#i make like. movies in my head while i work so its actually very developed i tried to be VERY succinct there....didnt work out

[munsonslove]

Open Drawers

(18+ only)

summary: You forget to close the drawer to your nightstand and your best friend accidentally finds your vibrator.

wordcount: 4.3k

tags/warnings: fem!reader, slight softdom!eddie, friends to lovers, smut, use of sex toys, praise kink (good girl), very slight degradation (he calls you a slut once), pet names (sweetheart, princess), spit used as lubricant, edging, overstim, no use of y/n

a/n: i teased this fic a while ago, sorry it took me a bit to actually post it but i hope you like it anyway!! requests are open and much appreciated, if i know someones actively waiting for me to write something for them i’ll be more likely to not spend a whole ass month on it lmao

It’s been weeks of torture. Ever since Eddie found out about your ‘little secret’ he’s refused to let it go, bringing it up as often as he can just to humiliate you further. It was cruel behavior, especially from the man you consider your best friend. Though you can’t be too surprised, considering he’d always had an affection for teasing you. In the past it had always been rather playful and innocent- maybe just ever so slightly suggestive- but you were generally able to ignore his flirtatious comments and retain your close relationship (no matter how much they made your pining heart flutter). It had been almost a month since everything changed.

Nobody was home when you returned from your shift, and inspecting the refrigerator revealed a note left to you from your roommates stating that they would be gone for the rest of the night. The news was passed along through phone call to your best friend before you even changed out of your work clothes, and within the hour Eddie had arrived at your door with a six-pack of beer and a relaxed grin. He entered without knocking (having been given a spare key from the day you moved in) and found you sprawled out on the couch, movie just starting with a large bowl of popcorn already made. You don’t even bother sparing him a glance up as he kisses the crown of your head before plopping down directly on top of you.

You try and fail to kick him off. Admittedly you may have been able to muster more strength for the task if you hadn’t been laughing at his typical antics. Failure becomes even more set in stone when his hands find their way to your sides and you dramatically call out “uncle, uncle!” in hopes that he will mercifully cease his relentless tickling. Thankfully, he does seem to be feeling benevolent this evening and climbs off, allowing you to sit up as he takes his place next to you. After ripping a can from its plastic rings, you pop open the tab and take a sip while Eddie grabs fistfulls of popcorn and shoves them into his mouth with a total lack of manners. You conclude that something is definitely wrong with you for finding this somehow endearing, and you gaze at him longingly until he turns to you with a mock-disgruntled eye roll. 

“John Hughes?”, he complains, mouth still half full, “Can’t we watch something else?”

You smirk at his predictability. “I knew we wouldn’t make it past the opening scene,” you respond while tsk-ing at him and shaking your head. “I rented a couple of cheesy looking b-movies just yesterday. You know, slasher flicks that for sure spent all their budget on fake blood?”

He smiles big and jumps up off of the sofa. “Aw, my favorite! You do love me!” he exclaims with sarcastic sentiment, “You remember to stash the tapes somewhere your thief roommates couldn’t find?”

“First of all, stop calling my friends thieves. That was one time,” you say while slapping lightly at his leg from your lowered position, “And second, yeah. They’re next to my bed.”

He nods and heads to your bedroom, not wasting time to ask permission seeing as after so many years you both had developed a ‘me casa es su casa’ type of unspoken agreement. After a few more sips of your beer and picking at a partially popped kernel, you notice that Eddie is taking an unusual amount of time retrieving the tapes. You were sure that you had left them on your nightstand, you even remember seeing them while in bed this morning as you were reaching over to-

Oh. Fuck.

The can drops from your hand and falls to the floor, spilling light amber liquid onto the hardwood. Rushing into your room, you see Eddie standing in front of the drawer you had forgone closing while leaving earlier, looking down into it with a clear view of your 18th birthday present to yourself. He whips around, jaw dropped in shock. There’s an unreadable look in his eyes as he stares you down, and you realize that you have no idea what he’s thinking about. Probably all the new ammunition he now has to use against you during one of your future banter sessions.

You run forward, shoving him sideways onto the bed and slamming the drawer shut. He lands with a huff- his back on the mattress- before propping himself up onto his elbows, still looking at you with that confusing expression. His silence so far is honestly more nerve wracking than him ruthlessly making fun of you would have been.

“I’m so sorry,” you apologize frantically. “I completely forgot I left this open, and I didn’t know we’d be hanging out tonight, and when I sent you in here I didn’t even think about it, and I never want to do anything to make you uncomfortable, and I-”

“Woah, princess,” he cuts off your rambling, using that nickname that he’s been using ever since the two of you met back in school. It usually brought a warmth to your cheeks, but given that you already felt sick to your stomach the sweet moniker was not appreciated. “It’s fine, I promise!”

“Fine?” you cry out, the sound muffled by your palms as your heated face is now buried behind your hands. You turn your body to face away from him, and he pushes back with his arms to sit up the rest of the way, then reaches forward to grip your elbow and spin you back around.

“Yeah, I swear! You didn’t make me uncomfortable or anything,” he consoles. “I was just surprised, is all. I just… wouldn’t have expected… you… to have that.” As he speaks the final word, he gestures to the freshly closed drawer containing your magic wand vibrator. The room falls quiet once more as he stares blankly at the offending table, seemingly lost in thought.

You shove his shoulder a little more harshly than you mean to, and he blinks back to consciousness and rubs where you met contact before re-meeting your eyes. “Don’t look at it like that!” you chastise, ignoring the fact that he technically wasn’t looking at ‘it’ like anything, seeing as it was now hidden out of sight. Your head falls into the cover of your hands yet again as you groan out, “Ugh! You probably think I’m some kind of slut now.”

“N-no!” he’s quick to deny, shaking his head. “Of course I don’t think that about you! I mean, come on, give me some credit. It’s the 80s,” he counters, with emphasis on the last word, “guys can be progressive now. I know girls masturbate too!”

“Please don’t say that word,” you reply, your hands still hiding your face but compromising by peeking out through your fingers.

“What?” he questions with a smirk, “Masturbate?”

“You’re completely impossible,” you state, giving in and dropping your arms to your side. You pick up the videos from your messy nightstand and turn on your heel to walk out the door, not even stopping as you shout out “Are you coming or what, Eds?”

Behind you, Eddie takes the opportunity of your back being turned to adjust himself in his pants and prays that he manages to keep it down throughout the duration of movie night.

That was almost an entire month ago. While Eddie took pity on you for the remainder of that night, the very next morning began his onslaught of mockery. Although, perhaps mockery wasn’t quite the right word, because you know all his jokes were meant to be lighthearted and fun. You know if you told him he was making you uncomfortable that he would stop in a heartbeat, so the real problem you’re facing is that you don’t want him to stop. Every time he shows up unannounced and slyly asks, “I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?” with that knowing gleam in his eyes, you’re not sure if you want to scold him for his teasing or jump his bones. Him speaking so candidly about something that’s always been so private should be embarrassing- and it is- but it would be dishonest to say the butterflies in your stomach are only there because of your modesty. Truth be told, he was turning you on every time he hinted at the fact that he knows all about your favorite form of self care.

Not only were the teasing comments nonstop, there were also the questions. Eddie was relentlessly curious about the process (which confounded you considering you thought the situation was pretty straightforward) and he never seemed to run out of things he wanted to ask you.

“How long have you had it?”, “How many settings are there?”, “How often do you use it?”, “Do you need it to get off?”, “What do you think about when you use it?” (definitely couldn’t answer that one honestly), and finally, “How exactly do you use it?”

According to him, he wanted to know the ‘right way’ to use one on a girl for future reference. One day, the frustration of constantly having to dodge his incessant questions became too much, and without thinking you blurted out, “If you’re so curious about how to use it, why don’t I just teach you?” Understandably, your outburst shocked the both of you. What shocked you more was when Eddie quickly recovered and excitedly agreed.

That was how you found yourself spread out on your bed with your best friend on his knees in between your thighs. Your most private area is only covered by your hands, and your discarded panties are tucked in Eddie’s back jeans pocket.

“How am I supposed to do this if you’re hiding, princess?” he asks, observing the toy and turning it over in his hands, “Don’t be shy. It’s just me.”

That was the problem. It was him, your friend that you’ve been harboring a secret crush on for years. Now you’re in a position with him that you’ve fantasized about so many times, and you don’t know what it means for the future of your relationship. Above you, Eddie fiddles with the two buttons, figuring out the mechanics of what they do. He discovers the bottom button turns it on while the top changes the speed. There are three settings, and after cycling through them all it starts back at the beginning, only turning off by pressing the bottom button once more. When he’s done figuring out how the toy works, he powers it on to the lowest setting and looks at you expectantly, eyes flitting between your hands and face. You turn your head to the side, take one final deep breath and move your arms to your stomach, revealing yourself to him.

The air is cold on your exposed center. Other than your shaky exhaling and the humming of the vibrator, it’s quiet. You realize with embarrassment that Eddie has stopped breathing, and when you steal a glance back at him he’s staring at your bare center with an unreadable expression. You instinctively hide your face in your hands, and your thighs involuntarily twitch to close. Of course, they can’t fully shut with Eddie sitting in between them, but the movement does stir the boy from his trance. He pries your hands away from your face and you’re forced to confront his inspecting of you.

He kisses a wet peck to the tip of your nose like he’s done so many times before, and just like always your entire face scrunches up with a smile. With eyes now closed, you start to feel giddy and you can’t help but giggle at the absurdity of the situation. You half expect Eddie to start laughing with you, but no sound comes from your friend. Suddenly- and without warning- he presses the vibrator directly to your clit. Your eyes snap open, rolling back in both shock and pleasure as a humiliatingly high pitched squeal escapes out of your slack-jawed mouth.

“Such a pretty sound from such a pretty girl,” Eddie says, barely loud enough to hear considering the buzzing raised in volume due to being pushed up against something. It’s almost like he was more absentmindedly commenting to himself rather than purposefully complimenting you.

You’re only capable of responding with moans as your legs fold into your torso and your toes start to curl. It’s still set to the lowest vibration option, but your aforementioned nerves and arousal were making you much more sensitive than you would otherwise be while using the toy alone. Eddie’s empty hand moves to stroke your inner thigh, before inching toward your center slowly. He seems to be asking permission to touch you himself, and the fact that he still thinks to wait for consent while literally sitting in between your legs after taking off your underwear almost has you laughing again. Instead, you simply nod your head. Eddie’s fingers immediately spread your lips further, allowing the head of the vibrator to be able to hit your clit more directly. The buzzing becomes higher in pitch as he goes up one setting, and the sensation becomes too much to handle.

“Sorry,” he whispers when you whine and start to squirm away, “I’ll be nice.”

After positioning yourself back into place, you mumble out, “Sensitive…” as an explanation. Your voice is surprisingly weak.

“I know, sweetheart,” he says, though you doubt he actually feels regretful, “I know.”

The sound of clicking reaches your ears as Eddie toggles the toy back to the first setting. His thumb briefly brushes over your clit, causing you to shiver and gasp, and he breathes out a quiet laugh before pressing the vibrator against you once more- this time more gently. The vibrations are more bearable this way, and you feel the pleasure slowly start to rise and rise until you become a moaning puddle beneath the metalhead. Just as you’re crying out his name- a warning that you're about to cum- he pulls away, cruelly laughing at your protesting.

“Eds, what the fuck?” you shout, frustratedly. “I was so close! Why the hell would you-”

“Calm down, princess,” he interrupts. “You know I’ll get you there. I just wanna have some fun along the way.”

And you do know. You trust him more than anyone else- you’d trust him with your life- but you also know that he’s a little shit. “Please, Eds. Please just get to it,” you beg.

He stares at the head of the toy for a moment before lifting it to his face. His tongue parts his lips, swollen and pink from him biting them, and your eyes widen as he slowly licks directly where the silicone was just touching you. He moans, and his eyes roll back into his head. The sight only drives you more wild, and your hips start rocking the bed as you wait for him to continue.

He starts to bite his lips again as he watches you grind against nothing, desperately searching for friction. “Maybe I was wrong before,” he says slowly with a teasing lilt, “maybe you are a slut.” He had a look in his eyes that you had never seen before.

Your entire body raises in temperature. “Eddie…” you whine, surprised by how much his rudeness is affecting you. “Please…”

“So fucking wet, dripping all over your sheets,” he continues distractedly, paying no mind to your pleading as he caressed up and down your slit, collecting your juices. When he pulls away, you notice the lights of your bedroom reflecting off the glistening moisture on his fingers, and you resist the urge to hide again. “Such a pretty pussy. The prettiest. She’s not used to being treated so nicely, huh?”

As usual, his confidence blurs the line between incredibly sexy and incredibly annoying. His words are making your insides flutter, and probably worsening the ‘dripping all over your sheets’ problem. Still, you can’t help but feel your frustration grow. “Please, Eds, make me cum. Please make me cum,” you beg some more as you scoot down the bed. Your thighs no longer have the room to be laying on either side of him. Instead, they are now resting atop his own thighs, with your pelvises almost meeting making contact.

“So desperate for your best friend to make you cum. Are you always this wet, princess?” As he asks this, the vibrator meets your center again. He rubs it back and forth vertically in quick motions, and you groan in relief.

You answer by shaking your head no. It definitely wasn’t always like this. In fact, it was never like this. The toy slid so effortlessly between your puffy lips, massaging your sensitive nub directly and bringing tears to your eyes.

“Aw,” he cooed, “so it’s just for me?”

As embarrassed as you feel, you figure there’s no use in denying it now. “J- just for you.”

That familiar feeling of climax starts to creep up on you once more, and once more you cry out in annoyance when Eddie eases up the pressure before pulling off entirely.

“No!” you sob, “Eddie please, I need it so bad.”

“You’ll cum when I’m ready for you to cum,” he says, though the dominance in his tone is betrayed by the lust in his eyes. “I just want to play with you for a little longer. You’ll be a good girl, right?”

You suspect that he won’t start up again until you agree, so you do so without a second thought. “I’ll be your good girl,” you promise, “I’ll be good.”

He smiles wide at you before spreading your lips apart and leaning down to spit directly in between them, not that you needed the extra lubrication. Feeling his saliva make contact sent shockwaves through your body, and your back arched just in time for him to harshly press the vibrator back to your clit and start rubbing it in fast circles. This time, the orgasm doesn’t so much creep up on you as it does jump out in front of you, and you’re about to give in until you hear Eddie’s voice behind the haze.

“Hold it,” he orders. “You said you would be good, so be a good little slut and hold it.”

Your head is already thrown back, and you squeeze your eyes shut in concentration. Every fiber of your being is focused on not cumming, wanting to do as Eddie wishes so you can please him. Noticing your efforts, he lifts the toy off of your aching clit and allows you to catch your breath. With your newfound relief from the strain of resisting climax, you notice that Eddie’s free hand has left your waist, and you look down to a glorious sight.

Eddie’s palming himself through his jeans. The image burns itself into your eyelids, so not even blinking becomes an escape from what you're witnessing your best friend do to himself (not that you’re complaining). You silently observe in awe as he attempts to shove his hand down his pants, and struggles on account of them being too tight. To remedy this, he unzips his jeans and slides them down just far enough for you to catch a glimpse of his hard cock straining against the fabric of his boxers. There’s a wet patch where his head was leaking precum, and a clear imprint of his impressively girthy shaft. Once the pants are out of his way you see his hand disappear inside of his underwear as he wraps it around his member and starts jerking harshly, not fully able to stroke up and down his length given the obstructive clothing.

The pure, unadulterated lust that’s consuming you is overpowering any shyness you previously felt. “Eddie,” you say his name, but he ignores you considering you’ve been a constant stream of “Eddie, Eddie, oh Eddie,” for the past ten minutes. “Eds,” you try again, “you can take it out.”

All movement inside his boxers halts. “Huh?” he exclaims with wide eyes, “A- are you sure? This was supposed to be about you.”

“I’m sure,” you confirm. And you lift up your t-shirt to reveal the white lacy bra underneath as you elaborate, “I want you to finish on me.”

His forehead wrinkles as his eyebrows shoot up in shock. With his wide eyed staring, it almost seems like he can’t believe what you’re saying. Drool pools in his open mouth before he composes himself with a head shake. Wordlessly, he sets the still vibrating toy down on the mattress and lifts your thighs off of him, before sitting up enough to pull down the sides of his boxers. His cock springs up the second his underwear is out of the way, and -without thinking about the consequences- you spit into your palm and reach out to tentatively wrap your fingers around him.

The strangled noise that leaves his mouth is the sweetest sound you’ve ever heard. He instinctively bucks his hips, but freezes, waiting for you to make the call. You start stroking him hard and fast, not bothering working up to a quicker speed when you were already so desperate for release and wanted him to cum with you. Eddie can apparently relate to said desperation, and hastily picks up the toy back up. Every muscle inside of you clenched as he started rubbing the tip against your clit in small circles. You strained to prolong this moment, knowing your eventual orgasm would be much more rewarding if you could see his face as he came all over your hand and stomach. 

“God, sweetheart,” he groans, “So fucking good. So much better than my hand.” 

The mental image of Eddie touching himself has you cursing out loud. “Really?” you ask, the pride getting to your head, making you feel light and floaty.

“You have no idea,” he responds. “Been fucking my fist nonstop since that movie night. Couldn’t help myself. All I could think about was you getting off, moaning my name.” You wonder if he knows just how real his fantasy was.

His free hand gently caresses the lacy undergarment covering your chest, his touch so light you barely register it. The uncertainty in his actions is clear, so in lieu of giving verbal consent you simply take his hand in your own and guide it to be fully on your breast.

“Can I pull this down, princess?” he practically begs, and you answer with a nod. He immediately tugs the breast cups downward, revealing your naked chest. Your soft, unmarked flesh is framed by the bunched up fabric of your shirt that’s been gathered at your clavicle, and the lacy material of your bra being held below by Eddie’s trembling hand. His hips are now moving in time with the rhythm of your strokes, and the rocking is causing your tits to bounce in a way that has his angry red tip spilling precum all over your hand as he attempts to hold off his release. The sight has you imagining what he would taste like, with you on your knees in the back of his van, and that thought has you hurtling toward the finish line at an embarrassing speed.

“Cum for me,” he orders. The second he gives you permission, you feel the damn break. As you're busy crying out in pleasure, you faintly hear Eddie in the background. “Good girl,” he grunts, “That’s it. That’s my girl.”

You cum with his name on your lips. The intensity of this orgasm is unfamiliar, and you realize with bitterness that the edging you were forced to endure was truly worth the end result. With your mind elsewhere, your stroking halts and you hear the creaking of your bed as Eddie starts to violently thrust into your fist until he meets you in orgasmic bliss. Warmth falls on your naked torso and you look down to see that he’s angled his cock to be aiming at your stomach, fulfilling your earlier wish of him finishing on you. The sight of him using your hand to milk himself dry combined with the buzzing still pressed hard against your clit has you cumming harder than you ever have before. Your hand falls from Eddie as his high comes to an end, but he does nothing to pull away the toy and offer relief to your achingly sensitive core. Any attempt to wiggle your hips free from his hold seems to go unnoticed by his strength, and you have no choice but to take the unrelenting vibrations. The overstimulation has tears falling down the side of your face as your shoulders raise from the bed, the top of your scalp pushing into the mattress as your head is thrown back. Eventually, you are able to move away, and Eddie turns off the toy and chucks it off the bed before climbing on top of you and finally kissing you on the lips.

With both of you breathing heavily into the other’s open mouth, the kiss isn’t exactly how you always imagined your first kiss with your best friend to go, but it’s perfect nonetheless. Your hands find their way into his wild hair, while his tighten their grip on your waist. His tongue in your mouth just barely has the taste of you on it from him licking your toy earlier, and as his thigh brushes your middle small aftershocks rush through your body. You stay like this for a while, lazily making out and feeling each other’s bodies, until he breaks off of your mouth to kiss down your jaw, to your neck, then back up to the side of your face.

When he reaches just under your ear, his lips part from your heated skin to whisper, “So we’re doing that again, right?”

Grabbing a tuft of his hair, you guide him back to your mouth, and with your lips moving against him you answer, “Definitely,” before deepening the kiss. You’re still unsure of what this exactly means for your friendship, but that can be talked about another time.

#eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson smut #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things fanfic #stranger things smut

[meanbossart]

i just need to take a second to gush about how much i love durge drow and astarion, they feel so fleshed out and perfectly written together in their fucked up wretched ways. They really inspire me to write more for my own tavs, hopefully one day ill be able to say im as happy with my own work as i get when seeing yours. I have to ask though, do you have any tips on drawing head shapes and faces? or maybe about wrinkles? i find i really struggle with that stuff when drawing and i adore how expressive and grungey all your art looks!

First of all thank you so much, I love hearing what people think of the two of them together 😭

Honestly you've hit on something that's quite near and dear to my heart, I love developing and figuring how to draw and stylize different faces to get the most unique, interesting looking results - everything about the details is highly rewarding to me. What does x type of nose look like from this angle? In this style? How can this eyeshape best translate to my art? How different does a face look when its making this expression? What does that MOUTH DO? etc etc.

In fact you kind of inspired me to put a little tutorial/guide together the last hour lmao and what a blessing it is that the two current subjects of this blog serve as great models here, being that their faces are basically polar opposites!

When it comes to heads, you've probably heard it a dozen times before that you want to think of them in terms of geometry and facets; my process to drawing them is pretty conventional so I won't spend too much time on it, but it goes something like this:

Obviously I don't do every single one of these steps most of the time, which is just something that comes from practice/developing muscle memory, but it is helpful to start off this way for two main reasons:

By making these guide lines and splitting a head into pieces like this, you'll have an easier time seeing and understanding it as a multidimensional object, and in turn, facilitate It for you when you venture out into doing wacky angles and lighting.

Making different headshapes starts HERE. notice how Astarion's "face" slate is narrower and longer, how my durge's jaw pieces sit lower on the head, how all of the same pieces came together in the same way but we ended up with one real pointy elf and a real brick of a drow - making characters look different successfully begins very early in the sketching process.

The next thing you want to do branches out into every day life: start noticing yours and other people's facial features. How does an upturned nose look from a high angle? How does the size of someone's cheekbones affect what they look like when they smile? How about when the light hits them a certain way? Does someone's lip shape changes when they pout? When they laugh? How does a person's hairline change the shape of their face? You do NOT need to creepily sketch every stranger you see on the bus, but get into the habit of actually noticing what people look like when you talk to them - when you look at pictures, when you watch movies - make a mental list of interesting ways mouths, noses, and eyes can come together in a variety of different proportions to make completely distinct looking mugs, and how they change depending on how you are looking at them.

Light and shadow play a HUGE role in how faces look, too, basically as crucial as actual bone structure does. As you see up there I tried to rough out how natural, head on, and underhead light would look on these two very different looking guys, and while we can see definite patterns, there are small differences that come to be because of the sizes and shapes of their features.

Here is a very, very basic look at how some of these features come to look the way they do, how they interact with one another, and how they compare between a blocky, rather conventionally "masculine" head and one that's much softer and slimmer.

Note please that it is not one or two characteristics that give a chaarcter their "look"; you can reduce a face to eyes, mouth, and nose through stylization and still have them be recognizable, but if you want to do more than that, you have to consider the whole package! Chin, cheeks, brows, direction of the jaw, slope and size of the forehead, depth of eyes, ridge of the nose, etc - I know this is probably far more than you bargained for, but if you start making note of a FEW of these things now and slowly add on, this will eventually become second nature to you.

Similarly, understanding how these characteristics come together will help you with rendering light and shadow in a realistic way, and predicting what their facial expressions may look like - if no two people are alike, neither are their smiles. :)

Lastly, remember that I'm no expert - I have developed my own methods and semiotics and yours may look slightly (or vastly) different, and that's fine! I hope only that by sharing this it has given you a base to work off of.

Anyways, I HOPE this has been helpful and not just the unsolicited ramblings of a face pervert.

#ask #art #advice #tutorial #astarion #DU drow

[goosewriting]

Hellooo goose! it’s my first time interacting here and i just wanted to say how muuuuch i love your writing 🤍 its sooo… GOOOOOD you have no idea, i literally DEVOUR every single rottmnt masterpiece of yours 🫶🏼

with that in mind, i have a request (only take it if you feel like it ofc <3) and i can’t get this out of my head omfg and because its about to be valentine’sss…

The prompt is; you and leo being veeery close friends for a long time.

A friends to lovers situation. his brothers notice and leo asks them (one by one separately because of the teasing even tho they already know lol) to help him out for valentine’s and mikey decides to help with some red velvet choc brownies and (insert fav food), donnie and raph help keeping it a surprise and setting everything up…. (IM SOBBING THIS IS SO CUTE STWAP)

it ends up leo and reader kissing tenderly, very cute, it rises up a bit. they’re so in love. stOP.

pretty please 🫶🏼

i love your writing

-🐨

Be my Valentine 💝

summary: the turtles set a plan in motion so Leo can ask out reader on valentine’s day.

relationship: Rise!Leo x gn!reader

warnings: none! fluff, smooches, second hand embarrassment maybe lol 

word count: 3.1k

A/N: welcome koala anon! tysm for your kind words and the super cute request, this thing practically wrote itself lol i missed writing for Leo 😭💙 as it wasn't specified, i set this some time after the movie. hope that works!

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

— — —

The turtle brothers and you have been friends for quite some time now, around two years in fact. And you love them all dearly and equally, except for one maybe… 

Leo has always been the touchy type and isn’t shy when it comes to physical contact. You don’t mind; he’s like that with everyone, after all. Just another layer of his complex personality. 

However, lately you can’t help but feel that something has changed. The passing glances, the casual touches… they feel different. You catch yourself feeling self-conscious when he’s around. And the other turtles are no help either; it’s like when Leo comes into the room, the whole atmosphere changes. Like there’s a sudden tension in the air. You’ll be hanging out with the turtles like normal, but when Leo joins you, his brothers suddenly make excuses to leave the room. 

Deep inside, you suspect what they’re trying to do. You think they’ve noticed your own shift towards the blue-clad turtle, and now they probably think you have a crush on him (which in all fairness, you do), so they’re trying to get you alone with him to confess or something. While you appreciate their attempt to help or support you, it really isn’t comfortable for you, being left like that. It has already led to the occasional awkward moment between you two. You just wish it would go back to how it was; your crush is for you alone and not to be shared, as you cherish the friendship with the turtles too much to risk it over asking out Leo. 

What you don’t know, however, is that Leo is inwardly freaking out every time he steps anywhere near you. For you see, he is down bad just as you are. He’s just better at putting on a façade to hide underneath.

He didn’t fall for you first, though. Your crush developed somewhat gradually over the last months; for him it was a realisation hitting him in the face all at once, like a wall of bricks. And not even that long ago. But that doesn’t make it any less brain wracking for him. 

Unsure of what to do, he went to his brothers to ask for advice. No matter how much he plays the face man of the group, thinking he’s suave and all, he actually has no real experience in this. (In truth neither do his brothers, but who else is he supposed to ask, Splinter? Right.) Besides, you’re not just a passing crush or a random interesting person. No, you mean a lot to him. And he doesn’t want to ruin what you have. 

At first, Leo intended to not say anything and just cherish your friendship, but no matter how much he tries convincing himself that you just see him as a friend and that you’re out of his league anyway, he still has a tiny spark of hope in him that maybe, just maybe, you feel the same.

So of course the first person he asks is Doctor Delicate Touch himself. 

Mikey is delighted that his brother finally admitted to himself how he’s feeling. Truth is, the brothers noticed a looong time ago that Leo and you are into each other, but you’re both too dense for your own good. They have been itching to help out and already started scheming. Hence why they tried to give you some alone time every now and then.

But now that Leo approaches him first, Mikey essentially calls an emergency family meeting. He pulls out a full flowchart showing plans A through G to ask you out, Donnie starts his fully animated PowerPoint  presentation to go with it, and Raph rolls in a whiteboard to brainstorm ideas. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it would be the perfect occasion for Leo to confess.

After sitting down a whole evening and planning everything out with his brothers, they come up with the following plan: Mikey will help Leo bake some delicious velvet chocolate brownies (because you deserve not only good, but the best!), Donnie says he will scope out some empty buildings that could be quickly remodelled into an undisturbed, cosy movie night corner, and Raph will be in charge of getting it all set up. For being the biggest and spikiest, he actually has a great eye when it comes to interior decorating.

It’s also good that the few days before Valentine’s you have several exams for your classes and some other errands to run. So you already excused yourself from not being able to see the guys as often as you’d like in that period of time, and they plan to use the time to get all preparations going.

To make sure that you won’t plan anything else that day, Mikey messages the group chat, casually asking if you’re “free next Wednesday” to watch a movie, which is something you do rather often with the guys.

Since your last test is on Tuesday, you say yes, eager to have a welcome reward for yourself for doing all your classwork. Mikey suggests a movie night, and one after the other, the different turtles’ responses pop up in the chat, all of them saying they’re free and that movie night sounds good.

It’s a date then 😉 — you reply jokingly, without thinking much of it. Unbeknownst to you, Leo almost faints when he sees your reply. Raph’s laugh at his brother’s face reverberated pretty far through the sewers, too. 

— — —

After several last minute study sessions, wishing for information to travel into your brain by osmosis while smushing your face against a book, and a lot of caffeine, all your exams are done, and you’re officially on break.

That night you sleep well and long, sneaking in an extra pampering self-care bath before meeting the boys. Earlier that week you went to get some snacks, and as you look at the bag on your kitchen counter after you’re done changing, heat prickles at your cheeks.

On the sweets aisle you kept mainly gravitating towards Leo’s favourites, and only after you were done paying did you realise not only how many snacks and sweets you bought, but also that, on purpose or not, you picked most just because they were blue or had blue packaging, which reminded you of him. 

With a sigh you take one last look in the mirror at yourself; the bath got you in a really good mood, and you’re honestly rocking your outfit. If the confidence continues throughout the night, maybe you’d even find it in you to tell Leo how you feel… Is Valentine’s Day too cheesy for that? And on movie night with his brothers, no less? Maybe you should have invited him somewhere else, or maybe it’s just not meant to be…

With a slight seed of doubt in your heart, you grab your things and make your way out the door, about to start the familiar trek to the turtle lair. Except that you get a message, and the sound alone makes your heart skip a bit; it’s from Leo. You know it’s him because you’ve set a special ringtone for him, a sound effect from his favourite Jupiter Jim movie. But you’d rather fall into a ditch than have him know that. He would never let you live it down. Especially if he saw how quickly you scramble to get your phone out of your pocket at the sound.

Turns out, movie night isn’t in the lair at all, it’s in a place you’ve never been, not alone nor with them. It strikes you as a little odd, but you know the area isn’t dangerous or anything, plus you’ll be accompanied by literal ninja mutants, so, if anything, your curiosity is peaked. You did notice that the last few days, there was a strange silence from the turtles. You assumed it was because they didn’t want to disturb your studies, but something was… off. There was more secrecy than usual. And now they’re meeting somewhere new? It takes every ounce of self-control not to immediately message Mikey and ask what’s up. You’d find out yourself soon enough anyway. 

After taking a bus and a short walk, you arrive at the meeting point. Your eyes travel from the pin on your maps app on your phone to the run-down building in front of you several times, making sure you’re at the right location. And you are. Except that there’s nothing here. You try looking in through the windows, but they’re blocked with old wooden boards from the inside. 

Just as you’re about to walk around the building to find an entrance, a door partially hidden by a pile of rubbish and debris opens with a creak, and Mikey’s head pops out.

“There you are!” he greets you with a chipper tone.

”What in the world is this place,” you rhetorically ask with a chuckle. “I thought we were watching a movie?”

“We are, we are. Don’t let looks deceive you. Come in~”

You step in, and Mikey closes the door behind you. You follow him up some dusty stairs, using your phones’ flashlights to navigate through the darkness, as whatever little daylight remains outside can’t come in through the barricaded windows, and there seems to be no electricity. The air is stale and you can see dust particles floating in the beam of your light.

“Is this safe?” You sound less amused now, starting to get actually concerned. 

“Totally,” Mikey answers, completely calm.

”This was Donnie’s doing, I suppose?”

”Yup.”

”Just what are you guys up to,” you ask under your breath with a playful smile, more towards yourself than at him.

Once on the upper floor, you see light coming from under a door. Mikey opens it, letting you step in first. You enter the room, and as the turtle brothers say “Surprise!” in unison, you can’t help the gasp that escapes you. Never would you have guessed this was inside, given the state of the building from the outside. 

Several low hanging lights emit a warm inviting glow, complemented by some fairy lights. The space has been cleaned thoroughly, and you spot a pile of blankets, pillows and bean bags on the floor by the projector, which is already turned on and the movie on the wall is paused at the studio intro. A little makeshift table, consisting of a plank of wood held up by some bricks, holds a variety of delicious treats, going from pizza to finger food to desserts, as well as beverages.

You let your gaze slowly pan over the place to take it all in, nodding to yourself with a low whistle.

“Not bad,” you say. “Not bad indeed.” 

“Are you surprised?”, Donnie asks with a smug grin. 

“I most definitely am,” you respond. “I love what you’ve done with the place. Not that I know what the place even is.” 

“It’s an old office space, set to be renovated by the end of the year. I just pulled some strings to use it for tonight,” Donnie explains with a swiping motion of his hand, as if saying no big deal. “Raph here is the one who brought out the real shine. Quite literally, too, he waxed the floor.”

You look down and sure enough, the wooden boards are shiny, slightly squeaky against your shoes even. 

“You really went all out, huh,” you say, and Raph sheepishly chuckles.

Smiling, your eyes jump from one turtle to the next until they finally land on Leo, and you slightly clench your jaw at the heat you know is spreading on your face, unable to stop it.

“Well, you deserve it,” Leo says with a grin. 

“Especially after being done with classes,” Mikey adds.

”True, but you guys deserve this too! You’re literally helping people and protecting the city all the time.”

They look at each other and nod in agreement. 

For a second, you think Leo is going to say something, as he gives you what must be the third once-over since you’ve arrived. But he remains silent. You hope your outfit choice isn’t weird…

“Alright,” you exclaim, both to distract from your current thoughts and to fill the silence. “Now that we know how proud we are of each other, how about we start? I’m actually starving.”

— — —

You take the last bite from your brownie just as the credits start rolling.

”Ah, what a classic,” Donnie says with a content sigh, and he and Raph get into an argument about what fight scene from the movie was the best.

You sigh at the delicious treat melting on your tongue, savouring it.

”You like them?” Leo asks from his spot next to you with an amused smile.

”I love them! They’re so good,” you reply, turning to look at Mikey. “Compliments to the chef.”

Since Mikey is the one to usually cook and bake out of the group, you assumed it was him who made the brownies. 

“Actually,” he says as he stands up to stretch, “The chef is right there.”

You look to where he’s pointing: next to you, to Leo. 

“You made them?” you ask genuinely. 

“I mean, Mikey helped,” Leo says with a slight shrug.” But, yeah.”

”He made them for you,” you hear Mikey say, and your head whips around back to Mikey.

”What?” you ask. 

You look back to Leo, who’s giving his youngest brother a panicked glare, while Mikey sticks his tongue out at him. 

Suddenly, the room is silent. Raph and Donnie stopped their discussion and once again, the atmosphere has abruptly shifted. You open your mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, as your brain is reeling. Did Mikey just mean what you think he meant? What you… hope he meant? And what was with Leo’s reaction and lack of sassy comeback?

You turn back to the turtle in question and meet his eyes, the slightest rise of your eyebrows indicating you’re expectant of an explanation. All five stages of grief seem to pass over Leo’s face in the matter of a split second, and he looks at such a loss for words that you almost burst out laughing. The fact that he isn't teasing you or dropping some corny one-liner at his brother’s comment to play along, is proof that there’s something else there. Your confidence from earlier that day resurfaces, and as you decide to tease him a little (because those chances are rare), you lean back slightly onto your hands. One quick glance to the side and you realise the other turtles are long gone.

”For me, huh?” you say in a teasing tone. “You wanted to impress me that much?” 

He wants to play along so badly, tease you back. If only he knew that just with a grin and a touch he would disarm you entirely. Instead, he goes the rare honest route, and gives you a short nod.

”I did, actually.”

That’s not the response you were expecting. You slightly lean forward to sit upright again, taking a second or two to word your response properly, unable to tear away your eyes from his.

”Well, you did. But you do know that you don’t need some grand gesture to impress me or make me like you, right?”

He chuckles, visibly relaxing his shoulders, leaning in ever so slightly. 

“I’m just that extra and you know it.”

You hum, bringing your hands into your lap, and you look down at them. You really hope he can’t hear your heart pounding against your ribs.

“And is there a reason in particular you wanted to impress me?” you ask him, voice significantly smaller. 

“As a matter of fact, there is,” he replies just as gently.

Leo’s hand inches closer to yours until his fingertips brush over your knuckles, and it sends a tingly shiver up your arm and down your spine. You involuntarily take in a sharp breath through your teeth and look up at him. You were not ready to be met with the sweetest, most vulnerable expression on his face. All words leave your brain. 

“And?” is all you manage after a moment.

Equally unable to put his feelings into words, Leo chooses the next best thing. By now, you’re both so close to each other that you can feel his breath fanning over your cheek. He quickly closes the gap, and his lips meet yours. The kiss is soft and warm and sweet and for the amount of pining you’ve both endured, it’s not enough.

Your hands travel up to cup Leo’s face, but he suddenly goes “hm!” like he just remembered something and pulls back, holding you by your shoulders. You give him a confused pout; it was just about to get good.

”I forgot to ask: will you be my Valentine?”

That is so massively out of the blue (pun unintended), that you can’t help the hearty laugh coming out of you. 

“A little late to ask that now, isn’t it?” you ask with a chuckle, running your fingers over his jawline.

”You know what they say, better late than never,” he replies with a shrug, leaning into your touch.

You lift your chin ever so slightly to look at him through half-lidded eyes.

”I bet that whoever said that wasn’t in this particular predicament.”

With that, you pull him back to you, kissing him more intensely this time, and he understands. Your tongue meets his, and his kisses taste like chocolate. You only pull back ever so slightly for a moment to take a breather, both of you panting. 

“And for the record,” you say between breaths, essentially whispering the words into his skin. “The answer is yes. I will be your Valentine, if you’ll be mine.”

Finally, he sports his signature smirk. 

“As if you even need to ask,” is all he remarks before capturing your lips again.

One of his hands snakes around your back, pressing you to him, while he balances the weight on the other, leaning you back onto the pillows so he can climb on top of you. 

However long you have the room for, wherever his brothers are… Leo is set on using this chance with you to the fullest while uninterrupted.

— — —

Bonus:

The other turtle brothers have been spying through the crack of the door until you started making out. After carefully closing it, they move a little further down the empty hallway. 

Raph pumps his fist in the air as a sign of victory, Mikey holds Donnie by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth with a silent squeal. But now that the plan worked, and you and Leo are busy… what are they supposed to do?

The three silently look at each other in the dark hallway for a moment, until Mikey looks at Donnie.

”So… you got games on your phone?”

~~~~~

🐥 taglist: [link to join in my pinned post!] @theoriginalmintyyyshake, @dybynyght, @lieutenantlashfaz, @galaxtic-writings, @Lovestruckfictionadict, @salty-s-r, @sleebykei, @miso-sopas, @duckanon, @wings-of-sapphire, @ashtheboookworm2, @xxnoxx, @crystal-crax

#🐨 anon #goose feathers #rottmnt #save rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the tmnt x reader #tmnt x reader #rottmnt x reader #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt leo x reader #leonardo x reader #rise leo x reader #tmnt leo x reader

[pollenallergie]

18+ only!!

do not interact if you’re under 18 years old!

I personally disagree with the headcanon that Eddie can’t cook. In fact, I think that man passed Home Ec. with flying colors in high school. Most of the Hellfire guys took shop class because they thought it was more manly or badass or whatever the fuck, but not Eddie. Eddie needed to learn to sew because Wayne sucked at it and the old lady two lots over was getting real sick of him asking her to use her frail, arthritic fingers to sew yet another goddamn patch on his vest or his backpack or whatever else he wanted to decorate with the logos of his favorite metal bands. Glenda was a sweet lady, of course, and she loved Eddie like he was her own grandson, but even her kindness had its limits. So, he took Home Ec. Plus, he kind of underestimated it and thought it would be like way easier than shop class.

Turns out it was actually insanely more difficult because while Jeff and Gareth got to spend forty-five minutes a day working on bird houses and toolboxes, Eddie had to learn how to operate a sewing machine, create a household budget, change a dirty diaper, and, oh yeah, make like three different kinds of sauce from fucking scratch. Labor intensity aside, Eddie oddly thrived in that class. I mean, he took to the sewing machine like a champ and he made a mean roux for mac and cheese. Not to mention, Miss Bowman absolutely adored him.

That was her first year teaching at Hawkins High, having just graduated college, so she was already plenty nervous. However, it got much, much worse when the, at the time, 16-year-old metalhead, who smelled like a well-used ashtray, sauntered into her class fifteen minutes late and very clearly stoned out of his mind. Imagine her surprise when that same kid expressed a genuine interest in learning how to keep track of household purchases and sharpen a kitchen knife. Unbeknownst to her, his fascination stemmed from the fact that 1) being able to keep track of financial transactions would be super beneficial for him as a rookie pot dealer and 2) the kid liked sharp, shiny things. So, in her blissful ignorance, Miss Bowman actually kind of developed a soft spot for the misfit, much like a little kid might for a scrappy alleycat.

Not to mention, due to him genuinely wanting to learn how to do some of this shit, Eddie rarely showed up to class late or less-than-sober after that first day. He even began to enjoy that class a little bit; the teacher was nice, she didn’t hate him (which was rare), and most of the kids in the class were pretty accepting of him once they realized that he was pulling a stable A-. In fact, the future head-cheerleader, Chrissy Cunningham, even directly asked him for help with her sourdough starter once; which he thought was pretty cool (and also terrifying).

A couple years down the line, his impeccable home-making skills would come in handy when he finally managed to snag the person of his dreams, you. In fact, your first date with Eddie involved him making an elaborate feast of spaghetti in doused in a delightful, homemade bolognese sauce with a side of homemade garlic bread (Eddie made the bread from scratch and everything) and some wine (that he definitely did not steal from a liquor store two towns over because Eddie would never do that), lighting some candles, turning on some soft music (one of Wayne’s old country records; the only one that Eddie figured wasn’t too twangy), and setting tiny kitchen table like it was a fancy table-for-two at some pricey restaurant in the city. It was perfect and, honestly more than you’d ever expected. When he asked you out, you expected a simple movie date or maybe going to watch some band who was not nearly as good as Corroded Coffin play at local bar together, not an amazing home-cooked meal and a night alone with a shaggy-haired, doe eyed aidoneus. It’s safe to say that the pasta wasn’t the only thing that got saucy that night, if you catch my drift. Eddie gave you a taste of his other homemade sauce, if you know what I mean.

So yeah, Eddie Munson can cook. The man is a fucking wiz in the kitchen.

#why must my brain plague me with random headcanons for edward francis munson instead of letting me sleep??? #that being said… #put some respect on his name #the man is a god #can he remember to shower regularly? no #but can he cook a fucking deliciousioso meal for the one he loves? fuck yeah he can #eddie my beloved #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson thoughts #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fic #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things vol 4 #eddie munson #eddie munson ficlet #pol’s greatest hits

[buttbiscuit]

HoH Steve Harrington headcanons because I love him (ft a lot of Steddie)

He slowly developed hearing issues in his teens and early adolescence but didn't notice at first. He learnt how to lip read by accident because he just realised it was easier to understand people when he was doing it. He didn't know it was an actual thing.

He secretly loves that Dustin calls him a cool cyborg for having hearing aids

Going to Eddie's gigs and not giving a shit about not knowing any of the lyrics to any of the songs because he can't understand them anyway. He loves the way he can feel the loud music through his entire body.

"I can't see what you're saying!" When Eddie gets distracted and covers his mouth or turns away from Steve while they're talking.

Early mornings when he doesn't have his hearing aids in and Eddie tells him to stop stomping around so much but Steve doesn't even realise he's doing it and so Eddie calls him a dinosaur and Steve tackles him whenever he makes little t-rex arms

Absolute fucking bliss of taking his hearing aids out at night and letting the noise of the world disappear.

He can't hear those annoying cicadas everyone complains about during summer nights.

Eddie buys him an ASL book but he gives up after learning literally 3 words in ASL. He learnt enough just so he can communicate with Eddie across a noisy bar (The words are "drunk," "bathroom," and "let's go") and he never uses it anywhere else.

He loves when people see his hearing aids and assume he obviously knows sign language because he always replies with "of course" and flips them off 🖕

Saying "I can't hear you 🤷‍♂️ sorry" or "hearing aids broke this morning" when he can very clearly hear the kids but he doesn't want to listen to them

Family Video having the biggest stock of subtitled movies because Robin keeps secretly ordering them for Steve

After he gets his hearing aids he realises he really likes movies more now that he can understand the characters and follow dialogue and pick up on the musical cues

Calling out Eddie for gossiping about him across a room because even though they're not within earshot, he can clearly lipread that Eddie said his name.

Having the radio absolutely cranked in his car and it startles Robin every single time which makes Steve laugh. She'll learn to turn the volume down before turning it on eventually.

"Oh my god where are my ears" when he can't find his hearing aids in the morning and Eddie says "on the sides of your head" to which Steve shouts "Shut up!" its such a frequent occurrence that Eddie doesn't even have to say it anymore but Steve still tells him to shut up

Wayne got a bit annoyed at the boys having the TV up so loud but after Eddie explains he has to because Steve can't hear so well, he never complained about it again.

He absolutely loves that Robin and Eddie talk with their entire bodies and are so expressive and have good annunciation (which they probably picked up from doing drama in school) because he can understand them really well.

Dustin constantly trying to sneak up behind Steve to scare him but because he's so used to being extra aware of his visual surroundings it never works.

Robin learning to perfectly imitate the way he says "Huh?" every time he can't hear her from across the store

Eddie knowing immediately when Steve didn't understand what someone said because he always does the same "Yeah, totally!" nod and smile.

Steve constantly bugging Eddie to wear hearing protection at gigs and go for a hearing test.

#i will romanticise the shit out of disabled characters until theyre given enough happy treatment!!!! #not all of these posts have to be abt hurt!! sometimes people with disabilites are happy and enjoy the fun lil things that happen to them #also im not hoh but i grew up in a household w a hoh parent AND i have apd and was mostly hoh until i was like 5 even if i dont remember it #so im like...... on the cusp of being allowed to use personal experience to talk abt this sort of thing and also not being HoH so idk #if ur hoh and think im way out of line for this lmk and ill delete but i think hoh steve is wonderful #its a good disability hc that we dknt see a lot of and i wanna make sure people who have no hoh experience see some of the funner parts #hoh!steve #HoH!Steve Harrington #HoH Steve Harrington #steve harrington #steddie #dustin henderson #robin buckley #robin and dustin steve's number 1 fans ily #stranger things headcanon #steve harrington headcanon

[chososdiscordkitten]

PLEASE GIVE ME SMUT WRUTING TIPS..GOJO BREEDING KINK MADE ME WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR MYSELF. (EVEVN IF U DONT LIKE GS BREEDING KINK, ITS ONE OF UR BWSTS) PLEASE GIVE ME DIALOGUE WRITING HELP. HELPPPPP DONT LEAVE ME HELPLESS

UHHHH smut writing tips... hmmm. (yapping below the cut)

this may sound very wrong and not pc BUT, ive been reading smut for years. Since I was like 10, ive read countless different writing styles, and millions of words of pure filth.

And as I read them I developed a taste of what I like and don't like- I write in a way as though I am reading to the reader- you/your/yours, because I don't like y/n or I don't like using third person pov nor first person.

What I do- is I think of the scene, picture it and if I can't get a body part- or a hand placement correct, I go look at porn videos or hentai- whatever. Not because i derive like arousal from it- but I truly use it as a form of studying. (im asexual)

I also use shows, movies and songs for inspo- certain lyrics I can picture on x character I write down.

I find it helpful to use a physical notebook for my ideas, there are times I don't have access to my computer so actual paper helps.

And as for dialogue, I try to keep a mix of x characters physical state while they speak, an example;

("blah blah blah" she said, and he said "blah blah" and then-) ive never liked this specific kind of writing so I include the way their eyebrows furrow- or the way their nose crinkles after saying something.

with smut I think its helpful for the reader to picture the way x characters face churns, a trembling bottom lip, dilated pupils, it helps make everything seem more intimate and inclusive for the reader.

And when it comes to describing the way something feels- if its something small like a trailing touch- I take a second and do what im writing about onto myself-

example; if im writing about a gripping hand on a hip- ill press the tips of my fingers onto my thigh to see the way the skin indents and how it feels? (embarrassing)

One thing ive learned- just because you write it with a specific image in mind- doesn't mean people will be able to see it the way you do unless you provide details.

usually when im doing laundry or at work a specific sentence pops into my head that id picture x character saying.

Let's use gojo for example, in my head when I think of his dialogue I think of playful, sweet, but with kinda mean undertones. Because in the anime/manga he keeps a playful tone while saying some very mean things.

once ive finished a very rough first draft- I spell check everything and read it outloud to myself- I say the dialogue in the tone I pictured while writing to be sure it sounds correct. and if it doesn't I brainstorm different phrases or words. (use of different words is soo important.)

And once ive corrected any words that don't fit together- or changing certain things that make me squint- I feed it into Siri nd have it read it to me outloud while I follow the sentences.

I do this 3-4 times till the whole thing sounds correct and how I mean for it to be read.

And I do one final skim once I paste the story onto Tumblr.

it's a tedious process, I know, there's times where im on my 4th reread and it seems boring or uninteresting- but only because ive reread it a million times and combed through it carefully.

There are times where I think my writing sucks because it seems over processed it and it's not entertaining- but!!! I proceed regardless.

And remember- you shouldn't write for the likes of other people, write for yourself and to your likings.

The masses shouldn't tell you what you should enjoy writing, pls don't take this as rules or as like a demanding thing- this is just my personal experience and the way I like to do things.

Writing should be a fun hobby and something you do to get the filth out of your mind, nd im not a very big writer on here, so don't listen to me too much

thank u for the question :>>> (I know how it feels to reach out for some help anon, im happy you enjoy my writing enough to ask me this, ily)

#jjk #⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨ten speaks୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆ #jjk x reader #writing #⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨10 asks୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆

[fandxmslxt69]

CLEM!!!

Happy birthday, lovely! I hope you're happy and healthy! So sorry I didn't see your post earlier, I've been having a very hectic year with studying, working and just generalized stuff! BUT BUT I couldn't send you a inbox!

So like a said: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! you are one of the sweetest mutuals ever! And to celebrate that a gotta ask

What is your latest read?

And I want to know your all time favorite Jason fics, please with links and all!

LOVE OF MY LIFE HELLO!!!

OMG PLS DONT APOLOGISE I KNOW HOW HECTIC LIFE CAN GET!! i hope you are taking good care of yourself, resting and relax outside of studies and work!!! remember that none of it matters if you aren't feeling good <33

MY LATEST READ OKAY

um truth be told my love i have been in SUCH a slump lately,,,, its been tough out here.

i only read like 3 books very recently (last month or so)

I did read All The Little Raindrops by Mia Sheridan my QUEEN. its like a mystery thriller with a side of romance!!! Sheridan's books are ALWAYS a hit (she's very popular for her booktok famous Archer's Voice? And Travis !!) I've read like. most of her books at this point. I have never devoted myself to an author so much. She got me into the whole thriller genre and I LOVE her. so much. ITS SO GOOD AAAA. its not for the faint of heart and on more than once i find myself with the need to throw up with how HORRIFYING and messed up some of this stuff is (most of her thriller books are not for the faint of heart. lots of horrific stuff that is all too real and it makes it 10x more disturbing). Anyway i loved it i think i gave it a 4/5 stars it was so so good

2. i ALSO started Ana Huang's If Love series. I literally never shut up about Ana Huang like. EVER and i had been wanting to read this for a while and IM SO GLAD I GOT IT STARTED !!! Its a LOT less popular than hr Twisted and Kings of Sin series; she wrote it well before she got popular/published but its so good. its def not Twisted/Kings of Sin series but it makes it sooo clear how much she's grown in her writing, character development and general story telling!!! I read the first 2 books and UGHGUGHUFGHUFGHG yeah. new comfort series fr fr fr fr.

I also got digging through Lynn Painter's works (Love Wager, Mr Wrong Number, Better Than The Movies, etc) 10/10 her rom coms are sacred to me. this was a while ago though like. months ago lmao but i think abt her books always!!!

OH OH OMG I READ BIRTHDAY GIRL BY PENELOPE DOUGLAS !!!! SOME TIME AGO!!! yeah it changed my brain chemistry. i dont remember if i told you or not. but it changed my life. i think about it always.

edit: omg shut up i forgot i read some banger books months ago that i did not mention. i ate up Liz Tomforde's sports romance series (Windy City series) it was SO FREAKING GOOD. she had hockey romance, she had basketball romance she had BASEBALL ROMANCE. 10/10 amazing vibes

I ate through the latest of Lauren Asher's (Love Redesigned) IT WAS ALSO HELLA GOOD!! Ana Huang's King of Greed was also a vibe. not my fav but it was good. I ALSO delved into hockey romance SOOO DEEP. Fav series is probably Becka Mack's Playing For Keeps. It's the silliest stupidest fluffy no plot head empty series ever. the first book is 90% porn. its just for the giggles. the second is a bit better but the third is def the best in terms of actual plot & character development for example but the vibes are astronomical and i live for them

i ALSO started reading Sarah Adam's small town romance series (very very good). All fluffy fall vibes. CHLOE GONG HAD COME OUT WITH A NEW BOOK IN THE SUMMER AND I GOT TO IT AROUND THE NEW YEAR AND IT WAS SOOO GOOOD. Immortal Longings mm......she destroyed me once again.

OKAY ALL TIME FAV JASON FICS ok i dont have links (is lazy to go find links) but i will tell you two blogs im like religiously stalking:

@in-som-niyah has AMAZING THOUGHTS on Jason 10/10 i love getting all my jason content from her GOD BLESS THE HARDWORKING PEOPLE OF TUMBLR DOT COM

@fcthots also has some kick ass Jason stuff....like....from smutty to fluffy and domestic its....yeah. oooghgubjgubgn yeah yeah.

anyway i've probably forgotten to mention a bunch of books but thats all i can remember that was actually good. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING !!!

#clem talks <3 #Clem's Birthday Hang Out #loml <33

[princeescaluswords]

Scott McCall is Not a Paragon

Someone sent me an anon request which I meant to answer, but I screwed up and posted it with only five words. So, this is the full answer, and it deals with a category error that many people, especially people who don't like Scott, make when thinking about Teen Wolf.

Scott McCall is not Superman, nor was he meant to be. Scott McCall is not Captain America, nor was he meant to be. Scott McCall is not even Izuku Midoriya, nor was he meant to be. He is not a paragon. This doesn't make him any less a heroic protagonist, of course, but it does require the thoughtful audience member to view him through a different lens then they would otherwise.

The classical definition of a paragon is a character (or actual person) who embodies a virtue in its purest most Platonic form. However, in modern cultural construction, it's taken on a more open connotation as a heroic lead protagonist who embodies every thing good in a cultural setting. Superman embodies overwhelming planet-shattering power used responsibly, arising from the embrace of the Other and being embraced by the Other in return. Captain America may be less powerful, but he embodies the strength of those who hold principled convictions. And so on. With a shallow reading, Scott McCall can certainly fit into this group, but there are several important differences.

Scott's Heroism is Not Premeditated. Superman listens with his super-hearing across the world to find people to save; he is a founding member of the Justice League. Captain America volunteered for Project: Rebirth to go fight the Nazis and then Hydra; he is one of the reasons the Avengers were founded. Izuku Midoriya dreamed of being a hero and took advantage of an opportunity to work towards being the head of an entire social system predicated around this as a career.

Scott doesn't pursue evil throughout the series and the movie; instead, he is pursued. In Season 1, he is chased by the alpha. In Season 2, he is drawn into the war between the Hales and the Argents by threats to his immediate social group. In Season 3, he is the target of the Alpha Pack and Stiles is the target of the nogitsune. And so on, with the Dead Pool, Theo and the Dread Doctors, the Wild Hunt, and Monroe, they all come after him. Yes, by the time Season 5 comes around, the villains have realized that Scott won't let the people in his town be straight-up murdered and so they have to in order to win the day, but it's not as if Scott seeks them out. If, for example, the Doctors had used the Nemeton at Toulouse, Scott would never have been involved.

Scott's Heroism is Not Professional. Superman develops resources to help him in his heroic calling: the Fortress of Solitude, an occupation that brings acts of villainy to his attention, and scientific experiments. We watch Captain America train, alone and with others, in order to be able to fight threats more effectively. Izuku Midoriya literally goes to a specialized technical school for training heroes. They view their heroism as part of their normal lives, and not a situation forced on them periodically.

Scott goes to a mundane high school. He trains to play lacrosse. He learns to help animals. While Derek and Stiles may have saddled him with the heroic charge of "Protector of Beacon Hills," it is a title he accepts only because he has to. In the movie, Scott hasn't been back to Beacon Hills in a long time. He runs an animal shelter. He is called in when there's a dog trapped in a collapsing building, but that's a very narrow situation. He's still the alpha, but that's because of his relationships with "my friends, my pack" not because he's got a territory to watch over. He does get better at heroic action over the series -- Season 1 Scott wouldn't have been able to dodge Ghost Rider bullets like Season 6 Scott could -- but we never see him train for the purpose of being a better hero.

Scott's Heroism is Not Proselytizing. Superman wears the symbol of the House of El on purpose; he attends news conferences; he's spoken to the United Nations. Captain America is draped in the flag of the country whose virtues he wishes to embody. He struggles repeatedly with those virtues (think of the Nomad era). Izuku Midoriya literally aspires to become a symbol for the people of Japan. They consciously desire others to see the value of what they stand for and to integrate it into their lives. They're not forcing their beliefs on anyone, but their behavior is designed to influence the society around them for a benevolent end.

Scott is definitely a leader, but he exhibits leadership in limited situations. Unlike Allison, he has no goal to reform the Argent code. Unlike Demon-Wolf-Era Deucalion, he doesn't want to reform werewolf society. Unlike Monroe, he doesn't want to free humanity from fear or danger. The biggest example for me is that he never tried to change or rehabilitate Peter (or Deucalion or Theo) even though he had hope that Peter would change. The biggest long-term goal he expresses interest in is encouraging Liam to step up as lacrosse captain and, when necessary, as alpha after he leaves for college. None of this requires an impact on society.

I want to be completely clear: this doesn't make Scott any less a heroic protagonist. Scott wanted to be a normal teenager and then a normal adult, but the cost of him ignoring what was going on right in front of his face would have borne by innocents, so he sacrificed his own wants and needs for others. That's his heroism. Yet far too often, I've seen Scott lumped in with Captain America and similar heroes. There's nothing wrong with the Paragon Archetype, but it simply doesn't fit. Sometimes fans do this to compliment Scott, but that's flattening the character to fit somewhere he doesn't belong. Most of the time it's used as a negative, calling Scott boring, tyrannical, judgmental, whatever the hate du jour happens to be. Such a character deserves to be looked at for what he is, not stuffed into the nearest category so the fandom can move on.

#scott mccall #scott mccall defense squad #teen wolf meta #captain america #superman #izuku midoriya

[ambrossart]

I was wondering how you created Víctor Criss so well? ,

especially their way of being and their personality because I feel that there is more information about Patrick and Henry, data about their family and dialogues that show at a glance what they are like. In addition, those two are very striking characters that steal all the attention and make them stand out. easily due to its peculiarities.

On the other hand, there are not many things about Victor and during the movie Victor and Belch are one of the characters that are least shown, but it is true that in the novel there were very interesting descriptive fragments about him that left you a lot to reflect on how during the rock fight, so I was wondering that with the brief information about him, how you have done to decide what Victor would be like, I don't know how to explain it but Henry and Patricio are so canon and yet Victor is not, I have read several fanfics in the This character comes out and changes so drastically in each of them in every way, he is a shy and lovable boy or he is a bad boy among other things and on the other hand your character is the perfect balance so I was wondering how you have done to Being able to decide what traits characterize him as a character, what things Victor would do and what he wouldn't do, what scares him or not, what things he would say and what he wouldn't,

I feel that it is

A great character is as if you had filled in the blank spaces as if you had finished writing it completely, it is as if he were a drawing whose sketch is in black and white and you have given it color, you are great 😊

I actually love that there's so little info about Vic because it gave me a lot of flexibility while developing his character. And that’s why I’m so happy that he’s been received as well as he has. I worked very hard on my interpretation of him.

Honestly, the rock fight in the novel is what completely sold me on Victor and made me love him as a character. He didn't want to be there. He didn't have any emotional investment in that fight. But since he was stuck there, he figured he might as well do some damage. I love that, and I tried to keep that scene in mind while shaping his character.

With Paper Men, Vic's character developed organically chapter by chapter. I've said this many times before, but I wasn't intending for him to be a major character, and I was really struggling to find roles for both him and Reggie because, as you said, there's so little information about them. With Reggie, I decided to have him be Henry's closest friend (because that made the most sense to me), but I had no idea what to do with Vic. Initially, he was just supposed to be a classmate of Evelyn's, but then I became randomly obsessed with the image of Evelyn smacking him in the back of the head (like she does in Ch. 4) and I decided to run with it. I thought, okay, maybe they're not just classmates; maybe they're childhood friends, but that was too simple, so I thought, okay, maybe they were friends but they haven't spoken to each other in a while, and now they're slowly starting to rekindle their friendship. From there, I started to explore the reasons why they weren't friends anymore, and that eventually led to Jimmy. And I think once I had Jimmy figured out, I had a pretty clear idea of who I wanted Vic to be in this story.

And so the introverted, guilt-ridden, self-loathing, stoner was born! 😂

In the novel, Vic appears to be more intelligent than the other members of the gang, so I wanted him to be good at school but not necessarily the academic type. Vic is naturally very smart, but he's also unmotivated and afraid of failure, so he doesn't try very hard to challenge himself academically. If he doesn't strive for success, then there's no risk of disappointing anyone... including himself.

In the movie, Vic hardly has any lines, so I knew I wanted him to be the quiet type, but I didn't want him to be just another shy boy because that doesn't fit the Bowers Gang. That's a little too cute. Instead, I wanted to approach it more like Vic is an introvert who gets extremely exhausted talking to people, especially stupid people like he encounters every day at school. Socializing is a serious challenge for him, but he doesn’t want people to know he struggles with it. Vic would rather be seen as a moody, aloof asshole than someone who’s socially awkward or anxious in any way (because that would make him a target for bullying; he learned this at a young age). I have no idea why I made him a stoner, but it seemed to fit, and once again, I just ran with it. He self-medicates with weed and occasionally alcohol to dull himself and ease his anxiety. Makes sense, doesn't it?

I’m sorry, I never know how to answer these questions. I feel like Vic was a happy accident. I started off with a few random traits and just kept building off those chapter by chapter. That's pretty much what I do with everyone, which is why all the characters tend to get more complex as the story goes on. It's like peeling an onion.

Okay, I'm rambling. I'll stop now.

#answered asks #thanks for the ask! #bowers gang #victor criss #vic criss #it stephen king #it 2017 #it fanfiction #paper men #ambrossart

[sociopath-analysis]

Sociopath Profile: Makima

From the manga series Chainsaw Man (2018-present*) and its 2022 anime adaptation Voiced by Tomori Kusunoki (JP) and Suzie Yeung (EN) *Valid as of late February 2023*

I feel that she needs no introduction, but I'll still do my best. Makima is the head of the Public Safety Devil Hunters Bureau Division 4. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to mention that she is a sociopath considering how many red flags she sets off from the beginning. Her presence already comes off as very domineering in a subtle way. However, the extent to which she fits certainly will be a bit more surprising for those just starting out the series.

[SPOILERS FOR PART 1 BELOW]

To get this out of the way now for those who likely have read the series, she is later revealed to be the Control Devil. Which really does explain a lot about her sociopathic tendencies. Sociopaths tend to have a need to control others, so it explains a lot about Makima's thought processes and disposition. She can control anyone she believes is inferior to her and that seems to be most individuals in her mind.

The only way she can connect with other individuals is through manipulating them. While it is part of her nature as the Control Devil, the treatment she got from the Japanese government to be trained as a weapon forced her to develop relationships based on manipulation. This can range from subtle wording and threats to outright commanding people with her powers. She is very versatile in how she does this. Her treatment of Denji may be the biggest manipulation of Part 1 with her stringing him along with a happy life only to rip it away from him for a chance of obtaining the power of the Chainsaw Devil.

"Any source of happiness you [Denji] experience? I'll be the one to create and destroy it all. You helped me kill Power. There might have been a way for you to save Hayakawa, but you killed him too. You even murdered your own father. Someone like you has no right to wish for a normal life, do they?"

As mentioned before, her main concern is herself. She may say that she wants to use Pochita for improving the world, but it's only her vision of what she wants the world to be. She sees herself as a necessary evil to keep everyone safe by ridding the world of things like war, hunger, and death. However, Denji exposes how selfish she is when he asks her if her new world would still have crappy movies. When she says the world would be better off without them, that's when he knows she can't succeed if she just decides what trivial things she deems unnecessary. When she tells Kishibe that her goal is to make a world that is safe from Devils after he suspects her of setting up the attack on Division 4, his response is quite succinct and accurate:

"You're full of shit."

Makima displays flat affect since she rarely changes expressions from the calm stoic front. Whether she is brutally murdering people or having a casual conversation, she never changes. There have only been two times where she has shown any actual emotions. One is when she watches a movie with Denji and cries when she sees a happy family. Likely because she knows she can't ever have that for herself. The second is when she cruelly reveals that she was the grand architect of his happy life as well as its gradual destruction, revealing how sadistic she can be.

Even with her lofty goals, Makima can engage in some pointless cruelty. When she recruited Angel, she made him kill the tribe he was living with simply to see how his powers work. With his recruitment into Public Safety, she repressed his memories to make sure he only had loyalty for her and never thought about his loved ones ever again. And of course, she definitely makes a show of ruining Denji. As said before, her laughing in his face about how distraught he was is one of the only moments of genuine emotion from her in the series. And what it says about her is that while she will destroy everything you love in the name of the greater good, she'll still enjoy it all the same.

All of this leads to the primary trait, a lack of empathy. She doesn't see other individuals as beings worth acknowledging beyond being tools for her manipulations or obstacles to overcome to reach her goals. She says she has affection for humans, but she has no respect for them and only cares because they love her. Aki and Denji both respect and revere her as well as have a romantic attraction to her. Despite this, she never returns any of it. Denji specifically is an example since she can so casually build up his happy life for the purpose of ruining it and driving him to despair. Never once did she see him as a person and only wanted him for the Chainsaw Devil which was trapped inside of him. Even Pochita, who she essentially worships, is seen as a potential tool to be used for her own gain.

Makima is an example who shows how the effects of both nature and nurture came together to end up making her what we see her as in the series. With her growing up under government supervision, she never got the chance to figure out how to see people as anything else. While part of it comes from her inherent nature as the Control Devil, the lack of nurturing plays a part in how she turned out. This is why her reincarnation in Nayuta is hoped to turn out better under Denji's care. An early intervention to prevent her worst traits from manifesting.

Female Sociopath List

#Makima #CSM Makima #Chainsaw Man #profile #spoilers

[100-yardstare]

I am finally done with Normal 2!! I started the original Normal in 2015 after seeing the movie for the first time, and I loved it so much! Can't believe out of all the fandoms I've ever been in, the POM movie was the one that got me writing a 119k+ fic and an entire sequel. The only other fic I wrote a novel length fic for was for Wreck-it Ralph.

Felt like writing a bit about my process behind the scenes as a way to send it off officially:

I love writing first person, especially self inserts. I can picture myself in situations very easily and my emotions tend to spill out with the perspective.

After reading my fics over a few times and reading some of my reader commentary, I've been told that my insert is "loud" and one time was told I was "obnoxious" and "mean", but tbh viewing the fic by taking a step back and re-reading made me realize this is my loud inner voice and may be attributed to my ADHD!!

Speaking of self discovery, my statements in the fic such as not being able to sweat, fainting, feeling like I might piss myself, etc were supposed to be just funny statements, but in conjunction with my discussion of my inserts "illness" I was actually writing about my dysautonomia before I actually knew what it was! I was diagnosed January 2023, so it's kinda interesting seeing my writing reflect my disability.

I am unashamed of the fact that I wrote Dailey as being a messy relationship that grew and had its ups and downs. I like angst in my ships anyway, so this one was no exception even being a self insert. Dave is a bad guy, and Kailey is, well... me, totally not perfect, weird, working with a bad guy as if she has no choice. They both did really crappy stuff, and THAT'S THE POINT!! I actually wrote a sequel because I knew the ship had a whole lot more to go development wise.

While the first fic generalized a commentary on what it meant to be "normal", when I wrote the sequel I wanted to touch base on different aspects of society, what is normalized, and what it considers beautiful. I write this in outside characters other than my insert, but it manifests in my inserts "turning into a monster" story arc. I am often alienated from being beautiful (how I dress, whether I wear makeup or not), how I behave (my ADHD, my introverted-ness, my emotional disregulation, etc.) my sexuality (I am asexual not interested in sexual relationships), and my physical disability (incapable of keeping up with what is expected of me in jobs, obligations, etc.). In the end the hope is to allow my true self to shine, hence breaking the "curse" of the Medusa Serum in the end.

In extension, my alienation and turning into a monster arc emphasized my negative emotions as being made an outsider or not deemed good enough by society, and how that brings out the worst part of you. I had this resolved by working through this in a relationship because I believe the foundation of mental well being is being part of a community or sharing your burdens with others.

When I decided to make the characters that were turned into monsters with the influence of the QCUs, I was watching Dragon Ball at the same time, and thought the scenes where Goku gets shot and just goes "Oww, that hurts!" without being hurt, was hilarious and ended up putting that trait in my fic.

I probably have a lot more facts in my head that I am not remembering at this moment but here are some of my thought processes for now! I am very thankful for all the support I had writing this fic. Dave and Kailey's story is over from a writing standpoint but I def see there being a lot of open story ideas/extras that I would love to talk about so if anyone is ever interested please shoot me an ask!

#normal #fanfiction #self insert #self ship #dave the octopus #pom #penguins of madagascar #kailey speaks

[threecheersforinking]

Suzume: Anime Movie Review

Spoiler-free!

Hi! It’s been a while, I’m very excited to be returning to this blog after a hiatus to share my spoiler-free thoughts on the movie Suzume, or Suzume no Tojimari, by Makoto Shinkai!

To sum up the plot, Suzume is about a teen girl named Suzume who comes across a mysterious man in her hometown seeking ruins within which he hopes to find a door. She decides to accompany him on his journey throughout Japan and is introduced to a whole world of magical doors that must be closed, lest a mysterious harmful beast be released into the world.

I’m someone who has been following the development of this movie closely for years, and when early visuals of the film were released, director Shinkai stated that he created this movie to showcase the beauty and culture of various lesser-known areas of Japan. I had this in mind throughout watching this movie, and I can confidently say he delivers. There’s regional dialect used, references to certain cuisines only eaten in specific provinces, and really beautiful landscape shots of each location the characters visit.

Suzume herself is a delightful protagonist that clearly stands out and is different from the other protagonist characters in the prior movies. She feels very real and genuine, and her flaws make her relatable and believable.

As for the actual plot content, there is quite a lot going on in this movie. Shinkai’s earlier works were often criticized for being “style over substance”, but on the first watch I felt like Suzume had almost too much substance? This movie is definitely the most fantasy-like out of all of the recent Shinkai films, Your Name and Weathering with You. While those other two have mystical elements and magic, their mythology is relatively simple and alluded to vaguely. Suzume faces these mystical creatures and elements a lot more head-on, and in my opinion it was a shaky execution. I really liked the fantasy elements and creatures we were introduced to, but wished there was more time to expand on them.

Another positive though is that this film is surprisingly very funny. Your Name and Weathering with You definitely have their fair share of chuckle-y moments, but Suzume is the only one out of these that I genuinely would consider a comedy in its own right. There’s a lot of fantastic visual gags, one-liners, and repeated jokes throughout the film that I really enjoyed and am excited to re-experience on a rewatch.

Overall I do think I prefer the other two films, but it’s really difficult not to when each passing film will be inevitably compared to the others. I still really did enjoy watching it though, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes anime fantasy movies and comedies. If you’re a fan of the other two movies, you should definitely still give this one a shot. The familiar elements and charm that make these movies so lovable are absolutely present in Suzume as well.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

#anime #anime review blog #suzume #suzume no tojimari #anime recommendation #spoiler free #no spoilers

[steampunkforever]

Finally got around to it and watched Glass Onion just as it faded out of the required viewing cultural zeitgeist enough to be judged on its own. It was enjoyable, sometimes in spite of itself, but overall not Rian’s best film either.

I’ll preface this with the admission that if literally anyone else tried to make a pandemic film like this I’d do my best to hurt them physically, but Rian Johnson pulls it off with overall charm and grace. I’ll extend that grace to Rian as well and note that the pandemic era had everyone acting like caricatures of themselves, so the cartoonish figures in the movie can be explained if not totally pardoned.

This is really the greatest flaw in the movie. The characters were jarringly 2D compared to some of Rian’s previous character work, if you note the writing in Brick or Looper or even parts of that one Star Wars movie we like to forget about. Every character in Brick is wacky and unnatural, but it works and we get the idea that these people aren’t just hollow puppets for furthering the plot. They’re weird but somehow still real. Glass Onion, on the other hand, did not ring true.

Knives Out had this problem to a lesser degree, but you still could feel that the Conservakiddie twitter/4chan troll cousin was more of a strawman than a real exploration of what drives this new generation Ben Shapiro wannabes. That said, the fantastic cast balances out Knives Out, while only some of the players in Glass Onion are saved by all-star talent. I digress.

As a sequel, Glass Onion was nigh perfect. This Knives Out trilogy (?) is setting up to be distinctly enjoyable in the tradition of Columbo or Matlock, where a quirky detective solves crimes around a cast of weirdos and each installment has very little impact on the next. This of course means that all the development from sequel to sequel takes place outside of plot and deep character development, because those things reset for a functional audience once the credits roll.

Glass Onion does this for us by developing a world where the crazy rich people from the first movie are extrapolated out to crazier rich people who display 1 of 1 Porsche 918 Spyders on the roofs of their mansions because their private islands don’t have roads. It gives clues into our favorite detective’s love life, but establishes it outside any certain continuity so that you can watch them in reverse order and the only thing that changes are the political views of the stawmen that only the most disingenuous Adam-McKay types will actually enjoy dunking on.

It’s a really tricky tightrope to walk, and even as it has its wobbles, Glass Onion makes it across. Sure, it lacked the novelty of the first one, and now that a pattern’s established some of the shine is taken from the first as well when you can see the thematic bones of a series, but it was perfectly serviceable and furthermore made me have fun even when I went to it truly jaded by bad tumblr analysis.

The second act 2 twist, where things heat up significantly from the first, is what saved the movie for me. Sure, I basically had the plot solved in my head by the time we got to the second discussion by the pool, but the extra, semi-red herring (pink herring?) twist took a mystery I’d already solved, let me still keep it solved, and then let me continue to wonder where it was going even as I knew how it ended. Only Rian could do this and also make it an enjoyable pandemic film.

Then they put Ed Norton in the Tom Cruise costume from Magnolia and the movie was sealed. Not Rian’s best, but not bad either.

#glass onion #filmposting

[tokiro07]

What did you think of Red Hood 2

The ten seconds it took me to understand what the hell you were talking about might as well have been an eternity with all of the thoughts that went through my mind

"Red...Hood...? ...Hoodwinked 2??? No, no, why would anyone ever talk to me about Hoodwinked, I haven't seen the first one since I was a kid and I've never mentioned it to anyone...

"Oh! Was there a sequel to Under the Red Hood?? I haven't been keeping up with the DC animated movies in a bit, so maybe there's a new one! Wait...no, no, that can't be it, they're working on the Tomorrowverse now, they wouldn't backtrack like that, would they...

"This is one of the Undead Unluck folks, maybe...something happened in this week's chapter that they're making a joke about? But what...

"...Red Hood is a manga. That I read in its entirety. It had...the boy with an axe...LIKE ICE-HEAD GILL, THE NEW MANGA IN JUMP"

While I frequently boast about how smart I am, I have never once claimed that I am not a scatterbrained weirdo

Anyway, chapter 1 was not particularly impressive to me. The art style is nice, with a lot of similarities to Demon Slayer to the point that I suspect that the author was an assistant to Gotouge Koyoharu, but also like Demon Slayer, it is very clearly this author's first serialized work

Everything was told instead of shown, what little that was shown wasn't given the gravitas that it should have to leave an impact, and I don't have a clear image of what to expect from this series going forward. I know that Gill wants to discover the truth of what happened to his dad and that Liches are involved, but nothing we're shown gives me any reason to feel invested in that

Since Gill's dad is such an important character and the mystery of what he did is central to the plot, I think chapter 1 might have been better served doing something more akin to One Piece's first chapter, showing Gill's childhood with his father and the contrast between what Gill knows and what the world thinks happened

It's super clear that either Gill's dad was possessed by a Lich or that everyone he killed was and he did it to protect everyone else from them, but we have no context for any of these characters aside from the fact that they're in a Viking-inspired setting. We don't know what Gill lost, we don't know how significant the axe his father made for him is, we don't know anything about that book, we didn't even know that Liches existed until the moment they became a problem. They talk about the troll language and that trolls are extinct, but then they just drop that someone else that Gill happens to know is part trolls without ever mentioning trolls before that point

So many topics are introduced completely unceremoniously, making it really difficult for me to feel any real connection to the cast or setting. The aesthetic looks cool, and I especially like the Lich design, but the choreography doesn't exactly leap off the page and I'm not sure what actually makes Gill special at all. He's good with an axe, but...in what sense? "No spin" "one spin" okay, he's using centrifugal force, but is he using some kind of special ability, a special technique, a special weapon, what? Why is it strong enough that he was able to beat a Lich? That certainly wasn't a great showing for the Lich if the small child was able to win with one technique

I'm sure the author intends to explain it, and mystery is a great way to entice readers to keep going, but all of my questions aren't being led by breadcrumbs trying to lead me to an answer, they're led by frustration with how vague the details are in the first place

Obviously, I'm going to keep reading, as I always do, with the hope that the author's experiences will help develop the story into something greater than its initial impression. I hated Mashle's first chapter, and Demon Slayer didn't actually grab my attention until the fight with Daki and Gyutaro, so there's always a chance that things will turn around at any time

In short, while I didn't necessarily like what I saw, I'm not the type to let a rocky start keep me from enjoying the ride

#shonen jump #ice-head gill

[tjreidwrites]

I used to have a movie review website. I also posted those reviews on Instagram back in 2020. I want to give some of those reviews new life on here. I’ll start with my favorite superhero movie, Spider-Man 2.

SPIDERMAN 2 REVIEW (2004)

Let’s be honest. The first Spider-Man back in the early early 2000’s was a fun time. Maybe a bit overrated though, right? Sam Rami takes what worked in the first installment, and adds amazing story telling, better action, better special effects, and truly realized characters into the fold. This is the first example of the way a superhero movie should be and holds up today. Nothing has been quite like it.

Spider-Man is revealed to be a burden in so many ways to Peter Parker. So much so, that its ruining his life. This movie does everything right when it comes to characters and character development. So many superhero movies before this took so little time with the people behind the mask. I remember even as a kid first viewing this movie, being taken on a emotional roller coaster I wasn't expecting. Peter’s problems become very real to us. The amount of time he spends as Spider-Man forces him to put his actual life on the back burner. This movie is charming, thought provoking, action packed and heart breaking.

Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is working on a dangerous experiment. He needs materials only Harry Osborn can provide. His experiment will either prove fusion can work as a cheap source of energy, or destroy all of New York. To handle all the moving parts, Octavius creates four super powered tentacles that are built into his spine and have intelligence of their own. The chip at the head of the contraption is designed to help him keep control of his thoughts. When the chip is destroyed, we welcome Doc Ock.

Peter Parker’s inner battle is easy to become attached to. He can't love Mary Jane, because her life would be threatened 24/7 from Spider-Man’s enemies. We watch as she gives up on Peter, who can't make time for her. Peter has a lot of heart felt moments with Mary Jane as well as Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), who has a lot of screen time. All while Peter has to deal with Harry, who likes Peter but hates Spider-Man with every fiber of his being. We want Peter to just tell Harry the truth about what happened in the first film, but sympathize with him for not knowing how.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Toby Maguire nails this role. Its true. Say what you want about the first film being cartoony, campy, this one Toby shines. In this movie, he is the true Peter Parker. He did everything right. This movie does an immaculate job keeping the dialogue just as interesting as the action. Sure, some sentences are just cheesy enough to remind us that we are watching a movie, but it works. The drama in this movie steals the show every time you watch.

Every character in this movie takes what happened in the first one, and grows as individuals so much. Mary Jane, Harry, Peter, Aunt Mae all have character arcs that pay off massively. Sam Rami nailed the mechanics of Spidey’s web slinging throughout the city. No longer looking cartoony, but instead honing in on the special effects of the time, and looking amazing on the screen.

I’ve watched this movie countless times and know I will watch it even more. The storylines weaving in and out, and the weight of the situation being more real than any superhero film before its time, they knocked this one out of the park. I love this movie and on an overall scale, It has to be the best superhero movie of all time. I think there's an argument to be had on the topic, but there isn't anything wrong with this film.

#book blog #movie review #spiderman #spiderman 2 #marvel #marvel mcu #writing #new writers corner #blog #moviegifs #movie write up #writers on tumblr #filmedit #film #filmisnotdead #superhero movies

[kammartinez]

I’ve always been curious about what it feels like for an author to see their work translated into another medium. The question seems particularly interesting with a film like Oppenheimer, the biopic directed by Christopher Nolan that opened in theaters this week. It tells the life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” and is based on a mammoth, Pulitzer Prize–winning 2005 biography that took 25 years to research and write. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, is more than 700 pages long; at first glance, it’s difficult to imagine how a book this granular about a subject this complex became a movie. Sadly, Sherwin passed away two years ago, but Bird was able to have the uncanny experience of “meeting” Oppenheimer while visiting the set of Nolan’s film. I talked with him about this encounter and about his book’s path to Hollywood.

First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic’s Books section:

Bird and I spoke over the phone a day before the film’s release. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Gal Beckerman: How are you feeling?

Kai Bird: Well, my head is spinning a little bit. It’s very weird. This book came out 18 years ago. Where was everyone then?

Beckerman: Well, you did win the Pulitzer Prize. So you can’t say that it was ignored.

Bird: That’s true. I can’t complain. But, you know, it got on the paperback-best-seller list last week. It never made it on the best-seller list back then.

Beckerman: It took a long time for it to be picked up and adapted.

Bird: Well, the book was optioned. But, you know, years went by, and nothing happened. So we were very lucky when I suddenly got a phone call in September of 2021, and I was told that Christopher Nolan wants to speak to me. I didn’t realize it then, but looking back at all his other work, he’s really the perfect director for this book. He’s always been interested in time and space and memory, science and science fiction. So it makes perfect sense that he could be attracted to a book about a guy who was a quantum physicist.

Beckerman: So the shift to film felt pretty seamless to you?

Bird: The way Marty [Sherwin] and I both thought about the book—and this would be true of any potential film as well—was that it might be an interesting story to follow the making of the atomic bomb, but that if that’s all there was, we wouldn’t be spending all these years—25 years—on it. What gives the story its arc is both the triumph of [Oppenheimer’s] achievement in Los Alamos but then the tragedy of what happens to him nine years later, when he’s brought down from being America’s most famous scientist to becoming a nonentity, humiliated on the front pages of The New York Times. His loyalty to the country is questioned. That’s what makes the story really interesting. And so, when I first had a meeting with Nolan, he was not sharing the script with me at that point. He said he works confidentially, although he’d done a whole draft already. He works very fast. I told him I thought it was important to focus on the trial. And I think he was relieved to hear me say that, because when he showed me the screenplay a few months later, it really is a lot about the trial.

Beckerman: Were there aspects of the book that you thought would be particularly difficult to communicate in film without the benefit of hundreds and hundreds of pages?

Bird: The quantum physics. This was also a struggle in the book, because it’s so complex. But actually, Nolan really attempts to explain quantum or give you a sense of the music of it. He develops a good analogy in the film. He has Oppenheimer walking through an art gallery in the 1920s, when he’s studying quantum, and he’s looking at Cubist pictures done by Picasso. And he’s staring at them, and he’s seeing the quantum in Picasso’s images. That’s not specifically in the book, but, you know, Oppenheimer’s mother was a painter and an art collector. She bought early van Goghs and several Picassos, so it’s entirely appropriate.

Beckerman: Did you learn anything about filmmaking through this process?

Bird: I saw the film for the fourth time last night. And each time I see it, I see layers that I didn’t see on the first occasion. I hear some of the dialogue that I missed on previous occasions, because it is very fast-paced. Nolan is really quite interesting as a filmmaker, I think, precisely because he’s not trying to bring you along. He’s not trying to make sure you understand everything. He’s leaving little clues throughout the visual experience that he doesn’t explain. So, for example, if you know who the physicist Richard Feynman is, he is portrayed in the film, but he’s never identified. But on several occasions, you see this young man banging furiously on a bongo, and that’s Feynman.

Beckerman: And if you know, you know!

Bird: Exactly. He wants people to leave the theater with questions: Oh, who was that? And questions about, you know, McCarthyism, living with the bomb, and why did that happen to Oppenheimer? Was it just or unjust? He’s not giving you the answers. And he does that with the whole very weighty issue of the decision to actually use the bomb, which is still controversial history.

Beckerman: I know that you went to visit the set while they were filming. I’m curious if you could tell me a little bit more about what that experience was like, just the uncanniness of it. And, you know, meeting Cillian Murphy, who played Oppenheimer.

Bird: It was very bizarre. When I met Cillian, he was being introduced to me after shooting a scene, and I shouted out, “Dr. Oppenheimer, Dr. Oppenheimer. It’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve been waiting all these years.” And then we had a five-minute conversation. And I told him I thought it was interesting how well he had captured Oppie’s voice. Oppenheimer’s voice was always very soft-spoken. It’s the kind of voice that makes you want to lean forward to make sure you’ve caught every word. And each word is pronounced very meticulously. And he speaks in whole paragraphs. Cillian’s response was Oh, well, I’m glad you think so—but, you know, we try not to imitate the voice; we try to simply capture the spirit of it.

Beckerman: Well, that seems a pretty apt description of adaptation when it works well, as it sounds like it did in this case.

Bird: I just think I’m a lucky, lucky author.

#books #oppenheimer #movies #kai bird #american prometheus