for a) Harriet to feel comfortable with him and b) them to be good together. In fact, however good the Argument above is, it's kind of undercut by this very pattern- he makes the book's point about him treating his feelings like something out of a comic opera, but he also at that point in the story has had a few much more oppressively serious scenes with her that clearly make her uncomfortable- nothing like anything in a comic opera. It's like the show misses the point a little.

I think the place where this really starts is at the end of Strong Poison. (I could see an argument to be made that it starts earlier, in a few smaller nuances of their jailhouse scenes, but I like those enough that I choose not to read into them too much lol.) After what I think is a great addition to the final jailhouse scene (one that I loved so much I repurposed it for a fic)- "it's supposed to be about love, isn't it" and some excellent reactions from Petherbridge- Harriet goes to court, her charges are dismissed, and unlike in the book, when it's Wimsey who leaves first (which Eiluned and Sylvia point out is a sign of his decency in not waiting for Harriet to thank him), here Wimsey is the one who watches as Harriet rejects him and walks away from him- the beginning of the chase. But nothing about their relationship is meant to be a chase! It's so frustrating to watch as that proceeds to be a continuing issue to a limited degree in Have His Carcase (where it's at least balanced by enough good moments that it doesn't matter so much) and to a MASSIVE, genuinely uncomfortable degree in Gaudy Night.

The only praise I will give it is that while the punt scene in the book is unfilmable, I think this adaptation did its best here and it's pretty good.

I'm not going to spend much time talking about Gaudy Night otherwise, because I'd need all day for it and also I'd probably need to rewatch it to make sure I get the details right and I have zero interest in doing that, but the way that it has Wimsey imposing himself and his feelings/hopes on Harriet to a really ridiculous degree, in a way that he never, ever does in the book, is just so so discomfiting and makes me feel terrible for Harriet. She doesn't deserve that. If I recall correctly, in that scene at the dance at the beginning, she's so happy just being with him and then he's all "oh so this means you want to marry me" and she just droops. He's so aggressive!

And that's what makes the worst part so bad, because not only does this miniseries not depict Wimsey's apology as the book does- one of the best scenes in a book full of brilliant scenes- it would actually be weird if it did, because this show doesn't imply that there's ANYTHING for Wimsey to be apologizing for! In fact, unlike in the books where we see Wimsey growing and deconstructing the parts of himself that had been demanding of Harriet, in the series we only see him get more demanding- until finally he wins. It's honestly infuriating and I hate it- the actors do their best to sell it (and apparently they were given bad enough material that they actually had to rewrite some of it themselves, though I have mixed feelings about the results) but it is just massively disappointing. Basically the whole emotional journey between the two of them is not just neutered but twisted.

For all of my criticisms of the adaptations' all around approach to their relationship, I do have to reiterate- Walter and Petherbridge do a wonderful, wonderful job. (Especially Walter.) When they're given good material to work with, and even often when they aren't, they are able to sell it so well- and particularly in the case of Walter, I genuinely can't think of the character as anyone but her rendition now. She IS Harriet Vane for me. And, for all the flaws that the series has, that's something pretty dang special.

Anyway, for anyone who read through this whole thing and hasn't seen these adaptations, I DO recommend Strong Poison and Have His Carcase- but not Gaudy Night unless you're either really curious or a glutton for punishment. The first two, though, have very good supporting casts, are quite faithful plot wise (sometimes to a fault- another flaw is that they are really devoted to conveying the whole mystery with all its clues sometimes to the point of dragginess, but will drop sideplots like, for example, Parker and Mary- which is totally reasonable, but still vaguely disappointing as those sideplots tend to add some levity/characterization), and just generally are an overall good time. (Some standout characters for me are Miss Climpson in Strong Poison and Mrs Lefranc in Have His Carcase.) And, of course, the best part is seeing the little snippets of Peter and Harriet that come through- less so their journey, vs in the book where that's central, but so many scenes where we just see the two of them together as they are in that moment and it's so satisfying.

#peter wimsey series #peter wimsey #lord peter wimsey #harriet vane #dorothy l sayers #edward petherbridge #harriet walter #a dorothy l sayers mystery #as was apparently the official title of the petherbridge/walter series #my thanks to the as my wimsey takes me podcast people #for a) coming back and finishing have his carcase #which was very enjoyable plane listening #but also for mentioning the adaptation in one of the episodes and inspiring the rewatch that led to this post #also this blog is basically now a sayers blog just as it is a finnemore one i guess #which as i note is fitting due to my Dog Collar Theory #which is YET ANOTHER THING THAT THE GAUDY NIGHT ADAPTATION LEAVES OUT GRRRRRR #strong poison #have his carcase #gaudy night

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dootznbootz · 5 months

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I don't think Greek Mythology retellings/adaptions/inspired/etc. are necessarily "evil"...but I DO think people REALLY need to understand that there's a huge difference between the actual mythology and certain media.

I feel like people have to basically do a "Fandom ___" to say the different versions. Like "PJO ___", "Hades game ___", "TSOA ___". For it to be understood that these depictions are DIFFERENT. I'm saying this as someone who grew up reading PJO and still has a soft spot for it. But as someone who really loves Greek Mythology as well, I sometimes get really SAD.

I'm going to use the comparison of Howl's Moving Castle with it's Book Vs. Movie. I enjoy both!!! But they are honestly very different. In the movie there is no "sister swap", Markle isn't a young teenager, Sophie doesn't throw weed killer at Howl, and many more moments. But I enjoy both because even though there are changes they still keep components that are ingrained into the characters!

In some Greek Myth retellings/adaptations/stories/etc., characters are...SO different from the source material. That's fine...Choose what you want with your story... But folks should know that the modern adaptations are NOT the source material!!!

It bothers me that a lot of these wonderful myths and stories are twisted up and seen so differently because of a modern version of them. You can have that character be "awful" or a certain way in your story. But I almost feel that as fans, it's not good to generalize them or see it as "This is the truth". People are hating the mythological figure when it's only in that interpretation they are like that.

In PJO, Ares is "Zeus' favorite", isn't a good dad, a misogynist, etc. The actual myths? One of his Epithets is LITERALLY "Feasted by Women", in the Iliad everybody basically bullies him with Zeus literally saying he hates him. He cries when he learns one of his sons is killed in the war. He literally kills someone about to rape his daughter. Ares isn't perfect but it makes me sad with how he's viewed and talked about when it's only in PJO he's like that. Same with Dionysus. Read the Bacchae, you'll love it.

In Lore Olympus, Apollo rapes Persephone (noticing the fact that modern takes on the myths add rapes where there never were hmmmmm) when he never did in any of the myths.

In TSOA, Thetis is cruel when in the Iliad, she is such a loving mother to Achilles. She grieved alongside her son over Patroclus. Also with Agamemnon. In Ipheginia at Aulis, Agamemnon is a MESS. He adored his children.

In Circe, Odysseus is viewed as a selfish man who ONLY hurts others and doesn't care about his family when that is LITERALLY his one consistent character trait. HE is actually the one who is the victim of rape. Circe was never raped.

Medusa is only a victim in Ovid's, a Roman man, works. Not in GREEK mythology. She was just a cool monster. Leave Perseus alone. Poseidon and Medusa actually had a consensual relationship in Greek Mythology!

These adaptations/retellings/inspired by/etc. whatever anybody wants to call them, are not the real myths! They may be similar in some ways but to just generalize them or hate the deity/mythological figure because of something they did in the new media feels fucked up!

You can enjoy these new stories. There's nothing wrong with that!!! But know they're not the real myths. Maybe even label it as "I hate ____'s version of ____". As that makes it clear what version you're talking about.

#I'm probably wording this very weird. I'm sorry for that haha #idk I'm getting sad #I'm clutching the gods and my special lil heroes to my chest to protect them from the hate.#this is silly but...idk had to say it :(#anti circe #anti madeline miller #sorry but that book makes me the sad™#greek mythology #tagamemnon #Mad rambles #shot by odysseus #PJO is special to me but I'm protecting the Gods >:( They can suck in PJO. to say the suck in the myths when you don't know the actual #myths is...sad #tw rape #<because so many adaptations ALSO add them when they're not there!!!!#save me morally gray circe #essay

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eightyonekilograms · 3 months

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I'm sure there is awful discourse about this somewhere I thankfully haven't seen it, but one other thing I'll say about Dune Part 2 is that it might be one of the best examples of "giving the female characters more agency in the adaptation than they had in the original", which has been done in cringey and hackneyed ways many times but here is pulled off very well. Jessica is much more overtly sinister and manipulative here than in the book, which maybe bothers some people but I think gives her a lot more to do and be. The book had a lot of her telling-without-showing that she had conflicting loyalties, but her actual narrative function was mostly to be ordered around the Bene Gesserit in the first half and Paul in the second half. Not to mention the [spoiler]-y change, which I agree with @femmenietzsche's comment probably could have been written a bit better but I think narratively was so much better I kinda want it backported to the book.

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kaija-rayne-author · 1 year

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Would you recognize an autistic or ADHD person if you saw one?

What about an autistic or ADHD fictional character?

Many of y'all will say, of course.

And you'll be wrong.

I'm not talking to hatched autistics and ADHDers. We can usually spot others like us and autistic/ADHD coded characters in fiction.

Definition: A 'hatched' autistic or ADHDer is someone who knows they're one or the other or both, AND they understand and accept that pretending to be neurotypical is bad for us.

It actually kills us, so, yeah, bad. The leading causes of death for autistics is unaliving or heart attack from the stress of living in a world that was most certainly not created for us. In some ways, this world is antithetical to us.

We also experience the stress of what's known as 'masking'.

Our average age of death is 36 years old. Think about that for a second. 36. And the rates of unaliving in autistic and ADHD kids is utterly obscene. The suicide watch for parents of autistic kids starts at 8 years old. 8.

(I don't say this for everything, but self-diagnosis is absolutely valid for autism and ADHD. In a world where people can still be institutionalized or lose their kids because of an autism diagnosis--this is fact for Britain and several US states. France is awful for autistics-- self diagnosis must be valid so we can figure ourselves out without endangerment.)

Masking is where a traumatized autistic (and I've also never met or even heard about an untraumatized autistic/ADHDer) will create a, persona, almost, that lets us function in the world.

It's rarely intentional, my youngest son started masking at 4 in pre-kindergarten because he wanted other kids to like him and want to play with him. Even though our home is very supportive of diversity, especially about autism and ADHD, y'all... he was *4*.

Being autistic and/or ADHD is so damned lonely. Especially if you don't know why you're different. So we do our best to adapt. That can cause issues.

Masking isn't meant as a lie. It's survival instinct. Because even though the world absolutely doesn't treat us like we're human beings, we still are. We want to survive and thrive as much as the next hominid. We have all the same needs and desires as any other human.

But what about the rest of all y'all? Can you recognize us?

Last week, a music teacher banned a 6 year old autistic kid from the school concert because 'they would ruin the experience for the other children' this is after making the autistic kid learn and practice the songs for weeks. 6 years old and that kid already has scars from discrimination about a genetic condition he can't help. It's cruel and so damned inhumane. At worst, the kid probably sang off key and maybe fidgetted a bit. But that would 'ruin' the concert. It's not the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, lady, it's an elementary school concert. It's absolutely not worth scarring that poor kid over. It also happened back in 2022, and again in 2017.

People will have seen 'Atypical' or 'The Good Doctor' or, gods forbid, Rainman and think they know what autistic people look like. (You should probably know that the majority of autistics loathe those shows because the rep is so bad.)

But here's the thing.

You can't see autism or ADHD. Not just by looking at us. It's purely a brain wiring difference. People don't even believe me when I tell them I am if they've seen me in person. And I'm professionally diagnosed as both autistic & ADHD.

Sometimes, there are co occurring issues, like intellectual disability, that are confused with autism, but they aren't actually the autism or ADHD part of things.

I'm an autistic and ADHD advocate. I have a consultant option on my Patreon for people who want advice either for themselves or so they do the right thing by their kids. I'm autistic/ADHD, my kids are too. I've been researching and learning about the topic for close to a decade at this point. I truly know what I'm talking about. I understand the different flavours and experiences of these two types of neurodivergency extremely well.

As an aside, while I have you here, ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is never the right thing. You know how gay conversion therapy is bad? The same person (Ivar Lovass) came up with ABA, and it's meant to do the same thing. To torture people, most often children, into pretending to be what someone else wants them to be. It doesn't support or help the autistic person.

Almost unilaterally, ABA causes a PTSD breakdown of self coming into our 30s. I say almost, but I've never even heard of an autistic person who has been tortured by ABA who hasn't developed severe PTSD.

If you tried to use the methods used in ABA on a dog, you'd be guilty of extreme animal cruelty.

Yet, because it's practiced on human children, it's fiiiiine. Big money lobbying has even made it so that ABA 'therapy' is the only one covered by a lot of insurances.

We can thank Autism $peaks for that. They are a hate group. They fit every bit of the definition of one and then some. (So please don't donate to them at the till. They love to pollute stores like Toys 'R' Us.)

Adult autistics have been speaking out against them forever. But since most autistics (80%) are under or unemployed, we don't have the kind of financial sway we'd need to get rid of them. Yes, this even counts for 'the new ABA'.

You can't save ABA. Putting a 2 year old human child through 40 hours weekly of 'training' so that they can look and act neurotypical is just flat out torture. Making a child 'extremely hungry or thirsty' so that they will do what you want is torture. There's just no other way to slice that apple. It's rotten to the core.

But back to my point.

Recently, someone disagreed with my opinion on a fictional character. I feel the character is autistic/ADHD coded, the other person disagreed.

That's cool. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. And it's fiction, whatever. I'm not mad or upset. (I'm slightly insulted, because if you're not autistic/ADHD, [and a comparison they suggested made me think they definitely weren't] it's definitely not your place to disagree with one of us who says a character is autistic/ADHD coded. It's disrespectful and more than a little ableist. Simply because so many people have the completely wrong idea about both conditions.)

Regardless, the important part for a fictional character is that a person was able to see themselves in the character, to empathize with them. So it's not a big deal.

But it got me thinking about this.

Would most people recognize the subtle signs? They're almost always extremely subtle.

Ever hear of 'resting bitch face'? It's an incredibly common autistic trait because we either emote less or we emote differently than neurotypicals. In our world, it's known as 'flat face effect'. I have it, and I've been harmed many times because it looks like I'm pissed off even when I'm having a good time or I'm just deep in thought. I've got a firey temper, trust me when I say you'll know it when I'm pissed off.

So. You see a character (or even a person) who doesn't emote a lot? Or emotes extremely subtly? Wellll... that's a good clue.

So, X fictional character (or person) has odd or esoteric knowledge or hobbies. That's a good clue.

Are they nerdy or geeky in some way?

Most autistics and many ADHDers experience what's known as hyperfixation on special interests. Ever see someone get so fascinated by a topic or skill or activity that they get lost in it?

Forget to eat or drink?

Learn to do an obscure craft just because they wanted to know how it's done? That person is likely autistic or ADHD or both. It applies to fictional characters too.

Are they stand-offish? Many of us are for various reasons. One is that we're trying to figure out the 'rules' of wherever and whoever we're with.

Why all y'all insist on staring creepily at each others eyeballs is beyond me. I find it either too intimate, painfully so, or just ridiculous.

That quiet character (or person) who warms up slowly? There's a hint.

Another reason we tend to be cool with strangers is that ever present trauma thing. So many autists and ADHDers get to the point in life where we just don't have it in us anymore to keep trying to make social connections. A very common trait of both autism and ADHD is a lack of understanding of neurotypical social rules. And trust me, y'all have them.

Does the character or person fidget? Either subtly or more obviously?

It's called stimming. I had to learn to do it unobtrusively, so I'll suck air through my teeth (my dentist isn't impressed by this), circle my pointer finger around my thumb, tap the pad of each finger on my thumb in a rhythm, count silently to myself... the list is probably endless. I intentionally leave the cuticles on my thumbs rough, because I often rub the forefinger or ring finger of that hand over the rough cuticle as a stim.

Maybe they rotate their ring around a finger?

Play with their hair?

Stimming is something that calms us down and helps us regulate our emotions. (It's also one of the first things ABA robs us of. It's called 'quiet hands'.) It's really bad to deprive an autistic or ADHDer of stimming.

I used to click the button on a pen so much that I banned myself from having clicky pens because of how annoying it can be to others.

There are healthy stims and unhealthy ones. (Head banging is an example of an unhealthy stim.)

So a character or person who is just, always moving somehow? There's a hint. Or they're rhythmically moving a body part? Tapping fingers? Wiggling a foot or leg? Fussing with their clothing? Rocking?

Is the character or person 'a walking encyclopedia'? In other words, do they know a lot of information about either one or two topics or about many topics?

That character (or person) is often stereotyped as being a computer genius who can make any computer work just by looking at it for a few minutes. But it can honestly be any topic or combination of topics. That's another clue.

Many autists are almost hard wired to be painfully honest. Unless we've been traumatized into it, we tend to be shitty liars. I'm, unfortunately, a very good liar. It's not something I choose to do, because I don't want my trauma to change something so innate to me as my honesty. I had to learn to lie to survive. I don't recommend it.

Does the person or character truly believe in things like honour? Justice? Mercy? Peace? (Many neurotypical people will call these things social lies that keep the world working.) I'm talking a bone deep belief in honour etc. Are they a shitty liar?

I think I've blathered enough for now. I want to make it clear that I don't speak for all autistic and ADHD folks. I'm just one person attempting to share some of the more common traits with whoever wants to read about it.

A final thought.

Nothing can make someone autistic or ADHD. It's a genetic condition. Which is why so many parents find out they're autistic or ADHD when their kids are diagnosed. It's not more prevalent now, it's just that more people are learning about the actual parameters of it. Diagnosis is easier now than 50 years ago. It's been around since ancient Egypt and probably evolved as a way to keep the clan safe in prehistoric times.

We often have heightened senses. Sometimes we have what I call 'predator vision' which sounds awful but just means that my gaze is automatically drawn to movement. Our sleep cycles are also commonly very different than a neurotypical's. We probably ended up being people who would take night watch, stare at the stars for hours, or warn people when food has gone off so no one eats it.

I think we evolved right alongside neurotypicals because we're both needed for a successful society.

Many, many of the world's famed thinkers/creators are considered to have likely been autistic/ADHD based on records about them.

These people include:

Leonardo DaVinci

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

Nikolai Tesla

Albert Einstein

Thomas Jefferson

Charles Darwin

Emily Dickinson

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

William Butler Yeats

Vincent Van Gogh

Benjamin Franklin

People who are autistic or ADHD these days that you may not expect?

Dan Ackroyd

Darryl Hannah

Anthony Hopkins

Jerry Seinfeld

Eminem

Courtney Love

David Byrne

Wentworth Miller

Satoshi Tajiri (creator of Pokemon)

There are also many, many people who have shown autistic or ADHD traits and haven't confirmed or it's impossible to confirm because they're deceased and we don't have the right records.

It's considered a massive faux pas to assign a diagnosis of anything to a living human being. So everyone living I've listed has in some way confirmed it. There are many, many other people (especially in creative industries or hobbies) I believe are likely one or the other, but I wouldn't label. That's for them to do.

If you enjoyed this or learned something and you can, please consider a tip or becoming a Patron. My work of words is my only income.

Every historical person is just a 'likely' because we'll never actually know. All we can do is point at the exhibited traits via records and say, probably.

#being autistic #autistic things #actually autistic #autism #ADHD #actually adhd #autistic problems #autistic adult #autistic #late diagnosed autistic #late diagnosed adhd #fiction #fictional characters #fiction critique

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mariacallous · 8 months

Text

My father was a short-order cook, a strictly stovetop kind of guy. Israeli salads and scrambled eggs. I never saw him approach the lower half of the oven, except to clean it within an inch of its life. It would take me until my 30s to realize that he did not grow up with anything like the ovens we had in Canada, and that there wasn’t much in his childhood home to place in a stove.

He was born in Mandatory Palestine in 1936 to Yemenite parents, who themselves were born in Ottoman Palestine. All four of his grandparents left Yemen in 1881 in what was known as the First Yishuv.

For my father, an oven was a primus — a portable camping stove that uses kerosene or paraffin oil. As a 12-year-old boy during the 1948 War of Independence, he ate grass and weeds (mostly mallow, known as kubezeh) that he had to forage for himself. So, on balance, his short-order cooking made sense.

When I grew up and moved to Israel and other new immigrants asked me about my background, my father’s lack of culinary skills became a source of repeated disappointment.

You must have had tons of jachnun and zhug?

More like zero.

I thought you said he was Yemenite.

My father did put an awful lot of Mexican salsa on everything from spaghetti to chicken, and ate onions like apples for breakfast, but Jewish food for me was Ashkenazi all the way. Well, you can’t go back.

Recently, I introduced a new dialogue project with my EFL (English as a Foreign Language) college students (anything to get them talking). Each student had to film herself discussing her favorite family recipe. I teach in Jerusalem and my students come from a range of backgrounds that include Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Ethiopia, Russia and France.

Occasionally I have a student with a Yemenite background. This particular student, we’ll call her Shira, introduced her recipe by stressing how often she eats it at home, and how delicious and nutritious it was, particularly for keeping on weight. This made sense as Yemen was (and still is) a very poor country, and many of their recipes are inexpensive and calorie dense, something important in an undernourished population.

Then, to my amazement, Shira described my father’s “hot cereal” recipe, as I had always called it. He used to mention that his mother made it for him year-round, including on Passover, but I took that to mean it was a family recipe, not a Yemenite Jewish one.

My father made this for me on the rare winter mornings when he was not off to work before I woke up. I remember the satisfied look on his face as he stirred and stirred groats, tossing out tidbits about his mother and his life in pre-state Israel like rare coins while he watched butter melt into the milk. He wasn’t much of a talker when it came to his past, but perhaps the familiar smell loosened his tongue.

For a few minutes, I would be drawn into his world of a mother who sold her own saluf (Yemenite flatbread) and zhug to passersby for extra money and chatted in both Arabic and Yiddish, rather than my usual stance, which was “Why can’t he be like all of the other fathers in my Jewish school and pull out the AlphaBits and Fruit Loops?” Nowadays, this recipe is a family favorite, particularly on Passover and if we are having sleepover guests on Shabbat.

I remember Shira’s surprise when I told her I was familiar with this recipe and thanked her for choosing it as her assignment. Turns out my birthright wasn’t entirely lost to me, it just took me longer than most to realize it. Better late than never.

Cooking notes

This recipe is endlessly adaptable:

My kids prefer it with half a cup less water and half a cup more milk. Some people omit the milk, just as they would for oatmeal.

I’ve seen recipes that add a teaspoon of sugar and margarine instead of butter, though I’ve never tried it.

On Passover, we substitute crushed matzah for groats or wheat.

On Shabbat, we bake this mix in a jachnun pot on a low heat (225°F or 100°C) overnight in the oven for cold Saturday mornings, which yields a very soft mixture.

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katelynnwrites · 10 months

Text

We’ll Be A Fine Line (We’ll Be Alright) | Felicitas Rauch

warnings: descriptions of blood, injury and general angst along with mentions of smut

word count: 4612

summary: feli accidentally injures you during an international game

a/n: happy monday. i’ve actually always wanted to write this prompt so i’m pretty excited about this. also i couldn’t resist adding that last part, i’m not sorry 😂

You love international breaks. The chance to represent your country on the world’s stage is not something you would ever take for granted.

After you made the move to Germany, to play for VfL Wolfsburg, international breaks become even more special.

They become one of the few times you’re able to be in the country of your birth, with the friends you have grown up with.

This time, you’ve been given an even more special chance, a rare opportunity to play against your German, Wolfsburg teammates.

You’re especially looking forward to playing against one particular teammate.

She’s a defender and you’re a striker. It’s a cliche really.

Ahead of the upcoming Arnold Clark Cup, your girlfriend had bet you that you wouldn’t be able to score against her and you had countered her bet with your own, that she wouldn’t be able to prevent you from scoring.

The reward of the bet is interesting, that the winner will be able to do anything she likes with the other.

And you really really want to win. The thought of being able to have your way with a certain Felicitas Rauch being more than enough incentive for you.

******

England playing against Germany is the last fixture of the tournament so playing against Feli isn’t really on your mind yet.

You do however, text her frequently and in return, receive a constant stream of TikToks that she has found funny.

You’re laughing at one of them when Georgia plonks down in the seat next to you.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Nothing Georgie.’

‘Aw come on! You’re never here anymore and now that you are, you won’t even tell me what you’re laughing about.’ Georgia pouts.

You soften at her words and quickly unlock your phone, showing her the video Feli had sent you.

The Manchester City player chuckles.

‘That is funny.’ She says and you laugh again.

‘I didn’t know you had a dog though.’

‘Me?’

‘Yes you? Your lockscreen is a brown poodle.’ Georgia says in confusion.

‘Oh! She’s not exactly my dog.’

‘Okay…’ Georgia’s confusion only increases and she makes to ask more questions only to be unable to do so because Sarina starts giving instructions.

As you listen to your coach, you glance down at your lockscreen of Cinnamon before unlocking your phone once more, this time to look at your wallpaper.

It’s a good thing Georgia had only seen your lockscreen because your wallpaper, a photo of Felicitas kissing you would have been a lot harder to explain.

******

It had completely slipped your mind to tell your England teammates about Feli.

There had just been so many things going on, your recent move to Germany, a new apartment for you to settle, a new style of play for you to adapt to and your struggle to learn a new language.

Your relationship with Feli had started amongst all that and before you knew it, months had passed by.

How could you tell them about your German girlfriend now?

******

On the contrary, Feli’s national teammates know all about you.

So many of them played at Wolfsburg with you and the rest have heard all about how head over heels Felicitas is for you.

They would never miss an opportunity to tease Feli who is usually reserved and a tad shy.

The perfect opportunity lies in whenever she calls you.

Somehow even when you are countries apart, you always manage to make your girlfriend blush.

Her German teammates love you for that and you frequently get sent photos of Feli’s red cheeks during the international breaks.

******

Having headed up to your hotel room early, you make the most of your roommate’s absence to call Felicitas.

She answers almost immediately, her smile being the first thing you see.

‘Hi my love.’

‘Hello.’ She greets, cheeks already dusted with pink from the term of endearment.

You grin, ‘How’s England treating you?’

‘Good but I miss you.’

‘I miss you too Feli but we’ll see each other tomorrow.’

‘I can’t wait.’ Your girlfriend murmurs.

She adjusts her phone, giving you a glimpse of her surroundings. It looks like she’s out on her hotel room’s balcony.

Having finished propping her phone up, she cheekily asks, ‘Ready to lose?’

You laugh, ‘You wish.’

‘Liebling, being able to do whatever I want to you is pretty good motivation. There’s no way that I am losing.’ Feli states.

Confidently, she adds, ‘I’m sure you’ll like what I have planned.’

‘Well as nice as that sounds, I think that both you and I will prefer what I have in mind for when I win.’

There’s no mistaking the tone in your voice.

Feli swallows hard, her blush intensifying as she stammers, ‘S-Sorry liebling. No can do.’

You giggle and your girlfriend looks away in embarrassment, clearing her throat.

‘I love you but I won’t be losing. You’ll see.’

‘We’ll see.’ You agree.

You’re content to just look at her but you hear the door of your hotel room opening.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you Felicitas.’

Feli nods, having heard your roommate from her end of the call.

‘Ich liebe dich. I’m really excited to see you.’

She ends the call, just as your roommate enters the room fully.

‘Who were you talking to?’ Leah asks curiously.

‘A teammate from Wolfsburg.’ You answer honestly.

‘She speaks German to you?’

‘She’s trying to teach me to pick it up faster. I’ve not been too good at it so far.’ You laugh self deprecatingly and your roommate giggles.

‘Are you feeling okay about playing against your club teammates tomorrow? It must be a little weird for you.’ Leah asks, unintentionally slipping into her role as captain.

‘It is but I’ll be okay Lee. We had a conversation about it before I left Germany. We promised that there would be no hard feelings and we’re actually quite looking forward to it.’

******

Sarina and the other coaching staff had asked you about how your German teammates at Wolfsburg played. You had given them as much as you could, telling them about your personal experiences with their playing styles.

They have also come up with their predictions for Germany’s starting lineup.

It’s no surprise to you that they think Feli will be playing.

Your girlfriend had gone from being left out of the 2019 World Cup to being Germany’s starting leftback and you could not be any prouder of her.

You see the work she puts in day in and day out and you know that she deserves to be there.

When you arrive at the stadium, you see that Sarina is right. Feli is starting for Germany and as you line up near her in the tunnel, you give her a brief hug that lets her know that you are proud of her.

You know that the extra tight squeeze she gives you in return means that she understands and is proud of you too.

******

Ellen White scores first, with you assisting her goal.

You can’t help but smirk at Feli as you walk back to your position.

She rolls her eyes at you and later when you’re within earshot, reminds you that you haven’t won the bet yet as you weren’t the one who scored.

******

The rest of the game goes as expected, with Germany playing physically and England playing the ball forward as much as possible.

Your Wolfsburg teammates have landed quite a few tackles on you but have helped you up each time.

You don’t take it to heart, having expected it already. It’s not like you have not done your fair share.

Playing in Germany has rubbed off on you and you now have a tendency of being a little more physical.

You haven’t had any direct contact with Felicitas though, the defender being kept occupied by your English teammates.

By the 94th minute, you know you’re going to win. While you yourself have not scored, Millie and Fran have added to England’s goal tally.

Lina Magull scoring in the 41st minute is not enough for Germany.

You’re thinking about ways to somehow convince your girlfriend that you’ve won the bet anyway as you begin lining up for a corner.

It’s in Germany’s favour but you’re not particularly worried, knowing that Mary has the safest hands around and that this corner will probably be one of the last actions of the game.

Feli’s taking the corner and you focus back on the game just in time to see the ball fly.

You jump up, along with everyone else but Leah is the one who gets her head on the ball.

She clears it and then you’re off, sprinting clear of the other players. Maybe you would be able to win your bet properly.

The ball gets passed to you and you make a run for the goal, only to be taken out a fraction of a second later.

You scream.

There’s no other way to express the horrific pain you are in.

You’re not even aware of the way your body curls in on itself or the way your hand blindly clutches at your injured ankle.

Sobbing into the grass, you cry out again as gentle hands turn you over.

If your eyes weren’t squeezed shut, you would see that your girlfriend looks like she’s about to throw up.

‘I didn’t mean to. Oh my god I never meant to hurt her.’ She repeats, over and over again.

Feli is inconsolable, shaking all over as she looks at you on the ground.

Your English teammates push her away, in their rush to get to you.

She doesn’t register Keira shouting at her or Lucy holding the ginger back.

Laura grabs her and moves her aside, just enough so that she can still see you but not be in the way of the worried England team.

‘She’s going to hate m-me.’ Felicitas stutters.

‘Hey Feli she won’t. It was an accident.’ Laura tries but Feli isn’t hearing any of it. She trembles harder when Laura hugs her tightly, the Eintracht Frankfurt player doing her best to keep her friend’s breakdown from the cameras.

The German players gather around Felicitas, helping Laura to block her.

Your English teammates are trying to do the same for you.

You’re still crying, unable to answer any of the questions the medical staff are asking you.

‘Feli.’ You whimper.

‘Felicitas.’ You plead again.

Leah squeezes your hand. You hadn’t even realised that she’s holding your hand.

‘Yes. It’s Felicitas Rauch that tackled you.’ Leah tells you, thinking that it’s what you want to know.

It isn’t.

‘I want Felicitas. I want my girlfriend.’ You beg.

Leah blinks but doesn’t question you, knowing that you are in no shape to properly answer anything.

She just gets you your girlfriend.

******

‘She didn’t mean it.’ Alex Popp states, as Leah approaches.

‘I hope not. Rauch needs to go to her girlfriend now.’

‘No. I can’t be near her. She won’t want me there.’ Feli cries, furiously shaking her head.

Leah glances at you and then back towards her before firmly saying, ‘Look I don’t know you. But she’s in a lot of pain and asking for you so I’m bringing you to her whether you like it or not.’

******

‘Liebling, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I should never have gone in for that tackle.’ Felicitas rushes out.

‘Feli…’ You gasp and your girlfriend chokes back a sob, taking your hand in hers.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to but Feli it really really hurts.’

You’re trying your hardest not to cry more but a few tears slip free anyway.

The expression on your girlfriend’s face looks like heartbreak but she whispers, ‘I know. I know. You’ve got to let the medics take you off the pitch now okay?

Trying to be brave, you nod and the medical staff takes it as their cue to put you on the stretcher.

‘Please don’t leave me.’ You beg and Felicitas scrubs her tears off her face. She angrily thinks to herself that she doesn’t have to right to cry.

‘I promise. I’m right here liebling.’

Her gaze remains on your face but the briefest glance at your bloodied and bruised ankle, now visible thanks to the medical staff who had removed your boot and rolled down your sock makes her want to be sick again.

Feli’s face is pale and tear stained but she never lets go of your hand.

She’s right beside you, holding your hand and walking off the pitch with you.

The referee decides to end the match there but that doesn’t matter to your girlfriend who would have walked off the pitch anyway, regardless of what the referee and coaches had to say.

******

Your girlfriend is carefully stroking your hair, doing her best to soothe the pain she had unintentionally caused you.

The bed you are sitting up on is cold but Feli’s hands are warm. You try to focus on that, letting her familiar touch give you some comfort.

The medical staff are examining your ankle now but by just looking at it, you think that there’s little chance you would escape with a mild injury. You are sure you would be on the sidelines for a while.

When your team doctor looks up at you and gives you a little head shake, you know your suspicions have been proven.

‘I’m really sorry but you’re definitely going to have to go to the hospital now. We’ll contact your club and let them know.’

‘How bad is it?’

‘A few months out at least. Your ankle is badly sprained and the hospital will give you a more thorough x-ray but from what I can tell, it’s been fractured.’

Your face crumples and you bury your face in Feli’s shoulder. Her arms wrap around you, holding you close.

‘I’ll give you a moment.’ The doctor murmurs before leaving.

‘I’m so sorry.’ Felicitas breathes.

You cry even harder, the throbbing pain in your ankle doing you no favours.

Your girlfriend inhales shakily, kissing the side of your head before beginning to pull away.

You stiffen the instant you feel her loosening her grip on you.

Your eyes widen in fear and you panickedly ask, ‘Feli w-where are you going?

‘Don’t you want me to go? I’m the reason you can’t play let alone walk. I hurt you liebling.’

‘No. You didn’t mean to. Stay please. I need you. Please Felicitas, don’t go.’

‘I won’t.’ She whispers, her heart breaking all over again as she realises exactly how vulnerable you are.

‘You promise?’

Your girlfriend hugs you close, ‘I promise. As long as you want me here, I’m here.’

******

You don’t want Felicitas to leave your side. You think she understands as well because she’s still sitting by the side of your bed and holding your hand when you wake up.

Her Germany kit has been replaced by a hoodie and shorts so you think that one of her teammates must have helped her out.

The German player’s eyebags have always been pronounced but the sleepless night she has had have made them so much darker, like bruises under her eyes.

‘You’re awake.’ She mumbles, when she feels you moving around.

You frown, trying to wiggle your toes only to fail. The new cast on your leg sees to that.

You don’t remember it being there so you assume that the doctors at the hospital must have done it after you had taken the painkillers which knocked you right out.

‘Felicitas? Does this mean I’ve won my bet?’

‘The bet? Liebling, that’s what you want to talk about right now?’ Feli’s tone is incredulous and surprising to you.

‘Why not Feli?’

‘Because I hurt you. My mistimed tackle broke your ankle.’

‘Fractured.’ You correct but your girlfriend winces all the same.

‘You are here because of me. You won’t be playing for three months. Can you please yell at me? Be angry at me liebling.’ Felicitas insists.

‘No.’ You answer simply.

‘No?’

‘I’m not mad at you. I know that it was an accident. You would never hurt me intentionally.’

‘I would never and it was an accident but please be angry at me. I deserve to have you hate me.’ Your girlfriend begs.

‘No. I will never hate you Felicitas. I love you. You’re the love of my life.’ You easily say.

The words come naturally to you because it’s all true. You know it in your heart.

Felicitas bites back a sob, ‘I love you so much. You’re the love of my life too.’

‘Don’t hate yourself Feli. It really was an accident. An unfortunate one but an accident nevertheless.’ You softly plead.

Your girlfriend exhales shakily, leaning in close and pressing a kiss onto your forehead.

You shiver, closing your eyes and soaking in the feel of her lips on your skin.

‘Feli?’ You breathe.

‘What is it?’

Your request is barely audible, ‘Can you kiss me please?’

Felicitas kisses your cheek carefully in response.

‘A proper kiss Felicitas. I-I haven’t had one of those for weeks and I miss it. I’ve missed you.’

You’re so shy that prior to the events of the last twenty four hours, Feli would have teased you before showering you in as many kisses as possible.

But now she quietly checks, ‘Are you sure? I have missed you so incredibly much but I don’t want to cause you more pain.’

‘You won’t. Felicitas I know you won’t.’ You swear fervently and your girlfriend gives in.

Her lips brush against yours gently and so tentatively that it makes you want to cry.

‘More. Please Feli please.’

Felicitas can’t deny you. She has never been good at doing so but now she finds herself completely unable to even try.

Her hands cradle your face tenderly and she gives you the most loving kiss she can.

You would have cried if the door of your hospital room didn’t open. As it is, Feli pulls away from you with a sharp jerk.

‘Okay then…Is this a bad time?’ Leah asks.

Behind her, Alessia and Tooney’s faces are tomato red from the display of affection. It makes you giggle.

‘No. I’d say come in but you’re already inside.’ You joke.

Leah laughs and places the bouquet of flowers she had been holding on your bedside table.

‘They’re beautiful, thanks Lee.’ You genuinely tell her.

The England captain smiles at you, ruffling your hair in the manner that only an older sister does.

Alessia and Ella settle themselves onto the couch along the side of your hospital room and you give them a warm smile.

Felicitas stands awkwardly beside you and as Leah starts telling you about how the other England girls will be along any minute, she murmurs, ‘I’ll give you a moment liebling.’

‘No don’t go. Stay. I’d like you to meet my national teammates.’

Your girlfriend hesitates and you add, ‘They’ll be nice to you, I promise. You can tell them what the doctor said because I was asleep for most of it.’

‘Okay…’ Feli sits back down by your bed and you grin, reaching out to intertwine your fingers with hers.

Leah looks at you expectantly and you sheepishly grin at her.

‘I’m sorry for not telling you earlier but this is my girlfriend. I always meant to introduce you guys to her but I guess she made her own introduction.’

All three of your national teammates chuckle at your sense of humor.

‘Nice to meet you.’ Feli cautiously says.

‘It’s nice to meet you too Rauch. Next time have a less dramatic introduction okay?’ Leah teases.

You laugh and Feli has a tiny smile on her face when she agrees.

******

You think your hospital room must be the noisiest one around. You’re actually worried that the nurses would kick all of your fellow players out.

When Laura Freigang arrives, bringing a pack of Sharpies along with a couple of other German players, the noise level gets even higher.

Your friends argue over who gets to sign your cast first but you put a stop to it.

‘My girlfriend gets to go first.’

Laura hands the Sharpies over without protest.

Felicitas takes it and after a reassuring nod from you, goes over to the end of your bed, where your injured foot is propped up on a pillow.

Gingerly, Feli begins to draw.

She sticks her tongue out in concentration and everyone in the room can see your obvious heart eyes.

Kathy takes a photo subtly.

Felicitas finishes soon after, pressing a kiss onto your forehead before sitting back down at your side.

There’s a small grin on her face and you look at your cast to see a brown dog.

‘Is that meant to be Cinny?’

‘Yeah.’ Feli’s smile widens and you laugh.

‘Thank you.’

There’s a moment where it’s just the two of you in your little bubble before Tooney loudly says, ‘My turn now!’

******

As your fellow players continue to talk, you can see that your girlfriend is exhausted. She rests her head on top of her folded arms that are on your bed.

The dark circles under her eyes are worrying you.

You know she hasn’t slept since before the match so you decide that despite how well meaning your England teammates and Feli’s national teammates are, visiting hours for you are over.

It doesn’t take much convincing on your part. All you had to do was tell a half truth and say that you are tired.

Leah wrangles the English players out and Sara Doorsoun shepherds the German players out so that you’re left alone with your love.

Feli anxiously smooths loose strands of your hair out of your face.

‘You’re tired? Do you want to sleep more liebling?’

‘Only a little and I wouldn’t mind another nap but that’s not why I asked them to leave. I asked them to leave because you need to sleep.’

‘Me?’

‘Yes you. Now get in with me.’ You insist.

The hospital staff had informed you that you wouldn’t be discharged till later in the day so you could let your girlfriend get some rest first.

Felicitas hesitates, eyes flicking down to your injured foot. Your friends have seen to your cast, ensuring that it is now thoroughly decorated.

‘You won’t hurt me. There’s a pillow propping it up so I’ll be okay.’ You assure her, already shifting to the side of your hospital bed to make space for her.

It takes you lifting the covers and staring at her expectantly for her to tentatively settle down beside you.

‘I missed you.’ You mumble into her shoulder.

‘Ich liebe dich.’ Feli promises and you give a contented sigh once you bury your face into her neck.

Inhaling deeply, you begin leaving little kisses on her tanned skin.

Your girlfriend lets out a soft moan.

‘Liebling…now’s not the time or the place.’ She breathily says.

Drawing back slightly, you sheepishly mumble, ‘Sorry.’

Felicitas carefully scoots closer to you, so that your back is pressed against her.

She kisses your shoulder, pushing your hospital gown to the side so that she has access to a larger expanse of skin.

‘Feli this isn’t fair.’

Your voice is tight and it’s taking every ounce of your self control not to turn around and kiss her silly.

‘I thought you said that this isn’t the time or the place?’

‘I’m sorry.’ Your girlfriend apologises but you can feel her smile against your shoulder so you know that she isn’t sorry at all.

Felicitas presses another kiss onto your skin and you audibly groan, ‘My love you’re supposed to be sleeping.’

‘Soon. But first I need you to know.’

‘Know what?’

‘You win the bet. I’m yours.’

You smile, turning to face her with some difficulty.

Your girlfriend’s smile matches yours and you can’t resist tracing her dimple with your finger. It makes Feli smile wider.

‘I had a plan but it’s got to wait a while.’

‘What did you have in mind?’ Feli asks curiously.

You blush furiously and quietly admit, ‘I wanted to fuck you in the shower.’

Your girlfriend giggles.

‘Shower sex? Liebling, that's what you want?’

‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Don’t feel like you owe me anything, especially sex.’ You quickly tell her.

‘Liebling no. I want to. I just- You didn’t have to make a bet to have sex with me. In the shower or anywhere else. It’s actually kind of hot.’ Feli murmurs.

She brushes a feather light kiss against your nose.

‘You’re really hot and I kinda sorta am always at least a little turned on by you.’ Your girlfriend happily confesses.

Your eyes widen and your blush that you don’t think can get any darker, does.

‘How about this? When your ankle heals, you can fuck me in the shower as many times as you’d like. But when we get back home, as your ankle is healing, I’ll give you the shower sex that you want.’

‘Really?’

‘I promise liebling.’

‘Okay. Now I’m really looking forward to getting home.’ You breathe.

‘Me too.’ Feli agrees.

You can’t resist kissing her affectionately.

Her eyes shine a little and you find yourself kissing her again, whispering against her lips, ‘Felicitas it wasn’t your fault okay? It was an accident.’

‘Okay.’ Feli quietly answers.

‘I mean it.’ You emphasise, wanting your girlfriend to know that she doesn’t have to blame herself.

She gives you a tiny nod in response, ‘I know you do.’

‘Are you gonna sleep okay? I’ll be here if you have nightmares…’

Your girlfriend exhales in surprise. There’s no way you could know that unless Sara had told you.

And her friend had.

When Feli had been distracted earlier, Sara had taken full advantage and confided in you that when she brought a change of clothes for your girlfriend, Feli had admitted that she could not sleep without hearing your scream of pain.

Her guilt ridden nightmares are the main reason for the dark circles under her eyes and you needed to help her see that she had absolutely no reason to feel guilty.

Feli takes your hand in hers, ‘I won’t. I know I didn’t mean to injure you and I know that you aren’t angry at me. It wasn’t my fault but I will definitely be working on my slide tackles from now on.’

‘Good.’ You whisper, giving her another kiss.

You try to pour all your love for her into it, needing her to know how much she means to you.

Felicitas must feel it because she sighs into your mouth, her entire body relaxing.

She wraps her strong arms around you, letting you find comfort in her embrace and in her effortless ability to make you feel safe.

And loved. So incredibly loved.

The painkillers have eased the throbbing pain in your injured ankle but it’s Feli’s presence that helps you get through the remaining ache.

Your girlfriend takes in a deep breath, soaking in the moment.

It’s brought to an end by her yawning loudly.

She tries to stifle it but fails, the resulting tinge of pink on her cheekbones making you giggle.

‘Love, get some sleep please.’ You instruct and Feli huffs a laugh, kissing your forehead protectively before finally, finally letting her eyes slip close.

******

If she spends the flight home thinking about how best to pin you against the bathroom wall and fuck you gently with her fingers, all while making sure that you keep your weight off your injured ankle and are in no danger of slipping, well she would just say that she’s being thorough with her preparation.

German Translation:

liebling - love

ich liebe dich - i love you

#feli rauch #felicitas rauch #felicitas rauch imagine #felicitas rauch x reader #feli rauch x reader #feli rauch imagine #dfb frauen imagine #dfb frauen x reader #gerwnt x reader #gerwnt imagine #vfl wolfsburg frauen x reader #vfl wolfsburg frauen imagine #woso x reader #woso imagines #woso imagine #katelynnwrites #woso #uswnt imagine #uswnt x reader

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skygemspeaks · 9 months

Text

thoughts on episode 7 of opla!

given that arlong park is supposed to be the climax of the east blue saga, i'm a little tiny bit disappointed with how this episode played out, especially given how standout episode 6 was. some of the disappointment comes from me not liking some of the creative choices they made with it, but some of it is also just the limitations of the medium

emily rudd's performance of nami, especially during the scene where she's stabbing her arlong tattoo, was absolutely phenomenal. all the actors in this show have been doing such an awesome job so far, but at the end of the day, there's no way it can really stand up to the manga and anime versions of this same scene. oda is a masterful artist, and the way he's able to depict such raw despair and grief has always been one of my favourite things about his art. and one of the things about animation is that they're able to exaggerate certain expressions and body language to give more of an emotional impact, in a way that real humans can't really do, so i feel like in some ways, live action is always gonna fall short. so far the live action has been doing a good job of adapting the story in a way that plays to the medium's strengths, but i do feel like this was a rare L for them. and that's not to say the episode wasn't well done! because it really was. i think that in this case it suffers from having to try and live up to the source material.

i'm not sure how i feel about them having nojiko not knowing about nami's plans. i think one thing that i really liked about this arc in the manga was how all the villagers knew nami was trying to buy back the village, but they were being hostile to her because they knew how hard it was to do what she was doing, and if it ever got to be too much for her, they wanted her to be able to turn her back on them without feeling bad. they didn't want her to feel obligated to save them. that's neither here nor there though, and it did open up a chance for them to have a heartfelt conversation and make up.

i've seen some people upset that Hachi wasn't part of the arlong park arc, and i was a little sad we didn't get to see him too, but i do also think that it makes sense as a creative choice. so far when you look at the storytelling choices they've made with this series, a lot of their decisions seem to come from the mindset of "don't assume we're going to get more seasons, but lay down a bit of subtle groundwork just in case we do" and this seems to be one of those choices. in the event that we ever do make it to the sabaody archipelago, hachi is going to become a friend, and it's going to be easier to get the audience on his side if he wasn't one of the antagonists that was enslaving nami's village. in the event that we do get to sabaody, i'm assuming we're gonna get some flashbacks to nami's childhood when he WAS with arlong, but then he left before the canon timeline because he couldn't deal with how awful arlong is? i don't know, but that's just a guess. the manga had the leisure of slowly winning the audience over to his side by the simple fact that we were able to spend so much time with him, he was around for many chapters and we were slowly able to get attached. but the live action is going to have a much more limited run time, so we won't have the time to do it that way. this decision is just a bit of a shortcut. that's my reasoning at least

the flashbacks were well done! i like how sweet genzo seems, and bellemere's actress did a good job. she had big mom vibes. i am a bit surprised that they did actually show bellemere slapping nami. i would've thought they'd cut that out. glad they didn't though!

the prosthetics for the fishmen were AWESOME! i'm so so so glad they decided to go practical effects instead of doing it all with cgi, they look fantastic

i LOVE how they gave arlong park more of a waterpark/amusement park vibe. it calls back to the fact that it's heavily inspired by sabaody park, and that, paired with arlong being very defensive when he perceives that he's being looked down on by humans because he's a fishman, work together to show that all of arlong's behaviour is stemming from a place of hurt, and a lifetime of alienation.

i like seeing helmeppo and koby slowly becoming friends! i was really surprised when helmeppo bought a drink for koby, and then it was pretty funny when koby just couldn't help but blurt out that luffy is garp's grandson. they're growing to become pretty good partners

zeff and garp's conversation was good! loved the mention of jaya, and also i think the two of them make good parallels. both grand/parents to some upstart pirates - one of them trying desperately to cling on to his grandson, the other one having to practically push his son out of the nest. zeff tries to convince garp that sometimes you just gotta let go and let your kid tread his own path, but garp still isn't ready to hear that, and maybe he won't ever be ready to hear that.

#opla liveblog #opla spoilers #opla #one piece #monkey d garp #red leg zeff #sanji #monkey d luffy #nami #nojiko #bellemere #arlong #spoilers #op spoilers #koby #helmeppo #hatchan

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monsterfuckerconfessions · 7 months

Note

Thank you for letting me try again on this, I did, in fact, not save any of what I wrote.

TW: Mentions of religion, specifically christianity.

Everyone likes the Seraphim, but what about the Cherubim? Those guys can get 15 feet or taller! And if I calculated right, their cocks could be around 4 feet long if they have one. I imagine they don't have a gender or sex but can make whatever genitals appear on their body whenever they want. Cherubims are God's right hand entities. They sing for him at his throne and worship him constantly. They have many wings and many hands.

So imagine this. (Excuse any spelling errors)

You're in the woods just chilling and reading a book. You enjoy being away from people and just soaking in the calm cool of the forest.

Meanwhile, a Cherubim I'm deciding to call “The Entity” had been watching you for a while. It decided that you were its favourite human and it started to develop a crush on you. It would spend its very little free time watching you, admiring how adorable you are. But today was a day it decided it really wanted to go down and meet you. The Entity looked around, mass is in a few hours, surely it could make time for you.

You placed your book down, about to go find something else to entertain yourself when with a flash of light, The Entity appeared. But you weren't scared, something told you not to be. You looked up at it in awe, admiring its otherworldly large body and the plethora of wings and arms that cover the horrors known as its face.

With the simple movement of one of its arms, it scoops you up into its hand easily. You your body adapt the the lack of warmth its body produces.

“Hello…” You say nervously. It does a small wave in return with one of its different hands. The Entity wants to talk to you but its voice might corrupt your mind and make you go brain dead. With two of its other hands, it begins picking at your clothes, trying to remove them. It wants to see you in your full vulnerability since you've already seen it. You blush heavily but let it do whatever it wishes.

Unfortunately, it can't make it past your shirt. The Entity points at your body, attempting to ask you to remove your clothes and you strangely understand what it asks. You begin undressing, holding onto the hand that's holding you for support. It strokes your head gently with an index finger as you remove each article of clothing.

When you finally finish stripping down for it, it leans back against a large and sturdy tree and places you on its lap. You watch as four giant hands began moving you around and inspecting you. The fingers are very gentle and curious, they touch you gingerly, being sure not to force entry into any of your orifices. Your breathing quickens and your heart flutters. All you know is that you don’t really mind what will happen next.

New Earthly emotions ignited within The Entity. It’s a strange, sinful emotion that claws into its soul. An emotion that makes it want to take you to its own personal pocket dimension and please you for all of eternity. But instead it slips a pinky finger down in between your legs and begins stimulating you.

You let out a soft moan as the pleasure, feeling the giant finger stimulate your genitals. The pleasure builds up more and more, your lust just pouring out. Something about the experience was far from anything you’d feel when fucking someone or masturbating. It was like with each strike of pleasure your mind would corrupt a little bit more. The world started making less sense and every human concept was starting to become minuscule. You buck up your hips and began thrusting them in an attempt to intensify the grinding but it doesn’t work very well.

After a while you eventually cum, letting out a loud moan. The Entity loves your sounds and wants to hear them for the rest of eternity. It pulls away its hand and happily absorbs your fluids. It peers down at your lewd expression, your human pleasures slowly corrupting its mind. Its attention then moves towards the space between its legs. The Entity doesn’t have a sex but can morph whatever genitalia it wants anywhere it wants. After thinking through the almost infinite options of reproductive organs The Entity could choose, it decided on a penis. It’s something your feeble human mind can comprehend.

It’s dick emerged from between its legs. And oh wow is it a sight to behold. It’s about as long as you are tall, assuming you’re 5’5. It gently picks you once more, flipping you onto your stomach. The Entity them begins thoroughly inspecting your ass. It wanted to try and penetrate your with its dick but decided not to since it doesn’t want to break your fragile body.

“Y-You’re not to put that in m-me, are you?” You ask, still shaking from the mind scattering orgasm you just experienced. It doesn’t speak but you get the vibe that it’s not going to try to penetrate you so you just give a nod. After a few more moments of The Entity letting you recover it lifts you up with one hand and splits your legs open wide with the another. It admires you for a moment before putting you down on its dick.

It’s not trying to push into you somehow but rather just grinding your genitals together. You moan out loudly at the feeling of the giant dick grinding against all of your sensitive parts. You figured it would hurt at least a little bit but there’s no pain and the pleasure is slowly fading away. Everything just feels white, so raw and eternal that you just can’t process it. Have you been here for only a few minutes or years? You can’t remember.

It felt itself becoming more sinfully corrupt with lust and want every time it grinded your body against its dick. At this point The Entity was just using your body as a toy to stimulate it.

You don’t mind. The angelic skin rubbing against yours, it has no texture or shape to you anymore, you have no idea where you even are. Eventually after enough stimulation, The Entity releases. It’s cum is nothing like you’ve ever seen before and the affect on you is like drugs. The shimmery fluid hitting your skin and drenching your body is intoxicating. Its feathers ruffle at the feeling of climax but settles soon enough.

You smile up at your newfound lover, you’ve never understood something so well before. Everything you ever knew before just doesn’t make sense but the angelic being cradling you with two of its many hands is now connected to you. You’ve forgotten your name, all you know is that it loves you, and you love it back. You understand everything about it now, and it understands you.

Words from a language you don’t understand spill from your mouth. “Show me your face.”

It denies, it doesn’t want you to go blind, insane, or both. You nod and cuddle into its hands.

After an unrecognisable amount of time goes by, it sits you up and caresses your face very gently. It’s time to go, but you’ll definitely be seeing each other again. It lays you down on a soft patch of grass. You curl up on yourself as you watch it leave to a place you don’t understand yet.

Bonus: You gasp awake, was it all a dream? Suddenly the real world is starting to make sense again and everything you just experienced is becoming impossible to piece together. You try to grip onto it but it’s gone, but nothing feels right anymore…

Your mind has changed.

You get up, wobbly but able to walk. Eventually people find you. They say things that seem unreasonable.

“Are you okay?”

“Where are your clothes?”

“I’m calling the police.”

“Is that the person on those missing persons flyers?”

“Excuse me? Are you Y/N?”

After the police evaluate you and the hospital gets you cleaned and dressed, you’re interrogated.

“Y/N,” a police officer says. “You’ve been missing for three months…”

That night when you sleep, you thought you’d have a nightmare but instead, a familiar hand gingerly scooped you up.

#monsterfucker confessions

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 10 months

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Is It Really That Bad?

I don’t think I’ve ever felt like the universe actively conspired against something until I witnessed the production of The Flash.

Since 1991 there have been quite a few proposals for Flash movies, but they never really got off the ground for whatever reason. Following Barry’s debut in Justice League, a movie finally was announced before multiple delays due to rewrites, in particular to cut Ray Fisher’s Cyborg from the story after he went public about the awful shit he had to deal with under Joss Whedon. Things seemed hopeless until It director Andy Muschietti came onboard, at which point production on the film finally started to go smoothly. Sure, there were rumblings about Ezra Miller having episodes on set, but that’s just typical actor nonsense, right? Surely it couldn’t get any worse!

Look, I’m here to review a movie so I’ll keep this brief: Miller committed crimes. Lots of crimes. So many, in fact, you’d think they were method acting for the role of Reverse-Flash. The thing is, despite all of this, Miller was basically given a slap on the wrist by the studio, being forbidden from doing promos and press tours (oh no! The horror!). And as if the situation wasn’t already a fucking mess, while Miller’s crime spree was ongoing WB canned the nearly-complete Batgirl movie that featured Michael Keaton and Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser while simultaneously inflating The Flash’s budget to nearly $300 million with reshoots. It seems baffling to cancel a movie that was nearly done and that people were marginally interested in for the sake of a movie that people were losing interest in quickly due to its star’s erratic behavior, but remember: Leslie Grace isn’t white, while Ezra Miller is. WB is never beating those racism allegations at this rate.

With a normal movie, this is where the nonsense ends. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

This film was meant to smooth out the clusterfuck continuity of the “Snyderverse” with a soft reboot, with Henry Cavill filming a end-of-movie cameo alongside Miller, Gal Gadot, Keaton, and Supergirl’s actress Sasha Calle to establish the new direction of DC going forward. Unfortunately, the hierarchy of power at DC changed, and Gunn shot that down. While this meant the ending would probably not get people confused with regards to upcoming projects, it also meant the movie wasn’t going to really have any closure for the old universe. Affleck, Cavill, and who knows who else are just gone, and the future is just a big old question mark. At least Aquaman is safe, maybe?

Literally none of this news was very reassuring to fans. Nothing above is any good for a film’s perception to audiences under normal circumstances, but here we have all this news coming to a fanbase that genuinely did not want this fucking movie. The DCEU was already divisive when the film was announced, and Miller’s portrayal of Barry doubly so; the fact it was adapting Flashpoint was seen as lazy and uninspired, not to mention its not really a story that lets Flash stand on his own merits, making it seem more like this movie was just an excuse to reboot; it was a multiverse story in a day and age with an abundance of such stories, and it was releasing around the same time as Across the Spider-Verse to boot; and Gunn’s reboot plans meant this story was likely a narrative dead end. This movie had an uphill battle the likes of which haven’t been seen since Sisyphus.

But much like that mythological figure, the boulder came crashing right back down when the numbers came in. The movie would likely need to gross $500 million at minimum to break even after factoring in the reshoots and advertising, and it only managed half of that with a pitiful opening weekend followed by a massive 73% drop. It now sits alongside films like The Lone Ranger and Mortal Engines as one of the most expensive bombs in history, to the point where WB would have saved more money by cancelling it like they did with Batgirl. And despite glowing praise from the likes of Tom Cruise and Stephen King, it received middling reviews from mainstream critics.

Audiences haven’t been any less mixed, but considering most people weren’t particularly excited or invested in this film’s existence this is basically a miracle. Sure, there’s plenty of people out there saying this is the “worst comic book movie ever” like they do every time a new superhero movie drops, but even more people are saying they enjoyed the film… although even they tend to have some severe criticisms.

Even though I knew most of what was going to happen in the movie going in, I wasn’t really sure what to expect given everything surrounding the movie. But you know me, I’m willing to give almost any movie a chance, and bombs this big don’t happen every day, so even before it was voted on I was trying to make time to check it out. So sit down, microwave yourself a snack—

—and watch as I try and determine if The Flash is really that bad.

THE GOOD

The biggest shock of this film is that Ezra Miller is actually really good here.

Their Barry is still a bit of a goofball, but he’s clearly matured as a character since his precious appearances. They managed to make him much more charming and likable than he ever was, and this gets compounded when he interacts with the younger Barry and gets confronted with how annoying he was before. I think young Barry could have come off as really insufferable, but the fact he annoys everyone around him and also ends up maturing makes him a lot more endearing.

Miller really kills it with the emotional moments, particularly the ending encounter with Barry’s mom and the scene where old Barry snaps at young Barry. The film is really carried by the dramatic, emotional moments far more than any of the superheroics, and Miller manages to sell a lot of it very well. It was to the point where I started thinking, “I really wouldn’t mind if they stick around.” Then a scene where Barry says the Justice League has no real psychiatric help or where his younger self ends up repeatedly exposing himself in public by accident happens, and then I remembered, “Oh yeah, aren’t they a mentally unwell criminal?”

Unsurprisingly, Michael Keaton absolutely kills it in his role as Batman, but much more shockingly is that Ben Affleck's brief return as Bruce is pretty great as well. I always thought Affleck, much like Henry Cavill, was desperately trying to give a great performance while weighed down by bad writing; here, he gets an actual poignant scene where he talks to Barry about how dwelling on tragedies isn't the way to do things, and you should try and move forward instead. It shows he really could have been great if given better material to work with.

Okay, enough being nice to Affleck, I wanna talk about Keaton again. As much as the marketing hyped him up and as much as he is obviously the most blatant fanservice possible, it's still so cool to see him in the suit again. I am not immune to nostalgia pandering, and as corny as it could have been from anyone else, the zoom into his face when he says The Line really is a highlight of the movie. Keaton has a great deal of charisma, and while there are issues with Batman they aren't his fault at all. Most impressively, he doesn't steal the show away from Miller like I thought he would; he enhances the scenes he's in without stealing the spotlight completely from their performance. I feel like this is a problem in a lot of movies like this, where the lead gets overshadowed by a hyped up character, but somehow The Flash of all things managed to avoid this.

And as bad as the cameos could get, this movie gave two of the greatest cameos ever put to film with the return of the GOAT George Clooney Batman and, best of all, Nicolas Cage Superman from the unmade Superman Lives, fighting a giant spider to the death just as God intended. I am not immune to the charms of Nicolas Cage.

Overall, this movie presents us with a solid story, plenty of fun moments, great character dynamics, and more... for the first two acts, anyway.

THE BAD

Once this movie hits the third act, it basically just loses any and all focus and becomes a big dumb video game-esque battle against Zod and his forces in a bland desert landscape. While both Barrys admittedly get some pretty cool moments sprinkled in and Keaton’s Batman’s second death is actually a well done emotional moment, Supergirl ends up being completely wasted, with her sole role being to angrily scream and then die repeatedly.

This actually highlights the problem with Kara in this movie: She’s basically nothing but a plot device and has zero personality, and a good 80% of her dialogue is just angry screaming. As hot as Sasha Calle is and how much she obviously wants to make Kara compelling, she is given so little to work with that her efforts end up being fruitless. She does nothing of consequence after helping Barry get his powers back, and could be replaced or written out of the story and it would still make perfect sense.

Zod’s inclusion is pretty baffling as well, especially since they chose to water down one of the only good things from Man of Steel into a boring, generic doomsday villain. You can really feel that poor Michael Shannon would rather be doing anything else, and his bored performance just highlights how poorly implemented Zod is in the plot. Like, the Fladh has some of the best and most colorful DC villains in his rogues gallery, one’s that are often overlooked because Batman’s villains sell more toys. Why not highlight some of them instead of taking a Superman villain and stripping him of all personality to the point the actor clearly has no passion for the role? Cutting Zod would make cutting Supergirl even easier, and then two of the biggest problems with the movie are gone!

The third act does manage to mostly rerail itself once it goes back to Barry trying to unfuck the timeline, with only a disgustingly egregious bit of fanservice that I’ll discuss in the next section hampering it. But at the end, despite the incredibly based George Clooney cameo, there’s just so many unresolved and unanswered questions, with the biggest one being who killed Barry’s mom? Considering her death is what kickstarted the whole plot, you’d think this might come up, but it never does. A lot of other things come up and get dropped too, like whatever was going on with Batman in the opening, but maybe I’m just crazy for wanting elements introduced in a plot to have significance beyond just being there to be cool.

Even beyond that, there’s the fact that Supergirl and Keaton!Batman’s final fates are never really resolved, something that apparently wasn’t a problem in early versions of the film since they showed up alive in the final scene. As much as I loved seeing Clooney, I think trading him for getting some closure for Keaton and Calle would have been more satisfying.

Everyone harps on how bad the CGI is—and it absolutely is, don’t get me wrong—but for the most part I found it endearingly bad. Like the opening with the CGI babies? That’s too goofy for me to hate. But once the movie revolves into bland grey and black CGI bad guys and creepy deepfake celebrity cameos, I stop being quite so forgiving.

Oh, and on the subject of cameos, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one as pointless and unfunny as Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman showing up out of nowhere (complete with theme music) to make Bruce and Barry look like dumb assholes. Imagine thinking this was a good idea.

THE UGLY

The biggest point of contention surrounding this movie is the CGI necromancy used in the aforementioned cameo clusterfuck from the climax, which gives us George Reeve, Christopher Reeves, and Adam West posthumously reprising their DC roles in non-speaking appearances (there’s archived audio from West, but his cameo isn't really focused on to the point you can barely tell it's him) where they just stand there before the camera swoops around like in that Saul Goodman gif.

I think this is one of the very few times where I actually think the outrage is mostly justified. To be clear, I’m not getting mad on behalf of dead celebrities I never knew, and as long as the filmmakers went through the proper channels and the estates of these stars were properly compensated, I don’t have any legal objections. All of my distaste is coming from a subjective, moral standpoint.

I have never liked this CGI necromancy ever since Rogue One popularized it. I find it really gross and distasteful, and in most cases I think finding a lookalike actor would be preferable than playing Weekend at Bernie’s with a computer generated facsimile of a dead person. In The Flash, I understand having lookalikes would diminish the wow factor of the crossover, but there was an extremely easy workaround to this: Have cameos from all the living DC stars.

Was Brandon Routh not available to put on the Superman tights? Would it have been so bad to let Grant Gustin pop in for a cameo? They acknowledge Helen Slater, so why not Melissa Benoist? Hell, if you want to reference bad, campy movies, have Shaq show up as Steel or Josh Brolin pop in as Jonah Hex! Or even Ryan Reynolds, I’d bet he’d be down to return if you gave him a real suit this time!

Like there’s just no excuse for ghoulishly parading around dead guys when there’s so many alive guys you could use instead. People can complain all they want about the fanservice and cameos in the past few Spider-Man films, but at least they only had returning characters played by living actors. And when this movie already has the niche, out-there Nic Cage Superman cameo, proving they were down to do things as out there and inoffensively creative as reference unmade movies, it’s really just inexcusable. It doesn’t ruin the movie for me, but it makes me lose a bit of respect for the people who okayed this over less offensive cameo ideas.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

To my surprise, this film actually turned out to be pretty good. Not “great,” not “the best superhero movie ever,” but genuinely mostly good and enjoyable.

My opinion is that the movie is good in spite of itself. The third act is truly a hot mess, the stupid desert battle against Zod is awful and boring, Supergirl is depressingly pointless, so many plot points are just dropped or otherwise forgotten, and the CGI necromancy is nothing short of ghoulish. But the rest of the movie is truly a lot of fun. Barry and his younger self have a fun dynamic, Keaton really manages to take what little he’s given and show that he’s still got it as Batman, the Clooney and Cage cameos were delightful, and most importantly the emotional moments are actually effective.

I think with a bit more polish this film could have actually lived up to the hype around it. There is a great movie in here being suffocated by fanservice and CGI but still managing to get a few gasps of air regardless. I think if they’d kept the conflict more grounded or made Reverse-Flash the primary antagonist, things might have turned out better.

I think its score is pretty fair. My friend @huyh172 described this as “the worst good DC movie,” and it’s an assessment I fully agree with. It’s not as good as Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad, the Snyder Cut, or Shazam!, and it’s definitely not as bad as stuff like Wonder Woman 1984 or Josstice League. It’s also a bit too enjoyable to be mid. It’s just a really solid movie held back from true greatness by some damning flaws… and really, that makes it the perfect capstone to the "Snyderverse," a cinematic universe that had some solid movies but was held back from greatness by incredibly bad ones.

#Is It Really that bad?#IIRTB #review #movie review #The Flash #The Flash 2023 #Ezra Miller #andy muschietti #DC #DCEU #Snyderverse #Michael Keaton #Batman #Sasha Calle #Supergirl #Barry Allen #superhero movie

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samptlay · 3 months

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Could We Be High School Sweethearts? - Out on the Field

A/N: shh... wdym it's almost been three weeks???

How in the world can anyone work out in this weather? Maybe you should have been smarter when signing up for Athletics at a place where it’s always cold, there would never be a reason to stay inside. Even with your three workout jackets on, the cold seeps through them and you’re shivering.

The weather in Snezhnaya isn’t something you could easily get accustomed to. Of course, it’s only the normal human natural response when put into a new environment. But of course, he would want to add to your suffering rather than sparring it.

As your class headed outside the track, Ajax somehow slipped behind you, silently watching how your body turned pale. He can’t help but tease you for it.

“Aw, can’t handle the cold? Believe it or not, today’s one of our warmer days. I’m scared to see how you’d do when winter actually hits.” So this was barely scratching the surface. That’s just amazing, isn’t it? Is it too late to fly back to Liyue? You’ve already seen three different individuals grab icicles from who knows where before starting to munch on them, with no one else batting an eye.

Yeah, maybe homeschooling isn’t as bad as you thought.

With a groan, you turn around and face the redhead and Ajax could tell you weren’t particularly happy with his comment. You could see the smirk on his face grow ever so slightly at the sight of your reaction and it only ticked you off further.

“I- I don’t understand the people who can swim in this weather. Also, no normal human should be able to survive in this climate.” You stutter out, and surely the whole world could hear the clattering of your teeth. Your body was not built for this.

“You’ll get used to it. But if it makes you feel better, I’m sure it’ll take me a while to adapt to Liyue once I go there… eventually.” That was some new information to your ears. Well to be honest you didn’t know much about this guy in the first place, so while everyone was lining up on the track, you got behind him and started your interrogation.

“Why would you ever go to Liyue?” The question wasn’t meant to sound harsh, it was formed by your genuine curiosity. You could see something change in his eyes, and it’s only then that you realize that he has no spark inside them.

Maybe you’ll ask about that later if they ever get closer.

“I’m going to be a Fatui Harbinger. I’m going to travel across Teyvat and see every nation, eat all their food, and bring back souvenirs for my siblings. So a little bit after I graduate, I'll be out of here and across the world. There’s more, but you need to learn that information.”

The line moves up when the coach calls out for the next row to go and Childe looks down at you to gauge your reaction to which you look back up at him blankly, the only sign that you heard him is your singular eyebrow raised.

“That’s- a nice dream to have. But… You realize that you’d have to be crazy strong and master so many skills to be able to merely get recognized by the Tsurista?” Now it's Childe’s turn to look confused. His eyebrows furrow, and he shapes his mouth in a way that looks like he just tasted something bad before his face suddenly goes blank again, with a slow smirk forming on his lips.

Right. Everyone on campus is aware of his skill, all except you. Well obviously you’re new so it’s only natural, but that doesn’t mean he’ll fight like he always does at the next monthly Sparring Competition, no he’d do the best he can. Ajax’s sure to knock all the wind out of your lungs the moment you see him against his opponent. But for now, he’ll just let you believe he’s an obnoxious rich kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing.

“Oh come on! Don’t go ahead and crush all my dreams like that with a reality check.” He winces, clutching his stomach as if he’s been hurt, but you both notice he’s next in line to run and he gets in his stance. You roll your eyes and watch as all the other kids follow his motions. “Aww, was that too harsh? Don’t worry, I’m sure you could be a Harbinger’s assistant if anythi-”

As soon as the couch blows the whistle, he leaves everyone behind in the dust. Well, snow in this case, even if there wasn’t lots of it on the athletics field. He was fast and flexible, you had to admit. Sprinting down the track with everyone cheering and clapping, girls practically squealing and you swore you saw him win at one. The wind blew through the strands of his messy hair perfectly and he had finished running the whole thing in under a minute.

In the cold. Shit, he’s good.

You hadn’t realized your jaw was dropped until he stopped running right in front of you, raised his hand to your face, and pushed your chin upwards, causing your cheeks to flush a bit. “Impressed, girly?” Childe suspected you as the Tsundere type, so he was taken off guard when a slight smile came onto your lips.

“I really have to say, I underestimated you. Good job, Ajax.” Huh. He didn’t expect to be getting praised if anything. He thought you would roll your eyes and sarcastically clap for him, not this. Childe still had his finger on your chin, and it's then that he actually took the time to look at you. You were… pretty. And your eyes stood out in the winter compared to all the white around, unlike his dull, soul-threatening ones. Then yours blink. Repeatedly. It’s only then he realizes that he’s so close to you, holding up your chin, and around a crowd. Childe quickly steps back and clears his throat.

“S-Sorry I was just-” “Newby you’re up!” The coach calls, and you quickly turn around, thankful for an excuse to get away. Getting away is something you want more than anything right now since no one had ever expressed interest like he did just now. So while everyone else in your row was getting into their position, you were only thinking of being done, finished and back inside a warm, toasty classroom.

Childe guesses that’s exactly what you were thinking because you were gone in a flash., leaving everyone bewildered.

Taglist: @uhfhfhfhf @xdrin @msun1c0rn @umi-adxhira @lovingnahida @strrawb3rrysh0rtcak3 @ssecylia @skyl8ver @immahuman @meowmeowraven @01234 @markexplanation @esthelily @dawnofazrael @chickenalfredo4life @eccaza @jun-xiu @klemen-time @delulu-val @everi-eve

Borders by @cafekitsune

#geshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin fanfic #tartaglia x reader #tartaglia #high school #drabble

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