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bereft-of-frogs · 2 months

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is friday. have a list.

reading:

(finished) Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka: Still excellent, still thinking about the ending

(in-progress) The Great Transition - Nick Fuller Goggins: I got this from the person who runs the horror book club I go to. The blurb compared it to Station Eleven, perilously high praise, but I'm weirdly enjoying it. Weirdly because I was afraid the structure would get annoying and weirdly because it's doing a bunch of things I usually find annoying but I'm not annoyed? I think it's because even though there's a lot of social justice themes, it never really feels like the characters are lecturing at the reader. Like there have been some scenes where characters are lecturing other characters - but so far they've all felt like they were more about revealing about the characters and their relationships rather than being like 'see, I know about solidarity, look how good a person I am!' I also really like that the exposition is being given through one of the POV characters (a high school student)'s essays, which have comments from her teacher and the comments are all PERFECT - and sure enough the author's day job is as a teacher. XD

(finished) Light of the Jedi - Charles Soule: still not my favorite, but it does pick up once you get past the first part. I think the narration of that action goes on for a bit too long and doesn't leave much space to take in the characters or setting because so much is happening, one thing after another. But, as I said last week, infinitely better than doomscrolling

(in-progress) Into the Dark - Claudia Gray: Ok the thing about Light is that I didn't really care about any of the deaths in it....until this book made me care. I think Gray is just a little bit more adept at character writing, I really started to fall in love with the High Republic and its characters in this book. I am sad though, given I'm probably going to have to skip Midnight Horizon to avoid getting derailed again, this might be where Reath and I part ways. I ended up loving Reath so much! But alas! Midnight Horizon was not my cup of tea, so I will have to say farewell.

(in-progress) Lord of the Rights chapter-a-day reread: Pelennor Fields today. DEAAAATTTHHH!!!!

watching (tv):

(finished) Silo (Apple TV): WHY am I still thinking about that finale?? why was that so good? WHEN is season 2 coming out?

(in-progress, rewatch) Altered Carbon (Netflix): to stop myself from just watching dumb commentary youtube videos while I'm cooking/eating dinner/etc I started rewatching Altered Carbon and damn it's just so good. I'm almost finished with the first season, I know the second is controversial/isn't quite as good but I still enjoyed it so will continue on

I'm in kind of a hangover post-Silo for the show I watch as part of my bedtime routine. I watched 2 episodes of Foundation and precisely 30 minutes of Severance before I fell asleep last night (I was just really tired because a certain Void Creature had me up at 5AM, not Severance's fault), so idk which I'm going to continue on with. Probably Severance, I'll get back to Foundation eventually.

watching (film):

The Strangers (2008): That scene where Liv Tyler is smoking in the kitchen and the intruder is standing unseen in the background is my LITERAL NIGHTMARE.

Hell House LLC II: The Abbadon Hotel (2018) and Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019): This is such a bizarre series because the first is slightly above-average found footage, the fourth is actually surprisingly scary, and the middle two are SUCH hot garbage, but. Completionist. I have seen them all now. The best scene in the third is with the cultists/demons scuttling around and I realized why it makes me laugh, they remind me of the wraiths in What We Do in the Shadows XD

Dune Part 2 (2024) - I SAW DUNE AGAIN IT WAS STILL GOOD. Aside, is Austin Butler in something the Youths (TM) like? Because I only know him from the awful Elvis movie I suffered through last year. The girl selling my ticket was like 'yeah I've seen it twice as an audience member and then I keep going up to the projection room to watch the duel because Austin Butler *heart eyes*' and I was like.....him? Really? Are the kids just horny for Harkonnens? I have questions.

video game update: I'm unstuck on cult of the lamb! I had the run of my life and got past the underwater level, it was great.

craft update: Skein still tangled, don't want to talk about it. But I've finished the short rows on the sweater vest and am onto the repetitive part! The next real milestone will be getting to where it joins the back under the arms, and I no longer have to purl. I can't wait.

weekend list -- just kidding it's a WEEK list because I'm on vacation! (technically I am dogsitting but I'm still taking a week off from work to go hang out with a dog, so that counts as vacation):

focus up to get through the workday. friends, it is 11AM and that is not going well, let me tell you

go for a run

pack / tidy up apartment so I don't come back to wreckage

non-writing things to do while at parents' house:

many walks! dog cuddles!

try out their fancy peloton thing, see what this cult thing is all about

knitting - planning to work on sweater vest, despite the fact that it is black and my parents' dog is so, so yellow... (she's a yellow lab)

laundry. so much laundry. everything that is in my apartment that can be put in a washing machine, is being brought. We've got sheets, we've got towels, bath mats, etc etc. My parents are paying me for dogsitting services in water usage.

read: I'm bringing 3 books I took out of the library yesterday which seems...ambitious...but maybe doable if I-

--don't scroll. seriously. I've blocked so many things, if I can just stick to occasionally checking my tumblr dash and maybe pinterest once in a while, I can get so much else done

writing to-do:

main project: longfic I am tentatively calling 'the station' (probably will change but this is at least better than my last working title which made no sense so I'm keeping it for now), I have 25k in a very rough draft, and am on chapter 2 of 12 in the rewrite (about 8k words). (It's probably going to be much longer than 25k, that was essentially just the self-indulgent scenes that came easily, now I'm doing the hard plot work, connecting scenes, etc, trying to go roughly in order so I don't have to do another full draft.)

start on the final part of 'omens and all kinds of signs': ideally finish a rough draft but we'll see, I have not started it at all, but I know it will feel good to finish it, if I can get some of the pieces together, that would be great

rough draft of the third variation on the tattoo theme (I have...900 words so far)

rough draft of an alternative POV to an already posted fic that's just an excuse to be shamelessly self-indulgent (I have ?? words scribbled in a notebook about it)

#lists lists lists #long post

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invisiblegarters · 10 months

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Tokyo in April Is...Episode 5

Who is ready for some heartbreak?

It's me. It's always me. Curse me and my attraction to this very specific brand of show.

Although it is episode five so it's very possible that we'll get a few sweet times before the inevitable pain.

Ugh, yep. It's the return of Sanada. That man is so odious. And I am overly defensive of Kazuma because he's such a sweetheart.

Oh my. So he's a rapist too? So that's what the whole smoking in the hotel thing was. Wonderful. Well at least now I can hate him with impunity, the sick ass. What a vile, vile person.

Okay Japan. I appreciate your dedication to reality but this whole thing is just deeply upsetting. Say it with me, guys: rape is never the victim's fault. No, not even then. I will not be having discussion about this.

Please be careful, Ren. I feel like Sanada is very used to operating with the implicit sanction of his bosses. I feel like going after him could really ruin things for him. I appreciate his former coworker warning him about that too. I don't think it'll stop him (and I don't think that it should), but i also think that its's good for him to understand exactly what he is getting into.

I still love Yagami's hair. And I also kind of love that he was there for Ren during some of the worst times in his life. They also did a real good job casting his younger self, too.

Oh, poor bb Ren. That pining is epic and then add on a little bit of tragic circumstance and everything is just so deliciously sad and wistful and I love it.

Neck kisses! Neck kisses! I love these two together. They're so lovely and the actors are doing the best job of just radiating comfort in each other's presence.

Oh no. A wild mother Takizawa appears to gum up the works. Knew that was coming from the second that the beginning showed her sewing the shirt. I feel like she's gonna send Ren into a spiral. SO much self-loathing in that man over something that wasn't even his fault, and while I don't necessarily blame her for believing him when he claimed he forced Kazuma to have sex with him all those years ago, I do wonder if a part of her suspects that he wasn't exactly being truthful back then. I am so curious what their meeting will look like next week. That Kazuma resents her is patently clear, imo, and my guess would be it's because of being sent abroad as soon as he got better after the whole thing with Ren went down.

As for Ren's desire not to talk about it...I get it. Boy do I get it. But it's not going to stay there forever - there are too many factors at play, too many people who know or were there, and both Ren and Kazuma are too traumatized about what happened for it to lie dormant forever. Looks like it might come to a head next week, although I am not sure. There are three episodes left, after all, and while I know there is still Sanada (slimeball) to deal with I still kind of think that Kazuma and Ren's past is going to converge with that plot in extremely unpleasant ways.

I continue to adore this show. It's just excellent and it's one that I look forward to every single week. I feel like it might break my heart in the end but probably I'll still love it. I am nothing if not a glutton for punishment (see: Eternal Yesterday, which to this day remains one of my favorite BLs ever even if I have to really gird myself before rewatching (and I maintain that ep three is one of the best episodes in any show, ever. Pitch perfect)).

Oh, Japan.

#tokyo in april is...#shigatsu no tokyo wa...#episode 5

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peenybobini · 7 months

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It's 12:52 am on October 13th, 2023.

I'm in bed preparing to go to sleep next to my mom. I broke my ankle a month ago, 3 weeks into starting my own business. I'm feeling good today. My boyfriend quit his job? Lost his job? I think more quit suddenly today, but I'm honestly feeling okay about it. Hoping that he's able to find what he needs to get out of life and praying this pushes some motivation into him!! Love him, he's been very supportive of everything going on lately and I'm appreciative of that. Learning the hard way not to rely on him for everything. My thoughts are jumbled but I'm sure I'll know what I mean. I've been feeling the urge to write again so I figured now is as good a time as any. My dad said an interesting thing today- "As long as you're a giver, the takers will find you." It wasn't in reference to me, and in fact was a reference to many other relationships in our family dynamic. Its hard being back home and seeing first hand how much everyone in their life takes advantage of them. I refuse to let that be me. Im going to find success and help them one day somehow, even though it will pale in comparison to the support they've provided for me through all of the hardships I've experienced.

Anyways, all of that's in the past now. Idk if I'll ever return, but if I do I'm going to try to keep track of the things that happen each day that bring me joy and make me happy, just like I used to do when I had the idea a while ago when I was paying someone to therapist myself lol.

1. Good day at work, easy, quiet, quick appointments. Have made okay money so far this month!

2. Dylan coming over to watch survivor. I love that the longer we're together the more ways I figure out how to make him laugh, the best feeling.

3. Star Guardian Syndra became available in the hextech shop and I snatched that shit up immediately.

4. Had fun going to 5 below and making some silly purchases (Kermit tee for me, herbilogy tee for Dyl, phone charm that is too small but also too bulky to use for work lol)

5. Upgrading to the 15 as soon as it arrives in the mail, ended up being only $5, told my parents I'd pay but they're not into that.

6. Rewatched jujutsu kaisen 0 with my dad, he got invested and was asking me questions and wanted to know what was going on, especially when I then watched the newly released episode he was totally lost. I like having good moments with just him.

7. Ate Indian food for the first time in weeks. Aloo curry. Fucking delicious.

8. Dylan putting my cardigan on me and smoking a bowl out of a pipe with me on the porch and having a good conversation even though he was stressed beyond belief. We're good for each other. I love him

#journalthings

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winterskyfirefly · 8 months

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okay so e2 really just sucker punches the you wear fine things well scene home into your heart and so i suppose i should be ready for some REAL FEELS now

HOOOOOOLY SHIT ED PUPPYDOG BROKEN HEARTED EYES OVER STEDE IS JUST… WOW. that is some FINE acting. THE MOST DESPONDANT MAN I HAVE EVER SEEN. THE WETTEST SADDEST MOST PATHETIC MEW MEW EVER.

hes so dramatic he speaks to me on a spiritual level i love him with all my heart i protecc blackbeard get over your ass and go find stede

HES SO DRAMATIC PUSHING THE LITTLE DOLLS OFF THE EDGE I CANT WITH HIM JFC

i just noticed the one is painted as him i cant i cant im actually laughing my ass off right now this is so over the top i cannot handle him

ED ILL GIVE YOU A HUNDRED DOLLARS TO GO TO THERAPY

can i just say kristians looking fucKING GOOD

i love zheng si yao im so glad that this is a plot line already

LUCIUS!!!!!!!!

OKAY I AM 100000% ON BOARD WITH THE CUDDLE SNUGGLE ATTACK PILE EVERYONE GIVE LUCIUS HUGS NOW!!!!!!

i love how much by the way, rewatching that scene, wee john loves the fabric of things again hes so sweet i love him

BLACK PETE/LUCIUS HUG <3 <3 im just paused staring at the hug scene and oh man have i missed black pete too i didnt even talk about him on the last episode and i really just am gonna have to rewatch these tomorrow too for sure

BLACK PETE LUCIUS KISS REWATCHING THIS 2000000 TIMES

black pete lucius i cant deal with this thank you for bringing this back just kiss forever and be happy

you have impeccable balance babe

ive missed the babe

i did not realize frenchie was supposed to kill ed

OH MY GOD JIM I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU'RE AMPUTATING THIS IS AWFUL

dealers choice

LUCIUS YOU THEATER CHILD GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW AND TALK TO STEDE

i honestly love whatever the fuck the swede is whatever his plotline is its just… incoherent and also correct

did she find a new love? olivia?

oH GOD THANKS FOR THAT SHOT THAT'S DISGUSTING THE LEG

jim stop playing with the leg part

i was hoping for that kiss kinda i hope olu understands :/

love your earrings too jim

oohhhhh noooo olu you fucked up

i will repeat until the end of time when olu smiles he looks like sunshine

ohhh man more lucius drama i love it the dramatic smoking you fool you absolute fool

ed and izzy are just… i want them to have a HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP AND NOT THIS

con is such a good actor i am so glad i have now seen him i must watch more

okay i do not believe izzy shot himself at all i do not refuse to believe it it didnt happen it was something else

lmao yeah go ahead steer into an oncoming storm you are all such DRAMA CHILDREN I LOVE YOU

oh stede <3 talking about your family you love them so much

WE NEED MORE STEDES IN THE WORLD OKAY?????????

lucius what the hell these stories are horrific

BLACKBEARD. COOL YOUR FUCKING TITS. STOP DESTROYING YOUR BOAT. LOVE IS NOT DEAD YOU FUL.

oh so we're really doin a bdsm sorta joke huh

well im redefining lucius and pete's relationship now

oh okay is this where mermaids come in oh guess not that singing tho

im also not gonna talk about how hot jim bloody mouthed is

GOOD FOR YOU IZZY

So did he like… graze himself or phineus gage himself i do not understand

so anyways as someone who grew up on lotr it makes me happy to see weta still doing special effects stuff <3 <3

#ofmd #liveblog

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xoteajays · 8 months

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My sleep habits are extremely erratic... That never changed about me either. So I sleep whenever I'm tired, and wake up whenever I wake up - which is common knowledge. I am more toward being a crepuscular and nocturnal person, rather than a diurnal person. So nothing wrong in the day time for me. But it's usually quieter at night for me to enjoy.

But I haven't been getting properly sleep lately. So that's irritating me lately.. Maybe that's why I have been more annoyed than I usually am.

As for drugs.. Well. Obviously people were smoking cigarettes, Hyuga smoking whatever he was smoking too. I'm not sure if that could be a tobacco or some other product that I don't know yet. But, for Redrum though, there might have been one vague scene with drugs when the Rascals were in a meeting with Rocky about the drugs - they mention how customers were trying to convince the women to take the drugs. Maybe like cocaine? I think. Redrum might be a drug you could either snort or lick, consuming the drug in that way. The only scene I can be able to think of. If I actually remember the scenes correctly anyway.

I could send you personalities of the seasons and card suits that may help defining your characters. But I'll send a separate message for it.

But depending on what happens with Alice In Borderland, who knows if you won't get inspiration for another story. Maybe. Or.. I don't know.

Exactly! I love the Oya boys. But I also even love the Sannoh, Rascals, Rude and Daruma boys too.. Those boys needed more scenes for me. And you. Those boys actually needed more love than what happened. What the fuck. I wish we had more of them. But we're stuck with DTC instead. I like Tettsu to an extent, but never Dan or Chiharu though.

Did you see the H&L posts I sent you? Mainly the gifs of the Daruma's gambling business and the women working there. I sent that to you.

I was going to say something vulgar.. But just forget that. Nevermind.

So that.. He's taking on an undercover job from a completely different faction for his promotion. But only that department knows about, but not anyone who should know about the job. Like his wife for example.

And so the gang boss has a picture, a fake picture, of a man who he's thinking is her husband but he's not the real husband. So now the big bad mafia boss is showing the real husband pictures of fake husband to compare him with the husband. So basically, he wants to fuck her.

That's a whole dick measuring contest. Men are so stupid in this way.

I was only a baby when these events happened.

When it comes to expressing negative emotions towards any person.. I avoid crying in public. But I will scream, shrieking, cursing toward so many people. I may even try throwing things at them if they anger me too, or make any attempts to maim those people in some way if I can.

So I might really have a tempered when my boundaries are crossed.. I am around stupid people all the time. But I can control my temper for the most part, but I will snap if someone crosses my boundaries too.

I choose violence.

And, like Vincenzo, my wine glass broke on me.. I need new glasses.

That's what I thought? Because there are some businesses like that in America. I've actually known some people who live in the apartments connected to their businesses. My grandmother's salon also had only a single apartment above the salon, but she never lived there, but she should have though. And my uncle's friend had his apartment over an entire restaurant - his restaurant, so he never really went far for work.

So I know there are buildings like that. But an entire building seems a bit weird to me. But also kind of convenient in apocalyptic situations.

I've been rewatching All Of Us Are Dead.. Halloween season is here so I wanted to start watching some horror media. Which also include the zombie creatures. That made me think of eighth episode of Vincenzo.

So. There are actors I recognize in the show. Yoon Byung-hee's one of gym teachers, he's actually in Vincenzo as one of the lawyers working with Vincenzo. He's the nerdy looking lawyer always following Vince.

Jeon Bae-sso is On-jo's father, he was also in the show The K2 which was the show that Ji Chang-wook starred in (who is the police officer in Worst Of Evil). And in The King: Eternal Monarch with Do-hwan.. A show I have yet to watch. But I really had to confirm the actors first.

The actor of Gwi-nam seems about the same height as any male cast in the show (for the taller male characters). And he does seem like his height towards over some of the female cast for the most part since I remembered you asked about that before. Or something like that.

But now that I'm rewatching the show, I'm remembering many details as I'm just watching it. So it's actually refreshing my memory now any time a scene comes on, the characters or things to help remember it.

i’m just a tired girl. just sleepy 24/7. at night, my brain can barely shut up for long enough to sleep well. just blahblahblahs until i pass out sometime around midnight or very early in the am most nights.

the smoking i remember, but i don’t recall anyone actually took the redrum drug. idk enough about drugs to guess what kind of way redrum’s taken. since it seems like a ‘party drug’, maybe it could be eaten?

if they introduce some new characters, i might find someone to make an oc for. will just have to see when new information comes out.

they introduced a bunch of new characters for rascals and daruma with the smg and the babies, but then didn’t have the chance to do any with them! so yea, would’ve liked to see more of the other gangs. maybe another season as opposed to a movie.

i saw those posts! the gambling den has a such a cool aesthetic and the girls are so pretty. also every time i see those pics of hyuga on his car, all i can think is that he’d slide right off the hood if they stopped too quickly. it’s so dangerous what’s wrong with him

i’ll be keeping that other ask about the seasons and card suits saved in my inbox. so i can look at it later. thank you!

yes, no one else knows. just the other department guy and his boss above him since the cop is working close with them for information. not the cop’s actual division boss or his wife.

oh he absolutely wants to fuck her. he’s still totally in love with her. he ragged on her husband for being a countryside cop and that she should’ve married someone rich to live in luxury (read: the gang boss is a rich man). he also found out her mother was in hospital and brought her an expensive cashmere shoulderwrap and took her out for a walk and lied that he wasn’t a criminal like rumours were saying about him. also he got confused for her son-in-law by one of the nurses and the SMILE on his face! insane. insane man. and the cop can do NOTHING because he’s undercover and trying to get close to the boss.

i was not even born. my mother wasn’t even pregnant with me. i think my parents might’ve just gotten married.

i’ve absolutely cried in public. like probably more than once. i’ve cried at my workplace. i’m a huge baby and sometimes i just can’t hold it back. that’s the problem with burying emotions i guess. i’m very good at not yelling in public tho, can shut that down real quick and keep it in my head. very good at walking away from situations.

i don’t drink wine. never enjoyed the taste. i’m more of a rum and coke girl. so don’t have to worry about thin, more fragile glasses with that. i also just. can’t drink vodka. it makes me throw up every time. drank too much of it when i was 18 (legal age in aus).

i’m sure there’s some places like that in australia, but i don’t know of any around my area. a lot of smaller businesses where i live are stacked up. like where i went to therapy had completely different businesses above and below in the same building.

i haven’t gotten around to watching anything else, i’ve been busy with worst of evil and playing pokemon and writing another karube/niragi fanfic because i’ve been neglecting them and the s3 announcement brought me back.

#tj answers #long post //#long post anon

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ixalit · 2 years

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ngl seb in political animals could've and 100% would've been chris' "oh shit am i into this" moment

(on AO3)

You are 100% right. And ok look here’s the thing. HERE’S THE THING

Political Animals aired in mid 2012. They started filming CA:TWS in early 2013.

Now, if we say that they didn’t hook up in 2010 while filming TFA (warp reality to fit your needs it’s a handy trick), this totally could have happened.

Now that he’s doing another movie with this guy, he wants to see more of his filmography. He searches it on his laptop, and the first thing to come up is Political Animals. He *very innocently* clicks on it, settles in with a beer, maybe.

The first episode is good. Seb is good. He clicks play on the next.

This episode… Look, it’s good too, but. Someone—a man—pushes Seb onto a bed and they’re kissing and clearly doing… other stuff.

Chris isn’t— he isn’t turned on by it. Is not. He’s simply admiring another actor, a friend’s, work. He’s admiring the curve of Seb’s neck, his lips, the cut of his jaw because it shows he… knows his angles. Or something.

He’s leaning closer to the screen and replaying the scene because… fuck.

Chris slams the laptop shut, probably too hard. Speaking of too hard— double fuck.

It’s not like he has anything against men who like men. He even went through a phase of questioning in high school when he was the theater nerd and people were calling him names… but… this is different. This is a friend and a co-worker and this is—

Fuck.

Raking a hand through his hair and pulling it a bit, he tries to think of ways he can think himself out of this one. There are none he can think of. Mostly there’s just questions.

This hotel room with questionable decor is a really shitty place to have a life realization. If that’s what this is…

Okay wait. How does he know? How does he know know. Maybe this was just a… a fluke. Yeah. Maybe he just needs to… to watch it again. Or gay porn? No that doesn’t seem like it would be helpful.

Fuck.

—

The next couple weeks, he’s weird. He feels weird, he tries not to act weird but fails miserably if the behavior of the people around him is anything to go by.

Seb definitely notices. Especially when Chris goes back to calling him Sebastian like they haven’t known each other for years.

He eventually talks to Scott, who gives him shit, but at least it’s minimal shit. He does… explain some things. About attraction and labels and… other stuff.

He’s still very… unsure. Of everything. He’s rewatched that scene more than he’ll ever admit. He’s staring at Seb’s lips a lot, and trying to picture what the extra muscle looks like on his frame, and imagining running his tongue over said muscle… But just because he’s aware of it doesn’t mean he can stop.

He can do this. He can push through a little longer and then he can take time to figure himself out.

—

He can’t do this.

Somehow Chris had ended up here, in a bar. A karaoke bar, to be specific. And somehow, he’d ended up tipsy. And singing. With Seb.

The one thing Scott had told him was to try not to get drunk with Seb.

But now he’s here and they’re singing fucking “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by fucking REO Speedwagon and—

Look, if the lyrics hit a little close to home and the way Seb is looking at him sparks heat in his stomach, nobody has to know. Seb certainly doesn’t have to know.

He hopes Seb doesn’t know.

He hopes Seb knows everything, can somehow read his mind.

The end of the song finds them with an arm around each other, and Chris isn’t sure how they that happened. He hands the mic off, mutters something about needing a smoke, and searches for an exit.

You never think about how wonderful cool air is until you feel it on your face after pushing out of a crowded bar. Chris leans heavily against the brick.

The alley is deserted, thank God. Just him and his thoughts and the sounds of the city.

Maybe there’s no answer to this. Maybe he’s meant to stay in this limbo between lust and knowing himself. Maybe it’s God or the universe’s way of telling him to slow down.

He’s in the midst of going through his contacts for a lawyer that might be able to get him out of his Marvel contract, when the door beside him pushes open. He expects someone stumbling; maybe sick, maybe laughing. He doesn’t expect messy brown hair and soft eyes and a smile that could bring a man to his knees.

“Hey.”

Seb cocks his head. “Thought you were out here to smoke.”

“Just needed a break,” Chris shrugs.

“I get that,” Seb says, shifting to lean against the brick beside Chris. He looks up at the sky like he can actually see the stars.

“Why’re you out here?”

Seb turns that smile on Chris and nudges his shoulder. “Checking on you.”

“I’m fine.”

“I know you’re fine,” Seb says Just thought… Maybe you could be better?”

“Better?”

“Christ, you’re gonna make me spell it out?”

Chris raises his eyebrows expectantly. Where the fuck is this going?

“Look I—“ Seb starts. “Tell me if I’m off base and I’ll shut up but… I’ve been getting a vibe from you recently.”

“A vibe?”

“Yes, a vibe. Look what I’m saying is— Do you want me to suck your dick or not? ‘Cause I can’t figure it out and it’s driving me insane and—”

“Do I what?” Chris is sure he’s hallucinating. How else would this be happening? Maybe someone gave him bad weed, maybe someone slipped something in his drink because there’s no way this is actually—

“I’ll take that as a no then. Forget what I said, sorry about that.”

Seb turns to leave, and Chris is still trying to catch up with his thoughts, to process what he heard, but Seb is leaving and he needs to do something.

He reaches out and grabs Seb’s wrist before he can think better of it. Seb spins around and Chris pulls and Seb’s back meets the brick. And he’s— he’s right there. After so long imagining it, Seb is finally in Chris’ hands.

A soft oh falls from Seb’s lips. Chris’ breath stops in his lungs.

“Yeah?” Seb’s voice is quiet, nearly indistinguishable from the passing cars. But Chris sees his lips move in the dim light, feels his breath across his face…

“Yeah.”

All at once, Seb is pushing into him. Wrapping arms around Chris’ shoulders and almost touching their lips together, just the barest whisper of air between them.

Chris is the one leans forward, just enough for their lips to meet, and his pulse is pounding in his ears.

He slowly pushes Seb back against the brick, surrounds him as Seb deepens their kiss. And this—the kissing, the teasing, the moving—Chris knows how to do this.

#and suddenly it isn’t scary anymore and they live happily ever after the end #sorry didn’t feel like writing a tidy ending on this one #use your imagination #also #haven’t seen political animals in so long #apologies if I got my episodes mixed up #this is unedited and will remain that way #just a short lil thing #evanstan #rpf #ixalitwrites #asks

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lilyclawthorne · 3 years

Text

Escaping Expulsion Thoughts (once again very stream of conscious-like while i rewatched the episode so there’s a bunch of stuff here)

i fucking knew odalia was gonna be an oracle, i knew and i hate that for her family. i’m not sure if this necklace thing is specifically a form of oracle magic or not but im assuming it is, and either way the second i saw it happen that made my stomach twist. the fact that she just keeps this direct line to her daughter at all times feels so disturbing

so, i get that the joke with glyph lessons here is that eda and lilith are probably acting the exact same way they did when they were younger, but it does also feel a little odd for me. in my post for episode 1 i talked about how it felt like lilith probably missed the structure of the coven, and maybe even having an authority figure, and it does concern me a bit that it could be projected on to luz here.

also, i saw someone mention that they thought lilith could be regressing a bit, which is interesting seeing as she’s been in the coven since basically being a child and now that she’s out, she could be going backwards because that was probably the last time she had a personality of her own instead of one that was carefully crafted to be socially acceptable for others. and to be fair, the few moments in season 1 when we see glimpses into the true lilith, she is pretty childish.

anyways lilith has such pretty handwriting i love it

gus!! witch puberty!! do not worry buddy eda will get your name eventually. probably.

amity went out and murdered those fairies for luz didn’t she

i need to know why the heck bump has no choice in the matter of the expulsion. typically a pta (or pca in this case) wouldn’t have power that much stronger than the principa?? so i wonder if the blights have something over bump, or if its even just something such as donation money they’d withdraw

odalia blight you gaslighting bitch “I’m appalled you’re not in class right now what are you thinking” YOU MADE HER COME HERE

PLEASE i know gus and willow are sad here but the whole “live off the land” thing and “water you one last time, with my tears” are so fucking funny ok

GO LUZ, YOU TELL OFF ODALIA

i feel like alador doesn’t really care what’s going on and just wants to be back home making his abomination inventions, also he seems to have an affinity for different creatures as well which is an interesting detail

i love that willow stated they would get back in on their own right in front of alador and odalia. these people fucked up her friendship and caused her a lot of trouble that she shouldn’t have had to deal with so i love that she’s unafraid to speak like that in front of them

between the first & second episode, and some of the seasons trailer, it seems like Lilith may have an affinity for ice magic? which is interesting seeing as eda was always a fan of her “spicy toss” aka some fire magic. interesting to see the two of them as fire & ice basically

i LOVE how much bump loves luz, willow, and gus. it’s kinda really sweet, but again it feels so concerning that he had no choice in the matter. makes me think he’s more likely to eventually rebel against the standards that have been in place for so long at some point. (also abominations coven for bump!! interesting!! i appreciate seeing the coven marks included on the adults so far)

what is it with these kids and being dragged off by their hoods in this episode

love that the blights address includes “right arm”, also i took a quick look up of the word “bruegal” which is boulevard they live on, and it’s probably just a coincidence but the first google result was actually for a european think tank that specializes in economics

yknow i actually have wondered about layering glyphs on top of each other and making a super glyph the way eda did, so good to know that would NOT work out

luz you’re really gonna give the blights their own flowers??????

it goes by so fast but please take a moment to take in and appreciate the design of that blight entry room/living room-esque area and it’s combination of abomination and oracle decor. also the blight family portrait.

i could talk about alador and odalia and their relationship dynamic here, when luz is meeting with them, but i think it’s best to save for the end, but i will say i don’t think it’s just odalia controlling everything (though she does control a lot) and alador just suffering and being silent.

the more i stare at odalia’s hair the more i feel like she has an odd receding hairline

love that the abomination kept the cat shape luz gave it and that amity knew immediately from that

WILLOW’S DADS!!! I LOVE THEM! I love how much they want their daughter to have a great education even if they have to be the ones to do it! (even if it could come across as a little intense) Although, the fact that they’re prepared to teach plant magic to her makes me question why they put her in abominations once again. (wish we could’ve gotten a glimpse of their coven marks!)

odalia is definitely the one who handles more of the parenting and alador is more distant. at least that’s what i get based on the twins specifying to amity not to tell their mom specifically

absolutely insane that odalia is just letting the abomiton destroy the whole place to kill a child

“stay away from my luz!” oh my god,ohmy GOD

i like how lilith can’t tell if these are normal noises or distress ones. really sums up life in the owl house. also lilith? kicking doors in?? this combined with “I AM A WITCH, UNHINGED” tells me she’ll be as chaotic as the rest of the owl house in no time and i am here for it.

the music when amity jumps in to protect luz is absolutely killing it here i need a soundtrack now

YES AMITY DESTROY THE NECKLACE (and oh god please don’t let odalia give you something even harder to remove or destroy)

Luz is blushing!! The feelings are starting to be returned!!!

“Luz, Willow, and Gus are my friends!” love it. love the open declaration. love that she’s telling her mother off. love that i have something to check off my bingo board already.

okay, i know a lot of people have already suggested that alador is smiling here because he can tell luz and amity like each other, but i’m pretty sure it’s only because he’s noticing how much amity’s magic has grown and improved

small detail but i love the smoke from the units order sign filling the background while odalia is fuming herself

oh? alador has had the ability to tell odalia off and successfully calm her down this whole time? and chose not to use it till now? yeah he sucks too. he very clearly has a plan for amity as much as odalia does as well, but he’s much better at seeing the long-term goal

“the glyph combo, copyright me, lilith” im screaming, lilith you DORK

ok i really wish eda or lilith asked where luz had been. i’d kill for these sisters to go off about how much they hated the alador and odalia in school, as well as threaten to hurt them for hurting luz.

the statue lilith made and her reaction to the gold star she received re-emphasizes my concern about her need for approval and for an authority figure. (ok but her noise at the gold star WAS very cute tho)

alright lets get down to business on the blight parents. so far i definitely do not view their relationship as being one-sided with odalia in control. honestly, i think they do have a sense of mutual respect for the other. to me it seems like all alador really wants to do is focus on his work and nothing else, and odalia seems not only more than happy to let him do so, but willing to take care of everything else the company needs, and he seems fine with that and going along with whatever because he only has to do his part. and clearly his abomination tech combined with her showmanship/advertising (and honestly probably some oracle magic) has clearly made them successful.

so what im saying is that i think their power in their relationship is actually pretty balanced, if it looks otherwise that’s just because that’s how they best function together, with odalia being more forward and alador being more distant, and therefore they’re very much both to blame for shitty parenting.

also I know some people have joked about the blight family name coming from odalia (which is also a dumb joke like why is it funny if the family name comes from the woman and not the man) but anyways I definitely do think blight is aladors family name and odalia married in simply because he takes the whole blights keep up their end of the deal thing much more seriously than odalia. probably something that’s been taught to him since he was a kid yknow, whereas she was super ready to ignore it when it inconvenienced her.

as for the very final scene with them and the golden guard, i had an interpretation of it that i saw, but it seems that everyone else ive see react to it so far saw something different than me so maybe i’m just plain wrong. but like, i have this feeling that maybe the blight parents, while they do want power, might not be as aligned with the emperor and his coven as we may think?? not saying they’re good people, just that there could be more going on here. but idk, i’ve seen no one else interpret it that way yet so i won’t go off about it unless either someone wants to know more of what i thought or if i ever actually make myself get around to making a separate post about it.

#the owl house #owl house #toh #escaping expulsion

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feralnumberfive · 3 years

Text

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 2 of Season 1

“Run Boy Run”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it's funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ Ben is a tired boy leaning on his chair

☂ Luther and Allison please stop making googly eyes at each other

☂ Five really woke up and chose violence that day huh

☂ Diego already knows shit is about to go down and it’s so funny

☂ I love that Reginald doesn’t even scold Five for stabbing the table

☂ Five: “I have a question.” blah blah blah Veggie is talking Five: “I want to time travel.” That’s not a question, Five

☂ It’s interesting to see young Five blinking/jumping compared to older Five. Even at this age, 13, he says that he’s still practicing his spatial jumps. Young Five needs to clench his fists and almost squeeze his eyes shut just to concentrate. Older Five simply just teleports without effort and is able to casually blink even as he’s just walking. Five probably practiced teleporting a lot in the apocalypse

☂ Someone else pointed this out, but all of the other Umbrellas are frozen for a for a second as Five teleports next to Reginald. While that freeze is just editing, and possibly a small error, this is another example of how Five’s spatial teleporting doesn’t make a noise. Luther, Diego, and Allison only look at Five when he begins talking to Reginald. Grace notices Five right away because he is in her line of sight while Luther and Diego were looking at where Five was sitting and Allison had her head down eating

☂ “The effects it might have on your body, even your mind, are far too unpredictable.” Harsh foreshadowing

☂ The “Run Boy Run” scene is one of the best musical moments in all of the show. It gave me chills when I first heard it, and the fact that all of the lyrics that play during that part match so perfectly with it make it even better. Tomorrow is another day being sung as Five travels into 2019 is just too good

☂ Imagine how scared you have to be to call out to your p.o.s father

☂ The instant regret immediately falls onto his face and he kneels in front of the Academy

☂ I love how in the first few episodes Five’s hair is styled exactly as it was when he was an old man and when he was actually 13. Over the rest of the season and the second season it just gets more disheveled and floppier

☂ “You think I didn’t try everything to get back to my family?” Ahhhh there we go, one of my favorite Five lines. This here is probably when I truly fell in love with his character. He spent 45 years just trying to survive and attempting to get back to his family. He would have spent more too if the Handler hadn’t taken him in

☂ Vanya is genuinely trying to understand what happened and Five was being a little asshole. C’mon, bud, she’s just confused and hasn’t seen you in forever

☂ This Five and Vanya scene melts my heart (simply as a sibling relationship!!) She doesn’t care anymore if she understands, she just wants him to stay because she hasn’t seen him in a while. Even Five understands that as his demeanor quickly changes from being frustrated to gently telling her “Night.” He watches her as she leaves, also partially realizing that he hasn’t seen her in a while too

☂ Why didn’t Five just teleport outside of Vanya’s apartment?? That would have been the stealthiest thing

☂ “All quick and efficient skills.” A little note on Five’s level of skill of slaughtering the Commission agents in Griddy’s

☂ Diego said he bought his police badge on Ebay, so computers do exist in the UA universe

☂ “By the way, this thing might look like a botched robbery, but my gut’s telling me something else is going on here.” Yeah, and that something else is your brother

☂ I want Claire to meet her uncles and aunt so bad

☂ So Ben has a ghostly puzzle book and pen he can use? Because if they were real Pogo would have been able to see them just floating in the air. What other ghostly items can Ben summon? (I believe this is more so just an error but it’s fun to think about)

☂ “I-I found it at a playground, actually. Must have just *click* popped out.” An underrated Five line

☂ Five immediately becomes aggressive at the thought of losing the eye, something he found clutched in the hand of his dead brother and was a clue to what caused the death of his siblings and the end of the world

☂ Just now noticed that you can see Diego up on the second floor being led down to where Patch is in the police station

☂ I really like that they added in the little tidbit about a cold case Five created 81 years ago

☂ I miss Patch. She deserved better and more screen time

☂ Hey, Diego might have been thrown out of the Police Academy but at least he’s still in The Umbrella Academy!

☂ Hearing Patch talk to Diego really made me realize that the Umbrellas weren’t even necessary for helping with crime. It was just Reginald’s way of training them

☂ Love the shot of Luther looking at Diego’s cross-stitch and the camera lining it up so it’s like he’s wearing the mask

☂ Five lying just to keep Vanya away and to continue on with his goal hurts. His goal is saving the world and his family, but I don’t think he actually took in what Vanya was saying to him or maybe he recognized the offer but shoved all of his feelings down. She was reaching out to actually get him some help and he lied to her to avoid that. Maybe he doesn’t care and is just blinded by his ultimate goal. Save the world and family first, then process your feelings and genuinely communicate with your siblings

☂ Don’t worry Klaus, I would have let you wear that outfit

☂ When Cha-Cha questions “Five” aka the poor tow truck guy, she asks him about “The London job in ‘66.” I believe she is referring to the Shepherd’s Bush murders where three policemen were murdered

☂ Hazel replying “Not from what I’ve heard.” when Cha-Cha asks if he thinks Five is a whimperer shows that Five definitely had a reputation in the Commission for probably being a cold and stoic guy

☂ Vanya is just trying to help, chill Allison 😭. You haven’t seen her in years, what do you know about her?

☂ Klaus would really slap his brother in the face to get drug money

☂ Another example of Five not making noise when he teleports is when he blinks into the taxi and Klaus didn’t notice that he had left until he turned to look where Five was. On the other hand though the taxi driver does jump as Five suddenly appears in the car. However, I believe that might be from the driver noticing Five in a mirror in the car

☂ I wonder what languages the Hargreeves siblings know. Vanya didn’t understand Leonard’s German. You think Reginald would have taught them multiple languages or maybe she forgot it if she was taught it

☂ I don’t know why but Luther just siting there and reading a book and almost getting hit by the knife is really funny to me

☂ Yeah Diego doesn’t have to prove his innocence, but it would have saved a lot of trouble

☂ Rewatching the scene with Leonard talking to Vanya about his father is just disturbing when you already know what happened to him and how he’s lying just to try to be more relatable

☂ I heard a rumor that smoking is bad for you ❌

☂ Vanya calling to make sure Allison is okay even though she hurt her makes me sad. She’s so nice and thoughtful

☂ The old man can’t even reunite with his wife before he gets hunted down

☂ The shot of Hazel and Cha-Cha putting on their masks in the dark with the music is 👌👌

☂ Again, Cha-Cha isn’t able to hear Five as he teleports next to her and slices her arm. She might not have noticed him though because he was very quick to attack her

☂ Five really went through all of that just to bring his wife home

☂ I think it’s an easily blocked out part because we already know what Allison has to say and it’s exciting, but Luther is apologizing about accusing Diego and causing issues amongst his siblings

☂ Five is just so defeated and emotionally tired that he doesn’t allow Luther to touch him. In fact, he very quickly and aggressively grabs Luther’s wrist. You can tell Five is a little out of it and I believe it was more so his subconscious stopping Luther. Five doesn’t want help, he’s going to carry the burden of figuring out who ended the world and killed his family as far as he can by himself

☂ “There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing any of you can do.” Are such heavy lines. Five is so emotionally and mentally tired at the end of the day and he sounds like he’s about to breakdown. He’s replaying the moment he found his siblings’ corpses. They weren’t able to stop the person who ended the world. Luther is offering his help, but Five is denying it. Luther couldn’t stop the person who ended the world. None of his siblings were able to stop that person. He’s telling himself that they can’t help and he’s telling Luther and Allison that too. Five wants to be alone to figure out who this person is. His siblings can’t help him

☂ Five coming across the corpses of his siblings is just heartbreaking. He first stumbles across three adults lying in the rubble. One of them is holding an eye. He goes to shake the man in all black, having a tiny bit hope that miraculously he is still alive. He stumbles across another body only to back away with tears in his eyes as he spots the tattoo on the man’s arm and realizes who these people are

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

#the rewatch academy #tra #tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #1x02 #run boy run #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #number five #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #hargreeves siblings #leonard peabody

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kuiinncedes · 3 years

Text

just the keys to paradise

jatp au - prologue - part 1/15? - 1834 words

relationships: blaine & sam & tina & artie

okkkk we're doing it 🤪 idk how regularly i will update this (omg ongoing fic??? who is she) but i do have like technically a ~few~ chapters i guess done,,, and i am working on the next so . we're gonna try this lol

anyway if it wasn't clear this is an au based on the most amazing tv show ever with only 9 episodes pls watch or rewatch it on netflix the emmy-award winning julie and the phantoms !!! 🤪

that being said if you haven't watched it what are you doing jk i think you can still read this and hopefully it makes sense 😂 feel free to ask me if there's anything that doesn't make sense lol :)

also fyi in case it influences your decision to read: this will be more focused on platonic relationships for a while but will almost certainly have main endgames klaine, quinntina, and samcedes 😋

prologue title and lyrics in this part from "now or never" from the jatp soundtrack

plot and some dialogue from julie and the phantoms so like credit to all those creators and writers 🤪

warnings for this part: car accident, major character deaths (both of these are not actually in writing/"on screen" just implied at the end (especially within the context of this being a jatp au) and nothing really described -- if you want/need more details feel free to ask me)

read on ao3 or under the cut :D

1995

“Dudes, we fucking killed that !” Sam cheers when the smoke has cleared, going around and giving each of them something that could be called a high-five, just not to their hands. Tina laughs and cheers too as Sam excitedly taps her feet after she gets out from behind her kit, still elevated on the drum stage. Some of the workers applaud them from the audience space.

“Too bad we wasted that on the soundcheck,” Artie jokes, putting his guitar down and grabbing his water bottle. “That was the tightest we’ve ever played, yo!”

Tina grins and hops down from the drum platform. Sam slings an arm around her shoulders and she grabs his wrist. They’re both sweaty and too warm but she doesn’t mind having Sam’s heat pressed against her right side.

God, she thinks… that really was something else, even though it was just the soundcheck. She looks around at her bandmates’ faces -- shiny with sweat, red with exhilaration and exertion, bright with elation, eyes wide with excitement and --

Wow. They’re playing the Orpheum.

Blaine pats Artie on the back, jostling him enough to spill the water he’s trying to drink down the front of his shirt, but Artie just laughs -- he’s soaked with sweat anyway. They have spare clothes backstage just for this reason.

“Just wait until tonight, guys, when this place is packed with record execs,” Blaine says, looking out wonderingly into the empty (for now) audience. His grin widens almost imperceptibly, which is impressive considering how huge it already is.

“We’re gonna be legends!” the other three of them chorus, before Blaine can, and they laugh when he turns to them, affronted. “That’s my line!”

“It’s what you get for saying it ten times a day for the last month!” Tina teases. Blaine pushes her shoulder playfully, putting his hand within reach for Sam to grab. It’s a strange position considering Sam’s arm is still around Tina’s shoulders, but Tina adds her hand to their hold as Sam beckons Artie over from his side of the stage, barking out his name with joking anger.

Artie puts his water down and walks over to complete the group, placing his hand on top of Tina’s. “Tina, you were smokin’,” he says.

She rolls her eyes a little and grins back. “Pretty sure you’re just talking about the pyro. You guys were the ones on fire,” she says, pointing her drumsticks around at them.

“T, can you just own your awesomeness for once?” Blaine exclaims.

“Queen T!” Sam calls, pulling her closer into his side. She stumbles into him, laughing as the guys all start cheering it after Sam.

“Okay, okay! Thanks, guys, I got it!” she squeals, trying to get them to quiet down although -- they are in the Orpheum, where they’re playing later, it’s not like they have to be quiet -- while Sam leans his weight on her, causing them to stagger into the drum riser. Tina catches herself on it and Sam finally detaches from her and they’re still being loud and raucous and probably somewhat annoying to the staff, but she’s just laughing too hard to care.

“We’ve got an hour ‘til the show; I say we go celebrate before we become legends!” Blaine proclaims, jumping off the stage. The other three follow.

Tina starts, “Celebrate our last night of being -- ”

“Losers?” Artie interjects.

They’ve caught the attention of one of the Orpheum workers -- a woman with brown hair who’s wiping down the tables, smiling at them as Tina catches her eye. “There’s some nice restaurants around here,” she says with a wink. “You guys really killed it, by the way. But it seems like you know that.”

Blaine laughs, a little sheepishly. “Thanks. Uh, I’m Blaine,” he says. “This is -- ”

“Sam, hi!”

“Tina, how’s it going -- ”

“Artie, hey.”

Tina raises her eyebrows and stifles a laugh at Artie as he leans his sweaty arms onto the table that the woman just cleaned.

“We’re Sunset Curve!” Blaine says to complete their introduction.

“Tell your friends!” Sam calls, raising his voice and drawing the other workers’ attention to them. Tina elbows him lightly in the side.

“Nice to meet you,” the stranger says. “I’m Elle. So… what were you guys thinking for this -- what was it -- ‘celebration of your last night as losers’?”

“Well, we really can’t afford any nice places -- ” Sam starts.

“Oh, you know what? We should just go to Tip Top!” Blaine says, clapping his hands together. The others are quick to agree -- it’s the small, cheap diner where they spent the evening after their first “real” gig, and they’ve spent countless hours there since, annoying the staff and depleting their supply of plastic silverware. The employees there have learned to let them take what they legally can (and sometimes what they couldn’t), and the band is friendly with most of them. They haven’t been there in too long, having been working hard to get the Orpheum gig, and then writing and rehearsing like crazy once they got it.

Elle smiles as they excitedly and loudly recount stories of Tip Top to each other -- sentimental memories and the ridiculousness they got up to -- talking over each other and having multiple conversations at once.

“I guess you don’t need my recommendations?” she says lightly.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry, we’re good, thanks so much for offering,” Blaine answers, polite as ever.

“Have fun! Looking forward to seeing you guys perform again tonight.”

“Thank you!” the four of them exclaim as they make their way back to the exit. Tina yanks on the back of Artie’s shirt as he lingers at the table, a dumb look on his face that tells her he’s trying to flirt, or at least, his version of it.

“Tina!” Artie yelps and she laughs at the annoyed look on his face.

“You are not exempt from this last night of loser-dom celebration. You’re telling me you’d rather flirt with a girl than this?”

“Yes,” Artie grumbles. There’s no heat behind it, and Tina playfully pushes him sideways.

“Plus, we need you to drive.”

“You can drive!”

“Technically we all can drive!” Tina laughs at Artie’s horrified expression, probably at the prospect -- and memory -- of the one time Blaine drove them to a gig. “Just not your car!” she calls, jogging to catch up with Blaine and Sam, Artie running after her. “Your car is the fucking worst.”

“Don’t talk about her like that!”

“Blaine and Sam agree!”

That gets their attention and the two guys turn, Blaine asking, “What are we agreeing with?”

“I agree with Tina,” Sam says immediately. Tina nods gratefully at him.

“You don’t even know what we’re talking about!” Artie complains.

They’re at his beat-up car now and they pile in, Tina in the passenger seat laughing as Sam all but tackles Blaine into the backseat when he starts for the driver’s side, jostling her and Artie in the front. They continue shuffling around while Artie attempts to start the car, to many concerning -- but normal for his car -- noises.

“This thing is gonna go down and take us with it, Artie,” Tina mumbles teasingly, absentmindedly twirling a drumstick in her right hand. (She realizes too late that she probably should’ve left them at the Orpheum, but it’s not a big deal -- they’re not her favorite pair which are safe in their studio and she has extras backstage in case something happens to this pair while they’re out.)

The car finally starts with a rumble and Artie lets out a cheer. “We’re fine, T. Let’s go, y’all!”

“Floor it, Artie!” Sam calls from the back. The car accelerates comically slowly even as Artie presumably “floors it,” but they’re going somewhere.

After a few minutes, Tina finds herself unconsciously humming her solo in the bridge of “Now or Never,” only noticing when Sam interjects suddenly with his “Tomorrow!” leaning between the front seats and slightly startling her. She laughs and continues with the words, “‘Cause we got all we need today! ”

“Today!” Artie echoes, miming his guitar playing with one hand on the steering wheel.

“Living on a feeling that’s been running through our veins!” Blaine sings loudly, joining Sam in crowding into the front of the car.

“We’re the revolution that’s been singing in the rain!” It’s Sam’s line, but they all belt it at the top of their lungs together.

“That’s my line!” Sam exclaims at the same time that Blaine cheers, “My favorite line!” Tina continues to clap the beat for the next part of the song, Artie hitting the steering wheel in rhythm with her. Her face hurts from smiling.

“Artie, dude, where’d you go?” Blaine asks suddenly. Tina looks around at their slowly darkening surroundings that are completely unfamiliar. Slight panic rises in her stomach but she swallows it down; she’s with her boys, they’re safe, just a little lost.

Sam bursts out in uproarious laughter as Artie complains, “You guys distracted me!”

“Told you I should’ve driven!” Blaine says. He leans forward again and Sam follows. Tina stays quiet, pressing herself against the door a little to make room; her boys aren’t that much better but she’s always been completely hopeless with navigation and directions.

“You would’ve gotten even more distracted from singing and veered us right into a fucking building,” Artie grumbles, but he obeys as Blaine directs him to turn left and chooses to ignore his comment.

“Safe driving, am I right, dudes?” Sam cackles as he returns to the backseat, and Tina can’t help but laugh with him. “We’re gonna miss our gig, that’s how we’ll be legends!”

“‘Sunset Curve Skips Orpheum Showcase For No Reason’?” Tina suggests, turning around in her seat to face Sam.

He points at her. “Exactly. Or, 'Sunset Curve Skips Orpheum Showcase Because They Don't Know How To Drive.' The end of a promising career,” he jokes somberly. “No one would ever book them again.”

They fall silent and only the mutters of Blaine and Artie fill the car, along with the loud engine.

“Still haven’t figured it out yet?” Sam groans loudly, laying on his back across the backseats as Blaine is leaning awkwardly out of his seat to help Artie navigate.

“Not like you’re helping!” Artie says.

“That’s the street!” Blaine exclaims, pointing ahead. “The next intersection.”

“Give it up for Mr. Blaine Anderson, everyone,” Artie drawls, speeding up the car a little bit. “Perhaps not able to drive, but navigator extraordinaire.”

“You chose the wrong career path, dude,” Sam says, propping himself up on one elbow to clap Blaine’s shoulder. “Like, songwriting?”

Blaine looks down at him, raising an eyebrow. “Songwriting?” He gestures for Sam to continue.

Sam shrugs, sitting up finally. “Just, you know, songwriting, bro…" His gaze suddenly shifts and fixes at a point beyond Tina. "What th-- that car Artie!”

Tina snaps her gaze away from Sam just in time to see him yank Blaine down into his seat and the set of blinding headlights through the car windows in her periphery.

---

as a final note, i'm not sure if it can be seen this way but i'm not trying to erase artie's disability or anything and i believe i'm not doing that; as you might be able to guess, the car accident at the end of this is what paralyzes him, like in glee canon but just several years later (in his life not in actual time). please let me know if any aspect of this is disrespectful or anything <3

#i guess the warnings do kinda spoil it but it is the main point of the show lol #bye i'm stressed alksdhfgkajdhkkdsjf #kurt and the phantoms #i'm making a fucking tag for this yeahhh #will probably go back and tag some things where i shared lines or whatever lol bc i couldn't shut up about this 😂#this will be following the songs on the soundtrack... all of them not just the ones that are episode titles 👀#i'm really excited i love my ideas aksdghdfjkghlsdfjghkasdjf #so i hope i can do them well haha and i hope posting will help me keep motivated #but also i'm just really excited about it and want to share #and kinda reminding myself how i'm fine with wips being not updated for a long time or abandoned like it's not too big of a deal #so if that happens with this the person i'll be disappointing most is myself 😂#omg now or never came on shuffle while i'm putting it on ao3 a sure sign i should post lmao #what the fuck is ao3 doing putting spaces after italicized words excuse me???? kldhgklsdjfgh #AHHHH ok shit here we go????#dude editing this took way too long and it was just removing fucking spaces before and after italicized words after copying and pasting #from docs to ao3 and then from ao3 to tumblr???? why ??????#so i have forgotten anything else i wanted to say lol i will also put other tags in a second #ahhhjkdgfhkjlsdfgkahd;lkjadfghsdljighaksfd #glee #glee fic #jatp #julie and the phantoms #blaine anderson #tina cohen chang #sam evans #artie abrams #glee fanfiction #my ficsssss #ALSO this is why i've been on some blamtina bullshit lately lol 🤪 we got some blamtina comingggggg #and kurt of course ahhhh :DDD

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 15

(Masterpost)(Other Canary Content)

Warning: Spoilers for all 50 episodes!

This rewatch is going to fit into a single post, because a third of the episode is just crying and yelling on a very slow boat. If you want to learn the Chinese words for “Mother” and “Father” this is your episode.

Captain Blowhard

Clan Leader Yao shows up, having barely survived the massacre of his clan, along with two disciples who aren't too excited about their unwilling promotion to top targets. Jiang Cheng tells his dad that the Wens are systematically exterminating the smaller clans, and have said anyone who helps the survivors is going to be punished.

Jiang Fengmian tells Yao that the Jiang Clan will protect him. Which is why Wei Wuxian is responsible for the massacre of the Jiang Clan.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian both think that taking Yao to the Jin clan is the best way to keep him safe. Wei Wuxian was wrong to help the heirs of the powerfullest richest clans, but sure, let's save this asshole.

Road Tripping

The boys go down to the dock to send Jiang Yanli and Jiang Fengmian off, saying a formal goodbye with a bunch of disciples and showing off how extremely good they look in these close-fitted, simply cut robes with cool belts.

Yu Ziyuan comes down to say goodbye to Yanli and give her some medicine, covering by saying it's for Jiang Fengmian, because being sick is bad for marriage prospects, probably.

Later the boys will mention their hope that YZY will be mollified by the time JFM returns, which means this possibly isn't the usual state of their relationship. The dislike and jealousy seem to be constant, but perhaps being openly at war with each other is not.

(more after the cut!)

Club Ruohan

At Club Ruohan, Wen Ruohan is tired of sitting on his big uncomfortable throne so he's sitting on the floor next to it, instead. He's suffering the embarrassing problem of black smoke leakage, and needs Wen Qing to give him acupuncture to fix it, but she's not around. Wen Ruohan has an awful lot of trouble containing resentful energy, possibly because he is controlling a bunch of zombies 24x7 instead of letting them take a break. Wei Wuxian is mostly able to control it--except when he, you know, totally isn't--without ever needing an attractive acupuncturist to give him a poke.

WRH learns from Wen Chao that Wei Wuxian 1. killed a boss-level monster on nightmare level difficulty without his sword 2. took whatever thing had been suppressing the nightmare monster for the previous really long time. WRH wants whatever it is.

Boys in Charge

When the boys get back to Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng doesn't understand why they couldn't all go to the Lins together, and Wei Wuxian explains it to him. Wei Wuxian is the one seeing the big picture, and he wants to plan how to handle the Wen forces when they, inevitably, arrive.

Jiang Cheng would rather talk big than actually plan, showing how--at this age--his anger management problem is an issue on a strategic level, not just a personal one. As a clan leader he will eventually master this aspect, for the most part, and learn to keep a cool head in regard to martial matters, while continuing to feed his interpersonal rage problem.

The brothers supervise the archery practice of the Jiang disciples, having their last nice time together, and still without a plan. Wei Wuxian is bored and calls practice early so he can go be bored on the porch or in his room, since he isn't allowed out. In fact he's so bored by lockdown that he starts an irreverent niche blog.

(he’s kidding! keep your mask on, don’t go to wine houses)

Knowing that the Wen Clan is gunning for enemy cultivators, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng send the whole group of disciples, including children, outside the compound walls to retrieve their kites. This is what happens when you don't have a plan.

Wen the Levee Breaks

Wen Chao’s girlfriend Wang Lingjiao finds a kite with a hole in it and uses it as a pretext to snatch up the youngest disciple.

The other disciples come running back and tell WWX and JC what happened. Wei Wuxian calmly gets all of the information from them and starts figuring out what to do, while Jiang Cheng freaks out.

Jiang Cheng is a good fighter, and matures into an excellent one after a core upgrade and war experience. But Wei Wuxian is a born battle leader, developing strategies on the fly and staying cool under pressure.

Madame Yu is as brave as a barrel full of bears and Yinzhu and Jinzhu chase lions down the stairs

Yu Ziyuan and the murder twins show up and all of the disciples line up behind them, relieved to have someone scary in charge.. Yu Ziyuan is also a natural leader and an awesome fighter, but her judgement is terrible, as we're about to discover.

Bitchfest

Wang Lingjiao strolls in to the main hall and has the nerve to comment on the interior decorating, because it doesn't have enough rough-hewn black rock and lava pits, apparently.

She shows them all the kite and says that because it looks (kind of) like the sun, using it for target practice is an attack on the Wen Clan. Bitch, everything your clan wears and uses has fire on it and is red. The sun is not your emblem, no matter what the text says. This kite situation is presumably where the anti-Wen campaign gets its name of "Sunshot," however, which sounds pretty cool.

Wang Lingjiao moves along to her main point, which is that Wei Wuxian needs his ass kicked, and she'd like Yu Ziyuan to do the kicking. To goad her, she starts talking about the rumors about Wei Wuxian's parentage.

Let it Whip

So let it whip (let's whip it, baby) Get a grip (let's whip it baby) Well, what's your trip? (Oh no)

Yu Ziyuan takes the bait, and proceeds to whip the shit out of her strongest battle asset, in a sequence that's either horrifying or completely fucking awesome, depending on how you feel about whump.

There are a lot of bad effects in this show and a lot of questionable fighting, but any time Zidian flies, I am HERE for it. I gave this beatdown its own gifset over here.

Jiang Cheng is devastated and tries again and again to protect Wei Wuxian, but his mother and her lieutenants keep moving him out of the way so the beating can continue.

Yu Ziyuan hits Wei Wuxian at least 5 times, until he is totally unable to get up off the floor. Wang Lingjiao has succeeded in eliminating him as a threat for the moment.

Gotta Hand It To You

Wang Lingjiao isn't satisfied with the brutal whipping, however; she wants his right hand as a trophy, and for him to be unable to recover. Yu Ziyuan tells Jinzhu and Yinzhu to close the doors because some blood is going to fly.

I'd like to think this is when Yu Ziyuan decides to kill the Wens, rather than maiming WWX, but I'm not certain. Because she doesn't start attacking until after Wang Lingjiao says the Wens are taking Lotus Pier, and tells her to discipline Jiang Cheng. So maybe she is okay with taking WWX’s hand, but draws the line at giving up her house.

Through all of this, Wei Wuxian doesn't once protest, even when he thinks they're getting ready to take his hand off. He'll do whatever it takes to make peace. THIS is the core of his heroism; he will sacrifice anything to do what he thinks is right. He's not "playing the hero;" not doing this for fame or kudos, but for a clear conscience.

It’s a Murder Party

Wang Lingjiao explains the new Wen World order, and Yu Ziyuan smacks her to the floor and then takes out all 8 of the Wen soldiers in one elegant move.

Can we talk about how incredibly effective a fighter Yu Ziyuan is, without a sword? With her first-class spiritual tool as her only weapon? Nobody is telling her she needs to carry a sword. She shows she can use one, after she gives Zidian to Jiang Cheng, but she's absolutely devastating without one.

Having defied Wang Lingjiao, Yu Ziyuan...doesn't kill her. She chokes her, slaps her and yells at her. Then she insults her clan and sticks her FOOT on her FACE.

She sics the murder twins on the guards in the room, and they shank all of them at super speed while the boys watch with alarm.

Then she has them sloooowly advance on Wang Lingjiao, giving her plenty of time to holler for Wen Zhuliu before they can kill her.

Het Heat

Wen Zhuliu comes flying in, literally, kicking both murder twins across the room at the same time. This is followed by Core-Melting Hand x Violet Spider suddenly becoming the most shippable M/F couple in this thing, because wow, they have some serious chemistry.

I never saw a pretty girl look so tough

Actor Feng Mingjing continues to do an awful lot with almost no lines, in his portrayal of Wen Zhuliu. WZL politely apologizes to Yu Ziyuan. Is he offering to withdraw, or is he just being polite before getting down to the killy bit? Either way, Yu Ziyuan is ready to rumble, and doesn't even consider de-escalating.

You know who was able to rein in his temper, after fighting with this same extremely dangerous dude, and therefore lived to fight another day? Fucking Nie Mingjue, that's who, who has a generational CURSE making him angry. While Yu Ziyuan, is like, "fuck the safety of my clan, this is Wei Wuxian's fault anyway" and throws down.

Wen Zhuliu and Yu Ziyuan proceed to have an epic, sexy fight, where he catches her whip and she dodges his attempt to feel up her core.

He's a magic man, mama, he's got the magic hands.

Wei Wuxian, still incapacitated, tells Jiang Cheng to stop Wang Lingjiao from calling for help, but JC gets distracted by the threat to his mom, and goes to engage with Wen Zhuliu.

Jiang Cheng takes a horrifying smack in the chest, which injures him and takes him out, while Wang Lingjiao sends the signal that seals the fate of Lotus Pier.

It’s All Over Except for the Crying

Yu Ziyuan immediately sees that she's lost the battle, and has the murder twins divert Wen Zhuliu while she brings the two boys to the pier.

She verifies that Jiang Cheng's core is still intact, showing the viewers, for future reference, that it's possible to tell by touch if someone's core is missing, although a casual touch won't do it.

Then she re-codes the Zidian so that it recognizes Jiang Cheng and puts it on his wrist. She follows this with a display of maternal affection for Jiang Cheng unlike anything we've seen so far, which super fails to reassure him.

She follows this up with screaming at Wei Wuxian and telling him how much she hates him, and blaming him for the multiple shitty choices she just made..

With a heart full of rage, she reminds him that his worth lies in what he can do for more important people.

She binds the boys with Zidian and then sends the boat on its way....

...with a frickin' TALISMAN, holeee shit. As toxic as she is for Wei Wuxian, there is a direct line from her cultivation skills to his.

Dad To The Rescue...sort of

The last third of the episode is basically yelling and crying punctuated by a couple of interactions out on the water. The extreme emotions go on for long enough that I eventually stop feeling bad for the characters and start feeling bad for the actors, who had to maintain this level of feeling for probably days of shooting.

The boys eventually meet up with Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli. JFM discovers that Zidian responds to his control, which tells him something is very, very wrong, since it probably knows how his wife feels about him.

This thing isn’t biting me; your mom is in serious trouble.

Here Jiang Fengmian decides to do the heroic, totally futile thing, which is exactly his style. He tosses Jiang Yanli in with the boys and takes his leave so he can go die with his wife while the children survive.

He has to know that Yu Ziyuan is the stronger fighter of the two of them, and that he's not going back to rescue her. He's just going to stand with her and die together, which is the most romantic thing you can do in a C-drama, after all.

How Much Do You Owe the Jiang Clan?

Jiang Fengmian tells his two children not to cry, making them and the viewer cry extra hard. (specially ouchy gifset here).

Then he turns to Wei Wuxian and, with a heart full of tenderness, reminds him that his worth lies in what he can do for more important people.

Next episode: Is going to be even more horrible!

Soundtrack: 1. When The Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin 2. The Tale of Custard the Dragon (poem) by Ogden Nash 3. Let it Whip by the Dazz Band 4. U Got the Look by Prince & Sheena Easton 5. Magic Man by Heart

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #the untamed meta #yi ziyuan #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #my gifs #the untamed spoilers #tw: crying #omg this episode

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sugarmaplewings-fics · 4 years

Text

Partners

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Warnings: None

A/N:

Okay, so this one has a lot behind it. Technically, this is the first request I ever received (I’d say I got this one around late July?). It was 100% my intent to do all three characters, and it still is, but I got caught up in Bakugou’s and kind of konked on the other two. Also I realized how fricking long this was and thought it would be weird to have as a headcanon-y format.

I spent way too much time strategizing this (I remember literally laying in bed from like 2-4 AM rewatching episodes to get Bakugou’s fighting technique down and taking notes while also thinking about my new OC, who debuts here), but I honestly had the most fun writing this??? Like, I was high key using my brain for this and it was fun. Anyway, I hope it didn’t come out too cringey. If you want to talk to me about my OC, please please please come in my inbox, I am so happy to see you there!

I will finish this request! Sometime! When motivation re-strikes me! I’m about half-way done with Kirishima’s and I have a solid idea for Amajiki’s (different quirks).

I really hope you like this! This was new and experimental for me, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!

-Sugar

The class of 1-A stood in a small grouping, facing their teacher, All Might. They were preparing to begin their hero training for the day, anticipating for when the instructor would receive the go-ahead to begin class. Finally, All Might tapped a finger to the piece in his ear, a person on the other end offering confirmation that the grounds were ready.

"All right, young boys and girls," he said. "Today, we're doing some sparring practice in pairs. You will be graded on your tactic and skill."

He began to go over the general rules, which were the same as always; quirks are completely allowed, nothing dirty, he would interfere if he thought necessary. The objective was much like the sports festival where you needed to either immobilize your partner or push them out of bounds, yadda dadda da.

When he finally began listing off teams, you eagerly listened for your own last name to be read off his sheet.

"—Tokoyami and Shouji, (L/N) and Bakugou, Midoriya and—"

There it was! Your name! And a certain someone else's . . . .

Your eyes flicked around your assembled class, easily locating the blond spikes haphazardly sprouting from his head.

If it wasn't your sweet rival, Bakugou Katsuki.

The two of you were at the top of the class, constantly bumping heads on everything from test scores to hero training.

Oh, this is going to be good . . . .

You'd never fought one on one with quirks with each other before, and you already anticipated getting to know how your respective powers might clash. It wasn't as though the thought hadn't crossed your mind before—quite the opposite, in fact.

You felt considerably prepared for your mini battle with how much you'd watched him over the past months; learning his moves, how he thought, anything from what drove him forward to things that made him tick. You'd caught glimpses of Midoriya's hero notebook where he had information on all his classmates, and a part of you cockily doubted that you would even need something like that when it came to how well you knew your rival by now.

Nevertheless, you began to plot out strategies and stretch while you waited your turn, scenarios playing out in your head as you attempted to plan for any move he could try to pull against you.

Your quirk was called Panic. You could affect the fear response in someone's brain with high frequencies. Your signature attacks came from long, loud screams to make someone wet their pants, but you were also perfectly capable of making odd squeaky noises for a tasty sense of looming uneasiness in your opponent. You had learned some combat techniques, but for the most part you did better at long range; trying to immobilize the enemy enough to swoop in unexpected and secure them.

No one was wearing their hero costume, only in their gym uniforms. This would provide a slight disadvantage to you because you didn't have your directional speaker, but it wasn't the most necessary support item. You could function well enough without it.

Every now and then, you'd be knocked out of your meticulous scheming to watch some of your fellow classmates spar. There were a few pairs going at one time, but you were placed in one of the last sets, so you had the advantage of time to strategize. Eventually, however, you were called into one of the training rings, straightening and confidently adjusting your blue and white jacket.

You met Bakugou's fiery red eyes from across the way, teasingly waving at him and smirking. His gaze darted away from yours, stubbornly deciding to glue itself to the floor.

He wouldn't go easy on you. In fact, quite the contrary. You knew he'd give you everything he had and more, and you were more than prepared to do the same for him.

In a matter of minutes, your feet were planted in the loosely packed dirt of the training ring, several meters away from where Bakugou stood across from you, stretching out his arms. Your heart pounded in your chest as you waited for the signal to go, scraping the most important points you'd worked out earlier to the front of your brain.

After what felt like forever, the siren blared in your ears, causing you to tense, ready to begin your round with your explosive rival.

You shot towards him, wanting to get as close as possible. You expected he might try to stay away, keeping a distance so your quirk wouldn't affect him so much. Instead, he stood his ground, holding out his palms to you as you approached. Internally, you faltered, wondering what he was planning to do.

Nevertheless, you kept running forward, getting as close as you dared before drawing in a breath to scream and release your power. You noticed Bakugou flinch as sound began to leak from your throat, but he quickly fired off an explosion in your direction, drowning out the sound.

Of course! You internally smacked yourself. You relied on him being able to hear your screams in order for your quirk to affect him. He would have to use his explosions to drown out the sound.

Your mind began to spin, trying to formulate a new plan, when he began making an advance on you. Loud, crackling explosions danced off his hands, not horribly powerful, but boy, were they loud. You cringed at them, resisting the urge to cover your own ears to protect yourself from the noise. He kept coming closer, heat and smoke flickering over your face, causing you to take a step back, then another.

So that's his plan, you thought, taking another step in the direction of the boundary lines. He knows he can't really fight hand-to-hand, and there's no way either of us are going to admit defeat, so he's trying to push me out.

Your objective was to either knock him unconscious or chase him out of bounds, but this could be used to your favor if you timed it correctly.

Quirks are physical abilities too, you remembered hearing Midoriya say. Even Kacchan has his limits.

Push him to his limits. That's what you had to do.

You let him fire off blast after blast, keeping as far out of his reach as you could while leading him around the arena. He didn't have much choice but to keep going. If he stopped, you would be able to use your quirk on him, and you had a good chance of winning with one as powerful as yours. He simply had to keep a clear head and try to push you further towards the white boundary lines. Every now and then, he would lunge forward, trying to grab at you, and you would shriek at him, smirking as a moment of panic flashed across his face when the piercing noise slipped into his ears. This also served to make him all the angrier, lips curling into a snarl at your dominion over his emotions.

You made sure to keep your distance. You weren't wearing your hero costume, which would have helped in the sense that he wouldn't have been able to grab your mouth from under the directional speaker you wore over your mask, but you were grateful you didn't have to deal with his gauntlets.

You didn't like that he kept moving, and a small part of you was almost certain your fear and anxiety-inducing quirk would make his palms sweat even more, but there wasn't more you could pull against him. You just had to keep going until one of you exhausted yourself.

The smoke wasn't helping you. It scratched at your throat and stung your eyes. The scent of burning sugar filled the air, and you wondered how much more the both of you could take.

There it was, a wince from behind one of the black clouds, a falter in one of the fiery blasts. He was growing tired, but you knew from his expression of blank determination he wouldn't stop no matter what toll it took on his body. Anything for him to win, but you were the same way. Though he'd been focusing on the sound levels of his quirk rather than the force of each blow, it had still been taxing, and you knew that now was your chance.

The whole time, you'd been on the defensive, trying to save your voice and keep out of the way until this very moment, but now was the time of offense. You began to work the two of you over to the boundary lines, hoping to lull Bakugou into a false sense of security that he was getting you where he wanted.

Without warning, you leapt forward, going in to knock his feet from under him. If you got him on the ground, it would be easier for you to secure his hands and grab his head, which would ensure the win for you.

He snarled and leapt back. His reflexes were phenomenal, but in his moment of defense, he dropped from using his quirk. Bingo.

A deafening sliver of silence followed his motion, which you quickly filled with a piercing scream, one of the loudest you could muster.

His eyes widened and he stumbled, another explosion firing off as a flash of fear coursed through his body. You went for his feet again, and this time you wouldn't let up, pulsing high-pitched shriek after shriek to keep him on edge. He tried to keep on his toes, swinging at you almost blindly as you darted forward and dodged.

You'd learned that if you didn't do it enough, the fear and adrenaline of your enemy could work against you, heightening their senses and reflexes, and if you did it too much, your opponent might get used to your effect. Now, however, you knew to work quickly, forcing your influence into his head until he would struggle to think clearly, landing a good blow to his knees.

He crumpled forward, and you straddled yourself on top of him easily, taking his hands in one of yours behind his back and using the other to clutch at the base of his neck. You could feel his heart pounding underneath you, see his eyes rolling in his skull. The thought crossed your mind to pity him.

You loved your quirk, occasionally delighting in how easy it was to assert a certain amount of control over people. But you weren't a monster, and the idea of needlessly terrifying your classmates brought a curl to your lip in distaste. But this was your rival, Bakugou Katsuki. Maybe he deserved to be put in his place. Just a little.

You leaned forward and put your lips to his ear, letting out a final, high-frequency hum directly into his canal. You felt him seize up beneath you, hearing how his breathing changed as he tried to suck in breaths to calm himself. You wouldn't let up, however, and before long, you felt him go limp under your belly.

You stood after making sure he had slipped from consciousness, pride filling your chest. You'd done it. You'd won out over your rival.

You looked around and made eye contact with Cementoss, who had been monitoring your half of the fighting rings. He nodded at you approvingly and advanced to take Bakugou out of the ring.

You flounced back to the room where your classmates had been watching the sparring matches, allowing yourself to relish in the way everyone's eyes turned towards you.

"(L/N) shojo," All Might said. "Excellent job."

The silence of the class was cleared and everyone who was still in the room surged forward to congratulate you.

"You beat Bakugou!"

"That was amazing!"

"You really did it!"

Once everyone had settled, you excused yourself to go to the locker rooms.

On your way, you ran into Bakugou, who had since woken up from the little nap you'd forced him into.

"Oi, Bakugou," you said, the sound of your voice causing his blond head to whip around. You approached him and stuck out a hand. "Good match."

He glared at your hand and smacked it away. Why did his reaction kind of . . . hurt?

"Shut up!" he yelled. "Next time, you won't—you won't beat me so easily, mouse." He nearly choked when he had to admit that you had won against him.

"Still calling me a mouse?" you asked, tilting your head and smirking.

"You still squeak like one," he grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Don't think I'm done with you. You might have won today, but don't get used to it."

"Oh, I think I just might," you said cockily, breezing past him to slip into the girls' locker room door.

Bakugou growled at your disappearing back. What the hell was wrong with you? More importantly, what the hell was wrong with him?

He gripped at the back of his neck where you'd grabbed him, shivering at the memory of the sensation of your lips to his ear.

He had to snap out of it. You were his enemy. The only place you should have in his mind were in thoughts of how to overcome you, how to pound you into the ground until he came out on top above you.

And yet you wouldn't leave his head, and he found his eyes chasing your form nearly every day he saw you.

Bakugou snarled to himself, snapping him out of these thoughts and pushing himself from the locker room entrances. He would find a way to beat you. He wouldn't stop until he figured out a way to do it.

He wouldn't rest until he sorted out these feelings too, whatever they were.

Bakugou's black boots clicked on the floor as he exited the building. This was only the beginning of your saga together, and the two of you refused to enter passively.

*✲ﾟ*｡⋆♡⁎*✲ﾟ*｡⋆♡

Taglist: @basicaegyo @iiminibattlehero @katsugay @nabo39 @pyrofanatic @sendhelpimstupid @sokkasangel @xoxopam4

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typingtess · 3 years

Photo

NCIS: Los Angeles Season Twelve Rewatch: “Red Rover, Red Rover”

The basics: The team searches for Joelle.

Written by: Andrew Bartels wrote or co-wrote “Allegiance”, “Zero Days”, “The Grey Man”, “Humbug”, “Fighting Shadows”, “Driving Miss Diaz”, “Angels & Daemons”, “Where There’s Smoke…”, “Glasnost”, “Old Tricks” “Battle Scars”, “Fool Me Twice”, “Warrior of Peace”, “Reentry”, “The Prince”, “Smokescreen”, “The One That Got Away”/“No More Secrets” two-parter, "Yellow Jacket", “Missing Time” and “If the Fates Allow”.

Directed by: Terrence O’Hara directed “The Only Easy Day”, “Brimstone”, “The Bank Job”, “Borderline”, “Tin Soldiers”, “The Job”, “Backstopped”, “Crimeleon”, “Blye, K.” Part Two, “San Voir” Part Two, “End Game”, “Paper Soldiers”, “Descent”, “Ascension”, “Fish Out of Water”, “Blaze of Glory”, “Command and Control” (episode 150), “Matryoshka” Part Two, “Belly of the Beast”, “Payback”, “Mountebank”, “Asesinos”, "Searching", “Yellow Jack” (written by Bartels), “Raising the Dead” and “Overdue”.

Guest stars of note: Season 12 returnees are Bar Paly as Anastasia "Anna" Kolcheck, Nicki Micheaux as DOJ Special Agent Effie Carlson, Vyto Ruginis as Arkady Kolcheck and Elizabeth Bogush as Joelle Taylor. New guest stars: Weronika Rosati as Vanya, Nika Khitrova as Odessa, Nate Thomas as David Thomas, Diahnna Nicole Baxter as Dr. Jennifer Montridge

Our heroes: Try to rescue Joelle without turning over Anna to Katya.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen: Stunned that Joelle lost her leg. Sam: Broke Joelle’s arm to save her life. Kensi: Understands Anna’s desire to protect her loved ones from a sociopath. Deeks: Knows Kensi is in a fight-or-flight existence. Eric: Not today. Nell: Stuck with a job she never wanted. Fatima: Arranging a safe house for Arkady. Roundtree: Running through the park to save the day. Hetty: “Freaking” master of manipulating Nell.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Wiling to trade himself for Joelle. Sam: Can’t believe Joelle taught Kam. Kensi: Finally gets to work Arkady’s security system. Deeks: Taught his mother Zoom and Arkady is grateful for that. Eric: Not today. Nell: Loves Kensi but isn’t up for a pep-talk. Fatima: Can’t get the new Kaleidoscope to work to find Katya because Katya doesn’t compute. Roundtree: Never been to Hawaii. Hetty: On Nell’s stink list.

Who's down with OTP: Deeks is willing to drop everything to find Kessler and get him out of Kensi’s head.

Who's down with BrOTP: No real time for that today.

Any pressing need for a cranky retired Admiral? Not sure Nell would mind.

Who is running the team this week? Nell and she hates it.

Fashion review: Everyone is wearing the prior day’s clothes except Sam, who is wearing his standard season 12 look – long sleeve black tee, black jacket.

Music: “Crossroads of the Worlds” (Sweet Rains Original Mix) by Olga Alex, Olga Alexandrov is playing at Arkady’s.

Any notable cut scene: No.

Quote: Nell: “We have no idea what to look for. I can't believe I let this happen. Hetty should have never put me in charge.” Kensi: “Hold on a second, that's not fair. Nell, that is not fair. Just because you're in charge doesn't mean that you can control absolutely everything. No one can. Neither could Hetty. I mean, look at all the crap that happened under her watch.” Nell: “Yeah, well, at least she wanted this job. I mean, I never asked for this. In fact, I told her that I didn't want the job. What did she do? She didn't care. She just manipulated me into taking it anyway, because that's what she always does. That's who she is. She's a freaking master at it. And now here I am, sitting in her chair, and I'm going to get Anna killed. And I don't know what to do.” Kensi: “You don't have to know what to do. That is why you have a team. You have me, you have Deeks, you have Sam, you have Callen. - All of us will help..” Nell: “Kens, I love you, but I cannot do the pep talk right now, okay? I have to get in contact with SECNAV, I need to have a phone call with Agent Carlson, and you... you need to go home, and you need to go to sleep. Thank you.” Kensi: “Yes, ma'am.” Nell: “No ma'am. Never ma'am.”

Anything else: The previouslys are all from the two prior episodes including the finger. In the boat shed, Nell gets the happy job of “fingerprinting” the finger. Carlson is questioning Anna. When Callen can’t get Arkady on the phone, Nell suggests having a returning Kensi and Deeks check out Arkady’s. With Arkady likely needing extra convincing, Callen wants Fatima and Roundtree to go too.

Carlson doesn’t trust Anna since she was working as an agent for a foreign government. - Anna needs to tell Carlson what she promised Myskin in exchange for the FSB to help her.

The finger doesn’t match Joelle’s because the CIA is ordering NCIS to call of their identification efforts. Callen knows that is a confirmation. Nell is sorry for Callen.

Locked in a shipping container, Joelle vomits after looking at her badly disfigured hand. A woman walks in with a mask over her face. Joelle says sending the finger was a cliché. To get someone’s attention send an eye, an ear or a tongue. The masked woman leaves Joelle some aspirin, liquor and a sandwich. Joelle kicks the sandwich away, noting that aspirin and liquor are blood thinners.

Unwrapping the bloody bandage around her hand, Joelle takes a swig of the alcohol before pouring it on her hand. She screams in pain.

In interrogation, Carlson wants to know about Katya’s threats. Anna explains that Katya said she could get to Arkady and she knew about Callen. Katya never threatened her personally, just the people around her. That’s why there was the fake defection – to get to Joelle. When Joelle wanted Anna to help with Katya’s defection, that’s when she teamed up with Russia to send Katya back. “You cannot control her. You cannot trust her.”

Callen breaks in – Arkady won’t answer his phone. Anna says Arkady won’t answer the phone when he’s entertaining a lady or two. Callen thinks things are going to be awkward when the team arrives. Anna suggests therapy.

The team hops Arkady’s fence. The emergency lights are on so the power has been cut. Nell is watching as Kensi, Deeks, Fatima and Roundtree breach the house. There is loud music playing while Kensi picks the front door lock. Deeks is worried about Arkady showing up in full bondage gear “because there are some things that can’t be unseen.”

As Deeks is finishing his “unseen” line, Carlson is looking at Joelle’s finger in an evidence bag. She watches the team breach the Arkady’s from the main room of the boat shed.

Kensi is in as are Fatima and Roundtree – Arkady’s back door was opened. Kensi and Deeks are going upstairs, Fatima and Roundtree are searching the first floor.

In the kitchen, Roundtree finds one of Arkady’s guards dead with his throat cut. Carlson is shocked. Fatima finds a second dead guard – he was stabbed multiple times. She also finds the source of the music and turns it off.

Kensi and Deeks find two dead guards outside of Arkady’s bedroom. Both were shot. Since there was no neighborhood call for gunshots, Katya must be using a silencer. Kensi sees a panic room. There is no keypad. Kensi notices a drill and warm drill holes on the door. On comms, Deeks warns Fatima and Roundtree that Katya could still be in the building but there is no reply.

Racing downstairs, Fatima and Roundtree are fine, they couldn’t contact Kensi and Deeks. Neither could Nell. Callen realizes Katya set up a signal jammer – it was why he couldn’t call Arkady and why Arkady didn’t call the police. Kensi finds the signal jammer. With the help of Anna, Callen is able to get Arkady to open the door. Arkady didn’t have a satellite phone in the panic room but Deeks notes the 12 cases of vodka to prove Arkady’s priorities are straight.

Anna thinks the Russians tipped off Katya that NCIS was going to see Arkady. They could get her in a specific area and kill her themselves. If the Russians do kill Katya, they will never find Joelle.

Sam is angry that Callen didn’t call. Since the team hasn’t heard from Katya, Callen is worried that Joelle is already dead. Amputated finger, gunshot wound, Joelle is in rough shape. Sam doesn’t understand Joelle as the target. Arkady is an easier one with better leverage to use to get Anna. If Callen was easier to find, he’d be a better target too.

Things suddenly make sense to Callen. If Katya’s defection was a set-up, she had to make it seem legit. By feeding the CIA info, Katya could prove her worth. Her last piece of info was Callen being a Russian spy. Katya tried to sideline Callen with Carlson. And Carlson knows it. Carlson returns to the main room of the boat shed.

At Arkady’s, power and phones have been restored. He is sitting in his living room with his security system on the big screen TV. He’s not having an easy time using the keyboard, frustrating Kensi no end. Deeks is having flashbacks to teaching Bertie Zoom. Arkady notes that Deeks taught her well – “she’s very good at it. Never forgets to unmute.” Deeks is stunned as is Kensi. Arkady missing the bar, the human interaction, Bertie’s heavy pours and sharp tongue. Bertie was expected over that night but had to cancel, though the panic room was made for two. Deeks is going to shoot Arkady.

Kensi grabs the keyboard from Arkady and orders both Deeks and Arkady to focus. Kensi sees someone moving to the door but lasers take out the security cameras. There are no security cameras in the house – Arkady laughs at that idea. Kensi and Deeks think there was too much carnage for Katya to be working alone. Arkady only saw one person in the house and she was wearing a mask like a wolf or a dog.

When Fatima arrives, it is time for Arkady to go to the safe house. He isn’t going. He demands to speak to Anna. Deeks tells Arkady he can’t, he has to go. Arkady takes the blame for whatever Anna did. He wants to protect her. Kensi and Deeks promise Callen will keep Anna safe, they all are going to keep her safe.

Sitting at the table in the boat shed’s main room, Carlson confirms that everything Katya gave the DOJ checked out. She was the “golden goose of intel.” When she gave up Callen, Carlson had to act. Sam asks if Joelle agreed with Katya’s intel. Carlson says no, she fought the accusation but was overruled. Joelle was given the opportunity to walk away but she didn’t trust anyone else with Katya. The ODNI/DOJ should have listened to Joelle, Carlson tells Callen and Sam, and she should have listened too.

Nell pops up on the screen. The SecNav spoke to the Secretary of State who is talking to the Russian Ambassador to try to get some help calling off the hit on Katya. Sam thinks Carlson’s taskforce can get the CIA to pass on the word that the Russians shouldn’t kill Katya. Carlson isn’t sure – the Russians really don’t care if Joelle dies. Carlson can’t – she thinks someone inside the ODNI or DOJ is helping Katya. Anna is right.

More news from Nell – Gonchgarov is out of his coma. Carlson is going to question him.

At the office, Deeks asks Kensi is OK, if the reaction to the injections is over. Instead, she doesn’t really blame Anna for what she did. Deeks doesn’t see the upside to teaming with Russian spies but Kensi sees it as looking over her shoulder to see if someone is there to kill her. Kensi hates to admit it but Kessler is right – he’s in her head. She wonders if she should drop everything and kill him. Deeks is all in. Kensi says she was only half kidding. Deeks isn’t kidding at all. Kessler has been hanging over their lives for months. Kessler wants to find Kensi to torture her but Deeks thinks he doesn’t have to find her – Kessler is torturing Kensi right now. Deeks loves Kensi and they’re starting a family but it is hard with her body being in fight-or-flight all the time. “Screw that and screw him.” Deeks wants to hunt Kessler down and bring him to prison. They share I love yous and Deeks is ready to go now. But with Kessler having a pardon, he’s not going to prison. Deeks has friends in North Korea. They have prisons. So does Azkaban.

Nell gets a call from Katya to trace. Callen answers the phone and wants to hear Katya’s real voice, not the electronic one. Katya says she has no voice since her country took it from her. She wants to speak to Anna. Nell is having troubles tracing the call.

For an exchange for Joelle, Anna has to be in Pavilion Park in one hour. If there is a helicopter in the vicinity, Joelle will be executed. Kensi looks at the park and sees all sorts of places Katya could have a sniper waiting for Anna. Callen makes a counteroffer – he’ll go instead of Anna. Katya could trade him to the Russians to cancel the hit on her. Katya wants Anna and only Anna.

Jumping on the call, Sam demands proof of life. Joelle gets on the phone, not knowing who is on the other end, and warns them not to trust Katya. She gets beaten for her comments. The call is disconnected. Sam wants Kensi and Deeks to grab their gear and join him, Fatima and Roundtree in the park.

Callen goes to Anna, who is willing to do whatever is needed.

In Pavilion Park, Sam is on the south side of the park, Kensi and Deeks have the west while Fatima and Roundtree are in the food truck in the north. It is 11:45 AM. Katya is expecting them at 11:52 AM. As Callen puts a small camera on Anna’s top, Anna tries to apologize. There is so much Callen doesn’t know. Callen isn’t in the mood for this talk.

Carlson has LAPD providing coverage all around the park. There is a helicopter a few miles west that can be over the park on NCIS’s call. Giving Anna Katya’s burner phone, Callen says its time.

Anna is walking into the park. She’s waiting but nothing until the burner phone rings. The team can only hear Anna’s end of the call. Sam sees her walking to a grey sprinter van. When the van opens, the team sees a defiant Joelle wearing a bomb vest. After her captor orders her out of the van, Joelle says no. That gets her shot in the leg. Sam orders everyone to hold their positions. The van could drive away and detonate the vest – killing Joelle and Anna.

When Roundtree wonders if the vest is real, Callen thinks they have to assume it is. Katya likes to kill people. Joelle is shoved to the sidewalk. Anna is told to get into the van or the next shot is going into Joelle’s head. Joelle tells Anna not to go into the van. Anna goes into the van. Once inside, the camera, her phone and the tracker are all offline.

While Kensi and Deeks chase the van, Sam goes after Joelle, who is limping to the empty center of the park. She doesn’t want to kill anyone. The food truck and Callen join the chase. Kensi and Deeks lose the van, LAPD ‘s helicopter is on the way.

Sam starts tending to Joelle’s wounds.

LAPD spotted the van turning into a nearby mall. Callen cuts it off, ordering everyone out of the van. A shaken driver exits just before the van explodes. Callen talks to the driver – he’s a delivery man. The woman in the mask hijacked the van. He let them out near a movie theater. Callen is on his way to theater. Kensi and Deeks arrive at what’s left of the van. Deeks stays with the driver while Kensi joins Callen in the chase.

Sam needs a cell jammer and an EOD kit. Getting the food truck to Sam will take too long – Roundtree runs through the park instead. Joelle won’t sit still – Sam very much wants her to do just that. They talk about Kam, the only one the brats at the school Joelle could tolerate. They talk about Annapolis and Kam’s other path in life. The countdown clock starts on the detonator. Sam has three minutes. The phone was programed to blow up at noon. Joelle orders Sam to leave – he has two kids that really need him. She doesn’t need Sam being a hero.

Roundtree is racing to Sam and Joelle.

With the mall security cameras being closed-circuit, Kensi goes to watch them at the security office. The driver knows nothing.

Roundtree arrives with two minutes left. Nothing is working. Joelle sees Sam’s knife and tries to stab him to get him away. Promising he’ll break her arm if she doesn’t drop the knife, Sam has an idea – he dislocates Joelle’s arm and gets her out of the vest. After Roundtree tucks the vest under a picnic bench, the three move away from the bomb with Sam carrying Joelle over his shoulder and Roundtree pulling up the rear. The bomb explodes. An ambulance with Joelle’s blood type onboard is on its way.

The security cameras at the mall were knocked out 30-minutes before Anna was taken. Anna and Katya are in the wind.

Roundtree joins Fatima in Ops. The new Kaleidoscope isn’t working because Katya is not predictable. “Katya does not compute.” Roundtree asks if Fatima needs anything- coffee, doughnut, Hawaiian vacation. He’s never been – worried about the active volcanos. He wants to go to the beach and forget that people like Katya exist in the world.

Kensi joins Nell in her/Hetty’s office. Joelle is still in surgery. There are a number of possible infections and she’s lost a lot of blood. Callen is at the hospital to question Joelle once she’s out of surgery. Nell’s only good news is that nobody was in the van when it blew. Every agency is looking for Anna and Katya like they were a few years ago.

Blaming herself the for day’s failures, Nell sits at her desk. Hetty never should have put her in charge. Kensi disagrees – Nell can’t control everyone and everything. When Kensi reminds Nell about all the “crap” that happened when Hetty was running things, Nell points out that Hetty wanted the job. Nell never asked for this – in fact she said she didn’t want the job. Nell is getting louder and more upset. Now yelling, Nell tells Kensi that Hetty didn’t care what Nell wanted, she just manipulated Nell into the job. “She’s the freaking master of it.” Sitting in Hetty’s chair, a now crying Nell thinks she’s gotten Anna killed.

Kensi tries a pep talk – that Nell has a team around her – but Nell is not in the mood. Telling Kensi she loves her, Nell’s just not in the mood. Nell needs to talk to the SecNav, Carlson and Kensi needs to go home and go to sleep. Kensi says “yes ma’am” which earns another “no ma’am, never ma’am” from Nell. Nell calls the SecNav.

Kensi finds Deeks walking into the office. With no leads, Kensi wants to follow Nell’s orders. Deeks doesn’t think that’s good enough. Anna going missing should not have happened. Deeks promised Arkady that they would take care of Anna. Kensi says they all promised Arkady. Deeks thinks they are better than this.

According to Carlson, the driver was “a dupe like the rest of us.” Carlson never got to Gonchgarov – Katya’s call came in just as she was leaving. She’s going now and Sam is joining her after he calls Callen.

Callen is still at the hospital, Joelle is still under the knife. Nobody’s told Arkady Anna is missing. Callen is going to give him a call. A doctor finds Callen. The first gunshot wound went untreated for so long that the leg could not be salvaged under the knee. Callen is stunned.

A drugged Anna replaces Joelle in the shipping container. Two women, sans masks, walk in. Katya isn’t there but two women claim to know Anna from the academy. Anna only wants to speak to Katya. Katya is getting an “insurance policy” so Anna doesn’t do anything stupid. They leave some bottled water and a sandwich before locking her back into the container.

What head canon can be formed from here: This was a tough rewatch. When this shows up on ION or USA or Oxygen episode marathons, this will be a great chance to switch to the news or something.

The Kensi-Deeks talk about Kessler keeps Kessler in the background as an upcoming big bad.

Nell’s reaction to Anna’s abduction is another reminder that she doesn’t want Hetty’s job – foreshadowing the end of the season.

Episode number: This is unlucky number 13 – especially for Joelle – in season 12. Episode 275.

#NCIS: Los Angeles Rewatch #NCIS: Los Angeles #NCIS: LA #NCIS Los Angeles #ncis la

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vaguely-concerned · 3 years

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The Mandalorian Chapter 14 rewatch thoughts, in which there is much ado about Looking

let’s get the most Look heavy out of the way first lol

- the scene of din holding the silver ball is shot from below, like we often get when we’re in baby’s POV because grogu’s almost always gazing up at him. so the camera/audience is looking at him through the child’s eyes still, in a way, just to emphasize the connection even more. h e l p m e

that firmly established ‘din looks down, baby looks up’ rhythm paying for itself yet again 😭😭😭 also I love the effect that because of the smoke it looks like he’s standing in a serious thunderstorm, while the sky is actually really bright and lit up with only light cloud cover from other angles. it plays into this thing that... this is basically the end of the world for him, and barely anyone else knows or cares. he or the baby never appear in the sequels, din doesn’t have a huge ~*destiny*~ within the Force, his world is so much smaller than what we’re used to in star wars -- his grief at having it come crashing down around him is only a black cloud around him, it doesn’t block out the sun on a galactic scale ala anakin skywalker. he’s not Important. except actually he’s the MOST IMPORTANT, perhaps exactly because of that. (he certainly is to me) y’know? well I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t, I’m not sure I know. but my heart is so full.

- for a good portion of the scene where din is picking through the ashes of the razor crest (;_____________; still not over it) boba is actually looking at fennec looking at din

more precisely he seems to be looking at her while din is looking at the silver ball, and is looking at din and having some kind of Emotion while din finds the beskar spear

hm. I am now exTREMELY curious to know what boba and fennec’s relationship is actually like in more detail. strictly canonically I’m pretty sure there shouldn’t be enough of an age difference that he could sort of be a father figure, but... there’s something here, some parallells being drawn

the shots of them right before din finds the ball is interesting too -- you have fennec looking at din with a pained flinching sort of sympathy

and then she looks down and glances half towards boba like she’s checking in with him out of the corner of her eyes, but she’s not seeking gaze contact at all, she’s not asking him about anything or even initiating contact (it comes across better in motion but this was the best I could do to show it)

presumably they’ve already decided they’re going to help din, from the matter of fact way they inform him about it right afterwards, but there’s something complicated going on here within fennec at least, I think, it makes me want to know more about her backstory. (boba does look at her when he says they’ll help, and he’s trying to meet her eyes even if she doesn’t reciprocate)

and then at the very end of that scene boba is looking at fennec again, and she’s finally meeting his eyes and they both seem pretty satisfied and pleased (I guess doing the right thing has not necessarily figured hugely in either of their careers lol)

sideline but boba has so many excellent Stances in this episode, it’s wonderful. he looks so steady and grounded

- also boba and fennec are close enough that the smoke actually affects their point of view for now and darkens their world too. how’s that for a metaphor for empathy hahaha

- it’s actually quite sweet of boba to take the time to explain his own state of mandalorian-ness to din, like he’s at least eliminating the one source of uncertainty and tension that it’s in his power to remove haha

(I wonder if he’s also gauging din’s reaction to the concept of foundlings? I’ve seen some people theorize that it might not be a recognized tradition across all of mandalorian space (then again... what even is, the only true mandalorian trait is accusing someone else of not being mandalorian right) and that it was one of the apples of cultural discord in the civil wars)

- the whole journey boba’s face goes on as he watches din with the spear... I do not understand what it is exactly but I am OBSESSED with it, his eyes are doing some things and it makes my heart feel funny

he pretty quickly glances away with a sharp inhale of breath that’s some shade of ‘well. fuck.’, but I can’t quite tell you exactly what’s going on there haha

- okay so honestly -- maybe we find a force user to train the baby and maybe we don’t, but not having din be an active part of that training either way would be a fucking CRIME. din clearly just has so much fun being able to engage with him like that, as does the baby, and it gets results. if someone shows up to help with this I hope they have the insight and flexibility to understand that. (listen to baby’s excited squeal and din’s breath of laughter before he encourages ‘come on, you can do it’! it’s consistently the most engaged and happy we see din and baby obviously feels safe doing this with him when he doesn’t with anyone else, come ON)

- the soft soft mando and baby music kicking in when din gives grogu the silver ball back and tells him he’s special T_______T oh my actual god

- I love the way boba’s just... studying din all the way through their first meeting, it’s such a look of cold, dispassionate but not necessarily unkind evaluation. that’s the gaze of a bird of prey or something, it’s perfect (his eyes have softened significantly when looking at din towards the end of the episode, I guess that whole father son situation hit a tender spot huh lol)

- din’s shoulders rise up immediately when fennec starts talking about the bounty on grogu :’)

it also seems he’s a little 😬 about being in such a hurry back in chapter 5 that he missed that she wasn’t actually, y’know, dead haha, he slumps a bit uncomfortably and there’s also the “I owe you one” later on

- oh to have the utter yet unwarranted confidence of this storm trooper behind a minigun, still blasting away as the boulder crushes me

- I want to say something to gideon about what sorts of things a man must be compensating for to take the time to gleefully gloat at AN ACTUAL BABY, but thankfully I’m way too classy for that

- fennec shand using her entire strong but slender sniper’s frame to push that boulder off the cliff... poetry

I love that one pose she does jumping backwards off the stones at one point too, it’s so graceful, she looks like a dancer

- this entire scene of boba fett fucking eliminating storm trooper after storm trooper is doing some stuff to me, I can’t lie

it’s so AWESOME to see a mando interact with their armour in the same natural and expert way as din -- bo katan & co didn’t really have that many surprises and tricks to theirs, it’s more sleekly functional, boba and din’s have a different feeling to them, more personal to them and lived in, in a way (probably because they work alone much more often and need some tricks up their sleeves)

bo katan’s armour is for War and has been for generations, theirs is more just to Live as themselves? does that make any sense?

- I wonder what it feels like for din to try to push through the force barrier - he’s making sounds not just of exertion but with a little bit of pain to it?

- I really like that when boba says “I was aiming for the other one” fennec clearly knows he’s not joking, she doesn’t smile or anything. it makes it feel like they actually know each other quite well at this point

- grogu makes small sleeping baby noises when he’s passed out on top of the stone Y____________Y

- genuinely touched by how much better boba’s armour looks in the next episode, after him having it back for like a week max. LOVE what this show does with the relationship between a mandalorian and their armour and how it’s almost a living thing when it’s with them, and dead when it’s taken away

- the way boba leans forward a little in his seat when he spots the big ship *chef kiss* it so instinctively reads as him watching something dangerous, and after seeing the way he went through all those troopers like a hot knife through butter you fucking KNOW that if he’s unsettled you’re damn well unsettled too haha

#star wars #the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian meta #this is one of those where I'm trying to explain things to myself more than anything haha #anyway boba fett Hot

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nekomasmngr · 4 years

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“bring the bitter taste to a halt”

➳ inspo: sweetener with sugawara koshi

➳ synopsis: With the little to no experience you had in the kitchen, what could go wrong with your attempt to bake pastries for your lovely boyfriend, koushi?

➳ genre: fluff, chaos, slight angst!

➳ word count: 3,943

➳ fluffvember masterlist

➳ author’s note: sorry for the delay! this took longer than I thought it was gonna be, usually I’d aim for a simple 1k words, but I got inspired after rewatching some episodes to capture more of Suga’s character and well, tada! halfway through writing this, i didn’t even think of yato’s audios when I had Suga call you ‘sugar’. eye—,,lord, forgive me I am listening respectfully. please enjoy and I hope I did this prompt justice! and i’m always open to criticism, just be polite about it!

Not even 10 minutes into your baking project and you already cursed whoever thought that sugar, salt, and flour should be the same color. Sweat started to form along the sides of your head from the thoughts that were running through your mind as you went back and forth to your recipes and to the countertop on the table. No matter the labor, heat, and stress you put yourself through, you wanted this to be perfect. After all, you had this whole plan to surprise your boyfriend, Sugawara Koushi, with a delicious dessert for him to eat after his long week training camp with the Karasuno volleyball team.

You knew you wanted to make something for him, but you wanted something a bit practical. Lucky charms would usually be a go-to gift, but you thought it held more meaning when given during tournaments or for huge matches. What you had in mind was something that reminded him that even the harshest bitter days or salty losses can easily be brighted with a little sweetness. For all the moments life put you in such a rough patch, Sugawara was there by your side, reminding you of the brighter side to things.

You decided on making a batch of fruit tarts, since it seemed like the healthy choice for an athlete. It included different fruits, a creamy sweet filling and a firm brown crust; seems pretty easy and simple. Yet, as you scanned the bright screen of your phone, reading through the list of ingredients and simple instructions for the crust, you started to rethink your own choices.

You liked the simple process of the first recipe you saw; it was made for one big tart, as big as a pie and had an assortment of berries that you thought tasted better. This recipe also claimed to only take fifteen minutes to prepare. Although, you came across another recipe that had multiple tarts instead of one big one. In your head, you saw the benefit of having multiple small tarts instead of one big one.

Suddenly, an image of a cheerful Sugawara happily munching on a small tart came into your mind. He’s praising you for the deliciousness of the fruit tart, while holding another in his hand bringing it to your mouth with the intention to feed you. Blinded by your excitement, your inexperience was forgotten in the attempt to combine the two recipes. All you had to do was to follow the instructions, have the right measurements, and don’t eat the ingredients before cooking right?

What could go wrong?

Apparently, many, many things can go wrong.

In the first batch, the crusts seemed to break as soon as you tried to take it out of the pan. You suspected that you mistook one ingredient for another and mixed the wrong one in the dough, which caused the base of the crust to fall apart. Annoyance started to fill your mind as you thought of whoever had the audacity to make flour and cornstarch look the same.

For the second batch, the crusts came out darker than it should be. You grimaced as you took out this batch of burnt crusts out of the oven, fanning your mittens over the smoking heat it gave off. You cursed yourself as you admit that this disaster was caused by your negligence. Seeing as, you did get a bit distracted washing the fruit to prepare for cutting.

You were on your third attempt to make the right crusts, being extra careful on the measurements and the time the pan lay inside the oven. You suspected that Sugawara would arrive at any minute, just as he sent a text to you that the team had just finished their last practice match of the day, marking the end of training camp.

In an attempt to pre-heat your oven faster, you set the temperature to 400 degrees instead of 350, what difference would it make anyway. You didn’t spend more time thinking about the consequences of your decision, as you carefully sped up the process of placing your dough into the tart pan. You put your focus on making sure that each tart would get the right amount of dough in order to maintain the consistency of the crust as it should turn golden brown on time. As you opened the door to the pre-heated oven, your ears suddenly heard a sharp buzz from the front gate.

You hurriedly placed the tray of uncooked dough into the oven and closed the door with a small jump. You turned the timer to 20 minutes and quickly washed your hands right after. You rushed to dry them onto your apron, not having time to take it off. You darted across your house to the front door, opening it wide to see the third year waiting right outside looking all-undeniably cute and surprisingly fresh despite having finished training.

“Hi” you broke out in a smile as you tried to calm yourself from the sprint that you had to do in the last few minutes. “Hey,” Sugawara gave you a swift peck on the cheek as he entered, “were you cooking?” he asked, taking off his shoes and placing them neatly beside yours.

You started to stammer out any excuse to buy you some time to lure his attention away from the kitchen entrance, but you slowed down as his soft brown eyes kept looking to the side of your face and a mischievous smile spread across his lips. One of his hands seemed to inch towards your cheek as he swiped his thumb across the small side of your face right at the base of your chin. He brought his thumb to his lips and gave it a soft suck, all without taking his eyes off of yours. You had to refrain yourself from giving him any sort of weak reaction to his suggestive actions, yet you couldn’t stop the rapid beating of your heart that you were sure he could feel for himself.

“Sweet like sugar, sugar.” He winked at the playful nickname and suddenly, all traces of the teasing persona he put on just a few seconds ago was gone. Bright eyes and an innocent smile deceived your heart as you shook your head at his attempts to be smooth. “That’s because that probably was sugar.” You pulled yourself out of the blissful moment as you caught a wiff of a familiar burnt smell.

“Is something burning—” You barely gave Sugawara the time to finish his question as you dashed inside the kitchen to turn off the oven and opened the door of the oven to let out the smoke. In your rush, you forgot to lower the temperature when you set the oven to preheat earlier. You opened the nearby window to let out most of the dreadful burnt smell. You sheepishly looked back at your boyfriend, who was standing at the kitchen door with his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

“Ah, um,” you shifted your eyes to anywhere but his face as it filled with your own disappointment, “I tried to bake something.” You confessed as you dejectedly stared at your mess. “It was supposed to be a surprise and a little reward for you.”

He hummed in understanding, his keen brown eyes surveying the damage you had brought upon your kitchen counter, not missing the broken crumbs of past attempts at the perfect golden brown crust. He could clearly see the work you had put into this and wanted to smile at how much love you tried to show.

Sugawara was about to tease you for the mess, when you gave out a heavy sigh; one he was familiar with as it was something you’d do when you were extremely disheartened, which you were at yourself. “I can’t believe I messed up a simple recipe for fruit tarts,” you bitterly uttered as you glared at the ground and remembered how ambitious you were to even decide to bake with no experience or supervision.

You felt his presence suddenly wash over you as he stood right by yourself, reaching out a hand to lightly stroke your cheek, calling you to rest your eyes on him. “Can I take a look at the recipe?” he asked. You purse your lips and bite the inside of your cheek as you brought out your phone and showed him the two recipes. You started to grow nervous as your hands started to fidget with the hem of your apron. Your eyes not leaving his figure as he took a glance at the two sets of recipes written down on your notes, widening his own eyes in surprise at your attempt to break down and combine the two.

As much as Sugawara wanted to laugh and tease you for what you had done, he was overwhelmed with your intent to surprise him. “You wanted to make this for me?” he asked as he lifted his stare away from your phone to your bashful face.

“Yeah, but it didn’t turn as well as I’d hope. I don’t think I should have impulsively combined two different recipes together,” your eyes suddenly shifted to your untouched mess as you started to explain, “I think I got all the measurements and ingredients mixed up, cause the crust kept breaking and I couldn’t even cut the fruits ye—” You were interrupted by a strong arm wrapping around your waist. With a soft pull of your body, Sugawara tugged you towards his strong torso.

A soft smile rested on his lips as he gave you a genuine look that made your heart clench at how he kept his eyes on yours. “Thank you.” your boyfriend said with words dripping with sincerity.

“But, I messed up. I—,” you chuckled at your own actions, “I didn’t even get to make one batch out of the three attempts I’ve made.” The setter shook his head and smiled at you, “No one has done something like this for me and I guess, I’m thankful that you made your way to even try to do it.” His arms tightened his hold around you and your heart seemed to weigh even heavier with love.

“I wanted to do it.” you fondly sighed. “You’re important to me Koushi,” you brought your hands up to his cheeks and cradled his face in your hands, “and I’m so proud of you and how far you’ve come. I just wanted to somehow show it.”

“Well, I have an idea. Why don’t you take a small break? You go freshen up and I’ll clean up around here, then we can just go snack on the fruits you have—” You interrupted him with a timid hum. “I still wanna bake for you though,” you said as you directed your pleading look onto your boyfriend’s eyes, with a hint that you wanted to bake something with him.

“Do you wanna bake together then?” you eagerly nodded at his question, a smile occupied your face immediately as this meant you both would spend more time together. You would be able to truly show him your good intentions in this new dessert, while showing that you were actually capable of not messing up the kitchen.

Sugawara matched your smile with his own as he brought his hands together with a clap, “Then it’s settled!” You crouched down to one of the cabinets to find a spare apron. As you looked, the athlete started to say, “Let’s maybe start with something easier, babe. I appreciate the thought for the fruit tart but, you have no experience in the kitchen to begin with, why did you want to start with that?”

Your actions halted at his teasing knowing he was trying to mock you for your inexperience in the kitchen. Without a reply, you slowly stood straight and looked menacingly at the naive setter and raised your leg to give a soft kick to his thighs. He let out cry as his knees buckled at the sudden force.

After you had both calmed down, and you had accepted his apologies for your lack of cooking skills, you decided to go bake some cookies. Sugawara let out a cheer as he found a recipe for matcha and white chocolate chip cookies. “This is perfect! We can use the matcha powder that you already have!”

“No,” you gave out a small whine, “those have white chocolate in them. They aren’t healthy at all.” You tried to reach for his phone to try and change the recipe, but his long arms and taller stature rose the device high above your head and out of your reach.

“Ah! These are for me anyway so I get to pick!” He brushed off your whine and gave small pats on your head, “Besides, matcha is a great substitute for caffeine! I think it’ll give me an energy boost when I need it.” He gave you one of those smiles that made your heart melt and left to gather the extra ingredients you needed. You pouted and grumbled as you fought the blush rising to your cheeks. Sugawara’s smile would always make your heart soften, making you give into his wishes.

As he brought down the can of matcha powder from the cupboard, he took a glance at your pout and gasped at the sight, “Oi! Throw away that frown, away with the negativity!” You let out a yelp as he gave a firm chop onto your side, not even his girlfriend could be spared by his firm chops to the side. You narrowed your eyes at him as you rubbed your waist. You got back at him for it, giving him your own chops on each side of his torso. If there’s anything about you that Sugawara loved, it was definitely the fact that you easily joined in on the fun and his teasing.

Baking with Sugawara proved to be more effective than doing it by yourself. He knew you still wanted to prove your skills for this, so he let you take the lead on most of the instructions. Instead, he made sure all the ingredients were properly measured and did not get mistaken for any other ingredients, despite them looking the same. With someone to keep you and your actions in check, the cookies were in the oven in no time.

“So, how was the training camp?” you asked as you leaned onto the kitchen counter, keeping an eye on your phone’s timer, but giving your attention to your boyfriend’s response.

Sugawara wiped his hands on the hand towel as he answered, “It was pretty good. We’re a new team, so it will take a bit of time to get used to each other.”

“I can’t wait to attend your matches! It’s the Inter-High Tournament soon right?” your excitement died down as you noticed arms suddenly slowed their motions as the setter brought down the dishes he was wiping.

“Koushi? Is there something wrong?” You stood by his side and gently placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, waiting for his reply. His eyes seemed sullen, it’s usual brightness gone. He took a deep breath and put on a sad smile on his face as he turned to you. “I’m not the starting setter,” he confessed.

Puzzled by this revelation, your eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “But, you’re a third year. You’ve been on the team since your first.”

“I-I know.” Sugawara said.

“Y-You have experience.”

“I know.”

“Why didn’t—,” Sugawara sighed and placed a tender hand on your cheek, his eyes asking you to listen to his next words. “It’s okay,” His serene smile seemed to calm your rising nerves, “The strongest are the ones who stand on the court. I just have to work harder to be stronger.”

You couldn’t believe that he was talking this awfully well. If you were in his place you’d definitely feel cheated on by being taken away the opportunity to play for a sport you dedicated your high school years to. Your eyes searched his own, for you knew, despite his words of reassurance, he was hurt. Of course he was. But right now, he needed your support in this. He must have thought this through to be this collected while breaking the news to you. You nodded for him to continue.

“I’m not giving up. Our coach knows this. Even if I’ll be on the sidelines, I still want as many chances as I can get, but that won’t happen if I’m on the court as a regular,” Sugawara sighed, “I just wanted to tell you, because I didn’t want you to be disappointed when you see that I’m not starting.” His voice softened as he averted his gaze away from you.

“Oh Kou,” you felt your heart burn from his words, “I could never.” You took his hands into yours and brought them to your lips, giving them a soft kiss. “Please believe me when I say that I will never be disappointed in you.”

“You may not be on the court,” you continued. “But, please remember what you’ve been through, what you’ve experienced. Who you are and how you grow is what matters. You are strong and you are more than good enough to be their setter.”

Your relationship with Sugawara may be pretty fresh, having gotten together with him officially in the middle of your second year. However, even when you were both first years, you knew how hard and dedicated he was to this sport. You were also aware of what he and the other third years had to go through when they first started out; training everyday, agreeing to every practice match they could have, getting laughed at by other schools, sometimes even by the other clubs at how they had become the fallen powerhouse or flightless crows of Karasuno High School— you knew about it all.

Seeing them grow from the baby crows they once were to who they are now was something that brought so much warmth to your heart. Every morning from the start of your third year, you would walk to school with Sugawara. Every morning without fail, you’d listen to him animatedly talk about the promising first year students and how amazing and talented they all seemed to be. You would never get tired of how he radiated with joy and spirit for his team.

You locked eyes with him, determined to bring out the usual light in his eyes again. With the most heartfelt smile you could make, you claimed, “I’m always gonna be proud of you.” You smoothed out a thumb across his cheek as a stray tear fell escaped from his eyes. “And I’m gonna be there at every match for you. I’m always gonna be cheering for my setter.”

He brought you into an embrace full of passion and emotion. “Thank you.” You both stayed in each other's arms for awhile, making the most out of this moment you two have. Placing your head on his chest, you secured your arms around him and squeezed his torso with the intention to remind him of all of the love and support that you could give. He wouldn’t be alone in this, he had his other teammates and he was smart to begin with. You were sure he’ll be able to stand on the court with his friends as well.

You lifted your head from his chest and took a glance at his face, your heart flipped in triumph at the familiar smile resting on your boyfriend’s face. “There’s that sweet smile I love.” you teased. Sugawara let out the most precious laugh. You hummed and gave him a taste of his own teasing looks, “Maybe I should start calling you ‘sugar’ too.” His cheeks glowed even more red at your comment.

It wasn’t long until your phone rang with the timer flashing as it came to the end. You both peered into the window of the heated oven, excited to see the green and white sweets in all its glory. Every single one of them looked absolutely delectable as a soft golden brown lined along the rim of each cookie. The long-awaited desserts were brought out of the oven and were left to cool for a few minutes.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you allowed Sugawara to take the first bite out of the first cookie. He gave a glance at you and smiled at your ecstatic nature, he already knew the cookies would taste great as his senses were filled with sweetness. With a slow chomp and a chew, he took his time assessing the food, definitely prolonging your anticipation on purpose. “So?” you couldn’t help but ask. you were patiently waiting, as you always were, observing the exaggerated gestures on his face as he tried to mask his enjoyment.

“There’s this thing we say in volleyball as someone makes a good serve,” he placed his cookie near your mouth for you to bite on. You were taken aback for a moment, reliving a sense of deja vu, as you recalled your little daydream earlier, now having brought to life. You graciously accepted his offering, taking it out of his hands, and took a bite out of your creation. Your boyfriend took a step back and brought one leg up and striked a pose. With a wink directed at you, he shouted, “nice serve!” You tried to stifle your laughter, but failed, as you looked at his form even longer. He raised both his hands up to give you a double high-five, to which you gave in return.

You’ll never forget how much of a dork your favorite person really was. It was definitely strange to compare a good serve to a good cookie, but you’ll take it! You smiled in victory at the success of the batch of cookies you two had made. “Ah! That smile!” Sugawara wanted to use your own words against you, but of course, he added his own spice into it. With exaggerated gestures, he clutched at his chest and pretended to faint to the ground, “I don’t think I need the cookies anymore, babe. I’ve got all the sweetness to win all of our matches!”

He wrapped his arms around your frame and squeezed your sides, swaying your bodies slightly. You rolled your eyes at his antics and lightly pushed his arms away to make him stop, “Shut up!” you said while giving out light laughter.

“No, I’m serious!” At his declaration, his hold on you got even tighter, “I don’t need them, all I need is your smile, your laugh— all I need is you standing right there on my side of the court with your eyes on me!”

Your heart swooned as his words, at the same time, your laugh grew louder at his persistence. You stretched out your arms to reach out for the cookies. “Guess, I’ll just give these to Daichi-san and Asahi-san then.” you teased. At this, the playful athlete shook his head and buried his head onto the crook of your neck, whining, “No! You made these cookies for me! We made them together! They won’t get a single bite!”

You let out a laugh at how utterly adorable Sugawara is. You adore special moments like this with him; times when you both can be completely goofy with each other, but at the same time, know when the other needs comfort and solace. You can’t ever imagine what your life would be like without him and you’d hope that everyone else would be able to experience the kind of sweet and pure love that you both shared together.

#fluffvember 2020 #fluffvember #haikyuu!!#sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara koushi x reader one shot #haikyuu fluff #fluff #sugawara koushi #baking with suga!#haikyuu sugawara #koushi sugawara x reader #sugawara x reader #kuroosonetouch's fluffvember

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morkofday · 3 years

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thank you once again @yibobibo for tagging me ♥ even if, like I said, this is pure torture. I have so many sons that I’ve given up on counting them sigh but here goes.

favourite male fictional characters.

I took it that this meant ten so am going with that (tho am not gonna try and put them into order). am also sticking to all the characters I loved this year. and gonna ramble and add gifs so cutting it here.

1. Liu Sang

The Lost Tomb Reboot/Reunion: The Sound of The Providence

I have so much love for this boy it’s not even healthy. it’s a bit funny tho bc once I started tltr, I didn’t really like him and almost forgot about him as the first season ended. he just felt so annoying and bitter in what I saw him, even if I did get that he had a Tragic BackstoryTM (I felt for him but well. tltr really made him hard to like at first). but then they brought him back in the second season with his sad puppy eyes and inability to handle his thoughts on wu xie and being all touch-starved and pitiful and whatnot and baam, I had the adoption papers ready. he’s wonderful and so strong and so smart and amazing. and liu chang as his actor has been wonderful (and he’s so pretty my god, have you seen him??)

2. Shen Wei

Guardian

never did I expect to just. fall into this hole after a year? I remember what a mess I was when I first watched guardian over a year ago, right after finishing the untamed. I was in shambles even as I knew how it would end. and now I’ve done this all again while also reading the novel and. my love for shen wei, especially bc it’s zhu yilong acting as shen wei? astronomical. I want to write poetry about him and his stupid responsibilities that he chooses to carry silently and his devotion to zhao yunlan and his love for his ppl and his didi and. I hope that one day I manage to write weilan bc I have this one idea and you can come pry it from my cold, dead fingers if it doesn’t get out there (am also super happy about the edit I made bc my god does he deserve at least that)

3. Cloud Strife

Final Fantasy VII

ok so stepping into the video games territory now. I was waiting for the remake like crazy and it was everything to me once the quarantine hit during spring. the game is so beautiful and I felt like I looked at this gorgeous boy once and was ready to give him my heart (tbh am quite sure he owned my heart before I even learned to know him). he is tragic in so many ways (I’ve only scratched the surface of all of his pain I know) and I wish I could just. hug him a lot. he is kind and cares very deeply even if he hates to show it and I love it how remake showed him also just being a human disaster (some of his scenes are just. peak comedy). I would kill for his smile (I have already cried for it a dozen)

4. Geralt of Rivia

The Witcher (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

if there’s one grumpy, brickwall of a man I love, it’s geralt. I affectionately call him “papa wolf” while playing witcher 3 and his voice in it does things to me (I am just so fond of him ok, begone you dirty fuckers). I got introduced to him through the books and adored him in them bc he is so prickly and sarcastic and still so full of love even if he will never admit to it. he is the father figure I wish I could have in real life. (and yes, I’ve seen the tv series (or at least a couple of the first episodes) and it looks stunning but. this is my version of geralt and that’s the hill I will die on)

5. Xiaoge

Zhang Qiling, Daomu Biji (The Lost Tomb 2)

(wow finding a gif for him was a pain, apparently I gotta learn how to gif or?) ah, my dear boy who I’ve ended up just calling xiaoge bc he seems to prefer it over his real name/title/whatever zhang qiling really is. I got introduced to him through tltr where we really didn’t get to know that much about him bc he was just... there. huang junjie was absolutely stunning tho and his soft smiles made me super fond, but only in the lost tomb 2 did I really fall in love with xiaoge as a character. I was surprised tbh bc I didn’t expect it to be this drama? I had so many doubts about the cast in tlt2 but they all delivered! and I think cheng yi’s xiaoge is now my favorite bc he somehow captured that softness and the pain of him? (and we do not talk about that buxun storyline tyvm) tho now that ultimate note is on the way, I gotta say that xiao yuliang does a wonderful job as xiaoge too!

6. Wu Xie

Daomu Biji (Ultimate Note)

(sorry we have to go with a pingxie gif now but maybe it’s only fitting) tbh it’s hard to choose my favorite version of wu xie. I think all of the actors for him have done amazing job showing wu xie in different parts of his life (all of them are very distinct but still feel like the same person) but currently zheng shunxi takes the lead. I really wanted to put the reboot version of him here (bc I love that mature, relaxed and somehow very soft version of him and the angst is phenomenal and the thoughts he has about death... yeah) but I already have zhu yilong’s face here once so :’D wu xie is just one of those characters you cannot not like. he is so strong, so kind, so stubborn, so wonderfully stupid sometimes and in need of careful protection. I also adore it how smart he is and I could listen to him spew history facts for 10 hours straight (even if it was in a tomb full of blood zombies) ♥

7. Jiang Cheng

Jiang Wanyin, The Untamed

my darling boy! my beautiful angry grape! I love him beyond words. I love him in all of his raging, misunderstood, stupid, sassy, constipated, abused, tragic, bitter, big hearted glory. I could write novels about him (and I did and am still writing oh boy) and his love for ppl and his inability to show that love and his loneliness and his issues. I could also write another novel for all of his outfits etc. bc damn, what a fashion king. he is just so great. he owns my soul. he deserves happiness and in this essay I will

8. Isana Yashiro

Adolf K. Weismann, K Project

I rewatched k project this spring bc a) it’s one of my favorite animes ever (it just looks stunning with all the colors) and b) I love yashiro to bits. I remember falling in love with him when I first watched k project many years ago bc he was just so kind and bright. this time though, I ended up seeing another side of him and my god did I cry. he is... so sweet. he cares for others so deeply and is ready to sacrifice so much for them and his love for his two clansmen... yeah. I think I finally saw the tragedy of him too, all the pain and loneliness and insecurity he decides to hide behind his smile and obnoxious personality. he reminded me a lot of myself and watching him made my heart bleed in a good way

9. Qi Tiezui

Ba Ye, The Mystic Nine

(wow am going to riot for the lack of all the gifs hhh) yes, we’re continuing with the dmbj universe that sucked me in big time this year. the drama of the mystic nine wasn’t probably that earth shattering for me as it somehow got boring more than once but I did love ba ye to bits. he was just... so nice? I got it that he was somehow this “comedic relief” in the drama with all of his funny scenes and ridiculous mannerisms but I could see the brilliance of him. he is warm and smart and kind of a romantic too and he cares for all of his friends so deeply? it was also sweet how protective of him his two zhangs were (does that run in the family? the tendency to imprint into one smart but disastrous man and keep him safe? maybe) and I really hope I knew more about him bc he seemed to have a lot of knowledge and a lot of impact to ppl’s lives (I yelled when they mentioned him in ultimate note, I miss him ;;)

10. Dorian Pavus

Dragon Age Inquisition

(yes I’ve been replaying DA:I this year, this counts!) another darling boy! my lovely sass master son! I have so much love for him and his story in DA:I. he is my favorite companion (and his romance is my favorite too, probably obvious in the way am currently romancing him for the third time) and he has given me a lot of strength. the way he stands up against his father, how he’s ready to reform his homeland instead of walking away, how he’s so caring for those he sees struggling... it’s very warming and I feel like I’m safe with him. it feels a bit silly to say that but he really is that comfort character I will seek out when I just want to know am doing fine :’) (and I am so excited to see him again in DA4! probably?)

+ 11. Li Cu

Tomb of the Sea

yes I cheated a bit (with my own rules lol) to fit li cu here. I didn’t really expect to like him or tomb of the sea as much as I did once I started it? I’ve seen leo wu elsewhere before this (battle through the heavens, nirvana in fire) and his face always makes me think about a sad puppy so maybe I just grew fond over li cu instantly bc he was... so hurt? the first episode really slaps you in the face with all of it, showing him being abused, wounded, kidnapped, tortured, used and then just very, very scared and broken. he continues being that throughout the whole drama and I feel like tomb of the sea (or sand sea or sha hai idk) is the darkest and angstiest story in the dmbj universe. I know it deserves to be bc this is a dark time for wu xie but... my darling li cu. I wish him only happiness ;; he was so strong and smart and wonderful in this and it was just so amazing to watch him grow and find his own place in the world just bc he did something himself (even when he got dragged into all of this bc of wu xie) also I support the wu xie adopts li cu -agenda

Honorary mentions:

Zhang Rishan, Xie Yuchen and Hei Xiazi from DMBJ universe. The Twin Jades of Gusu and Ouyang Zizhen from The Untamed. The Iron Bull and Fenris from Dragon Age games. Thane Krios, Kaidan Alenko and Jaal from Mass Effect games. The whole lot of Assassin’s Creed protagonists (especially Ezio Auditore and Shay Cormac). Adam Parrish and Ronan Lynch from The Raven Cycle. Neil Josten from All For The Game. Eduon and March from The Smoke Thieves. Qiling from L.O.R.D. Critical World. Luo Fei from Detective L (played by Bai Yu).

well, with this I can really see that I have a thing for those who are tragic :’D I have a thing for grumpy, prickly and antisocial guys or those who hide their pain behind a smile. maybe it’s bc I am somehow both, even if I can’t show my anger or be mean to others and even if I feel like my smile never sticks either. I just find kinship in all of the characters who are on this list. and I feel like I aspire to be as strong and as kind and as loving despite all the pain I’ve been put through.

thank you, this was so much fun! and sorry I made this so long and so complicated ^^’ but well, there are just way too many male characters I love haha

at the end I want to tag @i-am-just-a-kiddo @ashenwren @kholran @tiesanjiao @lan-xichens @aheartfullofjolllly @manhasetardis and @lzswy ♥ feel free to do this in your own way or not at all! and thank you if you managed to read through my rambling :’D

#tag game #wow this was something #i've been waiting for one #bc there is so much love in me #and this year i've discovered so many #new characters to just gush over #about me #random #edit: added a few characters #and tagged some more ppl sorry #also mobile tumblr wouldnt let me edit so lol

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