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#its been like this since i left the community but the fact that its STILL THIS BAD so much later
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funniest disney history facts i can think of atm
literally EVERYBODY thought the lion king was gonna flop and pocahontas would be their greatest movie ever made. people begged to ditch lion king and work on pocahontas.
the reason robin hood ends so abruptly is that there was an actual ending planned and storyboarded but the crew spent too long arguing about everyone’s fursonas to finish animating it
madam mim was way less comedic in the original book but because her character was too similar to maleficent (who was in their latest film at the time), the sword and the stone crew decided to differentiate her by making her fucking hilarious
when making a goofy movie, jeffrey katzenberg (studio chairman at the time) told bill farmer to give goofy “a normal voice.” farmer, who had been voicing goofy for eight years at that point, including in the goof troop show that a goofy movie was a sequel to, was very confused. after making an attempt they decided to scrap that note completely.
as of march 2023, farmer is still voicing goofy, and tony anselmo has been voicing donald since 1986. the 2017 reboot of ducktales, which was slated as “wanting to do for donald what goofy movie did for goofy,” featured both actors as those characters; they had also been doing the voices for the original ducktales and goof troop/goofy movie. all the times goofy and donald interact in the 2017 ducktales however, donald was voiced by guest star don cheadle as a joke
current voice of mickey mouse bret iwan has stated that he has attempted to play kingdom hearts and did not do well
disneyland’s current world of color halloween overlay features a plot that is basically “the disney villains simultaneously adopt a goth kid” and i love it
people will make jokes about “well math says that the beast would’ve been 11 when he was cursed” well that was actually the original intent, but a flashback scene of baby beast was scrapped because he looked “too much like eddie munster”
when disney sent a representative to pixar to check on toy story production, she was like “this is all great! what style of music are you thinking” and they were like “for what” “for the songs” “we uh. we weren’t gonna have. any songs” and she went dead silent and then went “i have to make a call” and left the room
saludos amigos and the three caballeros were made as ww2 propaganda. the government commissioned disney to make movies to make latin america like them so that they wouldnt side with the nazis and provide them an in to invade, and latin america really liked donald duck so
saludos amigos was apparently the first time many usamericans realized that latin american people were like. people. film historian alfred charles richard jr said that the film “did more to cement a community of interest between peoples of the americas in a few months than the state department had in fifty years”
while latin america generally liked both films, chilean cartoonist rené rios boettiger fucking hated the chilean segment of saludos amigos, seeing the main character of pedro the plane as a weakass bitch, so in response he created condorito, the most popular comic character in all of latin america
disney wanted to adapt ts eliot’s old possum’s book of practical cats. his widow adamantly refused, and then sold the rights to andrew lloyd webber bc he wanted to make it sexy and she said “tom would’ve liked that”
in case you haven’t seen the defunctland, walt disney wanted epcot to be a futuristic utopia where he was basically the dictator. then he died so they just made it another theme park
speaking of defunctland the first defunctland video was on disneyworld’s alien attraction and please watch it. please it’s so funny
after the huge failure of the black cauldron disney was going to shut down its animation department. the department tried to convince them to keep them alive by showing them the one scene they had finished for the next movie– the mouse burlesque from the great mouse detective. it worked
the only attraction the black cauldron ever got was in tokyo disneyland where they put a tour under cinderella’s castle where everyone had to escape the disney villains trying to kill them, only to end at the horned king and the cauldron, who would try to sacrifice them to satan. this tour was popular but was closed in the early 2000s as the tunnels didn’t fit earthquake regulations and i want it in disneyworld so bad
walt disney once referred to his unionizing workers, led by goofy’s creator art babbitt, as “commie sons of bitches,” and i want a mickey build-a-bear that calls me a commie son-of-a-bitch whenever i squeeze its paw
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tip-top-cloud-surfer · 11 months
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Don't Go to Bed Angry - Rooster
Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw / Wife!Reader
Word Count: 0.9k
This work, all of my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only
Warnings: Arguments; Martial Strife; Storming Off; Some Angst; No Description of Reader, Female Reader, Wife Reader, Second Person POV ("You"), No Y/N
Summary: You and Rooster have an argument and he storms off.
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You and Bradley had a perfectly healthy relationship. There was open communication and a strong level of trust shared between you. There had to be for your frequently long-distance and low-communication lifestyle. And sure, every relationship had its ups and downs, but your marriage with Bradley was overall healthy and strong.
But tonight, it was one of those rare nights where the bad seemed to overwhelm the good.
Both of you had been highly stressed out lately. There was work, family commitments, friends, things to do around the house, endless cleaning and adulting, bills, the question of kids, and everything else in between. You name it, it was stressing out one or both of you at the moment. And all of that stress seemed to just soak through all of your interactions with your husband.
Tonight, it started small and snappy. He had a long day at work and your boss had been a dickhead and you were both in a bad mood. Then small little comments quickly ignited bigger arguments and then the two of you were yelling at each other. It ended with Bradley grabbing his keys, muttering something about ‘leaving before he said something that he would regret,’ and then slamming the door behind him. 
You didn’t bother to ask him where he was going. He wouldn’t have told you anyways. 
But a few hours later, as you were getting ready for bed, a sinking feeling settled in your gut. You would have expected him to be back by now. He always was back by now. That little nagging feeling in the back of your mind—the one that immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario jumped up and then you were picking up your phone.
You tried Bradley’s cell phone one, twice, three times, but he didn’t answer. So, then you moved on to the next person who would know where Bradley had gone. Maverick picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Maverick asked calmly.
“Have you seen or heard from Bradley this evening?” you asked softly, fiddling with the loose thread from your shirt. It was actually one of Bradley’s old tee shirts that didn’t fit him anymore, but it was your go-to nightie these days.
“No, I haven’t, why?”
“No reason,” you mumbled, glancing out the window for any sign of your husband.  
“Did you want me to call him for you?” Maverick offered, sounding like he understood the situation.
“No, no, it’s fine. Thanks, Mav. Have a good night.”
“You too.”
Hanging up the phone, you sighed and held your head in your hands for a moment. You let out a breath to steady yourself and turned for the main door in your house. You locked it, since Bradley still had his keys, and walked around the house to turn off all the lights. When you were finished, you slowly headed back to your bedroom.
You turned around and was about to close the door to your bedroom as well when you paused. You and Bradley always had an unspoken signal in your relationship. If after a fight or just a long day, if the door to the bedroom was left open, it meant that the other person was welcomed and wanted. If the door was closed, they needed more time. Simple as that. 
After a moment of contemplation, you left the door open.
Walking over to your bed, you pulled back the covers and slipped under them. You rolled over and turned off the light. After some mindless scrolling to try and take your mind off of it, you accepted the fact that Bradley was probably not coming home tonight, and set your phone down. Glancing over your shoulder at Rooster’s spot, you sighed and sunk into your pillow a bit more.
After a bunch of tossing and turning, you finally started to drift off to sleep. You were half asleep when the main door unlocked and Bradley slipped inside the house. He shut the door behind him and re-locked it before he slowly padded towards your bedroom. He paused in the hallway, noting the open door, before he stepped inside.
Glancing over your mostly sleeping form, Bradley slowly closed the door behind him. Padding over to his side of the bed, he shed his jeans and shirt and grabbed the blanket. Gently pulling it back, he slipped into bed with you. The sudden dip in the bed caused you to lightly stir. You were about to roll over when Rooster wrapped his heavy arm around your waist. 
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered softly to you. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Okay,” you mumbled out, still mostly asleep. Snuggling back against Bradley, you sunk further into the bed as you soaked up his added warmth. “Are you okay?” you whispered softly.
“I’m fine,” Bradley replied softly. “Are you?”
You hummed in agreement and he pressed a kiss to your shoulder in response, nuzzling your skin for a moment. Pulling back, Rooster pressed a kiss to the side of your head, his lips brushing against the top of your right ear.
“We’ll talk in the morning.” You hummed in agreement once more, causing Rooster to pull you closer again. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” you whispered back before you fell back to sleep. 
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ecoamerica · 22 days
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Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared
The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!
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fandomfix13 · 6 months
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Get Him Back - Rafe Cameron 18+
* HI ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE IVE WRITTEN ANYTHING BUT IM HERE NOW
* TBH THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING SMUT SO BARE WITH ME
* This is so super long and also completely filthy at parts SO MDNI and pls read warnings
* little bit of fluff? Def some pretty smutty smut. This did not start out as smut but here we are
* WRITTEN IN Y/N’s POV, lots of dialogue
*anything in italics is your inner monologue
Word count: 4K
WARNINGS: MDNI!, mentions of cheating (not rafe), toxic ex,  oral (giving and receiving), fingering, rough-ish??, p in v sex, hair pulling, light choking??, not rated e for everyone
The rain is pouring down in sheets. Falling harder than it has in a while. My head is pounding from holding back tears, that I might as well let out. I never thought that I would be in this situation. Forced out of my boyfriend's car after a fight at nearly one in the morning, with a dead phone, left to walk home alone in the pouring rain. How cliche. Not to mention the fact that I’m just over three miles away from home. What a dick. Some “man” he is to leave me like that. For all he cares, I could be kidnapped out here. However, it's highly unlikely being that I’m wandering in one of (if not the nicest) neighborhoods in this entire state. Constantly guarded by a neighborhood watch, with gated community after gated community.
 I can see the the sharp rain plummeting down in the glow of the street lights. Unlucky for me, the wind has picked up too making this walk even more miserable. At this point, I have two options; 1. I could continue to walk home in this miserable weather OR 2. I could lose all dignity and show up to Sarah’s house after not talking to her in months. Seeing as this storm is showing absolutely no sign of stopping, its looking like the second option is better. As I turn the corner, I approach the Seabrook Gated Community. A little ways down is the fence that Sarah and I used to hop all the time when we would sneak out. That’s my in. It’s an old rusty fence that is hidden behind some overgrown hedges behind some wildly overpriced house that rarely ever has anyone living in it.         
After nearly slipping off of the slippery fence, I make my way down the street to Tanny Hill. Mentally preparing myself for the absolute humiliation that will occur if Sarah opens the front door. We had our falling out about 3 months ago and we haven't spoken since. We have tried our best to avoid each other at all costs. At least I’ve tried avoiding her, that is, until this very moment. 
As I approach the front lawn, I genuinely consider turning around and quite literally braving the storm and walking home. As it is, I’m already soaked from head to toe and probably on the verge of pneumonia. However, I shake off my thoughts and walk towards the front door. I knock three times in hope that someone will hear. I don’t ring the doorbell out of fear of waking up the entire Cameron household which is the last thing I need to do. After a few seconds, nobody answers. This house is huge maybe they are coming. I convince myself that nobody is answering the door so I turn accepting my fate and I walk away. Suddenly, I hear the front door unlock and my breath gets caught in my throat when I hear his voice. 
“Y/N? Is that you?” Fuck. Me.
“Hey Rafe.” I choke out. God I probably look insane.
“What are you doing here?” he looks at his phone “at 1:26 in the morning.”
“Um. Is Sarah home?” I spit out, trying to avoid conversation.
“She’s not…but I am.” He leans against the door frame looking me up and down in a ‘you good?’ way. “You also didn’t answer my question.” He adds.
“I uh…I didn’t know where else to go.” I say quietly. I was right. This is in fact humiliating. He just stands there and stares at me. Clearly unamused at the fact that I still haven't answered his question as to why I am standing on his front porch looking like a wet dog. I would stare too. “Are you gonna let me inside? Or are you just gonna keep staring at me in silence.” I add.
“That depends.” He says lookin back into the house then back at me. “Are you gonna tell me why you’re here? Or are you just gonna avoid the question.” Touche. We stand here in silence for a moment as he watches me get pelted in the face by the rain and I chatter my teeth. He finally pushes the door open further and gestures for me to come inside. Thank go Sarah isn’t home because I would be shitting myself out of embarrassment right now. I walk in and Rafe opens a hallway in the closet as he reaches in and grabs a towel that he throws at me. “If You get anything wet, Rose will lose her shit.” 
“How kind.” I say with strong notes of sarcasm.
“Hey I didn’t have to let you in. I could've just left you outside on your own.” he’s right.
“Well you wouldn’t be the first guy to leave me outside tonight, so I probably would’ve been fine” I blurt out without thinking. What happened to me tonight is none of his business. Plus I’m sure he will hear about it anyway. However, he did let me inside which he did not have to do, so I could at least pretend to be grateful. 
“Damn. That's rough. Sorry about that.” he almost sounded embarrassed.
“No, it's fine. Thanks for the towel.” he nods and sits down at the kitchen counter. We stand in silence for a bit as I ring my hair out into the sink. This couldn’t be more awkward. Here I am standing in my ex best friend’s house with her older brother, who was in fact my first kiss in a game of truth or dare years ago, and who happens to be the best friend of my boyfriend who just dumped me on the side of the road in the middle of the night. This is just grand. “Do you have a phone charger? My phone is completely dead.” 
“Uh yeah its upstairs. Do you wanna-” he cut himself off before speaking again. “Do you just wanna come up with me so you can change?” Right. So. Apparently this absolutely CAN  feel more awkward. Whatever. I need to charge my phone and honestly a change of clothes sounds devine. I silently follow Rafe up the stairs and into his room. “If you want you can take a shower to warm up. Your teeth haven’t stopped chattering since you got here.” he’s being frighteningly nice. 
“Um sure.” I say hesitantly as I am incredibly confused by his nice attitude. I plug in my phone and Rafe hands me one of his old t-shirts and a pair of booty shorts that were surely left here by some random girl, but honestly I don’t care. I have to get out of these clothes. “Thanks.” I say taking the clothes and entering his bathroom, closing and locking the door quickly behind me. Literally what the fuck. There is no way this is really happening. 
I take my time in the shower as I let the steaming hot water warm me up for a while. When I’m done, I put on the clothes that Rafe gave me, and open the bathroom door seeing him sitting on his bed, scrolling through his phone.
“Hey Topper called you like five times when you were in the shower.” He says unfazed. My attitude shifts almost immediately. 
“You didn’t answer it did you?” I blurt out. Nice job y/n! That wasn’t suspicious at all!
“No…why would I?” he laughs clearly confused as I let out a sigh  of relief. Once again. Awkward silence. I take a seat on the edge of the bed going through my phone. “Are you gonna call him back?” he asks. Before I could answer him, his phone starts to ring. Toppers name is displayed on the screen. Rafe looks at his phone, then back to me, then back to his phone. 
“I am NOT here. Answer it. Put it on speaker.” I say frantically. Now he's intrigued.
“Hey Top!” Rafe answers. “Rafe! I fucked up man. I fucked up BAD! I’m coming over. I need a drink asap.” I am immediately shaking my head and mouthing ‘no’. “Top I can’t tonight man. My dad is on my ass and if Rose finds out I have someone over, I’m dead bro.” Is he seriously helping me right now? 
Topper scoffs on the other line. “Since when have you given a shit about what Rose thinks? I’m already on my way!” 
“Then turn around and go home man. I can’t tonight.”
“What is up with you dude? You never turn down a drink” its silent for a minute “Oh shit do you have a chick over right now?” Im disgusted at the change in tone in Top’s voice when he  brings up Rafe having a girl over.
“Yeah bro I do. And she’s alone right now in my bed so I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow.” Rafe responds, very quick to go along with Topper’s question.
“That’s my man!” Topper laughs “is she hot? She better be hot!”
Even Rafe rolls his eyes at Topper’s comment. “Yeah she’s hot. Okay gotta go man.” Rafe responds as he hangs up the phone. Is that true, does he think I’m hot? I don’t care. Do I?
I let out a huge sigh of relief that we dodged the bullet of Top showing up here. 
“So. Are you gonna tell me why I just had to lie to my best friend?”
I shift nervously. “Well technically you didn’t lie. There is a ‘chick’ here and she is sitting on your bed.” I try to make a joke avoiding this conversation at all costs. 
“Y/n.” He says, raising his eyebrows. He clearly wants an answer. 
“I broke up with Top and he didn’t take it well.” I say on an exhale. He doesn’t say anything because he’s not stupid. He has probably figured out that much already. I let out a heavy sigh. “He kicked me out of his car in the middle of the road three miles away from my house in the fucking rain because I accused him of cheating on me. He told me that I had no idea what I was talking about. He said I was crazy, and that I was making shit up. But I’m not. I know for a fact that I’m not. It’s not the first time either. He’s done it before, which I’m sure you already know since you’re his best friend and he probably tells you everything.” I make that realization as I’m rambling my story out to him. Rafe is probably well aware of Topper’s lack of loyalty. 
“I uh. I knew about it the first time.” He admits. His honestly with the situation makes me laugh a little as I roll my eyes.
“Of course you did. Being that it was with your sister. I’d be shocked if you didn’t know.” The look on Rafe’s face instantly changes. It’s almost like he’s holding something back. “Unless…Sarah wasn’t the first girl was she. There was someone else.” Tears that I have been pushing back for weeks start to well in my eyes. Not because I’m sad, but because I’m furious. Even Rafe doesn’t know what to say. Without thinking, I grab my wet clothes and my barely charged phone, and head towards his bedroom door. “I should go. Thanks for the shower and-” 
“Y/n don’t be ridiculous” he says quickly following me. “You can’t leave right now that storm is getting worse” He puts his hand on the door, shutting it. 
I turn and he is standing close enough to me to create an odd sort of tension. 
“Why don’t you get him back?” Rafe suggests as I roll my eyes.
“I don’t want to get back with him Rafe I’m so ov-” he cuts me off.
“That’s not what I’m saying. I mean get him back. As in revenge.” he says as he steps closer to me. Jesus Christ I’m an absolute idiot.
“Revenge…right.” I laugh awkwardly. He continues to inch closer, creating an even bigger amount of tension. Not that tension is an unfamiliar thing with Rafe and I. There has always been a weird tension between us. Ya know…the whole best friends brother thing. I’ve known Rafe for almost 10 years. Something about his cocky attitude has always been attractive to me. Call it toxic. I don’t care. It’s just the truth. Rafe and I are standing right infront of each other. He is towering over me as my back is still to the door. 
“You know…They say that one of the best ways to get over a guy is to get under another.” He almost whispers while moving my hair out of my face. I can’t help but blush. The thought of getting back at Topper crossed my mind the second he cheated on me. The thought of getting back at him by hooking up with his best friend? That’s even better. Rafe leans down and starts to kiss my neck. “Rafe we probably shouldn’t do this” I whisper clearly enjoying it.
“Of course we shouldn’t. But I do shit that I shouldn’t do all the time.” He stops kissing my neck to look me in the face.
“Me too” I nod letting out a breath as I crash my lips onto his. The kiss is instantly filled with an insane amount of intensity. Rafe backs me up against the wall as he deepens the kiss. He moves from my mouth to my neck, leaving hickeys all over. He is making sure that I can’t hide what we are doing. And I’m totally here for it. His hands move from my hair, to my hips, to underneath the hem of my shirt. Well. Technically his shirt. I’m braless since my bra got soaked in that rain earlier. He quickly realizes this as his hand grazes over my tits. He starts to grip them while kissing me, making me moan softly until he stops for a second. 
“As hot as you look in my shirt…it’s coming off” he nearly growls. I lift my arms as he lifts the shirt over my head and throws it across the room. I reach for his shirt to take it off. Once he takes it off his mouth is back on mine. Our foreheads are pressed together as our bare chests are rising and falling against each other. He hoists me up, grabbing my ass as I throw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. We don’t last long against the wall before we move to the bed.
He lays me down on the edge of the bed as he hovers over me kissing me yet again. Each kiss gets more aggressive. We bite each other's lips between kisses. He moves his mouth from my lips to my neck leaving more marks. Slowly, he makes his way to my chests. The marks he makes get darker and darker. He puts his mouth over my nipple, making me moan as he slightly bites down. He quickly moves his hand up to cover my mouth.
“Shhh. Baby we gotta stay quiet.” He says as he moves from one nipple to the other. I moan into his hand as he stifles the sound that comes out. His hand moves from my mouth to my throat as he wraps his hand around it lightly. His lips meet mine again. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this.” holy shit. I moan into our kiss as his hand is on my throat. His hand travels down my body until its hovering over my shorts. He’s moving his hand from one thigh to the other. Barely grazing the spot where I need him the most. I breathe into our kiss as his hand stops at the waistband of my shorts. He’s such a fucking tease. He hovers his hand there for a minute sensing that I want more. 
“Oh my God Rafe” I moan out of anticipation.
“You want more baby?” he smirks against my lips.
“You know I do” Smartass.
“Say less” he moves from his position above me, to kneeling on the floor at the edge of the bed. He hooks his fingers around the waistband of my shorts, pulling them down, revealing my bare pussy. He pulls me closer to the edge of the bed and spreads my legs in one swift motion, causing my breath to hitch. He leans down and attaches his mouth to my clit. This of course causes another accidental moan to slip from my mouth. I immediately throw my own hands over my mouth to quiet the noise. His tongue is swirling circles over my clit as he inserts two fingers without warning. As hard as I am trying to stifle my sounds, nothing could stop the groan that I let out at this moment. He moves his fingers at a faster pace that matches what his tongue is doing. 
“Holy Shit Rafe.” I whine.
“You like that?” he smirks up at me. I nod and roll my eyes to the back of my head before shutting them tightly. But suddenly Rafe stops. “Open your eyes y/n. I want you to look at me when you cum. I want you to see who is making you feel this good.” I do as he says and open my eyes as I prop myself up on my elbows to get a better view. “Atta girl” He smirks before burying his face into me yet again. He adds a third finger as I throw my head back while remaining eye contact. He curls his fingers as he eats me out and I want to scream at the pressure building up inside of me. I reach forward and tangle my fingers through his hair as he grins up towards me. 
“Rafe! Oh my God” I let out a string of other soft noises and words.
“Go ahead baby. Cum for me,” I look Rafe in the eyes as I jerk my hips and arch my back, completely unraveling in front of him. As he removes his fingers from inside of me, he brings them up to my mouth. “I want you to see how good you taste.” he says as I take his fingers into my mouth until they are clean. He removes his fingers from my mouth and laces his hands through my hair as he devours me with a kiss. 
“That was incredible.” I breathe heavily.
“Oh we aren’t done yet princess.” the sound of him calling me princess was enough to nearly send me over the edge again. 
“I’d hope not” I tangle my tongue with his as he deepens the kiss by pulling my hair back. I reach for his pants and I undo his belt. 
“Eager are we?” he scoffs, pulling away for a moment. He removes his belt and  his pants. Leaving his boxers for me to remove. I gesture for him to sit on the edge of the bed where I just was. When he sits, I climb onto his lap, straddling him over his boxers. I can tease too. I lean in kissing him as I slowly start to rock back and forth on his lap. I can feel him getting harder by the second. To be honest this is doing just as much for me as it is for him. I start to kiss his neck, leaving marks similar to the ones he left on me. I start to rock faster back and forth until he is letting out moans the way I was. I cover his mouth.
“I thought we had to stay quiet.” I give him a sly smile before kneeling on the floor and removing his boxers. I come face to face with his cock as I run my tongue up the side, looking up at him while I do it. I move my tongue to the other side slowly, taking my sweet time. 
“Fuck y/n” Rafe groans as he places his hand in my hair. 
I wrap my mouth around the head of his cock and start to suck slowly, using my hands to work the rest that I can’t fit in my mouth. I bob my head up and down while I look up at him, my eyes are starting to water. He grabs my head and slightly pushes me down further, and I can feel his tip hit my throat. When it does Rafe lets out a deep moan with a mumbled string of “oh fucks”. After a few minutes, I can sense that he is going to cum. I don’t bother asking where he wants to finish before he finishes in my mouth. I swallow and look up at him with a smile.
“Holy shit. You really know what you’re doing.” He lets out a heavy content sigh. “We still aren't done yet. I need to be inside you.” He says laying me back down on the bed. I still cannot believe that this is happening. 
Rafe wastes no time climbing on top of me leaving sloppy kisses up my chest and meeting my mouth with his. “You sure about this?” He looks down at me.
“Never been more sure about anything.” I nod. 
“Good” He says as he grabs a condom from his nightstand and puts it on. Seconds later, he is lining himself up at my entrance. His tongue plunges into my mouth as he enters inside of me. His cock stretched my pussy perfectly. He moves with smooth motions leaving us both moaning into each other's mouths as he starts to pick up the pace of his thrusts. He brings his hand to my throat once again,barely applying pressure, making me let out a moan that was too loud to be stifled. He doesn’t seem to care. 
“You like when my hands are around your neck?” He whispers in my ear.
“Yes! Oh my god yes” I am starting to get louder. He moves his hand from my throat to my mouth to keep me quiet again. I moan into his hand as his thrusts hit the perfect spot inside of me. He can tell that he has hit the spot when my hips start to buck in perfect rhythm with his thrusts. I am almost screaming into his hand. As he leans down to kiss me again. 
“You gonna cum with me?” he asks, pressing his forehead against mine. I nod unable to speak, to stop myself from screaming. “Words y/n. Use your words” 
“Fuck yes. I’m gonna cum!” I whine out. He thrusts in and out a few more times, hitting the spot perfectly making me squirm underneath him. With one final thrust, I arch my back as I scratch my nails down his, definitely leaving scratch marks. We cum simultaneously as we let out deep and hungry moans into each other's mouths. He just gave me the best orgasm I have ever had. He pulled out and laid next to me.
“Holy shit. I’ve waited so long to do that.” he says looking at me out of breath.
“Me too. I always had a crush on you ya know.” I say looking at him equally as out of breath.
“Yeah I know.” He smiles and lets out a soft chuckle.
“Took you long enough to do something about it.” I laugh back.
“Thank God I did. And I plan on doing it again. Just so you know.” I winked at me 
“I’d hope so.” I smile, laying there next to him. He was right. That was the best way to get over someone. 
** hi! I really hope you liked this. If you did and want to see more let me know what you want to see! I had fun writing this and in my many many years of writing fanfics this is somehow my first time writing smut so I hope it was okay lol ❤️
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paper-starz · 9 months
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WELCOME HOME THEORY 2: The Theory Strikes Back
Good evening, gentlemen, gentleladies, and gentlethems,
Or Good night
Or even good morning,
Whenever you are, I humbly come to you all with another theory.
This time, its our favorite morally questionable sentient house, Home!
So strap in, buckle up, cause I have STUFF TO SAY.
THIS WILL BE VERY LONG AND IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE UPDATE!!
Alright, so to begin, what the HECK is going on with Home?
They are one of the most mysterious characters in Welcome Home, we don't know much if not anything at all. And what we do know... wellllll......
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Yeah definitely not menacing at all.....
The only thing that we do know of Home is well… ^ This and the fact that it and Wally are sentient.
Ok, let’s backtrack. HOMES SENTIENT???
Yep! While it was implied in the first update that it was aware of us, this handy-dandy audio clip confirms that Home (like Wally) is aware of “You” (Whoever this “You” person may be. Either literally us or the Question Answerer).
Now, what exactly Home is saying is still up for debate. Some say that it’s “Help Me” while others say it’s “Hello”. (It’s incredibly hard to know what’s exactly dots and dashes with Homes banging) but one thing is for sure, Home is communicating with us.
“AHHHH HOW SCARY! THE CREEPY DEMON HOUSE IS GONNA KILL US” D:
And that’s where you’re wrong, dear viewer. While Home is clearly morally dubious and incredibly suspicious, like Wally, I don’t think it’s necessarily evil.
Take for instance this link right here. It’s an honestly cute lil audio of Wally singing to Home. But while that is adorable, it’s the ending that I really wanna focus on.
Wally: …Do you like it? Home: *Creaks* (it’s Morse code again! Spells out IDO) Wally: Thats good… I think…
Ok why did I bring this old little clip up? Oh ya know… no reason… OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT WALLY CAN’T UNDERSTAND HOME ANYMORE!!!
Ok, I know whatcha thinkin’ “Why not anymore?”
Take a listen at another audio clip, this time it’s a secret one!!
The clip is about Barnaby and Home having a conversation with one another! But if you listen real closely… Home is not speaking in Morse code! It’s their own lil Home language, still consisting of creaks and bangs… yet Barnaby doesn’t seem to have any trouble understanding Home.
So how come Wally can’t understand Home and yet Barnaby can?
It’s because Wally’s sentient now. He’s getting more real. More human. Cartoon logic does not apply to Wally anymore! To us, Home is speaking in gibberish! Since it’s gibberish to us, then it’s gibberish to Wally!
And Home knows that, so it does the next best thing and tries using another language to hopefully communicate better. Now that I’m listening to the first audio clip again (so-below), it makes sense why Home is “speaking” slowly. It’s not used to communicating that way. It’s hard to tell their dots from their dashes, their bangs from their creaks, and it’s pauses are sometimes too long and too short at the same time! In a weird way, Home kinda has an accent when speaking in Morse code.
It’s kinda sweet just how hard Home is trying to communicate with Wally and us. Makes ya forget that Home has a weird portal and a flesh heart inside of them.
“WAIT WHAT?!?” (<- That’s you)
Yeah, remember when I said the more sentient something gets the more “real” they get?
Yeah, it’s also been happening with Home too. Go on any doodle audio file, and you can hear assumably Home’s heart beating away. You can hear it very clearly in this audio right here! I doubt the Playfellow Workshop made Home with a literal BEATING heart, but hey, Home is where the heart is I guess…
And now, the portal thing.
“Since when did Welcome Home ever had a portal??”
Oh since the very beginning actually!
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First updated “portal” picture
Many people (including yours truly) theorized that this swirly spiral was a portal to the real world. It seems that we have more evidence to support this theory too!
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First updated portal (shown left) and second updated portal (shown right)
Hey…. Wait a second…. Is it just me or it the portal getting…. Bigger?
The first update it was small, even the black goo wasn’t as bad… on the second picture, the spiral is INCREDIBLY large, and now the goo is coating the trees.
Well, isn’t that ominous.
"But wait. If Home has a portal... where is this portal even going?"
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Both portals have the same black goo surrounding it, the same white eye in the center and the same swirl.
It's going to the Restoration team. And look at where the portal is placed. It's on the ceiling. "As above"
and the one in Welcome Home is "So below"
So perhaps the portal in Home is on the floor... This CANNOT be a coincidence I swear!!
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With weird goo covering everything. And like, thats not all!
If you compare the items that the Restoration team uploaded onto the site in the first update and on the second update, you'll notice that the items have grown significantly larger.
At first, it was just envelopes with paper crammed inside of it. As if the person was trying to cram in as much information as possible. It isn't neat.
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About us page: All of the paper materials tucked away inside the envelopes we have received are usually crammed together and covered in paint and ink.
Now, in the second update, the items have grown larger.
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These items are much larger than mail, and I believe it also has something to do with how much bigger the portal has gotten.
Pretty soon, we might have full-grown puppets jumping in. But now that begs the question... Why is Home doing this?
Well, I think it's because Home really wants to help Wally.
As you inspect the website, there's a bunch of evidence that Wally is growing increasingly desperate for some other kind of sentient connection. It's been growing so much that it starts to get worrying...
Let's go back to the conversation between Home and Barnaby, notice anything weird? Not really? Well, I noticed that every bug audio file was in the perspective of Wally. Here, Wally is just staring at his half-finished painting, even Barnaby comments on this and finds it odd that Wally stopped painting.
It looks to me that Wally was dissociating. There, but not really there. He's been disconnected from reality because it feels unreal to him.
And Home sees that. As soon as the conversation turns to Wally, Home goes dead silent. When Wally still does not respond, Home releases a series of quick creaks and bangs to try and get Wally's attention. It doesn't work. Once Barnaby says Wally's name, it snaps him out of his dissociative state.
And Home is worried about Wally.
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It gives a whole new look to the infamous "so-below" image.
Home isn't looking at Wally, it's looking straight at us. Eyes shaking as Wally seems like he's begging. Home doesn't look malicious here, Home looks like it's begging us to do something to calm Wally down because it physically can't anymore.
Home and Wally don't have a lot, if not any facial expressions at all. And shaky eyes in cartoons are a good indicator that someone is scared.
And if Home (in this link) is saying "Help Me", then no wonder! Heck, even the freaking disk is shaking!
Home is reaching out to us for help because it can't comfort Wally anymore and I don't know about you but that is SAD.
Two puppets that recently gained sentience can't even get the comfort out of each other because they can't communicate anymore :(
So, all Home can do is wait and watch Wally.
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And if help won't come to you, well, having a handy-dandy portal is very helpful!
You can go to the help instead.
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patricia-taxxon · 5 months
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Closing in on the 5th anniversary of Punk this coming March, do you have any particular thoughts surrounding it or its philosophical approaches? You've shifted quite radically away from the sample-anarchist style in the time between, and I'm curious if you still hold onto some facets of that belief system. Thanks!
This is something I've wrestled with a lot recently, the simple fact is that it was much easier to justify my radical sample-anarchist approaches when I was an outsider sharing music with mostly close friends in small communities, but I have eyes on me now. Practically, I can't really get away with the underdog narrative anymore, and somewhere in 2020 it stopped feeling clean and tidy when I searched random >100 view videos on youtube to scrub for samples now that I knew I'd be exposing them to thousands more. Bandcamp's newer & firmer policies are also making it just... a lot scarier in general.
I'm also just not entirely sure how clear it is when I make something primarily sample based, I stand by every artistic decision I made on Beauty and consider it one of my best records, but I don't like not knowing exactly how original it is perceived to be by others, considering it is 1 step from just being a straight nightcore remix album. Like, do people think I did all that? I've considered compiling all the samples I've made and left uncredited in my old work, but there's a lot of it. I'd have to revisit a lot of embarrassing stuff & also many of the samples have since been lost.
I'm sure these things can be overcome, I still love working with samples, I still love plunderphonics music and sample culture. I've simply grown self conscious and anxious about it, just practically. I know that I've outgrown the often voyeuristic and smugly superior attitude I took towards sampling when I was a teenager, but I don't think my adult outlook is incompatible with it. I'm open to feedback, though.
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prince-kallisto · 5 months
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Ghost Camera: The Connection between Dreams & Reality
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I cannot stop thinking about how strange the Ghost Camera is as a concept, and the very little lore we get about it is so fascinating. It’s to the point I have several posts planned to talk about it haha! I’ve begun watching the EN translation of Book 7, and I completely forgot that Yuu was able to take a Ghost Camera photograph of Mickey. I have a feeling that this photograph will play a role later in the story, because Ortho begins to establish a connection with Mickey, the mirror, and different worlds.
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We see Mickey through a mirror, which only happens when Mickey is asleep and dreaming. Ortho claims that the mirror in Ramshackle may be an accidental Viewglass, where you can communicate with a person from far distances. The reason why I think this it’s because the mirror seems to be connecting to a dream realm, NOT in Mickey’s reality. It technically is haha, because the style of his room is reminiscent of the classic Mickey cartoons. But it’s still his dream, so Mickey’s corporeal body is sleeping. We know this because Mickey quite literally begins to vanish when he wakes up in his own “real world.” The properties of the Ramshackle mirror are very special, but that’s for another day (*゚▽゚*)
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So if Yuu managed to get a photograph of Mickey with the Ghost Camera, which explicitly captures people’s souls as well, this means that Mickey’s soul is what travels to this dream realm as he sleeps.
Of course, this is all very wishy-washy haha, but it’s a basic foundation to the idea I want to elaborate on: The fact that the Ghost Camera could be the connector between not only worlds, but dreams and reality.
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Magic is definitely a bit unreliable when it comes to theory making, but it’s significant that Book 7 is heavily building up magic and lore revolving dreams, and Silver with a Unique Magic like “Meet in a Dream.” If the Ghost Camera can capture the soul of a being, whose from another realm, and is DREAMING, this could be huge! We don’t know the extent of the Ghost Camera’s powers, as there’s a lot about its history that Crowley is hiding from us. The Ghost Camera was around since before the age of video, but it seems like not many functioning Ghost Camera’s are left.
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Ortho remarks that the previous owner of such an old camera must have taken great care of it to be in such a good condition- the previous owner being Crowley. This is true, because if Crowley’s claims of the Ghost Camera being invented when Ace’s great great grandmother was a child, this camera is in a perfectly functional condition at LEAST for 100 years, if not far more, like 150 years. Considering how small the camera is, this is very impressive that all the mechanisms and lenses have been maintained for this long, and can still print pictures perfectly in full color. Of course, it’s enchanted with magic, but it’s notable the camera existed before video.
Crowley himself states that the camera is enchanted with special magic to make the soul photography possible- but isn’t it also possible that Crowley could’ve added another property to the camera? He’s so adamant about Yuu capturing everyone’s lives, to be left behind as “Memories: Fragments of Remembrance.” The students, their behaviors, building soulbonds/friendships, the school…everything has to be captured with this camera that HE gave himself. There has to be something that he’s planning with the souls captured by the Ghost Camera, which then must connection with how the school is destroyed in the endgame.
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The novel also brings up the idea that everything was an “illusion.” Of course, it could just be Yuuya lamenting on the tragedy and horror of the destruction of the school and potentially lives, but magic is also a thing, making this potentially literal. The Ghost Camera can replay events that happened in the photographs, with the people in the photographs taking a corporeal form outside the photo. These forms aren’t “real,” so they could count as an illusion.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this haha, I feel like I have all these pieces but I can’t articulate how they fit together. It’s hard to predict just what Crowley’s plans are, no matter how hard I try haha! But again, Crowley having possession of an item that can capture a person in their dreams…(Don’t make this about Meleanor and Crowley, don’t make this about Meleanor and Crowley-)
Hey what would happen if Meleanor was photographed with the Ghost Camera 🤪🤪🤪 Could she be brought to “life” through the photos 🤪🤪🤪
Jokes aside, I think the “soul,” “dreams and reality,” and “imagination” will become a key parts of Book 8, and I feel like through Book 6 and Book 7, TWST has been elaborating so much more about the extent of the power of dreams, and the properties of a soul and a heart. And with the set up for connection between worlds, the Ghost Camera could potentially have the ability to bring these characters and concepts into the world of Twisted Wonderland, or at least reconstruct the Twisted Wonderland boys and certain events, by playing out the events in the photographs over and over again.
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What’s even more interesting is that I recently made an analysis post, based on the theory that the Major Arcana tarot cards connect to each character via that countdown art.
Crowley’s tarot card, since his countdown number is “1,” is the Magician. Feel free to read that analysis post if you want more in depth analysis! But what’s interesting is how the Magician is explicitly designed to the connector between a world above, and world below. It’s most commonly seen as the “unification of the physical and spiritual worlds.” And isn’t this interesting if this tarot card theory is intentional? That Crowley, the man who speaks of imagination being the key to magic, who gave Yuu the Ghost Camera, who put Yuu in Ramshackle Dorm to live in…he and the Ghost Camera truly may be the connector to worlds and realities far beyond Twisted Wonderland. I will definitely be elaborating soon on the potential of this idea with Crowley 👀🐦‍⬛
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everythingne · 6 months
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marketing ploy — LN4 / ch. 1
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Everyone can see the growing tensions between Red Bull and McLaren as Lando gears up to be the next best driver under Max. The publicity of it all causes a slight issue… the people want more drama. They need more drama.
So, McLaren and Red Bull make a deal—a plan to get them both the publicity (and some extra cash).
The plan?
Olivia Piastri (yes, Piastri), the head analyst of Red Bull, has to pretend to date her brother’s teammate. And she can’t tell anyone—not even Oscar, it’s not a real relationship.
piastri!oc x lando norris
warnings/notes: sort of financial abuse, manipulation from higher authorities, fake dating AND brothers best friend trope (guys let me cook!!)
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05 MARCH 2023 -- INSTAGRAM.
OLIVIAPIASTRI MADE A NEW POST ↴
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liked by landonorris, oscarpiastri, redbullracing, and 689k more…
oliviapiastri: never a dull day here in RB. so glad to have gotten to celebrate three podiums!! shout out to max, nori, and ossi here in bahrain!! 🧡❤️
bakerpiastri: the siblings ever 🧡
papayababy: so are we gonna talk ab her calling lando NORI??
⤷ rb.fancams: NO FR??
verstaphin: ok but since when has olivia posted so much mclaren??
oscarpiastri: oh so i can't see the film photos but u can post them?
⤷ oliviapiastri: this is what u get for biting me while drunk.
landonorris: thanks oli 🧡
lando.wc: olivia posting the prettiest photo of lando ever is so...
⤷ piastrycounter: NO FR??? what if. like.
⤷ lando.wc: @.piastrycountry our brainwaves are connected.
addiees: LANDOS COMMENT?
22 FEBRUARY 2023 - SAKHIR, BAHRAIN.
“Piastri incoming!”
Stepping into Christian’s office in my tall white heels, I give him a fist bump at his soft shake of the head and his laugh. It’s extremely weird to have been called to his office at this time, but the man had been serious when we’d spoken about it earlier. I'm still wearing the dress I'd worn to dinner with Oscar and our parents, a little orange sundress my mother had bought me when Oscar first signed with McLaren, paired with a little white sweater and my heels. A loose gold dangle earring catches on a curl, and my bracelets and rings clink as I raise my hand to slip the perfectly done curl off the earring before it ruins it.
"Thank you again, Miss Piastri, for coming on such a short notice." Christian says as I look into the room and my head tilts up slightly as I take in the room in front of me. Three men in different stages of formal dress with their backs to me, a man I don't know sits on one side of the desk with Alice, Red Bull's Chief Communications Officer. And a third woman sits on the other side of the desk with my brothers manager. As I speak, they all turn around, and I notice its both Zak and Andrea from McLaren, and...
"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" I ask, staring down none other than Oscar's current best friend, Lando Norris.
Now, I didn't quite... like Lando Norris. It wasn't that he was an asshole or anything, in fact, he was quite polite. And I didn't not like him either. I just didn't really know him. When you only really see a guy in work mode, asleep, hungover when your brother lets him spend the night after they party, or drunk off his ass at a club. Well. It's kinda hard to genuinely like spending time with him. But, he and Oscar got on better than a house of fire, so ultimately I had learned overtime to just deal with his antics. It was usually fun to watch, and I was usually too busy with Red Bull work to even be paying attention.
"Not at all, actually we were waiting for you to get started." Christian places a hand on my shoulder and smiles, motioning for the chair next to Lando that--conveniently, had been left open. I pop down next to him and offer him a soft smile which he returns. Ah yes, civility. I can work with the bare minimum, it's the usual amount of respect I get here.
"My Mom had to get a picture of Oscar and I in the new paddocks here, thats what took so long." I laugh, settling down in the seat and looking over at the women I dont know, offering them soft smiles as I turn back to Christian, "Sorry if I was a bit late."
"Right on time, actually," Christian nods, "As punctual as usual."
"Lets get right to business, we need Lando to be in top shape for tomorrows race. Can't keep him out too late." Zak easily jokes, bringing the attention of the room to him. Christian laughs softly, taking a seat at his desk and flicking open his laptop. The confusion radiating off of me slowly melts into curiosity, leaning back in my chair as well as I plop my little orange Coach purse on my lap.
"Ah, it's all too much for little Lando Norris, right?" I ask, kicking Lando's chair and he crosses his arms as he looks over at me--eyes meeting mine with a bit of playful anger.
"Little Lando Norris?" He pouts and I kick his chair again with a shrug, making him start laughing as he leans back and swats at my foot. His nails scratch along my ankle and I shiver from the feeling, pulling my ankle to the side of my leg.
"Well, this might work better than expected." Andrea comments with a soft grin on his lips, "they already get along well, and have some sort of chemistry."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Lando and I both turn to look at Andrea, then we both turn our attention to Zak and then Christian in order. The three men laugh along to Andrea, nodding in agreement as the two women jot down some notes, the third woman by Lando huffing with a soft smile on her lips. I point to Ada Luanne, my brothers manager and speak softly.
"Wait, so why are we here?" I finally ask and Christian looks to Zak, holding a hand out for the man to explain. He does, standing as he motions around the room, introducing everyone to each other, thankfully.
There's me and Lando settled in two leather chairs that uncomfortably stuck to my thighs. Christian sat his desk with Zak and Andrea standing between him and Lando and my chairs. Alice, Red Bull's Chief Communications Officer sits next to Steve Atkins, who is McLarens Chief Communications Officer. Then, on the other side of the desk is a woman named Astrid Marina, who is Lando's manager, and then my brothers manager Ada Luanne who is here to represent me.
"And, we are all here for the two of you." Zak nods, and Lando sends me a sharp look that says nothing but 'what the hell did you do?' which I counter with my best 'I didn't do shit, what did you do?' look.
"You see, tensions between Red Bull and McLaren's racing teams are at an all time high due to how close Lando has been racing with Max." Zak continues after a moment, "and the fans have been eating up the rivalry. It's truly been one of the most intense spikes in merch sales and social media trends we've seen in years on both sides. And, Miss Piastri, that is where you come into the picture."
"Okay? What does this have to do with me, if you don't mind my asking?" I lean forward slightly, eyes glancing up at Zak, then to Andrea, then Christian, then back to Zak's smug smile.
"We need to keep the rivalry alive between us and Red Bull, yeah? And, over the past few weeks when you've been on radio with Max, the fans have noticed the two of you seem to be quite close. And considering you are Oscar's sister..." Zak waves a hand as he comes to take one of mine, squeezing it as he leans down to be my eye level, "we have quite an opportunity."
"I'm not following." I glance to Lando, who sends me a helpless shrug of confusion.
"Well, Miss Piastri." Christian taps his desk and Zak moves to sit down again. I watch as both Alice and Steven whisper to each other as the Astrid and Ada nod to Christian, and he speaks words I never thought I'd hear.
"To keep up with publicity, we would like for you and Lando to pretend to date. Just for a season or two."
I can't even bring words to my mouth. The room feels so crowded, multiple sets of eyes watching me as I sputter to try and come up with some sort of answer. Luckily, Lando does that for me.
"I'm sorry?" He spits, a sort of anger in his tone, "what are you on about?"
"Olivia, you will start to spend more time with McLaren." Alice starts to explain, and everyone looks to her, "post more McLaren, wear more McLaren, start to cause a stir. Once we see that stir, we will take photos of you wearing Lando's number and post those. This should start a dating rumor through Australia to Miami."
My jaw is open, completely catching flies at the moment.
"Once the rumor really starts, you will both do a 'soft launch' of the other--basically, faceless photos. You'll be caught by paparazzi on a date, you'll be seen together in the paddocks, and such. We'll bring this rumor up and up until about midway through the season when, during a pole position celebration, Lando will go to you for a celebratory kiss--which will cement your relationship." Alice continues, and then Steven takes over,
"We'll run the relationship probably through next season, maybe a little longer, and then you'll both have a peaceful split off and remain friends. No harm done."
I stare blankly, finally closing my jaw to take a slow breath to calm my racing heart. I look to Lando, who looks equally as shocked if not more shocked than I am about this.
"You're reading me a film script, not the next twenty months of my life." I snap, standing up, and Lando follows my lead as I point to Christian, "I'm an engineer, not some--actress you can throw around for publicity points!"
"Olivia, please." Christian stands, holding a hand out like you would to a scared dog, "it's something temporary, and it's no strings attached! There's a pretty big... financial bonus as well."
"You both will get twenty-five percent of all revenue make off this stunt. Depending on how well you sell this... that could triple or even times both of your salaries by ten." Alice crosses her arms, "and, the deal will be kept to people in this office. Only we will know why this is being done. To everyone else, even Oscar and Max, this relationship is genuine."
There's a long pause, and part of me feels trapped. The amount of money I could make for putting up with a guy I already put up with his obviously extremely appealing. I make a good chunk of change already, but just doubling that would make me set for a while. I could finally start spending my money the way I wanted to.
Hell, I could pay off all my student loans at once with that absolute chunk of change.
"Fuck it." Lando says under his breath, so low only I hear the slight scratch of his voice as he sighs and then looks up at Christian, "where do I sign?"
"Norris?!" I shout as my disbelief hits an alltime high, He had made that decision easily. Lando's right hands takes a pen from Christian's left one as he turns back to me, running a hand through his frizzy curls.
"We fake date for a year, and then we go off and do whatever we want after with a large paycheck for something no one knows is fake. How is this a bad deal, Olivia? I already spend almost every weekend with you and Oscar anyway, it'll hardly be different." He says, and a paper is pushed his way, he looks back at me once more in that loose, half buttoned white tee and black dress shorts. His necklaces dangle off his neck as he scribbles down his name without any hesitance, clicking the pen shut and holding it out to me.
"Plus, if we're pretending to be a real couple, you'll be losing out on nothing because I will be buying you pretty much everything for the next twelve months."
Fuck. That's a good point. I could kinda manipulate this to benefit me if all goes to shit. The black pen taunts me, and the way he grins and wiggles it in the air towards my hesitantly lifting hand is no different.
Yeah, so much for being shy, Lando.
"Is there a way out of this after I sign?" I ask and Christian nods. Relief I didn't know I needed floods my body immediately after and I feel like a man in a confessional being absolved of his sins. Complete and utter relief.
"If you want to leave, talk with me, and I'll sort it out." He says, "it's really no strings attached."
So, there was a way to back out. Easily too. Christian had taken me under his wing with Red Bull when I was quite young. The man was basically my second father by now, so I could tell him anything, and knowing that all I had to do was ask him if I wanted to leave?
It felt a lot less heavy to look at the pen now. But I find my gaze drifts upwards and I look at Lando. That tiny gap in his front teeth, the freckle that rests on his cheek right by his nose, the way his eyes crinkle as his smile widens.
Oh, I'm so fucked when Oscar finds out I'm 'dating' Lando.
I groan, snatching the pen from his hand and leaning down to also sign the contract as I mutter.
"You're lucky I'm a money hungry bitch."
And, we begin.
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mewwfr · 5 months
Text
Oh my god, staff.....
This auraboa issue with the lore being (most likely) unintentionally racist is especially maddening to me, because the concept they seem to want to portray (based purely on the encyclopedia entry) is very similar to an OC I have, and so I can say with experience, it's incredibly difficult to convey! ESPECIALLY when you try to portray it inside a short story where you're cutting lines for word count (their forum reply mentioned they left out some lines to keep it short)
Instead of getting across the concept the encyclopedia entry seems to allude to, the short story just accidentally walks into like 10 racism rakes in a row and its truly agonizing for me to watch, knowing what i assume the actual lore's intent is.
encyclopedia quote: "Older generations of Auraboa existed in a constant state of communion with their fellows. They refer to this connection as The Loop. In this persistent state they perceive time and memory in a non-linear manner; their intertwined considerations for past and present events are such that it became difficult for a dragon outside The Loop to grasp the intentions of these ancient wyrms."
what seems to be the intention is that the auraboa are a hivemind that doesn't experience time the same way other dragons do- they experience past, present, and future all at once and thus cannot communicate well NOT because they have a different language, but because they aren't experiencing TIME ITSELF in the same fashion as the dragons! However, in practice, in the story, the auraboa seem to speak with words in the proper order, just haltingly, since otherwise the story itself couldn't work at all.
another encyclopedia bit: "The newest generation of Auraboa is not linked to The Loop in their waking hours. While they move through the world, they are less directly accessible and read as "silent" to Auraboa who are within the communal state. This disconnection has allowed the young Auraboa to experience time in a linear fashion, and with this new understanding they have begun to form connections with other species of dragon that have never before been possible."
The encyclopedia seems more clear about the Linear Time thing, and that being why they can actually communicate sensibly, but in the act of having a story where the older ones DO communicate with the outside dragons and get a point across, they've kind of not shown the reason why dragons and auraboa COULDNT communicate before! which is! a big thing!
If they'd implemented the auraboa speaking with everything in the wrong order instead of halting single words at a time, i feel like the intention would get across better. As it is, it just smacks them directly into the 'simple native' stereotype with a truly awful tripping into the 'having our kids be taught by outsiders' which is. a really wretched parallel, as many native people have spoken of the unimaginable violence of residential schools.
I feel like the encyclopedia entry Alone isn't nearly as awful (still not great, but not as bad) as the extremely poorly implemented story that managed to ddr dance onto a bunch of horrible tropes.
they were literally so bad at conveying the fact that the auraboa are a hivemind that is unmoored from time, that i see people misinterpreting the lore as auraboa having their own weird language that other dragons can't understand! there was not enough effort put into conveying the ideas they tried to convey, and what WAS put forward was literally chock full of the most unfortunate parallels physically possible.
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xxfrankiesteinksxx · 19 days
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small details in the dnpc video no one is mentioning
okay, look, i'm gonna admit it, i'm a game/film theory girly and a whore for lore, so i pick at details i shouldn't be picking at, so here's some things i see in the video that i don't see being mentioned in theories/analyses. also keep in mind my brain consists of a single cell encapsulated in aspic (i know what the actual deeper meaning is this is just a bit of fun for me)
the thing underneath the piano - the camera falls off the piano in one scene and something (i still cant figure out what exactly it might be) is visible, oddly clear-looking for something underneath a broken piano in shoddy lighting (actually looking at it again it might be a corpse, is it possibly phil's old body?)
dan telling phil not to film him drawing the sigils but phil still filming - you might be able to also throw in the part where phil screams "NO" when the camera's on him sitting in the corner; they don't seem to want things to be filmed but it feels like they're obligated to record everything to some extent
phil's very explicit control over dan - this is to the point where he even has to tell dan what and what isn't food, and takes away water privileges for some reason (btw this is your reminder to drink some water) and overall very demanding tone when instructing him
SOFT AND NEAT - there's a lot of reinforcement of this, its clearly a joke but i'm overanalytical and will blatantly ignore this. there's heavy hesitation with any sharp object around them (when dan has to cut his hand, kill phil, take out phil's heart, mentioning razor blades when using the shaving foam)
dan still primarily uses his left hand - people have mentioned how he's been "fixed" but him using his right hand seems to be performative since he pours most things, mixes with his left hand, and even primarily uses his left hand to spread the blood (plus he never sacrificed himself unlike phil who seems to have died in potato stamps and been resurrected with perfect vision) there's also old superstitions that being left-handed means you're somehow cursed by/connected to satan, speaking of which...
dan has a much better connection and the ability to communicate directly with Him - he seems to be a conduit, possibly being used by phil to properly perform anything (which also probably helped with his resurrection and eyesight improvement), he has uncontrollable actions from time to time
the sigils themselves - what do they all mean? what could they mean in a bigger, symbolic context? anyone that understands them pls explain to my aspic brain
the entire place fucking burns down after the ritual is complete and they're embraced by Him - it's clear at least to me that the shed is set on fire at the end of the video, cutting off further possible footage
dan doesn't put blood on phil's forehead during the ritual - might've just been a slipup during filming but we also dont see the blood dan put on his own forehead once he arrives and theyre all standing up in the pentagram
also just a couple fun facts:
the number on the case file when converted to corresponding letters of the alphabet spell out "satan"
what dan says in his reversed clip is just "thanks!", nothing is really said in the reversed clip of phil opening the shed door its juts kinda a random noise someone made
Aaaaand some misc nonsense crackpot theories/ideas/thoughts/brain vomit that my brain keeps me awake at night with (optional reading):
if the demon taking them at the end is actually baphomet and not just some generalized idea of satan, then "mother" could be another way to refer to "him" since baphomet is portrayed as having both female and male characteristics (bobs n pennies)
personally this is scarier/more unnerving than the actual blair witch project for some reason
my bathroom sink is the one sink you cant ship
i want a dapc for those dolls they hung everywhere
is cataloguing all of the ritual setup part of the craft channel's purpose?
what was the reason for summoning him? did they bring him to our plane of existence to just let him absorb these two brink-of-twinks and then use their gay power to torment the straights?
oh that rope is just his belt thing not rope tying dip and pip together
i think this is a good wrap-up idk what they could do in a part 5 to conclude things better
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c-t-r-l14 · 25 days
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This Audio Is SICKENING.
Ya’ll—I don’t even know where to begin.
When I tell you that I physically FLINCHED upon seeing Alex’s face in the thumbnail, the way my heart started beating, the way I started SHAKING while putting my AirPods in—you guys would’ve thought that I’ve gotten some terrible news or something. And—I don’t even know what’s CRUELER—the fact that Saku posted this audio on April Fools day, making us go back and forth between “is this cannon?” or “nah, this is definitely a joke!” Or him making it all lovey dovey at first, giving us a false sense of security—waiting for us to finally let our guard down so he could get ready to strike. But I do know that it broke me, and made me feel for listener even more.
I think one of the biggest reasons why it broke me so much was because we can see how much listener blames themselves. How much they think the breakup is all their fault.
And you can see how much its impacted them.
You see the thing with Alex is that he is really, really bad with communication. He’s rather quiet about how he feels, and doesn’t voice it out loud. A person like this—who doesn’t talk about their own feelings, who’d rather stay silent—usually are alone with their own thoughts. And that’s when things get rocky, especially in a relationship. One of the things that I noted in the break up audio (besides all the gaslighting, manipulation, and reality distortion), was the fact that Alex has had that argument on his mind ever since it happened, and not ONCE has he said something about it until the day they broke up. He was alone with his thoughts the entire time up to that point—mulling over the argument, his feelings, his future—and I feel like him doing this, instead of actually talking to listener to see how things can work out deadass lead him to believing that they couldn’t be together, which lead him to not tell them about the job offer until the very last minute. I wholeheartedly believe that if he sat down with them, and told them—“hey, I know you said sorry, but I still feel like shit because you made me feel this way,” if the thoughts got to be too much, then maybe things would’ve been better. But he didn’t—and just like listener, he assumed the worst, and on top of that— gave up without even trying to fight for the person he claimed to love so much. Instead, all he did was make excuses, act hypocritically, gaslight them, and blame them for everything—all the while not realizing that there was a whole bunch of things HE could’ve done better too.
And we can see how much it took a toll on listener—considering the fact that they were ridden with so much guilt that can’t even sleep well at night.
I can feel how much they hate themselves through Alex’s words as he tore into them, and this is honestly partly Alex’s fault, because he reduced them to a mistake they made. Dream Alex (who will now be referred to as DA from now on) was taunting listener—and throwing the words Alex said to them during the break up back to them. He kept on reminding them of their mistakes, and that THEY are the reason why he left. He kept on reminding them of the worst parts of themselves—and that’s high key what Alex did during the break up too. I feel like we all need to acknowledge that what DA said to listener in this audio is most definitely not a reflection of the way the real Alex would talk and act—simply because DA is a figment of listener’s imagination. And since listener is filled with so much hurt and heartbreak right now, of course their own guilt and self hatred is going to distort how things operate in their mind. So, let’s not take the things he has said at face value.
Listener has a lot to work on. Their trust issues left a wound that ran deeper than they initially thought. In a way, they are too much in their own head as well—and do end up going to the worst case scenario, and this behavior stems from the trauma they sustained from their former partner. This leads them to do irrational things, like invading Alex’s privacy and accusing him of stuff that only happened in their head.
Both of them have a lot of shit they need to work on. Alex needs to learn how to actually talk about how he feels, learn how to take accountability for the things he’s done wrong, and maybe grow a damn backbone, and listener needs to go get some damn therapy, get their trust issues sorted out, and learn all the facts before they come at people with any assumption they might have about them. I feel like this dream was kind of the point where listener realizes that they simply just can’t let their relationship end like this, because through this dream sequence, they realize that there was still a lot of stuff that was left unsaid, and are now seeking for some closure. I think now it’s the best time to go for it, considering that Alex apparently didn’t go to NYC and stayed in London instead (this is still very much unclear). And I am hoping and praying that his ass has the same nightmare listener had as well. Listener can’t be the only one who has a wake-up call (pun intended).
Their downfall was caused because these two idiots don’t know how to convey their emotions to each other properly. They could’ve had it all if one just actually opened their damn mouth to speak, and the other would just simply think before they open theirs.
This confrontation can go two ways: they cut each other loose and go about their own lives, or they find a way to make it work, (granted that they are BOTH willing to work on themselves).
Do I think their relationship is a lost cause? I don’t know. Something tells me that this probably isn’t the end, and a part of me (as much as I talk shit about how much I want listener to be an absolute bad bitch and leave him to drown in his regret), doesn’t want it to be the end.
With this being said, I still don’t like Alex. It’s gonna take much more than a damn walk down memory lane with a bizarre, brutal, dream version of him to get me to like him again.
Oh and by the way, Saku if you’re reading this—sleep with one eye open tonight.
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A Fresh Start [5]
Din Djarin x F!Reader
Warnings: use of fake name, reader’s on the run, grogu is a menace, jealousy, pining (is that a warning?)
Word Count: 4,913
Summary: When you made plans for your future they never involved being hired by a Mandalorian to baby-sit his adorable, green gremlin of a child. However, after your life fell apart in the span of one disastrous night,  you found it to be the only feasible option you had left. Nevarro was a  far cry from Coruscant, but the thriving community turned out to be  exactly what you needed. Every day you spend in Nevarro you fall more  and more in love with your new life, but when your past rears its ugly  head you find that perhaps peace wasn’t meant for everyone.
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Ch. #05: WIFE MATERIAL
Chapter Summary: Nima thinks you and the Marshal are cute. Cara thinks you and the Marshal are cute. Mayfield just runs for his life.
     "too shy to say, but i hope you stay." -Billie Eilish  
 Two weeks flashed by in a blink of an eye, and Din Djarin and his son had fallen into a new routine⏤ one with you as a staple addition to it. Din had been so sure that their lives had been perfect on Nevarro before you, but you swept in and created a space for yourself that was now essential. The sound of your voice, your laughter, your steps padding across the floor had seamlessly become a part of the soundtrack of his and his son’s life.
 “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round,” You sung to Grogu who mumbled the repetitive words while miming the spinning motions you made with your hands. His large brown eyes were focused on you with great intensity. “The wipers on the bus go…”
 “Swish, swish, swish.” Grogu mumbled the words in Basic while waving his arms side to side to mimic the motion of wipers. You clapped your hands excitedly, and Grogu giggled and bounced at the praise.
 Din leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched the scene unfold in the living room. Grogu had finished with breakfast and now sat on the couch in your lap. He was half tempted to call Cara and let her know he was taking a sick day. If he wasn’t so sure she’d see through his excuse and mock him for it, he might’ve tried.
 You turned your head to meet his gaze, and Din tensed at being caught staring. He pushed off the wall and walked over. You lifted Grogu in the air, rocking him to make him laugh, and Din scooped him from your hands to curl into his chest. “Are you having fun, ad’ika?” He asked as Grogu buried his face into the crook of his neck. “Are you having fun with Soran?”
 “ ‘lek!” Grogu cooed.
 “Do Mandalorians have any rhymes or songs?” You asked.
 Din titled his head. “I know a lullaby, but it’s not like the ones you sing with him.” He rubbed Grogu’s back. “Thank you for the songs.” Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and Din elaborated. “Grogu has gotten better with some words in Basic. I was worried.”
 “Don’t be.” You rose from the couch and walked around to stand beside him. “The book I’m reading says that kids who are raised in a multilingual home take a little longer in their language development. It’s completely normal.”
 Your words soothed his quiet concerns. To be honest, Din hadn’t been as worried about Grogu’s speaking habits since you arrived simply because he had become more vocal. Add to that the fact that he’d be starting school next week, brightened his mood even further. Grogu would only learn more and more from there. Din began to walk towards the door while still cradling his son in his arms. You stayed one step beside him with a sweet smile decorating your soft features. The warmth in your eyes when you stared at Grogu always brought a smile to his own face.
 “I’ll bring home dinner from the new place that opened up in the plaza.” Din said. “Don’t worry about cooking.”
 “Ooh, yum.” You playfully tugged on one of Grogu’s ears making him squeal again. “Hear that? We’re getting noodles for dinner tonight.”
 The dinner situation had oddly been settled without much discussion. A pattern had just clicked into place. Din would come home and remove his helmet to eat with Grogu while you got some time to yourself, then you would come out to watch Grogu while he cleaned up from his day out in the city. Finally, he’d don his helmet once more and the three of you ended up spending time with one another before Din would take Grogu to bed. Sometimes, you’d even eat dinner with them. Din and you would find a spot on the floor, like a picnic, and sit back to back while Grogu ran circles around you both sneaking food from every plate he could touch.
 “Noodle.” Grogu bounced in his arms and repeated the word over and over as if the chant would bring forth the food immediately.
 Din held his arms out for you to take Grogu from him. “Only if you behave, ad’ika.”
 “Tell your dad that you always behave.” You gasped, as if appalled at his statement. “You’re a little angel, aren’t you?”
 “ ‘lek!”
 Din chuckled with a shake of his head. He loved his son more than life itself, but angel would hardly be the word he’d use to describe Grogu’s menace-like tendencies. It was his mischievous nature that Din loved so dearly. If there were trouble in a nine mile radius, Grogu would find it. And if there wasn’t? His son was hardly hesitant in starting the mayhem himself.
 “Oh,” You said abruptly, “Don’t forget, Grogu’s appointment is at 2 today.”
 Din nodded, thankful for the reminder, and mentally made a note. This would be Grogu’s first appointment with the local physician and he wanted to be present for it. He believed you to be more than capable of taking his son on your own, but Din worried how Grogu would handle being in a medical facility. He wasn’t sure how much Grogu went through while in Gideon’s hands, and Din wanted to be there to support him in any way that he could.
 “Thanks. I can meet you there.” Din replied. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against Grogu’s⏤ smiling when the boy wrapped his arms around his helmet in response. “Be good, ad’ika.” Din leaned back and after a beat he offered you a small nod. “I’ll see you this afternoon, cyar’ika. Call me if you need me.”
 “I will. Bye, Mando.” You replied. As he stepped out the door, you stayed in the doorway to allow Grogu to wave at him. Din smiled to himself and readjusted his gloves to give his hands something to do. He would be lying if he said that he never had the urge to rest his forehead against yours when saying good-bye in the morning. A fact that he tried very, very hard not to think about.
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 You sat on the couch reading one of the many books from your past library on the holopad in your hands. As it turned out, after successfully guessing your last used password from a year ago, you were able to access all the books you had downloaded during your training years. Right now, the relevant ones you were reading all dealt with pediatric development and care. It hadn’t been a topic that particularly interested you back then. You learned what you had to in order to properly treat any younger patients, but that was it. Now, you found the topic exhilarating.
 The more information you absorbed the better prepared you were to take care of Grogu. That was your thought process at least. Doing a good job was about more than just ‘doing a good job’. Grogu had quickly become an important part of your life, and you truly cared for the little boy. More than just Grogu, his father had grown on you as well. Living in this house with them, becoming a part of their daily routine, made you feel like you belonged somewhere. It was something you hadn’t realized you missed until you got a taste of it once again.
 “Patu.” Grogu cooed.
 You looked up from your holopad to see him standing at your feet holding up a piece of paper. He had been drawing on the floor in the middle of the living room. “What’s this?” You set aside the holopad and picked him up. The picture he drew was a scribbled version of you holding a mass of green with big arms. “Aw, is this me and you?”
 “ ‘lek.”
 “I love it.” You said with a waver in your voice. A picture drawn in crayons shouldn’t mean so much to you, but you were already making plans to frame the paper and hang it up on the wall where you could see it every single day. “Thank you, sweetie.”
 You pulled him closer to cuddle him in a hug, but Grogu surprised you by lifting his hands to pat your cheeks. The cheek patting was hardly new, but then he lifted his head to press his forehead to the middle of your face⏤ the closest he could reach to your forehead. It was the action you watched Mando do to Grogu all the time. A sign of affection. As if the picture wasn’t enough to send you over the edge. You felt your eyes well up with tears and felt so silly at the notion that you couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Grogu pulled back and tilted his head in question.
 “Happy tears. I’m happy.” You shook your head and lightly bopped him on the nose with your finger making you giggle. “You made me very, very happy.”
 If there was one thing you had learned about yourself in the three weeks you had been here it was how unhappy and alone you were in Tatooine⏤ hell, even in Coruscant this last year. You knew, you understood, but you hadn’t truly realized until you began to make new connections. It was all so overwhelming and it left you an emotional mess.
 “How about we leave the house early?” You sniffed. “We can go say hello to Peli and Nima, and then pick up lunch.”
 Grogu was just as happy as you assumed he’d be at the prospect of leaving the house. It took you only a few minutes to clean up a bit and get Grogu into his pram before the two of you were out and traveling to Peli’s shop. In your time here, you had learned the layout of Nevarro well enough to get around without much issue. There were still a few places you needed instruction to get to, but you were fairly proud of how settled you had become.
 You heard Peli’s shop before you saw it, and Grogu’s pram sped up a bit in excitement to see Peli. He zoomed through the shop with practiced ease and you followed behind at a casual pace. It seemed the shop wasn’t overly busy and Grogu led you through the garage out to the back yard which Peli used more as a junkyard.
 “Green bean!” Nima yelled in greeting.
 She poked her head up from a pile of scrap metal to bounce over to the pram. Peli followed next and both women stood around Grogu cooing and chatting with the small child. You chuckled and lifted a hand to wave. “Hi. I’m here too.”
 “Yeah, but you’re not nearly as cute.” Peli replied bluntly.
 Nima lifted her gaze to you with a shrug. “No offense.”
 “I’ll try to push through the pain, but I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight.”
 Peli picked up Grogu and began to bounce him on her hip to his delight. Nima tickled his belly once before drifting closer to where you stood. She crossed her arms with a smirk. “Things seem to be going good.”
 “Yeah.” You nodded. “They are.”
 “Well, I am very happy for you,” Nima set her hand on your shoulder, “But I am also incredibly disappointed because now I don’t have a drinking partner.” You let out a laugh and gave her a light shove. Nima decided to wrap her arm around you instead. “Real talk though, it’s good to see you enjoying yourself. You can show me gratitude for finding you the job by joining me at the cantina tonight. It’s singles tuesday.”
 You shook your head. “Okay, first off, why would they have a singles night on a Tuesday? Why not the weekend?” Nima just shrugged. “And unfortunately I can’t. Mando is picking up dinner for us from that new noodle place.”
 Nima pulled her arm away to pout. “Can’t you just take your part to go. Hanging with me tonight will be so much more fun than eating in your room alone, I promise.”
 “I’m not gonna eat in my room.” You shrugged. “Usually when he brings dinner home, we eat together. We just pick a spot on the floor and sit back to back. That way I can’t see his face while he eats, but we both get to spend dinnertime with Grogu.” Her comical pout slowly turned into a mischievous smile. You furrowed your brow at her in mild concern. It was never good when she got that look. “What?”
 “Marshal Mando is bringing dinner home for you guys to share.” Nima repeated what you said, and you weren’t sure what she was getting at. “Together. Kind of like…” You raised an eyebrow at her, and she shimmed her shoulders, “A date.”
 Your eyes widened. “What? No. No, no, no. It’s not like that. It’s not romantic.”
 “You sit on the floor together. Food spread out around you like a picnic.” Nima said slowly. “How much space is there between the two of you? Or do you literally sit back to back?” At her question, you felt your cheeks grow warm in embarrassment. It was literal. The two of you didn’t necessarily touch, but the last time this happened if you had leaned back even a little you would’ve been able to rest against his back. Nima bounced in place. “That’s so cute! Ah, okay, you definitely can’t come to singles night then.”
 “Stop.” You held a hand up to point at her. “You always do this. Remember when you visited me during training and convinced yourself I was having a love affair with my professor?” Nima’s features turned sheepish and she mumbled a response under her breath. “What was that?”
 “I was wrong.” Nima sighed. “But in my defense, the two of you had some very intense chemistry.”
 “We didn’t. He was married. To a man.” You shook your head. “You literally imagined everything. To which, I will commend your active and creative imagination, but you’re wrong.” You reached out and placed both your hands on her shoulders. “I love you, but you’re very, very wrong.”
 “Boo.” Nima dragged the word out, her pout returned.
 You laughed at her disdain and she easily rolled into a rant about a customer she had to deal with earlier in the day. Her claim about Mando lingered in your mind, but you shoved it out of your head with gusto. Your first week here had been a bit awkward, but the last two had been a dream as everything seemed to fall into place. Mando had become your friend. It was more than you could ask for considering he was your employer. The last thing you wanted to do was mess that up by catching feelings.
 “Hey!” You and Nima paused in conversation to see Peli coming over with Grogu. “Bright eyes here is hungry. You gotta get him out of here before he starts snacking on my stuff.”
 You held your arms out and Grogu excitedly leaned out to fall into them. “Are you hungry, sweetie? You wanna get lunch?” He clapped his hands and you chuckled. “Alright. Say good-bye to Peli and Nima. Can you say bye?” Grogu waved his little hand and you decided to continue holding him rather than setting him back into his pram. “I’ll see you guys later.”
 “Message me if you change your mind about tonight!” Nima waved.
 You walked out of the shop with Grogu’s pram following after you. Mando had taught you how to program it to the arm band he had given to you. Nevarro’s streets were busy and you greeted familiar faces and you passed them. Anytime you had Grogu with you, more people stopped to say hello just so they could have a moment with the adorable child in your arms.
 “Hey,” You held Grogu’s hand and his small fingers wrapped around yours, “We were supposed to meet your dad at 2, but should we pick up lunch and surprise him at his office?”
 Grogu squealed in agreement and you were unsurprised by the response. You had learned that Mando was a fan of the sandwich shop owned by a local couple and as you’d have to walk by it anyways to get to the station it seemed ideal. It didn’t take long to pick up some food, and the owners had gifted Grogu with some free, blue cookies.
 It didn’t take long to get to the station from there, but in that time Grogu had managed to gobble down every single small cookie they had given him. You set the bag of food in the pram so you could brush the crumbs off of his clothes. “I’m starting to think you eat this messy on purpose, kiddo.” He giggled innocently and you shook your head. You picked up the bag of food again as you entered the station. One of the two rotating receptionists sat behind the desk as usual. “Hey, Thilxi! How’re you today?”
 “I’m doing well.” The Rishii woman replied. Her feathers were a mix of black, tan, and a pretty shade of orange. “Are you looking for the Marshal?”
 “Yeah, is he in?”
 “Mhmm. Go on back.”
 You thanked her and took the side hallway to get to where the actual office sat. The only person sitting in the room was Cara who was currently reading through a holopad. She lifted her gaze at the sound of your approach and a smirk crossed her features. Before you could speak, she called out, “Hey, Mando. We got some citizens here with a request.”
 You recognized the sound of Mando’s heavy boots. He began to ask what he was needed for, but his modulated words came to a halt, as did his stride, when his eyes landed on you. Mando’s head tilted in question. You held up the bag of food with a smile. “Lunch request.”
 “Buir!” Grogu blurted. “Skraan. Skraan, Buir!”
 Mando chuckled and crossed the space in a few easy strides and scooped Grogu from your arms. “Hey there, ad’ika.” He rubbed his son’s head and tugged lightly on a ear making Grogu giggle and grab at the hand. Mando focused on you. “You didn’t have to do this.”
 “We were already out.” You shrugged. “Figured we could just leave from here to the clinic. You aren’t busy are you?”
 “No. Not at all.” Mando nodded his head back toward the doorway. “We can sit in my office.”
 “Skraan.” Grogu grabbed at the edge of Mando’s helmet.
 “Call me if you need me.” Mando said.
 Cara, who was still grinning, nodded, “Sure thing, boss.”
 “Nice to see you, Cara.” You gave her a small wave before following after Mando. She returned your greeting with ease. You hadn’t actually been to the back part of this office yet, but through the door was just another short hall that led to a generator room, a storage closet, and Mando’s office. There was also a door at the very end of the hallway with an ‘exit’ side hanging above it.
 Mando set Grogu down on his desk while you glanced around. It was a small and rather plain space. A large window on one side allowed natural light in, which was nice, and there was a desk in the center of the room. The swivel chair behind the desk was olive in color and it matched the double cushioned couch sitting under the window. Behind the desk, on the wall, were a few drawings made by Grogu.
 “What does ‘skraan’ mean?” You asked. “Is it like ‘hungry’? I always notice he uses it around the time I’m about to feed him.”
 Mando let out a short laugh. “No. Fair guess though. It’s slang for ‘meal’.”
 So the green gremlin was just demanding his meal time. That sounded about right. You set the bag of food on the desk and Grogu immediately rushed to grab it. Mando scooped his son up again before he could shred through the brown bag to get to his sandwich.
 “No, no.” Mando said. Grogu let out a soft whine. “Be patient.”
 You began to unpack the bag while glancing over at Mando who was bouncing Grogu while chatting with him softly. As you began to throw away the bag into a bin nearby you heard Grogu patting his hand against his father’s chest repeatedly.
 “Oh. You know what? He hasn’t used the bathroom since this morning. I can take him.”
 “Don’t worry. Start eating, I’ll be back.”
 You watched Mando leave with Grogu and turned back to the food. In the silence, it occurred to you that this was a half planned idea considering it wasn’t like the two of you could just sit on the floor here. You rubbed the back of your neck and tried to puzzle this out.
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 Din’s morning had been busy. There had been a mess on the tarmac where scheduled landings got tangled up causing a number of near crashes. The team there should have been able to manage it on their own, but tempers flared and he got called there to witness. Din spent his morning babysitting temperamental pilots and flight crews.
 Needless to say, he really should’ve tried to call in sick.
 Din kept telling himself he’d at least get to see Grogu and you sooner than dinner time because of the clinic appointment. He never expected you to show up at the station with his son and lunch in tow. Din was beyond grateful for his helmet because if Cara saw the dumb smile that spread across his face she never would’ve let him live it down.
 He stepped out of the bathroom with Grogu only to immediately be met with a sly grin on Cara’s face. He slumped with a sigh. “Don’t.”
 “I didn’t say anything.” Cara replied. Din tilted his head in exasperation and Cara just laughed in response. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms⏤ preening as if she had just won an award. “It’s just… interesting.”
 Grogu grunted and began to pat his chest again. Knowing exactly what his son wanted, he knelt over and let Grogu down. He didn’t hesitate to rush away back to where his food was awaiting him. Din turned back to Cara and he pointed at her. “No.”
 “Soran bringing you food and a visit from your son in the middle of the day just for the hell of it before you both take him to the doctor for a school registration check up feels very⏤ what’s the phrase I’m looking for?” Cara hummed then nodded her head. “Domestic. Wife material.”
 Din set his hands on his hip and chose to keep his stance as casual as he could. His face felt hot and he knew he was bright red under his helmet. He already knew how attached he had become to the domestic energy that surrounded his home life. From day one, Din enjoyed that. Even back when things were still awkward, the moment he came home that first day to dinner being ready and Grogu calling out to him he had been hooked to that lifestyle. It was after that, much more recent, that Din realized it wasn’t just the domestic nature of things he was growing attached to.
 It was you.
 Din liked coming home to you. He liked watching you sing and dance with Grogu in the kitchen every morning. He liked the moments he got alone with you. It had been an accident the first night he stepped out of his room after putting Grogu to bed and ran into you in the kitchen. He had donned his helmet just to go get water but stayed there for a full hour just to talk with you. Now, he made it a habit.
 You were the first woman he had any semblance of feelings for in quite some time. In the past, any sort of attraction he felt was easy enough to ignore. He’d climb aboard the Razor Crest, fly off to work on the next bounty, and that was it. It was done and over. Din was learning that trying to ignore an attraction he felt for someone he lived with was much, much more difficult. He had to forget it though⏤ had to push it aside. You worked for him, and Din would never forgive himself if he jeopardized the new routine Grogu had become accustomed to. If he made you uncomfortable, chased you off, Grogu would miss you so much.
 Cara making comments with the words ‘wife material’ was only going to make this a million times harder.
 “The two of you are cute is all I’m saying.” Cara shrugged.
 Din grunted out a response which made his Deputy just laugh. He sighed and left for his office. It only took him a few steps in the hall before he heard Mayfeld’s voice. When Din got closer, he could see you sitting in one of the seats parked in front of his desk, Grogu in your lap eating, and Mayfeld was leaning against the front of his desk right beside you.
 “I can’t believe you haven’t been to Jay’s place yet.” Mayfeld chuckled. “Best place to eat in all of Nevarro. No doubt.”
 “Oh yeah?” You asked, helping pinch off pieces of Grogu’s sandwich so he didn’t just inhale the entire thing⏤ a terrible habit his son still had.
 Mayfeld shifted on the desk so he was closer. “They have some great mixed drinks too. Maybe I can take you some time.” Din felt his chest tighten in discomfort. A flash of anger mingled with the new sensation, and his hand curled into a fist involuntarily. “You free this weekend?”
 Din took that as his cue to close the distance. He didn’t like the idea of Mayfeld taking you anywhere at any time. He didn’t even like the idea of Mayfeld thinking about doing that. You let out a light chuckle and shook your head. “Sorry, I’m busy this weekend with, uh, Mando. He said he’d take me to…the…lava plains?”
 “Mando?” Mayfeld repeated. Din saddled up to stand in view and leaned against the open doorway with his arms crossed. Mayfeld’s eyes drifted over to him and Din could see panic settle in the man’s eyes. “Mando!” He scrambled away from you and nearly fell when he reached the end of the desk sooner than anticipated. “Hah, hey, I was just keeping⏤ I didn’t know she was⏤” Mayfeld motioned toward you then shook his head. “I’m gonna go work.”
 In order to leave the room, Mayfeld had to walk past him and Din didn’t make it easy for him. He stayed exactly where he was, following the man’s movement slowly with his visor, as Mayfeld struggled to squeeze past him without actually touching him. When he stumbled out and hurried away, Din looked back to you who stared at him with a wide grin. He felt his irritation melt away at the look on your face.
 “He’s nice.” You chuckled. “Also, sorry I used you as an excuse. I kind of panicked when he asked me out.”
 Din shook his head. “That’s fine. I don’t mind.” He straightened his posture and hated how awkward the next words out of his mouth felt. “Do you… Do you      want to see the lava plains?”
 “It’s on my to-do list for sure.” You nodded. “I feel like every time I walk down the street I hear one of the droids advertising the plains and the hot springs.” You handed Grogu another bite of his sandwich. His child was so enthralled by the food that he was barely aware of anything happening around him. “Besides, anything would be better than going on a date with a stranger. Nima asked me to go to this singles event tonight, and I have no idea how she can go to those things.”
 Din stiffened at your words then scolded himself for growing tense. You weren’t his in any sense other than employer/employee. Din had no claim to you whatsoever which meant he had no right to feel any shred of jealousy⏤ either with Mayfeld or with you attending a singles event. He was paying you to watch Grogu and, by association, paying you to be around him. Besides, it was foolish of him to think this wasn’t something that would come up. You were a ray of sunlight after a dark and stormy day. You were refreshing. A breath of clean air after months of stale hyperspace. Smart, funny, kind, caring. Not to mention gorgeous. Maker, Din would crawl across the sands of Tatooine, under both suns, armorless, if it meant he could just touch⏤
 No. He had to stop. That line of thought was the opposite of helpful.
 Din cleared his throat. “You and Nima?” He tried not to let any disappointment show. He steeled his voice with practiced ease. “Are you going out with her tonight? I know we haven’t talked about it, but if you need a night off…”
 “No way.” You grinned then motioned to Grogu who was still happily settled in your lap. “I told her I was busy. I got a date with this cutie and some noodles.” You tickled Grogu who squealed in response, eager to play. “Don’t I, sweetie?”
 Din was smiling like an idiot again.
 Maker, was he in trouble.
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songmingisthighs · 1 year
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[15:38] hongjoong × reader (fr. xikers minjae)
⇀ hongjoong loves the fact that his juniors are getting the recognition they deserve. just not like this.
⇁ it's fine. really. so fine. abso-tively fine. fucking fantastic even
"Ah, shit,"
Hongjoong scrambled up as he hastily saved the file of work he was doing for the past... four hours. He remembered you coming to take him for a walk or coffee around three hours ago, saying that he needed to see something other than the blue light emitted from his computer's screen. Of course, in a true Kim Hongjoong fashion, he said "yes" which was followed by "but let me finish this tiny part first" and of course, in a true (y/n) fashion, being impossibly in love with the man, you agreed and sat down on the couch behind him, waiting.
Now, three hours later, Hongjoong realized that you were no longer even in the room and that was when he decided to panic. Hands moving in the speed of light whilst still trying to be careful so he wouldn't knock anything off of his desk or worse, onto his computer. Whilst his file was saving into his computer (in a speed that was oddly longer than usual), Hongjoong tried calling you to know your whereabouts and to prepare the length of apology he might need to do in case you were pissed at him. But unfortunately for him, you weren't answering your phone nor seeing his texts which made him think the worst case scenario. You had gone home because he was being inconsiderate.
Praying that his files would complete its saving progress, Hongjoong took his keys, AirPods, and wallet off the desk and shoved them down his pocket and immediately exit his office to go find you.
Much to his surprise, however, he was met with the sight of you in the communal area of the production office with Joy, Maddox's dog, in your lap. You were cooing at the puppy as you rubbed her furry belly, tummy up on your lap, panting happily and even making eye contact with Hongjoong as if she was taunting him over the attention you were giving her.
"Lucky bitch," Hongjoong grumbled under his breath. Despite the remark, he wasn't really pissed whatsoever, not at anything and especially not at the dog, as he was honestly just glad to see that you hadn't left the building. Which means that there was a chance that you weren't mad whatsoever especially with Joy in your lap. Hongjoong was in the safe zone this time it seems. So knowing that your mood will be all happy and positive since you had the adorable canine in your lap, Hongjoong figured that he can be just as cute and butter you up, saying all the right things and within no time you'd be feeding him pasta.
However, just as Hongjoong was about to join you, he heard footsteps coming closer in a jogging pace, and soon a figure emerged, grinning brightly in his oversized hoodie with something in his hands. "Noona, I found her snacks!" Minjae grinned widely, plopping down on the floor in front of you as he opened the packaging of the dog biscuit happily. Maybe it was Hongjoong's jealousy creeping, but he could almost see puppy ears and tail on Minjae, wagging happily next to you as if basking in your attention. But it was probably nothing and he was just overanalyzing because he had been feeling bad for working when he was supposed to be doing something with you. What made the vein in Hongjoong's forehead almost pop, however, was when you cooed and patted Minjae on top of his head like he was a puppy himself. "Good job, Minjae! You're such a good boy!" And you even complimented him like a puppy, what even is that!?
"Noona," Minjae whined, face blushing as his arms half-heartedly tried to brush your hands away from him, "Don't pet me like a dog!" He pouted, averting his eyes shyly to focus on Joy who he had began feeding. "Aw boo, how can I not, Minjae? You're the most adorable leader I've ever known,"
And that was it.
"Hey!" Hongjoong plopped right next to you, his left arm draping over your shoulder with a huge (creepy) grin on his face (that seemed vaguely threatening towards Minjae). "What are you guys doing?" He asked, purposefully planting a big smooch to your cheek (and regretting it as seen from his VERY red face) and then looking straight at Minjae, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in lessons?" Hongjoong hoped that Minjae would take the hint and scooch away. Far far away and for a long long time. "Oh, I was. But the vocal coach wanted to spend more time with Junmin and Jinsik so I was let out early and I met noona with Joy and I just couldn't help myself!" He grinned. "Of course you couldn't help yourself," Hongjoong muttered under his breath lowly which Minjae didn't caught but you sure did though you pretended like you didn't.
So you decided to have your own little fun.
"Yeah, Minjae was taking care of his members and also me for some reason. Heck, he even helped take care of Joy! Isn't he such a good leader?" You smiled in faux innocence at Hongjoong, clearly wanting to emphasize how good of a leader you think Minjae is. The words made Hongjoong's eye twitch in annoyance and jealousy, not liking that his spot of "favourite leader" in your heart was seemingly threatened by a boy whom he helped mentored. "Yeah... Minjae's an awesome dude, isn't he?" By that point, Hongjoong's smile was strained so hard it seemed like his cheek bones were cramping.
Oblivious to what you two were doing, Minjae looked up with his big innocent eyes and spoke up for himself, "Well, I took a lot of Hongjoong hyung's advice and he took great care of me, so obviously I wanted to return the favour to (y/n) noona!" Though his words were sincere and seemed to praise Hongjoong, the coo and head pats you gave the younger guy only caused Hongjoong's nose to flare as he huffed out a breath.
Luckily, someone (that sounded like Hunter) called for Minjae from the end of the hall and Minjae immediately excused himself. While Hongjoong appreciated the speed, he almost pulled you onto his lap when Minjae gave you a side hug before running off. In Hongjoong's eyes, it felt like Minjae was running off in pure happiness with giddy steps that he got from you and call it the possessive boyfriend and captain in him, but he didn't like that at all. Not one bit.
When Minjae was out of sight, you turned to look at Hongjoong with a grin that was far too smug to his liking. In contrast, Hongjoong was frowning hard that the bottom sides of his lips and the spot between his eyebrows creased in clear annoyance. The both of you stared at each other like that for a while, clearly communicating, saying things without using actual words just by looking at each other. Most of your public communication happened that way as to save yourselves from using words or even having to think about what words to use. It effectively eliminates prolonged argument and you both believed that it was because you just loved each other so much. And you truly do. How else would you both been able to do this?
Finally, giving up, Hongjoong let out a huff before he broke the silence. "Well, you could've said something! And you know, not hang with Minjae? Because I'm the best leader you know, period. I don't care about anything else, I'm the only leader in your heart, okay? You should not be looking at other leaders, heck, you shouldn't even be thinking about other leaders! Because do they have to deal with Wooyoung?? Do they have to deal with Yeosang??? Do they have to deal with literally all five members of 99z along with Seonghwa and Jongho? Because I did and I damn know I did a fantastic job with them! An-" before he could ramble more you had pressed your lips onto his with a giggle, effectively shutting him up as Joy jumped up onto Hongjoong's chest with her tail wagging happily. When you pulled away, Hongjoong's frown has melted and he looked slightly shocked which to you was absolutely adorable. "I'm just hanging with Minjae, Joongie and I said Minjae was the most adorable leader ever, you're my captain, okay? You are my ONLY captain and you're the handsomest, most adorable, and best of the best captain and I love you, okay?" You then stood up with a hand outstretched to him as you hold Joy in your other hand, nodding towards the front door, "Come on, we're taking you out to get you some coffee and Joy some fresh air."
Now happy, Hongjoong gladly took your hand in his, all jealousy melting away as he was finally able to have your attention to himself. Sure, he loves his juniors, but hell will freeze over before he share you with anyone else.
"You can't blame me for liking Minjae though, he's as cute as a button and as determined as a puppy. He reminds me of you slightly."
And there his eye goes, twitching again.
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royal-misfit · 3 months
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Spoilers for Disco Elysium
Dros is a very interesting character to me. Mainly because I see him as a foil for Harry. Both men are trapped in a past that they've idealized. Harry with disco music and his failed relationship with Dora. Dros with his time in the Commune. This cause both men to isolate themselves; figuratively in Harry's cause and literally in Dros'. Harry's drug and alcohol abuse is his attempt to numb himself to his pain, which causes him to lash out at his friends when they attempt to get him to stop. Dros is also constantly under the influence, having spent decades in the home of the Phasmid and inhaling its pheromones. Both men are consequently stuck in a state of arrested development. Harry stills acts and behaves like a twenty-something, obsessed with partying and living the "disco" lifestyle. Dros, meanwhile, has been in self-imposed exile since he was 16, and still has that teenage mindset regarding sex and compromise. However, both men are also noted to look much older than they actually are. Harry is 44 during the events of the game, but both he and Kim believe him to be in his 60s at first because of the damage all the alcohol and drugs has done to his body. Dros is similar, while we're never given his exact age, we know he was around 16 when he abandoned his post during the war. At most he's probably in his sixties. However, life in isolation and festering resentment at the world makes him look closer in age to René (a man in his 80s). Both men are also extremists for their chosen ideology. Again, probably owing to their arrested development. It's stated in-game that no matter what ideology Harry chooses, he takes it to the extreme. Out-of-universe this is so the writers can satirize the ideology, but in-universe I think it's Harry trying to find an identity for himself. Dros is always a communist, in fact he believes himself to be the last "true" communist in Revachol (and probably the world). If you do the Communist Vision Quest, and become the biggest Commie to ever Commie, he calls you a pedophile and a poser. Dros is a look into the kind of person Harry is in danger of becoming. An isolated, bitter old man with his best days behind him. Constantly moping about how he can never go back to the way it used to be. However he doesn't have to be that. It's not easy, he's probably going to relapse and he might never truly get over Dora, but the game still says he has hope left. When you complete the "Date of Birth Generator" thought you get this line: "You are 44 years old. The bloating may never leave your face, but beneath it - you still have some years. You still have some hope." That's the difference between Harry and Dros. Harry still has some hope left for his future. Dros has none left. To Dros, hope was lost the day the Moralitern and Coalition stamped out the commune. Now he spends his days looking through his rifle scope at a world that has moved on. While Harry loves Revachol, Dros despises it. The city still speaks to Harry, the people still matter to him. Dros would rather see everyone burn for moving on, because why should they move on when he can't? Harry could become someone like Dros, but he doesn't have to. I think that's why this scene has stuck with me so long after I first played Disco Elysium. You see the growth and change Harry makes over the course of the in-game week, and while there some concern that it won't stick, there's also the hope that it might.
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lunar-years · 11 months
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I am having so many Roy Kent thoughts this morning. Like, just how deeply lonely has that man been, for a very long time probably but especially the past year? He doesn't seem to have...friends? Like, sure, he has his fellow coaches, and he has Jamie. But it's not exactly like Ted's been in the correct headspace for most of the season to be pal-ing around with Roy in his free time, and Beard is friends with everyone and I expect has a million and one social commitments at all times, dictated first and foremost by Jane. We get the sense in the Chelsea episode of the sort of easy rep Roy had with the staff and community there, but also that he's cut himself off largely from all those good parts of his former life; clean break since the day he left. So by now, Roy's social life is fully just work and his 10 yr old niece...and eventually, Jamie Tartt.
Before he started training with Jamie, though, I fully think Roy was isolated and depressed as all hell, probably much more than he realized or ever acknowledged. Yes, he had the Club, and sometimes Phoebe in the evenings, but the rest of the time? Come home alone to his empty house that wasn't anything like Keeley's, and try to read his book, and make his dinner. Maybe watch some footie on the telly. Yoga once a week, if he's even still going, but in a way even that's lost its charm, because it's not like he can tell the mums anything, they don't even know who he really is! Try not to think too hard about how much he misses Keeley. Rinse & repeat. And the cycle becomes so unbearable that god, does he welcome training Jamie.
But even training Jamie, at first, is just...a way to extend work, isn't it? Work, work, work so he doesn't have to think about anything else, or linger on his own encroaching loneliness with the world. We don't see him and Jamie do anything but train until Amsterdam, which is the start of the breakthrough, and then until the very end of the season. Because Roy very stringently doesn't let Jamie into other parts of his life, even though he maybe (definitely) wants to. Jamie is part of work, not part of his personal life, and he forces himself to keep those rigid boxes up even after they've begun to bleed through. It's Jamie who has to push through them, slowly force his way in past Roy's defenses. And it's a good thing Jamie is a persistent little fucker, or Roy would well and truly have had no one.
And the whole time this is happening, Roy is forced to live with the fact that he's brought this all upon himself. He left Chelsea. He left Keeley. He's cut himself off from nearly every good thing in his life, and the worst part of all is, he can't stop doing it, even knowing it's made him miserable! even knowing he can't go on like this! He still can't bring himself to consciously allow Jamie fully into his life even as he increasingly relies on Jamie and their time together to keep him afloat. They're together all of the time, but for a long while, Roy won't even call him his friend.
Just...god, Roy is the most insane blender of fierce love and arrogance and protectiveness and repression and rage and self-hatred and self-sabotage and isolation and, and!! all the things he won't allow himself to have and all the people he won't allow to love him!! We wasted so much time on Shandy and Zava this season when we should have been cracking Roy Kent's skull open like a nut and examining every inch of his brain, me thinks.
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Hi. A question in relation to your response a few asks ago. As a leftist foreigner, I have always thought Catalonia and its independence movement have a cemented leftist core, but is that just me simply being an essentialist and simplifying the dynamics since the war? Of course, I understand that most Catalans, like most people, are just normal people living their lives and wanting health and happiness and not hard-core extremists either way. I'm half Palestinian and boy, am I tired of people painting us as inherently political when all we want to do is, you know, stay alive. But, I've always just imagined Catalonia as a stronghold for socialist and anarchist vibes. Is that off? And if it's not off, how come one Spanish narrative is that Catalans are bourgeois and capitalist has been so prominent? Like, what are they basing that on? The fact that Catalonia is a somewhat wealthy region? And how do leftists respond to that? Sorry for sensitive questions I'm just really intrigued by this. Sending all the love from one occupied people to another.
First of all, my most sincere best wishes for liberation and solidarity to you and all the Palestinian people 🇵🇸❤️
You are right, Catalonia is a stronghold of leftism. It can be seen easily in maps of election results every time there are Spanish elections, or polls, etc. Catalonia and Euskadi always stand out. This is so prominent that there's even a Twitter account called The F*ck*ing Same Map Again making fun of this, lol. And within the independence movement even more so, too. Historically, the Catalan independence movement has been very linked to communism, with presence of social democrats as well. Since around 2010, many more social democrats and liberals have joined, too. This is not to say that no other profile exists, as you pointed out you can't expect a whole country to have the same ideology, but it's overwhelmingly the case.
The reason why the Spanish left likes to stereotype Catalans as bourgeois (at the same time as, when it's more convenient to them, they also stereotype Catalan people and language as a poor rural farmers' language) comes from the fact that Catalonia (and to a lesser extent also the Basque Country) were the only places of the state of Spain that were industrialized during the Industrial Revolution and for most of the 20th century. This created a very prominent Catalan working class —for your ask, I assume you know about the CNT, the collectivizations, etc. To give an overview, in 1919 about ⅕ of ALL of Catalonia's population was affiliated to the CNT anarchist union, that is not counting people in the rural areas affiliated to unions for rural workers like Unió de Rabassaires that also sympatized with CNT in many matters but was more focused on agricultural workers. More than ⅕ of the whole country's population being a paying member of the anarchist union!— But, of course, industrialization also produced a muuuuuuuch smaller amount of bourgeoisie. While most Southern and Central Spain was still ruled by the aristocracy that owned most of the land and hired agricultural workers on a daily basis (jornaleros), in Catalonia there were bourgeois factory owners.
In the 1920s, many people came from rural areas of Spain to Barcelona and other urban areas of Catalonia (the population of Catalonia tripled with their arrival), and in the 1960s again the same (this migration tripled again Catalonia's population). In many places, the people who were arriving lived side by side with the people who were already there, usually learned Catalan and mixed with the population. But in some places around Barcelona, because there wasn't enough housing in the city for all the huge amount of people who were arriving, the regime (this was still under Franco's dictatorship) built "dormitory suburbs" where previously there was no town nor suburb. Areas that used to be fields suddenly were all built into cheap housing for the arriving Spanish workers, often with very bad conditions when it comes to public services. Thus, there were pockets of the newly-arrived population that lived in areas only created for them and only inhabited by people who had arrived at the same time as them. The result is that these workers only ever knew other Spanish immigrants, and the only Catalan people they ever met would be at their jobs when they commuted out of their dormitory suburbs into Barcelona's centre. This way, in these pockets of the population (which, of course, did not come free of Catalanophobia) the idea that everyday people spoke Spanish and the bosses and managers spoke Catalan was cemented.
(Obviously, I don't mean to say that everyone in those neighborhoods thought this, only that it was an idea that developed and spread to many people there. There were also people who did not see all the Catalan people as enemies and kept a good class analysis and allied with the Catalan working class and the Catalan people as an oppressed group. A famous example is the writer Paco Candel who lived in one of these new working class neighbourhoods and was an activist for the working class and also for Catalan language, cultural and political rights. I don't think it's been translated to English, but if anyone reading this wants to get a very good view of what the situation was like, the must-read is Paco Candel's 1964 book Els altres catalans).
The idea that "people like us" speak Spanish and bosses speak Catalan is, of course, objectively false. Since in every place capitalism needs more workers than bosses, the first proletariat of the state of Spain was Catalan, and the overwhelming majority of Catalans were and are working class. And the poorest areas of Catalonia are also the ones where Catalan is most spoken and Spanish is rarely heard (all of them in Terres de l'Ebre, a largely agricultural area). At the same time, Spanish has always remained the language of power, the only one spoken by the police, the army, the government, the public administration, etc and the one that rich people want to be heard speaking for prestige reasons. Even more so back then, when Catalan was prohibited and legally persecuted in many sectors. But despite being an overall false picture, it was the experience of these people day after day. The mix of already-present Catalanophobia with the "confirmation" of Catalan people being their enemies in the workplace created this very weird and very out-of-touch mentality of Catalan people being bourgeois in a small part of the Spanish speaking people, while for the vast majority the idea of still that speaking Catalan is for extremist antifascists and that it was a thread for the fascist state and for the very existence of Spain and thus needed to be erradicated. With time, after the dictatorship ended and the democracy period started (1978), the Spanish left was legalized (Catalan independentist parties would take a while yet, because it was said that "Catalan separatists are more dangerous than the communists", but in some time ended up legalized as well, except for some Basque parties that have been illegal until the 21st century) and a part of the Spanish left instrumentalized Catalanophobia to gain votes in some circles, so they used this rhetoric and it spread more, because it gave them a justification that used the right words to sound vaguely leftist and they don't have to question their beliefs nor prejudices.
I hope this answers your question. Thank you very much for your interest and your solidarity, it's greatly appreciated.
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fruity-pontmercy · 2 months
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Les Mis adaptations and apolitical appropriation
I think it's no secret on this blog that I love the original Les Mis 1980 concept album in French, and that I also love comparing different versions of the stage musical. I've noticed that Les Mis seems to get progressively more vaguely apolitical as time goes on, not only in the way it's viewed in our culture, but in the actual text as well.
It's natural for specifics to be lost in adaptation. It's easier to get people to care about 'the people vs. the king' in a relatively short musical rather than actually facing the audience with the absolute mess that were 19th century french politics (monarchist orleanists vs monarchist legitimists vs imperialist vs bonapartist democrats vs every flavour of republican imaginable). Still, I feel that as time goes on, as more revivals and adaptations of the stage musical come out, the more watered down its politics become. Like, Les Mis at it's core is just meant to be a fancily written, drawn out political essay, right?
In a way I feel that the 1980 concept album almost tried to modernise it with its symbols of progress. Yes, through Enjolras' infamous disco segment (and other similar allusions to the ideals of social change), but perhaps most interestingly to me, through one short line that threw me off when I first heard it, because it seems so insignificant, but might actually be the most explicitly leftist line of all of Les Mis.
"Son coeur vibrait à gauche et il le proclama" (roughly "His heart beat to the left and he proclaimed it" i.e: he was a leftist) Feuilly says, while speaking of the now dead général Lamarque in Les Amis de L'ABC.
What's that? An actual mention of leftism??? in MY vaguely progressive yet apolitical musical??? More seriously, this mention of leftism, clashing with the rest of the musical due to it's seeming anachronism, is interesting not because it's actually more political than anything else in Les Mis, rather, because it's not scared to explicitly name what it's trying to do.
But we've come a long way from the Concept Album days, it's been 43 years, and Les Misérables is now one of the most famous and beloved musicals in the entire world. It's been revived and reimagined and adapted in a million ways, in different mediums, in different languages and countries, and it's clear that it's changed along with it's audience.
On top of pointing out a cool line in my favourite version of the musical, I wanted to write this post to reflect on the perception of the political message of this work. We as a Les Mis fandom on Tumblr are very political, I don't need to tell you that, however, I feel that because this very left leaning space has sprung out of a work we all love so much, we oftentimes forget to revisit it from a more objective point of view.
Les Misérables has a history of being misrepresented, this has been true since it's publication, since american confederate soldiers became entranced with their censored translation Lee's Miserables. However, with it's musical adaptation, this misinterpretation has been made not only more accessible but also easier. As much as I love musical theatre and I think it is at it's best an incredible art form able to communicate complex themes visulally by the masses for the masses, I think it'd be idealistic to ignore the fact that the people who can afford to go see musicals regularly are, usually, not the common folk. Broadway and the West End are industries which, like most, need money to keep them afloat, and are loved people of all political backgrounds (and unfortunately, often older conservatives) not just communists on tumblr. We've seen the way Les Miz UK's social media team constantly misses the mark regarding different social issues, and the way Cameron Makintosh has used the musical to propagate his transphobia, and most of us can agree that these actions are in complete antithesis with the message of Les Misérables as a novel.
But I must ask, how does Les Mis ,as a West End musical in it's current form, actually drive a leftist message, and how are we as a community helping if every time someone relating to the musical messes up if we just claim they "don't get it"?
I'm thinking in particular of incidents like last october, where Just Stop Oil crashed Les Mis at the West End. Whether you think it's good activism or not is not the question I think, this instance is interesting particularly because it shows that, outside of Les Misérables analysis circles and fandom spaces, it is not recognised as an inherently leftist, political or activist work, and instead of just saying they completely missed the point of the musical, I think it'd be interesting to take a step back and look at what the musical as it stands actually represents in our culture today.
I don't pretend to have all the answers, so I won't try to give one, but I do hope we can reflect on this a bit.
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