#she b like . cheats on oz

[jennycalendar]

Bestie, I need to know why Xander/Willow cheating made sense because I cannot send my brain to the dimension you live and love from but I WANT to.

love this energy! <3

so first of all this meta by @petpluto covers a lot of the points that i think make this beat so compelling (willow and xander's history as neglected/abused kids who have been each other's Person since childhood) but for me i am also really fascinated by how gorgeously it highlights some key issues that willow and xander both struggle with -- issues that manifest really neatly in this specific beat for both of them.

while willow has absolutely grown to love oz, there's a moment in "innocence" that i think is really key to understanding how oz and xander occupy a similar space: willow asking if oz wants to make out with her pretty much directly after finding out about xander and cordelia. oz himself points out within the text: this offer has literally nothing to do with oz as a person and EVERYTHING to do with willow's desire to Flip Xander Off, so we already have this pre-existing situation where willow's romantic decisions are not at all linked to her romantic feelings! even if willow is 100 percent absolutely in love with oz, and i do think that the show plays it like that, there's a lot of psychological stuff that goes into her decision to want to be with xander. the show has established that she's attracted to him, obvs, AND i think that willow and her critically low self-esteem would be really interested in What It Represents to be the kind of girl who has two boys interested in her, particularly after having spent SO LONG waiting for xander in particular to be interested in her! there's also this really special allure in knowing that xander is dating cordelia chase, hottest girl in school, but literally Cannot Resist his Magnetic Pull to willow! like that has to be such an ego boost for her. i can definitely see that playing a part.

xander, meanwhile, is very deliberately making this choice because he does not see cordelia as a safe bet. we see this all through the way that he treats her in season three: he convinces himself in "anne" that she's been cheating on him over the summer with a Hotter Guy (with literally no evidence!), and CRUCIALLY, he is visibly thrown by the notion of being "locker door material" in "lover's walk," suggesting not just that he's guilty about willow but that he just genuinely cannot picture a situation where cordelia is actually proud about being his girlfriend. i think the way that their relationship sprung up did a lot of damage to both of them, because it was born out of shame! both of them were constantly trying to hide this because they didn't want their friends to see them with someone who they knew their friends fucking hated. xander and cordelia share this desire to be perceived as Cool, usually by a specific group of people, and it's this shared desire that has them unified in their decision to keep their relationship a secret in season two. thing is, though, we are shown so many moments where BOTH xander and cordelia express their deeper insecurities and have their partner essentially laugh in their face! fandom has dissected the moments where xander is a shitty boyfriend, but cordelia is also a DEEPLY shitty girlfriend in season two right up until they "go public." (see: xander asking cordelia to go as his date to buffy's birthday party & her saying sharply that she won't because she's ashamed of him/cordelia expressing jealousy and hurt re: xander favoring buffy and willow over her and him making fun of her for it.) her love for him is apparent to us as viewers as soon as the valentine's day fiasco, but xander himself does not trust that love, and in some ways does not actually believe himself capable of hurting cordelia. he does not know that she loves him, and on some level feels that this thing is going to blow up in his face anyway, so it could be argued that starting up a clandestine affair with willow would be a neat and effective way to take control of the inevitable horrible end. (it is also an excellent precursor to his decision to leave anya at the altar -- he wants to be the reason that things fall apart, because he cannot stand the thought of these incredible women who he does not feel worthy of leaving him of their own volition! he has to drive them away himself!)

and as a little footnote, we get the foreshadowing for xander's changing feelings re: willow in becoming pt. 2! xander confesses his love to willow by her bedside, and willow, half-conscious, asks for oz. one could argue that this is a "best friend" love confession, and i do think that it is, but i also think that best friends + teenage hormones can be a really tricky business, and it is very understandable that wires might get crossed there (especially with xander, who has these really rigid expectations about what he as a guy is Supposed To Do, Be, And Feel, and in large part feels as though he's failing at all of them, so of course he overcompensates with fucked up toxic masculinity.) xander is very obviously thrown by willow wanting oz there instead of him, and expresses his deep displeasure with willow/oz being cute and couple-y consistently throughout the latter half of season two. he is just as jealous of oz as willow is jealous of cordelia. again, imo, WAY more complicated than "he has romantic feelings for willow," and a lot of this i think can be much more compelling if seen through the lens of "my best friend is slipping away and becoming someone else's person and i cannot fucking take that. i have to grab them before they're gone, and i know i can, because i know them."

#asks #meta #btvs #xander harris #willow rosenberg #thank you for this! i like talking about it!

[deep-aural-fixation]

Continuing on my Buffy book kick, I just finished Paleo. Set in season 3, before Xander and Willow cheat, post Wild Hunt. It's one of the best written so far. It really builds an atmosphere, and none of the dialog feels labored. And bonus! There's quite a lot of Oz.

B plot involves The Dingoes possibly getting a new manager. She's pushy, but promises them high paying gigs and possible record deals. In fact, she even offers all his friends (including Angel) work in the industry. It's this that sets off alarm bells. Angel and Willow investigate, and it turns out that she gets her clients addicted to drugs and takes all their money.

A plot isn't connected, except by theme (be careful of who you choose to lead you). We meet two new characters: post grad student Michael, and Sunnydale High newbie Kevin. Kevin is actually really likable, and you can't help but feel sympathy for him and his situation. A spell is found that can bring dinosaur fossils to life, but the catch is that it's a nasty demon being housed within.

If you ever wanted to see Buffy fight a demonic Tyrannosaurus Rex, here you go. I love how it remembers that Oz is actually pretty smart, and references his werewolf side. Lots of good tension, and a small bit of gore (there is a body count). If you only want Scooby action, there's quite a lot of Kevin, but I feel like he's a good perspective character.

#btvs

[mewmewgirl101]

Spike arrived back in sunny dail late at night drunk as skunk and heart broken

.wanting nothing more than to be dead for real cause drewcila cheated on with another demon.he's still madly in love with her. he goes to the one person in Sunny dail that was actually nice to him even after she found out he was a vampire. When he gets to her club house it's a replica of the sander sin sisters house. Sees her in a cute but sexy pjs sleeping He looks her up and down licks and bites his lips thinking yummy. touched the door knob and door knocker and yells in pain and pulling his hands away sees knocker is a cross and door knob has cross in graved on it. He knocked on doors in panic s

When she opens door she puts both hands on mouth and gaps when he collapsed on ground landing in side.she pulled him in side shut locked door and closes black out blinds and curtains.she lays him on lounge chair on his back. The Gasps seeing his shirt has rips all over it. She strips him from waist up after she cleans him up she blushes a deep red seeing his very very noticeable six pack toned chest and musclier arms. She thinks in her head how incredibly hot he is. She wraps him up.When he wakes ups can't believe he's not burnt and dead and that she had patched him up.he gets up softly rubs her cheek think how beautiful she is She wakes up at ten. And asked him how he was feeling.opper her secret door with mini fridge and hands him large iced tea up full of blood telling him to drink. A little later he tells her what happened saying how he knows he's loves b****.

Spike: she wouldn't even kill me she just left like she didn't even care enough to cut my head head or set me on fire

Sosha( thinking I've never seen him so broken before)

Spike: is that to much to ask you know some little sign she cared so I said am not putting up with this anymore and she said fine

Sosha( sees tears in his eyes and down his cheeks fronds sadly at him)

Spike: and I said I have my own unlife you know then she said we could still be friends. Oh god am so unhappy

She just hugs him close rubbing his back rocking him feeling awful for him wondering why would anyone leave him for some ugly slime monster she shutters in her head just thinking about a slime monster and how ugly it probably is

Spike( tears ) make me a love potion so drewcila will love him again please I need her she's my everything.

Sosha: spike what your about to see my hurt am just warning you ok cause you may want to change your mind (walked to her caldron) show me drewcila please

Spike( started sobbing again when Sosha said his ex girlfriends name ( he gets up and followed her

Caldron

Drewcila and her new boyfriend talking about spike and how he's gone soft and no longer the dangerous killer vampire she loved. And how her and her new boyfriend should run away together and never look back.he kisses her hard hot

Sosha: ok stop

It stopped and goes back to its normal color changing glow. spike one hand over his mouth shaking his head can't believe his ex hates him so much.He grabbed bottle of whisky taking big swig of it.sosha sits next to him holding him close rubs his back

comforting him as he sobs drinking his pain away.she continued to comfort him till she had to go and get supplies from the magic shops and grocery and food. Spike grabs her arm asking her to wait and not to leave him. She rolls her eyes asking willow and Buffy and Anya to come not to freak out when they get here. It takes a twenty minutes for them to get in side there and five seconds for willow and Anya to see a broken hollow looking spike. Sosha tells them to make sure he doesn't go through her things or do something stupid while she's gone. she gets back a few hours later with food for every one. Buffy spike and willow oz and Xander. She smiles seeing them getting along.she gave everyone there favorite food. They just hanging out there all weekend. Sosha puts crosses locked every thing she didn't want spike getting into.the next day Every one keeps spike a secret from every one.and every night spike goes to the demon bar and drinks his pain away and getting drunk. sosaha made healing spikes broken and hollow heart her mission. She made the love spell for spike a while ago. to give to his ex.he can't believe she's being so nice and kind to him. He changed his mind about the spell and about leaving. Liked every being so nice to him. It's been a few months and spike is ones again loves b**** but for Sosha.He tells his new friends what he is again. anay and willow cover there mouths screaming happily and jumping up and down. Spike goes online to order nice things and so very pretty paper pretty envelopes.wax and wax seals. He's all so Bin soasha version of angel and coming to save her when she needs it. and keeping her safe. Sosha has no idea who's been leaving love letters nice things and goodies in her mailbox. It's been going on for weeks and it's driving her crazy not knowing who her secret admirer is.her sister and her mean friends are very jealous of her while she has a secret admirer and they don't. Only Buffy willow and oz know it's spike.

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy #spike #x oc #spike x oc #oc x spike

[la-appel-du-vide]

10•16•22

Our annual Halloween party is back! Since our group Scooby Doo costume was such a hit last year, we went for another group costume this year. We chose to do Wizard of Oz, and be the Oz Squad. We didn't get quite as much love this year, but I'm still proud of how it turned out. Beach was the world's cutest Dorothy, Kena reprised her role as the Wicked Witch of the West, I was Glinda the Good Witch (in a pink dress this time, like the movie), Jason was the Tin Man, Glen was the Lion, and Brayden was the Scarecrow.

We took our pictures in a cornfield, to give it the Oz effect. We got a later start than we hoped for, so the pictures also just didn't turn out as well as they could have. You can see from our little TikTok how dusty it was too!

Then it was party time. We started at Kena's house, for her "Happy Hallo-EAT" dinner. It was super cute. She put together mystery menus, where you had to order things based on the title alone, not knowing what it would turn out to be! For example, for the drinks, I ordered "Dark of the Night" which turned out to be sprite dyed dark purple. Brayden ordered, "Ghost Blood" and it ended up being water hahaha. I'd guessed it would be some kind of fruit punch. So just cute stuff like that! Other examples were an appetizer called "Frankenstein Lost His Head" and it was a Mason jar with a Frankenstein face drawn on filled with green grapes. Or a Mummy Wrap being a quesadilla. We all loved it, and applaud all of her hard work.

Then we did Beach's game which was a Halloween decor scavenger hunt! It was a team game, and B and I won by three points. Our prize was a bag of Halloween candy.

We all ended at our house, so we could let Reef out of his kennel, and then finished out the rest of the party there.

My game was a Halloween "name that tune." Everyone was pretty good at it, except Beach hahah. But in the end, Brayden won my $5 Starbucks gift card prize.

Then we played Jason's game, which was a spit ball version of pin the wart on the witch. Chewing up the paper grossed me out so much haha, but I did get one to stick to the wall. Other than that, they just bounced off. Beach got the closest, and won an inflatable ghost decoration for her house!

Glen went next, and we played a little relay game, boys against girls. Each team had a broomstick, and we had to sweep a baby pumpkin down the hallway and around a chair, and then back to hand-off to our teammates. There was some definite cheating going on, and one of the pumpkins got smashed so hard into our baseboard that the Sharpie face got transferred from the pumpkin to the wall. Yikkesssss. Maybe a game better played outside haha. The boys won, but again, cheating.

Finally, B did the Trivia Murder Party on Jackbox games. We played two rounds, and the winner of the second round was the overall prize winner for an Amazon card. Beach won the first round, but I pulled through to win the second round! She wasn't happy (;

Then we watched the majority of the Wizard of Oz, and looking up the sad history behind filming it, before calling it a very late night. Love this tradition!

[faithsbf]

reddit buffy discourse specifically about faith is so icky because you can tell a good majority does not Understand Subtext. like is it not painfully obvious to see she’s a traumatized teen ?? she is literally buffy but bostonian with no friends or family .. disliking her for her obvious issues with consent is totally valid (which i’m still kind of iffy over bc that seems to be the writers go to in order to show Character Bad) but like ?? what else do you have on this poor woman omg

#they’re like #she’s so whiny #SHES A CHILD WITH NO FRIENDS OR FAMILY? #they see a female character that isn’t buffy or willow and go misogyny dudebro mode #when willow is like.. so whiny late s2 and s3 #she b like . cheats on oz #why doesn’t he like me :( #anyways Not a Meta #ur either bi / wlw and have trauma or normal

[introvertguide]

Influential Directors of the Silent Film Era

Upon hearing that I am a fan of silent era film, people will ask if I have a favorite actor or movie from the time period. However, when I am asked about my favorites from other fans of silent film, it tends to involve my favorite director. This is because silent film actors had to over gesticulate and performed in an unrealistic way and could not use their tone or words to convey emotion. The directors also did not have a way to review as they shot and would have to use editing skills and strategic cover shots to make sure that everything was done properly and come out the way they imagined it. It was up to the director to be creative and they were forced to be innovative and create ways to convey their vision. Luckily for many average or poor directors of the time, audiences were easily impressed. However, today's more demanding and sophisticated audiences can look back at some of the genius behind the films of silent era Hollywood.

Alice Guy-Blache: Matrimony's Speed Limit (1913) and The Fairy of the Cabbages (1896)

Art director of the film studio The Solax Company, the largest pre-Hollywood movie studio, and camera operator for the France based Gaumont Studio headed up by Louis Lemiere, this woman was a director before any kind of gender expectations were even established. She was a pioneer of the use of audio recordings in conjunction with images and the first filmmaker to systematically develop narrative filming. Guy-Blanche didn't just record an image but used editing and juxtaposition to reveal a story behind the moving pictures. In 1914, when Hollywood studios hired almost exclusively upper class white men as directors, she famously said that there was nothing involved in the staging of a movie that a woman could not do just as easily as a man.

Charlie Chaplin: The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1923), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940)

It is unfortunate that many people today think of Chaplin as silly or for screwball comedy when, in fact, he was a great satirist of the time. He created his comedy through the eyes of the lower economic class that suffered indignities over which they had no control. He traversed the world as his "Tramp" character who found his fortune by being amiable and lucky. The idea that a good attitude and a turn of luck could result in happiness was all that many Americans had during the World Wars and the Great Depression. He played the part of the sad clown and he was eventually kicked out of the country for poking fun at American society. Today he is beloved for his work, but he was more infamous than famous during a large part of his life.

Buster Keaton: Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), and The Cameraman (1928).

That man that performed the most dangerous of stunts with a deadpan expression, Buster Keaton was a great actor, athlete, stuntman, writer, producer, and director. It is amazing that you could get so much emotion out of a silent actor who does not emote, but Keaton managed to do it. He was also never afraid to go big, often putting his own well being at risk to capture a good shot. Not as well known for his cinematography or editing as many of the other directors of the time, he instead captured performances that were amazing no matter how they were filmed. Famous stunts include the side of a house falling down around him, standing on the front of a moving train, sitting on the side rail of a moving train, and grabbing on to a speeding car with one hand to hitch a ride. If you like films by Jackie Chan, know that he models his films after the work of Buster Keaton: high action and high comedy.

Cecil B. Demille: The Cheat (1915), Male and Female (1919), and The Ten Commandments (1923)

Known as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Demille was the first director to make a real box office hit. He is likely best known for making The Ten Commandments in 1923 and then remaking it again in 1956. If not that, he was also known for his scandalous dramas that depicted women in the nude. This was pre-Code silent film so the rules about what could be shown had not been established. Demille made 30 large production successful films in the silent era and was the most famous director of the time which gave him a lot of freedom. His trademarks were Roman orgies, battles with large wild animals, and large bath scenes. His films are not what most modern film watchers think of when they are considering silent films. That famous quote from the movie Sunset Boulevard in 1950 in which the fading silent actress says "All right, Mr. Demille. I'm ready for my close-up," is referring to this director.

D.W. Griffith: Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916)

Griffith started making films in 1908 and put out just about everything that he recorded. He made 482 films between 1908 and 1914, although most of these were shorts. His most famous film today is absolutely Birth of a Nation and it is one of the most outlandishly racist films of the time. The depiction of black Americans as evil and the Klu Klux Klan as heroes who are protecting the nation didn't even really go over well at that time. Some believe that his follow up the next year called Intolerance was an apology, but the film actually addresses religious and class intolerance and avoids the topic of racism. At the time, Griffith films were known for the massive sets and casts of thousands of extras, but today he is known for his racist social commentary.

Sergei Eisenstein: Battleship Potemkin (1925)

This eccentric Russian director was a pioneer of film theory and the use of montage to show the passage of time. His reputation at the time would probably be similar to Tim Burton or maybe David Lynch. He had a very specific strange style that made his films different from any others. The film Battleship Potemkin is considered to be one of the best movies of all time as rated by Sight and Sound, and generally considered as a great experimental film that found fame in Hollywood as well as Russia.

F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu (1922), Faust (1926), and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

I think that most people would know the bald-headed long-nailed vampire Nosferatu that was a silent era phenomena. It was so iconic that the German film studio that produced the movie was sued by the estate of Bram Stoker and had to close. Faust was his last big budget German film and has an iconic shot of the demon Mephisto raining plague down on a town that was the inspiration for the Demon Mountain in Fantasia (1940). Also, Sunrise is considered one of the best movies of all time by the AFI and by Sight and Sound as well as my favorite silent film. Fun facts: 1) more of Murnau's films have been lost then are still watchable and 2) he died in a car wreck at only 40 when he hired a car to drive up the California coast and the driver was only 14.

Erich von Stroheim: Greed (1924)

Maker of very strange German Expressionist films, Stroheim films are often listed as Horror or Mystery even though he considered himself a dramatic film maker. His most famous movie Greed was supposed to be amazing with an 8 hour run time but it was cut drastically to the point that it makes no sense and was both critically and publicly panned when an extremely abridged version was released in the U.S. Over half the film was lost and a complete version no longer exists. Besides this film, Stroheim was even better known for being the butler in the film Sunset Boulevard as a former director who retired to be with an aging silent film star. He also made a movie called Between Two Women (1937) that told the story of a female burn victim that was inspired by the story of his wife being burned in an explosion in a shop on the actual Sunset Boulevard.

Victor Fleming: The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone With the Wind (1939)

Although not known for his silent films, Fleming did get his start during the silent era. He was a cinematographer for D.W. Griffith and then Fleming directed his first film in 1919. Most of his silent films were swashbuckling action movies with Douglas Fairbanks or formulaic westerns. He is the only director to have two films on the AFI top 10 and they happened to have come out the same year.

Hal Roach: Lonesome Luke films starring Harold Lloyd, Our Gang shorts, Laurel and Hardy shorts, and Of Mice and Men (1939)

It is not really fair to put Hal Roach in the silent era directors because he was influential at the time but he had a 75 year career. He was a producer and film studio head and even had a studio named after himself. His biggest contribution to the silent era was his production of Harold Lloyd short comedies and he continued to produce films in the early talkies including Laurel and Hardy shorts, Our Gang shorts, and Wil Rogers films. Roach was the inspiration for the film Sullivan's Travels, in which a famous director who only did frivolous comedies goes out into the world to find inspiration to find a serious drama. Roach did direct a single serious drama, Of Mice and Men, but it came out in 1939 and was buried underneath the works of Victor Fleming. The wealthy cigar smoking studio head that many people think of when they picture a film studio suit is based on this guy. The man would not quit and stayed in the business into his 90s and lived to the ripe old age of 100.

#directors #silent films #old Hollywood #1920s #introvert #introverts #influential

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Hi, it's dontwarnthetadpoles. I'm not sure if you're still doing the ask game about ships but if you still want to (no pressure), i'd really like to read your opinion on Willow and Oz and Buffy and Riley. Thanks.

Hi, thank you for asking! :)) I had stuff to take care of before I felt I could devote time to this, but I've been looking forward to it!

Willow/Oz: ship it

What made you ship it?

Well, they're really cute and sweet! Oz is great boyfriend material, and Willow is often relatable, which is a good combination for that sort of thing.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Oz is so good at setting boundaries it's a joy to watch (perhaps it's weird of me, but I especially love all the scenes where Oz tells Willow he's not ready for something -- kissing, sex, or getting back together after Willow cheated). He's surprisingly great at articulating how he feels and what bothers him, sometimes (given how much he can avoid talking about problems other times, such as when he became a werewolf).

They have some amazing conversations. Like the first time Oz asks her out:

OZ: I'm gonna ask you to go out with me tomorrow night. And I'm kinda nervous about it, actually. It's interesting.

WILLOW: Oh. Well, if it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes.

OZ: Yeah, it helps. It-it creates a comfort zone. Do you wanna go out with me tomorrow night?

WILLOW: (cringes and slaps her hand to her forehead) Oh! I can't!

OZ: Well, see, I like that you're unpredictable.

It's funny, and there's vulnerability and intimacy in having this conversation behind/about the conversation. Actually, this reminds me of the Spuffy scene in Hell's Bells, another of my favorites.

Their matching Halloween costumes are iconic.

I love a slow burn. I don't know if Willow and Oz's relationship objectively is one, compared to other Buffy canon couples, but the way it's framed makes it feel like one. I get a whole vibe of calm and acceptance and just being -- not racing along the relationship escalator or trying to prove something, just going with the flow. They're just vibing. :) Everything about the ship makes me feel comfortable. (I am deleting the Veruca arc from my memory as hard as I can at all times. I thought it was badly written, so I just want to pretend it never happened.)

ETA: can't believe I forgot "As Willow goes, so goes my nation" and also the slight shift in Oz's poker face as he watches Willow pretend to be vamp!Willow in Doppelgangland. They have many great moments.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm really into Coyote's (osteophage's) essay "You're Too Picky, Man": An Ace Reading of Oz's Character Arc in BTVS. I like the ship EVEN MORE if I consider what if Oz's interest in Willow didn't have a sexual component.

And I think this is a moderately popular opinion, but Willow has two hands. :)

Buffy/Riley: don’t ship it

Why don’t you ship it?

It bores me? And I have to agree with the people who have pointed out that dating someone whose papers you currently grade is sketchy. Um, I don't enjoy how much Buffy worries about this relationship sometimes, to the point of trying to make herself seem less?

Also, this isn't the ship's fault, it just happens adjacent to the ship, but let me go on a little rant about Willow's shovel talk to Riley. I have never seen a shovel talk I liked, I think they're silly and pointless and disrespectful to everyone involved, and this is no exception (even if the vague disclaimer line is quotable).

What would have made you like it?

Maybe if Riley was a lesbian!!! (link goes to my favorite Riley oneshot)

Also, if Riley's characterization hadn't taken that nosedive in s5.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Buffy is allowed to have a blandly adequate (?) boyfriend with nice arms if she so chooses.

I think the break from the monsterf***ing was good for Buffy to help realize what she was missing. :)

Also, I do really like Riley's s4 arc of leaving the Initiative because he met Buffy and she changed his worldview!

#btvs #i made a thing

[kafka-ish]

what billy doesn’t know won’t hurt him | r.t.

when things get heated between bill and richie, richie takes it a step further. now things are heated between bill, richie, and bill’s girlfriend.

word count: 7,429

warnings/included: nsfw (smut but it’s vanilla), cheating, pining, angst(?), fem!reader

a/n: this concept is awful and this whole fic was written for my own self indulgence so i hope you’ll forgive me

-

It was no surprise that Bill would be the first of the Losers to get a girlfriend and Richie knew this. What’s not to like about Big Bill? He had a certain leadership quality and charisma to him that no girl could resist. His stark auburn hair and tall figure probably didn’t help either. 

Richie first met Bill’s new belle at the arcade. The Losers made plans to meet each other there one Friday night in celebration for their exam week ending. 

“Guh-guys, I’m br-bringing my guh-guh—” 

“Guacamole? That’s cool and all, Billiam, but I’m sure you can just get some there.” Richie erupted into a fit of laughter because that was the thing about Richie; he always laughed at his own jokes whether they were funny or not. 

Bill’s backhand flew to the underside of Richie’s chin and Eddie cringed at the jarring sound of skin on skin. Bill grew tired of Richie’s incessant interruptions. His friend never seemed to let him finish a thought. 

“No.” He let out an annoyed sigh, hoping it would come across as an indication for Richie to maybe, for once in his life, get his head out of his ass. “Mm-my girlfr-friend.” Once he finished his sentence, he made sure to shoot Richie a smirk. It looked the same as his smirk he wore when he finished beating him at chess or when one of the other Losers’ got in the last word instead of him. This time Bill got in the last word. 

“That’s good for you, Bill!” Bev piped up. “We need another girl around here.” She looked to the room of all boys in slight disgust. “Not that you guys aren’t great —” 

“Well... Now you’ll have someone to have ‘girl talk’ with.” Ben looked around to Bill, Richie, Stan, and Eddie. All except Richie nodded in agreement. 

“Tough crowd. You can count me in on the girl talks, though.” Beverly slapped the suggestive look right off Richie’s face which he yelped at. 

“Richie, you’ve been slapped so many times, you should be numb to the feeling by now.” Stan shook his head as a disappointed mother would, but his smile said differently. 

Their conversation continued; ranging from what grades they received on their finals and what time they would meet up. 

They decided on six. 

But Bill was late. Bill was never late. 

“Where’s Bill?”

The Losers were squeezed together in one of the booths the lounge area of the arcade had to offer. Beverly and Ben’s shoulders pressed together while they sucked down the same strawberry milkshake. Mike sat beside the couple, because neither Stan nor Eddie would, while picking through the fries to find the crispy ones.

Eddie, Stan, and Richie sat on the other side. Stan kept complaining to Mike about how he “shouldn’t touch every one of the fries” and that he was “hogging all the good ones.” Eddie, on the other hand, ran his mouth about the multiple diseases Ben and Beverly could catch from sharing their food (or anything for that matter).  

“Probably getting one-off in the bathroom with—”

“Beep Beep, R-Richie!” It was the man of the hour. Bill silenced his friend to which the rest of the group was thankful for. Even though Richie’s anecdotes could be entertaining, they did not want to hear about their friend’s sex life: made up or not. 

“Hey, Big Bill!” Richie turned a ninety in his seat to see the look on his friend’s face, but he didn’t expect to be met with the scene of Bill and his arm wrapped around some girl. A hot one at that. 

Bill kissed her temple before directing his attention to the group. “Everyone, th-th-this is—”

“I’m y/n.”

“Mmm-my guh-girlfriend.” Bill said this almost too proudly.

“I didn’t know Billiam was actually capable of getting some.” Richie fell into a fit of laughter and held up his hand for a round of high fives he was expecting. But instead of a slap on the back and a “good one, Rich”, Richie was given a variety of bored and ‘are-you-serious’ looks.

“Anyway,” Stan broke the silence. “y/n, you wanna pull up a chair? Sorry, we didn’t get a table big enough…”

“It’s ff-ine,” Bill said as he was climbing into the booth next to Richie. “There’s room.” He gave y/n a suggestive look, raising his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth upturned slightly. His girlfriend ducked her head; embarrassed in front of Bill’s friends she had never met before. She could feel her cheeks heating up and the group’s stare on her when she went to sit on Bill’s lap.

To that, Richie whistled and said, “What’s next, are you gonna make her give you a lap dance?” Anger took over Bill’s body. His muscles tensed under his skin and it became harder to conceal his scowl. “Don’t worry, doll.” Richie started whispering into y/n’s ear. “If Bill gets hard you won’t—you won’t notice since he’s —”

Richie couldn’t finish his sentence. Partly because his laughing prevented him from doing so. Bill had also jabbed him in the shoulder causing Richie to pull away from the couple.

“Gee, Bill, I didn’t know you could—” 

“Richie, that’s enough!” Bill, no longer able to keep his composed expression, raised his voice. 

All the Losers watched intently. Bill never raised his voice, so to say that this was a rare occasion was just as much of an understatement as saying, “Stan liked birds.”

“Luh-look, Richie, I th-th-hink you’re a funny guy. A li-little too vulgar fo-or my taste, but yo-you make the room laugh. But luh-late-ly you’ve been making a lot of juh-jokes regarding muh-me—”

“Or what you don’t have.” 

“Th-this is what I’m ta-talking ab-out.” Bill watched his friend sternly, waiting for an apology. Even the smallest sorry would be good enough for him. 

Richie stayed silent. 

“You… you know, it-it’s funny that you muh-make all th-these jokes ab-about mm-me when you’ve nev-her had a girlfr-hend. God, Richie, cuh-can you even guh-get a girl to… to like yo-you back?” He recalled all the times Richie had been rejected. How Richie must be the least desirable kid in school with his track record of turn downs. 

Stillness filled the air. Aside from Bill’s lengthy speech, none of the Losers had said anything for the past five minutes. What was there to say? Even Richie was left speechless. 

“We’ll b-be guh-going now.” y/n slid off Bill’s lap. She waited passively for him as he got up from his seat. Bill wasted no time for goodbyes. He walked out of the door with a swagger that none of the Losers had seen on him before. But y/n stayed behind, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. 

“It was nice meeting you all…” Her attempt to ease the uneasiness between them was admirable. “I hope we can do this again sometime, yeah?” She was a sweet girl. The words that left her mouth were... genuine, not just being said because of the unexpected outburst at the table. 

She parted from the group shortly after, not wanting to keep Bill waiting long. Richie’s eyes were glued to y/n’s backside while she pranced towards the door. The way her hips swayed were captivating and even though her dress was loose it was just short enough to— 

“Richie, you’re staring.” 

“Am I?” Richie averted his eyes away from Bill’s girlfriend, now finding the voice who’d scolded him. 

“Yes, and it’s disgusting,” Stan scoffed. He shot Richie a glare but not his usual glare. Stan was actually disgusted. His eyes were squinted slightly, and Richie could tell his brain was trying to figure out what was going on in Richie’s own. 

“Okay, everyone agrees with me that y/n is way too hot for Bill, right?” Richie asked the group. A little gossip never hurt anyone right?

But the responses were lackluster. 

“I think Bill and y/n look cute together!” Beverly was the first one to defend Bill. Ben nodded after her because let’s be honest, that boy agreed with everything she said just to keep himself on her radar. 

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about this behind Bill’s back.” Mike was next and he wore an uncomfortable look on his face. Multiple Losers (everyone except for Richie) had agreed with him on that one.

“y/n seems nice—” 

“Exactly!” Richie could almost jump out of his seat as he cut Eddie off. “Bill doesn’t deserve her!” 

“I think someone’s jealous.” Richie snapped his head to look at Stan who wasn’t doing the same. He was too busy wiping off the condensation from his drink glass. 

“Why would you say that?” Richie’s eyebrow rose at the accusation and there became a burning need for an answer that grew inside him. The rest of the Losers had also become intrigued. 

“First of all, you think she’s hot—” 

“Richie thinks anything with legs is hot,” Eddie said, and everyone forgot what the conversation was about for a moment as they took a minute to laugh at his remark. 

“Richie, why don’t you think y/n’s good enough for Bill?” Stan asked. 

There was no response while Ben, Beverly, Eddie, Mike, and Stan had their eyes on him. Although Richie usually handled himself well under pressure and in social situations, he felt a bad concoction of the coke he had just downed and the fries he was snacking on creeping their way back up his throat for a second taste. 

 “Hey, Stanny, I didn’t ask for ya to go all Freud on me.” Richie chuckled; trying to brush off the funny feeling in his stomach. 

Richie felt a sort of relief wash over him when he was let off the hook. Ben and Beverly were playing a game of tic tac toe on a napkin and Mike, Stan, and Eddie found themselves in a three-way debate: Jurassic Park versus Jaws. Eddie was offering The Wizard of Oz to the table since his mom hadn’t let him watch either yet, but Stan and Mike wouldn’t budge. 

 But it didn’t help that Richie’s thoughts drifted back to Bill’s words earlier that night. God, Richie, cuh-can you even guh-get a girl to… to like yo-you back? Could he? A swarm of unwanted memories infiltrated his mind. Cierra from math class who had laughed in his face after he said, “Are you a forty-five angle? Because you’re a-cute-y.” Or when he asked out Elle, his longtime crush, to homecoming only to be told she had a boyfriend. The list goes on. 

Those words apparently had such an impact on Richie because they followed him to the weekend which was spent laying on his bed as Bill’s voice echoed through Richie’s brain over and over again. 

You… you know, it-it’s funny that you muh-make all th-these jokes ab-about mm-me when you’ve nev-her had a girlfr-hend.

“Never had a girlfriend, huh?” Richie thought aloud to himself in the safety of his own room. Just like a lightbulb would, Richie’s eyes lit up as an idea took place in his head. It was totally selfish, evil, and went heavily against the ‘bro code’. But who would Richie be to not go through one of his plans?

The bell signaling dismissal had just rung when Richie finalized his plan. 

Meet y/n at her locker. 

Drive her home from school. 

Show her what she’s missing. 

Serve Bill some sweet, sweet revenge. 

Richie was the first one out the door—as always. But instead of his usual pace which solely relied on his long legs to carry him, he dashed for the hallway—like a prisoner making a break for it. 

After peering through the sea of people long and hard, he spotted the same silky hair and small figure he’d seen the other night at the arcade. 

“Hey, beautiful.” Richie propped himself against the row of lockers attached to y/n’s. 

“I have a name.” And if it weren’t for the smile on her lips, Richie would’ve thought she was actually annoyed at him. 

“You got a ride tonight?”

She shook her head while closing the door to her locker. “Yeah, actually.” y/n swung her backpack strap over her arm. “My boyfriend’s taking me home.” She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she wouldn’t be surprised if her face turned a bright shade of red in front of this boy. 

“That’s a shame.” A disappointed clicking sound left his mouth. “I got a seat next to me in my car that’s calling your name.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” y/n offered. Her tone sounded just as angelic as it did the other night. 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Richie left y/n with a wink and nothing more. 

Richie, did in fact, hold y/n to that. And to Richie’s surprise, y/n did keep her word. The next day followed like the last. His shoulder slanted against the metal doors while he watched the girl pack her stuff. Even her smallest actions were mesmerizing. 

“You know, doll, I’m surprised you took me up on this offer.”

“Oh, really?” y/n’s eyebrow raised slightly, almost as if she were challenging him.

“Kind of.” Richie forced himself to chuckle. He turned so that his back was now held up by the lockers. “Won’t your boyfriend be mad?” He was now rethinking his plan. This awful plan of his that would most likely be the end of his and Bill’s-

“Nah.” The sound of metal slamming startled Richie and he was now standing upright. “Besides, what Billy doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” She threw a suggestive wink in his direction. Did Billy know his girlfriend was a cheater?

“Jeepers, babe. Don’t tell me you’re only kidding.” A quizzical look sprawled itself across Richie’s face and his eyes searched hers as if he were looking for something.

A giggle so saccharine it was probably drenched in maple syrup beforehand left the girl’s glossy lips. “I’m joking.” She shoved Richie with her elbow as they walked side by side. “Bill doesn’t know.” Her voice lowered, “but you’re his friend so it’s not like that matters, right?”

“You betcha’.” Richie had to swallow down one of his stupid remarks just to make himself sound convincing. He looked down, once they’d got to his car, and tried the handle only to be met with the fact it wouldn’t budge. A string of curses fell off his dirty mouth and he could hear a series of muffled laughs coming from the other side. “Ha. Ha. Laugh all you want, hot stuff, I’m here all week.” It took Richie long enough to realize that his car was locked.  

Begrudgingly, he fished the keys from his pockets and finally got the door open.

“You’re a great chauffeur.” y/n rolled her eyes while buckling her seatbelt. “Hot!” She seethed, cradling her left hand that touched the hot metal from the buckle with her right.

“Aw. You need someone to kiss it better?” Richie cooed, delicately taking her hand in his.

“I’m good.” If y/n were any other girl Richie swore she would’ve flicked his head and called him an idiot. Instead, she coyly retracted her hand and looked out the window—actively facing away towards him.

A few seconds of quietness passed between them before y/n decided to break it. “So, tell me, Rich.” Richie had to keep himself from taking his eyes off the road. “Why’d you offer to drive me home?”

“Is chivalry so dead I can’t drive a gal home?”  

“I mean…” She took a moment to stare at the car’s ceiling so she could find the right words. “Bill’s your best friend.”

“Don’t pretend what happened on Friday, like, didn’t fuckin’ happen.” Richie was being sarcastic, of course.

“I know he said some harsh words but—”

“Hey.” His voice calmed. “If Bill and I are best friends, then he shouldn’t have a problem with this. Right?” Richie looked over at y/n to see if she’d agree with him. “Right?”

“Okay,” she gave in. She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes, but it was enough confirmation for him.

“So, what’s the story between you and Big Bill?” Richie drummed on the steering wheel while y/n mulled over an answer.

y/n felt herself shy away at the question and as she recalled the events of Bill asking her out.

They first met in chemistry. Somehow, y/n had managed to let the dean switch her schedule so late in the year since Henry Bowers had accidentally spilled an aluminum chloride mix on her brand-new jeans.

“I’ll be deciding your lab partners today. Ever since last time I don’t think I can trust you guys to pick your own partners anymore.” Mr. Davis looked tired and y/n couldn’t blame him. In her head, she kept track of everyone who got paired together. Once he’d gotten to Gretta Keene, she soundlessly thanked god that she had been paired with Stacy. “y/n y/l/n and Bill Denbrough.”

y/n almost missed the bored voice as she was too lost in her thoughts.  

Bill Denbrough?

Her eyes curiously darted around the room, searching for the sea of students in the desks surrounding her.

A pair of bright blue eyes finally caught hers. A pair of bright blue eyes that had to belong to Bill Denbrough.

“You-you’re y/n, rih-right?” Bill was now standing in front of her. She didn’t realize when he got up from his seat.

“Yeah.” y/n stood up to reach his eye, but she still stood noticeably shorter than him.

Bill’s once apprehensive demeanor visibly morphed into an expression filled with calmness and relief. Aside from his friends, she was the only other person who wasn’t impatient with his stutter. He felt he could immediately be vulnerable with her—not that he would be. But if this chemistry lab were the only time he would find himself interacting with this girl, Bill would seriously beat himself up for it.

The rest of their story was, essentially, history.

y/n liked having Bill as a lab partner. He was smart. He did his share, unlike her past partners who would pass notes to pass the period while y/n slaved away on the project by herself. He also didn’t hold any of the chemicals they were working with dangerously close to her, pretending as if he were going to spill them on her and then actually spill them on her.  

It was on a Thursday morning when Bill met y/n on her way into school. Even though his watch showed seven-thirty am, the moon was still out and the only light in the sky was from the lampposts cemented into the sidewalk.

“H-hey, y/n!” It was odd to be as enthusiastic as he was this early, but y/n brushed it off—it must be post-coffee jitters and the effect was still wearing away.

“Hello.” Her voice still had a tiredness to it from when you first wake up in the morning.

“I was… I was won-wondering ih-if you wuh-would…”

“Yes?” y/n prompted. She glanced at him, making eye contact, which only worsened Bill’s nervousness.

“Would… would yo-you want to go ou-out wih-with me?”

Waiting for an answer felt like forever.

“I thought you’d never ask!” y/n beamed, and all signs of grogginess seemed to leave her body.

From then on, Bill and y/n went on dates. They were casual for the most part. y/n never felt the need to dress up and Bill never felt the need to buy her flowers. The only thing he did end up getting her was a stuffed bear which was twice her size.

The carnival would only be in town for a few days and y/n practically begged Bill to go—not that he needed much convincing. You could count him in as long as she was there.

Bill didn’t normally bother with carnival games—he knew they were rigged. But maybe it was the way the carnie teen running the booth talked to y/n that night. Or maybe it was the way y/n stared adoringly for the stuffed animal hanging from the plastic tent. In either scenario, Bill still spent twenty-five bucks and wasted an hour in the frigid air to eventually hook the ring over the milk bottle and win y/n that stupid bear.

“I think I’ll call it Bill,” she whispered as she squeezed the plush doll close to her chest.

“I-it’s the luh-least you cuh-can do.” Bill wrapped his arm around her even though he was the cold one.

“Wuh-wuh-we’re here,” Richie said. His voice masked with Bill’s stutter pulled y/n out of her dream-like state.

“That’s not nice, Rich.” But y/n couldn’t help to let out the smallest of laughs. She unbuckled her seatbelt only to find it wasn’t her house he drove her to once she opened her side of the door. “This isn’t my house.”

“Oh… it isn’t?” Richie never missed a beat; making sure to put on his ‘I’m-a-big-stupid-head’ act that his teachers never bought. It was worth a try.

“Take me home.” y/n crossed her arms and kept herself planted in the passenger seat of Richie’s car, which was just Wentworth’s old one that he’d given to his son once he splurged on a new one.

“Shit, toots. I thought you’d wanna stay a while. Have some fun.” Richie wiggled his eyebrows and wore a clown’s grin. How could she say no to him?

“We can have fun another time.” Like that apparently. “I really do need to get home, though.”

Richie’s been rejected loads of times before and he’s resented every one of them. He couldn’t resent y/n though—with her puppy dog eyes and the way she had him like a worm on a hook. She was something else.

“Alright.” Richie gave in. He keyed the ignition and started for the road again. His arm slung around y/n’s seat as he backed up and y/n couldn’t help but feel fuzzy at the small action. “So, you’re tellin’ me Big Bill never got you flowers?” Richie’s eyes never left the road no matter how much he wanted to stop the car and pin y/n down right then and there.

“Nope,” y/n said, popping the ‘p’ sound. “But I don’t mind.”

y/n minded.

Richie could tell she minded when he greeted her at her locker with a bouquet of daisies. He was sure if y/n didn’t already have a boyfriend she would’ve jumped him right then and there.

Oh right. Boyfriend.

“Are these for me?” y/n gasped, in awe at the dinky looking bouquet. It was just ten flowers held together with the same twine you’d use to tie a package with, but it was ten flowers she’d cherish.

“Who else would they be for, sugar?” Richie scoffed and handed off his homemade bouquet to the most stunning girl he’d laid eyes on.

y/n gave him a sly look and shoved him in the arm.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Ready to go where?” A look of confusion was drawn on her face and Richie couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

“I’m takin’ you home again, aren’t I?” But Richie was disappointed when y/n just chuckled in response instead of interlocking hands with his and skipping off into the sunset with him.

“I didn’t know you changed your name to Bill.” y/n brought the daises up to her nose. They didn’t have a scent, but her eyes fluttered at the petals tickling her nose and her stomach did backflips.

“Bill-Bill’s taking you?” His expression faltered and he had to swallow to keep his cool.

“I don’t know who else would,” y/n said this as if she just forgot what happened yesterday.

“I’ll be going then.” Richie pointed to behind him with his thumbs and looked back. He took one last look at y/n until he noticed a Bill Denbrough coming into view: a sign he really needed to leave.

His head hung low and his back hunched forward as he walked out the doorway. It was useless. y/n was utterly in love with his best friend while he was—was he in love with y/n?

No.

Richie Tozier does not love unless it’s his mom and rock n’ roll vinyls.

And y/n did not love Richie Tozier.

Richie felt himself mope all the way home at the thought of him being unlovable. Hell, he moped all the way to the weekend.

After his last encounter with y/n, Richie couldn’t bear to face her again. Embarrassment filled his chest every time Bill mentioned her at lunch, and he felt like shoving himself in a locker any time he spotted her in the halls.

That was until seeing her became unavoidable.  

At first it was at the quarry.

Stan had already arranged for the group to meet up over the weekend and of course none of the Losers would pass up an opportunity to hang out with each other.

What Richie didn’t know was that Bill would be bringing his girlfriend. It seemed he’d be doing that a lot from now on.

“Is bringing y/n gonna be, like, a regular thing?” Eddie whispered in Bill’s ear.

Bill laughed awkwardly, unsure if he should reconsider taking y/n to the next hangouts he’d already planned to. “Wuh-when yo-you start dating, yo-you’ll under-sta-hand.” Bill then gave Eddie a pat on the back and walked off, looking for a rock he could leave his clothes on before he started for the water.

“Yeah, Eddie.” Stan laughed from behind Bill. “Wait until you’re older. Then, maybe, you’ll understand.”

Richie, on the other hand, was watching his friends from afar. He became uncharacteristically quiet as soon as y/n and Bill showed up. Only until Bev called that the last one in would be a rotten egg was when he finally shed himself of his clothes and raced the others to the water.

“Guess you’re the rotten egg, Eds!” Richie swam over to Eddie, splashing him in the face while doing so. Anything that would distract him from y/n would do. Even if it was a stupid conversation like this to pass the time.

“I told you to not call me that,” Eddie said crossly. “And if you’re going to splash like that, aim anywhere else but my face because who knows what’s been in this water—”

“Yeah, yeah. Cute story, Eds.” But Richie didn’t care for yet another lecture of Eddie’s. His eyes began to wonder. He was looking for y/n and good grief he had to stop himself before he was in too deep.

But it was a little late for that.

“Are you even listening to me?” Eddie swatted at Richie’s arm just like the times Richie had done to him.

“No,” Richie admitted.

Luckily, the contact between him and y/n had been limited. The only time he had to talk to her was when he was about to part from the group and say his goodbyes.

“Looks like I gotta blast, guys.” Richie looked down to the wristwatch Stan was wearing and Stan sneered at his friend for standing so close to him.

“Bye!” y/n was the last to call out, but her voice was the most prominent of the group’s.

The next two times the group met up, y/n included, Richie had also been able to get by with the least interactions as possible between her and him.

It was only until one lowly Sunday night when Bill and y/n had gotten into a fight when avoidance had become impossible for Richie.

“I can’t believe you would say that about me!” y/n had somehow accomplished being louder than the music blasting from the jukebox sitting in the back of the arcade and the sound of machines running combined. “I thought you were better than that, Bill.”

“I-I don’t guh-guh-get wuh-why you’re s-so off-f-hended.” Bill maintained a calm composure which only bothered y/n more.

“I think it’s the fact that you think I’m a prude that offends me so much.” y/n scoffed. Her arms were crossed, and she wore a stare that could kill.

“Yo-you know… i-if you-you’re so mm-mad I don’t underst-stand why you cuh-came.” The anger bubbling inside y/n started to radiate onto Bill.

“Because we have to talk about it!” She grabbed onto Bill’s arm when he tried to walk off.

“Can’t wuh-we juh-juh-just talk about th-this later?” Bill said in a growl. But later for him meant never.

The beginnings of what felt like tears started to form in y/n’s eyes. She let go of Bill’s arm and took a deep breath. “Okay,” she whispered, “we can talk later.”

Richie watched his best friend and girlfriend argue for what seemed like forever but was only about five minutes. He’d witnessed arguments before but none of them ended like this. When the couples at school argued they would usually make out right after. But this was different. y/n was hurt, and Bill was beyond annoyed.

“Hey.” Richie walked up to y/n as soon as Bill joined Stan and Mike for skee ball. “What was…” He traced his fingers against the brail of one of the arcade machines, doing everything he could do evade eye contact. “What was that about?”

“Will you take me home if I tell you?” A stray tear made its way down y/n’s hot cheek.

“Sure thing, babe.” Richie offered his hand for y/n to take. She did; her fingers intertwined with his and the pad of her thumb ran along the rough skin of the back of his hand.

When the two got to his car, Richie opened the door for y/n (as a gentleman should). This was followed up by a thank you and a shy smile.

“So, I’ll listen while you just sit back, enjoy the drive, and pour your goddamn heart out to me.” Richie started to turned his keys into the ignition. “Sound good, sweetheart?”

y/n’s heart jumped a beat and she could feel herself grow near feverish. She fiddled with her thumbs and swallowed her spit, hoping she’d find the courage to soon speak.

“It started last night,” her meek voice spoke up. y/n’s eyes were glued to Richie’s dashboard. It was covered in dust. “I was at Bill’s house and it was getting late.”

Bill craned his neck so he could find the time on his alarm clock that sat on his nightstand. He could’ve just asked y/n to check, but she seemed so at peace. He didn’t want to disturb her.

“It’s nine,” he said. His lips touched the shell of her ear, making y/n shiver.

“Should I go home?” y/n asked. She perked up and rubbed her eyes. She’d been dozing off, but even in a tired state, Bill found her perfect.

“Nah.” Bill tightened his already tight embrace on her. “I-I can tth-hink of some-something we can d-do.” He ducked his head so he could brush his lips against the sensitive skin on her neck.

y/n winced at his touch. Yet she still turned within his hold and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Her voice hushed and fragile.

“Yuh-yeah,” Bill said shamelessly. He cradled her head in his palm. His blue eyes bore into hers. The same blue eyes that had found her when their chemistry teacher paired them together. “C’m-mmon.”

“Bill, I…” y/n’s eyes danced across his features. His beautiful features she’d grown infatuated with from the moment they met. “We’ve gone over this, I thought.” Any sort of confidence she had was now lost.

Bill took a moment to study the girl in front of him. He loosened his hold around her and sat up, propping himself against his headboard. “I f-feel like we… like I’ve juh-just been wuh-wuh-waiting.”

y/n copied her boyfriend’s movements, making sure to not break their gaze as she adjusted herself. “And I respect that,” she said softly.

“Yeah b-but yo-you’re muh-my girlfriend.” He took her hand in his. “I wuh-wanna do guh-girlfriend and b-boyfr-hend things.”

“I thought we did do ‘girlfriend and boyfriend things.’” y/n’s left eyebrow started to raise.

“Th-there’s only s-s-so muh-many times a guh-guy can get himself o-off.” Bill immediately regretted the words that had just walked right out of his mouth and presented themselves to his girlfriend.

“Bill…” But that’s all y/n could seem to say. She sat there, confused. Bill would never say something like that. But he just did. The Bill y/n knew was kind, thoughtful, and patient. This wasn’t the Bill she knew.

“Do-do you tr-trust me?” Concern struck Bill’s face.

y/n was conflicted. “Trust doesn’t equal sex, Bill.” She drew her hand away from his and started mindlessly picking at the skin on her thumb. She got up from the bed and made her way to the door. Bill couldn’t quite read her expression as she did, but just her getting up was enough for him to tell she didn’t want to be around him.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow?”

y/n nodded before walking out.

But tomorrow was just as bad, or even worse, than that night.

y/n had spent the whole night ruminating over what Bill had said, and once he had arrived at her house, she was livid.

“What did you mean? Last night?” y/n began the car ride with a debriefing.

“I-it was s-stu-stupid, r-really,” Bill said nonchalantly.

“No.” y/n was relentless. “What did you mean?”

“I wuh-was ho-horny, y/n/n. B-but, god. It wuh-wouldn’t kuh-kill you t-to not be a pr-prude ff-or once i-in your luh-life.” y/n couldn’t believe what bullshit her boyfriend was spouting at her.

“Our fight continued until we got to the arcade,” y/n said, still sobbing from her previous encounter with Bill.

Richie was at a loss for words. All he could do was keep his eyes on the road and drive the two to their destination, which didn’t take long. Either y/n’s house was closer than he thought or just her company made ten minutes feel like three.

“Stop here,” y/n informed.

Richie slowed to a stop in front of a two-story house that looked like the others it was built next to. There was a bench swing that hung from the patio roof and a family of potted plants that resided in one corner of the porch. The house’s paint was dull and lifeless, resembling the rest of Derry.

“Thanks for taking me home.” y/n spoke again, drawing Richie from his thoughts of wondering what her room looked like.

“Ye-yeah. No problem-o.” He took in a deep breath and tapped his foot against the floor of his car.

y/n leaned over, as much as her seatbelt let her, and felt her lips graze his cheek.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Richie was quick to pull away. He stared at y/n with his big doe eyes and her glassy, soulful ones helped his case none. Isn’t this what he wanted?

“Really, Rich.” y/n then made sure to take off the seatbelt which was restraining her from doing anything further and scooted closer to him, ignoring how uncomfortable the gear stick felt as it dug into her thigh. “You’re sweet.”

“Well, I don’t like to brag but I do pride myself on being-“ y/n cut him off with a kiss to his lips this time. Richie sighed into her mouth. He knew it was wrong, but he just couldn’t help it.

God, Richie, cuh-can you even guh-get a girl to… to like yo-you back? The words he’d clung onto ever since that one Friday night made their way back to his frontal lobe. It must’ve been a month, yet the sentence stuck.

And Richie kissed back.

He swore he heard the faint sounds of fireworks clapping in the distance as his lips pushed into hers. Her soft, pouty lips that sent tingles down his back every time they connected with his. Richie’s right arm coiled itself around the small of y/n’s back and he found his left hand stroking her cheek. And just as fast as y/n planted one on him, she sprung back.

“You alright?” No, she’s not alright, dumbass. She just got into her first fight with her boyfriend and she’s coming to his best friend as a therapy session.

Much to Richie’s dismay, y/n nodded. “Your car’s uncomfortable.” Was all she said before opening the door to let herself out. Richie was about to curse himself out for letting her slip through his fingers and kissing his best friend’s girlfriend until he flinched at the sound of a knock on his car window.

It was y/n.

She opened the door for him like he had once done for her and waited for him to join her in the now moonlight. “Do you want to come in?”

“Christ.” Before then, Richie had never been so fast to take off a seatbelt.

The two hurried up the lawn and eventually her porch. Richie’s hand was squeezed by y/n’s smaller one. He reveled in the feeling of her holding onto him as if he were to float off if she didn’t. The two stood outside her front door like a shy kid, hesitant to ring the doorbell because it’s their first time over.

“Are your parents home?” Richie questioned, trying to get a peek through the windows even though they were closed off by the curtain.

“I don’t know,” y/n mumbled while she riffled through her mini purse. She was searching for the house key. “Finally!” She held up her key chain proudly before inserting the shiny, golden key striped with white nail polish into the lock. “Stay.” She looked to Richie like he was a puppy in training school.

y/n walked in reluctantly. Her hands messed with the strap of her purse. “Hello? Is anyone home?” She looked around the house for any sign of her parents. After a good few seconds, y/n turned to Richie with a slap happy grin on her face. “The coast is clear!”

Richie strolled in, acting as if he had all the time in the world. He made sure to shut the door behind him and y/n grabbed him by the collar as soon as he finished locking it. “My room is upstairs,” she said in between a needy kiss.

Richie didn’t need to be told twice as he ran up the wooden stairs with her. She surprised him with her lips on his once they got to the top. Her tongue swiped his bottom lip to which Richie granted access. y/n grew hungry with lust as her tongue danced with his. The only reason she broke apart from him was to better guide him to her bedroom. Surely, they couldn’t have sex in the hallway.  

Richie was given no time to admire the yellow paint and magazine clippings that decorated y/n’s room. Instead, he was left to find y/n’s sweet spot and the lingering scent of her vanilla perfume as his lips roamed every crevice of her skin. He brought her down to her bed and he knows he’s never seen such beauty when her hair fans out against her sheets in every which way.

“Rich.” His name only leaves her lips when his aren’t on her. The same lips he’s tasted a thousand times already but would always be surprised at the taste the next time they collide. The same lips Bill’s claimed.

But this was Richie’s turn.

y/n’s hands dared reached for his dark roots, eliciting a moan from Richie that was downright animalistic.

“God, Rich. I didn’t even do anything,” y/n said, playing the innocent card.

“We can do something about that.” Richie offered. He licked the desperation from his lips as he waited for an answer.

“Okay.” y/n giggled and lifted her arms up. A sign for Richie to find the goddamn clue and undress her already.

Richie complied. He begged his excitable hands to stop shaking as he began to raise the fabric, revealing just how perfect y/n really was. Eagerly, his lips urged a kiss to hers once he got both their shirts off. It was quick and the start of his trail of kisses which lead down, down, down.  His chapped lips tickled against the sensitive skin of her breast.

His mouth wrapped around the petal, causing y/n to squirm, entangling their legs together.

“Do you like that?” Richie teased. y/n moaned in response.

Taking the hint, Richie parted from her left nipple and began giving her right the same attention.

“Rich—” y/n was cut off by her own sigh of pleasure. “Do something.” Her voice was breathy and not at all stable. Richie grinned. He could listen to the noises she made any day.

Reluctantly, he broke his contact with her so he could undo his jeans. The sound of denim hitting the floor made y/n groan and she pulled him close again. They laid skin to skin. Richie was so close, y/n could tell he’d been smoking earlier.

Her arms encapsulated him and if this were any other girl under any other circumstance, Richie would’ve questioned it. But this was y/n.

He dipped down so he could connect his lips with hers and he could feel ten crescent shaped markings carving into the skin of his back.  He didn’t have to be told twice to give y/n what he knew she wanted.

Richie slowly peeled off y/n’s skirt, the gradual pace left her yearning for him even more. He slid his index and middle fingers in at the same speed he took off the skirt.

y/n threw her head back at the touch.  The whines escaping from her mouth egged Richie on even more.

Faster, faster, faster.

His thumb swept against her clit in circular motions. His strokes against her sensitive nerves drawing y/n closer to the edge. Her hips jerked up to feel closer to his touch. Her want had Richie chuckling. No girl would give him the time of day before her. Richie wanted to bask in the feeling forever.

“Do something, Rich.” y/n gasped and attached her lips to his neck. “Please.” Richie’s breath hitched in his throat at the request.

He hesitantly pulled his fingers from her heat, replacing them with him. Her folds slicked his length as she willingly let him stretch her walls.

“You’re so hot,” Richie whispered into y/n’s ear. He cringed at the words once he heard himself. “You feel so good.” The affirmations sent shivers down her spine. y/n fell into a state of bliss as his speed picked up. He hiked her legs up his waist and she ardently wrapped them around him.

His pace quickened. Richie felt like he was going to explode and the girl beneath him was close.

“Rich, Rich, Rich.” His name rolled off her tongue wonderfully and he would give anything to hear it til the end of time. Another cry fell from her beautifully parted lips. “Rich, I’m—”

“I know, doll face.” He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead while he pulled out. He took his thumb from previously, rubbing the bundle of nerves until she matched his high.

He collapsed onto the covers next to her as soon as they both finished. A final grunt escaped his throat while doing so.

The two were spread across y/n’s bed in silence for a while. y/n stared aimlessly at the ceiling; Richie doing the same. It had just then occurred to Richie that he fucked his best friend’s girlfriend. Guilt took the form of a teenage boy as he looked over at y/n. He still couldn’t help but think of how alluring she was. There was mascara smudged beneath her eyes. Sweat running down her brow bone. And her hair was a mess. He had more than enough energy to go at it again, but he knew better than that.

This was Richie’s cue to leave. He got up, throwing on his clothes. He didn’t even care that his shirt was on inside out. He just needed to get out of there.

He was almost out the door until a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Rich.” The same voice he’d give anything to hear for eternity.

“Yeah, baby?” Richie was about to curse himself out for calling her that if she hadn’t replied so soon.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.” He could’ve creamed himself at the words. He could’ve ripped off his clothes again and taken her once more.

But Richie knew better than that.

He didn’t even look back; only nodded and strolled out the door as if nothing happened. Because as far as Bill was concerned, nothing happened.

#it 2017 #it 2019 #it chapter 1 #it chapter 2 #it x reader #it imagine #it fanfic #it fic #richie tozier #it richie #richie tozier x reader #richie tozier x reader smut #richie tozier x reader angst #richie x reader #richie tozier imagine #richie tozier fanfiction #richie tozier fic #richie tozier scenario #richie tozier smut #richie tozier angst

[buzzdixonwriter]

COMPARE & CONTRAST: Birth Of A Nation vs Gone With The Wind vs The General

TRIGGER WARNING:   Talking about race in American culture and movies, so some readers may want to brace themselves (looking at you, wypipo).

. . .

Confining “classic films” to movies that: Demonstrate technical expertise, and Influenced other films and creators

-- we have three (and only three) movies about the American Civil War we can safely put in the classic bin.

Before we go further, let’s restate the obvious: A film’s impact in the medium of motion pictures is separate from its impact on the culture as a whole.

Case in point: Leni Riefenstahl’s The Triumph Of The Will is a perfect textbook example of how to stage massive crowd scenes for maximum visual impact, and how to promote individuals and ideas in purely cinematic terms.

It also contributed mightily to the Nazis’ rise to power, their subsequent wars of conquest, and the deaths directly and indirectly of tens of millions of human beings.

It’s important to know The Triumph Of The Will exists and why it’s important in film and cultural and political history, but you need never subject yourself to its vile hate mongering.

With that in mind, let us proceed.

. . . 

Here are the three bona fide classic movies about the American Civil War:

The Birth Of A Nation (1915)

Gone With The Wind (1939) 

The General (1926)

They are all problematic for the same reason: They embrace the “lost cause” myth of Southern white supremacists.

The Birth Of A Nation is by far the worst offender of the trio, helping to restart the Ku Klux Klan and promulgate jim crow for decades to come.

Director D.W. Griffith was a Southern boy, Kentucky born with a father who served as a colonel in the Confederate army (Kentucky, a border slave state, tried to stay neutral at the beginning of the Civil War, then leaned heavily towards secession, but by 1862 threw its lot in with the Union).

Griffith bought into the lost cause myth heavily, and The Birth Of A Nation explicitly states African-Americans are fit only for slavery, becoming a murderous / rapacious mob once freed, and the Ku Klux Klan were gallant heroes attempting to turn this tide.

Griffith tries to have it both ways, depicting Abraham Lincoln as a thoughtful and compassionate leader who would have treated the South better had he survived (ignoring the fact Andrew Johnson did everything in his power to prevent the Union from holding the South accountable, and that Lincoln’s assassin was a Southerner who killed him in revenge after the war ended).

There can be no denying Griffith’s enormous talents as a film maker (again, separating thematic content from the technical expertise).  While the Hollywood publicity machine was quick to claim The Birth Of A Nation was the first feature length film (i.e., 65 minutes or more), the truth is the Australians, the Chinese, the English, the French, the Italians, the Japanese, and the Russians all made feature films long before Griffith, and Griffith wasn’t even the first American to make a feature but was preceded by at least a half a dozen other film makers.

What Griffith was, however, was a master synthesis of all the techniques that preceded him.  Griffith made movies better than anyone else of his era, and his best films are still eminently watchable to this day.

That’s what makes The Birth Of A Nation so harmful and destructive:  Like the Riefenstahl film, it seduced common audiences into complacency while stirring the worst people to action.

It’s a film whose final cost is not measured in dollars but in innocent blood and tears.

Griffith wasn’t stupid, and while he might have felt personally immune to the criticism of his racist attitudes, he was savvy enough to recognize publicly embracing them would not serve his career well.  He followed The Birth Of A Nation with Intolerance, an epic that jumps around in its story lines like a Tarantino film, and in later movies displayed a far gentler albeit still patronizing attitude towards African-Americans.

But the damage was done, the lost cause myth cemented into not just the Southern psyche but white America in general.

Like The Triumph Of The Will, I would never recommend The Birth Of A Nation as a “must see” film to anyone.  If you’re a film historian and you want to subject yourself to this cancer, that’s your choice, but if you’re a student of film there’s nothing Griffith did technically or artistically in this movie that he didn’t do better in his later efforts, and other film makers have since emulated his innovations and built upon them.

. . . 

For many decades Gone With The Wind was celebrated as the pinnacle of American film making, but once the romantic blinders were removed we see it for what it is:  An over long, over blown epic that promulgates what we now recognize as white supremacy, classism, and rape culture.

And while it uses every technical trick in the book, it doesn’t use them as well as Orson Welles did a year later with Citizen Kane.

Gone With The Wind is really two movies:  A well made Civil War epic and its lackluster Reconstruction sequel.

They should have ended the movie with “As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!”  (Seriously.  The only two memorable scenes in the second half other than “I don’t give a damn” both center around Scarlett O’Hara’s dresses.)

Again, let’s emphasize that a technically well made movie does not excuse bad intentions in thematic content.

Gone With The Wind is a rip-roaring bodice-ripping historical novel, admittedly well research and well written by Margaret Mitchell.

She isn’t necessarily writing from a conscious desire to spread the message of white supremacy, but as a Southern gal who grew up in the midst of the lost cause myth, she ends up breathing that message into every line of the book.

The movie version can’t escape that, nor does it try to.  There’s a brief scene early on where both Mitchell and the later film makers prefigure the lost cause myth where Rhett Butler explains to the good ol’ boys at the Tara cotillion that they’re about to be brutally decimated by the Union in a war of attrition, but both author and film makers side with the good ol’ boys and support their God given right to throw away their lives and destroy their homes in an attempt to keep enslaving millions of innocent people.

That last part in bold never gets mentioned, does it?  As others have observed, Gone With The Wind isn’t antagonistic towards African-Americans, rather it treats them as if they don’t exist other that walking / talking props among the scenery.

In that regard, Gone With The Wind is on par with The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged (only with a far superior writing style).  The protagonists of all three books are narcissistic sociopaths who will lie / cheat / steal / blow up buildings because the common folk -- the people who actually put in the grunt labor to make things work -- are nothing but slaves there for the elites’ entitlements, and God (or market forces, take your pick) help them if they ever raise their heads or voices -- much less their hands -- in protest.

Oh, but doesn’t it look gorgeous?  As those beautiful rich Technicolor gowns and sets and matte paintings.  All those balls and dances.  All those smoldering looks.  All those flames as Atlanta burns…

There’s the true hero of the story:  William Tecumseh Sherman.  The mofo cut the Confederacy in half, destroying lines of supply and communication, obliterating any rebels who dared to stand up to him, shortening the war by several months, and freeing tens of thousands of enslaved people in the process.

None of which would have been necessary if a few greedy bastards such as the O’Haras had lived Christian enough lives to say, “Y’know, maybe the way we’re treating these people is wrong…”

Gone With The Wind proved insanely popular, on a scale with The Birth Of A Nation a generation earlier, and once again it made it easier for mainstream middle American whites to turn a blind eye to injustices still being perpetuated on African-Americans of that day.  

And it kept playing again and again, one of the very few non-Disney movies to enjoy a substantial re-release schedule, popping up about once every seven years in theaters until the arrival of first cable then VHS.

And it’s still popular, still a steady seller in DVD and BluRay.

That’s in no small part to the skill of both Mitchell and the film makers in hiding the most egregiously problematic elements of the story under a think patina of romanticism.  It became a cultural touchstone that everyone knew and everyone could reference, from political cartoons to Carol Burnett skits.

But it’s still racist and white supremacist, saying African-Americans exist only to serve whites.

It’s still classist, saying not all whites are worthy of what the upper class hogs for itself.

It’s still about rape culture, saying all Scarlett needed was one good rape by Rhett Butler to set her straight.

Is it a product of its era?

Absolutely. The same way over the counter heroin at your friendly neighborhood drug store was a product of its era.  The same way cocaine laced Coca-Cola was a product of its era.

Just because it wasn’t recognized as a bad idea then means we should still circulate it now.

Compared to The Birth Of A Nation, Gone With The Wind is a far less hate filled work, and one that inspires less immediate harm.

It has inspired harm over several generations by making it easy to overlook the real harm it represents in favor of a romantic antebellum fantasy.

If someone wants to see a film that represents the Hollywood studio system at the height of its creative power, I’d recommend Casablanca or The Wizard Of Oz.

I’d put Gone With The Wind way down on that list, and I’d caution it with caveats, but I would say it represents a good example of the old Hollywood system firing on all eight cylinders.

At least for the first half of the film.

. . . 

In most ways, Buster Keaton’s The General is the least problematic of these three films.

In another, it’s as bad as Gone With The Wind.

The good thing about The General is that modern audiences can easily enjoy it.

Buster Keaton chasing after a stolen steam locomotive?  What’s not to love?

It’s one of his best comedies and if it’s not the very best, I’d hate to live on the difference.

It certainly lacks the overt racism of The Birth Of A Nation. 

In fact, it almost lacks any race at all.

And ironically, that’s what makes it a problem.

In researching this post, I re-watched The General, something I wasn’t willing to do for The Birth Of A Nation or Gone With The Wind.

I re-watched it looking for African-American faces anywhere in the film.

I think I found four.

Two porters lugging a trunk in an early scene at a train station, possibly two small children with their backs turned to the camera at the edge of a crowd about ten minutes later.

That’s it.

In a movie about one of the most crucial events in American history, an event entirely predicated on the issue of the enslavement of millions of African-Americans…that’s it.

Four faces.

Total screen time: Less than a minute.

If critics can justifiably lambast Gone With The Wind for sailing over the bloodied backs of millions of enslaved African-Americans to focus on the luxury liner S.S. Scarlett O’Hara, what can they say about a Civil War movie that almost succeeds in eradicating those enslaved humans from the story?

Paradoxically, this makes The General the safest of these movies to show an unsuspecting audience.

The Civil War is boiled down to the dark uniform army fighting the light uniform army; why they were fighting is never explored in detail.

But the lost cause myth was so prevalent at that point that Keaton and company didn’t need to discuss the causes of the war.

Audiences – even those completely ignorant of U.S. history -- automatically assume the light uniform army are the good guys simply because Buster is on their side.

Buster would never do anything bad, would he?

Of course not!

And so -- =poof!= -- millions of people erased from history.

Top that, Thanos.

To be honest, I don’t know how a modern audience should react to that, in particular an African-American audience.

Disappointment at being culturally short changed again?

Relief at being spared the most egregious stereotyping and white supremacy apologies?

Or just plain enjoy Buster chasing after a stolen locomotive?

The General’s cultural weightlessness helps it become a great film.

It’s a purely cinematic endeavor, with the intertitles used primarily to explain the spies’ and military leaders’ plans and motives, not tell us what Buster is thinking and doing.

For a guy called “the great stone face” Buster could be awfully expressive with his body language, and he needs title cards the least of all the performers in this movie

. . .

So where does that leave us, as a 21st century audience in a 21st century culture?

We can neither deny nor ignore the impact of these three films.  Even The Birth Of A Nation, as vile and as hateful as it is, influenced the country and the countries attitudes for a century.

Gone With The Wind feels like something we’ve outgrown, something some audience members can look back on with fondness, but not anything we can fully embrace again.

The General can still make us laugh, and in this case the sin of omission seems far less than the others’ sins of commission.

Learn from the past.

Do better in the future.

    © Buzz Dixon

#race relations #movies #art #cinema #morals #ethics #politics #Birth Of A Nation #Gone With The Wind #The General #DW Griffith #Buster Keaton

[sunnydaleherald]

SPIKE: I've hired myself out as an attraction. (Strikes a threatening pose. The people ooh and ahh, camera flashes going off.) (Color shot: Giles staring at Spike, Olivia still crying in the background.) GILES: Sideshow freak? (B&W shot: Spike flips up the collar of his coat.) SPIKE: Well, at least it's showbiz.

~~Restless~~

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[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

To distract myself from this awful political scene I'm forced to watch for history class: can you give us some obscure side characters (like, Dr. Diminutive, Newton the Gnu, type characters) you absolutely love for no reason? :) <3

Okay I am literally so late because I was doing my chem reading and my writing hw BUT I can’t refuse a chance to scream about my favorite characters (but y’all can refuse to listen to my scream about them so here’s a cut)

First of all, I want you to know that I haven’t even started listing characters yet and this ask has already lead me to spend almost $4 on Agent P’s Guide to Fighting Evil and that’s why I don’t look at the PnF wiki when I’m tired thank you for coming to my TED talk

I almost feel like I’m cheating by starting with Dr. Diminuitve but HOW CAN I NOT LIKE TELL ME THAT LIL MAN IS NOT THE BEST CHARACTER THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN OKAY FUCKIN DO IT JUST KIDDING YOU CAN’T I mean come on, one of his first lines was literally “I don’t have a Napoleon complex; Napoleon had a ME complex!” I had to check the wiki to see if that was his first line ever and I’m very disappointed that it wasn’t and then in OWCA’s Going Down when all the evil scientists were just vibin against the fence and they started doing that West Side Story snappy walk and Diminutive was so into the snaps that he just didn’t fucking move and then he opened his eyes and the rest of the gang was halfway off the screen fjdskhfkalsfhaskl I just really love him okay the more I think about it the more convinced I am that he’s actually my favorite character

Idk if this counts as an obscure side character but he is incredibly underrated so I gotta throw in: LAWRENCE FUCKING FLETCHER. He’s just such a pure and innocent lil dude. He sees the boys doing dangerous shit and he’s just like, “Well that’s happening,” or better yet, “Hey, that looks fun!” I mean, the airplace? The flying carpet? The monster trucks? He genuinely gives zero fucks and I love him for it. I wholeheartedly believe that Lawrence knows Perry is a secret agent -- or at least that he’s smarter than he acts -- but he’s literally so indifferent to everything going on around him that he never mentions it because life is full of fun and exciting things like that and he can’t talk about them all, you know? And he gets so excited about his antiques and he’s so passionate about history and ughhhh I love him 

I was about to say I feel like I’m cheating by using a special but it just occurred to me that that’s lowkey how I’ve prefaced all of these so no, fuck that, I’m using a special and that’s just how it’s gonna be. CARL FROM THE LAND OF INTERNUS WOULD HAVE MADE A MUCH BETTER ENDING THAN THE ACTUAL BOOK HAD AND FUCK YOU MONOGRAM FOR CUTTING CARL OFF BEFORE HE COULD TELL IT HOW HE WANTED TO

These two kinda go hand-in-hand but Bunka Da Bunkaquan and Sweary the Swan are my favorite alternative Perrys. As far as the specials go, Steampunx isn’t one of my favorites, but Sweary the Swan is just... How do you even describe Sweary the Swan? He is life. He is the reason I wake up in the morning. He is the only thing worth living for. And then Bunka Da Bunkaquan is just so fuckin cute and anyone who disagrees needs their eyes checked. And tbh while we’re talking about Tri-Stone area, I gotta throw in a mention of Doofengung no of course I didn’t have to google what his name was what are you talking about because I love how he just stares at the water and every time it drips he just fuckin cackles lmaooo

Okay one more special (maybe) but Doofenshmirtz in The Temple of Juatchadoon brooo I just googled it to make sure I spelled that right and I did woah my power is unmatched is lowkey my favorite Doofenshmirtz. I don’t know if it’s because I actually like him more than every other Doof or if it’s just because his first scene was with Phineas Ohio Flynn and they knew each other and they had actual interactions throughout the episode and the Doof/Phineas relationship is my favorite underexplored relationship, but Juatchadoon Doof makes the list anyway

The “what did you think, _________ was just going to fall out of the sky?” couple — who 100% deserved that cameo in catu

I’m almost afraid to say this in public, but I actually really like Roger. I was mostly indifferent to him at first, but then Delivery for Destiny happened and I was like wait a minute, why am I sleeping on his man who literally orders boxes just to give to his cat? And once I realized that he was kinda cool, it started sinking in that he was never actually a bad guy. Heinz never even really claimed he was -- if anything, his problem is that Roger isn’t a bad guy, and everyone in Gimmelshtump and Danville knows it. And I gotta give Roger credit for not being too harsh on his brother, because yeah, he can be a little stuck up (I’m looking at you, stupid golf game), but you can’t really blame him for thinking he’s better than Heinz, you know? But at least he’s not a dick about it like their parents are. Also the entire latter half of this paragraph was me trying to find a way to work in the other part of that scene with the cat box and it didn’t work so I’m just gonna tack it on to the end because this isn’t an essay for English class and I can do that lmao. Paul mentions that he just delivered something to a Heinz Doofenshmirtz, and Roger is like 😬 because let’s be real, no one wants to be represented by the type of dude to try to juice City Hall, but he’s obviously not going to say that because he’s still a respectful dude, so he’s just like “Charming... man... isn’t he...” and he’s literally so uncomfortable and it cracks me up every time but also it’s lowkey kinda wholesome because Heinz may make it his life mission to embarrass his brother but Roger doesn’t reciprocate. but I accidentally discovered a few weeks ago that John O’Hurley is a raging Trump supporter so I gotta dock points for that one

In the same vein, Paul the delivery guy. What more do I have to say?

If my love of Roger didn’t turn the world against me, this one probably will, but I’m going to say it loud and proud anyway. I LOVE PETER THE PANDA. He’s just??? so??? cute??? Like when he was tearing apart Doof’s inator and he was just... actually no scratch that I need pictures for this because I can’t explain this in words

THIS IS NOT EITHER OF THE PICTURES I WAS LOOKING FOR BUT LOOK AT THIS LITTLE GUY OH MY GOD

Peter really said “this bitch empty, YEET!”

okay but the ones I was actually looking for are...

I mean, how can you not find him adorable? And don’t even get me started on his relationship with Perry because Meapless in Seattle was just... B R O Perry flew halfway across the country (probably I mean idk where exactly Danville is but they use EST so Seattle is probably halfway across the country?) just to go grab a coffee with him. They went on a lil date at a fancy restaurant I know Dan said it wasn’t a date but he's been wrong in the tiktok comments before which means none of his opinions are canon lmao. They’re just? So? Cute? I don’t even know what to make of their relationship but I live for it.

And I can’t mention Peter without bringing up his nemesis, who, to be entirely honest, I also don’t know what to make of and he’s mostly on this list because I like the line “How did you get chorus girls in here?” and when I downloaded and cut a bunch of songs that you can download from Google Drive here if you want, I specifically kept that part in because I love it lmao (I do gotta point out tho because it’s been bugging me since I last watched the episode: I don’t think we have any proof that Professor Mystery even exists in the PnF dimension. I had just assumed he did for the longest time, but that entire episode takes place in a dimension where Lawrence is a polar bear. Who knows what other differences there are?)

I love all the grandparents and I don’t even have an explanation they’re just all adorable

Okay I know I said no more specials but TECHNICALLY at2d isn’t a special; it’s a movie. I am physically incapable of not brining up the muffin time Normbot and the “I use aggression to mask my insecurites” Normbot.

While we’re talking about Norm, his old head would 100% swear all the fucking time if it wasn’t a kids’ show and i gotta respect it

Dan Povenmire does one line for a dude named Vinnie in Mission Marvel and off the top of my head I don’t remember who he is but it was the beginning of the episode and I think (?) it was during the New York scene and he does it in the Vinnie Dakota voice long before Dakota was even a concept (I’m assuming) so he gets a mention

Jerry the Platypus gives me Paper Jam Dipper vibes and they are both valid as fuck (the fucked up Doof copy is not valid as fuck tho we’re gonna pretend he didn’t exist)

Don is literally the best part of Where’s Pinky and I’m not just saying that because I’ve been watching Whose Line for years and I was super excited to see Wayne Brady in the credits (and the fact that he was also in both the quarantine rap and catu makes me incredibly happy)

Ooh I almost forgot OWCA Files existed but Harry the Hyena playing the trumpet and the subsequent “you’re gonna be wearing that in a minute” is the best part of OWCA Files and tbh just Doof, Perry, and Harry could have carried an entire series by themselves (though I do also love Karen and Maggie)

WAIT A SECOND THE BUG TRIO FJDSAHFLKSAJD I was trying to pick a favorite last time I watched OWCA Files and every time one of them spoke they were my new favorite like I lowkey thought their plotline was boring but the characters themselves were hilarious

WAIT ANOTHER SECOND HOW DID I GET THIS FAR INTO THE LIST WITHOUT MENTIONING MONTY HOLY SHIT I’M SUCH A FAKE FAN BUT I LOVE MONTY OKAY HE IS LITERALLY JUST OZ FROM BTVS EXCEPT MONTY AND VANESSA HAVE BETTER CHEMISTRY THAN OZ AND WILLOW AND NO I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING CRITICISM

Wait I forgot Vlorkel too omfg these two belong way higher on the list but Vlorkel is the love of my life (and I lowkey wish she had met Steve the giant chameleon because they would have become best friends)

I wanna keep going but it’s currently 1:45 in the morning (this is why I’ve been avoiding asks during the day: I get way too into them and spend a solid hour and a half on them and I’d never get any schoolwork done lmao) and it’s far from the first time I’ve stayed up this late but I figured it was fine because I have no classes tomorrow but it occurred to me like four seconds ago that I DO HAVE A CLASS TOMORROW SHIIIIT I had an anatomy exam on Tuesday during my usual class time (which if you read my tags you might have known about because I was having an existential crisis over it) so he moved our class tomorrow excePT IT’S NOT TOMORROW IT’S TODAY IT’S LITERALLY IN LESS THAN SEVEN HOURS FUCKING HELL I GOTTA GO TO BED ASAP

#shoutout to Sam for sending me this ask so i stayed up this long raving about my babies #because i would 100% have gone to bed without setting an alarm if i wasn't still awake #why did i buy a calendar if i dont use it lmao rip #pnf #look i have an ask

[zalrb]

hi, in my story my main couple goes through a breakup and may or may not end up back together (they're teenagers). with your experience watching shows and stuff, what are some valid reasons couples have broken up + how did they manage to get back together, if they ever did?

Thanks for the question!

A popular one for the stable couples who had been together for a while

is that one of them is getting restless and wants to figure out who they are outside of the relationship

and usually the person who did the original breaking up tries to get back together after they realize that what they want is to be in the relationship but the other person turns them down because now they need time on their own

but they get back together because the feelings never went away, the history is there so Nathan and Haley spend the bulk of season 3 rebuilding trust for some reason there are no gifs of this that I can find but it happens and they get back together and renew their vows by the end of season 3

Donna runs away to California because she’s rejected by Eric and then Eric realizes he rejected her because of hurt pride and not really because he wanted to so follows her there to tell her he loves her

For Matt and Julie, they work towards getting back together by being friends again, Julie kind of supports him through a really stressful time and they have fun together and it just happens

but they’re a relationship with multiple breakups. Matt was I think a year older than Julie so he graduated before she did but he decided to stay in Dillon to take care of his grandmother who had dementia and who was the only person who took care of him but it’s kind of a dead-end life for him, he’s not really reaching his potential or doing what he wanted to do and when it’s Julie’s turn to go to college and she starts applying out-of-state, there’s a bit of tension, and he ends up leaving to go to Chicago without telling her and calls her, like, 5 months later

and then they sort of have this on-and-off again relationship where they’re not together most of the time but when they see each other, they are

he asks her to visit him in Chicago but she has to figure out her life

and then in college she sleeps with a married TA and kind of blows up her life and runs away to Chicago for a bit to be with him

but he tells her she can’t stay, she has to return to her actual life

and then eventually they get engaged/married because it’s always been them.

For supernatural relationships, 99% of the time it’s external obstacles.

Piper and Leo can’t be together because he’s a whitelighter and she’s a witch and innocents have to come first and it’s an obstacles that comes up repeatedly

Stefan and Elena broke up because it’s too dangerous

Buffy and Angel can’t be together because they love each other and he will lose his soul and kill people if he achieves true happiness 

Piper and Leo essentially say ‘fuck it’ because their love is just too strong to ignore — although Leo does become human for a while and so the obstacle of being a whitelighter is temporarily lifted allowing him to pursue Piper — but it’s earned

Stefan and Elena end up saying ‘fuck it’ until the sire bond comes into play because of the same thing and because the realization that Elena feels/is safe with him

Buffy and Angel can never really be together because the threat is always there but the love is always there so they’re never really quite finished

Cheating is another reason and there have been three ships I think (oh I guess 4 because Julie did technically cheat on Matt) that did a reconciliation well

Chris and Jal

Brooke and Lucas

Oz and Willow

Chris cheats on Jal with Angie who was a teacher he was in love with and in a relationship with in season 1, Chris’ entire storyline in season 1 is about Angie

and then she leaves and he starts seeing Jal

but Angie comes back and he has sex with her although, like, midway through he stops and realizes he doesn’t love her anymore and loves Jal.

His relationship with Jal was resolved in the same episode and legitimately I don’t feel like NA television could’ve gotten away with such a quick reconciliation but Chris has this whole presentation that he makes for Jal and is genuinely and deeply apologetic

and she doesn’t give in right away

but ultimately forgives him and it just worked for me because of Chris’ past relationship with Angie and the fact that Angie was a teacher and he was a high school student so that makes the situation more complicated, the fact that he did genuinely love Jal

and I didn’t find his action insidious if that makes sense. Of course he ends up dying by the end of the season and I have never forgiven Skins for that.

Lucas cheated on Brooke with Peyton who he was originally crushing on/had a connection with in season 1

and I thought that their reconciliation worked because in season 2 Brooke and Lucas are friends, they’re spending more time together, he supports her for student council, they have their longing gazes, it’s a build-up

and in season 3, he has to work to gain her trust again

Of course the writers screw the whole thing up by the end of the season but the reconciliation worked.

Willow cheats on Oz with Xander in season 3

and it really hurt me because Ozillow is my BTVS OTP but I understood it in the sense that Willow had been in love with Xander since they were kids and she spends two seasons just wanting Xander to notice her

and he does when she’s with Oz because he’s a seventeen year old boy and terrible and when Oz catches them, she realizes the huge mistake that she made and she really wants to make it up to him but he doesn’t forgive her until he’s ready to

so when he does forgive her, it makes sense for him and for them

and  Willow also spends the rest of season 3 putting up hard barriers with Xander and making sure Oz realizes that he’s the only one she wants.

I will also say Cassie and Sid did this storyline well

because of how messy it all is.

Sid, I guess cheated, on Cassie with Michelle who he’d been crushing for forever

but they’re all friends and Michelle was Sid’s best friend, Tony’s, girlfriend, Tony who suffered a brain injury after being hit by a truck so with all of this context Sid and Michelle are having sex and it creates a lot of chaos for the group

and for Cassie who deals with it by sleeping with random people and partying

And their reconciliation worked for me because Sid didn’t actually love Michelle or really want her (nor she him) but they used each other as crutches and Cassie was having a lot of anonymous sex as payback and Sid is jealous the entire time

and finally, Sid and Michelle just implode and Sid declares his love to Cassie in a really Skins, we’re-all-fucked-up kind of way and it worked.

[jamalexlee]

Ask me: FANDOM EDITION: Allll of them, please!?

To clarify its for Brooklyn 99

A - Your current OTP: Ok so I have to cheat right out the box - cos I have two. Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago and Captain Raymond Holt and Kevin Cozner. They’re just perfect for each other, so complimentary and so in love - but real you know?

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind Jake and Doug Judy. They are a friendship otp (mostly) but yeah lifelong togetherness. And it was tumblr that got me wondering on this.

C - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will Jake and Amy with anyone that isn’t each other during the show. Brooklyn 99 is better at this than most tv shows but the people introduced solely to keep the will-they-won’t-they couple apart will always annoy me - its just taking air time from the bits of a show I like and forces so much jealousy and stuff - and I’m not into that

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t Rosa Diaz/Adrian Pimento. They just never clicked for me as a couple and she is so out of his league its painful. Not that I’m against Rosa having a boyfriend I actually liked her with Marcus and was upset when they broke up. But yeah…

E - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what I don’t think I’ve offered much to the 99 fandom - I mostly reblog others bits and agree or add silly comments.

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? 22 years. I was with Buffy from the get go - and while its got its issues and bits of it hasn’t aged very well I wouldn’t have been the same without this show in my life.

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it? Bangel. The combinded high romance and excruciating pain had me hooked. I still feel it when I watch it all these years later.

H - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series? My anime interest has grown over the last few years but action still wins overall - especially since I can’t help loving seeing my favourite characters in pain - and the live action means we get to see the actors and actresses hurt and cry for the sake of the drama - anime can’t compare.

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why? I try not to let tumblr do that to me if I can help it (these days anyway) but (and I realise I could die for this) I have started to dislike corners of the Star Wars fandom due to their treatment of certain characters.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr. Oh god so many - but… sense8. It was advertised no where so I wouldn’t have known it existed or watched it without tumblr giffing the hell out of it - and wouldn’t that have been a shame.

K - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom? I’m assuming this is Brooklyn 99 so… I love them. Honestly. Their love kept the show going when it was cancelled allowing us to continue enjoying this wonderful funny show.

L - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for? @lupismaris please please more chapters for But Alone is Alone (Not Alive)

M - Your favorite fanart or fanartist? I’m so bad with names - but I’m hoping the upcoming Silverflint Big Bang and rarepairing weeks will teach me the names better.

N - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor? See above - I have so many I love but I suck with names.

O - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of? Only Love Can Hurt Like This - Paloma Faith -  and Silverflint. Seriously there’s a fanvid to this on Youtube that fits them so well.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas): Black Sails - Thomas comes to Nassau instead of Flint going to him. There are so many characters I need him to meet on that island. Feel free to have him arrive in earlier season to meet characters that totally didn’t die (vane cough cough) - and p.s. I’m total Silverflinthamilton trash so yeah…

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why? Destiel. I hung on to this for far longer than I should have mostly because I couldn’t handle the truth of this pairing - that it was world-class queerbaiting of the highest degree - mind you I stayed with Supernatural for longer than was sane too (9 seasons god help me)

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships. Is there actually a ship in any fandom that no one has ever thought of before? I mean even as Crack!fic it’ll have been done. I guess my closest is Joshua Donovan and Steve Jinx from Warehouse 13 - I don’t know if anyone ever put those two together and its a small fandom

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon:  I don’t really have a personal headcanon for Brooklyn 99 - I agree with a bit of fanon that’s gotten popular - Bi!Jake. Honestly I kinda love the idea of Jake having been oblivious and accidentally had a boyfriend without him realising - and it being played by John Mulaney.

T - If you mostly have homoships, do you have any heteroships? Bangel, Peraltiago, Willow/Oz, Fred/Gunn - though I should mention that I headcanon one or both of these couples as bi so… not totally hetero.

U - If you mostly have heteroships, do you have any homoships? I mostly ship queer ships - its just a fact. And if I ship it I’ll reblog about it - probably more than people would like honestly.

V - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping? Don’t be daft. But on the same token - why’s it bad if you do? Shipping is just another part of fandom. Another avenue of interest and discussions to have in your fandom. And why would you deny yourself an extra dimension of enjoyment.

W - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms: Ok so not choosing Black Sails for this because how in the hell do you pick just one favourite character in that? I’m changes several times a day. Honestly I’d struggle to do a top 10. So Tara Maclay, Buffy The Vampire Slayer - I saw so much of myself in her when that show first came out and she was a very important character - and I’m still pissed about what the show did to her. Captain Raymond Holt, Brooklyn 99 - god what a character, so much too long about him and he is a complete character flaws and all. Wynonna Earp - I love this woman soo much - and not just because the actress that plays her is a goddess either (honest), Dave Lister, Red Dwarf - I’m literally watching it right now - and honestly it was the first time I’d heard my own accent on television and I fell in love immediately and The Doctor - honestly a favourite character that can be a totally different character from one season to another? Classic - this character hasn’t been used the best yet (seriously why always white and why so long to be present as female?) The Doctor is still unique and wonderful character I’ve loved many versions of.

X - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms: Silverflint - there’s just so much in that relationship so much to work with, unpack, rewrite and do with it - you’d never run out of things to do with it - especially if like me you’re cool with either Hamilton or Madi added in (or all of the above), Holmes/Watson - in all versions in all mediums they are soulmates in all of them and I’ll never get bored of these two together, Posner/Scripps - it never happened in canon but it should have - Scripps is oblivious but totally in love with Posner and Posner knows - Scripps will figure it out in University and they will live happily ever after.

Y - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from:  The IT Crowd - I don’t ship anyone there. Not really anyway.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go: Black Sails is awesome - if you haven’t watched it go do it now - you won’t regret it - but fair warning it’ll ruin all other shows for you.

#Ask me fandom edition #I know I've answered them all but some are for only one fandom soo...

[violetlunette]

Ten Tropes/Cliches I Love

So while we all like to talk about tropes/cliches we hate, I don’t see enough lists where we talk about tropes/cliches we like, so I decided to make a list of ten Tropes/Cliches that I love in story telling. This isn’t a top ten list as these are out of order and I know that when I post this I’ll remember something I like better than these, so this is just a list of ten things I like, not top ten, but ten. Anywho, let’s begin!

Ten Tropes/Cliches I Love

Hero from a mundane world tossed into a magical one / Average Joe: Oddly enough this is my favorite trope; I love a hero from the mundane world being tossed into a world or strange oddities and whatnot. I then like to see how they react—do they excitedly embrace the magic, scared of it, determined to ignore it, etc. The issue I have is that the mundane hero is usually displayed as useless and just follows their companions around. Naturally the hero would—and should be overwhelmed, but they should have growth throughout the story and should have some skills that could be helpful, or a new way of looking at things.

Royalty / Chosen One: Everyone harps on these two, but I kinda like them—if done right. I admit they’ve been done to death, but it’s a guilty pleasure I suppose.

The idea of being someone special appeals to a lot of people and honestly I like seeing people react differently to their destiny, whatever it is. Some are like “oh hell nah!” or “YAY! I’m special—oh shit, is that blood?!” or just “WTF” and I like seeing them all.

And I like princesses. I like Queens too, but as a kid I liked princesses more because to child me princess= child ruler with power while Queen = dead parents and/or adult. Back then all princess were to me were just kid Queens who would become Queens after they were crowned and the parents were dead / unable to rule, or the whole journey was to become a queen. (Sort of a metaphor for going from a kid to an adult.)

There’s an argument princesses are anti-femenist, but I disagree. While there are a lot of mediums in the media that shows princesses as useless damsels there’s even more where the Princess is a leader who does just as much, if not more, as a hero. The only reason they’re not Queens is because a) they’re in a middle of a war so there’s no time for a coronation to officially crown them or b) a king or Queen is still alive. Sometimes they’re evil, but still they’re the rulers. Hell, if you ask me it the other royals who get a worse hand.

Think about it; Queens are dead, evil/insane, or not mentioned, kings are useless idiots, dead, or evil, and princes are just the reward who swoops in at the end and hardly even get a name. Princesses at least have a variety and are more well rounded than the rest.

Also I like pretty dresses and crowns (yes, I’m that girl. I like pretty outfits. There will be a list eventually).

Suave/charming eccentric sidekick/mentor: I just love suave, charming characters like Jack Sparrow (Pirates Of The Caribbean) and RGB (Property of Hate)—however I hesitate to make them the focus of a story due to the 4&5th of POTC (I don’t care for them). Nonetheless I like seeing these characters as a mentor and friend who helps the hero adapt to a new world. They’re fun to watch and they’re an entertaining way to show us the world and how they work.

Family plays a Role in the Story: I love stories were family members are actually apart of the story (and not just they died, or are basically back ground filler.). I mean, they don’t have to be apart of the main cast, but I like them to be apart of the story.

Sadly, story lines like this are usually put on back burner or background in favor of “romance” or large fight scenes.

OUAT did this great at first where Emma doesn’t know how to react to her parents and was even mad that they chose to send her away to play hero (even though I just thought they did that to save her, destiny be damned). I especially loved how she had to build relationship with them and how they address the tragedy of how the Charmings didn’t get to be apart of Emma’s childhood.

However, this plot got sidelined by the romance arcs in later seasons, and not just Emma’s. (Btw, is it just me or did Snow grow distant from Emma once baby Neal was born?)

I also like seeing siblings work together, step, twins, etc—except younger siblings. Stories do not treat younger siblings well. They’re usually brats, antagonists, or hostages for later.

Magical world and creatures: Not much to say about this; I love dragons, unicorns, fae, and monsters and I like seeing new magical worlds like Wonderland, Oz, Narnia, and the Harry Potter world. Our world is boring. Unless Urban fantasy is involved and even then it’s the magical creatures that make it fun.

Villains that are actually villains and know it: Everyone hates villains who are just evil for the sake of being evil, but to me I actually LOVE these villains much better than the “gray” villains. The reason being is that they’re allowed to have FUN being evil and therefore memorable. My favorite Disney villains are Maleficent, Ursula, Hook, Jafar and Dr. Falcifer. Why? Because they’re allowed to be bad. They didn’t need a tragic backstory or complicated political views, they had power and they knew it. They embraced it and allowed themselves to have fun and be flamboyant. Hell. It even made villains like Maleficent more frightening because she had so much power she wanted to use she actively sought out excuses to use it for her own entertainment, such as not getting invited to a party.

I know it’s unrealistic and can make a character feel flat, but when a story gives a baddie a backstory it spends a lot of time trying to make us feel bad for the baddie instead of enjoying them AS the baddie.

Knight in Shining Armor: Guilty pleasure. But I like the drama of the Main character being captured, but being saved by their loved ones. And I know others do too because whenever someone starts a head canon blog one of the most common questions are, “what would the Ros do if their SO was kidnapped?” So don’t try to play that, ‘it’s not empowering’ card with me!

That being said, I only like it when the scenario is done right; Like, I don’t like how Mario always has to save Peach because we’ve seen her pawn Bowser so many times and she gets kidnapped often enough where she should get the hint to A) Get better security or B) Lock Bowser up for multiple kidnappings and conquest. I mean I like Peach, but still. That being said I do find it heartwarming to see how for Mario goes to save the ones he cares about and that’s why I like this trope. I love seeing how much the hero loves the person they’re saving and the lengths they go to make sure they’re safe.

The Masquerade: I like the idea of there being a secret hidden world under our noses and seeing how the magic people hide it. There’s also the appeal of being in on the secret. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel a lot of the fun’s gone from a story when the secret’s out.

Power McGuffin: I like shiny things like necklaces, rings, etc. And magic items? Gimmie! The best example is the One Ring from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I love the lore and how it has a will of it’s own and how it manipulates minds—it’s just a ring, yet it’s also a conniving villain as well. Oh, and the power of invisibility and possibly more helps.

The Mystery/Journey plots: I like stories that ether have a mystery or a quest in them. Mysteries because of the feel they give and the pride when you solve it (unless the writer cheats), and the Quest as the journey is more about the character building and their relationships.

And those are ten (not top ten) Cliches/Tropes I like! I may do another in the future, but for now let me know your favorites tropes cliches/or what you think about this.

#tropes #cliches #I love

[catherinebakewell]

Is your story character-driven?

Ideally, your novel should be led by your character.

The plot should be pushed forward by their choices, their mistakes, their desires, their fears.

So, have do you know that you’ve done this well?

If you’re a plotter:

Look at your outline, synopsis, or chapter summaries. Look at the events that happen in the story. How many events happen to your character rather than being caused by your character?

Of course, you’re allowed to have moments where something happens completely outside of your character’s control. Dorothy didn’t cause the tornado that picks up her house in The Wizard of Oz. But that event does have consequences for her and her story. That tornado brings her to a new land with new rules that she has to navigate.

One of Pixar’s rules of storytelling goes a little something like this: Coincidences that get your character out of trouble are cheating. Coincidences that get your character into trouble are great.

Hopefully, the beats of your story should be like dominoes falling. Your character causes something or reacts to something happening to them – the choice they then make will affect ABC, which causes a disaster with XYZ, and so on and so on.

A good way to see if your character is being too passive is to check your synopsis for passive voice. Compare: Catherine is visited by a monster at her house vs. Catherine ventures into the monster’s lair.

If a monster came to my house, it would be a great opportunity to see how I would react as a character. BUT it would say a LOT more about me as a character if I was the one seeking out the monster, taking the first steps, moving the story forward.

Problem: Looking at your outline, it’s clear to you now that your main character is too passive.

Solution: Starting from the beginning of your outline, from the first instances of passive voice, try making the sentence active. Maybe in a separate document, plot out what consequences may occur when your character drives the story forward themselves. You may have a whole new outline on your hands! But it’ll be more character-driven.

If you’re a pantser (like me):

Write your whole first draft. Just let it happen. Accept that it’s not perfect yet and that it’s just a foundation for the beautiful house you’re going to build someday. Also accept that you’re probably going to have to tear up your foundation significantly. Rewriting is part of writing.

After taking a break and being proud of yourself and your story, you can now proceed!

Having written your first draft, you should have an idea about who your main character is. You’ve been inside their head for a while now, you know how they respond to the events of your story, or even how they’d respond if they were dropped into a modern-day road-trip or a Harry Potter fanfic. You and your main characters are BFFs. (Side note: when I am first developing a character, I often draw them. Their personality will jump onto the page and that’s how I get to know them!)

You know what kind of people they are—now here is how you can figure out if there’s a stronger way to write their emotional journey.

Who is your character at the start of their journey? What do they want? What do they need? What do they fear?

 What is some personal roadblock your character needs to overcome? What is in the way of their happiness?

 What event could happen/does happen that makes your character have to overcome this roadblock?

 What does it look like when your character finally decides to overcome their obstacle?

 What does the process towards overcoming the obstacle look like?

 What does hopelessness look like for your character?

 Is there a moment where your character turns back to their old ways, chooses an easy way out, or disappoints someone—or themselves?

 What happens that urges your character to re-commit to their struggle to achieve their dream?

 Does your character get what they fought for? Is it what they’d hope it’d be? Is it good that they got what they wanted?

 Who is your character at the end of the story? How have they changed since their journey first started?

 Why does “the camera” of the narrative follow this particular character? Why was this their story?

 Once you’ve answered these questions, you should have some ideas about the strongest ways to demonstrate your character’s growth.

As an example:

In Beauty and the Beast, the Prince needs to change his heart in order to lift his curse. His starting point: selfish, vain, uncaring. His ending point: Selfless, free, loving. What are some ways to get him from point A to point B?

Well, he needs a moment where he realizes he needs to change his ways. Having a curse with a ticking clock forcing him to change is a great start!

Then, we need to see some sort of proof that he is changing. A sort of middle-ground between old selfless Prince and new, loving prince. He gives Belle a library. He saves her life in the woods.

And then, boom, his big character moment: Even though he could keep Belle at the castle and lift his curse, he decides to let her return to her father. This action is a clear demonstration of his selfless love. It’s proof that he’s changed as a character, and it has real consequences for him – because of his choice, he’ll be stuck as a beast forever.

So, to recap:

Problem: You wrote a book but aren’t sure if your characters are active enough.

Solution: Get to know your characters, answer questions like those above to figure out the vague shape of the journey they go on, and then consider the best ways to bring out your character’s development.

After you’ve done this, it also may be helpful for you to plan out (gasp) the synopsis/outline/chapter summaries of your new draft. Follow the steps I suggested above for plotters—make sure you’re using active, character-first language to make certain that your characters are the ones pushing the story forward.

Good luck with your revisions! You got this. Let your characters take you on a ride. And have fun!!

#writing #editing #revising

[destieltropecollection]

Destiel Trope Collection 2018 Day 24 | Public Service Job AU

Begin Again | @profound-boning Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 5000 Main Tags/Warnings: Professor!Dean, Single dad!Dean, meet-cute, texting, first date Summary: “Why Professor Winchester,” Krissy mocks. “You’ve got someone special on the line and you’re ignoring them for us?” “Zip it, Chambers.” He points a finger at her. “Y’all are great, but not that good. We clear on that?” “Sure,” she teases. “As long as they know they’re coming in second to Billy Pilgrim right now.” “Everyone comes in second to Billy Pilgrim. Hashtag life hack.” Dean retorts.

Not What I Signed Up For | @pherryt Rating: Explicit  Word Count: 43,471 Main Tags/Warnings: A/B/O Dynamices, Alpha!Dean, Omega!Cas, Student!Dean, Teacher!Cas, Top!Dean, Bottom!Cas, Mpreg, hurt/comfort, homeless!Cas, Underage!Dean (small age difference), Awkward First Time, True Mates Summary: Cas finally has what he’s been working towards for years and though clubs aren’t really his scene he allows Gabe to take him out to celebrate. It was wonderful. Meeting his true mate, connecting the way they had and now he’s on cloud nine. If only Dean hadn’t needed to rush off to rescue a friend before they could properly exchange contact information. Still, Cas is floating high when he enlists his brothers help to find Dean. After all, he found his true mate once by sheer luck. How hard can it be to find him now that he’s looking? A week later, on his first day of teaching, Cas is horrified to discover Dean’s his student at the local high school and everything comes crashing down on him. Now what? Even trying to do the right thing doesn’t do any good when all the dominoes in Cas life start tipping over. All because he met his True Mate a couple of years too soon.

Warm Glow That Lingers On | @zaphodsgirl Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 8,480 Main Tags/Warnings: AU, Fluff, First Kiss Summary: Castiel has worked as a mall elf for the past four years, watching countless families come to take pictures with Santa as the children tell him their heart’s desire. This year Castiel may get his own heart’s desire when a gorgeous man brings his young charge to the North Pole.

Fallacy | @super-powerful-queen-slayyna Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2,046 Main Tags/Warnings: Bilingual!Castiel, Mechanic!Dean, College Student!Castiel, French!Cas, French!Gabriel. Summary: Castiel thought he was being sneaky, but Oh no, he was in deep trouble. Or was he?

Hazard of the Job | @surlybobbies Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 766 Main Tags/Warnings: firefighter Cas, teacher Dean, strangers to lovers, fluff Summary: Dean shivered when a group of firefighters came trooping out, all of them wearing their fitted dark blue T-shirts, sporting big grins for the kids and doling out high-fives. One in particular, with almost startlingly blue eyes and arms that would drive an angel to sin, caught Dean’s eye.

Impossible | @surlybobbies Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4,168 Main Tags/Warnings: misunderstandings, Teacher!Cas, soccer coach!Dean, Fluff, Strangers to lovers Summary: Dean’s smile widens, bringing heat to Cas’s cheeks. “It’s Dean - for you.” Then he’s backing away, back to his team, away from Castiel. “See you around, Castiel.” Cas opens his mouth because apparently Dean Winchester makes him into a fool. “It’s Cas. For you.”

Skipping Steps | @surlybobbies Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,174 Main Tags/Warnings: Firefighters, Fluff, Fire, friends to lovers Summary: Getting the call almost brings him to his knees. Looking back, he’ll have no idea how he even got suited up - probably with Benny’s help - and will have no memory of the ride to the Novak residence. All he’ll remember is standing paralyzed in front of Cas’s house and watching flames lick at the curtains in the living room, thinking, Oh, God, I never told him.

Wet Socks | @surlybobbies Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,409 Main Tags/Warnings: Teacher Cas, Teacher Dean, strangers to lovers, AU Summary: Wet socks. Dean is unfortunately all too familiar with the sensation, and so are the rest of the teachers at Mercy Heights High - and so it’s a surprise that no one’s thought to have mercy on the new guy and tell him that the parking lot tends to flood. Dean, looking out from his second floor classroom window, winces sympathetically as he watches Castiel Novak sullenly slosh his way through the ankle-height water. The new philosophy teacher’s displeasure is evident even at a distance. “Sorry, kids,” he says, shooting a look over his shoulder at the students eating lunch in his classroom, “Looks like Dr. Novak’s having a bad day.”

The Heart of Saturday Night | @alxdiamond Rating: Mature Word Count: 40,045 Main Tags/Warnings: Cop Dean, Paramedic Cas, Friends With Benefits, Miscommunication, Cheating, Torture, Past Drug Use, Past Abuse, Past Non/dub-con, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: Officer Dean Winchester almost feels at home in Greenwood, WA after a lifetime of wandering. The skeletons of his past don’t rattle him into restlessness anymore. But when both a rash of drug-related crimes and a hot paramedic start getting too close for comfort, it might be time to move on once again.

I’m Gonna Run To You | @ellen-of-oz Rating: Mature Word Count: 48,134 Main Tags/Warnings: Teachers, Mutual Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts, Depressed Castiel, Bisexual Dean, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Past Abuse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia Summary: It’s a new school year at North Lawrence Middle School, and Dean, the English teacher, is ready to fill some new minds. When he meets the new science teacher, Castiel Novak, nervous, awkward and gorgeous, he decides to befriend him. Castiel is just happy to have a new teaching job, away from the secrets of his past. But when an old friend appears in town, he might not be able to hide them for much longer.

love around the corner | @sternchencas Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 3,468 Main Tags/Warnings: librarian!cas, secret notes, fluff, first kiss, mutual pining Summary: Castiel works at the library and finds notes hidden in the returned books, addressed to him. Will he find out who’s sending them?

Math and Apple Pies | @deservetobesaved​ Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 1,469 Main Tags/Warnings: Uncle Castiel, Teacher!Dean, Jack is Cas’ nephew, Rom-Com Summary: Dean, a math teacher, has a parent/teacher conference with Jack and his uncle Castiel. They may or may not be crushing on each other (part II is also up).

It’s Only Three Blocks | @envydean Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 869 Main Tags/Warnings: proposal, Fluff, Fireman!Dean, Detective!Cas Summary: Dean gets back from a callout and decides now is the time to propose…

#destiel trope collection #destielfanficnet #profoundnet #destiel #supernatural #fanfic #masterlist #trope collection #fireman au #cop au #teacher au #librarian au #2018